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A Better Anje Falkenrath - the cheaper knock off

Commander / EDH BR (Rakdos) Burn Competitive Infinite Combo Madness Reanimator

SirBluebeard


Sideboard


Maybeboard


This is Version 1 of this deck, I adjusted my list quite a bit, which you can find here: A Better Anje Falkenrath - the cheaper knock off V2 This deck is based on The 99's 'A Better Anje Falkenrath'-deck. I basicly took his list and modified it by removing his most expensive cards and the ones I didn't like to play and replacing them by ones I owned or bought for this deck. My Anje is significantly cheaper, but the trade off for it is that it's slower (the combo will usually go off between turn 3 and 6, depending on your draws) and it lacks the Kozilek-combo.

So how does this baby work? Anje Falkenrath allows you to rummage through your deck and thus lets you find certain key pieces for one of three different wincons. The rest of the deck is made to support one or all of them.

Part 1: Using Anje-chan

As you might've guessed, there are alot of madness-spells in this deck (28 to be precise). Most of them are only needed for Anje's untap effect, but some are very useful under certain conditions. The most useful ones being those that remove threats (like Big Game Hunter), defend our waifus (like Muck Drubb) and return cards from the grave (like Call to the Netherworld) to extend the digging.

It is important to remember that you can use Anje's ability at instant speed and thus cast the madness cards at instant speed too. You all know how scary an opponent with open mana during your turn can be, so be that guy at the table.

This deck also includes other discard effects, those are specificly meant to continue the rummaging in certain situations where Anje-chan is tapped or not on the board.

Part 2: Worldgorger-sama wincon

This main wincon is reliant on the Worldgorger Dragon-Combo, permitting you to reach infinite ETBs and infinite mana. (technicly you have to put a specific number down at which you stop the combo, since actual infinity isn't allowed in MtG)

What do you need to make the combo work? To set the combo off you need to have Worldgorger Dragon in your graveyard (easy to do with Anje, other discard effects or Entomb) and either Animate Dead, Dance of the Dead or Necromancy in your hand. Whichever one you're holding will have to target the dragon and the combo will begin. (see link for how it works)

How do you win with the Worldgorger-combo? Once the ball is rolling you can keep digging with Anje to eventually reach one of the instant-speed killing blows (If you do not have any of them in your hand yet) and cast them at the right moment:

  • Omen of the Forge has flash and will thus be able to enter while the combo is still going. This will be necissary for the win since it kills by constant ETBs generated from it.

  • Comet Storm relies on your neverending supply of mana to fill in the X with a number large enough to delete any healthpool and multikicking it to wipe out every player at once.

  • Avacyn's Judgment Works the same as the previous, but it needs the extra step of being cast with it's madness-cost to play it on instant speed, which is easy to do in this deck.

  • Bloodhall Priest is, just like the killer above, in need of some madness to be cast on instant speed. Unlike the sorcery, this lady works with the ETB effect of the combo and not really the mana. Of all the Worldgorger finishers, this one is the most risky since you can't have any cards in your hand to make it work. You can easily get rid of those cards by rummaging through your deck for instant-speed cards with Anje and casting all of them (or by finding and casting One with Nothing if you included that card in your list). This does mean that you have no defences against others trying to stop your combo, so beware of open mana when you try to pull this one off.

  • Sunscorched Desert is the last of these finishers and burns players with constant ETBs. This one requires you to place its painfully hot sand dunes on the battlefield before activating the combo, since there's no method of playing land in this deck on instant speed (thusfar). In other words: it takes more preparation to win with this card, but it's more difficult to deal with by others, since it's a land.

Part 3: Dualcaster-senpai's army

This wincon is also based on a two-card combo: Namely the combination of Dualcaster Mage and one of the creature-copy spells (Twinflame or Heat Shimmer). These allow you to create an infinitely large army of mages and let them get rid of your opponents the same turn as they're created.

Part 4: The Grim Buccaneer's assistance

This wincon is pretty simple: kill them with a thousand cuts by building a synergising boardstate. For this you will need damage dealers, like Syr Konrad, the Grim and Glint-Horn Buccaneer, and other suppportive spells. Incremental value is generated by making use of cards like Bone Miser and Undertaker, while spells like Shadow of the Grave and Kolaghan's Command give an immediate advantage.

This tactic of winning is only meant to be used as support for the other two or as a last resort to win in the long haul if the combo's failed.

Part 5: Introducing the rest of our nakama

To make our shinanigans work we need defensive spells, enable spells, search spells, threat removal and most importantly: mana! That's where everything else comes in:(not including the already mentioned combo pieces)

Not all cards here will be used regularly for its original intent. With most madness spells you're better off to just rummage them and keep your mana for the actual combo pieces. Should the time come that casting them gives you a bigger advantage than only rummaging, then you can easily see where it falls in terms of functionality.

Part 6: Character Flaws

The biggest weaknesses in this deck are the following:

  • Lack of enchantment removal: This is a problem especially against pillowfort decks and curse decks.

  • Heavy reliance on the commander to make anything work properly: Eventhough Anje is cheap and you usually are able to make the combo's work quite fast, well-built decks will be able to keep dealing with Anje and thus shut down your main source of rummaging.

  • Wincon 1 and 2 are both sensitive to removal of just 1 card each: Worldgorger Dragon and Dualcaster Mage are both creatures and thus for many decks easy to get rid of quickly. That's why you need to make sure you have protective cards in your hand before attempting to combo off.

  • Wins solely through dealing damage: If anyone is able to place an enchantment down or cast a spell that prevents you from killing them through damage (looking at you, white), then it'll take you alot longer to win, since you first have to deal with their board-pieces before going off.

Part 7: Adaptive Journeys

You might not like to run certain cards on my final list and I too have many others I consider usable. The ones that I think that might fit in here are those I placed in my sideboard and maybeboard.

As stated before, this is a more casual and cheaper version of the original combo-deck, so you might want to check that out for further inspiration or any of DragonLordJippy's other decks.

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Date added 4 years
Last updated 4 years
Legality

This deck is Commander / EDH legal.

Rarity (main - side)

6 - 0 Mythic Rares

40 - 9 Rares

20 - 7 Uncommons

27 - 9 Commons

Cards 100
Avg. CMC 2.92
Tokens Copy Clone, Energy Reserve, Zombie 2/2 B
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