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Sliv Like There's No Tomorrow

Commander / EDH Flash Sacrifice Sliver

MTGBurgeoning

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Creature (35)

Sorcery (6)

Land (35)

Commander (1)

Commander: The First Sliver

Instant (9)

Enchantment (8)

Artifact (6)

The release of Modern Horizons in June of 2019 injected 13 new slivers into the Magic: The Gathering card database. Easily the most powerful of these 13 slivers is The First Sliver, the tribe's fifth creature spell. In ALMOST traditional legendary sliver form (we're looking at you Sliver Hivelord), The First Sliver costs and sports a 7/7 body. While a 7/7 for is nice (besides, Fusion Elemental beats that) the motivation behind this deck is cascade. The First Sliver has cascade and also gives sliver spells we cast cascade. Let's review cascade:

When you cast a spell with cascade, exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a nonland card that costs less. You may cast it without paying its mana cost. Put the exiled cards on the bottom of your library in a random order.

Cascade is an uber-powerful ability. Just ask Bloodbraid Elf. Bloodbraid Elf was banned from Modern in early 2013 due to the strength of the Jund midrange deck, of which this elf as a key component. It subsequently returned to the Modern format five years later. Prior to the release of Modern Horizons, there were 17 spells with the cascade ability. With The First Sliver and Throes of Chaos the total is now 19 and easily The First Sliver is the most powerful cascade spell in Magic: The Gathering. The First Sliver HAS CASCADE AND GIVES EVERY SLIVER SPELL CASCADE. Imagine the following scenario:

We tap and cast The First Sliver. Its cascade ability triggers. CAUTION: If we cascade into a sliver spell, THAT SPELL DOES NOT HAVE CASCADE. The cascade trigger is placed on The Stack after casting The First Sliver. The cascade trigger will resolve before The First Sliver spell and since The First Sliver is not on the battlefield at the time of the cascade trigger's resolution from The Stack, the potential following sliver spell will not have cascade. However, after The First Sliver is under our control what if...

...We tap and cast Sliver Legion. Its cascade trigger goes on The Stack, resolves, and we cascade into Shifting Sliver. Its cascade trigger goes on The Stack, resolves, and we cascade into Sedge Sliver. Its cascade trigger goes on The Stack, resolves, and we cascade into Cloudshredder Sliver. Its cascade trigger goes on The Stack, resolves, and we cascade into a redundant Galerider Sliver. Under this sequencing, this is what the investment of returns:

Sliver Legion. Shifting Sliver. Sedge Sliver. Cloudshredder Sliver. Galerider Sliver.

With The First Sliver under our control, we net a hasty and flying army of slivers that can only be blocked by other slivers and can deal 56 points of combat damage (assuming we have a swamp in play). This is just a snippet, an inkling of what this deck can do. This sliver tribal deck is dedicated to getting The First Sliver into play under our control and then cascading into more slivers and other spells until we either destroy our opponents, overwhelm them and/or cast every spell in our deck. The synergies and interactions in this deck are unfriendly and unfair. Once revealed as our General/Commander, The First Sliver will garner a necessary amount of table-wide attention. With this deck we're going to Sliv Like There's No Tomorrow! We've talked about our General/Commander. Now, let's talk about the other creatures in this deck:

Basal Sliver: Sliver Queen *oversized*'s BFF. While in the presence of at least one other sliver, this duo can create infinite sliver creature tokens for an endless parade of enter the battlefield triggers. Sacrifice a sliver for and use this mana to activate Sliver Queen *oversized* and create a 1/1 sliver creature token. Sacrifice this 1/1 sliver creature token for and use this mana to activate Sliver Queen *oversized* and create another 1/1 sliver creature token. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. If Training Grounds is under our control as well, we can create an infinite army of sliver creature tokens and infinite . Mana Echoes, Lavabelly Sliver, Darkheart Sliver, and, to a limited extent, Kindred Discovery and Dormant Sliver approve. CAUTION: Remain aware of this engine if Dormant Sliver is in play or if you control Kindred Discovery for slivers. We don't have Laboratory Maniac or Jace, Wielder of Mysteries in this deck so DON'T DRAW OUT!

Beast Whisperer: One of only two non-sliver creatures in the deck. We can overlook his non-sliver creature type because of his favorable cast trigger. Whenever we cast a creature spell we draw a card. REMEMBER: Cascade is casting and every time we cast a creature spell Beast Whisperer draws us a card. We're going to cast A LOT of creature spells in this deck. Beast Whisperer helps to keep that engine running. His non-sliver presence isn't all that bad. Maybe Beast Whisperer can communicate with Sliver Overlord since it has mutant in its creature type...?

