Hello and welcome to Weekly Commander!

Today we are going to be talking about Raphael, Ninja Destroyer!

Raphael is a four mana 4/4 that must be blocked if able and an Enrage ability that whenever Raphael is dealt damage, add that much red mana and until end of turn you don’t lose this mana as steps and phases end.

We end our look at looking at TMNT Commanders for a while by taking a look at my personal favorite Ninja Turtle in Raphael, and this version which provides an interesting angle of being a massive mana producer whenever he is dealt damage.

This leads to an interesting variety of strategies and a number of puzzles that need to be solved when looking at those strategies. We need ways to make a ton of mana from Raphael, try to keep him alive in order to do it so we don’t need to spend the mana he makes in order to recast him, and make the most use of that mana in a turn to win fairly quickly.

Staying Alive

The first problem that we can solve are the ways to keep Raphael alive so that we can make mana without needing to spend the mana he makes in order to recast him.

The first thing that comes to mind are the various Equipment that grant indestructible, with Darksteel Plate being one of the first ones to come to mind because not only does it grant the equipped creature indestructible but it is itself indestructible meaning our opponents need exile based removal to get rid of it.

Hammer of Nazahn is another great Equipment that not only gves indestructible, but also grants a +2/+0 and automatically attaches to a target creature we control when it enters the battlefield, which is always great to have on an Equipment.

While on the expensive to buy end of things, Mithril Coat is excellent because it can be cast at instant speed because it has flash, is indestructible, gives equipped creature indestructible, and when it enters it attaches itself to target legendary creature we control.

Then we have cards that give temporary indestructible like Endurance Bobblehead, which is a mana rock that also for three mana and tap gives up to X target creatures +1/+0 and indestructible until the end of turn where X is the number of Bobbleheads we control at sorcery speed.

Plaza of Heroes is normally a great land in a legendary creature heavy deck with multiple colors, but for us it can also serve as a way to give target legendary creature we control hexproof and indestructible until the end of turn.

Manhole Cover is also great way for us in a pinch because we can cast it at instant speed and it gives target creature we control indestructible until the end of turn when it enters, with it being able to draw us a card if we have mana to burn.

We also have access to some quirky ways to give indestructible to Raphael in the form of cards like That Which Was Taken, which for four mana and tap can give a divinity counter to another target permanent and makes it so that permanents with divinity counters have indestructible.

Tyrite Sanctum also comes to mind as a quirky way to give indestructible to a creature because it first needs to make target legendary creature into a God and give it a +1/+1 counter while then being able to sacrifice itself in order to make target God we control gain an indestructible counter.

No Pain, No Gain

Next up come the ways we can deal damage to Raphael, while also ideally dealing damage to other things as well.

One of the more common ways to do so is with the red board wipe special, which is dealing a bunch of damage to a lot of things. Blasphemous Act is one of the most effective ways of doing this because while it is nine mana normally, it gets one mana cheaper for each creature on the battlefield and it deals 13 damage to each creature.

Anger of the Gods is pretty good because it deals 3 damage to each creature and if a creature dealt damage by this card would die this turn it is exiled instead, Breath Weapon deals 2 damage to all non-Dragon creatures, and Star of Extinction destroys target land and then deals 20 damage to each creature and Planeswalker.

Incendiary Command is an excellent card in this regard as well because of it being a modal and letting us choose two options between deal 4 damage to target player or Planeswalker, deal 2 damage to each creature, destroy target nonbasic land, and have each player discard all cards in their hand and then draw that many cards.

There are also ways we can be a bit more selective with how we dish out our damage via something like Fury, which when it enters we can deal 4 damage as we choose divided amongst any number of target creatures and/or Planeswalkers, which we can Evoke into play by exiling a red card from our hand.

We can also do a very similar effect with Pyrokinesis, which can only deal 4 damage divided any number of target creatures, but we can also cast it for essentially free by exiling a red card from our hand in order to do so.

Storm of Steel deals 2 damage to each of one or two targets, Forked Bolt deals 2 damage divided as we choose among one or two targets, Meteor Blast which deals 4 damage to each of X targets, and Inferno Titan which when it enters or attacks let’s deal 3 damage as we choose among one, two, or three targets.

While we don’t have as many options as green, we also have access to fight spells as a form of creature removal and as a way to deal damage to Raphael to get the mana that we need, with The Last Agni Kai being a great way to double dip since it let’s a creature we control fight a target creature an opponent control, with any excess damage dealt turning into extra mana that isn’t lost as steps and phases end until the end of turn.

Go for Blood is a two mana fight spell that can also Cycle for one mana, The Triumph of Anax is a Saga that for the first three chapters gives target creature we control trample and +X/+0 where X is the number of lore counters on it until end of turn and the last chapter being a fight spell, and Arena being a land that for three mana and tap to tap target creature we control and a creature an opponent controls and the two of them fight.

If we really want to be sneaky and have Raphael be the target of a ton of damage while also making it so that we are a less ideal target, we can use Pariah’s Shield, which is an Equipment that that has all damage that would be dealt to us be dealt to the equipped creature instead. Alternatively we can use Nemesis Mask as a way to make it so that equipped creature must be blocked if able in order to get a bit of extra mana.

Suiting Up

Our strategy relies on us making sure we can get Raphael in play, protected, and give us as much of an advantage as possible in order to make the most use of his ability, which our value and protection suite will definitely reflect.

Since we can make real good use out of Equipment, ways for us to attach them for free or for cheaper is ideal, and Brass Squire is a solid and consistent way for us to attach Equipment because all we need to do is to tap it in order to attach an Equipment to target creature we control.

