Till death do us part
Art: Aragorn and Arwen, Wed
by Magali Villeneuve
Table of Contents
Todays Featured Commander is:
Aragorn and Arwen is an amazing card that allows for a bunch of lifegain and a bunch of buffs. This fits perfectly into the existing Selesyna shell that is present in EDH already. Aragorn and Arwen don’t do anything that different but they are a really powerful commander a ton of fun to play and whether in the 99 or in the command zone have an impact when they enter the battlefield!
The Deck:
Aragorn and Arwen Tokens!
Why Aragorn and Arwen, Wed?
Aragorn and Arwen has a higher cost than a lot of other token commanders like Rhys the Redeemed
at 4GW but they are worth every mana needed! They are a defensive creature at 3/6 but have vigilance and an amazing ability that triggers on ETB and attack and allows us to +1/+1 every other creature and gain life for each creature we control. We are able to use this to our advantage combined with a large amount of buffs and creature production in the deck. Since Aragorn and Arwen are really defensive and get buffs from many of our other cards we can almost always safely attack and buff our creatures and gain life!
Deck Overview:
Our creature package is highlighted by a bunch of cards that make a ton of tokens like Adeline, Resplendent Cathar
and Brimaz, King of Oreskos
as well as a ton of other great token producers! God-Eternal Oketra
is a card that is not often featured in token strategies but fits really well since we have 34 creatures in the deck and when combined with some of our token payoff cards being able to cast a creature spell and get 2 or 3 4/4’s is just amazing Oketra also goes back to our library upon death and is overall a really sticky permanent! Abzan Battle Priest
and Abzan Falconer
are both amazing payoff cards who give creatures with +1/+1 counters Lifelink and Flying not only does this make us harder to kill with the lifegain it allows us to be more evasive and make combat even easier with flying! Cadira, Caller of the Small
is one of the best creature token generators we have since we essentialy double the amount of tokens we have when she deals combat damage combine that with some buffs and it will make doing combat damage that much easier, if Cadira is on the field for one or two combat phases they can produce an overwhelming amount of tokens! Suture Priest
, Soul Warden
and Essence Warden
can provide a ridiculous amount of lifegain when we get the token train rolling! Arwen, Weaver of Hope
is not great in the early game but in the mid-late game can be absolutely devastating even with only 1 or 2 +1/+1 counters on Arwen it can make the tokens that get produced very large!
Our spell package is very well-rounded combining ramp, protection, interaction and game-ending spells to really make it so we can deal with our opponents threats outside of combat! Kodama's Reach
and Cultivate
are the only real ramp spells we play outside of creature ramp, these are both format staples that are well costed and efficient ramp spells! Hour of Reckoning
is a great board wipe for our deck since it does not hit a ton of our stuff this can be situational and is not always the best option! Aura Mutation
allows us to destroy an opponents enchantment and get tokens equal to its CMC this card is really a win / win for us as it combines interaction and token production! Secure the Wastes
is a great way for us to mana dump and produce tokens as well as March of the Multitudes
which is another late game mana dump for token production. We have format staples like Nature's Claim
and Path to Exile
to round out the interaction we have!
We are not playing a ton of artifacts but all of them are very impactful, we are playing mana rock staples in Sol Ring
and Arcane Signet
. Skullclamp
is a great way for us to get card draw in the early game before a ton of buffs start getting applied. Since we have a ton of creature production in most games Halo Fountain
is a viable win condition frequently it is not the quickest win but is always a threat once we get the token engine going!
Our enchantment package is the heart of our token engine with crazy generators like Doubling Season
, Parallel Lives
and Primal Vigor
as well as Anointed Procession
all of these cards are pretty busted on there own but when combined it gets out of hand so quickly! Luminarch Ascension
is super easy to make viable on the early turns of the game especially if you are playing in a format with aggressive decks and when combined with one of our token engines is 1W to produce 2 or 3 4/4 angels! Rabble Rousing
is great as well since it allows us to make a bunch of tokens and cast free cards from the hideaway ETB.
Our land base is really nothing special and is a very common G/W mana base filled with dual lands and ways to produce both green and white. Some of our mentionable lands are Khalni Garden
and Gavony Township
both of these cards are great to make a token and buff our creatures even more!
Strengths of the Deck:
- Crazy amount of creature production
- Crazy amount of creature buffs
- Passive lifegain from Aragorn and Arwen
Weaknesses of the Deck:
- Not a ton of interaction
- Weak to Creature / Token hate
- Not easy to draw cards, the need to topdeck can often happen
Deck Stats:
Sample Hands:
Main Win Conditions:
Our main win conditions are through overwhelming our opponents with buffed tokens or ending the game with a big finisher like Craterhoof Behemoth
or a Cathars' Crusade
. Another card that very easily translates to ending a game is Champion of Lambholt
since we produce so many creatures it is very easy to make all of ours unblockable! Not every game but in testing I found that Halo Fountain can often be a very easy win!
Conclusion:
In conclusion Aragorn and Arwen is a really fun and fast token / lifegain deck that can get out of hand very quickly and allows us to swing for an absolutely crazy amount of damage! This deck is a ton of fun and is a great choice for any player who enjoys the playstyle of token generation and huge combat swings!
Thanks for Reading to the End!