Syr Gwyn Voltron

Commander / EDH* RBW (Mardu)

D00m13rInger

Land (35)

• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Badlands
• 1x Blood Crypt
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Cavern of Souls
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Mistveil Plains
• 1x Plateau
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Reflecting Pool
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Sacred Foundry
• 1x Savai Triome
• 1x Scalding Tarn
• 1x Scrubland
• 1x Snow-Covered Mountain
• 9x Snow-Covered Plains
• 1x Snow-Covered Swamp
• 1x Tournament Grounds
• 1x Verdant Catacombs
• 1x Windswept Heath
• 1x Wooded Foothills

Sorcery (9)

• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Mythos of Snapdax
• 1x Open the Armory
• 1x Ruinous Ultimatum
• 1x Steelshaper's Gift
• 1x Toxic Deluge
• 1x Vandalblast
• 1x Wheel of Fortune
• 1x Winds of Abandon

Artifact (26)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Argentum Armor
• 1x Assault Suit
• 1x Batterskull
• 1x Champion's Helm
• 1x Colossus Hammer
• 1x Conqueror's Flail
• 1x Embercleave
• 1x Hammer of Nazahn
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Mox Opal
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Shadowspear
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Sunforger
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Sword of Feast and Famine
• 1x Sword of Fire and Ice
• 1x Sword of Light and Shadow
• 1x Sword of Sinew and Steel
• 1x Sword of the Animist
• 1x Talisman of Conviction
• 1x Talisman of Hierarchy
• 1x Umezawa's Jitte
• 1x Whispersilk Cloak

Enchantment (4)

• 1x Land Tax
• 1x Necropotence
• 1x Sigarda's Aid
• 1x Smothering Tithe

Planeswalker (2)

• 1x Nahiri, the Lithomancer
• 1x Ugin, the Ineffable

Commander (1)

Instant (12)

• 1x Anguished Unmaking
• 1x Boros Charm
• 1x Deflecting Swat
• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Flawless Maneuver
• 1x Generous Gift
• 1x Lapse of Certainty
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Teferi's Protection
• 1x Tithe
• 1x Vampiric Tutor

Creature (10)

• 1x Balan, Wandering Knight
• 1x Cavalier of Dawn
• 1x Dockside Extortionist
• 1x Knight of the White Orchid
• 1x Leonin Shikari
• 1x Puresteel Paladin
• 1x Sram, Senior Edificer
• 1x Stoneforge Mystic
• 1x Stonehewer Giant
• 1x Sun Titan

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Maybeboard

Artifact (20)

• 1x Basilisk Collar
• 1x Blackblade Reforged
• 1x Bloodforged Battle-Axe
• 1x Coalition Relic
• 1x Darksteel Plate
• 1x Explorer's Scope
• 1x Heartseeker
• 1x Mace of the Valiant
• 1x Masterwork of Ingenuity
• 1x Mox Diamond
• 1x Nim Deathmantle
• 1x Sigiled Sword of Valeron
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Sunforger
• 1x Sword of Vengeance
• 1x Talisman of Indulgence
• 1x The Circle of Loyalty
• 1x Thornbite Staff
• 1x Thought Vessel
• 1x Worldslayer

Enchantment (2)

• 1x Knights' Charge
• 1x Necropotence

Creature (15)

• 1x Acclaimed Contender
• 1x Ashenmoor Liege
• 1x Cavalier of Flame
• 1x Cavalier of Night
• 1x Danitha Capashen, Paragon
• 1x Fervent Champion
• 1x Hero of Bladehold
• 1x Kinsbaile Cavalier
• 1x Knight Exemplar
• 1x Midnight Reaper
• 1x Mirran Crusader
• 1x Murderous Rider
• 1x Silverblade Paladin
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Weathered Wayfarer

Land (4)

• 1x Fabled Passage
• 1x Prismatic Vista
• 1x Strip Mine
• 1x Wasteland

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Ugin, the Spirit Dragon

Instant (12)

• 1x Angel's Grace
• 1x Brought Back
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Deadly Rollick
• 1x Heliod's Intervention
• 1x Lapse of Certainty
• 1x Magnetic Theft
• 1x Pyroblast
• 1x Red Elemental Blast
• 1x Return to Dust
• 1x Utter End
• 1x Wear / Tear

Sorcery (7)

• 1x All is Dust
• 1x Dismantling Wave
• 1x Imperial Seal
• 1x Kindred Dominance
• 1x Merciless Eviction
• 1x Vindicate
• 1x Wrath of God

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What does the deck want to do?

