Hello everybody, on today's article from CommandBeacon.com I wanted to share a very special deck to me, the whole reason I go by Cascade.Cascade online, my personal Maelstrom Wanderer deck. Maelstrom Wanderer is an 8 cost 7/5 Temur Legendary Elemental Creature that grants your creatures haste and has cascade, cascade. An aggressive powerhouse creature who is a three for one card thanks to its double cascade. The additional haste it grants can let a player swing with not only Maelstrom Wanderer the turn its cast but also any creatures it may cascade into. Its 7 power allows it to be a three-hit 21 Commander damage kill too so you can focus attacks with him and spread damage elsewhere depending on the opponents.
This Commander is pure value, plain and simple and has been my personal favorite since it was spoiled for Planeschase deck. From my beginnings playing EDH with Animar, Soul of Elements, which was another ramp and creature heavy Temur Elemental deck, this was a straightforward transition. There are huge numbers of ways you can build this deck and with the potential random factor of the Cascade mechanic the games end up very different. Everything that doesn't ramp in this deck and even some of the pieces that do will come in as big, high value, possibly game-ending threats. Considering it's somehow able to compete with CEDH decks I'm pretty happy with how it is tuned right now. But enough fawning over it, let's go through it.
Maelstrom Wanderer
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Strategy
The deck has been tuned for high value from each individual cards and listing the synergies between them could go on and on. The strategy of the deck is a mix of value, aggro, and combo to take control of, overwhelm, or end the game. It's a difficult match for many decks who are slower as this deck is potentially explosive early game. If they attempt to just destroy Maelstrom Wanderer as well it allows you to recast for another double cascade trigger.
With Maelstrom Wanderer and enough mana, your hand can be irrelevant as the only thing you need to cast is the Commander. That means even with no cards left in hand if you haven't cast Maelstrom Wanderer yet or have a way to recast it such as bouncing it with Crystal Shard or Sanctum of Eternity then you can potentially hit more threats. It can very quickly become too much for a normal pod to handle and I accept becoming the archenemy, not only because it can handle it but because it is justified as in the end, this is a combo deck.
Combos
I'm always up for a game of Commander, but sometimes it can go long. Combat strategies can take a while as you slowly chip away at your opponents, especially with any board wipes or blockers they may have. So to have a line of play to look for and close out a game there are a bunch of combos crammed into the deck. Now the thing to keep in mind with Maelstrom Wanderer, at least in my build, is the consideration for the choices are based on being okay if the spell was something you hit with cascade. Now there are synergies and combos that even still I run into that I haven't run into yet even with all the shuffling but for now, let's go over the main ones with the least pieces needed.
- Kiki-jiki, Mirror Breaker + Zealous Conscript: Infinite Zealous Conscript tokens with haste
- Jace, the Mind Sculptor / Deadeye Navigator / Crystal Shard / Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker + Eternal Witness + Temporal Manipulation / Capture of Jingzhou: Infinite Turns
- Palinchron + Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker + Minamo, School at Water's Edge: Infinite Mana + Infinite Palinchron tokens with haste
- Deadeye Navigator / Phantasmal Image + Palinchron + 7 Land: Infinite Mana
- Deadeye Navigator + Zealous Conscript + Gilded Lotus: Infinite Mana
- Deadeye Navigator + Bloom Tender + Maelstrom Wanderer: Infinite Mana
Again these are just the straightforward ones with the fewest pieces and highest game-ending potential. There are a lot of lines of play to see and playing around someone trying to stop the combos is not as easy as it could be. But in Commander the variance that comes from the 100 singleton format is massive. It's definitely not a consistent combo deck though, but it's a good back up plan to any game.
Summary
So that's my Maelstrom Wanderer, I hope you enjoyed it, what do you think? This is the first article here I have done that fully focuses on one Commander and I wanted to share my personal favorite pet deck. If you enjoy this format or prefer the multiple decks of a common theme do let me know. This deck can hold its own in many scenarios but it can be stopped from land destruction, control effects, or generally more competitive combos. It's a fun deck and I'd be happy to play against anyone who'd like a match, though the contents of the deck may not be as surprising if you're read this article beforehand. I am confident in its ability to put up a fight though, and who knows, more parts and options come out every set.
Thank you for reading, if you're interested in a bit more rambling about this deck feel free to check out the article for Maelstrom Wanderer on Command Beacon. I hope everyone is well during these times and keep the joy of Magic going. Stay safe, wash your hands, support your local game store, and contact me if you ever want to talk Commander.
