Fun with morph

Commander / EDH* Combo Infinite Combo Morph RUG (Temur) Theme/Gimmick

Xithon

Land (37)

• 1x Alchemist's Refuge
• 1x Ancient Ziggurat
• 1x Bala Ged Recovery  ^Flip
• 1x Breeding Pool
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Cragcrown Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Dryad Arbor
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 4x Forest
• 1x Frontier Bivouac
• 3x Island
• 1x Karplusan Forest
• 1x Kessig Wolf Run
• 1x Ketria Triome
• 1x Lavaglide Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Mossfire Valley
• 1x Mountain
• 1x Opal Palace
• 1x Path of Ancestry
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Shivan Reef
• 1x Steam Vents
• 1x Stomping Ground
• 1x Temple of Abandon
• 1x Temple of Epiphany
• 1x Temple of Mystery
• 1x Tidechannel Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Tolaria West
• 1x Tomb of the Spirit Dragon
• 1x Yavimaya Coast
• 1x Zoetic Cavern

Wincon (9)

• 1x Ancestral Statue
• 1x Chandra's Ignition
• 1x Cloudstone Curio
• 1x Impact Tremors
• 1x Kessig Wolf Run
• 1x Purphoros, God of the Forge
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Surrak and Goreclaw
• 1x Tidespout Tyrant

Control (4)

• 1x Brine Elemental
• 1x Chromeshell Crab
• 1x Riptide Entrancer
• 1x Vesuvan Shapeshifter

Tutor (4)

• 1x Fabricate
• 1x Tolaria West
• 1x Trophy Mage
• 1x Worldly Tutor

Morph~Matters (29)

• 1x Ainok Survivalist
• 1x Aphetto Alchemist
• 1x Brine Elemental
• 1x Broodhatch Nantuko
• 1x Chromeshell Crab
• 1x Deathmist Raptor
• 1x Den Protector
• 1x Dulcet Sirens
• 1x Dwarven Blastminer
• 1x Fortune Thief
• 1x Hooded Hydra
• 1x Ixidron
• 1x Kheru Spellsnatcher
• 1x Kin-Tree Warden
• 1x Mischievous Quanar
• 1x Nantuko Vigilante
• 1x Primal Whisperer
• 1x Rattleclaw Mystic
• 1x Riptide Entrancer
• 1x Riptide Survivor
• 1x Skirk Alarmist
• 1x Stratus Dancer
• 1x Temur War Shaman
• 1x Tomb of the Spirit Dragon
• 1x Unblinking Bleb
• 1x Vesuvan Shapeshifter
• 1x Voidmage Apprentice
• 1x Willbender
• 1x Zoetic Cavern

Removal (9)

• 1x Ainok Survivalist
• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Chaos Warp
• 1x Dulcet Sirens
• 1x Dwarven Blastminer
• 1x Nantuko Vigilante
• 1x Reclamation Sage
• 1x Temur War Shaman
• 1x Tidespout Tyrant

Boardwipe (4)

• 1x Chandra's Ignition
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Ixidron
• 1x Wave Goodbye

Protection (4)

• 1x Fortune Thief
• 1x Heroic Intervention
• 1x Soul of New Phyrexia
• 1x Temur Sabertooth

Commander (1)

Ramp (13)

• 1x Aphetto Alchemist
• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Farhaven Elf
• 1x Llanowar Visionary
• 1x Rattleclaw Mystic
• 1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1x Seedborn Muse
• 1x Shaman of Forgotten Ways
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Wood Elves
• 1x Yedora, Grave Gardener
• 1x Zendikar Resurgent

Draw (9)

• 1x Beast Whisperer
• 1x Guardian Project
• 1x Llanowar Visionary
• 1x Primordial Sage
• 1x Riptide Survivor
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Soul of the Harvest
• 1x Vizier of the Menagerie
• 1x Zendikar Resurgent

Recursion (7)

• 1x Bala Ged Recovery  ^Flip
• 1x Broodhatch Nantuko
• 1x Deathmist Raptor
• 1x Den Protector
• 1x Hooded Hydra
• 1x Timeless Witness
• 1x Yedora, Grave Gardener

Counterspell (4)

• 1x Kheru Spellsnatcher
• 1x Stratus Dancer
• 1x Voidmage Apprentice
• 1x Willbender

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Maybeboard

Other (3)

• 1x Prowling Serpopard
• 1x The Great Henge
• 1x Whisperwood Elemental

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Hello,

Welcome to my EDH morph deck!

