“I touched the stars… And saw the glorious light of a thousand suns…“
Art:Pantlaza, Sun-Favored
by Sam Burley
Table of Contents
Today’s Featured Commander Is:
While it is really hard to play many decks that don’t include Black/Blue in CEDH, Pantlaza is a really strong option! Being able to discover through our deck while we go for a combo which can happen pretty quickly and easily. We are a food chain deck that can also take advantage of Pantlaza’s ability to cycle through our deck once infinite mana is established. We do have some ways to help the fact that we have no counterspells in the deck with cards like Autumn's Veil
and Veil of Summer
. This deck is an absolute blast and I am really excited to share it with you all. Without further adieu let’s get it!
The Deck:
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Pantlaza, Sun-Favored Food Chain!
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Why Pantlaza, Sun-Favored?
Pantlaza is a key part of our deck, when we are attempting to assemble our combos and when we have them already assembled. We can utilize cool cards like Universal Automaton
as an easy way to grab combo pieces like Lion's Eye Diamond
. Pantlaza is not only an easy opportunity for free cards, but arguably it is a little stronger than Cascade. Due to the fact that Discover allows us to choose to cast or keep it in our hand, we can play through some stax pieces like Drannith Magistrate
. Overall Pantlaza, Sun-Favored is a really fun commander who is not only brand new on the scene but a pretty strong commander as well.
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! The infinite combos and loops in the deck are listed below in the “Main Win Conditions” Section.
Creatures:
To start off we have some mana “dorks” like Bloom Tender
, Faeburrow Elder
, and Delighted Halfling
which are all cheap ways to help us speed out Pantlaza or really anything in our deck. Some of the most important creatures in our deck are the tutor creatures like Recruiter of the Guard
and Imperial Recruiter
since we can grab combo creatures. Since we don’t have a lot of the flexibility that many decks we have we can use cards like Aven Mindcensor
and Archivist of Oghma
as great ways to slow down our opponents and make our deck a little more efficient. Scytheclaw Raptor
is a great way to whittle our opponents down when they try to mess with us on our turn. Flaming Tyrannosaurus
is arguably the best creature in our deck since it is an outlet for damage once we get one of our combos assembled. Walking Ballista
is one of our primary outlets for the infinite mana that we create.
Planeswalkers:
We only have one planeswalker in Wrenn and Six
, this was a card I added along with Wasteland
. It can also be a great way to get back some of our fetches. Wrenn and Six’s minus ability is something we rarely use but can be helpful in fringe situations to zap a mana dork. We rarely get to his ult but we will never say no to it!
Instants:
In my opinion, the two most important cards in our deck are Autumn's Veil and Veil of Summer because if resolved allow us to combo off without a ton of worry about countermagic. Our only real protection against countermagic is Pyroblast
and Red Elemental Blast
which I typically save for when I am about to combo off. Calamity's Wake
is no doubt a tech choice and I run into graveyard strategies like Old Stickfingers
quite regularly so it can be very strong against the right table. Cloudshift
and Ephemerate
are pretty much solely used to blink Pantlaza, Sun-Favored but can be a way to protect against single-target removal on a key creature if needed.
Sorceries:
Eldritch Evolution
is a great way to grab a combo creature like Squee, the Immortal
, or really any utility/combo creature from our deck. Once we have infinite mana we can use Finale of Devastation
as a game-ending card, we can also use it earlier as another creature tutor. Sylvan Tutor
is a really strong card that allows us to either grab a key creature for the next turn or manipulate the top of our deck for a Discover trigger.
Artifacts:
Since we are not playing Black/Blue we had to include The One Ring
which is a super valuable piece in our deck. Beyond that, we have a ton of mana rocks like Jeweled Lotus
, Mana Crypt
, and Chrome Mox
which are great ways for us to get ahead on mana.
Enchantments:
We are a Food Chain
deck primarily so it should come as no surprise that it is here, we also have Underworld Breach
which is a strong combo piece as well. Sylvan Library
is not only a strong piece of card advantage but a great way to manipulate the top of our deck for Discover triggers. Carpet of Flowers
is a great way to get ahead on mana. Speaking of getting ahead on mana we absolutely had to include Smothering Tithe
.
Land Base:
Not a whole lot to say about our land base, it comes with all of the expected CEDH pieces like Ancient Tomb
, Taiga
and Gemstone Caverns
just to name a few. We are fetch-heavy and it is the primary way we get all of our colors out on the field. Another strong piece of mana fixing is Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth
which turns all land into a forest. If we run into opponents who have Path to Exile
s or Assassin's Trophy
we have one of each basic. We also have Wasteland which can be a great way to target opponents Ancient Tombs and City of Traitors
. I found in testing that our land base is efficient and I never really had any issues with getting all of our colors established.
