Aesi Landfall/Turns (Primer)

Commander / EDH Combo GU (Simic) Infinite Combo Landfall Lands Primer Ramp

jicklemania

Land (39)

• 1x Bant Panorama
• 1x Breeding Pool
• 1x Command Beacon
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dryad Arbor
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Fabled Passage
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 12x Forest
• 10x Island
• 1x Misty Rainforest
• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 1x Mystic Sanctuary
• 1x Prismatic Vista
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Simic Growth Chamber
• 1x Waterlogged Grove
• 1x Windswept Heath
• 1x Wooded Foothills

Artifact (6)

• 1x Alhammarret's Archive
• 1x Cloudstone Curio
• 1x Crucible of Worlds
• 1x Horn of Greed
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Thought Vessel

Enchantment (5)

• 1x Burgeoning
• 1x Exploration
• 1x Khalni Heart Expedition
• 1x Retreat to Coralhelm
• 1x Trade Routes

Creature (17)

• 1x Ancient Greenwarden
• 1x Azusa, Lost but Seeking
• 1x Dryad of the Ilysian Grove
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Kruphix, God of Horizons
• 1x Llanowar Scout
• 1x Lotus Cobra
• 1x Nissa, Vastwood Seer  ^Flip
• 1x Oracle of Mul Daya
• 1x Rampaging Baloths
• 1x Ramunap Excavator
• 1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1x Tatyova, Benthic Druid
• 1x Terastodon
• 1x Thassa's Oracle
• 1x Tireless Tracker
• 1x Wayward Swordtooth

Instant (13)

• 1x Arcane Denial
• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Crop Rotation
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Force of Will
• 1x Gush
• 1x Harrow
• 1x Mystical Tutor
• 1x Nexus of Fate *list*
• 1x Pongify
• 1x Rapid Hybridization
• 1x Swan Song
• 1x Worldly Tutor

Commander (1)

Sorcery (17)

• 1x Cultivate
• 1x Curse of the Swine
• 1x Expropriate
• 1x Farseek
• 1x Green Sun's Zenith
• 1x Nature's Lore
• 1x Rampant Growth
• 1x Rite of Replication
• 1x Scapeshift
• 1x Search for Tomorrow
• 1x Skyshroud Claim
• 1x Summer Bloom
• 1x Three Visits
• 1x Time Stretch
• 1x Time Warp
• 1x Time of Need
• 1x Walk the Aeons

Planeswalker (2)

• 1x Nissa, Vital Force
• 1x Nissa, Who Shakes the World

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Maybeboard

Creature (5)

• 1x Crash of Rhino Beetles
• 1x Jolrael, Mwonvuli Recluse
• 1x Laboratory Maniac
• 1x Sporemound
• 1x Ulvenwald Hydra

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Jace, Wielder of Mysteries

Instant (4)

• 1x Force of Will
• 1x Heroic Intervention
• 1x Mana Drain
• 1x Nature's Claim

Land (1)

• 1x Yavimaya Hollow

Sorcery (3)

• 1x Explore
• 1x Farseek
• 1x Kodama's Reach

Artifact (1)

• 1x Mox Diamond

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Introduction

Welcome to my Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait EDH deck! If you, like me, love getting value off of even your basic lands, then this deck is for you. For clarification's sake, everything in this description will assume you are playing a 4-player game. Below are some reasons why you might enjoy or not enjoy playing this list.

Pros:

• You like drawing lots and lots of cards.
• You like playing lots and lots of lands.
• You enjoy very long turns, during which you draw more cards and play more lands, and in general just get tons of value, which then turns into casting an extra turn spell and doing it all again...
• You want a deck that does not always win simply by turning big green monsters sideways.
• This deck can function very well with all of this value, even if it doesn't or can't combo off due to your opponents.
• Having Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait as our commander means that we have a reliable way to get these value trains rolling.
• Once you have Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait on the battlefield, and/or another card that does the same thing (like Horn of Greed ), all of your lands and ramp draw you even more cards, which means that there are almost no dead draws!
• You like doing cool stuff with cool cards, and in general having lots and lots of fun!

Cons:

• You want a highly competitive cEDH deck - this deck is not that.
• You want a casual deck that won't consistently win when it is not dealt with - this deck is not that.
• You want a landfall deck thats wincon involves casting big creatures and turning them sideways - as said, this is not that.
• You or your playgroup doesn't like infinite combos.

