Narset, Enlightened Master by Magali Villeneuve. All is Dust GP Promo by Vincent Proce.

This week I'm going to do a deep dive on a deck that I consider to be something of a "guilty pleasure." I love this deck for a lot of reasons, even though the cEDH meta has left it behind and it can be something of a glass cannon. It's got "secret tech," some of my favorite keywords and mechanics, and I've even pimped it out a bit. This was the first Commander deck that I truly pushed in a competitive direction and it's still capable of winning games out of nowhere.

Meet Narset, Enlightened Master.

Narset is a powerful Jeskai commander, with built-in protection and the ability to cast spells off the top of your library without paying their casting costs. When she goes to attack, you exile the top four cards of your library and can cast any noncreature spells in those exiled cards for free.

She is adored by those who play her and often loathed by players who have to deal with her very often. Hexproof leaves players in a position where they have to resort to boardwipes or run ways to remove hexproof to be able to deal with her. Most Narset players have the good sense to run powerful, high-cost spells so that when she casts them for free it winds up feeling truly unfair.

Early Missteps

When I first went to build Narset, I was very new to Commander. I hadn't researched any competitive decks or strategies, didn't have a good foundation for how to build a deck, and I basically threw a bunch of stuff together that I had lying around. I had lands that entered tapped. I had creatures. It was a hot mess.

I was that guy that couldn't even build Narset, Enlightened Master right.

I didn't keep that decklist, but I wish I had. I suspect it would be embarrassing, but I think I tried to go with a monk theme and had a "hope for the best" strategy. There were no compact or discrete wincons and it just failed miserably. I wasn't even playing against good decks at the time. It's worth mentioning that this was the same time when I thought building Mikaeus, the Unhallowed around non-Human creature tribal as a theme was a good idea. Mikaeus' Petting Zoo was also a pretty bad deck, though it was fun to build. I just didn't yet have a good sense on how to build with any efficiency or competitiveness yet.

Turns and Steps

The way to build Narset competitively, or at least semi-competitively, is to build her with extra turn spells and extra combat step spells. The reason is simple: each time you attack you get to flop into another four cards. If you can manage to hit new extra turn spells or extra combat step spells every time you attack, you just keep going until you've killed all your opponents.

I'm running six extra turn spells in all. Expropriate is an all-star, giving me at least one turn and possibly more if I've got opponents who think it's better to make sure I can't steal a permanent from them. Karn's Temporal Sundering might be my favorite because of that gorgeous artwork. I should really get that as a playmat. Time Stretch is a card I bought in foil from my LGS just as the first shutdown started. In theory, Narset could attack and hit all three of these sorceries, giving me 25 mana worth of value and at least four extra turns. No wonder folks hate Narset.

I'm also running Beacon of Tomorrows, Part the Waterveil and Temporal Mastery, but that's only the half of it. Extra combat steps are just as good, and if I've given Narset something like double-strike until end of turn, they're even better.

I've got five extra combat steps in my list, making for eleven ways to get Narset another chance to attack. Savage Beating and Seize the Day join the three cards shown above and there are times when I actually use Savage Beating to give my commander double strike.

Digging Deeper

If you look at my 11 extra turn/combat spells and then think about the fact that I've got 99 cards in my library, that means I've got a 1 in 9 chance of hitting one when I draw. When Narset attacks she'll look at the top four cards, so I think that gives us roughly a 50% chance of hitting one of these spells. That's pretty good, but the secret to Narset's success is that we want to dig deeper.

With Strionic Resonator, once each turn I'll be able to get a second attack trigger from Narset, allowing me to flip cards twice. If I hit an extra combat step, I'll use it first before any extra turns, but I won't be able to use Strionic Resonator on those extra combat steps as it will be tapped. Mirari is incredible to copy these powerful spells. Just hitting one of them with Mirari out and 3 mana available can often result in that unending chain of combats and turns that I'm looking for. I don't actually want anyone else to get another turn. No, this isn't really meant to be fun for anyone but me. This is a deck designed to try to win games. That's why it's a guilty pleasure, and also why I don't play it as often as I might like to.

Penance is a pet card and my "secret tech" for this build. This enchantment lets me drop a card on top of my library any time I like. That means if I've got a high-CMC spell stuck in my hand and Narset is about to attack, I can be sure to hit it with Narset's trigger.

I'm also running other topdeck manipulation cards like Sensei's Divining Top, Anticipate, Brainstorm, Dream Cache and the three Temples that are in Narset's colors. I am running Mystical Tutor and Enlightened Tutor, both of which are tutors that come with the "drawback" of putting your card on top of your library. I'm definitely missing spells that would also play well with Narset. Long-Term Plans comes to mind as a great way to set up an extra turn or combat step. All my decks see change over time and Plans is a card I've run in the past and will probably run again.

