Archidekt Deckbuilding Contest - September 2025 (Locked)

{"ops":[{"insert":"Outlaw, outlaw, treasure.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Bilbo has been preparing this party for years. In case any of the games gets out of hand, Bilbo has left a certain Honored Heirloom for Frodo, or so he says.\n\n111 is a feat, even for halflings. Because of this, a few clerics have shown interest in his advice for living a long and fulfilling life. He made sure to invite the wise wizard gandalf. He also made absolutely certain not to invite any sackville-Baggins. \n\nSome warriors of long-past battles will be sure to come to join the party. What's worth fighting if you can't enjoy times of peace? \n\nSome friends from far distant lands of the Forgotten Realms will be in attendance too, though Bilbo made them promise they would bring no adventures and absolutely no talks of any sort of dungeons.\n\n(This deck combines the strategy of life-gain with party mechanics. Enjoy!)\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"15 lets you pay for replicate costs. Amass artifacts to amass Sagas. A duet of barely overlapping themes. An absurdly mana hungry deck, but surely it can do something of value...\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Samut brings her friends to the road - playing noncreature spells that create tokens as well as vehicles and spacecrafts so most of the spells benefit from both the cost reduction and the anthem effect. As well as a few \"start your engine\" pieces to get to full speed ASAP!\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"This deck tries to combine Enchantress and Soldiers, using repeated etb's of enchantments to create soldiers and other things to hopefully outcast and overrun the opponent with an enchanted army.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"This deck combines the Spell Slinger and Kindred-(Goblins) archetypes by using spells to create goblin tokens and tapping goblins to copy spells.\nUnlike other goblins mine have learned how to read or at least spell. Thanks to this new found ability the tokens they make now have actual text. "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Twinflame"}},{"insert":" -->"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Guttersnipe"}},{"insert":" \nAnd unlike most spells mine get better with more goblins.\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Brightstone Ritual"}},{"insert":" "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Kindred Charge"}},{"insert":" \n\nThe deck wins with splashy spells and goblin lords.\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Boartusk Liege"}},{"insert":" -->"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Devastating Onslaught"}},{"insert":" \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"This is a legendary copy deck. The point of it is to copy legendary creatures and get payoffs. Whether that be when the copy enters the battlefield or leaves the graveyard. Was a lot of fun to brew !\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Combines enchantress card draw and landfall ramp/ payoffs, to try and out temp opponents. A healthy amount of enchantment creatures so that you can both draw from enchantress effects as well as tutor for land to put onto the battlefield. The goal of the deck is to be able to constantly draw cards and get a godly amount of mana onto the field to play constantly until you have a wide/ beefy board state to eliminate opponents. \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"This deck is my submission for the September Archidekt Challenge! My two themes are blink and activated abilities. I would type a longer description like usual but I’m finishing this on the bus right now. I promise it’s good!\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Rather than using Tazri's ability to just get the most powerful activations possible, we are using it to have skeletons pay for their own regenerate or pay each other's return from graveyard effects!\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"The principe of the deck is simple : it's a blink deck.\nBUT with a little twist. Mavinda let us reuse every instant and sorcery a second time. So we can use them one time on the enemy board, then on our creature. Like Path of exile can help us to ramp if we need to.\n\nAnd, ur access to victory is just to create Phyrexian Golem again and again, and flood the board with our token to the win !\n\nIn this deck we have 34 instants and 3 Sorcery.\nFor just 25 creature. \nEvery creature in this deck is important. They want to be protect and they want to get multiple ETB. So use wisely every instant because that's the key to victory !\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"An unusual tokens/reanimator deck utilizing "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Hare Apparent"}},{"insert":" and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Lurrus of the Dream-Den"}},{"insert":" to loop the bunnies in and out of the graveyard, creating a massive amount of tokens to overwhelm all resistance!\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"The target of this deck is to utilize Kelsien in a usual sense to gain experience counters with the end goal of flinging him as well as the other creatures and tokens in the deck into your opponents face.