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Aminatou, Fateshifter Insidious [Blink Primer]

Commander / EDH Blink Bracket 4 Combo Control Counters Exile Infinite Combo Superfriends Wizards WUB (Esper)

UltimateRoxas40

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Commander: foil Aminatou, the Fateshifter

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Enchantment (9)

Planeswalker (7)

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Planeswalker (3)

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"Because I foresaw it would one day, and I decided I didn't want to wait for that."

Welcome to my Aminatou, the Fateshifterfoil deck. When Commander 2018 was released, and we saw the return of planeswalker commanders, I was ecstatic! I've always been a huge fan of the artwork of Seb McKinnon, and this card is no exception. I was also drawn to the lore (or lack thereof) around our eight-year-old planeswalker.

I've previously built this deck, but I couldn't ever find the right balance or strategy to play her. I ended up either intentionally leaving out good cards to keep the Blink/Flicker theme as a primary focus, or ended up leaning too heavily into cEDH territory and card selection, which took away from the core strategy of the deck - to generate infinite value and combo-off. However, I was recently inspired to revisit this commander by a fearsome God of Lies and Deception who was finally introduced: Savathûn, the Witch Queen (From the Destiny 2 universe).

Savathûn, the Witch Queen, is a Hive god of Cunning and Schemes. She is driven to understand the deepest secrets of the universe and gains power from the deception and confusion of those who seek to understand her unfathomable schemes. Much of the imagery surrounding her is associated with Moths, especially the Lucent Moths - byproducts of the Lightbearer Hive. This is what initially interested me in returning to my Aminatou, the Fateshifterfoil deck.

"Aminatou's magic is expressed through intangible moths. When one of her wisps of power lands on a person it nudges their fate in whatever direction Aminatou chooses. That shift in destiny can be as small as stepping on a thorn or as broad as shifting the day of someone's death, and Aminatou is fairly dispassionate about how firmly she adjusts a stranger's fate."

So, with that connection fresh in my head, I started working on a way to represent a blending between Aminatou, the Fateshifterfoil and Savathûn, the Witch Queen. The result is this deck, which has a variety of schemes and backup plans that a god of cunning would undoubtedly have in her pursuit of winning.

"She can foresee the branching consequences of the smallest actions, twist destiny with barely a thought, and perhaps even unmake the Multiverse itself."

The overall goal of this deck is to Blink/Flicker (Exile a permanent we control, then have it return to the battlefield) our permanents and generate overwhelming value, or assemble an infinite combo to close out the game.

Aminatou's Fateweavers

While Aminatou, the Fateshifterfoil is the primary source of Blinking, we have a few other ways to blink our permanents and generate value.

  • Displacer Kittenfoil - Whenever we cast a noncreature spell, we can Blink a nonland permanent we control.

  • Soulherderfoil - Blinks one of our creatures at the beginning of our end step. It also grows with each creature that is exiled from the battlefield.

  • Thassa, Deep-Dwellingfoil - At the beginning of our end step, she Blinks another creature we control.

Card Draw

  • Aether Channelerfoil - On ETB, we have three solid options: Make a 1/1 Bird Token with Flying, Return another nonland permanent to its owner's hand, or Draw a card.

  • Baleful Strixfoil - On ETB, we draw a card. It's also a good defender for Aminatou, the Fateshifterfoil, since it has Deathtouch.

  • Callous Bloodmagefoil - When this modal creature enters, one of our options is to lose a life and draw a card.

  • Dour Port-Magefoil - Whenever one or more other creatures we control leaves the battlefield without dying (Exiled, Blinked, Returned to hand), we draw a card. And for , we can return another creature we control back to our hand, which draws us a card.

  • Rhystic Studyfoil - Whenever an opponent casts a spell, we may draw a card unless that player pays . Over time, this will give us many extra cards, and it can also be a removal magnet, drawing attention away from our other combo pieces.

  • Satoru, the Infiltratorfoil - Turns Blinking our creatures into additional card draw.

