Maximus, Knight ApparentMaximus, Knight Apparent | Art by Ryan Valle

Wizards of the Coast (WotC) announced recently the upcoming release of Secret Lair x Fallout RAD Superdrop, a new set of Secret Lair drops highlighting the Fallout franchise, as well as the show now running on Amazon Prime. The Beyond Vault 33 drop features characters and scenes from the Amazon show, and includes three mechanically unique legends, and today I'm featuring a deck tech built around one of them, Maximus, Knight ApparentMaximus, Knight Apparent!

Full disclosure: I've never played the game, so I don't really know much about Fallout outside of the Amazon show (which I thoroughly enjoy) and the Magic set. So this deck isn't really going to be a flavorful build, but rather just leveraging it as a cool Magic game piece.

What Does Maximus, Knight ApparentMaximus, Knight Apparent Do?

Maximus is a 4/4 with trample for four mana (), which isn't a bad base creature in red, but we're really leaning into the rest of the test box for guidance.

The first ability is pretty awesome actually: When Maximus enters, you may search your library for an Equipment card with mana value two, reveal it, put it in your hand, and shuffle. Now it's a shame that the Equipment search is limited to something with a value of exactly two, but I think that's likely for flavor reasons (which I'll touch on below).

The second ability lets you spend a mana and sacrifice an artifact to generate two energy, so we'll want to fill out our deck with energy payoffs and some number of artifacts we won't mind sacrificing. I leaned heavily into energy cards and cards that let you use that energy for advantages, and really use Maximus's activated ability when I need just a bit more mana - or in response to some spell or effect that's destroying one of my artifacts or Equipment.

I was pleasantly surprised at just how much energy synergy is available even in mono-red!

Key Cards for Maximus, Knight ApparentMaximus, Knight Apparent

Equipment

It's clear that Maximus's limited Equipment search is primarily to find the T-45 Power ArmorT-45 Power Armor, since the character spends a good amount of time suited up in power armor in the show. Maximus is designed quite well to go with this - cast him for four mana, then your next turn, assuming you make a land drop, you can cast and equip the Power Armor and attack with Maximus for seven damage.

Plasma CasterPlasma Caster is another option if you've already drawn the Power Armor, it generates energy and has a solid use for the energy.

I went looking for other two-mana Equipment cards to expand my choices depending on the game state. Adaptive OmnitoolAdaptive Omnitool can hit pretty hard if you've already got a fair number of artifacts, and its attack trigger can find more. Junk JetJunk Jet creates a Junk token you can sacrifice to Maximus or to the Equipment itself to double equipped creature's power until the end of turn, easily making a commander damage kill viable.

Then there's Brotherhood RegaliaBrotherhood Regalia which makes it so the equipped creature can't be blocked. Based on the show, the creature type addition isn't completely out of flavor!

Conformer ShurikenConformer Shuriken is an excellent way to take advantage of extremely large creatures your opponents may deploy, and of course Blackblade ReforgedBlackblade Reforged is just an excellent Equipment for commanders you want to attack with that scales great as the game goes long.

I went looking for some other Equipment to draw into. Bloodforged Battle-AxeBloodforged Battle-Axe combines nicely with Maximus's trample, and the extra token copies can be fed to his activated ability for more energy. Commander's PlateCommander's Plate is always fantastic in a mono-colored deck, and the indestructible ability of Diamond Pick-AxeDiamond Pick-Axe gives a little resilience to a pesky VandalblastVandalblast kicked by an opponent.

Equipment Synergy

Since the commander ensures you'll nearly always have an Equipment to play, I looked for some Equipment synergy cards, and the Final Fantasy set has some excellent red ones in Freya CrescentFreya Crescent, Firion, Wild Rose WarriorFirion, Wild Rose Warrior, and Raubahn, Bull of Ala MhigoRaubahn, Bull of Ala Mhigo.

Brass SquireBrass Squire is a great way to save mana on the equip cost, but keep in mind you can do it at any time, including in the middle of combat. Similarly, Magnetic TheftMagnetic Theft can move your Equipment around at instant speed, but it can also temporarily steal an opponent's best Equipment.

And Armory AutomatonArmory Automaton is always a good time, especially if any opponents are playing a good number of Equipment cards too!

Energy

So then I searched for energy cards, starting with the two lands HELIOS OneHELIOS One and Aether HubAether Hub (which we will likely never use for colored mana).

Aetherworks MarvelAetherworks Marvel is an incredibly powerful card, and generates energy each time a permanent you control is put into a graveyard - such as from Maximus's activated ability. Gonti's Aether HeartGonti's Aether Heart is another way to generate energy, and has an excellent sink for a bunch of extra energy to chain two turns together.

Then there's Solar TransformerSolar Transformer for some mana acceleration, and we likely won't use it to generate colored mana either.

Decoction ModuleDecoction Module generates energy, and is useful to bounce Maximus and replay it to tutor up another Equipment, while Fabrication ModuleFabrication Module can add +1/+1 counters to Maximus to take advantage of that trample, or any other creature you have.

I always love extra combats in a deck that wants to attack, and Lightning RunnerLightning Runner is an excellent energy sink for exactly that.

Aether RefineryAether Refinery and Aetherflux ConduitAetherflux Conduit are both excellent ways to generate a ton of energy quickly, while Assaultron DominatorAssaultron Dominator is an early drop creature that generates a little energy and provides a potential energy sink.

