<h6 style="text-align: right;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Armix, Filigree Thrasher" href="#" target="_blank">Armix, Filigree Thrasher</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | art by <a href="https://darylart.com/">Daniel Ljunggren</a></h6>
<p>Partner is a mechanic in EDH that has been a little contentious over the years, but there's no denying the impact it has had on the format; for better or worse.</p>
<p>Even outside of the ultra-strong combinations running rampant in cEDH, "partners" allow for unparalleled creativity in deckbuilding, especially due to the 4-color avenues opened through combinations like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tymna the Weaver" href="#" target="_blank">Tymna the Weaver</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix" href="#" target="_blank">Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ravos, Soultender" href="#" target="_blank">Ravos, Soultender</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ludevic, Necro-Alchemist" href="#" target="_blank">Ludevic, Necro-Alchemist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>In 2020, <em>Commander Legends</em> brought with it over 40 new legendary creatures with the "partner" ability; all of which were printed as mono-colored legends for the first time.</p>
<p>These new mono-colored legends expanded deckbuilding possibilities even more, and sheer amount of new options caused something unfortunate: severely underplayed combinations.</p>
<p>Now that we're a few years removed from <em>Commander Legends</em>, it feels appropriate to look back at the data and see what "partner" pairs need some love.</p>
<h3>Underrated/Under-loved Combo #1: Nadier, Agent of the Duskenel and Armix, Filigree Thrasher</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Nadier, Agent of the Duskenel"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Armix, Filigree Thrasher"></div></div>
<p>The first underrated pair that we are talking about explores "partners" in the monocolored space in an interesting way. According to EDHREC (at time of writing), there is <strong>only a single deck using this pair in the database!</strong></p>
<p>This statistic surprised me, as Nadier alone seems like a very strong commander for a specific reason: he triggers off of <strong>any tokens.</strong> With all the Clues, Food, and Treasures running around, this combination felt like a match made in heaven.</p>
<p>Armix acts as a repeatable piece of removal in the command zone, and these days it seems like running more removal in your EDH decks is necessary. Lately, cards that are getting printed are at least <em>good, </em>if not downright <em>great.</em></p>
<p>This "partner" pair immediately made me think of cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Academy Manufactor" href="#" target="_blank">Academy Manufactor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rapacious Guest" href="#" target="_blank">Rapacious Guest</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Experimental Confectioner" href="#" target="_blank">Experimental Confectioner</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hazel&#039;s Brewmaster" href="#" target="_blank">Hazel&#039;s Brewmaster</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nuka-Cola Vending Machine" href="#" target="_blank">Nuka-Cola Vending Machine</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>Building a "tchotchke" deck, as Rachel Weeks of the Command Zone puts it, seems like a really fun way to brew around this mono-black pair.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Academy Manufactor"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rapacious Guest"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Experimental Confectioner"></div></div>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Hazel&#039;s Brewmaster"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Nuka-Cola Vending Machine"></div></div>
<p>Even if this partner pair isn't your style, <strong>only one</strong><strong> deck </strong>on EDHREC seems criminal.</p>
<h3>Underrated/Under-loved Combo #2: Ich-Tekik, Salvage Splicer and Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ich-Tekik, Salvage Splicer"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator"></div></div>
<p>Unlike our first underrated pair, these partners are shown a little more love, with 82 decks on EDHREC. Simic is a color combination that usually has a very specific play pattern: ramp, draw cards, repeat.</p>
<p>However, this partner pair allows players to challenge what is expected with Simic commanders by relying heavily on artifacts.</p>
<p>First things first, Ich-Tekik puts this deck firmly on a Golem-typal plan. With that, I envision loading this deck up with every possible "splicer" card in these colors.</p>
<p>This would be things like: <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wing Splicer" href="#" target="_blank">Wing Splicer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Maul Splicer" href="#" target="_blank">Maul Splicer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vital Splicer" href="#" target="_blank">Vital Splicer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sandstorm Salvager" href="#" target="_blank">Sandstorm Salvager</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>Blue allows this deck to really shine as it provides the ability to flicker/blink these "splicer" effects to create more and more Golems.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Wing Splicer"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Maul Splicer"></div></div>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Vital Splicer"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sandstorm Salvager"></div></div>
<p>Malcolm is the "cherry on top", as his Treasure generation both ramps out our "splicer" effects <strong>and</strong> <strong>grows our Golems when we sacrifice them!</strong></p>
<p>And don't get me started on all the "token doubling" effects in these colors...I'm looking at <em>you</em>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Adrix and Nev, Twincasters" href="#" target="_blank">Adrix and Nev, Twincasters</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Adrix and Nev, Twincasters"></div></div>
<h3>Underrated/Under-loved Combo #3: Halana, Kessig Ranger and Silas Renn, Seeker Adept</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Halana, Kessig Ranger"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Silas Renn, Seeker Adept"></div></div>
<p>Our next combination expands a unique archetype into 3 colors. According to EDHREC, there are only 28 decks with these partners in the database. I could see a reason why: opponents probably find this deck very frustrating to play against.</p>
<p>Halana allows creatures entering to fight another creature on the board, and when every creature in our deck has deathtouch...you see the problem.</p>
<p>A "Deathtouch Typal" deck is something that many players have toyed with for awhile, and I firmly believe that this partner pair provides a terrific option.</p>
<p>Most cards that care about deathtouch as a mechanic exist in black and green, but adding blue allows you to play cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Baleful Strix" href="#" target="_blank">Baleful Strix</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and the assortment of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bident of Thassa" href="#" target="_blank">Bident of Thassa</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>-esque cards for consistent card draw.</p>
<p>All-stars in this deck would be things like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hooded Blightfang" href="#" target="_blank">Hooded Blightfang</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fynn, the Fangbearer" href="#" target="_blank">Fynn, the Fangbearer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Aveline de Grandpré" href="#" target="_blank">Aveline de Grandpré</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ohran Frostfang" href="#" target="_blank">Ohran Frostfang</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Baleful Strix"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bident of Thassa"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Hooded Blightfang"></div></div>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Fynn, the Fangbearer"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Aveline de Grandpré"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ohran Frostfang"></div></div>
<p>While yes, this deck can be mean and remove our opponents' creature at will, it is also a unique way to explore an underrated, but fun, archetype.</p>
<h3>Underrated/Under-loved Combo #4: Miara, Thorn of the Glade and Thrasios, Triton Hero</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Miara, Thorn of the Glade"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Thrasios, Triton Hero"></div></div>
<p>According to EDHREC, there are only 99 decks in the database with this partner pair. Full disclosure, this partner pair is very personal to me, as I had a Sultai Elf-typal deck before <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Leovold, Emissary of Trest" href="#" target="_blank">Leovold, Emissary of Trest</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> was banned.</p>
<p>I had nearly given up on Sultai Elves until I saw Miara get revealed. Golgari Elves is a newly supported archetype thanks to <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Abomination of Llanowar" href="#" target="_blank">Abomination of Llanowar</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lathril, Blade of the Elves" href="#" target="_blank">Lathril, Blade of the Elves</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, so it seemed like the perfect time to return to this deck.</p>
<p>Yes, I know Thrasios is incredibly strong, but, in my opinion, he fit the theme more than <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix" href="#" target="_blank">Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p><em>The Lord of the Rings</em> commander precon led by <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Galadriel, Elven-Queen" href="#" target="_blank">Galadriel, Elven-Queen</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> provided a bunch of new goodies for this deck as well, as it focused heavily on an Elf-typal theme with a secondary focus on a "voting" theme.</p>
<p>Voting is one thing that I love in Commander, so I was beyond excited to add those cards to this list. Cards from this deck that are perfect includes are things like: <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Galadriel, Elven-Queen" href="#" target="_blank">Galadriel, Elven-Queen</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Elrond of the White Council" href="#" target="_blank">Elrond of the White Council</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Haldir, Lórien Lieutenant" href="#" target="_blank">Haldir, Lórien Lieutenant</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Windswift Slice" href="#" target="_blank">Windswift Slice</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>If you aren't a fan of having a ton a creatures in play, this pair isn't for you, but let's be honest, who <em>doesn't </em>having a critical mass of creatures in play??</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Leovold, Emissary of Trest"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Abomination of Llanowar"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Lathril, Blade of the Elves"></div></div>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Galadriel, Elven-Queen"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Elrond of the White Council"></div></div>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Haldir, Lórien Lieutenant"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Windswift Slice"></div></div>
<h3>Underrated/Under-loved Combo #5: Ikra Shidiqi, the Usurper and Krark, the Thumbless</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ikra Shidiqi, the Usurper"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Krark, the Thumbless"></div></div>
<p>Jund spellslinger? Why not? According to EDHREC, there are only 67 decks with this partner pair in the database, and with the pure chaos I've seen Krark bring to commander tables, this surprises me.</p>
<p>Krark plus green seems like it could be a crazy combination, as copying ramp spells could catapult us into a huge lead. Also, this partner pair benefits greatly from the <em>Final Fantasy</em> set's introduction of the 0/1 black Wizard creature tokens.</p>
<p>These tokens deal 1 damage to <strong>each opponent</strong> whenever we cast a noncreature spell, and that seems very strong with Krark in the command zone. (See things like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cornered by Black Mages" href="#" target="_blank">Cornered by Black Mages</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Circle of Power" href="#" target="_blank">Circle of Power</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.)</p>
<p>Outside of these newer includes, I can see cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Witherbloom Apprentice" href="#" target="_blank">Witherbloom Apprentice</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Manamorphose" href="#" target="_blank">Manamorphose</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tavern Scoundrel" href="#" target="_blank">Tavern Scoundrel</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sedgemoor Witch" href="#" target="_blank">Sedgemoor Witch</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wort, the Raidmother" href="#" target="_blank">Wort, the Raidmother</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> going absolutely insane in a deck like this.</p>
<p>Just think about it: what if Wort copied a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Torment of Hailfire" href="#" target="_blank">Torment of Hailfire</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>? Absolutely gross.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Cornered by Black Mages"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Circle of Power"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Witherbloom Apprentice"></div></div>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Manamorphose"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Tavern Scoundrel"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sedgemoor Witch"></div></div>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Wort, the Raidmother"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Torment of Hailfire"></div></div>
<p>I hope you enjoyed exploring some lesser-played partner pairs that deserve some love! Hopefully, this has inspired some of you, and if it has, happy brewing!</p>


