{"ops":[{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"v1.1.04 2026/07/10"},{"insert":"\n\n"},{"attributes":{"italic":true,"bold":true},"insert":"A casual bracket 2 Madame Vastra deck built without her dedicated partner, focused on creatures that want to be blocked, force awkward combat, and turn those blocks into value. The deck leans into obscure old cards, lure effects, combat tricks, and protective oddities to make attacking feel like a Victorian crime scene: someone blocks, someone dies, and Vastra hopefully walks away with clues and snacks."},{"attributes":{"blockquote":true},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nMadame Vastra Wants to Be Blocked"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nDeck Overview"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"This is a casual bracket 2 Madame Vastra deck built deliberately without her dedicated partner. The goal is not to make the cleanest Simic value deck possible. The goal is to build a strange little combat machine where attacking is an invitation, blocking is a mistake, and Madame Vastra investigates the aftermath with a clue in one hand and a snack in the other.\nThe deck is built around creatures and effects that either want to be blocked, force blocks, or turn awkward combat into card advantage. It uses a lot of older, obscure, slightly clunky cards on purpose. Cards like Chambered Nautilus, Drelnoch, Saprazzan Heir, Tolarian Entrancer, Tempting Licid, Venom, Dead-Iron Sledge and Angel’s Trumpet are part of the deck’s identity. This is a deck about weird combat text boxes doing weird combat things.\nMadame Vastra is the centerpiece because she must be blocked if able and rewards combat deaths with Clue and Food tokens. The deck tries to set up situations where opponents are forced to block her or another creature, lose something in combat, and let the deck convert that exchange into value.\n\nPower Level and Philosophy"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"This is meant to be a bracket 2 deck: casual, flavorful, interactive, and intentionally imperfect. It is not trying to lock the table, combo off, or become a highly optimized Simic engine.\nThe deck has some powerful cards, such as Dolmen Gate, Heroic Intervention, Defense of the Heart, Stonehoof Chieftain, but the overall shell is deliberately unusual and slower than a tuned combat deck. Many cards are included because they fit the theme better than because they are the most efficient option available.\nThe deck should feel like a Victorian crime scene with too many suspects, too many knives, and a suspiciously calm lizard detective.\n\nMain Game Plan"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"The deck generally wants to do four things:\nPlay Madame Vastra or another creature that benefits from being blocked."},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Use lure effects or forced-block effects to make combat awkward."},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Protect your attacking creature or make blocking it costly."},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Turn combat deaths into value, cards, tokens, or board advantage."},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Madame Vastra naturally forces blocks, but she needs help to make those blocks profitable. She is only a 3/3, so the deck uses equipment, combat tricks, deathtouch-style effects, protection pieces, and lure effects to turn her attacks into actual exchanges.\nThe ideal turn is not necessarily a clean kill. The ideal turn is an ugly attack where opponents are forced to block, their creatures die, yours survive, and you walk away with Clues, Food, cards, or a stolen creature.\n\n“Must Be Blocked” Package"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"This is the heart of the deck.\nCards like Lure, Nemesis Mask, Shinen of Life’s Roar, Tempting Licid, Satyr Piper, Compelled Duel, Irresistible Prey, Roar of Challenge and Seton’s Desire help force opponents into blocking.\nThese cards allow the deck to choose when combat becomes a problem for the table. Sometimes the target is Madame Vastra herself, especially when she can survive or kill the blocker. Sometimes the target is a creature that actively rewards being blocked, such as Saprazzan Heir, Drelnoch, Chambered Nautilus or Tolarian Entrancer.\nThe deck is at its best when a forced block becomes more than a trade. It becomes card draw, creature theft, removal, or a pile of tokens.\n\n“Want to Be Blocked” Creatures"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"The deck plays several creatures that reward opponents for blocking them in the worst possible way.\nSaprazzan Heir and Drelnoch can draw cards when blocked. Chambered Nautilus taxes blockers by bouncing the blocking creature. Tolarian Entrancer can steal creatures it damages. Elven Warhounds can put blockers on top of their owner’s library. Sylvan Basilisk and Engulfing Slagwurm punish creatures that block them in more direct and violent ways.\nThese cards are not always efficient by modern Commander standards, but they create exactly the kind of strange tactical puzzle this deck wants. They make combat feel uncomfortable for opponents. They also make the deck feel very different from a normal Simic value deck.\n\nProtection and Survival"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Because the deck wants to attack into blocks, protection is essential.\nDolmen Gate is one of the best cards in the deck. It allows your attacking creatures to survive combat damage, which makes lure effects much safer. Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots protect key creatures and help Madame Vastra attack immediately. Heroic Intervention, Blossoming Defense, Counterspell and Negate help protect important pieces from removal.\nCunning Evasion is especially cute here because it can return blocked creatures to your hand, letting you reuse strange creatures and avoid bad trades. Blinding Powder, General’s Kabuto, Ebony Horse, Gaseous Form and similar cards are included more for theme and odd utility than raw efficiency, but they support the deck’s old-card toolbox feeling.\nThe deck is not trying to be invincible. It is trying to survive the combat phase long enough for the nonsense to matter.\n\nCard Advantage"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"The deck draws cards in several different ways.\nBident of Thassa, Coastal Piracy and Reconnaissance Mission reward combat damage. Deepfathom Skulker does something similar while also offering a way to make creatures harder to block when needed. Infiltration Lens is very on-theme, since opponents blocking the equipped creature gives you two cards.\nDrelnoch, Saprazzan Heir and Chambered Nautilus are more flavorful card advantage pieces because they reward the exact behavior the deck wants to provoke.