Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Forum thread
Numot, the Devastator. A land destruction commander shamefully chosen for its colour identity alone. I've had this deck for quite some time, long before the Commander precons were released, and I definitely considered a Zedruu redesign when it became available. Despite the fact that the deck is not at all built around Numot and I rarely find the Stone Rain trigger very handy, I decided not to make the switch. Commander damage is such a good win condition, and I couldn't give up the dragon.
Don't get the wrong idea, though. This deck may be lead by a glorified vanilla 6-drop, but it is a synergy monster. Numot has been one of my favourite and most played decks ever since it was built, and that's the reason why. The concept is to use and recycle the deck's many 1 mana artifacts with Salvaging Station and Auriok Salvagers, paired with an enters-the-battlefield heavy creature base and a blink theme. On top of that are a handful of related subthemes, linking the two main ones and making sure that every card in the deck interacts positively with a large number of other cards I could draw. Here's the current list:
Numot, the Devastator. A land destruction commander shamefully chosen for its colour identity alone. I've had this deck for quite some time, long before the Commander precons were released, and I definitely considered a Zedruu redesign when it became available. Despite the fact that the deck is not at all built around Numot and I rarely find the Stone Rain trigger very handy, I decided not to make the switch. Commander damage is such a good win condition, and I couldn't give up the dragon.
Don't get the wrong idea, though. This deck may be lead by a glorified vanilla 6-drop, but it is a synergy monster. Numot has been one of my favourite and most played decks ever since it was built, and that's the reason why. The concept is to use and recycle the deck's many 1 mana artifacts with Salvaging Station and Auriok Salvagers, paired with an enters-the-battlefield heavy creature base and a blink theme. On top of that are a handful of related subthemes, linking the two main ones and making sure that every card in the deck interacts positively with a large number of other cards I could draw. Here's the current list:
I'm going to pick this apart, and try to show you exactly what I mean by synergy. We'll start with the centerpiece of the deck, the "trinket" package.
Trinket Package
Salvaging Station and Auriok Salvagers work well with:
Cantrip trinkets (artifacts that sacrifice themselves: AEther Spellbomb, Chromatic Star, Codex Shredder, Conjurer's Bauble, Origin Spellbomb, Pyrite Spellbomb, Sunbeam Spellbomb, Tormod's Crypt, Voyager Staff, and Wayfarer's Bauble) and other 1 mana artifacts (Ancient Den, Great Furnace, Basilisk Collar, Pithing Needle, Sensei's Divining Top, Skullclamp).
This is the deck's primary engine, with the trinket toolbox providing card advantage, disruption, recursion and life-gain. The cantrip trinkets are so important since they give spell-like effects over and over, without having to find a way to put them back into the graveyard. They also interact with every other subtheme the deck offers.
Blink Package
AEther Spellbomb, Voyager Staff, Nephalia Smuggler, Planar Guide, Deadeye Navigator, Ghostway, Momentary Blink, Vanish into Memory, Legion's Initiative and Venser, the Sojourner work well with:
Enters-the-battlefield triggers (Body Double, Duplicant, Inferno Titan, Karmic Guide, Mulldrifter, Phyrexian Metamorph, Ranger of Eos, Slithermuse, Reveillark, Solemn Simulacrum, Stoneforge Mystic, Sun Titan, Sunblast Angel, Treasure Mage, Trinket Mage, Triskelion, Venser, Shaper Savant) and Stifles (Stifle, Trickbind).
This is the largest subtheme, in terms of deck space, because almost every creature in the deck has some sort of EtB ability. The creatures were chosen carefully, in order to maximize synergy with other parts of the deck. The blink package is obviously tied to the trinket package through AEther Spellbomb, Voyager Staff and Trinket Mage, but also through a couple of minithemes packed inside the blink package.
Ranger of Eos toolbox
Ranger of Eos has access to Goblin Welder, Mother of Runes, Nephalia Smuggler and Planar Guide. Goblin Welder is incredible in this deck, both because of its obvious uses with the trinket package, but also because several of the best creatures in the blink package are artifacts as well. Ranger of Eos is tied to the trinket theme, but also tied back into its own blink theme with Nephalia Smuggler and Planar Guide, making him especially strong.
