Archetypes of Imagination - Making a Card Draw Deck

Archetypes of Imagination - Making a Death Triggers Deck

<h6 style="text-align: right;"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bria, Riptide Rogue" href="#" target="_blank">Bria, Riptide Rogue</a> | Art by <a href="https://borjapindado.com/">Borja Pindado</a></h6>
<h2>One odd otter</h2>
Hello! Welcome to Archetypes of Imagination, a brand new series where I'll be building decks based on popular Commander archetypes. I'll be using<a href="https://tagger.scryfall.com/"> Scryfall's tagging system</a> and<a href="https://edhrec.com/tags"> EDHREC's Tag pages</a> to build around a new theme each week. 
Scryfall has a really cool way of categorizing cards, where each card has specific labels attached to it for later reference. For example, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cultivate" href="#" target="_blank">Cultivate</a> has the ramp tag and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Carrion Feeder" href="#" target="_blank">Carrion Feeder</a> has the sacrifice outlet tag. EDHREC's tag system is really cool too, letting users see popular cards associated with a given strategy. 
For example, the toughness matters tag shows users that <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wall of Denial" href="#" target="_blank">Wall of Denial</a> works well with the strategy and the Blink tag does the same for <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ephemerate" href="#" target="_blank">Ephemerate</a>.
This week, we'll be taking some really, really long turns. We're building a deck based around cantrips! For those who don't know, a card is considered a cantrip when it provides its caster with a card draw in addition to some other effects.
 One famous example, which you'll see in this week's full decklist, is <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Opt" href="#" target="_blank">Opt</a>. There's tons of commanders that work well with cantrips, especially cantrips that happen to be instants or sorceries, and I'm pretty happy with the one I picked. From Bloomburrow, my favorite recent set, this deck's commander is… <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bria, Riptide Rogue" href="#" target="_blank">Bria, Riptide Rogue</a>!
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bria, Riptide Rogue"></div></div>
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bria, Riptide Rogue" href="#" target="_blank">Bria</a> provides all of our creatures prowess, meaning they'll get temporarily bigger when we cast a noncreature spell. 
She also makes one of our creatures unblockable for a turn when we cast a noncreature spell, meaning that they'll be able to chip in for damage with their buffed-up power and toughness. 
While <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bria, Riptide Rogue" href="#" target="_blank">Bria</a>'s abilities encourage a somewhat straight-forward gameplan, there's still a lot of room for creativity in this decklist. Let's get going, and I'll show you what I mean!
<h3>On the prowl…</h3>
Because <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bria, Riptide Rogue" href="#" target="_blank">Bria</a> gives all of our creatures prowess, we want to ensure that we've got a relatively wide board to capitalize on that ability. 
But, we also need to ensure that we've got enough noncreature spells in the deck to actually trigger that prowess. Some of you may already know where I'm going within this: token creators! 
There's a ton of creatures in Izzet colors that make tokens when we cast instants and sorceries, so I've included a whole host of them here.
My favorite is the ever-popular <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Shark Typhoon" href="#" target="_blank">Shark Typhoon</a>. Not only is this a noncreature spell (which will trigger prowess), but it makes big, evasive creature tokens.
 I also think that <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Young Pyromancer" href="#" target="_blank">Young Pyromancer</a> is an all-star here. It only costs two mana, meaning that we can have it hit the board well before our commander, and start churning out tokens as early as turn two. 
Lastly, I'm a big fan of <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Drake Hatcher" href="#" target="_blank">Drake Hatcher</a>. I know this card came out recently, but I don't think it got nearly the amount of popularity it's due.
 This creature has prowess already, and our commander will give it a second instance of prowess, meaning it'll grow by +2/+2 for every noncreature spell we cast. 
And, it acts as a sneaky efficient way to make evasive tokens at any time. This is the exact kind of card I want to play in my commander decks, and I think this deck is a perfect home for it.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Shark Typhoon"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Young Pyromancer"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Drake Hatcher"></div></div>
Just like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Drake Hatcher" href="#" target="_blank">Drake Hatcher</a>, there's a cadre of creatures that already have prowess (or an ability that's very close to it) in the 99 of this deck. 
Another card I think is underplayed finds a slot here: <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Khenra Spellspear" href="#" target="_blank">Khenra Spellspear</a>. With our commander out, and this creature transformed, it has three separate instances of prowess. With just one noncreature spell cast, that means we've got a 6/6 trampler with ward . 
The rate only gets better from there. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kiln Fiend" href="#" target="_blank">Kiln Fiend</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Crackling Cyclops" href="#" target="_blank">Crackling Cyclops</a>, and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Slickshot Show-Off" href="#" target="_blank">Slickshot Show-Off</a> are all very similar, growing progressively larger when we cast certain types of spells.
