Estrid Nonsense

Commander / EDH* GWU (Bant)

iweber

Land (36)

• 1x Alchemist's Refuge
• 1x Azorius Chancery
• 1x Bountiful Promenade
• 1x Breeding Pool
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 7x Forest
• 1x Glacial Fortress
• 1x Hall of Heliod's Generosity
• 1x Hallowed Fountain
• 5x Island
• 1x Krosan Verge
• 2x Plains
• 1x Sea of Clouds
• 1x Seaside Citadel
• 1x Selesnya Sanctuary
• 1x Serra's Sanctum
• 1x Simic Growth Chamber
• 1x Sunpetal Grove
• 1x Temple Garden
• 1x Temple of Enlightenment
• 1x Temple of Mystery
• 1x Temple of Plenty
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Windswept Heath

Protection (7)

• 1x Aegis of the Gods
• 1x Monastery Siege
• 1x Narset's Reversal
• 1x Perplexing Chimera
• 1x Privileged Position
• 1x Sphere of Safety
• 1x Sterling Grove

Recursion (5)

• 1x Creeping Renaissance
• 1x Dance of the Manse
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Hall of Heliod's Generosity
• 1x Replenish

Advantage (14)

• 1x Argothian Enchantress
• 1x Commune with the Gods
• 1x Eidolon of Blossoms
• 1x Enchantress's Presence
• 1x Kor Spiritdancer
• 1x Kruphix's Insight
• 1x Monastery Siege
• 1x Omen of the Sea
• 1x Satyr Enchanter
• 1x Search for Azcanta  ^Flip
• 1x Setessan Champion
• 1x Thassa, God of the Sea
• 1x Thirst for Meaning
• 1x Tuvasa the Sunlit

Ramp (10)

• 1x Carpet of Flowers
• 1x Dawn's Reflection
• 1x Earthcraft
• 1x Fertile Ground
• 1x Market Festival
• 1x Omen of the Hunt
• 1x Overgrowth
• 1x Utopia Sprawl
• 1x Wellspring
• 1x Wild Growth

Wincon (8)

• 1x Ancestral Mask
• 1x Aura Thief
• 1x Earthcraft
• 1x Luminarch Ascension
• 1x Nylea's Colossus
• 1x Sigil of the Empty Throne
• 1x Squirrel Nest
• 1x The Chain Veil

Tutor (4)

• 1x Academy Rector
• 1x Defense of the Heart
• 1x Sterling Grove
• 1x Wargate

Commander (1)

Value (12)

• 1x Auratog
• 1x Blind Obedience
• 1x Defense of the Heart
• 1x Enchanted Evening
• 1x Estrid's Invocation
• 1x Leyline of Anticipation
• 1x Mind's Dilation
• 1x Mirrormade
• 1x Oath of Teferi
• 1x Protean Thaumaturge
• 1x Telepathy
• 1x Urban Burgeoning

Removal (8)

• 1x Ashiok's Erasure
• 1x Kenrith's Transformation
• 1x Lawmage's Binding
• 1x Martyr's Bond
• 1x Seal of Removal
• 1x Song of the Dryads
• 1x Soul Snare
• 1x Swan Song

Shortlist for cuts (5)

• 1x Kor Spiritdancer
• 1x Martyr's Bond
• 1x Perplexing Chimera
• 1x Protean Thaumaturge
• 1x Telepathy

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Sideboard

Advantage (3)

• 1x Mesa Enchantress
• 1x Satyr Enchanter
• 1x Verduran Enchantress

Ramp (1)

• 1x Verdant Haven

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Maybeboard

Removal (6)

• 1x Calix, Destiny's Hand
• 1x Grasp of Fate
• 1x Imprisoned in the Moon
• 1x Seal of Cleansing
• 1x Seal of Primordium
• 1x Teferi's Care

Wincon (2)

• 1x Archon of Sun's Grace
• 1x Destiny Spinner

Protection (4)

• 1x Destiny Spinner
• 1x Karmic Justice
• 1x Lilting Refrain
• 1x Null Chamber

Advantage (2)

• 1x Calix, Destiny's Hand
• 1x Vessel of Nascency

Utility (4)

• 1x Damping Field
• 1x Fool's Demise
• 1x Homeward Path
• 1x Mana Bloom

Ramp (1)

• 1x Wolfwillow Haven

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Estrid is...weird. She's very inconsistent, but can be grossly powerful if left to her own devices. If she keeps getting stormier and stormier, and I'm trying to fight that back, but it's kinda hard to do when enchantresses are just so good. I'm not sure if I would call her a combo deck; she just kinda keeps doing things until she wins accidentally or your opponents concede.

Comments and suggestions are always welcome, especially if you can help with the storm problem.

Major Synergies

Enchanted Evening is just generally absurd in this deck. It doesn't do anything on its own, but it makes land drops and tokens trigger constellation, makes Serra's Sanctum produce nearly arbitrary mana, and turns Ancestral Mask into a one shot kill. You will see this card referenced a lot if you keep reading.

Academy Rector is actually pretty fair in this deck. I don't run Omniscience, so it usually just finds me a value piece, and I also absolutely no way to destroy it on my own besides sacrificing it to Auratog with Enchanted Evening out. Possibly its most valuable role is as a major deterrent to stop people swinging at Estrid.

