Gerrard's Fun Trigger Stacking (Competitiveish)

Commander / EDH Aristocrats Artifact Combo Eggs Infinite Combo RW (Boros) Sacrifice Value Engine

Daquartzinator

Land (27)

• 1x Alpine Meadow
• 1x Ancient Den
• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Battlefield Forge
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Buried Ruin
• 1x Clifftop Retreat
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 1x Great Furnace
• 1x High Market
• 1x Inventors' Fair
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 2x Mountain
• 5x Plains
• 1x Prismatic Vista
• 1x Reflecting Pool
• 1x Sacred Foundry
• 1x Spire of Industry
• 1x Windswept Heath
• 1x Wooded Foothills

Tutor (7)

• 1x Academy Rector
• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Gamble
• 1x Goblin Engineer
• 1x Goblin Matron
• 1x Imperial Recruiter
• 1x Recruiter of the Guard

Card Draw (3)

• 1x Mentor of the Meek
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Skullclamp

Slow them down (3)

• 1x Armageddon
• 1x Cataclysm
• 1x Ethersworn Canonist

Draw Eggs (12)

• 1x Chromatic Sphere
• 1x Chromatic Star
• 1x Conjurer's Bauble
• 1x Elsewhere Flask
• 1x Golden Egg
• 1x Guild Globe
• 1x Implement of Combustion
• 1x Implement of Improvement
• 1x Pyrite Spellbomb
• 1x Soul-Guide Lantern
• 1x Terrarion
• 1x Wall of Omens

Combo Pieces (7)

• 1x Cloudshift
• 1x Flameshadow Conjuring
• 1x Living Lightning
• 1x Loyal Retainers
• 1x Mogg Fanatic
• 1x Nim Deathmantle
• 1x Salvager of Ruin

Removal (7)

• 1x Duergar Hedge-Mage
• 1x Fiend Hunter
• 1x Ingot Chewer
• 1x Leonin Relic-Warder
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Wear / Tear

From the Grave (6)

• 1x Goblin Welder
• 1x Karmic Guide
• 1x Myr Retriever
• 1x Scrap Trawler
• 1x Sevinne's Reclamation
• 1x Underworld Breach

Sunrise (3)

• 1x Brought Back
• 1x Faith's Reward
• 1x Second Sunrise

Commander (1)

Mana Rocks (11)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Boros Signet
• 1x Chrome Mox
• 1x Coldsteel Heart
• 1x Commander's Sphere
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Mox Opal
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Talisman of Conviction
• 1x Thought Vessel

Sac Outlets (7)

• 1x Altar of Dementia
• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Goblin Bombardment
• 1x Grinding Station
• 1x Krark-Clan Ironworks
• 1x Krark-Clan Shaman
• 1x Phyrexian Altar

Mana Eggs (4)

• 1x Dockside Extortionist
• 1x Impulsive Pilferer
• 1x Lotus Bloom
• 1x Lotus Petal

Protection (2)

• 1x Grand Abolisher
• 1x Mana Tithe

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Sideboard

Other (3)

• 1x Felidar Guardian
• 1x Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
• 1x Restoration Angel

Self-Sac (1)

• 1x Restoration Specialist

Reanimation (2)

• 1x Angelic Renewal
• 1x Restoration Specialist

Combo (1)

• 1x Angelic Renewal

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Maybeboard

Good but slow (10)

• 1x Codex Shredder
• 1x Daretti, Scrap Savant
• 1x Ephemerate
• 1x Fervent Mastery
• 1x Magus of the Wheel
• 1x Memory Jar
• 1x Monologue Tax
• 1x Salvaging Station
• 1x Scrap Mastery
• 1x Smothering Tithe

Recursion (5)

• 1x Junk Diver
• 1x Remember the Fallen
• 1x Restoration Specialist
• 1x Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle
• 1x Vesperlark

Sac Outlet (4)