 Plus, because our commander can make some of our creatures unblockable, meaning that the less evasive creatures from among this bunch can be sure to punch through for damage. 
Lastly, I wanted to shout out <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Balmor, Battlemage Captain" href="#" target="_blank">Balmor, Battlemage Captain</a>. This is, essentially, a cheaper and slightly-worse version of <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bria, Riptide Rogue" href="#" target="_blank">Bria</a>. 
He provides +1/+0 to our whole team when we cast an instant or sorcery (slightly worse than <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bria, Riptide Rogue" href="#" target="_blank">Bria</a>'s +1/+1), and provides our whole team trample (arguably on par with <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bria, Riptide Rogue" href="#" target="_blank">Bria</a>'s ability to make one creature unblockable at a time).
If our commander ever becomes too expensive to recast, or is otherwise locked out of the game, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Balmor, Battlemage Captain" href="#" target="_blank">Balmor, Battlemage Captain</a> is a great second option.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Khenra Spellspear"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kiln Fiend"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Balmor, Battlemage Captain"></div></div>
<h3>Dancing the can-can</h3>
This deck is, at its core, based around cantrips. So, let's talk about a few of the best ones I've included. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Crimson Wisps" href="#" target="_blank">Crimson Wisps</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Expedite" href="#" target="_blank">Expedite</a> are functionally identical cards, and the ability to provide haste to any one of our creatures (particularly a creature with an instance of double prowess), can be game-ending when combined with <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bria, Riptide Rogue" href="#" target="_blank">Bria</a>'s ability to make one of our creatures unblockable. 
If we can land a <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kiln Fiend" href="#" target="_blank">Kiln Fiend</a> on the board, make it unblockable, and give it haste, we can easily knock out a player in the late game. 
I also wanted to point out the inclusion of <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Psychotic Fury" href="#" target="_blank">Psychotic Fury</a>, which can provide double strike to our commander and a select few other creatures in the deck. When combined with a pump effect like prowess, double strike is obviously immensely powerful in this deck. 
There's a bunch of other cantrips too, like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Opt" href="#" target="_blank">Opt</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thought Scour" href="#" target="_blank">Thought Scour</a>, but those cards just aren't as much fun as the others I've mentioned.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Crimson Wisps"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Expedite"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Psychotic Fury"></div></div>
There's also a small package of cards that care about our graveyard, all of which work quite well together. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dragon&#039;s Rage Channeler" href="#" target="_blank">Dragon&#039;s Rage Channeler</a> will provide some nice card selection while also becoming a threatening attacker as the game goes on.
 <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Haughty Djinn" href="#" target="_blank">Haughty Djinn</a> will reduce the cost of our most important spells, while also becoming huge as the game goes on. And, should we need a boatload of tokens, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rise from the Tides" href="#" target="_blank">Rise from the Tides</a> can provide that easily.
 Combined with some cantrips to fill the graveyard (like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Consider" href="#" target="_blank">Consider</a>, these cards will be super effective here).
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Dragon&#039;s Rage Channeler"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Haughty Djinn"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rise from the Tides"></div></div>
Lastly, I wanted to talk about a few cards in the deck that provide extra combat steps. Every extra combat card in this deck is either an instant or a sorcery, meaning that they all trigger prowess. 
Because prowess lasts until the end of the turn, our creatures will keep their pumped-up stats for all the combat steps we go through. 
Again, because of the immense power of double strike, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Savage Beating" href="#" target="_blank">Savage Beating</a> is one of the top choices here. 
For 7 mana, we can push through a crazy amount of damage with a sufficiently wide board of creatures. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="World at War" href="#" target="_blank">World at War</a> is great too, providing a cast trigger twice (triggering prowess again)! 
And, a new addition, Aetherdrift's <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Full Throttle" href="#" target="_blank">Full Throttle</a> can provide two extra combats for the price of one card. That's really strong, and I think this card will become an instant staple in EDH.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Savage Beating"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="World at War"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Full Throttle"></div></div>
And, here's the full decklist:
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Archetypes of Imagination - Building a Cantrip Deck" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Bria, Riptide Rogue
[/Commander]

