[Primer] Yomiji, A Syncretic Rock

Commander / EDH Infinite Combo Jank Mono-White Primer

Kinpa6Ansatsu

Creature (31)

• 1x Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit
• 1x Ao, the Dawn Sky
• 1x Avacyn, Angel of Hope
• 1x Bruna, the Fading Light  ^Meld
• 1x Cho-Manno, Revolutionary
• 1x Commander Eesha
• 1x Crovax, Ascendant Hero
• 1x Eight-and-a-Half-Tails
• 1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
• 1x Fiend Hunter
• 1x Gandalf the White
• 1x Gisela, the Broken Blade  ^Meld
• 1x Hokori, Dust Drinker
• 1x Hope of Ghirapur
• 1x Isamaru, Hound of Konda
• 1x Karmic Guide
• 1x Knight of the White Orchid
• 1x Kytheon, Hero of Akros  ^Flip
• 1x Mangara of Corondor
• 1x Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker
• 1x Oreskos Explorer
• 1x Reveillark
• 1x Stonehewer Giant
• 1x Sun Titan
• 1x Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle
• 1x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
• 1x Thalia, Heretic Cathar
• 1x Thalia's Lancers
• 1x Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
• 1x Weathered Wayfarer
• 1x Yosei, the Morning Star

Artifact (20)

• 1x Altar of Dementia
• 1x Archaeomancer's Map
• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Darksteel Plate
• 1x Deathrender
• 1x Expedition Map
• 1x Honor-Worn Shaku
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Mind's Eye
• 1x Mox Amber
• 1x Oketra's Monument
• 1x Pariah's Shield
• 1x Phyrexian Altar
• 1x Shield of Kaldra
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Sword of Hearth and Home
• 1x Sword of the Animist
• 1x Thought Vessel

Enchantment (5)

• 1x Darksteel Mutation
• 1x Flowering of the White Tree
• 1x Gift of Immortality
• 1x Land Tax
• 1x Smothering Tithe

Instant (4)

• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Return to Dust
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Teferi's Protection

Commander (1)

Land (35)

• 1x Eiganjo Castle
• 1x Emeria, the Sky Ruin
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Flagstones of Trokair
• 1x High Market
• 1x Inventors' Fair
• 1x Kor Haven
• 1x Lotus Field
• 1x Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
• 1x Minas Tirith
• 1x Mistveil Plains
• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 20x Plains
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Untaidake, the Cloud Keeper

Sorcery (4)

• 1x Austere Command
• 1x Cleansing Nova
• 1x Steelshaper's Gift
• 1x Wrath of God

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Maybeboard

Land (17)

• 1x Arid Archway
• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Dust Bowl
• 1x Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
• 1x Fabled Passage
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 1x Gods' Eye, Gate to the Reikai
• 1x Karoo
• 1x Lotus Vale
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Miren, the Moaning Well
• 1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 1x Plaza of Heroes
• 1x Prismatic Vista
• 1x Scorched Ruins
• 1x War Room
• 1x Windswept Heath

Sorcery (5)

• 1x Board the Weatherlight
• 1x Farewell
• 1x Open the Armory
• 1x Secret Rendezvous
• 1x Vanquish the Horde

Creature (16)

• 1x Abdel Adrian, Gorion's Ward
• 1x Archivist of Oghma
• 1x Burnished Hart
• 1x Daxos, Blessed by the Sun
• 1x Deep Gnome Terramancer
• 1x God-Eternal Oketra
• 1x Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
• 1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence
• 1x Loran, Disciple of History
• 1x Loran of the Third Path
• 1x Loyal Warhound
• 1x Mangara, the Diplomat
• 1x Skrelv, Defector Mite
• 1x Stoneforge Mystic
• 1x The Peregrine Dynamo
• 1x Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful

Enchantment (3)

