<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Adelbert Steiner" href="#" target="_blank">Adelbert Steiner</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.artstation.com/lorenzomastroianni" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lorenzo Mastroianni</a></em></p>
<p>It's very much my job here as the writer of <em>The Monolith</em>, aside from talking about monocolored decks of course, to tempt you in to building decks that aren't your standard fare. Decks that forgo obviousness and power for interesting ideas and fun restrictions. What better time then, as we continue to pick apart the legendary creatures revealed in the upcoming <em>Universes Beyond</em> set <em>Final Fantasy</em>, to talk about Pauper EDH!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Adelbert Steiner"></div></div>
<p>Now I'm not the first person to delve into the <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/does-shantotto-work-as-a-pauper-commander" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wonderful world of Pauper Commander</a> here on EDHREC.com. But when a set comes out with this many legends, some of them are bound to be non-rares. We had the same thing happen in <em>Lord of The Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth</em>. And when you've got access to uncommon legends with interesting effects, why not whack together a PEDH deck to fit around them!</p>
<h2>What Is Pauper Commander (PEDH)?</h2>
<p>Much like the absolutely wonderful 60-card format it's based on, Pauper EDH carries all the same rules that Commander does, but with one exception. You can only put a card in your deck if it was printed at common at some point in its history.</p>
<p>That includes cards that have been up-shifted in rarity in later sets, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dark Ritual" href="#" target="_blank">Dark Ritual</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. As long as it was common at some point in <em>Magic</em>'s history, it's legal in PEDH. Otherwise, you can't put it in your 99. As for the commander itself though, you're allowed to push up to the uncommon rarity.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Guttersnipe"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Soulherder"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Third Path Iconoclast"></div></div>
<p>The fun thing is, your uncommon commander doesn't even have to be legendary. You can play with regular old uncommons as your leader. That'll give you access to super powerful creatures you wouldn't normally be able to put in your command zone, like <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="Soulherder" href="#" target="_blank">Soulherder</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></p>
<h2>Adelbert's Finer</h2>
<p>To helm our Pauper EDH list we're looking at the brand new <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Adelbert Steiner" href="#" target="_blank">Adelbert Steiner</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, a <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-1" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span><span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-w" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> 2/1 Human Knight with an <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="All That Glitters" href="#" target="_blank">All That Glitters</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> style effect on him. For each Equipment you control, Adelbert will get +1/+1. That's not Equipment attached to Adelbert either, that's just any Equipment you have on the battlefield.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Adelbert Steiner"></div></div>
<p>Combined with lifelink, we've got ourselves the potential for a really juicy, Equipment focused, Voltron Commander build. For those not in the know, <a href="https://edhrec.com/tags/voltron" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Voltron decks</a> attempt to whack as many buffs onto a single creature they control as possible - usually your commander, so you can kill opponents even easier. Once they're big enough, swing in for the win!</p>
<h2>Free Real Estate</h2>
<p>As Adelbert gets a buff just from the Equipment hitting the field, we'll sort of get to have our cake and eat it too. Whereas most Voltrons would either need to pay for the equip cost of their Equipment, or have an ability to get around that, Adelbert can receive a small benefit right away.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="All That Glitters"></div></div>
<p>Then later, when we actually get the Equipment attached to him, we'll be double dipping with the buffs it provides. And that's if we even want to equip to him. By having another big threat with all the Equipment attached to them we can also split our attacks as we see fit.</p>
<h2>The Living Weapon</h2>
<p>Seeing as Adelbert doesn't mind where your Equipment cards are when he's checking for his buffs, we can use a certain type of Equipment to give us a bit of an edge in battle.</p>
<p>Equipment cards are great in comparison to Auras, because they won't send themselves to the graveyard when their attached creature leaves the battlefield. We can even use the equip ability to swap our swords and shields round to whichever creature needs them on the fly.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Flayer Husk"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sickleslicer"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Skinwing"></div></div>
