Adam Haggerty's Arcades, The Strategist
 
Type: Deck Idea
Format (invalid)
staStandard
Approx. Value:
$349.34
Buy

0 Likes 3 Comments
Avg. CMC 2.07
Card Color Breakdown
Card Type Breakdown

Marvel's Spider Man
releases on September 26, 2025!

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Marvel's Spider Man
releases on September 26, 2025!

Preorder now on CardKingdom Preorder now on TcgPlayer
Main Deck - 71 cards, 22 distinct
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Name  Ed. Price Type Cost T Modified
Rarity Color
Creature (27)
4 Arcades, the Strategist
$2.35 Legendary Creature - Elder Dragon 5 02-Mar-2019 00:09
1 Llanowar Elves
$0.22 Creature - Elf Druid 1 03-Mar-2019 11:12
4 Novice Knight
$0.10 Creature - Human Knight 3 03-Mar-2019 11:10
4 Portcullis Vine
$0.03 Creature - Plant Wall 3 03-Oct-2018 21:33
4 Resolute Watchdog
$0.23 Creature - Dog 3 01-Mar-2019 20:10
4 Saruli Caretaker
$0.18 Creature - Dryad 3 01-Mar-2019 20:10
2 Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive
$0.13 Legendary Creature - Human Rogue 3 09-Oct-2018 17:11
4 Wall of Vines
$0.05 Creature - Plant Wall 3 01-Mar-2019 20:11
Instant (8)
2 Dive Down
$0.11 Instant 02-Mar-2019 00:07
2 Status // Statue
$0.07 Instant // Instant // 02-Mar-2019 00:07
4 Tower Defense
$0.14 Instant 01-Mar-2019 20:11
Sorcery (9)
4 Adventurous Impulse
$0.06 Sorcery 01-Mar-2019 19:40
4 Incubation // Incongruity
$0.10 Sorcery // Instant // 01-Mar-2019 20:11
1 Slaughter the Strong
$0.27 Sorcery 02-Mar-2019 00:08
Enchantment (4)
4 High Alert
$0.29 Enchantment 02-Mar-2019 00:08
Land (23)
4 Breeding Pool
$7.86 Land - Forest Island 01-Mar-2019 20:12
3 Forest
$0.11 Basic Land - Forest 02-Mar-2019 00:08
4 Glacial Fortress
$0.49 Land 10-Oct-2018 17:09
4 Hinterland Harbor
$0.46 Land 04-Oct-2018 15:34
2 Overgrown Tomb
$11.89 Land - Swamp Forest 01-Mar-2019 20:13
2 Sunpetal Grove
$0.32 Land 10-Oct-2018 17:21
4 Temple Garden
$12.27 Land - Forest Plains 10-Oct-2018 17:08
Sideboard - 117 cards, 58 distinct
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Name  Ed. Price Type Cost T Modified
Rarity Color
Creature (39)
4 Barrier of Bones
$0.07 Creature - Skeleton Wall 3 10-Oct-2018 17:06
2 Beast Whisperer
$2.75 Creature - Elf Druid 3 02-Mar-2019 00:09
1 Deadeye Tracker
$0.24 Creature - Human Pirate 1 03-Oct-2018 21:30
4 Dimir Spybug
$0.06 Creature - Insect 1 04-Oct-2018 04:01
3 Doom Whisperer
$1.67 Creature - Nightmare Demon 6 04-Oct-2018 15:33
4 Gleaming Barrier
$0.05 Artifact Creature - Wall 4 01-Mar-2019 20:10
1 Golden Guardian // Gold-Forge Garrison
$0.77 Artifact Creature - Golem // Land 4 01-Mar-2019 20:09
2 Grappling Sundew
$0.10 Creature - Plant 4 01-Mar-2019 20:09
1 Knight of Autumn
$0.37 Creature - Dryad Knight 1 03-Oct-2018 21:30
1 Knight of Malice
$0.14 Creature - Human Knight 2 03-Oct-2018 21:30
2 Lazav, the Multifarious
