Haliya, Ascendant CadetHaliya, Ascendant Cadet | Art by Justyna Dura

Welcome... to the world of tomorrow! And to another Edge of Eternities deck tech. Today, we're taking a look at a super cool legend from Magic's space opera set: Haliya, Ascendant CadetHaliya, Ascendant Cadet!

This Selesnya () commander provides +1/+1 counters and card draw, two things I firmly believe every Commander deck needs, so I'm super excited to show you what I've built around her!

Let's get right into it...

What Does Haliya, Ascendant Cadet Do?

For , we get a 3/3. That certainly doesn't pass the Vanilla Test, but we're not building a Voltron deck this week. Haliya also puts a +1/+1 counter on a creature when she enters or attacks, and lets us draw cards when our counter-ified creatures deal combat damage to our opponents. Now that's more like it.

Haliya wants us to have a board full of creatures and +1/+1 counters, rewarding us with cards when we manage to punch through in combat with those creatures. She even helps us buff up our board, which is a nice added benefit.

+1/+1 counters are an extremely well-explored theme for Selesnya commanders. Commanders like Hamza, Guardian of ArashinHamza, Guardian of Arashin find themselves leading thousands of decks, cards like Conclave MentorConclave Mentor are among EDH's most recognizable, and precons are constructed around simple premises like Leinore, Autumn SovereignLeinore, Autumn Sovereign's Coven Counters deck.

Point is, we're certainly not starved for options here.

We'll fill our 99 with more ways to put +1/+1 counters on our creatures, ways to leverage those counters into more mana and card advantage, and wipe out our opponents with an unstoppable board of big guys.

It's a simple premise, and our commander will provide a top-end boost to an already strong strategy. I've even included some cool new cards from Edge of Eternities, and I'm excited to show you all what I've come up with!

Key Cards for Haliya

First, let's talk about how we'll be getting counters onto our creatures. While our commander does provide one +1/+1 counter per turn when it's on the battlefield, that's just not enough for us to win games.

Tarkir: Dragonstorm brought some pretty cool counter tech, including the new Warden of the GroveWarden of the Grove. This Hydra provides an increasingly impressive number of counters to each creature we cast, accelerating our board development incrementally each turn. We can even substitute X/X creature tokens for those counters if we're in a sticky situation, meaning this card is great on offense and defense.

One of my favorite cards from Lost Caverns of Ixalan, Sovereign Okinec AhauSovereign Okinec Ahau slots in well too. This card can turn a board of creatures with just a few counters on each of them into a fearsome battlefield full of lethal attackers in just a turn or two.

Same goes for Quilled GreatwurmQuilled Greatwurm, a six-drop that'll multiply our board's power quickly.

There's lots of other ways to distribute counters to our creatures, from enchantments like Innkeeper's TalentInnkeeper's Talent and Court of GarenbrigCourt of Garenbrig to removal spells like Collective EffortCollective Effort and Requisition RaidRequisition Raid.

So we're putting all these counters on our creatures. How can we take advantage of that, aside from combat?

We can turn those counters into mana with cards like Rishkar, Peema RenegadeRishkar, Peema Renegade, Kodama of the East TreeKodama of the East Tree, and Incubation DruidIncubation Druid. These cards can accelerate us into the mid-late game easily, letting us slam big creatures onto the battlefield turn after turn.

We can also turn those counters into ... even more counters! Cards like Generous PupGenerous Pup, Wakka, Devoted GuardianWakka, Devoted Guardian, and the brand-new OuroboroidOuroboroid will all put counters on our whole team when we put counters on them.

The strongest among these card is definitively Edge of Eternities' Ouroboroid, which will always put at least one +1/+1 counter on each of our creatures the turn it hits the board (even if we don't buff it in any way).

There's some other utility picks in here. We can give our whole team combat-relevant abilities with Abzan Battle PriestAbzan Battle Priest and Drix FatemakerDrix Fatemaker, get some repeatable removal with District MascotDistrict Mascot, and interact with graveyards through Lion SashLion Sash and Evolution WitnessEvolution Witness. We really cover all of our bases here!

How Does This Deck Win?

This deck wins through combat. Whether we're multiplying our counter production through Ozolith, the Shattered SpireOzolith, the Shattered Spire and swinging in with a few creatures, sacrificing a Twitching DollTwitching Doll to make a huge board of tokens, or crashing in with a huge Mossborn HydraMossborn Hydra, counter-centric combat is this deck's M.O.

There are a few finishers in the deck, should we encounter a particularly clogged board state. Kalonian HydraKalonian Hydra is one such finisher, growing itself and the rest of our board to threatening size quickly. Same goes for Fangs of KaloniaFangs of Kalonia, a fantastic sorcery that can turn a middling board state into a game-ending one for just .

Haliya, Ascendant Cadet Commander Deck List

Conclusion

Before I go, I've got one more thing to talk about: board wipes! I typically include two sweepers in each of my Commander decks, and I try to ensure that they're as on-theme for the deck as possible.

Here, I wanted to ensure that my board wipes were as thematic as possible, so I included Damning VerdictDamning Verdict and SunfallSunfall. Damning Verdict is a great card, and one-sided wipes are some of the best cards in the game. But, this card isn't always one-sided. +1/+1 counters are given out like candy in modern EDH, so it's key to be aware of your opponents' board states when you cast this card.

Sunfall, on the other hand, is one-sided. This exile-wipe is an all-star, leaving us with a pretty large creature to rebuild around. In a deck that cares about creatures with counters, this Incubator token is invaluable.

Combined with a suite of 10 removal pieces that synergize with the deck's plan, like CankerbloomCankerbloom and Archdruid's CharmArchdruid's Charm, I'm happy with this deck's interaction.

What do you think? Should a Bracket 2 deck like this have more interaction? I'm curious to hear your thoughts in the comments. For now, I'll see you all next week for another deck tech!