Commander Collection: Boomerang

Commander / EDH Bracket 4 BUG (Sultai) Combo

Jurrane

Creature (35)

• 1x Baleful Strix
• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Boggart Trawler  ^Flip
• 1x Coiling Oracle
• 1x Craterhoof Behemoth
• 1x Deathrite Shaman
• 1x Displacer Kitten
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Farhaven Elf
• 1x Fyndhorn Elves
• 1x God-Eternal Rhonas
• 1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• 1x Gyre Sage
• 1x Llanowar Elves
• 1x Manglehorn
• 1x Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
• 1x Momir Vig, Simic Visionary
• 1x Mulldrifter
• 1x Nekrataal
• 1x Priest of the Blood Rite
• 1x Ravenous Chupacabra
• 1x Reclamation Sage
• 1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1x Shriekmaw
• 1x Sire of Stagnation
• 1x Snapcaster Mage
• 1x Spellseeker P
• 1x Tatyova, Benthic Druid
• 1x Thassa, Deep-Dwelling
• 1x Topiary Stomper
• 1x Triskelion
• 1x Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath
• 1x Venser, Shaper Savant
• 1x Witherbloom Apprentice
• 1x Wood Elves

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Professor Onyx

Land (34)

• 1x Blooming Marsh
• 1x Boseiju, Who Endures P
• 1x Botanical Sanctum
• 1x Breeding Pool
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Darkslick Shores
• 1x Drowned Catacomb
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Field of the Dead PGC
• 3x Forest
• 1x Hinterland Harbor
• 2x Island
• 1x Kishla Village
• 1x Llanowar Wastes
• 1x Misty Rainforest
• 1x Otawara, Soaring City
• 1x Overgrown Tomb
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Scalding Tarn P
• 1x Sunken Hollow
• 3x Swamp
• 1x Underground River
• 1x Verdant Catacombs
• 1x Waterlogged Grove
• 1x Watery Grave
• 1x Woodland Cemetery
• 1x Yavimaya Coast
• 1x Zagoth Triome

Enchantment (5)

• 1x Defense of the Heart
• 1x Mystic Remora
• 1x NecropotenceGC
• 1x Rhystic StudyGC
• 1x Sylvan Library P

Commander (1)

Instant (10)

• 1x Abrupt Decay
• 1x Arcane Denial
• 1x Assassin's Trophy
• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Cyclonic RiftGC
• 1x Fierce Guardianship PGC
• 1x Mana Drain
• 1x Vampiric TutorGC
• 1x Worldly TutorGC

Sorcery (9)

• 1x Chain of Smog
• 1x Damnation
• 1x Demonic TutorGC
• 1x Farseek
• 1x Grim Tutor
• 1x Maelstrom Pulse
• 1x Nature's Lore
• 1x Rampant Growth
• 1x Three Visits

Artifact (5)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Birthing Pod
• 1x Dollhouse of Horrors
• 1x Panharmonicon
• 1x Sol Ring

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{U}{B}{G} Introduction: Oops, I Did It Again {U}{B}{G}

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There's something evocative about the Sultai colour combination. When I picture how blue, black and green mana sources come together, I imagine dark clogged lagoons and gloomy waterways choked with rotten trees. I think WotC had it right when they set the Sultai tribe in tropical glades and dense jungle, the perfect place for sinister schemes and tales of power and greed.

From Bala Ged, another of those places, Yarok, the Desecrated crawls. Once an elemental who mastered nature, Yarok has turned from a guardian of life and growth into a cultivator of horrors. Corrupted by the influence of Ulamog and Kozilek, it lurks unseen, harnessing the sinister power of the deadly marshes that form Bala Ged's ruined landscape.

"Yarok grieves within the waste
Of Bala Ged's corrupted land."
- Lament for Bala Ged, stanza 1

"Boomerang" is a Sultai midrange deck that maximises Yarok, the Desecrated's ability to generate an additional ETB (enter the battlefield) trigger from creatures when they come into play. It takes a toolbox approach, attempting to control the board and outgrind its opponents through incremental value, by maximising the effects of a versatile suite of creature cards designed to adapt to a variety of different game states.

