CAPTION

Building and playing Narset, Enlightened Master back in the day was one of my guilty pleasures. A well-tuned Narset deck was something to be reckoned with, so every time I see a new card for this character it always catches my eye. When I saw that Narset was going to have her own card in Tarkir: Dragonstorm it was an easy decision to make my first "TDM" column about her.

This legendary Human Monk costs three mana in Jeskai colors and has an interesting ability. At the beginning of my end step, I can choose to discard my hand and draw cards equal to the number of spells I've cast this turn. She's no longer the powerhouse she was in her youth, but this Narset should make for an interesting three-color storm deck.

Decisions, Decisions

At first glance, my thought was that this deck should be built around trying to storm off with instant and sorcery spells. Playing a string of draw, cantrip, and ramp spells each turn with the goal of drawing spells at the end of every turn seemed like a fun challenge. Then I thought about possible wincons.

The tried-and-true Dramatic Scepter combo uses Isochron Scepter to imprint Dramatic Reversal. Then if you have enough mana rocks in play, you'll be able to make as much mana as you like. You can also load up with as many castings as you think you'll need to draw cards at the end of your turn. With a Laboratory Maniac or Jace, Wielder of Mysteries in play you can just set yourself up to win by drawing from an empty library.

There are other combos you can use to make a huge storm count. Mana Geyser and Reiterate can work together to buy back and re-cast Reiterate again and again to the same effect. You'll also make a ton of red mana that way, but I haven't been building combo decks lately.

The problem with a combo wincon in Narset, Jeskai Waymaster, is that getting stuck with one part of a combo in hand disincentivizes me from wanting to use Narset's ability. If I'm not going to use her ability, why am I even playing her as my commander?

I goldfished a first draft of a Narset, Jeskai Waymaster deck and it didn't feel great. I wanted to use all my mana during my main phase to maximize my draw at the end of turn... but I also had counterspells in the list and often didn't have mana up to use them. That made me wonder if this deck would want to hold Narset back until it was time to win, and then use combos to land the win.

I didn't want to play a Narset deck and not play my commander until the end of the game, and I also found myself wondering if an artifact-centered list might be more interesting. An artificer Narset build could play like a delayed Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain, as I'd be drawing cards at the end of turn instead of when I cast artifact spells. Delayed card draw is obviously not as strong as immediate card draw, but I decided that I'd try out an artifacts list and see how it played.

I also decided to not run any combos, as I'd be playing this list in a group that tends to shy away from combo and higher-powered decks. Lab Man into Scepter combo to draw my deck and win with Lab Man should work, but it would also give me the kind of win that isn't as fun against casual decks, even if it takes me 10 turns to get there.

I should note that I decided not to run any madness cards, even though Narset gives you a discard outlet. Madness lets you cast cards that are being discarded. It's good, not great, and is the sort of thing you'd look at if you were in Black and Red. In Jeskai I don't think madness makes a ton of sense as the main focus of this deck.

Storm Synergy

While my usual approach to a storm deck would be to pick a specific and effective wincon to dig for and try to play, Narset, Jeskai Waymaster might not support a really big storm turn. Commanders like Rowan, Scion of War, Vadrik, Astral Archmage, and Heliod, the Radiant Dawn / Heliod, the Warped Eclipse ("flip" Heliod), can provide huge discounts on the mana you pay for your spells. Artifact storm can be done using the card draw or card advantage you get from commanders like Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain or Meria, Scholar of Antiquity, to pull into as many zero mana artifacts ("Cheerios") as possible to play a dozen or more spells in a turn.

Narset is missing that mana discount ability, and her card draw is delayed, both of which are obvious shortcomings that I'll have to address in the 99 of this brew. Vadrik, Heliod and Jhoira could all be run in this list, but the first two require fairly specific builds to really work well. I'm leaning into artifacts, so Jhoira will fit in perfectly and should put in a ton of work if I get her into play.

Both Jhoira and Vedalken Archmage will have me draw a card whenever I cast an artifact spell. I'm also running The Reality Chip, which lets me cast spells and play lands off the top of my library, and Mystic Forge, which lets me cast artifact and colorless spells from the top of my library. Elsha of the Infinite rounds out this section, letting me cast noncreature spells from the top of my library and giving them flash. All of the cards that let me cast off the top of my library also grant me the ability to look at that top card.

I threw in a bunch of creatures that can help me put out blockers as I cast noncreature spells. Third Path Iconoclast will have me create a 1/1 colorless Soldier token whenever I cast a noncreature spell. Monastery Mentor will have me create a 1/1 White Monk creature token with prowess whenever I cast a noncreature spell. Sai, Master Thopterist will have me create a 1/1 colorless Thopter token whenever I cast an artifact spell.

