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Maze Runner | Child of Alara [Budget Primer]

Commander / EDH Bracket 3 Combo Control Gate Lands Multiplayer Primer

Icaruskid

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Land (49)

Sorcery (24)

Creature (4)

Enchantment (3)

Commander (1)

Commander: Child of Alara

Instant (17)

Artifact (2)

Maybeboard

Sorcery (1)

Atomic Baby

Deckname: Maze Runner aka Boom Baby!

Description: Maze's Endfoil deck with an atomic bomb board wipe in the command zone.

No infinite combos.
No open ended tutors.
Budget: $100.

"Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds" - Oppenheimer.

  • If combat damage is not possible due to blockers or control, there aren't many win conditions available to traditional creature decks to advance the game or that can target multiple opponents at once.
  • The most common combat damage strategy win conditions like Craterhoof Behemoth, Avenger of Zendikar, and Finale of Devastation can be generic as they are popular answers for any aggro deck. Having a win condition specific to a lands theme is interesting. Piloting this deck feels like being young Anakin Skywalker in a harrowing podrace!
  • The Maze's Endfoil combo here is fair in that it requires 11 lands on the battlefield and probably a few turns sacrificing Child of Alara making it fragile and open to disruption. Land destruction and Blood Moon effects also completely shut off the deck and must be answered to win. Finally, fast aggro decks can just attack and it's an honest race to see who can achieve their deck strategy fastest.

  1. You want to play something different with an interesting but fair win condition.
  2. You like playing your commander in every game.
  3. You enjoy explosive control decks that want to win all in one turn.

  1. You want to play traditional aggro or voltron rather than control.
  2. You don't want to play your commander in every game.
  3. Land destruction or Blood Moon are popular in your playgroups.

  1. Ramp into 9 of the 24 gates.
  2. Cast Child of Alara and sacrifice it to reset the board and slow opponents down.
  3. Use Regrowth effects to keep bringing back and sacrificing Child of Alara so the board stays clear.
  4. Sometimes you can play Dark Depths, Vesuva, and Thespian's Stage early to get multiple copies of 20/20 flying indestructible Marit Lage tokens on the board. They can be win conditions on their own or a deterrent to attacks while you get enough gates into play to win with Maze's Endfoil.

  1. Combo.
    Activate Maze's Endfoil with 10 gates under your control.

  2. Combat damage.
    Play Dark Depths. Copy it with Thespian's Stage or Vesuva which automatically turns the copies into 20/20 flying indestructible beaters.

  3. Commander damage.
    Basilisk Gate and Kessig Wolf Run help accelerate lethal damage from a trampling Child of Alara.

Regrowth vs Reanimate vs Undying
Regrowth effects have been chosen for this deck over Reanimate or Undying Evil effects primarily for greater modes of utility than just bringing back Child of Alara. While less mana efficient, this helps protect Maze's Endfoil should it get destroyed and also brings back ramp, mana fixing, draw, and sacrifice cards as needed, smoothing out how the deck plays. So we are trading mana efficient board wipes for resilience and reliability which aligns well for a budget combo deck on a humble mana base in more casual power level playgroups.

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93% Casual

Competitive

Revision 22 See all

(1 day ago)

-1 Cultivate main