Jeskai Mutate Combo Durdle
Jeskai Mutate Combo Durdle
JESKAI MUTATE COMBO DURDLE
Elemental Dino Cat
Durdle Power!
Table of Contents
Introduction
I tend to build "focused" leaning toward "optimized" decks rather than either theme/jank/super-casual or competitive builds. Vadrok, Apex of Thunder lives in the focused/optimized zone quite comfortably since the mutate mechanic is by no means broken, but it IS moderately costed with a relevant payoff ability. If you build a Vadrok, Apex of Thunder deck you probably won't strike fear into your opponents when you reveal your commander, but sometimes that's great because you get to fly (like a pterodactyl) under the radar until you're ready to strike.
An important note about my general Commander philosophy and this deck specifically: I like powerful magic, but I like having to work for it a bit and preserve fun factor and surprise/randomness rather than go all out competitive. As such, while this is a deck looking to win via an infinite combo (by definition that is powerful magic), it doesn't include any that require less than 4 cards. It also doesn't include a bunch of ways to tutor combo pieces up.
So let's take a look at Vadrok and get our Jeskai mutate combo durdle on!
Commander Analysis
First, Mantis Rider in the command zone is not really where you want to be. This deck isn't running Vadrok for it's stats.
Second, mutate is not the greatest mechanic in the world: 1) It's parasitic, meaning it's probably only ever going to be found in the Ikoria and C20 sets and is unlikely to have many (or any) new additions over time. 2) The depth of Jeskai mutate cards came across as pretty lackluster compared to Green and Black. There are some cool ones for sure, and there's certainly a Vadrok cat tribal deck to be had using Huntmaster Liger, Regal Leosaur, Cubwarden, and the like. This deck isn't it. Apart from Vadrok itself, the deck uses only two other mutate cards. (A quick shoutout to @Sinis who has a neat Vadrok token deck that does use several of the other Jeskai mutate cards here) 3) Then of course there is the consideration that mutate has the same problem that auras have always had in MtG; namely that they lead to massive blowouts if the mutate target is removed out from under the mutator. Since mutate is affected by commander tax the same as CMC, this is a very real concern for Vadrok decks. More on this later on.
Third, a 4cmc mutate cost that allows for a 3cmc or less noncreature card to be cast from the graveyard is not exactly mana efficient. Vadrok isn't about cheating big or expensive things into play. It's more about playing small ball and getting the right things back from the graveyard at the right time. Note that the card must be cast, albeit for free, so lands are off limits in addition to creatures. It ends up being a weird crossover of a Sun Titan and a Torrential Gearhulk. . . sort of.
- Like using your graveyard as a resource
- Don't want to be totally dependent on your commander
- Like combos, but not the same 2 or 3 card combo every game
- Want one of your combo pieces in the command zone
- Just want to ramp and play battlecruiser magic
- Don't like playing combo
- Aren't interested in playing a complex and puzzle like deck
- Want to turn creatures sideways
Alternate Commanders
- Illuna, Apex of Wishes - Illuna seems like a good way to cheat out an eldrazi titan or Blightsteel Colossus while also being in red which has several ways to grant haste. I haven't researched it much, but I imagine Illuna will play out like a lot of the powerful cascade decks. Green and red are good colors for non-permanents that can generate tokens for Illuna to mutate onto as well.
- Nethroi, Apex of Death - I'm curious to see how folks build this, but I see a powerful self-mill and/or elf tribal build here myself. Nethroi is a bit like a Genesis Wave that pulls from your graveyard, so you know what you're getting ahead of time, and lots of cheap elf bodies to mutate onto are great.
- Otrimi, the Ever-Playful - Of the mutate commanders that aren't Vadrok, this is the one I personally think would be most fun. Sultai is a powerful color combo and it grants access to a lot of base creatures that are safe or powerful to mutate onto, such as Nightveil Predator, Elusive Tormentor // Insidious Mist, Reaper of the Wilds, Cold-Eyed Selkie, and so on. @DirkGently has done some cool theorycrafting here with the main strategy being mutations onto manlands to keep the mutate stack relatively safe. The thread also contains some good discussion around Vadrok, Apex of Thunder and other mutate commanders.
- Zedruu the Greathearted - The GOAT might just be the best Jeskai commander for the 4-card-combo durdle style of play as exemplified in @tstorm823's primer here. In fact, that list runs one of the same combos as this Vadrok list with Arcbond.
- Kraum, Ludevic's Opus + partner - a lot of card draw is essential to durdling and getting to a 4-card-combo, and Kraum fits the bill. I use him and Bruse Tarl, Boorish Herder to pilot another combo durdle deck here.
