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Story Time in the Bouncalot Fungeon (PRIMER)

Commander / EDH Control GWU (Bant) Wizards

Bababad


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Story Time in the Bouncalot Fungeon

Pass/Go control magic with a tool box of ETB creatures, control spells, board upset, soft wizard tribal and loopable soft locks a la hard counters/bounces/capitalized value. This style of deck isn’t for cEDH, but its quite tuned for 4 player pod magic in an active, cutthroat meta. The main aim is to upset all other strategies, tempo past them around midgame, then soft lock them into complacency, but not a true prison lock, keeps games more varied and fun. When you’ve got your loops on lock it feels like you’re the archenemy and loving it, being able to keep your pod where you want em and slap down free lands till you seal the win is a control mage’s dream

Spiritual successor to Kruphix and the Value Town Toolbox (Pantry Raid) so he shall remain in the 99 indefinitely.

Why Chulane, Teller of Tales?

  1. Amazing control colors with varied value dorks and a bigger pool to pick from than the Kruphix version of this shell.
  2. The value of drawing and “slappa”-ing down lands while locking down a board feels amazing in the zone, he is rarely the premier target for spot removal…especially if you start accumulating value before you play him or are in a meta with heavy hitter swinging/combo commanders.
  3. The versatile nature of his bounce lets you repeatedly cast value dorks and protect your key pieces all at instant speed. It fits right at home in this strategy…allowing for 4+ options at any point if you leave any mana up. Since this deck is generally pass/go control or steers into Wilderness Reclamation or Seedborn Muse setups, its always a welcome option since it nets you card advantage every time you decide you can use it instead of an instant in hand or useful flash creature. Just gotta read the field and play into big tempo/big value plays.
  4. Lets you set up Eternal Witness / Archaeomancer / Greenwarden of Murasa counterspell recrusion loops by allowing you return the ewit effect to hand at instant speed. Extremely convenient for this shell.

The Breakdown:

Archaeomancer Eternal Witness style effect, more narrow in scope but an instant or sorcery is usually my preferred target anyways. Can be returned with Riptide Laboratory/Chulane, Teller of Tales/Cloudstone Curio/Equilibrium in a pinch or used for an expensive but convenient instant/sorcery recursion loop.

Barrin, Tolarian Archmage wonderful value engine early game with things like Wood Elves and Niambi, Esteemed Speaker. Generally sorcery speed bounce that delightfully hits planeswalkers as well. In this build, proccing that secondary ability is remarkably easy if you can allow yourself to lean into it.

Consecrated Sphinx Wing, cards, usually used to soak removal before a better play. Amazing Rite of Replication target for absolute shenanigans

Craterhoof Behemoth Hoofta does hoofta things. Slapping him down multiple turns via Chulane, Teller of Tales or even Sublime Epiphany will make even a modest board lethal…slapping him down 3 or 4 times in the same turn is too good to pass up sometimes. Arguably too good, but I need a way to end the story after I’ve prattled on long enough.

Deadeye Navigator Bounce abuse/evasion/protection for whatever I decide to SB him to. Eternal Witness, Duplicant, Fiend Hunter (to perma exile nonsense), etc. Combos/synergy for days and he comes with a decent body as well. Protects my entire field from spot removal and with my usually ridiculous mana pool, the shenanigans never cease.

Duplicant Exile based removal, possibly large bodied, copy abuse/flicker abuse out the wazoo, and I pulled a masterpiece of this guy so its fate.

Elvish Rejuvenator A well costed land dig, steer into them with a well placed Sylvan Library setup for max appeal. More often than not they net me dual lands which feel better than a Farhaven Elf trigger.

Eternal Witness Always remember to treat yourself. This etb is the crux of the style of soft loops the deck can unleash. Evacuation + Eternal Witness causes a soft lockdown for the low low sum of 8 mana for as long as you want to essentially. Cryptic Command or Sublime Epiphany also can be utterly backbreaking. It is always a boon to flash this lady in with Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir, Winding Canyons, or Alchemist's Refuge so you can get around responses or lead into an untap for Deadeye Navigator/Niambi, Esteemed Speaker/Chulane, Teller of Tales tempo plays.

Fiend Hunter If you flicker or bounce this bad boy while his first ETB trigger is on the stack it will perma-exile the target before the second ability can resolve. With 6 up we can do this every turn with Chulane, Teller of Tales in a vacuum.

Frilled Mystic Catch All Counter dork that is a wizard. NEXT.

Glen Elendra Archmage amazing dig/value when paired with The Great Henge. Sometimes its nice to play this on a fairly empty board and just have the U:protect my next play available X2. Riptide Laboratory lets you soft loop this set of annoying wings as much as you want if you can’t get that Chulane to stick.

