Ezuri: Weenies of Progress

Commander / EDH Aggro Counters GU (Simic) Weenie

MegaMatt13

Creature (39)

• 1x Acidic Slime
• 1x Avenger of Zendikar
• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Blighted Agent
• 1x Champion of Lambholt
• 1x Chasm Skulker
• 1x Coiling Oracle
• 1x Cold-Eyed Selkie
• 1x Deceiver Exarch
• 1x Edric, Spymaster of Trest
• 1x Elvish Mystic
• 1x Elvish Visionary
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Farhaven Elf
• 1x Fathom Mage
• 1x Gyre Sage
• 1x Hornet Queen
• 1x Invisible Stalker
• 1x Kaseto, Orochi Archmage
• 1x Kiora's Follower
• 1x Llanowar Elves
• 1x Lu Xun, Scholar General
• 1x Man-o'-War
• 1x Marang River Prowler
• 1x Mulldrifter
• 1x Mystic Snake
• 1x Prime Speaker Zegana
• 1x Reclamation Sage
• 1x Sakashima the Impostor
• 1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Thassa, God of the Sea
• 1x Thrummingbird
• 1x Trygon Predator
• 1x Viridian Joiner
• 1x Vorel of the Hull Clade
• 1x Whirler Rogue
• 1x Wood Elves
• 1x Zameck Guildmage

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Nissa, Voice of Zendikar

Land (37)

• 1x Alchemist's Refuge
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Faerie Conclave
• 12x Forest
• 1x Hinterland Harbor
• 11x Island
• 1x Lumbering Falls
• 1x Novijen, Heart of Progress
• 1x Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Simic Growth Chamber
• 1x Temple of Mystery
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Thornwood Falls
• 1x Treetop Village

Enchantment (4)

• 1x Awakening Zone
• 1x Inexorable Tide
• 1x Leyline of Anticipation
• 1x Song of the Dryads

Artifact (5)

• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Thought Vessel
• 1x Vedalken Orrery

Instant (9)

• 1x Arachnogenesis
• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Evacuation
• 1x Fuel for the Cause
• 1x Negate
• 1x Rapid Hybridization
• 1x Steady Progress

Sorcery (4)

• 1x Fungal Sprouting
• 1x Genesis Wave
• 1x Overwhelming Stampede
• 1x Tezzeret's Gambit

Commander (1)

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Maybeboard

Creature (1)

• 1x Forgotten Ancient

Artifact (1)

• 1x Contagion Engine

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The theme of the deck is to pump out weenies to activate Ezuri's ability. The dropdown menus provide additional information about how the deck plays. Please provide feedback and upvote if you like it!

Avoiding too much hate

Most Ezuri decks use multiple infect creatures and/or Sage of Hours for infinite turns. These are highly effective strategies but draw a lot of hate from other players. Archenemy is not my usual play style. I find it results in everyone ganging up before the deck can go off. If you enjoy being the group's Archenemy, go for it. It's just not my style.

The one infect creature I use is Blighted Agent because it's so damn good at wrapping up the game. One infect creature doesn't lead to the group automatically hating the deck.

Manlands

Faerie Conclave, Treetop Village, and Lumbering Falls give this deck sneaky ways to avoid board wipes. Ezuri's +1/+1 counters stay on the manlands even after they turn back into lands at end of turn. A board wipe may kill everything else, but the beefed up manlands will remain. They also come with different forms of evasion (flying, trample, or hexproof)

Mana Ramp

I minimized the amount of mana rocks and sorceries that ramp and rely on weenie creatures instead because they trigger Ezuri's ability. (Sol Ring and Thought Vessel are in there because they are too useful to miss). Gyre Sage and Viridian Joiner can provide a ton of mana. Kiora's Follower can either ramp by untapping a land or mana dork or provide you a blocker by untapping a creature that attacked this turn.

