So, one small change for today as I traded a Karmic Justice and I wanted to include it in the deck to use as protection against land and mass enchantment removal, which this deck is very vulnerable with. This card should make opponents think twice before using Bane of Progress or Austere Command against this deck, or using Beast Within on an enchanted land or the Serra's Sanctum.
The Shielding Plax was removed because I found it situational and not super useful, and I often found myself preferring to cast other stuff when I had the choice.
Each time I remove and add new cards to the deck list posted in the original post, I'll list them here as well as in a new post in the thread. If the changes aren't explained here, they probably will be in the post.
I've been meaning to play an enchantment deck for a while and after looking at some commanders such as Tuvasa the Sunlit, Sigarda, Host of Herons and Geist of Saint Traft, none of them had me really interested until I looked at Thrasios and Bruse and saw how cool they would be at the helm of such a deck. I spent a few weeks brewing this deck and putting it together, then I tested it and had very good results, which made me want to share it here to see what you guys think and gather some feedback on it!
Why play this deck?
You might like this deck if...
You like enchantments. This is the main reason one would try this deck out: it's 100% an enchantment deck and plays as such.
You want a deck with multiple paths to victory. Voltron, combo, value, tokens, stax: this deck can do it all. You get to choose which way you're going to try to win depending on your draws and the commander you play first, whether it's Thrasios or Bruse.
You want to look like you're having more fun than everyone else. This deck runs a lot of enchantress effects and lots of ways to generate mana which, combined with Thrasios's ability, means your hand will almost never be empty. If the multiple value engines of this deck aren't enough, we also run many stax pieces such as Stranglehold and Aura of Silence to slow our opponents down. This combination of factors mean that this deck is very strong at playing both sides of the V-A-L-U-E game!
This deck might not be for you if...
You hate being the archenemy. This deck can be very effective and very fast, meaning I often find myself in a 1v3 situation where I must be dealt with quickly or else I win.
You want a deck that's more effective at single strategy instead of seemingly going in every direction at the same time. If you want a voltron deck, Sigarda, Host of Herons or Geist of Saint Traft might be better due to how hard they are to remove. If you want a combo deck, Estrid, the Masked is probably a better pick because of her abilies combined with The Chain Veil. For a deck with black enchantments and more mass removal, Daxos the Returned is also a good pick.
You dislike having very specific weaknesses. Cards such as Bane of Progress and Cyclonic Rift are very, very strong against an enchantment deck: they can basically shut our entire strategy off if time correctly. We are also very vulnerable to targetet land removal since most of our ramp consists of enchant land auras, making it easy for our opponents to 2-for-1 and destroy our mana base.
Why Bruse and Thrasios at the helm of an enchantment deck?
I chose to give them a try because they each have strengths that supplement each other perfectly. Thrasios is the brains, using all the mana we can quickly generate and cards such as Training Grounds and Seedborn Muse to draw us a ton of cards and/or ramp. Bruse is the muscle, being a double strike and lifelink giver in the command zone, meaning we can often deal tons of damage in a single blow with a huge Knight of the Reliquary or if we have a creature enchanted with Eldrazi Conscription, Ancestral Mask or Corrupted Conscience, while also gaining a lot of life in the process to survive until the next blow. That commander pairing also adds red to the classic Bant shell for enchantress decks, which allows us to run cards such as Curse of Opulence, Jeskai Ascendancy, Stranglehold and War's Toll.
Eidolon of Blossoms, Argothian Enchantress, and Satyr Enchanter: Draw engines for any enchantment deck. They are all tutorable and if you can get one out early, it can usually generate enough value for us to jump to the midgame very easily.
Thassa, God of the Sea: Very hard to remove enchantment with two abilities that are useful for us, especially the unblockable to win with a huge Bruse punch.
Jeskai Ascendancy: Incredible card filter engine and, most importantly, combo engine with mana dorks, Knight of the Reliquary, and Natural Emergence. That card is in the deck only because of the ascendancy, and turning all of our lands into creatures often means we can cast our whole deck with Thrasios out.
Training Grounds: Much like Seedborn Muse, this is another card that's only here to help our boy Thrasios dig through our deck faster.
Grasp of Fate: Good removal, and can also be a political card, which is really cool.
Blind Obedience: Stax and life gain in one card. This is really annoying to play against and can shut many artifact-based combos out because of the 1-turn delay.
Chained to the Rocks: Very good and very cheap, this enchantment-based removal isn't often seen in enchantment decks because they lack red. But we don't!
Ethereal Armor, Ancestral Mask, and Eldrazi Conscription: Those are our voltron auras. Getting one attached to a creature and giving it a Bruse double strike trigger is often enough to take a player out of the game, especially if the target is a commander. It's not mandatory though, as a 20 damage swing from an conscriptioned Birds of Paradise is an amazing way to tell your friends how you feel about them.
Ghostly Prison and Sphere of Safety: Since we don't run a lot of mass removal, we must have a good way to make sure we're hard to attack. Those two cards fill that role vert well, one for the early game and the other for the late game when we have 8+ enchantments on the field.
Retreat to Coralhelm: Incredible with Knight of the Reliquary, where you can get all your lands into your graveyard, resulting in a huge knight and a bunch of tapped creatures for your opponents because of fetchlands. This interaction will be explained more in a further section. It's also quite good on its own since you can untap your dorks with every land drop or scry if you need to find a specific card.
