This deck is an evolution from my original Zacama, Primal Calamity Control List.
The Commander
Zacama is the perfect top end for any deck that ramps aggressively. As a 9/9 with vigilance, trample and reach it serves as a defensive beater that can close the game naturally with three swings. Additionally Zacama is an outlet for ramp decks even after it resolves. Zacama is a naturalize or bolt on a stick and a finisher rolled into one. It even allows you to stabilize against aggressive strategies with the often ignore gain 3 life activated ability.
There are several perks that come with running Zacama, Primal Calamity. The first is that Zacama is a nine mana free creature. Untapping lands on ETB turns makes Command tax a mana threshold rather than a mana cost. This fact is especially potent against more sorcery speed control decks that try and prevent attackers with board wipes and value engines. Zacama is a powerful must answer threat that ultimately costs very little to deploy. This deck chooses to forgo other threats in favor of a more controlling strategy.
The second perk of Zacama is that it lets you fight against opponents while closing out the game. It’s naturalize and bolt abilities allows you to trade mana (which you typically have in abundance) with full cards. These abilities also let you fight against combo decks. Many decks struggle to combo through even as few as 1-2 zacama activations.
Additionally Zacama provides two combo-esque win condition.
- Temur Sabertooth + Zacama + 12 mana in lands = infinite mana, infinite life, destroy all nonland permanents and infinite land untaps
- Zacama + Slayers Stronghold + Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion = 22 hasty Commander Damage
These combos are both very slot light. One takes up a single creature slot and the other two just two lands. Additionally all of the involved cards are solid outside of the combos. This means that you have more space in your deck for answers, threats and silver bullets. They also allow for a naya ramp deck to have the possibility to win out of nowhere, punishing less interactive decks or opponents who tap out.
The main weakness to Zacama is shared among many ramp decks: counter magic. Since you often expect to get your value off untapping lands a counterspell can leave you vulnerable. To this end many of the card I run are designed to fight back against control decks.
The Deck
This deck attempts to make full use of everything that zacama can do. To that end I have moved more toward a midrange/ control strategy. Since Zacama is a one card wincon this deck has shifted towards a higher density of board wipes, removal, card advantage and value creature.
Creatures
Since Temur Sabertooth offers a slot lite combo we are incentivized to run a number of creature tutors. And since we want to run creature tutors we also want to run some good silver bullet targets. Many of the creatures in this deck are here to fight specific strategies or fill very specific roles. The intent isn’t to beat down with most of these creature, but rather to give my creature tutors more modes.
Dire Fleet Daredevil: Lets us take advantage of out of color effects such as big draw spells, tutors and counterspells. A direfleet daredevil hitting a counterspell can help resolve a zacama against more counterspell heavy decks.
Dualcaster mage: Lets us fight counterwars to help resolve our key spells. Also can copy large draw spells or big effects. Plays very well with Chord of Calling, Holding up Zacama Activations and Temur Sabertooth.
Emrakul, The promised End: Helpful for answering dedicated control decks. This is especially powerful against black control decks. If you catch a tutor in hand this card is often Tutor + Necropotence/ toxic deluge. Against Blue control this is often a discard spell for their counter magic. Powerful effect with a massive 13/13 flying clock.
Eternal Witness: Buys back the best spell in your graveyard. Makes important effects count more than once. Can turn creature tutors into board wipes and card draw.
Fierce Empath: Lets green creature only tutors grab Eldrazi and myojin. Key targets include: Emrakul, Myojin and regal behemoth. Curves into Shefet monitor in worse slower opening hands.
Knight of the reliquary: Grabs an assortment of value lands. Key targets include: Slayers Stronghold, Sunhome, Arch of Orazca, Strip Mine, Krosan Verge and Scavenger Ground.
Kozilek, the Great Distortion: Another card designed to counter control decks. Allows for a refill even in the face of a counter. Lets you force through important spells after resolution.
Myojin, The cleansing Fire: Allows creature tutors to find a board wipe. Makes the deck much stronger against the typical battlecruiser EDH deck.
Nissa, Vastwood Seer: A green phyrexian arena. Grabs a land early game and flips for card draw. Solid Card.
Palace Jailer: Removal off a creature tutor. This deck often never loses monarch. We have enough removal to stave off creature based decks and monarch is often very powerful against draw go control.
Reclamation Sage: Answers powerful artifacts and enchantment from a creature tutor. Can help slow down or answer decks when Zacama is unavailable.
Recruiter of the Guard: Fetches ever creature in the deck besides temur sabertooth. Early game this often grabs a palace jailer for card draw. Late game this often grabs a dualcaster mage to help resolve Zacama or a fierce empath to fetch eldrazi.
Regal Behemoth: Monarch is a source of consistent value. The mana doubling effect allow for some very busted turns and early combos.
Sakura-Tribe Elder: Rampant Growth on a stick.
Scavenging Ooze: A great silver bullet against any graveyard strategies. Plays well against reanimator as well as combo decks.
Shefet Monitor: Ramp card that cycles, fetches grave hate (scavenger grounds) and allows you to hold up removal or copy spells. I have cast this card once… to block lethal… because I had no basics or deserts.
