Urtet, remnant of memnarch

Myr Tribal: The Key to Unlock a Wondrous Myracle

If you like to command an army of hard working small-size metal automatons and convert them into unstoppable killing machines, then Myr tribal is the right deck for you. Let’s discover the key to unlock their true potential and create a wondrous Myracle.

I love tribal decks because they combine synergy and flavor and of course power. On top of that you can find many unique cards that support a tribe and can be great budget options as those cards work only on a specific tribal deck and are bad to unplayable to any other deck. That’s why I will try building and presenting a series of decks for all those who share the love for tribal decks.

The word “myr” is derived from the Greek word for “ant” (“μύρμηξ”), which is a direct reference to their small size, worker-role and loyal subordinate status. There is also the connection with the Myrmidon of Greek myth. The Myrmidons of Greek myth were known for their loyalty to their leaders, so that in pre-industrial Europe the word “myrmidon” carried many of the same connotations that “robot” does today.

In MtG, Myrs are mostly small colorless artifact creatures with very limited, but unique abilities. They are mostly known for the cycle of Myrs that can be tapped for a specific color of mana. Although there were some cards that supported the tribe, it was too hard to construct a meaningful Myr tribal commander deck. All that changed with the coming of Urtet, Remnant of Memnarch in Phyrexia: All Will Be One set.

Urtet, Remnant of Memnarch

Urtet is a 5-color Myr Tribal commander that can generate Myrs, can make the most of the tap abilities of our small Myrs by untapping them at the beggining of combat on our turn and last but not least, it can convert our small workers into unstoppable killing machines by giving them 3 +1/+1 counters with tap and .

Synergy Diagram

I always like to make a simple synergy diagram in order to deeply comprehend the potential and the strategy areas that are supported by the commander when I choose top-down building.

Myr Tribal Synergy Diagram

Let’s analyze the main goals of the deck.

  1. Add the best Myrs. Our top priority is to add Myrs that tap for mana or other utility and Myrs that create other Myrs. 
  2. Add Myr tribal support. There are some cards that generate Myr tokens and others that either buff or untap Myrs, all work great with Urtet, Remnant of Memnarch.
  3. Add cards that synergize with our strategies. To make the best out of our strategies, we can further amplify them by adding cards that synergize with artifacts, tokens and tap/untap strategy.

For the sake of flavor some of the choices are not optimal, but are (usually budget friendly) alternatives that fit greatly the Myr tribal theme.

The deck:

Myr Tribal

Commander (1)
Urtet, Remnant of Memnarch

Creatures (33)
Copper Myr
Gold Myr
Hovermyr
Ichorclaw Myr
Iron Myr
Leaden Myr
Masked Vandal
Myr Convert
Myr Retriever
Myr Superion
Myrsmith
Plague Myr
Silver Myr
Steel Overseer
Alloy Myr
Darksteel Myr
Knighted Myr
Losheel, Clockwork Scholar
Mirror Entity
Myr Galvanizer
Myr Propagator
Myr Welder
Palladium Myr
Shimmer Myr
Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain
Lodestone Myr
Myr Kinsmith
Urza, Prince of Kroog
Alibou, Ancient Witness
Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer
Frogmyr Enforcer
Myr Battlesphere
Myr Enforcer

Spells (10)
Dispatch
Disruption Protocol
Kabira Takedown // Kabira Plateau
Negate
Stoic Rebuttal
Thirst for Knowledge
Distant Melody
Thoughtcast
Organic Extinction
Soulscour

Artifacts (16)
Sol Ring
Arcane Signet
Genesis Chamber
Myr Reservoir
Sculpting Steel
Tamiyo's Logbook
Clock of Omens
Lux Artillery
Mystic Forge
Symmetry Matrix
Unwinding Clock
Mirrorworks
Myr Matrix
Myr Turbine
Myr Incubator
Darksteel Forge

