<h6 style="text-align: right;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Armix, Filigree Thrasher" href="#" target="_blank">Armix, Filigree Thrasher</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | art by <a href="https://darylart.com/">Daniel Ljunggren</a></h6>
<p>Partner is a mechanic in EDH that has been a little contentious over the years, but there's no denying the impact it has had on the format; for better or worse.</p>
<p>Even outside of the ultra-strong combinations running rampant in cEDH, "partners" allow for unparalleled creativity in deckbuilding, especially due to the 4-color avenues opened through combinations like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tymna the Weaver" href="#" target="_blank">Tymna the Weaver</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix" href="#" target="_blank">Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ravos, Soultender" href="#" target="_blank">Ravos, Soultender</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ludevic, Necro-Alchemist" href="#" target="_blank">Ludevic, Necro-Alchemist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>In 2020, <em>Commander Legends</em> brought with it over 40 new legendary creatures with the "partner" ability; all of which were printed as mono-colored legends for the first time.</p>
<p>These new mono-colored legends expanded deckbuilding possibilities even more, and sheer amount of new options caused something unfortunate: severely underplayed combinations.</p>
<p>Now that we're a few years removed from <em>Commander Legends</em>, it feels appropriate to look back at the data and see what "partner" pairs need some love.</p>
<h3>Underrated/Under-loved Combo #1: Nadier, Agent of the Duskenel and Armix, Filigree Thrasher</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Nadier, Agent of the Duskenel"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Armix, Filigree Thrasher"></div></div>
<p>The first underrated pair that we are talking about explores "partners" in the monocolored space in an interesting way. According to EDHREC (at time of writing), there is <strong>only a single deck using this pair in the database!</strong></p>
<p>This statistic surprised me, as Nadier alone seems like a very strong commander for a specific reason: he triggers off of <strong>any tokens.</strong> With all the Clues, Food, and Treasures running around, this combination felt like a match made in heaven.</p>
<p>Armix acts as a repeatable piece of removal in the command zone, and these days it seems like running more removal in your EDH decks is necessary. Lately, cards that are getting printed are at least <em>good, </em>if not downright <em>great.</em></p>
<p>This "partner" pair immediately made me think of cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Academy Manufactor" href="#" target="_blank">Academy Manufactor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rapacious Guest" href="#" target="_blank">Rapacious Guest</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Experimental Confectioner" href="#" target="_blank">Experimental Confectioner</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hazel&#039;s Brewmaster" href="#" target="_blank">Hazel&#039;s Brewmaster</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nuka-Cola Vending Machine" href="#" target="_blank">Nuka-Cola Vending Machine</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>Building a "tchotchke" deck, as Rachel Weeks of the Command Zone puts it, seems like a really fun way to brew around this mono-black pair.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Academy Manufactor"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rapacious Guest"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Experimental Confectioner"></div></div>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Hazel&#039;s Brewmaster"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Nuka-Cola Vending Machine"></div></div>
<p>Even if this partner pair isn't your style, <strong>only one</strong><strong> deck </strong>on EDHREC seems criminal.</p>
<h3>Underrated/Under-loved Combo #2: Ich-Tekik, Salvage Splicer and Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ich-Tekik, Salvage Splicer"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator"></div></div>
<p>Unlike our first underrated pair, these partners are shown a little more love, with 82 decks on EDHREC. Simic is a color combination that usually has a very specific play pattern: ramp, draw cards, repeat.</p>
<p>However, this partner pair allows players to challenge what is expected with Simic commanders by relying heavily on artifacts.</p>
<p>First things first, Ich-Tekik puts this deck firmly on a Golem-typal plan. With that, I envision loading this deck up with every possible "splicer" card in these colors.</p>
<p>This would be things like: <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wing Splicer" href="#" target="_blank">Wing Splicer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Maul Splicer" href="#" target="_blank">Maul Splicer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vital Splicer" href="#" target="_blank">Vital Splicer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sandstorm Salvager" href="#" target="_blank">Sandstorm Salvager</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>Blue allows this deck to really shine as it provides the ability to flicker/blink these "splicer" effects to create more and more Golems.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Wing Splicer"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Maul Splicer"></div></div>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Vital Splicer"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sandstorm Salvager"></div></div>
<p>Malcolm is the "cherry on top", as his Treasure generation both ramps out our "splicer" effects <strong>and</strong> <strong>grows our Golems when we sacrifice them!</strong></p>
<p>And don't get me started on all the "token doubling" effects in these colors...I'm looking at <em>you</em>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Adrix and Nev, Twincasters" href="#" target="_blank">Adrix and Nev, Twincasters</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Adrix and Nev, Twincasters"></div></div>
<h3>Underrated/Under-loved Combo #3: Halana, Kessig Ranger and Silas Renn, Seeker Adept</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Halana, Kessig Ranger"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Silas Renn, Seeker Adept"></div></div>
<p>Our next combination expands a unique archetype into 3 colors. According to EDHREC, there are only 28 decks with these partners in the database. I could see a reason why: opponents probably find this deck very frustrating to play against.</p>
<p>Halana allows creatures entering to fight another creature on the board, and when every creature in our deck has deathtouch...you see the problem.</p>
<p>A "Deathtouch Typal" deck is something that many players have toyed with for awhile, and I firmly believe that this partner pair provides a terrific option.</p>
<p>Most cards that care about deathtouch as a mechanic exist in black and green, but adding blue allows you to play cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Baleful Strix" href="#" target="_blank">Baleful Strix</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and the assortment of <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>-esque cards for consistent card draw.</p>
