One of the most exciting things about a new Magic expansion set dropping is when you stumble upon a card that just begs to be busted wide open. Last week I shared a lower powered list built around one of the "First-Year" legends. This week I'm switching gears. Instead of running through all the First-Year characters, I'm going to dive into a card that has me wafting nostalgic about Marwyn. Not only is today's legend begging to combo off and make huge amounts of mana, it also gives us a second color to play with.

This Green and White Kithkin is a flip commander with a pretty amazing ability on its backside. Brigid, Clachan's Heart is a 3/2 Kithkin Warrior who will create a 1/1 Green and White Kithkin creature token when it enters or transforms. Like many of the other Lorwyn Eclipsed legends, she can transform for the cost of one mana at the beginning of my first main phase. When she transforms, she'll flip into Brigid, Doun's Mind, a 3/2 Kithkin Soldier that can tap for Green or White mana equal to the number of other creatures I control. If I've been able to keep my tokens alive, that should be at least two, but chances are good that she'll be tapping for a whole lot more.

Brigid, Doun's Mind is a big deal. She can tap for a ton of mana, and with the right support cards she should be able to let you threaten a win in a variety of ways. The most likely is just a simple creature-based combat strategy, but big mana can also make it easy to cast all kinds of spells and get up to all kinds of nonsense, even in Selensya colors.

Making Big Mana

The first thing about today's list is that I'm leaning on a very creature-focused strategy. I'm leaning into mana dorks instead of running my usual sorcery-based Green ramp package. That means I'm running a lot of elves, and in turn that means I'm running Marwyn, the Nurturer and Priest of Titania, both of which can tap for a lot of mana. Hopefully Brigid, Doun's Mind will satisfy my need for a mana dork that can tap to make a lot of mana, but it's good to have backups.

All three of these artifacts can let me untap a mana dork if it's tapping for enough mana. If I'm tapping for even one mana more than the cost to untap it, I can repeat the process until I've got as much mana as I like.

Making huge amounts of mana doesn't win the game on its own, and the difference between a bracket 3 and bracket 4 Brigid list is going to center around how many tutors and mana outlets you're running. The more easily you can turn big mana into a win, the higher the bracket you'll be able to compete at. I don't see this as being a bracket 5 commander, but I think a fully tuned list would probably be able to play in bracket 4.

To help get my hands on the right equipment, I'm running Stoneforge Mystic and Stonehewer Giant, but I'm not running any of the one mana tutors. I no longer run game changers and tend to lean away from tutors these days, so today's list isn't fully tuned up. If you play in higher powered pods and it makes sense to run them, by all means do so.

Big Possibilities

One of my favorite things about decks that can make big mana is that it makes all kinds of cards playable that you might normally feel are overcosted. A few weeks ago I shared a list for The Earth King, and that deck ran cards like Beast Attack and Hunting Pack. Those aren't normally playable but when you're making crazy amounts of mana, you have a real shot at being able to cast them in the mid or late game.

Camaraderie is a sorcery I always want to run in my Selesnya decks. It's a "win more" card, but what's wrong with winning more? It will have me gain X life and draw X cards where X is the number of creatures I control. My creatures will also get +1/+1 until end of turn. I don't love spending six mana if that's all I'll be able to do that turn, but if I'm making enough mana I might be able to play out some of the cards I'm drawing. With infinite mana, I might be able to draw a bunch of cards, dump my hand, and maybe even do it again if I'm able to hit an Eternal Witness.

Card draw is incredibly important in EDH, and in any Green deck that goes wide I always run Shamanic Revelation. That five mana sorcery will have me draw a card for each creature I control, and I'll gain 4 life for each creature I control with power 4 or greater. Collective Unconscious costs more and gives me less, but in a deck that should be making tons of mana, having another way to draw a card for each creature I control is absolutely worth it. I'm also running Regal Force, an Elemental that will have me draw a card for each Green creature I control when it enters play.