\nBenefactor’s Draught is one of the funniest cards in the deck. In the right combat step, it can untap a whole mess of creatures and draw a surprising number of cards. It turns a chaotic combat phase into a small investigation report.\nThe deck does not draw as cleanly as a more optimized Simic deck, but that is intentional. The card advantage is supposed to come from combat becoming weird.\n\nRemoval and Combat-Based Control"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"The deck does not play a huge amount of traditional removal. Instead, many removal effects are tied to combat.\nDead-Iron Sledge, Venom, Sylvan Basilisk and Engulfing Slagwurm turn blocking into death. Beast Within and Rapid Hybridization are the cleanest emergency answers. Counterspell and Negate can stop dangerous noncreature threats or protect key turns.\nThe deck often wants opponents’ creatures to remain on the battlefield until combat, because creatures are fuel for the deck’s main engine. Removing everything too early can actually make the deck worse. This is why the deck prefers combat manipulation and punishment over simply killing everything on sight.\n\nRamp and Mana"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"The deck plays a fairly normal Simic ramp package: Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Simic Signet, Talisman of Curiosity, Rampant Growth, Farseek, Nature’s Lore, Cultivate, Sakura-Tribe Elder and Planar Genesis.\nThe deck needs this because many of its cards are clunky, old, or mana-hungry. Some of the most important payoff cards cost five or more mana, and the deck often wants to cast a creature plus a protection spell or lure effect in the same turn.\nThe mana base is functional rather than flashy, with a mix of dual lands, basics, fetch-style lands, cycling lands and a few utility lands. Maze of Ith is particularly useful because it can protect an attacking or blocking creature in awkward combat situations.\n\nKey Cards"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Madame Vastra"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"The commander and main reason the deck exists. She forces blocks and rewards combat deaths with Clue and Food tokens. She is not huge on her own, so the deck tries to make her attacks safer and more profitable.\nNemesis Mask"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"One of the cleanest enablers in the deck. It turns any creature into a lure creature and creates massive combat pressure.\nDolmen Gate"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"A crucial protection piece. The deck wants to attack into danger, and Dolmen Gate makes that much less suicidal.\nInfiltration Lens"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Perfectly on-theme. Opponents are already being pressured into blocking, and this turns their blocks into card draw.\nDead-Iron Sledge"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Very awkward, very old-school, and very funny. It makes blocking or being blocked extremely dangerous.\nAngel’s Trumpet"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"A strange political pressure piece. It encourages combat and punishes players who keep creatures back. It fits the deck’s philosophy of making the combat step uncomfortable.\nEngulfing Slagwurm"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"A big payoff for the deck’s plan. If creatures are forced to block it, they are usually going to disappear, and you gain life in the process.\nTolarian Entrancer"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"One of the most flavorful cards in the deck. It turns combat damage to creatures into theft, which makes forced blocks much more interesting.\nStonehoof Chieftain"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"The big dramatic finisher. Giving attacking creatures indestructible and trample can turn a messy board into a decisive combat step.\n\nHow to Mulligan"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"A good opening hand usually has:\nThree lands or two lands."},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"One early ramp spell or mana rock."},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"At least one creature or setup piece."},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Some way to either protect Madame Vastra or make combat profitable."},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Hands with only expensive payoff creatures and no ramp are usually too slow. Hands with lure effects but no creature worth targeting can also be awkward. The deck wants setup, then combat pressure, then payoff.\nThe best early turns are usually spent ramping and preparing protection. Madame Vastra does not always need to come down as soon as possible. Sometimes it is better to wait until you can attack safely or protect her from removal.\n\nStrengths"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"The deck creates unusual combat situations.\nIt punishes opponents for making normal blocks.\nIt has a strong and memorable theme.\nIt can generate value from combat without relying on conventional Simic engines.\nIt uses many cards opponents will not have seen in years, if ever.\nIt can turn one strange attack into a very memorable table moment.\n\nWeaknesses"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"The deck can be slow.\nSome cards need opponents to have creatures.\nSome cards need opponents to block in specific ways.\nMadame Vastra needs help to actually kill blockers.\nThe deck can struggle if opponents remove key protection pieces.\nVery fast decks can get ahead before the combat engine is online.\nToken decks and sacrifice decks can sometimes feed you bad blockers while keeping their important creatures safe.\nThis is not a deck built for efficiency. It is built for weird combat texture.\n\nWhy No Partner?"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"The deck intentionally plays Madame Vastra without her dedicated partner. This keeps the deck cleaner thematically and mechanically. Instead of becoming a broader Doctor Who value shell, it focuses entirely on Madame Vastra herself and the strange little subtheme of wanting to be blocked.\nThe missing partner is not a mistake. It is a choice.\n\nClosing Thoughts"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Madame Vastra Wants to Be Blocked is a casual, flavorful, combat-focused Simic deck about making blocking decisions miserable. It plays old cards, strange cards, and cards that look bad until the combat step turns into a crime scene.\nThe deck is not trying to be the strongest version of Madame Vastra. It is trying to be the most Madame Vastra version of Madame Vastra: elegant, dangerous, investigative, and surrounded by suspicious evidence.\n\n"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Note: This primer was written with the assistance of AI, based on my own decklist, gameplay goals, card choices, and personal description of the deck’s intended playstyle."},{"insert":"\n"}]}