Glissa the Traitor: Metal Rock

Commander / EDH Artifact BG (Golgari) Midrange Primer Rock Toolbox

Stefouch

Land (38)

• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Barren Moor
• 1x Bayou
• 1x Bazaar of Baghdad
• 1x Blast Zone
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Cabal Coffers
• 1x Command Beacon
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dark Depths
• 1x Dust Bowl
• 1x Field of the Dead
• 1x Forbidden Orchard
• 4x Forest
• 1x Gaea's Cradle
• 1x Llanowar Wastes
• 1x Maze of Ith
• 1x Misty Rainforest
• 1x Nurturing Peatland
• 1x Overgrown Tomb
• 1x Strip Mine
• 3x Swamp
• 1x Tainted Wood
• 1x Thespian's Stage
• 1x Tranquil Thicket
• 1x Twilight Mire
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Verdant Catacombs
• 1x Volrath's Stronghold
• 1x Windswept Heath
• 1x Wooded Foothills
• 1x Woodland Cemetery
• 1x Yavimaya Hollow

Instant (6)

• 1x Crop Rotation
• 1x Entomb
• 1x Vampiric Tutor
• 1x Abrupt Decay
• 1x Assassin's Trophy
• 1x Sudden Spoiling

Creature (25)

• 1x Hangarback Walker
• 1x Walking Ballista
• 1x Deathrite Shaman
• 1x Hex Parasite
• 1x Sylvan Safekeeper
• 1x Phyrexian Revoker
• 1x Wall of Roots
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Metalworker
• 1x Plaguecrafter
• 1x Sylvok Replica
• 1x Wood Elves
• 1x Crypt Ghast
• 1x Oracle of Mul Daya
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Genesis
• 1x Demon of Dark Schemes
• 1x Duplicant
• 1x Noxious Gearhulk
• 1x Wurmcoil Engine
• 1x Avenger of Zendikar
• 1x Myr Battlesphere
• 1x Sheoldred, Whispering One
• 1x Craterhoof Behemoth
• 1x Emrakul, the Promised End

Sorcery (8)

• 1x Black Sun's Zenith
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Finale of Devastation
• 1x Life from the Loam
• 1x Regrowth
• 1x Damnation
• 1x Scapeshift
• 1x Tooth and Nail

Commander (1)

Artifact (15)

• 1x Mishra's Bauble
• 1x Chromatic Sphere
• 1x Chromatic Star
• 1x Executioner's Capsule
• 1x Expedition Map
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Soul-Guide Lantern
• 1x Wayfarer's Bauble
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Crucible of Worlds
• 1x Oblivion Stone
• 1x Birthing Pod
• 1x Nevinyrral's Disk

Enchantment (6)

• 1x Exploration
• 1x Survival of the Fittest
• 1x Sylvan Library
• 1x Attrition
• 1x Pernicious Deed
• 1x Defense of the Heart

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Vraska the Unseen

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Maybeboard

Artifact (7)

• 1x Engineered Explosives
• 1x Mox Diamond
• 1x Urza's Bauble
• 1x Conjurer's Bauble
• 1x Nihil Spellbomb
• 1x Ratchet Bomb
• 1x Memory Jar

Creature (3)

• 1x Scavenging Ooze
• 1x Massacre Girl
• 1x The Gitrog Monster

Land (1)

• 1x Dryad Arbor

Sorcery (2)

• 1x Green Sun's Zenith
• 1x Traverse the Ulvenwald

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Glissa the Traitor
~ Metal | Rock | Land | Pod ~

This deck has a midrange-oriented strategy. It has a large toolbox of ETB creatures that can be chained with Birthing Pod. I also added a small land subtheme with Dark Depths and Thespian Stage's. It uses a lot of tutoring cards for creatures and lands.

Deck: Sort creatures by ascending CMC (Pod chain view)
Deck: Sort cards by function

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★ Primer ★

Introduction

The Themes

I am a big fan of The Rock decks played during the old Extended format. I decided to create an EDH to honor their ancient glorious time. Being also a fan of artifacts and phyrexians, my choice went obviously on Glissa, the Traitor. Moreover, her story has something similar with Sarah Kerrigan from Starcraft's storyline, a character I loved during the first game.

This deck has four main themes:

1. Rock: This is a midrange deck shaped as a "Rock" deck. The Rock is a deck which has been less defined by the cards it uses and more by the strategy it employs. In general it's a black-green midrange deck which attempts to generate card advantage over longer periods of time and finish the opponent off with a big creature.

2. Pod: To support a "Rock" strategy, I use a large toolbox of ETB creatures than can answer any situation, with a package of some tutoring cards. Among those tutors, there is Birthing Pod. It is very effective in its job (reusable). I consider it as a signature card.

3. Metal: "Rock" strategies need also card-advantage. Glissa's recursion ability will help in this case. So I added a lot of artifact "toys" to support the deck. At one point, the deck had more than 35% of artifacts recurrable with Glissa (creatures and noncreatures). Artifacts were the previous main theme. Then my meta evolved with more grave-hate cards and I couldn't make Glissa work under such pressure. So the deck took a shift: I decreased my dependency on graveyard shenanigans and changed the main theme to a more-oriented creature toolbox deck (Pod). I still kept the most powerful Glissa's toys and a bunch of artifact creatures that like to be eated by Birthing Pod and recurred by Glissa afterwards.

