I'll say again what I said last week: I'm not a cEDH player. Simply trying to understand this world is wild to me. I thought it might be fun to look at a Partner build and see how we can approach it from a more casual approach. Today's target? A Bracket 2 deck based on Tymna the Weaver and Thrasios, Triton Hero, AKA T&T.

Let's start by talking about the traditional cEDH deck built around these two.

When Dockside Extortionist got banned, it made Red a lot less valuable, so this deck no longer has to deal with not having Dockside, nor does it need to fight against Dockside, which was a problem because T&T uses a lot of Artifact mana and an early Dockside could punish that.

Fast Artifact mana, along with strong Creature mana like Noble Hierarch and Birds of Paradise, combine with strong draw engines (including two in the Command Zone) and the best tutors in the format from Black to make sure overall card quality is very high. Most cEDH decks win with a combo, and this is no exception - but in this case, the combos are very small, mostly two cards.

The deck primarily wins with Thassa's Oracle, normally off a Demonic Consultation or Tainted Pact. However, there are also ways to generate infinite mana, like Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy and Basalt Monolith, which is another way to either draw the deck with Thrasios (and win with Thassa's Oracle) or just play a massive Finale of Devastation. (It can also turn Devoted Druid into a noncreature with something like Swift Reconfiguration so it can generate infinite mana.) It even has a hail Mary plan of Mnemonic Betrayal to piece together a late-game win from opponents' Graveyards.

That's all great, but how do we take this into the casual realm and honestly make a Bracket 2 deck? We remember what Gavin told us about intent... and then we do something like this.

Casual T&T | Commander | Mark Wischkaemper

• Commanders (2)
• 1 Tymna the Weaver
• 1 Thrasios, Triton Hero

• Creatures (25)
• 1 Admonition Angel
• 1 Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait
• 1 Archivist of Oghma
• 1 Bone Miser
• 1 Carth the Lion
• 1 Conclave Mentor
• 1 Crystalline Crawler
• 1 Emeria Angel
• 1 Eternal Witness
• 1 Hedron Crab
• 1 Kodama of the East Tree
• 1 Lae'zel, Vlaakith's Champion
• 1 Llanowar Scout
• 1 Maja, Bretagard Protector
• 1 Murasa Rootgrazer
• 1 Sakura-Tribe Scout
• 1 Scaled Herbalist
• 1 Skyshroud Ranger
• 1 Tatyova, Benthic Druid
• 1 The Necrobloom
• 1 Tilling Treefolk
• 1 Tireless Tracker
• 1 Wight of the Reliquary
• 1 Winding Constrictor
• 1 Yarok, the Desecrated

• Planeswalkers (1)
• 1 Jace, Cunning Castaway

• Instants (4)
• 1 Abzan Charm
• 1 Brainstorm
• 1 Brokers Charm
• 1 Three Steps Ahead

• Sorceries (5)
• 1 Exsanguinate
• 1 Night's Whisper
• 1 Ponder
• 1 Preordain
• 1 Scarscale Ritual

• Enchantments (7)
• 1 Escape Protocol
• 1 Felidar Retreat
• 1 Retreat to Coralhelm
• 1 Retreat to Emeria
• 1 Retreat to Hagra
• 1 Simic Ascendancy
• 1 Virtue of Knowledge

• Artifacts (16)
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Automated Assembly Line
• 1 Bandit's Haul
• 1 Bilbo's Ring
• 1 Bonder's Ornament
• 1 Bounty Board
• 1 Chromatic Lantern
• 1 Commander's Sphere
• 1 Conversion Apparatus
• 1 Cultivator's Caravan
• 1 Decoction Module
• 1 Diviner's Wand
• 1 Firemind Vessel
• 1 Fluctuator
• 1 Gonti's Aether Heart
• 1 Seer's Sundial

• Lands (40)
• 4 Forest
• 4 Island
• 2 Plains
• 2 Swamp
• 1 Azorius Chancery
• 1 City of Brass
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Dimir Aqueduct
• 1 Drifting Meadow
• 1 Emergence Zone
• 1 Evolving Wilds
• 1 Exotic Orchard
• 1 Forbidden Orchard
• 1 Golgari Rot Farm
• 1 Indatha Triome
• 1 Irrigated Farmland
• 1 Jetmir's Garden
• 1 Ketria Triome
• 1 Mana Confluence
• 1 Orzhov Basilica
• 1 Raffine's Tower
• 1 Raugrin Triome
• 1 Reflecting Pool
• 1 Savai Triome
• 1 Scattered Groves
• 1 Selesnya Sanctuary
• 1 Simic Growth Chamber
• 1 Spara's Headquarters
• 1 Terramorphic Expanse
• 1 Xander's Lounge
• 1 Zagoth Triome
• 1 Ziatora's Proving Ground

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We remember Bracket 2 has no two-card infinite combos and limited tutors, but Gavin points out intent of how the deck will be played matters more than fitting into the rules exactly. In addition to no "two-card combos", I read the intent of Bracket 2 as being "don't go for a combo win as quickly as you can".

So, we'll keep the spirit of T&T alive with combos, but rather than efficient, compact win conditions backed up by the best tutors in the format, we're going to run bloated, goofy combos which will win us the game in silly ways and mostly by luck, because we're not going to tutor for anything!

This deck does three things: makes mana, draws cards, and assembles a combo. It does so slowly, looking at as many cards as possible in the hopes of piecing together a combo before someone kills us. In order to add in things like interaction or potential non-combo win conditions, we'd have to cut some of our combo lines, and I didn't want to do that, but you do you.

Normally we'd walk through the various parts of the deck, but I think our time is better spent going through our various combos, so understand there is mana and we make it, via Lands and Artifacts. I won't even mention we have 40 Lands. Our mana base and Artifact ramp both reflect a need for as many colors as possible.

Combo Line 1

Cards needed:

• Escape Protocol
• Fluctuator
• Bone Miser
• Eternal Witness or Tilling Treefolk
• Scattered Groves or another Land that Cycles for

With all the permanents but the Land on the Battlefield, we Cycle the land for thanks to Fluctuator. Bone Miser, Scattered Groves, and Escape Protocol all trigger, and we resolve Bone Miser first, adding to our mana pool. Then we resolve the Land and draw our card. Then we resolve Escape Protocol, paying (one of the we earned earlier) to flicker Eternal Witness, which returns the Cycling Land to our Hand. We then repeat.

From this, we net infinite and we can draw our entire deck. We can use that infinite to power Exsanguinate and kill the table.

Combo Line 2

Cards needed:

• Lae'zel, Vlaakith's Champion
• Jace, Cunning Castaway
• Carth the Lion

With Lae'zel and Carth on the 'field and Jace in Hand, cast Jace. Jace enters with four Loyalty Counters thanks to Lae'zel, and his Ultimate costs four thanks to Carth. You make two tokens of Jace (the first one dies due to having no Loyalty). Then do the same thing with the new Jaces and you'll have four, then eight, and on and on infinitely.

From there, you can take your many millions of Jace tokens and activate their second ability, making infinite Illusions for your attacking pleasure. Consider adding Crashing Drawbridge so you can attack that turn, but that feels less Bracket 2 to me.

Combo Line 3

Cards needed:

• Retreat to Coralhelm
• A Karoo Land like Orzhov Basilica
• Sakura-Tribe Scout or another Creature which taps to put a Land card into play

With the Land in Hand and both cards on the Battlefield (it's important the Creature not have Summoning Sickness), you tap your Creature to put the Land onto the 'field. That Creature and Retreat to Coralhelm trigger. You resolve the Land trigger and have it return itself to your Hand, then you resolve the Retreat, untapping the Creature. Repeat. This grants us infinite Landfall triggers.

We have a bunch of Landfall keywords in our deck, so figuring out how to win with one of them shouldn't be too hard.

Combo Line 4

Cards needed:

• Murasa Rootgrazer
• Retreat to Coralhelm
• Yarok, the Desecrated
• A basic Land

With everything but the basic Land on the 'field and Murasa not summoning sick, you tap Murasa to put the basic into play. Retreat triggers twice thanks to Yarok. Tap the Land for mana in response, then use the first Retreat trigger to untap Murasa. Tap Murasa again to return any basic Land you have to your Hand, then use the second Retreat Trigger to untap Murasa again. Tap Murasa to put the basic you just bounced back onto the Battlefield and repeat.

This also gives us infinite Landfall triggers with a side of infinite colored mana (any colors we have basic Lands for).

Combo Line 5

Cards needed:

• Wight of the Reliquary
• Retreat to Coralhelm
• Maja, Bretagard Protector, Emeria Angel, The Necrobloom, or Felidar Retreat
• At least one other Creature on the 'field

With all the permanents on the field and Wight not being summoning sick, you activate Wight by tapping it and sacrificing the random Creature. We seek out a Land, put it on the 'field, and make a guy from our Creature-producing Landfall trigger. Then we untap Wight with the Retreat trigger and repeat.

From here we get Landfall triggers equal to the amount of Lands left in our deck. We also get every Land in our deck onto the 'field.

Combo Line 6

Cards needed:

• Crystalline Crawler
• Simic Ascendancy
• Conclave Mentor
• Winding Constrictor

With all the permanents on the 'field, pay to activate the Ascendancy, putting three +1/+1 counters on Crystalline Crawler thanks to the Constrictor and the Mentor. Simic Ascendancy triggers, putting three Growth Counters on itself. Remove the three counters from Crystalline Crawler, adding , then repeat until Simic Ascendancy has twenty or more Growth Counters.

Assuming Simic Ascendancy doesn't get destroyed, we'll win the game on our next Upkeep.

Combo Line 7

Cards needed:

• Kodama of the East Tree
• A Karoo Land like Simic Growth Chamber
• A Creature-producing Landfall card like line 5

With the Land in Hand and the rest in play, use your Land drop to play the Land. All three things trigger. Resolve Kodama, choosing not to put anything on the 'field. Then use the Land's trigger to return itself to Hand. Then resolve the Landfall trigger, making a Creature. The Creature causes Kodama to trigger, putting the Land back on the 'field. Repeat.

From here we get infinite Creature tokens and infinite Landfall triggers. (We also get infinite Enters triggers, but we don't care.)

Combo Line 8

Cards needed:

• Automated Assembly Line
• Gonti's Aether Heart
• Yarok, the Desecrated

With all three permanents on the 'field and three Energy counters, we activate Automated Assembly Line by paying the three Energy and making a Robot. The Robot will trigger Gonti's Aether Heart twice thanks to Yarok, giving us four energy, allowing us to repeat the process and net an Energy each time.

We wind up with infinite 3/3 Robots and infinite Energy. We can't really do anything with the energy but you could lean into that line if you wanted. Same with infinite Enters triggers.

Combo Line 9

Cards needed:

• Decoction Module
• Automated Assembly Line
• Lae'zel, Vlaakith's Champion or Winding Constrictor
• Yarok, the Desecrated or Virtue of Knowledge

With all four pieces on the 'field and three Energy, you activate the Assembly Line and make your creature. Decoction Module triggers twice thanks to Yarok or Virtue, and gets an extra Energy each time thanks to Lae'zel or the Constrictor, so we get four Energy. Repeat.

Once again, we get infinite 3/3 Robots and infinite Energy, plus infinite Enters triggers we don't care about.

There are more combos available. I was going for relatively inexpensive ones, but there are infinite turn combos with Aminatou, the Fateshifter and Ichormoon Gauntlet, as well as infinite Enters and Leaves combos with Aethergeode Miner and Yarok with stuff like Aetherstorm Roc. I'm sure there are many more beyond that.

I decided to lean into Landfall as the win because playing Lands is a thing we'll do throughout the game, so we can net value even if we're not comboing. I also like the idea of winning with infinite Landfall triggers off a Hedron Crab, milling our opponents to death.

Otherwise, the deck draws and filters cards, attempting to dig for one of the combos, then assembling it. To interact, we have Three Steps Ahead. Time that correctly and you'll convince your friends you always have a Counter in Hand, but that's our only one.

Not gonna lie, this deck is going to lose. Probably a lot more than it wins. But with some careful political play, staying under the radar, and a little luck, it'll pull off some goofy combo which hopefully makes the table laugh at the absurdity of it all. Think of the fun of claiming victory with a Karoo Land.

Most importantly, don't increase consistency. Feel free to change the lines, build in an Enters line or whatever, but don't start adding tutors and focusing on which combo you assemble or you've stepped into a new realm. The goal is to have a great deal of fun figuring out which combo you'll pull off, but to let the deck guide you to that answer.

Thanks for reading.