MTG Salvation

I'm putting together my very first commander deck! I'm trying to make it fairly optimized for a weekly casual game night.

I'm starting with this card list:

https://decks.tcgplayer.com/magic/commander/the-commander-s-quarters/arcades--the-strategist---break-the-bank---the-commander-s-quarters/1346768

I think I'm going replace Reclamation Sage with Aura Shards

I really want to include Meekstone, but not sure what to take out. Advice appreciated.

I also was thinking about including Huatli, the Sun's Heart, but I wasn't sure if it was worth it. Thoughts?

EDIT: adding my cardlist to the thread directly:

COMMAND ZONE 1
Arcades, the Strategist

MAINDECK 99
Creature 45

• Angelic Wall
  
• Axebane Guardian
  
• Beastcaller Savant
  
• Carven Caryatid
  
• Doorkeeper
  
• Fortified Rampart
  
• Hover Barrier
  
• Jeskai Barricade
  
• Jungle Barrier
  
• Mnemonic Wall
  
• Murmuring Phantasm
  
• Orator of Ojutai
  
• Overgrown Battlement
  
• Perimeter Captain
  
• Portcullis Vine
  
• Reclamation Sage
  
• Resolute Watchdog
  
• Sakura-Tribe Elder
  
• Saruli Caretaker
  
• Shield Sphere
  
• Stalwart Shield-Bearers
  
• Steel Wall
  
• Sunscape Familiar
  
• Suspicious Bookcase
  
• Sylvan Caryatid
  
• Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive
  
• Thallid Shell-Dweller
  
• Tree of Redemption
  
• Ulvenwald Captive
  
• Vine Trellis
  
• Wall of Blossoms
  
• Wall of Deceit
  
• Wall of Denial
  
• Wall of Essence
  
• Wall of Frost
  
• Wall of Glare
  
• Wall of Hope
  
• Wall of Ice
  
• Wall of Junk
  
• Wall of Mist
  
• Wall of Mulch
  
• Wall of Omens
  
• Wall of Roots
  
• Wall of Tanglecord
  
• Wall of Tears

Spell 20

• Assault Formation
  
• Azorius Signet
  
• Edge of Autumn
  
• Eerie Interlude
  
• Farseek
  
• Fell the Mighty
  
• Ghostway
  
• Heroic Intervention
  
• High Alert
  
• Panharmonicon
  
• Rampant Growth
  
• Return to the Ranks
  
• Selesnya Signet
  
• Sight of the Scalelords
  
• Simic Signet
  
• Slaughter the Strong
  
• Song of Freyalise
  
• Tower Defense
  
• Wave of Reckoning
  
• Wild Pair

LAND 34
Non-Basic Land 18

• Bant Panorama
  
• Canopy Vista
  
• Command Tower
  
• Esper Panorama
  
• Evolving Wilds
  
• Exotic Orchard
  
• Glacial Fortress
  
• Grasslands
  
• Hinterland Harbor
  
• Krosan Verge
  
• Naya Panorama
  
• Port Town
  
• Prairie Stream
  
• Seaside Citadel
  
• Sunpetal Grove
  
• Temple Garden
  
• Terramorphic Expanse
  
• Yavimaya Coast

Basic Land 16
9 Forest
2 Island
5 Plains

Other possible cards: Dusk // Dawn and Wall of Shards

replacing rec sage with aura shards seems reasonable (although they're both very good, aura shards is definitely a more powerful card).

replacements for meekstone...song of freyalise maybe? Not sure you go wide enough to really make it great.

huatli seems bad. Not only do you have to protect her, but she doesn't let your defenders attack like the other cards with the same effect.

I love playing odric, lunarch marshal in my arcades build. At the very least with arcades out all your walls have flying and vigilance

Hilariously, odric would be better in this instance if he also copied defender, so arcades would fight with toughness as well

My main gripes with the list is a number of rather suboptimal dorks and an absolute lack of instant speed spot removal. Land ramp is superior when possible, and you're in green. As such, it's available. I get that Beastcaller Savant helps you get out a turn three Arcades, but I feel this task would be better accomplished by Nature's Lore (especially if you fork over for the missing shocks and slot in the AKH G/W land). The other low-drop ramp chickens that are a bit iffy (Saruli Caretaker, Sylvan Caryatid, Ulvenwald Captive) at least have the decency of being defenders, so that might be worth it for you. Edge of Autumn and Song of Freyalise are a bit dubious. It's not like once you hit five lands you don't need any more mana, silly card. The only bit of affordable (i.e. not Three Visits) turn three Arcades land ramp the list is missing would be Search for Tomorrow. You could also look into the classic Cultivate variants, or even consider Wayfarer's Bauble/Font of Fertility.