Chulane, Teller of Tales: Our other non-sliver creature. This human druid mimics the cast trigger of Beast Whisperer with the added bonus of putting a land into play each time he's triggered. Also by tapping and Chulane we can return a creature from our side of the battlefield to our hand. This is another way to get additional cascade triggers. This Tale-Teller is a cog in our sliver engine.

Cloudshredder Sliver: What happens when Heart Sliver and Winged Sliver get together? They produce Cloudshredder Sliver. For less CMC than both Heart Sliver and Winged Sliver combined all of our slivers have flying and haste. This flying and hasty sliver is target #1 for a game-ending graveyard recursion plan. Crystalline Sliver and Shifting Sliver approve. Cloudshredder Sliver is an amazing addition for this tribe, and it only costs !!? Thank you Modern Horizons!

Crystalline Sliver: This Azorius sliver from Stonghold gives all of our creatures shroud. Crystalline Sliver's inclusion conflicts with other slivers such as Crypt Sliver, Magma Sliver, Firewake Sliver and Poultice Sliver because these slivers want to target their buddies and Crystalline Sliver shuts that down. Although Firewake Sliver does grant haste, it costs and we have cheaper sources of haste enabling (see: Cloudshredder Sliver and Heart Sliver) in our deck.

Darkheart Sliver: UNDERVALUED. An opponent tries to gain control of one of our slivers? Sacrifice it and gain 3 life. An opponent tries to exile one of our slivers? Sacrifice it and gain 3 life. Need to remove Dormant Sliver from the battlefield in order to attack? Sacrifice it and gain 3 life. Ready to cast Patriarch's Bidding? Sacrifice all slivers under our control and gain oodles of life and then bring them right back!

Dormant Sliver: We must overlook the "all slivers have defender" ability of this Planar Chaos beauty and focus more on "all slivers have 'when this permanent enters the battlefield, draw a card.'" Dormant Sliver keeps our hand filled and provides fuel for our sliver engine. As for defender, we have numerous ways to remove Dormant Sliver from our side of the battlefield when needed. Would Dormant Sliver be more valuable and sought-after if the defender ability was non-existent?

Dregscape Sliver: All of our slivers have unearth. We can bring a sliver back for one more turn before its eventual exile. This ability can be game-ending. With Teferi's Protection we can extend the life of these slivers past its end-of-turn expiration. After phasing in, any unearthed sliver that leaves the battlefield will be exiled. Getting an additional turn with these unearthed slivers can be game-ending. A sliver granting other slivers graveyard recursion, even if it's just for a turn, is an auto-include. Thank you again Modern Horizons!!

Galerider Sliver: Galerider Sliver replaced Winged Sliver from the initial construction of this deck. Galerider Sliver gives slivers we control flying. Winged Sliver gives all slivers flying. Advantage: Galerider Sliver. Galerider Sliver costs . Winged Sliver costs . Advantage: Galerider Sliver. This is an older model getting curbed by a newer one.

Gemhide Sliver: A key cog to our sliver engine by granting each sliver a Birds of Paradise makeover, this Time Spiral offering is amazingly powerful. Prior to the banning of Paradox Engine in EDH/Commander, Gemhide Sliver and Manaweft Sliver provided key building blocks for our sliver engine. Based on the reactions from past opponents, I understand why Paradox Engine had to be banned in our format. Honestly, I'm surprised it wasn't banned sooner.

Heart Sliver: Haste is an important feature in our deck. Haste should be an important feature in every deck! We want to tap our slivers as soon as possible in order to attack or use their T: abilities. Heart Sliver, one of the original slivers from Tempest, is 1/2 of Cloudshredder Sliver: It does not give slivers flying but it does give them haste. Well, technically, it makes our slivers "unaffected by summoning sickness." You know a card is old when it mentions "summoning sickness."

Hibernation Sliver: Versatility. The usefulness of this Dimir sliver from Stronghold cannot be overstated. Under the right battlefield conditions, Hibernation Sliver is a vital part of the sliver engine that allows us to cast every card in our deck. The powerful scenarios involving Hibernation Sliver are endless. Additionally, we can block opponents' creatures and pay 2 life prior to combat damage and return the blocking sliver to our hand sans damage. We can wake-up Dormant Sliver and return it to our hand. Hibernation Sliver is one of the most important slivers in this deck.

