Three Esper-cially Spicy Brews

<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sophina, Spearsage Deserter" href="#" target="_blank">Sophina, Spearsage Deserter</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.artstation.com/fedyczak" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bartek Fedyczak</a></em></p>
<p>Clue tokens were introduced in April 2016 with <em>Shadows Over Innistrad</em>, and originally only designed within the Bant color pie (<span class="mana-container-container"><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>).</p>
<p>In 2024's <em>Murders at Karlov Manor</em>, Wizards of the Coast released <a href="https://edhrec.com/precon/deep-clue-sea" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a preconstructed Commander</a> deck around the investigate mechanic, and stuck to this color combination with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Morska, Undersea Sleuth" href="#" target="_blank">Morska, Undersea Sleuth</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sophia, Dogged Detective" href="#" target="_blank">Sophia, Dogged Detective</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>Blue and green have been the natural place for Clues to live, especially in Commander, but what if I told you that you could make a stronger and more interesting deck based around Clues without blue <em>or</em> green?</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Morska, Undersea Sleuth"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sophia, Dogged Detective"></div></div>
<p>Today, we're exploring Mardu Clues, or should I say "MarCLUE"??</p>
<p>A groaner of a joke aside, this deck is a house. Let's get into it!</p>
<p>According to EDHREC, the most played color combination for Clues, unsurprisingly, is Bant with 5000+ decks in the database. Trying to steer away from green and blue, Mardu stood out to me, as it only had 75 decks in the database.</p>
<p>Enter: <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sophina, Spearsage Deserter" href="#" target="_blank">Sophina, Spearsage Deserter</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wernog, Rider&#039;s Chaplain" href="#" target="_blank">Wernog, Rider&#039;s Chaplain</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sophina, Spearsage Deserter"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Wernog, Rider&#039;s Chaplain"></div></div>
<p>Sophina wants us to have consistent attackers, where Wernog cares about entering and leaving. These two things don't fit together so much, but the contrasting abilities allow us to pivot our game plan when needed, and that's extremely valuable.</p>
<h2>Category #1: Attackers and Turning Clues into Attackers</h2>
<p>Since Sophina wants us to attack, it's important that we have ways to generate attackers, and there are great ways to turn early Clues into an attacking-fueled, Clue-generating machine.</p>
<ul>
<li>A great attacker-generator is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Loyal Apprentice" href="#" target="_blank">Loyal Apprentice</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, as it can make us new Thopters with haste every turn if our commander is in play. We have two commanders so this is an easy prerequisite to meet.</li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gut, True Soul Zealot" href="#" target="_blank">Gut, True Soul Zealot</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can turn Clues into attacking 4/1 Skeletons with menace, which rocks.</li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Depthshaker Titan" href="#" target="_blank">Depthshaker Titan</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can be a great way to close out a game if we have a ton of Clues in play.</li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Teysa, Opulent Oligarch" href="#" target="_blank">Teysa, Opulent Oligarch</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> rewards us with 1/1 flying Spirits every time we sacrifice a Clue.</li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Jan Jansen, Chaos Crafter" href="#" target="_blank">Jan Jansen, Chaos Crafter</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can turn Clues into 1/1 Construct creatures <em>or</em> turn any artifact creatures we have laying around into Treasures when short on mana.</li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fain, the Broker" href="#" target="_blank">Fain, the Broker</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can turn Clues into 2/1 Inkling creatures with flying, which are stronger attackers than they may seem.</li>
</ul>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Loyal Apprentice"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Gut, True Soul Zealot"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Depthshaker Titan"></div></div>
<h2>Category #2: Sacrificing Our Clues...In Other Ways</h2>
<p>Drawing cards with our Clues is a good way to accrue value over time, but there are other ways to sacrifice our Clues that may cost less mana...</p>
<ul>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Braids, Arisen Nightmare" href="#" target="_blank">Braids, Arisen Nightmare</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> turns our Clues into a semi-edict effect for artifacts unless our opponents give us cards.</li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tarrian&#039;s Journal" href="#" target="_blank">Tarrian&#039;s Journal</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> lets us sacrifice one Clue at a time for card draw, but can transform into a powerful reanimation piece in the late game.</li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Stormclaw Rager" href="#" target="_blank">Stormclaw Rager</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hardened Tactician" href="#" target="_blank">Hardened Tactician</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> both let us draw cards for one mana instead of two.</li>
<li>We can pump <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Evereth, Viceroy of Plunder" href="#" target="_blank">Evereth, Viceroy of Plunder</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to be a massive attacking/flinging threat with our Clues.</li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thorough Investigation" href="#" target="_blank">Thorough Investigation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can turn all of our Clue sacrificing into value by introducing "venturing into the dungeon" to the game.</li>
</ul>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Braids, Arisen Nightmare"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Tarrian&#039;s Journal"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Stormclaw Rager"></div></div>