Bear Umbra: Incredible protection aura and mana-generating engine. I always love to play this card and it's very good in this deck.
Natural Emergence: In there only for the Jeskai Ascendancy combo. With the bounce clause, at worst it's a 4 mana re-usable draw engine with an enchantress effect on the field. I might end up replacing it with Kamahl, Fist of Krosa for the land animating effect. It also has a trample ability on his own and is an easily tutorable creature, but it's harder to set up the combo because it costs more mana.
Stranglehold and War's Toll: Those two red stax pieces weren't well known in my playgroup before I started playing this deck, and now everyone hates them. They are both very solid cards thet can shut down entire strategies on their own, making them very good tutor targets against specific decks.
Corrupted Conscience: I just love this card so much. Stealing a creature is a very good effect, but you can also simply use it on a 5/5 to eliminate an opponent on the spot and out of nowhere with a Bruse double strike trigger.
Enchanted Evening: This makes us an incredible amount of mana with Serra's Sanctum out and draws us even more cards with Eidolon of Blossoms, especially with fetches. There are some combos out there to win on the spot with this card, such as Aura Thief or Cleansing Meditation. I purposefully avoided those combos while building this deck, but I might end up giving them a try later.
Fires of Yavimaya: Both effects are useful here. The haste means we can activate Knight of the Reliquary the turn it enters the battlefield, or swing with a huge Bruse right away. The +2/+2 also becomes 4 additionnal damage with the double strike trigger.
Shielding Plax: More protection for our poor commanders who don't have hexproof.
Aura of Silence: More artifact hate. It's also good against competing enchantment decks!
Chaos Warp: Probably my favorite removal spell because it hits anything and I love random effects like this. Since our deck is mostly permanents, we can also use it on our own stuff for some exciting surprises.
Swan Song, Arcane Denial, and Muddle the Mixture: My biggest nightmare while playing an enchantment deck is Cyclonic Rift, so all those cheap and useful counterspells can prevent this card from bothering us if need be. Since our commanders don't have hexproof, we also need some protection from instant removal if we go for a voltron strategy.
Crop Rotation: An extra copy of Serra's Sanctum. If we already have it on the field, a mana fixer or an unblockable giver with Rogue's Passage. It also has the very narrow use of giving Knight of the Reliquary up to +2/+2 with a fetch land if we need a little stat boost.
Blasphemous Act: Our only mass removal spell. I like it because of how cheap it is. Bear Umbra can also save one of our creatures from it.
Replenish: Incredible recursion effect that can sometimes end games on the spot.
I won't discuss every land choice because the land base is still being worked on. I don't own all the fetches and duals, and I have multiple other decks, so it might seem sub-optimal, but it doesn't really matter as my playgroup isn't hardcore competitive or anything. Also, most of our ramp also fixes our colors, so we mostly just need green mana and 1 or 2 sources of fixing to get started. I will still discuss some land choices:
Serra's Sanctum: Incredible mana generator. I have to find ways to get in into play as soon as possible. The extra mana can always be converted to extra cards with Thrasios!
Rogue's Passage: It isn't that expensive considering all the mana we can generate in this deck, and we are always looking for extra unblockable effects to take our opponents out with huge Bruse-powered swings!
This section is a work in progress. I'll update it as I play with and work on the deck more. It should include some subsections such as:
Starting hand and mulligan
Early, mid, and late game strategies
Additional tips
Synergies & Combos
The Beefy Knight of Coralhelm?
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Those two cards can put all Fetchlands, Forests, and Plains from your library into your graveyard, adding one mana per non-fetchland put into your graveyard this way and getting an additionnal Retreat to Coralhelm trigger for each fetchland put into your graveyard this way. You don't have to get all your lands this way and can end the chain whenever you want. I generally end with Rogue's Passage to kill a player, or Serra's Sanctum for extra mana if I need it. Here is how it works:
1. Have Knight of the Reliquary, which can be activated, on the battlefield with Retreat to Coralhelm and at least one Forest or Plains.
2. Tap the Knight to sacrifice a Forest or Plains. Search your library for any land (another Forest or Plains for as long as you want the chain to keep going).
3. The new land entering the battlefield wil cause Retreat to Coralhelm to trigger, untapping the Knight of the Reliquaty.
4. Keep going for as long as you want. Don't forget to tap the land you searched for previously to float one mana before sacrificing it again to start over.
5. [BONUS] If you grab a fetchland, you will get an additional Retreat to Coralhelm trigger, because you then sacrifice it to grab another land that will keep the chain going. I usually use those extra triggers to tap my opponents' creatures for a free swing with the Knight.
6. End the chain with either Serra's Sanctum or Rogue's Passage, depending on what your next step is. You will usually have enough floating mana to cast Bruse and put his trigger on the Knight at this point, which will be huge due to all the lands that are now in your graveyard. One swing with double strike can generally take a player out.
Natural Ascension!
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Jeskai Ascendancy is so useful in this deck, it should have a section of its own. I will list some more interactions it has below, but lets start with the Natural Emergence combo. Here is how it works:
1. Have both enchantments in play. This means that Jeskai Ascendancy's first trigger now untaps all your lands because they are 2/2 creatures as well.
2. Tap all of your lands to float mana.
3. Cast a noncreature spell, the cheapest if possible, which shouldn't be hard considering how many 1 cost enchantments we use in this deck.