4. Land: I like diversity. So I added a second little subtheme about lands. I don't mean landfall, but a land-theme more like Realms deck from Legacy. For more responsiveness, I added some very useful utility lands and, of course, the well-known Legacy combo Thespian's Stage + Dark Depths.

Why Glissa?

Glissa, the Traitor has several advantages:

• Cheap mana cost, allowing us to cast her often.
• colors. Best for killing creatures and ramping into big beaters.
• A great artifact recursion ability. We have a card-advantage engine on a stick.
• First-Strike & Deathtouch. She excels in attack and defense onto the battlefield.

Due to its colors and its inherent recursion engine, Glissa is often used as a Stax general. While it's a powerful strategy with her, it's also the most unfun for your opponents. Thus, you should avoid this route if you wish to play a lot this deck without being a constant Archenemy on tables.

Building tricks: Glissa loves sacrificing artifacts, holding equipments, and protecting Planeswalkers.

Glissa is for you if:

• You like artifacts.
• You like graveyard's shenanigans.
• You like being able to reuse useful effects (card draw, graveyard hate, land ramp, removal, etc...)
• You like having a general that will always win in combat.
• You like having a general looking like Sarah Kerrigan from the StarCraft videogame.

Glissa isn't for you if:

• You don't like any of the things above.
• You prefer decks filled with blue and countermagic.
• You prefer berserking with creatures all the time.
• You don't like Phyrexians.

Card by Card Explanations

Types breakdown

• 38 lands (+11 ramp cards, -3 nonmana lands)
• 25 creatures (+1 Glissa, including 10 artifact-creatures)
• 16 artifacts (noncreature)
• 8 sorceries
• 6 instants
• 6 enchantments
• 1 planeswalker

26% of the deck are artifacts. This is a heavy artifact deck.

Lands (the Realm of Glissa)

Mana Fixing & Rainbow Lands

• Basics: 4x Forest, 3x Swamp. 7 in total is barely just enough for the ramp cards we are playing inside this deck. Do not go below that number, it's already tight.
  The deck could use more Forests than Swamps (5:2) due to color distribution, but I prefer to have access to at least 3 basic Swamps in case of nonbasic lands hate from my opponents.

• Fetchlands: Misty Rainforest, Verdant Catacombs, Windswept Heath, Wooded Foothills. I play 4 fetchlands (missing Bloodstained Mire, Marsh Flats and Polluted Delta). They are nice for color fixing and much better with Loam and Crucible. But you can cut them if you feel that the deck needs more basics, utility lands and/or if you are looking after a budget version.

• Duals: Bayou, Overgrown Tomb, Woodland Cemetery, Tainted Wood, Twilight Mire, Nurturing Peatland, Llanowar Wastes, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. I play almost all the best duals for BG. Some are missing, but no space left, except if we decrease the number of basic or utility lands.
  Note: Urborg is a color fixer that comboes really well with Cabal Coffers.
  Note: The deck is hungry for mana symbols. When you pay generic mana, first spend your black mana.

• Rainbows: Forbidden Orchard, Command Tower. I tend to not use any rainbow-land like City of Brass, Mana Confluence and Tarnished Citadel because they harm you. I have enough fixing and need to keep a bunch of basics for my ramp cards. Exception for Forbidden Orchard. This land is very famous within Glissa EDH decks: it hugs your opponents by giving them tiny tokens, then get you value from Glissa when that small 1/1 dies.

Mana Acceleration

• Ancient Tomb: Speeds up your game quite a bit. The pain can be avoided later with Urborg.

• Gaea's Cradle: Usually we always have at least one creature on the battlefield. So, it's just an extremely buffed forest. Late game, this land can produce a huge amount of mana in combination with Myr Battlesphere or Avenger of Zendikar.

• Cabal Coffers: Even if we have so few Swamps, Cabal Coffers can prove its power each game, thanks to Urborg. When I have some land-tutors in hand, this is usually the first combo I tutorize for.

Cycling Lands

• Barren Moor and Tranquil Thicket: Secondary draw engine with Life from the Loam.

• Nurturing Peatland: Considered like a third cycling land for the above draw engine. !testing

Utility Lands

This deck use a lot of land-tutoring cards. I play the best utility lands that fit my strategy and cover my weaknesses.

• Bojuka Bog: This grave-hate land interacts very well with Crop Rotation in order to remove a graveyard at instant speed.

• Command Beacon: To use when Glissa's casting tax is too high. Recurrable with Loam and Crucible. !testing

• Dark Depths + Thespian's Stage: A well-known legacy combo that easily creates a 20/20 flying indestructible Marit Lage token. If Thespian's Stage copies Dark Depths, it will not have the Ice counters on it and will immediately trigger. But before the trigger is put onto the stack, State-based Actions are checked and the Legend Rule applies: you need to put the original Dark Depths into your graveyard. Then you may resolve the trigger and sacrifice the copy to create the huge Marit Lage token. Don't forget that the token is legendary in case you're able to recure the lands.

• Strip Mine, Dust Bowl: They help against nasty opponents' lands. Recurrable with Loam and Crucible.

• Yavimaya Hollow: Regenerating our creatures is a great advantage. It helps protect Glissa against opponents' sweepers and our own Oblivion Stone. Keep in mind that it doesn't work if your creature has shroud (eg: Lightning Greaves, Sylvan Safekeeper).

• Maze of Ith: Efficient attack deterrent.

• Volrath's Stronghold: Efficient creature recursion.

