Final Fantasy: PAX East's Preview Debut, Recapped

<h6 style="text-align: right;">Image credit: PAX East</h6>
<p>On Saturday, May 10th, the <em>Final Fantasy</em> preview season officially kicks off! Notably, a preview panel at PAX East in Boston, Massachusetts, showcases the first round of previews for the new Universes Beyond set. As such, we will recap it as the cards begin to roll in. You can find this stream on <a href="http://twitch.tv/magic"><em>Magic</em>'s Twitch channel</a> between noon and 2 pm Eastern time. But what do we expect to see when the panel gets underway? Read on!</p>
<h2>What <em>Final Fantasy</em> Previews Will We See?</h2>
<p>At this time, PAX East is already well underway. In fact, one of our writers, <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/author/cooper-gottfried"><strong>Cooper Gottfried</strong></a>, is already on the scene.</p>
<p>Images from the convention have already begun to circulate around social media. We have seen oversized teasers of cards featuring <em>Final Fantasy</em> characters, both beloved and notorious alike. We have even seen images of a Chocobo wearing costuming that resembles <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Chandra Nalaar" href="#" target="_blank">Chandra Nalaar</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>'s clothing. Truly, the collaboration is now in full swing.</p>
<div id="attachment_152160" style="width: 429px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/chocobo-scaled.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-152160" class="wp-image-152160" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/chocobo-scaled.jpg" alt="The statue of &quot;Chocobo, Awakened Inferno&quot; from the play area of PAX East. Photo credit: Cooper Gottfried" width="419" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/chocobo-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/chocobo-225x300.jpg 225w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/chocobo-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/chocobo-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/chocobo-1536x2048.jpg 1536w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 419px) 100vw, 419px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-152160" class="wp-caption-text">The statue of "Chocobo, Awakened Inferno" from the play area of PAX East. Photo credit: <strong>Cooper Gottfried</strong></p></div>
<p>As for the question posed above, you'll have to wait for tomorrow's panel to get a first look at the cards previewed therein. Alternatively, we will have a panel recap ready for you tomorrow after 2 pm as well. Stay tuned for this development!</p>
<div id="attachment_152127" style="width: 755px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Cloud-Midgar-Mercenary-scaled.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-152127" class="wp-image-152127" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Cloud-Midgar-Mercenary-scaled.jpg" alt="A teaser of Cloud, Midgar Mercenary, a card from the upcoming Final Fantasy set. Photo credit: Cooper Gottfried" width="745" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Cloud-Midgar-Mercenary-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Cloud-Midgar-Mercenary-300x225.jpg 300w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Cloud-Midgar-Mercenary-1024x769.jpg 1024w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Cloud-Midgar-Mercenary-768x577.jpg 768w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Cloud-Midgar-Mercenary-1536x1153.jpg 1536w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Cloud-Midgar-Mercenary-2048x1538.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 745px) 100vw, 745px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-152127" class="wp-caption-text">A teaser of Cloud, Midgar Mercenary, a card from the upcoming <em>Final Fantasy</em> set. Photo credit: Cooper Gottfried</p></div>
<div id="attachment_152128" style="width: 755px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Tifa-Lockhart-scaled.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-152128" class="wp-image-152128" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Tifa-Lockhart-scaled.jpg" alt="A teaser of Tifa Lockhart, a card from the upcoming Final Fantasy set. Photo credit: Cooper Gottfried" width="745" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Tifa-Lockhart-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Tifa-Lockhart-300x225.jpg 300w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Tifa-Lockhart-1024x769.jpg 1024w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Tifa-Lockhart-768x577.jpg 768w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Tifa-Lockhart-1536x1153.jpg 1536w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Tifa-Lockhart-2048x1538.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 745px) 100vw, 745px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-152128" class="wp-caption-text">A teaser of Tifa Lockhart, a card from the upcoming <em>Final Fantasy</em> set. Photo credit: Cooper Gottfried</p></div>
<h2>More Previews Coming Soon</h2>
<p>As this is only the start of the <em>Final Fantasy</em> preview season, expect to see more and more reveals pop up in various places <em>after</em> PAX East as well. We are so excited that we can hardly contain ourselves, but contain ourselves we must. All things come to those who wait, dear readers. All in good time.</p>
<p>But in the coming hours leading up to the <em>Final Fantasy</em> panel, we'd love to hear from you. What are you most anticipating from the panel? What previews are you most excited about? And how about that darling red Chocobo? Feel free to let us know how you're feeling about all of tomorrow's upcoming excitement in the comments below!</p>


Final Fantasy Panel Livestreams May 10th At PAX East

<h6 style="text-align: right;">The art for <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sol Ring" href="#" target="_blank">Sol Ring</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | art copyright Wizards of the Coast</h6>
<p>A few days ago, seven prolific members of the <em>Magic</em> community announced that they had received invitations to reveal cards from a <a href="https://secretlair.wizards.com/us"><em>Secret Lair</em></a> Commander Deck. With absolutely no idea what those cards could be, they finally revealed them on Wednesday, April 9th. What were those cards, and what could they reveal about the deck? At the time of writing the deck isn't fully revealed yet. So, let's look into what these streamers received within the "Everyone's Invited" <em>Secret Lair</em> Commander deck!</p>
<h2>TaaliaVess's Reveal</h2>
<p>According to sources on social media, streamer <strong><a href="https://www.twitch.tv/taaliavess">TaaliaVess</a></strong> received a copy of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Morophon, the Boundless" href="#" target="_blank">Morophon, the Boundless</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Morophon seems to be the commander of this deck. It also implies that the deck is a Kindred-matters deck.</p>
<div id="attachment_148301" style="width: 501px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Morophon-the-Boundless.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-148301" class="wp-image-148301" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Morophon-the-Boundless.jpg" alt="An image of TaaliaVess's reveal of Morophon, the Boundless from the &quot;Everyone's Invited&quot; Secret Lair Commander deck. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast" width="491" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Morophon-the-Boundless.jpg 640w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Morophon-the-Boundless-263x300.jpg 263w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 491px) 100vw, 491px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-148301" class="wp-caption-text">An image of <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/taaliavess">TaaliaVess</a>'s reveal of Morophon, the Boundless from the "Everyone's Invited" <em>Secret Lair</em> Commander deck. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and TaaliaVess</p></div>
<h2>ZBexx's Reveal</h2>
<p>Meanwhile, <strong><a href="https://www.twitch.tv/zbexx">ZBexx</a></strong> received another card from "Everyone's Invited". This time, it was a copy of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sol Ring" href="#" target="_blank">Sol Ring</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. This doesn't tell us a ton about the contents of the deck, since most preconstructed decks contain a Sol Ring anyway. However, the card is stunning and its art is featured on the advertisement on the <em>Secret Lair</em> website.</p>
