Hero Smasher [CEDH Primer]

Commander / EDH Competitive Creature Cheat Midrange Partner Primer UBRG Value Engine

DreamRender

Land (29)

• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Blood Crypt
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Breeding Pool
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Forbidden Orchard
• 1x Forest
• 1x Gemstone Caverns
• 1x Island
• 1x Luxury Suite
• 1x Misty Rainforest
• 1x Morphic Pool
• 1x Mountain
• 1x Overgrown Tomb
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Rejuvenating Springs
• 1x Scalding Tarn
• 1x Snow-Covered Forest
• 1x Snow-Covered Island
• 1x Snow-Covered Swamp
• 1x Spire Garden
• 1x Steam Vents
• 1x Stomping Ground
• 1x Training Center
• 1x Undergrowth Stadium
• 1x Verdant Catacombs
• 1x Watery Grave
• 1x Wooded Foothills

Enchantment (7)

• 1x Carpet of Flowers
• 1x Freed from the Real
• 1x Mystic Remora
• 1x Rhystic Study
• 1x Sylvan Library
• 1x Training Grounds
• 1x Underworld Breach

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Ashiok, Dream Render

Instant (26)

• 1x Abrupt Decay
• 1x Assassin's Trophy
• 1x Chain of Vapor
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Deflecting Swat
• 1x Delay
• 1x Demonic Consultation
• 1x Dramatic Reversal
• 1x Fierce Guardianship
• 1x Force of Negation
• 1x Force of Will
• 1x Ghostly Flicker
• 1x Lightning Bolt
• 1x Mana Drain
• 1x Mystical Tutor
• 1x Nature's Claim
• 1x Noxious Revival
• 1x Pact of Negation
• 1x Pongify
• 1x Pyroblast
• 1x Red Elemental Blast
• 1x Swan Song
• 1x Tainted Pact
• 1x Trickbind
• 1x Vampiric Tutor
• 1x Worldly Tutor

Artifact (8)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Basalt Monolith
• 1x Chrome Mox
• 1x Isochron Scepter
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Mana Vault
• 1x Mox Amber
• 1x Sol Ring

Sorcery (6)

• 1x Chain of Smog
• 1x Eldritch Evolution
• 1x Finale of Devastation
• 1x Gitaxian Probe
• 1x Neoform
• 1x Toxic Deluge

Commanders (2)

Creature (21)

• 1x Biomancer's Familiar
• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Bloom Tender
• 1x Deathrite Shaman
• 1x Dockside Extortionist
• 1x Elves of Deep Shadow
• 1x Elvish Mystic
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Fyndhorn Elves
• 1x Hullbreacher
• 1x Incubation Druid
• 1x Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy
• 1x Lore Drakkis
• 1x Opposition Agent
• 1x Phantasmal Image
• 1x Seedborn Muse
• 1x Spellseeker
• 1x Storm-Kiln Artist
• 1x Thassa's Oracle
• 1x Walking Ballista
• 1x Witherbloom Apprentice

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Maybeboard

Instant (2)

• 1x Baleful Mastery
• 1x Rushed Rebirth

Sorcery (2)

• 1x Culling Ritual
• 1x Solve the Equation

Creature (1)

• 1x Wandering Archaic  ^Flip

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This is a classic Thrasios/Vial Smasher list that has been upgraded with some new cards from the Strixhaven set. This is an initial version, and it will be fine-tuned over time and testing.

Why play this deck?

This deck is all about gaining value and waiting for the right time to strike. This deck is midrange all the way. This deck will be able to threaten wins at any point in the game, and should be able to outpace any opponent once you get your value engine going.

This deck features multiple infinite mana combos, which can in turn be dumped into your commander to draw your deck and execute a win. It also features some new cards and combos that premier with the new Strixhaven set, and is ready to abuse that ridiculous magecraft mechanic.

First and foremost this is an adaptive(midrange) deck that seeks to leverage control and card advantage to slow down your opponents long enough to execute a win, or conversely threaten a win at any time throughout the game's length. This strategy is backed up by numerous easy-to-assemble combos and a huge amount of interaction cards that can be accrued easily through your commander's ability. Due to the large number of synergistic combo pieces in the deck, this list is able to quickly pivot to another strategy when needed.