Enchantments (7)
Artificer Class
Song of Freyalise
Mirrodin Besieged
Tempered Steel
Parasitic Implant
The Antiquities War
Thopter Spy Network
Lands +1MDFC (33)
Ancient Den
Ash Barrens
Bojuka Bog
Buried Ruin
Command Tower
Crystal Quarry
Darkmoss Bridge
Darksteel Citadel
Drossforge Bridge
Exotic Orchard
Forest
Goldmire Bridge
Great Furnace
Island
Mistvault Bridge
Mountain
Path of Ancestry
Plains
Power Depot
Public Thoroughfare
Razortide Bridge
Rustvale Bridge
Scene of the Crime
Seat of the Synod
Secluded Courtyard
Silverbluff Bridge
Slagwoods Bridge
Spire of Industry
Swamp
Tanglepool Bridge
Thornglint Bridge
Tree of Tales
Vault of Whispers

Comparative Analysis

Let’s see how the deck compares to the general ratios of my deckbuilding guide.

Myr Tribal Comparative Analysis by category

As we see form the comparative analysis, the rates per category are good. In ramp category where we see a peak with 14 cards and that is the result of having many Myrs with mana abilities.  Moreover, Urtet, Remnant of Memnarch and Myr Galvanizer combo with our Myrs that tap for mana and can further amplify our ramp potential. There is no score below the optimal low average and we see 6 categories that are above the optimal max average. Finishers are much more than usual at 7 and that is important because our deck can win in many different ways. Tutors at 4 and Protection at 5 are also some of the deck highlights and offer consistency and resilience.

Deck Highlights, synergy and flavor options:

Ramp

Mana producing Myrs are the backnone of our build. They help with ramp and Urtet, Remnant of Memnarch untaps them and multiply their effectiveness. Palladium Myr is also a combo piece, while Plague Myr can act as a hidden finisher when buffed enough.

Artificer Class is a multi-purpose card. It acts as a mana cost reducer for our first artifact card each turn, a one time mini tutor at lvl2 and a copy machine that can be a powerhouse at lvl 3. Its flexibility makes it a very good card.

Song of Freyalise turn all of our creatures into mana producers for 2 turns which will probably be enough to give us a huge mana boost on its own, but is greatly multiplied by Urtet, Remnant of Memnarch and can help to activate its last ability which will turn our Myrs into big threats.

Myr Reservoir is both an excellent mana producer and a repeatable grave recursion tool for Myr tribal. One of the best Myr tribal support cards.

Target Removal

Stoic Rebuttal and Disruption Protocol will be a Counterspell most of the time, but they cost much cheaper, while Negate is a staple. All can act both as removal options and as protection spells.

Parasitic Implant is not an optimal choice but fits both flavor and the strategy of the deck. Although it is very slow for removal, it has its uses, as it can remove creatures with Indestructible.

Dispatch is an excellent removal in any artifact deck.

Alibou, Ancient Witness gives our Myrs haste and on top of that, it can act as target removal and even a finisher. Great option in a deck full of artifact creatures.

Board Wipes

Organic Extinction is a great board wipe as it will be often a one-sided one and will cost much less mana with Improvise.

Soulscour costs too much, but with all the ramp of our deck, we have an actual chance to cast it. At first glance, even for a very possible one-sided board wipe it is just overcosted. But reading it carefully, it destroys all non artifact permanents and that includes lands! In our Myr Tribal, most of the lands are artifacts, so we cast here a kinda one-sided Armageddon too! It can be a game finisher move.

Graveyard Recursion

Wake the Past is amazing in our deck, combining mass reanimation with haste. Not only it can bring back our Myrs, but giving them haste makes it a hidden finisher too!

Myr retriever is a great tool for artifact graveyard recursion and it is a Myr itself, so it is a must-have for Myr tribal.

Myr Reservoir, as mentioned above, is a great repeatable grave recursion tool for Myr tribal. It is so good, I had to mention it twice.

Graveyard Hate

Myr Welder can be a specific graveyard hate card for artifacts, but can also act as a combo piece (using it on our own artifacts).

Tutors

Myr Kinsmith is a great Myr tutor and it is a Myr itself so it’s a must-have in Myr tribal.

Myr Turbine is a repeatable Myr tutor that needs 5  untapped Myr to operate, but it is a Myr token producer itself and on our Myr tribal deck, with the help of Urtet, Remnant of Memnarch, that seems not that hard. One of the best cards for Myr tribal.

