<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Princess Yue" href="#" target="_blank">Princess Yue</a> | Art by <a href="https://scryfall.com/search?q=a%3A%E2%80%9CMasateru+Ikeda%E2%80%9D&amp;unique=art" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Masateru Ikeda</a>
Hey everybody, welcome back to another deck tech. I'm newly minted #MTGAmbassador <a href="http://linktr.ee/commandzoe" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Command Zoe</a>, and today I want to show you my favorite new commander from the <a href="https://edhrec.com/sets/tla" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Avatar: The Last Airbender</a> set: <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Princess Yue" href="#" target="_blank">Princess Yue</a>!
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Princess Yue"></div></div>
I'm talking about the pre-mooned version, not the post-moon version depicted in <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Yue, the Moon Spirit" href="#" target="_blank">Yue, the Moon Spirit</a>. This set has several variants of the same character, so it's important to be specific when referencing legendary creatures in particular. 
<a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/yue-meme.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-171157" src="https://edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/yue-meme-300x211.png" alt="" width="483" height="340" srcset="https://edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/yue-meme-300x211.png 300w, https://edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/yue-meme.png 544w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 483px) 100vw, 483px" /></a>
<h2>What Does <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Princess Yue" href="#" target="_blank">Princess Yue</a> Do?</h2>
On its face, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Princess Yue" href="#" target="_blank">Princess Yue</a> seems like a rather bland commander. It taps to scry 2, it’s got a mediocre 3/2 stat line, and when it dies it comes back as a land that can tap for colorless. It's important to note that it retains the rest of the card’s inherent qualities like types, oracle text, and mana value. Set-mechanic wise, it’s meant to be used with earthbending to keep it around as a creature indefinitely. However, there are lots of ways to abuse this returning to the field as a land, but for the purposes of this deck the key interaction is with <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Clone" href="#" target="_blank">Clone</a> effects.
Yue is an interesting commander because there aren't really any comparable effects out there. She's the first commander that returns to the battlefield on death that they've printed. The only card that is remotely close is also a brand new card, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fang, Roku&#039;s Companion" href="#" target="_blank">Fang, Roku&#039;s Companion</a>.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Fang, Roku&#039;s Companion"></div></div>
Wake up, honey! A new type of commander just dropped.
This is a combo deck that works by taking advantage of the interaction between Princess Yue and these Clone effects. Being mono-blue, it’s going to have a lot of card draw, several ways of protecting itself with counterspells and bounce effects, and then ways of getting to the combo more quickly, like tutors. 
There are also, of course, the tools every deck needs to succeed, like lands and ramp.
<h2>Key Cards for <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Princess Yue" href="#" target="_blank">Princess Yue</a></h2>
There are a few different combos in the deck that instant win the game unless interacted with. The key interaction is between <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Princess Yue" href="#" target="_blank">Princess Yue</a>, a <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Clone" href="#" target="_blank">Clone</a> effect, and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wormfang Newt" href="#" target="_blank">Wormfang Newt</a> or <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wormfang Turtle" href="#" target="_blank">Wormfang Turtle</a>. Here's how it works:
<ol>
<li>Have Princess Yue and Wormfang Newt or Wormfang Turtle on the battlefield.</li>
<li>Play Clone, or a similar creature, have it enter as a copy of Princess Yue.</li>
<li>Either Princess Yue or her clone have to die to the legend rule. Choose the clone. When it dies, it will trigger the Yue dies ability, returning to the battlefield as Moon, a noncreature land, but with Clone's copy ability.</li>
<li>This time have the Clone enter as copy of Wormfang. This card will now be a noncreature land copy of Wormfang.</li>
<li>Wormfang has an enters trigger to exile a land you control. Since it's a land, the clone/wormfang can target itself.</li>
<li>It exiles itself, which triggers its second ability, returning itself.</li>
<li>When it comes back from exile, it's once again just a Clone. You can now repeat this all as a loop.</li>
</ol>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Wormfang Turtle"></div></div>
I like turtles.
There are several ways to take advantage of this. Any cards that have a triggered ability for either a creature or a land entering the battlefield will work. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Altar of the Brood" href="#" target="_blank">Altar of the Brood</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ruin Crab" href="#" target="_blank">Ruin Crab</a>, and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sage&#039;s Row Denizen" href="#" target="_blank">Sage&#039;s Row Denizen</a> will all mill your opponents out entirely. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Genesis Chamber" href="#" target="_blank">Genesis Chamber</a> can make infinite 1/1 Myr tokens which can be used to any number of sacrifice outlets, or just attack with them. 
A <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Starfield Vocalist" href="#" target="_blank">Starfield Vocalist</a> will make infinite mana because the Wormfang will trigger twice, and the land you choose comes back untapped. You can abuse this effect with a <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blue Sun&#039;s Zenith" href="#" target="_blank">Blue Sun&#039;s Zenith</a> to draw your whole deck with the first cast then kill each opponent with the subsequent recasts.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Hedron Crab"></div></div>
Ruin Crab in a fake mustache.
Cards that grant flash, like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vedalken Orrery" href="#" target="_blank">Vedalken Orrery</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir" href="#" target="_blank">Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir</a>, and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Leyline of Anticipation" href="#" target="_blank">Leyline of Anticipation</a>, are very good because they let you attempt to combo off at your opponents' end steps if necessary, or in response to them tapping out. It adds some much needed flexibility to the deck's timing. Needing three separate creature pieces and then something else on top is already asking a lot.
<h2>How Does This <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Princess Yue" href="#" target="_blank">Princess Yue</a> Commander Deck Win?</h2>
The main way this Princess Yue deck wins is by assembling its combo. It will usually mill all of its opponents out, then break the combo by having the Clone stop reentering, ending the turn, and watching as each opponent decks out in succession. However there are some ways of generating infinite mana in the combo that can win the game on the spot without needing to pass the turn.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Goblin Cannon"></div></div>
Goblin Cannon: Boom. 
Goblin Canon: Squee is hot.
It can also use infinitely made tokens to attack for the win, or sac them all into one of several Altars to do an alternate mill strategy.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Altar of Dementia"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Phyrexian Altar"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ashnod&#039;s Altar"></div></div>
The usual suspects.
