<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Juri, Master of the Revue" href="#" target="_blank">Juri, Master of the Revue</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art By <a href="https://www.artstation.com/burmak" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dmitry Burmak</a></em></p>
<p>Hello, and welcome to <i>Archetypes of Imagination</i>, the series in which we build decks based on popular Commander archetypes. I'm back with another unhinged addition to this otherwise very normal series. Let's look at how best to shove our commander in a cannon and blast him at our opponents by making a <a href="https://edhrec.com/tags/fling" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fling deck</a>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Fling"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fling" href="#" target="_blank">Fling</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> decks are built around the eponymous spell's effect of sacrificing a creature to deal damage equal to its stats to another player or permanent.</p>
<p>Decks with this strategy try to take opponents down with noncombat damage, either by flinging lots of different creatures via a commander that has the ability - see <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Brion Stoutarm" href="#" target="_blank">Brion Stoutarm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ziatora, the Incinerator" href="#" target="_blank">Ziatora, the Incinerator</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> - or by making a commander so absolutely massive that one fling from it will end someone's game on the spot - like absolute chungus, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thromok the Insatiable" href="#" target="_blank">Thromok the Insatiable</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Brion Stoutarm"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ziatora, the Incinerator"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Thromok the Insatiable"></div></div>
<p>I'll be using <a href="https://tagger.scryfall.com/?utm_source=edhrec" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Scryfall's tagging system</a> and <a href="https://edhrec.com/tags?utm_source=edhrec" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">EDHREC's Tag pages</a> to build a deck around our theme, using a commander that actually manages to combine the two methods together all wrapped up in a sacrifice matters sub-theme.</p>
<h2>Skewer the Critics, and Your Opponents!</h2>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Juri, Master of the Revue" href="#" target="_blank">Juri, Master of the Revue</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a two-cost, Rakdos (<span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-b" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-r" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>) legendary creature with just one power and toughness each. However, whenever you sacrifice any kind of permanent, Juri will get a +1/+1 counter added to him.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Juri, Master of the Revue"></div></div>
<p>You might know Juri as the head honcho of The Cult of Rakdos' premier, blood-soaked, cursed clown circus on the plane of Ravnica. When I play my own personal build of him, I like to refer to Juri as the O.B.L. (the Orbital Death Laser).</p>
<p>The strategy is incredibly simple with this deck. We sacrifice as many of our permanents for value as possible and all the while, Juri gets more and more swole. Then, when Juri dies for any reason (usually because we sacrificed him) he deals damage equal to his power to any target of our choice.</p>
<h3>Forking the Fling</h3>
<p>One of the troubles of a Fling deck is trying to find a card in your deck that delivers the effect. Whether it's <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fling" href="#" target="_blank">Fling</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> itself or one of the other cards that have been printed that delivers the same effect. This is usually why people like to go for a commander that has the effect stapled on them, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Brion Stoutarm" href="#" target="_blank">Brion Stoutarm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>But the problem with those cards is the fact that they then need to find and cast something big to actually fling.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Fork"></div></div>
<p>Juri allows us to eat our cake and have it too, not only by having the ability to get super large with a load of sacrifices in our deck, but also by flinging himself whenever he dies.</p>
<p>The fun thing about this effect being triggered by Juri dying though is that by sacrificing him to a card like Fling, we actually get to double dip. We get two different instances of damage going to any target equal to Juri's power.</p>
<p>In an ideal final turn of the game we could potentially swing Juri in to one of our opponents, dealing lethal commander damage, then cast Fling and deal lethal noncombat damage to both of the other players at the table.</p>
<p>That might seem ambitious but it's in fact very achievable. I've done it multiple times before!</p>
<h2>Charging Up the Laser</h2>
<p>Before we can start shooting the laser at our opponents, we gotta charge it up first. And that means making some sacrifices. Not of any great loss to us of course, as we'll be sacrificing pretty much everything we have for value to add counters to our commander.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Fabled Passage"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Terramorphic Expanse"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Evolving Wilds"></div></div>
<p>There's a huge amount of things we can sacrifice in Commander, and Juri doesn't really care what we're sacrificing when we're triggering his ability. Even just sacking a land like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Terramorphic Expanse" href="#" target="_blank">Terramorphic Expanse</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will net us a +1/+1 counter.</p>
<p>As we're in Rakdos (<span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-br" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>) colors, it would be downright senseless of us to ignore <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Treasure" href="#" target="_blank">Treasure</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> tokens. Most people who've played one or two games of Commander, especially against <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Prosper, Tome-Bound" href="#" target="_blank">Prosper, Tome-Bound</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, will know how busted they can be in the format. There's a reason they banned <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dockside Extortionist" href="#" target="_blank">Dockside Extortionist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="The Reaver Cleaver"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Deadly Dispute"></div></div>
<p>There's plenty of great cards that can dump out Treasure tokens for us during the game.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Reaver Cleaver" href="#" target="_blank">The Reaver Cleaver</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is an absolutely terrifying thing to put on a giant commander as it is, but when you can also make that commander even bigger with the Treasures it makes, it gets even worse. Cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Deadly Dispute" href="#" target="_blank">Deadly Dispute</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> allow us to see card draw, sac a creature, and make a Treasure to sac later all in one card.</p>
<h3>Keeping Momentum</h3>
<p>One of the common pitfalls of a strategy like this is running out of things to sacrifice and floating around with a midsized Juri and no good targets.</p>
