Muldrotha, the Primally Surging Gravetide

Commander / EDH* BUG (Sultai) Combo Dredge Goodstuff Infinite Combo Primer

elgosu1337

Creature (31)

• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Bloom Tender
• 1x Deadeye Navigator
• 1x Deepglow Skate
• 1x Doom Whisperer
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Glen Elendra Archmage
• 1x Golgari Grave-Troll
• 1x Hedron Crab
• 1x Krosan Restorer
• 1x Meren of Clan Nel Toth
• 1x Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
• 1x Mindslicer
• 1x Mulldrifter
• 1x Nyx Weaver
• 1x Phantasmal Image
• 1x Plaguecrafter
• 1x Progenitor Mimic
• 1x Razaketh, the Foulblooded
• 1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1x Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
• 1x Sheoldred, Whispering One
• 1x Shriekmaw
• 1x Sidisi, Brood Tyrant
• 1x Sidisi, Undead Vizier
• 1x Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
• 1x Terastodon
• 1x The Gitrog Monster
• 1x Timestream Navigator
• 1x Underrealm Lich
• 1x World Shaper

Sorcery (1)

• 1x Primal Surge

Land (34)

• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Bayou
• 1x Breeding Pool
• 1x Command Beacon
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Darkwater Catacombs
• 1x Dimir Aqueduct
• 1x Flooded Grove
• 5x Forest
• 1x Gaea's Cradle
• 1x Golgari Rot Farm
• 2x Island
• 1x Mirrorpool
• 1x Misty Rainforest
• 1x Morphic Pool
• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 1x Overgrown Tomb
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Reflecting Pool
• 1x Sequestered Stash
• 1x Simic Growth Chamber
• 1x Sunken Ruins
• 1x Swamp
• 1x Tropical Island
• 1x Twilight Mire
• 1x Underground Sea
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Verdant Catacombs
• 1x Watery Grave

Planeswalker (4)

• 1x Jace, Architect of Thought
• 1x Kiora, Master of the Depths
• 1x Liliana Vess
• 1x Teferi, Temporal Archmage

Commander (1)

Artifact (17)

• 1x Birthing Pod
• 1x Dimir Signet
• 1x Everflowing Chalice
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Gilded Lotus
• 1x Golgari Signet
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Lion's Eye Diamond
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Mesmeric Orb
• 1x Possessed Portal
• 1x Simic Signet
• 1x Smokestack
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Talisman of Dominance
• 1x Thran Dynamo

Enchantment (12)

• 1x Animate Dead
• 1x Concordant Crossroads
• 1x Deadbridge Chant
• 1x Defense of the Heart
• 1x Dream Halls
• 1x Greater Good
• 1x Mana Reflection
• 1x Mystic Remora
• 1x Omniscience
• 1x Overgrowth
• 1x Pernicious Deed
• 1x Secrets of the Dead

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What happens after a Primal Surge?

Primal Surge puts every card in our library into play since every other card is a permanent.

Primal Surge + Timestream Navigator gives us infinite turns without the risk of losing due to an empty library, since you can draw and recast Timestream Navigator each extra turn, using Concordant Crossroads, Lightning Greaves, or Swiftfoot Boots for haste to activate her ability again.

With infinite turns, Possessed Portal makes opponents sacrifice all their permanents eventually, while we can simply sacrifice and recast from the graveyard thanks to Muldrotha. Even though the Portal prevents us from drawing Timestream Navigator, we can mill the Navigator so that we can cast her from the grave.

We can slowly win by making infinite tokens with Progenitor Mimic, milling them by recurring lands with Hedron Crab, or even attacking with Sheoldred, Whispering One (unblockable thanks to Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth).

Deepglow Skate lets us use planeswalker ultimates immediately. Jace, Architect of Thought can play a card from each player's library every turn, Kiora, Master of the Depths summons octopi and makes our creatures fight, and Liliana Vess reanimates all creatures, including any creatures we need from our graveyard.

Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir stops opponents from casting spells so we can win without interference.

Dream Halls or Omniscience allow us to cast any missing pieces, and our commander lets us cast them from the grave.

Card choices and synergies

Muldrotha is a natural fit for Primal Surge since Muldrotha rewards building a deck full of permanents.

We can cast Primal Surge as early as turn 2 by casting Dream Halls after a Sol Ring signet start (turn 3 with a bit less ramp), then casting Primal Surge the same turn by discarding another green card. With good ramp, we can cast Mana Reflection or Teferi, Temporal Archmage on turn 2 or 3 and Primal Surge on turn 3 or 4. Selvala, Heart of the Wilds on turn 2 followed by Muldrotha on turn 3 will also produce 10 mana for Primal Surge on turn 4. Thran Dynamo, Gilded Lotus, or Everflowing Chalice on turn 3 will also work if you have 6 mana and hit 1 more land drop on turn 4.

The graveyard is basically also our hand. Self-mill functions almost like draw, and discard is free. Dream Halls lets us play cards without casting cost, and we can cast the cards we discarded as well. Mindslicer becomes functionally Myojin of Night's Reach. Kiora, Master of the Depths's -2 is practically drawing 4 cards. Lion's Eye Diamond becomes Black Lotus. Underrealm Lich and Doom Whisperer give great card selection and fill our graveyard. The Gitrog Monster + Underrealm Lich and Doom Whisperer + The Gitrog Monster will keep drawing cards as long as we put a land into the graveyard each time. That said, graveyards are easily exiled and hated, and we can usually only cast 1 permanent of each type from there a turn, so we don't want to overfill it unless digging for a combo.

Smokestack makes everyone else permanently sacrifice permanents whereas we can play them again. Possessed Portal does the same while preventing other players from filling their hands, whereas self-mill continues to fill ours. Sacrificing lands and then sacrificing World Shaper to bring back those lands before recasting World Shaper with Muldrotha is quite a painless sacrifice. Summoning Deepglow Skate after Smokestack has 2 or more counters on it should devastate our opponents' boards.

Command Beacon allows us to always bypass commander tax since Muldrotha lets us replay the Beacon from the grave.

Fetches, Sakura-Tribe Elder, and Khalni Heart Expedition can be replayed from the graveyard to keep ramping. Lands sacrificed to The Gitrog Monster can be replayed.

Defense of the Heart becomes a repeatable Tooth and Nail.

Phantasmal Image copying Muldrotha or Deadeye Navigator flickering Muldrotha allows us to play more permanents of each type during a turn.

Progenitor Mimic + Timestream Navigator or Mirrorpool + Timestream Navigator gives infinite turns. Progenitor Mimic will need haste for the tokens unless we can delay a turn, and Mirrorpool will need to be replayed from the graveyard right after sacrificing since it enters tapped.

Deepglow Skate + Jace, Architect of Thought can cast Primal Surge from our library for free, or Omniscience if Primal Surge is in our hand.

Glen Elendra Archmage with Mikaeus, the Unhallowed allow us to counter noncreature spells repeatedly.

Lands, artifacts, and creatures that produce multiple mana synergize with Mana Reflection and untappers.

Lion's Eye Diamond with Muldrotha in play and Phantasmal Image and Animate Dead in the hand or graveyard creates infinite mana and infinite permission to cast permanents from the graveyard, so we can play every single nonland permanent from the graveyard (with infinite mana you don't need the lands anyway). First we make with the Diamond and cast the Image copying Muldrotha. Sacrifice the original Muldrotha to the legend rule, and then recast the Diamond from the graveyard with the clone, cracking it for this time so we can cast Animate Dead from the graveyard reanimating the original Muldrotha. Sacrifice the clone and repeat this cycle until we have infinite and , then start producing as well and cast every other card in our graveyard and hand, including artifacts since we no longer need to recast the Diamond. Credit to Lime_Blue for coming up with this combo.

