Snapdax, Apex of the Hunt - a Voltron story.
For me, Mardu is the best color combination in Magic. It's aggressive, sturdy, and ambitious. Going with this, it was that time of year again when I feel the need for novelty, tired of my current commanders, and have too much spare cash in my pocket - a dangerous combination. Perhaps fortuitously for Snapdax, this desire and fortune coincided with the release of Ikoria, a wedge focused set. This meant many new tools for Mardu to play with and spicy new Mardu commanders. Pouring through the new set spoilers eagerly awaiting the Mardu legendaries, I felt initially disappointed by Snapdax -- something was off. The problem was mutate. Aside from being insanely confusing, it was a mechanic that got better the more cards you have with mutate on it, and there are very few cards with that, i.e., hard to build a complete strategy off of in the 99. Double strike was nice, though. So I table the kitten for now and try to focus on another direction for the deck.
There was this idea I had for a new deck a while back: a Mardu deck with a majority red focus. I've made majority black, white, and balanced decks before, so it was the only color I was missing, and I wanted to complete the wedge. This lead me to ask, "What is red good at?". Aggression! So this meant an agro deck was in the making. I'm knocking people out fast and furious style. With 40 life and multiple opponents, however, that can be a tall order. 'Tis the Mardu life, I suppose. This thinking lead to a series of revelations: first, if I try to win with commander damage, I effectively deal 19 damage to all opponents before the game even starts (super fast!); second, if I'm going after all opponents via commander damage, that means I'm assembling the Voltron - one big commander that overwhelms the board; third, while playing a round of Ikoria draft after hours of fruitless searching for cards that excited me, it dawned on me that Mutate behaves very similarly to auras (a common way to play Voltron). With that last thought, I could feel Snapdax breathing down my neck, just waiting to be unleashed. If a commander is part of a mutate stack, the resulting creature is considered the commander. This means, for my purposes at least, Snapdax reads "enchanted creature is your commander"(any creature you say?)..."and deals double damage" (so cuts the number of attacks I need in half?) -- from 40 to 21, from 21 to 10.5. I'm playing against opponents with effectively 10.5 life. Oh yeah, that feels good. From out of nowhere, these ideas come crashing together in my head. I'm unsure why they thought such a head was a good place for their continued existence, as I'm sure to ruin any hopes of them being well utilized, but in my head they were.
Isn't that such a great feeling, when those random ideas turn out to be perfect for each other? I suppose limitations are truly the catalyst for creativity. There was still something missing from the deck, even though if felt like I had it all. This last part was...challenging to say the least and there may be a dark bargain involved or two (don't act like you haven't done the same for mtg before!). Voltrons take quite a few pieces to assemble. The more pieces I need, the longer it will take to win (too slow) and Snapdax can't mutate till 5 mana (and good luck ramping hard in Mardu). How can I make the smallest Voltron possible while having to wait for 5 mana to use it? I'll admit, this would be the first Voltron I've made, and it just seemed like so many parts had to come together to make it all work. Ok, sorry good ideas, but you found the wrong home as clearly I cannot help you. Time to watch Command Zone for ideas on different commanders (ouch, Snapdax...no claws, please). Oh hey, a new episode talking about great red cards! That's just where I need to look.
It was then that I heard of the Holy of Holies: Gratuitous Violence. If a creature you control would deal damage to a permanent or player, it deals double that damage to that permanent or player instead...ah, so 10.5 is really 5.75. Snapdax starts with power 3, so I only needed 2.75 more power for him to be lethal. The science brain finally kicked in. For one Mardu Voltron you will need Snapdax, the Best Cat; one of many damage doubling effects in the lovely red color; and power 6 (either plus 3 on Snapdax or another creature with Snappy on the stack). Several months of on-again-off-again working and we arrive at this deck list.
Let me show you its features!
Damage Doublers: Cards for oh so important damage doubling. Not all of these just affect me too (what can I say, I like a little chaos).
Nine Lives: Snapdax is a cat right? He gets a few chances at life.
Sharp Claws: Just need to eek out a little more damage on this kitten.
Unblockable: They say sometimes it's better to walk around an obstacle. I say sometimes it's even better to act like there's nothing trying to stop you!
The Real Threat: When I have this piece down, it's all over.
Ok, so for all that talking up I've just done, this deck is quite horrendous. Ran a little thin on that "extra cash" as the pandemic went on, so many perfect bits of of Fancy Feast had to be tossed for leftovers I still had in the metaphorical fridge (my home collection). It doesn't work often, but oh boy when it does... does it purr!
