Ephara Approaches Again

Commander / EDH Control WU (Azorius)

chirz2792

Creature (39)

• 1x AEtherling
• 1x Archangel of Tithes
• 1x Aven Mindcensor
• 1x Baird, Steward of Argive
• 1x Charming Prince
• 1x Consecrated Sphinx
• 1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
• 1x Faerie Artisans
• 1x Glen Elendra Archmage
• 1x Gold Myr
• 1x Grand Abolisher
• 1x Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
• 1x Heliod, Sun-Crowned
• 1x Imposing Sovereign
• 1x Lavinia of the Tenth
• 1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence
• 1x Masako the Humorless
• 1x Mentor of the Meek
• 1x Militia Bugler
• 1x Nezahal, Primal Tide
• 1x Psychosis Crawler
• 1x Recruiter of the Guard
• 1x Saltskitter
• 1x Seht's Tiger
• 1x Silver Myr
• 1x Skycat Sovereign
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Soulherder
• 1x Spirit of the Labyrinth
• 1x Stonecloaker
• 1x Sun Titan
• 1x Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
• 1x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
• 1x Thalia, Heretic Cathar
• 1x Unsettled Mariner
• 1x Venser, Shaper Savant
• 1x Walking Ballista
• 1x Wall of Omens
• 1x Windborn Muse

Land (36)

• 1x Adarkar Wastes
• 1x Buried Ruin
• 1x Castle Ardenvale
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 1x Ghost Quarter
• 1x Glacial Fortress
• 1x Hallowed Fountain
• 7x Island
• 1x Mystic Gate
• 1x Nimbus Maze
• 10x Plains
• 1x Port Town
• 1x Prairie Stream
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Scavenger Grounds
• 1x Sea of Clouds
• 1x Temple of Enlightenment
• 1x Tundra
• 1x Zhalfirin Void
• 1x Zoetic Cavern

Artifact (5)

• 1x Azorius Signet
• 1x Coldsteel Heart
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Talisman of Progress
• 1x Thought Vessel

Planeswalker (2)

• 1x Elspeth, Sun's Champion
• 1x Venser, the Sojourner

Commander (1)

Instant (11)

• 1x Abolish
• 1x Arcane Denial
• 1x Chain of Vapor
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Disallow
• 1x Disenchant
• 1x Generous Gift
• 1x Mana Drain
• 1x Negate
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Teferi's Protection

Enchantment (4)

• 1x Felidar Retreat
• 1x Land Tax
• 1x Leyline of Anticipation *f-pre*
• 1x Rest in Peace

Sorcery (2)

• 1x Austere Command
• 1x Cleansing Nova

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Maybeboard

Creature (22)

• 1x Angelic Arbiter
• 1x Chancellor of the Annex
• 1x Darien, King of Kjeldor
• 1x Deputy of Detention
• 1x Dragonlord Ojutai
• 1x Dragonscale General
• 1x Drannith Magistrate
• 1x Isperia, Supreme Judge
• 1x Kataki, War's Wage
• 1x Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
• 1x Mangara, the Diplomat
• 1x Meloku the Clouded Mirror
• 1x Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker
• 1x Niambi, Esteemed Speaker
• 1x Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage
• 1x Reya Dawnbringer
• 1x Senate Griffin
• 1x Silent Arbiter
• 1x Thassa, Deep-Dwelling
• 1x Tomik, Distinguished Advokist
• 1x Vendilion Clique
• 1x Yorion, Sky Nomad

Instant (9)

• 1x Cloudshift
• 1x Fierce Guardianship
• 1x Flawless Maneuver
• 1x Ghostly Flicker
• 1x Illusionist's Gambit
• 1x Leave No Trace
• 1x Release to the Wind
• 1x Swan Song
• 1x Unexpectedly Absent

Enchantment (2)

• 1x Crackdown
• 1x Metamorphic Alteration

Artifact (2)

• 1x Azorius Locket
• 1x Dolmen Gate

Sorcery (2)

• 1x Hour of Revelation
• 1x Slaughter the Strong

Land (1)

• 1x Hall of Heliod's Generosity

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Introduction:

A creature based control deck built around Ephara, God of the Polis. This deck is number two out of my top five. This deck has been powerful and fun, with a lot of weird synergies and lines of play that make this deck interesting.

I've played this deck a ton of times and I can only remember losing one or two games with it so its win rate is pretty high. Most people ignore it and by the time they start focusing on it it's far too late to stop me.

The game that stands out the most with this deck is when I ended up on two lands for the first ten or so turns in a six player game. I won that game because once I hit four lands I snowballed out of control.

Gameplan:

The idea behind this deck is to use a combination of flash and blink creatures along with hatebears to slow down my opponents while drawing cards off of Ephara's ability to keep my hand full and keep control of the board. The deck is catered to my meta which is more combat focused so my choices are based on that.

Hate pieces like Imposing Sovereign, grand arbiter augustin VI. etc. can help to slow my opponents down and allow me to pull ahead.

Creatures such as Saltskitter, AEtherling, Soulherder, etc. allow me to keep my card advantage coming so I can outpace my opponents.

Lastly, I have powerful cards that also happen to synergize with my deck such as Consecrated Sphinx and Nezahal, Primal Tide.

Wincons:

The deck can win in a couple of different ways. The primary win condition is through combat with big bombs like Nezahal, Primal Tide or Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite.

