Slobad - Self-Mill/Eggs (Competitive)
Commander / EDH Artifact Combo Competitive Infinite Combo Mono-Red Multiplayer
Combo (7)
- 1x Basalt Monolith
- 1x Goblin Cannon
- 1x Krark-Clan Ironworks
- 1x Mesmeric Orb
- 1x Metalworker
- 1x Rings of Brighthearth
- 1x Staff of Domination
Discount (3)
Draw (10)
- 1x Faithless Looting
- 1x Magmatic Insight
- 1x Magus of the Wheel
- 1x Memory Jar
- 1x Reforge the Soul
- 1x Sandstone Oracle
- 1x Skullclamp
- 1x Tormenting Voice
- 1x Wheel of Fortune
- 1x Wild Guess
Egg (6)
Hate (3)
Interaction (8)
- 1x Chaos Warp
- 1x Galvanic Blast
- 1x Lightning Bolt
- 1x Pyroblast
- 1x Pyroclasm
- 1x Red Elemental Blast
- 1x Tormod's Crypt
- 1x Vandalblast
Land (28)
- 1x Ancient Tomb
- 1x Arid Mesa
- 1x Bazaar of Baghdad
- 1x Blinkmoth Nexus
- 1x Bloodstained Mire
- 1x Boseiju, Who Shelters All
- 1x Buried Ruin
- 1x City of Traitors
- 1x Crystal Vein
- 1x Darksteel Citadel
- 1x Great Furnace
- 1x Inkmoth Nexus
- 1x Mishra's Factory
- 1x Mishra's Workshop
- 10x Mountain
- 1x Scalding Tarn
- 1x Strip Mine
- 1x Wasteland
- 1x Wooded Foothills
Ramp (11)
Recursion (9)
- 1x Daretti, Scrap Savant
- 1x Goblin Welder
- 1x Junk Diver
- 1x Myr Retriever
- 1x Past in Flames
- 1x Recoup
- 1x Salvaging Station
- 1x Scrap Mastery
- 1x Trash for Treasure
Ritual (4)
Tutor (3)
Utility (7)
- 1x Clock of Omens
- 1x Codex Shredder
- 1x Lightning Greaves
- 1x Scroll Rack
- 1x Sensei's Divining Top
- 1x Swiftfoot Boots
- 1x Voltaic Key
Commander (1)
Please note that this list has not been updated since the mulligan rule change on January 18, 2016. The removal of Partial Paris and the ability to mulligan for fast mana and wheels has likely crippled this list, as it was already lacking in consistency compared to other competitive lists. I do intend to come back to the deck at some point and attempt to make it viable under Vancouver mulligans, but I am working on other projects at the moment.
This is a competitive artifact combo deck, designed to rapidly dig through its library and abuse the graveyard as much as possible. It plays similarly to an eggs or self-mill deck, although it doesn't completely fall into either archetype. It averages a turn four kill, with turns two or three being possible on a good draw, and turns five or six being the absolute latest the deck will go off.
You might enjoy playing this deck if:
- You enjoy artifact-based combo
- You like taking fringe strategies and playing them competitively
- The idea of being the lone mono-red player in your competitive EDH playgroup appeals to you
You might not enjoy playing this deck if:
- You hate artifacts and/or infinite combos
- You don't like MLD or land hate
- You require all of your decks to play blue
This decklist has been in the making for over a year, and I'm quite proud of it. I am confident enough to say that I have never seen a Slobad list as competitive as my own. I strongly encourage anyone that enjoys mono-red artifacts and competitive EDH to give it a try.
"Where a lesser mind sees junk, I see infinite potential."
Self-mill into Scrap Mastery (often flashed-back) is an extremely powerful effect that will usually win the game with any reasonable number of cards in the yard. You can also sacrifice your board to Slobad, Goblin Tinkerer or Krark-Clan Ironworks in order to get back everything. With enough rocks, this process easily becomes mana-positive, and can be looped repeatedly with flashback effects (Past in Flames or Recoup) or Codex Shredder.
One of the biggest strengths of the deck is that it is difficult for opponents to interact with. Artifact destruction is less potent than usual thanks to Slobad, Goblin Tinkerer's ability. Additionally, counterspells don't do a whole lot against our artifacts, since we can just recur them. However, getting Wheel of Fortune effects counterspelled can hurt a lot, so try to hold up protection for them if possible (Red Elemental Blast or Pyroblast). If they do go to the graveyard, hopefully you have a way to recur them. Somewhat surprisingly, the deck is also reasonably resilient against graveyard hate. Although it definitely hurts and slows us down, it does not cripple us completely. Frequently you can still recur a key artifact in response to getting your graveyard exiled. The deck also plays a decent "fair" game without its graveyard.
