Commander Collection: Wicked Twister

Commander / EDH GU (Simic)

Jurrane

Creature (30)

• 1x Champion of Lambholt
• 1x Craterhoof Behemoth
• 1x Crowned Ceratok
• 1x Danny Pink
• 1x Deepglow Skate
• 1x Defiler of Vigor
• 1x Evolution Sage
• 1x Forgotten Ancient
• 1x Giggling Skitterspike
• 1x Gnarlid Colony
• 1x Gyre Sage
• 1x Herald of Secret Streams
• 1x Kalonian Hydra
• 1x Kami of Whispered Hopes
• 1x Managorger Hydra
• 1x Master Biomancer
• 1x Merfolk Skydiver
• 1x Mossborn Hydra
• 1x Pathbreaker Ibex
• 1x Pollywog Prodigy
• 1x Ravenous Slime
• 1x Renata, Called to the Hunt
• 1x Scavenging Ooze
• 1x Scute Mob
• 1x Tanazir Quandrix
• 1x Thrummingbird
• 1x Verdurous Gearhulk
• 1x Vigor
• 1x Vorel of the Hull Clade
• 1x Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider

Land (35)

• 1x Alchemist's Refuge
• 1x Barkchannel Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Bonders' Enclave
• 1x Boseiju, Who Endures P
• 1x Botanical Sanctum
• 1x Breeding Pool
• 1x Drannith Ruins
• 12x Forest
• 6x Island
• 1x Karn's Bastion
• 1x Novijen, Heart of Progress
• 1x Otawara, Soaring City
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Vineglimmer Snarl
• 1x War Room
• 1x Waterlogged Grove
• 1x Yavimaya Coast
• 1x Yavimaya Hollow P

Sorcery (8)

• 1x Bramblecrush
• 1x Curse of the Swine
• 1x Farseek
• 1x Nature's Lore
• 1x Overwhelming Stampede
• 1x Rampant Growth
• 1x Ravenform
• 1x Three Visits

Artifact (6)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Ozolith, the Shattered Spire
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Sword of Truth and Justice
• 1x The Great Henge
• 1x Thought Vessel

Commander (1)

Instant (13)

• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Flare of Denial
• 1x Heroic Intervention
• 1x Inspiring Call
• 1x Invert the Skies
• 1x Invigorating Surge
• 1x Mana Drain
• 1x Pongify
• 1x Rapid Hybridization
• 1x Repulsive Mutation
• 1x Worldly Tutor

Enchantment (7)

• 1x Branching Evolution
• 1x Bred for the Hunt
• 1x Court of Garenbrig
• 1x Doubling Season
• 1x Hardened Scales
• 1x Simic Ascendancy
• 1x Tribute to the World Tree

---

{U}{G} Introduction: Count(er) Your Blessings {U}{G}

Show

Welcome to my primer for "Wicked Twister", a Simic EDH deck that exploits synergies with +1/+1 counters. Its goal is to put as many counters on its creatures as possible, increasing their power and toughness to very high levels, and then rolling over its opponents in combat. It's one of my more straightforward lists to play and makes for a good deck to give to new or inexperienced players, as it has a low complexity level but quite a high ceiling of power.

The two main game mechanics this build exploits is the evolve and proliferate abilities. Each of these abilities allow to put +1/+1 counters on our creatures and then increase the number of counters on them in an efficient way. Akthough our main win condition is through combat, we also run Simic Ascendancy as a fun alternate win-con. Acculumating 20+ counters on it is pretty easy with the tools we have.

Our Commander(s)

Show

+1/+1 counters are one of the most common themes to use in Simic colours so we're spoilt for choice with relevant commanders. Until recently, Prime Speaker Zegana was the Commander for this deck but I've recently replaced her with Momir Vig, Simic Visionary, for his ability both to draw cards and to tutor for whatever creatures we need to find at the right time. The other huge advantage of his tutor ability - which is very easy to trigger thanks to the multitude of green creatures in the deck - is it's able to instantly find Giggling Skitterspike, our secret second Commander.

