If your soul is yearning for freedom and you are ready to take up arms against any oppression, then Rebel tribal is the right deck for you. Let’s see how you can recruit an army of rebels and unite them into a single purpose: defy the enemy masters and claim victory for the rebellion!
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.
In MtG, Rebels debuted back in 1999 in Mercadian Masques, the eighteenth Magic expansion and were heavily featured in the Masques block and later reappeared in the Time Spiral block. Most Rebels can “recruit” other Rebels (acting as Rebel tutors). Although tutoring is a very strong ability, as it adds consistency to a deck, in those past times Rebels as a tribe was never considered as a strong one, because there were not many great Rebels to tutor into the battlefield. All that changed in 2023 with the with the coming of Phyrexia: All Will Be One, a new Phyrexian invasion and a new wave of Rebels that joined the fight.
Phyrexia: All Will Be One Commander deck Rebellion Rising, features some great Rebels and Rebel tribal support cards. It may be a good starting point for building Rebel tribal, even if the dominant theme of the deck is tokens and not Rebel tribal. Although you can call it a precon upgrade, my build is more a precon remake than an upgrade so you can start from zero and buy singles. The optimal building option depends on the price and availability of the cards.
The commander of our Rebel army is a legendary phoenix, Otharri, Suns’ Glory with Flying, lifelink and haste and “Whenever Otharri, Suns’ Glory attacks, you get an experience counter. Then create a 2/2 red Rebel creature token that’s tapped and attacking for each experience counter you have”. With Otharri we can build a massive Rebel token army supported by Rebel, token, proliferate and equipment support cards that synergize into a rebellious mix. Leaning to Rebel tribal, also mean that our commander will actually be able to return anytime we can tap an untapped Rebel we control, from our graveyard to the battlefield tapped, by paying 
and thus avoiding commander tax.
The main goal of the deck is to build around Otharri, Suns’ Glory and its ability to summon Rebel tokens. We can multiply the experience counters (and thus multiply the Rebel tokens) by adding cards that proliferate and cards that add extra combat phases. Some token support can greatly help and empower the deck. A subtheme that can support the deck is based on the equipment with the “For Mirrodin!” keyword ability, that summon a 2/2 red creature Rebel token and attaches themselves to it. Last but not least, come the Rebel tribal part which is the most crucial for our build. Adding the best Rebels can boost our deck in multiple ways. Let’s analize how and why.
Firstly, having a Rebel around gives our commander a way to avoid command tax and that is crucial since our strategies are build around our commander and the deck is very dependant on having Otharri on battlefield and attacking. Moreover, there are some powerful Rebels like Neyali, Suns’ Vanguard (which is the face commander of the precon) that synergize with both Rebel and token strategies. Although there are only a few top level Rebels, there are enough Rebels that have a “recruit” ability and act like tutors to consistently fetch those into play. So combining the old Rebels with the new ones can make a powerful mix and make the Rebellion rise to glory!
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.
Let’s analyze the main goals of the deck:
- Add the best Rebels. Our top priority is to add Rebels that that synergize with tokens and equipment.
- Add Rebel tribal support. Many Rebels can recruit other Rebels so we can achieve better consistency.
- 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 tokens and equipment.
- Add cards that can multiply the experience counters (and thus multiply the Rebel tokens) by adding cards that proliferate and cards that add extra combat phases.
- Add equipment with the “For Mirrodin!” keyword ability that synergize with Rebel tokens and equipment.
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:
Rebel Tribal
Comparative Analysis
Let’s see how the deck compares to the general ratios of my deckbuilding guide.
