Thrasios + Kydele RETIRED Primer

Commander / EDH* GU (Simic) Infinite Combo

somedumbjerk

Instant (20)

• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Blue Sun's Zenith
• 1x Brainstorm
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Daze
• 1x Disdainful Stroke
• 1x Dramatic Reversal
• 1x Evacuation
• 1x Force of Will
• 1x Muddle the Mixture
• 1x Mystical Tutor
• 1x Nature's Claim
• 1x Pact of Negation
• 1x Pull from Tomorrow
• 1x Rapid Hybridization
• 1x Remand
• 1x Swan Song
• 1x Unwind
• 1x Whir of Invention

Land (34)

• 1x Academy Ruins
• 1x Alchemist's Refuge
• 1x Ash Barrens
• 1x Boseiju, Who Shelters All
• 1x Buried Ruin
• 1x Command Beacon
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Flooded Grove
• 7x Forest
• 12x Island
• 1x Lonely Sandbar
• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 1x Nephalia Academy
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Simic Growth Chamber
• 1x Tranquil Thicket
• 1x Yavimaya Coast

Creature (20)

• 1x Arbor Elf
• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Coiling Oracle
• 1x Drift of Phantasms
• 1x Elvish Mystic
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Fyndhorn Elves
• 1x Jace's Archivist
• 1x Kiora's Follower
• 1x Laboratory Maniac
• 1x Llanowar Elves
• 1x Lotus Cobra
• 1x Quirion Elves
• 1x Seedborn Muse
• 1x Sylvan Caryatid
• 1x Tatyova, Benthic Druid
• 1x Trophy Mage
• 1x Viridian Joiner
• 1x Walking Atlas
• 1x Walking Ballista

Artifact (16)

• 1x Basalt Monolith
• 1x Isochron Scepter
• 1x Mana Vault
• 1x Moss Diamond
• 1x Paradox Engine
• 1x Rings of Brighthearth
• 1x Simic Signet
• 1x Sky Diamond
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Staff of Domination
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Sword of the Paruns
• 1x Thought Vessel
• 1x Thousand-Year Elixir
• 1x Thran Dynamo
• 1x Umbral Mantle

Commanders (2)

Enchantment (6)

• 1x Concordant Crossroads
• 1x Instill Energy
• 1x Retreat to Coralhelm
• 1x Rhystic Study
• 1x Sylvan Library
• 1x Training Grounds

Sorcery (2)

• 1x Fabricate
• 1x Windfall

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Maybeboard

Creature (1)

• 1x Walking Ballista

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RETIRED as of the ban hammer on paradox engine.

Please note this is a work in progress, and a living document, I will do my best to keep this up to date and complete it soon

Living Primer for Thrasios, Triton Hero and Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix EDH

I built this deck a while ago, and as the power level of our group crept up, this deck became more and more fun. The goal of this living primer is to talk about the evolution of this deck, now that it's at a point where I think it's a viable deck to bring to any playgroup. It will be interesting to note how the deck evolves with group feedback and my meta beefing up against combos. Below are the main combos and synergies/engines that get the deck going, as well as a card by card discussion. Another section is cards to consider, that I don't run in my deck at the moment. This is where I'll put my thoughts on suggestions or cards I don't own that would optimize the deck.

The heart of the deck are the commanders. What we want to do in a game of EDH is draw a lot of cards, ramp into a ton of mana, and win the game while our opponents are still assembling the board. This deck wins on turn 4-5 more often than not, and could be sped up, as shown below. While this is a combo deck, it's not glass cannon, as we have a few paths to victory. With our Partners being either a combo piece or a card draw and ramp engine, we also recover from blowouts really well. This list will need to be finetuned to your meta. It could be faster at the expensive of recovery, or a little more midrange at the expensense of speed. I find this deck really versatile and more fun than a typical Laboratory Maniac deck.

Synergies Show

Thrasios, Triton Hero = Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix - These two at the helm feed off each other. The point of the deck is to ramp and draw a lot of cards. Thrasios activations help you ramp into card draw effects, which in turn ramp you into more cards with Kydele tapping for mana for more Thrasios activations.

Umbral Mantle - generator. Works with Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix and 4+ cards drawn for turn, Viridian Joiner , also nuts with other tap effects. At 3CMC and an artifact it's rather tutorable, also.

Dramatic Reversal + Isochron Scepter - Great with mana rocks and dorks out. Infinite mana if your nonland dorks can make 3 mana. Other good targets for Isochron can be draw spells (especially Brainstorm if you have Paradox Engine in play).

Paradox Engine - This card is an engine by itself. With the amount of dorks and rocks we run, and Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix resolving this generally chains into mayhem. This also goes Bananas (proper noun because of how crazy) with Isochron Scepter . It's also akin to just releasing a wild elephant into the room, so it'll eat removal that your other pieces might survive. We run enough engines that a few can get murked and we generally can still win.