5 Underplayed Commander Partner Pairings

Building a Jodah, the Unifier Deck Tech With Legendary Permanents

<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dreamtide Whale" href="#" target="_blank">Dreamtide Whale</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://ronspearsart.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ron Spears</a></em></p>
<div></p>
<p>As we move into the second half of 2025 it's once more time for another Archidekt Deckbuilding Contest.</p>
<p>This is a monthly contest with a different theme each month. Your goal is to build a Commander-legal deck that fulfills the prompt in a creative or unique fashion. At the end of each month, three finalists will be selected for you to vote on.</p>
<p>Whoever gets the most votes will be crowned the winner, although all three finalists receive a prize.</p>
<p>This month we're exploring what's possible with a transformational sideboard in commander. Similar in concept to a modular deck, the goal of a transformational sideboard is to add as much variety to your deck in as little space as possible.</p>
<p></div>
<div></p>
<h2>What’s the Contest All About?</h2>
<p>Working within the parameters of the prompt provided below, construct a decklist with your own creative spin. Three chosen finalists will be awarded <a href="https://www.cardsphere.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">store credit to use on Cardsphere</a>.</p>
<p><strong>For July's deck building contest - </strong>build a Commander-legal deck with a 20 card transformational "sideboard." This should be 20 cards that you can swap into your deck to change it's theme, power level, or to an entirely different commander.</p>
<p>Decks will be judged on their creativity and originality, as well as how effectively the sideboard transforms the deck. Submissions should also clearly indicate what cards would be swapped out through the use of a custom category.</p>
<p>See this deck, which swaps between creatures and planeswalkers, as an example: <a href="https://archidekt.com/decks/13608220" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://archidekt.com/decks/13608220</a>.</p>
<p></div>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kenrith, the Returned King"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Atraxa, Praetors&#039; Voice"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Muldrotha, the Gravetide"></div></div>
<p>Commander decks are large, but somehow never large enough to fit all the cards I want. Especially for commanders that easily support multiple themes, I invariably end up with a pile of 150 cards that all support different strategies.</p>
<p>Instead of having to put all those extra cards away, why not set them aside to swap in later? This let's you easily test different versions of your deck, or just quickly vary the play experience from game to game. Especially for themes that have significant overlap, like Enchantress, Tokens, and Lands, you can also shift the primary focus of your deck from one to another to stop a deck from ever feeling stale.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rhystic Study"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Smothering Tithe"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Underworld Breach"></div></div>
<p>A transformational sideboard could also be used to help match the power level of a given pod. When playing at a local game store or convention it's helpful to be flexible with the strength of your deck. Swapping in or out <a href="https://edhrec.com/top/game-changers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Game Changers</a>, or just adjusting some of the more focused cards in the deck to match a more relaxed pod.</p>
<p>This also saves space compared to carrying around multiple decks, and is a great approach for rediscovering the magic in an old favorite by reintroducing old cards you cut for upgrades.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Lord Windgrace"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Yurlok of Scorch Thrash"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Korvold, Fae-Cursed King"></div></div>
<p>Taking this concept as far as possible, you could even swap your commander for a different one, along with a set of cards to better support them. This is a great way to get extra mileage out of an expensive mana base, compare how two similar commanders actually play, or get even more variety in your games.</p>
<p>At its most extreme, you could change both the commander and theme of your deck, functionally fitting two decks into 120 cards. How creative can you get with 20 extra cards?</p>
<h2>How to Participate</h2>
<ul>
<li>Brew an EDH/Commander-legal deck on <a href="https://archidekt.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Archidekt</a> that satisfies the prompt.</li>
<li>Any unreleased cards spoiled during the contest’s duration are allowed.</li>
<li>Silver-bordered and acorn cards, while cool, are not allowed.</li>
<li>Digital-only cards (such as those designed for the Alchemy format on Arena) are not allowed.</li>
<li>Strictly one deck submitted per user.</li>
</ul>
<p>Reply to the Archidekt news post, or submission post on the <a href="https://discord.gg/sctEc9Ru36" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Archidekt Discord</a> with a link to your deck before <strong>9:00 pm EST</strong> (UTC -4, currently) on <strong>Wednesday, July 9, 2025</strong> (do not submit the same deck in multiple places).</p>
<p>Only one submission per user! From the eligible submissions, we'll select three finalists with lists that we believe best embody the spirit of the prompt. Deck descriptions are not required but certainly may provide valuable context!</p>
<div></p>
<p>On <strong>Wednesday, July 16, 2025</strong>, we’ll announce three finalists via the Archidekt Discord and a brief article on EDHREC highlighting each deck.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.cardsphere.com/sets" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Each finalist will be awarded credit to use on Cardsphere</a>. The value of the credit is in US dollars and depends on the finalist's placement in deck upvotes at the end of the week-long polling period:</p>
<ul>
<li>1st Place Prize - $250</li>
<li>2nd Place Prize - $150</li>
<li>3rd Place Prize - $100</li>
</ul>
<p></div>
<p>Finalists will be contacted via email or Discord (depending on where they submitted) regarding their winnings within roughly 24 hours following the conclusion of voting on <strong>Wednesday, July 23, 2025</strong>.</p>
<p>Please note, you must have a Cardsphere account in order to receive your winnings. It's quick and free - <a href="https://www.cardsphere.com/signup?referrer=archidekt_contest" target="_blank" rel="noopener">register here</a> if you don't have an account already!</p>
<p>Here are the <a href="https://archidekt.com/contestRules" target="_blank" rel="noopener">official contest rules</a>. If you have any questions, feel free to ask here, or join the Archidekt <a href="https://discord.gg/sctEc9Ru36" target="_blank" rel="noopener">public Discord server</a>. We look forward to seeing what you all come up with!</p>


Archidekt Deckbuilding Contest - July 2025

<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Flubs, the Fool" href="#" target="_blank">Flubs, the Fool</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.adamrex.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Adam Rex</a></em></p>
<p>Hello, and welcome to <em>How To Be New</em>, the series where I give advice to new players, from a new player. If you’re here because you’ve never played <em>Magic</em> before but you saw the new <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tifa, Martial Artist" href="#" target="_blank">Tifa</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> card and now find yourself in the middle of a 15-hour <em>Magic</em> researching fugue state, go get some sleep! For the rest of you, welcome in. Today we're talking about how to cut cards from your Commander deck when you have more than 100.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Flubs, the Fool"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Laboratory Maniac"></div></div>
<hr />
<p>Ok, so, let me start with an anecdote. My friend, very graciously, gave me a copy of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Flubs, the Fool" href="#" target="_blank">Flubs, the Fool</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> when he found out I was getting into Commander. He was right to do so. I fell in love instantly. All the fun of playing <em>Magic</em> without all the confusion of having to make decisions?? That sort of thing’s perfect for a guy like me.</p>
<p>So I went into my collection that weekend. I have a lot of random bulk from various other dalliances with <em>Magic</em> in my past, including a full collection of the <em>Fallout</em> precons, so I had a lot to work through. Obviously I wanted things that would support <em>landfall</em>, since Flubs let me play extra lands. I also decided I wanted to do +1/+1 counters, since I saw that recommended for Flubs decks somewhere online. And obviously I wanted some things to help play cards from exile, since that synergizes very well with Flubs’ card draw ability.</p>
<p>By the time I got all of my candidates together, I was at over 200 cards. Not including lands. In what was going to be a <em>landfall</em> deck.</p>
<p>At least a couple of these had to go.</p>
<p>But which ones? How could I bear to cut any of my new friends? I had read every single one of these cards and imagined the dream scenario in which they would single-handedly win me the game. Now how could I possibly be expected to relegate some, or even most of them, back into the disorganized maelstrom which roils inside the big white box next to my desk? It’s scary in there. It’s certainly not the kind of place for <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lily Bowen, Raging Grandma" href="#" target="_blank">Lily Bowen, Raging Grandma</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. As my elder, she deserves my respect.</p>
<p>I ran into this constantly when I was beginning my Commander journey. There’s just so many fun <em>Magic</em> cards which can support all kinds of different plans. But you need to sit down at the table with just 100 of them. Here’s how I learned to do that.</p>
<h2>Step 1: Start With a Guide</h2>
<p>There are so many excellent guides out there for how to set up your Commander deck. They’re fantastically helpful when determining how many lands to run, how much removal, how many mana artifacts, etc. So which one should you choose?</p>
<p>There’s an extremely easy answer: any of them. Absolutely any of them will be fine. These are great places to start when building your deck, but will absolutely differ from deck to deck and from player to player. So just find one to look at and start setting your deck up using those numbers. For this guide, we’ll be using this one that <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSNV6224cHg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Command Zone</a> recently put together. Do I agree with every part of it? No. And that’s why it’s a perfect place to start.</p>
<p><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/cz-deckbuilding-template.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-150362" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/cz-deckbuilding-template-300x141.png" alt="" width="753" height="354" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/cz-deckbuilding-template-300x141.png 300w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/cz-deckbuilding-template-1024x483.png 1024w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/cz-deckbuilding-template-768x362.png 768w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/cz-deckbuilding-template-1536x724.png 1536w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/cz-deckbuilding-template.png 1910w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 753px) 100vw, 753px" /></a></p>
<h2>Step 2: Add the Lands</h2>
<p>This guide wants you to run 38 lands. I’ve heard many other players say that's a great target number. It will absolutely ensure that from your opening draw, you should have enough lands to not miss any land drops and be able to do all of the wonderful things you want your deck to do.</p>
<h2>Step 3: Don’t Touch The Lands</h2>
<p>Set those lands far away. Face down. Don’t look at them. Have your partner or roommate hide them from you if need be. Don’t touch those things. Consider them a foundational cornerstone of your deck. Put a post it note on your desk with “38” written on it so you don’t forget the number and move on to the rest of the guide. You’re going to want a good read on how the cards in your deck play together, and in order to do that, you’ll have to actually play them. So just go with a little more mana than you think you might need, at least for your first couple of games.</p>
<h2>Step 4: Fill In the Rest of the Guide</h2>
<p>Go through and, to the best of your collection's ability, follow the guide you’re using to the letter. Do exactly what it instructs you to do. As you’re going through, do you feel like 10 <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sol Ring" href="#" target="_blank">mana rocks</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are too much for your three-cost commander? Are you building a group hug deck and feel like maybe 18 disruption cards will sort of counteract what you’re trying to do at the table? Good. Those are useful feelings to have. Keep those with you as you fill out the nonland cards in your deck to the specifications in your guide of choice.</p>
<h2>Step 5: One In, One Out</h2>
<p>Now that you’ve got a sense for your whole deck, start to make some of those changes you were leaning towards before. But do it on a one in, one out basis. You can cut one card to swap in one other card. When you start to do this in sweeping moves or go too fast you’ll start to lose count, and soon you’ll find yourself deep in the dregs of everyone’s least favorite deckbuilding activity: counting through a big stack of cards (and then having it come up different when you do it again). Slow and steady wins the race here.</p>
<p>Take into consideration what you want in your deck. Personally, the “Plan Cards,” as they’re listed here, are my favorite part of EDH deckbuilding, and I have a really hard time keeping those down to just 30. So I’ll usually cut some disruption, and possibly some ramp, to fit in some of those cards that bring me joy every time I draw them. And what’s more, at this point, <em>I don't know</em> what’s going to be good yet! So I’m going to include everything I might want to try out and deal with the consequences later.</p>
<h2>Step 6: Cut a Couple Lands, as a Treat</h2>
<p>Look, 38 lands sounds really great, but I almost always go a little lower. If you’re playing, for example, Boros (<span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-w" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span><span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-r" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>) or like to live dangerously (Izzet, <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-u" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span><span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-r" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>), you can definitely cut a few. You’ve been very good so far, you deserve a little bit of self care. After all, if you draw dry in a game, you’ll have nobody to blame but yourself!</p>
<h2>Step 7: Play The Deck</h2>
<p>The <em>most</em> important step in this process is actually going to the game store and trying the deck out! Getting it out on the table is the only way you’ll be able to evaluate which cards should stay or go. It’s sometimes useful even to goldfish it (this is stolen advice from Am I The Bolas, and it means dealing yourself a hand and playing by yourself on your own table, just to see how things might shake out in a real game), maybe even more than once.</p>
<p>One other thing I like to do is take a small sideboard with a few cards you wanted to include but didn’t make the cut. Swap them in between games for some cards which seemed underwhelming in the first game. Continue to tinker like this to your heart’s content and <a href="https://youtu.be/Sr2PlqXw03Y?si=3Jcg5s9i36vT5hbJ&amp;t=11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">baby, you got a Commander deck going!</a></p>
<hr />
<p>To close the loop, as we fast forward to about six months from the day where I had to cut about 150 cards for my 100 card Flubs deck, I’d wager that maybe seven or eight of those cards are still there. It’s now a deck I call “Doctor Flubsenstein’s Monster” which seeks to reunite Flubs with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Laboratory Maniac" href="#" target="_blank">his creator</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and win by playing through the rest of the deck. It no longer places +1/+1 counters. It deals some with playing cards from exile. Honestly, even most of the <em>landfall</em> triggers have fallen out. This deck isn't concerned with things like damage or combat. Now it’s a timeless tale about mankind’s yearning for the one thing that cannot be produced in a lab: love.</p>
<p>But you don’t get to tell a whimsical sci-fi tale of tragedy, yearning, and man’s reach exceeding his grasp if you don’t get those 100 cards to the table. So use a guide, try it out, and rework the deck if it isn’t working. Whenever the process gets tiring, start over with a different deck idea.</p>
<p>Congratulations, you’re now a Commander player.</p>