[Instants]
*1 Arcane Denial
*1 Brainstorm
*1 Consider
*1 Counterspell
*1 Crimson Wisps
*1 Cryptic Command
*1 Disdainful Stroke
*1 Expedite
*1 Fists of Flame
*1 Flame of Anor
*1 Frantic Search
*1 Great Train Heist
*1 Leap
*1 Mental Note
*1 Opt
*1 Pongify
*1 Psychotic Fury
*1 Rapid Hybridization
*1 Rush of Inspiration // Crackling Falls
*1 Savage Beating
*1 Strix Serenade
*1 Swan Song
*1 Thought Scour
*1 Untimely Malfunction
[/Instants]

[Creatures]
*1 Archmage Emeritus
*1 Balmor, Battlemage Captain
*1 Crackling Cyclops
*1 Dragon&#039;s Rage Channeler
*1 Drake Hatcher
*1 Goblin Electromancer
*1 Harmonic Prodigy
*1 Haughty Djinn
*1 Khenra Spellspear // Gitaxian Spellstalker
*1 Kiln Fiend
*1 Murmuring Mystic
*1 Pinnacle Monk // Mystic Peak
*1 Slickshot Show-Off
*1 Stormcatch Mentor
*1 Talrand, Sky Summoner
*1 Third Path Iconoclast
*1 Valley Floodcaller
*1 Veyran, Voice of Duality
*1 Young Pyromancer
[/Creatures]

[Sorceries]
*1 Blasphemous Act
*1 Chart a Course
*1 Crash Through
*1 Enter the Enigma
*1 Full Throttle
*1 Gitaxian Probe
*1 Haze of Rage
*1 Jeska&#039;s Will
*1 Ponder
*1 Preordain
*1 Relentless Assault
*1 Renegade Tactics
*1 Rise from the Tides
*1 Season of Weaving
*1 Serum Visions
*1 Slip Through Space
*1 Warlord&#039;s Fury
*1 World at War
[/Sorceries]

[Lands]
*1 Cascade Bluffs
*1 Ferrous Lake
*1 Fiery Islet
*12 Island
*11 Mountain
*1 Otawara, Soaring City
*1 Riverglide Pathway // Lavaglide Pathway
*1 Riverpyre Verge
*1 Shivan Reef
*1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
*1 Stormcarved Coast
*1 Training Center
[/Lands]

[Artifacts]
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Izzet Signet
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Talisman of Creativity
[/Artifacts]

[Enchantments]
*1 Shark Typhoon
[/Enchantments]"></div>
<h3><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wave Goodbye" href="#" target="_blank">Wave Goodbye</a></h3>
That's it for this week, everyone! I really like this deck, as it's a more focused version of a classic Spellslinger deck. 
Instead of just casting spells and hoping to eventually find a wincon like, this deck goes for our opponents' life totals aggressively.
 I think that's a more fun way to build this archetype of deck, as it avoids the bad feelings that result from long turns without game state advancement.
I'd love to know: who's your favorite Spellslinger commander? <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bria, Riptide Rogue" href="#" target="_blank">Bria</a>'s probably my new favorite, for all the reasons I listed above and because she's from my favorite set from last year. Let me know your favorite in the comments below!
I'll see you all next week, when we make a deck focused on death triggers!

