Last week's column on Jumbo Cactaur was a rare week where I allowed myself to focus on a card I really, really don't like. I value honesty more than blind optimism, so I didn't want to sugarcoat my feelings about a card I think is bad for EDH in terms of game experience and player enjoyment. I don't like to focus on the negative, so this week I'm happy to shift gears and get back in the driver's seat with another Aetherdrift EDH deck.

The first printing of this character was in Kaladesh and gave us a mono-Green Human Artificer who could tap to make Servo or Construct artifact creature tokens. Oviya Pashiri, Sage Lifecrafter was built to not be easily broken, requiring a lot of mana to churn out her creations. While the old Oviya felt a bit slow and unwieldy, the Oviya that came out of Aetherdrift is reminiscent of an Elvish Piper.

Oviya, Automech Artisan gives creatures attacking my opponents trample, and for one Green mana she can tap to put a creature or vehicle from my hand into play. If it's an artifact I'll put two +1/+1 counters on it. She's basically a souped up Elvish Piper with a few extra bells and whistles tacked onto her.

I don't generally play a lot of vehicles in EDH. I don't usually find that the juice is worth the squeeze, though there are some great vehicles that get played in the format. Parhelion II comes to mind, but that's in White and can't be run in an Oviya deck. In Green, Lumbering Worldwagon, Hedge Shredder and Esika's Chariot are all cards that can bring real value to the right deck.

Early Results

This first list had a mix of big and small creatures, with the idea that I'd have blockers in the early game, but then be able to play out or cheat out my bigger creatures in the late game. Shamanic Revelation will pull more cards into my hand if I've got a few extra mana dorks, and Beast Whisperer will be happy to have more chances to see me cast creature spells. I'd still use Oviya, but the list wouldn't be top-heavy, with little to do until I'm able to start using my commander.

This first game was one of those games where everything went horribly, horribly wrong. My misfortune wasn't even a trainwreck. Trainwrecks are entertaining, or at least they are entertaining for everyone who isn't a passenger in the train.

I mulliganed to five, keeping a playable hand of mana dorks. I then proceeded to draw Rishkar's Expertise and an endless parade of one and two power creatures and lands. It was like my deck turned into a clown car and the clowns coming out of it were only the most unhelpful cards for what I needed at the moment. Ironically, a tablemate actually played Clown Car from Unfinity in that game and got a ton of value out of it. Go figure.

For an hour or so I got to stare at a card draw spell in my hand that would be perfect to play with any of my 5+ power creatures on the battlefield, while my deck only gave me things like Fyndhorn Elves, Llanowar Visionary, Sakura-Tribe Elder, and a bunch of lands. At one point I actually thought about what would be the worst card to draw next, pictured "Steve" in my mind, drew Sakura-Tribe Elder as I started my turn, and laughed out loud. It was that bad.

In the late game, with three creatures on my field including an Elvish Piper, the Marchesa player had multiple sacrifice outlets and enter-the-battlefield damage, so the end was very, very near. I finally gave in and played a Hyrax Tower Scout, which I had been holding back for a "big" turn. On the end step I used Oviya to cheat it in, untapped my commander with Scout's ETB trigger, and then on my turn I played Rishkar's Expertise to draw a measly three cards.

I had been holding out for something more, but the cards I drew into were Beast Whisperer, Ghalta, Primal Hunger and Pathbreaker Ibex. I put Beast Whisperer into play thanks to the second half of Rishkar's Expertise text box. It was late enough in the game that the Marchesa, the Black Rose player already had lethal on the table over the next turn cycle through Marchesa shenanigans, so it was too late for them to be relevant.

In another timeline I might have pulled into those cards in the mid-game, used Elvish Piper and Oviya to cheat Pathbreaker Ibex and Ghalta into play on the end step before my turn. I'd then be able to swing with six or seven creatures, each getting +12/+12 from Ghalta and trample thanks to my commander. It wasn't in the cards for me this time, but I don't think the list was as much at fault as my bad mulligan choices and some very, very bad luck.

Taking A Closer Look

I was tempted to try out a vehicle-oriented build, but I still don't love vehicles in Commander. Rather than retool the deck I decided to take a closer look to see if everything checked out. I'll get to the actual decklist in a moment, but it's worth reviewing what the deck really wants and whether or not it's built right.

You already know I'm running a handful of one-drop mana dorks, along with Neverwinter Dryad, Sakura-Tribe Elder, and Llanowar Visionary, which draws me a card when it enters play. A decent amount of my card draw is tied to creatures. Heartwood Storyteller will have each other player draw a card when a player plays a noncreature spell. I'm positioned well to take advantage of it, as I'm running so many creatures.