4. Jeskai Ascendancy will trigger, giving all your lands +1/+1 and untaping them.
5. Repeat steps 2 - 4 for as long as you can cast noncreature spells, using the Ascendancy's second filter trigger to keep casting noncreature spells. You generally only need a few noncreature spells to reach absurd amounts of mana, which you can in turn spend in Thrasios' ability to draw more cards and keep going. At one point, this will be an infinite engine that draws your whole deck and makes your lands into huge creatures that can then become unblockable with Thassa, God of the Sea.
The last two are particylarily interesting because of all of our Enchant land auras that make a land tap for more than one mana. Dryad Arbor is a creature that can itself be enchanted because it's also a land, and Arbor Elf can repeatedly untap a Forest that's enchanted to generate the mana we need. By chaining enough cheap noncreature spells, we can have very explosive turns that end up with beefy creatures and possibly a huge attack let by a 10/10 Dryad Arbor to which Bruse granted double strike.
Nice changes! I made very similar changes myself recently and I'm glad to see we seem to think alike regarding which direction to take the deck into. The only difference is that I chose to cut Tuktuk Scrapper instead of Goblin Trashmaster. They both cost 4, but the Trashmaster pumps your other goblins which is relevant and it can destroy more than one artifact if you have other goblins. I don't think that's worth the extra 1 damage of Tuktuk with him being the only ally in the deck. Also, you can flip the trashmaster and still benefit from the artifact removal ability even if there is no artifact to remove right when you flip it!
I checked your Whisper combo and I don't think it works, you'd need at least another creature. Unless I'm wrong, you can't reanimate one of the two creatures you sac as part of the cost of Whisper's ability because you have to choose a target that's in your graveyard before you actually pay the ability's cost, which means the two creatures you sacrifice are on the battlefield when you activate the ability and you can't return one of them.
Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir: This card certainly interacts very well with our multiple game changing cards such as Possibility Storm and Knowledge Pool. However, people in my playgroup already get annoyed when I play those cards because it slows their gameplans down, and I don't think I want to ruin their fun even more by adding a complete lock to this deck.
I plan on adding a "voluntarily omitted cards" section to the main post soon and I'll definitely include Teferi in there for this reason.
Haste: I agree that it's very important. In my list I have three haste enablers that are all one-off single targeted instants or sorceries: Crimson Wisps, Expedite and Catch. The first two replace themselves and the last one is super versatile and it has won me some games because of that. They are mostly there to give haste to Shu Yun and kill someone unexpectedly. However, in my last game I won by playing Faerie Conclave as my land for turn, turning it into a creature, then giving it haste with Crimson Wisps while I had Jeskai Ascendancy on the battlefield. It allowed me to storm off for a looooong time with 1 cost cantrips that kept untapping the land-creature due to the Ascendancy trigger and Guttersnipe finished everyone off. This wouldn't have been possible that turn without one small haste-giving spell!
Sentinel Tower: This is in my deck for the same reason as Guttersnipe, which is alternative win cons. Sure, Shu Yun can kill people, but I still want to be able to win if he's not on the field or I can't cast him and give him haste. I also considered Aetherflux Reservoir, but the more I think about it, the more I dislike the idea of one-shotting someone by paying 50 life. It feels too quick for my tastes. With Sentinel Tower, you can also kill creatures while casting 2-3 instants or sorceries in your turn, which is a nice bonus. To kill a player with the tower, you have to get an incredibly high storm count and I feel like it's more rewarding than the "simple" requirement of paying 50 life.
Bonus Round: Wow I completely missed this card when I looked at the Battlebond cards. I'll add it to my "to be considered" list and might en up testing it soon, thanks!
Explanation
I swapped some basics for new lands I traded for. The Commander's Sphere swap for Chrome Mox greatly improves this deck, as I often don't care losing a card to gain free mana and storm count. Shelter replaces Emerge Unscathed because I'd rather have a card that replaces itself than one that rebounds.
Lastly, I removed Titan's Strength because I don't need power increasing combat tricks anymore in this build and I was always disappointed when I drew it. Jeskai Charm took its place but I'm not convinced that I like the card, so it might only be temporary.
A changelog section has also been added to the main post, starting with the big 2.0 Storm revamp of the list.
I have now played quite a few games with the deck and I have to say that it's quicly becoming my favorite EDH deck. It's incredibly fun to play and all games so different from one another. I'll write up some game reports and add them to the main post some time in the near future!
Graven Cairns, Sulfurous Springs & Chrome Mox: More color versatility. I removed a land to add Chrome Mox because we're still at 36 lands, which is okay for this deck. I'm even considering maybe dropping to 35, but I'm not sure.
Drownyard Temple & Dakmor Salvage: Those two lands are really good in this deck because their recursion abilities mean that you don't mind flipping them in the yard with Grenzo. Drownyard Temple ramps you if it happens, and Dakmor Salvage adds cards to the yard with Delve, which is sometomes relevant in this deck. I didn't want one more land that entered tapped though, so I cut Bojuka Bog to add the Salvage.
Zhalfirin Void: Another colorless source, but the scry ability and the fact that it enters untapped make it worth adding to the deck.
Avalanche Riders replaced Goblin Baboons for land destruction. The echo ability is almost a bonus for this deck because we like when our creatures go to the graveyard.
