The Commander
Whenever Captain Vargus Wrath attacks, Pirates you control get +1/+1 until end of turn for each time you've cast a commander from the command zone this game.
Guide
Gameplan
Deploy a wide board of cheap, aggressive Pirates, then attack with Captain Vargus Wrath to pump your whole team based on how many times you've cast a commander this game. Recast Vargus repeatedly (even letting him die) to grow the anthem, and close fast with evasive Pirate beatdown before the table stabilizes.
Strengths
- Self-scaling anthem rewards recasting your commander, turning commander tax into an asset
- Cheap two-mana body that comes online immediately and threatens lethal swings
- Strong tribal payoff in a Pirate type that has plenty of evasion and treasure synergy
- Izzet colors add card draw, bounce, and burn to back up the aggression
Weaknesses
- Anthem only triggers when Vargus attacks, so removal or chump blocks blunt the whole plan
- Reliant on commander being in play and on the battlefield being wide
- Pirate tribe in Izzet is shallow on raw power compared to other tribes
- Vulnerable to board wipes since the strategy is go-wide aggro
- Each recast costs more, straining mana if you lean too hard on repeated casts
Key Cards
- Admiral Beckett Brass — Pirate lord that steals permanents when three Pirates connect, doubling down on the evasive aggro plan.
- Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator — Generates Treasure and card advantage off Pirate combat damage to fuel recasts and spells.
- Ramirez DePietro — Cheap evasive Pirate that benefits enormously from Vargus's stacking anthem.
- Hullbreaker Horror — A pirate-friendly finisher and protection piece that punishes interaction on your turns.
- Coastal Piracy — Turns every connecting Pirate into cards, keeping the aggressive deck refueled.
- Reconnaissance — Lets you attack with Vargus to trigger the anthem, then pull him back to dodge blocks and removal.
Upgrade Path
Lean into low-curve evasive Pirates and Treasure ramp (Dockside Extortionist, Smuggler's Copter) so you can recast Vargus cheaply and often to maximize the anthem. Add protection like Reconnaissance, Lightning Greaves, and bounce/counter spells to ensure attacks resolve, and include extra-combat enablers (Aggravated Assault, Port Razer) to convert a wide board into a kill in a single turn.
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
- ▸Swing wide with pumped, evasive Pirates for lethal commander-anthem damage
- ▸Connect with Admiral Beckett Brass / Coastal Piracy to grind advantage then alpha strike
- ▸Recast Vargus several times to build a massive anthem and one-shot opponents with trample/menace
- ▸Finish stragglers with Izzet burn after combat pressure
Archetypes
- Tribal Aggro — Vargus is a Pirate anthem that scales with commander casts, perfect for a wide, evasive Pirate team.
- Spellslinger — Izzet colors let you supplement the aggression with burn, counters, and card draw to protect the board.
- Treasure/Storm-lite — Pirate Treasure generators ramp into repeated commander recasts that grow the anthem.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (RU), by popularity.
