Gandalf, Party GuestGandalf, Party Guest | Art by Dmitry Burmak

Continuing with the unintentional theme of revisiting creature types is the catalyst of both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. He’s someone who appears precisely when he means to and brings together legendary adventurers.

Have you guessed it? It’s Wizards…again!

The last time we looked at Wizards, it was in the context of Secrets of Strixhaven, with a focus on collectively casting huge spells. This time will be a bit different.

In addition to adding another color, we’re going to focus on jamming Wizards from across the Multiverse into one cohesive deck, sharing the bounty of their collective experience and providing a stream of decisions and possibilities.

Wizard History

Legendary Wizards have been around since there have been legendary creatures, tracing their pedigree all the way back to the likes of Rasputin DreamweaverRasputin Dreamweaver in Legends. They tend to represent characters that value intelligence, experimentation, and discovery.

While Izzet colors cover the first two qualities, discovery falls into Boros and Lorehold’s purviews. The blend of Izzet and Boros/Lorehold creates an intriguing and adventurous Jeskai build.

But how do we bring these legends together? And what does Gandalf bring to the party?

What Does Gandalf, Party GuestGandalf, Party Guest Do?

Gandalf is a four-mana 3/4 with a super powerful ability. At the beginning of our combat, we can cast an instant or sorcery from our hand that costs less than twice the number of legendary Wizards we control. This means that we need to have a critical mass of both legendary Wizards and instants and sorceries, which puts a strain on our deckbuilding. That doesn’t mean we can’t get creative, though. 

Gandalf is known for giving the legendary partygoers intriguing and difficult choices to make, which help to determine their respective, and sometimes collective, fates. Charms and Commands are great at showing this, while entwine is only all right. We can only bypass mana costs, so we lose out on additional costs when we use Gandalf’s ability. This makes strive, kicker, and spree less effective.

There are a bevy of really cool options, however, and they hearken back to a Riku of Many PathsRiku of Many Paths article I wrote about a couple of years ago.

Key Cards for Gandalf, Party GuestGandalf, Party Guest

Many of our Wizards care about instants and sorceries, so we can get additional value. We complement these legends with modal spells that make gameplay fun and exciting. No two games should play out the same way!

Kaza, Roil ChaserKaza, Roil Chaser helmed the big mana Wizard deck before, but here she’s a role-player, providing bursts of mana. Baral, similarly, provides a cost reduction effect. Both are early mana creatures, acting in a similar capacity to a Sakura-Tribe ElderSakura-Tribe Elder or a Goblin ElectromancerGoblin Electromancer. Be careful with Baral, though, as he and Lier, Disciple of the DrownedLier, Disciple of the Drowned conflict over counterspells.

Gadwick and Azami both provide a wealth of card draw, although both have so many blue pips that they’re difficult to cast on time. Thankfully, we’re using them to refill our hand of spells to cast with Gandalf, so we don’t need to cast them on-curve.

Modal spells are exactly where we want to be, and there have been a bevy of them printed recently. Rip ApartRip Apart is an excellent flexible removal spell, while Izzet CharmIzzet Charm will rarely be irrelevant, as we can use it as a card draw spell in a pinch. Just be careful with it while Lier is out, as Lier limits the usable modes.

Command-style effects are incredibly strong with a commander that can cast them for free. Cryptic CommandCryptic Command has typically been a control card, but it served Faeries well as a tempo card, and can do the same here. "Tap your board, draw a card" is an excellent use of a card.

Will of the MarduWill of the Mardu acts like a Command, as we can use both modes with our commander out and get a tremendous amount of value. We make the tokens before dealing damage equal to the number of creatures we own, so it’s both a win condition and a removal spell.

Command TowerCommand Tower isn’t a surprise, but it is a really important land, as, unlike Cavern of SoulsCavern of Souls, it can produce colored mana to cast our instants and sorceries. Similarly, Evolving WildsEvolving Wilds helps us meet the variety of colored pips our spells require. Fetch lands can be used if the budget allows, as can shock lands and such.

But how do we close the game out?

How Does This Gandalf, Party GuestGandalf, Party Guest Commander Deck Win?

Despite being known as squishy, Wizards possess a surprising amount of combat prowess, including the ability of that name. Akroma's WillAkroma's Will is another modal spell that wreaks havoc on combat with or without our commander. Savage BeatingSavage Beating is one of the few entwine spells that’s worth playing because, even if we only get one mode, double strike or extra combat is a win-win.

The Deck List

Conclusion

Wizards may be primarily classified as spellslingers, but there’s still a ton of options for commanders and a range of different spells for them to sling.

How would you build Wizards? And what kinds of spells would be in their repertoire?