“Take flight upon these wings”
Art:Shalai and Hallar
by Mila Pesic
Table of Contents
Todays Featured Commander Is:
Shalai and Hallar is a super powerful commander deck, that can easily rule your EDH tables! This deck is fast efficient and can easily end games. Whether we win through our huge combo suite or we buff Shalai and Hallar and our other creatures and win through combat or commander damage. Being in Naya this deck has access to some of the best cards to put on and give more +1/+1 counters which we can translate directly into damage!
The Deck:
Shalai and Hallar Naya Counters!
Why Shalai and Hallar?
Shalai and Hallar are honestly the real deal in terms of a commander not only are they a 3/3 with flying and vigilance which is already a pretty great statline, they deal damage to our opponents when we put +1/+1 counters on our permanents. In testing I was killing people with commander damage pretty quickly after constantly directing my buffs to Shalai and Hallar! Shalai and Hallar are straight up awesome and are just really strong commanders that we can use to end games super quickly!
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 full to the brim of creatures that help us further our gameplan and get those counters, but like any deck that has green we have some mana dorks, some of the best include Bloom Tender
, Birds of Paradise
and Gyre Sage
. Bloom tender specifically can produce up to 3 mana for us, which is really great for the cost of 2 mana! Rishkar, Peema Renegade
is a cool card that can allow us to get some more counters and make our creatures into mana dorks!
We also have some additonal benefits from having +1/+1 on our creatures like Abzan Falconer
and Champion of Lambholt
and both of these allow us to make our creatures much more evasive. With Shalai and Hallar out we have some creatures that can constantly do damage like Forgotten Ancient
, Managorger Hydra
and Taurean Mauler
all of these get counters when opponents cast spells and can be great to constantly do some damage and basically tax all of our opponents spells!
For our late game bigger creatures / mana sinks we have sweet cards like Shalai, Voice of Plenty
which can be a great way to get a bunch of counters and damage and in the late-game I was able to activate this 1-3 times a turn! Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider
is not only a huge creature but doubles our counters, which in this deck means double damage! Vigor
is not only a sweet combo piece but a great way to get a bunch of counters!
Instants:
Path to Exile
and Swords to Plowshares
are headlines of our instant package and are both great ways to remove very problematic creatures that are opponents have! For more of our single target removal we also have Generous Gift
and Chaos Warp
and Beast Within
with this package we have enough ways to deal with pretty much and craziness our opponents throw at us!
Sorceries:
Our sorcery package has a bunch of mass destruction like Wrath of God
, Farewell
, Blasphemous Act
and Damning Verdict
. Damning verdict is especially sweet in our deck since we have a lot of creatures with a lot of counters and a lot of the time we can make this a board wipe only for our opponents!
Artifacts:
Our artifact package is where most of our mana ramp resides like Sol Ring
, Arcane Signet
and every talisman that is in our color. Chromatic Lantern
is a great piece of mana fixing in our landbase.
In addition to our mana rocks we have some other sweet artifacts, The One Ring
is not only protection for one turn but we can use it to draw a ton of cards. Another sweet artifact is The Ozolith
which can be a great way to hold counters and do some damage with it later!
Enchantments:
We have a bunch of great enchantments that effectively double our counters like Doubling Season
and Branching Evolution
which are both really effective ways to deal some damage and have a bigger board presence! Tribute to the World Tree
and Felidar Retreat
are also both great ways to get some counters on our creatures and get some more damage in! Cathars' Crusade
is arguably the best card in the deck for mass counters on our creatures! All Will Be One
is basically another copy of Shalai and Hallar and is a great combo piece that can also do some damage!
Land Base:
Nothing too crazy present in our land base, we are playing our on-color duals and fetch lands with of course some basics on top of that.
Strengths of the Deck:
- Combo potential allows us to end games easily
- Commander damage allows us to passively damage opponents
- Strong amount of creature / board interaction
Weaknesses of the Deck:
- Deck needs commander out to thrive
- Weak on the stack
- Weak to creature hate
Deck Stats:
Sample Hands:
Main Win Conditions:
We have a pretty interesting deck, because while we can easily win through Shalai and Hallar’s ability + combat damage we also have a bunch of ways to end the game through infinite combos! Below are the infinite combos in our deck explained!
Shalai and Hallar + The Red Terror
Requires:
All permanents on the battlefield. You have a way to put a +1/+1 counter on a creature you control.
Steps:
- Put a +1/+1 counter on a creature you control.
- Shalai and Hallar triggers, dealing 1 damage to an opponent.
- The Red Terror triggers, putting a +1/+1 counter on itself.
- Repeat from step 2.
Results:
Infinite damage. Infinite +1/+1 counters on The Red Terror.
Shalai and Hallar + Heliod, Sun-Crowned
Requires:
All permanents on the battlefield. You have a way to give Shalai and Hallar lifelink. You have a way to put a +1/+1 counter on a creature you control.
Steps:
- Put a +1/+1 counter on a creature you control.
- Shalai and Hallar triggers, dealing 1 damage to an opponent and causing you to gain one life.
- Heliod triggers, putting a +1/+1 counter on a creature you control.
- Repeat from step 2.
Results:
Infinite damage. Infinite +1/+1 counters. Infinite lifegain. Infinite lifegain triggers.
All Will Be One + The Red Terror
Requires:
All permanents on the battlefield. You have a way to deal damage to an opponent.
Steps:
- Deal damage to an opponent.
- The Red Terror triggers, putting a +1/+1 counter on itself.
- All Will Be One triggers, dealing 1 damage to an opponent.
- Repeat from step 2.
Results:
Infinite damage. Infinite +1/+1 counters on The Red Terror.
Shalai and Hallar + War Elemental
Requires:
All permanents on the battlefield. You have a way to put a +1/+1 counter on a creature you control.
Steps:
- Put a +1/+1 counter on a creature you control.
- Shalai and Hallar triggers, dealing 1 damage to an opponent.
- War Elemental triggers, putting a +1/+1 counter on itself.
- Repeat from step 2.
Results:
Infinite damage. Infinite +1/+1 counters on War Elemental.
Heliod, Sun-Crowned + Walking Ballista
Requires:
All permanents on the battlefield. Walking Ballista has at least two +1/+1 counters on it. 1W available.
Steps:
- Activate Heliod by paying 1W, giving Walking Ballista lifelink until end of turn.
- Activate Walking Ballista’s second ability by removing a +1/+1 counter, dealing 1 damage to any target.
- Walking Ballista’s lifelink triggers, causing you to gain 1 life.
- Heliod triggers, putting a +1/+! counter on Walking Ballista.
- Repeat from step 2.
Results:
Infinite damage. Infinite lifegain. Infinite lifegain triggers.
All Will Be One + War Elemental
Requires:
All permanents on the battlefield. You have a way to deal damage to an opponent.
Steps:
- Deal damage to an opponent.
- War Elemental triggers, putting that many +1/+1 counters on it.
- All Will Be One triggers, dealing that much damage to an opponent.
- Repeat from step 2.
Results:
Infinite damage. Infinite +1/+1 counters on War Elemental.
Requires:
Cathars’ Crusade on the battlefield. Scurry Oak in hand. 2G available.
Steps:
- Cast Scurry Oak.
- When Scurry Oak enters the battlefield, Cathars’ Crusade triggers, putting a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control.
- Scurry Oak triggers, creating a Squirrel token.
- When the Squirrel token enters the battlefield, Cathars’ Crusade triggers, putting a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control.
- Repeat from step 3.
Results:
Infinite +1/+1 counters on creatures you control. Infinite ETB. Infinite creature tokens.
Requires:
Ivy Lane Denizen on the battlefield. Scurry Oak in hand. 2G available.
Steps:
- Cast Scurry Oak by paying 2G.
- Ivy Lane Denizen triggers, putting a +1/+1 counter on Scurry Oak.
- Scurry Oak’s last ability triggers, allowing you to create a 1/1 Squirrel token.
- Repeat from step 2.
Results:
Infinite creature tokens. Infinite +1/+1 counters on Scurry Oak. Infinite ETB.
Herd Baloth
+ Cathars' Crusade
Requires:
Cathars’ Crusade on the battlefield. Herd Baloth in hand. 3GG available.
Steps:
- Cast Herd Baloth by paying 3GG.
- Cathars’ Crusade triggers, putting a +1/+1 counter each creature you control.
- Herd Baloth triggers, putting a green Beast token onto the battlefield.
- Repeat from step 2.
Results:
Infinite creature tokens. Infinite ETB. Infinite +1/+1 counters on creatures you control.
Herd Baloth + Ivy Lane Denizen
Requires:
Ivy Lane Denizen on the battlefield. Herd Baloth in hand. 3GG available.
Steps:
- Cast Herd Baloth by paying 3GG.
- Ivy Lane Denizen triggers, putting a +1/+1 counter on Herd Baloth.
- Herd Baloth triggers, putting a green Beast token onto the battlefield.
- Repeat from step 2.
Results:
Infinite creature tokens. Infinite ETB. Infinite +1/+1 counters on Herd Baloth.
Vigor + Walking Ballista + Ozolith, the Shattered Spire
Requires:
All permanents on the battlefield. Walking Ballista has at least two +1/+1 counters on it
Steps:
- Activate Walking Ballista’s second ability by removing a +1/+1 counter from it, putting two +1/+1 counters on it due to Vigor.
- Repeat an arbitrarily large number of times.
- Activate Walking Ballista’s second ability by removing a +1/+1 counter from it, dealing 1 damage to any target.
- Repeat step 3 as many times as desired.
- You may also use step 3 to target another creature you control to put infinite +1/+1 counters on that creature.
Results:
Infinite damage. Infinite +1/+1 counters.
Vigor + Walking Ballista + Hardened Scales
Requires:
All permanents on the battlefield. Walking Ballista has at least two +1/+1 counters on it
Steps:
- Activate Walking Ballista’s second ability by removing a +1/+1 counter from it, putting two +1/+1 counters on it due to Vigor.
- Repeat an arbitrarily large number of times.
- Activate Walking Ballista’s second ability by removing a +1/+1 counter from it, dealing 1 damage to any target.
- Repeat step 3 as many times as desired.
- You may also use step 3 to target another creature you control to put infinite +1/+1 counters on that creature.
Results:
Infinite damage. Infinite +1/+1 counters.
Vigor + Walking Ballista + Kami of Whispered Hopes
Requires:
All permanents on the battlefield. Walking Ballista has at least two +1/+1 counters on it
Steps:
- Activate Walking Ballista’s second ability by removing a +1/+1 counter from it, putting two +1/+1 counters on it due to Vigor.
- Repeat an arbitrarily large number of times.
- Activate Walking Ballista’s second ability by removing a +1/+1 counter from it, dealing 1 damage to any target.
- Repeat step 3 as many times as desired.
- You may also use step 3 to target another creature you control to put infinite +1/+1 counters on that creature.
Results:
Infinite damage. Infinite +1/+1 counters.
Vigor + Walking Ballista + Branching Evolution
Requires:
All permanents on the battlefield. Walking Ballista has at least two +1/+1 counters on it
Steps:
- Activate Walking Ballista’s second ability by removing a +1/+1 counter from it, putting two +1/+1 counters on it due to Vigor.
- Repeat an arbitrarily large number of times.
- Activate Walking Ballista’s second ability by removing a +1/+1 counter from it, dealing 1 damage to any target.
- Repeat step 3 as many times as desired.
- You may also use step 3 to target another creature you control to put infinite +1/+1 counters on that creature.
Results:
Infinite damage. Infinite +1/+1 counters.
Vigor + Walking Ballista + Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider
Requires:
All permanents on the battlefield. Walking Ballista has at least two +1/+1 counters on it
Steps:
- Activate Walking Ballista’s second ability by removing a +1/+1 counter from it, putting two +1/+1 counters on it due to Vigor.
- Repeat an arbitrarily large number of times.
- Activate Walking Ballista’s second ability by removing a +1/+1 counter from it, dealing 1 damage to any target.
- Repeat step 3 as many times as desired.
- You may also use step 3 to target another creature you control to put infinite +1/+1 counters on that creature.
Results:
Infinite damage. Infinite +1/+1 counters.
Conclusion:
As you can see from the above information this deck is an absolute house and can really win games out of nowhere. Even if we go the slower combat route we can easily damage our opponents by putting counters on and doing a ton of damage with our commander. Combine this with a ramp package that allows us to make a ton of mana and get important permanents out early and we can easily set up a winning gameplan or combo. Hope you enjoyed this article and as always feel free to request CEDH, PDH and EDH Decks on our twitter or on our discord.