Ever since the oldschool Living Wall, Wall of Water, Wall of Ice, etc. days I'd wanted to build a wall deck.
Arcades, the Strategist existence finally pushed me to do it.
This has been through a bunch of tweaks, and is never going to be the most powerful deck, but ultimately I've found it works best when:
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You can double up on Arcades' "Whenever a creature with defender enters the battlefield under your control, draw a card." trigger. Hence the inclusion of Guardian Project, Beast Whisperer, Panharmonicon, and the newly added Teferi's Ageless Insight. If one of those is down, plus Arcades, dropping an innocent Wall of Omens can draw you 3 cards, keep your hand filled with gas, and flood the board with an army of defenders.
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You use lower-costed walls to cantrip through your deck: Shield Sphere, Perimeter Captain, etc. - just keep playing and drawing.
I usually try to play as many walls as I can in a turn with Arcades down, drawing as many cards as possible, leaving up a bit of mana for protection if I've got it. And you are indeed going to need to protect him - the path of least resistance is just to kill Arcades so the walls aren't a threat anymore. Lightning Greaves + Swiftfoot Boots, Heroic Intervention, Resolute Watchdog, Jeskai Barricade, Eerie Interlude, Swan Song + Arcane Denial, etc.
To deal with your opponents creatures, you can lock them down Meekstone or one-sided board wipes: Wave of Reckoning, Slaughter the Strong, Fell the Mighty
We have a handful of fun win conditions here. We can pump our walls with Tower Defense or the unexpected Triumph of the Hordes. Or make them unblockable in a variety of ways with Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive or Archetype of Imagination. Also > just added Akroma's Will which serves as a win condition on my turn or speed protection if needed on someone else's.
Have fun, let me know any suggestions.
Record: 13-19, 41%
October 2021 Deck Changes
First changes in a while - this deck is really optimized
In
Overgrown Farmland - 35 lands is making me nervous. want to pump it up to 36 for consistency despite the low avg cmc of the deck
Deserted Beach - pulling for an island. i really think these new dual lands are spectacular. turn 1 - tapped lands are often the move anyway. by turn 3 - its an OG dual land. so really you only don't want to play it one turn of the entire game
Out
Wall of Vines - This and Fortified Rampart are JUST on the vanilla wall bubble.
November 2021 Deck Changes
In
Dreamroot Cascade - see above, these new duals are amazing - cut a forest for it
Nimbus Maze - I think this makes the cut? I need a certain amount of Plains and Islands to make it worthwhile. Cut a plains for it.
Nature's Claim - 1) realizing the efficiency of this card is top notch 2) a bit light on targeted removal in the deck
Nature's Lore - one of the last upgrades i can make to this deck - swapping out rocks for the good green ramp spells
Three Visits - see above
Breeding Pool - wanted another forest X dual land with the two new ramp additions. believe this is one of the only forest <> island combos, so figure it is worth the cash. cutting a forest for it.
Larder Zombie - i think this ability may be surprisingly relevant if i flood the board with walls - i can scry 1 or two before my turn. and more importantly - 1 cmc wall
Secret Door - i'll take all the 1 cmc 0/4 walls i can get. i'll never use the dungeon ability
Portcullis Vine - loading up on these 1 cmc walls
Spark Double - the deck works much better when my walls net me cards vs. just replace themselves. adding another one of these effects. drawback - arcades needs to be on the field when i cast it. positive - i can copy a different creature of mine in a pinch if the ability is relevant. if this works out - sakashima of a thousand faces functions the same way. i almost added chulane too - but decided to retaion my integrity
Bala Ged Recovery
- realizing i have no recursion in the deck - cheap way to get it in
Out
Wall of Denial - cutting all 3 cmc walls - i want the efficiency of the 1-2 mana ones
Azorius Signet - rocks can get blown up - lands rarely do
Fellwar Stone - rocks can get blown up - lands rarely do
Wall of Tanglecord - cuttable 2 cmc vanilla wall
Wall of Mulch - cuttable 2 cmc vanilla wall
Carven Caryatid - cutting all 3 cmc walls - i want the efficiency of the 1-2 mana ones
Axebane Guardian - cutting all 3 cmc walls - i want the efficiency of the 1-2 mana ones
December 2021 Deck Changes
In
Into the North - decided to get this into all my green decks. Added two snow basics of each bant color.
