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Infinity On High

Commander / EDH Mono-White

Ilvaldus

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Instant (4)

Sorcery (5)

Enchantment (22)

Artifact (8)

Planeswalker (1)

Creature (23)

Land (36)

Commander (1)

Commander: foil Heliod, God of the Sun

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Sorcery (1)

Land (1)

About The Deck

This is a cEDH Heliod Stax deck. The focus of the deck relies on making plays that hamper your opponent's development down. Don't be greedy, play surgically, using tutors and Stax pieces to take out several key effects your opponents would use in a competitive meta. There is no line of play that you need to aim for at the beginning of the game. You will win primarily by attacking. There are some synergies that you can run, however, that will make that objective easier. The deck is named after a Vincent Van Gogh quote, invoking the idea that you're playing against infinite combos using enchantments and a god who happens to be a constellation:

“Be clearly aware of the stars and infinity on high. Then life seems almost enchanted after all.”

PRIMER

Because you're playing mono-White, every card you play has to matter more than what your opponents are playing. You're not trying to out-draw or out-ramp your opponents. What you want to do is to cripple them quickly and efficiently--all of them. This primer will focus on showcasing the cards in the deck and help you think about what common denominators can you play that can affect all three of your opponents at once in a cEDH circle so you can generate the most bang for your buck.

Aura of Silence

This card is pretty straight-forward. You play this to slow down your opponent's momentum and have it function as an artifact or enchantment removal if you need it to. The card can prevent or slow down Elsha players from going off with Sensei's Divining Top, and overall buys you some time against players who rely on certain artifacts and enchantments to combo off such as Food Chain, Umbra Mantle, Isochron Scepter, and Chain Veil. When playing this card, be aware of what your opponent is able to do and not do while this card is out, and be cognizant of what kind of virtual card advantage you're generating.

Grasp of Fate//Oblivion Ring

Aside from being pseudo-removal, this is an enchantment, which will feed mana into your Serra's Sanctum and feed into your devotion for Heliod and Nykthos. It can be recurred using Sun Titan and tutored by any of the enchantment tutors you have. If you exiled a creature with it and your opponent tries to get rid of it, you can hit them with a Containment Priest to ensure the creature doesn't come back.

Note that because of Grasp of Fate's wording, your opponent will be able to put their Commander back into the Command Zone and it will come back if Grasp of Fate leaves the battlefield so long as their Commander didn't move zones in between that time.

With Oblivion Ring's wording, if you get rid of Oblivion Ring while the ETB trigger is on the stack, you can permanently exile a non-land permanent you target with it. Most of the time, your opponents will not want to risk having their Commanders under an Oblivion Ring because the return trigger can get stifled, so this card can be considered an effective removal against other players' Commanders.

Deafening Silence//Rule of Law//Eidolon of Rhetoric//Ethersworn Canonist//Curse of Exhaustion

Defeaning Silence is, for all intents and purposes, a turn one Rule of Law. Yes, this will hamper the non-creatures you're running, but you're mono-White. You don't explosively blow off your hand like the other players. You can take your time playing your pieces on the board. Your opponents, meanwhile, will struggle playing one mox per turn. Playing this may hurt you, but it will hurt your opponents a lot more.

Rule of Law effects, in general, will prevent your opponents from comboing off and winning as most combos typically require they cast at least 2 spells in a given turn to win, unless they pre-empt their board with combo pieces. If they do pre-empt their board with combo pieces, they're leaving themselves vulnerable for you, or your opponents, to take out their pieces. Regardless, you're asserting control and the pacing of the game when you play this card.

Ethersworn Canonist is your weakest Rule of Law effect as artifacts are pervasive in cEDH, but it is still helpful at stopping combos that are creature or spell-centric like Selvala.