• 1x Angelic Renewal
• 1x Smuggler's Share
• 1x War of the Last Alliance

Artifact (13)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Blasting Station
• 1x Crucible of Worlds
• 1x Extraplanar Lens
• 1x Mithril Coat
• 1x Mox Opal
• 1x Nim Deathmantle
• 1x Pearl Medallion
• 1x Relic of Legends
• 1x Robe of Stars
• 1x Shadowspear
• 1x Thran Dynamo
• 1x Zuran Orb

Instant (7)

• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Flawless Maneuver
• 1x Generous Gift
• 1x Lapse of Certainty
• 1x Mana Tithe
• 1x Rebuff the Wicked
• 1x Tithe

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Description for this deck is very outdated, but should still provide an idea of what my original thoughts for the deck were.

Welcome to my Yomiji, Who Bars the Way Primer that was previously titled "The Murder of Heroes." In 2015 (I can't find a more recent version) Yomiji was ranked #169 for the least played commander according to edhrec.com. There are currently 673 legendary creatures in the format, so Yomiji is just in the top 500. The goal of this primer is to look at Yomiji as a potential commander that can be playable.

Why Yomiji? Why not Yomiji?

Yomiji, Who Bars the Way is a {5}{W}{W} with a 4/4 body. That is unnerving and no matter how you look at it: that is not good. Yomiji also falls into the standard Kamigawa block phenomenon of having an obscure low impact effect. However, you are not playing Yomiji to win tournaments. You are playing him because 1) you want to make an obscure Commander seem viable in a format. 2) you are a special snowflake. 3) you like to have fun. 4) all of the above. Let's look at Yomiji's effect in more detail.

The oracle effect of Yomiji is "Whenever a legendary permanent other than Yomiji, Who Bars the Way is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, return that card to its owner's hand." The first words that should be noticed is the "legendary permanent" aspect. Yomiji likes to head tribal legendary decks. And so, we will be using several legendary's to activate Yomiji's effect. The other words to note is the "put into a graveyard from the battlefield." Yomiji recurs legendary permanents. That means to get the most horsepower from this engine the best fuel to put into the tank is a sacrifice theme. Thus we will be using many cards that support this theme.

Mono-White in EDH?

Mono-White is usually considered one of the worst color combinations in EDH for many reasons. The main one is that White many of the staple effects that many of the popular EDH color combinations have access to. The major one is card draw and mana ramp. Outside of Land Tax (which is a pricey card and an auto-include if you own one) there is not all that much for White. White is not a fast color. There is a reason why Sonic the Hedgehog is blue, or that Speed Racer's car is blue. Blue is a fast color. White, despite not being fast, does the opposite really well. Minas Tirith, the White City, is a fortress that was able to defend itself from the hosts of Mordor. White is a tanky color. White can utilize cards that slow the game down and fight faster decks on an even playing field.

White does one other thing really well. Many white commanders (Kemba, Eight-and-a-Half-Tails, etc) are Voltron commanders. White is really good with equipment. Considering spells like Stoneforge Mystic or Enlightened Tutor as being some of the better artifact tutors in White, this is only the tip of the iceberg of what White do with equipment.

While there are many other things that White does well (namely tokens and hate bears). STAX and Voltron are two of the functioning themes and toolkits that will be used to support my Yomiji deck.

The Breakdown: What is this?

Time to buckle up, kiddos. The part you have been looking forward to. The actual deck. So far we have discussed the themes of "legendary permanents," "sacrifice," "STAX/Pillowfort," and "Voltron." The machine of this deck is to utilize different aspects of each theme to create a machine that is dressed to impress (hopefully) so let's get to it.

