At a glance
- Format: Brawl (100-card)
- Commander: Thassa, Deep-Dwelling
- Colors: Blue (U)
- Archetype: Mono-U blink/flicker value (budget)
- Power tier: competitive
- Competitive Brawl: ✅ Legal
Strategy
Thassa, Deep-Dwelling still turns every end step into a free flicker, so the deck stays a dense stack of cheap enters-the-battlefield creatures she re-triggers for value while tapping down the scariest blocker or attacker. Owned/common ETB bodies (Cloudkin Seer, Exclusion Mage, Bigfin Bouncer, Floodpits Drowner, Frost Trickster, Watertrap Weaver, Serum Visionary, Merfolk Trickster) generate repeatable draw, bounce, and tap-lock, with Corridor Monitor and Shrieking Drake looping ETBs. Instead of unowned doublers like Panharmonicon and Displacer Kitten, the engine leans on owned payoffs Archmage of Runes and Arcanis the Omnipotent plus a full common counter/bounce shell (Counterspell, Negate, Disdainful Stroke, Spell Pierce, Unsummon) to protect and refuel. Owned bombs God-Eternal Kefnet, Kairi, Quantum Riddler, Sphinx of Forgotten Lore, Windreader Sphinx, Overflowing Insight, and Turtles in Time close the game once the value engine grinds the table out.
Upgrade path
This is the playable-now build: the only rare/mythic wildcard spend is the commander Thassa, Deep-Dwelling itself (owned_qty=0, so 1 craft). Every one of the 62 nonland cards is already owned or is a common/uncommon craft you have wildcards to spare for. Where the ideal list used unaffordable rares/mythics (Panharmonicon, Displacer Kitten, Naban, Roaming Throne, Virtue of Knowledge, Cyclonic Rift, Cryptic Command, Rhystic Study, Frost Titan, Torrential Gearhulk, etc.), this build substitutes in-role OWNED bombs (Arcanis, Archmage of Runes, God-Eternal Kefnet, Kairi, Turtles in Time, Overflowing Insight, the Sphinx suite) and cheap common/uncommon ETB creatures and interaction. The full power-ceiling version at brawl-thassa-blink.json is the ideal upgrade path as wildcards free up.
Cards
Decklist
Paste straight into MTG Arena (or Moxfield/Archidekt):
Commander
1 Thassa, Deep-Dwelling
Deck
1 Arcane Signet
1 Mind Stone
1 Coldsteel Heart
1 Guardian Idol
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 The Tale of Tamiyo
1 Chart a Course
1 Stock Up
1 Opt
1 Counterspell
1 An Offer You Can't Refuse
1 Flusterstorm
1 Essence Scatter
1 Into the Flood Maw
1 Waterknot
1 Witness Protection
1 Cloudkin Seer
1 Exclusion Mage
1 Bigfin Bouncer
1 Riddlemaster Sphinx
1 Floodpits Drowner
1 Tishana's Tidebinder
1 Wan Shi Tong, Librarian
1 Agency Outfitter
1 Warden of Evos Isle
1 Spyglass Siren
1 Eddymurk Crab
1 Mulldrifter
1 Sea Gate Oracle
1 Man-o'-War
1 Murmuring Mystic
1 Overlord of the Floodpits
1 Sage of the Falls
1 Kaito, Cunning Infiltrator
1 Kiora, the Rising Tide
1 Faerie Seer
1 Frost Trickster
1 Watertrap Weaver
1 Corridor Monitor
1 Serum Visionary
1 Owl Familiar
1 Merfolk Trickster
1 Zephyr Sentinel
1 Shrieking Drake
1 Negate
1 Disdainful Stroke
1 Spell Pierce
1 Spell Snare
1 Unsummon
1 Deduce
1 Arcanis the Omnipotent
1 Archmage of Runes
1 Sphinx of Forgotten Lore
1 Quantum Riddler
1 Windreader Sphinx
1 God-Eternal Kefnet
1 Kairi, the Swirling Sky
1 Turtles in Time
1 Overflowing Insight
1 Matoya, Archon Elder
1 Hangarback Walker
1 Command Tower
36 Island
Ideal build (upgrade target)
The power-ceiling build (multi-agent workflow output) — every premium payoff and the full combo/synergy package. The current list is the playable-now budget version; craft toward this as your wildcards come in.
Crafts to reach the ideal: 29 (7 mythic, 21 rare, 1 common)
- Mythic: Cavalier of Gales, Dream Eater, Frost Titan, Mystic Remora, Rhystic Study, Torrential Gearhulk, Virtue of Knowledge
- Rare: Aether Channeler, Archmage’s Charm, Barrin, Tolarian Archmage, Castle Vantress, Cryptic Command, Cyclonic Rift, Disallow, Displacer Kitten, Fblthp, the Lost, Hullbreaker Horror, Memory Deluge, Naban, Dean of Iteration, Otawara, Soaring City, Panharmonicon, Pongify, Pull from Tomorrow, Roaming Throne, Shark Typhoon, Swan Song, The Reality Chip, Venser, Shaper Savant
- Common: Mystic Sanctuary
Full ideal list (paste into Arena):
Commander
1 Thassa, Deep-Dwelling
Deck
1 Arcane Signet
1 Mind Stone
1 Coldsteel Heart
1 Guardian Idol
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Rhystic Study
1 Mystic Remora
1 The Reality Chip
1 The Tale of Tamiyo
1 Chart a Course
1 Stock Up
1 Memory Deluge
1 Pull from Tomorrow
1 Opt
1 Counterspell
1 Archmage's Charm
1 Cryptic Command
1 An Offer You Can't Refuse
1 Swan Song
1 Flusterstorm
1 Essence Scatter
1 Disallow
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Pongify
1 Into the Flood Maw
1 Waterknot
1 Witness Protection
1 Panharmonicon
1 Naban, Dean of Iteration
1 Roaming Throne
1 Displacer Kitten
1 Virtue of Knowledge
1 Cloudkin Seer
1 Exclusion Mage
1 Bigfin Bouncer
1 Riddlemaster Sphinx
1 Floodpits Drowner
1 Tishana's Tidebinder
1 Wan Shi Tong, Librarian
1 Agency Outfitter
1 Warden of Evos Isle
1 Spyglass Siren
1 Eddymurk Crab
1 Mulldrifter
1 Fblthp, the Lost
1 Sea Gate Oracle
1 Aether Channeler
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
1 Barrin, Tolarian Archmage
1 Man-o'-War
1 Frost Titan
1 Dream Eater
1 Cavalier of Gales
1 Shark Typhoon
1 Torrential Gearhulk
1 Hullbreaker Horror
1 Murmuring Mystic
1 Overlord of the Floodpits
1 Sage of the Falls
1 Kaito, Cunning Infiltrator
1 Kiora, the Rising Tide
1 Command Tower
1 Otawara, Soaring City
1 Castle Vantress
1 Mystic Sanctuary
33 Island
Card images & data via Scryfall.