Before we cover actual Spellslinger decks, let's figure out what spells actually are. This is important, because many cards that are technically called spells aren't actually helpful in your Spellslinger deck.

According to the rules of Magic: The Gathering, spells are what you call cards on the stack. The stack is where cards go after you've cast or copied them, but before they "resolve" or before the effect written on the card happens. When cards are in your hand before you cast them — or in a zone other than the stack or the battlefield, like the graveyard — they're just called "cards."

Now, this is where it can get a little confusing for players learning the game, because a card in your hand that isn't a land is often called a spell in casual conversation. Likewise, a Lightning BoltLightning Bolt, for example, is usually called a spell no matter what zone it's in, because cards with the instant or sorcery type are usually called spells.

Spellslinger decks, then, generally reward you for playing instants and sorceries, like Arcane BombardmentArcane Bombardment does. It's important to note, however, that many of these rewards count all noncreature spells, as Shark TyphoonShark Typhoon does. Read each card carefully to be sure.

Please note that when the word "spell" appears again in the article, it's going to refer not to spells in the rules sense but to noncreature spells that trigger these payoffs. At least no one is ever going to call an Evolving WildsEvolving Wilds a spell!

Spellslinger decks may boast of a variety of ways to end the game, from combat to combo and a lot of things in between, but you can be pretty sure that they play a lot of spells, and mostly cheap ones to boot.

Like many themes or archetypes in Commander, you can build a powerful deck by combining rewards and enablers.

Spellslinger rewards often come from creatures and other permanents (cards on the battlefield) that grant you some advantage whenever you play an instant or sorcery. Third Path IconoclastThird Path Iconoclast is a great example of a spell payoff like this.

Some cards care about the number of spells you've cast in one turn, like Case of the Ransacked LabCase of the Ransacked Lab, Thousand-Year StormThousand-Year Storm, or cards with the storm mechanic, like GrapeshotGrapeshot.

Spellslinger decks will often win after doing things like building up a critical mass of tokens or damage triggers from cards like GuttersnipeGuttersnipe, or by assembling a combo powered by an expensive enchantment or artifact, or by racking up a storm count.

This is where enablers come in! These cards make it easier for you to cast a lot of spells or otherwise progress your game plan. Cards that make your spells cheap are plentiful; Goblin ElectromancerGoblin Electromancer is a popular one. You also want to make room for cards that help you find the right spells or payoffs, like Artist's TalentArtist's Talent or Sorcerer ClassSorcerer Class, which let you dig through your deck on top of helping you cast more spells.

And, of course, you want to play spells! Most Spellslinger decks will play many instants and sorceries that cost just one mana and that draw a card on top of some other useful effect. OptOpt, PonderPonder, and BrainstormBrainstorm are all excellent examples.

Interaction is also essential; removal, CounterspellCounterspells, and board-clearing effects can both protect your game plan and disrupt your opponents.

Lightning BoltLightning Bolt, for example, is cheap spell that triggers Archmage EmeritusArchmage Emeritus and deals with a utility creature on the other side of the board. Cyclonic RiftCyclonic Rift can get you out of a sticky situation, too, if you're open to running Game Changers.

Depending on which colors you play and how your deck tries to win, you may also want to run a mix of other effects.

Raw card draw like Treasure CruiseTreasure Cruise can keep you prepared for anything. Green cards like FarseekFarseek give you more mana to cast more spells, while Dark RitualDark Ritual and Mana GeyserMana Geyser give you a temporary boost for when you plan to win via combo on the same turn.

And, depending on which Bracket you're playing in, you can run "tutors" to search your library for key cards and put them on top of your deck or straight into your hand, like Mystical TutorMystical Tutor or Solve the EquationSolve the Equation.

Speaking of winning, some slots in your deck may be occupied by cards that threaten to win the game if they resolve.

