The imagery that comes with this, it mortifies me. Imagine being a humble 2/1 soldier, just marching one. You're pretty strong and you know your commander is reliable, so you think all is well. You might not even have to fight anyone, really. But then you hear it. Flight of The Valkyries. It plays in the distance, slowly getting louder and louder *and then you see it.* A flying wall. _The_ flying wall, for all you know. The end is nigh, as you see dozens of walls of all shapes and sizes hurdling at you with incomprehensible speed. Your commander is nowhere to be seen, the God-Wizard in the sky is raging with immense but inexplicably whiny rage. It's all going dark, not from fading consciousness but the shadows.
In the reasonable upgrades, I reccomend Meekstone. Its a 1 mana artifact that creatures with power 3 or greater don’t untap during the untap step. Since most defenders have 0 power and arcades has vigilance, its a reall good card in the deck and its realitivly cheap at around $4
Definitely do more videos where you don’t include the commander in the cost because there are people who want to play that commander regardless of the cost of getting it. They just don’t have a big budget for the other 99 at the moment.
honestly man just wanted to say that your vids are so helpful in making decking building so fun and affordable. Lately i've been tired of paying huge prices for some of the decks i've made in the past but now i've been getting back into it since having a budget like this is fun and not to mention i work in canadian currency, so it's a bigger plus that's it's just at 25$ range. Thank you so much
I've been looking around at MTG stuff for about a year now, this is probably going to be the first paper deck I'll put together. I love the concept of big walls being beefy attackers.
Great list, since this is defender tribal though. I think it's probably worth mentioning the Axebane Guardian/Freed from the Real combo, that lets you generate infinite mana with only two creatures out. Freed from the Real is only $0.25 right now, so I'm surprised it didn't make the cut. Keep it up my dude!
Totally fair! Freed from the Real, Galvanic Alchemist, Pemmin's Aura, and Sword of the Paruns (to name a few) were all considered in the deck. I think though without having this deck built with a lot of tutors (Drift of Phantasms would be a great include), it would be hard to pull the combo off. Depends on how you like to play though! If you wan't the combo then go for it!
Also for further support I'd recommend Brave the Sands - with this enchantment we can attack and still hide behind huge walls. And maybe for more comeback ability I'd consider Dusk/Dawn - first part might destroy Arcades but when he's not around it's just pure value and Dawn part works as Return to the Ranks with set cost of 5. For protection Heroic Intervention and some counterspells might do the trick (at least in my meta do). For mana base I'd probably think about Reliquary Tower because it's reasonably cheap nowadays. And finally thanks for this great deck tech - dividing deck into 10 strategies and explaining every card is something I was really looking for.
I run 35 creatures in my deck. This gave me room for a few more spells I could use for a variety of situations. I've ended up winning several times at my LGS over the past few weeks.
Great video, as always. I was wondering if you might consider adding on to the reasonable upgrades portion and suggesting like a "first out" section detailing the cards you might consider cutting first when upgrading.
That's a great thought! When I can, i do try to mention cards that are direct upgrades, but depending on your playstyle, some cards that I might take out might not be the same ones that you take out. So I am hesitant to say that these are the cards that you should take out for the more expensive cards, if that makes sense
@@TheCommandersQuarters Totally makes sense! I was thinking less of a list of specific upgrades, but more of a "these cards are generally just weaker than the rest of the deck". Because it is budget it might be helpful in a guide like this to know which cards are less desirable from a power level perspective. Thanks for the content!
Definitely agree. I think we need more decks where the commander isn't included in the cost I have arcades pulled from a pack during league. I have a ton of commanders I pulled from random packs so to build a deck with 25$ is amazing.
I got the deck listed here and it rocks especially after throwing in the reasonable upgrades (and some not so reasonable ones). I threw in an Amaranthine Wall (can be made indestructible), a Living Wall (can be regenerated), and a Colossus of Akros (can be made monstrous fairly easy with all of the manadorks, Axebane Guardian in particular). Also put a Triumph of the Hordes in, which can take out everyone when combined with Tetsuko (or Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa but Tetsuko is better). Thought about a Door of Destinies it breaks some of the synergy I just mentioned but with all the cheap walls it could get out of hand quick. As someone just starting out their collection and learning how to build decks I really dig these budget builds. They are a great way to get an effective deck that can be tweaked with more expensive additions along the way. Thank you for all the work you put into these videos.
Mnemonic Wall combo: just use blink and flicker effects, then return that card to ur hand. keep on going until u run out of mana. boom, with arcades, that's gonna be a good amount of card draw
I know I'm late to the show, but a great card is Brago, he isn't a beater, but due to bouncing he gives the walls pseudovigilance, and on top of that draws you 5+ cards each time he hits. Even better when you can bounce Mnemonic wall to cast Time Warp again and again.
How about Krupix as an upgrade. He allows you to hold onto extra mana for later and has the no maximum hand-size clause. Also, Reliquary Tower is great when drawing lots of cards. Hornet Nest, Slagworm armor, Wall of Shards
This was my first one of your videos, and I'm not HOOKED on the channel. Been using it as an entry point to everyone I know who's interested in playing Commander!
I love the deck a few things I would add that are still budget is hold the gate, Brave the sands, and always watching. All three of those enchantments will give all of your creatures vigilance so you can go wide without any consequences
as a long time player and someone getting back in the game, it's great that you aren't including the commander itself. Many newbies will either pull or trade for some 20 to even 50 dollar legendary, however that be their only money card. i just found this channel but i would love to see a "Sedris the Traitor King" 25 dollar deck.
Definitely going to be making more episodes that exclude the commander cost, but as of now the majority will still include it. Already have the next few deck techs scheduled, but you never know!
