Kruphix, Pinnacle of Knowledge

Commander / EDH* GU (Simic)

tntturtle5

Ramp (21)

• 1x Carpet of Flowers
• 1x Cultivate
• 1x Explore
• 1x Explosive Vegetation
• 1x Farseek
• 1x Growth Spiral
• 1x Harrow
• 1x Kiora's Follower
• 1x Kodama's Reach
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Mana Reflection
• 1x Mana Vault
• 1x Nature's Lore
• 1x Nissa's Pilgrimage
• 1x Rampant Growth
• 1x Seedborn Muse
• 1x Skyshroud Claim
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Sylvan Caryatid
• 1x Thrasios, Triton Hero
• 1x Wilderness Reclamation

Utility (9)

• 1x Archetype of Endurance
• 1x Bala Ged Recovery  ^Flip
• 1x Beyeen Veil  ^Flip
• 1x Leyline of Anticipation *f-pre*
• 1x Propaganda
• 1x Regrowth
• 1x Scavenging Ooze
• 1x Seasons Past *f-pre*
• 1x Vedalken Orrery

Spot-removal (4)

• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Capsize
• 1x Krosan Grip
• 1x Reality Shift

Card-draw (14)

• 1x Blue Sun's Zenith
• 1x Consecrated Sphinx
• 1x Explore
• 1x Growth Spiral
• 1x Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
• 1x Mystic Remora
• 1x Ponder
• 1x Pull from Tomorrow *f-pre*
• 1x Rhystic Study
• 1x Serum Visions
• 1x Stroke of Genius
• 1x Sylvan Library
• 1x Thrasios, Triton Hero
• 1x Urban Evolution

Counterspells (10)

• 1x Arcane Denial
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Disallow
• 1x Forbid
• 1x Muddle the Mixture
• 1x Summary Dismissal *f-pre*
• 1x Swan Song
• 1x Trickbind
• 1x Voidslime
• 1x Whirlwind Denial

Tutors (5)

• 1x Crop Rotation
• 1x Muddle the Mixture
• 1x Mystical Tutor
• 1x Tooth and Nail
• 1x Worldly Tutor

Win-con (4)

• 1x Blue Sun's Zenith
• 1x Gelatinous Genesis
• 1x Helix Pinnacle
• 1x Laboratory Maniac

Commander (1)

Lands (28)

• 1x Barkchannel Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Breeding Pool
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Flooded Grove
• 8x Forest
• 1x Gingerbread Cabin
• 1x Hinterland Harbor *f-pre*
• 10x Island
• 1x Rejuvenating Springs
• 1x Temple of Mystery
• 1x Wasteland
• 1x Yavimaya Coast

Utility-land (6)

• 1x Alchemist's Refuge
• 1x Halimar Depths
• 1x Maze of Ith
• 1x Mirrorpool *f-pre*
• 1x Mystic Sanctuary
• 1x Reliquary Tower

Board-wipe (3)

• 1x AEtherize
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Evacuation

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KRUPHIX, GOD OF HORIZONS PRIMER

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- Overview - Card Selection - Game play patterns ===============================

:: OVERVIEW ::

Kruphix is an inocuous commander with the powerful ability of providing you with 100% mana efficiency. It's often noted that in any given game the player who uses the most mana has the highest chance of winning the game, and Kruphix's mana bank ability lets you make the most of this. My build of Kruphix focuses on soft control and keeping devotion to a minimum in order to protect Kruphix from creature exile effects.

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:: CARD SELECTION ::

.: Counter spells :.
Most of the spells here are pretty typical. Counterspell is a solid option, and Arcane Denial provides a second 2-mana unconditional counter. Trickbind , Voidslime , and Disallow are catch-all answers, letting me deal with abilities of permanents after they've resolved while still being able to answer spells on the stack with the latter 2. Trickbind notably answers many problematic activated abilities that are integral to infinite combos, and the split second mechanic means the chance for interaction is at its lowest. Summary Dismissal answers all 'uncounterable' spells, as well as cards like Nexus of Fate , Edlrazi titans, and works as a 4th Stifle effect after the previous 3.

.: Creatures :.
In an effort to keep devotion light, I'm running very few creatures, and as a result most of them are high impact or high utility. Seedborn Muse and Consecrated Sphinx need no introductions, this powerful duo will take over the game if either of them makes it to my next turn. Thrasios, Triton Hero provides a fantastic mana sink that digs me towards more cards while also being a great early blocker. Archetype of Endurance is often the 7th devotion to ensure that when Kruphix becomes a creature he is also hexproof. I use this over something like Asceticism because it can be found off both Tooth and Nail and Worldly Tutor . Lastly, some utility creatures: Kozilek, Butcher of Truth is card draw as well as a shuffle, Scaveinging Ooze provides graveyard control and incidental life gain, Kiora's Follower is ramp early and can also untap my Mana Vault .

