The Commander
Deathtouch, lifelink
Other legendary creatures you control get +2/+2.
Guide
Gameplan
Arvad the Cursed turns a critical mass of legendary creatures into a beatdown force, pumping each one +2/+2 with built-in deathtouch and lifelink keeping you safe. You ramp into legends, deploy a wide board of powerful uniques, then swing with buffed bodies while leveraging strong legendary ETB and activated abilities. The game closes through combat damage backed by lifegain insurance.
Strengths
- Anthem effect makes every legendary creature bigger and more threatening
- Deathtouch and lifelink on Arvad himself make him a strong blocker and stabilizer
- Access to the deep BW legendary creature pool with powerful individual cards
- Lifegain synergies pair naturally with the lifelink theme
Weaknesses
- Heavily commander-dependent; losing Arvad removes the +2/+2 payoff
- Legendary creatures are individually expensive and lack inherent synergy
- No evasion or protection built in, so the board can stall against bigger defenses
- Vulnerable to board wipes that erase your invested legendary creatures
Key Cards
- Kethek, Crucible Goliath — Rewards casting legendary creatures with tutoring and digging, fueling the deck's engine.
- Sram, Senior Edificer — Card advantage engine if you lean into equipment to make individual legends more threatening.
- Teysa, Orzhov Scion — A premier BW legendary creature that adds aristocrats and token value to the board.
- Anguished Unmaking — Premium BW removal to clear blockers or threats before a buffed alpha strike.
- Sword of Feast and Famine — Gives a buffed legend evasion, protection, and explosive ramp through untapping lands.
Upgrade Path
Tighten the legendary count and prioritize legends with immediate impact or evasion so the anthem matters even without combat. Add efficient BW tutors, protection like Lightning Greaves, and recursion to rebuild after wipes, plus a compact combo such as Sanguine Bond and Exquisite Blood to leverage the lifelink. Trim clunky vanilla legends in favor of value engines like Kambal, Profiteering Mayor or Yawgmoth, Thran Physician.
Core Cards
The most-played cards for this commander, built from aggregated deck data (the Mythic Graph). Build public decks to seed it.
Win Conditions
- ▸Alpha strike with multiple +2/+2 buffed legendary creatures
- ▸Voltron damage through an equipped, evasive legend
- ▸Aristocrats drain and lifegain payoffs like Sanguine Bond effects
- ▸Grinding out value until opponents are overwhelmed by buffed bodies
Archetypes
- Legendary Tribal — Arvad's anthem rewards flooding the board with as many legendary creatures as possible.
- Voltron — Stacking +2/+2 with equipment and auras on a single legend creates a fast clock with lifelink safety.
- Aristocrats — BW legends like Teysa and Yawgmoth let you grind value while keeping a board of bodies.
- Lifegain — Arvad's lifelink combines with Orzhov payoffs to gain and weaponize life totals.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (BW), by popularity.
