Yasova Wild Pair - Retired

Commander / EDH Casual Control RUG (Temur)

VanderW

Land (37)

• 1x Alchemist's Refuge
• 1x Arcane Lighthouse
• 1x Breeding Pool
• 1x Cascade Bluffs
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Fire-Lit Thicket
• 1x Flooded Grove
• 8x Forest
• 1x Frontier Bivouac
• 1x Gruul Turf
• 1x High Market
• 7x Island
• 1x Izzet Boilerworks
• 1x Ketria Triome
• 2x Mountain
• 1x Opal Palace
• 1x Rootbound Crag
• 1x Sheltered Thicket
• 1x Simic Growth Chamber
• 1x Steam Vents
• 1x Stomping Ground
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse

Counters (5)

• 1x Death's Presence
• 1x Ezuri, Claw of Progress
• 1x Forgotten Ancient
• 1x Master Biomancer
• 1x Rhythm of the Wild

Damage (4)

• 1x Goblin Bombardment
• 1x Purphoros, God of the Forge
• 1x Vicious Shadows
• 1x Warstorm Surge

Steal (2)

• 1x Roil Elemental
• 1x Willbreaker

Ramp (10)

• 1x Azusa, Lost but Seeking
• 1x Farhaven Elf
• 1x Farseek
• 1x Perilous Forays
• 1x Primal Growth
• 1x Search for Tomorrow
• 1x Seedborn Muse
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Sylvan Caryatid
• 1x Wood Elves

Utility (10)

• 1x Bramble Sovereign
• 1x Clever Impersonator
• 1x Deceiver Exarch
• 1x Dualcaster Mage
• 1x Glen Elendra Pranksters
• 1x Plaxmanta
• 1x Stunt Double
• 1x Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
• 1x Temur Sabertooth
• 1x Thassa, Deep-Dwelling

Control (7)

• 1x Draining Whelk
• 1x Evacuation
• 1x Frilled Mystic
• 1x Mystic Snake
• 1x Reins of Power
• 1x Silumgar Sorcerer
• 1x Voidmage Husher

Tutor (4)

• 1x Birthing Pod
• 1x Momir Vig, Simic Visionary
• 1x Neoform
• 1x Wild Pair

Commander (1)

Draw (9)

• 1x Barrin, Tolarian Archmage
• 1x Coiling Oracle
• 1x Evolutionary Leap
• 1x Fathom Mage
• 1x Lifecrafter's Bestiary
• 1x Life's Legacy
• 1x Momentous Fall
• 1x Mulldrifter
• 1x Vivien, Champion of the Wilds

Removal (9)

• 1x Acidic Slime
• 1x Ambush Viper
• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Force of Vigor
• 1x Pongify
• 1x Rapid Hybridization
• 1x Reality Shift
• 1x Reclamation Sage
• 1x Winged Coatl

Recursion (2)

• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Genesis

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Maybeboard

Utility (8)

• 1x Briarhorn
• 1x Equilibrium
• 1x Erratic Portal
• 1x Horizon Chimera
• 1x Ooze Garden
• 1x Pestermite
• 1x Scryb Ranger
• 1x Skylasher

Land (5)

• 2x Forest
• 1x Island
• 1x Mountain
• 1x Safe Haven

Tutor (4)

• 1x Gamble
• 1x Imperial Recruiter
• 1x Long-Term Plans
• 1x Spellseeker

Control (6)

• 1x Cryptic Command *list*
• 1x Glen Elendra Archmage
• 1x Portal Mage
• 1x Venser, Shaper Savant
• 1x Voidslime
• 1x Wash Out

Draw (5)

• 1x Carnage Altar
• 1x Greater Good
• 1x Shaman of the Great Hunt
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Tireless Tracker

Damage (2)

• 1x Scorched Rusalka
• 1x Stalking Vengeance

Ramp (6)

• 1x Cultivate
• 1x Elvish Mystic
• 1x Kodama's Reach
• 1x Llanowar Elves
• 1x Nature's Lore
• 1x Priest of Titania

Counters (4)

• 1x Bow of Nylea
• 1x Evolution Sage
• 1x Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
• 1x Renata, Called to the Hunt

Removal (1)

• 1x Manglehorn

Steal (1)

• 1x Conjurer's Closet

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Retired

This deck has been retired, I've now built Yidris Wild Pair as its successor.

Yasova Wild Pair

I had an idea for a Yasova deck for a while now, but couldn't find the right angle. For a time it was a generic control build I had been tinkering around with a lot of ramp in order to abuse Unbound Flourishing .
In the mean time I retired my Roon deck, that had been feeling stale for a while, even though I still liked the idea. It featured Wild Pair as a build-around card. It never used the card to its full potential though.

This deck seeks to control the battlefield in a number of ways:

• Creature steal: focused around Yasova Dragonclaw , Roil Elemental and Willbreaker . The temporary hijack ability of Yasova is combined with a number of sacrifice outlets and Thassa, Deep-Dwelling for further value.
• Counter magic: There's a suite of countermagic on creatures that can be used more often. (More on that also in the section underneath 'Wild Pair spread'). Some counter answers have been cut however: Venser, Shaper Savant has been exchanged for Barrin, Tolarian Archmage , who sometimes functions the same, but is cheaper and has the benefit of providing draw. Glen Elendra Archmage has been switched for Thassa, Deep-Dwelling .
• General Removal: Removal on creatures and handful of other spells. Here it's important to note that since a weakness of the deck lies in effects like those of Torpor Orb or Hushbringer : if it's reasonable to assume to opponents play these you keep removal open for these kind of cards.
• Utility and Recursion: These categories in the decklist list the cards that can be used for repeatable interaction.

