Arcades, the Strategist
Tracked across real Commander games played through TurnZero HQ.
What it does
Flying, vigilance
Whenever a creature you control with defender enters, draw a card.
Each creature you control with defender assigns combat damage equal to its toughness rather than its power and can attack as though it didn't have defender.
Combos with Arcades, the Strategist
The lines this card is part of, what it needs alongside it, and what the cards do together. An infinite result is the one that moves a deck's bracket.
- Shield Sphere Tangleroot Words of Wind Infinite
- Infinite artifact ETB
- Infinite artifact LTB
- Infinite creature LTB
- Infinite creature ETB
- Infinite storm count
- Return all permanents opponents control to their owner's hand
- Mass Land Denial
Combo data from Commander Spellbook, the community-maintained database of Magic combos. Mirrored nightly.
Rulings
2 official rulings, in the order Wizards published them.
- 2021-03-19
Arcades's last ability doesn't actually change any creature's power. It changes only the amount of combat damage it assigns. All other rules and effects that check power or toughness use the real values. For example, Rabid Bite won't cause a creature with defender to deal damage equal to its toughness.
- 2021-03-19
If Arcades leaves the battlefield after a creature with defender has attacked, that creature remains an attacking creature, although it will assign damage equal to its power.
Rulings are Wizards of the Coast's own, mirrored from Scryfall and refreshed nightly.
As a commander
Decks built with Arcades, the Strategist in the command zone.
In the 99
Every deck whose current list includes Arcades, the Strategist, whatever its commander.
Most played under
| Commander | Decks | Games | Win rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Fantastic Four | 1 | 2 | — |
Colors it shows up in
- Four-Color (no Black) 1 deck
Arcades, the Strategist price history
The Core Set 2019 #212 printing, as Scryfall reports the TCGplayer market. Updated nightly. Click any version below to chart its price.
Every recorded price change
| Date | Non-foil | Foil |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 3, 2026 | $4.23 | $27.83 |
| Oct 1, 2026 | $4.23 | $27.83 |
| Sep 30, 2026 | $4.35 | $27.83 |
| Sep 29, 2026 | $4.35 | $27.62 |
| Sep 28, 2026 | $4.37 | $26.96 |
A row is recorded only on nights the price moved, so each price held until the row above it.
Every version of Arcades, the Strategist
4 printings, newest first. Prices are the market figures Scryfall publishes, refreshed nightly. A printing with no figure shows a dash rather than a zero, because Scryfall publishes none for some of them. Click a card's art to chart that version's price above.
The List
- Normal
- $2.90
Time Spiral Remastered
- Normal
- $3.96
- Foil
- $37.40
Core Set 2019
- Normal
- $4.23
- Foil
- $27.83
Promo
Core Set 2019 Promos
- Foil
- $62.72
Prices from Scryfall, which tracks the TCGplayer and Cardmarket markets. They move daily and are a guide rather than a quote. Search TCGplayer for Arcades, the Strategist. It runs a name search across every version, which covers the printings TCGplayer publishes no direct link to.
Aggregated from Commander games tracked in TurnZero HQ. Every figure counts decks and games only. No individual deck list, player or playgroup is identified. Win rates are withheld below 5 completed games, where the sample is too small to mean anything.
