[LIST] EDH STAX Cards

Commander / EDH* Stax

trinitok

Artifact Control (9)

• 1x Damping Field
• 1x Damping Matrix
• 1x Energy Flux
• 1x Hum of the Radix
• 1x Jokulhaups
• 1x Kataki, War's Wage
• 1x Kill Switch
• 1x Null Rod
• 1x Stony Silence

Bounce (4)

• 1x Dissipation Field
• 1x Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
• 1x Overburden
• 1x Words of Wind

Combat Control (14)

• 1x Angelic Arbiter
• 1x Aurification
• 1x Bedlam
• 1x Blazing Archon
• 1x Crawlspace
• 1x Dueling Grounds
• 1x Ensnaring Bridge
• 1x Fight or Flight
• 1x Island Sanctuary
• 1x Lightmine Field
• 1x Mystic Barrier
• 1x Silent Arbiter
• 1x War's Toll
• 1x Web of Inertia

Counter (6)

• 1x Chalice of the Void
• 1x Chancellor of the Annex
• 1x Decree of Silence
• 1x In the Eye of Chaos
• 1x Invoke Prejudice
• 1x Jace, Unraveler of Secrets

Creature Control (12)

• 1x Aurification
• 1x Bedlam
• 1x Blazing Archon
• 1x Containment Priest
• 1x Crawlspace
• 1x Cursed Totem
• 1x Damping Matrix
• 1x Grave Betrayal
• 1x Hushwing Gryff
• 1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence
• 1x Portcullis
• 1x Torpor Orb

Creature Destruction (19)

• 1x AEther Flash
• 1x Catastrophe
• 1x Dread
• 1x Drop of Honey
• 1x Jokulhaups
• 1x Lethal Vapors
• 1x Lightmine Field
• 1x Magus of the Abyss
• 1x Massacre Wurm
• 1x No Mercy
• 1x Pendrell Mists
• 1x Pestilence
• 1x Pestilence Demon
• 1x Porphyry Nodes
• 1x Pyrohemia
• 1x Season of the Witch
• 1x Spreading Plague
• 1x The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
• 1x Vraska the Unseen

Creature Sacrifice (20)

• 1x Anowon, the Ruin Sage
• 1x Archfiend of Depravity
• 1x Contamination
• 1x Cruel Ultimatum
• 1x Death Cloud
• 1x Defiler of Souls
• 1x Dictate of Erebos
• 1x Dismiss into Dream
• 1x Grave Pact
• 1x Keldon Twilight
• 1x Liliana of the Veil
• 1x Magus of the Tabernacle
• 1x Malfegor
• 1x Pox
• 1x Rishadan Brigand
• 1x Rishadan Cutpurse
• 1x Rishadan Footpad
• 1x Sheoldred, Whispering One
• 1x Sorin, Solemn Visitor
• 1x Tainted AEther

Discard (18)

• 1x Bottomless Pit
• 1x Cao Cao, Lord of Wei
• 1x Chains of Mephistopheles
• 1x Creeping Dread
• 1x Cruel Ultimatum
• 1x Death Cloud
• 1x Decree of Annihilation
• 1x Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
• 1x Liliana of the Veil
• 1x Malfegor
• 1x Mind Slash
• 1x Necrogen Mists
• 1x Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
• 1x Oppression
• 1x Painful Quandary
• 1x Possessed Portal
• 1x Pox
• 1x Words of Waste

Draw Limit (2)

• 1x Leovold, Emissary of Trest
• 1x Spirit of the Labyrinth

Graveyard Denial (3)

• 1x Grafdigger's Cage
• 1x Leyline of the Void
• 1x Rest in Peace

Land Destruction (21)

• 1x Blood Moon
• 1x Burning Sands
• 1x Catastrophe
• 1x Death Cloud
• 1x Decree of Annihilation
• 1x Destructive Flow
• 1x Dust Bowl
• 1x Earthlink
• 1x Equipoise
• 1x Helldozer
• 1x Jokulhaups
• 1x Land Equilibrium
• 1x Magus of the Moon
• 1x Mana Vortex
• 1x Overburden
• 1x Pox
• 1x Price of Glory
• 1x Ruination
• 1x Tainted AEther
• 1x Territorial Dispute
• 1x The Gitrog Monster

Life Loss (27)

