“We rode on the winds of the rising storm“
Art:Ovika, Enigma Goliath
by Antonio José Manzanedo
Budget Deck Pricing Courtesy of Moxfield.com
Non-Budget Deck Pricing Courtesy of Moxfield.com
Table of Contents
Today’s Featured Commander Is:
Ovika is the perfect general for a spell slinger deck. Even though they are quite expensive at seven mana, we have a ton of artifact ramps to help us get up to seven as soon as possible. Beyond that, we have a bunch of spells like counterspells draw spells, and some big sweeping spells that allow us to produce a ton of tokens and end our games through them. We are a slower deck that tries to take it into the late game, but once we have Ovika, we can typically end games pretty soon after. This deck is a ton of fun, and I am very excited to share it with all of you. Without further adieu, let’s get it!
The Deck:
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Ovika, Enigma Goliath $40 Spellslinging!
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The Non-Budget Version Of The Deck:
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Ovika, Enigma Goliath Non-Budget $400 Spellslingers!
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Main Differences Between The Versions:
The main differences between the two versions are speed and utility. The non-budget version has some additional fast mana like Chromatic Orrery
, which is expensive but can be absolutely game-changing once it hits. We also have more utility within our landbase, mostly in the form of faster mana like Scalding Tarn
, and Steam Vents
. We also have huge damage outlets like Purphoros, God of the Forge
, and Solphim, Mayhem Dominus
. The budget version is great at precon and, generally, casual-mid power levels, while the non-budget version is much faster and stronger and is undoubtedly a mid-power deck.
Five Helpful Upgrades For The Budget Version:
These are not in a particular order but are some non-budget pickups that will make the deck stronger.
Purphoros is the perfect damage outlet for all the tokens we create and is an easy way to end the game. This card was cut from the budget version solely due to price.
Raise the Paliside is a very strong card for various reasons, getting five tokens out of it if we have Ovika out and bouncing everything but our key creatures is very strong.
A very strong mid-late game card that absolutely changes the way we play once it comes out, being able to have freedom with our mana, a strong mana producer, and a strong card draw engine for the deck.
One of the strongest cards in the format and a great way to draw some cards. In our deck, it is an amazing way to fill up our hands and keep on casting.
Boseiju is an awesome land that works very well at a table or pod that has some control strategies. While we have counterspells of our own, we don’t have enough reliably to win counter-wars, so Boseiju can be a great way to guarantee we resolve key spells.
Why Ovika, Enigma Goliath?
Ovika is the main card in our deck. They are the key to the deck and what makes it work. Ovika is expensive at seven mana, but we have a ton of artifact ramp to cast Ovika as soon as possible and get a ton of value out of all the spells we cast. Ovika is strong, fun, and quite hard to remove. All of that makes our main game plan a race for Ovika.
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!
Creatures:
Our creature package has a lot of damage payoffs for instants and sorceries like Guttersnipe
, Erebor Flamesmith
, and Firebrand Archer
which are strong sources of damage for the deck. Balmor, Battlemage Captain
is another strong payoff that works very well once we have a ton of tokens off of Ovika. After we have a ton of token creation and big spells in hand, we can use Devilish Valet
as a viable attacker, and in one of my games, I was able to one-shot an opponent with this. Magnus the Red
is a huge payoff for all the tokens we create.
Planeswalkers:
We only have one planeswalker, but they are strong Saheeli, Sublime Artificer
is another one of the payoffs for casting a bunch of instants and sorceries. We sometimes use Saheeli’s minus to copy one of our bigger mana rocks to generate more mana, but we often use Saheeli for creature production.
Instants:
To start our instant package, we have some strong counterspells like Arcane Denial
, Counterspell
, and Unwind
. We have some big draw spells like Big Score
and Unexpected Windfall
, which are perfect for the deck since they are a little over costed, but this is actually a benefit since we can get more tokens from Ovika. Aetherspouts
is a very strong “gotcha” card that can absolutely devastate an opponent’s board, especially if they try to swing out against us. We have a lot of strong X spells like Pull from Tomorrow
and Transcendent Message
, which works perfectly in conjunction with Battle Hymn
, which can produce a ton of mana after a couple turns of having Ovika out there.
Sorceries:
We have some additional token production like Dragon Fodder
and Hordeling Outburst
are both strong ways to establish a board early and begin to get some of our payoffs and utility of the deck going earlier than when we can cast Ovika. Haze of Rage
is a card from which we can get a lot of advantage and can be a strong and reliable way to end the game. Past in Flames
is a great way to get key instants and sorceries back, which is absolutely perfect for using once we have Ovika out. We also have some ways to deal with the board, like Mizzium Mortars
and Curse of the Swine
, which can be great ways to clear the way for all of our tokens and stop opponents from going too crazy.
Artifacts:
One of my favorite artifacts in the deck is Dragon Throne of Tarkir
, which can be a great way to use Ovika to buff up all of our tokens and is a viable way for us to end the game through combat. Beyond that, we have a ton of format staple mana rocks like Sol Ring
, Firemind Vessel
, and Sisay's Ring
. While we have many more, they all push us toward the same goal: casting Ovika as soon as possible. Mindsplice Apparatus
is a very underrated artifact in Commander and can be a great way to make all of our instants and sorceries cheaper.
Enchantments:
Impact Tremors
is a strong source of damage for the deck and can greatly contribute to ending the game. Raid Bombardment
is another super strong damage outlet that can be a great way to kill opponents by declaring attackers.
Land Base:
Our land base is naturally a little bit slower than the non-budget deck but is still pretty strong, and while a little slow, we have a ton of utility lands. Some of my favorite utility lands include Desolate Lighthouse
and Mystic Sanctuary
. We also have strong dual lands like Prismari Campus
, which can be a great way to scry, and Sulfur Falls
, which is one of the “fastest” lands within our deck. Beyond that, we have some basics and additional duals to round out our landbase.
Strengths of the Deck:
- Decent amount of interaction
- A ton of card draw
Weaknesses of the Deck:
- Weak to graveyard hate
- Our commander does cost seven mana which can slow us down
- Often don’t have a strong board presence until we have our commander out
Deck Stats:
Sample Hands:
Main Win Conditions:
There are no infinite combos or loops within the deck, we have the advantage of a commander being a huge token producer, and we can use cards like Shared Animosity
and Impact Tremors/Goblin Bombardment
to close out the game.
Conclusion:
Ovika, Engima Goliath is a very fun commander in a budget form or not a budget form. I have had a ton of success with Ovika against various pre-con’s and casual decks. In the games, it went well. It was strong but certainly not overwhelming, and as always, any deck can have bad games. Even though this deck is spell slinger style, it focuses a lot more on token/creation and thus can be good for a player of nearly any skill level. I had a lot of fun with this one, and I hope you did too. Thanks for reading to the end and for all your support.