2018 Commander Pre-Cons rolled out and I was intrigued but definitely not jumping the gun to purchase any of them. In fact, I was honestly looking to buy two of them to use as parts for other commanders. I purchased Saheeli, the Gifted to take apart for Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain which I did. And I purchased Aminatou, the Fateshifter to use as a base for my Chromium, the Mutable deck I was brewing. But Chromium fell through and I was left with Aminatou. I played the precon a couple of times with my play group and fell in love with how utterly bizarre the concept was.

I know Esper Miracles has been a thing in the past especially in 60 card deck formats like Legacy and Modern but I barely played any of those. So realizing that there’s an entire archetype of strategy that utilizes the top of my deck got my gears turning. Now, before I go any further, yes Aminatou has ETB/Blink effects as her -1 loyalty. Yes, I do use those ETB triggers. But if you’re looking for a pure ETB commander, Aminatou is not that commander. Just run Brago, King Eternal. You’ll be a lot happier.

Okay, now that that’s out of the way, this deck is control at its heart and spine. So let’s start with the basics of Aminatou, the Fateshifter herself which is:

  1. Top of Deck Control (+1 loyalty)
  2. ETB Manipulation (-1 loyalty)
Counterbalance, Crystal Ball, Bolas's Citadel, Sensei's Divining Top, Sorin, Grim Nemesis, Twilight Prophet, Duskmantle Seer, Liliana Vess, God-Eternal Kefnet, Watcher for Tomorrow, Cavalier of Gales, Brainstorm, Charming Prince

Crystal Ball is a useful little artifact because it’s one of the few artifacts in Magic that scrys for more than one. One of things with this deck is that scrying for one doesn’t really get you anywhere since the majority of the time, you know what the top card of your library is. So being able to scry for more than one is extremely useful so that the deck can dig deeper and deeper and set you up.

Sensei's Divining Top is pretty much a staple in any EDH deck but here it does a lot of work and synergy for you by giving you fluid control with what’s on top and when. Combine with Crystal Ball and you can dig through the top 5 cards a turn to find the best possible options.

Brainstorm lets you stack the deck while still netting a card. This means you can trigger a miracle off the cast if you know the miracle's on top, or stack the deck to put a miracle on top you can the cast later. It's also instant speed with grants you some manipulation with Counterbalance. All around a useful 1 cmc instant for the deck.

Sorin, Grim Nemesis, Twilight Prophet and Duskmantle Seer are some of the main ways this deck does actual considerable damage to opponents. The Prophet and the Seer will trigger on your upkeep (usually you’ve already stacked the top card so you know it’s a decent CMC cost) and then you’ll add the card to your hand. Use Aminatou’s +1 to stack the decent CMC cost card back on top, then you can + Sorin to reveal it again. With a 5 cmc card you can do 10 damage a turn to each opponent which is pretty good.

I cannot say enough about how Counterbalance cracked this deck wide open. One of the most basic uses of this enchantment is to lock out other commanders from ever hitting the board. Using Aminatou’s + ability, you can just stack the deck with a card that has equal CMC to one, two, or sometimes all three of the other commanders on the board. It’s a little bit of a mind game too. Who knows what you might have put on top of the deck? Could be a 4 CMC, a 5? And if your opponents all sit down with commanders that cost relatively the same, you can quickly find it and try to keep them locked out for as long as possible. It also pairs well with Enlightened Tutor and Mystical Tutor as an immediate counter to a spell by letting you fetch something (artifact, enchantment, instant, or sorcery) to put on top of your deck and then letting you resolve the Counterbalance trigger. It pairs with Sensei’s, Crystal Ball and so many other cards in the deck to be a lock out and board stall while you develop. 10/10 would recommend.

Watcher for Tomorrow is Hideaway on a creature and I can't figure out why no one is going gaga over this. It also gives you the card when it leaves play, not when it dies. It's blinkable, recurrable, and lets you filter through the top of your deck pretty quickly. I'm obsessed with this little nugget.

Charming Prince is another card that does double duty in this deck for how cheap he costs. ETB to scry 2 that's blinkable its easily abused in the deck but the fact you can also blink him to blink something else can set up some pretty interesting chain reactions with other ETB creatures. He could definitely come rescue me from a hightower any day.

God-Eternal Kefnet is a pretty bomb card. Copying the spell you draw as you reveal it (which you probably already know what it is) and casting the copy for 2 less is great. And he returns 3rd down from your library when dies or is exiled so he's got his own built in recursion?? Oh, and did I mention he goes infinite turns with Aminatou and Nexus of Fate or Temporal Mastery? He's powerful and a win-con rolled into one.