<h2>Princess Yue Commander Deck List</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="My girlfriend won&#039;t stop turning into the moon" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Princess Yue
[/Commander]
[Creatures]
*1 Clever Impersonator
*1 Clone
*1 Drift of Phantasms
*1 Faerie Mastermind
*1 Flesh Duplicate
*1 Glasspool Mimic // Glasspool Shore
*1 Hedron Crab
*1 Mirror Image
*1 Mocking Doppelganger
*1 Ornithopter of Paradise
*1 Phantasmal Image
*1 Phyrexian Metamorph
*1 Ruin Crab
*1 Sage&#039;s Row Denizen
*1 Starfield Vocalist
*1 Stunt Double
*1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
*1 The Unagi of Kyoshi Island
*1 Tribute Mage
*1 Trinket Mage
*1 Wormfang Newt
*1 Wormfang Turtle
[/Creatures]
[Enchantments]
*1 Dissipation Field
*1 Leyline of Anticipation
*1 Propaganda
[/Enchantments]
[Artifacts]
*1 Altar of Dementia
*1 Altar of the Brood
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Ashnod&#039;s Altar
*1 Bloodthirsty Blade
*1 Cloudstone Curio
*1 Extraplanar Lens
*1 Genesis Chamber
*1 Goblin Cannon
*1 Liquimetal Torque
*1 Phyrexian Altar
*1 Prismatic Lens
*1 Sapphire Medallion
*1 Sky Diamond
*1 Sol Ring
*1 The Water Crystal
*1 Vedalken Orrery
*1 Waterbending Scroll
*1 Wayfarer&#039;s Bauble
[/Artifacts]
[Instants]
*1 Aetherize
*1 Blue Sun&#039;s Zenith
*1 Consider
*1 Counterspell
*1 Dispel
*1 Evacuation
*1 Into the Flood Maw
*1 Muddle the Mixture
*1 Negate
*1 Opt
*1 Perplexing Test
*1 Pongify
*1 Rapid Hybridization
*1 Remand
*1 Resculpt
*1 Sink into Stupor // Soporific Springs
[/Instants]
[Sorceries]
*1 Fabricate
*1 Lórien Revealed
*1 Ponder
*1 Preordain
*1 Sleight of Hand
*1 Solve the Equation
[/Sorceries]
[Planeswalkers]
*1 Jace, Wielder of Mysteries
[/Planeswalkers]
[Lands]
*1 Agna Qel&#039;a
*1 Castle Vantress
*25 Island
*1 Lonely Sandbar
*1 Mystic Sanctuary
*1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
*1 Riptide Laboratory
*1 Terrain Generator
*1 Urza&#039;s Saga
[/Lands]"></div>
<h2>Final Thoughts on the Moon Bounce</h2>
I playtested this deck in <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/edhrec-guide-to-commander-brackets" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brackets 2 through 4</a>, and in my humble opinion, I believe it lands squarely in the Bracket 3 space. It can be strong; in fact I did not lose any games I played with it. But it's susceptible to interaction.
The strength it currently has is that no one really knows how the combo works or what pieces to interact with. If you like combo decks and being the center of attention, you will love this deck. It's a weird combo, and it let's you say, "My girlfriend turned into the moon. That's rough buddy," to yourself over and over again to what I assume will be uproarious laughter. I give you permission to use the joke.
Have a happy holiday season, and please Moon Bounce responsibly!

My Girlfriend Won't Stop Turning Into the Moon: A Princess Yue Deck Tech

<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Captive Audience" href="#" target="_blank">Captive Audience</a> | Art by <a href="https://burmak.ru/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dmitry Burmak</a>
Hey everyone, I’m Command Zoe. Today we're talking about how I have managed my achievements in content creation over the past year, and we'll use my experiences to guide you to starting your own content creation in Magic: The Gathering (MTG). 
When I started my journey into content creation, I had 23 followers on my Bluesky, two on Twitch, and zero friends or connections within the larger MTG space. Within nine months, I've become a writer at EDHREC, President of Birds of Paradise, a MagicCon Atlanta Featured Creator, and an MTG Ambassador for Avatar: The Last Airbender. 
There's been a considerable amount of work that has gone into that behind the scenes, so today I’m going to explain some of what went into it, and how it can help you.
<h2>Getting Started by Defining Your Goals</h2>
The first step of starting anything is to come up with a plan, and the first step in coming up with a plan is to define your goals. 
When I got started, I wrote down every single thing I could think of that I wanted from what I was doing. I wanted to:
<ul>
<li> get invited to a MagicCon.</li>
<li>join Birds of Paradise.</li>
<li>get big enough that I could help people in crisis.</li>
<li>run charity events.</li>
<li>be an #MtGAmbassador.</li>
</ul>
Over time I added to that list as I learned of new opportunities, met new people, and developed myself. I broke that list down further by how long I expected it would take me to do them. I've been wildly wrong about a lot of those, so if you don’t know, just guess.
Goals are important because they give me something positive to strive towards. These goals also keep me accountable. Timeframes for these goals not only let me gauge the timing on certain benchmarks, but also let me appreciate the size of what I’ve done.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sphinx Ambassador"></div></div>
Benchmarking larger goals is important, especially if you're neurodivergent. It keeps them manageable. A hundred is overwhelming when you're looking at it from zero, but 25 four times can be a lot easier to handle.
I am a big proponent of fitting your plans to your specific abilities and needs. I won’t tell you what your goals should be. Having several short-term goals, two to three medium-term goals, and one long-term goal suits me best. The timescales I like to use for my goals are: this month, 3-6 months, one year, and five years. I keep that list of goals set as my desktop background so I see it every day.
At this early stage, it's important to look at your goals and ask yourself how serious you are about getting what you want. Some goals in this field are hard to get. For example, if you want to be an Ambassador, then you're going to have to do consistent work for an extended amount of time. This is a business, and Wizards of the Coast is not going to trust you with their brand and image if you don’t take yourself seriously enough to produce a consistent product.
<h2>Some Jargon and How To Use It</h2>
Your product or content is what you make to share with the community at large. It can be an article, a cosplay, a stream, a video, art, podcast, or anything else you could possibly produce.
Your craft is how you go about actually making your product. An artist paints, videos get shot and edited, and streams get live cast. Making a good product is hard, but a well-kept secret in the industry is that making a bad product is hard too. So much work goes into making something that stinks. Focusing on improving your craft is important because it makes your product better overall.
And again, fit your craft to suit your abilities and needs. Set yourself up for success. For example, I need my streaming setup ready to go so I can walk up to it and go. If there were a bunch of equipment I needed to pull out and set up and put away every single time, then I would do it far less and wouldn't consistently put out product.
Accessibility in all things makes creation easier, so make your craft accessible to you and your needs. When you make it easy on yourself, you can focus on the product rather than the process. The process shouldn't slow you down. If you find yourself fighting something with the process consistently, change it.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Monument to Perfection"></div></div>
Don’t seek perfection in your product, seek it in your craft. Product is ephemeral. Good and bad episodes/articles/etc. will both come and go, but if your craft is good then you will end up with more good than bad. Do this long enough and it will become part of your brand. These are all linked, and they all matter.
