Amplified Power *PRIMER*

Commander / EDH Bracket 4 Mono-Red

NV_1980

Artifact (18)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Champion's Helm
• 1x Chimil, the Inner Sun
• 1x Chrome MoxGC
• 1x Commander's Plate
• 1x Endless Atlas
• 1x Fire Diamond
• 1x Glamdring
• 1x Hammer of Nazahn
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Mithril Coat
• 1x Mox Opal
• 1x Pyromancer's Goggles
• 1x Ruby Medallion
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Tarrian's Soulcleaver

Sorcery (11)

• 1x Blasphemous Act
• 1x Boltwave
• 1x End the Festivities
• 1x Flame Fusillade
• 1x Jeska's WillGC
• 1x Magic Missile
• 1x Mana Clash
• 1x Mizzix's Mastery
• 1x Tectonic Hazard
• 1x Vandalblast
• 1x Winds of Change

Creature (16)

• 1x Chandra's Incinerator
• 1x Coruscation Mage
• 1x Firebrand Archer
• 1x Firespitter Whelp
• 1x Guttersnipe
• 1x Kessig Flamebreather
• 1x Neheb, the Eternal
• 1x Queen Brahne
• 1x Rampaging Ferocidon
• 1x Razorkin Needlehead
• 1x Sabotender
• 1x Spitfire Lagac
• 1x Thermo-Alchemist
• 1x Tunneling Geopede
• 1x Unruly Catapult
• 1x Urabrask  ^Flip

Instant (15)

• 1x Big Score
• 1x Brute Force
• 1x Bulk Up
• 1x Chaos Warp
• 1x Deflecting Swat
• 1x Delayed Blast Fireball
• 1x Monstrous Rage
• 1x Needle Drop
• 1x Pyroblast
• 1x Red Elemental Blast
• 1x Spark Jolt
• 1x Unexpected Windfall
• 1x Unleash Fury
• 1x Valakut Awakening  ^Flip
• 1x Wild Magic Surge

Commander (1)

 ^Flip

Land (35)

• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Bonders' Enclave
• 1x Cavern of Souls
• 1x Great Furnace
• 1x Inventors' Fair
• 1x Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
• 21x Mountain
• 1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Scalding Tarn
• 1x Shivan Gorge
• 1x Terrain Generator
• 1x War Room
• 1x Wooded Foothills

Enchantment (4)

• 1x Kyren Negotiations
• 1x Manabarbs
• 1x Pyrohemia
• 1x Repercussion

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Welcome to Amplified Power! {R}

Hi there! Welcome to the primer of this mono-red, damage accelerator and spell-slinging deck, commanded by Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might  . Behold, the Ixalan deity of warriors, fire, storms, dinosaurs, athletes, passion and mountains! With his flaming macuahuitl he stands ready to defend and expand his domain. Sometimes too fiercely it seems, as many a time the other deities of Ixalan have considered his exile for harming his siblings. Only the indomitable might he adds to their power has kept them from doing so. It is unique, in that he can manifest his essence into the energies created around him, greatly amplifying their potential as he does so. It has surprised many planeswalkers he has faced in battle. Let’s find out, whether his might can surprise you as well! This deck is meant to be played in casual formats. It’s not meant to be used in a competitive fashion, but of course anyone is welcome to try! Feel free to comment on anything you (dis)like throughout this primer; hope you will enjoy it!

Why Ojer Axonil?

Ojer Axonil   greatly amplifies the potential of even the tiniest red spell that damages opponents. With him on the field, for as little as a single {R}, one can damage all opponents for an amount equal to his power (which is at least 4). Additionally, opponents will have a hard time to get rid of him through conventional means. He’s not indestructible like the Theros gods, but he will come back as a temple in case he’s destroyed and can regenerate back into his original form when his controller sufficiently damages hostile forces. His greatest drawback is actually his power, for it creates a serious target on his back. This can be compensated for in one’s deck though.

Strengths and Weaknesses

The following ten parameters have been used to determine the strength of the deck. For each, a score of 5 (very good), 4 (good), 3 (mediocre), 2 (bad) or 1 (very bad) has been allocated; when totalized this score represents the power rating of the deck (maximum score is 50 points).

