A Wizard Should Know Better by TempoCreep

Format: Commander

Commander: Gandalf the Grey

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 46

Deck overview

This Izzet spellslinger deck uses Gandalf the Grey as a versatile engine piece to copy spells, untap mana sources, and burn opponents. The strategy accelerates in the early turns using low-cost mana rocks, cost reducers like Baral, Chief of Compliance, and cantrips. Mid-game turns establish compounding advantage through magecraft engines such as Archmage Emeritus and Storm-Kiln Artist, while flicker spells reset Gandalf's four modal choices. The deck wins by converting high spell velocity or massive mana from Mana Geyser into lethal table-wide burn using Crackle with Power, Mizzix's Mastery, or damage amplifiers like Solphim, Mayhem Dominus and Fiery Inscription. Defensively, the deck maintains a lean package of efficient counterspells and bounce sweepers to protect its engine and disrupt critical opposing plays.

Decklist (101 cards)

  • 1 An Offer You Can't Refuse
  • 1 Arcane Bombardment
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Archaeomancer
  • 1 Archmage Emeritus
  • 1 Baral, Chief of Compliance
  • 1 Blasphemous Act
  • 1 Blur
  • 1 Brainstorm
  • 1 Cascade Bluffs
  • 1 Cast into the Fire
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Consider
  • 1 Coruscation Mage
  • 1 Counterspell
  • 1 Crackle with Power
  • 1 Cyclonic Rift
  • 1 Delayed Blast Fireball
  • 1 Displacer Kitten
  • 1 Display of Power
  • 1 Erebor Flamesmith
  • 1 Essence Flux
  • 1 Expansion // Explosion
  • 1 Expressive Iteration
  • 1 Fiery Inscription
  • 1 Flame of Anor
  • 1 Galvanic Iteration
  • 1 Gandalf the Grey
  • 1 Gandalf's Sanction
  • 1 Gandalf, Goblins' Bane // Flameshape
  • 1 Ghostly Flicker
  • 1 Glamdring, Foe-hammer // Gleam of Death
  • 1 Goblin Electromancer
  • 1 Guttersnipe
  • 1 Harmonic Prodigy
  • 1 Isengard Unleashed
  • 11 Island
  • 1 Izzet Signet
  • 1 Jaya's Immolating Inferno
  • 1 Jori En, Ruin Diver
  • 1 Karn's Temporal Sundering
  • 1 Kaza, Roil Chaser
  • 1 Lightning Bolt
  • 1 Lórien Revealed
  • 1 Mage-Ring Network
  • 1 Mana Geyser
  • 1 Mines of Moria
  • 1 Mizzix's Mastery
  • 10 Mountain
  • 1 Mystic Sanctuary
  • 1 Negate
  • 1 Niv-Mizzet, Parun
  • 1 Opt
  • 1 Planar Incision
  • 1 Ponder
  • 1 Pongify
  • 1 Preordain
  • 1 Primal Amulet // Primal Wellspring
  • 1 Reliquary Tower
  • 1 Rivendell
  • 1 Riverpyre Verge
  • 1 Scorched Geyser
  • 1 Shivan Reef
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Solphim, Mayhem Dominus
  • 1 Solve the Equation
  • 1 Steam Vents
  • 1 Storm of Saruman
  • 1 Storm-Kiln Artist
  • 1 Stormcarved Coast
  • 1 Sulfur Falls
  • 1 Swan Song
  • 1 Talisman of Creativity
  • 1 The Grey Havens
  • 1 Thought Vessel
  • 1 Training Center
  • 1 Vandalblast
  • 1 Veyran, Voice of Duality
  • 1 Witch's Clinic
  • 1 Wizard's Retort
  • 1 Wizard's Staff
  • 1 Young Pyromancer