Defend the Castle by Cr3scent

Format: Commander

Commander: Arcades, the Strategist

Bracket: 3

Deck overview

This is an Arcades, the Strategist defender-beatdown deck. Its primary plan is to ramp into Arcades, chain walls to draw cards, and attack with defenders assigning combat damage equal to toughness. Secondary lines use Master Biomancer and Corrupted Shapeshifter to make oversized walls, or The Walls of Ba Sing Se as a 0/30 finisher, with Walking Bulwark providing haste and toughness damage if Arcades is missing. The deck has no hidden commander; every non-commander legend supports the Arcades shell. It is slow but has strong defensive interaction and can pivot to a one-shot wall.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Arcades, the Strategist
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Azorius Chancery
  • 1 Azorius Cluestone
  • 1 Azorius Guildmage
  • 1 Berta, Wise Extrapolator
  • 1 Chelonian Tackle
  • 1 Circuitous Route
  • 1 Cloudshift
  • 1 Confounding Riddle
  • 1 Consulate Skygate
  • 1 Corrupted Shapeshifter
  • 1 Deduce
  • 1 Doomskar
  • 1 Eagle's Rescue
  • 1 Echo, Perceptive Prodigy
  • 1 Errant, Street Artist
  • 1 Farm // Market
  • 1 Floriferous Vinewall
  • 1 Fog
  • 1 Fog Bank
  • 9 Forest
  • 1 Gathering Place
  • 1 Gleaming Barrier
  • 1 Guardians of Oboro
  • 1 Hengegate Pathway // Mistgate Pathway
  • 1 Hindering Light
  • 1 Hover Barrier
  • 10 Island
  • 1 Jennifer Walters // The Sensational She-Hulk
  • 1 Junktroller
  • 1 Krosan Verge
  • 1 Loyal Gyrfalcon
  • 1 Lulu, Stern Guardian
  • 1 Mana Leak
  • 1 Mana Sculpt
  • 1 Manor Gargoyle
  • 1 Master Biomancer
  • 1 Mind into Matter
  • 1 Mister Hyde, Monster Within
  • 1 Moss Diamond
  • 1 Ms. Bumbleflower
  • 1 Murmuring Phantasm
  • 1 Nature's Claim
  • 1 Nissa's Renewal
  • 1 No Escape
  • 6 Plains
  • 1 Port Town
  • 1 Prairie Stream
  • 1 Prishe's Wanderings
  • 1 Quandrix Charm
  • 1 Quandrix, the Proof
  • 1 Ring of Kalonia
  • 1 Rune-Sealed Wall
  • 1 Scour for Scrap
  • 1 Seachrome Coast
  • 1 Shield-Wall Sentinel
  • 1 Shifting Wall
  • 1 Simic Cluestone
  • 1 Simic Growth Chamber
  • 1 Simic Signet
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Squad Rallier
  • 1 Storm, Windrider
  • 1 Storvald, Frost Giant Jarl
  • 1 Suspicious Bookcase
  • 1 Talisman of Progress
  • 1 Tam, Mindful First-Year
  • 1 Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive
  • 1 The Walls of Ba Sing Se
  • 1 Training Regimen
  • 1 Ultima
  • 1 Ulvenwald Captive // Ulvenwald Abomination
  • 1 Walking Bulwark
  • 1 Wall of Omens
  • 1 We Say Thee Nay!
  • 1 Wildwood Scourge
  • 1 Yuna, Grand Summoner