New deck featuring The Locust God from Hour of Devastation!
1: Why play The Locust God?
The first Commander deck I really found myself drawn to was Prossh, Skyraider of Kher. I spent a great amount of time, effort, and money finely tuning the deck, and was really drawn to the ability of the deck to function as both a token deck and a combo deck. Upon the spoiling of The Locust God, I immediately saw the same influences that brought me to love Prossh, and the interesting relationship between card draw and token production would allow me to experiment in a color combination I rarely play. Perhaps even better, I would still be able to run some of my favorite cards, like Purphoros, God of the Forge and Forgotten Creation in new ways that I hadn't considered previously.
You should play The Locust God if:
a.) You enjoy token decks
b.) You love drawing cards
c.) You like decks with multiple lines of play
d.) You enjoy decks that can deal huge amounts of damage from nowhere
e.) You enjoy the idea of playing a deck that revolves around an immortal insectile aberration who seeks the absolute destruction of your puny opponents
You shouldn't play The Locust God if:
a.) You like decks that play lots of creatures
b.) You don't like being reliant on your commander
c.) You don't like decks that require large amounts of mana to function efficiently
d.) You don't like employing symmetrical effects like wheels
e.) You don't like piloting combo-based decks
2.) Goal of the deck
The Locust God tells us to do one thing: Draw lots of cards. As a result, the deck runs three types of card draw:
a.) Cantrips
Effects like Ponder and Brainstorm allow us to smooth out the early game, and function well with Laboratory Maniac when the deck goes to end the game.
b.) Incremental card draw
Cards like Bident of Thassa enable us to produce multiple Insect tokens each turn and each have additional synergies with various other cards we run.
c.) Wheel effects
Jace's Archivist, Teferi's Puzzle Box, and similar cards cause each player to draw a new hand, or 'wheel'. These effects break symmetry by not only allowing us to produce tokens, but also allow us to dig deeper for various combo pieces that will allow us to close out the late game.
d.) Token synergies
Purphoros, God of the Forge, Hellrider, and Shared Animosity all have powerful synergies with the large amounts of tokens we're producing, and allow us to turn only a few tokens into large amounts of damage.
The deck's main goal is to use card draw effects to produce tokens with The Locust God, and eventually close out the game with a variety of powerful synergies and combos. Many of the deck's main combos are listed in the "Combos" section below. However, there are many other small synergies worth listing here:
3.) Tutors
The current incarnation of the deck runs the following tutors:
Mystical Tutor: The catch-all spell tutor that belongs in pretty much any deck running blue and at least a few other instants or sorceries. It allows us to fetch removal for various threats, counterspells, and perhaps most importantly, Enter the Infinite when we've acquired enough mana sources to enable a win. Also worth noting is the fact that Mystical Tutor can always function as a second copy of Cyclonic Rift as necessary.
Drift of Phantasms: A three-mana transmute card that can be used as necessary as an early- or mid-game blocker against aggressive, creature-based decks. Three-mana combo piece transmute targets for Drift of Phantasms include Ashnod's Altar, Phyrexian Altar, and Laboratory Maniac. Other notable targets include Jace's Archivist to begin early-game token production and card accumulation, Chaos Warp as a versatile removal spell, and Imprisoned in the Moon as a way to shut down other commander-centric decks.
Muddle the Mixture: Muddle can grap Isochron Scepter, Dramatic Reversal, a few mana rocks if mana is tough, and others like Counterspell as necessary.
(Under Construction)
4.) Combos:
Isochron Scepter is great on its own with something like counterspell, but paired with Dramatic Reversal and a few mana rocks allows us to net infinite mana, and combined with Sensei's Divining Top or Silent Gravestone allows us to draw our library and make massive amounts of tokens with our commander. Paradox Engine untaps our mana rocks whenever we play a spell, but does not combo with Top or Gravestone.
Enter the Infinite plus two blue mana and two mana of any type (and counterspells where necessary) allow us to close out the game by casting Enter the Infinite, landing Laboratory Maniac, and casting a 1-mana spell that draws a card.
