Overview

Hey guys, MysticEnvoy here with one of my favorite decks for my favorite commander, Ghave, Guru of Spores. I love this guy. Junk is my favorite combination of colors because I've always felt it has the strongest synergy between the colors. I make my case with this combo-based deck.

Please keep in mind that I'm an opponent of continuous non-land tutoring in EDH--I play because it's random and fun, not so that I can get my combo the fastest. That's the biggest reason I don't have many tutors or recursion in this deck.

I AM looking for a good alter of Ghave for my deck so if anyone knows of anyone good, let me know.

Acquire-board:

Combos

Combo Pieces: Breakdown

Infinite Mana

  • Ghave, Guru of Spores + Ashnod's Altar + Primal Vigor or Doubling Season + a creature: Sacrifice the creature to the Altar to get 2 mana. Use 1 mana to remove a +1/+1 from Ghave, creating a two Saprolings due to the replacement effect of Vigor or Season. Use the remaining 1 mana from the original sacrifice to activate Ghave's ability, sacrificing one of our Saprolings to put 2 +1/+1 counters on Ghave (now Ghave has one more counter than when we started). Sacrifice the remaining Saproling to the Altar to repeat this process until Ghave has infinite counters and we have 1 Saproling remaining. Then sacrifice the remaining Saproling to the Altar, getting 2 mana which we will spend on REMOVING counters from Ghave to create an infinite army of infinite powered Saprolings. With the Altar on the field, we can sacrifice any number of the Saprolings to create an infinite amount of colorless mana.
  • Blade of the Bloodchief + Ghave, Guru of Spores + Ashnod's Altar + a creature: Sacrifice the creature to the Altar, get 2, put a +1/+1 counter on Ghave when the creature hits the graveyard. Use 1 to take a +1/+1 counter off of Ghave, creating a Saproling. Sacrifice the Saproling to the Altar, getting 2 more mana and replacing the +1/+1 counter on Ghave. Rinse and repeat.

Infinite Damage

  • Triskelion + Mikaeus, the Unhallowed: This is the most basic and effective form of the combo, pointed out to me by amazingronaldo (thanks again!!). Remove +1/+1 counters from Triskelion until it has one +1/+1 counter remaining, assigning damage to an opponent/ creature/ what have you. Remove the last +1/+1 and have Triskelion deal 1 damage to itself, causing it to die. Undying from Mikaeus will trigger, and Triskelon will re-enter the battlefield with four +1/+1 counters. Rinse and repeat. Other combos outlined below involving Mikaeus and Triskelion are more convoluted and, to be frank, unnecessary, but I'm keeping them in anyway.
  • Triskelion + Mikaeus, the Unhallowed + Sac Outlet or Aura Shards: Remove all +1/+1 counters from Triskelion to cause targeted damage to something or someone, then sac it (or let it die). Undying from Mikaeus will trigger, causing Triskelion to re-enter the battlefield. If using Aura Shards for the combo, let it's ability go on stack (targeting Triskelion), then remove all +1/+1 counters from Triskelion. When Shard's ability resolves, Triskelion dies, but comes back again because of Undying. Ashnod's Altar method works similarly but with sacrificing Triskelion instead.
  • Triskelion + Mikaeus, the Unhallowed + Ghave, Guru of Spores + Infinite mana: Same as above, but using Ghave's sacrifice ability. This method also allows for the creation of infinite Saprolings and +1/+1 counters on any creature.
  • Geralf's Messenger + Ghave, Guru of Spores + Ashnod's Altar:

Infinite Creatures

  • Ghave, Guru of Spores + Ashnod's Altar + Primal Vigor or Doubling Season + a creature: See above section on infinite colorless mana.
  • Mikaeus, the Unhallowed + Ghave, Guru of Spores + Infinite mana: Remove all counters from Ghave, making as many Saprolings as possible. Ghave, having 0 toughness, dies as a state based effect. Allow him to hit the graveyard so the Undying trigger resolves and he comes back with a +1/+1 counter. Remove that counter, put a Saproling onto the battlefield. Rinse and repeat. This method can also be used to get infinite +1/+1 counters, using our army of infinite Saprolings as sacrifices to put infinite +1/+1 counters on any number of creatures. If there is an anthem effect in play that gives Ghave more than 0 base toughness, a sac outlet is required for this combo to go infinite (which we should have, considering we're assuming infinite mana from Ashod's Altar).

Infinite Life

Infinite +1/+1 Counters

Anthem Effects

  • Creakwood Liege : A worm every turn, and +1/+1 to all Green or Black creature (+2/+2 if both!!). Definitely helps with the beatdown if a combo isn't set up. He DOES tend to draw a lot of spot removal, but that's usually fine since we don't use him to go infinite anyway.
  • Eldrazi Monument: Such a gorgeous card. +1/+1, Flying, and Indestructible to all of our creatures for the measly cost of a creature per turn. I don't think I need to explain any further.
  • Glaring Spotlight: Ruins Hexproof generals (my playgroup loves them), AND can be sacrificed for a kill-shot or protection if necessary, giving all of our creatures Hexproof and Unblockable for the turn.
  • Sorin, Lord of Innistrad: Immediate and unremovable +1/+0 anthem as soon as he hits the field. Also produces little Lifelinkers which is useful.
  • Cathars' Crusade: Not strictly an anthem, but still buffs creatures whenever another one enters the battlefield (even the creature that just entered gets a +1/+1).
  • Intangible Virtue: People say that Vigilance is an overcosted ability, and I tend to agree. That doesn't make it any less valuable. Swinging with buffed tokens that can block afterward has won me more than a few games.

Mana Acceleration

Token Generation

Synergistic Cards

  • Debt to the Deathless: Considering this deck is a combo deck, we'll often be taking damage as we set up our combo pieces and build our army, especially with our draw engines like Bloodgift Demon and Phyrexian Arena or generators like Bitterblossom on the field. Debt is a great card that hits all opponents at the table, gain us some life back, and is a beautiful mana-dump finisher when we have infinite mana.

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Revision 10 See all

(10 years ago)

-1 Plains main
+1 Plains main
-1 Swamp main
-1 Swamp main
-1 Swamp main
-1 Swamp main
+4 Swamp main
Date added 10 years
Last updated 10 years
Legality

This deck is Commander / EDH legal.

Rarity (main - side)

16 - 0 Mythic Rares

47 - 0 Rares

22 - 0 Uncommons

6 - 0 Commons

Cards 100
Avg. CMC 4.05
Tokens Assassin 1/1 B w/ Player Killer, Elemental */* GW, Elephant 3-3 G, Elf Warrior 1/1 G, Emblem Sorin, Lord of Innistrad, Faerie Rogue 1/1 B, Human 1/1 W, Human 2/2 G, Phyrexian Horror X/X C, Saproling 1/1 G, Soldier 1/1 W, Vampire 1/1 B w/ Lifelink, Vampire 2/2 B, Wolf 1/1 B, Wolf 2/2 G, Worm 1/1 BG, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders ghave, Cool Decks, Future Commander decks
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