MTG Salvation

The Breya color scheme is very powerful, but I didn't want to play Breya since someone else at my store plays her and I wanted to challenge myself as a builder. Since I had decided on a color identity, I was left with few choices.

Why Silas and Bruse?

Silas Renn, Seeker Adept is very powerful on its own. Being able to recur an artifact every turn, even if it's a Lotus Petal, amounts to serious advantage. I knew I wanted to be playing this card.

Akiri, Line-Slinger looks like it works with Silas because Silas pumps her, but Akiri literally does nothing. It's a 2/3 or 3/3 for 2 mana in a multiplayer 40-life format, and it doesn't assist Silas in any way.

Bruse Tarl, Boorish Herder works very well with Silas since he allows Silas to cast two artifacts from the graveyard every turn. He's also an incredibly fast clock on his own, and after playing a few games, he quickly became the commander the deck was built around. Silas still has his toys, but Bruse can steal games by himself on turn 4.

I wanted card advantage in the command zone, and the other option for this color combination that grants me card advantage (Tymna the Weaver/Kraum, Ludevic's Opus) didn't seem cohesive like the Bruse / Silas pair.

About the Deck

My Ezuri, Claw of Progress deck is considered the "final boss" of my store's playgroup, and I wanted something that could keep pace with it. I looked into possible combos that worked with these commanders and decided on the bomberman combo (Auriok Salvagers/Lion's Eye Diamond/Pyrite Spellbomb) since the pieces are relatively easy to tutor and it can go off within the first few turns. The artifacts are safe to loot away because Silas can recur them as needed.

Bruse is the other win condition, and smashing with him has netted at least half of my wins. I built the deck to take advantage of Bruse's double strike trigger, adding cards like Destructive Urge for disruption while I assemble my combo. Sword of Feast and Famine and O-Naginata speed up the clock Bruse provides and make blocking difficult.

This deck is very fast. You should be comboing off or killing one of your opponents on turn 5 at the absolute latest unless you've been forced to be reactive. If that's the case, the deck's game plan shifts away from Bruse beats to assembling and protecting its combo. This deck is able to be reactive and has plenty of spot removal, but it's designed to get under its opponents. Long games are not this deck's forte.

How to Play

You should spend your first turn tutoring for Mana Crypt and your second turn casting Bruse unless you'll be able to combo off in the next couple turns. Turn two Bruse into turn three Destructive Urge ends a lot of games, so sequence your spells in such a way that Bruse will be able to get in unchecked. Don't hesitate. You're trying to be the proactive deck; if Bruse gets killed, fall back to the combo unless recasting him would apply more pressure.

Silas normally doesn't need double strike since it's unlikely you'll care about some of the artifacts in your graveyard. Always give Bruse double strike to threaten your opponents with commander damage. Cards like Faithless Looting and Entomb are included to improve card selection for Silas.

The first equipment you tutor should be Sword of Feast and Famine. This is one of the most important cards in the deck, allowing you to cast more spells and shred opponents' hands.

Don't hold onto Pyrite Spellbomb - it's fine in the graveyard. Use it to draw or burn something as needed; once you have infinite mana from Auriok Salvagers + Lion's Eye Diamond, you'll be able to recur it infinitely anyway.

Strengths & Weaknesses

This deck is FAST. You won't realize it until you're killing someone with commander damage from Bruse on turn 4 or comboing off as early as turn 2, but this deck will get under a lot of people.

This deck is not entirely reliant on its commanders either. It performs best when both are on the battlefield, but generally you can ride one or the other to victory - or neither, if you push for the combo.

This deck is weak to mass artifact destruction, Wildfire effects, and walls of countermagic. Silas can help fight through counters to an extent, but he's fragile and returns to the command zone often.

The Deck



This deck hasn't reached its final form yet, but it's solid right now. It's quite powerful, fast, and consistent. Plenty of changes will be coming but I'm liking how strong it is already. Its fastest kill so far was turn 2.

This deck looks fun as hell to play. What other cards are you considering testing?

Mainly looking to test mass LD (Armageddon/Ravages of War) and a few one-shot Bruse pumps like Invigorated Rampage and Hatred. I'd rather cheese the game out than keep some of the grindier stuff in the deck.

What about lightning greaves? Haste seems good in this type of deck.

The shroud is anti-synergistic with Bruse's trigger I have strongly been considering Swiftfoot Boots though.

Is there a Multiplayer version of this?

This is the multiplayer version. It will kill one player in the first few turns, then handle the other player(s) with the combo if Bruse isn't able to get the job done. I wouldn't recommend this for large tables (5 or more players) but it can handle 3 opponents pretty well.

List updated. All Saboteur creatures removed so the deck focuses solely on the commanders (RIP Dragonlord Ojutai, you're the only one I will miss.) Added some one-shot kills with Bruse (Hatred/Unspeakable Symbol), changed the equipment package a bit, and put in Armageddon for when I untap with Bruse but need a couple turns to end the game.

As for results, there have been a lot more turn 3 player eliminations lately, and I don't play against low-power decks. The bomberman combo is still present and occasionally takes games, but Bruse now accounts for over half of my kills.

I was thinking for Lighting Greaves if Bruse comes into play you can give him haste for the first turn and still target himself because it's an etb trigger right?

It works for the first turn, but then he will have shroud after that, which is a no-go. I don't cast Silas enough or have enough other creatures to detach the greaves.

List updated. Deck is still good at smashing people on turn 3 or comboing off around that time.