For removal I've got the one-drop Caustic Caterpillar, the two-drop Voracious Varmint, the three-drop Reclamation Sage along with Beast Within and Krosan Grip. My goal with these low mana creatures isn't to have them comprise the main thrust of this deck's game. I just value early blockers and want them to help me get safely to the point where I can play and use my commander's ability.

The reason I wanted to take a closer look at the deck after that disastrous first game was that I found myself questioning if I was playing enough big creatures. I've got a 12 mana creature in Ghalta, Primal Hunger, and an 11 drop creature in Darksteel Colossus. From there I have to jump down to the 8, 7 and 6 mana slots.

At eight mana I'm running four creatures, each of which is a real banger. Stonehoof Chieftain has trample and indestructible, and when another creature I control attacks, it will gain trample and indestructible until end of turn. I'm also running Terastodon, which can destroy up to 3 target noncreature permanents when it enters, leaving behind a 3/3 Green Elephant for each one it destroys. Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant and Craterhoof Behemoth round out my eight mana creatures.

I'm running a full six creatures at the seven mana position. Regal Force will draw me a card for each Green creature I control when it enters. Cultivator Colossus, Meteor Golem, Old Gnawbone, Sandstone Oracle, and Zopandrel, Hunger Dominus round out the seven mana creatures, and they are all ones I'd be happy to cheat into play.

Six-mana creatures are cheap enough that I might cast them, but I'd also be happy to pay one to put them into play. Kodama of the East Tree, Pathbreaker Ibex, Soul of the Harvest, Vigor, and Whiptongue Hydra fill out the six mana list.

Seventeen creatures that cost over five mana mean that I should have a very good chance of both being able to cheat one or two into play, and then drawing into more of them. That obviously won't happen every game. I found that out on this deck's first day out.

I often find myself saying that it's crazy to form a solid opinion of a deck based on a sample size of one game, so I decided to keep this list together and give it a second try. Before I get to that game, let's look at the list.

Oviya, Elvish Piper

It's worth noting that any time you tie so much of your interaction to creatures, you limit how well you can deal with quick threats. If you're aiming for higher powered play, instant speed removal is really important. This deck is aiming for mid-to-lower powered games.

Oviya EDH | Commander | Stephen Johnson

• Commander (1)
• 1 Oviya, Automech Artisan

• Creatures (39)
• 1 Beast Whisperer
• 1 Bellowing Tanglewurm
• 1 Caustic Caterpillar
• 1 Craterhoof Behemoth
• 1 Cultivator Colossus
• 1 Darksteel Colossus
• 1 Elvish Mystic
• 1 Elvish Piper
• 1 Fyndhorn Elves
• 1 Ghalta, Primal Hunger
• 1 Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant
• 1 Heartwood Storyteller
• 1 Hyrax Tower Scout
• 1 Karametra's Acolyte
• 1 Kodama of the East Tree
• 1 Llanowar Elves
• 1 Llanowar Visionary
• 1 Meteor Golem
• 1 Mindless Automaton
• 1 Neverwinter Dryad
• 1 Old Gnawbone
• 1 Pathbreaker Ibex
• 1 Quirion Ranger
• 1 Reclamation Sage
• 1 Regal Force
• 1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1 Sandstone Oracle
• 1 Seedborn Muse
• 1 Seeker of Skybreak
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Soul of the Harvest
• 1 Stonehoof Chieftain
• 1 Temur Sabertooth
• 1 Terastodon
• 1 Vigor
• 1 Voice of Many
• 1 Voracious Varmint
• 1 Whiptongue Hydra
• 1 Zopandrel, Hunger Dominus

• Instants (8)
• 1 Beast Within
• 1 Constant Mists
• 1 Heroic Intervention
• 1 Krosan Grip
• 1 Legolas's Quick Reflexes
• 1 Moment's Peace
• 1 Obscuring Haze
• 1 Return of the Wildspeaker

• Sorceries (5)
• 1 Nature's Lore
• 1 Rampant Growth
• 1 Rishkar's Expertise
• 1 Shamanic Revelation
• 1 Three Visits

• Enchantments (6)
• 1 Elemental Bond
• 1 Garruk's Uprising
• 1 Guardian Project
• 1 Nature's Chosen
• 1 Quest for Renewal
• 1 Unnatural Growth

• Artifacts (5)
• 1 Emerald Medallion
• 1 Lightning Greaves
• 1 Nyx Lotus
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots
• 1 Thousand-Year Elixir

• Lands (36)
• 26 Forest
• 1 Bonders' Enclave
• 1 Castle Garenbrig
• 1 Homeward Path
• 1 Mosswort Bridge
• 1 Myriad Landscape
• 1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 1 Opal Palace
• 1 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
• 1 Reliquary Tower
• 1 Rogue's Passage

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If you wanted to tune this list up, you'd probably play nastier creatures. I chose not to include Blightsteel Colossus or any flavor of Vorinclex, but they are well worth considering if you are keen to push this list up even more.

