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KefNOT the Controlfreak [primer]

Commander / EDH* Combo Control Mono-Blue Multiplayer Primer

JohnnyCRO

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Commander: Kefnet the Mindful

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Trial of knowledge

No amount of strength can help you overcome my trial. You must be ready to forgo your body and favor your mind.

—Kefnet, god of knowledge

This is my Kefnet EDH primer. So far I haven't seen any primers on this kind of deck. And after hours upon hours of testing and theorycrafting I'm ready to present my magnum opus in this form. This is a mono blue control deck made and tuned for casual competitive environment (or 75%, optimized). The deck's goal is to set up protection and draw engine early to enable firm control over the game, gradually outvalueing opponents and push for a combo win. The deck has many lines of play, and variations on the said game plan are more of a rule than an exception; the deck was built with this in mind. Puzzling like the Trial of knowledge itself.

Is Kefnet the commander for you?

  • you like controlling course of the game

  • you like drawing cards

  • you like puzzles

  • you like negotiation and politics

  • you like turning creatures sideways

  • you like linear decks

  • you like "fair" decks

  • you like your friends

This deck began as a side project in spring of 2017. My primary deck at the time, and my first EDH deck at all, was Mizzix storm. It was trying hard to be a "true" storm deck, but lacked pricey acceleration to be a true storm deck. It instilled enough fear to get me hated out of games while not winning proportionally to the hate. I was looking for something slower and more political that would still let me do what blue players want to do; draw, counter, combo.

I liked Kefnet the moment I saw it spoiled. It had everything I could want from a mono blue control commander; protection, card draw and a good body for blocking all in one commander. I threw together a deck, initially a bunch of controllish blue cards I liked. Over the course of several months I added pricier cards from Mizzix that got shut down over time. I tested it week after week, researched on mono blue control decks in general, looking for techs. Slowly, but steadily, it grew from a side project to being my primary deck.

Today it's my go-to pick; my favorite deck to play and tweak. From a durdly control deck that would win by accident here and there I developed system of combos that can win games in a single turn out of nowhere. From a control suite of few cute control cards and counters I developed system of locks and added assortment of counterspells to slow down faster decks and outright lock everyone out of doing anything I don't want them to. From a deck that was cute mono blue deck in the meta it grew to be one of the leading power creep factors in my group.

Why Kefnet?

Before we go further, I want to explain why I think Kefnet is an excellent choice for a control commander. Many people at my lgs were surprised by it, but anyone who faced it appreciated both the deck and Kefnet's subtle, but significant, role in there.

is a bargain price to pay for a toolbox that is Kefnet. It can reliably hit the board by turn 3. From that point on, any attack on you will probably cost the attacking player an attacker. Turn 4 it can start drawing cards using leftover mana on the end step before your turn. These two in conjunction create huge tempo setup. You immediately become a bad target for random attacks, so other players are more likely to attack each other and start small wars among themselves. Wars that don't include you and that force your opponents to waste resources worrying about each other. Secondly, you can fuel the draw engine with leftover mana reserved for counters if nothing was worth countering that turn cycle. This starts subtly, but after few turns the accumulated advantage can be used for proactive plays, cashing in tempo and card advantage to remove threats and establish favorable game state.
First thing people notice about Kefnet is its 5/5 indestructible flying body. Some would say that this is actually a good attacker that establishes a nice clock. True, you can establish 3-5 turn clock per player that paired with a lock means a win. But it's greatest value is as the ultimate wall. Even beyond tempo advantage of making others attack each other, you have no problem with chip damage; it's easy to both play cards and maintain 7 card in hand when needed. All this keeps you safe from anything relying on combat damage. It simply takes too much time and resources to kill Kefnet, so most threats through mid game aren't your problem. This pillow fort setup makes it possible to survive beatdown attacks with favorable blocks. This is what keeps us alive until the late game, when this deck thrives.
Mana sinks in the command zone are neat. Kefnet isn't as popular as Thrasios, Triton Hero, but if you get infinite blue mana, Kefnet can simply draw you your entire deck just as Thrasios would. And since you already have infinite mana, you can do whatever you need to in order to win.

There are other excellent mono blue commanders. Some of which are well-known and/or tier decks. Most popular examples are;

In context of control commander Kefnet is offering so much in a single card. It offers options none of the above commanders do and it plays like Thrasios, Triton Hero or Tasigur, the Golden Fang, trading extra colors for a good body and indestructibility. It's unique in this way and I grew fond of it for it. And hopefully, you will to.

Strategy

Draw-go control is one of the main archetypes in all of Magic, and in some forms it exists in all formats, even in some other TCGs. However, Draw-go control has some problems specific to EDH. Problems so great that most players are discouraged after trying it and just abandon the concept altogether too early.

Even though the draw-go itself is an established archetype, I've witnessed how hard it can be to transition from other formats' control decks to draw-go in EDH. So I decided to make a short writeup for those of you who are encountering this concept in EDH for the first time and for anyone who still might have questions regarding the basics of the said concept.

Draw-go control concept, as it is seen in other formats, faces several issues when translating into EDH;

  1. The inherent problem draw-go control has in EDH is that it's unfavorable to deal with threats on 1 for 1 basis. Say the player A removes/counters a threat owned by player B; both players C and D virtually got rid of 2 significant without doing anything themselves. This means that just answering every threat in the long run will dry up your resources and at some point there will be a threat you cannot respond to, which may cost you the game.

  2. You need a healthy stream of cards in order to keep advancing your game state while answering crucial threats. Since the number of said threats you should answer might be formidable, you need to keep drawing more than a single card during each turn cycle so you don't dry up on answers.

  3. Early game is problematic because everyone but the control player is likely to have some kind of creatures out, and those creatures will go attack the player without blockers, which too often means a control player. This aggro problem is significant because by the point you establish yourself, you may be forced into building a real defense against someone going for your throat or you might spend too much resources early game saving your life total because you just lost too much.

  4. you need a way to win in a 4-player game where establishing a clock is extremely difficult. Playing against 3 times more opponents than usual with each having a double life total makes it next to impossible to establish a clock without going for a lock or going for a combo win.

The key to draw-go control working in EDH is dealing with these 4 problems.

Card economy

The most important problem is one regarding basic card economy and dealing with threats on 1 for 1 basis. The math is clear and inexorable on this one and looking from our perspective alone, it really seems like dealing with threats 1v1 doesn't have any sense.

However, there is a workaround. One that has nothing to do with math, but with the point of view.

Your 3 opponents aren't working together to defeat you. every one of you has 3 opponents.You can use this to your advantage. Whenever there is a threat, generally speaking, it may or may not be a threat exclusively to one player and it may or may not bother everyone as much. Whenever facing a threat you need to ask yourself 2 questions;

  1. Does this bother me really? As in 'does it make me lose right here and now' or 'does it make another player win'?

  2. Is another player likely to respond to this threat? Be it because it threatens them more, just irritates them or they might be just itching to destroy something; the reason is ultimately unimportant.

If a threat doesn't threaten you directly and it seems likely that another player will react, let it go. This benefits you in 4 different ways ways;

  1. you're buying political points with the caster. They may not necessarily like you, but you didn't give them a reason to dislike you

  2. you're conserving resources. For when a real threat comes down, you have an answer ready and a counter to counter their counter. Or when you go for a winning combo, you can just reveal 3 counters and ask others if they even want to bother.

  3. you're allowing the caster to be hated by the table. Absence of a positive reaction pisses off people far less than something that actively hinders them. Players will wait to punish the caster beyond the point of simply destroying the inciting threat.

  4. other players will spend resources in order to deal with the threat in question. You're practically forcing the remaining 2 players into the unfavorable scenario pointed out above; they must answer the threat themselves, thus giving you all the benefits of a removed threat with no hate or expense.

Points 1 and 3 mean that you won't be in the spotlight, which is excellent. People love to hate control players, but giving them an immediate reason to hate someone else works like a charm. By letting things that aren't bothering you resolve, you're making things interesting; everyone starts to realize that you won't bother them until they start flinging threats your way. And even if someone wants to go in your direction, there are 2 other people waiting to capitalize on that. Weaponize that fear to turn a 4-player game into a 3-player game, a game in which there is no point in targeting you.

Point 2 is important because you can invest your resources instead of wasting them. While other 3 players fight it out, you can subtly invest mana and cards. You can play rocks, feed a draw engine or whatnot in peace knowing that whatever you might be doing isn't as scary to your opponents as what your other opponents are doing. This way you can accumulate cards and mana over time, making it so that when you are forced into making a bad trade, and eventually you will be, you can cover for it with your "interest" rather than wasting much needed "core" resources.

And to round things up, point 4. Everyone at the table has the same problem with 1 for 1 removal, but it's still a necessary evil to deal with major threats. Being aware of the intrinsic card economy problem and doing everything in your power to go around it, both strategically and tactically, you accumulate virtual card advantage by basically forcing your opponents into making the bad trades that "are supposed to be" control's "job"/weak spot.

This means that by playing high quality answers and by having a good threat assessment, you can not only overcome the card economy problem, but use it to your advantage!

Card advantage

Coming soon!

The Aggro problem

Coming soon!

Winning the game

Coming soon!

Closure

Coming soon!

As any draw-go control deck, this deck is built to control the course of the game, not to outright stop everyone from doing anything. The strategy is to set up defense and draw engine in the form of Kefnet early on. After that, counterspells, removals and control permanents are used to control the board state, to make it so that;

a) we are not in the immediate danger of losing the game.

b) other payers pose greater immediate danger to each other than we do.

This way opposing players are busy dealing with each other, with Kefnet helping a side when it benefits us or simply staying out of the conflict and letting others fight it out. Careful use of counters/removals in conjunction with control pieces and Kefnet's role as a pillow fort and card draw engine provides for a good reactive game. With Kefnet amassing quite some advantage, at the right time that advantage can be used to go for a game.

The plan itself is very broad and requires lots of tactical fine tuning depending on the game state. This is both demanding and rewarding, because if you evaluate the game state well and prepare accordingly, you will have no problem controlling the game long before your opponents realize it. But it takes some political savvy, tactical momentum and good threat assessment. Because of this, this is a difficult deck to master

The main goal in this phase is to keep up with land drops and preferably to drop Kefnet on t3. Depending on your hand and matchup, it could be important to think of using control pieces early or investing mana into mana rocks. Their impact is significant because they grant you significant benefits over the course of the game, but dedication to them early on might come back to haunt you if your other pieces, Kefnet included, land too late.
Your main objective at this point is to ensure your own survival and set up long-term investments. Kefnet will serve as protection from random attacks and act as a mana sink/draw engine. In casual competitive games this is usually the point when first real punches are thrown and threats start coming down. Play passively to avoid provoking other players unnecessarily. It's important to stop anyone from winning and ensure that you're not losing. Also, in this stage of the game, drawing with Kefnet becomes a factor and your draw engine starts working; you either draw an extra card each turn or you play a significant piece of interaction. This way you slowly progress to the late game.
In this phase people usually go for their wins. By this point you probably have enough mana to draw cards with Kefnet while interacting; this is the key to victory. As you amass resources, you can keep other players busy with each other and intervene using counters or removals when you deem it necessary. And when you have a chance (meaning that players are unlikely to respond and/or you have multiple counterpsells to protect your plan), you can push for a combo win. Sometimes, depending on your cards and game state, you can slow down the game and live off your amassed resources until you draw into nmissing combo pieces.