Out
Arcane Signet - taking advantage of all the green 2 cmc land ramp
January 2022 Deck Changes
In
Rejuvenating Springs - these lands are great and affordable at the moment. cut a forest
Sejiri Shelter
- another way to squeeze protection in here
Ghostway - whoa. i didn't realize this card existed. it is even better than eerie interlude as it doesn't target. instantly one of the best cards in the deck. if i hold up the mana for protection and dont need it - it becomes a super draw spell.
Out
Nimbus Maze - card makes me nervous
Negate - i have 24 walls in the deck, dont really want to go below that, so ill cut negate. plus just added sejiri shelter so still 'up' on protection
February 2022 Deck Changes
In
Wall of Hope - think this is a pretty intimidating blocker actually
Dovin's Veto - missing a counterspell after i cut negate for ghostway. easier to cast this than in breya where id been considering it for a while
Glasspool Mimic
- MDFCs are great in this deck as i can get flooded. this is a tapped land or a wall clone when i need it. pull an island
Otawara, Soaring City - see above, lands with more value are great in arcades. pull an island
High Alert - probably should have been playing this all along - arcades redundancy
Out
Fell the Mighty - 5 cmc plus i could get two for oned
Meekstone - doesnt do enough
Wall of Shards - between this and wall of junk to cut
May 2022 Deck Changes
In
An Offer You Can't Refuse - another copy of swan song. i always max out my mana in this deck so 1 cmc is key
Errant, Street Artist - 1 cmc flash defender. yes please! i dont believe i have any synergy with the other ability. oh wow it has haste too.
Spara's Headquarters - cut a forest for this! my first triome
Out
Dovin's Veto - i'll take the 1 cmc, 1 color pip counterspell instead
Wall of Junk - think this is my last vanilla 2 cmc wall?
July 2022 Deck Changes
In
Kabira Takedown
- I have 30+ creatures and am light on removal. Pulled a plains
August 2022 Deck Changes
In
Gatecreeper Vine - essentially an ETB draw wall
Out
Wall of Hope - i like the card but not enough room
September 2022 Deck Changes
In
Floriferous Vinewall - similar to gatekeeper vine, above
Walking Bulwark - 1 cmc colorless with 3 toughness, nice to have these easily cast-able ones
Cathedral Membrane - ""
Tangled Florahedron
- mdfc ramp. pull a forest for it
Out
Errant, Street Artist - - i like the card but not enough room. prefer the colorless 1 cmc options above
Larder Zombie - ""
Portcullis Vine - ""
October 2022 Deck Changes
In
Sporocyst - 3 cmc, ramp 1, draw 1. OR - 1 cmc cantrip and this thing dies, if i'm in a pinch.
Out
Arcane Denial - great card but the deck is really tight
November 2022 Deck Changes
Canopy Vista - sick of my lands coming in tapped, pulling these for snow basics
Kabira Takedown
- ""
Prairie Stream - ""
Vineglimmer Snarl - ""
November 2022 Deck Changes Part II
In
Another basic forest
Out
Sporocyst - realize i never want to cast this for 3 cmc. and if i do, i just get a 1/1. not worth it.
January 2023 Deck Changes
In
Bountiful Promenade - $5 dual land upgrade for a very optimized deck. swapped these two out for a forest and a snow covered island
Waterlogged Grove - ""
September 2023 Deck Changes
In
Stroke of Midnight - pretty much on par with Generous Gift and Beast Within which are premium removal spells
Out
Walking Bulwark - not quite good enough
May 2024 Deck Changes
In
Vault 75: Middle School - one sided board wipe with extra value
Out
Cathedral Membrane - not quite good enough
July 2024 Deck Changes
In
Cathedral Membrane - don't think i have quite enough wall density
Wall of Vines - ""
Two plains
Out
Aura Shards - too much of a hate target
Stroke of Midnight - think i have enough spot removal - most cuttable
Two snow-covered plains - stealing these for heliod
July 2024 Deck Changes Part II
In
Diamond City - protecting arcades is key
Collective Resistance - same here - try this one out
Out
Wall of Vines - right on the bubble
Snow-covered Plains
August 2024 Deck Changes
In
Wall of Vines - i'm struggling getting the right density of walls in here
Out
Swan Song - cuts are getting super hard here
October 2024 Deck Changes
In
Walking Bulwark - the deck does not have the right density of walls and it is getting really hard to squeeze any more in
Parting Gust - card does triple duty here. protects arcades. blinks a wall to draw. or exiles an opponents creature
Out
Beast Within - crazy to be cutting premier removal but i need to squeeze more walls in
Path to Exile - ""