New Player Guide - How to Cut Cards From Your Commander Decks

<p style="text-align: right;"><em>(<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Aeve, Progenitor Ooze" href="#" target="_blank">Aeve, Progenitor Ooze</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | by <a href="https://www.andrewkmar.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Andrew Mar</a>)</em></p>
<p>Hello and welcome back to <em>The Monolith</em>, the series in which we get players building more monocolored decks. Today I'll be continuing my quest to break each archetype out of its regular color pie by building a Storm deck in mono-green!</p>
<p>Storm? In mono-green? It's more likely than you think! And we'll even be storming off with fan-favorite and veritable meme card, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Slime Against Humanity" href="#" target="_blank">Slime Against Humanity</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>But how can I win a game without my <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Guttersnipe" href="#" target="_blank">Guttersnipe</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Archmage Emeritus" href="#" target="_blank">Archmage Emeritus</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>? What's the point of playing a million spells if there isn't a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Grapeshot" href="#" target="_blank">Grapeshot</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> at the end of it? Well that's simple, we just put our storm payoff directly into our command zone, with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Aeve, Progenitor Ooze" href="#" target="_blank">Aeve, Progenitor Ooze</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<h2>Gooped and Gagged</h2>
<p>Let's take a look at our commander for this build.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Aeve, Progenitor Ooze"></div></div>
<p>For <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-2" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span><span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-g" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span><span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-g" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span><span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-g" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> Aeve is a legendary 2/2 Ooze with storm. If you've not played with one of the most broken keywords in <em>Magic's </em>history before, storm spells copy themselves when cast for each spell you've already cast before it this turn. So if it's the third spell you've cast this turn, for example, you'll get two token copies of Aeve entering the battlefield with it.</p>
<p>Normally that'd be a problem for Aeve seeing as the card is legendary, but its rules text states that token copies of the card won't count as legendary to stop you from having to sacrifice them all to the legend rule as soon as they enter.</p>
<p>As if that wasn't enough, each of them will enter with a +1/+1 counter on it for each other Ooze you control. That means each copy gets bigger and bigger as it enters, seeing all the copies that came before it, not to mention any Oozes you already had on board.</p>
<p>If we can cast enough spells in a single turn before dropping our commander, we could get ourselves a pretty enormous board. And the wider the board gets, the taller it gets as well.</p>
<h2>Slime Time</h2>
<p>So we want to be casting a lot of spells on our turn, but the question remains: what spells will we be casting?</p>
<p>For this deck idea, we'll be committing some crimes. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Slime Against Humanity" href="#" target="_blank">Slime crimes</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Slime Against Humanity"></div></div>
<p>You're looking at a three mana green sorcery that creates a 0/0 Ooze token and then puts +1/+1 counters on it equal to the number of same-named cards in your graveyard or in exile (plus two). It's one of those silly "you can have any number in a deck" cards, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Persistent Petitioners" href="#" target="_blank">Persistent Petitioners</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hare Apparent" href="#" target="_blank">Hare Apparent</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. This card also does well in Ooze typal decks as the card will also check for Ooze cards when dishing out its +1/+1 counters.</p>
<p>Importantly for this build, it's a spell we can cast a lot of and one that makes a progressively larger Ooze creature token each time we do so. The plan is to use that Ooze to make mana, draw us cards, and even buff up our Aeve tokens as they enter. So how do we go about doing that? Let's talk about mana first.</p>
<h2>They're Green, They May as Well Be Forests</h2>
<p>This deck was predominantly inspired by my favorite Standard deck in the current meta, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Insidious Roots" href="#" target="_blank">Insidious Roots</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. This Golgari (<span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-bg" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>) enchantment makes a Plant token every time a creature card leaves your graveyard. Then all your Plants get bigger. When combined with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler" href="#" target="_blank">Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, which can not only trigger the card's effect but also lets your tokens tap for mana on the turn they come down, you can do some pretty crazy comboing!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Insidious Roots"></div></div>
<p>But why let the dual colored decks have all the fun? With enough setup (afforded to us by the naturally longer games of Commander) we can do something just as nuts, and have a payoff card ready to roll in our command zone to boot.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Enduring Vitality"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Cryptolith Rite"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Jaheira, Friend of the Forest"></div></div>
<p>Our Ooze tokens might not tap for mana on their own, but there's a few different cards in green that will provide us with the same effect. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Enduring Vitality" href="#" target="_blank">Enduring Vitality</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is by far the strongest of the bunch, giving us the rules text we need as well as reanimating itself the first time it gets removed. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Jaheira, Friend of the Forest" href="#" target="_blank">Jaheira, Friend of the Forest</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> isn't a bad pick either for a cheap option, as we'll mostly want to be tapping token creatures anyway.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Elven Chorus"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Citanul Hierophants"></div></div>
<p>The above options cost a little more mana to get on the board, but <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Elven Chorus" href="#" target="_blank">Elven Chorus</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> does provide us with some potential extra reach if we find ourselves with nothing to cast in hand mid-storm. If there's a creature card on the top of our library, it could get us back up and running just when we need it.</p>
<h3>I Need That Mana Now!</h3>
<p>The other element of the combo we'll need to replicate is Tyvar's bonus effect of giving activated abilities haste, allowing you to effectively replace your spent mana by tapping the token you've just made. As Tyvar himself is out of your color identity, you'll have to get some other options.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Surrak and Goreclaw"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Concordant Crossroads"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Akroma&#039;s Memorial"></div></div>
<p>Giving haste to your creatures in mono-green isn't super easy, especially when you need it to be a static effect that'll account for each creature entering the battlefield this turn. That's why colorless cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Crashing Drawbridge" href="#" target="_blank">Crashing Drawbridge</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> unfortunately won't cut it. We do have options, but they're either very expensive to cast, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Surrak and Goreclaw" href="#" target="_blank">Surrak and Goreclaw</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, very expensive to buy, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Concordant Crossroads" href="#" target="_blank">Concordant Crossroads</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, or both (looking at you, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Akroma&#039;s Memorial" href="#" target="_blank">Akroma&#039;s Memorial</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>).</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Runadi, Behemoth Caller"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Thousand-Year Elixir"></div></div>
<p>A better fit would be the classic <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thousand-Year Elixir" href="#" target="_blank">Thousand-Year Elixir</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, which can find a home in pretty much any deck that cares about creatures tapping. But specifically for this deck, I think you'll struggle to find a better fit for what we want to achieve than <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Runadi, Behemoth Caller" href="#" target="_blank">Runadi, Behemoth Caller</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>This card is an absolute slam dunk in our deck as it not only works as a mana creature itself, it also gives haste to all creatures on our board with three or more +1/+1 counters on them. For the record, that's basically every Ooze we make after the first. Not to mention that it'll give haste to pretty much every copy of Aeve if things are going well.</p>
<h2>Budget Blubber</h2>
<p>The next element we need in our cursed combo is something to reduce the cost of our spells. Much like with the flash-in-the-pan Ruby Storm deck we saw in Modern last year, by reducing the cost of our spells we can potentially make them mana neutral (or perhaps even positive!) to allow us to keep comboing off.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Emerald Medallion"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Cloud Key"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Helm of Awakening"></div></div>
<p>We've actually got a decent amount of options here as well, including <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Emerald Medallion" href="#" target="_blank">the green version</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ruby Medallion" href="#" target="_blank">Ruby Storm&#039;s medallion</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> which will reduce all of our green spells by <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-1" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Primal Amulet"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Semblance Anvil"></div></div>
<p>We're in mono-green, so we shouldn't struggle too much for mana, but ideally we want to drop all the colorless cost from our slime crimes. That way we just need to pay for the green, which our token will be able to do for us from the last copy of the spell we've cast. For that we'll need to get two cost-reducers on board.</p>
<p>But just like with our haste problems, there's actually a fantastic card available to us that'll make our lives much easier. The <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Locket of Yesterdays" href="#" target="_blank">Locket of Yesterdays</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> makes me feel like someone from the past knew I was going to build this deck one day. Fitting, seeing as it was printed in <em>Time Spiral</em>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Locket of Yesterdays"></div></div>
<p>This card will reduce the cost of all our spells for each other copy of it already in the graveyard. Literally perfect for reducing the price of our slime crimes. From the third one we cast onwards, we'll only be paying <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-g" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>. And we could even reduce that if we add in <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Defiler of Vigor" href="#" target="_blank">Defiler of Vigor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></p>
<h2>Outta Slime, Outta Time</h2>
<p>As with every storm deck, you can assemble the absolute perfect engine with everything you need to pop off. But if you run out of spells, your turn will come to a crashing halt and deflating fizzle. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Slime Against Humanity" href="#" target="_blank">Slime Against Humanity</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> isn't a cantrip, which means we need to make sure we're drawing enough cards to keep our engine ticking as we cast it over and over again.</p>
<p>Green has a few ways of drawing cards, but most of them are tied to the creatures you control. Which, for the combo we're assembling here, is kinda perfect! A card like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Garruk&#039;s Uprising" href="#" target="_blank">Garruk&#039;s Uprising</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will trigger a card draw for every slime crime we make after the first, as well as giving us trample when we finally swing out with all our tokens.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Garruk&#039;s Uprising"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Outcaster Trailblazer"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Outcaster Trailblazer" href="#" target="_blank">Outcaster Trailblazer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> gives us double effectiveness as it not only gives the same card draw effect as Garruk's Uprising, but we can also plot it. Plotting allows us to cast it for free on a subsequent turn, which will then count towards our storm tally when we need it! He even comes with a free mana of any color when he enters.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Selvala, Heart of the Wilds"></div></div>
<p>For a wildly good fit in our deck though, check out <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Selvala, Heart of the Wilds" href="#" target="_blank">Selvala, Heart of the Wilds</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Selvala gives us a card draw whenever a creature enters under our control with more power than any creature on the battlefield. As each Ooze will be one point bigger than the last one, we can chain these draws off one after another.</p>
<p>Then with a huge board we can tap for a massive amount of green mana with Selvala's ability - mana we can then use to cast more spells and even our commander to finish off the turn.</p>
<h2>I Ooze, You Lose</h2>
<p>Now it's time to finish the game. Our perfect board state looks something like this:</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Garruk&#039;s Uprising"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Runadi, Behemoth Caller"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Locket of Yesterdays"></div></div>
<p>We'll also want five untapped mana sources, or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Selvala, Heart of the Wilds" href="#" target="_blank">Selvala, Heart of the Wilds</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> in an ideal world, to allow us to cast our commander and also give extra card draw. Then all the slime crimes we already have in hand will give us a head start.</p>
<p>We cast as many of said crimes as possible, effectively paying zero for each one. Our storm count gets bigger and bigger until we tap for five and bring out <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Aeve, Progenitor Ooze" href="#" target="_blank">Aeve, Progenitor Ooze</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Let's say we've cast seven copies of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Slime Against Humanity" href="#" target="_blank">Slime Against Humanity</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> beforehand.</p>
<p>One by one, eight copies of Aeve will enter the battlefield. They'll have a minimum power and toughness ranging from 9/9 to 16/16. Every single one will have haste from Runadi, and trample from Garruk's Uprising.</p>
<p>Swing. Win.</p>
<p>That's it for this week's edition of <em>The Monolith</em>, let me know in the comments below how you would build a deck like this. Mono-green isn't the standard home of Spellslinger decks, but I think it has some chops. For more monocolored shenanigans, make sure to tune in next week to <em>The</em> Monolith. Until then, happy slinging and happy sliming!</p>