Most people at my LGS are around 75% (casual competitive, focused-optimized, 5-8, call it whatever you like). Most of our decks are constrained not by friendliness but by budget. We all aim for resilient decks with plenty of interactive spells and we're not afraid to invest in our manabases. My win rate is around 50%.

There are a few things to look out for:

  • lands - you're usually aiming for a 2-3 land hand to drop Kefnet safely on turn 3. There is no real upper limit to the number of lands a keepable hand would have in this deck, but hands saturated with lands could be lacking (other) important cards. Keeping a 2-land hand is inadvisable without some form of ramp or filtering because you really want that 3rd land drop, although you can go for it if you've already mulliganed once or twice and/or if you have usable ramp.

  • counters - having one or two of these is ideal. It's rare to mulligan a hand just because it lacks counters. But if you're expecting a really competitive/fast meta, you might want to mulligan down to 6 if need be. I don't advise mulliganing to 5. If you decide to take that route however, be aware of the risk you are taking and try to make some deals and alliances before the game starts to ensure you won't die (as fast) because of it.

  • number of cards in hand - this one is unusually important here. Going down to 6 is acceptable, but going down to 5 of even 4 is a game over in here. This deck relies on Kefnet as a blocker a lot, so practically "turning it off" by going below 7-card hand will make you an easy prey and you might lose early. If a hand is even passable by the lands (mana) and counterspells standards, keep it. If you decide to mulligan the first time, keep anything containing 2 or more lands and a card you can play in the next 3-4 turns assuming you have the mana. If you somehow end up going even further down, aim for a 2-3 land hand, period.

Combos

The deck is designed with combo wins in mind. All of these involve Kefnet to some extent, but their dependence on Kefnet being on the field differs from one combo to another. Based on what they achieve, they've been divided into 3 groups; infinite mana combos, infinite turns combos and locks.

Infinite mana combos

Extraplanar Lens + Palinchron

Caged Sun + Palinchron

Gauntlet of Power + Palinchron

High Tide + Palinchron

  1. activate a mana-doubling effect that will make all Snow-Covered Islands produce 2 mana

  2. tap 7 Snow-Covered Islands for 14 (14 in the pool)

  3. spend to cast Palinchron (7 in the pool)

  4. Palinchron etb trigger untaps 7 Snow-Covered Islands tapped in the step #2 (7 in the pool)

  5. bounce Palinchron for (3 in the pool)

Repeat steps 2-5 to get infinite mana.

Deadeye Navigator + Palinchron

Deadeye Navigator + Peregrine Drake

  1. cast either Peregrine Drake or Palinchron, on ETB, either untaps 5 or 7 lands

  2. cast Deadeye Navigator

  3. soulbound trigger -> soulbound Deadeye Navigator with either Peregrine Drake or Palinchron

  4. pay to flicker Peregrine Drake or Palinchron with the ability granted by soulbound

  5. Peregrine Drake or Palinchron etb trigger untaps 5 or 7 lands you immediately tap for mana (adding or )

Repeat steps 2-5 to get infinite mana.

Step 3 is tricky because a cunning opponent can activate a removal in response to the trigger targeting any of the 2 creatures involved. And at that point, none of the creatures has the ability granted by Deadeye's soulbound and the said ability can't be used to make the removal fizzle. Keep that in mind when counting mana needed to execute the combo.

  1. cast Kefnet the Mindful

  2. activate Kefnet the Mindfuls effect as many times it takes to draw your entire deck

  3. cast Blue Sun's Zenith to make an opponent draw enough cards to deck them out

  4. Blue Sun's Zenith returns to your deck (being the only card in your deck right now)

Repeat steps 2-4 until all your opponents are decked out.

Alternatively, and one should not forget this, you can play out your hand to remove any obstacles to executing the suggested line above. Capsize is particularly good at this because it can clear the entire field provided that you have the mana to fuel it (and with infinite mana, well, you do).

Infinite turns combos

Archaeomancer + Deadeye Navigator + Time Warp

  1. pay to flicker Archaeomancer with the ability granted by soulbound

  2. Archaeomancer etb trigger returns Time Warp from your graveyard to your hand

  3. soulbound trigger -> soulbound Deadeye Navigator with Archaeomancer

  4. cast Time Warp

  5. do stuff, pass turn, have another one

Repeat steps 1-5 for infinite turns.

This combo presumes that both Deadeye Navigator and Archaeomancer are on the battlefield, but it's more flexible than it looks because Deadeye Navigator can be on the battlefield before the combo is executed, it can kinda protect itself so playing it a turn earlier isn't that much of a problem. And Time Warp can be in the graveyard as you start the combo, so it can be freely activated at any point for value.

Step 3 is tricky because a cunning opponent can activate a removal in response to the trigger targeting any of the 2 creatures involved. And at that point, none of the creatures has the ability granted by Deadeye's soulbound and the said ability can't be used to make the removal fizzle. Keep that in mind when counting mana needed to execute the combo.

Archaeomancer + Riptide Laboratory + Time Warp

  1. cast Time Warp

  2. cast Archaeomancer

  3. Archaeomancer etb trigger returns Time Warp from your graveyard to your hand

  4. activate Riptide Laboratory to return Archaeomancer to your hand

  5. do stuff, pass turn, have another one

Repeat steps 1-5 for infinite turns.

Unlike any combo with Deadeye Navigator, this one doesn't require creatures' activated abilities. That can be important because infinite mana sink plan with Kefnet and all our means to produce infinite mana in the first place rely on activated abilities of creatures. This combo is also easier to set up; it's both cheaper and it's more subtle than anything involving Deadeye, that is a notorious for its combo capacity. Time Warp can be in the graveyard as you start the combo, you just need to adjust the sequencing a little. So it can be freely activated at any point for value.

Archaeomancer + Capsize + Time Warp

  1. cast Time Warp

  2. cast Archaeomancer

  3. Archaeomancer etb trigger returns Time Warp from your graveyard to your hand

  4. cast Capsize, with buyback paid, tu return Archaeomancer to your hand

  5. do stuff, pass turn, have another one

Repeat steps 1-5 for infinite turns.

There are variations, but generally speaking you need Archaeomancer in hand with other 2 cards in your hand and/or grave. It costs much more to execute if your spells are both in grave, but it's doable and that's the main upside of this combo. It cost to gain an extra turn with all 3 combo pieces returning to hand in the end. It's very costly compared to other infinite turn combos in here, but it's flexible (2/3 components can be in the grave as the combo is initiated) and all pieces have a huge utility outside of the combo itself. Thus, all things considered, it's a neat plan B (or C...or D...) in case your other options have failed and you have a bunch of mana you don't know what do do wit other than burn it with Kefnet.

It's also worth mentioning that by not containing Deadeye Navigator, it can work without activated creature abilities. Hence it can be used to go around effects trying to stop you from going off.

Time Warp can be in the graveyard as you start the combo, you just need to adjust the sequencing a little. So it can be freely activated at any point for value.

The simplest solution is to draw cards and play lands until you draw into another game-ending combo.

More creative option is to use Kefnet for beatdown, which is great in case you can't use his draw ability to draw the deck for any reason.

Locks

Deadeye Navigator + Venser, Shaper Savant

  1. Venser, Shaper Savant enters the battlefield

  2. Venser, Shaper Savant's ability is triggered, bouncing a permanent or a spell

  3. soulbound trigger -> soulbound Deadeye Navigator with Venser, Shaper Savant

  4. pay to flicker Venser, Shaper Savant with the ability granted by soulbound

Repeat steps 1-4 as many times as needed during the course of the game. Basically we can counter or remove anything without burning cards from hand. If the game drags on and we have mana to spare, this means that we can bounce other players' lands to get even further ahead.

Step 3 is tricky because a cunning opponent can activate a removal in response to the trigger targeting any of the 2 creatures involved. And at that point, none of the creatures has the ability granted by Deadeye's soulbound and the said ability can't be used to make the removal fizzle. Keep that in mind when counting mana needed to execute the combo.

Adding Arcane Laboratory to the mix makes this lock much harder to unravel.

And if you can produce infinite mana, you have a commander-legal Upheval combo that doesn't hit yourself.

Archaeomancer + Engulf the Shore

Archaeomancer + Evacuation

  1. cast Archaeomancer

  2. Archaeomancer etb trigger returns Evacuation or Engulf the Shore from your graveyard to your hand

  3. cast Evacuation or Engulf the Shore, bouncing all creatures, including Archaeomancer

This is a useful soft lock in creature-based metas. It's repeatable once every turn cycle and any of the 2 wipes can be played at instant speed. There are ways to sneak past through it, especially if multiple opponents are playing dangerous creature-based wincons with haste or ones that don't require tapping, but it will still slow down the game significantly if creatures are prevalent in your meta.

It's easy to execute because you only need Archaeomancer in your hand and any of the 2 wipes in your grave. In case you have both in your hand and you can commit mana to it, you can play Archaeomancer for value to return some other spell to your hand and then cast a bouncing wipe.

All of the above help us win, be it by establishing a clear "I win" situation or by creating an extremely favorable game state.

Counterspell protection is welcome with any combo. In general, when comboing off, especially for the win, it's wise to protect the combo and go for it when opponents aren't likely to interfere. Waiting a turn or two in order to have better conditions to combo off (using the time to draw/tutor a counter, bait out tapping out from an opponent...) is wise. And executing a combo too soon, just to have it unraveled and your tempo disrupted, is just sloppy.

Card categories breakdown

Before I go on with the card choices, I'd like to preemptively address 3 likely concerns about the deck:

  1. this is (not) a budget build. This is my real-life deck and it's built from cards I can find and afford. So cards that are hard to find or are relatively expensive are not included, even though they should be. On the other hand, I've spent some money and time to make this deck, and doing it on a low budget would possibly mean loss of important cards. This will be discussed in more detail later on.

  2. Partially because of the budget, this is not a fully optimized list. This does very well in my meta, but there are adjustments that should be made to optimize the deck, both in general and to adapt it to a particular metagame. Also, it isn't nowhere near cEDH by any standard.

  3. This deck is not finished, as no EDH deck ever truly is. This is even more important than usual with this deck, because I built it myself from ground up, no netdecking. I'm constantly trying new things and re-evaluating currently included cards. Therefore there might be sub-par cards in here I overestimated and powerful affordable cards that I might have overlooked. So bear that in mind when you're evaluating these cards yourself.

