MACHINE GUN ELLKY (Marath, Will of the Wild)

Commander / EDH Combo Competitive RGW (Naya)

polarlunar

Creature (32)

• 1x Avacyn's Pilgrim
• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Bloom Tender
• 1x Boonweaver Giant
• 1x Devoted Druid
• 1x Dockside Extortionist
• 1x Felidar Guardian
• 1x Fiend Hunter
• 1x Fyndhorn Elves
• 1x Gyre Sage
• 1x Imperial Recruiter
• 1x Incubation Druid
• 1x Karmic Guide
• 1x Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
• 1x Kitchen Finks
• 1x Llanowar Elves
• 1x Melira, Sylvok Outcast
• 1x Orochi Leafcaller
• 1x Recruiter of the Guard
• 1x Renegade Rallier
• 1x Restoration Angel
• 1x Reveillark
• 1x Safehold Elite
• 1x Saffi Eriksdotter
• 1x Skyshroud Elf
• 1x Sun Titan
• 1x Sylvan Caryatid
• 1x Tinder Wall
• 1x Village Bell-Ringer
• 1x Vizier of Remedies
• 1x Yisan, the Wanderer Bard
• 1x Zealous Conscripts

Sorcery (6)

• 1x Eldritch Evolution
• 1x Finale of Devastation
• 1x Green Sun's Zenith
• 1x Sylvan Tutor
• 1x Uncage the Menagerie
• 1x Wheel of Fortune

Land (32)

• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Bountiful Promenade
• 1x Cavern of Souls
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Copperline Gorge
• 1x Dryad Arbor
• 1x Forbidden Orchard
• 3x Forest
• 1x Gaea's Cradle
• 1x Grove of the Burnwillows
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 3x Mountain
• 3x Plains
• 1x Plateau
• 1x Prismatic Vista
• 1x Sacred Foundry
• 1x Savannah
• 1x Spire Garden
• 1x Stomping Ground
• 1x Sunbaked Canyon
• 1x Taiga
• 1x Temple Garden
• 1x Windswept Heath
• 1x Wooded Foothills

Artifact (8)

• 1x Altar of Dementia
• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Birthing Pod
• 1x Blasting Station
• 1x Chrome Mox
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Phyrexian Altar

Commander (1)

Instant (12)

• 1x Abrade
• 1x Aurelia's Fury
• 1x Crop Rotation
• 1x Eladamri's Call
• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Heroic Intervention
• 1x Nature's Claim
• 1x Pyroblast
• 1x Silence
• 1x Veil of Summer
• 1x Wear / Tear
• 1x Worldly Tutor

Enchantment (9)

• 1x Concordant Crossroads
• 1x Defense of the Heart
• 1x Earthcraft
• 1x Goblin Bombardment
• 1x Pattern of Rebirth
• 1x Rhythm of the Wild
• 1x Splinter Twin
• 1x Survival of the Fittest
• 1x Sylvan Library

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Sideboard

Creature (18)

• 1x Arbor Elf
• 1x Beastcaller Savant
• 1x Druid of the Anima
• 1x Elvish Mystic
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Great Oak Guardian
• 1x Joiner Adept
• 1x Marwyn, the Nurturer
• 1x Midnight Guard
• 1x Priest of Titania
• 1x Quirion Sentinel
• 1x Rishkar, Peema Renegade
• 1x Shaman of Forgotten Ways
• 1x Silhana Wayfinder
• 1x Somberwald Sage
• 1x Sunstrike Legionnaire
• 1x Treasonous Ogre
• 1x Triskelion

Instant (7)

• 1x Autumn's Veil
• 1x Chord of Calling
• 1x Congregation at Dawn
• 1x Noxious Revival
• 1x Pyroblast
• 1x Summoner's Pact
• 1x Vitalize

Enchantment (7)

• 1x Angelic Renewal
• 1x Aura Shards
• 1x Blood Moon
• 1x Elemental Mastery
• 1x Presence of Gond
• 1x Squirrel Nest
• 1x Trace of Abundance

Sorcery (7)

• 1x Gamble
• 1x Genesis Wave
• 1x Idyllic Tutor
• 1x Regrowth
• 1x Sylvan Scrying
• 1x Time of Need
• 1x Tooth and Nail

Artifact (2)

• 1x Mox Diamond
• 1x Spawning Pit

Land (2)

• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Inspiring Vantage

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This Marath, Will of the Wild deck aims to ramp early and quickly, while pursuing any number of available combos as presented below to win the game. Although not vital, Marath can be cast as an early and versatile threat that synergies with many of our other cards.

