big snek go sploosh (Aesi)

Commander / EDH* Competitive Control GU (Simic) Lands

realsoupersand

Instant (28)

• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Brainstorm
• 1x Consider
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Crop Rotation
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Disdainful Stroke
• 1x Dispel
• 1x Fierce Guardianship
• 1x Force of Negation
• 1x Force of Will
• 1x Ghostly Flicker
• 1x Impulse
• 1x Intervene
• 1x Mana Drain
• 1x Misdirection
• 1x Mystical Tutor
• 1x Nature's Claim
• 1x Negate
• 1x Noxious Revival
• 1x Opt
• 1x Pongify
• 1x Rapid Hybridization
• 1x Resculpt
• 1x Stubborn Denial
• 1x Swan Song
• 1x Turn Aside
• 1x Worldly Tutor

Artifact (6)

• 1x Cloudstone Curio
• 1x Crucible of Worlds
• 1x Jeweled Lotus
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Mox Diamond
• 1x Sol Ring

Land (36)

• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Boseiju, Who Endures
• 1x Breeding Pool
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dreamroot Cascade
• 1x Field of the Dead
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 2x Forest
• 1x Glacial Chasm
• 3x Island
• 1x Misty Rainforest
• 1x Mystic Sanctuary
• 1x Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Prismatic Vista
• 1x Rejuvenating Springs
• 1x Rimewood Falls
• 1x Scalding Tarn
• 3x Snow-Covered Forest
• 4x Snow-Covered Island
• 1x Strip Mine
• 1x Tangled Islet
• 1x Tropical Island
• 1x Urza's Saga
• 1x Verdant Catacombs
• 1x Waterlogged Grove
• 1x Windswept Heath
• 1x Wooded Foothills

Enchantment (2)

• 1x Exploration
• 1x Mystic Remora

Planeswalker (2)

• 1x Jace, Wielder of Mysteries
• 1x Oko, Thief of Crowns

Commander (1)

Creature (14)

• 1x Ashaya, Soul of the Wild
• 1x Azusa, Lost but Seeking
• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Dryad of the Ilysian Grove
• 1x Endurance
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Gilded Drake
• 1x Oracle of Mul Daya
• 1x Quirion Ranger
• 1x Ramunap Excavator
• 1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1x Tireless Provisioner
• 1x Trygon Predator
• 1x Wayward Swordtooth

Sorcery (11)

• 1x Farseek
• 1x Finale of Devastation
• 1x Green Sun's Zenith
• 1x Into the North
• 1x Nature's Lore
• 1x Ponder
• 1x Preordain
• 1x Rampant Growth
• 1x Regrowth
• 1x Sylvan Scrying
• 1x Three Visits

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Power: 8/10

"No" is a complete sentence.

This deck was inspired by a $20 budget Tatyova list that focused on sea monsters. I ramped it up to a level that is more fun for me to play and changed the overall theme from sea monsters to primordial forces of nature, which allowed me to add in a "zoo" of sorts, hence the deck's former name ("The Soviet Petting Zoo").

As time has passed with this deck, it has further been tuned toward combos and control and it barely resembles the cute $20 sea monster tribal deck it was inspired by. It is now a control deck through and through. It wins either with a massive army of zombies, a huge Finale of Devastation, or drawing the whole deck and playing Jace. It is exceptionally resilient thanks to its ability to maintain hand advantage. It is also great at locking out combat, as sacrificing a land each turn to play Glacial Chasm over and over from the grave so as to not lose life to it is pretty easy to do in a deck that spams lands and can play multiple per turn.

The only major "flaw" I can think of is how slow this deck is. Sure, it burns through cards quickly, continues to keep resources alive, draws several cards per turn, and can take many game actions at a rapid pace, but it mostly just draws, plays a few lands, plays a cantrip or two, and passes the turn. It does not push for a win until very late in the game and this has caused players to become frustrated. That being said, the Ashaya combo has significantly sped up the deck.

This is the deck that turned me into a Simic player. This is also the first deck I ever built that used counterspells, excluding Red Elemental Blast and similar spells in Kaalia.

I owe much of the credit for this list to a close friend from my LGS. We collaborated on this after I decided to ramp it up. Ifeno is an excellent deck builder. Go check his stuff out!

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Combos

Wait... no Retreat to Coralhelm and Walking Atlas!? Nope! Retreat can't be tutored in this deck barring the mediocre blue tutors and Walking Atlas and friends need haste, so they're all inefficient. Instead, I run combos that can be completely tutored out and played in one turn.

1) Ghostly Flicker

Aesi + Tireless Provisioner + Mystic Sanctuary (has to enter untapped) + any land that enters untapped that isn't Breeding Pool + Ghostly Flicker

Ghostly Flicker also doubles as recurring protection from spot removal thanks to ways to bounce lands and Mystic Sanctuary.

Cast Ghostly Flicker and target Mystic Sanctuary and another land. When they re-enter, put Ghostly Flicker on top of the deck with Mystic Sanctuary, draw 2 cards, create 2 treasures, and float 2 mana. Tap the 2 lands and crack 1 treasure to cast Ghostly Flicker again. Repeat. This easily creates enough mana to cast Jace and win.

2) Ashaya

Aesi + Ashaya + Quirion Ranger

Aesi (or any other creature except Ashaya and Ranger) has to have been out for one turn by this point so that you have a creature you can tap, but that's easy.

Ashaya turns all your creatures into forests. Tap Aesi for G, play Quirion Ranger, draw a card because she's now a land, bounce her with her own effect because she's a Forest, untap Aesi, and repeat. This doesn't net any mana without Tireless Provisioner, but that's okay. There are some rocks and a LOT of ways to put mana on the board. Cast Jace and win.

3) Zombies

If Jace is unavailable for some reason, the combos above can also make infinite zombies with Field of the Dead. Draw the deck, kill Aesi, make infinite zombies and mana, cast Finale for infinity, and swing!

If neither Aesi nor Finale are available, sitting on infinite zombies for a turn is still a very reasonable option.

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Chopping Block

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Considerations

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Date added	5 years
Last updated	1 year
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	10 - 0 Mythic Rares 36 - 0 Rares 18 - 0 Uncommons 24 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.05
Tokens	Ape 3/3 G, Beast 3/3 G, Bird 2/2 U, City's Blessing, Construct 0/0 C, Elemental 4/4 UR, Elk 3/3 G, Food, Frog Lizard 3/3 G, Treasure, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders	aaaa