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The Zerg - cEDH

Commander / EDH Aggro Combo Competitive Infinite Combo Primer Sliver

Sangurise

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Land (35)

Sorcery (7)

Creature (28)

Enchantment (6)

Commander (1)

Commander: foil Sliver Overlord

Instant (15)

Artifact (8)

"They come at you in a tide of creatures so thick a blind man could score a hit ten times out of ten. Any man who can wield a bow can hit a Sliver. But no matter how many you take with your arrows, there will always be more, and it is our job to teach the men how to fight the ones that reach our lines."

Slivers. The dreaded tribe according to everyone in r/EDH. Hive mind type creatures have always been interesting to me. I've always gravitated towards Hive Mind type creatures in the many different games I play (Tyranids, Mind Flayers, etc.) With all of the Slivers abilities, it was a prime target to be my next c/EDH deck. I've personally had tons of fun playing this, and I hope you do too!

Slivers are creatures that share a hive mind, which allows them to share their abilities with other nearby slivers. Cards with the creature type Sliver have an ability or characteristic that they share with other slivers. Early slivers share with all slivers in play, while later slivers only affect the player's own side of the board.

History The creature type was introduced in Tempest. It was originally designed by Mike Elliott for the unpublished expansion Astral Ways. Slivers were inspired by the card Plague Rats from Alpha.

The original Slivers were depicted with an armored vertebrate body, a long, bifurcated whip-like tail, one arm with a single talon for a hand, and a singular head with an armored crest. Variations on this appearance existed in accordance with the abilities each has to offer to the hive. An evolved form has humanoid features

Rath Volrath is said to have genetically modified the slivers, but to what extent is also unknown. He attempted to create artificial slivers, but these were a poor approximation of the real thing and had no innate abilities to share with the hive. These Metallic Slivers were used to spy on the sliver hive.

Volrath used the hive to guard the Legacy and to attack Weatherlight and her crew on their quest to retake those artifacts and their captain, Sisay. Thanks to Hanna, who realized how the slivers' hive mind worked, the crew defeated them in the Furnace of Rath and Karn was able to convince the Sliver Queen to release the Legacy to him, arguing that the artifacts were as much a part of him as the slivers were a part of her.

Dominaria

During the Rathi Overlay the slivers were transported to Urborg. Most of them were killed when they materialized in the heart of a volcano, and all the others were killed in the subsequent battles of the Invasion.

Riptide Project

One hundred years later, wizards involved in the Riptide Project on Otaria discovered sliver fossils on their journeys and planned to bring them back to life in order to study them. The Riptide wizards did not know the importance of the Sliver Queen, however, and didn't recreate her. Without her, the slivers went rampant and overran the island housing the project.

At the same time the Mirari was causing havoc all over Otaria. The magical waves it produced accelerated the slivers' growth, but it also lured them to the mainland since they confused its call with that of their deceased queen. Most of the slivers were therefore present at the battle at Sanctum and were killed in the magical explosion that created Karona. A small group of slivers survived, however, and fused into the ultimate manifestation of the hive mind, the Sliver Overlord.

After the apocalypse

Slivers that survived the apocalypse caused by Karona's destruction and a few breeds that were "timeshifted" into the present by the violent upheavals of the time stream were among the few creatures that were able to flourish on the dying plane of Dominaria. As other species fought for survival in a world almost completely drained of mana, the slivers continued to multiply and mutate into new forms. Some of these new breeds mimicked traits of other life forms in the multiverse; the vampiric sliver fed upon the life essence of its prey and was strengthened in return, much like the dreaded Sengir clan and their ilk. The gemhide sliver adopted an ability similar to that of the fabled Birds of Paradise, creating mana of any color whenever it wished. Basal slivers possessed the innate drive to sacrifice themselves to provide for their nestmates, similar to the way the master breeders of the Ebon Hand used Basal Thrulls for their dark rituals. Another new strain present during this time was the shadow sliver, trapped between two worlds when the nest within the bowels of Volrath's Stronghold was overlaid on Urborg. Presumably, this breed was a terror to the Rathi Tribes who were also caught in the overlay in their home, the City of Traitors. Without the leadership of their Queen, these sliver swarms raged across the plane, largely unstoppable when gathered in great enough numbers. The destruction caused by the slivers was not necessarily malevolent, the hive-minded creatures only sought a new queen, new leadership to guide their numbers.