<p>When you're picking your sac outlets, try and look for cards that not only sacrifice stuff but also give you other bits of sac fodder in return.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Warren Soultrader"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Orcish Bowmasters"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ophiomancer"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Warren Soultrader" href="#" target="_blank">Warren Soultrader</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a perfect bit of tech, allowing you to not only blend up your chaff creatures but also get a Treasure token for your troubles. These double value cards will get your Juri snowball rolling much faster in the long run.</p>
<p>To make sure you have good access to expendable creatures, a few token generators will definitely come in handy. It's a <a href="https://edhrec.com/top/game-changers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Game Changer</a>, but <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Orcish Bowmasters" href="#" target="_blank">Orcish Bowmasters</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will put in serious work. Or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ophiomancer" href="#" target="_blank">Ophiomancer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can also provide plenty of access to bodies as well.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ghoulcaller Gisa"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ghoulcaller Gisa" href="#" target="_blank">Ghoulcaller Gisa</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> works perfectly in a Juri deck as it not only works as a sacrifice trigger, and a way to sac Juri himself, but it also can turn Juri's huge statline into an army of 2/2 Zombie tokens.</p>
<h2>Pull the Trigger</h2>
<p>When we've got Juri suitably fattened up for the cannon, it's time to light the fuse and fling for the win.</p>
<p>As I've mentioned before, the benefit of this commander is that it comes pre loaded with its Fling effect. We can have Juri die to any effect at all to blast his power into someone's face at instant speed. But having Juri die to one of those Fling effects will effectively double the amount of damage he can do.</p>
<p>For that reason, we definitely want to include some of those cards in our list. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fling" href="#" target="_blank">Fling</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> works great of course but we can also use some other options to achieve the same goal.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Callous Sell-Sword"></div></div>
<p>The adventure spell on <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Callous Sell-Sword" href="#" target="_blank">Callous Sell-Sword</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, Burn Together, trades instant speed for one less mana. It also has the potential benefit of only sacrificing Juri if the spell actually resolves, rather than it being a casting cost. At least if it gets countered, we won't miss out on our double damage!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Voldaren Thrillseeker"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Voldaren Thrillseeker" href="#" target="_blank">Voldaren Thrillseeker</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is one of my personal favorite picks using the currently set-exclusive mechanic of Backup which puts two +1/+1 counters on Juri and gives him the Fling text as an activated ability until end of turn for the price of one mana. And of course you can even fling the Thrillseeker herself!</p>
<h2>Backup Cannon Fodder</h2>
<p>One thing to bear in mind when building this deck is that it (like pretty much everything I build, honestly) is very commander centric. This deck doesn't really do a whole lot if Juri isn't on the board.</p>
<p>Luckily our commander is super cheap at only two mana to cast, so we can get a few instances of him out through the course of a game. But if we started getting loaded up with commander tax, it would be good to get some alternate options to fling.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Storm-Kiln Artist"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Plumb the Forbidden"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Storm-Kiln Artist" href="#" target="_blank">Storm-Kiln Artist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> works as a nice combo with Juri, not only providing us Treasures whenever we cast or copy instants and sorceries, but also getting more and more power with each artifact we have on the board. If Juri is out we can sac the Treasures to make him bigger. If he isn't, then we can keep the Treasures around and think about flinging the artist instead.</p>
<p>This card pairs so well with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Plumb the Forbidden" href="#" target="_blank">Plumb the Forbidden</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (shock horror, they're from the same set) as we dump a ton of card draw, sacrifice triggers, and Treasures.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Crime Novelist"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Blackblade Reforged"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Crime Novelist" href="#" target="_blank">Crime Novelist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is like a sort of soft-Juri clone. He can't fling himself but he does get bigger whenever we sacrifice an artifact - not to mention he'll provide us with an extra red mana for each of our spent treasure Tokens. Double mana Treasures can provide us with some explosive turns, and this creature once again gives us some redundancy for our strategy.</p>
<p>I'll also give a quick mention to <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blackblade Reforged" href="#" target="_blank">Blackblade Reforged</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and other such Equipment cards that give a huge boost to our creatures. These can make fling fodder out of pretty much anything.</p>
<h2>Build It Yourself</h2>
<p>Fling decks are pretty simple to put together and a ton of fun to play. Taking out an entire table in one fell swoop feels unreal when you pull it off and even the sorest of losers will at least be treated to some spectacle. Just like the Cult of Rakdos would have wanted.</p>
<h2>Juri, Master of the Revue Fling Commander Deck List</h2>
<p>If you want to build Juri for yourself, here's a list I've played before below with some pretty good results.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Fling - Archetypes of Imagination" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Juri, Master of the Revue
[/Commander]
[Creatures]
*1 Ayara, Widow of the Realm // Ayara, Furnace Queen
*1 Bladewing, Deathless Tyrant
*1 Callous Sell-Sword // Burn Together
*1 Captain Lannery Storm
*1 Crime Novelist
*1 Decadent Dragon // Expensive Taste
*1 Enterprising Scallywag
*1 Feldon of the Third Path
*1 Ghoulcaller Gisa
*1 Goblin Cratermaker
*1 Hoard Robber
*1 Hoarding Ogre
*1 Kalain, Reclusive Painter
*1 Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin
*1 Lagomos, Hand of Hatred
*1 Lobelia Sackville-Baggins
*1 Mahadi, Emporium Master
*1 Marching Duodrone
*1 Mirkwood Bats
*1 Ophiomancer
*1 Orcish Bowmasters
*1 Orthion, Hero of Lavabrink
*1 Purphoros, Bronze-Blooded
*1 Rankle and Torbran
*1 Redcap Gutter-Dweller
*1 Soulcoil Viper
*1 Storm-Kiln Artist
*1 Stormclaw Rager
*1 Tangled Colony
*1 Tavern Scoundrel
*1 The Balrog, Durin&#039;s Bane
*1 Voldaren Thrillseeker
*1 Warren Soultrader
[/Creatures]
[Artifacts]
*1 Beamtown Beatstick
*1 Blackblade Reforged
*1 Commander&#039;s Sphere
*1 Fire Diamond
*1 Mind Stone
*1 Mithril Coat
*1 Oni-Cult Anvil
*1 Rakdos Signet
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Tenza, Godo&#039;s Maul
*1 The Reaver Cleaver
*1 Urabrask&#039;s Forge
*1 Wayfarer&#039;s Bauble
[/Artifacts]
[Instants]
*1 Chaos Warp
*1 Deadly Dispute
*1 Fanatical Offering
