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Kal-El, Son of Krypton

Commander / EDH DragonShield Deck Challenge: Superman RUW (Jeskai, America)

Dethslayr378

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Instant (33)

Land (37)

Enchantment (9)

Planeswalker (4)

Commander (1)

Commander: foil Elsha of the Infinite

Artifact (10)

Sorcery (6)

This is my Superman themed EDH deck and submission to the DragonShield Deck Challenge: Superman!

For this deck, I choose Elsha as the Commander. My reasoning started first with the Jeskai colors, as I felt Superman's abilities fit very well into these color and for me, he felt very Jeskai. Additionally, I thought it important that the representation for Superman was not human in an attempt to reflect his alienation from humans. No pun intended. Furthermore, Elsha's "super senses" and ability to "move faster than a speeding bullet" via being able to cast from the top of library at instant speed felt very right. The deck functions like a Voltron build, with our hero leading the charge!

I tried to give each card slot as much thought as possible, and descriptions for my choices are below. Enjoy!

UPDATE: Worked on some formatting, so hopefully it's easier to read through everything!

-These are so spot on with Superman's abilities.

-Both included to convey Superman's incredible vision powers. Be it X-Ray vision or telescopic vision there is no hiding from his gaze!

  • All included to convey Superman's uncanny ability to mimic a bird and/or a plane.

-Superman has super strength of course, I'd expect his punches to hit pretty hard!

-Defeating Superman's invulnerability will be no small feat!

  • Superman is the keeper of the peace, a guardian of justice, and often more than capable of stopping evil-doers in their tracks. Represented here by counterspells, including some that cannot be stopped for the man of steel is often unstoppable.

-For Superman's "faster than a runaway locomotive" speed, I decided to go with card draw. Haste seems to make sense, but Superman doesn't let off so easily and I felt card draw better represented just how insanely fast he can move.

  • All that momentum Superman gains is useless if he can't time his strikes. Sometimes, he must hold back and wait until just the right moment. He has to ready when that moment comes of course.

Hero's Resolve- Superman is an individual of great conviction.

Deflecting Palm- I imagine Superman having the most deflecting of palms.

Return to Dust- An easy task for our hero.

Blood Sun- Meant to Represent the Red Sun of Krypton. Stripping all lands of their additional powers, similar to how the red sun rays do not grant Kryptonians any additional strength.

Red Sun's Zenith- I figured if I was using Blood Sun for the Red Sun of Krypton (Before the planet's demise,) then Red Sun's Zenith could represent the planet's eventual demise. In Superman the Movie the destruction is due to the red sun's supernova. So I feel that is represented here with the removal aspect of the card. However, in a lot of other stories (most really) the planet's destruction is due to an unstable core. So I like to think of those differing accounts as the shuffle back in effect. The zenith itself being only one such possible timeline.

Arcane Signet- Included to be our Superman Shield! The coat of arms for the House of El.

Approach of the Second Sun- Meant to represent the yellow sun of Earth, as well as a decently viable wincon.

Emerald Medallion- Probably seems like a strange inclusion as it doesn't benefit the deck in any way really. Which is exactly the point. I wanted Superman's Kryptonite to be something green, and this serves as that purpose. The artwork fits aesthetically, it has green synergy which is no good for Superman, and drawing this card could certainly weaken our hero!

Chaos Wand- Red Kryptonite has a history of having different effects through the comics, my favorite being the "remove inhibitions" effect making Superman do things he normally wouldn't do. So, chaos wand to do things the deck wouldn't normally do and every time its a bit different.

  • Superman is of course, a beacon of hope!
  • Evil-doers beware!

Time Reversal- This is a direct reference to Superman flying around the world backwards to turn back time.

  • For when we must call upon the Phantom Zone to remove our enemies from our path.

Gemstone Caverns- I wanted to represent the Fortress of Solitude in this deck, however it was important to me to represent it with a land as opposed to a creature or something else. Although the fortress is most often depicted in a snowy tundra, I tend to think of the structure itself of being made more of crystal than of ice. Enter, Gemstone Caverns! Our crystal fortress!

Raugrin Crystal- In the same vein (no pun intended) as the reasoning for Gemstone Caverns, I included this mana rock to represent one of the many crystals filling the halls of the Fortress. Plus, mana is good.

Mind Harness- When I saw this, the art and effect reminded me so much of Starro I had to include it.

Aeon Engine- Included to represent a "Tale of the Bizzaro World."

Dack Fayden- Dack is our deck's Brainiac, his double looting ability represents Brainiac's pursuit of knowledge at all costs. His minus ability is Brainiac controlling some computer system, and his ultimate here represents Brainiac using his telepathy to control the minds of other individuals.

Submerge- This card is meant to represent Aqauman's aid. The alternative cost is Aquaman stepping in right in the knick of time.

Jace, Unraveler of Secrets- Jace steps in to represent our Batman here. Offering support to Superman by handling some of the foes (in a nonlethal manner) and also making sure Superman is well equipped for the fight ahead.

Narset of the Ancient Way- Coming in as our Wonder Woman, Narset. She fits the character by helping to fight alongside Superman with her minus, and supporting him through her plus. Should she get to her ultimate, then I imagine it as the tag team combo, Superman and Wonder Woman teaming up to take down their foe!

Mana Geyser- Nothing can accelerate your game like a huge mana boost, and for that reason I'm representing the Flash's presence with Mana Geyser. I imagine it being him coming in with a speedy assist.

Karn, Scion of Urza- This is one I'm really happy about, Karn represents our Green Lantern of the deck. His ability to create Constructs is so spot on with the constructs of the Lantern rings that it was already a shoe in. However, I also imagine the interaction between the plus and minus ability being the charging of the ring (the plus ability) and actual usage of the ring (the minus) while the constructs are just flavor bonuses. I also imagine an altered art where the globe is a Green Power Battery.

Heroes Remembered- Meant to represent The Death of Superman comic run

Mirage Mirror- Represents the Crisis On Infinite Earths comic run

  • I couldn't decided which of these I wanted to include to reference the Man Of Steel comic line, so I included both. Why not right?
I wanted my land choices to be a reflection of some key locations in the Superman timeline. After some consideration I decided to make my Basic Plains represent Smallville, Basic Islands represent Metropolis, and Basic Mountains represent Krypton.

Additionally, I've included a few nods to key locations.

Fortress of Solitude- As stated above this is represented by Gemstone Caverns. I know Glacial Fortress exists, but I wasn't really feeling it. That felt too easy.

Justice League Satellite- Command Tower The base of operations for our heroes!

Daily Planet- Memorial to Genius What better to serve as newspaper company than a memorial to genius?

Finally, I've included other lands here that I couldn't really come up with a viable Superman tie in for, however are important to the deck's ability to actually function.

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92% Casual

Competitive

Top Ranked
Date added 4 years
Last updated 4 years
Legality

This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)

6 - 0 Mythic Rares

23 - 0 Rares

16 - 0 Uncommons

29 - 0 Commons
Cards 100
Avg. CMC 2.32
Tokens Construct 0/0 C, Emblem Dack Fayden, Emblem Jace, Unraveler of Secrets, Emblem Narset of the Ancient Way
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