Art by John Stanko
Commander deckUW
Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage
Control the board at instant speed with disruptive Wizards and classic counterspells, generate massive mana, and force opponents to draw their entire libraries with Braingeyser-style X-spells.
Asked for“A tight budget blue white control deck with wizards and a braingeyser style win condition that plays interesting oldschool cards.”
Deck anatomy
What this list actually runs on: how cheaply it casts things, and whether it has enough ramp, card draw and interaction to keep up at the table. Each block is one card — hover for its name.
Mana curve · 60 nonland cards
The working parts
Counted from Scryfall’s community card tags, not from the builder’s own labels. A card that does two jobs counts twice, so these add up to more than the deck. The hatched band is a common rule of thumb, not a law — combo decks run leaner, battlecruiser decks heavier.
Colored mana symbols
Commander
1Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage
2WULegendary Creature — Human Wizard
Chosen commander for the requested strategy.
Ramp
10
Card Draw
10
Stroke of Genius
X2UInstant
Classic instant-speed X-draw spell that doubles as a lethal decking win condition
Blue Sun's Zenith
XUUUInstant
Scalable draw spell that shuffles back and can mill an opponent out
Braingeyser
XUUSorcery
Original iconic X-draw spell targeted at an opponent to deck them
Removal
12
Threats/Wincons
20
Talrand, Sky Summoner
2UULegendary Creature — Merfolk Wizard
Wizard that generates an army of drakes from control spells
Murmuring Mystic
3UCreature — Human Wizard
Human Wizard creating bird tokens whenever you cast instants
Docent of Perfection // Final Iteration
3UUCreature — Insect Horror // Creature — Eldrazi Insect
Wizard lord that spawns tokens and transforms into a win condition
Trinket Mage
2UCreature — Human Wizard
Classic Wizard tutor for Sol Ring and artifact utility
Trophy Mage
2UCreature — Human Wizard
Wizard tutor for mid-game mana rocks and combo engines
Glen Elendra Archmage
3UCreature — Faerie Wizard
Repeatable counterspell on a flying Wizard body
Timestream Navigator
1UCreature — Human Pirate Wizard
Wizard offering extra turns once the city's blessing is achieved
Stonybrook Banneret
1UCreature — Merfolk Wizard
Cost reducer for all your Wizard spells
Watcher for Tomorrow
1UCreature — Human Wizard
Wizard that filters cards on enter and exit
Patron Wizard
UUUCreature — Human Wizard
Old-school Wizard turning all Wizards into repeatable counterspells
Naru Meha, Master Wizard
2UULegendary Creature — Human Wizard
Flashing Wizard combo piece that copies spells and buffs the tribe
Apprentice Wizard
1UUCreature — Human Wizard
Classic Dark-era Wizard providing burst colorless mana for big X-spells
Sower of Temptation
2UUCreature — Faerie Wizard
Wizard that steals an opponent's best creature
Aven Mindcensor
2WCreature — Bird Wizard
Flashing Wizard hatebear shutting down opponent tutoring
Reflector Mage
1WUCreature — Human Wizard
Tempo Wizard locking out dangerous threats
Sun Titan
4WWCreature — Giant
Classic recurring powerhouse that recovers dead Wizards and rocks
Approach of the Second Sun
6WSorcery
Alternate win condition easily drawn into with big draw spells
Deadeye Navigator
4UUCreature — Spirit
Blinks Peregrine Drake and Archaeomancer for infinite mana combos
Utility
8
Peregrine Drake
4UCreature — Drake
Combos with blink effects to generate infinite mana for the Braingeyser kill
Ghostly Flicker
2UInstant
Enables infinite mana loops with Archaeomancer and Drake
Swiftfoot Boots
2Artifact — Equipment
Protection for key Wizards and your commander
Dramatic Reversal
1UInstant
Combos with rocks and Scepter for infinite mana into X-draws
Feldon's Cane
1Artifact
Old-school artifact ensuring you never deck yourself before opponents
