Syr Gwyn, Knight of the (Voltron) Lion

Commander / EDH Double strike Equip Knights RBW (Mardu) Voltron

grievances

Land (36)

• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Battlefield Forge
• 1x Blood Crypt
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Boros Garrison
• 1x Cavern of Souls
• 1x Caves of Koilos
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Clifftop Retreat
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dragonskull Summit
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Flamekin Village
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x Isolated Chapel
• 1x Luxury Suite
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 2x Mountain
• 4x Plains
• 1x Reflecting Pool
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Sacred Foundry
• 1x Savai Triome
• 1x Shizo, Death's Storehouse
• 1x Spectator Seating
• 2x Swamp
• 1x Tournament Grounds
• 1x Unclaimed Territory
• 1x Vault of Champions

Enchantment (5)

• 1x Kaya's Ghostform
• 1x Aggravated Assault
• 1x Duelist's Heritage
• 1x Gift of Immortality
• 1x Smothering Tithe

Creature (23)

• 1x Fervent Champion
• 1x Knight of the Ebon Legion
• 1x Inspiring Veteran
• 1x Kediss, Emberclaw Familiar
• 1x Knight of the White Orchid
• 1x Puresteel Paladin
• 1x Smitten Swordmaster
• 1x Stoneforge Mystic
• 1x Wintermoor Commander
• 1x Acclaimed Contender
• 1x Danitha Capashen, Paragon
• 1x Knight Exemplar
• 1x Mirran Crusader
• 1x Murderous Rider
• 1x Taurean Mauler
• 1x Aryel, Knight of Windgrace
• 1x Balan, Wandering Knight
• 1x Basri's Lieutenant
• 1x Kinsbaile Cavalier
• 1x Cavalier of Dawn
• 1x Stonehewer Giant
• 1x Khorvath Brightflame
• 1x Sun Titan

Instant (9)

• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Vampiric Tutor
• 1x Boros Charm
• 1x Unleash Fury
• 1x Eerie Interlude
• 1x Flawless Maneuver
• 1x Ghostway
• 1x Teferi's Protection

Sorcery (3)

• 1x Steelshaper's Gift
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Open the Armory

Commander (1)

Artifact (23)

• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Bloodforged Battle-Axe
• 1x Colossus Hammer
• 1x Shadowspear
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Blackblade Reforged
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Prowler's Helm
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Sword of the Animist
• 1x Talisman of Conviction
• 1x Talisman of Hierarchy
• 1x Trailblazer's Boots
• 1x Fireshrieker
• 1x Loxodon Warhammer
• 1x Sunforger
• 1x Sword of Feast and Famine
• 1x Sword of Sinew and Steel
• 1x Whispersilk Cloak
• 1x Hammer of Nazahn
• 1x Argentum Armor
• 1x Embercleave

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Maybeboard

Creature (2)

• 1x Leonin Abunas
• 1x Silent Arbiter

Enchantment (2)

• 1x Reconnaissance
• 1x Sigarda's Aid

Instant (2)

• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Generous Gift

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"Be at ease, warrior."

Welcome to my Syr Gwyn deck. Although I built a Markov deck as my first deck, this one has become my favorite "let's have fun" deck to play either online or at LGSs. It started as a fun, janky Syr Gwyn deck that I threw together - at first mainly to get all my favorite cards into a deck (Avacyn, Elesh, knights, Embercleave, etc), even though they're not really good together for EDH (and I didn't want to make a mono-white deck). I ultimately took out Avacyn and Elesh and began to focus the deck on a mix of knights, strong equipment, and protection.

Main Strategy

Basically, I try to have a starting hand that has 3-4 lands (and an unsung hero is Sword of the Animist b/c I've never had a bad game with this ramping tool on the board). I then have faith in my mix of knights and equipment and start putting out low costed knights to protect me until I can build up to Syr Gwyn. I've also straight up won a game just by having Fervent Champion out early with some swords, b/c the immediate advantage just propelled me to the win. But most of the time, I'm working to get Gwyn out. At that point I'm working to get her up to a 21 power level, either through the weapons ( Colossus Hammer is great) or through tricks like double strike ( Fireshrieker is an obscure one, but I'm trying it here). Her "Equip 0" ability is just so powerful, as is her vigilance.

I'm also trying to build in protection with blinking effects ( Teferi's Protection obviously, but also things like Ghostway and Eerie Interlude ) and the old standbys like Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots . I also added in equipment granting unblockable to her, like Whispersilk Cloak , Prowler's Helm , Trailblazer's Boots . This is clearly a Voltron deck, but I can also use my other knights to win the game if necessary. Finally, it's a long shot but if I need to try to take out two opponents in the same round, I have Aggravated Assault as a way out.

Some Card Choices

In terms of non-knights, Stonehewer Giant is really great in this deck to tutor up an equipment. Leonin Abunas was a recent add to try to give more protection to my weapons, but if I need to make a change, that might be the first card to go. I also had things like Heartseeker, Umezama's Jitte, Darksteel Plate, and Godsend in here, but I realized most games I was just trying to get to 21 damage asap so I focused more on higher damage equipment (and those with protection), double strike, and other tricks like unblockables. My sense is that what you want is damage asap to get to Commander Damage, but I might be taking too short of a horizon.

I also used to have a few more single kill spells like Bedevil and Anguished Unmaking , plus a Wrath of God and so on that I've taken out to really focus this strategy - sacrifices have to be made, and I wanted to maximize my double strikes, unblockables, and protection. I'm not sure how well this will work but we'll see.

Let me know what you think - I love knights and swords (reminds me of playing with a Paladin in Ultima IV or a Knight of the Rose in Dragonlance D&D). Essentially, I tried to pick equipment that was some blend of strong, with utility (esp haste and unblockable), plus a "coolness" that makes them more fun for me. And so this is a deck I absolutely love to play and love to tweak with the help of others.

Note: This version being retired

I've taken this particular strategy as far as I want, and it works okay. I tend to be able to take one maybe two out, sometimes I win, but I'm now going to explore the Haakon route and see if I can build a more midrange deck that is still fun to play. But I wanted to preserve this one for my own reference and for anyone it might help.

Top Ranked	Achieved #43 position overall 4 years ago Achieved #39 position in Commander / EDH 4 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Jank 4 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Knights 4 years ago
Date added	4 years
Last updated	3 years
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	11 - 0 Mythic Rares 53 - 0 Rares 24 - 0 Uncommons 4 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.69
Tokens	Copy Clone, Golem 3/3 C, Knight 2/2 W w/ Vigilance, On an Adventure, Treasure