(Felidar RetreatFelidar Retreat | Art by Ralph Horsley)

February is beginning to end, which can only mean one thing. It's time to announce the finalists for this month's Archidekt Deckbuilding Contest! In case you missed the announcement post, this is a monthly contest with a different theme each month. Your goal is to build a Commander legal deck that fulfills the prompt in a creative or unique fashion.

At the end of each month, three finalists will be selected for you to vote on. Whoever gets the most votes will be crowned the winner, although all three finalists receive a prize.

As a reminder, this month's prompt was to brew a two color Commander-legal deck that does something unexpected for its colors. That could be an Azorius burn deck, Simic aristocrats, or anything that makes you think "wait, that's possible?".

We collected submissions from the Archidekt Discord and Archidekt newspost and evaluated them based on how effectively they turn the commander's drawback into an advantage.

Now, it's your turn to decide who will be crowned the winner. Read about each deck list below, then visit your favorite and upvote them on Archidekt.

Whoever has the most upvotes by Wednesday, February 26, 2025 will be the winner, and receive $250 credit to cardsphere.com. Second and third place will receive $150 and $100 cardsphere.com respectively.

Finally, here are the three finalists chosen for this months contest, presented in no particular order. Follow the link in each decklist to vote on your favorite!

These lands don't stick around, but they don't have to. Lands decks love to sacrifice lands, and this one is no different. Both ExcavationExcavation and Nahiri's LithoformingNahiri's Lithoforming let you trade lands for cards, while Sage of Lat-NamSage of Lat-Nam cares that they're still artifacts. The deck also packs Valakut ExplorationValakut Exploration and Roil CartographerRoil Cartographer to draw cards as lands enter play.

In order to get those triggers as often as possible, the deck has Illusionist's BracersIllusionist's Bracers to double Saheeli'sSaheeli's effect, and Marvin, Murderous MimicMarvin, Murderous Mimic and Prototype PortalPrototype Portal as additional methods of getting artifact lands into play. Marvin and Saheeli both combo with Retreat to CoralhelmRetreat to Coralhelm and Tideforce ElementalTideforce Elemental to keep the lands falling as long as you have mana.

Once the lands do start falling, this deck is ready with classics like Field of the DeadField of the Dead and Roil ElementalRoil Elemental.

Reckless PyrosurferReckless Pyrosurfer can make those tokens and stolen creatures much scarier, since instances of battle cry stack. This is also a great combo with Embodiment of FuryEmbodiment of Fury, or you can deal damage directly with Tunneling GeopedeTunneling Geopede.

If you like to get a little weird, however, you can turn a MountainMountain into an artifact with Liquimetal CoatingLiquimetal Coating. Copy that enough times to win the game with Valakut, the Molten PinnacleValakut, the Molten Pinnacle.

The deck can also generate infinite Landfall triggers with Master TransmuterMaster Transmuter and Retreat to CoralhelmRetreat to Coralhelm. Paired with Tiller EngineTiller Engine, Seat of the SynodSeat of the Synod, and Silverbluff BridgeSilverbluff Bridge, you can repeatedly return one land to hand to put the other into play.

Luckily, the graveyard is exactly where Glissa, the TraitorGlissa, the Traitor wants your artifacts to be. Sacrifice Voyager StaffVoyager Staff to blink Ravenous ChupacabraRavenous Chupacabra, Noxious GearhulkNoxious Gearhulk, or Kogla, the Titan ApeKogla, the Titan Ape, and bring the Staff right back to your hand when they destroy a creature.

But any blink deck worth it's salt wants as many enters triggers as possible. Synod SanctumSynod Sanctum and Cold StorageCold Storage help you achieve that by exiling multiple creatures, then sacrificing themselves to return those creatures to play. Add Elvish VisionaryElvish Visionary and Prosperous InnkeeperProsperous Innkeeper to your loop for a steady stream of cards and mana. This is important because it takes a lot of mana to cast and activate Cold StorageCold Storage multiple times in a turn.

To help mitigate that hefty mana cost, this deck also plays Argothian OpportunistArgothian Opportunist and Wreck HunterWreck Hunter to make Powerstone tokens. These are a great persistent mana source to ensure you can always save a key creature from removal by putting it under Cold StorageCold Storage.

For a more mana efficient blink engine, we have Golden ArgosyGolden Argosy. You can crew this vehicle with any number of creatures, each of which get exiled until your end step when it attacks.

And if your boat dies in combat, Glissa, the TraitorGlissa, the Traitor is ready to bring it right back to your hand, to ensure the value never stops.

Alternately, you can protect Golden ArgosyGolden Argosy, or any of your creatures, with one of the Feign DeathFeign Death effects included in this deck. Blink spells are often cast defensively, and these fulfill that purpose so your Massacre WurmMassacre Wurm and Gray Merchant of AsphodelGray Merchant of Asphodel are never as vulnerable as they appear.

The key enchantments for this deck are ones that return themselves to play when the creature they enchant dies. Thanks to Tormod, the DesecratorTormod, the Desecrator you'll always have fresh tokens to attach them to.

This also gets around the downside of Traveling PlagueTraveling Plague, ensuring you keep control of your enchantments. Necrotic PlagueNecrotic Plague won't stay under your control, but still enters and leaves your graveyard, generating a zombie token each time.

Of course, this makes Tormod, the DesecratorTormod, the Desecrator a prime target for Necrotic PlagueNecrotic Plague, so Zugzou has included several swords that give protection from black, so your commander can't be enchanted. FumbleFumble is another excellent way to keep your own cards healthy.

For enchantress effects, we're turning to Hateful EidolonHateful Eidolon and Ashiok's ReaperAshiok's Reaper, which both draw cards when a creature succumbs to your sickening auras. MirrormadeMirrormade, Copy EnchantmentCopy Enchantment, and Clever ImpersonatorClever Impersonator help make this happen faster, and increase the cards you draw.

These copies will also return to play, keeping the cycle of cards and zombie tokens going. Just keep in mind these draw triggers aren't optional. Luckily, you can enchant your own creatures to kill them when your library starts to get empty.

To help you find these cards, this deck also includes several CuriosityCuriosity effects. These let your other commander, Esior, Wardwing FamiliarEsior, Wardwing Familiar, dig through your deck to assemble all the pieces you need to win.

While this deck can win gradually, whittling creatures down with more and more copies of Traveling PlagueTraveling Plague and raising an army of zombies, it also includes several combos. If you already have two zombies in play, you can enchant one of them with two Screams from WithinScreams from Within thanks to MirrormadeMirrormade. This gives the zombie -2/-2, killing it and letting you return both enchantments to play on the second zombie.

Tormod, the DesecratorTormod, the Desecrator makes two more zombies and the cycle continues until you copy something else with MirrormadeMirrormade.

You can do this without a clone effect if you have Fallen IdealFallen Ideal or another sacrifice outlet. Fallen IdealFallen Ideal also lets you threaten lethal commander damage with Esior, Wardwing FamiliarEsior, Wardwing Familiar if you've assembled enough zombies.

And there you have it, the three finalists for 2025's first Archidekt Deckbuilding Contest. Which is your favorite? Be sure to follow the links in the headers of each section to visit the deck pages and upvote the one you think should win! The final rankings based on your votes will be announced on Wednesday, February 26th, 2025.

Ben Doolittle

Ben was introduced to Magic during Seventh Edition and has played on and off ever since. A Simic mage at heart, he loves being given a problem to solve. When not shuffling cards, Ben can be found lost in a book or skiing in the mountains of Vermont.