Protecting my creatures, and especially protecting Brigid, is going to be really important for this deck to have a chance to go off. Brigid should attract a lot of removal, but if I'm able to give her hexproof, that will make it a little harder for my tablemates to stop me. Swiftfoot Boots and Lightning Greaves are in the list, along with Voice of Victory, Grand Abolisher and Kutzil, Malamet Exemplar. The ability to make big mana means I'm also comfortable running the eight-mana Archetype of Endurance, a 6/5 Boar that both gives my creatures hexproof and keeps my opponents' creatures from getting hexproof.

There's a very good argument that I should be running both Platinum Angel and Avacyn, Angel of Hope. They both cost a lot of mana to cast, but I've already said that shouldn't be a problem for this list. My reason is simply that I worry about my tablemates casting, cloning, and stealing my creatures and I'd hate to see either Platinum Angel or Avacyn on the other side of the battlefield. They're a headache to deal with, and I like my chances well enough without them in the list.

How We Win

It might seem obvious, but today's list is going to be winning through combat, leaning on some old and new staples for "go wide" wincons in EDH.

Genesis Wave is an old favorite mana outlet in Green. This sorcery lets you pour mana into a spell that will have you reveal the top X cards of your library and dump any permanents you find onto the battlefield. Lands will enter untapped, so you may well set yourself up for a few more spells before the turn is over, even if you put all of your available mana into it.

I'm running Craterhoof Behemoth and Moonshaker Cavalry, both of which can easily turn a wide board into a win, but Jazal Goldmane is the card I want to talk about. Those first two give +X/+X to your creatures where X is the number of creatures you control, but outside of a flicker deck you're unlikely to do that more than once. Jazal Goldmane's ability is an activated ability, meaning you can do it more than once. You have to do it during combat, but in a really good game you might be paying that five mana three or even four times.

Making your alpha strike get through blockers is a big deal. Moonshaker Cavalry helps by giving your creatures flying, and Craterhoof gives them trample, but what if you just tapped all of you opponents' creatures? Subjugator Angel and Githzerai Monk can both do that quite nicely, though both of these guys tap your opponents' creatures when they enter play. That means you're going to be hoping nobody has a fog up their sleeve when you send in your alpha strike.

Big Mana Brigid

This is the kind of commander who should wipe the walls with lower bracket decks, but may struggle in a higher powered meta if there's a lot of Blue spells flying around. I no longer play Cyclonic Rift, but I can't tell you how many big attacks I've sent back with a well-timed Aetherize or Aetherspouts. This might be the rare deck that can run Seedtime, as buying an extra turn might give you the chance to replay and transform Brigid when an opponent thought they had stopped you in your tracks.

The biggest downfall of a Lorwyn Eclipsed transforming commander is knowing that you won't be able to transform them until your next turn. That alone might be enough to keep Brigid from being able to compete in Bracket 4. Decks with heavy creature strategies are also more likely to do well in lower brackets, as creature-based strategies are inherently more fragile.

Brigid EDH | Commander | Stephen Johnson

• Commander (1)
• 1 Brigid, Clachan's Heart

• Creatures (41)
• 1 Archetype of Endurance
• 1 Archivist of Oghma
• 1 Avacyn's Pilgrim
• 1 Beast Whisperer
• 1 Birds of Paradise
• 1 Brigid, Hero of Kinsbaile
• 1 Caustic Caterpillar
• 1 Champion of Lambholt
• 1 Circle of Dreams Druid
• 1 Craterhoof Behemoth
• 1 Eclipsed Kithkin
• 1 Elvish Archdruid
• 1 Elvish Mystic
• 1 Esper Sentinel
• 1 Eternal Witness
• 1 Fyndhorn Elves
• 1 Githzerai Monk
• 1 Giver of Runes
• 1 Grand Abolisher
• 1 Heartwood Storyteller
• 1 Jazal Goldmane
• 1 Kithkin Mourncaller
• 1 Kutzil, Malamet Exemplar
• 1 Llanowar Elves
• 1 Marwyn, the Nurturer
• 1 Mentor of the Meek
• 1 Moonshaker Cavalry
• 1 Mother of Runes
• 1 Priest of Titania
• 1 Reclamation Sage
• 1 Regal Force
• 1 Rumor Gatherer
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Springbloom Druid
• 1 Stoneforge Mystic
• 1 Stonehewer Giant
• 1 Subjugator Angel
• 1 Temur Sabertooth
• 1 Voice of Many
• 1 Voice of Victory
• 1 Voracious Varmint

