“Like wildfire.”
Art:Electrostatic Infantry
by Kekai Kotaki
Table of Contents
Today’s Featured Commander Is:
Electrostatic Infantry is a mono-red machine, and who doesn’t love a commander who comes with trample because that makes the job so much easier to complete. We are as mono-red as they come and spend the game cantripping and making our creatures/commander more evasive / stronger, all while getting buffs on our commander the whole time. Spell slinging is a ton of fun, and doing it without blue makes it fun and unique to pilot. If you love spells or you just love aggro, I think you are going to have a blast with this one. Without further adieu, let’s get it!
The Deck:
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Electrostatic Infantry Spellslingers!
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Why Electrostatic Infantry?
Electrostatic Infantry is a very cool commander but doesn’t get enough love or play. In my opinion, I understand that there are a ton of different spellslinger commanders out there, and many of them are stronger than Infantry, but man, they are an absolute blast to play. Trample and the consistent buff from casting spells allows us to put a ton of pressure on our opponents and regularly threaten a commander damage kill for typically a good majority of the game. Electrostatic Infantry is the real deal and your opponents better watch out because the commander damage kill is incoming!
Deck Overview:
This section contains information about cards in the deck and how they function within the deck! I also highlighted some of my favorite cards in the deck!
Creatures:
Thermo-Alchemist
, Kessig Flamebreather
, Unruly Catapult
are all amazing ways to whittle down our opponents and continuously do damage from all of the spells we cast. We also have some creatures that operate like our commander that allow us to put additional pressure on our opponents, like Spellgorger Weird
and Pyroceratops
, which are basically additional copies of our commander that are just a little more expensive. Crimson Fleet Commodore
is a very aggressive creature that can be a great attacker, but it is mostly a way to get the monarch and some additional card draw. Stirring Bard
is a red staple for a reason, and man, this card is good. We don’t really care about the dungeon, but the menace and haste are great for our commander and make them even harder to block; menace and trample are a nasty combination. Tiamat's Fanatics
is another very aggressive creature that we can buff up and do huge damage to each opponent with.
Instants:
We have a ton of instant speed buffs like Brute Force
, Antagonize
, and Balduvian Rage
, just to name a few, which are all great cheap ways to trigger and buff up our commander that allows us to achieve commander damage kills even quicker. Another pair of crazy buffs is Uncaged Fury
and Temur Battle Rage
, which can be game-enders for the deck.Abrade
is a great way to take care of an opponent’s artifacts and slow them down or kill a big creature, as well as Smash to Smithereens
, which kills artifacts and does a little bit of damage which is always nice as well. Searing Blaze
is a great way to take out a creature and damage an opponent. Goblin Wizardry
not only produces some great blockers if we need them, but since they have prowess, they can be great attackers if we need them!
Sorceries:
Coronation of Chaos
does exactly what the name suggests and certainly causes chaos; not only does it clear the way for our commander in combat, but goading the creatures can really hurt your opponents and force them to attack into huge boards. The same is true for Awe for the Guilds
, which can be not that great against certain decks but is overall pretty strong, especially at the right table. Flame Slash
and Lava Coil
are both sorcery speed, which makes them a little weaker, but they can kill a large number of creatures in the format, and taking out opponents’ threats is always great. We do have Act of Treason
and Mark of Mutiny
as well as Traitorous Instinct
which are all great ways to trigger our commander and grab an opponents creature to our side and have them attack along with our commander.
Artifacts:
As always, we start off with a little mana rock action with Bonder's Ornament
and Fire Diamond
, which are both awesome cheap rocks that give us a mana advantage and let us keep on casting. Javelin of Lightning
is a very sweet and cheap piece of equipment that makes our commander even better in combat, and since we can equip it for free when it ETB’s, it’s the real deal. I also really like Spare Supplies
, which is nothing more than an extra card draw for the deck, which is always nice. Since we already have a commander with trample, why not kick it up a notch with Wedding Invitation
and make it unblockable for a turn as well?
Enchantments:
Sticky Fingers
and Dragon Mantle
are two very strong enchantments that only cost one mana and make our commander much better, menace and trample is a deadly combination as well as getting some additional mana, and if it’s in the late-game pumping a ton of mana into it allows us to hit hard. Another great late-game card is Claws of Valakut
, which can provide a huge boost to our commander/ creatures. Bitter Reunion
is a strong source of supplemental card draw and in some cases the haste can be nice but typically is not very relevant. The Shattered States Era // Nameless Conqueror
is essentially an Act of Treason. When it enters and hits an opponent with their creature, it just feels great. The buff is nice as well, and when we flip it, having an additional big trample-y creature is quite nice.
Land Base:
Not too much to say about our landbase, which mostly consists of mountains. This is especially important because of cards in the deck like Claws of Valakut and Downhill Charge
which give us buffs for having more and more basics. We also have some strong supplemental card draw like The Autonomous Furnace
. One of my favorite lands in the deck is Captivating Cave
, which is an amazing buff for our commander, who can say no to more pressure on our opponents. Since we have a ton of cantrips, we are only running thirty-five lands in the deck, which is below average, but since we don’t have a ton of high-cost cards, I have had no issues with the landbase.
Strengths of the Deck:
- We have a ton of ways to stop our opponents from blocking allowing the commander damage kill to be quite easy to achieve.
- We have quite a bit of card draw and cantrips in the deck which helps nullify one of red’s biggest weaknesses.
- We can easily one-shot our opponents with commander damage after only a few turns of being out.
Weaknesses of the Deck:
- There are not a ton of ways to deal with opponents’ threats.
- We are not great at blocking with the exception of our commander since we have a low creature count
- Our commander is often the target of removal.
Deck Stats:
Sample Hands:
Main Win Conditions:
There are no infinite combos or loops within the deck. We are a combat deck through and through and typically focus on killing our opponents through commander damage. Our commander gets out of hand very quickly and can hit for a commander damage kill after only a few turns of being out. We do have some other helpful creatures like Kessig Flamebreather and Unruly Catapult, which allow us to whittle down our opponents as we cantrip our way through the game.
Conclusion:
Electrostatic Infantry is a very sweet Pauper EDH commander that many overlook, especially of the release of commander damage machines like Khenra Spellspear // Gitaxian Spellstalker
, but if you love mono-red, this is certainly the deck for you. I have been having a blast with this one, and If you love mono-red and big attacks, I think you should definitely bring this one to your next playgroup meeting. Thanks for reading to the end and for all of your support!