The Top 10 Most Played Mardu Cards in Commander

<p>Welcome back to <em>Bottom of the Barrel</em>, where we pick a theme from EDHREC and look at the least played color combinations and pick a commander in those colors to brew a spicy new deck around.</p>
<p>Today's theme is a tremendously popular one: lands. Specifically, EDHREC labels this category as "<a href="https://edhrec.com/tags/lands-matter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lands matter</a>." If you look at the most popular decks in this strategy, they all share one common denominator: the color green. Today's deck asks the question: what happens when you take green away?</p>
<p>The most popular color combination for "lands matter" decks, with a whopping 15,000 decks in the database, is Simic (blue and green). This isn't surprising, as <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Omo, Queen of Vesuva" href="#" target="_blank">Omo, Queen of Vesuva</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> was a recent precon commander, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tatyova, Benthic Druid" href="#" target="_blank">Tatyova, Benthic Druid</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is one of the most cracked uncommons I've ever seen.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Omo, Queen of Vesuva"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Tatyova, Benthic Druid"></div></div>
<p>The least popular color combination, unsurprisingly, doesn't include green (or even blue!). With 40 decks in the database, Mardu (white, black, and red), has the fewest decks focused around the "lands matter" theme. As soon as I saw this color combination, I immediately thought of my favorite commander from <em>Commander Legends</em>: <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Toggo, Goblin Weaponsmith" href="#" target="_blank">Toggo, Goblin Weaponsmith</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Toggo, Goblin Weaponsmith"></div></div>
<p>Toggo makes Rocks, and that's hilarious.</p>
<p>In order to make Toggo work as our commander, we needed to add an Orzhov (black and white) partner. The most powerful choice would be <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>, a known powerhouse in cEDH, but I went for the safer option in <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>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Tymna the Weaver"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ravos, Soultender"></div></div>
<p>Yes, Tymna is strictly better, so if you want to build with Tymna, go for it. Just be aware that you may be targeted first.</p>
<h2>Category #1: Ramping Without Green</h2>
<p><em>Wizards of the Coast</em> has been printing a lot of cards in white lately that people lovingly call: "catch-up ramp." In order for us to get ahead with this deck, we must first be behind, and let's be honest, if we're playing against a green deck, we're already behind.</p>
<p>There are the usual suspects in white, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Archaeomancer&#039;s Map" href="#" target="_blank">Archaeomancer&#039;s Map</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Knight of the White Orchid" href="#" target="_blank">Knight of the White Orchid</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Keeper of the Accord" href="#" target="_blank">Keeper of the Accord</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Solemn Simulacrum" href="#" target="_blank">sad robot</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, but there is also the "new hotness" in <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Claim Jumper" href="#" target="_blank">Claim Jumper</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Deep Gnome Terramancer" href="#" target="_blank">Deep Gnome Terramancer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Archaeomancer&#039;s Map"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Knight of the White Orchid"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Keeper of the Accord"></div></div>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Solemn Simulacrum"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Claim Jumper"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Deep Gnome Terramancer"></div></div>
<p>Most of these cards search for a "<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Plains" href="#" target="_blank">Plains</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> card," so I made sure the deck is stocked full of them.</p>
<p>As I previously mentioned, we need to be behind in some cases, and that's not always guaranteed. That brings us to our next category...</p>
<h2>Category #2: Getting Behind</h2>
<p>There are several ways to force ourselves onto the back foot, and I'll be focusing on two specific strategies.</p>
<h3>Strategy #1: Bounce Lands</h3>