*1 Feign Death
*1 Flare of Duplication
*1 Fling
*1 Nasty End
*1 Orcish Medicine
*1 Plumb the Forbidden
*1 Unexpected Windfall
[/Instants]
[Sorceries]
*1 Blasphemous Act
*1 Blasphemous Edict
*1 Bloodsoaked Insight // Sanguine Morass
*1 Burn Down the House
*1 Furnace Reins
*1 Lash of the Balrog
*1 Lich-Knights&#039; Conquest
[/Sorceries]
[Enchantments]
*1 Scavenger&#039;s Talent
*1 Shiny Impetus
[/Enchantments]
[Lands]
*1 Blackcleave Cliffs
*1 Blightstep Pathway // Searstep Pathway
*1 Command Tower
*1 Demolition Field
*1 Dragonskull Summit
*1 Dwarven Mine
*1 Evolving Wilds
*1 Fabled Passage
*1 Foreboding Ruins
*1 Fountainport
*1 Graven Cairns
*1 Great Hall of the Citadel
*1 Mount Doom
*8 Mountain
*1 Myriad Landscape
*1 Raucous Theater
*1 Smoldering Marsh
*1 Sulfurous Springs
*8 Swamp
*1 Terramorphic Expanse
[/Lands]"></span></div>


How to Make a Fling Deck, With Juri, Master of the Revue

<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Adelbert Steiner" href="#" target="_blank">Adelbert Steiner</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.artstation.com/lorenzomastroianni" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lorenzo Mastroianni</a></em></p>
<p>It's very much my job here as the writer of <em>The Monolith</em>, aside from talking about monocolored decks of course, to tempt you in to building decks that aren't your standard fare. Decks that forgo obviousness and power for interesting ideas and fun restrictions. What better time then, as we continue to pick apart the legendary creatures revealed in the upcoming <em>Universes Beyond</em> set <em>Final Fantasy</em>, to talk about Pauper EDH!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Adelbert Steiner"></div></div>
<p>Now I'm not the first person to delve into the <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/does-shantotto-work-as-a-pauper-commander" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wonderful world of Pauper Commander</a> here on EDHREC.com. But when a set comes out with this many legends, some of them are bound to be non-rares. We had the same thing happen in <em>Lord of The Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth</em>. And when you've got access to uncommon legends with interesting effects, why not whack together a PEDH deck to fit around them!</p>
<h2>What Is Pauper Commander (PEDH)?</h2>
<p>Much like the absolutely wonderful 60-card format it's based on, Pauper EDH carries all the same rules that Commander does, but with one exception. You can only put a card in your deck if it was printed at common at some point in its history.</p>
<p>That includes cards that have been up-shifted in rarity in later sets, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dark Ritual" href="#" target="_blank">Dark Ritual</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. As long as it was common at some point in <em>Magic</em>'s history, it's legal in PEDH. Otherwise, you can't put it in your 99. As for the commander itself though, you're allowed to push up to the uncommon rarity.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Guttersnipe"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Soulherder"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Third Path Iconoclast"></div></div>
<p>The fun thing is, your uncommon commander doesn't even have to be legendary. You can play with regular old uncommons as your leader. That'll give you access to super powerful creatures you wouldn't normally be able to put in your command zone, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Guttersnipe" href="#" target="_blank">Guttersnipe</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Soulherder" href="#" target="_blank">Soulherder</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></p>
<h2>Adelbert's Finer</h2>
<p>To helm our Pauper EDH list we're looking at the brand new <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Adelbert Steiner" href="#" target="_blank">Adelbert Steiner</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, a <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-1" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span><span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-w" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> 2/1 Human Knight with an <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="All That Glitters" href="#" target="_blank">All That Glitters</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> style effect on him. For each Equipment you control, Adelbert will get +1/+1. That's not Equipment attached to Adelbert either, that's just any Equipment you have on the battlefield.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Adelbert Steiner"></div></div>
<p>Combined with lifelink, we've got ourselves the potential for a really juicy, Equipment focused, Voltron Commander build. For those not in the know, <a href="https://edhrec.com/tags/voltron" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Voltron decks</a> attempt to whack as many buffs onto a single creature they control as possible - usually your commander, so you can kill opponents even easier. Once they're big enough, swing in for the win!</p>
<h2>Free Real Estate</h2>
<p>As Adelbert gets a buff just from the Equipment hitting the field, we'll sort of get to have our cake and eat it too. Whereas most Voltrons would either need to pay for the equip cost of their Equipment, or have an ability to get around that, Adelbert can receive a small benefit right away.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="All That Glitters"></div></div>
<p>Then later, when we actually get the Equipment attached to him, we'll be double dipping with the buffs it provides. And that's if we even want to equip to him. By having another big threat with all the Equipment attached to them we can also split our attacks as we see fit.</p>
<h2>The Living Weapon</h2>
<p>Seeing as Adelbert doesn't mind where your Equipment cards are when he's checking for his buffs, we can use a certain type of Equipment to give us a bit of an edge in battle.</p>
<p>Equipment cards are great in comparison to Auras, because they won't send themselves to the graveyard when their attached creature leaves the battlefield. We can even use the equip ability to swap our swords and shields round to whichever creature needs them on the fly.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Flayer Husk"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sickleslicer"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Skinwing"></div></div>
<p>The tradeoff though, is that Auras attach themselves as soon as you cast them. Equipment gets cast, and then needs additional buy-in to attach it to your creature. Enter: living weapon cards. These Equipment cards will enter the battlefield and immediately attach themselves to a token they make when they enter.</p>
<p>There's only so many Pauper legal living weapons, but a few other cards do the same thing. For Mirrodin! was a very similar mechanic from <em>All Will Be One</em>, for example.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mirran Bardiche"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ancestral Blade"></div></div>
<h3>Leave Something Back</h3>
<p>One of the trickier aspects of playing a Voltron Commander deck is keeping yourself alive after you've swung. It's all well and good having a giant commander, but once they're tapped, who's defending your life total? Vigilance is great for that but so is just having some chump blockers available - especially when your opponents are going wide.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Glimmerlight"></div></div>
<p>By using these cards that come with an extra body, we can hold the line after Adelbert attacks. And if we end up getting Adelbert killed so many times that his commander tax is untenable? There's backup options to fight with. Speaking of...</p>
<h2>Forking Your Voltron</h2>
