I stumbled across this idea while sorting through cards, as you do. I kept seeing all these great legendary creatures and having idea after idea for new decks. Finally, I realized there was no way to actually build all those decks, even in an entire lifetime. But what to do with all those cool legends? Well, what if I were to put them all in one Commander deck? They wouldn't really fit together in a focused way, but each one does something unique and interesting. A deck filled with legends wouldn't have a singular drive to do one particular thing, but it would shift and adapt and see what happens when certain cards end up in play together.

After looking through all my legendary creatures, I settled on Bant colors, and chose Rafiq of the Many for the Commander. Rafiq is tough to use because a lot of players are going to see him as a major threat and focus their efforts on you. If you use the Command Score, this deck is somewhere between a 2 and a 3 — I'll suggest some ways to power it up or down later so it fits your table's style better. But Rafiq gave me an interesting theme to explore, the idea of a single champion going out to the battlefield to battle alone. It seemed to fit in with all the individuals that would be making up this team, which I called Rafiq and His Amazing Friends.

Rafiq and His Amazing Friends ? Commander | Ed Grabianowski

• Commander (1)
• 1 Rafiq of the Many

• Creatures (48)
• 1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
• 1 Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit
• 1 Arcanis the Omnipotent
• 1 Armored Guardian
• 1 Asmira, Holy Avenger
• 1 Autumn Willow
• 1 Avacyn, Guardian Angel
• 1 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
• 1 Bastion Protector
• 1 Battlegrace Angel
• 1 Brago, King Eternal
• 1 Braids, Conjurer Adept
• 1 Brigid, Hero of Kinsbaile
• 1 Bruna, Light of Alabaster
• 1 Captain Sisay
• 1 Commander Eesha
• 1 Daxos of Meletis
• 1 Eight-and-a-Half-Tails
• 1 Glissa Sunseeker
• 1 Gwafa Hazid, Profiteer
• 1 Hixus, Prison Warden
• 1 Hua Tuo, Honored Physician
• 1 Hunding Gjornersen
• 1 Ith, High Arcanist
• 1 Jasmine Boreal
• 1 Kaseto, Orochi Archmage
• 1 Konda, Lord of Eiganjo
• 1 Niall Silvain
• 1 Oriss, Samite Guardian
• 1 Rashmi, Eternities Crafter
• 1 Reki, the History of Kamigawa
• 1 Roon of the Hidden Realm
• 1 Selvala, Explorer Returned
• 1 Sensei Golden-Tail
• 1 Sir Shandlar of Eberyn
• 1 Soramaro, First to Dream
• 1 Surrak, the Hunt Caller
• 1 Thada Adel, Acquisitor
• 1 Thalia's Lancers
• 1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
• 1 Thrasios, Triton Hero
• 1 Tolsimir Wolfblood
• 1 Trostani, Selesnya's Voice
• 1 Uyo, Silent Prophet
• 1 Verdeloth the Ancient
• 1 Yeva, Nature's Herald
• 1 Yisan, the Wanderer Bard
• 1 Yomiji, Who Bars the Way

• Instants (1)
• 1 Eladamri's Call

• Sorceries (1)
• 1 Divine Reckoning

• Enchantments (4)
• 1 Day of Destiny
• 1 Finest Hour
• 1 Training Grounds
• 1 Vassal's Duty

• Artifacts (9)
• 1 Azorius Cluestone
• 1 Dragon Throne of Tarkir
• 1 Hall of Triumph
• 1 Heroes' Podium
• 1 Simic Cluestone
• 1 Sword of Kaldra
• 1 Sword of the Chosen
• 1 Tamiyo's Journal
• 1 That Which Was Taken

• Lands (36)
• 3 Plains
• 5 Island
• 6 Forest
• 1 Ancient Ziggurat
• 1 Blossoming Sands
• 1 Canopy Vista
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Flood Plain
• 1 Flooded Strand
• 1 Fortified Village
• 1 Grasslands
• 1 Hallowed Fountain
• 1 Hinterland Harbor
• 1 Mystic Gate
• 1 Nimbus Maze
• 1 Prairie Stream
• 1 Seaside Citadel
• 1 Skycloud Expanse
• 1 Sungrass Prairie
• 1 Sunpetal Grove
• 1 Temple of Enlightenment
• 1 Untaidake, the Cloud Keeper
• 1 Windswept Heath
• 1 Wooded Bastion
• 1 Yavimaya Coast

