Commander Collection: Flight of the Wicked Witch

Commander / EDH Aura Hexproof Bracket 3 Enchantment WB (Orzhov)

Jurrane

Land (37)

• 1x Bonders' Enclave
• 1x Caves of Koilos
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Concealed Courtyard
• 1x Desolate Mire
• 1x Fetid Heath
• 1x Ghost Quarter
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x Hall of Heliod's Generosity
• 1x Isolated Chapel P
• 1x Kor Haven
• 12x Plains
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Serra's Sanctum PGC
• 1x Shattered Sanctum
• 1x Shineshadow Snarl
• 8x Swamp
• 1x Tainted Field
• 1x War Room

Ramp & Cost Reducers (5)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Killian, Ink Duelist
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Starfield Mystic
• 1x Transcendent Envoy

Supporting Win Conditions (5)

• 1x Archon of Sun's Grace
• 1x Delney, Streetwise Lookout P
• 1x Light-Paws, Emperor's Voice
• 1x Sanguine Bond
• 1x Sigil of the Empty Throne

Recursion (3)

• 1x Lurrus of the Dream-Den
• 1x Nomad Mythmaker
• 1x Retether

Auras: Buffs/Protection (18)

• 1x Angelic Gift
• 1x Benevolent Blessing
• 1x Daybreak Coronet
• 1x Dog Umbra
• 1x Eldrazi Conscription
• 1x Ethereal Armor
• 1x Felidar Umbra
• 1x Gift of Immortality
• 1x Hyena Umbra
• 1x Kaya's Ghostform
• 1x Rune of Mortality
• 1x Rune of Sustenance
• 1x Shardmage's Rescue
• 1x Spectra Ward
• 1x Spirit Mantle
• 1x Timely Ward
• 1x Unquestioned Authority
• 1x Vampiric Link

Auras: Removal/Defending (7)

• 1x Chains of Custody
• 1x Darksteel Mutation
• 1x Ossification
• 1x Petrify
• 1x Reprobation
• 1x Sheltered by Ghosts
• 1x Trapped in the Tower

Auras: Combat Manipulation (4)

• 1x Eye of Nidhogg
• 1x Ghoulish Impetus
• 1x Martial Impetus
• 1x Parasitic Impetus

Commander (1)

Card Draw (8)

• 1x Black Market Connections
• 1x Hateful Eidolon
• 1x Kor Spiritdancer
• 1x Lord Skitter's Blessing
• 1x Mesa Enchantress
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Sram, Senior Edificer
• 1x Trouble in Pairs P

Non-Aura Removal (6)

• 1x Aang's Iceberg
• 1x Banishing Light
• 1x Damn
• 1x Grasp of Fate
• 1x Stormplain Detainment
• 1x Winds of Rath

Protection (3)

• 1x Greater Auramancy
• 1x Teferi's Protection PGC
• 1x Umbra Mystic

Tutors (3)

• 1x Enlightened Tutor PGC
• 1x Idyllic Tutor
• 1x Open the Armory

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{W}{B} Introduction: Witch Slapped {W}{B}

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Every now and again, after telling myself I have enough Commander decks, I have the urge to build a new one. Eriette of the Charmed Apple has been on my list for ages because I love Magali Villeneuve's art for the card and I don't have an Auras list in my collection (the closest I've got are Orzhov Constellation and Selesnya Enchantress builds). I also really like Eriette’s wicked witch aesthetic.

Unlike many of my other decks, I’ve deliberately designed this list to be a relatively low power build, so it can compete fairly amongst other Bracket 3 decks and possibly even (stronger) pre-cons. I’ve provided more commentary about this decision in the relevant section below but the overall intent has been to balance fun and interactivity with a reasonable (but not excessive) level of power.

Deck Strategy & Win Conditions

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Eriette is one of those Commanders that telegraphs her strategy pretty clearly: she wants us to play lots of Auras and then rewards us (while punishing our opponents) for doing so. Our gameplan is therefore fairly straightforward: cast lots of Auras, use them either offensively to power up our creatures or defensively to stop enemy creatures attacking us; and then profit at the end of our turn when her lifegain/lifedrain ability triggers. That's the primary win condition of the deck: get enough Auras on the board to make Eriette's drain ability dangerous, keep her around for as long as possible, and watch other players' life totals dwindle to nothing while our own increases over time. Sanguine Bond and Delney, Streetwise Lookout are included to get some extra punch from her triggered ability.

