~ Elsha's Epicality ~

This is a quick primer outlining my Enchantment deck called "Elsha's Epicality" with Elsha of the Infinite.
Every 10-20 matches or so, I update the deck from ideas I've had while playing, and track statistics from the games per "season" as a fun little project. Enjoy!


~ Win Percentages ~

Season I
Season II
Season III
Season IV
Season V
Season VI
Season VII
30%
11%
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA

[THE COMMANDER] This deck is guided by Elsha of the Infinite. She is the most reliable Jeskai commander in terms of card advantage, at the same time as being less threatening than Narset.

[THE GAME PLAN] The deck wants to find, cast, and copy Enduring Ideal to create a pseudo-lock which will later protect enchantment win-cons, some of which might be a bit… chaotic.

[THE POWER LEVEL] On a traditional power level scale, I would rate this deck at 6 out of 10 - focused, but not optimized, and the game plan is certainly designed to be entertaining rather than competitive and efficient.

[THE PHILOSOPHY] The main idea behind the deck is to explore different and quite casual enchantment-based combos. The main ones considered are the more casual (and fun) combination of Witch Hunt and Planeswalker's Fury, with the more threatening back-up of Psychic Corrosion and Mind Unbound (given 2-3 upkeeps per turn). These cards can be switched out for Seal of Cleansing + Fall of the Thran, and Decree of Silence + Solemnity, depending on approach and desired power level.

[EARLY GAME] The main objective at the first few turns is to hit land drops and ramp through artifacts to play Elsha optimally by turn 4. Cantrips like Preordain, Impulse and Expressive Iteration can help with lands or ramp, but a turn 5 Elsha is still good albeit not great, provided some additional board presence of sorts.

[MID GAME] With Elsha, keep track of the top deck of the library. Play as much as possible from the library, and time the draws so that lands and creatures are drawn instead of spells. Ideally, another creature, card draw, and interaction ensures protection against other creatures and potentially troublesome permanents.

[LATE GAME] With a board presence and available resources from the deck and the hand, prioritize to dig deeper into the deck to find tutors such as Mystical Tutor, Solve the Equation or Invert / Invent for Enduring Ideal. Once found, make sure that it can be copied while on the stack with cards like Nivix Guildmage, Fury Storm or Howl of the Horde, since just playing Enduring Ideal casually is a red flag to opponents. By itself, it will need 4-5 turns to protect itself, which is more than ample time for opponents to present lethal damage in one way or another.

Once Enduring Ideal with 1-2 copies resolve, there is an active choice whether to go for a more stax-protective route or a casual route. The correct choice depends on the development at the game at this stage – but a too stax-y approach might bring a lot of heat from frustrated opponents. For a normal approach, a recommended sequence of enchantments to get are Paradox Haze, Mirrormade, Mind Unbound, Grip of Chaos (later if opponents control oppressive enchantments, then get Aura Fracture first), Dovescape, Solitary Confinement, Smothering Tithe, Ice Cave, Rest in Peace, Psychic Corrosion, Witch Hunt, Penance (earlier if key enchantments are in hand as Enduring Ideal resolves) and Planeswalker's Fury. Should the playgroup be more on the casual side, use Aura Fracture to blow up Psychic Corrosion before Grip of Chaos is brought in to make the win-cons feel less oppressive.


On its own, the deck usually presents a game-winning scenario by turn 10-12. Should Enduring Ideal be countered, this is delayed with several turns, but a win can still be possible with Shark Typhoon.

The deck is thin on interactions such as counterspells and spot removals. This is not usually an issue for the designated power level, but it is a thing to keep in remembrance.

If the power level were wished to be increased, Rhystic Study is a great but costly addition to the deck, as is Fierce Guardianship. Mana Vault could possibly provide a great springboard into further ramp. Sphinx of the Second Sun is also a very interesting card since it helps with draw, essentially doubles the mana, and provides even more upkeeps if played before Enduring Ideal.

Thought Vessel and Reliquary Tower are hot candidates as playing only from the library tend to fill up the hand quite quickly.

Apart from this, a more solid land base with the complete Jeskai cycle of fetch, shock and horizon lands would be ideal.

From out of around 20 games or so, I managed to pull a win percentage of 11%.

The deck has been struggling a lot. Switching out some of the more spike-y cards like Dovescape to give the deck a less oppressive feel, still with the same win-con, just resulted in poorer performance. The deck showed to be a bit inconsistent in terms of speed, and unless Enduring Ideal was copied when cast, the resulting Epic-triggers were too slow to deal with the accelerating archenemy feel. The more protection you assemble, the more attention and fire gets drawn to you.

Also, Starfield of Nyx was a trap.

Cards switched after the season Show

Won 3 of 10 multiplayer games, resulting in a 30% win percentage.

The deck turned out to be really effective once it was left untouched for 5-6 upkeeps but drew a lot of hate and removals from the table due to the early protection of Dovescape and similar effects. Cards like Aura Shards, Supreme Verdict and Terastodon (which dodges Grip of Chaos!) sabotaged a lot of plans as well.

Check out the decks below for more of my builds. Comments, suggestions and upvotes are greatly appreciated!

LINK DESCRIPTION LINK DESCRIPTION LINK DESCRIPTION LINK DESCRIPTION LINK DESCRIPTION LINK DESCRIPTION LINK DESCRIPTION

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99% Casual

Competitive

Date added 5 years
Last updated 11 months
Legality

This deck is Commander / EDH legal.

Rarity (main - side)

9 - 0 Mythic Rares

44 - 0 Rares

21 - 0 Uncommons

14 - 0 Commons

Cards 100
Avg. CMC 3.33
Tokens 1/1 WU Token Creature Bird, Angel 4/4 W, Angel 4/4 W w/ Vigilance, Bird 2/2 U, Copy Clone, Knight 2/2 W, Shark */* U, Soldier 1/1 RW, Spirit 1/1 W, Treasure
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