<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Winter Soldier, Icy Assassin" href="#" target="_blank">Winter Soldier, Icy Assassin</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.artstation.com/riccardofederici">Riccardo Federici</a></em></p>
<p>It's no secret that I love two-mana commanders. Every time a new set is spoiled, I'm on the lookout for new additions to my collection. The first week of <a href="https://edhrec.com/sets/msh"><em>Marvel Superheroes</em></a> spoilers brought with it the first nonblue offering to my long list of two-mana legends I've covered: <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Winter Soldier, Icy Assassin" href="#" target="_blank">Winter Soldier, Icy Assassin</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. This is the first legendary creature I've seen early waves of <em>Marvel Superheroes</em> spoilers that feels very true to the character it depicts, and that excites me a fair bit. Let's take a look at this card and get into the deck tech!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Winter Soldier, Icy Assassin"></div></div>
<h2>What Does Winter Soldier, Icy Assassin Do?</h2>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Winter Soldier, Icy Assassin" href="#" target="_blank">Winter Soldier, Icy Assassin</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a 2/2 with vigilance and menace for <span class="mana-container-container"><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-b" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>, and he gets +2/+0 for each Equipment attached to him. For <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-3" 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-b" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>, he can return himself from the graveyard to the battlefield with a finality counter and attach an Equipment to himself. All the makings of a good <a href="https://edhrec.com/tags/voltron">Voltron</a> commander!</p>
<p>Notably, Winter Soldier's activated ability is not restricted to sorcery speed, and he can basically be "flashed" in on an opponent's turn to get almost-haste. There's been a pretty big trend over the last few years of <em>Magic</em> design towards restricting abilities on creatures that would be fairly inoffensive at instant speed to "activate only as a sorcery." I'm overjoyed to see that trend broken here.</p>
<p>As an aside, I'd like to take a moment to appreciate this card's design. Winter Soldier gets +2/+0 for each Equipment attached to him, which is presumably why he starts off as a 2/2, because his metal arm counts! Then, his self reanimation ability speaks to him coming back after being presumed dead in World War II, with said metal arm. Of all the <em>Marvel Superheroes</em> designs I've seen during spoiler season so far, Winter Soldier is one of the easiest cards to parse the connection between the character and the card's mechanics. I'm hoping to see more of that as more of the set is revealed.</p>
<p>Now that I've waxed poetic about flavor wins, I'm ready to throw all of that away and slap some continuity shattering Equipment onto Winter Soldier. He's going to wield the <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Buster Sword" href="#" target="_blank">Buster Sword</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and wear both a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Pip-Boy 3000" href="#" target="_blank">Pip-Boy 3000</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bilbo&#039;s Ring" href="#" target="_blank">Bilbo&#039;s Ring</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> in this honest to goodness Voltron build.</p>
<h2>Key Cards for The Winter Soldier, Icy Assassin</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Colossus Hammer"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Adaptive Omnitool"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sword of Feast and Famine"></div></div>
<p>Any time I see a commander that lends themselves to a Voltron strategy, the first card I want to work in is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Colossus Hammer" href="#" target="_blank">Colossus Hammer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. These days, it's easier than ever to cheat on that hefty <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-8" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> equip cost, and adding 12 power to <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Winter Soldier, Icy Assassin" href="#" target="_blank">Winter Soldier, Icy Assassin</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> for one mana is the best rate available by far.</p>
<p>The other power boosters are Equipment that care about the number of artifacts or other Equipment in play. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Adaptive Omnitool" href="#" target="_blank">Adaptive Omnitool</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nettlecyst" href="#" target="_blank">Nettlecyst</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cranial Plating" href="#" target="_blank">Cranial Plating</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thran Power Suit" href="#" target="_blank">Thran Power Suit</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are each easily capable of boosting Winter Soldier's power to the 21 threshold that commander-damage-based decks are looking for, and none of them break four mana!</p>