<p>The tradeoff though, is that Auras attach themselves as soon as you cast them. Equipment gets cast, and then needs additional buy-in to attach it to your creature. Enter: living weapon cards. These Equipment cards will enter the battlefield and immediately attach themselves to a token they make when they enter.</p>
<p>There's only so many Pauper legal living weapons, but a few other cards do the same thing. For Mirrodin! was a very similar mechanic from <em>All Will Be One</em>, for example.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mirran Bardiche"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ancestral Blade"></div></div>
<h3>Leave Something Back</h3>
<p>One of the trickier aspects of playing a Voltron Commander deck is keeping yourself alive after you've swung. It's all well and good having a giant commander, but once they're tapped, who's defending your life total? Vigilance is great for that but so is just having some chump blockers available - especially when your opponents are going wide.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Glimmerlight"></div></div>
<p>By using these cards that come with an extra body, we can hold the line after Adelbert attacks. And if we end up getting Adelbert killed so many times that his commander tax is untenable? There's backup options to fight with. Speaking of...</p>
<h2>Forking Your Voltron</h2>
<p>As I mentioned earlier, Adelbert can get a decent amount of pump without actually equipping our weapons. With that in mind, we have the option to fork off our damage between two different creatures. That way we'll get slightly less powerful creatures, but having two means we can swing at multiple players.</p>
<p>This is a four-person format, after all. And targeting down one player can leave our other two opponents a little too much space to build up their game plans.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Gingerbrute"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Guardian of the Guildpact"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Beloved Princess"></div></div>
<p>If we want some solid targets for the wall of weapons we'll be equipping them with, we need to find something that'll get through our opponents' blockers. Cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Guardian of the Guildpact" href="#" target="_blank">Guardian of the Guildpact</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> have really solid evasion, with protection from monocolored giving it a good chance of slipping through the cracks of our opponents' defenses. Not to mention dodging a lot of removal!</p>
<p>Likewise, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gingerbrute" href="#" target="_blank">Gingerbrute</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can punish players who aren't equipped with hasty creatures by making itself all but unblockable. That'll teach you for not playing mono-red!</p>
<h2>Choosing the Right Gear</h2>
<p>The main consideration for building out Adelbert's arsenal is which Equipment cards we include in our 99. First of all, we're going to need a lot of them! In this deck we're going to favor quantity over quality, so low cost Equipments are best (unless they come with a friend).</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bone Saw"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bonesplitter"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Leather Armor"></div></div>
<p>We also want to keep an eye out for any gear that'll give Adelbert some evasion tactics to make it over walls of blockers. Cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bladed Pinions" href="#" target="_blank">Bladed Pinions</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will put in some vital keywords for our Voltron commander, like flying and first strike. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Haunted Cloak" href="#" target="_blank">Haunted Cloak</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will help as well with trample and vigilance allowing us to hit over and also keep our commander up to block.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bladed Pinions"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Haunted Cloak"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Whispersilk Cloak"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Whispersilk Cloak" href="#" target="_blank">Whispersilk Cloak</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will make our glorious leader unblockable and also give him protection from removal, but remember to equip it last as the shroud will also stop <em>us</em> from targeting him when it comes to attach more Equipment.</p>
<h3>Double Your Benefits</h3>
<p>Whilst it might be banned in regular 60-card Pauper, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="All That Glitters" href="#" target="_blank">All That Glitters</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (from what I can tell, anyway) is perfectly legal in PEDH. Adding this Aura to Adelbert will double his buff from Equipment cards as well as giving some additional power and toughness for any other artifacts or enchantments you control.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="All That Glitters"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Golem-Skin Gauntlets"></div></div>
