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Creature (86)

Enchantment (16)


Strategies and Themes

Manipulate, Trade Favors, Strike with Ideal Timing

Built with flexibility and the long game in mind, rather than weenies+counterspells (that strategy is effective, but predictable imho).

*This deck is very much a product of the environments I regularly play in, which are heavy on the politics/ fun, and relatively light on the spike.

Strategies are varied and flexible, but each game should almost always begin with laying down 1-2 evasive creatures, and then bringing Edric out turn 3, then attacking for some draw. You should usually bring Edric out turn 3 even if you don't have any other creatures out just yet. His mere presence changes the dynamic of the game in your favor, and begins the process of your opponents weakening and dismantling each other, instead of you.

After that, you play it by ear. Sure, attack a little to keep your hand full of answers, but never cause more grief than any one else. There should always be at least two or more people being more offensive than you - ideally, everyone else at the table should be more threatening than you. You have to fade into the background, help a brother/ sister out when it suits you, always trade favors for favors - and never, ever go back on a deal. If you break a deal in one game, you'll never make another one in future games, and you may as well build a completely different deck.

It requires good ploys, a good poker face, and diplomacy - but it really does work.

Tips

  • Don't swarm people with unblockable weenies unless it's late game/ advantageous. Play Coastal Piracy, Bident of Thassa, Cold-Eyed Selkie etc. to get more value from fewer attacks, if needed.

  • Remember that you can use your attacks/ card draw as a political tool. Have a Vow of Flight in your hand? Tell someone that, if they allow you to attack them with your Invisible Stalker without getting sore about it or holding a grudge, you'll put that Vow on their commander. This makes them a temporary ally without making anyone else angry with you directly, and it also makes them more of a target with their beefed up commander - and you get card advantage to boot. All win for Edric.

  • Wrath effects can ruin Edric's day, so always keep a few creatures in hand to recover after a board wipe. That's just smart playing. With so much card draw, this shouldn't be hard - especially considering that, over half the time, other opponents will be countering threats on their own with the large hand Edric gives them. Sit back and watch the drama unfold.

  • Once your opponents have weakened each other and knocked a few of themselves out of the fight, you should start thinking about turning the tables against them. Take away their toys, attack with massive unblockable creatures, hit them with nasty equipment. Choosing the right window in which to proclaim to the table that you are now a major player is crucial.

Flavor: Edric does not run an army. He runs a cunning network of loyal rogues, mystical woodland creatures, and hired blades that ignore such trivial things as the sovereignty of rulers or gods, much less the borders of kingdoms and empires.

Rogues: Rogues are cheap, evasive, and supported - and Edric is one! They make up the bulk of his network, and comprise the majority of the card draw.

Outsourcing: Whether hired mercenaries or like-minded creatures of the wood, these minions have much of the same traits in common: evasion and/ or utility.

Manipulation: Profit from the threats your opponents will inevitably put down, whether by redirecting them, countering them, or controlling them outright.

Secrets Make Friends

Specifics

6cc Wins Games: The 6cc slot holds a lot of very useful, if not crucial cards (hence the Ethereal Usher).

Fable of Wolf and Owl is usually what I search out first, since it gives lots of flying bodies for very little investment - besides, who is going to get too mad at you for sending a piddly little bird at them? Just tell them its the least they can do since you've been filling their hand all game. ;D

Deepchannel Mentor is a rogue that makes sure all your other rogues (and Overbeing of Myth at that) connect with opponents' faces. A nice cherry on top = persuadeing a massive blue fattie and using it to murder its owner. Progenitor Mimic gets out of hand pretty quickly if you copy the right thing. Argentum Armor is perfect for evasive creatures.

Favors: Vow of Flight, Vow of Wildness, Spectral Searchlight etc. are some cards that can directly influence your ability to gain temporary allies.

Acquisitions: The most direct way to profit off of the threats that will be spilling out of people's full hands = just taking those threats for yourself. Control Magic, Mind Control, Persuasion, Confiscate, etc.

Mimicry: Knowledge Exploitation Spitting Image, and Clever Impersonator are good for evening the playing field. The later, along with Copy Enchantment, are excellent for getting twice the value from all the useful enchantments in the deck.

Tools of the Trade: Argentum Armor is great on unblockable weenies, or huge monsters for that matter. Quietus Spike is fantastic on its own, but especially against pesky lifegain decks. Sword of War and Peace really capitalizes on a deck that fills opponents' hands. Trailblazer's Boots is almost always just "equipped creature can't be blocked," and Whispersilk Cloak is what it is.

Leave Me Alone, Please: Hornet Nest, Propaganda, Maze of Ith are usually enough to keep people off your back if Edric's mere presence is not enough (it usually is, if you're playing politics well).

I've Got Just the Job for You: Woodland Bellower and Yisan, the Wanderer Bard are fantastic for bringing out little evasive creatures, and thus gaining lots of card draw.

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Revision 57 See all

(1 year ago)

-1 Overbeing of Myth main
+1 Spitting Image main
Top Ranked
  • Achieved #28 position overall 6 years ago
Date added 12 years
Last updated 1 year
Legality

This deck is Commander / EDH legal.

Rarity (main - side)

3 - 0 Mythic Rares

36 - 0 Rares

32 - 0 Uncommons

14 - 0 Commons

Cards 100
Avg. CMC 3.24
Tokens Beast 3/3 G, Bird 1/1 U, Copy Clone, Foretell, Human 2/2 G, Insect 1/1 G w/ Flying, Deathtouch, Spirit 1/1 C, The Monarch, Wolf 2/2 G
Folders Commander, Commander? Commander., EDH, Of Interest, EDH, Decks to think to get maybe, wishlist, Edric Spymaster (the best), Not My Decks, EDH
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