Junk Diver replaced Myr Retriever. The increased cost is worth the versatility in my opinion.
Corpse Connoisseur has been taken out because I didn't like flipping him. I never knew what to tutor for and if I couldn't use the card immediately, it would get exiled from my graveyard anyway because there are lots of grave hate effects in my meta. I replaced it with Deathbringer Thoctar.
I hadn't considered Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper but with a lot of storm triggers or Jeskai Ascendancy it's just really sweet, I think I'll make room in my deck for that card. I might also make room for the Zephyr Scribe + Retraction Helix combo because I'd like to try that out. As Foretold is also a good idea because it gives you one more (free!) spell per turn.
Here are my thoughts about some of your card choices:
Center Soul: Shelter has worked better for me than the rebound protection spells. Rebound doesn't work well with Eye of the Storm either. If you still want to keep a rebound protection spell, I'd recommend Emerge Unscathed since it's the same effect for 1 less mana.
Twitch is a very cool idea because it cantrips and this is what this kind of deck wants. Have you considered trying Turnabout? It doesn't cantrip but it's super versatile and can untap your lands for more storm shenanigans. And it's complelely insane when you manage to put it into Eye of the Storm.
What do you use Twisted Image for? I'd recommend cutting that and adding Shadow Rift or Slip Through Space since they not only cantrip like Twisted Image but also allows you to one shot an opponent with an unblockable gigantic double strike creature.
Surreal Memoir: Spellweaver Volute has done amazing work for me and it's not a very well known card so you might want to try it out since it fills the same role as Surreal Memoir, which is recurring instants.
Jeskai Banner: Maybe this is a flavor thing, and if so I understand, but Commander's Sphere sacrifices itself for free, saving you three valuable colored mana!
Also, regarding your changes and additions, I strongly recommend Gilded Lotus. It has done some amazing work in my build! And I agree that Mission Briefing does wonderful things for this deck and is well worth testing. So does Mizzix's Mastery in my opinion.
Thanks again for sharing the list, it gave me some good ideas for possible changes and things to test out!
I've already made some changes to the list which I'll post to this thread soon.
Also try View from Above. Not only does it add evasion, it's a cheap way to trigger prowess and with, say, Mentor you can just keep casting it.
I considered View from Above for my current list, my only problem is that I only have two white permanents right now, so I wouldn't get the spell back very often. I'd much rather play Leap or any other evasion spell. I might also add Cloak of Feathers to the deck since it's another 1 mana cantrip that gives evasion.
My current Shu Yun deck also has Chaos Wand. I haven't tested it yet, but predicting what players have and trying to cast their stuff for fun and profit seems like a good way to gain cardadvantage over time, while adding some unpredictability to the deck.
This is also a card I considered, but in the end i decided to go with Talent of the Telepath when it comes to playing with my opponent's toys. I like that it's only 4 mana to get immediate value, often even two spells. The Wand's repetitive ability is nice, but there is far too much artifact removal in my playgroup for me to be even sure to get one activation out of it.
One thing I always advice Shu Yun players is Dismiss into Dream. Not that Shu Yuns' trigger goes on the stack, targeting something, which triggers dismiss. You don't have to pay for Shu Yuns' ability to... dismiss things to the graveyard just by treatening to give them double strike. It basically turns every non-creature spell into removal.
I just added that card to my "to be tested" list, thanks! It also turns all my small cards like Shadow Rift and Crimson Wisps into removal, which is very cool. Thanks for the suggestion!
- Furystoke Giant - Another card that I wasn't sure about initially, but has pulled massive weight for me. This deck naturally builds up a hefty board state with the amount of creatures, and giving 10+ creatures on the field the ability to tap for 2 damage can often mean a selective board wipe or an instant kill to a player. And since everything is typically done on the end of the opponent's turn, you can sac the Giant to do it all over again on your next untap step. I would highly recommend slotting him back in as he's highly effective, even with a small board state.
And the fact that he can be sacced twice to Ashnod's Altar is just an added bonus.
- Deathbringer Thoctar/Goblin Sharpshooter - With the amount of saccing I do with this list, these both have been absolutely insane, and I can't tell you how many times these two cards have won me the game. Deathbringer Thoctar especially has been one of my favorite powerhouses and my playgroup's most feared drops. Any creature that dies gives you a stored free ping to anything!!!! "Oh you played Avenger of Zendikar? Remove a counter, kill a plant, gain a counter, remove a counter, kill a plant, etc."
Token decks are crippled, and swinging in at a player with a 30/30+ Thoctar, killing that player, and then removing 27 counters to kill another player has happened more times than I can count.
This kinda makes me want to try those two cards out I'll see if I can make room to give them a chance!
I think Bog Witch is a really good idea. I've recently bought one and added it to my list for playtesting. Same with Isolated Watchtower. I can see it working in this deck, though it's kind of mana hungry so we'll see... I'll let you know how it goes when I get to test those changes!
Also, about Forge of Heroes, to me it just looks like mana you could spend on X anyway to make him enter with a counter right? Of course there is the very narrow case of if you protect him with Tel-Jilad Stylus or champion him with Lightning Crafter, but I'm not sure if it makes it worth it to add yet another colorless source of mana to the deck.
