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Live and Learn

Commander / EDH Angels Combo Flying GWU (Bant) Midrange Primer Theme/Gimmick

NinetyFish

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Land (36)

Support (8)

Creatures (25)

CardDraw/Tutoring (8)

Commander (1)

Commander: foil Kestia, the Cultivator

Interaction (12)

ManaRamp (10)

"We must cultivate our garden."

-Voltaire, Candide

This is my "personal expression" deck, reflecting my philosophy and outlook on life while also doing everything that I like doing in a game of Magic. This is my favorite deck, my pet deck, and my MTG pride and joy.

At the moment, the deck is 98% foiled out, with Mystic Remora and Nature's Lore lacking foil printings. Mystic Remora is currently in an altersleeve made by Leah Sayles (click on the A symbol in the decklist for a link to the altersleeve). I'm also currently considering commissioning painted alters for Mystic Remora and Nature's Lore.

The key ethos of this deck is education, growth, and personal strength. This is perhaps most strongly reflected in my choice of commander, Kestia, the Cultivator. Thematically, Kestia is a cultivator who strives to work for and support the future and the good of all, who most often acts by supporting and encouraging others (reflected by her Bestow mechanic), but who can also jump into the fray herself and get work done (reflected by the fact that she is a 4/4 for 4 who can trigger her own ability). The deck's card draw and mana ramp represent education and growth. The attack/combat triggers that can also help us grow represent the fact that effort and hard work need to be put in in order to grow, whether that be as a student, as a teacher/mentor/cultivator, or, simply, as a person. I am an English teacher myself, so this deck really means a lot to me. I identify with it and the themes of the deck and the flavor text of many of the cards inspire me when times get tougher.

This deck is an interactive value-engine-based midrange deck, featuring evasive attackers, value engines, and infinite turn combos as the finishing touch after ideally long and interactive games where everyone gets to do their thing. We're aiming for the sweet spot of the 75% optimized tier of EDH, the "high power" tier, and the 7-8 range on a 1-10 power scale: powerful and well-tuned, interactive and fair, responsive but not oppressive, optimized but still personalized.

"The best prize life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing."

-Theodore Roosevelt

Put most simply, this is a Bant skies midrange deck. The angels are evasive attackers who can also support each other and the boardstate as a whole, and thus can serve as a powerful and flavorful core to the deck when surrounded by multiple value engines from the Bant color pie. They also typically have beautiful flavor text that fits the key ethos of deck and often comfort/inspire me personally.

Some value engines in the deck include:

-Landfall triggers from Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait, Emeria Shepherd, and Tatyova, Benthic Druid

-Creature ETB triggers from Ephara, God of the Polis, Guardian Project, Sword of Hearth and Home, Thassa, Deep-Dwelling, and the ETB creatures themselves

-Attack triggers from Bear Umbra and Kestia, the Cultivator

-Combat damage triggers from Sword of Feast and Famine, Sword of Fire and Ice, and Sword of Hearth and Home

-Opponent cast triggers from Mystic Remora and Rhystic Study

-Opponent draw triggers from Smothering Tithe

While our opponents are struggling with our aerial assault and scrambling to find answers to our engines, we out-grind and out-value our opponents, play the interactive game to protect our boardstate and keep others in control, and work our way towards an infinite turn combo as a finisher.

Our combos revolve around our extra turn cards: Temporal Manipulation and Time Warp. Given the right combination of cards, we can take infinite extra turns, giving us the eventual win through combat. The way this deck works, we can use these cards naturally throughout the course of the game for the extra firepower of extra turns and still employ our infinite combos once we hit the right pieces. None of our combo pieces are limited only to the combo, so we’re always happy to draw them.

In testing, in a goldfishing scenario where the deck faces absolutely no blockers, removal, or counterspells, we can reliably combo out on turn 7-8 on average. In actual gameplay, if the deck finishes with a combo, it comboes out on turn 10 on average, demonstrating how the deck can fit in in the "high power" tier while not oppressing or pub-stomping "middle power" tier decks.

Temporal Manipulation/Time Warp + Eternal Witness/Timeless Witness + Sword of Hearth and Home/Thassa, Deep-Dwelling: Cast Manipulation/Warp, giving us our first extra turn. Either one of the Witnesses will recur Manipulation/Warp right back to our hand, and SoHH/Thassa will blink the Witness for another ETB trigger, allowing the cycle to begin.

Note that this combo can start with Manipulation/Warp in the graveyard once you’ve started the loop with the other pieces, meaning you can freely cast Manipulation/Warp freely throughout the game. If Manipulation/Warp are in hand but Thassa/SoHH are in the graveyard, the combo can also be started by playing out one of the Witnesses to recur the third piece and comboing out from there.