• Blast Zone: This a very slow removal, but it only takes a land slot and can be recurred with Crucible of Worlds and Loam. So, why not use it? Hex Parasite can even remove its initial counter to allow the land to destroy creature tokens. !testing

• Field of the Dead: Efficient token generation. The 7-lands clause is easily reached. Insane with Scapeshift.

• Bazaar of Baghdad: So expensive card! So complicated card! So powerful card! This lands trades card-advantage for card-filtering. A difficult card to use optimally. When games get grindy, the recursion engines can let Bazaar become a card-advantage engine when you lack a hand. Urborg allows this to also tap for mana when necessary. Play it wisely. Fortunately, Glissa and Loam helps against the card-disavantage by recurring our discarded artifacts and lands. Alternate budget version: Geier Reach Sanitarium.

Bazaar Mini-Primer Show

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Writer: Jostin123 from MTGSalvation.

Bazaar is the most skill intensive card to use in Vintage, and I would argue the game of Magic. Bazaar of Baghdad is a card that trades card selection for card advantage. Because of this, the card filtering has to generate a ridiculous amount if advantage the card to make up for the card advantage you are losing to use it. Because of this, the cards surrounding Bazaar need to pull the most amount of weight possible.

In the game of magic, you naturally only draw one card a turn. That card drawn will revert back to a +0 advantage when you play that card. Bazaar converts that natural +1 advantage into a +0 advantage in exchange for seeing two more cards from your deck. However, each card you play after a Bazaar use will put you at -1 advantage to play it. If you use a Bazaar liberally, you will run yourself out of a hand. The turn you play Bazaar essentially is equivalent to missing a land drop, as Bazaar does not tap for mana.

This is a lot of disadvantage to manage for using one card. However, getting to see two extra cards a turn, without the use of any additional card or mana investment is huge and if managed competently, can lead to tempo blow-outs from which no one will be able to recover.

Bazaar is used primarily for digging and card filtering purposes. The two are not synonymous. When digging, the deck pilot is looking for specific cards or effects and utilizing Bazaar as a means of finding those cards or effects.
(Example: You have a Worldgorger Dragon in your graveyard and you are looking for one of many Animate Dead effects to create your infinite Mana loop.)

Through filtering, a player can trade out useless cards in hand for those that have more immediate value.
(Example: You have a Blightsteel Colossus and Sphinx of the Steel Wind, neither of which you have the colors or mana to cast, so you activate Bazaar to draw 2 cards, keeping other cards that you can cast).

Conveniently, Bazaar puts the cards in a zone very convenient for creating huge tempo gains and generating tons of abuse and value: the graveyard. There are exceptions to when you Bazaar for value, and those exceptions will come up somewhat regularly. With that said, here are the basic guidelines for Bazaar useage in any format it's legal in:

How to Manage Bazaar Activations

In order to use a Bazaar, you have to play it. Because it does not generate mana, the most optimal time for you to play Bazaar if Baghdad is under the following conditions:

• You have enough cheap mana acceleration such that playing Bazaar for the turn does not equate to tempo loss of mana for the turn.

• You do not otherwise have a land drop for the turn.

• You have an effect that will allow Bazaar to tap for mana at no tempo loss to you (such as an Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth.)

• You recognize early on that you are required to hit specific resources before a specific amount of time, and you need to filter with Bazaar to guarantee you hit those resources. It could be a certain mana threshold with which to operate, or it could be a certain engine that will allow you to play through an impending game condition.

Guidelines for Activating your Bazaar

• If you have 3 or more cards in hand it is usually safe to Bazaar. That will allow you to play a land and a spell.

• When you have 2 cards in you will need only be able to keep one of them, so that value has to be great because you will lose 3. You will only be able to play a land or a spell.

• Never Bazaar with one card in hand. You will lose your entire hand for little to no benefit. You will need to wait a turn to draw up to two cards, then you will be able to keep one, like the senario above.

• If you have no cards in hand, you can elect to use Bazaar during your upkeep. If you do, you simply draw and pitch two cards, then draw and keep your card during your draw step.

Bazaar of course gets better when you have effects that allow you to use your graveyard as a resource: Glissa offers the ability to do so. When the game state allows us to do so we can use Bazaar as a way to gain card advantage, not lose it.

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Creatures (the Cycle of Life - Glissa's Pod Chain)

This deck is built around a large creature toolbox that allows us to answer any game situation. We use a lot of creature-tutors in order to find quickly the right answer to any problem.
To search inside our toolbox, we have 7 tutoring cards, the most iconic being Birthing Pod.

For each step of the Pod chain, there should be at least one artifact creature for more interactions with our commander Glissa's recursion ability.
Those cards are tagged with the flag A.

0-cmc Creatures Show

This is where we can start the Pod chain.

• (XX) A Hangarback Walker: This creature has a lot of interaction in this deck. It produces flying tokens when dying (or sacrificed to Pod) and is easily reccurable with Glissa. The created thopters are really good offensers, chumpblockers, or fodders for Skullclamp.

• (XX) A Walking Ballista: Similar to Hangarback Walker in a sense. You can shoot creatures in order to gain Glissa's triggers, including getting back the Ballista itself if you can dump all the counters before letting the Glissa's trigger resolve.

1-cmc Creatures Show

Other good ideas for 1-cmc creatures are Birds of Paradise (ramp and nice chump blocker), Spore Frog (fog very good with Genesis), Sylvan Safekeeper (creature protection), and Heap Doll (grave-hate).