The general strategy, as with every voltron-style deck, is to hit our enemies in the face and ideally deal 21 commander damage in one swing. To that end, I found it best to rely on flash effects such as Embercleave , Sigarda's Aid , and Stonehewer Giant (and of course Sunforger ) to overwhelm defenses or counter responses.

How do we get our stuff?

To get what we need I included equipment-specific tutors like Steelshaper's Gift , Open the Armory , Stoneforge Mystic and Godo, Bandit Warlord . "Normal" tutors ( Demonic Tutor and Vampiric Tutor ) can get us either responses, win conditions or just more gear.

Drawing cards?

We have a lot of conditional draw engines in Puresteel Paladin and Sram, Senior Edificer when we ETB/cast our equipment, Syr Gwyn, Hero of Ashvale when our equipped creatures attack, Sword of Fire and Ice when we connect, and Acclaimed Contender also draws us a card more often than not.

We also have Necropotence , which acts more like a win condition than a card drawing engine, because you almost always get targeted as soon as it resolves. Edit (Nov 18th): I removed Necropotence and added Ugin, the Ineffable . Necropotence was almost always drawing too much attention and the combination of cost reduction, removal and card draw is a sweet upside.

Ramping in MARDU?

As every non-green EDH-deck, we have a lot of colorless ramp like Sol Ring , Mana Crypt , Dockside Extortionist etc. and even though the curve is pretty low, to keep up with everyone, around 10-14 sources of ramp seem necessary (we have 13 - the amount is subject to change).

Recovering from hate?

The deck has a lot of recursion in Nahiri, the Lithomancer , Mistveil Plains , Sun Titan , Sword of Light and Shadow and Cavalier of Dawn , so we can recover from spot removal and board wipes to a certain degree.

I like my board alive and well, yes please!

We can protect Syr Gwyn, Hero of Ashvale with either Swiftfoot Boots , Lightning Greaves , Darksteel Plate and/or Assault Suit (this card has won me so many games vs. Fleshbag Marauder -type effects). We can protect our board with Teferi's Protection and Boros Charm , either by casting it directly or tutoring it up with Sun Forger.

What do I get first? (Or: what do my opponents probably kill first?)

The most dangerous equipment cards are probably Umezawa's Jitte and Embercleave if we are able to flash them in or have them equipped simultaneously. They will eat up removal pretty much every time, so don't expect them to survive a turn cycle. Sometimes you can bait removal with Sword of Feast and Famine oder Sword of Fire and Ice and your Umezawa's Jitte and/or Embercleave may stick around, but dont count on it. Either keep them in your hand and flash them in or have recursion ready.

I can even go infinite?

After more extensive playtesting, I am fairly certain that the Godo, Bandit Warlord + Helm of the Host combo is mostly superflous, as we either overwhelmingly dominate the board or get to slowly grind down our opponents (or get slammed by flash hulk). It is a backup wincon to be sure, but I have not needed it to win once.

Criticism and suggestions always welcome!

Top Ranked	Achieved #68 position overall 4 years ago Achieved #30 position in Commander / EDH 4 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH RBW (Mardu) 4 years ago
Date added	4 years
Last updated	3 years
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	20 - 0 Mythic Rares 48 - 0 Rares 16 - 0 Uncommons 4 - 0 Commons
Cards	99
Avg. CMC	2.72
Tokens	Elephant 3/3 G, Golem 3/3 C, Kor Soldier 1/1 W, Phyrexian Germ 0/0 B, Spirit 2/2 C, Stoneforged Blade, Treasure
Folders	Good Ideas, EDH