<p>And don't sleep on <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Golem-Skin Gauntlets" href="#" target="_blank">Golem-Skin Gauntlets</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> either. It might only affect the power of our commander and not benefit his toughness, but cards that say "for each" on them can get out of hand fast. Why do you think we're building this commander?</p>
<h2>Carry Some Protection</h2>
<p>A word of warning: whilst it might not have the flashiest removal spells in <em>Magic, </em>Pauper does tend to be quite removal heavy! It's worth padding the deck out with a few options to protect Adelbert from harm when swinging in for big damage.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Blacksmith&#039;s Skill"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Benevolent Bodyguard"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ajani&#039;s Presence"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blacksmith&#039;s Skill" href="#" target="_blank">Blacksmith&#039;s Skill</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is one of the best instant-speed protection spells in the game, let alone Pauper. But we can also run a few permanent versions to have in our back pocket for when we need them. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Benevolent Bodyguard" href="#" target="_blank">Benevolent Bodyguard</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> acts as a perfect fit, giving us a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Selfless Savior" href="#" target="_blank">Selfless Savior</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> style protection effect we can activate at instant speed. But also allowing us to make Adelbert unblockable by any monocolored boards.</p>
<h2>Adelbert Steiner PEDH Decklist</h2>
<p>If you're interested in joining the PEDH community and giving Adelbert a build, I've included a rough example decklist below that you can build yourself or just jump off from. If you're new to Pauper in general I highly recommend giving either the Commander variant or 60-card competitive format a go. The latter is my absolute favorite way to play <em>Magic;</em> it's a format that just keeps on giving.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Adelbert Steiner Pauper EDH" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Adelbert Steiner
[/Commander]
[Creatures]
*1 Beloved Princess
*1 Benevolent Bodyguard
*1 Coalition Honor Guard
*1 Foundry Inspector
*1 Gingerbrute
*1 Guardian of the Guildpact
*1 Inspiring Overseer
*1 Outlaw Medic
*1 Voyager Quickwelder
[/Creatures]
[Artifacts]
*1 +2 Mace
*1 Amorphous Axe
*1 Ancestral Blade
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Armory of Iroas
*1 Bladed Pinions
*1 Blight Sickle
*1 Bonder&#039;s Ornament
*1 Bone Saw
*1 Bonesplitter
*1 Candy Trail
*1 Ceremonial Knife
*1 Darksteel Axe
*1 Delver&#039;s Torch
*1 Flayer Husk
*1 Fountain of Ichor
*1 Gilded Pinions
*1 Glimmerlight
*1 Gold Pan
*1 Golden Egg
*1 Goldvein Pick
*1 Goldwarden&#039;s Helm
*1 Golem-Skin Gauntlets
*1 Greataxe
*1 Haunted Cloak
*1 Jalum Tome
*1 Leather Armor
*1 Mandibular Kite
*1 Mind Stone
*1 Mirran Bardiche
*1 Network Terminal
*1 Prying Blade
*1 Relic of Progenitus
*1 Sickleslicer
*1 Skinwing
*1 Utility Knife
*1 Vorrac Battlehorns
*1 Whispersilk Cloak
[/Artifacts]
[Enchantments]
*1 All That Glitters
*1 Benevolent Blessing
*1 Journey to Nowhere
*1 Oblivion Ring
[/Enchantments]
[Instants]
*1 Afterlife
*1 Ajani&#039;s Presence
*1 Blacksmith&#039;s Skill
*1 Break Ties
*1 Crib Swap
*1 Destroy Evil
*1 Frantic Salvage
*1 Lens Flare
*1 Thraben Charm
[/Instants]
[Sorceries]
*1 Jolted Awake
*1 Recommission
[/Sorceries]
[Lands]
*1 Ancient Den
*1 Avishkar Raceway
*1 Darksteel Citadel
*1 Desert of the True
*1 Escape Tunnel
*1 Haunted Fengraf
*1 Idyllic Grange
*29 Plains
*1 Secluded Steppe
[/Lands]"></span></div>
<p></p>
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PEDH Voltron With Adelbert Steiner

The Best Monocolored Cards in Final Fantasy

<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Zenos yae Galvus" href="#" target="_blank">Zenos yae Galvus</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.artstation.com/mokhman" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alexander Mokhov</a></em></p>
<p>Previews are now flooding in for <em>Magic's </em>upcoming <em>Universes Beyond - Final Fantasy </em>set. And with new previews comes new monocolored legends to fuel our deckbuilding frenzy here on <em>The Monolith</em>, the EDHREC series where it's all mono, all the time! Today we're delving into the murky swamps of mono-black to play a deck that your opponents are going to absolutely hate. Oh sorry, did I say opponents plural? I meant opponent singular. Introducing the monstrous new legend that'll be leading our deck today, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Zenos yae Galvus" href="#" target="_blank">Zenos yae Galvus</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards side-by-side"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Zenos yae Galvus"></div></div>
<h2>What Does Zenos yae Galvus Do?</h2>
