As the most famous protagonist in the Final Fantasy series, there are several versions of Cloud Strife available in 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Magic: The Gathering's Final😼 Fantasy set. Each one has a different color identity and ability, but sometimes it's fun to build in a single color. That's where Cloud, Midgar Meꦏrcenary comes in.

The mono-white version of Cloud focuses on Equipment, triggering his own and his Equipments' abilities an extra time, allowing you to double-up on benefits🌠 and build Cloud into an unstoppable behemoth. If you're ready to go big and swing tall, this♛ is the guide you need!

Sample Decklist

This decklist is intended for 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Bracket 3 (Optimized), but it does include one incidental infinite combo. Puresteel Paladin allows you to equip for free as long as you control at least three artifacts, wh𒐪ile Crackdown Construct gets +1/+1 until the end of turn wheneve🌊r you activate an artifact's non-mana ability.

With both cards in play, you still need an Equipment and one other artifact in order to set up this combo, plus a way to give Crackdown Construct evasion. While this technically makes a four-card combo, the requirements are easy to m☂eet by the time Crackdown Construct enter🍃s.

Make sure to mention this at your Bracket 3 table, and be prepared to swap out Crackdown Construct if the rest of the pod objects.

The Commander

Cloud, Midgar Mercenary is a legendary 2/1 Human Soldier Mercenary that costs two white mana and who tutors for an Equipment card when he enters.

The ability to find any equipment you want on turn two and be ready to play and attach it on turn three is already great, but Cloud has another ability: As long as he's equipped, all triggered abilities of his equipment and himself trigger an extra time.

Those extra trig♛gered abilities can add up fast. T𓆉ake Sword of Fire and Ice, for example.

While equipped to Cloud, Midgar Mercenary, Sword of Fire and Ice allows you to deal two damage to two targets and draw two cards whenever Cloud deals combat damage to a pla🌳yer. Adding 💟additional triggers, or giving Cloud double strike, allows him to turn into a serious threat.

Cloud's ability doesn't specify specific triggers or actions, like being triggered by attacking or dealing combat damaꦬge. So abilities triggered by an op♑ponent's actions, such as ward, also trigger an extra time.

The combination of search and trigger enhancement means that Cloud can solve a lot of problems. If 🌸you need to destroy creatures, look for Sword of Fire and Ice. If you need more lands, look for Sword of the Animist.

Building the Deck

Both of Cloud's abilities revolve around Equipment, so that will be the focus of the deck: a low-to-the-ground mono-white Voltron deck with multip🍬le ways to fetch and attach Equipment.

Cloud, Midgar Mercenary doesn't have any built-in protection, and a lousy one toughness, so you'll need a handful of ways to protect him. You'll also want to include a c🍌ouple of alternate attackers, so that you aren't en🍰tirely reliant on your commander.

Since Cloud only costs two mana, there are also several Equipment cards he can fetch on turn two for you to cast and equip on turn three. This can help you get a head start on damage before your opponen🍌ts can establish defenses.

The emphasis on Equipment doesn't leave much room for creatures, so you'll often have a single creature against the world. The decklist includes several boardwipes that remove everything except one creature per player, allowing you to 𝕴make the most out of Cloud's growing arsenღal.

While the deck has a tight mana curve, there's enough ramp to make sure Cloud can keep coming back and that you can keep reequipping him in order to keep the p🐬ressure onಞ.

Ramp

In addition to a standard ramp package of Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, and a few other mana rocks, Cloud, Midgar Mercenary has a handful of Equipments that he can make exceptionally effective.

Sword of the Animist only costs two mana to cast and equip, and each time Cloud attacks while equipped it will search for two basic lands and put them into play tapped. Each time Cloud attacks with this Equipment, you'll gꦓet enough land to pay his coꦉmmander the next time he dies!

Sword of Hearth and Home also searches for basic lands, but only when Cloud deals combat damage to an opponent. But if you give him double strike, that can translate into four basic lands each time Cloud attacks unopposed.