Counterspell package is supposed to have low cmc and be mana-efficient. Some EDH decks stay at max 2cmc when it comes to counters, and that's when they just use them to protect their combos. Here, on the other hand, sometimes it's preferable for the deck to have a counterspell with an upside for 3 than a temporary solution for 1 or 2 mana. Because the deck isn't using them just to protect its combo(s), but they're here to stop other players from advancing. However, going above 4 cmc is inadvisable. In my testing counters over 4cmc did poorly even when playing them isn't a problem regarding mana. The additional problem is that you usually think of mana in 4s here, because gets you a card from Kefnet. This makes a difference between leaving 4 mana open and leaving 5 mana open huge.

  • Arcane Denial - a 2cmc counterspell. Counters anything which is a plus, and it replaces itself later on. Great for combo protection. We don't want our opponents to draw cards, but when used wisely, that "draw 2 random cards" is far less scary than a single important card.

  • Counterspell - the golden standard

  • Cryptic Command - the definition of utility. is hard to pay, but in a mono blue deck it's very valuable. There are 4 modes Command offers: a) Counterspell, b) Boomerang, c) Sleep (sort of) and d) draw a card. Most used combination is Dismiss one, with modes a and d. But there are 4 modes here and one should never underestimate that. Counterspell mode is most often used, and one of the remaining 3 accompanies it depending on your current needs. And mode d is, well, most "uninspired" generally speaking. But I've already went over why replacement is so important for counterspells in here and therefore, as unimaginative as this mode might be, it's often a default go-to option if there is only 1 sensible target for a Command mode. This kinda explains why modes a and d are so often used together, but qualities of each of these can be combined with any of the remaining 2. Mode b, bounce mode, is great for removing a pesky permanent that's bothering you. You're paying premium price for a Boomerang, but for those 2 extra mana you're getting a bonus effect and, more importantly, you've actually got to include it stitched to a solid counterspell, and that's the very value of utility cards. And last, but not the least, mode c), the "you're not trampling anyone today" mode, is actually the one I've personally used the least. But if you do your math well, especially if you're pushing for a commander dmg win, it can buy you a turn and clear a way for an unexpected commander damage to the face. Again, on its own it's hard to warrant an inclusion here, but since it's stapled to a counterspell, it's practically just an added bonus.

  • Disallow - 1 generic mana more than the golden standard, but it's worth it. It's "just" able to counter anything.

  • Forbid - a Cancel with an upside again. It's great when unraveling opponents' plans to bait out conters. And with infinite hand effect active, this is practically a soft lock on its own.

  • Force of Will - an iconic card for a reason. This card is insanely good at fighting counterwars and at stopping people from going off. YOu won't be casting it for its full mana cost often and that discard isn't negligible, but the ability to stop crucial spells from resolving no matter the mana is worth it.

  • Mana Drain - if Counterspell is a golden standard, and this one is a strictly better card, no further explanation should be needed. Still, its mana drain (pun intended) can fuel some greedy plays like mana doublers, Kefnet's draw ability or it can be turned into a long-time investment by paying for rocks or control pieces.

  • Mission Briefing - not a counter per se, but in a pinch it can act like one. The added mana cost is balanced by the fact that we get a surveil (in case we don't already have a counter to cast or we're just fishing for something better) and that it can grab us any instant we may want, be it a removal, a draw spell or something else.

  • Muddle the Mixture - a solid counter that can get you a Cyclonic Rift in a pinch. Not the best counter in here, but you are happy to see it more often than not.

  • Negate - very underrated in EDH imho. It's less powerful in some metas, but in my humble opinion it's a staple.

  • Rewind - I'm often leaving exactly 4 mana open for Kefnet activation, so this often acts as a free Counterspell or Dismiss if I use the mana for Kefnet. But most importantly, arguably, it could be better Mana Drain if I have any discount effects or any doubling ramp, not to mention that the Extra mana is blue and can be used right away.

  • Stubborn Denial - with Kefnet on the field this is just a better Negate. Without the big bad bird it's a bit worse Force Spike, which is still useful when fighting fast decks/greedy hands.

  • Swan Song - now this one is a gem. For a single blue mana you can stop most decks from going off or fight coutner wars. 2/2 bird opponent gets isn't a threat to us, because Kefnet can kill it on block. On the other hand, 2/2 flying body is a godsend to some decks and can actually stir up the field state quite often.

  • Unwind - most things to say about Unwind have been said about Rewind already.

  • Venser, Shaper Savant - Swiss army knife. for 2/2 at flash speed is meh. The ability to bounce spells and any kind of permanent is extremely useful. By paying more than you would for an Unsubstantiate he provides a body, ability to bounce any kind of permanent and combo potential on top of anything Unsubstantiate offers. Classic example of paying extra mana for utility.

Being mono blue, the deck mainly relies on bounce effects when it comes to removal. What it doesn't have in raw destructive power, it makes up for with utility. But, don't use it unless you're forced to. Other colors have their own removal options, often superior to what blue has to offer, depending on exact situation of course. Pretend like you don't have an answer, and wait for someone else to react, respecting priority being passed around the table. Also, if something you could remove bothers another player more than it does you, it's often the right call to at least consider holding onto your removal spell. Any card that gets taken care of is taken care of, it's a bonus if you're not forced to use your own mana and cards to make it happen. Same is true for counterspells, but it's easier to compare and discuss in this aspect.

  • Capsize - to bounce something in a pinch; solid. to bounce something while keeping this in hand? Now that is impressive. Great mana sink mid to late game. It's a great tempo play and, after the first time you play it, an extraordinary bargaining tool. There's always something bothering someone, and everyone knows you can get rid of it. People are less likely to go out of their way to piss you off and will be more inclined to making alliances; they do something you want and in exchange you deal with something bothering them instead of removing their stuff. Added bonus is that when you hit arbitrarily high amount of mana, you can start bouncing lands and key permanents not just to get ahead, but to cripple someone beyond any chance of recovery.

  • Chain of Vapor - is a small price to remove any bothersome non-land permanent. It's a soft removal, but for a lifesaver and a combo enabler we couldn't ask much more, especially at cmc that low .

  • Cyclonic Rift - a staple, period. Spot removal in a pinch, instant speed wrath when you have the mana for it. Backbreaking and game-changing if timed well.

  • Evacuation & Engulf the Shore - both clear the board of creatures. For a steep cost though, but since it's done at instant speed and creates enough of a tempo difference by itself, it's worth 4-5 mana.

  • Into the Roil - a simple bounce removal. is a fair price to remove a threat instant speed. And if we have the mana, paying an additional to draw a card, therefore maintaining 7-card hand size for Kefnet. The combination of early speed and late efficiency makes this a solid tempo play in any stage of the game.

  • Mouth of Ronom - a damage-based creature removal stapled to a land. In a mono blue deck this kind of removal is very neat, for it fills the role of creature removal blue lacks and being a land it has low opportunity cost.

  • Pongify & Rapid Hybridization - gems right there. Unconditional creature removal for , period. Sure, an opponent gets a 3/3 body in exchange, but this is actually a good thing here. Remember that Swan song bird situation from before; sure, they've got a body, but we don't care because Kefnet can eat it on defense. It's good for hitting others tho. You can eat their hatebear that's troubling you, combo piece about to end the game or simply remove a threat in order to earn someone's favor. These are cheap enough to be used as bargaining tools on a regular basis AND their "downside" is big enough that they seem fair.

  • Venser, Shaper Savant - I already talked about this one. I'm mentioning it here just to emphasize its utility; for a bounce removal on a stick at instant speed is a fair bargain, and can be used to tilt the odds in your favor.

    • Yep...here it comes, the namesake of the archetype. First, some context. Draw-go control in its pure form is next to impossible to do in commander because playing coutnerspells is such a bad deal considering card economy; 2 players lose a card respectively while 2 other players each gain virtual +2. This makes it a bad bargain in the long run and a practice that should be avoided when possible. Counters are good and should be used when necessary. But from the card economy aspect, they can't do the job alone. While counters deal with a spell on the stack after mana has been paid for it, preventing the casting itself has the similar result; the card still isn't played, BUT in this situation, no player is gaining or losing any cards. The deck promotes "stalemates" in this aspect; it creates a situation in which others can hardly advance, but (ab)uses this status quo to get ahead and win. Unlike a stax deck though, this one relatively rarely locks people out of playing Magic. It just hinders them hard enough that they can't win and/or that you can't lose. People keep their lands and they (think they) have options, but they're slowed, forced to play our game. But until the turn the deck can go for the game, it keeps its cards closed, selling this as stalling the fastest and most "unfair" decks. This approach makes the whole "limiting resources" thing bearable to play against; it just slows people down, and that means that it's easy for Kefnet player to ally with the person least harmed by Kefnet's control permanents. This can often pit two opponents against each other because one wants to remove a control permanent hindering them while another player, the one indirectly profiting off of it, tries to stop them. And while they quabble, Kefnet plots its victory.

  • Arcane Laboratory - a great card to slow down (other) combo decks. In practice, this means that other players only have 1-2 spells turn cycle while Kefnet has up to 4, and this helps a lot to even the odds when it comes down to the draw-go plan. Also, Kefnet himself draws cards without need to cast a draw spell, therefore doesn't leave an opening for our opponents to do something meaningful off our wish to draw more cards. It bothers us too, but there are bounce removals in the deck that can help us break this lock when needed.

  • Back to Basics - the more colors someone plays, the more they will hate you for playing this. The more of a budget player someone is, the more they will be grateful for having a shot at a dangerous combo deck. Stripping everyone of their non-basics is very powerful and will never slip by unnoticed. It is a very political card that will not get you many friends when used in a wrong way, but that will raise havoc when used in the right time to pit your opponents against each other OR slow down everyone else so that this deck can profit.

  • Glacial Chasm - this is a tricky one, but it shines in here. The trick is to have mana economy in mind before going all in on it so you can maintain 7 cards in hand and enough mana to draw cards and play counters. Kefnet's ": draw a card" effect usually doesn't bounce a land, but here that effect can save your life total. This way, this can shield you from damage while keeping your life total high and with Kefnet chipping away your opponents' life totals. This makes you a huge target, but it's a huge payoff if it goes through.

  • Maze of Ith - protection from attacks. My meta is quite reliant on combat and even though Kefnet does an excellent job stopping them in their tracks, things like unblockable, damage triggers and whatnot are becoming more relevant. And generally, getting a once-per-turn-cycle attack negation in an exchange for a land drop is a solid deal.

  • Mystic Remora & Rhystic Study - "Do you pay (or ) for that?", one of my favorite quotes when playing this deck. Both of these are huge tempo swings. Remora is better in a more cutthroat/competitive metagames with loads of non-creature spells and does a bit more off-curve than Study does, but both still do similar things; they fill your hand and slow down your opponents, just what the doctor ordered.

  • Overburden - Kefnet can stop only one body attacking you at a time, and if an opponent can produce many efficient attackers fast, no matter how small they might be, Kefnet's protection won't matter much. This is an excellent early play, even more so in here because it doesn't mess with our sequencing as other control permanents might; t2 Overburden into t3 Kefnet that bounces a land means we have 7 cards in hand; this is basically trading a land for a control permanent. Early game it hinders decks reliant on hatebears or manadorks, mid game it's quite annoying for other players while not harming Kefnet at all. It can get in a way of a combo win, but as with Arcane Laboratory, deck's bounce removal suite can take care of that.

