Between a Wall and a Hard Place by user6889914

Format: Commander

Commander: Arcades, the Strategist

Bracket: 3

Deck overview

Arcades, the Strategist is a Bant defender tribal deck that turns walls into draw spells and attackers. The primary plan is to resolve Arcades as early as possible, chain cheap defender creatures into card draw, then turn toughness sideways using High Alert, Assault Formation, or another backup effect. The commander is the main draw engine, while Rasaad yn Bashir, Huatli, Bedrock Tortoise, and similar cards let the deck function if Arcades is removed. A secondary path uses Axebane Guardian plus High Alert for infinite mana, then pumps a wall's toughness with Assault Formation and kills through an unblockable effect. Last March of the Ents and Towering Titan provide a big explosive turn. There is no hidden commander; Rasaad yn Bashir acts as a supplementary toughness lord.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Akroma's Will
  • 1 Arcades, the Strategist
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Ascend from Avernus
  • 1 Assault Formation
  • 1 Assemble the Players
  • 1 Axebane Guardian
  • 1 Bala Ged Recovery // Bala Ged Sanctuary
  • 1 Beast Within
  • 1 Bedrock Tortoise
  • 1 Bountiful Promenade
  • 1 Brave the Sands
  • 1 Breeding Pool
  • 1 Captain America's Shield
  • 1 Carven Caryatid
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Counterspell
  • 1 Crashing Drawbridge
  • 1 Crystal Barricade
  • 1 Deserted Beach
  • 1 Disenchant
  • 1 Dovin's Veto
  • 1 Eternal Witness
  • 1 Exotic Orchard
  • 1 Expedition Map
  • 1 Fecund Greenshell
  • 1 Fell the Mighty
  • 1 Flawless Maneuver
  • 1 Flooded Strand
  • 1 Floriferous Vinewall
  • 2 Forest
  • 1 Gatecreeper Vine
  • 1 Geist of the Archives
  • 1 Generous Gift
  • 1 Glacial Fortress
  • 1 Hallowed Fountain
  • 1 Heroic Intervention
  • 1 High Alert
  • 1 Huatli, the Sun's Heart
  • 2 Island
  • 1 Jungle Barrier
  • 1 Last March of the Ents
  • 1 Lightning Greaves
  • 1 Lush Portico
  • 1 Meticulous Archive
  • 1 Misty Rainforest
  • 1 Overgrown Battlement
  • 1 Overgrown Farmland
  • 3 Plains
  • 1 Rammas Echor, Ancient Shield
  • 1 Rampart Architect
  • 1 Rasaad yn Bashir
  • 1 Razorverge Thicket
  • 1 Reliquary Tower
  • 1 Return to Nature
  • 1 Rigo, Streetwise Mentor
  • 1 Riptide Turtle
  • 1 Rogue's Passage
  • 1 Rune-Sealed Wall
  • 1 Sea of Clouds
  • 1 Seaside Citadel
  • 1 Selesnya Sanctuary
  • 1 Shield-Wall Sentinel
  • 1 Slaughter the Strong
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Spara's Headquarters
  • 1 Sporocyst
  • 1 Stalwart Shield-Bearers
  • 1 Sunpetal Grove
  • 1 Sunscape Familiar
  • 1 Swiftfoot Boots
  • 1 Swords to Plowshares
  • 1 Sylvan Caryatid
  • 1 Sylvan Scrying
  • 1 Temple Garden
  • 1 Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive
  • 1 The Birth of Meletis
  • 1 The Pride of Hull Clade
  • 1 The Walls of Ba Sing Se
  • 1 Towering Titan
  • 1 Tranquil Landscape
  • 1 Vine Trellis
  • 1 Walking Bulwark
  • 1 Wall of Blossoms
  • 1 Wall of Denial
  • 1 Wall of Mulch
  • 1 Wall of Nets
  • 1 Wall of Omens
  • 1 Wall of Roots
  • 1 Wall of Stolen Identity
  • 1 Wall of Tanglecord
  • 1 Wave of Reckoning
  • 1 Weathered Sentinels
  • 1 Windswept Heath
  • 1 Wingmantle Chaplain
  • 1 Wooded Bastion