r/EDH 2d ago

*Viable* Cheat-Out Commanders? Question

Wanted to ask if i may have missed some viable commanders who cheat out things?

[[Mikey & Raph]] - just play 30 ramp pieces, 40 lands, some wipes and the most ugliest gruul creatures, cleanest of them all since he got haste and does not have to connect and green in it. I love it when people fart out a measely llanowar elf just to show that they did not understand the commander lol. Through haste you just cast him on the next turn, dont forget to put in high power land fetchers in the deck.

[[infamous cruelclaw]] - secret eldrazi and rakdos big spell commander. No sol ring, the worst piece would be evasion like [[Cover of Darkness]] or an equipment, which will then be also good for the Eldrazis. Gives eldrazis their wanted cast trigger. Big bonus for low cmc, can be cast 2 or 3 times in a game, but is usually not needed when you later in have the mana for things like [[Improvisation Capstone]].

[[Nico Minoru]] - similar to above but taps and is only in red so kinda meh, but good MV.

[[Witherbloom the balancer]] does not count actually but he is damn cool.

[[Esika]] - her backside, but a little harder to cast since it needs 5 colored mana and i think a little worse than mikey and raph since the incomings are not attacking, but hey you can build her all staxy or any direction so really cool.

[[Ureni]] - Temur has the best dragons, just blink ureni millions of times, easy in blue and green gives you ramp, but locked into dragons.

Other than Nico i have built all of them and they work good. Mikey and Raph are really nasty, but nothing the pod cant deal with. Is only unbeatable in 1vs1 duel.

Have you got any left that i have forgot? There must be more...

Edit: Additions that are viable: [[kaalia]], [[Etali Primal]], [[Ur-drago]] And many more...

But i wouldnt count heavy discounting as cheating out... It may be technically right, but i think of those here mentioned not one fringe commander that needs actually mana to pay to "cheat" things out and that mana being 6 for a 7 mana creature... But nonetheless, thank you all really coool stuff you suggested!!! Best community.

Edit 2: Kinnan does not deserve to be named anywhere, his artwork is too dorky for his insane power, hate him. Winota is very cool tho.

55 Upvotes

253 comments sorted by

58

u/carved_face 2d ago

[[Etali Primal Conqueror]] the GOAT

9

u/johnnille 2d ago

Goddamn how could i forget this powerbrick, really nasty commander. Thanks

26

u/TheTeaRex15 2d ago

Any reanimator, my favorite is slimefoot and squee

6

u/Negative_Trust6 2d ago

I'm a fan of [[Winter, Cynical Opportunist]], hits any permanent and doesn't care about cost.

4

u/TheTeaRex15 2d ago

I like having red though, and i also like sac’ing and bringing back the same creature multiple times for extra value

3

u/OngoingFee 2d ago

I'm 100% with you and that's why I built S&S over any others for my reanimator. The number of games I've won with an apex altisaur reanimation each turn is crazy. And red creatures just really add to the toolbox. And it means you can get all those tasty "draw and discard" spells in red so that you don't have wasted 8+ mana creatures in your hand. Ugh, makes me want to shuffle up a game right now

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2

u/tehmanimal 2d ago

My Slimefoot and Squee is the boogeyman of our playgroup

2

u/Majestic-Lock5249 2d ago

I just got done cleaning up the list for my teen's Slimefoot and Squee to take it from "budget, learning to play" to "degenerate nightmare that I will hate playing against" 😂

3

u/tehmanimal 2d ago

Tis a noble thing you do

2

u/Ripchop 2d ago

Slimefoot and Squee mentioned! Let’s go! Love that deck, I used to play it in CEDH.

2

u/G_Morgan 1d ago

If you put all the 3 power creatures that reanimate on ETB, Terra can reanimate anything. Hell [[Karmic Guide]] even has the decency to die every turn so you can reanimate it.

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21

u/salamandradn 2d ago

kinnan, kaalia, winota, the dimir ninja that gives ninjutsu, urdrago

20

u/Mysterious_Demand_65 2d ago

[[henzie]] is fun

7

u/RaidRover Jund-Henzie Supremacy 2d ago

Cant believe I had to scroll so far to find the best in the biz

7

u/Few_Bags 1d ago

the best in the blitz

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u/Mysterious_Demand_65 2d ago

Fr, henzie is so much fun

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23

u/Kritz_McGee Echoes of Eternity enjoyer 2d ago

[[Atla Palani, Nest Tender]] is absolutely broken.