Archetypes of Imagination - Making a Cantrip Commander Deck

<h6 style="text-align: right;"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Niv-Mizzet, Visionary" href="#" target="_blank">Niv-Mizzet, Visionary</a>| art by <a href="https://danscottart.com/">Dan Murayama Scott</a></h6>
<h2>Which <a href="https://scryfall.com/search?q=Niv-Mizzet">Niv-Mizzet</a> is it?</h2>
Hello! Welcome to Archetypes of Imagination, a brand new series where I'll be building decks based on popular Commander archetypes. I'll be using<a href="https://tagger.scryfall.com/"> Scryfall's tagging system</a> and<a href="https://edhrec.com/tags"> EDHREC's Tag pages</a> to build around a new theme each week.
 Scryfall has a really cool way of categorizing cards, where each card has specific labels attached to it for later reference. For example, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wrath of God" href="#" target="_blank">Wrath of God</a> has the sweeper tag and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mirari&#039;s Wake" href="#" target="_blank">Mirari&#039;s Wake</a> has the mana increaser tag. EDHREC's tag system is really cool too, letting users see popular cards associated with a given strategy. 
The Equipment tag shows users that <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Puresteel Paladin" href="#" target="_blank">Puresteel Paladin</a> works well with the strategy and the Landfall tag does the same for <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rampaging Baloths" href="#" target="_blank">Rampaging Baloths</a>.
This week, we'll use those two systems to build a Commander deck centered around everybody's favorite 60-card archetype: burn! Burn can sometimes struggle to keep up in a format with three players who each start with 40 life, but I've got some plans that should power this strategy up well. 
To that end, I've chosen a super cool commander: <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Niv-Mizzet, Visionary" href="#" target="_blank">Niv-Mizzet, Visionary</a>!
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Niv-Mizzet, Visionary"></div></div>
This is Niv's seventh appearance on a Magic: The Gathering card, which is quite something. I do think that this version is my favorite so far, and that's coming from someone who played <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Niv-Mizzet, Parun" href="#" target="_blank">Niv-Mizzet, Parun</a> in cEDH for years.
 And, hilariously, this version of <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Niv-Mizzet, Visionary" href="#" target="_blank">Niv</a> goes infinite with two of his previous iterations. Check out these combos from Commander Spellbook, a database with information on over 40,000 EDH combos:
<div id="2353-6092" style="width: 100%; position: relative; overflow: visible; display: flex; justify-content: center;"><img decoding="async" id="csbLoad" src="https://commanderspellbook.com/images/gear.svg" alt="csb logo" width="300" /> 
<script id="2353-6092" src="https://commanderspellbook.com/embed.js?v=1&uses=%5B%22Niv-Mizzet%2C%20Visionary%22%2C%22Niv-Mizzet%2C%20Parun%22%5D&requires=%5B%5D&produces=%5B%22Near-infinite%20damage%22%2C%22Infinite%20card%20draw%22%2C%22Infinite%20draw%20triggers%22%5D&id=2353-6092&color=UR&extraRequirementCount=1"></script></div>
&nbsp;
<div id="4971-6092" style="width: 100%; position: relative; overflow: visible; display: flex; justify-content: center;"><img decoding="async" id="csbLoad" src="https://commanderspellbook.com/images/gear.svg" alt="csb logo" width="300" /> 
<script id="4971-6092" src="https://commanderspellbook.com/embed.js?v=1&uses=%5B%22Niv-Mizzet%2C%20Visionary%22%2C%22Niv-Mizzet%2C%20the%20Firemind%22%5D&requires=%5B%5D&produces=%5B%22Near-infinite%20damage%22%2C%22Infinite%20card%20draw%22%2C%22Infinite%20draw%20triggers%22%5D&id=4971-6092&color=UR&extraRequirementCount=1"></script></div>
&nbsp;
That aside, let's talk about <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Niv-Mizzet, Visionary" href="#" target="_blank">Niv-Mizzet, Visionary</a>. This card wants us to do non-combat damage to our opponents, rewarding us with tons of card draw when we do so. So, I've packed this deck with lots of ways to ping our opponents for little bits of damage, lots of ways to hit them hard with big amounts of damage, and leaned hard into an Izzet spellslinger theme this week. I'm excited to show you what I've come up with, so let's go!
Burn, baby! Burn!
