Big Booty by Benertater1

Format: Commander

Commander: Arcades, the Strategist

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 15

Deck overview

This is a creature-heavy Arcades, the Strategist defender deck. It uses cheap Walls to stabilize combat, draw cards when Arcades, the Strategist is present, and turn toughness into attacking damage. Overgrown Battlement, Axebane Guardian, and related defenders provide mana, while Wingmantle Chaplain converts a developed defender board into a large Bird army. The normal plan is to ramp, cast Arcades, the Strategist, establish several defenders, and then attack repeatedly. The deck has good creature redundancy and several high-toughness threats, but its commander is a major bottleneck because it has little direct access to him. Its finish is combat-based, so it needs several turns and is exposed to creature removal, sweepers, blockers, and commander disruption. Removal and protection are useful but compete with development. Without Arcades, the Strategist, alternative cards such as Assault Formation and High Alert preserve the damage plan but do not replace the lost card flow.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Angelic Wall
  • 1 Arbor Adherent
  • 1 Arcades, the Strategist
  • 1 Assault Formation
  • 1 Axebane Guardian
  • 1 Baldin, Century Herdmaster
  • 1 Beast Within
  • 1 Bedrock Tortoise
  • 1 Branchloft Pathway // Boulderloft Pathway
  • 1 Breeding Pool
  • 1 Brokers Hideout
  • 1 Brushland
  • 1 Carven Caryatid
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Corrupted Shapeshifter
  • 1 Deserted Beach
  • 1 Dreamroot Cascade
  • 1 Dusk // Dawn
  • 1 Eerie Interlude
  • 1 Endless Detour
  • 1 Exotic Orchard
  • 1 Farseek
  • 1 Fecund Greenshell
  • 1 Flood Plain
  • 1 Flooded Grove
  • 1 Fog Bank
  • 2 Forest
  • 1 Generous Gift
  • 1 Glacial Fortress
  • 1 Glacial Wall
  • 1 Grasslands
  • 1 Hedge Maze
  • 1 Heroic Intervention
  • 1 High Alert
  • 1 Hinterland Harbor
  • 1 Horizon Canopy
  • 1 Hornet Nest
  • 1 Hover Barrier
  • 1 Huatli, the Sun's Heart
  • 2 Island
  • 1 Jaddi Offshoot
  • 1 Jeskai Barricade
  • 1 Larder Zombie
  • 1 Lightning Greaves
  • 1 Nature's Lore
  • 1 Overgrown Battlement
  • 1 Overgrown Farmland
  • 1 Path of Ancestry
  • 1 Perimeter Captain
  • 3 Plains
  • 1 Rampart Architect
  • 1 Reunion of the House
  • 1 Riptide Turtle
  • 1 Rune-Sealed Wall
  • 1 Scattered Groves
  • 1 Seaside Citadel
  • 1 Skycloud Expanse
  • 1 Slaughter the Strong
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Stalwart Shield-Bearers
  • 1 Steel Wall
  • 1 Stoneskin
  • 1 Sungrass Prairie
  • 1 Sunpetal Grove
  • 1 Sunscape Familiar
  • 1 Swords to Plowshares
  • 1 Sylvan Caryatid
  • 1 Temple Garden
  • 1 Temple of Enlightenment
  • 1 Temple of Mystery
  • 1 Temple of Plenty
  • 1 Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive
  • 1 The Pride of Hull Clade
  • 1 Thought Vessel
  • 1 Three Visits
  • 1 Tower Defense
  • 1 Tree of Redemption
  • 1 Tundra Wall
  • 1 Urban Retreat
  • 1 Vine Trellis
  • 1 Wakestone Gargoyle
  • 1 Walking Bulwark
  • 1 Wall of Denial
  • 1 Wall of Glare
  • 1 Wall of Junk
  • 1 Wall of Mulch
  • 1 Wall of Omens
  • 1 Wall of Roots
  • 1 Wall of Runes
  • 1 Wall of Stolen Identity
  • 1 Wall of Tanglecord
  • 1 Waterlogged Grove
  • 1 Weathered Sentinels
  • 1 Willowrush Verge
  • 1 Wingmantle Chaplain
  • 1 Yavimaya Coast