Card Draw

Most of the card draw in this deck is creature-based. Edric, Spymaster of Trest, Lu Xun, Scholar General, and Cold-Eyed Selkie all provide card advantage through combat damage. Fathom Mage and Zameck Guildmage use +1/+1 counters for card draw. Mulldrifter, Coiling Oracle and Prime Speaker Zegana give you cards simply from entering the battlefield.

Proliferate power

The mostly blue proliferate ability works wonders in this deck. Not only can you give yourself an extra experience counter (even if Ezuri isn't in play), but you can add counters on creatures or planewalkers that already have them. Inexorable Tide, Fuel for the Cause, Thrummingbird, Tezzeret's Gambit, and Steady Progress all help rack up those counters.

Unblockable

As you are making massive creatures with Ezuri, you need to be able to get them through. The "can't be blocked" mechanic is the most assured way of making this happen. Thassa, God of the Sea, Rogue's Passage, Whirler Rogue, Neurok Invisimancer , and Invisible Stalker are a few examples of the many cards that have or grant this ability.

Extra Experience Counters

One way to abuse Ezuri's ability is to use creatures that generate multiple experience counters. Hornet Queen and Avenger of Zendikar are the most obvious. Whirler Rogue, Chasm Skulker, and Hooded Hydra , also net multiple experience counters.

Sakashima the Impostor is an absolutely broken way to generate experience counters. She can come in as a copy of Ezuri (the legendary rule doesn't apply because she retains her own name). You then get 2 experience counters per weenie as they enter the battlefield. At the beginning of combat you place double the amount of +1/+1 counters.

Arachnogenesis is a fun way to turn an opponent's attack into experience counters for yourself. All those little spiders coming into play can rack up a lot of extra experience counters.

Protecting your Weenies

Aggro decks need ways to protect their armies. Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots are mostly there to protect Ezuri himself. However, sometimes I equip them to another important creature for protection and haste. Though not a control deck, this deck does have a few counterspells for protection: Counterspell, Negate, Mystic Snake, and Fuel for the Cause.

There are also utility creatures and spells to help control the board state: Man-o'-War, Trygon Predator, Reclamation Sage, Acidic Slime, Beast Within, Rapid Hybridization

Win Conditions

As mentioned earlier, Blighted Agent is my only infect win condition.

Another way to finish the game is to use Overwhelming Stampede to grant your army trample and do extra damage.

Genesis Wave also ends games quickly. The vast majority of this deck consists of permanents. Even a modest Genesis Wave will gain you extra experience counters and create an overwhelming board state.

Strengths and Weaknesses

The main strength of this deck is consistency. There are over 40 creatures and every single one of them triggers Ezuri's ability. With lots of ramp and card draw, the deck gets going quickly. The deck also has a low average CMC ensuring it is fast. It can overwhelm control players before they can build up their defences. I also find it fun to play! Pumping up utility weenies and sending them in just feels good.

The main weakness of this deck is its vulnerability to board wipes. Evacuation can be used defensively to return your weenies to your hand instead of the graveyard. Due to low CMC in this deck, it is possible to recover quickly. However, board wipes definitely slow the deck down. Also, the deck needs Ezuri to pump up creatures. Sure, the experience counters remain even if he is removed, but he still needs to be out to provide the +1/+1 counters.

Top Ranked	Achieved #9 position overall 8 years ago
Date added	8 years
Last updated	8 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	6 - 0 Mythic Rares 28 - 0 Rares 28 - 0 Uncommons 14 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.13
Tokens	Beast 3/3 G, Eldrazi Spawn 0/1 C, Experience Token, Frog Lizard 3/3 G, Insect 1/1 G w/ Flying, Deathtouch, Plant 0/1 G, Saproling 1/1 G, Spider 1/2 G, Squid 1/1 U, Thopter 1/1 C
Folders	Commander Decks, casual decks to build, Similar Inspiration, EDH Ideas, Commander Deck, Favorites, EDH interesting, Prospective EDH, Nice, Exuri