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The Giant Engine that Could (Shorikai Primer)

Commander / EDH* Artifact Combo Infinite Combo Tap/Untap WU (Azorius)

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Artifact (25)

Creature (13)

Land (30)

Sorcery (9)

Commander (1)

Commander: Shorikai, Genesis Engine

Instant (16)

Enchantment (4)

Planeswalker (2)

Maybeboard

Sorcery (5)

Artifact (2)

Enchantment (4)

Creature (3)

From the moment I saw them, I knew Shorikai was meant for greatness, and not only that they COULD surpass Thomas as a legendary tank engine, but that they WOULD.

Shorikai

Thomas the tank engine has grown up and gained a lot of self-esteem, because now he doesn't "think he can..." he KNOWS he can.

Shorikai has great potential as a commander. Sitting in that sweet 4 mana () cost range, they are extremely affordable to cast, and it's even plausible to play them turn 1 or turn 2. Then to make them even better, they aren't a creature by default, making them invulnerable to a host of creature only removal spells. But wait, there's more! Because not only are they cheap, and hard to target, but their activated ability is extremely useful.

Paying to tap them, draw 2 and discard 1, isn't that strong on the face of it, but thanks to the fact that they also produce tokens on each activation makes it damn near busted under the right conditions. So for you get to draw/filter your deck and make a token for every activation. The only holding Shorikai back from absolute domination is the fact that they need to be untapped to activate again... UNTIL NOW

Continue reading to find out how to rev these engines into overdrive.

For the purposes of this deck, Shorikai is a giant engine that helps the deck go, but is never meant to be crewed and turned into a creature.

At it's most optimum, this deck is made for goldfishing. You want to set up your draw engine, draw your deck until you reach Laboratory Maniac/Jace, Wielder of Mysteries, play your wincon, then deck yourself for the win! Thassa's Oracle also allows you to nearly deck yourself first, then just play the Oracle for the win instead. We run each of these 3 cards to act as redundancies in case of wily Counterspells or other attempted interruptions of our plans.

In order to make this plan a reality, you'll need a few key components.

  1. Your Commander OR Staff of Domination

  2. Infinite Mana (see combos)

  3. Infinite Untaps (see combos)

There's strong overlap between the Mana combos and the Untap combos (namely because untapping mana rocks is a major means of producing mana), so ideally you'll have one of the complete combos and you can become a runaway train.

Your ideal starting hand will include Jeweled Lotus as it will enable you to play Shorikai on turn 1, leaving you open to begin digging away through your deck. Mox Amber and Mox Opal are also definite wants in your hand as they'll help enable you.

You'll want to either play your commander right away, or setup one of your infinite combos (which will also allow you to play your commander right away). If you play your commander and don't posses a combo, begin digging through your library as quickly as possible for components and/or tutors. There are enough possible combos in this deck that it is likely that you will naturally draw into something useful (especially with Shorikai's additional draw, coupled with the other passive untap abilities like Clock of Omens/Unwinding Clock).

The moment you have assembled your mana/untap combo(s), unleash the power of Shorikai and burn through your deck for the easy self mill win!

BUT WAIT! Sometimes our opponents don't want us to have nice things and they try to interrupt our plans by playing things like Platinum Angel that prevents us from just winning the game. Or maybe they all ganged up on you and countered each of our self mill win conditions. Worry not, for we have backup plans!

So you got countered

At this point we're in less than ideal territory, but it's till definitely winnable.

One of the easier options would be to run Psychic Corrosion along with your draw engine combo to simply mill all of your opponents to death at the same time. You can take the same approach using Psychosis Crawler for dealing damage.

Assemble the Dramatic Scepter combo along with Aetherflux Reservoir, cast the scepter loop combo x number of times until you have sufficient life to use the Reservoir as a death ray on all of your opponents.

Elixir of Immortality (my all time personal pet card) is here to allow you the chance to recycle your graveyard for these contingencies!

Meme Tier Strategy

If for some disturbing Thomas forsaken reason none of the realistic strategies are viable, but you still somehow have access to the Elixir of Immortality and an infinite mana/untap combo that doesn't involve sacrificing Shorikai's token offspring, then you can also conceivably loop, drawing through your deck, discarding, and shuffling, all while building an army of Pilot tokens to aggro with.

ENEMY #1:Nekusar, the Mindrazer If you sit down at a table and see one of your opponents running this commander, save yourself some time and play as someone else. You'll only cry.

Other notable threats: Underworld Dreams like Nekasur, but sneaky and harder to remove.

Drannith Magistrate if you can't cast your commander, you're going to have a bad time...

Harsh Mentor activating Shorikai becomes uncomfortable.

Shorikai, Genesis Engine + Intruder Alarm + Ashnod's Altar/Phyrexian Altar = Draw your deck

Metalworker + Staff of Domination + 2 or more artifacts in hand = Infinite mana/untaps/draw your deck

Pili-Pala + Grand Architect = Infinite Colored Mana

Isochron Scepter + Dramatic Reversal = Infinite mana/untaps with 3 or more mana produced by rocks

Basalt Monolith + Rings of Brighthearth = Infinite Colorless Mana

Aphetto Alchemist + Illusionist's Bracers = Infinite untap artifacts/creatures

Isochron Scepter + Dramatic Reversal = Infinite mana/untaps with 3 or more mana produced by rocks

Shorikai, Genesis Engine + Untap combo + 1 mana rock = Draw your deck

Staff of Domination + Infinite Mana = Draw your deck

Narset, Parter of Veils + Windfall = You draw, everyone else cries

I am open to suggestions etc. I am currently avoiding the Hullbreaker Horror combo deck build I have seen elsewhere.

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Casual

91% Competitive

Top Ranked
Date added 2 years
Last updated 2 years
Legality

This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)

10 - 0 Mythic Rares

44 - 0 Rares

24 - 0 Uncommons

12 - 0 Commons
Cards 100
Avg. CMC 2.43
Tokens Construct 0/0 C, Morph 2/2 C, Pilot 1/1 C
Folders Possible EDH Builds, Mine, General Decks of other People, Commander, Inspiration
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