$0.29 Legendary Creature - Shapeshifter 3 04-Oct-2018 04:01
1 Muldrotha, the Gravetide
$2.82 Legendary Creature - Elemental Avatar 6 04-Oct-2018 15:33
2 Shalai, Voice of Plenty
$1.48 Legendary Creature - Angel 4 02-Mar-2019 00:07
4 Suspicious Bookcase
$0.08 Artifact Creature - Wall 4 10-Oct-2018 17:00
1 Thief of Sanity
$0.32 Creature - Specter 2 03-Oct-2018 21:30
4 Thoughtbound Phantasm
$0.08 Creature - Spirit 2 09-Oct-2018 17:11
2 Wall of Mist
$0.06 Creature - Wall 5 01-Mar-2019 20:09
Instant (25)
2 Aegis of the Heavens
$0.13 Instant 01-Mar-2019 20:11
2 Assassin's Trophy
$2.38 Instant 10-Oct-2018 17:01
3 Cast Down
$0.28 Instant 03-Oct-2018 21:32
1 Disdainful Stroke
$0.06 Instant 03-Oct-2018 21:30
1 Moment of Craving
$0.10 Instant 03-Oct-2018 21:30
2 Negate
$0.25 Instant 02-Mar-2019 00:07
1 Nexus of Fate
$5.34 Instant 03-Oct-2018 21:35
2 Price of Fame
$0.09 Instant 03-Oct-2018 21:32
4 Radical Idea
$0.05 Instant 10-Oct-2018 17:24
4 Sinister Sabotage
$0.08 Instant 03-Oct-2018 21:32
3 Syncopate
$0.06 Instant 03-Oct-2018 21:30
Sorcery (12)
2 Board the Weatherlight
$0.09 Sorcery 10-Oct-2018 17:18
2 Discovery // Dispersal
$0.11 Sorcery // Instant // 03-Oct-2018 21:32
1 Duress
$0.14 Sorcery 03-Oct-2018 21:30
2 Find // Finality
$0.10 Sorcery // Sorcery // 10-Oct-2018 17:06
1 Golden Demise
$0.10 Sorcery 03-Oct-2018 21:30
1 Severed Strands
$0.05 Sorcery 09-Oct-2018 15:13
2 Thought Erasure
$0.08 Sorcery 09-Oct-2018 17:12
1 Unmoored Ego
$0.25 Sorcery 03-Oct-2018 21:30
Artifact (5)
2 Chromatic Lantern
$2.14 Artifact 03-Oct-2018 21:30
2 Mox Amber
$65.62 Legendary Artifact 04-Oct-2018 15:33
1 Sorcerous Spyglass
$0.10 Artifact 03-Oct-2018 21:30
Enchantment (16)
2 Arguel's Blood Fast // Temple of Aclazotz
$0.33 Legendary Enchantment // Legendary Land 09-Oct-2018 17:13
1 Dead Weight
$0.04 Enchantment - Aura 03-Oct-2018 21:30
1 Demonic Vigor
$0.11 Enchantment - Aura 04-Oct-2018 15:33
1 Disinformation Campaign
$0.16 Enchantment 03-Oct-2018 21:30
3 Growing Rites of Itlimoc // Itlimoc, Cradle of the Sun
$4.38 Legendary Enchantment // Legendary Land 02-Mar-2019 00:08
4 Radiant Destiny
$0.39 Enchantment 04-Oct-2018 15:33
4 Song of Freyalise
$0.42 Enchantment - Saga 02-Mar-2019 00:08
Planeswalker (5)
1 Karn, Scion of Urza
$2.77 Legendary Planeswalker - Karn 09-Oct-2018 17:12
3 Vivien Reid
$0.34 Legendary Planeswalker - Vivien 01-Mar-2019 19:40
1 Vraska, Golgari Queen
$3.01 Legendary Planeswalker - Vraska 09-Oct-2018 17:12
Land (15)
1 Detection Tower
$1.70 Land 03-Oct-2018 21:30
1 Drowned Catacomb
$0.92 Land 04-Oct-2018 15:34
1 Field of Ruin
$0.20 Land 03-Oct-2018 21:30
2 Island
$0.10 Basic Land - Island 01-Mar-2019 20:12
4 Isolated Chapel
$0.62 Land 10-Oct-2018 17:08
1 Memorial to Folly
$0.15 Land 04-Oct-2018 15:34
1 Swamp
$0.11 Basic Land - Swamp 10-Oct-2018 17:08
3 Watery Grave
$8.13 Land - Island Swamp 10-Oct-2018 17:08
1 Woodland Cemetery
$0.69 Land 10-Oct-2018 17:08

