Nikya - 100% Creatures ($85)

Commander / EDH Budget Casual RG (Gruul)

Hyato

Land (37)

• 1x Blighted Woodland
• 1x Castle Garenbrig
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Fertile Thicket
• 9x Forest
• 1x Gruul Turf
• 1x Hanweir Battlements  ^Meld
• 1x Kazandu Refuge
• 1x Memorial to Unity
• 1x Mosswort Bridge
• 8x Mountain
• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 1x Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Rugged Highlands
• 1x Sheltered Thicket
• 1x Skarrg, the Rage Pits
• 1x Temple of Abandon
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Timber Gorge

Mana Support (11)

• 1x Arbor Elf
• 1x Burnished Hart
• 1x Farhaven Elf
• 1x Gatecreeper Vine
• 1x Ley Weaver
• 1x Magus of the Candelabra
• 1x Radha, Heart of Keld
• 1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1x Springbloom Druid
• 1x Sylvan Ranger
• 1x Whisperer of the Wilds

Suppression (17)

• 1x Acidic Slime
• 1x Caller of the Claw
• 1x Dawnglade Regent
• 1x Den Protector
• 1x Gaea's Herald
• 1x Genesis
• 1x Great Oak Guardian
• 1x Greenwarden of Murasa
• 1x Meteor Golem
• 1x Nullmage Shepherd
• 1x Nullstone Gargoyle
• 1x Prowling Serpopard
• 1x Soul of New Phyrexia
• 1x Steelbane Hydra
• 1x Tajuru Preserver
• 1x Temur Sabertooth
• 1x Terastodon

Scout (12)

• 1x Abzan Beastmaster
• 1x Beast Whisperer
• 1x Brightwood Tracker
• 1x Dismissive Pyromancer
• 1x Drumhunter
• 1x Duskwatch Recruiter  ^Flip
• 1x Garruk's Packleader
• 1x Merchant of the Vale
• 1x Primordial Sage
• 1x Silhana Wayfinder
• 1x Soul of the Harvest
• 1x Vivien's Grizzly

Commander (1)

Big & Deadly (12)

• 1x Akroma, Angel of Fury
• 1x Bane of Bala Ged
• 1x Colossus of Akros
• 1x Etali, Primal Storm
• 1x Flameblast Dragon
• 1x Hellkite Charger
• 1x Kumano, Master Yamabushi
• 1x Pathrazer of Ulamog
• 1x Ruric Thar, the Unbowed
• 1x Siege Behemoth
• 1x Stalking Vengeance
• 1x Steel Hellkite

Offensive Support (5)

• 1x Angrath's Marauders
• 1x Archetype of Aggression
• 1x Brawn
• 1x Drakuseth, Maw of Flames
• 1x Homura, Human Ascendant  ^Flip

Versatile Support (5)

• 1x Artisan of Kozilek
• 1x Feldon of the Third Path
• 1x Genesis Hydra
• 1x Leyline Tyrant
• 1x Ulvenwald Tracker

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Maybeboard

Big & Deadly (19)

• 1x Ancient Hellkite
• 1x Apex Altisaur
• 1x Cinder Elemental
• 1x Deathforge Shaman
• 1x Forgotten Ancient
• 1x Furyborn Hellkite
• 1x Ghalta, Primal Hunger
• 1x Heroes' Bane
• 1x Hungering Hydra
• 1x Majestic Myriarch
• 1x Malignus
• 1x Moonveil Dragon
• 1x Moraug, Fury of Akoum
• 1x Rampaging Brontodon
• 1x Skarrg Goliath
• 1x Soul of Shandalar
• 1x Soul of Zendikar
• 1x Utvara Hellkite
• 1x Wolfbriar Elemental

Deadly&Small (4)

• 1x Howlpack Piper  ^Flip
• 1x Pelt Collector
• 1x Tilonalli's Summoner
• 1x Yorvo, Lord of Garenbrig

Offensive Support (12)

• 1x Aggressive Mammoth
• 1x Anger
• 1x Brash Taunter
• 1x Captivating Crew
• 1x Crimson Mage
• 1x Decimator of the Provinces
• 1x Elvish Piper
• 1x End-Raze Forerunners
• 1x Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma
• 1x Ogre Battledriver
• 1x Thunderfoot Baloth
• 1x Tyrant's Familiar

Scout (10)

• 1x Fierce Empath
• 1x Garruk's Horde
• 1x Hermit of the Natterknolls  ^Flip
• 1x Keeper of Fables
• 1x Neheb, Dreadhorde Champion
• 1x Nylea, Keen-Eyed
• 1x Regal Force
• 1x Runic Armasaur
• 1x Ulvenwald Observer
• 1x Yisan, the Wanderer Bard

Suppresion (11)

• 1x Arasta of the Endless Web
• 1x Archetype of Endurance
• 1x Duplicant
• 1x Gruul Spellbreaker
• 1x Kogla, the Titan Ape
• 1x Nullmage Shepherd
• 1x Paleoloth
• 1x Sawtusk Demolisher
• 1x Spearbreaker Behemoth
• 1x Verdant Sun's Avatar
• 1x World Breaker

Mana Support (8)

• 1x Ainok Guide
• 1x Greenseeker
• 1x Gyre Sage
• 1x Incubation Druid
• 1x Radha, Heart of Keld
• 1x Radha, Heir to Keld
• 1x Somberwald Sage
• 1x Wood Elves

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This is a bit of an old deck which I still wasn't able to purchase. But there have been some new editions in Magic since I last looked around. So, if you have any suggestion for it, please send it my way =]

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I have a friend who was pushing me into making an EDH deck while I was reluctant, since I've never done it before. But, here we are.

