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Gandalf the Grey

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Gandalf the Grey

At a glance

  • Commander: Gandalf the Grey (UR)
  • Colors: Izzet
  • Archetype: Izzet spellslinger control — burn the board, copy your spells, drain faces
  • Power tier: mid-high

Cards

Gameplan

Gandalf’s real ability: whenever you cast an instant or sorcery, choose one mode that hasn’t been chosen yet (each of the four can be used only once per Gandalf — they reset if he leaves and returns). His four modes are:

  • You may tap or untap target permanent. — tempo + protection: untap a land to hold up a counter, untap a pinger for an extra ping, tap down an attacker or a key mana source.
  • Gandalf deals 3 damage to each opponent. — a one-time 3-to-the-face hit at every opponent; in a pod that’s 9 damage spread around the table the first time you cast a spell after he lands.
  • Copy target instant or sorcery spell you control. — the marquee mode. Double a Counterspell, a removal/burn spell, a card-draw spell, or a sweeper. You choose new targets for the copy.
  • Put Gandalf on top of its owner’s library. — a reset/protection escape hatch: bounce him to your library (re-drawing him) to dodge removal or to recharge his other three modes next cast.

Because each mode is one-and-done per Gandalf, he is a value engine, not the win condition by himself. The deck is a true control shell: a dense interaction suite (burn removal + hard/soft counters + bounce + real sweepers) plus a recursion package that replays answers turn after turn. Win path is inevitability — repeatable pingers, a token-maker, the copy mode doubling your best spell, and graveyard recursion grind opponents out, then close on faces.

Win conditions (explicit)

  1. Pinger lock. Thermo-Alchemist, Unruly Catapult and Guttersnipe / Erebor Flamesmith / Ghitu Journeymage deal damage every time you cast an instant/sorcery. The two untap-on-cast pingers (plus Gandalf’s tap/untap mode to untap one more) mean multiple pings per turn cycle; with cheap cantrips this is the primary clock that closes the game while the board stays clear. Guttersnipe / Erebor Flamesmith / Ghitu Journeymage chip all opponents on every cast.
  2. Murmuring Mystic. Every instant/sorcery makes a 1/1 flyer; an evasive army assembles itself behind the wall of counters.
  3. Gandalf’s copy + face modes for reach. Copy a burn spell or a pinger-fueled cast to push extra damage, and use the “3 damage to each opponent” mode for a one-time 3-per-player burst. These are reach on top of the pinger clock, not a repeatable wrath.
  4. Recursion grind. Archaeomancer / Mnemonic Wall / Scribe of the Mindful / Flood of Recollection / Mystic Sanctuary loop Counterspell, a sweeper, or burn so opponents can never out-resource the deck. Recursion + the sweeper suite is the real “inevitability.”

Role breakdown (with counts)

