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Watch the Party Die [Primer]

Commander / EDH Bracket 4 Combo Infinite Combo Midrange Primer RBW (Mardu) Reanimator Sacrifice Warrior

Crow_Umbra

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Creature (33)

Sorcery (4)

Land (35)

Enchantment (6)

Commander (1)

Commander: foil Terra, Herald of Hope

Artifact (11)

Instant (10)

I don't think anyone who's consistently checked out my decks will be surprised that I'm taking a shot at brewing Terra.

Mardu is my favorite three color combo to brew with; most of the decks I currently play IRL are some slice of the Mardu wedge. My approach to this deck is like a convergence of various themes and ingredients from my other Mardu offerings. It feels familiar, but with a slightly different twist in pacing compared to the others.

Primer WIP as I continue to make edits from play-test reps. Alternate deck name considered is "This Party is Terrable". I'll likely end up Proxying this deck up before the official reveal in June.

Get your combos going and Watch the Party Die. Why this song? In Final Fantasy VI, the Returners are an insurgent group that wants to return the world to the way it was before the Gestahlian Empire conquered it. In Kendrick's "Watch the Party Die/The Day the Party Died" he expresses frustrations with the music industry and the corrupt individuals that run it; a sentiment that can be interpreted to extend to larger institutions of power beyond music, especially when taken into the larger context of his other bodies of work. To me, "Watch the Party Die" as a title is as much a cheeky nod to sacrificing Party creatures for aristocrats/reanimator value as it is the underlying sentiment for Kendrick and Terra's Returners in wanting to see the destruction of institutions of power.

I can admit that the comfort of familiarity draws me to Aggro focused commanders. Although the majority of the commanders that I tend to play live and die by what they can pull off in combat, their pacing and payoffs all differ enough that I don't feel like I'm playing the same deck. One of my biggest tendencies as I move through decks irl, is to repurpose as much as I can between deck transitions. Unlike some of my past experience with repurposing and trying out different flavors of Enchantress/Aura strats, this feels like I'm mixing favorite components of various decks; taking concepts and play styles from decks of my present and past:

Burakos, Party Leaderfoil/Folk Herofoil

  • Deck for reference.

  • I will be leaning primarily into Party creature typings, and feature Burakos as a secret commander. I figured this could work since Terra already has half of the Party typings.

  • Party creatures in Black/White tend to lean more towards various forms of control, primarily via tax/stax, draw/tutor denial, & life drain.

  • Most Party creatures in the deck have Power 3 or less, and tend to be lower on the mana curve.

Alesha, Who Smiles at Death

  • Deck for reference.
  • My first ever taste of Mardu Reanimator. Her primer details more about the various iterations I tried for the deck.
  • Given OG Alesha's pacing for bringing up a creature that enters tapped and attacking, her pacing lead more to recurring creatures with ETB effects or (devastating) combat damage triggers.
  • I initially included OG Alesha as a 3rd secret commander, but her pacing pulled in too different of a direction from what Terra does. So, she's out for now.
  • I'll be reincorporating Karmic Guide + Reveillark combo loops that I wasn't able to use in my deck for -

Alesha, Who Laughs at Fate

  • Deck for reference.

  • Alesha 2.0 will be tertiary commander and kinda like a second Terra. Although Alesha 2.0 offers some redundancy to Terra, she can also grab a few of the creatures outside of Terra's ability range. There's some similarities.

  • Since Terra's pacing is a bit more similar to Alesha 2.0's, this deck will have a greater emphasis on recurring creatures with Enter the Battlefield effects.

This is my first time writing a section like this for a primer, primarily because the concepts that existed prior were too vague and subjective to agree upon for anything outside of cEDH. I've been asked on occasion, "What's the power level of this deck?" to which I'd reply something along the lines of "The 1-10 scale is too vague, but I'm aiming for optimized or mid-high power", which was a different flavor of vague and subjective than 1-10. I may retroactively add this section to my other existing primers, and will include it in future ones.

At the time that I write this (2/23/25), Brackets are entering their second week into the world of Commander. By the standards outlined in the Beta version, most of my decks fall under Bracket 3. This is the general Bracket level that most of the decks I regularly play against tend to fall in. If there are any four cards in this deck that are not currently on the Game Changer list, but could be added by the April 2025 update, my guess would be:

  • Deflecting Swat - I was a bit surprised that D-Swat wasn't on the list. I know that a free counter spell like Fierce Guardianship is incredibly strong, but I think D-Swat isn't too far behind as a means of protection.

  • Sensei's Divining Top - One of the best ways to set up top decks in MtG. Top can quickly tuck itself away, all while drawing a card. Anyone who has played against someone with a Divining Top knows how frustrating it can be to try to interact with, or sit through a player looking at their top 3 and weighing their options.

  • Phyrexian Altar - This is an incredible card for Sacrifice focused effects, especially ones that may lean more towards combo. Although it is a powerful effect for those strategies, it is not as ubiquitous as some of the other cards already on the Game Changer list.

  • Teferi's Protection - Take a turn off from near annihilation. I would also venture to guess that this will end up on the Game Changers list come April 2025.