God-Eternal Oketra brings a 4/4 vig zombie playmate for each dork I play. Allowing me some actual combat threat and defense. Her exileproof/deathproof nature makes her a welcome card to play into and reset with after a wipe. Having her out with Chulane, Teller of Tales makes each creature I play net me a card, likely a land, and a 4/4 with vig. Bonkers.

Greenwarden of Murasa see Eternal Witness. Has a pretty darn nice body, if you are into plant bois. My favorite thing to do with this guy is recur Sublime Epiphany or Rite of Replication repeatedly and just create and army of em to brute force my way to victory.

Hydroid Krasis CARDS. LIFE. SNEK. Returning this to hand for a deep dig whenever you want to or utilizing it as a big beater when your hand is flush.

Jolrael, Mwonvuli Recluse Nets me free bodies on my turn, possibly on each of my opponents’ turns as well. Her activated ability can shut out games, especially if I’ve been unchecked and have an army of bears with even an unamped 7 card hand. Pair with Kruphix, God of Horizons or Reliquary Tower for huge buff dorks. Just a little repeatable pocket Craterhoof Behemoth that is a value dork early game.

Knight of Autumn Usually used for lifegain or artifact/enchant removal. In a pinch Rite of Replication into an army of 4/3s after a wipe is still perfectly fine.

Kruphix, God of Horizons Papa himself. The spirit of the first version of this deck. King of pass/go magics. Lets me generate a huge hand or stockpile mana for giant plays.

Meddling Mage Stall out threatening commanders early game, bounce to hand and name an x spell or combo piece after an enemy tutors, oh and she’s a wizard. Clutch meta piece that will get groans every time it hits the board but hey at least its not GAAIV.

Mystic Snake Catch all counter on a body that isn’t a wizard. NEXT

Niambi, Esteemed Speaker all the life, all the durdle recursion. VERY RARELY useful activated ability. Protects your pieces, sets up the next volley of plays, steers into Barrin, Tolarian Archmage value quite well.

Restoration Angel She fly, she protecc, she flash. Versatile flash dorks are quite welcome topdecks at any point in the game.

Seedborn Muse Sets up ridiculous flash plays and gives us access to Chulane, Teller of Tales bounce on every other person’s turn. This is where I’d put my Prophet of Kruphix if fate weren’t cruel.

Selfless Squire The bane of punchy decks and storm decks alike. Being able to recur this dork and slap it down every/any turn you want to feels amazing. Occasionally netting a big beefer beater as a consolation prize can hardly be ignored.

Solemn Simulacrum We still don’t know why this bot is so sad, he nets so much value.

Stonecloaker Free real estate. He can spot remove pesky recursion targets in other graveyards and target himself with the return clause…all while having flash. Essentially a cantrip every turn with the right setup and Chulane, Teller of Tales out. My meta is extremely grave reliant so a little targeted hate is always good.

Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir Makes my spells uncounterable, grants my creatures flash, and allows me to set up uninterrupted on my turn. Using someone’s end step to flash him and a dork in to set up recursion loops once my turn starts is his modus operandi.

Temur Sabertooth My meta is wipe heavy. This protective dork laughs at wipes all while acting as a slower Deadeye Navigator when the indestructible clause isn’t needed. Decent body when paired with the indestructible too.

Thassa, God of the Sea fixes my draws early game, forces big damage through late game. One of my favorite cards to see in an opening hand.

Thragtusk helps mitigate some of the punches that land on me early game, nets big life with Deadeye Navigator or niambi, esteemed healer and even leaves a body when it gets removed.

Torrential Gearhulk BIG SNAPPY with the added bonus of casting a spell for free. Interrupts some of my counter loops but usually it was absolutely necessary if I dropped him.

Venser, Shaper Savant repeatable Unsubstantiate on a body. Pair with Deadeye Navigator to lose friends. Fits the partial wizard tribe, therefore can be utterly abused with Riptide Laboratory. 7 mana counter/bounce slows down the game really hard, people just stop playing until they can bait it properly half the time.

Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger doubles my mana/sleeps theirs. Big booty. Easily protected in this shell. I prefer utilizing him and hoofta strats instead of doing infinite mana strats with Palinchron or Peregrine Drake.

Wood Elves gets me Duals and is generally welcome in every hand.

Arcane Denial catch all 1U counter that also nets me cards and fits into loops extremely well due to not needing UU every time we do it.

Capsize with mana stockpiling, untaps, and a suite of reliable/repeatable counterspells this card is all but essential. Bounce a thing and Meddling Mage or counter it before they can replay it (best use against combo commanders). A good 6 mana “oh beans” option.