<p>All-stars in this deck would be things like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hooded Blightfang" href="#" target="_blank">Hooded Blightfang</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fynn, the Fangbearer" href="#" target="_blank">Fynn, the Fangbearer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Aveline de Grandpré" href="#" target="_blank">Aveline de Grandpré</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ohran Frostfang" href="#" target="_blank">Ohran Frostfang</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Baleful Strix"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bident of Thassa"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Hooded Blightfang"></div></div>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Fynn, the Fangbearer"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Aveline de Grandpré"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ohran Frostfang"></div></div>
<p>While yes, this deck can be mean and remove our opponents' creature at will, it is also a unique way to explore an underrated, but fun, archetype.</p>
<h3>Underrated/Under-loved Combo #4: Miara, Thorn of the Glade and Thrasios, Triton Hero</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Miara, Thorn of the Glade"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Thrasios, Triton Hero"></div></div>
<p>According to EDHREC, there are only 99 decks in the database with this partner pair. Full disclosure, this partner pair is very personal to me, as I had a Sultai Elf-typal deck before <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Leovold, Emissary of Trest" href="#" target="_blank">Leovold, Emissary of Trest</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> was banned.</p>
<p>I had nearly given up on Sultai Elves until I saw Miara get revealed. Golgari Elves is a newly supported archetype thanks to <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Abomination of Llanowar" href="#" target="_blank">Abomination of Llanowar</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lathril, Blade of the Elves" href="#" target="_blank">Lathril, Blade of the Elves</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, so it seemed like the perfect time to return to this deck.</p>
<p>Yes, I know Thrasios is incredibly strong, but, in my opinion, he fit the theme more than <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix" href="#" target="_blank">Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p><em>The Lord of the Rings</em> commander precon led by <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Galadriel, Elven-Queen" href="#" target="_blank">Galadriel, Elven-Queen</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> provided a bunch of new goodies for this deck as well, as it focused heavily on an Elf-typal theme with a secondary focus on a "voting" theme.</p>
<p>Voting is one thing that I love in Commander, so I was beyond excited to add those cards to this list. Cards from this deck that are perfect includes are things like: <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Galadriel, Elven-Queen" href="#" target="_blank">Galadriel, Elven-Queen</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Elrond of the White Council" href="#" target="_blank">Elrond of the White Council</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Haldir, Lórien Lieutenant" href="#" target="_blank">Haldir, Lórien Lieutenant</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Windswift Slice" href="#" target="_blank">Windswift Slice</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>If you aren't a fan of having a ton a creatures in play, this pair isn't for you, but let's be honest, who <em>doesn't </em>having a critical mass of creatures in play??</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Leovold, Emissary of Trest"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Abomination of Llanowar"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Lathril, Blade of the Elves"></div></div>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Galadriel, Elven-Queen"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Elrond of the White Council"></div></div>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Haldir, Lórien Lieutenant"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Windswift Slice"></div></div>
<h3>Underrated/Under-loved Combo #5: Ikra Shidiqi, the Usurper and Krark, the Thumbless</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ikra Shidiqi, the Usurper"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Krark, the Thumbless"></div></div>
<p>Jund spellslinger? Why not? According to EDHREC, there are only 67 decks with this partner pair in the database, and with the pure chaos I've seen Krark bring to commander tables, this surprises me.</p>
<p>Krark plus green seems like it could be a crazy combination, as copying ramp spells could catapult us into a huge lead. Also, this partner pair benefits greatly from the <em>Final Fantasy</em> set's introduction of the 0/1 black Wizard creature tokens.</p>
<p>These tokens deal 1 damage to <strong>each opponent</strong> whenever we cast a noncreature spell, and that seems very strong with Krark in the command zone. (See things like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cornered by Black Mages" href="#" target="_blank">Cornered by Black Mages</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Circle of Power" href="#" target="_blank">Circle of Power</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.)</p>
<p>Outside of these newer includes, I can see cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Witherbloom Apprentice" href="#" target="_blank">Witherbloom Apprentice</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Manamorphose" href="#" target="_blank">Manamorphose</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tavern Scoundrel" href="#" target="_blank">Tavern Scoundrel</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sedgemoor Witch" href="#" target="_blank">Sedgemoor Witch</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wort, the Raidmother" href="#" target="_blank">Wort, the Raidmother</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> going absolutely insane in a deck like this.</p>
<p>Just think about it: what if Wort copied a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Torment of Hailfire" href="#" target="_blank">Torment of Hailfire</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>? Absolutely gross.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Cornered by Black Mages"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Circle of Power"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Witherbloom Apprentice"></div></div>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Manamorphose"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Tavern Scoundrel"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sedgemoor Witch"></div></div>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Wort, the Raidmother"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Torment of Hailfire"></div></div>
<p>I hope you enjoyed exploring some lesser-played partner pairs that deserve some love! Hopefully, this has inspired some of you, and if it has, happy brewing!</p>