Bolas's Citadel is part of a win-con but for now its very useful to look at the top card of your library at anytime. And pay life to cast it. You basically netted 20-30 mana off Bola's Citadel if you're willing to pay that much to win. And after running the deck a few times with Citadel inside it, I have always won if I can resolve a Citadel. It's becoming that good in my mind.

Cavalier of Gales does everything this deck wants to do. Draw cards, put more back on top, shuffle if the top is all dead draws, and scry 2! Oh and it doesn't die, it gets shuffled back in. It's also a decent cmc for damage from Twilight Prophet and Sorin, Grim Nemesis. Literally it's the whole deck in one card almost.

Finally Liliana Vess acts as a win con for her ultimate but more importantly (and more frequently) her -2 ability to find any card and put it on top of your library fits into the rest of the tutor themes and the strengths of the deck. Liliana plus Sorin or Citadel usually means you're going to take the game pretty quickly.

Clever Impersonator, Peregrine Drake, Phyrexian Metamorph, Spellseeker, Deputy of Detention, Archaeomancer, Solemn Simulacrum, Sun Titan, Brago, King Eternal, Spark Double, Altar of the Brood, Watcher for Tomorrow, Cavalier of Gales, Charming Prince, Soul-Guide Lantern

Watcher for Tomorrow, Charming Prince, and Cavalier of Gales I've already mentioned but yes they do double time in this deck.

Clever Impersonator and Phyrexian Metamorph are your clone options in case your opponents have something way better than you do that you can use to your advantage. And the best part about them is that they’re blinkable and recurrable so you can always change the targets to maximize advantage.

Spellseeker is your creature tutor that is both blinkable and recurrable as well. It’ll fetch you most of the components you need to assemble a win-con, find your answer to a threat, or set you up for a counterspell in case something doesn’t go your way.

Panharmonicon turns the deck into overdrive by doubling the ETB triggers across the board. Making sure this thing sticks around is going to be crucial as it’s likely to become a huge target as soon as it hits the board. So only commit to playing it if you can make it last.

Peregrine Drake is a nifty little tech card that will untap the five lands you use to pay for it. But then once it’s on the board, you can tap to float 5 mana, blink it, untap those same 5 and then retap to net you 10 mana. Between turns 5-10, he’s going to start doubling your mana base roughly.

Deputy of Detention is your ETB removal. It's best used on multiple copies of a card across opponents’ boards or to vacuum up tokens since they’ll cease to exist once exiled.

Solemn Simulacrum is pretty straightforward. He’s gonna fetch your basics and then once he dies draw you a card. Recurrable and blinkable card draw and ramp? We like him.

Archaeomancer and Sun Titan are your ETB recursions. I’ve broken down how the deck loops itself and recurs below but just know they’re gonna be your lifeline in case things go south to make sure you stay in the game as long as possible.

Soul-Guide Lantern is blinkable, targeted graveyard removal in case there's a flashback sitting in a graveyard or a recurrable threat on the opponents side. But more so, it's recurrable removal of all opponents graveyards multiple times through the game. The other answer to graveyards prior to this add was Bojuka Bog which was definitely not enough.

Spark Double and Altar of the Brood are a win-cons so more on them later but for now Spark Double works as a blinkable, recurrable copy maker of my creatures or walkers.

Finally, I know, I know. Ugh, Brago, King Eternal. Well at least he’s in the 99. You’re right, he is! Because he’s absolutely bonkers with ETB triggers. Not just ETB, but walkers too! He’s the cherry on top of my Aminatou sundae.

Enlightened Tutor, Mystical Tutor, Demonic Tutor, Spellseeker, Wishclaw Talisman, Liliana Vess

Spellseeker and Liliana Vess I’ve already mentioned above.

Demonic Tutor is pretty straightforward here.

Enlightened Tutor and Mystical Tutor are all in here specifically to put cards on the top of the deck rather than in my hand directly. This may seem odd at first, but when paired with cards like Counterbalance, Sorin, Grim Nemesis, Twilight Prophet, etc that care about what’s sitting on top, it actually creates more value. Plus once they’re on top and you’ve utilized them for whatever means you need, you can always +1 Aminatou to draw and set something else up.

Wishclaw Talisman in this deck is broken. Aminatou is the only printed commander that can blink this card. Rune can't and Brago can't due to color restrictions. And because of that I've pulled off turn 5 wins with this thing before because you can tutor twice in a turn and the easiest win con in the deck is a 2 card combo with Aminatou. The most straightforward play here is Turn 3 Aminatou, Turn 4 Wishclaw (tutor, blink, tutor), turn 5 Spark Double + Altar of the Brood. Oh and each time you blink it you reset the wish counters so it also doubles as endless demonic tutors! Hands down the most powerful card they printed specifically for this commander. 10/10 must run.