Hollowhead Sliver: Thank you again Modern Horizons!!! If we don't like or need the cards in our hand we tap a sliver, discard a card and draw a replacement. If we're searching for a vital piece to our sliver engine or a form of removal/disruption, tap a sliver, discard a card and draw a replacement. Let's re-frame Hollowhead Sliver's ability: It gives every sliver we control a reverse Merfolk Looter. Remind me, how good is Merfolk Looter?

Homing Sliver: Slivercycling. From Future Sight, both Vedalken Aethermage and Homing Sliver were the first and only spells with cycling abilities to search for cards with a specific creature type (wizards and slivers, respectively). Who doesn't want to cycle a sliver to tutor for a different one? I do! This sliver allows us to search and acquire the necessary slivers for our engine.

Lavabelly Sliver: With this Boros sliver on our battlefield, whenever a sliver comes into play under our control we deal one damage to an opponent or planeswalker and gain one life. With our sliver engine running smoothly Lavabelly Sliver can be one of our win conditions. It also acts as a hedge to Hibernation Sliver's activations. Thank you again Modern Horizons!!!!

Manaweft Sliver: Love that an additional Birds of Paradise-ability-granting sliver was created in Magic 2014. Hate that the hivemind feature of slivers changed from "all slivers" to "sliver creatures you control." This is Gemhide Sliver #2 for the purposes of constructing our sliver engine and another auto-include.

Mirror Entity: The best shapeshifter with changeling in Magic's history. With the potential to generate infinite mana, Mirror Entity can be one of our win conditions. DISCLOSURE: With no +1 +1 enhancers on the battlefield, I have paid for Mirror Entity when targeted by Reins of Power in order to deny an opponent from borrowing my slivers for a turn.

Muscle Sliver: There are nine non-legendary (and one legendary) creatures in Magic: The Gathering's history that are tribal lords for 2CMC that bump their tribes +1 +1 without any drawbacks or restrictions. The sliver tribe has three of these six creatures, and Muscle Sliver is the original. This sliver from Tempest gives all slivers +1 +1. This lord's ability is reprinted on Sinew Sliver and modified slightly with the inclusion of Predatory Sliver from Magic 2014. Bottom line, in the 20+ years of Magic: The Gathering, nearly half of all 2CMC non-legendary lords are slivers. The other six? Wizened Cenn, Mayor of Avabruck  , Inspiring Veteran, Lord of the Unreal, Master of the Pearl Trident and Pack Leader. The only legendary lord at 2CMC? Gallia of the Endless Dance.

Necrotic Sliver: A Vindicate-granting ability to all slivers...at instant speed...for and a sacrificial lamb!? Do we have Training Grounds in play as well? With this coupling we pay and sacrifice a sliver to destroy any permanent. With a lighter-than-usual amount of removal/disruption spells in our deck, procuring the ability to destroy any permanent on the battlefield in exchange for and a sliver is amazing value.

Predatory Sliver: This is a Muscle Sliver that only effects our slivers, not all slivers.

Psionic Sliver: Aside from the five legendary slivers in this deck, Psionic Sliver has the highest CMC. In fact, at this sliver has the same CMC as each legendary sliver but only sports a 2/2 body. Its inclusion, however, is about what this sliver brings to the table: A win condition. Under the right circumstances, the three points of self-inflicted damage from each Psionic Sliver activation can be mitigated by toughness enhancers or Sliver Hivelord. Imagine a scenario where a sliver can tap to deal two damage to a target and survive while at the same time dealing that self-inflicted damage to an opponent or planeswalker. If Spiteful Sliver is also on the battlefield that scenario becomes a tantalizing way to control the entire board and damage our opponents directly. CAUTION: Do not attempt with Venom Sliver on our side unless Sliver Hivelord is under our control too.

Quick Sliver: If you're an MTG Burgeoning EDH/Commander follower then you know that split-second, haste and flash are my favorite keywords in Magic. I favor an "end-of-turn" flash-casting of The First Sliver and then untapping on my turn with all of my available mana in order to abuse as many cascade-enhanced sliver spells as possible. Quick Sliver let's us do that.

Sedge Sliver: Another sliver lord! Except this Time Spiral addition has a slight restriction to its buffing: All of our slivers get +1 +1 if we control a swamp. We only have five swamps in our deck but a slew of ways to get one into play. Sedge Sliver also provides regeneration for .

Sentinel Sliver: Versatility. From Magic 2014, the Sentinel Sliver gives all slivers we control vigilance. Vigilance is awesome as it provides an avenue to attack and tap slivers for their numerous abilities during the same phase and/or turn or leave some slivers untapped for blockers. We can send an army of slivers at one opponent and then tap them to cast spells, deal direct damage, draw cards or tap permanents!

