Dreamtide WhaleDreamtide Whale | Art by Ron Spears

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 Commander-legal deck with a 20-card "sideboard" that changed the theme, color, or power level of your deck.

We collected submissions from the Archidekt Discord and Archidekt newspost and evaluated them based on their creativity, and how effectively the sideboard transformed the deck.

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, July 23, 2025 will be the winner, and receive $250 credit to cardsphere.com.

Second and third place will receive $150 and $100 cardsphere.com credits, respectively.

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

The Brothers' War by friscomm

Magic's story is full of great battles and epic conflicts. One of the biggest was the Brothers' War, fought between Mishra and Urza, which friscomm has distilled into a single deck.

The two possible commanders for this deck are Urza, Lord ProtectorUrza, Lord Protector and Mishra, Claimed by GixMishra, Claimed by Gix, depicting each character at the height of their devastating conflict.

Because these commanders don't share any colors, the rest of the deck is focused on artifacts. This works perfectly for Urza, Lord ProtectorUrza, Lord Protector, who gives you a discount on impactful spells like Wurmcoil EngineWurmcoil Engine, Threefold ThunderhulkThreefold Thunderhulk, and Forsaken MonumentForsaken Monument.

The core of the deck also features a solid number of token makers, which Mishra, Claimed by GixMishra, Claimed by Gix uses to launch an all out assault on his enemies, while Urza, Lord ProtectorUrza, Lord Protector uses them for shelter to play a longer game.

When playing with Urza, Lord ProtectorUrza, Lord Protector as the commander, friscomm brings in a number of artifact tutors to help setup a game ending combo. Using either Crystal Skull, Isu SpyglassCrystal Skull, Isu Spyglass or The Reality ChipThe Reality Chip and Sensei's Divining TopSensei's Divining Top you can draw your whole deck by repeatedly using Top to draw a card then recasting it for free thanks to Urza, Lord ProtectorUrza, Lord Protector's discount. Cast Thassa's OracleThassa's Oracle to win the game.

And if that plan is interrupted, you can always meld Urza, Lord ProtectorUrza, Lord Protector and The Mightstone and WeakstoneThe Mightstone and Weakstone into Urza, PlaneswalkerUrza, Planeswalker to take over the long game too.

When helmed by Mishra, Claimed by GixMishra, Claimed by Gix, however, this deck wants the game to go fast. HellriderHellrider and Impact TremorsImpact Tremors step in to make every creature token you create deal as much damage as possible.

Meanwhile, Chiss-Goria, Forge TyrantChiss-Goria, Forge Tyrant and Purphoros, Bronze-BloodedPurphoros, Bronze-Blooded help get your bigger artifact creatures into play and attacking as quickly as possible. And, of course, if your opponents survive the initial assault you can meld your commander into Mishra, Lost to PhyrexiaMishra, Lost to Phyrexia to wipe away all resistance.

This version of the deck may be more aggressive, but it contains no combos, tutors, or Game Changers, making it more suited to pods playing at a lower power level.

The Impossible Deck by Biglilsis

For this contest, Biglilsis wanted to change their deck's color and strategy, and leaned on Clara OswaldClara Oswald to make that possible without swapping commanders. Paired with The Twelfth DoctorThe Twelfth Doctor, this deck can be Temur Allies or Grixis Burn.

Both versions of this deck are centered firmly around The Twelfth DoctorThe Twelfth Doctor's ability to demonstrate spells cast from anywhere other than your hand. As such, this deck contains a core of impulse draw, flashback, and cast-from-library effects. This also ensures that you'll find the spells unique to each game plan the deck supports.

There are also a few cheeky ways to win tucked into the main part of the deck. Forcing an opponent to cast either Glorious EndGlorious End or Pact of NegationPact of Negation can leave them in a sticky situation. Glorious EndGlorious End is particularly fun, because the opponent's copy will resolve first, which removes both of your copies as part of ending the turn so you won't lose at your next end step.