Your brand is something that unifies all of your products. It can be a color, a logo, an attitude, a vibe, an identity, or anything else you can think of that consistently shows up in your product. An obvious example from me is my stripes. I have them in my profile picture, I wear them at cons, I post lots of selfies in them, and I even have them on my emojis in twitch and discord. 
As a content creator, your reputation is inexorably linked to your brand. That is the nature of the business.
It's important to unify your brand across all your platforms. That means the same exact profile picture, the same exact name, the same exact posts. Get an app that can manage them all if need be. Consistency is important. Brand unification also means all those different socials should link to each other somehow, usually with some form of digital business card. There are several free sites that do this.
<h2>Using Magic as a Common Framework</h2>
The reason MTG is so successful and appealing is that it provides a common framework in which we interact and have fun. Every new person and playgroup I've played with has felt different. They all have their own tone and their own vibes. This is why I choose who is going to be in my pods rather than having an open sign-up.
On my streams I use the actual Magic gameplay in the same way that professional wrestling uses real wrestling. It’s what we are pretending to do, but there are all sorts of safeguards that I put in place to make sure the show is good. The outcome of the game doesn’t mean anything. All that matters is that the show is fun to watch. Some of the safeguards I put up to keep the games close and competitive are:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Draw 10 for the opening hand, put three cards on the bottom of the deck</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">No <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sol Ring" href="#" target="_blank">Sol Ring</a> in the opening hand or on turn one or two</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Get opening hands and turn order before I go live so no one is rushed to keep a bad one</li>
</ul>
<h2>Stream Guests and How To Treat Them</h2>
Set your expectations with your guests long before the stream starts. Have a place they can go before the stream to look at your expectations at their own leisure. Don't make things hard for them. Make it super obvious, easy, and accessible to be on your stream. The easier and more relaxed the guests are, the better show they'll give. 
Remember, you're trying to bring out the likeable parts of their personality. Enable them. Respect them, respect their time, respect the fact that these people are helping you make your product for free. Show gratitude, thank them, treat them how you wish you were treated if it were you. Treat them like adults, and like they're working with you. This is work, technically.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Killer Service"></div></div>
Control the table like a waiter would during a meal. This means keeping pace of play going, breaking up dead space, creating gaps in the conversation for quieter guests to speak up, and, if need be, asking those guests questions to force them in. 
Don’t leave people out. You featured everyone here, and you don’t want anyone to leave your table feeling bad. People should leave your streams feeling good enough that they want to come back, and good enough that they want to tell people to watch them next time. Ideally, your guests will bring their own audience, and you want those people to leave feeling good too. 
This is how you grow. 

<h3>Respecting Your Audience</h3>
People don’t want to watch anyone get salty. Ever. It's an uncomfortable experience. I've seen viewership plummet in real time when streams get awkward. Active, fun, and engaged viewership can turn into crickets in an instant. The best way to mitigate this is to remind everyone at the start of the pod that keeping vibes good keeps your audience around. Remind them what the goal is. 
After the expectation is set, reinforce it before you go live; once you’re live it becomes a lot harder to have that conversation.
<h3>Background Research 
</h3>
This is how you know who'll be a good guest, but more importantly which guests will work best together. Magic is a social game, and some people just do not mix in social situations. It will benefit you to go find people who have already played well together. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel with your content. Take who works well together already, bring them on your show, and find a way to fit them into what you do.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Practical Research"></div></div>
Enabling your guests is really important to keeping the vibes good. If you bring on a guest who is really good at making puns, set them up to make puns. If they're good at infodumping or loredropping, find space for them to do that. If they banter back and forth with another guest on someone else’s stream, then go get that other guest too and put them together on your stream. 
You're in charge of creating your product, so if there are certain behaviors you want on your stream, encourage what makes those behaviors come out in people. 

<h3>Marketing</h3>
Marketing is how you make others aware of your product. There are entire college degrees for how to do this well, so I'm only going to hit a few key points specifically for new streamers. Ask yourself where your audience is watching. Instagram, Reddit, Tik Tok, Bluesky, Threads, and Mastodon all have very different audiences on them, and the crossover of the average user is somewhat minimal. 
Figure out who wants to watch you, then advertise where those people are.
Finally, I’d like to leave you with one important final point. Followers on Bluesky and Instagram do not translate to views on Tik Tok, Twitch, and YouTube. They just don’t. Posting is not the same as content creation. Converting followers to views is difficult. Do not tie your self-worth to your metrics. It's the fastest way to burn out. 
Make steady, consistent content. Focus on improving your product by perfecting your craft, and soon you’ll be achieving everything you set out to do.

How To Get Started in MTG Content Creation

The Best Nonlegendary Creatures From Edge of Eternities

<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Knuckles the Echidna" href="#" target="_blank">Knuckles the Echidna</a> | Art by <a href="https://www.tylerwalpole.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tyler Walpole</a>
Hello, everyone! Welcome back to another deck tech; I'm <a href="http://linktr.ee/commandzoe" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Command Zoe</a>. This time we're going to be looking at one of the new commanders from the Sonic Secret Lair, Knuckles the Echidna! 
Knuckles is a fan favorite character from the original Sega Genesis games; he was a rival of Sonic before teaming up with him in a later installment. I'm excited to show you this list I brewed up, but first let's take a look at him
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Knuckles the Echidna"></div></div>
Get it? He's the keeper of the Master Emerald, so he cares about rocks! 
Anyway, that's why I'm running Mox Emerald in here — that's cool right?
<h3>What Does Knuckles the Echidna Do?</h3>
Knuckles is a straightforward but incredibly powerful commander. He has three keywords that work well with each other, he grants all his controller's creatures the ability to create Treasure tokens upon dealing combat damage to a player, and then he has an upkeep trigger that wins the game with thirty artifacts. 
The idea of the design is to have him hit the board and immediately generate two Treasures using a combination of haste and double strike, with trample on there to guarantee he doesn't get chump-blocked. 
With only two power, he's not dealing a ton of damage, but that doesn't matter because the goal is to win Treasure tokens on the upkeep trigger.
There are three other mono-red commanders that care about Treasure tokens: <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer" href="#" target="_blank">Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Magda, Brazen Outlaw" href="#" target="_blank">Magda, Brazen Outlaw</a>, and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Magda, the Hoardmaster" href="#" target="_blank">Magda, the Hoardmaster</a>. 
Both Magdas come with some sort of payoff for those Treasures, but none of them are quite as powerful as "win the game". 
Knuckles probably wont be able to reach the high-highs of Brazen Outlaw, which is a cEDH deck, but he is a fun card with a very powerful effect, which would be perfect for any of brackets 2, 3, or 4.
This Knuckles deck is going to be within Bracket 3. It technically has three extra turn spells in cards like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Final Fortune" href="#" target="_blank">Final Fortune</a>, but it can't chain them. They're only in the deck to be able to trigger Knuckles' upkeep-ability immediately.