    • Before I start a discussion on single cards here, I have to dedicate some time to the deck's primary draw engine and to explaining how it affects the rest of draw lineup; Kefnet the Mindful himself. for a +1 isn't all that impressive in EDH, but the fact that it's on an indestructible permanent in the command zone and that we can draw off it on curve after it hits the field is huge. In order to net +1 for 4 mana at instant speed Kefnet just has to hit the board and sit there. This is exactly what the deck wants to do and therefore it's the foundation of the mid-game and late-game draw engine. This is important because it automatically sets the golden standard for draw cards in here; for +1 is the price you can pay almost anytime to draw. So to even consider inclusion of a card that only has a purpose of drawing more cards it has to be better bargain considering cmc (lower cmc for same effect or sometimes higher cost for proportionally more draw) OR it has to offer you card selection (because it's not just about beefing up your hand, once your hand reaches 7-8 cards card quality becomes much more relevant than quantity). Having that in mind, draw cards here, in general, should be carefully examined.

    • Blue Sun's Zenith - as already mentioned, this is our main win condition. But it's also a solid draw card, requiring at least to be a better option than Kefnet draw. Anything over that is just pure value. In our combos, it works similarly like Laboratory Maniac would, except that we're never happy to topdeck LabMan. Lab man is better in Doomsday and non-infinite combos, BSZ does better with our infinite mana plan. Most of the time, I'd say about 65%, it draws 2-5 cards for a high cost, but a cost we can pay more often than not. In about 25% of cases it's great; with mana-doubling effects and some ramp it can draw into 6+ cards and it helps our controlling scheme a lot. It's rare, about 10% of the time, that this is dead. But since LabMan is dead 90+% of the time outside the combo, I chose USZ over it in this particular deck. Note that these percentages are my personal estimations based on the matches I've played so far. I might be a bit off, or even downright wrong on some of these numbers, but the point is there and I hope that I made it clear; this is less of a draw engine and more of a utility/high ceiling with ok floor kind of card.

    • Brainstorm/Ponder/Preordain - these are a necessary evil of sorts; this deck really likes card selection and these cards provide it at a low cost of . They do have their shortcomings, but picking the best card out of 3 is close to drawing 3 cards.

    • Consecrated Sphinx - depending on your meta this might be too cute and fragile, but in my experience it's well worth it. With the right setup and some backup protection in form of counterspells sitting in your hand, this thing is insane. It can literally win games on its own, because it creates huge advantage very fast and before you know it, you have resources to spare and you can push for a win. Even if it gets removed, it's a fair bargain if it drew you some cards already. This thing, however, is cmc-intensive, sorcery speed and fragile, so use it with caution. A mistake here means you just lost a draw engine you paid 6 mana for on your own turn. You'll have a whole turn cycle to regret that mistake at best and you'll lose because of it at worst. Using this card right takes some skill, practice and tactical thinking, but it's very rewarding and well worth it when pulled off properly.

    • Future Sight - now this one is a gem. Its color requirements are relatively easy to match here, 5 cmc sorcery speed is still somewhat tolerable. And if it slides uncontested, it can virtually draw you dozens of cards. Because anything you play from the top of your deck with this is a card from your hand you don't have to waste. So you're getting a card without spending cards from hand; that's a +1 in my book. And you get to do it over and over again; multiple times in a turn, even during your opponents' turns. This is much more subtle threat than a formerly mentioned Sphinx and it isn't as explosive, but this thing can get out of hand subtly and before your opponents notice it, that one-time 5cmc investment earned you half a dozen cards and helped you hit your land drops.

    • Time Spiral - It's far from being a staple and it can be taken out easily. However it does a lot. First; this deck has some cost reduction and mana-doublers. So not only that it will be cast "for free", but it will also act as a one-time ramp more often than not. Next, grave recycling AND screwing with other peoples' graveyards and hands is helpful. This deck's capacity to utilize its graveyard is next to nonexistent and there are games where we're simply forced to waste (too) many of our good cards early. Grave reshuffling remedies this problem to an extent. Other players get this bonus too, but in my meta there are several decks that need their grave to function; Dralnu, Meren, Alesha... Getting rid of their graveyards greatly hinders them and even though they eventually will recover, this will slow them down for a few turns AND will give others a chance to intervene. Shuffling hand and drawing into new 7 is also cool; partially because of wasting good cards early, partially because I'm often stuck with dead topdecks, we often would want to trade our sub-par 10-card hand for an average 7 with this. Because our lands and control pieces are already on the board. And hence with this second starting 7 we have better chances of drawing removals, counters and/or combo pieces. Last, but not the least; in the removal section I've talked about few bounce removals. Imagine casting this after a Cyclonic Rift, or even "just" Evacuation. Yep, it can help you reset the game, but with your control lineup, lands and Kefnet himself intact. This unfair reset on demand is not obviously op as some of the previously mentioned cards, but it can give you a new hand for free at worst or practically win you a game at best.

    • Training Grounds - in here it's practically a draw engine. Its value is harder to assert than it might seem because it both helps the deck's development long-term and it hinders its "7-card hand" concept short-term. To evaluate it, we must determine at which point does it pas for itself, both in mana and card advantage. So the question is how many cards one has to draw enabled by it to justify its casting. A single Kefnet activation costs for a +1. Grounds costs and is a -1 concerning hand size, so it takes 2 more Kefnet activations to make up for its casting fully (one +1 to negate the -1, another one to make it +1 profit comparable to a regular draw). That would cost in total, meaning that to make Grounds worth it, you basically must have to spare sorcery speed and a leftover to get started. That is decent and makes TG likely to pay for itself. 2 regular Kefnet activations cost to get a +2; how much mana would TG version of that require and what could it do with 8 mana regular line of play would take? Accounting for the casting cost of TG itself, to draw into a +2 it would take . So 1 less mana than a regular line. It requires more colored mana, but that mana can be divided between few Kefnet activations and easly leave enough resources to play interaction while keeping up the engine active. This means that TG should be played when you can devote at least sorcery speed (one mana for TG, 2 for a draw, but do note that you don't have to draw sorcery speed. You can leave that mana open for counters if you really need to, but except in extreme cases, those 2 mana are reserved for draw to "pay" for TG and don't count on that mana for anything else except in a dire need) to that plan and you intended to draw additional cards through Kefnet soon anyway. Under these conditions (so that you don't devote more resources to it than you can spare), this can easily create a situation where you can both draw tons of cards and still have the mana to play them, which deals with one of the biggest problems of draw-go control in EDH; its inability to maintain good card influx while having the resources to actually use those cards.

    • Impulse, Fact or Fiction and Dig Through Time - all 3 of these basically say "look at the top x cards of your library and add the best one or two to your hand". So it's as close as a fair card can come to saying "draw x" while being reasonably costed. As I've said before, after you ensure that Kefnet can block, card quality becomes more important than card quantity. Now it's time to refer to the opening bit at the beginning of this Draw section; anything worse than +1 for is unacceptable.Impulse offers +0 from a selection of 4 cards. Early game it's an excellent turn 2 play eot before our t3, and later on it's still a solid and effective play for a low cost. Fact or Fiction is an excellent/game-winning +0 at worst and even a mediocre one can easily be +1/+2 of solid cards. That kind of potential card advantage paired with excellent selection of 5 cards makes this a decent value for . And often you can find a player willing to give you card(s) you're looking for to turn it in a better deal for a low price of countering something. Dig Through Time is ridiculous, it's banned in modern for a very good reason. Most of the time it just costs . Selection of 7 cards is beautiful, and taking 2 of those you need the most is insane.

    • Sensei's Divining Top - just after a DTT, another card banned everywhere. This one might seem odd to new players, since it's basically a -1 at first glance. But this card offers card selection, meaning you can utilize Kefnet much better and make sure your regular draw for a turn counts, and it all adds up over the course of a long game this deck wants to play. It raises card quality tremendously for a laughably low price of 1 generic mana for cast and an additional one mana per activation. It also avoids removal by basically bouncing itself AND it can give you a counterspell or a removal in a pinch.

    • Scrying Sheets - an auto-inclusion considering the fact that all my basic lands are Snow-Covered Islands. When we have insufficient mana for Kefnet OR when we know that there is a basic land on top of the deck (by the courtesy of Sensei's Divining Top or Future Sight), this card can net a +1 for a low price of 3 mana and practically no drawback to playing it.

    • Search for Azcanta   - the deck has no way to profit off its mill and that is its first drawback. There are corner cases with Archaeomancer combos here, but such cases are rare. Its second drawback is that it messes up "7 cards in hand" plan. It has to be played in the right moment to actually do more good than harm. Aside for these shortcomings though, it has performed well so far. Its enchantment side is solid filtering and helps with managing land drops, and its flip land side is both a slight ramp and a repeatable +1 filtering effect, something a control deck really likes.

    Tutoring is indispensable aspect of any "serious" EDH deck. It's frown upon in some circles, but it's widely regarded to be essential part of EDH. Tutoring in mono blue deck isn't the easiest thing to do, but it's still possible to tutor for combo pieces or key disruption cards. It should be noted here that since tutors are scarce in the deck, they shouldn't be wasted; it's too easy to get greedy. But scarce as they might be, they still win games quite often.

    • Fabricate - usually seen in artifact-centric decks. In here, it most often tutors for doubling ramp artifacts (Extraplanar Lens, Caged Sun, Gauntlet of Power), but it can also go for a Sensei's Divining Top if the situation calls for it.

    • Long-Term Plans - this is a tricky one. Sub-par compared to black goodies, but in here it's fine because of its instant speed and the deck's ability to draw extra cards through Kefnet, and therefore it isn't unusual to tutor for a card using Plans eot before our turn and actually draw the tutored card on draw phase. Most often it tutors for a combo/lock piece to end the game with OR, on rare occasions, it can go for a Time Spiral or Cyclonic Rift if you really need a "reset" button.

    • Merchant Scroll - use it to fetch a counterspell/removal best fit for your current situation. You can use it to get High Tide for combo purposes or for a simple trip to Valuetown.

    • Muddle the Mixture - this isn't the "dreams come true" kind of tutor, but we need them badly and it's still doing ok. It can be used to tutor a Cyclonic Rift in a pinch, which is quite neat. It's also noteworthy that you can go for a Thought Vessel if you need an infinite hand size effect.

    • Mystical Tutor - now we're talking. For a single blue mana you can go and find pretty much any removal/counterspell. Time Spiral is also a decent target and, depending on the situation, sometimes Time Warp is neat to simply gain tempo advantage or to assemble a combo.

