Narset, Master of Chain Reaction

Commander / EDH* Combo Competitive Land Destruction Multiplayer Primer RUW (Jeskai, America)

markszncd

Land (33)

• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Cavern of Souls
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x City of Traitors
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Crystal Vein
• 1x Emeria's Call  ^Flip
• 1x Fiery Islet
• 1x Flagstones of Trokair
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 1x Gemstone Caverns
• 1x Hall of the Bandit Lord
• 1x Hallowed Fountain
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Misty Rainforest
• 1x Mystic Gate
• 1x Plateau
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Sacred Foundry
• 1x Scalding Tarn
• 1x Sea Gate Restoration  ^Flip
• 1x Skycloud Expanse
• 1x Steam Vents
• 1x Sunbaked Canyon
• 1x Tarnished Citadel
• 1x Tundra
• 1x Volcanic Island
• 1x Windswept Heath
• 1x Wooded Foothills

Extra Combat Phase (4)

• 1x Fury of the Horde
• 1x Relentless Assault
• 1x Seize the Day
• 1x Waves of Aggression

Tutor for Enter the Infinite (3)

• 1x Long-Term Plans
• 1x Mystical Tutor
• 1x Personal Tutor

Hand Control (1)

• 1x Temporal Cascade

Tutor for Omniscience (1)

• 1x Enlightened Tutor

Unblockable (1)

• 1x Rogue's Passage

Mana Ramp (26)

• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Azorius Signet
• 1x Basalt Monolith
• 1x Chrome Mox
• 1x City of Traitors
• 1x Coalition Relic
• 1x Crystal Vein
• 1x Dockside Extortionist
• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Gemstone Caverns
• 1x Generator Servant
• 1x Grim Monolith
• 1x Izzet Signet
• 1x Jeweled Lotus
• 1x Lion's Eye Diamond
• 1x Lotus Petal
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Mana Drain
• 1x Mana Vault
• 1x Mox Diamond
• 1x Mox Opal
• 1x Pentad Prism
• 1x Pyretic Ritual
• 1x Rite of Flame
• 1x Simian Spirit Guide
• 1x Sol Ring

Haste (7)

• 1x Bloodlust Inciter
• 1x Generator Servant
• 1x Goblin Motivator
• 1x Hall of the Bandit Lord
• 1x Mass Hysteria
• 1x Need for Speed
• 1x Torch Courier

Land Destruction (4)

• 1x Armageddon
• 1x Boom / Bust
• 1x Catastrophe
• 1x Ravages of War

Extra Free Spells (2)

• 1x Aminatou's Augury
• 1x Mind's Desire

Filtering (1)

• 1x Scroll Rack

Tutor for Tutors (1)

• 1x Merchant Scroll

Commander (1)

Extra Turn (12)

• 1x Beacon of Tomorrows
• 1x Capture of Jingzhou
• 1x Expropriate
• 1x Karn's Temporal Sundering
• 1x Nexus of Fate
• 1x Part the Waterveil
• 1x Temporal Manipulation
• 1x Temporal Mastery
• 1x Temporal Trespass
• 1x Time Stretch
• 1x Time Warp
• 1x Walk the Aeons

Anti Counterspell (7)

• 1x Cavern of Souls
• 1x Commandeer
• 1x Force of Will
• 1x Grand Abolisher
• 1x Mental Misstep
• 1x Misdirection
• 1x Red Elemental Blast

Combo Component (5)

• 1x Beacon of Tomorrows
• 1x Enter the Infinite
• 1x Nexus of Fate
• 1x Omniscience
• 1x Scroll Rack

Removal (4)

• 1x Chain of Vapor
• 1x Karn's Temporal Sundering
• 1x Red Elemental Blast
• 1x Snap

Extra Trigger (1)

• 1x Strionic Resonator

Finisher (1)

• 1x Enter the Infinite

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Maybeboard

Land (9)

• 1x Adarkar Wastes
• 1x Battlefield Forge
• 1x Cascade Bluffs
• 1x Eiganjo Castle
• 1x Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
• 1x Rugged Prairie
• 1x Shivan Reef
• 1x Tolaria West
• 1x Unclaimed Territory

Land Tutor (3)

• 1x Expedition Map
• 1x Tolaria West
• 1x Weathered Wayfarer

Other (3)

• 1x Aqueous Form
• 1x Fierce Guardianship
• 1x Flawless Maneuver

Haste (2)

• 1x Ashling's Prerogative
• 1x Lightning Greaves

Mana Ramp (3)

• 1x Desperate Ritual
• 1x Fabricate
• 1x Tolaria West

Extra Combat Phase (2)

• 1x Savage Beating
• 1x World at War

Anti Counterspell (1)

• 1x Defense Grid

Land Destruction (1)

• 1x Sunder

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This deck is VERY COMPETITIVE and it's the top rated and top viewed Narset EDH deck on Tappedout. It's been tested constantly for over 2 years and it's now pretty close to be optimized. There are several versions of Narset EDH deck you can find on Tappedout, and I believe this is the most consistent and competitive one.

The main strategy of playing this deck is to get Narset out and attack to trigger her ability as early as possible. Once you attack for the first time, your opponents are very likely to have no more turn of their own for the rest of the game.

