Prison School

Commander / EDH* Competitive Control Pillow Fort WU (Azorius)

BearPunchMagic

Land (36)

• 1x Azorius Chancery
• 1x Celestial Colonnade
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 1x Ghost Quarter
• 1x Glacial Fortress
• 1x Hallowed Fountain
• 10x Island
• 1x Maze of Ith
• 1x Misty Rainforest
• 1x Mystic Gate
• 6x Plains
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Port Town
• 1x Prairie Stream
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Scalding Tarn
• 1x Serra's Sanctum
• 1x Tectonic Edge
• 1x Temple of Enlightenment
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Tundra

Creature (10)

• 1x Avacyn, Angel of Hope
• 1x Blightsteel Colossus
• 1x Consecrated Sphinx
• 1x Dragonlord Ojutai
• 1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
• 1x Godhead of Awe
• 1x Hanna, Ship's Navigator
• 1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
• 1x Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
• 1x Thing in the Ice  ^Flip

Instant (21)

• 1x Brainstorm
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Cryptic Command
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Deprive
• 1x Dismiss
• 1x Dissipate
• 1x Dissolve
• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Mana Leak
• 1x Mystic Confluence
• 1x Mystical Tutor
• 1x Ojutai's Command
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Remand
• 1x Render Silent
• 1x Rewind
• 1x Scatter Arc
• 1x Sphinx's Revelation
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Syncopate

Sorcery (7)

• 1x Day of Judgment
• 1x Hallowed Burial
• 1x Idyllic Tutor
• 1x Plea for Guidance
• 1x Replenish
• 1x Supreme Verdict
• 1x Wrath of God

Artifact (5)

• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Ojutai Monument
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Vedalken Orrery

Commander (1)

Enchantment (14)

• 1x Aura of Silence
• 1x Curse of Exhaustion
• 1x Detention Sphere
• 1x Dissipation Field
• 1x Enchanted Evening
• 1x Ghostly Prison
• 1x Greater Auramancy
• 1x Leyline of Anticipation
• 1x Luminarch Ascension
• 1x Oblivion Ring
• 1x Propaganda
• 1x Rhystic Study
• 1x Sigil of the Empty Throne
• 1x Sphere of Safety

Planeswalker (6)

• 1x Dovin Baan
• 1x Jace Beleren
• 1x Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
• 1x Narset Transcendent
• 1x Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
• 1x Venser, the Sojourner

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About the Deck

This is a fairly straight-forward control/prison deck that I've been working on (albeit slowly) over the last year or so. It's without a doubt my favorite EDH deck to play, and definitely one of the most tedious that I've gotten to play against. I'm in the process of both foiling what I can and optimizing the deck to maximum efficiency. This deck is my baby.

I don't need these recommendations, thanks!

I either am in the process of acquiring these cards (#collegelyfe) or don't personally care for them, so please don't recommend the following:

Mana Crypt

Force of Will

Pact of Negation

Mana Drain

Ancient Tomb

Strip Mine

Academy Rector

Feel free to make any other recommendations!

Oh, thats...cute...

Just a few of the silly wombo-combos the deck holds:

Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite + Godhead of Awe - keeps your oppnents from keeping any creatures on the field.

Curse of Exhaustion + Jace, Unraveler of Secrets - takes some setting up as this relies on Jace's -8, but this can completely lock an opponent out of playing any spells.

Enchanted Evening + Sphere of Safety - EXTREMELY useful in preventing any attackers from getting through. Easily forces opponents to pay or more just to attack with a single creature.

Enchanted Evening + Greater Auramancy - gives everything of yours (except the Auramancy unfortunately) shroud. Worst case scenario you force them to use an enchantment-removal spell on the auramancy just so they can get to a real threat.

Card Breakdown

The Prison

Ghostly Prison / Propaganda / Sphere of Safety - ultimately the goal with these cards is to prevent any creatures from being able to attack you. Some decks don't have a problem with these cards, but overall these cards can keep you alive long enough to get to your win conditions.

Curse of Exhaustion - severly cripples an opponent's ability to cast spells. In some cases, this can prevent some decks from winning outright, especially if they don't have any enchantment-hate.

Maze of Ith - helps deal with problematic creatures that get through any attack-taxes that are imposed.

Dissipation Field - further slows down opponents' games. Any thing that deals damage to me gets bounced. Theoretically this can help some decks, but for the most part it just forces players to re-cast their creatures.

Tamiyo, the Moon Sage - her +1 can really help disrupt opponents, and her -2 can help deter opponents from doing to much. No one wants the blue player drawing a bunch of cards.