Creatures or No Creatures?

One of the bigger questions for anyone building Narset, Enlightened Master isn't how many creatures you run in the deck - it's whether you run any creatures at all. Any time Narset attacks and flops into a land or a creature, that card stays in exile. What that means is that you want a relatively low land count and no creatures at all.

The most competitive Narset builds use Proteus Staff. The plan is to put Narset on the bottom of your library, reveal cards until you reach her, put her back onto the field and then reorder your library so that the next time you attack you'll be able to launch into a carefully set up series of extra steps and turns that will kill the table with near 100% certainty.

I don't run Proteus Staff.

I like... no - I LOVE the surprise of not knowing what I'm going to flop into. Sure, I run scry effects and can tutor or just drop cards onto the top of my library, but I've chosen to draw the line at stacking my entire deck to win the game. To me, that's no longer fun. I appreciate the irony of a Narset player claiming that their turns & steps build is fine, but Proteus Staff is just too much. One might argue that a Narset turns & steps build is already too much.

Irony aside, what I get by not running Proteus Staff is the ability to run creatures. There aren't many creatures that are worth running in a build like this, but there are a few.

The first creature shown above was in some of my early builds of this deck but isn't in the current list. Medomai the Ageless gives you an extra turn if you can get it to do combat damage to a player, but it can't attack during extra turns. No Commander player should ever let a Narset player keep a Medomai on the field long enough to be able to get those extra turns. It isn't a terrible card for this deck, but if you flop into Medomai, you won't be able to cast it and it's too big of a removal magnet for me.

Generator Servant, on the other hand, will often be ignored and might even cause an opponent to attack someone without blockers in the early game instead of attacking you. It's not a blocker, but they don't know that. What Generator Servant lets you do is cast Narset earlier than expected and also gives her haste. In truth, I've not often used Generator Servant, and might swap it out for a land at some point.

A creature I have used more than a few times in my Narset build is Sovereigns of Lost Alara. This Spirit has exalted, but the real fun comes when a creature I control attacks alone and I get to search my library for an Aura and attach it to Narset. This deck might not have a lot of creatures but it's got some pretty powerful auras.

Getting Through Blockers

If we were just swinging with Narset for 3 damage, it's unlikely we'd ever kill a whole table. Our game plan is to use auras and equipment to make her unblockable and to pump her up so that we're eventually one-shotting our opponents. This isn't a new idea - Uril, the Miststalker, Bruna, Light of Alabaster and Rafiq of the Many are all commanders that use extra stuff to make them really dangerous.

Glaring Spotlight might seem like a surprising way to make Narset unblockable, but it will often get overlooked and can come down in the early turns when you're just dropping lands and mana rocks. Getting that first swing in is sometimes all you need, and if they see your commander without any equipment or auras they might think they'll just be able to block and kill her.

Trailblazer's Boots takes advantage of the fact that nearly everyone plays nonbasic lands. Also in the mix are Prowler's Helm, which makes a creature unblockable except by Walls. I've had that matter a few times, but usually it means you've got a free shot at someone. I think I used to run Whispersilk Cloak to make her unblockable, but shroud is actually pretty inconvenient for a creature you want to bulk up with equipment and auras - especially if you often don't have any other creatures on the field.

One of the all-stars in this list is Aqueous Form. This aura not only makes the enchanted creature unblockable - it also lets you scry when you attack, letting you put a card on the bottom of your library if you don't want to flop into it. Cloak of Mists also makes Narset unblockable and Spirit Mantle gives +1/+1 and protection from creatures, which means she can't be blocked, targeted or dealt damage by creatures. Traveler's Cloak is also in my current list, though I suspect there are better options now.

Steel of the Godhead is probably another all-star because it not only makes Narset unblockable, but it also gives her lifelink. You might not think of life gain as being an essential part of a deck like this, but smart opponents will take advantage of the fact that you have no early blockers and will hit you in the early turns. They should, and if you go into your first Narset attack with 20 or more life, you should consider yourself lucky. That lifegain will help stabilize you and make it easier to get through any turn cycles where you have a bad Narset "flop" or you have to come back from a boardwipe.

Maze of Ith and Reconnaissance are both ways to pull Narset out of combat. You might wonder why you'd want to do that, but if you don't have evasion yet and you can't survive an attack against any of your opponents, you really want a way to safely get that precious attack trigger.

Getting to Lethal

So we've got Narset through their defenses. Now we just need to whittle them down 3 points at a time until our opponents are all dead, right?