<p>For <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-3" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span><span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-b" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span><span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-b" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> we get a 4/4 Human Noble Warrior that on entering the battlefield will choose exactly one creature that an opponent controls.</p>
<p>Once your "first friend" is chosen, all other creatures on the battlefield will get hit with a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Massacre Wurm" href="#" target="_blank">Massacre Wurm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> style -2/-2. Now board wipes in the command zone have always been pretty decent, and very handy. Having repeatable access to a card like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Massacre Girl" href="#" target="_blank">Massacre Girl</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> isn't exactly fun and flashy but it can lock down a game of Commander for control minded players.</p>
<h3>Til Death Do Us Part</h3>
<p>But whilst the soft board wipe attached to our commander is cool and all, that's not why we're here. Oh no no no. Because Zenos has a hidden backside with an absolutely bonkers bit of rules text. One that will have Standard players asking, "Why is this even legal in our format?" and will have Commander players asking, "It does what?!"</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards only-back"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Zenos yae Galvus"></div></div>
<p>When the enemy creature chosen as part of Zenos' ETB dies, our commander will immediately transform into its reverse side. Shinryu, Transcendent Rival is an 8/8 Dragon with flying that will have us instead choose a player as it transforms. Then, and here's nuts the part, when the chosen player loses the game, we win the game.</p>
<h2>The Game Plan for Zenos yae Galvus</h2>
<p>So the path is clear. In this deck we enter ourselves into mortal combat with one of the other players around the table. Our second and third opponents will no longer matter to us; all we care about is taking one player, and only that player, down. It's a fight to the death!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Compelled Duel"></div></div>
<p>Or at least, that's the most obvious way to build it. It's also the easiest way to completely telegraph your game plan to the rest of the table. And besides, we're playing mono-black. Why be honorable about it? Let's win the game in a far, far sneakier way.</p>
<h2>Whoever Loses, I Win</h2>
<p>Because the player we choose to hinge our efforts on is tied to the transform trigger on Zenos' backside, and because that trigger only comes into effect when our chosen creature leaves the battlefield, we have a horrible secret power up our sleeves: we can win the game on a combat trick.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sneak Attack"></div></div>
<p>In fact, playing Zenos this way is like taking part in a triple threat wrestling match and winning the champ's belt without even pinning them. We can win the game due to someone else's combat damage. We can win the game without even attacking.</p>
<p>Yes I did make this a wrestling reference, I'm sorry I don't know anything about <em>Final Fantasy. </em>That's about as close as I could get. Feel free to provide your own analogy in the comments.</p>
<h3>Trick Shot</h3>
<p>Here's the ideal scenario for winning the game at instant speed with Zenos on board. First, we need to have picked a creature when he entered. The ideal target for this is something that's difficult to kill but we have a spell in hand that can deal with it. For example, an indestructible creature that we can cast <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Defile" href="#" target="_blank">Defile</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> on.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Barbed Servitor"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Defile"></div></div>
<p>That helps to prevent our opponents from killing the creature early, or the creature's controller chump blocking with it, before we're ready to make our choice. We want to be able to transform Zenos at the perfect moment.</p>
<p>Then we're going to wait for an opponent's life to be in danger. Maybe they're about to take more burn than they can handle. Or maybe an opponent is swinging in with a tonne of commander damage that they can't block. That's when we strike.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Booby Trap"></div></div>
<p>Wait until lethal damage is about to resolve and then kill the creature you chose when Zenos entered the battlefield with some instant speed removal. Doesn't matter if they die, bounce, or exile, as Zenos will transform when that creature leaves the battlefield. If it resolves without interference, Zenos will flip and you'll be able to choose the unlucky target as a dance partner, winning you the game as soon as they die.</p>
<h3>Force Their Hand</h3>
<p>The truly bonkers thing about all this is that we can force our opponents to accidentally kill each other using a perfectly timed combat trick. The thing about combat tricks is that most of them don't actually specify that they need to be used on a creature you control. For example, if an opponent is about to take unblocked damage from a creature with at least nine power, we can simply cast this:</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Tainted Strike"></div></div>