<h2>Key Cards for Knuckles the Echidna</h2>
The main win condition in this deck is quite obviously Knuckles' second ability, so we want to rush up to twenty-nine total permanents on the board then cast both key card of the deck: <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mycosynth Lattice" href="#" target="_blank">Mycosynth Lattice</a>. 
Following that up with an extra turn spell will allow an instant win off of Knuckles when the turn rolls over to the next upkeep. 
In addition to these, two keys to the deck are the tutors to get them out. Everything else is there to push the board to thirty permanents.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Final Fortune"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Warrior&#039;s Oath"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Last Chance"></div></div> 
This is still technically bracket two because I'm not- 
What are you all doing with those torches and pitchforks?
To help get there the deck has <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Reckless Handling" href="#" target="_blank">Reckless Handling</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Inventors&#039; Fair" href="#" target="_blank">Inventors&#039; Fair</a>, and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Goblin Engineer" href="#" target="_blank">Goblin Engineer</a>, which can be used in conjunction with cards like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Trash for Treasure" href="#" target="_blank">Trash for Treasure</a> or either of Daretti's cards to get the Mycosynth Lattice out.
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Goblin Matron" href="#" target="_blank">Goblin Matron</a> can play a game of telephone to get it out by searching for the Engineer first. It can also snag a Grenzo, Havoc Raiser in case more permanents are needed but none are in hand.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Daretti, Rocketeer Engineer"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Daretti, Scrap Savant"></div></div> 
Both flavors work! Trade your Treasures for permanents that make more Treasures! 

Instant board state cards, like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Brass&#039;s Bounty" href="#" target="_blank">Brass&#039;s Bounty</a>, can be extremely useful at making the final push to thirty cards.
Playing it along with <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Magda, Brazen Outlaw" href="#" target="_blank">Magda, Brazen Outlaw</a> can go for infinite by snagging Lattice plus <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Clock of Omens" href="#" target="_blank">Clock of Omens</a>. Tap the Magda plus a Treasure to untap the Magda. Make a new Treasure, and use it infinitely. Then just sacrifice 5 Treasures at a time to spit the entire deck's permanents onto the battlefield, then finally win by sacrificing <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Anger" href="#" target="_blank">Anger</a> to a sac outlet and attacking with everything.
<h2>How Does This Knuckles the Echidna Commander Deck Win?</h2>
Getting to thirty permanents can be difficult, so there are some tricks to make a lot all at once.
With <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Krark-Clan Ironworks" href="#" target="_blank">Krark-Clan Ironworks</a> plus <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Song of Totentanz" href="#" target="_blank">Song of Totentanz</a> or <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hell to Pay" href="#" target="_blank">Hell to Pay</a>, each artifact sacrificed will turn into two new permanents, effectively doubling the number on the board if there is a Lattice out.
There are a few other ways to do the same that take more set up, like adding <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Xorn" href="#" target="_blank">Xorn</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Treasure Vault" href="#" target="_blank">Treasure Vault</a> to KCI, or using <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Goldspan Dragon" href="#" target="_blank">Goldspan Dragon</a> as the Treasure-doubler.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ancient Copper Dragon"></div></div> 
I just need to roll a 16 or better, but I don't have advantage...
In terms of alternate win conditions, there's only one, since the commander comes with its own "win the game" ability. However, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hellkite Tyrant" href="#" target="_blank">Hellkite Tyrant</a> is strictly better in terms of how many permanents are needed, so it goes in the ninety-nine. Needing one third the number of permanents is too good to give up, and the theft ability is nothing to write off either.
<h2>Knuckles the Echidna Commander Decklist</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Echidna Echinacea" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Knuckles the Echidna
[/Commander]
[Creatures]
*1 Academy Manufactor
*1 Ancient Copper Dragon
*1 Anger
*1 Bonehoard Dracosaur
*1 Daretti, Rocketeer Engineer
*1 Glóin, Dwarf Emissary
*1 Goblin Engineer
*1 Goblin Matron
*1 Goblin Welder
*1 Goldlust Triad
*1 Goldspan Dragon
*1 Grenzo, Havoc Raiser
*1 Hellkite Tyrant
*1 Magda, Brazen Outlaw
*1 Professional Face-Breaker
*1 Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer
*1 Treasure Nabber
*1 Xorn
[/Creatures]
[Instants]
*1 Big Score
*1 Chaos Warp
*1 Final Fortune
*1 Seething Song
*1 Unexpected Windfall
*1 Valakut Awakening // Valakut Stoneforge
[/Instants]
[Sorceries]
*1 Blasphemous Act
*1 Brass&#039;s Bounty
*1 Hell to Pay
*1 Hit the Mother Lode
*1 Last Chance
*1 Reckless Handling
*1 Scrap Mastery
*1 Song of Totentanz
*1 Strike It Rich
*1 Trash for Treasure
*1 Warrior&#039;s Oath
[/Sorceries]
[Artifacts]
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Clock of Omens
*1 Cursed Mirror
*1 Everflowing Chalice
*1 Expedition Map
*1 Fellwar Stone
*1 Fire Diamond
*1 Krark-Clan Ironworks
*1 Liquimetal Torque
*1 Lotus Petal
*1 Mind Stone
*1 Mycosynth Lattice
*1 Phial of Galadriel
*1 Planar Atlas
*1 Prismatic Lens
*1 Ruby Medallion
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Star Compass
*1 The Reaver Cleaver
*1 Thought Vessel
[/Artifacts]
[Enchantments]
*1 Descent into Avernus
*1 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker // Reflection of Kiki-Jiki
*1 Guild Artisan
*1 Spiteful Banditry
[/Enchantments]
[Planeswalkers]
*1 Chandra, Spark Hunter
*1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
*1 Daretti, Scrap Savant
*1 Karn, Scion of Urza
*1 Koth, Fire of Resistance
[/Planeswalkers]
[Lands]
*1 Arena of Glory
*1 Buried Ruin
*1 Darksteel Citadel
*1 Fomori Vault
*1 Fountainport
*1 Great Furnace
*1 Inventors&#039; Fair
*1 Mines of Moria
*19 Mountain
*1 Power Depot
*1 Scene of the Crime
*1 Sunken Citadel
*1 The Mycosynth Gardens
*1 Treasure Vault
*1 Urza&#039;s Cave
*1 Urza&#039;s Saga
*1 War Room
[/Lands]"></div>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
Thanks for taking the time to read this deck tech on <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Knuckles the Echidna" href="#" target="_blank">Knuckles the Echidna</a>. I think he's quite a strong commander and has a lot of potential for upgrade into the Bracket 4 arena.
