Summary
Magic: The Gatheringpowered up both Modern and Commander with Modern Horizons 3, a super-charged expansion that brings back reprints, double-faced planeswalkers, and some great new things for Eldrazi fans. The Creative Energy Commander deck, which focuses on building up energy counters and using them in an explosive finish, is one of the pre-built decks you’re able to get your hands on in this set.
With many brand-new cards coming to the Creative Energy deck, along with some stellar-looking reprints, you may want to pick one up for the cards within, or ensure that you’re playing the deck to the best of its abilities. Creative Energy packs an electric punch, and then turns up the juice with a combination of artifacts and powerful creatures.
10Conversion Apparatus
Mana, Energy, Back To Mana
This Artifact makes itself useful while you’re working on gathering up a pool of mana and Energy counters. Conversion Apparatus can be tapped for one colorless mana, but the ability that makes it worth its casting cost of 3 and more, is the energy counter conversion ability.
Tapping Conversion Apparatus for three colorless mana gets you three Energy counters that can be converted back into mana of any color. If you’re in a bind and need to trade mana and energy back and forth, Conversion Apparatus is the artifact you’ll want to rely on. For some of the high-cost creatures this deck uses, it’s an essential play.
9Filigree Racer
Planeswalkers, Start Your Engines
Filigree Racer isn’t a cheap card to play, but thisVehiclegrants you four energy counters as soon as it hits the battlefield. As if that weren’t a bonus to this hot-rod’s 5/5 power and toughness, paying two energy counters when Filigree Racer attacks allows you to sacrifice a card and cast an instant or sorcery directly from your graveyard.
This battle-ready artifact is hard to get rid of, and the ability to give your spent instants and sorceries jump-start can easily turn the tide in your favor mid-turn. You’ll want to keep Filigree Racer on the field as long as possible, especially when your Energy counters begin flowing freely.
8Hourglass Of The Lost
Get Back Out There, All Of You
Hourglass of the Lost will take a bit of time and planning to get the full effect out of it. Tapping this artifact for one white mana puts a Time counter on it, and you’ll need to collect a few of them to make a difference. Once you’ve built them up, Hourglass of the Lost can be exiled to return cards with a mana value that matches your time counters back to the battlefield.
Keeping track of what’s in your graveyard is key with this card, and it might be tricky to aim for just one or two specific cards unless they’re extra powerful. Using this on the most common mana value in your deck for quantity or the value of your biggest game-changer for quality would be great options for using your time counters wisely.
7Sphinx Of The Revelation
No Riddles, Just Rewards
Flying and lifelink always go well together, and Sphinx of the Revelation gives you even more than that. Gaining life grants you the same amount of energy counters, adding to two pools at the same time. This card’s tap ability allows you to pay Energy counters to draw the same number of cards. It’s an even trade that gives you a brand-new arsenal to play.
This artifact creature is a 4/5, so you’ll have to plan your attacks carefully if you want to make the best of the lifelink ability and its Energy counter boost. Having two untapped blue mana and one white isn’t too difficult with this deck, though, so the draw ability will come in handy as long as you have the energy to spare.
6Salvation Colossus
A Very Tall Last Stand
Flying, vigilance, and trample are a triple-combo you won’t be excited to contend with. Salvation Colossus isn’t just massive, this artifact creature grants other creatures you control +2/+2 and indestructible during the turn it attacks. In addition to a terrifying march across the battlefield, Salvation Colossus also has a different trick up its metal sleeves.
For eight energy counters, you can unearth Salvation Colossus. Return the construct to the battlefield from your graveyard to begin the steamroll all over again, immediately because it gains haste. After that’s over, Salvation Colossus does get exiled at the beginning of the next end step, which should be a relief for whoever you’re playing against.
5Blaster Hulk
Robots Can Be Pirates, Too
Blaster Hulk’s mana cost of eight is as threatening as its 8/8 power and toughness, but it can be lowered for each Energy counter you’ve paid or lost during the turn. If you’ve been spending big, it could cost you next to nothing to play Blaster Hulk. Save up those counters, because Blaster Hulk isn’t done burning them up.
Blaster Hulk’s attacks grant you two energy counters, but it’ll cost eight of them to deal an extra eight damage. This damage can be split up between up to eight targets, though, so you can easily wipe out a couple of your opponent’s creatures with this ability alone.
4Overclocked Electromancer
“Lizard Wizard” Is Canon, Now
Rejoice, fans of reptiles and complicated spellcasters, Overclocked Electromancer is here for you. If you may get this creature card down fairly early on in the game, you’ve got a lot of opportunities for converting Energy counters straight into power and damage. For three Energy counters, you can give Overclocked Necromancer a +1/+1 counter that stays there, adding onto the double-power this card attacks with.
Overclocked Necromancer’s excess damage is converted into Energy counters, so you’ll want to keep taking shots at smaller creatures with this card. The more attacks you’re able to deal extra damage on, the more Energy counters you’ll have stocked up for later in the game.
3Localized Destruction
Goodbye, Everyone But Me
If you were wondering if Creative Energy had a nauseatingboard wipe, the answer is yes. And it’s explosive. You get an Energy counter when this sorcery is played, and paying one or more Energy counters allows you to grant creatures with a power equal to that number indestructible until the end of the turn.
Those creatures will need that, because this card’s main ability destroys all creatures on the battlefield. If you get your calculations just right, you can spare most of your creatures from this dazzling blast while taking out everything else around them. Dropping this just before an attack will give you an opening that’s pure damage.
2Cayth, Famed Mechanist
Fear My Hundreds Of Tiny Robots
Cayth is the secondary commander for the Creative Energy deck, but that doesn’t mean this card is any less powerful than the main commander. When this artificer enters the battlefield, you can choose between a +1/+1 counter on Cayth, or a 1/1 colorless Servo creature. Cayth also gives this fabricate ability to other nontoken creatures you control.
One little robot might not be intimidating, but tapping Cayth for two colorless mana gives you two more options. Either copy the counters that are on any target permanents, or copy a creature token that’s on the battlefield. The longer you can keep Cayth on the field, the more robots you can fabricate and dump tokens on. Soon enough, you’ll be standing behind an impenetrable wall of adorable little bots.
1Satya, Aetherflux Genius
Someone’s Deck Is Getting SWABBED
Menace and haste are fitting abilities for the commander of the Creative Energy deck. Satya, Aetherflux Genius will cost one of every mana you’ve got, and creates an attacking token copy of one of your creatures. In addition to replicating your attackers, Satya also grants youtwo energy counters.
The token you created gets sacrificed at the beginning of your next end step, but you can pay energy counters equal to its mana value to keep it in play. Save up your energy counters with Satya, and you’ll be able to grow your attackers at an alarming rate.