• (B/G) Deathrite Shaman: A better Birds of Paradise variant, sometimes called the "1-mana Planeswalker." Used as an early ramp, and lately as a grave-hate card. !testing

• (1) A Hex Parasite: Polyvalent, reusable, cheap creature. It's an anti-tech against "counters" decks, a bane to Planeswalkers superfriends, and a combo support to Dark Depths and Phyrexian Scriptures.

• (G) Sylvan Safekeeper: Creature protection. If you play Chord of Calling in your list (not here), it can enter the battlefield at instant speed for a surprise protection.

2-cmc Creatures Show

• (2) A Phyrexian Revoker: Pithing Needle on legs. It can lock dangerous commanders and planeswalkers.

• (1G) Wall of Roots: Chumpblocker that ramps. Fodder for Pod when not needed anymore. It's like a Sakura-Tribe Elder that blocks better, and feeds even better with Pod.

3-cmc Creatures Show

This is the core of the Pod chain.

• (1GG) Eternal Witness: Regrowth on a stick. Green staple.

• (2B) Plaguecrafter: A cheap removal that usually allows Glissa to recur one artifact per opponent. Also, it gets rid of dangerous and problematic commanders that must be answered quickly, like Azami, GAAIV, Kaalia, , Mizzix, Narset, Uril, Zur, etc...

• (3) A Metalworker : The Holy Hand Grenade of ramping for any artifact deck. This guy is insane and really shines here. He is usually a lightning rod, frequently killed on sight. Fortunately we can recurre him easily with Glissa. Now imagine a boardwipe, you get with Glissa all your artifacts back, then you cast Metalworker. Next turn you reveal your hand and show all that metal to cast again with all that mana. That is broken. I am happy that the EDH Rules Committee unbanned this card. It is strong, no doubt, but slow and fragile. Artifacts decks needed this kind of help.

• (3) A Sylvok Replica: The fact this one is preferred over Reclamation Sage is because the Replica can bypass a Torpor Orb lock and can be recurred with Glissa.

• (2G) Wood Elves: They can fetch a dual land (Bayou or Overgrown Tomb) and put it onto the battlefield untapped! Then they're fodder for Pod or Skullclamp.

4-cmc Creatures Show

• (3B) Crypt Ghast: This critter works nicely with Urborg and provides extra life. Considered as a ramping creature that we won't chain further into the Pod. !chopping block

• (3G) Oracle of Mul Daya: RAMP! in uppercase! Playing lands from the top of your library is like drawing extra cards. It's a green staple.

• (4) A Solemn Simulacrum: Sad Robot let us ramp, chumpblock and draw. Fodder for Pod. Best friend of Glissa.

5-cmc Creatures Show

One artifact creature with cmc=5 is missing. Options are: Verdurous Gearhulk (beater with no interaction with the deck), Thopter Squadron (mana-hungry thopters producer), Precursor Golem (weak tokens producer), Karn, Silver Golem (toolbox creature), and Kuldotha Forgemaster (tutor on a stick that needs lot of artifacts).

• (4G) Genesis: Secondary creature recursion engine.

Future consideration: Massacre Girl.

6-cmc Creatures Show

• (3BBB) Demon of Dark Schemes: Boardwipe on a stick, then a reanimation engine that can get back corpses from any graveyard.

• (6) A Duplicant: Path to Exile on a stick.

• (4BB) A Noxious Gearhulk: Murder on a stick, with extra gain-life. Plus: it's a big body with an evasion ability.

• (6) A Wurmcoil Engine: Lifegain source and aggressive creature. Likes to die and likes to come back as Glissa's favorite pet.

7-cmc Creatures Show

This is almost the end of the Pod chain. Other Ideas: World Breaker.

• (5BB) Sheoldred, Whispering One: A classic black spoiler. A bit slow for all its effect, but it's net value. Can't be blocked if Urborg is lying around.

• (5GG) Avenger of Zendikar: It's some kind of a finisher that must be answered as quickly as possible with a boardwipe. If it didn't happen, an opponent will likely die on our next turn. Our fetchlands and extra land-drop effects help a lot to boost the Plant tokens.

• (7) A Myr Battlesphere: Another tokens producer that can hit hard. Not as hard as Avenger, but its damaging ability may bypass our opponent's defense to hit a protected planeswalker. Furthermore, Myr Battlesphere is less impeded by Propaganda effects. Not to mention it's also an artifact for Glissa.

Apex of the Pod Show

Ideas: Blightsteel Colossus, Vorinclex.

• (5GGG) Craterhoof Behemoth: What to say about this green decks' classic creature? It can finish the table on its own. It comes just after Avenger of Zendikar on the Pod Chain for a "Monster Kill".

• (13) Emrakul, the Promised End: A "shroudy" 13/13 flying trample for -usually- 8 or 9 manas + it wrecks an opponent's turn. Although I tend to avoid cards that steal or give extra turns (see the notable exclusion about Mindslaver), this one is an exception. Because it will happen only once (most of the time), it's a monstruous body much needed to close a game, it's highly efficient against blue-based control decks, and it gives back a turn to my opponent (he or she will less complain). Not accessible from the pod chain unfortunately.

Tutors (Glissa's Emergency Response Program)

Generic Tutors

• (B) Vampiric Tutor: The Mirage tutors are card-disavantagers and I tend to avoid them. Exception for this one because you can fetch any card.

• (1B) Demonic Tutor: Best tutor ever printed. Should be played in any black deck. It's a black staple.

• (B) Entomb: This is a great tutor within our strategy. Entomb an artifact to get it back with Glissa. Entomb Genesis to recur your creatures! Entomb a requested land if you have Crucible out. Entomb Loam for graveyard landy shenanigans. etc...

