Jeleva's Big Spells

Commander / EDH* Multiplayer UBR (Grixis)

BehindEveryMask

Creature (20)

• 1x Archaeomancer
• 1x Baral, Chief of Compliance
• 1x Bloodlust Inciter
• 1x Echo Mage
• 1x Etali, Primal Storm
• 1x Fallen Shinobi
• 1x Galvanoth
• 1x Goblin Electromancer
• 1x Goblin Motivator
• 1x Gonti, Lord of Luxury
• 1x Guttersnipe
• 1x Ingenious Infiltrator
• 1x Kess, Dissident Mage
• 1x Nightscape Familiar
• 1x Ninja of the Deep Hours
• 1x Oblivion Sower
• 1x Silent-Blade Oni
• 1x Skullsnatcher
• 1x Thief of Sanity
• 1x Tribute Mage

Artifact (11)

• 1x Dimir Signet
• 1x Illusionist's Bracers
• 1x Izzet Signet
• 1x Primal Amulet  ^Flip
• 1x Rakdos Signet
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Strionic Resonator
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Talisman of Creativity
• 1x Talisman of Dominance
• 1x Talisman of Indulgence

Land (35)

• 1x Akoum Refuge
• 1x Bloodfell Caves
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Crumbling Necropolis
• 1x Dimir Aqueduct
• 1x Dismal Backwater
• 1x Dragonskull Summit
• 1x Drowned Catacomb
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 6x Island
• 1x Izzet Boilerworks
• 6x Mountain
• 1x Rakdos Carnarium
• 1x Sulfur Falls
• 6x Swamp
• 1x Swiftwater Cliffs
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Vivid Crag
• 1x Vivid Creek
• 1x Vivid Marsh

Instant (8)

• 1x Brainstorm
• 1x Dark Ritual
• 1x Dramatic Reversal
• 1x Increasing Vengeance
• 1x Lim-Dul's Vault
• 1x Reverberate
• 1x Snap
• 1x Unsubstantiate

Enchantment (7)

• 1x Break Through the Line
• 1x Jace's Sanctum
• 1x Metallurgic Summonings
• 1x Need for Speed
• 1x Stolen Strategy
• 1x Swarm Intelligence
• 1x Thousand-Year Storm

Commander (1)

Sorcery (18)

• 1x Aminatou's Augury
• 1x Army of the Damned
• 1x Blatant Thievery
• 1x Boneyard Parley
• 1x Brass's Bounty
• 1x Capital Punishment
• 1x Clone Legion
• 1x Cruel Ultimatum
• 1x In Garruk's Wake
• 1x Mnemonic Betrayal
• 1x Overflowing Insight
• 1x Past in Flames
• 1x Plague Wind
• 1x Ponder
• 1x Spelltwine
• 1x Stolen Identity
• 1x Volcanic Vision
• 1x Worst Fears

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This deck wants to cast its own big spells for free, while leaving the option of nabbing some fun stuff from your opponents open. Notable inclusions are Etali, Primal Storm and Fallen Shinobi which let you get even more of your opponents stuff. An important cobo is Ninjitsu'ing your Jelava out of combat, so you can cast her more often, which is a subtheme of the deck.

An important note about this subtheme, however, is the interaction that occurs when you cast Jeleva multiple times. Each time you cast her, you get a new set of cards exiled, but all of the old ones, despite remaining in exile, can no longer be used. Only return Jeleva to your hand of your own volition when you're sure that the "toys" your Jeleva can cast aren't as appealing as another batch.

The thing most noteworthy about Jeleva is her lack of haste. Since she's the most important creature in the deck, and her attack is the most important trigger, giving her haste the turn she comes down gives a huge amount of pressure on turn 4. Bloodlust Inciter , Goblin Motivator , and if the desire is there Need for Speed can give Jeleva haste on the turn she comes down at no mana cost, other than what was paid for the creature or enchantment the turn it was played, with Need for Speed being the most expensive at requiring the sacrificing of a land. Break Through the Line would take an extra red source to give her haste, but it has the added bonus of making her unblockable, and a lot harder to kill in that way.

The multitude of cards that help us change the top of our library will help Jeleva hit the cards from our deck that we like to see. The big guns, the spells that would cost a lot of mana if we cast them fairly. These cards that help put them on top for set-up with Jeleva are Lim-Dul's Vault , Ponder and most potently, Brainstorm , since Brainstorm can put expensive cards we accidentally drew back on top right before we cast Jeleva. These cards that help you control the top don't have to be cast on the same turn that you play Jeleva, but always factor in any extra draws when deciding which cards need to be where and what you want to get for free with Jeleva.

When we cast the cards with Jeleva for free, they go into their respective owners graveyards, be they our cards or our opponents, but sometimes, casting them once isn't enough. Past in Flames gives us ours again, and Mnemonic Betrayal gives us our opponents again, but only for 1 turn, so they have to be put to good use minus a bit of extra mana. Copy effects like Reverberate and Increasing Vengeance also let us a get a couple of extra copies of anything we want, but they have to be at the same time that the original spell is being cast. It's worth noting that Reverberate will get us stuff that our opponents are casting, too, same with Echo Mage .

The spells in this deck are quite massive, and for a good chance to cast them, Primal Amulet  , Baral, Chief of Compliance Goblin Electromancer , and any other reduction effects make them cheaper, with the amulet eventually becoming a copy source all on its own when we cast big stuff with the land it transforms into.

Tribute Mage finds a multitude of artifacts in the deck, and a 3 mana 2/2 that draws a card that we'd hate to topdeck seems pretty good, especially if dropped early to get a mana rock on the board. More important than any rock is Strionic Resonator though, which can give us two spells with Jeleva, or two activations of Etali, or four cards with the Fallen Shinobi. If a card's text says "When", "Whenever", or "At", it's a triggered ability. Illusionist's Bracers does much the same with a one-time equip payment.

If we end up hitting more lands than average in a single opponent with Jeleva, Oblivion Sower will let us steal some of those lands for ourselves, and potentially net us a couple extra with its first ability.

Date added	5 years
Last updated	5 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	11 - 0 Mythic Rares 30 - 0 Rares 22 - 0 Uncommons 16 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	4.02
Tokens	Construct X/X C, Copy Clone, Treasure, Zombie 2/2 B