This deck is focused heavily on instants and sorceries, having a total of 32 cards that fall into those categories. And, out of those cards, 11 of them can deal damage directly to our opponents. My favorite from this sub-group is <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fiery Confluence" href="#" target="_blank">Fiery Confluence</a>, which can act as a board wipe, a way to hit our opponents in the face, and even some targeted artifact removal. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cave-In" href="#" target="_blank">Cave-In</a> is from all the way back in 1999's Mercadian Masques, and can draw us a total of 6 cards for free if we cast it with our commander on the field. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wheel of Misfortune" href="#" target="_blank">Wheel of Misfortune</a> is extremely interesting too, adding even more complexity to its already-difficult mini-game by punishing our opponents who pick a high number. If one of our opponents wants to outbid us so that they can draw a full seven-card hand, then we'll be be drawing a ton of extra cards.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Fiery Confluence"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Cave-In"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Wheel of Misfortune"></div></div>
And, with all the instants and sorceries we'll be casting, there's some sweet payoffs to let us draw even more cards. My favorite pinger in the deck is <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Coruscation Mage" href="#" target="_blank">Coruscation Mage</a>, acting as a typical two-mana one-damage pinger with the option to become a four-mana two-damage pinger if we cast it later in the game. 
I think <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Exalted Flamer of Tzeentch" href="#" target="_blank">Exalted Flamer of Tzeentch</a> is another fantastic card, both pinging our opponents whenever we cast a spell and rebuying a card at random on each of our turns. 
And, as a pretty cool storm enabler, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Urabrask" href="#" target="_blank">Urabrask</a> is here too. This Praetor will ping our opponents, as most of the creatures in this deck do, while also providing us some extra mana to keep slinging spells. And, should we choose to, he can flip into a saga that synergizes perfectly with our deck.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Coruscation Mage"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Exalted Flamer of Tzeentch"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Urabrask"></div></div>
But, I hear you asking, what if we run out of instants and sorceries to cast? Well, I hope that never happens. But, in case it does, there's a few other ways to deal noncombat damage to our opponents.
 One of my favorite cards from last year, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Razorkin Needlehead" href="#" target="_blank">Razorkin Needlehead</a> will ensure at least one point of noncombat damage on each of our opponents' turns, and will usually provide even more pings as they inevitably take game actions. 
I also love <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Scalding Viper" href="#" target="_blank">Scalding Viper</a>, a creature that can hit our opponents pretty easily combined with a (somewhat lackluster) removal spell. 
While neither half of this card is absolutely stunning, the two halves combine to make a pretty good whole. Lastly, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Descent into Avernus" href="#" target="_blank">Descent into Avernus</a> has a slot here too.
 This card can speed up the game drastically, lowering life totals and raising the amount of mana available to players. We break parity on this card easily, drawing a boatload of cards once we have our commander and this card on the board together
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Razorkin Needlehead"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Scalding Viper"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Descent into Avernus"></div></div>
Now that's a <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gut Shot" href="#" target="_blank">Gut Shot</a>!
So, we'll be dealing a lot of noncombat damage to everyone at the table. But, most of that damage is coming in small increments (usually in ones). Let's see what we can do to bump those numbers up. Foundations' <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Twinflame Tyrant" href="#" target="_blank">Twinflame Tyrant</a> is an awesome card, doubling damage dealt to our opponents and providing a combat-relevant 3/5 flying creature all for just five mana! 
Not to sound like a broken record, but this is yet another of my favorite cards from the past year. There's another damage doubler here too: <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Solphim, Mayhem Dominus" href="#" target="_blank">Solphim, Mayhem Dominus</a>. 
Again, this creature can double damage while also acting as a pretty big 5/4 creature. Plus, this one can defend itself from removal at the low cost of discarding two cards, paying four life, and paying one mana. 
Lastly, there's <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might" href="#" target="_blank">Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might</a>. This card is fantastic, usually quadrupling the damage that we'll be dealing to our opponents. 
