Arcum's Asylum

Commander / EDH Artifact Combo Competitive Mono-Blue

PookandPie

Artifact (22)

• 1x Basalt Monolith
• 1x Chrome Mox
• 1x Citanul Flute
• 1x Grafdigger's Cage
• 1x Grim Monolith
• 1x Guardian Idol
• 1x Jeweled Amulet
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Lotus Petal
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Mana Vault
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Mox Diamond
• 1x Mox Opal
• 1x Paradox Engine
• 1x Pithing Needle
• 1x Rings of Brighthearth
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Sky Diamond
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Staff of Domination
• 1x Thousand-Year Elixir

Land (31)

• 1x Academy Ruins
• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Blinkmoth Nexus
• 1x Cavern of Souls
• 1x Crystal Vein
• 1x Hall of the Bandit Lord
• 1x Inkmoth Nexus
• 1x Inventors' Fair
• 18x Island
• 1x Minamo, School at Water's Edge
• 1x Mishra's Factory
• 1x Saprazzan Skerry
• 1x Seat of the Synod
• 1x Strip Mine

Creature (22)

• 1x Arcbound Ravager
• 1x Etherium Sculptor
• 1x Hangarback Walker
• 1x Hedron Crawler
• 1x Hope of Ghirapur
• 1x Junk Diver
• 1x Manakin
• 1x Memnite
• 1x Metalworker
• 1x Millikin
• 1x Myr Retriever
• 1x Myr Sire
• 1x Ornithopter
• 1x Phyrexian Revoker
• 1x Plague Myr
• 1x Scrap Trawler
• 1x Shimmer Myr
• 1x Silver Myr
• 1x Snapcaster Mage
• 1x Spellskite
• 1x Trinket Mage
• 1x Walking Ballista

Sorcery (4)

• 1x Fabricate
• 1x Gitaxian Probe
• 1x Reshape
• 1x Transmute Artifact

Enchantment (4)

• 1x Back to Basics
• 1x Copy Artifact
• 1x Mystic Remora
• 1x Power Artifact

Commander (1)

Instant (15)

• 1x Brainstorm
• 1x Chain of Vapor
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Delay
• 1x Dispel
• 1x Flusterstorm
• 1x Force of Will
• 1x Mana Drain
• 1x Muddle the Mixture
• 1x Mystical Tutor
• 1x Negate
• 1x Pact of Negation
• 1x Swan Song
• 1x Whir of Invention

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Tezzeret the Seeker

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Sideboard

Artifact (8)

• 1x Ensnaring Bridge
• 1x Jester's Cap
• 1x Sphere of Resistance
• 1x Spine of Ish Sah
• 1x Tangle Wire
• 1x Thorn of Amethyst
• 1x Tormod's Crypt
• 1x Torpor Orb

Creature (2)

• 1x Lodestone Golem
• 1x Master Transmuter

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Arcum Dagsson was my first foray into Commander. As someone who built countless casual 60 card artifact decks when starting to play around Coldsnap/Time Spiral Standard, Arcum Dagsson quickly became one of my favorite creatures in all of Magic: The Gathering.

Arcum is no longer a deck revolving around hardlocks. This is a relatively quick build that wants to get Arcum down as soon as possible, protected, and then tap him once to simply win the game. The deck is capable of consistently producing the desired result on the fourth turn with only a single piece of acceleration, though t2 wins are significantly more common, and third turn wins are performed reasonably often.

The gameplan is to tap Arcum and grab Paradox Engine, then cast any spell from hand to untap Arcum, typically an artifact creature. This untaps Arcum and allows you to tutor out Citanul Flute, which you then tap for zero to get Ornithopter or Memnite. Casting those untaps Arcum again, which lets you use Arcum to go grab whatever you like at this point in time- a mana rock, a silver bullet, etc.. If you grab a Monolith or Mana Vault, you can tutor out Myr Retriever and Junk Diver/Scrap Trawler via Flute and produce infinite mana, as each loop of casting them costs 5 mana, but you produce 6). This gives you as much mana and as many tutors from Arcum as you want. Cast Walking Ballista and end the game with septillions of damage at each player.

Combo List

1. Scrap Trawler or Junk Diver + Myr Retriever + Basalt Monolith/Grim Monolith/Mana Vault or any combination of rocks/dorks that totals up to 3 mana or more: Infinite mana with Paradox Engine untaps, and Citanul Flute finds basically all of these pieces (even if you need to Trinket Mage for Mana Vault).

2. Rings of Brighthearth + Basalt Monolith = Infinite mana, tutor Ballista or Hangarback and win. Add Staff of Domination for infinite card draw and life, as well. These cards are primarily in the deck because it is an easy and efficient combo to assemble without Arcum or in the event something happens to Paradox Engine.

3. Power Artifact + Grim Monolith or Basalt Monolith = Infinite mana. Quick and dirty, adding Staff of Domination, Citanul Flute, Walking Ballista, Hangarback Walker, etc., lets you end the game with ease.

4. Rings of Brighthearth + Basalt Monolith + Sensei's Divining Top = Infinite mana and card draw. You copy the Top's "draw a card" activation, which nets you 1 card each time. Another combo that can be assembled without Arcum to win the game, if need be.

5. Paradox Engine + Sensei's Divining Top + Voltaic Key + Any mana rock or combination of mana rocks/dorks that produce at least 2 mana (Mana Crypt, Sol Ring, Mana Vault, Grim Monolith, Basalt Monolith) = Draw your whole library. You activate the Top to draw a card and put it on top of your library, and respond to the activation by using Voltaic Key to untap the Top and do it again, resulting in a net gain of 1 card each loop. Casting the Top untaps all of your nonland permanents, allowing you to do it again.

That's the plan for Arcum. Beyond pulling various silver bullets for specific situations out (such as tutoring out Pithing Needle against Commanders with powerful activations, or Torpor Orb for Bant Blink, etc.), this is a rough idea of how to run Arcum Dagsson. Happy tutoring, and any suggestions appreciated: This is very much still a work in progress!

Debating about adding Arcbound Ravager and Skullclamp to the deck to get a reliable way to win without Arcum by looping Junk Diver and Myr Retriever.

Date added	8 years
Last updated	2 years
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	10 - 1 Mythic Rares 34 - 8 Rares 20 - 1 Uncommons 18 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	1.86
Tokens	Bird 2/2 U, Phyrexian Myr 1/1 C, Thopter 1/1 C
Folders	Look at Later, decks i want to look at, commander, Deck ideas, Interesting Brews, Commander, Commander, Decks to Build, Retired Commander Decks