<p>Even when the other players at the table are perfectly aware of what we're up to and decide to swing on the player with the most health, we can add a lethal edge to their attacks with cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tainted Strike" href="#" target="_blank">Tainted Strike</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Now, all of a sudden, their nine damage becomes ten poison counters.</p>
<p>And of course we can do this to our own creatures too! If you've got a big trampler to bundle in with (or your opponent does), watch as they hastily assemble a wall of chump blockers to soak up the damage and then whack some instant speed deathtouch onto the creature.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Touch of Moonglove"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Alchemist&#039;s Gift"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Lash of Thorns"></div></div>
<p>The absolute best example is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Touch of Moonglove" href="#" target="_blank">Touch of Moonglove</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, which will not only wipe out every creature with a single point of your trample damage each, but will also drain the blocking player for every blocker that dies in the process. This effectively increases your creature's power by one for every blocker, and then dealing damage as though it were never blocked.</p>
<h2>Backup Options</h2>
<p>Now this is all well and good but we don't want to spend the entire game just sitting around waiting for someone to die. The quickest and most effective way to cause someone to lose the game is to make them lose ourselves. Lucky for us, there's a nice collection of cards in black that do just that.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Vorpal Sword"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Summon: Primal Odin"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Phage the Untouchable"></div></div>
<p>That's right, mono-black is one of the best color identities we can be in if we want to make our opponents straight up lose the game. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vorpal Sword" href="#" target="_blank">Vorpal Sword</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is one of my favorite dumb artifacts that I've wanted a good home for for a while. The activation is super expensive, but you're only one <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rogue&#039;s Passage" href="#" target="_blank">Rogue&#039;s Passage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> away from slicing down another player for good.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Triskaidekaphobia"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Vraska, Scheming Gorgon"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Strixhaven Stadium"></div></div>
<p>What's extra great about these lose-the-game effects is that they're abilities that will go on the stack. You don't have to reveal your hand until that player is guaranteed to lose the game. Just look out for <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Stifle" href="#" target="_blank">Stifle</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> effects!</p>
<p>Once it's on the stack, you can hold priority and cast your instant speed kill spell to trigger Zenos. This can be much more effective than using cards like the brand new <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Summon: Primal Odin" href="#" target="_blank">Summon: Primal Odin</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. This card definitely seems like it was printed as an intentional combo piece with Zenos, but it's very telegraphed. The first chapter will achieve your transformation for you. But you'll have to wait a whole other turn for the effect you want on the creature to win the game.</p>
<h3>Consolation Prize</h3>
<p>In general this whole thing is pretty easy to interact with. Someone could hold up removal to kill Zenos. They could play the aforementioned <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Stifle" href="#" target="_blank">Stifle</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to counter the transform or "lose the game" effect. Or they could just straight up counter the kill spell in the first place.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Counterspell"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Stifle"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Murder"></div></div>
<p>The thing is though, even if someone stops us winning the game, it's very likely we're still going to take a player out. If we have to win the old fashioned way, we're still one third of the way there. We can add a few additional payoffs to the situation though, to get the most bang for our kill-bucks.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Curse of Vengeance"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Elbrus, the Binding Blade"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sengir, the Dark Baron"></div></div>
