One of the cool things about the Artifacts archetype in Commander is that it can come in many forms. While some legends encourage you to beat down with artifact creatures, others help you ramp towards huge haymakers.
Of all the thematic Commander options out there, Sami, Wildcat Captain has to be one of the most interesting. This Artificer’s ability to let you cast a flurry of spells at a major discount is easily abusable, so much so that the Commander is even putting up some strong cEDH results.
Setting Up Winning Combos
In order to get mileage out of Sami, Wildcat Captain in cEDH, you need to reliably get it into play ahead of schedule. Fortunately, this deck that made top eight of a 49-player tournament features a plethora of mana rocks ranging from various Moxen to Grim Monolith. Add in some Treasure makers like Magda, Brazen Outlaw and Treasonous Ogre, and ramping to six mana should be a breeze.
Once Sami is in play, it then benefits from all of these small trinkets by making your other spells cost less. This gives you a chance to start casting colorless spells from your hand for free, including pricier mana engines like Chromatic Orrery and Coveted Jewel. These tools, alongside your discounted Rituals like Seething Song and Name-Sticker Goblin, then provide bursts of colored mana.
From there, you can chain card advantage spells like Wheel of Fortune and Will of the Jeskai together until you assemble a combo. Using Experimental Frenzy and Mystic Forge, Sami’s discount enables Sensei’s Diving Top to draw your whole deck. By building up Storm count, Aetherflux Reservoir should then end the game.
Notably, some players have also found success incorporating Spine of Ish Sah as a combo piece, too. With seven other artifacts in play and a sacrifice outlet, you can repeatedly cast and rebuy Spine until all opposing permanents are blown up. If the sacrifice outlet is Grinding Station, you can even Mill out your opponents in the process.
Strong but Fragile
As a whole, what makes Sami such a scary Commander is its explosiveness and consistency. This Artificer puts your opponent to the test right away, demanding interaction quickly. If Sami sticks, there’s a good chance you can cement a big advantage or win that same turn.
That said, because Sami is expensive, just one well-timed piece of interaction can lose you the game. Without Sami in play, this deck struggles to get much done. Grand Abolisher and Ranger-Captain of Eos definitely help set up your big turns, but you won’t always have the luxury of landing them.
This doesn’t even take into account hate pieces like Null Rod and Drannith Magistrate, which make casting Sami a nightmare. Even Storm hate cards like High Noon shut down your primary gameplan. With these vulnerabilities in mind, it’s understandable why this archetype hasn’t emerged as a dominant force. Nonetheless, Sami’s recent cEDH success showcases that the deck has what it takes to compete.
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