Disclaimer: The advice in this article should only be used if you believe your play group plays no-limits Commander. The author takes no responsibility for physical harm from altercations resulting from the use of the following advice.
In the first war with Phyrexia, the Coalition forces defeated Yawgmoth by assembling the legacy weapon. This was incredibly effective, because Yawgmoth and the Phyrexians were unaware of the assembly and existence of the legacy weapon. For some time, the Arcum deck has run using the same tactic. Arcum would tutor up new and different pieces until a combo would lead to victory. Players became aware of certain combos. As long as Arcum wasn’t assembling something they had seen before, they allowed pieces to be found and put together. The Acrum deck stole victories from unsuspecting opponents.
Time would show that there was a flaw in this tactic. Eventually, opponents of Arcum came to the conclusion that they did not need to understand what was being built. Whatever Arcum would search for was part of something larger and more dangerous. Arcum had become the archenemy. This is a problem many combo generals have faced. When a deck has become a threat serious enough to unify I’s enemies, two options are available; give up a tactic or find a way to even the odds.
The number one obstacle to overcome is card advantage. Opponents will be drawing more cards, taking more turns and playing more lands than can be consistently outpaced. The best that can be hoped for is negating the advantages. Locking down opponents’ lands and permanents with cards like Static Orb and Winter Orb can cull the additional mana resources they could have available. To insure that the same disadvantages are not suffered, cards like Icy Manipulator, Mind over Matter, and Clock of Omens can be used to tap down the orbs at the end of opponents turn to free up mana. Cards like Mishra’s Helix and Orb of Dreams can make things even more difficult for opponents.
Even through the strongest of locks, opponents can find ways to get through and throw permanents into play. The best option is to steal anything that can get on to the battlefield. This can be achieved through artifacts like Helm of Possession and Vedalken Shackles, or enchantments such as Corrupted Conscience. Another option is to bounce permanents back to opponents’ hands. Forcing opponents to replay spells will drain their resources that have been made few and precious. The spells that are preferred for such work are spells that can repeatedly bounce permanents, such as Capsize or Crystal Shard. As a last line of defense, defenses can be set up to make traditional creature based attack plans difficult. Cards like Propaganda and Ensnaring Bridge can slow down the relentless assault of enemies.
The basic idea behind getting past a group assault is making playing cards as difficult as possible for opponents. The harder they have to work to break through a lock, the less resources they will have available to stop a doomsday device from being constructed.
Keep in mind, that even after the use of the Legacy weapon, the Phyrexians are back and they are as strong as ever. When you fight an inexorable tide, you will eventually be washed away. You can use this advice to slow the flood of enemies, but you are fighting a very difficult battle.
The Arcum list has been updated to try and deal with the amount of hate thrown its way. Here is the new list;
1 Blightsteel Colossus
1 Karn, Silver Golem
1 Memnarch
1 Myr Retriever
1 Scarecrone
1 Silver Myr
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Treasure Mage
1 Trinket Mage
1 Voltaic Construct
Spells
1 Artificer's Intuition
1 Basalt Monolith
1 Beacon of Tomorrows
1 Brittle Effigy
1 Capsize
1 Clock of Omens
1 Corrupted Conscience
1 Counterspell
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Cryptic Command
1 Crystal Shard
1 Darksteel Forge
1 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Fabricate
1 Force of Will
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Grim Monolith
1 Helm of Possession
1 Hinder
1 Icy Manipulator
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Mind Over Matter
1 Mind Stone
1 Mindslaver
1 Mishra's Helix
1 Mox Diamond
1 Mox Opal
1 Mycosynth Lattice
1 Nevinyrral's Disk
1 Nuisance Engine
1 Orb of Dreams
1 Pithing Needle
1 Planar Portal
1 Power Artifact
1 Reshape
1 Rings of Brighthearth
1 Rocket Launcher
1 Scroll Rack
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Static Orb
1 Stoic Rebuttal
1 Temple Bell
1 Thousand-Year Elixir
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Transmute Artifact
1 Vedalken Shackles
1 Voltaic Key
1 Winter Orb
Lands
1 Academy Ruins
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Blinkmoth Nexus
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1 Eye of Ugin
1 Gargoyle Castle
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Hall of the Bandit Lord
1 Inkmoth Nexus
15 Island
1 Maze of Ith
1 Mishra's Factory
1 Mishra's Workshop
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Mystifying Maze
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Stalking Stones
1 Strip Mine
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Tolaria West
1 Urza's Factory
1 Wasteland
Thank you for reading! Please let me know if there is any subject you would like to see discussed.
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