Is it a Bird..Is it a Plane...

Commander / EDH* Casual Counters GWU (Bant)

heelguns

Creature (25)

• 1x Abzan Falconer
• 1x Archaeomancer
• 1x Bastion Protector
• 1x Celestial Ancient
• 1x Chasm Skulker
• 1x Coralhelm Guide
• 1x Courser of Kruphix
• 1x Eidolon of Blossoms
• 1x Enduring Scalelord
• 1x Ephara, God of the Polis
• 1x Fathom Mage
• 1x Forgotten Ancient
• 1x Herald of the Pantheon
• 1x Juniper Order Ranger
• 1x Managorger Hydra
• 1x Master Biomancer
• 1x Mirri, Weatherlight Duelist
• 1x Mnemonic Wall
• 1x Murkfiend Liege
• 1x Rampaging Baloths
• 1x Scute Mob
• 1x Simic Fluxmage
• 1x Sun Titan
• 1x Sunscorch Regent
• 1x Weaver of Currents

Instant (8)

• 1x Condemn
• 1x Dissipate
• 1x Erase
• 1x Evolution Charm
• 1x Lifecrafter's Gift
• 1x Naturalize
• 1x Steady Progress
• 1x Void Shatter

Planeswalker (2)

• 1x Ajani, Valiant Protector
• 1x Tamiyo, Field Researcher

Land (33)

• 1x Azorius Chancery
• 1x Azorius Guildgate
• 1x Blossoming Sands
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 7x Forest
• 1x Grove of the Guardian
• 6x Island
• 1x Llanowar Reborn
• 6x Plains
• 1x Simic Growth Chamber
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Thornwood Falls
• 1x Tranquil Cove
• 1x Vivid Grove
• 1x Yavimaya Coast

Enchantment (15)

• 1x Abundance
• 1x Always Watching
• 1x Bred for the Hunt
• 1x Burgeoning
• 1x Citadel Siege
• 1x Hardened Scales
• 1x Inexorable Tide
• 1x Lurking Predators
• 1x Mirari's Wake
• 1x Nature's Will
• 1x Oath of the Ancient Wood
• 1x Primeval Bounty
• 1x Retreat to Coralhelm
• 1x Training Grounds
• 1x Zendikar Resurgent

Commanders (2)

Artifact (9)

• 1x Bident of Thassa
• 1x Bow of Nylea
• 1x Chromatic Lantern
• 1x Rhonas's Monument
• 1x Simic Signet
• 1x Skull of Orm
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Thought Vessel

Sorcery (6)

• 1x Increasing Savagery
• 1x Incremental Growth
• 1x Open the Vaults
• 1x Plea for Guidance
• 1x Rout
• 1x Tragic Arrogance

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Maybeboard

Enchantment (7)

• 1x Asceticism
• 1x Cathars' Crusade
• 1x Exploration
• 1x Imprisoned in the Moon
• 1x Primal Vigor
• 1x Sigil of the Empty Throne
• 1x Starfield of Nyx

Creature (7)

• 1x Deepglow Skate
• 1x Gyre Sage
• 1x Humbler of Mortals
• 1x Kalonian Hydra
• 1x Oracle of Mul Daya
• 1x Thrummingbird
• 1x Tuskguard Captain

Instant (1)

• 1x Inspiring Call

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Casual little partner deck focused on buffing up Ishai, Ojutai Dragonspeaker, and creating a big ol' army of beasts.

This deck can utilise a couple different strategies depending on board state and what you draw. Firstly, getting both commanders out, especially with an early turn Hardened Scales + Training Grounds enables a reliable way of getting extra lands and card draw, with Ishai posing a viable threat with each spell opponents cast. Of course, good opening hands don't always happen, but thrasios is still easy to get out due to cheap GU cost. Both him and Retreat to Coralhelm ensure your card draw is always something useful.

Secondly, the numerous creatures possessing evolve allow for counters to build up fast, optimised further by Hardened Scales + Master Biomancer + Juniper Order Ranger (ideally combo'd with Primal Vigor or Doubling Season, but I haven't had a chance to pick one up yet). Many of the other spells in the deck also serve to boost counter numbers Increasing Savagery + Incremental Growth + Citadel Siege (which can also be used to protect against an opponent's creature if need be) Inexorable Tide + Primeval Bounty(plus other utilities) and Steady Progress.

There's also some graveyard retrieval in Open the Vaults + Mnemonic Wall + Sun Titan + Skull of Orm + Archaeomancer for the situations that require it, either for counterspells, counter increasing spells or removal spells to ensure the safety of all the creatures.

Although not aggressively competitive or aggro, this deck is super fun to play if you enjoy a lot of synergies between cards and don't mind games that go on for a while! (And if you don't mind doing the math and keeping track of everyone once all of the counter triggers come into play) :>

Date added	6 years
Last updated	2 years
Key combos	Hardened Scales + Training Grounds
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	10 - 0 Mythic Rares 35 - 0 Rares 18 - 0 Uncommons 16 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.60
Tokens	Beast 3/3 G, Beast 4/4 G, Elemental 8/8 GW, Emblem Tamiyo, Field Researcher, Squid 1/1 U