Captain Sisay, Monsterfriend

Commander / EDH* Combo Competitive GW (Selesnya)

DarknutNoir

Land (30)

• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Bountiful Promenade
• 1x Branchloft Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Brushland
• 1x Cavern of Souls
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Flagstones of Trokair
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 3x Forest
• 1x Gaea's Cradle
• 1x Geier Reach Sanitarium
• 1x Gemstone Caverns
• 1x Hall of the Bandit Lord
• 1x Horizon Canopy
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Misty Rainforest
• 1x Pendelhaven
• 2x Plains
• 1x Savannah
• 1x Strip Mine
• 1x Temple Garden
• 1x Verdant Catacombs
• 1x Windswept Heath
• 1x Wooded Bastion
• 1x Wooded Foothills

Combo (5)

• 1x Walking Ballista
• 1x Heliod, Sun-Crowned
• 1x Village Bell-Ringer
• 1x Emiel the Blessed
• 1x Living Plane

Protection (4)

• 1x Allosaurus Shepherd
• 1x Silence
• 1x Sylvan Safekeeper
• 1x Veil of Summer

Dork (18)

• 1x Dryad Arbor
• 1x Avacyn's Pilgrim
• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Boreal Druid
• 1x Elvish Mystic
• 1x Fyndhorn Elves
• 1x Joraga Treespeaker
• 1x Llanowar Elves
• 1x Bloom Tender
• 1x Ilysian Caryatid
• 1x Incubation Druid
• 1x Leafkin Druid
• 1x Priest of Titania
• 1x Voyaging Satyr
• 1x Whisperer of the Wilds
• 1x Rishkar, Peema Renegade
• 1x Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
• 1x Seton, Krosan Protector

Tutor (9)

• 1x Crop Rotation
• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Green Sun's Zenith
• 1x Worldly Tutor
• 1x Eladamri's Call
• 1x Finale of Devastation
• 1x Ranger-Captain of Eos
• 1x Recruiter of the Guard
• 1x Vivien, Monsters' Advocate

Stax (5)

• 1x Drannith Magistrate
• 1x Archon of Emeria
• 1x Aven Mindcensor
• 1x Yasharn, Implacable Earth
• 1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite

Haste (3)

• 1x Concordant Crossroads
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Thousand-Year Elixir

Commander (1)

Ramp (9)

• 1x Chrome Mox
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Mox Amber
• 1x Mox Diamond
• 1x Carpet of Flowers
• 1x Quirion Ranger
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Utopia Sprawl
• 1x Arcane Signet

Other (6)

• 1x Null Rod
• 1x Winter Orb
• 1x Manglehorn
• 1x Tangle Wire
• 1x Trinisphere
• 1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence

Removal (6)

• 1x Caustic Caterpillar
• 1x Nature's Claim
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Mangara of Corondor
• 1x Oblation

Draw (2)

• 1x Sylvan Library
• 1x Oakhame Adversary

Recursion (2)

• 1x Noxious Revival
• 1x Eternal Witness

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Maybeboard

Dork (9)

• 1x Arbor Elf
• 1x Earthcraft
• 1x Magus of the Library
• 1x Llanowar Tribe
• 1x Marwyn, the Nurturer
• 1x Selvala, Explorer Returned
• 1x Somberwald Sage
• 1x Nylea, Keen-Eyed
• 1x Renata, Called to the Hunt

Combo (8)

• 1x Oketra's Monument
• 1x Rhonas's Monument
• 1x Skyship Weatherlight
• 1x Temur Sabertooth
• 1x Nature's Revolt
• 1x Kogla, the Titan Ape
• 1x Mycosynth Lattice
• 1x The Great Henge

Haste (1)

• 1x Surrak, the Hunt Caller

Recursion (1)

• 1x Loyal Retainers

Ramp (9)

• 1x Mox Opal
• 1x Mana Vault
• 1x Mobilize
• 1x Vitalize
• 1x Call to Glory
• 1x Rally of Wings
• 1x To Arms!
• 1x Azusa, Lost but Seeking
• 1x Garruk Wildspeaker

Land (5)

• 1x Eiganjo Castle
• 1x Inventors' Fair
• 1x Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers
• 1x Wasteland
• 1x Yavimaya Hollow

Protection (3)

• 1x Hope of Ghirapur
• 1x Destiny Spinner
• 1x Grand Abolisher

Stax (9)

• 1x Root Maze
• 1x Collector Ouphe
• 1x Kataki, War's Wage
• 1x Rest in Peace
• 1x Stony Silence
• 1x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
• 1x Aura of Silence
• 1x Hokori, Dust Drinker
• 1x Karn, the Great Creator

Tutor (4)

• 1x Survival of the Fittest
• 1x Chord of Calling
• 1x Eldritch Evolution
• 1x Natural Order

Removal (3)

• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Fiend Hunter
• 1x Urza's Ruinous Blast

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Introduction

Captain Sisay has been in a rough spot since the ill-advised ban of Paradox Engine (for which I am not salty at all). However, with the release of new toys like Kogla, the Titan Ape and, more recently, Emiel the Blessed, she finally has a somewhat clean, clear combo-line she can tutor for.