\n\n\nWho knew the end game of ranger/assassin builds was to become the arrow yourself. \n\n\nIn the spirit of the September contest I have combined the Fling strategy with the Experience Counter build. Use Kelsien to ramp up your experience counters , then utilize one of the many Fling outlets to YEET Kelsien or of the other buffed or power-boosted creatures.\n\nThis deck plays quite a bit of control, so be prepared to utilize a strong board state to protect your commander!\n\n\nThis deck was heavily inspired by Minthara, Merciless Soul who in some ways is the secret commander! I love the Experience Counter theme and have little experience with the Fling strategy - I think Mardu is a great home for more fling decks!\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Activating ultimate loyalty abilities is the dream of every "},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Planeswalker"},{"insert":" deck, but it can be tough to do because they can be directly attacked. Defending against three opponents is a struggle, so instead we'll turn them into vehicles and use "},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Mutate"},{"insert":"'s object-merging rules to permanently disguise them as creatures!\n\nWhile a 5 color deck would have access to more powerful planeswalkers, the toughest piece of the puzzle here is temporarily turning them into creatures, so "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Captain Rex Nebula"}},{"insert":" leads the way for this Boros brew. Each combat, he can turn one planeswalker into a crash-landing plane that he can crew himself, until end of turn. While crewed, we can literally turn that plane into a bird with creatures like "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Vulpikeet"}},{"insert":" that can mutate on top of the non-human vehicle. The merged permanent has the characteristics of the top card, plus the abilities of the others, so it will remain a creature even after the turn ends, and will retain all of its loyalty counters and abilities. While disguised as a creature, the planeswalkers can accumulate value and build towards their ultimate abilities. Since they are no longer planeswalkers, taking damage won't remove loyalty counters, so they can even help block in combat.\n\nNicol Bolas is nowhere to be seen, but Boros does have some nice planewalkers. Incremental abilities like "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Chandra, Awakened Inferno"}},{"insert":", or powerful ultimates like "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Ajani, Caller of the Pride"}},{"insert":" or "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Ugin, the Spirit Dragon"}},{"insert":" are the main target. Besides finishers, there are also planewalkers for fundamentals like ramp and card draw, like "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Chandra, Torch of Defiance"}},{"insert":" and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Ugin, Eye of the Storms"}},{"insert":". With Chandras, Ajanis, and Elspeths abound, win conditions will often focus on burn and tokens with anthems.\n\nGetting enough mana to cast a planeswalker and mutate it in the same turn can be tough, so much of the ramp focuses on treasures or rituals, like "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Big Score"}},{"insert":" or "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Mana Geyser"}},{"insert":". Alternatively, tools like "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Urza Assembles the Titans"}},{"insert":" or "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Elspeth Conquers Death"}},{"insert":" can cheat in planeswalkers on a later turn, or effects like "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Kami of False Hope"}},{"insert":" can protect them just long enough to get mutated the turn after being played. Since they are creatures while mutated, all sorts of other synergies are unlocked like "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Illusionist's Bracers"}},{"insert":" to double loyalty abilities, "},{"insert":{"card-link":"The Ozolith"}},{"insert":" or "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Reluctant Role Model"}},{"insert":" to preserve loyalty counters, or "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Together Forever"}},{"insert":" to rescue both parts to hand. Even an old classic, "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Tawnos's Coffin"}},{"insert":", shines as it will return both the planewalker and mutate creature, each with the previous loyalty counters added on top to skip straight to an ultimate.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"The deepest of the swimmers and the highest of the flyers, combining forces to defend the coasts!\n\nThis deck combines birds and merfolk, with partner commanders symbolizing their unexpected union. Ishai and Thrasios have formed an alliance, uniting their respective realms; the bright blue sky joins the deep dark sea. The two meet at the shoreline, a geographical region that represents the partnership, reflected in the land choices of the deck.\n\nEffective interactions and multiple win conditions are delivered by the unlikely combination. The primary mechanics used are ETB/blink and +1/+1 token generation and manipulation. This provides powerful synergies between the scaled and feathered forces.