The Monster Factory

Format: Commander

Commander: Ikra Shidiqi, the Usurper and Ishai, Ojutai Dragonspeaker

Bracket: 2

DeckCheck Threat Index: 21

Deck overview

This 4-color deck pairs Ikra Shidiqi, the Usurper and Ishai, Ojutai Dragonspeaker to combine combat-based lifegain with a rapidly scaling aerial threat. The primary strategy focuses on playing defensive early turns, casting both partner commanders on curve, and leveraging Ishai's ability to grow off opponent spells into a lethal commander damage threat. Ikra buffers your life total by converting combat toughness into life, enabling powerful payoffs like Aetherflux Reservoir, Betor, Kin to All, and Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose. The deck also integrates a mutate package to generate incremental card value and removal, alongside massive top-end finishers such as Ancient Bronze Dragon, Zetalpa, Primal Dawn, and Terastodon. Because the list contains minimal early mana ramp and zero nonland tutors, it operates as a fair, resilient battlecruiser deck that grinds out multiplayer games through substantial life totals, high-toughness blockers, and successive combat eliminations.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Acidic Slime
  • 1 Aetherflux Reservoir
  • 1 Ancient Adamantoise
  • 1 Ancient Bronze Dragon
  • 1 Angelic Chorus
  • 1 Anguished Unmaking
  • 1 Arcane Denial
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Archipelagore
  • 1 Assassin's Trophy
  • 1 Auspicious Starrix
  • 1 Authority of the Consuls
  • 1 Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim
  • 1 Betor, Kin to All
  • 1 Boneyard Lurker
  • 1 Breeding Pool
  • 1 Cavern Whisperer
  • 1 Caves of Koilos
  • 1 Chittering Harvester
  • 1 Chromatic Lantern
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Counterspell
  • 1 Cramped Vents // Access Maze
  • 1 Crashing Drawbridge
  • 1 Dina, Soul Steeper
  • 1 Dirge Bat
  • 1 Eternal Witness
  • 1 Exotic Orchard
  • 8 Forest
  • 1 Forgotten Ancient
  • 1 Garruk's Uprising
  • 1 Gemrazer
  • 1 Godless Shrine
  • 1 Hallowed Fountain
  • 1 Heroic Intervention
  • 1 Ikra Shidiqi, the Usurper
  • 1 Insatiable Hemophage
  • 1 Ishai, Ojutai Dragonspeaker
  • 4 Island
  • 1 Karametra, God of Harvests
  • 1 Karmic Guide
  • 1 Kogla, the Titan Ape
  • 1 Lathiel, the Bounteous Dawn
  • 1 Marshland Bloodcaster
  • 1 Massacre Wurm
  • 1 Migratory Greathorn
  • 1 Negate
  • 1 Nethroi, Apex of Death
  • 1 Noxious Gearhulk
  • 1 Nylea's Forerunner
  • 1 Odric, Lunarch Marshal
  • 1 Odric, Master Tactician
  • 1 Otrimi, the Ever-Playful
  • 1 Overgrown Tomb
  • 6 Plains
  • 1 Ready // Willing
  • 1 Rejuvenating Springs
  • 1 Revenge of Ravens
  • 1 Sanguine Bond
  • 1 Scavenging Ooze
  • 1 Sepulchral Primordial
  • 1 Shalai, Voice of Plenty
  • 1 Shattered Angel
  • 1 Silverback Elder
  • 1 Sunscorch Regent
  • 5 Swamp
  • 1 Swiftfoot Boots
  • 1 Sylvan Library
  • 1 Temple Garden
  • 1 Terastodon
  • 1 Timeless Witness
  • 1 Tree of Perdition
  • 1 Trostani, Selesnya's Voice
  • 1 Undergrowth Stadium
  • 1 Vault of the Archangel
  • 1 Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose
  • 1 Vorinclex // The Grand Evolution
  • 1 Watery Grave
  • 1 Woodfall Primus
  • 1 Yarok, the Desecrated
  • 1 Zetalpa, Primal Dawn