And, much like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Solphim, Mayhem Dominus" href="#" target="_blank">Solphim</a>, this card is quite hard for our opponents to get rid of permanently.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Twinflame Tyrant"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Solphim, Mayhem Dominus"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might"></div></div>
Here's the full decklist:
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Archetypes of Imagination - Burn" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="&nbsp;
[Commander]
*1 Niv-Mizzet, Visionary
[/Commander]
&nbsp;
[Creatures]
*1 Archmage Emeritus
*1 Archmage of Runes
*1 Ashling, Flame Dancer
*1 Chandra&#039;s Incinerator
*1 Coruscation Mage
*1 Electrostatic Field
*1 Erebor Flamesmith
*1 Exalted Flamer of Tzeentch
*1 Firebrand Archer
*1 Goblin Electromancer
*1 Guttersnipe
*1 Harmonic Prodigy
*1 Kessig Flamebreather
*1 Laboratory Maniac
*1 Niv-Mizzet, Parun
*1 Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
*1 Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might // Temple of Power
*1 Pink Horror
*1 Psychosis Crawler
*1 Razorkin Needlehead
*1 Scalding Viper // Steam Clean
*1 Solphim, Mayhem Dominus
*1 Stormcatch Mentor
*1 The Locust God
*1 Thermo-Alchemist
*1 Twinflame Tyrant
*1 Unruly Catapult
*1 Urabrask // The Great Work
*1 Veyran, Voice of Duality
[/Creatures]
&nbsp;
[Instants]
*1 Arcane Denial
*1 Brainstorm
*1 Desperate Ritual
*1 Fierce Guardianship
*1 Flame of Anor
*1 Frantic Search
*1 Ghostfire Slice
*1 Gut Shot
*1 Into the Flood Maw
*1 Lightning Bolt
*1 Opt
*1 Pongify
*1 Pyretic Ritual
*1 Rush of Inspiration // Crackling Falls
*1 Seething Song
*1 Untimely Malfunction
[/Instants]
&nbsp;
[Sorceries]
*1 Boltwave
*1 Cave-In
*1 End the Festivities
*1 Fiery Confluence
*1 Flame Rift
*1 Gitaxian Probe
*1 Inner Fire
*1 Jeska&#039;s Will
*1 Mana Geyser
*1 Ponder
*1 Rite of Flame
*1 Season of Weaving
*1 Slagstorm
*1 Tectonic Hazard
*1 Wheel of Misfortune
[/Sorceries]
&nbsp;
[Enchantments]
*1 Descent into Avernus
*1 Ominous Seas
[/Enchantments]
&nbsp;
[Lands]
*1 Cascade Bluffs
*1 Command Tower
*1 Ferrous Lake
*1 Fiery Islet
*12 Island
*11 Mountain
*1 Reliquary Tower
*1 Riverglide Pathway // Lavaglide Pathway
*1 Riverpyre Verge
*1 Shivan Reef
*1 Stormcarved Coast
*1 Sulfur Falls
*1 Training Center
[/Lands]
&nbsp;
[Artifacts]
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Thought Vessel
[/Artifacts]
&nbsp;"></div>
Some of you may notice upon looking at this list that there's very few mana rocks. This is on purpose, I promise! For a spellslinger deck, I much prefer to run rituals. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mana Geyser" href="#" target="_blank">Mana Geyser</a> has much more synergy with the rest of this deck than something like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Izzet Signet" href="#" target="_blank">Izzet Signet</a>. 
Plus, I get to run some super cool, powerful rituals like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Inner Fire" href="#" target="_blank">Inner Fire</a> that can provide enough mana to end the game outright.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mana Geyser"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Izzet Signet"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Inner Fire"></div></div>
<h2><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fiery Finish" href="#" target="_blank">Fiery Finish</a></h2>
Thanks for reading this week's edition of Archetypes of Imagination! Before you go, I wanted to talk about a few of my favorite cards in the deck. I like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Archmage Emeritus" href="#" target="_blank">Archmage Emeritus</a>, but I love <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Archmage of Runes" href="#" target="_blank">Archmage of Runes</a>. It's exactly the kind of big, dumb five-mana creature that I think commander is all about. 
I think that <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Chandra&#039;s Incinerator" href="#" target="_blank">Chandra&#039;s Incinerator</a> is great in this deck too, both as an easy-to-cast big creature and as a payoff for all the noncombat damage we'll be dishing out. Finally, I also wanted to shoutout <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ashling, Flame Dancer" href="#" target="_blank">Ashling, Flame Dancer</a>.
 This card does everything that this deck wants out of a creature: it adds mana, burns our opponents, and even provides card selection.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Archmage of Runes"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Chandra&#039;s Incinerator"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ashling, Flame Dancer"></div></div>
I'll see you all next week, when I build another EDH deck centered around cantrips!