I chose Nikya as the commander because her restrictions would help me build the deck in a much easier way. My first research got me with over 150 cards, which I was able to cut down to around 120 fairly easy. Then things got HARD.

I tried to get things balanced, and I hope you'll send me a suggestion if you find anything needing improvement. Just remember, this is supposed to be budget-y. I'm going up to $3 a card at the very top.

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Now let's get to the selection.

I've tried to categorize everything to make it easy to understand my thought process, but I'll explain it just in case.

We have some land fetchers to help us play what we draw. Castle Garenbrig may seem counterproductive if we have lands producing two manas at once. But I got it there thinking I won't always have Nikya on the board. Hanweir Battlements   gives haste! And Oran-Rief, the Vastwood can give us a little help at buffing (and maybe protecting) some summons.

Rogue's Passage allows us to get some clean hits, just like Cinder Elemental, Deathforge Shaman, Flameblast Dragon, Kumano, Master Yamabushi and Siege Behemoth.

But before we get too deep into everything, lets remember the ones who make it all possible and keep the whole place clean and organized for more and more attractions: The guys over Mana Support.

Since we want to make the most out of Nikya's ability, we need more lands, and they'll get them for us. Even if it takes the ultimate sacrifice. They'll die doing so or become target to early removals in other's instead. Let's dedicate a moment of silence to honor those who put their lives on the line, so we can beat some people. And let's not forget the biggest of them all, the one who trained directly under the great Urza himself: Magus of the Candelabra, who'll provide us 50% more mana if paired with Nikya.

To bring supplies to the zoo we've got Beast Whisperer, Dismissive Pyromancer(who'll also help us get Genesis and Brawn on the graveyard), Drumhunter, Duskwatch Recruiter   (if he turns, he'll help us cast more creatures) , Merchant of the Vale and Primordial Sage.

On the Versatile side, we have a few creatures that work well with basically everything. Artisan of Kozilek not only will make enemies sacrifice permanents, but also help us bring another of ours precious little monsters back. Feldon of the Third Path is simply amazing - just picture him summoning our Artisan every turn! That'd be fun. Ulvenwald Tracker will help us clean the board from far way before even actually attacking. Genesis Hydra does what genesis hydras do best: they bring help to the field - just don't ask me how they do it.

To suppress the enemies advances and secure ours, we have the first big portion of our zoo.

1. Acidic Slime will melt everything: lands, armor and enchantments. Next to it, we have the Transformer Meteor Golem and the beasts' shepherd Nullmage Shepherd. A bit further inside you'll find Steelbane Hydra and Terastodon feeding on enemies' hopes.
2. Caller of the Claw will bring out the bears and be amazing after any board cleaners.
3. To secure our rare species from extinction: Den Protector, Soul of New Phyrexia and Temur Sabertooth (which also happens to work very well with Acidic Slime, for example). When earthly efforts seem to be not enough, we run to Genesis and Greenwarden of Murasa.
4. Last but not least, we need to tend to the one actually managing the Zoo (the player). So we use Gaea's Herald, Gruul Spellbreaker, Nullstone Gargoyle, Prowling Serpopard and Tajuru Preserver - We need to find new atractions to keep the zoo going.
5. The big surprise here (which is more of a literal way of putting it) is Great Oak Guardian. He shows out of nowhere and either beats your enemies for you, or fortify your defenses. Or both.

But we can't win this game playing on defense. To support our aggresiveness, we have a few badguys who just want to watch the world burn: Archetype of Aggression, Brawn, Drakuseth, Maw of Flames (which put the Burn on that last sentence) and Polukranos, World Eater (by World Eater they actually mean Board Cleaner*).

*Certain circumstances may apply

To end this, I've saved the best for last. Our Big & Deadly section is made out of creatures able to win the game if we give them enough mana. From angels to ogres, these guys spread desperation across the land if you let them loose. And because of that, they'll be targeted with everything your enemies may have. Be careful when using those.

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So it really seems there's no end to it. Whenever I see a cool card, I end up adding it to the Maybe List and start to rethink if it should go on the deck and what should it replace if it does. Gotta admit, this is complicated.

Top Ranked	Achieved #33 position overall 4 years ago Achieved #21 position in Commander / EDH 4 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH RG (Gruul) 4 years ago
Date added	4 years
Last updated	2 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	5 - 0 Mythic Rares 37 - 0 Rares 24 - 0 Uncommons 15 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	4.52
Tokens	Bear 2/2 G, Copy Clone, Elephant 3-3 G, Morph 2/2 C, On an Adventure, The Monarch
Folders	Wanna make, EDH, Research, MTG Deck ideas, Gruul