Magic the Gathering (MTG) Commander / EDH Primer - Intet, the Dreamer

by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

The Khans of Tarkir block was very good to Dragons. Well-documented is the rise of Scion of the Ur-Dragon decks due to the overlord of strong Dragons and related support. One Commander that has gone a bit under the radar, however, is Intet, the Dreamer.

Intet is perhaps one of the more underrated Dragons out there. Some people think that as a 6-drop that Intet doesn't do anything before she gets killed. But if you build around her correctly, especially with lots of Dragons around her, she can be a very fun, and actually pretty powerful Commander. And yes, Intet is a she.

The three sets of the Khans of Tarkir set block made building a Dragon-themed Intet deck that much easier. Just between Khans of Tarkir, Fate Reforged, and Dragons of Tarkir, these are some of the cards that Intet, the Dreamer added to her arsenal:

Atarka, World Render
Clever Impersonator (not a Dragon, but copies them!)
Dragon Tempest
Dragonlord Atarka
Dragonlord’s Servant (makes Dragons cost less!)
Harbinger of the Hunt
Haven of the Spirit Dragon
Icefall Regent
Rattleclaw Mystic (for mana fixing)
Sarkhan Unbroken
Sarkhan’s Triumph
Savage Ventmaw
Shaman of Forgotten Ways
Surrak Dragonclaw
Temur Ascendancy
Thunderbreak Regent


Those are just the best options. There are a couple other Dragons that could work printed in these sets. However, these particular cards that Intet has gained for her forces are the ones that have made Intet into a real threat as a Commander.

Intet, the Dreamer saw both of her printings double from about a dollar in May 2015 to a bit over 2 dollars in August 2015. Planar Chaos foils have seen a steady rise, as well. Buylists are pretty aggressive in trying to acquire her. She’s good as one of the 99 in Scion decks, and has seen time alongside Maelstrom Wanderer, Animar, Soul of Elements, and other Temur colored (red/blue/green) Commanders.

The effect that Intet has is quite powerful. She’s a 6/6 flyer for 6 mana, and when she deals combat damage you can pay 2U. If you do, you exile the top card of your deck. As long as Intet remains on the battlefield, you can play cards exiled by this effect without paying their mana costs. Keep in mind that if Intet leaves the battlefield for any reason, those cards are lost forever. The cool thing about her ability is that you can play any kind of card, including lands, off of her ability. It’s a free draw, plus a free cast. Now that Intet has gained some serious Dragon friends, her decks finally look like contenders.

One thing to take into account is that optimized Intet decks aren’t cheap. While we’ll make some budget suggestions, you’ll see that this is probably a deck worth investing in for the long term.

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Creature (27)

Acidic Slime
 Atarka, World Render
 Balefire Dragon
 Birds of Paradise
 Bogardan Hellkite
 Coiling Oracle
 Eternal Witness
 Hellkite Charger
 Keiga, the Tide Star
Mystic Snake
Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius
Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
 Oracle of Mul Daya
Phyrexian Metamorph
Progenitor Mimic
 Rashmi, Eternities Crafter
Rattleclaw Mystic
Riku of Two Reflections
Sakura-Tribe Elder
Savage Ventmaw
Scourge of Valkas
Solemn Simulacrum
Steel Hellkite
Terastadon
Thassa, God of the Sea
Trygon Predator
Utvara Hellkite

Every creature in this deck provides good amounts of value. Acidic Slime can destroy a wide variety of permanents. Atarka, World Render turns herself and all other dragons into double strikers. This is relevant because you can then get two activations out of Intet if she happens to draw player’s blood twice. Balefire Dragon can wreck opposing armies.

Birds of Paradise isn’t super exciting, but helps you color-fix. Bogardan Hellkite can be played at instant speed himself and spreading 5 damage around is pretty sweet. The high mana cost matters little if you can cheat him into play off of Intet. Coiling Oracle basically draws you a card, and if it’s a land card, you get to put it into play. It’s pretty much a blue/green staple.

Phyrexian Metamorph is a clone that also copies artifacts and has a Phyrexian mana symbol in its cost to potentially make it a 3-mana creature. Progenitor Mimic is another clone, but it can continuously churn out copies of your value creatures, which when it comes to this deck is pretty much any of them.