Archetypes of Imagination - Making a Burn Deck

Archetypes of Imagination - Making an Attack Triggers Deck

2024’s EDHighlights -  Omo, Queen of Vesuva

2024’s EDHighlights -  Arabella, Abandoned Doll

2024’s EDHighlights - Ygra, Eater of All

2024’s EDHighlights - Stella Lee, Wild Card

<h6 style="text-align: right;"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Shilgengar, Sire of Famine|MH3|366" href="#" target="_blank">Shilgengar, Sire of Famine</a> | Art by <a href="https://www.jack-hughes.com/">Jack Hughes</a></h6>
<h1>Black and white cookies</h1>
Hi again! Welcome back to EDHighlights, the series where I build decks for 2024's most popular commander for each color combination. 
Now that 2024's set releases have wrapped up, I'll be taking a look at the most popular legendary creatures that were released in the past year, talking a bit about them, and finally building hopefully-slightly-unique decks around them.
This week, I'm taking a look at 2024's most popular Orzhov commander, which means we'll be working with … <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Shilgengar, Sire of Famine" href="#" target="_blank">Shilgengar, Sire of Famine</a>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Shilgengar, Sire of Famine"></div></div>
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Shilgengar, Sire of Famine" href="#" target="_blank">Shilgengar</a> received a good bit of attention, with 4072 decks to his name as of the time of writing.
 Interestingly, there was another popular commander from Modern Horizons 3: <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sorin of House Markov" href="#" target="_blank">Sorin of House Markov</a>. 
According to my very limited knowledge of Magic's lore (<a href="https://mtg.fandom.com/wiki/Shilgengar%27s_Ritual">and the MTG Wiki</a>), Shilgengar is (at least partially) responsible for Sorin's bloodline of Vampires coming into being and for the ignition of Sorin's spark. But, you're not here because you care about MTG lore. 
You're here because you care about EDH deck building. So, let's get on with it already.
<h2>Not everything is black and white</h2>
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Shilgengar, Sire of Famine" href="#" target="_blank">Shilgengar</a> is a 6/6 Elder Demon with Flying for 5 mana. He's got two other abilities, too. We can sacrifice a creature to make a Blood token or several Blood tokens if the sacrificed creature was an Angel. 
And, by paying and sacrificing six Blood tokens, we can reanimate every creature from our graveyard. 
These are pretty powerful abilities. Free sacrifice outlets are always powerful, especially sacrifice outlets that create something beneficial like a Blood token. 
And, once we've sacrificed enough creatures to <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Shilgengar, Sire of Famine" href="#" target="_blank">Shilgengar</a> (or discarded them to our Blood tokens), we can use his ability to bring them all back at a pretty low cost. 
This presents a pretty solid Aristocrats gameplan, with a low-cost mass reanimate ability to finish out games stapled onto our commander too.
 But, I want to add another way to win: <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mortal Combat" href="#" target="_blank">Mortal Combat</a>. Let's talk about the deck, ways to trigger that alternate win condition, and other cards that make the deck tick.
<h2>Is that a Mortal Kombat reference?</h2>
Let's start by talking about <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mortal Combat" href="#" target="_blank">Mortal Combat</a>. This four mana enchantment asks that we have 20 creatures in our graveyard at the beginning of our upkeep, so we're gonna need a lot of ways to fill that graveyard. Our commander can help with that, but here are a few of my other favorites:
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Firja, Judge of Valor" href="#" target="_blank">Firja, Judge of Valor</a> will provide card advantage while filling the graveyard, and it's also an Angel (which works well with <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Shilgengar, Sire of Famine" href="#" target="_blank">Shilgengar</a>'s ability). <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ripples of Undeath" href="#" target="_blank">Ripples of Undeath</a> is very similar, but it can be cast for just two mana.
 There's also <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dogged Detective" href="#" target="_blank">Dogged Detective</a>, a repeatable way to fill our graveyard once we have a sacrifice outlet (like our commander) on the field.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Firja, Judge of Valor"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ripples of Undeath"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Dogged Detective"></div></div>
Once we've got a full graveyard, we do need to fetch up <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mortal Combat" href="#" target="_blank">Mortal Combat</a> for the win. While more traditional tutors do work well here, there's a few special includes I wanted to show off.
 <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dimir House Guard" href="#" target="_blank">Dimir House Guard</a> can either be transmuted to find our win condition (thus adding another card to the graveyard for its 20-card requirement) or act as a sacrifice outlet to fill the graveyard with what we've already got on board. 
There's also <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Beseech the Mirror" href="#" target="_blank">Beseech the Mirror</a> which can sacrifice a Blood token to get <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mortal Combat" href="#" target="_blank">Mortal Combat</a> down directly.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Dimir House Guard"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Beseech the Mirror"></div></div>
<h2>An Orzhov aristocrats deck? Unheard of!</h2>
And, because it's an Orzhov deck with a sacrifice outlet in the command zone, there's good few cards to support that strategy in the 99. 
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vito, Fanatic of Aclazotz" href="#" target="_blank">Vito, Fanatic of Aclazotz</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Carmen, Cruel Skymarcher" href="#" target="_blank">Carmen, Cruel Skymarcher</a> are standouts here, triggering when we sacrifice creatures, tokens, and even fetch lands.
 <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Braids, Arisen Nightmare" href="#" target="_blank">Braids, Arisen Nightmare</a> works very well too, as it can sacrifice either a Blood token or a spare creature, whichever is most strategic at each of our end steps.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Vito, Fanatic of Aclazotz"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Carmen, Cruel Skymarcher"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Braids, Arisen Nightmare"></div></div>
Because this deck has a lot of Angels in it, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bishop of Wings" href="#" target="_blank">Bishop of Wings</a> will provide a lot of life gain and a lot of Spirit tokens. Similarly, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rampage of the Valkyries" href="#" target="_blank">Rampage of the Valkyries</a> will do a pretty good impression of <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Grave Pact" href="#" target="_blank">Grave Pact</a>. 
