Doctor, doctor... please give me the news: I have a bad case... of loving Muldrotha, the gravetide.
Now I know Muldrotha isn't the first (or even the 2nd) commander that comes to mind when you think about cedh or competitive commander as a whole, afterall there way better commanders out there: Thrasios, tymna, etc. However, no one does value engines like The Gravetide- no one! She's a 1 card engine that enables almost every and all cards within the deck (save for instant and sorceries, but hey: can't win em' all); got fetch lands? Bring em back. Cracked that LED and need 3 more mana? Recast it. Sacced that pernicious deed last turn? Have no fear: Muldrotha is here! This commander allows you to get the maximum value out of every and all otherwise "dead cards".
The main combo I play is a fairly convoluted one (but hey, like I said: no dead cards).
It starts with MUldrotha herself in play, then you cast Sidisi, the Undead Viser. Done- you win! Okay, (Kidding) Sidisi ETBs and sacs to find Animate dead. Cast A Dead targeting Sidisi, Sidisi sacs herself again to her trigger findind
Lion's Eye Diamond
. LED gets played and sacced for 3 Black mana, using Muldrotha to re-cast Animated Dead (floating a B) targeting (you guessed it) Sidisi. Sidisi sacs herself a final time finding
Phantasmal Image
. Recast LED with Muldrotha, cracking it for 3 Blue mana. Cast PhImage using Muldrotha (Floating U) and copying your own muldrotha, allowing her to go to the graveyard. Now that you have a brand-spanking new Commander, it counts as an all new card, resetting Muldrotha's previous Once-a-Turn limit back to zero. From here, you rinse and repeat, netting yourself an arbitrarily high amount of Blue and Black mana, unlimited storm, and eventually infinite of all mana types. Once you have, you may proceed to loop any effects tied to permanents either entering or leaving the battlefield (drawing your deck with
Aether Spellbomb
, tutoring with Sidisi, destorying artifacts and enchantments with Caustic catapiller). The usual outlets are either
Walking Ballista
, Storming out with
Aetherflux Reservoir
, or looping something that draws to deck yourself with
Jace, Wielder of Mysteries
.
The great thing about this combo? The useful (albeit kinda strange) redundant cards we get to use to support and protect the combo.
Necromancy
can be used in place of Animate dead, Dance of the Many (a surprisingly useful card, honestly) is out go-to Phantasmal image replacement. The real downside is that LED has no equals, but should it find itself exiled, Karn, The Great Creator brings it right back in.
Pretty sweet, right?
"This deck sounds amazing- why would I play anything else?!" Whoa... slow down there, Sparky. There's a couple downsides to this deck (well, one large one, honestly) that really puts a damper on your fun:
-
Her mana cost. She's 6 to play. that's tough enough as-is, but when she gets targeted for being the biggest baddie at the table, it's even worse. There are a couple of cards that either protect her or keep her from costing us too much (
Command Beacon
,
Veil of Summer
, general counterspells, or
Sylvan Safekeeper
) but it still feels bad just devoting resources to that front at all.
-
Her main combo is tied directly to her being on the field and dumping your hand. This is the big one; if she is not in play, you ain't winning. Period. This is honestly the only thing that really keeps this deck from excelling.
-
Your combo can't win through
Null Rod
,
Rule of Law
, or grave hate effects. This is another big one, not because you can't deal with these issues, but because it really dissuades you from running any of these cards yourself. Which honestly, is a huge issue considering that She plays as more of Midrange/Stax build.
So this is where I sit: keep the current combo and not be able to play the optimal stax pieces or have to devote massive rescources to keep her alive, or change to something else. That being said, I just so happen to work out two other wincons that have some potential:
-
Bolas's Citadel
+ Sensei's top + Aetherflux reservour: What's not to love? Re-castable Ad Naus on a stick that draws your whole deck for 1 life a card until you storm out and kill the table? Yes please. No muldrotha needed, Aetherflux isn't always a card you want to play though, and it also can't win through previously mentioned Rule of Law or Null Rod.
-
Jace, weilder of Mysteries/ Laboratory Mainiac +
Tainted Pact
and/or Diving Witch: Okay, this one the lands would need to be slightly augmented to make work; no big: two basic islands go out for two of the Horizon lands. Originally, this wincon wasn't worth the risk due to the fact Pact and Consultation were instants and you were probably gonna dredge through them with Life from the loam and be kinda sh-t outta luck. However, divining witch changed that for the better: now, we only have one card we can't cast back. No need for muldrotha? Check. Cast back all but one card in the pile? Check. However, this is the real issue: it's risky. Plus, Divining witch has to telegraph it's presence first and if you exile too many cards... you're busted, fam. BUT (and what a but it is) the wincon is compact, and it allows you to play all the stax cards you can shake your spindown at.
So that is where I stand. Honestly, the deck has been working fine so far, but I just can't shake that feeling I should be doing it different... anyway, thanks for seeing on me, Doc. I'll letcha do your work; just let me know when the results come it.
Kradz, signing off.