Faith's Fetters/Prison Term/Darksteel Mutation

Faith's Fetters is essentially an arrest that can hit permanents instead of just creatures. Unlike Arrest, this won't stop the enchanted permanent from activating its mana abilities. Keep in mind that Loyalty abilities of Planeswalkers and equipping are activated abilities. Some notable cards that this card hits are Necropotence, Najeela, and Thrasios. Be aware that even though lands can activate mana abilities, some lands' abilities, like Academy Ruins' ability to return an artifact from the grave, cannot be activated while enchanted by this. Also be aware that Deathrite Shaman doesn't have a mana ability as its first ability is a targeting effect.

Prison Term is your Arrest for creatures with actual Mana Abilities such as Selvala and Urza. Prison Term is particularly useful as it adds one more White devotion than Arrest and you can move it onto another threat if you need to.

Darksteel Mutation functions as a second Prison Term/removal spell for dealing with any creature that has a static ability you want out of the game like a Grand Arbiter Augustin, Najeela, or Derevi.

Greater Auramancy

Most CEDH decks run targeted enchantment removal rather than mass enchantment removal. This card basically serves as a lightning rod against those effects and can leave them dead in the water if they don't have a follow-up removal to deal with the actual enchantment they want to deal with. This also gives Heliod and your enchantment tokens shroud. Be mindful that you won't be able to target your enchantments either, though.

Karmic Justice

This serves as a strong deterrent against your opponent and can help you cripple them if they're trying to break free of your effects. This card allows you to destroy any permanent they control if they destroy one of your non-creature permanents. The permanent you destroy of theirs doesn't have to share the same type as the one they destroyed, just fyi.

Land Tax

Aside from getting you lands and thinning your deck, this card can grab extra Plains into your hand so that you can discard them to free-cast Abolish if you need a quick answer against your opponent. Sometimes, you may want to overload your hand with lands so you can force yourself to discard lands or creatures that you'll be able to grab back through Emeria or Sun Titan.

Luminarch Ascension

This is one of the cards that can help you win the game via combat. If your suppression is sufficient, or you're lucky enough in the early game, you can possibly get this going and kill a player with a slew of Angels. The activated ability is cheap enough that you should have no problem activating it through a Suppression Field, or if your Serra's Sanctum is disabled by Damping Sphere.

Nevermore

Depending on how dependent your opponents are with their Commander, you can name their Commander and shut them out for a while until they find a way to deal with Nevermore. Otherwise, you can name Cyclonic Rift or Aura Shards as those two cards are biggest problems to deal with in this deck.

Planar Collapse

This card serves as a board wipe that you can recur with Hall of Heliod's Generosity, a deterrent for decks that like to go wide, and a bait for removal spells. In a 4-player pod, it should be easy to get this card to trigger. It's slow as it takes a full turn cycle for it to trigger, so you want to use this card pre-emptively if you know how your opponents' decks behave. For example, if you're playing against a Najeela player in a pod, you know for a fact that the board will expand to more than 4 creatures easily. Playing this card can help deter the Najeela player from going overboard, but can also help you in baiting out removal that would have otherwise gone to your other permanents. For example, the Najeela player may try to cast to Assassin's Trophy to get rid of your enchantment, which otherwise would have gone to that Peacekeeper you've been sandbagging in your hand.

Rest in Peace

This card's notoriety is self-explanatory. Just watch out if you know your opponent is running Helm of Obedience, Web of Inertia, or Energy Field. This card will turn off some of your recursion synergies, but this deck has been built with multiple answers to various threats so you can afford to have some of your stuff exiled. Your strategy is not to abuse recursion, so while Rest In Peace may disable your Sun Titan, Emeria, etc., your opponent is hurt a lot more, so remember that. As for why this deck isn't running Helm of Obedience itself: you simply do not have a way to consistently tutor for it and Helm becomes a dead card if you draw it without Rest In Peace. Furthermore, with the pervasiveness of Lab Maniac and Jace in the meta, RIP + Helm isn't as reliable as it used to be.