Shifting Sliver: As long as there are no other sliver decks at the table, Shifting Sliver makes our slivers unblockable. After amassing our sliver army, we cast Shifting Sliver to ensure that our slivers' combat damage is unimpeded. This addition from Legions is a prime graveyard target through Dregscape Sliver or mass recursion with Patriarch's Bidding.

Sinew Sliver: See Muscle Sliver.

Sliver Hivelord: to give all of our slivers indestructible. The only legendary sliver that is not 7/7, its 5/5 indestructible body is still formidable. With Crystalline Sliver and Sliver Hivelord in play our opponents will have very few ways to interact with our army. CAUTION: Still vulnerable to Cyclonic Rift, but what isn't?

Sliver Legion: This is a personalized Coat of Arms with a 7/7 body. With this legendary sliver addition, Future Sight created a built-in tribal win condition just by having Sliver Legion on the battlefield. With enough slivers on our battlefield casting a Sliver Legion can be game-ending. CAUTION: Remember that Sliver Legion provides this ability to ALL SLIVERS on the battlefield. Be aware of other slivers! A combination of Legion Sliver, Crystalline Sliver, Sentinel Sliver, Psionic Sliver and Lavabelly Sliver is practically game-ending.

Sliver Overlord: This sliver mutant allows us to tutor for any sliver in our library. Imagine this scenario: Sliver Overlord, Gemhide Sliver and Training Grounds are under our control. Basically, our slivers have: T: Search our library for a sliver card, reveal that card, and put it into our hand. Additionally, we can gain control of target sliver if any opponents are playing with sliver decks or have borrowed any of our slivers.

Sliver Queen *oversized*: All hail the queen! The original sliver General/Commander. The first creature in the history of Magic: The Gathering to cost . Magic's first five-colored creature, Sliver Queen *oversized* deserves more adulation than we can offer. So many infinite sliver token scenarios. With Basal Sliver and Sliver Queen *oversized* under our control we can sacrifice a sliver for and then use this mana to create a sliver token, and then sacrifice that token for in order to create another token, and so on and so forth. Any enter the battlefield triggers can be abused through this pairing. What if Mana Echoes is under our control? Training Grounds? There are so many possibilities. If you're a fan of slivers then you're aware of Sliver Queen *oversized* combos. Long live the queen!

Spiteful Sliver: Thank you again Modern Horizons!!!!! From the same vein as Mogg Maniac, this sliver can act as a combat deterrent for our opponents. Additionally, with Sliver Hivelord on our battlefield we can block and deal direct damage for days. Spiteful Sliver is also a wicked Quick Sliver-effected creature spell that can send blocked combat damage to the faces of our opponents and/or their planeswalkers.

Syphon Sliver: This addition from Magic 2014 provides lifelink to all of our slivers. A vital feature considering our opponents will target us relentlessly with resources and combat after they discover the identity of our General/Commander and what we're trying to accomplish.

Telekinetic Sliver: Under the right circumstances, Telekinetic Sliver can be oppressive to our opponents. By tapping down lands, mana rocks and creatures we can eliminate their turns by negating opponents' opportunities to enhance their board states, attack, block and/or progress with their game plans.

Venom Sliver: Deathtouch. An early Venom Sliver can act as a combat deterrent for our opponents. Antithetically, Venom Sliver can act as an offensive salvo against our opponents who value their potential blockers more than a few points of damage. CAUTION: Do not use Psionic Sliver's abilities with Venom Sliver under our control without Sliver Hivelord. Self-inflicted slivercide is not okay!

Aluren: Yes, the card is over 20 years old. Yes, it's on the Reserved List, prohibiting a reprint. Yes, the card gradually has increased in price due to the aforementioned conditions. However, I have not seen anyone else play this card in my nearly decade-long venture into the EDH/Commander format. Yes, any player at the table can use it. We have 24 creatures that meet the 3CMC cast restriction for Aluren. How many other EDH/Commander decks dedicate nearly 25% of its deck to creature spells with 3CMC or less? My answer: "Not many." Our General/Commander is The First Sliver. It gives cascade to all of our slivers. Imagine this scenario: The First Sliver and Aluren are under our control. We cast a 3CMC sliver without paying its mana cost. That sliver's cascade ability triggers, allowing us to exile cards from the top of our library until we cast something for less CMC. We could cast this 3CMC sliver spell for free with Aluren, cascade into a 2CMC sliver spell and then cast a 1CMC spell...and never tap a single land to do so. Mana-free. No resources. Do we have cast triggers that draw us cards? Yes. Do we have enter the battlefield triggers that draw us cards? Yes. Do we have enter the battlefield triggers that return creatures to our hand? Yes. Do we have creature abilities that can return creatures to our hand? Yes. If The First Sliver is the flywheel of our engine then Aluren is its crankshaft and Cloudstone Curio is its camshaft. Also with so many pistons available to us our sliver engine can rev until we end the game.