• You are up against a lot of counterspells and removal - it can be extremely hard to win if you can't resolve a Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait , or if your key cards keep getting destroyed. Though this is true for most decks, some can fight through it better than others, and this deck is not particularly good at that.

Win Conditions

Though it is possible to win by swarming your opponents (say, with Rampaging Baloths ), this deck usually wins in other, easier ways. Here is a list of other ways to win:

Crucible of Worlds / Ramunap Excavator + Walk the Aeons + Azusa, Lost but Seeking = infinite turns. This combo works because you can cast Walk the Aeons and sacrifice 3 islands to buyback, keeping it in your hand. You then can play those three islands, one as your land-for-turn, and the other two because you can play 2 additional lands due to Azusa, Lost but Seeking , and Crucible of Worlds or Ramunap Excavator let you play those lands from your graveyard. Then, on your extra turn, you do it all again. You don't need specifically Azusa, Lost but Seeking for this combo - if you had, for example, Exploration and Oracle of Mul Daya , that would work too.

Llanowar Scout + Retreat to Coralhelm + Trade Routes / Cloudstone Curio + Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait / Tatyova, Benthic Druid / Nissa, Vital Force emblem = infinite draw. This combo works because you can tap Llanowar Scout to put a land down, which then triggers Retreat to Coralhelm and untaps the scout. This lets you play all the lands in your hand. To ensure that you can play infinite lands to get infinite card draws off of Aesi effects, you can use Trade Routes or Cloudstone Curio to return a land to your hand whenever you play one.

Once you have drawn your deck using either of these combos, you can win either by casting Thassa's Oracle to win, or by using Nexus of Fate for infinite turns, and then winning with combat damage. Sometimes in very long game, you might end up drawing your deck even without one of these combos, because this deck can, as I've mentioned, draw lots and lots of cards. Just remember not to accidentally lose because you play a land and draw a card with no cards in your deck... : )

Strategy

Early Game

In the first 6-7 turns, mainly what you are trying to do is establish early value, get down some good mana acceleration, and cast Aesi as soon as possible. You want to prepare for possible long, combo-y turns. Aesi is extremely important, both for preparing for these long turns, and for enabling those long turns (from now on I'm going to refer to them as Long Turns, since I will end up saying it a lot) :). You need Aesi to stay on the board for as long as possible, so some politicking may be needed to convince other players not to touch her. Try to get your additional-land cards, like Exploration , down too. These are the main enablers for Long Turns.

The other thing that you should be doing in the early game is tutoring (playing cards that search your library for cards). In this deck, I have four tutors: Mystical Tutor , Worldly Tutor , Green Sun's Zenith , and Time of Need . Try to anticipate what kind of card you will need most to make Long Turns work. Most frequently, I find myself tutoring for Azusa, Lost but Seeking (or any other creature that has a similar effect, e.g. Dryad of the Ilysian Grove ), Lotus Cobra , Ramunap Excavator or, with Mystical Tutor , an extra-turn spell (e.g. Nexus of Fate ), Scapeshift , or Summer Bloom . All in all, try to get your good value cards down, keep your hand as full as you can, and plot evil plans.

Middle game

The middle game is where Long Turns tend to happen. It usually doesn't take too long to get your enablers on board, and this deck can take off very quickly if not interacted with. A part of playing this deck is deciding when you want to attempt a Long Turn. As you probably know, a big part of non-competitive Commander is politics. If you take an 8-minute turn, and then fizzle out, you might end up looking like the biggest threat. I'm not saying to never attempt one unless you are certain you can win that turn - in fact, the main purpose of Long Turns is to find your combo pieces. Just be aware of how you look in other player's eyes, and try not to be too threatening. That being said, don't be hesitant to use this deck's value to the fullest. As a general rule, play as many lands as you can and get as much value as you can unless you feel it necessary to look unthreatening.