Seal of Cleansing

It's a Disenchant on an enchantment. While you can't cast it at instant speed, you can use this card to assert Virtual Card Advantage. This can be recurred with Hall of Heliod's Generosity or Sun Titan, which can make it more effective than a regular Disenchant, and this feeds into your devotion and enchantment count. Be aware that Suppression Field adds a 2-mana tax to this activated ability.

Skybind

This is the Dark Horse card of this deck. Most players will underestimate this card and let it sit on the table. With this and Serra's Sanctum, you can use Heliod's ability (which creates enchantment tokens) several times over, blinking out your own Serra's Sanctum, and using it on your opponents' turns. This will allow your token production to increase exponentially by the given number of players and you can begin to blink out their permanents (such as lands and artifacts) from the battlefield, preventing them from playing Magic on their turn, thereby allowing you to finish them off with your army of 2/1 enchantment tokens. You can also use this to blink out your own Stax pieces as well, such as blinking Hokori or Static Orb at the beginning of your opponents' end step, allowing you to untap your permanents on your turn.

Smothering Tithe

This card allows you to profit off or your opponent's aggressive draws. It works well while you have a Hokoroi, Winter Orb, or Static Orb out, but it also works while your opponent has a Rhystic Study or Mystic Remora out. This card will allow you to pre-empt your turns better, preparing you for some explosive follow-up turns and control. You can use this with Geier Reach Sanitarium to get extra treasures.

Sphere of Safety//Ghostly Prison

These cards serve as a deterrent from your opponents attacking to win the game. For some decks like Godo and Najeela, this can shut out one of their main strategies for winning the game. In 4-player free for all, the deterrent can help pivot the aggression of Najeela/Godo players to attack other players instead, which adds to your advantage.

Stony Silence

Like Rest In Peace, this card's notoriety is well-documented. This deck was designed around this card so that its effect is minimal to anything you do while it will dramatically hurt your opponents. Three cards in your deck are affected by this: Sol Ring, Lotus Petal, and Expedition Map. Go bold with this one.

Suppression Field

This card will likely get underestimated and you can punish your opponents for it. The most common card that players think about when they see this are their fetch lands. This card affects more than fetch lands, however. Gitrog's entire infinite combo line (aside from clean up discarding Dakmor Salvage) are based on activated abilities that aren't mana abilities; your opponents cannot go infinite off of Rings of Brighthearth + Basalt Monolith; Teferi, Chainveil, Isochron Scepter, Jace Vryn's Prodigy, Deathrite Shaman (its "mana ability" is not technically a real mana ability since it is a targeted ability), Thrasios, Derevi (yes, this affects activated abilities outside of the battlefield), Yuriko (Ninjutsu is an activated ability), Sensei's Divining Top, and cards with Cycling are all affected. Most infinite combos involving activated abilities such as Shaman En-Kor + Cephalid Illusionist are disabled.