.: Utility Lands :.
Kruphix's ability to store unused mana as colorless is powerful, but it also means I value colored mana sources slightly more highly than some other 2-color decks. Lands that produce only colorless mana generally have high utility, like Alchemist's Refuge for instant speed spell casting, Mirrorpool for creature and spell copying, and Maze of Ith for survivability.

.: Win Conditions :.
The deck's main plan is to dump 100 mana into Helix Pinnacle . It's slow, but my personal favorite way to win. Plan B is drastically different, going for a big Gelatinous Genesis to kill people with creatures. More often than not X is so big it doesn't really matter, however X = 10 is probably good enough to win most games and that only cost 21 mana, which is much less than the deck usually ends up saving. Lastly, Plan C is a popular commander win condition: Laboratory Maniac . Sometimes the game just needs to end quickly, that's what Lab Man is here for. No waiting for my turn to trigger Pinnacle, no waiting to attack with a bunch of Oozes, just drawing my deck and winning the game.

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:: GAMEPLAY PATTERNS & INTERACTIONS ::

.: Muddle the Mixture :.
Muddle the mixture can transmute for any card with CMC 2. These include Pull from Tomorrow if I need card draw, Cyclonic Rift if I need to wipe the board, Regrowth if I need another card from my graveyard, cavenging Ooze for graveyard control, Thrasios for an early mana sink, even Reality Shift to exile a creature.

.: Pull from Tomorrow :.
Obviously pull for as much as possible, but notably at 4 mana it is card neutral and at 5 mana is it card positive. It's also an instant-speed way to discard Kozilek to protect the graveyard if necessary.

.: Seasons Past :.
With Mystical Tutor and Seasons Past I can repeatly buy back multiple cards from the graveyard each turn. With the addition of Regrowth I can also tutor the deck for another instant or sorcery before repeating the loop. Notably Seasons Past doesn't target, and choices aren't made until resolution, so opponents need to respond to it on the stack before they gain any additional information.

.: Tooth and Nail :.
There are 3 primary targets for Tooth and Nail: Seedborn Muse, Consecrated Sphinx, and Archetype of Endurance. Soon with the addition of Nyxbloom Ancient , there may be a fourth. However, it may be better in somee cases to tutor for specific utility creatures like Scavenging Ooze.

.: Mirrorpool :.
For 4 mana (3+tapping this land), I can copy a spell. This may provide more efficiency for Draw X spells, or double up on a Tooth and Nail. Use only for Draw X spells when X > 4, otherwise it's just mana neutral.

.: Helix Pinnacle :.
Technically the correct way to activate is to activated it for 1, then let it resolve, and with a new round of priority activate it again for 1, repeat ad nauseum. This avoids one stifle countering all the mana you put into it.

.: Crop Rotation :.
Early game targets: Temple of Mystery after a shuffle. Halimar Depths before a shuffle. Castle Vantress without a shuffle. Other options are Maze of Ith, Alchemist's Refuge, or even Ghost Quarter if necessary.

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.: Early Game :.
Minimum opening hand, 2 lands + ramp/card draw, or 3 lands + card draw. Get Kruphix out as early as it's safe, and start storing mana. Turns 1-4 should be spent ramping and digging towards either more ramp or more card draw, don't worry about life totals until you're below 20 life. Mystical Tutor for Explore or Growth Spiral is acceptable if you have no other ways to ramp, as well as Worldly Tutor for Thrasios or Sylvan Caryatid . Crop Rotation can count as half a card through Temple scry or Castle scry. If proceeding to the mid game, either Mirrorpool or Alchemist's Refuge.

.: Mid Game :.
Turns 5-8 should be spent storing mana, spending on more card draw/digging (IE. Thrasios). Be ready to counter a game ending spell, or lift the board. The turning point is either a big Pull from tomorrow (10+) or a Tooth and Nail with counter spell backup. T&N targets can differ depending on number of cards in hand and mana left over. Usually Seedborn + Archetype, or Seedborn + Sphinx if there aren't enough cards in hand but ways to protect it once.

.: Late Game :.
This is the real fight, where the table is against you. Keep up card advantage, store up mana, and don't fight over anything that doesn't halt your progress. If there are ways to recur cards later, you can probably let it go. Then it's down to deciding how to win, Plan A, B, or C.

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STRENGTHS // WEAKNESSES

One of the biggest weaknesses of the deck is early game pressure. Turns 1-6 it's not unusual for the deck to tap out and leave defenses completely down, which means powerful spells resolved during this time are likely to stick around the rest of the game.