Mono-Green Storm with Aeve, Progenitor Ooze

<h6 style="text-align: right;">(<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Downsize" href="#" target="_blank">Downsize</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | <a href="https://www.ryanpancoast.com/">Ryan Pancoast</a>)</h6>
<div></p>
<p>Welcome to spring! My name is Ben, and you may know me from <em>Conditions Allow</em>, my article series on EDHREC and <a href="https://commandersherald.com/tag/conditions-allow/">Commander's Herald</a>. It is my great pleasure to bring the Archidekt Deckbuilding Contest to EDHREC.</p>
<p>This will be a monthly contest with a different theme each month.</p>
<p>Your goal is to build a Commander legal deck that fulfills the prompt in a creative or unique fashion. At the end of each month, three finalists will be selected for you to vote on.</p>
<p>Whoever gets the most votes will be crowned the winner, although all three finalists receive a prize.</p>
<p>This month, we're getting into the spring cleaning spirit by cutting a color from our decks.</p>
<p></div>
<div></p>
<h3>What’s The Contest All About?</h3>
<p>Working within the parameters of the prompt provided below, construct a decklist with your own creative spin. Three chosen finalists will be awarded <a href="https://www.cardsphere.com/">store credit to use on Cardsphere</a>.</p>
<p><strong>For April's deckbuilding contest, construct a Commander-legal deck that uses fewer colors than are in the commander's color identity. You may include lands to cast your commander, but spells and abilities must not require the color you're omitting. </strong></p>
<p><strong>For example, if you choose to build an Izzet deck with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Eshki Dragonclaw" href="#" target="_blank">Eshki Dragonclaw</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> as your commander, you cannot include any cards that require green mana to cast or use, but you can include green lands to cast Eshki. As always, decks will be judged on creativity and originality.</strong></p>
<p></div>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Yasova Dragonclaw"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Obosh, the Preypiercer"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rigo, Streetwise Mentor"></div></div>
<p>This contest prompt is inspired by the growing list of commanders that don't require all of their colors to be cast. Commanders like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Alesha, Who Smiles at Death" href="#" target="_blank">Alesha, Who Smiles at Death</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Keruga, the Macrosage" href="#" target="_blank">Keruga, the Macrosage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Jinnie Fay, Jetmir&#039;s Second" href="#" target="_blank">Jinnie Fay, Jetmir&#039;s Second</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can all helm decks that leave out one color in their identity.</p>
<p>Two color decks often have cheaper mana bases, or you might prefer how a deck with fewer colors plays. Some of these commanders also naturally push you to prioritize one color over the others.</p>
<p>An Alesha deck with no other red cards can more easily optimize it's mana base to pay for her activated ability. On the other hand, you can build Simic <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Yasova Dragonclaw" href="#" target="_blank">Yasova Dragonclaw</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to play the rare theft deck without red.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Nethroi, Apex of Death"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Prossh, Skyraider of Kher"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Raffine, Scheming Seer"></div></div>
<p>Of course, you can choose any commander for this challenge, not just ones that abridge their own mana costs. This is a great opportunity to push strategies outside of their normal colors while having support from a strong commander.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nethroi, Apex of Death" href="#" target="_blank">Nethroi, Apex of Death</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can lead a Selesnya reanimator deck, or a Golgari aggro deck that cheats its smaller attackers into play en masse. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Raffine, Scheming Seer" href="#" target="_blank">Raffine, Scheming Seer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> could make for an interesting Orzhov or even mono black tempo deck.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Inalla, Archmage Ritualist"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sidar Jabari of Zhalfir"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Oloro, Ageless Ascetic"></div></div>
<p>Perhaps the easiest route to take is to choose a commander that doesn't need to be cast at all. You can easily build a deck of any color with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Ur-Dragon" href="#" target="_blank">The Ur-Dragon</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Oloro, Ageless Ascetic" href="#" target="_blank">Oloro, Ageless Ascetic</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> has been helming mono white lifegain decks for almost as long as Commander's been around.</p>
<p>These commanders tend to be more specific to a creature type or theme, however, so building a creative deck that stands out will be more difficult.</p>
<h3>How To Participate</h3>
<ul>
<li>Brew an EDH/Commander legal deck on <a href="https://archidekt.com/">Archidekt</a> that satisfies the prompt.</li>
<li>Any unreleased cards spoiled during the contest’s duration are allowed.</li>
<li>Silver-bordered and acorn cards, while cool, are not allowed.</li>
<li>Digital-only cards (such as those designed for the Alchemy format on Arena) are not allowed.</li>
<li>Strictly one deck submitted per user.</li>
</ul>
<p>Reply to the <a href="https://archidekt.com/forum/thread/11254934">Archidekt newspost</a>, or submission post on the <a href="https://discord.gg/sctEc9Ru36">Archidekt Discord</a> with a link to your deck before <strong>9:00 pm EST</strong> (UTC -5, currently) on <strong>Wednesday, April 9, 2025</strong> (do not submit the same deck in multiple places).</p>
<p>Only one submission per user! From the eligible submissions, we'll select three finalists with lists that we believe best embody the spirit of the prompt. Deck descriptions are not required but certainly may provide valuable context!</p>
<div></p>
<p>On <strong>Wednesday, April 16, 2025</strong>, we’ll announce three finalists via the Archidekt Discord and a brief article on EDHREC highlighting each deck.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.cardsphere.com/sets">Each finalist will be awarded credit to use on Cardsphere</a>. The value of the credit is in US dollars and depends on the finalist's placement in deck upvotes at the end of the week-long polling period:</p>
<ul>
<li>1st Place Prize - $250</li>
<li>2nd Place Prize - $150</li>
<li>3rd Place Prize - $100</li>
</ul>
<p></div>
<p>Finalists will be contacted via email or Discord (depending on where they submitted) regarding their winnings within roughly 24 hours following the conclusion of voting on <strong>Wednesday, April 23, 2025</strong>.</p>
<p>Please note, <a href="https://www.cardsphere.com/login">you must have a Cardsphere account</a> in order to receive your winnings. It's quick and free-- <a href="https://www.cardsphere.com/">register here</a> if you don't have an account already!</p>
<p><a href="https://archidekt.com/contestRules">Official contest rules</a>.</p>
<p>If you have any questions, feel free to ask here, or join the Archidekt <a href="https://discord.gg/sctEc9Ru36">public Discord server</a>. We look forward to seeing what you all come up with!</p>