Perish the thought. We want to make Narset as dangerous as possible, and again that comes in the form of equipment and auras. The aforementioned Steel of the Godhead might turn Narset from a 3-power threat to a 5-power threat, but we can do better than that.

A staple in decks that put out a lot of lands, Blackblade Reforged might not seem like a logical fit for Narset, but you'll usually have at least five or six lands in the mid game. It doesn't take much beyond that to get Narset to the point where double strike will make her a lethal threat to take a player out in a single combat. Embercleave will gladly step in and help with that, giving +1/+1, double-strike and trample. Not only will Embercleave give double strike, it has flash so if you hit it with a Narset attack trigger you'll be able to cast it immediately and it has the ability to attach to a creature when it enters the battlefield. Loxodon Warhammer also gives lifelink, which can be more helpful than you might think in living long enough to be able to finish off a table.

Every decent build of Narset I've put together has a lot of artifacts and enchantments. I run mana rocks. I run pillowfort enchantments. I run lots of auras. It makes sense to use that to our advantage. Helm of the Gods and Ethereal Armor will give Narset +1/+1 for each enchantment you control. All that Glitters gives +1/+1 for each artifact and/or enchantment you control. Just one of these will often push Narset's power up by a lot and if you see two or all three in a game you could easily be swinging for over 21 without leaning on double strike.

Daybreak Coronet can only attach to Narset if she's already got another enchantment, but that isn't usually a problem. Vigilance can be really helpful if Narset is huge but you've got to weather a few turn cycles in which you're going to get attacked. This can happen if you're not hitting your extra turns and steps when you attack or when you put a target on your back.

There's no better way to put that target on your back than to play Narset, but if you manage to put Eldrazi Conscription or Corrupted Conscience on here you'll be even more of a target than you were already. +10/+10 and infect are no joke, especially when they come out at the same time.

I'm sure I'm missing some key cards that might work well in this list. I'm not running Indestructibility or Darksteel Plate and I don't have any of those wonderful totem armor auras. I also haven't included Colossus Hammer, as its equip cost of 8 is hard to overlook. All in all, I've been pretty happy with how much damage my Narset is usually able to dish out.

Pet Cards and Staples

I've already shared Penance with you, but that's not the only "pet card" I run in this deck. I want my Narset build to be competitive, but I also want it to be my own build, with at least a few cards I personally love, but that some player might pass over.

The "Dragon Cycle" of auras from Scourge are auras that can automatically come out of your graveyard and attach to a creature with CMC 6 or greater as it enters the battlefield. These auras are more likely to find their way into the graveyard after a boardwipe than as an early game discard. However they find their way into the bin, the real trick is to remember they are there and to pull them out when Narset hits the field again.

Dragon Breath gives haste, which can be really helpful with a Commander like Narset. After a boardwipe, you'll often have an opponent without blockers and haste might let you get a free shot in before you've given her evasion. Dragon Wings gives the enchanted creature flying, which solves that evasion problem pretty nicely. Dragon Scales gives +1/+2, vigilance, and that nice feeling you get when you run all of the cards in a cycle that are in your commander's color identity. That might not be the most competitive approach to deck-building, but that's why these are pet cards.

I am also running staples. Rhystic Study is an amazing card draw spell, Smothering Tithe is fantastic for ramp and Teferi's Protection is a great way to dodge an alpha strike.

I'm also running more mundane staples like Sphere of Safety, which will let us tax attackers. Chromatic Lantern is in the list to help us smooth out our colors. Pendrell Mists gives us a way to tax anyone in the game. I'm running Swan Song and Swords to Plowshares out of a feeling of obligation and Boros Charm to help survive boardwipes. I've got Cyclonic Rift because this is Commander and I'm in blue. I've got Deflecting Palm because I think that's Narset in the artwork and it's fun to turn a lethal hit back on its controller.

The cEDH Question

There was a time when Narset was considered a competitive commander. The optimal builds for her were able to compete with the top decks of the format for a hot minute. She was never the best deck, but she could hold her own.

As I understand it, the change in mulligan rules really hurt competitive Narset decks. You used to be able to sculpt your hand so that you'd start the game and be able to get her out quickly. The current mulligan rules don't lend themselves as well to setting up your starting hand, so Narset has lost some of the advantage she initially had.

I've never tried to build Narset as a deck that can get her out on turn three or four, certainly not with any consistency. That might be the next direction I try to go in, but currently this deck's mana base is good but not incredibly overpowered.

