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Eldest Dragon

Commander / EDH* Multiplayer Theme/Gimmick UBR (Grixis) Vorthos

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Sorcery (19)

Planeswalker (6)

Instant (5)

Creature (16)

Artifact (13)

Commander (1)

Commander: Nicol Bolas, the Ravager  Flip

Land (36)

Enchantment (4)

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Sorcery (3)

Artifact (1)

Instant (2)

Enchantment (1)

The last of the Elder Dragons,* the Forever Serpent, scourge of the Gatewatch (and the Multiverse at large), and God-Pharaoh of Amonkhet, Nicol Bolas.

It was from his desert utopia/doomed zombie factory that I pulled the base of the deck, leaning heavily into the cycling mechanic. Nicol Bolas's greatest resource on Amonkhet is the dead, and this deck reflects that, turning the graveyard into a stockpile of spells to recast with Abandoned Sarcophagus, and creatures to bring back as 4/4s with God-Pharaoh's Gift or The Scarab God, who can also Eternalize any creature in any graveyard.

The game plan basically boils down to cycling as often as humanly possible, accruing the cycling-activated advantages (Archfiend of Ifnir, Curator of Mysteries, Vile Manifestation), casting everything you cycled from the graveyard with Abandoned Sarcophagus, and summoning the great and glorious God-Pharaoh to devastate any who dare stand in opposition of his great work.

He has returned, and none is worthy.

*Nobody cares, Ugin.

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The War Is Over — May 27, 2019
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So, the War of the Spark has come and gone.

Stealing the Planar Bridge from Kaladesh, culling generations of perfect soldiers from Amonkhet, acquiring the Immortal Sun from Ixalan, planting the Blackblade for Gideon, enslaving Liliana, infiltrating five of the ten guilds of Ravnica... all has led to this.

Prison Realm

Stripped of his powers, his spark, and even his name, the Elder Dragon is defeated and imprisoned.

But the expansion that lowers the curtain on the Nicol Bolas show at least gives us some cards to go out with a bang.

War of the Spark presented the temptation to rework the deck into a dedicated Dreadhorde machine, which would have come at the cost of its cycling power.

After looking at a version of the deck that Amassed instead of cycled, I opted to preserve the cycling theme, and just sprinkle in a few of the more impactful (and, as always, flavorful) cards from this, the final set of Nicol Bolas.

Deliver Unto Evil... Oh, yes. Aside from having simply the best art in the set (these are facts), it includes the words "If you control a Bolas planeswalker," of which, as of the next addition, there are now five in the deck.

Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God: Hello, hello, hello. ALL loyalty abilities. Of ALL Planeswalkers. God, indeed. Aside from that spectacular line of text, his other abilities are relatively underpowered compared to, say, God-Pharaoh, or the Arisen, but he is also the cheapest of the Dragon's planeswalker cards. And then of course, there is the ultimate that says, "Each opponent... loses the game." The dream of pulling that off justifies the inclusion of the The Elderspell all on its own.

Bolas's Citadel is one of the most exciting artifacts I've ever seen, a twisted black version of Future Sight that comes with a built-in kill (or at least hurt very badly) button. Paying life instead of mana in a format like Commander means you can functionally combine card advantage and cost-cheating, two of the most powerful things you can do in the game, until you run into a land on top of your deck.

Command the Dreadhorde is a card I have played in Arena, almost always to the immediate effect of my opponent conceding, and in Commander, with multiple graveyards to rob and a higher life total to work with, the card is simply on another level.

Emergence Zone sometimes means a surprise Nicol Bolas. I know I could and should just run Vedalken Orrery. I know this. But... thematically...

God-Pharaoh's Statue: Honestly... not that great. But come on. It's a great big statue of my commander. Of the main character of the narrative to which this deck is beholden. And a fairly annoying impediment to my opponents. "A dictator's infuriating smirk."

Liliana, Dreadhorde General: So far, Miss Vess has mostly been a way of killing two of everyone's creatures and drawing two cards, and... that's good enough for me. Sometimes, she is more than that. There are worse ways to spend six mana.

I have to imagine this is the last update to this deck. This remains my favorite and most-played Commander deck, but perhaps the time is coming to build something new. It looks like the story is moving away from my favorite megalomaniacal lizard, after so many years of every plot point leading back to him. So, time to move on, I suppose.

"My work here is complete." —Nicol Bolas

As of M19 — July 24, 2018
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Post-Ixalan — Feb. 6, 2018
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Date added 7 years
Last updated 1 year
Legality

This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)

11 - 0 Mythic Rares

33 - 2 Rares

19 - 5 Uncommons

10 - 0 Commons
Cards 100
Avg. CMC 4.57
Tokens Copy Clone, Drake 2/2 U, Insect 1/1 UR, Vizier of Many Faces 0/0 W, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders EDH, Edh, just looks cool, favorite, Fun with Dragons, EDH, Commander
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