Notes
 
This shit is lit!

This is actually super sweet. Still got a lot to do to get a working list. Arcades is a card. Turns all my walls into cantrips, and most are green or colorless, all are between 1-2. Then if were already in those colors, Shalai is sweet, giving our team hexproof is valuable. Tetsuko makes them all unblockable. Song of Freyalise let's me chain walls into each other, and the last clause is gas. Dive down is a better Blossuming Defense. Status/Statue is just tailor made for this deck. Early they swing into a wall and Status cleanly trades for almost all the creatures in the format at the low cost of 1 mana. Then they get wary and don't swing into my walls while I advance my board, and then it turns into a super putrefy. We get to run A trophy to great effect. Find is recur 2 draw 2, and the flip is decent too. Vivien Reid seems real good behind a bunch of walls, adds card advantage selection to find more walls/legends, removal, and the ultimate is bae. Adventorous Impulse and Board the weatherlight are important as the deck resolves around Arcades. Impulse is easier to chain, counts as fixing, just more efficient. Board the weatherlight is more expensive and white, so more prohibitive, but goes deeper, gets all the key cards like Arcades, other legends, artifact walls, song of freyalise, and Vivien Reid (about 22 options currently). Growing rights of Itlimoc might work similarly.

The goal then is to follow-up an arcades with a tetsuko, and just swing for lethal in a single turn. Say on Average I land 4 one drops, 2 two drops, arcades, and a tetsuko, that converts to 23 damage with no other effects the turn tetsuko comes down. There are 16 one drop walls, and 12 2 drops I'm considering. I don't think the surveil defender is good on rate for this deck, but all the others seem great. We we lean green then. Barrier and bookcase make 8 artifact walls, which seem ideal for fixing and cantrips. We also can run wall of mist, which is the biggest wall on rate currently. I think I want to run a list without them that's more explosive and consistent, but it may be necessary. I want to be a wall heavy deck, so find the right mixture of non-wall arcades spells will be vital and difficult. Just need to nail down a good working version. Some amount of Negate is also needed in the 75, to protect against sweepers and settle.

Slaughter the Strong. OMG. Arcades, a Tetsuko, and any number of walls make this a one-sided board wipe. Doesn't work well one a freyalise resolves, or if I have Arcades and Shalai in play, but otherwise this is going to be awesome. Trading one card for my opponents board more is less will be sweet while I have a battlefield full of walls. I can even do this before combat with Arcades in play and then swing in!

First attempt at shaving down is lack luster. Arcades is literally the crux of the deck. If you don't have it, aside from the walls being inherently anemic, you are weak to everything it shores up, being Flying, planeswalkers, end game, and card flow. The answer is just having to fully dedicate a number of slots to card flow. Vivien Reid is sweet but doesn't help the game get established. It's a combonation of Board the Weatherlight, Adventurous Impulse, and some other card flow like chemister's insight or radical idea. We need to effectively make the deck smaler through cantrips, so we just don't get stallled on a walls and a few cantrips with no ability to churn through the dck without Arcades. This will likely be a mulligan heavy deck for that reason, so we need more smoothing approach to deckbuilding. we also are glut on 2 drops, actively want more one drops. Wondering if I can get away with a free black splash to play barrier of bones, which seems real helpful. for these issues. I need enough consistent card flow where I'm roping Arcades with 5 mana everygame with either protection or an immediate cantrip available. Arcades needs to kind of "go off" reliably for me to play the game, Wall, Wall, Arcades into topdeck mode is not going to cut it.