I actually took this deck, and made it into a wall/control deck, i put in Dovin, Architect of Law, as well as quite a few removal spells and counter spells. All in all it increased the price to about $45 but it's so much fun and is really annoying to play against.
I am about to begin playing EDH and your channel is helping me out a lot. Many of interesting ideas! I'm almost 100% sure that this deck right here will be my first (if ever) deck for Commander
A couple cards i love in this deck; 1) high alert: give you the same effect as your commander and allows you to untap a target creature which goes well with..... 2) tree of redemption: this is a 0/13 for 3 and a green that allows you to swap your life total with it’s toughness. While that is risky early in the game with your one-sided wraths and tetsuko on the board it can help you close out the 1v1 at the end of the game. 3) a few enchantments i like to run as well: serra’s blessing gives all your creatures vigilance for 1 and a white and angelic chorus allows you to gain life equal to the toughness of each of your creatures that ETB, which also works well with tree of redemption.
Thanks for the deck! I used to play Arcades defender on arena and it was really fun! The thought of being able to get Arcades at any time because he's your commander is crazy.
I like the flavor of Arcades. At first I was imagining animated walls like the original spell that allows a wall to attack. Wasn't too excited about that to be honest. Instead however, based on the picture and his name rather than just the rules text, that's changed. I now imagine Arcades using his walls/defenders in strategic ways that are provoking and forcing his opponent to come bring the battle to him, thus giving his defence the edge they get as represented in the form of damage via toughness. Cool ideas for a basic deck! I'm excited to build one out and finally give the old school Glyph spells a proper home!
Sounds like a fun deck as long as you have access to your commander would recommend the boots and whispersilk cloak , if it is stolen, or put under a Song of the Dryads/Darksteel Mutation/etc could be hard to win with just defender creatures.
This was a Much better to format this type of video. Deciding to remove the commander from the price hold. One thing that I would recommend doing though is when your going through your "reasonable upgrades" bit, telling us what you'd swap out for each upgrade wouldn't be a bad idea
Definitely hear you on that! Only thing is that adjustments to the decks really do depend on your playstyle and meta. So my recommendation is to try things out as is, and then make adjustments based on what you like and dislike.
I converted my Abzan Doran defenders into Arcades once he came out and the deck is a ton of fun that surprises people constantly. Best thing I would recommend is getting protection for Arcades. It really hurts if he gets removed and you want to minimize commander tax. Lightning greaves or Swiftfoot boots are great for him or any high toughness wall you want to keep alive. Mystic Veil is also a dirt cheap enchant that gives shroud and can be instant cast as an emergancy. I've put a decent amount of money into upgrades and Arcades can give high tier decks a run for their money at times.
Door of Destinies, Coat of Arms, Wall of Nets, Vent Sentinel, Caller of the Hunt, Belbe’s Portal, Doom Cannon, Distant Melody, Herald’s Horn, Kindred Boon/Discovery/Summons, Steely Resolve…
@@TheCommandersQuarters I noticed that the prices at TCG Player are more expensive now. Should I wait, or find some cheaper option? Which do you recommend?
@@barker_boy9059 I recommend just seeing which cards are overpriced and maybe hold off on buying those, finding some good replacements. And wait until their prices drop a little. It's your decision though!
I built a non-edh deck around a defender theme when I got my hands on Arcades. Initially before that I wanted to make a pauper defender deck, then Arcades came out and I was like "no pauper". One interesting combo I came across for this deck would be including Wall of Kelp and Intruder Alarm (upgrade potential). Combine this with Axebane Guardian and you will get infinite Mana and infinite draws with Arcades out, allowing you to draw your entire deck and keep milling your opponents with doorkeeper. Not something for everyone, but didn't find this in the comments section so figured I might as well add it.
This channel is great! Since I don't have much money to spend on Magic, having access to such strong decks in a non-rotating format for so little money is just what I need! Might I request Najeela, the Blade-Blossom and The Scarab God as commander-excluded decks?
I'm surprised Tree of Redemption didn't get a mention. 13 toughness defender is pretty great and you can tap it to make him a 40/40 at the cost of a little life
Noetic Scales is a peculiar include but I like since it lets me cast more walls and disrupts boards that get to tall, too fast. Noetic Scales Mana Cost: 4 Types: Artifact Card Text: At the beginning of each player's upkeep, return to its owner's hand each creature that player controls with power greater than the number of cards in their hand.
@@TheCommandersQuarters I just subbed and joined the patron at the 5 dollar tier. I really like what you're doing and look forward to the future of your channel. I'm getting into the discord immediately because that sounds like a fun place to chat with like minded individuals. Cheers!
With how many cards you draw. I would think about adding a reliquary tower. Or even the new legendary sorcery that let's you draw your hand size +2 and gets rid of max hand size limits.
I have found some cards that are also really good in this deck -if you have assault formation on the battlefield and you use wakestone gargoyle all your defenders can also attack without the commander -perimeter captain = whenever a defender you control blocks you may gain 2 life -fog bank flying and can block a creature without getting combat damage -selective snare sorcery return x target creatures of the creature type of your choice to their owners hands -circuitous route sorcery search your library for up to two basic land and/or gate cards and put them onto the battlefield tapped then shuffle your library -angelic chorus enchantment whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control you gain life equal to its toughness -bar the door instant creatures you control gain +0/+4 until end of turn -veldt land ( to much text to type)
One card i think would go really well in this deck is amaranthine wall. Its only around $0.25, and can gain indestructible until end of turn for 2 mana.
Dude I just started watching your builds and I love them this one I want to build probably with a few of upgrades you mentioned. Great work dude keep it up.
I basically made this deck since I pulled an arcades, was surprised at how lethal it could get. My minor changes were to make enchantments matter a sub focus, and throw in 'Thasas Ire' for infinite Mana shennanagins.
