Selvala EDH, The Return

Commander / EDH* GW (Selesnya) Midrange Toolbox

CaliburnAO

Land (32)

• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Bountiful Promenade
• 1x Branchloft Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Brushland
• 1x Canopy Vista
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dryad Arbor
• 1x Emeria, Shattered Skyclave  ^Flip
• 5x Forest
• 1x Fortified Village
• 1x Ghost Quarter
• 1x Krosan Verge
• 4x Plains
• 1x Prismatic Vista
• 1x Razorverge Thicket
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Scattered Groves
• 1x Stirring Wildwood
• 1x Sunpetal Grove
• 1x Temple Garden
• 1x Temple of Plenty
• 1x Windswept Heath
• 1x Wirewood Lodge
• 1x Wooded Bastion
• 1x Wooded Foothills

Removal (7)

• 1x Acidic Slime
• 1x Force of Vigor
• 1x Krosan Grip
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Reclamation Sage
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Sylvan Reclamation

Toolbox (5)

• 1x Dragonlord Dromoka
• 1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence
• 1x Scavenging Ooze
• 1x Sigarda, Host of Herons
• 1x Thousand-Year Elixir

Ramp (17)

• 1x Avacyn's Pilgrim
• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Carpet of Flowers
• 1x Cultivate
• 1x Devoted Druid
• 1x Elvish Mystic
• 1x Fyndhorn Elves
• 1x Llanowar Elves
• 1x Mana Reflection
• 1x Mirari's Wake
• 1x Nyxbloom Ancient
• 1x Seedborn Muse
• 1x Skyshroud Claim
• 1x Smothering Tithe
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Wood Elves

Protection (9)

• 1x Avacyn, Angel of Hope
• 1x Dauntless Escort
• 1x Grand Abolisher
• 1x Heroic Intervention
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Ranger-Captain of Eos
• 1x Saffi Eriksdotter
• 1x Teferi's Protection
• 1x Veil of Summer

Combos (5)

• 1x Archangel of Thune
• 1x Devoted Druid
• 1x Heliod, Sun-Crowned
• 1x Spike Feeder
• 1x Vizier of Remedies

Card Draw (4)

• 1x Guardian Project
• 1x Harmonize
• 1x Regal Force
• 1x Shamanic Revelation

Wraths (2)

• 1x Austere Command
• 1x Wrath of God

Commander (1)

Tutors (11)

• 1x Chord of Calling
• 1x Eladamri's Call
• 1x Eldritch Evolution
• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Fauna Shaman
• 1x Finale of Devastation
• 1x Green Sun's Zenith
• 1x Knight of the Reliquary
• 1x Ranger-Captain of Eos
• 1x Recruiter of the Guard
• 1x Worldly Tutor

Finishers (8)

• 1x Aetherflux Reservoir
• 1x Avacyn, Angel of Hope
• 1x Avenger of Zendikar
• 1x Craterhoof Behemoth
• 1x Finale of Devastation
• 1x Sun Titan
• 1x Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger
• 1x Walking Ballista

Recursion (5)

• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Genesis
• 1x Karmic Guide
• 1x Saffi Eriksdotter
• 1x Sun Titan

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Maybeboard

Other (7)

• 1x Collector Ouphe
• 1x Defense of the Heart
• 1x Destiny Spinner
• 1x Elvish Spirit Guide
• 1x Leyline of Abundance
• 1x Tooth and Nail
• 1x Veil of Summer

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A rebuild of one of my original EDH decks, piloted by Selvala, Explorer Returned I've avoided the whole Paradox Engine Umbral Mantle Sword of the Paruns route, and theres no real lifegain synergies, but the deck ramps fast and hard, and always has an answer for everything. Below are some of my thoughts and details on the deck, have a read if you want some ideas/are curious.

What is the deck trying to do?

This is a rather typical GW midrange deck, piloted by Selvala, Explorer Returned. The typical plan is to get our commander out as early as possible, then use her ability on turn 3 or 4. This should gain us a fair amount of mana, allowing us to play either a large, powerful creature or a utility card of some kind, such as ramp or card-draw. The deck can then transition into an aggressive playstyle, hitting people with large creatures and huge threats, or a more controlling playstyle, policing the board and going for the late game. True to its name as a mid-range deck, both of these plans are totally viable, and the deck's power is usually showcased.

You will like the deck if...

- You enjoy playing powerful creatures that impact the board

• You enjoy a deck that has a lot of removal

• You enjoy drawing cards in a deck without Blue

• You would like a low cost commander that can be used politically

You will dislike the deck if...

- You aren't a fan of winning with combat damage

• You prefer more destructive strategies

• You need to have counterspells in your control decks

Why Selvala?