The advantage of running Sisay over other commanders is in her consistency. Whereas other decks need a higher density of tutors to consistently get access to their wincons (usually at least two, unless there's a 2-card-combo including their commander), Sisay can fetch all the combo-pieces herself, allowing her to run a higher density of mana-dorks to ramp up more aggressively. In the days of Paradox Engine, you could play Sisay and threatan a win the turn after, even with no dorks or rocks on board, provided you had a 0-mana spell in hand, or the next turn if you did not. This deck can't threaten a win off of the first Sisay tutor without having a combo-piece in hand already, but it can threaten a win the turn after if you have two bodies on the field, making it about a turn slower than old-Sisay, and a little more telegraphed, but arguably finally viable again in a competitive setting.

The general gameplan is to ramp as hard as possible, using primarily creatures, into a turn 1-3 Sisay and threaten a win 1-3 turns after that, while retaining the utility of Sisay to tutor out silver bullets as need be.

Wincons

Untapping with Sisay, Vivien, Vivien's beast, and dorks that tap for at least 4 mana, you can:

1. Use Sisay to search for Emiel the Blessed

2. Activate Vivien, Monsters' Advocate for -2

3. Cast Emiel; use the Vivien trigger to search for Village Bell-Ringer

4. Untap Sisay and all 4 mana in dorks with the Bell-Ringer trigger; float 4 mana, and tutor with Sisay if you wish.

5. Pay 3 to flicker Bell-Ringer with Emiel, untapping Sisay and all 4 mana in dorks. In this way, we can generate infinite mana and tutor any number of legends from our deck.

6a. Search for Selvala, Heart of the Wilds and Heliod, Sun-Crowned to draw your deck off of the Selvala trigger from repeatedly bouncing Heliod.

6b. Use the shuffles from Sisay to manipulate the top of the deck until Walking Ballista is revealed with Vivien and cast it for NI.

6c. Search for The Great Henge and play it. Now, each time you cast Bell-Ringer, you will draw a card (until you intentionally destroy Henge to prevent you from decking yourself), allowing you to draw your deck, cast any number of cards, etc, and win off of a hard lock or a NI/NI Walking Ballista. This is not currently included, pending testing to see if we need more redundancy.

Untapping with Sisay, Vivien, Vivien's beast, and dorks that tap for at least 3 mana, you can:

1. Use Sisay to search for Emiel the Blessed

2. Activate Vivien, Monsters' Advocate for -2

3. Cast Emiel; use the Vivien trigger to search for Village Bell-Ringer

4. Untap Sisay and all 3 mana in dorks with the Bell-Ringer trigger; float 3 mana, and tutor with Sisay for Gaea's Cradle.

5. Play Cradle and tap it for at least 5, bringing us up to 8 mana

6. Pay 3 to flicker Bell-Ringer with Emiel, untapping Sisay and all 3 mana in dorks, putting us at 8 mana, and tutor with Sisay for Rishkar, Peema Renegade.

7. Play Rishkar (down to 5 mana), and put counters on Sisay and Emiel.

8. Pay 3 to flicker Bell-Ringer and untap our creatures. Using mana from Sisay, the three in dorks, and the beast, generate infinite mana with Emiel and proceed to win the game.

Untapping with Sisay, Vivien, Vivien's beast, and dorks that tap for at least 2 mana, you can:

1. Use Sisay to search for Emiel the Blessed

2. Activate Vivien, Monsters' Advocate for -2

3. Cast Emiel; use the Vivien trigger to search for Village Bell-Ringer

4. Untap Sisay and all 2 mana in dorks with the Bell-Ringer trigger; float 2 mana, and tutor with Sisay for Gaea's Cradle.

5. Tap Cradle for at least 5, bringing us up to 7 mana.

6. Pay 3 to flicker Bell-Ringer with Emiel, untapping Sisay and all 2 mana in dorks, bringing us up to 6, and tutor with Sisay for Rishkar, Peema Renegade.

7. Play Rishkar (down to 3 mana), and put counters on Sisay and Emiel.

8. Pay 3 to flicker Bell-Ringer and untap our creatures. Using mana from Sisay, the two dorks, and the beast, generate infinite mana with Emiel and proceed to win the game.