This deck is a close second cousin of my Bant flicker deck, as they have a similar gameplan. However, the key difference is a flicker deck seeks to blink creatures with ETB effects (momentarily removing them and returning them to play, so they trigger again), whereas Yarok, the Desecrated delivers all the benefits upfront when creatures initially enter. But there's a fair bit of overlap with cards like Displacer Kitten (which both decks have), or cards that behave in nearly identical ways such as Thassa, Deep-Dwelling in this deck or Teleportation Circle in my Bant flicker list.

Deck Strategy

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Our goal is to play as many creatures with ETB effects as possible, ideally while Yarok, the Desecrated is on the board. By doubling ETBs (or sometimes even tripling, if Panharmonicon or Strionic Resonator are available) we can create some powerful conditions that we use to control the game. We have creatures that help us ramp, creatures that act as removal, creatures that draw cards and creatures that can act as game-ending finishers. All of these become proportionally more effective if we double up on their ETB abilities with Yarok and friends.

One of the great things about this deck is it can switch between different modes at a moment's notice. We can be the aggro deck if needed or we can control the game if the situation dictates it. Or we can win out of nowhere with a combo finish or overrun our opponents with massive creatures. This makes for a fun, versatile deck that's built around value and efficiency. Put simply, we have answers for everything, along with a selection of useful tools like Birthing Pod and tutors to find the right resources at the right time.

Game Plan

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Here are some thoughts about what our typical game plan looks like. Obviously these are ideal scenarios and they won't happen like this all the time, but they should give you an idea of what the deck wants to do during each phase of the game.

Early Game
Our objective in the first few turns is to ramp as much as possible ready to set ourselves up for success later in the game. We're not generally a deck that wins in the early turns (although it is possible - see Finishers & Win Conditions below), so usually the best approach is to play a patient game and carefully build up our resources. We're a base green deck so have plenty of ramp resources available to us. Spells we want to see include our sorcery package - Farseek, Nature's Lore, Rampant Growth, Three Visits - or our mana dorks and rocks. As a general rule, it's best to save creatures with ramp ETBs such as Coiling Oracle, Farhaven Elf, Wood Elves and Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath until we have Yarok, the Desecrated in play but I wouldn't be afraid of using them if you don't have any other ramp sources.

The ideal set up is to ramp into 4-5 mana sources as quickly as you can and play Panharmonicon, Thassa, Deep-Dwelling or Displacer Kitten ahead of Yarok so you can really start going to town with ETBs once he enters. Double or triple ETBs shouldn't be out of the question once Yarok hits the board, which is the ideal state this deck is looking for.

Mid Game
The mid game is where we get to flex our style between being an aggro deck, a control deck or a combo deck. The style we choose will be largely situational, depending on what we've drawn in the early game, what our opponents are doing and how much pressure we're being put under. Things we usually want to be doing are affecting the game with our ETBs (which are ideally being at least doubled by Yarok or other sources), removing enemy threats with either spot removal or creatures like Shriekmaw, Nekrataal or Reclamation Sage, drawing cards or protecting Yarok with counterspells etc. Outside of counters, we don't run too many other ways to protect our board so it's usually a good idea to be wary of overextending and keep some resources back to rebuild in case of boardwipes.

Late Game
In the late game, we want to have access to our finisher cards - or be able to tutor for them - so we can close out the game. The Finishers & Win Conditions section below outlines our win cons in more detail but suffice to say we usually want to be seeing (or tutoring for) our key combo pieces or finisher creatures like Craterhoof Behemoth, God-Eternal Rhonas or (if we have enough devotion to black and/or a flicker source) Gray Merchant of Asphodel. Depending on how many resources we've had to use during the game, this is the time when we make the switch from using our counterspells reactively (ie. protecting Yarok and co.), to using them proactively to stop disruption to our combos or force through our big creatures. Venser, Shaper Savant is often an all-star late in the game as he can act as a Remand-type counterspell or return problematic permanents to their owners' hand so we can push for the win. Cyclonic RiftGC needs no introduction as it's nearly always worth saving until we can overload it as either (a) a pre-emptive win condition to clear the board for our attackers; or (b) a defensive measure to stop our opponents winning.

