The VisionThe Vision | Art by Carissa Susilo

A few spoilers for the upcoming Marvel's Superheroes set trickled out during MagicCon: Las Vegas, and one of them just might have done the impossible: a colorless commander that doesn't bore me to tears. The VisionThe Vision is one of the more interesting designs I've seen from the spoilers so far, and in this deck tech, I'm going to take a shot at building him! I'm hoping to get a Mishra's WorkshopMishra's Workshop deck that fills the Golos, Tireless PilgrimGolos, Tireless Pilgrim-shaped void in my heart.

What Does The Vision Do?

The VisionThe Vision is a 2/5 with flying and vigilance for . Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, you get to choose one of the following options that haven't been chosen this turn: Vision gains double strike, Vision gains indestructible, or draw a card.

The Vision has all the makings of a perfect colorless Voltron commander! Ideally, a deck with him at the helm will be able to trigger Vision twice each turn to draw a card and prepare Vision to swing for huge amounts of damage, while being able to hold up some instants to give Vision indestructible in response to removal on the opponents' turns.

Key Cards for The Vision

Step one for my vision for this deck is a lot of mana production. In powerful formats, like Legacy and Vintage, colorless decks get by using tons of lands that can tap for more than one mana and powerful mana rocks, like Mana VaultMana Vault and Grim MonolithGrim Monolith. Mishra's WorkshopMishra's Workshop is the most powerful of the bunch, adding three mana to cast artifact spells. Notably, this can be used to cast The VisionThe Vision way ahead of schedule!

Planar NexusPlanar Nexus is a wild land that has all nonbasic land types. This allows for build-your-own Ancient TombAncient Tomb combinations with lands like Urza's TowerUrza's Tower, Urza's MineUrza's Mine, Urza's Power PlantUrza's Power Plant, and CloudpostCloudpost. I've included as many land tutors as I could scrounge together to boost the deck's ability to get Planar Nexus out as consistently as possible to enable these. Plus, since this deck was constructed on a Mishra's Workshop budget, I also added a Candelabra of TawnosCandelabra of Tawnos to untap all these lands. I wouldn't advise looking at the price tag on this deck.

After using all of these powerful lands to make tons of mana, the next step is to constrain your opponents' ability to cast spells. This is another category where a lot of Vintage staples pop up. Sphere of ResistanceSphere of Resistance, Thorn of AmethystThorn of Amethyst, TrinisphereTrinisphere, Lodestone GolemLodestone Golem, and God-Pharaoh's StatueGod-Pharaoh's Statue are all here to keep the other decks at the table in check while this deck spends a few turns getting its engines going.

Once this deck has landed a stax piece or two and established a lot of mana generation, it's time to start whacking the value piñata! Buster SwordBuster Sword is a slam dunk inclusion here as it will trigger twice when Vision connects after gaining double strike.

Chimil, the Inner SunChimil, the Inner Sun and Wondrous CrucibleWondrous Crucible both pull double duty as protection pieces that can generate heaps of value over time. This deck excels at putting these artifacts into play really early in the game, which puts it in a great position to really maximize the incremental card advantage they provide.

How Does The Vision Win the Game?

The Vision's primary win condition is commander damage. Given that he naturally gives himself double strike and comes with built-in evasion, nearly any way to boost his power creates a path to eliminating players. NettlecystNettlecyst and Adaptive OmnitoolAdaptive Omnitool are classic Voltron Equipment pieces that are right at home here, giving Vision easy one-shot potential due to the sheer number of artifacts this deck wants to put into play.

There are two combo angles of attack this deck can take when the Voltron plan simply isn't enough. First is the iconic Krark-Clan IronworksKrark-Clan Ironworks combo, which outputs infinite colorless mana, cast triggers, death triggers, and more with Scrap TrawlerScrap Trawler, Myr RetrieverMyr Retriever, and a cost-reducer like Foundry InspectorFoundry Inspector. In order for this to kill the table, an outlet like Glaring FleshrakerGlaring Fleshraker, Aetherflux ReservoirAetherflux Reservoir, or Walking BallistaWalking Ballista will have to join in on the fun.

In a similar vein to the Krark-Clan Ironworks combo, Mystic ForgeMystic Forge, Sensei's Divining TopSensei's Divining Top, and a cost-reducer like Foundry Inspector will provide infinite casts and card draw, which can combine with Aetherflux Reservoir or Glaring Fleshraker to burn the table out. I'm a huge fan of this combo in the deck as all three pieces are just good artifacts that the deck is happy to include regardless.

The Vision Commander Deck List

Conclusion

This build of The Vision is easily a Bracket 3 (Upgraded) deck, with my typical "talk to the table" warning that comes with decks that play a bunch of stax pieces. This deck plays the kind of Magic that I find fun, but when playing amongst random people I wouldn't be surprised or offended if the table banded together to take me out after I resolve a turn two or three Lodestone GolemLodestone Golem (even if said Lodestone Golem really isn't that big of a deal).

This is easily the most expensive deck I've ever built for an article, so I'd also like to take a moment to point out that cutting just two cards, Mishra's WorkshopMishra's Workshop and Candelabra of TawnosCandelabra of Tawnos, reduces the cost of this deck by around $5,000, and neither of them are required to make the deck function. I just find them to be both beautiful and extraordinarily fun to play with. Don't let yourself be intimidated out of playing this awesome commander just because my favorite way to play it cost as much as a used car!