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ELYSIUM // Odyssey to the Blessed Isles

Commander / EDH Constellation Devotion Enchantment GWU (Bant) Midrange Theme/Gimmick Vorthos

Holmhollow

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LAND (36)

ENABLER (7)

TUTOR (3)

WRATH (3)

FINISHER (12)

PROTECTION (11)

DRAW (10)

DISRUPTION (5)

GRAVEYARD HATE (1)

Commander (1)

Commander: foil Kestia, the Cultivator

RAMP (12)

REMOVAL (11)

RECURSION (5)

Maybeboard

CREATURE (4)

INSTANT (1)

A flavourful Greek mythology deck for EDH

Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story
of that man skilled in all ways of contending,
the wanderer, harried for years on end,
sing of his trials at the hands of gods
and his battles with their monstrous children,
and of the aid and counsel from good fellowship
that led him to the Isles of the Blessed,
where he partook in EDH and straight dunked on his homies

I'm basically looking to draw all the cards, ramp out, cast bombs and win on the combat step with a giant indestructible flying unblockable trampling pumped to kingdom come army of myth. Fair Magic*. v1.9.

I always brew flavour first, function second. This deck's theme is mythology, mostly the Greek slice of classical antiquity. Many of the cards included embody an element of stories of old:

  • Consecrated Sphinx, the sphinx posing riddles, testing mortals, devouring them if they prove unworthy.

  • Sanctum Weaver, Knight of Autumn and Sythis, Harvest's Hand show the dryads and nymphs and their beautiful, if savage, intervention in the affairs of mortals.

  • Nezahal, Primal Tide is the sea monster that makes every sailor pray to all the gods that govern water, wind and voyage.

  • Sun Titan is one of the giants the gods warred with in the beginning, few of which were spared once they betrayed their kin and defected to the winning side.

  • Courser of Kruphix and Herald of the Pantheon are the centaurs. Wise, yet sharing a savage bond with the land, fierce protectors, worthy mentors.

  • Kiora's Follower is one of the merfolk that at times shun mortals, other times are excited by their presence, adding to the myths in their own ways, curving the path of many a hero.

  • The Voyaging Satyr is there to have a good time, and what better times are there than those spent on adventure? Then again, there is something to be said for the well-deserved rest of the hereafter.

  • Worthy heroes require worthy steeds, and none are better than the pegasi. Archon of Sun's Grace and Starnheim Courser depict these noble companions, on whose wings a swift victory arrives.

  • Mortals view the fates as cruel, and will try to avert doom and decide their own destinies. The Destiny Spinner is a powerful champion for free will, shaping and twisting the world around her to forge her own path. But in the end, the Fatestitcher decides when the thread of life is cut for all.

  • Once a mortal crosses over into the afterlife, they might find themselves in everlasting torture, or doomed to wander endless, featureless plains. But for the worthy, the Dryad of the Ilysian Grove can point the way to a beautiful landscape, where they may unburden their weary bones.

  • Seedborn Muse is the inspiration, the spark, the fire around which we feel the undeniable need to tell stories.

  • Aura of Silence is the spell that is cast upon the audience as the storyteller speaks, a rapt attention not to be broken. Also a gentle reminder for fellow players not to bring their telephonic artifacts to the table.

  • Capsize shows the twist in the story that leads to a foreign shore, where new adventures await.

  • Congregation at Dawn is the meeting between the mortal and the divine, the call for aid answered by the gods.

  • Austere Command is the opening of an urn full of untold horrors, all the evils and sorrows and ills that the gods so deceitfully entrusted to the giants. Cyclonic Rift is the wind trapped in the bag, which sweeps everything away once released. And with a Calming Verse the muse ends the tale, once everyone has had an Enchanted Evening.

  • Following the tragic fall of the homeland, the hero must walk the Path to Exile, in search of a new safe haven, or retreating for now to return on the Homeward Path later. More often than not, they will need to venture inward, to the heart that beats in their chest. They must first walk the Labyrinth of Skophos to find themselves, righting the wrongs of the past so they can finally turn their Swords to Plowshares.

  • Swan Song, Curse of the Swine and Song of the Dryads are metamorphoses, tales that speak to the imagination, the abstract given shape, the faces of change.

  • Bear Umbra is the love of a mother, the raw strength of nature, a curse turned to a song sung among the stars. The Starfield of Nyx is a rich tapestry, depicting many enchanting tales.

  • The Sterling Grove is holy ground, a place on this earth so pure that the gods themselves deem it worthy of protection.

  • Blind Obedience and True Conviction demonstrate the blessings bestowed when one faithfully serves the gods. Flickering Ward and Pemmin's Aura are but a few of their gifts, providing protection from the chthonic horrors of the world.

  • Replenish shows how all these ancient stories never truly lose their shine, and how they can still enchant us thousands of years after they were first nothing but a whisper.

