Prime Specimens

Commander / EDH GU (Simic) Ramp

Discoduck

Creature (42)

• 1x Archetype of Imagination
• 1x Bane of Progress
• 1x Chasm Skulker
• 1x Cold-Eyed Selkie
• 1x Cosi's Trickster
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Fathom Mage
• 1x Fertilid
• 1x Forgotten Ancient
• 1x Glen Elendra Archmage
• 1x Gyre Sage
• 1x Heroes' Bane
• 1x Hydra Omnivore
• 1x Kalonian Hydra
• 1x Lorescale Coatl
• 1x Lorthos, the Tidemaker
• 1x Managorger Hydra
• 1x Master Biomancer
• 1x Master of the Pearl Trident
• 1x Merfolk Sovereign
• 1x Merrow Harbinger
• 1x Momir Vig, Simic Visionary
• 1x Mystic Snake
• 1x Nessian Wilds Ravager
• 1x Plaxcaster Frogling
• 1x Primordial Hydra
• 1x Reef Worm
• 1x Sage of Fables
• 1x Scute Mob
• 1x Sealock Monster
• 1x Shipbreaker Kraken
• 1x Spearbreaker Behemoth
• 1x Sphinx of Magosi
• 1x Stormsurge Kraken
• 1x Stormtide Leviathan
• 1x Streambed Aquitects
• 1x Terastodon
• 1x Thassa, God of the Sea
• 1x Tidal Force
• 1x Trygon Predator
• 1x Vigor
• 1x Vorel of the Hull Clade

Land (37)

• 1x Breeding Pool
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Flooded Grove
• 9x Forest
• 1x Halimar Depths
• 8x Island
• 1x Llanowar Reborn
• 1x Lonely Sandbar
• 1x Lumbering Falls
• 1x Misty Rainforest
• 1x Opal Palace
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Simic Guildgate
• 1x Soaring Seacliff
• 1x Temple of Mystery
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Tolaria West
• 1x Tranquil Thicket
• 1x Yavimaya Coast

Enchantment (1)

• 1x Asceticism

Artifact (5)

• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Spellbook
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Whispersilk Cloak

Instant (3)

• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Krosan Grip
• 1x Voidslime

Sorcery (11)

• 1x Crush of Tentacles
• 1x Cultivate
• 1x Explosive Vegetation
• 1x Kodama's Reach
• 1x Part the Waterveil
• 1x Primal Command
• 1x Recollect
• 1x Regrowth
• 1x Rite of Replication
• 1x Sylvan Scrying
• 1x Verdant Confluence

Commander (1)

---

Strategy and Themes

In a word, commander damage. Ok, two words.

More words: Ramp, build up massive creatures, play Zegana at 11/11+, then swing for unblockable attacks to take people out in 1-2 hits. +1/+1 counter and merfolk strategies underlying.

Backup strategy is of course to just pummel people with massive creatures.

This one is faster/ more competitive/ outright destructive than I usually like to be, but it's slippery and fun and pretty, and it lets the game go on long enough for people to at least find their footing, which I think makes it more fun/ fair than those frustrating 6-turn Rafiq of the Many games.

Flavor: Seaside Jungles! Apex Predators!

Wild Ones: Hydras have the most potential of any creature to grow to unlimited size, and I tried to choose those which were best at doing just that. The benefits for Zegana are obvious.

Deep Ones: Leviathans and Krakens and other denizens of the deep. While these seaside fatties don't have the same raw potential as hydras for ridiculous draw via Zegana, they are certainly big enough to get the job done. They also have excellent utility to make up for their "lack" of size. And remember: this deck can easily make even the smallest creature large enough to eat somebody.

Merfolk Allies: Zegana is a potentially massive Merfolk, and that's very useful when going for a win via commander damage. After all, merfolk support is generally great at granting evasion.

Specifics

Evasion: Master of the Pearl Trident, Merfolk Sovereign, Streambed Aquitects , and Thassa, God of the Sea are some cards that can let Zegana slip through defenses for commander damage. Whispersilk Cloak and Rogue's Passage are fun as well.

Protection: Keep Zegana from biting it with stuff like Plaxcaster Frogling and Asceticism. Obvious equipment is here as well.

Grow and Show: Scute Mob , Primordial Hydra, Managorger Hydra, Chasm Skulker, and Lorescale Coatl are great early drops/ removal-eaters that keep growing for some dangerously huge card draw. If an opponent wastes their kill spells on them, that's fine too - less for ol' Zeggie to worry about.

Miracle Grow: Vorel of the Hull Clade, Forgotten Ancient, and Kalonian Hydra to make Zegana a 1-hit-player-killer.

+1/+1 Counter Goodstuff: It's there, just look.

Recoup: This deck can be relatively weak to wrath effects if you blow your load too quickly without a backup plan in hand (don't do that! You should always have enough cards in hand for a backup plan! And then some!). That said, casting Part the Waterveil after a board wipe and awakening the Lumbering Falls is a great way to rally. This not only gives you a 6/6/ 9/9 sometimes-hexproof creature, but also a 10/10 Zegana that doesn't have to worry about a ton of blockers. And that's without any help from the myriad creature-pump sources in this deck.

Reef Worm should be mentioned here as well. It not only fits perfectly for flavor, but it gets bigger every time a jerk wipes the board, meaning I'll still have a way to play a fat-enough Zegana despite my other creatures biting it.

Merfolk and Wizards: Alongside the merfolk lords and evasion-enablers listed above, Merrow Harbinger is great for searching out whatever merfolk utility I need.

Sage of Fables certainly gets an additional card off of Zegana, but also has great interaction with Lorescale Coatl and Chasm Skulker that basically reads ": Draw a card." The Sage also helps that Master Biomancer get going sooner. Additionally, and awesomely, she (along with all the other ways of giving creatures +1/+1 counters) makes it so your Glen Elendra Archmage can constantly be countering those evil wrath effects, among other things.

Great Floods: Streambed Aquitects , Stormtide Leviathan , and Sealock Monster enable Islandwalk against those decks that don't have Islands for some insane reason (and Stormtide is just ruthless anyway, especially with Archetype of Imagination in play).

Undertow: Tidal Force , Shipbreaker Kraken, and Lorthos, the Tidemaker are huge enough to make a smashy Zegana, and they also keep people's creatures locked down and unable to block. Crush of Tentacles for a "boardwipe" that also grants you a free fattie for Zegana to grow off of when she comes down again soon after.

Date added	11 years
Last updated	8 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	7 - 0 Mythic Rares 39 - 0 Rares 25 - 0 Uncommons 12 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	4.00
Tokens	Copy Clone, Elephant 3/3 G, Fish 3/3 U, Kraken 9/9 U, Octopus 8/8 U, Squid 1/1 U, Whale 6/6 U
Folders	Deck bases, Commander, commander, Found Decks, Commander Decks, Edh, EDH Decks, Deck Refs, Lady in the Water