Introduction
After the Commander 2019 lists were released, I was most psyched about Atla Palani, Nest Tender. Atla immediately reminded me of Mayael the Anima, except with no limitations on what creatures she can grab from the top of your deck, in addition to having more explosive potential. Note, that there are several ways that this deck can be optimized as a pure combo deck (i.e Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, Zealous Conscripts), but I generally find pure combo decks to be rather boring. Thus, I've opted to go with a timmy-style deck list, which can still "combo" if you manage to assemble the correct pieces. however, these combos usually do not go "infinite".
Description
The list I constructed here is based on my Mayael list, with a number of changes meant to optimize a deck list helmed by Atla. First, a suite of sac outlets were added to the list, which can be used to kill off eggs. I opted to go with sac outlets that either benefits you by adding mana to your pool, regenerating creatures, or acting as targeted removal. Similar to most Mayael lists, this deck focuses on trying to get the biggest, baddest beaters available in naya colors. However, creatures that normally could not be added to a Mayael list were added here (recall that Mayael's ability has a power restriction). New cards that were added include Trostani, Selesnya's Voice, Odric, Lunarch Marshal, and Pathbreaker Ibex. For this list, I've opted to go with Pathbreaker over Craterhoof Behemoth, since this deck goes tall rather than than wide, making Pathbreaker a better fit as a finisher. If you go with a more token based approach/list, then you can just substitute Pathbreaker with Craterhoof. Nesting Dragon is another exciting addition I made to this list since it synergizes perfectly with Atla, by making eggs through landfall triggers. This deck runs a number of ramp spells and lands, so getting Nesting Dragon's landfall ability to trigger consistently should be easy.
This deck does have some combo potential, as I've gone ahead and added Thornbite Staff, which can combo with Ashnod's Altar and put out every creature in your deck for the win, assuming you still have Pathbreaker, Xenagos, God of Revels, and Odric, Lunarch Marshal in your deck or on the battlefield. Using Xenagos' ability, you would give a creature haste at the beginning of combat, and then use Odric to give all creatures haste, in addition to all other abilities that are stapled on your creatures. Ideally, Pathbreaker Ibex should give everything at least +11/+11, which is the largest creature in this deck, which would actually be +22/+22 since Xenagos' ability would double the power of your largest creature (assuming you pick said creature with Xenagos' ability).
Another card that plays really well with Atla is Mirror Entity. For x mana, you can transform all of your creatures to all creature types. This ability is especially nifty when someone targets one of your creatures with non-exile removal, as you can simply pay x and turn said creature into all types, which includes eggs. Your creature dies, and you get to grab yourself another creature that is hopefully another big beater! Perhaps you are unhappy with your board state, and you want to gamble a bit to get yourself a different board state? Here, you can use Mirror Entity and pay x = 0, have all of your creatures becomes eggs, which are subsequently sacrificed to grab n creatures from the top of your deck, where n is the number of creatures you had on the battlefield. So lots of 'jankyness' to be had here!
Utility cards
In addition to big beaters, sac outlets, and removal cards, I've added several utility cards that are synergistic with Atla. One of my favorite additions to this deck is Trostani, Selesnya's Voice, which can populate your egg tokens, and gain you life. With some of your bigger creatures, this life gain can be substantial! Warstorm Surge has also been added, which can do a hefty amount of damage when your bigger creatures enter the battlefield. Originally, this didn't make the cut in Mayael since the cmc of this Warstorm Surge often conflicted with Mayael's tap ability.
As with any commander deck, running out of steam is always a concern, so I've added some cards to help draw cards (Garruk, Primal Hunter, Sylvan Library, Oracle of Mul Daya, Skullclamp, and Rishkar's Expertise). Greater Good has also been added, granted this should only be used to sac a big beater that is being target by removal, and not on eggs, which will result in card disadvantage. Scroll Rack fits nicely here, as you can stick big creatures that ended up in your hand back to the top of your library. Finally, this deck has the usually top-deck manipulators to prevent you from accidentally drawing into your creatures, which should only be played by cracking eggs (Sensei's Divining Top, Mirri's Guile, and Sylvan Library).
Finally, if you do happen to draw some of your bigger creatures, this deck does contain a sufficient number of lands and ramp cards, so you can hardcast some of your bigger creatures, if needed. Along that note, Elvish Piper also made the cut in this deck, which will be used to get big creatures from your hand, onto the battlefield.