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Win Conditions

• Manage to attack for the first time without any blocking creature or creatures big enough to kill Narset. Normally a turn-three Narset and a turn-four attack is on average. Sometimes a turn-two or even turn-one Narset is possible if Magic God is on your side. Once her ability is triggered, chances are that one or more extra turn/ combat phase cards can be cast without paying their mana costs. And with the extra turn / combat phase you get, you can have more and more combat phases and extra turns for more ability triggering. Usually when you get 2 or 3 extra turns or combat phases with Narset on board, you opponents would just scoop and start another game.

• A land destruction card like Armageddon, Catastrophe, or Sunder exiled with Narset's ability could just end the game. Without having any land on board and Narset on the battlefield, your opponents can have very small chances to win the game.

• Last and the simplest one, exiling Enter the Infinite with Narset's ability. It can be achieved by Personal Tutor, Mystical Tutor, Long-Term Plans or simply just luck. The First Step: cast Enter the Infinite and then put Omniscience back to your library. The Second Step: Exiling two red cards which are useless for the rest of the game for example like Need for Speed, Mass Hysteria or Ashling's Prerogative to cast Fury of the Horde OR if Fury of the Horde has been used previously, just use ramping artifact or spells like Mana Crypt, Sol Ring, Mox Diamond, etc. to cast Seize the Day or Relentless Assault. The Third Step: Attack and then cast Omniscience. Cast all the extra turn / combat phase cards and then Beacon of Tomorrows and Nexus of Fate should be on the top of your library. Therefore, whenever you attack with Narset for the rest of that turn, you can get 2 more extra turns. After all this, you should have at least one opponent killed by commander damage and about 20 extra turns. The Fourth step: Return cards back to your library using Scroll Rack so you'll have cards to draw. OR Forget about returning cards to your library and leave only Beacon of Tomorrows and Nexus of Fate there.

Explanation For Certain Cards

Merchant Scroll Show

Merchant Scroll is a multifunctional card. You can use it to search for a Mana Drain on turn two to ramp. Or search for a Force of Will to protect Narset from counterspells or board wipes. Search for a Wipe Away if you need an answer to situations like a resolved Gaddock Teeg right away.

There is another very important reason why Merchant Scroll is included. It makes this deck combo out much more easily. It can be used to search for Mystical Tutor or Long-Term Plans. How it's used is further explained at the section "Situations You Might Encounter".

Lion's Eye Diamond Show

Obviously this is an extremely fast yet dangerous card to use. If your playing in a game with heavy counterspells, try not to rush into using it without a protection from counterspells like Cavern of Souls or Grand Abolisher. Save it in hand and use it as a mana source to cast Narset when she's countered for the first time.

Fabricate and Enlightened Tutor Show

They can be used to search for a Mana Crypt for ramping, or Lightning Greaves to give narset haste (or search for a Need for Speed or Mass Hysteria with Enlightened Tutor). If Narset's attack reveals one of those, it can be used to search for a Scroll Rack or Strionic Resonator.

Tolaria West Show

It's mainly used to search for Cavern of Souls, Hall of the Bandit Lord, Mana Crypt, or sometimes Lion's Eye Diamond.

Situations You Might Encounter

• Narset's attack reveals a Time Warp and a Personal Tutor: Cast Time Warp and then Personal Tutor to search for a Merchant Scroll. And on the extra turn, cast Merchant Scroll to search for a Mystical Tutor before combat. Use Mystical Tutor to search for Enter the Infinite then swing Narset again.

• You're still on early turns and you have a Personal Tutor or Mystical Tutor in hand: Use them to tutor for Fabricate or Rite of Flame. You can even use Mystical Tutor to search for a Mana Drain. The truth is that the sooner you can get Narset out, the better the chance you can win the game, especially in a competetive play group. Another option you have with Mystical Tutor is Force of Will. Depending on the situation, you can choose whether to play fast or conservative.

Let's Do the Math

As I said in the previous section, my win cons include casting Enter the Infinite, land destruction, and revealing several extra turn / combat phase spells and eventually finding Enter the Infinite.

So what's the percentage of winning for each attack?

First of all I presume that revealing Enter the Infinite, Armageddon, Catastrophe, Ravages of War, Sunder, and Boom / Bust as winning. And I disregard the possibility of those spells being countered. And the chance of winning for each blind attack (suppose that I don't use any card in my hand to increase the odd of revealing any card) is:

Show

How do I get that number?

Odd of revealing Enter the Infinite or a land destruction spell on that trigger is: 20.5%

Odd of revealing any blue tutor and an extra turn or extra combat spell on that trigger is: 3.27%

And after calculation the odd revealing one or two extra turn / combat spells on that trigger first and win later on is: 13.3%

37% is the percentage I get based on the presupposition that I don't use any tutor in my hand to search for Enter the Infinite before attacking, or cast any extra turn / combat or geddon directly from my hand.

If I take my hand into account, the odd of winning can go much higher.

Mind's Desire and Omniscience are not considered a possible win con for the calculation because they are too variable

Top Ranked	Achieved #1 position overall 8 years ago
Date added	8 years
Last updated	3 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	36 - 0 Mythic Rares 42 - 0 Rares 9 - 0 Uncommons 13 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.75
Tokens	Angel Warrior 4/4 W, Treasure
Folders	Good EDH, Great Decks, Jeskai Control, cEDH, Maybe, My EDH, Cool EDH Decks, Bookmarked, Commander EDH, Cool stuff