All that being said there is still lots of wiggle room for interpretation vs execution on what Brackets look like; on paper vs in action. Although my deck is a 3 at baseline criteria, the optimization present in card choices and their relative strength pushes this closer to a 4 as the ceiling for execution in real life. Although my intent is a floor of Bracket 3, in actuality the ceiling could perform closer to Bracket 4. For that reason, I am listing Br 4 for this deck, since I see that as the deck's highest potential, without necessarily needing to put more Game Changers or MLD in here to make it an "Actual 4" on paper.

I didn't want to feel like I was being disingenuous one way or the other by under or over-scoring this deck. I want to make sure I give potential players the most nuanced take on how I view this deck's potential based off my own playing experiences with its past components and iterations in both Aleshas and Burakos. The rating of 4 is also in anticipation that Deflecting Swat, Phyrexian Altar, and Teferi's Protection could feasibly end up on the Game Changer list.

If you'd like to double check my reasoning against some of the existing deck power level tools, check out the listing at Commander Salt, or export this deck and paste it into EDH Powerlevel. Both tools use different algorithms/formulas which you can read about on their respective sites.

Bracket Scaling

"This deck seems interesting, but the current Bracket is too high/low for my playgroup". As of 2/23/25, the deck's current game changers are: Drannith Magistrate, Opposition Agent, and Underworld Breach. In more dedicated Spellslinger Combo builds, Breach is used for a variety of combos, none of which are present in this deck, or ever will be. Breach is here mostly as a way to recur the non-creature spells that Terra and the other recursion pieces can't grab; far from optimal.

Scaling down

The deck can function without any of the 3 Game Changers, and are prime slots for more budget and play group friendly swaps. If you'd like to try out the deck, these are the first 3 slots, besides more expensive Utility lands, that I'd recommend for swaps.

Scaling up

The deck is currently running 3 Game Changers. Of the others on the list, the ones I'd recommend for inclusion would be, primarily because I own copies of each them:

  • Enlightened Tutor - This would add more consistency to the existing Karmic Guide + Reveillark combo by being able to grab Goblin Bombardment or Warleader's Call, depending on what Sac outlets are already on board.

  • Demonic Tutor - Being able to tutor any card is consistency that is hard to pass up on.

  • Jeska's Will - Strong card, but I tend not to play Jeska's will in 3 color decks, especially where Red is least represented color in mana costs.

  • Winota, Joiner of Forces - Winota is a strong commander that can helm powerful decks on any budget scale. I mostly excluded her because I was unsure how many Humans would be in the 99 during my initial brewing, and because I wanted to cut down on the game action time of revealing cards.

The honorable mentions for scaling up inclusion would be Vampiric Tutor & Imperial Seal. Vamp Tutor would be more likely, since it is more affordable than Imp Seal (assuming you don't proxy), and it is instant speed. Both could help set up top deck for Terra to mill into at the beginning of combat. Any of the 0-drop mana rocks on the Game Changer list could certainly speed up the deck's clock.

Whenever I include combos in decks, I prefer to include ones that have a couple of criteria:

  • Are not 2 card combos that "Win on the spot".
  • Tend to be non-deterministic, and need a damage outlet to kill off the table.
  • Most importantly, each piece of the combo can act independently, and is not a dead draw without the other pieces.

This combo features Karmic Guide + Reveillark to create an infinite loop of death triggers, enters the battlefield triggers, & leaving the graveyard triggers. Warren Soultrader and Yawgmoth, Thran Physician can also be used as a sac outlet, but in a much more finite capacity.

Viscera Seer or Goblin Bombardment are the ideal "free" sac outlets to sac K Guide & Reveillark to create the loop. Goblin Bombardment can shoot damage around the table for a combo kill, and Viscera Seer's Scry can help set up a top deck to draw a damage outlet like: Agate Instigator, Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim, or Warleader's Call.

This deck previously had a second combo which utilized a loop of recurring & sac-ing Leonin Relic-Warder and either Necromancy or Dance of the Dead. In a round of edits, I decided to swap out the Relic Warder for another creature. I also figured it would be helpful to keep one primary combo to keep things focused.

The current mana curve for Terra is fairly low (2.58 avg CMC as of 2/22/25), so I didn't want to put too many pieces of early game ramp. Something I've found from my personal play experiences recently, is that I've been taking out at least 2cmc rock from the "Talisman of ____" cycle, or like Fellwar Stone, from my more aggro decks in favor of another low-cmc creature or interaction piece. For a deck like Terra's, I think having various Treasure production options should help stay afloat in the mid-late game, especially so her recursion ability can be activated consistently.

Utility Lands

  • Phyrexian Tower - A means of getting a bit more mana and simultaneously getting something back into the yard for Terra to reanimate after.

Mana Rocks

Treasure Support

This is Mardu, so drawing and card advantage will be a mixed bag of: Red's suite of Looting and Impulse draw, White's symmetrical political drawing & drawing based on smaller creature stats, & Black's drawing to hand (at a cost) and graveyard shenanigans. I try to get a mix of cantrip effects and repeatable ones.

