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Seky Seky Five Dolla: Sek'Kuar Lands Primer

Commander / EDH* BRG (Jund) Casual Combo Multiplayer Primer Tokens

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Commander: Sek'Kuar, Deathkeeper

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Seky Seky Five Dolla: A Sek’Kuar (Jund) Combo Lands Primer!

Last Updated 5/14/2019 for War of the Spark (WAR) additions, plus some general swaps in the draw package!

Shoutout to Sek'Kuar, The Meat Master and creator VesuvanDoppelbanger who I have borrowed ideas from since the inception of this deck back in 2016! My deck has diverged from the original concept that more closely mirrored that list, but the heart remains intact!

Sek'Kuar, Deathkeeper has long been one of my favorite EDH decks. I love him because he is so innocuous for many players - an overcosted Jund commander with some sacrifice synergies isn't too powerful, right? RIGHT?!

Wrong friends, wrong. My Guy is a true combo piece when properly built around. Sek'Kuar has become a relatively popular Jund commander as a combo piece for a " Natural Affinity + Sac Outlet + Pandemonium " build, and also traditionally as a Rock style value build with Reassembling Skeleton type creatures. My build differs distinctly from those deck styles, while still borrowing elements from both. I have built my Sek'Kuar deck as a Lands shell that aims to create synergies using the hardest permanent to interact with in the game!

It's common knowledge that the innocuous land is the most difficult permanent to remove in EDH. Many players have an aversion to playing Mass Land destruction due to that 3 hour game that started with an Armageddon into no plays - pass the turn! Also, there are just only so many ways to remove lands that are playable against the normal EDH field. So why not abuse that fact and build something like a Legacy Lands deck in EDH? I aim to explain that to you with this guide, and hopefully continue building out what has been a very fun metamorphosis for this deck!

Ever since Commander 2018 came out, Jund lands has been an exceedingly popular archetype. These lists almost always run the out of the box Lord Windgrace as the head, and for good reason - he is quite powerful! While it may not be obvious, my lands build of Sek'Kuar predates Commander 2018 by over a year, and I was not even tempted in the slightest to switch when he became available. I believe they are two distinct decks, where Windgrace acts as a value engine and (possibly) removal, and Sek'Kuar acts as a primary combo piece. Personally, I find that value engines are plentiful in lands decks, so having a combo piece out of the command zone feels less replaceable.

The combos Sek'Kuar enables as our commander are the same combos anyone uses him for. He works fantastically well with Natural Affinity and also with Bloodghast and sac outlets for value. The main innovation I am trying to bring to the table is that we don't need to dedicate our entire deck to pulling off these combos! It is possible to abuse Sek'Kuar as a combo piece like many lists are dedicated to, while still playing a Jund Lands style, difficult to interact with inevitability centric build like Windgrace decks can do!

In this way, my Sek'Kuar build plays something like a combination of Titania , Gitrog , and Omnath . Whilst Titania is more reliable due to not requiring a Natural Affinity to turn lands into creatures, Gitfrog is a more consistent combo engine on his own, and Angry Eyes is more explosive, Sek'Kuar allows us to have it all and adapt our gameplan more than any of these commanders can do individually.

This strategy means that we lose out on the potential explosive insta wins of the Natural Affinity + Pandemonium based builds, but we still get some element of that. Essentially, I have cut down on Sek'Kuar duplicate Effects and pure combo pieces in favor of land tutoring , Exploration effects, and a higher land count to account for utility lands. This allows us to play the long game and fluidly shift plans as game states change.

Typically, our game plan is:

Utilizing Exploration type effects primarily.
This step is really where our gameplan gets fleshed out. This deck has multiple avenues to victory, many of which are obvious and traditional for lands ( Dark Depths ), many of which are less obvious (Subtle removal/political chip control with Lands package, ie Barbarian Ring , Strip Mine , Maze of Ith ), and some of which are just plain combo finishes ( Sek'Kuar with any number of pieces).

Typically, card draw is going to help create the velocity required to go off. If we don't have card draw engine out, that is priority #1. Go find one with a tutor, there are even options out of the land slot like Mikokoro, Center of the Sea .

With a land tutor like Hour of Promise go grab Dark Depths and Thespian's Stage .

Or, with a creature tutor like Chord of Calling go grab a value piece like Omnath, Locus of Rage , Bloodghast , Oracle of Mul Daya - whatever the situation calls for.

Maybe we need to go defensive and grab a Glacial Chasm or Maze of Ith .

Maybe if we had a big ramp spell we could combo off in a turn and we grab Gaea's Cradle .

Perhaps we have a few combo pieces already in hand like Natural Affinity and just need to find a resolving piece like Goblin Bombardment or Blasphemous Act to piece it together.

One of the key elements to this deck (and really all of my decks) is playing politics. No one wants their lands blasted turn after turn by a Strip Mine + Crucible of Worlds + Azusa, Lost but Seeking lock, and for the most part we don’t want to use all of our resources to do that either. But the threat of doing it can turn our opponents in a different direction when they have threats we can’t tackle.

Lots of possibilities and combinations that let us play to our hands strengths.

? ? ? ? ? ? ?

Using whatever Engine/Combo we setup in Step 2, sprinkle in some Sek'Kuar as needed and try for the win.

There are like 1 million different combinations that can lead to victory, whether it's a Natural Affinity + Insurrection + Sek'Kuar

Or an Inkmoth Nexus + Kessig Wolf Run + Gaea's Cradle

Thespian's Stage + Dark Depths is often our first stab at a W. Most groups can deal though.

There are plenty of options! I have aimed for more self contained pieces like Omnath, Locus of Rage , but some are two to threecard combos like Jokulhaups + World Shaper , or Natural Affinity + Blasphemous Act + World Shaper . Add in Sek'Kuar and it’s an easy win with two must kills in response to the board wipe!

See the Non-Exhaustive Combo List section below for a nice rundown of the different win conditions!

The following accordion is a list of the cards that I currently run in the deck. By no means is this a constant configuration - I change around cards literally Constantly. This is my current build from 5/14/19.

To note – many of these cards appear in multiple sections.

A card with a C in front of it is a card I am very wary of cutting and consider to be CORE to the functioning of the list.

As a heuristic I try to include 10 Card Draw spells in all my decks. This deck plays somewhat differently than normal, in that hitting land drops is essential, so a lot of card advantage is centered around the ability to repeatedly hit land drops. Additionally, I aim to create ways to grind out the opposition like a traditional Rock-Style deck. Pieces that create long-term advantage, either as a mana sink, recursion, or value engine are included here.

Pure Card Draw vs Value - Value Engines are useful, but it is important to always include legitimate card draw in decks in order to create velocity. Value engines typically work with what is already on the table or in the graveyard, but oftentimes in a highly synergistic deck you are looking to find missing pieces, so velocity is quite important.

