Cloud, Midgar Mercenary Deck Tech

<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cloud, Planet&#039;s Champion" href="#" target="_blank">Cloud, Planet&#039;s Champion</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sephiroth, Planet&#039;s Heir" href="#" target="_blank">Sephiroth, Planet&#039;s Heir</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.artofmtg.com/artist/magali-villeneuve/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Magali Villeneuve</a></em></p>
<p>Hello, and welcome back to <em>Beyond the Multiverse</em>. I'm Owain, and I'm here with a long-awaited article (one of three, in fact), featuring two Commanders. First up is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cloud, Planet&#039;s Champion" href="#" target="_blank">Cloud, Planet&#039;s Champion</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> who's all about Equipment. I've done Equipment decks before, but I'm going to make him slightly different from the others. More on that in a moment.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sephiroth, Planet&#039;s Heir"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Cloud, Planet&#039;s Champion"></div></div>
<p>On the other side, we have <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sephiroth, Planet&#039;s Heir" href="#" target="_blank">Sephiroth, Planet&#039;s Heir</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, who absolutely doesn't have obsessively romantic feelings for Cloud. Not at all. Nothing to see here. Anyway, with Sephi here, we're killing off creatures, with perhaps some minor graveyard shenanigans along the way.</p>
<p>However, there's just one small problem: <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Aerith Gainsborough" href="#" target="_blank">Aerith Gainsborough</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, our third wheel, is in the way. How do we <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Eliminate the Competition" href="#" target="_blank">Eliminate the Competition</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>?</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Harmonize|fic|308"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sephiroth&#039;s Intervention"></div></div>
<p>Ah, thank you, Sephiroth. With Aerith now excused to be on a forever date with Sephiroth's sword, we can be on our way. Are you ready to rumble?</p>
<h2>Cloud, Planet's Champion Deck List</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Going Universes Beyond-Cloud" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Cloud, Planet&#039;s Champion
[/Commander]
[Artifacts]
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Bloodforged Battle-Axe
*1 Brotherhood Regalia
*1 Colossus Hammer
*1 Endless Atlas
*1 Excalibur, Sword of Eden
*1 Inspiring Statuary
*1 Lightning Greaves
*1 Mask of Memory
*1 Mithril Coat
*1 Shadowspear
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Swiftfoot Boots
*1 Sword of Feast and Famine
*1 Sword of Hearth and Home
*1 Sword of Light and Shadow
*1 Sword of War and Peace
*1 Sword of the Animist
*1 Talisman of Conviction
*1 The Spear of Leonidas
*1 Ultima Weapon
*1 Wayfarer&#039;s Bauble
[/Artifacts]
[Creatures]
*1 Armory Paladin
*1 Bastion Protector
*1 Beatrix, Loyal General
*1 Bureau Headmaster
*1 Cid, Freeflier Pilot
*1 Codsworth, Handy Helper
*1 Freya Crescent
*1 Gilgamesh, Master-at-Arms
*1 Gimli of the Glittering Caves
*1 Item Shopkeep
*1 Lightning, Security Sergeant
*1 Puresteel Paladin
*1 Raubahn, Bull of Ala Mhigo
*1 Rosa, Resolute White Mage
*1 Solemn Simulacrum
*1 Sram, Senior Edificer
*1 Weapons Vendor
[/Creatures]
[Instants]
*1 Battlefield Improvisation
*1 Big Score
*1 Boros Charm
*1 Chaos Warp
*1 Crush Contraband
*1 Inventory Management
*1 Judgment Bolt
*1 Path to Exile
*1 Swords to Plowshares
*1 Unexpected Windfall
*1 Wear // Tear
[/Instants]
[Sorceries]
*1 Cathartic Reunion
*1 Cleansing Nova
*1 Faithless Looting
*1 Overpowering Attack
