<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Indomitable Creativity" href="#" target="_blank">Indomitable Creativity</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.artstation.com/deruch">Deruchenko Alexander</a></em></p>
<p>Welcome back to <em>60 to 100</em>, a series where I convert beloved 60-card decks to Commander. This time around, I'm going to tackle one of my favorite constructed decks from the last couple years: Izzet (<span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-u" 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>) Creativity.</p>
<p>Reid Duke took down Pro Tour <em>Phyrexia</em> with this deck in 2023, and in the process played one of the most suspenseful matches of <em>Magic: The Gathering</em> ever caught on camera. As usual, I'm going to break down the original deck, go over some of the challenges porting it to Commander presents, and then show off the final product.</p>
<h2>The Source Material</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Reid Duke&#039;s Izzet Creativity" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Instants]
*4 Big Score
*1 Dig Through Time
*4 Fiery Impulse
*4 Fire Prophecy
*4 Impulse
*3 Make Disappear
*1 Secrets of the Key
*1 Spell Pierce
*2 Spikefield Hazard // Spikefield Cave
*1 Valakut Awakening // Valakut Stoneforge
[/Instants]
[Creatures]
*1 Worldspine Wurm
*1 Xenagos, God of Revels
[/Creatures]
[Sorceries]
*4 Indomitable Creativity
[/Sorceries]
[Enchantments]
*4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker // Reflection of Kiki-Jiki
*1 Shark Typhoon
[/Enchantments]
[Lands]
*1 Hall of Storm Giants
*2 Mountain
*2 Mutavault
*1 Otawara, Soaring City
*4 Riverglide Pathway // Lavaglide Pathway
*2 Shivan Reef
*2 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
*3 Spirebluff Canal
*4 Steam Vents
*3 Stormcarved Coast
[/Lands]"></span></div>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Indomitable Creativity"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Worldspine Wurm"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Xenagos, God of Revels"></div></div>
<p>Izzet Creativity is a combo deck centered around <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Indomitable Creativity" href="#" target="_blank">Indomitable Creativity</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. The combo is pretty simple. The deck is looking to make two artifact or creature tokens, blow them up with Indomitable Creativity, and bring <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Xenagos, God of Revels" href="#" target="_blank">Xenagos, God of Revels</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Worldspine Wurm" href="#" target="_blank">Worldspine Wurm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> into play. Xenagos doubles Worldspine Wurm's power and toughness, gives it haste, and then swings at the opponent for 30 damage with trample. The rest of the deck is card draw and interaction to find and protect the combo. Reid's deck also had two copies of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hullbreaker Horror" href="#" target="_blank">Hullbreaker Horror</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> in the sideboard as a backup control plan against decks where the <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Worldspine Wurm" href="#" target="_blank">Worldspine Wurm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> plan wasn't as viable.</p>
<h2>The Challenges</h2>
<p>The most obvious issue with the <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Worldspine Wurm" href="#" target="_blank">Worldspine Wurm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> combo in Commander is that hitting one player for 30 damage doesn't even kill them, much less defeat three opponents. This puts me at a crossroads between stealing the <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hullbreaker Horror" href="#" target="_blank">Hullbreaker Horror</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> plan from the deck's sideboard and leaning into the control side of the deck or finding a different two creatures that win the game together.</p>
<p>Next, I'm going to have to tackle the singleton issue by finding comparable cards to Indomitable Creativity or densely packing the deck with tutors that can find it. I can't include creatures or artifacts that aren't a part of the combo, so gone is the option of my beloved <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Drift of Phantasms" href="#" target="_blank">Drift of Phantasms</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> for that purpose.</p>
<p>Lastly, this deck will be unable to play the suite of artifact-based ramp that is used in nearly every Commander deck. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sol Ring" href="#" target="_blank">Sol Ring</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a powerful <em>Magic</em> card, but I still wouldn't want to find it with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Indomitable Creativity" href="#" target="_blank">Indomitable Creativity</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>!</p>
<h2>The Commander(s)</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Thrasios, Triton Hero"></div></div>