Cryptic Command all the modes are good. Loop with the tapdown and returning Eternal Witness effects to hand to keep the story going.

Cyclonic Rift This is a blue deck. Rift lets blue decks win.

Evacuation Pair with an Eternal Witness etb and just soft loop your value while keeping the board clear for cheap.

Fact or Fiction my favorite cantrip since I utilize my yard quite frequently too. Fleshes out opening hands and the politics of this card is always fun.

Ghostly Flicker Does silly things with etbs, especially Eternal Witness effects.

Heroic Intervention a good catch all and protects me from MLD.

Mana Drain loopable 2 drop counter that nets mondo mana.

Narset's Reversal why aren’t people playing this card? Its positively delightful and varied. Recast your own spells 2 turns in a row…steal someone’s Cultivate or Torment of Hailfire because why should they have dreams?

Pact of Negation just says nope. Prefer it to Force of Will since id rather not exile pieces I can reuse UNLESS I have to.

Sublime Epiphany an even more bonkers Cryptic Command for the pass/go mage on the pass/go.

Sudden Substitution that tasty split second as you steal someone’s noncreature wincon or trading a 0=X Wargate for their commander in a pinch.

Sunder Okay I know. OKAY. Alright. Float a ton of mana when you have chulane out. Bounce all lands. Play creatures and slap all those lands back into play. Suddenly you’re 4 turns ahead of the table and reset the hyper ramp decks. I try not to loop this spell unless I’m at a competitive/tournament pod night but this card absolutely wins me games and is considerably more fair than true MLD. I understand every ounce of salt this card gets though, I face this deck almost as much as I play it.

Bribery It’s always fun to punish people who play Blighsteel Colossus and get a peek at strange new decks as you’re fighting against them for the first time.

Cultivate cmc efficient land grab. Rite of Replication Main win con of the deck, in all honesty. Utilize with a Greenwarden of Murasa in particular for an army of big boys and recur this spell and any other you see fit. Keep things fun and mix/match targets after that.

Time Wipe preffered creature wipe because you can gain some value/tempo from it or just allows you to recast Chulane for 5 cmc.

Wargate malleable tutoring that requires considerable mana investment. I’m very tentative about putting true tutors in a deck like this so the versatility of this without netting me an instant/sorcery seems balanced. More often than not I use it as a 3 drop to grab a land out of my deck and slam into play.

Aura Shards Enchants/artifacts become misplays as long as I can keep this out. With people wary about playing them it provides me easy opportunity to hate out their creature plays as they try to avoid getting stung by this.

Chromatic Lantern Smooths the mana and gotta showcase the masterpiece.

Cloudstone Curio allows me to abuse ETB effects, protect my key pieces when I play creatures at instant speed, nets me free cards when paired with Eternal Witness effects. Makes every good etb creature in deck into a backbreaking engine as long as I have one body to spare. Keeps the value train rolling.

Equilibrium Can bounce problematic opponents’ creatures and act as a secondary Cloudstone Curio when desired.

Song of the Dryads Catch all removal. Turning opposing commanders into a forest is just sometimes what you need to make em stay put.

Oko, Thief of Crowns The man, they myth, the utterly annoying bane of creature based combo commanders. Turn their commander into an elk, create some life gain nuggets in a pinch, appropriate some low cmc artifact/creature piece that they couldn’t protect. Bonkers in EDH.

The Great Henge This card is just about auto-include in every creature based green deck. Can be slapped down cheaply, stabilizes you with 2 life every time it is tapped, refills your hand, pumps your field.

Thought Vessel Added to give me another avenue of “no maximum hand size” and can be tutored with Muddle the Mixture

Wilderness Reclamation slap this down, immediately untaps your mana for big response plays on your opponents’ turns. Gets extremely out of hand if they can’t remove it/you can protect it.

E wit effects: Can be utilized with Eternal Witness, Archaeomancer, or Greenwarden of Murasa in all cases, I will list the preferred combo piece if there is one.

Eternal Witness + Evacuation = recurring a fieldwide bounce until you can mount a victory

Eternal Witness + Cryptic Command / Sublime Epiphany= Counter and recur eternal witness to keep the board state locked, can also tap down an army and recur

Greenwarden of Murasa + Sublime Epiphany / Rite of Replication = big booty army, board lock, and recursion.

Eternal Witness + Ghostly Flicker= Lets you recur an etb of another creature while repeatedly putting Ghostly Flicker back in your hand by also flickering Eternal Witness. Max value points if chulane is out and the other target is Wood Elves / Elvish Rejuvenator or Archaeomancer / Greenwarden of Murasa

Wizard Jailors: cards that can be abused by Riptide Laboratory that are efficacious enough to solicit merit.