<div id="attachment_148302" style="width: 365px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Sol-Ring.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-148302" class="wp-image-148302" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Sol-Ring.png" alt="An image of ZBexx's reveal of Sol Ring from the &quot;Everyone's Invited&quot; Secret Lair Commander deck. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Zbexx" width="355" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Sol-Ring.png 436w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Sol-Ring-191x300.png 191w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 355px) 100vw, 355px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-148302" class="wp-caption-text">An image of <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/zbexx">ZBexx</a>'s reveal of Sol Ring from the "Everyone's Invited" <em>Secret Lair</em> Commander deck. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Zbexx</p></div>
<h2>Voxy's Reveal</h2>
<p>Next, we look at <strong><a href="https://www.twitch.tv/voxy">Voxy</a></strong>'s stream, where she revealed a copy of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Avenger of Zendikar" href="#" target="_blank">Avenger of Zendikar</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Because Plants are such a niche creature type, this implies that "Everyone's Invited" probably features a <em>very</em> broad Kindred-matters theme. At this point, things are getting interesting for sure.</p>
<div id="attachment_148303" style="width: 365px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Avenger-of-Zendikar.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-148303" class="wp-image-148303" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Avenger-of-Zendikar.png" alt="An image of Voxy's reveal of Avenger of Zendikar. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Voxy" width="355" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Avenger-of-Zendikar.png 371w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Avenger-of-Zendikar-191x300.png 191w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 355px) 100vw, 355px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-148303" class="wp-caption-text">An image of <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/voxy">Voxy</a>'s reveal of Avenger of Zendikar. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Voxy</p></div>
<h2>Amazonian's Reveal</h2>
<p>We next turn our attention to <strong><a href="https://www.twitch.tv/amazonian">Amazonian</a></strong>'s stream, where she revealed a copy of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Taurean Mauler" href="#" target="_blank">Taurean Mauler</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. A creature with changeling like Morophon, Taurean Mauler may mean that multiple cards will also cover many of the creature types buffed by the deck's cards.</p>
<div id="attachment_148304" style="width: 430px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Taurean-Mauler.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-148304" class="wp-image-148304" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Taurean-Mauler.jpg" alt="An image of Amazonian's reveal of Taurean Mauler. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Amazonian" width="420" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Taurean-Mauler.jpg 1501w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Taurean-Mauler-225x300.jpg 225w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Taurean-Mauler-769x1024.jpg 769w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Taurean-Mauler-768x1023.jpg 768w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Taurean-Mauler-1153x1536.jpg 1153w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 420px) 100vw, 420px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-148304" class="wp-caption-text">An image of <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/amazonian">Amazonian</a>'s reveal of Taurean Mauler. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Amazonian</p></div>
<h2>ManaCurves' Reveal</h2>
<p>Streamer <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/manacurves"><strong>ManaCurves</strong></a> also revealed a card from "Everyone's Invited"! The card they revealed was <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bitterblossom" href="#" target="_blank">Bitterblossom</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, a kindred card for Faerie decks. This shows us that kindred spells will show up in the deck, though the extent is currently unknown. However, if this is indeed a kindred-kindred deck, one could imagine there may be a fair few of them therein.</p>
<div id="attachment_148305" style="width: 396px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Bitterblossom-00.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-148305" class="wp-image-148305" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Bitterblossom-00.png" alt="An image of ManaCurves' reveal of Bitterblossom. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and ManaCurves" width="386" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Bitterblossom-00.png 467w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Bitterblossom-00-207x300.png 207w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 386px) 100vw, 386px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-148305" class="wp-caption-text">An image of <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/manacurves">ManaCurves</a>' reveal of Bitterblossom. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and ManaCurves</p></div>
<h2>CovertGoBlue's Reveal</h2>
<p>After this, we must look to <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/covertgoblue"><strong>CovertGoBlue</strong></a>, who, according to sources, revealed a copy of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Raise the Palisade" href="#" target="_blank">Raise the Palisade</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. This card, previously unreprinted since its initial printing in <em>Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth</em>, is also a kindred-matters card. It goes especially well with creatures with changeling. This tells us that the deck will most likely have payoffs for running them.</p>
<div id="attachment_148306" style="width: 434px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Raise-the-Palisade.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-148306" class="wp-image-148306" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Raise-the-Palisade.jpg" alt="An image of CovertGoBlue's reveal of Raise the Palisade. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and CovertGoBlue" width="424" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Raise-the-Palisade.jpg 819w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Raise-the-Palisade-228x300.jpg 228w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Raise-the-Palisade-777x1024.jpg 777w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Raise-the-Palisade-768x1013.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 424px) 100vw, 424px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-148306" class="wp-caption-text">An image of <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/covertgoblue">CovertGoBlue</a>'s reveal of Raise the Palisade. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and CovertGoBlue</p></div>
<h2>Anna Margaret's Reveal</h2>
<p>Finally, we have <strong><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/itsannamargaret.com/post/3lmffkbpnnk2c">Anna Margaret</a></strong>'s reveal on BlueSky. She revealed a copy of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tendershoot Dryad" href="#" target="_blank">Tendershoot Dryad</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, a card that historically pumps Saprolings. Luckily, changeling creatures are <em>also</em> Saprolings! This is one of many presumed payoffs in "Everyone's Invited".</p>
<div id="attachment_148307" style="width: 365px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Tendershoot-Dryad.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-148307" class="wp-image-148307" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Tendershoot-Dryad.png" alt="An image of Anna Margaret's reveal of Tendershoot Dryad from the &quot;Everyone's Invited&quot; Secret Lair Commander deck. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Anna Margaret" width="355" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Tendershoot-Dryad.png 427w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Tendershoot-Dryad-191x300.png 191w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 355px) 100vw, 355px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-148307" class="wp-caption-text">An image of <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/itsannamargaret.com/post/3lmffkbpnnk2c">Anna Margaret</a>'s reveal of Tendershoot Dryad from the "Everyone's Invited" Secret Lair Commander deck. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Anna Margaret</p></div>