Finishers & Win Conditions

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We have the option of several different types of finisher cards, which allow us to win the game in a few different ways. Here are our typical win conditions:

- Craterhoof Behemoth // God-Eternal Rhonas: Experience tells me the most frequent way we'll win is through combat damage. While it's perfectly possible to overwhelm our opponents the "normal" way, the most impactful ways we'll do it are through Yarok, the Desecrated doubling the ETB triggers from Craterhoof Behemoth or God-Eternal Rhonas, boosting our creatures' power to very high levels and/or giving them trample. With a full board, very few opponents can withstand one Craterhoof trigger, let alone two, so this can be an effective way to win.

- Gray Merchant of Asphodel: With enough devotion to black, doubling Gary's ETB trigger with Yarok or Panharmonicon can be enough to finish games on its own. It gets even nastier if we have a flicker source like Displacer Kitten or Thassa, Deep-Dwelling so we can do it again during the end step. I've also won plenty of games by bringing Gary back from the graveyard with Eternal Witness or making a copy from the graveyard with Dollhouse of Horrors. Either way, he's an excellent finisher.

- Witherbloom Apprentice + Chain of Smog: These two cards combine to generate infinite life loss for our opponents and infinite lifegain for us, thereby winning the game. All we have to do is cast Chain of Smog with Witherbloom Apprentice in play, targetting ourselves to discard two cards and then repeating the process over and over an arbritarily large number of times, dealing 1 damage to each of our opponents when we do so. The only thing to watch for is if smart opponents disrupt the combo by removing the Apprentice or countering the Chain once we've discarded all the cards in our hand. Otherwise it's game over. Each of the combo pieces only costs two mana so we’ve even got a shot of pulling it off in the early turns with some lucky draws.

- Professor Onyx + Chain of Smog: Works nearly exactly the same as the previous combo but with Professor Onyx, each opponent loses 2 life each time we cast and then copy Chain of Smog. She's included here as a bit of extra redundancy, enabling us to increase the number of combo lines available in the deck. Although she's quite highly costed, she's a useful utility planeswalker too.

- Mikaeus, the Unhallowed + Triskelion: This is another two-card combo that wins the game on the spot. I won't write it all out again here but you can find in the Combos section of the Primer for this deck if you want to look it up. The great thing about this combo is Defense of the Heart finds both pieces at once at puts them into play for free (as they're both creatures) so we can off for the minimal cost of an opponent having 3+ creatures on the board.

Other Key Cards

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Outside of Yarok, the Desecrated and our combo/finisher cards, we have a number of other useful tools that contribute to the deck's performance. Here are some of the highlights.

- Panharmonicon: Basically functions as a second copy of Yarok. It's a useful Plan B if Yarok gets removed (he's not quite a kill-on-sight commander but wise opponents will respect him), or an opportunity to get triple ETB triggers if Yarok's already in play. Absolute staple for this deck. Run it.

- Displacer Kitten // Thassa, Deep-Dwelling: Our two main blink sources. As mentioned in the Introduction, we're not a blink deck and therefore don't go all-in on the blink theme like this deck but they're a great way of squeezing more value out of our ETB triggers, with or without Yarok.

- Dollhouse of Horrors: I slept on this card until I was beaten with it by a fellow Yarok player. It's amazing. A really great way to copy our creatures from the graveyard and to get their ETB's all over again. Sleeper staple.