Basalt Monolith + Rings of Brighthearth Honestly, forgot to put this in earlier! 3CmC per piece, also. Nifty.

Card By Card Show

Lightning Greaves - Haste and protection. The shroud can be obnoxious, but most of the time you'll win at sorcery speed and have two creatures. Mainly for Kydele.

Sword of the Paruns - Worse Umbral Mantle . I hate when people don't explain why it's worse, so here: it's 4 mana, so not as easy to tutor with transmute or Treasure Keeper . The effect of tapping and untapping isn't as strong, either. You'll get infinite mana but you better do something with it! With Umbral at least you can snipe someone.

Alhammarret's Archive - Lifegain isn't used in this deck. The card draw clause goes nuts. I cut Consecrated Sphinx for this, and have no regrets, as it makes Brainstorm draw enough cards for Kydele to throw infinite mana (I.E. enough to cast Umbral Mantle , equip and untap). It's also a strong threat that eats removal so your Paradox Engine or Isochron Scepter can land. Generally, you'll get value.

Rings of Brighthearth - I hear that doubling card draw effects can be good! 3CMC is a good thing in this deck with the tutor suite. Infinite mana with Basalt Monolith .

Mana Vault - Part of the point of this deck is to win, ASAP. mana is very useful, and can be with Paradox Engine , Kiora's Follower etc.

Basalt Monolith - Decent mana rock, especially if you can untap it a few times. 3CMC is important for tutoring, also goes with Rings of Brighthearth .

Umbral Mantle - 3CMC tutorable, check. If you can draw four cards and have a Kydele to , you go . If you can get Thrasios online, you draw your deck.

Thran Dynamo - This card wins games. Especially with effects, which we have a few of. The mana rocks in this deck are kind of flex slots, so run what you have. Mine are far from optimized, and I am slowly adding more color. Thran will probably be one of two rocks that make the final cuts.

Thousand-Year Elixir - Not haste, but good enough for Kydele! the effect will absolutely become useful immediately as well. At 3CMC, also tutorable.

Thought Vessel - Reliquary Tower in a mana rock, wonderful!

Swiftfoot Boots - Great effect in this deck, Haste is wonderful and you will very quickly have things removed. Chances are you will be hated off the table once people realize how hard you are going to steamroll them!

Staff of Domination - Tutorable wincon. Infinite mana can the field, draw your deck, etc. 3CMC!

Sol Ring - If you play multiplayer, you know you play a 99 card deck.

Simic Signet - Gotta have that colored mana!

Paradox Engine - Discussed in the Synergy section. This should absolutely win you the game.

Isochron Scepter - Dramatic Reversal is the best target. Don't forget this also casts a spell so if you have a Paradox Engine online you don't need the reversal. This is when you target Cyclonic Rift or a card draw spell.

Drift of Phantasms - Mainly a tutor. Like 99.9% of the time. Sometimes, you really need a flying blocker. Dual purpose is something I try for in a highlander format.

Quirion Elves - or dork! This should be a Birds of Paradise but I only have one and it's in my Abzan Hatebears deck.

Trophy Mage - Tutors out our wincons! Seriously 3CMC is a theme here, apparently.

Sylvan Caryatid - The hexproof is helpful. The booty is nice, too. Mana is why she's in here.

Seedborn Muse - Just dumb with Thrasios. Exponential ramping is hysterical!

Lotus Cobra - Constantly being told to cut this card. It does work with Thrasios activations, and can turn ramp into mana for more activations to push you to infinite when needed. Plus everyone always thinks landfall combo or something and wastes removal!

Llanowar Elves - DORKS! we all love dorks, since alpha. Fuel early turns and fun with Paradox Engine or other .

Laboratory Maniac - Draw your deck, win. My personal rule is I only run one deck with LabMan. For this deck it's a 3CMC wincon, on theme. More in the Synergy section.

Kiora's Follower - anything. Thran Dynamo , Kydele after drawing seven cards...

Jace's Archivist - Dump your opponents crafted hands and dig for the win! , and repeat!

Eternal Witness - Our spells get countered, our creatures die. Let's bring them back on a stick and use DeN if needed to refill after a blowout.

Elvish Mystic - Mana Dork Train CHOO CHOO!!

Coiling Oracle - Mini Thrasios effect on a stick, simic staple. I like it for flavor, and it's foil in my deck. Could easily be cut if you want a flex slot open.

Whir of Invention - A more expensive second copy of whatever artifact you need. Since most of them are 3cmc this is a 6cmc spell most of the time. can be a PITA though.

Muddle the Mixture - Finds both halves of the Isochron Scepter match of your hearts content, and can counter a spell. Seems like a no brainer?

