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Cryptic Colourless Commander

Commander / EDH Bracket 3 Mono-White Superfriends

Voodoo_Gremlin

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Artifact (31)

Instant (3)

Creature (20)

Sorcery (7)

Planeswalker (5)

Commander (1)

Commander: Djeru, With Eyes Open

Land (31)

Enchantment (2)

Maybeboard

Artifact (3)

Sorcery (1)

Creature (2)

Planeswalker (1)

Djeru, With Eyes Open is in the Command Zone, but Ugin is our commander which one? Keep reading.

We're trying to, safely, play Ugin, Eye of the Storms. Then we want to start playing colourless cards and snipe the most dangerous coloured cards, take control and win over time.

Djeru, With Eyes Open is the commander of our deck because we need a creature which can tutor up one of our actual commanders, which are Planeswalkers. We do ramp, so playing Djeru on turn four or three isn't out of the question. We're also mono colour because it's tricky (for me anyway) to build a two-plus colour deck and still maintain the number of colourless cards we need to make the game plan work.

Djeru's other ability helps to protect our Ugins from the damage of attacks. This, potentially, helps us against wide attacks or forcing our opponents to commit more resources to try and kill an Ugin or keep it off an ability it could use on our next turn.

Djeru, With Eyes Open's CMC can work in our favour. When we play an early Ugin, the Spirit Dragon and use his -X to clear the board and sometimes he'll be left alone. However, if Djeru is caught in the blast we should be able to replay him the following turn and grab another Ugin.

Ugin, Eye of the Storms - The card we're actually building around. In a perfect world he'll be our first choice for a Djeru, With Eyes Open search. We'll try and hold on to our to snipe our opponents most dangerous coloured permanents. Depending on the quality of our hand we can go for either of the first two abilities. In the following turns we want to try and build to his final ability. To get us to the ultimate we have Aetheric Amplifier and The Chain Veil to put more counter on our Ugins.

Once we get Ugin on the battlefield with the help of a Cloudstone Curio, a cost card in hand and a in play ( can be an artifact with it's cost reduced to ) Ugin can Exile *list* all coloured permanents without hexproof, shroud and maybe ward our opponents play.

If we get Ugin to ultimate and we can win with Aetherflux Reservoir with a little help from Glaring Fleshraker just play them in front of all the other colourless cards remaining in our deck. Like a Tendrils of Agony in reverse.

Ugin, the Ineffable - The definitely least good Ugin right now. That doesn't mean he's bad. There are situations where an early (pre turn 5) Djeru, With Eyes Open we'll only have the following turn and we don't want any of our Ugins lingering in our hands for too long. When we play this we're likely going to destroy a problem card with his -3. We'll also want to have a card or two in hand which take advantage of Ugin's static text and play for . If we're in the rare, and exalted, position to +1 the turn he comes down for a spirit and a delayed draw we also want to immediately follow up with a card or two to take advantage of the static text.

Ugin, the Spirit Dragon -

Like with Ugin, Eye of the Storms, we have Aetheric Amplifier and The Chain Veil to put more loyalty counters on our Ugins and get us to that all important ultimate faster.

In a small amount of games colourless, devoid and artifact creatures are a mighty big problem. Our three Ugins aren't especially good at dealing with colourless things and if we can't beat the Onslaught back with board wipes we're not going to have a good time. We also want to play enough colour changers that we aren't overwhelmed by them but enough that we can reasonably get one of them when we need them.

Eight-and-a-Half-Tails - Two interesting abilities. First for will give anything protection from white. In a vacuum okay, not great. Second, for we change the colour of any SPELL or PERMANENT. For our purposes, one ability of each of our Ugin's is prevented from targeting and exiling colourless permanents. Now we can card: Exile(ALL) an Emrakul, the Promised End by paying . We can also shield any of our permanents for a combined .

Sadly, Painter's Servant is a non-bo with baby Ugin's static text & 3 and Mama Ugin's static text and the ultimate we want to use to win. It would work really well with Papa Ugin's x but that would fall into mass land destruction and this is a Bracket 3 deck.

Cloudchaser Kestrel - This was in the deck but it was a little bit of overkill for the it's purpose and the deck needed another board wipe. There are three cards in white and colourless that change card colours. Eight-and-a-Half-Tails is the absolute best one. Cloudchaser Kestrel is the least bad of the other two (Aurora Griffin is the worst bad one). A 2/2 flyer for is on rate and the destroying an enchantment when it enters the battlefield if also good, enchantments are less common than say artifacts.