Untapping with Sisay, Vivien, Vivien's beast, any generic creature, and a dork that tap for at least 1 mana, you can:

1. Use Sisay to search for Emiel the Blessed

2. Activate Vivien, Monsters' Advocate for -2

3. Cast Emiel; use the Vivien trigger to search for Village Bell-Ringer

4. Untap Sisay and all 1 mana in dorks with the Bell-Ringer trigger; float the 1 mana, and tutor with Sisay for Gaea's Cradle.

5. Tap Cradle for at least 5, bringing us to 6 mana

6. Pay 3 (down to 3) to flicker Bell-Ringer; untap everything, float 1 mana from the dork again (up to 4), and tutor with Sisay for Rishkar, Peema Renegade.

7. Play Rishkar for 3 (down to 1), put counters on the bear and Sisay, and tap Vivien's beast and the bear for mana (up to 3).

8. Pay 3 to flicker Bell-Ringer and untap our creatures. Using mana from Sisay, the dork, the beast, and the bear, generate infinite mana with Emiel and proceed to win the game.

Untapping with Sisay, Vivien, Vivien's beast, and any two generic creatures, you can:

1. Use Sisay to search for Emiel the Blessed

2. Activate Vivien, Monsters' Advocate for -2

3. Cast Emiel; use the Vivien trigger to search for Village Bell-Ringer

4. Untap Sisay, float the 1 mana from your last land (that you needed to have to cast Vivien in the first place), and tutor with Sisay for Gaea's Cradle.

5. Tap Cradle for 6, bringing us to 7 mana

6. Pay 3 (down to 4) to flicker Bell-Ringer; untap everything, and tutor with Sisay for Rishkar, Peema Renegade.

7. Play Rishkar for 3 (down to 1), put counters on the two bears, and tap Vivien's beast and the bears for mana (up to 4). Use Sisay to tutor for Seton, Krosan Protector.

8. Play Seton (down to 1), and tap Rishkar and Seton for mana using Seton's ability (bringing us back up to 3).

9. Pay 3 to flicker Bell-Ringer and untap our creatures. Using mana from Seton, Rishkar, the beast, and the two bears, generate infinite mana with Emiel and proceed to win the game.

Alternate Wincon 0.5: Mangara / Rishkar

1. This is more of a branch from the primary wincon in the event that we're kept off of Ballista and our multiple ways to draw cards off ETB triggers. With infinite untap triggers from Emiel the Blessed and Village Bell-Ringer, resolve Mangara of Corondor with haste, or pass turn.

2a. Stack the untap triggers from Bell-Ringer on top of the exile triggers from Mangara so that you target all your opponents' permanents; then, with the last Emiel trigger, target Mangara. Let the stack resolve, exiling all enemy permanents and leaving Mangara intact. Win at your leisure.

2b. Likewise, you can get NI/NI creatures with Rishkar's ETB triggers, then swing for lethal at your leisure.

Alternate Wincon 1: Heliod/Ballista

1. Use any of the creature tutors in the deck to work Ballista to our hand

2. Activate Vivien, Monsters' Advocate for -2

3. Cast Walking Ballista for CMC = 4; use the Vivien trigger to search for Heliod, Sun-Crowned

4. Activate Heliod targeting Ballista, and ping the board to death

Alternate Wincon 2: Living Plane

1. Draw into or use Enlightened Tutor to find Living Plane and cast it

2. Use Sisay to tutor for and resolve Linvala, Keeper of Silence or Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite; soft-lock opponents out of the game.

Why Living Plane?

Normally, a win-con and an alt-win-con are sufficient for most decks, so why bother running Living Plane + Linvala, Keeper of Silence / Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite combo? Simply put, Linvala and Elesh Norn are both great stax pieces on their own, and to their credit, are tutorable by Sisay. Additionally, as Village Bell-Ringer only untaps creatures, Living Plane turning our lands into creatures makes it much more relevant than it was in the days of Paradox Engine on its own, too. As none of the cards are dead, and drawing Living Plane allows us to be one tutor away from threatening a win, all while advancing our boardstate towards our primary wincon, it seemed like a natural addition to the deck.

Moxfield Link: https://www.moxfield.com/decks/LqI8Ejl_-0ylG3t_8yXu1A

Top Ranked	Achieved #33 position overall 4 years ago Achieved #20 position in Commander / EDH 4 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Competitive 4 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH GW (Selesnya) 4 years ago
Date added	4 years
Last updated	4 years
Exclude colors	UBR
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	16 - 0 Mythic Rares 47 - 0 Rares 17 - 0 Uncommons 15 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.04
Tokens	Beast 3/3 G
Folders	Cool decks, EDH