• 1x Arcbound Ravager
• 1x Claws of Gix
• 1x Makeshift Munitions
• 1x Phyrexia's Core

Lands (2)

• 1x Furycalm Snarl
• 1x Needleverge Pathway  ^Flip

Eggs (7)

• 1x Arcum's Astrolabe
• 1x Ichor Wellspring
• 1x Mishra's Bauble
• 1x Scrabbling Claws
• 1x Scroll of Avacyn
• 1x Sunbeam Spellbomb
• 1x Urza's Bauble

Ramp (5)

• 1x Fractured Powerstone
• 1x Heart of Ramos
• 1x Prismatic Lens
• 1x Springleaf Drum
• 1x Tooth of Ramos

Cost Reducer? (Not sure) (4)

• 1x Cloud Key
• 1x Foundry Inspector
• 1x Helm of Awakening
• 1x Semblance Anvil

Card Advantage (2)

• 1x Jeska's Will
• 1x Wheel of Misfortune

Mana Eggs (2)

• 1x Myr Moonvessel
• 1x Priest of Urabrask

Stax / Hate / Control (6)

• 1x Aven Mindcensor
• 1x Blood Moon
• 1x Cursed Totem
• 1x Damping Sphere
• 1x Drannith Magistrate
• 1x Rule of Law

Protection (5)

• 1x Flamescroll Celebrant  ^Flip
• 1x Orim's Chant
• 1x Ranger-Captain of Eos
• 1x Rebuff the Wicked
• 1x Silence

Removal (5)

• 1x Chaos Warp
• 1x Fragmentize
• 1x Generous Gift
• 1x Rip Apart
• 1x Unexpectedly Absent

Filtering (2)

• 1x Faithless Looting
• 1x Insolent Neonate

Other (1)

• 1x Strionic Resonator

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This deck aims to do all the things Boros is traditionally great at: Gaining card advantage, abusing the graveyard, finishing with one of the wide variety of combos in the deck--wait a minute

Everyone likes to call their EDH deck a "7", and I'm no exception. This deck is much slower and less consistent than cEDH decks. (see: playing the opposite of Sultai) It has the potential to combo quickly, but most combos are expensive. This is a fun deck to play against well-optimized decks with lower-power generals, or somewhat optimized decks with powerful generals.

Hey! (I know this is a long shot.) If you see this deck, feedback is much appreciated! This is probably my favorite edh deck, but I'm still trying to make it better. Any suggestions are welcome :)

Is it for me?

You will like this deck if you like:

• Interesting, complex combos (they aren't the most difficult but many are not straightforward and involve strange interactions or sequencing and trigger management)

• Abusing ETB, death triggers, and the graveyard

• Sacrificing creatures and artifacts alike

• A value-oriented early- and sometimes mid-game

• A game plan wildly out of color for Boros

You probably won't like the deck if

• You like attacking

• You don't like combos

• You don't enjoy complex sequencing

• You enjoy consistency

Game Plan

This is pretty outdated, I should rewrite it

Early game:

Ramp hard with mana rocks. We don't have green but we sure do have artifacts!

Draw cards with your suite of eggs (Chromatic Star, Guild Globe, Conjurer's Bauble, etc.)

Control the board using cards like Fiend Hunter, Duergar Hedge-Mage, and Cataclysm.

Early Combo: This deck is capable of comboing quite fast (for its power level), being able to win turns 4-5 with a great draw and even earlier with very fast mana.

Mid-Game: If you don't combo before turn 6-7, this deck can survive well in a grindy game.

Get maximum value out of your etb + death triggers by blinking them (Fedilar Guardian, Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker). Don't be afraid to play and sacrifice Gerrard earlier than the combo turn to control the board, draw cards with eggs, or other similar situations.

Categories

Eggs - These are the permanents that we sacrifice and reanimate with Gerrard. They come in 2 flavors: Draw eggs act as our main card advantage engine, while ramp eggs get us more mana.