That's our plan A. However we need a plan B (and C) for the times when Eriette is removed. It will happen and while she's a nice cheap Commander at just {1}{W}{B} that can withstand a few instances of Commander tax, sometimes she becomes unviable or we need another strategy. Fortunately we have other fallback options.

Our plan B is to go wide. We have Sigil of the Empty Throne and Archon of Sun's Grace to create Angel or Pegasus tokens whenever we cast enchantments. It's fairly easy to flood the board with tokens as many of our Auras and other enchantments have fairly low mana values, plus both types of token have flying so they can usually soar past most defenders.

Our third win condition is to use a Voltron strategy. While it doesn't necessarily have to be Eriette, we can load her (or another creature) with enough beneficial Auras to hit pretty hard in combat. This is why Light-Paws, Emperor's Voice is included: she can quickly power herself up to create a serious threat, especially with the likes of Spirit Mantle, Unquestioned Authority, Spectra Ward to essentially make her unblockable.

Obviously each of these win conditions doesn't necessarily have to work in isolation as they combine to form a highly effective game plan. You may well find yourself using any or all of these strategies in combination over the course of a typical game.

Trick Aura Treat

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This section lists the various Auras we run, split into three groups. Generally they can be categorised as offensive (they're buffs or provide other benefits); defensive (they nullify opposing creatures or stop them doing things); or combat manipulation (they force enemy creatures to attack other players instead of us). For the most part, the main criteria for selecting the auras we run are (a) a low or efficient mana cost so we can cast multiple spells per turn; or (b) they have an impact or beneficial effect that benefits the deck's strategy.

In the case of our defensive or combat manipulation auras, you might be wondering why we're running so many when opposing creatures enchanted by auras can't attack us anyway while Eriette's in play. This is because (1) we can't always rely on her being around and therefore need to stop enemy attackers in other ways; (2) many creatures, especially Commanders, aren't just dangerous in combat and we need to deal with their static, activated or triggered abilities; and (3) just because creatures can't attack us doesn't mean we can't force them to attack other players instead. This is especially true for our combat manipulation auras. In that sense, we're quite a political deck because we'll do whatever it takes not just avoid enemy attackers but turn them into a problem for our opponents by directing them to attack each other.

Offensive/Buffs/Protection
These are the Auras we run to power up or protect our creatures, or to provide other useful benefits. Although they're primarily intended to enchant our own stuff, don't forget you can also use them on opposing creatures, either to stop them attacking when Eriette's in play or if you want to give a goaded creature some extra bite.

• Angelic Gift: Basic but useful. A useful source of evasion if we're playing a Voltron strategy or we can play it on an opposing creature to stop it attacking us if Eriette's on the board. Plus it replaces itself by drawing a card on resolution.
• Benevolent Blessing: The flash timing is what makes this card. Keep it in your hand as an effective counterspell for removal.
• Daybreak Coronet: Voltron classic. Stick it on Eriette or Light-Paws when they're already enchanted and watch them go.
• Dog Umbra: The Umbra auras are really good in this deck. We'll mainly use them to protect Eriette or other important creatures. This one also has flash which is great.
• Eldrazi Conscription: Our biggest bomb and late-game haymaker. Causes utter harvoc if it sticks and works well on either our own creatures or opposing threats. Don't forget enemy creatures it enchants can't attack us if Eriette's in play and we can always threaten to sacrifice it to its own annihilator trigger if she's not.
• Ethereal Armor: Our most efficient Voltron card. Capable of granting a pretty serious power up if played late on when we've cast lots of enchantments. A ridiculous rate for just {W}.
• Felidar Umbra: Another nice Umbra. Attaching it at instant speed to something else can be really useful (even an opponent's creature if we want to stop it attacking for a turn or so when Eriette's around).
• Gift of Immortality: An A+ protective aura that's difficult to remove unless you're exiling its target.
• Hyena Umbra: Our cheapest Umbra spell. Giving totem armour for just {W} is brilliant.
• Kaya's Ghostform: Another really good low cost spell. Dodges death or exile removal for the enchanted creature (ie. Eriette) for only {B}.
• Rune of Mortality: The two Runes included here are a bit underpowered but I like them because they also replace themselves with another card. This one's the more useful of the two as it works OK on an opposing creature as well as our own (it doesn't usually matter if it has deathtouch if it can't attack us while Eriette's on the board.
• Rune of Sustenance: Same as Rune of Mortality but less useful for enemy creatures as we don't usually want to give a lifelink ability to other players (it undoes all Eriette's good work).
• Shardmage's Rescue: A useful one-off hexproof aura that's useful for blanking removal.
• Spectra Ward: Very expensive to cast at {3}{W}{W} but giving protection from all colours is insanely good. One of our highest curve Voltron cards.
• Spirit Mantle: Protection from creatures is really good, not just because it means the enchanted creature is unblockable but it also blanks targetted abilities if they're creature-based.
• Timely Ward: Great instant speed protection for Eriette and perfectly servicable for other creatures too. It's also one we can consider casting on enemy creatures if we don't want them to attack.
• Vampiric Link: Just one black mana pip nets us a regular source of lifelink. It's one of those enchantments that works well either on our own stuff if we're following a Voltron strategy, or on our opponents' creatures.
• Unquestioned Authority: Pretty much the same as Spirit Mantle but it replaces itself for the extra point of mana.

