Ares by John_Smith

Format: Commander

Commander: Ares, God of War

Bracket: 2

Deck overview

This is a Black-Red aristocrats/attack-trigger value deck helmed by Ares, God of War, who attacks each combat and returns any attacking creature that dies to its owner's hand. The core loop is to swing with value creatures, sacrifice them mid-combat for treasures, cards, or damage, then replay them thanks to Ares's trigger. The deck is packed with attack payoffs (Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer, Professional Face-Breaker, The Infamous Cruelclaw, Shadow, Mysterious Assassin), death triggers (Mahadi, Emporium Master, Morbid Opportunist, Midnight Reaper), and sacrifice outlets (Goblin Bombardment, Warren Soultrader, Yawgmoth, Thrawn Physician). It wins through incremental combat damage, treasure-fueled card advantage, and drain effects, with Unstoppable Slasher and Kardur, Doomscourge accelerating the clock. There are no infinite combos - this is a grinding, recursive midrange deck that out-values opponents over several turns.

Decklist (100 cards)

• 1 Alesha, Who Laughs at Fate
• 1 Alexios, Deimos of Kosmos
• 1 Anger
• 1 Ares, God of War
• 1 Arguel's Blood Fast // Temple of Aclazotz
• 1 Audacious Thief
• 1 Azra Oddsmaker
• 1 Badlands
• 1 Bedevil
• 1 Bladebrand
• 1 Blasphemous Act
• 1 Blasphemous Edict
• 1 Blazemire Verge
• 1 Blightstep Pathway // Searstep Pathway
• 1 Bloodsoaked Champion
• 1 Bojuka Bog
• 1 Chaos Warp
• 1 Chthonian Nightmare
• 1 Corrupted Conviction
• 1 Crypt of Agadeem
• 1 Dark Dabbling
• 1 Deadly Dispute
• 1 Dockside Chef
• 1 Dragonskull Summit
• 1 Enduring Courage
• 1 Feed the Swarm
• 1 Foot Chopper
• 1 Garna, Bloodfist of Keld
• 1 Goblin Bombardment
• 1 Greedy Freebooter
• 1 Grim Haruspex
• 1 Gut, True Soul Zealot
• 1 Haunted Ridge
• 1 Hope of Ghirapur
• 1 Jet Medallion
• 1 Jocasta, Automaton Avenger
• 1 Kardur, Doomscourge
• 1 Kellogg, Dangerous Mind
• 1 Khârn the Betrayer
• 1 Mahadi, Emporium Master
• 1 Malakir Rebirth // Malakir Mire
• 1 Midnight Reaper
• 1 Morbid Opportunist
• 8 Mountain
• 1 Mutinous Massacre
• 1 Phyrexian Reclamation
• 1 Professional Face-Breaker
• 1 RMS Titanic
• 1 Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer
• 1 Rakdos Charm
• 1 Reno and Rude
• 1 Rising of the Day
• 1 Rotisserie Elemental
• 1 Ruby Medallion
• 1 Shadow, Mysterious Assassin
• 1 Shadowblood Ridge
• 1 Shakedown Heavy
• 1 Smoldering Marsh
• 1 Sneak Attack
• 15 Swamp
• 1 Terminate
• 1 The Infamous Cruelclaw
• 1 Tibalt's Trickery
• 1 Topaz Dragon // Entropic Cloud
• 1 Tribute to Horobi // Echo of Death's Wail
• 1 Umbral Collar Zealot
• 1 Unstoppable Slasher
• 1 Untimely Malfunction
• 1 Urabrask the Hidden
• 1 Vampiric Rites
• 1 Vandalblast
• 1 Village Rites
• 1 Vincent Valentine // Galian Beast
• 1 Wail of the Nim
• 1 Warren Soultrader
• 1 Whip of Erebos
• 1 Witch's Cottage
• 1 Yahenni, Undying Partisan
• 1 Yawgmoth, Thran Physician