Putting up Walls with Invisible Woman in Commander

<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Human Torch" href="#" target="_blank">Human Torch</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.artstation.com/vilhelmasbanys">Vilhelmas Banys</a></em></p>
<p>A handful of cards from the upcoming <em>Marvel Superheroes</em> set were revealed as an early Christmas present, and I was really impressed with a couple of them. The highlight of the reveals for me were the four members of the <em>Fantastic Four</em> that were revealed to have their own Commander precon. I've always had a special affection for <em>Marvel</em>'s founding family, and I was not disappointed with their treatment of the <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Human Torch" href="#" target="_blank">Human Torch</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. In this deck tech, I'm going to try my hand at building a deck worthy of Johnny Storm.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Human Torch"></div></div>
<h2>What Does Human Torch Do?</h2>
<p>Human Torch is a four-mana 3/2 with two very powerful abilities. First, at the beginning of combat, if Human Torch's owner cast a noncreature spell this turn, Human Torch gains flying, double strike, and haste until end of turn. If this card was printed in <em>Adventures in the Forgotten Realms</em>, I imagine this ability would have "Flame On!" printed in italics before the ability's text.</p>
<p>Then, when Human Torch attacks, his controller may pay <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-r" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-g" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-w" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-u" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>. If they do, when he deals combat damage to an opponent, he does that much damage to each other opponent. Importantly, just like with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kediss, Emberclaw Familiar" href="#" target="_blank">Kediss, Emberclaw Familiar</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Amarant Coral" href="#" target="_blank">Amarant Coral</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, the damage dealt to each other opponent isn't commander damage. This ability feels like it's asking me to build a deck that can kill all three opponents in the same turn, and that's what I'm going to do!</p>
<h2>Key Cards for Human Torch</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Berserk"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bulk Up"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Become Immense"></div></div>
<p>A rare category of card that isn't often used in Commander is pump spells, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Human Torch" href="#" target="_blank">Human Torch</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is excellent at making use of pump spells because of how much damage he can convert them into. For example, if I cast <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Become Immense" href="#" target="_blank">Become Immense</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> targeting Human Torch, go to combat, attack and pay the <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-r" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-g" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-w" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-u" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> for his second ability, each opponent will take 18 damage! One player will receive that damage in the form of commander damage, but the two that don't have still just had their life total cut in half! Combine a few pump spells together and suddenly all three opponents are dead.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Dueling Grounds"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Smoke"></div></div>
<p>Unfortunately, getting <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Human Torch" href="#" target="_blank">Human Torch</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> into play, generating enough mana to pay for the <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-r" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-g" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-w" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-u" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> ability, and sculpting a hand of enough pump spells and extra combat spells is a time-consuming process. Even worse, any opponent that reads Human Torch will probably understand that they should kill you before you do all that.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dueling Grounds" href="#" target="_blank">Dueling Grounds</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Smoke" href="#" target="_blank">Smoke</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are stax pieces that can help hold back those opponents long enough to get to this deck's endgame. These stax pieces all have a little tension with other cards in the deck, but they can always be cleared out of the way with removal spells, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Soul Partition" href="#" target="_blank">Soul Partition</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, going into the big combo turn when necessary.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Narset, Enlightened Exile"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Jeskai Ascendancy"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Narset, Enlightened Exile" href="#" target="_blank">Narset, Enlightened Exile</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Jeskai Ascendancy" href="#" target="_blank">Jeskai Ascendancy</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> both give <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Human Torch" href="#" target="_blank">Human Torch</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> prowess, which can be very helpful for finding the last few points of damage necessary to close out a game. They both have critical secondary purposes, however. Narset provides a way to recur high-impact pump spells, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Berserk" href="#" target="_blank">Berserk</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bulk Up" href="#" target="_blank">Bulk Up</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and Jeskai Ascendancy provides a lot of chances to sculpt the hand and graveyard over the course of the game.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Omnath, Locus of Creation"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Omnath, Locus of Creation" href="#" target="_blank">Omnath, Locus of Creation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is the inclusion I'm the most skeptical of. It makes a lot of sense to me to be able to save a fetch land for the combo turn and use the mana generated from the second time Omnath's ability triggers to pay for <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Human Torch" href="#" target="_blank">Human Torch</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>'s beginning of combat trigger. However, casting Omnath and letting it sit in play doing nothing for a turn cycle seems a little off to me. This will be the card choice I scrutinize the most as I get to test with this deck more.</p>
