While Universes Beyond sets are undoubtedly controversial, the massive influx of new legends helps Commander gameplay stay fresh and exciting. This is especially true for enthusiasts of Duel Commander, which has experienced some major metagame shifts this year. Unique brews continue to make their way out of the woodworks, including a wild Wizard typal deck with some incredibly powerful plays.
Combining Wizard and Legendary Themes
This archetype’s entire gameplan revolves around Gandalf, Party Guest, which requires pretty restrictive deckbuilding to use but pays you off in the end. The goal is to build out a big board of legendary Wizards early so that when you slam Gandalf, you can immediately cast a beefy instant or sorcery for free. With this in mind, nearly every creature in this deck is a legendary Wizard that supports a Spellslinger theme.
Baral, Chief of Compliance and Kaza, Roil Chaser serve as cheap Wizards that also discount your spells, while Adeliz, the Cinder Wind and Balmor, Battlemage Captain buff your team for each spell cast. From there, Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy
Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy{T}: Draw a card, then discard a card. If there are five or more cards in your graveyard, exile Jace, then return him to the battlefield transformed under his owner's control. and Tersa Lightshatter do a great job digging for your most impactful instants and sorceries. You even have access to trigger doublers like Harmonic Prodigy that further lean into your Wizard theme.
All these tools curve nicely into Gandalf, which then threatens to take over the game in a number of ways. While this easily lets you cast larger spells for free on larger boards, Gandalf can also cast incredibly powerful free spells like Inevitable Betrayal or Ancestral Vision while ignoring Suspend. Either card can swing a game on its own, letting Gandalf create value on an otherwise empty board.
When you have a larger board of Wizards in play, you can also cast free haymakers like Baral’s Expertise or Raise the Palisade, which single-handedly halts any pressure against you. Thanks to your legends matter subtheme, you can also abuse Urza’s Ruinous Blast in this department as a one-sided board wipe.
Once you start to turn the corner, your last step is to prevent your opponent from coming back. Naturally, counterspells like Memory Lapse and Force of Negation
Force of NegationIf it's not your turn, you may exile a blue card from your hand rather than pay this spell's mana cost.
Counter target noncreature spell. If that spell is countered this way, exile it instead of putting it into its owner's graveyard. play a pivotal role, protecting Gandalf turn after turn. Alternatively, you can use Armageddon
ArmageddonDestroy all lands. to stop your opponents from casting spells altogether, while Gandalf keeps casting spells with his ability.
One Way to Win
Ultimately, this deck’s biggest appeal is against other creature decks with few answers to your creatures. Archetypes like Brigid, Clachan’s Heart and Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd rely more on developing their boards than messing with yours, so they’re vulnerable to your mass bounce and exile effects. You also have ample answers to Drannith Magistrate
Drannith MagistrateYour opponents can't cast spells from anywhere other than their hands., so you should have no issue sticking Gandalf.
However, your Commander’s trigger relies on a critical mass of Wizards, so things can go south if your opponent has lots of removal. One of the easiest ways to lose is to have your two- and three-mana Wizards killed by one-mana burn spells while your opponent still develops their board. Things get even harder when your Commander faces free answers like Pyrokinesis.
Similarly, getting Gandalf countered multiple times is a recipe for disaster, since your other Wizards will struggle to end games on their own. These weaknesses make your matchup against control decks like Tasigur, the Golden Fang quite poor.
With these factors in mind, Gandalf hardly feels like a top competitive option in Duel Commander. Still, considering just how popular White Weenie and Brigid strategies are, Gandalf can be a decent meta call for small events.
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