"PULL!" An Archer Tribal Story

Commander / EDH* Combo RGWU Theme/Gimmick Tribal

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Creature (28)

• 1x Bant Battlemage
• 1x Brigid, Hero of Kinsbaile
• 1x Burnished Hart
• 1x Caller of Gales
• 1x Daybreak Ranger  ^Flip
• 1x Duskwatch Recruiter  ^Flip
• 1x Falkenrath Exterminator
• 1x Femeref Archers
• 1x Greatbow Doyen
• 1x Imperial Recruiter
• 1x Keen Glidemaster
• 1x Kiora's Follower
• 1x Matsu-Tribe Sniper
• 1x Merrow Levitator
• 1x Mistfire Adept
• 1x New Prahv Guildmage
• 1x Nightshade Peddler
• 1x Nylea, Keen-Eyed
• 1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1x Scattershot Archer
• 1x Scourge of Kher Ridges
• 1x Silhana Starfletcher
• 1x Skyway Sniper
• 1x Stun Sniper
• 1x Sun Titan
• 1x Trophy Hunter
• 1x Willbreaker
• 1x Wind Dancer

Artifact (10)

• 1x Basilisk Collar
• 1x Bow of Nylea
• 1x Commander's Sphere
• 1x Izzet Signet
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Predator, Flagship
• 1x Selesnya Signet
• 1x Shadowspear
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Vivien's Arkbow

Land (37)

• 1x Ash Barrens
• 1x Blossoming Sands
• 1x Breeding Pool
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 7x Forest
• 1x Hallowed Fountain
• 3x Island
• 1x Izzet Boilerworks
• 1x Jungle Shrine
• 1x Ketria Triome
• 1x Mountain
• 2x Plains
• 1x Raugrin Triome
• 1x Sacred Foundry
• 1x Seaside Citadel
• 1x Selesnya Sanctuary
• 1x Steam Vents
• 1x Stomping Ground
• 1x Temple Garden
• 1x Temple of Enlightenment
• 1x Temple of Mystery
• 1x Temple of Plenty
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Thornwood Falls
• 1x Tranquil Cove
• 1x Transguild Promenade

Sorcery (8)

• 1x All Suns' Dawn
• 1x Borrowing 100,000 Arrows
• 1x Cultivate
• 1x Farseek
• 1x Foresee
• 1x Open the Armory
• 1x Supreme Verdict
• 1x Tracker's Instincts

Commanders (2)

Instant (10)

• 1x Arrow Volley Trap
• 1x Arrows of Justice
• 1x Avenging Arrow
• 1x Crushing Canopy
• 1x Crushing Vines
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Heaven / Earth
• 1x Kill Shot
• 1x Stinging Shot
• 1x Swan Song

Enchantment (5)

• 1x Dovescape
• 1x Raking Canopy
• 1x Sandwurm Convergence
• 1x Skygames
• 1x Zephyr Charge

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This deck is an archer-themed deck that is based on an idea I got from a listener submitted deck on TheManaPool Podcast.

The most succinct way for me to describe this deck is that it plays archers, that shoot flyers. "But what if your opponents' creatures don't have flying?" Then we give those creatures flying, only to shoot them out of the sky.

The Archer Suite: Brigid, Hero of Kinsbaile / Daybreak Ranger   / Femeref Archers / Skyway Sniper / Scattershot Archer / Matsu-Tribe Sniper / Trophy Hunter / Falkenrath Exterminator / Stun Sniper

The Grant Flying Suite: Bant Battlemage / Caller of Gales /
New Prahv Guildmage / Skygames / Wind Dancer / Zephyr Charge / Merrow Levitator / Mistfire Adept / Predator, Flagship

The Rest of the deck is full of cards that hate flyers. Cards like, Crushing Vines , Raking Canopy , and Heaven, to name a few.

