Arcades, the Strategist

Arcades, the Strategist Commander Deck

Arcades, the Strategist turns an army of high-toughness defenders into an aggressive attacking force, since each wall deals damage equal to its toughness and can swing freely. The deck floods the board with defenders that draw cards on entry, generates mana through defenders like Axebane Guardian, and supports the team with lord effects, vigilance enablers, and gate-based lands that provide incremental bonuses. The primary win condition is an infinite mana loop using Axebane Guardian and High Alert to untap and reuse defenders, while the deck also threatens to close games through sheer combat damage from massive walls backed by counterspells and board wipes to protect the strategy.

Decklist

• Idyllic Tutor
• Wall of Stolen Identity
• Stalwart Shield-Bearers
• Hold the Gates
• Rapid Hybridization
• High Alert
• Open the Gates
• Plaza of Harmony
• Selesnya Guildgate
• Wall of Frost
• Wall of Tanglecord
• Rolling Stones
• Sunscape Familiar
• Gateway Plaza
• Axebane Guardian
• Gatecreeper Vine
• Hover Barrier
• Wall of Blossoms
• Perimeter Captain
• Jungle Barrier
• Swiftfoot Boots
• Colossus of Akros
• Swan Song
• Ghostway
• Akroma's Will
• Negate
• Sol Ring
• Flumph
• Dreamroot Cascade
• Overgrown Battlement
• Baldur's Gate
• Gond Gate
• Heap Gate
• Sea Gate
• Manor Gate
• Citadel Gate
• Dusk
• Wall of Omens
• Walking Bulwark
• Wingmantle Chaplain
• Shield-Wall Sentinel
• Thran Portal
• Swords to Plowshares
• Mystic Remora
• Wall of Junk
• Hinterland Harbor
• Beast Within
• Arcane Signet
• Command Tower
• Flood Plain
• Seaside Citadel
• Wall of Denial
• Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive
• Deserted Beach
• Azorius Guildgate
• Drift of Phantasms
• The Pride of Hull Clade
• Archdruid's Charm
• Fell the Mighty
• Fumigate
• Planar Nexus
• Tranquil Landscape
• Basilisk Gate
• Hushwood Verge
• Crystal Barricade
• Plagon, Lord of the Beach
• An Offer You Can't Refuse
• Aetherize
• Circuitous Route
• Fog Bank
• Simic Guildgate
• Forest
• Yavimaya Coast
• Smile at Death
• Rampart Architect
• Tree of Redemption
• Sylvan Caryatid
• Assault Formation
• Wall of Reverence
• Weathered Sentinels
• Carven Caryatid
• Slaughter the Strong
• Towering Titan
• Sunpetal Grove
• Glacial Fortress
• Great Forest Druid
• Render Silent
• Brave the Sands
• Dovin's Veto
• Expel the Interlopers
• Rammas Echor, Ancient Shield
• Bedrock Tortoise
• Corrupted Shapeshifter
• Maze's End
• 3× Island
• 4× Plains