Today I'll be diving into Edge of Eternities with an exciting new commander that is best compared to the mono-Blue powerhouse Urza, Lord High Artificer. While Urza provides a game-winning outlet for infinite mana, today's commander is a little less broken and a little more fun for casual players.

This legendary Jellyfish Advisor costs five mana, which makes it a little less playable in cEDH. Mm'menon, the Right Hand has flying and a three-power, four-toughness body. With them on the battlefield I'll be able to look at the top card of my library at any time, and I can cast artifact spells from the top of my library. The comparison to Urza comes from Mm'menon's final ability that lets my artifacts tap for Blue mana. That mana can only be used to cast a spell from somewhere other than my hand.

Obvious Combos are Obvious

Of course, what's obvious to me might not be obvious to someone else, so let's dive into some of the shenanigans I came up with when looking at this commander.

With artifacts in play I'll be able to tap them to make Blue mana, but I can't use that mana to activate abilities or cast spells from my hand. Dramatic Reversal might not seem like that useful a spell in this deck, but with a Sol Ring in play to play for my Isochron Scepter activations, I'll be able to make as much of that Mm'menon mana as I like. If I've got even one additional mana rock, I can make as much regular mana as I like.

A deck built around the Dramatic Scepter combo would look to cards that trigger when casting instant and sorcery spells, but that isn't this deck. I am running this combo, but if I hit it, I'll just be greasing the wheels for what my deck wants to do, not winning the game on the spot. That is, unless I've got Mystic Forge in play. That four-mana artifact lets me tap it and pay 1 life to exile the top of my library, allowing me to get rid of any lands and just cast my whole deck .

If I'm casting my whole deck I'll likely run into Aetherflux Reservoir, which is very much a wincon when you're casting Dramatic Reversal as many times as you like.

What my deck wants to do is exactly what Mystic Forge brings to the table. I want to cast spells from places other than my hand.

This deck is primarily focused around artifacts and being able to cast them from the top of my library opens up another fun combo. Sensei's Divining Top can let me look at the top 3 cards of my library and reorder them for one mana, but its tap ability is where I'm going to get up to no good. I can tap it to draw a card and then put it on top of my library. If I've got a cost reducer like Etherium Sculptor, Foundry Inspector, The Immortal Sun, or Cloud Key in play, I can cast it for free. That means I'll be able to draw my deck and attempt the aforementioned Aetherflux Reservoir win.

If for some reason Aetherflux is off the table, I've got other options. Sai, Master Thopterist can make a 1/1 colorless Thopter artifact creature token whenever I cast an artifact spell. They won't have haste, but I'm in Blue so there's a decent chance I can draw into a counterspell and protect my Thopter tokens so I can swing for the win on my next turn.

Other Than Your Hand

While this deck is clearly not the low-powered, casual fare that I often share with you, I did decide to have a little fun in the deckbuilding process. I was tempted to load up on "Cheerios" - zero-mana artifacts than can be cast for nothing and tapped for mana thanks to my commander. That's something an Urza deck would lean into, but this isn't an Urza deck. I decided it would be more fun to lean on some of the other options available to me that would let me cast spells from places other than my hand.

When looking for mechanics that let you cast spells from places other than your hand, four came to mind: Flashback, Foretell, Retrace and Plot. Flashback lets you cast spells from your graveyard and the card gets exiled. Foretell lets you pay 2 mana to exile a card from your hand face down and on a later turn you can cast it for its foretell cost. Retrace lets you cast a spell from your graveyard for the added cost of discarding a land card. Plot lets you pay mana to exile a card and cast it for free on a later turn. Cascade and Rebound also let you cast spells from exile without paying their mana costs.

The reason I'm interested in these mechanics is because my artifacts can tap for Blue mana that can only be used to cast spells from anywhere other than my hand. That means I've got no incentive to build around Cascade or Plot, as those cards are cast for free. Retrace has the added requirement of discarding a land card, so it's also not an attractive option unless I'm running so many lands that I'll be likely to have extra islands to discard.