- Birthing Pod: Remember when I described this build as a toolbox deck in the Introduction? This is the reason why. With Birthing Pod we can tutor for the right creatures at the right time, giving us the ability to react to pretty much any situation. Run it, it's awesome.

- Defense of the Heart: We run plenty of tutors (Demonic TutorGC, Vampiric TutorGC, Grim Tutor, Worldly TutorGC, Rune-Scarred Demon, Birthing Pod) but Defense deserves a special mention because it tutors for two creatures at once and puts them into play. This often means (1) an explosive barrage of ETBs for our opponents; or (2) they're about to lose the game because we're searching for Mikaeus, the Unhallowed and Triskelion. Fabulous.

- Sire of Stagnation: Utterly bonkers in this deck. Its "reverse landfall" ability is strong on its own but combine it with Yarok, the Desecrated and we're drawing four cards and exiling four from our opponents with each land drop they make. At the very least it's usually a removal magnet or a good way of taxing opponents so they're scared to play lands. I love it.

- Momir Vig, Simic Visionary: Used mainly for its tutor ability as a way of finding our creature combo pieces. The majoriity of our creatures are green so we have plenty of opportunities for it to trigger.

Creature ETBs

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To give some insight into why I've chosen many of the creatures in this list, I've split them into categories. Here are the highlights in each category:

Ramp
A number of our creatures are basically a ramp spell with a body attacked for chump blocking or for flickering. They're best saved for when Yarok's so their effect is doubled. Creatures selected for this purposes are Coiling Oracle, Farhaven Elf, Topiary Stomper, Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath and Wood Elves.

Card Draw
Although we run some of the strongest card draw effects available to us in Sultai colours (Rhystic StudyGC, Mystic Remora, NecropotenceGC, Sylvan Library), we also use creature ETBs to draw us cards. As with many of our creatures, their usefulness scales dramatically if Yarok or Panharmonicon are in play. Coiling Oracle and Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath offer both card draw and ramp, plus we have Baleful Strix, Mulldrifter and Tatyova, Benthic Druid as card draw outlets.

Removal
Same as above: Sultai isn't exactly short of versatile removal effects but we include Manglehorn, Nekrataal, Ravenous Chupacabra and Reclamation Sage as handy ways to 2-for-1 opponents when Yarok's on the board. Blinking them with Displacer Kitten or Thassa, Deep-Dwelling can be fantastic for board control.

Other
We run some other creatures with useful ETBs that don't fit neatly into the above categories. Priest of the Blood Rite puts 10 flying power on the board for just 5 mana when Yarok's around. Eternal Witness and Snapcaster Mage are great recursion options. Finally, Spellseeker tutors for some of most important instants and sorceries, including Chain of Smog, Cyclonic RiftGC, or our most efficient 2-mana removal cards or counterspells.

Strengths & Weaknesses

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In this section I'll set out the key strengths and weaknesses of the deck as I see them. Keep in mind this list is not exhaustive and is purely based on recent play experiences. I'd love to know if you think I've missed anything.

Strengths

1. This is an incredibly flexible deck. We have the tools to deal with pretty much anything and a number of different ways to win. We should be able to grind out a win in many pods of comparative power.

2. We're also very resilient. While Yarok, the Desecrated kicks our ETBs into overdrive, he's really just the icing on the cake. We can definitely win without him and have the tools to hang around in games right til the very end.

3. We take the key strengths of each colour and apply them in a highly synergistic way. We have green's ramp and big creatures, black's tutors and removal, and blue's card draw and counterspells. We can play the long game through sheer attrition or win the game on the spot with a choice of three different infinite combos.

Weaknesses

1. We are VERY weak to Torpor Orb, Hushwing Gryff, Tocatli Honor Guard (etc) effects. You probably won't see it much but HumilityGC absolutely screws us. Cards like that aren't necessarily game over for us as we have removal that doesn't rely on creature ETBs, but they will set us back. If you think opponents might be packing these, hold back counterspells or removal specifically.

