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They say it takes nothing to destroy, but it takes energy to create. That’s the point of Creative Energy, the new Commander deck inMagic: The Gathering’sModern Horizons 3. With Creative Energy, you’ll use the titular energy produced by your various spells to make powerful effects that mere mana couldn’t hope to achieve.
They also say that creativity doesn’t come with a guide, but they’re wrong; it does come with a guide! This one. Read on to take a look at the Creative Energy Commander deck, how to play it, and what you can do to make it just a little bit better without breaking the bank.
Sphinx of the Revelation
Hourglass of the Lost
Temple of Triumph
Creative Energy Commander Deck Themes
You just need to look at the deck’s two potential commanders to identify Creative Energy’stwo main themes.The first is energy counters, as exemplified bySatya, Aetherflux Genius. Every time you attack, Satya creates two energy counters that can be used to power a multitude of spells and devices.
Want to draw cards? Feed Roil Catrographer six energy and you’ll gain three of them. Time to attack twice in a single turn? Give Lightning Runner eight energy counters to make it happen. Blaster Hulk also wants eight energy counters to blast things for eight damage, as is appropriate. And you can have an army of Constructs if you’re willing to pay six energy to Stone Idol Generator.
The other themeof Creative Energyis token and counter multiplication. Satya creates tokens that are copies of creatures, butCayth, Famed Mechanistis the real token manipulator of the deck. She can fabricate, populate, or proliferate. Whatever token or counter you need, she can make more of it.
Since the deck already has a bunch of energy counters being made,Cayth has a ready target for proliferation. Still, she can alsopopulate 1/1 tokens thanks to her fabricate ability. There are also plenty of other token generators, like Whirler Virtuoso, Myr Battlesphere, and Angel of Invention to provide populate targets, but these work just as well with Satya’s duplication ability.
Since Satya isthe box-topper for Creative Energy, we’re going to continue this guide assuming he’syour commander. Feel free to give Cayth a try to see which works better for you.
Creative Energy Commander Deck Analysis
Satya’s ability requires aggression. He’s already got haste and menace to make him a little easier to get through, but he’s still going to need a strong supporting cast of target creatures to duplicate. Thankfully, Satya has a number of excellent targets likeSolemn Simulacrum,Myr Battlesphere, orAetherstorm Roc.
The general idea with Creative Energy is toplay a few early-turn threatslikeAmped RaptororAurora Shifterbefore droppingSatya on turn four(or three with the help of a mana rock). Thenstart attackingwhileduplicating your most threatening card.
Thedeck could have a few more threatsfor Satya to play with, but we’ll discuss those in the following section.
A notable issue with the deck is alack of instant-speed answers. The deck has Akroma’s Will and Swords to Plowshares, and that’s pretty much it. Creative Energy could do with a few more combat tricks to keep your opponent guessing and keep Satya alive should he be targeted by a removal spell.
Three board wipesare present in the form ofLocalized Destruction,Austere Command, andFarewell. That’s about the average we’d see for most Commander decks, and might even be excessive for a deck that relies on aggression.
Creative Energy could also see some improvements in its mana base. Twenty basic lands is a curiously high number for a three-color deck, especially when there are plenty of cheap non-basic lands that could help here (some of which are even in Modern Horizons 3). Paring down those basic lands will help ensure you don’t wind up lacking a mana symbol by the time Satya should be played.
And while Creative Energy is generally a solid deck,there are a few cards that don’t seem to fit with the deck’s overall game plan. We’ll toss those cards and replace them with something better in the following section.
Island
Plains
Combustible Gearhulkis fantastic, but the number of times it’s whiffed dealing damage on a mill doesn’t make it the best target for Satya to duplicate.Grenzo, Havoc Raiseris also great, but doesn’t really fit the overall theme and it’s not likely you’ll have two red mana to cast it on your second turn with just 15 lands producing red mana (we’ll add more, but it’s still not a great price for an early-game play).
With just nine instants or sorceries forFiligree Racerto jumpstart, you’re not going to get much value out of it.Aether Refinerywill often just be a six-mana artifact that produces two energy per turn, which isn’t great value.Scurry of GremlinsandAethersphere Harvesterare also somewhat middling cards that don’t make the cut.
Aethergeode Minerhaving one toughness and no evasion means it’ll most often use the energy it produces to blink, which makes it a useless card.Coveted Jewelpaints an enormous target on your head, which isn’t a good idea without a ready sacrifice outlet.
Aethersquall Ancientis a fourth board wipe, and although we stan Leviathans in this house,Creative Energymight be better off with a more aggressive creature.
