Tag: Control

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The Great EDH Challenge: Esper – Sen Triplets: Masters of Your Mind

Decklist: https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/21-01-22-masters-of-your-mind/

Power Level: 6.56

Esper is my favorite color combination. The lore of the shard, the art direction they took with it…it all really wowed me. What especially wowed me was the etherium-laced humans that inhabited Esper. Whatever the opposite of “body horror” is, that’s what I felt when I saw them. I was captivated by the idea of such filigree beings. Cards like Master Transmuter and Filigree Sages enthralled me with their unique beauty. But the card that I fell in love with the most was Sen Triplets. I love everything about their card, down to the flavor text. After all, They are the masters of your mind.

This is a theft deck, themed after the Sen Triplets’ signature ability. We take pretty much every card type from our opponents, whether they be lands, sorceries, or whatever. I tried to keep a cliché Esper control theme going as well, so we have plenty of interaction. In the early game, we want to ramp using our talismans and other assorted rocks so we can play our mana-heavy theft effects early. Cards like Praetor’s Grasp and Mnemonic Betrayal are efficient theft cards, and are normally used to steal things like Sol Ring and other value pieces from our opponents. But the haymakers in the deck are costly, such as Blatant Thievery and Expropriate. These cards can usually win you the game, or put you so far ahead that your opponents scoop. Agent of Treachery is probably the best creature in the deck, since it is usually drawing us three cards each end step by the time it is played.

Never play Sen Triplets unless you can protect them. They are a kill-on-sight commander if you are playing with competent opponents, so you will need cards like Lightning Greaves and Fierce Guardianship to make sure they stick around for your next upkeep. Once they stick, the Sen Triplets warp the game around them. Our opponents will crap out their hands just to avoid having their cards stolen by us. Just be mindful that the Sen Triplets is an older card, so it doesn’t have that ubiquitous text of modern-day theft effects; “You may spend mana as though it were any color to cast that spell”. You will need the colors of mana of the card you want to cast from your opponent’s hand, so prioritize choosing opponents who are in your color first.

This is a pretty mean deck, and most people will not want to play against it if they are aware of what the Sen Triplets do. That doesn’t change the fact that this is a fun deck to play, though. Maybe it is the sadist in me, but I take such delight in playing theft effects. If you do as well, then this is definitely the deck for you. You can win with your opponents’ threats, which is always interesting!

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The Great EDH Challenge: Azorius – Time & Space ~ Teferi x Venser

Decklist: https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/time-space-teferi-x-venser

Power Level: 6.5

So err…I ship Teferi and Venser. Yes, yes, I know…it is a remnant of my LiveJournal days. 😀

This deck is a love letter to my favorite Planeswalkers, Teferi and Venser. This is a theme deck that revolves around these 2 characters, that tells a fanfiction love story, haha. I use Raff because he is what I’d imagine their son would look like. This deck has been through a lot of changes; from a combo deck, to a superfriends deck, to a control deck. I feel that UW control is where both Teferi and Venser work best, so that is the final archetype I have decided on.

This is a control deck that seeks to use card draw, removal, and a few planeswalkers to help us survive into the late game. In the late game, we usually win with Approach of the Second Sun , sometimes taking an extra turn with Nexus of Fate to allow us to dig for Approach and cast it again. The deck is modeled a bit after the Dominaria-Standard deck that also used Approach to win. Planeswalkers like Teferi, Hero of Dominaria and Karn, Scion of Urza generate value for us as we control the mid-game, while Venser, the Sojourner flickers powerful permanents like Coveted Jewel and Elspeth Conquers Death for even more value.

Counterbalance is a pet card that usually just puts a bit of pressure on our opponents. We can tutor for it with Muddle the Mixture , and it works very well with Sensei’s Divining Top and Scroll Rack . I have had opponents scoop from me randomly revealing and successfully countering a game-winning play they were going to make. it is a card I like more in Legacy, but it has its uses here. Venser’s Journal is also a pet card in the deck. It serves the purpose of unifying the theme of the deck with my seedy origins as a LiveJournaler…hehe!

There is one combo in the deck, involving all lands. It fits the theme of Time and Space, as it allows for infinite turns (time) using lands (space).