Although for the large part a creature deck, there are some notable non-creature cards that really fuel the interactions with creatures and are worthy of more explanation:

• Wild Pair : the second namesake of the deck: A large part of the creatures in this deck have been mapped to be able to find counterparts with the same added power and toughness. Every P/T category should have creatures with 'flash' on them to be able to tutor out the relevant creature in response to what happens on the battlefield. See below for a more detailed explanation.
• Death's Presence : With the sacrifice outlets one way of growing Yasova so she can steal more. Some creatures that care about counters like Fathom Mage are also powered up by this.
• Vicious Shadows : One of my favourite Win-condition cards. With the sacrifice outlets this can quickly get ridiculous.
• Neoform , Birthing Pod and Evolutionary Leap : As above, but more valuable because the deck is largely set up as a toolbox deck. Finding the cards to further your boardstate or hamper your opponents is crucial.
• Goblin Bombardment , Perilous Forays , Momentous Fall and Life's Legacy : These are mostly there to more permanently remove creatures stolen by Yasova, while getting some value out of it. If you can even pair the first two or Evo-Leap with Reins of Power hilarity ensues.
• Rhythm of the Wild : Although this card at first glance might seem to be just in here to make Yasova bigger: the fact that it makes your creatures uncounterable is actually one of the best things, since most of the counter/control actions in this deck are creature-based.
• Beast Within , Reality Shift , Pongify and Rapid Hybridization : Solid removal cards that can be used in two ways: to change threats Yasova can't steal in creatures she can manage OR turn stolen creatures into permanents that remain under your control when you lack sacrifice outlets.
• Vivien, Champion of the Wilds : originally the deck featured a Shaman of the Great Hunt in order to boost counters and hopefully draw some cards of it. Performance has been lack-luster however, and Vivien offers another way of giving all creatures flash (which is more important than boosting). Viv's draw ability in a deck with at least 36 creatures is stellar and offers better selection. I also desperately needed to lower the average CMC in the deck, because it demands much of its mana base, which makes not relying on a 4 mana ability and cmc much better.
• Thassa, Deep-Dwelling : Unless the stars align and either Thassa or Purphoros, God of the Forge reach devotion, she won't be a target for Wild Pair. She's searchable with Neoform and Birthing Pod however. Being one cheaper than Conjurer's Closet is huge, as is the indestructibility.

Wild Pair spread

This section will list a rundown of the creatures that can be tutored with Wild Pair according to their added power and toughness by category. A special shout-out to 2 cards here that don't really fit in the sections down here, since these can't really be searched for since they have 0 added P/T in the library, but are incredibly flexible as search tools:

• Stunt Double : this card having flash is great. If cast from your hand it enters the battlefield as the copied creature so it can be many things to Wild Pair based on your battlefield and what you need at the moment.
• Clever Impersonator : this lacks the flash, but it can also be used to copy your enchantments, which might be very worthwhile when Wild Pair , Death's Presence or Vicious Shadows are on the battlefield.

Countermagic

• 2: Draining Whelk
• 3: Silumgar Sorcerer
• 4: Mystic Snake and Voidmage Husher
• 5: Frilled Mystic

Creature based control/removal

Ideally this section should also feature Pestermite and Deceiver Exarch , but I couldn't find these at the moment.
Also, if you mean to include Warstorm Surge , which on its own already should be able to do plenty stuff, then Winged Coatl and Ambush Viper turn from passive removal into general creature removal.

• 3: Reclamation Sage .
• 4: Dualcaster Mage , Acidic Slime , Plaxmanta and Reclamation Sage .
• 5: Willbreaker , Roil Elemental

Card draw/advantage and Recursion

• 2: Coiling Oracle and Fathom Mage
• 3: Eternal Witness
• 4: Momir Vig, Simic Visionary , Mulldrifter and Barrin, Tolarian Archmage
• 3: Genesis : with the sacrifice outlets it shouldn't be too hard to get this in the graveyard.

Ramp

• 2: Wood Elves and Farhaven Elf
• 3: Sylvan Caryatid and Azusa, Lost but Seeking
• 6: Seedborn Muse

Other Noteworthy targets

• 3: Forgotten Ancient
• 4: Glen Elendra Pranksters : this card, together with Temur Sabertooth , is key for reusing your silver bullets. I might even add an Equilibrium or an Erratic Portal later if there's not enough bounce.
• 6: Ezuri, Claw of Progress and Master Biomancer .
• 7: Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir and Temur Sabertooth : either can look up the other (the only 7 P+T creatures in the deck).
• 11: Thassa, Deep-Dwelling and Purphoros, God of the Forge I will only mention just to be complete, since I think getting devotion for either is hard, especially the latter. If you get lucky with Thassa though: Purphoros is the way to end things.

Date added	5 years
Last updated	3 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	7 - 0 Mythic Rares 40 - 0 Rares 24 - 0 Uncommons 12 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.62
Tokens	Ape 3/3 G, Beast 3/3 G, Copy Clone, Experience Token, Frog Lizard 3/3 G, Manifest 2/2 C, Thopter 1/1 C
Folders	Future Decks