Cards that help with Graveyard setup will be highlighted in bold. Draw with creature sacrifice as an additional cost will be italicized.

Draw is one of the more malleable parts of my decks, and the section I think I spend the most time trying to dial in over time.

If this section needs more Graveyard setup, I could see Ripples of Undeath or Barrowgoyf being possible additions. More burst draw could come in the form of something like Deadly Dispute, Night's Whisper, or Sazacap's Brew.

Tutors

The deck currently runs 3 tutors, none of which are on the Game Changer list.

  • Entomb - Almost like a combat trick to set up an ideal creature for Terra to reanimate after connecting for combat damage.

  • Buried Alive - Depending on what's on board already in regards to free sac outlets, but will likely grab Karmic Guide and Reveillark, with Viscera Seer, Agate Instigator, and Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim being likely options for the third slot. Grand Abolisher can also be a viable tutor target to help protect combo set up, assuming most other pieces and available mana are in place.

  • Imperial Recruiter - An excellent option for this deck, especially given the potential for repeat uses. Recruiter of the Guard could be another supplemental option to Imperial Recruiter. She would be able to tutor up 18/34 creatures, with some overlap with the 22/34 that Imperial Recruiter can tutor.

As mentioned in the Bracket intention section, but Enlightened Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, and Demonic Tutor would be the next few cards to consider to push the deck into a Br4 if they wanted to.

With the play testing I've done so far, I'm noticing more and more that future edits might look to replace some of the non-creature spells in this category with analogous creature options that Terra and the recursion pieces can grab repeatedly. I'm not sure how feasible this will be for some of the non-creauture spell options present here, but I guess we will have to wait and see what the precon has in store come June.

Non-creature spells

  • Swords to Plowshares

  • Rakdos Charm - Although this spell can be used to remove an artifact, I think the other two modes will be selected more often than not. This card has become a bit of a running joke in my main playgroup in that it's screwed over one of our friends on multiple occasions when he's played different token go-wide decks.

  • Soul Partition - Welcome utility that can double as either a protection piece, or a versatile tempo removal that can disrupt pacing.

  • Anguished Unmaking

  • Generous Gift

  • Living Deathfoil - Kind of a board wipe, kind of a mass recursion spell. Technically the only board wipe the deck is currently running. Other board wipes considered for inclusion in addition to Living Death are: Blasphemous Act, Blasphemous Edict, and Farewell.

Creature based removal

Slower and less "gotcha-y" than the instant speed options, but have the upside of being repeatable in some way.

A reanimator deck would be incomplete without reanimation pieces to backup its commander. As someone that's played numerous decks with combat-focused commanders, I understand that keeping commanders and board states as in tact as possible can help keep the foot on the gas.

Protection

Some pieces in this section are intended more to keep the board intact, while the majority of the spells here are intended to keep Terra alive.

Recursion

Updates Add

Pre *Dragon Storm* & *FF*- 1st month of brewing — March 15, 2025
Edit

Coming up on the first month of brewing and editing with this deck. Its proxies should be arriving some time next week, and necessary pieces will get pulled from my Alesha & Burakos decks. I don't think I'll completely retire them yet, but feel like I'm benching them for now.

I missed out on the opportunity to try this deck out last weekend, as I couldn't print out the few proxies I needed in time. At this point, the deck has reached the point of not really needing more edits without actual reps. What I've brewed up so far is based on my past experiences playing the various decks that this is pulling from.

Recent edits & future considerations

  • I recently swapped out Reconnaissance to slot in Altar of Dementia. I think since Terra gets pseudo-evasion as part of her abilities, she doesn't need as much investment in combat protection. The deck in general doesn't want to go wide, and will likely focus its handful of aggro threats at whichever opposing board poses the path of least resistance. Altar of Dementia fills a nice role in combo enabling, as well value accumulation for this deck.

  • Sensei's Divining Top recently swapped in over Rising of the Day. The deck doesn't need to be that aggro, and Top helps set up top deck for Terra's milling.

  • The most obvious upgrade(s) I could make to this deck would be to add Enlightened Tutor and/or Demonic Tutor, both of which I have copies of, real and proxied. Enlightened Tutor could help shortcut finding one of the free sac outlets for the Karmic Guide + Reveillark combo. I don't think I'd swap either in anytime soon, but would lean a bit more towards Enlightened Tutor.

  • Before the FF set hits shelves, I know Dragon Storm will be chock full of new Warriors, Wizards, and Clerics to consider. If I were to deliberate on creature swaps, I'd probably look at the non-Party creatures (that aren't Imp Recruiter, Karmic Guide, & Reveillark) in the list first to adhere more to that theme. Basically like five creatures.

  • Speaking of creature swaps, I could see future edits to make an additional slot for something like Plaguecrafter or one of its edict siblings. This is inspired from a game played with my Alesha, Who Laughs at Fate deck last weekend, where I held the table hostage for a few turns by being able to reanimate Accursed Marauder multiple times over that stretch.

All in all, looking forward to Dragon Storm spoilers, and getting some irl reps in soon.

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