Deck Tech Video
Power Level: 9/10. Teir 1.5 cEDH.
What Is The Deck?
This cEDH deck seeks to control the game enough that there is time to instantly win the game with one of two combos. The mix of counterspells, removal, and protection keep you alive until the moment is right. Then, with the help of
Doomsday
, finish the game on the spot regardless of the number of players!
The Combos
There are two combos in this deck. The first and easiest to set up is Doomsday + Laboratory Maniac
for an easy "you win the game" scenario. The second is taking infinite turns and eliminating all the other players with Commander Damage. The second combo involves Doomsday + Nexus of Fate + Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign
. Any of the other creatures in the deck can replace Yennett in the second combo if the way is clear; it's just easiest with Yennett because she has so much evasion with both Flying and Menace. The safest way to combo is using an extra turn spell, the most powerful being
Expropriate
, while having a counterspell in hand to back it up.
Sample Doomsday Piles
There are a lot of ways to build a pile after resolving
Doomsday
. Generally, you either need to have counterspells in your hand or in the pile of cards you create. In addition, if there are any cards or players stopping you from winning with your Doomsday, be sure to either have answers in hand or the pile.
Yawgmoth's Will
will allow you to reuse your resources, essentially doubling your tools to win. If you don't need the safety of Yawgmoth's Will, consider a pile full of card-draw. I tend to try and always get a pile that contains
Nexus
and
Lab-Man
along with two counterspells and a card-draw spell. Here are a few sample piles:
-
Force of Will
,
Pact of Negation
,
Laboratory Maniac
,
Yawgmoth's Will
, and
Flusterstorm
.
-
Nexus of Fate
, Laboratory Maniac, Force of Will, Pact of Negation, and
Sensei's Divining Top
.
- Laboratory Maniac,
Brainstorm
,
Ponder
,
Windfall
, and Yawgmoth's Will.
- Laboratory Mania, Nexus of Fate, and three counterspells.
Do I need my Commander on the field?
A lot of decks rely on having their Commander on the battlefield to win the game. This deck is certainly stronger with
Yennett
on the battlefield, but it is only absolutely needed when trying to cheat high costed spells in the early game. A turn 3 or 4 casting
Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
is very good, but it's more important to always be thinking about the best and safest way to resolve the combos to end the game. I tend to only cast Yennett early if there is no better play, and I have a way to protect her in hand.
Categories of the Deck
- Lands-I recommend this exact configuration of lands. The utility lands are really the only slots that have a little play. The number of basic lands is what I have found best for dealing with problem cards
Blood Moon
and
Back to Basics
.
- Rocks-Fast mana makes for more explosive plays. I've chosen to run Azorius Locket + Dimir Locket
over their Signet counterparts because Yennett can cast them off the top of the deck and they draw cards in a pinch; it is still reasonable to change these to Azorius Signet + Dimir Signet
. The other rocks to consider adding to the deck are
Lion's Eye Diamond
(due to Yawgmoth's Will) or any of the EDH-legal Moxen. I would recommend
Mox Diamond
first because the deck has enough lands and the Diamond taps for all colors.
- Tutors-The tutor package is key to this deck playing consistently.
Enlightened Tutor
is easily the worst of the tutors, but it still grabs
Necropotence
and other situational cards so is good enough. A lot of the tutors go to the top of the deck, and that's okay! You'll still get to use that card very soon and if Yennett is out you can cast it right away.
- Card Draw-These cards are just as important as the tutors. A lot of them double as ways to put cards in your hand and set up your top deck at the same time.
- Topdeck Manipulation-With our
Commander
on the battlefield, we can behave like a Miracles deck. Without our Commander, we can set up our future draws. This is the third component to running a consistent and powerful deck. Cards like
Sensei's Divining Top
and
Scroll Rack
are some of the most powerful and repeatable ways to make sure you always see the cards you want.
- Counterspells-These are obviously to protect your combo and stop your opponent's combo.
Mystic Confluence
is the worst of the counterspell-suite, but having three modes to cast gets it in the deck for me; I could easily see changing it to a more efficient counterspell like
Actual Factual Counterspell
.
- Protection-These three cards are chosen to stall and keep you in the game.
- Spot Removal-Your opponent will play two things that you need to deal with: answers to your deck and threats. Use spot removal to answer the issues at hand.
- Board "Wipes"-The board wipes chosen for this deck are designed to leave Yennett on the battlefield. They are to be used for when there are just too many problems for spot removal to be solution. card:Tragic Arrrogance and
Toxic Deluge
are usually the most powerful outside of an overloaded
Cyclonic Rift
.
- Planeswalkers-The walkers in this deck help to slow down your opponent with one exception:
Aminatou
. The prison-style passives on
Teferi
,
Narset
, and
Ashiok
are the main reason for their inclusion; the activated abilities are just bonus. Aminatou on the other hand is here to be help set up the top of your deck. She is the easiest cut in the whole deck in my opinion, but has become a pet-card and an alternate Commander if you ever sit with a slightly less competitive group.
- Extra Turns-I run what I would consider to be the minimum amount of extra turn spells.
Expropriate
is the most powerful,
Temporal Mastery
is the easiest to cast, and
Nexus of Fate
is part of the combo. I have run more extra turn spells, but I don't find them to be needed since you want to end the game rather than chain extra turns without winning. Use the extra turns to safely combo.
- Combo-These cards serve no function other than to combo.
Yawgmoth's Will
may be the exception, but it is generally used to get your combo back after it has been stopped.
- Plan C-When all else fails, beating down with
Ulamog
can be really hard to deal with.
Upgrades
- To upgrade the deck to a full 10/10 and push it to it's absolute limit, follow these steps:
- Add more rocks. Add
Chrome Mox
,
Mox Opal
, and
Mox Diamond
and change the Lockets to Signets.
LED
and
Petal
also probably make the cut.
- Add two more counterspells and change
Mystic Confluence
to something more efficient.
- Use less clunky board wipes. They may not leave Yennett on the battlefield, but if you're sweeping the board there must have been a reason. The first change would be to turn
Single Combat
into
Engineered Explosives
. From there, tailor your sweepers to your meta.
- Lastly, you may find more efficient versions of cards in this deck that are of even Converted Mana Cost (CMC) when this deck is using it's odd CMC counterpart. If you can reduce the CMC of the effect you want, that's an upgrade.
Some changes I'm already considering or working on:
Downgrades
To downgrade the deck to fit a more casual environment, I suggest first cutting at least six tutors for cards that are odd CMC that you just want to run because they are fun. The second thing I would do is add more creatures to the deck. A more casual environment tends to have a more combat-heavy playstyle than cEDH, so make sure that you are prepared for that. There are also obvious budget-related changes you can make; changing a card to something that is budget friendly and close to the effect already in the deck (for example changing
Yawgmoth's Will
to
Elixir of Immortality
) will lessen the power level and be easier on your wallet. Run basics instead of dual-lands, and run all the Signets and Lockets instead of
Mana Crypt
and
Mana Vault
. The easiest downgrade to the deck however (while still keeping the combo) is to simply build by only using odd CMC cards-no exceptions- and using cards that you like to cast even if they aren't pushing the win.
Thank you for your time, and I hope you enjoyed this in-depth look at Yennett Doomsday Control. Please take a look at my other decks and leave questions, comments, or feedback.