Arbaaz Mir is a card I've been thinking about building a deck around. This Human Assassin will trigger whenever it or another nontoken historic permanent enters the battlefield under my control. His trigger deals 1 damage to each opponent, and I'll gain 1 life. I think he would make for an interesting Boros deck, but he should also pull his weight in this list. He's joined by Firebrand Archer and Kessig Flamebreather, each of which will deal 1 damage to each opponent whenever I cast a noncreature spell.

I'm running a handful of cost reducers, including Enthusiastic Mechanaut, Etherium Sculptor, and Foundry Inspector.

If I'm planning to have a lot of turns where I'm casting 3-4 spells, if not more, Gnostro, Voice of the Crags felt like a good card to include. It can tap to scry X, deal X damage to target creature, or have me gain X life where X is the number of spells I've cast this turn. It doesn't win games outright, but I've got other cards that can help with that.

I'll be discarding cards on my end step, so Rielle, the Everwise feels like a pretty good fit. This three-mana Human Wizard will help my discard for Narset hurt less. Whenever I discard one or more cards for the first time each turn I'll draw that many cards. It could have a huge impact on my next turn if I'm able to set up to have a full grip.

Aetherflux Reservoir will have me gain life for each spell I've cast this turn whenever I cast a spell. The first spell gains me 1 life, the second gains me two life, and so on. It also lets me pay 50 life to deal 50 damage to any target. This is a perfect game ender when I get down to just one opponent, as long as they aren't sitting there with a Stifle or Deflecting Palm in hand.

This deck's bread and butter is mana rocks, which is why I'm running a handful of artifact cost reducers. Displacer Kitten will work really well with this game plan as I'll be able to flicker one of them every time I cast a noncreature spell, effectively untapping it. Possibility Storm is another card that is perfect for this deck, as I want to maximize the number of castings I get each turn. This old enchantment will have me exile spells I cast from my hand and I'll go through my deck and find the next card with the same card type and I'll cast that instead. That gives me two castings for the price of one, though I will lose control over what I'm going to get when I cast a spell from my hand.

Stormscale Scion is a new Tarkir: Dragonstorm card that has the storm keyword. This six-mana 4/4 Red Dragon gives other Dragons I control +1/+1. I don't yet know if I'll be able to have the mana to play a significant number of spells before casting this, but I'm looking forward to finding out. Even if the mana requirements make it a hard fit for Narset, I like the idea of having even a modest three or four spells before playing Stormscale Scion. Five 8/8 red Dragons can definitely win a casual game of EDH in the right situation.

Jeskai Waymaster

I think Narset, Jeskai Wayfinder is a breath of fresh air for anyone interested in playing a storm strategy, but is tired of some of the old standbys like Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain. Adding White opens up a lot of other options, and if you were to play a spellslinger build focused on instant and sorcery spells, your deck would end up having a very different feel to it. Any flavor of Narset, Jeskai Wayfinder is going to want Displacer Kitten and some of the other support cards I'm running, but I think there's a lot of room to put your own stamp on this commander.

The lists I share here are nearly always to be taken as a starting point. You might just play it as-is, but I really encourage you to tailor it to your preferred power level and playstyle. Run "pet" cards. Add in game changers. Make it your own. I don't think you'll ever see this compete at the cEDH level, but its best games may have you feeling like you're playing fringe cEDH. Your worst games will probably see you empty-handed after someone decided to remove Narset before you move to your end step. That worst scenario for this commander isn't much fun unless you like having no cards in your hand.

Narset, Jeskai Waymaster EDH | Commander | Stephen Johnson

• Commander (1)
• 1 Narset, Jeskai Waymaster

• Creatures (23)
• 1 Arbaaz Mir
• 1 Displacer Kitten
• 1 Elsha of the Infinite
• 1 Enthusiastic Mechanaut
• 1 Esper Sentinel
• 1 Etali, Primal Storm
• 1 Etherium Sculptor
• 1 Faerie Mastermind
• 1 Firebrand Archer
• 1 Foundry Inspector
• 1 Gnostro, Voice of the Crags
• 1 Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain
• 1 Kessig Flamebreather
• 1 Ledger Shredder
• 1 Monastery Mentor
• 1 Ornithopter of Paradise
• 1 Rielle, the Everwise
• 1 Sai, Master Thopterist
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Stormscale Scion
• 1 The Reality Chip
• 1 Third Path Iconoclast
• 1 Vedalken Archmage

• Instants (16)
• 1 AEtherize
• 1 Aetherspouts
• 1 Arcane Denial
• 1 Brainstorm
• 1 Chaos Warp
• 1 Consider
• 1 Counterspell
• 1 Dramatic Reversal
• 1 Opt
• 1 Path to Exile
• 1 Pongify
• 1 Rapid Hybridization
• 1 Seething Song
• 1 Strix Serenade
• 1 Swan Song
• 1 Swords to Plowshares