When Prophet of Kruphix was banned for being one of the more busted creatures in Commander, there was a hole that Intet decks never really replaced, even with Seedborn Muse. However, with Kaladesh came a new way to cast some free stuff. This way came in the form of a Legendary Creature called Rashmi, Eternities Crafter.

Rashmi is only 2UG to cast, and after you cast the first spell in a turn, you reveal the top card of your deck. If it's a nonland card with a converted mana cost less than that spell's, you can cast it for free. If it costs the same or more, you still get to add it to your hand. You can also choose simply not to cast it. Note that it is the first spell you cast on each turn. So if you play an instant or give a card Flash, Rashmi's ability activates.

Rattleclaw Mystic is another mana-fixer for all three of Intet’s colors that can also morph. Its morph cost is only two and you get a red, blue, and green mana when he flips. It’s sort of an odd way to color fix, but ordinarily you’ll just tap him as a mana dork.

Riku of Two Reflections is a very strong Commander on his (their?) own, and Intet and Riku have been good buddies since they appeared together in the Mirror Mastery Commander 2011 deck. Riku’s ability copies both non-creature and creature spells, another way to create even more value with Intet’s ability. Riku tends to have a lot of combo potential, and while this isn’t that sort of deck, he’s really strong in tandem with Intet.

Sakura-Tribe Elder isn’t exciting, but it’s yet another value creature that can sacrifice itself for a basic land. Savage Ventmaw is a pretty cool card that makes a whole bunch of mana when he attacks, and you can use it until the end of the turn. Plus, he’s a Dragon, which provides synergy with your other Dragons.

Scourge of Valkas enters and deals X damage to a target creature or player where X is the number of Dragons you control. While this isn’t purely a dragon deck, the Scourge does have the potential to take out an important creature (like an opposing Commander or utility creature) or hit someone in the face for an appreciable amount.

Solemn Simulacrum is pretty much a Commander staple. He brings a basic land into play tapped when he enters and nets you a card draw when he dies. Nothing amazing, but he’s pure value that fits into any Commander deck.

Steel Hellkite is a colorless Dragon that can take down token armies or devastate an opponent’s board position whenever it deals combat damage. It’s a creature you’ll see in a lot of Commander decks.

Terastadon is a perfect way to deal with problem permanents by turning them into 3/3 Elephants. You can potentially cast this fairly early in the game and derail an opponent. Those 3/3 Elephants won’t really matter against the big bodies that Intet will bring into battle beside her.

Thassa, God of the Sea serves two purposes in this deck. Not only does she let you Scry 1 at the beginning of every turn - setting up your draw - but she also can make a creature unblockable - a big deal with Intet. While you probably won’t usually have the devotion to make her into an actual creature, this isn’t really an issue.

Trygon Predator is repeatable artifact and enchantment removal on a creature. Everytime he deals combat damage, you get to destroy an artifact or enchantment that player controls.

Utvara Hellkite is one of the more potent threats in the deck, creating a 6/6 flying Dragon token every time one of your Dragons attacks. You’ll want him to hit the board when Atarka, World Render is already out there, giving your Dragons double strike. The Hellkite can pretty much be a win-con for the deck, swinging in more damage than your opponents will probably be able to handle.

Other creatures you could consider for the deck include Animar, Soul of Elements, who will make your creatures cost less, and Xenagos, God of Revels, who can give a creature haste each turn and double its power and toughness. Both are definitely worth including in here.

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Enchantment (4)

Leyline of Anticipation
Rhystic Study
Sylvan Library
Temur Ascendancy

Leyline of Anticipation lets you play everything in your deck at instant speed. Fun times. It's especially good with Rashmi, Eternities Crafter in play, so you can get extra triggers of her ability to  play even more cards! Rhystic Study is a Commander staple that lets you draw lots of cards. Sylvan Library is a great card filtering spell that works well with Intet’s ability, letting you know what's on top of your deck. Temur Ascendancy gives your creatures haste, plus you get to draw a card for each creature with power 4 or more that comes into play under your control.

Another Enchantment that you can run in here is Omniscience. It isn’t especially cheap, but if you hit it off of Intet, you don’t have to pay any casting costs  It’s a win-more card, but it makes Intet even more dangerous.

