Over the past few weeks, we've looked at a few Marvel Super Heroes decklists but today is the first time I'll have a Commander deck that feels like a mechanical fit, but a thematic miss for the character I'm building around.

I did a little research on today's Hero and it's impressive how much lore is out there for even the more peripheral characters in the Marvel comics.

Nothing I could capture here will truly give you a real feel for the characters Wizard of the Coast has put onto these Magic: The Gathering cards. For a real dive into any of these characters you'll want to start reading the comics.

Still, today's subject is a human mutant from New York City named Billy Kaplan-Altman. He was a member of the Young Avengers, Strikeforce, Guardians of the Galaxy, and the Avengers, but if you're only familiar with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you might not know him.

Billy is notable as being a prominent openly gay Jewish character in Marvel Comics, and he may become a familiar face as his role in 2024's Agatha All Along is going to be expanded upon in future films and projects. You may know him by his Superhero name, Wiccan.

Wiccan, Rising Magician is a 4/4 Mutant Warlock Hero with a hefty casting cost of . He's got Flying and a really interesting triggered ability. Whenever I cast a noncreature spell, I'll exile another nonland permanent. I'll return that card to the battlefield under its owner's control at the beginning of the next end step.

That effect is commonly called Flickering, while exiling something and having it return immediately is called Blinking. Some players use the two terms interchangeably, but in today's column I'll be using Flicker to describe Wiccan's triggered ability.

How I Approached the Deck

The real reason I felt like my Wiccan build was a thematic miss might not be obvious.

He is going to exile something whenever I cast a noncreature spell and it will return to play on the next end step. I could certainly use that ability to make my opponents' blockers or attackers disappear, but I'm much more interested in seeing what kind of value I can get by exiling my own permanents.

If I was going to squeeze value out of Wiccan, Rising Magician's triggered ability, I'd start by looking at exiling tapped mana rocks so they'd return untapped and usable on the next turn. Creatures with tap abilities won't be able to tap again without Haste, but noncreature Artifacts are going to be great targets for Wiccan.

If I've got a handful of one-mana Instants, I can use a single Arcane Signet on an opponent's turn, cast an Instant, bounce my Signet, and have it return on the end step so I can use it again.

Building around Artifacts is probably perfect for plenty of Heroes but, to me, it doesn't feel right for a character that is a Warlock or a Magician. An Artificer, Scientist, or even a Robot would feel right at home working with Artifacts, but maybe not Wiccan.

I still think this will be a fun deck to play, but it won't feel like a perfect thematic pairing.

That said, a devoted Marvel comics fan might be better able to assess whether a Artifacts deck makes thematic sense for a character like Wiccan. I'm guessing it doesn't.

Beyond Mana Rocks

I am going to run lots of mana rocks in today's build, as my basic premise is solid. I can use Wiccan's ability defensively, but if I'm going to use it to bounce my own permanents then mana rocks are a good place to start.

I'm running a bunch of them, but no fast mana as I'm aiming for Bracket 3. I'm excited about this build because there are tons of great things I can work with that will give me more than just a little extra mana.

Drawing cards is probably the most important thing to do in a game of EDH. My initial focus was to see if there were ways to turn Wiccan's triggered ability into a steady source of card draw.

Circuit Mender is a three-mana Insect Artifact Creature that will gain me two life when it enters play and will draw me a card whenever it leaves. It costs less than Solemn Simulacrum, which will tutor a Land into play tapped and will draw me a card when it dies.

Both are great targets for Wiccan's Flicker ability, but I love that Circuit Mender will help me on the way in and on the way out.

Cryogen Relic is an Artifact that costs and will draw me a card when it enters or leaves the battlefield. I can also pay and sacrifice it to put a stun counter on up to one target tapped Creature, but I'm unlikely to do that unless the circumstances are dire.

In a Wiccan deck, this Artifact should bring me way too much value to want to get rid of it. Drawing two cards is pretty sweet, so you know I'm running both Mulldrifter and Thought Monitor in this list. If I'm feeling clever, Mulldrifter can be cast for its Evoke cost, and with the sacrifice trigger on the stack I can hold priority, cast an Instant and Flicker it.

The best card to use alongside Wiccan, Rising Magician, might be Coveted Jewel. This six-cost Artifact will draw me three cards and can tap to produce three mana of any color. Whenever one or more Creatures an opponent controls attacks me and I don't block, that player will draw three cards and gain control of Coveted Jewel.