Cryptolith Rite: Gemhide Sliver and Manaweft Sliver are very valuable to us. Cryptolith Rite provides our creatures with the Birds of Paradise ability in enchantment form...for the same . Having redundancy in our deck will permit us to gather the pieces to our sliver engine more reliably.

Guardian Project: A green staple for EDH/Commander. For the purposes of this sliver deck, this enchantment reads: "Whenever a nontoken creature enters the battlefield under our control, draw a card." This is one of the pistons in our sliver engine and is an automatic inclusion in nearly every green deck in the format.

Intruder Alarm: DISCLOSURE: This spot was occupied by Paradox Engine prior to its banning. If you already are familiar with this type of sliver engine then you know the power Paradox Engine provided. If you are becoming acquainted with this type of sliver engine then you eventually will see why a card like Paradox Engine had to be banned in EDH/Commander, and that's coming from someone who had it in the deck! Intruder Alarm is a reasonable and acceptable replacement for Paradox Engine. CAUTION: Remain mindful of any T: abilities of your opponents' creatures. They could abuse Intruder Alarm as well. We're looking at you Krenko, Mob Boss. We abuse Intruder Alarm by tapping all of our creatures for mana with Cryptolith Rite or all of our slivers with Gemhide Sliver or Manaweft Sliver, cast a creature spell, untap all of creatures and hopefully do it again and again. Each instance we generate additional mana with every spell cast. Imagine Intruder Alarm in play with Aluren and some Birds of Paradise-like slivers. Tap all of our slivers for mana of any colors. Cast a sliver creature spell for 3CMC or less through Aluren. Untap all of our slivers. Repeat this step and/or use the colored mana accumulated to cast sliver creature spells that have CMC greater than 3, tapping all slivers each time for mana. If we're utilizing any of our cast or enter the battlefield triggers to draw cards then our engine can be unstoppable. Without interaction, we can cast every single card in our deck. All of this and we haven't even discussed the roles The First Sliver, Hibernation Sliver and Cloudstone Curio have with these interactions!

Kindred Discovery: This enchantment should be a must-run in any tribal deck. Each sliver that enters our battlefield or attacks draws us a card. This is another key piston to our sliver engine. CAUTION: Be aware of library size and don't attack with more slivers than you have cards in your library. Embarrassment will ensue.

Mana Echoes: Famous for its interaction with Sliver Queen *oversized* and her sliver creature tokens, Mana Echoes can generate an absurd amount of colorless mana in this deck. With it, we can create an infinite number of sliver tokens. CAUTION: Beware of Rakdos Charm. I've seen it happen. It feels bad to see. It has to be feel worse to experience.

Shared Animosity: A tribal combat-themed beat-down from Morningtide, Shared Animosity is a friend to tribal decks searching for a way to close out a game. With nearly three dozen slivers at our disposal we can close out games through combat as well as any other deck. Shared Animosity replaced Morophon, the Boundless from the initial construction of this deck. I wanted Morophon to stay. I wanted Morophon to work. I think Morophon is awesome and fun. For the purposes of this sliver deck, however, is just too much and the immediate payoff is not enough. Morophon, the Boundless will find a place somewhere in my catalog of decks. I promise you that!

Song of Freyalise: Our only saga of the deck comes in the form of Song of Freyalise. For a couple of turns this acts as Cryptolith Rite. Once Song of Freyalise is sacrificed after adding a third lore counter, each of our creatures get a +1 +1 counter and gain vigilance, trample and indestructible until the end of turn. With proper timing we can utilize these temporary evergreen buffs as a win condition.

Temur Acsendancy: This Temur-colored enchantment's primary purpose is to provide haste to our creatures. Under the right circumstances, however, it can act as a card-drawing piston in our sliver engine as well.

Training Grounds: Training Grounds has been referenced a lot throughout this deck's description, and rightfully so. It's BFF's with Sliver Queen *oversized*, Sliver Overlord, Necrotic Sliver, Chulane, Teller of Tales and Mirror Entity. This enchantment reduces the cost of our creatures' activated abilities by . In our deck, that will make almost all of our creatures' activated abilities cost just and an extra for Mirror Entity. I'm no mathematician, but is less than !