Sac outlet - Our way to sacrifice Gerrard, other creatures, and sometimes artifacts as well.

Tutors - All the cards that let us find our important pieces. Some of these are also creatures that can be looped with Gerrard for extra value.

Removal - Cards that let us remove opponents permanents. Useful for stopping other combos, or for destroying artifact or graveyard hate. Like tutors, some of these are creatures that can be looped for extra value.

Combo Pieces - These are the cards that have limited utility outside of combos, by not directly drawing cards, getting mana, or being interactive.

From the Grave - Cards that let us get permanents back from the graveyard that didn't die this turn.

Sunrise - Cards that emulate Gerrard's ability, like Second Sunrise

Protection - Defensive cards that protect our combos.

Slow them down - Defensive cards that slow our opponents down.

Combos

Terminology and Basic Guide

This is probably super confusing, I should rewrite it

An "altar" refers to Ashnod's Altar or Phyrexian Altar. Many combos require these as they turn your creatures into mana. If the combo requires colorless, either will do. If it requires colored mana, Ashnod's can be used with mana-fixing eggs. Combos will list how much mana you need to get each loop, the number of creatures will depend on the altar.

"Any sac outlet" refers to either altar or Altar of Dementia (AoD) or Goblin Bombardment (Bombardment).

"Artifact sac outlet" refers to Krark-Clan Ironworks or Grinding Station

"Additional wincon" refers to something like Mogg Fanatic or Chromatic Star that will win the game in a loop without AoD/Bombardment.

How to win: A loop will (unless stated otherwise) allow you to sacrifice your creatures over and over again. Important things to note:

• What is listed will get the loop going. Unless specifically stated, the loop will "break even."

• In order to win, you need an additional thing to sacrifice: an extra creature and another sac outlet, an extra artifact and an artifact sac outlet, or an additional wincon.

• Many loops requiring an Altar will work with KCI to get the mana, and another sac outlet (AoD/Bombardment) to sac Gerrard.

Plan A Combo

Gerrard + Loyal Retainers + any sac outlet

The simplest and best loop. Sacrifice Gerrard to your sac outlet. Respond to his death trigger by sacrificing Loyal Retainers, reanimating Gerrard. Let Gerrard's death trigger resolve, reanimating Retainers. Wins with a non-altar sac outlet (no extra creatures).

This is the fastest loop to get down, threatening a possible win on turn 4 with no ramp or on turn 3 with the right pieces in place. It's theoretically possible on turn 2 as well, with Sol Ring, Mox Opal, and Lotus Petal.

Plan B Combos

These are the combos that are a bit slower than Loyal Retainers, but they still are either pretty fast, or align with our game plan well. These should be doable by turn 5 and easy by turn 6.

Gerrard + Salvager of Ruin + Altar + additional creatures

Gerrard + Nim Deathmantle + Altar + additional creatures

These 2 loops work basically the same: Sacrifice creatures and Gerrard to get up to 4 mana. Respond to Gerrard's death trigger with either sacrificing Salvager to rescue him, or paying for Deathmantle's triggered ability. With Gerrard safe, resolve his death trigger, reanimating everything. Then if you used Salvager, replay Gerrard.

Differences between them:

• Deathmantle loop works at instant speed.

• Salvager loop requires 2RW. If using Ashnod's or KCI, you need 2 eggs or Guild Globe.

Gerrard + Flameshadow Conjuring + Altar

[To start the combo, sacrifice creatures to get R, then cast/flicker Gerrard. This will only happen once.] Pay the mana to make a token copy. The Legend Rule triggers, choose for the real Gerrard to die. Sacrifice creatures and Gerrard to get R. Let the token Gerrard's death trigger resolve, reanimating everything including the real Gerrard. (Gerrard just entered the battlefield, you're back to where you were after the square brackets.)

