<h6 style="text-align: right;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Explosive Vegetation" href="#" target="_blank">Explosive Vegetation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | <a href="https://johnavonart.com/">Art by John Avon</a></h6>
<h1>"Eat Your Veggies" Deckbuilding</h1>
<p>Hello, and welcome back to <em>Singleton Shmingleton</em>, where I bend the singleton rules of Commander by building decks with as many functional reprints of a certain card as possible. This week's card is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Explosive Vegetation" href="#" target="_blank">Explosive Vegetation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, a four-mana ramp spell that takes me back to when I first started playing Commander. It was a simpler time, back when <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Scute Mob" href="#" target="_blank">Scute Mob</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> was overpowered and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Acidic Slime" href="#" target="_blank">Acidic Slime</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> was an auto-include.</p>
<p>At that time, more so than now, extensive ramp packages justified incredibly high curves, and no one played to the board before turn four at the very earliest. The philosophy was simple: you can play whatever you want, and it will work as long as you "eat your vegetables" by including ramp and removal. And no card better represents that mentality than <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Explosive Vegetation" href="#" target="_blank">Explosive Vegetation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, which even has picked up the nickname "veggies" to match its role. It isn't a particularly interesting card, it doesn't necessarily fit thematically with many commanders, but it's an easy way to switch from midgame to haymaker mode in a single turn.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Scute Mob"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Acidic Slime"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Explosive Vegetation"></div></div>
<p>As early as <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/in-the-margins-explosive-vegetation/">2018</a>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Explosive Vegetation" href="#" target="_blank">Veggies</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> was getting some flack for being too slow, and since then many content creators have advised to move ramp down the curve from four to three and then from three to two. But we still receive a new <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Explosive Vegetation" href="#" target="_blank">Veggies</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> variant every couple years, and these new cards show off the new era of card design for Commander. Cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Circuitous Route" href="#" target="_blank">Circuitous Route</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vastwood Surge" href="#" target="_blank">Vastwood Surge</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are designed to fill specific niches in specific decks by serving both as a responsible "eating your veggies" slot and furthering the deck's overall goal. In this way, four-mana ramp spells are trying to keep up with the competition in an ever-faster format.</p>
<p>There are now eleven cards that I would count as functional reprints of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Explosive Vegetation" href="#" target="_blank">Veggies</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. They all cost four mana and put two lands onto the battlefield. All of them happen to be green, unsurprisingly. Here they are:</p>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Explosive Vegetation" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Sorceries]
*1 Circuitous Route
*1 Expand the Sphere
*1 Explosive Vegetation
*1 Hunting Wilds
*1 Migration Path
*1 Path of the Animist
*1 Ranger&#039;s Path
*1 Skyshroud Claim
*1 Vastwood Surge
[/Sorceries]
[Lands]
*1 Blighted Woodland
[/Lands]
[Battles]
*1 Invasion of Zendikar // Awakened Skyclave
[/Battles]"></span></div>


<p>The most played of these cards is also the oldest: <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Skyshroud Claim" href="#" target="_blank">Skyshroud Claim</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> from <em>Nemesis</em>, with 158,909 decks to its name. The double upside of being able to fetch any Forests and putting them into play untapped makes this far and away the most efficient version of this effect without anything else tacked on. The next most-played is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blighted Woodland" href="#" target="_blank">Blighted Woodland</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, in 130,924 decks, which can function just fine as a land in situations that don't require ramp, and doesn't raise the mana curve. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Explosive Vegetation" href="#" target="_blank">Veggies</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> itself is number four, seeing play in 60,914 decks. The least played version is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Path of the Animist" href="#" target="_blank">Path of the Animist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> in 990 decks, despite being printed in a preconstructed deck. People really don't like having words on their cards that don't mean anything, so for the vast majority of players who don't play Planeshift, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Path of the Animist" href="#" target="_blank">Path of the Animist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is unappealing.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Skyshroud Claim"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Blighted Woodland"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Path of the Animist"></div></div>
<h2>Too Many Vegetables?</h2>