- Kykar, Wind's Fury/Elsha of the Infinite - if you think the limitation of 4-card-combos only is ridiculous, and you still want to combo off with a Jeskai commander, look no further than the big bird and monk lady. Both can combo well, and both are cEDH material if that's your thing. I've got a Kykar primer that's more in the focused/optimized range here.
Deck History
I looked at a lot of options for Vadrok, Apex of Thunder here, some a lot worse than others, and had some good strategic discussions. Ultimately I settled on the combo route.
As it gets played over the coming months and years it will see a number of changes mutations.
Card Choices
Example #1:
Lifelink Jeskai Charm + Indestructibility Gideon Blackblade + Damage Collective Defiance + Reflection Arcbond.
With Gideon Blackblade in play as a creature on your turn you activate his +1 to grant another creature indestructible. You then grant them both lifelink with Jeskai Charm and the ability to reflect damage with Arcbond + Vadrok's mutate replaying Arcbond. Finally, you deal some damage to one of them with Collective Defiance, which sets off a chain of infinite damage reflection back and forth between your two indestructible creatures, burning out your opponents while keeping you alive via lifelink. Note that each of these combo pieces can be bought back from the graveyard with Vadrok's mutate trigger, and in this case you must either use it on Arcbond or have the creature other than Gideon Blackblade be a damage reflector that can target a creature such as Boros Reckoner.
This is a good first example because it shows that using 1 card from each of the 4 categories is inefficient as it will generally require multiple creatures in play, multiple mutates, or a single mutate to recast of one of the pieces a second time. Strictly speaking, it's not an actual four card combo, but more like 5-6 cards and a whoooooooole lot of mana (16 to be exact). Most of the combos in the deck will use cards that cover multiple categories or 2 + cards from the same category, as in the next example.
Example #2:
Indestructibility Chance for Glory + Reflection Arcbond + Reflection Narset's Reversal + Lifelink and damage Deafening Clarion.
With two creatures in play you resolve Chance for Glory granting indestructibility, then cast Arcbond. Respond with Narset's Reversal, returning the Arcbond to hand. Resolve the copy and then recast Arcbond a second time. Lastly, cast Deafening Clarion choosing both the lifelink and damage modes. Your indestructible lifelinkers will now infinitely reflect lifelink damage back and forth as well as to each player, thus killing your opponents while gaining you life.
A side note: The lifelink pieces are only strictly necessary in the infinite combos involving Arcbond to keep you from killing yourself, but they are incredibly useful for high level synergies that you will leverage throughout the game before you go infinite - especially with the likes of Heartless Hidetsugu, Star of Extinction + a reflect creature, and Coalhauler Swine.
You can see that we gained some efficiency by using two cards from the same category (reflection in this case, with Narset's Reversal being super flexible as a means of protecting combos as well as actively participating in them) and a card that covers two different categories with Deafening Clarion. Even with all of that the combo is still not down to 4 cards since creatures had to already be in play and Arcbond had to be cast twice, whether via Narset's Reversal or from the graveyard with Vadrok, Apex of Thunder. So how about a true 4-card-combo example?
Example #3:
Reflector Spitemare + Reflector #2 Guilty Conscience + Indestructibility Flawless Maneuver + Damage Izzet Charm.
Enchant Spitemare with the Guilty Conscience, make it indestructible with Flawless Maneuver and then zap it with Izzet Charm to make it do an infinite loop of damage to itself and any target creature/player and burn your opponents out. Vadrok can bring all of these pieces except Spitemare from the graveyard. So, for example, after resolving the Guilty Conscience in this scenario you could mutate Vadrok onto Spitemare, casting Izzet Charm from the graveyard and in response cast Flawless Maneuver from your hand for free.
Consider one more example of a true 4-card-combo.
Example #4:
Reflector Coalhauler Swine + Reflector #2 Pariah + Indestructibility Boros Charm + Damage Boros Charm again.
Enchant the big pig with Pariah, and make it indestructible with Boros Charm. Then mutate Vadrok onto the swine to make a majestic thunder pterodactyl pig cat that casts Boros Charm again targeting yourself with the 4 damage. Pariah sends that damage to the indestructible baconator, who sends it out to all your opponents and back to itself again via Pariah, looping endlessly until you win.
Those should give you a flavor of what the deck is trying to accomplish without listing every permutation of combo pieces that will go infinite. Now you will be able to appreciate the value of each card as it is discussed individually.
- Sol Ring - It almost feels silly to offer an explanation for including it. Fast mana is good, T1 Sol Ring + Signet/Talisman is a pretty iconic Commander power play, and other formats either ban Sol Ring or consider it the best card available. It's one of the few cards less than 2-3 cmc in the deck you might consider playing off of a mutate trigger.