Creature Tutors

To support my creature toolbox package, I use the best creature tutoring cards.
Other options are: Yisan, the Wanderer Bard, Fauna Shaman, Worldly Tutor, GSZ, Traverse the Ulvenwald, Chord of Calling, and Natural Order.

• (1G+G) Survival of the Fittest: The most broken card in this deck. I think Survival of the Fittest is broken in any deck, but it shines here. Discarding artifacts, which will come back with Glissa, to tutorize a creature that you can discard again to loop the effect, this is strong. This card is so overpowered that I could understand its banishment if the EDH Rules Committee decides it.

• (3pG+1pG) Birthing Pod: The Pod is a reusable tutor that sacrifices creatures we could get back with Glissa if they were artifact. The whole deck is built around this card: we have a wide variety of ascending cmc with at least 1 artifact-creature for each step.

• (3G) Defense of the Heart: A light-costed Tooth and Nail that is easy to trigger (only 1 opponent needs to have 3+ creatures. Do you want my tiny Spirit token from my Forbidden Orchard?). Because it brings 2 creatures, it worth waiting for the risk of being just answered during the whole table turn. When sacrificed, it's also an extra card type for Delirium and Emrakul.

• (XGG) Finale of Devastation: A great tutor that can also reanimate from our graveyard, and even close the game with enough mana.

• (5GG+2) Tooth and Nail: A BIG! tutor that can change the fate of a game alone. Sidenote: I won't play the 1-card winning combo that uses Triskelion + Mikaeus. This isn't a combo deck. !testing

Land Tutors

Usual targets for the land-tutors are (in this order):
→ Mana: Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth and Cabal Coffers.
→ Beatdown: Thespian's Stage and Dark Depths.
→ Protection: Yavimaya Hollow or Maze of Ith.
→ CA: Bazaar of Baghdad (if we have too many artifacts + Glissa).

• (1+2) Expedition Map: We use a lot of utility lands in this deck. Not to mention we also play Urborg-Coffers and Gaea's Craddle for extra mana. This cog intends to help us find our key lands quickly. Recurrable with Glissa.

• (G) Crop Rotation: See Expedition Map, but at instant speed.

• (2GG) Scapeshift: Crop Rotation fest! An extremely powerful land tutor. I consider it as a ramp card because it can bring acceleration lands. Could be game ending with Field of the Dead.

Noncreature Artifacts (Glissa's Toys)

Manarocks & Ramps

• (1) Sol Ring: The best manarock.

• (1+2) Wayfarer's Bauble: A Rampant Growth recurrable with Glissa.

Cantrip Options

• (0) Mishra's Bauble, (1) Chromatic Sphere, (1) Chromatic Star: The Cantrip Triad. These three cards are the cheapest cantriping baubles. Their purpose is only to bring extra card draws. Almost cracked immediately after casting, you will get them back as soon as an opponent's creature dies with Glissa here, and re-cast/re-sac them easily (cheap mana cost is important). Rinse & repeat. The later two allows to fix my early manabase. If you love this playstyle, you can also use Conjurer's Bauble and Urza's Bauble, with Flash enablers support and -whynot- Salvaging Station.

• (1+1) Soul-Guide Lantern: Our primary grave-hate solution (in conjunction with Bojuka Bog and Deathrite Shaman). Its cantrip effect can turn into a draw engine with multiple Glissa's triggers.

• (1+1) Sensei's Divining Top: Top-deck enabler that -almost- never dies to removals. And if it would, it will come back with Glissa.

• (1+1) Skullclamp: Great draw engine that can transmute our useless ETB creatures or little tokens (Thopters, Plants, Myrs, etc.) into extra cards.

Removals

Artifact removals are extremely powerful with Glissa. Because they trigger immediately Glissa to get them back.
Other considerations: Engineered Explosives, Ratchet Bomb.

• (B+1B) Executioner's Capsule: Glissa's signature card. It's a repeatable Doom Blade with Glissa on the battlefield. Read it like this: "1BB: Destroy target nonblack creature." When the Capsule's ability resolves and kills an opponent creature, it's already in the graveyard (it's an activation cost). Thus, when the creature is destroyed and Glissa triggers, you may get back the Capsule and repeat the process.

• (4+1) Nevinyrral's Disk: Slow but cheap boardwipe, repeatable with Glissa. When the Disk (or O-Stone) resolves and destroys everything, Glissa will still "see" the opponent's creatures destroyed and she will trigger for each of them. Because all your artifacts are already in your graveyard when you put the Glissa's triggers onto the stack, you may target them, including the Disk (or O-Stone).

• (3+5) Oblivion Stone: Aka "O-Stone." See Disk above. Faster (doesn't enter the battlefield tapped) but more mana intensive. Fate counters are rarely relevant.

Equipments

This list used to have a bunch of equipment (boots, Batterskull, Jitte, etc..) because they were great on Glissa, but most of them were finally each, one after the other, cut from the deck.

• (2+0) Lightning Greaves: Gives shroud and haste. Shroud is very important for Glissa who is frequently a prime target. Haste is only relevant with our big beaters. Chosen over Swiftfoot Boots even if the Greaves doesn't work well with Yavimaya Hollow, because it costs 0 to equip.
  Imagine: a Marit Lage 20/20 flying indestructible shroud haste? Exciting!