The problem with Narset in terms of playing in a competitive meta is that she's a glass cannon. You don't want to load up on interaction because if you flop into counterspells and removal with her attack trigger you're not going to be as happy as when you hit an extra turn or combat step. That doesn't mean you can't run interaction, but my experience with Narset is that she has very much of an all-in game plan.

The way to stop Narset is incredibly simple, and that's another reason she isn't a cEDH deck. You just run lots of counterspells and you keep her off the field. No Narset? No problem. I've run into a few games where I was able to hit an early Cavern of Souls to make her uncounterable at a table full of blue players. In general, if your opponents know what they're doing and they do a good job of keeping her off the table, you're not going to be doing much. Today's cEDH decks have such compact wincons and so much interaction that it's quite a challenge to play at that level with such a glass cannon of a Commander deck.

Pubstomping

If Narset, Enlightened Master isn't quite up to the current standards of cEDH, does that mean she's fated to the role of pubstomping casual players?

I think that's a valid question, but let's first look at what "pubstomping" means. I think of pubstomping as playing games in which you have an unfair and extreme advantage without your opponents knowing that you're going into the game with that advantage.

Imagine playing a tuned Animar, Soul of Elements deck against a table of new players with precon decks. That would be a pubstomp.

In my LGS' meta, the reality is that most of us are playing sub-cEDH decks but most of us are also pushing our power levels up into the higher reaches of semi-competitive play. Folks combo off all the time. Eldrazi Conscription, Elesh Norn and Enter the Infinite aren't exactly common, but they're also not a surprise when they hit the field.

The funny thing is, when I brought my decks to Commandfest D.C. last Fall, Narset was a deck that more than a few tables were interested in seeing. I also had some opponents say she was the last deck they'd want to play and I dutifully would pull out a more enjoyable commander for that game.

The games where I played her and had a table that was unfamiliar with her but also curious about what she'd do were some of the most enjoyable. Narset did what Narset does, and most (if not all) of those games were a slaughter. By and large, those players seemed to enjoy seeing a ridiculous commander do ridiculous things. It was eye-opening for them and showed them something that can be done in our amazing format that they hadn't seen before. I didn't trick them into the game - they went in with a warning that Narset can be powerful and hard to deal with.

Finishing Touches

One of the reasons I chose to write today's column is that this week I'm putting the finishing touches on this deck. By that, I don't mean that I'll never change it again. I change my decks all the time, but I've been trying to get some cards into this list that at one point in time I never even thought I'd own.

For years I'd look at competitive lists and the one thing that always seemed out of reach were the original dual lands. This year I've finally prioritized getting duals for my Narset deck. A two-color land that enters untapped might be a little advantage, but it's something I've long wanted to do for this list.

The cards that are coming in this week that are my REAL finishing touches are the Godzilla Lands.

Last spring Wizards of the Coast announced that they were doing a Secret Lair drop with lands that had kaiju included in the art. They're just basic lands, but I've spent a lot of time putting monsters onto landscapes so I just knew I needed an excuse to get them. This list happens to have 3 Islands, 3 Plains and 2 Mountains so I figured I'd order three of the Godzilla Lands Secret Lair drops and put three of each into the deck.

I still don't know what I'll drop out for the extra Mountain, but I'll figure that out when they get here.

The Decklist

Every deck of mine is a work in progress. The list below doesn't have my Godzilla Lands in it yet, but it's the result of years of work. I build and play a lot of decks so it's not like this list has been my sole focus for the last five years, but I'm pretty happy with where I've managed to get it.

Narset EDH | Commander| Stephen Johnson

• Commander (1)
• 1 Narset, Enlightened Master

• Creatures (2)
• 1 Generator Servant
• 1 Sovereigns of Lost Alara

• Instants (11)
• 1 Anticipate
• 1 Boros Charm
• 1 Brainstorm
• 1 Cyclonic Rift
• 1 Deflecting Palm
• 1 Enlightened Tutor
• 1 Mystical Tutor
• 1 Savage Beating
• 1 Swan Song
• 1 Swords to Plowshares
• 1 Teferi's Protection

• Sorceries (13)
• 1 Beacon of Tomorrows
• 1 Dream Cache
• 1 Expropriate
• 1 Fumigate
• 1 Fury of the Horde
• 1 Karn's Temporal Sundering
• 1 Open the Armory
• 1 Part the Waterveil
• 1 Relentless Assault
• 1 Seize the Day
• 1 Temporal Mastery
• 1 Time Stretch
• 1 World at War

