Illuna, Apex of Wishes is a powerful and evasive creature that lends itself to interesting deck building due to its unique mechanics. When casting this card you may find yourself developing two above-average threats (itself and another nonland permanent) for some immediate pressure, or setting yourself up for a fantastic follow-up turn. Another feature of this commander is that cards it does not cheat into play will remain forever exiled. This can be alternatively used thin your deck of irrelevant cards as the game progresses. You will find all your wishes being answered by this Apex Monster.
The secret behind being successful with Illuna comes from its mutate ability, which allows casting it for 3(R/G)UU with the intention of combining it with a creature already on the battlefield. This can give your commander an effective form of haste when being cast on a creature that has been around for a turn, and many creative combinations are possible as the resulting creature has abilities of all constituent cards. Some cards interact with mutated creatures in unintuitive ways, leading to some memorable rulings. The intricacies of mutate are explained in the [alink=D]Card Choices[/alink] section.
Keruga, the Macrosage is a sizeable creature in both stature and card advantage potential, rewarding you with cards for each nontoken permanent you are able to develop. The condition of adding it as a companion requires a significant deckbuilding constraint, but one that synergizes with the Illuna playstyle. Cutting low converted mana cost (CMC) permanents from the deck makes casting Illuna more explosive, and you will find there are serviceable alternatives to your favorite 1 and 2 CMC cards. Illuna is without a doubt the general of this deck, but Keruga plays the role of decoy general while the Doomblades are still flying.
1.1 - Who Are You?
My name is Anthony and I have been playing Magic: The Gathering since 2011. My first EDH deck was the precon led by Darretti, Scrap Savant which I have since updated into a cEDH list. Illuna became the general of my seventh of my nine current decks, and has swiftly become my favorite. As an aspiring judge, I pride myself on knowing the rules interactions of the cards I play with and I aim to bring that to the deck discussion.
I originally built Illuna as an avenue to explore the new mechanics offered by Ikoria, partly because I never had a chance to draft the format myself. As such, the decklist I present includes Keruga, the Macrosage as a companion. So far, I have been brewing the list to most effectively take advantage of the mutate triggered abilities featured within.
2.0 - Why this Pairing?
Reasons to Play Illuna
You like GUR Monsters as a deck archetype
You want to put the biggest permanents in the game into play for cheap
You are interested in thinking differently about your creature spells
You you like creating a large number of triggers with a single game action
The idea of having a beast elemental dinosaur as your general makes you smile
Reasons to Not Play Illuna
You don’t like losing a lot of cards to a single removal spell
You want to play with particular lands, instants or sorceries (because Illuna’s going to exile them)
You don’t like the tedium of resolving effects like Polymorph
You don’t like the parasitic nature of the mutate mechanic
You don’t want to learn the advanced rules surrounding the layer system
Reasons to Play Keruga
For you, drawing cards is a way of life
You want a 101st card with your deck and an 8th card in opening hand
You think bigger spells are better
You like hippos, but would like it if they were more prehistoric
Animar, Soul of Elements: Featured in the 99 of the deck, Animar is a great enabler for casting creature spells with a high ratio of generic to colored mana in their costs. This commander tends to lend itself to creature curves that can take advantage of its cost-reducing ability at all stages of the game, which is a feature of the [alink=C]list[/alink]. Incidentally, the protection and +1/+1 counters provided by Animar make it a great foundation on which to build your mutate pile. This would be fine at the helm of this deck, but lacks the card advantage and combo potential provided by Illuna.
Averna, the Chaos Bloom: Best friends with Maelstrom Wanderer, Averna is the cascade-synergy commander of the bunch. Can be played in a monsters build with cascade triggers, as there are a large number of creatures with the ability. Brings ramp to a cascade curve, best played early for most value. Not played in Illuna both their abilities are parasitic on unique mechanics.
Intet the Dreamer: This dreamy dragon similarly can serve as a value engine for a GUR Monsters strategy, but is less reliable than Illuna. A benefit over those other card advantage generals on this list is that instants can be exiled for 2U and used to their full effect, encouraging inclusion of cards like Sublime Epiphany. This general, like Animar, is quite good at enabling the legendary eldrazi. Lastly, Intet’s ability can be made to trigger multiple times with double strike or extra attack steps.
Maelstrom Wanderer: The OG Wanderer is a fantastic alternative for a GUR Monsters strategy, also bringing powerful cards from your deck to the table every time you cast it. This card also provides haste to your board, an effective enabler for many of the most powerful creatures in the game. If you like playing 6-7 drop-synergy decksl, this card is the commander for you. Maelstrom Wanderer does not make the cut in this deck because cascade does not synergize with mutate.
Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm: A resilient dragon typal commander that will be doubling each of your other dragons as they enter the battlefield. Highly abusable with flicker effects, and even capable of giving you multiples of your favorite legendary dragons. Second only to the The Ur-Dragon in terms of potential value for a dragon deck. Doesn’t work with Illuna because, surprisingly, the Ikorian monster is not a dragon.
Omnath, Locus of the Roil: This third iteration of the legendary Zendikar elemental is the preeminent elemental typal general in the colors. This creature provides scaling damage on ETB and continuous value with land drops throughout the game. Omnath can suit up a handful of elementals with +1/+1 counters for a powerful attack, and then refuel later. Play lands, play elementals, and do a lot of damage. A powerful inclusion in an elemental-themed Illuna deck.
Riku of Two Reflections: Choose this as your general if you want to play with more copies of your favorite creatures. Duplicate the most powerful creatures (and instants/sorceries) in the game, defeat your opponents with the deluge of value. Less good than Miirym if the desired creature is a dragon, but far more diverse in application. Not included with Illuna because Riku is a human, and because this deck wants to spend all its mana on more mutate spells.
Surrak Dragonclaw: The bear puncher himself, Surrak is a great enabler of a creature-based strategy. Control opponents will cry as their counterspells sit uselessly in their hands, while their faces serve as punching bags for the largest creatures in the format. Long story short, this general supports play high-impact creatures that are begging for evasion. Don’t forget Surrak has flash, which lets him do fun things during combat and during counterwars. Doesn’t make it into Illuna because he is a human, and they don’t get along.
Other Mutate Commanders:
Vadrok, Apex of Thunder: General of my cycling-themed EDH deck, play Vadrok if you like the idea of mutating in a spellslinger or otherwise noncreature card based strategy. Spells cast by the commander do not get exiled after usage, so it is possible to create loops with a bounce spell and a ritual. Alternatively, a powerful control spell can be recurred until your opponents are tired of playing.
Nethroi, Apex of Death: Featured as the only mutate creature in the 99 of my Kethis, the Hidden Hand EDH deck, play Nethroi if you want to mutate in a reanimator or aristocrats strategy. Nethroi is most powerful when reanimating creatures with a base power of 0, including those that gain power as they enter the battlefield. It is not too difficult to take over a board or win the game with a single mutate trigger.
Snapdax, Apex of the Hunt: Play this apex predator if you want to mutate in a voltron or aggro strategy. The power of Snapdax comes from the unique ability to provide double strike with a RWB commander, something generally reserved for RW commanders. Additionally, mutating this on anything with deathtouch works well with the mutate trigger and makes the creature even more difficult to trade with.
Brokkos, Apex of Forever: Similar to Snapdax, Apex of the Hunt, play Brokkos if you want to mutate in a voltron or aggro strategy. Brokkos may not do anything when it mutates, but it does enable some aggressive plays and doesn’t punish you for playing recklessly with the card. Notably, the BGU combination houses what is widely considered the strongest suite of mutate cards and mutate support.
Otrimi, the Ever-Playful: Play this playful fellow if you want to mutate in a self-mill strategy, or if you just like to cast mutate creature spells. This commander is the best mutate support commander of the six, readily enabling you to storm off with mutate creature spells in the mid-to-late game. This paired with the quality of mutate cards in BGU makes this a fantastic alternative to Illuna as general of a mutate deck.
The core concept for this deck is to develop a permanent with a powerful series of mutate triggered abilities, and in doing so either drowning your opponents in value or killing them on the spot. To accomplish this, we are including as many of the playable mutate creatures available in the GUR colors and will be making the environment of casting them as easy and beneficial as possible. Illuna is the center of this strategy, though the purpose of this post is not to discuss the optimal Illuna deck. It is to discuss the collection of cards most effective under the shared leadership of Illuna and Keruga. At the very least, I hope to be able to illuminate some of the more interesting card interactions within the EDH format.
Warning: The following paragraph is a rules summary of the the mutate ability. It should be unnecessary for understanding the rest of the discussion.
A little bit of a summary on the mutate ability: it is a static ability that allows a creature to be cast for its mutate cost targeting a nonhuman creature you own on the battlefield. The CMC of the spell is always the number in the top right of the card. If the target of the mutate spell becomes illegal before resolution, the spell resolves as just another creature. When this spell resolves with a legal target, it does so either as the top or bottom card of the mutate pile that is considered the same permanent as the one it was targeting. The creature has thus successfully mutated, and any related triggered abilities it has are put on the stack. All traits of the creature are determined by those of the topmost card, with the addition of any abilities of cards beneath it and the commander tag if the commander is part of the creature. Modifications made to the creature by mutating exist in Layer 1a, meaning they are applied before any other layer characteristic and are copyable. Any zone change or delayed trigger that would affect the permanent does so to each card it consists of.
Due to the rules of the mutate ability, the deck avoids inclusion of humans, and creatures with effects like shroud. Creatures that are immune to harmful spells and abilities (i.e. hexproof, protection, ward) are prioritized as inclusions. Subthemes other than mutate present in the deck include beast typal for Reflections of Littjara, graveyard hate for Volo, Guide to Monsters, and ferocious for Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma. A discussion of how these subthemes manifest in the deck’s specialization can be seen in the [alink=EA]Metagame: Illuna’s Strengths and Weaknesses[/alink] section.
Keep in mind as you review the CMC of cards in this list that each card can be shifted around the curve to fit your needs. Cost reducing effects will bring some expensive cards into castability earlier than you would expect. Some cards can be cycled, suspended, or cast with alternate costs that allow them to impact the game earlier or more potently.
