I’ll admit it: I’m surprised. At my core, I’m Simic, which means I’m pretty cynical when I see how Simic is treated. The majority of Simic’s cards are unplayable trash, and the few gems you can sift out of the rubble are so overwhelmingly good that you are dogpiled on for playing them. No happy medium exists for the Simic—you’re either a Shambleshark or a Prophet of Kruphix with not much in between. When asked to predict what the Simic commander with experience counters would do, I was leaning more toward Pygmy Hippo than Coiling Oracle. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Simic got quite the commander.

Ezuri is so good it’s almost irresponsible. It’s as much about what this card doesn’t say as it is was it does say. The card doesn’t say “nontoken” or “cast” or “” or “0/1.” You don’t have to play a huge creature just to pump Ezuri like you do with Kalemne, you don’t have to play progressively bigger creatures like you do with Mizzix, and you don’t have to play an awkward card type like you do with Daxos. For the record, I think Daxos is a beating, and I’m really looking forward to coupling Daxos with Heliod and Serra's Sanctum. Let’s try not to get off track too much, though, because Ezuri has made me strap on my brewing . . . apron? Pick whichever accoutrement doesn’t sound lame to you.

As I did with Kalemne, I decided to go to brewin’ town with Ezuri and come up with a few ideas for how to best take advantage of a stupid, stupid card. I think there are a lot of different ways we can take a 75% Ezuri build, and this could replace Vorel of the Hull Clade as my Hydra commander. I mean, what’s more likely is that I just build a second Hydra deck with Ezuri at the helm and leave Vorel alone, except for when I jam Vorel into the ninety-nine because . . . why not? You’re slangin’ counters everywhere, so why not take things to the next level? How would Ezuri Hydras look, first of all?

Making Progress ? Commander | Jason Alt

• Commander (0)

• Creatures (33)
• 1 Arbor Colossus
• 1 Champion of Lambholt
• 1 Chasm Skulker
• 1 Coiling Oracle
• 1 Cytoplast Manipulator
• 1 Fathom Mage
• 1 Fertilid
• 1 Gilder Bairn
• 1 Gyre Sage
• 1 Hooded Hydra
• 1 Hydra Omnivore
• 1 Ivy Lane Denizen
• 1 Kalonian Hydra
• 1 Lorescale Coatl
• 1 Master Biomancer
• 1 Murkfiend Liege
• 1 Phyrexian Ingester
• 1 Plaxcaster Frogling
• 1 Predator Ooze
• 1 Primordial Hydra
• 1 Prophet of Kruphix
• 1 Protean Hydra
• 1 Quirion Dryad
• 1 Sage of Hours
• 1 Simic Fluxmage
• 1 Simic Manipulator
• 1 Somberwald Sage
• 1 Vastwood Hydra
• 1 Zameck Guildmage
• 1 Hangarback Walker
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Polukranos, World Eater
• 1 Vorel of the Hull Clade

• Spells (29)
• 1 Desertion
• 1 Plasm Capture
• 1 Strength of the Tajuru
• 1 Cultivate
• 1 Curse of the Swine
• 1 Give // Take
• 1 Increasing Savagery
• 1 Urban Evolution
• 1 Asceticism
• 1 Cyclonic Rift
• 1 Death's Presence
• 1 Doubling Season
• 1 Fable of Wolf and Owl
• 1 Feed the Pack
• 1 Inexorable Tide
• 1 Primal Vigor
• 1 Primeval Bounty
• 1 Rhystic Study
• 1 Astral Cornucopia
• 1 Chromatic Lantern
• 1 Commander's Sphere
• 1 Contagion Engine
• 1 Lightning Greaves
• 1 Mind Stone
• 1 Simic Signet
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Strionic Resonator
• 1 Thran Dynamo
• 1 Trading Post

• Lands (37)
• 10 Forest
• 10 Island
• 1 Breeding Pool
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Exotic Orchard
• 1 Hinterland Harbor
• 1 Khalni Garden
• 1 Llanowar Reborn
• 1 Novijen, Heart of Progress
• 1 Reliquary Tower
• 1 Simic Growth Chamber
• 1 Simic Guildgate
• 1 Temple of Mystery
• 1 Temple of the False God
• 1 Terrain Generator
• 1 Thespian's Stage
• 1 Vivid Creek
• 1 Vivid Grove
• 1 Yavimaya Coast

Buy This Deck

This deck uses the Vorel of the Hull Clade deck I published in an older article with updates to include stupid new cards and cards that interact very favorably with Ezuri, such as Fable of Wolf and Owl (seriously, how perfect is this card?) and Inexorable Tide. I could have added some cards that aren’t Hydra-flavored, but I like the idea of this being a new direction to take my Hydra deck (hail Hydra!), and I might just build a second copy to see how it plays instead of taking Vorel apart.

