The last time we saw a printing of Heliod, it made a pretty big splash. Heliod, God of the Sun appeared in Theros but wasn't a big deal unless you really love giving your creatures vigilance. In Theros Beyond Death, Heliod, Sun-Crowned showed up and became one of the most powerful mono-white cEDH commanders... maybe ever. That Heliod could give Walking Ballista the ability to win a game on the spot unless an opponent had hexproof. You don't see mono-White cEDH commanders all that often, so this second Heliod was a pretty big deal.

In March of the Machine we got our first two-color Heliod and it's quite intriguing. It's got the ability to transform and has a back side that really got my deckbuilding juices flowing.

The front side of Heliod gives us a 4/4 Legendary Enchantment Creature with the God creature type. When he enters the battlefield I can return target enchantment that isn't a God from the graveyard to my hand. For 3 mana and a phyrexian Blue (either a blue mana or 2 life) I can transform this card into Heliod, the Warped Eclipse, a 4/6 Phyrexian God who lets me cast my spells as though they had flash. That's pretty good. Spells I cast cost 1 less to cast for each card my opponents have drawn this turn. That's amazeballs.

This deck is going to want to play a lot of Windmill type cards. It's also going to want to play a lot of mana rocks that can produce Blue or White. My vision of what this deck could be is pretty outlandish, and it may not live up to my lofty expectations. If it can even come close it's going to be a powerful and very fun mid-to-high powered deck that will win games and may occasionally hand a game to an opponent by drawing them into just what they need just when they need it.

The Rabbit Hole

When I started building this deck I went down a bit of a rabbit hole by drawing up a list of cards in blue and white (mostly in Blue) that can force your opponents to draw cards. The goal is to play Heliod, transform him and then you're off to the races.

If it wasn't obvious by now, my goal is to drop the casting cost of my spells so that I can pay little or nothing for them. My rabbit hole began with a familiar face and then took some hints from my Multani, Maro-Sorcerer deck, which also wants my opponents to draw cards.

Kwain, Itinerant Meddler is in the list because he's a two-drop so he can come down early. The biggest problem with Kwain is that he doesn't force my opponents to draw cards, but it's hard to resist the temptation. Temple Bell doesn't have that limitation and can be used on the turn that I play it, tapping to force each player to draw. I grabbed Temple Bell from my Multani list, but I didn't include Howling Mine because it would only give me a single extra card on each opponent's turn.

There are plenty of cards in blue that can give your opponents card draw. I'll want to be careful about that, either giving the draw to players who have been missing land drops or giving draw to players with no untapped mana. Intellectual Offering will give me a little bit of the action as well. Drawing 3 cards and untapping my nonland permanents is pretty good. Forcing an opponent to draw as well will have my spells cost that much less if I've got Heliod, the Warped Eclipse on the field.

A lot of the other draw in this deck is targeted. Compulsive Research will have target player draw three cards and discard. Careful Consideration will have target player draw four and discard. Comparative Analysis has target player draw two cards. These spells are flexible and can be used on an opponent if I need that or they can target myself if I'm looking to dig a little deeper and keep a good turn going.

The heart of this deck isn't targeted card draw, it's Blue wheel effects. Windfall is in the list along with a few spells that don't see everyone draw seven. The best of these spells will have everyone discard their hand or shuffle their hand and graveyard into their library and draw 7 cards.

If you have three opponents draw 7 cards each, your spells will cost 21 less to cast. If that isn't ridiculous, then nothing is ridiculous. The only question is how many draw effects and wheel effects this deck needs to run and how it can keep the momentum going.

A Matter of Momentum

Saving mana on my spells is great, but I'll be saving on my colorless mana costs only. What that means is that I'll need a steady source of white, or more likely Blue mana in order to keep the Heliod draw train rolling along. It won't help me much to be paying 8000 less colorless mana for my spells if I've got a blue spell in my hand and no source of blue mana on my battlefield.

My first thought was that this was going to be one of those rare decks that will be very, very happy to run a ton of three-drop mana rocks. I actually drew up a huge list of these old school mana sources but had to pare my list down to get to 100 cards. I dropped out ones that did little or nothing, but kept more than I've ever before put into a deck.

