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Building Around Galazeth Prismari in Commander

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Hello all! I hope that you are having a wonderful day today!

Today I want to do something a little different for you. We are going to build a Commander deck around a spoiled creature from Strixhaven. None of them have been built over at EDHREC.com yet. It's a great time to build a deck because there is no accepted canon for the build yet.

Normally when I build a Commander deck, I look it up over at CSI.com and then I use those cards as the foundation of where I create my deck. And then when I go off script and add in other cards, I make a note of it in my article when I do my deep dive into the cards I chose. However, today? We have no decks over at EDHREC.com yet so I have nothing to look at. It's brand-new snow and I get to make the first footprint! However, please note that I write these a week in advance (or more in this case), so by now there may be data for you to compare to.

Who am I building around? Let's grab one of the Elder Dragons that founded one of the schools at Strixhaven!

Galazeth Prismari

This is Galazeth Prismari. As you can see, on arrival, this fun Elder Dragon will make a Treasure for you. He'll make your artifacts tap for any color of mana like a Manalith, but they cannot be used for anything but a sorcery or instant. Our leader also costs just four mana and gives you a solid body from your investment. You are going to want artifacts, and then you are going to want to run a bunch of sorceries and instants to net you cards with reduced costs. (I will be using the word "spell" as shorthand for sorceries and instants in the rest of this article).

What am I looking for? Great question!

  1. Artifact Making Spells. Our leader inspires me! Look at Red's common ability to make Treasure tokens via spells like Pirate's Pillage.
  2. Artifact Making Non-Spells. Actually, we should add in other ways to make artifacts via non-spells as well as with them. Want a great example that popped into my head. Check out Pia and Kiran Nalaar, which makes two artifact creatures on arrival. They also serve as a great way to sacrifice artifacts for damage to things.
  3. Artifact Creatures. In addition to making artifacts with cards like spells, we should add in actual, proper artifact creatures like Solemn Simulacrum. Other creatures won't make the cut in our build so commonly played dorks like Consecrated Sphinx are out as they won't help our theme.
  4. Artifact Lovin'. If we have enough artifacts we should lean into Blue's mad love for artifacts.
  5. Big Spells. Because we are making a lot of artifacts with our first three cards, our payoff will be big Izzet sorceries and instants that will push us to a powerful game-winning position like Insurrection or Expropriate. These big effects will be the reward for our investment in artifacts as we'll have our normal lands, mana rocks like Sol Ring and more.

Do I run Manaliths in this build like Commander's Sphere or Darksteel Ingot or Skyclave Relic? Since every artifact is a Manalith for the big stuff? What I'll do is only a few Manaliths, like the Relic and the Sphere, that do other things. The Relic can kick for three artifacts, which we want.

Ready? Let's get started!

Brass's Bounty
Curse of Opulence

Let's begin with the massive Treasure making of Brass's Bounty. Isn't it amazing in this deck? It's a massive seven-drop in this build as you'll net at least four or five mana from your lands and could easily net a lot more! Your artifacts will help tap for this as well as mana rocks, so it's pretty cool! Now look at Curse of Opulence. This is a cheap Curse you can drop down early. When you do, you can choose someone and then as folks attack the Cursed player you each get a Gold token. Attack away! Drop it in the first main phase, choose someone without any defenders, and then swing for a Gold and then keep up the pressure! Free artifacts for all!

Look at Shiny Impetus! Place it on an opposing creature and then it must attack each combat and it cannot attack you unless it cannot attack anyone else (for instance, if everyone else has died). It also gets bigger. I like tossing this on a commander to help increase their commander damage. As it attacks, you'll net a Treasure token each time. You can also drop it on your own leader and swing with the boost and then make the token proactively rather than reactively.

Rapacious Dragon
Dockside Extortionist

We have a few creatures here and there that will create Treasures for you on arrival to the battlefield including this duo. I like the Dragon here as it's pretty good at dropping two Treasures for one card as well as having a solid flying body which is uncommon in this build. I really enjoy the Goblin Pirate which is heavily played in Commander and it'll net you more Treasures the longer you hold onto it! Like I said, it's so heavily played in Commander that it's been registered 34,428 times over at EDHREC.com! Pretty good pair, right? Right!

Now let's break down Goldspan Dragon! As it attacks it makes a Treasure token. It's a great target for your Shiny Impetus as you'll net two tokens when it swings. It has flying and haste and you should be able to get at least one swing in before removal arrives. You'll also have the ability to sac Treasures for two mana, which is pretty nifty and cool as you can double ramp your big stuff! A 10-mana spell could be cast more easily be sacrificing some Treasures for 2 mana each.

