Yas-all-ova but the Crying - Yasova EDH

Commander / EDH Aikido RUG (Temur) Voltron

PinnedPhoenix

Lands (38)

• 1x Arcane Lighthouse
• 1x Barkchannel Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Cragcrown Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Detection Tower
• 1x Dreamroot Cascade
• 1x Field of Ruin
• 9x Forest
• 1x Frontier Bivouac
• 1x High Market
• 1x Hinterland Harbor
• 4x Island
• 1x Kessig Wolf Run
• 1x Ketria Triome
• 4x Mountain
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Riverglide Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Rockfall Vale
• 1x Rootbound Crag
• 1x Stormcarved Coast
• 1x Sulfur Falls
• 1x Temple of Abandon
• 1x Temple of Epiphany
• 1x Temple of Mystery

Boosters (8)

• 1x Dormant Grove  ^Flip
• 1x Guardian Augmenter
• 1x Hadana's Climb  ^Flip
• 1x Halana and Alena, Partners
• 1x Strionic Resonator
• 1x Thundering Mightmare
• 1x Unnatural Growth
• 1x Xenagos, God of Revels

Mana Ramp (14)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Chromatic Lantern
• 1x Cultivate
• 1x Gruul Signet
• 1x Ilysian Caryatid
• 1x Izzet Signet
• 1x Kodama's Reach
• 1x Primal Growth
• 1x Rampant Growth
• 1x Simic Signet
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Tempt with Discovery
• 1x The Great Henge

Yasova Voltron (12)

• 1x Alpha Authority
• 1x Bear Umbra
• 1x Belt of Giant Strength
• 1x Blackblade Reforged
• 1x Champion's Helm
• 1x Commander's Plate
• 1x Darksteel Plate
• 1x Embercleave
• 1x Hammer of Nazahn
• 1x Octopus Umbra
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Winged Boots

Blink and Creature Theft (6)

• 1x Agent of Treachery
• 1x Bazaar Trader
• 1x Conjurer's Closet
• 1x Dominus of Fealty
• 1x Helm of Possession
• 1x Thassa, Deep-Dwelling

Commander (1)

Card Draw and Tutor (13)

• 1x Apex Devastator
• 1x Birthing Pod
• 1x Colossal Majesty
• 1x Eldritch Evolution
• 1x Garruk's Uprising
• 1x Guardian Project
• 1x Harmonize
• 1x Imperial Recruiter
• 1x Life's Legacy
• 1x Prime Speaker Vannifar
• 1x Rishkar's Expertise
• 1x Urban Evolution
• 1x Worldly Tutor

Removal, Disruption, Recovery (8)

• 1x Acidic Slime
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Druid of Purification
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Glaring Spotlight
• 1x Profaner of the Dead
• 1x Reclamation Sage
• 1x Timeless Witness

---

it's all over but the crying

and I can't get over crying over you...

(the title doesn't really have a theme. I just like the song).

Yasova Dragonclaw is the kind of over-the-top, bombastic voltron commander that probably won't dominate a playgroup simply because of how much removal it draws. all the same it's worth playing for the insane moments it creates and the sheer fun it brings to the table.

the general strategy is to voltron Yasova, steal enemy creatures, and blink them so that they become yours permanently. it's a non-complex deck without infinite combos. that said, here are some notes on the most important and/or unusual cards and why they're here.

using your commander

Yasova is a fun, quirky, aggressive commander. her high-ish power and trample effect make her a natural subject for voltron, and the fact that her creature-theft ability requires her to be more powerful than the creature she would control makes voltron necessary.

that said, she's by no means a perfect subject for Voltron. her lack of vigilance means you're forced to give her vigilance somehow, or build other, similarly powerful creatures to defend when she attacks, or not attack at all. fortunately, her ability applies whether or not she swings (see, by contrast, Zara, Renegade Recruiter), meaning that you can run this deck while voltroning Yasova, without swinging her. plus cards like Dormant Grove   can give her vigilance.

Yasova is at her best when she's a difficult-to-remove, influential creature-theft engine who doesn't draw too much attention to herself until it's too late. this deck can Voltron Yasova into a game-ending threat very quickly. always consider the possibility that waiting on those buffs and playing the game politically might be in your best interests. also remember that, when you remove a player from the game, you've removed the creatures you've stolen from them as well. play smart!

cards worth noting

Acidic Slime

Acidic Slime - along with Fields of Ruin, your way of dealing with troublesome lands. get it out the moment anyone plays something like Cavern of Souls or Cabal Stronghold. blink it every chance you get for an oppressively powerful land removal engine! deathtouch is a nice plus.

