Pacific Rim | Mayael the Anima

Commander / EDH Battlecruiser Casual Multiplayer RGW (Naya)

Hexapod Tiramisoute12

Lands (35)

• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Bountiful Promenade
• 1x Branchloft Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Castle Garenbrig
• 1x Clifftop Retreat
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Cragcrown Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Fire-Lit Thicket
• 3x Forest
• 1x Hall of Heliod's Generosity
• 1x Kessig Wolf Run
• 1x Krosan Verge
• 1x Mosswort Bridge
• 1x Mountain
• 1x Needleverge Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Plains
• 1x Plateau
• 1x Rootbound Crag
• 1x Rugged Prairie
• 1x Sacred Foundry
• 1x Savannah
• 1x Skarrg, the Rage Pits
• 1x Spectator Seating
• 1x Spire Garden
• 1x Stomping Ground
• 1x Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion
• 1x Sunpetal Grove
• 1x Taiga
• 1x Temple Garden
• 1x Windswept Heath
• 1x Wooded Bastion
• 1x Wooded Foothills
• 1x Yavimaya Hollow

Haste (5)

• 1x Fires of Yavimaya
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Rhythm of the Wild
• 1x Urabrask the Hidden
• 1x Xenagos, God of Revels

Big Bois (22)

• 1x Apex Altisaur
• 1x Avacyn, Angel of Hope
• 1x Balefire Dragon
• 1x Blazing Archon
• 1x Elder Gargaroth
• 1x Etali, Primal Storm
• 1x Ghalta, Primal Hunger
• 1x Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
• 1x Hydra Omnivore
• 1x Ilharg, the Raze-Boar
• 1x Impervious Greatwurm
• 1x Nyxbloom Ancient
• 1x Scourge of the Throne
• 1x Siege Behemoth
• 1x Sigarda, Host of Herons
• 1x Stonehoof Chieftain
• 1x Terastodon
• 1x Terror of the Peaks
• 1x Woodfall Primus
• 1x Worldspine Wurm
• 1x Xenagos, God of Revels
• 1x Zacama, Primal Calamity

Removal and Protection (9)

• 1x Austere Command
• 1x Bane of Progress
• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Flawless Maneuver
• 1x Teferi's Protection
• 1x Terastodon
• 1x Terminus
• 1x Woodfall Primus
• 1x Zacama, Primal Calamity

Attacks and Wincons (6)

• 1x Breath of Fury
• 1x Mayael's Aria
• 1x Overwhelming Stampede
• 1x Scourge of the Throne
• 1x Waves of Aggression
• 1x World at War

Commander (1)

Ramp (13)

• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Bloom Tender
• 1x Cultivate
• 1x Exploration
• 1x Faeburrow Elder
• 1x Farseek
• 1x Frontier Siege
• 1x Kodama's Reach
• 1x Mirari's Wake
• 1x Nature's Lore
• 1x Nyxbloom Ancient
• 1x The Great Henge
• 1x Three Visits

Cheat (7)

• 1x Defense of the Heart
• 1x Ilharg, the Raze-Boar
• 1x Lurking Predators
• 1x Quicksilver Amulet
• 1x See the Unwritten
• 1x Selvala's Stampede
• 1x Tooth and Nail

Draw (5)

• 1x Elder Gargaroth
• 1x Garruk's Uprising
• 1x Guardian Project
• 1x Return of the Wildspeaker
• 1x Rishkar's Expertise

Topdeck (5)

• 1x Cream of the Crop
• 1x Enlightened TutorGC
• 1x Oracle of Mul Daya
• 1x Scroll Rack
• 1x Sylvan Library

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When Tiramisoute12 invited me to build a commander deck together, I was curious to find out how his experience playing cEDH and my casual style would mesh. It was interesting to me that he chose Mayael, because it was one of my underperforming commanders at the time, having built it with theme only in mind and not having optimized it in a while. The main areas we negotiated over were the amount and type of ramp to use and the creature selection. We ended up with a list I feel is both respectful of a casual, multiplayer setting while being optimized to ensure a fun experience in most games, with a minimal need for mulligans. We started with the selection of 8 categories of effects that we wanted to have

Big Bois

Obviously the core of this strategy, creatures with power 5 or more go here. A selection was made from the highest power/toughness available in the Naya colors. We have other decks that include Eldrazi/Blighsteel and didn’t feel like using these here, as we are trying to be casual and somewhat thematic.

Creatures with key ETB or triggered effects are also coming into play here, as we fully intend to abuse Mayael’s ability as a response toolbox.

Cheat

Having added all these frighteningly high mana value cards to the deck, we didn’t want to be commander-dependant. In order to avoid a single point of failure in our game plan, it was decided to ensure redundancy.

Effect that put creatures on the battlefield from our library or our hand form the cornerstone of our board presence.

Ramp

Although we are going to cheat our high mana value creatures into play, these effects are still costly, and we want to get Mayael online early if possible. Ramp that brings lands to the table was prioritized, but we ultimately agreed to test a version including a few creatures that can generate several colored mana. So far this has proved functional, we are hoping they stick to the table in multiplayer.

Topdeck

Topdeck manipulation is going to be a must if we are to have some form of control over what arrives when. It will also help to avoid drawing blanks before triggering a cheat effect and even allow to prepare a specific response.

Draw

Once we have ramped into a cheat engine, we should ensure that we are not going to gas out as we spill our big bois on the battlefield. Effects that allow us to draw on ETB, or according to our highest power creature combine to save us from relying on the luck of the draw.

Haste

Many times I have built nice decks that successfully flooded the board with an impressive army, which would never survive a full turn to allow for me to use it. Haste is a must here, and would ideally either enable all our creature, or the best one that entered each turn.

Attacks and Wincons

Icing on the cake, because after all this is multiplayer and a lot of damage will have to be dealt before we are declared victorious. Additional attack phases allow for much more aggression, as well as generating multiple triggers to overwhelm our enemies.

In case of a stalemate, an alternate wincon can be a nice ace to have up our sleeve.

Removal and Protection

Finally, it would be naive to think that we are the only ones able to build an engine, and we know our opponents may even have bigger, better threats in mind. This is where we find the tools, both surgical and nuclear, to resolve these issues. A few shields are also provided to prepare for the inevitable retaliation. The miracle is a good match for our topdeck manipulation.

Top Ranked	Achieved #11 position overall 3 years ago Achieved #7 position in Commander / EDH 3 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Battlecruiser 3 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH RGW (Naya) 3 years ago
Date added	3 years
Last updated	11 months
Exclude colors	UB
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	18 - 0 Mythic Rares 61 - 0 Rares 10 - 0 Uncommons 3 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	5.03
Tokens	Beast 3/3 G, Elephant 3-3 G, Wurm 5/5 G w/ Trample
Folders	Saved, EDH, Casual EDH, The Command Tower