It will also untap, but if I've got an Instant in hand and unblocked attackers coming at me, I can again cast an Instant and Flicker it to deny that player the chance to steal my precious little trinket. I could also let them get it and then steal it back by casting an Instant to let Wiccan Flicker my stolen Jewel before my turn comes around again.

There are other potential Flicker targets that go far beyond just drawing cards. I'm running Archaeomancer and Mnemonic Wall as Creatures with enter the battlefield abilities that will return target Instant or Sorcery card from my graveyard to my hand. That can help me keep the value trail rolling. Recursion is important, but it's not as impactful as some of the other cards in today's list.

Glen Elendra Archmage is the kind of Creature that is going to be almost as much of a headache as Spore Frog in a Muldrotha, the Gravetide deck.

I can pay and sacrifice it to counter target noncreature spell. It has Persist, so when it dies, if it didn't have any -1/-1 counters on it, I'll return it to the battlefield under its owner's control with a -1/-1 counter.

If I then cast a spell and use Wiccan to Flicker Glen Elendra Archmage, it will return without any -1/-1 counters, ready to be used again. Countering two spells in a single turn might get tricky, but that's why I included plenty of options in this list:

• Counterspell
• Arcane Denial
• Swan Song
• Stoic Rebuttal
• Narset's Reversal

Flickering a Creature like Diluvian Primordial will have the potential to bring me a ton of value, but as they say - your results may vary. This 5/5 Flying Avatar will enter the battlefield and for each opponent I may cast up to one target Instant or Sorcery spell from that player's Graveyard without paying its mana cost.

Those spells will get exiled if they would be put into a Graveyard. If nobody has anything interesting in their Graveyard, it's not going to do much. If my opponents have been milling themselves, milling each other, or just playing lots of interesting Instants and Sorceries, Diluvian Primordial could break the game wide open.

I try not to play cards and strategies that are miserable to play against, but I'll occasionally make an exception. When Scourge of Fleets enters play, I'll return each Creature my opponents control with toughness X or less to its owner's hand, where X is the number of Islands I control.

This is a mono-Blue deck and I'm running 33 Islands, so if I'm able to Flicker this 6/6 Kraken at least once per turn cycle it's going to be hard for anyone to present a serious threat unless they have a big Creature and a Haste enabler.

If my opponents already have gigantic Creatures, anyone without blockers will be in trouble. Scourge of Fleets only bounces my opponents' Creatures so I should still have blockers.

Flicker Fun

I'm building up a pretty serious Flicker deck, so it makes sense to lean even further into that archetype. That means building additional ways to Blink or Flicker Creatures along with wincons that play into that theme.

I love Kitten decks. Displacer Kitten is my favorite Cat Beast in all of Magic, and this four-mana 3/3 is the kind of support card you can get a ton of value out of. It has a triggered ability that whenever I cast a noncreature spell, I'll Blink up to one target nonland permanent I control. That means I'll exile and return that permanent to the battlefield immediately. I can use this to help any permanent I control to dodge removal spells.

I can use it on any of my Flicker targets. I can't double up a Displacer Kitten and Wiccan trigger on the same target, as whichever trigger gets put on the stack last will resolve first and the second trigger to resolve will no longer have a valid target, as it will have been exiled. In short - I need to not get greedy.

If I target different nonland permanents I'll be fine, and Wiccan, Rising Magician can always target an opponent's nonland permanent if I'm lacking enough valid targets of my own to Flicker.

Hullbreaker Horror lives up to its name. This Kraken Horror has Flash, can't be countered, and whenever I cast a spell, I'll choose one of two modes. I can either return target spell I don't control to its owner's hand, or I can return target nonland permanent to its owner's hand.

That first ability will effectively counter a spell by putting the card back into the caster's hand. The second ability can make infinite mana with fast mana rocks like Mana Vault, Mox Opal or Amber, Sol Ring, and even Mox Jasper if I control a Dragon.

This version of the deck isn't running fast mana, but it's an upgrade path you can consider if you feel like building in that direction.

While I'm not running that combo, I am running a lot of mana rocks and I am running both Dramatic Reversal and Isochron Scepter.

I'm also running Deadeye Navigator and an assortment of support Creatures that can help to make infinite mana. Peregrine Drake, Great Whale, and Palinchron will each untap enough Lands when they enter play that I'll be able to pay Deadeye Navigator's activated ability to flicker the Creature that it has soulbonded to.