    First thing to note here is that this is a monocolor deck, so there are some specific traits that make this manabase different than manabases you may have already worked with. First difference to note is that the deck doesn't need to dedicate room to dual lands. This room will be used to play more basics and some utility lands. That leads us to the second significant difference; we will have the room to play all the utility lands we want, so I took liberty of adding several good ones to fit my meta and my preferences. I encourage you to do the same, for if a land offers an upside along with mana-production ability, depending on the exact upside it might be a game changer for you and worth the inclusion. Thirdly, manafixing isn't exactly a thing here since we're playing only one color and there is no need to enable 2+ colors early, meaning that there are no manafixing artifacts and whatnot. Ramp here is either colorless or, if colored, meant to enable bigger plays rather than fill in for a color we might be missing. Lastly, monocolor decks can make use of cards I like to call "doubling ramp" cards. They are both our tempo play that makes insane draws with Kefnet possible and combo enablers, for with any of these and a Palinchron you can push for the win. Extraplanar Lens here is specific for its wording, so using Snow-Covered Islands instead of ordinary ones is encouraged. This is good because this way Extraplanar lens becomes a one-sided bonus, and the price, though significant, isn't all that high considering we don't have to pay for expensive duals. Also, there is an aesthetic factor here; Snow-covered islands (and swamps) from Coldsnap are beautiful in my opinion and snow-covered or not, I always tend to pick beautiful basics for my decks and I like it if all the basics of the same type in a deck are the same.

    Ramp

    • Caged Sun, Gauntlet of Power & Extraplanar Lens - as stated earlier, these enable some crazy stuff. Making our land mana production 2 times bigger, we can draw more cards and have the mana to cast them. Cards balanced by their cmc go from "good" to "bonkers" with these out. On the other hand, with all this mana available, if there aren't big plays to make, we can just draw off Kefnet or play multiple smaller spells in a single turn cycle. And with this amount of mana, that Kefnet draw is insane. In these situations it isn't unusual to draw 3-4 cards per turn cycle while doing things and leaving mana open for responses. These 2 aspects, capacity to play otherwise unsafe plays safely and drawing lots of cards, make it so that even without combo, after even one or two turn cycles with these online, we get so far ahead that practically no one has a good shot at us; the game is halfway won. Speaking of combo, any of these with Palinchron wins the game.

    • Sapphire Medallion - it doesn't cover colored mana costs and can't pay for Kefnet's draw, but its ability to make most of our cards cost 1 less to cast means a lot. It makes us able to go into control mode much earlier and makes it easier to push for a value play (by making cheaper both our big hitters and counters protecting them).

    • Mind Stone - colorless ramp that can turn into card draw late game. That draw ability makes it less of a commitment to ramp, doubling as a way to fatten up our hand or to simply dig deeper when looking for an answer.

    • Sol Ring & Thran Dynamo - Sol ring is a commander staple and needs no explanation I assume. Its ability to pay for itself as soon as it hits the field combined with tempo advantage it creates from then onward is considerable. Thran dynamo works similarly enough; it almost pays up for itself upfront so it isn't that big of a commitment to ramp for the sake of ramp, and the resource advantage it provides from that point onward is significant considering the amount of big cmc cards we're playing and the fact that with a single island it can pay for Kefnet's ability if there isn't anything better to do with it.

    • Thought Vessel - a cute piece of ramp. 2 generic mana to ramp for is meh, but the utility of providing us with infinite hand size makes it good in here. This makes us able to fight, and win, attrition war if we have to. The deck can play with 7-card hands, but having an infinite hand makes it easier on us when thinking about turns to come. Also it makes Forbid kinda broken since we can easily play it a few times per turn cycle. Important enough to give us an edge, opportunity cost is minimal and it's subtle enough that it rarely dies to removal.

    • Gilded Lotus - the only piece of real colored ramp in here. Let's compare it to a Thran dynamo. Thran dynamo doesn't really pay for itself upfront, but if you do your math well, you can sneak it in for free if you assume you'll be left with mana to spare. Lotus, on the other hand, is harder to sneak in. 5 mana investment is a lot, and 2-mana difference is noticeable. This makes it so that Lotus is significantly harder to play than Dynamo. But it's still very important. The deck is color hungry; more often than I'd like to admit, I'm stuck with counting colored mana sources and colored mana is sometimes the limiting factor to my plays, mostly because if I'm going for a play that already eats up 2-3 blue mana (along with some generic mana), leaving 2-3 blue mana for protection is hard sometimes. So think of this as a more expensive Thran dynamo that can pay for counterspells. It's a bit too expensive to cast as ramp, but its ability to pay for counterspells is what makes plays made off it more impactful.

    • High Tide - a ritual with a combo potential. Usually it just produces lots of extra mana, therefore enabling big plays for a turn. It's also a combo piece for a Palinchron combo.

    Lands

    • Minamo, School at Water's Edge - a great utility land. It's ability to practically give Kefnet vigilance makes it so that we can enforce a 4-5 turn clock on an opponent of our choice early in order to make a political statement or to eliminate a player that might be a problem later on. This significant bonus comes stapled to a land that produces blue mana on its own, so it downsides compared to an ordinary Island are negligible.

    • Mouth of Ronom - a bit of a meta call. This deck lacks hard removal. And being monocolor, it's weak to swords and other color protection. One of the players in my group started abusing this and I need a colorless creature removal with enough utility to be ran without any serious disruption of the current build and gameplan. This card provides creature removal that goes around color protection and it's a land in worst case scenario. 6 mana and losing a land is a hefty price, but that's a fair price for its utility.

    • Oboro, Palace in the Clouds - this land comes with 2 neat advantages over an ordinary Island. First, for a single generic mana, we can increase our hand size by 1. This can be significant mid-game in case we have to go deep with response cards and someone wants to get a piece of our life total. Small thing, but it makes math regarding hand size much easier. Secondly, there is land destruction in my meta, of which some is MLD. And this card in such situation can mean the world to us. Again, since it produces blue mana itself, its downsides compared to an island are next to nonexistent, and its benefits are significant.

    • Polluted Delta & Flooded Strand - In comparison to basics these tamper minimally with my early game, but they make my late-game stronger by filtering out lands from my deck and giving me reshuffle effect on demand, which is relevant for cantrips and Top. These are hardly necessary, but in this particular build they have their uses and upsides.

    • Reliquary Tower - a land that produces generic mana that also gives us an infinite hand. Just like Mind vessel, it gives us means of fighting an attrition war if it comes to it and otherwise provides neat and subtle bonus. As I've already mentioned, there is land destruction in my meta, but this is rarely a target, that land destruction wasn't meant for me in the first place.

    • Riptide Laboratory - ability to replay either Archaeomancer or Venser, Shaper Savant each turn cycle means we get to abuse their etb triggers. Since this deck likes to play long game, it can add up nicely over time while setting up conditions for a combo with Time Warp and Archaeomancer.

    • Snow-Covered Islands - These beautiful lands give us blue mana to cast our stuff. Their mana symbol is a symbol of tears of our enemies we're doing all of this for.

    • Scrying Sheets - with all these snow-covered basics laying around, this is a solid deal. For 3 mana we can maybe get a +1. Sure, Kefnet gives +1 for 4 every time, but there are situations when you can't pay 4 and if you know what's on your top (Future Sight or Sensei's Divining Top), paying 3 instead of 4 to do the same thing is good. In a vacuum, think of it more like a specific scry; if it's a land, you remove it from the top so you can draw into something else with your next draw, if it is a non-land card, you leave it on top. You trade off your ability to put non-land to the bottom to add a card to your hand instead of putting it down if it's a land. The price of playing one more colorless-producing land is bearable.

    • Tolaria West - a land that tutors...lands. You can use this one to tutor for any of the utility lands (so protection from damage, infinite hand, vigilance, anti-mld, scry...there are neat things there).. 3 mana is a significant price, but if you need any of these it's worth it, and when you factor in how wide this goes, it's a fair price. The real downside is that its transmute ability must be done at sorcery speed, but one cannot have everything. And if nothing else, it still acts as an ordinary land that gives mana. Also note that you can safely play it for mana early and later bounce it with Kefnet in case you need to use its transmute ability.

    Building the deck

    First question one has to ask themselves when Building a deck is "how do I win"? In this aspect, I decided to primarily treat Kefnet as a mana sink that upon hitting infinite blue mana can win the game. So once we hit infinite mana, we can use Kefnet to win with it. Going from this point I made this deck and, hopefully, others will build decks of their own, just like this one. I decided to dedicate a segment of this primer to the process itself; to cards that could be added under certain circumstances and cards that were included but got removed for various reasons. Behind this list of 100 cards there are dozens of cards I considered/tested at some point and, at all times, a handful of cards I'm theorycrafting with. I'd like to present you my thoughts on some cards and ideas in order for any reader to better understand the deck and for anyone interested in the deck to have as a guideline.

    I'll address cards currently costing more than 20$, explaining their role and how they could be replaced by cheaper alternatives.

    Note that the impact of suggested changes may vary both depending on your meta and on the change itself. Think before cutting a card, because some are here for a very good reason while some are here for their smal benefits I'm ready to pay a premium for. Some of these cards are expensive because they are rare or because I have a rare printing in here, and some are expensive because they're really good and are worth every cent you pay for them.

    Feel free to implement these, and many other, budget changes. I'm only asking you to think carefully before cutting a card just because it costs money or might be ahrd to find.

    • Time Spiral - I love this card, but it's far from being absolutely necessary. You can replace it with a budget draw card of your liking without the deck losing much. Windfall is pretty decent if there are players drawing lots of cards besides you.

    • Force of Will - Foil is an excellent budget replacement.

    • Back to Basics - in here because I love it and the decks in my meta are mostly 3c with a few 2c decks, monocolor decks are a rare occurrence. Also, it creates a political swing in favor of more casual players and it can be very helpful. But excluding it in favor of another piece of control wouldn't hurt the deck too badly. Pick something relevant to your own meta. However in case you really want to dedicate to the deck or to mono in general, after the reprint this is a much more affordable card you should really consider buying.

    • Mana Drain - it's awesome value for just , but it's far from being crucial. Feel free to replace it with a counterspell of your choice.

    • Palinchron - this is the only 20+$ card that I deem necessary for this kind of deck to work in this form. Excluding it would mean that the deck's main wincon is out of the question and this single change would cause many additional changes. It can be excluded, but such deck would work quite differently, it will be discussed in more detail later on.

    • Cryptic Command - Mystic Confluence is a neat replacement. At worst it's a worse Dismiss, at best it's a toolbox, not that much unlike Cryptic Command. It offers great utility and that makes it a decent contender even with Cryptic Command already in the mix.

    • Minamo, School at Water's Edge and Oboro, Palace in the Clouds - both can be easily replaced with Islands. Their utility is significant, but I can understand that it doesn't justify the price for everyone.