<h2>What Have We Learned About This <em>Secret Lair</em>?</h2>
<p>"Everyone's Invited" appears to be a deck that cares not just about one creature type, but many. The deck features multiple cards that provide many creature types as well as many payoffs for <em>having</em> multiple creature types. Because Commander decks from <em>Secret Lair</em> tend to have alternate art for their intended commanders, Morophon appears to lead the deck.</p>
<p>When will we find out more? We don't have a launch date yet, but the answer is "probably soon"! Keep your eyes peeled for more information as it becomes available.</p>


Secret Lair Commander Deck: "Everyone's Invited" Revealed

<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p style="padding-left: 80px;"><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://player.twitch.tv/?video=2246279130&amp;parent=edhrec.com" width="620" height="378" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h1 style="text-align: center;">Rukarumel, Ally Biologist</h1>
<p style="text-align: center;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rukarumel, Biologist"></div></div></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://archidekt.com/decks/9131656/rukarumel_ally_biologist">Archidekt Link</a></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Welcome to another deck from the Sunday Stream! This week, we're building around <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rukarumel, Biologist" href="#" target="_blank">Rukarumel, Biologist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, our first five-color commander, and a face commander of the Silvers precon deck from Commander Masters. However, if you're familiar with this series, you probably already know that this is not a Slivers deck.</p>
<p>However, do you know what creature type behaves a bit like slivers and is friendly to kindred-typal decks? Allies. Allies typically have an ability that reads as something to the effect "when (creature) or another Ally enters the battlefield, do (effect) X number of times where X is equal to the number of Allies you control." While not a static effect like we see with Slivers, Allies typically having ETB effects can be very powerful, especially if we're able to trigger them multiple times.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Core Allies</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Drana, Liberator of Malakir"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Hagra Diabolist"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Harabaz Druid"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kalastria Healer"></div></div>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kazuul Warlord"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ondu Cleric"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sea Gate Loremaster"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Turntimber Ranger"></div></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The first items on the menu are the core Ally creatures that we want to center our deck around. Typically, we like to build our decks around the fun stuff first and take care of the "veggies" later, but given that we're specifically building around an Ally core, it makes sense to solidify those first.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Drana, Liberator of Malakir" href="#" target="_blank">Drana, Liberator of Malakir</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is one of the few creatures in the deck that focus on combat damage-related buffs, but this one has the potential to turn a heavy swing into a full-on lethal strike, adding a +1/+1 counter to all of your attacking creatures after the <em>first strike phase</em>, meaning most of your creatures will get the buff before damage.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hagra Diabolist" href="#" target="_blank">Hagra Diabolist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> has an ETB that drains an opponent for life equal to the number of Allies you control. It's simple and straightforward, but it is powerful enough to remove a player in one fell swoop.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Harabaz Druid" href="#" target="_blank">Harabaz Druid</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is an any-color mana dork that scales to produce more and more mana as you accumulate a board state.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kalastria Healer" href="#" target="_blank">Kalastria Healer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is similar to <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Zulaport Cutthroat" href="#" target="_blank">Zulaport Cutthroat</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (which is also in the deck), but generates that ability on ETB and when any other Ally enters, making it far more powerful than Zulaport in our Ally-focused deck.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kazuul Warlord" href="#" target="_blank">Kazuul Warlord</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> essentially acts as a Cathar's Crusade for Ally creatures. Some people don't like the bookkeeping that can come with effects like this, but they're inarguably powerful.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ondu Cleric" href="#" target="_blank">Ondu Cleric</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is simple, straightforward life gain in potentially significant quantities.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sea Gate Loremaster" href="#" target="_blank">Sea Gate Loremaster</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a nice, repeatable draw engine that scales to draw more cards as the game goes on. We can basically recreate the best part of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The One Ring" href="#" target="_blank">The One Ring</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> without the downside of the damage or the massive price tag.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Turntimber Ranger" href="#" target="_blank">Turntimber Ranger</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is half of a few infinite combo pieces that are built into this deck which eventually produces infinite 2/2 Wolf creature tokens.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Slivers</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Manaweft Sliver"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Gemhide Sliver"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Hatchery Sliver"></div></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>I know, I know. I said this wasn't a Sliver deck, AND IT STILL ISN'T, but given that our commander has some nice built-in Sliver synergy, it makes sense to at least include a few good utility Slivers that can help us at any point in the game.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Manaweft Sliver" href="#" target="_blank">Manaweft Sliver</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gemhide Sliver" href="#" target="_blank">Gemhide Sliver</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> both act as scaleable, any-color mana dorks that can pay off big-time later in the game if we have Sliver declared as a creature type on the commander or any of the kindred synergy pieces that I will talk about below.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hatchery Sliver" href="#" target="_blank">Hatchery Sliver</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> Hatchery Slivers gives all of our Sliver spells (which would be everything if we have Slivers declared as the creature type for our commander), replicate, which essentially is an early version of the newer offspring mechanic from Bloomburrow, giving us copies of our creature spells by paying extra mana.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Kindred Synergy (and Turntimber Ranger Combo Pieces)</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Maskwood Nexus"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Conspiracy"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Reflections of Littjara"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Xenograft"></div></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>In this deck, all four of these do roughly the same thing, which is to allow us to synergize our Ally and non-Ally creatures when Rukarumel is not on the board, or if she is and we need a different creature type declared. As long as we have any of these effects on the board with Ally declared as the creature type in the case of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Reflections of Littjara" href="#" target="_blank">Reflections of Littjara</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Conspiracy" href="#" target="_blank">Conspiracy</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Xenograft" href="#" target="_blank">Xenograft</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, Turntimber Ranger will create an infinite number of tokens since each new one results in an Ally entering the battlefield. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Maskwood Nexus" href="#" target="_blank">Maskwood Nexus</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is obviously a one-stop-shop for any creature type we'll need.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Fun Toys</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Zinnia, Valley&#039;s Voice"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Omo, Queen of Vesuva"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Intruder Alarm"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Realmbreaker, the Invasion Tree"></div></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>As mentioned before, replicate and offspring both give us the ability to create token copies of any Ally we cast by just adding a little extra mana, so <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Zinnia, Valley&#039;s Voice" href="#" target="_blank">Zinnia, Valley&#039;s Voice</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a natural fit in here for us.</p>
<p><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> is a great fit for this deck, because her everything counters can simultaneously color-fix our mana base and give our creatures all creature types.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Intruder Alarm" href="#" target="_blank">Intruder Alarm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a classic combo piece, and will potentially give us the ability for huge, explosive turns by untapping mana dorks and draw engines whenever a creature enters the battlefield.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Realmbreaker, the Invasion Tree" href="#" target="_blank">Realmbreaker, the Invasion Tree</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a very underrated artifact that acts as repeatable ramp by stealing lands from our opponents. If we're able to build up enough of a mana base and have Maskwood Nexus or another way to make all of our creatures Praetors, then we could use the big ten-mana ability from Realmbreaker and dump every creature in our deck directly onto the battlefield, which is essentially an auto-win.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Closing Summary</h3>
<p>This deck is a really neat foray into five colors and a kindred strategy, both of which are very atypical to the decks we build. The Ally strategy should give us consistent value throughout the game while we accumulate value via all of our different ETB effects. This deck is a higher budget than we typically build, but we prioritized putting together a fun and creative deck over meticulously abiding by our $50 budget. If it's any indicator as to how fun this deck should be, Jason actually bought the deck from himself <em>while we were streaming.</em></p>


Sunday Stream Deck Tech (9/8/24) - Rukarumel, Biologist

<p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://player.twitch.tv/?video=2234038985&amp;parent=edhrec.com" width="620" height="378" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"><span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start">﻿</span><span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start">﻿</span></iframe></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>We're back with another EDHREC Sunday Stream, where we've brewed another budget deck, this time around <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Xavier Sal, Infested Captain" href="#" target="_blank">Xavier Sal, Infested Captain</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, your One-Stop Token-Counter Conversion Shop.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h1 style="text-align: center;">Xavier Sal, Infested Captain</h1>
<p style="text-align: center;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Xavier Sal, Infested Captain"></div></div></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://archidekt.com/decks/8954970/xavier_sal_infested_captain">Archidekt Link</a></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>This week, Jason and I ventured yet again into uncommon territory, this time the swamps (and islands and forests) of Sultai. Xavier has two tap abilities.</p>
<p>The first allows you to remove a counter (of any variety) in order to Populate, which means we create a copy of a creature token we control.</p>
<p>The second ability allows you to sacrifice a creature (either token or non-token) in order to Proliferate, which lets us add a counter of any type to any permanent on the board which that permanent already has. In short, Xavier turns counters into creatures, and creatures into counters.</p>
<p>So which direction is better to go? Tokens and counters are both strong strategies on their own, but we wanted to use Sagas to generate lots of passive value while we sacrifice those lore counters to Populate, triggering a Saga chapter again and letting us make another creature token.</p>
<p>We also have the option to sacrifice a creature to add a lore counter to every saga we have, letting us turbo through all of those chapter abilities and get our value back even faster. This deck ideally would function similarly to many <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tom Bombadil" href="#" target="_blank">Tom Bombadil</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> decks which add and remove lore counters at will to get outrageous value out of Sagas.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>The Sagas</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Binding the Old Gods"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Vault 87: Forced Evolution"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="King Narfi&#039;s Betrayal"></div></div>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Song of Eärendil"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Binding the Old Gods" href="#" target="_blank">Binding the Old Gods</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is one of the strongest Sagas in the game, solves a lot of problems for us. The first chapter destroys any nonland permanent an opponent controls, which is obviously useful. The second chapter allows us to search for any forest and put it on the battlefield.</p>
<p>If we can remove a counter from Binding right after our ramp effect resolves, we can go right back to the first chapter and do it all again. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Huntsman&#039;s Redemption" href="#" target="_blank">The Huntsman&#039;s Redemption</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is another great ramp-based Saga that goes in this deck and behaves similarly to Binding when we can remove counters from it.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vault 87: Forced Evolution" href="#" target="_blank">Vault 87: Forced Evolution</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a genre of Saga that plays nicely in decks that can remove lore counters, because it allows you to keep it on the board and keep that stolen creature for much longer than you ordinarily would be able to. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Phasing of Zhalfir" href="#" target="_blank">The Phasing of Zhalfir</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is another Saga in this vein that we can exploit.</p>
<p>If you've followed this stream for very long, you know that we love stealing other people's stuff. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="King Narfi&#039;s Betrayal" href="#" target="_blank">King Narfi&#039;s Betrayal</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Trickster-God&#039;s Heist" href="#" target="_blank">The Trickster-God&#039;s Heist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> both let us do silly things that give us access to cards and creatures from our opponents' libraries.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Song of Eärendil" href="#" target="_blank">Song of Eärendil</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Song of Freyalise" href="#" target="_blank">Song of Freyalise</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are both huge value pieces that can help us keep our gameplan moving along via ramp and card draw, even if we aren't able to pull lore counters off of them.</p>
