Vela - Dark Machinations EDH

Commander / EDH* Artifact UB (Dimir)

homemaderum

Creature (34)

• 1x Ancient Stone Idol
• 1x Baleful Strix
• 1x Burnished Hart
• 1x Cabal Paladin
• 1x Deepfathom Skulker
• 1x Etherium Sculptor
• 1x Faerie Artisans
• 1x Grand Architect
• 1x Hangarback Walker
• 1x Herald of Anguish
• 1x Hostage Taker
• 1x Marionette Master
• 1x Metalwork Colossus
• 1x Meteor Golem
• 1x Mulldrifter
• 1x Myr Battlesphere
• 1x Myr Retriever
• 1x Noxious Gearhulk
• 1x Pilgrim's Eye
• 1x Pitiless Plunderer
• 1x Rona, Disciple of Gix
• 1x Sai, Master Thopterist
• 1x Scrap Trawler
• 1x Sharding Sphinx
• 1x Shimmer Myr
• 1x Silas Renn, Seeker Adept
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Steel Hellkite
• 1x Thada Adel, Acquisitor
• 1x Thopter Assembly
• 1x Vedalken Archmage
• 1x Whirler Rogue
• 1x Wurmcoil Engine
• 1x Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow

Land (35)

• 1x Barren Moor
• 1x Buried Ruin
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Darkslick Shores
• 1x Dimir Aqueduct
• 1x Ghost Quarter
• 1x Halimar Depths
• 1x High Market
• 9x Island
• 1x Morphic Pool
• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 1x Path of Ancestry
• 1x Sunken Hollow
• 8x Swamp
• 1x Temple of Deceit
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Urza's Mine
• 1x Urza's Power Plant
• 1x Urza's Tower

Instant (7)

• 1x Costly Plunder
• 1x Go for the Throat
• 1x Insidious Will
• 1x Mystic Confluence
• 1x Paradoxical Outcome
• 1x Silumgar's Command
• 1x Sudden Spoiling

Enchantment (4)

• 1x Future Sight
• 1x Mechanized Production
• 1x The Eldest Reborn
• 1x Thopter Spy Network

Commander (1)

Artifact (14)

• 1x Armillary Sphere
• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Blade of Selves
• 1x Cranial Plating
• 1x Cultivator's Caravan
• 1x Dimir Signet
• 1x Executioner's Capsule
• 1x Helm of the Host
• 1x Relic of Progenitus
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Spawning Pit
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Trading Post

Sorcery (4)

• 1x Black Sun's Zenith
• 1x Rite of Replication
• 1x Saheeli's Artistry
• 1x Victimize

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Tezzeret, Artifice Master

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Tinkering with an artifact based Vela build leveraging thopters and other artifact tokens that Vela can make mostly unblockable or combo with for massive amounts of mass fire.

Vela

Vela offers us a neat angle we can take that many won't expect. She comes down late, after building up to a good board state, and gives our guys intimidate. That means they can only be blocked by creatures that share a color with them, or are an artifact. Vela also hits each opponent for a point of damage whenever a creature leaves the battlefield. To get maximum synergy, we'll go for building our board with artifact tokens; we can include sacrifice effects to provide a means to get frequent value out of Vela's leave-the-battlefield triggers that we can turn proactive. Vela also interacts with mass copies of herself, such as with Rite of Replication , Infinite Reflections and Blade of Selves to deal mass quantities of damage to each opponent - they each see each other leave the battlefield, dealing a point of damage per observation (Total number of Vela's X That number minus one). She's a payoff commander, played after you have a board of tokens to remove from the board, lurking in the shadows until our creatures are mustered to grant mass evasion, or once you've assembled the proper components for an explosive combo finish.

Strategy

We have 3 primary strategies to pursue. First, we establish a board and attack for damage and effects. Vela enables this by granting evasion to our creatures. Nothing shares a color with a colorless creature, so they all get through (plus we get a few extra hits against those without blue and/or black). Next, Vela herself represents a notable threat via combat damage. At 4 power, a couple of hits with Cranial Plating attached, and its a KO. Finally, we are going to scorch opponents with triggered damage effects. Vela herself enables this, as do a clutch of cards that create similar effects. These have the added bonus of shortening the game so our unblockable army can close out the game, but also can close out the game when our offense stalls.

Playtesting

Vela has proven to be pretty effective. She consistently causes damage to opponents, whether via triggered abilities or unblockable combat damage. She succeeds by being the payoff to the strategy you have available in hand, and by being judicious with her application. The first few months of playing show this deck may need a few more guaranteed board wipes, ways of dealing with problem enchantments, and ways of dealing with lifegain strategies. It can grind out a game, but a few answers may go a long way.

Date added	5 years
Last updated	5 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	8 - 0 Mythic Rares 38 - 0 Rares 22 - 0 Uncommons 15 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.88
Tokens	2/2 C Artifact Creature Spawn, Construct 6/12 C, Copy Clone, Emblem Tezzeret, Artifice Master, Goat 0/1 W, Myr 1/1 C, Servo 1/1 C, Thopter 1/1 C, Thopter 1/1 U, Treasure, Wurm 3/3 C w/ Deathtouch, Wurm 3/3 C w/ Lifelink