Arcades, the Strategist

Arcades, the Strategist Commander Deck

Arcades, the Strategist turns an army of high-toughness defenders into a legitimate offensive force, letting walls attack and deal damage based on their toughness while drawing a card each time a new one enters the battlefield. The deck floods the board with walls and defender creatures to generate card advantage and mana through untap effects, while combat tricks and protection spells keep Arcades and key pieces safe. The primary win condition is an infinite mana loop between Axebane Guardian and High Alert, and the deck can also simply overwhelm opponents with a wide attack of large-toughness creatures made unblockable or buffed through gate synergies and anthem effects.

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
• Render Silent
• Wall of Tanglecord
• Rolling Stones
• Sunscape Familiar
• Gateway Plaza
• Axebane Guardian
• Gatecreeper Vine
• Hover Barrier
• Wall of Blossoms
• Perimeter Captain
• Brave the Sands
• 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
• Dovin's Veto
• Mystic Remora
• Wall of Junk
• Hinterland Harbor
• Beast Within
• Arcane Signet
• Command Tower
• Flood Plain
• Seaside Citadel
• Wall of Denial
• Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive
• Expel the Interlopers
• Rammas Echor, Ancient Shield
• Deserted Beach
• Bedrock Tortoise
• Azorius Guildgate
• Drift of Phantasms
• The Pride of Hull Clade
• Archdruid's Charm
• Fell the Mighty
• Fumigate
• Planar Nexus
• Corrupted Shapeshifter
• Tranquil Landscape
• Basilisk Gate
• Hushwood Verge
• Crystal Barricade
• Plagon, Lord of the Beach
• An Offer You Can't Refuse
• Aetherize
• Maze's End
• Circuitous Route
• Fog Bank
• Simic Guildgate
• Forest
• 3× Island
• 4× Plains
• 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