Overview

Painbow is a five-colour deck that wants to cast multicoloured spells. Jared Carthalion is a legendary planeswalker that can be your commander. His +1 creates a 3/3 Kavu creature token with trample that is all colours, his -3 puts +1/+1 counters on up to two creatures equal to the number of colours each is, and his -6 returns a multicoloured card from your graveyard to your hand, and if it was all colours you also draw a card and create two Treasures.

The 99 cards are 26 creatures, 6 artifacts, 4 enchantments, 10 instants, 14 sorceries and 39 lands. Most of the creatures are multicoloured, and several are all five colours, such as Maelstrom Archangel, Two-Headed Hellkite, Fusion Elemental and Chromanticore. The deck also has a lot of mana fixing and ramp, because casting five-colour spells needs a lot of coloured mana, and payoffs such as Hero of Precinct One, Jenson Carthalion, Druid Exile and Mana Cannons reward every multicoloured spell.

Key Cards

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Two-Headed Hellkite
Finisher · Card Draw
A 5/5 for {1}{W}{U}{B}{R}{G}. It has flying, menace and haste, and whenever it attacks you draw two cards. It is a six-mana five-colour creature that can win the game and replace itself at the same time.
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Maelstrom Nexus
Cascade Engine
An enchantment for {W}{U}{B}{R}{G}. The first spell you cast each turn has cascade. It turns each turn's first spell into two spells and works best when your first spell is a cheap one.
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Rienne, Angel of Rebirth
Multicoloured Lord · Recursion
A 5/4 for {2}{R}{G}{W}. It has flying, other multicoloured creatures you control get +1/+0, and whenever another multicoloured creature you control dies, return it to its owner's hand at the beginning of the next end step.
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Knight of New Alara
Multicoloured Lord
A 2/2 for {2}{G}{W}. Each other multicoloured creature you control gets +1/+1 for each of its colours. Every five-colour creature in the deck gets +5/+5.

Playing the Deck

The early game is about fixing and ramp. Cultivate, Kodama's Reach, Farseek, Search for Tomorrow, Migration Path and Explosive Vegetation fetch lands, Coalition Relic, Prophetic Prism, Obsidian Obelisk and Arcane Signet add mana of any colour, and Abundant Growth draws a card as it fixes. Coiling Oracle, Fallaji Wayfarer and Jenson Carthalion, Druid Exile come down cheaply.

The middle of the game is about casting multicoloured spells and getting value. Hero of Precinct One makes a Human whenever you cast a multicoloured spell, Mana Cannons deals damage when you cast one, and Selvala, Explorer Returned ramps while giving you life. Jared Carthalion makes a Kavu every turn, and Illuna, Apex of Wishes, Nethroi, Apex of Death and Xyris, the Writhing Storm bring a lot of power for their cost.

The late game is about huge five-colour threats and sweepers. O-Kagachi, Vengeful Kami exiles a nonland permanent when it connects with a player who attacked you last turn, Primeval Spawn is a ten-mana creature with vigilance, trample and lifelink, and Unite the Coalition can do five things at once. Iridian Maelstrom destroys each creature that isn't all colours, which leaves your five-colour creatures and Kavu tokens alive, and Duneblast, Time Wipe and Merciless Eviction reset the board.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Strengths: The deck has a huge amount of ramp and fixing, so it can almost always cast its five-colour spells, and it has strong payoffs for its multicoloured cards. It also has plenty of answers across all five colours, including Beast Within, Path to Exile, Terminate, Naya Charm and Sultai Charm.

Weaknesses: The deck's best cards are expensive and need many colours of mana, so a bad mana draw is a problem, and many of its payoffs need multicoloured spells in the right order. It also has few cheap threats, so it can be slow against a fast opponent, and its sweepers hit your own creatures if they are not all colours.

Want to improve it? See the Painbow upgrade guide: twelve swaps with the data behind each one.

Verdict
Painbow is a colourful, flexible deck with a clear theme and plenty of ways to build around it. It plays a lot of big, flashy spells and rewards good mana and sequencing, and it is a good choice for players who like five-colour decks.

Want to see what a fully optimised Jared Carthalion build looks like? Try the Oracle.

✦ Build with The Oracle

Frequently Asked Questions

What cards are in the Painbow decklist?
The Painbow precon is a 100-card Commander deck led by Jared Carthalion. The full Painbow decklist, with every card, current prices and a button to copy the list into your deck builder, is on this page.

When was Painbow released?
Painbow was released on September 9, 2022 as part of Dominaria United Commander.

Who is the commander of Painbow?
Painbow is led by Jared Carthalion, a Five-colour (W/U/B/R/G) legendary planeswalker.

How many creatures are in Painbow?
The 99 cards besides Jared Carthalion include 26 creatures.

How many lands does Painbow have?
Painbow has 39 lands in the 99 cards besides Jared Carthalion, including basic lands.

Full Decklist

All 100 cards from the out-of-the-box Painbow precon, with current prices. Click any card to expand it.

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