<p>As I mentioned earlier, Adelbert can get a decent amount of pump without actually equipping our weapons. With that in mind, we have the option to fork off our damage between two different creatures. That way we'll get slightly less powerful creatures, but having two means we can swing at multiple players.</p>
<p>This is a four-person format, after all. And targeting down one player can leave our other two opponents a little too much space to build up their game plans.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Gingerbrute"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Guardian of the Guildpact"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Beloved Princess"></div></div>
<p>If we want some solid targets for the wall of weapons we'll be equipping them with, we need to find something that'll get through our opponents' blockers. Cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Guardian of the Guildpact" href="#" target="_blank">Guardian of the Guildpact</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> have really solid evasion, with protection from monocolored giving it a good chance of slipping through the cracks of our opponents' defenses. Not to mention dodging a lot of removal!</p>
<p>Likewise, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gingerbrute" href="#" target="_blank">Gingerbrute</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can punish players who aren't equipped with hasty creatures by making itself all but unblockable. That'll teach you for not playing mono-red!</p>
<h2>Choosing the Right Gear</h2>
<p>The main consideration for building out Adelbert's arsenal is which Equipment cards we include in our 99. First of all, we're going to need a lot of them! In this deck we're going to favor quantity over quality, so low cost Equipments are best (unless they come with a friend).</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bone Saw"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bonesplitter"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Leather Armor"></div></div>
<p>We also want to keep an eye out for any gear that'll give Adelbert some evasion tactics to make it over walls of blockers. Cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bladed Pinions" href="#" target="_blank">Bladed Pinions</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will put in some vital keywords for our Voltron commander, like flying and first strike. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Haunted Cloak" href="#" target="_blank">Haunted Cloak</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will help as well with trample and vigilance allowing us to hit over and also keep our commander up to block.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bladed Pinions"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Haunted Cloak"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Whispersilk Cloak"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Whispersilk Cloak" href="#" target="_blank">Whispersilk Cloak</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will make our glorious leader unblockable and also give him protection from removal, but remember to equip it last as the shroud will also stop <em>us</em> from targeting him when it comes to attach more Equipment.</p>
<h3>Double Your Benefits</h3>
<p>Whilst it might be banned in regular 60-card Pauper, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="All That Glitters" href="#" target="_blank">All That Glitters</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (from what I can tell, anyway) is perfectly legal in PEDH. Adding this Aura to Adelbert will double his buff from Equipment cards as well as giving some additional power and toughness for any other artifacts or enchantments you control.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="All That Glitters"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Golem-Skin Gauntlets"></div></div>
<p>And don't sleep on <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Golem-Skin Gauntlets" href="#" target="_blank">Golem-Skin Gauntlets</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> either. It might only affect the power of our commander and not benefit his toughness, but cards that say "for each" on them can get out of hand fast. Why do you think we're building this commander?</p>
<h2>Carry Some Protection</h2>
<p>A word of warning: whilst it might not have the flashiest removal spells in <em>Magic, </em>Pauper does tend to be quite removal heavy! It's worth padding the deck out with a few options to protect Adelbert from harm when swinging in for big damage.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Blacksmith&#039;s Skill"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Benevolent Bodyguard"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ajani&#039;s Presence"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blacksmith&#039;s Skill" href="#" target="_blank">Blacksmith&#039;s Skill</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is one of the best instant-speed protection spells in the game, let alone Pauper. But we can also run a few permanent versions to have in our back pocket for when we need them. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Benevolent Bodyguard" href="#" target="_blank">Benevolent Bodyguard</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> acts as a perfect fit, giving us a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Selfless Savior" href="#" target="_blank">Selfless Savior</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> style protection effect we can activate at instant speed. But also allowing us to make Adelbert unblockable by any monocolored boards.</p>
<h2>Adelbert Steiner PEDH Decklist</h2>
<p>If you're interested in joining the PEDH community and giving Adelbert a build, I've included a rough example decklist below that you can build yourself or just jump off from. If you're new to Pauper in general I highly recommend giving either the Commander variant or 60-card competitive format a go. The latter is my absolute favorite way to play <em>Magic;</em> it's a format that just keeps on giving.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Adelbert Steiner Pauper EDH" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Adelbert Steiner
[/Commander]
[Creatures]
*1 Beloved Princess
*1 Benevolent Bodyguard
*1 Coalition Honor Guard
*1 Foundry Inspector
*1 Gingerbrute
*1 Guardian of the Guildpact
*1 Inspiring Overseer
*1 Outlaw Medic
*1 Voyager Quickwelder
[/Creatures]
[Artifacts]
*1 +2 Mace
*1 Amorphous Axe
*1 Ancestral Blade
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Armory of Iroas
*1 Bladed Pinions
*1 Blight Sickle
*1 Bonder&#039;s Ornament
*1 Bone Saw
*1 Bonesplitter
*1 Candy Trail
*1 Ceremonial Knife
*1 Darksteel Axe
*1 Delver&#039;s Torch
*1 Flayer Husk
*1 Fountain of Ichor
*1 Gilded Pinions
*1 Glimmerlight
*1 Gold Pan
*1 Golden Egg
*1 Goldvein Pick
*1 Goldwarden&#039;s Helm
*1 Golem-Skin Gauntlets
*1 Greataxe
*1 Haunted Cloak
*1 Jalum Tome
*1 Leather Armor
*1 Mandibular Kite
*1 Mind Stone
*1 Mirran Bardiche
*1 Network Terminal
*1 Prying Blade
*1 Relic of Progenitus
*1 Sickleslicer
*1 Skinwing
*1 Utility Knife
*1 Vorrac Battlehorns
*1 Whispersilk Cloak
[/Artifacts]
[Enchantments]
*1 All That Glitters
*1 Benevolent Blessing
*1 Journey to Nowhere
*1 Oblivion Ring
[/Enchantments]
[Instants]
*1 Afterlife
*1 Ajani&#039;s Presence
*1 Blacksmith&#039;s Skill
*1 Break Ties
*1 Crib Swap
*1 Destroy Evil
*1 Frantic Salvage
*1 Lens Flare
*1 Thraben Charm
[/Instants]
[Sorceries]
*1 Jolted Awake
*1 Recommission
[/Sorceries]
[Lands]
*1 Ancient Den
*1 Avishkar Raceway
*1 Darksteel Citadel
*1 Desert of the True
*1 Escape Tunnel
*1 Haunted Fengraf
*1 Idyllic Grange
*29 Plains
*1 Secluded Steppe
[/Lands]"></span></div>
<p></p>
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PEDH Voltron With Adelbert Steiner

<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Anthem of Champions|fdn|344" href="#" target="_blank">Anthem of Champions</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.ryanpancoast.com/">Ryan Pancoast</a></em></p>
