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Rebbec and Glacian - Thran Ingenuity (v2.0)

Commander / EDH Artifact Artificer Partner Tokens WU (Azorius)

KBK7101

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"If I cannot bear the dark heart of my creation, how can I expect my city to?"

- Rebbec

TOP RATED and MOST VIEWED Rebbec and Glacian deck on Tappedout!!

Updated - 12/31/22

Hello all! Welcome to my new and improved 2.0 primer for my favorite deck I've ever built, the partner pairing of the legendary Rebbec, Architect of Ascension and Glacian, Powerstone Engineer! This was the first deck that I wrote a primer for back in 2021 and was also the first deck that I made public here on Tappedout, and is currently my most popular deck with over 50 upvotes. Because of this, any my love of The Thran by J. Robert King, this deck holds a special place in my heart. After multiple updates, this deck neared version 2.0 over this past summer. I pushed off updating it so I could make it's 2.0 update something special, and with the release of The Brother's War, I hope I have. New categories, new cards, more detailed descriptions... while not a total overhaul, I put in a lot of effort into updating this primer and I hope that by the end of it, you'll be inspired to build your own Rebbec/Glacian deck.

This deck is by no means the best or only way to build them. Because of Rebbec's openness in her ability (caring only about mana value), literally any artifacts could be useful to her. Glacian could also be a pretty cool reanimator commander, too. They're both very customizable to suit your own needs or playstyle.

While the term "budget" means different things to different people, my decks do have one. Because of that, please do not recommend overly expensive cards like Lion's Eye Diamond. I am also not looking to add "fast mana" sources like Mana Crypt or Jeweled Lotus. Please do not recommend those, either.

Lastly, I am, unfortunately, one of those people who does not like Universes Beyond cards. I see the appeal of them and I won't fault other people for playing them but I will not play them myself and they will not be considered for this or any other deck I build, regardless of how good they'd be for the deck. So... please do not recommend those, either.

Any ideas, recommendations, advice (whether needed or given) or anything else you can think of, please leave as comments below. I'm on this site a little too often so I'll probably respond pretty quickly!

With all that being said... let's get into the deck!!

***Note: All of the card choices made for this deck came from a VERY lengthy search of artifact related cards on Scryfall.

CUSTOM CATEGORIES FEATURES CARDS IN MULTIPLE LOCATIONS. THEY ARE NOT DUPLICATES. DECK CONTAINS 100 CARDS.

This part is totally optional and not related to the deck. Please feel free to skip if uninterested. I don't blame you!

My journey with Magic began briefly in 8th grade. I tried it out for a little while due to the popularity of other card games at the time like Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh! with some friends from school (this was around Mirrodin block and 8th edition for reference). While I loved the art, the basic gameplay was a bit too complicated for me to understand at the time and I dropped the game for what I thought was for good.

Fast forward to years later. My brother had asked for some MTG stuff for Christmas. I thought it would be kind of cool to check out Magic again since I hadn't even seen or heard of it since I dropped it. While doing some research for what to get him (he already had some cards/decks previously, plus whatever I had given him from the stuff I had from 8th grade which was mainly 8ed bulk) I came across various Amonkhet products and I think it was basically love at first site from that point on. The art and feel of Amonkhet hooked me and managed to do what I thought was impossible... and that was to get me back into TCGs for the first time in 15 years. The first deck I ever purchased was the M19 Ajani Planeswalker deck, which I still have and love (though it doesn't see any use anymore). After getting into the game and purchasing a handful of booster packs and bundles and few more Planeswalker decks (M19 Sarkhan, HOU Nicol Bolas and a set of Nissa vs Ob Nixilis duel decks) to build up a collection over the next few months, the trailer for the first new set to be released since I started playing the game was released... the Liliana trailer for War of the Spark. I was floored by what I was seeing. The music (huge Linkin Park fan in my teenage years), the emotions in the internal conflict Liliana was facing, the real possibility of major characters dying... I think that trailer is what hooked me for good. The amount of love and care put into that trailer has yet to be matched by any other set trailers since then in my opinion.

A few months later my brothers and I found commander and it's been what we've played almost exclusively ever since. Legendary creatures are one of the coolest parts of the game and building entire decks around one fascinated me far more than whatever I was building at the time. Our first decks we played with were Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons, Nicol Bolas and Niv-Mizzet, Parun. These decks were mostly bulk and were unsleeved (the horror!) but we had a great time and my commander deckbuilding urge has never really been sated since. It's a fantastic format and the focus on fun over competitiveness is something I love.