In a Spellslinger deck, these cards likely factor into a game-winning combo, and are probably what you're searching up with Mystical Tutor and the like a lot of the time. I'm thinking of cards like Mizzix's MasteryMizzix's Mastery and Jeskai AscendancyJeskai Ascendancy, apart from Thousand-Year StormThousand-Year Storm, which I mentioned above.

Now that we've covered what Spellslinger decks are and how they seek to win games by combining payoffs, enablers, and other types of cards, let's build one!

For this guide, I've chosen to go the aggressive route over a more combo-oriented game plan. Both styles of decks are incredibly fun and can feature a ton of overlap, but I think a lower-to-the-ground, two-color deck operating in Bracket 2 perfectly illustrates how the theme plays out while still leaving room for big, splashy turns.

For our commander, I'm looking for someone in Izzet colors (). This color pair is primarily associated with spells-matter game plans of varying shapes and sizes; you can find more payoffs and enablers here than in any other color pair.

Adding would certainly introduce some incredibly potent payoffs like Monastery MentorMonastery Mentor, which definitely suits a creature-based, attacking deck, but let's keep it simple for now. Likewise, I'm opting to not branch out into for mana generators and more combo-oriented cards, or for efficient removal and disruption.

Balmor, Battlemage CaptainBalmor, Battlemage Captain is a great choice for our first Spellslinger deck. He's cheap, so you can play him as early as turn two to start reaping the benefits of casting multiple spells a turn, and he enables swingy turns if you're able to amass a board wide with tokens.

He grants trample to your team, too, so blockers won't present much more than a speed bump against a flurry of one-mana spells in the late game.

How do we build around Balmor? In this case, we want to pack the deck with creatures like Third Path IconoclastThird Path Iconoclast that make tokens whenever we cast spells.

Since we're not planning to assemble any infinite combos, the main route to victory is through the combat phase. Young PyromancerYoung Pyromancer, Talrand, Sky SummonerTalrand, Sky Summoner, and Murmuring MysticMurmuring Mystic all support our go-wide game plan. We can even invite a planeswalker to the party in Saheeli, Sublime ArtificerSaheeli, Sublime Artificer.

Balmor's pump ability works better the more creatures we have in play, so we want a board full of creatures for the Bird Wizard to make lethal.

To supplement this strategy, we also want to play other cheap creatures that can deal a lot of damage by themselves. They may not produce tokens, but Sprite DragonSprite Dragon and Electrostatic InfantryElectrostatic Infantry grow huge and become must-answer threats.

Adeliz, the Cinder WindAdeliz, the Cinder Wind, meanwhile, is an evasive creature that acts like a mini-Balmor for other Wizards in our deck. The prowess mechanic on creatures like Stormchaser MageStormchaser Mage goes with Spellslinger decks like peanut butter and jelly. Stormcatch MentorStormcatch Mentor, another prowess creature, glides into the 99 by virtue of making our spells cheaper like Electromancer.

Harmonic ProdigyHarmonic Prodigy is one of the most powerful creatures we can play in a Spellslinger deck running a good number of creatures. Causing Wizards and Shamans to trigger an additional time means we get double the number of tokens from Young Pyromancer and company and double the number of +1/+1 counters on Electrostatic Infantry.

Now that we've got our primary game plan sorted, we want to pick spells that are cheap, interactive, and that replace themselves as much as possible. I've already covered archetype all-stars like PonderPonder and Lightning BoltLightning Bolt, but there are so many other options that also add some utility and versatility to the deck.

Having access to flexible removal like AbradeAbrade, Izzet CharmIzzet Charm, and PongifyPongify deal with problems, while cards like Fists of FlameFists of Flame and Goblin SurpriseGoblin Surprise make our creatures better in combat. Cards with different effects you can choose between, also known as modal spells, are so important because they can either interact with our opponents or get cast on our turn when you just want to run up the score with our payoffs.

In a deck like this, one-mana spells don't need to do much to warrant a slot; it's most important that they draw a card to keep the Balmor trigger chain going and make our creatures even a little better. Cards like Crash ThroughCrash Through, Enter the EnigmaEnter the Enigma, and Renegade TacticsRenegade Tactics are exactly what we're looking for. These cards, cheap spells that draw a card in addition to another effect, are also called cantrips.

