Non-Infinite Elfball-storm

[materpillar]

I only play this deck either
a) Goldfishing by myself as a form of meditation
b) When specifically requested
c) When someone doesn't understand no one else at the table enjoys watching them cast Time Warp three times in a row and then taking roughly a half-an hour to actually end the game during those times.

This decks idea is to make it so all my creatures turn into rite of flame with things like Lightning Greaves, Tangleroot, and Earthcraft while also turning every creature into Divination with things like Guardian Project, Primordial Sage and Skullclamp. Once a creature adds G and draws me two cards I can almost certainly draw and play my deck. Then, you kill the table with Tendrils of Agony. The game winning turn usually takes at least half an hour, as each creature creates at bare minimum three triggers, but once the deck is rolling closer to 5-7 and I cast over 40 in that turn.

It is explicitly designed to be incapable of going infinite.

Super Magical Christmas Land is
T1 - Land, Magus of the Vineyard
T2 - Land, Sol Ring → Cadaverous Bloom (exile last card from opening hand and both cards drawn from turn 1 and 2) → Ad Nauseam → Kill Table

Having goldfished with this deck quite a lot, from my experience it seems to do the following (assuming no interaction).
Kill the table Turn 3-4: 30%
Kill the table Turn 4-6: 40%
Fizzle out and do nothing: 20%