34 Lands
9 Ramp: Myriad Landscape , Knight of the White Orchid , Arcane Signet , Sol Ring , Boros Signet , Patchwork Banner, Explorer’s Scope , Mind Stone , Wayfarer’s Bauble
10 Target Removal: Kabira Takedown , Shield Dancer , Ballista Squad , Rip Apart , Defiant Vanguard , Bound in Silence , Crib Swap , Rebel Salvo , Volt Charge , Razorgrass Ambush
2 Board Wipes: Hour of Reckoning , Martial Coup
2 Graveyard Recursion: Ramosian Revivalist , Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero
1 Graveyard Hate: Scavenger Grounds
11 Tutor: Axgard Armory, Ramosian Sky Marshal , Ramosian Commander , Ramosian Sergeant , Ramosian Lieutenant , Defiant Vanguard , Amrou Scout , Defiant Falcon , Ramosian Captain , Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero , Fighter Class
2 Protection: Your Temple Is Under Attack , Children of Korlis
10 Card Draw: Secluded Steppe (1/2), Drifting Meadow (1/2), Mentor of the Meek , Idol of Oblivion , Rumor Gatherer , Neyali, Suns’ Vanguard , Jor Kadeen, First Goldwarden , Glimmer Lens , Mask of Memory , Tocasia’s Welcome , Your Temple Is Under Attack
7 Finishers/ Surprise /Alternate win conditions: Mirror Entity , Neyali, Suns’ Vanguard , Goldwardens’ Gambit , Hexplate Wallbreaker , Karlach, Fury of Avernus, Otharri, Suns’ Glory , Breath of Fury
As we see form the comparative analysis, the rates per category are good. In ramp category we see the score below the optimal low average but it is still very close to it so that will not be a problem. We see 2 categories that are far above the optimal max average, tutors and finishers/surprise/alternate win conditions. Finishers are much more than usual at 7 and that is important because our deck can win in many different ways. Tutors at 11 are the deck strongest point, it is a result of the Rebel tribal “recruit” ability and offers amazing consistency.
Deck Highlights, synergy and flavor options:
Ramp
Explorer’s Scope is picked because it fits both our aggressive strategy and our equipment subtheme.
Patchwork Banner is one of the best cards for Tribal builds as it combines ramp and tribal support. Being both a mana rock and a Tribal Anthem gives us amazing value for its mana cost. Of course it is a top pick for our Rebel Tribal!
Target Removal
Bound in Silence and Crib Swap are a must-have in Rebel tribal because they both count as Rebels and so we can fetch them with the “recruit” ability of our Rebels. They are not bad on their own, but having creature removal on demand is very powerful.
Defiant Vanguard is a very useful Rebel as it can act both as creature removal and a Rebel tutor. Being a Rebel means he can also be tutored into the battlefield by other Rebels so we have more removal on demand.
Ballista Squad can be a repeatable creature removal. By paying 
and tap, it deals x damage to attacking or blocking creature. Being a Rebel means it can also be tutored into the battlefield by other Rebels so we have more removal on demand.
Shield Dancer is a great creature for defence, as it can block and punish big attackers by reflecting the combat damage dealt to themselves by paying . Being a Rebel means it can also be tutored into the battlefield by other Rebels so we have once more potential removal on demand.
Rebel Salvo is an instant that deals 5 damage to target creature or planeswalker for . What makes it great is that it also has affinity for equipment, so in our deck it can easily be cast for 
or even . It also has great flavor for Rebel tribal.
Volt Charge is expensive for its removal potential, yet we include it because of the proliferate synergy with experience counters.
Razorgrass Ambush takes the place of a Land and can offer us an extra instant removal option that is always welcome.
Board Wipes
Hour of Reckoning is a great board wipe for token decks and our version of Rebel tribal is made to create a massive army of Rebel tokens so it is a must-have.
Martial Coup has token synergy too, so it is a nice budget inclusion.
Graveyard Recursion
By paying 
and tap, Ramosian Revivalist can return target Rebel with mana cost 5 or less from graveyard into play. Although is is an expensive cost, the ability is powerful because it can be repeated each turn.
Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero is one of the greatest Rebels and the most popular Rebel commander before the release of Phyrexia: All Will Be One. She can tutor any Rebel with mana cost by paying and tap, directly into play. Moreover, by paying 
at instant speed, she can put target Rebel from our graveyard on the bottom of our library. Combined, her abilities make her able to tutor any Rebel into play from everywhere (except exile).
