Arcane Foundry › Commanders › War Machine, James Rhodes
War Machine, James Rhodes
Legendary Artifact Creature — Human Hero · {3}{W/U} · Blue/White commander
What War Machine, James Rhodes 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 · attackWhenever War Machine attacks, tap up to one target creature.
- Keyword · flyingflying
What a War Machine, James Rhodes deck needs
Plays as combat trigger. What the commander asks of the other 99 — read from the card and checked by hand.
- haste, evasion and protection for the commander, and extra combats (its own attack is the engine)
The War Machine, James Rhodes deck plan
The roles the Forge fills for this commander, and how many cards of each.
- 12× Put haste on the commander the turn it resolves — a tap ability is unusable otherwise
- 8× Make the commander connect — a body that never deals combat damage never triggers
- 7× Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- 10× Find the exact card the plan needs
- 4× Answer a spell or ability before it resolves
- 3× Answer a whole board at once
- 8× Refill your hand
- 3× Keep a permanent you control alive through removal
- 11× Get ahead on mana
Best cards for War Machine, James Rhodes
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.
Put haste on the commander the turn it resolves — a tap ability is unusable otherwise
- Thousand-Year Elixir3 mana
- Lightning Greaves2 mana
- Swiftfoot Boots2 mana
- Akroma's Memorial7 mana
- Lavaspur Boots1 mana
- Sting, the Glinting Dagger2 mana
- Krang, Utrom Warlord9 mana
- Haunted Cloak3 mana
Make the commander connect — a body that never deals combat damage never triggers
- Elspeth, Sun's Champion6 mana
- Archetype of Imagination6 mana
- Eldrazi Monument5 mana
- Akroma's Memorial7 mana
- On Wings of Gold4 mana
- Infiltrator's Magemark3 mana
- Student of Elements // Tobita, Master of Winds2 mana
- Midnight Pathlighter4 mana
Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- Path to Exile1 mana
- Swords to Plowshares1 mana
- Reality Shift2 mana
- Pongify1 mana
- Rapid Hybridization1 mana
- Resculpt2 mana
- March of Otherworldly Light1 mana
- Generous Gift3 mana
Find the exact card the plan needs
- Reshape2 mana
- Mask of the Mimic1 mana
- Long-Term Plans3 mana
- Open the Armory2 mana
- Whir of Invention3 mana
- Merchant Scroll2 mana
- Enlightened Tutor1 mana
- Mystical Tutor1 mana
Answer a spell or ability before it resolves
- Mindbreak Trap4 mana
- Fierce Guardianship3 mana
- Force of Negation3 mana
- Force of Will5 mana
- Flare of Denial3 mana
- Pact of Negation0 mana
- An Offer You Can't Refuse1 mana
- Arcane Denial2 mana
Answer a whole board at once
- Vanquish the Horde8 mana
- Supreme Verdict4 mana
- Wrath of God4 mana
- Day of Judgment4 mana
- Shatter the Sky4 mana
- Split Up3 mana
- Winds of Abandon2 mana
- Depopulate4 mana
Refill your hand
- Esper Sentinel1 mana
- Mystic Remora1 mana
- Skullclamp1 mana
- Curiosity1 mana
- Wizard Class1 mana
- Rhystic Study3 mana
- Archivist of Oghma2 mana
- Faerie Mastermind2 mana
Keep a permanent you control alive through removal
- Flowering of the White Tree2 mana
- Bastion Protector3 mana
- Gold-Forged Thopteryx2 mana
- Codsworth, Handy Helper3 mana
- Cryptothrall4 mana
- Avacyn, Angel of Hope8 mana
- Coppercoat Vanguard2 mana
- Lost in the Maze2 mana
Get ahead on mana
- Sol Ring1 mana
- Azorius Signet2 mana
- Palladium Myr3 mana
- Worn Powerstone3 mana
- Chrome Mox0 mana
- Everflowing Chalice0 mana
- Mox Diamond0 mana
- Mana Vault1 mana
Build this deck in the Arcane Forge →
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