Sadly, as I was debating getting into the local game store scene in my area, the covid-19 pandemic began and kinda killed that dream. That, combined with the fact that the nearest local game stores are 45-60 minutes away from me, means that as of right now... I've only ever played Magic with my two brothers (and very rarely, my brother in law as well) in my own house. Please keep this in mind when commenting. This means that my "local meta" consists of all the decks that I have built and listed on here, both public and private ones. (The private ones are locked only because they're not terribly interesting or unique.)

I am an avid deckbuilder and am almost always working on something, whether it's public on here or not. I love working on commanders with cool or interesting lore or characters that had a major importance in Magic's history. I also love building decks for lesser known commanders/partner pairings because I find it a bit boring to see so many decks for, like, Kenrith, the Returned King, Meren of Clan Nel Toth or Kess, Dissident Mage for example. I am very lore focused when it comes to the decks I build, however (which I'm sure you can tell by this deck). I'm also the kind of dude who makes sure the basic lands arts all match the theme/plane of the deck. Flavor > function for me!

And while I think it's possible that Wizards might not have the game's best interest in mind anymore, I still love this game and it's various planes and characters. Any critiques/concerns I may express are only because I love the game and I want it to be around for years to come for others to discover and enjoy as I have.

  • Favorite sets: Amonkhet/Hour of Devastation, War of the Spark, Commander Legends, Kaldheim, Kamigawa Neon Dynasty

  • Favorite planes: Amonkhet, Kaldheim, Kamigawa, Dominaria

  • Favorite characters: Nicol Bolas, Ajani (RIP), Feldon, all five Amonkhet Gods (RIP)

  • Favorite colors/playstyles: I will play just about anything that's not mass land destruction and stax but I love token strategies, no matter the colors!

Dominaria has a long (and I mean VERY long) and storied history amongst the planes of the Multiverse. Long before the Mending changed the nature of the planeswalker spark, before the Phyrexians tried to overlay the artificial plane of Rath during the climax of their invasion... before Gerrard Capashen and his crew had ever sailed on the Weatherlight, before Urza founded the Tolarian Academy... before the Ice Age and the Dark... before Urza and Mishra's Brother's War and even the millennias long span of time known as the Time of Legends, the Thran empire stood as the mightiest civilization on the entire plane of Dominaria. With an empire that spanned the majority of continent of Terisiare and multiple colonies spread across the rest of Dominaria, the Thran were, without a doubt, the most technologically advanced civilization that Dominaria had ever seen. However, at the height of the Thran's influence... their mighty civilization met a swift and brutal end.

At the height of their power, Rebbec and Glacian were part of the 28 leaders, a group that would intervene when the Elder Council couldn't meet eye to eye on a decision and were two of the most influential people in the Thran empire shortly before it's fall. Rebbec was best known for her incredible architectural designs. Dubbed the Architecture of Ascension, her designs were always trying to draw the eye ever upward and many of the major landmarks in the capital city of Halcyon were of her own design. Glacian was the Thran's resident genius artificer. Mastering powerstone technology, he was able to build quite literally anything... including a Mana Rig that makes the modern one on Shiv look like a child's toy in comparison. Between Rebbec's lofty and idealistic designs and Glacian's ingenuity and expert craftsmanship, its not hard to see why they were two of the most important figures in Thran history.

The Thran is a standalone novel by author J. Robert King that also serves as a prequel for the Artifacts cycle of novels. Featuring Rebbec and Glacian as main characters, it showcases what the Thran empire was like before it's fall and also details just how exactly the Thran empire fell from grace so quickly. It's easily one of, if not the best MTG novel I've read and I definitely recommend it to any MTG fan. A physical copy is pretty pricy these days but you can find a eBook version of it pretty easily!

“She sees beyond technology to what it enables.”

—Glacian, powerstone engineer

Rebbec, Architect of Ascension provides artifacts you control with protection from mana costs matching artifacts you control. Having something like Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Mirage Mirror and Ancient Den out will give your artifacts protection from anything that costs 0-3 mana. This means that your artifacts are protected from basically all targeted removal and are also usually unblockable. The downside to this is that they will also have protection from YOUR spells and effects as well. Cards like Gods Willing or any sort of aura/equipment are basically useless in this deck. Because of that, the deck it only runs protection effects to keep her and Glacian (or another non-artifact creature) alive such as Liquimetal Coating and Liquimetal Torque.

“His energy is as boundless as the powerstones’.”

—Rebbec, architect of ascension

Glacian, Powerstone Engineer provides us with the ability to filter through an insane amount of cards to choose the one that best fits the situation. Try to think of this deck as a Golgari deck masquerading in Azorius colors, almost. There are plenty of ways to return things from the graveyard to your hand, but the main win condition here (aside from unblockable artifacts swinging left and right) is going to be Mirrodin Besieged. With a board full of mana rocks or tokens, Glacian can get the 15 artifacts in the graveyard needed for player removal at a terrifying pace.

