Well it’s time . . . 

At lot of people around Mobile, Alabama play Commander more competitively due to some inter-store league play that rewards winners. So they have naturally wedded nasty Spike Commanders to their decks, and frankly, it feels a little off to play with them when they have these super teched up decks. I mean, when I flip over my Fumiko the Lowblood Mono-Red deck or my Beast-Centric Surrak’s Beasts and Where to Find Them, it can feel a little weak when I have decks running like Legacy Mono-Blue replete with Force of Will, Stasis, and Gush as well as powerhouses like the (now banned) Leovold, Emissary of Trest and other fast and offensive leaders.

So I was thinking of running my own . . . 

From the folks I’ve spoken with, online or elsewhere, Jeleva typically runs with a very souped up set of power. Now, Jeleva is no Narset, Enlightened Master. She won’t easily go infinite with the Time Walk effects. When you swing, you can cast something for free that Jeleva exiled from anyone, foes included. (That‘ll help level the playing field as she can play what my opponent’s brought to the table too.) You’ll know ahead of time just how much you can get from Jeleva by seeing what you exiled, so you can play around it! Narset always is looking at the top few cards of a deck for more quality, and so it’s harder to shut down Narset. Plus, Narset runs huge potential card advantage as well.

However, Jeleva decks still tend to be instant/sorcery heavy Grixis decks that run a lot of power to push their theme as much as possible. And I can as well. (I ran Jeleva in the Commander deck long ago for a long time, so I have some experience with her as a leader)

That was my initial take on Jeleva. In fact, after one run through my collection, I pulled cards like my extra copy of Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Temporal Manipulation. But, I feel like there were two more routes that intrigued me as I further explored what Jeleva has to offer.

Another idea is to skip the blatant power, and slide in a fun and more synergetic Jeleva that runs things like Submerge or Spin into Myth (ah, did I put your creature on top of your library and then exile it by casting my Commander? Sorry about that!) And Memory Lapse. Fun little tricks that play a controlling role without just being Spike to the 10th degree, right?

Finally, there is a third option spinning in my mind . . . 

Here are the three Jeleva options I’m looking at.

Wait, what? Eldrazi?

Exactly! Every time you cast Jeleva, you exile cards from people’s deck . . . 

Consider a simple card like, say, Wasteland Strangler. It’s a nice 3-drop, and you are likely to have a card in your opponent’s exile zone from Jeleva, if nothing else. Toss it into the bin, and you can -3/-3 something for a turn, likely killing a lot of stuff. Some of these cards have similar synergy, like Wasteland Strangler, but many are downright nasty in power with Jeleva. Take Oblivion Sower as the best example I can currently think of. Every single land exiled from one of my opponents suddenly can hit the battlefield under my control. As a cast trigger for the Sower, that cannot be countered via conventional means.

In fact, the vast majority of Eldrazi Processors are colorless or , and only one is Green. And they are pretty good. Most of them are quality for Jeleva builds. And you can add more exiling Edrazi too. Ingest is great at adding pressure and ammo. Dimensional Infiltrator? Mindmelter? Karn Liberated?

So what do I do?

Super Spike?

Eldrazi Turnabout?

Budget-ish Control and Relaxed Synergy?

Hmmm, no one says I can only do one . . . right?

Jeleva of the Eldrazi ? Commander| Abe Sargent

• Commander (1)
• 1 Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge

• Creatures (35)
• 1 Artisan of Kozilek
• 1 Barrage Tyrant
• 1 Bearer of Silence
• 1 Blight Herder
• 1 Conduit of Ruin
• 1 Deepfathom Skulker
• 1 Dimensional Infiltrator
• 1 Distended Mindbender
• 1 Drowner of Hope
• 1 Elder Deep-Fiend
• 1 Eldrazi Mimic
• 1 Eldrazi Obligator
• 1 Endbringer
• 1 Endless One
• 1 Eternal Scourge
• 1 Fathom Feeder
• 1 Forerunner of Slaughter
• 1 Herald of Kozilek
• 1 Kozilek, the Great Distortion
• 1 Matter Reshaper
• 1 Mind Raker
• 1 Mindmelter
• 1 Oblivion Sower
• 1 Palladium Myr
• 1 Prophet of Distortion
• 1 Ruination Guide
• 1 Sire of Stagnation
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Thought Harvester
• 1 Thought-Knot Seer
• 1 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
• 1 Ulamog's Nullifier
• 1 Vexing Scuttler
• 1 Vile Aggregate
• 1 Wasteland Strangler

• Planeswalkers (4)
• 1 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
• 1 Daretti, Ingenious Iconoclast
• 1 Karn Liberated
• 1 Tezzeret the Schemer

• Instants (2)
• 1 Grip of Amnesia
• 1 Titan's Presence

• Sorceries (12)
• 1 All is Dust
• 1 Bribery
• 1 Deep Analysis
• 1 Demonic Tutor
• 1 Gruesome Encore
• 1 Gruesome Slaughter
• 1 Increasing Ambition
• 1 Living Death
• 1 Mass Mutiny
• 1 Praetor's Grasp
• 1 Psychic Intrusion
• 1 Recurring Insight

