Dirty Dan

Commander / EDH Casual Combo Cycling Madness RBW (Mardu) Sacrifice Spellslinger Storm Value Engine

phoenix2448

Creature (34)

• 1x Archfiend of Ifnir
• 1x Ardent Elementalist
• 1x Birgi, God of Storytelling  ^Flip
• 1x Bone Miser
• 1x Cabal Initiate
• 1x Desert Cerodon
• 1x Drannith Healer
• 1x Drannith Stinger
• 1x Flourishing Fox
• 1x Fuming Effigy
• 1x Ghitu Chronicler
• 1x Glint-Horn Buccaneer
• 1x Guardian of New Benalia
• 1x Horror of the Broken Lands
• 1x Imposing Vantasaur
• 1x Ingot Chewer
• 1x Leonin Lightscribe
• 1x Lurching Rotbeast
• 1x Monstrous Carabid
• 1x Quintorius, Field Historian
• 1x Returned Pastcaller
• 1x Revolutionist
• 1x Seasoned Hallowblade
• 1x Sedgemoor Witch
• 1x Shriekmaw
• 1x Skirge Familiar
• 1x Stonebound Mentor
• 1x Street Wraith
• 1x Syr Konrad, the Grim
• 1x Tormod, the Desecrator
• 1x Vampire Hounds
• 1x Viashino Sandsprinter
• 1x Winged Shepherd
• 1x Wispmare

Artifact (3)

• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Desecrated Tomb
• 1x Phyrexian Altar

Land (38)

• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Ash Barrens
• 1x Battlefield Forge
• 1x Blackcleave Cliffs
• 1x Blightstep Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Blood Crypt
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Brightclimb Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Caves of Koilos
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Concealed Courtyard
• 1x Fabled Passage
• 1x Fetid Heath
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x Graven Cairns
• 1x Haunted Ridge
• 1x Inspiring Vantage
• 1x Luxury Suite
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 3x Mountain
• 1x Needleverge Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Plains
• 1x Prismatic Vista
• 1x Rugged Prairie
• 1x Sacred Foundry
• 1x Savai Triome
• 1x Shattered Sanctum
• 1x Silent Clearing
• 1x Spectator Seating
• 1x Sulfurous Springs
• 1x Sunbaked Canyon
• 1x Sundown Pass
• 3x Swamp
• 1x Vault of Champions

Commander (1)

 ^Flip

Sorcery (13)

• 1x Bitter Ordeal
• 1x Cathartic Reunion
• 1x Change of Fortune
• 1x Empty the Warrens
• 1x Faithless Looting
• 1x Grapeshot
• 1x Ground Rift
• 1x Infernal Plunge
• 1x Spreading Insurrection
• 1x Tendrils of Agony
• 1x Thrilling Discovery
• 1x Tormenting Voice
• 1x Wild Guess

Instant (9)

• 1x Astral Steel
• 1x Battle Hymn
• 1x Cabal Ritual
• 1x Culling the Weak
• 1x Dark Ritual
• 1x Plumb the Forbidden
• 1x Seething Song
• 1x Show of Confidence
• 1x Thrill of Possibility

Enchantment (2)

• 1x Thran Vigil
• 1x Zombie Infestation

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Sideboard

Sorcery (16)

• 1x Bonus Round
• 1x Demonic Collusion
• 1x Doublecast
• 1x Finale of Promise
• 1x Galvanic Relay
• 1x Howl of the Horde
• 1x Ignite Memories
• 1x Illuminate History
• 1x Into the Night
• 1x Magmatic Insight
• 1x Mizzix's Mastery
• 1x Pirate's Pillage
• 1x Reconstruct History
• 1x Rite of Flame
• 1x Seize the Spoils
• 1x Shreds of Sanity

Instant (12)

• 1x Big Score
• 1x Desperate Ritual
• 1x Dual Strike
• 1x Fork
• 1x Increasing Vengeance
• 1x Pyretic Ritual
• 1x Reiterate
• 1x Repeated Reverberation
• 1x Reverberate
• 1x Storm King's Thunder
• 1x Twinferno
• 1x Unexpected Windfall