• Sorceries (3)
• 1 Fabricate
• 1 Gitaxian Probe
• 1 Serum Visions

• Enchantments (5)
• 1 Ghostly Prison
• 1 Possibility Storm
• 1 Propaganda
• 1 Smothering Tithe
• 1 Whirlwind of Thought

• Artifacts (15)
• 1 Aetherflux Reservoir
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Azorius Signet
• 1 Boros Signet
• 1 Fellwar Stone
• 1 Izzet Signet
• 1 Lightning Greaves
• 1 Mind Stone
• 1 Mystic Forge
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots
• 1 Talisman of Conviction
• 1 Talisman of Creativity
• 1 Talisman of Progress
• 1 Thought Vessel

• Lands (37)
• 7 Island
• 7 Mountain
• 7 Plains
• 1 Clifftop Retreat
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Deserted Beach
• 1 Exotic Orchard
• 1 Glacial Fortress
• 1 Hallowed Fountain
• 1 Reflecting Pool
• 1 Reliquary Tower
• 1 Sacred Foundry
• 1 Sea of Clouds
• 1 Spectator Seating
• 1 Steam Vents
• 1 Stormcarved Coast
• 1 Sulfur Falls
• 1 Sundown Pass
• 1 Training Center

Buy This Deck Export text

Today's list was built to be played at mid-powered tables, but if you wanted to push it up into high power you would run more tutors and those combo lines I mentioned earlier. I still think you'll find you still have trouble playing at a cEDH level, but what I don't know about cEDH could probably fit into the Gulf of Mexico. That top end of our format is a deep well, and my own experience in cEDH is limited at best. You might also drop some lands and turn it into a real "Cheerios" list, lowering the mana curve and running cards like Mana Vault, Chrome Mox, and other zero and 1 mana artifacts.

I don't know if there's a lot you can do to make this list more casual. It's already pretty low powered, but if you are truly playing against jacky bracket 1 decks, you could drop out some of the more expensive lands, lose Smothering Tithe, Displacer Kitten, Aetherflux Reservoir, and Esper Sentinel, and see how your playgroup likes it.

Early Results

I was able to get this list into a game this past Thursday night on Tabletop Simulator. I was matched up against Kotis, the Fangkeeper, Najeela, the Blade-Blossom, and a goofy "drunk driving" deck led by Captain Rex Nebula. I wasn't optimistic that the deck would be able to mount a legitimate threat to win the game, especially against Kotis and Najeela, but I was eager to give it a try.

Kotis and Najeela got out to a quick start, though it's worth noting that the Najeela deck was built around forced blocks, so it wasn't a cEDH combo list and it also wasn't a powerhouse warrior kindred build.

My early game saw me hit my land drops and play a few mana rocks, a Ghostly Prison, and a few creatures. I got Narset out on time, but was clearly behind the more aggressive decks. Before long Najeela had a Dolmen Gate in play and I realized they had the mana to swing on their next turn, make 7 warrior tokens, pay for an extra combat phase and then make another fourteen warrior tokens. The Najeela pilot had been sending the extra warrior tokens at me, as they didn't get declared as blockers so they got past my Ghostly Prison. The Kotis player decided all those Warriors were scary enough to boardwipe fairly early on with a Damnation.

The Najeela player never really recovered. They had some board presence later in the game, but they never got up to the fun of swinging with deathtouch attackers and forcing people to block and lose their blockers. I hadn't been looking forward to that, but we also may have overreacted to the Najeela deck's fast start. That deck's pilot insisted that he hadn't planned to play it aggressively but it was hard not to react to the threat of their growing army of Warriors.

The Kotis player bounced back really quickly. Kotis, the Fangkeeper is a new Tarkir: Dragonstorm Zombie Warrior with indestructible and an amazing party trick. When he deals combat damage to a player, its controller exiles the top X cards of that player's library where X is the amount of damage dealt. They may then cast ANY number of spells with mana value X or less from among them without paying their mana cost. That last part is where this card is absolutely broken, so going into this game I was already concerned Kotis would be too much for the table.

The Kotis player ended up swinging on one player for three damage and getting nothing to play, but a turn later they were able to swing at the Najeela player with double-strike to get two instances of 6 cards off the top of their library. This time they hit a few lands but also a bunch of great stuff including Archetype of Finality and Phyrexian Obliterator. On the following turn they would hit me and get much similar value, notably casting my Aetherflux Reservoir when I was at a low life total and really could have used it. Kotis gives you amazing value.

