#edh deck

Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder

There are so many ways to build Yidris; Voltron, Spell-Slinging etc. I naturally wanted to go the mill route. I know that the best mill colors are indisputably blue and black, but the addition of red gives us access to wheel effects and green gives us access to ramp and enchantment removal so I thought why not go for a four color mill deck instead. I have tested and it actually works better than I expected it to. Yidris hit's pretty hard too and allows you to potentially chain cast multiple mill and wheel effects with his cascade ability. 

First, Ramp 

The presence of green makes ramping easy. We could use elves such as Priest of Titania, Gyre Sage and Elvish Archdruid. Enchantments such as Kruphix, God of Horizons, Burgeoning and Exploration also make ramping really easy. Cryptolith Rite and Paradox Engine also go really well together to really make spells pay for themselves. Also, if I’ve learned anything there’s always one (usually me) who falls for the Tempt with Discovery trick too allowing you to get way more ahead. 

Utter Chaos 

Hopefully no one is keeping their hands beyond a certain point, due to the wheeling. Effects such as Jace’s Archivist, Windfall, Wheel of Fate, Teferi’s Puzzle Box and Reforge the Soul will all make certain that your opponents can’t make long term strategies. especially if you can chain cast multiple using Yidris’s ability. This constant drawing and discarding of cards will hopefully be useful to us later. 

Drawing and Discarding 

Of course we’re going to be taking advantage of these wheel effects with creatures like Nekusar the Mindrazer, Psychosis Crawler and Fate Unraveler. Megrim, Liliana’s Caress, Nath of the Gilt Leaf and Waste Not can be used to take advantage of them discarding too. These effects combined with the milling can potentially whittle down their libraries at a significant rate. The Locust God could also be really useful in this deck to take even more advantage of drawing.

That’s a nice hand you’ve got there... 

If the incremental damage taken from drawing isn’t enough to kill them. I’m hoping that the number of cards in their hand will. Effects like that of Sudden Impact, Fevered Visions and Ebony Owl Netsuke as well as Dreamborn Muse making them mill equal to the number of cards in their hand will hopefully help to finish them off. 

And Finally...  

Tariel, Reckoner of Souls 

A little while back, I came up with this mardu colored reanimator deck around Tariel, Reckoner of Souls based on a mono-white reanimator deck I built some time ago. Tariel is a 4/7 for 7 Mana with Flying and the ability to tap and take a random creature from an opponent’s graveyard. A little overpriced, but with all the creatures we already have, we may not need her at all. 

A “Slight” Angel Subtheme 

Okay so when I was building this deck I found that the creature base is mostly angels. But they make such good reanimation targets and I have wanted an Angel deck for a while so I just left it alone. I find that Angel of Despair, Angel of Serenity and Exquisite Archangel are some solid examples of this creature type, all with powerful abilities and good targets for reanimation. Of course then we have some legendary angels like the Avacyns, the Giselas and Bruna, the Fading Light as well as Anya, Merciless Angel who also make powerful additions to such a deck. 

Making Tariel Work 

To make Tariel work, we need to get your opponent’s creatures into the graveyard. We can do this with a few milling abilities such as Altar of Dementia and Dread Summons. The wipe spell Life’s Finale is also really good for this as you can wipe the board and then go through an opponent’s library for any three creatures to put into their graveyard. Thousand-Year Elixir is also good as it allows you to activate her ability essentially twice or attack and then activate the ability. 

Or we could just... 

...Reanimate our creatures using any of the reanimate abilities present in the deck. Since this deck has an Angel theme, Defy Death is a very good reanimation spell. Obzedat’s Aid is another good spell to this effect. Reya Dawnbringer is very expensive but allows you to return creatures directly to the battlefield on each of your turns. There is always Marshal’s Anthem which is a good Anthem and reanimates creatures equal to the number of times it was kicked though this requires a lot of white mana. To close there is always Rise of the Dark Realms, for when you absolutely must have all the creatures in all graveyards.

Anyone here not an Angel? 

Some of the creatures present in this deck aren’t Angels. Some other reanimator favourites such as Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Duplicant and Rune-Scarred Demon are also in here. The other Praetor, Sheoldred, Whispering One is also here and has a reanimation ability herself, so she’ll fit right in. I’ve lately realised the value of Yahenni, Undying Partisan and bought one for every black deck as she is a really good sac outlet that’s hard to get rid of. 

And Finally... 

Unsung Heroes 

Below are some cards that have some pretty cool abilities that I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone use, but me. It could be because their mana costs are too high or they’re a bit too niche maybe, but here they are anyway. 

1. Repay in Kind 

I’ve managed to win or come close to winning with this a couple of times, it’s a great way of just closing out one of those games. We’ve all had one, where someone has a Trostani deck or has just managed to get a Gary onto the battlefield and become healthy again. Laugh in their face as their life total drops to an all time low.

2. Tainted Remedy 

As good as this card is, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone else use it or even heard it mentioned. it’s so good for obvious reasons. I suppose in some decks, commander damage does render it useless.

3. Dispatch 

Considering all prevalence of mana rocks and other artifact utilities in commander, as well as Exile being a staple. I’m surprised I don’t see this one more often. 

4. Nightmare Incursion 

I love cards like this, making sure certain things can never be played is just wonderful. I occasionally see Praetor’s Grasp, but that’s the closest to this card I think I’ve ever seen. This card goes really well with Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth by the way. 

5. Grand Abolisher 

I don’t see this guy around much anymore. his ability to shut down all responses during your turn even your end step is just a god send. he’s really cheap too. 

6. Merciless Executioner 

This is Fleshbag Marauder’s less popular brother, he is almost the same. But I never see him being used despite having redundancy. I would say having multiple ways to potentially get rid of indestructible permanents is always useful. 

7. Hallowed Moonlight/Containment Priest

The prevalence of reanimator and cheaty decks makes me surprised that I don’t see this pair very often as they can really wipe a smile of someone who’s just played a Rise of the Dark Realms or Genesis Wave.

8. Reiterate 

I don’t see this card very often, and it’s horrible. a copy spell that can be recurred with buyback has some unpleasant applications. 

9. Malignus 

I haven’t seen this guy since he was released back in avacyn restored. I think he’s really great, I must admit though I don’t use him much myself. He enters with half the highest life total and his damage can’t be prevented. Give this guy a Fireshrieker or a Furnace of Rath and you’re laughing. 

10. Hedonist’s Trove 

Although this is quite expensive, I think it has some interesting applications later on in the game, being able to deprive someone of their graveyard and then use cards from it is just great in my opinion.