Ghave Metapod

Commander / EDH* BGW (Abzan, Junk)

digitalfire

Land (32)

• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Bayou
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Bountiful Promenade
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 3x Forest
• 1x Gaea's Cradle
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x Horizon Canopy
• 1x Isolated Chapel
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Misty Rainforest
• 1x Nurturing Peatland
• 1x Overgrown Tomb
• 1x Phyrexian Tower
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Reflecting Pool
• 1x Savannah
• 1x Scrubland
• 1x Silent Clearing
• 1x Temple Garden
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Verdant Catacombs
• 1x Windswept Heath
• 1x Wooded Foothills
• 1x Woodland Cemetery

Artifact (9)

• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Mox Diamond
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Sphere of Resistance
• 1x Phyrexian Altar
• 1x Tangle Wire
• 1x Trinisphere
• 1x Birthing Pod

Creature (29)

• 1x Cryptic Trilobite
• 1x Arbor Elf
• 1x Avacyn's Pilgrim
• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Deathrite Shaman
• 1x Elves of Deep Shadow
• 1x Elvish Mystic
• 1x Fyndhorn Elves
• 1x Llanowar Elves
• 1x Young Wolf
• 1x Collector Ouphe
• 1x Devoted Druid
• 1x Ethersworn Canonist
• 1x Grand Abolisher
• 1x Kataki, War's Wage
• 1x Strangleroot Geist
• 1x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
• 1x Wall of Roots
• 1x Zulaport Cutthroat
• 1x Anafenza, the Foremost
• 1x Aven Mindcensor
• 1x Eidolon of Rhetoric
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Generous Patron
• 1x Runic Armasaur
• 1x Tymna the Weaver
• 1x Yisan, the Wanderer Bard
• 1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence
• 1x Karmic Guide

Sorcery (8)

• 1x Green Sun's Zenith
• 1x Imperial Seal
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Diabolic Intent
• 1x Nature's Lore
• 1x Three Visits
• 1x Eldritch Evolution
• 1x Yawgmoth's Will

Commander (1)

Enchantment (12)

• 1x Carpet of Flowers
• 1x Root Maze
• 1x Utopia Sprawl
• 1x Wild Growth
• 1x Animate Dead
• 1x Earthcraft
• 1x Luminarch Ascension
• 1x Stony Silence
• 1x Survival of the Fittest
• 1x Sylvan Library
• 1x Aura of Silence
• 1x Contamination

Instant (9)

• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Vampiric Tutor
• 1x Veil of Summer
• 1x Worldly Tutor
• 1x Abrupt Decay
• 1x Assassin's Trophy
• 1x Eladamri's Call
• 1x Chord of Calling
• 1x Force of Vigor

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Maybeboard

Creature (2)

• 1x Tendershoot Dryad
• 1x Sun Titan

Instant (1)

• 1x Swords to Plowshares

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Ghave was one of the first decks I made that really felt competitive, back in 2014. It used tokens and stax to make sure no one else could do anything until I combo'd. While it worked well for my playgroup, the big board presence strategy of tokens is pretty fragile in a more competitive environment, so I moved on.

I wanted to bring this deck back. I considered going a different direction, using a different Commander, or even other colors, but my heart still yearns for Ghave.

There are Ad Nauseam lists that aim to combo as fast as possible, or slow down other players and then combo. I'm opting to build this as a Pod deck, sans-red. We lose out on Vexing Shusher, Sire of Insanity, Fire Covenant, and Stranglehold. We trade Kiki for Ghave, and Blood Moon for Contamination.

Per the Pod Primers, going for combo first is almost always the wrong play since we fold to countermagic pretty easily. For that reason, our high combo redundancy is slot disadvantage. The combo is Ghave + Undying creature + Cryptic Trilobite (+ optional finisher if we don't want to wait for combat). For slot efficiency, I'm cutting Ashnod's Altar since it's just extra redundancy and doesn't work under Null Rod and Stony Silence. I'm also cutting Blood Artist because he's slower on his own, and a 4 card combo is not that easy to setup anyway.

Date added	4 years
Last updated	4 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	9 - 0 Mythic Rares 62 - 0 Rares 14 - 0 Uncommons 12 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.01
Tokens	Angel 4/4 W, Saproling 1/1 G