  • Sylvan Library
    • - The best Green card draw spell in the game. Run it and never look back, if you can acquire one for a reasonable price. Plays super strong with Oracle of Mul Daya and Bolas's Citadel effects.
  • C The Gitrog Monster
    • - This card inspired a fair amount of this deck, and is really a strong engine all on it's own with the land shenanigans we can pull off. I am not the biggest fan of the CMC, but I just love the card and it has proven itself over and over to me. This can either be consistent value or explosive draw, plus it checks the box of multiple lands per turn. Even a sac outlet for ETB lands like Radiant Fountain . Perfect fit.
  • C Life from the Loam
    • - This is an insanely powerful and iconic _Lands_ type effect that really just counts as true card draw. Pairing this with _Cycle_ lands literally draws us cards off the top, it helps build up the GY, and it allows us to hit an insane number of land drops every turn. All-Star, I cut for awhile but I never _should_ have cut.
  • Wheel of Fortune
    • - Literally the best Red draw spell in the game. I was fortunate to find one for relatively cheap in decent shape, and have chosen to include the original copy in my favorite Sek'Kuar build! If you own one, it likely belongs in every red deck, but this deck in particular loves the effect with the ability to dump the hand so effectively.
  • Realms Uncharted
    • - This is essentially a draw any 4 land card. This is truly an insane effect when we are playing so much interaction and power from that permanent type. Obvious inclusion.
  • C Crucible of Worlds
    • - The ultimate Value Engine for a land deck. The potential is limitless, and this synergizes with everything we want to do. This helps us recover from a failed combo attempt, Strip Mine our friends into oblivion, or even just grind out value with Titania, Protector of Argoth in play.
  • C Ramunap Excavator
    • - Crucible #2, and tutorable!
  • C Oracle of Mul Daya
    • - Incredibly strong value engine. This card creates virtual card advantage by improving the quality of our future draws, playing lands off the top to grind through our deck. Very strong engine.
  • C Bloodghast
    • - One of my pet cards, Bloodghast is the gift that keeps on giving. When we are playing 3 lands per turn a lot of silly things start to happen with so many ways to gain value from death and ETB triggers. This little guy makes grinding easy, and even though he has a finite number of loops available to him in a turn, unlike our next buddy on the list Bloodghast does it all for no investment.
  • Eternal Witness
    • - Old faithful. No green deck should go without the Witness. Most often this will return a missing combo piece that your opponents thought was dealt with.
  • C Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
    • - A new addition since the price has dropped from printing in _Masters 25_. Group hug effects that can be used on our time are quite powerful, especially with so little deck-building cost. Additionally, I find that group hug can be an effective way to lower our aggro level, stock the table with bigger threats, and increase the number of answers being drawn by the table. We turn this into an asymmetric advantage with difficult to interact with defensive lands like Maze of Ith and Glacial Chasm and with a low threat profile.
  • Outpost Siege
    • - While this card is more typically seen in Mono-Red or Boros decks as a poor man's Phyrexian Arena , in this deck it serves two functions. Early on, it will act as a velocity engine, but late game it can serve as an extra combo piece to deliver sweet sweet pings. A versatile inclusion.
  • C Tireless Tracker
    • - Getting this much value from land drops feels incredibly powerful. This is like Seer's Sundial without all of the clunkiness. Cracking clues on our own time is just beautiful, and this turns into a solid early threat to boot!
  • Horn of Greed
    • - I place this card in and out of the deck, and I think I’m pretty settled now on permanently in. I really enjoy group hug effects, as I feel giving all players resources is net neutral at worst. When everyone is drawing cards, everyone gets to play a fun game, and for every drawn threat there is typically a drawn answer as well. Plus Glacial Chasm allows us to play an asymmetrical game from a threat analysis standpoint.
  • Rites of Flourishing
    • - I go back and forth with this card, but I’m currently very high on group hug in general so it’s in the deck. Any card that makes the game more fun for the table is worth playing, and as I’ve often described in this primer group hug can easily be turned into asymmetric advantage with skillful politicking and good use of land based deterrence effects.
  • Nissa, Vital Force
    • - Nissa does plenty in this deck, and they basically all involve card advantage, though she can also ramp particularly effectively with Gaea's Cradle . I cut Horn of Greed for her as part of my effort to reduce group hug in the deck, and also she has been on my short list for awhile. If she lives for a rotation (not a tough feat if we can play her ahead of schedule), she acts as a one-sided Horn, and she also builds redundancy on GY recursive effects, something in short supply after removal of Greenwarden of Murasa . Great inclusion!
  • C Bolas's Citadel
    • - This comes in from WAR and instantly gets the C grade. The ability to play lands off the top like Future Sight is the #1 reason to play this, but turning life into cards also caused me to reconsider Radiant Fountain and make space for it as an engine, and makes me strongly consider Zuran Orb as well.
  • Sensei's Divining Top
    • - this card turns Bolas's Citadel into a better Yawgmoth's Bargain . Sign me up! More in depth analysis, so long as you are a competent and decisive player this should go in many decks. Like many taboo cards, just don’t be selfish and consider the fun of the table when using. It is quite powerful and filters draws amazingly well combined with Fetch lands, so be considerate and the table should be fine with it.
  • Kessig Wolf Run
    • - Wolf Run wins long games. When boards are stalled, turn that random 3/1 Graveborn or Bloodghast into an expendable win condition. Our opponents will be forced to trade a real card to prevent that from happening - how many times can they afford to do so? Also, the wombo is with Inkmoth Nexus for the easy win. Both halves of that combo can be recurred with a handful of cards in the deck if they find an answer, as well.

In general, I like to include about ten ramp spells, and this deck exceeds that considerably. A lot of the ramp in this deck is centered around Exploration type effects, to pair with the "Recovery Plan" section below. To keep your hands stocked with lands to play, we play Karoo-Lands and we play enough Card Advantage to hit those Land Drops.

  • C Exploration
    • - A lot of what I try to achieve with my specific rendition of this deck is like a legacy lands deck meets an aristocrats shell. Exploration is the heart of a lands deck - powerful 1 mana play to get your engine going. Requires a high land count and card draw for best effect. This is an absolute must include card.
  • Burgeoning
    • - Exploration #2. I have gone back and forth on including this in the deck. The main complaint I have two-fold - it doesn’t allow for us to play lands on our turn when we want to play them the most, and it doesn’t allow us to play them from different zones like the top of the library or the graveyard. That being said, it is much more difficult to interact with than Skyshroud Ranger and Sakura-Tribe Scout , so I view it as the second strongest Exploration variant.
  • Sakura-Tribe Scout
    • - Exploration #3. Being a creature has downside and upside, but this little guy is a worthy inclusion to up our redundancy, plus he is a little snek. Adds to a package of Turn 1 Exploration effects that really enable our most busted starts.
  • C Azusa, Lost but Seeking
    • -Exploration #4. This is our strongest, yet highly fragile, Exploration effect. Her price came down considerably, so hopefully budget is less of a concern these days. This card opens up lines of play that aren’t even possible with any other single card. Auto-include.
  • Rites of Flourishing
    • - Exploration #5. A very interesting card that comes in and out of the deck frequently. I love group hug effects, and this acting as a third enchantment based Exploration is beautiful for the deck.
  • Wayward Swordtooth
    • - Exploration #6, and the weakest version to boot. Certainly not the ideal 3 mana play compared to Azusa, Lost but Seeking , but does a job that needs doing. Added when cut Rites of Flourishing to keep the extra land enabler count high for Bolas's Citadel .
  • C Oracle of Mul Daya
    • - Exploration #7. Wow, this card really does it all. Card advantage, Exploration on a stick, and tutorable with creature tutors. Sign me up. Seriously, this is probably an auto-include in most green decks, but in this deck the _Oracle_ is more than that. She embodies everything we want to be doing.
  • Nature's Lore
    • - Sometimes it’s nice to have a basic two mana ramp spell. Nature's Lore is a recent inclusion that I theorized was worth inclusion as a third copy of Dryad Arbor as well (alongside Green Sun's Zenith ).
  • Lotus Cobra
    • - Our most explosive 2-mana ramp play. If this sticks around it is comically easy to do busted things. Combines strongly with Fetchlands , Crucible of Worlds , Splendid Reclamation , and Exploration effects.
  • C Green Sun's Zenith
    • - Paired with Dryad Arbor this offers us another Turn 1 ramp spell. Late game it tutors whatever other piece we need, or just a value engine like Oracle. Turn 1 ramp plays are insanely powerful, and the versatility to grab a Craterhoof Behemoth late game puts this over the top as a must have.
  • C Splendid Reclamation
    • - This gets a little nuts with fetchlands, Dredge, Cycle lands, and Strip Mine . It also acts as an emergency recovery mode if our Natural Affinity combo gets answered. This card is reasonably strong just as a ramp spell in this deck, but it does some silly things combined with Natural Affinity , Strip Mine , Lotus Cobra , and just generally being an insurance policy. We can float Boseiju, Who Shelters All mana before sacking all of our lands to ensure we can land the _Reclamation_. Auto-include.
  • C World Shaper
    • - Tutorable Splendid Reclamation #2. Bonus value for stocking our Graveyard! Typically an easy sacrifice with all of our outlets. Honestly, with the way this interacts with Jokulhaups , tutors, and Board wipes this in many ways feels superior to Splendid Reclamation .
  • Pir's Whim
    • - FANTASTIC effect. Land tutors, destroys multiple mana rocks or better depending on board state. This card has a home in just about every green deck in my opinion, but it was practically _made_ for this Sek'Kuar lands shell. Please run it.
  • C Hour of Promise
    • - Oh so much more than a simple ramp spell. This is almost always grabbing us some type of 2-card combo, Inkmoth Nexus + Kessig Wolf Run , Dark Depths + Thespian's Stage , or even something like Maze of Ith + Vesuva to put up the Shields. This is literally my favorite tutor in the deck, even with no desert synergies.
  • C Titania, Protector of Argoth
    • - The original general for a lands build. Most of the time she ramps with her ETB trigger, and the value accrues from there. She offers us an alternative way to get _Sek’Kuar_ type triggers, and ramps us to boot, so an obvious inclusion here.
  • C Ashnod's Altar
    • - Combo enabler. This card and the following Altar both make winning trivial. Makes obscene amounts of mana. Sacrifice Enablers are key here, and this card doubling down as ramp makes it the second strongest enabler in the deck.
  • Phyrexian Altar
    • - The strongest Combo enabler in the deck. This card and the previous Altar both make winning trivial. Makes obscene amounts of colorful mana.
  • C Squandered Resources
    • - A two-fold powerful effect. This can grind out some value with specific lands like Dryad Arbor + Sek’Kuar in conjunction with Crucible of Worlds , but mostly it provides us with mana burst and a land sac outlet for our Natural Affinity combo. Any effect that can add mana as part of a combo line is an auto-include – 100’s of play tested games has shown me this.
  • Scapeshift
    • - Steroidal Land tutor and combo sac/ETB trigger outlet, we better win after resolving this! Completely fixes any color issues, finds multiple different combo pieces, grabs card draw lands, grabs removal lands - just shape the board to best possible position with this spell every time.
  • Gaea's Cradle
    • - Strongest ramp spell ever printed for creature based decks. Make no mistake, this is a spell, not a land. Fetchable by Crop Rotation . NOT budget friendly, obviously. I run a cool alt art version that my playgroup is fine with. Gold bordered is another option if the group allows for it.
  • Drownyard Temple
    • - This card is really more a recursion engine out of the land slot, but occasionally it allows us to do fun ramp things if we somehow discard it.
The cogs of this deck are Sacrifice Enablers. Every category following this all derive value from death triggers or ETB triggers, thus Sac outlets are CRITICAL. These spells allow engines of various types to grind forward, and for combos to take shape as we draw into pieces with our Velocity and our Tutors.
  • C Viscera Seer
    • - Strongest 1-drop sac outlet. This creates "virtual velocity" by filtering for the right draw. 1-mana means we can hold it back and still play multiple spells per turn to combo off. Auto-Include.
  • C Goblin Bombardment
    • - My favorite sac outlet. Compounding sacs with damage is no joke, can also easily remove utility creatures nearly for free. This card lowers the threshold for what it takes to kill the table, and does it for 2 mana. One of our best enablers, auto-include.
  • C Ashnod's Altar
    • - Described above, this and it's cousin are probably the two technically strongest sac outlets in the deck. Ramping while comboing removes one of the biggest resource barriers to going off.
  • Phyrexian Altar
    • - Described above, this and it's cousin are probably the two technically strongest sac outlets in the deck. Ramping while comboing removes one of the biggest resource barriers to going off.
  • C Squandered Resources
    • - Described in the ramp section, one of the best combo enablers for the Natural Affinity line. Be careful how you use this, it can help empty the hand but it really does mess with longer term plans. Insert "squander your future" pun here.
  • Scapeshift
    • - Arguably the strongest pure land sac outlet, this card is an absolute house for multiple reasons. In this case, saccing all of our animated lands and replacing them with a fresh board mitigates the all-in downside of the Natural Affinity combo line. Combo finish and backup plan all in one card! Auto-Start.
  • Sylvan Safekeeper
    • - This is a card I really wanted to fit in. 1 mana land sac outlet is pretty damn strong, plus this protects combo pieces and is easily tutorable. Great with the deck iterating into a lands heavy build.
  • Jokulhaups
    • - Board wipes are functionally “Sac Outlets” by virtue of killing all the things. Jokulhaups is here to represent them all, seeing as it is the strongest of them. **Don’t play this if it is only going to reset the game! Don’t be a dick and your playgroup won’t hate it!**