Nesting Grounds + Karn’s Bastion + Magosi, the Waterveil = Infinite Turns

This combo is a bit convoluted, and Magosi is the only piece that doesn’t synergize with anything else in my deck. It starts by putting an eon counter on Magosi, requiring us to skip our next turn. We then move that eon counter onto another land with Nesting Grounds, and then use Karn’s Bastion to proliferate that counter. Now that we have 2 eon counters, we can use Nesting Grounds to move an eon counter back onto Magosi on our next turn. On each subsequent turn, we then activate Magosi to take an extra turn by removing that counter, returning Magosi to our hand, playing it as our land for turn, then proliferating the eon counter we still have on another land. During the extra turn, we move one of the eon counters on Magosi again, allowing us to repeat the previous steps to take infinite turns. Probably best to do this combo when we have a good planeswalker out, like Teferi, Hero of Dominaria , hehe.

This is a typical UW control deck, that is sure to prolong any game it is a part of. I can desperately cling to life for several turns, and oftentimes end up grabbing victory from the jaws of imminent defeat. However, this is a very grindy deck, and requires a great deal of “try-harding” to not just win, but to survive. If that playstyle appeals to you, then give this deck a try! You can just dismiss the cringey slash undertones that the deck has!

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The Great EDH Challenge: Blue – Memnarch Control Combo

Memnarch
Memnarch

Decklist: https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/memnarched/?cb=1607710253

Power Level: 11.75

This is my pride and joy, the deck that best represents my passion for Magic the Gathering. Memnarch was the first foil legendary creature I drew, and remains my favorite character in the lore.

What’s easier than having an awesome mana sink that’s always available to you? Just make infinite mana and take all their stuff. Control, Card Draw, and Tutoring helps you get there, since you have to get your combo pieces and survive along the way. Counterspells are notoriously difficult to play in a game consisting of 3+ people, especially in a format as threat-rich as EDH. It is vitally important for me to keep my counterspells to either protect my own combo, or prevent other people from making a game-winning play. The sheer density of tutors that this deck possesses allows it to assemble combos with ease. The density of fast mana accelerates my gameplan, letting me do a lot of things early in the game.

This deck is a significant threat at all stages of the game, and most people who sit down with me realize how toxic Memnarch can be once they realize that he can permanently gain control of any permanent. I usually only cast Memnarch under two circumstances; when I have infinite mana, or when I need to put pressure on the board while I work on getting my combo together. Memnarch is a “Kill-on-sight” commander, and it is normal for people to hold up removal just to kill him when I play him. This deck is very rough to play when I’m not in the mood to get focused down, but it can be very rewarding when I unleash an easy two-card combo to make infinite mana and win the game. It is also fun when I set up a toxic board-state that allows me to steal multiple permanents each turn, such as having Unwinding Clock and Memnarch out with plenty of rocks. My opponents will usually scoop when they hear “On your upkeep, I’ll take two of your lands” multiple times. Fewer things bring me as much joy as taking my opponents’ lands!

This deck has quite a few number of game-winning combos. Here are the most relevant:

Chromatic Orrery + Filigree Sages = Infinite Mana and Unlimited Draw

Grand Architect + Pili-Pala = Infinite Mana

Grim Monolith/Basalt Monolith + Power Artifact + Walking Ballista = Infinite Colorless Mana and Infinite Damage

Etherium Sculptor + Sensei’s Divining Top + Mystic Forge = Unlimited Draw

Isochron Scepter + Dramatic Reversal + Gilded Lotus/Rocks that Produce 3+ Mana = Infinite Mana

I seldom play this deck, mainly because my friends refer to this as a toxic deck. Many of my friends refused to get what they call “Memnarched”, as no one likes having their permanents (especially their lands) stolen. I do tend to win relatively easy against low-interaction, slow decks, which are the majority of commander decks out there it seems. It may seem powerful, but having minimal access to boardwipes and permanent removal makes this deck very vulnerable to aggro and go-wide strategies. Also, mono-green really has fun crapping all over this deck, as a well-timed Bane of Progress usually destroys my entire board. Despite all of that, I love playing this deck, even if it is a constant struggle just to stay alive during a game! 😀