In order to fully appreciate what a Stax deck is trying to do, it's best to first start by looking at cEDH's other two strategies. Turbo decks maximize speed and power right out the gate, putting resiliency behind them. Midrange decks sacrifice some speed and early-game potency to chase midgame value.

Stax goes even further. Rather than rush towards winning the game, a Stax deck completely inverts the early-game strategy: resiliency maxed out, a Stax deck is trying its hardest to shut down the game and shut it down fast.

Keep in mind, this isn't the same as winning the game. Rarther, Stax plays in two parts. First, it sets the trap - poisoning the ability of its opponents to do anything - then it strikes, delivering victory only after a long and grueling game.

Starting off with the weirdest deck on our list, let's break down Tayam, Luminous EnigmaTayam, Luminous Enigma.

Tayam is a list that comes as close to disliking drawing cards as you can get (outside of Flubs, the FoolFlubs, the Fool), with many top finishers going so far as cutting Esper SentinelEsper Sentinel from their lists. Why? Because Tayam is, at the end of the day, a Stax deck that also plays around with the graveyard.

By covering its creatures in as many counters as it can, Tayam is able to readily active its hallmark ability - ", Remove three counters from among creatures you control: Put the top three cards of your library into your graveyard, then return a permanent card with converted mana cost 3 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield."

This ability is the conduit by which Tayam is able to win, often at instant speed, despite a menagerie of stax pieces being in play. Rule of LawRule of Law doesn't really matter too much to a deck that wins without casting spells.

Speaking of instant-speed wins that happen without casting spells, let's dig into Magda.

For , Magda here helms the go-to typal deck for cEDH, one that's also stuffed full of incredibly costly and punishing stax effects.

So, why typal? Because, so long as Magda is out, you create a Treasure whenever a Dwarf you control becomes tapped.

But why Stax? Since you'll basically only be casting creature spells in a mono-red deck, what better way to bolster yourself against noncreature spells then to stop them preemptively? After all, you'll have all the mana in the world.

Keeping the typal-train going, Winota here is an interesting one in that it splits the deck into two, churning out potent Humans whenever a non-Human creature you control attacks.

Competitive Commander is full of Humans that readily contribute to a Stax game plan. Drannith MagistrateDrannith Magistrate, Magus of the MoonMagus of the Moon, Sanctum PrelateSanctum Prelate - all of these can cheaply be snowballed by a single combat step.

It's rare to see a cEDH deck running GingerbruteGingerbrute - Winota, however, is a dedicated fan of the card. After all, a one-drop that can play a stax piece every time it attacks (with Winota in play) is pretty neat.

Next up is Urza, the first blue deck on our list - although, with all the artifacts it runs, it might as well treat colorless as a color.

Key to Urza's functioning as a Stax deck is the ability to turn off its own restrictions. Thanks to Urza's ability to tap artifacts for mana, it can easily abuse the old-school wording of cards like TrinisphereTrinisphere, Winter OrbWinter Orb, and Static OrbStatic Orb, completely breaking the parity inherent to Stax's "fair play" mandate.

Last but not least, from one mono-colored deck chock full of artifacts to another, it's time to talk about Heliod.

As for the commander, basically all you need to know about Heliod is that it functions as half of a combo. Pair Heliod with Walking BallistaWalking Ballista, and you've got yourself a victory.

That being said, getting there - especially in mono-white - can be pretty difficult. So, to compensate, Heliod tries to make everyone else's plans at least as clunk as its own.

First off, the name of the game, the general stax pieces that'll have everyone playing a bit more fairly.

These cards are all pretty universal. Most folks want to cast multiple spells in a turn, they want to spend as little mana as possible on those spells, and they'd like to have their lands enter untapped. Stax decks run down that list and deny it all, forcing players to think carefully and play slowly.

Further down the list of lock pieces, we next come to the more specific, but nonetheless incredibly potent, silver bullets. These cards have range from having no effect on a list to completely crippling it, so by playing a wide assortment a clever Stax deck can keep a bevy of strategies in check.

Another upside of silver bullets is that the Stax deck can choose to include only those effects which leave you unaffected. Plenty of green Stax decks almost completely omit artifacts from their lists, meaning that they can take complete advantage from Null RodNull Rod while the rest of the table lay severely crippled.

Last but not least, the suite of cards keeping key spells and permanents in check: interaction.

Stax effects are kind of like a proactive version of interaction. Rather than sit back and wait for a threatening spell to hit the stack, a Stax player anticipates it and tries to prevent it ahead of time.

That said, not everything can be readily thwarted with just a Rule of LawRule of Law, and sometimes that one spell a turn is still enough to end a game. As such, Stax players often have among the most expansive interaction suites of any decks, preventing even modest progress on behalf of their opponents from lasting too long.

Stax decks in cEDH usually win one of two ways: through a classic combo (your Demonic ConsultationDemonic Consultation and Thassa's OracleThassa's Oracle, or Underworld BreachUnderworld Breach and Brain FreezeBrain Freeze, etc), or - more interestingly - through some core quirk of their commander.

Looking back at out top commanders, there's a reason that three of them directly contribute to the win conditions of their respective decks.

The best way to gain advantage in the long term (other than already have something like a Rhystic StudyRhystic Study out) is to start from the very beginning with part of your line to victory immediately accessible. By setting up a plethora of general stax effects, silver bullets, and interaction along the way, stax decks maximize their ability to gain value from their commanders.

To put it bluntly: mono-white doesn't have the speed to win with Heliod against a Turbo deck. But, with just the right roadblocks put in front of its opponents, it can walk across the finish line victorious nonetheless.