If you've played Magic: The Gathering for more than a week, you know the feeling of getting run over. It’s that moment when a player across the table untaps, moves to combat, and suddenly you're staring down a literal army of armored riders. Most of the time, in the Commander format, these aggressive decks run out of steam. They dump their hand, get hit by a board wipe like Wrath of God, and then spend the next six turns drawing lands and crying.
But Cavalry Charge is different. It’s weirdly resilient.
Released as part of the March of the Machine Commander decks, this Eminence-lite powerhouse focused on the Knight tribal theme. But it wasn't just another "play dudes, turn them sideways" pile. It introduced Sidar Jabari of Zhalfir, a commander that basically fixed the biggest problem aggressive decks have: card quality. Honestly, if you aren't playing this deck or at least preparing for it, your local meta is probably eating you alive.
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The Sidar Jabari Factor
Let’s talk about the engine. Sidar Jabari of Zhalfir is an Esper (Blue, Black, White) commander. That’s already a strange start for a Knight deck. Usually, Knights are Boros (Red, White) or Orzhov (Black, White). Adding Blue changed everything.
Sidar has an eminence-style triggered ability. Whenever you attack with one or more Knights, you loot. You draw a card, then discard a card. This doesn't sound like much until you realize it triggers even if Sidar is in the command zone. You’re filtering your deck from turn one. You find your lands. You toss away the high-mana spells you can't cast yet. You sculpt a perfect hand while everyone else is just top-decking.
Then he hits the battlefield.
When Sidar deals combat damage, he brings a Knight back from the graveyard to the battlefield. For free. This turns the "discard" part of his first ability from a downside into a second hand. You discard a massive threat like Haakon, Stromgald Scourge or Viconia, Nightsinger's Disciple, then Sidar just cheats them into play. It’s brutal. It’s fast. It’s the reason Cavalry Charge has maintained its secondary market value while other precons from that year have tanked.
Why Knights?
Knights are a legacy tribe in Magic: The Gathering. They’ve been around since Alpha, but they never really had a cohesive "identity" beyond having First Strike. Throne of Eldraine gave them some teeth, but Cavalry Charge gave them a brain.
The deck leverages keywords. Knights almost always have First Strike, Vigilance, or Ward. This makes them annoying to block and even more annoying to target with removal. When you stack these abilities across ten different creatures, the math for your opponents becomes a nightmare.
- Vodalian Wave-Knight is a sleeper hit here. Every time you draw a card—which Sidar makes you do constantly—you put a +1/+1 counter on every creature you control.
- Herald of Hoofbeats makes all your Knights "Horsemanship." If you aren't a veteran player, you might not know what that is. It basically means they are unblockable, because nobody plays cards with Horsemanship anymore. It's a "delete button" for your opponents' life totals.
The Problem With Aggro in Commander
In a four-player game, you have 120 total life to chew through. That’s a lot. Most aggressive decks in Magic: The Gathering kill one person and then get ganged up on by the other two. They’re "glass cannons."
Cavalry Charge sidesteps this by being a "Midrange-Aggro" hybrid. Because the Blue splash gives you access to counterspells and protective magic, you aren't just praying your creatures survive. You have Dovin’s Veto. You have Arcane Denial. You can actually say "no" when someone tries to blow up the world.
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The deck also plays the long game. Most Knight cards have built-in recursion or "When this creature enters the battlefield" triggers. Even if a board wipe happens, Sidar Jabari just brings the pieces back. It’s an inevitable march. You aren't just charging; you're occupying the board.
Essential Upgrades You’re Probably Missing
If you’re still playing the "out of the box" version of Cavalry Charge, you’re leaving wins on the table. The mana base is the first thing that needs a surgical intervention. Precons are notorious for "enters the battlefield tapped" lands. Get rid of them. You need Watery Grave, Hallowed Fountain, and Godless Shrine. If you’re on a budget, at least grab the "Pain Lands" like Adarkar Wastes.
Next, look at your Knight roster. Murderous Rider is a must. It’s a creature and a removal spell in one. Adeline, Resplendent Cathar is arguably the best Knight ever printed for Commander. She creates tokens that are also Knights, which triggers Sidar’s looting ability even harder.
Don't sleep on The Circle of Loyalty. It’s a legendary artifact that rewards you for playing Knights by making more Knights and buffing the ones you have. It fits the flavor, sure, but the mechanical synergy is what actually wins games.
The Graveyard is a Resource
A lot of players get scared of discarding cards. Don't be. In a Sidar Jabari deck, your graveyard is just a second library. You want cards like Wonder in there to give your whole team flying. You want Entomb to find exactly the Knight you need to reanimate with Sidar's combat trigger.
The deck plays more like a Reanimator deck than a traditional tribal deck. This is the nuance most people miss. They try to play it like Goblins or Elves. It isn't that. It’s a surgical strike team that refuses to stay dead.
Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them
The biggest mistake? Overextending.
Just because you can cast five Knights doesn't mean you should. Sidar only needs one Knight to attack to get his looting trigger. You can keep the rest of your hand held back. This forces your opponents to waste their big spells on just one or two creatures. If they don't, you keep looting and refining your hand. If they do, you just play more.
Another mistake is forgetting the Blue mana. Players often lean too hard into the White/Black Knight identity and find themselves unable to cast their interaction spells. Your Blue sources should be prioritized in your opening hand. Without Blue, you lose the ability to protect your board, and then you’re just playing a worse version of a generic Knight deck.
Winning the Mental Game
Magic: The Gathering is as much about politics as it is about cards. Cavalry Charge looks threatening. People see a bunch of Knights and panic. You need to frame your deck as the "Police of the Table."
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Because you have First Strike and Vigilance, you are the best blockers in the game. Tell the table you’ll keep the scary Combo player in check. Use your incidental lifelink to stay out of range of the Burn player. You aren't the villain; you're the Knight in shining armor—until you drop Herald of Hoofbeats and kill everyone in one swing.
The Verdict on the Knight Archetype
Is it the best deck in the format? No. Top-tier competitive (cEDH) decks will still outpace it with infinite combos. But for "High Power Casual" or "Friday Night Magic," Cavalry Charge is a titan. It’s consistent. It’s flavor-rich. It’s actually fun to play because you’re always doing something—drawing, discarding, attacking, reanimating.
The complexity is there if you want it, but the floor is low enough that a beginner can pick it up and feel powerful. That’s a rare balance in modern Magic design.
Step-by-Step Action Plan for Cavalry Charge Players
- Audit your mana base immediately. Replace at least five "enters tapped" lands with untapped duals or even basic lands. Speed is your ally; waiting a turn because of a Coastal Tower is a death sentence.
- Focus on the Loot. In the early game, use Sidar’s eminence ability to pitch high-cost Knights like Valiant Knight or Kinsbaile Cavalier. You’ll bring them back for free later.
- Prioritize Protection. Keep at least two mana open for a counterspell or a Teferi's Protection. Your board is your lifeblood; if it vanishes, your momentum dies.
- Maximize "When this attacks" triggers. Cards like Skyhunter Strike Force provide massive buffs just for turning your creatures sideways, which you were going to do anyway.
- Evaluate your local meta. If your friends play a lot of graveyard hate (like Rest in Peace or Bojuka Bog), you need to pivot. Include more "Protection from" effects or spells that can stifle those triggered abilities.
Cavalry Charge isn't just a deck; it's a lesson in how to build an aggressive strategy that actually survives the chaos of a four-player game. Respect the Knight, or get trampled by them. It's really that simple.