That leaves me with Flashback and Foretell, both of which should give this deck an interesting subtheme.

In spite of its tawdry nickname, Deep Analysis is a great card in this deck. Its only major drawback is that it is a sorcery, but drawing two cards for four mana, and then doing it again for two mana and 3 life is pretty good. If I'm able to tap a Spellbook and a Mystic Forge to pay that two mana flashback cost, it's even better.

Mm'menon may like Foretell more than Flashback, as his ability doesn't help me with the initial cast of a card with Flashback. I'm running Ravenform, Spectral Deluge, Behold the Multiverse and Saw It Coming in this list. Ravenform is a cheap removal spell that leaves behind a 1/1 Blue Bird creature token. Spectral Deluge is a bounce spell that cares about how many Islands I control. Both are at sorcery speed. Behold the Multiverse is an instant speed spell that has me scry 2 and then draw 2 cards. Saw it Coming is counterspell. I don't love the idea of paying that initial 2 mana, but I like to lean into a theme and this commander really does want to help me cast spells from anywhere other than my hand.

I'm running a few creatures that can also play with this theme. Snapcaster Mage will enter play and give target instant or sorcery card in my graveyard flashback until end of turn. Lier, Disciple of the Drowned does this but better, giving each instant and sorcery card in my graveyard flashback for as long as it's in play under my control.

Sage of the Beyond is also in the list and gives spells I cast from anywhere other than my hand a cost reduction of 2 mana. It has foretell, though it won't reduce its own casting cost. It will help me save mana when casting artifacts from the top of my library.

The big question is whether I've managed to hit the balance point between artifacts and instants/sorceries. If I did, the different parts of this deck will work well together and I'll be able to get the deck to play smoothly. If I didn't, or if I just get unlucky in a game, I'll be drawing into things that don't help me with what I have in play or in the graveyard. Snapcaster Mage won't feel like a lucky draw if I've got a graveyard full of artifacts.

The reality is that any deck will feel synergistic when things are going well, and will feel clunky when you're not drawing what you need. Leaning into just one theme can help a lot with that, but I enjoy having these first drafts be a little more nuanced. I want a deck to not just give me the same game every time, and I'm hoping that will be the case with today's list.

Mmm, Cookies

It's got an apostrophe. I think it's MmmFashnic. Like, mmm, cookies.

You'll forgive me for quoting Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, but maybe I'm trying to distract you from the fact that this deck has way, way too few lands. My initial plan was to build it like a Cheerios deck, and having a ton of zero and 1-drop artifacts plays well with a low mana curve and fewer lands. I then started to reconsider my land count.

I decided to stick with 33 lands. I'm running 31 artifacts and my basic premise is that my mana curve is fairly low and I want to minimize the number of times I'm going to be looking at a land on top of my library. I obviously can't run zero lands and expect a good play experience, but I also really don't want to run 40 lands and find myself constantly unable to cast spells off the top of my library.

This is the sort of deck where you need to find the right balance point between lands and artifacts to get the kind of play experience you want. That takes playing the deck and tuning it as you go until you're happy with how it's playing. This is a starting point I'm comfortable with, but I can see adding more low mana artifacts and dropping out the Flashback/Foretell subtheme entirely.

Mm'menon EDH | Commander | Stephen Johnson

• Commander (1)
• 1 Mm'menon, the Right Hand

• Creatures (27)
• 1 Artificer's Assistant
• 1 Broodstar
• 1 Canoptek Spyder
• 1 Cyberdrive Awakener
• 1 Displacer Kitten
• 1 Etherium Sculptor
• 1 Faerie Mastermind
• 1 Foundry Inspector
• 1 Hullbreaker Horror
• 1 Jhoira's Familiar
• 1 Kuldotha Forgemaster
• 1 Lier, Disciple of the Drowned
• 1 Ornithopter
• 1 Pilgrim's Eye
• 1 Pollywog Prodigy
• 1 Sage of the Beyond
• 1 Sai, Master Thopterist
• 1 Silver Myr
• 1 Skittering Surveyor
• 1 Snapcaster Mage
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Spellseeker
• 1 Spellskite
• 1 The Reality Chip
• 1 Trinket Mage
• 1 Vedalken Archmage
• 1 Zenith Chronicler

