Mayael's Hunting Grounds (Retired)

Commander / EDH* Battlecruiser Ramp RGW (Naya)

Hi_diddly_ho_neighbor

Creature (32)

• 1x Angel of Serenity
• 1x Archetype of Endurance
• 1x Avacyn, Angel of Hope
• 1x Balefire Dragon
• 1x Courser of Kruphix
• 1x Darksteel Colossus
• 1x Dragonlord Dromoka
• 1x Etali, Primal Storm
• 1x Genesis
• 1x Greenwarden of Murasa
• 1x Inferno Titan
• 1x Iroas, God of Victory
• 1x Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
• 1x Nylea, God of the Hunt
• 1x Regal Behemoth
• 1x Rhonas the Indomitable
• 1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1x Scourge of Kher Ridges
• 1x Seedborn Muse
• 1x Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
• 1x Sigarda, Host of Herons
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Soul of New Phyrexia
• 1x Spearbreaker Behemoth
• 1x Steel Hellkite
• 1x Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
• 1x Wall of Blossoms
• 1x Wall of Omens
• 1x Woodfall Primus
• 1x Worldspine Wurm
• 1x Xenagos, God of Revels
• 1x Zacama, Primal Calamity

Land (38)

• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Canopy Vista
• 1x Cinder Glade
• 1x Clifftop Retreat
• 1x Command Tower
• 8x Forest
• 1x High Market
• 1x Homeward Path
• 1x Jungle Shrine
• 1x Mosswort Bridge
• 3x Mountain
• 1x Naya Panorama
• 4x Plains
• 1x Reflecting Pool
• 1x Rootbound Crag
• 1x Rugged Prairie
• 1x Sacred Foundry
• 1x Scattered Groves
• 1x Selesnya Sanctuary
• 1x Sheltered Thicket
• 1x Slippery Karst
• 1x Stomping Ground
• 1x Sunpetal Grove
• 1x Temple Garden
• 1x Windswept Heath
• 1x Wooded Foothills

Enchantment (6)

• 1x Greater Good
• 1x Mirari's Wake
• 1x Mirri's Guile
• 1x Remembrance
• 1x Sneak Attack
• 1x Sylvan Library

Commander (1)

Sorcery (9)

• 1x Austere Command
• 1x Cultivate
• 1x Farseek
• 1x Hour of Revelation
• 1x Kodama's Reach
• 1x Nature's Lore
• 1x Selvala's Stampede
• 1x Skyshroud Claim
• 1x Sylvan Scrying

Artifact (8)

• 1x Commander's Sphere
• 1x Illusionist's Bracers
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Quicksilver Amulet
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots

Instant (6)

• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Enlightened TutorGC
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Reclaim
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Worldly Tutor

---

Maybeboard

Enchantment (4)

• 1x Defense of the Heart
• 1x Hunting Grounds
• 1x Lurking Predators
• 1x Zendikar Resurgent

Instant (2)

• 1x Sylvan Reclamation
• 1x Teferi's Protection

Creature (3)

• 1x Elvish Piper
• 1x Serra Avatar
• 1x Stonehoof Chieftain

Sorcery (2)

• 1x Rishkar's Expertise
• 1x Traverse the Outlands

Land (3)

• 1x Forbidden Orchard
• 1x Slayers' Stronghold
• 1x Yavimaya Hollow

Artifact (1)

• 1x Crystal Ball

---

Now that I consider myself to be at least competent at constructing commander decks I have decided to go back and revive my first ever EDH deck. I still am a Timmy at heart which is what initially led me to Mayael the Anima as my first commander. Without further ado, here is my reconstructed Mayael EDH deck:

---

Mayael Targets

We have 24 targets for Mayael which gives us ~76% chance of hitting on Mayael. Each of these targets have been carefully considered to immediately impact the battlefield, fill multiple roles, or at least provide some sort of protection to itself and my other creatures. I have broken these creatures up into their respective roles.

Removal

Angel of Serenity, Inferno Titan, Terastodon, Woodfall Primus, World Breaker, and Zacama, Primal Calamity all provide spot removal for problem creatures, artifacts and enchantments.

