“Fire walk with me, brothers ’til the end.”
Art:Borborygmos and Fblthp
by Rudy Siswanto
This deck was inspired by Kirkules on Moxfield. Big shoutout to them, and they have an awesome list as well; we differ on a few cards, but it’s still an amazing list! Link to their deck
Table of Contents
Today’s Featured Commander Is:
Borborygmos and Fblthp are a pretty sweet duo, and they are coming to a CEDH table near you. While Borborygmos and Fblthp are certainly an unconventional deck to see in CEDH, they are perfect for a birthing pod deck; being in Temur gives us access to some of the best cards, and this deck has an absolute ton of combos. While I don’t think this deck is the best in the format or anything like that but it is a blast to play and still a viable deck that can certainly shock your opponents when you sit down to play. If you like classic combos and the birthing pod line I think this deck is a ton of fun. Without further adieu, let’s get it!
The Deck:
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Borborygmos and Fblthp Birthing Pod!
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Why Borborygmos and Fblthp?
Borborygmos and Fblthp are a strong value piece for the deck and, most importantly, allow us to pod into Deadeye Navigator
or Niv-Mizzet, Parun
. Borborygmos and Fblthp are a strong card for the deck, and the card draw from casting them can be nice as well; primarily we are a combo deck, so Borborygmos and Fblthp don’t do much besides setting us up for a pod line, and an avenue to win.
Deck Overview:
This section contains information about cards in the deck and how they function within the deck! I also highlighted some of my favorite cards in the deck! The infinite combos and loops in the deck are listed below in the “Main Win Conditions” Section.
Creatures:
To start off our creature package we have quite a few very strong mana dorks like Birds of Paradise
, Delighted Halfling
, and Bloom Tender
which are all great ways for us to establish mana, get our colors going and accelerate our gameplan. We also have both Simian Spirit Guide
and Elvish Spirit Guide
which are both great ways to get mana when we need it. Allosaurus Shepherd
is a pretty strong card that can be great if we need to go stompy, especially against Stax decks, and preventing our green creatures from being countered allows us to save our protection for some of the non-green high-value targets that we have. Some lists don’t run it, but I really like Gilded Drake
within the deck; being able to take away a key creature or commander is very strong, especially for only two mana. We do have some additional tutors in Imperial Recruiter
and Spellseeker
; these are two strong sources of card selection and are extremely strong in a variety of situations, whether being proactive or reactive or just trying to combo off having these tutors is great. Orcish Lumberjack
may be pretty unfamiliar to most of you all but it is a great way to get extra mana and is typically used to cast out our commander.
Battles:
Invasion of Ikoria // Zilortha, Apex of Ikoria
is the only battle, and just like pretty much every deck in CEDH we are only playing it for the tutor effect which allows us to grab key combo creatures like Glint-Horn Buccaneer
and Temur Sabertooth
as well as many other of our combo creatures.
Instants:
One of my favorite duos that we get access to because we are in Temur is Veil of Summer
and Autumn's Veil
, which is a great way to allow us to combo off with protection. We also have a ton of cheap and free counterspells that allow us to stop some of the fastest decks in the format, like Mental Misstep
, Flusterstorm
and Mindbreak Trap
. We do have some pretty good tutors at instant speed like Mystical Tutor
and Worldly Tutor
, which are great ways to grab more and more combo pieces or if we are low on mana and need the best of the best mana dorks it can be quite good as well. Crop Rotation
is pretty much a one-man Gaea's Cradle
tutor, which can be great because of the high density of creatures within the deck.
Sorceries:
We are running Gamble
, which can be a strong tutor, but eventually, we will hit and discard the card we wanted, which can hurt, but that is a risk we have to take because being in Temur does not give us a ton of great tutor options. We have a couple of combos that make infinite mana, and Finale of Devastation
is almost always our outlet, and because of the high density of creatures, we can easily steam-roll an opponent with it. Neoform
is a cheap and on-demand version of Birthing Pod
and is an amazing way to get the combo train rolling. The same is true for Eldritch Evolution
, which can be cast with ease and allows us to drop a key creature on the field, which is perfect for our combos.
Artifacts:
I really like running all three on-color talimans within the deck as they can help us power out the early turns and help us contend with some of the quicker decks in the format, being able to get our colors established early is quite strong as well. Obviously a huge emphasis on Birthing Pod in the deck as it is one of the primary ways that we assemble our combos and end games. We are naturally running The One Ring
, which is a bomb within the format, and the protection and the card draw help our deck out greatly, especially if we can cast it early and get the card draw established.
Enchantments:
A large majority of our enchantment package is nothing but combo pieces, and those really only serve to end the game and we almost never cast them, but we do have some exciting ones like Mystic Remora
and Rhystic Study
which are arguably two of the best sources of card draw within the format and can allow us to get quite far ahead of our opponents.