I had a lot of fun playing it; Treasures are a blast, and getting the win off of the extra turn felt incredible. I hope you get to give it a try yourself because it is such a blast to pilot. If you like making Treasures and scraping out value you will love this deck.
If you missed it make sure you check out my last <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/mog-moogle-warrior-commander-deck-tech">deck tech</a> on <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mog, Moogle Warrior" href="#" target="_blank">Mog, Moogle Warrior</a>, and be sure to follow me on <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/commandzoe">twitch</a> where you can find me playing this deck sometimes.

Knuckles the Echidna Commander Deck Tech

<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mog, Moogle Warrior" href="#" target="_blank">Mog, Moogle Warrior</a> | Art by <a href="https://scryfall.com/search?q=a%3A%E2%80%9COTUMAMI%E2%80%9D&amp;unique=art" target="_blank" rel="noopener">OTUMAMI</a>
Hello everyone, welcome back for another Final Fantasy deck tech. I'm Command Zoe, and I hope you've all been enjoying the newest set as much as I have. I keep finding new commanders I overlooked on my first go-through of the set, or that I just forgot about after they were previewed. 
For today I've thrown together a fun, little Reanimator list featuring everyone's favorite Final Fantasy VI character, Mog. He was the first playable Moogle character in Final Fantasy. He was so popular that they made Mog a recurring name for Moogles throughout the rest of the series. He's probably most widely recognized as the tutorial character in many of the games' menus.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mog, Moogle Warrior"></div></div>
Just like a Moogle, I've been dancin' my whole life...
<h2>What Does Mog, Moogle Warrior Do?</h2>
At first glance, Mog is not a flashy commander. At three mana value, he costs more than his stats provide, even with lifelink. The entire reason to play this card is tied to his second ability, Dance. How it works is each player decides whether they want to discard a card to draw a card. Then if anyone discarded a creature this way, Mog's controller creates Moogle token. Then, if anyone discarded a non-creature this way, Mog's controller puts a +1/+1 counter on each Moogle they own. 
It should be noted that each of these effects can only happen one time. If multiple creatures are discarded, only one Moogle token is created; ditto for the +1/+1 counters. In practice, the dance ability turns into a neat, little guessing game where each opponent who goes for a card's trying to throw away the same category of card as Mog's owner in order to keep them from getting any extra buffs.
Given its ability to filter through the library while providing a way to go both wide and tall, Mog is quite the versatile commander. There are many Boros commanders that do either one or the other, but Mog is the first that does both. 
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="General Ferrous Rokiric" href="#" target="_blank">General Ferrous Rokiric</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Quintorius, Field Historian" href="#" target="_blank">Quintorius, Field Historian</a>, and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Pia Nalaar, Consul of Revival" href="#" target="_blank">Pia Nalaar, Consul of Revival</a> are all popular Boros commanders that can go wide quickly, but lack the ability to make their tokens bigger.
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Éomer, King of Rohan" href="#" target="_blank">Éomer, King of Rohan</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ash, Party Crasher" href="#" target="_blank">Ash, Party Crasher</a>, and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kalemne, Disciple of Iroas" href="#" target="_blank">Kalemne, Disciple of Iroas</a> all have the ability to get tall, but lack any support for going wide. 
The commander that's most similar to Mog is probably <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Anim Pakal, Thousandth Moon" href="#" target="_blank">Anim Pakal, Thousandth Moon</a>, who can make herself tall while providing an army of Gnomes to attack with. The key differences between the two are the card filtering and the politics of Mog's ability. Mog also makes all creatures taller rather than just himself.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Anim Pakal, Thousandth Moon"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Maskwood Nexus"></div></div>
What if we made Anim Pakal and all her Gnomes into Moogles...
This version of Mog, Moogle Warrior is a Reanimator deck. The deck will use Mog's dance ability to put big threats into the graveyard, then cast reanimation spells to bring them back. The early Moogles can trade with attackers, or they can not block then get that life back by attacking open opponents on the crack-back. 
Later the ever-growing Moogle tokens on top of the pressure from the reanimated creatures should be too much for opponents to handle.
<h2>Key Cards for Mog, Moogle Warrior</h2>
The most important part of any Reanimator strategy is the package of cards it targets to get back from the graveyard. This list packs fifteen cards that cost seven mana or more. The Reanimator package's goal is to facilitate and enable the deck's token plan, and it does that in a few different ways.
The first group of cards makes tokens themselves. Cards like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Overlord of the Mistmoors" href="#" target="_blank">Overlord of the Mistmoors</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Phyrexian Triniform" href="#" target="_blank">Phyrexian Triniform</a>, and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Triplicate Titan" href="#" target="_blank">Triplicate Titan</a> all create their own tokens in some way.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ancient Gold Dragon"></div></div>
Just roll good — it's easy.
The next group of bombs defends our tokens by protecting them in some way. Cards like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Avacyn, Angel of Hope" href="#" target="_blank">Avacyn, Angel of Hope</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Serra&#039;s Emissary" href="#" target="_blank">Serra&#039;s Emissary</a> are obvious in how they keep our board safe, but <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Angel of the Ruins" href="#" target="_blank">Angel of the Ruins</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Luminate Primordial" href="#" target="_blank">Luminate Primordial</a> are also great for protection. Removing threats to Mog and his board can be crucial.
One powerful interaction the deck can do is to reanimate <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Velomachus Lorehold" href="#" target="_blank">Velomachus Lorehold</a>, then use his attack trigger to immediately cast another reanimation spell.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite"></div></div>
What? I'm just keeping my Moogles safe from your <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Brotherhood&#039;s End" href="#" target="_blank">Brotherhood&#039;s End</a>.
Another critical part of this deck is the token support. It runs all the token doublers and triplers that it can, as well as a few cards with the populate mechanic, like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nesting Dovehawk" href="#" target="_blank">Nesting Dovehawk</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rootborn Defenses" href="#" target="_blank">Rootborn Defenses</a>, and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Muster the Departed" href="#" target="_blank">Muster the Departed</a>. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Warleader&#039;s Call" href="#" target="_blank">Warleader&#039;s Call</a> not only helps whittle opponents down, but also will gain life via all the Moogle tokens' lifelink.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Renewed Solidarity"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Summon: Good King Mog XII"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Moogles&#039; Valor"></div></div>
You wanna make some Moogles? I wanna make some Moogles.
One last key card for Mog is <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Palantír of Orthanc" href="#" target="_blank">Palantír of Orthanc</a>. Its floor is scry two plus an extra card draw, but if opponents are foolhardy enough to choose to mill, there are fifteen cards in the deck with a mana value of seven or more. With two or more influence counters, opponents risk taking heavy damage from not allowing the card draw, plus this deck already wants those big creatures in the graveyard anyway.