• 1x Creeping Dread
• 1x Cruel Ultimatum
• 1x Death Cloud
• 1x Embargo
• 1x Fevered Visions
• 1x Flameblade Angel
• 1x Forsaken Wastes
• 1x Kaervek the Merciless
• 1x Kambal, Consul of Allocation
• 1x Kokusho, the Evening Star
• 1x Manabarbs
• 1x Marchesa's Decree
• 1x Massacre Wurm
• 1x Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
• 1x Norn's Annex
• 1x Ob Nixilis, Unshackled
• 1x Painful Quandary
• 1x Pestilence
• 1x Pestilence Demon
• 1x Phyrexian Tyranny
• 1x Pox
• 1x Prince of Thralls
• 1x Pyrohemia
• 1x Sin Prodder
• 1x Sorin Markov
• 1x Tree of Perdition
• 1x Vicious Shadows

Limit Casting (23)

• 1x Angelic Arbiter
• 1x Arcane Laboratory
• 1x Basandra, Battle Seraph
• 1x Chalice of the Void
• 1x City of Solitude
• 1x Contamination
• 1x Cornered Market
• 1x Dosan the Falling Leaf
• 1x Eidolon of Rhetoric
• 1x Ethersworn Canonist
• 1x Gaddock Teeg
• 1x Grand Abolisher
• 1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
• 1x Kaervek the Merciless
• 1x Mana Maze
• 1x Monastery Siege
• 1x Rule of Law
• 1x Sanctum Prelate
• 1x Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
• 1x Territorial Dispute
• 1x Void Winnower
• 1x Ward of Bones
• 1x Yawgmoth's Agenda

Mana Tax (40)

• 1x AEther Barrier
• 1x Archangel of Tithes
• 1x Aura of Silence
• 1x Chancellor of the Annex
• 1x Collective Restraint
• 1x Defense Grid
• 1x Dream Tides
• 1x Earthlink
• 1x Energy Flux
• 1x Ghostly Prison
• 1x Glowrider
• 1x Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
• 1x Hum of the Radix
• 1x In the Eye of Chaos
• 1x Invoke Prejudice
• 1x Leonin Arbiter
• 1x Lodestone Golem
• 1x Magus of the Tabernacle
• 1x Monastery Siege
• 1x Mudslide
• 1x Nether Void
• 1x Norn's Annex
• 1x Pendrell Mists
• 1x Phyrexian Tyranny
• 1x Propaganda
• 1x Rhystic Study
• 1x Rishadan Brigand
• 1x Rishadan Cutpurse
• 1x Rishadan Footpad
• 1x Spelltithe Enforcer
• 1x Sphere of Resistance
• 1x Sphere of Safety
• 1x Suppression Field
• 1x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
• 1x The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
• 1x Thorn of Amethyst
• 1x Trinisphere
• 1x Vryn Wingmare
• 1x War Tax
• 1x Windborn Muse

Permanent Destruction (3)

• 1x Karmic Justice
• 1x Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
• 1x Vraska the Unseen

Permanent Sacrifice (17)

• 1x AEther Barrier
• 1x Cataclysm
• 1x Cataclysmic Gearhulk
• 1x Curse of the Cabal
• 1x Damping Engine
• 1x Decree of Annihilation
• 1x It That Betrays
• 1x Liliana of the Veil
• 1x Martyr's Bond
• 1x Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker
• 1x Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
• 1x Phyrexian Obliterator
• 1x Possessed Portal
• 1x Razia's Purification
• 1x Smokestack
• 1x Spelltithe Enforcer
• 1x World Queller

Search Denial (4)

• 1x Aven Mindcensor
• 1x Mindlock Orb
• 1x Ob Nixilis, Unshackled
• 1x Stranglehold

Tapping (26)

• 1x Authority of the Consuls
• 1x Back to Basics
• 1x Blind Obedience
• 1x Damping Field
• 1x Dovin Baan
• 1x Dream Tides
• 1x Elder Deep-Fiend
• 1x Embargo
• 1x Freyalise's Winds
• 1x Frozen Aether
• 1x Hokori, Dust Drinker
• 1x Kismet
• 1x Mana Web
• 1x Mist of Stagnation
• 1x Mudslide
• 1x Orb of Dreams
• 1x Rishadan Port
• 1x Rising Waters
• 1x Stasis
• 1x Static Orb
• 1x Tangle Wire
• 1x Thalia, Heretic Cathar
• 1x Tsabo's Web
• 1x Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger
• 1x War's Toll
• 1x Winter Orb

Turn Skip (7)

• 1x Eon Hub
• 1x Fatespinner
• 1x Island Sanctuary
• 1x Lethal Vapors
• 1x Mindslaver
• 1x Sorin Markov
• 1x Standstill

Commander (1)

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Maybeboard

Other (1)