Am currently making an Arcades deck, so was really helpful. Was also thinking on including more haste options, like crashing drawbridge. Really enjoy your content
I would include ‘Hold the Gates’ - which gives creatures you control +0/+1 for each gate you control and Vigilance. The vigilance doesn’t depend on gates so it gives you value right away. Also add Gateway plaza in order to add a fourth gate to the mix, which will then tap for any mana.
I have an Arcades deck and loved the budget version Mitch!!! I didn't even know about Return to the Ranks, that's definitely going in my deck. For reasonable upgrades I've found G wave to be even better than usual in the deck because of the average CMC. Love the deck techs keep it up.
Budget: Reveillark (recursion) and the usual Mana Dorks such as Llanowar Elves and Avacyn's Pilgrim. Slightly over budget: Edric, Spymaster of Trest (even more draw)/ Mother of Runes (protection galore)/ Sun Titan (recursion)
hey the deck is amazing! i was looking for something fun and cheap that still had power behind it. One thing i would add, it would be in the non budget section, would be a Sun Titan, for returning 2 creatures to play whenever it enters play or attacks, it can return Arcades if you decide to put it into the graveyard or just any 2 walls that have fallen :)
I think that vigilance is a fairly important keyword for defenders, especially when they can attack, because it still lets you block well against aggressive decks. Thus I think Brave the Sands from Tarkir is a good card because it doubles your blocking capabilities as well as giving vigilance.
Sunscape Familiar is a great value engine in this deck. I’ve found the only real combat weaknesses are flying creatures and chump blocking. These are easy to remedy with Spidersilk Armor and Primal Rage. For cheap and nasty surprises, Dramatic Reversal and Triton Tactics are awesome.
Psychic Membrane and Order of the Stars might be worth considering. I know the latter is little, but it's a good solution to some threats that might otherwise take more creatures than you'd like to stave off.
Great video. I love your channel. Your Deck Techs all seem really affective for the price and I can see myself winning with them at my LGS. Keep up the good work!
Been running the wally bois and Arcades for a while now. Looking through comments, most of my suggestions like Drift of Phantasms, Dusk/Dawn, have already been suggested. Maybe discuss/add in cheap removal like Pongify and Rapid Hybridization, and your usual gambit of U Control, and a gem I just found and would definitely recommend is muddle the mixture for counter or another 3 CMC transmute to grab Eerie or Slaughter. And I hadn't read Wild Pairs until this video and good lord, that'll be fantastic. I would rather use the Blue Saga Mirai's Conjecture than Mneumonic Wall for the mana cost but with blinking the wall it may be better. I don't run mneumonic wall simply because of its CMC and in this deck, leaving mana open to recast arcades is important, so I'd rather have my walls be cheap. For upgrades, consider wall of shards, colossus of akkros, and some planeswalker action thats relatively affordable, I love Nissa, Steward of Elements, because scrying into your draws and her +0 to play walls to draw more cards is fantastic, and making two 5/5 lands provides options. Jace, unraveller of secrets is another scry, and blinking your ETBs, and the ult just helps save arcades and the wally bois. Just got Venser the sojourner so will need to playtest him as well. I know this deck has limitations but the spike in my group called Arcades trash and now I'm on a mission... haha cheers man.
One could consider fog bank as an option at only 24 cents it fits the theme. It is not as big at 0/2 but it can't be destroyed by combat damage making it a wonderful blocker.
I love Arcades decks because even if he gets targeted with all the hate, you can still defend yourself with your walls while you wait to recast him, and his cost is pretty reasonable anyway. The downside is that he is pretty much the sole linchpin to make the deck work and if he does get repeatedly targeted, your cantrips and bullying walls are shut down. You do have the backup Assault Formation, but because cantrip commanders are so good, my Jhoira gets hated out so much she usually ends up costing me 12 or 14 mana by the end of the game to bring back out.
I play an Arcades deck of my own make, definitely appreciate the pointers in the vid, but my favorite card to draw is Meishin the Mindcage; it reduces the power of every creature on the board by the number of cards in your hand. I die laughing every time I get to play it
holy shit. a budget commander deck that actually fits my playstyle. i might go back to mtg and try out edh just build this deck and i even have some of the pieces here. oh my god
I'm late to the video lol but I have an arcades deck that I LOVE to play! So much fun and a low mental load deck. A couple of fun cards to add in my opinion (apologies if I mention a couple you listed) Builder's Blessing Leyline of Vitality Wall of omens Serra's blessing Wall of stolen identity Flumph (I don't remember seeing it) Stoneskin Just a few of my favorite additions!
Always Watching, Brave the Sands, Loyal Unicorn, Oathsworn Giant, Serra's Blessing and Serra's Guardian all give your creatures Vigilance. Brave let's them block more than one creature for added bonus. I know that isn't the point necessarily of this deck but Vigilance seems like the best creature effect (besides maybe trample) for Walls.
I would add Laboratory Maniac, Freed From the Reel and Drift of Phantasms, personally. Deck looks super fun! Think you could do one of Teysa, Orzhov Scion next? :D
Love this deck tech. It reminds me of the Huatli, Sun's Heart Oathbreaker Deck. I think Primal Rage is a good addition to the deck. Your opponents will think twice before blocking your creatures. LOL And Brave the Sands too since it can help you deal with aggro decks.
Tree of redemption would be nice, it's a 0/13 that you can tap it and exchange your life total with its defense. It costs one green and 3 of any other color. So yeah, if you have the one blue rouge that makes all your defenders unlockable, you can basically one shot anyone. But it is risky
Great deck...I pulled arcades..two of them to be exact and ur deck list seems competitive already with the heavy amount of synergy. My only inclusion to the deck would be adding lightning greaves, sun Titan, and ascetisim for the added hexproof. Anyways would like to see a budget deck on the new commander 18 product
Some of the additions that you have may not work too well with Tetsuko, for instance Sight of the Scalelords, I would consider Belbe's Armor. Something like Abzan Beastmasterwould also work extremely well since odds are high you're going to be running round with the largest toughness creatures. Crenellated Wall, is another amazing wall, as well as Tree of Redemption. Brave the Sands and Primal Rage would also make this deck stupid amazing.