Reveillark toolbox
It might be inaccurate to call it a toolbox, since you can't actually search your deck for what you need, but Reveillark is always solving problems, with access to all but six of the other creatures in the deck as long as they're in the graveyard (including flagship card Auriok Salvagers). The creatures that Reveillark can't bring back on its own, though, can get a hand from Karmic Guide or Body Double. Reveillark has nearly as many connections to the rest of the deck as the trinket stuff, including:
Stoneforge Mystic toolbox
Stoneforge Mystic has access to a respectable armory, including Basilisk Collar, Lightning Greaves, Skullclamp, Sunforger, and Sword of Feast and Famine. Her synergy is played out once she gets your equipment on the field, but she plays into two more subminithemes:
Basilisk Collar tricks
Basilisk Collar is an unassuming little trinket that can be devastating at certain times. Not only does is provide a very comfortable life cushion, but a Triskelion or Inferno Titan wearing it is some of the best Disruption in the game. This is one of the deck's synergy dead-ends, not really leading into anything further, but that's okay since it's an endgame by itself. Backing up a bit, let's look at:
Sunforger toolbox
One of the most powerful aspects of the deck is its Sunforger toolbox, and the ease in which it can get it motoring. Sunforger can cast a variety of generic disruption spells (Absorb, Orim's Thunder, Return to Dust, Swords to Plowshares and Wild Ricochet) to answer just about any threat, but also serves as an excellent blink spout (Momentary Blink, Ghostway and Vanish into Memory, and Mirrorweave is often a game-breaker once your battlefield is packed with a bunch of 2/2 dorks) and crucially can cast Enlightened Tutor, to get that Salvaging Station into play. Further, Conjurer's Bauble and Mistveil Plains become incredible once Sunforger is out, making sure you always have access to the right instants.
There are a ton of other random synergies in the deck as well, such as Tezzeret ramping artifact lands into play for -0, then doing a pretty good Garruk Wildspeaker impression. Tezzeret can also pull Rings of Brighthearth onto the battlefield, which is awesome both with the whole trinket package as well as the deck's ample supply of fetchlands. Crucible of Worlds lets you double up on that action, and Sun Titan takes it a step further. Sun Titan can bring back lands, an assortment of EtB dorks, and basically any non-Station artifact in the deck, but he becomes unstoppable with Voyager Staff or Legion's Initiative. With one of those, he's very tough to get rid of. This deck is the definition of “greater than the sum of its parts,” which is what makes it so interesting to play.
Cards to consider:
Trinket Package
Salvaging Station and Auriok Salvagers work well with:
Cantrip trinkets (artifacts that sacrifice themselves: AEther Spellbomb, Chromatic Star, Codex Shredder, Conjurer's Bauble, Origin Spellbomb, Pyrite Spellbomb, Sunbeam Spellbomb, Tormod's Crypt, Voyager Staff, and Wayfarer's Bauble) and other 1 mana artifacts (Ancient Den, Great Furnace, Basilisk Collar, Pithing Needle, Sensei's Divining Top, Skullclamp).
This is the deck's primary engine, with the trinket toolbox providing card advantage, disruption, recursion and life-gain. The cantrip trinkets are so important since they give spell-like effects over and over, without having to find a way to put them back into the graveyard. They also interact with every other subtheme the deck offers.
Blink Package
AEther Spellbomb, Voyager Staff, Nephalia Smuggler, Planar Guide, Deadeye Navigator, Ghostway, Momentary Blink, Vanish into Memory, Legion's Initiative and Venser, the Sojourner work well with:
Enters-the-battlefield triggers (Body Double, Duplicant, Inferno Titan, Karmic Guide, Mulldrifter, Phyrexian Metamorph, Ranger of Eos, Slithermuse, Reveillark, Solemn Simulacrum, Stoneforge Mystic, Sun Titan, Sunblast Angel, Treasure Mage, Trinket Mage, Triskelion, Venser, Shaper Savant) and Stifles (Stifle, Trickbind).