Combo Piece #2, these cards are various engines that can add on to what Sek'Kuar, Deathkeeper is already doing for us. Because they are typically redundant effects to our commander, we need but a few of the most powerful effects.

  • Sek'Kuar, Deathkeeper
    • - While he is costly compared to what I really want to pay for this effect (3 CMC is ideal in my opinion), he is also always "in hand", so typically he can be brought in when the time is right.
  • C Titania, Protector of Argoth
    • - Titania is really an insanely powerful card. Aside from ETB ramp, she also allows us to combo off without a Natural Affinity piece, requiring just a land sac outlet. Gets some great value from fetches, Strip Mine , Glacial Chasm and the Dark Depths combo. She both grinds and combos off, and ramps. Must-start for these reasons.
  • C The Gitrog Monster
    • - While _Hypnotoad_ doesn’t win on the spot, doing some land sac combo shenanigans with him on the field does draw so many cards it’s usually textbook from that point on.
  • Omnath, Locus of Rage
    • - In a way, he is a death _and_ ETB trigger. While he is one of the key cards of the deck, I truly believe he could be replaced by many different landfall type win cons and function the same, such as Avenger of Zendikar . He is probably the strongest of them, however.
  • C Purphoros, God of the Forge
    • - Probably the best ETB trigger in the deck. Creature tutorable, has a relevant mana ability when we need to grind, and indestructible. Run it and win most of the time it hits the table. Auto-include.
  • Outpost Siege
    • - The death trigger mode is highly relevant, and has won me a few games as a redundant effect. This card most likely deserves to be called _Core_ if only because of the versatility, but I am calling it _Flex_ for now.
These are the true combo pieces - turn your lands into guys, turn your land guys into token guys, profit from Sek'Kuar . Alternatively, play lands and profit immediately! These are the best and most powerful ways to abuse our sac outlets, Sek'Kuar, and Death Triggers . Also includes some other combos, such as Dark Depths or Inkmoth Nexus types.

To note - it doesn’t take a lot to combo off, and tutors help find the pieces, so we don’t need to include a ton of different options. That’s the beauty of this deck – most slots are dedicated to lands and generally powerful effects, with primary win con in the command zone that synergizes with most of the various combo pieces you may draw/tutor into. As such, this section has the most discretion of any part in the deck.

