Smothering Snakes

Commander / EDH* Aggro Burn Group Hug Mill RUG (Temur) Tokens

Futuremonk

Draw (28)

• 1x Geier Reach Sanitarium
• 1x Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
• 1x Sheltered Thicket
• 1x Burning Inquiry
• 1x Minds Aglow
• 1x Prosperity
• 1x Soul-Guide Lantern
• 1x Arcane Denial
• 1x Folio of Fancies
• 1x Kami of the Crescent Moon
• 1x Nin, the Pain Artist
• 1x Standstill
• 1x Vision Skeins
• 1x Edric, Spymaster of Trest
• 1x Fecundity
• 1x Heartwood Storyteller
• 1x Jace Beleren
• 1x Jace's Archivist
• 1x Ludevic, Necro-Alchemist
• 1x Magus of the Wheel
• 1x Rites of Flourishing
• 1x Windfall
• 1x Jace, Wielder of Mysteries
• 1x Grothama, All-Devouring
• 1x Khorvath's Fury
• 1x Nessian Boar
• 1x Seshiro the Anointed
• 1x Tishana, Voice of Thunder

Tokens (7)

• 1x Pongify
• 1x Rapid Hybridization
• 1x Swan Song
• 1x Curse of the Swine
• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Rampage of the Clans
• 1x Terastodon

Board Wipe (4)

• 1x Curse of the Swine
• 1x Chain Reaction
• 1x Rampage of the Clans
• 1x Whelming Wave

Utility (4)

• 1x Field of Ruin
• 1x Temple of Abandon
• 1x Temple of Epiphany
• 1x Temple of Mystery

Haste (3)

• 1x Clout of the Dominus
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Anger

Land (36)

• 1x Cinder Glade
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Field of Ruin
• 6x Forest
• 1x Frontier Bivouac
• 1x Geier Reach Sanitarium
• 1x Holdout Settlement
• 7x Island
• 1x Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
• 5x Mountain
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Scavenger Grounds
• 1x Sheltered Thicket
• 1x Survivors' Encampment
• 1x Temple of Abandon
• 1x Temple of Epiphany
• 1x Temple of Mystery
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Yavimaya Coast

Ramp (11)

• 1x Collective Voyage
• 1x New Frontiers
• 1x Veteran Explorer
• 1x Borderland Explorer
• 1x Cryptolith Rite
• 1x Song of Freyalise
• 1x Jungle Wayfinder
• 1x Rites of Flourishing
• 1x Shizuko, Caller of Autumn
• 1x Citanul Hierophants
• 1x Sachi, Daughter of Seshiro

Pump (6)

• 1x Biomass Mutation
• 1x Song of Freyalise
• 1x Kaseto, Orochi Archmage
• 1x Sachi, Daughter of Seshiro
• 1x Sosuke, Son of Seshiro
• 1x Seshiro the Anointed

Protection (4)

• 1x Clout of the Dominus
• 1x Alpha Authority
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Kashi-Tribe Elite

Counterspell (2)

• 1x Swan Song
• 1x Arcane Denial

Recursion (2)

• 1x The Binding of the Titans
• 1x Skullwinder

Commander (1)

Removal (12)

• 1x Pongify
• 1x Rapid Hybridization
• 1x Curse of the Swine
• 1x Nin, the Pain Artist
• 1x Reality Shift
• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Chaos Warp
• 1x Sosuke, Son of Seshiro
• 1x Burn at the Stake
• 1x Furystoke Giant
• 1x Nessian Boar
• 1x Terastodon

Win (8)

• 1x Biomass Mutation
• 1x Folio of Fancies
• 1x Song of Freyalise
• 1x Thassa's Oracle
• 1x Laboratory Maniac
• 1x Jace, Wielder of Mysteries
• 1x Burn at the Stake
• 1x Furystoke Giant

Burn (6)

• 1x Impact Tremors
• 1x Hissing Iguanar
• 1x Outpost Siege
• 1x Burn at the Stake
• 1x Furystoke Giant
• 1x Khorvath's Fury

Mill (4)

• 1x Folio of Fancies
• 1x The Binding of the Titans
• 1x Jace Beleren
• 1x Jace, Wielder of Mysteries

Graveyard Hate (3)

• 1x Scavenger Grounds
• 1x Soul-Guide Lantern
• 1x The Binding of the Titans

Unblockable (2)

• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Kaseto, Orochi Archmage

---

Xyris, the Writhing Storm is a new commander from C20. He has a politcal/group hug element in that when he deals combat damage to a player, you and that player draw that many cards. Then whenever an opponent draws a card except for the first card on their draw step, you make a 1/1 snake token.

To me, this commander really pushes the deck into some great places.

1) You get to be political/group hug-ish. Chances are, you should be able to find one opponent per combat who wants to draw some cards and would take a hit to do so. To stay on-theme, almost all of the card draw and ramp in the deck is symmetrical. The removal gives your opponents stuff as well.

2) The best way to make your opponents draw cards is with wheel effects, and this deck has a ton. While technically they help your opponents, they will also give you a ton of snakes. It is sort of like Smothering Tithe, except your opponents don't even have the option of paying to stop you from making the tokens. And with Cryptolith Rite, Citanul Hierophants, or Song of Freyalise, your tokens can even make mana for you.

3) Making your opponents draw a ton of cards is a good way to mill them out of the game. So that is one potential win-con. Since you will also be drawing a ton of cards, the deck includes Laboratory Maniac, Jace, Wielder of Mysteries, and Thassa's Oracle so you can win with self-mill as well.

4) Since you should be making a ton of snake tokens, you can also just win by smashing them and your other creatures into people. The snakes are super expendable -- you should always be making more every turn cycle -- so you shouldn't care too much about attacking with them.

5) The other option, since you should have so many creatures, is to burn your opponents with Impact Tremors, Furystoke Giant, Burn at the Stake, Hissing Iguanar, and/or Outpost Siege.

So the combination of these gets you a really interesting mash-up of group hug/political, mill, self-mill, aggro, and burn.

Should be fun and fairly affordable.

Suggestions welcome!

Date added	4 years
Last updated	4 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	6 - 0 Mythic Rares 40 - 0 Rares 23 - 0 Uncommons 13 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.91
Tokens	Ape 3/3 G, Beast 3/3 G, Bird 2/2 U, Boar 2/2 G, Centaur 3/3 G, Elephant 3/3 G, Frog Lizard 3/3 G, Manifest 2/2 C, Snake 1/1 G
Folders	Others decks