(Captain Ripley Vance| Art by Mathias Kollros)

Introduction

The Modern Horizons sets contain some of the strongest cards of all time, and they have given us all sorts of powerful commanders. Back in 2019, Modern Horizons 1 gave us Urza, Lord High Artificer. Urza, Lord High Artificer is, currently, the 47th most popular commander of all time, at the head of more than 12,500 decks.

Modern Horizons 2 in 2021 gave us Chatterfang, Squirrel General who is the 18th most popular commander in the game, and leads more than 16,500 decks loaded up with acorns and anger. Finally, even though Modern Horizons 3 only came out earlier this year, its most popular commander, The Necrobloom, is already well on its way to becoming a staple with more than 9,000 decks to its name.

Not every commander from the Modern Horizons sets has risen to such heights though. Back in August, I wrote an Under the Radar column about Pashalik Mons, MH1's fun, but forgotten, Goblin commander. Today's Under the Radar will look at Captain Ripley Vance. Another mono-red Modern Horizons legendary, this time from MH2.

As of 11/10/2024 Captain Ripley Vance only leads 462 decks which is honestly a shame, considering that she offers an explosive spin on a voltron/spellslinger strategy. Now, let's all ponder over what this powerful pirate can provide...

Captain Ripley Advances

So far as I'm aware, Captain Ripley Vance has nothing to do with Ripley from the Alien movies. Nevertheless, just like the iconic sci-fi protagonist, Ripley Vance is a badass action girl who blows a lot of things up.

A 3/2 Human Pirate for , Captain Ripley Vance gains a +1/+1 counter and then deals damage equal to her power whenever her controller casts their third spell in a turn. This means that any good Captain Ripley Vance deck needs to be absolutely loaded up with cantrips.

A cantrip is a low mana value spell that draws another card as soon as it is cast. Fortunately red has access to heaps and heaps of cantrips, with cards like Ancestral Anger, Fists of Flame, and Renegade Tactics. These cantrips ensure that you will always be able to hit that precious third spell on any given turn, since they cost very little and they immediately replace themself with something else.

Of course, you can't build a Captain Ripley Vance deck using cantrips alone. You'll also want cards that can increase Vance's power so that the damage she dishes out will be a bigger threat to your opponents and their creatures. Finally, given the sheer number of cantrips you will be casting, it also couldn't hurt to include some spellslinger payoffs like Thermo-Alchemist and Guttersnipe to support Captain Ripley Vance in her objective of barraging the opposition with unending waves of damage.

While Vance's limitation of only being able to activate once per does seem restrictive, just remember that this effect is not limited to only your own turn. Once you've cast your three spells and then passed, you can just load up another three cantrips at instant speed during your next opponent's turn to keep the cannons constantly firing. If you look at the fantastic artwork that Mathias Kollros did for this card, you'll see that Captain Vance literally has fire in her eyes. If you build the right deck around her, you'll be able to show your opponents why they should never mess with an Ixalani Pirate captain, especially not one with her own personal volcanic fortress lair.

Average Deck

Ripley Vance is currently (as of 11/10/2024) the captain of 462 different decks. Using EDHREC's average deck feature to scan over all of these decks and pull together an average list from them gives us this...

Just as we discussed above, there are a plethora of cantrips here to ensure that Vance's effect is always able to activate. Spells like Crimson Wisps, Expedite, and Crash Through. These may not be the most impactful cards out there, but they are absolutely necessary here to ensure that Vance's ability can be triggered reliably turn after turn. We've also got several different creative ways of increasing Captain Ripley Vance's power. From Unleash Fury, which just flat out doubles it, to Livaan, Cultist of Tiamat who causes it to rise every time a noncreature spell is cast, to Blackblade Reforged a legendary sword that makes her stronger for every land owned by her controller.