    • Extraplanar Lens and Gauntlet of Power - these are your big guns when it comes to ramp and your subtle half of a 2-card combo with Palinchron. If you're looking to replace these 2, you should consider adding more ramp and dedicate space and funds for other win conditions. At this point Deadeye Navigator + Peregrine Drake is your only way to go off with infinite mana so maybe going for Beacon of Tomorrows + Isochron Scepter + Mystical Tutor with Kefnet as a voltron beater to seal the game during your infinite turns might be the way to go. If you're already adding more rocks, adding Dramatic Reversal to go along with that Isochron Scepter I just mentioned. Without these, Palinchron doesn't make much sense in here so if you're that constrained by budget, you probably should rebuild nearly the entire set of combo cards. These changes are quite similar to those required to replace Palinchron, so these will also be discussed later on.

    Other easily replaceable cards:

    A version without Palinchron; a whole new combo package

    Here is my 100$ budget build: Saying "no" on a budget!

    This setup is untested, but generally it could/should work. It provides the deck with a whole different set of combos at a lower price point.

    These changes are put here together because many combo pieces currently played in the main deck are quite interwoven. And as efficient that might make them together, it makes it hard to remove a single component without affecting the others. So instead of budgeting out current deck, you might wanna try a whole different combo package. Forgoing all combo creatures and their support, the deck gains room and conditions for 3 new combos;

    Feel free to make other changes using the guidelines provided above to replace other expensive/hard to find cards. I'll just address the changes necessary to make the new combos work.

    OUT (11): Palinchron, Peregrine Drake, Extraplanar Lens, Gauntlet of Power, Deadeye Navigator,Archaeomancer, Riptide Laboratory, Time Warp, Consecrated Sphinx, Venser, Shaper Savant, Island

    IN (11): Isochron Scepter, Dramatic Reversal, Star Compass, Coldsteel Heart, Sky Diamond, Fellwar Stone (in case your meta is short on blue, add a mana rock of your choice, preferably a colored one), Prismatic Lens, Commander's Sphere, Proteus Staff, Beacon of Tomorrows, Buried Ruin

    Here is a list of cards I previously tested that I opted not to play for various reasons OR cards that other players might be playing and explanations why I'm not playing them.

    • Alhammarret's Archive, Thought Reflection and other draw multipliers - these are heavy mana commitments. They can be easily removed for cheap and that often leaves Kefnet helpless against attacks for a turn. This deck utilizes artifacts and enchantments to further its plans, but only at a cost that is expendable and for effects that work immediately. These both often cost more than the deck wants to commit to them at the moment and they require extra mana to pay off, leaving the deck open to well-timed removal.

    • Beacon of Tomorrows and Isochron Scepter combo - Cool card and even cooler combo, one of my honest suggestion for a budget version of the deck, but at my group's level it costs too much and in testing the combo proved to be too mana-intensive. Compare it to the deck's current infinite turns combo; Time Warp costs less to play so its value in a vacuum is greater and it's easier to set up because individual components do more in that one.

    • Desertion, Mystic Confluence, Time Stop and generally counters at cmc 5 or higher - as I already explained, Kefnet as the draw engine makes 4 the magical number when it comes to mana. Leaving 5 mana open isn't optimal because it hurts our limited sorcery speed casts. And even in a vacuum, justifying such mana expense in terms of efficiency is often hard.

    • Dismiss, Summary Dismissal and other 4cmc counters with an upside - even though I'm often leaving 4 mana open, those counters barely "pay" for themselves in matters of card economy and almost never in utility. At 2 mana, counter has to counter common threats to be considered. At 3 it has to be better than Cancel to be considered, at 4 mana we want a serious upside, a great utility or a free casting option. Compare these to Venser, Shaper Savant or Cryptic Command; both offer so much utility for their cost that extra mana compared to 3cmc options is more than justified. I tested several other 4cmc counters and none came close to these 2. But if you're on a budget and/or there is a specific 4cmc counterspell that does wonders in your meta, feel free to include it.

    • Draining Whelk - a very fun card, but it has criminally high cmc for what it does. Sure, it can establish a lock with Deadeye, but we already have a much more flexible combo piece in Venser, Shaper Savant, and compared to Venser on the field, this card is far worse. Ok for fun/budget decks though.

    • Grafdigger's Cage and Tormod's Crypt - grave hate in blue. These are more selective than Scavenger Grounds so they will be added (back) if my meta ever becomes very grave-reliant again. Nevertheless, lately the amount of graveyard-reliant plays has dwindled in my meta and these were just taking up slots.

    • Halimar Depths - I dislike etb tapped lands. I play them when I have to, and I surely don't have to in a monocolor deck. This one is even decent, but that one-time top isn't worth the tempo loss in my opinion.

    • Howling Mine, Temple Bell, Dictate of Kruphix and other symmetrical draw effects - simply put, we don't want to give our opponents cards. A bit more elaborate answer is that those cards cost mana from our pool and a card from our hand other players don't have to expend. If such card gets removed, best case scenario it got traded for a removal of a similar cmc. Worst case scenario it got removed with next to no effort and our opponents got extra cards before it got destroyed. The deck puts too much work into stripping other players of cards and resources to just replenish those at its own expense.

    • Imprisoned in the Moon - it is sorcery speed, it costs too much for what it does in my meta and it doesn't hit artifacts or enchantments. I already have better and cheaper removal available. However in a meta more oriented towards dangerous lands or walkers, it might be worth a slot. It's also a nice addition if there are commanders you want to nail down instead of "just" coutnering or removing them.

    • Dramatic Reversal + Isochron Scepter - I'm not playing nearly enough rocks to make this one work as it is now. But I'm playing this one along the Beacon of Tomorrows combo in a budget version of the deck.

    • Laboratory Maniac - I used to play it in here and it was dead more often than not. It occurred to me that for as long as I have infinite mana and none of my opponents have hexproof, in a deck with Blue Sun's Zenith lurking in the deck and Kefnet the Mindful in the command zone, playing LabMan would be redundant.

    • Leyline of Anticipation & Vedalken Orrery - these are hard to evaluate because their function in a vacuum is non-existent. Their utility depends on both quality and quantity of spells that can be cast instant speed instead at sorcery speed. I used to play these in here, but number of sorcery speed spells in here dwindled over time. As it is now, these have too high cmc for what they do, and their sorcery speed is a nuisance.

    • Pull from Tomorrow, Stroke of Genius and other massive draw effects - simply put, they demand mana dedication and hence are relatively easy to respond to. Blue Sun's Zenith is the only one I play and it still gets to be played extremely rarely because it's hard to hit the amount of mana needed to make it a profitable deal.

    • Spellbook, Venser's Journal and other infinite hand effects - infinite hand is a great thing, especially with all the drawing Kefnet wants to do. But the truth is, despite Kefnet loving an infinite hand, 20+ card hand often contains only a few cards on interest to us, so it isn't a top priority to keep all 20+ cards. The only 2 infinite hand effects I'm currently playing are Thought Vessel (a manarock that enters the battlefield untapped) and a Reliquary Tower (a land); both are splashable by being mana sources, both offer additional value alongside the infinite hand effect. Other infinite hand options fail in this category, offering no other useful effects or doing so at a much higher mana cost, and I've already explained that infinte hand isn't a top priority, it surely isn't worth 5 mana.

    • Strip Mine, Wasteland, Ghost Quarter - these are a metaa call. If there are multiple dangerous lands in your meta, play any of these by all means, especially in a monocolor deck. But right now there isn't a need for these in my meta.

    • Swiftfoot Boots and Lightning Greaves - Kefnet already has indestructible, so removing him is hard enough. And since he's not an attacker here, haste doesn't mean much. Shroud/hexproof is ok in a meta that likes exiling and pinning down commanders, but Kefnet is cheap enough to replay him from the command zone instead ofwasting a slot for a piece of footwear.

    • Sword of Vengeance, Strata Scythe, swords and other equipment - this isn't a voltron deck. Even though Kefnet can enforce a clock, it's not the primary win condition here. In that context, equipment is redundant. Voltron Kefnet can be built, but that is a completely different deck.

    • Temple of the False God - the deck may even pack enough lands for it, but I find it to be too slow for my meta. Extra mana t5+ is neat, but the possibility of a dead land before that is too much of a price.

    All cards I'm planning to test and are listed as such in the maybeboard ("untested" category). Cards that are currently being tested or are waiting a slot are in the sideboard. Cards that were under consideration and didn't make the cut but still might eventually end up mained are also listed in the maybeboard ("tested" category).

    • Baral, Chief of Compliance - as it is now, this deckisn't playing enough counterspells to make Baral a thing, and without that, he's basically a worse Sapphire Medallion in here. However, lately I've been theory crafting a remodeled Kefnet with a bit more counterspells. With counterspell count possibly going up, this card could get significantly better.

    • Blue Elemental Blast and Hydroblast - red is very popular in my meta. These cards' usefulness grows with red's prevalence in the meta. If and when red becomes that prevalent, I might include it.

    • Coldsteel Heart - a colored mana rock. Fellwar Stone wouldn't be as good bc sometimes I'm the only blue player at the table. Star Compass needs basic lands in play which isn't relevant often, but Coldsteel doesn't have this constraint at all, and Sky Diamond isn't a snow permanent for Scrying Sheets. Currently I'm not in need of such rock, but if I ever will need an additional budgetish rock this one is my top pick.

    • Commander's Sphere - compared to Mind Stone, it gives colored mana and it's easier to crack. But it costs more. If I find it a worthy trade-off for costing 3 mana, I might include is as a colored rock.

    • Dispel - currently I'm not involved in all that many counter wars and my current counter suite nicely covers threats I face. However if someone or something would try to outcounter me or simply would want to play a lot of instants, this thing is both cheap and effective.

    • Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx - currently I don't think the deck provides enough devotion for this to be a thing. But it's an extremely powerful card in 1-2c decks and I'll at least test it when I get my hands on a copy.

    • Phantasmal Image - paired with Palinchron it creates an infinite mana combo. It's not as mana-intensive as some other combos, namely those involving Deadeye Navigator. It's also tutorable by Muddle the Mixture.

    • Reality Shift - another marvelous blue removal spell. If only it hit non-land permanents instead of just creatures, but that might be asking too much. So far there isn't much problematic indestructible stuff running around to make this significantly better than a Pongify or Rapid Hybridization. Nevertheless, it's a great card and I'm keeping my eye on it.

    • Scavenger Grounds - a possible grave hate card. I don't like that it's hitting everyones' graveyards, including the owner's. But then again, any useful effect stapled to a land makes the said land a potentially good inclusion. I don't like that it's exiling my grave too, that it's eating up a land and that it's costing 3 mana to activate. But it is a grave hate card that has its uses outside exiling graveyards. It might be worth it.

    • Supreme Will - hybrid of Impulse and Mana Leak that costs more than any of the two. Mana Leak itself isn't exactly the card for this deck because late game it can't really protect my combos. And since I'm not playing in cEDH, there is rarely tstuff worth countering earlier than turn 3-4. However such effect that offered filtering alternative late game might be useful; coutnering stuff mid-game and filtering late game might be nice. However this doesn't end up at the top of the list neither as a counter nor as a filtering card.

    • Vendilion Clique - Thoughtseize is bad in commander, with some cEDH exceptions maybe. But instant thoughtseize with a flying body that can be recurred...that one may yet have a future in here. It's just an idea, but such effect might become quite useful if people continue upgrading their combo decks.