\n\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Notable features (big-picture deck ideas and deck-building philosophy)"},{"insert":":\n"},{"attributes":{"underline":true},"insert":"Minimal anthem cards"},{"insert":"\nMany guides on merfolk and bird decks include a bunch of anthem cards, which makes sense, since it is obviously good value in single-creature-type decks. Partly for this reason, I have not included them. The occasional anthem effect is present, but I have left out most anthem cards, especially \"staple\" anthem cards like Lord of Atlantis, and similar cards. This opens up room for more unusual builds. Thematically it makes sense to avoid anthems, since the deck is about merfolk and birds working together, not separately building themselves up. Instead of anthem cards, the deck relies on building power through interactions not limited to a specified type. This also makes sense from a strategic deck-building perspective, since anthem cards offer substantially lower value in decks that have two creature types.\n\n"},{"attributes":{"underline":true},"insert":"Minimal token generation"},{"insert":"\nThe deck is not based on token generation, even though some guides recommend it for these creature types, and there are lots of good options for this purpose. As with my thoughts on anthem cards, avoiding standard advice opens up space for different combinations that are less expected. Moreover, token creatures are less useful when your deck is not including anthems. It is an easy choice to avoid them after deciding not to go the anthem route.\n\n"},{"attributes":{"underline":true},"insert":"Minimal green permanents"},{"insert":"\nThere are no green permanents in the deck, with the exception of Deeproot Elite (who lives in the water anyway, based on the art). This is mostly an aesthetic decision, since I am thematically focused on coastal shorelines where sand meets sea. There were some tough cuts of cards I would've liked, in particular birds of paradise, but I am happy with this design decision. I believe constraints enhance creativity, so forcing myself to avoid green permanents helped me to make less obvious decisions in deck construction.\n\n"},{"attributes":{"underline":true},"insert":"Theme Aesthetics"},{"insert":"\nAll creatures are either merfolk or birds. With a few principled exceptions, all spells are chosen for theme aesthetics. Sometimes this was based on card name, like Swan Song for removal. Sometimes this was based on card art, like Mystic Veil protection, which depicts a woman standing on a shoreline. The exception I made was for blink effects, which is what really brings the ETB synergy of the merfolk and birds together. I included both blue and white instants and enchantments for this purpose.\n\nAs with spells, lands were chosen to serve a seaside theme, with cards like Arcane Lighthouse, Seaside Citadel, and others. These were easy picks, since they naturally serve the colors I was building with.\n\n"},{"attributes":{"underline":true},"insert":"Cost"},{"insert":"\nI set myself an upper limit of $500 for total deck cost. As a personal preference, I prefer not to build decks that are inconceivable for me to own because of the cost of extremely high-valued cards. In practice, this limitation only meant cutting a small handful of cards I might have otherwise wanted (about 5).\n\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Notable features for gameplay:"},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"underline":true},"insert":"Big Bird"},{"insert":"\nBird commander Ishai will naturally get huge—the sky's the limit. With the help of his underwater allies, he rapidly becomes a game-ending threat; Vorel can double Ishai's +1/+1 counters (including multiple times per turns thanks to ETB untap effects) exponentially increasing his size; Herald of Secret Streams makes Ishai unblockable. Although Ishai is a bird, he's provided a massive boost by these two deep sea creatures. I've included both Greaves and Boots to help keep him alive. (You have two commanders anyway, so might as well have both protective items.) Boots are the better option if you have it, but the greaves are better than nothing; you don't "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"need "},{"insert":"to target Ishai for him to get big, and you can always switch the boots later.\n\n"},{"attributes":{"underline":true},"insert":"Draw"},{"insert":"\nYou've got boatloads of draw effects, many of them triggered by ETB. You've also got scry and connive options. Thrasios can also help with scry/draw, and combined with Tatyova can guarantee card draws. You should always have plenty of options and a nice full hand. You have enough recursion that you don't need to fret about discarding. Thassa's oracle is included for utility, synergizing because of ETB/blink, but if you are getting into late game you will be plowing through your deck and have the option of a Thoracle win.\n\n"},{"attributes":{"underline":true},"insert":"Blink/ETB"},{"insert":"\nIn terms of strategic decision-making and mechanics, you are going to be mostly managing your blink/ETB interactions to maximize value. You will have tons of options on this front, and will mostly be strategizing over when to use blink effects and on which ETB creatures. It is worth noting that—with the exception of creatures that grow enormous through +1/+1 effects—this deck does not focus on beefy blockers. You have a small handful of removal options, but it's important to remember that you can block/blink with your ETB creatures to get extra value.\n"}]}