Powering this list down is just as simple. You might drop out some of the bigger threats like Craterhoof Behemoth and Old Gnawbone. I'd probably consider aiming for a specific theme. You could build this as a Beast Kindred deck or even a Green Dragons deck and have a lot of fun with it.

Early Results, Take Two

A week after this deck had as much of a non-game as I've seen in a long time, I trotted it out again to give it a second chance. It didn't win, but it came achingly close.

I was up against Ohtarri, Sun's Glory, Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis, and Rendmaw, Creaking Nest. I just happened to start the game with a Whiptongue Hydra in hand, so I was optimistic that those 2/2 bird tokens wouldn't be a problem. As soon as I got to six mana, I cast it and was able to kill six of them to make my Hydra a 10/10. The Ohtarri player protected their board with Boros Charm.

I was able to get Oviya out in the midgame, and enchant her with Nature's Chosen, so I'd be able to get an extra activation each turn. I had a Mosswort Bridge in play with a Stonehoof Chieftain under it. I was able to activate Oviya to put Pathbreaker Ibex into play, and untap her with Nature's Chosen and use her again to cheat out Zopandrel, Hunger Dominus. Pathbreaker Ibex gives my creatures +X/+X where X is the largest power among creatures I control, and Zopandrel doubles the power of each creature I control at the beginning of combat.

I equipped Lightning Greaves to Pathbreaker Ibex, went to combat and things were looking good. They were looking good until the K & T player realized they had wanted to do something and hadn't caught the Lightning Greaves equip. I begrudgingly offered to roll back to before combat, as we are a casual group and often roll back if someone missed something. It was annoying for me because I was the one that would be impacted. The K & T player then used a Swords to Plowshares on my 10/10 before going to combat.

I gained my 10 life and activated Mosswort Bridge to cheat out Stonehoof Chieftain, an 8/8 who would be nearly as good. I had three 2/2 bird tokens and was able to swing them, a Caustic Caterpillar, Pathbreaker Ibex. My attackers all got their power pumped by 8 and then doubled.

My fatal mistake was in choosing who to swing the birds at. Everything had its power doubled and had indestructible and trample, but the birds couldn't swing at the Rendmaw player. I sent all of my nontoken creatures at Rendmaw, and chose to swing one bird at Ohtarri and two at Kynaios and Tiro. The K & T player died, but the other two players lived, but took a ton of damage.

The Kynaios and Tiro player had won the previous week, and they also were probably the most likely to have a boardwipe on hand. I was at 38 life, but it wasn't enough. The Ohtarri player was able to swing 19 damage at me but got an extra combat step with a Hexplate Wallbreaker to let them kill both me and the Rendmaw player thanks to a last minute combat trick.

I asked afterwards, and it looks like I simply chose the wrong player to kill. Ohtarri didn't have lethal on board at the time, but the other two players told me they didn't have any answers in hand. Sometimes towards the end of the game you just choose the wrong person to swing at when you have lethal for less than the entire table.

That didn't make it any less annoying, and some bad beats in the next game made for a pretty long night, but EDH is like that sometimes.

Final Thoughts

More than anything I wanted to get a second game in with this list to prove to myself that I hadn't just brewed a terrible deck. Even if I didn't get the win, I definitely felt like the list is very capable of having explosive turns and winning games.

This deck and those two games were a great reminder that a one game sample size isn't enough to really cast judgement on a deck. I was very close to taking the list apart and retooling it, but I'm glad I played that second game. It was a frustrating one in some ways, but the deck made some explosive plays and I wasn't far from getting the win.

It's worth noting that you can get much, much more greedy with Oviya, Automech Artisan than I was with this list. I like to have early plays and don't really want to rely on the good graces of my tablemates in the early game only to cheat out fatties like they're going out of style in the late game.

Having a slow early game and getting a little sympathy from your tablemates is one thing if you're playing a deck with a relatively normal mana curve. It's an entirely different thing if you've loaded up with huge creatures and you're using "politics" to try to buy time and stay alive until you can start to cheat out your monsters.

I do love the fact that Oviya doesn't force you to build in any one way even if she does incentivize you to play artifact creatures and vehicles. I may not love vehicles in EDH but if you enjoy them, or if you just want to cheat big creatures into play you should definitely take a look at Oviya, Automech Artisan.

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