<p>Three multi-color bounce lands are available in this color combination: <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rakdos Carnarium" href="#" target="_blank">Rakdos Carnarium</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Orzhov Basilica" href="#" target="_blank">Orzhov Basilica</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Boros Garrison" href="#" target="_blank">Boros Garrison</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Outside of those, I've included <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Guildless Commons" href="#" target="_blank">Guildless Commons</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> as an extra way to enable our "catch-up" ramp cards.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rakdos Carnarium"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Orzhov Basilica"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Boros Garrison"></div></div>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Guildless Commons"></div></div>
<h3>Strategy #2: Sacrificing Our Lands</h3>
<p>Bounce lands are much safer than this, but a huge part of this deck's chemistry relies on our ability to sacrifice lands and profit from it. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nahiri&#039;s Lithoforming" href="#" target="_blank">Nahiri&#039;s Lithoforming</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can potentially allow us to re-trigger <em>Landfall</em> effects. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Reprocess" href="#" target="_blank">Reprocess</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Pitiless Carnage" href="#" target="_blank">Pitiless Carnage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="God-Eternal Bontu" href="#" target="_blank">God-Eternal Bontu</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> all let us sacrifice any number of permanents to draw <em>that many cards</em> (between Toggo's Rocks and our lands, that's a ton of value!), and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Braids, Arisen Nightmare" href="#" target="_blank">Braids, Arisen Nightmare</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> allows us to control what we want to sacrifice, oftentimes putting our opponents in a difficult position.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Nahiri&#039;s Lithoforming"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Reprocess"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Pitiless Carnage"></div></div>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="God-Eternal Bontu"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Braids, Arisen Nightmare"></div></div>
<p>Since we're sacrificing lands, we need ways to bring them back...</p>
<h2>Category #3: Regrowing Our Lands</h2>
<p>White has a really great ability to return permanents from our graveyard, and this can often include lands. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sevinne&#039;s Reclamation" href="#" target="_blank">Sevinne&#039;s Reclamation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Serra Paragon" href="#" target="_blank">Serra Paragon</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> both allow us to recur anything we want from our graveyard within reason. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Second Sunrise" href="#" target="_blank">Second Sunrise</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Faith&#039;s Reward" href="#" target="_blank">Faith&#039;s Reward</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Brought Back" href="#" target="_blank">Brought Back</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> allow us to bring back everything we sacrifice in a given turn (imagine casting <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Reprocess" href="#" target="_blank">Reprocess</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, sacrificing all of our lands, then getting them all back!). And outside of white, we have the most obvious inclusion in the deck: <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Crucible of Worlds" href="#" target="_blank">Crucible of Worlds</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sevinne&#039;s Reclamation"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Serra Paragon"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Second Sunrise"></div></div>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Faith&#039;s Reward"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Brought Back"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Crucible of Worlds"></div></div>
<p>There's an extra special card to recur our lands, but I'm saving that one until later.</p>
<h2>Category #4: <em>Landfall</em></h2>
