Sovereign Okinec AhauSovereign Okinec Ahau | Illustrated by Pig Hands

There are a ton of interesting ways to build Commander decks using cards from Edge of Eternities. From an artifact theme to Landfall, multiple remarkable themes are present within the potential this set provides. But one notably less-explored deck type for Edge is that of +1/+1 counters. This deck tech, led by Sovereign Okinec AhauSovereign Okinec Ahau of Lost Caverns of Ixalan, will seek to explain why the theme is worth playing!

Ever true to form, this deck tech will also make extensive use of cards from the newest full set, Edge of Eternities. As such, a few choices may seem a bit alien (get it? Alien?), but bear with me, and I'll give ample rationale for how they factor into the deck.

With that said, let's dig into this legendary Cat Noble and how he's improved through the space opera set!

What Does Sovereign Okinec Ahau Do?

Sovereign Okinec Ahau is a Selesnya () commander that has ward and a backbreaking ability that only snowballs over time. Whenever Okinec Ahau attacks, each creature you control with power greater than its base power gets +1/+1 counters equal to the difference between those numbers.

Notably, +1/+1 counters don't augment base power. As such, Okinec Ahau can augment your creatures more and more over time. This is true as long as they have even a small buff.

The go-wide support commander is an archetype that is tried and true, and has been such over the past several years. In fact, in the last five years alone, Wizards of the Coast has given us a whole slew of strong go-wide commanders.

Some potential rivals to Sovereign Okinec Ahau for this prestigious position include Aragorn and Arwen, WedAragorn and Arwen, Wed, Finneas, Ace ArcherFinneas, Ace Archer, and Kyler, Sigardian EmissaryKyler, Sigardian Emissary.

However, suffice it to say, none of them hold a candle to Okinec Ahau in terms of pure buff output. Even the Sovereign's ward ability puts him miles above these three in terms of protection. Truly, Sovereign Okinec Ahau is the best choice for a deck like this.

Sovereign Okinec Ahau's Strategem

Like most any go-wide deck, Okinec Ahau's strategies include putting out a ton of creatures with the intent of overwhelming one's opponents in combat. As such, the deck I've provided is succinctly summarized as one within the aggro archetype.

This deck thrives off of keeping Okinec alive to support making the creatures I've summoned absolutely massive. Because of this, there also have to be a few control elements to the deck as well. But, for the most part, this is an aggro deck.

Key Cards for Sovereign Okinec AhauSovereign Okinec Ahau

As usual for my deck techs, I'll be summing up a couple of the most important aspects of this deck and covering the most important cards in each cluster. Afterwards, I'll be looking at cards from Edge of Eternities that are great additions to the deck, but don't quite fit into those clusters.

So, what are those two aspects that Sovereign Okinec Ahau thrives on? The three clusters are as follows:

• Pump Cards: This group of cards all have some type of effect that raises power above creatures' base power, usually boosting more than one creature at a time if possible.
• Protection: These are in the deck primarily to protect Sovereign Okinec Ahau, be it when he attacks or in general if necessary. Thankfully, Okinec Ahau can often avoid spot removal, but some extra assistance is never bad.
• Edge of Eternities Additions: This last group, especially geared towards the Rebuilding deck techs, aims to examine strong additions to this deck from EOE specifically. There are a surprising number of them!

With that, let's begin!

Pump Cards

There are so many cards in this particular cluster of effects that I actually have to create two subcategories for this aspect of the deck: permanents and nonpermanent spells. Between these two subcategories, the permanent grouping is far more expansive than the other spells.

Furthermore, there are no nonpermanent spells I've included from Edge of Eternities.

Let's talk about the permanents first. I'm running the lion's share of strong permanents that buff creatures' power in some fashion. Notably, I'm running OuroboroidOuroboroid, one of the strongest mythic rares in the Edge of Eternities set proper.

Ouroboroid can often do a good imitation of Okinec Ahau, albeit nonlegendary. But also, it complements Okinec Ahau when both are on the battlefield as Ouroboroid triggers before Okinec Ahau attacks, meaning each creature will get at least one +1/+1 counter ahead of the declare attackers step.

Then, once Okinec Ahau attacks, they'll all get at least one more!

That's just one case of synergy here. Additionally, I've added Mightform HarmonizerMightform Harmonizer, another card that goes great with the aforementioned Ourboroid and Okinec Ahau. Upon landfall, Mightform Harmonizer can double a creature's power, meaning it'll get bigger soon thereafter thanks to my commander.