*1 Secret Rendezvous
*1 Seize the Day
*1 Single Combat
*1 Unfinished Business
*1 Wake the Past
*1 What Must Be Done
[/Sorceries]
[Enchantments]
*1 Forge Anew
*1 Sigarda&#039;s Aid
[/Enchantments]
[Lands]
*1 Abstergo Entertainment
*1 Ash Barrens
*1 Battlefield Forge
*1 Clifftop Retreat
*1 Command Tower
*1 Evolving Wilds
*1 Fabled Passage
*1 Furycalm Snarl
*1 Inspiring Vantage
*8 Mountain
*1 Myriad Landscape
*1 Opal Palace
*1 Path of Ancestry
*8 Plains
*1 Rabanastre, Royal City
*1 Rugged Prairie
*1 Rustvale Bridge
*1 Sacred Peaks
*1 Sunbaked Canyon
*1 Sundown Pass
*1 Sunscorched Divide
*1 Temple of Triumph
*1 Terramorphic Expanse
[/Lands]"></span></div>
<h2>Rebel With A Cause</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Gilgamesh, Master-at-Arms"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Beatrix, Loyal General"></div></div>
<p>We begin with Cloud himself. Boros Equipment decks are nothing new in this series, as this is the third iteration. That said, I'm doing this list a tad differently this time, a small restriction that extends to the Sephiroth list as well: this deck was built with the <em>Final Fantasy Starter Kits</em> in mind. Now, that product isn't made for Commander, but it's a small starting point (Or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Starting Town" href="#" target="_blank">Starting Town</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, as it were). While, at time of writing, we don't have the lists, the contents were leaked a while ago. With all the rares officially revealed before the lists, the stars aligned, and all of them are in here.</p>
<p>Since the last time, we gained access to some new stuff. Firstly, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Beatrix, Loyal General" href="#" target="_blank">Beatrix, Loyal General</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will let us dump our Equipment on one creature during combat. This, ideally, would be Cloud, since he'll have double strike and indestructible. Moreover, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gilgamesh, Master-at-Arms" href="#" target="_blank">Gilgamesh, Master-at-Arms</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> compliments her very well, seeing as we can slam any number of Equipment we find from his trigger. Thirdly, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Item Shopkeep" href="#" target="_blank">Item Shopkeep</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will give an attacking equipped creature menace, making them harder to block.</p>
<p>Thanks to the set's bonus sheet, we now have access to <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sram, Senior Edificer|fca|3" href="#" target="_blank">Sram, Senior Edificer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (skinned as Firion, Swordmaster), letting us draw cards. Next, we have <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cid, Freeflier Pilot" href="#" target="_blank">Cid, Freeflier Pilot</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, who recurs Equipment, and makes them cost less to cast again.</p>
<h2>Expanding the Armory</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Embercleave"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sunforger"></div></div>
<p>If you're looking for some in-universe cards too add, there's plenty to tap into. The rest of the Sword of X and Y cycle (as well as <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sword of Wealth and Power" href="#" target="_blank">Sword of Wealth and Power</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>) becomes available to us. Further, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Embercleave" href="#" target="_blank">Embercleave</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is brutal to put onto Cloud, if you can reduce the cost low enough to cast it during combat. Thirdly, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Reaver Cleaver" href="#" target="_blank">The Reaver Cleaver</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will surely give us lots of Treasure tokens to use if the equipped creature connects.</p>