I started playing magic around 2000 when I was in elementary school and I always had a strong affinity for the cards with the morph ability. Back then I did not have access to individual cards and I played a clunky but not ineffective mono-blue, 60 card, morph deck. I stopped playing magic for a while and recently I got back into it again and started playing commander. This was around the time they were printing the Tarkir block and to my surprise morph was coming back in a big way. HOORAY!!!

WHY I LOVE MORPH

It's weird.

Well, that pretty much sums it up, onto the next topic. Just kidding, I thought I'd go a little more indepth as to why I find morph to be such a cool ability.

To start off with, a face-down morph creatures is colorless. -Well that's odd-

Any creature with morph may be cast as a 2/2 colorless creature spell face-down for {3}. In some instances this means you can "cheat" CMC by putting a high CMC creature out early as a 2/2 for {3} that can morph into something bigger when you have more mana later like, Akroma, Angel of Fury. This is an easy and efficient way to develop your board state.
-So, less weird-

Morph is a static ability, which basically means that the ability to morph is always "turned on." As long as the card is face-down you can morph anytime you could play an instant. In addition the rules state, "this action does not use the stack," this is extremely relevant in magic because almost every other card uses the stack! You know those pesky split second cards, like Krosan Grip, well even if your opponent uses one you can still respond with your morph creatures, say Stratus Dancer and counter their Krosan Grip -THAT'S CRAZY TALK!!!-

Here's an example that might help break it down:

1) I have two morph creatures in play face-down, a Sagu Mauler and a Broodhatch Nantuko and five untapped lands that can produce any color of mana. (IF ONLY!)

2) My opponent casts Lightning Bolt.

At this point they must choose which creature to target, remember they don't know what the creatures are they just see two 2/2 colorless creatures. Let's go over both possible outcomes.

3A) My opponent chooses the face-down Sagu Mauler.

4A) I pay {3}{G}{U} to morph it. It gets turned face up -before the stack even starts- it has hexproof, the spell fizzles.

OR

3B) My opponent chooses the face-down Broodhatch Nantuko.

4B) I pay {2}{G} to morph it. It gets turned up,Lightning Bolt hits, it has a toughness of 1 and dies, but you get three 1/1 green insects as a consolation prize, so it's not all bad.

Regardless, you still have a 50/50 chance that both of your creatures will live because your opponent unknowingly chose the wrong target. By virtue of a card being face-down your opponent knows you can morph but they don't know what the morph creature will turn into. Additionally, the mana cost associated to morph cards and turn them face-up is variable depending on the card. So, depending on how much mana you have available to you and how many face-down creatures you have things can start getting really tricky for your opponents because they don't know what abilities your creatures really have and by extension what possible responses you might have if they target one of your creatures. Most people choose not to try and decipher this tricky game of deception and usually just go after someone else. The ability to essentially hide what cards you're playing while still having them be a tool available to you is probably the main reason I like morph. I find it exciting and my opponents find it worrisome.

DECKBUILDING PHILOSOPHY

I chose Animar as my commander because it is {U}{R}{G}, the same colors as the Temur tribe which emphasized the morph ability in the Tarkir block. I also saw some obvious ways to abuse Animar's own abilities with morph, more on that later.

Although not every creature in this deck has the morph ability I wanted to maintain an emphasis on morph as the primary theme of this deck which is why I chose creatures like Skirk Alarmist. However, certain creatures like Soul of New Phyrexia and Eternal Witness also made the cut as they provide invaluable creature utility in this creature-based deck.

I will also note here that I have seen many Animar decks which pump out free eldrazi monsters after Animar gets big. I purposely excluded eldrazi from my deck (because they are not budget-friendly cards.)