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Professor Onyx

Enchantment (1)

• 1x Experimental Frenzy

Creature (8)

• 1x Dualcaster Mage
• 1x Living Lightning
• 1x Simian Spirit Guide
• 1x Skyshroud Vampire
• 1x Storm-Kiln Artist
• 1x Thermopod
• 1x Viscera Seer
• 1x Woe Strider

Artifact (5)

• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Fluctuator
• 1x Isochron Scepter
• 1x Phyrexian Altar
• 1x Twinning Staff

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This is easily one of the craziest decks I’ve ever built. I always knew Extus’ ability was insane, but I struggled figuring out how to break it. Putting creatures in the graveyard is obviously good but he actually doesn’t play that well with other good creature discard synergies like madness and other exile>play effects. Then it hit me that cycling with him is incredible. My immediate thought was a storm deck using Experimental Frenzy where the cycling cards keep the top of the deck clear. But as I added cards, I quickly realized the deck had little room for additional strategies, so I had to cut some, for example, the creatures that get +2/+2 for a discard activation (or spell cast) + fling. I’ve opted for cheaper more resilient discard outlets instead to go all in on going wide. Initially I only considered Young Pyromancer magecraft token making, but when I stumbled upon Desecrated Tomb I realized I had something much more potent and unique at my disposal, not to mention more numerous. Not only that, going wide ends up being its own payoff with the backside of Extus! If we play it right, we’ll have a fat board when Extus dies, and we can use that board over and over to summon blood avatars. My goal was to make a deck that used both sides of Extus well, and while I set out with only the front in mind, I think the end result suits both very well and in very unique ways. From there I cut down on copy effects and a few discard draw and rituals because I had to get to 100 somehow. Unsure if the rituals will pan out but I’ve always loved them as a card type and they’re so hard to use well I really want to try to here.

To recap, the basic gameplan is to fill the graveyard with creatures quickly using cycling and discard draw spells. Once Extus is out these draw spells become much more efficent, and we can hopefully churn through the deck with the help of our rituals to find our important pieces. Once the stage is set with a discard outlet, Extus, and a token maker, all we need is a good storm turn to make lots and lots of creatures. This on its own is a good threat (especially alongside Lightscribe) but if Extus dies as a result, we can use the tokens to fuel many Awaken the Blood Avatars, ripping up our opponents boards and dealing a lot of direct damage.

I never ever expected the storm deck I finally make thats still fun to play with friends to be mardu but lol here we are.

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After some playtesting and minor changes, I can say the deck definitely works. There are some draws that do less than others, but thats to be expected of any casual commander deck. I think overall it needs a higher density of instant and sorcery spells, but its hard to balance with the creature requirements. Its the only storm deck I’ve come up with so far that would actually be playable at my battlecruiser table, which is awesome. However in testing I realized I actually really enjoy the interaction of red Archaeomancer type creatures alongside Extus. If I had known mardu had so many of these starting out I may have gone that way from the beginning. So I think I will pivot to a less combo more value centered list, cutting discard outlets and adding sac ones to reuse Ardent Elementalist and the like. With that change in mind I will likely also cut the storm and ritual spells, but I will keep the leave the graveyard, discard draw, and probably the cycling too since those are still great value and play very nicely. I will however keep this list up and make it public lest anyone else find it of interest :) including a sideboard of cards I considered but didn’t use, either because they were too strong for my group or simply because they didn’t make the cut. Enjoy!

Date added	1 year
Last updated	1 year
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	2 - 3 Mythic Rares 43 - 18 Rares 15 - 12 Uncommons 32 - 10 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.23
Tokens	Avatar 3/6 BR, Bat 1/1 B, Day, Foretell, Goat 0/1 W, Goblin 1/1 R, Night, Pest 1/1 BG, Spirit 3/2 RW, Treasure, Zombie 2/2 B