Topdecking

Commander / EDH*

Genous

Creature (28)

• 1x Arbiter of the Ideal
• 1x Artisan of Kozilek
• 1x Augury Adept
• 1x Bringer of the Black Dawn
• 1x Courser of Kruphix
• 1x Deceiver of Form
• 1x Doom Whisperer
• 1x Duskmantle Seer
• 1x Enigma Sphinx
• 1x Etali, Primal Storm
• 1x Golos, Tireless Pilgrim
• 1x Hua Tuo, Honored Physician
• 1x Intet, the Dreamer
• 1x Jadelight Ranger
• 1x Magus of the Mind
• 1x Progenitus
• 1x Prognostic Sphinx
• 1x Rashmi, Eternities Crafter
• 1x Sigiled Starfish
• 1x Stormchaser Chimera
• 1x Terastodon
• 1x Twilight Prophet
• 1x Vaevictis Asmadi, the Dire
• 1x Worldspine Wurm
• 1x Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign
• 1x Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder
• 1x Yuriko, the Tiger's ShadowGC
• 1x Zoologist

Enchantment (7)

• 1x Baneful Omen
• 1x Cream of the Crop
• 1x Impromptu Raid
• 1x Path of Discovery
• 1x Possibility Storm
• 1x Soothsaying
• 1x Zendikar Resurgent

Artifact (22)

• 1x Bolas's CitadelGC
• 1x Chromatic Lantern
• 1x Commander's Sphere
• 1x Crystal Ball
• 1x Darksteel Ingot
• 1x Darksteel Pendant
• 1x Druidic Satchel
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Firemind Vessel
• 1x Gate to the AEther
• 1x Gilded Lotus
• 1x Lens of Clarity
• 1x Library of Leng
• 1x Lifecrafter's Bestiary
• 1x Omen Machine
• 1x Oracle's Vault
• 1x Prismatic Lens
• 1x Proteus Staff
• 1x Seer's Lantern
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Simic Signet
• 1x Whispersilk Cloak

Land (9)

• 1x Cascading Cataracts
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x New Benalia
• 1x Vivid Crag
• 1x Vivid Creek
• 1x Vivid Grove
• 1x Vivid Marsh
• 1x Vivid Meadow

Planeswalker (3)

• 1x Aminatou, the Fateshifter
• 1x Jace, the Mind Sculptor
• 1x Nissa, Steward of Elements

Commander (1)

Sorcery (18)

• 1x Contingency Plan
• 1x Cultivate
• 1x Diabolic Vision
• 1x Dream Cache
• 1x Entreat the Angels
• 1x Entreat the Dead
• 1x Kodama's Reach
• 1x Mystic Speculation
• 1x Nissa's Revelation
• 1x Peregrination
• 1x Ponder
• 1x Portent
• 1x Reason / Believe
• 1x Reforge the Soul
• 1x Scheming Symmetry
• 1x Serum Visions
• 1x Taigam's Scheming
• 1x Ugin's Insight

Instant (4)

• 1x Brainstorm
• 1x Hunting Pack
• 1x Krosan Grip
• 1x Telling Time

---

Sideboard

Creature (29)

• 1x Arashin Sovereign
• 1x Bloodline Shaman
• 1x Brutalizer Exarch
• 1x Champion of Stray Souls
• 1x Civic Guildmage
• 1x Coiling Oracle
• 1x Conduit of Ruin
• 1x Conundrum Sphinx
• 1x Deadeye Tracker
• 1x Descendant of Soramaro
• 1x Djinn of Wishes
• 1x Galvanoth
• 1x Goblin Spy
• 1x Golgari Thug
• 1x Grenzo, Dungeon Warden
• 1x Jalira, Master Polymorphist
• 1x Leashling
• 1x Llanowar Empath
• 1x Melek, Izzet Paragon
• 1x Momir Vig, Simic Visionary
• 1x Mwonvuli Beast Tracker
• 1x Narset, Enlightened Master
• 1x Orcish Spy
• 1x Ruin Raider
• 1x Selvala, Explorer Returned
• 1x Sifter Wurm
• 1x Sin Prodder
• 1x Skyward Eye Prophets
• 1x Stormcaller of Keranos

Sorcery (12)

• 1x Bring to Light
• 1x Conflux
• 1x Devastation Tide
• 1x Dimir Machinations
• 1x Erratic Explosion
• 1x Explosive Revelation
• 1x Index
• 1x Interpret the Signs
• 1x Selvala's Stampede
• 1x Spark of Creativity
• 1x Supply / Demand
• 1x Terminus

Instant (9)