FAIR WARNING: This deck requires lots of practice, proper threat assessment, and general skill to play. You will need to be able to think outside the box quickly, and have a general memorization of your deck to pilot this deck efficiently. You must be able to piece together combos, advantage, and value quickly, and be prepared to execute a pivot in strategy at a moment's notice.

Better Know Your Combos

This section will explain the many combos found within this deck, and how to assemble them.

Infinite Mana

There are many ways to generate infinite mana in this deck, so they are just going to be listed in a "card + card" format with very light explanations.

1. Storm-Kiln Artist + Chain of Smog , have Smog target you always until you have too much mana
2. Isochron Scepter + Dramatic Reversal + mana dorks/rocks that make at least 3 mana total
3. Bloom Tender / Incubation Druid (with a +1/+1 counter) + Freed from the Real
4. Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy + mana dork that makes blue + Freed from the Real
5. Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy + Basalt Monolith
6. Dockside Extortionist + Eternal Witness + Ghostly Flicker
7. Storm-Kiln Artist + Isochron Scepter + Dramatic Reversal + a mana dork/rock that makes at least 1 mana (magecraft triggers on cast and copies, isochron makes a copy, then casts = 2 triggers)

The Current Metagame

Yep, we included the current powerhouse combo of Thassa's Oracle + Tainted Pact / Demonic Consultation . Just cast the Oracle, hold priority on the EtB, then cast the other card and exile the deck.

If you have a Phantasmal Image in hand as you attempt this combo, you can effectively circumvent Stifle effects your opponents may have for the Oracle's EtB. (Note: this will not be effective if your opponent is removing the Oracle to reduce your devotion for the ability, or if they are using an Angel's Grace effect.)

Magecraft is Real Good

Strixhaven brings with it a host of interesting magecraft abilities, but the ones that are useful to us are the ones found on Witherbloom Apprentice and Storm-Kiln Artist . Since the abilities trigger every time you cast or copy an instant or sorcery, we can abuse the card Chain of Smog to get infinite triggers of the magecraft ability. Simply target yourself with Smog, and keep copying it and targeting yourself to stack up infinite drains or treasures. You can elect not to copy it or target another player to stop the combo at any time if needed.

This also works great with the Isochron Scepter + Dramatic Reversal combo, provided you can continuously pay the cost on Scepter because the ability makes a copy of the imprinted card, then casts the copy.

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Most of these are pretty easy to assemble, but an important thing to keep in mind is tutor spells like Finale of Devastation , Eldritch Evolution , Neoform , etc. These will count as a combo creature in hand. We can use the "pod" tutors off of the commanders to find one of the magecraft creatures and immediately start combo-ing off provided we have Smog or even Tainted Pact in hand (because Eldritch Evolution finds a creature cmc X or less, so grab Thassa's Oracle ). Otherwise, just make the value engine and start digging for one or both of pieces of a combo.

How to Make Value

One of the best things about running a Thrasios deck is getting to set up a value engine to start severely out-valuing your opponents on every end step. To do such a thing, simply get Thrasios, a Seedborn Muse , and a Training Grounds / Biomancer's Familiar into play. Since you untap with your opponents, you should have plenty of mana to use interaction if need be, or just wait until the end of their turn to start using your commander's ability to put lands into play and cards in your hand.

Never underestimate how far ahead you can get with just one turn cycle of this setup. Typically, if this setup is active for one whole turn cycle, you should be winning once it gets back to your turn.

If you made it this far, thank you for reading this Primer and checking out the deck! If you have any comments or questions, let me know in the comments below. Good luck, and happy magecraft-ing!

Date added	3 years
Last updated	3 years
Exclude colors	W
Splash colors	UBRG
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	12 - 0 Mythic Rares 52 - 0 Rares 18 - 0 Uncommons 12 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	1.87
Tokens	Ape 3/3 G, Bird 2/2 U, Spirit 1/1 C, Treasure
Folders	CEDH Grixis