- Deflecting Depths -

Commander / EDH* Aikido Control Dark Depths Monarch Multiplayer RBW (Mardu)

ElPanchoGato

Land (34)

• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Blood Crypt
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Brightclimb Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Clifftop Retreat
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dragonskull Summit
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Fabled Passage
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x Isolated Chapel
• 1x Kor Haven
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Maze of Ith
• 2x Mountain
• 5x Plains
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Sacred Foundry
• 1x Savai Triome
• 1x Searstep Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep
• 1x Slayers' Stronghold
• 1x Spectator Seating
• 4x Swamp
• 1x Vault of Champions

Sorcery (7)

• 1x Blasphemous Act
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Mob Rule
• 1x Mythos of Snapdax
• 1x Ruinous Ultimatum
• 1x Scheming Symmetry
• 1x Sevinne's Reclamation

Instant (21)

• 1x Angel's Grace
• 1x Anguished Unmaking
• 1x Arcbond
• 1x Boros Charm
• 1x Chaos Warp
• 1x Comeuppance
• 1x Deflecting Palm
• 1x Deflecting Swat
• 1x Despark
• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Generous Gift
• 1x Inkshield
• 1x Kaya's Guile
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Rakdos Charm
• 1x Reverberate
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Teferi's Protection
• 1x Tibalt's Trickery
• 1x Vampiric Tutor
• 1x Wear / Tear

Artifact (14)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Boros Signet
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Mirage Mirror
• 1x Orzhov Signet
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Sunforger
• 1x Sword of Hearth and Home
• 1x Talisman of Conviction
• 1x Talisman of Hierarchy
• 1x Talisman of Indulgence
• 1x Thought Vessel
• 1x Wishclaw Talisman

Commander (1)

Creature (17)

• 1x Brash Taunter
• 1x Breena, the Demagogue
• 1x Dauthi Voidwalker
• 1x Dockside Extortionist
• 1x Dream Devourer
• 1x Esper Sentinel
• 1x Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
• 1x Imperial Recruiter
• 1x Kambal, Consul of Allocation
• 1x Kardur, Doomscourge
• 1x Mangara, the Diplomat
• 1x Master of Cruelties
• 1x Nighthawk Scavenger
• 1x Selfless Squire
• 1x Stoneforge Mystic
• 1x Sun Titan
• 1x Vampire Nighthawk

Enchantment (6)

• 1x Duelist's Heritage
• 1x Fighter Class
• 1x Ghostly Prison
• 1x Necropotence
• 1x Smothering Tithe
• 1x Underworld Breach

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Maybeboard

Creature (7)

• 1x Agitator Ant
• 1x Dauthi Voidwalker
• 1x Grand Abolisher
• 1x Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker
• 1x Orzhov Advokist
• 1x Weathered Wayfarer
• 1x Windborn Muse

Instant (4)

• 1x Arcbond
• 1x Fire Covenant
• 1x Sudden Spoiling
• 1x Valakut Awakening  ^Flip

Enchantment (1)

• 1x Repercussion

Land (3)

• 1x Dark Depths
• 1x Hanweir Battlements  ^Meld
• 1x Nomad Outpost

Artifact (1)

• 1x Rakdos Signet

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What Is Aikido?

This deck is an aikido deck which means that it aims to win through using our opponent’s own resources against them.

Deflecting Palm is an example of a card that really encapsulates the “Aikido” strategy. It simply redirects any damage from a source back to it’s controller.

This deck attempts to be the equivalent of that card.

To Consider

A fair warning: This deck is not meant for beginner players as it has a fairly steep learning curve, requiring you to know what deck archetypes your opponents are playing and how they plan to win. Besides the learning curve, the deck has odd lines of play that often don't seem the most logical to your average player. For example the correct play in a certain situation might not apply to this deck because we want our opponents to "go off" in a way so that we can turn their victory against them at the most opportune moment.

A final important thing to note before piloting a deck like this is that your opponents WILL grow wise to what you are doing. This strategy of deflecting damage back to our opponents and stealing/cloning their scariest creature for a game-ending swing works best in an environment where you'll encounter strangers who haven't seen the deck before. Playing this deck for a continued amount of time in a stable playgroup where everyone is well aware of each others strategies really hurts what the deck aims to accomplish.

Your opponents WILL grow wise to your tricks and WILL play around what you're doing.

(This goes for almost any deck in a stable playgroup but for this deck and it's strategy, it is detrimental.)

That being said...

Why Play This Deck?

Why would you even want to play a deck like this? Well, I'll tell you. Despite the high commitment to learning the ins and outs of this strategy and how to even win with it, this deck has hands down been the best choice I've made in my entire EDH "career". I've had so many close games with this deck where it seemed that my opponent(s) had the clear win and advantage but at the last second I subverted the game on its head and stole a win that seemed very improbable. This deck is in a very odd place with its strategy of wanting our opponents to "go off" by dropping to field a couple giant beaters or an army of 1/1 soldiers, only for you to play a timely Inkshield or Rakdos Charm

Primer in progress

Primer in progress

I’ve gotten a lot of help through the Marchesa discord in making and piloting this deck so I definitely recommend checking that resource out if you’d like to build a similar deck or just want advice.

• Currently Taking out the dark depths combo for a bit :(

Top Ranked	Achieved #48 position overall 2 years ago Achieved #46 position in Commander / EDH 2 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Dark Depths 2 years ago
Date added	3 years
Last updated	2 years
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	12 - 0 Mythic Rares 59 - 0 Rares 15 - 0 Uncommons 3 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.89
Tokens	Assassin 1/1 B w/ Haste, Elephant 3/3 G, Foretell, Inkling 2/1 WB, Spirit 1/1 WB, Monarch Emblem, Treasure