A mono-red deck is going to appreciate the death trigger of Behemoth of Vault 0Behemoth of Vault 0 to destroy a problematic permanent relatively easy, and meanwhile you can smash face with it. Aether RevoltAether Revolt is a potent damage dealer in an energy deck, and with Maximus's activated ability it's going to be pretty easy to meet the revolt requirement.

Stone Idol GeneratorStone Idol Generator generates some energy, but more importantly it can make the incredibly cool 6/12 Construct artifact creature that's a nice callback to Stone Idol TrapStone Idol Trap and Ancient Stone IdolAncient Stone Idol.

If you're having a big energy turn, Blaster HulkBlaster Hulk can come down pretty cheaply, and its attack trigger is an excellent way to mow down blockers. You know every Commander pod is going to have someone playing an incredibly greedy land base, so The Motherlode, ExcavatorThe Motherlode, Excavator should provide a bunch of energy for you, and if someone has a nonbasic land that absolutely needs to be destroyed, you've got the answer.

Then there's Synth EradicatorSynth Eradicator which can either attack for an extra card or extra energy, or it can tap to deal damage to any target.

Wheel of PotentialWheel of Potential is probably more powerful than the original Wheel of FortuneWheel of Fortune, but only in energy decks, and this is going to do an excellent job of refueling your hand. Electrostatic PummelerElectrostatic Pummeler is an excellent card to gear up with power-enhancing Equipment, and when it goes unblocked with enough energy it can knock out an opponent.

Overclocked ElectromancerOverclocked Electromancer is another creature that can double its power, though it will take a few attack steps to get out of hand.

Having a flier like Aethersphere HarvesterAethersphere Harvester that can gain life can be quite helpful in a deck that otherwise doesn't have much lifegain. Amped RaptorAmped Raptor got banned in Modern so you know it's a powerful card. Smelted ChargebugSmelted Chargebug isn't super powerful, but it is a creature that can be deployed early and is pretty good at picking up Equipment and being difficult to block.

Artifacts to Sacrifice

Looking for artifacts to sacrifice, Wayfarer's BaubleWayfarer's Bauble's utility gets worse the later in the game you draw it, but at that point you can feed it to Maximus for energy. Ichor WellspringIchor Wellspring and Solemn SimulacrumSolemn Simulacrum are just fantastic artifacts to sacrifice for more profit.

Ruin GrinderRuin Grinder can beat down until an opponent is forced to destroy it, in which case everyone discards their hand and draws seven fresh cards; of course, you can just force the issue with Maximus. Spine of Ish SahSpine of Ish Sah is a late-game powerhouse, especially if you can keep sacrificing it and replaying it again.

I like that Weapons ManufacturingWeapons Manufacturing generates artifacts just ripe for sacrificing to Maximus.

I went looking for artifact synergies that worked well in the deck, and the lands Inventors' FairInventors' Fair and Fomori VaultFomori Vault are excellent. Myr RetrieverMyr Retriever is a good artifact to sacrifice to Maximus to retrieve an important artifact from the graveyard.

Foundry InspectorFoundry Inspector and Scrap TrawlerScrap Trawler are excellent artifacts to have in an artifact deck, as is Slobad, Iron GoblinSlobad, Iron Goblin, which can help with casting more expensive artifacts - like Spine of Ish SahSpine of Ish Sah!

I've always loved Trading PostTrading Post for its utility, especially in a deck with a fair amount of artifact creatures, and Daretti, Rocketeer EngineerDaretti, Rocketeer Engineer is potent way to exchange artifacts between your battlefield and graveyard.

How Does This Maximus, Knight ApparentMaximus, Knight Apparent Commander Deck Win?

While the deck is built to grind value and looking to win games with combat and chip damage, and occasionally take someone out with commander damage, there is a potential combo in here that can generate unlimited combat steps.

So you'll need Stone Idol GeneratorStone Idol Generator on the battlefield, and attack with Lightning RunnerLightning Runner and at least five other creatures as attackers, and have them survive combat to attack again and again and again. With no real way to search up these combo pieces, much less set up an ideal attack, the odds are pretty slim this deck pulls this off. But when it happens it will be glorious!

Crime NovelistCrime Novelist combines with Maximus's activated ability to sacrifice as many of your artifacts as you want to generate a tremendous amount of energy and, by the way, grow your Goblin Bard to quite a large size. Sometimes with red combat decks you just need one more turn to steal the win, and Final FortuneFinal Fortune is an excellent way to do that.

As an instant, it's also wild that you can insert your extra turn between two of your opponents' turns if that is advantageous! With this you have two "extra turn" cards, plus the potential for the infinite attack steps, which puts this deck into Upgraded (Bracket 3) territory, so if you have a few Game Changers, feel free to add them.

And then of course there's Full ThrottleFull Throttle when you really want three combat steps in a row!

Maximus, Knight ApparentMaximus, Knight Apparent Commander Deck List

Conclusion

As a mono-red deck, you're going to have vulnerabilities to certain strategies, and there's not much you can do about that except for good politicking, a little luck, and maybe some extra combats.

On the plus side, your land base is super-easy to pull together. And if you're looking to smash into combat and pull off fun energy shenanigans, this deck might be right up your alley!

What other cards would you run in a deck built around Maximus, Knight ApparentMaximus, Knight Apparent?

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