Saruman: Grave Robber and Library Thief (C)

Commander / EDH* WUB (Esper)

Fudgefalcon

Land (36)

• 1x Academy Ruins
• 1x Arcane Sanctum
• 1x Choked Estuary
• 1x Clearwater Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Darkslick Shores
• 1x Darkwater Catacombs
• 1x Dromar's Cavern
• 1x Drowned Catacomb
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x Hallowed Fountain
• 3x Island
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Morphic Pool
• 1x Obscura Storefront
• 1x Otawara, Soaring City
• 1x Path of Ancestry
• 1x Plains
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Raffine's Tower
• 1x Restless Reef
• 1x Shipwreck Marsh
• 1x Sunken Ruins
• 4x Swamp
• 1x Tainted Isle
• 1x Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Underground River
• 1x Urza's Saga
• 1x Watery Grave

Enchantment (9)

• 1x Bloodchief Ascension
• 1x Fraying Sanity
• 1x Ghostly Prison
• 1x Land Tax
• 1x Mind's Dilation
• 1x Oubliette
• 1x Rhystic Study
• 1x Smothering Tithe
• 1x Storm of Saruman

Creature (22)

• 1x Aboleth Spawn
• 1x Brainstealer Dragon
• 1x Bruvac the Grandiloquent
• 1x Consuming Aberration
• 1x Dauthi Voidwalker
• 1x Dreamborn Muse
• 1x Elder Brain
• 1x Esper Sentinel
• 1x Gale, Waterdeep Prodigy
• 1x Grima, Saruman's Footman
• 1x Lazav, Dimir Mastermind
• 1x Lord of the Void
• 1x Phenax, God of Deception
• 1x Ruin Crab
• 1x Screeching Scorchbeast
• 1x Sen Triplets
• 1x Syr Konrad, the Grim
• 1x Terisian Mindbreaker
• 1x Thief of Sanity
• 1x Tinybones, the Pickpocket
• 1x Tribute Mage
• 1x Zellix, Sanity Flayer

Artifact (11)

• 1x Altar of the Brood
• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Chromatic Lantern
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Mesmeric Orb
• 1x Mindcrank
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Talisman of Dominance
• 1x Talisman of Hierarchy
• 1x Talisman of Progress
• 1x Thran Dynamo

Commander (1)

Instant (11)

• 1x Archive Trap
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Dark Ritual
• 1x Dramatic Reversal
• 1x Drown in the Loch
• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Mana Drain
• 1x Mystical Tutor
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Teferi's Protection
• 1x Vampiric Tutor

Sorcery (9)

• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Farewell
• 1x Maddening Cacophony
• 1x Mind Grind
• 1x Piracy
• 1x Praetor's Grasp
• 1x Reanimate
• 1x Rise of the Dark Realms
• 1x Toxic Deluge

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Tasha, the Witch Queen

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Maybeboard

Land (6)

• 1x Deserted Beach
• 1x Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
• 1x Glacial Fortress
• 1x Promising Vein
• 1x Temple of Deceit
• 1x Vault of Champions

Sorcery (1)

• 1x Consuming Tide

Instant (3)

• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Fracture
• 1x Path to Exile

Artifact (2)

• 1x Commander's Sphere
• 1x Midnight Clock

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Jace Beleren

Enchantment (2)

• 1x Animate Dead
• 1x Cunning Rhetoric

Creature (2)

• 1x Gale, Waterdeep Prodigy
• 1x Mangara, the Diplomat

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Finally, after countless revisions, playtesting, 4 player game play, and perhaps a few extra dollars I’ve made Saruman of Many Colors truly disgusting. The biggest challenge people run into with this deck is getting enough mana to cast Saruman. What if he wasn’t integral to your wincon but more so a draw for removal? So far, he has fallen from the tower of Orthanc near every game I’ve played; just like in Return of the King extended edition. Metaphors aside, here is how this deck plays not only your own library but your opponents’ library as well.

Easy Combo Wins:

1.Bruvac the Grandiloquentand Maddening Cacophony. You have both black tutors which makes finding these cards easy. Mystical Tutor also comes in handy here. In fact, I almost always tutor Maddening Cacophony despite having the combo. Your opponents having a sizable graveyard is very handy. If you have manarocks out after turn 2 it is feasible to get a turn 4 win using this method (especially if you already have a combo piece in hand).

2.Bloodchief Ascension + Mindcrank

This is an easy, cheesy, infinite combo. It just so happens both cards fit in this deck too well to cut. Mindcrank instantly makes this deck devastating by itself. Damage or loss of life is pretty easy to come by considering most people play shock lands in EDH. Which brings me to the second card, Bloodchief Ascension. Say you are starting your turn order in any position except for 4th. There is a high likely hood that your opponents will gain you the quest counters needed to turn Bloodchief Ascension’s second ability on by just playing their shock lands. Don’t sleep on the fact you will gain absurd amounts of life every time a card hits a graveyard on your opponents’ side. In the right scenario, you can pull off a turn 3 win with this. What is more likely is you will pick off each opponent 1 by 1 on turn 4. Life loss or damage HAS TO BE DEALT to start the combo!

Dying Alone or Deck Synergy Shutdown

Fraying Sanity + Maddening Cacophony

1. Fraying Sanity will do exactly what the name implies to an opponent. Throw in a way to make them mill half their library and you no longer have the biggest threat on the table. They can have a Blightsteel Colossus staring you down but won’t mean a thing if they can’t draw a card from their lack of library on their turn.

Dauthi Voidwalker and Farewell

1. This card was hard for me to include at first. Playing cards from your opponents’ graveyard is a huge part of this deck. However, games rarely shape up how you envision. Graveyard Recursion decks are arguably some of the most played decks in EDH right now seeing as Golgari, Esper, and Orhzav all rely on it. When you shut off the graveyard, you shut off their decks too. If you lose your voidwalker, don’t hesitate to bring him back with Reanimate. Better yet, Reanimate your opponent’s voidwalker! Farewell is sometimes the only resort for a recursion deck and why it found a spot in the 99. Wiping and exiling the whole battlefield is sometimes the only resort to stay in the game!

Massive Damage

Syr Konrad, the Grim is an absolute powerhouse in this deck. Plenty of ways to make your opponent’s mill and very likely you will average 5 damage per turn with something like Dreamborn Muse/Mesmeric Orb on the battlefield.

Consuming Aberration is totally broken in this deck. I will admit his biggest challenge is getting unblockable, however, your opponents’ very likely run a Rogue's Passage in their decks. His second ability can also be quite devastating to their libraries.

All in all, I could write a book on how versatile Saruman of Many Colors can be. You are going to be playing 4 decks and despite having win conditions included you may find new win conditions in your opponents’ decks. Try it out! I guarantee your opponents will hate it equal to how much you will love it! Appreciate any recommendations or ways you found to break this “slept on” commander.

Date added	3 weeks
Last updated	1 week
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	20 - 0 Mythic Rares 50 - 0 Rares 18 - 0 Uncommons 4 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.20
Tokens	Construct 0/0 C, Copy Clone, Demon 3-3 B, Horror, Radiation, Treasure, Zombie Mutant 2/2 B