Rebuilding Ezuri

Back in December, the Monday Night Gamers and I ran a Commander 2015 League in which we took the pre-constructed decks and updated them one game at a time. I had the Ezuri, Claw of Progress deck, and although it had decent bones and I made some fun additions, it wasn’t the deck I would have built from scratch. There were a number of choices which arose from the closed environment in which we played the League. Today I’m going to take a look at designing Ezuri from the top down; we’ll have to account for the fact that the deck will be getting played in a more open environment with a broader range of other decks.

Most U/G decks have their particular strengths (ramp, good creatures, drawing cards) and weaknesses (creature control). My experience playing the precon deck didn’t show me anything different, so I want to keep that in mind as we build.

The color combination can have a kind of toolbox feel to it, but you have to get creative for the circumstances in which someone (or everyone) else’s creatures happen to be better than yours are—and it’s occasionally going to happen. Like all decks, even if you’re leveraging the ability of the commander, you want it to be able to function without it as well. Clearly, +1/+1 counters have to matter, but I don’t want to simply recreate my Zegana and a Dice Bag deck.

This isn’t really a Do Over Project deck, since we’ll be borrowing some ideas from the precon (and my resulting League deck) and some pieces of that Prime Speaker Zegana deck. I also want to head in a new direction to cover some of what I saw as the shortcomings of the color combination.

One question I asked myself was how important those +1/+1 counters were. Is it enough to have Ezuri do its thing and just make existing creatures beefier, or do we truly need to have the counters matter in some other way? To build a theme deck, the latter has to apply. To break new ground, not so much.

What obviously must stay the same is the deck must have some level of putting creatures with power two or less onto the battlefield. I had a crazy thought about playing Meishin, the Mind Cage so that nearly all my creatures entered the battlefield and triggered Ezuri. I’d then play some way of bouncing Meishin when I wanted to go to combat, and we’d be golden. Quite honestly, that seemed a little too janky even for me.

In the end, I decided that, while I wanted to take some advantage of the counters, I didn’t want the deck to revolve around them. Arbitrarily large creatures are generally enough. As you’ll see, the direction I’ll go is with many of the creatures triggering Ezuri and then having some other method of getting bigger.

There are a number of cards definitely staying in the deck: Avenger of Zendikar; Coiling Oracle; Cold-Eyed Selkie; Elvish Visionary; Oracle of Mul Daya; Prime Speaker Zegana; Sakura-Tribe Elder; Solemn Simulacrum; Night Soil; Cyclonic Rift; Nissa, Voice of Zendikar; and of course Arachnogenesis. Bane of Progress was in the original deck and I took it out; it seems fitting to put it back in here.

While I don’t want to completely recreate the original deck, I can’t ignore the cards I would have chosen had the precon never come out. Part of the challenge of rebuilding is also avoiding going to the same well over and over again. The last two decks I’ve played a great deal have been the original Ezuri and Bant (my Rotisserie Draft deck), so I want to look for cards that do some different things.

One of the learning aspects of building a great number of decks is not just repeating the things you love to do; it’s about getting outside the comfort zone. Sure, I’m not going to build a STAX deck any time soon, but I can still stretch my legs a little.

Part of the way into the process, I realized that creatures with morph fit the bill of “triggering Ezuri and then having some other method of getting bigger.” Because of the +1/+1 counters theme, I looked at creatures which have megamorph, although I still find it the most misnamed mechanic ever. You’ll see that, to some extent, I surrendered to the morph theme, although not completely. Here’s the list:

Ezuri, Face Down

Sheldon Menery

Test deck on 06-23-2016

Commander

Creatures (43)

Planeswalkers (2)

Lands (36)

Spells (18)

Creatures (39)

Ainok Survivalist: Unlike old favorite Nantuko Vigilante, I can turn this face up without fear of having to blow up my own artifact or enchantment (not that I have many).

Avenger of Zendikar: Just resolving this with Ezuri on the battlefield is enough to set up a long-term plan of putting piles of counters on things. Of course, it’s also a single-card strategy. There are times when you cast it and battle the next turn for the win. There are also times when Massacre Wurm ruins your day.