<p>This deck is perfectly positioned to take advantage of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh" href="#" target="_blank">Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Here, much like in cEDH, he serves as a zero-mana creature that turns on free interaction, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Deflecting Swat" href="#" target="_blank">Deflecting Swat</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fierce Guardianship" href="#" target="_blank">Fierce Guardianship</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and he's a wonderful target to destroy with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Indomitable Creativity" href="#" target="_blank">Indomitable Creativity</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Meanwhile, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thrasios, Triton Hero" href="#" target="_blank">Thrasios, Triton Hero</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is here to donate his colors and potentially draw a couple cards every now and then. Thrasios is another totally reasonable target for Indomitable Creativity at his mana cost.</p>
<h2>Key Cards for Temur Creativity</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Indomitable Creativity"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Synthetic Destiny"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Divergent Transformations"></div></div>
<p>Thankfully, there are a handful of spells that can do a reasonable <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Indomitable Creativity" href="#" target="_blank">Indomitable Creativity</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> impression. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Synthetic Destiny" href="#" target="_blank">Synthetic Destiny</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Divergent Transformations" href="#" target="_blank">Divergent Transformations</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> both exile creatures and replace them with the same number of creatures from the deck. Divergent Transformations is even cheaper to cast than Creativity, assuming there are at least three opponents. This, alongside a frankly bizarre package of tutors that goes deeper into the well of options the Temur(<span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-u" 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 class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-g" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>) colors have to offer, will make it pretty simple to find one of these spells necessary to execute the combo. I'm going to save just what those two creatures are for the win conditions section!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Pest Infestation"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Hard Evidence"></div></div>
<p>There are 18 cards in this deck that produce tokens, plus a copy of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mutavault" href="#" target="_blank">Mutavault</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. That number, combined with the two commanders, should make getting the two creatures or artifacts necessary to combo off with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Indomitable Creativity" href="#" target="_blank">Indomitable Creativity</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> into play very achievable. An important note that 60-card Indomitable Creativity players are sure to have learned the hard way is that an opponent can respond by destroying one of Indomitable Creativity's targets and effectively stop the combo. A simple way to play around that is to target more creatures and artifacts than are necessary. This trick will be easy to pull off after generating four tokens with a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Pest Infestation" href="#" target="_blank">Pest Infestation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Brainstorm"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Valakut Awakening"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="See Beyond"></div></div>
<p>The last squeaky wheel this deck can encounter is winding up stuck with the creatures that you're trying to put into play with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Indomitable Creativity" href="#" target="_blank">Indomitable Creativity</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> in the hand, so I've included a few ways to fix that! <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Brainstorm" href="#" target="_blank">Brainstorm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a classic fix for this problem, although the creatures will inevitably be drawn again unless the library gets shuffled afterwards. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Valakut Awakening" href="#" target="_blank">Valakut Awakening</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="See Beyond" href="#" target="_blank">See Beyond</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Volcanic Spite" href="#" target="_blank">Volcanic Spite</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> all put cards from the hand on the bottom of the library, ensuring that they won't be seen again until the time is right.</p>
<h2>How Does This Indomitable Creativity Deck Win the Game?</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Leveler"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Thassa&#039;s Oracle"></div></div>
<p>Admittedly, I'm a little sad that this is the way I had to go here. Unfortunately, there just aren't that many viable combinations of creatures that end the game on the spot. I spent a lot of time digging through <a href="https://commanderspellbook.com/">Commander Spellbook</a>, and concluded that <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thassa&#039;s Oracle" href="#" target="_blank">Thassa&#039;s Oracle</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Leveler" href="#" target="_blank">Leveler</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> were the best choice. This one is pretty simple: Leveler and Thassa's Oracle come into play simultaneously, and then the triggers get stacked such that Leveler's enters trigger resolves first. In a pinch, these two can also be reasonable cast from the hand in the unfortunate scenario where they both show up there.</p>