Rings of Brighthearth + Basalt Monolith + = infinite mana
Metalworker + Staff of Domination + 3 artifacts in hand = infinite mana, infinite life and infinite draw
Salvaging Station + Krark-Clan Ironworks + Voltaic Key = infinite mana
Myr Retriever + Junk Diver + Krark-Clan Ironworks + Helm of Awakening/Cloud Key/Semblance Anvil = infinite mana
Voltaic Key + Rings of Brighthearth + infinite mana = infinite untaps
Clock of Omens + Basalt Monolith + Grim Monolith + infinite mana = infinite untaps
Mesmeric Orb + Basalt Monolith = infinite self-mill
Mesmeric Orb + Grim Monolith + Rings of Brighthearth + = infinite self-mill
Sensei's Divining Top + Rings of Brighthearth + infinite mana = infinite draw
This deck's greatest weaknesses are the classic mono-red lack of interaction and consistency. The deck is currently playing a small amount of aggressively costed interaction. In general, the game plan is to outrace most other decks at the table while providing some amount of inevitability due to heavy recursion. When it comes to consistency, pretty much every playable piece of red or colorless draw/filtering is in the deck. It's worth noting that this list actually plays much better when at a table with other competitive blue or red combo decks that are casting Wheel of Fortune/Timetwister effects. I'd estimate that someone else wheeling speeds the combo up by a full turn when compared to a pure goldfish scenario.
When it comes down to it, I regularly play in competitive EDH pods with decks like Grixis Storm, Esper Doomsday, and Food Chain Prossh, and I still manage to take a reasonable share of wins. There are definitely other factors (there's sometimes an Alesha stax deck that sort of acts like a kingmaker for mine), but the fact of the matter is that this list is absolutely competitive.
I have easily spent hundreds of hours brainstorming, tuning, and testing this list, and the number one reason for cards not being played is that they are too slow. I play in a competitive meta filled with fast combo decks, so I need to be as fast as possible myself.
I know that a few of the card choices in this list may seem suboptimal at first glance, but a few concessions were necessary due to the mono-red nature of the deck. Cards like Magus of the Wheel are quite slow (counter to what I just said above), but they really are necessary, since mono-red gets few options for draw or consistency.
These lands allow us to accelerate more quickly at the expense of some downsides, which are negligible.
Arid Mesa, Bloodstained Mire, Scalding Tarn, Wooded Foothills
Fetch lands grant a small amount of deck thinning as well as a shuffle effect for Sensei's Divining Top and Scroll Rack. The one life isn't an issue.
The looting is great in a deck starved for card draw and consistency. Digging a bit deeper into the deck at the cost of a card from hand is usually worth it.
Blinkmoth Nexus, Inkmoth Nexus, Mishra's Factory
The artifact manlands are an odd include in the deck, but the colorless downside is minimal and they can serve as sac fodder, allowing recursion via Goblin Welder effects, mana via Krark-Clan Ironworks, card draw via Skullclamp, or untaps for Salvaging Station.
Although slow, this land grants a way to guarantee the resolution of Scrap Mastery or Wheel of Fortune effects in the face of heavy countermagic.
The extra recursion is great, and the colorless downside is mostly irrelevant.
Darksteel Citadel, Great Furnace
Similar to the artifact manlands above, these serve as sac fodder, though only as artifacts rather than artifact creatures.
These lands are included to deal with problems like Gaea's Cradle, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, or that pesky High Tide player's Underground Sea.
Mountains are great! They don't die to Ruination or get hit by Back to Basics! Love your mountains, people.
This is both a mana rock and a primary combo piece.
Chromatic Sphere, Chromatic Star, Conjurer's Bauble, Ichor Wellspring, Terrarion
These eggs provide draw and the filtering of colorless mana. They can also serve as sac fodder. In conjunction with Salvaging Station and a board wipe, they can be used to draw a bunch of cards.
Chrome Mox, Fellwar Stone, Grim Monolith, Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Mind Stone, Mox Diamond, Mox Opal, Prismatic Lens, Sol Ring, Thought Vessel
The mana rocks of choice for our deck. We need to be fast, and these help us do that. In conjunction with cost reducers or Krark-Clan Ironworks they can serve as rituals during our combo turn.
This card is a piece in a few combos, and also gets additional value out of the artifacts with tap abilities. It's on the expensive side, and is currently on the chopping block, but I haven't found an option I like more yet.
Cloud Key, Helm of Awakening, Semblance Anvil
With forty-four artifacts in the deck, these cost reducers do a lot of work and can allow us to cycle through our deck very rapidly. The card disadvantage from Semblance Anvil is usually worth it, considering that it makes the average artifact free to cast.
The only piece of unconditional recursion in the deck. This can form infinite loops with Scrap Mastery and enough artifacts to produce mana. The incremental self-mill can be marginally useful, and it is also an alternative infinite mill win condition. It can also be used to hose your opponents' top-of-deck tutors.
The deck's primary win condition. It's not a good card on its own, but having a single card to serve as a game-winning infinite mana outlet is necessary.
One of the most powerful cards in the deck. This allows us to generate as much mana as we'll ever need, and also serves as a combo piece.