2. Yarok, the Desecrated is a feared and respected commander. He's not quite kill-on-sight but you can expect him to be targetted. Sometimes we'll be the archenemy just because of who we are. Basically, expect to draw some hate.

3. We're reliant on having a board state. If opponents keep our key pieces off the table - or land their boardwipes - then we have a problem. It's usually worth keeping at least one counterspell back for this purpose.

Power Level

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I categorise decks in my collection according to four tiers of power, from 1 (most powerful) to 4 (least powerful):

Tier 1: Higher powered decks with fast mana, free spells, and infinite combos or instant wins that are searchable with tutors.
Tier 2: Well tuned decks which may have infinite combos or instant wins that are searchable with tutors, but not many fast mana sources and/or free spells.
Tier 3: Reasonably well tuned casual decks that are capable of powerful plays. May occasionally have infinite combos or instant wins but don't generally use tutors to find them.
Tier 4: Lower powered or linear decks, weak enough to play against other casual decks.

I would say this deck is comparable in power to this deck as they're pretty close cousins and work in similar ways. Many of the comments in that deck's primer also apply here. This particular build is pretty well tuned and over time I've optimised many of the card sections, including powerful finishers like Craterhoof Behemoth and the infinite combos listed above. It's a highly efficient deck for casual tables and probably sits at the upper level of most casual pods. But it's a fun and interactive deck to play, it generally creates fun and dynamic game states and won't overpower most games in the first few turns. I'm usually happy to play it again unknown opponents but would have a Rule 0 conversation to let them know it runs infinite combos that are searchable with tutors. Overall I'd classify it as one of my Tier 2 decks.

In terms of WotC's new power brackets for EDH, I think this list fits into Bracket 4. It has access to several infinite combos that can be executed at various points through the game and not just in the late turns. It also runs five game changer cards: Rhystic StudyGC, Fierce GuardianshipGC, Demonic TutorGC, Cyclonic RiftGC and Vampiric TutorGC.

Budget

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This was actually one of the first Commander decks I built so it's had a lot of time (and resource) for development. Right now it costs an average of about $750 on Card Kingdom, which also makes it one of my more expensive decks. It runs a lot of EDH staples such as Craterhoof Behemoth, Mana Drain, Cyclonic RiftGC, Rhystic StudyGC, Demonic TutorGC, Vampiric TutorGC etc, along with a 3-colour mana base with shocks and fetches, all of which drive up the price. But I've seen - and played against - lower budget Yarok builds and they can still be very effective with a lower cost base. I'd definitely recommend building it if you're looking for a fun, resilient strategy and don't be put off by the high cost. You can build a much cheaper versions with whatever strong ETB creatures you have lying around and still have a blast :)

Next Steps

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If you've made it this far, thanks so much for reading this primer :) I hope it's given you food for thought and encouraged you to build or play Yarok. Like all of my decks, this one's still a work in progress but it's at a stage where I'm pretty happy with it and I'm unlikely to make any major changes.

May all your ETBs resolve and have worthy targets!