Archidekt Deckbuilding Contest - April 2025

<h6 style="text-align: right;">(<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Swamp|FDN|286" href="#" target="_blank">Swamp</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.stevenbelledin.com/">Steven Belledin</a>)</h6>
<h1>Your Deck is a Canvas</h1>
<p>With <em>Tarkir: Dragonstorm</em> just around the corner, spoilers are starting to finally pull their way through the bloat of Universes Beyond.</p>
<p>As I'm writing this I've just now seen a little preview of the full art basics we'll be treated to in packs and bundles via a <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/saffronolive.bsky.social/post/3lknprwike227">post on BlueSky</a> from good old Saffron Olive.</p>
<p><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/tarkir-full-arts.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-146734 size-full" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/tarkir-full-arts.jpg" alt="A preview of the full art basic lands in Tarkir: Dragonstorm. Close ups of the eyes of dragons whose colours match those of the five colours of magic. Their pupils the shape of each mana symbol." width="1449" height="431" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/tarkir-full-arts.jpg 1449w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/tarkir-full-arts-300x89.jpg 300w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/tarkir-full-arts-1024x305.jpg 1024w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/tarkir-full-arts-768x228.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1449px) 100vw, 1449px" /></a></p>
<p>Would you just take a look at those! I'm well aware that the art of full art basics can be a touchy subjects for <em>Magic: The Gathering</em> purists.</p>
<p>But personally I'm in love with these. Even as a player that doesn't usually run dragon focussed decks. They're such a perfect blend of the modern, glossy stylings of recent full arts that we've become accustomed to with truly classic fantasy art.</p>
<p>This cycle in fact was illustrated by none other than <a href="https://ronspencer.wordpress.com/">Ron Spencer</a> , one of the original collection of artists that worked on <em>Magic's</em> <em>Alpha</em> set.</p>
<h2>The Beauty of Basic Lands</h2>
<p>And this got me thinking, once again, about all the gorgeous art we're treated to in this game of ours. One of my favorite things about building mono decks, in any format, is the amount of beautiful basic lands you can flood your deck with.</p>
<p>And as this is <em>The Monolith</em>, the column in which I try to convince you to build more mono decks, this seems like a perfect opportunity to gaze and gawp at some of the most gorgeous illustrations your mana base can have.</p>
<p>For this list I'm going to be sticking with only full arts that are available in standard sets. Regular game pieces that you get from a booster pack, just like any other card.</p>
<p>There's plenty of stunning illustrations in Secret Lairs and promos, but the cards listed on this article aren't locked behind paywalls or artificial scarcity.</p>
<p>They're a part of the game just like any other basic land. So with that being said, let's take a look at some of the most beautiful basics money can buy.</p>
<h2>Foundations</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Plains|FDN|282"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Island|FDN|285"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Swamp|FDN|286"></div></div>
<p>I'll kick off with some recency bias in the shape of what has to be the coolest core set we've ever had, right? Foundations was a slam dunk in my opinion, providing a perfect jumping off point for new players whilst also establishing a new bedrock for standard decks of all kinds.</p>
<p>There's some nice new designs, a tonne of old favourites, and most importantly - some absolutely beautiful art.</p>
<p>And the full art lands are no exception. There's two cycles, all portraying locations from across <em>Magic's</em> multiverse including planes from sets old and new.</p>
<p>My favorite of the two depicts some of the settings most iconic Planeswalkers relaxing in the vistas. I love the way they cut silhouettes across the landscapes and add a nice sense of scale to the artworks. Not to mention the absolutely beautiful colors.</p>
<p>Just look at Ajani's Plains. The incredible sunset hues, glowing against his face. The wreaths of shadow slicing across the golden fields. Stunning.</p>
<h2>Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mountain|NEO|299"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Island|NEO|295"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Plains|NEO|293"></div></div>
<p>Magic's return to the plane of <em>Kamigawa</em> saw a departure from its roots as a play on traditional Japanese folk lore. Instead, <em>Neon Dynasty</em> flung itself far into the future with a cyberpunk twist. Mechs and motorbikes careened down neon soaked alleyways and the ninjas stalked the rooftops.</p>
<p>However, the set's full art basic lands looked back at the plane's original scope. To a Japan more feudal, rich with tradition and concerned with the old ways. A nod to the original set but also a celebration of the nation's artworks. Wood block prints and delicate ink-works.</p>
<p>The cards depict a <em>Kamigawa</em> more rural and pastoral than its future form in which the set takes place. And as a result, we're left with what must be some of the most enticing depictions of a <em>Magic </em>plane ever rendered on cardboard.</p>
<h2>The Brothers' War</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Swamp|BRO|282"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mountain|BRO|284"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Island|BRO|280"></div></div>
<p>Things don't have to be innately beautiful for one to make beautiful art of it. Whilst there are many tranquil scenes in <em>Magic's</em> world, most of the game's subject matter depicts stories of turmoil and strife.</p>
<p>And no classic story in <em>Magic's</em> cannon was so tragic and also caused so much destruction as that of the <em>The Brothers' War</em>. When Urza and his brotherly rival Mishra ravaged a world in their attempts to best one another.</p>
<p><em>The Brothers' War's </em>basics show the dichotomy artists strike when they illustrate for <em>Magic: the Gathering</em>. Between violence and beauty.</p>
<p>Themes of darkness and streams of lights. In their imagery, the lands show gargantuan war machines, alone in empty fields and swamps.</p>
<p>A mech the size of a skyscraper stands solemnly in a torrential storm at sea. All in masterful, oil-like landscapes that ape of the depictions of war from centuries past.</p>
<p>It's Pacific Rim meets the Dutch masters. It's beautiful and it's sick as hell.</p>
<h2>Theros: Beyond Death</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Forest|THB|254"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Plains|THB|250"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Island|THB|251"></div></div>
<p>Sets like <em>Theros: Beyond Death</em> and <em>Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty</em> that revisit planes from older sets, give an interesting insight to <em>Magic's</em> evolution over time.</p>
<p>You can hold one card up from the previous iteration next to another from the newest and physically gaze upon all the differences in the artworks between sets old and new.</p>
<p>The new blood of illustrators side by side with the old greats. The digital renderings of a modern card next to the traditional mediums of a classic.</p>
<p>The full art lands in <em>Theros: Beyond Death</em> were the topic of some controversy among <em>Magic</em> traditionalists when they released. "These aren't lands" they said. They're constellations. Nebulae. There's not a forest or a mountain in sight. And whilst on a surface level I agree, I do think the lands' detractors may have slightly missed the point.</p>
<p>There's plenty of abstraction in this game of ours. And whilst it's important to keep the game's themes rooted in internally consistent logic, the fact of the matter is that as ideas for planes get more ambitious - certain core principles need to adapt to fit in with those new designs.</p>
<p>Boiler rooms in haunted houses become mountains. Garden districts on top of skyscrapers become forests. And whilst <em>Theros</em> has plenty of regular lands to work with, it's also the domain of the gods. And here, the lands you seek are also among the cosmos. In beautiful and glittering starlight.</p>
<h2>Dominaria United</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mountain|DMU|280"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Forest|DMU|281"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Swamp|DMU|279"></div></div>
<p>But don't worry too much if you are a traditionalist, (although if you really are, are you even playing full arts to begin with?) because I've got a set of basic lands here that hark back to the stunning vistas of <em>Magic's </em>original setting, <em>Dominaria</em>.</p>
<p>Emblazoned in stained glass are a cycle of lands paying reverence to the myriad iconic locations of the OG plane. Floating cities and great forests surround stylized illustrations of the mana symbols.</p>
<p>The colours are bold and saturated and of all the standard sets' full art basic lands, these stand out from the rest of your board like no other. They're a perfect matching of style and substance for me. The perfect blend of a medium and a place to depict it with.</p>
<p>There's so much history in the lands of Dominaria and as the home of the Saga, the history depicting enchantment that pays homage to great stories in <em>Magic's </em>past, there seems no better way to make mana to cast them with.</p>
<p>I really like it when a card you can get in a standard booster pack feels like you've just ordered a secret lair by mistake. These lands have such a unique feel to them that stand out from so many of the other basics on offer.</p>
<p>Like they were custom-built for an artist to illustrate for some special drop. But they're not. They're right at the back of a <em>Dominaria United</em> pack.</p>
<p>Behind the <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tolarian Terror" href="#" target="_blank">Tolarian Terrors</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Temporary Lockdown" href="#" target="_blank">Temporary Lockdowns</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sheoldred, the Apocalypse" href="#" target="_blank">Sheoldreds</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> of an already fantastic set.</p>
<h2>The Best Land is Your Favorite Land</h2>
<p>One of the lovely things about art is its subjectivity, which means that no matter how hard they try any commenters on this article won't actually be able to tell me I'm wrong for these choices.</p>
<p>That does unfortunately go both ways however which means that in the end, whatever basics you love will also be the best of the bunch.</p>
<p>As long as they're in your deck. And no matter how much I disagree with your choices, that'll always be true. Funny how life is like that sometimes, huh?</p>
<p>Here's an honorary mention to the cool space lands from <em>Unfinity</em>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Swamp|UNF|242"></div></div>
<p>I'll see you in the next episode of <em>The Monolith </em>where I'll no doubt be checking out some cool new monocolored cards in Tarkir! Until then happy building, and happy full art admiring. I'll see you in the next one.</p>


