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The Manhattan Project

Commander / EDH BG (Golgari) Dredge Reanimator Theme/Gimmick Tokens

Mortarpod

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Playtest v1
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Creature (35)

Land (34)

Enchantment (10)

Artifact (4)

Commander (1)

Commander: foil Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord

Sorcery (12)

Instant (4)

Statement of Purpose:

It's a little known fact that the "J" in J. Robert Oppenheimer stands for Jarad. And much like the ACTUAL Manhattan Project, the goal of this deck is to go nuclear and put an end to the game in one fell swoop.

Jokes aside, this is actually a rebuild of one of my very first EDH decks. The original build was cobbled together using cards from the Golgari vs Izzet duel decks, as well as a lot of commons and uncommons from the latest set at the time (Return to Ravnica). Despite the sheer amount of jank involved, one game in particular cemented Jarad (and Golgari in general) as my definitive "thing" when it came to Magic.

In said game, I managed to deal over 17k non-combat damage to each of my opponents. By using crazy amounts of tokens and buffs dependent on the number of creatures on my side of the board, the fissile material had been prepared and Jarad launched his nuke.

Interestingly enough, I don't see too many decks that focus on this part of Jarad's kit. I mean sure, most decks include Lord of Extinction, but that feels like more of a contingency than anything. Instead of an afterthought, I wanted to bring Jarad and his 3-mana player-killer to the forefront for anyone looking to build something strong on a budget.

At this time, I don't plan on turning this into a full-on primer; but that may change if the deck gains enough attention as I begin cycling it.

The Rules of Engagement:

This weapons-grade EDH deck belongs to Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord and no one else. And he'll be damned if some other second-rate legendary is credited with the victory once the dust settles.

Despite having tutors galore, this deck's main strength is its resilience. Included in the 99 are answers for any obstacle, and changing strategy on the fly is encouraged and often necessary. Plus, combos tend to sap the fun from what's meant to be a casual format.

I've gone out of my way to acquire printings that fit the overall vibe of the deck. While primal greens and ichor blacks are central to Golgari as a whole, I opted to include vibrant purples, glowing oranges, and even a splash of bloody crimson here and there. In keeping with the nuclear theme of Jarad's finisher, I even bought a yellow deck box and sleeves that are reminiscent of a uranium poundcake.

Mission Briefing:

Classified Intel:

Darkblast + Fecundity + Pitiless Plunderer : Darkblast a token, generate gold via Pitiless Plunderer, replace Fecundity card draw with Darkblast dredge trigger, repeat. This will fill your graveyard quickly, but should only be done if you have ways to recur the cards you need.

Note: This combo has been removed due to overwhelming temptation to tutor for its pieces every game.

Pawn of Ulamog + Pitiless Plunderer + Reassembling Skeleton : A cheeky little infinite combo; you can use any of your instant-speed sac engines to sacrifice your Reassembling Skeleton, triggering Pitiless Plunderer and Pawn of Ulamog to generate a Treasure token and an Eldrazi Spawn. Use the resulting mana to bring Reassembling Skeleton back and do it all over again. This synergizes great with anything that has a dies trigger OR an ETB trigger. Things to consider adding might be Doubling Season, Parallel Lives, or Black Market.

Essence Warden + Korozda Guildmage + Wall of Blood : Pay 39 life to Wall of Blood, Sacrifice it to Korozda Guildmage to create 41 Saprolings, then gain all that life back thanks to Essence Warden. With the right opening hand, this can be played on-curve and net you nearly 4 dozen creatures on turn 4.

Note: In playtests, I found myself holding on to Loaming Shaman all game and never needing to cast it. I've swapped it out for a flexible mana dork.

Doomed Necromancer + Loaming Shaman : Opponent playing graveyard hate? Get Loaming Shaman into your graveyard and keep 1 mana open for Doomed Necromancer to pretend they aren't!

Death's Presence + Feed the Pack + Junkyo Bell : Buff an unimportant creature with Junkyo Bell at beginning of turn, then sac the creature to Feed the Pack at end of turn for lots of tokens. Then use Death's Presence to add the sacrificed creature's total power to the creature you plan on sacrificing NEXT turn. A few cycles of this and you'll likely need a calculator.

Mortal Combat + Mosswort Bridge : This boils down to pure luck, honestly. But in the extremely rare instance you pull it off, nothing will be more satisfying than having a full graveyard and playing Mortal Combat at instant speed before the turn is passed to you.

Note: Since discovering this little synergy, I've opted not to actually run it. In my playtests, whenever I really get the self-mill train going, I always end up stumbling into Gaea's Blessing and undoing the advantage I just generated. Still a cool little hat trick though.

Entomb + Gaea's Blessing : An even CHEAPER answer to graveyard hate, since you don't even need a specific creature on the battlefield for it to work. Entomb doesn't specify a card type for you to search for, so as long as it's still in your deck, Gaea's Blessing is on the menu. Alternatively, if you have a sizable budget and your playgroup doesn't hate on Eldrazi, you can tutor for Kozilek, Butcher of Truth or Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre for the same effect.

Note: This combo has been removed as well, because forcing your friends to top-deck every game can lead to not having friends. Though, if your playgroup is more competitive, this is probably fine to include.

Nath of the Gilt-Leaf + Sadistic Hypnotist : Pesky opponents trying to play Magic in a game of Magic? Stop them with this rage-inducing synergy, while filling your board at the same time! Sacrifice a creature to Sadistic Hypnotist to force them to discard, triggering Nath of the Gilt-Leaf twice. Sacrifice one of your newly-birthed elves and repeat the process until nobody has cards in hand.

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92% Casual

Competitive

Revision 37 See all

(4 years ago)

+1 Massacre Wurm main
-1 Priest of Forgotten Gods main
Top Ranked
Date added 6 years
Last updated 3 years
Exclude colors WUR
Key combos
Legality

This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)

5 - 0 Mythic Rares

45 - 0 Rares

23 - 0 Uncommons

3 - 0 Commons
Cards 100
Avg. CMC 3.56
Tokens City's Blessing, Eldrazi Spawn 0/1 C, Human 2/2 G, Minion X/X B, Saproling 1/1 G, Treasure, Wolf 2/2 G
Folders Commander, Decks that impressed me, Tokens Deck, cool decks, Commander Decks, Saved Decks, No Budget, No Mercy, EDH Brain Food, EDH ideas, ideas
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