6/25/2026

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

Commander

1 Glarb, Calamity's Augur

Burst Draw

1 Ad Nauseam

1 Gwenom, Remorseless

1 Bolas's Citadel

1 Edric, Spymaster of Trest

1 Flitterwing Nuisance

1 Time Spiral

1 Timetwister

ETB / Death Draw

1 Beast Whisperer

1 Fecundity

1 Glimpse of Nature

1 Grim Haruspex

1 Guardian Project

1 Skemfar Avenger

1 Skullclamp

1 Champions of the Perfect

1 Yawgmoth, Thran Physician

Mana Cheating

1 Aluren

1 Concordant Crossroads

1 Defiler of Vigor

1 Cadaverous Bloom

1 Earthcraft

1 Elven Chorus

1 Elvish Spirit Guide

1 Enduring Vitality

1 Intruder Alarm

1 Kodama of the East Tree

1 Lightning Greaves

1 Phyrexian Altar

1 Steward of the Harvest

1 Sol Ring

1 Tangleroot

1 Thousand-Year Elixir

1 Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler

1 Culling the Weak

Creatures - 1cmc

1 Arbor Elf

1 Birchlore Rangers

1 Birds of Paradise

1 Boreal Druid

1 Carrion Feeder

1 Deathrite Shaman

1 Delighted Halfling

1 Elves of Deep Shadow

1 Elvish Mystic

1 Elvish Reclaimer

1 Fyndhorn Elves

1 Heritage Druid

1 Joraga Treespeaker

1 Krosan Wayfarer

1 Llanowar Elves

1 Magus of the Candelabra

1 Magus of the Vineyard

1 Nettle Sentinel

1 Quirion Ranger

1 Rustvine Cultivator

1 Skyshroud Ranger

1 Sylvan Safekeeper

1 Wirewood Symbiote

1 Veteran Explorer

1 Viscera Seer

Creatures - 2cmc

1 Belbe, Corrupted Observer

1 Priest of Titania

1 Scryb Ranger

1 Wirewood Hivemaster

1 Badgermole Cub

1 Chatterstorm

Gaea's Cradle

1 Cloud of Faeries

1 Crop Rotation

1 Frantic Search

Misc Tutors

1 Green Sun's Zenith

Tendrils

1 Tendrils of Agony

Land

1 Bayou

1 Bloodstained Mire

1 Breeding Pool

1 Castle Garenbrig

1 City of Brass

1 Command Tower

1 Dryad Arbor

1 Flooded Strand

3 Forest

1 Gaea's Cradle

1 Gemstone Mine

1 Island

1 Marsh Flats

1 Misty Rainforest

1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx

1 Overgrown Tomb

1 Phyrexian Tower

1 Polluted Delta

1 Rejuvenating Springs

1 Scalding Tarn

1 Swamp

1 Tropical Island

1 Underground Sea

1 Undergrowth Stadium

1 Verdant Catacombs

1 Windswept Heath

1 Wooded Foothills

1 Glarb, Calamity's Augur 1 Ad Nauseam 1 Gwenom, Remorseless 1 Bolas's Citadel 1 Edric, Spymaster of Trest 1 Flitterwing Nuisance 1 Time Spiral 1 Timetwister 1 Beast Whisperer 1 Fecundity 1 Glimpse of Nature 1 Grim Haruspex 1 Guardian Project 1 Skemfar Avenger 1 Skullclamp 1 Champions of the Perfect 1 Yawgmoth, Thran Physician 1 Aluren 1 Concordant Crossroads 1 Defiler of Vigor 1 Cadaverous Bloom 1 Earthcraft 1 Elven Chorus 1 Elvish Spirit Guide 1 Enduring Vitality 1 Intruder Alarm 1 Kodama of the East Tree 1 Lightning Greaves 1 Phyrexian Altar 1 Steward of the Harvest 1 Sol Ring 1 Tangleroot 1 Thousand-Year Elixir 1 Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler 1 Culling the Weak 1 Arbor Elf 1 Birchlore Rangers 1 Birds of Paradise 1 Boreal Druid 1 Carrion Feeder 1 Deathrite Shaman 1 Delighted Halfling 1 Elves of Deep Shadow 1 Elvish Mystic 1 Elvish Reclaimer 1 Fyndhorn Elves 1 Heritage Druid 1 Joraga Treespeaker 1 Krosan Wayfarer 1 Llanowar Elves 1 Magus of the Candelabra 1 Magus of the Vineyard 1 Nettle Sentinel 1 Quirion Ranger 1 Rustvine Cultivator 1 Skyshroud Ranger 1 Sylvan Safekeeper 1 Wirewood Symbiote 1 Veteran Explorer 1 Viscera Seer 1 Belbe, Corrupted Observer 1 Priest of Titania 1 Scryb Ranger 1 Wirewood Hivemaster 1 Badgermole Cub 1 Chatterstorm 1 Cloud of Faeries 1 Crop Rotation 1 Frantic Search 1 Green Sun's Zenith 1 Tendrils of Agony 1 Bayou 1 Bloodstained Mire 1 Breeding Pool 1 Castle Garenbrig 1 City of Brass 1 Command Tower 1 Dryad Arbor 1 Flooded Strand 3 Forest 1 Gaea's Cradle 1 Gemstone Mine 1 Island 1 Marsh Flats 1 Misty Rainforest 1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx 1 Overgrown Tomb 1 Phyrexian Tower 1 Polluted Delta 1 Rejuvenating Springs 1 Scalding Tarn 1 Swamp 1 Tropical Island 1 Underground Sea 1 Undergrowth Stadium 1 Verdant Catacombs 1 Windswept Heath 1 Wooded Foothills //Sideboard

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Golos: Non-infinite elf storm combo