I've written a bit about Giggling Skitterspike in my primer for this deck, as it fulfills a similar role in that build too. As well as looking utterly terrifying, Giggling Skitterspike strikes fear into the hearts of opponents when it accumulates lots of +1/+1 counters, as it deals damage equal to its power to each opponent whenever it attacks, blocks or is targetted by a spell. It's pretty easy to boost its power to very dangerous (if not sometimes lethal) levels using all the sources of +1/+1 counters in this deck and it even has Monstrosity {5} to help things along. It's also indestructable, which makes it quite hard to remove. Under most circumstances, Giggling Skitterspike is the very first creature we want to tutor for with Momir Vig, Simic Visionary's ability, so we can start putting counters on it as quickly as we can.

Win Conditions

Show

We'll usually win the game in one of three ways. We'll either run over opponents in combat, supported by our powerful finisher cards; or we'll power up Giggling Skitterspike with so many counters that just a few attack triggers will take out the other players; or we'll put 20 or more counters on Simic Ascendancy and win the game on the spot on our next upkeep. Each of these win conditions is simple and achievable with the cards we have in the deck.

If we're going down the combat route, the finisher cards we want to see are any of the following:

• Champion of Lambholt: Boost its power enough with +1/+1 counters and it becomes a great way of forcing our creatures through for damage. Don't forget that ability applied to itself too.
• Craterhoof Behemoth: The classic green stompy finisher. It's not uncommon for us to have some very high power creatures, so boosting them all for +X/+X and giving them trample often means someone's going to die.
• Crowned Ceratok: Not particularly big or flashy but we like anything that gives our whole team trample.
• Gnarlid Colony: Pretty much the same as Crowned Ceratok. If we can give pay the kicker cost and give it some counters then all the better but otherwise it's a cheap trample enabler.
• Herald of Secret Streams: Play this deck right and all our creatures will have +1/+1 counters on them. This great Merfolk will make them unblockable. One of our favourite finishers.
• Invert the Skies: A slightly obscure card but a great way of giving our whole team flying and/or blanking our opponents' fliers.
• Overwhelming Stampede: Basically Craterhoof Behemoth without the body. Shame it's only at sorcery speed but we can't have everything.
• Pathbreaker Ibex: Another card that does a decent impression of Craterhoof Behemoth but it has to attack to power up our creatures. Still very good for this list.

Meet My +1

Show

As well as synergising well with our finishers, cards that grant +1/+1 counters (or increase the number of +1/+1 counters we have) are the engine room of the deck. There are too many to list individually but these are some of our favourites.

Creatures
Our creatures are the backbone of this deck. Nearly every creature we run has some sort of interaction with +1/+1 counters. Highlights include:

• Danny Pink: I'm not a fan of the Dr Who IP but this card is too good not to include. Puts +1/+1 counters on other creatures and draws cards when we do so. Probably a new staple for this deck.
• Deepglow Skate: A higher mana value than I'd like at {4}{U} but doubling the number of counters on any number of permanents is very strong. Often a good setup card to use before our finishers.
• Defiler of Vigor: We like it as a cost reducer and its ability to put counters on all our creatures when we cast green permanent spells is also very good.
• Evolution Sage: One of the proliferate cards we run and this will reliably trigger as it relies on land drops. I might add the green and blue fetchlands at some point to power it up.
• Forgotten Ancient: I've had the best results from this amazing creature when we ramp it out early. When we do so, it's not uncommon for it to get 20+ counters in a few turn cycles. Then we can move the counters onto Giggling Skitterspike or another nasty creature, or just leave them on the Ancient as beater. Either way it's amazing.
• Gyre Sage: One of the most effective mana producers we have. Will often tap for large amounts of {G} and opponents often leave it alone because they're prioritising bigger threats.
• Kalonian Hydra: Attacking regularly with it is one of the ways we'll boost the number of +1/+1 counters on our creatures to ridiculous levels. Another card that's best friends with Giggling Skitterspike.
• Kami of Whispered Hopes: Another top tier mana producer. Same principle as Gyre Sage but also increases the number of +1/+1 counters we put on our permanents. Sort of like Hardened Scales on steroids.
• Managorger Hydra: Similar to Forgotten Ancient but with benefits and drawbacks. The main downside is we can't move its counters to other creatures but that's offset by a cheaper casting cost and having trample. Ramp it out early and watch it grow.
• Master Biomancer: Having this guy in play basically means all subsequent creatures we cast will enter with a minimum of two +1/+1 counters on them (it will often be many more). Another nice card to play early if you can.
• Merfolk Skydiver: A cheap little flyer that puts a +1/+1 counter on something and is a handy mana sink with its proliferate ability. Not particularly flashy but useful.
• Mossborn Hydra: Another good reason to run all the relevant fetchlands. Even though we're not a landfall deck, this makes the cut because it has trample.
• Pollywog Prodigy: Its evolve ability means it will often get counters. It will also draw us plenty of cards. Still quite expensive to buy but well worth it.
• Ravenous Slime: Its ability to gain a lot of counters is often dependent on lots of creatures dying but it has a couple of useful ancilliary abilities. Exiling any enemy creatures that die can be a nuisance for graveyard-based decks and it also can't be chump blocked by creatures with power 2 or less.
• Renata, Called to the Hunt: If I was splitting hairs, I'd say I'd want this card to do a bit more for {2}{G}{G} but I'm still running it for now. That's mainly because she puts a minumum of one +1/+1 counter on any of our creatures that subsequently ETB. Her base power can be pretty high if we have plenty of other green permnanents in play.
• Scavenging Ooze: Our other main weapon against graveyard decks. Targetted removal against cards in graveyards can often hose reanimator strategies. Always try and leave mana open for its ability if you can.
• Scute Mob: Has a ridiculously high ceiling for +1/+1 counters for the tiny investment of just {G}. How I wish it had trample but that's probably asking too much. Best case scenario is that it's a XXX/XXX late in the game when paired with one of our finishers.
• Tanazir Quandrix: Yet another good friend for Giggling Skitterspike because of her counter doubling ETB. Plus she's a useful way of powering up our team when she attacks.
• Thrummingbird: A staple for any blue counters-matter decks. We don't run many fliers but this one's pretty impactful if it connects in combat.
• Verdurous Gearhulk: Just about still makes the grade here although it's one of the cards I'd cut if something more efficient comes along. Its best uses are to either (1) put all its counters on Giggling Skitterspike if it's in play; or (2) spread the counters across multiple creatures if we have Doubling Season or similar on the board.
• Vigor: An absolute lightning rod for removal as it's such a bomb card. Very expensive to cast at {3}{G}{G}{G} but definitely worth it for its explosive potential. Capable of generating an absurd amount of +1/+1 counters and effectively makes our stuff impervious to damage.
• Vorel of the Hull Clade: Fairly low on the curve for this deck and a good way of doubling the amount of counters on our stuff. Too bad he has to stick around for a turn cycle before we can use him but worth it nonetheless.
• Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider: The daddy. Another bomb card and well worth both the high casting cost and expensive $$ spend. Will win us games if he sticks around.

Enchantments
We are spoilt for choice with powerful enchantments for this deck. Doubling Season and Branching Evolution are our gold standard as they double the number of +1/+1 counters that are put on creatures (or other permanents). Court of Garenbrig is insane if we can remain the monarch as it doubles the number of +1/+1 counters on creatures in our upkeep. Otherwise it's still handy for putting +1/+1 counters on creatures. Hardened Scales needs no introduction for decks of this type. Bred for the Hunt and Tribute to the World Tree are excellent sources of card draw, and the latter can also be a source of +1/+1 counter generation for smaller creatures. Finally Simic Ascendancy needs no introduction as an alternate win con but it also has the capacity to add +1/+1 counters on creatures as well.

Artifacts
Ozolith, the Shattered Spire is a must for this deck as it adds an additional +1/+1 counter each time we put counters on an artifact or creature (although it doesn't trigger Simic Ascendancy directly, unfortunately). Although it costs a mighty {7}{G}{G} to cast, The Great Henge will rarely be played for its full mana cost and is both a source of +1/+1 counters and card draw. Finally, Sword of Truth and Justice grants +1/+1 counters and proliferates if its equipped creature deals combat damage to a player (plus the protection from white it gives is excellent for blanking some of the most popular creature removal spells in the EDH format).