Buy This Deck

The "single champion" theme is boosted by a couple of cards with the Exalted mechanic (aside from Rafiq himself). Finest Hour and Battlegrace Angel are the most powerful. You could further focus on this mechanic by adding Noble Hierarch and Silent Arbiter, or you could cut it completely in favor of more legendary creatures.

But the theme that really makes me love this deck is how unfocused it is. You don't have that "every card in the deck is pulling in the same direction" feeling. But each game you run into unexpected combinations. You might have Braids letting you unleash an early Akroma, Angel of Wrath, or Sisay fetching Glissa Sunseeker to deal with a pesky artifact. You might have Roon of the Hidden Realm and Oriss, Samite Guardian protecting your team from harm, or Roon might be out there taking down your opponents' token creatures. Meanwhile, Sensei Golden-Tail and Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit are traning the other legends, whipping them into a finely tuned fighting force. Oh yeah, if you enjoy the story-telling aspect of a theme deck, you'll love this.

There are going to be games where Bruna, Light of Alabaster's abilities are useless. There will be games where she steals so many auras she rules the board. Thada Adel, Acquisitor and Brigid, Hero of Kinsbaile are also pretty situational, depending on the types of decks you're playing against. But that's part of the fun of this deck — it interacts with itself and the other decks in the game in a lot of different ways, and not always the same way. You never know which legends you're going to have available (although Captain Sisay, Thalia's Lancers and Eladamri's Call certainly help you find the right answers when you really need them). And because these legends do interact with each other a lot in the course of a game, this deck actually feels a lot more like a superhero team than a Planeswalker-based "superfriends" deck.

If you want to power this deck up, the easiest way is to add better legends. You'll notice my list includes some vanilla legends from the actual Legends set — they're notoriously overcosted for what they do. I included them both to keep the power level down and because I have them and wanted to find a home for them. But, certainly, there are Bant legends you could replace them with. That's part of the beauty of the deck, the parts are interchangeable, so you can swap your favorite legends in and out easily.

To power down the deck, you could swap out Rafiq and use Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa and Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix as your Commanders, a great chance to try out the Partner mechanic.

With this unfocused deck-building strategy in mind, I started looking at some of the awesome artifacts in the Kaladesh sets. If we look at all those Bant legends as metaphorically interchangeable parts, a deck full of artifacts would literally be made from interchangeable parts. To build this one, I simply went through my entire collection looking for artifacts that did odd or unique things. I focused on artifacts that have a strong clockwork vibe in the artwork. In fact, when you're playing this deck it noticeably has a very strong and unified visual identity, the first time I've ever built a deck that does that. While I'm on the subject of visuals, this deck is a strong choice for adding foils to. A lot of the artifact foils are relatively inexpensive, and cards like Filigree Familiar, Ghirapur Orrery, and even Deadlock Trap look beautiful in foil.

Because I never know what artifacts are going to come out and what exactly they're going to do together, I play this deck as if I'm a mad scientist assembling some kind of inscrutable mechanism. What does Thran Turbine do? Sometimes nothing. Or it works perfectly as the power supply for your Animation Module. You might get all the modules out together, working in unison. You might stumble into a combo where you're making tons of Thopters so you can take extra turns with Time Sieve (be careful with this — it's a fine way to end games, but if it becomes unfun for your Commander group, take it out of the deck).

When the machine starts to hum, you've got Energy to power your Consulate Turret, Master Trinketeer is making Servos to pilot your Skysovereign, Consul Flagship, and Padeem, Consul of Innovation is sitting back keeping your precious machine safe while drawing you extra cards. It's really quite magnificent.

