Bant

Format: Commander

Commander: Arcades, the Strategist

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 45

Deck overview

This deck is a Bant toughness-matters combat engine commanded by Arcades, the Strategist. The core strategy deploys low-cost, high-toughness defender creatures during the opening turns. Once Arcades resolves on Turn 3 or 4, every defender draws a replacement card upon entering and attacks using its toughness rather than its power. This turns inexpensive 0/4 and 0/8 walls into massive, efficient attackers while maintaining a full hand. Asymmetric board wipes like Slaughter the Strong and Dusk // Dawn clear opposing blockers without touching your defenders. The deck closes games through wide combat swings augmented by Tower Defense, evasive enablers like Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive, or the infinite mana combination of Axebane Guardian and High Alert.

Decklist (100 cards)

• 1 Access Tunnel
• 1 Arcades, the Strategist
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Assault Formation
• 1 Assemble the Players
• 1 Axebane Guardian
• 1 Azorius Chancery
• 1 Azorius Signet
• 1 Bant Charm
• 1 Beast Within
• 1 Bedrock Tortoise
• 1 Brave the Sands
• 1 Canopy Vista
• 1 Carven Caryatid
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Crashing Drawbridge
• 1 Crystal Barricade
• 1 Cultivate
• 1 Dreamroot Cascade
• 1 Drift of Phantasms
• 1 Dusk // Dawn
• 1 Evolving Wilds
• 1 Exotic Orchard
• 1 Fabled Passage
• 1 Farseek
• 1 Fecund Greenshell
• 2 Forest
• 1 Fortified Village
• 1 Gatecreeper Vine
• 1 Generous Gift
• 1 Glacial Fortress
• 1 Gleaming Barrier
• 1 Growth Spiral
• 1 High Alert
• 1 Hinterland Harbor
• 1 Hover Barrier
• 2 Island
• 1 Jeskai Barricade
• 1 Jungle Barrier
• 1 Krosan Verge
• 1 Lightning Greaves
• 1 Myriad Landscape
• 1 Overflowing Basin
• 1 Overgrown Battlement
• 1 Path of Ancestry
• 1 Path to Exile
• 1 Plagon, Lord of the Beach
• 2 Plains
• 1 Port Town
• 1 Prairie Stream
• 1 Rampant Growth
• 1 Rasaad yn Bashir
• 1 Reliquary Tower
• 1 Resolute Watchdog
• 1 Restoration Magic
• 1 Return to Nature
• 1 Rigo, Streetwise Mentor
• 1 Saruli Caretaker
• 1 Seaside Citadel
• 1 Selesnya Sanctuary
• 1 Selesnya Signet
• 1 Shield-Wall Sentinel
• 1 Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa
• 1 Simic Charm
• 1 Simic Growth Chamber
• 1 Simic Signet
• 1 Skycloud Expanse
• 1 Slaughter the Strong
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Stalwart Shield-Bearers
• 1 Stroke of Midnight
• 1 Sungrass Prairie
• 1 Sunpetal Grove
• 1 Sunscape Familiar
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots
• 1 Swords to Plowshares
• 1 Sylvan Caryatid
• 1 Talisman of Curiosity
• 1 Talisman of Progress
• 1 Talisman of Unity
• 1 Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive
• 1 The Birth of Meletis
• 1 The Pride of Hull Clade
• 1 Thought Vessel
• 1 Tower Defense
• 1 Unbreakable Formation
• 1 Vine Trellis
• 1 Vineglimmer Snarl
• 1 Walking Bulwark
• 1 Wall of Denial
• 1 Wall of Frost
• 1 Wall of Omens
• 1 Wall of Reverence
• 1 Wall of Runes
• 1 Wall of Stolen Identity
• 1 Wall of Tanglecord
• 1 Wingmantle Chaplain