The cEDH Metagame and Blue Farm
Today I’m going to share a metagame update and how it affects my play and deckbuilding decisions with Blue Farm.
Blue Farm (Tymna/Kraum)- In a top tier pod Blue Farm shines. It thrives off going for kills second or third after the table has exhausted their resources. As a result of Blue Farm being popular and successful it creates fewer opportunities for opponents to try and fire off the first win attempt.
Blue Farm is able to win with Thassa’s Oracle+Tainted Pact or Lion’s Eye Diamond+Underworld Breach+Brain Freeze. The table knows you will likely have interaction to stop a combo, but try and hold out for others to cast their defensive spells when possible.
A ton of great players are innovating the Blue Farm archetype as it’s the current deck to beat. It’s currently waning in popularity as the best deck will have a target on its head, but will be a mainstay as the most powerful midrange strategy. Since cEDH is such a political game it can self-correct for dominant strategies.
Blue Farm being the villain at the table before the game begins has caused some pilots to abandon the strategy which has created a more open metagame.
It’s hard to assign a specific order to the rest of the decks as they all have the capability to take down a tournament.
Rograkh/Silas- The best way to take advantage of the broken Grixis combo pieces that are legal in cEDH. Blue Farm takes a more midrange stance because when it reaches too far on the combo end of the spectrum they’re better off just playing Rog/Si. Look to mulligan aggressively for quick kills as you’re essentially an aggro deck. There are also opportunities to play possum with Mystic Remora and Rhystic Study and win once the table has fought each other.
The table should respect a quick win out of Rog/Si and that should be considered when taking mulligans. If they resolve an Ad Nauseam on the main phase it’s likely game over.
As a Blue Farm player I wouldn’t mind going after Rog/Si in turn order as they can jam a spell-based win early and I can be second to go for the kill.
Rog/Si has a cult-like following with Zain Nayer and Bryant Cook leading.
Kinnan- The most proactive, yet disruptive, green deck. Kinnan looks to land their commander on the first or second turn with a permanent that generates additional mana. It’s able to hold up interaction at pivotal points while threatening the commander’s activated ability. Green mana dork decks are susceptible to Orcish Bowmasters, but this is the best way to play the archetype.
When Kinnan is left to their devices they are able to present wins that are difficult to stop as it’s a gradual advantage built rather than an all-out combo. There’s also infinite combos with Basalt Monolith+Kinnan+prism effect. I’m looking to prioritize finding Bowmasters or a sweeper to keep their dorks at bay as a Blue Farm pilot.
Kinnan can play out like a Dredge deck as you need to kill the commander, but it keeps coming back due to the low mana cost. The mana dorks, ideally powered by Kinnan, can also help recast from the command zone quickly.
Not only does Kinnan play the free and cheap top tier counters, but also Endurance and Force of Vigor for green interaction. This is currently a very popular deck and I wouldn’t be surprised to face it in most pods. Endurance can counter a Thassa’s Oracle kill through Ranger-Captain of Eos so play around that when possible.
Max Sternburg, a.k.a. WoundedSatellite, is a great resource for learning more about Kinnan.
Here’s his top 16 list from Ka0s Treasure Series 8:
Najeela, the Blade Blossom- Looks to play their commander on the first turn and use an abundance of creature tutors to assemble a combo with Darevi, Empyrial Tactician or Grim Hireling. It can also pivot to a Thassa’s Oracle+Tainted Pact kill or Underworld Breach+Brain Freeze+Lion’s Eye Diamond. The upside of playing all five colors is access to the strongest win conditions.
Najeela has fallen in popularity as it regroups to find answers to Orcish Bowmasters. Newer Najeela lists have cut hierarchs to be less reliant on 1-toughness creatures.
Memo is a good Najeela resource, but has moved to Rog/Si recently.
Sisay, Weatherlight Captain- A five-color deck that uses Sisay’s activated ability to search out various planeswalker loops. The table may prioritize finding an Opposition Agent to keep her in check. It’s a tricky deck to play as the commander has a tutor ability, but there are dedicated pilots so expect a fight.
ComedianMTG is a fan of Sisay and is one of the leading experts on the format. Baneslayer88 is also a Sisay expert.
Here’s Baneslayer88’s top 16 list from Ka0s Treasure Series 8:
Tivit, Seller of Secrets- A favorite of mine. The deck uses Tivit’s ability to generate five artifacts to sacrifice to Time Sieve to take enough turns to win with Thassa’s Oracle+Tainted Pact or commander damage. This deck is significantly less complicated than the other top tier decks and plays a powerful color combination in Esper.
Tivit was the top deck earlier in the year, fell out of favor, and is now back on the map. Timujin took down the Ka0s Treasure Series 8 with Tivit and is a great player to watch.
Here’s Timujin’s winning list:
I also won an Ixalan Collector’s Booster Box with Tivit recently:
Atraxa, Grand Unifier- This deck looks to ramp out the powerful, yet expensive, commander. Tivit is a stronger version of this style of deck, but both are capable of getting wins. I can sandbag a Red Elemental Blast for when Atraxa and Tivit play their commander.
Kenrith, the Returned King- Similar to Sisay in the sense that he uses all of the colors to assemble infinite combos. There are many flavors of Kenrith, but common patterns involve Dockside Extortionist loops.
A weird line out of Kenrith is the blue activated ability forces any player to draw a card so beware when going to Thassa’s Oracle+Demonic Consultation kills.
Niv Mizzet, Parun- This commander is gaining popularity as games slow down from blue interaction. An uncounterable commander with plenty of Curiosity-based damage kills is fun and cool. It’s harder to cast compared to other expensive commanders because colorless mana only helps when recasting from the command zone.