<p>If you want to retool Cloud, and give him a more controlling slant, look no further than <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sunforger" href="#" target="_blank">Sunforger</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. There's a lot of amazing spells that meet the criteria within Cloud's colors (including a couple of Game Changers, if that's what you're into). As long as you keep reequipping Cloud with Sunforger, and having mana open, you'd be in a good position to respond to someone who might try and disrupt your board.</p>
<p>Next, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fighter Class" href="#" target="_blank">Fighter Class</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> was made for this kind of deck (an aside: DnD cards aren't <em>Universes Beyond </em>cards, but they're also not in-universe, but they still count for this section). Secondly, a number of the Nahiri planeswalker variants work for the deck. I'd pick <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nahiri, the Lithomancer" href="#" target="_blank">Nahiri, the Lithomancer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> because of the utility she provides (be sure to add <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Skullclamp" href="#" target="_blank">Skullclamp</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> as well if you do).</p>
<h2>Play the Victory Tune</h2>
<p>Concluding this half of the article, and looking back, there was a noticeable difference between the past article and this one (besides the Starter Kit restriction): One had you focus on going wide, but Cloud wants you to put all of your eggs into one basket, Voltron-style. The <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kassandra, Eagle Bearer" href="#" target="_blank">Kassandra, Eagle Bearer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> deck from that article was more about going wide, using as many legendary Equipment as possible (and <em>Final Fantasy </em>has those in spades!).</p>
<p>That said, let's see about his opponent...</p>
<h2>Sephiroth, Planet's Heir Deck List</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Going Universes Beyond-Sephiroth" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Sephiroth, Planet&#039;s Heir
[/Commander]
[Creatures]
*1 Archfiend of Depravity
*1 Baleful Strix
*1 Gaius van Baelsar
*1 Merciless Executioner
*1 Morbid Opportunist
*1 Pitiless Plunderer
*1 Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER // Sephiroth, One-Winged Angel
*1 Solemn Simulacrum
*1 Summon: Anima
*1 Ultimecia, Temporal Threat
*1 Xande, Dark Mage
*1 Zenos yae Galvus // Shinryu, Transcendent Rival
*1 Zodiark, Umbral God
[/Creatures]
[Sorceries]
*1 Blight Grenade
*1 Bone Splinters
*1 Deadly Embrace
*1 Deep Analysis
*1 Exsanguinate
*1 Extract from Darkness
*1 Feed the Swarm
*1 Great Intelligence&#039;s Plan
*1 Languish
*1 Lórien Revealed
*1 Mutilate
*1 Night&#039;s Whisper
*1 Quantum Misalignment
*1 Reanimate
*1 Rite of Replication
*1 Toxic Deluge
*1 Windfall
[/Sorceries]
[Artifacts]
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Ashnod&#039;s Altar
*1 Brotherhood Regalia
*1 Endless Atlas
*1 Genesis Chamber
*1 Gilded Lotus
*1 Hedron Archive
*1 Lightning Greaves
*1 Magitek Scythe
*1 Mind Stone
*1 Mithril Coat
*1 Shadowspear
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Swiftfoot Boots
*1 Talisman of Dominance
*1 The Masamune
*1 Thought Vessel
[/Artifacts]
[Enchantments]
*1 Bastion of Remembrance
*1 Black Market
*1 Black Market Connections
*1 Phyrexian Reclamation
*1 Propaganda
[/Enchantments]
[Instants]
*1 An Offer You Can&#039;t Refuse
*1 Counterspell
*1 Cyber Conversion
*1 Deadly Dispute
*1 Dismember
*1 Flatline
*1 Orcish Medicine
*1 Overkill
*1 Sephiroth&#039;s Intervention
*1 V.A.T.S.
