Introduction
Welcome to K-Metra Surge, a surprisingly Interactive Creature-Heavy 7-9 EDH deck. This deck is entirely permanents with the exception of
Primal Surge
, a 10 cost sorcery that flips the deck. Our goal is to generate Mana, interact with creatures, beat down our opponents, and finish them off with
Primal Surge
.
First, we will break down the core creature themes of the deck. We have Mana Dorks, Tools, Beaters, Interactions, and Wins.
Mana Dorks
This deck relies heavily on generating Mana quickly. We would like to cast Karametra on turn 3 or 4 for maximum efficiency. Our main Mana dorks are
Avacyn's Pilgrim
,
Elvish Mystic
,
Joraga Treespeaker
, and
Sakura-Tribe Elder
. Joraga Treespeaker is like a
Sol Ring
, turn 2 this card can produce 2 green Mana. Turn 1 Forest and Treespeaker, Turn 2 Plains, Level Counter, Turn 3 Land and Karametra. Sakura-Tribe Elder I also consider a Mana dork, because we can sacrifice it turn 2 for an additional land to get ahead. Avacyn's Pilgrim and Elvish Mystic are self-explanatory. These Mana dorks are not only useful in early-game, but they will turn into
Rampant Growth
s in the late game when we have Karametra in play, and will never be dead cards.
Tools
Tools are creatures in this deck that usually replace effects that instants or sorceries would otherwise provide. Examples of these are
Elvish Visionary
,
Eternal Witness
,
Acidic Slime
,
Reclamation Sage
,
Woodland Bellower
,
Emeria Shepherd
,
Spore Frog
,
Caustic Caterpillar
and
Sylvan Safekeeper
. These cards replace effects like
Naturalize
and
Fog
or
Eladamri's Call
and
Harmonize
, with the added benefit of being
Rampant Growth
s when I cast them and trigger Karametra. These cards can be recurred multiple times with
Karmic Guide
or
Emeria Shepherd
for extra value as well. In a deck of all permanents, replacing the effects of instants and sorceries is essential in a format like EDH.
Beaters
Beaters in this deck are simple. They're in the deck to beat your opponent to death or to stop opponents from outracing you with aggro strategies. Examples are
Avacyn, Angel of Hope
,
Woodland Bellower
,
God-Eternal Oketra
, and
Karametra, God of Harvests
herself. These cards all either are big beaters or create beaters, or both. Another recent addition is
Scute Swarm
, and with the amount of lands we play, if you hold Scute Swarm until turn 5 or 6, you can easily get up to 32 or more Scute Swarms in one turn. While not big on their own, 32 1/1 creatures can stop opponents from swinging wide with their board. Avacyn has the added benefit of giving your creatures indestructible, which synergizes well with 2048 copies of
Scute Swarm
. Some of our beaters and Interactions fulfill both roles, as they are usually high-power creatures.
Interactions
Interactions in this deck are cards included and used mostly for their interactive purposes. We have
Admonition Angel
which exiles a permanent every time we Landfall,
Angel of Serenity
which is 3
Stasis Snare
s stapled to one big flying creature. We have cards like
Angel of the Dire Hour
, a very powerful one-sided boardwipe that can get past Indestructible and net a creature.
Planar Guide
can flicker our whole board as well, saving it from cards like
Damnation
or
Cyclonic Rift
and re-using our ETB's. We can use
Felidar Guardian
and
Restoration Angel
to flicker some of our permanents and protect them from threats, or use them together for infinite ETB's.
Stonecloaker
is one of the most versatile cards in the deck, it can be used on end step to cast several times for Karametra triggers, exiling cards from graveyards in response to cards like
Exhume
or
Dread Return
, or you can use it to bounce a creature to your hand to protect it from
Murder
. I could write an entire primer just on using this deck for interaction.
Wins
Our wins in this deck, in the form of Creatures, are very simple.
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
,
Craterhoof Behemoth
,
Avenger of Zendikar
, and
It That Betrays
are our most common wins. Elesh Norn pumps our 2048 Scute Swarms into a massive 6000+ power team, drop a Craterhoof and then you're swinging for over 4,200,000 damage.
Akroma's Memorial
is our main haste enabler.
Non-Creature Spells
Next we will discuss the non-creatures in the deck.
Aluren
is the star player, allowing us to cast
Kor Skyfisher
,
Whitemane Lion
, and
Stonecloaker
infinite times, grabbing all of our lands.
Amulet of Vigor
helps out by letting our lands enter untapped, where we can take advantage of the ramp right away.
Mirari's Wake
increases our total power and toughness while doubling our mana.
Survival of the Fittest
is a reusable tutor grabbing any creature from our deck at the price of a single green Mana and a creature. Survival is a literal toolbox that can be used to fill your graveyard with creatures to recur them with
Emeria Shepherd
for massive value. Survival is usually swapped with
Fauna Shaman
for budget constraints, and Fauna Shaman is fine but lacks the ability to be used multiple times per turn.
Alternate Wins
This deck doesn't always see
Primal Surge
, so we need more ways to win.
Eternal Witness
and Trostani, Voice of Selesnya will give us plenty of lifegain.
Craterhoof Behemoth
, even with just 6 other creatures can be enough to swing for lethal against another player.
It That Betrays
will slowly collect your opponent's board, and Elesh Norn will protect your creatures while weakening others. Beatdown is the main way to win in this deck, and Commander damage from Karametra is nothing to scoff at either.
Lands
This deck runs mostly fetchable forests and plains. This means a lot of basic lands, and that's okay. Inclusion of faster manabases at the cost of less fetchable lands is not worth the money, as it limits the amount of cast triggers you can use with Karametra. I do include a few utility lands.
Winding Canyons
gives our creatures flash,
Wasteland
targets
Cabal Coffers
,
Crystal Vein
and
Untaidake, the Cloud Keeper
are fast lands that help cast Karametra quicker.
The Game
The best opening hand to start with is
Lotus Petal
/
Jeweled Lotus
, forest, plains,
Joraga Treespeaker
,
Sol Ring
,
Avacyn's Pilgrim
, and
Ranger of Eos
. With this hand, with Lotus Petal, you play Karametra turn 2, then get 2 Karametra triggers on turn 3 putting you ahead by 2 lands. Realistically, you can keep any hand with a forest, a plains, and a Mana dork.
Conclusion
Thank you all for taking the time to read this far, I hope this primer has been helpful and informative! Thanks!
