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Sram, Trash Heap of Victory

Commander / EDH* Eggs Mono-White

GardenGnome


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Trash Heap of Victory Primer

Sram is the Usain Bolt of white edh decks. The deck aims to assemble within the first 3-6 turns of the game either a voltroned up general that will murder whoever your heart desires or cantrip into enough disruption that all who oppose you are hobbled to the point you can pick them off to your leisure. If you love running highly questionable equipment and voltroning your way to victory while still being within the realm of competitive then look no further!

The deck plays out very similarly to a storm deck. The key differences being that our main way of generating "storm count" and card advantage is by cantriping our equipment with Sram, Senior Edificer along with our end game being different with beatdown being an option. Another key difference is that generating infinite mana typically is simply a means to cast more equipment and pay for all the equip costs needed to voltron up instead of say winning out right on the spot.

Our goal typically throughout the game is to either "storm out" with Aetherflux Reservoir/Monastery Mentor or assemble some way of equipping all of the equipment we amassed while looting then beating someone down with our general. Paying for all the equip costs is usually achieved by hitting Puresteel Paladin or one of our infinite mana combos.

Equipment Engines

Puresteel Paladin He draws us even more cards and then out of the goodness of his heart gives us a way to make use of all the equipment we accumulate. He actually allows all the equipment we hoard to become an actual threat. I can't state how great he is for the deck and more often then not he is even better to get out then infinite mana combos. Probably the best card for the deck.

Kuldotha Forgemaster This lovely robot turns your trash into treasure! Whats not to love. Much like Puresteel he makes the equipment we amass into a threat by converting them into combo pieces. While he himself doesn't necessarily win you the game getting to tap with this guy almost always becomes a case of you grabbing whatever piece to the puzzle you're missing to assemble lethal.

Infinite Mana Combos

Basalt Monolith + Rings of Brighthearth The rings + monolith combo is done by using rings to copy the basalt monolith's untap ability so in effect you are paying 5 mana to generate 6 colorless, rinse and repeat. Don't forget to tap the monolith for mana after the first untap trigger resloves or you'll just look silly. Another added bonus of this combo is you get to double dip on all your non-mana activated abilities such as Arid Mesa and Aetherflux Reservoir. An important note is that this combo takes 11 mana total (+3Basalt Monolith +3Rings of Brighthearth and +3 for basalt untap and +2 for Rings trigger) so it is a little mana intensive to get going. The nice thing though is that you don't have to pay 11 all at once and that Basalt Monolith pays for itself so in reality you are most likely only spending 5-8 mana to get the engine started assuming you don't have further cost reduction effects in play like Semblance Anvil.

Auriok Salvagers + Lion's Eye Diamond Bomberman combo is having salvagers in play and a LED in play or your graveyard then using salvagers ability you loop the diamond thus netting you one white mana each time at the cost of discarding your hand. The end result is that you generate infinite white mana, infinite storm count, and can play every artifact that costs 1 or less from your graveyard. You can also draw your whole deck with this combo if you also have a Chromatic Sphere or Chromatic Star in play or in your graveyard or have Krark-Clan Ironworks in play and a 1 cmc or less equipment in play or yard. This allows you to sac the equipment, grab it back with salvagers, replay it to net a card with Sram, Senior Edificer each loop. As for what infinite mana and storm count can do... I'm not saying any names, cough, Aetherflux Reservoir, Leering Emblem, Monastery Mentor.

Storm

Aetherflux Reservoir is fairly self explanatory but have this in play and cast a bunch of spells, pay your life tax and start laser beaming people.

Monastery Mentor is crazy. While his impact latter in the game is arguable if he is in your opening hand you want him out asap. Playing him turn 2/3 will often simply win the game on the untap if they don't immediately answer him. Our decks ability to play so many cheap spells means that making 4-10 dudes the turn he comes out is a very real possibility. I dare say if there was a more reliable way to get him into our hand within the early turns of the game he'd be our main wincon.

Leering Emblem This card is a real sleeper hit in my books. First and foremost is that it is a cheap equipment. As far as how this works it's fairly simple. On a turn you think you'll be playing a some cards or have spare mana, before anything else equip it to our Dawi or anyone really... continue to cantrip and if all goes well you get to dome someone for a lethal 21 general damage. For a total of 4 mana (+2 to play +2 to equip) its a steal. Many a game has been stolen thanks to this magic death stick.

What disruption you decide to run, if you choose to run any at all, is for the most part a meta call. My meta at the current moment is full of degeneracy involving Food Chain/Splinter Twin/Thassa's Oracle so my choices of hate tend to reflect that. It is important to note that this isn't a stax deck and we are not built to hard lock people so much as to have them stumble to buy us enough time to assemble our game plan.