  • Teferi, Hero of Dominaria - His +1 draws us a card and later untaps two lands.

  • Teferi, Time Ravelerfoil - His -3 is what we are most interested in. We can return a target creature, artifact, or enchantment to its owner's hand, and then draw a card.

  • Vraska, Betrayal's Stingfoil - Her 0 Draws us a card and we lose a life, then Proliferate.

  • Wall of Omensfoil - On ETB, we draw a card. It's also a useful defender with four Toughness.

Removal

  • Agent of Treacheryfoil - On ETB, we can steal any target permanent and gain control of it permanently. Taking it for ourselves is almost better than removal. As a bonus, if we control three or more permanents that we don't own, we draw three cards on our end step.

  • Bojuka Bogfoil - On ETB, we Exile target an opponent's graveyard. A good way to hose graveyard strategies.

  • Cavalier of Dawnfoil - Essentially a Generous Giftfoil on a stick, except it can't hit lands. And when it dies, we can return an artifact or enchantment back to our hand.

  • Dakkon, Shadow Slayerfoil - His -3 Exiles target creature.

  • Damnfoil - Nice, effective boardwipe for four mana. Doesn't hit our commander!

  • Elspeth, Sun's Championfoil - Her -3 destroys all creatures with Power 4 or greater. This avoids a large number of our creatures.

  • Ertai Resurrectedfoil - A mix of Ravenous Chupacabrafoil and Venser, Shaper Savant, we can counter a spell, stifle an ability, or kill a creature or planeswalker. The potential downside is that the owner of the spell/ability/creature/planeswalker draws a card.

  • Generous Giftfoil - No restrictions, Destroy target permanent.

  • Glasspool Mimicfoil   - These flip permanents are perfect for this deck. We can start by playing them as lands to get us going, then when we don't immediately need them, Aminatou, the Fateshifterfoil can blink it and bring it back as the flip side creature. When this creature enters, we can have it enter as a copy of one of our creatures. A great way to double up a trigger.

  • Out of Timefoil - For three mana, we can Phase out all the creatures on the board, removing a lot of potential threats, and Blink it to catch any additional creatures cast later.

  • Parallax Tide - Enables a few combos with our commander, and can lock out a few creatures from the game.

  • Parallax Wave - Also enables a few combos with our commander, and can keep our opponents a few lands behind us.

  • Ravenous Chupacabrafoil - When it enters, we kill a creature. Great target for blinking.

  • Reality Acidfoil - We can enchant any permanent we don't want, then once we flicker it and Reality Acidfoil leaves the battlefield, the enchanted permanent's controller sacrifices it. This can kill even Indestructible permanents and lands.

  • Skyclave Apparitionfoil - When this creature ETBs, we can Exile target nonland, nontoken permanent an opponent controls with a CMC 4 or less. Then, when/if Skyclave Apparitionfoil leaves the battlefield, that permanent's owner creates an X/X Illusion token, where is the Exiled permanent's CMC.

  • Swords to Plowshares - For a single , we can Exile any major creature threat on the battlefield.

  • Teferi, Hero of Dominariafoil - His -3 can 'bounce' a nonland permanent into its owner's library third from the top.

  • Teferi, Time Ravelerfoil - His -3 can bounce an artifact, creature, or enchantment back to its owner's hand. Not true removal, but getting it off the battlefield could make the difference.

  • Terminusfoil - Puts all creatures on the bottom of their owners' libraries. If we cast it as a Miracle, which is easy to do with our commander, we can cast it for just .

  • Toxic Delugefoil - Another good board wipe that avoids our commander.

  • Vraska, Betrayal's Stingfoil - Her -2 can basically turn an opponent's creature into a Treasure token.

  • Witch Enchanterfoil   - We can start by playing this creature as a land to get us going, then Aminatou, the Fateshifterfoil can blink it and bring it back as the flip side creature. When this creature enters, we destroy an artifact or enchantment an opponent controls.

Tutors

  • Demonic Tutorfoil - Grabs any card we want into our hand.