• Spells (21)
• 1 Aetherize
• 1 Aetherspouts
• 1 Behold the Multiverse
• 1 Counterspell
• 1 Dramatic Reversal
• 1 High Tide
• 1 March of Swirling Mist
• 1 Paradoxical Outcome
• 1 Pongify
• 1 Rapid Hybridization
• 1 Saw it Coming
• 1 Scour for Scrap
• 1 Stoic Rebuttal
• 1 Swan Song
• 1 Whir of Invention
• 1 Deep Analysis
• 1 Fabricate
• 1 Ravenform
• 1 Rise and Shine
• 1 Solve the Equation
• 1 Spectral Deluge

• Artifacts (18)
• 1 Aetherflux Reservoir
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Braided Net
• 1 Cloud Key
• 1 Isochron Scepter
• 1 Lotus Petal
• 1 Mind Stone
• 1 Mycosynth Lattice
• 1 Mystic Forge
• 1 Nettlecyst
• 1 Sensei's Divining Top
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Spellbook
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots
• 1 The Immortal Sun
• 1 Tormod's Crypt
• 1 Unwinding Clock
• 1 Uthros Research Craft

• Lands (33)
• 26 Island
• 1 Buried Ruin
• 1 Inventors' Fair
• 1 Otawara, Soaring City
• 1 Rivendell
• 1 Rogue's Passage
• 1 Tolaria West
• 1 Urza's Saga

Buy This Deck Export text

I think this will be a fun deck to play in mid-powered EDH but it is notably lacking any game changers. To power it down you'd likely drop out the combo lines entirely, and you might consider dropping out the tutors as well. Leaning more into artifacts could set you up nicely to try to win games with cards like Rise and Shine and Cyberdrive Awakener. A more "Cheerios" style deck might not feel lower powered but if you're not aiming for a combo win it might be playable at lower powered tables.

To move up into higher powered play I think you'd want to pick a lane, and that lane should probably be artifacts. You'd obviously keep your combo lines as combo wins are fine in high powered play. You might run more zero-drops and fewer artifact creatures as they can't tap on the turn they enter play, and you could throw in a few Praetors. Jin-Gitaxias, Progress Tyrant seems especially well-suited for this list.

Rhystic Study, Chrome Mox, and Urza, Lord High Artificer would be the three game changers I'd start with if I were going to add game changers. If you're moving up to bracket four, you can throw in Fierce Guardianship and Force of Will, but you'll eventually need to ask yourself why you aren't just running Urza as your commander. Playing cEDH means playing the best cards and I sure don't think Mm'menon is better than Urza.

Final Thoughts

I was able to play this list in a game. It was a three-player pod, which is never ideal. I mulled to 6, didn't hit any help for drawing cards, was forced to discard at least once, and soon found myself hellbent. That wasn't great, but I was able to play artifacts off the top of my library and at one point I cast Saw It Coming out of exile. I could definitely see this list as a good starting point, but I expect I'd end up making plenty of changes, probably moving towards more artifacts than this first draft includes. The fact that it was a three-player game made it hard to really evaluate the deck, but aside from my initial mulligan, the deck ran fairly smoothly and I eventually had more lands than I had options during my turn. Mana flow was not an issue.

The high point for the game was being able to swing 16 damage at someone who had been developing their board to the point where they were getting a little scary. I had Cyberdrive Awakener out, so my artifact creatures had flying, but the next turn that creature was removed. The game left me frustrated, but I think I might have just been at the lowest power level and that often leaves me feeling frustrated.

I swapped out Ledger Shredder for Canoptek Spyder and would probably load in more card draw if I were to really try to tune up this deck for regular play. If you build Mm'menon, the Right Hand I hope you have fun with it. I do think this is an interesting commander with the potential for fun games with artifacts and playing cards out of exile. I bet you'll have the most success when you get Sensei's Divining Top into play but maybe you'll find a different way to build around this commander.

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