Rashmi's Surge

Commander / EDH* Casual Combo GU (Simic)

WizardOfTheNorthernCoast

Creature (40)

• 1x Acidic Slime
• 1x Avenger of Zendikar
• 1x Burnished Hart
• 1x Cloudthresher
• 1x Coiling Oracle
• 1x Courser of Kruphix
• 1x Deep-Sea Kraken
• 1x Draining Whelk
• 1x Elder Deep-Fiend
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Farhaven Elf
• 1x Fleetfeather Cockatrice
• 1x Garruk's Horde
• 1x Hydra Omnivore
• 1x Laboratory Maniac
• 1x Loyal Drake
• 1x Mulldrifter
• 1x Mystic Snake
• 1x Nissa, Vastwood Seer  ^Flip
• 1x Overbeing of Myth
• 1x Pearl Lake Ancient
• 1x Plaxmanta
• 1x Prime Speaker Zegana
• 1x Progenitor Mimic
• 1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Spellseeker
• 1x Stunt Double
• 1x Thassa, God of the Sea
• 1x Thragtusk
• 1x Trygon Predator
• 1x Venser, Shaper Savant
• 1x Vizier of the Menagerie
• 1x Void Grafter
• 1x Void Stalker
• 1x Weaver of Currents
• 1x Winged Coatl
• 1x Wood Elves
• 1x Yavimaya Elder
• 1x Yeva, Nature's Herald

Land (38)

• 1x Academy Ruins
• 1x Alchemist's Refuge
• 1x Breeding Pool
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Faerie Conclave
• 12x Forest
• 1x Hinterland Harbor
• 11x Island
• 1x Lumbering Falls
• 1x Novijen, Heart of Progress
• 1x Simic Growth Chamber
• 1x Simic Guildgate
• 1x Temple of Mystery
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Thornwood Falls
• 1x Treetop Village
• 1x Yavimaya Coast

Artifact (7)

• 1x Darksteel Plate
• 1x Lifecrafter's Bestiary
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Mindslaver
• 1x Simic Signet
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Vedalken Orrery

Instant (1)

• 1x Mystical Tutor

Commander (1)

Enchantment (7)

• 1x Awakening Zone
• 1x Bounty of the Luxa
• 1x Burgeoning
• 1x Dictate of Kruphix
• 1x Future Sight
• 1x Imprisoned in the Moon
• 1x Leyline of Anticipation

Planeswalker (4)

• 1x Garruk Wildspeaker
• 1x Jace, Architect of Thought
• 1x Kiora, the Crashing Wave
• 1x Teferi, Temporal Archmage

Sorcery (2)

• 1x Primal Surge
• 1x Unexpected Results

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Rashmi's Surge

"Look at this Photoshop masterpiece!", exclaimed Rashmi.

This is my first ever description... Show

and I hope you guys will enjoy it!

A small introduction

After playing Modern for some years, I realized I was kinda getting away from what I really liked about this game in the first place : the fun. Linear and repetitive strategies were interesting for a while - the whole format is great don't get me wrong - but I felt like it was time to move away from this expensive competitive format. I would also crush my playgroup too easily with Snapcaster Mageing Cryptic Commands when they were basically Restoration Angeling some Huntmaster of the Fells  . So I started playing the incredibly amazing EDH format and got them to start with me.

Since I'm definitely a // Burn/Jeskai Control Modern player, I really wanted to play something different.

Go big or go home

"Go big or go home". That's basically what I read about EDH when I started to look into it. Primal Surge is a card that always fascinated me, and it's very big. I'm not a player by essence (so that fitted my will to play something else) but this spell is too amazing not to play it. Of course, a 10 CMC spell is simply unplayable in Modern.

Also, I always felt like Simic or Izzet would allow the most degenerate plays. Since I had Primal Surge in mind, I went for a Simic build.

Rashmi, Eternities Crafter

Rashmi, Eternities Crafter. There are much better Simic commanders that's for sure. What I liked about Rashmi is the insane card advantage she can provide. Her trigger works on each turn. That's nuts if (ab)used correctly. Her lore is pretty cool too, which is never a bad thing :)

She isn't a threat by herself, being a 2/3. This means your opponents will most likely take care of the other big dudes and let her be. I was looking for a commander that would stick to the board (not a Rafiq of the Many or something) and she's that kind of commander.

Note: You will win thanks to Rashmi, not with Rashmi. Don't expect her to deals 21 damage over the course of the game!

What the decks does

Bascially, this deck was built following the "top-down" philosophy. Primal Surge was the starting point, and since Rashmi was the commander, I started to think about the best way to combine them.

I've seen lots of Rashmi builds running Counterspells. That's, of course, really strong because you can control the game/protect Rashmi while triggering her. However, I don't like 'to do what the others do'. Moreover, Primal Surge and spells = NO. You want to be playing as many permanents as possible so you can put them into play an repeat the process with Surge.

