Malcolm, the EyesMalcolm, the Eyes | Art by Michael Walsh

Last year, the Magic Pride event was my favorite of the year. The premise is simple: all legendary creatures have partner. This format has a nearly limitless number of potential partner combinations to construct a strategy around. The greatest challenge for me isn't building a good deck, but choosing just one deck to play at the event. In this deck tech, we're going to be taking my signature commander, Malcolm, the EyesMalcolm, the Eyes, and pairing him with my favorite commander from Final Fantasy: Cloud, Midgar MercenaryCloud, Midgar Mercenary.

What Do Cloud and Malcolm Do?

Malcolm, the EyesMalcolm, the Eyes is a two-mana commander with flying and haste. Whenever you cast your second spell each turn, you get a Clue token. That's it. In the age of commanders that have two paragraphs of rules text, I find Malcolm's simplicity refreshing. The complexity lies in how to take advantage of Malcolm's abilities. Here, I'm primarily interested in leveraging Malcolm's speed and evasion. A two-mana creature with flying is going to get through in combat very often in the early stages of the game as most opponents will still be developing their mana and establishing their engines by the time Malcolm hits the red zone.

Unlike Malcolm, Cloud, Midgar MercenaryCloud, Midgar Mercenary has quite a bit of text to work through. When Cloud enters, you search your library for an Equipment card and put it into your hand. Then, while Cloud is equipped, his abilities as well as the abilities of any Equipment attached to him trigger twice. The tutor effect is going to be key in this deck. I'm a huge fan of toolbox-style decks that have a plethora of situational cards tied together by a powerful tutor effect and Cloud is a perfect fit.

These two commanders are going to come together to form a really sweet Voltron deck. Cloud, Midgar MercenaryCloud, Midgar Mercenary is an easy way to find the best Equipment card for any given situation and Malcolm is an evasive creature that shouldn't be difficult to connect with. Additionally, both commanders are very good attackers! This means I can theoretically work towards a turn where I kill the two most threatening opponents at the table with commander damage in a single turn, leaving only one player alive to try to stop me.

Key Cards for Malcolm & Cloud

The most important cards in any deck with Cloud, Midgar MercenaryCloud, Midgar Mercenary in the command zone are the Equipment spells. I've fit as many of the best Equipment as I can get away with in this deck. Buster SwordBuster Sword, as most Final Fantasy fans would probably guess, has really strong synergy with Cloud. Getting to cast one spell from your hand for free is pretty good, but getting to do it twice when Buster SwordBuster Sword is equipped to Cloud is a ridiculous amount of value. Blade of SelvesBlade of Selves is also at its best when equipped to Cloud, as attacking with Blade of SelvesBlade of Selves equipped will give you a bunch of copies of Cloud, Midgar MercenaryCloud, Midgar Mercenary. Sure, those copies are all going to get sacrificed to the legend rule, but each one of them will still get their enters trigger to search for an Equipment.

The weakest part of Equipment spells is that they cost mana to cast and additional mana to equip to a creature. No one wants to spend their hard-earned mana on equipping their creatures. Thankfully, a number of ways to cheat on these costs have been printed over the years. Taking a page directly out of Modern Hammer Time's playbook, this deck includes Sigarda's AidSigarda's Aid and Puresteel PaladinPuresteel Paladin, two of the most mana-efficient ways to cheat Equipment onto your creatures. Forge AnewForge Anew, Bureau HeadmasterBureau Headmaster, and Fighter ClassFighter Class are also here to help give Cloud his Buster SwordBuster Sword without having to spend all of my mana.

Between Malcolm's Clue tokens, artifact-based ramp, and the 15 Equipment cards in the deck, I expect this deck to have a lot of artifacts in play at any given time. I've included some cards with affinity or improvise to take full advantage of that. ThoughtcastThoughtcast will often be a one-mana DivinationDivination. Metallic RebukeMetallic Rebuke becomes a one-mana Mana LeakMana Leak very early into most games. Emry, Lurker of the LochEmry, Lurker of the Loch ensures that none of your most important artifacts stay gone for long after being removed. Emry is particularly strong in a deck that plays Mishra's BaubleMishra's Bauble and Urza's BaubleUrza's Bauble, as she'll often be able to tap to draw a card with one of those at the very least.

How Do Malcolm & Cloud Win the Game?

The most common way that a Voltron deck wins games is through commander damage, typically dealt by a commander with a critical mass of Auras or Equipment attached. This deck is no exception. It isn't all Auras and Equipment, though. Jeska, Thrice RebornJeska, Thrice Reborn is a card I've been including as a finisher more and more often in my decks lately and this deck makes very good use of her. Two-Handed AxeTwo-Handed Axe serves a similar purpose to Jeska, while being an Equipment that Cloud, Midgar MercenaryCloud, Midgar Mercenary and Stoneforge MysticStoneforge Mystic can fetch.

It is important for any Voltron deck to have creatures that can get the job done in case the commanders are rendered uncastable, either by a Drannith MagistrateDrannith Magistrate or prohibitively high command tax. With all of the powerful Equipment in this deck, any creature can easily become a lethal threat, but some cards in the deck are more well-suited than others to this purpose. Kappa CannoneerKappa Cannoneer is an unblockable menace that is easy to cast and difficult to remove. Inkmoth NexusInkmoth Nexus is a land that can become a creature with infect. With a Sigarda's AidSigarda's Aid on the field, Inkmoth NexusInkmoth Nexus can attack and then receive an instant-speed Colossus HammerColossus Hammer after blocks to kill a player in one hit!

Malcolm & Cloud Commander Decklist

Conclusion

I'd place this deck into the lower end of the Optimized Bracket (4). The suite of interaction and ramp is packed with Game Changers, and this deck has a very fast gameplan that would most likely be overwhelming to less interactive decks in the lower brackets. It wouldn't be a big ask to tone it down to fit into the Upgraded Bracket (3) for someone that isn't as committed to playing cards like Force of WillForce of Will or Chrome MoxChrome Mox.

This deck is made for players that like to feel like they're putting a puzzle together each turn. The decision trees start to get complicated as early as turn two where you have to decide which commander to deploy first, and then what Equipment Cloud will fetch first. While it is incredibly fun to navigate those decision trees, they come with a very real risk. Even the most skilled pilot could make a wrong choice early on in a game and doom themselves in the process. I love the feeling of that risk hanging over my head, but it certainly isn't for everyone.

I love building for this variant of Commander, even if I only get to play it twice a year. I'm excited to see what interesting combinations the people at my local game store came up with this year, and I'm equally excited to hear about what pairings the people in the comments have come up with!

For more Malcolm, the Eyes content, be sure to check out my article about him over on Commander's Herald. Even with all of the awesome tools recent sets have given us, I believe this version of the deck still holds up.