Just Another Winota budget cEDH deck *Primer*

Commander / EDH Aggro Budget Competitive Creature Cheat Humans Primer RW (Boros) Soldiers Stax Tokens

lukecwolf

Non-Human Creatures(27) (26)

• 1x Ornithopter
• 1x Alseid of Life's Bounty
• 1x Gingerbrute
• 1x Goldhound
• 1x Legion's Landing  ^Flip
• 1x Gold Myr
• 1x Hedron Crawler
• 1x Iron Myr
• 1x Manakin
• 1x Myr Convert
• 1x Ornithopter of Paradise
• 1x Plague Myr
• 1x Raise the Alarm
• 1x Remorseful Cleric
• 1x Soulless Jailer
• 1x Spawning Breath
• 1x Archon of Emeria
• 1x Aven Mindcensor
• 1x Eidolon of Rhetoric
• 1x Goblin Assault
• 1x Legion Warboss
• 1x Simian Spirit Guide
• 1x Skyclave Apparition
• 1x Vryn Wingmare
• 1x Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
• 1x Song-Mad Treachery  ^Flip

Goodstuff (ramp/fast mana proxy) (8)

• 1x Lotus Petal
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Boros Signet
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Talisman of Conviction
• 1x Eagles of the North
• 1x Oliphaunt

Humans (26) (25)

• 1x Mother of Runes
• 1x Ethersworn Canonist
• 1x Flamescroll Celebrant  ^Flip
• 1x Grand Abolisher
• 1x Loyal Apprentice
• 1x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
• 1x Boromir, Warden of the Tower
• 1x Imperial Recruiter
• 1x Magus of the Moon
• 1x Professional Face-Breaker
• 1x Ranger-Captain of Eos
• 1x Sanctum Prelate
• 1x Village Bell-Ringer
• 1x Blade Historian
• 1x Kongming, "Sleeping Dragon"
• 1x Moggcatcher
• 1x Myrel, Shield of Argive
• 1x Pia and Kiran Nalaar
• 1x Geist-Honored Monk
• 1x Thalia's Lancers
• 1x Zealous Conscripts
• 1x Captain of the Watch
• 1x Godo, Bandit Warlord
• 1x Lena, Selfless Champion
• 1x Angrath's Marauders

Goodstuff (noncreature interaction) (6)

• 1x Deafening Silence
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Tibalt's Trickery
• 1x Helm of the Host
• 1x Ricochet Trap

Commander (1)

LANDS(32+2MODALS) (34)

• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Ash Barrens
• 1x Battlefield Forge
• 1x Blinkmoth Nexus
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Crystal Vein
• 1x Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Furycalm Snarl
• 1x Mirrex
• 1x Mishra's Factory
• 6x Mountain
• 1x Needleverge Pathway  ^Flip
• 8x Plains
• 1x Secluded Courtyard
• 1x Snow-Covered Mountain
• 1x Snow-Covered Plains
• 1x Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
• 1x Spire of Industry
• 1x Kabira Takedown  ^Flip
• 1x Witch Enchanter  ^Flip
• 1x Pinnacle Monk  ^Flip

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Sideboard

Other (9)

• 1x High Noon
• 1x Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd
• 1x Samwise the Stouthearted
• 1x Sigardian Priest
• 1x Cloudsteel Kirin
• 1x Combat Celebrant
• 1x Odric, Master Tactician
• 1x Rakka Mar
• 1x Rionya, Fire Dancer

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Maybeboard

Other (12)

• 1x Claim the Firstborn
• 1x Gorilla Shaman
• 1x Anim Pakal, Thousandth Moon
• 1x Eerie Interlude
• 1x Magus of the Wheel
• 1x Order of the Sacred Torch
• 1x Prosperous Partnership
• 1x Seller of Songbirds
• 1x Captivating Crew
• 1x Magus of the Disk
• 1x Celestine, the Living Saint
• 1x Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer

Create x tokens (5)

• 1x Secure the Wastes
• 1x Song of Totentanz
• 1x Forth Eorlingas!
• 1x Grand Crescendo
• 1x Entrapment Maneuver

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Hello, this is my Winota decklist, built largely from bulk. cEDH Winota stax is an aggro deck focused on overwhelming the board with Winota's triggered ability. Principally, the deck uses stax creatures to slow the game down then trigger Winota when she hits the field or cheats out Winota quickly to begin Winota triggers ASAP (by t3). Ideally, you will overwhelm opponents with so many resources and threats that spot removal is inconsequential.

This deck was in my head beginning in 2023-2 as I heavily considered a budget variant of the deck, with the first heavily optimized build completed 2023-6 after 2 attempts. It's a small favorite of mine so much so I foiled it out (RIP my wallet) :/

For better or for worse, a lot of Winota decks use a very similiar pool of cards. The last I looked on EDHrec, probably 2/3 of the nonland cards are the same. Winota is strong, has great recovery, but is by principle an RNG based deck in commander. But it still one of the cheaper cEDH commanders available.

