Beware the Hive - Sliver EDH (Commander / EDH MTG Deck)

Beware the Hive - Sliver EDH

Commander / EDH Combo Goodstuff Sliver Toolbox

CrimsonWings3689

Creature (37)

Land (36)

Instant (2)

Commander (1)

Enchantment (12)

Artifact (6)

Sorcery (5)

Planeswalker (1)

1x Teferi, Time Raveler

Maybeboard

Creature (16)

Artifact (3)

Land (13)

Sorcery (6)

Instant (9)

Enchantment (6)

Planeswalker (2)

This deck is the very definition of "Living the Dream". Toolbox commander, access to all 5 colors, explosive potential and synergy that is unmatched by any other creature type in magic.

DJ, queue the music

Combos

Most combos need a combination of:

1x Sliver Overlord

1x Manaweft Sliver / Gemhide Sliver / Cryptolith Rite

1x Heart Sliver / Cloudshredder Sliver / Rhythm of the Wild

1x Intruder Alarm / Seedborn Muse / Quest for Renewal / Mana Echoes / Urza's Incubator

2-3x Additional Slivers to go off/build up exponentially.

The rest of the deck is meant to accelerate to a critical mass before swinging in with a big enough board to kill all other players via combat damage, burn, or by taking all of their creatures.

The Priority of searching for slivers with Overlord typically goes in this order, depending on what is already in hand/on the battlefield:

Manaweft/Gemhide (Mana) and/or Heart/Cloudshredder (Haste)
Root (Uncounterability) and/or Crystalline/Diffusion/Hivelord(Protection)
Quick (Flash)
Whatever else will give the most bang for the buck given the above spread and whatever enabling piece from the non-sliver cards lets the deck explode. Typically it turns into playing and searching for slivers on my opponent's turns and it getting back to mine where I have an insurmountable advantage.

Current Considerations

Modern Horizons has introduced a number of potentially viable slivers to the hive. Which ones make the cut for a combo focused, toolbox of a deck is the question in need of answering.

The First Sliver will officially replace Maelstrom Nexus upon release, for the following reasons:

It's a tutorable source of Cascade that can help my slivers fall into more slivers or the combo pieces the deck needs to go off.
It's a strict upgrade versus Nexus, which was admittedly more of a pet card than anything, and an excuse to use the 5 color card.
The First Sliver exists as its equal in mana cost, benefits from the keywords of other slivers and the body, the tutorability from Overlord, and grants a Cascade for every sliver I play (which is most often more than 1 per turn) and isn't limited to the first spell of every turn.

Those 3 reasons amount to a slam dunk include, unquestionably powerful, and 100% necessary for the deck.

Lavabelly Sliver will replace Mirror Entity upon release, for the following reasons:

It's an even cmc swap.
Lavabelly offers combo potential with a Sliver Queen line, and helps with incidental lifegain. Sliver decks are public enemy #1 the greater majority of the time because of how fast they can get going if uninterrupted. Padding my life total and slinging damage turns them into baby Lightning Helix's. (Bonus for having Essence Sliver and Syphon Sliver out at the same time, then I gain 3 life per sliver ETB instead.
Mirror Entity was primarily there as a means to try to overpump to swing lethal with my board and combat the -X/-X or mass burn tactics to get around Shroud/Indestructible. Problem is that it's a do nothing card without the mana to sink into it and I don't always have that. If I'm in a position to pump for a large enough number to matter, odds are I have other lines of play/could flood the board/tutor for the sliver I need in that moment with Overlord, etc. It's not a bad card by any means, but deckspace is tight and something has to give.

Cloudshredder Sliver is a super efficient way to get 2 relevant keywords, but the restrictive mana cost makes me question whether it's a better option when Blur Sliver is easier to cast. Between Heart Sliver, Blur Sliver and Rhythm of the Wild, I have enough sources for haste - 2 of which are tutorable with Overlord.

Unsettled Mariner is an interesting potential add. It's effectively a sidegrade to Diffusion Sliver; it trades 1 of the 2 mana tax to target my slivers to give the effect to me and the rest of my permanents. Not sure if this one will ultimately make the cut, as Cloud Cover serves a similar purpose and gets my permanents around targeted removal by bringing them to hand.

Spiteful Sliver is interesting in that it effectively makes each of my slivers into Spitemare, and for 3cmc no less. My concerns are that it's more of a stalemate card than it is a proactive one. This deck can swing for lethal, but it's main goal is to pull off the various combos as are listed in the Combo section. Spiteful Sliver can make it less worthwhile to swing at me with a board of creatures, or even to block as they'll get punished for it. A strong option for sure, but the cut for it is going to be difficult.

Suggestions

Updates Add

Commander Masters - Update — Aug. 13, 2023

Edit

Hatchery Sliver to replace Brood Sliver

---- Much cheaper, and can allow excess mana to snowball even further. For similar reasons to Psionic Sliver's replacement, it's never a tutor target. It's a valuable card, but if I'm at the point of wanting to swing out, I'm probably winning. Unless it's drawn post-boardwipe, and it gets to connect for a turn or two, it's not ideal. Hatchery Sliver should give more value over just about any point in the game.

Taunting Sliver to replace Psionic Sliver

---- Cheaper, and can exist on it's own to provide consistent value. Psionic can be solid, but requires more set up or Sliver Hivelord to prevent the slivers from killing themselves to deal the damage. If I can get that many pieces out, I'm probably able to win in a number of ways. Psionic hasn't been a great pull at 5cmc, nor something that I'll be eager to tutor out. Taunting can potentially be the difference of blanking an attack or two that would otherwise be lethal. Slivers get a ton of hate and this can help mitigate that.

[Kaldheim] - Update — Dec. 16, 2020

Edit

[Commander Legends] - Update — Nov. 1, 2020

Edit

[Commander Legends] - Update — Nov. 1, 2020

Edit

[IKO] - Update — April 8, 2020

Edit

Banned List Update - 7/8/19 — July 8, 2019

Edit

Modern Horizons Update — May 22, 2019

Edit

Image View Timeline

Card Odds v1 Draw hand

Add to folder Copy

Download / Export / Embed Code

Comments View Archive

Attention! Complete Comment Tutorial! This annoying message will go away once you do!

Comment:

Become a supporter of TappedOut and hide ads for only $3/month!

Important! Formatting tips — Comment Tutorial — markdown syntax

Please login to comment

99% Casual

Competitive

Revision 40 See all

(4 months ago)

Roaming Throne

maybe

Date added	11 years
Last updated	4 months
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	8 - 0 Mythic Rares 54 - 0 Rares 18 - 0 Uncommons 12 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.09
Tokens	Copy Clone, Sliver 1/1 C
Folders	Commander/EDH [Evergreen], Slivers edh, Me Gusta, Commander
Votes
Ignored suggestions
Shared with
Views

Magic the Gathering, FNM is TM and copyright Wizards of the Coast, Inc, a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. All rights reserved. This site is unaffiliated. Articles and comments are user-submitted and do not represent official endorsements of this site.