Introduction
Salty Surprise Karametra is for the EDH player who like versatility. Built out of an enchantress shell, this spicy concoction three main win conditions and a plethora of avenues to reach them. These conditions are:- Token Overrun- Lazy Karametra Voltron- The Salty Suprise
While this deck can be an absolute blast, you may not like this deck if:- You hate taking long turns- You don't want to sink a chunk of money into EDH- You can't win an argument to save your life, even if you are technically correct (See: The Salty Suprise)- You hate accidentally comboing into a win condition- You have bad threat assessment- Your playgroup runs lots of tutor hate, mass enchantment removal, and excessive graveyard hate (You can get by facing two of the three things mentioned in this point, but facing against all three simultaneously will shut you down )- You commit to one strategy and refuse to change your plans- You hate fun
So without further ado, I will explain the purpose of each card in this deck as well as explain why Salty Surprise Karametra quickly became one of my favorite EDH decks.
Creatures
- Karametra, God of Harvests This deck's general is everyone's favorite wheat lady in arms. While Rhys the Redeemed makes an okay alternate commander, he squishes way too easily and doesn't provide the ramp or the insane enchantment benefits that Karametra does.
- Academy Rector This little old dude is pure gas. He can deter your opponents from attacking with the threat of tutoring for an oppressive enchantment, or he can bait out a valuable exile spell.
- Admonition Angel It's like an Oblivion Ring, but on a guy!
- Aegis of the Gods This little dude is like Leyline of Sanctity, except cheaper and triggers Karametra.
- Argothian Enchantress Spooky card draw.
- Auratog This is your best boi. Protect him at all costs
- Avenger of Zendikar A staple in most green decks, Strong Tree and his gang of also strong trees can get out of hand very quickly in this deck
- Champion of Lambholt She needs to axe your opponents a question
- Craterhoof Behemoth This weird frog-dog-thing will turn your little dudes into massive dudes
- Eidolon of Blossoms Best enchantress in the deck. It is worth noting that this little guy makes you draw whenever an enchantment enters the battlefield, and not just on cast like the other dumb enchantresses.
- Emeria Angel The next person to say "birb" at my table is going to get a karate chop to the throat.
- Emeria Shepherd Recursion? Recursion.
- Essence Warden "what's your life total again?" "176" "Oh."
- Eternal Witness She's totally Slavic, just look at that fine squat
- Faith Healer You are actually going to get much more value as a sac outlet than Auratog, but still second best in my heart. Run them both
- Heliod, God of the Sun Interacts with every aspect of this deck. His tokens are enchantment creatures too. Overall, a nice man. Even if he doesn't know how to hold a spear.
- Mesa Enchantress Generic card draw guy.
- Mirror Entity Mirror mirror on the wall, who has the strongest creatures of them all? (Hint: It's probably you with this card)
- Monk Idealist It's like Auramancer, but a dude. Run either or both, but at least one of them.
- Permeating Mass A huge pet card of mine. It does not interact meaningfully with any aspect of this deck, however i refuse to take it out because it can become so hilarious so quickly.
- Rampaging Baloths What a bunch of rowdy rapscallions. Source of tokens.
- Rhys the Redeemed This little dude can get so stupid if left alone. Especially if you have Cathars' Crusade out.
- Sakura-Tribe Elder You might as well ride a skateboard across this old guy, because he is pure ramp. Combos nicely with Cathars' Crusade and Emeria Shepherd to pull all the plains from your deck and then swing for a gigantic number
- Soul Warden White Essence Warden
- Sun Titan More or less on the chopping block for this deck actually. it combos super nicely with Sterling Grove, but the big guy doesn't do a whole lot here outside of that.
- Suture Priest Probably smells like bleach and sand. It also punishes the Krenko, Mob Boss.
- Trostani, Selesnya's Voice Helps you beef up so you can shrug off damage like it's nothing.
- Verduran Enchantress I always call her the "Duran Duran Enchantress" in hopes that a clever joke will come to me eventually. So far, I got nothing.
Artifacts
- Sol Ring It's EDH. I shouldn't have to explain why this is here.
Enchantments
- Abundance With Karametra, you are probably not going to want to draw lands. Alternately, if someone just overloaded a Cyclonic Rift, digging for your Reliquary Tower is not a bad choice.
- Ancestral Mask "I'm going to swing with Karametra for, let's see here... 34 commander damage"
- Anointed Procession White Token Doubler
- Aura Shards I don't like to be oppressive. I just like having the option.
- Awakening Zone Enchantment? Check. Ramp? Check. Tokens that people are likely going to ignore until you drop a Craterhoof Behemoth? Check and check.
- Banishing Light Useful and thematic
- Beastmaster Ascension Surprise sorcery speed oneshots
- Cathars' Crusade I honestly think this card ought to be banned in EDH, but it's too stupid not to use
- Darksteel Mutation Make someone sad by polymorphing their General.
- Dictate of Heliod This one is also on the chopping block. Mass buff effects are not bad, especially when you can flash them in.
- Dueling Grounds It is very okay to tutor for this super early if there are a lot of aggressive players at the table. Karametra is the God of harvests, early game is not in season. Dueling grounds is also easily removed whenever you are ready to swing.
- Enchantress's Presence But what if the enchantress... was an enchantment?
- Ethereal Armor not quite as strong as Ancestral Mask, but still nothing to sneeze at.
- Growing Ranks Tokens? Tokens.
- Karmic Justice So that guy who played Bane of Progress? Yeah, screw that guy.
- Luminarch Ascension Pooping out 4/4 fliers is nice
- Mana Bloom Use it for mana if you need to, or cast it without paying x to get some consistent value with your enchantresses.
- Mirari's Wake I would insert a picture of Pacha doing the thing with his hands here if I knew how to
- Mystic Barrier Sit next to the pillow fort guy and across from the sliver guy. Trust me.
- Oblivion Ring You can abuse this with a sac outlet to leave something permanently in exile, but that runs the risk of you "being 'that' guy"
- Opalescence Add insult to injury by literally beating that Bane of Progress guy from earlier to death with an animated Karmic Justice.
- Parallax Wave Combined with Opalescence, this can quickly turn into an instant speed board wipe with infinite recursion. but you once again run the risk of "being 'that' guy."
- Parallel Lives Green Token Doubler.
- Privileged Position Combined with Sterling Grove and Aegis of the Gods, you can become untouchable. That is, until the Bane of Progress guy comes back.
- Rancor COMBO t o w n
- Sigil of the Empty Throne 4/4 fliers are nifty
- Sphere of Safety "How much do I have to pay to attack you?" "17" "Oh"
- Sterling Grove That card art is something else.
- Titania's Song Was there a Daretti, Scrap Savant player at this table? (Swap this with a Panharmonicon or a Skybind if applicable).
Sorceries
Instants
Special Lands
The Salty Suprise
This deck is incredibly draw heavy. Between the Enchantresses and the surges, you run the considerable risk of decking yourself. Unless, that was your plan all along. Enter Living Wish, and fetch yourself a spare Laboratory Maniac that you have on you. After that, it should be a simple matter to combo out and win. The rulings on wish cards dictate that in a sanctioned Wizards event, you can only wish out of your sideboard. otherwise, you can wish out of your collection (While I wrote this, Gatherer was down for maintenance. I will upload a direct quote from the rulings later this week.) So long as you don't play this an an official Wizards event, this is legal. You might get some groans from the table, but it is well worth it.
Conclusion
Thanks for reading, any feedback is welcome. I hope you enjoy this nifty little deck :)