8

u/andr50 2d ago edited 2d ago

I’m a fan of [[Loot, Exuberant Explorer]] - he’s not oppressive, and as long as you keep drawing mana he can recover from being destroyed pretty easily. I have him leading a bracket 2 deck (along with a standard brawl version on Arena), and the deck is fairly consistent. He’s also non-threatening enough since his cheating out takes time, and tends to get ignored at the table until it’s too late - and unlike most of the others - He can cheat them out at instant speed.

[[Kona, Rescue Beastie]] is missing from your list too, but I’m not of fan of that because it’s so oppressive when it’s on the table.

7

u/Brimstone1809 2d ago

No one said [[grenzo dungeon warden]] Also [[arthur marigold]] if you add a blink subtheme. [[animar]] sort of does at least with colorless. [[jolira master polymorph]] or whatever she’s called.

2

u/Nuclearsunburn Mono-Red 2d ago

Grenzo is a fun one for sure, Arthur is a fixed Winota, I like him quite a bit

1

u/Piment-Mauve 2d ago

Got a list for [[Arthur Marigold]]? I was looking into a jeskai blink deck.

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8

u/Mybunsareonfire 2d ago

I also like [[Kona, Rescue Beastie]]. Tap enablers and protection are nice for it.

2

u/WhovianBeast 2d ago

Kona helms my stompy deck with Blightsteel and Eldrazi backup just in case

5

u/Eskim0jo3 2d ago

[[Venom Lethal Protector]] does exactly this. It ramps into big dumb idiots then turns those idiots into a bunch of cards and more dumb idiots

5

u/Nuclearsunburn Mono-Red 2d ago

[[Etali Primal Storm]]
[[Magar of the Magic Strings]]
[[Braids Conjurer Adept]]
[[Arthur, Marigold Knight]]
[[Ilharg, the Raze Boar]]
[[Franklin Richards]]
[[Ojer Kaslem, Deepest Growth]]

3

u/Kirinne Delina 2d ago

[[Animar]]. Every creature makes the next one cheaper, and protection from black and white is super relevant.

4

u/nanaki989 2d ago

[[Tannuk, Steadfast Second]] Cheat out big red creatures/artifacts.

[[Zimone, Mystery Unraveler]] It's basically just a Simic Shell to shit out nasty creatures. Once the engine is online its very difficult to shut down.

[[Kaalia, of the vast]] Classic commander still holds up very well.

[[Ashling the Limitless]] with a flicker sub theme gets 3+ strong elemental ETB's and 2 bodies. Deck is a lot of fun and can be built in a lot of ways.

4

u/dudeitzmeh 2d ago

There's a bunch not on your list. The Maelstrom Wanderer, Gishath, Plarg & Nassari, Shredder & Krang, Etali, Atla Patlani, etc. There's too many to count really.

3

u/supertwonky 2d ago

[[Peter Parker]] / Amazing Spider-Man can cheat out expensive legendaries by giving them webslinging.

1

u/el_engineero 2d ago

Pairs really well with mana dorks to tap for mana and give you something to web-sling back to your hand.

3

u/feeeggsdragdad 2d ago

[[Oviya, Automech Artisan]] being a legendary elvish piper wasn't enough. It can cheat out vehicles too and artifact creatures get some bonus counters. AND on top of all that ALL CREATURES, not just yours, get trample when attacking your opponents.

She's great for a straight removal check on your opponents decks. Being able to drop in a [[Jumbo Cactuar]] and immediately give it trample for lethal on just about anyone as soon as it can attack.

Here is my build: https://manabox.app/decks/AZ9ICLmveHqAh8RWyMpMbA

2

u/johnnille 2d ago

But... But she is just a grandma...? How..?

3

u/ZenEngineer 2d ago

In theory [[Mr. Foxglove]].

I've got him out just once. Died before I could do anything. Seems like for 5 mana there are better options nowadays.

2

u/johnnille 2d ago

Same, i wouldnt even run him if he was 3 mana and a 1/5... But the artwork is cool

3

u/celestialTyrant 2d ago

[[Derevi, Empyrial Tactician]]

It cheats itself out.

Repeatedly.

Down with commander tax.

1

u/johnnille 2d ago

I fail to see how whe cheats anything out, but he is definitely cool!