Sword of Hearth and Home requires a damage trigger, unlike Thassa, but it is often possible to ensure that the creature wielding it cannot be blocked thanks to a combination of a likelihood of that creature being flying, protections from various colors due to the Swords, and targeted removal for the few creatures that can block the attacker. Since this combo does not take up our natural draw phase (in addition to ramping us by one basic land per turn if using SoHH), there is also a strong possibility that the infinite turn cycle can begin by attacking one or two opponents and then naturally drawing into removal or the appropriately colored Sword by the time the player with the potential blocker needs to be attacked in order to continue the cycle. In the vast majority of cases, you can demonstrate that you will find said cards at some point in the loop, and avoid having to play the combo out.

This deck does not revolve solely around the combo and is perfectly fine simply playing out a value-based midrange game, but the deck nevertheless plays many ways to tutor out various pieces of the combo in order to assemble it.

Tutors for the Witnesses include Recruiter of the Guard and Eladamri's Call. The tutor for the Time spells is Mystical Tutor, and the tutors for Thassa/SoHH are Enlightened Tutor, Idyllic Tutor, Stoneforge Mystic, and Trophy Mage.

In addition, Spellseeker provides a way to tutor Eladamri's Call, Enlightened Tutor, and Mystical Tutor. Recruiter of the Guard can also tutor for Stoneforge Mystic and Trophy Mage as well. Emancipation Angel, Restoration Angel, Sword of Hearth and Home, and Thassa, Deep-Dwelling provide ways to bounce/blink the various ETB creatures in order to reuse their tutor effects if a different card is needed than the one they initially tutored for.

12x angels:

Angelic Skirmisher, Archangel of Thune, Avacyn, Angel of Hope, Avacyn, Guardian Angel, Emancipation Angel, Emeria Shepherd, Linvala, Shield of Sea Gate, Lyra Dawnbringer, Restoration Angel, Shalai, Voice of Plenty, Sigarda, Host of Herons, Thraben Watcher

In CMC order, it goes

3drop = Emancipation Angel; Linvala, Shield of Sea Gate

4drop = Restoration Angel; Shalai, Voice of Plenty; Thraben Watcher

5drop = Archangel of Thune; Avacyn, Guardian Angel; Lyra Dawnbringer; Sigarda, Host of Herons

6drop = Angelic Skirmisher

7drop = Emeria Shepherd

8drop = Avacyn, Angel of Hope

6x engines:

Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait, Ephara, God of the Polis, Heliod, God of the Sun, Kestia, the Cultivator, Tatyova, Benthic Druid, Thassa, Deep-Dwelling

Four Therosian gods in Ephara, Heliod, Kestia (technically an avatar), and Thassa.

Two Simic value engines in Aesi and Tatyova.

8x ETB creatures:

Eternal Witness, Farhaven Elf, Recruiter of the Guard, Spellseeker, Stoneforge Mystic, Timeless Witness, Trophy Mage, Wood Elves

Two recursion creatures/combo pieces in Eternal Witness and Timeless Witness.

Two equipment tutorers in Stoneforge Mystic and Trophy Mage for the Swords of X and Y. Two more generic tutorers in Recruiter of the Guard and Spellseeker.

Two ramp creatures in Farhaven Elf and Wood Elves.

1x mana ramp engine (essentially a must-play):

Smothering Tithe

I don't consider Smothering Tithe to be a mana ramp card, per se, due to its CMC cost, speed, and impermanence, but this doesn't change its incredible power. It's much more of a midrange value engine, but one that can lead to overwhelming boardstates due to its extreme tempo boost and ability to help keep up interaction while still being protactive.

2x auras:

Angelic Destiny, Bear Umbra

Only playing two auras (and three enchantment creatures in the Therosian Gods) might be a surprise to anyone seeing a deck helmed by Kestia, the Cultivator, but I prefer not leaning on Kestia's ability too heavily as it makes the deck much more commander-reliant and more more vulnerable to disruption. This way, Kestia serves as a very effective card draw engine in the deck but isn't essential to make the deck work as a whole. Bear Umbra's power is clear, and Angelic Destiny's power/toughness boost, flying, and angel-type-status can be extremely relevant in the right situation. The flavor of Angelic Destiny is beautiful and I can't resist playing it in an angel-focused deck. Also note the resilience of these two auras: Bear Umbra protects the creature it's enchanted and Angelic Destiny can recur itself, allowing it to be replayed and continue being a part of Kestia's card draw engine.

