Completing Sonic’s Dr. Eggman in Magic: The Gathering

Dr. Ivo Robotnik, commonly referred to as Dr. Eggman, is a brilliant inventor with a goal to rule Mobius by converting its inhabitants into robots. His plans align well with the antagonists of Magic: The Gathering, such as Memnarch and the Phyrexians.

While the Universes Beyond cards may not be genuine to the Magic storyline, they can still be paired with your favorite cards. Luckily, there is a wealth of robust Robots, Constructs, and Vehicles at Dr. Eggman’s disposal that can help him dominate the Commander scene. Keep your eyes peeled; we’re about to unfold his grand scheme.

Sample Decklist

This deck is tailored for Bracket 2 (Core), yet it can compete with lower-tier Bracket 3 (Upgraded) decks. For an upgrade to Bracket 3, consider adding Tergrid, God of Fright, Rhystic Study, and Cyclonic Rift to transform your game.

The Commander

Dr. Eggman is a 3/6 Human Scientist with a Grixis color identity, requiring one red, one black, one blue, and two generic mana to cast.

Dr. Eggman’s primary ability offers two benefits. Firstly, it grants an additional card draw at your turn’s end. Secondly, it obligates each opponent (in turn) to select between discarding a card or allowing you to bring a Robot, Construct, or Vehicle card into play from your hand.

As each opponent makes their selection independently, you could end up with three opportunities to bring a costly Robot into play each turn. However, this depends on two factors: your opponents must consent to let you bring one into play, and you must have a valid card to play.

There are a few notable drawbacks to consider. First, the choice aspect allows your opponents to select impossible actions. They can choose to discard a card even if they hold none, or permit you to summon a strong card even if you don’t have one in hand.

Secondly, experienced opponents will likely pay attention to your choices and, since decisions are made sequentially, they can observe the outcomes of each other’s selections before finalizing their own. If the first player lets you bring in a Robot and you play something minimal like Steel Overseer, or nothing at all, they may assume that your hand lacks strong options and all opt for that choice.

Building The Deck

When crafting a three-color Commander deck, the temptation is often to load up on all the good stuff available in those colors. However, this can lead to a generic feel. Since Dr. Eggman is a unique villain, this build intentionally leaves out many staples to create a more thematic deck with solid synergy.

Your opponents gain nothing by choosing to discard during their turn, but it’s beneficial if they opt to keep their card and grant you the chance to play a significant Badnik. Thus, including elements that deter them from discarding is vital.

Simultaneously, if they choose to allow you to summon a creature, you need to have one ready in hand. With three opponents, you should ideally maintain three Robots, Constructs, or Vehicles in your hand to capitalize on every opportunity to drop something powerful into play for free.

Retaining a hand full of impactful cards means you’ll require plenty of draw options. However, you’ll need to be clever; if players believe you have an empty hand, they might take the risk and choose to discard.

If you’re utilizing Vehicles, it’s also necessary to include creatures capable of crewing them. Many creatures in this deck synergize with your artifact army but might not deal much damage on their own. However, they can crew your Vehicles, allowing them to contribute to combat without sacrificing their helpful abilities.

Ramp

Ideally, Dr. Eggman should enable you to cast most of your high-mana cards for free, reducing the need for extensive ramp. However, getting your commander onto the battlefield early and casting spells outside of his effect still necessitates having a solid ramp foundation, hence the inclusion of nine mana rocks, including all three Talismans and Signets.

In addition to those standard mana rocks, there are only two real ramp mechanics. The first is from The Regalia, which can be acquired for free with Dr. Eggman’s ability, and can fetch you an extra land each time it attacks, resulting in a larger mana base and a leaner deck.

The second ramp effect stems from RMS Titanic, which is a flying, trampling, 7/1 Vehicle that generates treasure depending on the combat damage dealt to an opponent, but it must be sacrificed simultaneously. If you can strike a clear attack, you’ll gain three mana, potentially more if you apply buffs like Steel Overseer.

Draw

To play your free cards, you’ll need them in your hand. This deck features a robust draw package to ensure you consistently have cards in hand, allowing you to continue playing Robots and other assets.

Thopter Spy Network serves as a useful enchantment with dual effects: it creates 1/1 flying Thopters and allows you to draw a card when your artifact creatures deal combat damage. While it provides one draw per hit, you can increase impact by attacking multiple players or leveraging first-strike damage.

The Indomitable shares a similar function with Thopter Spy Network but can also engage in combat. Moreover, while enchantments evade many common removal methods, The Indomitable can be recast from your graveyard if you control three other tapped Vehicles. Although there are only eight Vehicles available in the deck, this standalone option remains useful.

Jackdaw brings a strong draw effect, where dealing combat damage allows you to discard your hand to draw a card for each artifact you control. This typically results in drawing more cards than you discard, but exercise caution not to toss away cards you truly wish to play.

Curie, Emergent Intelligence makes for an excellent addition, as it allows you to draw cards equal to its base power whenever it inflicts combat damage. While it may seem insignificant at just one card, it can transform into a copy of another creature you control, inheriting that creature’s draw ability.

Curie could replicate a powerful evasive creature, like the 8/8 trampling Cityscape Leveler, or potentially rescue a creature facing destruction. If an opponent is about to eliminate or take your creature, transform Curie into that creature, allowing you to mitigate threats.

Deter Discard

Encouraging your opponents to discard cards can be advantageous, except in cases where they are using a madness deck. Still, this deck incorporates mechanisms to make discarding a less appealing option for them. With a couple of these effects, opponents will reconsider before opting to discard.

Megrim belongs to an older era, dating back to 1998’s Stronghold. For three mana, this enchantment deals two damage to opponents whenever they discard a card. Liliana’s Caress offers a similar effect for just two mana, though it counts for life loss rather than other triggers.

Waste Not transforms the discard option into additional choices. If an opponent chooses to discard a creature, you generate a 2/2 Zombie. If they throw away a land, you receive two black mana. When they discard anything else, you get to draw a card. While losing mana is the least favorable outcome, it also results in fewer lands for your opponent.

Geth’s Grimoire is advantageous regardless of what card an opponent discards, since your draw count increases for each card they toss. This can set you up effectively in case your subsequent opponent decides to allow you to summon a creature.

The End (Step) Game

Dr. Eggman’s most potent ability activates during your end step, occurring just once each turn. But what if there were ways to maximize that further?

Y’shtola Rhul, from Final Fantasy, provides just that. At each end step, she can blink one of your creatures, granting you additional enter triggers from cards like Myr Battlesphere, followed by an extra end step. This leads to another blink, and another round of villainous choices.

In conjunction with Y’shtola Rhul’s additional end steps is The Valeyard from Doctor Who, which demands each opponent to face the same choice again each time it triggers. Will your opponents discard two cards? Four? Or will you have the chance to deploy up to 12 of your bombers in a single turn? The decision lies with them, but victory rests in your hands.