• Enchantments (19)
• 1 All That Glitters
• 1 Aqueous Form
• 1 Cloak of Mists
• 1 Corrupted Conscience
• 1 Daybreak Coronet
• 1 Dragon Breath
• 1 Dragon Scales
• 1 Dragon Wings
• 1 Eldrazi Conscription
• 1 Ethereal Armor
• 1 Penance
• 1 Pendrell Mists
• 1 Reconnaissance
• 1 Rhystic Study
• 1 Smothering Tithe
• 1 Sphere of Safety
• 1 Spirit Mantle
• 1 Steel of the Godhead
• 1 Traveler's Cloak

• Artifacts (20)
• 1 Azorius Signet
• 1 Blackblade Reforged
• 1 Boros Signet
• 1 Chromatic Lantern
• 1 Commander's Sphere
• 1 Embercleave
• 1 Glaring Spotlight
• 1 Helm of the Gods
• 1 Izzet Signet
• 1 Loxodon Warhammer
• 1 Mana Crypt
• 1 Mana Vault
• 1 Mirari
• 1 Prowler's Helm
• 1 Sensei's Divining Top
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Strionic Resonator
• 1 Thought Vessel
• 1 Trailblazer's Boots
• 1 Vedalken Orrery

• Lands (34)
• 2 Mountain
• 3 Island
• 3 Plains
• 1 Ancient Tomb
• 1 Azorius Chancery
• 1 City of Brass
• 1 Clifftop Retreat
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Exotic Orchard
• 1 Glacial Fortress
• 1 Hallowed Fountain
• 1 Hanweir Battlements
• 1 Maze of Ith
• 1 Plateau
• 1 Raugrin Crystal
• 1 Raugrin Triome
• 1 Reliquary Tower
• 1 Rogue's Passage
• 1 Scalding Tarn
• 1 Sea of Clouds
• 1 Slayers' Stronghold
• 1 Steam Vents
• 1 Sulfur Falls
• 1 Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion
• 1 Temple of Enlightenment
• 1 Temple of Epiphany
• 1 Temple of Triumph
• 1 Tundra
• 1 Volcanic Island

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I'd be very interested in hearing suggestions on improvements, particularly in relation to getting Narset out faster. I notice that I haven't yet thrown an Arcane Signet into the list, so it's quite clear there are ways to make it better. Let me know in comments if you've got ideas on how to speed up this list.

Guilty Pleasures

For me, a guilty pleasure deck is a deck that is strong, powerful, and more than a little unfair when I play it.

I don't mind winning games, but in my heart of hearts I want my games to be good old fashioned two- or three-hour slugfests with no combos, lots of twists and turns, and everything resolved on the battlefield. I've managed to evolve into a combo player and someone capable of building and playing decks that are more than just piles of jank, but I still do love the jank.

If you enjoyed today's column, please comment and let me know.

I might well do another Guilty Pleasure column where I spotlight one of my decks that is particularly strong and which makes me feel just a little guilty when I break it out and it winds up doing its thing. My Grumgully, the Generous and Muldrotha, the Gravetide decks spring to mind. I'll always present the deck that I have and explain what I've done to make it "my own".

Final Thoughts

Today's column was originally going to be an impassioned plea for Commander players to make this year truly the "Year of Commander" and flock to your local games stores (wearing masks and spaced out during the week) to put players in seats. My theory was that if we can't play sanctioned events, local game stores will fail, but if Commander players were to prioritize playing in stores over playing at home they might be able to help get those already hurting game stores to survive through the next few months until we're able to play in stores again.

I'm smart enough to realize that painting with a broad brush across all the USA and Latin America is pretty silly. Last week I castigated Wizards of the Coast for applying their shutdown in this manner. After sharing my draft column with some friends, it became clear to me that I was risking doing the same thing. There are places where you should probably be sheltering in place. There are places where you can play at your local game store and help it to survive until Wizards of the Coast lifts its ban. The more we wear masks, social distance and err on the side of caution, the more likely we'll see play in stores sooner rather than later.

Ultimately, it didn't seem worth risking having anyone in a high-risk state or region misconstrue my column as an invitation to cast caution to the wind and go play at a store when they probably shouldn't. I don't often scrap a column at the last minute and put together a replacement, but this week I decided to listen to my friends' advice and shift gears.

I hope it came out well and that you enjoyed my trip through my guiltiest of pleasures - Narset, Enlightened Master. If you enjoy the surprise of a Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign, Etali, Primal Storm, Gonti, Lord of Luxury or Mayael the Anima "flop," you might be the kind of player who could learn to love Narset, Enlightened Master.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on making "Guilty Pleasures" a quarterly segment, and if you've got suggestions for my Narset list, please share them! I'm well aware that Narset doesn't always make for fun games for the entire table, but I'm a firm believer that players should be able to play their "guilty pleasure" decks every now and then.

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