Arcades by user4847467

Format: Commander

Commander: Arcades, the Strategist

Bracket: 4

DeckCheck Threat Index: 28

Deck overview

This is a Bant defender deck centered on Arcades, the Strategist. Its core exchange is strong: defenders replace themselves when they enter, then use toughness as combat power and can attack despite defender. Cheap walls such as Wall of Blossoms, Wall of Omens, Wall of Roots, and Shield Sphere establish the board, while Overgrown Battlement and Axebane Guardian turn a wide defender board into substantial mana. Wingmantle Chaplain supplies a large token board, but its Birds are not defenders and do not receive the commander’s damage replacement effect. The deck usually assembles its draw engine around turn 5, reaches a meaningful combat threat around turn 7, and wins through successive attacks rather than a compact combo. Its interaction is broad but mostly one-for-one, and its protection is limited. Removal that answers Arcades, the Strategist, or a sweeper before the combat turn, can substantially delay the deck.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Adarkar Wastes
  • 1 Akroma's Will
  • 1 Ancient Tomb
  • 1 Arcades, the Strategist
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Assault Formation
  • 1 Axebane Guardian
  • 1 Beast Within
  • 1 Behind the Scenes
  • 1 Boseiju, Who Endures
  • 1 Botanical Sanctum
  • 1 Bountiful Promenade
  • 1 Brave the Sands
  • 1 Breeding Pool
  • 1 Brushland
  • 1 Carven Caryatid
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Crashing Drawbridge
  • 1 Cyclonic Rift
  • 1 Deserted Beach
  • 1 Dreamroot Cascade
  • 1 Drift of Phantasms
  • 1 Dusk // Dawn
  • 1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
  • 1 Fabled Passage
  • 1 Farewell
  • 1 Fellwar Stone
  • 1 Flooded Strand
  • 3 Forest
  • 1 Generous Gift
  • 1 Glacial Fortress
  • 1 Guardian Project
  • 1 Hallowed Fountain
  • 1 Heroic Intervention
  • 1 High Alert
  • 1 Hinterland Harbor
  • 3 Island
  • 1 Jeskai Barricade
  • 1 Jungle Barrier
  • 1 Misty Rainforest
  • 1 Mnemonic Wall
  • 1 Otawara, Soaring City
  • 1 Overgrown Battlement
  • 1 Overgrown Farmland
  • 1 Path to Exile
  • 1 Perimeter Captain
  • 3 Plains
  • 1 Pongify
  • 1 Rapid Hybridization
  • 1 Razorverge Thicket
  • 1 Rejuvenating Springs
  • 1 Resolute Watchdog
  • 1 Rhystic Study
  • 1 Rigo, Streetwise Mentor
  • 1 Sea of Clouds
  • 1 Seachrome Coast
  • 1 Shield Sphere
  • 1 Shield-Wall Sentinel
  • 1 Smothering Tithe
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Spara's Headquarters
  • 1 Stalwart Shield-Bearers
  • 1 Sunpetal Grove
  • 1 Suspicious Bookcase
  • 1 Swan Song
  • 1 Swords to Plowshares
  • 1 Talisman of Curiosity
  • 1 Talisman of Progress
  • 1 Talisman of Unity
  • 1 Teferi's Protection
  • 1 Temple Garden
  • 1 Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive
  • 1 Tower Defense
  • 1 Towering Titan
  • 1 Tree of Redemption
  • 1 Wakestone Gargoyle
  • 1 Walking Bulwark
  • 1 Wall of Blossoms
  • 1 Wall of Denial
  • 1 Wall of Frost
  • 1 Wall of Junk
  • 1 Wall of Mulch
  • 1 Wall of Omens
  • 1 Wall of Reverence
  • 1 Wall of Roots
  • 1 Wall of Runes
  • 1 Wall of Shards
  • 1 Wall of Stolen Identity
  • 1 Wall of Tanglecord
  • 1 Weathered Sentinels
  • 1 Windswept Heath
  • 1 Wingmantle Chaplain
  • 1 Wrath of God
  • 1 Yavimaya Coast