Aetherflux Reservoir - We've got a couple of ways to win with Reseroir. The fair way is over a couple of turns we play two or three spells a turn and build up to 51 or life and kill one person. All well an good if we're down to one player and we've exhausted most of our resources we do have better options.

Aetherflux Reservoir + Mystic Forge - Again we'll be trying to get lucky and hit a long string of artifacts of the top. Much like the fair way we'll gain enough to kill one or two players...if we're lucky.

Elspeth, Sun's Champion -

Glaring Fleshraker - Fleshraker has a few notable synergies which can inflict lethal damage to all our opponents on the spot.

Archon of Absolution - 2 toughness is rough compared to other creatures that add a cost to attacking us and Planeswalkers, like Archangel of Tithes & Baird, Steward of Argive. It makes up for this with protection. The protection from white helps with Path to Exile, Swords to Plowshares and their ilk. There's also some synergy with Cloudchaser Kestrel & Eight-and-a-Half-Tails. We shouldn't underestimate flying when it comes to protecting our Ugins.

Maze of Ith - It will invalidate an attack, including our own, and our opponents can't stop it from entering the battlefield. It doesn't produce mana and thus doesn't count towards our land count. This is personal but when building a land base we shouldn't count any lands that don't produce mana on their own.

Onakke Oathkeeper - How badly do you need to kill a Planeswalker? How much are you willing to give up? If this ogre spirit is on our side it's per creature and we'll still have a chance to block. Oh, Oathkeeper has a more than respectable four toughness. Once Onakke Oathkeeper has laid down their life they're willing to bring a fallen Planeswalker back the battlefield. Tailor made for this deck.

Ranger-Captain of Eos - The first target of our searches should likely be Esper Sentinel, as the drop with the most powerful ability. After that we should be thinking about one of our 's so we can play defense and prepare for Momma Ugins arrival. When Momma or Poppa are ready to be cast we can sac him to get one counter free turn. When we have Aetherflux Reservoir this is two spells in one.

Silent Arbiter -

White is not well known for its counterspells. They do exist; Lapse of Certainty, Reprieve, Mana Tithe ect. Regrettably, we're a tap out style deck. There are also cards that make mana that can be used to make a spell uncounterable; Cavern of Souls or card:Delighted Halfing. There isn't one that helps our gameplan so, we're going to make difficult, or impossible, for our opponents to cast spells on our turns.

Defense Grid - This makes it difficult to counter or remove any of our permanents on our turns. This effect is symmetrical so plan ahead when looking at that Swords to Plowshares.

Grand Abolisher & Voice of Victory - Both of these fill the same role of warding off counterspells on our turn. Grand Abolisher's ability is more absolute. Voice of Victory can make extra attackers and is a little easier on our manabase.

Hope of Ghirapur - Our big plays don't rely on combat, for the most part, so having Hope attack and lock out the deck with counterspells until our next turn is just fine. Further, in a deck that cares about its' Planeswalkers, having a cheap flyer around is always welcome.

Ranger-Captain of Eos - See Protecting Our Kings

This is not a typical eggs deck. There’s no Second Sunrise, Hourglass of the Lost or Faith's Reward. When are eggs are cracked they stay cracked.

Then why use them? It’s two fold. One we want to use our eggs to scary, draw or make mana and get to an Ugin, Eye of the Storms either by dumb luck or by searching it. Two, after Ugin is safely on the table the nature of our eggs changes to pieces of removal. Ugin becomes our sniper rifle and the eggs are now our bullets. If we also have Cloudstone Curio and the ability the repeatedly bounce replay artifacts Ugin is now our gattling gun.

Candy Trail - It's good early, it's good late. Just a solid card all around.

Chromatic Sphere - Sphere & Star are in here so we can pay to draw a card. We're mono white, we take what we can get.

Chromatic Star - Like Chromatic Sphere, Star is here to filter a mana and draw us a card. This is the superior Chromatic because it will draw any time it goes to the grave. Sphere needs to be sacrificed by it's own ability to draw a card.

Expedition Map - First targets are usually Ancient Tomb. It can also be desperation mana fixing. If we're backed into a corner Maze of Ith is a good go to.

Lembas -

Mishra's Bauble - A source of a delayed draw and some information.