    -1 Vedalken Orrery - the number of sorcery speed cards is in decline and this effect is becoming less and less of a necessity.

    -1 Leyline of Anticipation - same as Orrery, but with a nnote that this one is strictly better in here.

    -1 Pendrell Mists - at 4cmc it's too slow to make a desired impact

    -1 Frozen Aether - same as Mists

    -1 Snow-Covered Island - making room for a land

    +1 Brainstorm - I'm testing the cantrip trinity. Their digging might prove to be useful (digging 3 cards deep for 1 mana resulting in a +0 could be passable) and they might indeed be the necessary evil in here.

    +1 Ponder - same as Brainstorm

    +1 Preordain - same as Brainstorm

    +1 Counterbalance - a control card I tested before and dismissed it as too chaotic and hard to resolve properly (it's a beast in cEDH). But with my cmc now catching more regular goodstuff spells (cmc 2-3) and more topdeck control in the form of cantrips, it might be good. If I like it, it's a reason more to play fetchlands.

    +1 Mouth of Ronom - creature removal for stuff with protectiuon from blue (meta call). It's quite mana-intensive, but as a land it has extremely high utility so I suppose it might work well enough.

    This round of testing changes was mainly to explore potential benefits of cantrips in exchange for some slower control pieces and flash enablers.

    I didn't miss flash enablers at all. The deck evolved into a real draw-go deck with cards that have to be cast sorcery speed cut down to a minimum. I rarely wanted them and even when that flash would've been useful, 4cmc and wasting a card from hand would be a significant factor.

    Removed control pieces are, similar in that they are a bit too costly for what they do. 4cmc is a lot for cards meant to slow down people. Their price is steep and their impact minimal at the point at which they can hit the field. If they costed a single mana less, they would be much more serious options. As it is, they are too slow and thier impact late game is negligible.

    Cantrips did ok. As I've "feared"; the necessary evil of trinity gives the deck much desired card selection. Nothing op, far from their ceiling, but they do what they do well everywhere; they let me pick cards in a pinch and their role isn't insignificant.

    Counterbalance needs more testing. It did fine, and the only time I played it it felt like I've reached higher gameplay level than months ago when I initially tested it. The deck's lower cmc more concentrated around cmc 2&3 makes it more likely to catch "random" removal/draw/ramp... and the addition of more topdeck manipulation in the form of cantrips complements it. Needs more testing tho, since in non-cEDH cmc varies a lot. 04.02.2017. edit I got to play this several times now and it's a beast. From the last time I tested it I added cantrips and lowered average cmc. Now the card does so much. It's harder to control and it has problems countering designated spells without Top, but it catches so much that its value is unquestionable.

    Mouth of Ronom did ok. I was never in dire need to crack it, but it offered me some security and now that more and more of my meta is targeting me and finding ways to interact with my stuff, the more I feel this kind of easy-access, high utility removal is needed. I can easily see it becoming 1 in 20 games kind of thing that will win me games sometimes and will be a prefectly fine land rest of the time. This is a monocolor deck that both needs creature removal and can afford to play more than a few utility lands.

    Next on my list: adapting the manabase to accomodate fetchlands for Brainstorm, Counterbalance and Future Sight. Theorycrafting, and maybe testing, with Training Grounds. And lastly, hunting down strict upgrades for the cards I currently play that I can afford, namely Pact of Negation, Ancient Tomb and maaaaaybe Mana Drain for starters.

    -1 Dream Fracture - 3cmc for a counter that replaces itself is ok, but I have a good replacement in mind.

    -1 Jace Beleren - it has been doing fine for a while now. However, it's relatively easy to interact with since dmg spells are present in my meta and I dislike giving all my opponents cards the turn it hits the board. I'm looking to replace it with something one sided

    -1 Tormod's Crypt - it has been doing poorly lately. Grave hate is always nice, but grave-reliant decks are becoming more of an exception than a rule in my meta, and this card, frankly, is useless without graves to raid profitably.

    +1 Mana Drain - I finally got myself a copy. Strictly better Counterspell, not much to say here.

    +1 Search for Azcanta   - solid filtering. Its mill effect isn't particularly useful in here, but its filtering both as an enchantment and as a land is neat and helps to control draws to some extent.

    +1 Training Grounds - makes Kefnet's draw better for a low mana cost. I'm till pondering about this one.

    -1 Snow-Covered Island - since I added the cantrips I've been noticing how much I want fetches instead of some basics. Counterbalance, Future Sight and Sensei's Divining Top also aren't happy with lands clogging up my topdeck. Referring to my Dec 2017 manabase update, this was something I predicted might happen so it's nothing surprising nor something new.

    -1 Strip Mine - lately there aren't problematic op lands floating around any more (my meta had coffers and Growing Rites of Itlimoc  ). And even though my land count of 37 is doing fine, I'm starting to notice a slight shortage of blue sources sometimes. Nothing too serious really, but this one doesn't work with Scrying Sheets, doesn't produce and is only better than Wastes really if there is a problematic land floating around and/or if I have grave recursion engine for lands. An excellent card, one I might re-include in the future, but as it is now I'm not sure it's needed.

    -1 Propaganda - I haven't been facing swarms for a while. Problematic opponents still can go for my life total paying the price of per creature, especially late game. Real swarms are becoming more of an exception. Another problem is its cast timing. Paying 3 mana sorcery speed and losing a card in hand makes it hard to block with Kefnet and play it. Play it too early; you recieve avoidable dmg. Play it too late; it's irrelevant.

    +1 Polluted Delta and +1 Flooded Strand - by replacing 2 other lands with fetches, my early mana stays almost the same. Late game I'm less likely to hit a land, which is good most of the time, and I get 2 reshuffle effects. So these tamper minimally with my early game, but make my late-game stronger by fixing my topdecks. I tested them during Dec 2017 and they did fine, but then I had a lot going on with the manabase and it was hard for me to evaluate individual lands in the midst of all those changes. Therefore I removed them for the time being. Now with the rest of the manabase more defined and greater need for reshuffle effects, these get their second chance. Not to prove if they are good, fetches always are, but for me to see if they can solve this reshuffling problem.

    +1 Maze of Ith - compared to Propaganda, it stops single attacker per turn, but I get to chose which one and when. This is becoming increasingly important because there is a Gishath, Sun's Avatar in my metagame that's creating surprisingly many problems and because our resident Alesha stax player likes going for my throat a tad little bit too much to let them have it all their way, even at a price. Compared to propaganda this only costs a land drop. That should be acceptable price for it's easier to represent mana for Kefnet draw and/or counters and, silver lining, since it eats up a land drop it's likely there will be no further plays that turn so hand count of 7 should be easier to maintain. It also counts to my land count for the number of land drops, which I intended to raise, and despite the fact that it doesn't produce mana,

    Things have been slow lately. However, I'm still working on the deck. I'll just entertain myself with the manabase a bit. That is until Dominaria hits the shelves. Then I'm gonna test the new Dominaria cards and after that some re-evaluation of existing cards might be in order.

    testing 9.4.2018

    Theorycrafting and planning

    -1 Hedron Archive - I might opt to play more lands, and even though cutting ramp to play lands might seem weird, this one is rather mana-intensive and doesn't produce colored mana. On 37 lands, 4 mana for a ramp card like this is stretching it a bit; Dynamo gives 50% more mana right away (it's important that Dynamo itself pays for Kefnet activation with a ), and Gided lotus, though it requires more mana to cast, produces colored mana and that makes it worth the cost. And percentage-wise both Dynamo (75%) and Lotus (60%) pay for themselves better than Archive does for itself (50%). Since the crack option is rarely relevant, this one ends up being the worst of the cmc-intensive rocks I currently have.

    +1 Snow-Covered Island - if I decide to up the land count, good ol' Island is what I'm gonna start with.

    Some other changes might be in order. Specifically, other control cards might be updated too and I plan on getting myself a Pact of Negation in the near future so I might as well plan on making room for it. These might affect how I view the changes I'm currently considering.

    Dominaria is just around the corner and when it enters the format I'll be doing more testing than usual.

    -1 Deprive - I'm past the level where bouncing a land isn't problematic, too often I find myself counting lands and I'm becoming more and more capable of closing the game early enough that losing a land might be a significant drawback.

    -1 Counterbalance - It has an enormously high ceiling, but the harsh truth is that in a vacuum it doesn't necessarily do anything. And when it does something, the effect is uncontrollable so at best we can opt not to reveal a card, we have no say in countering/letting resolve. The deck's diverse, though rather smooth, curve isn't helping at all. The card is good, it just feels that it isn't right for this kind of deck.

    -1 Foil - I got myself a Force of Will, which is an (almost) strict upgrade

    +1 Unwind - the only Dominaria card I currently have included or under consideration (but on the side note; Dominaria is a great set and partially because of that I'm currently spending more time on my other projects where Dominaria was more significant). It's to Negate what Rewind is to Cancel; costs more, but pays for itself right away. My First thought was that if this clause made Cancel playable, that must be the case with Negate too. A good counterspell with 2 downsides; 1) it hits only noncreature spells, and 2) it makes us leave 3 mana open. 1 is no problem honestly because the majority of good counter targets aren't creatures, and 2 is no problem either because the deck normally leaves open mana (preferably at least 4) for interaction/kefnet_draw and since the lands untap after resolution, Kefnet can still draw off that mana or it can be used to stop people from doing there stuff later that turn cycle.

    +1 Force of Will - an upgrade to Foil. It demands less discarding and doesn't require you to hold onto basic lands in your hand too tightly.

    +1 Stubborn Denial - it's a Force Spike with a slight downside at worst and a cheaper Negate/another Swan Song at best. It might be worth a shot.

    This was a really long testing period. I left the 2-month long blabbering archived down below if anyone is interested.

    I upgraded the counterspell suite a bit. I made it more effective. Even though cmc is similar, there are less hoops to jump through, so playing counterwars is simpler.

    Counterbalance was underperforming for a while because of the deck's widely spread cmc, and Deprive simply reached its limit of usefulness as my counterspells got better and better.

    Unwind is effectivelly a free counterspell if it resolves. Which is good since this deck leaves most of its mana open most of the time.

    Stubborn Denial is something I was measuring for a long time and I finally decided to include it. It's floor isn't terribly low, and its ceiling is formidable.

    I also finally got a copy of Force of Will. A friend was selling his spare pl copy for a relatively low price and I decided to treat myself. Foil is great, especially on a budget, but its Island discard clause was becoming more and more of a nuisance.

    Another kind of change I was thinking about was upping the number of lands by removing a Hedron Archive. I'm still indecisive about this one though, but it's not so complicated to test it along the way and make it more of a long-term experience kind of decision rather than a matter of focused testing.

    +1 Unwind, -1 Hedron Archive

    Nothing huge in raw changes, but more might be on the way before this round of changes is done for.

