In Defence of Halcyon [Primer]

Commander / EDH Aggro Artifact Artificer Control Partner Primer Stax Tokens WU (Azorius)

philsonwilson

Instant (3)

• 1x Dispatch
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Swords to Plowshares

Sorcery (11)

• 1x Dance of the Manse
• 1x Day of Judgment
• 1x Idyllic Tutor
• 1x Open the Vaults
• 1x Planar Birth
• 1x Ravenform
• 1x Refurbish
• 1x Remember the Fallen
• 1x Rise and Shine
• 1x Roar of Reclamation
• 1x Sakashima's Will

Enchantment (10)

• 1x Authority of the Consuls
• 1x Blind Obedience
• 1x Efficient Construction
• 1x Ghostly Prison
• 1x Mechanized Production
• 1x Mirrodin Besieged
• 1x Propaganda
• 1x Tempered Steel
• 1x The Antiquities War
• 1x Thopter Spy Network

Artifact (11)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Commander's Sphere
• 1x Darksteel Forge
• 1x Defense Grid
• 1x Liquimetal Torque
• 1x Mirrorworks
• 1x Mycosynth Lattice
• 1x Tamiyo's Journal
• 1x Thran Dynamo
• 1x Thran Temporal Gateway
• 1x Unwinding Clock

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Tezzeret the Seeker

Creature (26)

• 1x Arcum Dagsson
• 1x Burnished Hart
• 1x Daring Archaeologist
• 1x Darksteel Juggernaut
• 1x Emry, Lurker of the Loch
• 1x Etherium Sculptor
• 1x Foundry Inspector
• 1x Gold Myr
• 1x Hanna, Ship's Navigator
• 1x Jhoira's Familiar
• 1x Kuldotha Forgemaster
• 1x Master Transmuter
• 1x Master of Etherium
• 1x Metalwork Colossus
• 1x Myr Battlesphere
• 1x Palladium Myr
• 1x Riddlesmith
• 1x Sai, Master Thopterist
• 1x Shambling Suit
• 1x Shimmer Myr
• 1x Silver Myr
• 1x Steel Hellkite
• 1x Steel Overseer
• 1x Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle
• 1x Traxos, Scourge of Kroog
• 1x Workshop Assistant

Land (36)

• 1x Academy Ruins
• 1x Azorius Guildgate
• 1x Buried Ruin
• 1x Celestial Colonnade
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Darksteel Citadel
• 1x Glacial Fortress
• 16x Island
• 11x Plains
• 1x Razortide Bridge
• 1x Tranquil Cove

Commanders (2)

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Maybeboard

Instant (1)

• 1x Masterful Replication

Sorcery (3)

• 1x Fabricate
• 1x One with the Machine
• 1x Supreme Verdict

Enchantment (2)

• 1x March of the Machines
• 1x Smothering Tithe

Artifact (5)

• 1x Dispeller's Capsule
• 1x Liquimetal Coating
• 1x Mystic Forge
• 1x Slagstone Refinery
• 1x Thran Forge

Creature (12)

• 1x Drafna, Founder of Lat-Nam
• 1x Duplicant
• 1x Esper Sentinel
• 1x Filigree Attendant
• 1x Geode Golem
• 1x Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
• 1x Memnarch
• 1x Platoon Dispenser
• 1x Spectrum Sentinel
• 1x Tameshi, Reality Architect
• 1x Tribute Mage
• 1x Vedalken Archmage

Land (4)

• 1x Ancient Den
• 1x Inventors' Fair
• 1x Razortide Bridge
• 1x Spire of Industry

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Rebbec & Glacian - In Defence of Halcyon

This Primer contains spoilers for the 1999 book The Thran. If you're currently reading or wanting to read, skip this primer until you have.

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Introduction

###^kzzkt^### incoming transmission.

… is Rebecc, Architect of Halcyon … Glacial has -zzktt- recovered …

… … Yawgmoth has betrayed us -zkkt- closing in … ….

… -zttk- calling all Thran - kktzz- of Halcyon. I repeat, we are - …

… … …

… This is our final line of defence - zkttz- …

… zttkz … kkzztt … tkzz …

^##kzzkt^## transmission over.**_

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The Deck

This is a deck with flavour first, creating an alternate reality in which Glacian recovered from the phthisis that Gix caused, Yawgmoth's evil plan was uncovered and Halcyon was able to build to the future Rebbec had dreamt.

It balances Glacian’s milling ability by recurring as many of your artifacts as possible, with a few ways of bringing back non-artifacts if required. Alongside this, there is a certain level of Stax to imitate the ‘Defence’ nature of the city.

Despite being as flavourful as I can, I still wanted to make the deck worth playing. Seeing as Rebbec, Architect of Ascension and Glacian, Powerstone Engineer are pennies to buy, I didn’t want to fill the deck with expensive cards either (though as the deck see’s more play I may change this up).

Any feedback for the deck or this Primer (it is the first I’ve completed) would be greatly appreciated!

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The Gameplay

This isn’t a Urza-style combo deck, trying to pop off with infinite mana by turn 5. The people I usually play EDH with prefer long games, full of politics and crazy boards, surely the way Garfield intended it.

This deck plays and creates a lot of artifacts allowing us to dig through the deck constantly via Glacian's ability, so there's not a huge amount of tutors. As started previously, a fair few cards are here for recursion so binning this many cards doesn’t end up having the downside you would think.