Instants
Most of our instants are either removal cards, counterspells or others protective measures but a few are worth noting for their interaction with +1/+1 counters. Inspiring Call is both an anti-boardwipe spell and a great way of drawing cards, Invigorating Surge is a very good card for quickly increasing the number of +1/+1 counters on a creature (especially Giggling Skitterspike as it both adds counters and triggers its damage ability), and Repulsive Mutation is an excellent counterspell that also puts +1/+1 counters on a creature if we have enough mana to pay for {X}. I'm also thinking about adding Mutationak Advantage and/or Ripples of Potential too.

Lands
We have several utility lands that help accumulate +1/+1 counters, in addition to being mana sources. Drannith Ruins and Novijen, Heart of Progress can add counters to creatures that entered the battlefield that turn, and Karn's Bastion is a regular source of proliferation if we have {4} available.

Other Supporting Cards

Show

Although the vast majority of our cards are included for their synergies with +1/+1 counters, we run a few others to augment our strategy. Those cards fall into a handfull of different categories which I've listed below.

Ramp
The average CMC of this deck is a bit over 3, which is slightly higher than I'd like. This means we need access to plenty of ramp sources to play our higher mana value cards. I prioritise 2-mana ramp cards for my decks whenever I can so we have Farseek, Nature's Lore, Rampant Growth and Three Visits as one-shot spells, plus Arcane Signet, Thought Vessel and Sol Ring as artifacts. Alongside those, we have various other ramp cards mentioned in the previous sections.

Removal
Simic isn't the best colour combination for removal so we're a bit restricted. Curse of the Swine, Pongify, Rapid Hybridization and Ravenform take care of creatures, with the latter also doubling as artifact removal if needed. Beast Within and Bramblecrush can deal with pretty much anything. But otherwise we're a little light on targetted destruction and Cyclonic Rift is our only boardwipe so we need to use them carefully.

Counterspells
We're a blue deck so it seems silly not to pack a few counterspells, even though holding mana back is slightly contrary to our aggressive strategy. We have Counterspell, Flare of Denial, Mana Drain and Repulsive Mutation as our counterspells, with Fierce Guardianship arriving soon. I recommend saving counterspells for instances where we need to either (1) protect our finishers or win conditions; (2) stop our opponents winning the game; or (3) deal with something we can't answer with the removal options we have. In each case, they're basically a last resort.

Protection
We're 100% reliant on permanents to win the game so we need to have ways of protecting them. In addition to our counterspells, we have Heroic Intervention and Inspiring Call, though I might add to these.

Strengths

Show

Very few decks can match us in combat, especially in the late game. If we can survive until then, with a decent board of creatures and ways of regularly generating +1/+1 counters, we're probably in a very good position. We can rapidly acculumate counters and punch through with our finisher cards, many of which can be tutored with Momir Vig, Simic Visionary. If the game develops to a stage when we're going to toe-to-toe with our opponents in combat, then we have a great chance of winning.

In addition, +1/+1 counters are a highly efficient way of scaling our creatures's power and we can often do so with relatively minimal investment. This makes us a powerful and scalable deck, with a couple of silver bullet cards in Giggling Skitterspike and Simic Ascendancy, each of which can potentially win games on the spot. Our opponents ignore these at their peril and need to have ways of dealing with them, otherwise they become lethal threats.

We're also adaptable in that we can either go wide by spreading +1/+1 counters across lots of creatures in order to win through sheer numbers, or we can focus them all on one creature to punch through with a single source (Rogue's Passage is good for this). We can pivot to the circumstances of each game in what is otherwise quite a linear deck.

Weaknesses

Show

Unfortunately this deck isn't without its weaknesses. Although it has quite a high ceiling, its base power level can be quite low (see the following section). Our average mana value is quite high which means we can be slow to get going, especially if we don't draw into any early ramp or are stuck with a hand full of high mana value creatures. That means we can fall behind early and because we run less interaction that some other decks, it can be tricky to catch up.

