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Nikya - 100% Creatures ($85)

Commander / EDH Budget Casual RG (Gruul)

Hyato


Maybeboard


This is a bit of an old deck which I still wasn't able to purchase. But there have been some new editions in Magic since I last looked around. So, if you have any suggestion for it, please send it my way =]


I have a friend who was pushing me into making an EDH deck while I was reluctant, since I've never done it before. But, here we are.

I chose Nikya as the commander because her restrictions would help me build the deck in a much easier way. My first research got me with over 150 cards, which I was able to cut down to around 120 fairly easy. Then things got HARD.

I tried to get things balanced, and I hope you'll send me a suggestion if you find anything needing improvement. Just remember, this is supposed to be budget-y. I'm going up to $3 a card at the very top.


Now let's get to the selection.

I've tried to categorize everything to make it easy to understand my thought process, but I'll explain it just in case.

We have some land fetchers to help us play what we draw. Castle Garenbrig may seem counterproductive if we have lands producing two manas at once. But I got it there thinking I won't always have Nikya on the board. Hanweir Battlements   gives haste! And Oran-Rief, the Vastwood can give us a little help at buffing (and maybe protecting) some summons.

Rogue's Passage allows us to get some clean hits, just like Cinder Elemental, Deathforge Shaman, Flameblast Dragon, Kumano, Master Yamabushi and Siege Behemoth.

But before we get too deep into everything, lets remember the ones who make it all possible and keep the whole place clean and organized for more and more attractions: The guys over Mana Support.

Since we want to make the most out of Nikya's ability, we need more lands, and they'll get them for us. Even if it takes the ultimate sacrifice. They'll die doing so or become target to early removals in other's instead. Let's dedicate a moment of silence to honor those who put their lives on the line, so we can beat some people. And let's not forget the biggest of them all, the one who trained directly under the great Urza himself: Magus of the Candelabra, who'll provide us 50% more mana if paired with Nikya.

To bring supplies to the zoo we've got Beast Whisperer, Dismissive Pyromancer(who'll also help us get Genesis and Brawn on the graveyard), Drumhunter, Duskwatch Recruiter   (if he turns, he'll help us cast more creatures) , Merchant of the Vale and Primordial Sage.

On the Versatile side, we have a few creatures that work well with basically everything. Artisan of Kozilek not only will make enemies sacrifice permanents, but also help us bring another of ours precious little monsters back. Feldon of the Third Path is simply amazing - just picture him summoning our Artisan every turn! That'd be fun. Ulvenwald Tracker will help us clean the board from far way before even actually attacking. Genesis Hydra does what genesis hydras do best: they bring help to the field - just don't ask me how they do it.

To suppress the enemies advances and secure ours, we have the first big portion of our zoo.

  1. Acidic Slime will melt everything: lands, armor and enchantments. Next to it, we have the Transformer Meteor Golem and the beasts' shepherd Nullmage Shepherd. A bit further inside you'll find Steelbane Hydra and Terastodon feeding on enemies' hopes.
  2. Caller of the Claw will bring out the bears and be amazing after any board cleaners.
  3. To secure our rare species from extinction: Den Protector, Soul of New Phyrexia and Temur Sabertooth (which also happens to work very well with Acidic Slime, for example). When earthly efforts seem to be not enough, we run to Genesis and Greenwarden of Murasa.
  4. Last but not least, we need to tend to the one actually managing the Zoo (the player). So we use Gaea's Herald, Gruul Spellbreaker, Nullstone Gargoyle, Prowling Serpopard and Tajuru Preserver - We need to find new atractions to keep the zoo going.
  5. The big surprise here (which is more of a literal way of putting it) is Great Oak Guardian. He shows out of nowhere and either beats your enemies for you, or fortify your defenses. Or both.

But we can't win this game playing on defense. To support our aggresiveness, we have a few badguys who just want to watch the world burn: Archetype of Aggression, Brawn, Drakuseth, Maw of Flames (which put the Burn on that last sentence) and Polukranos, World Eater (by World Eater they actually mean Board Cleaner*).

*Certain circumstances may apply

To end this, I've saved the best for last. Our Big & Deadly section is made out of creatures able to win the game if we give them enough mana. From angels to ogres, these guys spread desperation across the land if you let them loose. And because of that, they'll be targeted with everything your enemies may have. Be careful when using those.


So it really seems there's no end to it. Whenever I see a cool card, I end up adding it to the Maybe List and start to rethink if it should go on the deck and what should it replace if it does. Gotta admit, this is complicated.

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97% Casual

Competitive

Top Ranked
Date added 4 years
Last updated 2 years
Legality

This deck is Commander / EDH legal.

Rarity (main - side)

5 - 0 Mythic Rares

37 - 0 Rares

24 - 0 Uncommons

15 - 0 Commons

Cards 100
Avg. CMC 4.52
Tokens Bear 2/2 G, Copy Clone, Elephant 3/3 G, Morph 2/2 C, On an Adventure, The Monarch
Folders Wanna make, EDH, Research, MTG Deck ideas, Gruul
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