And, last but not least, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Liesa, Forgotten Archangel" href="#" target="_blank">Liesa, Forgotten Archangel</a> will rebuy each of our creatures while ensuring that our opponents' dead creatures stay dead.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bishop of Wings"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rampage of the Valkyries"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Liesa, Forgotten Archangel"></div></div>
Speaking of Angel synergies, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Firja&#039;s Retribution" href="#" target="_blank">Firja&#039;s Retribution</a> makes Angels, can provide a ton of removal, and even end games if we've got enough Angels on board. 
The recently-reprinted <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Righteous Valkyrie" href="#" target="_blank">Righteous Valkyrie</a> will provide life gain and act as a sweet anthem once we cast enough Angels, and (as always) <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Giada, Font of Hope" href="#" target="_blank">Giada, Font of Hope</a> does most everything that an Angel-centric deck wants for just two mana.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Firja&#039;s Retribution"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Righteous Valkyrie"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Giada, Font of Hope"></div></div>
<h2>Blood is thicker than water</h2>
I included a few more ways to take advantage of our use of Blood tokens too, starting with <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Marionette Apprentice" href="#" target="_blank">Marionette Apprentice</a>. This card triggers off of both Blood tokens and creatures leaving the battlefield, pulling double duty here. 
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Oltec Matterweaver" href="#" target="_blank">Oltec Matterweaver</a> is one of my favorite cards from the past year, and it'll help add to our blood collection as the game drags on. 
Last up is <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Moonstone Eulogist" href="#" target="_blank">Moonstone Eulogist</a>, which feels purpose built for this deck. It'll become a huge flying threat in no time, and probably make a few extra Blood tokens along the way.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Marionette Apprentice"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Oltec Matterweaver"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Moonstone Eulogist"></div></div>
And here's the full decklist…
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="2024&#039;s EDHighlights - Shilgengar, Sire of Famine" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="&nbsp;
[Commander]
*1 Shilgengar, Sire of Famine
[/Commander]
&nbsp;
[Creatures]
*1 Angel of Despair
*1 Angel of Indemnity
*1 Angel of Suffering
*1 Angel of the Ruins
*1 Angelic Sell-Sword
*1 Battle Angels of Tyr
*1 Bishop of Wings
*1 Braids, Arisen Nightmare
*1 Carmen, Cruel Skymarcher
*1 Dazzling Angel
*1 Dimir House Guard
*1 Disciple of the Vault
*1 Dogged Detective
*1 Fain, the Broker
*1 Firja, Judge of Valor
*1 Fleshwrither
*1 Giada, Font of Hope
*1 Golgari Thug
*1 Guardian of Ghirapur
*1 Herald of the Host
*1 Karmic Guide
*1 Liesa, Forgotten Archangel
*1 Loran of the Third Path
*1 Marionette Apprentice
*1 Millikin
*1 Mirkwood Bats
*1 Moon-Blessed Cleric
*1 Moonstone Eulogist
*1 Oltec Matterweaver
*1 Overlord of the Balemurk
*1 Renegade Reaper
*1 Restoration Angel
*1 Righteous Valkyrie
*1 Sanctuary Warden
*1 Scholar of New Horizons
*1 Serra Paragon
*1 Shepherd of the Cosmos
*1 Starnheim Aspirant
*1 Stinkweed Imp
*1 Stitcher&#039;s Supplier
*1 Vito, Fanatic of Aclazotz
*1 Woe Strider
*1 Youthful Valkyrie
[/Creatures]
&nbsp;
[Sorceries]
*1 Beseech the Mirror
*1 Blasphemous Edict
*1 Damn
*1 Demonic Counsel
*1 Demonic Tutor
*1 Incarnation Technique
[/Sorceries]
&nbsp;
[Artifacts]
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Herald&#039;s Horn
*1 Orzhov Signet
*1 Palantír of Orthanc
*1 Skullclamp
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Talisman of Hierarchy
[/Artifacts]
&nbsp;
[Enchantments]
*1 Black Market Connections
*1 Firja&#039;s Retribution
*1 Mortal Combat
*1 Rampage of the Valkyries
*1 Ripples of Undeath
[/Enchantments]
&nbsp;
[Lands]
*1 Arid Mesa
*1 Bloodstained Mire
*1 Brightclimb Pathway // Grimclimb Pathway
*1 Caves of Koilos
*1 Command Tower
*1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
*1 Fetid Heath
*1 Flooded Strand
*1 Godless Shrine
*1 Isolated Chapel
*1 Marsh Flats
*1 Nesting Grounds
*7 Plains
*1 Polluted Delta
*1 Seraph Sanctuary
*1 Shadowy Backstreet
*1 Shattered Sanctum
*1 Silent Clearing
*1 Snowfield Sinkhole
*1 Sunlit Marsh
*5 Swamp
*1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
*1 Vault of Champions
*1 Verdant Catacombs
*1 Windswept Heath
[/Lands]
&nbsp;
[Instants]
*1 Anguished Unmaking
*1 Path to Exile
*1 Swords to Plowshares
[/Instants]
&nbsp;"></div>
<h2><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Inevitable End" href="#" target="_blank">Inevitable End</a></h2>
Thanks for reading, folks! I didn't touch on it earlier, but when <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Shilgengar, Sire of Famine" href="#" target="_blank">Shilgengar</a> reanimates creatures with his second ability, he put a finality counter on each of them.
 I included a few ways to get rid of those counters, including <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Scholar of New Horizons" href="#" target="_blank">Scholar of New Horizons</a> to turn finality counters into lands, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fain, the Broker" href="#" target="_blank">Fain, the Broker</a> to turn counters into <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Treasure" href="#" target="_blank">Treasure</a> tokens, and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sanctuary Warden" href="#" target="_blank">Sanctuary Warden</a> to turn them into 1/1 creatures and card advantage.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Scholar of New Horizons"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Fain, the Broker"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sanctuary Warden"></div></div>
Before I go, I also wanted to talk about a few other Angels that work really well with the overall game plan. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Shepherd of the Cosmos" href="#" target="_blank">Shepherd of the Cosmos</a> can bring back something we’ve sacrificed, and can even grab a fetch land for some sneaky ramp.
 <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Herald of the Host" href="#" target="_blank">Herald of the Host</a> is fine as a french vanilla 4/4 for five mana, but because the myriad tokens can be sacrificed to our commander, this creature becomes a lot stronger here.
 And, because of the high creature count in this deck, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Angelic Sell-Sword" href="#" target="_blank">Angelic Sell-Sword</a> can produce a boatload of tokens.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Shepherd of the Cosmos"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Herald of the Host"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Angelic Sell-Sword"></div></div>
I'll see you all next week, when we take a look at 2024's most popular Izzet commander.

Cooper Gottfried