<h2>How Does This Mog, Moogle Warrior Commander Deck Win?</h2>
The most common way for this deck to win is by amassing a huge board of Moogle tokens, then alpha-striking with support from cards like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Moonshaker Cavalry" href="#" target="_blank">Moonshaker Cavalry</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Elspeth, Storm Slayer" href="#" target="_blank">Elspeth, Storm Slayer</a>, or <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Serra&#039;s Emissary" href="#" target="_blank">Serra&#039;s Emissary</a> to get around blockers. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gisela, Blade of Goldnight" href="#" target="_blank">Gisela, Blade of Goldnight</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite" href="#" target="_blank">Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite</a> can also come out in the right situation to end a game with a big attack. 
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Boros Charm" href="#" target="_blank">Boros Charm</a> plays double duty in this deck. Not only is it defending with the indestructible, but giving all Moogle tokens double strike and removing an opponent should give enough life from the lifelink to let you survive any impending repercussions.
If attacking isn't an option as a win condition because of some reason or another, there's a backup win condition in group slug cards like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Impact Tremors" href="#" target="_blank">Impact Tremors</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Warleader&#039;s Call" href="#" target="_blank">Warleader&#039;s Call</a>. Reach critical mass by stacking token doublers and triplers and pinging everyone else to death with your ever-growing army of Moogle tokens.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Summon: Bahamut"></div></div>
You can always finish them with Mega Flare, 
or as I call it, Mountain Dew Baha-mut Blast.
<h2>Mog, Moogle Warrior Commander Deck List</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Moggin&#039; on &#039;em" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Mog, Moogle Warrior
[/Commander]
[Creatures]
*1 Ancient Copper Dragon
*1 Ancient Gold Dragon
*1 Angel of the Ruins
*1 Avacyn, Angel of Hope
*1 Blazing Archon
*1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
*1 Enduring Innocence
*1 Esper Sentinel
*1 Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
*1 Karmic Guide
*1 Luminate Primordial
*1 Mondrak, Glory Dominus
*1 Moonshaker Cavalry
*1 Nesting Dovehawk
*1 Ojer Taq, Deepest Foundation // Temple of Civilization
*1 Overlord of the Mistmoors
*1 Phyrexian Triniform
*1 Pinnacle Monk // Mystic Peak
*1 Reya Dawnbringer
*1 Seasoned Pyromancer
*1 Serra&#039;s Emissary
*1 Summon: Bahamut
*1 Summon: Good King Mog XII
*1 Triplicate Titan
*1 Velomachus Lorehold
*1 Welcoming Vampire
*1 Witch Enchanter // Witch-Blessed Meadow
[/Creatures]
[Enchantments]
*1 Anointed Procession
*1 Elspeth Conquers Death
*1 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker // Reflection of Kiki-Jiki
*1 Impact Tremors
*1 Muster the Departed
*1 Renewed Solidarity
*1 Tocasia&#039;s Welcome
*1 Warleader&#039;s Call
[/Enchantments]
[Artifacts]
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Boros Signet
*1 Fellwar Stone
*1 Lightning Greaves
*1 Liquimetal Torque
*1 Mind Stone
*1 Monument to Endurance
*1 Palantír of Orthanc
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Swiftfoot Boots
*1 Talisman of Conviction
*1 Thought Vessel
[/Artifacts]
[Instants]
*1 Boros Charm
*1 Clever Concealment
*1 Get Lost
*1 Legion Leadership // Legion Stronghold
*1 Miraculous Recovery
*1 Moogles&#039; Valor
*1 Path to Exile
*1 Perch Protection
*1 Rootborn Defenses
*1 Swords to Plowshares
*1 Unwanted Remake
[/Instants]
[Sorceries]
*1 Breath of Life
*1 False Defeat
*1 Late to Dinner
*1 Resurrection
[/Sorceries]
[Planeswalkers]
*1 Elspeth, Storm Slayer
[/Planeswalkers]
[Lands]
*1 Arena of Glory
*1 Battlefield Forge
*1 Bonders&#039; Enclave
*1 Castle Embereth
*1 Cavern of Souls
*1 Clifftop Retreat
*1 Command Beacon
*1 Command Tower
*1 Cori Mountain Monastery
*1 Dalkovan Encampment
*1 Den of the Bugbear
*1 Drownyard Temple
*1 Elegant Parlor
*1 Exotic Orchard
*1 Fountainport
*1 Inspiring Vantage
*1 Minas Tirith
*1 Monumental Henge
*1 Mountain
*1 Needleverge Pathway // Pillarverge Pathway
*3 Plains
*1 Plaza of Heroes
*1 Restless Bivouac
*1 Rogue&#039;s Passage
*1 Rugged Prairie
*1 Sacred Foundry
*1 Spectator Seating
*1 Starting Town
*1 Sunbaked Canyon
*1 Sunbillow Verge
*1 Sundown Pass
*1 Sunken Citadel
*1 Sunscorched Divide
*1 Three Tree City
[/Lands]"></div>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mog, Moogle Warrior" href="#" target="_blank">Mog, Moogle Warrior</a> has been an absolute delight to tinker with. Any player looking for a Boros list will be able to do something with Mog. He's both powerful and versatile, while allowing for the perfect amount of politicking. Opponents who take the card draw will quickly find themselves struggling to choose between keeping Mog around for the filtering or getting buried under an avalanche of massive Moogle tokens.
Thanks so much for taking the time to read the deck tech. I'm <a href="http://linktr.ee/commandzoe" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Command Zoe</a>, be sure to follow me across the socials so you don't miss any of content, like last week's <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/growing-up-fast-a-rydia-summoner-of-mist-commander-deck-tech" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Growing up Fast: A Rydia, Summoner of Mist Commander Deck Tech</a>.
Until next time, hope to catch you slingin' Moogle tokens out there.

Straight Up Moggin' - A Mog, Moogle Warrior Commander Deck Tech

<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rydia, Summoner of Mist" href="#" target="_blank">Rydia, Summoner of Mist</a> | Art by <a href="https://www.artstation.com/user-5c85a8936304b898" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yumi Yaoshida</a>
Hello everyone, and welcome to my first article in the big leagues! I'm <a href="http://linktr.ee/commandzoe" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Command Zoe</a>, and for anyone that doesn't know me yet, I'm a Magic writer and streamer that's been playing since Urza's block. I started playing Commander back when it was still called Elder Dragon Highlander. My chops include winning a junior GP, making a deck that got a card banned, writing an article that got an Alchemy card nerfed out of existence, and hitting #1 on the Arena ladder. I've been writing about Magic since 2020, and have been at <a href="https://cardgamer.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cardgamer.com</a> since the beginning of January this year. I started streaming at the beginning of this year, and was recently chosen as a Featured Creator for MagicCon Atlanta. I'm so excited to be given the chance to bring my Commander knowledge here to EDHREC for you all.