• Mana: indicates the availability of mana sources within the deck.
• Ramp: indicates the speed at which mana sources within the deck can be made available.
• Card Advantage: indicates availability of filter- and draw resources represented within the deck.
• Overall speed: indicates the deck’s potential for pace, based on resource availability and mana curve.
• Combo: indicates the measure of combo-orientation of the deck.
• Army: indicates the deck’s creature-army strength.
• Commander: indicates how much the deck is commander-oriented/dependent (less dependency is better).
• Interaction: indicates how much this deck can mess with opponents’ board states and turn-phases.
• Resilience: indicates whether the deck can prevent and take punches.
• Spellpower: indicates the availability and strength of high-impact spells.

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Mana: 4

Every deck needs some additional mana sources aside from its lands. This one features six mana rocks, two creatures can generate mana based on spell-casting/damage dealing, two spells that generate treasures, a spell that generates red mana and one artifact that cheapens the amount of mana paid for red spells.

Ramp: 1

A single land has been added that allows for playing additional lands.

Card Advantage: 4

For a mono-red deck, the additional card opportunities are pretty decent. In all eight cards, varying from lands to artifacts and spells, will allow for extra draw. The deck also features an artifact tutors, two top-decking opportunities and one filtering mechanism.

Overall speed: 4

Due to the deck’s low average mana cost for spells of just over 2.5 and its massive inventory of low cost spells (more than half of which cost two mana or less), it is bound to get moving fast. Damage can be dealt as early as turn one, while massive damage can start to accumulate as early as turn three (especially when one’s able to get Ojer Axonil on the battlefield in that time).

Combo: 1

Not exactly the focus of this deck, but a few infinite-damage ones have been added for giggles.

Army: 2

Though a decent number of creatures are featured, not a single one is really meant as a means of directly attacking one’s opponents through force. In fact, almost all contribute to the deck’s massive potential for dealing non-combat damage. A few have also been added for obtaining additional resources.

Commander: 3

The presence of Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might   is essential to hammer opponents into the ground at top pace, but one can adopt a slightly slower speed as well in case he’s not available (thanks to all the deck’s creatures with damage abilities that trigger through performing mundane actions like drawing, playing lands and casting non-creature spells).

Interaction: 5

A shit-ton of non-combat damage can be dealt by this deck. Thirty sources have been included to hail down a godly amount of it onto one’s opponents. Of course this is not the only interaction that has been included. Prevention of counterspells and counterspells themselves account for the deck’s five inhibition options. Lastly, three spells have been included for outright destructive purposes.

Resilience: 4 The commander of this deck is worth protecting, so six pieces of very powerful equipment have been added to ensure he is well armored and protected from spells. Along with that, a set of four spells have been added to counter any hostile magic that might be flung his way. To complete the protective suite; two cards that prevent his appearance (and that of some other spells) from being countered.

Spellpower: 4

In terms of mass-damage, this deck really contains the works; ten spells in all. There’s also some wonderful mass destruction as well as mass inhibition featured.

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Total power score: 32

As it is with most mono-red decks, this one really shines in terms of the tremendous damage potential it can bring. Especially when one’s able to sustain Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might  ’s presence on the battlefield, things tend to escalate fast. Combine all that with cheap-to-cast creatures and spells, and one has a winning formula at hand. Said speed is a contributing factor in this deck being able to go up successfully against most opposing strategies, with the exception of mill and pillowforts.

General strategy

This deck’s commander is an absolute beast when it comes to dealing non-combat damage. Ojer   doesn’t even have to deal it himself; he ‘inspires’ other damage-sources to do so by just flaunting his might. He is an integral part in overwhelming opponents with NCD, so he needs to appear early in games. Effort has to be spent to prevent him from leaving the field prematurely, so that the deck’s damage-dealers can profit from him to the maximum possible extent. If possible, try to have at least one card on the field at all times that can deal damage based on non-creature castings of some sort. This ensures Ojer always has at least one damage conduit on the field, no matter what the opponents bring to the table.

Starting hand

At least three cards in the starting hand ought to be lands (or two lands and a CMC0 or CMC1 mana rock). It is recommended not to start a game without this hand (even if one has to mulligan down to three cards). The ideal hand would also contain some acceleration in the form of rocks, draw- and/or filter options.