• 1x Artisan's Sorrow
• 1x Banishing Stroke
• 1x Erratic Mutation
• 1x Judge Unworthy
• 1x Long-Term Plans
• 1x Reclaim
• 1x Thunderous Wrath
• 1x Trickery Charm
• 1x Vanishment

Enchantment (11)

• 1x Aid from the Cowl
• 1x Call of the Wild
• 1x Dark Tutelage
• 1x Elemental Augury
• 1x Elemental Bond
• 1x Haunted Crossroads
• 1x Into the Wilds
• 1x Lurking Predators
• 1x Retreat to Coralhelm
• 1x Sunbird's Invocation
• 1x Temur Ascendancy

Artifact (5)

• 1x Charmed Pendant
• 1x Etherwrought Page
• 1x Explorer's Scope
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Sunset Pyramid

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Liliana Vess

---

Maybeboard

Enchantment (2)

• 1x Maelstrom Nexus
• 1x Mirri's Guile

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Saheeli Rai

Artifact (1)

• 1x Treasure Map  ^Flip

Instant (2)

• 1x Insidious Dreams
• 1x Lim-Dul's Vault

Creature (1)

• 1x Maelstrom Wanderer

---

Alright, so many, many factors have led us here, building this 5-color "Top of the deck matters" deck. I've always been intrigued by Cromat , given his versatility, and I've been searching for unique ideas for a deck with him at the helm. Nothing. As it turns out, forcibly adding colors for the sake of running a specific commander makes the strategy of the deck feel dull or plain worse than the same deck with fewer colors. That said, ever since I bought the Subjective Reality 2018 commander deck, led by Aminatou, the Fateshifter , which cares about the top of the deck, I haven't used it all that much. The problem? It's a control deck. And a good one at that. I was once able to keep 4 other players, who were all teaming up against me and my partner, at bay, almost single-handedly. Point is, it's really good at what it does, and what it does is frowned upon by other members of my playgroup. And so, as of late, I haven't had much drive to take it out for a spin. I even began disassembling it. But no more! It's high time for the glorious return of the top deck, the stupidest viable strategy I've ever heard of.

What is the deck and what does it want to do? This will be a value deck, cheating things into play from the top of my library, draining others with the converted mana cost of the card on the top of my library, and casting cards for their miracle cost every time, by interacting with the top cards of the deck. Cards that will enable me to do so include Aminatou, the Fateshifter , Sensei's Divining Top , Hua Tuo, Honored Physician , and any kind of scry greater than 1. In regards to abusing the top of the deck, Grenzo, Dungeon Warden will be able to cheat out creatures that have been scried to the bottom of the deck, Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign can cast odd-costed spells for free, Vaevictis Asmadi, the Dire can do his darndest impression of a Chaos Warp for every player (I'll profit from it the most, mind you), and Melek, Izzet Paragon can double any instants and sorceries cast from the top.

Why Cromat ? Let's begin by reiterating my interest in the card. It's a five-color legendary creature with some of the most versatility ever before printed on a card. With a whopping FIVE activated abilities, all of which have their unique application and use, Cromat brings something to the table that has long been sought after (for me, at least): mystery. The fact that I can pull this monstrosity out for strangers and they'll nary have the faintest idea about any aspect of the deck, is absolutely delightful! Now, I could run other five-color commanders in its place, but my god is it a beast in this deck. Its synergy was printed directly on the card, and I can say with the utmost certainty that it's the ability that others disregard as being inefficient protection, especially given its capacity to regenerate, which has far more application and is far more convenient. The ability reads, "GU: Put Cromat on top of its owner's library." Yeah, pretty busted in this deck. For example, with a card like Twilight Prophet on my field, I can guarantee my opponents will be losing at least 5 life each. To continue on the topic of its abilities, Cromat is one of the greatest "NOPES" in the format. It can grant itself flight, which makes it a potent attacker, complemented greatly by its self-pump effect, as well as a troublesome blocker, as it can destroy any creature it interacts with during combat, and it can regenerate itself. Kind of absurd, and exactly the kind of commander that makes games interactive between players and thus, interesting.

Now, I should mention that I've considered using Jodah, Archmage Etrenal as the commander because the deck generally has a very high top-end on the mana-curve, the costs of which Jodah can cheat. I'll have to try both to see how they compare.

Date added	5 years
Last updated	3 years
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	12 - 3 Mythic Rares 41 - 26 Rares 26 - 25 Uncommons 13 - 13 Commons
Cards	92
Avg. CMC	3.99
Tokens	Angel 4/4 W, Beast 4/4 G, City's Blessing, Elephant 3-3 G, Saproling 1/1 G, Wurm 5/5 G w/ Trample