Man, I just bought the cards to do the Sram deck, now you show me this... Amazing deck! Maybe the next one I will do. I think maybe some indestructible enchantments/aura/equipments to arcades maybe be good in this deck
Rolling Stone and Wakestone Gargoyle would be spicy includes in an Arcades deck for sure. I might come back to building Wall tribal since I didnt have an amazing time with it when Doran was piloting it. I think the added blue gives it a nice edge.
Yeah blue is a great color for walls! As for Rolling Stone and Wakestone Gargoyle, while those would allow our defenders to attack, unfortunately they don't allow our defenders to assign combat damage with their toughness like Arcades does.
@@TheCommandersQuarters Hmmm. True, but I'm under the impression that you would have Arcades out super frequently(?), so that's why I ended up giving those suggestions. Also, one thing I didn't end up realizing is that since you're drawing a bunch of cards, what about Psychosis Crawler and Sphinx's Tutelage? Definitely gives an added benefit to your draws from Arcades.
The only downside to this deck is the mana base, as all the non basics come into play tapped. and while in multiplayer its not a huge issue its still possible it could put you slightly behind. You could replace the guild gates with Temple of Enlightenment, Mystery and Plenty. At least with the temples you have the ability to scry. Could also put in Glacial Fortress, Sunpetal Grove and Hinterland Harbor as better mana options.
The imagery that comes with this, it mortifies me.
Imagine being a humble 2/1 soldier, just marching one. You're pretty strong and you know your commander is reliable, so you think all is well. You might not even have to fight anyone, really.
But then you hear it.
Flight of The Valkyries.
It plays in the distance, slowly getting louder and louder *and then you see it.*
A flying wall. _The_ flying wall, for all you know. The end is nigh, as you see dozens of walls of all shapes and sizes hurdling at you with incomprehensible speed. Your commander is nowhere to be seen, the God-Wizard in the sky is raging with immense but inexplicably whiny rage. It's all going dark, not from fading consciousness but the shadows.
You should consider writing stories
Walls collapse and kill people all the time. Some are just more aggressive about it :P
This is perfect
In the reasonable upgrades, I reccomend Meekstone. Its a 1 mana artifact that creatures with power 3 or greater don’t untap during the untap step. Since most defenders have 0 power and arcades has vigilance, its a reall good card in the deck and its realitivly cheap at around $4
Yep a fantastic reasonable upgrade!
@@TheCommandersQuarters There is also marble titan that is meekstone on legs!
@@echarit Absolutely!
@@echarit Don't mind me, I'm just commenting to find this amazing upgrade again later.
Ty this helped
Not including the commander in the total price is a smart move. Gives more flexibility in commander choices.
Keep up the great work
Thanks! Yeah I think it's a good addition to the show. Otherwise I would just not be to build around certain commanders at all!
On top of that many people that play "budget" decks , start to build them becose then open commander on draft ;)
Definitely a good point as well!
Definitely do more videos where you don’t include the commander in the cost because there are people who want to play that commander regardless of the cost of getting it. They just don’t have a big budget for the other 99 at the moment.
100% agree. I think it's a good way to ensure that I can include more commanders in the deck techs!
I'm ready for a Hazezon Tamar budget deck tech, haha
Haha yeah I don't think you can justify that as a budget deck in any way
@@Jacsubi why is he worth like $160!?
@@RicketyNaga cos he old
honestly man just wanted to say that your vids are so helpful in making decking building so fun and affordable. Lately i've been tired of paying huge prices for some of the decks i've made in the past but now i've been getting back into it since having a budget like this is fun and not to mention i work in canadian currency, so it's a bigger plus that's it's just at 25$ range. Thank you so much
I've been looking around at MTG stuff for about a year now, this is probably going to be the first paper deck I'll put together. I love the concept of big walls being beefy attackers.
That's awesome! Glad I could help! And yeah walls swinging at people is pretty awesome!
I'm barely familiar with Magic, but this is an absolutely insane deck concept. I'm freaking out over here.
Yeah it's a really fun deck!
Great list, since this is defender tribal though. I think it's probably worth mentioning the Axebane Guardian/Freed from the Real combo, that lets you generate infinite mana with only two creatures out. Freed from the Real is only $0.25 right now, so I'm surprised it didn't make the cut. Keep it up my dude!
Totally fair! Freed from the Real, Galvanic Alchemist, Pemmin's Aura, and Sword of the Paruns (to name a few) were all considered in the deck. I think though without having this deck built with a lot of tutors (Drift of Phantasms would be a great include), it would be hard to pull the combo off. Depends on how you like to play though! If you wan't the combo then go for it!
Also for further support I'd recommend Brave the Sands - with this enchantment we can attack and still hide behind huge walls. And maybe for more comeback ability I'd consider Dusk/Dawn - first part might destroy Arcades but when he's not around it's just pure value and Dawn part works as Return to the Ranks with set cost of 5. For protection Heroic Intervention and some counterspells might do the trick (at least in my meta do).
For mana base I'd probably think about Reliquary Tower because it's reasonably cheap nowadays.
And finally thanks for this great deck tech - dividing deck into 10 strategies and explaining every card is something I was really looking for.
Great considerations! Thanks!
At 18:40 you say that sunscape familiar is a 0/4 . Literally unwatchable. Subscribed.
Ahhh, I think I was just hoping that he was bigger haha
That's what she said!
