Shielded by Stax: Siona cEDH

Commander / EDH* Combo Competitive GW (Selesnya) Stax

Nathan_of_the_Gilt_leaf

Creature (25)

• 1x Academy Rector
• 1x Arbor Elf
• 1x Auratouched Mage
• 1x Avacyn's Pilgrim
• 1x Aven Mindcensor
• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Bloom Tender
• 1x Boonweaver Giant
• 1x Collector Ouphe
• 1x Containment Priest
• 1x Drannith Magistrate
• 1x Eidolon of Rhetoric
• 1x Elvish Mystic
• 1x Ethersworn Canonist
• 1x Fyndhorn Elves
• 1x Grand Abolisher
• 1x Heliod's Pilgrim
• 1x Heliod, Sun-Crowned
• 1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence
• 1x Llanowar Elves
• 1x Manglehorn
• 1x Oakhame Adversary
• 1x Priest of Titania
• 1x Ranger-Captain of Eos
• 1x Walking Ballista

Instant (10)

• 1x Autumn's Veil
• 1x Eladamri's Call
• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Force of Vigor
• 1x Nature's Claim
• 1x Noxious Revival
• 1x Silence
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Veil of Summer
• 1x Worldly Tutor

Enchantment (17)

• 1x Carpet of Flowers
• 1x Conclave Tribunal
• 1x Concordant Crossroads
• 1x Deafening Silence
• 1x Earthcraft
• 1x Kenrith's Transformation
• 1x Pattern of Rebirth
• 1x Rest in Peace
• 1x Root Maze
• 1x Shielded by Faith
• 1x Smothering Tithe
• 1x Song of the Dryads
• 1x Sterling Grove
• 1x Stony Silence
• 1x Sylvan Library
• 1x Utopia Sprawl
• 1x Wild Growth

Artifact (11)

• 1x Altar of Dementia
• 1x Blasting Station
• 1x Chrome Mox
• 1x Cursed Totem
• 1x Grafdigger's Cage
• 1x Lotus Petal
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Mana Vault
• 1x Mox Diamond
• 1x Null Rod
• 1x Sol Ring

Sorcery (7)

• 1x Altar of Bone
• 1x Eldritch Evolution
• 1x Finale of Devastation
• 1x Idyllic Tutor
• 1x Open the Armory
• 1x Regrowth
• 1x Sylvan Tutor

Commander (1)

Land (29)

• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Bountiful Promenade
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 8x Forest
• 1x Gaea's Cradle
• 1x Horizon Canopy
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Misty Rainforest
• 6x Plains
• 1x Prismatic Vista
• 1x Savannah
• 1x Temple Garden
• 1x Verdant Catacombs
• 1x Windswept Heath
• 1x Wooded Bastion
• 1x Wooded Foothills

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Eventually a full primer here, just give me some time.

Win the game by casting Shielded by Faith to make infinite 1/1 tokens. Win the game the turn you execute the combo using Blasting Station, Altar of Dementia, Concordant Crossroads, or making infinite mana with Earthcraft then win the game with Walking Ballista.

The combo is incredibly resilient to "stax" effects, not being affected by Cursed Totem effects, Rest in Peace effects, Rule of Law effects, and Null Rod effects, as we can just attack with the infinite tokens on the following turn, which means that we get to play the good stax pieces to slow our opponents down in the event that we cannot combo fast enough.

Use Academy Rector, Boonweaver Giant, Auratouched Mage, or Heliod's Pilgrim to turn creature tutors into tutors for Shielded by Faith.

Additionally, Heliod, Sun-Crowned is a backup combo with Walking Ballista, and can be tutored by either enchantment or creature tutors.

Maybeboard:
- Squirrel Nest
- Caustic Caterpillar
- On Thin Ice (with snow basics)
- Boreal Druid
- Phyrexian Altar
- Ashnod's Altar
- Reins of the Vinesteed

Introduction

Siona might seem like a very underwhelming commander- she doesn't appear to be very powerful and she's not in particularly good colors for cEDH. However, I have found her to actually be a very appealing commander for the stax archetype. She offers a color pairing that works very well for stax, and more importantly is part of a 2-card combo with Shielded by Faith for an arbitrarily large number of 1/1 tokens. Briefly, here is how the combo works:

1. Cast Shielded by Faith targeting Siona (or any other creature you control)
   
2. Siona triggers, creating a 1/1 white Human Soldier creature token
   
3. The token triggers Shielded by Faith, moving it onto the token
   
4. The Shielded by Faith moving onto the new token triggers Siona, creating another token, and repeating the loop
   
5. Since Shielded by Faith's trigger is a "may" ability, end the loop by simply declining to move it onto the newest token

This combo is important because it sidesteps my biggest problem with stax decks: their inability to quickly end the game, thus giving their opponents time to rebuild. A single card that forms a game-winning combo with the commander is an easy way to close the game, but even better, this combo is not affected by most symmetrical stax pieces. It can still win through Null Rod effects, Cursed Totem effects, Rule of Law effects, Rest in Peace effects, Root Maze effects, and more. This means that the deck can play all of the best stax pieces, even if they are symmetrical, without having to worry about being able to win later in the game.

Gameplan

Stax

Card Discussions

Date added	4 years
Last updated	4 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	10 - 0 Mythic Rares 44 - 0 Rares 20 - 0 Uncommons 12 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.01
Tokens	Human Soldier 1/1 W, Treasure
Folders	CEDH decks