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False Hope

Commander / EDH Bracket 4 Lifegain Mill Tokens WU (Azorius)

Madaraximundar

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Creature (21)

Instant (7)

Sorcery (3)

Enchantment (19)

Artifact (16)

Commander (1)

Commander: Hope Estheim

Land (33)

Hope Estheim — Eternal Bloom of Mind and Soul

Mill. Lifegain. Lockdown. Victory.

This deck is a hybrid mill-control and lifegain engine, led by Hope Estheim.

Your goal? Outlast, outdraw, and outgrind your opponents by converting tiny actions into massive value until their libraries are gone or their will to continue is.

Deck Overview

Commander: Hope Estheim

Theme: Life gain engines + passive mill + soft locks

Win Conditions:

Largest mill-based combo (Grindstone + Painter's Servant)

Incremental mill pressure (Bruvac, Zellix, Ruin Crab, Tutelages)

Lifegain advantage loops (Angel combos, The Book of Exalted Deeds, etc.)

Control + pillowfort to stabilize while the engines churn

Token & Copy synergies (Helm of the Host, Extravagant Replication)

Core Gameplan

--- Lifegain = Draw = Engine Your life gain package isn’t just for survival. It’s for drawing cards, making angels, and triggering Hope’s ability multiple times a turn with various copy options. Key components:

Soul Sisters (Soul Warden / Attendant) + Ajani’s Mantra, Venser's Journal, Will, Scion of Peace – Passive life every turn.

Angel of Vitality, Boon Reflection, Rhox Faithmender – Double or triple all life gain.

Well of Lost Dreams, Cosmos Elixir, Dawn of Hope, The One Ring, Insight – Turn life gain into massive draw power.

--- Mill as a Win Condition Mill your opponents quietly while hiding behind a fortress of life and enchantments:

Altar of the Brood – Mill on every permanent you play.

Sphinx’s Tutelage, Teferi’s Tutelage, Psychic Corrosion, Memory Erosion – Every card you draw becomes library erosion.

Ruin Crab, Hedron Crab – Landfall = targeted mill.

Bruvac the Grandiloquent – Doubles every mill effect. Turn every crab into a tidal wave.

Zellix, Sanity Flayer – Repeatable mill from tokens and copy effects.

--- Control and Protection You can’t win if you’re dead. So we tax, stall, and reset:

Cyclonic Rift, Teferi’s Protection, Riot Control – One-sided resets or shields.

Propaganda, Ghostly Prison, Authority of the Consuls – Make attacking you miserable.

Rest in Peace – Graveyard lockdown (note: temporarily shuts off your own crabs and recursion).

Solemnity – Protects against +1/+1 counter strategies or combos like persist/undying.

--- Copy Shenanigans Zellix, Sanity Flayer – Copy Zellix to create double horror armies and mill triggers.

Gogo, Master of Mimicry – Copies activated and triggered effects, pairing with Hope for enhanced end of turn triggers.

Delney, Streetwise Lookout – Triggering Hope yet again.

Extravagant Replication, Mirrormade, Helm of the Host – Copy the best engine, creature, or just Hope once more.

Combos and Win Conditions

Painter’s Servant + Grindstone = Instant Mill Out Painter’s Servant: Choose a color—all cards are now that color.

Grindstone: For 3 mana, mill 2 cards from a player. If they share a color, repeat. → With Painter, every card shares a color = mill entire library.

Angelic Accord + Crested Sunmare + Resplendent Angel Lifegain engines + token producers = create flying 4/4 Angels and 5/5 indestructible Horses every turn.

The Book of Exalted Deeds puts a platinum angel effect on a creature or land, locking out opponents.

Utility Lands and Mana

Academy Ruins / Hall of Heliod’s Generosity – Recursion for Grindstone, Helm, or enchantments.

Kabira Crossroads, Seraph Sanctuary, Radiant Fountain – Enter the battlefield = life gain triggers.

Jidoor, Aristocratic Capital – Enables creature-based value loops with flavor synergy.

Adventurer’s Inn, Tataru Taru, The Crystals – Flavor picks with synergistic effects and lifegain.

How to Win

Combo Kill: Painter’s Servant + Grindstone mills one player instantly. Repeat with untap or loops.

Attrition Mill: Constant passive mill from Hope, Crabs, Tutelages, Altar, and Zellix over time.

Overwhelm with Angels: Lifegain = army. Board presence builds rapidly while you stay protected.

Copy Engine Value: Copy Zellix, Gogo, or Resplendent Angel and watch board states explode.

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98% Casual

Competitive

Revision 1 See all

(4 months ago)

-1 Congregate main
-1 Decanter of Endless Water main
-1 Fraying Sanity main
-1 Grand Arbiter Augustin IV main
-4 Island main
-1 Kwain, Itinerant Meddler main
-1 Leyline of Hope main
-1 Oloro, Ageless Ascetic main
-1 Omniscience main
-4 Plains main
-1 Protection Magic main
+1 Rest in Peace main
+1 Sejiri Refuge main
+1 Tranquil Cove main
-1 Tranquil Grove main