<p>Some of the Equipment in the deck are more for utility than added power. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sword of Feast and Famine" href="#" target="_blank">Sword of Feast and Famine</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a great way to disrupt one opponent while doubling up on mana for the turn. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Buster Sword" href="#" target="_blank">Buster Sword</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fishing Gear" href="#" target="_blank">Fishing Gear</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are great advantage engines that can dramatically hasten the pace with which this deck can put material on the board. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Conqueror&#039;s Flail" href="#" target="_blank">Conqueror&#039;s Flail</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a personal favorite that has recently become a staple of my commander-centered decks, as it grants a little power boost and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Silence" href="#" target="_blank">Silence</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>s the rest of the table during my turn.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Puresteel Paladin"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Super-Soldier Serum"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sigarda&#039;s Aid"></div></div>
<p>One important hallmark of Equipment-based aggressive decks is the ability to skip paying the mana cost to activate equip abilities. These alleviate the biggest challenge of killing people with a creature that has a pile of Equipment attached is that many of the best Equipment have outrageous equip costs. Never in my life have I payed the full <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-8" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> to equip Colossus Hammer, and I refuse to start here.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Puresteel Paladin" href="#" target="_blank">Puresteel Paladin</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hammer of Nazahn" href="#" target="_blank">Hammer of Nazahn</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sigarda&#039;s Aid" href="#" target="_blank">Sigarda&#039;s Aid</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and the new <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Super-Soldier Serum" href="#" target="_blank">Super-Soldier Serum</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are the avenues this deck has to get around those pesky equip costs. Puresteel Paladin is the best of them, since it also acts as a draw engine, and the <em>metalcraft</em> ability is laughably easy to turn on in a deck that's mostly artifacts. Between these options and the suite of tutors I've included, I wouldn't expect to be attaching Equipment the honest way very often.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Robe of Stars"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Galadriel&#039;s Dismissal"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Clever Concealment"></div></div>
<p>One of Voltron's biggest weaknesses is the opponents simply pointing all their removal at Winter Soldier as soon as he attacks in their direction or pointing removal at his Equipment. My picks for protection spells are skewed in favor of ways to phase the commander out, as phasing a creature out phases attached permanents out as well. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Clever Concealment" href="#" target="_blank">Clever Concealment</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Galadriel&#039;s Dismissal" href="#" target="_blank">Galadriel&#039;s Dismissal</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are good one-off ways to protect Winter Soldier. The best of the bunch is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Robe of Stars" href="#" target="_blank">Robe of Stars</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, which is a repeatable way to phase a creature out that virtually makes removal a non issue.</p>
<h2>How Does The Winter Soldier, Icy Assassin Win the Game?</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Genji Glove"></div></div>
<p>My favorite aspect of Voltron as a strategy is how straightforward it is. There are no combo kills and no real tricks of any kind. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Winter Soldier, Icy Assassin" href="#" target="_blank">Winter Soldier, Icy Assassin</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is going to hit each opponent for at least 21 commander damage, and that's all there is to it. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Genji Glove" href="#" target="_blank">Genji Glove</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can accelerate the clock by a turn, providing an extra combat step that can wipe two players out of the game in one go, but that's as complicated as it gets.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Inkmoth Nexus"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Shambling Vent"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mishra&#039;s Factory"></div></div>
