Win Conditions are for Poor People

Commander / EDH Artifact Casual Multiplayer Theme/Gimmick W/U/B (Esper)

FancyTuesday

Type Subtype Rarity Color Latest set Latest block Name Board Converted cost Keyword Price Custom

Type Subtype Rarity Name Converted cost Price

Land (37)

• 1x Ancient Den
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Drowned Catacomb
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 1x Glacial Fortress
• 1x Glimmervoid
• 1x Hallowed Fountain
• 1x Inventors' Fair
• 5x Island
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Mishra's Workshop
• 1x Mystic Gate
• 1x Path of Ancestry
• 1x Phyrexia's Core
• 3x Plains
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Prairie Stream
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Scavenger Grounds
• 1x Scrubland
• 1x Seat of the Synod
• 1x Spire of Industry
• 1x Sunken Hollow
• 1x Sunken Ruins
• 2x Swamp
• 1x Tundra
• 1x Underground Sea
• 1x Vault of Whispers
• 1x Watery Grave

Sorcery (4)

• 1x Austere Command
• 1x Curse of the Swine
• 1x Decree of Pain
• 1x Supreme Verdict

Creature (24)

• 1x Arcbound Ravager
• 1x Arcum Dagsson
• 1x Baleful Strix
• 1x Consecrated Sphinx
• 1x Disciple of Bolas
• 1x Duplicant
• 1x Etherium Sculptor
• 1x Filigree Angel
• 1x Grand Architect
• 1x Kozilek, the Great Distortion
• 1x Master Transmuter
• 1x Metalworker
• 1x Myr Battlesphere
• 1x Noxious Gearhulk
• 1x Padeem, Consul of Innovation
• 1x Phyrexian Metamorph
• 1x Precursor Golem
• 1x Scarecrone
• 1x Scrap Trawler
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Sphinx of the Steel Wind
• 1x Sphinx Summoner
• 1x Trinket Mage
• 1x Wurmcoil Engine

Instant (6)

• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Intuition
• 1x Momentary Blink
• 1x Paradoxical Outcome
• 1x Sphinx's Revelation
• 1x Thirst for Knowledge

Enchantment (2)

• 1x Artificer's Intuition
• 1x Rhystic Study

Commander (1)

Artifact (21)

• 1x Akroma's Memorial
• 1x Basalt Monolith
• 1x Clock of Omens
• 1x Darksteel Forge
• 1x Grim Monolith
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Mana Vault
• 1x Memory Jar
• 1x Mox Opal
• 1x Nevinyrral's Disk
• 1x Nihil Spellbomb
• 1x Oblivion Stone
• 1x Panharmonicon
• 1x Paradox Engine
• 1x Proteus Staff
• 1x Sculpting Steel
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Thran Dynamo
• 1x Unwinding Clock
• 1x Worn Powerstone

Planeswalker (5)

• 1x Karn Liberated
• 1x Teferi, Temporal Archmage
• 1x Tezzeret the Seeker
• 1x Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
• 1x Venser, the Sojourner

Maybeboard

Sorcery (3)

• 1x Compulsive Research
• 1x Open the Vaults
• 1x Painful Truths

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Jace, the Mind Sculptor

Enchantment (3)

• 1x Curse of Verbosity
• 1x Mind Over Matter
• 1x Thopter Spy Network

Creature (1)

• 1x Enigma Sphinx

Instant (2)

• 1x Intellectual Offering
• 1x Lim-Dul's Vault

Artifact (2)

• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Vedalken Orrery

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Throwing Good After Bad

You may notice a lot of Esper and Sharuum staples missing from this decklist, and that's by design. This deck is an exercise in forcing ineffective gimmicks onto one of the most powerful Commanders in EDH until it's on par with my rather casual meta, then pushing it as hard as I can get away with.

This is effectively a Battlecruiser deck in practice, it's just a little weird about how it builds up its board state. It might ramp out like crazy with high yield mana rocks/dorks and start dropping threats like normal. It might stumble a bit early only to tap out into an explosive card draw, pitch a few choice reanimation targets then jump ahead of everyone with a blink or two. Maybe a specific card like Intuition or Mind Over Matter sets up something really ugly really early and it builds from there.

There're lots of ways to get there, the only hitch is that it will take time. There's no go-to winning combo that locks down the game all at once, you actually have to play Magic: The Gathering with other people and they might break your nice things.

How the deck won't be winning

No Counterspells or any hard control. I'm looking at you Null Brooch. I want my opponents to have the ability to remove threats like Darksteel Forge and I don't want the temptation of being able to stop them. If they can break my machine, they've earned it.

No Demonic Tutor or any off-theme tutors. The deck runs plenty of slightly weird/specific tutors like Intuition and Arcum Dagsson that I don't need another wildcard.

No Krark-Clan Ironworks, Mirrorworks, Bitter Ordeal, Disciple of the Vault, Mindslaver, or other Sharuum infinite/lockout combo pieces.

How the deck works, but still probably doesn't win

Originally designed around blink effects like Conjurer's Closet and Deadeye Navigator, the deck is loaded with ETB triggers great and small, from the lowly Trinket Mage digging out Sol Ring to the mighty Luminate Primordial suppressing everyone's board.

A lot of the blinks have been cut over time, but a few vestiges remain with Venser, the Sojourner, Brago, King Eternal, Voyager Staff, and Momentary Blink. The synergy with Sharuum is obvious, allowing you to rebuild your board quickly after a wipe or grab something scary you managed to pitch. Myr Battlesphere is one of the scariest cards in the deck, blink or clone it a few times and you have yourself a player-killer. Brago and Venser pull double-duty untapping rocks like Grim Monolith or gunning things down with Spine of Ish Sah.

As blinking has shifted out, untapping and cloning have moved in as sub-themes. Mind Over Matter is the obvious superstar here, pitching cards to be reanimated to untap mana rocks to cast your commander. Teferi, Temporal Archmage and Tezzeret the Seeker are machines as well, the latter especially for its ability to grab rocks and other tools out of your deck.

Clones like Sakashima the Impostor and Phyrexian Metamorph are functionally blink effects for creatures with a bit of versatility, offering another ETB trigger of your own or stealing the effect of an opponent's.

There's also a fair amount of token production in the deck. Myr Battlesphere, Thopter Foundry, Precursor Golem, Sharding Sphinx, Wurmcoil Engine, and even Urza's Factory late in the game. These tokens exist to fuel Proteus Staff, Kuldotha Forgemaster, Arcum Dagsson, and Master Transmuter without loosing anything of value, though Transmuter is a great value engine all on her own with any artifact with an ETB including Sharuum.

Date added	4 years
Last updated	8 months
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	4.10
Tokens	2/2 Boar, 3/3 Golem, 3/3 Wurm, Teferi, 1/1 Myr
Folders	Operational, EDH, Esper EDH, Random Decks, Favorites of ALL TIME, Cool EDH, EDH (ELITE), Commander, wat, EDH, See all 15
Top rank	#8 on 2018-05-26