Another side effect of this weakness is that often I end the game with around 10 life or less. As a result the deck has a dire need for consistent, repeatable life gain effects. This used to be remedied by Horizon Chimera due the ability to gain life while drawing multiple cards. The Chimera was recently cut in favor of a Gilded Goose, which I'm still testing out, but the effect has definitely been felt though the Goose hasn't made a notable appearance yet, so it's hard to tell if a late game Goose is worse than a late game Chimera. Looking to include an Uro due to the multiple points of synergy.

There are many cards the deck doesn't really mind letting resolve, pretty much any wrath, card draw, removal, tutor is fine. The few effects that I can't let happen are Rule of Law and Grand Abolisher effects, as this completely restricts my ability to respond if I really wanted to. Another sizable threat is anything that prevents card draw. Notable cards include but are not limited to: Dosan the Falling Leaf
Dragonlord Dromoka
City of Solitude
Hall of Gemstone
Conqueror's Flail
Teferi, Time Raveler
Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
Arcane Laboratory
Ethersworn Canonist
Eidolon of Rhetoric
Narset, Parter of Veils
Notion Thief
Smothering Tithe
Alms Collector
Spirit of the Labyrinth

The biggest strength of the deck comes primarily from Kruphix's mana bank ability. The ability to achieve 100% mana efficiency after turn 5 means that over the course of a game I tend to spend 10-15 more mana than other players, and that 10-15 mana is what allows me to have enough resources to fight counter wars, draw more cards, or cast big spells multiple turns ahead of time.

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NOTABLE EXCLUSIONS

With onyl 100 slots, there are plenty of cards that aren't in the deck that have a great argument to be included. Here are just a couple of the cards that aren't included for one reason or another.

.: Force of Will , Mana Drain , Mana Crypt :.
I don't own one. Yet.

.: Courser of Kruphix , Oracle of Mul Daya , etc :.
The deck makes a point to keep devotion to a minimum, which means that many creatures have been excluded due to their mana cost. Often there are ways to accomplish the same effects without needing to contribute devotion to the board, so instants and sorcery spells take priority over permanents.

.: Various Eldrazi :.
Many Kruphix decks will include a greater number of the eldrazi titans, and I'm only running one: Kozilek, Butcher of Truth. Old Kozi draws 4 cards on cast, better than new Kozi since my handsize is seldom less than 7, and old Kozi also shuffles my library into my graveyard, giving me a secondary form of recursion.

.: Infinite Mana combos (Flicker Drake, Deadeye Drake, etc) :.
Boring. Infinite combos are boring and too easy. What am I going to do with infinite mana? No one needs infinite mana, I just need 100.

.: Doubling Cube :.
This was a card that was in the deck for a long time, until someone else played the deck and noted that he could go infinite. As seen above, the deck doesn't go infinite, so between this and Capsize, I took out the Cube because the Capsize adds more utility, whereas Doubling Cube is very much a win more.

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CARDS IN TESTING

.: Carpet of Flowers :.
One mana possible ramp. Comes in cheap, and has the potential to add lots of mana per turn. I think the base line is if this adds 2 mana a turn it's a Sol Ring , and any more means it's better.

.: Gilded Goose :.
1 mana dork that both ramps, and has life gain potential. 4 mana for 3 life isn't the best rate, but I can dump excess early mana into it and gain the life later.

.: Exploration :.
A card that's been in and out of the deck multiple times. I think it gets better with more consistent card draw, not the big draw X spells. I think I need to play at least 3 extra lands off of it per game for it to be worth keeping in the deck, and so far it hasn't happened.

.: Whirlwind Denial :.
Basically a budget Flusterstorm . A nice final spell in a counter war, and notably also counters abilities.

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MAYBE LIST

.: Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath :.
Card draw, life gain, and ramp. It's the full package. Escaping it also shrinks the graveyard in case I shuffle the cards back in with a Kozilek trigger, leaving more gas and less fluff. The only downside is the 2 devotion he also contributes.

.: Hydroid Krasis :.
Like Uro, it's life gain and card draw, except this one ends with a huge flying trampler that can also act as both a blocker and a finisher. Notably I can also transmute it into this if I already have Pull in hand. I think the base line is a 6-mana 4/4 Flampler that gains 2 life and draws 2 cards, X = 4.

Date added	7 years
Last updated	3 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	9 - 0 Mythic Rares 33 - 0 Rares 21 - 0 Uncommons 16 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.91
Tokens	Beast 3/3 G, Bird 2/2 U, Copy Clone, Food, Manifest 2/2 C, Ooze */* G
Folders	Kruphix, EDH Possibilities, Check this shit out