Arcades: The Writing on the Wall

Commander / EDH Casual Defender GWU (Bant) Theme/Gimmick Wall

LeonSpires

Creature (35)

• 1x Shield Sphere
• 1x Perimeter Captain
• 1x Resolute Watchdog
• 1x Steel Wall
• 1x Walking Bulwark
• 1x Wall of Runes
• 1x Angelic Wall
• 1x Crashing Drawbridge
• 1x Flumph
• 1x Fortified Rampart
• 1x Gatecreeper Vine
• 1x Jeskai Barricade
• 1x Orator of Ojutai
• 1x Overgrown Battlement
• 1x Riptide Turtle
• 1x Stalwart Shield-Bearers
• 1x Sunscape Familiar
• 1x Sylvan Caryatid
• 1x Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive
• 1x Vine Trellis
• 1x Wall of Blossoms
• 1x Wall of Glare
• 1x Wall of Junk
• 1x Wall of Mulch
• 1x Wall of Omens
• 1x Wall of Roots
• 1x Wall of Shards
• 1x Wall of Tanglecord
• 1x Axebane Guardian
• 1x Carven Caryatid
• 1x Drift of Phantasms
• 1x Hover Barrier
• 1x Wall of Denial
• 1x Toski, Bearer of Secrets
• 1x Mnemonic Wall

Land (35)

• 1x Adarkar Wastes
• 1x Bant Panorama
• 1x Bountiful Promenade
• 1x Breeding Pool
• 1x Brushland
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Forbidden Orchard
• 5x Forest
• 1x Glacial Fortress
• 1x Hallowed Fountain
• 1x Hinterland Harbor
• 5x Island
• 5x Plains
• 1x Reflecting Pool
• 1x Rejuvenating Springs
• 1x Sea of Clouds
• 1x Seaside Citadel
• 1x Spara's Headquarters
• 1x Sunpetal Grove
• 1x Temple Garden
• 1x Yavimaya Coast

Sorcery (6)

• 1x Farseek
• 1x Rampant Growth
• 1x Retribution of the Meek
• 1x Slaughter the Strong
• 1x Wave of Reckoning
• 1x Dusk / Dawn

Enchantment (3)

• 1x Angelic Shield
• 1x Assault Formation
• 1x High Alert

Commander (1)

Instant (11)

• 1x Alchemist's Retrieval
• 1x An Offer You Can't Refuse
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Delay
• 1x Dovin's Veto
• 1x Negate
• 1x Tower Defense
• 1x Bar the Door
• 1x Eerie Interlude
• 1x Ghostway
• 1x Akroma's Will

Artifact (9)

• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Robe of Stars
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Talisman of Curiosity
• 1x Talisman of Progress
• 1x Talisman of Unity

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“Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote. His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his legs became weak and his knees were knocking.” (Daniel 5:5-6)

Warning: Cartoon Violence

I am always looking to improve my list and welcome all constructive criticism, questions, and suggestions.

Why Arcades

While browsing EDHREC I saw the commander Geralf, Visionary Stitcher. While intriguing I ultimately found mono blue too limiting in considering building Geralf. But by looking at Geralf I started playing around with what commanders cared about toughness. This lead me to Doran, the Siege Tower and Arcades, the Strategist. Deciding Arcades was more interesting to me I spent about two weeks trying to decide if I wanted to build the deck or not. Ultimately I decided in favor for these reasons:

• Arcades is a draw engine.
• Arcades can play better into more casual pods then my other higher power decks.
• Arcades runs cards that are not commonly run in other commander decks.
• I like old border foils and Arcades is on the cheaper side to foil out.
• I wanted the challenge that comes with running three colors. Most of my other decks are one to two colors.
• Elder Dragons including Arcades Sabboth inspired Elder Dragon Highlander (EDH) which later was renamed Commander.

Information on Alters

I did all of the alters myself by hand using Liquitex professional acrylic paint.

• My Arcades, the Strategist alter was inspired by the painting "A Good Book" by the artist Ed Beard Jr. He was the one that painted the original Arcades Sabboth artwork.
• Shield Sphere as of the writing of this currently does not have a foil version. So I altered the card using original artwork.
• Retribution of the Meek is on the reserved list so it will probably never see a foil version. So I altered the card using original artwork.

Mnemonic Wall Combo

• Mnemonic Wall in play. Ideally Arcades, the Strategist and a few other creatures with defender also in play.
• Cast Ghostway or Eerie Interlude in response to an opponent's board wipe or just for value blinking all our creatures until end of turn.
• When the creatures return from exile Arcades, the Strategist triggers to draw a card for each creatures with defender that enters.
• Also Mnemonic Wall's ETB goes on the stack returning Ghostway or Eerie Interlude to hand.
• Repeat as desired for {W}{2} on each turn.

High Alert Infinite Combo

• Axebane Guardian without summoning sickness, High Alert, and five creatures with defender.
• Tap Axebane Guardian to add at least {3}{W}{U} to your mana pool.
• Activate High Alert by paying {2}{W}{U} to untap Axebane Guardian.
• Repeat for infinite mana of any color.

Possible Future Changes

• Retro frame foil Wall of Blossoms.
• Cyclonic Rift
• Blind Obedience At worse it slows opponents down. At best it prevents some combos from working. Pairs well with Meekstone.
• Fell the Mighty Worse then the other board wipes I am currently running but it is still a consideration.
• I might decide I need more interaction. I am considering Pact of Negation, Swan Song, Path to Exile, Swords to Plowshares, Blink of an Eye, Into the Roil, Beast Within, Generous Gift, and Fierce Guardianship.

Top Ranked	Achieved #44 position overall 2 years ago Achieved #37 position in Commander / EDH 2 years ago Achieved #7 position in Commander / EDH Casual 2 years ago
Date added	2 years
Last updated	1 year
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	2 - 0 Mythic Rares 38 - 0 Rares 24 - 0 Uncommons 21 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.31
Tokens	Spirit 1/1 C, Treasure
Folders	DEcks I like, Decks from Other People