Soulherder Blink Control

Pauper EDH* Control WU (Azorius)

Scarecrow1779

Creature (33)

• 1x AEther Adept
• 1x AEthersnipe
• 1x Archaeomancer
• 1x Carrier Pigeons
• 1x Chillbringer
• 1x Drift of Phantasms
• 1x Elgaud Shieldmate
• 1x Enlightened Maniac
• 1x Frost Lynx
• 1x Heliod's Pilgrim
• 1x Kiora's Dambreaker
• 1x Kor Hookmaster
• 1x Man-o'-War
• 1x Merchant of Secrets
• 1x Mist Raven
• 1x Mnemonic Wall
• 1x Mulldrifter
• 1x Muse Drake
• 1x Nimble Innovator
• 1x Peregrine Drake
• 1x Pondering Mage
• 1x Salvager of Secrets
• 1x Sandsteppe Outcast
• 1x Scrivener
• 1x Sea Gate Oracle
• 1x Sensor Splicer
• 1x Skyscanner
• 1x Stitched Mangler
• 1x Stonehorn Dignitary
• 1x Totem-Guide Hartebeest
• 1x Trinket Mage
• 1x Watertrap Weaver
• 1x Whirlpool Rider

Land (36)

• 1x Ancient Den
• 1x Azorius Chancery
• 1x Azorius Guildgate
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Drifting Meadow
• 1x Forge of Heroes
• 12x Island
• 1x Lonely Sandbar
• 1x Meandering River
• 1x Opal Palace
• 1x Path of Ancestry
• 10x Plains
• 1x Remote Isle
• 1x Seat of the Synod
• 1x Sunscorched Desert
• 1x Tranquil Cove

Enchantment (6)

• 1x Arrest
• 1x Isolation Zone
• 1x Journey to Nowhere
• 1x Oblivion Ring
• 1x Protective Bubble
• 1x Steel of the Godhead

Artifact (6)

• 1x Expedition Map
• 1x Leonin Bola
• 1x Neurok Hoversail
• 1x Relic of Progenitus
• 1x Viridian Longbow
• 1x Whispersilk Cloak

Commander (1)

Instant (13)

• 1x Blessed Light
• 1x Confound
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Displace
• 1x Ephemerate
• 1x Ghostly Flicker
• 1x Hindering Light
• 1x Intervene
• 1x Muddle the Mixture
• 1x Negate
• 1x Rewind
• 1x Shadow Rift
• 1x Spell Rupture

Sorcery (5)

• 1x Angelic Edict
• 1x Iona's Judgment
• 1x Merchant Scroll
• 1x Settle Beyond Reality
• 1x Slip Through Space

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Maybeboard

Creature (4)

• 1x Auramancer
• 1x Cloud of Faeries
• 1x Cloudchaser Kestrel
• 1x Kor Cartographer

Sorcery (1)

• 1x Ponder

Enchantment (3)

• 1x Pendrell Flux
• 1x Seal of Cleansing
• 1x Stormcaller's Boon

Artifact (1)

• 1x Strider Harness

Instant (1)

• 1x High Tide

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This is a control deck that uses commander damage as the main win condition, with the Peregrine Drake / Ghostly Flicker combo for backup.

Most of the creatures we really want to flicker each turn with Soulherder's end-of-turn ability will either draw cards or keep the enemy from attacking us by bouncing or tapping down creatures. Unfortunately, this starts to lose power in the late game since a single controlling effect each turn can't keep up with all the threats the table will develop. To help with that, we can use Ghostly Flicker and one of our Mnemonic Wall creatures to reuse multiple EtB abilities per turn. Other spicy things we can do include flickering Stonehorn Dignitary to lock one player out of ever having a combat step and flickering Mnemonic Wall and similar creatures to return counterspells to our hand.

The whole point of our control tricks is just to buy time, though. Our commander takes a while to get huge, and without red and green double strike and buff spells, it will also take a little while to kill. Whispersilk Cloak, Steel of the Godhead, and Protective Bubble are the best tools for getting through chump blockers, but you can also use your spell recurring creatures to get back Shadow Rift or Slip Through Space multiple times. If you aren't unblockable, chump blocking is a big problem for this deck.

The drake combo is just thrown in because ghostly flicker and spell recurring creatures already work so well with the deck. Once you complete the loop and have infinite mana and flickers, you have several ways of winning. If you have a second spell recurring creature like Archaeomancer, then you can infinitely recur and cast a counterspell, keeping anyone from resolving spells the rest of the game. Similarly, if you have any of your control creatures, you can use the combo to tap down or return all creatures to hands while you beat down with an infinitely large Soulherder. If you have Trinket Mage, you can flicker him to grab Expedition Map and get Sunscorched Desert to deal infinite damage to each opponent, and if you have a creature that draws a card upon entering the battlefield, you can also just draw your deck to find the desert.

Unfortunately, this deck has the same political problem as many control decks in multiplayer, where the table turns against you or tries to remove your engine because they're afraid you'll target their creatures. That just makes it even more important to keep your counterspells ready, if you have them.

For maybeboard choices, if you like the drake combo aspect, you should exclude some things like Kiora's Dambreaker in exchange for Cloud of Faeries, High Tide, and Strider Harness. The first two give you a backup way to replicate the drake's role in the infinite mana loop, and Strider Harness makes it so that even if your commander is in the command zone when you start your infinite loop, it can have haste and be infinitely large that turn. When combined with one of the creature bouncing effects, that means at least one dead opponent, even if you don't have one of your other outlets.

Other ideas to try in the future include finding room for some cantrips like Ponder to increase consistency and trying a more enchantment focused build with Heliod's Pilgrim and Auramancer effects fetching and recurring things like Pendrell Flux. Auramancer would also be great with things like Seal of Cleansing, Stormcaller's Boon, and Mystic Remora.

Date added	5 years
Last updated	3 years
Legality	This deck is Pauper EDH legal.
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.25
Tokens	Eldrazi Horror 3/2 C, Phyrexian Golem 3/3 C, Spirit 1/1 W
Folders	Pauper EDH