Note: You can't stop during this combo, as you must make the token copy as soon as Gerrard reenters the battlefield. If you do stop, you must sacrifice Gerrard and then recast him or flicker him.

Living Lightning + Lotus Bloom / Dockside Extortionist + Brought Back + Sac outlet

Sacrifice Lightning, get back Brought Back. Sacrifice Lotus Bloom/Extortionist. Cast Brought Back on Lightning and Bloom/Extortionist. This combo wins with AoD/Bombardment, or an altar and a Mogg Fanatic.

Karmic Guide + Fiend Hunter + any sac outlet

[To start the combo, cast or flicker Fiend Hunter. Have its etb effect target KG. Alternatively, cast or flicker KG to reanimate Fiend Hunter. This will only happen once.] Sacrifice Fiend Hunter. Fiend Hunter's death brings KG back, have KG target Fiend Hunter. Have Fiend Hunter target KG. This wins the game with AoD/Bombardment, and gets infinte mana with an altar. If you have a wincon like Mogg Fanatic, you can add Gerrard to the loop to win the game.

Krark-Clan Ironworks + Mox Opal + Myr Retriever + Scrap Trawler + Chromatic Sphere or other 1CMC egg that enters untapped

This loop takes advantage of a strange rule. First, tap Opal for one mana. If you declare you are activating the ability of your Chromatic Sphere or similar, you can sacrifice Retriever, Trawler, and Opal simultaneously to pay for the ability. This means they all hit the yard at the same time, so with your Trawler and Retriever triggers, you can get everything back to your hand. Everything costs 6 mana to play again, but you just added 7 to your mana pool, and drew a card.

Plan C Combos

Gerrard + Karmic Guide + Living Lightning + Cloudshift + Altar

Sacrifice Gerrard to get W. Respond to his death trigger by casting Cloudshift on Karmic Guide. When Karmic Guide reenters, reanimate Gerrard. Still in response to his death trigger, sacrifice Living Lightning, returning Cloudshift to your hand. Let the death trigger resolve, reanimating Living Lightning. (In response to Gerrard's death trigger, you can also sacrifice KG, which lets you bring a new creature back from the grave with each loop.)

The "bare minimum" of this combo generates infinite mana. AoD/Bombardment will win the game even with no extra creatures.

Other "Combos"

Underworld Breach + Grinding Station + Mox Opal/Sol Ring

This combo lets you find other combos by way of milling yourself, and generates mana. Keep in mind that each iteration exiles 3 cards from your graveyard.

Armageddon / Cataclysm + Faith's Reward / Second Sunrise + Soul-Guide Lantern

Requires 8 mana and doesn't win the game, but a one sided Armageddon is good. Cast your Armageddon, floating mana. Crack the Lantern if you're doing it with Sunrise. Then cast your Sunrise/Faith's Reward and get all of your lands back.

Removed Combos

(These combos were in previous versions of the deck, but were removed.

Gerrard + Minion Reflector + Altar

[To start the combo, sacrifice creatures to get 2 or R, then cast/flicker Gerrard. This will only happen once.] Pay the mana to make a token copy. The Legend Rule triggers, choose for the real Gerrard to die. Sacrifice creatures and Gerrard to get to 2 or R. Let the token Gerrard's death trigger resolve, reanimating everything including the real Gerrard. (Gerrard just entered the battlefield, you're back to where you were after the square brackets.)

Gerrard + Restoration Specialist + Angelic Renewal + Altar

Sacrifice creatures and Gerrard to get to 1WW. Resolve Renewal's ability, sacrificing it to reanimate Gerrard. Still before Gerrard's death trigger resolves, sacrifice Restoration Specialist for W to return Renewal. (And an artifact, if you want.) Recast renewal for 1W.

Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker + Restoration Angel/Felidar Guardian

A standard Kiki combo.

