Arcades, the Strategist
Color Identity
Details
Mana Value
4
Popularity
#949
of 3,381 commanders · via EDHREC
Card Text
Legendary Creature — Elder Dragon
Flying, vigilance
Whenever a creature you control with defender enters, draw a card.
Each creature you control with defender assigns combat damage equal to its toughness rather than its power and can attack as though it didn't have defender.
3/5
Playstyle
Aggro · Steady · Minimal interaction · Wins by combat
- Aggression
- 4 of 5
- Speed
- 3 of 5
- Interaction
- 2 of 5
- Combat
- 5 of 5
- Engine
- 3 of 5
- Complexity
- 2 of 5
Card Price
Strategy Guides
Aggro Strategy Guide
Aggro decks are for players who want to commit threats early, attack often, and make combat math matter every turn. This strategy wants to pressure all opponents with efficient attackers, using anthems, haste, attack triggers, extra combats, and aggro commanders, to win through repeated combat damage before slower engines stabilize. In Commander that still means pushing through 120 total damage, so go-wide aggro EDH decks need refueling and scaling damage rather than only fast starts. Aggro differs from Tokens because it focuses on attacking with the bodies, from Voltron because it spreads pressure across many creatures, and from Infect because it deals life-total damage instead of poison.
Learn more about aggro strategies
Card Draw Strategy Guide
Card Draw decks are for players who want a full hand to be the engine, the protection, and eventually the win condition. This strategy wants to draw extra cards every turn, using card draw commanders, repeatable engines, wheels, and draw payoffs, to win through card advantage EDH plans such as damage triggers, stocked interaction, or superior late-game resources. Unlike Control, it is not only answering threats, and unlike Spellslinger it cares about the draw event more than the spell cast. The best card draw commanders either refill you directly or convert each extra card into pressure.
Learn more about card draw strategies
Control Strategy Guide
Control decks are for players who enjoy deciding which threats matter, spending answers carefully, and winning after the table has slowed down. This strategy wants to stabilize the game, using control commanders, counterspells, removal, sweepers, and card-draw engines, to win through a protected finisher, planeswalker, combo finish, or long-term card advantage. Unlike Stax, Control answers threats on the stack or battlefield instead of locking everyone out of resources. The best control decks EDH players build accept that multiplayer control cannot counter everything, so they lean on sweepers and engines that trade across several opponents.
Learn more about control strategies
Blink Strategy Guide
Blink decks are for players who want every creature to matter more than once. This strategy wants to exile and return creatures with enter-the-battlefield effects, using blink commanders, flicker spells, and repeatable engines, to win through compounding value, protected threats, or trigger loops. Unlike Control, Blink handles the game through reusable creature triggers instead of mostly counterspells, and unlike Tokens it may make bodies incidentally rather than going wide first. The best blink commanders make modest creatures convert into cards, removal, ramp, and rebuilt boards over several turns.
Learn more about blink strategies
Appears in These Collections
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