[EDH] Yennett, Cryptic Soverign

My first thought about Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign was "huh, neat". I built Aminatou, the Fateshifter instead. Then someone else in my group built an Aminatou deck with many of the same cards, and I went back to the drawing board. I read Yennett again, and it sort of clicked. She doesn't look like much at first, but there's just something about casting Ulamog for free that does it for me. Enter the list:

Commander:
Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign

Creatures:
Weathered Wayfarer
Snapcaster Mage
Man-o'-War
Plaguecrafter
Bastion Protector
Burnished Hart
Archaeomancer
Twilight Prophet
Cloudblazer
Prognostic Sphinx
Mulldrifter
Master of Predicaments
Sun Titan
Sphinx of Uthuun
Angel of Despair
Nezahal, Primal Tide
Sphinx Ambassador
Void Winnower
Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre

Instants:
Enlightened Tutor
Vampiric Tutor
Brainstorm
Swords to Plowshares
Path to Exile
Lim-Dul's Vault
Anguished Unmaking
Hero's Downfall
Dismantling Blow
Esper Charm
Fact or Fiction
Insidious Will
Mystic Confluence

Sorcery:
Ponder
Notion Rain
Toxic Deluge
Supreme Verdict
Hallowed Burial
Bribery
Tragic Arrogance
Blatant Thievery
Brilliant Ultimatum

Artifacts:
Sol Ring
Sensei's Divining Top
Explorer's Scope
Scroll Rack
Dimir Signet
Azorius Signet
Orzhov Signet
Talisman of Progress
Talisman of Dominance
Chromatic Lantern
Crystal Ball
Whispersilk Cloak

Enchantments:
Land Tax
Haunted Crossroads
Detention Sphere
Ghostly Prison
Treachery
Mind's Dilation
Debtors' Knell

Planeswalkers:
Aminatou, the Fateshifter
Jace, the Mind Sculptor

Lands:
Watery Grave
Hallowed Fountain
Godless Shrine
Sunken Hollow
Prarie Stream
Fetid Pools
Irrigated Farmland
Flooded Strand
Polluted Delta
Marsh Flats
Temple of Deceit
Temple of Silence
Temple of Enlightenment
Mystic Gate
Sunken Ruins
Fetid Heath
Command Tower
Volrath's Stronghold
Maze of Ith
Reliquary Tower
Bojuka Bog
Strip Mine
Isolated Watchtower
5 Island
4 Swamp
5 Plains


A lot of lists I've seen go all-in on the whole odd CMC thing. I thought about that route, but decided against it since there's lots of useful stuff for the deck that happens to have an even CMC. Also, 0 is an even number in this context, so no matter what you do all of the lands are a "miss" for her ability anyway. As it stands, the list is currently skewed slightly toward even CMC (52 to 48), mostly because of lands. The ratio improves as things like Land Tax do their work.

Another thing a lot of people tend to be doing is the whole Time Walk plan since most of the extra turn effects happen to have an odd CMC. I've never been particularly inspired by decks that try to take as many turns as possible, so I didn't include any of that stuff in the list.

I considered a sort of "reanimator" list, where things like Haunted Crossroads, Volrath's Stronghold and Golgari Thug put large creatures with odd CMC back on top of my library in response to Yennett triggers. I haven't gone too far down that path yet, but that might change. Speaking of, I'm not sure the suite of big fat dudes is right. I'd like to get Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite in there somewhere at the very least.

Probably more for lols than anything, but in addition to the 'you're odd' theme the commander pulls you towards, you could also make it so your opponents 'can't even'. :tongue:

You already have Void Winnower. Sanctum Prelate is another that comes to mind...
Again, it's probably more cute than good.

Edit - Searched Gatherer and there's really nothing else that cares about odd/even (besides Void). Meh...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ace/Homebrew

Probably more for lols than anything, but in addition to the 'you're odd' theme the commander pulls you towards, you could also make it so your opponents 'can't even'. :tongue:

You already have Void Winnower. Sanctum Prelate is another that comes to mind...
Again, it's probably more cute than good.

Edit - Searched Gatherer and there's really nothing else that cares about odd/even (besides Void). Meh...