COOL COMBOS and WINCONS

The Pickle Lock:

Brine Elemental + Vesuvan Shapeshifter

Infinite Mill:

Animar, Soul of Elements + (Cloudstone Curio or Tidespout Tyrant + 2 Morph creatures OR Ancestral Statue) + Altar of the Brood

Infinite Damage:

Animar, Soul of Elements + (Cloudstone Curio or Tidespout Tyrant + 2 Morph creatures OR Ancestral Statue) + Impact Tremors

Animar, Soul of Elements + (Cloudstone Curio or Tidespout Tyrant + 2 Morph creatures OR Ancestral Statue) + Purphoros, God of the Forge

Animar, Soul of Elements + (Cloudstone Curio or Tidespout Tyrant + 2 Morph creatures OR Ancestral Statue) + Chandra's Ignition

All the Cards:

Animar, Soul of Elements + (Cloudstone Curio or Tidespout Tyrant + 2 Morph creatures OR Ancestral Statue) + Beast Whisperer

Animar, Soul of Elements + (Cloudstone Curio or Tidespout Tyrant + 2 Morph creatures OR Ancestral Statue) + Guardian Project

Animar, Soul of Elements + (Cloudstone Curio or Tidespout Tyrant + 2 Morph creatures OR Ancestral Statue) + Soul of the Harvest

Animar, Soul of Elements + (Cloudstone Curio or Tidespout Tyrant + 2 Morph creatures OR Ancestral Statue) + Primordial Sage

Animar, Soul of Elements + (Cloudstone Curio or Tidespout Tyrant + 2 Morph creatures OR Ancestral Statue) + Zendikar Resurgent

All the Basics:

Animar, Soul of Elements + Cloudstone Curio or Tidespout Tyrant + 1 Morph creatures + Solemn Simulacrum

All the Forests:

Animar, Soul of Elements + Cloudstone Curio or Tidespout Tyrant + 1 Morph creatures + Wood Elves

Voltron:

Animar, Soul of Elements + (Cloudstone Curio or Tidespout Tyrant + 2 Morph creatures OR Ancestral Statue) + Rogue's Passage

Animar, Soul of Elements + (Cloudstone Curio or Tidespout Tyrant + 2 Morph creatures OR Ancestral Statue) + Kessig Wolf Run

If you see any other combos or have some you would like to share please leave a comment!

FINAL THOUGHTS

This was designed to be a budget deck, most all of the cards in this deck are now under $15, including the commander! As I have played it more and more I have started to make it more competitive. That being said, there are some more expensive cards that I would like to offer alternatives to if you are playing on a budget. I would swap out...

Worldly Tutor for Guided Passage - This card is perfect for the politics of commander, and the colors fit perfectly in this deck. Guided Passage also gets you three cards instead of one, the only caveat? One of your opponents picks the cards.

Cloudstone Curio for Equilibrium - Same effect for a price of {1}, not as powerful but about $20 cheaper.

Purphoros, God of the Forge for Warstorm Surge - The down side of this substitution is that Warstorm Surge CMC is much greater and only targets one person, however if you have an infinite combo does it really matter....

Cyclonic Rift for Chain Reaction - Obviously, there is no comparison in terms of power level. Just a cheap and effective wrath.

City of Brass and dual lands for CHEAP LANDS... so many to choose from Thriving Isle, Shivan Oasis, or just a good old Forest are all easy ways to work within a budget.

Thank you for reading, any advice or suggestions are always appreciated!

Upvote or leave a comment if you love morph!

Top Ranked	Achieved #30 position overall 6 years ago
Date added	7 years
Last updated	2 months
Exclude colors	WB
Splash colors	R
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	7 - 0 Mythic Rares 52 - 0 Rares 20 - 0 Uncommons 13 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.53
Tokens	Beast 3/3 G, Insect 1/1 G, Manifest 2/2 C, Morph 2/2 C, Snake 1/1 G, Timeless Witness 4/4 B
Folders	Go Make'ems, Decks to Try Out, Useful Reference Decks, Cool stuff, Interesting Commander Decks, Favorites, Want to try, Maybe, Morph, Animar