The top-down design of the deck means that certain cards that would normally be insane in an enchantment build, like Sigil of the Empty Throne, are not in there. It's more of a Judeo-Christian win con, there aren't any good angel tokens that look like Hermes, etc. I also set the challenge for myself to brew without artifacts for once, in case you're wondering where Sol Ring went.

  • Lead with some enchantress cards like Satyr Enchanter or Enchantress's Presence to get your draw engine going. You want some ongoing card draw in your opening hand. Ideally, find a way to get Kestia, the Cultivator out a turn early, before opponents can present good blocks. Exploration, Kiora's Follower and Voyaging Satyr are great for this. You can also use the activated ability of Thassa, God of the Sea to make your enchantment creatures that are usually too small to smash face without dying unblockable, if you're really hurting for card draw. 2 mana for a card isn't the greatest rate, but in the absence of better options it's well worth it to spend some time early on building up a hand.

  • The gods won't become creatures until your devotion to their colours is high enough. This makes them hard to remove early in the game, but also means that they won't be blocking or attacking. Consider this when you draw them in your opening hand.

  • Playing at sorcery speed is fine and fair and all, but how about we build our own Prophet of Kruphix? Yeah, she's banned in the format, but Seedborn Muse and Leyline of Anticipation are not. These allow you to play on your opponents' turns as well, meaning you'll be spending anywhere between 2-5 times as much mana as they do, which increases your win chance by a lot.

  • Flickering Ward is your key enabler. It protects a creature but it also repeatedly draws you cards if you have an enchantress out.

  • The deck features a lot of protection spells. Constant Mists is a gift that keeps on giving, especially with Sun Titan to bring those lands back. Sterling Grove makes people look elsewhere with their targeted removal. Solitary Confinement stops most of the terrible stuff people will try to do to you. Teferi's Protection saves your board from wraths.

  • There's a lot of mana in the deck that's not necessarily printed on lands. Pemmin's Aura on Kiora's Follower, Voyaging Satyr or Fatestitcher, combined with Gift of Paradise, Lotus Field or Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, is infinite coloured mana. Or put the Aura on Sanctum Weaver and have infinite mana with only two cards. Store spare mana with Kruphix, God of Horizons, possibly do that every turn with Seedborn Muse. Use Courser of Kruphix to drop lands straight from the top of the library, essentially drawing you cards. Double fun with Exploration. Use Bear Umbra to exploit all that land twice.

  • Cards to watch out for: Enchanted Evening and Starfield of Nyx. These cards can be very powerful but are also wildly dangerous. Together, they kill all your land, for example. But Enchanted Evening makes Calming Verse a one-sided complete boardwipe, and Starfield of Nyx turns all your non-creature, non-aura enchantments into creatures to surprise swing with. It also alters the power and toughness of your existing enchantment creatures. Now Archetype of Imagination is a 6/6! It makes most Gods smaller though, so do be careful when you cast it. Know when to Capsize or Nature's Claim it. In response to a wrath, for example. Enchanted Evening does two more things: it turns all your creatures into Enchantment Creatures, so Kestia's card draw ability triggers for days. It also protects against those pesky enchantment wraths. Merciless Eviction looks a lot less good when it exiles everything. Bane of Progress killing itself in the process is also hilarious. And now Nature's Claim destroys whatever. Sacrifice Aura of Silence on the end step before your turn to kill something, bring it back to the top of the library with Hall of Heliod's Generosity, draw it for the turn, play it, blow it up again, attack with Sun Titan, bring it back again...

  • Sun Titan and Starfield of Nyx are recursion engines on their own. Replenish is sexy as hell if someone thinks they've just blown you out with a giant all-wipe. Hall of Heliod's Generosity will get your most valuable enchantments back in the game right quick. Holistic Wisdom gets you back any card from your graveyard, even instants and sorceries, so long as you have a card that shares a type with it in your hand that you're willing to get rid of. Getting back a removal spell or a counterspell at instant speed has proven clutch many times.

  • Homeward Path your Perplexing Chimera if you tire of having friends.

I wanted a deck that could do absurd stuff, but wouldn't feel too degenerate. You can keep the infinite stuff in hand if the table can't keep up with those shenanigans, and every card in the deck is a flavour-include first, function-include second, so whatever power is in the deck is hardly as bad as it could be. The few tutors in the deck are face-up and several Enchantress auto-includes are absent because they clash with the theme. The deck works fine as a 75%, play for fun with friends type of deck, but it can punch above its weight if need be. Cheers, and may the muses inspire the epic poems of your victories!

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96% Casual

Competitive

Top Ranked
Date added 6 years
Last updated 2 years
Legality

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

9 - 0 Mythic Rares

52 - 0 Rares

18 - 0 Uncommons

8 - 0 Commons
Cards 100
Avg. CMC 3.22
Tokens Bird 2/2 U, Boar 2/2 G, Enchantment Cleric 2/1 W, Pegasus 2/2 W
Folders good budget brews, A Very Cool EDH Folder, a, WANT, I want to build decks similar to these., EDH Decks to Build, EDH, Decks I Like, favorite, EDH
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