Bane of Progress: I decided to go with a low number of artifacts and enchantments because that’s an outside-the-box move for me. Unlike other creatures which enter the battlefield with counters, Bane of Progress enters as a 2/2 and then has a triggered ability, meaning it will trigger Ezuri and get the counters afterward.

Brine Elemental: No Pickles lock for me here, just a one-time Time Walk effect. This might end up more efficient as simply Time Warp or an extra-turn spell, but we’ll see what happens.

Broodhatch Nantuko: Sure, I’ll be happy to block your giant thing.

Chasm Skulker: A very clever card design, this pairs quite nicely with Ezuri, even if you’re not drawing piles of cards.

Chromeshell Crab: The tech play here is to activate Crystal Shard, targeting a face down Chromeshell Crab, and then respond to that by turning it face up in exchange for something cool (ideally with someone who is tapped out).

Coiling Oracle: Good cards in the colors are good cards. There are so few staples in this deck that I’m okay with having a few.

Cold-Eyed Selkie: Another one which pairs very nicely with Ezuri, Cold-Eyed Selkie can be very nice card draw.

Deathmist Raptor: A 3/3 deathtouch creature for 1GG is okay. Its recursion ability is the better part. Even with a battlefield full of face down creatures, opponents will know which one is the Deathmist Raptor, but I find that a decent enough rattlesnake to be worthwhile.

Den Protector: I wanted some element of “can’t be blocked” in the deck, so Den Protector is one of those things. Plus, it does something else, which is what I’ve tried to do with most of the morph creatures.

Elvish Visionary: Simple card draw (that also triggers Ezuri).

Essence Warden: A little bit of lifegain is fine, especially if other players are putting out piles of creatures.

Fertilid: I love me some Fertilid. Getting to battle with it after triggering Ezuri’s combat ability makes it even better.

Hystrodon: I’ve been trying to make this work in a deck since the earliest days of the format. Crossing my fingers that this is the time.

Icefeather Aven: Icefeather Aven adds a little flexibility to the deck, being able to bounce your own (now face up) creatures in order to use their morph ability again (Kheru Spellsnatcher seems like it would be my favorite target) or an annoying/potentially lethal creature of someone else’s.

Kalonian Hydra: There’s still a bit of +1/+1 counters mattering in the deck. I wouldn’t mind doubling counters from Predator Ooze. If Kalonian Hydra survives a few turns, it can be truly frightening, as it keeps doubling itself. Hopefully everyone forgets that Thief of Blood exists.

Kheru Spellsnatcher: There are many, many spells getting played in Commander that you’ll want to snatch. The trick isn’t waiting for the perfect one; it’s snatching the cool one and then getting this turned face down again.

Hooded Hydra: Hooded Hydra hits all the things the deck wants to do: play morphs, get a number of creatures onto the battlefield triggering Ezuri, and smashing face.

Ixidron: You can’t play a morph deck without playing Ixidron, which blanks the other, very good creatures your opponents will have. Note that the way a creature’s power and toughness are figured out, counters happen after determining the creature is a 2/2, so anything with +1/+1 counters on it will be bigger than those without.

Magus of the Future: A little extra card draw, Magus of the Future will trigger Ezuri and hopefully get me a little deeper into the deck.

Mischievous Quanar: One of my favorite cards ever, I keep forgetting that the awesome part of copying the spell is cheaper than turning it face down again.

Mystic of the Hidden Way: Simply another unblockable creature, which can get deadly once Ezuri starts running rampant.

Mycoloth: The primary idea for Mycoloth is to have it devour creatures, especially tokens, which have already done their work, in order to make more creatures to do more work. It’s one of those things people see coming, so they’ll be ready, but I’m okay with that. Obviously, you don’t even need to devour things with Mycoloth when you have Ezuri piling counters onto it.

Ondu Giant: Another ramp card to trigger Ezuri.

Oracle of Mul Daya: Again, with a deck that’s chosen to not play so many staples, I have no problem playing a few.

Pathbreaker Ibex: First, Ezuri buffs something. Then the goat attacks, and faces get bashed. This might be the Timmiest deck I’ve built.

Predator Ooze: Indestructible is a thing. Sure, it takes time, but it has inevitability.

Reclamation Sage: You need a little enchantment and artifact removal, because some of them will ruin your day. This replacement for Indrik Stomphowler will trigger Ezuri and not force you to blow up something of your own.

