“Ignorance is their sin, not mine.“
Art:Inquisitor Eisenhorn
by Jake Murray
Table of Contents
Today’s Featured Commander Is:
Inquisitor Eisenhorn is a very cool commander and an absolute blast to pilot. Being able to create a 4/4 demon is pretty sweet, and creating a ton of clues is awesome as well. With all of our clues, we have a ton of payoffs for all of our artifacts; we can even make all of our clues into attackers. Inquisitor Eisenhorn gets almost no love with a total of less than three hundred on EDHREC! The low deck count is likely due to a plethora of artifact commanders and a packed Warhammer set, but I think more people need to give the Inquisitor a chance. This deck certainly isn’t the most powerful in the world, but it is a ton of fun and great for more casual leaning / lower power tables. If weird artifact decks are your thing, this may be the one for you. Without further adieu, let’s get it!
The Deck:
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Inquisitor Eisenhorn Clues Brewed EDH!
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Where does the deck fall on the power scale?
I would say this deck falls comfortably around a five or six on the ten scale. While we have a lot of powerful cards like Cyclonic Rift
and Mechanized Production
, we spend many of our turns just casting artifacts and not doing a whole ton, while our commander is certainly threatening and can be a huge attacker eventually we arent winning though any infinite combos or loops. I would say this deck certainly passes pre-con level decks and needs to be at the right table, as it is too slow for many decks in the format and too fast for casual / prisons.
Why Inquisitor Eisenhorn?
Inquisitor Eisenhorn is a huge part of our deck and arguably one of its most important cards. Being able to get an additional attacker/blocker is very nice, but being able to investigate four to six times a turn with the help of some of our equipment is a very nice touch. Being four mana also allows our commander to come down with relative ease and as early as turn two! Inquisitor Eisenhorn is a huge part of our deck and very important to commit to the board ASAP.
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:
Academy Manufactor
isn’t used as a combo piece in this deck, but dang, is it strong? Being able to make Inquisitor hits give us a true artifact explosion which can help a ton with one of my other favorite creatures, in Marionette Master
since all of the things we sacrifice give us huge damage to deal to our opponents. Speaking of damage, we have Nadier's Nightblade
and Mirkwood Bats
, which are great sources of damage and life gain for the deck. Martha Jones
is another very strong creature that can give Inquisitor unblockable and keep the clue train running. Thought Monitor
is a creature that can very easily cost only one mana and gives us a strong attacker/blocker and some card draw on top, this card is perfect for the deck in the mid-late game. My favorite card-draw machine in the deck is Shimmer Dragon
, which can generate a ton of card draw and is hard to kill. Contraband Kingpin
is a great way to scry away bad draws and get a big look at the top of our deck.
Planeswalkers:
Tezzeret, Betrayer of Flesh
is a pretty sweet planeswalker that is a card draw machine for the deck, can make our equip costs cheaper every turn, and can even help us make a clue a decent attacker/blocker. Tezzeret, Master of the Bridge
is the strongest walker in our deck, making all of our creatures have a huge discount on top of strong abilities like being able to hurt and give us some life which, after a few hits with Inquisitor can be for huge damage and is also extremely strong against aggressive strategies. Tezzeret also provides artifact recursion, which can be great against pretty much any artifact hate. We rarely get to ult Tezzeret but it can be strong, but I value their first two abilities much more.
Instants:
To start off, we have some counterspells like Arcane Denial
and Counterspell
, which are all awesome ways to protect our spells and stop our opponents as needed. We also have Confirm Suspicions
, which is quite expensive for a counterspell but gives us three clues, which can be quite huge for the deck. Whir of Invention
is a strong tutor for the deck and allows us to grab any artifact we want, most often strong equipment like Blackblade Reforged
or Helm of the Host
. If we do end up falling behind or facing an aggressive creature strategy Darkness
is a great way to shut the damage down for a turn. We also have some instant speed removal like Go for the Throat
and Infernal Grasp
, which are both cheap ways to take out key creatures/commanders. Last but certainly not least is Secrets of the Key
, which is a great way to generate some additional clues.
