Arcades, the Wall Master

Commander / EDH* GWU (Bant)

Afrodeciacdream

Creature (36)

• 1x Axebane Guardian
• 1x Carven Caryatid
• 1x Daru Spiritualist
• 1x Drift of Phantasms
• 1x Fortified Rampart
• 1x Giver of Runes
• 1x Glacial Wall
• 1x Guard Gomazoa
• 1x Hover Barrier
• 1x Monastery Flock
• 1x Mother of Runes
• 1x Overgrown Battlement
• 1x Perimeter Captain
• 1x Riptide Turtle
• 1x Shaman en-Kor
• 1x Shield Sphere
• 1x Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa
• 1x Stalwart Shield-Bearers
• 1x Sunscape Familiar
• 1x Sylvan Caryatid
• 1x Task Force
• 1x Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive
• 1x Tree of Redemption
• 1x Wall of Air
• 1x Wall of Blossoms
• 1x Wall of Denial
• 1x Wall of Frost
• 1x Wall of Ice
• 1x Wall of Junk
• 1x Wall of Kelp
• 1x Wall of Nets
• 1x Wall of Omens
• 1x Wall of Runes
• 1x Wall of Shards
• 1x Warrior en-Kor
• 1x Weathered Wayfarer

Land (34)

• 1x Breeding Pool
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 7x Forest
• 1x Hall of Heliod's Generosity
• 1x Hallowed Fountain
• 6x Island
• 1x Misty Rainforest
• 7x Plains
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Savannah
• 1x Temple Garden
• 1x Tropical Island
• 1x Tundra
• 1x Windswept Heath
• 1x Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth
• 1x Yavimaya Hollow

Artifact (9)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Belbe's Armor
• 1x Cumber Stone
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Meekstone
• 1x Panharmonicon
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Weakstone

Sorcery (2)

• 1x Fell the Mighty
• 1x Slaughter the Strong

Commander (1)

Enchantment (11)

• 1x Angelic Shield
• 1x Assault Formation
• 1x Brave the Sands
• 1x Crackdown
• 1x High Alert
• 1x Land Tax
• 1x Leyline of Vitality
• 1x Primal Rage
• 1x Serra's Blessing
• 1x Smothering Tithe
• 1x Spidersilk Armor

Instant (7)

• 1x Angel's Grace
• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Generous Gift
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Teferi's Protection
• 1x Tower Defense

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Maybeboard

Creature (25)

• 1x Amaranthine Wall
• 1x Angelic Protector
• 1x Angelic Wall
• 1x Consulate Skygate
• 1x Crashing Drawbridge
• 1x Guardians of Meletis
• 1x Jeskai Barricade
• 1x Jungle Barrier
• 1x Living Wall
• 1x Murmuring Phantasm
• 1x Nomads en-Kor
• 1x Outrider en-Kor
• 1x Sprouting Phytohydra
• 1x Steel Wall
• 1x Thallid Shell-Dweller
• 1x Vine Trellis
• 1x Wall of Essence
• 1x Wall of Faith
• 1x Wall of Glare
• 1x Wall of Hope
• 1x Wall of Mist
• 1x Wall of Resistance
• 1x Wall of Swords
• 1x Wall of Tanglecord
• 1x Wall of Tears

Land (9)

• 1x Academy Ruins
• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Halls of Mist
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Maze of Ith
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Scalding Tarn
• 1x Verdant Catacombs
• 1x Wooded Foothills

Artifact (4)

• 1x Bottled Cloister
• 1x Chromatic Lantern
• 1x Darksteel Plate
• 1x Ensnaring Bridge

Enchantment (7)

• 1x Flickering Ward
• 1x Ghostly Prison
• 1x Lumithread Field
• 1x Meishin, the Mind Cage
• 1x Parapet
• 1x Propaganda
• 1x True Conviction

Instant (5)

• 1x Bar the Door
• 1x Fog
• 1x Holy Day
• 1x Nature's Chant
• 1x Nature's Claim

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In my normal play group we have a decent mix of power levels and deck styles, however we are a group that has a Meetup page, and every so often we have walk-ins. From time to time they stick, and we make a point a being a casual play group, with an emphasis on being open and welcoming and helping people join and navigate the community. While some of us have been playing since the mid nineties (myself included) others are much newer to the game, and many of our walk-ins are beginners. About a year ago I realized that I needed a much more casual deck for when I match up with someone who may have only played a handful of games before walking into our group.

This is an Arcades, the Strategist deck which focuses around hunkering down behind big butt creatures. There aren't any really ridiculous infinite combos in this deck, like many of my others. However there are some fun and unusual interactions.

The heart of the deck comes from the idea of redirecting damage, and I use a number of creatures from the Tempest Block to do that, the en-Kor's Warrior en-Kor, Shaman en-Kor, Outrider en-Kor, & Spirit en-Kor. They all have the ability "{0}: Redirect 1 damage from 'this creature' to a creature you control"

Big Butts Get Bigger!

Since I have a bunch of the en-Kors in this deck, and their ability works both at instant speed, and without needing them to have been damaged, you can do some fun tricky things, like with Daru Spiritualist, Task Force, or Angelic Protector. With either of these you can use an en-kor to repeatedly target them, or if Daru Spiritualist is out, then really any cleric on the field. Since the en-Kor ability is free, you can make their butts infinitely large.

Damage Reduction

There's also the fun fact that since the en-kor's redirect 1 damage at a time, anything that reduces damage by 1 or more will effectively eliminate the the damage, so cards like Daunting Defender, Battletide Alchemist, Lashknife Barrier become much more powerful.

Date added	4 years
Last updated	2 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	5 - 0 Mythic Rares 27 - 0 Rares 33 - 0 Uncommons 15 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.41
Tokens	0/1 U Creature Plant Wall, Beast 3/3 G, Elephant 3/3 G, Morph 2/2 C, Treasure
Folders	EDH - 00 Built, EDH - 03 In the Middle