In addition, Long Turns tend to get longer the farther into the game you are, as you will generally have more resources in later turns. But now let me explain exactly what a Long Turn looks like:

Long Turns consist of playing several lands, which draws you several cards, which chains into casting an additional land spell, which chains into playing more lands, drawing more cards, and playing more additional land spells. When you run out of additional land spells, you usually still have quite a bit of mana left over, and this you can use to play spells like Alhammarret's Archive , Lotus Cobra , etc. that set you up for future turns. Often these turns can take a very long time, and cards like Lotus Cobra and Scapeshift are extremely good when taking them, as they allow you to do a lot more than you would normally be able to. Another very important part of Long Turns is Crucible of Worlds or Ramunap Excavator . There are many lands in this deck that sacrifice themselves to search your deck for a land and put it into play (e.g. Evolving Wilds ). These lands work incredibly well with Aesi, as she triggers twice— once when you play the land, and once when you search for a land. Using Crucible of Worlds / Ramunap Excavator , you can play these fetch-lands over, and over, and over again with all of your additional land plays. This can draw twice as many cards as normal, and double the chances of finding combo pieces and/or finding tutors that can tutor for combo pieces. Once you find all of the combo pieces for either of the two infinite combos I talked about above, you probably will win.

It is also very possible to win with combat damage. However, you usually need Rampaging Baloths to win this way. If you can, I recommend trying to get this card on the table before you take Long Turns, to give you an easy way to win if you don't manage to go infinite. However, this isn't always possible.

If the game goes well, you will be able to win (or lose, sometimes) in the middle game. However, some games go longer, and extend into the late game.

Late Game

If the game extends into the late game, it probably means that your opponents have dealt with you, either by preventing Long Turns or by countering or destroying your combo pieces. Depending on your meta and your opponents, this may be the hardest time for this deck to win, for several reasons. First, that your opponents are more likely to be able to respond to any win attempts. Second, that if you tried to combo off in the middle game, and failed, it is likely that your opponents think of you as a big threat, and are either planning to or in the process of trying to eliminate you. And third, that it is hard for this deck to actually win if it can't go infinite or take Long Turns with Rampaging Baloths to win with combat damage. BUT! Don't lose hope!

In the situation where you can't go infinite, and you can't win with combat damage, there is still a way to win. That way is called stalling. Well, not quite stalling. Trying to draw your entire deck the old-fashioned way: without actually going infinite. This is possible, though difficult, depending on how good your opponent's decks are. You need to play very proactively, trying to draw as many cards on each of your turns as you can, while making sure none of your opponents can win before you can. Politicking is especially important in this stage of the game, and an especially effective form of politicking is convincing another player that "He is the threat! He's going to win!" or "Look how many cards she has in her hand! We need to deal with her!" If you can turn other players against each other by convincing them that you are not the biggest threat, you accomplish two things at once: stopping your opponents from winning, and staying alive until you can draw your entire deck and play Thassa's Oracle .

I want to be clear that a lot of these strategy outlines and tips depend on your meta and playgroup. I am assuming that if you are playing this deck you will be either the most or the second most combo-y player at the table. However, this deck is not competitive, and if you are in a more competitive environment, it is likely that that this deck will not be close to the most competitive at the table. In this case, don't worry so much about looking threatening - worry more about preventing your opponents from winning. I also would recommend adding more interaction. I have built this deck with very little interaction, as my intention was to have a fun combo deck that isn't competitive, but if you want to use this deck in such a competitive environment, feel free to cut some of the worse cards and add in more counterspells and removal.

Lastly, let me take this opportunity to talk about a general rule to follow in EDH games: try to be in third place for as long as possible. If you start the game in first place, everyone will see that you are the main threat, and you won't be able to survive a 3 v 1. If you start the game in second place, the rest of the table will see you, and be aware that if they don't pay attention to you, you will win once the player in first place has been dealt with. If you start the game in fourth place, it is likely that you will be too far behind everyone else to be able to win. So, third place is the ideal place to be for at least the early game, and maybe some of the middle game, too. Like every rule, this rule has exceptions: I have seen and played in many games where the person in first place has just soared ahead and won, despite everyone else's attempts to stop them, and games where the person in fourth place has won completely out of nowhere. But, in general, I think that third place is the best position to start the game in.

Mulligans

The following are examples of hands, and whether or not I would keep them, and why. I am not including any obvious examples. Generally, never keep a hand with 0, 1, 6, or 7 lands, and often times you'll want to mulligan a hand with 2 or 5 lands— but it depends.