2x combo pieces/extra turn spells:

Temporal Manipulation, Time Warp

In addition to being combo pieces for the infinite combo finish, these spells can be used for value throughout the game. Because many of the engines in the deck revolve around proactive actions like creature cast triggers, landfall triggers, attack triggers, and damage triggers, taking an extra turn can result in a lot of resources and value and can help snowball into the win. In the majority of cases, an uninterrupted or mostly-uninterrupted extra turn's worth of value leads to taking over the game or outright winning. It is extremely rare to take multiple extra turns in a row without outright winning, which prevents the deck from being a dedicated extra-turns deck and keeps it being interactive and fun for the other players at the table.

3x Swords of X and Y:

Sword of Feast and Famine, Sword of Fire and Ice, Sword of Hearth and Home

Incredible value engines in their own rights, in addition to protecting our creatures and allowing them to go unblocked/serve as incredible blockers. In addition to arguably being the best three Swords in the format, the three of them combined grant protection from all five colors which is extremely relevant in the right situations. Note that the three Swords can be tutored by Stoneforge Mystic and Trophy Mage, and that tutoring SoHH with them can allow you to blink the equipment-tutors in the following turns, eventually allowing you to tutor all three Swords with just one of the equipment-tutors. The Swords are powerful enough to make playing Academy Ruins worth it just to have extra insurance for them.

Only having eight cards in this category looks a little low, but there is a lot more card draw, tutoring, and general card advantage scattered around the other deck categories so it feels like much more in practice. I find myself discarding to hand-size enough that Reliquary Tower not only belongs in the deck but is a card that I actively really enjoy drawing, which speaks for the value and card advantage engines of the deck as a whole.

4x tutors (for artifacts, creatures, enchantments, instants, and sorceries):

Eladamri's Call, Enlightened Tutor, Idyllic Tutor, Mystical Tutor

Idyllic Tutor is the most limited and the most expensive (CMC-wise) of the tutors, but it's chosen due to the sheer power of the three Therosian God cards in the deck: Ephara, God of the Polis, Heliod, God of the Sun, and Thassa, Deep-Dwelling. In addition to their individual power level in terms of providing card draw, vigilance, tokens, blink effects, tap effects, and indestructibility, they also synergize extremely well with Kestia, the Cultivator's draw effect. It can also, of course, tutor up the card draw enchantments as well as the two auras of the deck.

4x card draw enchantments (one at 1CMC, one at 2CMC, one at 3CMC, and one at 4CMC):

Guardian Project, Mystic Remora, Rhystic Study, Sylvan Library

Notably, Guardian Project triggers on ETB and not on cast, which is extremely powerful in a deck that plays three blink effects in Restoration Angel, Sword of Hearth and Home, and Thassa, Deep-Dwelling.

In total, I'm playing ten noncreature mana ramp spells. Twelve mana ramp spells in total if you include Farhaven Elf and Wood Elves. Fourteen mana ramp spells if you include Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait and Sword of Hearth and Home, fifteen mana ramp spells if you include Smothering Tithe, and even more again if you account for the deck's ability to bounce/blink Farhaven Elf and Wood Elves with Emancipation Angel, Restoration Angel, Sword of Hearth and Home, and Thassa, Deep-Dwelling.

3x non-Talisman mana rocks (the three must-play mana rocks):

Mana Crypt, Sol Ring, Arcane Signet

3x Talismans:

Talisman of Curiosity, Talisman of Progress, Talisman of Unity

4x land ramp sorceries (two 2CMC, two 3CMC):

Cultivate, Kodama's Reach, Nature's Lore, Three Visits

Nature's Lore and Three Visits are essentially must-plays. I've tested the other 2CMC ramp spells as well as playing more 2CMC mana rocks, but I've settled on still playing Cultivate/Kodama's Reach despite them being a bit more old-fashioned in the format. At the end of the day, the deck is more concerned with being able to have five mana on turn four or six mana on turn five than it is with being able to have four mana on turn three like most 2CMC mana ramp provides. I'm perfectly willing to deal with the tempo loss of a 3CMC tapped basic land ramp in order to guarantee another landdrop in the coming turns, particularly in a deck that plays Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait, Emeria Shepherd, and Tatyova, Benthic Druid.

3x board wipes:

Cyclonic Rift, Supreme Verdict, Winds of Abandon

As this is a pretty boardstate-dependent deck, I like the onesidedness of Cyclonic Rift and Winds of Abandon, even despite the drawbacks for either. Cyclonic Rift is an obvious must-play, and Winds of Abandon has proven to be extremely powerful in the right situation and is at worst a bad version of Path to Exile. Supreme Verdict is, of course, a powerful uncounterable boardwipe, and can also be made into a onesided board wipe with Linvala, Shield of Sea Gate or Avacyn, Angel of Hope.