The above deck isn’t strictly Hydra tribal, and while I could build Elf tribal, I feel that Elf synergy is a better way to go. You reward yourself for playing a ton of Elves, but you don’t limit yourself. Elves synergize well with blue, and I’ve been on that plan since Extended was still a format and you could play Intruder Alarm and Opposition with Elves. Beck // Call did absolutely nothing to make that plan worse, and I think building that deck with the intention of playing your hand out and triggering Ezuri a bunch with Elves is a fun way to play Magic.

Making Progress 2 ? Commander | Jason Alt

• Commander (0)

• Creatures (31)
• 1 Civic Wayfinder
• 1 Craterhoof Behemoth
• 1 Elvish Archdruid
• 1 Elvish Champion
• 1 Elvish Harbinger
• 1 Elvish Pioneer
• 1 Elvish Soultiller
• 1 Elvish Visionary
• 1 Eternal Witness
• 1 Heritage Druid
• 1 Imperious Perfect
• 1 Joraga Treespeaker
• 1 Joraga Warcaller
• 1 Masked Admirers
• 1 Nullmage Shepherd
• 1 Priest of Titania
• 1 Primordial Sage
• 1 Quirion Ranger
• 1 Regal Force
• 1 Seedborn Muse
• 1 Skyshroud Poacher
• 1 Viridian Joiner
• 1 Viridian Zealot
• 1 Wellwisher
• 1 Wirewood Channeler
• 1 Wirewood Herald
• 1 Wirewood Symbiote
• 1 Wren's Run Packmaster
• 1 Edric, Spymaster of Trest
• 1 Eladamri, Lord of Leaves
• 1 Ezuri, Renegade Leader

• Planeswalkers (3)
• 1 Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury
• 1 Garruk Wildspeaker
• 1 Nissa Revane

• Spells (30)
• 1 Evacuation
• 1 Voidslime
• 1 Beck // Call
• 1 Biomantic Mastery
• 1 Bribery
• 1 Collective Unconscious
• 1 Cultivate
• 1 Distant Melody
• 1 Genesis Wave
• 1 Glimpse of Nature
• 1 Kodama's Reach
• 1 Praetor's Counsel
• 1 Rite of Replication
• 1 Shamanic Revelation
• 1 Copy Enchantment
• 1 Elvish Guidance
• 1 Intruder Alarm
• 1 Mana Reflection
• 1 Mystic Remora
• 1 Opposition
• 1 Rhystic Study
• 1 Coat of Arms
• 1 Door of Destinies
• 1 Eldrazi Monument
• 1 Malachite Talisman
• 1 Simic Signet
• 1 Skullclamp
• 1 Slate of Ancestry
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Umbral Mantle

• Lands (35)
• 10 Island
• 18 Forest
• 1 Breeding Pool
• 1 Cavern of Souls
• 1 Flooded Grove
• 1 Misty Rainforest
• 1 Simic Growth Chamber
• 1 Wirewood Lodge
• 1 Concordant Crossroads

Buy This Deck

This is an Elf combo deck that rewards you for dumping your hand. Play a lot of Elves, draw a lot of cards, and play more Elves with the mana you generate; then, draw more cards. Eventually, you’ll have a ton of counters to distribute, and you’ll be able to smash opponents with big Elves or overrun them with Craterhoof Behemoth. I avoided having ways to find Craterhoof Behemoth other than being lucky and drawing him, which meant replacing Fauna Shaman with Skyshroud Poacher and other small sacrifices like that. The alternative was not playing Craterhoof Behemoth, which you can do. Even though I think this is a good 75% deck and, while you’re drawing a lot, you’re not going to be so consistent that you’ll Craterhoof Behemoth every game, you may be dogpiled on anyway. This deck works fine without Craterhoof Behemoth, but it’s a lot of fun to play as Elf combo decks tend to be. The addition of blue makes up for the subtraction of black cards that makes B/G Elf combo fun to play. I have always liked Intruder Alarm Elves, and while you won’t always have that ridiculousness, between Wirewood Symbiote, Umbral Mantle, and Concordant Crossroads, you should be able to at least dump your hand and generate a ton of counters.