  • Lands — 37: Command Tower, Izzet Boilerworks, Highland Lake, Swiftwater Cliffs, Izzet Guildgate, Skyline Cascade, Lonely Sandbar, Desert of the Mindful, Desert of the Fervent, Mystic Sanctuary, 14 Island, 13 Mountain. (Lonely Sandbar / the two Deserts cycle late; Mystic Sanctuary rebuys a spell off the top.)
  • Ramp — 10: Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Mind Stone, Guardian Idol, Prophetic Prism, Fire Diamond, Sky Diamond, Star Compass, Fractured Powerstone, Wayfarer’s Bauble. (Mind Stone / Prophetic Prism cash in for cards later.)
  • Card advantage — 11: Consider, Ponder, Brainstorm, Curate, Strategic Planning, Pieces of the Puzzle, Compulsive Research, Behold the Multiverse, Quick Study, Reckless Impulse, Tandem Lookout. (Plus creature value: Augur of Bolas, Spire Owl, Sea Gate Oracle, Mulldrifter, Prescient Chimera.)
  • Spot removal / interaction — 17: Lightning Bolt, Galvanic Blast, Burst Lightning, Frost Bite, Unholy Heat, Torch the Tower, Magma Jet, Lightning Strike, Abrade, Izzet Charm (burn); Unsummon, Vapor Snag, Stern Dismissal, Man-o’-War (bounce); Counterspell, Negate, Essence Scatter, Disdainful Stroke, Arcane Denial, Condescend (permission). (Every one of these triggers a Gandalf mode pick.)
  • Sweepers / go-wide answers — 4: Fiery Cannonade (2 to all non-Pirates), Sulfurous Blast (3 to each creature and player in your main phase), Yamabushi’s Storm (1 to each creature, exiles what dies — beats indestructible/recursion go-wide), Swirling Sandstorm (5 to each non-flyer with threshold — easy to turn on in this self-mill spellslinger shell). The copy mode can double any of these for a bigger or back-to-back wipe.
  • Payoffs / engine creatures: Thermo-Alchemist, Unruly Catapult, Guttersnipe, Erebor Flamesmith, Ghitu Journeymage, Spellgorger Weird, Aven Wind Mage, Prescient Chimera, Murmuring Mystic.
  • Recursion: Archaeomancer, Mnemonic Wall, Scribe of the Mindful, Flood of Recollection, Mystic Sanctuary.

Curve is intentionally low — the bulk of the deck is 1–2 MV instants/sorceries so you can cast a spell (and trigger Gandalf) every turn while holding up interaction.

Pilot notes

  • Lead with rocks and cantrips. You want Gandalf out and a full grip; the deck snowballs once you cast 1–2 spells per turn and each one is also a ping trigger and a Gandalf mode pick.
  • Sequence around Gandalf’s four modes — each is one-and-done. Spend them deliberately: take the copy mode on your highest-impact spell (a Counterspell, a sweeper, a big burn, or a draw spell); take tap/untap when you need to hold up a counter or untap a pinger; take 3-to-each-opponent when you want a one-time burst of reach. Save the put-on-top mode to dodge removal aimed at Gandalf — bouncing him also resets the other three modes for next time he resolves.
  • Hold up the untap-pingers. Thermo-Alchemist and Unruly Catapult untap whenever you cast an instant/sorcery — pair them with cheap cantrips for multiple pings per turn, and use Gandalf’s tap/untap mode to untap a third.
  • Answer go-wide with the real sweepers. Fiery Cannonade and Yamabushi’s Storm clear small boards (Yamabushi exiles, so it beats indestructible / death-trigger swarms); Sulfurous Blast goes to 3 in your main phase; Swirling Sandstorm is your big 5-damage wipe once you have seven cards in the yard (the cantrip/recursion package fills it fast). Copy any of them with Gandalf for a double-wipe.
  • Recur the right spell. Mystic Sanctuary puts an instant/sorcery on top when you control 3+ Islands; Archaeomancer/Mnemonic Wall blink-rebuy your best answer; Flood of Recollection is a cheap one-shot rebuy. Prioritize Counterspell, a sweeper, or a burn spell.
  • Close on faces. Guttersnipe / Erebor Flamesmith / Ghitu Journeymage chip all opponents every cast, Murmuring Mystic builds a flyer army, and Gandalf’s copy + 3-to-each-opponent modes add reach.

Weaknesses

  • Big single threats / hexproof. Sweepers top out at 5 (Swirling Sandstorm, threshold) and only hit non-flyers; large or hexproof/indestructible single creatures need a burn spell or bounce, and we have finite hard removal.
  • Artifact/enchantment-based strategies are awkward — we have Abrade and bounce but no broad enchantment removal at common.
  • Faster combo decks can race the grind plan; lean on the dense counter suite early and don’t tap out.
  • Go-wide with x/4+ bodies still strains us — only Swirling Sandstorm reaches 4+ toughness and only with threshold and only on non-flyers; chain pings + bounce + the copy mode to buy time.

Decklist

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