The Chromatic Bastardization of Mana

Commander / EDH Budget Combo Cumulative upkeep Primer Prison Ramp Tap/Untap

temeref

Land (36)

• 1x Battlefield Forge
• 1x Branchloft Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Brushland
• 1x Cabal Coffers
• 1x Caves of Koilos
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Ferrous Lake
• 1x Flooded Grove
• 1x Gemstone Mine
• 1x Glacial Chasm
• 1x Grand Coliseum
• 1x Horizon of Progress
• 1x Island
• 1x Karplusan Forest
• 1x Llanowar Wastes
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 1x Mossfire Valley
• 1x Overflowing Basin
• 1x Path of Ancestry
• 1x Plaza of Heroes
• 1x Rugged Prairie
• 1x Selesnya Sanctuary
• 1x Shivan Reef
• 1x Skycloud Expanse
• 1x Sungrass Prairie
• 1x The World Tree
• 1x Thran Portal
• 1x Turntimber Symbiosis  ^Flip
• 1x Unstable Frontier
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Vesuva
• 1x Waterlogged Grove
• 1x Yavimaya Coast
• 1x Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth

Seedborn-type (2)

• 1x Awakening
• 1x Seedborn Muse

Ramp (19)

• 1x Bigger on the Inside
• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Bloom Tender
• 1x Channel the Suns
• 1x Chromatic Orrery
• 1x Crypt Ghast
• 1x Exploration
• 1x Fanatic of Rhonas
• 1x Fertile Ground
• 1x Hour of Promise
• 1x Ignoble Hierarch
• 1x Kiora's Follower
• 1x Noble Hierarch
• 1x Planar Genesis
• 1x Sakura-Tribe Scout
• 1x Selvala, Explorer Returned
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Tempt with Discovery
• 1x Wild Growth

Prison (6)

• 1x Blanket of Night
• 1x Hushbringer
• 1x Infernal Darkness
• 1x Mishra's Helix
• 1x Naked Singularity
• 1x Ritual of Subdual

Utility (6)

• 1x Atraxa, Grand Unifier
• 1x Disorienting Choice
• 1x Earnest Fellowship
• 1x Emerald Charm
• 1x Loran of the Third Path
• 1x Meathook Massacre 2

Tutor (4)

• 1x Archdruid's Charm
• 1x Planar Bridge
• 1x Vampiric Tutor
• 1x Weathered Wayfarer

Big slurpy (1)

• 1x Debt to the Deathless

Commander (1)

Interaction (17)

• 1x Arcane Denial
• 1x Cut / Ribbons
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Dregs of Sorrow
• 1x Final Showdown
• 1x Fracturing Gust
• 1x Iridian Maelstrom
• 1x Jaded Response
• 1x Moment's Peace
• 1x Myojin of Night's Reach
• 1x Noxious Vapors
• 1x Overwhelming Forces
• 1x Pernicious Deed
• 1x Sickening Dreams
• 1x Spell Burst
• 1x Treachery
• 1x Wrath of the Skies

Draw/untap (5)

• 1x Esper Sojourners
• 1x Frantic Search
• 1x Pore Over the Pages
• 1x Time Spiral
• 1x Vizier of Tumbling Sands

Draw Only Draw But Draw (3)

• 1x Enter the Infinite
• 1x Inspired Tinkering
• 1x Necropotence

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Maybeboard

Utility/ramp/etc (15)

• 1x Aether Gale
• 1x Boseiju, Who Shelters All
• 1x Bound / Determined
• 1x Bring to Light
• 1x Bringer of the Black Dawn
• 1x Buried in the Garden
• 1x Faeburrow Elder
• 1x Heroic Intervention
• 1x Leyline of Anticipation
• 1x Pit of Offerings
• 1x Ready / Willing
• 1x Saryth, the Viper's Fang
• 1x Snapping Voidcraw
• 1x Titania's Command
• 1x Voyaging Satyr

Dumps (5)

• 1x Deepfire Elemental
• 1x Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief
• 1x Gorilla Shaman
• 1x Slaughter
• 1x Soul Conduit

Niche (3)

• 1x Crop Rotation
• 1x Mirage Mirror
• 1x Thrilling Encore

Bombs (4)

• 1x Diabolic Revelation
• 1x Flotsam / Jetsam
• 1x Tetzimoc, Primal Death
• 1x Tsabo's Decree

To add (2)

• 1x Sowing Mycospawn
• 1x Talon Gates of Madara

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suuuuuup

this is my prison deck centered around the historically novel Naked Singularity and less novel but still difficult to utilize Ritual of Subdual. i love these enchantments because they are highly unique in what they do; rather than increasing costs or preventing things from untapping, they cause mana to become something else. this results in players having the same amount of mana as before, but as wizards attempting to cast spells, the mana simply cannot be used. like filling a car with water instead of gasoline, you can turn the key but the engine won't start. Blood Moon is a card you are likely familiar with that works in a similar fashion, but it doesn't work on basic lands. Naked Singularity and Ritual of Subdual do. this can, with a bit of simple setup, consistently lock the rest of the table out of casting spells, and that's the primary goal of the deck.