Creature Hate

Torpor Orb While this card does hit our Recruiter of the Guard and Stoneforge Mystic which can be mildly annoying when the skornergy is strong, more importantly though it slows down creature combo plans which allows us some breathing room. If your meta isn't full of such riveting flavors of fun such as Splinter Twin/Thassa's Oracle/Birthing Pod you can swap this for Arden, Intrepid Archaeologist or something to hate storm like Lodestone Golem. Added bonus is that it stops Aura Shards.

Land Hate

Static Orb/Winter Orb Our deck is designed to function on one or two lands. Turns out most other edh decks aren't, so just about any deck that isn't ours that didn't get a bonkers start while these bad boys are in play is gonna have a rough time for a turn or two.

Ravages of War/Armageddon in the same spirit of fun as Static Orb & Winter Orb. We aren't as worried about all of our lands getting blown up since by the time we can cast these presumably we already have our engine going and losing lands at that stage of the game hurts everyone else far more then us. They are a little expensive to cast but punching people in the mana is the name of the game.

Tangle Wire Do not be fooled by this card. While it might read "tap some stuff" what it actually says is if you drop this in the first 3 turns of the game you get to time walk everyone else for a turn or two. Because our deck runs so many equipment it has almost no negative for us while everyone else gets turns of all tapped land. Brings a tear to my eye this card.

Miscellaneous Hate

Ethersworn Canonist She is much like all the other wonderful cards on this list in which she provides an almost none existent annoyance for us while potentially crippling others. She forces just about everyone but you to slow down their game plan by only letting them cast one maybe two spells a turn while we get to savor the flavor of sweet symmetrical tyranny seeing as the majority of our deck is artifacts. She hates out storm decks especially which easily earns her a place in the list.

Aven Mindcensor This bird of justice does it all. Makes fetches risky, screws over tutors and as icing on the cake has flash which all but guarantees that someone is going to lose something of value to this guy. While leaving mana up is a little rough in the early turns we typically can afford to start having three up around mid game. He also lets us bluff him every time we have the mana up which can give people headaches. All around a pretty cool guy.

Grand Abolisher/Conqueror's Flail/Defense Grid While not necessarily a hate card they provide us with much needed assurance that no surprises are going to happen to our wonderfully convoluted game plan. The double white on Abolisher is rough but I've lost too many games to a surprise Chain of Vapor/Force of Will/Beast Within to not appreciate the promise of no tomfoolery on a pivotal turn.

This deck while fast and fairly consistent still has its problems. This section is to help explain the flaws this deck has in general along with cards that if seen across the table will let you know you're in for a bad time.

First World Sram Problems

Probably the first thing that will jump out to you is the fact that this deck runs very little lands. Considering the sheer amount of draw power this deck is capable of once it gets going hitting your land drops isn't too big of a deal. The key phrase here is "once it gets going" if you don't have the mana to drop your General to get the draw engine started you're going to be stuck with a hand full of chaff. On the flip side once you have your general out and start drawing a ton clumps of three or four lands can stop you right in your tracks.The right number is only something that more play testing and number crunching can answer but none the less it's an issue you will run into.

Due to this decks terrifically low land count and the fact that you are mono-white trash people trying to play competitive edh, your opening hand and mulligans are far more impactful to you then probably anyone else you'll be sitting across. As for whether the hand you have is worth keeping or trying for a new one is a bit nuanced but the quick and dirty is if it lets you cast Sram, Senior Edificer or a cost reducer like Cloud Key, keep. Things start to get a little iffy when you get hands that are solid but your only land is say Mishra's Workshop and those equipment while neat sure do a heaping helping of nothing until you get the white mana for Sram...

Sram being a deck with a linear game plan that is very general-centric is open to all the hate that comes with that. If people keep you off of Sram or hit your card advantage engines in some way... you know like one of the ways discussed below your deck will fall flat on it's face. This deck is a one trick pony and while it does that trick very well there is little you can do to stop truly dedicated hate.

Cards That Ruin the Party

I have them in order of scariest to mildly emasculating for your convenience.

Arcane Laboratory/Rule of Law/Eidolon of Rhetoric/Notion Thief/Deafening Silence etc. These effects neuter us. They stop the inherent engine with which our entire deck is built upon. Much like Ethersworn Canonist but the key difference is that we have no way to weasel out of the restriction. Our deck needs to burn through our trash heap of equipment to get to the stuff that really matters so we end up in a choke-hold a with hand of dead cards and no real way out. Whoever plays these is kill on sight... assuming you haven't already been thoroughly crippled by these effects. People who play these cards chew tinfoil and it is your job, no, dare I say, moral obligation to let them know that they are in fact lizard people in skin suits.

Null Rod/Stony Silence These also interfere with the strategy our whole deck is based on but instead of messing with the draw engine these stop almost all of our wincons. So while we can still draw a ton of cards we can't equip anything or Aetherflux Reservoir people for an easy win which basically leaves us with throwing rocks at people with one of our tiny unequipped creatures like savages or praying for a Monastery Mentor top deck. Luckily, almost all people hate having their mana rocks turned off so if you play your cards right someone else will solve the problem for you... All in all not a good day.