• Akroma's Memorial- Gives a bunch of creatures powerful combat tricks, so that creatures that are not meant for swinging can swing.
• Altar of Dementia- A repeatable sacrifice outlet. It can also win me the game, but that is not important.
• Ashnod's Altar- A repeatable sacrifice outlet. It gets me mana to do the thing with the casting.
• Aurification- It can protect me from getting hit multiple times from my opponents. Unless they alpha strike me...
• Austere Command- A board wipe that allows me to make choices about what I blow up.
• Caged Sun- It doubles me mana.
• Cho-Manno, Revolutionary- Basically indestructible. It not only bloc, it also attac.
• Chromatic Sphere- Draw a card for about one mana. There is a good reason for why it is in this deck. *cough* Salvaging Station
• Commander Eesha- He not only he attac, he has protec from creatures.
• Crovax, Ascendant Hero- Kills weenies, makes all of my creatures stronger.
• Darksteel Mutation- Two mana control.
• Darksteel Plate- Gives anything indestructibility. Especially that seven drop creature that I hate having to cast multiple times.
• Deathrender- I have a lot to say about this card. It is a huge part of this deck's combo engine. Will write about that in a different section.
• Dispeller's Capsule- Almost a white Caustic Caterpillar. It kills stuff for cheap.
• Eight-and-a-Half-Tails- A powerful white legend that can protect. It can attack. It can also block (Aren't you glad I didn't make the bad meme reference for this card?)
• Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite- She is pretty self-explanatory. Kills opponents creatures while making all of my creatures stronger.
• Entreat the Angels- A powerful sorcery that can really sway a game into my favor.
• Everflowing Chalice- A mana rock that can scale to be really good whether I pay 2 mana or 10.
• Expedition Map- A good way of tutoring for lands. Namely Emeria, the Sky Ruin and the Urza lands.
• Fiend Hunter- A powerful combo engine with recursion effects. Also, the stack can be manipulated so that he permanently exiles creatures.
• Fumigate- A powerful boardwipe that also grants some life.
• Gift of Immortality- I really do not like it when Yomiji dies. I mean seriously. Also, can work with Sun Titan for a nice sac loop.
• Heroes' Podium- A Coat of Arms for legends that also searches for other legendary creatures.
• Hokori, Dust Drinker- A Winter Orb in creature form. No one likes him. Pro tip: Sacrifice before your turn so that you can untap all of your lands. And if Yomiji is out, then you can just recast him to keep the fun going.
• Honor-Worn Shaku- A mana rock for legendaries. Can produce a lot of mana.
• Hope of Ghirapur- A powerful combo piece. Goes infinite with Ashnod's Altar and Yomiji, Who Bars the Way.
• Indestructibility- Another way of putting indestructible on creatures.
• Isamaru, Hound of Konda- A cheap legendary that can be used as a sacrifice and recasted without hurting that much.
• Karmic Guide- Oh. You are running a sacrifice themed deck. You should run this card for getting more value out of it.
• Lieutenant Kirtar- A legendary creature that acts as a form of control. Also, can be repeatable. Thanks Yomiji.
• Mangara of Corondor- Another legendary creature that acts as control. Is not repeatable though.
• Martyr's Cause- It is a sac outlet.
• Masako the Humorless- Surprise! All of my creatures have Vigilance+.
• Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker- Some incentive to not attack me.
• Mikaeus, the Lunarch- A cheap creature that can get big.
• Mindslaver- Do I need to explain?
• Norn's Annex- Please do not attack me.
• Oath of Lieges- A poor man's Land Tax.
• Odric, Master Tactician- Allows me to get some attacks through.
• Pariah- If my creature is indestructble, and it takes all damage... Oh! I don't take damage anymore.
• Pariah's Shield- Please see Pariah for more information.
• Path to Exile- It is control.
• Reveillark- "You're playing Karmic Guide. You should play this."
• Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant  - My creatures are now good blockers (or attackers depending on perspective...)
• Salvaging Station- You may have noticed a bunch of 1-drop artifacts. This is great recursion value of those effects in a sacrifice deck.
• Shield of Kaldra- see Darksteel Plate.
• Skullclamp- One of the best draw engines in Magic.
• Sol Ring- I do not know why I run this card. Utter garbage.
• Spawning Pit- Another sacrifice outlet. Tokens can be relevant sometimes.
• Steelshaper's Gift- For all of those indestructible equipments.
• Stonehewer Giant- See above.
• Sun Titan- A powerful recursion engine that can go infinite.
• Sunbeam Spellbomb- 1.5 mana card draw/life gain.
• Swiftfoot Boots- It ain't Lightning Greaves, but it will do.
• Swords to Plowshares- More cheap control.
• Thalia, Guardian of Thraben- The only hate bear that is also legend.
• Tormod's Crypt- Graveyard control is very important.
• Traveler's Amulet- Land search.
• Wall of Omens- Draws cards. It can be repeatable with Sun Titan or Reveillark.
• Weathered Wayfarer- One of the best land tutors in White.
• Yosei, the Morning Star- It is kind of like Hokori, Dust Drinker in a way.

