Sideboard


This deck started out as a challenge where a few of us at the local game store had to build commander decks using commanders that we were randomly assigned by rolling dice. There was one for each color combination. I wound up getting Sydri, Galvanic Genius, and I was not too happy about it. But I brought an early version of this deck in the next week, and it actually worked really well! So I stuck with it, and now this is one of my favorite decks. It's weird, and definitely out-of-the-box. It's geared more towards multiplayer, but it can sometimes hold it own in a 1v1.

Anyway, let's get into the strategy:

Milling

So the most straightforward way to win is mill your opponents to death. There are plenty of cards to help you do that:

Altar of the Brood, Manic Scribe, Jace's Erasure, and Sphinx's Tutelage all start milling your opponents every turn.

Howling Mine and its buddies Dictate of Kruphix, Temple Bell, Font of Mythos, and even Howling Golem let everyone draw! Fun until your opponents realize their decks are running out.

Perhaps the ultimate mill card, Mind Grind really puts the pressure on late game when you can pay 9 or 10 mana for X.

Finally, Psychic Spiral can finish off that last pesky opponent, as your graveyard is usually 30+ cards by then.

Stall

Milling is not at all the only way to win. But in order to mill 99 cards, you're going to need to stall the game. A LOT. The best way to do that? Board wipes. This deck is packed with every black, white, and blue board wipe I had on hand. Here's the full list, just for fun:

  1. Austere Command

  2. Citywide Bust

  3. Day of Judgment

  4. Divine Reckoning

  5. End Hostilities

  6. Fumigate

  7. Kirtar's Wrath

  8. Languish

  9. Martial Coup

  10. Settle the Wreckage (Not a board wipe per se, but pretty close)

  11. Supreme Verdict

Of course, there are a few other pieces to help you survive the long, long game:

Counterspells like Arcane Denial and Dream Fracture stop the scary things and offer more cards for everybody! Hooray!

Crawlspace and Silent Arbiter slow down anyone with a flooded board until you can clear it away

Jace, Unraveler of Secrets and Teferi, Hero of Dominaria draw you cards and bounce your opponents' stuff. Don't rely on getting off their ultimates, but you don't really need to. Gideon of the Trials also sucks up a lot of damage.

But wait! There's more!

In fact, we haven't even gotten to this decks best way to win: which is actually a bunch of different ways. I'll list them individually:

Rise of the Dark Realms

wins. Games. Your opponents usually have so much nice stuff in their graveyards when you play this that if it isn't an instant win, it's an instant concede for smart opponents. I have gotten 60 creatures onto the battlefield with this. Six zero. Absolutely insane.

Thrilling Encore is kind of like a minor version of Rise of the Dark Realms. Not necessarily game winning, but if you wipe a giant board and can play this after, it can be pretty great.

Selhoff Occultist

might seem like a weird choice. However, if you play it along with a board wipe, you can mill someone for a huge amount. Against anyone who makes tokens, this can be a game winner.

Revel in Riches

is kind of like Selhoff Occultist, except instead of needing to wipe 20-30 creatures, you only need to kill 10. Of course, the enchantment has to survive until the next upkeep, as well as the tokens, but it can be a really fun way to win.

Aetherflux Reservoir

is normally an okay card in commander. However, with Sydri, Galvanic Genius in play, you can make it a creature for then give it deathtouch and lifelink for . Lifelink. Lifelink... Automatic win if you have more than 50 life.

Animate Library

turns your library into a creature. An artifact creature, to be precise. Which means you can give it lifelink with Sydri, Galvanic Genius as well. Not an automatic win, but a whole lot of life gain if you manage to attack (or block) with it. If your playgroup doesn't allow silver-bordered cards in Commander, it's not super important to the deck. Although it is really fun to attack with your deck!

And, that's about it. Enjoy, and please upvote. Feel free to leave suggestions, or if you have questions about card choices, comment below. Thank you!


Side note: I only have a sideboard because of Mastermind's Acquisition. Those are cards I like to grab sometimes but don't feel would be good in the deck. Exiling graveyards sometimes is needed if people are playing graveyard-heavy decks. Otherwise I'd rather have everyone's graveyard filled with nice juicy creatures to reanimate. Have fun!

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Date added 5 years
Last updated 5 years
Legality

This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.

Rarity (main - side)

8 - 3 Mythic Rares

40 - 7 Rares

21 - 2 Uncommons

15 - 2 Commons

Cards 100
Avg. CMC 3.78
Tokens Angel 4/4 W, Emblem Gideon of the Trials, Emblem Jace, Unraveler of Secrets, Emblem Narset Transcendent, Emblem Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, Soldier 1/1 W, Spirit 1/1 W, Treasure
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