Utilities

• (3) Crucible of Worlds: A much needed toy to recur acceleration/utility lands eventually destroyed by our opponents, get back dredged lands, repeat fetchlands, repeat wastelands, or bring back Dark Depths + Thespian Stage for a second round.

Other Instants & Sorceries

Instants

• (BG) Abrupt Decay: Cheap, fast and efficient removal. Its 3-cmc limitation is rarely a problem.

• (BG) Assassin's Trophy: Cheap, fast and efficient removal. A better Abrupt Decay that can hit anything.

• (1BB) Sudden Spoiling: Multitasks effect: can act as a fog, or a removal during an attack if the defending player has a good defender. !testing

Sorceries

• (1G) Regrowth: See Eternal Witness, creature section above.

• (1G) Life from the Loam: Our second signature card after Birthing Pod. Loam has a lot of synergies with our land package. Recurs acceleration/utility lands eventually destroyed by our opponents, gets back dredged lands, repeats fetchlands, repeats wastelands, or brings back Dark Depths + Thespian Stage for a second round, etc. More efficient than Crucible because it takes up to 3 land cards back at the same time and can dig our library (dredge 3).

• (2BB) Damnation: Low-cost creature boardwipe. Sometimes, you'll need to do an emergency tutor for a cheap wrath in early/mid-game. Damnation is here for this role. Chosen above Toxic Deluge because we cannot afford the life cost.

• (XBB) Black Sun's Zenith: A wrath effect that deals with indestructible creatures. Chosen over Toxic Deluge because our deck cannot afford paying 11-13 life to deal with common huge fatties (Colossus, Kozilek, Emrakul, etc.)

Enchantments (Glissa's Government Acts)

• (G) Exploration: Ramp option extremely insane earlygame, and working very well lategame with Loam and Crucible.

• (1G) Sylvan Library: 2nd Top. See Sensei's Divining Top above in the noncreature artifacts section. This one has the ability to draw extra cards in exchange of life.

• (1BB+B) Attrition: With Glissa on the battlefield, sacrifice an artifact-creature to destroy a nonblack creature an opponent controls, get the artifact back, and repeat the process. I tend to avoid color-conditional removals, especially nonblack because black is common in my meta, but it's too good here to be ignored.

• (1BG+X) Pernicious Deed: Efficient boardwipe. It's a signature card from old "The Rock" T2/Extended decks.

• (1G+G) Survival of the Fittest: See tutors section above.

• (3G) Defense of the Heart: See tutors section above.

Planeswalkers (Glissa's Companions)

• (3BG) Vraska the Unseen: 2-for-1 Pulse (maybe more). As maybe you already noticed, I don't use any sorcery-speed removal (eg: Maelstrom Pulse), but I made an exception with Vraska as she removes a threat while staying on the battlefield, ready to threaten other permanents in a near future. She's -almost- alway used to destroy a permanent, then +1, then (if she's still alive) destroy another permanent.

Previous Considerations

This is a list a card that have found once a slot in this deck and were cut at one point because of meta's evolution or better upgrades.

• High Market: Helps to protect our creatures against exile effects. With Glissa, an artifact-creature is better burrowed than exiled. Better option if you can afford it: Phyrexian Tower. Was cut for better utility lands.

• (3GG) Acidic Slime: Removal on a stick, but 5 mana is too slow.

• (2G) Awakening Zone: It is a multi-purpose ramp card. The Eldrazi Spawns created are also nice chumpblockers and are free fodder for Skullclamp.

• (2G) Beast Within: Cheap, fast and efficient removal. Can hit anything, even lands. The 3/3 Beast token is rarely annoying. Was cut for cheaper removals.

• (3+3) Burnished Hart: The Hart is a recurrable effective ramp card. Slower and less interesting than Sad Robot, it ramps yet better.

• (XGGG) Chord of Calling: Fetch for any creature in our library and put it directly onto the battlefield, at instant speed! Moreover, it has Convoke. But too much green-mana intensive.

• Dakmor Salvage: Dredge 2, comboes with Gitrog. Better with discard outlet.

• (0) Dryad Arbor: Only there ~~because~~ if we play Green Sun's Zenith (GSZ) for a ramp on turn 1. Still decent with Skullclamp and Loam.

• (1GG) Eldritch Evolution: A 1-use Pod cousin with a cheap mana cost. Its +2 cmc allows us more flexibility than Birthing Pod, but it's still a limited scale. Unfortunately, Eldritch Evolution is card-disadvantage and exiles itself. There are better tutor options.

• (2GG) Garruk Wildspeaker: This planeswalker is a polyvalent ramp card. We lose his value if he dies, but he's well protected by Glissa. His Ultimate can be game-ending with Avenger of Zendikar. Replaced temporarely by Skyshroud Claim (testing).

• (3BG) The Gitrog Monster: Draw engine with a relative cheap impressive body. Impressive with dredge effects. Was cut for cheaper card advantage options. Could come back.

• (1B) Golgari Thug: Recursion + dredge card. Removed because dredge isn't as necessary as before and we have enough recursion.

• (XG) Green Sun's Zenith: Aka "GSZ." It's like you put the creature from your library directly onto the battlefield, for just one extra mana. The "shuffle-back-to-library" is a nice bonus. If we start a game with it in our hand, we usually keep it to fetch Dryad Arbor on turn 1 for a fast and furious ramp. The only big inconvenient is its limitation to green creatures, which was the reason I cut it.

• (3BB) Liliana, Death's Majesty: All her loyalty abilities are useful to us! Her +1 dredges our deck for digging extra artifacts and produces a chumpblocker that defends the PW. Her -3 is an efficient reanimation spell that interacts well with her first ability. And her -7 is an easy-to-reach boardwipe. Was finally cut because I needed extra room.

• Mishra's Workshop: Since I revamped the deck and decreased the number of artifacts, it's often a dead card. Fortunately, I can use Urborg to help this land produce mana for my nonartifact spells.

• (1+B) Nihil Spellbomb: Our primary grave-hate solution (in conjunction with Bojuka Bog, Deathrite Shaman, and Phyrexian Scriptures). Its cantrip effect can turn into a draw engine with multiple successive Glissa's triggers. Outclassed by Soul-Guide Lantern, but could come back it addition to this one if we need more grave-hate responses.

• (2G) Nissa, Vastwood Seer  : Nissa's solid to dig extra forests out of the deck in the early game, and later on, she'll flip for drawing cards and ramping. Was cut for other card advantage options.

• (3GG) Nissa, Vital Force: Wait.. her emblem does what? And you get it on the next turn she arrived? Well, that's incredible. We use her mainly to get her emblem, by protecting her with a 5/5 and with Glissa. If this plan isn't possible, her built-in Nature's Spiral is still decent. Was cut because needed in another deck.

• (3) Pilgrim's Eye: Chumblocker that draws us a land. He's less effective than Sakura-Tribe Elder, but he chumpblocks better because he has flying (a weakness of this deck). He's fodder for Birthing Pod or Skullclamp. Recurrable ramp card with Glissa.

• Reliquary Tower: The tower that allows us to have a god-sized hand. Not really relevant here.

• (XB) Skeletal Scrying: Great casual draw spell.

• (3G) Skyshroud Claim: One of the best ramp spells. Can get two duals in one shot and put them onto the battlefield untapped. Tested in place of Garruk Wildspeaker, then replaced by Mana Crypt.

• (2B) Stinkweed Imp: It's a dredge 5 ability (great for digging extra artifacts and other dredge cards) and it's a wall that nobody wants to attack into due to its deathtouch-like ability. I've noticed that opponents tend to leave me alone if the Imp is around since it's a cheap and recursive creature that isn't worth someone else's removal (except maybe an exiling effect). Moreover, my opponents usually don't want to see that creature in my graveyard. Was cut for extra room, but could come back.

• (2G) Tireless Tracker: In this deck, the Tireless Tracker can quickly create a lot of Clue tokens. Slowly but surely, it will grow in size. So, it's a slow and efficient draw engine that can be turned into a beating creature.

• (G) Traverse the Ulvenwald: A ramp card early game. A great tutor mid/late game. Assuming we have Delirium (which isn't difficult in this deck), we can tutorize a nonbasic land or any creature for just one mana. Sad to had to cut it, but I needed a slot to bring back Scapeshift.

• (4) Treasure Keeper: We all love Cascade effects. Feels better with Meren.

• (4GG) Ulvenwald Hydra: Primeval Titan's "little" brother, still decent. It defends us against flying attackers (one of the weakness of this deck). I don't consider it as a real ramp card because its mana cost is too high. Was cut for cheaper ramp effects.

• (6GG) Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger: The apex of the pod chain. Huge body with trample that doubles our mana and neuters the opponent's mana base. Fits better to Stax strategies.

Notable Exclusions

• Because it's a Green deck, I tend to use as few as possible artifact manarocks, even with Glissa. Green already give access to the best ramp cards. I don't need to have an extra weakness of having a fragile mana base. Artifact boardwipes are common in my meta.

• Green Sun's Zenith: Great tutor, especially with Dryad Arbor for a turn-1 ramp. Cut from this list in place of Finale of Devastation

• Mana Crypt: No doubt it's one of the best manarocks. But the 3 life tax hurts too much in this deck because we play a slow midrange (rock) strategy.

• Sakura-Tribe Elder: Chumpblocker that ramps. Fodder for Pod and Skullclamp when not needed. Easily recurrable with Genesis. Replaced by Wall of Roots because of Pod.

• Thornbite Staff: Favorite equipment of any creature with Deathtouch, especially with Glissa to generate card advantage with her triggers. I removed it because it was way too slow (mana hungry).

• Mindslaver: Personal choice. I know I know, this is the best artifact to play with Glissa in conjunction with Forbidden Orchard. While it is a powerful combo, it will only neuter one opponent. Then you become the Archenemy and have multiple opponents to face now. It is also mana hungry, rendering you naked against the rest of the table. Moreover, I hate people playing extra-turn cards: multiplayer EDH rounds are long enough. Thus, I am forbidding myself to use such cards except if they allow me to win instantly.

• Mike & Trike: This isn't a combo deck. Winning this way is not my playstyle.

Note: Foils in the maybeboard denote cards I really want to put into the deck.

Please, +1 Upvote this deck if you liked it!

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List of Changes Show

2020-10-19: Covid Update

One year has passed without a major update, mostly due to the lack of playtesting during the worldwide pandemic.

This new update brings back cards from previous deck's versions.