Protection

Losheel, Clockwork Scholar protects our Myrs from combat damage when they attack and acts as a repeatable card draw source. Great utility card.

Darksteel Forge makes all artifacts we control indestructible. Most cards in our deck are artifacts so we get amazing value. Its mana cost is high but at least it is colorless and we have strong ramp so we can expect to be able to cast it and turn the odds to our favor.

Card Draw

Mirrodin Besieged is one of the best cards for our deck, as it is flexible and we can use it either to create a Myr token army, or as a repetable card draw source with a bonus alternate win condition attached. Superb utility!

Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain is a draw engine for artifact decks as it offers repeatable card draw.

Thirst for Knowledge and Thoughtcast are staples for heavy artifact decks as most of the times we can cast them without paying their normal cost. 

Mystic Forge is not a typical card draw spell but acts as a card draw engine since in our heavy-artifact deck it offers us access to look and cast artifact cards from the top of our library.

Thopter Spy Network is another staple for artifact creature decks. It is a Coastal Piracy but for artifacts, with a big upside: it generates 1/1 colorless Thopter artifact creature tokens with flying. The Thopters can help draw more cards and we have artifact synergy too so it is a great inclusion for our deck.

Symmetry Matrix is another draw engine as most of the Myrs have the required symmetry and that includes Myr tokens.

Distant Melody is great in any creature tribal deck with blue color as all of them run a good number of creatures, thus providing us a good number of card draw. Myr tribal also generates many Myr tokens so it is extra effective.

Tamiyo’s Logbook can be a repeatitive draw source. At first glance you might think it is expensive but in a heavy-artifact deck like ours, it will draw a card for just much more often than you might think.

Finishers/ Surprise /Alternate win conditions

Urtet, Remnant of Memnarch is our main finisher since it is our commander and our whole deck is build around it.

Myr Battlesphere has great synergy with our strategy, it creates Myr tokens on EtB and by attacking, it can deal direct damage to a player or planeswalker that can be very high if we have many tokens. Maybe it is worth to mention here that Myr Incubator can make it a nuke.

Lux Artillery looks like it was made for our deck. It works best on 5-color artifact decks as sunburst gives a number of +1/+1 counters for each color of mana spent to cast it. Moreover Urtet, Remnant of Memnarch gives our Myrs a huge number of counters so we can expect to be able to activate its second ability and deal 10 damage to each opponent which is huge and can even be repeatitive.

The Antiquities War acts as a tutor with a mini effect for the first two chapters and can become a finisher as on the third chapter it turns all artifacts into artifact creatures with base power and toughness 5/5 until end of turn.

Other synergy pieces

Great Myrs

Although our strategy does not include poison counters, the big buffs our Myrs get, can make Ichorclaw Myr and Plague Myr become big threats and act as hidden finishers. Even Myr Convert has Toxic 1 which can contribute to poisoning our enemies.

Myr Superion can be easily cast by having on board 1-2 mana producing Myrs. It has a great body for its mana cost.

Knighted Myr can be a real menace when buffed by the counters of Urtet, Remnant of Memnarch as it turns into a 5/5 double striker until end of turn and has the potential to grow further.

Myr Galvanizer buffs other Myrs by +1/+1 and moreover with and tap, it untaps each other Myr we control which can lead to many different combos in our Myr tribal deck. One of the best Myr tribal support cards.

Myr Propagator can copy itself which can lead in some combos and to easily create a Myr army if we have enough mana to spend.

Shimmer Myr gives all our artifacts flash which is very important in a deck full of artifacts.

Lodestone Myr can be a great tool for attack and defence as it can use our small tokens to buff itself at instant speed and on top of that it has trample.

Myr Enforcer has Affinity for artifacts and most of the times it will be cast for free on mid to late game. Frogmyr Enforcer is an upgraded Myr Enforcer because it also has Affinity for artifacts while it is more flexible as we can cast it for its Prototype cost with the restriction of a smaller body.

Other

Myrsmith is a great Myr token generator. We may pay whenever we cast an artifact spell to create a 1/1 colorless Myr artifact creature token.