As for spot removal, I'd start with Beast Within and Swords to Plowshares. Neither will break the bank, both will work quite well. Path to Exile would be lovely, but may be a bit outside budget?

Ah, Defender Tribal. Arcades makes them less of a liability because they can draw cards and attack, but it makes your deck VERY conditional on keeping Arcades in play since your deck doesn't really do anything else without him.

I have a pseudo-Primer list that I'd love to point you to for some inspiration as well as some card choice analysis. It might be helpful to you as you improve your decklist and/or change its core strategy. You can find it here. It's combo oriented, which may not be something you're looking for, but it's really quite adaptable to your budget and your playgroup.

I agree that adding in more removal would be a great idea. Also, I recommend that you actually post your deck using the deck tags.

To use them, you'll simply use [DECK] at the beginning of the list and then use [/DECK] at the end of the decklist. That should put your decklist into a format that's easily viewable without forcing visitors to a different site.

Thanks for all the advice. I super appreciate it.

It's so expensive, but maybe I really should get a Paradox Engine because it's crazy in this deck.

I'm now thinking about adding Burgeoning due to the card draw available from this deck (see Arcades, the Strategist - Panharmonicon - Wild Pair - Carven Caryatid - Jungle Barrier - Orator of Ojutai - Wall of Omens - Ghostway - Eerie Interlude) and the number of lands played in a free-for-all commander game, this seems like a really great way to provide ramp. It could probably replace some of the weaker ramp spells. While I'm at it, maybe I will add Haven of the Spirit Dragon. Song of Freyalise provides some decent temporary ramp and nice round 3 ability for two mana, but upon further reflection, giving creature a tap for mana ability is not that great when the creatures still have summoning sickness. Nature's Lore seems like a solid addition. What is the AKH G/W land (I'm a little behind on the lingo, sorry)???

I still like Meekstone because it does a lot for one mana, but I would still need to figure out what to take out (also playing meekstone would make me a huge target in a multiplayer game).

I like the idea of spot removal, but I'm still struggling to find room for the removal spells. Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile are both great cards, but it's hard to know what to remove to make room for them in my deck. Cyclonic Rift would also be really nice (it just has so much utility), but boy is it expensive... But on the other hand, it can basically be the difference in winning me the game... tough decisions.

I have an arcadees deck. I have many fewer creatures then you do. I would recommend cutting some for interaction and mana ramp as others have said.

Here’s my list for inspiration.

http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/arcades-wall-ball-2/

It's not necessary to spend $30 ish for the Paradox Engine. Intruder Alarm gives the same benefit, even if it does affect your opponents as well. Consider it a budget option that you should use only with proper timing. I encourage you to have the best deck possible but also respect budget constraints!

The Amonkhet Bicycle lands is what they're called. I believe the Azorius and Selesnya lands are Irrigated Farmland and Scattered Groves. AGain, great budget options that are cactually live draws in the late game!

Some cards that I think I would feel comfortable cutting from your list, as shown on the OP (original post):



In order to really push the "Tribal" synergies of the deck, you want to have about 1/3 of your creatures be Defender. After cutting these, you still have 33+ Defender creatures, so you should be fine. Cutting these cards will allow you to add some spot removal to your deck and some additional utility cards as well.

I think Eldrazi Displacer, Brago, King Eternal, and Deadeye Navigator are good ways to take advantage of Arcades' trigger repeatedly while also being good cards by themselves. They should all be relatively budget options as well, making them affordable to you.

For actual spot removal, I would recommend the following as great budget cards that are highly useful: Swords to Plowshares, Nature's Claim, Return to Nature, Reality Shift, Beast Within, Knight of Autumn, Reflector Mage, and Blink of an Eye. All of them are great spot removal effects that I've had a lot of success with in any budget build I've tried.