- Arcane Signet - Here's fast fixing that doesn't require another mana source to use. I can't see how it won't be a format staple for a long time to come.
- Azorius Signet, Boros Signet, Izzet Signet - They're not quite as good as the newer Arcane Signet, but the old reliables get the job done. You aren't in green, so ramp in the form of mana rocks is a concession you have to make to some extent, and these are better than the 3 cmc variants in most cases.
- Talisman of Conviction, Talisman of Creativity, Talisman of Progress - These are slightly better than the guild signets, and slightly worse than Arcane Signet. You won't mind the pain from these so much with the various ways to gain life sprinkled throughout the deck and the fact that winning at 1 life is still winning, but you should still be aware of it.
- Walking Atlas - Jeskai doesn't have a lot of ways to ramp that involve putting additional lands onto the battlefield, which is IMHO the best way to ramp. Walking Atlas gives you that ability early enough to ramp you into a mutation if you need/want it unlike Solemn Simulacrum and gives you the body to mutate onto unlike Worn Powerstone. A cautionary note though: you may not want to keep an opening hand with Atlas and 2 lands since it will effectively be a do-nothing until you draw into more lands. An opener with Atlas and 3 lands is likely to draw the fourth land in time to ramp with the activated ability, and an opening 7 with Atlas and 4 lands is great since you won't even mind your hand "flooding" a bit since you get to activate Atlas multiple times.
- Chromatic Lantern - Lantern is a tremendous way to fix mana for 3+ color decks, especially the non-green ones. You'll take the ramp from wherever you can get it, but this is more about the fixing and ramp is a cherry on top.
- Hazoret's Monument - This monument reduces the cost of all your Vadrok mutations while also filtering your hand and filling your graveyard. Many of the damage reflectors in the deck are red creatures as well.
- Smothering Tithe - Smothering Tithe is not about ramping fast and early, but rather sheer mana production. Tithe has the added advantage of giving colored mana and at an incredible rate assuming your opponents are actively trying to draw cards, as nearly all commander decks are. It also goes infinite in a combo detailed in the deck strategy section here.
- Mana Geyser - Many of the deck's combos are very mana intensive, especially if it is necessary to mutate Vadrok, bounce it back to hand, then mutate again. Geyser can fuel a big, expensive combo turn on its own. It goes even better with Bonus Round or Narset's Reversal.
- Gamble - This is not technically a loot effect, but it's close enough to consider it one. Gamble is the only tutor in the deck, and it's "downside" will be just fine by you since Vadrok makes a combo piece in the yard just about as good as one in hand. Just be aware that if you find yourself in a position where you need to tutor up a creature or land with this, things could go bad. It makes for a great T1 play if you have a land-heavy hand and you wouldn't mind losing one.
- Faithless Looting - A red format staple that's great for sculpting your hand in the early game while filling your graveyard for later.
- Nin, the Pain Artist - Nin is an interesting one, and she checks a lot of boxes that you need checked. First and foremost, she's a source of card advantage and often a very good one. Second, you have access to several ways to leverage her ability to your advantage: with Boros Reckoner or similar to reflect the damage instead of merely nuking one of your one creatures for cards, with Swans of Bryn Argoll, Nin's BFF, to draw twice as many cards without killing a creature, or with Basilisk Collar to plink away at opposing critters with a deathtouch BB gun or at your own with a lifelink bazooka. Third, she's a cheap creature that does all of this, and you need creatures to mutate onto while remaining a relatively creature light deck.
- Frantic Search - This delightful instant filters your early draws to ensure you hit land drops, fills your graveyard, and can effectively be replayed with a mutate for 1 mana after you factor in the lands untapping. Once you have a repeatable mutate engine online, Frantic Search can be one of your more important durdle cards as it draws, discards, and untaps again and again. The three Ravnica bouncelands (Azorius Chancery, Boros Garrison, and Izzet Boilerworks) are in the deck specifically for use with Frantic Search.
The best case scenario (late-game) is to cast Bonus Round twice in a turn using either Narset's Reversal or a mutation, then cast Frantic Search. That puts you at 10 mana spent (3 for Bonus Round, 4 to mutate and cast Bonus Round again, and 3 for Frantic Search) and up to 12 lands untapped for a net gain of two mana (more with the Ravnica bouncelands), 8 cards drawn, and 8 cards discarded. If you have a way to mutate repeatedly and fire off Bonus Round once more, you can really get ahead on mana on subsequent Frantic Search mutations. Rinse and repeat until you've got enough mana and have found all necessary combo pieces.
