4 color spicy controlly / grindy / midrange cEDH list for my local meta with combo / combo-esque finish...
Lots of things going on here:
- heavy on counterspells, spot removal, & wraths (to kill dorks, Tymnas, hatebears, etc)
- lots of draw engines focused on going strong in mid- / late-game
- typical dramatic scepter / dueling scepters / pardadox engine with Thrasios outlet for infinite casts
- curiosity effects + pingers to draw into combo / stock hand / whittle away opponents

u rite. My comp list is Razakats right now but I find it impossible to stick with a deck. This is like my toyland fun time deck and I know it's suboptimal. I below you might read things that seem like 'reasons', 'strategies', 'logic', etc., but this is basically a list for when I want to play games. It's jam packed full of things I just enjoy doing:
- Dramatic scepter into Thrasios draw is just a fun go-to, nothing makes my feel more powerful than having my whole library in my hands with infinite mana and instant speed discrete draw...
- Training Grounds grind, it's just so cute. Not even necessarily great. But I love it when people pass turn and I get to say WAIT! I have incremental value to gain!
- Memory's Journey loops are super fun to me, especially when I can't actually outright kill, so you Trophy their permanents, make some birds, bounce their stuff, pass. Or whatever. It's just so troll and durdly.
Seedborn Muse is just list, I like to play on everyone's turns.
Playing UBRG. My first EDH deck was the Yidris precon and they told me EDH was the format I could do anything I wanted to... well look at me now! I just think white sucks (in the sense of not that fun for me) and instants are bae.
Sensei's Top + Counterbalance (and possibly + Training Grounds + Thrasios) is so troll. So much control to counter all the things.
(Spoiler alert! If the deck looks unfocused / unfinished / bad... that's because IT IS)
My experience with draw-go control in cEDH is that reactive / instant based control can't answer everything, can't afford to answer opponents' grind engines (draw engines, mana production, any non-lethal threats), runs out of cards eventually, can't develop its own board, and gets punched all day long in combat. Of course you can build your list to answer some of the problems but usually at the expense of other aspects.
My local meta is quite diverse and healthy so to play a reactive list I need to stop fast combo (shuffle hulk, food chain Tazri, Jhoira storm) AND go toe-to-toe with grindy decks (Meren hulk, blood pod, Yisan, Derevi denial). And that's just a few of the decks!
This list is playing blue for counters, red for pyroclasm type effects, black for tutoring and removal, and green for ramp and removal. Looking at the color combos available I put Thrasios and Vial Smasher at the helm for the ability to draw cards, especially when combined with Curiosity effects or Training Grounds . In essence, it started with looking at which control cards shut down my meta's decks most efficiently and then picking generals around that color-identity.
When looking at win cons, I'm already on Thrasios as an infinite mana outlet so it's pretty simple to slot in Paradox Engine, Isochron Scepter, Dramatic Reversal. All three of these are fine on their own outside of the win. Plus I enjoy the Paradox Engine + Thrasios 'manual storm' digging.
I'm a huge fan of Memory's Journey + Regrowth type loops (and can't afford Timetwister so that's in there too.
The spiciest 'win con' element is going heavy on Curiosity + Firebrand Archer type synergies. Keen Sense and co. are decent on Vial Smasher but actually put in work on real pingers. They give triple the return and aren't limited by 'once per turn'. Pressuring Ad Naus / Necropotence players is great, and over time it can kill people. Plus it works with Dramatic Scepeter or P.Engine if you don't have access to a real combo or can't Mem Journey loop due to no library access. Not to mention it keeps your hand stocked in the mid game when you're just controlling. But... don't let people Gilded Drake your Curious Archer...
Right now my meta is FULL of dorks and bears. For 2 mana and 1 card it's incredible value to just blow that all away. The gameplan doesn't really want to play a curious archer too early anyways so they're not going to die. If I lose a dork so be it, I only run 3 anyways. These wraths are mostly for the early game.
Mana base fixes:
Out:
Mox Opal I wasn't on enough rocks to make this reliable
Arbor Elf I'd rather not depend on forests too much in the early game, summoning sickness, gets hit by my pyroclasm effects
Nature's Lore I'd rather not depend on forests too much, lands don't untap from paradox engine / dramatic reversal
Burgeoning my opponents actually don't play many lands, I could see myself running Exploration instead but I'm going to try just running a real rock
In:
Talisman of Indulgence
Talisman of Impulse
Talisman of Dominance
Simic Signet

Other changes:
Ophidian Eye --> Verity Circle
Ophidian Eye was the worst of the Curiosity effects, which are useless w/o a pinger or Vial Smasher. I can see Verity Circle drawing more cards and it does well in opponents' decks at my shop.
Niv-Mizzet, Parun --> Expansion / Explosion
I never cast Niv, way too intensive, and he was kind of a meme. Expansion is super relevant.
Thermo-Alchemist --> Mnemonic Betrayal
This is the worst of the pingers because of summoning sickness. Mnemonic is good in a deck heavy on counters and removal, great enabler for mid-game to use opponents' dorks, remoras, rocks to grow board state, or their tutors and counters to go for a win.
Gitaxian Probe --> Regrowth
Probe was just deck thinning and information for 2 life, and possibly a free cast if I have a curiosity effect out. I'd rather get manipulation out of my cantrips and the more I play the less I value seeing peoples' hands. In a local meta its free to simply infer. Regrowth is backup for loss of Noxious Revival for infinite Memory's Journey loops or just get back a relevant card. I think it's better utility.

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Casual

96% Competitive

Date added 5 years
Last updated 4 years
Exclude colors W
Splash colors BR
Legality

This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.

Rarity (main - side)

13 - 0 Mythic Rares

48 - 0 Rares

27 - 0 Uncommons

12 - 0 Commons

Cards 100
Avg. CMC 1.84
Tokens Ape 3/3 G, Bird 2/2 U, Manifest 2/2 C, Spirit 1/1 C
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