Shauna Gilles is the Niv Mizzet expert so her decklists are a great place to start and end.
Talion, the Kindly Lord- The control deck of the format. Dimir is the strongest two-color combination in cEDH, but loses the additional colors in exchange for a powerful card-advantage commander.
When Talion is at the table you must expect a fight to be the first to win. I’m able to begin games with my commanders (Tymna/Kraum) since Talion will be able to fend off wins.
Tevesh/Kraum- A fringe player that has had a burst of success, primarily in the hands of ComedianMTG. It’s a chunky Naus deck that combines powerful Grixis cards with card advantage in the command zone.
He took down Lotus Series 1 recently:
This wasn’t an exhaustive list of decks as there are also various successful partner pairs with Thrasios, Tevesh, and Dargo. You may have noticed that all of the top decks I expect to face contain blue interaction. Games are still fast, but not an all out race.
Non-blue decks, such as Tymna/Dargo and K’rrick, will also be present in some of your pods that can act as a powder keg and instigate win attempts. As a Blue Farm pilot I like to see one of these decks, but too many are hard to fight if you’re in the wrong seat.
I’m prioritizing a midrange game plan and need to be absolutely sure my wins attempts will resolve. Here’s my list:
Imperial Seal- Orry Suen’s winning list at Topdeck Expo excluded this staple. I’m playing it mainly to find Dockside Extortionist, Orcish Bowmasters, Mana Crypt, and Rhystic Study. The topdeck tutors work well with Tymna’s ability to draw on the same turn.
Phyrexian Metamorph- Historically Phantasmal Image was the only clone effect, but newer Blue Farm lists want more ways to make Orcish Bowmasters and Dockside Extortionist. It also doubles as a grindy card to find with Enlightened Tutor.
Mnemonic Betrayal- I’m coming around on this effect for situations where you run low on win conditions or haymakers. Brain Freezing the table can stock opposing graveyards to have your pick at how to win the game. It plays well with the deck’s core game plan of winning second or third. This slot is sometimes occupied by Praetor’s Grasp.
Path to Exile- Additional spot removal. I like playing more removal in metagames where it’s discouraged to go for wins and opponents sit behind card advantage engines.
Deadly Rollick- My game plan in most pods is to cast Tymna and Kraum making this a free exile effect. When games stall a creature removal spell is more valuable than stack-based interaction and the rest of the table will have it covered.
Boromir, Warden of the Tower- Evan Pierce, a.k.a. FreedomWaffle, and others have pushed to make Boromir a staple in Blue Farm. I asked Orry after his win at Topdeck Expo stand out cards and he mentioned Boromir as well. A Lavinia effect that can be shut off if an opponent needs to counter a win attempt.
Talion, the Kindly Lord- I prefer Talion to The One Ring for card advantage because creatures are harder to counter. Playing both feels too chunky in an Ad Nauseam deck. Naming 1 or 2 is reasonable, but I prefer 2 in most situtations.
Dauntless Dismantler- A 1/4 is a strong blocker. The activated ability can kill hateful lock pieces like Grafdigger’s Cage. The static ability slows down mana rocks and Docksides. I value creatures with powerful static abilities that don’t die to Orcish Bowmasters as they have a lasting effect on the game.
Wheel of Fortune- A powerful combo with Orcish Bowmasters, but also a disaster into opposing archers. I don’t like Wheel in Blue Farm because I plan to have the most cards in hand and enable the rest of the table to go off. Mnemonic Betrayal will ensure you have a way to kill the table after Brain Freezing, but that’s rarely needed.
Pact of Negation- Orry excluded Pact from his Topdeck Expo winning deck. It’s a great offensive counter, but very weak on defense. I like Pact in a more aggressive archetype.
Stern Scolding/Spell Snare- Close to fitting these counters for Dockside and Orcish Bowmasters.
Counterbalance- Underrated in Blue Farm. Can either prevent one mana cost from being cast during a turn cycle or it can counter more spells if there are draw engines on the battlefield. Double-blue is hard in a 4-color deck.
Toxic Deluge- Blue Farm wants one sweeper and I prefer Fire Covenant, but it’s close. I don’t want to sweep the board and lose my card advantage engines in the process. Life totals do matter so I don’t see a consensus on sweepers. Damn is also reasonable as it’s only 2 mana off Ad Nauseam and can be cast as spot removal.
Faerie Mastermind- I prefer Archivist of Oghma as a flash beater for Tymna since it evades Orcish Bowmaster more often.
Dress Down- I’m low on this enchantment in cEDH in general. It counters Dockside and Thassa’s Oracle, but two mana is a lot for a narrow effect.
Culling the Weak/Diabolic Intent- There aren’t enough good creatures to sacrifice in Blue Farm; just a token amassed from Orcish Bowmasters and Dockside Extortionist.
Blind Obedience- The enchantment taps creatures to clear the way for Tymna. Extorting is relevant in Blue Farm because you are a magnet for attackers. Didn’t make the cut, but a very powerful cEDH card.
Smothering Tithe- Four mana is a lot and the treasures can make you appear to be a threat on a stalled board. I prefer Talion in the 4-drop slot.
Reaminimate- This is a consideration to make the deck more on the midrange end of the spectrum. It’s like a clone except it takes creatures from graveyards instead of battlefields.
Borne Upon a Wind- You can combo on top of opponents or simply develop your board at the end of a different turn when it’s better to hold up interaction. It’s one of the last cards I cut because there were enough games where comboing on top of opponents wasn’t worth two mana.
As cEDH tournaments grow in size, popularity, and frequency the metagame evolves quicker. Blue Farm has cemented itself as the deck to beat, but it must also evolve. I’m having fun thinking about the deck as there’s plenty of room to innovate.