And check out the cool ness of Storm the Vault! As your team deals combat damage to a foe, you'll get a cool Treasure token! Note that you'll only get one Treasure per combat step barring combat damage from first strike or double strike and normal combat as well (which we don't have here). At the end of your turn, you can flip it into a Tolarian Academy if you control at least five artifacts and that's another big ramp option in the deck!

Gilded Assault Cart

I have added in every Treasure card in these colors and I tossed in a single Vehicle as well, the Assault Cart. You get a powerful 5/1 trampler for a small crew cost. Pretty solid upgrade and you can break through pretty easily. But that low toughness can lead to deaths. No worries, you can recur it by sacrificing Treasures. Plus, you can just tap it as a Manalith while you control your leader!

Scrap Trawler
Sharding Sphinx

Look at these artifact partners. The Trawler is great at dying for the cause and can recur something smaller for free to the battlefield. This will work for other artifacts as well recurring things like artifact lands such as Great Furnace or cheaper cards. I also love the Sphinx here as it will net you a ton of 1/1 flying Thopters as your artifact team makes the punches.

Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain
Emry, Lurker of the Loch

Check out this pair of creatures that are included in the set! These are the last creatures we'll look at. Jhoira Take Two cares about historic cards and you'll get a card each time you cast one, and that includes your legendary stuff and your many artifacts! Emry will tag team with Scrap Trawler to give you great fuel for recursion. She'll also tap for casting an artifact from your graveyard for great card advantage! These are a fun team of taggery!

I have six planeswalkers in this build. Want to check them out?

Let's start with our two Saheelis: Saheeli, the Gifted and Saheeli, Sublime Artificer! Can you see why The Gifted version is here? It's for that first +1 that makes an artifact Servo token! That's a lot of artifacts! Can you see why the Sublime Artificer version of her is also here? We have a ton of noncreatures in this build! I have just 18 non-Commander creatures in my build, so we'll have a lot of triggers of more Servos for the win!

Daretti, Scrap Savant
Karn, Scion of Urza

Daretti is awesome here. You can +2 to discard and draw netting you gas for cards like Emry, Goblin Welder, Scrap Trawler, his own ability and and more like Buried Ruin. You can also just use his +2 for valuable card flow for the win! I love Karn too. Normally I run him for that powerful +1 for cards, and if you need cards then do so. But he's here for that -2 which he can do twice before needing more fuel. That will make a powerful 0/0 artifact Construct!

Tezzeret, Artifice Master
Dack Fayden

Check out this final pair of 'walkers! Tezzeret can turn his +1 into a flying Thopter for going wide and up. Make those artifacts! And Dack? He's here to -2 and steal those artifacts to add to your own group, but don't sleep on his +1, which is better than Deretti's as it'll draw first and then discard. It has all of the synergies of Daretti's +2.

Let's look at a few spells and then maybe some lands before we call it!

Time Stretch
Nexus of Fate

Want to take some extra turns? Sure thing! I've got it! Each of these will add to your turn-taking approach. The first one may cost 10 mana, but that's easy in a brew like this one with your leader out and the latter is cheaper and can be drawn and recast over and over again! It's also the rare Time Walk instant, so it has added value here.

Forget taking turns! Just beat them! Urza's Rage can be cast early as a Lightning Bolt that cannot be countered, and later, when you have the kicker mana, you get 10 damage, uncountered and unpreventable! And then you can just Searing Wind for 10 damage at someone's face. Both can just kill off a player quite ably or take out most dorks or planeswalkers. Good duo!

Want to draw cards? Sure thing, I've got the sorcery for you! Just tap 7 mana to draw seven nasty cards with Overflowing Insight. It's basically a Wheel of Fortune for just you where you don't have to discard first! I also tossed in two X Spell card drawing effects with Braingeyser and Stroke of Genius. I love them both here!

Foundry of the Consuls
Academy Ruins

Look at this pair of non-basic lands. The Foundry can be sacrificed for two artifacts and that's pretty sick, right? Right! They can tap for mana or swing as they have that cool flying. The Ruins is the best nonbasic in the build and adds a lot of power to the deck as your best dead card on your library to draw. I like spending mana at the end of someone's turn and then untapping and drawing what you just put on the top of your deck.

Ready for the decklist? Let's do it!

Galazeth Prismari | Commander | Abe Sargent


And there we go! What did you think of my non-EDHREC.com build around one of the new Elder Dragons? I hope that you enjoyed it lots! Let me know what you thought of my deck in the comments below!


Commander HQ: Decklists and Strategy for Strixhaven's Legendary Creatures!

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