Urza, Prince of Kroog buffs our artifact creatures by +2/+2 and has an expensive activated ability for that can copy an artifact we control and has great combo potential.

Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer gives our tokens haste and is a great Myr token generator. It has an ability where we may chose a token and make each other token a copy of that token, which is useful for upgrading our Myr tokens. One of the best cards for Myr tribal.

Genesis Chamber is another great Myr token generator. The drawback is that it creates token for other players too, but with Urtet, Remnant of Memnarch and all the Myr tribal synergy, we are getting much more value.

Sculpting Steel can copy an artifact in play and is a combo material. Copying Myr Galvanizer with Palladium Myr on the battlefield, results in infinite colorless mana.

Unwinding Clock works wonders in our deck since it greatly supports our tap/untap strategy. It boosts all our activated abilities that require tapping, from ramp to token creation, grave recursion, tutoring and buffing.

Mirrorworks can help us copy another nontoken artifact on EtB by paying . It can be a combo material as we can copy almost everything on our deck from our best creatures to our best utility artifacts and even artifact lands!

Speaking of best utility artifacts, Myr Matrix is a great one. It buffs all Myr by +1/+1 and by paying it creates a 1/1 Myr artifact token. Essentially, the created token is already a 2/2. Add to that that Myr Matrix is indestructible and you’ll understand why it can be key piece to our Myracle!

Myr Incubator can be a high risk high reward card, but it can be also be a part of a master strategy play. Its cost is high, but the tokens we can create can make a difference either on their own or with the help of our finishers. Depending on the game we can choose the cards that we need less and reduce the cards of our library so that we will have high chances to get the cards we need most. An ambitious plan, but that’s why commander is the best format. Everything can happen!

Tempered Steel is a strong anthem for artifact creatures and turns our Myrs into at least 3/3’s, which makes them a formidable force.

Infinite Combo

Clock of omens is a combo piece for many combos but there is one particular infinite combo that requires Myr Galvanizer and Palladium Myr that results in infinite mana and infinite untap of a Myr we control. The combo can be explained here (EDHREC). Great utility artifact that has high potential in Myr Tribal.

Budget Color Fixing Lands

Spire of Industry, Secluded Courtyard, Scene of the Crime, Public Thoroughfare and Crystal Quarry are important color fixers that help us activate the last ability of Urtet, Remnant of Memnarch.

Budget Artifact Lands : 18 cards

Let’s see some more statistics about our deck. Some important info to care about is the mana curve and the card type distribution, as it can help us understand better our deck and may indicate where there is space for improving it.

Mana Curve

Myr Tribal Mana Curve

The mana curve shows there are plenty 2-4 drops with a spike at 2 drops. There are very few 1 drops and and the number of high mana drops is closer to the average than it seems, since Organic Extinction and Myr Enforcer and Frogmyr Enforcer can be cast for much lower mana cost. In general, the mana curve spike on 2-4 mana drops is the result of the many low mana costed Myrs. 

Card Type Distribution

Myr Tribal Card Type Distribution

The Myr Tribal Card Type Distribution shows the dominant tribal creature-heavy theme with 33 creatures, with artifacts category to follow with 16 cards, while instants, sorceries and enchantments are less frequent at 6, 5 and 7. Artifact creatures and artifact lands are artifacts too so the real artifact number is 60.

Of course statistics and comparative analysis are great tools but they don’t always tell the whole truth, since many factors like synergy and combo pieces are hard to be measured numerically. For example in this deck, with all the deck build around Urtet, Remnant of Memnarch and the overall tap/untap strategy and synergy with the mana producing Myrs, the actual ramp is much greater than the numbers shown.

Update v2 (Murders at Karlov Manor)

Update v3 (Modern Horizons 3)

Now you can buy the whole deck list with a click of a button!

TCGplayer logo

If you liked the deck, don’t forget to revisit the article after every major new release as I will try to keep my decks updated and examine any potential upgrades. If you want to keep being updated, you can follow mtgbudgetcommander.com on social media (facebooktwitter, instagram, pinterest, linkedin, reddit, tumblr, medium).

If you like my tribal series, you can check my other tribal decks.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

error

Enjoy this blog? Please spread the word :)