Vadrok, Honourary Dwarf

[Calcifer]

This is a Mirrorweave deck, a Mirror March deck, and ultimately, a Seven Dwarves deck. These 9 cards are the core what I'm trying to accomplish. My choices for this list are predicated on getting as many creatures, token and non-token, and converting them into Dwarves, and swinging in! Fairly straight forward, but unlike other conventional token or tribal builds, focusing on seven copies of a single card is both limiting and a fun challenge!

Vadrok, Apex of Thunder is in charge for a few reasons. Recursion in the command zone is a reliable form of card advantage, and our dwarves provide many low cost mutate targets. It's also worth mentioning, if Vadrok mutates under a non-legendary creature, the mutate pile is considered non-legendary! This pairs nicely with our Mirrorweave and token copy strategy so that when we make our big swing all those dwarves and dwarf-copies just might also be flying, first striking, and have an extra P/T to boot! Now, when you search "Seven Dwarves EDH" online what little content you see focuses on Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer. This is an excellent choice as well, so he gets a nod by being in the 99. This is very much a list building on the ideas originated by Brudiclad brewers online.

However, I'm keen on adding for a few reasons. Namely, Mirrorweave; as this was a starting point for the build it's kind of necessary to have a white-including colour identity. Beyond that, white provides efficient token generation and recursion for our dwarves. We also have premium removal options that can be recycled with Vadrok.

Decklist

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

Commander

1 Vadrok, Apex of Thunder

Dwarf

1 Glasspool Mimic // Glasspool Shore

1 Mirage Mirror

1 Phyrexian Metamorph

7 Seven Dwarves

1 Spy Kit

Ramp

1 Boreas Charger

1 Cartographer's Hawk

1 Knight of the White Orchid

1 Smothering Tithe

1 Sol Ring

1 Solemn Simulacrum

1 Talisman of Conviction

1 Talisman of Creativity

Draw

1 Ancestral Vision

1 Frantic Search

1 Jeskai Ascendancy

1 Kindred Discovery

1 Mentor of the Meek

1 Mystic Remora

1 See the Truth

1 Whirlwind of Thought

1 Windfall

Removal

1 Austere Command

1 Cavalier of Dawn

1 Chaos Warp

1 Dusk // Dawn

1 Generous Gift

1 Swords to Plowshares

1 Tormod's Crypt

1 Wear // Tear

1 Winds of Abandon

Recursion

1 Lore Drakkis

1 Mimic Vat

1 Replenish

1 Return to the Ranks

1 Sevinne's Reclamation

1 Sun Titan

Tokens

1 Blade of Selves

1 Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer

1 Call the Coppercoats

1 Finale of Glory

1 Flameshadow Conjuring

1 Kindred Charge

1 Mirror March

1 Molten Echoes

1 Monastery Mentor

1 Rite of Replication

1 Saheeli, Sublime Artificer

1 Secure the Wastes

1 Twinflame

Tutor

1 Dwarven Recruiter

1 Imperial Recruiter

1 Recruiter of the Guard

1 Wild Research

Instant

1 Flawless Maneuver

1 Mirrorweave

Enchantment

1 Mirrormade

Land

1 Bloodstained Mire

1 Castle Ardenvale

1 Clifftop Retreat

1 Command Tower

1 Dwarven Mine

1 Exotic Orchard

1 Fiery Islet

1 Flooded Strand

1 Glacial Fortress

1 Hallowed Fountain

1 Kher Keep

6 Island

6 Mountain

5 Plains

1 Polluted Delta

1 Sacred Foundry

1 Sanctum of Eternity

1 Scalding Tarn

1 Sea of Clouds

1 Steam Vents

1 Sulfur Falls

1 Wooded Foothills

Approximate Total Cost:

This is by no means going to be the best deck at every (or most) tables, but an attempt at getting the most out of a few deck building restrictions and potentially have some blowout moments in the combat phase. Bonus: Spy Kit is something I've been wanting to give a home for a while and though it could be cut, it fits right in with this silliness for the time being.

I love the discussion that goes on in these forums. If you have any suggested cuts, additions, or other constructed criticism, I'm happy to hear it!

[Ulka]

I freaking love this deck idea! I think a Stoneforge Mystic would be a solid include at this point given you have Spy Kit as a Key card along with Blade of Selves and Helm of the Host for getting your dwarves out there.

Other thoughts I had was Time Stop, Discontinuity, and Sundial of the Infinite allow you to keep your creatures as seven dwarfs.

One card that could be added as a backup incase your dwarves get Surgical Extractioned is Pack Mastiff. Like its not nearly as good as the dwarves but It could provide a decent backup.

[darrenhabib]

Having at least one or two more way to create an over-the-top amount of token creatures for the sake of Mirrorweave seems good.
Secure the Wastes and Martial Coup can fill that role.

[Calcifer]

I freaking love this deck idea! I think a Stoneforge Mystic would be a solid include at this point given you have Spy Kit as a Key card along with Blade of Selves and Helm of the Host for getting your dwarves out there.

Other thoughts I had was Time Stop, Discontinuity, and Sundial of the Infinite allow you to keep your creatures as seven dwarfs.

One card that could be added as a backup incase your dwarves get Surgical Extractioned is Pack Mastiff. Like its not nearly as good as the dwarves but It could provide a decent backup.

Thanks! Mystic is definitely an upgrade I'm keen on when I get my hands on one. Goblin Engineer could be a stand in as well and plays nicely with Vadrok in case there's no artifact on the field to swap what you search for.
I love sundial, but hesitant only because I already have quite a few cards that do absolutely nothing on their own. Discontinuity has versatility and utility that I'm excited about, I can see myself adding it in the future. I have a feeling that saving tokens from their end of turn trigger just once for two mana would be enough for the pay off plus the opportunities to interrupt an opponent. With sundial, if I have the breathing room to use it turn after turn, things might be going pretty well as it is.
Pack Mastiff is really cool with Mirrorweave, now that's a hidden gem! Definitely the sort of thing that could go in here and not many other decks.

