Introduction“Cavalry incoming! Swat them if you dare!”- Ant-Man, Hank PymDo ants matter? Ant-Man, Elusive Avenger is here to prove that they do and that small creatures hide great treasures.This is another hero that came out straight from the comic book pages and found his way into the Magic: The Gathering universe in the Marvel Super Heroes set.We built 2 lists for this commander. The first one centers around small spells that you'll use to buff Ant-Man, Elusive Avenger when he isn't blocked. As for the second, it is an Izzet list centered around artifacts that allows you to get as much as possible out of interacting with your treasures.Let's start by exploring this commander!Commander: Ant-Man, Elusive Avenger“Break into vaults? Very ‘old me.’ Slip into vaults through subatomic gaps? Now we’re talking.”- Ant-Man, Scott LangThere have been a few different Ant-Mans in the comic books.The first one was Hank Pym, who developed the Pym particles that allow this hero to change size at will. The second was Scott Lang, an ex-con who eventually built a solid reputation as Ant-Man. Eric O'Grady also became Ant-Man at one point, but this set didn't reference this hero much.This legendary creature is as flavorful as Scott Lang/Ant-Man fans wanted it to be. He is an Izzet hero that can't be blocked by creatures that are more powerful than him. He also creates Treasures according to the damage he deals to a player.Even though we want an absurd number of Treasures so that we can cast all the spells we want, we know growing this commander constantly is not worth it (for instance, by attaching equipment cards to him like Excalibur, Sword of Eden). Ideally, we want to lean into his unique evasion instead.Luckily, Izzet is full of instants and sorceries that temporarily buff cards and are excellent when you cast them after your opponents declare their blockers.Like so, you'll take advantage of Ant-Man, Elusive Avenger's evasion, and also grow him so that you can create more Treasures.BuffsLet's start with the buffs we added to this list.Double Strike is really helpful to Ant-Man, Elusive Avenger. With this keyword, he'll deal damage twice to the opponents when he attacks. So, we added Fireshrieker and Lizard Blades, equipment cards that give you this keyword but don't buff a creature's power, as well as the instants Psychotic Fury and Temur Battle Rage.As you must have realized, the most "forgotten" instants, the ones you keep deep down in your shoe boxes full of MTG cards, have space to shine in this deck.Some cards you'll use to deal more damage with Lang are Titan's Strength, Siege Smash, Water Wings, Invigorated Rampage, Infuriate, Haste Magic, Fists of the Anvil, Antagonize, Blazing Crescendo, and Borrowed Hostility.What really interests us in this aura is that it allows us to use one red mana to give the equipped creature +1/+0 until the end of the turn.Please note that you can (and must) activate this ability as much as you can during your turn, using as much mana as you can.Card DrawA blue deck will never struggle with card draw.Some of the most popular blue card draw tools, like Windfall, Finale of Revelation, and Frantic Search, see play in this list next to new cards like Mister Fantastic, Reed Richards and Ms. Marvel, Kamala Khan. They'll all give you a lot of cards.We also added striking creatures that interact with the spells you cast, like Archmage Emeritus and Archmage of Runes. Professional Face-Breaker and the way it interacts with Treasures also see play in this list.Creating ManaThese colors might not be the best to ramp, but we can use many mana rocks to find our way as our commander gets the Treasures we need.Who doesn't like to check the time with the Midnight Clock?This artifact works like a mana rock. It also allows you to shuffle your graveyard back into your deck and draw 7 cards.Resonating Lute draws cards, but we will use it to create more mana. With this card, each land will create one mana color, any color, and we'll be able to use this mana on instants and sorceries.With Knuckles the Echidna, Treasures are more than mana sources. They can be a wincon as well.That's because Echidna states that, if you control 30 artifacts or more at the beginning of your upkeep step, you win the game. If you enjoy this fella, check out our decktech on him.ProtectionWhen your small 1/2 ant starts bothering your opponents, they'll try to remove it, and you'll have to protect him somehow. Here are the cards you can use to do that:Swiftfoot Boots and Brotherhood Regalia are welcome in Voltron lists and in this one as well. Hydroelectric Specimen and Sink into Stupor are two of our favorite modal cards. You can use them to protect yourself or as lands.For one mana, Octopus Form and Shore Up make sure you won't have to send Ant-Man to the command zone.Main ListHere is our final list:Alternative ListIzzet artifact lists are nothing new, but with Ant-Man, Elusive Avenger, we'll play with this archetype in a new way.Besides cards that create Treasures, like Ancient Copper Dragon and Cavern-Hoard Dragon, this list plays interactions like Junk Winder and Crime Novelist. Winder taps creatures your opponents control, and Crime Novelist creates mana when you sacrifice an artifact.To finish, we added Cyberdrive Awakener and Depthshaker Titan, which will boost your tokens and make them great attackers.A Treasure list with so many artifacts and Dragons is the perfect home to the illustrious Magda, Brazen Outlaw. Her activated ability will tutor into play artifacts and Dragons straight from your deck.Besides Knuckles, the Echidna, another win condition in this list is Mechanized Production. You can use this aura on your Treasures, and it gives you the win if you have 8 or more artifacts with the same name in play.Final WordsAnt-Man, Elusive Avenger's small stats are a real advantage in Commander, which makes sense, considering how ambitious this character is.Thanks to this legendary card, you'll always have Treasures to cast whatever you want, and you can win through alternative win conditions or even commander damage.You can also easily adapt this deck if your playgroup works with different rules (for instance, if they don't accept game changers or even certain budgets) and still keep it consistent.Ant-Man is a fun commander, and, though he is nothing outstanding, he will give you incredibly fun experiences.What do you think? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.Thank you for reading, and see you next time!
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