Lightning Greaves, Swiftfoot Boots
These haste enablers are for the creatures with tap abilities, as well as protection. They are somewhat awkward, and are under consideration for cutting. However, they have won me their fair share of games in which I otherwise would have needed to pass the turn, so they remain for now.
Lion's Eye Diamond, Lotus Petal
These accelerators provide additional mana during our combo, especially with Salvaging Station. LED should mainly be used with the deck's Wheel of Fortune effects.
An artifact version of Wheel of Fortune that (mostly) doesn't help your opponents. Very powerful and one of the main targets for recursion during our combo.
Half of the deck's infinite self-mill engine, which usually allows us to combo as soon as it is assembled. Also useful as incremental self-mill during the early turns of the game.
Another piece of interaction, as well as an egg (with a cost), and an alternate win condition.
Primarily used as a combo piece, sometimes also copies Goblin Welder, Kuldotha Forgemaster, or Daretti, Scrap Savant activations.
Another powerhouse in this list. With eighteen potential targets, this card can generate so much mana and card advantage that it must be dealt with. It also serves as a combo piece.
A pseudo-draw engine that plays well with fetchlands or other tutors. A necessity due to lack of good draw/filtering in mono-red.
Similar to above, a great source of card filtering. Can be sacrificed after its activation to draw without putting it on top of the library, which can be great with Salvaging Station. Also part of an infinite draw combo.
Although this deck doesn't play a lot of creatures, it has enough that running this card is worth it (given the lack of other good draw).
A great infinite mana outlet. Sometimes needed as an intermediate step while finding Goblin Cannon. Can also just be used to untap creatures for value or as an infinite mana producer itself with Metalworker.
A fantastic piece of grave hate, enough said.
Great utility and value, as well as a combo piece.
Hoses a bunch of decks. Super good.
An extremely powerful little guy that is usually cheating combo pieces or powerhouse artifacts into play.
Tutors most of the creatures in the deck and gets Skullclamped.
Recursion pieces that get a ton of value, and can occasionally go infinite.
Activating this once usually wins the game, so it's a major threat that must be dealt with.
Blood Moon is great. Let's have another.
Pretty slow, but the extra wheel effect is too necessary to pass up. I'm hoping WOTC will print something new that can replace this guy, but my hopes aren't high.
Makes a ton of mana and goes infinite. Enough said.
I was initially skeptical about this one, but it has turned out to be great. With all of the cost reducers and Goblin Welder effects in the deck, I'm rarely paying full price, or I'm simply cheating it into play. It also has great synergy with Lion's Eye Diamond, and has generally proven to be straight gas.
Red's equivalent of Ad Nauseam (kind of). Great in a combo deck like this one.
This guy can provide card advantage in grindier games, and is especially great against stax. He also frequently gets used as a one-shot Trash for Treasure on my combo turn.
Red's meager imitations of Ponder, Preordain, and Brainstorm. Not great, but a necessity.
An unconditional tutor with fairly substantial downside. It's usually still worth it though. It can also be intentionally used as sorcery-speed Entomb while hellbent in conjunction with recursion.
These flashback spells enable this deck to go off from the graveyard with wheels or Scrap Mastery. They are expensive, but still an important component.
A great little wipe that can really hurt decks like Derevi or Prossh.
Reforge the Soul, Wheel of Fortune
Powerful draw spells that we hope to see every game.
Another great non-basic land hoser.
Resolving this usually wins the game, because by the time we have the mana to cast it, we usually have plenty of stuff to recur.
One-shot Goblin Welder is pretty decent.
Most competitive EDH decks are running lots of mana rocks, and this is a great way to mess up their mana.
Catch-all removal that is also our only out to enchantments (notably Stony Silence). A bit expensive, but necessary.
Galvanic Blast, Lightning Bolt
Usually used for problem creature removal. I've won at least a few games by going face though, usually on greedy AdNaus/Doomsday players.
Pyroblast, Red Elemental Blast
Extremely powerful and cheap stack interaction and removal.
The most recent addition to the deck, and a trial card. Allows ramp and acceleration early, additional mana while comboing, and plays well with Past in Flames.
Suggestions
Updates Add
Comments View Archive
Attention! Complete Comment Tutorial! This annoying message will go away once you do!
Important! Formatting tips — Comment Tutorial — markdown syntax
Please login to comment
| Top Ranked |
|
| Date added | 9 years |
| Last updated | 6 years |
| Exclude colors | WUBG |
| Legality | This deck is Commander / EDH legal. |
| Rarity (main - side) | 8 - 0 Mythic Rares 35 - 0 Rares 31 - 0 Uncommons 16 - 0 Commons |
| Cards | 100 |
| Avg. CMC | 2.22 |
| Tokens | Emblem Daretti, Scrap Savant |
| Folders | interesting decks, EDH, Reference Decks, Decks I Like, dank decks, Decks, EDH, EDH decks, Decks that I like and I want to look at again sometime, stuff i might build |
| Votes | |
| Ignored suggestions | |
| Shared with | |
| Views |