Magic: The Gathering Puzzlebox – Rebbec, Architect of Ascension

I love a good acronym. Whether it's a cultural touchstone that evokes more feelings than its constituent letters (think YMCA), or a backronym, constructed in reverse out of a desire to reach an endpoint (think...honestly most villainous organizations from YA novels). Magic has its own set of acronyms, of course, and the one I'm highlighting today is DEBT—Damage, Enchanted/Equipped, Blocked, & Targeted—the things you cannot do to a permanent with the relevant Protection from a listed source. If we want to be pedantic, DEBT should really be DABT, because that second letter represents all attachment effects, including that of Auras, Equipment, and Fortifications, but what this boils down to is a series of prohibitions on touching a given card. If I can get a mention of Fortifications in an article though, that's on my personal bingo sheet. Protection can be as specific as a single Creature type, or as broad as, well, everything (See Progenitus), but today I want to talk about a Commander that's somewhere in between: Rebbec, Architect of Ascension. Rebbec is a Partner Commander, and therefore has significantly more customization than most, in spite of her lack of a proactive gameplan. Finding her a buddy is about solving & complementing that truth, but if suitable wedded, Rebbec offers some of the widest-reaching Protection of any card in the Command Zone. There's a few different pairings worth discussing, as anything with Blue included opens up a wide swath of options, but the way we're breaking her comes in the form of turning things into Artifacts. If you give Rebbec the Robocop Treatment, she becomes immediately problematic to remove, and we can hedge that to build a powerful aggro list that dodges interaction & blockers alike. We can rebuild her—we have the technology.

This is part of a shortform Magic series where I’m covering rapid-fire concepts about Commander that I couldn’t cover in a full Commander Focus, so if you like what you see, certainly let us know!

Domo Arigato, Mrs. Roboto

Let's review how exactly Rebbec works—while she's on the table, your Artifacts have Protection from each mana value among Artifacts you control. That means, for example, if you have a Memnite & Commander's Sphere onboard, that Memnite couldn't be damaged, attached-with, blocked, or targeted by any source with mana value 0 or 3. It couldn't be blocked by a non-copy Token, nor killed by a Delayed Blast Fireball...even if it was cast for its Foretell cost. That's because Rebbec cares only about the original cost of these cards, not how much was paid for them. To that end, one of the best ways we can collect all the mana values is by way of self-discounting Affinity Creatures, like Myr Enforcer. That being said, if you cover 0-5 mana, you're probably safe, unless there's something larger in an opponent's Command Zone staring you down. Just note that Protection goes both ways, so Equipment tend not to appreciate her, if you're attempting to hand them off to Artifact Creatures.

Credit: Wizards of the Coast

Speaking of, what's this about giving Rebbec the 'Robocop Treatment'? Are we inserting her into a metaphor for the dehumanization that comes with participating in urban law enforcement? Not quite—we're just turning her into an Artifact. See, Rebbec is odd in that she normally doesn't protect herself in any way, which is why her text is allowed to be as far-reaching as has been printed. The moment she begins to include herself in what is often "Protection from mana values 0-5", she's functionally unblockable, is a stalwart blocker herself, and shrugs off damage-based wipes. In the history of Magic though, the number of ways to tack Artifact onto a Creature efficiently are somehow slim, with Ashnod's Transmogrant being by far the best version of this effect for the cost. It lasts forever, adds an extra +1/+1 counter, and is wildly searchable. Being {1} to cast, it can be found by the likes of Urza's Saga, Tezzeret, Cruel Captain, and more...though you still likely want to play redundancy. Both Liquimetal Torque & Liquimetal Coating share similarities, in that their effects are repeatable but temporary; this does allow us to hedge them as part of a removal suite though, turning problematic permanents into Artifacts, and blowing them up with the likes of Return to Dust, or all manner of Red interaction if we choose the right Partner. Mycosynth Lattice, Encroaching Mycosynth, and their distant cousin Biotransference are a bit more fragile in that they need to persist on the board...but remember, Rebbec provides Artifacts with ample Protection, so only full-scale board wipes do the trick. Bit of a shame for Biotransference, but it has additional upside for cast triggers, at least. The last big callout I want to make is Phyrexian Scriptures, which like Transmogrant lasts forever, but pulls us into Black. On that note...

