Since its implementation as a sanctioned format on Magic Online, Duel Commander has been flourishing on the platform. A wide variety of different Commanders and color combinations have been putting up elite results.
One of the most intriguing legends that is starting to make an impact in Duel Commander is Flamewar, Brash Veteran. This Transformers Commander is very efficient and doesn’t take much to get going. Other Universes Beyond legends, such as Aragorn, King of Gondor, have had a massive impact on the format, but now it looks like it’s now Transformers’ time in the spotlight.
The Role of Flamewar
At its core, the Flamewar shell is a pretty basic Rakdos midrange deck. Most of the cards are individually efficient and powerful, with an aggressive slant. Flamewar, however, adds a neat element to the deck that helps you both apply pressure early and generate card advantage late.
Thanks to Flamewar’s More Than Meets the Eye ability, you can cast Flamewar on turn two as a Converted Vehicle. Because it has Menace and Deathtouch, your opponent will almost certainly not want to block it. From there, you’ll get to exile two cards from the top of your library face down for later while Converting Flamewar back into its traditional 3/2 self.
The front half of Flamewar offers a couple of decent abilities. You can grow Flamewar by sacrificing an artifact, and you can discard your hand to put all cards previously exiled with intel counters into your hand. Neither of these abilities is amazing, but they offer a lot of flexibility.
Alongside simple support cards like Chromatic Star and Wizard’s Rockets, it’s easy to grow Flamewar and Convert it back into its scary Vehicle side. Assuming you can connect in combat again, you’ll exile even more cards with intel counters.
Because this deck has a relatively low curve, it won’t be long before Flamewar’s ability to refuel your hand will become relevant. What’s nice is that even if Flamewar dies before you’re able to put the exiled cards into your hand, the cards will remain exiled. This means that in the event you flood out, you can recast Flamewar from the Command Zone, and the cards will still be waiting for you to retrieve.
Flamewar, Streetwise Operative also synergizes well with any way to grow its power. This deck doesn’t feature a heavy pump spell theme, but cards such as Inti, Seneschal of the Sun and Detective’s Phoenix suffice. The beefier Flamewar is when you connect, the more cards you’ll exile with intel counters.
The Rest of the Deck
The rest of the deck is filled with cards that can be split into a few categories. First, we have elite threats. Most creatures in this deck don’t combo directly with Flamewar.
Instead, they serve as strong ways to push through damage and keep your opponent on the back foot. Creatures like Orcish Bowmasters and Emperor of Bones are some of the best tools available in Duel Commander, regardless of what creature is in the Command Zone.
There are some creatures that improve alongside this deck’s numerous cheap artifact trinkets, such as Dragon’s Rage Channeler and Pyrogoyf. This deck features a wide range of different card types, so enabling Delirium or maximizing your Lhurgoyf suite isn’t difficult.
Next, we have interaction. As you might expect for a rather aggressive archetype, many of the removal spells also function as burn spells. You’ll also find lots of “free” spells, including Unmask, Pyrokinesis, and the pitch Elementals from Modern Horizons 2. These cards get a lot better when you know you have a Commander that can refuel your hand.
Finally, we have the artifacts. There are 10 artifacts present that all cost zero or one mana. Having cheap ways to buff up and Convert Flamewar, Brash Veteran is important, and cards like Mishra’s Bauble and Arcum’s Astrolabe have very low opportunity costs associated with their inclusions.
A Nice Alternative
All things considered, a big part of the reason why Flamewar is seeing increased play in Duel Commander online is due to the lack of other options. There aren’t many other cheap Rakdos legends that reward you for playing a classic midrange beatdown game plan.
Of course, outside of Magic Online, it’s hard to justify playing Flamewar when Deadpool is right there for the taking. Deadpool just has such a big impact on the game immediately, even if it gets killed right away.
Unfortunately, Deadpool is still unavailable on the Magic Online platform, requiring players to think outside the box. It wouldn’t be too shocking if Deadpool ends up banned in Duel Commander in the future due to the unfun gameplay patterns it creates. This would only increase Flamewar’s chances of making a bigger impact on the format at large.
For the most part, the Transformers cards haven’t made much of a dent in any formats they’re legal in. Seeing Flamewar put up results in a competitive environment is awesome, even if there’s a stronger Universes Beyond option waiting in the wings.
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