4.1 - Companion
Master of all things big
Keruga, the Macrosage as a companion is the most contentious inclusion of cards in the deck. Sitting in the command zone as the 101st card in the list, Keruga can be considered a refueling card for any hand after developing the board. Your companion is considered unique from your commander, acting as just another card that enters the game by being placed into your hand at sorcery speed for 3. At a total of 6(G/U)(G/U) to put into your hand and cast, you want to be drawing three or more cards off its ETB. This ability can be considered redundant with card advantage provided by Illuna, but I find Keruga integral to finding the quantity of lands necessary to hit land drops into the [alink=EBC]late game[/alink]. In exchange for that value, the deck is unable to play any nonland card with a CMC of less than 3 including format staples like Cyclonic Rift and synergy pieces like Double Major.
The addition of the Keruga companion provides access to slower and more resilient lines for those periods where an EDH game stalls out. This can be beneficial in a slower game (ending after turn 9), and otherwise harmful to winrate. The companion condition will slow down your strategy by 1-2 turns, to the point where a single piece of interaction can set you behind everyone else at the table. I would encourage turning to the [alink=FB]No-Keruga[/alink] list if you find the deck building restriction untenable. The existence of cards that can be developed early despite having the required CMC make the deck requirement less painful, such as Alrund, God of the Cosmos, Incubation // Incongruity, Rift Sower, and Search for Tomorrow.
[alink=D]Back to top of Section[/alink]
4.2 - Mutate
Herald of an auspicious turn
This is the core of the deck, currently including 15 of the 16 mutate creatures available in the GUR colors despite the Keruga companion condition. About half these creatures provide solid mutate triggers, and the remainder provide situational value or allow retriggering of your more valuable mutate cards. Any of these cards can provide the base for your mutate pile (preferably the ones with a cheaper CMC than mutate cost). These cards are ranked based on the cost of their mutate ability as well as the value they provide the game by resolving. Cloudpiercer is the only mutate creature being excluded, and the strategy would be able to survive cutting another such as Porcuparrot.
Keep in mind that every mutate trigger is mandatory if a legal target exists and may require you to take actions that are somewhat disadvantageous. For example, your mutate pile may include Gemrazer while the only artifact or enchantment controlled by an opponent is a Helm of Awakening. Similarly, if you mutate your commander with no nonland permanent cards in library, then you will exile your remaining library. Carefully consider the order you mutate your creatures in before you do so, because the game may hinge on you receiving a particular number of triggers of a certain type.
Archipelagore: A good mutate spell at 5U, this leviathan provides what is best considered temporary creature [alink=DF]removal[/alink] in the form of a freeze effect. The value of this creature scales with the number of creatures mutated previously, and it can often freeze about 4 creatures starting on turn 6. If copied, it is quite possible to keep all relevant opposing creatures frozen indefinitely. If you exile this off Illuna, put it on the battlefield unless you are popping off and need more mutate spells.
Auspicious Starrix: A better mutate ability than even Illuna at 5G, and easily the strongest card in the entire deck. This creature also scales with the size of the mutate pile, with the ability to both ramp and develop the board. At a certain mutate pile size with this fellow, each successive mutate creature can refund its mana cost and potentially replace itself as a card with the help of Illuna or a bounce ability. This effectively allows you to place your entire deck of permanents on the battlefield in a single turn. Save this as your last mutate card if you are concerned about removal, and otherwise develop it ASAP. If you exile this off Illuna, always put it into your hand to allow it to be cast onto your mutate pile.
Dreamtail Heron: A good mutate spell at 3U, this dreamy bird can help refill your hand as you resolve mutate spells. If you are receiving this mutate trigger at the same time as Illuna’s, resolve this one first in order to inform whether the exiled card goes to hand or battlefield. Also an efficient way to give a key creature flying. If you exile this off Illuna, put it into your hand unless you are in need of bodies.
Everquill Phoenix: A serviceable mutate spell at 3R, this phoenix’s purpose is to provide staying power after a boardwipe. There are no other uses for the feather token besides reanimating Everquill, though they will likely prove valuable during a losing game. Similarly to Dreamtail Heron, can give a creature flying for a reasonable cost. If you exile this off Illuna, put it onto the battlefield unless you are desperate for mutate spells.
Gemrazer: A great mutate spell at 1GG, Gemrazer’s role is as artifact/enchantment removal and cheap mutate enabler. Its keywords are redundant with Illuna, but can serve as a fair stopgap until Illuna is ready to come down. Still, it is recommended to save this card to respond to opponents’ powerful artifact/enchantments. If you exile this off Illuna, put it into your hand unless you are in need of bodies.
Glowstone Recluse: A situationally good mutate spell at 3G, Glowstone’s role is to enable a voltron strategy with your mutate pile. Provides reach as well, potentially creating a powerful blocker. This card is particularly nice mutated onto Animar, Soul of Elements and potentially tripling the rate of cost discount. If you exile this off Illuna, put it onto the battlefield unless you are desperate for mutate spells.
Lore Drakkis: A situationally great mutate spell at (U/R)(U/R), this lizard beast’s role is to recur your ramp and removal spells and as a cheap mutate enabler. Can do a decent impression of other mutate creatures based on which instants and sorceries are in your graveyard. If you exile this off Illuna, put it into your hand unless you are in need of bodies.
Migratory Greathorn: A great mutate spell at 2G, Greathorn’s role is to ramp as you develop your mutate pile. Your fastest games will come from being able to develop this card early and continuing to mutate onto it. A small but relevant trick is that when mutating at the same time as Illuna, order the triggers based on deck order (i.e. scrying or London Mulligans). This can allow you to exclude or include particular cards that were bottomed earlier, and is one of many reasons to remember what cards go to the bottom of the library. If you exile this off Illuna, put it into your hand unless you are in need of bodies.
Parcelbeast: A situationally great mutate spell at (G/U)(G/U), Parcelbeast’s role is to provide card advantage/ramp with its T ability and as a cheap mutate enabler. Can be mutated independent of the primary pile without much loss of value. Can be mutated onto Scute Swarm to give you tons of landfall triggers. If you exile this off Illuna, put it into your hand in most circumstances.
Porcuparrot: A serviceable mutate spell at 2R, Porcuparrot’s role is removal of your opponent’s small threats and a cheap mutate enabler. The weakest of the mutate creatures that with the size of the mutate pile, can T for 4 damage around turn 6. This card is mostly in the deck as a beast for synergy with Reflections of Littjara. If you exile this off Illuna, put it onto the battlefield unless you are desperate for mutate spells.
Pouncing Shoreshark: A great mutate spell at 3U, this landshark’s role is to tactically remove your opponent’s creatures and trigger mutate at instant speed. Mutate this in response to an attack or just before your next turn begins for maximum value. If you exile this off Illuna, put it into your hand unless you are in need of bodies.
Sawtusk Demolisher: A great mutate spell at 3G, Sawtusk’s role is as a Beast Within effect for noncreature permanents and as an efficient pump spell. The 3/3 beast tokens provided to your opponents are generally too small to be a threat to your creatures. Doubles as your commander for the purpose of suiting up a small creature, and for less mana. Can allow you to cash in Everquill Phoenix feather tokens for beast tokens. If you exile this off Illuna, you are fine putting it on the battlefield or in your hand.
Sea-Dasher Octopus: A great mutate spell at 1U, Sea-Dasher’s role is to cheaply enable mutate at instant speed and eventually draw cards. Save this for re-triggering a good mutate ability on your opponent’s turn, and avoid casting this before then. If you exile this off Illuna, put it into your hand unless you are in need of bodies.
Souvenir Snatcher: A situationally great mutate spell at 5U, Snatcher’s role is to steal your opponent’s noncreature artifacts. For full cost this is not practical for taking small mana rocks, though it can provide conditional removal while also supplementing the deck’s toolbox. If you exile this off Illuna, put it onto the battlefield unless you are desperate for mutate spells.
Trumpeting Gnarr: A good mutate spell at 3(G/U)(G/U), Gnarr’s role is to help you go wide while you are building tall. A more efficient card to use as a mutate base, saving on 2 mana. Allows for an aggro strategy by building a mutate pile on this creature early. If you exile this off Illuna, put it onto the battlefield unless you need mutate spells.
[alink=D]Back to top of Section[/alink]
4.3 - Copy Effects
Will make you see double
While copying mutated permanents can come with its own benefits (I’m looking at you Scute Swarm), this deck is focused on copying the creatures while they are still on the stack. This deck benefits greatly from the redundancy and explosiveness of copying its mutate spells. We are trying to run as many of these effects as possible, and since WotC started printing them in 2020 we can’t be too picky.
By copying a mutate spell, you create another version of the creature that maintains the same target unless new targets are specified as being allowed. This copy resolves as a token that is part of the mutate pile, working the same way as any other mutate creature card. What’s great about copying a mutate spell is that both the number of mutate events and the number of mutate triggers is incremented, providing significantly more value than mutating other permanents. As with copy effects for instants and sorceries, those that can be free on the turn the spell-to-be-copied is cast are preferable to allow for copying of bigger spells. Additionally, copy effects that do not target are better to avoid vulnerability to counterspells. Always put these cards onto the battlefield with Illuna unless you are afraid of removal. Remember, if one of these permanents entering the battlefield does not create a trigger then you have priority to benefit from its ability at least once before your opponents can remove it.
Reflections of Littjara: This underplayed enchantment is the second-most mana efficient copy effect in the deck, that comes with a typal condition. In this deck, Reflections takes advantage of the fact that Illuna, 9 mutate creatures and 3 non-mutate creatures in this deck are beasts. Choose beast with this enchantment as a default, only diverging if you see the opportunity for game-changing value in the immediate future. The next most represented tribe is elementals at 5 cards in the 99, two of which are legendary.
Tawnos, the Toymaker: This human (one of two in the list) is a powerful tool to copy your mutate spells while on the stack. Copies 11 out of 15 mutate creatures in the 99 as well as Illuna. The “as an artifact in addition to its other types” can be made irrelevant by resolving the artifact copy underneath the mutate stack so it never becomes vulnerable to a Naturalize effect.
Tomb of Horrors Adventurer: This elvish monk (monkish elf?) is the newest addition to the current list. The reason for this include is to copy your second spell each turn, as early as the turn you develop the Adventurer. Additionally on ETB you will take the initiative, a status like the monarch except it allows a player to venture into the Undercity when they obtain it and on their upkeeps. You always get to tutor a land to your hand, then you will probably be following the right-most path through the dungeon. The deck is relatively well situated to gain and hold the initiative, but expect to not complete the dungeon in an average game nor be able to get the double-copy benefit.