  • C Natural Affinity
    • - The most obvious and versatile combo piece. This allows us to convert _ALL_ lands into creatures into profit. Some sneaky uses are using in response to a board wipe to wipe lands. Another favorite is Natural Affinity + Insurrection . One of two actual auto includes.
  • C Life/Death
    • - Natural Affinity #2 with a Reanimate tacked on! Very versatile card. Note, this does not convert an opponent's lands into creatures, so the uses are fewer from that angle. This is, in my opinion, the second best land->creature enabler, and costs but 1 mana to do so.
  • Dark Depths + Thespian's Stage
    • - One of the premier combos with Thespian's Stage , and closest approximation of the actual _Legacy Lands_ deck. This is one of the easiest and quickest combos to assemble, but it is also highly manageable for most EDH playgroups.
  • Inkmoth Nexus + Kessig Wolf Run
    • - A less efficient but less all-in version of the Dark Depths combo. Requires a _Considerable_ amount of mana, but the cards are both reasonable on their own as well. Inkmoth Nexus gets bonus points for animating itself and triggering _Sek’Kuar_ on death.
  • Insurrection
    • - Such a fun spell with Sac outlets. Some very interesting combos here - Natural Affinity + Insurrection in particular is pure brutality.
  • Craterhoof Behemoth
    • - THE MOST classically powerful Overrun in all of _Commander_. A lot of decks running this just tutor for it and win with it most of the time, but I find that in this deck it is not the most consistent line available. That makes it more interesting for me. That being said, it has won it’s fair share of games and I’m not opposed to cutting it from time to time to play something more unique and fun. The brutal efficiency is ahrd to overlook, though.
Sometimes you try to combo out and, well.... Some people play Blue/instant speed board wipes. Let's recover quickly, shall we?
  • C Crucible of Worlds
    • - The best recovery plan available to us. This thing just generates value, and after a land wipe it will let us rebuild over a couple of turns. Detailed more in previous sections.
  • C Ramunap Excavator
    • - Tutorable Crucible #2.
  • C Life from the Loam
    • - Similar to a Crucible, a little slower but has many other uses as a GY enabler, card draw, etc. Detailed further in previous sections.
  • C Splendid Reclamation
    • - Basically the perfect backup plan. We try to go off, we fail, we build up to 4 mana and cast this. Back in business! Detailed further in previous sections.
  • Eternal Witness
    • - Helps grab missing combo pieces that may have fallen after a botched combo attempt. Detailed further in previous sections.
  • C World Shaper
    • - Creature version of Splendid Reclamation , with the added step of a Sac Outlet. Nice because we can "float" this in play while we try to combo in some way shape or form, and if we fail we can just sac and start over immediately.
  • Nissa, Vital Force
    • - Nice -3 ability can help grab a key combo piece. Really just a value add for the main purpose of one-sided Horn of Greed .
  • Mortuary Mire
    • - Awesome recursive land for cheap (budget). Legitimately this feels better than Volrath's Stronghold in some ways, since we can sac and replay it basically for free in a lot of circumstances, with some setup.
  • Memorial to Folly
    • - Another very strong impersonator of Volrath's Stronghold . Keeps us churning back into our win condition creatures or sac outlets.
Gotta have removal to compete in EDH. People don't like to play by your rules. Some cool interactions are using Natural Affinity as mass or one-sided land removal in response to a board wipe. Removal can be meta-dependent, and also preference dependant, so take this with a grain of salt. That being said, the Land slot removal is more or less necessary.
  • C Blasphemous Act
    • - My favorite Red Board Wipe, and in my opinion a top 3 board wipe overall. The ability to play for 1 mana is huge on a combo turn as a "sac outlet" enabler makes this probably the second most important board wipe for this deck, and a must start as one of our 3-5 board wipes.
  • C Toxic Deluge
    • - Probably the strongest board wipe, period. Plays around indestructibility, is highly mana efficient, and can be played to protect key creatures of yours if so desired. I typically play between 3-5 board wipes, and this needs to be one of them.
  • Jokulhaups
    • - This card comes in and out of my deck, and certainly many metas will not be okay with it. I think it is still a little frowned upon in my meta, but I view this card more as an “I-win” button than a board wipe. The only time I may consider using this without immediately winning is if I have an Exploration or Burgeoning in play, in which case the ability to rebuild twice as fast as everyone else is potentially worth the hate you may bring. But please, READ THE TABLE. Don’t be a jerk to people!
  • Reclamation Sage
    • - A strong removal spell in the creature slot. It is important in a deck with Sek’kuar to have a reasonable number of creatures for incidental value, and Rec sage does the job well.
  • C Windgrace's Judgment
    • - A new staple for all Golgari decks. This card is clearly absurd, and somewhat annoying that they printed this, as it has pushed out more interesting options like Acidic Slime , in this case. That being said, obviously powerful and a great tool for Golgari decks.
  • C Assassin's Trophy
    • - You know what I fucking hate? Printing multiple staple spells in the same year that remove deck diversity. See Judgment, Windgrace's for additional examples of this. Of course, that being said if I'm going to min/max within reason then AT obviously deserves inclusion, because 2 mana to remove anything is just such a solid step up over Manglehorn or Beast Within (even with a land being more meaningful than the token) that I can't help myself. Screw you R&D, we used to have to make choices BUT NOW NO ONE GETS TO HAVE ANY BREWING FUN.
  • C Pir's Whim
    • - One of my new favorite removal spells. Already described in the ramp section, this card is ramp, tutor, and Fleshbag Marauder type removal spell all in one. INSANE value on this little _Battlebond_ addition.
  • C Goblin Bombardment
    • - This can easily act as removal for utility creatures or better when you start a token engine going. Strong card, one of the all time great sac outlets. Already necessary for our combo enabling.
  • C Strip Mine
    • - Removal from the land slot. Can really help deal with problematic lands like Glacial Chasm and Gaea's Cradle . This is our best land removal, and really quit necessary. Tectonic Edge can work in a pinch.
  • Wasteland
    • - Removal from the land slot. Strip Mine Lite. Very powerful effect. See above, but for non-basics only (70% of the field).
  • Hissing Quagmire
    • - Removal from the land slot. Mostly this gets to play _Rattlesnake_, preventing our opponents from attacking on the ground. Also strongly fixes in our 2 heaviest colors making this an auto-include.
  • C Barbarian Ring
    • - Removal from the land slot. Powerful effect that can also double as a (very slow) win condition if down to a 1v1 situation along with the Strip Mine denial package.
  • C Blast Zone
    • - Amazing new version of Engineered Explosives from the land slot, and an absolute shoo-in for this build! This card is insanely versatile, and a new favorite of mine. Far outclasses basically every other land removal spell by virtue of its flexibility. Only knock is that it doesn’t start at 0 for token removal...
  • C Maze of Ith
    • - Removal from the land slot. Such a powerful effect, forces opponents to over-commit into the board to deal with. Stops a lot of Voltron strategies dead. This is probably the best creature based removal for the lands package available.
Tutors are very essential for this deck. This is NOT the deck that grabs the same piece every game – those decks are straight up boring to play with/against, and not how I roll. Tutors for this deck are highly skill-testing – what do you need to grab to stabilize the board, or go off with the pieces available, or grab a grindy value engine?
  • C Crop Rotation
    • - My actual favorite tutor in the deck. Acting at instant speed straight to the battlefield enables so many surprise plays.
  • Vampiric Tutor
    • - One of the two “best” tutors in the game. Play this for it’s versatility and ability to handle any situation. Budget constraints can be an issue for some with this card.
  • Demonic Tutor
    • - One of the two “best” tutors in the game. Play this for it’s versatility and ability to handle any situation. Budget constraints can be an issue for some with this card.
  • Realms Uncharted
    • - The ability to tutor for 4 lands and effectively put them all into our hand is obscene in this deck. Can also be used to choose the correct opponent and get the best 2 into our hand instead of the worst 2. _Politics_!
  • C Pir's Whim
    • - One of my new favorite removal spells. Already described in the ramp and removal sections, this card is ramp, tutor, and Fleshbag Marauder type removal spell all in one. INSANE value on this little _Battlebond_ addition makes it an auto include.
  • C Hour of Promise
    • - New all-star of the tutor slot. This thing just does work. Described _ad nauseum_ above.
  • C Green Sun's Zenith
    • - Part ramp spell, part tutor. Finds what we need, when we need it. Described above, auto-include.
  • Chord of Calling
    • - Instant speed is sooo strong. This allows us to go off much more efficiently by stringing several spells in a row starting EOT before our turn. This to me is an auto-include for the ability to string spells together, and at a reasonable budget.
These are anything from Mirrorpool to Boseiju, Who Shelters All . Every deck requires a spine of cards that can do small tasks and surprise our opponents. These are those cards, and have a lot of discretion based on meta preferences. Most of the auto-includes are lands.

The mana base of this deck is scattered throughout the categories above, but I will just add that getting the colored sources right is critical. For quite some time I had a mismatch of total colored sources and I was getting color screwed above rate. Obviously one way to budget out the deck is to cut fetchlands, shocklands, other duals, etc but you risk severely gimping the consistency of the deck. Invest in the mana base!

Below is a non-comprehensive list of everything I have thought about, included at one point, cut, or never made the cut. These are all cards that you may think “why isn’t this included in the build?” Hopefully, I can answer some of those questions here. If not, feel free to ask! I try to respond, though sometimes I am more active than others. Ping me if again if you are super curious about it!