Because we go all-on on a +1/+1 counters strategy, certain cards like Solemnity can shut us down entirely. The same goes for anything that stops us searching our library, which is the main advantage of using Momir Vig, Simic Visionary as our Commander. Thankfully, in my experience, those sorts of hate still seem relatively rare but it's worth knowing that we can be stopped completely with certain cards and therefore just become an average green stompy deck. Bounce spells are definitely a nuisance for us as they remove all the +1/+1 counters we accumulate and often have to start again.

Finally, a couple of ways this deck has recently lost games can also be instructive. We can put in a lot of hard work powering up our creatures with +1/+1 counters only for crafty opponents to steal those creatures and beat us with them (be very careful with Giggling Skitterspike for this reason). I keep meaning to add Homeward Path for this reason as otherwise we have to hope counterspells will proactively deal with theft cards. We're also weak to graveyard decks with only one or two dedicated grave hate cards in this list.

Power Level

Show

I categorise decks in my collection according to four tiers of power, from 1 (most powerful) to 4 (least powerful):

Tier 1: Higher powered decks with fast mana, free spells, and infinite combos or instant wins that are searchable with tutors.
Tier 2: Well tuned decks which may have infinite combos or instant wins that are searchable with tutors, but not many fast mana sources and/or free spells.
Tier 3: Reasonably well tuned casual decks that are capable of powerful plays. May occasionally have infinite combos or instant wins but don't generally use tutors to find them.
Tier 4: Lower powered or linear decks, weak enough to play against other casual decks.

Compared to the other decks in my collection, this is definitely one of my weaker lists. Although it can be pretty strong if it survives to the late game with a decent board intact, our strategy is quite linear and is highly vulnerable to boardwipes or other disruption. Neither does it run any infinite combos, or do anything particularly unfair or degenerate, other than trying to power up its creatures to potentially huge levels. Therefore I generally only play it at casual tables as competitive decks will easily overwhelm it. That said, it's definitely a step up from precons so I'd place its power level at Tier 3 using the scale above.

Budget

Show

I've had this list for over five years and it's had quite a lot of resource put into it. The inclusion of several expensive cards - Craterhoof Behemoth, Cyclonic Rift, Mana Drain, Pathbreaker Ibex, Sword of Truth and Justice, The Great Henge, Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider - has pushed its overall value on Card Kingdom to over $700, which is obviously very expensive for a casual deck. However there's no need to spend anywhere near that much on a Simic +1/+1 counters deck if you don't want to, as it's a viable and fun strategy to play as a budget option. With the exception of Craterhoof Behemoth, most of the powerful finisher cards are pretty cheap, and then it's all about filling it out with the most efficient sources of +1/+1 counter generation that you have available.

You'll also notice I've included a small number of proxies of expensive cards that I have in decks elsewhere (eg. Yavimaya Hollow, Boseiju, Who Endures), to save me swapping them between different lists all the time. That's always an option if you're keen to keep the cost down.

Upcoming Changes

Show

I'm coming to the end of the changes I've been making to this deck, so it's in close to its final form. There are a few additions I've listed below that I somehow need to find room for but, other than those, it now seems quite tightly built. In an ideal world, I'd like to reduce its average mana value but I'm not sure how to do that and I might just settle for it as one of my slightly clunkier lists.

Thanks for reading my primer and I hope you've found it useful :)