Karmic Guide + Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker + any sac outlet

Tap Kiki to make a copy of Karmic Guide. Respond by sacrificing Kiki. Let the ability resolve, have token KG reanimate Kiki. This combo gets you infinite hasty Karmic Guides, which lets you win no matter the sac outlet.

Notes

Most of the time it is best to know what combo you are going for before playing Goblin Engineer or Academy Rector, even if it means waiting. Usually with Engineer you are going to want to find Lotus Bloom or Phyrexian Altar depending on the situation, and Academy Rector usually finds Flameshadow Conjuring.

Interactions to be aware of:

Sacrificing or blinking Leonin Relic-Warder or Fiend Hunter in response to the etb will cause the permanent to be exiled permanently.

Sacrificing Elsewhere Flask can turn on a Duergar Hedge-Mage.

Felidar Guardian can blink any permanent - even lands.

If you evoke an Ingot Chewer or Wispmare, you can respond to the sacrifice trigger. You can respond with a flicker effect to not sacrifice them, or simply by sacrificing them to an altar.

Mill yourself with Altar of Dementia when you have Underworld Breach or Rally the Ancestors for card advantage.

Goblin Engineer can tutor for CMC 4+ artifacts, like Krark-Clan Ironworks or Minion Reflector, but he can't reanimate them.

Academy Rector only has 3 targets, but they are ALL combo pieces: Goblin Bombardment, Flameshadow Conjuring, and Underworld Breach.

The Recruiters can find Goblin Engineer, Academy Rector, and each other, as well as some situational cards. Usually Loyal Retainers will be the best thing to find, though.

Goblin Matron can find Goblin Engineer if you need an artifact tutor, Goblin Welder for value, Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker and Mogg Fanatic are combo pieces, and of course Dockside Extortionist.

Soul-Guide Lantern's etb ability is a must, which is relevant if you sac it to exile graveyards (first ability), and then bring it back with Gerrard.

Cast Cataclysm and sac Gerrard and get all your creatures and artifacts back. Cast Cataclysm or Armageddon followed by Brought Back or Faith's Reward and you're far ahead on lands.

( removed from list )

After casting a Rally the Ancestors, make sure to sacrifice all of the creatures, and then sac Gerrard. You won't have to exile them.

Auramancer and Restoration Specialist aren't just for combo - they can also get back Underworld Breach!

Changes & Testing

Sideboard is cards that have been cut.

Update 2

In: Ancient Tomb, High Market, Chrome Mox, Sensei's Divining Top, Impulsive Pilferer, Ethersworn Canonist

Out: 1 Plains, 1 Mountain, Knight of the White Orchid, Kiki-Jiki, Restoration Angel, Felidar Guardian

Ancient Tomb is an excellent land, and High Market is low-cost and has the potential to be very useful.

Knight of the White Orchid is coming out, catch-up ramp is not great. Chrome Mox lets us be way faster.

The Kiki + Resto + Cat package is coming out. These cards are some of the most expensive in the deck, and form the worst combos in the deck. They were better with the old midrange plan, but they are just way too slow at this point.

Top, Impulsive Pilferer, and Ethersworn Canonist are being tested as another potential egg, another mana egg, and a disruptive card respectively.

Small update

Boreas Charger is out for Thought Vessel. Charger is really slow, and triggers on death, not etb. Its only upside is that it draws more lands, but that's basically only relevant after an Armageddon. tldr faster ramp better

Planning for a larger update adding faster mana

Update 1

IN: Pyrite Spellbomb, Krark-Clan Shaman, Terrarion, Second Sunrise. OUT: Ghitu Slinger, Wispmare, Ichor Wellspring, Rally the Ancestors

Pyrite Spellbomb seems excellent as a draw egg or repeatable removal. It is also a finisher. Ghitu Slinger is out, I like the idea of echo cards in Gerrard but Slinger was too much mana for not enough. It was still in as a finisher but Spellbomb does that.