Once I've flickered a card like Peregrine Drake a zillion times to bank a ton of mana, I can flicker Deadeye Navigator and soulbond it to another Creature that does something useful when it enters play.

A single Mulldrifter under my control will let me draw my entire deck. I'll have the mana to play Laboratory Maniac or Jace, Wielder of Mysteries, both of which let me win the game if I draw from an empty library.

I'll also have drawn enough cards to have some answers in hand so I can protect my win attempt.

Playing Fair

Not everybody wants to win games through using a combo like Deadeye Navigator and Peregrine Drake. I don't mind combo, but if you think you'll be playing in lower Bracket pods it can be nice to have other options.

To that end, I'm running a handful of Equipment that can be used to turn a Creature into a serious combat threat. Cards like

• Adaptive Omnitool
• Blackblade Reforged
• Nettlecyst
• Strata Scythe

are all great options to give a Creature a decent power boost. Wiccan, Rising Magician has Flying, so it's not unrealistic to think I could Flicker blockers out of the way and get a Commander Damage kill if that's what I need to do.

I'm also running a few ways to get flicker value that aren't associated with playing any combos.

Sword of Hearth and Home gives +2/+2, protection from Green and White, and has a combat damage trigger that will both Blink up to one Creature I own and tutor up a basic Land to the battlefield.

The Land even enters untapped, which is pretty nice, but that sword's trigger does depend upon doing combat damage to a player. I'm also running Ghostly Flicker, and you could easily run additional Flicker or Blink spells in a list like this as they synergize perfectly with what Wiccan is trying to do.

Wiccan, Rising Magician | Commander | Stephen Johnson

• Commander (1)
• 1 Wiccan, Rising Magician

• Creatures (24)
• 1 Agent of Treachery
• 1 Archaeomancer
• 1 Archmage Emeritus
• 1 Archmage of Runes
• 1 Circuit Mender
• 1 Cyberdrive Awakener
• 1 Deadeye Navigator
• 1 Diluvian Primordial
• 1 Displacer Kitten
• 1 Glen Elendra Archmage
• 1 Great Whale
• 1 Hullbreaker Horror
• 1 Laboratory Maniac
• 1 Mnemonic Wall
• 1 Mulldrifter
• 1 Palinchron
• 1 Peregrine Drake
• 1 Pilgrim's Eye
• 1 Scourge of Fleets
• 1 Skittering Surveyor
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Thassa, Deep-Dwelling
• 1 Thought Monitor
• 1 Watcher for Tomorrow

• Planeswalkers (1)
• 1 Jace, Wielder of Mysteries

• Instants (21)
• 1 Aetherize
• 1 Aetherspouts
• 1 Arcane Denial
• 1 Boomerang
• 1 Brainstorm
• 1 Consider
• 1 Counterspell
• 1 Dramatic Reversal
• 1 Fact or Fiction
• 1 Ghostly Flicker
• 1 High Tide
• 1 Narset's Reversal
• 1 Opt
• 1 Pongify
• 1 Rapid Hybridization
• 1 Snap
• 1 Stoic Rebuttal
• 1 Strix Serenade
• 1 Swan Song
• 1 Think Twice
• 1 Thought Scour

• Artifacts (16)
• 1 Adaptive Omnitool
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Blackblade Reforged
• 1 Coveted Jewel
• 1 Cryogen Relic
• 1 Decanter of Endless Water
• 1 Gilded Lotus
• 1 Isochron Scepter
• 1 Lightning Greaves
• 1 Mind Stone
• 1 Nettlecyst
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Strata Scythe
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots
• 1 Sword of Hearth and Home
• 1 Thought Vessel

• Lands (37)
• 33 Island
• 1 Buried Ruin
• 1 Otawara, Soaring City
• 1 Reliquary Tower
• 1 Rogue's Passage

Buy This Deck Export text

If you wanted to drop this list down in power, you would start by dropping out the combo lines and a few of the more degenerate cards like Displacer Kitten and Hullbreaker Horror. Heavy control isn't usually appreciated in lower Bracket play, and while this isn't a heavy control deck, I did include more ways to counter spells than I normally do.

If you wanted to have the deck feel less like a thematic misfire you could take a different direction and build around Enchantments and cards with a more mystical feel to them.

