Retro Rith

Commander / EDH Casual Goodstuff Jank RGW (Naya)

khay

Creature (20)

• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Flametongue Kavu
• 1x Forgotten Ancient
• 1x Fyndhorn Elves
• 1x Gaea's Herald
• 1x Heart Warden
• 1x Hystrodon
• 1x Juniper Order Advocate
• 1x Llanowar Elves
• 1x Ohran Viper
• 1x Priest of Titania
• 1x Thornscape Battlemage
• 1x Thornscape Familiar
• 1x Thunderscape Familiar
• 1x Utopia Tree
• 1x Verdant Force
• 1x Verdeloth the Ancient
• 1x Veteran Explorer
• 1x Wood Elves
• 1x Yavimaya Granger

Artifact (10)

• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Howling Mine
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Mind's Eye
• 1x Seer's Sundial
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Temple Bell
• 1x Urza's Blueprints
• 1x Worn Powerstone

Land (38)

• 1x Brushland
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Elfhame Palace
• 12x Forest
• 1x Forgotten Cave
• 1x Grand Coliseum
• 1x Karplusan Forest
• 1x Mossfire Valley
• 5x Mountain
• 5x Plains
• 1x Rith's Grove
• 1x Sacred Foundry
• 1x Secluded Steppe
• 1x Shivan Oasis
• 1x Stomping Ground
• 1x Sungrass Prairie
• 1x Temple Garden
• 1x Tinder Farm
• 1x Tranquil Thicket

Enchantment (8)

• 1x Compost
• 1x Fecundity
• 1x Glorious Anthem
• 1x Goblin Bombardment
• 1x Ground Seal
• 1x Mirari's Wake
• 1x Sylvan Library
• 1x Wild Growth

Instant (7)

• 1x Artifact Mutation
• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Harrow
• 1x Reap
• 1x Rith's Charm
• 1x Starstorm
• 1x Swords to Plowshares

Commander (1)

Sorcery (16)

• 1x Collective Unconscious
• 1x Decimate
• 1x Fireball
• 1x Gift of the Gargantuan
• 1x Harmonize
• 1x Insurrection
• 1x Kirtar's Wrath
• 1x March of Souls
• 1x Mulch
• 1x Nature's Lore
• 1x Overrun
• 1x Primal Growth
• 1x Rampant Growth
• 1x Rout
• 1x Temporary Truce
• 1x Wrath of God

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About the deck

There's just barely enough support in old border Naya to make a normal EDH deck work. Normal here meaning "the usual template with 10 ramp spells and so on." So, this is one of those. It's maybe a 4-5 on the usual power scale, capable of winning through some resistance, but not fast or consistent about it.

The plan is to get Rith on the board out by turn 4ish. If she actually gets 1-2 hits in, you can often just win the game from there. The number of tokens created scales super quickly. If you can find an Overrun or a few anthem effects, there you are.

A little background

I find modern Magic design to be rather alienating. I'm happy for those who like it, but personally, it seems like every set says "This Product is Not for You," and quite loudly. The nostalgia sets do nothing for me either. There's 32 new commanders in MH3, some 28 of them are clearly pushed designs for Commander, and none of them feel inspiring or interesting at all.

So, I went into the other direction, and built a really self-indulgent old-frame deck. The leader is Rith, the Awakener, one of the Dragons Primeval of old Dominaria. Out of the 5 original ones, her ability scales best in multiplayer. (Treva has a better colour identity but the ability does nothing. Dromar is probably more powerful but also vastly more annyoing.)

Notes on specific card choices

I want to distinguish between "old border" and the "retro frame" here. There's a ton of faux-nostalgic retro border promos - that list isn't complete, it's just an impression. These are cards that didn't exist during pre-modern Magic, but which received a promo printing later that places them in an imitation of the old border.

However, there's a problem with premodern Naya, and this is the total lack of card draw. Even if we stretch and put in all the even remotely cards from that era, including complete stinkers like Temporary Truce and extremely situational cards like Compost, we just can't find enough. I took a long, hard look at Jayemdae Tome before giving in.

So, I'm allowing myself a budget of up to 10 cards from PreDH. Here's how I spent it.

First up, the lands. Temple Garden, Stomping Grounds and Sacred Foundry. These three only included for budget reasons, and they could be replaced with Revised duals, if you have an extra thousand dollars on hand.

Then, the card draw. Skullclamp, Mind's Eye and Harmonize are the big ones. Temple Bell, Mind's Eye, Seer's Sundial and Ohran Viper round it out.

Date added	7 months
Last updated	5 months
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	37 - 0 Rares 21 - 0 Uncommons 20 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.05
Tokens	Morph 2/2 C, Saproling 1/1 G, Spirit 1/1 W