Speaking of lands, Drownyard Temple and Dakmor Salvage have been two incredible recent additions to the deck for me. Their respective abilities reduce the feelbad of flipping them with Grenzo. Drownyard Temple turns into some slow ramp if you need it, and Dakmor Salvage fills your graveyard with more stuff if you want to make sure to draw a land. I have also rencently replaced my Goblin Matron with an Imperial Recruiter and my Manakin with a Soldevi Adnate for some very, very good results!
Hey, I'm back almost a year later and I've made some pretty huge changes to the deck as well as to the main post. The list has been completely reviewed to what I now consider the 2.0 version of the deck, new and improved! There are too many changes to be all consigned into one single changelog, but the changes I'll make from now on will be added to an up to date changelog in the main post.
I've also added a complete card by card discussion as well as a list of cards I'm considering for the deck.
I'd like to thank tstorm823 for his awesome Zedruu list that inspired me to build this new list for one of my favorite commanders!
This is an excellent primer and it's been a real pleasure to read it all. I'm also very flattered that your inspiration comes from my own list, it's always nice to see new ideas for the same commander and I think that's what makes this format so exciting.
Here are some thoughts and questions I have regarding your list:
How has Junktroller been working out for you? For me it's always been a disappointing-non-haste-one-use-per-turn-only Epitaph Golem and I was never really happy to flip him. I'd much rather play Whisper, Blood Liturgist as a (still non-haste) recursion engine because it doesn't require a Grenzo activation to bring the creature back. It also has built in sacrifice, which isn't even a downside in this deck most of the time.
About Tel-Jilad Stylus and Reito Lantern: Are the added ETB effects really worth the risk and mana investement of flipping them in the graveyard? I used them in early versions of my build but was always disappointed of playing them, whether it was from my hand or through recursion because even then I felt that I could have used my recursion effects on better artifacts such as Meteor Golem or Duplicant.
Have you ever been able to make an explosive play with Furystoke Giant? I cut it out of my list because I wanted to test some other cards but I never actually got to flip him and now I'm thinking about brigning him back. What are your thoughts on the card?
Goblin Sharpshooter and Deathbringer Thoctar: I've always hesitated about running both because they basically have the same effect. In the end, I chose the Sharoshooter because of the reduced cost and because it was a Goblin. Why did you choose to include both in your list?
Again, thank you for the amazing primer. It was a very interesting read!
A big change I'm planning of making shortly is removing Goblin Matron in favor of Imperial Recruiter. I've been wanting to trade for one of these ever since M25 got spoiled and I really want to get one very soon in case it spikes uncontrollably in the future.
Here are some other short term updates I plan on making:
Manakin -> Soldevi Adnate : I didn't even know that card existed until yesterday but it would definitely be awesome in this deck.
Myr Retriever -> Junk Diver : I think the latter is better because of the added utility of flying. The extra mana in the cost is almost irrelevant in my opinion since both cost "one grenzo activation" anyway most of the times.
Find room for Workhorse. I've been very impressed with the Priests since I added them to the deck, they're basically a free creature that can be used as sac fodder and that also give an extra mana.
Other cards I'm considering from the new set so far:
- Seasoned Pyromancer for card filtering (or even card draw if your hand is empty) that can also produce tokens if we need them.
- Cabal Therapist if you know the meta and know which cards to get rid of, this card could help a lot against some decks.
Really excited for this set so far!!1 Shielding Plax
1 Karmic Justice
The Shielding Plax was removed because I found it situational and not super useful, and I often found myself preferring to cast other stuff when I had the choice.
Each time I remove and add new cards to the deck list posted in the original post, I'll list them here as well as in a new post in the thread. If the changes aren't explained here, they probably will be in the post.
1 Shielding Plax
1 Karmic Justice
I've been meaning to play an enchantment deck for a while and after looking at some commanders such as Tuvasa the Sunlit, Sigarda, Host of Herons and Geist of Saint Traft, none of them had me really interested until I looked at Thrasios and Bruse and saw how cool they would be at the helm of such a deck. I spent a few weeks brewing this deck and putting it together, then I tested it and had very good results, which made me want to share it here to see what you guys think and gather some feedback on it!
You might like this deck if...
- You like enchantments. This is the main reason one would try this deck out: it's 100% an enchantment deck and plays as such.
- You want a deck with multiple paths to victory. Voltron, combo, value, tokens, stax: this deck can do it all. You get to choose which way you're going to try to win depending on your draws and the commander you play first, whether it's Thrasios or Bruse.
- You want to look like you're having more fun than everyone else. This deck runs a lot of enchantress effects and lots of ways to generate mana which, combined with Thrasios's ability, means your hand will almost never be empty. If the multiple value engines of this deck aren't enough, we also run many stax pieces such as Stranglehold and Aura of Silence to slow our opponents down. This combination of factors mean that this deck is very strong at playing both sides of the V-A-L-U-E game!
This deck might not be for you if...- You hate being the archenemy. This deck can be very effective and very fast, meaning I often find myself in a 1v3 situation where I must be dealt with quickly or else I win.
- You want a deck that's more effective at single strategy instead of seemingly going in every direction at the same time. If you want a voltron deck, Sigarda, Host of Herons or Geist of Saint Traft might be better due to how hard they are to remove. If you want a combo deck, Estrid, the Masked is probably a better pick because of her abilies combined with The Chain Veil. For a deck with black enchantments and more mass removal, Daxos the Returned is also a good pick.