Selvala is a low-cost, low-threat Commander that ramps us hugely in the early-game, as well as providing us with a steady source of card draw. She really shines in games with more players, as her mana and life per-turn increase with the number of players. She is also one of the few generals in GW that supports multiple strategies. Selvala was the one of first Commanders I ever used, and originally I went with a mess of lifegain, Angels, Wraths and Equipment. That deck lasted about a year, then was swiftly cannibalized for cards. Two years later, with a whole lot more EDH experience under my belt, I've rebuilt her into what I believe is my most competitive and consistent decks, and while it could still be more powerful, I like the deck where its at. If needed, the combo cards can easily be removed for value-cards if the current playgroup dislike combo.

What's the Strategy

Cast Selvala as fast as possible, then ramp out large threats. This is the go-to plan when starting a game, but it depends entirely upon your hand. Ideally you should be able to cast Selvala on turn two, which means you'll have a 6 drop down on turn three fairly often, or else you'll have played that much mana worth of spells.

The Ramp

Selvala often comes out on turn two, with the help of a variety of Mana-dorks. We also have a traditional land-ramp package to help us accelerate to our large threats even faster. Much of the creatures that ramp can also be re-used for value, Like casting Eldritch Evolution on cards like Wood Elves or Solemn Simulacrum that have already placed a land upon the battlefield.

The Removal

The deck is very much midrange, and that means we need plenty of answers to the degenerate things the folks across the table are doing. Cards like Path to Exile and Swords to Plowshares exile creatures for minimal cost, allowing us to gain massive advantage. We also clear the board of artifacts and enchantments pretty cleanly with a whole host of creatures and spells, such as Sylvan Reclamation, Acidic Slime, Reclamation Sage and many more. As for mass removal, we have good old Wrath of God and the ever useful Austere Command.

The Creatures

The main part of the deck are the creatures. Our main goal is to ramp fast and hard,dropping powerful creatures ahead of the curve while building up resources for an eventual combo or Craterhoof Behemoth finish. Our key finishers are Avacyn, Angel of Hope, Craterhoof Behemoth, Nyxbloom Ancient and Sun Titan. All of these cards are insanely powerful, and Sun Titan in particular can generate a lot of value. One of my favorite synergies is to tutor for Dauntless Escort with one of the many creature tutors, then the following turns tutor for a Sun Titan. If both of these creatures are on the board, then you can Sacrifice the Dauntless Escort every turn to protect your board, and attack with Sun Titan to return the Dauntless Escort each combat. This board state is pretty powerful against most decks, and doesn't cost you too many resources.

The Combo Kill, for the brutally Inclined

More recently I've raised the power on the deck, and decided to finally introduce a couple of combo kills to provide a more clear route to victory. I did this to help stop grindy games where combat gets locked down and nothing much happens for far too long. These combo's can of course be taken out if you aren't a fan of them, and I often remove them when people don't want to face the threat of a sudden demise. If cutting them, just replace them with good value cards like Selfless Spirit, Selvala's Stampede or any other solid card.

One of our main combos is Devoted Druid and Vizier of Remedies. These two cards generate infinite Green mana, which we can then use to either cast a huge Finale of Devastation searching out Craterhoof Behemoth, or we can tutor up Walking Ballista and ping our opponents. There's also a combo interaction between Spike Feeder and Archangel of Thune, which makes our creatures infinitely big and gives us infinite life, which then allows us to use Aetherflux Reservoir or Walking Ballista to Deathstar our opponents. Theros Beyond Death also brought us the new Heliod, Heliod, Sun-Crowned, who works as a cheaper and more resilient Archangel of Thune for our Spike Feeder combo, and also wins the game with just a Walking Ballista on board. Use Heliod's ability to give the Ballista lifelink, then each ping triggers Heliod, putting a counter on the Baillista, allowing for infinite damage.

Thanks for giving the deck a glance. I really enjoy this deck, and it can be played in so many different ways. I also feel that you can build a list that's of a similar power level by using far less money. My original list was less than $20, and over time I've built this deck into something that's rather unique. Hopefully this list/explanation has given players some ideas or inspiration, as that's why I put these lists on the website. If you like the Deck, give it an upvote so more people can see it. Also, feel free to leave any suggestions; anything you think should be cut/added, but make sure to leave some reasons why. Even if I don't reply, I do check the site often, so I'll read all comments. Once again, thanks, and happy gathering guys.

Top Ranked	Achieved #48 position overall 6 years ago
Date added	7 years
Last updated	3 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	17 - 0 Mythic Rares 48 - 0 Rares 20 - 0 Uncommons 6 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.40
Tokens	Angel Warrior 4/4 W, Plant 0/1 G, Treasure
Folders	Cool Commander decks, Interesting Commander Decks, EDH, Others, Decks I Like, Current Decks