Vesuvan Duplimancy: A unique copy effect in the deck, one that creates copies of the creatures you mutate onto. This card may incentivise mutating onto whatever silver bullet or high-value creature you have on board, just to provide yourself with more redundancy. This card can contribute to a combo with Peregrine Drake allowing production of large quantities of mana. The biggest difficulty of this card is keeping track of permanents that had been mutated, I find Infinitokens the best way to represent this in paper.
Volo, Guide to Monsters: This wizard (the other human in the list) is the most mana efficient copy effect in the deck, while adding a unique deckbuilding restriction. In order to benefit from this ability, as you cast a creature it must share no creature types with any creature in play or card in your graveyard. For Illuna, this amounts to three common creature types in beasts, elementals, and dinosaurs, which can be difficult in a GUR Monsters deck. Only 5 cards from the tribes of elemental and dinosaur are included in the deck to reduce the likelihood of overlap. Reflections of Littjara necessitates the addition of beasts, and this must be considered when curving out in hands featuring Volo. Mutate spells allow for the manipulation of the creature types present on the battlefield, allowing you to hide certain creature types beneath a more innocuous one. To manipulate the graveyard, the deck heavily features graveyard hate as a way to remove unwanted creature types before a spell is cast. Despite the obstacles, Volo is the third strongest card in the deck if utilized correctly.
[alink=D]Back to top of Section[/alink]
4.4 - Finishers
A very fiery boi
The most common way for this deck to overwhelm opponents with your superior creatures. Some finishers function as enablers, designed to help reduce your opponent’s life totals to zero following a potent series of Illuna or Auspicious Starrix triggers. These cards lack direct synergy with the mutate ability by itself, but do double as decent set-up plays for the deck even when it is running luke-warm. Other finishers provide you with an army in a can and can win the game by themselves.
As a warning, it is possible to overdraw to Keruga’s mandatory ETB if it somehow made its way into your deck before a big Starrix turn. Keruga is the only such mandatory draw effect, besides Dreamtail Heron and Dawnglade Regent, and the only one that triggers on ETB.
Temur Ascendancy: When this deck really gets going, providing haste to the board is often the only step necessary to close out a game. This card also doubles as a source of card advantage with 27 of the 99 cards in the deck plus Illuna and Keruga. This card used to be a Rhythm of the Wild, but I found the inability to give haste to creatures that entered prior to the enchantment to reduce its value as a finisher during combo turns. In a meta that is rife with counterspells, Rhythm is a good replacement for Ascendancy.
Terror of the Peaks: This dragon is an absolute house in this deck, providing a Warstorm Surge effect on an aggressively costed flying body. Provides removal in the mid game, but is primarily used to close out a game that won’t be won with combat. This card benefits from all cost reducers and its damage ability is particularly potent due to the high power-to-CMC ratio of creatures in the deck. The life loss-on-target ability is not too relevant in the format and the card is already a removal magnet, so it is not recommended to use this creature as the base of a mutate pile.
Scute Swarm: This card is so synonymous with mutate they were part of a portmanteau as the name of a popular standard deck. The highest potential value from a finisher, you need only ramp a few times with this on the battlefield to take over a game. Mutate any non-legendary creature on top of it to accelerate the bustedness. Opponents - if playing correctly - will remove this creature if given the priority to cleanly do so, and boardwipe after this thing multiplies. Keep these things in mind and by not overcommitting to a board, you can maximize its usefulness.
[alink=D]Back to top of Section[/alink]
4.5 - Ramp and Cost Reducers
WB decks beware
Since mutate spells are especially additive in value, multi-spelling in one turn can be an effective way to out-value your opponents. In this deck the early game is often spent accumulating mana sources and cost discounts. Effects that allow spells to be cast for free are excluded from the deck, because these enable alternate costs that are not compatible with the mutate ability. Permanents among these should almost always be put onto the battlefield if exiled by Illuna.
Animar, Soul of Elements: The best cost reducer in the deck and a great mutate target to boot, Animar is truly the soul of this deck. At its best this creature has protection from most removal spells in a game and will reduce the cost of mutate spells other than Illuna to 1 or 2 mana. Play it early and win the game often, the second strongest card in the deck.
Beanstalk Giant: A ramp spell for 2G in hand early and a large boy who grows as the game continues when accessed late. Provides more early ramp options while increasing the creature quality of the deck.
Cemetery Prowler: Both an effective graveyard hate piece and a Cloud Key effect, you will find Prowler an MVP in a lot of powerful curves. This is a medium beater when there are no cards to exile, and might incentivize you to make an early trade to turn on its creature discounting ability. Use it to attack your opponents’ graveyards, or to clean your graveyard for Volo, Guide to Monsters.
Cultivate: Staple ramp spell for 2G, puts you up one land on the battlefield and guarantees you a future land drop. Great for this deck as you are looking to climb the curve long after you stop naturally drawing lands.
Defiler of Dreams: One of the only ways to discount the colored cost of a creature spell in the present game, the cycle of creatures is a very important component for some reckless lines of this deck. The second best defiler for the deck due to the quantity of blue cards in its retinue. Also provides even more card advantage despite us already swimming in it. Preserve your life total early and be rewarded late with more mana.
Defiler of Instinct: The worst of the three defilers for this deck, only due to the lack of red permanent spells for this particular strategy. Still, the damage from each creature cast is an invaluable removal tool.
Defiler of Vigor: The strongest defiler for the deck, this creature will overpower your opponent’s threats and cheapen most of your spells. Kept potent late game with life gain from cards like Silverback Elder, as you will otherwise drain yourself dry with its first ability. Will also turn any board of your creatures into an unstoppable force after a few creature spells.
Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma: This big bear will be discounting most of your creature spells and adding some valuable evasion to your next alpha strike. 26 cards in the 99 as well as Illuna and Keruga will get discounted, and even more can receive the +1/+1 and trample on attacks.
Migration Path: This card is going to be an Explosive Vegetation 90% of the time, and the remaining time it can be cycled for 2 to find gas. Gives access to 7 mana on turn 5 if cast the turn prior, allowing for the cast of all but two spells in the deck.
Search for Tomorrow: A great ramp card that happens to work well with Keruga. Serves an identical function to Rift Sower in providing early game ramp, but is generally stronger later in the game. Can alternatively be cast for 2G to immediately refund 1 mana.
Semblance Anvil: A cost reducer that capitalizes on the hand advantage provided by Illuna and Keruga to provide a significant mana advantage. Will always imprint a creature, and will generally get full value on any creature spell. Can be cast on turn 3 to allow casting of two 4-CMC creatures on turn 4.
Silverback Elder: It’s difficult to categorize this gorilla, as it provides so much for the deck. The default mode here will be ramp seeing as we have such a high CMC to play with and potential for card advantage in the command zone. However, the artifact/enchantment destruction and lifegain modes will have their time to shine against
Skyshroud Claim: A great ramp spell that casts for 3G and can discount itself by up to 2 mana with the forests it finds. Has the option to tutor for Breeding Pool, Ketria Triome, or Stomping Grounds if a Forest is too vanilla for you. This card is strongest when you have 5 or more available mana, so you can cast a spell immediately afterwards.
Thryx, the Sudden Storm: A decent cost reducer that is the deck’s primary tool for forcing mutate spells through counterspells. This giant’s static ability checks the cost in the top right and not any alternate cost, so a total of 24 cards in the 99 as well as Illuna and Keruga receive the discount. Can also be cast before blocks or in response to a counterspell for shenanigans.
[alink=D]Back to top of Section[/alink]
4.6 - Removal
Eats the boat and the sailors
Removal is where a list truly shines, because there is no better way to win than to enact your gameplan while also slowing your opponents. Most of the removal in this deck is tied to large creatures that can be put into play with Illuna’s ability.
Beast Within: A solid removal spell for any EDH list with access to green. Can answer any permanent, and the beast you provide them will likely be irrelevant to this deck.
Chaos Warp: A solid removal spell for any EDH list with access to red. Can answer nonland threats your opponents may have and situationally get value from one of your own permanents before it is otherwise removed.
Colossal Skyturtle: A fantastic removal card, this flying turtle is equally as potent in the hand as in the deck. Can be channeled to remove an opponent’s linchpin creature or to save a mutate pile for the low cost of 1U. Can alternatively be used to recur one of the deck's key cards from the graveyard for 2G. A fine mutate target as well, featuring ward 2 and two other keywords. Keep this card on the bottom of any mutate pile to remove vulnerability to enchantment removal. A great body as well, you can’t go wrong putting it into your hand or onto the battlefield with Illuna.
Consuming Tide: This is the deck slot for a traditional boardwipe sorcery, a recommended role player to have as a panic button. A way to wipe the board that doesn’t touch your mutate stack, or a way to reset your mutate stack while wiping the board. There are many ways to come out on top with this card. Further experimentation is required, but I would highly recommend this card.
Gargos, Vicious Watcher: A one-of-a-kind effect, Gargos is a repeated fight effect for a steal considering its cost and massive body. Gargos’s fight ability triggers whenever you cast a creature for its mutate cost or when your opponents cast a removal spell on one of your creatures. Just be careful Gargos doesn’t take 7 damage in one turn between fights and combat damage. The current list does not benefit from the hydra creature cost reduction ability, but could with the inclusion of your favorite hydras.
Hullbreaker Horror: A terrifying card that has all together too many points of P/T and abilities for its cost. This card will most commonly be protecting yourself from hostile permanents and spells. Can also surprise block your opponent’s creatures and make them concede out of frustration. On a combo turn, it is an avenue for picking up mutate creatures on the battlefield to be cast onto your mutate pile. This would be in the [alink=DD]Finisher[/alink] section, but with the deck’s spells having a minimum of 3 CMC it can be more difficult to abuse.
Incubation // Incongruity: An inclusion based on the Keruga companion, this spell pulls double duty as removal or a cantrip. This is one of the few instant speed removal spells in the deck, exiling those pesky creatures that you cannot otherwise beat. Cast Incubation to improve the quality of your opening curve, or later just to dig for your next mutate creature. With almost half the deck consisting of creatures you are unlikely to whiff, just remember it is alway possible.