Jace, Unraveler of Secrets / Narset Transcendent - while their other abilities are useful, their ultimate abilities can be an extreme hindrance on opponents. Since they create emblems, once its done there is nothing that can be done.

Cyclonic Rift - bounces everything that isn't mine. Sucks to suck.

Ghost Quarter / Tectonic Edge - land destruction for the sake of utility. I'll trade one of these for my opponent's Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx / Academy Ruins / etc.

The Wardens

Gwafa Hazid, Profiteer - at the cost of them drawing a card, he can pacify problematic commanders like Kaalia of the Vast or Rafiq of the Many.

Iona, Shield of Emeria - disgustingly oppressive, she locks players out of games (sometimes completely). She's not banned (yet) so she stays.

Silent Arbiter - especially when paired with Maze of Ith, he shuts down heavy aggro or token decks.

Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir - slows down opponents in general, and can help protect my own things from counterspells, combat tricks, etc.

Avacyn, Angel of Hope - makes my things indestrucible. Enough said.

Consecrated Sphinx - gets me more cards to do more things.

Riot Control

Counterspell / Remand / etc. - an assortment of counterspells to keep threats from ever even hitting the board.

Path to Exile / Swords to Plowshares - permanant spot-removal. The best part about white's removal is that it's exile, so we can deal with indestructible.

Oblivion Ring / Detention Sphere / etc. - more of a "solitary confinement", these enchantments still can deal with problematic creatures (or other things in some cases). Always be prepared for these to be temporary solutions.

Wrath of God / Supreme Verdict / etc. - one of 's biggest strengths is in its board wipes. We take those.

On Death Row

Blightsteel Colossus - there really shouldn't need to be an explanation for this one. He's called 1-shot Robot for a reason. No, not that reason (get your mind out of the gutter).

Luminarch Ascension - assuming the rest of the game has gone as planned, having a Luminarch Ascension with 4+ quest counters should never be a problem. Creating an army of Angel tokens to push damage is pretty easy.

Avacyn, Angel of Hope / Dragonlord Ojutai / Awoken Horror - basically just any of the big, face-beating creatures in the deck. Not really how this deck intends to win, but hey. If it works, it works.

Honorable Mention: making your opponent tilt - this is a very slow, grindy deck that doesn't really do much in the way of finishing a game until very late in the game (most of the time). Some people can't handle that.

How to Play

If you've ever played a control deck in your life, you pretty much know how to play this deck. The hardest thing with it is knowing whether to play your creatures/enchantments/artifacts or to just wait and hold (sometimes bluff) a counter. Leyline of Anticipation and Vedalken Orrery (and Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir to an extent) can help ease this burden by allowing you to just wait until the end of their turn to play your things if you didn't have to throw counter magic in their face. Pillowfort cards (Ghostly Prison) are super important here, so there are a few tutors to help get those into your hand. Once you've gotten yourself ahead, flip the switch and go for the kill.

The deck's biggest problem is speed. It's slow as hell, so having early counter magic is crucial, though you don't have much say in that. Late game is typically where this deck shines though, so be patient. Rushing into things can cause problems with the deck's strategy, as you can end up playing your threats and suddenly find yourself needing a counterspell you don't have access to because you're tapped out.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q) Why Gwafa Hazid, Profiteer over Grand Arbiter Augustin IV?

A) Simply put, the first draft of this deck was build really early in my MtG career, and I simply didn't know about the Arbiter. Now though, I'm kind of attatched to Gwafa. Also, look at that alter.

Q) Is this deck really that much fun?

A) I think so. I've played against it though, and it was one of the most miserable experiences of my EDH career.

Q) Do you still have friends after crushing them with this deck?

A) What is a "friend"

Q) Is that Gwafa real?

A) If by real you mean "vryidr taped a picture of Nicolas Cage's face to the front of the card", then yes. Yes it is.

Top Ranked	Achieved #12 position overall 8 years ago
Date added	9 years
Last updated	6 years
Key combos	Enchanted Evening + Sphere of Safety Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite + Godhead of Awe Enchanted Evening + Greater Auramancy Curse of Exhaustion + Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	24 - 0 Mythic Rares 36 - 0 Rares 13 - 0 Uncommons 8 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.62
Tokens	Angel 4/4 W, Emblem Dovin Baan, Emblem Jace, Unraveler of Secrets, Emblem Narset Transcendent, Emblem Tamiyo, the Moon Sage, Emblem Venser, the Sojourner
Folders	prison, good god what have you created!, Potentials, Decks I Like/Play, hanna decks, EDH, cool builds, edh decks, Edh