Ideas for building a new Commander deck can come from anywhere. Sometimes, it's an affinity for a certain legendary creature – or the Universes Beyond character that became a legendary creature. Sometimes a card just looks cool and you want to see it in the command zone; the full-art Elenda from Foundations just looks badass. Once in a while, however, a new mechanic comes around that hits exactly right, and suddenly you're leaving a prerelease event and immediately building a Commander deck.
That's what we're talking about today with Mardubolize, a Mardu (white, black, and red) deck built with the new Mobilize mechanic from Tarkir: Dragonstorm in mind. I'd built a sealed deck around the mechanic at my Tarkir: Dragonstorm prerelease event, and after cracking open a few other packs, I found I had the makings of a beefy beatdown in my hands. The goal is simple: Make Warrior tokens, let them stick around thanks to our commander, and create extra combat phases for even more Warriors.
If I had to summarize this deck in one movie quote: "Warriorrrrrrrrs! Come out to playyyyyyy!"
Here's the list:
Commander
The Commander for this deck is Zurgo, Thunder's Decree, found in the main Tarkir: Dragonstorm set. I chose him for two reasons: The WBR mana cost means I'll be getting him onto the table by turn three, and that second ability allows me to keep growing my board instead of essentially "blinking" attacking Warrior tokens every combat. The more weenie Warriors I have in play, the better chance I have of mitigating combats coming my way.
Key creatures
Every creature with Mobilize that features in Tarkir: Dragonstorm is here, from Dragonback Lancer to Dalkovan Packbeasts, which can bring in three of those Warriors in every combat phase. As it's a new mechanic, there are only 14 creatures including my commander with that text, so I was able to fit them all while also strategizing the deck around them.
One major supporter here is Butcher of Malakir, as the vampire warrior can cleverly back an opponent into a corner. If I have Commander Zurgo and the Butcher in play, and my opponent wants to remove one of them; they have to choose what's more important to them: Letting me keep my Warrior tokens or keeping their creatures, token or not.
Note that Mobilize states the Warrior tokens are sacrificed at the end step, which activates death triggers, so if Zurgo goes away while the Butcher remains, and I lose, say six Warrior tokens because of it, each of my opponents then have to sacrifice six creatures. One-sided board wipe thanks to a creature I've already cast? Sounds good to me.
Another fun addition is Gornog, The Red Reaper, from Foundations Jumpstart. We're generating Warrior tokens with our Mobilize creatures, so every time we do that, Gornog will let us designate an opposing creature as a Coward, which renders it unable to block any of the tokens, and then Gornog buffs the Warriors based on how many Cowards are now on the field.
Therefore, if I send one creature with Mobilize to each opponent, and they each have one creature in play, I am guaranteed four damage to each of them; those opposing creatures become Cowards, which then can't block Warriors, and there are three Cowards now in play, so every Warrior token gets +3/+0. Synergy!!!!
Extra combats
Generating Warrior tokens every combat means I need as many combat steps as possible! Combat Celebrant, Mourag, Fury of Akoum, Full Throttle, Relentless Assault, and Aggravated Assault are all here to give me as many opportunities to swing in as possible.
Now, back when I had an Arni Metalbrow deck, one consistent issue I kept running into was, even though I could bring in big creatures on the cheap, without a haste enabler, extra combat wouldn't be as potent as I'd need them to be. I do have haste enablers here – Ogre Battledriver will give Warrior tokens haste every turn – that entire issue is mitigated somewhat with the Mobilize mechanic.
While I won't be able to attack with the tokens I generate in the first combat step without haste, I will be able to just create more tokens thanks to Mobilize. Moreover, if Zurgo is on the board, tokens affected by summoning sickness will stick around after being untapped by the extra combat effects. This means I now have a number of available chump blockers for defense as the turn passes around the table. I stay protected while staying on the offensive, it's a win-win!
Noncombat damage and finishers
This deck can get its damage in a number of different ways, even if the strategies above get hampered in some way. Warleader's Call buffs my creatures and adds an Impact Tremors effect to every Warrior token I create, Within Rage provides both tokens and extra damage, and Cathar's Crusade and Goldnight Commander can give absurd buffs to every creature I control in multiple combat situations – getting the math to math correctly will be the main issue with those ones.
From there, Akroma's Will turns a big board into a game-winning board, as does Banner of Kinship in a late-game situation, Dolmen Gate lets me attack with impunity for as long as its on the field, and both Skullclamp and Caretaker's Talent will fuel my hand with more opportunities to get to those game-winning cards. Oh, and to ensure that nothing gets countered on my turn, Voice of Victory will keep spells in my opponent's hand as long as I'm in control.
Cards to consider
There are a few cards that could improve this deck, with Elspeth, Storm Slayer chief among them – I just have to pull her from a booster pack first. Karlach, Fury of Avernus would create additional combats with a first strike buffer, and Isshin, Two Heavens As One would cause Mobilize to trigger twice every combat, which could get out of hand in a hurry.
I'd thought about Orthion, Hero of Lavabrink for token creation, but unless it's a Warrior creature he's copying, I don't know how much I would use that ability. Iroas, God of Victory also fits in well here thanks to granting menace and preventing damage, but like Elspeth, I can't add what I don't own.
That's the Mardubolize deck in a nutshell, and I'm looking forward to getting it on the table and seeing what sort of mischief I can get into with it. In the meantime, keep it locked here on MTGSalvation for deck techs and much more.
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