- Windfall - Have you discarded a bunch of cards to Nahiri's Wrath or Vanish into Memory? Or maybe you've just run out of gas and don't have a juicy mutate target in the graveyard at the moment? Windfall is your ticket to a full grip. Commander is a format where everybody wants to draw LOTS of cards, so you can often piggyback onto someone else's Blue Sun's Zenith, Rhystic Study, Grim Haruspex, or whatever. Windfall also goes infinite in this list as an alternate win con if damage isn't going to get it done for whatever reason. That combo is detailed in the deck strategy section here.
- Rhystic Study - You will occasionally play at a table where everyone does their darnedest to pay for Rhystic Study, but that tends to require teamwork on your opponents' parts since one is often not willing to pay unless they all pay. When it does go unchecked for even one or two rounds of the table it's phenomenal card advantage. In this deck Rhystic Study is particularly good because if it gets Disenchanted Vadrok can bring it right back.
- Collective Defiance - Modal cards tend to be useful, and here you have a gem for this deck. It recycles your hand when nothing particularly useful is available. It's also good if you just want some of what you do have in hand to go to your graveyard for future mutate triggers. The damage modes can set your combo into motion and a mutation can cast it from the graveyard. If you have Arcbond or Guilty Conscience (and you're desperate) you can follow one of them up with Collective Defiance escalated into two modes to start your damage loop and hope you draw into some instant speed indestructibility/lifelink to respond with to the triggers on the stack. Since escalate is an additional cost and not part of the casting cost, you can pay for it when casting the base spell off a mutate trigger.
- Jeskai Ascendancy - If you've never played with this card you are in for a treat. It is an absolute house in most Jeskai decks, which tend to be creature light. This deck is no exception, currently sitting at 45 noncreature spells. While Ascendancy does not provide card advantage it does provide excellent filtering and card selection. Plus you can take advantage of the loot by setting up for future mutate triggers. While the deck isn't combat oriented, the pump effect can be made use of defensively, and untapping Walking Atlas or a lifelinking Heartless Hidetsugu multiple times per turn seems fun.
- Swans of Bryn Argoll - Nin, the Pain Artist's BFF and one of the biggest sources of card advantage for the deck. You have lots of ways to deal the damage to the Swans yourself, the best among them being Heartless Hidetsugu + Pariah, Star of Extinction, Blasphemous Act, and the various damage reflectors that can target creatures. With Swans in play and a burn spell such as Collective Defiance in the graveyard, a Vadrok mutate trigger can be a draw spell in a pinch.
- Vanish into Memory - Here's some solid gold that doesn't see nearly enough play in decks running blue and white. You don't mind the discard upon the creature's re-entry since you want the yard full anyway, but you can also be picky about your target and leverage this to your advantage. One strong play is to exile a creature with several +1/+1 counters on it which will return with fewer or no counters on your upkeep. Timed right this can be temporary removal as well as card advantage. In a tight spot you can also use this as a way to protect one of your own creatures. A lot of your creatures have symmetrical power and toughness, but you can net a card by blinking Swans of Bryn Argoll, Truefire Captain, or Heartless Hidetsugu.
- Whirlwind of Thought - Here's a great way to get ahead on cards in a durdle deck. Whirlwind helps to offset the discard activation costs from Thalakos Scout and Skywing Aven, especially if you are going off with Frantic Search or Windfall + Smothering Tithe.
- Generous Gift - A format staple in white for getting a thing gone at instant speed, whether creature, enchantment, artifact, planeswalker, or land. Save it for when you REALLY need it or a player is running away with the game.
- Chaos Warp - The red version of a Generous Gift-like effect is better in the sense that it can deal with indestructible permanents, but worse in the sense that it can be far more disastrous than giving your opponent a 3/3 depending on what they flip over while resolving the warp. Still essential to saving your bacon or stopping a runaway opponent from time to time.
- Nahiri's Wrath - Here's a red card that should see more play than it does. Marvelous with Rielle, the Everwise, or even if you just have a Windfall to follow it up with. Easy enough to leverage with your damage reflection creatures. Most importantly, the discard is an additional cost, so you can cast Nahiri's Wrath from the graveyard with a mutate trigger, discard even just a single 1 cmc card for the additional cost, and that will suffice as your damage dealing combo piece.