So clearly wotc has planted this deck, and nobody has bothered to find it. Ravnica allegiance gave us everything. High alert alone makes the deck consistently insane, but we also got incubation, saruli caretaker, a white one drop wall that protects, and tower defense. oMG tower defense. 16 auto one drops, 12 are green. There are more options too. This deck is busted. I'm going to keep it under radar to spell me a tournament.
Comments
  • Christopher | 09-Oct-2018 20:03
    Initial Thoughts: I love the deck idea! Totes wanna help make this guy a thing.


    I think you are going to struggle with trying to run 4 colors in this deck.  The more energy you put into color fixing, the less energy you have on protection/defense.  Agree with Freyalise and Vivien, but I don't think you need both.  I think Vivien is good but ends up being a little too slow with what you are trying to do.  You could consider Severed strands as your removal in this deck though because gaining 3-5 life is no joke if you are facing burn/weenie rush, and it is cheap unconditional removal for threats.  


    I think the suspicious bookcase is your weakest wall because unless you are facing a mirror, they shouldn't have a ton of blockers up to stop your onslaught once arcades hits.  I don't see anything wrong with 4 negates because it should ensure your victory/safety in the event that they have something to stop this deck outright.  


    Dive down is fantastic but Ummmm Aegis of the Heavens? It is the ultimate combat trick for this deck.  One or two of those gives you game the turn arcades comes down, potentialy without Tetsuko... And if you are struggling agains a stompy deck, suddenly your wall is bigger than their dinos which just bought you the turn you needed... 


    Lastly, I think Portcullis + Gleaming barrier are better than adventurous impulse.  Not mana wise obviously, but I think it affords you the same luxeries, but saves you room in your deck.  I would just go with 4 weatherlights and dig hard for arcades, freyalise, tetsuko, shalai or gleaming barrier.  


    My suggestion does promote more white than you were probably hoping, but I think it's helpful.  You could probably scratch black completely and shift to settle/seal away as your control spells of choice, but I know you wanna run A Trophy. 







    • Adam Haggerty | 09-Oct-2018 20:59
      Thanks man! Severed strands is probably in the side for the matchups. I think 4 colors is easier in this deck because of freyalise, everything just has to tap for green. That being said, I could drop black at not to high a cost, the biggest loss is barrier of bones. 1 drop walls is what let's me just go off, barrier of bones is probably the best, and thoughtbound just kinda of sucks for a walls matters deck, although we could try it out. Suspicious bookcase is mostly good because it doesn't matter what I have to cast it, and it can be found of of weatherlight when I whiff on good targets. Honestly I've been thinking that negate might be better than A trophy main. Song of freyalise and vivien serve different purposes, but have the similar "I crush your face" modes. I want to keep casting freyalise, and with all the wals, a planeswalker slots in really well, and vivien is the best for what this deck wants to do. I could buy what your cooking on adventorpus impulse, it just has more hits than weatherlight and goes more with the chain walls approach. I think I'm running 6 tops of weatherlight/impulse/vivien combined. 

      I thought there was a card like of Aegis of the Heavens, i just couldn't think of it! Amaze balls. Oh man, when that happens somebody's going flip a table. Thanks for the tip! Portcullis vine swing, 10 unblockable damage...
      • Adam Haggerty | 09-Oct-2018 21:05
        Or even swing with Protcullis vine unblockable, Dive Down, Aegis x2 is 20 damage!
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