Anguished Unmaking, Arcane Denial, Counterspell, Cyclonic Rift, Deputy of Detention, Devastation Tide, Glen Elendra Archmage, Path to Exile, Supreme Verdict, Swords to Plowshares, Terminus, Counterbalance, Pact of Negation, Soul-Guide Lantern

Deputy of Detention, Soul-Guide Lantern, and Counterbalance I’ve already discussed.

Anguished Unmaking, Path to Exile, and Swords to Plowshares are your solid instant removal spells to respond to threats. Pretty straightforward here.

Cyclonic Rift, Terminus, Devastation Tide, and Supreme Verdict are your board wipes. Note that any Miracle card can be cast on an opponents turn if you can draw it as your ‘first card you’ve drawn this turn’. So boardwiping at instant speed is always fun!

Arcane Denial, Counterspell, Pact of Negation, and Glen Elendra Archmage are your counterspells. Arcane Denial helps fill your hand but can also set you up for a Miracle trigger on your opponent’s next turn if you’ve stacked something fun on top. Glen Elendra (as with any other ETB deck) is broken because you can remove the -1/-1 counter from her and continue to utilize her.

Azorius Signet, Commander's Sphere, Dimir Signet, Fellwar Stone, Arcane Signet, Sol Ring, Solemn Simulacrum, Smothering Tithe, Thaumatic Compass  

Solemn Simulacrum I’ve already discussed and is pretty straightforward.

The rest of these are pretty straightforward rock options. Your signets can give you all three colors. And the Commander's Sphere can sac to draw a card on an opponents turn for a Miracle trigger.

Thaumatic Compass   searchs for lands if you're behind and will flip into a pseudo Maze of Ith.

Smothering Tithe nets you free mana over time and simultaneously taxes the opponents which control wants to do. Again, Esper has a really hard time with mana / land ramp in edh so anything you can find to cover those grounds will help you out.

Authority of the Consuls, Teferi's Protection

Authority of the Consuls is a decent protection that slows your opponents down while also gaining you life.

Teferi's Protection is also that possible game winning moment of blinking out when you need to or being set up for the win but needing one turn to untap with it.

Entreat the Angels, Magister Sphinx, Sorin Markov, Spark Double, Altar of the Brood, Bolas's Citadel, Sensei's Divining Top, Aetherflux Reservoir, God-Eternal Kefnet, Temporal Mastery, Nexus of Fate

“Wait, win-cons already?! But we haven’t even gotten through the whole deck?” I know crazy, right?!

Magister Sphinx and Sorin Markov both set an opponent's life total to 10. Both are blinkable and recurrable. This is not an aggressive deck. So finding ways to drop an opponent’s life to critical range and then solving how to deal the final 10 is key here. Twilight Prophet works, Sorin, Grim Nemesis, Duskmantle Seer, flying creatures, etc all good options here.

Entreat the Angels is your Hail Mary. Again, this is not an aggro deck. But if you can’t figure out how to deal that final blow, then dump it all into angels and hope they don’t have a board wipe. Casting for it’s Miracle on the opponent's turn is always a safer bet so you can untap and swing next turn.

Temporal Mastery because what Esper Miracle deck wouldn’t be complete without it? Even though it’s only going to get one casting, sometimes one extra turn can be game winning. But what if you could cast it...more than once.

Nexus of Fate has a high casting cost for our top of deck triggers, gets us an extra turn, and (along with Temporal Mastery) goes infinite with God-Eternal Kefnet and Aminatou. As long as your casting the copy of the extra turn spell from Kefnet and using Aminatou to put the spell back on top of your library, then you can take as many turns as you want provided you've got the mana to stabilize the loop.

Spark Double and Altar of the Brood are a pseudo Saheeli loop with Aminatou, the Fateshifter. Spark Double becomes a copy of Aminatou (non-legendary) and will blink Aminatou who can then blink Spark Double and they create a sorcery speed loop which lets the Altar mill everyone out. It's a searchable and recurrable win con since the third piece is your commander. Sometimes control decks need a way to just say, "Okay I win." This is Aminatou's answer to long drawn out games where she can't find a clear win.

Speaking of clear wins, Bolas's Citadel, Sensei's Divining Top and Aetheflux Reservoir make infinite life. Tap the top to put it on top, pay 1 life with Bolas' Citadel to cast the top. Rinse repeat. But each time you cast the top for 1 life you're gaining X life based on how many spells you've played that turn. Infinite life = flux everyone for game!

Bojuka Bog, Ghost Quarter, Halimar Depths, Temple of Enlightenment, Temple of Deceit, Temple of Silence, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, Boseiju, Who Shelters All, Hall of Heliod's Generosity, Thespian's Stage, Field of the Dead, Academy Ruins

Temple of Enlightenment, Temple of Deceit, Temple of Silence, and Halimar Depths are all your scry lands. They’re gonna allow you to keep on curve while digging through your deck at the same time. Knowledge is power and the more you know, the better.

