My first Commander deck was not Sek'Kuar, he was just the first one I built from scratch. No, my very first was the Stalwart Unity precon from 2016. Not only the lore of the main commanders but the group hug concept appealed to me. So the day it dropped I bought it, and really enjoyed the soft control aspect, then set to work tweaking the deck.

Over time it changed a lot, I tried landfall, clues, card draw... None appealed to me so much as the original intent of group hug. I resolved to snap it back to the way it was in the beginning, soft control and politics. I am also very much a Vorthos player, so I worked to give it more Theros flavor, which worked with both of those ideals. Win win.

So I turned it back into a group hug-ish pillow fort deck, with lots of cards that whittle down my opponents and recover cards from the graveyard. Before springing the trap, I fly as under the radar as possible, helping everyone. While doing that, I spend a lot of time pillow-forting and diverting attention. This deck is hard to win with if you don't know how to play a political game. Muscling your way to victory can be done, but deals are your best bet.

I did my best to create synergies with some cards, while digging for my win conditions. This deck doesn't win fast, and it very much prefers to hide behind its walls and hold the creatures back for protection. However, if you manage to keep those walls up long enough, your army can sweep in for the win or barrage your opponents with effect damage.

Your main goal is to throw up as many deterrents as possible, while making as many new friends as you can before things get out of your hands.

Early game, accelerate your mana as fast as possible. Collective Voyage, Farseek and related spells, and Rites of Flourishing allow for you to drop your defenses down early while not losing too much card advantage with your commander or any extra card draw in place.

Use Defense of the Heart to find your creatures. On the other side of the deck, Sterling Grove, Enlightened Tutor, and Idyllic Tutor can find your non-creature enchantments. Even better, Hall of Heliod's Generosity can return the Sterling Grove to the top of your library. Rinse and repeat. Calix, Destiny's Hand also lets you dig for enchantments or exile problematic cards, tying them to one of your many Gods.

Mid-game, make allies using your Offerings and throw up walls with your Propaganda style enchantments. You can also protect yourself or your creatures using Martyr's Cause, Fanatical Devotion, and Heroic Intervention in a pinch. Even better, you can use those effects to save said allies or their creatures as well, so they can be used to make even more deals. If it comes down to it, Teferi's Protection is there to keep you safe for a round and let your opponents choose someone else to beat up for a bit.

You can recover using Seasons Past, and with Awakening & Carpet of Flowers, you have the mana you need, protecting yourself even better.

As you're playing so many enchantments, Ajani's Chosen and Eidolon of Blossoms give you benefits for casting them, netting you creatures and card draw.

Purphoros, God of the Forge and Impact Tremors are your main win conditions. Ephara, God of the Polis + Purphoros, God of the Forge + The Locust God is a self-perpetuating combination once The Locust God enters the battlefield. At your opponent's next turn, since a creature (The Locust God) entered the battlefield under your control during the last turn, you draw, create an insect, and deal two damage. On the next opponent's turn, you repeat since the insect ETB during the last turn, and it therefore puts a timer on the game that people must answer. Also if the game goes long enough, dumping mana into Purphoros would help end the game if you have enough creatures to get through.

If somehow you run out of steam, or if someone finds themselves out of cards, then with Xyris, the Writhing Storm you could bargain. If someone is behind and with no cards, paying 3 life to draw 3 cards and let you draw and make tokens might be something they're willing to do. Otherwise, it's still a useful way to draw cards. Xyris also triggers if people take you up on Kynaios and Tiro's draw, so added synergy there if you just want snakes.

As a fall-back if your opponents have Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite or likewise in play preventing you from keeping your tokens on the field, dropping a Forced Fruition can help end the game on its own with enough walls in the way.

As always, suggestions are welcome! Thanks!

Suggestions

Updates Add

A couple small tweaks.

Meloku the Clouded Mirror out, Satyr Enchanter in. I'm not overly impressed with Meloku, and I have really only the Temples that care about coming into play and Tatyova, so I don't have a big payoff for bouncing lands. The Enchanter is a better advantage provider and on flavor.

Seedborn Muse out, Awakening in. Seedborn paints a big target on you, and Awakening is just more fun. In a recent game it comboed with Mikokoro for shenanigans. Fun times.

Nature's Lore out, New Frontiers in. I want to emphasize the group hug mechanic a bit more, and this is exactly the card it needs. For the same mana, everyone gets to search, or later in the game it can search for more. Win win.

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96% Casual

Competitive

Revision 30 See all

(3 hours ago)

-1 Eon Frolicker main
+1 Flame Blitz main
+1 Path to Exile main
-1 Swords to Plowshares main
Date added 6 years
Last updated 3 hours
Key combos
Legality

This deck is Commander / EDH legal.

Rarity (main - side)

11 - 0 Mythic Rares

58 - 0 Rares

13 - 0 Uncommons

8 - 0 Commons

Cards 100
Avg. CMC 3.23
Tokens 2/2 G Token Creature Cat, Cat 2/2 W, Cat Beast 2/2 W, Copy Clone, Elf Warrior 1/1 G, Enchantment Cleric 2/1 W, Faerie 1/1 U, Human Soldier 1/1 W, Insect 1/1 UR, Knight 2/2 W, Snake 1/1 G, Spirit 1/1 C, Spirit 1/1 W, The Monarch, Treasure, Treefolk */* G
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