4x targeted removal:

Beast Within, Generous Gift, Path to Exile, Swords to Plowshares

Path/Swords provide instant-speed targeted creature removal, and Beast Within/Generous Gift provide instant-speed targeted permanent removal, notably being able to target lands as well as artifacts, enchantments, and planeswalkers. The minor loss in efficiency due to Beast Within/Generous Gift's 3CMC cost is more than made up for by their sheer versatility.

5x counterspells:

Arcane Denial, Counterspell, Mana Drain, Stubborn Denial, Swan Song

Counterspells can be used for both offensive (protecting our boardstate) and defensive (stopping dangerous plays from our opponents) purposes, making them extremely versatile and strong in nearly every situation. I decided to lean more heavily on counterspells in my interaction suite because this deck is boardstate-dependent in order to keep up its angels and value engines; I prefer to focus more on protecting my engines in order to trust them with finding me the board wipes and removal I might need in any given case.

I'm not running the free-to-cast counterspells in part because I prefer the consistency of normal counterspells and in part for power level/oppressiveness reasons. Stubborn Denial is a very underrated counterspell in creature-heavy decks, and its ability to target any noncreature spell feels incredible, especially to anyone who has been burned by Swan Song's unfortunate limitations.

9x fetchlands:

Arid Mesa, Flooded Strand, Marsh Flats, Misty Rainforest, Polluted Delta, Scalding Tarn, Verdant Catacombs, Windswept Heath, Wooded Foothills

9x duallands (in order, the shocklands, the tangolands, and the checklands):

Breeding Pool, Hallowed Fountain, Temple Garden, Canopy Vista, Prairie Stream, Glacial Fortress, Hinterland Harbor, Sunpetal Grove, Yavimaya Coast

The blue/green tangoland has currently not yet been printed, so the blue/green painland (Yavimaya Coast) is the stand-in until the tangoland cycle is completed. I like the tangolands because they serve as another fetchable cycle of duallands to accompany the three shocklands, thus making the nine fetchlands as well as Nature's Lore, Three Visits, and Wood Elves that much more effective. Although the tangolands do typically come in tapped during the first few turns of the game, it is typically possible to play around them coming in tapped, and typically only an unlucky draw causes any real tempo loss. If I wanted to invest in the ABUR duallands, the tangolands would be the obvious lands to upgrade, but the tangolands do just fine without the financial investment of the ABUR duallands nor the drawing of aggro due to the popular perception of ABUR duallands and power levels.

The checklands are being used instead of another cycle like the bondlands (Sea of Clouds, etc.) because I wanted cards that can still come in untapped in 1v1 games.

3x goldlands:

City of Brass, Command Tower, Mana Confluence

3x colorless utilitylands:

Academy Ruins, Homeward Path, Reliquary Tower

Academy Ruins is an insurance piece to help recur the three Swords of X and Y if they are discarded or removed; Homeward Path is an insurance piece to protect against mind control, opponents' library, or opponents' graveyard effects; and Reliquary Tower just feels great to have when the value engines are working and the deck is quickly gathering resources. The lack of targeted-land-destruction utilitylands is due to the ability of Beast Within and Generous Gift to target and destroy lands. These removal spells can be tutored by Mystical Tutor with ease whereas the deck currently does not play any specific land-tutor effects; as a result, I decided to run utilitylands that simply feel good to me to have in play over running Ghost Quarter/Strip Mine/Wasteland effects that I don't enjoy playing as much and can't tutor as well.

12x basic lands (four of each color):

4x Forest, 4x Island, 4x Plains

In reality, I actually decided to play unmatching basic land arts for this deck in order to have a true singleton deck with 100 unique cards/arts and to be able to enjoy a greater variety of wonderful MTG land art. I've gathered a collection of my favorite Forest, Island, and Plains arts in foil and swap them out according to mood and if I feel like playing different basic land arts for a while. To represent this easier on TappedOut, I'm simply just listing them as the John Avon Unhinged full-art lands.

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Top Ranked
Date added 6 years
Last updated 2 years
Legality

This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)

18 - 0 Mythic Rares

45 - 0 Rares

16 - 0 Uncommons

9 - 0 Commons
Cards 100
Avg. CMC 3.14
Tokens Beast 3/3 G, Bird 2/2 U, Elephant 3-3 G, Enchantment Cleric 2/1 W, Timeless Witness 4/4 B, Treasure
Folders Bantchantments, 75% Optimized EDH Decks, Decks I like, Uncategorized - Decks i want to have xD
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