Land Base:
We have a pretty typical CEDH landbase, and since we are in three-color, we have a ton of duals, which gives us a ton of speed, which allows us to get our colors established early. This is of course, we are greatly helped by Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth
which is a very strong piece of mana-fixing for the deck. Arguably the best land in the deck is Gaea's Cradle, which is huge mana production for the deck and can help an absolute ton, its also the reason why we run Crop Rotation, being able to grab Gaea’s Cradle on command is awesome. I also love Academy Ruins
in the deck. While it’s not the strongest land we have, being able to recur rocks is perfect for the Displacer Kitten combo. There isn’t too much to say about the rest of our landbase, but I think it’s strong and efficient and works quite well for the deck.
Strengths of the Deck:
- We are an adaptive combo deck and we can go off with a ton of different lines and through a ton of different ways.
- Because of the prevalence of our combos, we are able to go off and have the pieces in our starting hand quite regularly.
Weaknesses of the Deck:
- We are quite weak to Stax decks and especially Rule of Law
effects. - We don’t have access to great tutors since we are playing Temur; this makes the hand we keep much more important.
Deck Stats:
Sample Hands:
Main Win Conditions:
We are a Birthing Pod deck that has quite a few lines and infinite combos that allow us to go off and end the game. Whether we pod from two or five, we have a ton of different ways to combo off and a few backups as well. Below are all of the combos in the deck explained:
Dockside Extortionist
+ Temur Sabertooth
Requires:
Dockside Extortionist must be in hand. Temur Sabertooth must be on the battlefield. Opponents control at least four artifacts and/or enchantments. Mana needed: 1R
Steps:
- Cast Dockside Extortionist by paying 1R.
- When Dockside Extortionist enters the battlefield, it triggers, creating at least four Treasure artifact tokens.
- Activate four Treasure tokens by tapping and sacrificing them, adding 2RG.
- Activate Temur Sabertooth by paying 1G, returning Dockside Extortionist from the battlefield to your hand.
- Repeat.
- If opponents control at least five artifacts and/or enchantments, this combo nets infinite Treasure tokens.
Results:
Infinite colored mana. Infinite ETB. Infinite LTB. Infinite storm count. Infinite Treasure tokens.
Dockside Extortionist + Deadeye Navigator
Requires:
Deadeye Navigator must be on the battlefield. Dockside Extortionist must be on the battlefield. Opponents control at least three artifacts and/or enchantments. Deadeye Navigator paired with Dockside. Mana needed: 1U
Steps:
- Activate Deadeye Navigator by paying 1U, blinking Dockside Extortionist.
- Dockside Extortionist enters the battlefield, creating three Treasure tokens.
- Activate those Treasure tokens by tapping and sacrificing them, adding at least 3.
- Repeat.
- Once you have infinite mana, you may use Deadeye Navigator’s abilities to blink any number of creatures you control any number of times.
Results:
Infinite blinking. Infinite colored mana. Infinite ETB. Infinite LTB. Infinite sacrifice triggers.
Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator
+ Glint-Horn Buccaneer
Requires:
Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator must be on the battlefield. Glint-Horn Buccaneer must be on the battlefield. You have at least one card in hand. You have at least two opponents. You have more cards in library than opponents life total. Mana needed: 1R
Steps:
- Attack with Glint-Horn Buccaneer.
- Holding priority, activate Glint-Horn Buccaneer by paying 1R and discarding a card, draw a card.
- Glint-Horn Buccaneer triggers, dealing 1 damage to each opponent.
- Malcolm triggers, creating a Treasure token for each opponent that was dealt damage.
- Activate two Treasure tokens by tapping and sacrificing those, adding R and one mana of any color.
- Repeat from step 2.
Results:
Near-infinite colored mana. Near-infinite damage. Near-infinite looting.
Curiosity
+ Glint-Horn Buccaneer
Requires:
Glint-Horn Buccaneer must be on the battlefield. Curiosity must be on the battlefield. Curiosity attached to Glint-Horn Buccaneer. You have a number of cards in hand greater than your maximum hand size.
Steps:
- Proceed to your cleanup step, causing you to discard down to your maximum hand size.
- Curiosity triggers for each card discarded this way.
- Resolve the first trigger, dealing 1 damage to each opponent.
- Ophidian Eye triggers, causing you to draw a card.
- Repeat from step 3 for each remaining trigger.
- After all players pass priority, another cleanup step occurs, causing you to discard down to your maximum hand size.
- Repeat from step 2.
Results:
Infinite draw triggers. Infinite rummaging. Infinite self-discard triggers. Near-infinite damage.
Ophidian Eye
+ Glint-Horn Buccaneer
Requires:
Glint-Horn Buccaneer must be on the battlefield. Ophidian Eye must be on the battlefield. Ophidian Eye attached to Glint-Horn Buccaneer. You have a number of cards in hand greater than your maximum hand size.
Steps:
- Proceed to your cleanup step, causing you to discard down to your maximum hand size.
- Glint-Horn Buccaneer triggers for each card discarded this way.
- Resolve the first trigger, dealing 1 damage to each opponent.
- Ophidian Eye triggers, causing you to draw a card.
- Repeat from step 3 for each remaining trigger.
- After all players pass priority, another cleanup step occurs, causing you to discard down to your maximum hand size.
- Repeat from step 2.
Results:
Infinite draw triggers. Infinite rummaging. Infinite self-discard triggers. Near-infinite damage.