    I did something unusual here, I removed a card with certain role in the deck and replaced it with a drastically different card. The reason simply being that lately Archive was under performing and that I wanted to test Unwind at the approximately same time. However I don't think that this change will stick in this configuration. Soon I'll have to deal with the elephant in the room; mana base and ramp.

    Theorycrafting and planning

    Though genrally reliable, IDK if my manabase should be left in this configuration. I think that I might be returning to 38 lands. Part of the reason why I opted to include Unwind instead of a land/rock is to see the strain of losing a mana rock manifesting on the deck's performance. Hopefully this data will be useful. 37 lands makes for hitting first 3 drops into Kefnet nicely. But ramp artifacts don't go very well with that plan. Also, and this might be subjective, I've noticed that I've been missing land drops more often lately. One land more or less shouldn't be much of a problem, but lately I've found lands more useful than rocks more often than not. I'm not advocating for replacing all rocks with basics, but stressing the fact that rocks need lands more than this deck needs rocks. Also, in a deck that aims to win via High Tide route basically, a basic land isn't necessarily a bad call; counting basics to see if I can combo off and getting disappointed is a thing.

    So one Snow-Covered Island might be getting in. I just have to figure out where to put it.

    Next; Counterbalance. It has an enormously high ceiling, but the harsh truth is that in a vacuum it doesn't necessarily do anything. And when it does something, the effect is uncontrollable so at best we can opt not to reveal a card, we have no say in countering/letting resolve. The deck's diverse, though rather smooth, curve isn't helping at all. The card is good, it just feels that it isn't right for this kind of deck.

    Stubborn Denial is in the Limbo situation; it seems good, but I'm not sure if the high ceiling (another copy of Swan Song) justifies the underwhelming floor (bad Force Spike). It might yet get a chance to see some play as the part of the 99, I'm just unsure if it's a better option than any I'm currently packing; my current counterspell count feels too large at times as it is, I'm not pushing it beyond some rational level.

    And now, some big news; I'm getting myself a copy of Force of Will. A friend was selling one for a good price so I snagged it. At First I thought that it would fit in nicely in place of Foil, since they're similar enough. However, I started to doubt my choice since 2 free counterspells might be better than only one, even if one of the 2 is a bit udnerwhelming. After giving it some consideration, I'll be kicking out Deprive; I'm past the level where bouncing a land isn't problematic, too often I find myself counting lands and I'm becoming more and more capable of closing the game early enough that losing a land might be a significant drawback. If the 2 free counters idea fails, I'll be giving Stubborn Denial a shot. If Denial fails tho, I might be fiving out the slot to something other than a counter.

    Theoretically, neto changes would look like this;

    -1 Counterbalance, -1 Deprive, -1 Hedron Archive

    +1 Unwind, +1 Force of Will, +1 Snow-Covered Island

    If I end up disliking "2 free counters" configuration;

    -1 Foil

    +1 Stubborn Denial

    Update 30.06.2018.

    Hedron Archive/Unwind testing is going fine I guess. Unwind is fine, but not amazing, and I have yet to miss Archive, but it still might get back in eventually. I don't have the time to play these days so it takes me quite long to go through with this round of changes.

    Reality Shift fell out of favor simply because I'm not finding the potential exile clause valuable enough to justify its higher cmc compared to my current target creature removal lineup. But it's purely a meta call and if anyone wants to go that route, be my guest.

    And since I'm getting myself a Force of Will, the counterspell situation is becoming more interesting.

    Update 26.07.2018.

    This testing round is coming to an end. The reason it dragged on for almost 3 months is that I had to study a lot because I had to take (and pass) a few huge and hard exams. I'm about to close and tidy up this changelog entry as soon as I sort out 2 questionable slots;

    • Hedron Archive vs a Snow-Covered Island - screws do happen, floods do happen, ramp is cool. It's only a matter of deciding in what direction to go with my mana. I'm inclined to go the land route simply because of Palinchron and because that would cause less unkeepable opening hands.

    • Foil vs Stubborn Denial - I have yet to determine if I like Foil in this setup, mostly because my counters are cheap and efficient enough that I don't need to go all in on free counters. Stubborn Denial is a Force Spike with a slight downside at worst and a cheaper Negate at best. It might be worth a shot. If I end up with 37 lands, see the clash above, I'm surely removing Foil. But if a land stays in and their count goes (back) to 38, these two would be tied. But even then I'd still like to give a chance to Stubborn Denial, if nothing else to provide an obvious and effective budget alternative for a newly added Mana Drain in the "Budget changes" section.

    Closing statement

    I hope that this primer was helpful to you. If you have any comments or suggestions, feel free to contact me in the comments. A Magic deck is a dynamic structure, even more so in commander. This is my up to date list as of 13st of July 2018 and I'm sure that the deck will keep on evolving as I play more and get more cards. Even though I'll try my best to keep it up to date, I might be late to address some real-life changes or I might have to put Magic on hold for professional and/or personal reasons and I apologize in advance for all out of date statements. Also, I'm only human and English isn't my primary language, so I apologize for all spelling mistakes, bad grammar and messy sentences. Please point out these if you come across any and I'll gladly fix all the shortcomings. And if you like the primer and/or the deck itself, feel free to leave an upvote, it means a lot.

    I'd like to thank my friends for helping me test and evaluate the deck, namely Mishraharad and his girlfriend for introducing me to more complex EDH, Dani and Ofcoslava for hosting our weekly commander meets and my best friend Beldgram for coping with me, my Spike/Johnny obsessions and for reminding time and again how fun and chaotic Magic can be.

    And in the end, I'd like to thank anyone who took the time to read this primer. I wrote it with you in mind and for each and every one of you, I'm glad that my work wasn't in vain.

    Hi!

    I'm 24, and I've been playing various TCGs for the past 14 years. YGO, WoW TCG, Shadow era... and in all of these I strived to be as competitive as my budget would allow, preferring control and tempo strategies.

    I first came in contact with Magic in primary school, but I didn't give it much thought at the time. I played some kitchen table around Coldsnap and Ravnica, got more involved during RTR/Theros. I finally started playing standard around Eldritch moon, and I soon started playing EDH, starting with a modified Mizzix precon.

    Today I'm the resident blue devil around here, people both fearing my creations and reaching out to me for advice when building decks, especially blue/control decks. You could say I grew to be a casual spike of sorts; trying to be competitive and build optimized decks, but mostly outside of cEDH, although I've been dabbing in near-cEDH as of lately. EDH is the primary, and currently the only format I play. I always maintain 2 or more active 75+% ("optimized"/"competitive") decks (which you can check out here) and a few theorycrafting projects.

    I'm also the head organizer of multiplayer EDH tournaments and league over here and I'm very proud of the work I've done for the community.

    Despite being more than a bit analytical and overattentive, I like to think that I'm pleasant to talk to and I'll always gladly think over an idea. I hope to hear your thoughts on the deck and the provided writeup.

    See you in the comment section! :)

    Suggestions

    Updates Add

    The Times They Are A Changin' — Jan. 24, 2019
    Edit

    Well, I haven't properly updated this deck in a long time.

    1) strategy overhaul - I re-wrote a part of it and I'm happy with it. However I don't think I'll have the time to finish it, since any writing time involving my little grey cells is reserved for my thesis for the weeks and months to come.I'll think of something there.

    2) sideboard/maybeboard cleanup - this looks much tidier now and I'm very pleased with it.

    3) updating primer with card links - I'll do it eventually, maybe even this weekend!

    With that out of the way, I have an important update for you guys;

    The initial wave of updates around April-May got interrupted by exams and life. And and during summer I've taken up several other EDH projects and started working on the local EDH league. Both my off-MTG time and my MTG time were more needed elsewhere. And over the course of the last few months, some things changed.

    I've built several other decks I needed to test and refine. About the same time I've become more picky about people I play with and now I hardly ever play against sub-75% decks unless it's for prizes. This resulted in those decks having a higher standard to live up to and I've achieved my goal for the most part. When I had the time to play and refine Kefnet again, it occured to me that it's, well, the most casual deck I currently own! No matter that it's decent at the 75% level, I've became somewhat disinterested in that power level and started looking forward to playing and advising with the best players around and against their most powerful decks. Frankly its curve is too high and it's too slow compared to decks I currently play. Though still working excellent in fairly focused and optimized pods, I'm playing with the big boys now. I've only played it...not even 10 times in the last 6 months, if even that many times. And I hate having a deck I'm not playing lying around.

    I'm not sure what to do here. Maybe rebuild it into a creatureless combo build or budget it out and leave it as it is. Or both. Or I'll just disassemble it. IDK any more. No matter what happens, this deck is temporarily on-hold. I still wholeheartedly recommend it as a reference to anyone interested in building Kefnet. It's my lack of interest in 75% that caused this drifting away, not the deck.

    No matter what happens, I'll leave up the primer and this list up. It's my first brew that worked out and it was my primary deck for well over a year, so it means a lot to me. Not to mention that it's by far the most popular Kefnet deck on the site...over 7000 views and 30 upvotes...wow. I can't tell you how glad I am to log in and just see a random upvote or an addition to a folder. It puts a smile on my face. Thank you for each and every one of those 7000 views, and special thanks to every one of 30 users that upvoted it! I myself am always glad to see a non-cEDH list with effort put into it as a reference. In the world of heavily budget decks and cEDH primers, a primer such as this could be a great help to a player curious about Kefnet, just as it's obviously been for months now.

    I'm not going anywhere, and you can always find me here or on the reddit as u/DrAlistairGrout if you have any questions about the deck.

    Over 4000 views, behind the scenes plans — March 21, 2018
    Edit
    Primer updates and plans for future testing — Jan. 14, 2018
    Edit
    Tiding up lands and cmc — Dec. 27, 2017
    Edit
    Primer added, more testing results, future plans — Dec. 23, 2017
    Edit
    More playtesting, manabase changes — Oct. 30, 2017
    Edit
    Some changes, the primer is on the way! — Oct. 9, 2017
    Edit
    Small changes — Aug. 6, 2017
    Edit
    More testing, 2 - 0, and comments on changes — July 23, 2017
    Edit
    Night down at the store; 3 - 0 — July 20, 2017
    Edit
    2 game nights, one 2/3 pods, one 2/6 -> Changes — July 9, 2017
    Edit
    2nd game night, 2/3 pods won — June 16, 2017
    Edit
    First testing done; 50% win rate in 3-player pods — June 12, 2017
    Edit
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    Casual

    95% Competitive

    Date added 6 years
    Last updated 3 years
    Exclude colors WBRG
    Key combos
    Legality

    This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
    Rarity (main - side)

    6 - 0 Mythic Rares

    30 - 0 Rares

    18 - 0 Uncommons

    18 - 0 Commons
    Cards 100
    Avg. CMC 2.98
    Tokens Ape 3/3 G, Bird 2/2 U, Frog Lizard 3/3 G
    Folders Kefnet EDH, Heel erg leuk, Commander, Primers, EDH saved decks unsorted, Want, Control Commander, Interesting Commander Decks, Commander, exam
    Votes
    Ignored suggestions
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