• Artifacts (8)
• 1 Armillary Sphere
• 1 Everflowing Chalice
• 1 Expedition Map
• 1 Hammer of Purphoros
• 1 Nihil Spellbomb
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Tamiyo's Journal
• 1 Thran Dynamo

• Lands (38)
• 3 Wastes
• 5 Mountain
• 5 Swamp
• 6 Island
• 1 Bojuka Bog
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Eldrazi Temple
• 1 Eye of Ugin
• 1 Exotic Orchard
• 1 Foundry of the Consuls
• 1 Grand Coliseum
• 1 Grixis Panorama
• 1 Ruins of Oran-Rief
• 1 Sanctum of Ugin
• 1 Shivan Reef
• 1 Shrine of the Forsaken Gods
• 1 Spawning Bed
• 1 Sulfurous Springs
• 1 Temple of the False God
• 1 Tomb of the Spirit Dragon
• 1 Underground River
• 1 Unknown Shores
• 1 Urza's Factory

Buy This Deck

This deck just unloads Eldrazi and other colorless effects everywhere. We can make colorless creature tokens with Daretti, Ingenious Iconoclast and Tezzeret the Schemer’s Etherium Cells and the Clues of Tamiyo's Journal. I loaded up on some artifact creature synergies with the colorless conceits of the Eldrazi as well, to increase that number.

Don’t forget to cast Eternal Scourge from exile in case you Jeleva it! See also — Misthollow Griffin for a similar partner.

Don’t sleep on cool sweeping effects like All is Dust and Gruesome Slaughter. And we have cards in here for removal, discarding, countering, and more, all from the Eldrazi nation. Cards like Wasteland Strangler, Bearer of Silence, Ulamog's Nullifier, and Mindmelter will suffice. Draw cards with Fathom Feeder and Prophet of Distortion or attack into folks to trigger Deepfathom Skulker. We have money cards in here like Sire of Stagnation that you already know are just hot.

Now we have a higher casting cost than normal for a lot of my cards, so I initially ran some cheaper Eldrazi when they would fit, as well as every single land and Sol Ring that can get me more than 1 mana feasibly in this deck. From Temple of the False God to Eldrazi Temple to Shrine of the Forsaken Gods they are here. Should I run Ancient Tomb as well?

Anyways, I love the bizarre take into Eldrazi land with Jeleva, don’t you?

Now, let’s SPIKE THIS THANG UP!

Jeleva of the Spikes ? Commander| Abe Sargent

• Commander (1)
• 1 Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge

• Creatures (7)
• 1 Charmbreaker Devils
• 1 Echo Mage
• 1 Galvanoth
• 1 Notion Thief
• 1 Oblivion Sower
• 1 Sire of Stagnation
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum

• Planeswalkers (5)
• 1 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
• 1 Chandra, the Firebrand
• 1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
• 1 Karn Liberated
• 1 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker

• Instants (8)
• 1 Brainstorm
• 1 Chaos Warp
• 1 Commit // Memory
• 1 Cryptic Command
• 1 Force of Will
• 1 Long-Term Plans
• 1 Mana Drain
• 1 Misdirection

• Sorceries (27)
• 1 Army of the Damned
• 1 Beacon of Tomorrows
• 1 Blatant Thievery
• 1 Bribery
• 1 Cruel Ultimatum
• 1 Damnation
• 1 Deep Analysis
• 1 Demonic Tutor
• 1 Expropriate
• 1 Increasing Ambition
• 1 Insurrection
• 1 Knowledge Exploitation
• 1 Mass Mutiny
• 1 Mind's Desire
• 1 Past in Flames
• 1 Praetor's Grasp
• 1 Psychic Intrusion
• 1 Recurring Insight
• 1 Rise of the Dark Realms
• 1 Rite of Replication
• 1 Spelltwine
• 1 Temporal Manipulation
• 1 Temporal Mastery
• 1 Time Stretch
• 1 Time Warp
• 1 Walk the Aeons
• 1 Wheel of Fortune

• Enchantments (1)
• 1 Metallurgic Summonings

• Artifacts (13)
• 1 Armillary Sphere
• 1 Chromatic Lantern
• 1 Everflowing Chalice
• 1 Expedition Map
• 1 Gem of Becoming
• 1 Hammer of Purphoros
• 1 Lightning Greaves
• 1 Mirari
• 1 Scroll Rack
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Strionic Resonator
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots
• 1 Thran Dynamo

• Lands (39)
• 6 Mountain
• 6 Swamp
• 7 Island
• 1 Ash Barrens
• 1 Bojuka Bog
• 1 Canyon Slough
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Dimir Aqueduct
• 1 Exotic Orchard
• 1 Fetid Pools
• 1 Grand Coliseum
• 1 Grixis Panorama
• 1 Izzet Boilerworks
• 1 Rakdos Carnarium
• 1 Shivan Reef
• 1 Sulfurous Springs
• 1 Temple of Deceit
• 1 Temple of Epiphany
• 1 Temple of Malice
• 1 Temple of the False God
• 1 Underground River
• 1 Unknown Shores
• 1 Urza's Factory

Buy This Deck

You can load up and blow out your Jeleva. In went more mana rocks and some cool support. And you saw just how lethal Oblivion Sower was with Jeleva in the Eldrazi build, so I had to run it here too!