Well done haha
I've been having Arcedes in my binder just waiting for him to command a deck. Thanks to you guys, that is now possible. Much love.
No problem at all! Glad I could help!
Your boardwipe selection is awesome.
Gotta love weird one sided boardwipes haha
I run 35 creatures in my deck. This gave me room for a few more spells I could use for a variety of situations. I've ended up winning several times at my LGS over the past few weeks.
That's awesome!
Great video, as always. I was wondering if you might consider adding on to the reasonable upgrades portion and suggesting like a "first out" section detailing the cards you might consider cutting first when upgrading.
That's a great thought! When I can, i do try to mention cards that are direct upgrades, but depending on your playstyle, some cards that I might take out might not be the same ones that you take out. So I am hesitant to say that these are the cards that you should take out for the more expensive cards, if that makes sense
@@TheCommandersQuarters Totally makes sense! I was thinking less of a list of specific upgrades, but more of a "these cards are generally just weaker than the rest of the deck". Because it is budget it might be helpful in a guide like this to know which cards are less desirable from a power level perspective. Thanks for the content!
Oh gotcha, sorry I misunderstood! Definitely a good point and I will consider it!
Glad you are enjoying it and thank you for your support!
Definitely agree. I think we need more decks where the commander isn't included in the cost I have arcades pulled from a pack during league. I have a ton of commanders I pulled from random packs so to build a deck with 25$ is amazing.
Glad you think so! There will be more coming soon!
I got the deck listed here and it rocks especially after throwing in the reasonable upgrades (and some not so reasonable ones). I threw in an Amaranthine Wall (can be made indestructible), a Living Wall (can be regenerated), and a Colossus of Akros (can be made monstrous fairly easy with all of the manadorks, Axebane Guardian in particular). Also put a Triumph of the Hordes in, which can take out everyone when combined with Tetsuko (or Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa but Tetsuko is better). Thought about a Door of Destinies it breaks some of the synergy I just mentioned but with all the cheap walls it could get out of hand quick.
As someone just starting out their collection and learning how to build decks I really dig these budget builds. They are a great way to get an effective deck that can be tweaked with more expensive additions along the way. Thank you for all the work you put into these videos.
Glad you are enjoying them!
Mnemonic Wall combo: just use blink and flicker effects, then return that card to ur hand. keep on going until u run out of mana. boom, with arcades, that's gonna be a good amount of card draw
I know I'm late to the show, but a great card is Brago, he isn't a beater, but due to bouncing he gives the walls pseudovigilance, and on top of that draws you 5+ cards each time he hits. Even better when you can bounce Mnemonic wall to cast Time Warp again and again.
Would be pretty sweet!
How about Krupix as an upgrade. He allows you to hold onto extra mana for later and has the no maximum hand-size clause. Also, Reliquary Tower is great when drawing lots of cards. Hornet Nest, Slagworm armor, Wall of Shards
All good considerations for the deck!
This was my first one of your videos, and I'm not HOOKED on the channel. Been using it as an entry point to everyone I know who's interested in playing Commander!
That's awesome, thank you!
I love the deck a few things I would add that are still budget is hold the gate, Brave the sands, and always watching. All three of those enchantments will give all of your creatures vigilance so you can go wide without any consequences
Gotta love no consequences! All great additions!
as a long time player and someone getting back in the game, it's great that you aren't including the commander itself. Many newbies will either pull or trade for some 20 to even 50 dollar legendary, however that be their only money card. i just found this channel but i would love to see a "Sedris the Traitor King" 25 dollar deck.
Definitely going to be making more episodes that exclude the commander cost, but as of now the majority will still include it. Already have the next few deck techs scheduled, but you never know!
I'm a big fan of defender decks and i love how this commander perfectly promotes using them
Awesome deck tech 😁👏👏
Yeah they really hit it out of the park in my opinion when they designed Arcades for defenders! Thank you, glad you enjoyed it!
I actually took this deck, and made it into a wall/control deck, i put in Dovin, Architect of Law, as well as quite a few removal spells and counter spells. All in all it increased the price to about $45 but it's so much fun and is really annoying to play against.
I am about to begin playing EDH and your channel is helping me out a lot. Many of interesting ideas! I'm almost 100% sure that this deck right here will be my first (if ever) deck for Commander
A couple cards i love in this deck;
1) high alert: give you the same effect as your commander and allows you to untap a target creature which goes well with.....
2) tree of redemption: this is a 0/13 for 3 and a green that allows you to swap your life total with it’s toughness. While that is risky early in the game with your one-sided wraths and tetsuko on the board it can help you close out the 1v1 at the end of the game.
3) a few enchantments i like to run as well: serra’s blessing gives all your creatures vigilance for 1 and a white and angelic chorus allows you to gain life equal to the toughness of each of your creatures that ETB, which also works well with tree of redemption.
Thanks for the deck! I used to play Arcades defender on arena and it was really fun! The thought of being able to get Arcades at any time because he's your commander is crazy.
I like the flavor of Arcades. At first I was imagining animated walls like the original spell that allows a wall to attack. Wasn't too excited about that to be honest. Instead however, based on the picture and his name rather than just the rules text, that's changed. I now imagine Arcades using his walls/defenders in strategic ways that are provoking and forcing his opponent to come bring the battle to him, thus giving his defence the edge they get as represented in the form of damage via toughness. Cool ideas for a basic deck! I'm excited to build one out and finally give the old school Glyph spells a proper home!
Im new to magic and this is one of the first commander decks that actually makes sense to me. Definitely gonna buy and upgrade
Sounds like a fun deck as long as you have access to your commander would recommend the boots and whispersilk cloak , if it is stolen, or put under a Song of the Dryads/Darksteel Mutation/etc could be hard to win with just defender creatures.
Yep definitely agree it's a good idea to run those if people tend to do that in your meta!