5 Underplayed Commander Partner Pairings

The Top 10 Most Played Landfall Cards in Commander

<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="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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<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="Yr2xy6XSsE"><p><a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/archetypes-of-imagination-making-a-hatebear-deck/">Archetypes of Imagination - Making a Hatebear Deck</a></p></blockquote>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" class="wp-embedded-content" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" style="position: absolute; visibility: hidden;" title="&#8220;Archetypes of Imagination - Making a Hatebear Deck&#8221; &#8212; EDHREC" src="https://edhrec.com/articles/archetypes-of-imagination-making-a-hatebear-deck/embed/#?secret=zsWvw2Ipt2#?secret=Yr2xy6XSsE" data-secret="Yr2xy6XSsE" width="500" height="282" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></p>

Making a Pillow Fort Deck With Pramikon, Sky Rampart

Dueling Deck Techs: Brewing With Cantrips in Commander

<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>



Archetypes of Imagination - Making a Pinger Deck

<h6 style="text-align: right;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thalia and The Gitrog Monster" href="#" target="_blank">Thalia and The Gitrog Monster</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | art by <a href="https://www.howardlyon.com/">Howard Lyon</a></h6>
<h1><b>Da Bears</b></h1>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Hello again! Welcome back to </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Archetypes of Imagination</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, a series where I build decks based on popular Commander archetypes. I'll be using </span><a href="https://tagger.scryfall.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Scryfall's tagging system</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and</span><a href="https://edhrec.com/tags"><span style="font-weight: 400;"> EDHREC's Tag pages</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to build around a new theme each week. Scryfall has a really cool way of categorizing cards, where each card has specific labels attached to it for later reference. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For example, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Spellstutter Sprite" href="#" target="_blank">Spellstutter Sprite</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> has the counterspell tag and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Talisman of Dominance" href="#" target="_blank">Talisman of Dominance</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> has the ramp tag. EDHREC's tag system is really cool too, letting users see popular cards associated with a given strategy.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> For example, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Xorn" href="#" target="_blank">Xorn</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is great in Treasure decks and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Infectious Inquiry" href="#" target="_blank">Infectious Inquiry</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is great in infect 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!</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This week, we'll be building a deck focused on hatebears: creatures that slow down the game and limit the number or kind of actions that players at the table can take. Most hatebears are small, lower cost creatures. A perfect example is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thalia, Heretic Cathar" href="#" target="_blank">Thalia, Heretic Cathar</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">She slows down our opponents' board development while also being a nice attacker or blocker. But, today's deck won't just be White and it won't just be led by <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thalia, Heretic Cathar" href="#" target="_blank">Thalia</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. We'll be building an Abzan (<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-b" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span><span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-g" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>) hatebear deck with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thalia and The Gitrog Monster" href="#" target="_blank">Thalia and The Gitrog Monster</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> as the commander!</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Thalia and The Gitrog Monster"></div></div></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thalia and The Gitrog Monster" href="#" target="_blank">Thalia and The Gitrog Monster</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a super powerful commander. This card lets us play an extra land each turn, sacrifice a disposable permanent for card advantage, and acts as a positively lethal attacker/blocker. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Plus, on top of all of that, this commander is a hatebear: they make sure that our opponents creatures and (at least some of their) lands come into play tapped. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thalia and The Gitrog Monster" href="#" target="_blank">Thalia and The Gitrog Monster</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will give us ample access to card advantage and ramp, it's now up to us what we'd like to do with the resource advantage provided by our commander. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I think, given that our commander lets us play an additional land each turn, we'll make our win condition based on those lands. We've got a pretty simple two part plan: slow down the game with a large collection of hatebears, then cruise to victory with any number of </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Landfall</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> payoffs. Let's get going!</span></p>
<h2><b>There's a fine line between love and hate</b></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">So, even though <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thalia and The Gitrog Monster" href="#" target="_blank">Thalia and The Gitrog Monster</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is already a pretty cool hatebear, we're filling the deck with a ton of others. One of my personal favorites is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Archon of Emeria" href="#" target="_blank">Archon of Emeria</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, which provides a slightly-worse backup version of our commander and limits each player to just one spell per turn. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Although we don't have many creatures that can be flashed in on our opponents' turns, thus breaking parity on this restriction, we're totally fine with a slower overall pace of play here. To that end, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kambal, Consul of Allocation" href="#" target="_blank">Kambal, Consul of Allocation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will slowly but surely drain our opponents' life totals. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He should keep our life total high, something that's important given that our opponents will surely want us out of the game with all of the stax pieces we'll be playing. I also really like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mirri, Weatherlight Duelist" href="#" target="_blank">Mirri, Weatherlight Duelist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. She can either make most of our team completely unblockable, and then act as a neat defensive tool afterwards. That's a lot of value for just three mana.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Archon of Emeria"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kambal, Consul of Allocation"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mirri, Weatherlight Duelist"></div></div></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There's a lot more creatures here, so I'll just talk about a few more big hits. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hushbringer" href="#" target="_blank">Hushbringer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> prevents all creature ETB abilities, which we truly don't mind. We've only got four creatures in the whole deck with relevant ETB triggers. Plus, should we draw one of those creatures and want to make use of their text, we can just sacrifice the <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hushbringer" href="#" target="_blank">Hushbringer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thalia and The Gitrog Monster" href="#" target="_blank">Thalia and The Gitrog Monster</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There's also <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Archon of Valor&#039;s Reach" href="#" target="_blank">Archon of Valor&#039;s Reach</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, which may seem a bit ambitious at six mana. But, because our commander lets us play additional lands, we'll usually be getting this big, stax-y creature on the board on turn five or earlier. Having the ability to completely shut off a card type is extremely powerful, and we can make sure to choose a type that'll have little to no effect on our game plan.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> There's also a few one-sided effects in here, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Aven Mindcensor" href="#" target="_blank">Aven Mindcensor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. I feel a little bit mean for playing this card, but it fits so well with the gameplan. It slows our opponents down, can be flashed in on one of their turns to get around our <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rule of Law" href="#" target="_blank">Rule of Law</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> effects, and it's an evasive attacker. So, to make a long story short, the card is good.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Hushbringer"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Archon of Valor&#039;s Reach"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Aven Mindcensor"></div></div></span></p>
<h2><b>Land, ho!</b></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And, once the game is moving at a more comfortable speed, and we've got access to our commander's extra-land-each-turn ability, it's </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Landfall</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> time. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Avenger of Zendikar" href="#" target="_blank">Avenger of Zendikar</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is an obvious choice here. It can provide us with a large army of ever-growing creature tokens that our opponents just won't be able to keep up with. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The same can be said about <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Felidar Retreat" href="#" target="_blank">Felidar Retreat</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. It'll either pump up our whole team multiple times per turn, or provide some extra bodies should we need them. The brand-new <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mossborn Hydra" href="#" target="_blank">Mossborn Hydra</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> works so well in this deck, especially if it hits the battlefield early. With the extra land drop <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thalia and The Gitrog Monster" href="#" target="_blank">Thalia and The Gitrog Monster</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> provides, this creature can get troublingly large.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Avenger of Zendikar"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Felidar Retreat"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mossborn Hydra"></div></div></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And, because we're running a full 40 lands (not counting MDFCs), <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Six" href="#" target="_blank">Six</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is going to be an absolute star in this deck. We've got a few ways to play lands from the graveyard, so using <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Six" href="#" target="_blank">Six</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>'s retrace ability isn't much of a problem at all, and this creature can help us pull other creatures that we sacrificed to our commander back to life.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> This is one of my favorite cards from last year, and I think it should find a slot in just about every green-inclusive Commander deck. There's also a potent combination of cards that each work super well in the 99 of this deck: <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Titania, Voice of Gaea" href="#" target="_blank">Titania, Voice of Gaea</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Argoth, Sanctum of Nature" href="#" target="_blank">Argoth, Sanctum of Nature</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Both of these cards are great on their own, either providing some disposable tokens + self mill or some incidental lifegain, but are obviously even better when combined. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I don't normally like putting meld cards in my decks, but I'll make an exception here because both halves of the eventual <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Titania, Gaea Incarnate" href="#" target="_blank">Titania, Gaea Incarnate</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are great standalone cards.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Six"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Titania, Voice of Gaea"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Argoth, Sanctum of Nature"></div></div></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This week's decklist is a bit pricier than previous ones in this series because of the mana base. It's full of fetch lands and shock lands, largely because of how well fetch lands synergize with </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Landfall</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> abilities and how great they are when played from the graveyard. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you're interested in buying this deck, I encourage you to try out a cheaper mana base first and see if you like the general flow of the deck. Anyways, financial rant over. Here's the full decklist:</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Archetypes of Imagination - Building a Hatebear Commander Deck" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Thalia and The Gitrog Monster
[/Commander]