<p>These cards aren't exactly slam dunks but they do fit the theme of assassinating our opponents pretty well. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Curse of Vengeance" href="#" target="_blank">Curse of Vengeance</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> feels like the best of the bunch due to its low cost and insidious nature. The target of the Curse isn't very likely to remove it as it doesn't actually do anything to them until they die. And at that point, who cares? Meanwhile, if we didn't win the game due to their loss, we're flooding our hand and our life points.</p>
<h2>My Last Friend</h2>
<p>If you want to end your EDH games a little bit quicker, or if you like picking one opponent at the table to absolutely bully, then <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Zenos yae Galvus" href="#" target="_blank">Zenos yae Galvus</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> might be the deck for you. Just be warned that he's going to be an absolute lightning rod for removal. And I can foresee quite a lot of players not enjoying playing against this deck too much!</p>
<p>Thanks so much for reading <em>The Monolith </em>and I'll see you on the next issue for some more monocolored shenanigans. Until then have a lovely day, and why not check out some of these articles from the wonderful writers here at EDHREC.com:</p>
<p></p>
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Ruin a Player's Day With Zenos yae Galvus - Commander Deck Tech

<h6 style="text-align: right;">(<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Stiltzkin, Moogle Merchant" href="#" target="_blank">Stiltzkin, Moogle Merchant</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | art by Yumeko)</h6>
<p>Hello, and welcome back to <em>The Monolith</em>, the series in which I, your intrepid host, try to get the world of Commander players to build more mono-colored decks.</p>
<p>With the dust of <em>Tarkir: Dragonstorm </em>beginning to settle, we can start to look ahead at upcoming sets and theory craft around all the previews we've been shown way, way, way too early. Of all the commanders revealed so far from <em><a href="https://edhrec.com/sets/fin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Final Fantasy</a></em>, there are only two cards that are actual, factual mono. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Zell Dincht" href="#" target="_blank">Zell Dincht</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> seems like an interesting <em>Landfall</em>-based, mono-red commander, which we might tackle in a later article. Seems like there's some combo potential there for sure.</p>
<p>But for this edition of <em>The Monolith </em>we're going to build around something a bit more... mean. It's <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Stiltzkin, Moogle Merchant" href="#" target="_blank">Stiltzkin, Moogle Merchant</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Stiltzkin, Moogle Merchant"></div></div>
<h2>Gifts Unwanted</h2>
<p>For the stunningly cheap cost of a single <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-w" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>, we get a 1/2 Moogle with lifelink, and it's Stiltzkin's activated ability that we'll be building around in this deck. 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-tap" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> we can have one of our opponents assume control of another target permanent we control. Once they get it, we get to draw a card. Kind of like us receiving payment; we are a merchant, after all.</p>
<p>But for this little market stall we'll be running, we're not exactly aiming to come off as a reputable seller. In fact, we'll be sending our opponents some defective wares on purpose.</p>
<h2>Damaged Goods</h2>
<p>That's right! Today we're building a <a href="https://edhrec.com/tags/donate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donate deck</a> all about giving our opponents cards that you wouldn't want under your control. This is traditionally a deck you'd see with some <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-b" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> in it to get access to all the nasty "deal with the devil" type effects of that color that we could force into the hands of other players.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Harmless Offering"></div></div>
<p>There's definitely other color combos that can make it work, and Jeskai(<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-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>) commander <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Zedruu the Greathearted" href="#" target="_blank">Zedruu the Greathearted</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is one of the more popular in this archetype, but in mono-white, we're going to need to rifle through the basement of <em>Magic: The Gathering</em> to find some decent targets for our ability, and that, of course, is half the fun of these articles!</p>
<h3>The Archetypal Gift</h3>
<p>There's already quite a few cards that exist in <em>Magic's </em>long history that play by "gifting" things to your opponent's control. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Akroan Horse" href="#" target="_blank">Akroan Horse</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, for example, is a classic card from the original <em>Theros</em> block that might seem terrible to the untrained eye.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Akroan Horse"></div></div>
