-----In order to ensure that Mayael's ability doesn't miss; 30+ targets are essential. Missing even once with Mayael kills momentum and completely wastes mana. The initial choices included lots of haste fueled Dragons and cards like
Craterhoof Behemoth
that made me want to use my own Main Phase 1 as the Trigger Point for Mayael's ability. This of course is contrary to the usual strategy of triggering Mayael the End Step before your turn. Eventually, I realized that the End Step trigger point is superior and had to cut about 5 creatures from my build. This is my current build.
-BEHEMOTHS-
-
Akroma, Angel of Wrath
- So many abilities on one of the most flavorful beaters of all time. Sometimes fun cards and good cards can be the same thing.
-
Angel of Serenity
- Exiles 3 creatures when it hits and has 5/6 flying body. Sounds perfect.
-
Angelic Arbiter
- If this drops early it neuters most opponents and doesn't effect me very much at all. They usually decide to focus on building their board state rather than attacking. Meanwhile, I am able to use Mayael and assorted enchantments to cheat out creatures and not waste any combat phases.
-
Archetype of Endurance
- If it just gave my creatures hexproof, I would play it. The fact that it removes my opponents creatures' hexproof is just icing on the cake.
-
Atarka, World Render
- With 14 total dragons in this build, Atarka's ability is very relevant. Additionally, fetching this along with
Xenagos, God of Revels
using
Tooth and Nail
means you can use Atarka as a 28/28 Flying/Trampler with Haste.
-
Avacyn, Angel of Hope
- If this resolves and no one exiles/tucks it away immediately; then Mayael's monster engine becomes hard to beat. Hands down the best creature in the deck along with
Seedborn Muse
.
-
Avenger of Zendikar
- I have always thought of Avenger as a defensive creature overall. Since Avenger has no built in evasion or protection and since the plant tokens usually only end up being 1/2's it usually is a defensive creature. But it gives a great board state after a board-wipe hits and can be grabbed with Mayael. In this build, the 36 lands combined with the 6 land grabbers mean that Avenger's plant tokens can easily become 3 power creatures in one turn. It doesn't take much luck to make Avenger looks a lot more intimidating.
-
Balefire Dragon
- Without any pumps from other dragons; Balefire's ability usually still wraths one opponents board state.
-
Baneslayer Angel
- Exchanges the Vigilance/Trample/Haste that Akroma has with Lifelink and has Protection from the way less relevant Demons/Dragons rather than from / but still a very dynamic beater. The Protection from Dragons may be way less useful but it more flavorful and ends up being more useful than you may think. EDH is filled with large evasive creatures and those creatures end up being Demons/Dragons very often. Additionally, the lifelink is never an unwanted ability. Every aggro commander often needs some amount of additional life to not come up one or two attack phases short of victory.
-
Bogardan Hellkite
- 5 damage seems so minor when compared to the 40 life points players start with but Bogardan Hellkite can kill creatures and planeswalkers with that measly 5 damage or just finish off a player who was playing fast a loose with their life total. The ability to kill walkers is always relevant.
-
Combustible Gearhulk
-Absolute worse case scenario is that someone opts to risk taking the damage and I flip over 3 lands. If that happens, I have avoided 3 lands flooding my hand and gotten a 6/6 First strike creature. However, at some point, an opponent will opt for damage and I will flip over 3 beaters (maybe including
Worldspine Wurm
) and that person will take 25+ damage. Hopefully that happens often enough to let people just let me draw 3 cards. With an average CMC of 5.21 fifteen damage isn't impossible. The later the game gets, the more that letting me draw cards will seem reasonable.
-
Dragonlord Atarka
- This doesn't hit opponents in the face like
Bogardan Hellkite
but it has a bigger body, has Trample and it's damage can be divided. I have finished off 2 planeswalkers at once with this guy.
-
Dragonlord Dromoka
- Dromoka was my very first EDH commander. Just a great creature overall. He can't be countered, has evasion, gains you life via lifelink and stops every opponent from being able to play magic on my turn. Not having to worry about opponents playing combat tricks or counterspells while I am trying to tee off feels great.