Scourge of Fleets: A one-sided Engulf the Shores on a kraken, this card proves that Island is indeed the most powerful card in the game. Bounce based removal is not always the greatest source of card advantage as your opponents can replay their board on the next turn, but all this needs to be is a tempo swing during a board stall to win a game. The deck is running 13 islands and several ways to fetch them. With this creature live to hit, be sure to dedicate your land tutors to islands after your red and green mana needs are met. I have won several games with a Hail Mary Scourge exile off of Illuna and would find it impossible to cut from the deck.
Tidespout Tyrant: The precursor to Hullbreaker Horror, this card is better suited as an evasive finisher late game than a flashy brickhouse. Notably, the cast trigger on the Tyrant can bounce lands instead of spells, giving it significantly less utility. The least-good card of the two for this deck, Tidespout Tyrant is still a fantastic creature.
[alink=D]Back to top of Section[/alink]
4.7 - Utility
Itty bitty raven friend
Phenomenal cosmic powers!
This category consists of cards to fill out your toolbox of hits with Illuna. The more you have, the less likely you are to hit your silver bullet after mutating your commander. The fewer you have, the more risk you have of running out of threats before you are able to close out a game. These slots are very flexible, and can be filled with your choice of cards. Can also be replaced with instants and sorceries if you desire to concentrate your Illuna hits.
Alrund, God of the Cosmos / Hakka, Whispering Raven: A dual-faced card of a one-eyed god and his pet raven, both creatures are fantastic in the deck. Alrund is a straightforward beatstick that grows with your hand size, and will be at minimum 4/4 in most situations. The EOT trigger is a reliable way to refuel in the mid-to-late game, and you are likely to draw a card naming either creatures or lands. Alrund also makes a great aggressive mutate target, as the static +1/+1 affects the creature regardless of what creature is on top. Hakka is castable for 1U and can set up your draws or Illuna triggers with scrying. If you want to retrigger a good mutate card in a pinch, you can mutate onto Hakka and return the pile to your hand by attacking. Notably, if exiled by Illuna the side that always enters the battlefield is Alrund.
Dawnglade Regent: This enormous elk provides hexproof for all your permanents while making you the monarch. This creature is best entering the battlefield the turn you are making a game-winning play as the only opportunity opponents have to use a targeted removal spell is before the ETB trigger resolves. After that point, an opponent will need to successfully deal combat damage to you or use non-targeted removal on the elk to remove hexproof.
Elder Gargaroth: This beast of a creature is designed to dominate the combat phase during the mid-game. Attack and block with this creature aggressively when able to get as many of its triggers as possible. Most of the time choose to draw cards with the trigger, making beasts if you need chump blockers or a body to mutate onto and gaining life only in panic situations. Also occupies a valuable CMC slot considering what it provides the deck, being castable just before Illuna to create a token to mutate onto, and can be cast on turn 4 after a turn 3 ramp spell. Can be replaced by Quartzwood Crasher on a budget.
Endurance: A surprise form of graveyard interaction featured in many competitive formats that can be evoked with no open mana. An above average body for 1GG with flash and reach that shuffles a graveyard on the bottom of its owner’s library. This creature can double as a way to refuel a deck of win conditions after a boardwipe or milling. It can bring your commander back into relevance after a long and arduous game. A valuable tool to have, and able to be replaced by Loaming Shaman on a budget. If exiled by Illuna, put in your hand unless you could benefit from the immediate shuffle or an opponent has a threatening graveyard.
Guardian Augmenter: This flashy troll provides a static +2/+2 and hexproof to your commander. This creature can be a great protection spell for your commander, and even better as the base for a mutate pile involving your commander. Once your commander resolves above or beneath the troll, the resulting creature gets both the P/T boost and hexproof from the troll. Put this into play if exiled by Illuna, unless you suspect a boardwipe.
Jungleborn Pioneer: Not all draft chaff is as worthless as it appears, and this merfolk is evidence of it. If you are wondering why, look no further than the Pioneer’s pal 1/1 hexproof token that it creates. This token is a fantastic place to start your mutate pile, as early as turn 4. The 2/2 body is nothing to phone home about, although it does provide a 3 CMC permanent for Keruga’s ETB trigger. Generally put this into play off of Illuna’s ability.
Peregrine Drake: A common combo-enabler for many creature-based decks. While not significantly impactful by itself, this can assist with multi-spelling on an early turn or potentially serving as a ritual later. This allows for an infinite loop in combination with a cost reducer and a Tidespout Tyrant, and can immediately win the game with a Terror of the Peaks. Always put this into play off of Illuna’s ability.
Stormsurge Kraken: This kraken is one of the larger hexproof creatures in the deck, providing you a perfect setup play for casting Illuna on turn 6. This creature will generally provide itself the +2/+2 with its unique form of card advantage glued on due to its ability to support your commander on the battlefield. Don’t expect to draw cards if part of a mutate pile, as flying and trample will make blocking it impractical. Unlike Guardian Augmenter this creature must be a part of the mutate pile in order to provide its benefits to the mutate stack. High quality creature to put into play with Illuna’s effect.
Temur Sabertooth: A good kitty for decks built around ETBs and combos alike, Sabertooth provides some much-needed resiliency to your battlefield. Its indestructibility makes it a fine creature to mutate onto, and its 1G activated ability allows you to rebuy or potentially save several creature cards. Sabertooth has no potential for any infinite combos in this deck, but with enough mana it can enable repeating of very powerful plays.
Thragtusk: Have you ever been worried about falling behind on board against small creatures and efficient removal? Look no further than Thragtusk, that for 4G gives you 8/6 worth of stats over two bodies and 5 life. Plays well against most cards your opponents can have, and synergizes with the deck's bounce spells. Also one of the rare cards that can leave you with a summoning sickness-less creature after an opponent’s Cyclonic Rift. Not a necessary inclusion in the deck, but quite valuable in my experience.
Troll Ascetic: One of the best mutate targets for the deck, this troll will potentially be the first creature you cast and one of the last cards on the battlefield. Traditional damage/destruction based boardwipes will bounce off of you, as for 1G your mutate stack can be made to survive. Also a serviceable body to be put into play with Illuna.
Venomthrope: Another good mutate target that can be played on turn 3. Deathtouch works well with the trample of many of your mutate creatures, allowing you to force through damage. Can do a decent impression of Baleful Strix in the midgame when you otherwise may lack good blockers.
[alink=D]Back to top of Section[/alink]
4.8 - Lands
Illuna’s beautiful home
This deck is particularly land hungry, considering its high mana cost and lack of traditional mana dorks. Hitting land drops until turn 6 is a necessity, and there is major benefit from doing so through to the end of the game. Utility lands that provide colorless are fine as most spells in the deck have a generic cost associated with them. Tapped lands are an additional tempo hit on top of the Keruga condition, and should generally be avoided. I would not recommend going below 40 lands in the list to maximize the chance you hit 3 lands by turn 3. Additionally, hedge on the higher count of lands because they will disappear from your deck forever as you mutate your general.
Breeding Pool: Shock lands are your best friend in a multicolor deck. Untapped when you need them, and tapped when you don’t. The cost of hedging is not great either, as 2 damage is oftentimes not relevant in a commander game. Can also be tutored to the battlefield with fetch lands and Skyshroud Claim.
Contested Cliffs: Goes well with the multiple high-power beasts this deck is running. For RG and T it is a repeatable, instant-speed removal effect for creatures 5/5 and smaller much of the time. Benefits highly from the hexproof effects available to your creatures.
Dreamroot Cascade: The slow lands are uniquely effective with a Keruga companion, always coming into play untapped on turn 3 and after for casting your spells. Also more affordable than the bond lands, which are much more common.
Fabled Passage: An inexpensive fetch land for decks that are in need of land selection in the mid game. Will often be finding an Island for synergy with Scourge of Fleets, but can find whatever color you need. Be sure to use early, because with enough Illuna triggers you may find yourself failing to find the correct land.
Forest: Basic lands, make up the bulk of a Magic: The Gathering deck. Play ‘em.
Ketria Triome: A fantastic land for a GUR deck, easily outstrips the Frontier Bivouac of the past. Tutorable under the same conditions as the shock lands, and solves all your single-pipped mana woes. Prioritize tutoring this card early, but keep in mind the cycling ability gives it more value in hand than other lands during the late game.
Khalni Garden: Both a 0/1 creature and a land, the Garden is here to provide you with a little board presence with your land drops. The plant token is best used as a sacrificial pawn to protect yourself and your permanents from harm. It can also be used as a body to mutate onto as early as turn 3. Can be replaced with Dryad Arbor as a fetchable creature, although the additional vulnerability of land creatures must be kept in mind.
Misty Rainforest: The Onslaught/Zendikar fetch lands are staples of any multicolored deck. They find your basics and duals, providing whatever color(s) you need at the moment. I would recommend against going into the off-color fetches, as your deck can be drained of certain basic land types in the late game. Can be replaced by Terramorphic Expanse, Explosive Vegetation, and Myriad Landscape on a budget.
Mosswort Bridge: The hideaway lands are a great way to get some of the best cards in your deck for G and T at instant speed. Prioritize casting non-mutate creatures and your commander to get the requisite power for this hideaway ability. Also, avoid exiling mutate creatures with this ability as you cannot pay their mutate costs in that circumstance. This excludes Auspicious Starrix, as you will be happy casting that creature just before you untap on your big mutate turn. If you cut enough nonland permanents from the deck, you may even find Shelldock Isle an option.
Scavenger Grounds: A one-time effect for exiling all graveyards on the battlefield. Useful to have with a Volo, Guide to Monsters in play and creature spells to copy. An untapped colorless land for most of the game.