<p>"A creature I have to give to my opponent? What's the point of that?" The point of course is that the card is a trap that slowly fills your own board with 1/1 tokens as your enemy only gets a measly 0/4 defender.</p>
<p>But there's plenty more where that came from. There's some really fun cursed object style cards that we can very much put into today's deck that fit the theme perfectly.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Jinxed Idol"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Jinxed Choker"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Jinxed Ring"></div></div>
<p>The jinxed cards will be thrown around the table like a hot potato whenever one of our opponents wants to avoid the effect. Normally we'd be a very valid target to take the things back. But with our commander we can just have them leave our control before the trigger goes off, making us a waste of an activation for our competitors.</p>
<p>A handful of artifacts like this in the deck will allow us to sit back and watch the chaos unfold as our opponents argue among themselves over who should take control of the nasty thing next.</p>
<h2>Like a Hole in the Head</h2>
<p>But the true horrors of cards we can force onto our opponents' boards come in the form of things they can't just give away whenever they like. These things will be a constant headache for them. And hopefully, they'll be enough of a drawback that we can potentially win the game whilst our opponents suffer.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Archfiend of the Dross"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Evil Eye of Urborg"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ebon Drake"></div></div>
<p>The reason we normally want to be running black in a deck like this is we get access to cards that are intended to give you a statistical advantage in the short term with under-costed stats and abilities, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Archfiend of the Dross" href="#" target="_blank">Archfiend of the Dross</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. But after a while, they become more of a problem than a boon.</p>
<p>We don't have a huge amount of obvious cards to draw from that fill this archetype in mono-white. And even in general, you need to look at some cards that literally no one plays to find a good selection of cards that fill this niche. Because the cost they come with usually makes them pretty unplayable in standard decks.</p>
<h3>A Great Example of a Bad Card</h3>
<p>An absolute must-include in this deck will be something we can steal from the aforementioned Zedruu lists. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nine Lives" href="#" target="_blank">Nine Lives</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is an enchantment that can prevent up to nine instances of damage for its controller. When the ninth source of damage is stopped, and Nine Lives receives its ninth counter, you exile it.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Nine Lives"></div></div>
<p>When Nine Lives leaves the battlefield, its controller loses the game. This honestly isn't a great card on its own, maybe made a little better by a deck that can easily remove counters from its permanents. But now we can gain almost its full benefit and then just as we're about to take a ninth chunk of damage, send it over to an opponent of our choice to lose the game instead!</p>
<p>Not to mention that the card itself has hexproof, so removing it will be very difficult for our opponents, and if they attempt to board wipe all enchantments, you can hoist it onto someone else in response and have them suffer the consequences. If you're feeling petty, probably the board wiper.</p>
<h2>What the Hell Am I Supposed to Do With This?</h2>
<p>Don't worry, the cards we can gift will get far weirder and far more niche. Most white cards don't give you downsides apart from on themselves, so we'll need to be creative.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Enduring Renewal"></div></div>
<p>For example, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Enduring Renewal" href="#" target="_blank">Enduring Renewal</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is what I would call "a pretty bad way to recur your creatures." 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-w" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span><span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-w" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> we get the stunning ability of putting any creatures we control that die back into our hand, which ain't bad at all.</p>
<p>The cost, however, is that we not only have to play with our entire hand revealed, we also get a very wacky draw effect. Now, whenever we would draw a card, we instead have to reveal the top card of our library. If it's a creature card, we have to put it into the bin instead.</p>
<p>Wow, that's bad. Unless someone has built a very specific deck to utilize this strange effect, this is going to be a huge pain for our opponents. Although it would go pretty hard in our <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Anafenza, Unyielding Lineage" href="#" target="_blank">Anafenza, Unyielding Lineage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> deck we built in a <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/mono-white-aristocrats-with-anafenza-unyielding-lineage" target="_blank" rel="noopener">previous article</a>.</p>
