Hangarback Walker

Artifact Creature — Construct

This enters with X +1/+1 counters.

When this dies, create a 1/1 colourless Thopter artifact creature token with flying for each +1/+1 counter on this.

{1}, {T}: Put a +1/+1 counter on this.

Combos

• Glissa, the Traitor + Grave Pact + Hangarback Walker

Tokens

• Thopter 1/1 C

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Arena	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Freeform	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Historic	Legal
Historic Brawl	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Modern Beyond Horizons	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Planar Constructed	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (47)

Ogrecorps on "Unbeatable" card combo, or so …

2 months ago

Another waaaaaaaay late update just for kicks: Cannot Lose attempted to get revenge and it was the most hilariously fumbling vengeance I've ever been party to. I was basically gently tickled to death. This all happened months ago now and I'm sorry that I don't remember the details but here's the approximate series of events:

"Cannot Lose", aka Poofy_Poof, my coworker, said that he'd get me back for targeting him so exclusively and began to talk about card combos that would do terrible things to me. I was interested in seeing what diabolical shenanigans he came up with. Turns out it was "terrifying" stuff like... MILLING! and... CREATURE DAMAGE, oh nooooooooooooooo...!

I was honestly a little offended that he'd devise such mundane punishments for me. I mean, what the hell? I'd gone to all the work of starting a thread on here and crowdsourcing you all to help me defeat him - thanks again for that, I owe you all a high-five and handful of french fries - and extended myself in vulnerability during the game just to take him down, to crash his Cannot Lose deck I was willing to give it my all (within a card game) and all he was coming up with was the lamest ways to take revenge. I was disappointed. So much for being my nemesis, it's like he just didn't care enough...

So I did what I had to do: I publicly mocked his lack of creativity. I told coworkers who didn't care about Magic as much as they needed to know to then help them understand what a pathetic showing this was. I told them how I'd really made an effort and that what I was being threatened with - while surely deadly - was beneath the dignity of both Poofy Poof and myself and what's more, it was pathetic. Here he is, this striding god of MTG (within our group), a titan of complicated turns lasting 10 minutes while he talks non-stop about "tap this so that I can scry that so that I can add a counter to this other thing so that I can make copies of blah blah blah" and here he is in towering fury squeaking at me like a smol cat mad that dinner is late.

In all, it seems to have worked. I wanted to draw out some real fury and the inspired torment that could come with it and I really think I succeeded. He got quiet. A minute later he said in a mock angry voice that he'd devised a special torture for me, that he wasn't just going to beat me, he was going to make ME beat me. "I'm going to not only take your turns but I'm also going to take all of your things and I'm going to use them to kill you slowly. And then I'm going to take extra turns to slow things down even more so that I can make sure to take absolutely everything from you and when you don't have anything left, when I own your whole library and have played all of your own creatures against you, then when you've seen what it means to cross me, I'll smash you into the tiniest pieces I can using all of your favorite creatures who you never thought could do you harm." (paraphrasing, of course.)

Well hot damn, I was excited.

Come game day, I was ready. I was ready to made an example of. I'd anointed my body with the proper oils, said my goodbyes, and logged in to face my well-earned destruction.

What an absolute farce... I could not possibly be more entertained by such a mighty rage falling flat on its face. His deck? Worked perfectly, did just exactly what he threatened. He had like 30 mana out due to a ton of ramp and multiple "lands make more mana when tapped" things that I don't remember (don't worry, I'll tell him this tread exists and he'll likely come and provide specifics). He had big creatures and best of all, he did indeed take my stuff and my turns.

Here's the problem though: On a whim, I had chosen for the fight a deck that I knew wouldn't win but I like to play because someday, at some point, it's gotta win. I mean, statistically it's possible that at some point I'm going to face Poofy Poof and he's going to get mana starved or something and I'll FINALLY get to watch my Hangarback Walkers Doubling Season and Echoes of Eternity using Arcbound Ravager into a horrifying swarm of flying 1/1's (with haste thanks to Crashing Drawbridge). I mean, the math is there! Multiple Echoes trigger each other and Doubling Season triggers on those triggers as well as for the Walker's original counters and then again when the walkers explode and Doubling Seasons trigger each other too so just think about how glorious it would be! We had to make a whole calculator for it! I can't get into it right now but the exponential growth is DISGUSTING and I just want my Hangarback Walkers deck to work some day! (Hangarback Cromrars, btw)

So anyway, he's built up like an enraged hurricane with tornadoes for hands and my. deck. FLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPS. Just absolutely fails to deliver anything useful at all. He takes my turn? All he can do is not play a land and not untap stuff. I have nothing. I have squat for mana, no creatures, expensive crap I can't do anything with... He tries again next time and it's only gotten worse. My had is bloated with crap-ola I couldn't be happier to see because his whole plan was to grab me by the arms and smack me in my own face to death as a humiliating punishment and show of absolute domination but I, effectively, was made of feathers so my own self beating was a pleasant afternoon breeze.