Graveyard Recursion
Scavenger Grounds is a staple for graveyard hate.
Tutors
Many Rebels have a “recruit” ability and act like tutors to consistently fetch Rebels into play. Being able to have our best Rebels into play whenever we need them can make a huge difference. It is the strongest point of the Rebel tribal.
Axgard Armory can be sacrificed for to tutor an Aura or Equipment from our library into our hand. It is very useful as we have many great targets on both catgories.
Fighter Class is on theme, it is a great equipment tutor, but can also be much more if we have enough mana to level it up. On lvl 2 it reduces activation cost of equip abilities by which is very welcome in our deck and on lvl 3 “Whenever a creature you control attacks, up to one target creature blocks it this combat if able”, which means we may forge battle to our favor.
Protection
Children of Korlis can be sacificed at instant speed to gain life equal to the life we’ve lost this turn. It is a great protection card that is a Rebel and can be fetched by our Rebel tutors so we can have access to it easily.
Your Temple Is Under Attack is a flexible card as it can be used either for protection of our board or for card draw.
Card Draw
Our commander is a great token producer, so it is natural that card draw with token/creature synergy, work very well with our strategy. Rebel tokens produced by Otharri, Suns’ Glory are 2/2 so Mentor of the Meek and Tocasia’s Welcome can be triggered easily. Idol of Oblivion is even easier to trigger and even Rumor Gatherer is not hard at all with all the token strategy plus the tokens by Otharri. Simple, repeatitive and effective card draw.
Neyali, Suns’ Vanguard is the face commander of the Rebellion Rising precon and that is for a good reason. She is one of the best Rebels available, providing our tokens with double strike and rewarding our aggro strategy with card draw. Being a Rebel means we can “recruit” her with our Rebel tutors so she acts like a second commander.
Jor Kadeen, First Goldwarden is another great new Rebel with equip synergy. It is not hard to get him to 4 power so he can be a nice card draw source too, since he can also be “recruited”.
Glimmer Lens is an equipment with the “For Mirrodin!” keyword that offers card draw whenever we attack with equipped creature and at least one other creature, which is very easy with our token aggresive strategy.
Mask of Memory is a classic card draw card for equipment decks.
Finishers/ Surprise /Alternate win conditions
Otharri, Suns’ Glory is our commander and our main finisher. We have build the whole deck around it so that we can create a massive Rebel token army and crush our opponents.
As mentioned above, Neyali, Suns’ Vanguard is like a second commander that pairs greatly with Otharri. With both on board, we can have a massive Rebel token army with double strike. Double deadly!
Mirror Entity is a great finisher for most tribal decks, but in Rebel tribal it becomes even better as it counts as a Rebel and that means we can “recruit” it easily on board too!
Goldwardens’ Gambit has Rebel token and equipment synergy and can become a very efficient finisher if we have some good equipment in play.
Hexplate Wallbreaker is great for our deck since it help with many of our strategies. It is an equipment with the “For Mirrodin!” keyword that offers an additional combat phase and untaps our attacking creatures. Extra attacks are great for Otharri as we can get more experience counters and attack with more and more Rebel tokens.
Karlach, Fury of Avernus also works in a similar way and offers an extra combat phase and thus more experience counters and more Rebel tokens from Otharri.
Last but not least, Breath of Fury also offers extra combat phases, but it also is part of an infinite combo with Otharri, Suns’ Glory and Roar of Resistance that Result in infinite combat phases, infinite combat damage, infinite creature tokens, infinite experience counters, infinite ETB, infinite LTB, infinite death triggers, infinite sacrifice triggers, infinite lifegain and infinite lifegain triggers. The combo can be explained here (EDHREC)
Other synergy pieces
Great Rebels
Reveille Squad is a great Rebel as it may untap all creatures we control whenever we are attacked as long as it is untapped. That can be a great either for defence or for activating many of the activated abilities that our Rebels have. In our deck it provides supreme utility.