<p>Now that over 10% of our deck is devoted to four-mana ramp spells, we come up against a problem: Our ramp package is raising our curve so high that we might need to ramp into it. Or, at the very least, we need to put quite a few cheap cards into the deck so that we can play the game before our ramp spells. But in that case, what are we ramping into? Ramp strategies always have a difficult line to walk where they can draw all ramp and no payoffs or vice-versa, and having our mana acceleration farther up the curve exacerbates this problem.</p>
<p>So this deck needs to assume a slower game. This deck needs to assume we don't need a blocker until turn five, and assume that turning ten mana into twenty will matter. Isn't that a relief? Truth be told, I prefer aggressive strategies that prey on decks like this, but I can get down to spin some wheels for a few turns.</p>
<p>Now, if we're going to be aiming for some big mana, I know exactly the commander to lead this journey. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kruphix, God of Horizons" href="#" target="_blank">Kruphix, God of Horizons</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> loves mana and value, and once was a powerhouse strategy. Helming 2,819 decks today, he's still no slouch, but he used to be the pre-eminent Big Value commander in two of the game's best Big Value colors. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kruphix, God of Horizons" href="#" target="_blank">Kruphix</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will make it so any excess of cards or mana will not be wasted, and rewards us for generating absurd numbers.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kruphix, God of Horizons"></div></div>
<p>With this guy as our commander, our plan comes into focus. The best ramp payoffs to go with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kruphix, God of Horizons" href="#" target="_blank">Kruphix</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are colorless Eldrazi, since our overflow mana turns colorless. Several of the titans definitely make it in, and new card <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Desecrate Reality" href="#" target="_blank">Desecrate Reality</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> seems perfect here, acting as an instant-speed removal spell that we can hold up sneakily with only colorless mana.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kozilek, the Great Distortion"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kozilek, Butcher of Truth"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Desecrate Reality"></div></div>
<p>Some other cards work particularly well with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kruphix, God of Horizons" href="#" target="_blank">Kruphix</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wilderness Reclamation" href="#" target="_blank">Wilderness Reclamation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Awakening" href="#" target="_blank">Awakening</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Seedborn Muse" href="#" target="_blank">Seedborn Muse</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> all untap our lands for re-use on our opponents' turns, allowing us to store mana. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Helix Pinnacle" href="#" target="_blank">Helix Pinnacle</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> offers an alternate win condition to turn a lot of mana into a win without the extra steps. And the brand-new <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Millennium Calendar" href="#" target="_blank">The Millennium Calendar</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> turns wheel-spinning into a win surprisingly quickly, especially if we can activate its doubling ability multiple times per turn cycle.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Seedborn Muse"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Helix Pinnacle"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="The Millennium Calendar"></div></div>
<h2>Shuffle It Up</h2>
<p>One sneaky benefit of running so many cards that search for lands is that we have a lot of ways to shuffle our deck. This can combine very well with cards that manipulate the top of our deck, such as <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sensei&#039;s Divining Top" href="#" target="_blank">Sensei&#039;s Divining Top</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. We can time our shuffles and spin our top so that we only ever have to draw good cards. Playing blue lets us use Legacy all-stars <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Brainstorm" href="#" target="_blank">Brainstorm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ponder" href="#" target="_blank">Ponder</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and green adds standalone powerhouse <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sylvan Library" href="#" target="_blank">Sylvan Library</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and sleeper <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mirri&#039;s Guile" href="#" target="_blank">Mirri&#039;s Guile</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. But my favorite card in this package is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mishra&#039;s Bauble" href="#" target="_blank">Mishra&#039;s Bauble</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Any Modern player can tell you that it combines well with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Misty Rainforest" href="#" target="_blank">fetchlands</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, allowing you to choose when to shuffle your library based on whether you want to draw the top card or not. Similarly, if we crack the <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mishra&#039;s Bauble" href="#" target="_blank">Mishra&#039;s Bauble</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, the card we see can tell us whether to cast an <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Explosive Vegetation" href="#" target="_blank">Explosive Vegetation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or something else this turn. I know it's funny to say this about a card that sees play in over 45,000 deck, but <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mishra&#039;s Bauble" href="#" target="_blank">Mishra&#039;s Bauble</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (and it's brother <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Urza&#039;s Bauble" href="#" target="_blank">Urza&#039;s Bauble</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>) is underplayed. The cost of inclusion is so incredibly low, and it has little synergies with everything from artifact strategies to graveyard strategies to this, a big mana Eldrazi deck.