The Tour de France

Commander / EDH Cycling Discard RUW (Jeskai, America) Theme/Gimmick Tokens Tokens Value Engine

bushido_man96

Land (36)

• 1x Adarkar Wastes
• 1x Ash Barrens
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Desert of the Fervent
• 1x Desert of the Mindful
• 1x Desert of the True
• 1x Drifting Meadow
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Forgotten Cave
• 1x Hall of Heliod's Generosity
• 1x Irrigated Farmland
• 5x Island
• 1x Lonely Sandbar
• 5x Mountain
• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 1x Mystic Monastery
• 4x Plains
• 1x Plateau
• 1x Prairie Stream
• 1x Raugrin Triome
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Remote Isle
• 1x Secluded Steppe
• 1x Shivan Reef
• 1x Smoldering Crater

Removal (6)

• 1x Cast Out
• 1x Clear
• 1x Irencrag Pyromancer
• 1x Mercurial Chemister
• 1x Radiant's Judgment
• 1x Slice and Dice

Second Wind (4)

• 1x Bag of Holding
• 1x Dance of the Manse
• 1x Elixir of Immortality
• 1x Rooting Moloch

Tutor (1)

• 1x Enlightened Tutor

Performance Enhancers (14)

• 1x Astral Drift
• 1x Astral Slide
• 1x Chasm Skulker
• 1x Crystalline Resonance
• 1x Curator of Mysteries
• 1x Drannith Stinger
• 1x Escape Protocol
• 1x Fluctuator
• 1x Glint-Horn Buccaneer
• 1x Irencrag Pyromancer
• 1x Niv-Mizzet, Parun
• 1x Surly Badgersaur
• 1x Teferi's Puzzle Box
• 1x Toothy, Imaginary Friend

Ramp (9)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Azorius Signet
• 1x Boros Signet
• 1x Fire Diamond
• 1x Izzet Signet
• 1x Marble Diamond
• 1x Raugrin Crystal
• 1x Sky Diamond
• 1x Sol Ring

Protection (7)

• 1x Akroma's Blessing
• 1x Angelsong
• 1x Complicate
• 1x Fierce Guardianship
• 1x Gilded Light
• 1x Neutralize
• 1x Nimble Obstructionist

Utility (3)

• 1x Raking Claws
• 1x Sanctuary Smasher
• 1x Vizier of Tumbling Sands

Boardwipes (2)

• 1x Akroma's Vengeance
• 1x Dismantling Wave

Commander (1)

Draw (13)

• 1x Boon of the Wish-Giver
• 1x Cloudblazer
• 1x Hieroglyphic Illumination
• 1x Kumena's Awakening
• 1x Mercurial Chemister
• 1x Niv-Mizzet, Parun
• 1x Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
• 1x Reconnaissance Mission
• 1x Rhystic Study
• 1x Rielle, the Everwise
• 1x Tectonic Reformation
• 1x Teferi's Ageless Insight
• 1x Toothy, Imaginary Friend

Finisher (6)

• 1x Brallin, Skyshark Rider  ^Flip
• 1x Glint-Horn Buccaneer
• 1x Kyren Negotiations
• 1x Niv-Mizzet, Parun
• 1x Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
• 1x Psychosis Crawler

Tokens (6)

• 1x Chasm Skulker
• 1x Decree of Justice
• 1x Improbable Alliance
• 1x Ominous Seas
• 1x The Locust God
• 1x Valiant Rescuer

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Maybeboard

Other (5)

• 1x Containment Construct
• 1x Deem Worthy
• 1x Forgotten Creation
• 1x New Perspectives
• 1x Starstorm

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Introduction

I'm calling this deck The Tour De France because it is all about cycling! I'm going to draw and cycle cards until I'm blue in the face, gain value, make tokens, and smite my opponents with cute little Dinosaur Cats!

Meet Our Cyclist

Gavi, Nest Warden will be our representative in the race today. All Gavi wants to do is ride her bike. She's been training for years, and that training has paid off in her ability to pay 0 to cycle our first card each turn instead of paying the card's cycling cost. I love it when card draw is printed on the Commander. And her first ability feeds right into her second ability, creating an adorable Dinosaur Cat token upon drawing our second card each turn (not just ours!). With the critical mass of cycling cards in this deck, getting 3 or 4 tokens in a turn cycle is not out of reach. These cute little Dino-Cats provide Gavi with the motivation she needs to keep on cycling until she makes it across the finish line.

Even thought we're restricted to pedal-power in our great cycling race, there's no doubt that Gavi is a value engine.

Performance Enhancers

Gavi here is no different than any other good cyclist, so in order to help her get through the Alps and cross that finish line, she's going to need her Performance Enhancers. We've got some great options in the deck that enhance each pump of pedals Gavi makes. Why just cycle and draw a card when you can cycle, draw, and make a token? Or cycle, draw, make a token, and do some damage? Or cycle, draw, make a token, and flicker something out of play until the end of the turn? These performance enhancers allow our cyclist to take as much advantage as she can out of each cycling effect.

We've got cards like Astral Drift and Astral Slide that can either protect our own creatures, or flicker away some problem creatures of our opponents. Cards like Irencrag Pyromancer, Glint-Horn Buccaneer, and Drannith Stinger let us accumulate incremental damage as we cycle through our deck. The partner pair of Shabraz, the Skyshark and Brallin, Skyshark Rider   really like cycling, too. If you wanted to run this race at a little different pace, these two would make for a fun substitution for our team leader.

Second Wind

The Tour de France is a long race, so catching a second wind is essential. Bag of Holding and Elixir of Immortality will help us make sure we don't run out gas before making it to the finish line. Dance of the Manse and Rooting Moloch provide us with some spot-recursion to get back something useful.

Race to the Finish

We've got some good fun stuff to help our cyclist to finish the race strong. Psychosis Crawler and Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind and Niv-Mizzet, Parun deal damage as we draw cards. Another way to finish off opponents is with a board-state heavy with tokens. Gavi, The Locust God, Improbable Alliance, Valiant Rescuer, and Ominous Seas all add more tokens to the army of Dino-Cats Gavi gives us.

Conclusion

This is my first attempt at a Jeskai build. When Gavi was spoiled, I was really excited to try her out, and I look forward to playing this deck. I found that the precon tended to peter out, so I'm hoping my upgrades make it run smoother and more efficient. Any thoughts, suggestions, and upvotes are always appreciated!

If I could put a theme song to this, it would have to be Queen's Bicycle.

Top Ranked	Achieved #4 position overall 4 years ago Achieved #3 position in Commander / EDH 4 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Discard 3 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH RUW (Jeskai, America) 4 years ago
Date added	4 years
Last updated	2 years
Exclude colors	BG
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	4 - 0 Mythic Rares 31 - 0 Rares 34 - 0 Uncommons 17 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.25
Tokens	Angel 4/4 W, City's Blessing, Dinosaur Cat 2/2 RW, Faerie 1/1 U, Human Soldier 1/1 W, Insect 1/1 UR, Kraken 8/8 U, Soldier 1/1 W, Squid 1/1 U, Treasure
Folders	Jeskai EDH Decks I Have, Interesting Commander Decks, Decks I think are lit, Gavi, Decks for tts, The Lexicon, Decks I Can Almost Build