“Life is but a path to death, but not today.”
Art:Najeela, the Blade-Blossom
by Matt Stewart
Table of Contents
Todays Featured Commander Is:
Najeela is the same powerhouse that she was when she was first printed! We have built a stax shell that allows us to lock out our opponents and still break through with Najeela. Not only can we win through combat we are a five-color deck so we can absolutely win through combos that are common in CEDH like Thoracle! This deck is a ton of fun to play and is very well positioned in the format. Without further adieu lets get it!
The Deck:
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Najeela, The Blade Blossom Stax!
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Why Najeela, The Blade Blossom?
Najeela is the perfect Stax commander and really a perfect CEDH commander, not only can we go infinite with Najeela and a few supporting cards we can also very easily play through our own stax pieces and win the game super quickly! Najeela and a stax piece are the key to this deck and with just those we can begin to setup a win! Najeela really is the real-deal!
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:
We of course have some stax creatures like Collector Ouphe
, Archon of Emeria
and Drannith Magistrate
are all strong stax creatures that allow us to lock down the game! Divining Witch
is basically a Demonic Consultation
or Tainted Pact
on a creature which allows us to play through our own stax effects and get a Thoracle combo win going. My favorite creature in the deck is Fiend Artisan
which is a great way to kill our own stax piece and get a combo creature or contribute to a way to end the game! We also have some extra mana like Tinder Wall
, Simian Spirit Guide
and Elvish Spirit Guide
which can help us ramp into Najeela or another stax piece quicker!
Instants:
We have a ton of ways to stop our opponents with sweet counterspells like An Offer You Can't Refuse
, Fierce Guardianship
and Mental Misstep
which are all great ways to stop opponents combos or really any of their problematic stuff! We also have ways to destroy our own stax pieces to go for the win like Nature's Claim
and Force of Vigor
which we typically can use against ourself!
Sorceries:
Praetor's Grasp
is an amazing card not only to steal an opponents combo piece but often times we may able to use it ourself! Finale of Devastation
is most often a creature tutor in the deck and we rarely get to use its second effect! Demonic Tutor
is a great tutor which is an EDH and CEDH classic at this point! Meltdown
is a card that is ok in some matchups but can be really strong if we play against heavy artifact strategies!
Artifacts:
The only stax piece we have in our artifacts is Chalice of the Void
which can be super effective on 1,2 or 3 but this is dependent on your table! The rest of our package is all mana with sweet cards like Jeweled Lotus
which is an instant cast of Najeela! We also have Mana Crypt
and Lotus Petal
as well as a few others which help us ramp a ton and get it done! Null Rod
is a strong stax piece that often affects our opponents more than us!
Enchantments:
Our enchantment package is where a lot of our strong stax pieces live like Deafening Silence
, Rule of Law
and Stony Silence
all of these are really effective against a ton of decks in the format! Since we are playing five-colors we of course have Mystic Remora
and Rhystic Study
which are both great ways to draw some cards! Nature's Will
is not only mana advantage card but often can set up for infinite combats!
Land Base:
We are a five-color deck so we have a landbase that is full to the brim of nonbasics, for one we are playing one of every original dual-land and an absolute ton of fetches which are both great ways to get all of our colors down super early! Other than duals and fetches we have lands like City of Brass
and Mana Confluence
which are both strong lands that come in untapped and get our colors!
Strengths of the Deck:
- Stax our opponents out of the game
- Easy to assemble wins with protection (can often win with Najeela and one other creature!)
- Easy to remove our own stax pieces too assemble wins
Weaknesses of the Deck:
- Weak to Ad Nauseam decks as our counterspell / stax suite can be slower coming down
- Starting hand is super important so we need to aggressively mulligan
- Weak to more aggressive stax players
Deck Stats:
Sample Hands:
Main Win Conditions:
This is CEDH, so you know we have some combos! Below are the combos in the deck explained:
Najeela, the Blade-Blossom + Derevi, Empyrial Tactician
Requires:
All permanents on the battlefield. You control two additional creatures. You control permanents that can produce at least WUBRG. Najeela, Derevi, and the additional creatures do not have summoning sickness. An opponent is unable to block your creatures.
Steps:
- Attack with Najeela, Derevi, and at least two additional creatures.
- Najeela triggers, creating a 1/1 Warrior creature token.
- When your creatures deal combat damage to a player, Derevi triggers at least five times, untapping at least five permanents you control.
- Activate those permanents by tapping them to add at least WUBRG.
- Activate Najeela by paying WUBRG, untapping all attacking creatures you control, giving them trample, lifelink, and haste, and creating an additional combat phase.
- Repeat.
Results:
Infinite combat phases. Infinite creature tokens. Infinite ETB. Infinite untap of permanents. Infinite mana permanents you control can produce. Infinite colored mana.
Dockside Extortionist
+ Barrin, Master Wizard
Requires:
Dockside Extortionist in hand. Barrin on the battlefield. Your opponents control at least six artifacts and/or enchantments. 1R available.
Steps:
- Cast Dockside Extortionist by paying 1R
- Dockside Extortionist enters the battlefield, creating at least six Treasure tokens.
- Activate four Treasure tokens by tapping and sacrificing those, adding R and three mana of any color.
- Activate Barrin by paying 2 and sacrificing a Treasure token, returning Dockside Extortionist to hand.
- Repeat.
Results:
Infinite ETB. Infinite colored mana. Infinite storm count. Infinite sacrifice triggers. Infinite Treasure tokens.
Tainted Pact + Thassa's Oracle
Requires:
All cards in hand. No two cards in library share a name. 1UUB available.
Steps:
- Cast Tainted Pact by paying 1B, exiling your library.
- Cast Thassa’s Oracle by paying UU.
- Thassa’s Oracle enters the battlefield, causing you to win the game.
Results:
Win the game.
Demonic Consultation
+ Thassa's Oracle
Requires:
All cards in hand. UUB available.
Steps:
- Cast Demonic Consultation by paying B, naming Thassa’s Oracle and thus exiling your library due to you not having a card named Thassa’s Oracle in your library.
- Cast Thassa’s Oracle by paying UU.
- Thassa’s Oracle enters the battlefield, causing you to win the game.
Results:
Win the game. Exile your library.
Conclusion:
In conclusion Najeela is a super fun commander who allows us to play a stax shell but use Najeela as a break piece for the stax and allow us to swing through and hurt our opponents! This deck is a ton of fun and doesnt have a ton of bad matchups within the format, although the matchups that are bad are really bad. Hope you enjoyed this article and thanks for reading to the end!