<p>Speaking of...</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Removing Counters</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Goldberry, River-Daughter"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Clockspinning"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Thrull Parasite"></div></div>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Chisei, Heart of Oceans"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Goldberry, River-Daughter" href="#" target="_blank">Goldberry, River-Daughter</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is functionally a duplicate of Xavier, but she doesn't need to sacrifice a creature to make it work. Getting her on the board may be even more valuable than Xavier himself.</p>
<p>Clockspinning is a repeatable instant with Buyback that allows us to remove counters from permanents and suspended cards. This is a great backup in case we don't have any creatures on board.</p>
<p>While it can't put counters on permanents, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thrull Parasite" href="#" target="_blank">Thrull Parasite</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can remove them for the low cost of two life.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Chisei, Heart of Oceans" href="#" target="_blank">Chisei, Heart of Oceans</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is another trigger that happens each turn which will allow us to remove any type of counter.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Counter Payoffs</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Master Biomancer"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Gruff Triplets"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Herd Baloth"></div></div>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Scurry Oak"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Master Biomancer" href="#" target="_blank">Master Biomancer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a classic Simic +1/+1 counter piece that makes everything on the board better just because they're entering the battlefield.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gruff Triplets" href="#" target="_blank">Gruff Triplets</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a bit of a cult classic for the Sunday Stream, and it feels almost tailor-made for this deck. It automatically creates two copies of itself on entering, which are tokens that can be populated.</p>
<p>If we sacrifice one of those tokens to Xavier, every other copy of Gruff Triplets gets +1/+1 counters equal to the power of the one that died. I'm sure you can figure out the cycle here.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Herd Baloth" href="#" target="_blank">Herd Baloth</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> has the potential to make tons of 4/4 Beast tokens will getting very large itself. We can either use those as beaters, or as fodder for Xavier.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Scurry Oak" href="#" target="_blank">Scurry Oak</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a classic combo piece and this deck might be the first time this card has ever been used without an infinite combo in mind. Like Herd Baloth, this will generate lots of tokens to use as fodder for Xavier.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Battles</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Invasion of Arcavios"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Invasion of Fiora"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Invasion of Segovia"></div></div>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Invasion of Shandalar"></div></div>
<p>Battles?!? Absolutely. Some battles have very solid Enters effects and can flip into a powerful creature or enchantment, and we can remove counters from them without even attacking.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link side-by-side"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Invasion of Arcavios" href="#" target="_blank">Invasion of Arcavios</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> has an ETB effect that lets us search any zone for an instant or sorcery and put it in our hand, then flips into an enchantment that lets us copy instants and sorceries.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link side-by-side"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Invasion of Fiora" href="#" target="_blank">Invasion of Fiora</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> has an asymmetric board wipe as an ETB, then flips into Marchesa, Resolute Monarch, which can remove <em>all</em> of the counters from a permanent when she attacks, allows us to reset a Saga or flip another battle.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link side-by-side"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Invasion of Segovia" href="#" target="_blank">Invasion of Segovia</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is one of the strongest Battles and has an ETB that creates two tokens, and flips into a creature that lets us untap four creatures on our end step and gives all of our noncreature spells convoke, which is very strong in a deck that wants to create tokens.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link side-by-side"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Invasion of Shandalar" href="#" target="_blank">Invasion of Shandalar</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>'s ETB lets us put three permanents from our graveyard back into our hand, and flips into an enchantment that returns one permanent from a graveyard into your hand every turn.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Populate Targets</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Jyoti, Moag Ancient"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Splash Lasher"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Tender Wildguide"></div></div>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Irenicus&#039;s Vile Duplication"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Jyoti, Moag Ancient" href="#" target="_blank">Jyoti, Moag Ancient</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> creates a 1/1 Forest Dryad on Enter, which is essentially a land that we can make copies of. We'd love to make lots of copies of this.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Splash Lasher" href="#" target="_blank">Splash Lasher</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>'s ETB taps an opponent's creature and gives it a stun counter, which prevents it from untapping. The Offspring mechanic allows us to make a token copy, which could be Populated, and those stun counters can be Proliferated.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tender Wildguide" href="#" target="_blank">Tender Wildguide</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is an any-color mana dork with that same Offspring mechanic, allowing us to create more and more mana dorks with our Populate ability. As a side bonus, Tender Wildguide can also tap to put a counter on a creature.</p>
<p class="cardDetailsOverlay_title__6Xo0r "><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Irenicus&#039;s Vile Duplication" href="#" target="_blank">Irenicus&#039;s Vile Duplication</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> makes a token copy of any creature you control, which will allow us to get token copies of creatures that we wouldn't ordinarily have access to.</p>
<p>While I'm not going to list it in its own section, this a Sunday Stream deck, which means that it gets a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mimic Vat" href="#" target="_blank">Mimic Vat</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>if there's any possible way to justify it. Mimic Vat obviously makes token copies of the creature exiled with it and those can be Populated, which is clearly powerful.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Closing Sumarrrrrrrry</h3>
<p>Oh, you thought you were getting through this whole article without a pirate pun? You fool. Anyways, this deck has the potential to take some very interesting synergy and turn it into a win via lots of accumulated value over the course of the game rather than through any one explosive turn. However, if you're able to acquire a large number of Gruff Triplets, your opponents could be entering choppy seas.</p>


Sunday Stream Deck Tech (8/25/24) - Xavier Sal, Infested Captain

<p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://player.twitch.tv/?video=2227930437&amp;parent=edhrec.com" width="620" height="378" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p>Welcome back to another Sunday Stream EDH deck tech. This week we built a deck around Zevlor, Elturel Exile, a four-mana Grixis commander that loves copying single-target spells to turn them into huge value.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h1 style="text-align: center;">Zevlor, Elturel Exile</h1>
