Xira Arien (Landy + Recycle)

Commander / EDH BRG (Jund)

zysterl

Land (36)

• 1x Blood Crypt
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Darigaaz's Caldera
• 1x Dragonskull Summit
• 9x Forest
• 1x Gemstone Mine
• 1x Jund Panorama
• 4x Mountain
• 1x Overgrown Tomb
• 1x Reflecting Pool
• 1x Rishadan Port
• 1x Rootbound Crag
• 1x Savage Lands
• 1x Stomping Ground
• 1x Strip Mine
• 5x Swamp
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Verdant Catacombs
• 1x Wooded Foothills
• 1x Woodland Cemetery

Artifact (9)

• 1x Chromatic Lantern
• 1x Crucible of Worlds
• 1x Gilded Lotus
• 1x Golgari Signet
• 1x Gruul Signet
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Mana Vault
• 1x Rakdos Signet
• 1x Sol Ring

Instant (5)

• 1x Abrupt Decay
• 1x Dark Ritual
• 1x Reclaim
• 1x Vampiric Tutor
• 1x Worldly Tutor

Sorcery (21)

• 1x Choking Sands
• 1x Dark Petition
• 1x Decimate
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Desecration Plague
• 1x Earth Rift
• 1x Frenzied Tilling
• 1x Ice Storm
• 1x Icequake
• 1x Kodama's Reach
• 1x Molten Rain
• 1x Rain of Tears
• 1x Reap and Sow
• 1x Restock
• 1x Sinkhole
• 1x Splendid Reclamation
• 1x Stone Rain
• 1x Treasured Find
• 1x Violent Impact
• 1x Winter's Grasp
• 1x Wreak Havoc

Enchantment (8)

• 1x Animate Dead
• 1x Burgeoning
• 1x Exploration
• 1x Leyline of the Void
• 1x Necromancy
• 1x Null Profusion
• 1x Recycle
• 1x Squandered Resources

Commander (1)

Creature (20)

• 1x Army Ants
• 1x Avalanche Riders
• 1x Courser of Kruphix
• 1x Deathrite Shaman
• 1x Elves of Deep Shadow
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Fyndhorn Elves
• 1x Lotus Cobra
• 1x Ob Nixilis, the Fallen
• 1x Omnath, Locus of Rage
• 1x Oracle of Mul Daya
• 1x Orcish Lumberjack
• 1x Quirion Elves
• 1x Quirion Ranger
• 1x Ramunap Excavator
• 1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1x Seedborn Muse
• 1x Skyshroud Elf
• 1x Stampeding Wildebeests
• 1x Tinder Wall

---

Xira Arien is a commander that appears harmless and can play a supportive role ("Target player draws a card"). Jund is a color which has land destruction spells and can greatly limit/impede a player's build-up.

What this deck lack is board wipes (hopefully, this deck will never need it).

More than just Land Destruction

Apart from the many land destruction spells within the deck, Deathrite Shaman is a great addition for 3 main reasons:
- exile opponents' lands which have been destroyed, or
- exile my own lands which have been sacrificed to Army Ants or Squandered Resources when I am too impatient to wait for Crucible of Worlds, Ramunap Excavator or
- exile my land destruction spells (least preferred).

"Bouncing lands"

Burgeoning + Quirion Ranger
Quirion Ranger's ability is typically used during the controller's turn. However, with Burgeoning, the dynamics become quite different. I chanced upon this combo in a game: Opponent lays a land. In response, I activate Quirion Ranger to untap Xira Arien and return a Forest to my hand. Then I lay the same Forest. I had an untapped Mountain and Swamp in play, which I tapped and activate the card draw ability from the Commander. I didnt get my 4th land for a long time, but it is fine, so long as I keep drawing land destruction spells. evil grin

"Slow and steady tutoring"

Eternal Witness + Stampeding Wildebeests
Using Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor or Dark Petition, search for Eternal Witness. Cast Eternal Witness and return the tutor to hand and look for Stampeding Wildebeests. At the beginning of upkeep phase, return Eternal Witness to hand, then rinse and repeat.

"No more lands for you"

Crucible of Worlds + Strip Mine or Ramunap Excavator + Strip Mine
self-explanatory; if this is done in early game, usually oppoonents just concede and move on with life (i.e. next game)

"Who needs a draw phase?"

Xira Arien grants card draw, so we can skip the draw phase and leverage on Recycle and/or Null Profusion's abilities for more card draws. One of the greatest concerns is that one might end up with a hand full of lands, but that should not be a problem with Exploration, Burgeoning and Oracle of Mul Daya which allow one to play additional lands each turn.

Late game Strategy

Ob Nixilis, the Fallen and Omnath, Locus of Rage provides some mid, late-game mechanics. Recycle and Null Profusion hopefully can provide a steady stream of cards by then. Quirion Ranger comes in handy to help return some Forest to hand to trigger landfall. Exploration, Oracle of Mul Daya allows additional land plays per turn to trigger landfall as well.

In a multi-player game, Seedborn Muse will come in very handy as permanents get untapped during every turn and one have the flexibility to allow a teammate to draw a card.

Conclusion

This deck is probably strong against decks which do not have low CMC mana-producers. A decent draw should have at least 2 land destruction spells and/or creatures. Once opponents have more than 4 lands, land destruction spells become quite powerless.

Date added	6 years
Last updated	6 years
Key combos	Crucible of Worlds + Strip Mine Ramunap Excavator + Strip Mine Eternal Witness + Stampeding Wildebeests Burgeoning + Quirion Ranger
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	6 - 0 Mythic Rares 36 - 0 Rares 21 - 0 Uncommons 19 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.83
Tokens	Elemental 5/5 RG