<h3>How About Some Fetching Headwear?</h3>
<p>Our opponents' heads are looking a little cold; perhaps we could help them out with a lovely new hat. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mindstorm Crown" href="#" target="_blank">Mindstorm Crown</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will do some annoying chip damage over the course of the game - best placed on a player that's taken a lot of damage early on. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Crown of Doom" href="#" target="_blank">Crown of Doom</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> however will act like an <em>Innistrad </em>style curse that our opponents will be throwing around like our aforementioned jinxed collection.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Grafted Skullcap"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mindstorm Crown"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Crown of Doom"></div></div>
<p>The absolute worst of the bunch has to be <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Grafted Skullcap" href="#" target="_blank">Grafted Skullcap</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, though. You can hear the finger of the monkey's paw curling as a player said, "I need some more card draw." Here you go, now you draw two every turn! And you also discard your entire hand on your end step...</p>
<h3>Who Needs Creatures Anyway?</h3>
<p>It was bad enough that we made one of our opponents never draw creature cards again. At least they get to replay the ones they lose. This next target is going to be even more screwed over, though.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Steel Golem"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Grid Monitor"></div></div>
<p>Courtesy of some very ugly artifact creatures, these lovely items will stop your players from being able to cast creature spells indefinitely! What the hell! I'm sure there's plenty of decks out there that wouldn't be too bothered by this, but you'd be hard pressed to find a deck that doesn't want to play a single creature in a turn - including their commander, by the way.</p>
<h3>Artifacts Are Overrated</h3>
<p>Is someone playing a lot of artifact cards? What if they had to sacrifice one every single turn? <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rust Elemental" href="#" target="_blank">Rust Elemental</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will see to that.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rust Elemental"></div></div>
<p>Even better though is when we pop one of these guys onto the board of a player who isn't playing any artifacts. Enjoy losing a tenth of your life every turn, and now you don't even get to attack with the creature we gave you...</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Lich&#039;s Tomb"></div></div>
<p>If your opponent is upset about having to take that much damage, you could always offer them an alternative with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lich&#039;s Tomb" href="#" target="_blank">Lich&#039;s Tomb</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. What a wonderful gift! Now you won't lose the game if you have zero or less life - except you'll be sacrificing a permanent for every single point of damage you would take from now on. And that's permanent by the way, not <em>nonland</em> permanent.</p>
<p>Be sure to gift this just as an opponent is about to eat a big chunk of damage. We don't want them to sacrifice the Tomb right away after a measly one or two damage.</p>
<h3>A Secret Burn Deck?</h3>
<p>White isn't exactly know for being able to play direct damage against players. I'm sure there's strange old cards out there that I'm not aware of that'll do it, but this special gift allows us to do something similar.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bronze Bombshell"></div></div>
<p>Who designed this card? This is so bizarre. They're making these in <em>Ravnica</em>? Man, old <em>Magic</em> is weird.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mishra&#039;s War Machine"></div></div>
<p>Speaking of old <em>Magic, </em>if we want our opponents to take some damage, why not gift them this terrible old contraption?</p>
<h2>Does This Business Have Legs?</h2>
<p>This was truly one of the strangest decks I've theory-crafted here on <em>The Monolith. </em>Usually when you build these odd contraptions, out of color identity and pushing the boundaries, you at least find a few cards that seem like slam dunks. And whilst there's certainly a couple of options for <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Stiltzkin, Moogle Merchant" href="#" target="_blank">Stiltzkin, Moogle Merchant</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, he does seem like he's going to stay a pretty niche commander.</p>
<p>If you were building this cursed collection of curiosities, what strange old cards would you be running? I'd love to know down in the comments below! But whilst you're working on those, I'll see you on the next edition of <em>The Monolith</em>, your home for strange and wonderful mono-colored decks!</p>
<p></p>
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