I dropped out Manalith and Darksteel Ingot, as they don't do much, but I kept a wide range of rocks that weigh in at 2 or 3 mana and can produce White or Blue. Most of my spells are Blue, but I need white to cast my commander and I might just want to drop a Grand Abolisher on the turn I try to win. Both colors matter for this deck. I won't list them all here, but scroll down and you'll see mana rocks you don't often see in EDH decks these days.

Gilded Lotus and Chromatic Orrery will sometimes be free, but even if I have to pay full price they serve a real purpose. Three mana of any color is going to be useful. I've got plenty of spells that have two color pips in their casting cost. Chromatic Lantern and Chromatic Orrery will help me deal with color fixing, with the former helping with my lands and the latter letting me spend mana as if it were any color.

The best card in this deck beyond all those wheels has to be Smothering Tithe. If this deck really gets going, I'll never be sad to see this enchantment show up. Wheeling the table to create a slew of treasures AND reduce my casting costs means all I need to do is keep wheeling, casting spells, wheeling some more and eventually I'll hit a wincon.

Wheeling into the Win

The first card that seemed to make sense in this list is one that seems obvious. I actually won a game with it not too long ago in another deck. I left it out of this list but it's worth a mention.

You cast Approach of the Second Sun, put it 7 cards deep, play some draw or wheel spells, draw back into it, and cast it again to win the game. If you're into winning at all costs you should put this in, but I'm more interested in the journey than the destination. I left it out but if you're aiming for a high-powered or cEDH list you might want it in there.

Building a commander deck is a very personal experience. You want to build it in a way that will be fun for you. If the next few cards aren't even vaguely fun to you, by all means don't run them, but in my first draft I've got to throw them into the mix.

Aetherflux Reservoir should work because even if I'm not creating an infinite storm count, I'll be playing a lot of wheel effects. Every time I wheel I should be able to play out some free artifacts and draw or wheel some more. That's the vision. Wheel, play rocks, wheel, play rocks, and so on. All those spells will add up, and if Aetherflux is on the field I'll be able to use it as a way to deal with anyone who tries to stop my nonsense.

My wincons for this list aren't that exciting or new. Laboratory Maniac and Thassa's Oracle can win me the game if I can get rid of my library. My wheel strategy will hit a lot of spells that shuffle my graveyard and hand into my library. That's fine. I just need to keep the train going until my "cost reduction" is high enough. If I've managed to have my spells reduced by 80 or 90 mana I can cast a Thassa's Oracle, hold priority, and then cast a spell like Sphinx's Revelation or Finale of Revelation with X set to a value where I'll win off the Oracle ETB trigger.

I'm drawn to this wincon because I think it'll be more fun to see if I can wheel and deal my way to a high enough draw count to make it happen. I know there are cEDH enthusiasts who are working on making that Approach of the Second Sun plan work, but cEDH just isn't my jam. I'm genuinely more excited about being able to run all those three-drop mana rocks than I'd ever be about setting this deck up to be able to win before turn 5.

Heliod Hugs

I built a Kwain, Itinerant Meddler list and even played it not so long ago and gave it the moniker "Bunny Hugs". This list is aptly named "Heliod Hugs" because it is going to spend a lot of time drawing my opponents into just what they need to stop me from actually winning. My goal is to play a more "huggy" early game but to aim for a big turn where my card draw and cost reduction turns into enough of an advantage that I can chain together a few wheels and try to work that into a win.

One of the interesting aspects of this deck's game plan is that you really want lots of tablemates so you may have points in the game where you will want to save someone's life so they're there to draw cards and help you get a huge discount on your spells. You might not think this is really a "hug" deck since it's forcing people to draw cards for your benefit, but as soon as you save someone's life (again, for your benefit) they might start to believe the hype.