The pivotal turn for me came just before the turn where I got hit, when I drew into a Stormscale Scion and decided not to discard my hand at end of turn. I was hoping to survive a turn cycle to see if I could mount a threat. That turn cycle was when the Kotis player hit me, putting me to a low life total, so my next turn was make-or-break.

On my turn a combination of mana rock flickers from Displacer Kitten, lifegain from Arbaaz Mir, and card draw from Whirlwind of Thought allowed me to have a big turn, gaining a little life, casting a bunch of stuff, and eventually casting Stormscale Scion with a storm count of four. That gave me five Stormscale Scions, each of which was an 8/8. They didn't have haste, so the Kotis player pretty much had to kill me before my next turn. I assumed I was a dead man walking.

Kotis offered a truce, hoping to dodge a lethal alpha strike from my dragons. They did acknowledge that they were "the problem" and understood when I told them it wouldn't be fair to the other two players. I wanted them to be able to have a shot at doing something relevant before it was all over so I told my buddy if I untapped, I would be sending my Dragons at him.

My 8/8 Dragons proved to be good enough blockers and with a little help from the Najeela player, I was able to swing lethal at Kotis on my turn. I think I was at four life, but was able to play a bunch of spells and get up to 13.

At that point it was clear that my Ghostly Prison and the Propaganda I had recently played were going to be a problem. If I killed the Kotis player and removal or a boardwipe didn't happen, I'd probably have the game. As luck would have it, my Dragons were enough to kill the Najeela player and the Rex Nebula player conceded the win.

The Kotis player probably had the win if they had pressed their advantage, but he realized he was really going to crush us if he played aggressively and as efficiently as possible. His deck was loaded up with stuff like Hatred so he could hit someone and pay life to be able to do 20 commander damage. The goal wouldn't be to kill someone, but to get them to 20 commander damage and steal pretty much every non-land out of the top 20 cards in their library.

Kotis had the game if they had wanted it, but they also wanted us to have fun and chose to take their foot off the gas pedal and let us have time to do some stuff. That stuff ended up losing them the game, but they were satisfied with the potential their deck showed and also realized it wasn't the kind of deck they enjoyed playing.

I had pulled Laboratory Maniac and Jace, Wielder of Mysteries out of my list as I worked on the deck ahead of this game, and at one point I went back to check and see if they were still in the 99 or not. I had managed to get through over two thirds of my deck without using any combos, and it struck me that I was at some risk of eventually drawing myself out. That tells me that those wincons probably are viable in this list even without Dramatic Scepter. It also tells me that Narset, Jeskai Waymaster was able to dig through my library much faster than I had expected. I knew she'd be able to do some digging, but I never really expected to have a library of around thirty-something cards at the end of the game.

All in all I was very happy to have seen my dreams of a big Stormscale Scion casting happen in the deck's very first game. Narset, Jeskai Wayfinder outperformed my expectations, though it could have easily just been a game where I did a lot of little stuff each turn and never managed to mount a serious threat to anyone.

Final Thoughts

This ended up being a much more fun deck to play than I had expected. It's notable that just two days earlier I had a night where I played two decks with 7 mana Dragons (Velomachus Lorehold and Beledros Witherbloom) and the table was too fast for those decks. I barely did anything in those games and was left wondering why I ever seriously considered building not one but two decks with 7-mana commanders. As I write this conclusion, I did pull apart Velomachus and build Arbaaz Mir. I do love having something new to try out at the LGS.

My test game with Narset, Jeskai Wayfinder saw me doing stuff nearly every turn and even having some explosive and pivotal turns. Storm is a lot of fun, but going in you should know that you're going to have some busy and complicated turns. Normally you'll try to set up with permanents that trigger as you're casting spells, and you'll need to keep track of all those triggers. Not everyone enjoys that kind of deck and it's overwhelming for some people.

I play at a casual level, where we are very forgiving about rollbacks and missed triggers, and I definitely had a few times where I had to go back and catch up on some things. "How many spells did I cast this turn?" was a frequent end step question in my sample game when I was distracted by a board full of things that cared about nearly every little thing I was doing during my turn. Sometimes I knew, as I had been tracking it well, but a few times I needed help getting a number that the table felt was right.

Some decks can be picked up and played with little preparation. This might be one of those commanders where you'll want to do some work with the list before playing a game. Get used to how the turns play out and learn when you want to discard and when you want to hang onto a hand. If I hadn't skipped my Narset end of turn discard after I drew into Stormscale Scion, there's zero chance I would have had a shot to win the game.

If you were thinking of building around this venerable Monk, I hope I gave you some good ideas. I would urge you to not sleep on Possibility Storm. Doubling up on your cast triggers is really helpful if you're not just digging for a combo win and you don't mind a little chaos in your game.

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