- You dislike having very specific weaknesses. Cards such as Bane of Progress and Cyclonic Rift are very, very strong against an enchantment deck: they can basically shut our entire strategy off if time correctly. We are also very vulnerable to targetet land removal since most of our ramp consists of enchant land auras, making it easy for our opponents to 2-for-1 and destroy our mana base.
Why Bruse and Thrasios at the helm of an enchantment deck?I chose to give them a try because they each have strengths that supplement each other perfectly. Thrasios is the brains, using all the mana we can quickly generate and cards such as Training Grounds and Seedborn Muse to draw us a ton of cards and/or ramp. Bruse is the muscle, being a double strike and lifelink giver in the command zone, meaning we can often deal tons of damage in a single blow with a huge Knight of the Reliquary or if we have a creature enchanted with Eldrazi Conscription, Ancestral Mask or Corrupted Conscience, while also gaining a lot of life in the process to survive until the next blow. That commander pairing also adds red to the classic Bant shell for enchantress decks, which allows us to run cards such as Curse of Opulence, Jeskai Ascendancy, Stranglehold and War's Toll.
1 Bruse Tarl, Boorish Herder
1 Thrasios, Triton Hero
Artifacts (1)
1 Sol Ring
Creatures (12)
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Eternal Witness
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Arbor Elf
1 Eidolon of Blossoms
1 Argothian Enchantress
1 Satyr Enchanter
1 Sun Titan
1 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Seedborn Muse
1 Thassa, God of the Sea
1 Clever Impersonator
Enchantments (37)
1 Exploration
1 Burgeoning
1 Jeskai Ascendancy
1 Utopia Sprawl
1 Wild Growth
1 Overgrowth
1 Fertile Ground
1 Training Grounds
1 Grasp of Fate
1 Blind Obedience
1 Chained to the Rocks
1 Curse of Opulence
1 Ethereal Armor
1 Mystic Remora
1 Rest in Peace
1 Sterling Grove
1 Stony Silence
1 Ancestral Mask
1 Enchantress's Presence
1 Ghostly Prison
1 Retreat to Coralhelm
1 Bear Umbra
1 Natural Emergence
1 Stranglehold
1 War's Toll
1 Corrupted Conscience
1 Enchanted Evening
1 Sigil of the Empty Throne
1 Sphere of Safety
1 Leyline of Anticipation
1 Rancor
1 Fires of Yavimaya
1 Karmic Justice
1 Eldrazi Conscription
1 Smothering Tithe
1 Dawn's Reflection
1 Aura of Silence
1 Chaos Warp
1 Chord of Calling
1 Eladamri's Call
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Swan Song
1 Arcane Denial
1 Muddle the Mixture
1 Crop Rotation
Sorceries (5)
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Wargate
1 Idyllic Tutor
1 Blasphemous Act
1 Replenish
Lands (35)
1 Command Tower
1 Serra's Sanctum
1 Canopy Vista
1 Polluted Delta
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Yavimaya Coast
1 Wooded Bastion
1 Bountiful Promenade
5 Forest
1 Botanical Sanctum
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Stomping Ground
2 Island
1 Breeding Pool
1 Windswept Heath
2 Plains
1 Flooded Strand
1 Temple Garden
1 Steam Vents
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Tropical Island
1 Brushland
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Exotic Orchard
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Mountain
1 Rogue's Passage
1 Mana Confluence
In no particular order:
Those two cards can put all Fetchlands, Forests, and Plains from your library into your graveyard, adding one mana per non-fetchland put into your graveyard this way and getting an additionnal Retreat to Coralhelm trigger for each fetchland put into your graveyard this way. You don't have to get all your lands this way and can end the chain whenever you want. I generally end with Rogue's Passage to kill a player, or Serra's Sanctum for extra mana if I need it. Here is how it works:
2. Tap the Knight to sacrifice a Forest or Plains. Search your library for any land (another Forest or Plains for as long as you want the chain to keep going).
3. The new land entering the battlefield wil cause Retreat to Coralhelm to trigger, untapping the Knight of the Reliquaty.
4. Keep going for as long as you want. Don't forget to tap the land you searched for previously to float one mana before sacrificing it again to start over.
5. [BONUS] If you grab a fetchland, you will get an additional Retreat to Coralhelm trigger, because you then sacrifice it to grab another land that will keep the chain going. I usually use those extra triggers to tap my opponents' creatures for a free swing with the Knight.
6. End the chain with either Serra's Sanctum or Rogue's Passage, depending on what your next step is. You will usually have enough floating mana to cast Bruse and put his trigger on the Knight at this point, which will be huge due to all the lands that are now in your graveyard. One swing with double strike can generally take a player out.
Jeskai Ascendancy is so useful in this deck, it should have a section of its own. I will list some more interactions it has below, but lets start with the Natural Emergence combo. Here is how it works:
2. Tap all of your lands to float mana.
3. Cast a noncreature spell, the cheapest if possible, which shouldn't be hard considering how many 1 cost enchantments we use in this deck.
4. Jeskai Ascendancy will trigger, giving all your lands +1/+1 and untaping them.
5. Repeat steps 2 - 4 for as long as you can cast noncreature spells, using the Ascendancy's second filter trigger to keep casting noncreature spells. You generally only need a few noncreature spells to reach absurd amounts of mana, which you can in turn spend in Thrasios' ability to draw more cards and keep going. At one point, this will be an infinite engine that draws your whole deck and makes your lands into huge creatures that can then become unblockable with Thassa, God of the Sea.