Removal/Defending
We use these Auras to thwart our opponents's plans by negating their most problematic cards. The nice thing about most of these is they target specific permanents and not just creatures, making them pretty versatile. Some of them (Chains of Custody, Sheltered by Ghosts) can be tutored with Light-Paws, Emperor's Voice as they're Auras that enchant Light-Paws while targetting an opposing permanent.

• Chains of Custody: Exiles any target permanent which is amazing and grants the enchanted creature ward {2} which is sort of hexproof lite. Works really well if you've already buffed your creature with other protective effects.
• Darksteel Mutation: The classic way of dealing with Commanders. "Infinitely powerless" indeed. Good luck getting rid of it if we have Greater Auramancy in play.
• Ossification: Targetted land removal is still relatively rare in most EDH metas so this usually sticks around collecting value for Eriette once it's exiled a creature of planeswalker.
• Petrify: Gets bonus points because it shuts down activated abilities of artifacts as well as creatures (goodbye Sol Ring). I really like its versatility.
• Reprobation: Not as good as Darksteel Mutation but a variation on the same thing. Still worth running.
• Sheltered by Ghosts: A cheaper and better version of Chains of Custody Lifelink as well as ward {2} is nice.
• Trapped in the Tower: Another Darksteel Mutation variant. Included because it removes all abilities from its target.

Combat Manipulation
Sometimes enemy creatures need a bit of a nudge to attack other players. These Auras either force them to swing at players other than ourselves, or give them other incentives to attack. Remember we can use them on the likes of Eriette and Light-Paws if we're going down the Voltron route.

• Eye of Nidhogg: This the best one. Gives a nice base stats boost, grants deathtouch and goad AND returns itself to hand if it's destroyed. New staple for this deck.
• Ghoulish Impetus: All three of the relevant coloured Impetus auras are worth running because they each grant the goad ability. I think this is the strongest of the three as it come back to enchant something else if it's removed.
• Martial Impetus: Pumps up multiple attackers (as long as they're not coming at us). Probably the weaker of the three Impetus spells but still really good.
• Parasitic Impetus: Provides a better stats boost than the other two (+2/+2) and has a nice gain and drain effect.

Other Supporting Cards

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Although Aura spells represent the core of this list, they're not the only cards we run. Here are the others, split into groups.

Card Draw
One of the most important aspects of a deck like this is its ability to refill its hand after casting lots of auras, otherwise there's a danger we'll run out of gas. We therefore run a number of different card draw sources, most of which are aligned with our enchantments theme. Kor Spiritdancer, Hateful Eidolon, Lord Skitter's Blessing, Mesa Enchantress and Sram, Senior Edificer all care about enchantments and reward us with cards when we cast Auras. Alongside those, we run powerful Orzhov staples including Black Market Connections, Phyrexian Arena and Trouble in Pairs.

Land
For the most part, our lands are just there as mana generators but we run some that have other useful effects. A proxied Serra's SanctumGC is the highlight (I have a real one in another enchantment deck) as it generates insane amounts of white mana in a deck like this. Hall of Heliod's Generosity offers great recursion, Kor Haven is a useful Maze of Ith effect, and Bonders' Enclave and War Room are there to draw extra cards.

Removal
I've called this category "non-aura removal" in the deck list above as we already run quite a lot of Aura-based removal and will often need extra ways of dealing with troublesome permanents. For the most part they're still enchantment-based (Aang's Iceberg, Banishing Light, Grasp of Fate, Stormplain Detainment as we have plenty of synergies for other enchantments besides Auras, but the versatility of Damn is really good and Winds of Rath can often be a one-sided boardwipe.

