Hello and welcome to Commander Bites!

Today we are going to be talking about Quark, Humble Proprietor!

Quark is a three mana 1/2 that makes it so you can’t sacrifice Treasure tokens and at the beginning of each upkeep create a Treasure token.

Game Plan

Quark is a strong Commander because of how many Treasure tokens you can generate each turn cycle can get pretty nutty, especially with the variety of other Treasure makers we can use to get to the point where we can cast Quark early.

The idea is that we generate a ton of Treasure tokens to hoard them and then once Quark is off the board, then we can use those Treasures for whatever we want to use them for. We do however need to be aware that until Quark is off the battlefield we can’t sacrifice them, but they are also artifacts that we can use to our benefit.

Support

The first thing we need are ways to make a ton of Treasure tokens and we have several ways we can go about it.

For example, we can use Rom and Leeta, Unlikely Pair to use their Seek Out ability to make us two tapped Treasure tokens whenever we draw our second card each turn. We can do that by using something like Big Score, which has an additional cost of discarding a card but also let’s us draw two cards and make two Treasure tokens.

We can also trigger the Seek Out ability of Rom and Leeta by using Idol of Oblivion, which can tap to draw us a card if we’ve created a token this turn, which with Quark is not difficult to enable and we can also pay eight mana and sacrifice it in the late game to make a 10/10 Eldrazi token if we need a something to attack or block.

Goldspan Dragon is also an amazing include for the deck because whenever it attacks or becomes the target of a spell we make a Treasure token and we can also us it to get double the mana from Treasures we control.

Since we are ideally going to have an abundance of artifacts entering the battlefield, we can take advantage of that with cards like Quicksmith Genius, which has it so that whenever an artifact enters the battlefield under our control then we can discard a card to draw a card.

If we manage to get multiple Treasure tokens each turn with something like Xorn, which nets us one additional Treasure token whenever we make one or more, then using Ingenious Artillerist is also a great move for us because they have it so that when one or more artifacts we control enter it deals that much damage to each opponent.

We can also combine Treasure generation with damage with something like Descent into Avernus, which has us put two descent counters on it and then each player creates X Treasure tokens and deal X damage to each player for each descent counter on it, which can definitely speed up a game.

As far as cashing in those Treasures we have plenty of options. If we want to use all that mana for a big burn spell, we can use Comet Storm, which has an X cost and Multikicker for one mana so we can choose any target along with an additional target for each time it was kicked and then deal X damage to each of those targets.

We can also put those Treasure tokens to work by using Depthshaker Titan, which when it enters any number of target noncreature artifacts we control become 3/3 artifact creatures with each artifact creature we control gaining melee, trample, and haste. Now normally the artifacts we animate would be sacrificed at the beginning of the next end step, but with Quark in play we can’t sacrifice them, so if my understanding of the rules is correct they will stay as they are as 3/3 creatures.

If we have the mana, then we can also make use of Craterclaw Colossus, which when it enters then creatures we control gain trample and +X/+0 and trample until end of turn where X is the number of artifacts we control, which should be a good amount to win us the game.

Setbacks

What makes Quark so interesting as a Commander is that there is massive upside in making a Treasure token each turn, but he also comes with a massive downside.

Even if we make four Treasures each turn cycle, we can’t use those Treasures for anything until Quark is off of the battlefield. There are cards like Infernal Plunge which has an additional cost to sacrifice a creature to make three additional mana, so we do have that option at the very least.

Quark is also one of the rare Commanders where he can be a problem if he stays in play because he generates at least one Treasure for us each turn or if he leaves the battlefield because then we have access to those Treasures.

This also makes him prime targets for removal like Witness Protection or Darksteel Mutation, where he is still in play but he doesn’t make us Treasures each turn and we are stuck with the Treasures that we already have, which can be a pain if the removal was played before we amassed a massive amount of Treasures.

What’s more, a lot of those spells are often enchantments, which being a mono red deck means that we have very limited options in how we can deal with them. We don’t have too much in terms of interaction, and even if we did have a lot of it, we can’t do much since we will be limited by the mana we have if Quark is in play.

There is also the concern that we have the abilities of our artifacts removed by something like a Collector Ouphe or a Null Rod, which make it so that the activated abilities of artifacts are prevented, meaning that even if we do get a ton of Treasures in play along with Quark off the battlefield, we can’t use them for any of our big spells.

Bracket Rating: High 3

I do think that Quark can be an incredibly powerful Commander in the right sort of decks.

Quark does struggle against certain forms of removal that are popular along with enchantments decks and decks that go really fast, but he can generate a ton of Treasures that we can use for our benefit so long as we remember the 62nd Rule of Acquisition, “The riskier the road, the greater the profit.”

Thank you for reading, see you all tomorrow!

Peace,

From, J.M. Casual