Magic's Most Beautiful Full Art Basics

Deckbuilding Contest Finalists - March 2025

<h6 style="text-align: right;">(<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rhet-Tomb Mystic" href="#" target="_blank">Rhet-Tomb Mystic</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://nord-sol.com/">Irina Nordsol</a>)</h6>
<p>Friendly Greetings, and welcome to the premier issue of <em>Bracketeering</em>! I'm John Sherwood, Commander Bracket convert. When Wizards of the Coast first teased the idea of Commander Brackets, I was a skeptic.</p>
<p>I seriously doubted a bracket system would ever work. The announcement of the Commander Bracket Beta and the subsequent discussion in the Commander community changed my mind.</p>
<p>I felt inspired to think differently about deck building, and I'm sharing my refreshed perspective in this new series about using sideboards to play a Commander deck in multiple brackets.</p>
<h2>Commander Brackets</h2>
<p style="text-align: left;">Let's briefly review the Commander Brackets. The Commander Bracket Beta is a two-part method of grading and talking about Commander Decks.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Part one is the five brackets, which define deck levels on a spectrum of social to competitive gameplay.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Part two is a list of Game Changers; cards with major impacts on the Commander ecosystem.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">The chart below was posted by Rachel Weeks of the Commander Format Panel. In my personal opinion, this is the best summary of the Commander Bracket Beta.</p>
<h6 style="text-align: right;"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/bafkreifsw4y2lhndbag3mm27a7wvik66kqetueh6ujxksmvkac7igxydmi.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-145514" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/bafkreifsw4y2lhndbag3mm27a7wvik66kqetueh6ujxksmvkac7igxydmi.jpg" alt="Gradient chart of the Commander Brackets. Chart created by Rachel Weeks." width="600" height="400" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/bafkreifsw4y2lhndbag3mm27a7wvik66kqetueh6ujxksmvkac7igxydmi.jpg 600w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/bafkreifsw4y2lhndbag3mm27a7wvik66kqetueh6ujxksmvkac7igxydmi-300x200.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" /></a><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/rachelweeks.bsky.social/post/3liaihvemes2m">Commander Bracket Beta Chart from Rachel Weeks</a></h6>
<p>These brackets provide a framework for expressing a desirable Commander gameplay experience. Since the announcement of the bracket system, many Commander players have been excited to rate their existing decks, and build new decks within the parameters of a given bracket.</p>
<p>For those of us leaping into bracketeering: These new brackets also give us an opportunity to import a deckbuilding concept from other formats: sideboarding.</p>
<h2>Why Sideboard?</h2>
<p>For those who are unfamiliar, <em>Magic</em> formats that play best-of-three matches use a sideboard to tune a deck between the games of a match.</p>
<p>Now, I'm far from the first person to suggest sideboards for Commander, however I believe the new bracket system presents a perfect opportunity to adapt the concept for our format. A sideboard can fit in your deck box, taking up less space than multiple decks when you're traveling to play.</p>
<p>Building a sideboard can cost less money than building another deck. Maybe you have one commander or one theme that you really love, and you want to be able to adapt to the power of your pod.</p>
<p>Commander continues to be a dynamic format as the card pool expands outward and upward. A sideboard could be a great way to keep a deck's original feel, while also keeping up with new toys and power creep.</p>
<h2>Ground Rules</h2>
<p>Before we jump into the meat of the series and start Bracketeering our first deck, I'm going to lay out two guidelines for the series going forward.</p>
<p>First, our sideboards will not exceed twenty-five cards. This is consistent with other eternal formats in which a sideboard of fifteen cards equates to 25% of the deck.</p>
<p>Second, our sideboards will contain cards to enable a deck to shift up or down one bracket. This also means most of the decks in the series will begin in the Core (2), Upgraded (3) or Optimized (4) brackets.</p>
<h2>Eternal Might</h2>
<p>The recent release of <em>Aetherdrift</em> featured a preconstructed Commander deck themed around the undead of Amonkhet. <em>Eternal Might</em> is a Zombie theme deck seated firmly in the Core (2) Bracket.</p>
<p>The deck contains no combos, no Game Changers, and there is only one non-land tutor. Here's the whole deck list for reference:</p>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="(DRC) - Eternal Might" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Temmet, Naktamun&#039;s Will
[/Commander]
[Creature]
*1 Angel of Sanctions
*1 Archfiend of Ifnir
*1 Binding Mummy
*1 Cemetery Reaper
*1 Champion of Wits
*1 Corpse Augur
*1 Corpse Knight
*1 Cryptbreaker
*1 Eternal Skylord
*1 Fleshbag Marauder
*1 Forgotten Creation
*1 Gempalm Polluter
*1 Gleaming Overseer
*1 God-Eternal Oketra
*1 Grave Titan
*1 Gravecrawler
*1 Hashaton, Scarab&#039;s Fist
*1 Lazotep Chancellor
*1 Lord of the Accursed
*1 Lost Monarch of Ifnir
*1 Midnight Reaper
*1 Murderous Rider // Swift End
*1 Plague Belcher
*1 Priest of the Crossing
*1 Prophet of the Scarab
*1 Rhet-Tomb Mystic
*1 Rot Hulk
*1 The Scarab God
*1 Timeless Dragon
*1 Twisted Abomination
*1 Undead Augur
*1 Vizier of Many Faces
*1 Wayward Servant
*1 Wizened Mentor
*1 Zombie Master
[/Creature]
[Enchantment]
*1 Cast Out
*1 Dreadhorde Invasion
*1 On Wings of Gold
*1 Renewed Solidarity
[/Enchantment]
[Land]
*1 Accursed Duneyard
*1 Adarkar Wastes
*1 Arcane Sanctum
*1 Ash Barrens
*1 Caves of Koilos
*1 Command Tower
*1 Desert of the Glorified
*1 Desert of the Mindful
*1 Desert of the True
*1 Drowned Catacomb
*1 Evolving Wilds
*1 Exotic Orchard
*1 Fetid Pools
*1 Glacial Fortress
*1 Irrigated Farmland
*4 Island
*1 Isolated Chapel
*1 Orzhov Basilica
*1 Path of Ancestry
*5 Plains
*1 Prairie Stream
*1 Sunken Hollow
*5 Swamp
*1 Temple of Deceit
*1 Temple of Silence
*1 Terramorphic Expanse
*1 Underground River
*1 Unholy Grotto
[/Land]
[Instant]
*1 Commence the Endgame
*1 Despark
*1 Pull from Tomorrow
*1 Swords to Plowshares
[/Instant]
[Sorcery]
*1 Damn
*1 Dread Summons
*1 Dusk // Dawn
*1 Never // Return
[/Sorcery]
[Artifact]
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Bontu&#039;s Monument
*1 Commander&#039;s Sphere
*1 Crowded Crypt
*1 Dimir Signet
*1 Gate to the Afterlife
*1 God-Pharaoh&#039;s Gift
*1 Maskwood Nexus
*1 Orzhov Signet
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Talisman of Dominance
*1 Talisman of Hierarchy
[/Artifact]
[Planeswalker]
*1 Liliana, Death&#039;s Majesty
[/Planeswalker]"></span></div>
<p>Being centered in one of the most supported creature types, it should be easy to sideboard up into the Upgraded (3) Bracket. The real challenge for Bracketeering a Zombie deck will be stepping it down into the Exhibition (1) bracket.</p>
<h2>Upgrades</h2>
<p><a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/author/andy-zupke">Andy Zupke</a> published a great <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/eternal-might-precon-upgrade-guide-aetherdrift">Upgrade Guide</a> for this deck, which was very handy for preparing this article. I'm going to shamelessly borrow some of his ideas for our sideboard.</p>
<p>Three of Andy's picks are <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cleaver Skaab" href="#" target="_blank">Cleaver Skaab</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Endless Ranks of the Dead" href="#" target="_blank">Endless Ranks of the Dead</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rooftop Storm" href="#" target="_blank">Rooftop Storm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rooftop Storm"></div></div>
<p>Endless Ranks of the Dead and Cleaver Skaab are both strong synergy pieces for <em>Eternal Might</em>'s token subtheme. Rooftop Storm is an archetypal pillar for Zombies; powerful as an engine or combo piece.</p>