<p>Hello, and welcome to <i>Archetypes of Imagination</i>, the series in which <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/author/cooper-gottfried?utm_source=edhrec" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Cooper Gottfried</a> builds decks based on popular Commander archetypes. I'm back again to help Cooper out as we build around an archetype whose name might lead you to think that it can't win games, but trust me, it can. That's right, today we're talking <a href="https://edhrec.com/tags/pillow-fort">Pillow Fort</a> decks.</p>
<p>We'll be using <a href="https://tagger.scryfall.com/?utm_source=edhrec" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Scryfall's tagging system</a> and<a href="https://edhrec.com/tags?utm_source=edhrec" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> EDHREC's Tag pages</a> to build a deck around the theme of <a href="https://tagger.scryfall.com/tags/card/pillowfort">Pillow Fort</a>. If you're not familiar with the term, Pillow Fort decks essentially tool themselves up to make it nigh impossible for their opponents to deal combat damage to them. Whether it's through tax effects, a giant barricade of Walls and defenders, or through goading and pacifying, Pillow Fort decks simply won't let you resolve combat damage to them.</p>
<p>With that kind of deck set up, we can stall out a game and win through alternative win conditions and noncombat damage, but to lead our strategy we need a commander at the helm that'll make it easier to keep our opponents from swinging on us, and what creature type could be better to lead a fort deck than...</p>
<h2>The Ultimate Wall</h2>
<p>Introducing <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Pramikon, Sky Rampart" href="#" target="_blank">Pramikon, Sky Rampart</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>! A Jeskai(<span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-w" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span><span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-u" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span><span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-r" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>) 1/5 flying defender that is, perhaps understandably, the only legendary wall in <em>Magic: The Gathering</em>. Pramikon is actually one of the first decks I built for Commander, and we'll be making a tooled up version of my original, stupid, Wall kindred list that can actually win games.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Pramikon, Sky Rampart"></div></div>
<p>The most important thing on this card, as is usually the case for your commander, is Pramikon's static effect. When it enters the battlefield, we choose left or right, and for as long as Pramikon stays on the battlefield, players will only be able to attack in that direction.</p>
<p>This is quite a fun and silly effect to play with as is, but it also provides an incredible bit of tech for those looking to avoid getting hit: whilst this card remains in play, there's only a single opponent in the game who even has the ability to attack us.</p>
<p>We can't always rely on Pramikon not drawing heat and getting removed, but when it's in play you've just completely written out two players as threats to your game plan, and that's pretty priceless!</p>
<h2>So What is Our Gameplan?</h2>
<p>It's simple really. We try and make it impossible for our opponents to hit us, then with our giant Walls and taxes established, we take advantage of effects like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Monarch" href="#" target="_blank">The Monarch</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Initiative" href="#" target="_blank">The Initiative</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="The Monarch"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="The Initiative"></div></div>
<p>These mechanics usually pass from player to player as they do combat damage to the current holder. With our impenetrable wall we'll be able to keep hold of them and continue to reap the rewards, but first we need to make sure that no one at the table can even contemplate dealing damage to us.</p>
<h2>Erect the Walls</h2>
<p>So step one is to put up our barricades. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Pramikon, Sky Rampart" href="#" target="_blank">Pramikon</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> itself will largely deal with two of the players on the board, but it won't always be around, and we've still got to deal with our neighbor who can continue to get through. Let's start with some decent blockers.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Fog Bank"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Wall of Vapor"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Wall of Denial"></div></div>
<p>Some good Walls will make sure that any attackers our opponent does manage to swing at us will at least have something to stop them. In general, Wall creatures have a much bigger toughness than their cost suggests. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wall of Denial" href="#" target="_blank">Wall of Denial</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a great early drop, as its combo of flying and shroud, complete with its 0/8 stat line, will make it hard to get rid of and easy to block with.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fog Bank" href="#" target="_blank">Fog Bank</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wall of Vapor" href="#" target="_blank">Wall of Vapor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are effectively indestructible when it comes to blocking so they can be put in front of any single, giant creatures. We can actually make any of our creatures into a Fog Bank in fact with a nifty little Aura.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ghostly Possession"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Hundred-Handed One"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ghostly Possession" href="#" target="_blank">Ghostly Possession</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is such a fun card, and the ultimate target for it is a monstrous <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hundred-Handed One" href="#" target="_blank">Hundred-Handed One</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Good luck getting less than 101 creatures through that! For added points, combine Ghostly Possession with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Pariah" href="#" target="_blank">Pariah</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> on the same creature to make you effectively immune to combat damage. Put Pariah on an indestructible creature to make you immune to ALL damage.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Pariah"></div></div>
<h2>Tax Them to Death</h2>
<p>Blockers are all well and good but you can't always put enough of a wall to block every single thing that comes at you. What if your opponent makes a creature unblockable? Or they swing in with more tokens than you can deal with? That's when we resort to taxing effects.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Propaganda"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Windborn Muse"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Archangel of Tithes"></div></div>
<p>There's a huge supply of creatures and enchantments in <em>Magic</em> that punish your opponents for swinging at you. In fact, that's largely what decks like this are built on. The biggest pain in the arse we'll be handing any would be swingers is a big old heap of tax.</p>
<p>Cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Propaganda" href="#" target="_blank">Propaganda</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> charge your opponent for each creature swinging at you. In this case, <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-2" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> per attacker. For token decks, that's an absolutely unreasonable cost. It's a surefire way to lock down the attacks of wide boards from being able to get through.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Lightmine Field"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bident of Thassa"></div></div>
