Last updated on December 7, 2023

Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer - Illustration by Daarken

Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer | Illustration by Daarken

You’re probably aware of the expression “go big or go home.” Well today I have the pleasure of introducing you to a Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer EDH deck that has no intentions of going home. Big is the name of the game as Brudiclad asks you to make as many tokens as possible and then convert them all into a gigantic game-ending threat.

The decklist presented today is my take on a Brudiclad build. There are quite a few different directions you can take this commander, though, so don’t feel like you have to stick to what I’ve got here.

Ready to get into it? Let's dive in!

The Deck

Arcane Artisan - Illustration by Tommy Arnold

Arcane Artisan | Illustration by Tommy Arnold

Commander (1)

Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer

Planeswalker (4)

Saheeli, Sublime Artificer
Saheeli, the Gifted
Karn, Scion of Urza
Tezzeret, Artifice Master

Creature (19)

Hangarback Walker
Dragonmaster Outcast
Magda, Brazen Outlaw
Dockside Extortionist
Loyal Apprentice
Chasm Skulker
Thopter Engineer
Feldon of the Third Path
Arcane Artisan
Solemn Simulacrum
Pia and Kiran Nalaar
Rose Room Treasurer
Urza, Lord High Artificer
Vizier of Many Faces
Faerie Artisans
Wurmcoil Engine
Junk Winder
Myr Battlesphere
Inkwell Leviathan

Instant (7)

Mystic Reflection
Chaos Warp
Perplexing Test
Spell Swindle
Access Denied
Confirm Suspicions
Sublime Epiphany

Sorcery (7)

Release the Gremlins
Smoke Spirits' Aid
Tempt with Vengeance
Purphoros's Intervention
Hate Mirage
Reckless Endeavor
Brass's Bounty

Enchantment (7)

Curse of Opulence
Improbable Alliance
Fable of the Mirror-Breaker
Storm the Vault
Rain of Riches
Shark Typhoon
Kiora Bests the Sea God

Artifact (17)

Sol Ring
Skullclamp
Currency Converter
Bloodforged Battle-Axe
Treasure Map
Reckoner Bankbuster
Genesis Chamber
Fellwar Stone
Izzet Signet
Talisman of Creativity
Thought Vessel
Idol of Oblivion
Commander's Sphere
Mimic Vat
Skyclave Relic
Tamiyo's Journal
Dollhouse of Horrors

Land (38)

Riverglide Pathway
Swiftwater Cliffs
Frostboil Snarl
Wandering Fumarole
Exotic Orchard
Scalding Tarn
Temple of Epiphany
Fiery Islet
Steam Vents
Silverbluff Bridge
Cascade Bluffs
Izzet Boilerworks
Training Center
Stormcarved Coast
Command Tower
Mountain x7
Island x7
Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
Dwarven Mine
Urza's Saga
Ancient Tomb
Treasure Vault
Inventors' Fair
Ash Barrens
Temple of the False God
Myriad Landscape

The Commander

Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer

Izzet () isn’t usually the color pair that comes to mind when you think of token decks. And yet that’s exactly what Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer is all about. Your commander generates tokens with its combat ability and then gives you the option to turn all your tokens into copies of a single token you control.

You'll amass Treasures, Clues, Thopters, and a number of other small and seemingly inconsequential tokens. Then they'll all become monstrous beaters that eliminate the entire table all at once out of nowhere.

It's important to note that Brudiclad’s ability doesn't actually target anything. The action of creating the 2/1 blue Myr and turning all of your tokens into something else all happen at once. You don’t have to declare which token you choose when the ability goes on the stack, and there’s no opportunity for an opponent to interrupt once the ability resolves.

The Tokens Makers

Let’s start the deck breakdown with the small-ball token makers. Brudiclad is very much a “set-up” commander where you need to establish your game plan early and use it to finish up. You'll use small token-generating effects to build up your board throughout the early stages of the game.

Treasures are one of the easiest ways to build up your board. Magda, Brazen Outlaw, Fable of the Mirror-Breaker, Curse of Opulence, and Currency Converter are just a few engines to generate these tokens.

Some of the bigger Treasure-makers include Brass's Bounty, Dockside Extortionist, and Reckless Endeavor. These are usually the “final push” cards to put you in a winning position with Brudiclad.

Small creature tokens are part of your early game plan as well. You should be able to generate a small army of 1/1 tokens early on between cards like Saheeli, Sublime Artificer, Improbable Alliance, and Pia and Kiran Nalaar.