Combos

Kiki-Jiki/Splinter Twin Combos ( hasty creatures)

• Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker + Restoration Angel/Felidar Guardian (blink Kiki)

• Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker/Splinter Twin + Village Bell-Ringer/Zealous Conscripts (untap Kiki)

Devoted Druid/Vizier Combos (/life/sac triggers)

• Devoted Druid + Vizier of Remedies =

TIP: Cast Devoted Druid first followed by Vizier of Remedies because of summoning sickness

TIP: Generate first before casting further/filtering FTW, just to obfuscate better and have protection mana up

• Melira, Sylvok Outcast/Vizier of Remedies + Kitchen Finks/Safehold Elite + SO = life (KFinks only), sacrifice triggers

TIP: You also immediately win with any of our wincon sac outlets

Reveillark/Karmic Guide Combos ( sac/recursion

• Reveillark/Karmic Guide/Sun Titan + Saffi Eriksdotter = sac

• Reveillark + Fiend Hunter = get other stuff in graveyard

• Karmic Guide/Sun Titan + Fiend Hunter/Saffi Eriksdotter + SO = sac

• Renegade Rallier + Saffi Eriksdotter + SO = sac

Boonweaver/Pattern Combo

• Boonweaver Giant + Pattern of Rebirth + SO (Karmic Guide, Reveillark... profit?!) =

Summary Combos

• creatures + Earthcraft = (basic land) mana

• + mana filter = mana

• mana = MACHINE GUN ELLKY KILL

Sac Outlets

• Altar of Dementia () = mill

• Goblin Bombardment () = ping

• Phyrexian Altar () =

• Blasting Station () - ping

• Birthing Pod ()

Mana Filterers

With , we can cast either of our mana filterers and filter into of any other color (i.e. & ). We can then cast/recast Marath as many times as necessary, all the while using Marath's 2nd ability to ping everyone to death.

• Orochi Leafcaller

• Skyshroud Elf

With creatures and Phyrexian Altar out as well, we can essentially do the same thing to use Marath for the win (if for some reason we are unable to win through combat itself).

Mana Dorks

Our benchmark is for our CMC dorks to tap for mana (typically ), and our CMC 2 dorks must tap for mana of any color, or multiple mana at once.

• CMC = Avacyn's Pilgrim, Birds of Paradise, Fyndhorn Elves, Llanowar Elves, Tinder Wall

• CMC = Bloom Tender, Devoted Druid, Dockside Extortionist, Gyre Sage, Paradise Druid, Skyshroud Elf, Sylvan Caryatid

• Tinder Wall to ramp us quickly to a combo turn, while also being a target for Karmic Guide/Reveillark if nothing else.

• Bloom Tender - played T2, followed by naturally casting Marath, Will of the Wild T3 allows Bloom to tap for , essentially allowing Marath to pay for itself.

• Dockside Extortionist - best saved for an explosive, all-in turn where you need to generate a lot of mana all at once to kickstart your combo

Creatures

• **Village Bell-Ringer - this underrated boy has a great deal of utility. Aside from basic combat tricks, he can A) pay for himself by untapping all mana dorks used to cast him, sometimes even producing extra mana in the process, or B) untap Yisan for a follow-up activation in the same turn.

Non-Creature Ramp

• Arcane Signet - being able to immediately tap for a mana after being cast puts this ahead of most of our CMC mana dorks.

Tutors

• Worldly Tutor ()

Unconditional creature tutor, pretty straightforward.

• Eldritch Evolution ()

Requires sacrificing a creature, but the downside is mitigated by sacrificing our commander or one of our Persist creatures (Safehold Elite & Kitchen Finks), or a target that we know we will be able to benefit from having in the graveyard (perhaps an Imperial Recruiter up to a Karmic Guide for extra value?). Alternatively, Marath being able to produce Elemental tokens that just so happen to have a CMC of means we can hit any of our CMC creatures, which just so happens to include many of our combo pieces.

• Pattern of Rebirth =

Best played when we have a sac outlet on the field - we're not going to want to rely on our creature just happening to die through combat or other means. Our opponents will be wise to that and seek to exile or tuck or blink the creature instead. Once we've triggered it, we're almost always going to want to tutor up Boonweaver Giant, which - barring disruption- should allow us to win right there.