Anguished Unmaking: Admittedly, due to our game plan, our removal is light in this deck. So selectivity in our removal spells is paramount. There are few spot-removal spells better than Anguished Unmaking. By tapping and paying three life we can exile any nonland permanent. An answer to any nonland permanent is valuable and worthy of inclusion in any EDH/Commander.

Assassin's Trophy: With this removal spell, we can destroy any permanent an opponent controls. Again, echoing the limited amount of removal in our deck, we want versatility and cost-efficiency with our removal spells. No other spell in Magic's history can do what Assassin's Trophy does in our format for 2CMC. The controller of the destroyed permanent can put a basic land into play from their library. That is not optimal. However, there are a slew of other permanents much more troubling than an opponent ramping an additional basic land...if they have any basic lands in their deck of course!

Cyclonic Rift: An overloaded Cyclonic Rift can be such a setback and detriment to those effected that it is an automatic inclusion in any deck playing blue. In a pinch, bouncing a nonland permanent we don't control for can be helpful if our sliver engine already is humming or warming up.

Path to Exile: Exile any creature on the battlefield for . The basic land gained by the opponent is not optimal but more than a fair trade for a creature that is a threat to us and/or our engine. BONUS: We can target one of our creatures if we need a specific basic land to get our engine rolling. Path to Exile replaced Regrowth from the initial build of this deck, but I have my doubts. With no way to recur non-sliver cards from the graveyard, Regrowth was the only way to do so. We'll see how it works.

Swords to Plowshares: Exile any creature on the battlefield for . The life gained by the opponent is inconsequential to us and more than a fair trade for a creature that is a threat to us and/or our engine. BONUS: We can target one of our creatures if our life total is in peril and we sense lethal damage is on the way.

Heroic Intervention: Protection. This provides protection in the form of hexproof and indestructible for all of our permanents for a turn. We must accept that we're going to be targeted often. That's an inevitability. Heroic Intervention provides us with some protection. This spell replaced Mirri's Guile from the deck's initial construction. I love Mirri's Guile. It's a card that is near and dear to my heart. It's the first rare of the first pack of Magic cards I ever opened. In the early game Mirri's Guile is awesome. It manipulates the top of our deck, cards drawn and cascade triggers. However, mid-to-late game, I would cascade into Mirri's Guile and it added nothing to my board state that turn. This Tempest enchantment is great in a lot of decks, but maybe it's just not a great fit for our slivers. Frown.

Teferi's Protection: Sidling up next to Heroic Intervention in the protection department is this white offering from Commander 2017. Prior to the rules change related to phasing and tokens, I would reconsider this spell's spot in the deck. Before Teferi's Protection's release in August of 2017, if a token phased out it ceased to exist. Granted, this deck is not overflowing with token generators. However, Sliver Queen *oversized* is one of our deck's win conditions and if her tokens were somewhat meaningless in the face of Teferi's Protection, well, a different form of protection may be more appropriate. Alas, we don't need to focus on that debate as tokens phase in just like every other permanent. Additionally our life total doesn't change and we get Progenitus-level protection until our next turn. Is there white in your EDH/Commander deck? Yes? Then this is white spell #1 in your deck list. Teferi's Protection replaced Eladamri's Call from the initial construction of this deck. Tutors are not lacking in our deck, but protection was. With that in mind, adding the best protection spell possible in place of a restrictive tutor was an easy decision.

Demonic Tutor: Best tutor in the format. and bring any card from our library to our hand. The only restriction is it's a sorcery. No tutor does it better.

Enlightened Tutor: With so many vital parts of our engine either enchantments or an artifact, including a tutor that specializes in finding one or the other is easy. There are sooooo many targets for Enlightened Tutor in our deck: Aluren, Intruder Alarm, Cloudstone Curio, Kindred Discovery, Cryptolith Rite, Mana Echoes, Guardian Project, Shared Animosity, Song of Freyalise, Training Grounds and Temur Ascendancy.

Mystical Tutor: Mystical Tutor will put on top of our library any instant or sorcery for . The targets for this spell include removal, protection, a game-ending sorcery or another tutor. The majority of instances Mystical Tutor is used to find removal for a threat to our sliver engine. Mystical Tutor replaced Kindred Summons from this deck's initial list. I think Kindred Summons is a good tribal card and has a home in a slew of tribal decks. For the purposes of this deck, is expensive and the spell does have some limitations. We need slivers under our control and we hope to hit the right slivers after casting Kindred Summons. I seem to always find better uses for 7 mana than holding it up to cast this spell at an end step or during my precombat main phase. Under the right circumstances this card is a win condition, but for the purposes of revving our sliver engine? It does not fit very well. In a different type of sliver deck? Sure. Absolutely! Just not this one.

