Arcane Foundry › Commanders › The Motherlode, Excavator
The Motherlode, Excavator
Legendary Artifact Creature — Robot · {3}{R}{R} · Red commander
When The Motherlode enters, choose target opponent. You get an amount of {E} (energy counters) equal to the number of nonbasic lands that player controls.
Whenever The Motherlode attacks, you may pay {E}{E}{E}{E}. When you do, destroy target nonbasic land defending player controls, and creatures that player controls without flying can't block this turn.
Build a The Motherlode, Excavator deck →
What The Motherlode, Excavator actually does
Read off the card by the same engine the Forge and Analyzer use — this is the mechanical classification, not a summary.
- Triggered ability · etbWhen The Motherlode enters, choose target opponent. You get an amount of {E} equal to the number of nonbasic lands that player controls.
- Triggered ability · attackWhenever The Motherlode attacks, you may pay {E}{E}{E}{E}. When you do, destroy target nonbasic land defending player controls, and creatures that player controls without flying can't block thi
What a The Motherlode, Excavator deck wants
The plan the Forge derives for this commander: the roles it fills and how many of each.
- 7× Evasion that does NOT target or attach — for a commander your own auras and equipment cannot legally touch
- 9× Exile a permanent you control and return it — the button a value-ETB deck presses
- 14× Make creature tokens — a static anthem or a go-wide commander needs a board to be wide
- 11× A permanent whose value is in its enter-the-battlefield trigger — the payload a blink deck reuses
- 5× Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- 1× Answer a whole board at once
- 9× Find the exact card the plan needs
- 7× Refill your hand
- 2× Keep a permanent you control alive through removal
Best cards for The Motherlode, Excavator
Ranked by an engine that reads what each card does — its real cost, its delay and how reliably it works — rather than counting how often other people play it.
Evasion that does NOT target or attach — for a commander your own auras and equipment cannot legally touch
- Secret Tunnel0 mana
- Crash Through1 mana
- Archetype of Aggression3 mana
- Rhonas's Monument3 mana
- Glaring Spotlight1 mana
- Legion Loyalist1 mana
- Frantic Confrontation1 mana
- Lunar Frenzy1 mana
Exile a permanent you control and return it — the button a value-ETB deck presses
- Eternal Acrobat Toast0 mana
- Conjurer's Closet5 mana
- Eldrazi Confluence4 mana
Make creature tokens — a static anthem or a go-wide commander needs a board to be wide
- Pashalik Mons3 mana
- Siege-Gang Lieutenant4 mana
- Trendy Circus Pirate0 mana
- Myr Battlesphere7 mana
- Anax, Hardened in the Forge3 mana
- Andúril, Flame of the West3 mana
- Chandra, Acolyte of Flame3 mana
- Hanweir Garrison3 mana
A permanent whose value is in its enter-the-battlefield trigger — the payload a blink deck reuses
- Chrome Mox0 mana
- Cabaretti Courtyard0 mana
- Lotus Field0 mana
- Riveteers Overlook0 mana
- Talon Gates of Madara0 mana
- Impact Tremors2 mana
- Mithril Coat3 mana
- Adventurer's Inn0 mana
Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- Wild Magic Surge2 mana
- Crush1 mana
- Umezawa's Jitte2 mana
- Titan's Presence3 mana
- Abrade2 mana
- Untimely Malfunction2 mana
- Chaos Warp3 mana
- Kozilek's Command2 mana
Answer a whole board at once
- Blasphemous Act9 mana
- Breaking Point3 mana
- Crack the Earth1 mana
- Kozilek's Return3 mana
- Akki Blizzard-Herder2 mana
- Devastating Dreams2 mana
- Tectonic Break2 mana
- Tremble2 mana
Find the exact card the plan needs
- Goblin Recruiter2 mana
- Imperial Recruiter3 mana
- Dragon's Approach3 mana
- Flamekin Harbinger1 mana
- Goblin Matron3 mana
- Sarkhan's Triumph3 mana
- Dwarven Recruiter3 mana
- Myr Kinsmith4 mana
Refill your hand
- Skullclamp1 mana
- The One Ring4 mana
- Pip-Boy 30001 mana
- Sticky Fingers1 mana
- Vexing Bauble1 mana
- Artist's Talent2 mana
- Fear of Missing Out2 mana
- Key to the City2 mana
Keep a permanent you control alive through removal
- Hexing Squelcher2 mana
- Cryptothrall4 mana
- Lightning Greaves2 mana
- Swiftfoot Boots2 mana
- Eldrazi Monument5 mana
- Commander's Plate1 mana
- Mithril Coat3 mana
- Akroma's Memorial7 mana