Win Cons

There’s a few obvious win cons within the deck - primarily Mechanized Production and Mirrodin Besieged. Both have won a game already, with one actually being Production onto a Myr token created by the enchantment (as well as other Myr token creators in the deck).

There is also the old and simple beatdown. As mentioned, the deck can consistently create quite a few 1/1 Myr tokens which is useful by its own nature, but this also helps pump Darksteel Juggernaut, Master of Etherium and Shambling Suit. Steel Overseer helps pump the entire team, Traxos, Scourge of Kroog is untapped essentially every turn and Metalwork Colossus is often out for very little. Tempered Steel makes sure even those 1/1 Myr’s can pack a punch, and Daring Archaeologist helps recur cards from the grave whilst also growing itself in the process.

Thopter Spy Network, Efficient Construction, and Sai, Master Thopterist provide those flying 1/1 Thopters that can do the same as the Myr tokens but also… Fly!

The other beatdown tactic is cards like The Antiquities War, Sakashima's Will and Rise and Shine having ways to make all of our artifacts huge, which has come in handy finishing more than one opponent off at a time.

Recursion

Seeing as Glacian is one of our commanders and provides our main way to dig for the best cards, it’s good to talk about the different ways to bring cards back from the graveyard.

The most obvious is Emry, Lurker of the Loch. As our deck is primarily artifact based we can essentially bin any card that we don’t need right now and bring them back later. Find Metalwork Colossus too earlier? Emry can help you play it later for next to nothing (or in some cases it has been free).

Refurbish and Remember the Fallen are a one off to bring back those same artifacts and creatures, with Dance of the Manse also being able to convert some into 4/4 creatures providing some hefty power late game.

Open the Vaults, Planar Birth and Roar of Reclamation are slightly chaotic, returning not just your own but every other players too. Has this lost me the game before? Most certainly. EDH is the place for these more chaotic and enjoyable plays though, and this is no cEDH deck.

Creatures like Workshop Assistant and card:Daring Archeologist pull double duty, they can be thrown in front of the bus but also can recur other cards themselves, and help others like Burnished Hart and Commander's Sphere come back if we haven’t found our Emry yet or if they’ve been lost already. Hanna, Ship's Navigator not only helps here too but can also bring back some of those great enchantments.

Buried Ruin and Academy Ruins are also very helpful in getting back those milled artifacts from Glacian. Buried Ruin can also be reused through Planar Birth so isn’t always a one of waste.

Defence

Let’s get into the defence part of the flavour; Defense Grid being the most obvious as it helps stop combat tricks, instant speed removal, counters and many other plays. Some players find it annoying but it’s cards like this that help slow the game down to a pace in which this deck thrives.

Authority of the Consuls and Blind Obedience help slow down those creature decks, and it’s very rare you’ll have a game without at least one creature heavy player. Ghostly Prison and Propaganda work to stop those swarm decks from overrunning you (Crawlspace is a potential addition too for this reason).

Rebbec also provides great protection to all of our artifacts, and with a large range of CMC’s it’s easy to have full protection.

Removal

Path to Exile, card:Swords to Plowshare, Dispatch and Ravenform all are great spot removal that get around indestructible, Day of Judgment and Steel Hellkite are great for board wipes (and in conjunction with Darksteel Forge have caused a multiple scoops before).

Tutor

As mentioned Glacian can help filter through the deck fast, but Idyllic Tutor and Arcum Dagsson can help find the specific card required exactly when you need it (KBK7101 to thank for the latter suggestion there). Kuldotha Forgemaster is more situational but is also a fantastic instant speed fixer.

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Budget Friendly Options

These are the cards I’ve included purely for budget reasons that may be switched in the future for the better, more expensive counterparts:

Ravenform - there’s many cards that would be better removal, especially as this is sorcery speed. But it cost me 10p so I’m not going to argue!

Planar Birth - though not quite as cheap as the previous two, it works as a budget friendly Crucible of Worlds. This will likely be added when I can afford to.

Azorius Guildgate - A Guildgate! Heresy! Heresy! Everyone has a million of these and they are still a dual land, will be changed for something like Flooded Strand, Hallowed Fountain, Deserted Beach, Pathway or alike.

Tranquil Cove - See above!

Basic Lands - There’s a lot of these, and it hasn’t been an issue. Still, the lands mentioned above will likely be added and changed for basics, as well as Sea of Clouds etc.

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The Chopping Block

This is where I'll put my current ideas for what's likely to be removed and what might replace them, the maybeboard is also filling out with ideas so it likely won't be a direct upgrade from the cards effect.

Tamiyo's Journal for better tutors, and we do have sufficient artifacts so removing it shouldn’t be an issue. card:Raven Form, it’s just not great removal but was a cheap option. Workshop Assistant because there’s quite a few returning effects, and is a little expensive MV in comparison. Planar Birth is planning to be switched out for Crucible of Worlds Potentially switching Roar of Reclamation for Brilliant Restoration as it’s the same MV but only targets our cards. The 4W shouldn’t be an issue either.

Top Ranked	Achieved #37 position overall 2 years ago Achieved #29 position in Commander / EDH 2 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Artifact 2 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Artificer 2 years ago
Date added	2 years
Last updated	1 year
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	5 - 0 Mythic Rares 36 - 0 Rares 19 - 0 Uncommons 12 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.64
Tokens	Bird 1/1 U, Clue, Copy Clone, Myr 1/1 C, Thopter 1/1 C
Folders	Hard Copies, other peoples decks, Inspiration, The Lexicon, EDH Decks