  • Enlightened Tutorfoil - Grabs any artifact or enchantment and puts it on top of our library.

  • Mystical Tutorfoil - Grabs any instant or sorcery and puts it on top of our library.

  • Spellseekerfoil - On ETB, we may search our library for an Instant or Sorcery card with a CMC of 2 or less, reveal it, and put it into our hand. We can get tutors, removal, or counterspells, depending on what we might need.

  • Tribute Magefoil - On ETB, we may search our library for an artifact card with a CMC of and put it into our hand. Good for ramping and getting our mana rocks, finding Wishclaw Talisman, or getting Baleful Strix to get a good blocker and card draw source.

  • Wishclaw Talismanfoil - For , , we can remove a wish counter from Wishclaw Talisman to search our library for a card, put it into our hand, then shuffle your library. After that. an opponent gains control of Wishclaw Talisman. But since we can Blink this with Aminatou, the Fateshifterfoil, we can not only get our Talisman back, but it refreshes the wish counters on it too.

Recursion

  • Academy Ruinsfoil - we can tap this and pay to put any artifact from our graveyard on top of our library. Then, with Aminatou, the Fateshifterfoil, we can +1 her to put it into our hand.

  • Archaeomancerfoil - By repeatedly flickering this wizard, we can return any Instant or Sorcery card from the graveyard to our hand.

  • Cavalier of Dawnfoil - When this elemental knight dies, we can return an artifact or enchantment back to our hand. Good way to get a combo piece back if it was previously destroyed.

  • Dakkon, Shadow Slayerfoil - His -6 Ultimate can either cheat an artifact from our hand or return one from our graveyard onto the battlefield, which could be really helpful in getting some important pieces back onto the field.

  • Necromancy - A powerful piece of recursion. When this enchantment ETBs, you put target creature card from a graveyard onto the battlefield under your control and attach Necromancy to it. When Necromancy leaves the battlefield, that creature's controller sacrifices it. Then, you can flicker those creatures with Aminatou, the Fateshifterfoil. Since they were Exiled and then returned to the battlefield, they are treated as 'new' versions of themselves, so they become unrelated to Necromancy.

  • If you have Elesh Norn, Mother of Machinesfoil or Virtue of Knowledgefoil on the field, you can actually get two creatures out of the graveyard at once. Necromancy will trigger the first time, bringing a creature back and attaching itself to that creature, and then it will trigger a second time, bringing another creature back, then attaching to that second creature. Based on how Necromancy is worded, as long as Necromancy is on the field, both creatures can continue to exist (it isn't like Animate Dead, where the creature dies if it isn't enchanted).

  • Sun Titanfoil - On ETB (or attack, but we mainly care about ETB), we can return a permanent from our graveyard with a CMC of 3 or less. We can get cards like our Fetchlands to go get more lands out of our deck.

With one of the infinite Blink lines we can assemble, we can include any of these finishers to alter our opponents' fate and wipe them from the table.

  • Altar of the Broodfoil - Whenever another permanent enters the battlefield under our control, each opponent Mills one card. So, if we can create an infinite blink combo line, we can trigger Altar of the Broodfoil each time, instantly deck our opponents, then pass the turn to win.

  • Ashiok, Dream Renderfoil - Target player mills four cards, then we exile each opponent's graveyard. So we can Mill out our opponents and shut down graveyard strategies. Her static ability also prevents opponents from searching their libraries. All in all, a good Stax piece to slow our opponents down while we assemble our lines.

  • Corpse Knightfoil - Corpse Knightfoil drains each opponent one life when another creature ETBs, so with our infinite ETBs, we can instantly drain the table of life and win.

  • Gray Merchant of Asphodelfoil - When Gary enters the battlefield, each opponent loses X life, where X is our devotion to black. We gain life equal to the life lost this way. If your opponents know this deck and how quickly it can win, you might be targeted early, so being able to gain life if essential. And if we pair this with one of our infinite blink combo lines, we can just drain the table out.