The Aetherspark is incredible in Cloud's hands. It gains loyalty counters as the creature it's equipped to deals damage, and Cloud, Midgar Mercenary causes it to trigger twice. If you use the plus-one ability to equip it, it will get six counters when Cloud attacks, allowing you🐻 to remo📖ve ten loyalty for ten mana the next turn.

As low as the mana curve is for this deck, Land Tax can be a great first-turn spell. It will all but guarantee that you don't miss a la⛦nd drop, which gives you the freedom to use Cloud's tutor ability to find another Equipment instead of worrying about something toไ ramp with.

Knight of the White Orchid also gives you the ability to drop an extra land when it comes into play, as long 🍌as you're already behind on land. If you're using Sword of Hearth and Hom🅰e, you can also flicker your Knight for yet another land if someone else is ramping hard.

Cast Knight of White Orchid before playing your land for the turn to avoid catchin𝓰g up on land a♚nd cutting off your ramp.

A great inclusion for any mono-colored deck with a lot of basic lands is Extraplanar Lens. This card effectively doubles the mana produced by your basic lands in a mono-colored deck. It gives your opponents using the same lands the same benefit, but using Snow-Covered Plains usually makes it one-sided in your favor.

Draw

White has a lot of solid draw options, and a lot of them fit well in Cloud, Midgar Mercenary's Equipment theme. For example, Esper Sentinel can be dropped on turn one, and as you attach Equipment later you'll be more and more likely to draw cards every turn.

Sram, Senior Edificer is a solid option because he allows you to draw a card each time you cast an Equipment or Aura. Since about one-fifth of the deck meets those criteria, you'll get a card to replace most of the ones you want to play anyway♌.

Puresteel Paladin does almost the same thing as Sram, Senior Edificer in terms of drawing cards, but it looks for Equipment coming in🍬to play, not being cast. This allows it to become a major draw engine with Bloodforged Battle-Axe.

Bloodforged Battle-Axe duplicates itself whenever the equipped creature deals combat damage. Since the copy also has the duplication effect, this can quickly turn into a situation where you get four or eight new Equipment each turn.

Bloodforged Battle-Axe is great on any creature, but Sword of Fire and Ice is amazing on Cloud, Midgar Mercenary. Each time ♚Cloud deals comba🍷t damage to a player while holding it, you'll get to draw two cards and potentially kill two creatures. If you can give him double strike, you'll get that twice per turn!

One of the best synergies in the deck is Cloud, Midgar Mercenary with Buster Sword. Cloud's ability allows Buster Sword to be triggered twice, allowing you to draw two cards and cast two spells from your hand for free.

With only Buster Sword equipped on Cloud, you'll be able to cast spells with a mana value of five or less for free, and there are only a couple spells in the deck with ꦺa higher cost🃏 than that!

War Room is a great addition to any mono-color (or colorless) Commander deck, since it allows you to pay three mana and one life to draw a card, plus it produces colorless mana without coming into play tappeﷺd.

One-On-One Combat

This deck isn't heavy on creatures, and the Voltron theme tends to favor controlling a single creature. To that effect, this de💯 contains several partial boardwipes that will only leave each player with a single creature.

Divine Reckoning destroys every creature for four mana, but allows each player to choose a single survivor. It also hasꦓ flashback, allowing you to reuse it later if an opponent starts building up too much board presence again.

Lion Sash is not a creature when it's equipped, so it can survive boardwipes and g﷽ive you an extra attacker or blocker. It can also eliminate problematic cards in your opponents' graveyards.

Slash the Ranks doesn't allow anyone to pick the survivors: only the commanders survive this one. If your opponents' commanders aren't in play, you'll be left with the only creature. On the other hand, if 🐲they have multiple commanders, you may end up at a disadvantage.

Single Combat is the gold standard: it leaves everyone with a single creature or planeswalker of their choice, but wipes out everything else and prevents anyone from casting creature spells for the next turn.

You'll usually only attack with one or two creatures, so Silent Arbiter can give you a few turns of freedom to play the game your way. This is especially true if your opponents don't consider you to be the major threat, and spend their attacks swinging🐠 at each other.