Hello and welcome to Daily Commander!

Today we are going to be talking about Tetsuo, Imperial Champion!

Tetsuo is a three mana 3/3 who whenever they attack if he is equipped we either deals damage to any target equal to the highest mana value among Equipment attached to it or we may cast an instant or sorcery from our hand with mana value less than or equal to the highest mana value among Equipment attached to Tetsuo without paying its mana cost.

Tetsuo provides an interesting crossroads of being an Equipment Commander that has two interesting diversions in play styles being a potential burn Commander or a spell slinger Commander.

I think that merging the two play styles will provide an interesting challenge in deck building, as well as a way for us to look at some interesting Equipment to play around with in tandem with some interesting instants and sorceries.

The first thing to look out for is the Equipment suite that we can run, and ideally we are looking at some of the higher mana value Equipment.

Drach’Nyen is great because it is not only a high mana value Equipment with a low Equip cost, but it also becomes an removal piece that gives the equipped creature menace and +X/+0 where X is the power of the exiled creature, which we can definitely use to remove a powerhouse creature to give Tetsuo a massive boost and deal some decent extra burn damage and cast a good chunk of spells.

Phantom Blade also acts as a removal spell since it enters and destroys up to one other target creature and as another bonus it automatically attaches itself to a creature and it gives that equipped creature +1/+1 and menace.

Grafted Exoskeleton is a bit of a coin flip since it gives +2/+2 and infect to the equipped creature, but when Grafted Exoskeleton becomes unattached from a permanent we sacrifice it, and we are not likely going to remove the Exoskeleton from Tetsuo, if it is destroyed while it is attached to Tetsuo then that becomes a potential issue.

Tenza, Godo’s Maul is an interesting Equipment since it would normally give a creature +1/+1, but if is attached to a legendary creature then it gets an additional +2/+2, and so long as that creature is red it also gains trample, which can mean that at base Tetsuo gets a +3/+3 and trample, which is really helpful.

If you have access to any of the swords of the Swords of X and Y cycle those all will be incredibly helpful, though if I were to recommend only one that I would choose Sword of Wealth and Power because it gives the equipped creature +2/+2 and protection from instants and sorceries, and when the equipped creature deals combat damage we make a Treasure token, but also copies the next instant or sorcery we cast, which won’t trigger from Tetsuo’s second ability since that is an attack trigger, but there are still a good number of spells we can copy.

The next thing that we need to consider are the instants and sorceries that we could be casting with Tetsuo.

In terms of utility spells, Fabricate is one of our better options because it can help us tutor for an Equipment that we want in our hand and since a decent number of our Equipment will be of mana value three or higher, we should be able to cast Fabricate quite reliably.

We can also use spells that have no mana value like Wheel of Fate to have a wheel effect or Inevitable Betrayal to look for a creature in an opponent’s library and put it onto the battlefield under our control as a way to always have a spell to cast regardless of the Equipment we have in play.

Rebel Salvo is a great spell since it can deal 5 damage to a creature or Planeswalker while also having that permanent lose indestructible and furthermore has affinity for Equipment, which will be immensely helpful later when we have a couple of Equipment in play and want a removal spell that costs effectively one mana.

Since Tetsuo’s second ability triggers on attack declaration, cards like Temur Battle Rage become really useful since we can give Tetsuo double strike and trample if he has power 4 or greater, which only takes one of our Equipment to give a +1/+1.

Crosis’s Charm is a useful modal removal spell since it can bounce a permanent to its owner’s hand, destroy a nonblack creature that can’t be regenerated, or destroy an artifact. In terms of charms we can also use Maestros Charm, which let us look at the top five cards of library to put one in hand and the rest in the graveyard, have each opponent lose 3 life and we gain 3 life, or deal 5 damage to a creature or Planeswalker.

To help get some damage through while also making it difficult for our opponents to interact with removal, we can use Sudden Spoiling, which makes all creatures target player controls lose all abilities and have base power and toughness 0/2, which when giving Tetsuo something like trample can be devastating.

If we decide to spread out the Equipment or want to save Tetsuo, there is also Fumble, which bounces a creature to its controller’s hand and moves all Auras and Equipment attached to a creature and attaches it to another creature. We can also use that to our advantage if we happen to be playing against a Voltron player to give Tetsuo a massive swing of power to help us win the game.

The last thing we need is ways to take advantage of Tetsuo’s first ability to help us get in that extra it of damage, or have some other utility from it.

Unscythe, Killer of Kings is a solid Equipment in that it gives the equipped creature +3/+3 and first strike, but more importantly whenever the equipped creature deals damage to a creature and that creature dies, it is exiled and we make a 2/2 Zombie in its place. Now this is normally to make be a disincentive to block, but since Tetsuo deals damage on the attack trigger, we can use it as an exile based removal spell instead.

Glamdring gives the equipped creature first strike and +1/+0 for each instant and sorcery in our graveyard while also being able to cast an instant or sorcery from our graveyard with mana value equal to or less than the damage dealt by the creature without paying its mana cost, and the spell isn’t even exiled so we can cast something like Lightning Bolt or Boltwave fairly consistently to help whittle down our opponents.

If we want really big damage, then Kaldra Compleat is a great way to not only deal 7 damage to any target whenever Tetsuo attacks, but to also give him +5/+5, first strike, trample, indestructible, haste, and the ability to exile any creature he deals combat damage to. There is also Ultima Weapon, another seven mana Equipment, that destroys a creature whenever the equipped creature attacks and gives the equipped creature +7/+7.

We don’t even need to worry too much about the high Equip costs they have because there are cards like Magnetic Theft which attaches an Equipment to target creature, Raubahn, Bull of Ala Mhigo to attach an Equipment to an attacking creature when he attacks, and Stolen Uniform to attach any Equipment to a creature and we only unattach it and lose control if we don’t control that Equipment.

For sheer volume of getting Equipment into play, we can also use Gilgamesh, Master-at-Arms who whenever he enters or attacks we look at the top six cards of our library and put any number of Equipment onto the battlefield and when we put Equipment in this way we may attach one of them to a Samurai we control.

The best Equipment for Tetsuo however is Genji Glove because it gives double strike, and whenever the equipped creature attacks, if its the first combat phase of this turn, we untap it and get an additional combat phase, which means another Tetsuo trigger for damage or more spells.

Tetsuo is a really interesting take on an Equipment Commander because he doesn’t just want to win via Voltron tactics, but also combines a bit of burn and a bit of spell slinging to help get a bit more value than just pure damage.

Now as with most Equipment Commanders, the issue comes in making sure we get the Equipment in play and attached to Tetsuo, which if we don’t have ways to protect him in the early game or any Equipment then that can be an issue.

We may not always have ways to instantly or cheaply attach Equipment onto Tetsuo, so we will need to Equip the standard way, which can be mana intensive over time and while we have some ways to help mitigate that, we still need to make sure they stay in play for us to use.

Still, Tetsuo is probably one of my personal favorite Equipment Commanders because he provides options in how to play the deck rather than just a straightforward deal damage sort of Commander, and a deck I do want to properly build out in the future…when finances are better.

Thank you for reading, see you tomorrow for the next Daily Commander!

Peace,

From, J.M. Casual