For a time, the planeswalkers Freyalise and Lord Windgrace maintained some control over the slivers in their respective realms. Once the Weaver King discovered the simplicity of their hivemind, he quickly took control of them for his own purposes and used them to wage war on their former masters. Since his destruction, the slivers are presumably once again without leadership, though it's indicated that the slivers' hivemind is slowly becoming sentient and self-aware, negating the further need for a Queen.

The Hivestone, a strange artifact discovered within the ruins of the Stronghold, was later found to have been used by the various evincars of Rath's past to control the seething sliver hive and its Queen. Upon its rediscovery, however, the device became a curse to its wielder, bending its possessor's will to the will of the swarm.

Slivers are implied to survive well into the future of Dominaria, taking on even more new and bizarre abilities.

Shandalar

On the shores of the eastern Sea of Shandalar, an evolved race of slivers inhabits the "Skep", a great nest or hive. These slivers have gleaming, gemlike eyes and "hair" more like the squirming tentacles of a jellyfish or polyp. Many still have a bestial appearance, but a few can generously be considered humanoid. All are covered with chitinous plates that glisten and slide about like oiled pieces of machinery. The creatures use a chittered speech.

The slivers on Shandalar are divided between the human-sized "less brood", with tails and singular claws, and "primes", which are bipedal and humanoid, resembling the sapient races of Shandalar. One sliver, the hivelord, rules over all slivers of the hive. The hivelord is around 20 times the size of a human.

Alara Slivers may also have appeared on Alara. The First Sliver, First Sliver's Chosen, and Dregscape Sliver have Cascade, Exalted and Unearth respectively, which are keywords from the Alara block. The Dregscape is also a location on Alara. These facts, however, do not outright prove that Slivers did appear but offer the possibility that they might have.

Mirrodin The Tempered Sliver seems to be located at Mirrodin/New Phyrexia.

Sliver Overlord

Amoeboid Changeling + Sliver Overlord = Steal any target creature. Make sure you don't have Crystalline Sliver out when you do this. If you do, it won't work because of shroud.

Mana Echoes + Morophon, the Boundless + Sliver Overlord = Bring out every Sliver in your deck. Better with Training Grounds. Due to Morophon lowering all Slivers' Mana cost by . You will need more than 3 mana, but I assume you should have that available when Morophon and Overlord are in play. First, tutor The First Sliver to gain cascade with all of your slivers you cast after. This will be entirely free, and get you three mana. Then, tutor out Crystalline Sliver for the protection, this way your opponents can't stop your combo. Repeat this process until all of your Slivers are out!

Sliver Queen Basal Sliver + Lavabelly Sliver + Sliver Queen = Infinite Damage, Lifegain, and ETB triggers. Swap Basal for Ashnod's Altar for same results. Add Intruder Alarm for infinite

Mana Echoes + Sliver Queen = Infinite 1/1 Slivers and mana. Use cards like Lavabelly Sliver to end the game with this combo, give your slivers haste (And Flying) with Cloudshredder Sliver to make them more compatible with cards like Necrotic Sliver

PROS

  • Lots of useful creatures help you really impact the board

  • Powerful protection to make sure you don't get your combos stopped

  • A 2-for-1 deck, Play with your many infinite combos, or go with aggro

  • If you like lots of cheap creatures, this is a deck for you

  • Card advantage is easy to win over, with many spells to help you draw cards and tutor others

CONS

  • Prepare to become the de'facto Archenemy. Opponents will most likely prioritize you before each other

  • A very expensive deck for those of you who buy paper

  • If you run out of reanimation, you better hope you used your cards the best way you could have been used

  • Again, not many people like Slivers so prepare to be made fun of

A special thanks goes to DeadManJohn1 for his marvelous The Sliver Overlord Rocks!!! deck. I took heavy inspiration from him, and this deck wouldn't be possible without his absolutely wonderful deck. If you enjoyed this deck, go check out his and give it an upvote.

Another thanks goes out to the for being of much help and giving me the inspiration to build this deck! This deck actually used to be the Commander's Quarters deck, with the help from multimedia.

Finally, I'd like to thank for helping me gather some of the final cards needed for this deck. With that, please go send these helpers a special message!

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Casual

98% Competitive