Strengths of the Deck:
- Can combo off quite easily with some amount of protection
- Our commander is a free card machine
- There are multiple ways to combo off
Weaknesses of the Deck:
- Weakness that comes from not playing arguably the best CEDH colors Black/Blue
- Not a ton of card draw
- Weak to countermagic
Deck Stats:
Sample Hands:
Main Win Conditions:
We are a food chain deck primarily and that is the combo we typically go for, but we do have a few other ways to go off! We have a few combos that just make infinite mana and in that case, we will use a card like Flaming Tyrannosaurus to damage out against our opponents. Additionally, when we have the Food Chain combo assembled we can infinitely cast Pantlaza, Sun-Favored until we discover Commander's Insignia
which will allow us to eventually find Flaming Tyrannosaurus. Below are all of the combos in the deck explained
Dockside Extortionist
+ Temur Sabertooth
Requires:
Dockside Extortionist in hand. Temur Sabertooth on the battlefield. Opponents control at least four artifacts and/or enchantments. 1R available.
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 Treasure tokens. Infinite colored mana. Infinite ETB. Infinite LTB. Infinite storm count.
Dockside Extortionist + Emiel the Blessed
Requires:
All permanents on the battlefield. Your opponents control at least three artifacts and/or enchantments. 3 available.
Steps:
- Activate Emiel the Blessed by paying 3, blinking Dockside Extortionist.
- When Dockside Extortionist enters the battlefield, it triggers, creating at least three Treasure artifact tokens.
- Activate three Treasures by tapping and sacrificing them, adding 3.
- Repeat.
- If opponents control at least four artifacts and/or enchantments, this combo nets infinite mana and Treasure tokens.
Results:
Infinite Treasure tokens. Infinite colored mana. Infinite ETB. Infinite LTB. Infinite blinking.
Squee, the Immortal + Food Chain
Requires:
All permanents on the battlefield.
Steps:
- Activate Food Chain by exiling Squee, adding RRRR that can only be spent to cast creature spells.
- Cast Squee from exile by paying 1RR.
- Repeat.
Results:
Infinite colored mana that can only be spent to cast creature spells. Infinite storm count. Infinite ETB. Infinite LTB.
Underworld Breach + Lion's Eye Diamond + Wheel of Fortune
Requires:
Wheel of Fortune in your graveyard. All permanents on the battlefield. 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 RRR.
- Cast Wheel of Fortune from your graveyard for its escape cost by paying 2R and exiling 3 cards from your graveyard.
- Resolve Wheel of Fortune, causing each player to discard their hand and draw seven cards.
- Cast Lion’s Eye Diamond from your graveyard for its escape cost by exiling 3 cards from your graveyard.
- Repeat.
Results:
Infinite looting. Infinite draw triggers. Infinite looting for opponents. Near-infinite storm count.
Underworld Breach + Jeska's Will
+ Wheel of Fortune
Requires:
Underworld Breach on the battlefield. All other cards in your graveyard. You have at least six additional cards in your graveyard, plus an additional six cards between your hand and/or graveyard. An opponent has at least six cards in hand. 2R available.
Steps:
- Cast Jeska’s Will from your graveyard for its escape cost by paying 2R and exiling three other cards from your graveyard, adding at least six R.
- Cast Wheel of Fortune from your graveyard for its escape cost by paying 2R and exiling three other cards from your graveyard, causing each player to discard their hand and draw seven cards.
- Repeat.
Results:
Infinite looting for all players. Infinite draw triggers for all players. Near-infinite storm count. Near-infinite magecraft triggers.
Requires:
Both cards in hand. At least one creature on the battlefield. 2RRR available.
Steps:
- Cast Twinflame by paying 1R.
- Holding priority, cast Dualcaster Mage by paying 1RR.
- Dualcaster Mage enters the battlefield, copying Twinflame.
- Resolve the Twinflame copy, creating a token copy of Dualcaster Mage.
- Repeat from step 3.
Results:
Infinite creature tokens with haste. Infinite ETB. Infinite magecraft triggers.
Conclusion:
Even though Pantlaza is arguably one of the weakest color combinations in CEDH, Discover and the options it brings as a “better” cascade positions it quite well. While I tested this at my LGS I took down some strong decks like Kinnan, Rog/Silas, and Toxrill. I think this deck is an absolute blast to play and a breath of fresh air to a CEDH format that does not have a ton of straying from the norm. Thanks for reading to the end and thanks for all of your support!