Arcades Bounce House

Commander / EDH* Defender GWU (Bant) Theme/Gimmick Unblockable Wall

Valdemar23

Creature (31)

• 1x Axebane Guardian
• 1x Charix, the Raging Isle
• 1x Colossus of Akros
• 1x Crashing Drawbridge
• 1x Drift of Phantasms
• 1x Fog Bank
• 1x Grappling Sundew
• 1x Guard Gomazoa
• 1x Hover Barrier
• 1x Jeskai Barricade
• 1x Loyal Unicorn
• 1x Minamo Sightbender
• 1x Mnemonic Wall
• 1x Orator of Ojutai
• 1x Overgrown Battlement
• 1x Reclamation Sage
• 1x Riptide Turtle
• 1x Seedborn Muse
• 1x Shield Sphere
• 1x Stalwart Shield-Bearers
• 1x Sun Titan
• 1x Sunscape Familiar
• 1x Suspicious Bookcase
• 1x Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive
• 1x Tree of Redemption
• 1x Wall of Denial
• 1x Wall of Faith
• 1x Wall of Glare
• 1x Wall of Shards
• 1x Wall of Tanglecord
• 1x Wild-Field Scarecrow

Sorcery (6)

• 1x Approach of the Second Sun
• 1x Dusk / Dawn
• 1x Fell the Mighty
• 1x Karn's Temporal Sundering
• 1x Kodama's Reach
• 1x Slaughter the Strong

Land (31)

• 1x Azorius Chancery
• 1x Bountiful Promenade
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Flood Plain
• 1x Forbidding Watchtower
• 1x Forest
• 1x Irrigated Farmland
• 4x Island
• 1x Krosan Verge
• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 5x Plains
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Sea of Clouds
• 1x Seaside Citadel
• 1x Snow-Covered Forest
• 1x Snow-Covered Island
• 1x Snow-Covered Plains
• 1x Stirring Wildwood
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Thriving Heath
• 1x Yavimaya Coast

Artifact (7)

• 1x Angel's Trumpet
• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Azorius Signet
• 1x Mirror Shield
• 1x Simic Signet
• 1x Slagwurm Armor
• 1x Sol Ring

Planeswalker (4)

• 1x Huatli, the Sun's Heart
• 1x Teyo, the Shieldmage
• 1x The Wanderer
• 1x Venser, the Sojourner

Commander (1)

Enchantment (10)

• 1x Angelic Chorus
• 1x Angelic Shield
• 1x Assault Formation
• 1x Brave the Sands
• 1x Darksteel Mutation
• 1x Freed from the Real
• 1x High Alert
• 1x Smothering Tithe
• 1x Teferi's Ageless Insight
• 1x Wilderness Reclamation

Instant (10)

• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Disappearing Act
• 1x Eerie Interlude
• 1x Overrule
• 1x Return to Dust
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Teferi's Time Twist
• 1x Tower Defense
• 1x Unbreakable Formation

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Sideboard

Creature (16)

• 1x Amaranthine Wall
• 1x Basilica Guards
• 1x Carven Caryatid
• 1x Crenellated Wall
• 1x Dormant Sliver
• 1x Fortified Rampart
• 1x Gatecreeper Vine
• 1x Glacial Wall
• 1x Gomazoa
• 1x Living Wall SL
• 1x Saruli Caretaker
• 1x Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa
• 1x Wall of Ice
• 1x Wall of Kelp
• 1x Wall of Stolen Identity
• 1x Windreaver

Enchantment (6)

• 1x Abundance
• 1x Castle
• 1x Conclave's Blessing
• 1x Guardian Zendikon
• 1x Kasmina's Transmutation
• 1x Oblivion Ring

Artifact (2)

• 1x Hivestone
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots

Instant (3)

• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Engulf the Shore
• 1x Hindering Light

Sorcery (3)

• 1x Farseek
• 1x Solar Tide
• 1x Wrath of God

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Maybeboard

Creature (15)

• 1x Clone
• 1x Consulate Skygate
• 1x Doorkeeper
• 1x Gleaming Barrier
• 1x Guardian of the Ages
• 1x Guardians of Meletis
• 1x Ludevic's Test Subject  ^Flip
• 1x Monastery Flock
• 1x Murmuring Phantasm
• 1x Nivix Barrier
• 1x Primal Clay
• 1x Primal Plasma
• 1x Ulvenwald Captive  ^Flip
• 1x Wall of Mist
• 1x Wall of Vines

Artifact (2)

• 1x Library of Leng
• 1x Spellbook

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Dovin Baan

Land (1)

• 1x Thespian's Stage

Sorcery (2)

• 1x Play of the Game
• 1x Supply / Demand

Enchantment (1)

• 1x Rolling Stones

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I pulled Arcades in the Core 2019 pre-release (first time back to Magic since 1994), and have been wanting to make a deck around him ever since. I had decided to try a bounce/flicker/blink sub-theme, to abuse the card-draw ETB trigger, but the synergy just wasn't strong enough. The protection from the cheap Walls provides good cover for Planeswalkers - the deck has nice synergy with Huatli, the Sun's Heart and Teyo, the Shieldmage. I've come to realize this deck's strength is the massive damage potential, so I have included an Unblockable sub-theme that is quite effective.

This deck has performed fairly well, and has pulled off some crazy wins - 20+ damage coming from seemingly nowhere. :)

The land count seems a bit light, but (surprisingly) hasn't proven to be too much of an issue.

I also see the need for more removal - I've had good luck with Darksteel Mutation, and may add Kasmina's Transmutation or Frogify. Slaughter the Strong and Dusk / Dawn are great in here, and I've added Cyclonic Rift and Fell the Mighty. I'm also considering Solar Tide and Wrath of God, if it becomes necessary.

I know I should probably have more than one counterspell, but it's hard to find cards to cut!

Combos:

• Axebane Guardian + Freed from the Real will give infinite mana, with at least one other Defender on the battlefield.
• Freed from the Real + Tree of Redemption allows me to swap my life total with the Tree, untap and swing in for (probably) lethal damage. At a much higher cost, High Alert can substitute for Freed from the Real for the untapping work.
• Huatli, the Sun's Heart + Tree of Redemption allows for some serious lifegain.
• Cyclonic Rift + Karn's Temporal Sundering is devastating when you have enough butts to swing out!
• They're in the sideboard, currently, but Arcades, the Strategist + Dormant Sliver + Hivestone gives double card-draw ETB triggers for all creatures, and really shuts down that nasty Sliver deck everybody fears. ;)

Wincons currently are using Venser, The sojouner, Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive, or Minamo Sightbender to make my big-butt Walls (or just Colossus of Akros) unblockable.

Looking for some suggestions to fine-tune the deck - Wincons and any other Defender-based interaction would be great!

Date added	5 years
Last updated	2 years
Key combos	Axebane Guardian + Freed from the Real Freed from the Real + Tree of Redemption Arcades, the Strategist + Dormant Sliver + Hivestone Huatli, the Sun's Heart + Tree of Redemption Cyclonic Rift + Karn's Temporal Sundering
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	4 - 1 Mythic Rares 22 - 9 Rares 39 - 12 Uncommons 22 - 8 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.07
Tokens	0/1 U Creature Plant Wall, Beast 3/3 G, Emblem Venser, the Sojourner, Treasure, Wall 0/3 W