• 1x Thalia, Heretic Cathar

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"Stax is one of the most control oriented strategies in all of magic and got its name from the card Smokestack. Becoming infamous among those who had to fight Braids, Cabal Minion decks, sacrifice effects targeting all permanents would slowly turn the game into a war of attrition. A stax deck's primary strategy is locking other players out of game with control spells or creating a unbeatable prison that the opponents can't escape. Ensuring victory after victory and completely dominating every opponent at the table is possible with a finely tuned stax deck, but there are multiple paths one can take to achieve these goals." -- Perfect_Phyrexia

This is a list of cards that have the most powerful form of control in magic known as stax. I do not know if it originated from the $4,000 solution (T$4KS) or if it came from the card Smokestack . All I do know is that I both love and hate these effects. I hate being subjected to them; I love subjecting others to it. A lot of the strategies here can also be described as a pillow fort strategy. The purpose of any stax effect is to tax your opponent and/or limit their moves by a considerable amount. Whether this means tapping their creatures, limiting when they can play spells/abilities, mana tax, or sacrificing permanents, all of these count as using a STAX strategy.

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Category Explanation

Mana Tax: Whenever you have to pay mana in order to do something, whether that's attack, block, keep a permanent

Tapping: This affect is whenever you have to tap something, and are forced to keep it tapped for multiple turns

Discard: Whenever your hand is targeted continually because of some affect that also might cause mass discard. I would prefer this take place continuously over several turns in order to avoid lesser cards like Mind Rot and cause an overflow

Combat Control: This is the influencing of combat whether it is saying that only certain things can attack, hurting people for attacking or not attacking or no one can attack at all. NOTE: It must influence how many creatures can attack or the removal of a combat phase. Mana Taxing in order to attack is not considered in this category as everything can still attack, or not attack, if you have enough mana. Mana Taxing for attacking goes under the Mana Tax category

Search Denial: The limiting or complete denial of searching one's library

Graveyard Denial: I was unsure where to put this card. It teases you into letting you keep your graveyard, but not use it. Suggestions on where to properly put this card, or other cards similar to this one, would be appreciated

Creature Sacrifice: This causes your creature to be sacrificed. Another criteria for this could be completely bypassing regeneration and indestructible. Stax affects that cause exiling might be found here

Life Loss: In EDH life is a resource that is abused a bit more often than in other formats. These cards help show people that your life total is just as precious as every other resource

Creature Destruction: Allows for the destruction of creatures, but will not get rid of creatures that are indestructible or regenerate

Creature Control: This category needs some work. It is about controlling creatures and whether they can use abilities, attack, block, summon, etc. Advice on how to better manage this category would be appreciated

Turn Skip: This does not necessarily refer to skipping an entire turn, but moreso a phase within a turn. If an entire turn is skipped as well, then that works too.

Bounce: Anything that causes a permanent to be returned to their controller's hand. Would prefer that the source remains on the field indefinitely in order to avoid being flooded by blue cards

Permanent Destruction: Refers to the destruction of any permanents. This is more than just creatures or lands. The text must not have any description as to what is being destroyed other than permanent or nonland permanent

Land Destruction: Refers to any continuous land destruction affects. I would prefer the source be on the field indefinitely. The reason LD and Land Sacrifice are the same is because most lands are not inherently indestructible

Limit Casting: Refers to the limit for casting multiple cards. Can limit how many cards are casted per turn

Permanent Sacrifice: Anything that causes permanents to be sacrificed, or bypasses indestructible and regeneration. Stax affects that exile permanents can be found here

Artifact Control: The limiting of abilities for artifacts

Counter: The continuous countering of cards because of a continuous stax affect.

Draw Limit: Was not sure where to put this card. Limits the amount of cards that can be drawn (currently with no additional affects).

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I will not list anything that is banned, so please do not suggest it. Thank you!

This is based off of a list created by Epochalyptik.

Please feel free to comment and add to the list.

Top Ranked	Achieved #30 position overall 7 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Stax 4 years ago
Date added	8 years
Last updated	5 years
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	31 - 0 Mythic Rares 150 - 0 Rares 27 - 0 Uncommons 1 - 0 Commons
Cards	209
Avg. CMC	4.10
Tokens	Assassin 1/1 B w/ Player Killer, Emblem Dovin Baan, Emblem Jace, Unraveler of Secrets, Emblem Sorin, Solemn Visitor, The Monarch, Vampire 2/2 B
Folders	Stax Edh, Take Note, stuff, Interesting Brews, EDH Stax, Commander Deck/EDH, Stax, New folder, Cool Stuff, REferance Lists