Finally, I feel that you can just build a good-stuff deck that focuses on putting as many counters on Ezuri as you can with cards like Fable of Wolf and Owl, Avenger of Zendikar, and Mycoloth and then just getting there with value. Who says good-stuff can’t be 75%? I didn’t, and what I say kind of goes to an extent.

Making Progress 3 ? Commander | Jason Alt

• Commander (0)

• Creatures (37)
• 1 Acidic Slime
• 1 Avenger of Zendikar
• 1 Bane of Progress
• 1 Champion of Lambholt
• 1 Chasm Skulker
• 1 Coiling Oracle
• 1 Craterhoof Behemoth
• 1 Deadeye Navigator
• 1 Elvish Mystic
• 1 Eternal Witness
• 1 Fathom Mage
• 1 Gilder Bairn
• 1 Gyre Sage
• 1 Hooded Hydra
• 1 Immaculate Magistrate
• 1 Joraga Treespeaker
• 1 Joraga Warcaller
• 1 Kalonian Hydra
• 1 Mycoloth
• 1 Mystic Snake
• 1 Nullmage Shepherd
• 1 Plaxcaster Frogling
• 1 Progenitor Mimic
• 1 Prophet of Kruphix
• 1 Protean Hydra
• 1 Sage of Hours
• 1 Seedborn Muse
• 1 Simic Manipulator
• 1 Spike Weaver
• 1 Vigor
• 1 Wild Beastmaster
• 1 Wood Elves
• 1 Hangarback Walker
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Edric, Spymaster of Trest
• 1 Prime Speaker Zegana
• 1 Vorel of the Hull Clade

• Spells (25)
• 1 Beast Within
• 1 Krosan Grip
• 1 Voidslime
• 1 Aether Mutation
• 1 Boundless Realms
• 1 Cultivate
• 1 Kodama's Reach
• 1 Asceticism
• 1 Awakening Zone
• 1 Cyclonic Rift
• 1 Death's Presence
• 1 Doubling Season
• 1 Fable of Wolf and Owl
• 1 Feed the Pack
• 1 From Beyond
• 1 Inexorable Tide
• 1 Primal Vigor
• 1 Rhystic Study
• 1 Commander's Sphere
• 1 Crystal Shard
• 1 Gilded Lotus
• 1 Simic Signet
• 1 Skullclamp
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots

• Lands (37)
• 11 Island
• 12 Forest
• 1 Alchemist's Refuge
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Evolving Wilds
• 1 Hinterland Harbor
• 1 Reflecting Pool
• 1 Reliquary Tower
• 1 Simic Growth Chamber
• 1 Simic Guildgate
• 1 Temple of Mystery
• 1 Temple of the False God
• 1 Thornwood Falls
• 1 Wirewood Lodge
• 1 Yavimaya Coast
• 1 Yavimaya Hollow

Buy This Deck

This list looks like a lot of fun to me. There is a lot of synergy with putting counters on things, and you are a typical G/U good-stuff deck on top of how many cards you can draw putting counters on Fathom Mage turn after turn or how many turns you can take with Sage of Hours. I know Deadeye Navigator feels dirty, even if you’re just flashing Coiling Oracle for value and experience counters, but you are going to attract some heat, so you better come loaded for bear with cards like Deadeye Navigator if you expect to survive.

All in all, I’m excited to build an Ezuri deck. Simic cards don’t always have to be bad, and this is definitely among the more unfair options we’ve seen. Whether you’re making a ton of counters with Fable of Wolf and Owl, Feed the Pack, Awakening Zone, or Mycoloth, you’re going to be distributing a ton of counters in no time. Try to keep a Sage of Hours alive through a turn cycle—I dare you.

That does it for me this week! Check back next week for more ideas from spoiled Commander (2015 Edition) cards, and let’s get into trouble. Until then, leave me something in the comments below. Until next time!