Tifa, Martial ArtistTifa, Martial Artist | Art by Robert Cornelius

Hello and welcome back to Archetypes of Imagination, the series where we build decks based on popular Commander archetypes. We'll use Scryfall's tagging system and EDHREC's Tag pages to build around a new theme each week. Today we're building a deck focused on sneaking creatures onto the battlefield, with Final Fantasy's Tifa, Martial ArtistTifa, Martial Artist.

Scryfall has a really cool way of categorizing cards, where each card has specific labels attached to it for later reference. For example, Springbloom DruidSpringbloom Druid has the ramp tag and Druid of PurificationDruid of Purification has the removal tag. EDHREC's tag system is really cool too, letting users see popular cards associated with a given strategy. For example, Rogue's PassageRogue's Passage is great in voltron decks and Hydroid KrasisHydroid Krasis is great in X spell decks. These tagging systems are great ways to get inspiration for certain deck archetypes, and I often start there when it's time for me to build a new deck.

Let's get brewing!

What Does Tifa, Martial Artist Do?

TifaTifa is sure to be one of the most popular commanders from the upcoming Final Fantasy release. Costing just four mana, she lets us get up to three extra combats per turn when a sufficiently big creature hits one of our opponents. Luckily, decks have access to a lot of creatures with power seven or greater. So, this deck will aim to land Tifa early, sneak in a few big creatures, and swing with them to allow for extra combat steps galore.

Magic usually requires players to pay mana for their spells, but we'll be doing all we can to skirt around that requirement. Some effects let us cast spells for free while others let us put permanents directly onto the battlefield, and we'll be taking advantage of both in this deck. While every color's got a few ways to cheat mana costs, the Naya color combination of has a ton of these effects at its disposal. But, we want something to do with all the big creatures that we'll be cheating onto the battlefield. So, to that end, we'll be using Tifa to swing in for damage multiple times.

Key Cards for a Sneak Commander Deck

Ways to Sneak Creatures Out

There's tons of ways to cheat creatures onto the battlefield here, starting with the classic Sneak AttackSneak Attack. Although we need to sacrifice whatever creature we put onto the board with it, we'll hopefully have swung in for damage with that creature several times already. We don't really mind needing to sacrifice one of our big Eldrazi if we've already gotten to attack with it four times. There's also some ways to get creatures onto the battlefield permanently, like Eladamri, KorvecdalEladamri, Korvecdal and Oviya, Automech ArtisanOviya, Automech Artisan. These cards are fantastic, providing us with Elvish PiperElvish Piper variants with significant amounts of upside (card advantage and team-wide trample respectively).

There's several more ways to sneak creatures in, so I'll just hit upon a few of my favorites. Smuggler's SurpriseSmuggler's Surprise can put two creatures onto the battlefield for just , while also providing well-costed board protection and card advantage–all at instant speed! There's also Ghalta, Stampede TyrantGhalta, Stampede Tyrant. This big Dinosaur is both a great card to sneak onto the board, and a way to sneak other creatures in. Rounding out the highlights of this group is Kodama of the East TreeKodama of the East Tree. Because we'll be putting so many high mana value permanents onto the battlefield, this card will really shine here.

The Best Creatures to Sneak Out

I've talked a lot about how we're going to sneak creatures onto the battlefield. So, let's talk about what scary monsters we'll actually be putting onto our battlefield free of charge.

One of my favorites is Etali, Primal ConquerorEtali, Primal Conqueror. I love this card for two main reasons. First, it's got seven power, meaning that it'll help our commander give us extra combat steps. Second, it's got a good chance to provide us with another big creature off the top of our library with its enters trigger. And, given all the extra combat steps we'll be taking, Giant AdephageGiant Adephage will quickly provide an insurmountable Insect army. Although this card may seem a little bit battlecruiser-ish, its seven base power and powerful combat damage trigger make it a solid choice for this deck. I also really like Kogla, the Titan ApeKogla, the Titan Ape here. It's a big body that provides removal upon entering the battlefield and upon attacking, and can even protect Tifa in a pinch.

There's a few more creatures I want to talk about. We already spoke about New Etali, but let's take a moment to appreciate Old Etali. Although Etali, Primal StormEtali, Primal Storm is definitively less powerful than some others in the deck, we'll really be able to run away with the game if we can string together multiple attack with this Dinosaur in one turn. I also wanted to talk about Trumpeting CarnosaurTrumpeting Carnosaur, which feels purpose-built for this deck. It's got seven power, a super strong enters trigger, and can even be used as a removal spell if we really need it. This card is just amazing, and I've found myself super happy to draw it in playtesting.

Last but not least, Old GnawboneOld Gnawbone feels great when we're attacking multiple times per turn, and really takes advantage of all the high power creatures we'll be going to combat with.

Tifa, Martial Artist Commander Deck List

And now, here's the full decklist:

Quarrel's EndQuarrel's End

Thanks for reading about Tifa, Martial ArtistTifa, Martial Artist in this week's Archetypes article! As always, I've got a few more cards I want to spotlight. This deck is full of high power creatures, and there's a few more ways that we can make the most of them. Among those are Last March of the EntsLast March of the Ents and Rishkar's ExpertiseRishkar's Expertise, both of which will routinely draw us a fresh seven cards and allow even more mana-cost cheating. There's also a few mana creatures, like Ilysian CaryatidIlysian Caryatid and Fanatic of RhonasFanatic of Rhonas, which can provide us with extra acceleration once we've gotten a sufficiently big guy on the board.

Lastly, cards like Ghalta and MavrenGhalta and Mavren and Terror of the PeaksTerror of the Peaks will make sure that our large creatures provide us even more advantage.

There's a few more cards that really shine here, like Champion of RhonasChampion of Rhonas. Although this creature asks that we exert it if we'd like to cheat a creature onto the battlefield, our commander lets us untap it multiple times per turn (meaning that we can cheat multiple creatures per turn onto the battlefield). I also really like Selvala, Heart of the WildsSelvala, Heart of the Wilds. I know, it's shocking to hear that this card is good in a -based creature deck. But because we'll usually have the biggest creatures at the table, Selvala will provide tons of mana and card advantage for just three mana.

And there's Ilharg, the Raze-BoarIlharg, the Raze-Boar. This 6/6 creature lets us sneak in creatures and reuse their enters effects while also being extremely hard to kill permanently. I love this card, and I'm glad it's got a place in this deck.

Thanks once again for reading! For those of you who are interested, here are some of the Scryfall searches I used to write this article:

• Ways to sneak creatures onto the battlefield
• Big creatures to sneak onto the battlefield
• Ways to get value from having big creatures on the battlefield