  • Birthing Pod
    • - A card that I absolutely LOVE, but I had to find a cut and I had considered this as on the line for awhile now. I have tried to make the deck more streamlined and fun to play, and Birthing Pod is about the least streamlined card imaginable. This deck has enough decisions without having to consider a tutor every turn that can change the scope of the game.
  • Skullclamp
    • - I of course love the card Skullclamp , as one of the most insanely busted card draw spells in the game. Unfortunately, I cut most of the incidental value, token making type cards from the deck long ago in favor of the lands build. Clampy doesn’t do the same work anymore compared to other sources of card advantage, centered more around land drop based advantage.
  • Nether Traitor
    • - Cut quite some time ago, initially to remove the infinite combo with Phyrexian Arena as my group was not a fan, but as my new playgroup is okay with combos this is just cut because I prefer Bloodghast and only need one version of the effect in my mind.
  • Grim Haruspex
    • - This is my favorite version of this draw effect. There are several others, Fecundity being the most popular, as well as Harvester of Souls and Dark Prophecy . I cut in favor of draw that does something without any other effect present. Ultimately card draw that works on its own is superior in my mind, as it can be difficult to set this up and if we are already going off, do we really need it?
  • Fecundity
    • - I used to include this card in the deck, but I removed it for a few reasons. First off, it is not asymmetrical. obviously we are more built to utilize it, but still. But most importantly, it does nothing on a lot of boards. It's hard to create velocity when no engine is setup. As such, I struggle with including more than one of this type of effect. Grim Haruspex has the same issue, but it is a creature, which has inherent value in and of itself. Now, obviously this does work with tokens, so I could be wrong, but for now it is out of the deck. It is on my list to reconsider, all else being said.
  • Harvester of Souls
    • - Another Fecundity effect, but at 6 mana I prefer to leave this one out.
  • Dark Prophecy
    • - An asymmetrical Fecundity . The life loss and not being a "may" trigger is what does this effect in. It is usually possible to rely on a Blood Artist effect to negate this, but if this were ever to prevent us from going off due to the life loss, that would be one time too many.
  • Phyrexian Arena
    • - It feels insane to cut this card, but flavor wise I wanted the card draw to be more centered around landfall type effects, like Horn of Greed and Tireless Tracker . This card certainly belongs in a fully tuned version of this deck, but theme matters to me more and more.
  • Necropotence
    • - A classic busted draw engine. Sometimes this can get us into awkward situations where we can't draw for fear of death and can't win without drawing, but the upside is enough to outweigh those instances. This deck feels like it needs to be a bit more conservative after extensive play, and therefore I have cut it.
  • Experimental Frenzy
    • - A recent cut, in favor of the less restrictive and more powerful Bolas's Citadel . I like Future Sight effects, but ultimately this was more of a “flavor of the month” add that I just wanted to play with.
  • Courser of Kruphix
    • - Oracle #2. This card is a wonderful 3-drop, and works amazingly in conjunction with Exploration effects. I love it paired with Sensei's Divining Top as well, but honestly I just only have so much room. This card is often at the top of my consideration list however.
  • Mirri's Guile
    • - Something close to Sylvan Library or Sensei's Divining Top #2. I don't own one, but if I get my hands on it it will make the deck hands down. Card is quite absurd
  • Greenwarden of Murasa
    • - Eternal Witness #2. As you may detect, I love redundancy. Also occupies a nice slot on the curve for Birthing Pod plays. Cut, because honestly this card always feels below curve to play. Yes, very strong effect, especially when we are out of gas, but it just never feels like we want to pay 6 mana for it and it often rots in hand in my experience.
  • Protean Hulk
    • - An obvious combo card that doesn't win the game that way in my meta. This is still an insane value card, and will a lot of times just grab 2 or 3 necessary combo pieces to win on the spot. Strong tutor card that will also feature in that section. Problem is - my meta started to hate this. Even with no infinite combos it’s basically an auto win. Therefore, I cut for fun reasons.
  • Whisperwood Elemental
    • - This card filled a niche when this deck was more value based. It has since been removed in favor of other, land based effects. Can be very powerful with Sek’kuar, particularly with his sac effect paired with our lands.
  • Razaketh, the Foulblooded
    • - Cut due to curve considerations, ultimately. I never actually cast the card, which sort of bums me out. I ended up adding Insurrection in the same spot on the curve, so a cut had to be made.
  • Lavaclaw Reaches
    • - Kessig Wolf Run is more or less a more resilient version of this effect.
  • Dakmor Salvage
    • - This card absolutely belongs in a deck featuring The Gitrog Monster . Now, my playgroup would consider this an infinite combo, so I would only be able to cycle it 5 times per turn, but that is still insanely powerful. Trouble is, I'm having a hard time finding a land to cut. Basics are super important with cards like Natural Balance in the deck, and all my utility lands are great. Stay tuned, folks.
  • Geier Reach Sanitarium
    • - With so many ways to generate value from the Graveyard, this land ends up being bona fide card advantage for us. Obviously, this can benefit the opponent as well, but it is worth the trade-off for this much value from a land slot. Fits into our "lands" theme quite well.
  • Sea Gate Wreckage
    • - This deck, with all the Exploration effects, can just dump the hand reasonably easy. Having another way to generate situational card advantage from the mana base is very nice.
  • Arch of Orazca
    • - The price of activating made this something I don’t believe I used more than a couple of times. If we are forced to devote functionally 7 mana per turn to drawing an extra card we are not in a great spot. Whenever I was tutoring, I found I was always grabbing Mikokoro, Center of the Sea over this, as the efficiency cannot be matched and I enjoy group hug.
  • Sol Ring
    • - Uhhh, what? Why did I cut this??? This felt absolutely insane to cut, but ever since I switched over to a real lands build it just feels so much less impactful than the land drop effects. I honestly can't tell if that's wrong or not, and this is highly likely to get put back in... Someone talk me off the ledge!
  • Amulet of Vigor
    • - Ostensibly, this card is a ramp spell, but it basically is here for the combo with Bounce Lands and especially for the combo with Splendid Reclamation effects. Honestly insanely strong - paired with Azusa, Lost but Seeking it makes an insane amount of mana off of bounce lands to enable a quick combo kill ahead of schedule. I had added it at one point speculatively, but never acquired one. I don’t know it’s worth the price tag to me, but I am still looking for one at the right price or trade.
  • Cryptolith Rite
    • - All of Sek'Kuar, Deathkeeper 's tokens have haste. This enchantment makes going off almost trivial, plus can add 2-3 mana easily in the early to mid game. Cut because creatures less a prevalent theme of the deck now. Hard cut =( pet card. Still quite powerful from many different positions, and I have it on my shortlist to work back in.
  • Sakura-Tribe Elder
    • - The second Sakura-Tribe member just misses the cut. Just a solidly strong 2-mana ramp spell with some mild synergies. I cut a lot of basics, meaning this type of effect feels less reliable to do something late.
  • Skyshroud Ranger
    • - Sakura-Tribe Scout #2, Exploration effect. Included for the same reasons - 1 drop land accelerants are great in this deck. Ultimately I love this card, and reminds me of early days of magic playing _Tempest_ block, but the scout is just better. That being said, 1 mana Exploration is supremely strong, and is on my short list.
  • Budoka Gardener
    • - Exploration effect option.. Being a creature has downside and upside, but this guy is mostly upside. He replaces Sakura-Tribe Scout as playing him Turn 2 vs Turn 1 is not a huge downside, and when he flips he can be a clunky win con. Fun card, nice little upgrade I hadn't ever known about. Cut for the scout again, as Scout is just such a strong T1 play to get things rolling out fast.
  • Mina and Denn, Wildborn
    • - Another Exploration effect that didn't make the cut. I like the ability to return lands, but 4 mana is steep for the minor upside compared to Wayward Swordtooth .
  • Cultivate
    • - Insanely challenging cut. I just felt like 2 mana ramp has more value after playing this deck many many times, and also the extra card is valuable to hit Exploration drops but not as valuable as one might think with the emphasis on _specific_ lands. I also have cut my basic count considerably, making this a poor late draw.
  • Kodama's Reach
    • - Ditto
  • Earthcraft
    • - Expensive, but insanely powerful. Removes the haste consideration on Cryptolith Rite . Not worth the modest improvement to drop that amount of cash.
  • Three Visits
    • - Super expensive, but I would 100% play a second copy of Nature's Lore if I ever get a copy.
  • Rampant Growth
    • - 2 mana ramp is very strong. I feel like I need to find cuts for a few 2 mana ramp spells, but ultimately it would be for Three Visits if i acquire one. To mirror the power of Nature's Lore .
  • Explosive Vegetation and general 4 mana ramp spells
    • - 4 CMC, two land ramp spells are strong, but I prefer the lower CMC spells to fill my ramp slots for this deck. Splendid Reclamation gets the nod for late game synergy as a failsafe.
  • Deathrite Shaman
    • - I like Turn 1 ramp plays. I like graveyard hate. I like Deathrite Shaman . I think he's better in EDH than he gets credit for. Be careful about exiling your own lands, Crucible is a thing. This should find it's way back into my stack.
  • Ulvenwald Hydra
    • - A creature tutorable land tutor/defensive wall/chip damage that just does it all. I like the card, but cut for curve and I think Pir's Whim takes the similar slot and is just better.
  • Myriad Landscape
    • - This should be played in most decks featuring 6+ basics in my opinion. I cut my basics down to 2, so it is no longer an option.
  • Cabal Coffers
    • - With the heavy lands focus and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth inclusion this felt right. I happened to have an extra copy from long ago so it was easy to slot in. Can do degenerate Gaea's Cradle esque things without creatures in play! Still a high setup cost though, and does literal nothing without Urborg. Land tutors help that problem greatly, but still fragile.
  • Crystal Vein
    • - Not only does this have a built in sac on itself, but it is basically a re-useable _Ritual_ effect with a Crucible of Worlds in play. Very strong with X Effects . I cut because I just needed more colored sources.
  • Deserted Temple
    • - The combo is to use this along with _ Gaea's Cradle _, but it does other neat things as well, like Maze of Ith #2 or Double Draw . I enjoy the card, but found I rarely if ever activated it and needed to consider my colored mana sources.
  • Living Death
    • - This card does so much, and I often replaced Jokulhaups with it and vice versa. It can act as sac outlet, recursion, and board wipe depending on the board/GY state. Sometimes finicky to engineer a favorable usage is my one criticism. Great one-shot effect to turn the table on it's head.
  • Constant Mists
    • - I am not positive it was correct to cut this card. Ultimately however, it fills the same role as Glacial Chasm with the backup ability to sac lands. It is not particularly efficient as a sac outlet, so it just became a less tutorable Glacial Chasm and I almost never cast the card. Cut for Heroic Intervention for now, on the short list.
  • Birthing Pod
    • - Slow but relentless sac outlet. can also go find more bursty outlets with ease.
  • Bloodspore Thrinax
    • - One shot sac outlet. This leads to some of the most busted turns imaginable with giant 15 power graveborn swinging for lethal tablewide. Somewhat of a one trick pony, as he almost always is removed within a cycle. Removed due to consistency issues.
  • Carrion Feeder
    • - Reasonable 1-drop sac outlet. This guy on his own can get majorly out of hand, but Viscera Seer just does more.
  • Greater Good
    • - Very strong draw/discard sac outlet, which may warrant inclusion. Problem is that so much of this deck is low power, it rarely nets us true card advantage, and often can't be activated without dumping our hand.