<p>Alternatively, we look to cards that hurt anything that attacks. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lightmine Field" href="#" target="_blank">Lightmine Field</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is one of my favorite Pillow Fort cards as it not only board wipes any token decks that try and swing at us, but it'll disincentivize combat in general. This could really take the legs out from underneath any combat reliant decks on the table. If the lightmines are out, you can use <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bident of Thassa" href="#" target="_blank">Bident of Thassa</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to perform targeted board wipes on players going wide.</p>
<h2>Build Your Court</h2>
<p>Now it's time to talk winning the game, and as we spoke about before, this isn't a deck that wants to deal combat damage to our opponents. In fact, a fair amount of our creatures can't even attack. And if they did? We might end up hurting them with our enchantments.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Court of Grace"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Court of Ire"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Court of Vantress"></div></div>
<p>Instead we're going to assemble the greatest court the land has ever seen and establish ourselves as the one true king. The two cycles of court cards provide us with a new benefit for holding onto the monarch, as well as triggering the monarch as well. The <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Court of Ire" href="#" target="_blank">Court of Ire</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> being a great example as it can ping our opponents to death. We can even use <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Court of Vantress" href="#" target="_blank">Court of Vantress</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to keep making copies of it on our upkeep.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Champions of Minas Tirith"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Caves of Chaos Adventurer"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sarevok&#039;s Tome"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Champions of Minas Tirith" href="#" target="_blank">Champions of Minas Tirith</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> provides a perfect combo with the rest of our deck as it not only grants us the monarch on entry but also provides another tax effect for would be attackers. If just being the king isn't enough then we can also start delving into the dungeon by grabbing <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Initiative" href="#" target="_blank">The Initiative</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Caves of Chaos Adventurer" href="#" target="_blank">Caves of Chaos Adventurer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will grant us the token as well as giving us some card advantage should we choose to attack.</p>
<h2>Sneak Your Way to Victory</h2>
<p>With our ability to make games drag we can try and sneak out a cheeky win with some subtle alternate victory conditions. These cards will seem very mundane on their own until they end up sweeping the game for you.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Azor&#039;s Elocutors"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="The Millennium Calendar"></div></div>
<p>Both <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Azor&#039;s Elocutors" href="#" target="_blank">Azor&#039;s Elocutors</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Millennium Calendar" href="#" target="_blank">The Millennium Calendar</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are very slow cards that can ultimately win you the game when left unanswered. The Millennium Calendar will slowly accumulate counters over time and eventually cause our opponents to lose an insane 1,000 life.</p>
<p>The Elocutors, however, simply need five upkeeps to win the game. At the start of each of your turns they'll gain a filibuster counter, and when they receive their fifth this way, you'll win the game. The downside is that you'll be losing one of these counters if your opponent ever manages to deal damage to you.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Crystal Barricade"></div></div>
<p>This will be tricky to pull off if we're playing against any burn effects, but at least we can very easily stop combat damage, and the <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Crystal Barricade" href="#" target="_blank">Crystal Barricade</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> provides us, the player, with hexproof to stop any shenanigans. Its ability to stop all noncombat damage to our other creatures will also prevent any red removal from taking out the Elocutors before we can get away with our sneaky win.</p>
<h2>Build it Yourself</h2>
<p>If you've been inspired by this article to sit behind your own wall and laugh at the peasants squabbling outside, don't worry! I've got you covered with a rough deck list to either build straight away or use a starting point below. Enjoy your very own Pillow Fort on me:</p>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Pillow Fort - Archetypes of Imagination" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Pramikon, Sky Rampart
[/Commander]
[Creatures]
*1 Archangel of Tithes
*1 Archon of Absolution
*1 Azor&#039;s Elocutors
*1 Baird, Steward of Argive
*1 Caves of Chaos Adventurer
*1 Champions of Minas Tirith
*1 Crystal Barricade
*1 Esper Sentinel
*1 Fog Bank
*1 Hundred-Handed One
*1 Magus of the Moat
*1 Wall of Denial
*1 Wall of Stolen Identity
*1 Wall of Vapors
*1 Windborn Muse
[/Creatures]
[Enchantments]
*1 Court of Ardenvale
*1 Court of Embereth
*1 Court of Grace
*1 Court of Ire
*1 Court of Vantress
*1 Darksteel Mutation
*1 Ghostly Possession
*1 Ghostly Prison
*1 Karmic Justice
*1 Lightmine Field
*1 Luminarch Ascension
*1 Mystic Barrier
*1 Pariah
*1 Propaganda
*1 Rite of the Raging Storm
*1 Sphere of Safety
*1 Tenuous Truce
*1 War&#039;s Toll
[/Enchantments]
[Instants]
*1 Aetherize
*1 Counterspell
*1 Dovin&#039;s Veto
*1 Ephemerate
*1 Ghostly Flicker
*1 New Way Forward
*1 Path to Exile
*1 Teferi&#039;s Protection
*1 Three Steps Ahead
[/Instants]
[Sorceries]
*1 Austere Command
*1 Supreme Verdict
*1 Vanquish the Horde
*1 Wrath of God
[/Sorceries]
[Artifacts]
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Bident of Thassa
*1 Commander&#039;s Sphere
*1 Fellwar Stone
*1 Marble Diamond
*1 Rammas Echor, Ancient Shield
*1 Sarevok&#039;s Tome
*1 Sky Diamond
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Talisman of Conviction
*1 Talisman of Creativity
*1 Talisman of Progress
*1 The Millennium Calendar
[/Artifacts]
[Planeswalkers]
*1 The Wanderer
[/Planeswalkers]
[Lands]
*1 Adarkar Wastes
*1 Battlefield Forge
*1 City of Brass
*1 Clifftop Retreat
*1 Command Tower
*1 Deserted Beach
*1 Evolving Wilds
*1 Floodfarm Verge
*1 Glacial Fortress
*6 Island
*1 Maze of Ith
*5 Mountain
*1 Mystic Monastery
*6 Plains
*1 Prairie Stream
*1 Riverpyre Verge
*1 Sea of Clouds
*1 Shivan Reef
*1 Spectator Seating
*1 Stormcarved Coast
*1 Sulfur Falls
*1 Sunbillow Verge
*1 Sundown Pass
*1 Terramorphic Expanse
*1 Training Center
[/Lands]"></span></div>
<p></p>
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Making a Pillow Fort Deck With Pramikon, Sky Rampart

<h6 style="text-align: right;">(<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Martial Coup|40k|189" href="#" target="_blank">Martial Coup</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art By <a href="https://www.artstation.com/diegogisbert">Diego Gisbert Llorens</a>)</h6>
<h1>Winner Winner, Chicken Pinger</h1>