Today I'm doing a deck tech on one of my very favorite Final Fantasy characters of all time, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rydia, Summoner of Mist" href="#" target="_blank">Rydia, Summoner of Mist</a>. She's a character from Final Fantasy IV who begins the game as the party's white mage. Halfway through the story there's an accident, and it appears Rydia dies being thrown overboard and eaten by Leviathan. However, she's actually taken by the beast to the land of Eidolons (the name for summons in that game) where time moves differently, and she grows up into an adult off screen. When she eventually returns to the party she's a powerful black mage capable of not only calling forth powerful Summons, but also backing up those Summons with an arsenal of powerful spells. Let's take a look at how that translated to the Magic card.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rydia, Summoner of Mist"></div></div>
First I play Rydia, then I get rid a' ya'.
<h2>What Does Rydia, Summoner of Mist Do?</h2>
The game plan is fairly straight-forward. We play Rydia early enough that we can ramp and use Rydia's landfall ability to fill the graveyard with Saga creatures by discarding them. After setup is complete, we use all that mana from ramping to bring those Saga creatures back with Rydia's Summon ability.
There's a small wrinkle in that it doesn't necessarily need to bring back a creature Saga, but the card clearly wants you to because it also gives the Saga it returns haste; there'd be no need to give it haste if it was exclusively intended to bring back noncreature Sagas. Rydia also puts a finality counter on the Saga in an attempt to keep players from repeatedly cycling the same Saga ad infinitum.
Finally, and quite notably, Rydia is very fragile, having only two toughness and no defensive keywords. If she's viewed as a threat, she's very easy to destroy, so she'll need some help staying alive.
The most exciting thing about Rydia for me is that there has never been a Gruul () commander like her. Red-green reanimation is not something that has been explored a lot in Magic. The closest I can think of is the mono-red card <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Feldon of the Third Path" href="#" target="_blank">Feldon of the Third Path</a>, who brings back creatures as artifact tokens for one turn. However, Feldon neither has an ability to set himself up, nor can he bring back cards for multiple turns. He's also unable to use green cards to help keep card advantage, remove enchantments, or diversify his selection of bombs to reanimate.
The one thing we need to be wary of when crafting a deck like this is that there simply aren't very many Summon cards, so we'll need to be lenient with our bombs and work around them to make the strategy work. It won't be as simple as Reanimator decks in other colors because the card quality of what we're returning is not on the same level as, say, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Archon of Cruelty" href="#" target="_blank">Archon of Cruelty</a>. Because of that there is an instant and sorcery sub-theme, as several of the summon cards available care about them.
<h2>Key Cards for Rydia, Summoner of Mist</h2>
<h3>Summon Sagas</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Summon: Titan"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Summon: Bahamut"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Summon: Kujata"></div></div>
These are your best boys.
I started by adding all the available Summon cards that I could, but after some testing I found that <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Summon: Brynhildr" href="#" target="_blank">Summon: Brynhildr</a> was just not good for our plan. The first chapter on it is decent, but the second two are completely irrelevant when our commander already gives all our Sagas haste. Also, a 2/1 for two mana isn't very good when we'd rather be playing our commander on turn two.
The rest of the Summon creatures we're going to need to find a way to win with, because there are only ten of them. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Summon: Bahamut" href="#" target="_blank">Summon: Bahamut</a> is the obvious juggernaut card that we want to get out as many times as possible; it's definitely the deck's most efficient way of ending the game. All three of the five-mana Summons are decently powerful options for pushing damage through, but <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Summon: Titan" href="#" target="_blank">Summon: Titan</a> in particular you can rely on to help close games. The second chapter ability is usually going to bring a ton of lands back, so the third chapter will let something hit like a truck.
All of the three- and four-mana Summons are much more utility-focused than the higher mana value ones, but cutting any of them would make the deck's threat-density flimsier than it already is. This scarcity of Summons brings up the next type of card that's needed by the deck.
<h3>Dredge and Self-Mill</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Malevolent Rumble"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Aftermath Analyst"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Golgari Grave-Troll"></div></div>
My dredge cards put all the cards in the yard.
The deck needs to have a way of putting more cards into the graveyard. One per turn isn't consistent enough because it relies too much on drawing one of only ten cards, and hoping it's one that's good enough to win with. So there are several cards added for which the main goal is to get more than one or two cards into the yard per turn.
Dredge cards like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Life from the Loam" href="#" target="_blank">Life from the Loam</a> work great with Rydia's landfall effect, as they're not only a great way to fill the yard, but also will give a consistent way to return them to hand. The sequence is as follows: cast Loam to get three lands, then play one of those lands, discard another, get Loam back with dredge 3.
Another great self-mill card in the list is <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wreck and Rebuild" href="#" target="_blank">Wreck and Rebuild</a>. Its versatility really shines in this deck. It can ramp while netting four additional cards into the graveyard, remove a troublesome artifact or enchantment, and can still be useful if it gets milled into the graveyard by another self-mill effect because of flashback.
There are also two self-mill cards that can double as ways to get cards back from the graveyard. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Aftermath Analyst" href="#" target="_blank">Aftermath Analyst</a> can make a ton of Rydia triggers at once and help filter down to the Sagas if they aren't coming up early, and the ramp is always good for Rydia's summon ability. The other is <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Shigeki, Jukai Visionary" href="#" target="_blank">Shigeki, Jukai Visionary</a>, whose channel effect can be critical for getting key cards that get milled back to hand. There's also a neat interaction between Shigeki and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Peerless Recycling" href="#" target="_blank">Peerless Recycling</a> where they can keep getting each other back plus another card, and at instant speed!
<h3>Dealing With Finality Counters</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Power Conduit"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Gemrazer"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Cloudstone Curio"></div></div>
What do these three cards have in common?
The final problem the scarcity of Summons presents is the finality counter that Rydia puts on them. The strategy gets too inconsistent if it keeps losing Summons to exile. It means Rydia would only have 10 total chances with her second ability to close out a win, and not all of those are game-winning targets. So a way is needed around these finality counters.
The most obvious way is to simply remove the counters from them, but the options are limited. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Power Conduit" href="#" target="_blank">Power Conduit</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hexavus" href="#" target="_blank">Hexavus</a> are obvious inclusions, as is <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nesting Grounds" href="#" target="_blank">Nesting Grounds</a>, which has the added villainous-synergy of moving those finality counters onto our opponents' creatures.