[/Instants]
[Lands]
*1 Abstergo Entertainment
*1 Ash Barrens
*1 Bojuka Bog
*1 Choked Estuary
*1 Command Beacon
*1 Command Tower
*1 Contaminated Aquifer
*1 Darkwater Catacombs
*1 Drowned Catacomb
*1 Fabled Passage
*1 Fetid Pools
*7 Island
*1 Myriad Landscape
*1 Path of Ancestry
*1 Reliquary Tower
*1 River of Tears
*1 Shipwreck Marsh
*1 Sunken Hollow
*1 Sunken Ruins
*7 Swamp
*1 Tainted Isle
*1 Temple of Deceit
*1 Terramorphic Expanse
*1 Treno, Dark City
*1 Underground River
[/Lands]"></span></div>
<h2>It's Time To Bring Despair to <em>Magic: The Gathering</em></h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards side-by-side"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER"></div></div>
<p>WARNING: If you love your friends, do <em>not</em> use this deck. You'll lose them by game's end.</p>
<p>In case you haven't figured out why, this is a removal-themed deck. We're blowing up everyone and everything (and stabbing Aeriths along the way) because it helps make our commander bigger and more lethal. That said, all that removal helps clear the way for Sephiroth to get through and impale our opponents with that massively long sword.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blight Grenade" href="#" target="_blank">Blight Grenade</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> takes out a creature, then gives everything else -3/-3, perhaps wiping out an army of tokens. Next, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Archfiend of Depravity" href="#" target="_blank">Archfiend of Depravity</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will ensure no one's board gets monstrously huge. However, for a real wipe, cast a kicked <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rite of Replication" href="#" target="_blank">Rite of Replication</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> on our commander (even better if it's a token made from <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Quantum Misalignment" href="#" target="_blank">Quantum Misalignment</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>). This will kill our commander, but they all enter, essentially wiping the board.</p>
<p>All this said, I do want to give a paragraph to one card in particular: <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER" href="#" target="_blank">Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. This card is the lynchpin of the deck. You want to trigger him as much as you possibly can so you can flip him and get the emblem (Am I the only one who thinks the <em>Super Nova</em> ability is a flavor fail? Nothing like in the games to me). That said, you also want to keep him (and/or our commander) around long enough to make them threats. Fortunately, there's a few ways to do so, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Orcish Medicine" href="#" target="_blank">Orcish Medicine</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<h2>Looking Beyond <em>Final Fantasy</em></h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Not Dead After All"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Deadeye Navigator"></div></div>
<p>Firstly, I'd retool the deck to be akin to those infamous Scam decks that terrorized Modern in recent years. Cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Undying Evil" href="#" target="_blank">Undying Evil</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Not Dead After All" href="#" target="_blank">Not Dead After All</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> would be great to keep Sephiroth from perishing while we wipe the board. On the other hand, both <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Massacre Girl" href="#" target="_blank">Massacre Girl</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Massacre Wurm" href="#" target="_blank">Massacre Wurm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> clear the board to make Sephiroth bigger (provided he didn't die in the aftermath).</p>
<p>Secondly, we also gain access to blue's blink effects, abusing our commander's ability to wipe the board, and perhaps soft-lock it. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Displacer Kitten" href="#" target="_blank">Displacer Kitten</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Deadeye Navigator" href="#" target="_blank">Deadeye Navigator</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> stand among the best of these, repeatedly blinking Sephiroth and making our opponents (perhaps) very salty. While not a blink spell, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Drivnod, Carnage Dominus" href="#" target="_blank">Drivnod, Carnage Dominus</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will double up on Sephiroth's death triggers, making him huge very quickly. It's an ability very akin to <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Masamune" href="#" target="_blank">The Masamune</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (aka, Aerith's best friend), which is in the deck's 99 already.</p>
<p>Lastly, while we have <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Flatline" href="#" target="_blank">Flatline</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> in the deck, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sudden Spoiling" href="#" target="_blank">Sudden Spoiling</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Polymorphist&#039;s Jest" href="#" target="_blank">Polymorphist&#039;s Jest</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will also make opposing creatures much easier to kill. For an alternate win condition, look no further than <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Revel in Riches" href="#" target="_blank">Revel in Riches</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. It ramps us with all the creatures hitting the bin, and hitting the critical number of Treasure tokens with this deck should be a breeze.</p>
<h2>I Will Never Be a Memory</h2>
<p>In summary, this deck has to be about the most evil, diabolical deck I've come up with so far. It might be something you play once in a blue moon, then perhaps never again. Your friends won't let you bring it out again, I assure you. Then again, it does its job well.</p>
<p>In any case, both of these decks tackle the archetype in different ways. One with a more traditional approach, the other a more controlling style. That said, this is a non-budget path one could take with the Starter Kit. A budget one would drastically change both decks.</p>
<p>Hopefully you enjoyed my take on both of these commanders (and survived my mischief throughout the article. It really came out in force here. No disrespect to Aerith intended). Perhaps they might guide you in creating your own builds. Tune in next time as we dive into the second of the three long-awaited articles (It won't be like today's).</p>


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