<p style="text-align: center;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Zevlor, Elturel Exile"></div></div></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://archidekt.com/decks/8867136/zevlor_elturel_exile">Archidekt Link</a></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>While we end up building around Rakdos and Izzet on a somewhat regular basis on the Sunday Stream, Grixis is inexplicably a rarely explored combo for us, so Zevlor is a nice change of pace. Zevlor's activated ability allows to copy our next instant or sorcery that would target a single permanent or opponent, then use those copies to target a permanent controlled by the other two opponents or the other two opponents themselves.</p>
<p>Naturally, Spellslinger is easily the most common theme for Zevlor decks, with roughly 2,000 out of the 3,750 decks following that archetype. However, as is standard practice for the Sunday Stream, we went a completely different direction. Instead of loading up the deck with loads of single target one and two-mana instants, we went with a combination theme of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Threaten" href="#" target="_blank">Threaten</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> effects and big mana sorceries that can win us the game with big, splashy effects.</p>
<p>Why Threaten effects? Because stealing your opponents' creatures for a turn is fun and making them do your bidding is even more fun. But, then where did the big mana sub-theme come from?</p>
<p>One of my favorite parts of the stream is taking suggestions from the live chat, and the first card to be suggested for this build was Eternal Dominion, a gaudy <strong>ten</strong>-mana sorcery with the Epic ability.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Eternal Dominion"></div></div></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Searching <em>each</em> opponent's library for any artifact, creature, enchantment, or land is probably close to a game-ender on its own, but the Epic ability allows to recast this spell THREE TIMES EVERY UPKEEP, which is frankly absurd. The odds of you ever doing that more than once aren't great, since you're either going to win or lose very quickly, but the idea of making that happen is still awesome, so we're throwing it in and doing other cool stuff like that.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Cost Reduction &amp; Ramp</strong></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Goblin Electromancer"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Storm-Kiln Artist"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Stormcatch Mentor"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Magda, the Hoardmaster"></div></div>
<p>If we're going to be casting lots of instants and sorceries, especially expensive ones, cost reduction and ramp will be critical. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Goblin Electromancer" href="#" target="_blank">Goblin Electromancer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Storm-Kiln Artist" href="#" target="_blank">Storm-Kiln Artist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are classics of the Spellslinger archetype and will function perfectly in this deck. Storm-Kiln Artist is specifically helpful because it will allow us to bank those precious Treasure tokens to use for our big hitters later on.</p>
<p>Stormcatch Mentor is a new card from Bloomburrow that applies a nice blanket cost reduction to instants and sorceries, and does have Prowess in case we find a reason to make him an impromptu attacker or blocker.</p>
<p>Magda, the Hoardmaster, makes a Treasure the first time we commit a crime each turn. Obviously, we'd like her to create more than one Treasure per turn, but we're going to be #DoingCrime often enough to get value from her consistently.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Do <del>Not</del> Seek the Treasure</strong></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Charming Scoundrel"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Big Score"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bottle-Cap Blast"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Decadent Dragon"></div></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Did I mention that we're going to need Treasures? <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Charming Scoundrel" href="#" target="_blank">Charming Scoundrel</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a great cheap creature to give us that Treasure token as early as turn two.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Big Score" href="#" target="_blank">Big Score</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Unexpected Windfall" href="#" target="_blank">Unexpected Windfall</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are identical instants that are excellent ways to draw a couple of cards and make two Treasures to keep us moving forward. Let's not reinvent the wheel here.</p>
<p>Decadent Dragon is a nice Adventure spell that has a single target instant spell stapled to a flyer that makes a Treasure on attack, so it's a good double-duty card for this deck. A non-budget version of this deck would probably swap it out for a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Goldspan Dragon" href="#" target="_blank">Goldspan Dragon</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, but Decadent will do just fine.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>DO IT AGAIN</strong></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Retreat to Coralhelm"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Chakram Retriever"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Patriar&#039;s Seal"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Vizier of Tumbling Sands"></div></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Given that Zevlor's ability does require him to tap, we'd obviously like to find ways to untap him and Do More Stuff. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Retreat to Coralhelm" href="#" target="_blank">Retreat to Coralhelm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> lets us untap our commander simply by playing a land. Easy enough.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Chakram Retreiver" href="#" target="_blank">Chakram Retreiver</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> lets us untap Zlevor any time we cast a spell during our turn. I think you can probably figure out why that's a good synergy for a deck that casts a lot of spells.</p>
<p>Patriar's Seal is mana rock that can produce any color we need, and has the ability to untap Zevlor stapled to it. Perfect.</p>
<p>Vizer of Tumbling Sands is handy creature that will literally never draw targeted removal, and can untap any permanent, which is useful even if Zevlor isn't on the board. If you're in a pinch, Vizier can also be cycled to draw a card and untap a permanent one time.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Let's Get Weird</strong></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Arcane Bombardment"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Double Vision"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Telemin Performance"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Worst Fears"></div></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Arcane Bombardment" href="#" target="_blank">Arcane Bombardment</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will forever be a pet card of mine. It creates some really explosive turns by copying more and more spells every turn, and is just a super fun card to have on the board.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Double Vision" href="#" target="_blank">Double Vision</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a similarly fun card that will almost always trigger on the same spell that Zevlor is copying, so you can turn your extra copy of Threaten into another way to untap Zevlor. That's pretty neat!</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Telemin Performance" href="#" target="_blank">Telemin Performance</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> has the power to be a complete blowout spell if we're able to copy it with Zevlor's ability. Suddenly, for the low cost of seven mana, you can have each opponent reveal cards from their library until they reveal a creature, which you will put onto the battlefield under your control, and then any noncreature cards revealed go straight to the graveyard. That's bonkers.