Lands:

• Eiganjo Castle- Prevents a bit of damage, and also is legendary.
• Emeria, the Sky Ruin- one of the best white lands. It is very slow though.
• Flagstones of Trokair- A legendary land that can (almost never, though) be repeatable land search.
• Gods' Eye, Gate to the Reikai- Another legendary land that can get me some tokens.
• High Market- A sac outlet. A very small one, but sometimes that is all you need.
• Kabira Crossroads- A refuge land for mono-color. Okay, a basic Plains is probably better than this, but that is up to you.
• Kor Haven- A better version of Eiganjo Castle.
• Mikokoro, Center of the Sea- A great land for drawing cards.
• Reliquary Tower- How do hold all these cards?
• Temple of the False God- More mana. Despite the activation cost being a bit steep.
• Untaidake, the Cloud Keeper- Even more mana.
• Urza's Mine, Urza's Power Plant, and Urza's Tower- MOAR MANA

General Discussion of Various Aspects of the Deck

For the next few paragraphs, I am not quite sure how I want to write or organize this section. So, I'm going to just randomly talk about different parts of the deck and try to give you an idea of how I play the deck, and how I perceive some cards versus other. So, this segment might seem random in some places. Bear with me. In the early game you often want to be mana ramping and drawing cards. This is one of the many struggles of white. However, many might point out Land Tax. Yeah, that is a great turn 1 card and is amazing at ensuring that you always have basic lands to play. So why do I not run Land Tax? It is because that currently the price of it is about $20. If you can afford it, buy one. If you can not afford Land Tax, look no further. Oath of Lieges is your budget Land Tax. Yes, it is group huggy and will give your opponents lands. As long as you are able to keep up with other cards: don't worry about it. Also, you might be able to use it to deter attacks away from you. Some other notable mana ramp cards are Weathered Wayfarer and many of the one-drop artifacts. Weathered Wayfarer is amazing. Solemn Simulacrum is an okay source of mana ramp. The one-drop artifacts seem unremarkable, but they are handy in being consistent in the early game. Some other early game goals are to get cards like Shield of Kaldra and Darksteel Plate. These come into play when you have to deal with Yomiji, Who Bars the Way. I recommend this path because 7 mana is a lot of mana, and the last thing you will want is recasting Yomiji. These equipment give him more staying power, so that you do not have to recast him. I would probably consider throwing in a Command Beacon to also mitigate that high mana cost. But, I will digress further from that discussion. Another really pleasant thing about indestructible equipment are some ways to take advantage of them. My favorite is using the cards Pariah and Pariah's Shield. With these two cards all damage that I take gets redirected to the equipped creature. No damage to me until the equipment are removed. It is great stuff. Getting all of these equipment is easy with Steelshaper's Gift or Stonehewer Giant. Stoneforge Mystic, Open the Armory, and Enlightened Tutor are other great ways of drawing what you need. Speaking of draw. How do I draw cards since DRaWinG cARdS iS iMpoRtaNt. There are a few ways. Honestly, they are not the best, but they do exist. Chromatic Sphere and Sunbeam Spellbomb are decent ways of drawing "a" card with Wall of Omens. Skullclamp is one of the best draw cards in Magic. Please play it. Heroes' Podium is more of fixing or a bad tutor for a creature. I have not seen it show up in a game, but the Coat of Arms like effect is usually more relevant. This deck struggles to draw cards and there are many great draw cards that can work that I do not own... Mind's Eye is