Eligible Bachelors

You'll notice that several of the cards we talked about in the previous section, where we've aimed to roboticize Rebbec, aren't available to White; this comes down to the second bit of text on her card, and arguably the more powerful part: Partner. Rebbec is allowed to be one of two Commanders, and that means she can have access to (up to) three Colors, a marked improvement in access to these tools. Who are the most suitable suitors to pair with our Architect?

Credit: Wizards of the Coast

Let's start with the obvious option, Silas Renn, Seeker Adept. This smug bastard adds Blue & Black to Rebbec's color identity, and being an Artifact that wants to get in and swing himself, Silas adores the protection provided. As an added bonus, he's not mana value 4, which means between your two Commanders, you already achieve Protection against a swath of relevant removal (and blockers). Silas is our man to beat, he's the high bar here, but he's also...obvious. There's a reason he's the most popular option to pair with Rebbec, with three times as many decks as his runner-up option, and that means it behooves us to dive deeper. What about the mana value 2 Akiri, Line-Slinger? Of course, she's only adding Red to the identity, but allows for a more defensive playstyle, being held up as a powerful blocker that benefits from being turned into an Artifact herself. Different mana value, at least another Color, and some Artifact synergy—not a bad choice of Partner there, Rebbec. As a bonus, being in Red means you can make use of highly synergystic interaction, given what we mentioned about some of the Liquimetal Artifacts. Not only can you flex things like Vandalblast & Abrade, but you can also make ample use of damage-based board wipes, making them one-sided because Protection's DEBT starts with stopping Damage.

There's a few other options, from Tymna, the Weaver to Armix, Filigree Thrasher, but in truth I believe the best version of Rebbec is...Kraum, Ludevic's Opus. Gaining access to both Red & Blue gives you the greatest swath of Artifact tools to play with, and between both Red's Ritual suite, and Blue's ability to Counterspell the cards which could actually remove your board, it makes for the most implacable version of Rebbec around. As an added bonus, Kraum is both a solid attacker, and decent value engine. The alternative is Ludevic, Necro-Alchemist himself, but the issue with him stems largely from giving opponents more card draw, i.e. more opportunities to draw a board wipe. Depending on your playgroup, it may drive your opponents to fight amongst themselves, serving as potential extra damage for your aggro plan, but you're mostly picking one of those two Innistrad denizens as your Partner for their colors anyway. You could do worse than a 3-mana cantrip with Ludevic and an attacker.

Credit: Wizards of the Coast

Beyond the wacky core gameplan of turning one or both of our Commanders into an Artifact, however, how are we actually winning? I wasn't kidding when I said aggro: We're aiming to be on a glut of Master of Etheriums, Shambling Suits, and similar. Equipment is out, which is a bit of a unique problem for a White deck to have, but in their place we're running Artifact Creatures that get out of hand, with essentially no potential to be blocked for 10+ damage each swing. You could pair this with Extra Combats (that don't target) or Extra Turns, but I feel this list belongs as a heavyweight in Battlecruiser pods; if you're planning to slug it out with opponents from Brackets 2-3, Rebbec tussles with the best of them. Build your fortress with things like Paladin Danse, Steel Maveric & Bastion Protector, create Protected clones via Synth Infiltrator or Hulking Metamorph, and top everything off with surprises like Argent Mutation.

With Rebbec and her plus-one at the helm, you're afforded a unique, deadly, and flexible aggro deck powerful enough to chunk players down at B3, but board-reliant enough to feel reasonable at B2. Not only that, but the price tag on most of these key synergy pieces are cheap enough to keep you Protected from...DEBT. What mechanic or Commander should I cover next on The Puzzlebox? This is a series built on rapid prototyping underutilized mechanics for Commander, and while I have a few ideas racing around my head, I'd love to hear more ideas from my readers!

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