Apex Devastator

Apex Devastator - your get out of jail free card after a devastating boardwipe. as tempting as it may be to play it when it could tip the game in your favor, it's better to keep in hand and wait till the moment you need to rebuild a board state, fast.

Belt of Giant Strength

Belt of Giant Strength - maybe my favorite card I'm running here. if things are going well, you won't have to pay 6 mana to equip this onto Yasova, and Yasova's power and toughness will skyrocket. it's about as fun as you could ask a given piece of equipment to be.

Creature Tutors

Birthing Pod, Eldritch Evolution, Imperial Recruiter, Prime Speaker Vannifar, Worldly Tutor - along with mana ramp and card draw, tutoring might be the single most important mechanic in the game, and all four of these cards make it happen for creatures. creatures, in this deck's case, do everything you need: voltron support, blink, removal, graveyard retrieval, you name it. memorize your creature's mana curves and run Birthing Pod and Vannifar accordingly. you'll find yourself tutoring for Thassa, Deep-Dwelling more often than not.

Imperial Recruiter is worth noting as a supplementary tutor who can chase down graveyard play via Eternal Witness, land hate via Acidic Slime, late-game power via Agent of Treachery, even Bazaar Trader for when you need to start stealing creatures fast. you can even get more tutor from Vannifar! it's got a surprising amount of milage in this decklist, and might even be worth recurring via Thassa, Deep-Dwelling and Conjurer's Closet.

Dominus of Fealty

Dominus of Fealty - along with Agent of Treachery and Helm of Possession, Dominus of Fealty supports Yasova's creature-theft aspirations. what sets this card into a class of it own: its red/blue, five mana devotion single-handedly turns Thassa and Xenagos, God of Revels into creatures.

Halana and Alena

Halana and Alena, Partners - voltronable unto themselves for how powerful they can make Yasova. throw an Octopus Umbra onto these two--the buff as well as the totem defense will be welcome--and watch the fireworks.

Helm of Possession

Helm of Possession - a fun card I'm incredibly fond of, which works great with blink engines. allows you to steal a creature with Yasova, sac it, steal another, blink that stolen creature, and untap Helm of Possession your next turn without losing that creature. basically a Strionic Resonator for Yasova for three less mana.

Hexproof Hate

Arcane Lighthouse, Detection Tower, Glaring Spotlight - Hexproof and Shroud represent serious obstacles to this deck's strategy, and these cards are good work-arounds.

Guardian Augmenter

Guardian Augmenter - hilariously buffs commanders you steal as well as Yasova and, more importantly, grants them hexproof, meaning your opponents will have a comically hard time spot-removing to get their commander back. it's worth running for that fact alone.

Kessig Wolf Run

man, Kessig Wolf Run - what a great mana sink!

Profaner of the Dead

Profaner of the Dead - used right, it's almost as good as Cyclonic Rift, and man is it more fun and flavorful. if I must run a board wipe, let it be a fun boardwipe.

Strionic Resonator

this card would be a mistake if the deck could only use it on Yasova: as Coward_Token noted in the comments, you have to pay a total of 8 mana to steal two creatures with Yasova, which is fine but not worth running a whole engine for.

the reason I'm running it here is that it works great with a plethora of cards. use it on Thassa to blink the creature you steal with Dominus of Fealty alongside the creature you steal with Yasova. double-proc Xenagos, God of Revels or Unnatural Growth to buff Yasova to an obscene power level. drop it on Halana and Alena to distribute two +1/+1 counters instead of four, or on Eternal Witness to get two cards out of your graveyard instead of one. the options it offers you are vast!

Tempt With Discovery

Tempt with Discovery - use it to fix your mana if you're screwed. otherwise, go get Arcane Lighthouse or Kessig Wolf Run on the board, High Market if you're short on ways to get rid of enemy creatures you control, or Reliquary Tower if you've got a Rishkar's Expertise you're itching to play.

so that's it! a fun, simple voltron deck with just enough spice to keep games exciting for your playgroup. suggestions welcome, give it a +1 if you like it.

Top Ranked	Achieved #42 position overall 2 years ago Achieved #33 position in Commander / EDH 2 years ago Achieved #3 position in Commander / EDH Voltron 2 years ago
Date added	2 years
Last updated	2 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	8 - 0 Mythic Rares 48 - 0 Rares 19 - 0 Uncommons 8 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.45
Tokens	Timeless Witness 4/4 B
Folders	Temur URG, 2022 EDH, Witty Bulger & The Witty Hill Gang