The School of ErTai Chi at Water's Edge

Commander / EDH Combo Control Counterspell Enchantment Sacrifice Wizards WUB (Esper)

VietMoneys

Land (36)

• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Barad-dur
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Fetid Pools
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x Hall of Heliod's Generosity
• 1x Hallowed Fountain
• 1x Irrigated Farmland
• 5x Island
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Maze of Ith
• 1x Minamo, School at Water's Edge
• 1x Phyrexian Tower
• 4x Plains
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Raffine's Tower
• 1x Scrubland
• 1x Serra's Sanctum
• 1x Strip Mine
• 2x Swamp
• 1x Tundra
• 1x Underground Sea
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Wasteland
• 1x Watery Grave

Sorcery (6)

• 1x Bribery
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Replenish
• 1x Supreme Verdict
• 1x Toxic Deluge
• 1x Yawgmoth's Will

Enchantment (17)

• 1x Aura of Silence
• 1x Bitterblossom
• 1x Demonic Lore
• 1x Dreadhorde Invasion
• 1x Enchanted Evening
• 1x Hatching Plans
• 1x Kaya's Ghostform
• 1x Land Tax
• 1x Leyline of Anticipation
• 1x Necropotence
• 1x Nevermore
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Rhystic Study
• 1x Skrelv's Hive
• 1x Telepathy
• 1x Treacherous Blessing
• 1x Treachery

Instant (11)

• 1x Anguished Unmaking
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Force of Will
• 1x Mana Drain
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Renounce
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Teferi's Protection
• 1x Vampiric Tutor

Planeswalker (3)

• 1x Elspeth, Sun's Champion
• 1x Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
• 1x Ugin, the Spirit Dragon

Commander (1)

Creature (15)

• 1x Academy Rector
• 1x Arena Rector
• 1x Aura Thief
• 1x Baleful Strix
• 1x Kor Cartographer
• 1x Merieke Ri Berit
• 1x Opposition Agent
• 1x Sidisi, Undead Vizier
• 1x Snapcaster Mage
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Spellseeker
• 1x Sun Titan
• 1x Trinket Mage
• 1x Trophy Mage
• 1x Zur the Enchanter

Artifact (11)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Coalition Relic
• 1x Crucible of Worlds
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Mana Vault
• 1x Phyrexian Altar
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Thousand-Year Elixir

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This deck was the fourth I ever brewed, and came on the heels of a mono-black, artifact-heavy combo deck. I was hankering for something really different, and knew I had to include blue, which was at this point the only color unrepresented in my arsenal. I stumbled upon this card late one night, tossing around the ideas of a multi-colored zombie tribal deck. I was surprised to learn of another version of Ertai, Wizard Adept, a commander who had consistently thrashed me in 1v1 in the hands of my friend martonsmash. While the zombie idea was ultimately scrapped, this unique, yet perfectly-Esper commander stuck with me.

The risk-assessment of playing control and the many divergent paths to victory makes this deck very challenging for me to pilot, and I continue to revise it in an effort to make it quicker, more resilient, and better at filling my hand. The mana base is a bit more squirrely than most of my other decks, and the combos/win-cons have been described as anything from cheeky to wishful, but Ertai has managed many a hardcore lockdown in his day, as well as the occasional combat walloping. Ultimately, one of the beautiful and hilarious things about this deck is the value it finds in generally unplayable jank like Demonic Lore, Hatching Plans and Renounce. It truly is one of my favorites decks to play, and yet is also a source of constant frustration. The incredible breadth of options across {W}{U}{B} and the wide-open design of the deck's commander makes me pine for a 150-card singleton format. As such, it remains perpetually a work in progress. For a different take, the deck can even be run with Merieke Ri Berit or Zur the Enchanter at the helm.

The alternate-art printing of Ertai was the first card I bought for this deck and a unique aesthetic has developed around it. He boasts Judge Gifts, media promos, and otherwise unusual foil versions of some truly classic EDH cards with a pretty thorough mix of old and new card frames. Like all of my decks, The Minimal School of ErTaiChi, at Waters Edge is a very personal art project, and it is nearer and dearer to my heart than all but the original, Hazezon Muad'Dib: DUNE-Inspired EDH.

Top Ranked	Achieved #5 position overall 5 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Cruel Control 5 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Enchantment 5 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Wizards 5 years ago
Date added	7 years
Last updated	8 months
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	10 - 0 Mythic Rares 63 - 0 Rares 11 - 0 Uncommons 5 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.97
Tokens	Emblem Elspeth, Sun's Champion, Emblem Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, Faerie Rogue 1/1 B, Orc Army, Phyrexian Mite 1/1 C, Soldier 1/1 W, Zombie Army 0/0 B
Folders	Inspired, Enchantment EDH, Cool Decks, Interesting Commander Decks, make it, commander, Transcendental, ideas, Commander, Decks I Find Interesting