these prison pieces are more at home under Omnath, Locus of All than any other commander i've ever tried (and ever will probably). the corrupted incarnation of Omnath turns these expensive, usually unplayable cards into actual game-warping threats through land-type shenanigans and mana banking. they can consistently disrupt each opponent's mana generation for extensive periods of time and win the game before their cumulative costs get too high. it's kinda like running multiple Contaminations that also mess up mono-black players.

This is a budget-friendly list, costing somewhere under $300 when going for stuff like specific printings and more heavily played cards. The primary goal is to get out Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, turning everything into swamps, then either warping everyone's mana production with Naked Singularity (which now affects nonbasics, thanks to Urborg), or bank absurd amounts of black with the expected Cabal Coffers. Coffers works in tandem with Naked Singularity and Ritual of Subdual since they only change what type of mana is produced, not the quantity, and Omnath's mana conversion ability + a few mana dorks ensure that the deck is still able to cast it's own spells uninterrupted.

Quick Gameplan Overview (and how to counter it)

I've been told by folks that this deck doesn't make sense, or that they don't understand what the key piece to hit with removal is. This panel is for you, guy who would rather kill Chromatic Orrery than Seedborn Muse!

1. The deck needs a lot of mana to snowball and win. It generates mana through permanents like Bloom Tender and Cabal Coffers, and can untap them multiple times for even more mana with Vizier of Tumbling Sands, Frantic Search, Seedborn Muse, etc. These cards are the backbones of the deck.
2. Seedborn Muse and Awakening effectively quadruple all mana generated. Leaving them untouched is good for you, bad for the table
3. Getting Cabal Coffers and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth out together is the easiest way for things get out of control, and Hour of Promise, Titania's Command and Tempt with Discovery make this happen
4. Seriously, hitting Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth or Blanket of Night causes a lot of problems! It damages Naked Singularity, Cabal Coffers, Crypt Ghast and all of the untap effects the deck has by proxy
5. The other way the deck amasses mana is Bloom Tender, Chromatic Orrery and permanents like Selesnya Sanctuary that are enchanted with Wild Growth. Anytyhing that taps for a lot that can be untapped with Vizier of Tumbling Sands / Esper Sojourners should be paid attention to
6. Sticking Omnath, Locus of All to bank mana is important and they should be protected with counter magic or Earnest Fellowship
7. Planar Bridge is a 1-card "win" since you can tutor Seedborn Muse > Ritual of Subdual and snowball out of control. 14 mana can be considered the critical amount to watch for
8. Cyclonic Rift > Ritual of Subdual is the easiest wincon, followed by Debt to the Deathless or card:Cut//Rubbons
9. It takes time to get there though, so cards like Pernicious Deed, Overwhelming Forces, Iridian Maelstrom, Fracturing Gust, Aether Gale, even Infernal Darkness or Mishra's Helix help keep things under control
10. Interaction is listed as such in the deck list, but other cards like Archdruid's Charm and Esper Sojourners can be used as interaction as well
11. Lifegain is packaged in with other cards; Fracturing Gust, Crypt Ghast, Debt to the Deathless, Titania's Command. Don't die like a dummy, ok?

TL;DR: Closin' it out

The game usually ends with a large Debt to the Deathless or Cut / Ribbons, fueled by Cabal Coffers abuse. Of course, Awakening or Seedborn Muse can also get the job done so long as omnath is in play. The second way it tends to end is by overloading Cyclonic Rift and slamming down a prison piece like Ritual of Subdual. The table will then be stuck in play-artifacts-or-die mode which usually ends things on the spot (especially if Spell Pierce is in hand).

Lastly, a less sound way to win is Mishra's Helix with Seedborn Muse, or instead of Seedborn, Awakening + a permanent untapper (e.g. Vizier of Tumbling Sands since Awakening doesn't untap artifacts).

Example Synergies

Important combinations of cards! These (hopefully if the dang ol site works properly) show up on the side of the page for the list and are good to keep in mind!

• Naked Singularity + Unstable Frontier > if Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth or Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth is currently warping lands for it, this will temporarily disable Naked Singularity!
• Planar Bridge + Seedborn Muse > tutor every turn!
• Cyclonic Rift + Ritual of Subdual > good luck recasting anything!
• Mishra's Helix + Seedborn Muse > instant speed or bust!

