Arcum DagssonArcum Dagsson | Art by Pete Venters

It's about that time! Welcome back to a cEDH edition of Fire and Ice, voted the #1 Commander data analysis series this side of the Mississippi!

This is a data-driven article where I go over cards that are becoming more or less popular for different Commander decks, and talk about why they may be gaining or losing popularity. I'm Julia, EDHREC's Duchess of Data, and I'm super excited to jump into today's article! As a reminder, the math that supports this series is detailed in this article.

EDHREC, of course, has a ton of data. We'll draw conclusions from that data about how certain commanders' decks have changed over time, give insight about new cards, and hopefully provide some tech for your favorite commander's list.

Today, we're focusing on Arcum Dagsson. This Human Artificer is as ancient as the machines he summons, seeing his first release 20 years ago in Coldsnap. He currently ranks as the 836th-most-popular legend on EDHREC.

Arcum DagssonArcum Dagsson

What's Hot and What's Not for Arcum Dagsson?

For , Arcum Dagsson is a 2/2 Human Artificer. We can him and sacrifice an artifact creature to search our library for a noncreature artifact and place it directly onto the battlefield! While Arcum's certainly not passing the vanilla test, his tutor ability is super, super powerful. We can drastically alter the game just by turning this old man sideways!

Among this commander's most popular cards are SpellskiteSpellskite (63% inclusion rate), God-Pharaoh's StatueGod-Pharaoh's Statue (54% inclusion rate), and The One RingThe One Ring (47% inclusion rate).

What's Fiery for Arcum Dagsson Decks?

H.E.R.B.I.E., Lovable RobotH.E.R.B.I.E., Lovable Robot - Fire Score of 6.93

This list already plays a ton of two-mana dorks, like Silver MyrSilver Myr and Ornithopter of ParadiseOrnithopter of Paradise, so it's no surprise that H.E.R.B.I.E. is gaining popularity fast. These dorks let us ramp up to Arcum quickly and then become sacrifice fodder.

This Robot Scout does a bit more than just make mana, though. It also lets us surveil whenever we cast a noncreature spell. According to some Arcum pilots I spoke to, it's ideal to land H.E.R.B.I.E. in the early game, surveil two or three times with its triggered ability, and then get rid of it to grab a much cooler artifact. It may not seem like much, but seeing a few extra cards in a given cEDH game can be the difference between winning and losing!

Fateful DiscoveryFateful Discovery - Fire Score of 4.81

This card is bonkers! This Kindred DiscoveryKindred Discovery look-alike doesn't have a restriction on tokens, meaning we can draw a card when something as simple as a Clue or a Treasure enters the field. We can get a boatload of value from Fateful Discovery.

This enchantment, of course, is part of numerous infinite combos. It goes infinite with tons of cards, like Sensei's Divining TopSensei's Divining Top and The Locust GodThe Locust God (not relevant for this list). Check out its page on Commander Spellbook for more!

Sewer-veillance CamSewer-veillance Cam - Fire Score of 3.22

This artifact is a massive swing with Arcum. It's great to untap something like Winter OrbWinter Orb or The One RingThe One Ring with its ETB trigger, and we can even draw a few cards if we've got extra mana lying around.

If we manage to get something like Encroaching MycosynthEncroaching Mycosynth on the field, we're suddenly able to use this Cam to untap our commander! An extra Arcum activation can flip the game on its head right quick.

The Ten RingsThe Ten Rings - Fire Score of 3.08

We won't be casting this artifact often, so it's gaining popularity as a target to be fetched up with Arcum's ability. It'll draw us tons of cards at the beginning of each end step, ensuring that we've always got a full grip to play with.

There are a few problems. Namely, we have to wait until the end step to draw these cards. That means our opponents have a large window to remove this artifact before we get any benefit from it. Also, this is an artifact! It's easy to remove with any number of Untimely MalfunctionUntimely Malfunction or Force of VigorForce of Vigor-style effects. This card is cool, but I don't know if it has staying power.