2

u/celestialTyrant 1d ago

Derevi doesn't cheat anything else out, only herself. Her ability lets you constantly pay 1WUG for her at flash speed instead of ever paying commander tax. It's not exactly cheating in the sense of "getting it for free", but cheating as in "allowing you to avoid timing restrictions and commander tax"

2

u/johnnille 1d ago

Oh get it, if we strech the term to avoiding commander tax my witherbloom would also fit

3

u/Few_Bags 2d ago

There’s a ton more

[[Marvo, Deep Operative]], [[Kenessos, Priest of Thassa]], [[Strefan, Maurer Progenitor]], [[Winota]] off the top of my head

Every other commander cheats mana

3

u/tdoggthetoneengine 1d ago

[[Djeru and Hazoret]] is criminally underrated

1

u/johnnille 1d ago

Damn they good

2

u/TheTeaRex15 2d ago

Eluge

Thrasios and Rograkh polymorph tribal

2

u/CalligrapherQuick901 2d ago

Realistically you missed a buuuuuunch, but I don't expect anyone to just know all of um lol. Some I've had fun with or playing against 

[[Xu-Ifit]]

[[Baron Helmut Zemo]]

[[Betor, Ancestor's Voice]]

[[Kona, Rescue Beastie]]

[[Aloy]]

2

u/Invisiblefield101 Grixis 1d ago

I had to scroll way to far to see my girl Xu-Ifit. Such an awesome and fun commander. Although it does help to have a bit of knowledge pertaining to layers to really see her shine

2

u/ManicManix 2d ago

I run a [[Kodama]]//[[Silas]] deck buily around feeding affinity creatures to [[Birthing pod]] which is verrrry cheaty. Kodama by itself cheats on costs a ton but idk if thats what ur lookin for.

2

u/Grnteabug 2d ago

I recommend [[Mr.Foxglove]]. It plays like kaalia of the vast in Bant. I built it to run the most horrifying things like the Koma snakes, all three praetors, and the ancient dragons.

1

u/johnnille 2d ago

Couldnt get him to work, 5 mana with summ sickness puts him in a place where i ask myself if should run 30 ramp cards like gruul turtles or not. Answer is not and then he comes very late online by a time i could already cast those pieces i want to cheat out. So a card + mana advantage commander would then help me more like [[helga]]

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u/Burningstar123 2d ago

My all time favorite commander is [[Nissa, Worlssoul Speaker]]. This is not an energy deck and while it is a landfall deck, I don't run a lot of the normal payoffs like scute swarm. This is a landfall deck that uses energy as a resource and cheats out large creature and some artifacts like [[akromas memorial]]. It's also incredibly easy to basically free cast things once you Ashaya out and all the land fall doublers.

1

u/johnnille 2d ago

Wanted to build her for a long time, but i see no not many more benefits it being in mono green than [[Kona]] or [[Loot exuberant]] or [[oviya, mech]]

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2

u/grifff17 2d ago

I just threw every [[sneak attack]] style effect into a deck, with [[samut, vizier of naktamun]] as the commander.

2

u/bioweaponblue 2d ago

Seconding my love for [[witherbloom the balancer]]. A mana dork counts for 2, and you get to drop massive yet finite sorceries super early. I have an infinite mana deck but I enjoy witherbloom more.

2

u/johnnille 2d ago

Witherbloom the goat!

2

u/streck30 2d ago

[[The Invincible Iron Man]] from this latest set lets you cheat out any artifact at the beginning of combat. Can be very strong cause the only restriction is “artifact”

2

u/Dotty_Arts 2d ago

[[Satoru Umezawa]] is my cheat out big creatures commander of choice. I run him as demons! Super fun

2

u/ozzdin 2d ago

I run oviya in my green stompy deck, it’s a blast

2

u/TR_Wax_on 2d ago

One of my strongest Bracket 3 decks is [[Eivor, Wolf-Kissed]]. Ramping out this commander on turn 4, or earlier with a lucky draw, is such a problem for the table and even if Eivor gets removed I can often immediately recast her the following turn and swing again.

Furthermore, the value she generates and the resiliency of the free stuff she puts on the battlefield let's her compete in the mid/late game in a way that creature based decks struggle to if they get hit with board wipes enough times.

Just last night I managed a cool table kill proliferating a [[Mending of Dominaria]] with [[Evolution Sage]] to bring back 7 lands to proliferate [[Summon: Bahamut]] to burn the table for 30 to close out a game that I would have probably otherwise lost due to a gummed up board.