Genesis Chamber

Genesis Chamber can also build out a board of tokens fast, but it’s a symmetrical effect that also works for your opponents.

The Big Guns

The real meat of the deck comes with the giant game-ending tokens you plan to make.

By far the best token this deck can create is the 0/0 Construct made by multiple cards in the deck. Urza's Saga, Urza, Lord High Artificer, and Karn, Scion of Urza all produce this token.

The 0/0 Construct (or “Karnstruct” as I like to call it) gets +1/+1 for each artifact you control including itself. Using Brudiclad to turn 10 tokens into 10 of these Constructs results in each of them being at least 11/11, usually bigger.

Wurmcoil Engine

Wurmcoil Engine creates useful tokens on death. It also serves as a great body to make copies of with cards like Arcane Artisan and Feldon of the Third Path.

Inkwell Leviathan

Inkwell Leviathan is another card that’s here to make token copies of.

You also run Dragonmaster Outcast and Shark Typhoon to produce a big flying blocker for Brudiclad to work its magic with. Kiora Bests the Sea God similarly creates an 8/8 hexproof token while churning out extra value on later turns.

Idol of Oblivion

Idol of Oblivion is a great card advantage tool for token decks, but you can trade it in for the 10/10 Eldrazi token in a pinch.

Vizier of Many Faces

Sometimes an opponent has the most threatening creature on board, so you have multiple ways to copy opposing creatures which can then be copied by Brudiclad. The embalm ability on Vizier of Many Faces makes a token copy of any creature on the board.

Hate Mirage Faerie Artisans

Hate Mirage and Faerie Artisans also give you a way to copy your opponent’s best creature.

Mystic Reflection

Mystic Reflection is worth going a little deeper on. You can cast it right before Brudiclad’s ability resolves targeting some imposing non-legendary creature. The 2/1 Myr that Brudiclad normally makes then enters the battlefield as a copy of whatever you targeted with Reflection instead and you’re free to turn all your other tokens into copies of that creature.

Reflection can also be used as a pseudo-removal spell. You can target one of your piddly 1/1 Servo tokens if your opponent is about to resolve a game-winning Blightsteel Colossus, making Blightsteel enter as a copy of the token instead.

The Interaction

Reckless Endeavor and Perplexing Test are your only true sweepers, but they synergize well with the game plan. Endeavor wipes the board while leaving you up on Treasure tokens, and Test clears creatures off the battlefield without touching your tokens.

Chaos Warp

You have the staple Chaos Warp as a single-target catch-all removal spell, and you rely heavily on your clunky counterspells for more interaction.

They’re a bit expensive, but Spell Swindle, Access Denied, and Confirm Suspicions all counter spells that leave you ahead on tokens.

Sublime Epiphany

Everyone knows that Sublime Epiphany is a back-breaking card, but it’s especially brutal here. It creates that game-winning token you need while simultaneously interrupting your opponents.

Purphoros's Intervention

Purphoros's Intervention deals with a single creature or planeswalker if need be, but its first mode also creates a big trampling token for Brudiclad to piggyback off of.

Junk Winder

Junk Winder is another card that’s not necessary for the deck, but it fits a blue-based token deck well enough.

The Mana Base

There’s nothing too tricky with the mana base here, but there are some gimmicky inclusions that you can add to the usual suite of Izzet () dual lands.

Urza's Saga

You have four lands that can create tokens here. The most powerful is Urza's Saga, which creates that oh-so-important “Karnstruct” while also having a decent toolbox of cards it can pick up on chapter three. Sol Ring, Skullclamp, Currency Converter, and Bloodforged Battle-Axe are all hits on the final chapter.

Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance Dwarven Mine

Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance and Dwarven Mine occasionally spot you a free creature token or two to add to the Brudiclad count.

Treasure Vault

Treasure Vault cashes in late-game for a one-time Treasure payday. Just be careful with this; being an artifact land leaves it easily exposed to more types of removal than normal.

Inventors' Fair

Even though you’re not pushing a heavy artifact theme, you create enough artifact tokens that Inventors' Fair makes the list. You almost always gain the incidental life on your upkeep, and you use it to find a missing piece of the puzzle.

The Strategy

This deck has a difficult time winning without its commander. As a general rule of thumb, don't play Brudiclad unless you’re trying to end the game. You’re playing a 6-mana commander, so having it die at an early stage in the game is going to make it much more difficult to re-cast later on thanks to the commander tax.

