Volo's Guidebook

Commander / EDH* Cascade Clone GU (Simic) Ramp Shapeshifter Tokens

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Creature (37)

• 1x Acidic Slime
• 1x Altered Ego
• 1x Amphin Mutineer
• 1x Apex Altisaur
• 1x Apex Devastator
• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Consecrated SphinxGC
• 1x Craterhoof Behemoth
• 1x Dryad of the Ilysian Grove
• 1x Fblthp, the Lost
• 1x Gilded Drake
• 1x God-Eternal Rhonas
• 1x Hornet Queen
• 1x Hullbreaker Horror
• 1x Ilysian Caryatid
• 1x It That Betrays
• 1x Kalonian Hydra
• 1x Kiora's Follower
• 1x Loyal Drake
• 1x Man-o'-War
• 1x Mirrorhall Mimic  ^Flip
• 1x Mulldrifter
• 1x Nyxbloom Ancient
• 1x Ohran Frostfang
• 1x Ornithopter of Paradise
• 1x Overgrown Battlement
• 1x Pathbreaker Ibex
• 1x Phantasmal Image
• 1x Phyrexian Metamorph
• 1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Sweet-Gum Recluse
• 1x Temur Sabertooth
• 1x Terastodon
• 1x Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath
• 1x Wood Elves
• 1x Worldspine Wurm

Land (38)

• 1x Alchemist's Refuge
• 1x Ancient TombGC
• 1x Bala Ged Recovery  ^Flip
• 1x Barkchannel Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Breeding Pool
• 1x Castle Garenbrig
• 1x Castle Vantress
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dreamroot Cascade
• 1x Fabled Passage
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 5x Forest
• 1x Gaea's CradleGC
• 1x High Market
• 1x Hinterland Harbor
• 2x Island
• 1x Littjara Mirrorlake
• 1x Misty Rainforest
• 1x Mosswort Bridge
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Prismatic Vista
• 1x Rejuvenating Springs
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Scalding Tarn
• 1x Sea Gate Restoration  ^Flip
• 1x Simic Growth Chamber
• 1x Tropical Island
• 1x Turntimber Symbiosis  ^Flip
• 1x Verdant Catacombs
• 1x Waterlogged Grove
• 1x Windswept Heath
• 1x Wooded Foothills
• 1x Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth

Commander (1)

Spell (24)

• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Birthing Pod
• 1x Brainstorm
• 1x Cultivate
• 1x Cyclonic RiftGC
• 1x Decisive Denial
• 1x Fierce GuardianshipGC
• 1x Jace, the Mind Sculptor
• 1x Jeweled Lotus
• 1x Kodama's Reach
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Memory Jar
• 1x Nature's Lore
• 1x Oko, Thief of Crowns
• 1x Return of the Wildspeaker
• 1x Rhystic StudyGC
• 1x Rishkar's Expertise
• 1x Rite of Replication
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Sylvan Library
• 1x Tempt with Discovery
• 1x Three Visits
• 1x Vivien, Champion of the Wilds

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Maybeboard

Other (52)

• 1x Ancient Stone Idol
• 1x Bane of Bala Ged
• 1x Beanstalk Giant
• 1x Beast Whisperer
• 1x Bloom Tender
• 1x Burnished Hart
• 1x Chasm Skulker
• 1x Circle of Dreams Druid
• 1x Clever Impersonator
• 1x Cloud of Faeries
• 1x Collector Ouphe
• 1x Duplicant
• 1x Glasspool Mimic  ^Flip
• 1x Hulking Metamorph
• 1x Ice-Fang Coatl
• 1x Icefall Regent
• 1x Imoti, Celebrant of Bounty
• 1x Kogla, the Titan Ape
• 1x Lotus Cobra
• 1x Managorger Hydra
• 1x Maraleaf Pixie
• 1x Myr Battlesphere
• 1x Palinchron
• 1x Peregrine Drake
• 1x Perplexing Chimera
• 1x Pilgrim's Eye
• 1x Platinum Angel
• 1x Priest of Titania
• 1x Prime Speaker Vannifar
• 1x Progenitor Mimic
• 1x Ramunap Excavator
• 1x Rashmi, Eternities Crafter
• 1x Reef Worm
• 1x Sakashima's Protege
• 1x Scute Swarm
• 1x Seedborn MuseGC
• 1x Selesnya Eulogist
• 1x Spark Double
• 1x Steel Hellkite
• 1x Stunt Double
• 1x Sylvan Caryatid
• 1x Tendershoot Dryad
• 1x Thieving Skydiver
• 1x Thragtusk
• 1x Toski, Bearer of Secrets
• 1x Ulvenwald Captive  ^Flip
• 1x Vizier of the Menagerie
• 1x Voyaging Satyr
• 1x Wall of Blossoms
• 1x Weaver of Currents
• 1x Wurmcoil Engine
• 1x Yavimaya Granger

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Volo, Guide to Monsters deck built on maximizing Volo triggers. There are only four duplicated creature types: Drake, Elemental, Hydra, and Snake; however, Drake and Snake won't conflict in practice much, if at all. I also don't care much if Apex Devastator & Kalonian Hydra or Nyxbloom Ancient & Mulldrifter conflict. If any of those cases happen, I'm already doing great.

I also tried to enable a Birthing Pod subtheme, and extend the ramp curve as far out as I could. You can pod all the way from 1 to 12 theoretically.

This ended up being a tough challenge, especially only choosing one elf to play. Not to mention all the Human & Wizard cards Volo excludes on his own. You can see from the Maybeboard what else I was considering before narrowing it down to this list. I also included a lot of clones, as their creature type is only checked when cast, and their creature type should usually be free, due to how clones work.

Synergies

Nyxbloom Ancient + Volo, Guide to Monsters Makes you mana sources tap for 9x their normal amount.

God-Eternal Rhonas + Volo, Guide to Monsters Quadruples the power of all your creatures. If you choose to keep the copy, you'll also get to cast him again in a few turns, as he'll go into your library.

Kalonian Hydra + Volo, Guide to Monsters Attacks as two 16/16 tramplers the next turn.

Apex Devastator + Volo, Guide to Monsters Even though your copy won't cascade, the creatures you cascade into will all double up and this usually ends up being pretty insane.

Date added	4 years
Last updated	2 years
Key combos	Nyxbloom Ancient + Volo, Guide to Monsters God-Eternal Rhonas + Volo, Guide to Monsters Kalonian Hydra + Volo, Guide to Monsters Apex Devastator + Volo, Guide to Monsters
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	26 - 0 Mythic Rares 45 - 0 Rares 12 - 0 Uncommons 9 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	4.09
Tokens	Beast 3/3 G, Copy Clone, Elephant 3-3 G, Elk 3/3 G, Food, Insect 1/1 G w/ Flying, Deathtouch, Salamander Warrior 4/3 U, Wurm 5/5 G w/ Trample