In the Deck Box: Arcum Dagsson

Happy Thursday, CNG! Wow, has it really been over a year since the last Into the Deck Box? Yeesh. Well, I haven't had the chance to do one yet (and Theros hasn't been sufficiently spoiled for me to rate new cards), so today's article will be about my first Commander, Arcum Dagsson.

SEE DECK!

Let's start with his stats. 3U for a 2/2 means I'm obviously not interested in dealing 21 Commander damage, so he must have a pretty strong ability. 'T: Target artifact creature's controller sacrifices it. That player may search his or her library for a noncreature artifact, put it on the battlefield, then shuffle his or her library' What a mouthful! In short, Arcum targets an artifact creature to Tinker into a noncreature artifact.

Goodbye, Ornithopter and hello Darksteel Forge! I built Arcum as a toolbox-style combo deck, playing answers to just about every threat in the game, while simultaneously having a range of my own threats that interact in powerful, but not immediately degenerate ways. I phrase it like that because most combos are inherently degenerate, but I generally chose to exclude the piece that obviously completes the combo (ex: Darksteel Forge + Nevinyrral's Disk + Mycosynthe Lattice).

The deck started off as a Myr tribal deck (as evidenced by ten Myr-themed cards within) featuring Hanna, Ship's Navigator as the Commander, but Stephen convinced me that Arcum's power level was too high to ignore and I made the switch. This deck is both an exercise and display of effect-availability across colors because most of my answers are colorless due to Blue's weakness to resolved threats. Creatures can be removed by Brittle Effigy and Lux Cannon, some life drain can be prevented by Witchbane Orb, and reanimation can be nipped at the bud by Tormod's Crypt.

There are artifacts I tutor for almost every game such as Myr Turbine to produce more fodder or Spine of Ish Sah to remove troublesome Aura Shards or Planeswalkers, but I usually prefer playing to the cards in my hand. Although I could tutor out the Darksteel Forge every game, it is much more satisfying to instead look at the Myr Battlesphere in my hand and find the Crystal Shard or Coat of Arms, or find Voltaic Key for my Lux Cannon, or use Liquimetal Coating to turn Arcum into an Avatar of Woe with amusing side-effects. The point of a singleton format like Commander is variance, so I try to prevent the deck from becoming stale for myself and my friends and instead search for a victory I have not yet used.

As far as actual combos/interactions go:

• Silver Myr + Arcum Dagsson: turn 3 General with sac fodder on board. Not really a combo, but strong start to a game. 
• Darksteel Forge + Nev Disk: one-sided Planar Cleansing (completed by Liquimetal Coating for Planeswalkers). 
• Voltaic Key + Lux Cannon: Vindicate every other Untap step.
• Etched Champion + Batterskull: 6/6 Lifelink, Vigilance, 'psued-unblockable' pain-train.
• Myr Turbine + Coat of Arms: aggro route, often complemented by Myr Battlesphere off of Turbine's second ability. 
• Inkwell Leviathan + Sculpting Steel + Phyrexian Metamorph: what's better than a 7/11 Shroud, Trample, Islandwalk? Three of them!
• Planar Portal + Caged Sun: Tapping Islands for UU helps feed the mana-hungry portal. 
• Darksteel Citadel + Mana Vault + Mox Opal: turn 1 Arcum. Hasn't actually happened yet, but I cross my fingers every game. 
• Spine of Ish Sah + Sculpting Steel + Krark-Clan Ironworks + Etherium Sculptor + Shimmer Myr: Free, Instant-speed, recurrable Vindicate. Basically ends games that have gone on longer than three hours.

Although the deck runs about as smoothly as I could ask, there are a few cards I might replace. Beguiler of Wills works well with Myr Battlesphere, but Vedalken Shackles are better in a vacuum. Witchbane Orb prevents Drain Life and infinite combos, but is often a dead draw. I'm trying Crystal Shard right now to protect Arcum or punish tap-outs, but it isn't doing as much work as I would have liked. These cards are mostly metagame choices that switch out often. Cards I've considered adding are the aforementioned Vedalken Shackles (for game-changers like Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite), but non-bos with Unwinding Clock), Brainstorm (for those awkward times when you draw the tutorable answer), and Epochrasite (returning Arcum target).

As far as Theros is concerned, the only card I'm genuinely interested in is Curse of the Swine. Blue has trouble spot-removing creatures as it is, and once you throw indestructibility or recursion into the mix, I really only have Brittle Effigy (which exiles itself). Curse of the Swine allows me to answer a number of Avacyn-buffed beaters from Kaalia of the Vast and lets me go over High Market for all but one creature in Karador, Ghost Chieftain. The Bacon leftovers can easily be cleaned up by an Evacuation or Steel Hellkite. Devotion, on the other hand has no place here. Although the mechanic works best in a mono-colored deck, Arcum only has thirteen Blue permanents and Phyrexian Metamorph barely counts. That aside, I'm hopeful that the rest of the set will bring more goodies.

I hope you enjoyed this Into the Deck Box and feel free to ask any questions, make suggestions, etc. Next month, once the set drops like a fat beat, I'll bring you the Top 8 Commander cards from Theros. Until next time, folks!

Check out the MTG Casual Net Archive and connect with us on Facebook!

-Javier Remy