<h2>Category #3: Winning Outside of Attacking</h2>
<p>Yes, our ultimate goal is to attack and generate a bunch of Clues, but we have multiple ways to cause incremental damage over time.</p>
<ul>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Reckless Fireweaver" href="#" target="_blank">Reckless Fireweaver</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ingenious Artillerist" href="#" target="_blank">Ingenious Artillerist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> deal damage to each opponent when an artifact enters under our control.</li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nadier&#039;s Nightblade" href="#" target="_blank">Nadier&#039;s Nightblade</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mirkwood Bats" href="#" target="_blank">Mirkwood Bats</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> both drain our opponents when any tokens enter under our control.</li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Marionette Master" href="#" target="_blank">Marionette Master</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Marionette Apprentice" href="#" target="_blank">Marionette Apprentice</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> deal tons of damage when we sacrifice our Clues or any other artifacts.</li>
</ul>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Reckless Fireweaver"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ingenious Artillerist"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Nadier&#039;s Nightblade"></div></div>
<h2>Category #4: The "Secret Spice" = Big Combat</h2>
<p>Nine times out of ten, our attackers will be pretty small. With this in mind, we've included a few ways to make a massive attacker out of nowhere.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bronze Guardian" href="#" target="_blank">Bronze Guardian</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> gets bigger equal to the number of artifacts we have in play <em>and </em>it has double strike <em>and</em> it's harder to interact with than our other threats (ward is crazy).</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bronze Guardian"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cranial Ram" href="#" target="_blank">Cranial Ram</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="Nettlecyst" href="#" target="_blank">Nettlecyst</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> all buff creatures equal to our total number of artifacts in play. Put one of these on a Thopter and you're doing some serious damage.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Cranial Ram"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Cranial Plating"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Nettlecyst"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer" href="#" target="_blank">Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>'s <em>metalcraft</em> ability grants <em>all</em> of our creatures +3/+0, and that ability alone has killed me in more Commander games than I'm willing to admit.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Armed with Proof" href="#" target="_blank">Armed with Proof</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Merchant of Truth" href="#" target="_blank">Merchant of Truth</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> both support a Voltron plan, and with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sophina, Spearsage Deserter" href="#" target="_blank">Sophina, Spearsage Deserter</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> having menace, this means getting a kill via commander damage is not impossible.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Armed with Proof"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Merchant of Truth"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sophina, Spearsage Deserter"></div></div>
<h2>Closing Thoughts</h2>
<p>No green or blue? No problem! MarCLUE is a pretty strong deck, and all within a budget of 100 dollars! If you want to stomp your friends for cheap, this is the deck to do it with.</p>
<p>I hope you enjoyed my exploration into the world of Mardu Clues. Check out my deck list below!</p>
<h2>Sophina, Spearsage Deserter and Wernog, Rider's Chaplain Commander Deck List</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Mardu Clues with Sophina and Wernog" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Sophina, Spearsage Deserter
*1 Wernog, Rider&#039;s Chaplain
[/Commander]
[Creatures]
*1 Academy Manufactor
*1 Arcbound Condor
*1 Armix, Filigree Thrasher
*1 Braids, Arisen Nightmare
*1 Bronze Guardian
*1 Bygone Bishop
*1 Caparocti Sunborn
*1 Crime Novelist
*1 Depthshaker Titan
*1 Evereth, Viceroy of Plunder
*1 Fain, the Broker
*1 Fathom Fleet Swordjack
*1 Gut, True Soul Zealot
*1 Hardened Tactician
*1 Ingenious Artillerist
*1 Jan Jansen, Chaos Crafter
*1 Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer
*1 Kambal, Profiteering Mayor
*1 Loyal Apprentice
*1 Loyal Unicorn
*1 Marionette Apprentice
*1 Marionette Master
*1 Mayhem Devil
*1 Merchant of Truth
*1 Mirkwood Bats
*1 Nadier&#039;s Nightblade
*1 Persuasive Interrogators
*1 Professional Face-Breaker
*1 Reckless Fireweaver
*1 Rosie Cotton of South Lane
*1 Stormclaw Rager
*1 Teysa, Opulent Oligarch
*1 Thraben Inspector
*1 Wojek Investigator
[/Creatures]
[Enchantments]
*1 Agent of the Iron Throne
*1 All That Glitters
*1 Armed with Proof
*1 Ghirapur Aether Grid
*1 Thorough Investigation
[/Enchantments]
[Artifacts]
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Cranial Plating
*1 Cranial Ram
*1 Dowsing Device // Geode Grotto
*1 Dragonspark Reactor
*1 Experimental Synthesizer
*1 Hourglass of the Lost
*1 Mind Stone
*1 Nettlecyst
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Talisman of Conviction
*1 Talisman of Hierarchy
*1 Talisman of Indulgence
*1 Tarrian&#039;s Journal // The Tomb of Aclazotz
*1 Thousand Moons Smithy // Barracks of the Thousand
*1 Trading Post
*1 Vat of Rebirth
*1 Veil of Assimilation
[/Artifacts]
[Sorceries]
*1 Damn
*1 Lich-Knights&#039; Conquest
*1 Reprocess
[/Sorceries]
[Instants]
*1 Deadly Dispute
*1 Dispatch
*1 Swords to Plowshares
[/Instants]
[Planeswalkers]
*1 Kaya, Geist Hunter
[/Planeswalkers]
[Lands]
*1 Battlefield Forge
*1 Caves of Koilos
*1 Command Tower
*1 Drossforge Bridge
*1 Goldmire Bridge
*5 Mountain
*1 Nomad Outpost
*7 Plains
*1 Reliquary Tower
*1 Rogue&#039;s Passage
*1 Rustvale Bridge
*1 Shattered Landscape
*1 Spire of Industry
*1 Sulfurous Springs
*7 Swamp
*1 Temple of Silence
*1 Temple of Triumph
*1 Vault of the Archangel
[/Lands]"></span></div>


wernog

Three Esper-cially Spicy Brews

Mardu Clues for 100 Dollars, With Sophina and Wernog