  • Kaya, Ghost Assassin - All three of her Loyalty abilities are great! Her 0 can Pseudo-flicker a creature, bringing it back at the beginning of the next end step. But, her -1 and -2 are the ones we want to abuse with our infinite Blink, either forcing our opponents to discard their hands or just drain them out and win.

  • Sunscorched Desertfoil - When it ETBs, it deals 1 damage to a target opponent. If we can infinitely flicker a permanent, we win.

Aminatou’s Guardian of Fate
Aminatou, the Fateshifterfoil + Felidar Guardianfoil + Elesh Norn, Mother of Machinesfoil or Virtue of Knowledgefoil

Between our Commander and the Cat, we have infinite Enter the Battlefield (ETB) triggers and Leave the Battlefield (LTB) triggers. However, this on its own doesn't win the game. We need something to break parity. That's where Elesh Norn, Mother of Machinesfoil or Virtue of Knowledgefoil come into play.

If a permanent entering the battlefield would cause a triggered ability of a permanent you control to trigger, that ability triggers an additional time. In this case, when Felidar Guardianfoil ETB's, we get a second trigger of his Flicker effect. This trigger can be used on a variety of permanents to gain infinite value.

Weaving the Threads
Aminatou, the Fateshifterfoil + Spark Doublefoil + Oath of Teferifoil

Spark Doublefoil can enter as a nonlegendary copy Aminatou, the Fateshifterfoil. Between our commander and the copy-mander, we can again generate infinite ETB and LTB triggers, with one bouncing the other endlessly.

Oath of Teferifoil turns this infinite loop into an infinite payoff. We care mostly about the second part of Oath of Teferifoil, which allows us to use a Planeswalker's Loyalty ability twice each turn. With this, we can get two -1 activations out of Aminatou, the Fateshifterfoil, allowing us to first blink a permanent for value, then blinking Spark Doublefoil to in turn blink Aminatou, the Fateshifterfoil, thus resetting her, and allowing for us to repeat for infinite value.

Teferi, Puppet of Fate
Teferi, Time Ravelerfoil + Displacer Kittenfoil + Sol Ring

With Teferi and the Kitten on the battlefield, we can cast Sol Ring. This will trigger the Kitten's ability, letting us Blink Teferi. We then tap our artifact for . Activate Teferi's second loyalty ability for -3, returning the artifact to our hand and drawing us a card. We can then repeat the loop by casting that artifact again, netting us at least and a card drawn each time.

The Wellspring
Archaeomancerfoil + Ghostly Flickerfoil + Peregrine Drakefoil

With Archaeomancerfoil and Peregrine Drakefoil in play, tap up to five lands, adding at least . Cast Ghostly Flickerfoil, blinking Archaeomancer and Peregrine Drake. When those two creatures enter the battlefield, both of their triggers go on the stack. Resolve the Archaeomancer trigger, returning Ghostly Flicker to your hand, then resolve the Peregrine Drake trigger, untapping up to five lands. Repeat.

If you control five lands that can tap to produce at least , this combo nets infinite mana, and you may then blink any other permanent besides Peregrine Drake.

Something to be careful of with these combo lines is that they are susceptible to graveyard hate. Leyline of the Void or anything that prevents graveyard interaction should be accounted for before attempting to go off with these lines.

Shout-out to User: darrenhabib on MTG Nexus for some of the combo lines and their descriptions .(https://www.mtgnexus.com/viewtopic.php?t=15447).

_Aminatou is quite aware of her own destiny but also knows it isn't time to enact it right now_

Thank you for taking a look at this iteration of the deck! I'd appreciate any suggestions or comments to improve the overall design of the deck. As I said above, I'm working on finding a good balance between maintaining the blink theme of the deck and having this be as powerful as I can make it without it evolving into a cEDH build. Cards like Force of Will or the Thassa's Oracle/Demonic Consultation lines aren't in here currently, but I have previously considered them.

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Revision 24 See all

(3 weeks ago)

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