This was a Much better to format this type of video. Deciding to remove the commander from the price hold. One thing that I would recommend doing though is when your going through your "reasonable upgrades" bit, telling us what you'd swap out for each upgrade wouldn't be a bad idea
Definitely hear you on that! Only thing is that adjustments to the decks really do depend on your playstyle and meta. So my recommendation is to try things out as is, and then make adjustments based on what you like and dislike.
I converted my Abzan Doran defenders into Arcades once he came out and the deck is a ton of fun that surprises people constantly.
Best thing I would recommend is getting protection for Arcades. It really hurts if he gets removed and you want to minimize commander tax. Lightning greaves or Swiftfoot boots are great for him or any high toughness wall you want to keep alive. Mystic Veil is also a dirt cheap enchant that gives shroud and can be instant cast as an emergancy.
I've put a decent amount of money into upgrades and Arcades can give high tier decks a run for their money at times.
Guy, I am loving your deck techs, they are giving my lots of ideas. Very nice work!
Thanks! And glad you are enjoying them!
I'm in love with this deck!!! Thank you so much!!
No problem at all!
I was working on a Arcades deck too and see it can be budget and fun at the same time is amazing ç-ç nice work guys!
Thanks! Yeah he's a great commander to build around!
My friend built this deck with your specifications and man, he kicks my ass with it!
Door of Destinies, Coat of Arms, Wall of Nets, Vent Sentinel, Caller of the Hunt, Belbe’s Portal, Doom Cannon, Distant Melody, Herald’s Horn, Kindred Boon/Discovery/Summons, Steely Resolve…
All great options! But for the tribal options, remember that all of these defenders are not necessarily the same creature type!
The Commander's Quarters Didn’t check, but isn’t it 90% Walls?
100% Defenders. Some of the defenders are not Walls and instead are Spirits, Soldiers, Birds, Homunculus, Fungus, etc.
Thanks for creating this video. I've been working on an Arcades commander deck for a little while, and this will be a ton of help. :)
No problem!
@@TheCommandersQuarters I noticed that the prices at TCG Player are more expensive now. Should I wait, or find some cheaper option? Which do you recommend?
@@barker_boy9059 I recommend just seeing which cards are overpriced and maybe hold off on buying those, finding some good replacements. And wait until their prices drop a little. It's your decision though!
I built a non-edh deck around a defender theme when I got my hands on Arcades. Initially before that I wanted to make a pauper defender deck, then Arcades came out and I was like "no pauper". One interesting combo I came across for this deck would be including Wall of Kelp and Intruder Alarm (upgrade potential). Combine this with Axebane Guardian and you will get infinite Mana and infinite draws with Arcades out, allowing you to draw your entire deck and keep milling your opponents with doorkeeper. Not something for everyone, but didn't find this in the comments section so figured I might as well add it.
This channel is great! Since I don't have much money to spend on Magic, having access to such strong decks in a non-rotating format for so little money is just what I need! Might I request Najeela, the Blade-Blossom and The Scarab God as commander-excluded decks?
Glad I could help! Already have the next few decks scheduled, but you never know!
I'm surprised Tree of Redemption didn't get a mention. 13 toughness defender is pretty great and you can tap it to make him a 40/40 at the cost of a little life
Definitely a reasonable upgrade to consider at $1.89!
There's no way this video is 3 years old... My mind is blown
I've watched every single one of your videos so far. You guys are creating some entertaining videos with a lot of value for us, budget MTG players.
Glad you are enjoying them, and glad to help! I hope you like the upcoming videos just as much and thank you for the support!
Noetic Scales is a peculiar include but I like since it lets me cast more walls and disrupts boards that get to tall, too fast.
Noetic Scales
Mana Cost:
4
Types:
Artifact
Card Text:
At the beginning of each player's upkeep, return to its owner's hand each creature that player controls with power greater than the number of cards in their hand.
When I first saw arcades I immediately thought of tree of redemption and how explosive it could be.
Definitely a great reasonable upgrade!
@@TheCommandersQuarters I just kept thinking with testsuo out you could almost swing for lethal within two turns of playing it.
Definitely could!
@@TheCommandersQuarters I just subbed and joined the patron at the 5 dollar tier. I really like what you're doing and look forward to the future of your channel. I'm getting into the discord immediately because that sounds like a fun place to chat with like minded individuals. Cheers!
Thank you so much for your support! It's a great community! Looking forward to chatting with you in there!
Mitch please! Im running out of deck boxes and card sleeves! this is an amazing deck!
I was not expecting this at all, so I am happy beyond belief for a fun arcades deck
Glad you are excited about it!
I play an Arcades deck and love it. You showed me some cards I never thought of. Great vid and awesome deck!
Glad you enjoyed it!
With how many cards you draw. I would think about adding a reliquary tower. Or even the new legendary sorcery that let's you draw your hand size +2 and gets rid of max hand size limits.
I think this may be my favorite of all you decks. Looks really fun to play!
Glad you like it!!!
I have found some cards that are also really good in this deck
-if you have assault formation on the battlefield and you use wakestone gargoyle all your defenders can also attack without the commander
-perimeter captain = whenever a defender you control blocks you may gain 2 life
-fog bank flying and can block a creature without getting combat damage
-selective snare sorcery return x target creatures of the creature type of your choice to their owners hands
-circuitous route sorcery search your library for up to two basic land and/or gate cards and put them onto the battlefield tapped then shuffle your library
-angelic chorus enchantment whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control you gain life equal to its toughness
-bar the door instant creatures you control gain +0/+4 until end of turn
-veldt land ( to much text to type)
One card i think would go really well in this deck is amaranthine wall. Its only around $0.25, and can gain indestructible until end of turn for 2 mana.
Definitely a good consideration!