<p>Hello, and welcome to <i>Archetypes of Imagination</i>, the series in which <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/author/cooper-gottfried">Cooper Gottfried</a> builds decks based on popular Commander archetypes. I'm jumping in to help Cooper out with this edition as we talk about one of my favorite ways to win games and annoy your opponents: pingers!</p>
<p>Today I'll be using<a href="https://tagger.scryfall.com/?utm_source=edhrec" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> Scryfall's tagging system</a> and<a href="https://edhrec.com/tags?utm_source=edhrec" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> EDHREC's Tag pages</a> to build a deck around the theme of <a href="https://tagger.scryfall.com/tags/card/pinger">Pingers</a>. These are permanents that routinely deal small amounts of chip damage to our opponents either as activated or triggered abilities.</p>
<p>Sometimes they come stapled onto a creature like the classic, color-pie-breaking, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Prodigal Sorcerer" href="#" target="_blank">Prodigal Sorcerer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Often they're in the form of triggered abilities on enchantments like the wonderful <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Impact Tremors" href="#" target="_blank">Impact Tremors</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Goblin Sharpshooter"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Manabarbs"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Guttersnipe"></div></div>
<p>Most players will have one or two pingers in a deck, offering small amounts of chip damage to slowly turn the game in their favor, but oftentimes these Pingers will be one of many rewards for doing what their deck does. Playing lots of lands, drawing lots of cards, or (most commonly) playing noncreature spells:</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Spitfire Lagac"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Psychosis Crawler"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Firebrand Archer"></div></div>
<h2>A Deck By Pingers, For Pingers</h2>
<p>Today we want to make a deck that doesn't just benefit from playing pingers, but is built around them specifically, and for that end, we're enlisting a friend from <em>Universes Beyond</em> to help us.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ghyrson Starn, Kelermorph" href="#" target="_blank">Ghyrson Starn, Kelermorph</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is an Izzet (<span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-ur" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>) Tyranid Human that cares about sources we control doing exactly one damage to any target. Whenever one of our cards does one damage, Ghyrson will jump in to help out and deal two damage himself to the same target.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ghyrson Starn, Kelermorph"></div></div>
<p>Ghryson is incredibly powerful as a commander for a few reasons. First of all, he doesn't care how you do your single bits of damage. You could play a burn spell, hit someone with a 1/1 token, or of course have one of our myriad pinger effects trigger. Every time he'll add two more damage on top.</p>
<p>Secondly, Ghryson isn't just adding two damage on top of what's already there, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Torbran, Thane of Red Fell" href="#" target="_blank">Torbran, Thane of Red Fell</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> might. He's actually doing that two damage himself. That means we can load him up with Auras and Equipment that benefit us whenever an attached creature does damage.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="End the Festivities"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Tectonic Hazard"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Blazing Volley"></div></div>
<p>And lastly, Ghyrson is a "whenever" trigger. No, "only once per turn" or "one or more". He's going to trigger on every single instance of one damage we create. That means cards that deal mass amounts of one damage like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="End the Festivities" href="#" target="_blank">End the Festivities</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will generate an absolutely huge amount of triggers.</p>
<h2>Which Ping is Right?</h2>
<p>There's a few different ways in which we can trigger our pinger effects. We could just have a board full of creatures with activated abilities, forming a gun wall against our opponents. That would be pretty on theme for a <em>Warhammer 40K</em> commander.</p>
<p>We could also focus on slinging spells for our triggers. Use effects like that of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Firebrand Archer" href="#" target="_blank">Firebrand Archer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and try to storm off on our turns with a load of cantrips, dealing a tonne of damage to our enemies.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Krenko, Mob Boss"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Howlsquad Heavy"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Pashalik Mons"></div></div>
<p>To get as much benefit as possible from our commander's ability however, I think we're better off leaning in another direction. For this build we're going to try and flood the board with tokens, largely Goblins. With a wide board we have three different ways in which our board can dish out single points of damage:</p>
<h3>Impact Tremors Effects</h3>
<p>Most often we'll be hitting our opponents with a lot of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Impact Tremors" href="#" target="_blank">Impact Tremors</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>-style effects. That is, whenever a creature enters under our control we'll deal one (three!) damage to each of our opponents. There's a few different cards available in red that give us this effect, including Tremors itself.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Witty Roastmaster"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Molten Gatekeeper"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Agate Instigator"></div></div>
<p>Once you get a few of these on board, even just a couple of creatures entering can cause some serious problems for your opponents. With three on the board, we're dealing three damage to our opponents every time we have a creature enter. With Ghyrson on board as well, that damage triples. Nine damage per Goblin we make? Absolutely rotten stuff.</p>
<p>The absolute queen of this effect, and one that'll provide us both with the tokens we need to make and the tremors effect that we want to trigger, is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="General Kreat, the Boltbringer" href="#" target="_blank">General Kreat, the Boltbringer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>Not only does she have the Tremors-style effect stapled onto her, but she's also going to make us a new Goblin token every time we attack with at least one of our pre-existing Goblins.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="General Kreat, the Boltbringer"></div></div>
<h3>Attack Triggers</h3>
<p>There's not quite as many of these cards in our deck, but a few things exist in red that reward us for attacking with low power creatures. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Raid Bombardment" href="#" target="_blank">Raid Bombardment</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> for example triggers whenever we attack with a creature with power two or less.</p>
<p>We can't always swing out with our board, especially when we need to hold up blockers, but cards like this effectively give us a second hit of Impact Tremors whenever we attack. Albeit, only targeting the player we're attacking.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Raid Bombardment"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Cavalcade of Calamity"></div></div>
