Commander - Rafiq

Commander / EDH* GWU (Bant)

Drain-Bamaged

Land (36)

• 1x Academy Ruins
• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Bountiful Promenade
• 1x Breeding Pool
• 1x Celestial Colonnade
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Fabled Passage
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 2x Forest
• 1x Glacial Fortress
• 1x Hall of Heliod's Generosity
• 1x Hallowed Fountain
• 1x Hinterland Harbor
• 1x Horizon Canopy
• 1x Irrigated Farmland
• 2x Island
• 1x Misty Rainforest
• 3x Plains
• 1x Prismatic Vista
• 1x Reflecting Pool
• 1x Savannah
• 1x Scattered Groves
• 1x Sea of Clouds
• 1x Seaside Citadel
• 1x Sunpetal Grove
• 1x Temple Garden
• 1x Tropical Island
• 1x Tundra
• 1x Waterlogged Grove
• 1x Windswept Heath

Creature (21)

• 1x Argothian Enchantress
• 1x Eidolon of Blossoms
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Gaddock Teeg
• 1x Geist of Saint Traft
• 1x Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
• 1x Kestia, the Cultivator
• 1x Kor Spiritdancer
• 1x Mesa Enchantress
• 1x Mirran Crusader
• 1x Mother of Runes
• 1x Noble Hierarch
• 1x Nomad Mythmaker
• 1x Recruiter of the Guard
• 1x Sovereigns of Lost Alara
• 1x Spellseeker
• 1x Stoic Angel
• 1x Stoneforge Mystic
• 1x True-Name Nemesis
• 1x Umbra Mystic
• 1x Verduran Enchantress

Artifact (12)

• 1x Batterskull
• 1x Chrome Mox
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Sword of Body and Mind
• 1x Sword of Feast and Famine
• 1x Sword of Fire and Ice
• 1x Sword of Light and Shadow
• 1x Sword of Sinew and Steel
• 1x Sword of Truth and Justice
• 1x Sword of War and Peace
• 1x Umezawa's Jitte

Commander (1)

Enchantment (18)

• 1x All That Glitters
• 1x Angelic Destiny
• 1x Armadillo Cloak
• 1x Bear Umbra
• 1x Daybreak Coronet
• 1x Eldrazi Conscription
• 1x Estrid's Invocation
• 1x Ethereal Armor
• 1x Favor of the Overbeing
• 1x Finest Hour
• 1x Flickerform
• 1x Gift of Immortality
• 1x Privileged Position
• 1x Rancor
• 1x Rhystic Study
• 1x Shield of the Oversoul
• 1x Steel of the Godhead
• 1x Sylvan Library

Instant (12)

• 1x Arcane Denial
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Eladamri's Call
• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Force of Will
• 1x Hindering Light
• 1x Mana Drain
• 1x Mystical Tutor
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Swan Song
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Teferi's Protection

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Maybeboard

Creature (50)

• 1x Aven Mindcensor
• 1x Bastion Protector
• 1x Battlegrace Angel
• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Bloom Tender
• 1x Bruna, the Fading Light  ^Meld
• 1x Cold-Eyed Selkie
• 1x Danitha Capashen, Paragon
• 1x Dauntless Escort
• 1x Daxos of Meletis
• 1x Dragonlord Ojutai
• 1x Eidolon of Countless Battles
• 1x Faeburrow Elder
• 1x Gisela, the Broken Blade  ^Meld
• 1x Glen Elendra Archmage
• 1x Gwafa Hazid, Profiteer
• 1x Hanna, Ship's Navigator
• 1x Heliod's Pilgrim
• 1x Jenara, Asura of War
• 1x Knight of New Alara
• 1x Knotvine Paladin
• 1x Lavinia, Azorius Renegade
• 1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence
• 1x Mirri, Weatherlight Duelist
• 1x Murkfiend Liege
• 1x Mystic Snake
• 1x Nylea, God of the Hunt
• 1x Phyrexian Metamorph
• 1x Qasali Pridemage
• 1x Reclamation Sage
• 1x Reflector Mage
• 1x Rhonas the Indomitable
• 1x Sigarda, Heron's Grace
• 1x Sigarda, Host of Herons
• 1x Silent Arbiter
• 1x Snapcaster Mage
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Sram, Senior Edificer
• 1x Starfield Mystic
• 1x Stonehewer Giant
• 1x Sublime Archangel
• 1x Sun Titan
• 1x Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
• 1x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
• 1x Thassa, God of the Sea
• 1x Thistledown Liege
• 1x Trygon Predator
• 1x Vendilion Clique
• 1x Venser, Shaper Savant
• 1x Wilt-Leaf Liege

Sorcery (14)

• 1x Armageddon
• 1x Finale of Devastation
• 1x Genesis Wave
• 1x Green Sun's Zenith
• 1x Open the Armory
• 1x Plea for Guidance
• 1x Single Combat
• 1x Steelshaper's Gift
• 1x Supreme Verdict
• 1x Three Dreams
• 1x Wargate
• 1x Winds of Abandon
• 2x Winds of Rath