Moonsilver Key -

Soul-Guide Lantern -

Urza's Bauble - A source of a delayed draw and some information.

Vexing Baublefoil - The floor on this card is draw a card, great value for mono white. On a macro level, the card pool Commander players can draw from anything from Magic's history. There are relatively few free spells but, every colour has a few good ones. bauble protects us from all of them. This includes our own cost cards, spells which have been reduced to and Mama Ugin's ultimate ability. Luckily, there's a built in escape where we can pay , Sacrifice it and draw a card. Plan ahead!

Wayfarer's Bauble -

Arcane Signet - Seems odd in a mono coloured deck but, there are very few cost mana rocks that produce a colour and come into play untapped.

Gold Myr - There's going to be a few colourless mana dorks in this section. We're olaying these over straight mana rocks because we need to be able to ramp AND we need to block to protect our Ugins.

Forsaken Monument -

Foundry Inspector & Jhoira's Familiar - For what this deck is trying to do there isn't a cost reducing card we want to play (Helm of Awakening is symmetrical) that covers everything so with these we're trying to get as many types of cards covered as possible.

Hedron Archive - An upgraded Sisay's Ring or Ur-Golem's Eye. It can provide us with mana and, when needed, draw two cards.

Jeweled Amulet - A poor person's Mox. It may be surprising to know we can hold a OR in it.

Lotus Petal -

Ornithopter of Paradise -

Palladium Myr -

Sol Ring - Let's see. Playing Commander. Check. It goes on the deck. Being a white boarder card makes it easier to find when we're searching.

Thran Dynamo -

Worn Powerstone -

Arena Rector - Cousin to the Academy Rector. On their death they can exile themselves to bring out any Planeswalker in our deck. Like the original this card can be a poor man's Moat, with people not wanting to attack for fear of what will happen next. Unlike the original Rector we're putting a permeant on the battlefield that is far more fragile than an enchantment. We need to be careful of who we get based on the turn order. Clearly, if it's the current player's turn and then us we'll get the most advantageous Walker we can. If we have to wait for three more turns we may want not to block. There's a narrow situation where after we play Ugin, the Spirit Dragon we canthen follow-up with Arena Rector use the +2 to immediately kill this and get another Ugin.

Inventors' Fair -

Land Tax - Mono white has ALMOST no ramping land search in it. MOST of it searches for lands to catch up with other players with no guarantee that the lands come into play immediately. That precedent was set by Land Tax. At its best turn 1, although Lotus Petal no land drop can change that, but anytime we're behind on lands it's always a welcome sight. Every upkeep we'll be thinking about the number of cards in our hand, add in a draw and what spells we'll be playing. In most circumstances we want to take as many Snow-Covered Plains as possible but trying not to discard cards. There are a couple of key interactions with our other cards.

Search for Glory - There are many Planeswalker decks which do two things wrong. One, being a slave to theme and just cram all the Planeswalkers they own into the deck. Two, playing Call the Gatewatch. If it's all you have or all you can afford, understandable. Search for Glory is just better. We're not playing sagas but there are possibilities, not including Urza Assembles the Titans. It can search for a snow permanent so we can get a Snow-Covered Plains or our sole Snow-Covered Wastes. The final clause let's us search any legendary card. Which includes lands, artifacts, creatures and Planeswalkers. We can also gain up to 3 life. The only reason to seriously play Call the Gatewatch is if there's already a Search in the deck.

Urza's Saga -

At first glance these seem a little odd in our deck. Why are we playing creatures with few if any abilities? In a deck that depends on its' Planeswalkers Never underestimate some cheap defense. We aren't playing any creatures because we want to be able to block.

Next, when we do get Ugin, Eye of the Storms we want to have some bullets to load into his gun and it doesn't get cheaper than .

Ranger-Captain of Eos can search any of these cards. After a bit of play with this deck three is ideal. If you can't get ahold of any one of these Memnite is a good substitute.

Ornithopter - Is the most important of the three. Flying is vital when we're trying to protect an Ugin.

Phyrexian Walker -

Shield Sphere -

13x Snow-Covered Plains - We want to be playing a land every turn to aide our mana rocks so we can cast Djeru, With Eyes Open and go into our main game plan.

Snow-Covered Wastes - This is a hedge against narrow situations where we have Glaring Fleshraker in hand and no mana rocks or colourless non-basic lands. It can be searched with Fabled Passage & Prismatic Vista. For the most part we don't want to see it.