-Harrow, tempo based ramp spell, but found unnecessary in my meta
-Inferno Titan, situational removal and not enough red sources to pump with
-Kogla, the Titan Ape, a removal spell that is slightly too expensive for its cost
-Koma, Cosmos Serpent, crazy bomb, but runs slightly contrary to where I was taking the deck
-Migratory Route, average ramp spell with a cycling ability and one of the worst ones in the deck
-Rift Sower, a nice high roll in an opening hand, but relatively unnecessary later game
-Sagu Mauler, too much mana (6 or 8) to be a mutate target, too vanilla for an Illuna hit
-Wood Elves, average ramp spell and poor Illuna hit
+Cemetery Prowler, potentially great cost discounter and decent body
+Beanstalk Giant, a ramp spell and alternatively a massive body late game
+Defiler of Dreams, colored cost reducer for many creatures and provides card advantage
+Defiler of Instinct, colored cost reducer for some creatures, provides some situational burn, and first strike is pretty nice
+Defiler of Vigor, colored cost reducer for the majority of creatures in the deck, pumps the team and brings a large body
+Silverback Elder, an engine piece synergizing with the deck’s play patterns, repeatedly provides abilities unique and useful to the deck
+Stormsurge Kraken, great mutate target and great body
+Thrun, the Last Troll, top tier mutate target and decent body
-Amphin Mutineer, an underwhelming body to flip off of Illuna that I found better replaced with an instant speed option to help against combo decks.
-Cemetery Illuminator, an unnecessary form of graveyard hate and card advantage for the deck.
-Lithoform Engine, a flexible support piece for the strategy that provides useful copying, but overall too mana-expensive to be relied upon.
-Myojin of Cryptic Dreams, among the most powerful spell copying effects available in the game, but the “if you cast it from hand” clause is a dealbreaker.
-Thrun, the Last Troll, a cut due to 4 CMC hexproof creatures being notably worse than 3 cmc hexproof creatures.
+Beast Within, staple removal spell in green; play it.
+Peregrine Drake, mana neutral creature that facilitates additional mutate effects in a single turn.
+Tawnos, the Toymaker, efficient copy effect for your mutate spells in the same vein as Volo, Guide to Monsters.
+Venomthrope, another 3 CMC hexproof creature that can trade for most threats your opponents attack you with.
+Vesuvan Duplimancy, a way to take advantage of mutate spells and valuable creatures in the deck.
5.0 - Playing the Deck
Illuna will most often finish a game by cheating a few large creatures onto the battlefield with its ability and getting in attacks while your opponent’s scramble to catch up. Alternatively, Auspicious Starrix and copy effects open up the option for a Primal Surge-like effect to wholly steal a game from nowhere. Both these styles of winning require creature cards with the mutate ability to cast on a pivotal turn and something to mutate onto.
In order to pop off, Illuna needs to spend as many turns as possible developing lands until an opening presents itself. This can be done through chaining ramp spells starting on turn 3, answering immediate threats with your removal spells, or by playing out your non-mutate creatures as distractions. Every removal spell they cast on a creature like Elder Gargaroth helps to clear the way for your real game-enders. Cast your mutate spells only when you have nothing else to do, or have a resilient creature to target. If there is low potential for instant-speed removal, casting multiple mutate spells on a vulnerable creature can justify the potential of a later blowout.
If all the mutate nonsense fails, don’t fret! This deck is perfectly capable of beating your opponents the old fashioned way: with a lot of power and a few combat phases. This is a GUR Monsters list at its core, and never forget the commander is a 6/6 flampler for 2GUR when you need more beef. Suffice to say, you should have the biggest creatures around.
5.1 - Metagame: Illuna’s Strengths and Weaknesses
Return to monke, and your
opponents will too
It has been said that a game of Magic: The Gathering plays out like a game of Rock Paper Scissors, and if so then a casual EDH game plays out like a Rock Paper Scissors tournament played for over an hour. This Illuna build exists equally as a mid-range creature deck and a high-synergy combo deck, with a focus on value over speed. Take advantage of the colors at your disposal to solve the problems posed by your meta. An Illuna is a highly flexible general, as its mutate trigger can support any strategy built around permanents with the correct number of creatures to mutate onto. Anyways, onto the matchup discussion.
How this deck stacks up against
other EDH archetypes Aggro Graveyard Mid-Range Group Hug Pillow-Fort Mill Control Combo Stax
Aggro: Low-to-the-ground creature decks work by having the ability to develop more threats than other decks can provide blockers early, and snowball with board advantage. This deck will find itself an easy target for an aggro deck early, but will be dropping high-toughness creatures fast enough to not lose outright. It will be the rare game that an aggro deck will be able to deal 40 damage before you are able to. Choice of utility creatures, like Scourge of Fleets and Silverback Elder help to stack the deck in your favor. Even your smallest creatures can be made to outclass an aggro creature with the assistance of mutate.
Graveyard: One benefit of this build of the deck is powerful counterplay against graveyard-themed decks. There is sufficient instant-speed graveyard hate to defeat all but the fastest draws from reanimator decks. As a rule, save the graveyard interaction for plays that overcome the capabilities of your board or to counteract plays that would slow you down. Reanimate on a Grave Titan on is something this deck can beat, but Dread Return on a Craterhoof Behemoth is another matter entirely. Aristocrats strategies are a different matter entirely, and must be beaten by liberal application of evasive attacks to the face.
Mid-range: Despite the strategy of this deck being best described as mid-range, it also finds itself an effective predator of the archetype. This is because Illuna is uniquely exceptional at playing creatures above curve on any given turn. While a competing mid-range deck may ramp early and be casting spells two turns ahead during most of the game, Illuna will be putting Beanstalk Giant into play by mutating a Migratory Greathorn on your commander and ramping at the same time. The Illuna deck will fail in this situation when you reveal low-value creatures with Illuna’s ability, and the other deck capitalizes on their temporary advantage.
Group Hug: Interchangeable with the political archetype, these decks succeed by helping out the weakest person on the table, and always benefitting slightly more until they pull out a win. Due to the companion condition, this deck will find itself in need of permanents, mana, and life on a frequent basis. When another deck gives you those things, you can spend much more mana on your mutate spells. For the same reason, this deck is not in need of more cards in hand and will be discarding to hand size frequently against a Howling Mine.
Pillow Fort: Prison-style decks like this win by denying players mana for casting lots of spells and punishing them for being aggressive with their creatures. As a creature deck that likes casting spells, Illuna fits in the center of a pillow fort’s Venn Diagram of good matchups. The saving grace is this deck’s access to powerful cost reduction effects and versatile removal. Prison decks also win a game slowly, giving Illuna enough time to piece together an overwhelming victory.
Mill: Mill decks win by emptying their opponent’s libraries, reducing access to key pieces and eventually causing them to deck out. Due to the exile clause, mutating Illuna and Auspicious Starrix will often help along the mill deck towards its win condition. The deck has enough built-in redundancy to be able to win the game despite being milled, but against mill you will swiftly lose access to a mutate combo win and eventually even the value potential of your commander. Endurance the strongest card in the deck for this matchup, and almost any mill strategy can be weathered by playing this creature a couple of times. This can be done by bouncing Endurance, or reshuffling it into the deck with its evoke ability.
Control: Any opponent that has the proper removal for your mutate pile or the board created by mutating Illuna is going to be difficult to beat. Control decks, and in particular those based around counterspells and non-targeted removal are troublesome against this build. The list is filled with hexproof and similar effects to counteract the most common forms of removal in the format. You can replace this with indestructibility, uncounterability, and phasing as defensive tools based on your meta. However, the best control decks have a diverse removal suite and can slow you down regardless of how you protect your creatures.
Combo: Another category of weakness for this deck is combo decks, or any deck that presents threats that need to be answered at instant speed. The cost and types of cards featured in this deck reduce options for preventing a properly executed Kiki-Jiki Mirror Breaker combo for example. This can be attributed to the nature of a creature-based strategy in the GUR colors, and you will likely need to side into instants and sorceries in order to improve this matchup. It is recommended to identify opponents with the potential of winning through sorcery speed removal, and remove them out first.
Stax: Lastly are the land destruction, discard, and stax decks which win by communally denying the table cards and permanent. Keruga makes the deck fundamentally poorly positioned to fight against strategies that attack the battlefield. You can get locked at less than 3 lands and be unable to cast your spells. Cutting Keruga is the best tool if you expect a land destruction player at the table. The card advantage provided by your command zone can help you weather a discard matchup at key points in the mid and late game, but this does not make up for general vulnerability to the strategy.
5.2 - Average Turn
Every deck has an average turn, which should be adhered to in order to best progress towards a victory. Illuna’s deck has an optimal series of plays, and a more timid series of plays if other players are controlling your game. This section has been broken down based on phases of the game; into the early, middle, and late game. For the purposes of this post, early game is the slowest part of the casual EDH game, where players develop mana sources and cast their preparatory spells (turns 1-4). Transition to the mid game occurs when players begin to develop moderate threats and exchange their removal (turns 5-8). Finally, the late game happens when most decks are able to execute on their win condition (turn 9 and onward). Different decks have different durations to their phases of the game, and it may be necessary to gamble with Illuna in order to catch up with the fastest person at the table.
5.2.1 - Early Game
You want to spend the beginning of the game to increase your capacity to make larger plays. This starts with [alink=DE]ramp[/alink] and setting up your hand to hit your land drops. Ramp can be effectively substituted for cost reducing effects which provides the most value for when you are multi-spelling in one turn. Mutate plays are at their best when performed in quick succession, so save these spells for after playing any cost reducers in hand.
By the end of this phase of the game, you should have in play many mana sources in your three colors as was manageable and one creature to mutate onto. This creature will provide you an option for using the mutate abilities of your mutate creatures when the need arises.
5.2.2 - Mid Game
This phase of the game will be best spent playing any [alink=DC]copy effects[/alink] you might have. If the early game went well enough, it may be possible to develop these cards and copy other spells in the same turn. If your playgroup understands what’s going on they will target down these cards immediately after your mutate piles, in which case develop them only when they get immediate value.
Once you have the copy effect down, or if you have mutate creatures that contribute to ramping, play those out. Mutate the Migratory Greathorn or Lore Drakkis, and follow them up with the filler cards like Everquill Phoenix and Porcuparrot. Depending on the other threats on the table, you may only be safe following this line with a base creature resistant to removal. Play your commander only if the card feels safe and have other mutate spells to follow it up. During this phase of the game, Scourge of Fleets should be live to cheat into play with Illuna and bounce most of your opponent’s creatures.
If copy effects and mutate spells have been exhausted, play your other creatures. In general, if you cannot ramp and can see no powerful mutate lines you should play your removal and other creatures as necessary. In a perfect world, your opponents are spending their removal on your creatures before they become mutated. Cast Keruga during this phase if you find yourself running out of lands or cards to fill out your curve.