Temur Sabertooth: Combos with the Commander.
Ulamog, The Ceaseless Hunger: Exile effect can push through counter spells. Plays nicely with board wipes and can take combo decks out of the game. Strong finisher.
Ulvenwald Hydra: Grabs the various utility lands. Presents a solid reach blocker. Draws a ton of cards off a life’s legacy, momentous fall or rishkar’s expertise. Mostly a bad Primeval titan.
Artifacts
This Deck is very artifact and enchantment light because it gets hit by some of our better board wipes like akroma’s vengeance. This deck also is unable to tutor for silver bullets in this department.
Sol Ring: Great Card, can’t afford a Mana Crypt or else this would be two artifacts.
Enchantments
Parralax Wave: This card is probably my favorite piece of tech in this deck. It does everything. Flickers my board for those sweet ETB’s. Protects Zacama from removal (put a naturalize on the stack targeting Parralax Wave, then exile Zacama, then naturalize resolves). Works as an instant speed exile board wipe with Zacama (put 5 exiles on the stack, then naturalize, then exile resolves). This card also plays well against combo and is a reasonable answer to commanders (either it sits under wave for 4 turns or it is repeatable removal).
Slyvan Library: Fantastic card draw. Zacama also gains life late game.
Zendikar Resurgent: Enables some crazy turns while providing card draw. Functions similarly to regal behemoth, but more open to blowouts from removal.
Planeswalkers
Garruk, Primal Hunter: This card mostly functions as its -3. After a Zacama this is a draw 9.
Instants
Beast Within: Great removal that hits any target. The 3/3 beast is pretty irrelevant, but can be annoying with the monarch cards.
Chaos Warp: Great Removal that tucks any target. Usually this doesn’t cascade into anything more relevant than a land. Good against top deck tutors.
Chord of Calling: Fantastic tutor. Great with etb effects and lets you untap with a regal behemoth.
Crop Rotation: Fetches fancy lands. Acts as pseudo-ramp with krosan verge.
Eladamri's Call: Great tutor. Works well with dual caster mage.
Lapse of Certainty: White’s memory lapse. Helps resolve Zacama. Good after Zacama.
Momentous Fall: Good way to get value off a Zacama in response to removal. Zacama untap makes it easy to hold up mana.
Naya Charm: Regrowth at instant speed with bonus modes! Good with instants and can act as a fog.
Reiterate: One of the best buyback cards in the game. Zacama makes holding up 6 mana much easier. Copy spells also help zacama resolve.
Struggle//Survive: Reasonable removal that also has graveyard hate stapled to it.
Unexpectedly Absent: Good removal spell that hits any nonland target.
Worldly Tutor: Efficient tutor.
Sorceries
Ramp
Cultivate
Farseek
Grow from the Ashes
Hunting Wild’s
Kodama’s Reach
Nature’s Lore
Pir’s Whim: Great ramp spell that can grab utility lands while slowing down opponents.
Rampant Growth
Recross the Paths: Can hit non-basic lands and is a good use of mana.
Search for Tomorrow
Skyshroud Claim
Verdant Confluence: Fantastic card. Ramps from 6 to 9 (zacama mana). Late game can regrab treats and utility creatures.
Non-Ramp
Akroma’s Vengeance: Great board wipe made better by our lack of enchantments and artifacts.
Gamble: Our only tutor that can hit non-creatures and non-lands. Good for grabbing wheel of fortune or key pieces. Becomes an engine with season’s past.
Green Sun’s Zenith: Great spell. Can grab big threats through fierce empath.
Harmonize: Great card draw.
Hour of Revelation: Strictly better Planar Cleansing.
Life’s Legacy: Great at digging for board wipes by sacing Zacama. Since Zacama is often free or nets mana this can work well on combo turns.
Mizzix’s Mastery: Great for long games. Early game it often flashes back ramp or board wipes.
Regrowth: Gets back important pieces.
Rishkar’s Expertise: Great card made better through Zacama’s untap ability. Card draw that works well in these colors.
Rout: A good board wipe that plays well with chord of calling and copy spells.
Season’s Past: Great card advantage card. Becomes an engine with gamble.
Wheel of Fortune: Great after a ton of ramp. Resets hands. Good against blue decks that will out pace our card advantage.
Key Lands
Zacama works very well with lands because it’s untap ability resets them and it’s activated abilities make it reasonable to hold up activated ability lands.
Slayer’s Stronghold: Gives Zacama Haste and makes it a 2 turn clock by itself. One hit kill with Sunhome.
Sunhome: See Above.
Arch of Orazca: Great in control matchups or if opponents decide to not play into Zacama activations. Also serves as a infinite mana outlet for the sabertooth combo.
Hall of the Bandit Lord: The loss of life is offset by Zacama’s life gain ability. Still being tested.
Krosan Verge and Myriad Landscape: Ramp on lands. Makes Crop rotation into a ramp spell.
Scavenger Grounds: Grave hate that can be grabbed by our land tutors.
Strip Mine: Deals with pesky lands like glacial chasm.