Early game

The objective of this phase, is to obtain some early resources and summon Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might   to the field. We start with the prior. The best early mana resources contained within the deck are cards like Arcane Signet, Ruby Medallion and of course Sol Ring. Some early draw mechanisms will also prove useful. Endless Atlas and Sensei's Divining Top are the most obvious choices, but let’s not discount the usefulness of lands like Mikokoro, Center of the Sea or War Room either. Even Bonders' Enclave will become useful, once Ojer makes his entry. Should none of the above be available, maybe it makes sense to cast an early wheel to shake things up. Valakut Awakening   or Winds of Change are both well suited for this. Even an early one-time resource spell like Big Score or Unexpected Windfall can do some good.

Mid game

With the deck’s god-commander on the field, let’s first make sure that he stays where he is. Protection can be given against hostile spells with equipment like Champion's Helm, Commander's Plate, Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots. Against damage/destruction, he can also be protected by cards like Hammer of Nazahn or Mithril Coat. Non-permanents can also be used to protect Ojer Axonil. Spells like Deflecting Swat, Pyroblast and Red Elemental Blast can counter/deflect opposing spells. Permanents that possibly threaten Ojer can also be removed with spells Chaos Warp, card:Vandalbast and Wild Magic Surge.

With the above helping to ensure Ojer stays around, one’s ready to amplify damage against one’s opponents. It’s time to cast/summon the resources that deal the to-be-boosted damage. This can be divided into permanent- and non-permanent sources. It is recommended to summon the permanent sources first, because a number of them actually deal damage based on non-creature casting to opponents (which can also be amplified by Ojer  ). Great examples include Coruscation Mage, Firebrand Archer, Firespitter Whelp, Kessig Flamebreather and Queen Brahne.

Now the non-permanents can be cast to add to the to-be-boosted damage. This could be spells like card:Bolt Wave, Delayed Blast Fireball, Magic Missile, Spark Jolt and Tectonic Hazard. Even some none-creature permanents can be used to do this. These would be options like card:Kyren Negotations, card:Mana Barbs and Pyrohemia. The to-be-amplified damage can be strengthened even further by boosting Ojer Axonil’s power even further. Spells in the deck that can be used for this, would be Brute Force, Bulk Up, Monstrous Rage or Unleash Fury.

All the above should be enough to whittle opponents’ life totals down a fair bit.

End Game

Time to finish things off. One of the deck’s infinite-damage combos can do it. Other ways involve making Ojer indestructible and equipping him with Tarrian's Soulcleaver. If one immediately follows that up with Blasphemous Edict, that will usually pump him up enough that the next non-combat damage dealt is enough to finish things off. In case that won’t do it, one could cast a Mizzix's Mastery to re-cast any instant/sorceries previously in bulk.

Combos

Infinite damage are always some of the more fun combos to pull off, here they are:

• Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might   + Pyrohemia + Hammer of Nazahn/Mithril Coat: This combo starts with Ojer (equipped with Hammer/Coat) and Pyrohemia on the battlefield. Activate Pyrohemia by paying {R}. Pyrohemia deals 1 damage to all creatures (including Ojer). It also deals 1 damage to Ojer’s controller AND damage equal to Ojer’s power to each opponent. As long as Ojer remains indestructible AND as long as one started this process while having at least slightly more than one fourth of the life-total of the opponent with the most life-points, repeating the above will kill each opponent (before it kills the deck’s controller.
• Blasphemous Act + Repercussion: this one starts with Repercussion on the battlefield and Act in hand with enough mana to cast it. It is essential that you don’t have any creatures on the field. Provided that each opponent has 39 life or less, as well as three creatures on the field (each), casting Act and dealing thirteen damage to each opposing creature, will also trigger Repercussion to deal 3 x 13 = 39 damage to each opponent.
• Chandra's Incinerator + Repercussion + spell/permanent that can deal non-combat damage: this combo starts with all cards mentioned on the battlefield (or the spell for NCD in-hand).
  1. Use the permanent or spell to deal NCD to an opposing creature.
  2. Repercussion triggers, dealing the amount of damage dealt to the creature’s controller.
  3. The damage dealt to the controller triggers Incinerator, which deals the amount of damage dealt to the opponent to one of the controller’s creatures.
  Repeat this process until either all of the opponent’s creatures have been destroyed OR until the opponent’s life total equals zero or less.