Vampiric Tutor: Much more versatile than either Enlightened Tutor or Mystical Tutor, Vampiric Tutor will put any card from our library on top of it for and 2 life. DISCLOSURE: I have cast Mystical Tutor in order to get Vampiric Tutor and cast it in order to get the card I need. So much tutoring.

Genesis Wave: Remember when "a game-ending sorcery" was referenced in the description for Mystical Tutor? Here is one of those spells. puts X permanents into play that cost X or less. In a five-color deck, can be restrictive. With that in mind, when fetching I'm usually mindful to include green in a shock land if my primary target is a different color. If I use three fetch lands it is likely that each shock land fetched has green as a part of it. Yes, this spell can miss. Yes, it is not an automatic win. I do not mind taking a risk with this card as long as is high enough. No permanent costs more than 5CMC in our deck and there are only six spells that do (Sliver Hivelord, Sliver Legion, Sliver Queen *oversized*, Sliver Overlord, Psionic Sliver, Kindred Discovery). Additionally, there are only 13 combined instants and sorceries in the deck, meaning that we have 86 permanents for Genesis Wave to put into play. That's nearly a 7:1 ratio of permanents to non-permanents. I like those odds. I like those odds a lot. I do not like those odds enough to include Primal Surge in the deck, but it's close!

Patriarch's Bidding: Remember when "a game-ending sorcery" was referenced in the description for Mystical Tutor? Here's the other one. CAUTION: Be aware of other tribal players at the table and, of course, be mindful of what's in your opponents' graveyards. You may feel like royalty after casting Patriarch's Bidding with a graveyard full of magnificent slivers only to hear an opponent name "leviathan" and have Kederekt Leviathan enter the battlefield at the same time. Not a good feeling. It feels bad. In the right circumstances, Patriarch's Bidding can win the game by bringing back a game's worth of sliver creatures from our graveyard to play. Cloudshredder Sliver, Sliver Legion, Lavabelly Sliver, Mirror Entity and Shifting Sliver approve.

Arcane Signet: After Sol Ring, which is NOT included in this deck, Arcane Signet is the best mana-producing artifact in our format. For the purposes of our sliver deck, this artifact reads: T: Add one mana of any color. Also, Arcane Signet only costs . Without restrictions, limitations or drawbacks, no artifact in Magic's history can do what Arcane Signet does. Arcane Signet replaced Vanquisher's Banner from this deck's initial build. is a reasonable cost for this artifact in our deck. The cast trigger is perfect for what we're trying to accomplish and the +1 +1 bump for our slivers is beneficial too. With Vanquisher's Banner and The First Sliver in play, the card advantage generated from so many sliver creature spells is a legitimate win condition and a path to drawing and casting our entire deck. This change boiled down to my desire to include Arcane Signet in this deck, and it had to take the place of something. Perhaps I am too conservative with the mana base and could eliminate a land in order to accommodate the presence of Arcane Signet and keep Vanquisher's Banner in the deck. Maybe Path of Ancestry? The ultimate decision will hinge on play-testing and game-play. Through experience with the updated list I will discover whether or not this deck can absorb the loss of Vanquisher's Banner's cast trigger. Time will tell.

Cloudstone Curio: Cloudstone Curio coupled with Aluren form an immensely powerful interaction in our deck. With The First Sliver under our control these are the next two pieces of our engine. Together with any other card-drawing triggers (Beast Whisperer, Chulane, Teller of Tales, Dormant Sliver, Guardian Project, Kindred Discovery, Temur Ascendancy - conditional) we have the potential to put 24 sliver creatures onto the battlefield WITHOUT USING ANY MANA TO DO SO. Basically, we can draw our entire deck. This interaction is not accounting for the potential of utilizing Intruder Alarm and mana-producing slivers in order to cast anything from our hand and/or generate additional mana for Sliver Queen *oversized* and/or Genesis Wave. Combat and direct damage are our avenues to victory after we decide to tap the breaks of our sliver engine. Cloudstone Curio and Aluren are 1b and 1c next to The First Sliver's 1a.

Herald's Horn: This artifact allows us to, under the right circumstances, draw an additional card each turn. Also, reducing our sliver creature spells by is a nice bonus. Admittedly, this is much more helpful in the early game and has inspired some Mirri's Guile-like frustration when drawn late-game or cascaded into when the sliver engine is revving up. Herald's Horn's presence in the deck may be short-lived.

One basic land of each color: Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, Forest.