[Creatures]
*1 Alms Collector
*1 Archivist of Oghma
*1 Archon of Emeria
*1 Archon of Valor&#039;s Reach
*1 Augur of Autumn
*1 Avacyn&#039;s Pilgrim
*1 Aven Interrupter
*1 Aven Mindcensor
*1 Avenger of Zendikar
*1 Birds of Paradise
*1 Bloom Tender
*1 Boromir, Warden of the Tower
*1 Charismatic Conqueror
*1 Collector Ouphe
*1 Dauntless Dismantler
*1 Deathrite Shaman
*1 Doorkeeper Thrull
*1 Drana and Linvala
*1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
*1 Elves of Deep Shadow
*1 Esper Sentinel
*1 Glissa Sunslayer
*1 Heartwood Storyteller
*1 Hushbringer
*1 Kambal, Consul of Allocation
*1 Lotho, Corrupt Shirriff
*1 Manglehorn
*1 Mirri, Weatherlight Duelist
*1 Mossborn Hydra
*1 Mosswood Dreadknight // Dread Whispers
*1 Ohran Frostfang
*1 Opposition Agent
*1 Scute Swarm
*1 Serra Paragon
*1 Shalai, Voice of Plenty
*1 Six
*1 Springheart Nantuko
*1 Tireless Provisioner
*1 Titania, Protector of Argoth
*1 Titania, Voice of Gaea
*1 Toski, Bearer of Secrets
*1 Wandering Archaic // Explore the Vastlands
*1 Windborn Muse
*1 Yasharn, Implacable Earth
[/Creatures]

[Sorceries]
*1 Agadeem&#039;s Awakening // Agadeem, the Undercrypt
*1 Ascend from Avernus
*1 Life from the Loam
*1 Retribution of the Meek
*1 Toxic Deluge
[/Sorceries]

[Instants]
*1 Anguished Unmaking
*1 Assassin&#039;s Trophy
*1 Entish Restoration
*1 Path to Exile
*1 Revitalizing Repast // Old-Growth Grove
*1 Swords to Plowshares
*1 Tear Asunder
[/Instants]

[Lands]
*1 Argoth, Sanctum of Nature
*1 Arid Mesa
*1 Bloodstained Mire
*1 Bountiful Promenade
*1 Command Tower
*1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
*1 Exotic Orchard
*1 Flagstones of Trokair
*1 Flooded Strand
*5 Forest
*1 Godless Shrine
*1 Indatha Triome
*1 Lush Portico
*1 Marsh Flats
*1 Misty Rainforest
*1 Overgrown Farmland
*1 Overgrown Tomb
*5 Plains
*1 Polluted Delta
*1 Prismatic Vista
*5 Swamp
*1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
*1 Temple Garden
*1 Undergrowth Stadium
*1 Vault of Champions
*1 Verdant Catacombs
*1 Windswept Heath
*1 Wooded Foothills
[/Lands]

[Enchantments]
*1 Felidar Retreat
*1 Walk-In Closet // Forgotten Cellar
[/Enchantments]