This is the largest subtheme, in terms of deck space, because almost every creature in the deck has some sort of EtB ability. The creatures were chosen carefully, in order to maximize synergy with other parts of the deck. The blink package is obviously tied to the trinket package through AEther Spellbomb, Voyager Staff and Trinket Mage, but also through a couple of minithemes packed inside the blink package.
Ranger of Eos toolbox
Ranger of Eos has access to Goblin Welder, Mother of Runes, Nephalia Smuggler and Planar Guide. Goblin Welder is incredible in this deck, both because of its obvious uses with the trinket package, but also because several of the best creatures in the blink package are artifacts as well. Ranger of Eos is tied to the trinket theme, but also tied back into its own blink theme with Nephalia Smuggler and Planar Guide, making him especially strong.
Reveillark toolbox
It might be inaccurate to call it a toolbox, since you can't actually search your deck for what you need, but Reveillark is always solving problems, with access to all but six of the other creatures in the deck as long as they're in the graveyard (including flagship card Auriok Salvagers). The creatures that Reveillark can't bring back on its own, though, can get a hand from Karmic Guide or Body Double. Reveillark has nearly as many connections to the rest of the deck as the trinket stuff, including:
Stoneforge Mystic toolbox
Stoneforge Mystic has access to a respectable armory, including Basilisk Collar, Lightning Greaves, Skullclamp, Sunforger, and Sword of Feast and Famine. Her synergy is played out once she gets your equipment on the field, but she plays into two more subminithemes:
Basilisk Collar tricks
Basilisk Collar is an unassuming little trinket that can be devastating at certain times. Not only does is provide a very comfortable life cushion, but a Triskelion or Inferno Titan wearing it is some of the best Disruption in the game. This is one of the deck's synergy dead-ends, not really leading into anything further, but that's okay since it's an endgame by itself. Backing up a bit, let's look at:
Sunforger toolbox
One of the most powerful aspects of the deck is its Sunforger toolbox, and the ease in which it can get it motoring. Sunforger can cast a variety of generic disruption spells (Absorb, Orim's Thunder, Return to Dust, Swords to Plowshares and Wild Ricochet) to answer just about any threat, but also serves as an excellent blink spout (Momentary Blink, Ghostway and Vanish into Memory, and Mirrorweave is often a game-breaker once your battlefield is packed with a bunch of 2/2 dorks) and crucially can cast Enlightened Tutor, to get that Salvaging Station into play. Further, Conjurer's Bauble and Mistveil Plains become incredible once Sunforger is out, making sure you always have access to the right instants.
There are a ton of other random synergies in the deck as well, such as Tezzeret ramping artifact lands into play for -0, then doing a pretty good Garruk Wildspeaker impression. Tezzeret can also pull Rings of Brighthearth onto the battlefield, which is awesome both with the whole trinket package as well as the deck's ample supply of fetchlands. Crucible of Worlds lets you double up on that action, and Sun Titan takes it a step further. Sun Titan can bring back lands, an assortment of EtB dorks, and basically any non-Station artifact in the deck, but he becomes unstoppable with Voyager Staff or Legion's Initiative. With one of those, he's very tough to get rid of. This deck is the definition of “greater than the sum of its parts,” which is what makes it so interesting to play.
Cards to consider:
- Artificer's Intuition, Dispeller's Capsule, Scrabbling Claws, Seat of the Synod for the trinket package.
- Mistmeadow Witch, Knight Captain of Eos and Pentavus are all very solid with the blink package, and the token-makers are great at untapping Salvaging Station at will. Myr Battlesphere is another great choice, since it's extremely good with blink stuff and/or Goblin Welder.
- Honor the Fallen and Dawn Charm are good consideration for the Sunforger toolbox.
- Want to make it really optimal? Lion's Eye Diamond, Mana Crypt, Mana Vault are all absent. That's two very solid mana rocks, and LED gives you an easy-button combo with Auriok Salvagers. Another thing deliberately lacking in the deck is a free way to sacrifice permanents, so something to sustain a Reveillark loop would be very powerful.