Our basic gameplan with this deck is to use Rebbec to protect our board while we use Glacian to dump as many artifacts into the graveyard as we can for a Mirrodin Besieged win. That being said, this deck has pretty big back up plan in the form of Mechanized Production. If either of those avenues are not available for whatever reason, swinging in with all our creatures (that are mostly unblockable thanks to Rebbec), whether they be normal creatures or ones animated by Rise and Shine/The Antiquities War/Cyberdrive Awakener, is another simple path to victory.

GAMEPLAN:

  • Play out artifacts that vary in MV, either mana rocks, creatures or otherwise. The more varied the mana values, the more stuff Rebbec can give us protection from.
  • Play Rebbec to protect them. Protect her (or Glacian) with cards like Liquimetal Coating.

  • Figure out if Mirrodin Besieged, Mechanized Production or just a plain old combat beatdown is the best path to victory, then either...

  • Find Mirrodin Besieged, play Glacian and mill yourself to victory!

  • Play out Mechanized Production on a board full of tokens and without a 4MV artifact and wait a turn cycle for the win!

  • Amass a field of artifact creatures or "karnstructs" (the construct tokens from Karn, Scion of Urza or Urza's Saga) or, alternatively, on a field full of non-creature artifacts and animate them with Cyberdrive Awakener, Rise and Shine, or The Antiquites War and swing with your nearly unblockable army of robots for the win!

Glacian built his automatons to last, and last they did, beyond even the Thran themselves.

Sai, Master Thopterist, Artificer's Assistant and Vedalken Archmage are major players as they trigger with artifact casts. Whether it's tokens, card draw or simple scrying, these cards are must haves in any artifact-centric deck.

Foundry Inspector, Solemn Simulacrum, Ornithopter of Paradise, Etherium Sculptor, Jhoira's Familiar for mana reduction/ramp. Geode Golem is a special standout in that regard as any combat damage he deals lets you case either Rebbec or Glacian for free! This will usually be Glacian as he is a bit overcosted to be perfectly honest.

Duplicant and Steel Hellkite for removal, of which this deck is admittedly a bit light on. Hellkite also doubles as a potential board wipe.

Treasure Mage and Tribute Mage both tutor for specific CMC artifacts. Tribute Mage is best used to find ramp or commander protection in the form of Liquimetal Coating or Liquimetal Torque. Treasure Mage is mainly for finding Mycosynth Lattice (which is easily the best card for Rebbec) or for removal in the forms of Duplicant and Steel Hellkite. Arcum Dagsson lets you tutor for any noncreature artifact after sacrificing an artifact creature (usually a thopter token or something). Most useful for finding a specific CMC you need protection from at that particular moment or for grabbing Darksteel Forge or the aforementioned Mycosynth Lattice.

Emry, Lurker of the Loch and Scrap Trawler for recovery.

The new Liberator, Urza's Battlethopter from BRO gives artifact spells flash and can grow larger with artifact casts with a higher MV than it's power.

Another new card from The Brother's War is Platoon Dispenser. It's definitely one of the stronger card draw engines white has gotten in the last few years and fills a wonderful slot in this deck by providing a large body, tokens AND card draw. It also synergizes really well with Glacian as it has Unearth! Esper Sentinel and Research Thief are more card draw engines. Sentinel is a very powerful card from MH2 that can come down early and net us lots of cards if Rebbec is there to protect it. Thief is essentially a second copy of Thassa's Bident for this deck... and can even be snuck out after attacks because it has flash!

Platinum Angel essentially stops combo decks and alternate win con decks. So long as the angel is out (with Rebbec for protection), the game cannot end until we win or there is a board wipe of some sort.

Cyberdrive Awakener is a finisher for our third gameplan, regular old combat beatdown. Upon ETB, it animates our noncreature artifacts (which we'll probably have a lot of before it hits the board) big 4/4 beaters until end of turn. It also gives all of our artifact creatures flying, which we may not need because of Rebbec's protection but may become relevant if she's not available for whatever reason.

"We have inherited the mysteries of the Thran, but few of the answers.”

—Jhoira

Rise and Shine is another alternative for our combat beatdown gameplan. If cast for it's overload cost, which is what it'll be almost exclusively used for (as it's a nonbo with Rebbec), it animates all your artifacts and gives them all four +1/+1 counters. Paired with Rebbec's protection ability, means that every artifact you have on the board will more than likely be unblockable. Time this right and you should be able to take out whoever is left remaining at the table!

