These crabs can really dance!
Art:Charix, the Raging Isle
by Viktor Titov
Table of Contents
Todays Featured Commander is:
Charix is one of the only crab legends in all of magic, since Charix is in a very unsupported creature type there is not a lot of crab EDH decks out there. Even without a lot of support Charix is still a ton of fun to play and with all of the artifacts and enchantments that let you buff a specific creature type can actually be pretty effective! Charix is an absolutely huge toughness creature and in the late game you can deal a ton of damage with him!
The Deck:
Charix Crabs!
Why Charix, the Raging Isle?
Charix is the commander for two reasons, Charix is one of the few legends that has the creature type crab and while he is primarly a defensive creature can also be offensive with his ability, and when combining that with the ability to give him unblockable can make Charix’s commander damage an effective way to end the game! Charix is also hard to kill with single target removal since spells targeting Charix cost two more to cast while this ability gets worse as the game goes on it can still be an effective way to stop Charix from getting killed.
Deck Overview:
Since we are a deck that focuses on crabs, we of course have a bunch of them! Some of our best crabs are Hedron Crab
, Wormfang Crab
and Mirrorshell Crab
. While these crabs don’t look like much on there own they can be buffed by some of our other creatures like Adaptive Automaton
, Metallic Mimic
and Bloodline Pretender
. While are crabs are not much in the power department almost all of them have pretty high toughness so it can be great when going up against aggressive strategies since we can block all of their small creatures. Arguably the best creature in the deck is Sun Quan, Lord of Wu
he gives all of our creatures horsemanship which in 2023 EDH pretty much means all of our creatures unblockable. Sun Quan is a great creature that allows us to be super evasive which can be really helpful since our high toughness creatures have trouble killing opponents creatures in combat. Another card that can help us make a creature unblockable is Thassa, God of the Sea
who not only gives us the benefit of scrying 1 every turn but for only 1U can make a creature unblockable in my testing I found that I typically targeted Charix to get the commander damage win. Commander damage is one of the primary win conditions since we can not only make Charix unblockable but buff him pretty large with relative ease.
Mu Yanling
is our one and only planeswalkers and functions really well for us, her + allows us to make a creature unblockable which is always great for us, and her minus allows us to draw cards we are in mono-blue so drawing cards really isnt that hard but I will never say no to free cards! In testing I was never able to get Mu to 10 loyalty for her loyalty but with how many unblockable effects we have would be a great way to end the game this is by no means the primary way to win but if it happens it happens.
Our spell package is full of protection and ways to draw cards, we are quite light on interaction in the deck so we can have more buffs and anthem effects.Aetherize
is super good against token decks or really any aggressive strategy and essentially acts a fog effect but also clears the board for us! Twisted Image
is great for when we have Charix and can use it swing for big damage and this can be a great and effective way for us to get a commander damage kill especially when Charix is unblockable. Engulf the Shore
since we have a bunch of high toughness creatures this bounce effect really doesn’t effect us that much and can be devastating to our opponents! Inundate
is a great card that allows us to clear the way for the crab army and is a great way to bounce our opponents creatures as well!
Our artifact package is where most of our anthems and mana production lie, for anthems we have format staples like Vanquisher's Banner
and Door of Destinies
. Urza's Incubator
is a great way for us to reduce the mana cost of creatures and cast some crabs early. Gauntlet of Power
and Caged Sun
are great ways to buff our creatures and essentially double our mana production. Blackblade Reforged
is a great card especially when equipped to Charix and can be a great way to get a commander damage kill.
For our enchantments we have one of the best blue cards of all time in Rhystic Study
which allows us to draw a ton of cards! Aqueous Form
is just another way for us to make Charix unblockable! Levitation
allows our crabs to fly which is quite the scary sight if you think about it but can help us get in a bunch of damage! Reflections of Littjara
is a great way for us to get more crabs, this card is great at really any stage of the game and is just a really helpful piece for only 4U. Propaganda
is a great card for when we are going against aggressive or token strategies and is also great in games where we have a slow start!
Our land base is very simple featuring 31 Islands but our other 4 lands do have a great effect! Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
is great in our deck and can produce an absolute ton of mana it also helps that a lot of our crabs count for 2 or 3 blue to our devotion. Path of Ancestry
is a great way for us to scry and set up the top of our deck. Even though we are a blue deck we don’t have a ton of counterspells so Cavern of Souls
is great to protect our important creatures against control or counterspell heavy decks. Mystic Sanctuary
is great in the late game allowing us to get back a key Instant or Sorcery!
Strengths of the Deck:
- Anthem effects allow us to deal with opponents relatively quickly
- Good mana curve of creatures allowing us to play one or two creatures a turn
- Deck can function without Charix if we are unable to stick them to the field
Weaknesses of the Deck:
- Weak to creature hate
- Hard to deal a lot of damage without our anthem effects
- Not a large interaction package
Deck Stats:
Sample Hands:
Main Win Conditions:
We have no infinite combos in the deck so we typically win through combat and just buffing up our crabs this can be great when combined with cards like Door of Destinies or Vanquisher's Banner. We have no real combat tricks outside of buffs and cards to make our creatures a little more evasive. Commander damage is one of the primary win conditions since we can not only make Charix unblockable but buff him pretty large with relative ease
Conclusion:
Crabs are a pretty unsupported creature type in magic but it doesnt mean you cant have fun with them! While Charix may not be the most powerful commander in the world you can still have a ton of fun piloting the deck and it is a good change of pace from the more popular creature types in EDH that have a ton of support. Charix is a ton of fun to pilot for any crab lover or people who just like janky creature based decks!
Thanks for reading to the end!