Run the Gates by TiredDad50

Format: Commander

Commander: Nine-Fingers Keene

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 41

Deck overview

This Sultai deck is helmed by Nine-Fingers Keene, utilizing an extensive package of 13 distinct Gates to assemble an alternate win condition with Maze's End or overwhelm opponents with massive landfall beatdown. Low-cost ramp enablers such as Sol Ring, Birds of Paradise, and Growth Spiral accelerate Keene onto the battlefield by Turn 3 or 4. Keene's combat damage trigger digs nine cards deep to place Gates onto the battlefield, turning into an 8-card burst draw engine once nine Gates are assembled. Landfall powerhouses including Field of the Dead, Avenger of Zendikar, and Cultivator Colossus provide wide token swarms, while Basilisk Gate and Blackblade Reforged turn Keene into a lethal voltron threat. With enablers like Gond Gate and Spelunking mitigating tap-land friction, the deck pivots smoothly into resolving Reshape the Earth to lock in a Turn 8 victory.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Alpha Authority
  • 1 Aqueous Form
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Archelos, Lagoon Mystic
  • 1 Avenger of Zendikar
  • 1 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
  • 1 Baldur's Gate
  • 1 Baleful Strix
  • 1 Basilisk Gate
  • 1 Birds of Paradise
  • 1 Black Dragon Gate
  • 1 Blackblade Reforged
  • 1 Blossoming Tortoise
  • 1 Bojuka Bog
  • 1 Broken Bond
  • 1 Circuitous Route
  • 1 Coiling Oracle
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Counterspell
  • 1 Courser of Kruphix
  • 1 Crop Rotation
  • 1 Crucible of Worlds
  • 1 Cultivator Colossus
  • 1 Diabolic Tutor
  • 1 Dimir Guildgate
  • 1 District Guide
  • 1 Echoing Deeps
  • 1 Elixir of Immortality
  • 1 Elvish Reclaimer
  • 1 Eternal Witness
  • 1 Eureka Moment
  • 1 Explore
  • 1 Explore the Underdark
  • 1 Explorer's Scope
  • 1 Field of the Dead
  • 1 Fireshrieker
  • 3 Forest
  • 1 Gate Colossus
  • 1 Gatebreaker Ram
  • 1 Gatecreeper Vine
  • 1 Gateway Plaza
  • 1 Golgari Guildgate
  • 1 Golgari Rot Farm
  • 1 Gond Gate
  • 1 Greenside Watcher
  • 1 Growth Spiral
  • 1 Guild Summit
  • 1 Heap Gate
  • 1 In Garruk's Wake
  • 3 Island
  • 1 Life from the Loam
  • 1 Lightning Greaves
  • 1 Manor Gate
  • 1 Maze's End
  • 1 Navigation Orb
  • 1 Nine-Fingers Keene
  • 1 Nylea's Intervention
  • 1 Open the Gates
  • 1 Open the Way
  • 1 Opulent Palace
  • 1 Oracle of Mul Daya
  • 1 Plaza of Harmony
  • 1 Putrefy
  • 1 Rampaging Baloths
  • 1 Ramunap Excavator
  • 1 Reliquary Tower
  • 1 Renegade Map
  • 1 Reshape the Earth
  • 1 Retreat to Coralhelm
  • 1 Retreat to Kazandu
  • 1 Rogue's Passage
  • 1 Scaretiller
  • 1 Sea Gate
  • 1 Simic Guildgate
  • 1 Skyshroud Ranger
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Spelunking
  • 3 Swamp
  • 1 Swiftfoot Boots
  • 1 Sylvan Scrying
  • 1 Tatyova, Benthic Druid
  • 1 Tempt with Discovery
  • 1 The Black Gate
  • 1 Thespian's Stage
  • 1 Thran Portal
  • 1 Through the Forest Gate
  • 1 Tiller Engine
  • 1 Tireless Provisioner
  • 1 Titania's Command
  • 1 Urban Evolution
  • 1 Villainous Wealth
  • 1 Walking Atlas
  • 1 Way of the Thief
  • 1 Wrenn and Seven