Okay, no problem, he thought. He'll still be able to do the other part, the part where he uses his absurd levels of mana to steal my whole deck and then play it and then HE'LL be the one to set the Hangarback swarm aloft and HE'LL be the one to kill me dead with my precious dream of a million damn flying 1/1's, muhahahahahaha!!!!

Only one problem: He was so eager to do it all in one turn that he literally took my whole damn library. All of it. Not one card left for me to draw on my turn. And he didn't have quite enough mana to pull the whole thing off. Sure, he got some Walkers down, and they were reasonably sized and he sure was gonna really stomp me good with my own precious babies buuuuuuuuuuuttttt....... he. just. took. too much. Instead of me dying dramatically, crushed by my own stolen dreams, I merely expired in the night, sleeping comfortably in my own bed. Full of life (literally 20), and unafraid because I had made peace with my destruction. Instead of him crashing a typhoon of my perverted hopes on me, I asphyxiated quietly on the CO2 of having been milled out. As I figuratively drifted deeper into a cozy sleep, I literally almost peed my pants laughing at the stupendous impotence of Poofy Poof the Destroyer and his epicly botched scheme for revenge. That day he learned that, like Bugs Bunny, I am divinely protected from harm by powers beyond his mighty reach. That day the Cosmic Jester made one more fool...

doc_frank_18 on Aluminum Alloy

3 months ago

Take out Walking Ballista for Patrick's Fabricate...... take out Darksteel Juggernaut for Chord of Calling.... take out Hangarback Walker and put in Endless Atlas..... simplify your lands.....15 forests, 15 islands, command tower, war room, two fetch, two shocks....something like that.

Arsienic on BUG - Modular Historic - Arena build

1 year ago

You are absolutely right, The creatures are a huge part of the deck and protecting them is a something I'm realizing I lack. On the other hand, Do I need to protect All of them? in this deck (as I'm sure anyone looking at it is aware) a strong source of power is creatures dying and multiplying their counters on to other creatures, often to get a close win. With this in mind, I have a couple of thoughts:

• First adding more/any mass protection. The suggestion to add Teferi's Protection is amazing at this, ensuring to make sure that nothing dies as a result of my opponents actions and putting the control of when/how they die in my control. I can definitely see this helping, but I think I can do more.

• My second line of thinking is, if I want my things to die and my opponent is doing the work of killing them for me, can I use specific creature protection to turn board wipes into net positive interactions. (I.e. using Fight as One to only protect Hangarback Walker and maybe Metastatic Evangel ensuring that the board wipe will only stand to make walker an even bigger threat). I do see that this plan is very ineffective against exile based wipes, and teferi's is, again, a great option I'm going to add!

I think somewhere between these two thoughts of protect everything, and charge the win-con with my opponent's removal is the base of what's going to become my sideboard. I really want cards I can use to protect my creatures into game ending resets, but I also want cards that can, for low mana, protect a single target.

again, thanks for the feedback! and any card suggestions, especially with all the new stuff out, are appreciated!

Arsienic on BUG - Modular Historic - Arena build

1 year ago

Apollo_Paladin Thanks for the feedback! sorry for a horrifically late response. Please note I still haven't gotten around to looking at a lot of the new cards and if they would be good to add to the deck.

You are absolutely right, The creatures are a huge part of the deck and protecting them is a something I'm realizing I lack. On the other hand, Do I need to protect All of them? in this deck (as I'm sure anyone looking at it is aware) a strong source of power is creatures dying and multiplying their counters on to other creatures, often to get a close win. With this in mind, I have a couple of thoughts:

• First adding more/any mass protection. The suggestion to add Teferi's Protection is amazing at this, ensuring to make sure that nothing dies as a result of my opponents actions and putting the control of when/how they die in my control. I can definitely see this helping, but I think I can do more.

• My second line of thinking is, if I want my things to die and my opponent is doing the work of killing them for me, can I use specific creature protection to turn board wipes into net positive interactions. (I.e. using Brave the Elements to only protect Hangarback Walker ensuring that the board wipe will only stand to make walker an even bigger threat). I do see that this plan is very ineffective against exile based wipes, and teferi's is, again, a great option I'm going to add!

I think somewhere between these two thoughts of protect everything, and charge the win-con with my opponent's removal is the base of what's going to become my sideboard. I really want cards I can use to protect my creatures into game ending resets, but I also want cards that can, for low mana, protect a single target.

again, thanks for the feedback! and any card suggestions, especially with all the new stuff out, are appreciated!

