Overview:

This Arcades, the Strategist deck focuses on using high-toughness Defender creatures as both defensive tools and offensive threats. The strategy revolves around casting walls for card draw, converting them into attackers through Arcades' ability, and using toughness-based combat damage. While moderately resilient with backup toughness-to-damage enablers, the deck lacks infinite combos and relies on incremental value through creature ETBs and combat.

Primer:

Core Strategy:

1. Early Setup: Play 1-3 mana walls (e.g., Wall of Runes, Perimeter Captain) for early defense and card draw via Arcades. Use ramp like Axebane Guardian to accelerate.
2. Commander Enablement: Cast Arcades by turn 4 using basic ramp (Sol Ring, Arcane Signet). Protect with Swiftfoot Boots and Mirror Shield.
3. Combat Conversion: Attack with walls using their toughness for damage. Use Tetsuko Umezawa for evasion and Garruk's Uprising for trample.
4. Value Engine: Maintain card advantage through wall ETBs and Mentor of the Meek. Close games with massive mana from Defender synergies into The Pride of Hull Clade or Caelorna, Coral Tyrant.

Mulligan Priorities:

• 3 lands with green/white/blue access
• 1-2 early walls (e.g., Resolute Watchdog, Vine Trellis)
• At least 1 ramp source or protection
• Reject hands without early plays or color fixing

Key Tips:

• Sequence backup toughness-damage enablers (Assault Formation, High Alert) before Arcades against removal-heavy metas
• Use Slaughter the Strong and Dusk // Dawn as asymmetric board wipes
• Overgrown Battlement + 4 defenders generates 5 mana for instant-speed Tower Defense combat tricks
• Tree of Redemption enables life total swaps as emergency defense

Weaknesses:

Critical

• Commander dependency (3+ removals cripples the strategy)
• Limited wincons against lifegain/hexproof decks

Moderate

• Slow recovery from mass bounce/Cyclonic Rift
• Minimal graveyard recursion

Minor

• Weak to flying swarms despite Hover Barrier
• Tap-heavy mana base slows early plays

Most Important Cards:

• High Alert
• Assault Formation
• Axebane Guardian
• Overgrown Battlement
• Tetsuko Umezawa
• Garruk's Uprising
• Mentor of the Meek
• Wall of Omens
• Wall of Blossoms
• The Pride of Hull Clade

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 4/10
Goldfish win around T9-10 through combat, lacks explosive mana or combo kills.

Resilience: 6/10
Multiple toughness-damage enablers and indestructible effects, but commander-focused.

Consistency: 7/10
High wall density and card draw engines provide reliable board development.

Interaction: 5/10
Moderate spot removal (Swords to Plowshares, Stroke of Midnight) but limited counterspell protection.

Rating Justification:

This deck demonstrates focused casual play with strong synergy and redundancy in its core Defender strategy, but lacks the fast mana/tutors/stax elements of higher-tier decks. Its combat-focused wins and moderate interaction align with the T9-11 benchmark.

Power level: 4.5 - 5.0