Skullclamp + Ashnod's Altar or Phyrexian Altar + two Insect tokens or other 1-power creatures + The Locust God will allow you to draw nearly all the cards in your library through the following steps:
Equip Skullclamp to one Insect token --> You draw two cards and produce two Insect tokens with The Locust God --> Sacrifice one Insect to the Altar --> Use the mana to equip Skullclamp to another Insect --> Rinse and repeat
5.) Card Selections and Reasoning
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Alhammarret's Archive: Archive allows our high quantity of wheel effects to produce outrageous card advantage and produce more tokens than a wheel effect alone
Arjun, the Shifting Flame: Arjun provides a constant token creation outlet that also allows us to dig for individual combo pieces throughout the mid-game
Ashnod's Altar: Altar is mainly used as a way to generate additional mana in the mid-game, and as a combo outlet as outlined in the Combos section
Bident of Thassa: Bident allows us to essentially double our token production while The Locust God is in play if one or more of our opponents do not have flying blockers
Blasphemous Act: Great mass creature removal spell that becomes cheaper as we produce more Insect tokens
Brainstorm: Great card draw spell that can produce tokens at instant speed
Breath of Fury: Used primarily as a combo piece as outlined in the Combos section
Chaos Warp: One of the best (and only) red spells capable of removing multiple permanent types, and is a great combo support card to get rid of permanents attempting to inhibit our game plan
Chasm Skulker: A fantastic token generation engine second only to The Locust God itself that leaves bodies behind after a board wipe
Chromatic Lantern: Typically seen as a less-than-ideal mana rock in a two-color deck, Lantern is included here as to allow for significant blue mana production for casting spells such as Enter the Infinite
Clever Impersonator: Admittedly, Impersonator is on the chopping block for the future, as it doesn't serve a specific role in this deck rather than being an option for copying permanents
Coalition Relic: Solid mana rock that can be used to produce additional mana on particular turns and a great include in a deck without access to other forms of mana acceleration
Coastal Piracy: Bident of Thassa number two
Commander's Sphere: Fine mana rock that allows use to draw a card in a pinch. May be removed in the future to make room for a better mana accelerant
Consecrated Sphinx: Essentially every blue deck should be running this card, regardless of its additional utility as a way to fuel token production
Counterspell: The original and best counterspell
Cyclonic Rift: The big bad blue removal spell that takes care of everything you could possibly want that should be in every single blue deck ever
Darksteel Ingot: Decent mana rock that survives artifact wipes. May be removed in the future to make room for a better mana accelerant
Drift of Phantasms: Tutor useful for finding combo pieces. See Tutors section for more info
Enter the Infinite: Once we've amassed enough mana we can drop this and assemble the perfect combo to win the game on the spot, which often includes Laboratory Maniac and a draw spell like Brainstorm
Fellwar Stone: Decent two-mana mana rock. May be removed in the future to make room for a better mana accelerant
Forgotten Creation: Like Arjun, the Shifting Flame, Creation allows us to produce many tokens per trigger, but trades the frequency of draw for the ability of choice if there's a key card in hand that should be kept
Goblin Bombardment: A win condition that allows us to take advantage of the huge numbers of tokens this deck is capable of producing. See the Combos section for more information
Goblin Electromancer: Izzet's Birds of Paradise that is capable of producing the equivalent of multiple mana per turn and perhaps the best mana accelerant in this deck
Hedron Archive: One of the more versatile mana rocks available in this color combination that has card advantage applications for the late game and produce tokens as needed
Hellrider: Purphoros number 2 in this deck and allows our tokens to deal additional damage as necessary each turn
Impact Tremors: Purphoros number 3
Imprisoned in the Moon: Similar to Chaos Warp, Imprisoned is useful for taking out various permanent types, and has the added benefit of shutting down a commmander for multiple turns
Izzet Signet: Classic Izzet ramp
Jace's Archivist: Another great way to produce multiple cards and tokens per turn and dig toward combo pieces
Laboratory Maniac: An essential win condition for a deck that aims to draw large amounts of cards, and typically an auto-win once Enter the Infinite has been cast
Magus of the Wheel: Another additional wheel effect, as we will play as many as we can get our hands on
Mana Vault: Another great piece of mana acceleration
Mind Stone: Another fine mana rock that can be used as card draw in a pinch
Mindmoil: Another member of the Arjun, the Shifting Flame family that enables large-scale token production and card draw
Mystic Confluence: A personal favorite of mine, Confluence is an exceptionally versatile card counter, draw, and bounce spell that I've never been disappointed to cast, and is a card I believe should be in every single blue commander deck
Mystical Tutor: One of the few great blue tutors, and allows us to find Enter the Infinite or spot removal when absolutely necessary
Negate: A great counterspell that counteracts opposing removal, and is especially useful in fending off counters against your own spells
Nevinyrral's Disk: One of the few board wipes available in red-blue, and a classic Magic card I'm happy to include when necessary
Past in Flames: In combination with mass discard like wheel effects, Past is exceptional at allowing us to chain multiple spells together in a single turn
Phyrexian Altar: An amazing colored mana generator useful for early-game mana production as well as combo. See the Combos section for more details.