Estrid's Invocation is already a good card, but my favorite use of it is with Mirrormade. If mirrormade copies estrid's invocation, it also gets the option to blink at my upkeep, so I can have it follow estrid's invocation around the board. This leads into...

Omen of the Sea and Omen of the Hunt are what I would design for this deck if I was a good card designer. They're enchantments with useful ETBs that find advantage, but where they really shine is with Estrid herself (and Replenish). In response to her ult, I can sac the omens to scry non-enchantments off the top of the library, getting more value from the ult and rebuying the omen's ETB. They also are insane value with Estrid's Invocation, as they let me either ramp a land from my library or scry 2 and draw for free on each of my upkeeps.

Sterling Grove is excellent protection for my deck, and is also wonderful with Estrid's ult. Sac it tutor an enchantment to the top of my library, mill it, then get both the enchantment and the grove out for free.

Oath of Teferi lets me generate absurd amounts of mana, and also lets me ult Estrid a turn early. If I manage to pillowfort enough, I can also get in loops where I start a turn with Estrid at 7 loyalty, ult her, then recast her and activate her twice to set her up to ult again next turn.

Defense of the Heart is just here for value. If I'm worried about removal, I can get Avacyn, Angel of Hope. If I need value, I can get Eidolon of Blossoms and Nylea's Colossus. Seems good to me.

Auratog started out purely as a way to protect me from card merciless eviction, but I keep finding more and more uses for it. I can use it to sac Song of the Dryads in response to Estrid's ult to move the song around, and it turns out it features pretty prominently in some combo lines. Turns out, sac outlets are good in EDH. Who knew?

Wargate is mostly just here for value, but can occasionally find me a wincon. The floor of the card is "pay three mana: get Serra's Sanctum, and it just goes up from there.

Nylea's Colossus is a fun way to just swing at people, especially when combined with Thassa, God of the Sea to give unblockable. Like everything else in the deck, Enchanted Evening makes this do silly things. One of my fonder memories with this deck was when a friend was piloting Estrid and managed to swing at me with an unblockable creature with 6x2^42 power.

Combos

"Combos" doesn't necessarily mean a path to victory, and she rarely wins on the spot. Sometimes she does though.

The Chain Veil is the obvious combo with Estrid. With Estrid, the Chain Veil, and enchanted permanents that tap for at least 5 mana, I can generate infinite mana before ulting Estrid. This also goes with Squirrel Nest to make infinite untapped squirrels, although they are not hasty.

Aura Thief is probably the closest the deck has to a true wincon. With Enchanted Evening and Auratog, I can gain control of all permanents, which is (usually) enough for everyone to concede.

Earthcraft's most infamous combo partner is Squirrel Nest, producing infinite tapped squirrels. However, this can also go infinite with Luminarch Ascension and a basic land that taps for at least 1W, representing infinite angels in that case and also infinite mana if that land taps for 3. Even when not comboing, this card represents absurd mana advantage when I have a basic with a Market Festival effect on it.

In addition to being an excellent deterrent, Martyr's Bond also lets me wipe all permanents I don't control with enough tokens, Auratog, and Enchanted Evening.

More convolutedly, if have infinite mana, I can cast Estrid, extort off of Blind Obedience, sac her to Auratog if Enchanted Evening is on the field, and repeat to drain everyone out. If I have gone off with the chain veil, I can also skip the auratog/enchanted evening piece by using her +2 ability twice and then ulting her. The risk with this last approach is decking myself because of Eidolon of Blossoms or Setessan Champion, but the relatively easy workaround is to cover those with Kenrith's Transformation and/or Song of the Dryads.

If I would rather not run Estrid's commander tax up so high, I can also do the same loop with Eternal Witness to get back Creeping Renaissance, sac the ewit to Auratog with Enchanted Evening out, cast the creeping renaissance to get the ewit, and extort on all the casts.

Card Considerations

Archon of Sun's Grace seems like it belongs in this deck, but it goes non-optionally infinite with Enchanted Evening. Presumably, someone at the table has instant speed interaction in this case, but I'd rather not risk a) drawing the game, or b) decking myself if I have a constellation draw trigger. It turns out that the only way I can stop this from going on forever is by sacrificing the archon to Auratog with Enchanted Evening out, or by flashing out Song of the Dryads or Kenrith's Transformation with the help of Alchemist's Refuge or Leyline of Anticipation. Please, someone talk me into including this.

Enigmatic Incarnation seems like it's perfect for the deck, but so far I haven't been thrilled with it. I generally don't want to be getting rid of my value enchantments, and I don't really run powerful creatures up and down the curve. It's cute to sacrifice Land Tax for Argothian Enchantress, or an Omen of the Hunt for an Academy Rector, but it generally feels pretty situational.

Date added	5 years
Last updated	3 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	6 - 0 Mythic Rares 49 - 2 Rares 11 - 1 Uncommons 20 - 1 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.06
Tokens	Angel 4/4 W, Bird 2/2 U, Mask, Squirrel 1/1 G
Folders	CMNDR brews, Built in Paper