<p><em>Landfall</em> abilities are a bit scarce in Mardu colors, but the options that we do have are pretty crazy. Every time I've seen <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Felidar Retreat" href="#" target="_blank">Felidar Retreat</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> hit the board since it was printed, it has been an absolute house. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Emeria Shepherd" href="#" target="_blank">Emeria Shepherd</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is an insane "reanimation" effect. And <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Emeria Angel" href="#" target="_blank">Emeria Angel</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> creates 1/1 flying tokens, which are more relevant than you might think.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Felidar Retreat"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Emeria Shepherd"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Emeria Angel"></div></div>
<h2>Category #5: The "Secret Spice"</h2>
<p>The secret spice for this deck includes a relatively unpopular commander: <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Yomiji, Who Bars the Way" href="#" target="_blank">Yomiji, Who Bars the Way</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Yomiji, Who Bars the Way"></div></div>
<p>There aren't a whole lot of legendary lands in Mardu colors, but I had to include them when I thought of how cool all of our sacrifice effects would be with Yomiji. We can't combo off immediately with Yomiji, but sacrificing lands feels less bad when you just get them all back to your hand.</p>
<p>While all this "looping lands" stuff seems cool, I'm sure you're asking the question: "How does it win?" Well, outside of the token plan with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Felidar Retreat" href="#" target="_blank">Felidar Retreat</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Emeria Angel" href="#" target="_blank">Emeria Angel</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, there's an absolute heater I need to talk about: <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Valakut Exploration" href="#" target="_blank">Valakut Exploration</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Valakut Exploration"></div></div>
<p>This card can provide us with extra card advantage, which is very good, but if we have one of those crazy turns where we're "looping lands," we could potentially kill the entire table with its second ability.</p>
<h2>Closing Thoughts</h2>
<p>This deck has been sitting in my drafts for a few months now, but I'm glad it finally gets to see the light of day. I hope you enjoyed my journey into "lands matter" today, and I hope you find inspiration in this article to build something wacky on your own!</p>
<p>Check out my decklist below:</p>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Bottom of the Barrel #11 - Ravos and Toggo Landfall" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Ravos, Soultender
*1 Toggo, Goblin Weaponsmith
[/Commander]
[Instants]
*1 Brought Back
*1 Cosmic Intervention
*1 Deflecting Palm
*1 Faith&#039;s Reward
*1 Path to Exile
*1 Second Sunrise
*1 Swords to Plowshares
[/Instants]
[Creatures]
*1 Beza, the Bounding Spring
*1 Bloodghast
*1 Braids, Arisen Nightmare
*1 Burnished Hart
*1 Claim Jumper
*1 Deep Gnome Terramancer
*1 Emeria Angel
*1 Emeria Shepherd
*1 God-Eternal Bontu
*1 Hardened Tactician
*1 Hedron Detonator
*1 Keeper of the Accord
*1 Knight of the White Orchid
*1 Loyal Warhound
*1 Serra Paragon
*1 Solemn Simulacrum
*1 Trove Warden
*1 Walking Atlas
*1 Yomiji, Who Bars the Way
[/Creatures]
[Enchantments]
*1 Curse of the Restless Dead
*1 Felidar Retreat
*1 Ghirapur Aether Grid
*1 Goblin Trenches
*1 Land Tax
*1 The Restoration of Eiganjo // Architect of Restoration
*1 Valakut Exploration
[/Enchantments]
[Sorceries]
*1 Cleansing Wildfire
*1 Farewell
*1 Nahiri&#039;s Lithoforming
*1 Night&#039;s Whisper
*1 Painful Truths
*1 Pitiless Carnage
*1 Planar Birth
*1 Reprocess
*1 Sevinne&#039;s Reclamation
*1 Sundering Eruption // Volcanic Fissure
[/Sorceries]
[Artifacts]
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Archaeomancer&#039;s Map
*1 Claws of Gix
*1 Crucible of Worlds
*1 Dragonspark Reactor
*1 Gerrard&#039;s Hourglass Pendant
*1 Ghirapur Orrery
*1 Mirage Mirror
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Staff of Titania
*1 Sunstone
*1 Surveyor&#039;s Scope
*1 Sword of Forge and Frontier
*1 Sword of Hearth and Home
*1 Zuran Orb
[/Artifacts]
[Lands]
*1 Abstergo Entertainment
*1 Alpine Meadow
*1 Boros Garrison
*1 Cactus Preserve
*1 Dark Depths
*1 Elegant Parlor
*1 Fabled Passage
*1 Field of the Dead
*1 Flagstones of Trokair
*1 Geier Reach Sanitarium
*1 Guildless Commons
*1 Horizon of Progress
*1 Kor Haven
*1 Lazotep Quarry
*1 Lotus Field
*1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
*1 Mines of Moria
*1 Mouth of Ronom
*1 Orzhov Basilica
*1 Prismatic Vista
*1 Rakdos Carnarium
*1 Rath&#039;s Edge
*1 Savai Triome
*1 Shadowy Backstreet
*3 Snow-Covered Mountain
*6 Snow-Covered Plains
*3 Snow-Covered Swamp
*1 Snowfield Sinkhole
*1 The Black Gate
*1 Thespian&#039;s Stage
*1 Tomb of Urami
[/Lands]"></span></div>


mardu edh

The Top 10 Most Played Mardu Cards in Commander

Ravos, Soultender and Toggo, Goblin Weaponsmith EDH Deck Tech