[Artifacts]
*1 Conduit of Worlds
[/Artifacts]"></span></div></span></p>
<h1></h1>
<h2><b>The machine marches on…</b></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">That's it for this week, folks! Before you go, though, I wanted to chat about a few pieces of recursion that make the deck more resilient. One of my personal favorites is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Conduit of Worlds" href="#" target="_blank">Conduit of Worlds</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. This is a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Crucible of Worlds" href="#" target="_blank">Crucible of Worlds</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> effect with upside, and I think this card will work fantastically with all the lands we'll be sacrificing to our commander. Notably, this is the only artifact that I included in this deck.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> That just makes cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Heartwood Storyteller" href="#" target="_blank">Heartwood Storyteller</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Collector Ouphe" href="#" target="_blank">Collector Ouphe</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> even better. I also really like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Agadeem&#039;s Awakening" href="#" target="_blank">Agadeem&#039;s Awakening</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. If you've read any of my writing before, you'll know I love MDFCs (maybe even a little bit too much). But this card can either be an extremely powerful reanimation spell OR an untapped <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-b" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>-generating land. What more can you ask for?<br />
Lastly, I wanted to show off <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Serra Paragon" href="#" target="_blank">Serra Paragon</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. This is another card that I think should see more play. This card is already a relatively efficient attacker/blocker, but then we also get to recur a land or a small permanent on EACH turn AND gain life when that permanent dies later. This card does a little bit of everything, and fits so well in the 99 of our deck.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Crucible of Worlds"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Agadeem&#039;s Awakening"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Serra Paragon"></div></div></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Thanks for reading! I'll see you all next week for a deck based around unblockable creatures.</span></p>