+Oracle of Mul Daya, −Ulvenwald Hydra: Oracle is back, thanks to Jumpstart bringing a new reprint.
+Scapeshift, −Traverse the Ulvenwald: Scapeshift is back! Insane with Field of the Dead.
+Sudden Spoiling, −Beast Within: Sudden Spoiling is back. Testing!
+Soul-Guide Lantern, −Nihil Spellbomb: Upgrade.
+Plaguecrafter, −Fleshbag Marauder: Upgrade.
+Lightning Greaves, −Nissa, Vastwood Seer  : Glissa needs more protection.
+Damnation, −The Gitrog Monster: The list needed an extra cheap boardwipe.
+Command Beacon, +Llanowar Wastes, −Marsh Flats, −Polluted Delta: Two fetches have been cut (from 6 to 4 total) to free room for a new utility land (Command Beacon, testing) and another color fixing land (Llanowar Wastes).

2019-10-11: M20-ELD Update

New addition: Field of the Dead: The 7-lands clause is easily reached in this deck. Might trigger the return of Scapeshift.

Out: High Market

2019-05-04: WAR 2019 Updates

Pretty much one year passed without any update, but the deck is still live.

New additions include the following cards. Many landfall-related cards were cut because needed in another new deck:

• +Assassin's Trophy, −Nissa, Vital Force
• +Metalworker, −Oracle of Mul Daya
• +Finale of Devastation, −Tireless Tracker

Cards being tested (flexspots): Phyrexian Scriptures, Mirage Mirror, Inventors' Fair, Vivien's Arkbow, Sheoldred, Whispering One

2018-06-14: DOM/BBD 2018 Updates

Nine months have passed since the last update but deck was still heavily played. It's just my available free time to play Magic which decreased.
Meanwhile, I tested new card combinations and finally updated my list on tappedout when I approved them:

• +Mishra's Bauble, Chromatic Star and Chromatic Sphere: There were added for their great interactions with Glissa's triggers for lots of cantrips. They were selected for their cheap mana cost. Can't remember what was removed for them.
• +Phyrexian Scriptures: !testing this new toy from Dominaria. I have the feeling it could be cool with our Hex Parasite already in the list.
• +Entomb, −Scapeshift: Entomb is back! But finding room was painful.
• +Dakmor Salvage, −Swamp: It could prove funny with Gitrog.
• +Dust Bowl, −Tectonic Edge: a slight upgrade.
• Other cards added: Command Beacon, Nissa, Vastwood Seer  .
• Other cards removed: Lightning Greaves, Green Sun's Zenith & Dryad Arbor, Liliana, Death's Majesty, Stinkweed Imp.

2017-08-01: AKH/HOU big updates

• Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger → Craterhoof Behemoth: Vorinclex fits better in a Stax strategy. Craterhoof is an insane finisher, something the deck was missing.
• Nissa, Vastwood Seer   → Tireless Tracker: Nissa was our weakest draw option (her main purpose). She was polyvalent, indeed, but too slow. Even a Phyrexian Arena seemed better. Her slot is used for Tireless Tracker !testing.
• Skyshroud Claim → Mana Crypt: Deck upgrade.
• Golgari Thug → Hex Parasite: The deck was missing a 1-cmc artifact creature. I chose Hex Parasite because it has many options: aggressive creature, combo with Dark Depths, PW-removal, anti-tech against new "counters" decks from AKH/HOU that are numerous in my meta.
• Acidic Slime → Treasure Keeper → Liliana, Death's Majesty: Treasure Keeper was tested during a tiny lapse of time. It's a cool dude in a Glissa deck. It was replaced by the new Liliana from AKH that seems to fit better to the deck's strategy. Maybe Treasure Keeper will come back, who knows?!
• Eldritch Evolution → Defense of the Heart: Tutor upgrade. Eldritch is bad compared to other creature tutors (too much limited scale), and it's card-disadvantage. Defense of the Heart is the opposite and easy to trigger.
• Chord of Calling → Mirage Mirror: A new addition from HOU we're really eager to test. It comboes with Dark Depths (call it the Dark Mirror, not to confuse with the TV serie Black Mirror). Chord of Calling was removed because too much green-color intensive.

Possible future updates:

• I really want to add Entomb back.
• I really want to find a spot for Ramunap Excavator.
• I'm thinking about adding Sheoldred, Whispering One and World Breaker.
• I'm thinking about using a 10-cards Wishboard with Living Wish.

2017-07-01: Deck stabilisation

After several tests, the new version works like a well oiled clockwork machine. The deck is less vulnerable to artifact boardwipes and graveyard hate.

New addition are: Bazaar of Baghdad, Volrath's Stronghold, Sylvan Safekeeper, Treasure Keeper, Walking Ballista, and Exploration.

2016-11-11: Revamp & new additions from C16

Deck completely revamped.

You can find the old version here :

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Glissa the Traitor : Metal Rock Old V2

Commander / EDH Stefouch

SCORE: 1 | 2 COMMENTS | 338 VIEWS | IN 1 FOLDER

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Top Ranked	Achieved #25 position overall 5 years ago Achieved #18 position in Commander / EDH 5 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Primer 5 years ago
Date added	8 years
Last updated	4 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	10 - 0 Mythic Rares 57 - 0 Rares 16 - 0 Uncommons 10 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.03
Tokens	Assassin 1/1 B w/ Player Killer, Energy Reserve, Marit Lage, Myr 1/1 C, Plant 0/1 G, Spirit 1/1 C, Thopter 1/1 C, Wurm 3/3 C w/ Deathtouch, Wurm 3/3 C w/ Lifelink, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders	Stefouch EDHs, Interesting Commander Decks, Interesting decks, immediate make, Intredasting, Golgari Deck Ideas, Planning to make, inspiration, Must Build, fun
Based on	EDH Glissa the Traitor : the Rock Newbie Friendly Stefouch EDH