Norman OsbornNorman Osborn | Art by Scott M. Fischer

Do you like discard effects? How about Grixis? Well, then boy do I have a deck for you. And no, it's not Kefka, Court MageKefka, Court Mage. It's time to swing into the next Universes Beyond release with Norman OsbornNorman Osborn, Spider-Man's Grixis contribution to cEDH!

What Does Norman OsbornNorman Osborn Do?

First off, some important guidance on the new design space being explored in Spider-Man. Like many other legendary creatures in the set, Norman Osborn brings a new take to both MDFCs and transforming cards, as it can be cast on either face (the hallmark of an MDFC), as well as be transformed (in this case, through an activated ability of the front face).

With that out of the way, onto the card.

On the front side, Norman Osborn is a 1/1 legendary Human Scientist Villain creature for that can't be blocked. Additionally, Norman connives whenever he deals combat damage. (To connive, draw a card and then discard a card. If a nonland card was discarded this way, put a +1/+1 counter on the conniving creature). 

To transform Norman, you can pay any time you could cast a sorcery.

On the back side, Green Goblin is a 3/3 legendary Goblin Human Villain creature for with flying and menace that makes spells you cast from your graveyard cost less to cast.

Additionally, cards in your graveyard each have mayhem, and their mayhem costs are equal to their mana costs. (A card with mayhem can be cast from your graveyard for its mayhem cost as long as it was discarded this turn. Normal timing restrictions still apply). 

So, what to make of this transforming Villain? Well, to put it simply, Norman Osborn does a whole lot. For starters, the front side alone is already an impactful card. Two-mana commanders, especially those that only cost a single colored mana, are strikingly easy to cast on turn one, and all you need to do is look to Rograkh, Son of RohgahhRograkh, Son of Rohgahh's success to see just how important controlling a commander early and reliably can be.

Couple that with Norman's card selection via the connive mechanic, and he isn't just a commander for the sake of being a commander; he's a commander that does things.

Looking to the back side, and four mana is a pretty reasonable cost for a resource-generating commander, especially one as potent as Green Goblin. As we'll see in the next section, there are plenty of ways to wheel away cards into your graveyard over the course of the single turn (hell, even just playing against Kefka will make Green Goblin into a pseudo card-advantage engine), and Green Goblin turns each of these into massive bursts of card advantage.

Key Cards for Norman OsbornNorman Osborn

While Norman Osborn pulls plenty of weight as a low-cost commander with upside beyond the minimal mana value, the core of this deck is all about the Green Goblin. As such, the key cards for the deck reflect exactly that, splitting between two distinct packages: burst discard and outlet discard.

Burst Discard

First off, the sources of maximum card advantage in this deck: burst discard. As a Grixis deck, we'll of course be on our standard Ad NauseamAd Nauseam package and the like, but through a blend of wheel effects and one-off discard spells Green Goblin is able to pull ahead in a way that few other decks truly can.

So, let's break down how.

When casting Wheel of FortuneWheel of Fortune, for example, this card can instead be thought of us a spell that draws seven cards and simultaneously discounts the cost of each card previously in your hand by . This difference doesn't do much when you've already emptied your hand through a bevy of low-cost spells, but it can make plenty of cEDH's more expensive cards cost much less.

Discard effects aren't just an opportunity to cast that discarded spell this turn; they're also an act of cost-reduction.

Outlet Discard

Moving to outlet discard, and the burst-discard's cost-reduction benefit still holds true. These cards don't replenish your hand in quite the same way as a wheel (there's no getting around the power of that "draw seven" text on Wheel of Fortune), but they do provide an opportunity to thoughtfully and meticulously sculpt your hand while discounting potent spells as the game goes on.

For maximum benefit, try using a discard outlet to cast a mass-discard spell; you'll wind up with the same mayhem benefits on everything discarded either way, but these outlets can allow you to cast a wheel for its (reduced) mayhem cost. Now that's some value.

How Does Norman OsbornNorman Osborn Win?

While this deck doesn't have any particularly unique win lines enabled by the text of either side, Green Goblin's combination of cost reduction and mayhem-granting effects allow for some extremely lucrative interactions with a select roster of cards than can enable wins from out of nowhere. So they're worth breaking down in more detail.

Lion's Eye DiamondLion's Eye Diamond

Lion's Eye Diamond is the artifact that was never supposed to be used to cast spells, but time has shown just how negligible its downside of "discard your hand" really was. Here, in a deck designed to discard a whole lot of cards, Green Goblin looks at that text and laughs; that cost is pure upside.

By sacrificing Lion's Eye Diamond to float some mana (discarding your hand in the process), the result is a graveyard stocked full of cards that cost a whole lot less to cast - until end of turn, that is. Crack Lion's Eye Diamond for three red, use one of the red to cast the Wheel of Fortune you just discarded (remember, that spell costs less until end of turn), and you're off to the races.

You won't always discard a wheel, but the list of valuable cards discarded this way is just about as long as the list of nonland cards in your deck, so never forget how Lion's Eye Diamond really works in this deck.

NecropotenceNecropotence

Next up is a classic of cEDH decks across the format that already does an excellent job "drawing" enough cards to close out a game, and that's Necropotence. Now, as any Necropotence aficionado will tell you, this card is often backed up by some sort of flash enabler these days, as the best way to make use of Necropotence is to cast spells from your monstrous hand in your end step, before things get discarded.

Well, Green Goblin would beg to differ, as Necropotence's triggered ability (which exiles cards whenever they're discarded) now provides an even better window to cast spells.

Normally, players don't get priority during the cleanup step (when cards are discarded due to hand size limitations). However, if something happening during the cleanup step causes a triggered ability to trigger, players gain priority in order to respond to that trigger.

As such, there's a brief window with Necropotence out where, after you've discarded to hand size but before the exile triggers resolve, a round of priority is passed. During this brief window, those discard cards have mayhem (which is reduced by ), and - should any of them be instants or should you have a flash enabler at the ready - can be cast before they would otherwise be exiled due to the Necropotence triggers.

Artist's TalentArtist's Talent

Last but not least, the discard engine that's not quite as on-command as an outlet, but also not so much a one-off as a wheel; Artist's Talent.

For , Artist's Talent is a Class enchantment that, fortunately for us, doesn't need any more investment to unlock the stage at which it begins to really matter for Green Goblin. At the first stage, Artist's Talent has "Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, you may discard a card. If you do, draw a card."

This stage alone makes Artist's Talent one of the premier - if not the best - engines in the deck. Each noncreature spell you cast provides you with another card and the opportunity to cast something else for less.

Just imagine this: cast Rite of FlameRite of Flame, discarding Arcane SignetArcane Signet and drawing a card. Now, you have an extra card in hand, mana floating from Rite of Flame, and a noncreature spell that costs waiting to be cast from your graveyard. Cast the Arcane Signet, discard something else to cast for cheap, and rinse and repeat, churning and churning until you hit a wheel to refill your hand, and your graveyard, and restart the process.

Norman Osborn / Green Goblin cEDH Deck List

Wrap Up

All in all, Norman Osborn is an incredibly interesting take on a Grixis discard-based cEDH deck; who would've thought we'd get two in the same year (I'm looking at you, Kefka)?

What's the most exciting to me, however, is that Green Goblin has the potential to be one of the best Necropotence decks out there. It might not be as fast as RogSi or as resilient as Blue Farm, but having a discount on (nearly) every spell cast during a Necropotence turn is an insane amount of value.

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