Think of Brudiclad like your Overrun of the deck. Spend the early turns developing your mana and amassing tokens and then wait for your opportunity to drop it for the win. Turning all your 1/1 Servos and Thopters into 5/5 Dragons or 10/10 Constructs almost makes Brudiclad feel like it’s Craterhoof Behemoth.

You’ll be generating Clues and Treasures as you progress your game, but it’s important to be cautious of how many you use before casting your commander. They’re a resource you can use for more mana or card draw, but each Treasure or Clue you sacrifice is one less attacker you have once Brudiclad hits the board.

Sometimes it’s correct to cast Brudiclad just to convert all your tokens into Treasures and ramp far ahead of the opponents. But remember that you can’t pick and choose what becomes what. It’s all or nothing.

Combos and Interactions

If you can create a giant token at instant speed it’s usually best to wait until Brudiclad’s ability is on the stack to create that token. Your opponents get a window of opportunity to destroy that token or remove Brudiclad from the board, but the ability still resolves. You might not get to turn everything into 20/20 Sharks, but playing this way might catch your opponents off guard.

Tamiyo's Journal Confirm Suspicions

This deck is a great home for Tamiyo's Journal. Five mana to create a single Clue every turn is usually a bit too clunky, but Brudiclad’s ability to turn all your tokens into Clues lets you use the Journal’s tap ability to tutor a lot. If you’re using the Journal to fetch a counterspell, Confirm Suspicions can give you the Clues you need to tutor an extra time.

Magda, Brazen Outlaw is here mostly as an early way to churn out tokens, but its tutor ability actually comes up from time to time. With enough Treasure tokens on board Magda searches up an artifact right away. And keep in mind that Magda produces tokens if it’s tapped to crew Reckoner Bankbuster, or if the Dwarf token from Dwarven Mine becomes tapped.

Curse of Opulence

If players suspect you’re close to winning with Brudiclad they probably won’t let you get easy Gold tokens from Curse of Opulence. Remember that it’s always an option to Curse yourself as a deterrent from attacks.

Budget Options

This decklist has enough flexibility to move the budget needle in either direction. You’re more than welcome to add Jeweled Lotus or Deflecting Swat to the deck if you own a copy, but I find that to be a bit unnecessary unless your goal is to optimize the deck.

If you’re looking to make a cheaper version, start by removing Ancient Tomb. Tomb’s added acceleration is easily replaced by another land.

I won’t get on my soapbox about it here, but Dockside Extortionist is easily the best card in the deck and trivializes most games. The card is expensive and not particularly fun or challenging to win with.

You have the freedom to play with any budget token makers you want. If Wurmcoil Engine is out of your price range, try a cheaper option like Reef Worm or Ominous Seas to make that giant token.

Other Builds

My personal take on this deck has dialed back on the artifact aspect of the commander, but you can lean more heavily in the direction of artifact synergies since Brudiclad and the tokens it creates are artifacts. Cards like Storm the Vault and Urza, Lord High Artificer already incentivize you to play more artifacts, so it’s not too difficult to push that theme. Sai, Master Thopterist and Storm-Kiln Artist come to mind as cards that fit this style well.

Another option is to have Brudiclad be your Treasure commander. Blue and red provide excellent Treasure support on top of what's already in this deck. Removing a few cards like Goldspan Dragon or Professional Face-Breaker for new inclusions is a step in that direction.

I know some players run a combo version of Brudiclad that focuses on infinite attacks with Combat Celebrant. Brudiclad creates a new token at the beginning of each combat when you can make a token copy of Celebrant, allowing you to exert the new copy and chain together combat steps.

Commanding Conclusion

Magda, Brazen Outlaw - Illustration by Slawomir Maniak

Magda, Brazen Outlaw | Illustration by Slawomir Maniak

That brings my deck guide for Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer to a close. That engineering degree goes a long way in allowing Brudiclad to create some truly wild and fun gameplay moments. There’s a certain thrill to turning a bunch of lowly servos and faeries into a massive army of dragons or killer robots.

There’s also a lot of flexibility in how you approach this commander. This build is optimized for my own personal enjoyment, not necessarily for power or consistency. I’m curious to see how others build their Brudiclad decks, so let me know what yours looks like in the comments below or over in the Draftsim Discord.

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