Rapid Hybridization - removal staple. Really run this if you don't, it's great. Just bring Frog Lizard tokens, not everyone has them.

Pull from Tomorrow - Draw a bunch of cards! Great addition from Amonkhet.

Mystical Tutor - Lots of targets, but it's always funny to me to grab Tooth and Nail and win. Or a Counterspell to save your board hahaha!

Evacuation - A worse Cyclonic Rift but Elves and Edric decks are faster than we can deal with. We can generally float enough mana to rebuild our boardstate and execute this. I also play a hatebears deck, and I build my decks with answers to my own decks.

Dramatic Reversal - Isochron Scepter 's BFF. Generally useful if you have mana dorks/rocks, acts like a ritual of sorts in a pinch.

Disdainful Stroke - Decent counterspell. Counterspell s to me are a personal preference. This one is a Meta flex spot.

Pact of Negation - Pulled this gem in M25. Great way to protect your combo, could be risky, but hopefully you'll win that turn, eh?

Cyclonic Rift - Well, we run so, might as well play one of the most game swinging cards in the game.

Counterspell - Just say no.

Brainstorm - This is why is so powerful in other formats. Draw 3 is useful for Kydele, play this on your mainphase and you have four cards drawn for turn. Enter Umbral Mantle .

Blue Sun's Zenith - So you don't deck yourself when some smartass bounces your labman. Or so you can snipe someone when you have infinite mana.

Beast Within - Great removal! Any permanent, at cost of a beast token... Great tradeoff.

Windfall - Generally, this is to get Kydele to go off. Most games unless I'm losing, I have the most cards in hand, so it allows the opponents to dig a bit, so be careful. But nothing feels better than wheeling away your opponents perfectly sculpted hand.

Fabricate - Looks for all the artifacts we need, but mainly Paradox Engine as most of them are 3CMC.

Training Grounds - This card got pricey! Really does wonders in this deck, with Thrasios especially.

Rhystic Study - Do you pay the ?

Retreat to Coralhelm - Just a BEAST with Thrasios and Kydele out, of you don't draw a card, Kydele to float mana, , repeat. Doesn't always chain off into a win, but can be backbreaking and ramp you out of control if you don't win.

Ash Barrens - Deck-thinning and color fixing, I don't own Misty Rainforest .

Myriad Landscape , Blighted Woodland - Ramp and colorfixing.

Ancient Tomb , Temple of the False God , Simic Growth Chamber - Double mana.

Reliquary Tower - You will have lots of cards in your hand while piloting this deck!

Halimar Depths - Testing this. The hope is to put it into play with Thrasios, in which case it's awesome. CIPT is a bit worrying.

Alchemist's Refuge - All star! Haste is a challenge, so Flash ing in Kydele is a great play. People tend to forget about the utility lands, too.

Command Beacon - We rely on our generals. A lot.

Yavimaya Coast - Pain lands aren't aweful because they come in untapped.

Command Tower - Better than basics!

Flooded Grove - Why not. Filter lands are nice, especially with our lean mana base/high dork ratio.

Lonely Sandbar , Tranquil Thicket - Cycling Lands, card draw in a pinch for Kydele and great to get better cards in hand late game or if you are flooded. I avoided these for years in my decks stupidly.

Added 4.16.18: Viridian Joiner - This guy is a 3CMC alternate infinite mana generator. Talk about under the radar! Be careful, you need to have enough mana to start the engine. Think of this one as a hand crank Model T.

Riftsweeper - My meta runs tons of exile, and even Jester's Cap . Seriously. Maybe Walking Ballista would be better here, but at least you can transmute with Muddle the Mixture

Birds of Paradise - Mana dorks make the deck run, and she's the best.

Moss Diamond - Need colored mana and I have enough untap effects.

Vedalken Orrery - Made it back in the cut. It will either eat removal or you can get value out of it. We can usually ramp it out early, and EoT Kydele is worth it.

Concordant Crossroads - Instill Energy Might be better, as this can let our opponents go off in response. Haste is huge when you rely on tapping.

Foil - Sometimes a free counter. We run lots of basics and draw effects, so should be free, still testing.

Force of Will - YES! The "free" counters are worht the card disadvantage to protect your combo, or slow someone down enough so you can win instead. We ramp enough to hard cast this sometimes. Seriously.

Remand - Best use is in a counter war to counter your own spell, but also useful against high CMC spells to make a player whiff. Card draw synergy is real.

Forbid - We have tons of counter wars in my meta, and I draw lots of cards. Sort of a pet card.

Nature's Claim - Efficiently remove threats. Four life is nothing, and we don't really care about life totals so much in this deck.

Daze - Narrow, but useful. Can really be a ninja attack on someone when you're tapped out.

Sky Diamond - Blue rock!

