Art by Zoltan Boros & Gabor Szikszai
Saved commander deck
Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
Slow the game to a dead crawl using tax, prison, and lockdown effects. Completely neuter aggressive combat commanders by turning off creature activations, taxing attacks, and locking down commander casts.
Prompt: Create a deck that completely counters Lightning, Army of One, making it impossible for the player to play, so that even if it's branch 5, it feels like it's branch 1.
Commander
1 cards
Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
{2}{W}{U}Legendary Creature — Human Advisor
Chosen commander for the requested strategy.
Ramp
10 cards
Card Draw
10 cards
Esper Sentinel
{W}Artifact Creature — Human Soldier
taxes noncreature spells while drawing cards
Ledger Shredder
{1}{U}Creature — Bird Advisor
looting engine that grows against aggressive spell slinging
Removal
12 cards
Imprisoned in the Moon
{2}{U}Enchantment — Aura
completely neutralizes an enemy commander
Darksteel Mutation
{1}{W}Enchantment — Aura
turns commander into an indestructible useless bug
Threats/Wincons
22 cards
Drannith Magistrate
{1}{W}Creature — Human Wizard
locks opponents out of casting their commanders
Blind Obedience
{1}{W}Enchantment
forces opposing creatures and artifacts to enter tapped
Propaganda
{2}{U}Enchantment
taxes attackers making aggressive wide attacks impossible
Archon of Emeria
{2}{W}Creature — Archon
slows spellcasting speed and nonbasic lands
Thalia, Heretic Cathar
{2}{W}Legendary Creature — Human Soldier
makes creatures and nonbasic lands enter tapped
Linvala, Keeper of Silence
{2}{W}{W}Legendary Creature — Angel
shuts down all activated abilities of opponent creatures
Approach of the Second Sun
{6}{W}Sorcery
clean alternate win condition once control is established
Phyrexian Censor
{2}{W}Creature — Phyrexian Wizard
limits players to one non-Phyrexian spell per turn
Ethersworn Canonist
{1}{W}Artifact Creature — Human Cleric
restricts non-artifact spell casting
Strict Proctor
{1}{W}Creature — Spirit Cleric
taxes enter-the-battlefield triggers
Archon of Absolution
{3}{W}Creature — Archon
taxes attackers and blocks white creatures
Baird, Steward of Argive
{2}{W}{W}Legendary Creature — Human Soldier
additional attack tax piece
Spurnmage Advocate
{W}Creature — Human Nomad
repeatable targeted creature destruction against attacking creatures
Norn's Annex
{3}{W/P}{W/P}Artifact
forces opponents to pay white mana or life to attack
Sphere of Safety
{4}{W}Enchantment
insurmountable attack tax based on enchantments
Teferi, Who Slows the Sunset
{2}{W}{U}Legendary Planeswalker — Teferi
planeswalker utility, life gain, and mana untapping
Spark Double
{3}{U}Creature — Illusion
duplicates commander to double the tax effects
Utility
8 cards
Lightning Greaves
{2}Artifact — Equipment
protects Grand Arbiter with shroud and haste
Reins of Power
{2}{U}{U}Instant
steals an opponent's army during their combat to wipe them out