Protection
We don't have room for many protective effects outside of the defensive Auras we run. Greater Auramancy is a staple for any W/x enchantment decks as it gives all our enchantments shroud. I've used one of our three B3 game changer slots on Teferi's ProtectionGC as it's a game-saving effect that can often make the difference between life and death when we're on the back foot. I run it in every white deck I've built. Umbra Mystic turns every Aura into a piece of totem armour, which is an excellent way of protecting our most important creatures.

Ramp
Our average mana value is quite low (around 2.5) and we have 37 lands so I'm running realtively few ramp sources. We're not the sort of deck that necessarily needs to cast its Commander on curve (or earlier), as it's usually best to lay the foundations by casting lots of enchantments before playing Eriette. Most of the ramp sources in this list are cost reducers for Auras or enchantments (Killian, Ink Duelist, Starfield Mystic, Transcendent Envoy). Sol Ring and Arcane Signet are included because they're such useful early ramp effects, particularly if you're lucky enough to draw them both in your opening hand.

Tutors
We're not a combo deck so don't need an abundance of tutors to search for critical cards. That said, I've included a few tutors to find the most useful enchantments at particular times. Enlightened TutorGC is worth using a game changer slot on as it's so cheap to cast. Idyllic Tutor and Open the Armory find enchantments or auras respectively. I find myself typically using them to find answers to opposing threats, or Sanguine Bond to press home the advantage.

Recursion
The unfortunate reality is that sometimes our Auras will be removed or destroyed so we need to have ways of getting them back from our graveyard. Retether does this en masse and is potentially one of the deck's most powerful cards. Lurrus of the Dream-Den is a great way of recurring our cheaper auras. Same goes for Nomad Mythmaker although it has the added bonus of being able to re-cast any Auras regardless of casting cost, including any that might be in our opponents' graveyards.

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.

As noted in the introductory session, I've made some deliberate design choices to keep this deck at the lower side of Bracket 3 in WotC's power brackets system for EDH. It only runs three game changer cards and although I keep flirting with the idea of adding Exquisite Blood alongside Sanguine Bond as an instant win condition, I've decided not to as I don't think it's in the spirit of bracket 3. My goal is for it to be a deck I'm happy to play at lower powered tables and possibly against precons too. I think I've achieved that aim even if the deck is now more optimised after several iterations. Using my categories above, I would call this one of my Tier 3 decks.

Budget

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As Bracket 3 Commander lists go, this is a lovely cheap deck to build. Expensive staples like Serra's SanctumGC, Esper Sentinel, Teferi's ProtectionGC and Enlightened TutorGC are luxuries but they're not necessarily needed for a fun and interactive Eriette list. I've dodged the cost by using proxies in this case as I own multiple real versions of those cards elsewhere. The nice thing about building Eriette is you can use whatever cheap Auras you have lying around and most of them don't tend cost much anywhere. A two colour mana base needn't cost the earth either and Eriette isn't a high priced card. My vision for this deck was to keep it inexpensive and low to medium powered, which is definitely realistic depending on your position on proxies or swapping out more expensive cards.

Future Improvements

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I've found that six games is the magic number I need to really get a feel for how my EDH decks play. Now I've achieved it for this deck, I'm pretty happy to call it finished in its current state. While it'll never be the strongest build - and isn't intended to be - it's really fun to play and leads to some really interesting game states, as well as being quite political in its approach. I'm not looking to make any further changes at this stage unless some cool new Auras come along. Which, let's face it, is only a matter of time.

Thanks for checking out this primer. I hope it inspires your own version of Eriette :)

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All My EDH Decks

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

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

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

{B} Ayara, First of Locthwain {B}
Black Diamond: Mono-Black Aristocrats Combo

{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 Land Sacrifice

{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

{U}{B} Lord of the Nazgul {U}{B}
The Black Gate Opens: Dimir Spellslinger

{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} 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

{W}{B} Eriette of the Charmed Apple {W}{B}
Flight of the Wicked Witch: Orzhov Auras

{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} 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

{U}{R}{G} Eshki, Temur's Roar {U}{R}{G}
Thunder Striker: Temur Power Matters

Date added	5 months
Last updated	2 weeks
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	4 - 0 Mythic Rares 41 - 0 Rares 21 - 0 Uncommons 14 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.60
Tokens	Angel 4/4 W, Companion Zone, Pegasus 2/2 W, Shapeshifter 3/2 C, Treasure, Wicked