Sylvan Library - This should have been in since the beginning. Honestly I had it in a pet deck that i don't enjoy playing as much. The interaction with Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix is amazing, hitting that draw 3 reliably.

Arbor Elf - Would be better with some form of dual land, and this will happen as i trade into it. T1 dorks are very important.

Fyndhorn Elves - Needed more dorks, plus this one has icicles in it (Ice Age block).

Instill Energy - I've been meaning to put this in for a while, and has lived in the Cards to Consider section since inception. Finally put it in when I cut the remaining creatures from the DeN combo. This helps Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix tap twice on your turn for shenanigans aplenty. Can help fuel another Thrasios activation for more mana on the second tap!

Cards to Consider Show

Consecrated Sphinx - I cut this for Alhammarret's Archive because drawing on the opponents turn doesn't fuel the combo. I'd rather drop that or even Recurring Insight 99% of the time.

Cloudstone Curio - had it in the deck since the beginning, and was underwhelmed. A bit of a "build around me" card. Pros: Tutorable at a 3CMC artifact, and useful with some of the ETB creatures and utility land. Cons: a bit Slow and I hardly got any good value out of it TBH. Speed seems better at the moment.

Roil Elemental - More midrange, but could be obnoxious with Thrasios activations... that CMC is a bit tough though, and it doesn't win the game when it hits without significant mana investment. Seems fun with Harrow or Scapeshift if going that route...

Changes Show

Deadeye Navigator - Dropped DeN/Drake combo to focus on the main combos. was just too win more.

Peregrine Drake - Not great without DeN or a mana doubler.

Tooth and Nail - Dropped DeN/Drake.

Zendikar Resurgent - Also part of DeN/Drake and Resurgent.

Magus of the Candelabra - Again. The reason I freed these slots up.

Overwhelming Denial - Found better permission. This isn't a bad card but I had a FoW come free from another deck.

Nature's Lore - Would rather have a dork that can untap. Especially since i don't run the dual lands.

Overflowing Insight - win-more, expensive, sorcery. Wanted to speed and smooth the deck up.

Recurring Insight - Same as her sister above.

Serum Visions - Great card, but replaced to beef up the permission suite.

Pemmin's Aura - a bit win-more, replaced with Viridian Joiner

Zendikar Resurgent - just tidying up. my group is beginning to hate me off the table so i can't invest that much mana without an impact

Desert of the Indomitable - CIPT is a four letter word.

Desert of the Mindful - CIPT slows down decks, these don't have enough impact.

Lumbering Falls - Less edicts than i thought in my group

Treetop Village - see above

Temur Sabertooth - less creature based

Green Sun's Zenith - Honestly I'm mainly looking for dorks with this at this point. This will probably get cut for speed or interaction. Did get cut for speed.

Arcanis the Omnipotent - One activation during your first main phase is enough to go off with Umbral Mantle and Kydele, but... kind of slow. Still testing. Testing ended. Kinda slow. cut for Pact of Negation .

2x Alhammarret's Archive 2x Ancient Tomb (EXP) F 2x Blighted Woodland 2x Foil 2x Forbid 2x Halimar Depths 2x Lightning Greaves 2x Riftsweeper (MMA) F 2x Temple of the False God 2x Vedalken Orrery

Old Card Descriptions Show

Treetop Village , Lumbering Falls - Manlands are decent utility in a low creature deck if your meta has edicts. Blockers in a pinch, attackers post boardwipe, etc.

Pemmin's Aura - A cute and shroud in a pinch. Needs so not the easiest to go infinite with, but Paradox Engine Helps.

Deadeye Navigator + Peregrine Drake Infinite mana. Tooth and Nail is included to make this a reality. Infinite mana is a really good way to win the game on the spot. This allows infinite Thrasios activations, on your turn or with an Alchemist's Refuge in play you can play Laboratory Maniac and win on the spot. Staff of Domination is another option here as well.

Temur Sabertooth - Not as many shenanigans as normal, but mainly for protection against wipes. I generally don't run too many creatures, but most of them I wouldn't mind protecting or stopping from getting stolen/exiled.

Mystic Snake - Counterspell that leaves a body. Can be fun with Deadeye Navigator as well.

Mulldrifter - Evoke or not, great card. I used to run Cloudstone Curio and these effects where a lot better, but I need more games before I figure out if they stay.

Green Sun's Zenith - Honestly I'm mainly looking for dorks with this at this point. This will probably get cut for speed or interaction.

Date added	7 years
Last updated	4 years
Key combos	Deadeye Navigator + Peregrine Drake Basalt Monolith + Rings of Brighthearth Dramatic Reversal + Isochron Scepter
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	5 - 0 Mythic Rares 28 - 0 Rares 23 - 0 Uncommons 25 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.32
Tokens	Beast 3/3 G, Bird 2/2 U, Frog Lizard 3/3 G
Folders	Actual EDH