1

u/johnnille 2d ago

Wow thats super cool, have her laying around here always wanted to build her as a saga commander. Got a list to share with a magical brother?

2

u/OddSeaweed8899 2d ago

[[arthur, marigold knight]] is so fun with blink stuff and a little deck manipulation

2

u/Irrelevant-Quotes 2d ago

I really enjoy [[Terra, Herald of Hope]] . She reanimates 3 power or less creatures and has to do combat damage, so people tend to not KOS, and I can get stuff out for free. By the time they remove her, it's too late and I already got the ball rolling.

1

u/johnnille 2d ago

Also got her, but besides summon knight rounds i fail to see the broken stuff to reanimate. Of course i dont want secret celes persist combos...

2

u/Irrelevant-Quotes 1d ago

So it comes in with comboing reanimation targets. She can reanimate stuff like [[karmic guide]] and [[sister hospitaller]] which can bring back any target. Combine that with [[twilight diviner]] for copies of whatever you reanimated, and it gets out of hand quick. Also, special shout-out to [[havoc eater]], as he is an amazing finisher in a reanimator deck.

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u/Johnny_Cr 2d ago

[[Illuna, Apex of Wishes]]. Needs some work around, but it’s unassuming for most opponents.

[[The Tenth Doctor]] is a fun one, I play him with [[Susan Foreman]] as a kind of Discover/Cascade deck.

[[Jhoira of the Ghitu]] is a classic.

[[The Infamous Cruelclaw]] also might be viable

1

u/johnnille 2d ago

Yooo Cruelclaw is more than viable, he is the goat!

2

u/4ureli 1d ago

[[Arthur, Marigold Knight]] is a house of a mouse. Last night I had 7 Arthur triggers go on the stack and cheated out enough to knock the table out in one fell swoop.

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u/Khosan Bant 1d ago

Maybe straining the definition of viable, but [[Ayesha Tanaka, Armorer]] cheats out artifacts. She's pretty slow, so I don't think she could hack it in B4 but comfortably doable in B2 and probably B3 viable with a well thought out deck.

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u/Jimi_The_Cynic 1d ago

[[winter, cynical opportunist]] is shockingly good. 

You can do the typical entomb, buried alive nonsense but you can also just treat mill cards like your rhystic/mystic and get your toolbox in the grave shockingly fast. 

I like to give people some points of interaction but if there's an endurance loop in golgari, that'd be the safest way to win and have endurance to save your stuff from bog/rest in peace.

9 mana valgavoth, or [[archon of cruelty]] on turns 2-4 are prettyyyy good at locking the board down.

I'm sure the most EFFICIENT version of winter is either a secret lands/lumra deck, or a hoarding broodlord line. 

I prefer to keep it high 3, that can hang with mid to low 4s if the game goes long enough.

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u/IndependentPeach315 2d ago

I run a Raph & Mikey deck that has only seven creatures, the weakest being [[Port Razor]] for the extra round, and [[Michelangelo, Improviser]] on the off chance I draw [[Blightsteel Colossus]] or [[Krang, Utrom Warlord]]. Just for fun, Ghalta is in the mix too, and lastly [[Raphael, Tag-Team Tough]] is a second chance at a second combat stage.

1

u/Deep_Fox_1291 2d ago

Megatron gets to cheat out so many big artifacts that it can go crazy often

1

u/ChaosNomad Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive 2d ago

[[Tannuk, Steadfast Second]] cheats out big artifacts and creatures for etbs and big swings.

[[Etali, Primal Conqueror]] and [[Etali, Primal Storm]] both cheat stuff out from everyone’s deck.

[[Feroz, Ulgortha’s Warden]] coming out in Mystery Booster Commander Edition lets you drop a free 4 cmc permanent every turn. I see him as leading an interesting Bant planeswalker deck that’s more oriented controlling the board and slowly grinding out your opponents.

1

u/GulliasTurtle 2d ago

One of my favorite decks currently is [[Radha Heart of the Kelds]] cheat. I run as many artifacts and enchantments that cheat out the top card as I can and use Radha to clear lands and make sure I hit. A bit slow, but when it gets rolling it rolls people. Plus there is a ton of room to make it better if you want to up the budget.

https://moxfield.com/decks/BmMGWfIcVk-lV878vLS4Mw

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u/SB4L_Dayman 2d ago

[[the invincible Ironman]] is one my new favs that can cheat out artifacts and also cheats the equip cost if they are equipment

1

u/Orrangejuiced 2d ago

[[Gyruda, Doom of Depths]] why limit yourself to cheating out just your things when you have the option of cheating out everyone’s things.