While Natural Emergence is only in this deck to enable this combo, Jeskai Ascendancy is also very useful when combined to creatures that tap for mana such as Birds of Paradise, Knight of the Reliquary, Arbor Elf and Dryad Arbor.
The last two are particylarily interesting because of all of our Enchant land auras that make a land tap for more than one mana. Dryad Arbor is a creature that can itself be enchanted because it's also a land, and Arbor Elf can repeatedly untap a Forest that's enchanted to generate the mana we need. By chaining enough cheap noncreature spells, we can have very explosive turns that end up with beefy creatures and possibly a huge attack let by a 10/10 Dryad Arbor to which Bruse granted double strike.
I checked your Whisper combo and I don't think it works, you'd need at least another creature. Unless I'm wrong, you can't reanimate one of the two creatures you sac as part of the cost of Whisper's ability because you have to choose a target that's in your graveyard before you actually pay the ability's cost, which means the two creatures you sacrifice are on the battlefield when you activate the ability and you can't return one of them.
Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir: This card certainly interacts very well with our multiple game changing cards such as Possibility Storm and Knowledge Pool. However, people in my playgroup already get annoyed when I play those cards because it slows their gameplans down, and I don't think I want to ruin their fun even more by adding a complete lock to this deck.
I plan on adding a "voluntarily omitted cards" section to the main post soon and I'll definitely include Teferi in there for this reason.
Haste: I agree that it's very important. In my list I have three haste enablers that are all one-off single targeted instants or sorceries: Crimson Wisps, Expedite and Catch. The first two replace themselves and the last one is super versatile and it has won me some games because of that. They are mostly there to give haste to Shu Yun and kill someone unexpectedly. However, in my last game I won by playing Faerie Conclave as my land for turn, turning it into a creature, then giving it haste with Crimson Wisps while I had Jeskai Ascendancy on the battlefield. It allowed me to storm off for a looooong time with 1 cost cantrips that kept untapping the land-creature due to the Ascendancy trigger and Guttersnipe finished everyone off. This wouldn't have been possible that turn without one small haste-giving spell!
Sentinel Tower: This is in my deck for the same reason as Guttersnipe, which is alternative win cons. Sure, Shu Yun can kill people, but I still want to be able to win if he's not on the field or I can't cast him and give him haste. I also considered Aetherflux Reservoir, but the more I think about it, the more I dislike the idea of one-shotting someone by paying 50 life. It feels too quick for my tastes. With Sentinel Tower, you can also kill creatures while casting 2-3 instants or sorceries in your turn, which is a nice bonus. To kill a player with the tower, you have to get an incredibly high storm count and I feel like it's more rewarding than the "simple" requirement of paying 50 life.
Bonus Round: Wow I completely missed this card when I looked at the Battlebond cards. I'll add it to my "to be considered" list and might en up testing it soon, thanks!
2 Mountain
1 Island
1 Emerge Unscathed
1 Titan's Strength
1 Commander's Sphere
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Mystic Gate
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Faerie Conclave
1 Shelter
1 Jeskai Charm
1 Chrome Mox
1 Merchant Scroll
I swapped some basics for new lands I traded for. The Commander's Sphere swap for Chrome Mox greatly improves this deck, as I often don't care losing a card to gain free mana and storm count.
Shelter replaces Emerge Unscathed because I'd rather have a card that replaces itself than one that rebounds.
Lastly, I removed Titan's Strength because I don't need power increasing combat tricks anymore in this build and I was always disappointed when I drew it. Jeskai Charm took its place but I'm not convinced that I like the card, so it might only be temporary.
A changelog section has also been added to the main post, starting with the big 2.0 Storm revamp of the list.
I have now played quite a few games with the deck and I have to say that it's quicly becoming my favorite EDH deck. It's incredibly fun to play and all games so different from one another. I'll write up some game reports and add them to the main post some time in the near future!
3 Mountain
2 Swamp
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Goblin Matron
1 Revenous Baboons
1 Myr Retriever
1 Simiam Spirit Guide
1 Manakin
1 Corpse Connoisseur
1 Zhalfirin Void
1 Sulfurous Springs
1 Drownyard Temple
1 Graven Cairns
1 Dakmor Salvage
1 Imperial Recruiter
1 Avalanche Riders
1 Junk Diver
1 Soldevi Adnate
1 Workhorse
1 Chrome Mox
1 Deathbringer Thoctar
- Graven Cairns, Sulfurous Springs & Chrome Mox: More color versatility. I removed a land to add Chrome Mox because we're still at 36 lands, which is okay for this deck. I'm even considering maybe dropping to 35, but I'm not sure.
- Drownyard Temple & Dakmor Salvage: Those two lands are really good in this deck because their recursion abilities mean that you don't mind flipping them in the yard with Grenzo. Drownyard Temple ramps you if it happens, and Dakmor Salvage adds cards to the yard with Delve, which is sometomes relevant in this deck. I didn't want one more land that entered tapped though, so I cut Bojuka Bog to add the Salvage.
- Zhalfirin Void: Another colorless source, but the scry ability and the fact that it enters untapped make it worth adding to the deck.