The full set of ten fetch lands: Flooded Strand, Polluted Delta, Bloodstained Mire, Wooded Foothills, Windswept Heath, Marsh Flats, Arid Mesa, Scalding Tarn, Misty Rainforest, Verdant Catacombs.

The full set of ten shock lands: Hallowed Fountain, Watery Grave, Blood Crypt, Stomping Ground, Temple Garden, Godless Shrine, Sacred Foundry, Steam Vents, Breeding Pool, Overgrown Tomb.

The full set of ten check lands: Glacial Fortress, Drowned Catacomb, Dragonskull Summit, Rootbound Crag, Sunpetal Grove, Isolated Chapel, Clifftop Retreat, Sulfur Falls, Hinterland Harbor, Woodland Cemetery.

That's 35 lands. The last four:

Command Tower: For the purposes of our deck, this land is T: Add one mana of any color to our mana pool. No restrictions. No limitations. No inclusions. No drawbacks. No land in the history of Magic can do what Command Tower does. Best land in the format.

Path of Ancestry: DISCLOSURE: I generally do not favor lands that enter the battlefield tapped. With each successive color needed in an EDH/Commander deck I favor ETB tapped lands less and less. In a five color deck like The First Sliver an ETB tapped land is easy to omit. For Path of Ancestry, I convinced myself to make an exception. Entering the battlefield tapped is a detriment, but it taps for one mana of any color and if we use this mana to cast a sliver creature spell we can scry 1. Let's not minimize the potential of scrying 1: We can optimize cascade triggers. Also, scrying 1 can set-up more favorable draws. For now, Path of Ancestry will be my only exception to the "land entering the battlefield tapped in a five-color deck" rule.

Reflecting Pool: We are running a full set of shock lands and check lands and a basic land of each type. It's very reasonable to assume that Reflecting Pool is just another Command Tower. With Command Tower or Path of Ancestry on the battlefield, or either of the lands below, Reflecting Pool IS Command Tower #2.

Sliver Hive: This is a restrictive Command Tower as our "one mana of any color" can only be used to cast sliver creature spells, a land similar to Haven of the Spirit Dragon in dragon decks. The Hive does provide , which can be useful of course. However, in a five color deck I do not favor lands that provide colorless mana or restrictive colored mana. The exception for this land is its ability to create a sliver creature token by tapping the Hive and tapping , as long as we control another sliver. We can think of Sliver Hive as a better version of Unclaimed Territory.

The following MTG Burgeoning YouTube video showcases this build through a deck tech:

This is a video of MTG Burgeoning play-testing The First Sliver deck (check out those sliver dice!):

Here are some revisions to MTG Burgeoning's The First Sliver deck:

Here are some more revisions to MTG Burgeoning's The First Sliver deck:

For the purposes of improving mana-fixing and synergizing with the cascade mechanic enabled by The First Sliver, the ten check lands were replaced with the following six lands and four mana rocks:

Out of the 99: Glacial Fortress

Drowned Catacomb

Dragonskull Summit

Rootbound Crag

Sunpetal Grove

Isolated Chapel

Clifftop Retreat

Sulfur Falls

Hinterland Harbor

Woodland Cemetery

Into the 99:

Indatha Triome

Raugrin Triome

Zagoth Triome

Savai Triome

Ketria Triome

Exotic Orchard

Mox Tantalite

Sol Talisman

Mana Crypt

Sol Ring

In the following YouTube video, MTG Burgeoning showcases this Sliver build as a deck tech as it enters into the Burgeoning Commander Catalog. This video also becomes the starting point of a First Sliver EDH Deck Video Primer Series:

In the following YouTube video, MTG Burgeoning UPdates & UPgrades this Sliver tribal build via an appearance on the UP & UP Series:

Hatchery Sliver replaces Virulent Sliver.

Capricious Sliver replaces Hollowhead Sliver.

Lazotep Sliver replaces Syphon Sliver.

Regal Sliver replaces Dormant Sliver.

In the following YouTube video, MTG Burgeoning UPdates & UPgrades this Sliver deck via an appearance on the channel's UP & UP SERIES:

Living Death replaces Cloudstone Curio.

Kindred Summons replaces Cryptolith Rite.

Brood Sliver replaces Capricious Sliver.

Bonescythe Sliver replaces Homing Sliver.

Syphon Sliver replaces Clot Sliver.

Mana Crypt was banned in Commander effective September 23rd, 2024. It is being replaced by Fellwar Stone at this time.

Go forth, and Sliv Like There's No Tomorrow!

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91% Casual

Competitive

Revision 5 See all

(7 months ago)

+1 Fellwar Stone main
-1 Mana Crypt main