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I've got a Sanctum Prelate sitting in a binder somewhere, but I've never really considered it in the context of EDH. I wonder what number would be the most effective to name in this format? 4 springs to mind since that effectively shuts off Wrath of God and friends. 2 has some merit thanks to counterspell effects, and I guess 6 is probably also potentially useful since that hits a lot of the other Wrath of God style cards plus a whole host of value creatures and spells.

In terms of my current list, 6 only shuts off Sun Titan, and I'm not even convinced the Titan is something I actually need anyway. Like you said though, I wonder how good it actually is?

As far as other cards, Ashling's Prerogative would be kind of cute, but it's unfortunately red. I was hoping RtRtR would have something cool, but I'm not sure Surveil is it...and unfortunately we don't get Azorius and Orzhov cards yet.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Davran

In terms of my current list, 6 only shuts off Sun Titan, and I'm not even convinced the Titan is something I actually need anyway. Like you said though, I wonder how good it actually is?

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Non-creature! And probably not that good, unless you are frequently peaking at opponent's hands.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ace/Homebrew

Non-creature! And probably not that good, unless you are frequently peaking at opponent's hands.

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Turns out reading cards is tech. Who knew?

It might be kind of funny to slam it down and name 4 when I have a dominant board position, but eh...there have to be better things to be doing.

Your only nukes are Supreme Verdict and Toxic Deluge? I would consider maybe Hallowed Burial (because odd CMC and you get to reuse your creatures after 1 shuffle) or Fumigate (odd CMC).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mirrislegend

Your only nukes are Supreme Verdict and Toxic Deluge? I would consider maybe Hallowed Burial (because odd CMC and you get to reuse your creatures after 1 shuffle) or Fumigate (odd CMC).

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Cataclysmic Gearhulk is in there too...but yeah, the deck is sort of light on wrath effects. I think if I were going to include another it would probably be Tragic Arrogance, which has a lot going for it. If I flip it off a Yennett trigger I can keep Yennett or some other beater around (same idea with the Gearhulk). It also chooses the cards, which means it sneaks around hexproof and/or shroud. Finally, the things you don't pick get sacrificed, which beats indestructible and regeneration all day.

Been having a lot of fun with this deck - turns out casting free eldrazi off of attack triggers is fun. A few observations:

Cataclysmic Gearhulk is kind of cute, but 'everyone keeps their best stuff' is kind of weak as far as wrath effects go. I'm going to swap it out for Tragic Arrogance since it's still odd CMC, and I get to pick what sticks around.

Mystic Speculation just doesn't do anything. I've had it in my hand so many times where even one mana seemed like too much to pay for it, especially at sorcery speed. The obvious comparison here is Crystal Ball, which I really like in the deck. It's still one mana to scry 2, but being able to activate it at instant speed is a big improvement. Unfortunately, there really aren't any duplicate Crystal Ball effects out there except an 8 mana silver-bordered card from the most recent unset. I'm considering Explorer's Scope for this slot since it works pretty well with Yennett. The majority of "even" cards in the deck are lands, so stacking the triggers and clearing a land of the top could be worth it.

I'm also not impressed with Thassa, God of the Sea. As it happens, 'menace' on Yennett might as well be 'unblockable' for at least one player at the table, so Thassa granting unblockable is somewhat redundant. Also, the upkeep scry is less relevant than I initially thought. In its place I'm going to include Debtors' Knell as another potential win condition.

That makes the changes:

Out:
Cataclysmic Gearhulk
Mystic Speculation
Thassa, God of the Sea

In:
Tragic Arrogance
Explorer's Scope
Debtors' Knell

A few changes:

- Reflector Mage, + Man-o'-war

I know Reflector Mage is the better card, but after I got burned by the "can't cast" part of Reflector Mage following a weird sequence where bouncing an Archaeomancer to recast it and grab Supreme Verdict cost me a game I'm going to make this swap.

- Chasm Skulker, + Plaguecrafter

Chasm Skulker is a pet card of mine that's not really at its best in this deck. Going to give Plaguecrafter a shot in its place. If only Ravenous Chupacabra was odd CMC...

- Compulsive Research, + Notion Rain

Compulsive Research has been fine, but I want to try Notion Rain out.

- Ugin's Insight, + Hallowed Burial

Going to give another wrath effect a shot.

I'd like to pick up a Doom Whisperer for this deck, but not at its current price. Hopefully it'll come down a little.