Abrupt Decay

Instant

This spell can't be countered.

Destroy target nonland permanent with converted mana cost/mana value 3 or less.

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Arena	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Historic	Legal
Historic Brawl	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Modern Beyond Horizons	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Planar Constructed	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (47)

jsnrice on Atraxa, Grand Unifier

1 month ago

Deck Title: Ascension Through Unity – Atraxa cEDH Food Chain

Commander

Atraxa, Grand Unifier
Color Identity: {B}{G}{U}{W}

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Introduction

Welcome to Ascension Through Unity, a competitive EDH build centered around Atraxa, Grand Unifier, the ultimate value engine and a uniquely powerful commander that bridges midrange resilience with combo potential. This list leverages the raw card advantage of Atraxa’s ETB trigger to dig for win conditions, interaction, and fast mana — all while supporting a Food Chain combo core.

This deck is tuned for high-level pods and aims to win fast, interact precisely, and grind smart when necessary.

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Win Conditions

Primary Wincon:
- Food Chain + Eternal Scourge / Misthollow Griffin / Flesh Duplicate
Infinite creature mana via Food Chain and one of the exile-recurring creatures.
→ Cast Atraxa, Grand Unifier, dig for Thassa's OracleGC or Tainted Pact / Demonic Consultation combo.

Backup Wincons:
- Thassa's OracleGC + Tainted Pact / Demonic Consultation
- Finale of Devastation for lethal with infinite mana
- Displacer Kitten combos with The One RingGC, Teferi, Time Raveler, or mana rocks for infinite value/actions

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Notable Synergies

• Atraxa, Grand Unifier ETB + Displacer Kitten: Abuse blink triggers for maximum card filtering and pseudo-storm turns.
• Food Chain + Exile creatures: Efficient engine for infinite mana into Atraxa chains.
• Talion, the Kindly Lord + low-cost spell density = passive draw engine.
• Drannith MagistrateGC, Opposition AgentGC, Orcish Bowmasters: Stax elements that don’t disrupt our own lines.
• Archivist of Oghma, Esper Sentinel, Mystic Remora, Rhystic StudyGC: Passive card draw galore.

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Staples and Interaction

This deck plays nearly every blue interaction spell you’d expect: - Free Countermagic: Force of WillGC, Force of Negation, Pact of Negation, Mindbreak Trap, Flusterstorm
- Removal: Swords to Plowshares, Abrupt Decay, Chain of Vapor, Toxic Deluge, Culling Ritual
- Tutors: Vampiric TutorGC, Demonic TutorGC, Worldly Tutor, Enlightened TutorGC, Imperial SealGC

And it runs every relevant fast mana: - Mana Crypt, Lotus Petal, Chrome MoxGC, Mox DiamondGC, Mox Opal, Mana VaultGC, Ancient TombGC

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Why Atraxa?

While many commanders offer value, Atraxa’s Grand Unifier trigger is uniquely broken in a deck like this. With a proper build, she can hit: - A creature (e.g. Eternal Scourge, Deathrite Shaman)
- A non-creature spell (e.g. Demonic Consultation)
- An instant (e.g. Swan Song, An Offer You Can't Refuse)
- A sorcery (e.g. Finale of Devastation)
- An artifact (e.g. Sol Ring)
- An enchantment (e.g. Rhystic StudyGC)
- A planeswalker (e.g. Teferi, Time Raveler)

This makes Atraxa a one-card value engine that refills your hand and pivots you into a win turn with proper sequencing.

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Power Level & Goals

This deck is firmly cEDH (power level 9.5–10). It’s built for pods where interaction is heavy, turns are fast, and wins are clean.

You’ll thrive if: - You can protect Atraxa, Grand Unifier for at least one trigger
- You pilot your combo lines efficiently
- You mulligan aggressively for interaction or ramp

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Mulligan Strategy

Look for: - Turn 1–2 dorks/rocks + tutor
- Food Chain + exile creature opener
- Strong card draw pieces + interaction
- Always mull away clunky high-CMC hands

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Weaknesses

• Susceptible to Drannith MagistrateGC (unless we remove it)
• Hate for graveyard/exile recursion (Rest in Peace, etc.)
• Heavy counterspell matchups if we stumble on mana

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Closing Thoughts

Atraxa, Grand Unifier doesn’t just unify card types — she unifies power, control, and combo under one elegantly devastating package. Whether you’re tutoring with efficiency or slamming a turn 4 Food Chain win, this deck rewards mastery and punishes hesitation. Perfect for cEDH players who love versatility and inevitability.