Woah it’s surprising hearing your voice in an older video after watching your newest videos a bunch
Dude I just started watching your builds and I love them this one I want to build probably with a few of upgrades you mentioned. Great work dude keep it up.
Glad you are liking them so far and let me know how it plays for you! Thank you for your support!
Will do
I basically made this deck since I pulled an arcades, was surprised at how lethal it could get.
My minor changes were to make enchantments matter a sub focus, and throw in 'Thasas Ire' for infinite Mana shennanagins.
Awesome! Been thinking about making a defender deck, this looks like fun. Can't wait to see what other buget decks you post!
Glad you enjoyed it! Hope you enjoy the upcoming deck techs!
Am currently making an Arcades deck, so was really helpful. Was also thinking on including more haste options, like crashing drawbridge.
Really enjoy your content
Absolutely loving the deck, I love the irony of being a threat really early, and I can 1v1 my friend's omnath deck which is nice
Not so harmless walls haha, and yeah that is nice!
I would include ‘Hold the Gates’ - which gives creatures you control +0/+1 for each gate you control and Vigilance. The vigilance doesn’t depend on gates so it gives you value right away. Also add Gateway plaza in order to add a fourth gate to the mix, which will then tap for any mana.
I have an Arcades deck and loved the budget version Mitch!!! I didn't even know about Return to the Ranks, that's definitely going in my deck. For reasonable upgrades I've found G wave to be even better than usual in the deck because of the average CMC. Love the deck techs keep it up.
Genesis Wave would be a bomb in this deck, great thought! Glad you enjoyed it!
Budget: Reveillark (recursion) and the usual Mana Dorks such as Llanowar Elves and Avacyn's Pilgrim.
Slightly over budget: Edric, Spymaster of Trest (even more draw)/ Mother of Runes (protection galore)/ Sun Titan (recursion)
Good considerations!
hey the deck is amazing! i was looking for something fun and cheap that still had power behind it. One thing i would add, it would be in the non budget section, would be a Sun Titan, for returning 2 creatures to play whenever it enters play or attacks, it can return Arcades if you decide to put it into the graveyard or just any 2 walls that have fallen :)
Glad you like it! Sun Titan is definitely a consideration! However, I don't think it will return Arcades since his converted mana cost is 4.
good point, i was thinking power not cmc my bad :)
No problem!
I think that vigilance is a fairly important keyword for defenders, especially when they can attack, because it still lets you block well against aggressive decks. Thus I think Brave the Sands from Tarkir is a good card because it doubles your blocking capabilities as well as giving vigilance.
Am I the only one who thinks the golden pig looks better on mtg cards than the official holo sticker on the bottom center of the cards?
I'm not going to argue with that ;)
AGREED. We need some pig tokens with that on the bottom instead of the "boar" token that is totally a pig
I want a golden pig shirt!
@@gadamatwood haha he said he is making swag so maybe one day
Golden pig merchandise for under $25 please.
Definitely one of my favorite decks I’ve seen on your channel
Sunscape Familiar is a great value engine in this deck. I’ve found the only real combat weaknesses are flying creatures and chump blocking. These are easy to remedy with Spidersilk Armor and Primal Rage. For cheap and nasty surprises, Dramatic Reversal and Triton Tactics are awesome.
All great recommendations!
Psychic Membrane and Order of the Stars might be worth considering. I know the latter is little, but it's a good solution to some threats that might otherwise take more creatures than you'd like to stave off.
Both great considerations for the deck! Order of the Stars is an underrated card
Great video. I love your channel. Your Deck Techs all seem really affective for the price and I can see myself winning with them at my LGS. Keep up the good work!
Glad you are enjoying it! Let me know if you end up trying out any of them at your LGS and how they do!
Been running the wally bois and Arcades for a while now. Looking through comments, most of my suggestions like Drift of Phantasms, Dusk/Dawn, have already been suggested. Maybe discuss/add in cheap removal like Pongify and Rapid Hybridization, and your usual gambit of U Control, and a gem I just found and would definitely recommend is muddle the mixture for counter or another 3 CMC transmute to grab Eerie or Slaughter. And I hadn't read Wild Pairs until this video and good lord, that'll be fantastic. I would rather use the Blue Saga Mirai's Conjecture than Mneumonic Wall for the mana cost but with blinking the wall it may be better. I don't run mneumonic wall simply because of its CMC and in this deck, leaving mana open to recast arcades is important, so I'd rather have my walls be cheap. For upgrades, consider wall of shards, colossus of akkros, and some planeswalker action thats relatively affordable, I love Nissa, Steward of Elements, because scrying into your draws and her +0 to play walls to draw more cards is fantastic, and making two 5/5 lands provides options. Jace, unraveller of secrets is another scry, and blinking your ETBs, and the ult just helps save arcades and the wally bois. Just got Venser the sojourner so will need to playtest him as well. I know this deck has limitations but the spike in my group called Arcades trash and now I'm on a mission... haha cheers man.
All great potential additions to the deck! You will have to let me know if you take down spike with your wall army!
Some great card suggestions! I love my Arcades deck, it's powerful and super fun to play with!
Thanks! Definitely a fun deck to play!
Great video! I've had a bunch of defender cards piling up and this gives me a good way to use them.
Awesome! Glad I could help!
One could consider fog bank as an option at only 24 cents it fits the theme. It is not as big at 0/2 but it can't be destroyed by combat damage making it a wonderful blocker.
Definitely a great blocker if you feel like you need more defense in the deck!
I love Arcades decks because even if he gets targeted with all the hate, you can still defend yourself with your walls while you wait to recast him, and his cost is pretty reasonable anyway. The downside is that he is pretty much the sole linchpin to make the deck work and if he does get repeatedly targeted, your cantrips and bullying walls are shut down. You do have the backup Assault Formation, but because cantrip commanders are so good, my Jhoira gets hated out so much she usually ends up costing me 12 or 14 mana by the end of the game to bring back out.