Archetypes of Imagination - Making a Hatebear Deck

Archetypes of Imagination - Making a Flicker Deck

<h6 style="text-align: right;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bria, Riptide Rogue" href="#" target="_blank">Bria, Riptide Rogue</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://borjapindado.com/">Borja Pindado</a></h6>
<h2><b>One odd otter</b></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Hello! Welcome to </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Archetypes of Imagination</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, a brand new series where I'll be building decks based on popular Commander archetypes. I'll be using</span><a href="https://tagger.scryfall.com/"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Scryfall's tagging system</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and</span><a href="https://edhrec.com/tags"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">EDHREC's Tag pages</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to build around a new theme each week. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Scryfall has a really cool way of categorizing cards, where each card has specific labels attached to it for later reference. For example, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cultivate" href="#" target="_blank">Cultivate</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> has the ramp tag and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Carrion Feeder" href="#" target="_blank">Carrion Feeder</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> has the sacrifice outlet tag. EDHREC's tag system is really cool too, letting users see popular cards associated with a given strategy. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For example, the toughness matters tag shows users that <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> works well with the strategy and the Blink tag does the same for <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ephemerate" href="#" target="_blank">Ephemerate</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This week, we'll be taking some really, really long turns. We're building a deck based around <strong>cantrips</strong>! For those who don't know, a card is considered a cantrip when it provides its caster with a card draw in addition to some other effects.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> One famous example, which you'll see in this week's full decklist, is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Opt" href="#" target="_blank">Opt</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. There's tons of commanders that work well with cantrips, especially cantrips that happen to be instants or sorceries, and I'm pretty happy with the one I picked. From </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Bloomburrow</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, my favorite recent set, this deck's commander is… <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bria, Riptide Rogue" href="#" target="_blank">Bria, Riptide Rogue</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>!</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bria, Riptide Rogue"></div></div></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bria, Riptide Rogue" href="#" target="_blank">Bria</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> provides all of our creatures prowess, meaning they'll get temporarily bigger when we cast a noncreature spell. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">She also makes one of our creatures unblockable for a turn when we cast a noncreature spell, meaning that they'll be able to chip in for damage with their buffed-up power and toughness. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">While <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bria, Riptide Rogue" href="#" target="_blank">Bria</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>'s abilities encourage a somewhat straight-forward gameplan, there's still a lot of room for creativity in this decklist. Let's get going, and I'll show you what I mean!</span></p>
<h3><b>On the prowl…</b></h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Because <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bria, Riptide Rogue" href="#" target="_blank">Bria</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> gives all of our creatures prowess, we want to ensure that we've got a relatively wide board to capitalize on that ability. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But, we also need to ensure that we've got enough noncreature spells in the deck to actually trigger that prowess. Some of you may already know where I'm going within this: token creators! </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There's a ton of creatures in Izzet colors that make tokens when we cast instants and sorceries, so I've included a whole host of them here.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">My favorite is the ever-popular <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Shark Typhoon" href="#" target="_blank">Shark Typhoon</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Not only is this a noncreature spell (which will trigger prowess), but it makes big, evasive creature tokens.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> I also think that <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Young Pyromancer" href="#" target="_blank">Young Pyromancer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is an all-star here. It only costs two mana, meaning that we can have it hit the board well before our commander, and start churning out tokens as early as turn two. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Lastly, I'm a big fan of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Drake Hatcher" href="#" target="_blank">Drake Hatcher</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. I know this card came out recently, but I don't think it got nearly the amount of popularity it's due.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> This creature has prowess already, and our commander will give it a second instance of prowess, meaning it'll grow by +2/+2 for every noncreature spell we cast. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And, it acts as a sneaky efficient way to make evasive tokens at any time. This is the exact kind of card I want to play in my commander decks, and I think this deck is a perfect home for it.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Shark Typhoon"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Young Pyromancer"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Drake Hatcher"></div></div></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Just like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Drake Hatcher" href="#" target="_blank">Drake Hatcher</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, there's a cadre of creatures that already have prowess (or an ability that's very close to it) in the 99 of this deck. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Another card I think is underplayed finds a slot here: <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Khenra Spellspear" href="#" target="_blank">Khenra Spellspear</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. With our commander out, and this creature transformed, it has three separate instances of prowess. With just one noncreature spell cast, that means we've got a 6/6 trampler with ward <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-2" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The rate only gets better from there. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kiln Fiend" href="#" target="_blank">Kiln Fiend</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Crackling Cyclops" href="#" target="_blank">Crackling Cyclops</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Slickshot Show-Off" href="#" target="_blank">Slickshot Show-Off</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are all very similar, growing progressively larger when we cast certain types of spells.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Plus, because our commander can make some of our creatures unblockable, meaning that the less evasive creatures from among this bunch can be sure to punch through for damage. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Lastly, I wanted to shout out <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Balmor, Battlemage Captain" href="#" target="_blank">Balmor, Battlemage Captain</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. This is, essentially, a cheaper and slightly-worse version of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bria, Riptide Rogue" href="#" target="_blank">Bria</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He provides +1/+0 to our whole team when we cast an instant or sorcery (slightly worse than <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bria, Riptide Rogue" href="#" target="_blank">Bria</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>'s +1/+1), and provides our whole team trample (arguably on par with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bria, Riptide Rogue" href="#" target="_blank">Bria</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>'s ability to make one creature unblockable at a time).</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If our commander ever becomes too expensive to recast, or is otherwise locked out of the game, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Balmor, Battlemage Captain" href="#" target="_blank">Balmor, Battlemage Captain</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a great second option.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Khenra Spellspear"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kiln Fiend"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Balmor, Battlemage Captain"></div></div></span></p>
<h3><b>Dancing the can-can</b></h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This deck is, at its core, based around cantrips. So, let's talk about a few of the best ones I've included. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Crimson Wisps" href="#" target="_blank">Crimson Wisps</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Expedite" href="#" target="_blank">Expedite</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are functionally identical cards, and the ability to provide haste to any one of our creatures (particularly a creature with an instance of double prowess), can be game-ending when combined with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bria, Riptide Rogue" href="#" target="_blank">Bria</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>'s ability to make one of our creatures unblockable. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If we can land a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kiln Fiend" href="#" target="_blank">Kiln Fiend</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> on the board, make it unblockable, and give it haste, we can easily knock out a player in the late game. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I also wanted to point out the inclusion of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Psychotic Fury" href="#" target="_blank">Psychotic Fury</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, which can provide double strike to our commander and a select few other creatures in the deck. When combined with a pump effect like prowess, double strike is obviously immensely powerful in this deck. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There's a bunch of other cantrips too, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Opt" href="#" target="_blank">Opt</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thought Scour" href="#" target="_blank">Thought Scour</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, but those cards just aren't as much fun as the others I've mentioned.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Crimson Wisps"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Expedite"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Psychotic Fury"></div></div></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There's also a small package of cards that care about our graveyard, all of which work quite well together. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dragon&#039;s Rage Channeler" href="#" target="_blank">Dragon&#039;s Rage Channeler</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will provide some nice card selection while also becoming a threatening attacker as the game goes on.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Haughty Djinn" href="#" target="_blank">Haughty Djinn</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will reduce the cost of our most important spells, while also becoming huge as the game goes on. And, should we need a boatload of tokens, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rise from the Tides" href="#" target="_blank">Rise from the Tides</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can provide that easily.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Combined with some cantrips to fill the graveyard (like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Consider" href="#" target="_blank">Consider</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, these cards will be super effective here).</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Dragon&#039;s Rage Channeler"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Haughty Djinn"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rise from the Tides"></div></div></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Lastly, I wanted to talk about a few cards in the deck that provide extra combat steps. Every extra combat card in this deck is either an instant or a sorcery, meaning that they all trigger prowess. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Because prowess lasts until the end of the turn, our creatures will keep their pumped-up stats for all the combat steps we go through. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Again, because of the immense power of double strike, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Savage Beating" href="#" target="_blank">Savage Beating</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is one of the top choices here. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For 7 mana, we can push through a crazy amount of damage with a sufficiently wide board of creatures. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="World at War" href="#" target="_blank">World at War</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is great too, providing a cast trigger twice (triggering prowess again)! </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And, a new addition, </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Aetherdrift</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">'s <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Full Throttle" href="#" target="_blank">Full Throttle</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can provide two extra combats for the price of one card. That's really strong, and I think this card will become an instant staple in EDH.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Savage Beating"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="World at War"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Full Throttle"></div></div></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And, here's the full decklist:</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Archetypes of Imagination - Building a Cantrip Deck" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Bria, Riptide Rogue
[/Commander]

