This week we'll be looking into Rafiq. Rafiq is a very popular general. A lot of that has to due with the timing of his release. When Alara came out EDH got its first real boost in popularity. Its certainly the first time I played the format. This is why Sharuum persists as the Esper general of choice, why Sedris was the most popular, etc. So with all the theory out there, why talk about Rafiq? Well, for starts things that people like and that endure usually do so for a reason. Also, tracking over familiar ground looking for new angles is a valuable exercise. Lastly, there is a certain coolness to going with a classic.
What goals are Rafiq uniquely suited to fulfill? He's low cost, a strong attacker. He doesn't rely on artifacts, comes into play effects, or the graveyard. His triggered ability lends itself to general damage, since its essentially quadruple strike. Some math there, you start at 40 life. General damage is 21, or basically half your starting life total. Generals basically have double strike baked in, so doubling the damage of your commander acts like quad-strike. Its very similar to the math behind Infect, and in fact Rafiq supports an infect strategy quite well. I'm thinking of running lots of creatures for acceleration, very few artifacts with activated abilities, and a minor infect sub-theme.
Starting Point, Bearly getting going.
White is going to be our primary color since it offers the most of the disruptive little dudes we are looking for in our creature base. Lets figure out who is coming to the party first.
IN:
Gaddock Teeg
Scavenging Ooze
Trygon Predator
Gilded Drake
Aven Mindcensor
Grand Arbitor
Thalia
Ethersworn Cannonist
Spirit of the Labrynth
Containment Priest
Hushwing Gryff
Kataki, War's Wage
That's a solid hate package from the creatures, but there are some effects that only come on enchantments.
IN:
Rest In Peace
Stony Silence
Torpor Orb
We can back up the Stony Silence with Null Rod if we want, but I'd like to keep the hate to cards with bodies. There is going to be some anti-synergy with Torpor Orb/Rest In Peace but it should be manageable, and shutting down opposing artifact mana or utility creatures is going to do us more good than harm when we can always just attack, we do want to avoid using artifacts for mana though.
IN:
Birds of Paradise
Bloom Tender
Wood Elves
Noble Hierarch
Llanowar Elves
Avacyn's Pilgrim
We are sad we can't run Deathrite Shaman, but you can't have it all. We might want more mana bugs, but one of the reasons that Rafiq is a great deck to build around no artifact mana is because of his color requirement. Three different colors by turn three is not easy to do with artifact mana, which is really good at generating colorless mana, but less good at making colored mana. Mana elves, however, are solid at making colored mana and can let you play Rafiq a turn early. Lots of our three drops are very good at holding up the development of our opponents. He's also good at making creatures lethal.
IN:
Putrefax
Blighted Agent
Sigarda
Geist of Saint Traft
Knight of the Reliquary
These creatures are really good attackers, for one reason or another. Hexproof is great, Infect is strong. KotR gets big fast and also provides a lot of utility in case you need to cast Rest In Peace.
Other dorks
IN:
Wolvir Silverheart
Sublime Archangel
Edric, Spymaster of Trest
Qasali Pridemage
Stoneforge Mystic
Stonehewer Giant
Coiling Oracle
Elvish Visionary
Glen Elendra Archmage
Mother of Runes
A good number of these are splashed by our hate, but they are always bodies, and we aren't going to have our hate in play every game. Silverheart is insane amounts of damage, and Sublime Archangel does some scary things. Edric gives us a huge number of cards. Mom is included because its been great throughout the years, but it might not have the chops for multiplayer. Especially with all the board wipes. We have to try to stop those,
Protection
IN:
Mental Misstep
Force of Will
God's Willing
Remand
Arcane Denial
Bant charm
We really only need to have tempo protection, so actually expensive counterspells are not what we are aiming for. Other options are Pact of Negation and Daze. The other side of spells is surprising our opponent with a huge surge to our creatures.
Pump
IN:
Berzerk
Invigorate
Might of Oaks
Simic Charm
Vines of the Vastwood
Become Immense
Distortion Strike
This can shorten our clock significantly out of nowhere. But frequently, being a surprise is not as important as having solid advantage.
