Introduction“Battlemages of Konstrari, the school of constructive arts, pour their hearts into their craft in defense of Hexhaven.”- Konstrari Annex cardWhen Jace Beledren created his universe, he replaced Strixhaven's famous founding Dragons with Hexhaven's sphinxes, like Aerid Konstrari.When Aerid founded the school, she established three principles to guide her students: be courageous and discerning, let instinct and imagination guide you, and understand that creativity is born from emotion.This character clearly has plenty of passion, as all good legendary Gruul creatures should!In this article, you'll find two decklists with this inspiring commander. The first focuses on artifacts, which allow you to make the most of her two abilities, while the second is packed with land destruction for those who want to be a real villain.Let's get to know her!Commander: Aerid KonstrariAerid Konstrari can bring to life the most various objects and is one of the five sphinxes who founded Hexhaven. Now, she passes down her knowledge to the people who live on this plane.As a dean, she keeps a somewhat healthy distance from her students and prefers to focus on her legacy. As a commander, however, you'll make sure she keeps returning to the battlefield.Her enter-the-battlefield ability (an ETB ability) and death trigger create a Heartwood token, an artifact that creates either red or green mana. You don't even have to sacrifice it.In other words, these are mana rocks that last forever!By paying a total of 6 generic mana, you can activate Aerid Konstrari's ability to create another one of these tokens and buff her based on the number of artifacts you control.BurnRed is all about burn, and we're in luck: there are many red cards that burn life points when artifacts enter the battlefield!Alongside these cards, other options that will allow you to deal damage directly are Kazuul's Fury, which is great when you use it on your commander because then you get to deal a massive amount of damage, and Konstrari Charm, which also works as a buff.TokensNow that we added cards that give us a lot of passive damage in return for putting many Heartwood artifacts in play, it's time to look at some other cards that create or interact with tokens.Cards that copy something, such as For the Common Good, Devastating Onslaught, and Blade of Selves, will mainly give you more artifacts.If the commander copies Blade of Selves creates die, you'll still have the Heartwood tokens. And, of course, depending on the board state, Devastating Onslaught can copy fun artifacts such as Solemn Simulacrum and Memnarch, the Warden.Notice that the legendary rule isn't a major concern for this deck. After all, you have complete control over what you copy, and even if the copy dies, the effects we care about are ETB abilities.Goldspan Dragon and Old Gnawbone, staples in any Treasure deck, will do what they do best: be two enormous Flying problems for the rest of the table.With the tokens they create, we'll create value with cards such as Stridehangar Automaton, Peregrin Took, and even Roxanne, Starfall Savant, which is famous for her Meteorites.Memnarch, the Warden, a new card, is perfect for an artifact deck. Jiang Yanggu, Never Alone, in turn, is a support card that fits this list like a glove, as it untaps our Heartwood tokens and makes sure that our mana is always ready to go.Besides creating an Icy Manalith that creates any color of mana, Svella, Ice Shaper lets you look at the top 4 cards in your deck and cast one of them without paying its mana cost.On its own, this creature has a lot of potential, in particular when it comes to progressing our game plan.Once the board is full, it's time to cast Hellkite Tyrant and hope to win with 20 artifacts. We can also try disrupting our opponents by attacking them with this powerful Flying creature and stealing enemy artifacts when it deals damage.Discounting CostsPaying 6 generic mana for Aerid Konstrari and 8 total mana for Svella, Ice Shaper's ability is “quite expensive.”We want to speed up the game and eventually take advantage of these abilities, so we need cards that discount the cost of activated abilities, such as:One of the most fearsome witches in Eldraine, Agatha of the Vile Cauldron is also perfect for the job.Besides her passive ability, which discounts the cost of activated abilities, she has an ability of her own that gives our other creatures Haste, Trample, and +1/+1 until the end of the turn.The classic Goblin Anarchomancer is a must when it comes to discounting the cost of red or green spells.Ramp and Creating ManaThe tokens Aerid Konstrari creates won't be our only source of mana.Considering this deck's mana base is packed with basic lands, classic ramp spells such as Cultivate and Kodama's Reach certainly get the job done.One of the most popular Gruul Dragons is certainly Savage Ventmaw. Its powerful attack trigger creates all at once.That's more than enough mana to activate Konstrari's ability!Above, you'll see some classic sacrifice altars for when we need to sacrifice our commander. As she enters and leaves play, we get to put two more mana rocks onto the battlefield.You'll also find Krark-Clan Ironworks, which creates two generic mana if you sacrifice an artifact with it.BuffsIn addition to everything we've covered so far and the buffs from our commander, this deck plays cards that allow you to set up game-winning attacks.Using your harmless mana rocks and other artifacts you have on the battlefield, Craterclaw Colossus and Depthshaker Titan will wreak havoc on the board with a single attack.Besides being a powerful artifact, Pyrewood Gearhulk makes sure all your damage goes through and provides a powerful +2/+2, Vigilance, and Menace buff when it enters the battlefield.Virtually every aura or artifact deck plays a copy of Nettlecyst, and this one is no exception!The idea is to attach it to our commander or another large creature with evasion and deal a massive amount of damage.Main DeckHere is the final list:Alternative DeckAs promised, this alternative deck is for players who aren't afraid of being labeled the villain. It plays lots of land destruction to set opponents back while you continue creating mana with your artifacts.This list shares several cards with the one above but also plays Acidic Slime, Ramunap Excavator, Terastodon, Titania, Protector of Argoth, and World Shaper.It also includes spells such as Roiling Terrain, Seismic Spike, Wildfire, Decimate, and Boom.Final ThoughtsSeeing such iconic creatures as the sphinxes get new color identities is a lot of fun, and Aerid Konstrari is one of the coolest cards in Reality Fracture.Besides being a strong support card for Gruul artifacts strategies, she still brings forth that quintessential Gruul essence: attacking, striking combat steps, and opponents losing the game because you dealt 21 damage all at once.What do you think? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.Thank you for reading, and see you next time!
Reactions
0
0 Comments
Be the first to comment
Nothing here yet.