Quick Links
Marvel has invadedMagic: The Gatheringwith a Secret Lair drop that brings several of its biggest superheroes into the world’s longest-running collectible card game. There’s Wolverine, Storm, Captain America, The Black Panther, and of course, Iron Man.
Being the scientific sort, Iron Man’s Magic colors follow the faction of arcane invention, and Tony Stark’s key ability revolves around Magic’s most mechanical card type. Any Commander deck with Iron Man at the helm is going to lean heavily on artifacts, and just like any antique pocket watch, getting all those artifacts to fit together can be tricky. Here’s how to do it.
The Commander: Iron Man, Titan of Innovation
First, let’s take a good look at Iron Man, Titan of Innovation. He’s a 4/4 for five mana providingaccess to blue and red manaand has flying and haste. That’s not bad, butwhat really sells him is his Genius Industrialist ability.
Whenever Iron Man attacks, you get a Treasure token. Already pretty great, but on top of that, youmaysacrifice a non-creature artifact (like that Treasure token you just created). If you do, you get tosearch your library for any artifact(creature or not)with a mana value equal to or less than one mana more than the artifact you just sacrificed. You then put that artifact onto the battlefield tapped.
So, the first time Iron Man attacks, you make a Treasure token, and if you want, you can sacrifice it for any one-mana artifact. Then the next turn, you can sacrifice that artifact for a two-mana artifact, and so on and so forth untilseveral turns later you’ve got a nine-mana artifact to win you the game.
Alternatively, you canuse Iron Man to search for combo piecestoan artifact-fueled combo. This strategy can be more expensive monetarily, but considering you’vealready spent $40 on a Secret Lair drop(or upwards of $30 buying Iron Man on the secondary market), we’re going to assume that money isn’t a huge barrier for you.
There are absolutely cheaper ways to build Iron Manthat don’t involve spending hundreds of dollars on a deck, so if you somehow manage to come into Iron Man on the cheap, look for fun decks full of Modular creatures and Spellbombs.
With that in mind,we’re going to use Iron Man to go a little combo crazy, with options to give you infinite life, tokens, cards, or damage, depending on what you can find.
Building Your Iron Man, Titan of Innovation Commander Deck
A red/blue artifact deck has tons of combo options, and Iron Man enables us to locate them relatively quickly. The main idea is toget Iron Man onto the table as soon as possible(hopefully with the help of a mana rock or two), andthen go searching for whatever combo pieces you don’t already havein play.
Consequently,your deck is going to be mostly defensive in nature. Creatures will often have more toughness and serve as speedbumps as they also make expensive artifacts cheaper or make them easier to return from your graveyard to your hand.
Beyond that, expecttutors, recursion tools, and some answersto keep the game under control until you’re ready to ‘go off.’
Combos, Combos, Combos
Probably the easiest andmost useful combo enabler to pair with Iron Man is Sensei’s Divining Top. You can search it out as soon as Iron Man comes into play, and on the next turn, combo it with several other cards to start doing silly things.
The first step is tomake Sensei’s Diving Top cost nothing. That’s easily accomplished with Etherium Sculptor, Enthusiastic Mechanaut, Jhoira’s Familiar, or Foundry Inspector. Once Sensei’s Divining Top is free to cast, all you need is Crystal Skull, Isu Spyglass or Mystic Forge toplay Sensei’s Diving Top freely from the top of your deck, drawing cards every time you do.Infinite cards.
But why stop at free cards? Throw in Sai, Master Thopterist, and now you’ve gotinfinite Thopter tokens. Throw in Reckless Fireweaver, and now you’ve gotinfinite damage. Throw in Aetherflux Reservoir for bothinfinite life and infinite damage.
Basalt Monolith is a good abuse target for infinite mana. Forsaken Monument and Forensic Gadgeteer both get you there, and then that mana can be thrown into Esoteric Duplicator for infinite cards, or Urza, Lord High Artificer to play your entire deck at once.
Krark-Clan Ironworks can also provide infinite manawith Myr Retriever Scrap Trawler, or Junk Diver, as well as any card that makes artifacts cheaper. You’ve also got the same comes-into-play triggers for Sai, Reckless Fireweaver, or Aetherflux Reservoir.
There are more potential combos to be played, but these are the ones we’re going to stick with as they’re relatively easy to find with Iron Man’s ability.
Recursion, Tutors, and Card Draw
Don’t expect your opponents to sit around while you assemble the Infinity Stones. Your artifacts will die, but that’s okay!Goblin Welder, Goblin Engineer, Scrap Welder, Scrap Trawler, Emry, Lurker of the Loch, and Myr Retrieverare here to helpget those cards backinto your hand or directly into play.
Iron Man is good for finding what you need, but he can be slow to go about it.Fabricate is the gold standard for tutoring those combo pieces. you may also use Karn, the Great Creator to look beyond your deck for combo pieces (which could include things like Rings of Brighthearth, Lithoform Engine, Spike of Ish Sah, or more).
The simplest way to find what you need is to just draw it from your deck.Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain, Padeem, Consul of Innovation, Thought Monitor, Thoughtcast, Ichor Wellspring, Forensic Gadgeteer, and The One Ringareall great for keeping your hand full.
Keeping Control And Answering Threats
You’re not entirely defenseless with Iron Man around, but you’re also not an aggressive powerhouse either.Solving problems before they become dire is importantto any Commander deck, so it’s important to have some answer cards.
AnOffer you may’t Refuse, Swan Song, Arcane Denial, Counterspell, Cyclonic Rift, and Pongifyare the cards you want to look at on the blue side of the Magic spectrum. On the red side,Galvanic Blast, Vandalblast, Chain Reaction, Blasphemous Act, Chaos Warp, and Deflecting Swatare your go-tos.
Spiteful Banditry deserves special mentionfor being a board sweeper that also generators Treasure tokens, and don’t forget aboutOblivion Stone and Nevinyrral’s Disk,both of whichcan be searched out using Iron Man’s ability(eventually at the cost of Iron Man’s life, but can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs).
Seat of the Synod
Islands (6)
Mountains (6)
Normally we’d have some budget substitutions here, but with so much of the deck built around combos,there are not many cards that can be replaced without shattering the deck’s combo potential.