Sakura-Tribe Elder: If I didn’t dislike the FNM foiling process so much, all of my Sakura-Tribe Elders would be the alternate art version.

Scavenging Ooze: Once again, we’re fitting in with the theme of creatures triggering Ezuri and doing other things as well. Graveyard hate is one of the most important elements of Commander, and Scavenging Ooze is a nice life-gaining tool in your box.

Stratus Dancer: Instants and sorceries are the most likely things to wreck your day, which is why I chose the flying, somewhat larger Stratus Dancer over the more expensive Voidmage Apprentice.

Symbiotic Wurm: Sometimes you just want huge beaters that do something when someone inevitably kills them.

Thelonite Hermit: I considered a whole Saproling theme with Verdant Force and whatnot, but then abandoned it because it would dilute the morph theme. Either way would have been a viable direction to take the deck.

Tribal Forcemage: What I like about Tribal Forcemage is picking the creature type. You don’t necessarily have to play a tribal theme in order to get a big benefit from it (although Plant is a likely choice here), since trample in and of itself is sometimes the deadlier weapon.

Whisperwood Elemental: I’m excited about the possibilities of Whisperwood Elemental. It might take some trickery to make it an MVP, but since there are 43 creatures in the deck, there will be lots of hits.

Willbender: It’s always Willbender.

Wood Elves: Thanks for the Breeding Pool, Wood Elves! Ezuri also possibly suggests an Elf theme; once again, probably a viable direction, just one I didn’t pursue.

Yavimaya Elder: Maybe also a Rashad Miller-loving Druid deck.

Legendary Creatures (2)

Ixidor, Reality Sculptor: Most of the morphs are already cheaper than 2U to turn face up, although it’d be nice to use that to make Kheru Spellsnatcher cheaper. Buffing the face down creatures is just a bonus.

Prime Speaker Zegana: I had all kinds of Bioshift tomfoolery planned for Prime Speaker Zegana, but then I decided to simply go straightforward. Obviously, she doesn’t get cast until after combat, when Ezuri has triggered to make something significantly larger.

Artifact Creatures (2)

Duplicant: Because Duplicant’s imprint is an enters-the-battlefield triggered ability, it will trigger Ezuri and then do its thing to exile something that will hurt you (and likely become larger in the process).

Solemn Simulacrum: Jens is Jens.

Artifacts (3)

Crystal Shard: Once morphs have turned face up, bouncing them back to your hand to use them again makes sense. Obviously, when someone makes the mistake of tapping out for their giant creature, you can punish them for it. Or you can make a deal to bounce someone else’s Sunblast Angel to get out of an awkward board state.

Erratic Portal: See Crystal Shard.

Glaring Spotlight: I focused more on the “can’t be blocked” part of this card; it will probably more likely end up as a 4-mana sorcery than anything else.

Enchantments (3)

Evolutionary Leap: I’d like to turn a token (or something about to be killed) into something more useful. Your creatures are going to die at some point; you might as well start your road to recovery right away.

Night Soil: Another two-in-one card, Night Soil works graveyards while triggering Ezuri.

Zendikar Resurgent: With most of the creatures being relatively inexpensive, I see a situation in which Zendikar Resurgent provides me with both the mana and the cards to chain together a bunch of spells. In combination with Magus of the Future, once again very Timmy.

Sorceries (7)

Cultivate: Little bit of ramp, also value for Avenger of Zendikar.

Explore: Ditto.

Nature’s Lore: Is tritto a word?

Rampant Growth: Quadritto? Now we’re just getting silly.

Triumph of the Hordes: I had Overwhelming Stampede in this slot, but I’m going to try Triumph of the Hordes to see if it’s as bad as I remember. In a deck that’s got creatures which generally aren’t going to be all that large, it might end up as more removal of opponents’ creatures than a kill spell, but I can see it just being a card which creates some feel-bads (which means I’ll keep a very close eye on how it plays out and will be happy to replace it if that’s the case). I’ll also take a look at the times when a player dies with more than ten but fewer than twenty poison counters. One of the reasons we’ve never changed the poison counter number is that we think it wouldn’t make enough of a difference. We’ll see if my experience with this card verifies or contradicts that opinion. I have my suspicions, but will nonetheless go into it with eyes open.