Creature changesI hadn't considered Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper but with a lot of storm triggers or Jeskai Ascendancy it's just really sweet, I think I'll make room in my deck for that card. I might also make room for the Zephyr Scribe + Retraction Helix combo because I'd like to try that out. As Foretold is also a good idea because it gives you one more (free!) spell per turn.
Here are my thoughts about some of your card choices:
- Center Soul: Shelter has worked better for me than the rebound protection spells. Rebound doesn't work well with Eye of the Storm either. If you still want to keep a rebound protection spell, I'd recommend Emerge Unscathed since it's the same effect for 1 less mana.
- Twitch is a very cool idea because it cantrips and this is what this kind of deck wants. Have you considered trying Turnabout? It doesn't cantrip but it's super versatile and can untap your lands for more storm shenanigans. And it's complelely insane when you manage to put it into Eye of the Storm.
- What do you use Twisted Image for? I'd recommend cutting that and adding Shadow Rift or Slip Through Space since they not only cantrip like Twisted Image but also allows you to one shot an opponent with an unblockable gigantic double strike creature.
- Surreal Memoir: Spellweaver Volute has done amazing work for me and it's not a very well known card so you might want to try it out since it fills the same role as Surreal Memoir, which is recurring instants.
- Jeskai Banner: Maybe this is a flavor thing, and if so I understand, but Commander's Sphere sacrifices itself for free, saving you three valuable colored mana!
Also, regarding your changes and additions, I strongly recommend Gilded Lotus. It has done some amazing work in my build! And I agree that Mission Briefing does wonderful things for this deck and is well worth testing. So does Mizzix's Mastery in my opinion.Thanks again for sharing the list, it gave me some good ideas for possible changes and things to test out!
I've already made some changes to the list which I'll post to this thread soon.
This is also a card I considered, but in the end i decided to go with Talent of the Telepath when it comes to playing with my opponent's toys. I like that it's only 4 mana to get immediate value, often even two spells. The Wand's repetitive ability is nice, but there is far too much artifact removal in my playgroup for me to be even sure to get one activation out of it.
This is really interesting and I might give this a try. It's also infinite tokens with Monastery Mentor.
Would you mind sharing your list? You have some good ideas I could definitely be inspired by!
I think Bog Witch is a really good idea. I've recently bought one and added it to my list for playtesting. Same with Isolated Watchtower. I can see it working in this deck, though it's kind of mana hungry so we'll see... I'll let you know how it goes when I get to test those changes!
Also, about Forge of Heroes, to me it just looks like mana you could spend on X anyway to make him enter with a counter right? Of course there is the very narrow case of if you protect him with Tel-Jilad Stylus or champion him with Lightning Crafter, but I'm not sure if it makes it worth it to add yet another colorless source of mana to the deck.
Speaking of lands, Drownyard Temple and Dakmor Salvage have been two incredible recent additions to the deck for me. Their respective abilities reduce the feelbad of flipping them with Grenzo. Drownyard Temple turns into some slow ramp if you need it, and Dakmor Salvage fills your graveyard with more stuff if you want to make sure to draw a land. I have also rencently replaced my Goblin Matron with an Imperial Recruiter and my Manakin with a Soldevi Adnate for some very, very good results!
I've also added a complete card by card discussion as well as a list of cards I'm considering for the deck.
I'd like to thank tstorm823 for his awesome Zedruu list that inspired me to build this new list for one of my favorite commanders!
I just updated my list a few minutes ago and this time it was my turn to take inspiration from yours, especially for Body Snatcher, Pitiless Plunderer and Marionette Master!
Here are some thoughts and questions I have regarding your list:
- How has Junktroller been working out for you? For me it's always been a disappointing-non-haste-one-use-per-turn-only Epitaph Golem and I was never really happy to flip him. I'd much rather play Whisper, Blood Liturgist as a (still non-haste) recursion engine because it doesn't require a Grenzo activation to bring the creature back. It also has built in sacrifice, which isn't even a downside in this deck most of the time.
- About Tel-Jilad Stylus and Reito Lantern: Are the added ETB effects really worth the risk and mana investement of flipping them in the graveyard? I used them in early versions of my build but was always disappointed of playing them, whether it was from my hand or through recursion because even then I felt that I could have used my recursion effects on better artifacts such as Meteor Golem or Duplicant.
- Have you ever been able to make an explosive play with Furystoke Giant? I cut it out of my list because I wanted to test some other cards but I never actually got to flip him and now I'm thinking about brigning him back. What are your thoughts on the card?
- Goblin Sharpshooter and Deathbringer Thoctar: I've always hesitated about running both because they basically have the same effect. In the end, I chose the Sharoshooter because of the reduced cost and because it was a Goblin. Why did you choose to include both in your list?
Again, thank you for the amazing primer. It was a very interesting read!I changed the Card Analysis section, adding a link to snowfox54119's excellent Grenzo primer.
I didn't really keep tabs of which cards I removed and I'm sorry about that, but here are some notable new cards: Pitiless Plunderer, Meteor Golem, the Priests, Fleshwrither, Magus of the Moon, Body Snatcher, and Whisper, Blood Liturgist.
A big change I'm planning of making shortly is removing Goblin Matron in favor of Imperial Recruiter. I've been wanting to trade for one of these ever since M25 got spoiled and I really want to get one very soon in case it spikes uncontrollably in the future.
Here are some other short term updates I plan on making: