“Remember this night, for this is where eternity begins.”
Art:Rowan, Scion of War
by Magali Villeneuve
Table of Contents
Todays Featured Commander Is:
Rowan is a brand new commander who is hot off the presses! Rowan is perfect for CEDH since she lets us cast spells for free and free stuff and being fast is always good especially in CEDH! Since we are in Rakdos there are a ton of infinite mana combos and payoffs that we can play! This deck is a ton of fun to play and is definitely a change of pace from the typical CEDH deck, while it plays a lot of the same cards Rowan adds a really fun extra dimension. One of the best part of our deck is that with Rowan pretty much no spell is out of reach for us to cast! Without further adieu lets get it!
The Deck:
Rowan Scion of War Spellpile!
Buy This Deck!
Link to TCGPlayer to buy this deck: Rowan, Scion of War Spellpile Brewed CEDH
Why Rowan, Scion of War?
The main reason we chose Rowan is because it is very easy to get her ability to pay off a ton and in CEDH free stuff is pretty much never bad, combine this with a bunch of huge spells and combos and Rowan herself increases the speed of finding our path to victory! It’s super easy to pull off wins with just a few cards and a big Rowan discount!
Deck Overview:
This section contains information about cards in the deck and how they function within the deck! For explanations of the combos please refer to the “Main Win Conditions” section below!
Creatures:
Our creature package is small but quite effective! Treasonous Ogre
and Blood Celebrant
are both great ways to pay a bunch of life and get some mana out of the deal, perfect for Rowan! Dauthi Voidwalker
is a really nasty card in CEDH since we can effectively destroy any reanimator strategy. Dockside Extortionist
is a CEDH classic and a great way to get some extra mana! Another hot card on the scene is Orcish Bowmasters
just an all star of a card! K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth
is in the deck mostly for the fact that we can pay life into it and thus trigger Rowan! Opposition Agent
is a great card pretty much against any deck since pretty much any deck, ours included searches pretty frequently!
Instants:
Since Rowan can come out pretty early, Deflecting Swat
and Deadly Rollick
are always pretty much “online” and great cards to stop some of the stuff our opponents are trying to do! Some of our best ways to fight against the blue decks come in Red Elemental Blast
and Pyroblast
! One of the best cards for Rowan in the deck is Fire Covenant
since we can pay life which is always good! Snuff Out
is an especially great removal spell in our deck since we can lose 4 life and get a great discount from Rowan
Sorceries:
Beseech the Mirror
is just as new as Rowan and honestly this card is just straight up unfair and pretty much always good! Grim Tutor
is especially good in our deck since we want to lose life, Imperial Seal
as well as Demonic Tutor
which is one of the best tutors of all time! Praetor's Grasp
is a great way to steal an opponents combo piece or grab one of theirs and use it for us depending on what there deck looks like! Torment of Hailfire
is a great card and is an absolute game ender if we have infinite mana!
Artifacts:
We of course have the classic mana rocks that are prevalent throughout the format like Mox Diamond
, Mana Crypt
and Mana Vault
which are all pretty much auto includes. One of my favorite artifacts in the deck is Defense Grid
since we are not the strongest against blue decks this is great way to at least slow them down and help us set up for a combo win! We love cards and protection is very nice so of course we have The One Ring
which is also coming very close to being auto include in CEDH!
Enchantments:
Underworld Breach
is of course a combo piece within our deck and we typically dont cast it until we are ready to win / combo off! Necropotence
is also a combo piece but a nice way to cycle through the deck. Black Market Connections
is cheap card draw and makes us lose life which is actually a good thing in this deck!
Land Base:
We have a pretty typical Rakdos land base with of course key cards like Badlands
, Bloodstained Mire
and Blood Crypt
but because of Rowan we also have lands so we can purposely lose life like Barbarian Ring
, Cabal Pit
and Ramunap Ruins
. All of those lands are a great way to get even a small discount but can help a ton less cost and free stuff is never frowned upon!
Strengths of the Deck:
- Tons of ways to combo off and end games
- Tons of infinite mana lines with payoffs
- Very easy to produce a ton of mana
Weaknesses of the Deck:
- Paying tons of life to get free casts is sometimes not great
- Not a ton of ways to interact
- Shut down by blue spells sometimes
Deck Stats:
Sample Hands:
Main Win Conditions:
We are a spellpile combo deck so we have combos that end games and combos that help us to make infinite mana and go into a payoff card like Tendrils of Agony
or Crackle with Power
. Below are all the combos in the deck explained!
Rowan, Scion of War + Exsanguinate
+ Necropotence
Requires:
Exsanguinate in hand. All permanents on the battlefield. Rowan does not have summoning sickness. You have the highest life total. BB available.
Steps:
- Activate Necropotence by paying 1 life, exiling the top card of your library.
- Repeat step 1 until you have paid an amount of life equal to the highest life total among your opponents.
- Activate Rowan by tapping it, reducing the cost of all black and/or red spells you cast this turn.
- Cast Exsanguinate, choosing for X to equal the amount of life you’ve lost this turn, but paying a total of BB due to Rowan’s ability.
- Resolve Exsanguinate, causing each opponent to lose X life, and you to gain life equal to the life lost this way.
- Each opponent loses the game due to having 0 or less life.
Results:
Each opponent loses the game. Near-infinite lifegain. Near-infinite lifeloss.
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.
Requires:
All cards in hand. 3BRR available. There is at least one creature on the battlefield.
Steps:
- Cast Saw in Half by paying 2B, targeting any creature.
- Holding priority, cast Dualcaster Mage by paying 1RR.
- Dualcaster Mage enters the battlefield, copying Saw in Half targeting Dualcaster Mage.
- Resolve the copy of Saw in Half, destroying Dualcaster Mage and creating two token copies of it with base power equal to half the destroyed creature’s power and base toughness equal to half the destroyed creature’s toughness, rounding up each time.
- Both Dualcaster Mage tokens enter the battlefield, triggering themselves.
- Resolve the first Dualcaster Mage trigger, copying Saw in Half targeting a Dualcaster Mage token.
- Repeat from step 4.
- Once you have a large amount of Dualcaster Mage triggers on the stack, you may resolve those triggers, copying Saw in Half targeting any creature you control to create infinite token copies of the creature(s).
- You may also resolve the Dualcaster Mage triggers, copying any other instant and/or sorcery spells on the stack.
Results:
Infinite creature tokens. Infinite ETB. Infinite LTB. Infinite death triggers. Infinite magecraft triggers. Infinite copies of any instant and/or sorcery spells on the stack.
Underworld Breach + Wheel of Fortune
+ Jeska's Will
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.
Bolas's Citadel
+ Sensei's Divining Top
+ Aetherflux Reservoir
Requires:
All permanents on the battlefield. Your life total is at least 2.
Steps:
- Activate Sensei’s Divining Top by tapping it, drawing a card and then putting Sensei’s Divining Top on top of your library.
- Cast Sensei’s Divining Top from the top of your library by paying 1 life.
- Aetherflux Reservoir triggers, gaining you 1 life for each spell you have cast this turn.
- Repeat until your life total is 52 or greater.
- Activate Aetherflux Reservoir by paying 50 life, dealing 50 damage to any target.
- Repeat.
Results:
Infinite card draw. Infinite draw triggers. Near-infinite damage. Near-infinite lifegain. Near-infinite lifegain triggers. Near-infinite storm count.
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 + Grinding Station
+ Mana Crypt
Requires:
All permanents on the battlefield.
Steps:
- Activate Mana Crypt by tapping it, adding CC.
- Activate Grinding Station by tapping it and sacrificing Mana Crypt, causing yourself to mill three cards.
- Cast Mana Crypt from your graveyard for its escape cost by exiling three cards from your graveyard.
- Grinding Station triggers, untapping itself.
- Repeat.
Results:
Infinite self-mill. Near-infinite colorless mana. Near-infinite storm count.
Requires:
All cards in hand. An opponent with at least seven cards in hand. 6RRR available.
Steps:
- Cast Jeska’s Will by paying 2R, targeting an opponent with at least 7 cards in hand.
- Holding priority, cast Reiterate with buyback by paying 4RR, creating a copy of Jeska’s Will.
- Resolve the Jeska’s Will copy, adding at least seven R.
- Repeat from step 2.
Results:
Infinite red mana. Infinite storm count. Infinite magecraft triggers.
Requires:
All cards in hand. You control a creature with mana value seven or greater. 4BRR available.
Steps:
- Cast Burnt Offering by paying B and by sacrificing any creature with mana value seven or greater.
- Holding priority, cast Reiterate with buyback by paying 4RR, copying Burnt Offering.
- Resolve the copy of Burnt Offering, adding at least 5RR.
- Repeat from step 2.
Results:
Infinite black mana. Infinite red mana. Infinite storm count. Infinite magecraft triggers.
Conclusion:
In conclusion Rowan is a really sweet commander, while the playstyle of losing life to gain the benefit and cast spells for free can be a dangerous one, its nothing we wouldn’t expect out of a Rakdos deck, while we are not the strongest against the counterspell heavy control decks of the world we can easily combo off! Hope you enjoyed this article dont forget you can always request a commander on our twitter or discord! Thanks for reading to the end!