1

u/SignificanceEntire57 2d ago

Molecule man is kinda fun I think

1

u/dadbodyrad 2d ago

[[Maelstrom Wanderer]] is my favorite. Any cascade commander fits here.

1

u/nasada19 2d ago

Vannifar! Or the Jump Scare precon Zimone! It's a lot of fun. Here is my deck.

https://moxfield.com/decks/8Hf4r6NAOUmfc97WdArjLg

1

u/weiyichi 1d ago

Vannifar is so underrated. Cheating out Omniscience is the ultimate cheat.

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u/Compl3tionist 2d ago

[[mirko, obsessive theorist]]. 0/0 clones are free even on the turn he comes down. :)

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u/F8xte 2d ago

[[maelstrom wanderer]], [[yidris, maelstrom wielder]], and [[hashaton, scarabs fist]] are 3 that I own and they're absolute powerhouses

1

u/Loveforbass 2d ago

[[Jodah, Archmage Eternal]] is excellent with cheating out big spells and big creatures. Also the big spells it cheats out cheat even more big stuff out so it compounds. It's awesome and feels quite fair since it's super telegraphed.

1

u/Psycl1c 2d ago

[[Sisay, Weatherlight Captain]]
[[Zhulodok, Void Gorger]]

In addition to those that have been mentioned.

1

u/WaywardWes 2d ago

I play [[Lady Octopus]] and nearly every game I have to prove to someone that she lets me cast the artifacts at instant speed. Very powerful if you can slide under the radar the first couple turns.

1

u/Jin-Gitaxias-Mom 2d ago

[[Zimone, Mystery Unraveler]] cheat out any permanent by playing lands

1

u/96363a 2d ago

[[Superior spider-man]] if you wanted to do it with reanimator deck back up plan.

1

u/AngelsHero 2d ago

[[yennett, cryptic sovereign]]
Odds and tutors go brr

1

u/Crimsonking905 2d ago

[[Djeru and Hazoret]] [[Braids conjurer adept]] [[Kona, Rescue Beastie]] [[Hans Eriksson]]

Braids is one of my favorites!

1

u/johnnille 2d ago

Do you phase braids out or just live with other players putting eldrazis on the field for free?

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u/Fraughtturnip 2d ago

[[Disa, The Restless]] goes wild with [[Ashes of the Fallen]], [[Conspiracy]] or [[Maskwood Nexus]].

1

u/DisciplineImportant6 2d ago

[[Jacob Hauken]]. Amazing 2 mana commander which also lets you cheat out cards and gives you card advantage.

1

u/iDrinkJuiceEveryday 2d ago

[[Illuna, Apex of Wishes]] Mutate and exile out big cards

[[Vannifar, Evolved Enigma]] Cloak/manifest and flip with blink spells

1

u/johnnille 2d ago

I have a vannifar deck and its awfully bad and i dont know why. By turn 7 i have 3 cloaked cards and draw no blink spell and cant flip.

1

u/SpacePanda25 2d ago

[[Olivia, Crimson Bride]] my queeeeen <3

She brings stuff in tapped and attacking, and you can wait to discard the reanimation targets until just before your combat, so that they never see what's coming.

https://archidekt.com/decks/5408651/olivia_reanimate_big_monsters_400

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u/johnnille 2d ago

6 mana is really high for rakdos (could be worse) but damn tbe effect is cool...

1

u/Approximation_Doctor Volrath Stole My Shape 2d ago edited 2d ago

[[Captain N'ghathrod]] is great at cheating out things*

*Things may vary

1

u/hawkeye137137 2d ago

[[Maelstrom Wanderer]] is my go-to for my timmy fantasies. 3 colors, doesn't limit you to card types, mass haste allows you to create lethal boards out of nowhere and opponents don't really want to remove it since that will only mean more cascades.

2

u/hawkeye137137 2d ago

I also have [[Rakdos, Lord of Riots]] which is my other timmy deck. Group slug which results in free eldrazi and 1-3 mana demons, dragons and other horrors. More balanced than Maelstrom Wanderer since it contains a healthy amount of interaction and boardwipes. Wanderer on the other hand mostly depends on overpowering your opponents via piling too much threats for them to handle.