Another copy is available on my Moxfield page (https://www.moxfield.com/decks/1daYU1AhrUqmMvk1LyC4ow/primer), which may or may not be more updated.

Intro

Intro: Winota is another busted Legendary Creature from the Ikoria set at the beginning of the Covid-19 Pandemic, so powerful that she got banned in pioneer.

• It’s worth noting that Winota is too overwhelming in Pioneer due to the slower speed of the format, the low 20 life total, and statistics from duplicity (you use Winota to cheat out another Winota, but it's indestructible!). In the commander format beginning with 40 life, she’s busted, but tolerable. As with most Winota decks, your goal is to begin with a few nonhuman creatures, cast Winota, then deck into humans and consequently more creatures until you get an infinite combo or attack for game. Ratio of humans to nonhumans is usually 50-50 to 60-40, depending largely on token spam.

• Casual Winota however, is very possible in lower power pods, which is why this deck became one of my most frequent decks. There is a version of Winota that is legal in Arena/MTGOnline, where Winota triggers once per combat. This version is very weak and no matter how much you max out Winota, it plays the same.

• The competitive version runs as 10+ ramp and multiple stax pieces in order to slow down decks that go faster. Winota interweaves them by making them attackers once Winota hits the field. My version is at 14 stax, as I find that is the right amount to be able to trigger Winota and get more tokens to trigger Winota.

Weaknesses

Winota has many weaknesses, many inherent to herself and the deck. This decks doesn’t do much until Winota hits the field around t4, and some of the best matches Winota has in from my experience are ones where other players are more potent than Winota. Conversely, some of the worst matches are when Winota is the lightning rod for all players to target and remove.

• Boardwipes and stock removal hinder the deck a lot.

• Containment Priest defangs the entire deck.

• Permanently removing Winota also stops the deck. Steal Winota, Oko, Darksteel Mutation

• Just go faster than Winota.

• Be unlucky. She is understandably RNG in commander unlike in 60 card formats.

These are problems that Winota has that must be reckoned with rather than prepared for, especially in White/Red.

Builds

Usual Builds: Add stax cEDH Winota decks usually use stax to slow the game down, as Winota decks only go crazy when she hits the board. She rarely does anything extraordinary before turn 4. Sometimes you want to hit humans that generate tokens to guarantee more effects next turn. To each their own.

This variant is a middleground of both decks. Some cEDH decks even avoid almost all token generators and hope that a few stax or hatebears will do the job, which works well in a less creature-oriented or boardwipe light format like cEDH.

Creature token spam is good and budget decks often use creature token spam, using draft chaff to cheat out bulk rare humans that have a high cmc and have high payoff or the ability to generate more tokens so Winota can trigger even more times. They're great especially when they come off.

Searching is kept to a minimum in this deck. Only one Imperial Recruiter, no fetchlands, etc. The rationale is that for each Winota trigger, that's 5 less cards to go through your deck for infinite combo cards that can win the game. The deck is consistent enough that you don't need to search over and over like many other decks. The only searchers are the ones that matter, such as Godo finding Helm of the Host and all the stuff that finds Kiki-Jiki for the infinite combo.

Winota often slips through the cracks of a cEDH game, and removing Winota one or two times hardly hampers the player after enough lands are played.

Deck Summary: I’ve Simplified This Deck into 4 Parts: Lands, Goodstuff, Nonhuman Creatures, and Humans. That’s basically all Winota is. Nonhuman Creatures include Noncreatures cards that create nonhuman creatures, Mana Dorks and Stax, which more often than not will attack to trigger Winota as well. Stick w/ Similar Ratios

Infinite Combos

Infinite Combos: (choose 1-2)

• Kiki-Jiki + Zealous Conscripts / Village Bell-Ringer / Combat Celebrant + Combat. All cards synergize well anyways.

• Godo, Warlord Bandit (Human). Finds the Famous Helm of the Host. Gives your opponents one turn before they die to Infinite Godo combats. If you care about reduncy, Run Cloudsteel Kirin or Hexplate Breaker or a Living Weapon for redundancy in case you draw Helm of the Host and to trigger Winota. I eventually used Mother of Runes as protection in its place.

• Rionya, Fire Dancer + Combat Celebrant = infinite combat. It's tough to string together, but the saving grace is that both are humans which can be cheated out with Winota.

