“Be at peace, my worthy foe. You fought well, and now you are put to rest.”
Art:Edgewalker
by Ben Thompson
Table of Contents
Today’s Featured Commander Is:
Edgewalker is a classic commander who gives a ton of support to a creature type that does not get nearly enough love. Being able to discount nearly every creature in our deck is a super strong ability, especially for only three mana. We are an Orzhov deck with all of the strong recursion, interaction, and card draw that comes with it. We are also rocking a life gain package which helps us be quite strong against aggressive strategies or any combat decks as well as having a decent amount of payoffs for gaining life. This deck is an absolute blast and I am very excited to showcase this one on the site! Without further adieu let’s get it!
The Deck:
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Edgewalker Clerics Lifegain!
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Why Edgewalker?
Edgewalker is pretty much always our turn-three play, even on creatures who do not get the full discount this ability is still very strong. Edgewalker is the clear choice for a cleric’s commander as that creature type does not have a ton of support, especially in the command zone. Edgewalker is strong for us and a card we always want to hold back to get that sweet passive discount.
Deck Overview:
This section contains information about cards in the deck and how they function within the deck! As well as highlighting some of my favorite cards in the deck!
Creatures:
This may come as a big surprise but we have an absolute ton of clerics! We have too many to discuss individually so I am going to talk about some of my favorite ones. Vile Deacon
is my all-time favorite cleric, it is our biggest and arguably best creature in the deck, this thing is a damage machine. Whipgrass Entangler
is a really strong card that makes it quite difficult to attack or block on us, especially in the late game. We have some strong life-gain cards like Soul's Attendant
, Soul Warden
and Impassioned Orator
. We also have some life payoffs like Marauding Blight-Priest
, Epicure of Blood
, and Celestial Unicorn
. Dwarven Priest
is a really strong card especially when it only costs 2 mana! Daru Spiritualist
is strong against targeted damage or burn. If we do end up taking damage and it is a lot we can use Children of Korlis
to get it all back, this will not make your opponents happy.
Instants:
We have some strong instant speed removal like Cast Down
, Go for the Throat
, and Doom Blade
which are limited in what they can target but can almost always target something. Death Denied
and Footbottom Feast
are two really strong ways to recur cards when something like graveyard hate is coming down. My two favorite instants in the deck are Crypt Incursion
and Riot Control
which are strong and cheap and let us gain an absolute ton of life. Harsh Sustenance
is a great way to kill a huge creature or take out a low-life player. Foul-Tongue Shriek
is a cool card that we can use to damage the same or an additional opponent for a kind of two-for-one for only one mana.
Sorceries:
Our sorcery package is where a lot of our card draw lies, with Pauper EDH classics like Read the Bones
, Sign in Blood
and Night's Whisper
which are all relatively cheap and efficient draw spells, which are especially strong since we can run out of hand cards in our hand rather quickly. We also have a decent amount of sorcery speed recursion like Aphetto Dredging
and Forever Young
. Profane Prayers
is a card we can often use as a game-ending spell or to kill a huge creature, this card is really strong. Righteous Charge
is another game-ending spell that we can use to get a final damage push-in.
Artifacts:
We have some strong on-color mana rocks like Arcane Signet
and Orzhov Signet
, the most interesting mana rock in our deck is Pristine Talisman
since it gives us life as well! Spare Supplies
is a really strong piece of supplemental card draw for the deck. Wedding Invitation
is not only one of my favorite Pauper EDH cards but we get a 2-drop artifact, a free card, and a guaranteed hit which is strong when used with cards like Vile Deacon or any of our bigger creatures.
Enchantments:
Our enchantment package has some strong noncombat damage like Trespasser's Curse
and Ill-Gotten Inheritance
which are both strong and a great way to drain down our opponents. We also have some strong auras that help us get extra damage like Gift of Orzhova
, Edge of the Divinity
, and Endless Scream
which are all great buffs that make even our smallest creatures more of a threat. Soul Link
is especially strong against aggressive or stompy strategies.
Land Base:
Our land base is pretty much what you would expect from a TNT pauper deck with a bunch of on-color draw and cycling lands. We also have a couple of new additions in the form of Hidden Courtyard
and Hidden Necropolis
which in the mid-late game are great ways to get some extra free cards and cycle through the deck. We also have Cave of Temptation
which is a great way to buff up a smaller cleric. We also have The Fair Basilica
and The Dross Pits
which are strong draw lands and great lands in general. Besides that, we have a few more draw sources and a bunch of basics.
Strengths of the Deck:
- Edgewalker
makes nearly every creature in our deck discounted - A good amount of removal/card draw
- Very strong against aggressive strategies
Weaknesses of the Deck:
- Weak to commander hate, Edgewalker will be targeted heavily in my experience
- Weak to creature hate
- Weak to control strategies as we don’t transition super well from the mid-late game, we are strong in the midgame
Deck Stats:
Sample Hands:
Main Win Conditions:
There are no infinite combos or loops in the deck. We win the game through good old-fashioned combat. We have some cards that help with this like Eagles of the North
and Righteous Charge which can be a great way to get a huge board and swing for the fences. We also have some strong creatures to close out games like Vile Deacon and Celestial Unicorn which can be huge damage dealers and get out of hand pretty quickly.
Conclusion:
Edgewalker is not only a beautiful card but is a really strong commander for a creature type that does not have a ton of support. There are so many cool clerics and when I was building this deck there were many times when I was shocked that a creature was a cleric. Being able to discount nearly all of our creatures and have an efficient Orzhov deck with all the goodies that come with it, lets us have a lot of fun and have a strong deck. Thanks for reading to the end and thanks for all of your support!