Bro-job - Kynaios and Tiro tribal human combo

Commander / EDH Combo Four Color Humans Infinite Combo RGWU Tribal

Ajaxius

Creature (36)

• 1x Angel of Glory's Rise
• 1x Azure Mage
• 1x Bruna, the Fading Light  ^Meld
• 1x Captain of the Mists
• 1x Captain Sisay
• 1x Captivating Crew
• 1x Devout Chaplain
• 1x Elder of Laurels
• 1x Ertai, Wizard Adept
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Feldon of the Third Path
• 1x Galvanic Alchemist
• 1x Hope Tender
• 1x Humble Defector
• 1x Kessig Malcontents
• 1x Krosan Restorer
• 1x Loyal Retainers
• 1x Ludevic, Necro-Alchemist *f-etch*
• 1x Magus of the Candelabra
• 1x Magus of the Wheel
• 1x Mangara of Corondor
• 1x Mentor of the Meek
• 1x Mother of Runes
• 1x Nephalia Smuggler
• 1x Orzhov Advokist
• 1x Pulsemage Advocate
• 1x Recruiter of the Guard
• 1x Saffi Eriksdotter
• 1x Samut, Voice of Dissent
• 1x Sigarda, Heron's Grace
• 1x Thraben Heretic
• 1x Timestream Navigator
• 1x Village Bell-Ringer
• 1x Wizard Mentor
• 1x Zealous Conscripts
• 1x Zhur-Taa Druid

Land (35)

• 1x Alchemist's Refuge
• 1x Arch of Orazca
• 1x Azorius Chancery
• 1x Boros Garrison
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Drifting Meadow
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 3x Forest
• 1x Frontier Bivouac
• 1x Gruul Turf
• 1x Irrigated Farmland
• 1x Island
• 1x Izzet Boilerworks
• 1x Jungle Shrine
• 1x Mountain
• 1x Mystic Monastery
• 1x Opal Palace
• 1x Path of Ancestry
• 2x Plains
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Remote Isle
• 1x Rupture Spire
• 1x Scattered Groves
• 1x Seaside Citadel
• 1x Selesnya Sanctuary
• 1x Sheltered Thicket
• 1x Simic Growth Chamber
• 1x Slippery Karst
• 1x Smoldering Crater
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Transguild Promenade
• 1x Unclaimed Territory

Instant (4)

• 1x Frantic Search
• 1x Krosan Grip
• 1x Oblation
• 1x Swords to Plowshares

Commander (1)

Artifact (11)

• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Chromatic Lantern
• 1x Cloudstone Curio
• 1x Conqueror's Flail
• 1x Door of Destinies
• 1x Dowsing Dagger  ^Flip
• 1x Jeskai Banner
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Sword of the Paruns
• 1x Temur Banner
• 1x Vanquisher's Banner

Enchantment (6)

• 1x Cryptolith Rite
• 1x Fervor
• 1x Mirari's Wake
• 1x Rites of Flourishing
• 1x Training Grounds
• 1x Vigilante Justice

Sorcery (6)

• 1x Dusk / Dawn
• 1x Farseek
• 1x Harsh Mercy
• 1x Invoke the Firemind
• 1x Mass Appeal
• 1x Tempt with Discovery

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Jace Beleren

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Summary

This is the first valid, non-prototype iteration of a tribal human deck I wanted to put together involving various infinite combos which abuse untapping and enter-the-battlefield effects. It uses the commander and green to ramp, then uses a blue/white combo along with pseudo-mana-dorks in order to get infinite mana, and then uses a few red cards to win.

Initial Intent

I originally started with the idea of just building a tribal humans deck, inspired by an awful combo involving a RWG, 10-card combo involving humans like Ulvenwald Tracker to cause Village Bell-Ringer to fight Konda, Lord of Eiganjo, all just so you could get Village Bell-Ringer into the graveyard to recur him and play him again and untap some mana-producing creatures.

Seeing this, I wanted to build a tribal human deck in commander that utilized... well, not that combo, but some similar ideas; particularly those that abuse Village Bell-Ringer.

After sifting through [your database of choice] for every human in the game, I created a 500-card deck that I then trimmed down to 200, and then, with a friend, cut down to this final 100-card deck.

The deck shifted over time through a couple different iterations before even being trimmed down to 100 cards, but this is the first version of the deck that's actually commander-legal.

Combos

Most of the cards in the deck have at least some synergy with one another, and there are more than a few infinite combos.

In most of the following combos, assume that having mana-producing or land-untapping creatures is involved. "PMD" (pseudo-mana dork) refers to such creatures.

Nephalia Smuggler + Village Bell-Ringer is the bread and butter of the deck, providing easy access to infinite mana if my PMD's can produce at least 5 mana (one of which is blue.)