<p>I've built in something of a backup plan that involves using lands that can animate themselves into creatures, namely <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Inkmoth Nexus" href="#" target="_blank">Inkmoth Nexus</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, taking advantage of the many ways I have to cheat on equip costs, and cobbling together a potentially lethal attack in a scenario where Winter Solider is nowhere to be found. Inkmoth Nexus has infect, which makes achieving a kill with it much, much easier. However, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Shambling Vent" href="#" target="_blank">Shambling Vent</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mishra&#039;s Factory" href="#" target="_blank">Mishra&#039;s Factory</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are here as far less powerful alternatives.</p>
<h2>The Winter Soldier, Icy Assassin Commander Deck List</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Bucky Wielding the Buster Sword" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Winter Soldier, Icy Assassin
[/Commander]
[Creatures]
*1 Cloud, Midgar Mercenary
*1 Codsworth, Handy Helper
*1 Esper Sentinel
*1 Giver of Runes
*1 Grim Hireling
*1 Lion Sash
*1 Lotho, Corrupt Shirriff
*1 Mother of Runes
*1 Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd
*1 Puresteel Paladin
*1 Recruiter of the Guard
*1 Sram, Senior Edificer
*1 Stoneforge Mystic
*1 Weathered Wayfarer
*1 Witch Enchanter // Witch-Blessed Meadow
[/Creatures]
[Sorceries]
*1 Beseech the Mirror
*1 Night&#039;s Whisper
*1 Open the Armory
*1 Sevinne&#039;s Reclamation
*1 Sign in Blood
*1 Single Combat
*1 Steelshaper&#039;s Gift
[/Sorceries]
[Artifacts]
*1 Adaptive Omnitool
*1 Bilbo&#039;s Ring
*1 Brotherhood Regalia
*1 Buster Sword
*1 Colossus Hammer
*1 Conqueror&#039;s Flail
*1 Cranial Plating
*1 Expedition Map
*1 Explorer&#039;s Scope
*1 Fireshrieker
*1 Fishing Gear
*1 Genji Glove
*1 Hammer of Nazahn
*1 Kaldra Compleat
*1 Leyline Axe
*1 Mithril Coat
*1 Mox Opal
*1 Nettlecyst
*1 Pip-Boy 3000
*1 Pre-War Formalwear
*1 Robe of Stars
*1 Shadowspear
*1 Silver Shroud Costume
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Swiftfoot Boots
*1 Sword of Feast and Famine
*1 Sword of Fire and Ice
*1 Thran Power Suit
*1 Umezawa&#039;s Jitte
[/Artifacts]
[Instants]
*1 Anguished Unmaking
*1 Blacksmith&#039;s Skill
*1 Blood Pact
*1 Clever Concealment
*1 Dawn Charm
*1 Dispatch
*1 Fell the Profane // Fell Mire
*1 Galadriel&#039;s Dismissal
*1 Razorgrass Ambush // Razorgrass Field
*1 Rowan&#039;s Grim Search
*1 Sejiri Shelter // Sejiri Glacier
[/Instants]
[Enchantments]
*1 Agent of the Shadow Thieves
*1 Flaming Fist
*1 Sheltered by Ghosts
*1 Super-Soldier Serum
[/Enchantments]
[Lands]
*1 Adagia, Windswept Bastion
*1 Ancient Den
*1 Arid Mesa
*1 Bleachbone Verge
*1 Bloodstained Mire
*1 Brightclimb Pathway // Grimclimb Pathway
*1 Caves of Koilos
*1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
*1 Fetid Heath
*1 Flooded Strand
*1 Godless Shrine
*1 Goldmire Bridge
*1 Inkmoth Nexus
*1 Inventors&#039; Fair
*1 Marsh Flats
*1 Mishra&#039;s Factory
*3 Plains
*1 Polluted Delta
*1 Prismatic Vista
*1 Shadowy Backstreet
*1 Shambling Vent
*1 Silent Clearing
*3 Swamp
*1 Turbulent Moor
*1 Urza&#039;s Saga
*1 Vault of Champions
*1 Vault of Whispers
*1 Verdant Catacombs
*1 Windswept Heath
[/Lands]"></span></div>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>It's been a while since I've put together a more traditional Voltron deck, and it was a ton of fun! There's a beauty in this deck's simplicity in contrast to the Voltron decks that I tend to build and play, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Temmet, Naktamun&#039;s Will" href="#" target="_blank">Temmet, Naktamun&#039;s Will</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Malcolm, the Eyes" href="#" target="_blank">Malcolm, the Eyes</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. The one thing I do need help with is how to classify this deck.</p>
<p>At face value, I'd put this build of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Winter Soldier, Icy Assassin" href="#" target="_blank">Winter Soldier, Icy Assassin</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> in <a href="https://edhrec.com/guides/edhrec-guide-to-commander-brackets">Bracket</a> 2 (Core). There are no game changers, two-card combos, or additional turns that would ordinarily send one of my decks straight into Bracket 3 (Upgraded) or even 4 (Optimized). However, many would argue that a Voltron deck that's looking to go around the table, eliminating each player as quickly as possible (and often before the eight turns that everyone can expect to be able to play outlined in Bracket 2's guidelines have expired), can strain even the lowest power level Voltron deck's relationship with Bracket 2. So, more than anything else I'd love to read in the comments where the lovely readers would place this Winter Soldier deck.</p>


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The Winter Soldier, Icy Assassin Deck Tech