• Auratouched Mage + Breath of Fury. Listed here for posterity sake, although I don’t use it. It certainly works, I just had Helm and Kirin and used Godo instead. There’s a surprising number of helpful auras Auratouched Mage can cheat out. Breathe of Fury may never trigger, but you can also get an Eldrazi Conscription, Detainment Spell, Coalition Flag, Cartouche of Solidarity, Shackles, Shielded by Faith, Swift Reconfiguration. This is best in pods with few creatures such as spellslingers and better for cEDH than high power decks.

other archetype considerations

• WEREWOLVES: There's a pioneer werewolf variant that synergizes with Rule of Law cards: Cast no spells on your turn to make it night to turn the humans side into WEREWOLVES permanently. There's a cache of great cards like Instigator Gang  , Brutal Cathar  , Afflicted Deserter  , Volatile Arsonist   etc.

• HUSHBRINGER COMBO: Stopping ETB effects notably the infamous Thassa's Oracle is valid. Jam in Tocatl Honor Guard or Hushbringer or Doorkeeper Thrull depending on your meta.

• Artifacts via Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer: Valid, but you have to build up to it. Make good use if you max out fast mana.

BUDGETLESS UPGRADES

See any other list like those on the cEDH database for budgetless upgrades. I like to challenge myself to consider the 5-10 best proxies to include. Here are recommendations and warnings.

Mana Crypt -> Basic Land Drannith Magistrate -> Victory’s Envoy Grand Abolisher -> Mentor of the Meek Myrel, Shield of Argive -> Baird, Stewrd of Argive Moggcatcher -> Magus of the Disk Ethersworn Canonist -> Odric Imperial Recruiter -> Mentor of the Meek Recruiter of the Guard -> Rakka Mar Ranger-Captain of eos  Ranger of Eos

Lands + Fast Mana: The Usuals. Replace Basics Cavern of Souls Ancient Tomb -> Guildless Commons Sacred Foundry -> Stone Quarry Gemstone Caverns 6-8 fetchlands Mana Confluence// City of Brass Possibly a City of Traitors Plateau

Fast Temporary Mana Cards that can replace lands and bring the deck down to the usual 32 lands most decks have: Lotus Petal Mox Diamond, Chrome Mox. A fair warning that Winota is a tempo deck, and more lands and slower mana rocks help keep the deck staying healthy especially after boardwipes or Winota counters, warranting a higher land count. Chrome Mox often seems to net a net negative in this build. Your choice about how risky you want to run.

Jeweled Lotus replace Weathered Wayfarer Deflecting Swat -> Ricochet Trap Mana Vault -> Boros Signet Card by Content goes here

FAST MANA

The important thing to note about Winota is that she really needs fast mana. As of 2023, Winota has the lowest win rate of all my cEDH decks. She has trouble keeping up with most of the stuff in the meta and often needs to pray to the rng gods. She and her creatures must be rushed in ASAP, so jam as much fast mana as you can.

Avoid the rituals, as they only get one mana and are a net negative with stax. Chrome mox Docksode extortionist Ancient tomb Jeweled lotus Mana crypt Gemstone caverns Mana vault Lotus petal Mox diamond

Card by Card Breakdown (for less usual choices)

Goblin Assault: Most players use Goblin Rabblemaster or another token generator in its place. However Goblin Assault survives boardwipes, which cannot be said for the other pieces of Winota.

Serum Powder: You really don’t care about cards in your deck except 5. Exile until you flip into these. Kiki-Jiki + Zealous Conscripts / Village Bell-Ringer Godo, Warlord Bandit (Human). Finds the Famous Helm of the Host Still, replace this with fast mana

Seller of Songbirds : she gains a blocker on attack and does not rely on Winota to be out, and bear in mind Winota will be removed.

Spawning Breathe: I’m very surprised how applicable the card is, killing dorks, 1 mana toughness.

Spirit of the Labyrinth: Not bad, just never lives long enough but most importantly there are better stax pieces.

Sanctum Prelate: Usually use 1 or 2. 3 stops a host of cards, including Kinnan infinites, Doomsday, Stock removal

Silence/ Flamescroll Celebrant/ Revel in Silence Some decks Run Silence, this uses Flamescroll to be better in a pinch as the front side is a human. Silence is only used for the Winota turn or reactive decks to silence opponents, which this Winota build is not.

Tibalt’s Trickery. A funky red counterspell. There are many times when a counterspell is the only thing that stops a lot of combo heavy decks. This actually synergizes very well given the hhigh amount of cards that limit players to one spell per turn or counter if no mana was used to cast it.

Red stuff you should absolutely add: Dockside Extortionist Ragavan

Date added	1 year
Last updated	1 month
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	7 - 1 Mythic Rares 35 - 6 Rares 24 - 1 Uncommons 18 - 1 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.91
Tokens	Copy Clone, Eldrazi Spawn 0/1 C, Elemental 3/1 R, Goblin 1/1 R, Illusion X/X U, Phyrexian Mite 1/1 C, Soldier 1/1 C, Soldier 1/1 W, Spirit 1/1 C, Spirit 1/1 W, The Ring, The Ring Tempts You, Thopter 1/1 C, Treasure, Vampire 1/1 W