pie chart

Rafiq midrange stax cEDH

Commander / EDH*

rockleemyhero


Maybeboard


THIS LIST IS OUT OF DATE - Here is the most current list that I’ve found to be much more consistent and competitive

Rafiq tempo/midrange (designed for multiplayer), going 4 years strong. I've tweaked this list for a long time.

The idea of this deck is to jump out of the gates with dorks and get a hatebear or CA engine online turns 2 and 3. Next is to start beating down with an equipped creature or Rafiq while simultaneously keeping a full hand with a suite of counterspell and removal ready at instant speed.

Weaknesses of the deck: There is no one turn infinite combo wincon that goes off t3 or t10. Rafiq can run infinite combos, but they are all 3+ cards and do not interact with the general. At that point, why not play partners or derevi?

Strengths: Being able to play proactive and reactive control while beating face and drawing cards is a good thing. This deck plays like edric turns, but without the time walks and more control from the white splash. Bant gives us the versatility we need, a toolbox of hatebears and answers, and plenty of ways to continue to ensure we don't run out of gas.

Notable exclusions: - Time Warp + functional copies / Temporal Mastery : Time walk effects are very potent and the linchpin of edric decks. We can't abuse them as well nor want to pay 5 mana just to get another attack, draw, and land drop in. In my experience, time walks are win more unless you can effectively loop them - Finest Hour : a fine card indeed, however it is a 5 mana enchantment that doesn't win us the game. It's very win more and does very little in a meta filled with decks that storm off on turn 3. - Dark Depths combo: Depths can actually be viable here as it is little mana investment and enables a one hit kill with rafiq out. Depths is better suited for a shell that has a lands package and/or more haste outlets like Lightning Greaves - Lightning Greaves / Swiftfoot Boots : I used to love these guys and tutor for them with stoneforge almost every time. Unfortunately, swinging with rafiq 1 turn sooner in a 4 player pod doesn't do us anything. This is not a voltron deck - rafiq helps us win but he acts as more of an engine and a buff. These don't draw us cards, interact with our opponents, or win.

Suggestions

Updates Add

This is a long overdue update, as I haven't been playing this exact list for a few months. I've dabbled in both stax and midrange builds, and I've found the most success with a midrange-tempo style Rafiq. If I were to go stax, Derevi is really the best choice in Bant. However, to keep up with the fast meta in cEDH full of t3 and 4 wins, this is the deck that has emerged.

This may seem like a contraindication. The common path is to respond to fast combo with either faster combo or full blown stax to slow them down to your speed. Rafiq for obvious reasons, cannot do fast combo. Rafiq has no obvious way to break parity on his own, so stax builds struggle to keep synergy compared to Derevi.

There are two primary methods of "stax" used in the cEDH meta: Taxers (think Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Grand Arbiter Augustin IV or vyrn nightmare) or lock-out hate pieces such as Containment Priest or scavening ooze. Rafiq in my experience is not fast enough to make use of tax effects, as he is one of the last generals in the meta to rely on non-infinite combat damage to win. Therefore, lock-out hate pieces have remained to hose fast combo. Ethersworn Canonist and Mana Maze are two prime examples of ways to shut off Food Chain. These cards act exponentially better than say a Counterspell because they can actively counter multiple cards and/or players with one use. So while this version of the deck is a midrange-tempo deck, it still uses some of these pieces as essential combo-removal.

Comments View Archive

Revision 164 See all

(5 years ago)

+1 Alms Collector main
+1 Curious Obsession main
Date added 11 years
Last updated 5 years
Legality

This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.

Rarity (main - side)

15 - 0 Mythic Rares

54 - 0 Rares

14 - 0 Uncommons

12 - 0 Commons

Cards 100
Avg. CMC 2.07
Tokens Bird 2/2 U
Folders Commander ideas, EDH Decks, EDH, commander , want, Favorites, Rafiq of the Many, EDH decks, Neat Decks, To Build
Votes
Ignored suggestions
Shared with
Views