The deck can also win with the smaller creatures if I have Venser, the Sojourner; which allows my creatures to swing through unblocked.

Lastly, I added the Heliod, Sun-Crowned+Walking Ballista combo in the event that the board gets clogged up and I can't swing through. It also helps when I'm backed into a corner.

For those who don't know, the combo works like this:

• Cast Walking Ballista for X=2 or more

• Cast Heliod, Sun-Crowned

• Use Heliod's last ability to give Walking Ballista lifelink

• Remove a +1/+1 counter from Walking Ballista to ping an opponent for 1 damage

• The Ballista has lifelink so you gain a life from hitting an opponent for 1

• The lifegain triggers Heliod, use his ability to put a +1/+1 counter on Walking Ballista

• Repeat the loop until all of your opponents are out

Possible Changes:

Lately people in my group have been starting to figure out that if you leave me alone then I'll get out of control pretty quickly. Because of this, they've started throwing more hate and aggro my way, which has been making my life difficult. I've been adding more pieces like Imposing Sovereign and Archangel of Tithes to slow them down.

I've also been thinking about adding a lifegain package to provide more a buffer and synergize with Heliod, Sun-Crowned. I'd start with a couple of low cost lifegain cards and maybe a payoff card.

The cards I'm considering are:

• Soul Warden

• Soul's Attendant

• Impassioned Orator

• Archangel of Thune

• Darien, King of Kjeldor

I'm still unsure if I want to add this package. If you have any thoughts or suggestions please let me know!

Upcoming Cuts:

The following cards are going to be cut:

• Masako the Humorless

My reasoning:

• When I originally put Masako in, I had dreams of surprising my opponents with unexpected blocks and hopefully trading up. I wanted to be able to attack without any real consequences. Unfortunately, this card mostly ended up stuck in my hand. In all of my games where I've drawn it, I never once cast it. Because of this, Masako is getting cut as soon as I find a replacement.

Potential Replacement:

• Enlightened Tutor

MVPs:

• Saltskitter: The most powerful card in the deck. This card draws me four cards every turn cycle with Ephara. There's a reason this card is listed in the high synergy section of Ephara's EDHrec page.

• Nezahal, Primal Tide: This card is an absolute monster and it's criminally underplayed. Can't be countered, draws an insane amount of cards, and protects itself. On top of that it's a 7/7 beater. This card isn't in nearly as many decks as it should be.

• Stonecloaker: Instant speed Ephara trigger and grave hate for three mana. Solid card that does work in this build.

• Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir: Lets me play at instant speed while restricting my opponents to sorcery speed. My playgroup hates playing against this card.

• Grand Arbiter Augustin IV: Taxes my opponents and reduces my own costs at the same time. This another card that my playgroup hates to see.

• Seht's Tiger: Nobody ever sees this coming. It gets me an Ephara trigger at instant speed and can protect from things that could kill me. Watching someone Craterhoof for me to flash this in and give my self protection from their board then declare no blocks is hilarious.

• Venser, the Sojourner: I originally put this in for the +2 but I find myself using the -1 more. I drop this card and I win.

• Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite: What can I say about this that hasn't already been said? I love it and my playgroup hates it. It wins me games.

• Teferi's Protection: Do I need to say anything?

Deck I Play Against on A Regular Basis:

• Lazav, Dimir Mastermind

• Rhys the Redeemed

• Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder

• Radha, Heart of Keld

• Tayam, Luminous Enigma

• Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow

• Omnath, Locus of the Roil

• Krenko, Mob Boss

• Purphoros, God of the Forge

• Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive

• Arcades, the Strategist

• Xenagos, God of Revels

• Bladewing the Risen

• Nikya of the Old Ways

• Roon of the Hidden Realm

• Feldon of the Third Path

• Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma

• Kels, Fight Fixer

Percentage Foiled:

Eventually I hope to have this deck as foil as it can possibly be. Right now the deck has 50 foil cards so it's 50% foiled.

If you don't count the 2 cards that aren't available in foil then the deck has 50 foil cards out of 98 so it's 51% foiled.

The 2 cards that aren't available in foil are:

• Tundra: Unfortunately, it's likely this will never be available in foil.

• Faerie Artisans: This card was only printed once in the Commander 2016 precons. I'm hoping it will see a reprint with a foil option at some point in the future.

The Rest of My Top 5:

You can see the other four of my top five decks here:

1. Brudiclad? More like Brudi-rad!

2. Bontu, The Champion

3. Jund Em' Out

4. It's a Riot!

My Other Decks:

• The Weenpocalypse

• The Storm is Coming

• The Awoken World

• Aminatou Reanimator

• Bronze-Blooded

• Bleak-Hearted

• Ravager

If you like the deck feel free to give a +1. Suggestions appreciated.

Date added	6 years
Last updated	4 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	11 - 0 Mythic Rares 47 - 0 Rares 16 - 0 Uncommons 9 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.25
Tokens	Cat Beast 2/2 W, Cat Bird 1/1 W, Copy Clone, Elephant 3-3 G, Emblem Elspeth, Sun's Champion, Emblem Venser, the Sojourner, Human 1/1 W, Morph 2/2 C, Soldier 1/1 W
Folders	Current Decks, Current Online Decks, Top 5 Decks