There are also a ton of spells that produce tokens themselves, fulfilling the dual purpose of keeping our side of the board full and triggering Balmor, Iconoclast, and the rest of the gang.

Rally at the HornburgRally at the Hornburg is often going to be like Ral's ReinforcementsRal's Reinforcements and Krenko's CommandKrenko's Command, but some of the time it will also push through surprise damage thanks to its haste clause.

In Commander, it's often rewarding to build a streamlined deck with one primary game plan. We've done that so far, but we also want to add one or two "packages" of cards that help us attack a game from a different angle, while still synergizing with Plan A.

Attacking is great, but sometimes the board will stall or we won't have enough tokens amassed and it won't be profitable to turn our little critters sideways. That's when the GuttersnipeGuttersnipe family of cards come in, helping us deal damage without attacking.

If we want to lean a bit harder into this sub-theme, we can run Ojer Axonil, Deepest MightOjer Axonil, Deepest Might to turn our Gut ShotGut Shots into Lava AxeLava Axes. Balmor isn't required, but Ojer Axonil does deal more damage the higher his power is!

We also have room for bigger and slightly more expensive creatures that may not threaten opposing life totals but that generate so much value that they become must-answer threats.

Running creatures like Veyran, Voice of DualityVeyran, Voice of Duality, Archmage EmeritusArchmage Emeritus, and Storm-Kiln ArtistStorm-Kiln Artist that generate card and mana advantages helps aggressive decks hang in there even during longer games. Remember that Iconoclast produces creature tokens that are also artifacts, so we can get in for tons of damage with a board full of tokens, Artist, and a spell that grants evasion, like Slip Through SpaceSlip Through Space.

We can push this principle even further by running a few six-drops to act as powerful finishers that are either resistant to removal, like Rite of the DragoncallerRite of the Dragoncaller and Shark TyphoonShark Typhoon are, or that punish our opponents for trying to interact, like Niv-Mizzet, ParunNiv-Mizzet, Parun.

Finally, we want our deck to run smoothly, so we're going to run several cards that can either be played as lands or spells. Pinnacle MonkPinnacle Monk is a threat, a mana source, and a bit of long-game staying power all in one, and Silundi VisionSilundi Vision helps us find what we need later in the game if we haven't already played it as a land.

These two-sided cards are known as modal double-faced cards, or MDFCs.

While I chose not to venture outside of and to prioritize consistency and simplicity, countless wonders await Spellslinger mages brave enough to branch out into some combination of , , and .

White boasts a powerful spell payoff in Monastery MentorMonastery Mentor and powerful commander options like Kykar, Wind's FuryKykar, Wind's Fury and Narset, Enlightened ExileNarset, Enlightened Exile. Instead of relying on conditional and temporary removal spells, you can run some of the best interactive spells Commander has to offer, like Swords to PlowsharesSwords to Plowshares and Path to ExilePath to Exile.

You can remain aggressive, which is a big plus for me, while packing a bigger punch in the late game.

If you like mixing themes, lets you build a deck around Anhelo, the PainterAnhelo, the Painter, who very much rewards spells while also adding sacrifice and/or copy synergies to the mix. Kess, Dissident MageKess, Dissident Mage turns your graveyard into a resource, letting you survive longer games dotted with sweeper effects that suppress your combat potential.

, meanwhile, gives you access to Storm, Force of NatureStorm, Force of Nature and mana generators like Growth SpiralGrowth Spiral and Nature's LoreNature's Lore. These decks often look to end the game through combos and may even scoff at the idea of getting into combat.

If you like the way the Balmor deck plays out, you could even do away with either or for something a bit wackier. Feather, the RedeemedFeather, the Redeemed is one of my favorite Magic: The Gathering cards for the way decks built around her seamlessly blend aggressive tendencies and spell synergies.

Whatever route you choose, just remember to sling those spells. And have fun!