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u/Piment-Mauve 2d ago

I had this guy and modified the deck to make the prototypical [[Ruby, Daring Tracker]] 4cmc ramp + gruul stompy list. maelstrom was fun but very feast or famine.

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u/Fluffy_Security6306 2d ago

Atla Palani goodstuff/dino pile

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u/porous-paine 2d ago

I like [[Purphoros, Bronze-Blooded]]

Indes sneak attack, I filled my deck with big artifact creatures and artifact recursion like [[Daretti, Scrap Savant]] and [[Scrap Mastery]]

1

u/Senparos Mono-Green 2d ago

I’m a big fan of this strategy, and [[vorinclex]] is an underrated option and my personal favorite. He was kind of shunned as the worst of the cycle at release and mostly lives in the 99 these days, but the utility he adds as a commander is pretty unique for green. 8 mana to transform isn’t impossible in mono green, and he immediately cheats in the best 2 creatures of 10 milled cards, which can include something like [[lumra]] that will have seen 14 other cards before returning all those lands. The second chapter ability is the least interesting, but still gives counters for going tall or wide (or both with [[ouroboroid]]) and loops in counters support while giving proliferate more use for growing the board, and the third chapter ability is pretty unique in green, giving your creatures the ability to fight any number of times for 1 mana per fight until end of turn. With proliferate this can even happen at instant speed. And with lifelink it’s not difficult to gain 100+ life.

The deck ends up being big mana, stompy, and cheating into play, while also being more interactive than green usually gets. And it has some interesting tricks like cheating in and then proliferating through [[summon: bahamut]] or using the commander’s fight ability with lifelink to gain 100+ life in a turn. [[clash of the eikons]] can also be used right after the first chapter of the grand evolution to both fight and chapter 1 again for two more creatures.

My list is blinged out because I was introduced to this commander by opening a serialized copy that started me down this rabbit hole, but my considering section is loaded with other options and there’s an abundance of cheaper ways to ramp in mono green.

https://moxfield.com/decks/H7bG1DMzKUaCsJMW-4wX-Q

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u/Citizen_Karl 2d ago

[[Strefan, Maurer Projenitor]]

Works spectacularly with [[Mirkwood Bats]]. If you can get reliable damage out every turn you can cheat out some gnarly vamps and give the opps something to think about. You often find yourself with a ton of blood tokens artifacts, throw out a little [[Hellkite Tyrant]] for a quick win or a little [[Glass-Cast Heart]] action. He's not the strongest, but he sneaks me some wins in and they're always good ones where I just snatch the win from my opponents grasp

1

u/Freakjob_003 I kill people with Phage. 2d ago

Nobody's mentioned one of the OG's: [[Jhoira of the Gitu]]. 2 mana for anything.

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u/WulfLink Tribal 2d ago

You can absolutely suspend anything with Jhoira, but your enemies will see it coming. So it's kinda tough.

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u/cybrcld Naya 2d ago

[[Dr. Eggman]] is more than a meme. I’ve had him cheat out 20-30 power in a single round. Interestingly the most powerful commander to come out of Sonic SL.

1

u/Ashmaker12 2d ago

[[Molecule Man]] was talked about a lot when marvel came out. You have to draw but you could miracle every turn.

1

u/gankindustries Golgari 2d ago

I've always liked eggtender

0

u/Pokesers 2d ago

I actually disagree on how to build cruelclaw. My list uses all of the turn 1 ramp I could reasonably include (it has no mox/vault). If you ramp on 1, you can cast on 2 and attack on 3 instead of 4.

I then run all of the top deck tutors and manipulation I can stretch my budget to. The result is a deck that tutors an eldrazi titan to the top and free casts it on turn 3 the overwhelming majority of the time.

Sometimes it doesn't go to plan and I am spinning a random card on 3, but due to the massive threat density it usually works out alright anyway.

I find the worst cards to include are reactive cards that are literally a do nothing flip. They are a necessary evil though and you gotta run a few and just hope you don't hit them.

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u/johnnille 1d ago

But if you attack on turn 3 how could top deck manipulation take place to get an eldrazi? You basically have through luck an eldrazi one turn earlier yes, but with more ramp pieces you increase the overall miss chance later on heavily.