<p>Speaking of combo pieces, let's talk about a couple cards that are already in the deck. We've already got <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gravecrawler" href="#" target="_blank">Gravecrawler</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, a one drop that loops like a teenage summer soundtrack.</p>
<p>The precon also comes with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Corpse Knight" href="#" target="_blank">Corpse Knight</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> as a combo payoff. Plugging Gravecrawler into <a href="http://www.commanderspellbook.com">Commander Spellbook</a> yields some winning cards for the upgrade portion of our sideboard. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ashnod&#039;s Altar" href="#" target="_blank">Ashnod&#039;s Altar</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Carrion Feeder" href="#" target="_blank">Carrion Feeder</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Grimgrin, Corpse-Born" href="#" target="_blank">Grimgrin, Corpse-Born</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Phyrexian Altar" href="#" target="_blank">Phyrexian Altar</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are all sacrfice outlets for looping that Gravecrawler.</p>
<p>Combos become more prevalent as we move up from Core (2) to Upgraded (3), and inluding multiple sacrifice outlets will help this deck consistently field a combo.</p>
<p>Another way we can make our combos more consistent is to tutor for the combo pieces. As an Esper deck, Eternal Might has access to the best tutors, but <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Demonic Tutor" href="#" target="_blank">Demonic Tutor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Imperial Seal" href="#" target="_blank">Imperial Seal</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vampiric Tutor" href="#" target="_blank">Vampiric Tutor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are Game Changers.</p>
<p>Sideboarding too many Game Changers would push this deck into Optimized (4) instead of our target Uprgraded (3) bracket. To accurately hit that Upgraded (3) target, let's look at some <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Entomb" href="#" target="_blank">Entomb</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> effects dump our Gravecrawler in the bin.</p>
<p>Two of my favorites are <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Buried Alive" href="#" target="_blank">Buried Alive</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lively Dirge" href="#" target="_blank">Lively Dirge</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Buried Alive is outstanding value for mana, entombing three cards for one mana each. Lively Dirge does double duty as an entomb effect or reanimation spell.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Lively Dirge"></div></div>
<h2>Game Changers</h2>
<p>Since we're sideboarding this deck into the Upgraded (3) Bracket, we're allowed up to three Game Changers in this sideboard. One easy pick in this category is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bolas&#039;s Citadel" href="#" target="_blank">Bolas&#039;s Citadel</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bolas&#039;s Citadel"></div></div>This card provides card advantage, a sacrifice outlet and pressures our opponents' life totals while matching the deck's Egyptian-inspired aesthetic.</p>
<p>A deck that goes wide like <em>Eternal Might </em>should be able to leverage <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cyclonic Rift" href="#" target="_blank">Cyclonic Rift</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> for a win. Flooding the battlefield with Zombies and Rifting blockers out of the way is a tried and true recipe for victory. <div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Cyclonic Rift"></div></div></p>
<h2>Mana Base</h2>
<p>Eternal Might follows the precon pattern of slow, clunky lands. This is fine for an Exhbition (1) or Core (2) deck, but we want better tempo when we're bracketeering for Upgraded (3) game.</p>
<p>The precon contains six lands with cycling, and five of them are deserts that enter tapped. The deserts are thematic, but the deck doesn't have enough discard payoffs to justify their downsides at higher power tables. If you have the means to sideboard premium lands, then go for it.</p>
<p>Regardless of budget, a basic land is almost always better than a land that enters tapped. I would side out those deserts for basic lands, plus a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Contaminated Landscape" href="#" target="_blank">Contaminated Landscape</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lazotep Quarry" href="#" target="_blank">Lazotep Quarry</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Contaminated Landscape"></div></div>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Lazotep Quarry"></div></div>
<p>These lands are budget friendly, produce mana without entering tapped and they can fix colors in a pinch.</p>
<h2>Downgrades</h2>
<p>I'm hesitant to call this section Downgrades, but I don't know what else to call it. I'm open to suggestions. Drop your positive-spin Downgrade synonyms in the comments please.</p>
<p>In the meantime, I'm going to sideboard some cards that will increase this deck's thematic consistency; possibly at the expense of strategic consistency.</p>
<p>I'm a sucker for set mechanics, and I fell hard for Amass drafting War of the Spark. The original Amass mechanic thematically represented the army Nicol Bolas raised on Amonkhet.</p>
<p>There are eleven Amass cards that are not in the Eternal Might precon, and that gives us an avenue to double down on the deck's flavor. A lot of these cards were balanced for limited play, which should help the deck let off the gas and bask in warmth of Amonkhet's suns.</p>
<p>I'm adding all of them except <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Toll of the Invasion" href="#" target="_blank">Toll of the Invasion</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Crush Dissent" href="#" target="_blank">Crush Dissent</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. I personally feel targeted hand destruction like Toll of the Invasion doesn't belong in the social-forward atmosphere of an Exhibition (1) game.</p>
<p>Before <em>The</em> <em>Lord of the Rings</em> set improved Amass, I had a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kess, Dissident Mage" href="#" target="_blank">Kess, Dissident Mage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> Amass deck. Even in that jank pile, Crush Dissent was frequently a dead card, and I don't wish dead cards on anyone. Fortunately we still have nine other Amass Zombies cards for Exhibition (1) gold.</p>
<h2>The Sideboard</h2>
<p>Archidekt's card packages are a great tool for building and upgrading decks. I created this <a href="https://archidekt.com/decks/11772093/bracketeering_eternal_might_sideboard">Eternal Might Sideboard</a> as a Card Package, so anyone can add it directly to their deck without searching for the individual cards.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Bracketeering Eternal Might Sideboard" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Enchantments]
*1 Endless Ranks of the Dead
*1 Mindless Conscription
*1 Rooftop Storm
[/Enchantments]
[Creatures]
*1 Aven Eternal
*1 Carrion Feeder
*1 Cleaver Skaab
*1 Grimgrin, Corpse-Born
*1 Lazotep Reaver
*1 Vizier of the Scorpion
[/Creatures]
[Sorceries]
*1 Bleeding Edge
*1 Buried Alive
*1 Callous Dismissal
*1 Enter the God-Eternals
*1 Lively Dirge
*1 Relentless Advance
[/Sorceries]
[Instants]
*1 Cyclonic Rift
*1 Lazotep Plating
[/Instants]
[Artifacts]
*1 Ashnod&#039;s Altar
*1 Bolas&#039;s Citadel
*1 Phyrexian Altar
[/Artifacts]
[Lands]
*1 Contaminated Landscape
*1 Lazotep Quarry
*1 Island
*1 Plains
*1 Swamp
[/Lands]"></span></div>
<h2>What did the mummy say to the editor?</h2>
<p>"That's a wrap."</p>
<p>Bracketeering will be back next month with another deck and another sideboard. In addition to precons, Bracketeering will sometimes feature average decks from EDHREC's top commanders.</p>
<p>Comment below there's a deck you'd like to see featured in this series. Bracketeering a reader-submitted deck is also a possibility. Until next time, may your brews be fresh and your games be fabulous.</p>