In terms of noncreature permanents that interact well in this way, Bioengineered FutureBioengineered Future deserves mention here. For one, it facilitates lands entering play thanks to its creation of a Lander token. But more than that, my creatures will all enter the battlefield with +1/+1 counters on them for each land that entered the battlefield under my control that turn.

The synergies just keep coming!

Other Pump Cards

Of course, I have a wealth of cards to look over for this theme. As mentioned in my introduction, this theme is quite old and quite well-trodden. Therefore, I've added a bunch of good cards for this purpose.

Shalai, Voice of PlentyShalai, Voice of Plenty is a reliable source of protection for my creatures (see the section below for additional sources of protection). But also, Shalai can easily buff my entire board for a tough-but-fair price of . This is a lot of mana, to be certain, but if my board is wide enough, it could equate to less than one mana per creature!

Additionally, Thunderous VelocipedeThunderous Velocipede helps me augment my creatures with additional counters. This is compounded by my addition of another card to the same effect in BiophagusBiophagus.

In addition, I'm running a fair few cards from Final Fantasy. The Limit Break Commander precon gave players a huge glut of cards that care about having seven or more power. Thankfully, Sovereign Okinec Ahau will let many creatures get to that point and beyond.

So, to help with that synergy, Aerith, Last AncientAerith, Last Ancient and Bugenhagen, Wise ElderBugenhagen, Wise Elder work wonders in the deck. Finally, the addition of Zack FairZack Fair and Dion, Bahamut's DominantDion, Bahamut's Dominant just work so nicely, providing some protection and evasion where possible.

Protection

This section is notably less expanded than the pump cards when it comes to new inclusions from EOE. However, the main card I want to bring up here is The SeriemaThe Seriema. Notably, The Seriema can not only tutor for a legendary creature, but it also protects my tapped legends via indestructibility. Normally, that will mean that my attacking legends are safe from destruction. Therefore, The Seriema is a great Spacecraft to station to seven charge counters as soon as possible.

And, thankfully, due to the main themes of this deck, that's a very real prospect!

Other protection cards of note include my perennial favorite in this category, ReconnaissanceReconnaissance, as well as Mother of RunesMother of Runes and Giver of RunesGiver of Runes. All of these serve a specific protective niche and none can be understated for their individual utilities.

Other Edge of Eternities Inclusions

Other cards that made the cut from the new set include the following, for various reasons that are ideally pretty intuitive overall:

• Adagia, Windswept BastionAdagia, Windswept Bastion
• Evendo, Waking HavenEvendo, Waking Haven
• Lumen-Class FrigateLumen-Class Frigate
• The Dominion BraceletThe Dominion Bracelet
• Drix FatemakerDrix Fatemaker
• Loading ZoneLoading Zone
• TerrasymbiosisTerrasymbiosis

As you may have already noticed, a lot of these cards either care about having a high-power creature or putting +1/+1 counters on creatures. This isn't a coincidence. That's what the deck is designed to do!

How Does Sovereign Okinec AhauSovereign Okinec Ahau Win?

The easiest answer that I can tell you about how Okinec Ahau wins games is this: Beat face. Swing for the opposition's face every time. Never stop swinging. Repeat until all opponents have kicked it and kicked it well. And then, when at last I've stood over the silent battlefield, my foes lamenting in my wake, that's when I can breathe easily, because that's when I've won.

Hey, it's an aggro deck. What else should you expect from this deck tech?

Sovereign Okinec Ahau Commander Deck List

Conclusion

This deck tech has been one I've been laboring over for a bit. Most of the time was spent calibrating this deck to be as fleshed out and optimized as a Bracket 3 deck can be. I'm not relying on any Game Changers beyond Aura ShardsAura Shards, which is, frankly, a necessity in decks like this (Ghostly PrisonGhostly Prison and Sphere of SafetySphere of Safety be damned!).

To that end, I really like where the deck has ended up. I'm certain there's a little more work to be done to make sure the deck is where it should be in an ideal capacity, but overall, I am pretty content with it.

And that's where I open the floor to you, dear readers. Have you made a deck around Sovereign Okinec Ahau before? And, for those of you who still have an Okinec Ahau deck, have you augmented your build with anything from Edge of Eternities? If not, frankly, it's a great idea to add some new cards to the deck!

But in any event, have I missed anything important from this build? Sound off in the comments below!

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