Abstergo Entertainment - This could also be a Buried Ruin. Here's the case for Abstergo. It can produce coloured mana for an extra . It's Sacrifice ability costs more than card:Buried Ruins|Ruins but what we can return expands from artifacts to historic cards. Simultaneously, it exiles all graveyards which is never a bad thing. The Exile *list* effect has lite synergy with Karn, the Great Creator's -2.

Blasted Landscape & Secluded Steppe - When we flood we cycle these either of these for a shot at action. Secluded Steppe is here because it's the cheapest of the five cycling lands we could play, Drifting Meadow, Desert of the True & Night Market are the others. All three of these produce so why Blasted Landscape over them? Meadow, Desert & Market come into play tapped and Landscape doesn't. On a side note for Night Market; triomes come into play tapped, they produce three different colours, count as three land types & cycle for . Market cycles for and is no triome.

City of Traitors - Kinda surprising this isn't on the Game Changer list but let's not think about that too much. It's another Sol Land (a land that make or more mana [usually with some drawback]) that helps us ramp. This is also an exercise in long term planning because we lose it after we play another land. It can help to trigger Land Tax.

Demolition Field - There are a lot of lands that are a problem and we need to get rid of them or lose. The drawback is you and the opponent get to search for a basic land. Not a problem for us. However, Commander is a format of very greedy manabases and our Demolition Field can be a Strip Mine in disguise.

Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire - Good versatile land that can be a mana source or uncounterable creature removal.

Emeria's Call  , Razorgrass Ambush   & Witch Enchanter   - These MDFC cards give us flexibility of either playing the front side or the land side. These three are in the land section so guess which side we're expecting to play? What these have in common is they can come into play untapped if we bolt ourselves.

Fabled Passage & Prismatic Vista - Largely hear to search out our Snow-Covered Wastes when we need it. They can also give us a fresh look when we brick with Mystic Forge.

Fomori Vault -

Ghost Quarter - Nobody likes land destruction but, targeted land destruction is necessary for dealing with problem lands. This one is fair-ish. We'll give them a basic land back and as long as the opponent doesn't have a greedy mana base they'll be fine. If they do get a land it may push us behind on lands and turn on Land Tax. This and Demolition Field can give our opponent's pause before playing Vampiric Tutor or other tutors which put the searched cards on top of their libraries.

Monumental Henge -

Strip Mine -

This is a bracket three deck so we are limited to three game changer cards which are:

Ancient Tomb -

Mana Vault - So it's just a colourless, sorcery speed Dark Ritual. With our Manifold Key & Voltaic Key we could be getting or even out of it once our keys activation costs are paid.

The One Ring -

For other cards which could be our game changers:

Enlightened Tutor - This was one of the Game Changers, that is until April 22, 2025 when Teferi's Protection was added to the list.

Lion's Eye Diamond - If it was affordable it could be paired with Auriok Salvagers to build an infinite storm, which would bring us infinite life with Aetherflux Reservoir and kill every creature and Planeswalker our opponents have before ending our opponents.

Teferi's Protection -

This is where the cards with written descriptions. They're kept because the reader may want to see what I thought about them or how they worked in the deck. The other reason is I'm lazy and if I want to them back I have a starting point.

Buried Ruin - One of the few ways to reacquire a sacrificed egg but it's also away to bring back any of our artifacts that were too scary for the table, ieAetherflux Reservoir or The Chain Veil.

Ghost Vacuum - This is not only a good piece of graveyard removal it's also an investment. As the game goes long we can gather a bunch of creatures and release them after a board wipe or when we need emergency blockers.

Oswald Fiddlebender - This isn't a dedicated Fiddlebender deck and this isn't a completely dedicated artifact deck. That doesn't mean that Ossie isn't helpful. There are few key artifacts, The Chain Veil & Aetherflux Reservoir, we want on the battlefield. As we can climb we can Sacrifice our smaller cards along the way to them, as per normal. If nothing else Oswald Fiddlebender has a reputation and may just jump out and tell the table "Hey! Look at me! I'm a distraction." One less removal spell to point at Ugin.

Thalia's Lancers - Functioning as a back-up Djeru. A 4/4 first strike for is a good rate. That AND a search for a legendary card makes it perfect for our deck.

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97% Casual

Competitive