Of course, the main attractions of this deck are the strategies it switches between.

The deck starts with the goal of copying creature spells to snowball value. But demonstrating creatures also gives an opponent a copy, so you don't want to copy anything too scary. That's where Allies come in. Allies grow stronger the more you have, which means they probably won't do anything for your opponents.

Demonstrating Harabaz DruidHarabaz Druid may give an opponent an extra mana, but gives you at least four extra mana. Turntimber RangerTurntimber Ranger and Kazuul WarlordKazuul Warlord will do almost nothing for your opponents, but swiftly create a huge army of creatures for you.

Even otherwise innocuous creatures like Umara RaptorUmara Raptor and Graypelt HunterGraypelt Hunter create a pair of evasive threats that grow very quickly.

Swap out all the green cards for black, however, and this deck turns up the heat. This version of the deck wants to burn everything to the ground.

BoltwaveBoltwave, Fiery ConfluenceFiery Confluence, and Delayed Blast FireballDelayed Blast Fireball deal damage to each opponent. You may take some hits from the demonstrated copies, but it's worth it to double the damage you deal elsewhere.

Wound ReflectionWound Reflection, City on FireCity on Fire, and Passionate ArchaeologistPassionate Archaeologist also ensure you're dealing more damage than you take.

Kill or Curse by Artaud

Last, but not least, we have this Ardenn, Intrepid ArchaeologistArdenn, Intrepid Archaeologist deck by Artaud. For when you want to shuffle Equipment among your creatures, pair Ardenn with Kediss, Emberclaw FamiliarKediss, Emberclaw Familiar. But if you wish to curse your enemies, put Francisco, Fowl MarauderFrancisco, Fowl Marauder on your shoulder instead.

The core of this deck is focused around finding Auras and/or Equipment and getting them into play.

Armored SkyhunterArmored Skyhunter helps filter through the top of your library for Auras and Equipment, while Songbirds' BlessingSongbirds' Blessing puts an Aura directly into play whenever you attack. There are several Auras that grant evasion in the core of the deck, along with Eldrazi ConscriptionEldrazi Conscription so there's always an Aura worth flipping into.

The deck also contains several ways to search for Ishgard, the Holy SeeIshgard, the Holy See to recur your more expensive Equipment or Curses. Sun TitanSun Titan and Sevinne's ReclamationSevinne's Reclamation are also included to get as much value from Commander's SphereCommander's Sphere and BlitzballBlitzball as possible.

As a Voltron deck, powerful Equipment like Colossus HammerColossus Hammer, Excalibur, Sword of EdenExcalibur, Sword of Eden, and Aettir and PriwenAettir and Priwen are brought in to attack life totals as quickly as possible.

ShadowspearShadowspear and Zephyr BootsZephyr Boots help make sure Ardenn gets through in combat. There are also several Equipment tutors to help compensate for the low density of Equipment, ensuring you can buff Ardenn to a credible threat.

Kediss, Emberclaw FamiliarKediss, Emberclaw Familiar makes sure that threat is pointed at each opponent, giving them as little time to respond as possible.

Swap your Equipment for Curses, however, and Ardenn, Intrepid ArchaeologistArdenn, Intrepid Archaeologist now moves Auras between players.

Move Curse of Fool's WisdomCurse of Fool's Wisdom and Cruel RealityCruel Reality around the table to stop anyone from pulling too far ahead, or stack all your Curses on a single player to make their life especially difficult.

For this version, you want to put Songbirds' BlessingSongbirds' Blessing on Francisco, Fowl MarauderFrancisco, Fowl Marauder to safely attack and find more Curses every turn. Francisco can also wear the remaining Equipment and creature Auras to whittle away at your opponents' life totals while they struggle under your Curses. And right before you deal the lethal strike, Ardenn, Intrepid ArchaeologistArdenn, Intrepid Archaeologist can move your Curses to their next target.

And there you have it, the three finalists for the July 2025 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, July 23th, 2025.