COMMANDER
Big Stuff to Warp In
What if I could Warp in big and powerful things that leaves a headache on the table for my opponents?
For a long time, red has been my least favourite Magic color to play with - so much so that pretty much all of my foundational commander decks expressly ignored the color. So I guess it was kind of ironic that I eventually decided to play a mono-red commander deck.
Admittedly this was one of the last things I had been brewing on Arena before I left that particular platform; alongside another deck built around The Aetherspark which quickly ramped into cards with large casting costs.
My initial realisation for this deck came from noticing that the new Warp mechanic from Edge of Eternities was an alternative casting cost; so the card still counted as having been cast - even if it then leaves the battlefield until a future turn.
So why not fill a deck with as many highly explosive cards on cast, that can also get haste from the commander, Tannuk, Steadfast Second so can still attack if a creature; before leaving my opponents reeling and trying to recover before I throw something at them again next turn.
More than a quarter of the deck are the 'Big Stuff to Warp In' and are all united by having a 'on cast' or 'on enters' trigger, the effect of which isn't then reliant on the same card staying on the battlefield beyond the initial turn.
Enhancing this section are a few cards that give Spell Cost Reduction (including Warp) which, as the name implies; reduces even the cost of Warp-ing a card, based on the commander's ability.
And to make sure Tannuk's ability is protected, I've included some Commander Protection too.
Because the deck runs predominently high-toughness creatures (at least 4 toughness), another large chunk of the deck is taken up with Low-Level Boardwipes; IE boardwipes that are going to do between 1 and 3 points of damage to every creature on the board; great for getting rid of wide low-cost boards, without impacting the creatures on my board. Plus it is nice to be doing various flavours of what red does best; direct damage.
Beyond a bit of Ramp & Library Recursion, the rest of the deck features a Variety of Utilities which is a loose collection of cards that enhance and add flavour to the deck. From a bit of ramp, some Discovery and a God that mimics the commander's abilities; through to The Akroan War which occasionally surprises folks by stealing a key creature of theirs for a few turns, and Roiling Vortex which has the handy ability to (oft unexpectedly) prevent lifegain on any particular turn.
Finally the Lands are fairly standard with a few flavourful entries. Rather than going for all different versions of full-art Mountains like I did in my 'Nine Nine!' deck, I decided the basics in here should be full-art Mountains from Edge of Eternities only.
I do enjoy the additional flavour of Forgotten Cave being the only old-bordered card too.