I tossed in some duplication of spells in Echo Mage and Mirari, and you can Strionic Resonator for another trigger of a lot of stuff in this here deck. I’m sure you can see how silly good a card like Past in Flames is in this build, right?

The first deck used Jeleva to exile stuff, and attacking and getting sorcery/instant triggers was secondary. This is all about getting the nasty attack trigger into a few Time Warp effects. And you can cast a Tutor to get an actual Time Warp as well as the Warp’s proper, and Mirari-ing a Time Warp is great fun. Ready?

Oh yes, Jeleva is about to crash hard . . . 

But is that really where I want my Jeleva to be?

Or is there a place today where we can run a more relaxed, synergetic Jeleva?

Jeleva Takes Five ? Commander | Abe Sargent

• Commander (1)
• 1 Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge

• Creatures (16)
• 1 Bedlam Reveler
• 1 Charmbreaker Devils
• 1 Diluvian Primordial
• 1 Dualcaster Mage
• 1 Echo Mage
• 1 Galvanoth
• 1 Guttersnipe
• 1 Izzet Guildmage
• 1 Living Lore
• 1 Mindclaw Shaman
• 1 Oblivion Sower
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Talrand, Sky Summoner
• 1 Thing in the Ice
• 1 Vedalken Dismisser
• 1 Young Pyromancer

• Planeswalkers (3)
• 1 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
• 1 Chandra, the Firebrand
• 1 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker

• Instants (11)
• 1 Brainstorm
• 1 Capsize
• 1 Chaos Warp
• 1 Commit // Memory
• 1 Cryptic Command
• 1 Hinder
• 1 Long-Term Plans
• 1 Reiterate
• 1 Submerge
• 1 Whispers of the Muse
• 1 Wild Ricochet

• Sorceries (21)
• 1 Army of the Damned
• 1 Blatant Thievery
• 1 Bribery
• 1 Cruel Ultimatum
• 1 Damnation
• 1 Deep Analysis
• 1 Demonic Collusion
• 1 Faithless Looting
• 1 Fanning the Flames
• 1 Increasing Ambition
• 1 Insurrection
• 1 Knowledge Exploitation
• 1 Mass Mutiny
• 1 Past in Flames
• 1 Praetor's Grasp
• 1 Psychic Intrusion
• 1 Recurring Insight
• 1 Rise of the Dark Realms
• 1 Rite of Replication
• 1 Spelltwine
• 1 Wheel of Fortune

• Enchantments (2)
• 1 Jace's Sanctum
• 1 Metallurgic Summonings

• Artifacts (12)
• 1 Armillary Sphere
• 1 Chromatic Lantern
• 1 Everflowing Chalice
• 1 Hammer of Purphoros
• 1 Lightning Greaves
• 1 Mirari
• 1 Scroll Rack
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Soldevi Digger
• 1 Strionic Resonator
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots
• 1 Thran Dynamo

• Lands (38)
• 5 Swamp
• 6 Mountain
• 7 Island
• 1 Ash Barrens
• 1 Bojuka Bog
• 1 Canyon Slough
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Dimir Aqueduct
• 1 Exotic Orchard
• 1 Fetid Pools
• 1 Grand Coliseum
• 1 Grixis Panorama
• 1 Izzet Boilerworks
• 1 Rakdos Carnarium
• 1 Shivan Reef
• 1 Sulfurous Springs
• 1 Temple of Deceit
• 1 Temple of Epiphany
• 1 Temple of Malice
• 1 Temple of the False God
• 1 Underground River
• 1 Unknown Shores
• 1 Urza's Factory

Buy This Deck

And there you are! A much more relaxed take on Jeleva, with more synergetic elements pushed, such as buyback cards to get more triggers off Guttersnipe or Young Pyromancer, and powerful Fork’ing elements pushed. In heads cards like Submerge and Thing in the Ice, Hinder, and Vedalken Dismisser. I also included Soldevi Digger to reload recently cast spells with Jeleva back into the library for another go.

And we still have cards like Spelltwine and Insurrection in here as fun threats, just not lashed to the many Time Warp effects of the previous deck.

I did include a bunch of fun stuff, like Psychic Intrusion, Bribery, Acquire, Praetor's Grasp and I left in Knowledge Exploitation. You never know what you are going to get! And I’d rather Jeleva a Bribery than a Time Warp any day.

You can easily find more from this angle, and look at Spin into Myth and Memory Lapse or push hasting with Strider Harness.

So what direction will I head in real life?

Again, we have such Spike-ish decks running around that I feel I have to go Spike, at least for now. I can relax the deck if I need to later on, right?

Right!

Here’s a quick pic of some of the early pulls I grabbed!

So get your Jeleva on and get ready to party Eldrazi, Spike, or relaxed. (Basically — Johnny, Spike, or Timmy, your call!)

So what did you think of my trifecta of Commander decks? Anything in here you want to rock? Any tricks you want to try out?

Thanks for reading!