TheForsakenOne on You Shall Not Pass

1 year ago

What I'd cut:

Pilgrim's Eye: Not a very good rate, and it doesn't even ramp

Eldrazi Displacer: You don't have enough colorless mana producers to make this consistent, and there are better flicker effects you have acess to

Eight-and-a-Half-Tails: Clunky protection when it isn't really needed

Avacyn, Angel of Hope: Sadly just a win-more card in this case. If it sticks around sure you're probably going to win but you'll be enemy #1 and you're likely not going to survive that

Sword of Feast and Famine: Probably the most overpriced of the swords, and the most likely to draw hate. It looks good on paper but without a way to capitalize on it you're going to bite off more than you can chew.

The Wanderer: Not worth the 4 mana. There are just better cards that could be run.

Ephemeral Shields is kind of a weird addition. Its just not very good.

2-3 Plains: 38 is just a bit high for a deck that peaks at 3 cmc cards. Maybe add more ramp instead

Suggestions to add

The MDFC's are just great to have due to their flexibility: https://scryfall.com/search?as=gridℴ=name&q=type%3Aland+commander%3AW+%28game%3Apaper%29+is%3Amdfc

You don't have that many ways to sacrifice artifacts despite having several triggers off of. The standards are Trading Post, Arcbound Ravager and for this deck Oswald Fiddlebender is great because it tutors out another artifact for free. Kuldotha Forgemaster is a must because it can turn some of your dud artifacts into a portal or blighsteel, and at instant speed too.

Metalwork Colossus is just fun, plus with all your expendable artifacts it can be quite persistent

Wurmcoil Engine is just great, and doubling that death trigger is fantastic. Can't play its new little brother, because he's black, but the original is still a classic

Threefold Thunderhulk has two ETB's that can be copied, and he's a sacrifice outlet. I would also recommend Hangarback Walker since you can double the death trigger

If you put in enough Artifact sacrifices cards like Scrap Trawler, Myr Retriever, and Loran, Disciple of History to recur them back to your hand. Also consider Syr Ginger, the Meal Ender for payoffs to all that sacrificing.

Its a dead horse, but Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile are never bad choices.

Spell_Slam on This Is Going To Hurt

1 year ago

Good list! I got some ideas for my own, so thanks!

In terms of enablers, Keen Duelist and Descent into Avernus are quite strong. Walking Ballista (and to a lesser extent Hangarback Walker) also makes a great enabler in the early game or a giant threat in the mid/late game. Cryptolith Fragment  ^Flip is great as a ramp spell that fixes and also enables casting Rakdos. I am also playing Insolent Neonate, which has worked out surprisingly well, though there may be better options out there. I see you're not running Heartless Hidetsugu, which I think is a must-have for this deck. It makes dumping out your hand and killing every opponent trivially easy.

When it comes to payoffs, I really like playing as many colourless cards as possible to really take advantage of Rakdos. I see you're missing Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger and Emrakul, the Promised End in your top-end. In terms of other colourless cards, I like Duplicant as a potentially free removal spell, Wurmcoil Engine for the value, Myr Battlesphere for early damage output and Steel Hellkite as a flying threat that can wipe out huge chunks of the board.

When it comes to coloured payoffs, I stopped playing cards that cost more than {B}{B} or {R}{R} in their costs, as they wouldn't play well with the Rakdos discount. I do like Sheoldred, Whispering One, Knollspine Dragon and Balefire Dragon.

With Whip of Erebos and Exquisite Blood in the deck, is seems like Sanguine Bond would be a great include as a combo finisher.

In terms of cuts, Lightning Bolt seems like an easy one to let go. I stopped playing haste-givers because I found myself playing creatures post-combat most of the time anyways, so something like Rising of the Day could be an easy cut. Read the Bones seems like a really weak card that could be replaced with better card draw or recursion (Necropotence?). I see the combo with Tectonic Hazard and Death-rattle Oni, but that seems pretty niche otherwise and could be replaced with more reliable/repeatable enablers instead. Spawn of Mayhem seems pretty awkward in this deck, as you'll rarely be able to cast it before turn 4 even with Spectacle (and we know what turn 4 is for! :) ). The triple-black on Bloodletter of Aclazotz and Dread Cacodemon are pretty restricting, in my opinion. Indulgent Tormenter seems very unreliable and probably not worth the cost.

Jet Medallion and Ruby Medallion are not at their best here, as they reduce colourless costs instead of adding mana, which means that with Rakdos out they may not even do anything.

IrishPaddys on Necronomicon | Teysa Karlov | Primer

2 years ago

What's your thoughts on Illustrious Wanderglyph? Seems to fit in the same spot of Ophiomancer without the stipulation of not having a token already so can build up faster but has the issue of making it's tokens and or artifact creatures out of range for Skullclamp and fighting for a 5 drop slot. Best reason I can see is if we want an a backup aggro plan specially if we still include Hangarback Walker as it'll buff it's tokens too.

Darb_the_Bard on Buttercup: Princess Bride

2 years ago

Another interesting thing to note is that Hangarback Walker would also be illegal with Jegantha because the {X} symbol is duplicated.