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Thanks for reading! Let me know if you want a sideboard package or metagame tweaks.

Sliverguy420 on Uncouterable Reanimator

2 months ago

Fatal Push and Abrupt Decay would probably be the best removal options in these colors.

Sliverguy420 on Mono-green infect

2 months ago

i'd recommend replacing Invigorate with Scale Up. Ram Through would be an upgrade over Rabid Bite, but adding black for Fatal Push and Abrupt Decay would be even better.

kamarupa on Heart of Darkness Challenge - Pt. II - Yarok

2 months ago

I think maybe Assassin's Trophy and Abrupt Decay might be worth considering in addition to or in place of the artifact/enchantment removal. They're just more versatile and there's not a lot of direct creature removal.

Otherwise A+!

kamarupa on Golgari Scavengers

3 months ago

I have some suggestions. Feel free to ignore them!

• Unearth instead of Treasured Find.

• The Ozolith instead of or in addition to Fate Transfer - it's quite a expensive, so maybe you don't want to invest in it, but it's cheaper to cast and as a permanent, works statically, which is quite nice. The downside, in addition to its hefty price is that it's Legendary.

• Corpsejack Menace has long been a staple in golgari counters

• You didn't include "Budget" in your description or Hubs, so I'll suggest Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth as useful lands. They might help your opponents mana-fix, too though. And of course, if they're too expensive, just disregard this. Other lands to consider: Castle Locthwain, Bojuka Bog, Darkbore Pathway  ^Flip, Blooming Marsh, Deathcap Glade.

• Thoughtseize is a classic black spell, but only 2x isn't much, especially when it's your only means of removal. Golgari is arguably the best color combination for removal ever. Abrupt Decay and Assassin's Trophy are at the top of a long list of great removal spells, and both are exclusive to golgari. I'd suggest 2x of each, but either would be useful. The other could go in your sideboard. Since you are already running some sac outlet creatures, Fatal Push would be a good fit, too.

• Bow of Nylea is always good. It's another Legendary, so no more than 1x.

kamarupa on You Go Squirrel

3 months ago

Thanks so much for the +1 and comment, Cloudy2024. I dunno. I'm fairly partial to both Abrupt Decay and Assassin's Trophy. Not that Fatal Push is a bad card by any means.

anbrx on The Princess and the Frog

6 months ago

This deck looks incredibly slow. You have only 1 piece of Turn 1 ramp in Mox DiamondGC. In its current state you are essentially starting the game on Turn 3, rather than Turn 1. With as many tapped lands as you are running, this clock will likely be even slower. After drawing several test hands with this list, I am yet to draw a good playable hand.

I would recommend trying to find room for at least some of the following: Birds of Paradise, Delighted Halfling, Llanowar Elves, Elvish Mystic, Fyndhorn Elves, Deathrite Shaman, Avacyn's Pilgrim, Elves of Deep Shadow. These additions will speed up the deck and allow you to actually play the game before turn 4.

I would also recommend trying to get some targeted removal in there. Cards such as Nature's Claim, Assassin's Trophy, Abrupt Decay, Swords to Plowshares.

You may also want some solid one-card wind conditions such as Craterhoof Behemoth, Overwhelming Stampede, or Triumph of the Hordes

Caerwyn on Mortality Spear or Drag to …

7 months ago

I think Abrupt Decay is a good option as is Maelstrom Pulse as mentioned by shadow63 (while Maelstrom is a sorcery, the ability to completely hose a token deck can be helpful, depending on your meta).

The only thing I like about Deathsprout is the art. Deathsprout just costs too much mana to make it worth running - four mana is a huge amount of mana for a kill spell. I mean, sure, it ramps you, but that land enters tapped, so it is not until a full turn later that you get to use this. And, quite frankly, by the time you have four mana you feel comfortable holding for a kill spell, you probably do not need new lands as much as you would have earlier in the game.

Cool art, cool effects on their own, but both ramp and kill spells work best when they have a low cost. By having a cost of four, Deathsprout does both halves of its ability poorly.