Atraxa, Praetors' VoiceAtraxa, Praetors' Voice | Art by Victor Adame Minguez

Greetings and salutations, and welcome to a land of shenaniganny weirdos and powerful beings alike. I'm Arnaud and I'm thrilled to take you on a journey of obscure builds, untrodden paths, and well-known faces.

Last time, we parted ways with the usual poll. First off, a huge round of thanks to all of you who took part of the vote. This has been one of the most successful in a long time, and while still far off from the beginning of this series, it's still an extremely encouraging sign for its future.

Second, oddly enough, the results ended up in a tie. So, as is now tradition, there will be no poll this time, as I'll tackle one of the winners in this article, and the other in the next one. Talk about enthusiasm!

Third place went to Kurkesh, Onakke AncientKurkesh, Onakke Ancient, with 15 votes (20%). Not bad, but not quite enough. First joint place went to both Atraxa, Praetors' Voice and Myojins on one end, and Yurlok of Scorch ThrashYurlok of Scorch Thrash on the other, both earning 30 votes (40%). Incidentally, I also think these are the roundest figures ever to appear in these polls!

Do I truly need to present Atraxa? Third most popular commander of all time, holding the top spot for years, this is one legend everyone has encountered at one point or the other while playing at their LGS or on Spelltable. It's been popular since her inception in 2016, and continues to drive a solid hype even nowadays.

For a puny her abilities are stellar, and that proliferate trigger on each end step is a doomsday machine on a stick.

Still, I believe today's brew remains quite niche, very janky and above all else capable of spectacular plays. There are, at the moment of writing, 133 decks that include each and every Myojin in the legal colors. Hopefully there'll be enough cheap cards to make this weird brew work out.

Without further ado, let's grab each and every card from lists including all Myojins. Those filters truly are a boon when building such oddities.

First Trim – The Cardboard Chainsaw Massacre

283 cards. I'm slightly nervous about the deck's ability to fit the bill. Let's start cutting and see where this leads.

Before getting to work, a quick word about methodology. These articles all follow the same rule: Build a deck based on the cards for any given commander on EDHREC without using anything costing more than $1.10.

This iteration is kind of an exception, as some of the Myojins are actually fairly expensive on their own. As these are at the core of the deck's idea, they'll be all included, regardless of the price. Anything else though... Not quite so.

Before moving on, let's have a look at everything between $1.10 and $2, to cry over the best goodies that will have to go:

• Gilded LotusGilded Lotus: This will be a mana hungry deck, and this piece will be sorely missed, all for three measly cents. Dura Lex Sed Lex. 
• Faeburrow ElderFaeburrow Elder: Just like above, but even sadder.
• Swiftfoot BootsSwiftfoot Boots: Oh, look! They just went back above that cursed $1.10 threshold!
• Brokers ConfluenceBrokers Confluence: An incredibly versatile modal spell. Proliferating three times is no joke in this deck.
• Tamiyo, Field ResearcherTamiyo, Field Researcher: A cheaper OmniscienceOmniscience, active in a single rotation with Atraxa out if nothing happens to her.
• Lae'zel, Vlaakith's ChampionLae'zel, Vlaakith's Champion: One of the cheapest ways to get the engine rolling.
• Superior Spider-ManSuperior Spider-Man: An excellent new alternative to spending ten mana on a creature.
• Contractual SafeguardContractual Safeguard: Very cute proliferate outlet.

This leaves the following between $1 and $1.10:

• Eternal WitnessEternal Witness: Don't underestimate recursion in this brew.
• Fellwar StoneFellwar Stone: Will usually provide each and every color you'll need.
• Cascading CataractsCascading Cataracts: Myojins are quite color heavy, so I'm not 100% convinced.
• Sol RingSol Ring: Thank the Blind Eternities it's affordable this time.
• Tyrite SanctumTyrite Sanctum: Not of the utmost importance here, but still useful to safeguard Atraxa.

This has been a nasty Trim. These initial cuts have axed more than half of the available stuff, down to 133 cards. It seems I'll have to get creative and find some other outlets to add back in.

Let's move on.

Second Trim – Cardward Scissorhands

At this point of the brew, I focus on the so-called "veggies," the cards that allow you to enact your plan by giving more mana, keeping your hand filled with gas, and removing pesky threats on other boards.

This usually takes the form of an almost administrative task, before delving back to the more fun stuff.

Prior to cutting off things, I have the disturbing feeling that the list will already have fewer than 100 cards already. What fuels this feeling is the following:

See the issue? Draw count is quite decent, but could be upgraded. Removal could get ruffled a bit. Ramp needs a makeover. And there are currently 32 lands in the brew.

If this doesn't get below the 100 threshold, it will be close.

I want to keep the ramp count high: at least 20 spells, as all Myojins cost at the very least eight mana to cast, all with three colored pips. That's nothing to scoff at, and you need to assemble your mana quickly and efficiently if you want a chance.

Let's cut these:

I wasn't exagerating. This must be one of the most brutal trims since the beginning of the series, as the list is already down to 108 cards.

Let's move on the final section then, and see what can be adjusted.

Final Trim – Cutting Off the Rough Edges

So what's the big idea? What is this mess of a list all about? In a word, Myojins.

You see, these creatures are extremely peculiar. They usually don't sport great stats, cost a truckload of mana, and will only come with their precious divinity counter if you actually cast them from your hand fair and square. So no reanimation or cheating shenanigans. These are as fair a powerhouse as you can make them.

Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty was kind enough to provide another four iterations in these colors, bringing the total count to eight. If you actually manage to cast them... Well, that's where the magic happens.

Removing a divinity counter from any of these will trigger extremely powerful abilities, from drawing cards equal to the number of permanents you control to making the same number of tokens, from dropping all of your creatures from your hand onto the field to making all opponents discard their hand.

Fun, but limited to one activation. Except... except if you somehow manage to multiply said counters over and over. AtraxaAtraxa will already do that, and the list includes several other outlets to achieve a similar goal.

Then it's not so much a cute showmanship as a game-ending move. Make 243 Spirits at instant speed, draw almost all your deck, wipe the board each and every turn, prevent any opponents from playing a card except in their upkeep...

Granted, a couple of these Myojins have a much less impressive impact (I see you, Myojin of Cryptic DreamsMyojin of Cryptic Dreams). In most cases though, when your opponents realize what you're up to, it'll likely be too late.

You'll also notice that several outlets leverage that counter proliferation quite nicely, Djinn of WishesDjinn of Wishes and Empowered AutogeneratorEmpowered Autogenerator being but a few examples.

So, with that, there are still eight cards to cut, if not more, as there are a couple things I'd like to add back to the list. Let's start with these:

• Fact or FictionFact or Fiction: Dig five deep and find a solution. A classic draw outlet that can also become a political tool in a pinch
• Dig Through TimeDig Through Time: Dig seven cards at instant speed. With all the ramp this deck plays you could even hard-cast it before it comes back to your turn.
• Primal CommandPrimal Command: Removal and tutor all in one.
• Planewide CelebrationPlanewide Celebration: Proliferate four times, gain 16 life, get something useful back from the bin, at worst make some emergency chump blockers... This is one heck of a versatile spell.
• Surge ConductorSurge Conductor: You're playing a lot of artifacts; this makes good use of casting them late game.

There's one more thing to do: remove the last 11 cards. Let's finish this:

• Brokers AscendancyBrokers Ascendancy, Forgotten AncientForgotten Ancient and Hardened ScalesHardened Scales: +1/+1 counters are the least of your concerns here.
• Resourceful DefenseResourceful Defense: Aside from the very situational occasion where you'll want to switch divinity counters to a better Myojin, this will more often be a dead card.
• PerennationPerennation: Reanimating a Myojin without its counter is useless, so this would only be beneficial for the Neon Dynasty Myojin, which use indestructible counters instead of divinity counters.
• Vorel of the Hull CladeVorel of the Hull Clade: Needs to be on the field for at least a turn to be efficient, and will often be underwhelming.
• Scheming AspirantScheming Aspirant: Could theoretically be a finisher, but will more often be a cute distraction at best.
• Deepglow SkateDeepglow Skate: Tried to make it work; didn't. It's just too expensive for what it does, and it does it at sorcery speed only.
• Four KnocksFour Knocks: Stays indefinitely with Atraxa on the field, but it just feels a bit slow.
• Vivid MarshVivid Marsh and Vivid MeadowVivid Meadow: With 20 ramp spells, 36 lands should be enough, all the more since I deliberately avoided most that fetch lands in favor of color fixing.
• Drogskol CaptainDrogskol Captain: I've pondered long on this one, as it does provide great protection to your indestructible Myojins. But worst case scenario, if they get PathedPathed or SwordedSworded, you can remove the counter in response to get at least some part of the total value you were expecting.
• Path to ExilePath to Exile: Because I'm at a loss of what to cut next.

And with a surprisingly difficult end stretch, I give you:

Atraxa, Praetors' Voice Myojin Commander Deck List

Additional Trim – A Look Into the Past

After simmering in the Archidekt Archives, how did that Kalain, Reclusive PainterKalain, Reclusive Painter list fare?

In a word: reasonably well. There are currently six cards worth more than $1.10:

• Magda, Brazen OutlawMagda, Brazen Outlaw: $1.33
• Wild Magic SurgeWild Magic Surge: $1.52
• War RoomWar Room: $2.91 (!)
• RMS TitanicRMS Titanic: $3.24 (!)
• Seize the SpotlightSeize the Spotlight: $12.55 (!!!)

That surge for the latter card is by far the biggest spike ever registered for what used to be a dirt cheap card. Hope you got yours in time!

Let's replace these few outlets with the following:

• Crime NovelistCrime Novelist: Double up on each Treasure!
• Rain of RichesRain of Riches: Cascade galore, and then some.
• Mahadi, Emporium MasterMahadi, Emporium Master: This will net you a surprising amount of shinies... if he sticks around.
• Marionette ApprenticeMarionette Apprentice: This fantastic outlet fits the bill, but barely so.
• Smoldering MarshSmoldering Marsh: To replace the land in the lands of expensive cards.

You can find the updated list here.

Conclusion

It's been a fun, if a bit short, journey this one.

I've had this deck for quite some time now. Not the budget version, mind you, but it's quite similar in spirit. And while it's a bit of a glass cannon, you always get some intrigued stares when you announce that you'll play with a very specific type of counter, that isn't either poison, +1/+1, or anything remotely popular.

Now I'd like to hear from you, dear readers. Did you build this already? Have I ignited your spark?

Let me know in the comments below, and I'll see you in two weeks with a Trim for Yurlok of Scorch ThrashYurlok of Scorch Thrash!

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