Keen Sense
+ Glint-Horn Buccaneer
Requires:
Glint-Horn Buccaneer must be on the battlefield. Keen Sense must be on the battlefield. Keen Sense attached to Glint-Horn Buccaneer. You have a number of cards in hand greater than your maximum hand size.
Steps:
- Proceed to your cleanup step, causing you to discard down to your maximum hand size.
- Glint-Horn Buccaneer triggers for each card discarded this way.
- Resolve the first trigger, dealing 1 damage to each opponent.
- Keen Sense triggers, causing you to draw a card.
- Repeat from step 3 for each remaining trigger.
- After all players pass priority, another cleanup step occurs, causing you to discard down to your maximum hand size.
- Repeat from step 2.
Results:
Infinite draw triggers. Infinite rummaging. Infinite self-discard triggers. Near-infinite damage.
Requires:
Niv-Mizzet, Parun must be on the battlefield. Curiosity must be on the battlefield. Curiosity attached to Niv-Mizzet. You have a way to draw a card. Your library is greater than opponent life total.
Steps:
- Draw a card.
- Niv-Mizzet trigger, dealing 1 damage to any target opponent.
- Curiosity triggers, allowing you to draw a card.
- Repeat from step 2.
Results:
Infinite card draw. Near-infinite damage.
Niv-Mizzet, Parun + Ophidian Eye
Requires:
Niv-Mizzet, Parun must be on the battlefield. Ophidian Eye must be on the battlefield. Ophidian Eye attached to Niv-Mizzet. You have a way to draw a card.
Steps:
- Draw a card.
- Niv-Mizzet triggers, dealing 1 damage to an opponent.
- Ophidian Eye triggers, allowing you to draw a card.
- Repeat from step 2.
Results:
Infinite card draw. Infinite draw triggers. Near-infinite damage.
Underworld Breach
+ Lion's Eye Diamond
+ Brain Freeze
Requires:
Underworld Breach must be on the battlefield. Lion’s Eye Diamond must be on the battlefield. Brain Freeze must be in the graveyard. You have at least six other cards in hand and/or graveyard.
Steps:
- Activate Lion’s Eye Diamond by discarding your hand and sacrificing it, adding UUU.
- Cast Lion’s Eye Diamond from your graveyard for its escape cost by exiling three cards besides Brain Freeze from your graveyard.
- Cast Brain Freeze from your graveyard for its escape cost by paying 1U and exiling three cards from your graveyard.
- Brain Freeze’s storm ability triggers, creating at least one copy of Brain Freeze targeting yourself, and any remaining copies targeting an opponent.
- Resolve each Brain Freeze, causing yourself to mill six cards and, if applicable, an opponent to mill three cards for each Brain Freeze remaining.
- Repeat.
Results:
Infinite self-mill. Near-infinite colored mana. Near-infinite magecraft triggers. Near-infinite mill. Near-infinite storm count.
Deadeye Navigator + Lion's Eye Diamond + Eternal Witness
Requires:
Deadeye Navigator must be on the battlefield. Eternal Witness must be on the battlefield. Lion’s Eye Diamond must be on the battlefield. Deadeye Navigator paired with Eternal Witness.
Steps:
- Activate Lion’s Eye Diamond, sacrificing it to add UUU.
- Activate Eternal Witness’s soulbond ability, exiling it and then returning it to the battlefield.
- Eternal Witness triggers on ETB, returning Lion’s Eye Diamond to your hand.
- Deadeye Navigator triggers, pairing itself with Eternal Witness.
- Repeat for infinite blue mana.
- Once you have infinite blue mana, repeat for infinite colored mana and graveyard recursion.
Results:
Infinite colored mana. Infinite ETB. Infinite graveyard recursion. Infinite LTB.
Displacer Kitten
+ Eternal Witness + Lotus Petal
+ Jeweled Lotus
Requires:
Displacer Kitten must be on the battlefield. Eternal Witness must be on the battlefield. Lotus Petal must be in hand. Jeweled Lotus must be on the battlefield.
Steps:
- Activate Jeweled Lotus by tapping and sacrificing it, adding three mana of any color that can only be spent to cast your commander.
- Cast Lotus Petal by paying 0.
- Displacer Kitten triggers, blinking Eternal Witness.
- When Eternal Witness enters the battlefield, it triggers, returning Jeweled Lotus from your graveyard to your hand.
- Activate Lotus Petal by tapping and sacrificing it, adding one mana of any color.
- Cast Jeweled Lotus by paying 0.
- Displacer Kitten triggers, blinking Eternal Witness.
- When Eternal Witness enters the battlefield, it triggers, returning Lotus Petal from your graveyard to your hand.
- Repeat.
Results:
Infinite colored mana. Infinite storm count.
Conclusion:
Borborygmos and Fblthp are quite the duo and absolutely perfect for a Birthing Pod. While we aren’t playing every possible line, I think we have a ton of awesome lines, and comboing off with protection is something we can easily do. I like this deck a lot and think its quite strong. I hope you all enjoyed this one as much as I did! Thanks for reading to the end and for all of your support!