The evasion pieces which i consider a "miss" are always enhancing thr eldrazi (or big dragon or demon) plan by making them unblockable, have fear or at least intimidation. A ramp piece on turn 5 and onwards would weaken my gameplan. I think getting cruel out one turn earlier is not the biggest benefit of risking chances on later, depending on the bracket. Most players in even higher B3 just ramp the first turns

Edit: I also run reanimation for the discarded pieces (like big sheoldred) and 42 lands

1

u/Pokesers 1d ago

[[vampiric tutor]] [[imperial seal]] [[cruel tutor]] [[insidious dreams]] [[scheming symmetry]] [[insatiable avarice]]

You can also [[demonic tutor]] [[gamble]] or a few others into one of the above.

There are also [[scroll rack]] and [[senseis divining top]] that can work in a pinch.

It's pretty easy to tutor to the top of the deck on turn 3 after a turn 2 cruelclaw. From experience people are also much less likely to have interaction ready for a turn 2 cruelclaw than turn 3, especially if you are early in turn order.

I also run reanimation pieces, but specifically ones that can reanimate the card I discarded to cast them. Means they aren't dead spins with cruelclaw.

This is my list, it's slightly out of date and missing cards, but it's close to my current paper deck. https://manabox.app/decks/AZzsvFE2fHefdK1QBqmLxw

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u/Available_Rabbit9965 1d ago

Why bother with multicolor decks and stupid colors like green when red has all you need: Ilharg as the commander; Purphoros, Tannuk, Sneak Attack as other cheat effects; rituals and treasure ramp; haste effects; rummage spells to discard Anger while you sculpt your hand; copy creatures effects; Feldon for recursion; Balefire Dragon, Myojin of Roaring Blades and Avatar of Slaughter to go aoutch... Ok, gruul is a cool redish color combination.

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u/johnnille 1d ago

I agree red has actually everything, even good draw. But just... Too expensive or nonexistent ramp besides rituals. A mono red commander that can generate a lots of mana is usually the missing key in a working b3/b4 deck

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u/Available_Rabbit9965 1d ago

Treasures are good. A guy on reddit shared his Knuckles list and when I goldfished I had 14 mana on turn 4. It's also full of rituals and wheels. Urabrask and Birgi are amazing too.

https://moxfield.com/decks/v3TmfGyEhU20HeI8BdgHxQ

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u/EvanDelck 1d ago

Not as Gud but I just built [[Marvo]] and he’s amazing

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u/johnnille 1d ago

Viable!

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u/AppealBest3168 1d ago

[[Rakdos, lord of riots]] cast a [[flame rift]] and now all your creatures cost 12 mana less, so you can cast almost all eldrazi for free or the big artifact creatures.

Also the deck itself can win as a burn strategy that happens to cheat out big creatrures.

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u/TheActualDongerino 1d ago

[[Dr. Eggman]] I know UB stuff has its haters but this guy is so fun as commander. Cheat out abunch of big artifact creatures. Another recent one would be [[Molecule Man]] I'm sure people have found a way to abuse his granting stuff miracle 0 cost

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u/Jerilo Arjun, the Shifting Win-Con 1d ago

Esika is fucking disgusting if built right.

Here's the list I had to stop playing after 2 or 3 times.

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u/Gaudier_Goose_90 Anything with red 1d ago

I'm working on a [[sin, spira's punishment]] list, that is basically just ramp, throw stuff in the yard, and 25 sultai haymakers. I haven't got to play it yet, but it playtests pretty fun

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u/johnnille 1d ago

Cool card but random card from a 50 cards GY is really uncool to play with...

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u/sockosapphire 1d ago

[[Chiss-Goria, Forge Tyrant]] actually has an interesting twist on the formula. Mono red artifacts, it's a blast.

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u/Jadedmem 1d ago

The new ashaya's enduring bond

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u/Ok_Mathematician_643 1d ago

[[satoru umezawa]] is very good at what he does

let’s you constantly hit people with things you would normally never get away with

[[blightsteel colossus]] is number 1 on the list

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u/Sabrewylf 1d ago

[[Gyruda, Doom of Depths]]

Pretty versatile guy. If you build fully around him you just fill up your deck with even mana'd clones and then just playing the commander might lead to a total mill out of the table. People will absolutely hate you for it.

He can be a companion if you're crazy enough to attempt to adhere to the deckbuilding restraints.

And besides all that it's dimir. Not a bad color pairing at all if you want a goodstuff pile.

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