Sub-themes: There are some equipment to give the archer's death-touch. Most of them only deal small amounts of damage after-all. I also have a card that is just anti-creatures: Willbreaker. This card work well with archers, or granting flying. "Tap my archer, your creature is mine now", "I'll give your commander flying, now gimme that!" On one hand, I'm not a fan of taking control of creatures in commander, but tribal archers don't really have many finishers, so it could use the extra help.

There are some flavour cards, they aren't the most effective cards, but they fit the archer theme so well that I couldn't myself? Vivien's Arkbow, Nylea, Keen-Eyed, and Arrows of Justice to name a few. Arrows. Of. Justice. That belongs in this deck.

I have yet to mention the commanders. I wanted to hop on the 4-colour train, for one thing. And these two commanders stuck out to me. Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa is a leader in the Magic story, and judging by his card, a military strategist, and I wanted this deck to have a feel of being a cunning general, moving the battlefield to your advantage. Ludevic, Necro-Alchemist: I felt that his card draw, and attack deterring ability suited the deck, and it doesn't hurt that he can come down on turn three.

Archers typically appear in green, and white. Plus, I needed blue to give creatures flying. Red was originally here to force creatures to attack, only for my archers to pick them off, but I found that that strategy wasn't necessary, and spread my resources too thin. Red is now a splash. It lets me play two decent archers: Falkenrath Exterminator, and Stun Sniper, as well as a creature tutor in Imperial Recruiter.

Both commanders work well together, letting my smaller creatures get in for damage, while my archers maintain control over the board. While in this position, the deck can hold onto cards to rebuild after an inevitable board-wipe.

Weaknesses:

1) C'mon, it's archer tribal... it doesn't even play that many archers. The tribe does not get support, and there is no indication it ever will.

2) It can hold down the board, creature-wise, but it has an identity issue when going up against creature-light decks.

3) Board-wipes. It's a creature deck, with a very fragile combo held together by small creatures. Ideally, the deck can hold up a Swan Song to turn a Wrath into a clay pigeon... but that's about it.

Cards I could see myself cutting:

Scourge of Kher Ridges: I figured that this card would be a strong finisher that can control the board. It pyroclasms the grounded creatures, so my commanders survive, and I can usually grant flying to the creatures that can't. Or I can keep the skies clear. The only problem is that it doesn't finish the game fast enough as an attacker.

Tracker's Instincts: This is an excellent card for digging for creatures. When I have something that grants flying, it helps me find an archer, or vice versa. And with flashback, this card has added value, and the tracker flavour is tangentially related to the fantasy-perception of archers. My issues with this card is that early game it only gets me creatures, when I'm looking for land, and dumping the other cards into the graveyard is detrimental, as this deck does not have enough ways to interact with that zone.

Cards I could see myself adding:

Vandalblast: It's a commander mainstay. I cut a suite of red cards to focus the deck, yet I still have access to red. Might as well play one of the colour's best cards if I can find a slot.

Arbalest Elite: It's an archer that lightning bolts an attacker. Why isn't it already in the deck? It is too mana intensive. 2WW is pretty demanding in a 4-colour deck. Also, the effect requires keeping 3 mana back. That's a luxury this deck does not have.

Dawnray Archer: Yet another archer. Not a bad one, but it falls short in some capacities. The exalted trigger puts some creatures out of Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa's range of effect, and having to leave up 1 white mana up is pretty demanding.

The five Allied Fetchlands: This deck does not have much trouble getting the right colour mana together, but that mana usual enters tapped. These fetchlands would remedy this weakness by replacing Terramorphic Expanse, Evolving Wilds, and the gain-lands.

Gisella, Blade of Goldnight: It's a strong finisher that can close games. She hits for 10 in the air, she protects my creatures, and she doubles the effectiveness of my archers, and archery-themed cards, upgrading them from "fair" to "good".

Date added	6 years
Last updated	3 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	5 - 0 Mythic Rares 29 - 0 Rares 24 - 0 Uncommons 26 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.95
Tokens	1/1 WU Token Creature Bird, Bird 2/2 U, Wurm 5/5 G