Add: War Room // The Ozolith // Flux Channeler

---

All My EDH Decks

{W} Giada, Font of Hope {W}
S(i)erra Sidewinder: Mono-White Angel Tribal

{U} Talrand, Sky Summoner {U}
Blue Streak: Mono-Blue Spellslinger

{U} Orvar, the All-Form {U}
Clone Zone: Mono-Blue Shapeshifters Combo

{B} Sidisi, Undead Vizier {B}
Swamp Thing: Mono-Black Goodstuff

{B} Syr Konrad, the Grim {B}
Black Hole: Mono-Black Sacrifice/Aristocrats

{R} Torbran, Thane of Red Fell {R}
Red Force: Mono-Red Group Slug

{R} Rionya, Fire Dancer {R}
Firebird: Mono-Red Storm/Tokens

{G} Titania, Protector of Argoth {G}
Timber Terror: Mono-Green Stax

{W}{U} Grand Arbiter Augustin IV {W}{U}
Control Freak: Azorius Control

{W}{U} Elminster {W}{U}
Crystal Wing: Azorius Skies & Scry

{U}{B} Oona, Queen of the Fae {U}{B}
Dreamcatcher: Dimir Faeries Tribal

{U}{B} Narfi, Betrayer King {U}{B}
Ice Breaker: Dimir Snow/Zombies

{B}{R} Rakdos, Lord of Riots {B}{R}
Steamin’ Demon: Rakdos Life Loss

{B}{R} Juri, Master of the Revue {B}{R}
Pandemonium: Rakdos Sacrifice

{R}{G} Hallar, the Firefletcher {R}{G}
Trailblazer: Gruul Kicker

{R}{G} Wort, the Raidmother {R}{G}
Barnstormer: Gruul Conspire

{W}{G} Sigarda, Font of Blessings {W}{G}
Stampida: Selesnya Humans Tribal

{W}{G} Captain Sisay {W}{G}
Legendia: Selesnya Legendary

{W}{G} Sythis, Harvest's Hand {W}{G}
Diamondback: Selesnya Enchantress

{W}{B} Daxos the Returned {W}{B}
Curse of Novgorod: Orzhov Constellation

{W}{B} Kambal, Consul of Allocation {W}{B}
Oblivion: Orzhov Lifegain & Lifedrain

{U}{R} Firkraag, Cunning Instigator {U}{R}
Dragon’s Fury: Izzet Dragons/Goad

{B}{G} Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons {B}{G}
Scorpion Express: Golgari Deathtouch

{B}{G} Nath of the Gilt-Leaf {B}{G}
Outlaw Run: Golgari Elves/Discard

{W}{R} Bruenor Battlehammer {W}{R}
Steel Force: Boros Equipment

{W}{R} General Ferrous Rokiric {W}{R}
Gatekeeper: Boros Multicoloured

{U}{G} Momir Vig, Simic Visionary {U}{G}
Wicked Twister: Simic +1/+1 Counters

{U}{G} Ezuri, Stalker of Spheres {U}{G}
Toxic Garden: Simic Infect

{W}{U}{B} Tivit, Seller of Secrets {W}{U}{B}
Steel Vengeance: Esper Artifacts

{W}{U}{B} Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign {W}{U}{B}
Riddler’s Revenge: Esper Topdeck

{U}{B}{R} Marchesa, the Black Rose {U}{B}{R}
Revenge of the Mummy: Grixis Dethrone/Combo

{B}{R}{G} Vaevictis Asmadi, the Dire {B}{R}{G}
Dragon Wagon: Jund Dragons Tribal

{W}{R}{G} Pantlaza, Sun-Favored {W}{R}{G}
Raptor Attack: Naya Dinosaurs Tribal

{W}{U}{G} Galadriel, Light of Valinor {W}{U}{G}
Vapour Trail: Bant Flicker

{W}{B}{G} Karador, Ghost Chieftain {W}{B}{G}
Hair Raiser: Abzan Reanimator

{W}{U}{R} Kykar, Wind's Fury {W}{U}{R}
Storm Runner: Jeskai Tokens

{W}{U}{R} Hinata, Dawn-Crowned {W}{U}{R}
Phantom’s Revenge: Jeskai Spirits Tribal

{U}{B}{G} Yarok, the Desecrated {U}{B}{G}
Boomerang: Sultai ETB Triggers

{W}{B}{R} Kaalia of the Vast {W}{B}{R}
Abyssus: Mardu Angels & Demons

{U}{R}{G} Omnath, Locus of the Roil {U}{R}{G}
Boulder Dash: Temur Landfall

Date added	5 years
Last updated	4 days
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	11 - 0 Mythic Rares 43 - 0 Rares 20 - 0 Uncommons 8 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.20
Tokens	Ape 3/3 G, Beast 3/3 G, Bird 1/1 U, Boar 2/2 G, Foretell, Frog Lizard 3/3 G, The Monarch