This is a reasonably cheap deck, coming in at $180.24, but there are definitely some cuts that can be made for price-wary players. Jeska's Will is a $20+ card and while it does provide a big burst of mana and access to the top three cards of your deck, it's totally reasonable not to want to shell out that much for a single card. Urabrask is another card that's often sold for around $20, it rewards you for casting spells by dealing a bit of damage, and generating a bit of mana, but there are plenty of other cards here that can fill either of these niches for less cash. Finally, Birgi, God of Storytelling is a $10+ card that can provide card advantage and extra mana which is useful, but by no means essential.

Now, let's look at our cards to keep, cards to cut, and cards to add...

5 Cards to Keep

Strionic Resonator

Currently in 30% of decks.

Getting Vance's effect to go off once in a turn is great, getting it to go off twice is fantastic. For a small investment of two mana, Strionic Resonator allows you to copy a triggered ability. This means that if you can activate the resonator every turn, then Captain Ripley Vance will grow twice as quickly and deal twice as much damage. Any pirate worth their salt will tell you that two cannons are better than one, and Strionic Resonator will make sure that your Captain Ripley Vance always has access to plenty of firepower.

Dragon Mantle

Currently in 58% of decks.

This deck may be the single greatest place to play a copy of Dragon Mantle. This typically unremarkable Aura from Theros finds a perfect home here, and it's completely worth its 10-cent price tag. Vance loves cantrips because they keep your momentum going, allowing you to keep blasting out cheap spells to get to that precious third casting. Cards that pump Vance's power are also highly sought after, since they make her ability to deal damage equal to her power all the more formidable. Dragon Mantle combines both of these highly desirable effects into a single one mana package. As a bonus, the mantle also keeps your commander toasty and warm during games on chilly winter nights.

Leering Emblem

Currently in 28% of decks.

I'll be honest, I had never heard of this card until I saw this deck list. This obscure emblem from Eventide provides a +2/+2 buff to the equipped creature whenever their controller casts a spell. In other words, by the time Vance's ability activates on any turn when they are equipped with this, they will have gained a +6/+6 bonus. This bonus equates to an extra twelve damage since the buff that Vance gets will raise the damage they deal both through their ability and in combat.

Runaway Steam-Kin

Currently in 63% of decks.

In decks with a lot of cantrips, there's nothing like a Runaway Steam-Kin to ensure that your mana keeps flowing. The steam-kin gains a +1/+1 counter every single time you cast a red spell. You can then remove three +1/+1 counters from Runaway Steam-Kin in order to generate . When 28% of the spells in this deck cost just one red mana, you know you'll be able to set off some crazy combos with this sentient ball of gas.

Chandra, Torch of Defiance

Currently in 23% of decks.

Chandra, Torch of Defiance is one of the best red planeswalkers out there. The card has four loyalty abilities, and all of them are very beneficial. Chandra's first +1 exiles the top card of your library, if it's a cheap card (which in this deck is very likely) then you can cast it and Chandra has effectively just drawn you a card. If the card is too costly, that's not a problem, since Chandra will compensate you by dealing 2 damage to each opponent. Chandra's second +1 generates , ensuring that you have enough fuel to cast your three spells in a turn. Chandra's -3 deals four damage, an ever-useful removal effect, and her -7 grants you an emblem that deals 5 damage to any target each time you cast a spell.

While Chandra, Torch of Defiance is a universally useful card, she's incredibly powerful here, as her entire suite of abilities help Captain Ripley Vance out in one way or another.

5 Cards to Cut

Tormenting Voice

Currently in 42% of decks.

Back in 2021, when Captain Ripley Vance was first printed, Tormenting Voice was already an underwhelming card. Thrill of Possibility existed as a strictly better instant speed alternative, and Reckless Impulse often served as a better means of getting access to new cards. The three years since then have not been kind to Tormenting Voice and it has now been so thoroughly power crept that it's just no longer worth keeping around. Demand Answers allows an alternative cost to be paid, Grab the Prize can deal damage and Witch's Mark provides a role token when it is cast. Red has more card draw options now than ever before. While Tormenting Voice is a classic, it is also showing its age and slipping into obsolescence.

Infuriate

Currently in 48% of decks.