  • Merciless Executioner and Fleshbag Marauder
    • - I had these cards in the deck at one point, and they are solid little effects. Ultimately I'm trying to set my sights a little higher than this with this particular build by fighting on a different axis with a lands shell.
  • Natural Balance
    • - This card is a little bit like Living Death for lands. With the right enablers on the battlefield this will completely swing a game in our favor. In conjunction with another good land sac enabler like Squandered Resources the value this thing can create is absurd. Cut because it often felt dead, and my basic land count has gone down.
  • Perilous Forays
    • - A truly insane engine once online, but 5 mana is steep for an effect that isn't likely to be long for this world in my meta.
  • Yahenni, Undying Partisan
    • - This is somewhat of a pet card of mine. I love the idea of Natural Affinity or Jolrael, Empress of Beasts an opponents lands into oblivion in response to a board wipe, making a huge Yahenni and smashing face. In general, it is a resilient sac outlet that is tutorable and can also grind in a pinch, which is a very valuable effect to have around.
  • Skullclamp
    • - Strongest draw spell, but also a "sac outlet" with our 1 power tokens. Very strong with Pawn of Ulamog generating a mana eldrazi for each sacrifice. Felt bad, but cut per "Draw" section.
  • Westvale Abbey  
    • - Clunky and rarely used. Cut!
  • Crystal Vein
    • - Combined with a Crucible of Worlds effect this can blow up multiple of itself for Graveborn value and mana.
  • Turntimber Sower
    • - A strong multi-role card. Acts as Mini- Titania, Protector of Argoth , also acts as slow and resource intensive Life from the Loam , also acts as a sacrifice enabler. Not good enough at any of those 3 functions to warrant inclusion for my tastes.
  • Blood Artist
    • - One of the primary combo pieces. Typically this guy is tutored before the win. Also acts as a safety buffer with the life gain. Cut because I rarely need more than a Purphoros, God of the Forge or Goblin Bombardment or something. Just doesn’t do as much as it seems in this lands based shell.
  • Zulaport Cutthroat
    • - Ditto to above.
  • Grim Haruspex
    • - Also described above in the "Card Draw" section, powerful effect.
  • Pawn of Ulamog
    • - His tokens have a built in sac outlet, for what it's worth. Cut because I no longer favor redundant Sek'Kuar effects, no need for the redundancy.
  • Sifter of Skulls
    • - Ditto to above.
  • Golgari Germination
    • - Ditto to above.
  • Gutter Grime
    • - Described above, just too mana intensive in my mind. In addition to the other reasons.
  • Caller of the Claw
    • - Gets some sick value. Can be difficult to account for your "death triggers" if you aren't cognizant of that, so be planful with your accounting practices when you want to use him or tutor him. Cut due to low impact whenever I played - better in Pandemonium builds.
  • Fresh Meat
    • - Caller of the Claw #2. Not tutorable and 1 extra mana is no bueno in my opinion. I rarely want multiple of that effect, once in a combo is usually enough.
  • Bloodspore Thrinax
    • - One of the strongest ETB triggers in the deck. He is either a dead draw on the wrong board or our best draw.
  • Grave Pact
    • - If I had one, I would include it. So strong, also the original Stronghold art is the correct choice.
  • Pandemonium
    • - This may be controversial, but I just don't like Pandemonium in this deck. Many of our combo pieces are vulnerable to the opponents dropping creatures, so it needs to be played the turn we combo off.
  • Warstorm Surge and Vicious Shadows
    • - Both insanely powerful Pandemonium -esque effects, but also highly mana intensive removal magnets.
  • Impact Tremors
    • - I love this effect. Essentially an enchantment version of Blood Artist . Removed in favor of lowering the enchantment count.
  • Dictate of Erebos
    • - Having flash and the power of this effect make it well worth the 5 CMC. It is basically a one-sided board wipe under most circumstances that also ignores indestructible. Seems good. Removed for Living Death .
  • Gods' Eye, Gate to the Reikai
    • - Producing a token as value for our land sac effects is legit. Cut to keep basic count up. Dryad Arbor is just superior as a saccable land.
  • Dunes of the Dead
    • - Producing a token as value for our land sac effects is legit. Very strong when we play it repeatedly and produce two tokens per sac.
  • Worm Harvest
    • - This is always on the short list to add back in, but ultimately stronger in a Lord Windgrace type build. I like having an alternate “make a lot of tokens” combo outside of Sek’kuar himself. Not currently in, but will cycle back at some point.
  • Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
    • - A re-useable combo enabler. This guy is more than that, however - he is also an Overrun on a stick! Combined with Gaea's Cradle things get a little silly. Possible cut, as he is often quite awkward.
  • Jolrael, Empress of Beasts
    • - Awesome and fun card that can prevent board wipes from happening for threat of activation. Pet card, I do wish she was more efficient but always on my short list of considerations.
  • Avenger of Zendikar
    • - Many have asked why not include Avenger. I believe having the keyword “Landfall” really pushes that narrative. But the reason to disinclude him is simple - he is inferior to Omnath, Locus of Rage at what he does, and I have exactly one slot for a big landfall beater. The inability to produce any value outside of blockers the turn he hits the board just makes him too slow - board wipes trump him in every way, whereas Omnath can get bolts out of a board wipe.
  • Natural Balance
    • - Cut for Jokulhaups . Just too inconsistently good or bad. Also fewer basics to really abuse the land sac effects in my deck with this.
  • Jolrael, Empress of Beasts
    • - I love this card, it is a pet card of mine. Problem is - it is insanely slow. Multiple games I was able to hold this over the table's head as a deterrent for board wipes, but ultimately I decided to run a few different effects and cut down on the combo pieces.
  • Tooth and Nail
    • - Just too easy of a win, to be honest. At least with a Green Sun's Zenith our Craterhoof Behemoth requires a reasonable board to win.
  • Beastmaster Ascension
    • - This card is absurdly powerful, but very all in. The entire point of my build is to be less all in on the combo, in favor of land based interaction.
  • Petrified Field
    • - A very tough cut, but I needed more colored sources so I had to find pieces to get rid of. My favorite use for this card is as the third or 4th land in a Realms Uncharted package to really screw the opponent on what to give back. A stellar piece of recursion for our land combos. This will find its way back in soon, I’m sure of it.
  • Dakmor Salvage
    • - Belongs in the deck, if only for The Gitrog Monster combos, but honestly I have so many other utility lands its super hard to find the cut.
  • Pyroblast
    • - I LOVE this card. Total pet card of mine. I play in a meta with a lot of 4-5 color commanders, and this spell just does work. No one expects a Jund deck to play counterspells. I eventually cut this to make room for more versatile interaction ( Acidic Slime ), but I would love to fit this back in.
  • Krosan Grip
    • - In metas with a lot of infinite combos, this card is basically a must play. Per my description, my meta doesn't allow for that. Definite meta call, however.
  • Beast Within
    • - One of my favorite removal spells. The 3/3 token is rarely relevant outside of a chump blocker. The ability to remove _Anything_ in these colors is so so necessary that this is a must start in my book. This eventually was cut for Pir's Whim , better synergy. May need to come back in at some point to up the removal count.
  • Chaos Warp
    • - A more random, weaker Beast Within . Now that even Beast Within is cut, we have better options.
  • Vandalblast
    • - My opinion is that this card belongs in every red deck. Red Cyclonic Rift is no joke. I am breaking my own rule here, which is not a great sign.
  • Fiery Confluence
    • - God, this card is sneaky good. Especially as a closet "sac" outlet, this probably warrants inclusion. I truly want to find a way to include, another card on the shortlist.
  • Damnation
    • - No questions asked board wipe. I don't own one, and it probably is not on top of my list either way.
  • Grave Pact
    • - An old classic, with great art no matter which edition chosen. I honestly prefer the card below for the Flash piece.
  • Dictate of Erebos
    • - Flash Pact. Worth it's weight in gold, but I had to make cuts for some powerful one-shots like Living Death and Natural Balance .
  • Acidic Slime
    • - A personal favorite from the creature slot. This guy can do some work, and acts as a strong grab with Pod just like the Sage above. So sad to cut =( Windgrace's Judgment was printed, which is just absurd. BOOOOOOO
  • Manglehorn
    • - Another personal favorite of mine. With the advent of printing every possible iteration of dope Golgari removal this year (2018), just no room for crowd favorites like this or Slimeball. In a perfect world I run it all, but the deck's slots are just super tight. Goodbye, my sweet prince of tapped Signets .
  • Dust Bowl
    • - Removal from the land slot. Turns all of our lands into Wasteland s.
  • Tectonic Edge
    • - Removal from the land slot. Rounds out our land destruction suite.
  • Cabal Pit
    • - I'm fairly positive this deserves to be in over some land. Just unsure of which one. Barbarian Ring feels very slightly better, trading off the ability to destroy indestructible creatures in payment for a very slow win con.
  • Ifnir Deadlands
    • - Just too clunky to ever feel nearly efficient enough. When I re-discovered the _Odyssey_ Cabal Pits|utility lands they immediately got the nod.
  • Blighted Fen
    • - Removal from the land slot. Slow, but very effective against some strategies, notably Voltron. Ultimately just very pricey, and rarely effective other than against decks like Scion of the Ur-Dragon .
  • Ulvenwald Hydra
    • - Land tutor on a stick. This turns our creature tutors into land tutors if need be, and also presents a large road block that can get in there when the coast is clear for _big damages_. Very worth the slot.
  • Birthing Pod
    • - If left on the battlefield for 2 or more turns usually assembles enough value to win handily.
  • Entomb
    • - Another contender for favorite tutor. Whether it is starting a value train with Life from the Loam or enabling an explosive turn with Anger , this 1 mana spell does work.
  • Sylvan Scrying
    • - Was cut in favor of Demonic Tutor , may warrant inclusion over an actual land.
  • Evolution Charm
    • - One of my favorite basic land tutors, this honestly deserves more attention. I had to cut in favor of real lands.
  • Woodland Bellower
    • - Cut in favor of Greenwarden of Murasa . Great card. Deserves more attention.
  • Traverse the Ulvenwald
    • - Most often a CIPT basic, sometimes this tutors up a combo piece. Rarely ever grabbed me anything but a basic.
  • Protean Hulk
    • - Obviously the best possible card to win on the spot for this deck. My meta just hated that and it felt un-fun.
  • Dosan the Falling Leaf
    • - I cut in favor of Boseiju . They do different things, but the concept is the same. Felt bad though.
  • Mirage Mirror
    • - A do it all EDH stple. In this deck particularly, this acts as a combo piece, redundancy, sometimes even Gaea's Cradle #2. I include in almost every deck nowadays. It felt terrible to cut, but I was also cutting down on non-legendary combo pieces so it had fewer and fewer non-utility uses. Still just an awesome card that I'm actively looking to put back in.
  • Anger
    • - Strongest haste enabler avaialble. Difficult to interact with and free. Great fodder for discard outlets. I feel terrible cutting this, but I dropped down on Token effects and therefore have less use for the haste. Sek'Kuar provides haste on his own!
  • Vedalken Orrery
    • - I love the card, but I only have so much room for this effect and Winding Canyon covers it as a very easily tutorable version.
  • Yeva, Nature's Herald
    • - See above.
  • Insist , Overmaster , Cremate
    • - I LOVE cantrips, but when slots are as tight as they are here they are hella difficult to justify.
A common question is: What cards would you include if budget was no object? Following: a non-exhaustive short list that I will likely keep adding to. NOTE: Being on the wishlist just means I understand the power of the card. Legitimately every cut is so hard that even if I owned all of these cards they wouldn’t all end up in the deck! If I indicate a cut, I have thought about it and there is some obvious upgrade over an existing slot. If not, I see no obvious cut and it would have to be a non-related slot which is where the real challenge comes in..