5.2.3 - Late Game
This is the stage of the game where you are looking to create the game winning muate pile involving Illuna, Auspicious Starrix, and other powerful mutate effects. Capitalize on your muate pile and it should win you the game. If necessary, cast whichever creatures from hand that also threaten the win. All cards in the deck are reasonably castable early into this stage of the game. This becomes the point that Terror of the Peaks and Temur Ascendancy pick up in value and allow for winning spontaneously. Other [alink=DE]finishers[/alink] will be capable of taking over a game with value by this point. This is also the point that Hullbreaker Horror and Tidespout Tyrant will be seeing enough spells cast to effectively become boardwipes.
[alink=A]Back to Introduction[/alink]
6.0 - Other Builds of Illuna
Did you feel like the primary decklist didn’t scratch an itch that you want from your next EDH? Do you want a different jumping-off point to explore the ocean that is viable builds of Illuna? Here are some alternative lists for your perusal. The first two are highly similar to the primary decklist with a few tweaks to accomplish a different goal. The third, spellslinger deck is a complete departure from the mid-range archetype and should be a way to explore the unfiltered combo potential of the general.
6.1 - Budget Illuna
Big and great for the cost,
the Ikoria special
For those players looking to dip their toes in the archetype of mutate without breaking their budget, this is a deck that can be as cheap as can be. The list costs $358 in paper as of 9/16/2022, but can be reduced to as little as $92 by cutting all the cards more than $10. Most of the cost comes from the premium finishers and lands, the core of this deck is really quite cheap.
It’s not too late to get a
degree in Evolutionary Biology
For those more tempo-minded players out there, yes Illuna can be played to better effect without Keruga as a companion. Some powerful synergy pieces with your commander have a CMC of 1 or 2, and these cards add a little more redundancy and speed to the strategy. Namely, we get to add the most mana-efficient permanent copying spell in the game Double Major. Here is a list you may be interested in.
Guaranteed >0.1% chance of
occurring in a given game
This deck is a brew I came up with to take advantage of the digging capabilities of Illuna. We do away with the mutate storm plan of previous builds in favor of more traditional storm. Whenever you mutate your commander you are rewarded with one of three game-winning enchantments. Omniscience makes mana a nonissue for spells you cast from hand, Song of Creation gives you tons of cards for one explosive storm turn, and Thousand-Year Storm allows you to win the game with any number of inane spells.
An optimal game will have you putting two of these permanents into play before storming off for a win. Copying a lethal number of burn spells with Thousand-Year Storm is the most common way to win. You could also go aggro with incidental token producers after a board wipe, using First Day of Class or Goblin War Party to let them connect before an opposing boardwipe.
One way this deck can lose is if Illuna exiles too many of your wincons on the way to one of your enchantments, or you deck out with Song of Creation. For this reason, it is important to spend the beginning of the game digging for an enchantment and potentially using Brainstorm or Dream Cache to set them on the top of deck for Illuna. Long-Term Plans can help you force the issue. This deck is as of now untested, so take my card recommendations with a grain of salt.
Thus we come to the end, and I would like to take this opportunity to review the lessons we have learned. We have explored the capabilities of Illuna as a one-of-a-kind value engine, a battlefield-flooding combo piece, and a top-tier beater. We have discovered the card interactions that make unassuming creatures become the scariest thing in a game. We have found a way to make one of Magic’s Timmy-est archetypes into a Mel’s paradise.
I would like to thank my friends and LGS community for giving me the opportunity to test this deck, the MTG Salvation primer authors who provide templates for effective organization of information, and finally you for reading this. Please let me know how the information sections read and how the deck plays, I will be sure to update this thread when I get the chance.
ft. Keruga, the Macrosage
The secret behind being successful with Illuna comes from its mutate ability, which allows casting it for 3(R/G)UU with the intention of combining it with a creature already on the battlefield. This can give your commander an effective form of haste when being cast on a creature that has been around for a turn, and many creative combinations are possible as the resulting creature has abilities of all constituent cards. Some cards interact with mutated creatures in unintuitive ways, leading to some memorable rulings. The intricacies of mutate are explained in the [alink=D]Card Choices[/alink] section.
Keruga, the Macrosage is a sizeable creature in both stature and card advantage potential, rewarding you with cards for each nontoken permanent you are able to develop. The condition of adding it as a companion requires a significant deckbuilding constraint, but one that synergizes with the Illuna playstyle. Cutting low converted mana cost (CMC) permanents from the deck makes casting Illuna more explosive, and you will find there are serviceable alternatives to your favorite 1 and 2 CMC cards. Illuna is without a doubt the general of this deck, but Keruga plays the role of decoy general while the Doomblades are still flying.
My name is Anthony and I have been playing Magic: The Gathering since 2011. My first EDH deck was the precon led by Darretti, Scrap Savant which I have since updated into a cEDH list. Illuna became the general of my seventh of my nine current decks, and has swiftly become my favorite. As an aspiring judge, I pride myself on knowing the rules interactions of the cards I play with and I aim to bring that to the deck discussion.
I originally built Illuna as an avenue to explore the new mechanics offered by Ikoria, partly because I never had a chance to draft the format myself. As such, the decklist I present includes Keruga, the Macrosage as a companion. So far, I have been brewing the list to most effectively take advantage of the mutate triggered abilities featured within.
Reasons to Play Illuna
- You like GUR Monsters as a deck archetype
- You want to put the biggest permanents in the game into play for cheap
- You are interested in thinking differently about your creature spells
- You you like creating a large number of triggers with a single game action
- The idea of having a beast elemental dinosaur as your general makes you smile
Reasons to Not Play Illuna- You don’t like losing a lot of cards to a single removal spell
- You want to play with particular lands, instants or sorceries (because Illuna’s going to exile them)
- You don’t like the tedium of resolving effects like Polymorph
- You don’t like the parasitic nature of the mutate mechanic
- You don’t want to learn the advanced rules surrounding the layer system
Reasons to Play Keruga- For you, drawing cards is a way of life
- You want a 101st card with your deck and an 8th card in opening hand
- You think bigger spells are better
- You like hippos, but would like it if they were more prehistoric
Reasons to Not Play KerugaOther GUR Monsters Commanders:
- Animar, Soul of Elements: Featured in the 99 of the deck, Animar is a great enabler for casting creature spells with a high ratio of generic to colored mana in their costs. This commander tends to lend itself to creature curves that can take advantage of its cost-reducing ability at all stages of the game, which is a feature of the [alink=C]list[/alink]. Incidentally, the protection and +1/+1 counters provided by Animar make it a great foundation on which to build your mutate pile. This would be fine at the helm of this deck, but lacks the card advantage and combo potential provided by Illuna.
- Averna, the Chaos Bloom: Best friends with Maelstrom Wanderer, Averna is the cascade-synergy commander of the bunch. Can be played in a monsters build with cascade triggers, as there are a large number of creatures with the ability. Brings ramp to a cascade curve, best played early for most value. Not played in Illuna both their abilities are parasitic on unique mechanics.
- Intet the Dreamer: This dreamy dragon similarly can serve as a value engine for a GUR Monsters strategy, but is less reliable than Illuna. A benefit over those other card advantage generals on this list is that instants can be exiled for 2U and used to their full effect, encouraging inclusion of cards like Sublime Epiphany. This general, like Animar, is quite good at enabling the legendary eldrazi. Lastly, Intet’s ability can be made to trigger multiple times with double strike or extra attack steps.
- Maelstrom Wanderer: The OG Wanderer is a fantastic alternative for a GUR Monsters strategy, also bringing powerful cards from your deck to the table every time you cast it. This card also provides haste to your board, an effective enabler for many of the most powerful creatures in the game. If you like playing 6-7 drop-synergy decksl, this card is the commander for you. Maelstrom Wanderer does not make the cut in this deck because cascade does not synergize with mutate.
- Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm: A resilient dragon typal commander that will be doubling each of your other dragons as they enter the battlefield. Highly abusable with flicker effects, and even capable of giving you multiples of your favorite legendary dragons. Second only to the The Ur-Dragon in terms of potential value for a dragon deck. Doesn’t work with Illuna because, surprisingly, the Ikorian monster is not a dragon.
- Omnath, Locus of the Roil: This third iteration of the legendary Zendikar elemental is the preeminent elemental typal general in the colors. This creature provides scaling damage on ETB and continuous value with land drops throughout the game. Omnath can suit up a handful of elementals with +1/+1 counters for a powerful attack, and then refuel later. Play lands, play elementals, and do a lot of damage. A powerful inclusion in an elemental-themed Illuna deck.
- Riku of Two Reflections: Choose this as your general if you want to play with more copies of your favorite creatures. Duplicate the most powerful creatures (and instants/sorceries) in the game, defeat your opponents with the deluge of value. Less good than Miirym if the desired creature is a dragon, but far more diverse in application. Not included with Illuna because Riku is a human, and because this deck wants to spend all its mana on more mutate spells.
- Surrak Dragonclaw: The bear puncher himself, Surrak is a great enabler of a creature-based strategy. Control opponents will cry as their counterspells sit uselessly in their hands, while their faces serve as punching bags for the largest creatures in the format. Long story short, this general supports play high-impact creatures that are begging for evasion. Don’t forget Surrak has flash, which lets him do fun things during combat and during counterwars. Doesn’t make it into Illuna because he is a human, and they don’t get along.