Similarly, this combo also works with Deadeye Navigator in lieu of Phantasmal Image. Sacrifice Lion's Eye Diamond for , then spend to flicker Muldrotha, and recast the Diamond from the grave for another , repeating until we have infinite , then repeat as necessary for and .

Alternative card choices

Another way to win with Primal Surge is Laboratory Maniac instead of Possessed Portal, with draw triggers from Mulldrifter, Eidolon of Blossoms, or The Gitrog Monster, and Nezahal, Primal Tide to draw a card and win even if opponents cast removal on the Lab Maniac.

To win by combat, Avenger of Zendikar, Rampaging Baloths, or Garruk, Primal Hunter make a large army of plants, beasts, or wurms that can be pumped by Craterhoof Behemoth, and will be nigh unblockable using Champion of Lambholt. Vraska, Scheming Gorgon with Deepglow Skate and a few unblockable creatures also achieves the same with more finesse. Vraska the Unseen's assassins can also ride in for the kill with Sun Quan, Lord of Wu or walk through the swamps by sacrificing Filth and having Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth in play.

Twilight Prophet drains our opponents to death with Timestream Navigator each turn. Alternatively, copy Gray Merchant of Asphodel with multiple shapeshifters and Minion Reflector, Doubling Season, and Panharmonicon to copy the Merchants' triggers and also the Reflector's triggers, would be lethal unless our opponents have insane lifegain. Exquisite Blood and Sanguine Bond would make even 1 Merchant lethal for all opponents.

Mindslaver recurred by Muldrotha can lock one opponent out of the game. Alternating our infinite turns with our opponents' turns we can take over all our opponents, and play their decks against each other.

Teferi, Temporal Archmage using his +1 and then untapping The Chain Veil six times gives seven extra planeswalker activations, and up to nineteen extra if you recast him using Muldrotha and all the mana generated by his -1, so these two cards can replace Doubling Season or Deepglow Skate. With the Contagion Engine or Tamiyo, the Moon Sage's emblem, this also gives infinite planeswalker activations. This wins with Ugin, the Spirit Dragon for infinite burn or Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver to exile all opponents' libraries.

Living Plane or Nature's Revolt kills all our opponents' lands with Doomwake Giant or Massacre Wurm.

Torrent Elemental is good insurance against graveyard exile, and given infinite turns is guaranteed to win with unblockable damage.

Second Chance can also give infinite turns if we can reduce our life to 5.

Phyrexian Scriptures is a boardwipe that spares Muldrotha and can be recurred from the graveyard.

Grinding Station can sacrifice artifacts to fill our graveyard.

Exploration can let us replay more fetches from the graveyard.

Another non-Primal Surge strategy for Muldrotha would be stax, with Contamination, Tangle Wire, and Winter Orb to supplement our Smokestack and Possessed Portal.

Please suggest

Any other good cards to self-mill.

Any cool wincons and locks since Primal Surge puts the whole library into play.

Top Ranked	Achieved #5 position overall 6 years ago
Date added	6 years
Last updated	5 years
Key combos	Primal Surge + Timestream Navigator Progenitor Mimic + Timestream Navigator Mirrorpool + Timestream Navigator Deepglow Skate + Jace, Architect of Thought The Gitrog Monster + Underrealm Lich Doom Whisperer + The Gitrog Monster
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	19 - 0 Mythic Rares 45 - 0 Rares 17 - 0 Uncommons 11 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.88
Tokens	City's Blessing, Copy Clone, Elephant 3/3 G, Emblem Kiora, Master of the Depths, Emblem Teferi, Temporal Archmage, Experience Token, Octopus 8/8 U, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders	EDH, Interesting Commander Decks, Potential Commander Deck Builds, Neat looking stuff, edh, To Be Tried, Deck ideas, Look at this, Kickass EDH Decks, Karn