The purpose of the one mana spells in this deck is simple, they activate, do something small, and then draw you an additional card. They are the spinning gears that keep your engine whirring, as they allow you to constantly dig through your deck ensuring that you will always have three cards to cast in a given turn to turn on Vance's ability. Infuriate has a far more impactful effect than a card like Crash Through or Crimson Wisps, it can be used to pump Vance so that the damage she deals is three points greater when her ability goes off. The issue is that Infuriate doesn't draw you a card, so it can't be used to keep your engine going and the buff it gives is only temporary. It's better to run cards like Akki War Paint which permanently increase Vance's power to provide more consistent damage over time.

Young Pyromancer

Currently in 45% of decks.

Young Pyromancer is, in some ways, the opposite of Dragon Mantle which we discussed above. While Dragon Mantle is a mediocre card that finds its perfect home in this deck, Young Pyromancer is a pretty good card that just doesn't fit in here. This deck runs a lot of instants and sorceries so at first glance it seems like Young Pyromancer should slot in great, the issue is that the payoff that this pyromancer provides doesn't match up with the rest of the deck's strategy.

Some spellsligner decks would love the opportunity to swarm the board with the 1/1 Elemental tokens this pyromancer produces. Zada, Hedron Grinder, and Balmor, Battlemage Captain can always benefit from having more bodies in play and Young Pyromancer helps them go as wide as possible. Captain Ripley Vance meanwhile doesn't particularly care about building up a big board, she just wants to cast a lot of spells to grow big and powerful herself. The Elementals generated by Young Pyromancer won't be entirely useless, they can always jump block and push a bit of extra damage through, but they also won't really do anything to help you advance your plans and win the game.

Grinning Ignus

Currently in 43% of decks.

There are certain builds of this deck where Grinning Ignus would be amazingly useful. If you slip a copy of Grapeshot or Empty the Warrens into your list, then all of a sudden you're playing a storm deck, and Grinning Ignus's ability to cast and recast itself over and over again becomes essential for pulling off that game-winning turn. As it stands though, this deck has enough way to keep a steady stream of cards flowing into your hand that you should never need to resort to playing the Ignus over and over again in order trigger Vance. While this works at guaranteeing that you will always be able to use Vance's effect, it's also a horribly inefficient use of mana that you shouldn't need to rely upon unless something has gone very wrong.

Fire Diamond

Currently in 38% of decks.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with running budget mana rocks like Fire Diamond. Red isn't very good at ramping, and Fire Diamond does the job of providing you with faster access to more mana. All the same, cards like Vulshok Factory and Cursed Mirror, while marginally more expensive, enter play untapped and provide exceedingly useful secondary effects on top of their ability to generate mana. Fire Diamond is fine, but these alternatives cost only slightly more and are just more useful overall.

5 Cards to Add

Braid of Fire

Currently in 8% of decks.

Way, way back in the ancient era between 1993 and 2009, there existed a concept called mana burn. Essentially, at the end of each of your turns, you would take damage equal to the amount of unspent mana that you had floating around. So if you tapped a Sol Ring and cast a Conjurer's Bauble for one you would then take one damage at the end of your turn because of the that you had left unspent. Braid of Fire is a relic from this era. It grants you a gradually increasing amount of red mana every single turn.

The original intention of this card was that you would eventually get punished, or forced to sacrifice it, due to the threat of taking a beating from mana burn damage. Fortunately, since mana burn no longer exists, you're free to generate as much red mana as you want using Braid of Fire. This means that you will always have enough fuel to cast the three spells needed to activate Captain Ripley Vance's ability. Just be careful when playing against anyone with Yurlok of Scorch Thrash in their command zone.

Toralf, God of Fury

Currently in 11% of decks.