Ponder: A great early-game cantrip that allows us to smooth out the start of a game and ensure everything goes according to plan
Propaganda: Propaganda is found in many long-game combo decks as it discourages unwanted aggression in the mid-game from opponents and allows us more time and a higher life total to take over the late-game
Purphoros, God of the Forge: One of the absolute most powerful cards in this deck, and serves as a spectacular win condition that is exceptionally difficult to interact with
Reforge the Soul: Yet another wheel effect that can cost as little as 2 mana via miracle
Rhystic Study: One of the most universally-hated blue cards, Rhystic provides an amazing early-game card advantage engine and picks up pace in the late game as a token producing engine
Runehorn Hellkite: A card that's probably on its way out of the deck once something better comes along, but otherwise just another wheel effect that's useful out of the graveyard
Sapphire Medallion: Another mana rock useful for chaining together multiple draw spells. Ruby Medallion used to have a place in the deck as well, but was removed in favor of Goblin Electromancer. It may be added back in the future.
Shared Animosity: Another outlet to allow our hordes of Insects deal unimaginable damage in the mid-game, and often wins the game all on its own
Skullclamp: An amazing and versatile card, especially in this deck. See the Combos section for further details.
Sol Ring: Perhaps the best ramp outside of the Power Nine ever printed
Swan Song: An exceptionally underrated counterspell that only costs a single mana. Very useful for disrupting spot removal or other counters
Teferi's Puzzle Box: Another 'draw a ton of cards' piece that also serves as a means of disrupting opponents' plans throughout the game
Thran Dynamo: Another of the best possible pieces of mana acceleration in red-blue
Time Reversal: Time Reversal may simply seem like another wheel effect, but it actually plays a secondary role that's become surprisingly relevant: It prevents depleting the library if a Laboratory Maniac combo isn't within close reach
Trinket Mage: Mage has exactly two modes in this deck; it either grabs Skullclamp or Sol Ring depending on if we prefer mana or cards at the time
Wheel of Fate: Probably the worst wheel effect I'm currently running, and it will likely be cut as soon as a more viable option presents itself
Whirlpool Warrior: Another wheel effect that gives two separate uses
Windfall: This wheel effect was one of the first in the list, as it can allow us to totally refill our hand rather than simply drawing the same number of cards
Windreader Sphinx: Although expensive, Sphinx allows us to essentially double our tokens similar to Bident of Thassa or Coastal Piracy
Winds of Change: Perhaps the least mana-intensive wheel effect of all
Worn Powerstone: Just another mana accelerant
6.) Possible additions and changes
Elixir of Immortality: Elixir is useful in preventing ourselves from decking out when we don't have access to Laboratory Maniac, and allows us to continually cycle our deck to make essentially infinite tokens via the Skullclamp + Altar combo mentioned earlier. However, there aren't many cards that warrant immediate removal from the list at this point, and Elixir is not particularly useful outside of the aforementioned situations.
Wheel of Fortune: Wheel should certainly be included in this deck, but its current price tag puts it out of range of my personal budget. If you don't have any particular budget, or already happen to own a copy, Wheel of Fortune is an absolute staple for this kind of deck.
Force of Will: See Wheel of Fortune above
Mana Crypt: See Wheel of Fortune above
Grim Monolith: See Wheel of Fortune above