Both Teferi's Protection and Fierce Guardianship should mainly be used to save yourself from some sort of boardwipe. These are the only cards that will protect your board from something that Rebbec cannot, so be sure to use them wisely.

The rest are all mostly self explanatory as they are either card draw, recovery or removal.

Despite being abandoned for millennia, the Thran ironworks still occasionally sputter to life.

Mirrodin Besieged is the deck's main win condition. Churn through the deck with Glacian to find it, cast it when the graveyard is full and put the game on a short clock. Idyllic Tutor will also help find it.

Mechanized Production is the deck's secondary win condition. Enchant any artifact and wait for eight or more tokens with the same name to wrap things up quick or throw it onto something with an ETB (such as Duplicant) to accrue major value. Note, the enchanted artifact does NOT need to be the one that has the same name as eight other artifacts. You could enchant literally any artifact and then win if you have a thopter token army or a massive stash of treasure. It should be noted that this card, being an aura, is a pretty big nonbo with Rebbec and cannot be cast targeting an artifact if you have something that has 4MV when she's on the field. Be very mindful of playing this card when she is on the board. I'd recommend only playing it when you can win with it next turn and only if your field allows. This card is the definition of a "back up plan".

Rhystic Study and Mystic Remora are two massive sources of card draw. The new Tocasia's Welcome is a recent addition to this section, as well. It's a bit slower but is more predictable and dependable.

Smothering Tithe will generate stupid amounts of treasure tokens (which are artifacts!) to help ramp. May also attract unwanted hate from opponents, though.

Efficient Construction for efficient (heh) token generation.

The Antiquities War is the third avenue for animating our stuff for the combat beatdown gameplan as it turns all noncreature artifacts into 5/5 creatures and, like Rise and Shine and Cyberdrive Awakener, can close out games if timed right.

“Every device in the rig is evidence of Thran enlightenment. All mana was the same to them, whether from rock or water, growth or decay. Can you imagine such unity of vision?”

—Urza, journal

Lots of various mana rocks that I probably don't need to explain. We don't have access to green, so mana rocks are essential to us for ramping.

Mystic Forge can let you look at the top card of your library at any time and cast it if it's an artifact. Can also help filter through some unwanted topdeck cards if necessary.

Retrofitter Foundry can make multiple types of tokens and is very versatile.

Sensei's Divining Top was too expensive for me and wasn't a card I would've considered for the deck... until I opened one from my 2X2 box! Dependable card draw and a relevant MV for Rebbec and the ability to hide itself on the top of your library? Yes, please!

Vedalken Orrery is another card that I was thrilled to open in my 2X2 box. Being able to cast any spell at instant speed may make this one of the most powerful cards in the deck.

Machine God's Effigy is another new Brother's War card. A MV mana rock doesn't seem appealing... until you realize it could also be anything on the board. It doesn't target anything, as you choose what it comes in as while it's being cast, so it gets around Rebbec's protection if you're looking to copy something of your own.

Forsaken Monument is amazing for ramp (we have lots of sources from lands and artifacts), gains you life when you cast artifacts (colorless ones, mind you) and also gives your artifact creatures a Tempered Steel style buff (again, the only the colorless ones). A fantastic card for this deck.

Thran Foundry for graveyard protection. A nightmare scenario for this deck is being close to a Mirrodin Besieged victory and getting hit with Bojuka Bog or Tormod's Crypt or something the turn before ours. Thran Foundry can help save us from that.

Lux Cannon, Dispeller's Capsule and Scourglass for removal. Lux Cannon is very slow and Scourglass can only be used during our upkeep. Not the best, I know, but it's what we've got for now. Open to suggestions for better options here!

Unwinding Clock helps with ramp and helps by giving us pseudo-vigilance to our artifact creatures. It also pairs really well with Glacian, provided he's the target of Liquimetal Torque or Liquimetal Coating.

Rings of Brighthearth offers another way to copy Glacian's ability. Use it to possible eliminate two players at once with Mirrodin Besieged!

Archaeomancer's Map is some the best ramp white has ever received, though this deck is fairly light on Plains typed lands at the moment.

Darksteel Forge makes your board essentially untouchable with Rebbec on the field.

Artifacts were chosen in part due to their mana costs as we want as many differently costed artifacts on the field so Rebbec gives us the most value.

"Halcyon, the floating capital of Thran. The once shining city in the clouds, now lies ruined on the desert floor.”