<h3>Combat Damage</h3>
<p>Finally, for each of our 1/1 tokens that hit something we get one final bit of single point damage for Ghyrson to add two on top of. Nothing flashy here, basically everything that hits for one, now hits for three! On top of any other fun bonuses we can get from Ghyrson's Equipment and Auras. Speaking of, let's talk about that.</p>
<h2>Kitting Out Ghyrson</h2>
<p>There's a load of different goodies we can fill our deck with to get added benefit from Ghyrson's repeated triggers. With enough tokens on board and pinger effects in play, these should trigger quite a lot to boot. First of all, we should make sure we have a bit of card draw online. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Curiosity" href="#" target="_blank">Curiosity</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a perfect fit to pop onto our commander.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Curiosity"></div></div>
<p>Now, whenever we deal a single point of damage from any source, Ghyrson will add some more on top and also draw us a card. Importantly, this is also a <em>may </em>trigger. That'll save us from accidentally decking ourselves whenever a million of our triggers hit the stack.</p>
<p>Next up, let's make Ghyrson even more lethal. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gorgon&#039;s Head" href="#" target="_blank">Gorgon&#039;s Head</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will case any creatures he hits to drop like flies, even if the initial three damage wasn't enough to take them down, by adding deathtouch to the damage he deals. We can also gain life from every instance of his ability with something like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Shadowspear" href="#" target="_blank">Shadowspear</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, or combine those two effects with the nasty <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Basilisk Collar" href="#" target="_blank">Basilisk Collar</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Gorgon&#039;s Head"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Shadowspear"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Basilisk Collar"></div></div>
<p>With deathtouch online, we can perform a one-mana board wipe with our commander by casting an <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="End the Festivities" href="#" target="_blank">End the Festivities</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>-style spell. Ghyrson sees all the single points of damage and follows them up with two points of deathtouch damage, killing pretty much everything in sight whilst your board stays untouched.</p>
<h3>Kill/Steal</h3>
<p>Wiping our opponents' boards is of course hilarious, but we can be even funnier with Ghyrson's ability. Using this bizarre old card that I'm sure will be very familiar to those with a paticular fondness for pinging:</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Charisma"></div></div>
<p>That's right, for <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-u" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span><span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-u" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span><span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-u" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> and the cast of a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tectonic Hazard" href="#" target="_blank">Tectonic Hazard</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, we can deal three damage to every creature our opponents control and then take control of every creature that survives. After that they'll be wishing you board-wiped.</p>
<p>If each other players' board is big enough, this can quite easily win a game, but don't worry, we've got even more options to mess with our opponents. For even cheaper, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sigil of Sleep" href="#" target="_blank">Sigil of Sleep</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will activate whenever we trigger our Tremors effects and then add insult to the injury by bouncing creatures back their owners' hands.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sigil of Sleep"></div></div>
<h3>Ending the Game</h3>
<p>There's always a few games where one person in your pod gains such a ridiculous amount of life that it's effectively impossible to take them out of the running. This isn't necessarily a deck that wants your games to go long, and lifegain can really slow it down. We definitely won't be swinging in for commander damage any time soon, so we'll need some kind of backup plan.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Grafted Exoskeleton"></div></div>
<p>Introducing <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Grafted Exoskeleton" href="#" target="_blank">Grafted Exoskeleton</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, a card that will likely make you the biggest threat on the board as soon as you declare its cast, but also one that will likely win you the game very quickly if your opponents don't have a response. Giving Ghyrson infect will effectively make five triggers of Impact Tremors game over as he deals his damage in the form of poison counters. Ten of those and it's game over for the bearer. No matter how high their life total!</p>
<h2>Build it Yourself</h2>
<p>This deck is sure to gain some ire from those who play against it. Whilst it does rely a lot on the commander being out, the core shell of Tremors effects and Goblin spamming should be plenty strong on its own. If you want to give it a go, you can find a rough decklist I've put together below. Feel free to change it to suit your play style and power level!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Pingers - Archetypes of Imagination" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Ghyrson Starn, Kelermorph
[/Commander]
[Creature]
*1 Agate Instigator
*1 Anax, Hardened in the Forge
*1 Devilish Valet
*1 Enduring Curiosity
*1 General Kreat, the Boltbringer
*1 Goblin Chainwhirler
*1 Grinning Ignus
*1 Howlsquad Heavy
*1 Krenko, Mob Boss
*1 Legion Loyalist
*1 Lobber Crew
*1 Loyal Apprentice
*1 Molten Gatekeeper
*1 Niv-Mizzet, Visionary
*1 Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
*1 Norin the Wary
*1 Pain Distributor
*1 Pashalik Mons
*1 Razorkin Needlehead
*1 Scalding Viper // Steam Clean
*1 Searslicer Goblin
*1 Siege-Gang Lieutenant
*1 Spitfire Lagac
*1 The Locust God
*1 Witty Roastmaster
*1 Roaming Throne
[/Creature]
[Enchantment]
*1 Cavalcade of Calamity
*1 Charisma
*1 Circle of Flame
*1 Curiosity
*1 Impact Tremors
*1 Kindred Discovery
*1 Makeshift Munitions
*1 Quicksilver Dagger
*1 Raid Bombardment
*1 Repercussion
*1 Sigil of Sleep
[/Enchantment]
[Sorcery]
*1 Blasphemous Act
*1 Blazing Volley
*1 Chain Reaction
*1 End the Festivities
*1 Tectonic Hazard
[/Sorcery]
[Instant]
*1 Aetherize
*1 Chaos Warp
*1 Electrickery
*1 Untimely Malfunction
[/Instant]
[Artifact]
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Basilisk Collar
*1 Commander&#039;s Sphere
*1 Fellwar Stone
*1 Fire Diamond
*1 Gorgon&#039;s Head
*1 Grafted Exoskeleton
*1 Izzet Signet
*1 Lightning Greaves
*1 Liquimetal Torque
*1 Mind Stone
*1 Shadowspear
*1 Skullclamp
*1 Sky Diamond
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Thought Vessel
[/Artifact]
[Land]
*1 Arena of Glory
*1 Cascade Bluffs
*1 Command Tower
*1 Desert
*1 Eroded Canyon
*1 Exotic Orchard
*10 Island
*9 Mountain
*1 Muraganda Raceway
*1 Path of Ancestry
*1 Riverpyre Verge
*1 Rogue&#039;s Passage
*1 Scalding Tarn
*1 Shivan Reef
*1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
*1 Spirebluff Canal
*1 Steam Vents
*1 Stormcarved Coast
*1 Sulfur Falls
*1 Training Center
[/Land]"></span></div>



deck

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PEDH Voltron With Adelbert Steiner

Making a Pillow Fort Deck With Pramikon, Sky Rampart

Archetypes of Imagination - Making a Pinger Deck

Wombo Combo - Mono-Red Edition