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Lu Bu, Attack Every Turn

Commander / EDH Mono-Red

Gardenia

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Artifact (17)

Land (38)

Creature (16)

Instant (7)

Enchantment (4)

Commander (1)

Commander: Lu Bu, Master-at-Arms

Sorcery (14)

Planeswalker (3)

Maybeboard

Artifact (4)

Creature (1)

Sorcery (3)

Land (1)

Enchantment (2)

Instant (1)

More or less, this deck is revolved around getting Lu Bu equipped with Assault Suit so he can attack every single turn. The idea is to win through commander damage faster than normal. Since Lu Bu has haste and is unblockable to 99% of creatures, you won't have to worry too much about blockers. Realistically, the only time you'll have to worry about that is if your opponent copies Lu Bu himself, so we'll also have some tools for dealing direct damage to creatures that way you can continue the assault.

The biggest problems this deck has is that A.) Card draw and ramp are difficult to manage in mono-red and B.) Fetching and protecting Assault Suit is remarkably difficult.

Lastly, if you don't know who Lu Bu is, he's a character in the classic Chinese novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms." He is notable for being one of, if not the strongest warrior of his time, but also for betraying his commanding generals and allies (multiple times). It's because of this that I find the idea of temporarily letting an opponent gain control of him in order to effectively attack multiple times a round feels thematically fitting.

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Updates — Oct. 31, 2021
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After testing the deck some I've found: A.) It is extremely difficult to reliably play Lu Bu before turn 5. B.) Getting Assault Suit out of the deck is so difficult, you're unlikely to do it in most games. C.) This is perhaps expected, but even in the rare instances where you get Lu Bu equipped with Assault Suit, most opponents are going to prioritize him (or more devastatingly, Assault Suit) for removal.

With those things in mind, I've added some cards to the maybe board to test.

Mana Vault, Arcane Signet, Irencrag Feat and Treasonous Ogre are all additional ramp aiming to get Lu Bu out on turn 4 reliably, or Optimally, on turn 3.

Mind's Eye, Cathartic Reunion, and Gamble are all supposed to help dig through the deck to find Assault Suit. Cathartic Reunion isn't the best card for this job, but a 2 mana spell that digs three isn't that bad in red. I'll be looking for other cards in the same mana bracket that can perhaps add lasting benefits, but for now, this is what I came up with.

Claws of Valakut, Granite Grip are meant to be backup versions of Assault suit in a way. You don't need to attack 4 times a round if you can just straight-up deal a lot more damage. They also still work with Assault Suit if you happen to draw both. Rush of Blood is an instant version of these cards, which can help you knock someone out of the game by surprise.

I originally left Castle Embreth out of the deck on purpose, as it didn't seem worth it to use four lands to give Lu Bu +1, but on second thought the opportunity cost is so low I figured I might as well give it a try. Plus, if you get the Krenko+Torbran train rolling, it can really contribute to the game. Shadowspear was another card I purposely left out since I didn't see much reason to use it. But typically you will end up becoming the primary target of at least one person at the table, so having Lu Bu equipped with something that boosts his power and gives him lifelink can potentially mean you gain 20 life a round. The ability to negate hexproof and indestructible just ends up being the icing on the cake at that point.

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95% Casual

Competitive