Elsha Top

Commander / EDH Combo Competitive Infinite Combo RUW (Jeskai, America)

CasuallyCompetitive

Instant (29)

• 1x Angel's Grace
• 1x Brain Freeze
• 1x Brainstorm
• 1x Chain of Vapor
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Delay
• 1x Dispel
• 1x Dovin's Veto
• 1x Dramatic Reversal
• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Flusterstorm
• 1x Force of Will
• 1x Frantic Search
• 1x Intuition
• 1x Mana Drain
• 1x Mental Misstep
• 1x Muddle the Mixture
• 1x Mystical Tutor
• 1x Narset's Reversal
• 1x Negate
• 1x Pact of Negation
• 1x Pongify
• 1x Pyroblast
• 1x Silence
• 1x Swan Song
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Wear / Tear
• 1x Whir of Invention

Enchantment (6)

• 1x Copy Artifact
• 1x Mystic Remora
• 1x Rhystic Study
• 1x Smothering Tithe
• 1x Steal Enchantment
• 1x Underworld Breach

Land (28)

• 1x Adarkar Wastes
• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Buried Ruin
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Fiery Islet
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 1x Forbidden Orchard
• 1x Gemstone Caverns
• 1x Glacial Fortress
• 1x Hallowed Fountain
• 1x Inventors' Fair
• 5x Island
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 1x Mountain
• 2x Plains
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Prismatic Vista
• 1x Sea of Clouds
• 1x Steam Vents
• 1x Windswept Heath

Sorcery (13)

• 1x Echo of Eons
• 1x Fabricate
• 1x Gitaxian Probe
• 1x Grapeshot
• 1x Not Forgotten
• 1x Ponder
• 1x Preordain
• 1x Pyroclasm
• 1x Reshape
• 1x Rolling Earthquake
• 1x Sevinne's Reclamation
• 1x Wheel of Fortune
• 1x Windfall

Commander (1)

Artifact (18)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Azorius Signet
• 1x Basalt Monolith
• 1x Chrome Mox
• 1x Cloud Key
• 1x Cursed Totem
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Helm of Awakening
• 1x Isochron Scepter
• 1x Lotus Petal
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Mana Vault
• 1x Mishra's Bauble
• 1x Mox Opal
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Talisman of Creativity
• 1x Talisman of Progress

Creature (4)

• 1x Baral, Chief of Compliance
• 1x Dockside Extortionist
• 1x Etherium Sculptor
• 1x Grand Arbiter Augustin IV

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Narset, Parter of Veils

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Maybeboard

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Tezzeret the Seeker

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Elsha of the Infinite

Deck by Joseph of Casually Competitive

Goal of the deck

The goal of this deck is to assemble the pieces needed to draw your library and then win with your library in your hand. There are a few lists floating around that utilize Proteus Staff in combination with a creatureless deck to order your library and storm off; however, I have found that the gameplay feels much smoother and safer with a few creatures in the list (mainly Dockside Extortionist and Grand Arbiter Augustin IV).

Drawing your Library

Assembling the combo

1. Play Elsha of the Infinite
2. Play Sensei's Divining Top
3. Play any artifact mana reducer. The options in this deck are Helm of Awakening, Cloud Key, and Etherium Sculptor

How it works

With these three pieces on the battlefield, tap Sensei's Divining Top to draw a card and put Sensei's on top of your library. Using Elsha of the Infinite's ability to play cards from the top of your library, play Sensei's Divining Top for free due to the artifact mana reducer lowering its cost to 0. Continue this loop to draw your library

Winning the game

Once your library is in your hand there are quite a few ways to win. The main thought process when adding the wincons in this deck was to have as few dead cards as possible and also still be viable win cons if drawing your library is not an option. This is why Laboratory Maniac is not included in this list as it is a dead card unless you have already drawn your library.

Option 1

1. Cast Aetherflux Reservoir
2. Play any spell to gain massive amounts of life. Since drawing your library generates a very high storm count (each play of Sensei's Divining Top increases it by 1, so at least 1 storm count per draw), you shouldn't need to play many more spells to generate enough life.

Option 2 - With the right tutors and cards this can be done without drawing your entire library

1. Cast all mana positive or mana neutral mana rocks (make sure you have at least 4-6 available mana after they are played. Playing a second artifact cost reducer makes this very easy as all 2 CMC or lower mana rocks will be free)
2. Cast Isochron Scepter imprinting Dramatic Reversal
3. Cast Copy Artifact targetting Isochron Scepter and imprinting Swords to Plowshares.
4. Tap the copied Isochron Scepter targetting Elsha of the Infinite with the Swords to Plowshares
5. In response, tap all your untapped mana rocks and then activate the original Isochron Scepter untapping all your mana rocks and the copied Isochron Scepter.
6. Before Swords to Plowshares resolves, restart this loop, looping it a large number of times generating large amounts of mana each loop
7. Let Swords to Plowshares resolve, gaining you incredibly large amounts of life
8. Cast Rolling Earthquake where X is enough to kill your opponents

A quick note about this combo. While it isn't necessary to have the double scepter (since dramatic / reversal is also infinite storm and prowess), putting Swords to Plowshares on a scepter allows the cast to get around uncounterable counters like Dovin's Veto. If you hardcast Swords to Plowshares it leaves it open for possible interaction. Having the option to cast it twice adds an additional layer of security to the combo.

Additional Notes

Since this deck is fairly reliant of specific cards there is a decent amount of recursion in order to account for removal. This is why cards like Sevinne's Reclamation and Echo of Eons made the cut. The flashback on them means they are never really out of reach and will allow you to get needed pieces back from the graveyard.

Gameplay

Top Ranked	Achieved #22 position overall 4 years ago Achieved #17 position in Commander / EDH 4 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH RUW (Jeskai, America) 4 years ago
Date added	4 years
Last updated	4 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	10 - 0 Mythic Rares 42 - 0 Rares 23 - 0 Uncommons 17 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	1.90
Tokens	Ape 3/3 G, Bird 2/2 U, Spirit 1/1 C, Spirit 1/1 W, Treasure
Folders	cEDH, Other People's, Casually Competitive MTG, Elsha, CEDH, Non-CEDH, Cool Decks, Playable, Deck that I want to build that aren't mine., netdeck