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

Commander

1 Golos, Tireless Pilgrim

Creature

1 Tinder Wall

1 Birds of Paradise

1 Gilded Goose

1 Fyndhorn Elves

1 Quirion Ranger

1 Veteran Explorer

1 Skyshroud Ranger

1 Elvish Lyrist

1 Priest of Titania

1 Cloud of Faeries

1 Krosan Wayfarer

1 Sylvan Safekeeper

1 Birchlore Rangers

1 Elvish Scrapper

1 Wirewood Hivemaster

1 Carrion Feeder

1 Wirewood Symbiote

1 Viridian Acolyte

1 Orochi Leafcaller

1 Sakura-Tribe Scout

1 Elves of Deep Shadow

1 Wild Cantor

1 Boreal Druid

1 Magus of the Candelabra

1 Essence Warden

1 Heritage Druid

1 Manaforge Cinder

1 Llanowar Elves

1 Arbor Elf

1 Joraga Warcaller

1 Joraga Treespeaker

1 Viscera Seer

1 Magus of the Vineyard

1 Deathrite Shaman

1 Elvish Mystic

1 Avacyn's Pilgrim

1 Elvish Reclaimer

1 Elvish Spirit Guide

1 Nettle Sentinel

1 Edric, Spymaster of Trest

1 Beast Whisperer

1 Yawgmoth, Thran Physician

1 Chulane, Teller of Tales

1 Citanul Hierophants

1 Grim Haruspex

1 Primordial Sage

1 Harvester of Souls

1 Soul of the Harvest

Enchantment

1 Concordant Crossroads

1 Cadaverous Bloom

1 Aluren

1 Earthcraft

1 Fecundity

1 Mass Hysteria

1 Cryptolith Rite

1 Guardian Project

Land

1 City of Brass

1 Gemstone Mine

1 Gaea's Cradle

1 Underground River

1 Yavimaya Coast

1 Llanowar Wastes

5 Forest

2 Island

2 Swamp

1 Gilt-Leaf Palace

1 Misty Rainforest

1 Command Tower

1 Blood Crypt

1 Hallowed Fountain

1 Overgrown Tomb

1 Breeding Pool

1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx

1 Windswept Heath

1 Wooded Foothills

1 Sheltered Thicket

1 Steam Vents

1 Godless Shrine

1 Dryad Arbor

Artifact

1 Tangleroot

1 Skullclamp

1 Lightning Greaves

1 Sol Ring

1 Paradox Engine

1 Phyrexian Altar

Instant

1 Crop Rotation

1 Frantic Search

1 Ad Nauseam

Sorcery

1 Time Spiral

1 Time Reversal

1 Green Sun's Zenith

1 Tendrils of Agony

1 Windfall

1 Golos, Tireless Pilgrim 1 Tinder Wall 1 Birds of Paradise 1 Gilded Goose 1 Fyndhorn Elves 1 Quirion Ranger 1 Veteran Explorer 1 Skyshroud Ranger 1 Elvish Lyrist 1 Priest of Titania 1 Cloud of Faeries 1 Krosan Wayfarer 1 Sylvan Safekeeper 1 Birchlore Rangers 1 Elvish Scrapper 1 Wirewood Hivemaster 1 Carrion Feeder 1 Wirewood Symbiote 1 Viridian Acolyte 1 Orochi Leafcaller 1 Sakura-Tribe Scout 1 Elves of Deep Shadow 1 Wild Cantor 1 Boreal Druid 1 Magus of the Candelabra 1 Essence Warden 1 Heritage Druid 1 Manaforge Cinder 1 Llanowar Elves 1 Arbor Elf 1 Joraga Warcaller 1 Joraga Treespeaker 1 Viscera Seer 1 Magus of the Vineyard 1 Deathrite Shaman 1 Elvish Mystic 1 Avacyn's Pilgrim 1 Elvish Reclaimer 1 Elvish Spirit Guide 1 Nettle Sentinel 1 Edric, Spymaster of Trest 1 Beast Whisperer 1 Yawgmoth, Thran Physician 1 Chulane, Teller of Tales 1 Citanul Hierophants 1 Grim Haruspex 1 Primordial Sage 1 Harvester of Souls 1 Soul of the Harvest 1 Concordant Crossroads 1 Cadaverous Bloom 1 Aluren 1 Earthcraft 1 Fecundity 1 Mass Hysteria 1 Cryptolith Rite 1 Guardian Project 1 City of Brass 1 Gemstone Mine 1 Gaea's Cradle 1 Underground River 1 Yavimaya Coast 1 Llanowar Wastes 5 Forest 2 Island 2 Swamp 1 Gilt-Leaf Palace 1 Misty Rainforest 1 Command Tower 1 Blood Crypt 1 Hallowed Fountain 1 Overgrown Tomb 1 Breeding Pool 1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx 1 Windswept Heath 1 Wooded Foothills 1 Sheltered Thicket 1 Steam Vents 1 Godless Shrine 1 Dryad Arbor 1 Tangleroot 1 Skullclamp 1 Lightning Greaves 1 Sol Ring 1 Paradox Engine 1 Phyrexian Altar 1 Crop Rotation 1 Frantic Search 1 Ad Nauseam 1 Time Spiral 1 Time Reversal 1 Green Sun's Zenith 1 Tendrils of Agony 1 Windfall //Sideboard

Paradox Engine needs to become Wheel of fortune
I'm looking to squeeze in Orcish Lumberjack but I need a stomping ground and more fetches first.
I also need to pick up a Noble Hierarch
Glimpse of Nature should be in here.

[Hawk]

I wonder if more tutors (specifically Demonic Tutor and Chord of Calling) might make your list a bit more consistent. Have you tried them over running a virtual two copies of Footbottom Feast? I also wonder if Muldrotha, the Gravetide might not be a more relevant commander if you're just running Damia effectively for her colors, as it would allow you to recur a few key combo pieces that were killed/discarded/sacrificed during the combo.