What did I do then? I thought of a 'combo' using Mystical Tutor to get Primal Surge. Originally, these were the 2 only spells in the deck. That meant that if Surge would resolve, I would put my whole deck into play. That's more than enough to one shot everyone at the table provided that no one plays Planar Cleansing in the meanwhile...

That was a good idea IMO, but also a deadly one since I would have no card to draw for the next turn. So I added 2 spells that I really love in Simic colors and that would solve the self-milling problem by stopping Surge from working while still allowing me to put a ton of cards into play for free. Those spells are:

1. Unexpected Results: the definition of fun. The randomness at its best. I was once playing a 1v1 vs Oloro, Ageless Ascetic. My friend was at 90+ life and I was so far behind I was done. I played Results, revealed Primal Surge and won on the spot. I have never had a better feeling since I started to play the game 5 years ago, I swear.

2. Plasm Capture: love this spell. It's a harder-to-cast Mana Drain that will ramp me for the next turn, so good.

I'm also thinking about adding Voidslime because I simply love the card, but I'm still not sure about running 5 non-permanent cards instead of 4.

Flash, ramp and reduced costs

• Flash is, by far, my favourite ability to read on a card (I'm a Jeskai Control Modern player, remember...?). It allows you to suprise your opponents during the 'declare blockers' phase and put control players in uncomfortable positions by constantly making them hesitate to counter during their turn or not. In this deck, playing my stuff at instant speed allows me to trigger Rashmi during the opponents' as an additional advantage!

Note : Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir was in there the deck but I made some changes lately. I'll need him for my incoming Keranos, God of Storms deck... :)

• Ramp is the main advantage you get from running green. Note that the ramp here comes in the form of creatures bringing lands to the table instead of dudes tapping for mana such as Llanowar Elves. The reason for that is I still want to be able to block with those creatures while making sure my mana is available in case of mass removal like Supreme Verdict.

• Reduced costs is a good way to abuse Rashmi's ability. When you cast Cloudthresher, Elder Deep-Fiend or suspend Deep-Sea Kraken, you play them for less mana than what they actually cost but their CMC is still the one in the top right corner ;)

This basically means that for 4 mana, if Rashmi's in play, you can put a Thragtusk into play off the top of your library + deal 2 damage to every flyer and every player by evoking Cloudthresher, or a have a Hydra Omnivore by emerging Elder Deep-Fiend for 4-5 mana. With a Leyline of Anticipation in play you get even more options. Value town here!

Card choices

Let's now get down to the cards that compose the deck and the role they play.

Interesting lands

Academy Ruins : there to lock down the game with Mindslaver

Alchemist's Refuge : additional way to give flash to my nonlands spells. Rarely used honestly but I like the card.

Faerie Conclave : mostly used to block flyers because the deck lacks flyers.

The creatures

Acidic Slime : EDH staple. Does so much, mostly because I don't play anti-artifact/anti-enchantment spells.

Avenger of Zendikar : always welcome. Just nuts when you resolve Surge and you reveal him before the remaining 20 lands.

Burnished Hart : gets 2 lands and can block-sac. Overall good.

Cloudthresher : deals with pesky flyers, evoke shenanigans with flash. Must play!

Coiling Oracle : cool card, rarely useless.

Courser of Kruphix : good blocker early game. Playing with the top card revealed makes your decision easier with Rashmi in play (don't play that Wurmcoil Engine if Pearl Lake Ancient is on top!)

Deep-Sea Kraken : insane in multiplayer, especially if suspended T3. Suspend counts as 'cast' for 9 CMC so great synergy with Rashmi.

Elder Deep-Fiend : flash, reducible cost and can tap down things. Good enough.

Eternal Witness : really good in general.

Farhaven Elf : blocks and ramps, all I'm asking for a 3 mana 1/1.

Fleetfeather Cockatrice : flash-flying-deathtouch. Enough said.

Hydra Omnivore : brings lots of pressure and get everyone's attention.

Mystic Snake : flash, Counterspell on a 2/2.

Nissa, Vastwood Seer   : I happened to have the card so I jammed it in there. Really nice one though.

Overbeing of Myth : keeps your hand filled in the long games, never bigger than a 7/7 because I have no 'no maximum hand size' effect in the deck but that's not what I'm looking for.

Pearl Lake Ancient : big dude with flash. The prowess ability is of course pretty irrelevant but you can bounce him several time to keep putting big stuff into play for free when Rashmi's there.

Plaxmanta : a nice anti-removal for the whole team. Flash too so triggers Rashmi.

Prime Speaker Zegana : 90% of the time she gets huge and draws me a ton of cards

Progenitor Mimic : crazy fun, must play.