Sorceries:
One of my favorite sorceries in the deck is Stealth Mission
since it gives us a nice buff and is unblockable for a turn, which is almost always four or more clues. We also have some strong draw spells that our artifacts help with, like Thoughtcast
, Reverse Engineer
, and Universal Surveillance
, which can be huge draw spells for the deck for almost no mana. Annihilating Glare
and Powerstone Fracture
are two very cheap removal spells that do make us sac an artifact or creature, but we are able to use all of our clues to make these not affect us that much. We are weak to artifact hate, and if we do end up falling behind, we have Damnation
to pick us up, which can be a great way to even the playing field.
Artifacts:
To start off our artifact package, we have some strong mana rocks like Arcane Signet
, Sol Ring
, and Talisman of Dominance
, which up the artifact count and produce us mana who could say no to either of these. We also have some equipment that helps us up the power on Inquisitor and allows us to make more clues like Cranial Plating
, Blackblade Reforged, and Hero's Heirloom
which can boost Inquisitor’s power a ton and help us investigate like crazy. Five Hundred Year Diary
is basically a Tolarian Academy
in the deck and can produce a crazy amount of mana. Tamiyo's Journal
is another very strong card in the deck since it is basically a free Demonic Tutor
a large majority of the time.
Enchantments:
We have a few ways to make Inquisitor Eisenhorn unblockable, like Aqueous Form
and Aether Tunnel
, which are cheap and guaranteed ways to produce some clues. We also have Trail of Evidence
which is another strong clue producer for the deck. Clan Crafter
is honestly a bomb in the deck since we can make Inquisitor bigger and get a ton of card draw off of our clues. Hold for Questioning
is an expensive way to lock down an opponent’s creature, but since it allows us to investigate, it absolutely has to be in the deck.
Land Base:
We have a pretty typical land base with staples like Watery Grave
, Polluted Delta
, and Morphic Pool
which are very quick lands that help us get ahead on mana and have access to our colors with ease. While we do have staples like this, we also have some strong support/utility lands like Bojuka Bog
, which can absolutely hose graveyard /reanimator strategies. Havengul Laboratory // Havengul Mystery
, which can help us generate additional clues and, when it flips, can be a strong piece of recursion. We also have Vault of Whispers
and Seat of the Synod
, which are not only untapped mana sources but allow us to up our artifact count which can be quite relevant in this deck. We are running a little above average at thirty-six, but I found that to be perfect and consistent for the deck.
Strengths of the Deck:
- We can reliably knock opponents out of the game with commander damage and make a ton of clues while doing it. In order to aid with this, we also have numerous ways to make our commander unblockable / buff them up.
- We have a decent number of ways to control the board, like Damnation
and Cyclonic Rift - We are not the fastest deck in the world, but we can be quite strong by the third or fourth turn.
Weaknesses of the Deck:
- We are extremely weak and susceptible to artifact hate.
- We need to aggressively mulligan to have a faster hand. Being slow and slower hands can happen and a stronger six is much better than a weak seven.
- While we have a lot of counterspells, we typically want to be more defensive since we can win with ease when utilizing cards like Mechanized Production
Deck Stats:
Sample Hands:
Main Win Conditions:
There are no infinite combos or loops within the deck. We win the game through combat/commander damage, and one of the easiest ways to put together a win is to utilize Mechanized Production, which can end the game very quickly if we put it on something like a clue token.
Conclusion:
Inquisitor Eisenhorn is a very fun commander and a card I think no one talks about since it was surrounded by a ton of crazy and strong commanders in an absolutely stacked Warhammer set. While Eisenhorn certainly isn’t the most powerful commander out there, they are fun and wacky, and hey, isn’t that what commander is all about? Thanks for reading to the end and for all of your support.