You Want Man-O-Wars? We Got Man-O-Wars!

Commander / EDH Budget GWU (Bant) Infinite Combo Tempo Theme/Gimmick

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Creature (40)

• 1x Acidic Slime
• 1x AEther Adept
• 1x Archaeomancer
• 1x Aven Surveyor
• 1x Cloudgoat Ranger
• 1x Deadeye Navigator
• 1x Deceiver Exarch
• 1x Dungeon Geists
• 1x Echo Tracer
• 1x Elvish Visionary
• 1x Flickerwisp
• 1x Frost Lynx
• 1x Galepowder Mage
• 1x Glimmerpoint Stag
• 1x Gulf Squid
• 1x Hoverguard Sweepers
• 1x Icefeather Aven
• 1x Jace's Mindseeker
• 1x Karmic Guide
• 1x Kor Hookmaster
• 1x Kozilek's Predator
• 1x Man-o'-War
• 1x Mist Raven
• 1x Mistblade Shinobi
• 1x Mistmeadow Witch
• 1x Mulldrifter
• 1x Myr Battlesphere
• 1x Mystic Snake
• 1x Owl Familiar
• 1x Pestermite
• 1x Plaxmanta
• 1x Reclamation Sage
• 1x Sage of Hours
• 1x Sandsteppe Mastodon
• 1x Silver Drake
• 1x Skyward Eye Prophets
• 1x Stonecloaker
• 1x Thragtusk
• 1x Tidebinder Mage
• 1x Venser, Shaper Savant

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Venser, the Sojourner

Land (39)

• 1x Azorius Chancery
• 1x Azorius Guildgate
• 1x Bant Panorama
• 1x Blossoming Sands
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 6x Forest
• 9x Island
• 1x Opal Palace
• 5x Plains
• 1x Rupture Spire
• 1x Seaside Citadel
• 1x Sejiri Refuge
• 1x Selesnya Guildgate
• 1x Selesnya Sanctuary
• 1x Simic Guildgate
• 1x Temple of Mystery
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Thornwood Falls
• 1x Tranquil Cove
• 1x Transguild Promenade

Enchantment (2)

• 1x Flickerform
• 1x Monastery Siege

Artifact (7)

• 1x Azorius Signet
• 1x Basalt Monolith
• 1x Conjurer's Closet
• 1x Darksteel Ingot
• 1x Selesnya Signet
• 1x Simic Signet
• 1x Sol Ring

Instant (7)

• 1x Blue Sun's Zenith
• 1x Brainstorm
• 1x Cloudshift
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Krosan Grip
• 1x Selesnya Charm
• 1x Vanish into Memory

Sorcery (3)

• 1x Borrowing 100,000 Arrows
• 1x Treasure Cruise
• 1x Wash Out

Commander (1)

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So the idea here started off gimmicky and simple: take every single card printed with a Man-O'-War effect or an extremely similar effect (I included tapping down creatures and they don't untap as well), and use blink effects to abuse them and ensure no other creatures are staying on the battlefield very long. As a primarily Limited player who loves the tempo beats, this idea appealed to me greatly. Also, the deck seemed very achievable on a budget, which was also very important to me.

Obviously, the deck has evolved somewhat from there, and while there are still some cards that you'd never see in an actual "good" build of this style of deck in order to fit the original theme/gimmick (Mistblade Shinobi, Frost Lynx, Echo Tracer, Aven Surveyor, and Icefeather Aven immediately spring to mind), the basic idea here still is to ensure other creatures stay off the board with playing and blinking bounce effects and then attacking with the bodies left behind....or using them to control the board in order to draw towards our secondary win condition: the 9-mana Sage of Hours/Sandsteppe Mastadon combo, which allows you to take infinite turns provided you have a flicker effect online. There's also a couple of pieces that allow us to protect the combo should someone desire to disrupt it, namely Plaxmanta, Venser, Gulf Squid, and Mystic Snake, all of which can be repeated with Cloudshift + Archaeomancer.

Of course, powerful card draw engines like Mulldrifter/Elvish Visionary + flicker effect allow us to draw to that point if we need to, plus lot of high-end token generation effects in cards like Myr Battlesphere, Cloudgoat Ranger, and Thragtusk that can get surprisingly out of hand. Rounding out the deck are just a lot more ways to flicker creatures, a lot more useful utility creatures that deal with threats, and a couple of just general utility cards, along with a few mana rocks to help us set up.

Obviously, I know that the deck isn't the ideal version (the entire thing is budget, has some pretty bad creatures for the sake of fulfilling the theme), but it's a lot of fun and can do some surprisingly powerful stuff if left to its own devices. It's been a blast to get into this format with it, and I hope you enjoyed taking a gander at it! (also let me know if I missed any creatures with Man-O'-War effects)

Date added	9 years
Last updated	9 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	3 - 0 Mythic Rares 18 - 0 Rares 27 - 0 Uncommons 29 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.61
Tokens	Beast 3/3 G, Eldrazi Spawn 0/1 C, Emblem Venser, the Sojourner, Kithkin Soldier 1/1 W, Knight 2/2 W w/ Vigilance, Morph 2/2 C, Myr 1/1 C