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Ukkima and Cazur Mixed Mid-Range Primer

Commander / EDH* BUG (Sultai) GWUB

sonofpeattr

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Value (23)

Removal (12)

Land (35)

Damage (17)

Commanders (2)

Commander: foil Cazur, Ruthless Stalker  Flip
Commander: foil Ukkima, Stalking Shadow  Flip

Ramp (13)

Hello! today I will be discussing my favorite partner pair Ukkima, Stalking Shadow   and Cazur, Ruthless Stalker, Sultai's newest value train.
Most people I have met have thought one of two things, these partners are just another Edric, Spymaster of Trest aggro deck or that it is just another Food Chain combo deck. The reason I love them so much is because they can uproot those ideas and use parts of them to build a more diverse deck. I will answer here today both the questions why should you play mixed mid-range over the other two, and Why I built the deck using these cards.

strengths

This deck is a good mix of Mid-Range and combo, frequently able to set up problematic or threatening situations by turn 4.
This deck can swap between an aggressive punisher style deck to a combo deck that wins out of nowhere on a dime.
Ukkima, Stalking Shadow   has the mixed potential of being aggressive or combo oriented which means we are rarely ever at a lack of options.
Access to good value removal in things such as Assassin's Trophy as well as protective pieces like Stonewood Invocation and Swan Song make this deck hard to deal with in a cost effective manner.

weaknessess

More focused decks such as combo could move faster and steal wins while this deck is in its early pressure turns.
A heavier focus on creatures means this deck is potentially susceptible to board wipes.

Ukkima, Stalking Shadow  

seems like a relatively unique Dimir commander that lends itself to either aggressive or combo oriented play.

Cazur, Ruthless Stalker

However doesn't add much to the table unless you are playing alot of things like Coastal Piracy & Invisible Stalker.

So you can play an on-hit theme or you can play combo.


Fully on-hit only really lends itself to slower metas and means that you are winning in relatively the same fashion with the same core cards such as Craterhoof Behemoth.
Food Chain Combo is definitely more viable than on-hit and can definitely been achieved easier through higher and higher budget builds with more and more tutors available to you.
Both on-hit and food chain have better commanders in cards such as Edric, Spymaster of Trest and Prossh, Skyraider of Kher respectively; but, Ukkima, Stalking Shadow   and Cazur, Ruthless Stalker provide a solid mix of that, where one commander provides additional support to the strategy that needs it and the other presses both strategies in an affective manner.

How I built Ukkima, Stalking Shadow   and Cazur, Ruthless Stalker is in a very mixed way that lets you play an aggressive start and keep mana open for responsive plays, keeping the pressure and value high with well costed creatures like Cold-Eyed Selkie in order to grind opponents down while keeping the threat of Ghostly Flicker + Naru Meha, Master Wizard lines present in the back of my opponents minds.
Low end supporting cards like Hardened Scales, Grafted Exoskeleton, and Naru Meha, Master Wizard all serve duel purposes such as in the case of Naru Meha, Master Wizard who can act as a dedicated wins piece when partnered with Ukkima, Stalking Shadow   and Ghostly Flicker or even just a good card due to the high number of instants and sorceries. You'd be happy having Naru sense she is half a combo, but you also won't feel bad using her with something like a Deadly Rollick to get that extra value.
Generally good cards such as Ravenous Chupacabra (which still synergizes slightly with the minor flicker subtheme) don't have to be multipurpose or multi-use. I built this deck to be mixed mid-range, which means it is still okay to run the most efficient cards possible even if they don't have high or any synergy at all like Assassin's Trophy.
Ukkima, Stalking Shadow   is the win condition you always have access to. Command damage is a viable way to win with the buff spells in the deck, Ana Sanctuary, Ezuri, Claw of Progress, Hardened Scales + Cazur, Ruthless Stalker all can get you to 21 command damage on an oppenent relatively quickly without needing heavy mana investments. Grafted Exoskeleton and Triumph of the Hordes cut the command damage down by half to 10 infect and can end games even quicker ( note: that my meta hates infect quite a bit so if I include to much the deck will not be able to face the eventual 3v1, pure damage cards can be switched out for more infect depending on ones' meta).
This deck has only one dedicated combo line in Naru Meha, Master Wizard and Ghostly Flicker or Displace. Late enough in the game affects like Deadeye Navigator can finish off opponents with a high enough mana count.
Cream of the Crop and Path of Discovery have very strong synergies with the flicker theme by presenting you with consistent card selection and card advantage respectively.
Nightmare Shepherd , Mirror Mockery allow you to reuse any of our value creatures one or more times to help alleviate the pressure of spot removal that you will inevitably face.
Master Biomancer (a personal favorite), Hero's Blade, and Grafted Exoskeleton all prove high damage on Ukkima, Stalking Shadow   in combat or combo oriented ways.
In conclusion I believe the diverse number of ways this particular deck can win as well as its high use of removal or protective pieces makes it a relatively variable deck that can withstand the test of time, as well as have room for improvement. I imagine I will be playing this deck for much time to come. General consensus has it that a EDH deck with a focused strategy is best, but I believe we now have enough tools in the high enough power range that this deck can compete with mid to high powered EDH decks anywhere from 6 to 8.

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