This by no means encapsulates every synergy this deck has, as there are hundreds of combinations that can produce a startling and abrupt win, but this is a good start to give you a sense of it.

I hope you enjoyed my deck! Leave a comment if you want to discuss, I think my take on Sek'Kuar is somewhat unique and I'd be happy to hear some opinions and suggestions!

One rule I try to consider whenever I evaluate a potential inclusion for any of my decks is "Commander Quadrant Theory". Anyone who listens to the Limited Resources podcast knows about Quadrant Theory from Marshall Sutcliffe - the idea that a full evaluation of a card requires you to consider it's value During the early game, From behind, At parity, and While ahead. Typically this means I prioritize more stable and reliable effects that can help me even when things aren't going so well. I also highly prioritize a strong early game plan, and most of my decks have a curve heavy on 2's and 3's to reflect that. This being a ramp deck means that the curve is slightly higher than normal. Also under this scheme, cards I consider win-more will never receive much attention. I prefer effects good While behind and At parity the most.

I strongly believe that Cantrips are an underplayed card type in commander. The casual format is slow enough that paying an extra mana to cycle a card for a medium effect is quite powerful. A reasonable list of cantrips you should be considering:

Card draw and ramp: the two most critical elements for any commander deck Easy rule of thumb – play 10 of each. But don’t let that limit your imagination. Often, it is best to play more, and in some rare cases less, usually of ramp. Card draw is NOT something to be skipped out on.

4 player pod - Xantcha, Sleeper Agent , Toshiro Umezawa , Nahiri, the Lithomancer , and me ( Sek'Kuar, Deathkeeper ). Game opened with explosive mana from the Toshiro player.

Early play is dominated by Xantcha establishing different lines of damage. Nahiri simply builds up various equips and starts to protect a Nahiri upticking, but he is also having mana problems. I keep a hand land heavy + Crucible of Worlds , hoping to play into the land control route. I immediately draw into Maze of Ith + Vesuva , which completely mitigates the Xantcha ping damage and turns the game onto it's head. Despite this, I am unable to draw into any real action, land flooding plus some removal in hand.

Toshiro continues to dominate play, dropping a reasonable Gray Merchant of Asphodel on top of Crypt Ghast pings, Erebos, God of the Dead , and Caged Sun . I decide I need to act, popping my lone action Windgrace's Judgment , killing Authority of the Consuls from Nahiri to enable a future combo, Caged Sun from Toshiro , and a Night Incarnate from Xantcha that wipes the battlefield. This wipes the Crypt Ghast and Nahiri 's (small) board, but leaves up Xantcha to keep pinging at my opponents but not me behind my double Maze wall.

As we transition to the late game, Xantcha goes to the Nahiri player who suits up with an Assault Suit . Fearing for the eventual death by pings, Toshiro draws 20 off of Erebos , leaving him low on life. Xantcha ends up in his control, and he dies to the pings from us drawing.

I finally am drawing action off of Mikokoro, Center of the Sea + Xantcha activated, and I drop an Oracle of Mul Daya plus another dork of some type, and then draw a Craterhoof Behemoth that looks tasty. I end up Vampiric Tutor ing for Dryad Arbor to play off the top with Oracle to increase my creature count, and drop Craterhoof the same turn to smash the Xantcha player out of the game.

With just Nahiri and myself left, things look good, but a board wipe slows my roll. He follows up with a Secure the Wastes for X=7 EOT, and then Nomad's Assembly. His board is now threatening lethal in a way that double Maze of Ith does not help. At this point, I had weakly rebuilt with Sylvan Safekeeper + Sek'Kuar, Deathkeeper the turn before, and I very fortunately draw into Life/Death.

My two options are: Cast Life , sac my lands to Safekeeper and swing for exactly lethal with graveborn tokens considering his blocks, losing on the backswing to basically any removal spell, or pull some shenanagins. I opt for route 2, casting Death on Craterhoof and use Mirrorpool with Trigger on the stack to copy the Hoof , swinging for wayyyy over lethal with trample!

Result: 1st of 4

4 player pod - 5-color Najeela, the Blade-Blossom , Avacyn  , and a solid Muldrotha deck.

Game opened with a Burgeoning plus 4 lands and The Gitfrog hand kept by me, drawing into 5th land for the Turn 2 Gitfrog . Unfortunately, the hand stalled from there stopping at 5 mana with no real plays. Muldrotha player had a slow keep as well. Avacyn   player had a pretty casual fun deck, and was operating around the same speed.

All the action was basically from the Najeela player, who was just smashing face hard. The Avacyn   player played a board wipe and Najeela had Boros Charm to save his board even. Brutal.

I dropped Tireless Tracker and tried to dig for another answer. I Clued my way into Insurrection a few mana short of casting. Najeela decided to swing literally 30 warriors at Muldrotha to kill him, as he assessed him to be the top threat, and I was 1 land drop away from an Insurrection steal of the game, with none in hand.

I top-decked it, cast it, and basically stole Najeela 's win! A hand spinning the wheels somehow took the game.

Result: 1st of 4

4 player pod - a group hug Kynaios and Tiro deck, A Breya token deck, and a Sen Triplets deck.

Game started off quite slowly for me - legitimately almost nothing going on, except for an active Life from the Loam . Kynaios and Tiro had us all drawing several cards per turn and it still did not matter. Breya was working very effectively, pumping out lots of tokens and dominating the game.

At some point I used Windgrace's Judgment to wipe away multiple valuable permanents, including Sen Triplets which set him back too far to ever really recover.

Largely uneventful game eventually ended with Breya making 15 some odd tokens and attacking/saccing them with Disciple of the Vault and Zulaport Cutthroat in play. we all lost on the same turn, though technically i died to triggers first.