Other Mutate Commanders:5 Illuna, Apex of Wishes
Companion
5 Keruga, the Macrosage
Mutate - 15
3 Glowstone Recluse
3 Lore Drakkis
3 Sea-Dasher Octopus
3 Trumpeting Gnarr
4 Everquill Phoenix
4 Gemrazer
4 Migratory Greathorn
4 Parcelbeast
4 Porcuparrot
5 Auspicious Starrix
5 Dreamtail Heron
5 Pouncing Shoreshark
6 Sawtusk Demolisher
6 Souvenir Snatcher
7 Archipelagore
Copy Effects - 5
4 Vesuvan Duplimancy
4 Volo, Guide to Monsters
5 Reflections of Littjara
5 Tawnos, the Toymaker
6 Tomb of Horrors Adventurer
Finishers - 3
3 Scute Swarm
3 Temur Ascendancy
5 Terror of the Peaks
Ramp and Cost Reducers - 14
3 Animar, Soul of Elements
3 Cemetery Prowler
3 Cultivate
3 Kodama’s Reach
3 Search for Tomorrow
3 Semblance Anvil
4 Defiler of Instinct
4 Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma
4 Skyshroud Claim
5 Defiler of Dreams
5 Defiler of Vigor
5 Silverback Elder
5 Thryx, the Sudden Storm
7 Beanstalk Giant
3 Beast Within
3 Chaos Warp
4 Consuming Tide
4 Incubation // Incongruity
6 Gargos, Vicious Watcher
7 Colossal Skyturtle
7 Hullbreaker Horror
7 Scourge of Fleets
8 Tidespout Tyrant
Utility - 12
3 Endurance
3 Guardian Augmenter
3 Jungleborn Pioneer
3 Troll Ascetic
3 Venomthrope
4 Temur Sabertooth
5 Alrund, God of the Cosmos
5 Elder Gargaroth
5 Peregrine Drake
5 Stormsurge Kraken
5 Thragtusk
7 Dawnglade Regent
Lands - 40
0 Breeding Pool
0 Contested Cliffs
0 Dreamroot Cascade
0 Fabled Passage
0 Forest (x12)
0 Island (x9)
0 Ketria Triome
0 Khalni Garden
0 Misty Rainforest
0 Mosswort Bridge
0 Mountain (x4)
0 Rockfall Vale
0 Scavenger Grounds
0 Scalding Tarn
0 Steam Vents
0 Stomping Grounds
0 Stormcarved Coast
0 Wooded Foothills
The core concept for this deck is to develop a permanent with a powerful series of mutate triggered abilities, and in doing so either drowning your opponents in value or killing them on the spot. To accomplish this, we are including as many of the playable mutate creatures available in the GUR colors and will be making the environment of casting them as easy and beneficial as possible. Illuna is the center of this strategy, though the purpose of this post is not to discuss the optimal Illuna deck. It is to discuss the collection of cards most effective under the shared leadership of Illuna and Keruga. At the very least, I hope to be able to illuminate some of the more interesting card interactions within the EDH format.
Warning: The following paragraph is a rules summary of the the mutate ability. It should be unnecessary for understanding the rest of the discussion.
A little bit of a summary on the mutate ability: it is a static ability that allows a creature to be cast for its mutate cost targeting a nonhuman creature you own on the battlefield. The CMC of the spell is always the number in the top right of the card. If the target of the mutate spell becomes illegal before resolution, the spell resolves as just another creature. When this spell resolves with a legal target, it does so either as the top or bottom card of the mutate pile that is considered the same permanent as the one it was targeting. The creature has thus successfully mutated, and any related triggered abilities it has are put on the stack. All traits of the creature are determined by those of the topmost card, with the addition of any abilities of cards beneath it and the commander tag if the commander is part of the creature. Modifications made to the creature by mutating exist in Layer 1a, meaning they are applied before any other layer characteristic and are copyable. Any zone change or delayed trigger that would affect the permanent does so to each card it consists of.
Due to the rules of the mutate ability, the deck avoids inclusion of humans, and creatures with effects like shroud. Creatures that are immune to harmful spells and abilities (i.e. hexproof, protection, ward) are prioritized as inclusions. Subthemes other than mutate present in the deck include beast typal for Reflections of Littjara, graveyard hate for Volo, Guide to Monsters, and ferocious for Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma. A discussion of how these subthemes manifest in the deck’s specialization can be seen in the [alink=EA]Metagame: Illuna’s Strengths and Weaknesses[/alink] section.
Keep in mind as you review the CMC of cards in this list that each card can be shifted around the curve to fit your needs. Cost reducing effects will bring some expensive cards into castability earlier than you would expect. Some cards can be cycled, suspended, or cast with alternate costs that allow them to impact the game earlier or more potently.
The addition of the Keruga companion provides access to slower and more resilient lines for those periods where an EDH game stalls out. This can be beneficial in a slower game (ending after turn 9), and otherwise harmful to winrate. The companion condition will slow down your strategy by 1-2 turns, to the point where a single piece of interaction can set you behind everyone else at the table. I would encourage turning to the [alink=FB]No-Keruga[/alink] list if you find the deck building restriction untenable. The existence of cards that can be developed early despite having the required CMC make the deck requirement less painful, such as Alrund, God of the Cosmos, Incubation // Incongruity, Rift Sower, and Search for Tomorrow.
Keep in mind that every mutate trigger is mandatory if a legal target exists and may require you to take actions that are somewhat disadvantageous. For example, your mutate pile may include Gemrazer while the only artifact or enchantment controlled by an opponent is a Helm of Awakening. Similarly, if you mutate your commander with no nonland permanent cards in library, then you will exile your remaining library. Carefully consider the order you mutate your creatures in before you do so, because the game may hinge on you receiving a particular number of triggers of a certain type.
By copying a mutate spell, you create another version of the creature that maintains the same target unless new targets are specified as being allowed. This copy resolves as a token that is part of the mutate pile, working the same way as any other mutate creature card. What’s great about copying a mutate spell is that both the number of mutate events and the number of mutate triggers is incremented, providing significantly more value than mutating other permanents. As with copy effects for instants and sorceries, those that can be free on the turn the spell-to-be-copied is cast are preferable to allow for copying of bigger spells. Additionally, copy effects that do not target are better to avoid vulnerability to counterspells. Always put these cards onto the battlefield with Illuna unless you are afraid of removal. Remember, if one of these permanents entering the battlefield does not create a trigger then you have priority to benefit from its ability at least once before your opponents can remove it.
As a warning, it is possible to overdraw to Keruga’s mandatory ETB if it somehow made its way into your deck before a big Starrix turn. Keruga is the only such mandatory draw effect, besides Dreamtail Heron and Dawnglade Regent, and the only one that triggers on ETB.
]
-Harrow, tempo based ramp spell, but found unnecessary in my meta
-Inferno Titan, situational removal and not enough red sources to pump with
-Kogla, the Titan Ape, a removal spell that is slightly too expensive for its cost
-Koma, Cosmos Serpent, crazy bomb, but runs slightly contrary to where I was taking the deck
-Migratory Route, average ramp spell with a cycling ability and one of the worst ones in the deck
-Rift Sower, a nice high roll in an opening hand, but relatively unnecessary later game
-Sagu Mauler, too much mana (6 or 8) to be a mutate target, too vanilla for an Illuna hit
-Wood Elves, average ramp spell and poor Illuna hit
+Cemetery Prowler, potentially great cost discounter and decent body
+Beanstalk Giant, a ramp spell and alternatively a massive body late game
+Defiler of Dreams, colored cost reducer for many creatures and provides card advantage
+Defiler of Instinct, colored cost reducer for some creatures, provides some situational burn, and first strike is pretty nice
+Defiler of Vigor, colored cost reducer for the majority of creatures in the deck, pumps the team and brings a large body
+Silverback Elder, an engine piece synergizing with the deck’s play patterns, repeatedly provides abilities unique and useful to the deck
+Stormsurge Kraken, great mutate target and great body
+Thrun, the Last Troll, top tier mutate target and decent body
-Amphin Mutineer, an underwhelming body to flip off of Illuna that I found better replaced with an instant speed option to help against combo decks.
-Cemetery Illuminator, an unnecessary form of graveyard hate and card advantage for the deck.
-Lithoform Engine, a flexible support piece for the strategy that provides useful copying, but overall too mana-expensive to be relied upon.
-Myojin of Cryptic Dreams, among the most powerful spell copying effects available in the game, but the “if you cast it from hand” clause is a dealbreaker.
-Thrun, the Last Troll, a cut due to 4 CMC hexproof creatures being notably worse than 3 cmc hexproof creatures.
+Beast Within, staple removal spell in green; play it.
+Peregrine Drake, mana neutral creature that facilitates additional mutate effects in a single turn.
+Tawnos, the Toymaker, efficient copy effect for your mutate spells in the same vein as Volo, Guide to Monsters.
+Venomthrope, another 3 CMC hexproof creature that can trade for most threats your opponents attack you with.
+Vesuvan Duplimancy, a way to take advantage of mutate spells and valuable creatures in the deck.
Illuna will most often finish a game by cheating a few large creatures onto the battlefield with its ability and getting in attacks while your opponent’s scramble to catch up. Alternatively, Auspicious Starrix and copy effects open up the option for a Primal Surge-like effect to wholly steal a game from nowhere. Both these styles of winning require creature cards with the mutate ability to cast on a pivotal turn and something to mutate onto.
In order to pop off, Illuna needs to spend as many turns as possible developing lands until an opening presents itself. This can be done through chaining ramp spells starting on turn 3, answering immediate threats with your removal spells, or by playing out your non-mutate creatures as distractions. Every removal spell they cast on a creature like Elder Gargaroth helps to clear the way for your real game-enders. Cast your mutate spells only when you have nothing else to do, or have a resilient creature to target. If there is low potential for instant-speed removal, casting multiple mutate spells on a vulnerable creature can justify the potential of a later blowout.
If all the mutate nonsense fails, don’t fret! This deck is perfectly capable of beating your opponents the old fashioned way: with a lot of power and a few combat phases. This is a GUR Monsters list at its core, and never forget the commander is a 6/6 flampler for 2GUR when you need more beef. Suffice to say, you should have the biggest creatures around.
opponents will too
other EDH archetypes
Every deck has an average turn, which should be adhered to in order to best progress towards a victory. Illuna’s deck has an optimal series of plays, and a more timid series of plays if other players are controlling your game. This section has been broken down based on phases of the game; into the early, middle, and late game. For the purposes of this post, early game is the slowest part of the casual EDH game, where players develop mana sources and cast their preparatory spells (turns 1-4). Transition to the mid game occurs when players begin to develop moderate threats and exchange their removal (turns 5-8). Finally, the late game happens when most decks are able to execute on their win condition (turn 9 and onward). Different decks have different durations to their phases of the game, and it may be necessary to gamble with Illuna in order to catch up with the fastest person at the table.
You want to spend the beginning of the game to increase your capacity to make larger plays. This starts with [alink=DE]ramp[/alink] and setting up your hand to hit your land drops. Ramp can be effectively substituted for cost reducing effects which provides the most value for when you are multi-spelling in one turn. Mutate plays are at their best when performed in quick succession, so save these spells for after playing any cost reducers in hand.