• Spells (13)
• 1 Camaraderie
• 1 Collective Unconscious
• 1 Ezuri's Predation
• 1 Fell the Mighty
• 1 Genesis Wave
• 1 Shamanic Revelation
• 1 Beast Within
• 1 Generous Gift
• 1 Heroic Intervention
• 1 Path to Exile
• 1 Return to Nature
• 1 Settle the Wreckage
• 1 Swords to Plowshares

• Artifacts (5)
• 1 Lightning Greaves
• 1 Staff of Domination
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots
• 1 Sword of the Paruns
• 1 Umbral Mantle

• Enchantments (3)
• 1 Beastmaster Ascension
• 1 Concordant Crossroads
• 1 Growing Rites of Itlimoc

• Lands (37)
• 13 Forest
• 13 Plains
• 1 Bountiful Promenade
• 1 Canopy Vista
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Evendo, Waking Haven
• 1 Exotic Orchard
• 1 Krosan Verge
• 1 Overgrown Farmland
• 1 Rogue's Passage
• 1 Sunpetal Grove
• 1 Temple Garden
• 1 Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth

Buy This Deck Export text

If you wanted to drop this deck down in power, I think you'd start by dropping out the combo pieces and tutors. You will still have a very potent deck. If you keep Moonshaker and Craterhoof, you'll find some people upset if you try to play in bracket 2. That doesn't mean this deck will be winning games in a small number of turns, but those two wincons are just incredibly effective if you've managed to build up your board. Cards like End-Raze Forerunners can swap in as a "Craterhoof Lite" but if you truly want to be playing low powered games there might be better commanders to lead your army.

To power up this list I think you'd load in more tutors, along with Gaea's Cradle. I've managed to pick up a few of those over the years, and I still feel funny playing it in bracket 3 games. Few cards will raise an opponent's eyebrows quite like a Cradle. You might also lean into more powerful creatures, from Praetors to the aforementioned Platinum Angel and Avacyn, Angel of Hope. I still don't think Brigid will keep up with strong bracket 4 lists, but it's possible a stax list with Gaddock Teeg, Yasharn, Implacable Earth, Drannith Magistrate, and other lockdown pieces might do well.

Final Thoughts

I wasn't able to get this list into a game ahead of posting this column. My Thursday night group had been playing with the idea of having some higher-powered games, but we also picked up a few more players and I ended up skipping last week to give up a seat so one of them could try out EDH on Tabletop Simulator.

This is the sort of list that I'm confident will be able to win games, but will also risk having Brigid become a "kill on sight" commander if you see too much success. The turn you have to wait for the chance to transform Brigid could easily become an Achilles' heel if you play in a meta with heavy interaction. I'd still give Brigid a shot, and I'm hoping to pull one out of a booster over the next few weeks.

The other fun thing that happens when new sets drop is that I get to pick decks to pull apart to make room for new decks. I generally keep my favorites together, but there's always a few that are on the "chopping block". Right now I think that could include Ygra, Eater of All, Pantlaza, Sun-Favored, Shiko and Narset, Unified, and possibly an elf deck. There will always be a deck or two that just doesn't bring me joy and that I'm not going out of my way to play. Sometimes that's because they're very good, but possibly a bit too good for the tables I'm playing at. Sometimes the decks just aren't consistent enough, or don't have play patterns I enjoy.

Hopefully we'll all be pulling cool new legends over prerelease weekend and over the coming weeks and will soon have shiny new Lorwyn Eclipsed decks to play.

That's all I've got for today. Thanks for reading and I'll see you next week!