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Worst Fears" href="#" target="_blank">Worst Fears</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a hilarious and dumb card that I will hear no objections about. What would you do if you could control the next turn for <em>all </em>of your opponents? Would you tap all of their mana down and cast every spell you could in the dumbest way possible? Would you have them attack each other? DO MORE. Use one of their credit cards to order a pizza for yourself. Steal their car. Legally change their names. The world is your oyster. You paid TEN mana. You deserve this.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Actually, That's <em>Mine</em></strong></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Stolen Identity"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Blue Sun&#039;s Twilight"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Acquire"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Threaten"></div></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>I <em>love </em>the Cipher mechanic. I literally <a href="https://moxfield.com/decks/6GlOCxQwMUe4XFzNYeCVJw">built an entire deck</a> just to play Cipher and Bloodrush together. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Stolen Identity" href="#" target="_blank">Stolen Identity</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> combines one of my favorite mechanics in Magic with repeatable single-target creature theft. Not only can you copy the original with Zevlor, but you can also copy any of the future Cipher casts of Stolen Identity, netting you three stolen creatures each time.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blue Sun&#039;s Twilight" href="#" target="_blank">Blue Sun&#039;s Twilight</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will, again, steal a creature from each of your opponents, and if you can at least five mana into the X cost, you'll get a token copy of those creatures as well. Potentially huge value available here.</p>
<p>For the low cost of seven mana, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Acquire" href="#" target="_blank">Acquire</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will let you tutor an artifact from all of your opponents' libraries directly to the battlefield. The floor of this card is probably grabbing a couple of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sol Ring" href="#" target="_blank">Sol Ring</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>s and another mana rock, which is very solid.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Threaten" href="#" target="_blank">Threaten</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> here is a stand-in for a number of cards in the deck that functionally say "Gain control of target creature until end of turn and untap it. It gains haste until end of turn." Zevlor lets us steal a creature from each opponent for the duration of the turn, and the ceiling for how powerful this can be obviously depends on the creatures you're able to steal. You could send them back their owners, deal with the life-gain player, or maybe even sacrifice one to Deadly Dispute to gain some more Treasure and card advantage. In a pinch, these cards could also be used to untap Zevlor for another.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Closing Summary</strong></p>
<p>While this deck is far more boom-or-bust than the decks we build typically are, the potential payoffs in this deck make it worth the risk. Explosive turns will be the name of the game here, and that will almost always make this deck fun and interesting to play, even if it isn't necessarily able to hang around at a high power table on a regular basis.</p>


Sunday Stream Deck Tech (8/18/24) - Zevlor, Elturel Exile

<h6 style="text-align: right;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mr. Foxglove" href="#" target="_blank">Mr. Foxglove</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> art by <a href="https://www.artstation.com/akreon">Anna Podedworna</a></h6>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://player.twitch.tv/?video=2221973256&amp;parent=edhrec.com" width="620" height="378" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"><span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start">﻿</span></iframe></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Welcome back to another Sunday Stream EDH deck tech. Last week we built <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/sunday-stream-deck-tech-8-4-24-gev-the-vus-bus/?utm_source=edhrec&amp;utm_medium=article_preview">Gev, the Gus Bus</a>, a wacky artifact-centric version of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gev, Scaled Scorch" href="#" target="_blank">Gev, Scaled Scorch</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. This week, we're building a deck around <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mr. Foxglove" href="#" target="_blank">Mr. Foxglove</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, a sly Fox who wants to draw cards and cheat out big creatures.</p>
<p><em>NOTE: </em>One thing I forgot to mention last week is that we typically do not include a full land base on<a href="https://archidekt.com/"> Archidekt</a>. If there are non-basics we feel are vital to the strategy, we'll include those, but typically we assume the balance of the mana base will be filled with basics or cheap dual lands in order to remain in budget. So, if you notice that a decklist only has 60-something cards in it, think of the remaining cards in the deck as a build-your-own mana base.</p>
<p><strong>If you're interested in checking out our streams, we go live every Sunday evening at 6 PM CT/7 PM ET on the <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/edhrecast">EDHRECast Twitch channel</a>.</strong></p>
<h1 style="text-align: center;"><strong>Mr. Foxglove, the Exalted</strong></h1>
<p style="text-align: center;">Commander: <b>Mr. Foxglove</b></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mr. Foxglove"></div></div></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://archidekt.com/decks/8774798/mr_foxglove">Archidekt Link</a></p>
<p>Another week, and another<em> Bloomburrow</em> commander. Mr. Foxglove is a rare foray into the world of Bant for this stream, but does a few different things that we love to do. First off, "when ___ attacks" always makes for a fun commander. The more a commander has to be involved in a game, the better. The attack trigger is an interesting two-sided trigger that either draws you cards or cheats out a creature onto the field from your hand. Early in the game, you should be able to fairly deliberate with your choices depending on whether or not you'd like to draw a card or two or get a creature on the field. Late in the game, your card draw engine should be firmly online and you'll be able to easily take advantage of the creature cheating payoff.</p>
<p>If you're leaning into cheating creatures out, the natural path is to draw lots of cards early in the game, then cheat in something <em>huge and disgusting</em> like an Eldrazi and win the game by overwhelming the table. However, this is not a deck-building stream that's looking to build what a commander naturally wants to do. We're here to do something fun.</p>
<p>As much as we'd love to double up on attack triggers to be able to resolve both outcomes of Mr. Foxglove's ability in the same attack, that ability invariably requires red, which we do not have access to. Extra combats are also scarce in Bant, but we do have options. Enter <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Finest Hour" href="#" target="_blank">Finest Hour</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Finest Hour"></div></div></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Finest Hour" href="#" target="_blank">Finest Hour</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is one of the few extra combat options available to Bant, which will allow us to get multiple Mr. Foxglove attack triggers per turn. It also has another interesting ability: <strong>Exalted</strong>.</p>