Mutate cards like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gemrazer" href="#" target="_blank">Gemrazer</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Migratory Greathorn" href="#" target="_blank">Migratory Greathorn</a>, and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sawtusk Demolisher" href="#" target="_blank">Sawtusk Demolisher</a> have an interesting interaction with the new Saga creatures. If you mutate on top of them, they stop being Saga-type. This means they will stop gaining lore counters, which allows them to not be sacrificed into exile when they reach their final chapter. It unfortunately means they will also stop gaining lore counters, but if they get proliferated to their final chapter they will still retain the textbox, so the final chapter would still trigger, but without the downside of getting sacrificed.
Lastly, using <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cloudstone Curio" href="#" target="_blank">Cloudstone Curio</a> to return a Summon to hand that has a finality counter on it is another way around the exile effect. It also lets you bounce your own lands back to your hand so you never miss a land drop, and can then discard those returned Summons to reanimate them over and over.
<h2>How Does This Rydia, Summoner of Mist Commander Deck Win?</h2>
The win conditions in this deck are straightforward: get out large Summon creatures repeatedly and attack your opponents with them. So despite Reanimator not being typically featured in Gruul, Rydia still manages to pull off the vibes of the color pairing quite well. The go-to win card is <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Summon: Bahamut" href="#" target="_blank">Summon: Bahamut</a>. Combine its third chapter effect with <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Weaver of Harmony" href="#" target="_blank">Weaver of Harmony</a> and a decent board state, and the game can end on the spot. This can also work with the third chapter on <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Summon: Kujata" href="#" target="_blank">Summon: Kujata</a>, depending on what's discarded. Morphing onto an unblockable <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ferropede" href="#" target="_blank">Ferropede</a> can also close a game out quickly, especially if you start putting +1/+1 counters on it.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Weaver of Harmony"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Day of the Moon"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Monument to Endurance"></div></div>
Alternatively, there are two ways to win that don't involve attacking opponents directly. The first is by using <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Day of the Moon" href="#" target="_blank">Day of the Moon</a> with the counter-removers to eventually name every creature on the board. Start with each opponents' commanders, then move on to whatever else is around. It works cumulatively, so eventually every creature in their decks will get named. Just be ready when there's only one opponent left to finish them off.
The other way of winning is <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Monument to Endurance" href="#" target="_blank">Monument to Endurance</a>. Each landfall on your turn triggers it, but so does looping the channel cards in the deck on opponents' turns so that the lose three life option of Monument can be chosen repeatedly in a turn cycle. This can add up incredibly quickly, especially if you copy the Monument with <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Mycosynth Gardens" href="#" target="_blank">The Mycosynth Gardens</a> for two triggers per discard.
<h2>Rydia, Summoner of Mist Commander Deck List</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Growing Up Fast" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Rydia, Summoner of Mist
[/Commander]
[Creatures]
*1 Aftermath Analyst
*1 Arbor Elf
*1 Birds of Paradise
*1 Elvish Mystic
*1 Eternal Witness
*1 Evolution Witness
*1 Ferropede
*1 Fyndhorn Elves
*1 Gemrazer
*1 Goblin Anarchomancer
*1 Golgari Grave-Troll
*1 Hexavus
*1 Llanowar Elves
*1 Migratory Greathorn
*1 Sanctum Weaver
*1 Sawtusk Demolisher
*1 Shigeki, Jukai Visionary
*1 Summon: Bahamut
*1 Summon: Esper Ramuh
*1 Summon: Esper Valigarmanda
*1 Summon: Fat Chocobo
*1 Summon: Fenrir
*1 Summon: G.F. Cerberus
*1 Summon: G.F. Ifrit
*1 Summon: Kujata
*1 Summon: Magus Sisters
*1 Summon: Titan
*1 Timeless Witness
*1 Weaver of Harmony
[/Creatures]
[Instants]
*1 Abrade
*1 Beast Within
*1 Cache Grab
*1 Chaos Warp
*1 Guff Rewrites History
*1 Heroic Intervention
*1 Peerless Recycling
*1 Seed of Hope
*1 Tamiyo&#039;s Safekeeping
*1 Wild Magic Surge
*1 Zoyowa&#039;s Justice
[/Instants]
[Sorceries]
*1 Cultivate
*1 Explore
*1 Farseek
*1 Kodama&#039;s Reach
*1 Life from the Loam
*1 Magmatic Insight
*1 Malevolent Rumble
*1 Nature&#039;s Lore
*1 Three Visits
*1 Wreck and Rebuild
[/Sorceries]
[Artifacts]
*1 Cloudstone Curio
*1 Lightning Greaves
*1 Monument to Endurance
*1 Pip-Boy 3000
*1 Power Conduit
*1 Skullclamp
*1 Sol Ring
[/Artifacts]
[Enchantments]
*1 Day of the Moon
*1 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker // Reflection of Kiki-Jiki
*1 Utopia Sprawl
*1 Wild Growth
[/Enchantments]
[Planeswalkers]
*1 Wrenn and Six
[/Planeswalkers]
[Lands]
*1 Arena of Glory
*1 Boseiju, Who Endures
*1 Cavern of Souls
*1 Commercial District
*1 Copperline Gorge
*1 Cragcrown Pathway // Timbercrown Pathway
*1 Exotic Orchard
*1 Fire-Lit Thicket
*6 Forest
*1 Grove of the Burnwillows
*1 Gruul Turf
*1 Karplusan Forest
*1 Mossfire Valley
*4 Mountain
*1 Nesting Grounds
*1 Plaza of Heroes
*1 Raging Ravine
*1 Rockfall Vale
*1 Rootbound Crag
*1 Sheltered Thicket
*1 Shifting Woodland
*1 Spire Garden
*1 Stomping Ground
*1 Sunken Citadel
*1 The Mycosynth Gardens
*1 Thornspire Verge
*1 Urza&#039;s Cave
*1 Urza&#039;s Saga
*1 Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth
[/Lands]"></div>
<h2>Final Thoughts on Finally Fantasizing about Final Fantasy</h2>
This deck is an absolute blast to play. I had so much fun trying to get it to work, and finally getting it to a place where it was able to beat a couple of my friends was very rewarding. The deck can certainly do strong things, though it can struggle with consistency. It works best in a Bracket 2 environment, but if it were going up a step, the Game Changers I'd suggest focusing on are tutors and fast mana. This deck would love both <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Worldly Tutor" href="#" target="_blank">Worldly Tutor</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Jeska&#039;s Will" href="#" target="_blank">Jeska&#039;s Will</a>, for instance. It's not the most spikey list, but if you love Final Fantasy: IV or are a Johnny/Jenny who loves lots of synergies and landfall, give Rydia a try.
Thanks so much, everyone, for taking the time to read my first article here at EDHREC. I have been Command Zoe. Next time I'll do a deck tech on everyone's favorite little guy, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mog, Moogle Warrior" href="#" target="_blank">Mog, Moogle Warrior</a>.

Zoe Ley