—Fall of the Thran

Nothing too crazy or different here. Mainly two-colored lands and a few artifact synergistic utility lands. Buried Ruin and Academy Ruins can help get back artifacts from the graveyard while Urza's Saga provides mana, a huge token and lets you tutor for a useful artifact. Roadside Reliquary is easy to activate to get some cheap card draw. The ones that produce are crazy with Forsaken Monument.

The final new addition from The Brother's War, Urza's Workshop can potentially tap for if timed right... which it probably never will. Being able to be tapped for or will have to be okay, I guess. There is a "if you control three or more artifacts) clause on it, but that shouldn't ever really be a problem.

I'm very picky about my basic land art. To my knowledge, there are no basic lands that showcase the Thran empire before it's fall. That's the kind of art I'm looking for. I'm currently using some Ravnica basics because it's the closest thing I can get. Any suggestions on basic lands art is welcome and appreciated!

As I mentioned above, Rebbec and Glacian are pretty versatile. That being said, some cards that I think are at least working checking out in any Rebbec/Glacian deck are:

vs. Muldrotha, the Gravetide vs. Atla Palani, Nest Tender (dinosaur tribal) Show

vs. Korvold, Fae-Cursed King vs. Kalamax, the Stormsire Show

vs. Syr Konrad, the Grim (self mill) vs. Progenitus (Theros gods tribal) Show

vs. Atla Palani, Nest Tender (dinosaur tribal) vs. Tuvasa the Sunlit (merfolk tribal) Show

vs. The Ur-Dragon (Legendary dragon tribal) vs. Vilis, Broker of Blood Show

Proxies - 0

Alter Sleeves - https://www.altersleeves.com/product/vn10ydsrxu1zvls and https://www.altersleeves.com/product/dr28ot9shzgiaqq?printing_id=42696

Sleeves - Dragon Shield Matte (Silver)

Deck Box - Ultimate Guard 100 (Clear)/Ultimate Guard 40 (Blue) (for tokens)

Playmat - Ultra Pro : Dominaria - Karn, Scion of Urza

I think that's everything. I hope this deck has inspired you to make your own Rebbec/Glacian deck, and if not, I hope it at least inspires you to search out some less popular commander options this game has to offer. With sets coming out at a blinding pace these days, there are plenty of commanders that can potentially fall through the cracks. Just because they aren't the next Isshin, Two Heavens as One or Esika, God of the Tree  , doesn't mean that they aren't playable or fun!

Thoughts, ideas and recommendations are welcome but please keep in mind that I haven't played against anyone outside of my own house. lol

Thanks!!

Suggestions

Updates Add

2023! — Dec. 31, 2022
Edit

Happy new year, everyone!

So happy with where the deck is at these days. Thanks to everyone who's upvoted or commented! It's come a long way this year and hopefully next year brings us some new, fun cards along with some much needed reprints! (like Dominaria Remastered's Enlightened Tutor reprint!!)

Maybe this deck will finally make it to my LGS this year... who knows!?

Enlightened Tutor reprint in Dominaria Remastered! — Dec. 12, 2022
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The 2.0 update!! New primer!! BRO/BRC updates!! — Dec. 3, 2022
Edit
50 upvotes, new primer WIP and DMU/Brother's War! — Nov. 19, 2022
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v1.95 - minor update — July 1, 2022
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v1.9 - NEO! — March 3, 2022
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25 upvotes! — Dec. 31, 2021
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v1.85 — Oct. 30, 2021
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v1.8 — June 22, 2021
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v1.7 — June 15, 2021
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v1.65 — May 27, 2021
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v1.6 — May 15, 2021
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v1.5 — May 13, 2021
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v1.4 — April 16, 2021
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v1.3 — April 3, 2021
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v1.2 — March 11, 2021
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v1.1 — March 6, 2021
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44% Casual

56% Competitive

Revision 21 See all

(3 months ago)

-1 Endless Atlas main
-1 Mind's Eye main
-1 Power Depot main
-1 Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage main
-1 Runaway Trash-Bot main
+1 Sensei's Divining Top main
-1 Shimmer Myr main
-1 Thran Dynamo main
+1 Urza's Workshop main
Top Ranked
Date added 2 years
Last updated 2 months
Legality

This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)

10 - 0 Mythic Rares

51 - 0 Rares

15 - 0 Uncommons

15 - 0 Commons
Cards 100
Avg. CMC 3.36
Tokens Construct 0/0 C, Construct 4/4 C, Copy Clone, Myr 1/1 C, Servo 1/1 C, Soldier, Thopter 1/1 C, Treasure
Folders All Decks, Interesante EDH decks, Interdesting..., Reference Material, Potential Decks, Commander Legends Partners, <3 edh, Theme, EDH, deck, See all 18
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