Sagu Mauler : new addition, haven't playtested him yet.

Sakura-Tribe Elder : blocks and ramps, all I'm asking for a 2 mana 1/1.

Simic Sky Swallower : always lover the card. New addition too so I can't say much for now.

Solemn Simulacrum : EDH staple, you know...

Stormsurge Kraken : really hard to deal with, but I could see Mulldrifter instead.

Stormtide Leviathan : just wins you the game if he sticks in playfor a few turns.

Stunt Double : LOVE this card. A clone at instant speed? Hell yeah!

Thassa, God of the Sea : not too hard to turn into a creature. The scry ability is amazing with Rashmi.

Thragtusk : great card, love it. Use Progenitor Mimic to copy it and have fun!

Thrun, the Last Troll : love the card, great blocker mostly.

Trygon Predator : flyer that deals with enchantments and artifacts.

Venser, Shaper Savant : another way to get rid of really threatening spells/permanents.

Void Grafter : flash, good blocker and saves a dude from targetting removal.

Weaver of Currents : newly added. Needs to be tested but seems great on paper. (doesn't display, IDK why...)

Winged Coatl : flash-flying-deathtouch. Enough said.

Wood Elves : blocks and ramps, all I'm asking for a 3 mana 1/1.

Wurmcoil Engine : not especially synergistic but crazy good so...

Yavimaya Elder : blocks, ramps and potentially replaces himself.

Yeva, Nature's Herald : because an flash enabler on a 4/4 for 4 mana must be played in this deck.

The artifacts

Darksteel Plate : put this on Rashmi and she's good for the rest of the game. Otherwise, equip it to any creature you want to keep alive.

Lifecrafter's Bestiary : scry + extra draw when playing a creature, why pass on this?

Mind Stone : early ramp and replaces itself later on.

Mindslaver : wins 1v1's on the spot with 13 mana and Academy Ruins in play.

Simic Signet : well...

Sol Ring : well well well...

Vedalken Orrery : gives flash to everything. Yay!

The enchantments

Awakening Zone : one of the best cards in the deck. Seriously. Comes in early, pops dudes that can either block if you're under pressure or add tons of mana if you're not.

Bounty of the Luxa : new addition. Seems fun enough to be part of the team.

Burgeoning : drop this T1 and you'll be ahead of everyone else for the rest of the game.

Dictate of Kruphix : flash and draws us an extra card. You opponents are likely to let this in play since they benefit from it too. Helps us dig for Surge or Tutor.

Future Sight : reveals the top card and allows us to play it. Also basically activates Thassa.

Imprisoned in the Moon : numbs the enchanted permanent really hard.

Leyline of Anticipation : everything has flash on Turn 0 ladies and gents!

Primeval Bounty : you opponents should not let you live more than 2 turns once this is in play.

The walkers of planes

Garruk Wildspeaker : mostly ramps us. His -4 can be backbreaking.

Jace, Architect of Thought : I love myself some card selection. We're playing blue too after all!

Kiora, the Crashing Wave : another of the best cards of the deck. Could negate an unmanagable Turn 3 16/16 Omnath, Locus of Mana in 1v1 and win me the game.

Teferi, Temporal Archmage : UNTAP EVERYTHING AND PREPARE FOR YOUR OPPONENT'S TURNS!

The instants

Mystical Tutor : basically gets you Primal Surge but not always!

Plasm Capture : just love it :)

The sorcerer's shenanigans

Primal Surge : "Resolves? GG."

Unexpected Results : as the saying goes, "The greatest results are the ones you don't expect". That's a saying, right...?

I hope you guys enjoyed the reading and that it gave you out-of-the-box ideas for your next EDH deck. Please comment and upvote the deck if you liked it.

Much love!

Extra notes Show

Note 1 : this deck's a work in progress, like all decks should be. I'll keep on updating it of course.

Note 2 : if you have (un)interesting suggestions/ideas, please submit them! :)

Note 3 : I designed the deck for multiplayer but so far I've mostly played 1v1's because we've been having a hard time getting together with my friends. I'd say I won about 85% of the games, which is suprinsingly surprising honestly.

Note 4 : I'm not a native speaker so please excuse me if my text is boring or grammatically incorrect :)

Top Ranked	Achieved #30 position overall 6 years ago
Date added	7 years
Last updated	5 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	13 - 0 Mythic Rares 35 - 0 Rares 16 - 0 Uncommons 12 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	4.06
Tokens	Ashaya, the Awoken World, Beast 3/3 G, Copy Clone, Eldrazi Spawn 0/1 C, Emblem Kiora, the Crashing Wave, Emblem Teferi, Temporal Archmage, Kraken 9/9 U, Plant 0/1 G
Folders	Cool Decks, Commander, EDH, Rashmi builds