Magnetic Theft is a one mana instant that let’s us attach any Equipment to target creature, which while we don’t gain control of it completely, even having a quick way to automatically attach one of our own Equipment can be extremely handy, let alone to option to attach one of our opponent’s Equipment if we can make use of it.

Raubahn, Bull of Ala Mhigo is also a great way for us to get Equipment attached for a minimal cost because whenever Raubahn attacks we can attach up to one target Equipment we control to target attacking creature, which is usually going to be Raphael. Even Freya Crescent can be solid for us as a way to add red mana that can be used to cast an Equipment spell or activate an Equip ability.

While we don’t want to avoid damage, we do want to avoid destroy based effects, which in red means that one of the better ways we can do so is by redirecting that spell to another target, so something like Bolt Bend is pretty good for us because we can change the target of a spell or ability with a single target, and it happens to get three mana cheaper if we control a creature with power 4 or greater, which is perfect for Raphael.

Wild Ricochet adds an interesting element to redirecting spells because we may choose new targets for target instant or sorcery spell and then we copy that spell and then we may choose new targets for the copy.

Wyll’s Reversal can leaves things a bit to chance, but we choose target spell or ability with one or more targets and we then roll a d20 and add the greatest power among creature we control to the result and then on a 1-14 we may choose new targets for that spell or ability and on a 15+ we may choose new targets for that spell or ability and then we can copy it and choose new targets for the copy.

If you happen to have access to it, then Deflecting Swat is perfect as well because we can choose new targets for target spell or ability but if we happen to control a Commander then we can cast the spell without paying its mana cost.

Our Game Changer list is actually pretty light, with Jeska’s Will being one of the better options for us because we can choose from one of two effects or both if we control our Commander from either making red mana for each card in target opponent’s hand or exile the top three cards from our library and play them until the end of the turn.

I would also like to highlight Underworld Breach as a potential Game Changer to consider because it gives each nonland card in our graveyard an Escape ability with the cost being that spell’s mana cost plus exiling three other cards from our graveyard, which is relevant if we want to make use of any destroyed permanents or potentially go into a potential Storm win with all the mana we should have access to.

Raging Victory

For us to win, ideally we should make use of all of the mana we get access to so we can use it for a massive win condition.

Crackle with Power is a personal favorite way to spend a ton of mana for a burn spell because it deals five times X damage to each of up to X targets, and while it is a three X spell, if we manage to get a ton of mana stored up in order to cast a massive Crackle with Power, we can potentially win the game.

One card that can help us with keeping all the mana that Raphael produces is Electro, Assaulting Battery which makes it so that we don’t lose unspent red mana as steps and phases end, adds a red mana whenever we cast an instant or sorcery spell, and when he leaves the battlefield then we can pay X in order to deal X damage to target player just so we can make use of any floating mana as one last salvo.

There are also plenty of burn spells with X in the cost that deals X damage to any target like Blaze or Devil’s Play or cards like Banefire which deals X damage to any target and if X is five or more then the spell can’t be countered and that damage can’t be prevented, which can help us get through the occasional Fog effect that may come up.

If we want to go a more spell slinger route that makes use of us casting a ton of spells, then Crackling Spellslinger can be really solid since when they enter, if they were cast, then the next instant or sorcery spell we cast this turn has Storm, which can be used as a way to draw a ton of cards or deal a ton of damage.

There are also plenty or Storm options available in red like Empty the Warrens to make a ton of Goblin tokens, Grapeshot in order to deal 1 damage to any target to multiple targets if we manage to Storm off, ang Ignite Memories to have an opponent reveal a card from their hand at random and have it deal damage to that player equal to the mana value of the revealed card.

Mana sinks are also a great way for us to finish off any still remaining opponent, with Fire Nation Turret being a really great card for this because it gives up to one target creature we control +2/+0 and firebending 2 until the end of turn and for a red mana we can put a charge counter on it and if we remove fifty charge counters from it, then we get to deal 50 damage to any target.

Another solid mana sink for us that can potentially go near infinite is Pyrohemia, which sacrifices itself at the beginning of our end step if there are no creatures on the battlefield and for a red mana we can have it so that it deals 1 damage to each creature and player, which then has Raphael make one red mana which can fuel Pyrohemia for a loop that lasts as long as we have the life to spare.

Since we can have a potential Equipment subtheme for the deck, another way for us to get a ton of mana in a massive loop would be to use Blazing Sunsteel, which makes it so that whenever the equipped creature is dealt damage, it deals that much damage to any target.

This means that once we get Raphael to become indestructible, then we can have him get damaged in some way so that Blazing Sunsteel can then deal that damage back to Raphael so that he makes more mana, creating a massive loop for mana that we can use for a variety of purposes.

In Conclusion

Raphael is a pretty cool and potentially rude Commander that has a decent amount of variety built in a fairly simple to understand ability.

The one thing that can be a bit of a notch against him, in my personal opinion, is that it is harder to pivot the strategy into something else if you can’t get your pieces into play. If you are playing a burn Raphael, you are locked into playing a burn version of the deck purely based on cards that help make Raphael work ideally needing to be in the deck.

Still, there are multiple ways to build the deck, which is great if one version of the playstyle doesn’t suit your fancy and you want to switch things up while keeping a good chunk of the core of the deck.

That concludes our focus on TMNT Commanders, and hopefully I should be able to get these back on track at a much more suitable time than I have been.

Thank you for reading, see you all next time!

Peace,

From, J.M. Casual

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