<h2>How Does This Human Torch Deck Win?</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Full Throttle"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Finest Hour"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Combat Celebrant"></div></div>
<p>Additional combats is the cleanest way to win a game with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Human Torch" href="#" target="_blank">Human Torch</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. The idea is pretty simple: I don't want to pay four mana into Human Torch's beginning of combat ability very often. If I can squeeze two or three combat steps out of the turn I pay that cost, I'll probably only have to do it once. This frees up a lot of mana in the earlier turns that I can spend on board development.</p>
<p>For example, two pump spells, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Become Immense" href="#" target="_blank">Become Immense</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Invigorate" href="#" target="_blank">Invigorate</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, plus an extra combat from Combat Celebrant, deals 52 damage to each opponent. That really isn't asking all that much given how interchangeable the pump spells are.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Jeska, Thrice Reborn"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Jeska, Thrice Reborn" href="#" target="_blank">Jeska, Thrice Reborn</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> takes nearly any pump spell and turns it into lethal damage. Paired with one pump spell that can give <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Human Torch" href="#" target="_blank">Human Torch</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> +4/+4, an attack with damage tripled from Jeska kills the table in one combat step. Of course, a pump spell, casting Jeska, and paying for Human Torch's combat trigger still adds up to at least seven mana, but for winning the game, I'd say that's a fair price.</p>
<h2>Human Torch Commander Decklist</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="The Human Torch" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Human Torch
[/Commander]
[Artifacts]
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Fellwar Stone
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Talisman of Creativity
[/Artifacts]
[Planeswalkers]
*1 Jeska, Thrice Reborn
*1 Minsc &amp; Boo, Timeless Heroes
[/Planeswalkers]
[Creatures]
*1 Archmage Emeritus
*1 Birgi, God of Storytelling // Harnfel, Horn of Bounty
*1 Bloom Tender
*1 Combat Celebrant
*1 Delighted Halfling
*1 Drift of Phantasms
*1 Fear of Missing Out
*1 Imperial Recruiter
*1 Kutzil, Malamet Exemplar
*1 Moon-Blessed Cleric
*1 Narset, Enlightened Exile
*1 Noble Hierarch
*1 Omnath, Locus of Creation
*1 Orcish Lumberjack
*1 Professional Face-Breaker
*1 Qasali Pridemage
*1 Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer
*1 Recruiter of the Guard
[/Creatures]
[Instants]
*1 Become Immense
*1 Berserk
*1 Bulk Up
*1 Colossal Might
*1 Deflecting Swat
*1 Dig Through Time
*1 Fierce Guardianship
*1 Flusterstorm
*1 Groundswell
*1 Invigorate
*1 Legolas&#039;s Quick Reflexes
*1 Lightning Bolt
*1 Muddle the Mixture
*1 Mutagenic Growth
*1 Nature&#039;s Claim
*1 Path to Exile
*1 Redirect Lightning
*1 Shore Up
*1 Siege Smash
*1 Soul Partition
*1 Turn Inside Out
*1 Veil of Summer
[/Instants]
[Sorceries]
*1 Expressive Iteration
*1 Full Throttle
*1 Green Sun&#039;s Zenith
*1 Jeska&#039;s Will
*1 Last Chance
*1 Sevinne&#039;s Reclamation
*1 Slash the Ranks
*1 Solve the Equation
*1 Treasure Cruise
[/Sorceries]
[Enchantments]
*1 Dueling Grounds
*1 Finest Hour
*1 Jeskai Ascendancy
*1 Smoke
[/Enchantments]
[Lands]
*1 Ancient Tomb
*1 Arena of Glory
*1 Arid Mesa
*1 Bloodstained Mire
*1 Breeding Pool
*1 Command Tower
*1 Commercial District
*1 Elegant Parlor
*1 Exotic Orchard
*1 Flooded Strand
*1 Floodfarm Verge
*1 Forest
*1 Gemstone Caverns
*1 Hallowed Fountain
*1 Hedge Maze
*1 Hushwood Verge
*1 Island
*1 Lush Portico
*1 Mana Confluence
*1 Marsh Flats
*1 Meticulous Archive
*1 Mistrise Village
*1 Misty Rainforest
*1 Mountain
*1 Plains
*1 Polluted Delta
*1 Prismatic Vista
*1 Riverpyre Verge
*1 Sacred Foundry
*1 Scalding Tarn
*1 Steam Vents
*1 Stomping Ground
*1 Sunbillow Verge
*1 Temple Garden
*1 Thornspire Verge
*1 Thundering Falls
*1 Verdant Catacombs
*1 Willowrush Verge
*1 Windswept Heath
*1 Wooded Foothills
[/Lands]"></span></div>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>If the rest of the cards from <em>Marvel Superheroes</em> are as good as the ones revealed this month, this set could very well end up being my favorite of the year. I'm really looking forward to putting this deck together when the time comes and to seeing what cards that haven't been revealed yet that could push this deck over the top. I'm definitely expecting a combat trick called Flame On that I'm sure will replace one of the lesser pump spells in this list.</p>
<p>I'd feel very comfortable playing this deck in Bracket 3, much more so than similar commanders like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Najeela, the Blade-Blossom" href="#" target="_blank">Najeela, the Blade-Blossom</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. The one-turn kill this deck is aiming for requires just enough noodling around that I doubt it would feel oppressive to a field of similarly powered decks. Plus, it should be telegraphed so far in advance that keen-eyed opponents will be saving interaction for the big turn, and I'll have a blast protecting Human Torch with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Flusterstorm" href="#" target="_blank">Flusterstorm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Redirect Lightning" href="#" target="_blank">Redirect Lightning</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> in a dramatic back-and-forth battle on the stack.</p>
<p>Now, it's on the lovely people in the comments to fill me in on the cool cards I missed! I look forward to reading them all.</p>


fantastic 4

Putting up Walls with Invisible Woman in Commander

Flame On! With the Human Torch in Commander