Given your pieces I also sorta wonder if Cloudstone Curio is a more powerful combo engine than Cryptolith Rite or Fecundity.

[materpillar]

I wonder if more tutors (specifically Demonic Tutor and Chord of Calling) might make your list a bit more consistent. Have you tried them over running a virtual two copies of Footbottom Feast? I also wonder if Muldrotha, the Gravetide might not be a more relevant commander if you're just running Damia effectively for her colors, as it would allow you to recur a few key combo pieces that were killed/discarded/sacrificed during the combo.

Given your pieces I also sorta wonder if Cloudstone Curio is a more powerful combo engine than Cryptolith Rite or Fecundity.

Damia isn't purely for her colors actually. Sometimes I completely dump my hand of mana dorks and just cast her turn 4. Having the ability to get out of top-deck mode in my command zone is really useful. I was pondering Yarok, the Desecrated though but I'm not sure I actually have enough triggers to warrant him as a lot of them are on cast.

cloudstone curio goes infinite with boots and two manadorks and I'm explicitly trying to avoid infinite loops. It is much stronger than the two cars you mentioned.

I'm unsure about tutors. When this deck is just starting to storm it is usually extremely tight on how much mana it has access to. I'm unsure of how many tutors I can squeeze in. I'm running sylvan scrying though and this is basically a straight upgrade. I will ponder these some more. I've also never played with cord of calling and have a hard time analyzing it. I can see it being worth it though.

[materpillar]

I'm thinking of changing the general to Golos which would open up a few better 1cc creatures.
Avacyn's Pilgrim
Noble Hierarch
Orcish Lumberjack
Tinder Wall
Wild Cantor
Manaforge Cinder

Plus
Manamorphose
Mass Hysteria
wheel of fortune

I'm also considering
xantid swarm
bomat courier
Hope of Ghirapur
myr moonvessel

I'm really unsure if I'm missing any obvious RW cards.

[materpillar]

Some pretty massive shifts in my decks build.
Damia is now Golos.

+1 Mass Hysteria
+1 Llanowar Wastes
-2 Forest
-1 Bolas's Citadel
+1 Tinder Wall
+1 Wild Cantor
+1 Manaforge Cinder
-1 Nurturer Initiate
-1 Drowned Catacomb
+1 Blood Crypt
+1 Avacyn's Pilgrim
+1 Steam Vents
-1 Initiates of the Ebon Hand
+1 Gemstone Mine
-1 Island
-4 Swamp
-1 Sylvan Scrying
+1 Hallowed Fountain
-1 Rogue's Passage
+1 Sheltered Thicket
-1 Hunting Pack
+1 Gilt-Leaf Palace
-1 Gnarlroot Trapper
+1 Godless Shrine
+1 Chulane, Teller of Tales

[materpillar]

I realized I haven't updated the decklist here in ages. Figured I'd pop by and give it an update. I swapped back to Damia, Sage of Stone after Golos, Tireless Pilgrim was banned. I like the change, the deck is less powerful (barely) but has more personality with Damia at the helm.

This decklist is hella tuned. I continue to only ever goldfish with it but it basically always table kills by turn 6 and usually by turn 4-5. I don't usually get hyped for new cards because the list is so tight. That being said Steward of the Harvest is disgusting here. It turns all of my creatures into fetch lands at the minimum which is fantastic. They can tap for mana and then fetch to become a ritual. I've been running Krosan Wayfarer for ages now and he's always been stellar. That's ignoring the ceiling of turning every creature I own into gaea's cradle. I need to do a perfect goldfish run of this deck again and see what its max damage is. Been a while.

I also recently added Scryb Ranger. Not sure how I missed that one. Also, since the last update I've been proxying a lot more so the mana base got a massive quality bump.

Perusing scryfall some more. I definitely need to add Chatterstorm. I'm also considering Timetwister and Culling the Weak.

[materpillar]

Quick update. Changed the commander to Glarb, Calamity's Augur because his art perfectly incapacitates how I feel when I pilot this deck.

I stacked the deck just to see how much damage this deck can output. It caps out at at casting Tendrils of Agony with storm count in the ballpark of 3.46*10^137. That's about seven hundred quattuorquadragintillion damage. Turns out Steward of the Harvest exiling Gaea's Cradle + Chatterstorm + Intruder Alarm allows you to generate a lot of mana and to recast your general a lot to up your storm count.