Ultron, Artificial MalevolenceUltron, Artificial Malevolence - Fire Score of 2.76

According to some smart people on the Arcum Dagsson Discord server, the best cards to copy with this triggered ability are Portal to PhyrexiaPortal to Phyrexia and Sewer-veillance CamSewer-veillance Cam. I'd also point out SpellskiteSpellskite as a great way to mess with our opponents. We can even copy Invasion SubmersibleInvasion Submersible to keep our opponents' two best threats off the board!

Players are divided on this card's strength, though. Some players like the synergy it has with ETB abilities, but others think that it costs a bit too much mana to make consistent use of. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

What's Icy for Arcum Dagsson Decks?

ManakinManakin - Ice Score of -2.46

While two-mana dorks are still good, it's likely that Manakin is being swapped out directly for H.E.R.B.I.E., Lovable RobotH.E.R.B.I.E., Lovable Robot.

H.E.R.B.I.E. can add mana of any color with its filtering ability, and even lets us see extra cards by surveilling. It's just a better card than Manakin. Yes, the adorkable Robot Scout is legendary, but that hardly matters in our singleton format.

Unwinding ClockUnwinding Clock - Ice Score of -2.07

This artifact is not great for this deck specifically. Lots of the important artifacts in our deck provide value from static or triggered abilities and don't need to to do much.

If we manage to turn our commander into an artifact using Liquimetal TorqueLiquimetal Torque, Unwinding Clock will be an all-star. Otherwise, it's just okay.

CounterspellCounterspell - Ice Score of -2.05

Actual, factual counterspell is good, but maybe not good enough for Commander's most competitive folks anymore.

With fantastic pieces of interaction like Swan SongSwan Song, An Offer You Can't RefuseAn Offer You Can't Refuse, and Mana DrainMana Drain seeing play alongside a bevy of free counterspells, it's hard to justify playing this classic spell.

Isochron ScepterIsochron Scepter - Ice Score of -1.75

This artifact is part of a famous combo with Dramatic ReversalDramatic Reversal and can allow us to untap our commander over and over again to fetch up progressively cooler artifacts from our library.

Some Arcum players pointed out that this combo doesn't always let us win the game immediately (we won't always have an outlet for infinite mana) and requires a lot of setup. Other pilots noted that this combo also doesn't beat out players who've got Mystic RemoraMystic Remora or Rhystic StudyRhystic Study on the field, making it even less appealing.

Urza, Lord High ArtificerUrza, Lord High Artificer - Ice Score of -1.54

Urza is a lovely card, but he's better suited as the leader of his own deck. Urza is best when he's surrounded by an army of cheap artifacts that can to add . Here, he may provide us with a nice boost in resources, but we're often more interested in maximizing the potential of Arcum Dagsson himself.

Urza is a good synergy piece for mono- artifact decks, but strikes me as more of a staple in Bracket 4 Arcum decks, rather than Bracket 5 ones.

What's in an Arcum Dagsson Deck?

Here's a cEDH Arcum deck with all of his Fiery cards included and all of his Icy cards excluded. This list was based on the "Adaptive Arcum" list from Rallad on the cEDH Decklist Database.

 Conclusion

It's always neat to see off-kilter commanders make their way into the competitive meta for our format. Arcum doesn't provide the same massive card advantage as Tymna the WeaverTymna the Weaver and Kraum, Ludevic's OpusKraum, Ludevic's Opus, nor does he provide the same early-game potential as Rograkh, Son of RohgahhRograkh, Son of Rohgahh, but he exists as a powerful commander nonetheless. Plus, with Wizards of the Coast printing powerful artifacts in almost every set these days, this old legend will only get stronger!

Before we close out for the day, I want to give a special shoutout to the fine folks over at the Arcum Dagsson cEDH Discord server. They provided some great insight on today's hot and cold cards, and I recommend that any aspiring Artificers join their community. For now, though, I'll see you all next week for another non-competitive edition of Fire and Ice!