Bracketeering - Eternal Might

<p style="text-align: right;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ashad, the Lone Cyberman" href="#" target="_blank">Ashad, the Lone Cyberman</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>| Art by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/ericwilkersonart/">Eric Wilkerson</a></p>
<h1>Rise of the Lone Cyberman</h1>
<p>Welcome back to <em>Beyond the Multiverse</em>, the series where we ditch our in-universe cards (or printings, in some cases) for those sweet triangle-stamped cards.</p>
<p>Today, we jump from tomb-raiding, like we did in <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/building-a-lara-croft-deck-with-only-universes-beyond-cards">the first article</a> to...the future? Kind of? We're delving through the <em>Doctor Who</em> set this time around, and the set has a lot to offer.</p>
<p>The set introduced a mechanic called Doctor's Companion, which gave us a myriad of new options for multiple color combinations, including a certain Secret Lair that had mechanically unique cards inside. However, we're not focusing on them.</p>
<p>Instead, we're looking at a Grixis option. One of the precons from that release, <em>Masters of Evil</em>, introduced a whopping six commander options for the deck.</p>
<p>For instance, you can use <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Davros, Dalek Creator" href="#" target="_blank">Davros, Dalek Creator</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to exterminate your opponents. Additionally, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Missy" href="#" target="_blank">Missy</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is sure to helm a unique deck.</p>
<p>Not today. Instead, we're looking at a more obscure option. One that, I feel, has been overlooked. Without further ado, let's see who I picked.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ashad, the Lone Cyberman"></div></div>
<p>Ashad is a villain from a more recent incarnation of the Doctor Who franchise: Thirteenth. Partially converted into a Cyberman while retaining the ability to feel, Ashad tried to restore the Cybermen to their former glory.</p>
<p>In addition, he needed to find the Cyberium, a database archiving Cyberman history. In doing this, he sought to wipe out all organic life in the universe, and even allied with The Master to do this.</p>
<p>He was defeated, then revived once more to attack the UNIT headquarters, where he met his end as victory came so close. But, what about his card?</p>
<h1>The Flesh is Weak</h1>
<p>I'm sure you remember one of the New Capenna Commander precons when looking at his card. Ashad is identical to <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Anhelo, the Painter" href="#" target="_blank">Anhelo, the Painter</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> in that they want you to take advantage of the Casualty mechanic to gain value.</p>
<p>While Anhelo copied instants and sorceries, Ashad wants you to copy artifacts. Going through the UB card pool, there's a lot of artifacts worth copying with his ability.</p>
<p>However, it's also worth noting that you must sacrifice artifact creatures for the Casualty ability. When you do this, Ashad gets a +1/+1 counter, making him sizeable. But, that is not the path we're taking.</p>
<h1>Restoring the Cyber-Empire</h1>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Cybership"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Death in Heaven"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Canoptek Spyder"></div></div>
<p>Ashad wants the 99 to be filled to the brim with artifacts, especially nonlegendary ones. For this, the deck has a minor tokens subtheme, so you can sacrifice them to Ashad's ability, making him a bit bigger in the process.</p>
<p>Don't expect to win with commander damage, because this deck is all about value. To flavor the deck, the best targets for Ashad are Cybermen, but there aren't many cards that can get them out. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cybership" href="#" target="_blank">Cybership</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (12,587 decks) makes them when it connects.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Death in Heaven" href="#" target="_blank">Death in Heaven</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (9,944 decks) acts as both Cybermen maker and graveyard hate, while <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Cyber-Controller" href="#" target="_blank">The Cyber-Controller</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is an anthem that also happens to make Cybermen...and that's basically it.</p>
<p>Despite feuding with the Cybermen during the Tenth Doctor's Era, the Daleks make for good fodder, too. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Genesis of the Daleks" href="#" target="_blank">Genesis of the Daleks</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (10,705 decks) has the first few chapters make tokens, but be sure to leave some behind to take advantage of that last chapter.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Dalek Emperor" href="#" target="_blank">The Dalek Emperor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> forces our opponents into a corner: Lose a creature or make a Dalek token that we can sac to Ashad later on. Ooo, evil!</p>
<p>Additionally, we can enlist some Necrons, to help us. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Royal Warden" href="#" target="_blank">Royal Warden</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (9,280 decks) makes tokens upon entry, and has Unearth, so we can do it again.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Technomancer" href="#" target="_blank">Technomancer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (10,177 decks) brings back nontoken artifacts you had to sacrifice so you can do it again.</p>
<p>Do it twice for a one-sided <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rise of the Dark Realms" href="#" target="_blank">Rise of the Dark Realms</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Canoptek Spyder" href="#" target="_blank">Canoptek Spyder</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (31,047 decks) draws lots of cards, yes, but what about a second Canoptek Spyder?</p>
<p>In a similar vein, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Canoptek Scarab Swarm" href="#" target="_blank">Canoptek Scarab Swarm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (28,366 decks) has the potential to give you lots of little critters. However, you'll need to buff them if you wish to sacrifice them to Ashad's ability.</p>
<h1>Setting the Scheme into Motion</h1>
<p>Most importantly, since Ashad is essentially an artifact commander, we'll need some artifact synergies. While the scope and depth of artifact synergies are not as incredible as our in-universe selection, there's still some good stuff here.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="One with the Machine" href="#" target="_blank">One with the Machine</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thirst for Knowledge" href="#" target="_blank">Thirst for Knowledge</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will draw us cards, keeping our hands filled. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Anrakyr the Traveller" href="#" target="_blank">Anrakyr the Traveller</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> lets us cast a card for free at the cost of life. Copying <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cryptothrall" href="#" target="_blank">Cryptothrall</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (31,205 decks) with Ashad's ability gives all of our artifact creatures hexproof.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Their Name Is Death" href="#" target="_blank">Their Name Is Death</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (28,023 decks) acts as a one-sided boardwipe for us, potentially allowing us to set up an alpha strike.</p>
<p>Also, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mystic Forge" href="#" target="_blank">Mystic Forge</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> lets us cast artifacts from the top of our library if we wanted to. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Skorpekh Lord" href="#" target="_blank">Skorpekh Lord</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (13,546 decks) is an anthem and grants evasion to artifact creatures, which reminds me of something.</p>
<h1>Rallying the Cybermen</h1>
<p>Anthems not only push the weaker creatures to that critical two power, but also help us dish out more damage.</p>
<p>The aforementioned Cyber Controller does it, even making the Cybermen it creates stronger. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Andúril, Narsil Reforged" href="#" target="_blank">Andúril, Narsil Reforged</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (34,686 decks) works, too, perhaps one of the best to include here.</p>
<p>However, it's an attack trigger, so be sure to equip it to an expendable creature. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Steel Overseer" href="#" target="_blank">Steel Overseer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is slower (unless it has haste somehow), but it can even make itself stronger.</p>
<p>The rest that are printed into the card pool (as of writing) lean towards kindred effects, thus we won't be able to maximize their potential here.</p>
<p>However, the deck I'm showcasing today has a secret weapon lying in wait.</p>
<h1>The Cyberium</h1>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Project Beyond-Rise of the Cyberheads" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Ashad, the Lone Cyberman
[/Commander]
[Lands]
*1 Academy Ruins
*1 Ash Barrens
*1 Buried Ruin
*1 Choked Estuary
*1 Command Tower
*1 Crumbling Necropolis
*1 Dragonskull Summit
*1 Drowned Catacomb
*1 Evolving Wilds
*1 Exotic Orchard
*1 Fiery Islet
*1 Foreboding Ruins
*1 Frostboil Snarl
*1 Haunted Ridge
*1 Inventors&#039; Fair
*4 Island
*4 Mountain
*1 Path of Ancestry
*1 Shipwreck Marsh
*1 Smoldering Marsh
*1 Spire of Industry
*1 Stormcarved Coast
*1 Sulfur Falls
*1 Sunken Hollow
*4 Swamp
*1 Temple of Deceit
*1 Temple of Epiphany
*1 Temple of Malice
*1 Terramorphic Expanse
[/Lands]
[Artifacts]
*1 Agility Bobblehead
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Charisma Bobblehead
*1 Chromatic Lantern
*1 Cursed Mirror
*1 Cybership
*1 Endurance Bobblehead
*1 Hedron Archive
*1 Intelligence Bobblehead
*1 Knight Paladin
*1 Luck Bobblehead
*1 Mind Stone
*1 Mystic Forge
*1 Perception Bobblehead
*1 Relic of Sauron
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Strength Bobblehead
*1 Talisman of Creativity
*1 Talisman of Dominance
*1 Talisman of Indulgence
*1 Trading Post
*1 Wayfarer&#039;s Bauble
[/Artifacts]
[Creatures]
*1 Anrakyr the Traveller
*1 Auton Soldier
*1 Canoptek Scarab Swarm
*1 Canoptek Spyder
*1 Chaos Defiler
*1 Cryptothrall
*1 Cyberman Patrol
*1 Cybermat
*1 Cybermen Squadron
*1 Dalek Drone
*1 Dalek Squadron
*1 Evin, Waterdeep Opportunist
*1 Helbrute
*1 Iron Man, Titan of Innovation
*1 Knight Rampager
*1 Lokhust Heavy Destroyer
*1 Morbid Opportunist
*1 Pitiless Plunderer
*1 Royal Warden
*1 Solemn Simulacrum
*1 Synth Infiltrator
*1 Technomancer
*1 The Cyber-Controller
*1 The Dalek Emperor
[/Creatures]
[Instants]
*1 Arcane Denial
*1 Bottle-Cap Blast
*1 Chaos Warp
*1 Cyber Conversion
*1 Deadly Dispute
*1 Galvanic Blast
*1 Go for the Throat
*1 Thirst for Knowledge
*1 Unexpected Windfall
[/Instants]
[Sorceries]
*1 Beacon of Unrest
*1 Blasphemous Act
*1 One with the Machine
*1 Their Name Is Death
[/Sorceries]
[Enchantments]
*1 Death in Heaven
*1 Genesis of the Daleks
[/Enchantments]"></span></div>
<h1>Of Cybermen and...Bobbleheads?</h1>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Luck Bobblehead"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Agility Bobblehead"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Charisma Bobblehead"></div></div>
<p>You read that heading correctly. We're using Bobbleheads, but why? First, they produce mana, even though they cost three to cast. Second is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Luck Bobblehead" href="#" target="_blank">Luck Bobblehead</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, which wants you to roll dice equal to the number of Bobbleheads you have.</p>
<p>I heard often that <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Urza, Prince of Kroog" href="#" target="_blank">Urza, Prince of Kroog</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is one of the main go-to commanders for Bobbleheads, but hear me out a minute.</p>
<p>With Ashad, you can use the Casualty trigger to copy the Bobbleheads as you cast them, so you end up with two on the field instead of one.</p>
<p>You have a small chance at having 14 of them out, thus increasing your odds of winning greatly. In addition, each Bobblehead comes with a second ability based on the number of Bobbleheads you have out. Luck can potentially win games, but what about the others?</p>
<h1>Bobbling Along</h1>
<p>Firstly, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Strength Bobblehead" href="#" target="_blank">Strength Bobblehead</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> puts +1/+1 counters on a creature you control. Could be useful to weasel out a win through commander damage. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Agility Bobblehead" href="#" target="_blank">Agility Bobblehead</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> grants haste and some potent evasion, enabling a massive swing with enough Bobbleheads out.</p>
<p>In addition, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Intelligence Bobblehead" href="#" target="_blank">Intelligence Bobblehead</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> draws us cards while <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Perception Bobblehead" href="#" target="_blank">Perception Bobblehead</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> lets us dig into our library and cast something cheap.</p>
<p>However, the last two are fairly weak, but do serve some purpose here.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Charisma Bobblehead" href="#" target="_blank">Charisma Bobblehead</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can potentially become an army in a can, but note that it creates 1/1 tokens that are not artifacts. So, unless you can find a way to make them stronger, they're essentially chump blockers.</p>
<p>Lastly, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Endurance Bobblehead" href="#" target="_blank">Endurance Bobblehead</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> grants a small buff (ironic, because it can enable the tokens from Charisma to, ah, convert them with Ashad's ability), and also grants indestructible for the turn.</p>
<p>But, it can only be activated at sorcery speed (like three other Bobbleheads), so its use is more narrow than I would like. A shame, really.</p>
<p>On another note, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mechanized Production" href="#" target="_blank">Mechanized Production</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (unfortunately not in this list) is perfect for the Bobbleheads: You get more of one Bobblehead, especially Luck, and you're even more likely to achieve a win condition, be it through Luck or the enchantment itself.</p>
<h1>Even More Casualties</h1>
<p>The lack of tutors in the list is a personal choice, but adding them would be a good idea if you're looking to focus on the alternate win condition more.</p>
<p>However, you can always smack your opponents down via combat damage if the stars don't align. Using Ashad's Casualty ability helps with this.</p>
<p>Doubling up on <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cybermen Squadron" href="#" target="_blank">Cybermen Squadron</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (36,421 decks) gives your artifact creatures double Myriad, so you get more triggers and attackers.</p>
<p>Just remember that they go away at end of combat, so you can't sacrifice them to Ashad unless you're flashing out something.</p>
<p>Two <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cyberman Patrol" href="#" target="_blank">Cyberman Patrol</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>s (29,527 decks) means that you get two instances of Afflict Three, so either they block and lose six, or you get through. That's a no-win situation for your opponents.</p>
<h1>Achieving Singularity</h1>
<p>In sum, there's more than just Urza who can utilize the Bobbleheads, and that an UB artifact deck is feasible. However, Ashad will not be the last of the many, many <em>Doctor Who Commander</em> options will be touching on.</p>
<p>He also will not be the last Grixis legend we'll explore either. I, for one, would like to build <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Valeyard" href="#" target="_blank">The Valeyard</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, but the current voting/choice numbers are not enough...yet.</p>
<p>Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. But, I'm going to try and spread out the <em>Doctor Who</em> love so there's not too many at once.<em> The Lord of the Rings</em>, for example, will be the same.</p>
<p>Tune in next time, were we jump from science fiction to something much different. Until next time, may the triangles bless your games.</p>
