Arcades, the Strategist by Shurima

Format: Commander

Commander: Arcades, the Strategist

Bracket: 3

Deck overview

This is a Bant Walls/Defender tribal deck helmed by Arcades, the Strategist. The plan is straightforward: flood the board with cheap high-toughness defenders, use Arcades (or backup enablers High Alert and Assault Formation) to let them attack for toughness-based damage, and convert every defender ETB into card advantage. Ramp walls like Axebane Guardian and Overgrown Battlement accelerate the engine and pair with Staff of Domination for infinite-mana combo finishes. Secondary tools include one-sided "wipes" that spare low-power walls (Slaughter the Strong, Wave of Reckoning, Fell the Mighty), pillowfort pieces, and dense combat protection. The deck wins through overwhelming combat damage once the wall army is online, or by assembling Staff + mana-wall loops to draw the deck and close.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Akroma's Will
  • 1 Arcades, the Strategist
  • 1 Assault Formation
  • 1 Aura Shards
  • 1 Axebane Guardian
  • 1 Bant Charm
  • 1 Bar the Door
  • 1 Bident of Thassa
  • 1 Bountiful Promenade
  • 1 Brave the Sands
  • 1 Breeding Pool
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Corrupted Shapeshifter
  • 1 Counterspell
  • 1 Crashing Drawbridge
  • 1 Crystal Barricade
  • 1 Deserted Beach
  • 1 Dovin's Veto
  • 1 Dreamroot Cascade
  • 1 Dusk // Dawn
  • 1 Farseek
  • 1 Fell the Mighty
  • 1 Flawless Maneuver
  • 1 Flooded Strand
  • 1 Fog Bank
  • 7 Forest
  • 1 Fortified Rampart
  • 1 Gatecreeper Vine
  • 1 Hallowed Fountain
  • 1 Heroic Intervention
  • 1 High Alert
  • 1 Hover Barrier
  • 6 Island
  • 1 Jeskai Barricade
  • 1 Kodama's Reach
  • 1 Mana Drain
  • 1 Maze of Ith
  • 1 Meekstone
  • 1 Misty Rainforest
  • 1 Overgrown Battlement
  • 1 Overgrown Farmland
  • 1 Perimeter Captain
  • 1 Plagon, Lord of the Beach
  • 8 Plains
  • 1 Primal Rage
  • 1 Rammas Echor, Ancient Shield
  • 1 Rampant Growth
  • 1 Reconnaissance Mission
  • 1 Reflecting Pool
  • 1 Rejuvenating Springs
  • 1 Reliquary Tower
  • 1 Sensei's Divining Top
  • 1 Shield Sphere
  • 1 Shield-Wall Sentinel
  • 1 Slaughter the Strong
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Staff of Domination
  • 1 Stalwart Shield-Bearers
  • 1 Steel Wall
  • 1 Sunscape Familiar
  • 1 Swords to Plowshares
  • 1 Sylvan Caryatid
  • 1 Teferi's Protection
  • 1 Temple Garden
  • 1 Teyo, the Shieldmage
  • 1 The Pride of Hull Clade
  • 1 The Walls of Ba Sing Se
  • 1 Tower Defense
  • 1 Tree of Redemption
  • 1 Turbulent Wilderness
  • 1 Vine Trellis
  • 1 Wall of Blossoms
  • 1 Wall of Denial
  • 1 Wall of Frost
  • 1 Wall of Glare
  • 1 Wall of Omens
  • 1 Wall of Runes
  • 1 Wall of Stolen Identity
  • 1 Wall of Tanglecord
  • 1 Wave of Reckoning
  • 1 Weathered Sentinels
  • 1 Worldly Tutor