<p>Given that Mr. Foxglove wants to attack anyway, why not lean into it and go with a Voltron theme? Auras and equipment are typically the go-to options for Voltron strategies (don't worry, we have plenty of Auras), but Bant also has lots of access to Exalted, so let's see what we can do with that.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Exalted Support</strong></span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Giltspire Avenger"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rafiq of the Many"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sovereigns of Lost Alara"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sublime Archangel"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Giltspire Avenger" href="#" target="_blank">Giltspire Avenger</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> has the exalted ability we're building around, but also has a repeatable creature removal ability that can act as a deterrent against counter-attacking us and that we don't have to burn another spell slot on for a similar single-use effect.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rafiq of the Many" href="#" target="_blank">Rafiq of the Many</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> grants double strike to the creature attacking alone, single-handedly turning our 3/5 commander into a 4/6 double-striker, which is a far more daunting creature to block.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sovereigns of Lost Alara" href="#" target="_blank">Sovereigns of Lost Alara</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> acts as a tutor for all of the Auras in our deck that we want to be attached to Mr. Foxglove. Swing and go grab <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Strong Back" href="#" target="_blank">Strong Back</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> for free? Don't mind if I do.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sublime Archangel" href="#" target="_blank">Sublime Archangel</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is one of the cards that really gives our deck some extra juice, and turns every creature in our board into exalted support.</p>
<p><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Who Doesn't Like Drawing Cards?</span></strong></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sram, Senior Edificer"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Frontline Sage"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Combat Research"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Wizard Class"></div></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sram, Senior Edificer" href="#" target="_blank">Sram, Senior Edificer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a staple of any white deck that runs Auras and Equipment, and for good reason. We're running seventeen auras in this deck and one equipment artifact in this deck, so there will be plenty of opportunities to draw extra cards.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Frontline Sage" href="#" target="_blank">Frontline Sage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is another piece of Exalted support, but also gives us the ability to draw a card without increasing our hand size, which could be important if we're trying to draw cards with Foxglove's ability.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Combat Research" href="#" target="_blank">Combat Research</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a great Aura for this deck, allowing us to draw another card when Foxglove connects, and gives him a small buff and Ward 1.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wizard Class" href="#" target="_blank">Wizard Class</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> remains one of my favorite enchantments. Not only is it an easy way to get unlimited hand size, but once fully upgraded it will give a significant buff to our commander directly from Foxglove's draw ability.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Cheat Creatures</strong></span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bruna, Light of Alabaster"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ghalta and Mavren"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kogla, the Titan Ape"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Storvald, Frost Giant Jarl"></div></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bruna, Light of Alabaster" href="#" target="_blank">Bruna, Light of Alabaster</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is the most popular Azorius Auras commander on EDHREC for good reason. Bruna's attack/block trigger is an absolute house that will give all of our Auras a second life if/when Mr. Foxglove gets removed and they go to the graveyard.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ghalta and Mavren" href="#" target="_blank">Ghalta and Mavren</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> was a late addition to the deck, but it may end up being one of the most impactful. Sure, if you cheat Ghalta and Mavren out with Mr. Foxglove's ability, then you will not get your Ghalta and Mavren trigger that turn, but next turn you'll likely be creating some very large Dinosaur tokens or <strong><em>a lot</em> </strong>of Vampire tokens with lifelink.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kogla, the Titan Ape" href="#" target="_blank">Kogla, the Titan Ape</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is consistently one of the most underrated green creatures to cheat out in <em>Magic</em>. On ETB, the 7/6 Kogla fights a creature, almost always getting rid of the biggest creature-based threat on the board right off the bat. Then, if he hangs around for a turn and gets to swing, you can start destroying artifacts and enchantments.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Storvald, Frost Giant Jarl" href="#" target="_blank">Storvald, Frost Giant Jarl</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is probably the most niche inclusion on this list, but I think there is a ton of value to be found here. First off, Ward 3 is a very powerful ability that effectively amounts to hexproof, and he gives it to <em>all </em>of your <em>creatures.</em> Then, on ETB, it can make Mr. Foxglove a base 7/7 creature which could put you in range for one-shot damage depending on how many buffs you're getting from Auras and exalted triggers.</p>
<p><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Other Fun Toys</span></strong></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Colossification"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Abundance"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Archmage Ascension"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Psychosis Crawler"></div></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>You know it. You love it. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Colossification" href="#" target="_blank">Colossification</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is classic silly staple of Voltron Commander decks to turn them into one-shot machines, and we have ways to cheat it out onto the field for free.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Abundance" href="#" target="_blank">Abundance</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> may be one of the coolest pieces of synergy in this entire deck. This deck is going to draw a ton of cards, and when it does, Abundance gives us the option to go find a nonland card and put it into our hand instead. If we get a creature, that's another option to cheat out. If it's an enchantment, that's extra value on board and probably extra power for our commander. This ability having the "may" caveat turns this from just a fun inclusion to a legitimately powerful synergy piece.</p>
<p>Remember how I said we want to draw lots of cards? Well, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Archmage Ascension" href="#" target="_blank">Archmage Ascension</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can pay that off in a big way. Any turn we draw two cards gives us another quest counter on Archmage Ascension, then once we have six counters on it, all of our draws turn into tutors, which is a very clear and obvious win condition.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Psychosis Crawler" href="#" target="_blank">Psychosis Crawler</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is another potential win condition, paying off our copious card draw with widespread damage. Easy as that.</p>
<p><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Closing Summary</span></strong></p>
<p>I'm biased, but I think most of the decks we brew are interesting and fun to play. That said, I think Mr. Foxglove is one of our most interesting. Not because Bant Voltron is an especially unique strategy, but because this deck has a chance to have some big, explosive turns that dramatically shift the balance of the game just by cheating something big out to the battlefield. In the meantime, you should be drawing lots of cards to give you plenty of things to do and ways to keep your strategy moving forward.</p>
<p>As mentioned earlier, if you like this deck and want to help us build other unique and fun decks on a budget, be sure to check out our Twitch streams every Sunday evening!</p>


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Sunday Stream Deck Tech (8/25/24) - Xavier Sal, Infested Captain

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Sunday Stream Deck Tech (8/11/24) - Mr. Foxglove

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