This deck is already presenting a playstyle that might be hard to play in Bracket 2. Even if you aren't hitting your combo until turn nine or ten, and you really need way more than just Deadeye Navigator and Peregrine Drake to actually present a win, folks may not be willing to see this as anything other than a degenerate combo deck.

I'm not running any Game Changers, but you can absolutely run decks without them in Bracket 3. Powering this list up might start with something as simple as adding in Fierce Guardianship, Rhystic Study, Consecrated Sphinx, and maybe a tutor or two to get your game plan online a little quicker.

Early Results

I was able to get this list into a game this past Thursday night. My Tabletop Simulator group missed a few weeks where I would have been playing more causal decks, but we fired up a pod last week and I took this Wiccan, Rising Magician list out for a spin.

I don't dive into everyone's decks, but new staff writer Mike Gallagher was experimenting with Jodah, the Unifier, built around the worst Legendary Creatures he could find.

I was probably on the strongest deck in the pod. I think this might be Bracket 3 even without Game Changers, as it's running enough combo lines to be problematic in lower Bracket play. I was able to get a lot of early value out of Cryogen Relic, and later in the game out of Coveted Jewel. I was drawing cards like crazy, and my cause was definitely helped by a tablemate's Mesmeric Orb.

I never saw any of my Voltron pieces until the very end, so I wasn't able to present much of a threat with Commander Damage or even a single big Flying attacker. I saw lots of mana rocks, and I Flickered plenty of them with my Wiccan triggers. As I was getting towards the late game I saved from a Jodah alpha strike with a swift Aetherspouts.

I found that I was seeing a lot more Creatures than I wanted so I could see dropping the Creature count in this list to make it easier to draw into noncreature spells.

My game-winning turn came when I had about a quarter of my deck left. I was able to play Displacer Kitten and then play High Tide and Blink Coveted Jewel. I then kept playing noncreature spells like Lightning Greaves and Thought Vessel and using Kitten and Coveted Jewel to keep drawing cards.

At one point I tapped seven Lands, banking mana, and played Great Whale, untapping seven Lands.

Then I played Deadeye Navigator to present the infinite mana combo. I had also drawn into Isochron Scepter and I had Dramatic Reversal in hand thanks to an earlier Flicker of Archaeomancer, so if my Deadeye combo got stopped, I still had Dramatic Scepter to fall back on. I also make sure to draw into a counterspell, Stoic Rebuttal, before attempting the win.

We had lost one player due to connection issues, and the other two players were out of answers, so I was able to show Laboratory Maniac and Jace, Wielder of Mysteries, to demonstrate the win. I'd be flickering Thought Monitor with Deadeye to draw myself out.

My win was possibly as late as turn ten, but I still feel funny about winning like that against decks that are primarily going to try to win by going to combat.

Nobody complained, and it certainly wasn't early, but I generally avoid combo wins in that playgroup. We aim more for Bracket 2 games than Bracket 3 games. Combo is allowed in Bracket 3, but it's a personal preference for me to play those types of decks less often, even if the win usually involves a bunch of cards and happens an hour and a half into the game.

Final Thoughts

You might be wondering why on Earth I'm not running Portal to Phyrexia in this list, along with ways to cheat that nine-mana removal piece into play.

Portal to Phyrexia is very good, but the idea of forcing my opponents to sacrifice three Creatures multiple times each turn cycle doesn't sound like a way to create an enjoyable game experience for anyone - even me.

I also famously avoid playing Praetors and Eldrazi that have Annihilator triggers. If you're having no fun at all, I probably won't be having fun either.

Thursday night's win happened two days after a very rare unbeaten (4-0) Tuesday night at my favorite LGS.

It takes a lot of things to go right to not lose a single game on a night of playing Commander, but when you play two to three times a week, over the course of a year you're going to have a few of those nights. It's much, much more likely to have an "oh-fer" in casual EDH where you play a bunch of times but somehow don't win a single match.

If I've been on a lucky streak. I try to bring weaker decks the next time I go to the LGS or play with my online group. Sometimes that luck continues, but I don't think anyone wants a player to dominate every game.

I don't even want to go undefeated, but I'm not going to throw a game so my way of letting up on the gas is just to shift to lower powered decks. Sometimes it works, but sometimes you just "have a night" and catch all the breaks.

That's all I've got for today. Thanks for reading and I'll see you next week!