Urban Evolution: This is just a card the U/G decks want to play.

Wave of Vitriol: With so few artifacts, enchantments, and nonbasic lands, Wave of Vitriol makes a great deal of sense. Also, if I nuke a few of my own lands and get replacements while Avenger of Zendikar is on the battlefield, good for me.

Instants (5)

Aetherize: Remember that you don’t have to cast this on your own turn. You can also let creatures deal combat damage to someone, and then during the end of combat step, cast Aetherize to bounce all the attackers because they’re still attacking creatures through the remainder of the phase.

Arachnogenesis: Sometimes you only need two words, and those words are SPIDER FOG!

Bioshift: Just once, I want to Bioshift enough counters onto Ezuri to kill someone with commander damage. Yep, the Timmy is strong in me today.

Cyclonic Rift: The best defensive card in blue’s arsenal, it’s also a significant offensive weapon.

Evacuation: Sometimes, other players’ creatures are just going to be better than mine. The good news is that mine will be cheaper to cast.

Planeswalkers (2)

Freyalise, Llanowar’s Fury: Every ability Freyalise has is useful to the deck. I certainly see the first one getting used the most.

Nissa, Voice of Zendikar: The combo is with Kalonian Hydra, but like with Freyalise, the first ability is the one which will get used most.

Lands

There isn’t much to say about the lands, since there are so few of them. Command Beacon is strong because Ezuri is the kind of Commander which gets killed relatively frequently. Rogue’s Passage goes with the “can’t be blocked” theme. Mystifying Maze was once played a great deal locally, but then for some unknown reason fell out of favor. With the number of frighteningly large tokens and creatures with counters on them running around these days, I’m going to give it another whirl.

Ezuri seems to me the kind of Commander that can occasionally get out of hand but rarely gets oppressive or takes the game away from the other players. It lends itself to a number of different thematic builds, offering brewers an opportunity to experiment. All in all, it’s the type of commander that helps make happen the giant, splashy things we love for the format to do.

For comparison purposes, this Week’s Deck Without Comment is the final version of my Commander 2015 League Ezuri deck.

Ezuri, Claw of Progress (C15 League)

Sheldon Menery

Test deck on 06-23-2016

Commander

Creatures (38)

Planeswalkers (2)

Lands (37)

Spells (22)

Check out our awesome Deck List Database for the last versions of all my decks:

ADUN’S TOOLBOX;
ANIMAR’S SWARM;
AURELIA GOES TO WAR;
CHILDREN of a LESSER GOD;
DEMONS OF KAALIA;
EREBOS and the HALLS OF THE DEAD;
GLISSA, GLISSA;
HELIOD, GOD OF ENCHANTMENTS;
DREAMING OF INTET;
FORGE OF PURPHOROS;
KARN, BEATDOWN GOLEM;
HALLOWEEN WITH KARADOR;
KARRTHUS, WHO RAINS FIRE FROM THE SKY;
KRESH INTO THE RED ZONE;
LAVINIA BLINKS;
LAZAV, SHAPESHIFTING MASTERMIND;
ZOMBIES OF TRESSERHORN;
MELEK’S MOLTEN MIND GRIND;
MERIEKE’S ESPER CONTROL;
THE MILL-MEOPLASM;
MIMEOPLASM DO-OVER;
NATH of the VALUE LEAF;
NYLEA OF THE WOODLAND REALM;
OBZEDAT, GHOST KILLER;
PURPLE HIPPOS and MARO SORCERERS;
ZEGANA and a DICE BAG;
RITH’S TOKENS;
YOU DID THIS TO YOURSELF;
RURIC THAR AND HIS BEASTLY FIGHT CLUB;
THASSA, GOD OF MERFOLK;
THE ALTAR of THRAXIMUNDAR;
TROSTANI and HER ANGELS;
THE THREAT OF YASOVA;
RUHAN DO-OVER;
KARADOR DO-OVER;
KARRTHUS DO-OVER

If you’d like to follow the adventures of my Monday Night RPG group (in a campaign that’s been alive since 1987 and is just now getting started with a new saga called “The Lost Cities of Nevinor”), ask for an invitation to the Facebook group “Sheldon Menery’s Monday Night Gamers.”