Potential changes for lower budgets Show

While I cannot recommend these changes, budgets are budgets. If you'd like an even cheaper variant of this list, consider the following:

• replace Vampiric Tutor with Telling Time
• replace Time Spiral with Emergency Powers
• replace Myojin of Night's Reach with Cabal Conditioning
• replace Plaza of Heroes with a basic
• replace Turntimber Symbiosis   with a basic forest
• replace City of Brass with some other fancy land you have in your collection i guess lol!! filter lands that turn green into other stuff are great.
• replace Grand Coliseum with a basic (i know the card is bad!!! it's an inside joke between me and a bud so i'm obligated to include it)

budget/deck restrictions... Show

There are some self-imposed restrictions that were followed when building this. I believe that these sort of restrictions leads to a healthier game overall with fewer total blowouts due to mulligans.

• No expensive, difficult to acquire mana-positive rocks e.g. Mana Crypt // Chrome Mox. Dockside Extortionist and Jeska's Will aren't rocks but fall under this category as well, while Dark Ritual and other rituals without nonsense taped onto them are fine
• No game-warping goodstuff like Rhystic Study, Smothering Tithe, free commander spells
• As little off-theme goodstuff as possible! The strongest card that can be considered that that I'm running right now is Cyclonic Rift, which is considerably on-theme as a finisher with Ritual of Subdual. Hushbringer affects a total of two included creatures... Ya get the idea

Why no Reality Twist? Show

So Reality Twist is a pet card of mine that seems like it'd be right at home in this deck! It's not. It's near impossible to play in any deck, no matter how built-around it is, simply because it's a "5c" card identity-wise in commander. Why is Naked Singularity so much better then, despite costing more and doing the same thing? Simple reason - the intense presence of {U} in the card's costs, both casting and cumulative. Even with a perfect manabase triple blue is rough in 5c. Cards like Necropotence work perfectly fine because of Omnath's conversion ability, but having to pay an increasing amount of {U} each turn for an effect that doesn't hit islands in the first place is essentially impossible. It's also just kinda bad in comparison to the other three similar cards in the list which are weirdly consistent when you get around to them... and have manageable upkeep costs. So yeah, bummed I can't play it but I'll still love the art of the card forever. Maybe Omnath will suddenly become 5c-but-blue in the future and Reality Twist will finally have it's home.

NAQ (never asked questions) Show

1. what's up with the deck's name IDIOT my mom doesn't like swaers? // "gerund or present participle: bastardizing. change (something) in such a way as to lower its quality or value, typically by adding new elements." omnath is a manabomination who got really messed up by the phyrexian influence and mana. the deck is centered around warping mana production but also being able to play uninhibited through it. so chromatic (5c) bastardization (tarnishing) of mana (omnath)
2. are you stupid? // ye
3. are you bald? // not yet
4. when will you be bald eta? // whenever i want to be
5. is omnath bald? // hell yeah brother give'm the ol' slap up there on the noggin
6. omnath gay? // are all 5c commanders gay? i don't think omnath has a concept of attraction in there anywhere but then again if they are an amalgamation of mana all you really gotta do is make the mana gay, man. nothin' wrong with that
7. why are you writing this segment literally no one asked, you've acknowledged that yourself // i have a headache and everything else is too high effort
8. what kind of hat would omnath wear? // some kind of roman circlet. i'd like to imagine they have a good taste in aesthetics
9. socks? // boy would need some HUGE socks. don't think there's any factories (yet) that make em that size. call urza about it? #investmentopportunity #watchthedip #freshstartup
10. does omnath work out? // 5c omnath has fallen out of the self-care loop since their original mono-green appearance. they now invest in stocks and try to shake up the market through underhanded tactics
11. does omnath regret what they've done? do they feel guilt? // no?
12. i played this deck at a table with a bunch of wagies and they told me to heck off and die filthy stax player what do i do? // this is a prison deck and they are obviously too silly to know anything but regurgitated rhetoric (sheepscud) so ignore them? also depict them as the most rancid wojak you have
13. what wojak is omnath // gem
14. should i take any of this seriously // no
15. what is Draw Only Draw But Draw? // a reference to something that means a lot to me!! texhnolyze is a great anime yeah

Top Ranked	Achieved #2 position overall 1 year ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Budget 1 year ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Combo 1 year ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Jank 1 year ago
Date added	1 year
Last updated	3 days
Key combos	Planar Bridge + Seedborn Muse Mishra's Helix + Seedborn Muse Cyclonic Rift + Ritual of Subdual Naked Singularity + Unstable Frontier
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	7 - 0 Mythic Rares 63 - 0 Rares 17 - 0 Uncommons 12 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.55
Tokens	Energy Reserve, Fanatic of Rhonas 4/4 B, Treasure, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders	Ideas, Crazy decks that work, Decks i like, Compare, copy, Deck Names That Make Me Chortle, Fun Decks I'm Jealous Of, Interesting Decks to Try, Other People's deck