By the end of this phase of the game, you should have in play many mana sources in your three colors as was manageable and one creature to mutate onto. This creature will provide you an option for using the mutate abilities of your mutate creatures when the need arises.
This phase of the game will be best spent playing any [alink=DC]copy effects[/alink] you might have. If the early game went well enough, it may be possible to develop these cards and copy other spells in the same turn. If your playgroup understands what’s going on they will target down these cards immediately after your mutate piles, in which case develop them only when they get immediate value.
Once you have the copy effect down, or if you have mutate creatures that contribute to ramping, play those out. Mutate the Migratory Greathorn or Lore Drakkis, and follow them up with the filler cards like Everquill Phoenix and Porcuparrot. Depending on the other threats on the table, you may only be safe following this line with a base creature resistant to removal. Play your commander only if the card feels safe and have other mutate spells to follow it up. During this phase of the game, Scourge of Fleets should be live to cheat into play with Illuna and bounce most of your opponent’s creatures.
If copy effects and mutate spells have been exhausted, play your other creatures. In general, if you cannot ramp and can see no powerful mutate lines you should play your removal and other creatures as necessary. In a perfect world, your opponents are spending their removal on your creatures before they become mutated. Cast Keruga during this phase if you find yourself running out of lands or cards to fill out your curve.
This is the stage of the game where you are looking to create the game winning muate pile involving Illuna, Auspicious Starrix, and other powerful mutate effects. Capitalize on your muate pile and it should win you the game. If necessary, cast whichever creatures from hand that also threaten the win. All cards in the deck are reasonably castable early into this stage of the game. This becomes the point that Terror of the Peaks and Temur Ascendancy pick up in value and allow for winning spontaneously. Other [alink=DE]finishers[/alink] will be capable of taking over a game with value by this point. This is also the point that Hullbreaker Horror and Tidespout Tyrant will be seeing enough spells cast to effectively become boardwipes.
Did you feel like the primary decklist didn’t scratch an itch that you want from your next EDH? Do you want a different jumping-off point to explore the ocean that is viable builds of Illuna? Here are some alternative lists for your perusal. The first two are highly similar to the primary decklist with a few tweaks to accomplish a different goal. The third, spellslinger deck is a complete departure from the mid-range archetype and should be a way to explore the unfiltered combo potential of the general.
the Ikoria special
5 Illuna, Apex of Wishes
Companion
5 Keruga, the Macrosage
Mutate - 15
3 Glowstone Recluse
3 Lore Drakkis
3 Sea-Dasher Octopus
3 Trumpeting Gnarr
4 Everquill Phoenix
4 Gemrazer
4 Migratory Greathorn
4 Parcelbeast
4 Porcuparrot
5 Auspicious Starrix
5 Dreamtail Heron
5 Pouncing Shoreshark
6 Sawtusk Demolisher
6 Souvenir Snatcher
7 Archipelagore
Copy Effects - 5
4 Vesuvan Duplimancy
4 Volo, Guide to Monsters
5 Reflections of Littjara
5 Tawnos, the Toymaker
6 Tomb of Horrors Adventurer
Finishers - 3
3 Scute Swarm
3 Temur Ascendancy
6 Warstorm Surge
Ramp and Cost Reducers - 17
3 Animar, Soul of Elements
3 Cultivate
3 Kodama’s Reach
3 Rift Sower
3 Search for Tomorrow
3 Semblance Anvil
3 Wood Elves
4 Defiler of Instinct
4 Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma
4 Migration Path
4 Skyshroud Claim
5 Defiler of Dreams
5 Defiler of Vigor
5 Silverback Elder
5 Thryx, the Sudden Storm
6 Shefet Monitor
7 Beanstalk Giant
3 Beast Within
3 Chaos Warp
4 Consuming Tide
4 Incubation // Incongruity
6 Gargos, Vicious Watcher
7 Colossal Skyturtle
7 Hullbreaker Horror
7 Scourge of Fleets
8 Tidespout Tyrant
Utility - 10
3 Guardian Augmenter
3 Jungleborn Pioneer
3 Loaming Shaman
3 Troll Ascetic
3 Venomthrope
4 Temur Sabertooth
5 Alrund, God of the Cosmos
5 Peregrine Drake
5 Quartzwood Crasher
7 Dawnglade Regent
Lands - 40
0 Contested Cliffs
0 Dreamroot Cascade
0 Evolving Wilds
0 Fabled Passage
0 Forest (x12)
0 Frontier Bivouac
0 Highland Forest
0 Island (x10)
0 Khalni Garden
0 Mosswort Bridge
0 Mountain (x4)
0 Myriad Landscape
0 Rimewood Falls
0 Rockfall Vale
0 Scavenger Grounds
0 Terramorphic Expanse
0 Volatile Fjord
degree in Evolutionary Biology
5 Illuna, Apex of Wishes
Mutate - 15
3 Glowstone Recluse
3 Lore Drakkis
3 Sea-Dasher Octopus
3 Trumpeting Gnarr
4 Everquill Phoenix
4 Gemrazer
4 Migratory Greathorn
4 Parcelbeast
4 Porcuparrot
5 Auspicious Starrix
5 Dreamtail Heron
5 Pouncing Shoreshark
6 Sawtusk Demolisher
6 Souvenir Snatcher
7 Archipelagore
Copy Effects - 5
2 Double Major
4 Vesuvan Duplimancy
4 Volo, Guide to Monsters
5 Reflections of Littjara
6 Tomb of Horrors Adventurer
Finishers - 3
3 Scute Swarm
3 Temur Ascendancy
5 Terror of the Peaks
Ramp and Cost Reducers - 16
2 Farseek
2 Nature’s Lore
2 Paradise Druid
2 Rampant Growth
3 Animar, Soul of Elements
3 Cemetery Prowler
3 Search for Tomorrow
3 Semblance Anvil
4 Defiler of Instinct
4 Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma
4 Skyshroud Claim
5 Defiler of Dreams
5 Defiler of Vigor
5 Silverback Elder
5 Thryx, the Sudden Storm
7 Beanstalk Giant
1 Stubborn Denial
2 Cyclonic Rift
3 Beast Within
3 Chaos Warp
4 Consuming Tide
6 Gargos, Vicious Watcher
7 Colossal Skyturtle
7 Hullbreaker Horror
7 Scourge of Fleets
8 Tidespout Tyrant
Utility - 11
1 Gladecover Scout
1 Slippery Bogle
1 Worldly Tutor
2 Silhana Ledgewalker
3 Endurance
4 Temur Sabertooth
5 Alrund, God of the Cosmos
5 Elder Gargaroth
5 Peregrine Drake
5 Thragtusk
7 Dawnglade Regent
Lands - 38
0 Breeding Pool
0 Contested Cliffs
0 Forest (x11)
0 Hinterland Harbor
0 Island (x9)
0 Ketria Triome
0 Khalni Garden
0 Misty Rainforest
0 Mosswort Bridge
0 Mountain (x3)
0 Prismatic Vista
0 Rootbound Crag
0 Scavenger Grounds
0 Scalding Tarn
0 Steam Vents
0 Stomping Grounds
0 Sulfur Falls
0 Wooded Foothills
occurring in a given game
An optimal game will have you putting two of these permanents into play before storming off for a win. Copying a lethal number of burn spells with Thousand-Year Storm is the most common way to win. You could also go aggro with incidental token producers after a board wipe, using First Day of Class or Goblin War Party to let them connect before an opposing boardwipe.
One way this deck can lose is if Illuna exiles too many of your wincons on the way to one of your enchantments, or you deck out with Song of Creation. For this reason, it is important to spend the beginning of the game digging for an enchantment and potentially using Brainstorm or Dream Cache to set them on the top of deck for Illuna. Long-Term Plans can help you force the issue. This deck is as of now untested, so take my card recommendations with a grain of salt.
5 Illuna, Apex of Wishes
Finishers - 4
4 Song of Creation
5 Ignite Memories
6 Thousand-Year Storm
10 Omniscience
Ramp and Rituals - 15
1 Strike it Rich
2 Explore
2 Growth Spiral
2 Manamorphose
2 Nature’s Lore
2 Farseek
2 Three Visits
3 Growth Spasm
3 Harrow
3 Jeska’s Will
3 Search for Tomorrow
4 Big Score
4 Pirate’s Pillage
4 Skyshroud Claim
4 Unexpected Windfall
5 Mana Geyser
Removal - 18
1 An Offer You Can’t Refuse
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Nature’s Claim
1 Pest Infestation
1 Rapid Hybridization
1 Swan Song
2 Arcane Denial
2 Artifact Mutation
2 Callous Dismissal
2 Cyclonic Rift
2 Snap
2 Spawning Breath
3 Beast Within
3 Chaos Warp
3 Prismari Command
4 Inscription of Insight
5 Burn Down the House
5 Mystic Confluence
9 Blasphemous Act
1 Brainstorm
1 Crop Rotation
1 Faithless Looting
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Noxious Revival
1 Ponder
1 Preordain
2 Chatterstorm
2 First Day of Class
2 Lazotep Plating
2 Sprout Swarm
2 Startle
3 Bala Ged Recovery
3 Bonus Round
3 Dream Cache
3 Frantic Search
3 Long-Term Plans
3 Solve the Equation
4 Empty the Warrens
4 Goblin War Party
4 Mythos of Illuna
4 Past in Flames
4 Serpentine Curve
Lands - 37
0 Alchemist’s Refuge
0 Breeding Pool
0 Cinder Glade
0 Forest (x11)
0 Island (x10)
0 Ketria Triome
0 Misty Rainforest
0 Mountain (x4)
0 Prismatic Vista
0 Scalding Tarn
0 Shelldock Isle
0 Steam Vents
0 Stomping Grounds
0 The Biblioplex
0 Wooded Foothills
Thus we come to the end, and I would like to take this opportunity to review the lessons we have learned. We have explored the capabilities of Illuna as a one-of-a-kind value engine, a battlefield-flooding combo piece, and a top-tier beater. We have discovered the card interactions that make unassuming creatures become the scariest thing in a game. We have found a way to make one of Magic’s Timmy-est archetypes into a Mel’s paradise.
I would like to thank my friends and LGS community for giving me the opportunity to test this deck, the MTG Salvation primer authors who provide templates for effective organization of information, and finally you for reading this. Please let me know how the information sections read and how the deck plays, I will be sure to update this thread when I get the chance.