Unspeakable horrors enter through the Hidden Realm.

I wanted to do this as a theme deck without sacrificing too much in terms of (casual) play viability. Eldrazi are good, and flickering works pretty well for several of them. Roon, too, works surprisingly well here, and gives us a fun look into a Bant antagonist.

What we know about Roon is that he's from a plane that is probably Bant, that he used to be a soldier but gave it up after seeing the horrors of war (specifically, he witnessed or was part of the mistaken slaughter of innocents). A military deserter, he found a vision of a place called the "hidden realm." Roon becomes something of a cult leader, getting called a blasphemer by some and a prophet by others, amassing a following, proving himself mostly peaceful but ruthlessly efficient. According to his commander blurb, his promise is that he will "someday open the gate to eternal glory."

From this, I want to argue that Roon is a cult leader, and that the hidden realm (and therefor the subject of his cult) is the realm of the Eldrazi. Why eldrazi? Because they're hidden, for one, but also because they're simply the most interesting answer for "what is lurking in the hidden realm" that I can find. Cards like Scroll of Fate and Primordial Mist represent the Hidden Realm sort of "leaking" into Alara, with Roon being capable of revealing their true(ish) forms. Cards such as Wargate and Planar Bridge represent larger openings. "The gate to eternal glory" as the blurb says.

Mechanically, the deck is very simple; summon Eldrazi, then keep throwing them onto the battlefield over and over again in order to amass spawn. Spawn can be used as mana ramp, but also exist on their own and eventually will add up. Face down cards can be flipped up via Roon's ability, which you should use as often as possible.

Roleplay wise, here's my argument for Roon's motivations: - Roon sees himself as a herald, and he absolutely is a zealot. Nothing will ever make him back down from his goals of bringing the Eldrazi into the plane. Even seeing their ravenous destruction is not enough to convince him that this is not all part of a plan that will make the world better and free of suffering. - Roon is not the classic "drooling murderous" version of insane. For all intents and purposes, Roon has a stoicism that makes him feel like the good guy except for the whole eldrazi destroying the world thing. - Remember, Bant lacks Red and black, which means it lacks passion and individualism. These aren't necessarily evil traits! Without red and black, Roon is locked into his cause. He thinks it's good for everyone, and he's willing to stomp the individual down for the sake of the group. He is closed off to emotion, which closes his heart off to desire and love. Keep it in mind!

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97% Casual

Competitive

Date added 4 years
Last updated 7 months
Legality

This deck is Commander / EDH legal.

Rarity (main - side)

8 - 0 Mythic Rares

30 - 0 Rares

27 - 0 Uncommons

18 - 0 Commons

Cards 100
Avg. CMC 3.91
Tokens City's Blessing, Copy Clone, Eldrazi Angel 4/4 C, Eldrazi Scion 1/1 C, Eldrazi Spawn 0/1 C, Elephant 3-3 G, Emblem Venser, the Sojourner, Manifest 2/2 C, Morph 2/2 C, Samurai 2/2 W w/ Double strike
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