Heliod Hugs | Commander | Stephen Johnson

• Commander (1)
• 1 Heliod, the Radiant Dawn

• Creatures (16)
• 1 Archaeomancer
• 1 Cephalid Broker
• 1 Consecrated Sphinx
• 1 Displacer Kitten
• 1 Grand Abolisher
• 1 Jace's Archivist
• 1 Jin-Gitaxias, Progress Tyrant
• 1 Kwain, Itinerant Meddler
• 1 Laboratory Maniac
• 1 Magus of the Jar
• 1 Mnemonic Wall
• 1 Mulldrifter
• 1 Snapcaster Mage
• 1 Thassa's Oracle
• 1 Torrential Gearhulk
• 1 Vedalken Archmage

• Instants (17)
• 1 Arcane Denial
• 1 Careful Consideration
• 1 Commit / Memory
• 1 Comparative Analysis
• 1 Counterspell
• 1 Cyclonic Rift
• 1 Dramatic Reversal
• 1 Generous Gift
• 1 Intellectual Offering
• 1 Path to Exile
• 1 Pongify
• 1 Rapid Hybridization
• 1 Silence
• 1 Sphinx's Revelation
• 1 Swan Song
• 1 Swords to Plowshares
• 1 Wheel and Deal

• Sorceries (9)
• 1 Compulsive Research
• 1 Cut a Deal
• 1 Echo of Eons
• 1 Finale of Revelation
• 1 Game Plan
• 1 Laquatus's Creativity
• 1 Temporal Cascade
• 1 Time Reversal
• 1 Windfall

• Enchantments (1)
• 1 Smothering Tithe

• Artifacts (20)
• 1 Aetherflux Reservoir
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Azorius Cluestone
• 1 Azorius Keyrune
• 1 Azorius Signet
• 1 Chromatic Lantern
• 1 Chromatic Orrery
• 1 Coalition Relic
• 1 Commander's Sphere
• 1 Cultivator's Caravan
• 1 Fellwar Stone
• 1 Fountain of Ichor
• 1 Gilded Lotus
• 1 Honored Heirloom
• 1 Mana Geode
• 1 Skyclave Relic
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Talisman of Progress
• 1 Teferi's Puzzle Box
• 1 Temple Bell

• Planeswalker (1)
• 1 Jace Beleren

• Lands (35)
• 13 Island
• 13 Plains
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Deserted Beach
• 1 Exotic Orchard
• 1 Glacial Fortress
• 1 Hallowed Fountain
• 1 Inventors' Fair
• 1 Port Town
• 1 Prairie Stream
• 1 Sea of Clouds

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If you wanted to tune this list up you'd start with the mana rocks. My plan of playing three drops that are really two drops when played on another player's turn feels really good. That doesn't mean a cEDH manabase to let you get Heliod out earlier wouldn't make the deck better. It would. You'd be in a position to threaten a win that much faster, and in cEDH that matters a lot.

To tune this list down you could probably drop out the Lab Man style wincons and still have a powerful and effective deck. Saving mana costs is always very powerful, so dropping big creatures for a fraction of their usual cost might work out nicely. You could build around a tribe like Sphinxes, Sea Monsters or even Eldrazi and have a lot of fun. I'd suggest keeping those Windfall / wheel spells, as those are at the heart of what this commander wants to do.

Early Results

I was able to play this deck in one of our Thursday night Tabletop simulator games. It was matched up against Negan, the Cold-Blooded, Obuun, Mul Daya Ancestor and Zopandrel, Hunger Dominus.

I was cautiously optimistic and was pretty sure that none of us were going to run away with an early win. I actually figured we'd get overrun by Zopandrel. I was mostly hoping that I would be less threatening and might fly under the radar long enough to try to get up to some nonsense.

In the early game I managed to hit my land drops, play out an Arcane Signet and a Fellwar Stone, and got my commander out on either turn four or five. Unfortunately, the Negan player was in a Negan mood and did the right thing - playing a Fleshbag Marauder just when all of his tablemates had at least one decent creature out. I only had my Heliod on the field, so he got sacrificed without even being able to flip.

I wound up playing him again as I was hitting my land drops and playing mana rocks, but I had a nervous turn where I was very worried he'd be hit by a boardwipe and I'd find myself unable to keep up with a mounting commander tax.

I was very lucky in that I wasn't a problem and I didn't end up losing my commander, at least not for a while. The Zopandrel player hadn't played his commander so he re-established his board very quickly, playing out a Rhonas's Monument and a Kamahl, Heart of Krosa. When he was able to get his commander out he swung at the Negan player for a boatload of damage. Negan can get past hexproof and indestructible so it made sense to get a clear threat out of the way. The Zopandrel player also said he was curious about what I had done with Heliod and was apparently willing to give me a little room to do something before sending aggro my way.