Cloudstone Curio + Village Bell-Ringer , Samut, Voice of Dissent + Village Bell-Ringer + Wizard Mentor , and Feldon of the Third Path + Village Bell-Ringer exist as back-ups in case Nephalia Smuggler is sufficiently dealt with.

Galvanic Alchemist + Krosan Restorer provides infinite mana if I have threshold and three lands, at least one of which produces 2 or more mana. This also works with Galvanic Alchemist + Magus of the Candelabra + Mirari's Wake if necessary. Mirari's wake may not be necessary if I have every land out that produces more than 1 mana, and/or Training Grounds.

Loyal Retainers + Saffi Eriksdotter + Vigilante Justice is an alternate win-condition in case Village Bell-Ringer has been dealt with.

With infinite mana, Cloudstone Curio + Kessig Malcontents and any other creature gives me infinite damage to players. Vigilante Justice enables this with any other human, and lets me hit creatures in case a player has hexproof.

With infinite mana, Feldon of the Third Path + Zealous Conscripts creates infinite 3/3's with haste (Zealous Conscripts targeting my Feldon rather than an opponent's card.)

With infinite untap (but not necessarily infinite mana), Zhur-Taa Druid becomes another win condition that gets past player-hexproof.

While not infinite, Captivating Crew + Nephalia Smuggler lets me keep the creatures I steal with with the Crew.

While not infinite, Mangara of Corondor + Nephalia Smuggler allows you to "Save" Mangara from herself while still being exile-based removal for another target.

While not a "combo," an honorable mention goes to Training Grounds for synergizing with a good number of cards in the deck and facilitating most of the infinite combos. It reduces the number of PMD's required for most combos down by a significant amount and eases cards like Captivating Crew or Elder of Laurels.

Strategy

The deck's strategy has changed significantly from its earliest intent.

Originally it was supposed to be a "Hug" deck of sorts that shifted into a combo deck to win in a single turn.

I quickly found the deck to be viable without ever going through a "Hug" phase, except on particularly unlucky draws.

Get infinite mana quickly by one of many ways: Cryptolith Rite + Nephalia Smuggler + Village Bell-Ringer , or one of many, many other janky, makeshift ways of doing something similar (Magus of the Candelabra + Sword of the Paruns + High-mana lands.

Once you have infinite mana, cycle cards until you get a win condition like Vigilante Justice, Kessig Malcontents + Bounce Effects, Elder of Laurels, or some other such effect.

One of the fun things about this deck is that it doesn't always pilot itself. There are plenty of times where I've found a new combo by just saying, "Wait, do I have infinite mana?"

Weaknesses

-Blood Moon brutalizes this deck with how many non-basic lands it runs in order to get away with as few mana rocks as possible. Chromatic Lantern helps with this, but does little unless I can draw it in time.

-Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Mangara of Corondor... Any exile effects that manage to hit central combo pieces can cripple the deck, though there certainly exist alternative win conditions.

-Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite destroys this deck if it hasn't already gotten out Door of Destinies yet. It's an unfortunate weakness that simply exists against a lordless weenie deck.

-Tormod's Crypt and similar graveyard hate can take away win conditions that were otherwise "safely" sitting in the graveyard, waiting for Angel of Glory's Rise.

Tentative Consideration

-Dire Fleet Daredevil means that I can deal with sorceries/instants in graveyards and steal them for myself. I've wanted to fit him in over and over, but have been having a hard time justifying him.

-Rogue's Passage is a heavy consideration. It acts as a way to give evasion to the creature you target with Elder of Laurels and can act as another red herring for what the deck intends to do. However, I'm hesitant to add another colorless land to the deck.

-I'm considering returning Somberwald Sage into the deck. It has slowed down a little without either her or Harabaz Druid.

-I'm starting to see how incredibly valuable Arch of Orazca is in my deck, so I'm considering adding more ways to search for it. Either reliquary knight, Crop Rotation, Expedition Map, or Weathered Wayfarer.

-Seeing how much Arch of Orazca has helped me, I'm also considering throwing in Conqueror's Galleon   as another source of easy draw, as well as type-neutral recursion.

"Why didn't you put [card] in?"

-Adaptive Automaton and other lords just didn't fit into the deck. They lean towards a more aggressive style that I decided not to go with, and I was already running short on space for combo pieces.

-Coat of Arms wasn't included because I can't take as much advantage of it as I'd like. In fact, more often than not, I may end up powering up another player's human commander or another, more combat-dedicated tribal deck.

"Why did you put [card] in?"

-Captain of the Mists isn't particularly powerful, but is a ghetto, last-ditch effort at mana production with other creatures. To be honest, she serves more as a card I just like, rather than one that's super powerful in the deck.

-Captain Sisay, as mentioned in the strategy section, acts as a bit of a "Damned if you do, damned if you don't" red herring for removal. The pure utility of being able to fetch Legendaries is useful, but not so core to the deck that eliminating her cripples it.