Bojuka Bog is a blinkable graveyard removal if you’re using Aminatou.

Ghost Quarter is the poor man’s Strip Mine and in almost every EDH deck I own.

Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth just covers all your basis' for land coverage.

Boseiju, Who Shelters All is useful to guarantee those big, win-con spells are uncounterable. I don't run this in every deck but in Aminatou, it's useful to make a miracle uncounterable or anything else that might win you the game.

Hall of Heliod's Generosity and Academy Ruins let you recur any of your enchantments and artifacts that aren't valid targets with Sun Titan. They also puts the card on top of your deck which you can then manipulate if you'd like to.

Thespian's Stage is literally only here to copy lands that are too expensive for me to afford namely Cabal Coffers. But it can also target stuff like Ancient Tomb, Maze of Ith, etc.

Field of the Dead basically nets you a zombie token whenever you play a land. And with a commander that's also a walker in a deck with not a whole lot creatures, bodies on the board can really help your defense. Now, I personally do not think Field of the Dead should be in every EDH deck. I only put it in my decks that are 3+ colors and/or want creatures on the board to either die or be aggro. But that's just me. Regardless, a very powerful card.

Archaeomancer, Entreat the Dead, Reveillark, Sun Titan, Liliana Vess, Command the Dreadhorde, Hall of Heliod's Generosity, Dance of the Manse

Hall of Heliod's Generosity I've already mentioned above.

Archaeomancer I’ve already mentioned above and it’s pretty straightforward. Outside of a Snapcaster, it’s hard to continue to get spells back so it’s pretty useful.

Entreat the Dead, Command the Dreadhorde and Liliana Vess are your pseudo Rise of the Dark Realms and will usually net you massive advantage, especially if you Miracle Entreat at the end of the opponent's turn or somehow get the ultimate. And Command is your walker recursion that you can get back with the Archaeomancer.

Reveillark, Sun Titan, Archaeomancer, Dance of the Manse, and Command the Dreadhorde make up a mini engine of recursion where almost everything in the deck is targetable to get back and they can be blinked for reuse. This is entirely on purpose because in a control deck, nothing should ever go to waste:

Reveillark Targets: Twilight Prophet, Spellseeker, Glen Elendra Archmage, Archaeomancer, Solemn Simulacrum, Clever Impersonator, Peregrine Drake, Phyrexian Metamorph, Brago, King Eternal, Watcher for Tomorrow, Archaeomancer, Spark Double, Charming Prince, Deputy of Detention

Sun Titan Targets: Counterbalance, Crystal Ball, Sensei's Divining Top, Aminatou, the Fateshifter, Spellseeker, Deputy of Detention, Azorius Signet, Commander's Sphere, Dimir Signet, Fellwar Stone, Orzhov Signet, Sol Ring, Authority of the Consuls, Thaumatic Compass  , Watcher for Tomorrow, Altar of the Brood, Wishclasw Talisman, Charming Prince, Soul-Guide Lantern as well as any land.

Archaeomancer targets are every instant and sorcery in the deck besides Temporal Mastery and Teferi's Protection since they exile themselves.

Dance of the Manse gets back every artifact and enchantment in the deck which was previously not doable before it was printed and was the only hole in the deck's recursion engine. Before Dance of the Manse, I couldn't get back Smothering Tithe, Aetherflux Reservoir, and Bolas' Citdadel. But now, not only can I but with Archaeomancer, I can get back Dance of the Manse to loop this over and over if I need to. Sometimes its a little concerning that they come in as creatures if X is big enough but you can just blink them to remove the creature status.

This is the bread and butter of the deck. The ‘magic’ if you will. The level of subtlety that grants the deck it’s name, “White Rabbit”. On the surface, it looks like Esper Artifacts + Miracles/Top of Deck Control but underneath it’s a deck where all the pieces can come back and continue to keep the board locked down way into the late game. Aminatou doesn’t have explosive turns, she doesn’t overwhelm. She slowly and methodically seals your fate because, at the end of the day, it’s inevitable.

Thanks for reading! Upvote, comment, or message me if you like!

Update:

Cut - Narset's Reversal, Leadership Vacuum, Leyline of Anticipation

Added - Netherborn Altar, Dovin's Veto, Deepglow Skate

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Casual

97% Competitive

Date added 6 years
Last updated 4 years
Exclude colors RG
Legality

This deck is Commander / EDH legal.

Rarity (main - side)

11 - 0 Mythic Rares

55 - 0 Rares

16 - 0 Uncommons

10 - 0 Commons

Cards 100
Avg. CMC 3.12
Tokens Angel 4/4 W, City's Blessing, Treasure, Vampire Knight 1/1 B, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders Current Commanders, NEWER EDH DECKS (2018)
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