Balefire Dragon, Steel Hellkite, Kozilek, Butcher of Truth, Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre and Scourge of Kher Ridges act as ways to deal with multiple permanents at once.

Protection

Avacyn, Angel of Hope, Soul of New Phyrexia Spearbreaker Behemoth, and Stonehoof Chieftain all grant our creatures indestructibility.

Archetype of Endurance grants hexproof

Iroas, God of Victory lets our creatures win/survive any combat

Sigarda, Host of Herons protects us from Grave Pact effects

Dragonlord Dromoka allows us to cast cards without abandon on our own turn.

Recursion

Greenwarden of Murasa, Angel of Serenity, and Genesis (not a Mayael target) all help us bring back cards from our graveyard

Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre, Worldspine Wurm, and Kozilek, Butcher of Truth all shuffle themselves back into our library with the added benefit from the eldrazi titans which shuffles our whole graveyard.

Card Advantage

Etali, Primal Storm lets us cast up to 4 cards when he/she attacks

Kozilek, Butcher of Truth draws us cards if we hard cast him (unfortunately we don't get his trigger off of Mayael).

The Gods

Xenagos, God of Revels, Nylea, God of the Hunt, and Iroas, God of Victory all give us lower costed permanents that are resilient Mayael targets. Each provides a unique utility to the deck (targeting Worldspine Wurm with Xenagos is my Timmy dream).

Plans B and C

What if Mayael bites the dust or we have all of these high CMC creatures stranded in our hand? Well we have two ways to ensure they can still be played.

Plan B - Evoke Cheatyface

No we aren't winning off of the back of Cheatyface, but we are going to try our darnest to cheat our big creatures onto the battlefield.

One of my pet cards, Hunting Grounds, alongside Quicksilver Amulet, Defense of the Heart, and Selvala's Stampede all help us find alternate ways of getting our fatties onto the battlefield.

Plan C - Good Ol'Ramp

When all else fails we will have to hard cast our fatties. I opted for a more stable/resistant ramp package by using traditional ramp cards like Farseek, Skyshroud Claim, Cultivate, Kodama's Reach, Sylvan Scrying, and Nature's Lore.

Mirari's Wake, Commander's Sphere, Mind Stone, and Sol Ring also help us with ramping.

I have avoided mana dorks because I feel that they are generally pretty bad in commander, but I couldn't ignore the power of Selvala, Heart of the Wilds in a deck with so many large creatures. Solemn Simulacrum is also great as it resides low on the curve, ramps us, helps color fix, and we don't mind it dying. Lastly, Sakura-Tribe Elder and Oracle of Mul Daya are auto-includes in every green deck that wants to ramp.

Utility

The rest of our cards provide abilities which help our Plan A run smoother

Top Deck Manipulation

We run seven ways to manipulate what cards are on the top of our deck to make sure Mayael always hits: Sensei's Divining Top, Oracle of Mul Daya, Worldly Tutor, Enlightened Tutor, Courser of Kruphix, Mirri's Guile, and Sylvan Library.

Other Utility

We can enable multiple Mayael activations with Illusionist's Bracers and Seedborn Muse

Wall of Omens and Wall of Blossoms both draw us extra cards and provide early game roadblocks for our opponents

The rest of our removal package contains two wraths (Hour of Revelation, and Austere Command) and three more spot removal spells

Greater Good, High Market, and Homeward Path help prevent us form losing our creatures to control magic or being exiled.

Slayers' Stronghold can provide a big fatty haste out of nowhere

Yavimaya Hollow, Swiftfoot Boots, and Lightning Greaves gives our creatures another form of protection

I'd like to once again thank MaelstromHobo for their fantastic primer (Mayael EDH Primer) which inspired me long ago to use Mayael as my first EDH commander. I strongly recommend anyone interested in Mayael to check out Hobo's primer as they have done some pretty comprehensive work on the best way to build and pilot Mayael.

Please feel free to leave comments and +1 if you like the deck!

Date added	9 years
Last updated	6 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	21 - 0 Mythic Rares 38 - 0 Rares 15 - 0 Uncommons 11 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	4.45
Tokens	Beast 3/3 G, The Monarch, Wurm 5/5 G w/ Trample
Folders	EDH ideas, fun edh, Competitive