Venser, Shaper Savant / Frilled Mystic + Riptide Laboratory = repeatable counter or bounce for the low low sum of 7 mana per instance.

Glen Elendra Archmage + Riptide Laboratory = repeatable noncreature counterspells, to a backbreaking degree

Barrin, Tolarian Archmage + Riptide Laboratory = Bounce, recursion, draw, VALUE

Meddling Mage + Riptide Laboratory = repeatedly keep commanders stuck in the zone and reset as you please. Pair with Capsize to keep non-commander threats in hand for added safety.

Archaeomancer + Riptide Laboratory = repeatable response recursion, the only time this would be favorable over Eternal Witness

Engines: pieces that enable fun interactions that can be abused in many ways

Most cards in this deck are designed to synergize with Chulane, Teller of Tales in some capacity, but they also truly shine when together.

Niambi, Esteemed Speaker + Barrin, Tolarian Archmage = cards and draw early game, while setting up for efficacious Cloudstone Curio style plays. This synergy becomes absolutely nuts when paired with further draw/land grab dorks.

Deadeye Navigator + Thragtusk = TON of life, TON of evasion, TON of lil tusklings. Play this smart and they will find it quite difficult to remove.

Selfless Squire + Niambi, Esteemed Speaker + Cloudstone Curio / Equilibrium = prevent a ton of damage, gain a ton of life, while retaining the ability to do it again until they find a way to stop you.

God-Eternal Oketra + Stonecloaker= This is the favorite synergy for the cEDH version of this commander. 3 mana for ideally a slappa, a 4/4 with vig, and grave hate. Repeat as much as you want for a brutal board state when it cycles back to your turn. Seedborn Muse or Wilderness Reclamation can further push all the jank.

Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir + Seedborn Muse = a decent Prophet of Kruphix impersonation, with the added bonus of being instantproof/counterproof when playing on your turn.

Thassa, God of the Sea + Sylvan Library = lets you filter that topdeck extremely well and helps mitigate some of those 4 life chunks you have to eat early game.

Big Plays

This deck thrives on manipulating the board to eliminate opponents’ tempo and redouble your own while gaining card advantage/options till you can seal the win. Most of these are backed by a recursive counterspell suite via Eternal Witness loops. These are some notable, but escapable soft locks that can be thwarted/avoided if the pod bands together to bait your counters or tap you down.

Sunder + Chulane, Teller of Tales = Float all your mana (preferably with a counter up) and then bounce all lands. Fizzle whatever response they have. Then slap down as many creatures as you can. You’ll likely be 3 or 4 turns ahead of the rest of the table and can keep em down via the tempo abuse the deck has to offer.

Cyclonic Rift + Sunder + decent board state= devastating tempo swap. Can be thwarted but its really hard to come back from this. My meta has gotten predicting this down to a science and tend to counter/remove my board/ or Narset's Reversal the rift on me with floating mana. This is balanced-ish by being 12 mana to implement and being extremely timing based.

Duplicant + Deadeye Navigator / Fiend Hunter in response to its first trigger= remove everybody!

Selfless Squire + Chulane, Teller of Tales / Equilibrium / Deadeye Navigator / etc. = negating all storm/combat damage at instant speed. Retaining a big beefy selfless squire to whap people with is extremely satisfying.

Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger + Sunder = Timing this right devastates the board unless they can spot remove him in response. Even without land accelerating past them you are usually tapping for 4 or 6 mana after 1 rotation where their lands are getting slept.

Glen Elandra Archmage + The Great Henge + as much U as you have = noncreature spell shutdown OR U: draw a card. Extreme value out of two cards that are highly playable on their own. Meta rule +1: if you see the henge, kill the henge, no mercy.

Eternal Witness +

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91% Casual

Competitive

Date added 4 years
Last updated 3 years
Legality

This deck is Commander / EDH legal.

Rarity (main - side)

16 - 4 Mythic Rares

42 - 13 Rares

16 - 1 Uncommons

9 - 0 Commons

Cards 100
Avg. CMC 3.76
Tokens Clue, Copy Clone, Dungeon: Dungeon of the Mad Mage, Dungeon: Lost Mine of Phandelver, Dungeon: Tomb of Annihilation, Elk 3/3 G, Food, Foretell, Goblin 1/1 R, Human Soldier 1/1 GW, Koma's Coil 3/3 U, Skeleton 1/1 B, Spirit 1/1 W, The Atropal, Timeless Witness 4/4 B, Treasure, Zombie Warrior 4/4 B
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