Perma-pump:
IN:
Grafted Exoskeleton
Elspeth, Knight Errant
Batterskull
Behemoth Sledge
Finest Hour
Swiftfoot Boots
Sword of Feast and Famine
Sword of Fire and Ice
Umezawa's Jitte
Skullclamp
Steel of the Godhead
Shield of the Oversoul
Lightning Greaves
We have a number of beneficial effects here. From Infect to Unblockable. That's a lot of equipment but equipment is so good in this archetype. Elspeth does double duty of making guys and pumping guys. Her ultimate is also crazy good if you can ever get there.
The rest
IN:
Life from the Loam
Green Sun's Zenith
Sylvan Library
Mystical Tutor
Enlightened tutor
Brainstorm
Ponder
Preordain
Crucible of Worlds
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
These cards help cover some weaknesses and provide deck manipulation. The Tutors are going to be really good for us since we have a number of highly impactful artifacts and enchantments. Mystical Tutor can often end the game by getting a pump spell for Rafiq on your upkeep. Everything else just helps you keep up on resources. The LftL and Crucible combine with utility lands for good value, and even a combo finish.
Land
IN:
Wasteland
Yavimaya Hollow
Kor Haven
Rouge's Passage
Hall of the Bandit Lord
Stripmine
Thespian's Stage
Rishdan Port
Dark Depths
Inkmoth Nexus
Mutavault
Blinkmoth Nexus
Misty Rainforest
Windswept Heath
Flooded Strand
Tropical Island
Savana
Tundra
Breeding Pool
Temple Garden
Hallowed Fountain
1x Forest
1x Island
1x Plains
Centaur Garden
Cephalid Colosseum
Sunpetal Grove
Command Tower
Reflecting Pool
Seaside Citadel
Wooded Bastion
Horizon Canopy
Dryad Arbor
Windbrisk Heights
Mosswort Bridge
35 is a low total, and that's a greedy number of non-colored sources in a three color deck. We want to be lean though, and maximizing what you get out of your lands is a fantastic way to do that.
Creatures:34
Pump
Wolfir Silverheart
Sublime Archangel
Utility
Edric
Gaddock Teeg
Qasali Pridemage
Scavenging Ooze
Stoneforge Mystic
Stonehewer Giant
Trygon Predator
Coiling Oracle
Elvish visionary
Gilded Drake
Aven Mindcensor
Grand Arbiter
Glen Elendra Archmage
Thalia
Spirit of the Labrynth
Containment Priest
Hushwing Gryff
Kataki
Mana
Birds of Paradise
Bloom Tender
Wood Elves
Noble Hierarch
Llanowar Elves
Avacyn's Pilgrim
Rafiq back ups
Geist of Saint Traft
Sigarda
Putrefax
Knight of the Reliquary
Blighted Agent
Non-creatures
Pump:4
Berzerk
Invigorate
Might of Oaks
Become Immense
Distortion Strike
Vines of the Vastwood
Perma-pump
Grafted Exoskeleton
Elspeth, Knight Errant
Batterskull
Behemoth Sledge
Finest Hour
Swiftfoot Boots
Sword of Feast and Famine
Sword of Fire and Ice
Umezawa's Jitte
Skullclamp
Steel of the Godhead
Shield of the Oversoul
Lightning Greaves
Utility
Green Sun's Zenith
Sylvan Library
Mystical Tutor
Enlightened Tutor
Life From The Loam
Brainstorm
Ponder
Preordain
Crucible of Worlds
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Hate
Rest In Peace
Stony Silence
Torpor Orb
Protection
Mental Misstep
Force of Will
God's Willing
Remand
Arcane Denial
Bant charm
Land: 35
Wasteland
Yavimaya Hollow
Kor Haven
Rouge's Passage
Hall of the Bandit Lord
Stripmine
Thespian's Stage
Rishdan Port
Dark Depths
Inkmoth Nexus
Mutavault
Blinkmoth Nexus
Misty Rainforest
Windswept Heath
Flooded Strand
Tropical Island
Savana
Tundra
Breeding Pool
Temple Garden
Hallowed Fountain
1x Forest
1x Island
1x Plains
Centaur Garden
Cephalid Colosseum
Sunpetal Grove
Command Tower
Reflecting Pool
Seaside Citadel
Wooded Bastion
Horizon Canopy
Dryad Arbor
Windbrisk Heights
Mosswort Bridge
I think this is a solid starting point. Ethersworn Cannonist and similar effects were cut since we really need to be able to capitalize on the relatively low cost of our deck versus the ramp oriented things our opponents play.
I'll be back in a few days for initial updates.
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