probably one of the premier draw spells for white and is a great addition if you own one. Endless Horizons is more of a mana ramp spell, but it fixes your draws by removing all of those basic lands from your library. This is great too. There are better ways to draw in this deck, but the discussion for that involves explaining the big part of how this deck works. I'm just going to transition with stating Ashnod's Altar. Sacrifice engines in white. One of the best colors for this (surprisingly). This deck runs Ashnod's Altar, Spawning Pit, Martyr's Cause, and Altar of Dementia are the main sac outlets that I am running. Others to consider are Blasting Station and Phyrexian Altar. So what can I do with this? Well... we have the clasic Karmic Guide + Reveillark loop. Sun Titan also has a couple of loops that it can accomplish with Gift of Immortality, Fiend Hunter, or even Angelic Renewal (if I owned a copy). Fiend Hunter + Karmic Guide and Fiend Hunter + Reveillark also works to create a loop. Our Commander (Yomiji) can also create a few sacrifice loops. Ashnod's Altar + Hope of Ghirapur + Yomiji, Who Bars the Way creates infinite sacrifice and colorless mana. Kytheon, Hero of Akros + Phyrexian Altar + Yomiji, Who Bars the Way or Isamaru, Hound of Konda + Phyrexian Altar + Yomiji, Who Bars the Way also creates infinite sacrifice and colored mana (if you have the altar). However, there is an even better way of formulating a sacrifice loop. Let me introduce you to Deathrenderer. With this card a legendary creature on the field and a legendary in your hand with Yomiji, Who Bars the Way on the field, you have access to infinite sacrifice. Altar of Dementia? Infinite mill. Ashnod's Altar? Infinite colorless mana. You get the picture. What if my sac outlet is Martyr's Cause? Honestly this is one of the worst sac outlets, maybe better then Reckless Devotion. What do you do with infinite sacrifice? Salvaging Station is a great way of recurring cards like Chromatic Sphere, Chromatic Star, Sunbeam Spellbomb, or Origin Spellbomb. This can lead to infinite card draw which can lead to you drawing into a sac outlet that does something. You can also use Skullclamp to draw cards for mana (which is worth it even if you run out of mana first). Another one involves using Reveillark to recur Wall of Omens or Solemn Simulacrum to get card draw. Do not forget that Reveillark recurs two creatures when it dies. This is where the card draw engine in this deck lies.

Work in Progress. Will finish in the next couple of days. I'm still thinking about how I am going to finish writing this, but there was a big news with Ixalan. Legendary rule changing for planeswalkers. According to the article on Ixalan Mechanics from WOTC, "Starting with this set, all planeswalkers past, present, and future will have the supertype legendary. They will also be subject to the "legend rule." The "planeswalker uniqueness rule" is going away." What this means is that planeswalkers are now subject to Yomiji's effect. I'm looking for thoughts on this. Gideon of the Trials seems busted. Also, Elspeth, Sun's Champion seems pretty good. What are some other planeswalkers to consider?

Date added	10 years
Last updated	2 weeks
Key combos	Karmic Guide + Reveillark Fiend Hunter + Karmic Guide Fiend Hunter + Reveillark Ashnod's Altar + Hope of Ghirapur + Yomiji, Who Bars the Way Kytheon, Hero of Akros + Phyrexian Altar + Yomiji, Who Bars the Way Isamaru, Hound of Konda + Phyrexian Altar + Yomiji, Who Bars the Way
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	13 - 0 Mythic Rares 44 - 0 Rares 21 - 0 Uncommons 2 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.45
Tokens	Treasure, Warrior 1/1 W w/ Vigilance
Folders	Decks I play, cool decks, Decks I like, 1. IRL EDH, Decks, deck, infinites, tribal