Hand 1: Burgeoning , Curse of the Swine , Forest , Forest , Island , Island , Island

This hand is very interesting. It has 5 lands, which makes me want to mulligan. However, Burgeoning makes a turn-3 Aesi possible. That means that even though you will have three cards to begin turn two, after you play Aesi, all of your lands will draw you cards. This hand is a very tempting hand to keep, but I would mulligan it. A turn three Aesi is very good, yes, but you won't be able to do much after then, unless you get lucky draws. If we had some card draw like Gush or some land bounce like Trade Routes , this might be a keep, but as it is this hand is not as explosive as it seems.

Hand 2: Lotus Cobra , Harrow , Overburden , Time Stretch , Tireless Tracker , Island , Evolving Wilds

This one is tricky. It has two lands, but it has Lotus Cobra , which is a great card, especially with Harrow , which is also in the hand. Tireless Tracker is another great 3-drop, so this hand would be a snap-keep if either the Overburden or the Time Stretch was replaced by a third land. The question is, though, what are the chances that you will draw a land in the next three turns? Well, using the magical powers of math, we find that the chance of the next card being a land is about 40%, and a little more than 40% for the next card, and so on. Overall, not bad odds. But if you get your third land and not your fourth, that also wouldn't be great. It's a bit of a risky keep, so I'd keep it over going down to 6, but mulligan it if I hadn't already used my free mulligan.

Hand 3: Llanowar Scout , Wayward Swordtooth , Nissa, Vital Force , Windswept Heath , Reliquary Tower , Island , Island

If one of the islands were a forest, I wouldn't have to talk about this one. It would be a snap-keep. Turn two Scout, turn three Swordtooth, turn four Nissa, turn five Aesi. That's a pretty great curve. However, we only have one green-source, which doesn't guarantee that we will be able to play Nissa. Even so, I would definitely keep this hand. There's a pretty big chance the we will draw another green-producing land in the first 5 turns, and even if we don't, it's still a good hand. Easy keep.

Hand 4: Cyclonic Rift , Wayward Swordtooth , Walk the Aeons , Curse of the Swine , Flooded Strand , Forest , Island

This hand looks really good. It's got three lands, it's got an extra-land spell, it's got an extra-turn spell, and it's got good interaction. Even so, I would mulligan it. This deck needs a lot of lands to function. It needs to be able to get Aesi down, and then to be able to play more lands after that. Wayward Swordtooth doesn't actually give you more lands— it only lets you play more lands, if you have them. Even if we draw three more lands as the first three draws, and manage to pull of a turn-four Aesi that we then trigger on turn-five, it is very likely that we won't be able to do much after that, and that we won't be able to pull off anything resembling a Long Turn until late in the game. This hand has Cyclonic Rift , Walk the Aeons , and Curse of the Swine — all middle to late game cards. That combined with the fact that there is no guarantee of any more than three or four lands makes this a definite mulligan.

Notable Card Exclusions

Below I list some notable cards that I have chosen not to play, and why I don't play them.

• Jolrael, Mwonvuli Recluse :

While, yes, this card synergizes with card draw, which this deck does a lot of, it simply does not do that much. It makes a 2/2 every turn, which is decent, but not what I'm trying to do in this deck. If I am winning with combat damage, I need one of the three cards I have listed above in this description. None of those cards need the help of Jolrael, so I'm leaving her out.

• Ulvenwald Hydra , Crash of Rhino Beetles , and other big green things:

As I have said, this deck is not trying to play giant creatures. Again, the three cards that allow a combat damage win don't need the help of these creatures, so I leave them out. The only big green thing that I play is Terastodon because it can be very useful removal that also provides a big body. I don't really need more than that.

• Sporemound , Zendikar's Roil , Roil Elemental

Fitting with the other two exclusions above, these cards are simply not needed. I've got Rampaging Baloths . I don't need these.

Closing

Well, there you have it! I find this deck loads of fun to play, and I hope you enjoy as much as I do. Please tell me what you think, if you have any questions, thoughts, or suggestions. This deck is by no means perfect, and I would love to hear any advice. Upvotes are very much appreciated. Thanks so much for reading!

Date added	4 years
Last updated	3 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	11 - 0 Mythic Rares 34 - 0 Rares 18 - 0 Uncommons 15 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.30
Tokens	Ape 3/3 G, Ashaya, the Awoken World, Beast 3/3 G, Beast 4/4 G, Bird 2/2 U, Boar 2/2 G, City's Blessing, Clue, Copy Clone, Elephant 3/3 G, Emblem Nissa, Vital Force, Emblem Nissa, Who Shakes the World, Frog Lizard 3/3 G