The Magnificent Machine ? Commander | Ed Grabianowski

• Commanders (2)
• 1 Ravos, Soultender
• 1 Silas Renn, Seeker Adept

• Creatures (31)
• 1 Armory Automaton
• 1 Baleful Strix
• 1 Cataclysmic Gearhulk
• 1 Chief Engineer
• 1 Chief of the Foundry
• 1 Electrostatic Pummeler
• 1 Etched Champion
• 1 Etherium Sculptor
• 1 Ethersworn Adjudicator
• 1 Faerie Artisans
• 1 Filigree Angel
• 1 Filigree Familiar
• 1 Foundry Inspector
• 1 Hanna, Ship's Navigator
• 1 Kuldotha Forgemaster
• 1 Marionette Master
• 1 Master of Etherium
• 1 Master Trinketeer
• 1 Metalwork Colossus
• 1 Multiform Wonder
• 1 Padeem, Consul of Innovation
• 1 Restoration Gearsmith
• 1 Sharding Sphinx
• 1 Sharuum the Hegemon
• 1 Shimmer Myr
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Sphinx Summoner
• 1 Steel Overseer
• 1 Sydri, Galvanic Genius
• 1 Trophy Mage
• 1 Workshop Assistant

• Sorceries (3)
• 1 Open the Vaults
• 1 Refurbish
• 1 Saheeli's Artistry

• Enchantments (1)
• 1 Era of Innovation

• Artifacts (27)
• 1 Aetherworks Marvel
• 1 Animation Module
• 1 Blinkmoth Urn
• 1 Commander's Sphere
• 1 Consulate Turret
• 1 Deadlock Trap
• 1 Decoction Module
• 1 Dispeller's Capsule
• 1 Dynavolt Tower
• 1 Executioner's Capsule
• 1 Fabrication Module
• 1 Ghirapur Orrery
• 1 Inventor's Goggles
• 1 Mobile Garrison
• 1 Nevinyrral's Disk
• 1 Panharmonicon
• 1 Power Matrix
• 1 Skysovereign, Consul Flagship
• 1 Soul Conduit
• 1 Thopter Foundry
• 1 Thran Dynamo
• 1 Thran Turbine
• 1 Time Sieve
• 1 Titan Forge
• 1 Unwinding Clock
• 1 Voltaic Key
• 1 Whirlermaker

• Lands (36)
• 4 Island
• 4 Plains
• 4 Swamp
• 1 Aether Hub
• 1 Ancient Den
• 1 Arcane Sanctum
• 1 Ash Barrens
• 1 Buried Ruin
• 1 Caves of Koilos
• 1 Choked Estuary
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Darksteel Citadel
• 1 Flooded Strand
• 1 Forsaken Sanctuary
• 1 Hallowed Fountain
• 1 High Market
• 1 Inventors' Fair
• 1 Jwar Isle Refuge
• 1 Orzhov Basilica
• 1 Prairie Stream
• 1 Ruins of Oran-Rief
• 1 Seat of the Synod
• 1 Sejiri Refuge
• 1 Strip Mine
• 1 Sunken Hollow
• 1 Tomb of the Spirit Dragon
• 1 Vault of Whispers

Buy This Deck

Despite its power level, this is still a very unpredictable deck. In some games, the parts will never quite fit together, but it's still fun trying to make it work. Other games you'll have the right answer for every problem your opponents throw at you. And of course, there are so many artifacts in Magic, you can make a very similar deck using whichever artifacts are your favorites. Just like the Rafiq deck, you can swap the parts in and out.

Hopefully these deck ideas inspire you to build something using the cards sitting in your collection just waiting for a home. Put them all in a deck together and see what happens! Incidentally, if you're up for brewing your own variations on these themes, I have two challenges for you. First, what would the "evil" version of the Bant legends deck look like? Probably Grixis, but who would you choose as your commander? Second, I originally intended to make the Magnificent Machine a 4-color deck. I couldn't decide between Green (so I could strengthen the Energy sub-theme) or Red (because there's some great "mad scientist" Izzet stuff that would be great in this). What would your 4-color version of this deck look like?