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Brainstorm"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mirri&#039;s Guile"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mishra&#039;s Bauble"></div></div>
<h2>The Decklist</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Explosive Vegetation" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Kruphix, God of Horizons
[/Commander]
[Sorceries]
*1 Circuitous Route
*1 Cultivate
*1 Expand the Sphere
*1 Explosive Vegetation
*1 Gelatinous Genesis
*1 Genesis Wave
*1 Hunting Wilds
*1 Kodama&#039;s Reach
*1 Migration Path
*1 Nissa&#039;s Pilgrimage
*1 Open the Way
*1 Path of the Animist
*1 Ponder
*1 Preordain
*1 Ranger&#039;s Path
*1 Rite of Replication
*1 Skyshroud Claim
*1 Tooth and Nail
*1 Vastwood Surge
[/Sorceries]
[Lands]
*1 Alchemist&#039;s Refuge
*1 Blighted Woodland
*1 Breeding Pool
*1 Command Tower
*1 Dreamroot Cascade
*18 Forest
*1 Hinterland Harbor
*11 Island
*1 Misty Rainforest
*1 Myriad Landscape
*1 Rejuvenating Springs
*1 Restless Vinestalk
*1 Rimewood Falls
*1 Simic Growth Chamber
*1 Tangled Islet
*1 Temple of Mystery
*1 Yavimaya Coast
[/Lands]
[Battles]
*1 Invasion of Zendikar // Awakened Skyclave
[/Battles]
[Artifacts]
*1 Doubling Cube
*1 Mishra&#039;s Bauble
*1 Sensei&#039;s Divining Top
*1 Sol Ring
*1 The Millennium Calendar
[/Artifacts]
[Instants]
*1 Beast Within
*1 Brainstorm
*1 Capsize
*1 Counterspell
*1 Cyclonic Rift
*1 Desecrate Reality
*1 Pull from Tomorrow
*1 Stroke of Genius
[/Instants]
[Creatures]
*1 Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait
*1 Artisan of Kozilek
*1 Avenger of Zendikar
*1 Endbringer
*1 Eternal Witness
*1 Genesis Hydra
*1 Hydra Broodmaster
*1 Hydroid Krasis
*1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
*1 Kozilek, the Great Distortion
*1 Nyxbloom Ancient
*1 Omnath, Locus of Mana
*1 Scute Swarm
*1 Seedborn Muse
*1 Tatyova, Benthic Druid
*1 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
[/Creatures]
[Enchantments]
*1 Awakening
*1 Helix Pinnacle
*1 Mirri&#039;s Guile
*1 Sylvan Library
*1 Up the Beanstalk
*1 Wilderness Reclamation
[/Enchantments]"></span></div>


<p>This deck feels like home. My first few Commander decks were all Simic (blue and green) value piles trying to go over the top of everyone else, and this deck certainly does that. The nice thing about multiplayer <em>Magic</em> is that having a slower start often makes opponents forget about us, until we cast a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gelatinous Genesis" href="#" target="_blank">Gelatinous Genesis</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> with X=15. Fiddling with the top of our deck and searching up lands number twelve and thirteen are enjoyable enough that it doesn't feel like losing if we don't get there, and if we do manage to pull it off it feels wonderful. Commander can still be big and slow if you want it to be, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Explosive Vegetation" href="#" target="_blank">veggies</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are still tasty.</p>
<h2>Until Next Time</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Undying Evil"></div></div>
<p>We get a second chance at a creature? It's <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Not Dead After All" href="#" target="_blank">Not Dead After All</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>? That sounds like a scam. Seeing the havoc this type of card has wreaked on Modern alongside the <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Grief" href="#" target="_blank">Evoke elementals</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, I'm excited to see what it can do in Commander! How can we turn this into a killer deal? Find out next time on <em>Singleton Shmingleton</em>!</p>
<h4>Read More</h4>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="ARzdqYERo1"><p><a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/in-the-margins-explosive-vegetation/">In the Margins — Explosive Vegetation</a></p></blockquote>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" class="wp-embedded-content" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" style="position: absolute; visibility: hidden;" title="&#8220;In the Margins — Explosive Vegetation&#8221; &#8212; EDHREC" src="https://edhrec.com/articles/in-the-margins-explosive-vegetation/embed/#?secret=R113OvtGgC#?secret=ARzdqYERo1" data-secret="ARzdqYERo1" width="500" height="282" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></p>
<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="TPeXGXaFZc"><p><a href="https://commandersherald.com/retrospective-reviews-commander-2011/">Retrospective Reviews: Commander 2011</a></p></blockquote>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" class="wp-embedded-content" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" style="position: absolute; visibility: hidden;" title="&#8220;Retrospective Reviews: Commander 2011&#8221; &#8212; Commander&#039;s Herald" src="https://commandersherald.com/retrospective-reviews-commander-2011/embed/#?secret=yiZZ2Rqzjl#?secret=TPeXGXaFZc" data-secret="TPeXGXaFZc" width="500" height="282" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></p>


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