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All My EDH Decks

{W} Giada, Font of Hope {W}
S(i)erra Sidewinder: Mono-White Angel Tribal

{U} Talrand, Sky Summoner {U}
Blue Streak: Mono-Blue Spellslinger

{U} Orvar, the All-Form {U}
Clone Zone: Mono-Blue Shapeshifters Combo

{B} Sidisi, Undead Vizier {B}
Swamp Thing: Mono-Black Goodstuff

{B} Syr Konrad, the Grim {B}
Black Hole: Mono-Black Sacrifice/Aristocrats

{R} Torbran, Thane of Red Fell {R}
Red Force: Mono-Red Group Slug

{R} Rionya, Fire Dancer {R}
Firebird: Mono-Red Storm/Tokens

{G} Titania, Protector of Argoth {G}
Timber Terror: Mono-Green Stax

{W}{U} Grand Arbiter Augustin IVGC {W}{U}
Control Freak: Azorius Control

{W}{U} Elminster {W}{U}
Crystal Wing: Azorius Skies & Scry

{U}{B} Oona, Queen of the Fae {U}{B}
Dreamcatcher: Dimir Faeries Tribal

{U}{B} Narfi, Betrayer King {U}{B}
Ice Breaker: Dimir Snow/Zombies

{B}{R} Rakdos, Lord of Riots {B}{R}
Steamin’ Demon: Rakdos Life Loss

{B}{R} Juri, Master of the Revue {B}{R}
Pandemonium: Rakdos Sacrifice

{R}{G} Hallar, the Firefletcher {R}{G}
Trailblazer: Gruul Kicker

{R}{G} Wort, the Raidmother {R}{G}
Barnstormer: Gruul Conspire

{W}{G} Sigarda, Font of Blessings {W}{G}
Stampida: Selesnya Humans Tribal

{W}{G} Captain Sisay {W}{G}
Legendia: Selesnya Legendary

{W}{G} Sythis, Harvest's Hand {W}{G}
Diamondback: Selesnya Enchantress

{W}{B} Daxos the Returned {W}{B}
Curse of Novgorod: Orzhov Constellation

{W}{B} Kambal, Consul of Allocation {W}{B}
Oblivion: Orzhov Lifegain & Lifedrain

{U}{R} Firkraag, Cunning Instigator {U}{R}
Dragon’s Fury: Izzet Dragons/Goad

{B}{G} Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons {B}{G}
Scorpion Express: Golgari Deathtouch

{B}{G} Nath of the Gilt-Leaf {B}{G}
Outlaw Run: Golgari Elves/Discard

{W}{R} Bruenor Battlehammer {W}{R}
Steel Force: Boros Equipment

{W}{R} General Ferrous Rokiric {W}{R}
Gatekeeper: Boros Multicoloured

{U}{G} Momir Vig, Simic Visionary {U}{G}
Wicked Twister: Simic +1/+1 Counters

{U}{G} Ezuri, Stalker of Spheres {U}{G}
Toxic Garden: Simic Infect

{W}{U}{B} Tivit, Seller of Secrets {W}{U}{B}
Steel Vengeance: Esper Artifacts

{W}{U}{B} Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign {W}{U}{B}
Riddler’s Revenge: Esper Topdeck

{U}{B}{R} Marchesa, the Black Rose {U}{B}{R}
Revenge of the Mummy: Grixis Dethrone/Combo

{B}{R}{G} Vaevictis Asmadi, the Dire {B}{R}{G}
Dragon Wagon: Jund Dragons Tribal

{W}{R}{G} Pantlaza, Sun-Favored {W}{R}{G}
Raptor Attack: Naya Dinosaurs Tribal

{W}{U}{G} Galadriel, Light of Valinor {W}{U}{G}
Vapour Trail: Bant Flicker

{W}{B}{G} Karador, Ghost Chieftain {W}{B}{G}
Hair Raiser: Abzan Reanimator

{W}{B}{G} Bilbo, Birthday Celebrant {W}{B}{G}
A Long-Expected Party: Abzan Lifegain/Combo

{W}{U}{R} Kykar, Wind's Fury {W}{U}{R}
Storm Runner: Jeskai Tokens

{W}{U}{R} Hinata, Dawn-Crowned {W}{U}{R}
Phantom’s Revenge: Jeskai Control

{U}{B}{G} Yarok, the Desecrated {U}{B}{G}
Boomerang: Sultai ETB Triggers

{W}{B}{R} Kaalia of the Vast {W}{B}{R}
Abyssus: Mardu Angels & Demons

{U}{R}{G} Omnath, Locus of the Roil {U}{R}{G}
Boulder Dash: Temur Landfall

Date added	5 years
Last updated	3 days
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	14 - 0 Mythic Rares 46 - 0 Rares 17 - 0 Uncommons 15 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.12
Tokens	Beast 3/3 G, Copy Clone, Demon 5/5 B, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders	Destroy