This was a great video friend... first I’ve found by this channel and I already can’t wait to check out the rest
Awesome!
This was posted the DAY I started playing this game. Crazy
I used to have an abzan assault formation deck in modern and I ran a lot of what’s in this deck as well as wall of tanglecords and a colossus of akros
I actually recently opened arcades so i’m pretty hyped for this one
Awesome!
I play an Arcades deck of my own make, definitely appreciate the pointers in the vid, but my favorite card to draw is Meishin the Mindcage; it reduces the power of every creature on the board by the number of cards in your hand. I die laughing every time I get to play it
Just built this plays awesome draws amazing. I added better mana base.
Not sure if it was mentioned, but Assault Formation also enables Arcades to hit for 5 damage, so there's that benefit.
Wow....I am crying right now...love u Mitch 😭😭😭
Haha well thank you!
Super happy I found this, I've been working on the same deck essentially lol. Already have some of the upgrade pieces too
holy shit. a budget commander deck that actually fits my playstyle. i might go back to mtg and try out edh just build this deck and i even have some of the pieces here. oh my god
I'm late to the video lol but I have an arcades deck that I LOVE to play! So much fun and a low mental load deck. A couple of fun cards to add in my opinion (apologies if I mention a couple you listed)
Builder's Blessing
Leyline of Vitality
Wall of omens
Serra's blessing
Wall of stolen identity
Flumph (I don't remember seeing it)
Stoneskin
Just a few of my favorite additions!
Been enjoying your insights and different win cons Thanks for posting!
Always Watching, Brave the Sands, Loyal Unicorn, Oathsworn Giant, Serra's Blessing and Serra's Guardian all give your creatures Vigilance. Brave let's them block more than one creature for added bonus. I know that isn't the point necessarily of this deck but Vigilance seems like the best creature effect (besides maybe trample) for Walls.
Great considerations!
I would add Laboratory Maniac, Freed From the Reel and Drift of Phantasms, personally. Deck looks super fun!
Think you could do one of Teysa, Orzhov Scion next? :D
All great potential additions to the deck! As of right now there are already of few deck techs scheduled, but you never know!
Love this deck tech. It reminds me of the Huatli, Sun's Heart Oathbreaker Deck.
I think Primal Rage is a good addition to the deck. Your opponents will think twice before blocking your creatures. LOL And Brave the Sands too since it can help you deal with aggro decks.
Tree of redemption would be nice, it's a 0/13 that you can tap it and exchange your life total with its defense. It costs one green and 3 of any other color. So yeah, if you have the one blue rouge that makes all your defenders unlockable, you can basically one shot anyone. But it is risky
Great deck...I pulled arcades..two of them to be exact and ur deck list seems competitive already with the heavy amount of synergy. My only inclusion to the deck would be adding lightning greaves, sun Titan, and ascetisim for the added hexproof. Anyways would like to see a budget deck on the new commander 18 product
Those would all be great additions! Already have a few decks scheduled, but you never know!
This deck tech earned my subscription.
Some of the additions that you have may not work too well with Tetsuko, for instance Sight of the Scalelords, I would consider Belbe's Armor. Something like Abzan Beastmasterwould also work extremely well since odds are high you're going to be running round with the largest toughness creatures. Crenellated Wall, is another amazing wall, as well as Tree of Redemption. Brave the Sands and Primal Rage would also make this deck stupid amazing.
All great potential additions to the deck! Thanks for your input!
You're very welcome.
Always a great deck tech on this channel!
Glad you enjoyed it!
How good are your videos, and of course the decks. You have helped me a lot. Thank you. Greetings from Mexico.
Thank you! Glad you are enjoying them!
Its just over $10 now but you could include Wall of Kelp in your upgrades section (but it might be unreasonable for some people)
Yeah it's gotten quite pricey and while it is a good card for the deck, the other reasonable upgrades seemed more reasonable for their value haha
Man, I just bought the cards to do the Sram deck, now you show me this... Amazing deck! Maybe the next one I will do. I think maybe some indestructible enchantments/aura/equipments to arcades maybe be good in this deck
Most definitely! If you are playing in a group that likes to blow up the board it’s a good idea to protect him as best as you can
Rolling Stone and Wakestone Gargoyle would be spicy includes in an Arcades deck for sure. I might come back to building Wall tribal since I didnt have an amazing time with it when Doran was piloting it. I think the added blue gives it a nice edge.
Yeah blue is a great color for walls! As for Rolling Stone and Wakestone Gargoyle, while those would allow our defenders to attack, unfortunately they don't allow our defenders to assign combat damage with their toughness like Arcades does.
@@TheCommandersQuarters Hmmm. True, but I'm under the impression that you would have Arcades out super frequently(?), so that's why I ended up giving those suggestions. Also, one thing I didn't end up realizing is that since you're drawing a bunch of cards, what about Psychosis Crawler and Sphinx's Tutelage? Definitely gives an added benefit to your draws from Arcades.
Yeah the goal would be to have him out frequently and if not him then Assault formation. And great suggestions as well for alternative WinCons!
I used your suggested list and it turned out great!
13:55 - Looking at that card
Expectations: the name "wild", the art
Reality: walls
The only downside to this deck is the mana base, as all the non basics come into play tapped. and while in multiplayer its not a huge issue its still possible it could put you slightly behind. You could replace the guild gates with Temple of Enlightenment, Mystery and Plenty. At least with the temples you have the ability to scry. Could also put in Glacial Fortress, Sunpetal Grove and Hinterland Harbor as better mana options.
Can definitely do those! Within the $25 budget it isn't really possible to squeeze those in there, but they are definitely reasonable upgrades!