Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle

With the release of March of Machines and new etched and showcase framing for Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle is released it was a good time to push the websites technical overlord to hand over his list. Arixmethes has been one of his pet decks for awhile and has even recently been tuned to be even more irritating and powerful. I’ll go over the subtheme of the deck but in general, casting Arixmethes is effectively an Explosive Vegetation in the command zone reliably accelerating from 4 mana to 6-7 mana to start the big spell plays quick.

Subtheme

The spells of this theme in particular happens on curve from the early Arixmethes into the 7 mana next turn but it’s theft. In particular the pilot of this deck loves to repeatedly take lands from his opponents. This aligns with the mass removal cards used i.e. Crush of Tentacles and a favorite of ours Flood of Tears. Even against opposing Cyclonic Rifts it’s difficult for a deck to have a way to recover the stolen lands. Of course these mass bounce cards not only have the potential to reset the board but do not affect Arixmethes as long as there is a slumber counter still around.

Impact

The subtheme may be frequent but it’s typically more a disruption than an end game plan. The true impact in this build is the high value spells that are repeatedly played. Aminatou’s Augury is an example I use a lot for low financial cost but effective spells. It is the card that causes the most groans out of all the ones in this deck due to the absolutely backbreaking cards it can hit digging 8 cards deep into the deck. This deck plays all 3 of the newer forms of the Eldrazi titans too, each speak for themselves in terms of utility and potential damage. What’s worse than all this is being able to not just cheat in via Aminatou’s Augury or Flood of Tears but just straight hard cast Omniscience and dump your hand.

Budget

Since this is the first deck list from Aaron this post gets a bit extra. A budget version of Arixmethes which was closer to the original build. A not uncommon sight from this was Boundless Realms with landfall effects to chain into further large spells. A ridiculous play from a deck that shows the strength of the Simic colour combination by both ramping ahead in resources and having enough cards to keep playing things.

Summary

Arixmethes is a great Commander who can lead decks of multiple levels of play. A consistent ramp within the command zone that has some big stats to boast, this isn’t even touching on the infinite green mana with Freed from the Real or the one shot kill with Pemmim’s Aura. From starter to casual and then our favorite high powered plays Arixmethes can support them all. If you’re looking to play high cost spells maybe take a look and see what this deck can do.