• Imperial Recruiter =

• Can find (excluding mana dorks): Devoted Druid, Felidar Guardian, Fiend Hunter, Karmic Guide, Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, Melira, Sylvok Outcast, Orochi Leafcaller, Recruiter of the Guard, Safehold Elite, Saffi Eriksdotter, Skyshroud Elf, Sunstrike Legionnaire, Village Bell-Ringer, Vizier of Remedies, Yisan, the Wanderer Bard

• Recruiter of the Guard =

• Can find (excluding mana dorks): Devoted Druid, Imperial Recruiter, Karmic Guide, Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, Kitchen Finks, Melira, Sylvok Outcast, Orochi Leafcaller, Renegade Rallier, Safehold Elite, Saffi Eriksdotter, Skyshroud Elf, Sunstrike Legionnaire, Vizier of Remedies

• Green Sun's Zenith =

Interaction

Our interaction package is fairly light for a cEDH deck, focusing more on protecting our own combos as we go off.

Removal

• Marath, Will of the Wild functions as a catch-all creature removal spell throughout the game. Don't be afraid to cast him and remove counters as needed to kill off other creatures, especially other mana dorks and things like Hermit Druid.

• Nature's Claim, Abrade, and Wear / Tear exist to remove problematic permanents that hinder us from pulling off our combos (i.e. Rest in Peace, Torpor Orb effects, etc.

Combo Protection

• Aurelia's Fury, Heroic Intervention, Red Elemental Blast, Silence, Veil of Summer

In a blue heavy meta, consider Pyroblast as well. Autumn's Veil works well in a blue/black removal-heavy meta.

Enchantments

• Survival of the Fittest - because our deck runs several combos with several possible routes to victory, this enchantment is solid for converting otherwise "dead" (i.e. irrelevant) creature cards in our hand into the final combo pieces we need.

• Earthcraft - turns out non-mana dorks into mana dorks

Lands

Our mana base runs aggressively fast, favoring lands that enter untapped the first few turns while we cast our mana dorks and set up for our combos.

Once we've reached a consistent number of mana sources for all 3 colors, it's typically better to use fetches for basic lands (typically in order of priority: ,,) rather than shocks, chiefly in order to use Earthcraft to its full potential.

Specific Lands

• Cavern of Souls - name 'Humans' 90% of the time

with an empty board, we can either name 'Elemental' or 'Beast', either of which correspond with Marath, Will of the Wild. Depending on what you have in hand & what route you're choosing to take, 'Elemental' will also hit Reveillark, while naming 'Beast' will hit Felidar Guardian. However, having either of those two countered is not of major significance, as our Reveillark combos can still function with him in the graveyard, while we have a number of redundancies for Felidar Guardian. Therefore, it's often a wiser choice to choose another creature type.

In terms of creatures, our deck is largely comprised of Elves (mainly mana dorks, which come out early enough and are not often enough of a threat to be countered), and Humans. Humans form the centerpieces of a great deal of our creature tutors as well as combo pieces, and as such are the correct choice of creature to name 90% of the time. That being said, don't be afraid to name Bird if need be to cast that turn one Birds of Paradise in order to get the ball rolling. Speed is key here.

• Gaea's Cradle - not a land we want to see in our opening hand, nor one we want to play with only one creature on board (feels very bad to have it destroyed after only having used it as a forest), but as we amass creatures it becomes very powerful. Synergizes extremely well with Marath, by tapping for several mana to activate his 3rd ability to create several Elemental tokens, while allowing us to tap Gaea's Cradle for even more mana next untap step, rinse & repeat... Becomes absurd if left unchecked.

• Forbidden Orchard - besides being a mana fixer, it enables Defense of the Heart. Can be used politically to gain an ally while benefiting us just as well, if not more.

• Dryad Arbor - is a fetchable Forest that can be used for creature strategies (i.e. pitching to Survival of the Fittest). Just remember it does not tap for mana immediately. as it does possess summoning sickness.

Opening Hands

Typically we want to see:

lands that provide the colors we need

T1 mana dork

other form of ramp/sac outlet

combo protection piece

combo piece

tutor

Date added	4 years
Last updated	3 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	20 - 2 Mythic Rares 44 - 18 Rares 15 - 12 Uncommons 12 - 10 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.41
Tokens	2/2 C Artifact Creature Spawn, Copy Clone, Elemental 1/1 R w/ Haste, Elemental X/X G, Elf Warrior 1/1 G, Spirit 1/1 C, Squirrel 1/1 G, Treasure