Silverquill Lectureris an interesting choice. On the one hand, you’ll definitely get more value out of your energy-producing creatures than your opponent will, but you really don’t want to give your opponent blockers, so it gets cut.Era of Innovationis essentially five mana and several turns to draw three cards, and there are way better forms of card draw in blue.
We’re also tossing aMountain, aPlains, and anIslandin favor of a few more lands that produce multiple colors of mana, but we’ll have a tip for even more cheap mana-fixing lands at the end of this guide.
Creative Energy Commander Deck Budget Upgrades
We’re going to help get those creative juices flowing a little better withcards that directly synergize with Satya, somemore instant-speed spells, and somehelp on the mana front. Plus a bit of card draw in the form of Mulldrifter, because who doesn’t love Mulldrifter?
Reason
Aerial Extortionist
Aerial Extortionist is good on its own, but once you start making copies of it with Satya, it becomes oppressive. Remove a nonland permanent every turn Satya attacks and then hold it ransom under penalty of giving you free cards. A beautiful addition to Creative Energy.
Aragorn, King of Gondor
Aragorn being a legendary creature prevents Satya from making a maddening number of our liege lord, but if you need to become the monarch, it’s a price worth paying. Most often, Aragorn will ensure Satya’s access while providing a consistent source of life gain.
Brotherhood Scribe
Easy to cast, Brotherhood Scribe provides some power and toughness in the early game, and once you’ve got enough artifacts on the table, it’ll start producing energy. A great card from theFallout Commander deck, SCIENCE!
Crackling Falls
Out first of the new lands, Crackling Falls provides blue and red mana, and if you don’t need either, the other side is an instant-speed card draw. You’ll find this in Modern Horizons 3 packs.
Electrosiphon
Another Fallout card, Electrosiphon counters a spell and gives you energy. Use it to keep Satya safe.
Liberty Prime, Recharged
You can’t copy Liberty Prime, but Satya pays for Liberty’s upkeep and it also provides a useful sacrifice ability, turning your Servos, Thopters, or Myr tokens into energy and cards. Plus, it’s an 8/8 vigilance trample haste creature that’s sure to terrorize the table.
Mulldrifter
Satya can copy Mulldrifter for two cards each time. You’ll have to actually play Mulldrifter for Satya to be able to copy it, but it’s well worth the price for the amount of cards Mulldrifter can draw. But if you already have a game plan for Satya, feel free to Evoke Mulldrifter for the one-time two-card boost.
Orderly Plaza
Our second multi-color land, Orderly Plaza comes attached to a sorcery called Suppression Ray that taps an entire opponent’s army and then stuns it for the price of one energy per creature. This sort of tricker is great for Satya and provides incredible versatility over a regular Island.
Port Razer
Satya and Port Razer can kill opponents without blockers (due to Suppression Ray, for example). First, attack with Satya and a copy of Port Razer, then attack again due to the copied Port Razer’s ability, copying the original Port Razer each time with Satya. Because each of these Port Razers are ‘new,’ they can attack the same opponent over and over again, killing them.
Rootborn Defenses
Make your army indestructible and create a copy of a creature token. Since this is an instant, you can attack with Satya, copy a creature, then play Rootborn Defenses to copy it again (this time without needing to pay energy to keep it for more than a turn) and also give your entire team indestructible. A great way to end games.
Saheeli, Filigree Master
Saheeli makes Thopters, draws cards, and eventually gives all your artifact creatures +1/+1 and makes your artifacts cost less. Those last two aren’t really as important as drawing cards and making Thopters, but it’s nice to have.
Swooping Pteranodon
One Swooping Pteranodon can steal three opposing creatures with the help of Satya. First, play Swooping Pteranodon to make your first theft. Then Satya makes another Pteranodon to steal a second, and then the first Pteranodon sees the second Pteranodon, triggering a third theft. And since all three have haste, they can all attack on the same turn. It’s a brutal way to turn the tables on someone.
The Motherlode, Excavator
Most Commander decks have a lot of nonbasic lands. Ergo, The Motherlode will make a lot of energy counters. And then you can blow up one of those lands to also make it harder for your opponent to block for a turn. Great to pair with Satya, although making a copy of The Motherlode would only make a lot of energy and not two Robots.
Witch-Blessed Meadow
On the one side, it’s a slow Plains. But on the other side, it’s a creature called Witch Enchanter that destroys artifacts and enchantments and can be copied by Satya to destroy even more artifacts and enchantment. Versatility makes great Commander decks, and it doesn’t get much more versatile than this double-sided card.