Having at least one or two more way to create an over-the-top amount of token creatures for the sake of Mirrorweave seems good.
Secure the Wastes and Martial Coup can fill that role.

You're definitely right, I was having a similar thought about adding more burst token generation. Secure the Wastes looks quite promising, and you reminded me that Finale of Glory exists which will probably be my third version of this effect.

[darrenhabib]

You're definitely right, I was having a similar thought about adding more burst token generation. Secure the Wastes looks quite promising, and you reminded me that Finale of Glory exists which will probably be my third version of this effect.

Actually running lands that create tokens can be a way of building up tokens in the absence of additional action; Castle Ardenvale, Dwarven Mine, Field of the Dead, Kher Keep, Kjeldoran Outpost, Springjack Pasture, Westvale Abbey.

[Calcifer]

Actually running lands that create tokens can be a way of building up tokens in the absence of additional action; Castle Ardenvale, Dwarven Mine, Field of the Dead, Kher Keep, Kjeldoran Outpost, Springjack Pasture, Westvale Abbey.

I made my stock mana base without really tailoring it to this strategy, so I'll be looking out for a copy Field of the Dead in the future.

Updates
- Mirror Image - Likely the weakest of the clones included. With the various dwarf tutors and reanimators I'm willing to go down one clone for now to add a mass token producer.
- Helm of the Host - Looking closely at my creatures I didn't see many juicy targets that makes the 9 mana investment worthwhile for a single token per turn. This slot is maybe better used for another army-in-a-can card.
- Echo of Eons - I don't have many looting effects, and I like cutting from the top of the curve when I have a card I really want to add.
+ Finale of Glory - Probably the best on rate for an X sorcery. A good curve topper and follow-up to a board wipe.
+ Secure the Wastes - An instant speed army! Could be upgraded into many, many dwarves.
+ Mentor of the Meek - Mana hungry card draw, excellent when you're not in blue. But, this could be a runner up to Kindred Discovery with the added benefit of being "Recruited" by the tutors if our hand needs to be refilled.

Cleaning up the mana base for more chances to add dwarf aspirants to the army.
- 1 Plains
- 2 Mountain
- 1 Island
+ Castle Ardenvale
+ Dwarven Mine
+ Kher Keep
+ Fiery Islet

Other Considerations
+ Dance of the Manse - I can't stop thinking about this one. Bringing back Mirror March will cause it to trigger itself which has the potential to get very strange fast. Follow it up with a dwarf and there are many triggers happening that turn.
+ Goblin Engineer - Gets all our artifacts at this point, which can then be recurred with Vadrok. Plenty of ramp choices, one recursion, and a token generator are all enticing. Boreas Charger's days may be numbered.
+ Silverwing Squadron - Honestly not a bad fit. A curve topping token producer that plays very nicely with Mirrorweave since it's an on-attack trigger, not an ETB.
+ Discontinuity - Unsure what to cut. Winds of Abandon being a sorcery removal may not be enough?
+ Graveyard Hate - I'm skirting my usual requirement of 3+ pieces. Going to be looking for cuts to make to bring this number up.
+ Mirrorweave tutors - Trying to decide how many ways I want to find this, or if it's enough to stumble into it. Merchant Scroll could come in, but my copy Mystical Tutor is in another deck.

[MeowZeDung]

This makes me happy. I used to run Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer as the commander of a Seven Dwarves deck with the objective of hitting one dwarf with something like a Twinflame and then making all my tokens into dwarves with Brudiclad for a huge attack. Intensely fun magic.

I haven't given my Vadrok deck NEARLY the attention it deserves, but I will say that the secret sauce I found was Quasiduplicate, Fated Infatuation, and Cackling Counterpart + the cheapo self bounce creatures like Thalakos Scout, Grinning Ignus, and Skywing Aven. The idea was to mutate onto a bounce critter, then hit it with one of the 3 cmc copy spells. Then you get to bounce the original pile to hand, mutate onto the token pile which triggers multiple instances of mutate and buys you back the 3 cmc copy spell + something else (like whatever you discard to the Skywing Aven/Thalakos Scout) with one of the Vadrok triggers.

I think the idea for incorporating this in your list (if you wanted to) would be to set up a situation where you can do this with a Cubwarden or similar effect in the mutation/etb mix to give you maximum mirrorweave bodies. Or, you could just have fun with Vadrok/Lore Drakkis/Stitch in Time nonsense like I did, ha.

One last, minor note: I had good success with Mitotic Manipulation in my izzet dwarves deck since it is pretty safe as either a dwarf multiplier or island/mountain ramp spell, and I think it could be better than Solemn Simulacrum here since it is sort of a dwarf tutor.

[Calcifer]

These are really cool ideas and I got to say I like the direction you took Vadrok. Having a small self-bounce package for Vadrok and Stich in Time is really tempting but I'm worried about the deck becoming all about that if I start including Thalakos Scout, etc. which have such a specific purpose. I could see Snap and Stitch in Time finding their way in at some point since Lore Drakkis is here anyway.

I haven't been able to find a copy of Secure the Wastes so Cubwarden might be a good stand in for now!

I wonder with Mitotic Manipulation if the math checks out in my 3 colour manabase. I can see ramping often in two colours pretty reliably but I'm unsure if that works out with 5-6 of each here. I love that niche cards like this are a consideration for this deck though!