[Rafiq] To Serve & Protect

Commander / EDH Competitive Enchantment GWU (Bant) Multiplayer Voltron

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Land (33)

• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Breeding Pool
• 1x Cavern of Souls
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 3x Forest
• 1x Gaea's Cradle
• 1x Glacial Fortress
• 1x Hallowed Fountain
• 1x Hinterland Harbor
• 1x Island
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Misty Rainforest
• 1x Plains
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Reflecting Pool
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Savannah
• 1x Scalding Tarn
• 1x Seaside Citadel
• 1x Serra's Sanctum
• 1x Strip Mine
• 1x Sunpetal Grove
• 1x Temple Garden
• 1x Tropical Island
• 1x Tundra
• 1x Verdant Catacombs
• 1x Wasteland
• 1x Windswept Heath
• 1x Wooded Foothills

Artifact (7)

• 1x Champion's Helm
• 1x Conqueror's Flail
• 1x Inquisitor's Flail
• 1x Mana Vault
• 1x Mask of Avacyn
• 1x Mox Diamond
• 1x Sol Ring

Enchantment (21)

• 1x Banishing Light
• 1x Bear Umbra
• 1x Darksteel Mutation
• 1x Detention Sphere
• 1x Drake Umbra
• 1x Eldrazi Conscription
• 1x Faith's Fetters
• 1x Favor of the Overbeing
• 1x Finest Hour
• 1x Imprisoned in the Moon
• 1x Infiltrator's Magemark
• 1x Lignify
• 1x Mystic Remora
• 1x Oblivion Ring
• 1x Rancor
• 1x Shield of the Oversoul
• 1x Song of the Dryads
• 1x Spirit Mantle
• 1x Steel of the Godhead
• 1x Sterling Grove
• 1x Survival of the Fittest

Instant (11)

• 1x Berserk
• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Harrow
• 1x Hunter's Insight
• 1x Invigorate
• 1x Might of the Nephilim
• 1x Mystical Tutor
• 1x Nature's Claim
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Vines of Vastwood
• 1x Worldly Tutor

Sorcery (6)

• 1x Farseek
• 1x Nature's Lore
• 1x Replenish
• 1x Supreme Verdict
• 1x Timetwister
• 1x Winds of Rath

Commander (1)

Creature (21)

• 1x Arbor Elf
• 1x Avacyn's Pilgrim
• 1x Bastion Protector
• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Dauntless Escort
• 1x Elvish Mystic
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Fauna Shaman
• 1x Fyndhorn Elves
• 1x Grand Abolisher
• 1x Heliod's Pilgrim
• 1x Knight Exemplar
• 1x Medomai the Ageless
• 1x Noble Hierarch
• 1x Prowling Serpopard
• 1x Simic Guildmage
• 1x Sovereigns of Lost Alara
• 1x Sylvan Caryatid
• 1x Tajuru Preserver
• 1x Umbra Mystic
• 1x Utopia Tree

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Maybeboard

Creature (4)

• 1x Argothian Enchantress
• 1x Sigarda, Heron's Grace
• 1x Sigarda, Host of Herons
• 1x Sublime Archangel

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Tamiyo, Field Researcher

Instant (2)

• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Mana Drain

Sorcery (1)

• 1x Mwonvuli Acid-Moss

Enchantment (2)

• 1x Grasp of Fate
• 1x Rhystic Study

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This deck is the improved version of my first Rafiq deck which you can find here. This EDH-deck is especially designed for competive multi-player (cEDH). I am trying to get this deck competitive against high-tier decks and help is welcome.

I wanted to build a deck with Rafiq and Aura's and playing the previous version I tuned it to the three important things to do with this Commander. 1) Pump him to lethal as soon as possible, 2) Protect him from being removed from the battlefield and 3) Make him hard, or even better impossible to block.

At this moment the deck is capable of giving a lethal blow in turn 4 which is fast enough in cEDH. But the deck isn't consistent enough so I could use some advice on that. Multiple options in one card are preferred.

Ramp & Mana sources

Rafiq is a Commander who thrives on speed. You want to give that 21 Commander-damage before your opponent can deploy their own strategies. So you need cards in the deck to speed up your mana recourses instead of having a one turn one land drop. There are several ways of quick mana fixing in the deck:

• Arbor Elf, mana dork, untap a forest or a dual
• Avacyn's Pilgrim, mana dork, one white
• Bear Umbra, +2/+2 and untap your lands
• Birds of Paradise, mana dork, one all colors
• Elvish Mystic, mana dork, one green
• Farseek, fetch non-forest or dual
• Gaea's Cradle, one creature one green ramp
• Harrow, fetch 2 basics
• Fyndhorn Elves, mana dork, one green
• Mana Vault, three mana colorless
• Mox Diamond, one mana all colors
• Nature's Lore, fetch forest or dual
• Noble Hierarch +1/+1 exalted, mana dork, one all colors
• Serra's Sanctum, one enchantment one white ramp
• Sol Ring, two mana colorless
• Sylvan Caryatid, mana dork, one all colors
• Utopia Tree, mana dork, one all colors

Draw, Fetch & Tutor

Now you got your mana floating it's time to draw and search for the cards you need. Remember, Serve and Protect are your main goals for Rafiq. So choose and choose wisely. And some re-fills for when your hand gets empty. Of course the deck runs all the fetch lands aswell.