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Instant (9)

    Beast Within
    Brainstorm
     Chaos Warp
     Counterspell
    Cyclonic Rift
     Mystical Tutor
     Noxious Revival
     Plasm Capture
     Worldly Tutor

Good stuff instants here.  Beast Within is instant speed removal that trades a problem permanent for a 3/3 beast. Brainstorm is the classic draw spell that lets you put cards from your hand back to the top of your deck that you want to play with Intet. Chaos Warp can shuffle away an annoying problem and replace it with something else - you can use this on your utility creatures to get something better, too.

Counterspell does exactly that - counters a spell. Cyclonic Rift is in every Blue Commander deck ever because in multiplayer it's an absolute blow-out, returning everything of your opponents' (except their lands) back to their hands. Mystical Tutor helps you get an instant or sorcery that you need.

Noxious Revival puts a card from a graveyard back on top of its owner's library. This is particularly good for Intet, and you can pay 2 life instead of one green to cast it. Plasm Capture is a really fun counterspell that gives you some extra mana to play more stuff. Worldly Tutor seeks out a creature card from your deck and puts it on top, again a great thing for Intet.

Sorcery (10)

Blasphemous Act
 Cultivate
 Explosive Vegetation
 Hull Breach
 Kodama's Reach
 Ponder
 Rampant Growth
Rite of Replication
 Time Stretch
 Unexpected Results
Basically we have good stuff here, with Time Stretch being a fun card to hit with Intet, giving you an extra turn. Beacon of Tomorrows is another option, one that can shuffle back into your deck once it’s used in order to be used again. Unexpected Results, ironically, works best if you get the expected results, giving you a free draw and cast for 4 mana.

Artifact (10)

Chromatic Lantern
Crystal Ball
 Gilded Lotus
 Gruul Signet
 Izzet Signet
 Lightning Greaves
 Sensei’s Divining Top
 Simic Signet
 Sol Ring
 Swiftfoot Boots


Sensei’s Divining Top is very good with Intet, as knowing what Intet’s ability may or may not hit is important to know. Reshuffling the top three cards of your deck and having the ability to draw an extra card every turn for essentially just 1 mana is really god. It’s a $20 card (as of this writing) and Crystal Ball - which lets you Scry 2 - serves a similar purpose. Having both is good in any case. If you can’t afford Top, it’s not the end of the world.

The rest of the artifacts are mana fixing. To top them off are the usual Lightning Greaves/Swiftfoot Boots inclusions that we see in lots of Commander decks. Protecting Intet is a major priority in this deck, as she’s the engine that creates the “value-town” theme of the deck.

Planeswalker (2)

• Garruk Wildspeaker
  
• Sarkhan Unbroken
  
  

Garruk helps you play spells more quickly by untapping lands and his Overrun ability with the number of creatures in this deck is quite relevant. Sarkhan Unbroken is pure value and he can eventually tutor all of the Dragons out of your deck and throw them right onto the board. They can both be part of your win-cons. Kiora, the Crashing Wave and Ugin, the Spirit Dragon are two other planeswalkers that you’d want to consider for this deck. Both are essentially “win more” cards, though.

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Land (37)

    Alchemist's Refuge
     Breeding Pool
     Command Tower
     Evolving Wilds
    8x Forest
     Frontier Bivouac
     Gruul Turf
     Halimar Depths
    Hinterland Harbor
    5x Island
    Izzet Boilerworks
    5x Mountain
     Reliquary Tower
     Rootbound Crag
     Simic Growth Chamber
     Steam Vents
     Stomping Ground
     Sulfur Falls
     Temple of Epiphany
     Temple of Mystery
     Temple of the False God
     Terramorphic Expanse

As mana bases go, this is on the cheap side for a three-color deck. Alchemist’s Refuge is another way of giving your spells flash. The Scry lands are good with Intet, too. The shocklands in the deck can be replaced by the Khans of Tarkir taplands if you need to save some on the budget.

The primary focus of this deck is basically to just be ahead of your opponents on the mana curve, delivering threats to the board often at the cost of only 3 mana.There are plenty of ways to simply overwhelm your opponent in here, but you’re basically playing the value game. If you can start getting lots of stuff doubled with Riku and lots of Dragon tokens from Utvara Hellkite, your board position is usually going to be pretty strong.

The best part about this deck is that there are plenty of ways to go with it, but overall this primer is only meant to give you a starting point. You could probably build this deck for around $200 unless you own a lot of the cards already.

What do you think of Intet, the Dreamer as a commander? Are there are any other commanders you’d like us to do a primer for?

- Updated 5/31/2016