<div id="1068-1295" style="width: 100%; position: relative; overflow: visible; display: flex; justify-content: center;"><img decoding="async" id="csbLoad" src="https://commanderspellbook.com/images/gear.svg" alt="csb logo" width="300" /><br />
<script id="1068-1295" src="https://commanderspellbook.com/embed.js?v=1&uses=%5B%22Leveler%22%2C%22Thassa's%20Oracle%22%5D&requires=%5B%5D&produces=%5B%22Exile%20your%20library%22%2C%22Win%20the%20game%22%5D&id=1068-1295&color=U&extraRequirementCount=0"></script></div>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" src="." width="0" height="0"></iframe></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Turn the Earth"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mystic Sanctuary"></div></div>
<p>My favorite thing about this deck is by far its resilience. Turn the Earth can shuffle <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thassa&#039;s Oracle" href="#" target="_blank">Thassa&#039;s Oracle</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Leveler" href="#" target="_blank">Leveler</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> back into the library if things go horribly awry. Then, there is a lot of recovery and redundancy for the spells that initiate the combo with cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mystic Sanctuary" href="#" target="_blank">Mystic Sanctuary</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bala-Ged Recovery" href="#" target="_blank">Bala-Ged Recovery</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<h2>Temur Creativity Commander Deck List</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Indomitable Creativity" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh
*1 Thrasios, Triton Hero
[/Commander]
[Instants]
*1 Big Score
*1 Borne Upon a Wind
*1 Brainstorm
*1 Creative Outburst
*1 Crop Rotation
*1 Cyclonic Rift
*1 Deflecting Swat
*1 Dig Through Time
*1 Divergent Transformations
*1 Fierce Guardianship
*1 Fire Magic
*1 Flusterstorm
*1 Force of Negation
*1 Force of Will
*1 Impulse
*1 Invert // Invent
*1 Lightning Bolt
*1 Magma Opus
*1 Mystical Tutor
*1 Nature&#039;s Claim
*1 Obscuring Haze
*1 Prismari Command
*1 Pyroblast
*1 Spell Swindle
*1 Synthetic Destiny
*1 Turn the Earth
*1 Unexpected Windfall
*1 Valakut Awakening // Valakut Stoneforge
*1 Veil of Summer
*1 Volcanic Spite
[/Instants]
[Sorceries]
*1 Bala Ged Recovery // Bala Ged Sanctuary
*1 Blasphemous Act
*1 Crack Open
*1 Elemental Masterpiece
*1 Gamble
*1 Hard Evidence
*1 Indomitable Creativity
*1 Life from the Loam
*1 Mass Polymorph
*1 Merchant Scroll
*1 Pest Infestation
*1 Ponder
*1 Preordain
*1 See Beyond
*1 Seize the Spoils
*1 Solve the Equation
*1 Storm&#039;s Wrath
*1 Strike It Rich
*1 Vandalblast
[/Sorceries]
[Battles]
*1 Invasion of Arcavios // Invocation of the Founders
[/Battles]
[Creatures]
*1 Leveler
*1 Thassa&#039;s Oracle
[/Creatures]
[Enchantments]
*1 Alchemist&#039;s Talent
*1 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker // Reflection of Kiki-Jiki
*1 Shark Typhoon
[/Enchantments]
[Planeswalkers]
*1 Minsc &amp; Boo, Timeless Heroes
[/Planeswalkers]
[Lands]
*1 Arid Mesa
*1 Ba Sing Se
*1 Bloodstained Mire
*1 Boseiju, Who Endures
*1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
*1 Breeding Pool
*1 Command Tower
*1 Commercial District
*1 Dwarven Mine
*1 Emergence Zone
*1 Flooded Strand
*1 Forest
*1 Forgotten Cave
*1 Fountainport
*1 Hedge Maze
*1 Island
*1 Ketria Triome
*1 Lonely Sandbar
*1 Mistrise Village
*1 Misty Rainforest
*2 Mountain
*1 Mutavault
*1 Mystic Sanctuary
*1 Otawara, Soaring City
*1 Polluted Delta
*1 Rejuvenating Springs
*1 Riverpyre Verge
*1 Scalding Tarn
*1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
*1 Spire Garden
*1 Steam Vents
*1 Stomping Ground
*1 Sunken Citadel
*1 Thornspire Verge
*1 Thundering Falls
*1 Training Center
*1 Tranquil Thicket
*1 Verdant Catacombs
*1 Willowrush Verge
*1 Windswept Heath
*1 Wooded Foothills
[/Lands]"></span></div>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>I'm happy with how this deck turned out. After going back and watching Reid's matches from Pro Tour <em>Phyrexia</em>, I knew I'd have to find a way to play with Indomitable Creativity in Commander. The one thing that I really wish I could've done was combine the two modes of Reid's deck into one. Unfortunately, without having access to a sideboard, the presence of any other creatures in the deck totally disrupts the main plan.</p>
<p>This deck fits into Bracket 4 (Optimized) quite comfortably, and I'd avoid playing it in either Bracket 3 (Upgraded) or Bracket 5 (cEDH). It won't be able to compete in cEDH, and it will definitely create anticlimactic games at Bracket 3 tables. Players that are as enthralled by this sort of all-in combo deck will have a blast with it, as long as it's being played at the right table. I'd likely expect some groans once Thassa's Oracle's enters trigger hits the stack, though.</p>
<p>I'd love to hear about alternative combo lines I could've used or card inclusions I missed in the comments! I've been really impressed by the suggestions in all of the previous installments of <em>60 to 100</em>!</p>


reid duke

Playing Izzet Creativity in Commander