Card Choices – mainboard

Lands

Reliable sources of mana, and some utility:

• Arid Mesa/Bloodstained Mire/Scalding Tarn/Wooded Foothills: filter lands help getting to the meat of the deck faster when it matters.
• Bonders' Enclave: combined with the deck’s commander, this land is sure to gather some additional draw for the deck’s controller.
• Cavern of Souls: choose ‘God’ when playing this land ensures that Ojer Axonil can be summoned without having to worry about counterspells.
• Inventors' Fair: the best tool this deck has for finding specific pieces of equipment.
• Mikokoro, Center of the Sea: doesn’t generate CA, but does ensure some draw when one’s stuck. Occasionally really make that vital bit of difference.
• Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx: great source of mana in a single-colored deck, as its potential will usually exceed its activation cost by quite a bit.
• Reliquary Tower: because discarding is such a drag.
• Shivan Gorge: a nice mana-sink for some damage, when nothing else can be done.
• Terrain Generator: the deck's single ramp card, though it can only use land cards that are already in hand.
• War Room: a little extra draw really helps.

Mana

The cards used to accelerate mana-availability:

• Arcane Signet: an excellent mana-rock that has no disadvantages in its use.
• Chrome MoxGC: at the paltry cost of a red spell exiled, this will generate {R}.
• Fire Diamond: does enter tapped, but still provides {R}.
• Jeska's WillGC: such a great card; especially during the early game phase as most opponents still have full hands of cards, giving it the ability to net a lot of mana. Should one have Ojer out early, it can even yield some top-decking opportunities!
• Mox Opal: an excellent, free mana-rock that can provide {R}, provided one controls enough artifacts.
• Neheb, the Eternal: with Ojer around, the amount of mana Neheb can generate can quickly escalate to extreme heights, especially when one of the deck’s permanent NDC-sources is around.
• Pyromancer's Goggles: copying damage spells while Ojer is supporting, can cause some massive damage amongst opponents.
• Ruby Medallion: making the cheap red spells even cheaper.
• Sol Ring: the most common mana-rock in EDH ever.
• card:Urubrask: useful to keep casting spells after one has already cast an instant or sorcery. When transformed can even generate a decent amount of treasure.

Draw, Scry and Tutor

The way in which the deck grabs additional spells to cast:

• Big Score/Unexpected Windfall: the treasure generation AND draw these create are just amazing.
• Endless Atlas: very dependable draw-engine, considering the deck’s basic land-count.
• Needle Drop: ideally should be cast when Ojer is on the battlefield, so that aside from the spell’s draw it also deals some significant damage to an opponent.
• Sensei's Divining Top: filters the top couple of cards whenever it’s required.
• Valakut Awakening  : a nice wheel-like spell that doesn’t even require one to discard one’s current hand.
• Winds of Change: replace the hand one currently has with a new one!

Inhibition and Destruction

The answer to opposing spells and permanents:

• Chaos Warp/Wild Magic Surge: these spells are cast when an opposing permanent poses so much trouble that any other permanent is preferable.
• Chimil, the Inner Sun: opponents are not allowed to counter our spells. The discovery power is an amazing additional CA-boon on this.
• Deflecting Swat: that spell is going to go someplace else!
• Pyroblast/Red Elemental Blast: blue is not going to ruin our day.
• Vandalblast: opponents are just not meant to have artifacts; period.

Non-combat damage dealers

The options given to deal massive damage to our opponents:

• Blasphemous Act: ends most creatures by dealing a vast amount of damage to each one. Not always a spell one aims to cast, but when one’s opposition manages to outnumber one, this is a great spell to cast. Combines extremely effectively with Repercussion when one doesn’t control creatures oneself.
• card:Bolt Wave: sort of a sorcery-style Lightning Bolt that hits all opponents simultaneously; quite nice for a single {R}.
• Chandra's Incinerator: dealing damage to opponents is much more fun when it also damages their creatures. Another card that synergizes really well with Repercussion.
• Coruscation Mage/card:Frebrand Archer/Firespitter Whelp/Guttersnipe/Kessig Flamebreather: amongst the primary damage dealers of this deck, as non-creature spells will be cast often and Ojer gladly amplifies their damage.
• Delayed Blast Fireball: either an excellent damage spell at relatively low cost when combined with Ojer OR a strong wipe that destroys all but the toughest opposing stuff.
• card:End of Festivities/Tectonic Hazard:: great spells to get rid of all opposing small fry.
• card:Flame Fussilade: with Ojer on the field, this is a potentially game-ending spell as all permanents (even lands!) have suddenly become permanents that tap for damage.
• Kyren Negotiations: in a sense even worse than Fussilade, as this is a permanent that will allow tapping for non-combat damage time and again.
• Magic Missile: split into multiple targets and use with Ojer for maximum effect.
• card:Mana Barbs: normally, this would hurt the deck’s wielder just as much as it would any opponent. However, Ojer Axonil makes it far worse for the deck’s opponents.
• Mana Clash: another incredibly fun damage spell to combine with Ojer. Opponents get tails; lots of damage. This deck gets tails; a single damage will do.
• Pyrohemia: a single red mana will damage everything a little; though with Ojer around every opponent will feel a lot more of this spell’s power.
• Queen Brahne: should she get the chance to attack, she will spawn a wizard that deals damage whenever a non-creature spell is cast.
• Rampaging Ferocidon: the bane of opposing token armies.
• Razorkin Needlehead: drawing cards just became a rather painful proposition for one’s adversaries.
• Repercussion: a double-edged sword when deployed as opponents might employ their own methods to damage this deck’s creatures, but truly devastating in scenarios that when combined with damage sources against opposing creatures.
• Sabotender/Spitfire Lagac/Tunneling Geopede: the mundane action of dropping lands suddenly becomes a grand source of damage as well.
• Spark Jolt: combined with the commander, this spell is a strong Lightning Bolt with an added scry-boon.
• Thermo-Alchemist/Unruly Catapult: damage for tapping, with an option to do so multiple times per turn when one casts a non-permanent.

Protection and Boosts

The ways to make one’s commander even stronger:

• Brute Force: red’s version of Giant Growth; specifically meant to provide a temporary power boost for Ojer.
• Bulk Up: a boost that doubles power of whatever is targeted that can actually be cast twice (the second time from the graveyard). Perfect to be applied on the deck’s commander.
• Champion's Helm: wear it for immunity from targeted opposing spells and a nice power and toughness boost.
• Commander's Plate: protection from all colors except red and a massive enhancement to the creature’s combat abilities.
• Hammer of Nazahn/Mithril Coat: making Ojer indestructible is a great way to keep him safe from opposing harm (not to mention possible damage the deck itself might (accidently) inflict upon him).
• Lightning Greaves/Swiftfoot Boots: when these are worn, it’ll become very hard to harm whatever is wearing them. More fun when combined with other types of protection.
• Monstrous Rage: a one-time boost combined with a role that includes trample; amazing value for just {R}.
• Tarrian's Soulcleaver: it is recommended you protect your creatures, otherwise the creature that uses this very strong weapon will become insanely powerful very fast.
• Unleash Fury: another power doubler that’s well suited for Ojer.

Notable exclusions

This deck is still evolving. The following cards were considered but not added (yet):

• Birgi, God of Storytelling  : would be included if it were part of our collection (which she unfortunately isn’t).
• Eidolon of the Great Revel/Harsh Mentor: pretty awesome damage for both of these yet not included because these yield control over when opponents receive damage to opponents themselves, which is not desirable.
• Spear Spewer: cheap NCD-damage dealer that also deals damage to this deck’s controller, which is generally not desirable unless the spell is too powerful to ignore.
• Storm-Kiln Artist: not a bad resource, and occasionally reconsidered for inclusion.

Thank you for reading!

Appreciate the time you took to read this primer. Hopefully it was entertaining and useful to you. If so, feel free to leave a +1 and/or feedback of any kind in the comments below. Thanks again!

Date added	1 month
Last updated	3 weeks
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	17 - 0 Mythic Rares 30 - 0 Rares 17 - 0 Uncommons 15 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.58
Tokens	Copy Clone, Coruscation Mage 1/1 R, Monster, Treasure, Wizard 0/1 B