• Eternal Witness, tutor from graveyard
• Enlightened Tutor, tutor for enchantment
• Farseek, fetch non-forest or dual
• Fauna Shaman, re-usable tutor for creatures
• Harrow, fetch 2 basics
• Heliod's Pilgrim, tutor for aura
• Hunter's Insight, combat damage = draw (this can be huge!!!)
• Medomai the Ageless, extra turn = draw
• Mystic Remora, stax = draw
• Mystical Tutor, tutor for instant or sorcery
• Nature's Lore, fetch forest or dual
• Sovereigns of Lost Alara, +1/+1 exalted, re-usable tutor for aura
• Sterling Grove, tutor for enchantment
• Survival of the Fittest, re-usable tutor for creatures
• Timetwister, draw new hand
• Worldly Tutor, tutor for creature

Protect & Serve

Once you have the Commander on the Battlefield you want him to stay there as long as possible. There are no cards in the deck to give him Haste so you need the next turn before you can start striking opponents. So the deck holds a bunch of cards which make it hard to kill your Commander. Of course preferred with a pump bonus.

• Bastion Protector, +2/+2 and Indestructible
• Bear Umbra, +2/+2 and Totem Armor
• Cavern of Souls, Protection from Counterspells
• Champion's Helm, +2/+2 and Hexproof
• Conqueror's Flail, +3/+3 and Protection from Instants
• Dauntless Escort, Indestructible
• Drake Umbra, +3/+3 and Totem Armor
• Grand Abolisher, Protection from Instants
• Knight Exemplar, +1/+1 and Indestructible
• Mask of Avacyn, +1/+2 and Hexproof
• Prowling Serpopard, Protection from Counterspells
• Shield of the Oversoul, +2/+2 and Indestructible
• Spirit Mantle, +1/+1 and Protection from Creatures
• Tajuru Preserver, Protection from Sacrifice
• Umbra Mystic, Totem Armor
• Vines of Vastwood, +4/+4 and Hexproof

Pump & Hard to Block

Now the Commander is ready to strike so you want him to hit and hit hard. Some sort of Unblockable is of course the best way to strike. Flying and Trample are the other ways to be sure he assigns plenty of damage. Combined with his Double Strike ability 21 Commander damage can be achieved real fast with the surprise hits at instant speed.

• Berserk, double damage and Trample
• Drake Umbra, +3/+3 and Flying
• Eldrazi Conscription, +10/+10 and Trample
• Favor of the Overbeing, +2/+2 and Flying
• Finest Hour, +1/+1 Exalted and Extra Combat Phase
• Infiltrator's Magemark, +1/+1 only be blocked by defender
• Inquisitor's Flail, double damage
• Invigorate, +4/+4
• Might of the Nephilim, +6/+6
• Rancor, +2/+0 and Trample
• Rogue's Passage, Unblockable
• Shield of the Oversoul, +2/+2 and Flying
• Sovereigns of Lost Alara, +1/+1 Exalted and extra aura
• Spirit Mantle, +1/+1 and Protection from Creatures
• Steel of the Godhead, +2/+2 and Unblockable
• Vines of Vastwood, +4/+4

Destroy & Disrupt

IProbably after the first hit your opponents are getting aware that you are a big threat for all of them and that one strike can be enough to be lethal. So be prepared to be a target for the rest of the game. These cards might help to slow down your opponents.

• Banishing Light, exiles non-land permanent
• Conqueror's Flail, +3/+3 stops opponents instants
• Darksteel Mutation, inactivates creature
• Detention Sphere, exiles non-land permanent
• Eldrazi Conscription, +10/+10 and Annihilator 2
• Faith's Fetters, inactivates permanent
• Grand Abolisher, stops opponents instants
• Imprisoned in the Moon, inactivates creature, land or planeswalker
• Lignify, inactivates creature
• Nature's Claim, destroy artifact or enchantment
• Oblivion Ring, exiles non-land permanent
• Strip Mine, destroy land
• Song of the Dryads, inactivates permanent
• Supreme Verdict, destroy all creatures
• Swords to Plowshares, exile creature
• Wasteland, destroy non-basic land
• Winds of Rath, destroy all creatures

Tricks & Teases & Turns

These options came with the cards which are in the deck anyway. Some can be a bonus, some just 'ride along'. Letting the opponents gains life is just a tease, since you are fininshing the game with Commander Damage. And there is an infinite turn combo. Because a lot of cEDH decks can go infinite and you don't want to stay behind.

• Favor of the Overbeing, +2/+2 and Vigilante
• Invigorate, Opponent gains 3 life
• Nature's Claim, Opponent gains 4 life
• Reliquary Tower, no maximium hand size
• Replenish all your enchantments back from the graveyard
• Simic Guildmage make all your aura's act like equipments
• Steel of the Godhead, +2/+2 and Lifelink
• Swords to Plowshares, Opponent gains X life
• Medomai the Ageless if it does combat damage extra turn
• Medomai the Ageless + Rafiq of the Many if it does combat damage two extra turns
• Finest Hour + Medomai the Ageless if it does combat damage two extra turns
• Finest Hour + Medomai the Ageless + Rafiq of the Many if it does combat damage four extra turns
• Darksteel Mutation + Medomai the Ageless + Simic Guildmage + random creature if it does combat damage unlimited turns
• Lignify + Medomai the Ageless + Simic Guildmage + random creature if it does combat damage unlimited turns

I hope you all like this deck and maybe have a suggestion to juice it up. Maybe it needs some counterspells?? Like I said I am trying te get this deck competitive against the higher tiers.

Date added	6 years
Last updated	5 months
Exclude colors	BR
Key combos	Finest Hour + Medomai the Ageless Medomai the Ageless + Rafiq of the Many Finest Hour + Medomai the Ageless + Rafiq of the Many Darksteel Mutation + Medomai the Ageless + Simic Guildmage Lignify + Medomai the Ageless + Simic Guildmage
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	6 - 0 Mythic Rares 51 - 0 Rares 21 - 0 Uncommons 17 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.51
Folders	HomeBrew