- Sweltering Suns - This is not the world's greatest board wipe by any means, but it has a lot of things going for it here: it's 3 mana and can be cast off a mutate trigger, it cycles when you don't want/need it in hand, and it plays nice with indestructible damage reflection creatures, larger lifelinking ones like Coalhauler Swine, or good old Swans of Bryn Argoll. The ability to cast it over and over each turn cycle can make it downright oppressive to token decks or smaller tribes like elves/goblins. If you have enough mana available and a way to bounce / re-mutate with Vadrok, Sweltering Suns can become a build-your-own Starstorm. Definitely not an optimal play, but sometimes you'll need an in-case-of-emergency-break-glass card, and Sweltering Suns can be just that.
- Star of Extinction - Here's a big damage wipe that you'll pay a premium for, but you will deal with the most problematic land on the board and make the superfriends player cry. Look for ways to leverage this with your damage reflectors and indestructibilty/lifelink. Star of Extinction hitting a Mogg Maniac and Spiteful Sliver = a dead opponent.
- Blasphemous Act - You want your board wipes to be as asymmetrical as possible, and with several ways in the deck to make your critters indestructible and/or make use of direct damage via lifelink/reflection, Blasphemous Act fits the bill. This has the potential to be a =wipe the board and draw 13 if Swans of Bryn Argoll is in play, or =wipe the board, deal 13 to each opponent and gain 26 if a lifelinking Coalhauler Swine is in play.
This deck runs a couple of other mutate creatures and a handful of creatures that can bounce themselves. They work together very well because you can 1) play a self bouncing creature 2) mutate Vadrok onto it 3) mutate another creature onto the pile to get additional triggers, then 4) bounce the whole pile to your hand to set up for it all over again.
- Glitterfang - Here you have the cheapest of the cheap. We're talking yard-sale pricing. The upside is great: play Glitterfang for a mere , mutate onto it, attack with a hasty 3/3 flyer (because why not), then both Glitterfang and Vadrok come back to your hand at the end of your turn. The downside is real though: by itself this will only get you one mutate per turn cycle, it is vulnerable to removal with no instant speed way of returning to your hand, and you're using a slot in your COMMANDER deck for a 1/1 for 1 which does nothing without your commander. The upside outweighs the downside though, and you won't be too upset if someone Counterspells or casts Swords to Plowshares or on your Glitterfang, and you'll likely only pay commander tax one time before bouncing Vadrok to hand and getting back to the 4 mana mutates.
- Darting Merfolk - This is closer to full retail pricing, but the flavor text is on point: opponents will have better luck catching water with a net. Instant speed bounce that you can control is great and it allows you to execute multiple mutates per turn for as long as you have the mana, though it is intense on specifically, so plan ahead! In reality 2 mana for Darting Merfolk, 4 mana to mutate, 1 mana to bounce, then repeat for a total of 14 mana is an awfully steep cost for two spells of 3cmc or less from the yard. You won't be looking to do that unless it outright wins you the game or you've generated absurd mana and a full graveyard with Bonus Round copied with Narset's Reversal (or mutated out a second time in a single turn) + Frantic Search. Under normal circumstances you will be usually be playing Darting Merfolk, mutating for value, declaring it as a blocker, then bouncing before combat damage to set up for next turn's mutate.
- Skywing Aven - Aven is slightly more expensive up front than Darting Merfolk, but the lack of an activation cost (in mana) means you don't need as much available. The discard is a real cost, and an empty hand means a vulnerable bird. Normally, however, you'll be happy to pitch a juicy mutate trigger target.
- Thalakos Scout - Skywing Aven #2. While it's not too likely, the shadow could count for something. If you don't HAVE to bounce a mutated Scout back to your hand before your turn, wait so that you can attack with it with impunity for some commander damage before bouncing and re-mutating during your post-combat main phase.
- Sea-Dasher Octopus - You won't often find yourself looking to trigger the combat damage effect on this card, but it's worth running simply because it's a cheap instant speed way to get an additional Vadrok trigger.
- Lore Drakkis - Another mutate creature worth running because of the cheap mutate cost that enables you to get another Vadrok cast trigger while also having a great trigger of its own. Note that you can use the stack to your advantage with Drakkis. For example, you mutate Lore Drakkis onto a creature already mutated with Vadrok: now stack the two mutate triggers such that Vadrok's resolves before Drakkis's and you can, for instance, cast Stitch in Time for free from the graveyard then return it from the graveyard to your hand after it resolves
- Coming soon!
Deck Strategy
Coming Soon!
Credit and Thanks
My thanks to many of the usual suspects, in no particular order:
@pokken and @darrenhabib for helping me sort out some ideas for Vadrok in a brainstorming thread as well as their usual high level of insight and feedback. It's always appreciated!
@tstorm823 for being a fellow Jeskai nut and showing me by example just how fun these durdle combo decks can be.
@DirkGently for his recent theorycrafting around mutate that had me poking around at a few different angles for this deck.