Sphere of Resistance/Thorn of Amethyst/Thalia, Guardian of Thraben etc. While not as soul crushing as the above depending on how early these show up we might be in for a hard game. If we can slip enough things under the radar before they hit, while inconvenient it's not back breaking per say. It's mostly a question of if you can stick enough mana rocks and/or cost reducers before they try to stax you out.

Aura Shards/Vandalblast etc. These bad boys while looking very scary are most of the time a mild inconvenience as long as you play smart and don't over commit. Mass artifact destruction at best only slows us down since as a whole we don't care about what we have in play with the exception of Sram, Senior Edificer and a few key pieces. What matters to us is the cards we draw off the equipment, not necessarily the equipment themselves. The board state you amass is for the most part worthless until you get to the stage in which you can afford to equip everything. Equipment are a means to an end. Play smart and don't drop your combo pieces and wincons until you have to and all the Aura Shards in the world won't stop your evil schemes.

The main pieces to this decks game plan are thankfully fairly inexpensive. There are some cards that while nice are typically too expensive to justify their worth. (I'm looking at you Mishra's Workshop) Here are some of the more expensive cards and I'll try to explain which ones can be swapped out for a more budget friendly versions without hurting the functionality and speed of the deck.

Lands

Mishra's Workshop Seeing as this card is worth almost as much as the rest of the deck combined it's probably first on peoples list of cards to swap out. Luckily the land base for this deck doesn't need much to work in tip top shape. Options you can swap it out with are Gemstone Caverns or Buried Ruin if you are feeling adventurous, cycle lands like Ash Barrens/Secluded Steppe or even simply another Plains.

City of Traitors/Cavern of Souls/Ancient Tomb/Flagstones of Trokair/Fetch lands aka Windswept Heath, Arid Mesa, Marsh Flats, Flooded Strand Much like Workshop these cards while being far more expensive then needed only provide a minor boost to the deck. Just swap them with any of the lands stated above.

Mana/Fixing

Lion's Eye Diamond While bomber man combo is one of the few ways for this deck to generate obscene amounts of mana. The deck can very well function but it will take a hit in how the deck is built. If you cut the LED then you'll probably want to cut the Auriok Salvagers along with the Chromatic Sphere and Chromatic Star. As for what to replace it with my best guess would be an Umbral Mantle if you are still running Metalworker to have another infinite mana combo along with more low cost equipment to cantrip.

Mana Crypt/Jeweled Lotus/Mox Opal/Grim Monolith/Metalworker etc. This is where most of the trouble with making a budget version of this deck you'll run into. This deck loves fast mana and dare I say the list would not even be able to function under the same premise as the original without access to them. The easiest ones to cut from this list without stopping it's functionality would be Grim Monolith followed by Metalworker but if you are going spend money on this list here is where to spend it. As for what to replace them with when in doubt more hate cards or cheap equipment.

Disruption

Ravages of War is really the only expensive card on the list of hate cards and since it's only a functional reprint of Armageddon if you don't have one you can easily just swap it out with another hate bear like Leonin Arbiter.

Wincons

Rings of Brighthearth Much like the Lion's Eye Diamond is one of our main infinite mana combos but unlike LED I would say if possible try to keep this card in unless you truly are impoverished since it is far cheaper then the diamond to get and as a whole has more interactions with the deck. If you have to replace it add more equipment or hate bears.

Arden, Intrepid Archaeologist/Hammer of Nazahn/Sigarda's Aid while not currently in the deck are all top contenders to go into the main board with Arden and Hammer being the highest on the list. If you are missing any combos or simply want extra wincons these are what you put in.

Equipment

Luckily for this deck what the equipment does for the most part is irrelevant until later in the game or in odd silver bullet scenarios and even then the impact is negilible. What maters most is that the equipment has a low mana cost (for cheap draw power) and can provide a bonus to power since 30-40% of your wins will come down to general damage. Silver-Inlaid Dagger is a perfect example of what the deck wants.

Conclusion

Sram stands out as the fastest and dare I say one if not the most explosive mono white edh decks possible. The deck is lean, mean and built to contend with the big boys. While it might not be as resilient to disruption or hate as Tier 1 or 2 lists, this deck is more than capable of sitting down at a table of juggernauts and playing as an equal.

If you are even slightly tempted, give this deck a whirl and be amazed as this seemingly disorganized pile of equipment explodes into action crushing all who oppose you under your iron fist!

The huge inspirations for this deck were Nakhla's Sram: Eggs & Swords and BrandonMurrayBMM's Sram's Island of Misfit Toys!

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Date added 6 years
Last updated 3 years
Key combos
Legality

This deck is Commander / EDH legal.

Rarity (main - side)

14 - 0 Mythic Rares

41 - 0 Rares

20 - 0 Uncommons

16 - 0 Commons

Cards 100
Avg. CMC 1.70
Tokens Copy Clone, Monk 1/1 W, Phyrexian Germ 0/0 B, Plant 0/2 G, Treasure
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