-Ertai, Wizard Adept is one of the only counter-spells I've allowed myself. It's not amazing, but it is counter on a stick in a deck where I want to remain generally creature-centric.

-Harabaz Druid is a bit of a relic from an earlier iteration of the deck that ran a few Changelings and Allies in order to abuse her ability more, but as I trimmed, I found it difficult to justify running so many allies for one card. She remains in the deck as a human-typed Birds of Paradise (except she costs 1 more and doesn't have flying.) She's certainly on the chopping block if I find alternatives to replace her.'

-Training Grounds, as mentioned in the "Combos" section, is super valuable in making any of my combos much more feasible. Turning costs down means I need less "input" mana to set off those combos, meaning they end up being much stronger in the long-run.

Why Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis??? Why the color choice?

Kynaios and Tiro only exist as the commander(s?) for tribal synergy, card advantage, ramping, and the four colors they represent. I realize that they're much better in... just about any other commander deck, but choosing them was a matter of picking the commander for the deck, rather than the deck for the commander.

I ultimately chose to go non-black, since it had the most relevant human-synergies. There were next to none in blue besides [[Mass Appeal], but [Nephalia Smuggler]] more than makes up for that. White had the most, by far, but most ended up not making the cut as they tended to be more "Swarm and Swing" than combo-oriented, but we've kept a few in for removal purposes. Green is there mostly for ramp and PMD's, while red exists as most of our win conditions like Vigilante Justice and Kessig Malcontents. Black human-synergies almost all revolved around sacrificing humans to make a non-human stronger, which I was not at all interested in.

Changelog

Update 1

Traded some lands out for the ravnica bounce lands, since they synergize well with creatures that untap lands.

Consistent problems with cards (tended to have infinite mana with nothing to spend it on), so a number of shock-lands were traded out with cycling lands, reducing $ cost and helping with "limp" mana.

Update 2

Somberwald Sage was underperforming, as were many of the "tap" creatures when we didn't have a form of haste (couldn't always get Samut) and as such, Somberwald Sage was swapped out for Fervor.

I also felt there were times I'd actually prefer something to be in my graveyard, so I tried to find a way to fit in some sac-outlet (ironically, my original reason for not wanting to run black was because I didn't see why I'd want to run creatures that promote sacrificing humans.) However, I'm sticking to my guns, and adding in a neutral sac outlet in the form of Ashnod's Altar (since adding black at this stage would require a lot more redesigning than I want to do.)

The Altar replaced Arlinn Kord  . As much as I like her, she was underperforming in the deck. She occasionally gave haste to one creature, occasionally gave me one or two extra mana from wolves + Cryptolith Rites, and was otherwise only used to give a creature equipped with Dowsing Dagger   trample. The only times I ever activated her +6, I was already winning already. She didn't enable anything that wasn't already enabled by a faster, better card.

Lastly, there were times where I found myself actually still needing more untap. Not having luck finding more creature-based untapping, I had an epiphany and remembered an old favorite card of mine, Sword of the Paruns and quickly found a spot for it in my deck. Removing Harabaz Druid for it was a long and difficult choice. It was nice to use her for mana on occasion when I drew lands but was missing one color. However, with the addition of the two banners, I feel like she has become less mandatory. If it turns out that I have more color problems without her, I'll put her back in.

In a future update, I may end up removing Mirari's Wake for Mana Reflection, if I can. It better enables mana-acceleration, since it becomes much more effective with Temple of the False God, Sol Ring, Cryptolith Rite, Azorius Chancery, and the other Ravnican bounce double-lands. It also doesn't give my creatures +1/+1 (which conflicts with Mentor of the Meek.) However, right now the $price of Mana Reflection is prohibitive, so I won't consider adding it unless I find the copy I own.

Update 3

After playing around with basic lands from the previous update, I was finding myself short on Green more often than I was comfortable, so I went back to 3 forests.

Date added	6 years
Last updated	6 years
Exclude colors	B
Key combos	Nephalia Smuggler + Village Bell-Ringer Cloudstone Curio + Village Bell-Ringer Samut, Voice of Dissent + Village Bell-Ringer + Wizard Mentor Loyal Retainers + Saffi Eriksdotter + Vigilante Justice Feldon of the Third Path + Village Bell-Ringer Galvanic Alchemist + Krosan Restorer Galvanic Alchemist + Magus of the Candelabra + Mirari's Wake Cloudstone Curio + Kessig Malcontents Feldon of the Third Path + Zealous Conscripts Captivating Crew + Nephalia Smuggler Mangara of Corondor + Nephalia Smuggler Magus of the Candelabra + Sword of the Paruns
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	11 - 0 Mythic Rares 34 - 0 Rares 30 - 0 Uncommons 18 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.12
Tokens	City's Blessing, Copy Clone, Human Soldier 1/1 W, Plant 0/2 G
Folders	Wants