It's a tutor for any of the aforementioned Enchantments that were already listed. You can kill with Planar Collapse or Wrath of God. Heliod gives all your creatures Vigilance and she's weak enough that you can attack with her and no one is going to bother to block her so she can get in with chip damage. Notably, she dies in combat against Tymna, so she also functions as a decent deterrent from having your opponent use their Tymna to draw cards. Your goal with her is to use her as a rattlesnake against your opponents. You don't care if she gets killed, you don't care if she doesn't get killed. The goal with her is to put your opponent in a tough bind and put you at a position where you have outs and advantages.
Like Suppression Field, this card hits a lot more than what your opponents think and feeds well into your Devotion count. The effect is unique as it's only ever been printed on this card. Here's a short list of some popular Commander staples this card cripples: -This stops your opponent from activating fetchlands (they have to pay 1 life) -Any of the Horizon Lands and Mana Confluence (they require you pay life to activate them) -Necropotence -Force of Will (they can still hard cast it, but they can't cast it for free since that requires they pay life) -Diabolic Intent -Eldritch Evolution -Birthing Pod/Vannifar/Eldritch Evolution -Ashnod's Altar/Altar of Dementia/Phyrexian Altar -Phyrexian Tower -Boseju, Who Shelters All -Hall of the Bandit Lord -Toxic Deluge -Razaketh, the Foulblooded -Bolas's Citadel (they can look at the top card, but they can't pay life to cast it) -Cards with wording like Krark Clan Ironworks and Goblin Engineer cannot sacrifice artifact creatures -Viscera Seer -Sakura Tribe Elder -Noxious Revival/Mental Misstep (you can still hard cast it, but you can't spend Phyrexian mana to do it) -Dread Return (you can hard cast it, but you can't flashback it) -Unfulfilled Desires -Unspeakable Symbol -Aetherflux Reservoir -Treasonous Ogre -Yawgmoth, Thran Physician -Doom Whisperer -Hatred -K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth -Kykar, Wind's Fury NOTE: It should be noted that paying life as part of the cost of a triggered ability (like Glacial Chasm), or as part of the resolution a spell or ability (like Temporal Extortion and The Gitrog Monster), are not prevented. Cards like Victimize, Daretti, Scrap Savant, and Goblin Welder are worded such that you're not sacrificing anything as part of paying a cost--the sacrificing is part of the effect's resolution. Cards like Ad Nauseam and Reanimate are also unaffected as they're part of the resolution of the spell and they're worded such that you're not paying life but rather losing life as part of that spell's resolution, so be mindful of how certain cards are worded.
This card also functions as a Ghostly Prison effect. However, unlike Sphere of Safety and Ghostly Prison, this card, like Angel of Jubilation, is unique and feeds well into your Devotion count. With Heliod out, Archangel of Tithes gains vigilance, which will allow you to go on the offensive while also remain on the defensive. This becomes particularly relevant if you ever Armageddon the board, or have a Winter Orb/Hokori Dust Drinker out, as your opponent will no longer be able to block an army of 2/1 Enchantment creature tokens, a 5/6 god, and a flying 3/5 angel. Furthermore, they won't be able to swing back at you once you've crippled their mana base.

Aven Mindcensor/Leonin Arbiter

These should be self-explanatory as they're ran in almost any cEDH deck that runs White. Aven Mindcensor is an asymmetrical Stax piece that you can flash in to stop a player's tutoring. Leonin Arbiter is a one-time for one-turn tax that your opponents seldom want to pay that works well with Suppression Field against fetch lands and activated abilities that tutor.

Leonin Arbiter is a double-edged sword as you do run some tutors of your own. Be careful on how you play, though you should have more than enough mana to cast your tutor and find what you need. Remember that this deck is in no rush to win the game, and that your first priority is to answer your opponent's strategy with effective Stax pieces. Play pre-emptively, and plan methodically, and you should be able to thrive in a board with Leoning Arbiter in play.

Containment Priest

This is a hard answer to Flash Hulk combo, Worldgorger/Animate Dead, Lab Man/Dread Return, Birthing Pod, Sneak Attack, Derevi, Yuriko, and other strategies that try to cheat a creature onto the battlefield without actually casting them. You can also use it to keep your opponent's creature exiled if you Oblivion Ring'd or Grasp of Fated their creature.

Grand Abolisher

This is a great card to ensure your turn remains uninterrupted. It forces some of your opponents to cast their instant speed tutors before your turn begins, or even cyc rift, which gives you a solid advantage against them.

Hokori, Dust Drinker

This is a winter orb, but with a slightly different wording. Note that this is worded so that Eon Hub and this would prevent any lands from untapping on their controllers' turns. Paradox Haze will also allow the player to untap an additional land on their turn.

