Aminatou the Facelifter - Grin and Win!

Commander / EDH Casual Infinite Combo Multiplayer WUB (Esper)

pryrates

Creature (25)

• 1x Agent of Treachery
• 1x Angel of Despair
• 1x Archaeomancer
• 1x Brago, King Eternal
• 1x Charming Prince
• 1x Cloudblazer
• 1x Cloudkin Seer
• 1x Deadeye Navigator
• 1x Felidar Guardian
• 1x Gonti, Lord of Luxury
• 1x Hostage Taker
• 1x Jace's Mindseeker
• 1x Mnemonic Wall
• 1x Mulldrifter
• 1x Peregrine Drake
• 1x Reflector Mage
• 1x Restoration Angel
• 1x Riverwise Augur
• 1x Rune-Scarred Demon
• 1x Sage of Epityr
• 1x Sepulchral Primordial
• 1x Soulherder
• 1x Stonehorn Dignitary
• 1x Venser, Shaper Savant
• 1x Watcher for Tomorrow

Sorcery (8)

• 1x Akroma's Vengeance
• 1x Devastation Tide
• 1x Entreat the Angels
• 1x Entreat the Dead
• 1x Merciless Eviction
• 1x Ponder
• 1x Portent
• 1x Terminus

Land (38)

• 1x Arcane Sanctum
• 1x Azorius Chancery
• 1x Azorius Guildgate
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dimir Aqueduct
• 1x Dimir Guildgate
• 1x Dismal Backwater
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Forge of Heroes
• 1x Halimar Depths
• 6x Island
• 1x Jwar Isle Refuge
• 1x Meandering River
• 1x Mortuary Mire
• 1x New Benalia
• 1x Orzhov Basilica
• 7x Plains
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Scoured Barrens
• 1x Sejiri Refuge
• 3x Swamp
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Tranquil Cove
• 1x Vivid Marsh

Enchantment (5)

• 1x Act of Authority
• 1x Cloud Cover
• 1x Oath of Teferi
• 1x Reality Acid
• 1x Soothsaying

Commander (1)

Artifact (12)

• 1x Altar of the Brood
• 1x Azorius Signet
• 1x Commander's Sphere
• 1x Dimir Signet
• 1x MImic Vat
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Orzhov Signet
• 1x Panharmonicon
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Strionic Resonator
• 1x Talisman of Hierarchy
• 1x Wishclaw Talisman

Instant (11)

• 1x Anguished Unmaking
• 1x Banishing Stroke
• 1x Brainstorm
• 1x Despark
• 1x Ghostly Flicker
• 1x Lim-Dul's Vault
• 1x Mortify
• 1x Predict
• 1x Return to Dust
• 1x Telling Time
• 1x Utter End

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Maybeboard

Enchantment (6)

• 1x Cunning Evasion
• 1x Disinformation Campaign
• 1x Dovin's Acuity
• 1x Mind's Dilation
• 1x Omniscience
• 1x Sunken Hope

Artifact (2)

• 1x Crystal Shard
• 1x Portal of Sanctuary

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Aminatou the Facelifter - Grin and Win!

Deck strategy and mechanics

1. Flicker/Blink: play stuff with Enter-the-Battlefield-Effects (ETB) and get repeated value out of it with Blink/Flicker effects.

2. Top Deck Manipulation: always know/control the next card(s) you gonna draw.

3. Generate additional value: use the Miracle Mechanic and steal cards from your opponents to have a variety of options available to get control of the game.

Combinations

The easiest infinite combo in this deck depends on Altar of the Brood to win, milling all opponents. Possible combinations:

• Altar of the Brood + Felidar Guardian + Aminatou, the Fateshifter
• Altar of the Brood + Deadeye Navigator + Peregrine Drake
• Altar of the Brood + Archaeomancer + Peregrine Drake + Ghostly Flicker

But there is also another way to mill everyone to death:

• Aminatou, the Fateshifter + Felidar Guardian + Oath of Teferi + Jace's Mindseeker
• Aminatou, the Fateshifter + Felidar Guardian + Panharmonicon + Jace's Mindseeker

Additional to being combo pieces, Altar of the Brood and Jace's Mindseeker also help to set up Diluvian Primordial and Sepulchral Primordial.

There are also ways to generate infinite mana:

• Deadeye Navigator + Peregrine Drake
• Archaeomancer + Peregrine Drake + Ghostly Flicker
• Aminatou, the Fateshifter + Felidar Guardian + Panharmonicon + Land/Artifact which generates mana (Peregrine Drake also works of course)
• Aminatou, the Fateshifter + Felidar Guardian + Oath of Teferi + Land/Artifact which generates mana (Peregrine Drake also works of course)

Infinite mana payoff cards:

• Tutoring and/or draw control of the whole deck with Soothsaying
• Generate infinite Tokens with Entreat the Angels
• Revive all creatures from your graveyard with Entreat the Dead

Interactions

Most of the cards in this decks offer an ETB effect with can be triggered again with all the Flicker/Blink cards in the deck. I just want to mention some important interactions to give a general idea:

• Venser, Shaper Savant + any Flicker effect can handle a lot of your opponents' stuff and slow down their game. You can also bounce back your own stuff to safe or it from e.g. boardwipes or just because you want to replay it, getting the ETB effect.
• Rune-Scarred Demon + any Flicker effect gives us repeatable tutoring.
• Reality Acid + any Flicker effect can get rid of everything, including lands (land destruction is highly controversial on some tables, so please don't use it that way if your playgroup hates it). After you flickered it, you can re-attach it to another permanent, great stuff!
• Wishclaw Talisman + Aminatou, the Fateshifter means we can use the tutoring at least twice! This can end the game in one turn if we can assemble our combo pieces and play them successfully.