Rhuk, Hexgold Nabber is a Rebel with trample and haste that has “Whenever an equipped creature you control other than Rhuk, Hexgold Nabber attacks or dies, you may attach all Equipment attached to that creature to Rhuk”. In our deck he can be a flexible card that can either be used to pick up the equipent of the fallen Rebels, or to change the attack plan from going wide to voltron.
Cho-Manno, Revolutionary is a durable Rebel since he is immune to damage. Because of that, he is a great target for our equipment.
Oxidda Finisher is one of our few high mana drops, but affinity for equipment can make it cost less. What is important is that it is a Rebel so we can fetch a big threat whenever needed. Trample is a plus and works great in equipment strategies.
Proliferate / Experience counters strategy : 5 cards
Gaining more experience counters is essential to our strategy, since we count on Otharri, Suns’ Glory to summon a massive army of Rebel tokens. Kalemne, Disciple of Iroas deserves a special mention since she synergizes great with Otharri as both provide experience counters and benefit from them.
For Mirrodin! Keyword Equipment : 8 card
Equipment with the “For Mirrodin!” keyword provide us with Rebel tokens and equipment that is attached on them on EtB. Most provide us with other great utility too. Some of them have been analized already on this article, but from those that haven’t, it is worth to mention Bladehold War-Whip that reduces the activation cost of equip abilities by and provides double strike, and Hexgold Hoverwings that buffs equipped creatures by +1 power.
Activated Abilities Mana Cost Reducers : 2 cards
Heartstone and Zirda, the Dawnwaker are very important utility cards as they reduce the mana cost of activated abilities. In a deck like Rebel tribal with many activated abilities, they act like ramp, even though they can’t be counted as ramp. Even with Otharri, Suns’ Glory alone, they would be worth it, but with all the Rebel “recruit” activated abilities the synergy makes them powerful. Zirda also synergizes with the equipment, reducing the equip costs, so it is one of the best cards in the deck.
Other
Prava of the Steel Legion is a great option for token support. It boosts the stats of our Rebel tokens and can even produce 1/1 white Soldier tokens for providing extra token synergy.
Goldnight Commander can become a secret finisher if we get enough experience counters and create that many Rebel tokens with Otharri.
Nahiri’s Resolve is a great addition to our deck since it has amazing synergy with our attacking strategy and our For Mirrodin! Keyword Equipment theme that produces Rebel tokens. Haste and +1/+0 on our creatures is very important, but what makes it exceptional is that it provides a mass blink effect at the beginning of our end step for nontoken artifacts and/or creatures, returning those cards to the battlefield at the beginning of our next upkeep. That synergizes greatly with For Mirrodin! Keyword Equipment, since we can only blink the equipment, leaving the Rebel tokens on the battlefield (for defence) and creating more Rebel tokens with the EtB effects. And we can repeat that every turn! Amazing utility for our build!
Strionic Resonator can double our Rebel tokens from Otharri, Suns’ Glory for . With enough experience counters the effect can be devastating for our opponents. It also works with most or our Rebel tutors so it is a powerhouse in our deck.
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
The mana curve shows there are plenty 2-4 drops with a spike at 2 drops. There are few 1 drops and and the number of high mana drops is close to the average except from the lack of 6 mana drops. In general, the mana curve is not bad, but has a greater gravity on 2-4 drops that is the result of the many low mana costed Rebels.
Card Type Distribution
The Rebel Tribal Card Type Distribution shows the dominant tribal creature-heavy theme with 31 creatures, with artifacts category to follow with 19 cards, an impressive number that is that high because of the equipment subtheme. Instants, sorceries and enchantments are less frequent at 6, 4 and 8.
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 Otharri, Suns’ Glory and the many creatures with activated abilities, the cards that are activated abilities cost reducers are as important as ramp, or even more important on same cases.
Update v1 (March of the Machine: The Aftermath)
Update v2 (Bloomburrow)
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 (facebook, twitter, instagram, pinterest, linkedin, reddit, tumblr, medium).
If you like my tribal series, you can check my other tribal decks.