[Instants]
*1 Arcane Denial
*1 Brainstorm
*1 Consider
*1 Counterspell
*1 Crimson Wisps
*1 Cryptic Command
*1 Disdainful Stroke
*1 Expedite
*1 Fists of Flame
*1 Flame of Anor
*1 Frantic Search
*1 Great Train Heist
*1 Leap
*1 Mental Note
*1 Opt
*1 Pongify
*1 Psychotic Fury
*1 Rapid Hybridization
*1 Rush of Inspiration // Crackling Falls
*1 Savage Beating
*1 Strix Serenade
*1 Swan Song
*1 Thought Scour
*1 Untimely Malfunction
[/Instants]

[Creatures]
*1 Archmage Emeritus
*1 Balmor, Battlemage Captain
*1 Crackling Cyclops
*1 Dragon&#039;s Rage Channeler
*1 Drake Hatcher
*1 Goblin Electromancer
*1 Harmonic Prodigy
*1 Haughty Djinn
*1 Khenra Spellspear // Gitaxian Spellstalker
*1 Kiln Fiend
*1 Murmuring Mystic
*1 Pinnacle Monk // Mystic Peak
*1 Slickshot Show-Off
*1 Stormcatch Mentor
*1 Talrand, Sky Summoner
*1 Third Path Iconoclast
*1 Valley Floodcaller
*1 Veyran, Voice of Duality
*1 Young Pyromancer
[/Creatures]

[Sorceries]
*1 Blasphemous Act
*1 Chart a Course
*1 Crash Through
*1 Enter the Enigma
*1 Full Throttle
*1 Gitaxian Probe
*1 Haze of Rage
*1 Jeska&#039;s Will
*1 Ponder
*1 Preordain
*1 Relentless Assault
*1 Renegade Tactics
*1 Rise from the Tides
*1 Season of Weaving
*1 Serum Visions
*1 Slip Through Space
*1 Warlord&#039;s Fury
*1 World at War
[/Sorceries]

[Lands]
*1 Cascade Bluffs
*1 Ferrous Lake
*1 Fiery Islet
*12 Island
*11 Mountain
*1 Otawara, Soaring City
*1 Riverglide Pathway // Lavaglide Pathway
*1 Riverpyre Verge
*1 Shivan Reef
*1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
*1 Stormcarved Coast
*1 Training Center
[/Lands]

[Artifacts]
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Izzet Signet
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Talisman of Creativity
[/Artifacts]

[Enchantments]
*1 Shark Typhoon
[/Enchantments]"></span></div></span></p>
<h3><b><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wave Goodbye" href="#" target="_blank">Wave Goodbye</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></b></h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">That's it for this week, everyone! I really like this deck, as it's a more focused version of a classic Spellslinger deck. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Instead of just casting spells and hoping to eventually find a wincon like, this deck goes for our opponents' life totals aggressively.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> I think that's a more fun way to build this archetype of deck, as it avoids the bad feelings that result from long turns without game state advancement.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I'd love to know: who's your favorite Spellslinger commander? <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bria, Riptide Rogue" href="#" target="_blank">Bria</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>'s probably my new favorite, for all the reasons I listed above and because she's from my favorite set from last year. Let me know your favorite in the comments below!</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I'll see you all next week, when we make a deck focused on death triggers!</span></p>


mechanic