Incremental Growth: Standard Quandrix Arthropod

Note: This article was translated from Chinese by AI and may contain errors. Read the original Chinese version.

Introduction

At the tail end of the series, we arrive at Quandrix, the college devoted to math and science, which this set presents through the keyword ability increment and interaction with X spells. I have to say this combination is rather clever: normally when you cast an X spell, you pour in as much X as possible to maximize the payoff, but in Quandrix’s design you have to tune X to match the increment threshold. That said, the problem with this design is that increment mostly cares about triggers when +1/+1 counters are placed, so the traditional counters route is more efficient and there is no real need to use this set’s Quandrix theme. So for this Quandrix deck article, I built around X spells as the theme.

Deck Breakdown

First, in the current Standard card pool, any deck built on green creatures that needs acceleration cannot avoid Badgermole Cub. It is manageable enough on MTGA, but if you want to build it in paper, this little punk sends the price through the roof. So this deck does not use it; if you own copies, feel free to adjust them in yourself. The decklist is as follows:

Decklist

• Theme Cards: Ambitious Augmenter, Geometer’s Arthropod, and Paradox Surveyor

Ambitious Augmenter is the only increment creature in this deck. It is light, easy to cast for one mana and grows easily, and it leaves behind a Fractal when it dies, providing damage output while soaking up removal. Geometer’s Arthropod is the core creature that interacts with X spells: whenever you cast an X spell, as long as X is 1 or more, you get to fill your hand with an extra card, and the body itself is a 1/4 for two mana that survives burn well, making it a strong backup for long games. Paradox Surveyor does not carry X itself, but her enter ability can look at five cards for a land or an X spell, and her 3/3 reach body fills out the awkward three-mana slot on the curve.

• Augmenter Pugilist: Slumbering Trudge, Mockingbird, and Marketback Walker

Slumbering Trudge is the odd one out among X creatures. For nearly all X creatures, the bigger the X the better, but Trudge has a fixed body size, with X deciding how many stun counters it enters with, and an X of 3 lets it come down and stand up normally. In green’s suite of spells that care about the size of creatures on the board, a 6/6 for one mana from Trudge is the best partner, and you simply tune X to the situation. Mockingbird is likewise a creature where you tune X based on what you are copying: copying Geometer’s Arthropod triggers the card draw, and it is also great for copying the opponent’s powerful creatures, such as that certain Ｏ-creature mentioned earlier (but note that when it copies an X creature, the copy’s X is 0). Marketback Walker is an excellent filler creature: it draws a card when it dies, so even with X=1 you don’t lose card advantage, early on it can trigger increment or the look-at-X-take-one of Arthropod, and later with more mana it is a decent body too.

• Echoing Equation: Bounce Off, Primal Might, and Repulsive Mutation

Now to the spells. Cheap removal has always been a weak point of blue-green decks, and here I use Bounce Off, the upgraded version of Unsummon, mainly to stall the opponent’s tempo, and it can also rescue or recycle your own creatures to be cast again for related triggers. Primal Might is an X fight spell; combined with Slumbering Trudge it works as cheap removal, and from the midgame on you pour X in to fight down a blocker and then punch the opponent in the face. Last is the power-checking counterspell-style Repulsive Mutation, where X decides how many +1/+1 counters go onto the target creature. Like Primal Might, it pairs with Trudge as a two-mana Counterspell, and in the mid to late game it also pumps your creature along the way, so when the opponent’s removal fails it hurts even more to get beaten down.

Gameplay Demo

Although it is a rather economical build, the deck’s overall resource generation is excellent, especially the nasty combination of Geometer’s Arthropod and Mockingbird; as long as the opponent cannot clean them up, your hand is constantly overflowing, and with Repulsive Mutation as an escort, you can go long against control without falling behind. However, since blue-green lacks sweepers and efficient removal, the main deck gets little benefit against Momo and Spellementals, so you need to specialize the sideboard.

Conclusion

Unfortunately, in this Quandrix deck I could not continue the tradition of the previous articles by including an FF legend. Setting aside the limited-oriented Omega, Heartless Evolution and the town-themed The Wandering Minstrel, Ignis Scientia is the choice that fits the needs best, but that slot was already taken by Paradox Surveyor, which suits the deck better, so I will have to save him for next time. This is also the last Strixhaven deck article; next up is Marvel Super Heroes. See you again in a while!