[yeti1069]

I had a version of this in 60 card kitchen table Magic many years ago that leaned on Blasting Station as both the finisher and enabler. Elvish Soultiller allowed the deck to keep looping, which was needed when playing games against multiple opponents.

It ran many of the same pieces you are: Tangleroot, Heritage Druid, Wirewood Hivemaster, Wirewood Symbiote, Birchlore Rangers, Fecundity, and Glimpse of Nature.

It's fun seeing that concept translated to EDH. I didn't understand, then, why some of my opponents got so salty when I ran it--it wasn't infinite, and could stall. Years later, I now grok.

[materpillar]

I had a version of this in 60 card kitchen table Magic many years ago that leaned on Blasting Station as both the finisher and enabler. Elvish Soultiller allowed the deck to keep looping, which was needed when playing games against multiple opponents.

It ran many of the same pieces you are: Tangleroot, Heritage Druid, Wirewood Hivemaster, Wirewood Symbiote, Birchlore Rangers, Fecundity, and Glimpse of Nature.

It's fun seeing that concept translated to EDH. I didn't understand, then, why some of my opponents got so salty when I ran it--it wasn't infinite, and could stall. Years later, I now grok.

I don't actually play this deck against people. It's exclusively to goldfish with. It's gameplay patterns are miserable for an actual game. Goldfishing is hella fun though.

They keep printing new parts for it too. Enduring Vitality is a fantasic new-ish card for the deck. Champions of the Perfect from just this past year.

[Jackalope_Herder]

Perusing scryfall some more. I definitely need to add Chatterstorm. I'm also considering Timetwister and Culling the Weak.

Way back I ran a Vintage deck that won off Tendrils. I've been kicking around ideas for years on how to make that old list into a commander deck. This seems like it is really close to the feel of that old deck (play dudes = profit) and I was wondering if you considered any of the the other storm cards? Mind's Desire Maybe?

[materpillar]

Perusing scryfall some more. I definitely need to add Chatterstorm. I'm also considering Timetwister and Culling the Weak.

Way back I ran a Vintage deck that won off Tendrils. I've been kicking around ideas for years on how to make that old list into a commander deck. This seems like it is really close to the feel of that old deck (play dudes = profit) and I was wondering if you considered any of the the other storm cards? Mind's Desire Maybe?

Honestly it shouldn't be running Tendrils of Agony. Chatterstorm + Concordant Crossroads is an easy table lethal. Haven't updated the main list here in a bit. Negative on the Mind's Desire this deck really doesn't want 6-drops at all. The only 5cmc+ cards are currently Bolas's Citadel, Kodama of the East Tree, Time Spiral, Cadaverous Bloom, Ad Nauseam and Defiler of Vigor. One of those is likely to turn into Gwenom, Remorseless when I do a pass in the near future.

Mind's Desire is too likely to whiff on lower storm and completely unnecessary at high storm.

In addition to Gwenom, Remorseless I certainly need a slot for Badgermole Cub. I might try to squeeze in Formidable Speaker and Flitterwing Nuisance. I'm on the fence about slotting in Mockingbird, Virulent Emissary, Dionus, Elvish Archdruid, Realmwalker, Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy.

[Jackalope_Herder]

Interesting. Removing Tendrils for Chatterstorm could be a fun change. If you played this in person more you could swap it back and forth occasionally to keep people on their toes. I have a control deck that I do that with, it keeps people off balance some.

Now that I think on it some I see what you mean. I usually default to 60 card thinking especially if there is some nostalgia in my head.

[materpillar]

Interesting. Removing Tendrils for Chatterstorm could be a fun change. If you played this in person more you could swap it back and forth occasionally to keep people on their toes. I have a control deck that I do that with, it keeps people off balance some.

I don't play this deck in person at all. It's extremely glass cannon and takes a 40+ non-deterministic turn to actually win. It's terrible for game play experience. I only play it in 3 situations.

1) Hand it to a super new player to watch them struggle through the multitude of triggers and sequencing choices. Always a hoot for both them and the table if they kill everyone turn 4. ← A couple of times in the past decade
2) Someone casts Time Stretch and is a generally obnoxious person ← Exactly once in the past decade
3) Goldfishing at home ← 99% of the deck reps.