Pay yo tax! by mouthtomuff

Format: Commander

Commander: Grand Arbiter Augustin IV

Bracket: 4

DeckCheck Threat Index: 32

Deck overview

This Grand Arbiter Augustin IV deck is an Azorius control strategy designed to slow opposing progress while accelerating its own development. The game plan centers on casting Grand Arbiter Augustin IV on Turn 3 or 4 to establish an asymmetric mana advantage, discounting friendly White and Blue spells while making all opponents' spells cost more. The deck reinforces this advantage with attack taxes like Ghostly Prison and Propaganda, punishing stax creatures such as Spelltithe Enforcer, and flexible board sweepers including Doomskar and Cleansing Nova. Once the board is stabilized and opposing development is suppressed, the deck transitions into the midgame by casting evasive win conditions like Sharding Sphinx, Archon of Sun's Grace, or a kicked Rite of Replication. Because the list lacks nonland tutors and instant combo finishes, it relies on steady aerial combat damage across multiple turn cycles to secure victory.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Amphibian Downpour
  • 1 Amphin Mutineer
  • 1 Angel of Finality
  • 1 Angel of the Ruins
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Archaeomancer
  • 1 Archon of Sun's Grace
  • 1 Azorius Chancery
  • 1 Azorius Signet
  • 1 Banishing Light
  • 1 Bident of Thassa
  • 1 Buried Ruin
  • 1 Castle Vantress
  • 1 Chancellor of the Annex
  • 1 Cleansing Nova
  • 1 Coldsteel Heart
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Commander's Sphere
  • 1 Compulsive Research
  • 1 Cryptic Coat
  • 1 Dawnbringer Cleric
  • 1 Doomskar
  • 1 Duplicant
  • 1 Ephemerate
  • 1 Evolving Wilds
  • 1 Exotic Orchard
  • 1 Fatespinner
  • 1 Final Judgment
  • 1 Future Sight
  • 1 Ghostly Prison
  • 1 Gideon's Intervention
  • 1 Glacial Floodplain
  • 1 Gleaming Bastion
  • 1 Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
  • 1 Hallowed Fountain
  • 1 Hardlight Containment
  • 1 Homunculus Horde
  • 1 Idyllic Beachfront
  • 11 Island
  • 1 Journey to Nowhere
  • 1 Knight of the White Orchid
  • 1 Kor Skyfisher
  • 1 Lightning Greaves
  • 1 Lonely Sandbar
  • 1 Mask of Memory
  • 1 Meteor Golem
  • 1 Monastery Siege
  • 1 Myriad Landscape
  • 1 Negate
  • 1 Niko, Light of Hope
  • 1 Ornithopter of Paradise
  • 1 Path of Ancestry
  • 10 Plains
  • 1 Port Town
  • 1 Prismatic Lens
  • 1 Propaganda
  • 1 Rewind
  • 1 Rite of Replication
  • 1 Salvation Swan
  • 1 Sea Gate Oracle
  • 1 Selfless Spirit
  • 1 Settle the Wreckage
  • 1 Sharding Sphinx
  • 1 Skycloud Expanse
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Solemn Simulacrum
  • 1 Spell Pierce
  • 1 Spelltithe Enforcer
  • 1 Stonecloaker
  • 1 Swiftfoot Boots
  • 1 Swords to Plowshares
  • 1 Talisman of Progress
  • 1 Temple of Enlightenment
  • 1 Terramorphic Expanse
  • 1 The Wandering Rescuer
  • 1 Thopter Spy Network
  • 1 Three Steps Ahead
  • 1 Torrential Gearhulk
  • 1 Unwind
  • 1 Urianger Augurelt
  • 1 Wayfarer's Bauble