-
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
- This card can be straight up unfair given the right situation. Doubling my damage gets insane so fast and halfing the damage directed toward me really slows down all of the threats that are trying to damage me. That fact that both effects are on one card is bonkers.
-
Hellkite Charger
- Getting extra attack phases ends games.
-
Hellkite Tyrant
- In a non-artifact build, getting to 20 artifacts seems unlikely; but stealing people's
Sol Ring
's and other mana-rocks helps me swing games in my favor very fast.
-
Mana-Charged Dragon
- Worst-case scenerio I get to use any mana to pay for fire-breathing. The fact that I can use the hyper-political format of EDH to entice other players help me pay for it is so topical and flavorful. This card was designed for multi-player and I am happy to use it as it was intended.
-
Molten Primordial
- Every creature with haste gets to be relevant the same turn it hits and is welcome in the board-wipe filled games that I play in. Stealing each opponents creature for one glorious alpha-strike can change the board-state all by itself.
-
Regal Behemoth
- Becoming the Monarch will be a fun addition to every couple games when
Regal Behemoth
sees play. Gaining The Monarch Token will draw me a card and should get me an additional card every turn. Obviously, doubling my mana will be welcome in such a mana-intensive deck.
-
Scourge of the Throne
- Just like
Hellkite Charger
, extra attack phases ends games.
-
Sigarda, Host of Herons
- With no
Grave Pact
effects in play this is just a 5/5 flying/hexproof creature. Good, but probably not good enough. However, once a
Grave Pact
hits, this Lady is like gold. Having this card as an option is a necessary answer to a common opposing strategy.
-
Skyline Despot
- Just like
Regal Behemoth
but this flies and makes me more dragon tokens.
-
Spearbreaker Behemoth
- Being able to hand out indestructible means wraths can end up being everyone-but-me.
-
Stalking Vengeance
- If I can build a board-state before or after this resolves I can threaten to one-hit-kill any one player. Ending a game by wrathing my own creatures will happen at some point.
-
Stonehoof Chieftain
- A snazzy addition from the 2016 Commander set that I am still testing to see if it plays as good as it reads. Granting Trample and Indestructible to the team when attacking seems pretty good to me.
-
Terastodon
- I cannot overstate how big of a pain-in-ass that opposing planeswalkers can be. Destroying certain enchantments can be game-saving at times as well.
-
Thundermaw Hellkite
- This card topped $40 a copy when it was in standard for a reason. Opponents flyers can slow down my storm of dragons and this turns that air-battle from a possible stalemate into me getting my flyers in for one free shot.
-
Utvara Hellkite
- This works similar to
Dromoka, the Eternal
but gives me brand new dragons instead. If left unchecked, or if I have
Scourge of the Throne
or
Hellkite Charger
out, this gets out of hand really fast. This pairs really well with
Atarka, World Render
.
-
Worldspine Wurm
- Every Timmy loves this card and so do I. Replacing itself with three 5/5 trampling tokens is a great wrinkle for the biggest creature in magic.
-
Xenagos, God of Revels
- I considered all of the God cards. While the others came up short (IMO), Xenagos demands inclusion in any Mayael deck. Both giving out haste and doubling a creatures power/toughness makes Xenagos the perfect
Tooth and Nail
target to couple with on of my other dangerous beaters.
-ELDRAZI-
---The Problem with Emrakul, Kozilek and Ulamog is that they have Cast Effects that won't trigger when grabbed by either Mayael or by several of my creature cheat cards. However, their board presence is more than sufficient enough to warrant their inclusion. Additionally, sometimes they will be hard-cast and that will be awesome. I will say that "Annihilator" is not a mechanic that I enjoy playing, but I am testing it out here.
-
Emrakul, the Promised End
- A 13/13 Flampler with Protection from Instants is a pretty formidable as a backup plan. Casting Emrakul will be pretty plausible with all the ramp in this build.
-
It That Betrays
- It That Betrays is a really good 2nd answer (along with
Sigarda, Host of Herons
) to opponents trying make me sacrifice stuff.
-
Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
,
Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
- Both can be cast without much of a hitch, and they both have lots of upside if I miss out on their cast triggers.
-
Void Winnower
- Void Winnnower is a house. He is as close to
Iona, Shield of Emeria
as I am willing to go.
