Eldrich Arcanis

Commander / EDH Counterspell Eldrazi Kraken Mono-Blue

God-Eternal-Magic-Player

Creature (27)

• 1x Amphin Mutineer
• 1x Artisan of Kozilek
• 1x Bane of Bala Ged
• 1x Body Double
• 1x Brinelin, the Moon Kraken
• 1x Chasm Skulker
• 1x Conduit of Ruin
• 1x Duplicant
• 1x Emrakul, the Promised End
• 1x Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
• 1x Kozilek, the Great Distortion
• 1x Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator
• 1x Memnarch
• 1x Palladium Myr
• 1x Pathrazer of Ulamog
• 1x Phyrexian Ingester
• 1x Profaner of the Dead
• 1x Psychosis Crawler
• 1x Scourge of Fleets
• 1x Silver Myr
• 1x Sister of Silence
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Spawning Kraken
• 1x Thada Adel, Acquisitor
• 1x Ulamog's Crusher
• 1x Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
• 1x Void Winnower

Enchantment (4)

• 1x Ominous Seas
• 1x Omniscience
• 1x Propaganda
• 1x Wizard Class

Artifact (18)

• 1x Basalt Monolith
• 1x Caged Sun
• 1x Coldsteel Heart
• 1x Commander's Sphere
• 1x Dreamstone Hedron
• 1x Everflowing Chalice
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Gilded Lotus
• 1x Hedron Archive
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Sky Diamond
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Thought Vessel
• 1x Thousand-Year Elixir
• 1x Thran Dynamo
• 1x Worn Powerstone

Instant (8)

• 1x Blue Sun's Zenith
• 1x Engulf the Shore
• 1x Insidious Will
• 1x Overwhelming Denial
• 1x Pongify
• 1x Rapid Hybridization
• 1x Reality Shift
• 1x Stoic Rebuttal

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Tezzeret the Seeker

Commander (1)

Land (36)

• 1x Crystal Vein
• 1x Desert of the Mindful
• 1x Eldrazi Temple
• 1x Geier Reach Sanitarium
• 1x Ghost Quarter
• 23x Island
• 1x Lonely Sandbar
• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 1x Mystic Sanctuary
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Remote Isle
• 1x Sanctum of Ugin
• 1x Shrine of the Forsaken Gods
• 1x Temple of the False God

Sorcery (5)

• 1x All is Dust
• 1x Expropriate
• 1x Spectral Deluge
• 1x Walk the Aeons
• 1x Whelming Wave

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When you think of a mono-blue deck, you probably picture card draw, counterspells, and grindy win conditions. As for me, I dream of deep sea monstrosities and the best ways to enable them, so when it came to building my own blue stack of 100 cards I knew that I wanted to power out some of the coolest sea creatures from across the multiverse.

However, if we're already ramping out one kind of monster, why not build up to the biggest monsters in all of Magic as well: Eldrazi.

A Kinder Evil

Before going any deeper, I did want to note something of the background for this deck. One of my most enduring Commander decks is a colorless deck built around one of the original, annihilator Eldrazi: Kozilek, Butcher of Truth. That deck's strategy is simple: throw down as many mana rocks as possible, refuel your hand with a giant monster, and repeat as needed until everyone is dead.

Turns out, that isn't very popular.

So I asked myself, "How can I do this but be less mean about it? How can I downgrade this strategy into the coveted 7/10 power level?" My answer? Lean off of the annihilator throttle, make the commander less scary, use a traditionally not creature-focused color, and build around theme or flavor wherever it makes sense to do so (without sacrificing too much power).

The end result is this deck; a seaside, artifact-obsessed cult, lead by an enigmatic multi-dimensional traveler, that ultimately awakens things from the depths of the ocean and deeper still.

The Cult Leader

First, I wanted to make sure that the deck included a solid supporting cast for Arcanis. Cards that protect him or let him activate immediately like Lightning Greaves and Thousand-Year Elixir were obvious, but I also wanted to include pieces that love to see you drawing cards.

Wizard Class

Ominous Seas

Psychosis Crawler

Wizard Class is quite flavorful, given that Arcanis is himself a wizard, Ominous Seas leans beautifully into the deep sea theme of the deck, and Psychosis Crawler is the bridge between artifice and madness. Combined, we have a few potential win conditions that only ask that you draw some cards.

Treasure-Hunting Cultists

Arcanis needs to be able to hit the board, ideally at that full 10 mana so he can protect himself, so those that join his cult should share in that goal.

Thada Adel, Acquisitor

Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator

Tezzeret the Seeker

Thada Adel, Acquisitor digs for your opponent's mana rocks, usually having at least a Sol Ring to loot from them. Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator generates some extra Treasure along the way, and can even be run as an alternative commander alongside Brinelin, the Moon Kraken. Tezzeret the Seeker finds mana rocks or untaps rocks already on the board, becoming absolutely backbreaking if he sticks around for more than a turn.

Eldritch Relics

A substantial chunk of the deck is entirely devoted to generating mana with piles of rocks, going so far as to include some rocks that get passed up in the increasingly mana-efficient world of Commander.