Krark-Clan Shaman why wasn't I playing this card earlier? It's basically an artifact and creature sac outlet, that can be tutored by both recruiters and matron. Wispmare is out because it didn't seem very relevant very often, and I have more flexible enchantment removal.

Terrarion is the only egg other than Chromatic Star that can sacrifice itself, can be sacrificed, costs only 1 mana to cast, and effectively costs 0 to sacrifice. Ichor Wellspring looks good on paper but is awful if you don't have an artifact sac outlet. Krark-Clan Shaman might get me to put it back in.

Second Sunrise this card was not in the deck as a holdover from back when it was a much more midrangey deck, and returning my opponents permanents seemed terrible. I'm much more concerned with drawing cards than destroying permanents now, so it should have gone in a long time ago. Rally the Ancestors was the worst reanimation spell, its upside was that it gets back creatures that didn't die this turn, but other cards can do that, and you usually don't need to get them all back.

Considering cuts

Karmic Guide + Cloudshift + Living Lightning package: This is the other main midrange package. These cards are all pretty good on their own, and have 2 interesting combos (excluding the KG + Kiki combo). Living Lightning is a bit of a pet card. I would like to keep them in, I'm still determining if they're good enough.

Leonin Relic-Warder, Ingot Chewer: These are more of the midrange interactive creatures. They're fine for the midrange plan but slow otherwise.

Duergar Hedge-Mage, Fiend Hunter: The last of the midrange package. Hedge-Mage is fairly powerful imo, and Fiend Hunter has a plan-C combo with Karmic Guide, so they probably won't be cut.

Skullclamp: Very powerful situationally, but sometimes it's a dead card.

Grinding Station: Only being able to sacrifice one artifact per Gerrard cycle isn't ideal. It is in the Breach combo, and can provide some psuedo card advantage though.

Conjurer's Bauble: There might be better eggs.

Academy Rector: This card is usually a 0-mana tutor for Flameshadow Conjuring. The Flameshadow loop is not the best combo, and this card is pretty bad if you tutor for something else, especially considering currently there's only 2 other targets. Also I'd be lying if I said I wasn't considering selling it now.

In Testing: Goblin Matron, Mentor of the Meek, Armageddon, Cataclysm, Fiend Hunter, Soul-Guide Lantern, Pyrite Spellbomb, Terrarion, Krark-Clan Shaman, Impulsive Pilferer, Ethersworn Canonist, Top

Major Update Considerations

There are 2 major updates in consideration right now.

1. Artifact update: As it stands, this deck only has 3 artifact sac outlets. This isn't many, and the deck is designed to function without them. However, this means some of the eggs I play aren't great (all the 2 mana ones). Considering adding more artifact sac outlets to allow me to play more non self-sac eggs: Arcum's Astrolabe, Sensei's Divining Top, Ichor Wellspring, and some others.

2. No More Midrange Update: This would be a major deck turning point. The midrange package provides a critical mass of creatures, useful board control, additional combo lines, and ability to stall until a combo is found. However, these cards are expensive, and better options for those slots probably exist. At this point, trimming the midrange package would be pretty silly, as all of the cards interact well with each other, and cutting one would suggest cutting more and more. This is basically me being torn between having a good deck and having a deck with a unique identity, I don't want to just copy the other Gerrard decks out there.

2.5 Edit to the No More Midrange upate: I realized that the Kiki + Resto + Cat package actually is fairly self-contained, and cutting it would only remove one other combo (the Kiki + Karmic Guide combo, possibly the worst combo in the deck). This would be a small update, where I still have some interactive creatures. This is now being heavily considered. (Ephemerate would probably be added, to keep some flicker synergy at a much lower cost.)

Date added	4 years
Last updated	1 year
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	3 - 1 Mythic Rares 43 - 1 Rares 22 - 2 Uncommons 24 - 1 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.14
Tokens	Copy Clone, Treasure
Folders	EDH Permanent Residents