Birgi, God of Storytelling is already a part of this list, let's bring one of her friends along as well. Like all of the gods of Kaldheim, Toralf, God of Fury is a double-faced card. Both Toralf himself and the hammer on his reverse side make really useful additions to this deck. Toralf's Hammer is a cheap piece of equipment that provides a +3/+0 bonus when it is equipped to a legendary creature. This can provide a much-needed power boost in the early game, to ensure that Captain Ripley Vance is always dealing out noteworthy damage. Once Vance has built up a few +1/+1 counters, the hammer can be thrown back into your hand (dealing three damage to a creature as it goes) and cast again as Toralf, God of Fury.

Toralf causes all excess noncombat damage dealt to creatures and planeswalkers controlled by opponents to trickle over and damage their controllers as well. You can imagine it sort of like Toralf is giving your noncombat damage sources trample. This means that you can use Vance's ability to blow up a utility creature like a Birds of Paradise and Blood Artist while still being able to put a dent in your opponents' life totals.

Toralf, God of Fury is also deadly when combined with the card Blasphemous Act, a card that is already in the deck. Dealing 13 damage to everything, whilst also pushing excess damage through to hurt your opponents, will almost certainly finish off at least one other player.

Vandalblast

Currently in 24% of decks.

Vandalblast is a red staple and it's a mystery why it's not currently included in this list. This deck doesn't have enough answers to artifacts at the moment, relying on Abrade and Chaos Warp to get the job done. Vandalblast is pretty unambiguously the best artifact destruction card in the game, and any deck running red should include a copy. Vandalblast can be a precise scalpel for one red mana in the early game and can take out an opponent's Sol Ring. In the late game though, it can be a devastating board wipe, clearing away every artifact that doesn't belong to you. We all know that Captain Ripley Vance loves blowing things up with her massive cannons, so Vandalblast is a thematic home run as well as a great card.

Chandra's Incinerator

Currently in 28% of decks.

At six mana, this card may seem a bit costly, but never fear Chandra's Incinerator has a cost reduction effect where she costs less to cast, where is the amount of noncombat damage you have dealt to your opponents this turn. If there is one thing that Captain Ripley Vance is good at, it's dealing noncombat damage to your opponents. A discounted 6/6 trampler is always a useful asset to have around, but the real reason you'll want Chandra's Incinerator in your deck is because of its ability. Chandra's Incinerator causes all noncombat damage dealt to an opponent to also get dealt to a creature or planeswalker they control. This is similar to the benefit that Toralf provides in that this card lets you both hurt an opponent and one of their creatures simultaneously using Captain Ripley Vance's ability. The more targets that Vance can blow up at once, the better just try to keep this smoldering fire elemental away from Vance's very flammable pirate ship.

Artist's Talent

Currently in less than 1% of decks.

Artist's Talent is a package of neat little effects that all come together to help this deck do what it wants to do. The first tier of this card allows you to discard cards from your hand to draw new cards whenever you cast a noncreature spell. This is one of the most useful modes of the card, so it's great that it is unlocked first. You can use this effect of Artist's Talent to cycle away excess lands and unnecessary cards, as you dig through your deck using your cantrips. The next unlocked ability of this card makes all of your noncreature spells cheaper by . While this won't reduce the cost of your one mana cantrips, it will enable you to get cards like Swiftfoot Boots and Strionic Resonator out at a discounted rate. The final ability of Artist's Talent increases all noncombat damage that you deal by two, providing a decent benefit every time Vance blasts something.

Conclusion

There are lots of legendary Pirates in Magic. Many of them have different fun niches. Don Andres, the Renegade wants you to steal all of your opponents' stuff, Captain Lannery Storm cares about treasure, and Captain N'ghathrod mills your opponents and is also a horrifying eldritch monstrosity. Ripley Vance, meanwhile is the captain of cantrips and cannons. Maybe Captain Ripley Vance isn't the strongest pirate out there but, like all of the commanders we discuss here on Under the Radar, she does something novel and enjoyable. WithCaptain Ripley Vance out on the battlefield, you'll be queuing up cantrips and digging through your deck at a breakneck pace. This will enable you to blast your opponents, and all of their best creatures, turn after turn with increasingly powerful shots.

Keep your cannons loaded and slot Captain Ripley Vance into the command zone, you won't regret it.

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