Hushbringer

This is a torpor orb and also a partial Rest In Peace. It will stop Flash Hulk, and if you can somehow flash it in against a Worldgorger/Animate Dead combo when Animate Dead leaves the battlefield, it will prevent Worldgorger Dragon from returning any of your opponent's permanents back onto the battlefield.

Linvala, Keeper of Silence

This is your cursed totem, and it's one-sided to boot, which is good since Heliod's activated ability is actually relevant to this deck.

Peacekeeper

This is will stop combat-based Commanders like Najeela and Godo, and will buy you time and resources while you build your board state together.

Recruiter of the Guard

This is a useful tutor to get the Stax piece you need to deal with the board you're facing.

Restoration Specialist

This can recur your artifact and enchantment stax pieces, at a 2-for-1 cost. Note: this doesn't work while Angel of Jubilation is out. It's particularly useful as it's the only way you can recur Ward of Bones. It can also put Chalice of the Void back into your hand, which can be better than just pulling your Chalice back with Sun Titan. Restoration Specialist can also be recurred by Emeria and Sun Titan, which makes your recursion more robust.

Sanctum Prelate

The number you want to name for this is either 1 or 2. With Chalice on 1, and this on 2, you can effectively shut down most cEDH decks from doing much on their turn. Sanctum Prelate is better named on 2 as, unlike Chalice, it can prevent your opponent from casting the uncounterable Abrupt Decay. On 2, you will also stop Cyclonic Rift, Assassin's Trophy, Demonic Tutor, Diabolic Intent, Isochron Scepter, Dramatic Reversal, etc. Meanwhile, if you need to get your 2 mana non-creature permanents into play like Stony Silence, Winter Orb, Rest In Peace, and etc. onto the battlefield, use Geier-Reach Sanitarium to discard them into your graveyard and recur them using Sun Titan.

Spirit of the Labyrinth

This is card chokes Gitrog decks, and is effective against other cEDH decks that rely a lot on card draw. It's a great way to close up any outs your opponents may try to find with their Brainstorms, Thrassios, etc. Use this with Geier-Reach Sanitarium on an opponent's turn to force that player to discard a card from their hand while you loot.

Note that this card is not a replacement effect, but a static ability that applies a rule to how a player draws a card. Replacement effects like Dredge can still be used so long as a player has not drawn a card for that turn yet. This is important because if a player did draw a card, as they can no longer dredge for that turn. As long as a player hasn't drawn any cards on a given turn, that player can continue to replace any instance of a draw with another effect like Dredge or Underrealm Lich. Again, Spirit of the Labyrinth doesn't replace draws, but rather states flatly that the instance of drawing a card occurs only once per turn. Replacement effects would replace the instance of drawing with another effect instead.

Sun Titan

This guy is a recurring vigilant engine. He can bring back almost anything in the deck back from the grave and can continue to do so even while Static Orb and Torpor Orb are out (since his ability can be triggered from attack instead of only ETBing). He can be brought back with Emeria, can be blinked via Skybind, and is a 6/6 that can close the game quickly by himself. He's very versatile and synergizes well with everything else this deck does.

Weathered Wayfarer

Use this to find the lands you need to either push your board to a better state (Nykthos, Serra's Sanctum, Emeria, etc.) or to answer a card like Glacial Chasm or Field of the Dead (Wasteland/Stip Mine). With Mistveil Plains, you can put a land in your graveyard back to the bottom of your library and tutor for it again using Weathered Wayfarer, giving you another recursion engine.

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Top Ranked
Date added 4 years
Last updated 3 years
Legality

This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)

15 - 0 Mythic Rares

42 - 0 Rares

15 - 0 Uncommons

1 - 0 Commons
Cards 100
Avg. CMC 2.77
Tokens Angel 4/4 W, Emblem Gideon of the Trials, Enchantment Cleric 2/1 W, Treasure
Folders Deck Ideas for the Podcast, cool ideas, Inspiration/ Make these decks, commander, Unique EDH, Influenzas, cEDH, God, Wha
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