Everflowing Chalice

Hedron Archive

Dreamstone Hedron

Coldsteel Heart, Sky Diamond, and Worn Powerstone may come in tapped, but they still get the job done, and Thran Dynamo is a definitive favorite. Round these out with the flexible Everflowing Chalice and the rocks that can become cards in Hedron Archive and Dreamstone Hedron, and you're more than good.

Terrors of the Deep

While the deck has leaned increasingly on Eldrazi tribal over time, it still has some spectacular sea monsters stirring in the depths.

Spawning Kraken

Scourge of Fleets

Brinelin, the Moon Kraken

Spawning Kraken is one of my favorite one-card win conditions, serving as the blue Utvara Hellkite as long as it can get in for damage. Scourge of Fleets is an amazing one-way Wrath on a stick, actually representing one of the primary motivators to run a mono-blue deck. Similarly, Brinelin is an amazing payoff for going all-in on high mana costs, removing problematic blockers so your huge waves can keep crashing in.

Horrors from Beyond

Eldrazi tribal is a concept that I love. The idea of building around things that in a more "traditional" format are very hard to cast is exciting, and when you start throwing down 10 mana eldritch horrors it just feels good.

Kozilek, the Great Distortion

Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger

Emrakul, the Promised End

The three titans, Kozilek, Ulamog, and Emrakul are the epitome of this, though I quite purposefully left off the original versions of these cards (Kozilek, Butcher of Truth and Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre, Emrakul, the Aeons Torn is banned) so I wasn't going too hard on annihilator. The deck still runs some of my favorite annihilators, such as Artisan of Kozilek and Pathrazer of Ulamog, but they catch less flack than the titans

Cultish Control

I tend to avoid the "standard" blue playstyle of control, not being particularly fond of how counterspells feel to play (especially in multiplayer formats) but including some surgical removal and catch-all protective counters is a necessary evil.

Rapid Hybridization

Stoic Rebuttal

Overwhelming Denial

Rapid Hybridization, Pongify, and Reality Shift answer creature-based, on-board problems, while a small suite of counterspells stop bigger problems from ever hitting the table (or offer other flexible solutions in the case of Insidious Will. It also feels better running removal and counters that fit the eldritch theme, taking the sting out of playing counterspells.

One-Sided Wrath

The deck works very hard to establish its board state, so it doesn't want to run too many traditional mass removal spells. However, there are a lot of one-sided (or potentially one-sided) mass bounce spells, which go with the best one-sided board wipe this side of 7 mana.

Engulf the Shore

Spectral Deluge

All Is Dust

Engulf the Shore is often hitting our opponents much harder than us, while a Whelming Wave may represent a way to help Spawning Kraken snowball. Spectral Deluge is just pure value, essentially serving as a sorcery Scourge of Fleets, with Profaner of the Dead also transforming a big body into a big bounce (and is beautifully on-flavor). Similarly, All Is Dust can obliterate opposing boards entirely, leaving us free to do terrible things with our Eldrazi.

Any and all of these potentially open the way for lethal plays with how terrifyingly huge our board can become.

Omnipotent Magics

I imagine Arcanis wielding a lot of magic that delves into realms where mortals should not go.

Walk the Aeons

Expropriate

Omniscience

Walk the Aeons is my favorite extra-turn spell, the weird spooky art being entirely on-point and the buyback potentially let it do some insane work in the late game (especially in conjunction with those one-sided wraths). Expropriate shows the kind of mercantile control a treasure-hunting cult can wield, which is stellar.

Finally, unsurprisingly, one of the most powerful enchantments in the entire game does a truly insane amount of work in a deck filled with 10-mana monsters. "Free" is the best word in Magic, and "free Eldrazi" may be the best combination of two words you can utter.

Shrines to Madness

There are a lot of lands that can tap for extra mana, especially colorless mana, and this deck is the perfect home for my favorites. It's a lucky bit of fate that they are all Temples and Shrines, really giving the cultish vibes I want while I'm slamming down my favorite Lovecraftian horrors.

Eldrazi Temple

Shrine of the Forsaken Gods

Temple of the False God

Eldrazi Temple and Shrine of the Forsaken Gods both make casting Eldrazi much easier. Temple of the False God requires a bit more work, and feels the worst if you draw it without the requisite land count, but when it is active it is a serious workhorse.

Terrorize your Table

If you're like me (and if you've read this far you just might be), the idea of playing out as many big, dumb sea monsters and eldritch beasts as possible is very appealing. With this deck, you can do just that, but without falling into the same hated pitfall as my initial Kozilek deck.

Playing the deck is simple, maintaining the original game plan: play out your hand of mana rocks, get out your commander (ideally protected), draw cards, and overwhelm your opponents with a combination of a full hand and a board full of monsters.

Date added	1 year
Last updated	1 year
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	10 - 0 Mythic Rares 26 - 0 Rares 33 - 0 Uncommons 7 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	4.81
Tokens	Ape 3/3 G, Copy Clone, Frog Lizard 3/3 G, Kraken 8/8 U, Kraken 9/9 U, Manifest 2/2 C, Squid 1/1 U, Treasure