Result: 4th of 4

5 Player pod, part of 4 game grouping featuring a lot of chaos and wheels decks. In this case, Rakdos Showstopper made his 2nd of 3 appearances, which made for very fun games.

I opened with a hand of lands, Craterhoof Behemoth , and Vampiric Tutor + Demonic Tutor . Second turn I tutored for Azusa, Lost but Seeking . T3, I play out Azusa plus 2 more lands and I'm feeling very good. Scarab God wheels , and in response I Vampiric Tutor . I let the game proceed for time’s sake, but before I can select my card and draw my 7, Rakdos wheels again! My new hand is no lands, but does contain Tireless Tracker and Life from the Loam . I loam for 3 lands and continue ramping, making clues along the way.

At this point, everyone is doing their thing and has reasonable boards. Then Rakdos drops Confusion in the Ranks . This causes total chaos, with Karametra Midnight Haunting to take Azusa and Tireless Tracker , getting a clue and taking a Treasure Map   I had played out. At this point, I decide that Confusion has to go, but not before I get my creatures back!

I play a Bloodghast to take Azusa , and a Reclamation Sage blows up Confusion in the Ranks and takes back Tireless Tracker .

Scarab God decides he wants to wipe Karametra’s GY and then Living Death , not noticing that Yennett has a Void Winnower in the GY. At this point I have no board other than 10 lands, facing down Void Winnower and a Grave Titan on Scarab God 's board. Karametra than Oblivion Ring s the Void Winnower and Day of Judgment comes down.

Heading into late game on an empty board, I'm feeling good about my position. I drop Eternal Witness , getting back Titania, Protector of Argoth . I play Titania, returning Wooded Foothills which I crack for a Forest and make a token. I have a Gaea's Cradle in play still untapped, which I use in conjunction with the new forest to cast Scapeshift , saccing all lands besides the Gaea's Cradle (10 total), making a grand total of 11 tokens and getting in Maze of Ith , Vesuva copying Maze (illegal play - did not know at the time), Dark Depths , Thespian's Stage , and most Importantly Mortuary Mire targeting Craterhoof Behemoth in the GY from my opening hand.

In one turn cycle I feel good about winning, though everyone sees it coming. My last card in hand is Windgrace's Judgment . At this point, Rakdos drops Planar Chaos , and in response Yennett blows up Oblivion Ring to get back Void Winnower , disallowing me from casting the Craterhoof Behemoth}Craterhoof if he sticks. Yennett goes right before me, and during his turn he attempts to cast Whispersilk Cloak to protect his Winnower. Luckily, Planar Chaos counters it!

It comes to my turn, and down to a coin flip. If Windgrace's Judgement goes through, I get to kill Winnower , cast Craterhoof and have 285 power on board. If not, my board state is still powerful but not winning.

I flip - and win the flip! Awesome game, came down to two consecutive coin flips, as it should with a Rakdos chaos deck!

Result: 1st of 5

Absolutely crazy game. Too long to write it all down. A few highlights:

- Tatyova controlled most of the game. Tatyova is a beast, he drew functionally infinite cards and several times had the game locked up but for odd quirks of fate

- Tatyova at one point cast Emrakul, the Promised End , took my turn, cast Life and cast Blasphemous Act leaving me with only Crucible of Worlds and Sylvan Library left in play

-At this point Jodah Dragons player was winning on board with like 4 Dragons swinging in the air.

- Tatyova cast a Void Winnower , and Jodah didn't realize his even dragons could still attack for lethal. Him missing that attack likely lost him the game

-I had Maze of Ith in play off of Crucible after my wipe, which is the only thing that kept me in the game

- Jodah copied Tatyova 's Void Winnower with a Clone effect and then they traded off

-I was prepared to Eternal Witness and then Blasphemous Act once I had the mana, but then Tatyova cast The Great Aurora , netting me 18 hits to Jodah and Tatyova ’s 20+. Still, the reset helped me and I was back in it with ~9 lands in play

- Tatyova again took control of the game and drew a massive hand and sculpted with his discards, but I used Wheel of Fortune to reset it

-I developed a small board out, Jodah was now playing backseat to Tatyova and I as he was out of gas

-I started setting up for a Jokulhaups , Vampiric Tutor ing for it with World Shaper in play. I pretended like I was going for Dark Depths combo to distract them from my true plan

-I had at least 20 lands in the GY at this point

-At this point Tatyova makes his move, casting Nezahal, Primal Tide and Inkwell Leviathan same turn, threatening lethal on me in 2 turns.

-I cast Sek'Kuar, Deathkeeper and then cast Jokulhaups with 5 creatures in play ( Sek and World Shaper most relevant and both threatening to win through a Jokulhaups ) and cast with Boseiju, Who Shelters All . Tatyova had one bounce spell and chose to use it to bounce Sek instead of World Shaper , so I ended up with every land in play to their 0 lands or creatures in play.

- Tatyova does still have Exploration , and had bounced lands to hand with }Nezahal . He plays up to 6 lands using some ramp spells.

-I kill Tatyova next turn with Inkmoth Nexus , and blow up Jodah 's single land with Wasteland , locking up the game the following turn!

Result: 1st of 3

Not much of a report on this one, I just marked down a few lines of text and wanted to include it for completeness’ sake

End result after some whacky plays - Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix / Vial Smasher the Fierce Wheels deck plays Comet Storm copied 3 times off of Thousand-Year Storm for a total of 44 damage.

In response I Realms Uncharted for Glacial Chasm and 3 other lands, asking Unesh who was dead to the Comet Storm to place the Chasm in the bin out of spite so I can sac my on board World Shaper to get it into play.

This left me, Kydele/Vial Smasher, and Atraxa, Praetors' Voice who had gained enough life to survive but all were very low. I end the game with Natural Affinity , using the lands for Goblin Bombardment pings for the win.

Result: 1st of 4

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Updates Add

WAR Edits, Draw Package Updates, Primer Updates — May 18, 2019
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Hello All!

A lot of edits I have been meaning to make for quite awhile. First off, the primer has been fully updated, including 6 game reports that I had stocked up! I think reading game reports can help better understand the gameplan and how the deck plays out.

Secondly - a bunch of edits to the list! Realistically I make edits between almost every game I play, but I don't often update this list without big edits to make. In this case, my biggest changes lately are to the draw package - I have been more and more interested in a "thematic" draw package, putting in some group hug like Rites of Flourishing and Horn of Greed and removing some sacred cows like Phyrexian Arena to make room. I also cut out recently added Treasure Map  Flip.

these aren't the only changes - my change log has gotten a bit messy, but one that I certainly recall is adding back in Jokulhaups over Living Deathfoil. The card ois just exactly what the deck wants and a win condition on its own under many circumstances.

Lastly, I added both Bolas's Citadel and Blast Zone from WAR. Bolas's Citadel replaces the underwhelming Experimental Frenzy and Blast Zone replaces a utilty land.

Wheel of Fortune and GRN updates — Oct. 16, 2018
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Commander 2018 Update — Aug. 3, 2018
Edit
Dark Depths and Battlebond! — June 7, 2018
Edit
Game Report — April 3, 2018
Edit
Further Further Edits — March 23, 2018
Edit
Further Lands Edits — March 16, 2018
Edit
LANDS EDIT — Feb. 23, 2018
Edit
Conversion to a more defined "Land" package — Dec. 11, 2017
Edit
Crucible of Worlds Update — Oct. 13, 2017
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Revision 17 See all

(5 years ago)

-1 Amulet of Vigor main
-1 Arch of Orazca main
+1 Blast Zone main
-1 Blighted Fen main
+1 Bolas's Citadel main
+1 Burgeoning main
-1 Constant Mists main
-1 Deserted Temple main
+1 Drownyard Temple main
+1 Exotic Orchard main
-1 Experimental Frenzy main
+1 Heroic Intervention main
+1 Horn of Greed main
+1 Jokulhaups main
-1 Living Deathfoil main
+1 Nature's Lore main
-1 Petrified Field main
-1 Phyrexian Arena main
+1 Radiant Fountain main
+1 Rites of Flourishing main
and 24 other change(s)
Top Ranked
  • Achieved #29 position overall 6 years ago
Date added 7 years
Last updated 5 years
Legality

This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)

8 - 1 Mythic Rares

62 - 4 Rares

15 - 0 Uncommons

13 - 0 Commons
Cards 100
Avg. CMC 3.31
Tokens City's Blessing, Clue, Copy Clone, Elemental 5/3 G, Elemental 5/5 RG, Emblem Nissa, Vital Force, Graveborn 3/1 BR, Marit Lage, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders Decks to consider building, Decks that impressed me, Interesting Commander Decks, *buildupon, Decks to think about, edh, Ideas, EDH Decks, Decks I like, EDH Ideas
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