Deck History Show

Cards I playtested and swapped out:

• Seer's Lantern --> Altar of the Brood
• Chancellor of the Spires --> Diluvian Primordial
• Dungeon Geists --> Reflector Mage
• Phyrexian Delver --> Sepulchral Primordial
• Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow --> Rune-Scarred Demon
• Psychic Battle --> Anguished Unmaking
• Night Incarnate --> Ghostly Flicker
• Captain of the Watch --> Lavinia of the Tenth
• Haunted Crossroads --> Merciless Eviction
• Baneful Omen --> Venser, Shaper Savant
• Cryptic Annelid --> Riverwise Augur
• Crystal Ball --> Cloud Cover
• Enigma Sphinx --> Azor, the Lawbringer
• Azor, the Lawbringer --> Stonehorn Dignitary

Rebuild 11.11.19:

• Isolated Watchtower --> Talisman of Hierarchy
• Conjurer's Closet --> Wishclaw Talisman
• Crib Swap --> Despark
• Mastery of the Unseen --> Strionic Resonator
• Sphinx of Uthuun --> Agent of Treachery
• Primordial Mist --> Charming Prince
• Diluvian Primordial --> Cloudkin Seer
• Lavinia of the Tenth --> Gonti, Lord of Luxury
• Magister Sphinx --> Hostage Taker
• Sorin, Grim Nemesis --> Mnemonic Wall
• Yennet, Cryptic Sovereign --> Watcher for Tomorrow

Comments on changes and single cards Show

Explanation for the swaps:

• Seer's Lantern: Ramp and get scry2 isn't bad at all in this deck, but I already have a decent amount of top deck manipulation and I feel like getting Mill as an alternate wincon plus a possible infinite combo with e.g. Altar of the Brood + Aminatou, the Fateshifter + Felidar Guardian is the better option.

• Chancellor of the Spires: Just a weaker version of Diluvian Primordial in my opinion, so a direct upgrade here.

• Dungeon Geists: A budget option I put in when I built the deck, Reflector Mage is a direct upgrade for me.

• Phyrexian Delver: I like the card in general and it does a pretty good job. But with a rising amount of graveyard hate in my playgroup it didn't perform well anymore. Currently, Sepulchral Primordial is doing the job much better for me.

• Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow: I love this card in general! But I am desperatly in need for some tutors, so Rune-Scarred Demon gets its' place for now.

• Psychic Battle: This card can be really really nasty for any opponent, but it it is too situational and most of the times I would rather have an Anguished Unmaking.

• Night Incarnate: Interesting and flexible card option. Bane of most token decks if you can set up repeatable blinks and they can't answer it. It is like a small boadwipe, but I need the card slot and have enough wipes already so I replaced it with Ghostly Flicker to give me more flickers (instant speed!).

• Captain of the Watch: Three 2/2 Tokens with vigilance ETB Effect is really good, useful for both offense and defense. The thing is, I ended up using the tokens for defending Aminatou most of my games and Lavinia of the Tenth feels like the better option for this, and it's much more versatile.

• Haunted Crossroads: I tested this because in theory it sounds amazing. Creature recursion for cheap cost and it's repeatable. Reality got the better of me, it's way too obvious and gets all the graveyard hate from the table when it's on the battlefield. Plus, this deck hasn't got any creatures I desperatly need to replay from the graveyard anyway. I have options to cheat stuff into play with manifest, which seems way better to me in a deck with flicker effects then going for a single recursion card. Merciless Eviction helps me deal with almost anything my opponents can throw at the table, so I want to have it in the deck instead.

• Baneful Omen: I have to mention, I had some funny games with this card. But for 7 CMC I like to have something more reliable and impactful to actually close out games. Venser, Shaper Savant is a sweet card, so I want this powerhouse included in the deck :)

• Cryptic Annelid: A decent card in this deck, but Riverwise Augur is just better due to the draw in most scenarios and therefore a direct upgrade.

• Crystal Ball: Useful in general, but I realized I have enough Scry-like effects already, so I went for a defensive option with Cloud Cover which saves my stuff from targeted removal.

• Enigma Sphinx: Cascade was much better in theory then it performed in my games. Testing Azor, the Lawbringer as an addition.

• Azor, the Lawbringer: Sounds better in theory than it actually perfoms. Stonehorn Dignitary does much more work :)

I appreciate suggestions of direct upgrades or anything you think this deck is currently lacking.

Date added	5 years
Last updated	11 months
Key combos	Altar of the Brood + Aminatou, the Fateshifter + Felidar Guardian
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	3 - 0 Mythic Rares 26 - 0 Rares 26 - 0 Uncommons 26 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.52
Tokens	Angel 4/4 W, Copy Clone
Folders	Aminatou, Favorable Fodder, Toolbox, Misc, Edh, maybe, commander, Others decks, EDH Decks, Interesting EDH