Artifact (10)

• 1x Behemoth Sledge
• 1x Bow of Nylea
• 1x Chrome Mox
• 1x Conqueror's Flail
• 1x Godsend
• 1x Loxodon Warhammer
• 1x Mana Vault
• 1x Spear of Heliod
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Sword of Vengeance

Enchantment (12)

• 1x Celestial Mantle
• 1x Copy Enchantment
• 1x Ephara's Enlightenment
• 1x Felidar Umbra
• 1x Grasp of Fate
• 1x Indrik Umbra
• 1x Karmic Justice
• 1x Oblivion Ring
• 1x Ordeal of Thassa
• 1x Shielded by Faith
• 1x Spectra Ward
• 1x Sterling Grove

Planeswalker (4)

• 1x Ajani Steadfast
• 1x Estrid, the Masked
• 1x Tamiyo, Field Researcher
• 1x Teferi, Time Raveler

Instant (3)

• 1x Krosan Grip
• 1x Return to Dust
• 1x Worldly Tutor

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Rafiq of the Many

The deck can focus on what is known as being a Voltron deck, which aims to stack a lot of beneficial effects onto a single creature. It accomplishes this by utilizing artifacts and enchantments to strengthen a creature, and instants to help protect those creatures as long as possible.

The deck benefits from opportunities to draw lots of cards to continue stacking beneficial effects as quickly as possible. Cards that allow you to search for beneficial effects can help you in a format where decks can only have 1 copy of a single card. Redundancy is a great way to offset the symmetrical limitations of building a deck, that exist between all players.

Another way that Voltron decks can protect themselves is by denying players ways to get ahead. This strategy is known as Stax. It employs multiple ways to deprive players of generating value. A card like Aven Mindcensor will stop ALL players from searching their libraries for cards, slowing down any opponent who is using cards like Vampiric Tutor , to search for cards. The idea behind Stax strategies is to also find means to make these effects as asymmetrical as possible. Grand Arbiter Augustin IV is an example of an asymmetrical stax effect - it limits what your opponent can do, while not hindering what you can do. While cards like Ravages of War are symmetrical in what they do, a player can use cards like Sol Ring , and Noble Hierarch , to still generate mana even when all lands have been destroyed. By ensuring that you can still produce more mana than your opponent in this way, Ravages of War has been used to create an asymmetrical scenario.

Your deck should be constructed with a Plan A and a Plan B. Plan A is how the deck would play and win in an ideal game. Plan B is how the deck will play and win when Plan A is no longer viable. Fortunately, because of how Commanders work, you can build a deck that can continuously peruse Plan A since you can continuously cast your commander no matter how many times it dies. But it is also important to still construct with Plan B in mind.

Rafiq of the Many provides us with a pretty straight forward Plan A: Attack with a single creature that is equipped and enchanted by cards, in order to deal a lot of damage. In an ideal game, this creature is Rafiq. Because the longer he is on the battlefield, the more you can use his ability. In the event that Rafiq is not the creature, you can still cast him from the command zone to apply his ability to another creature you have that is equipped and/or enchanted.

Your Plan B is going to be, what happens when Rafiq is not on the board and your opponents have destroyed your equipment and enchantments? This is where having cards that allow you to control how the game develops, is important. Various cards can do various things to stop your opponents from advancing their plans. The most common way to interrupt a player is by using cards known as counterspells, appropriately named after the greatest of them all - Counterspell . These cards work very well in Voltron strategies, because they can not only stop your opponent from trying to do what they want, but also allow you to keep doing what you want by protecting your spells and creatures from disruption. Additionally, you can play from behind by using cards that remove multiple creatures at once, generating what is known as 'card advantage'. Card advantage is when you trade 1 of your cards, for multiple cards of your opponent(s). Wrath of God when you don't have any creatures of your own, can destroy any number of creatures your opponents control. If you destroy 4 of their creatures, you have generated a 4 for 1 card advantage. 4 of their cards, for 1 of yours. So whatever your Plan B is, you can use control elements to help piece your Plan B together if Plan A fails.

Finally, you can use what is known as 'Recursion' methods to help reinforce your Plan A and Plan B. If Plan A fails and you play a card like Bruna, Light of Alabaster or Open the Vaults , you can restart Plan A. Not all cards have to offer as much immediate value like Bruna and Open the Vaults. Even incrimental value in something like Hanna, Ship's Navigator and Sun Titan can go a long ways!

General Deck Construction Targets

Creatures: 18-25 Mana Rocks: 3-6 Mana Dorks: 3-5 Distruption: 5-9 Removal: 5-7 Lands: 35-37

Date added	5 years
Last updated	5 years
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	18 - 0 Mythic Rares 58 - 0 Rares 9 - 0 Uncommons 8 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.72
Tokens	Angel 4/4 W, Bird 2/2 U, Human 2/2 G, Phyrexian Germ 0/0 B, Wolf 2/2 G