I wasted a Path to Exile on the Obuun player's Sun Titan, only to see it come back just a turn or two later and get swung at me for my intransigence. The Zopandrel player's big swing got the Obuun player's attention and drew some big swings from his commander and a land that he animated with Obuun's ability. I was in my usual space of setting up and hoping to have a big turn.

I did have a big turn. I had a Displacer Kitten on the field and on the Zopandrel player's end step I was able to use a Dramatic Reversal to start doing some stuff. I was able to play out soe mana rocks and wheel the table, setting me up for a big cost reduction on my spells, but the Negan player decided to put an end to my nonsense and used enchantment removal on my commander. Enchantment removal. On my commander. Because it's an enchantment.

I had somehow looked past that obvious vulnerability and should point out to you, my dear readers, that Swiftfoot Boots and Lightning Greaves are wonderful ways to keep from having your commander removed when you need it most.

I don't know that I was going to win then, but it stopped me right quick so I went to my next turn and paid 8 mana to play him again. I didn't have much to do and couldn't flip Heliod yet so I just passed the turn and hoped for the best.

The aggro decks put their effort into beating each other up. I took a few hits in the process from that Sun Titan, which I wasn't about to block. I was able to play out a Mulldrifter to block a non-trampling but very big Obuun.

There ended up being a few key turning points in the game.

The first was when the Zopandrel player swung a very big creature at the Obuun player and got killed thanks to a Deflecting Swat. I couldn't save him and I wasn't sure I wanted to. The Negan player was at 11 life or so and I was in the 20s. I managed to flip Heliod but again didn't have a lot I could do.

The second turning point was when the Obuun player swung lethal at the Negan player and I used a Generous Gift to kill the creature that was attacking him. I'm probably getting the exact timing of all of this wrong, but the bottom line is that nobody died and the Negan player played their commander and used his enter-the-battlefield ability to force the Obuun player to sacrifice his commander.

I would have probably died to the Obuun player, but there was a window open for me to try again. On my turn I was able to play out a Smothering Tithe and a Consecrated Sphinx and use Jace's Archivist to have everyone draw 12 cards. I drew 60 and had 6 cards left in my library. I ended up playing Silence, Laboratory Maniac and then Sphinx's Revelation to get the win.

It should come as no surprise that it was a bit of a sloppy game on my turns as I had a ton of triggers and a lot to keep track of. The presence of a Drannith Magistrate was missed after I had cast some spells from somewhere other than my hand but I had been holding removal and had the mana to pay it so we just dealt with it when we realized the oversight. Messy turns aren't ideal, but when you're on a new deck that has the capability of playing a ton of spells in a single turn, they can happen. I think it was actually pretty clean, but just very, very stormy.

Final Thoughts

I have to admit that if I open a Heliod, the Radiant Dawn, I'm probably going to build it in paper. I find decks with busy turns a lot of fun and this deck is in colors that can play a lot of interaction. I don't expect I'll build the cEDH Approach of the Second Sun version, but then again... never say never.

It's worth noting that players don't always like to sit through long turns of a player doing all kinds of nonsense. My joy at playing a deck full of mana rocks but being able to play them for a discount or for free is not a joy I should expect anyone else to share. That doesn't mean you shouldn't build and play these types of decks. I think it's worth having other decks to play so if you have a crazy game with long turns you can then pivot to a simpler deck that won't have long turns with you playing a zillion spells.

This deck feels like the kind of deck that will have a degree of inevitability. If the game goes long enough and you have enough lands and rocks on the field, it isn't hard to launch into a game winning turn. You'll want to adjust the list to match your meta and you might enjoy swapping in different strategies. Playing a few wheels and then a small army of huge Eldrazi on the end step before your turn might be more fun for you than winning with Lab Man with a fully loaded Aetherflux Reservoir as a backup plan.

However you build Heliod, the Radiant Dawn, I can tell you that I found it to be a lot of fun. You'll occasionally wheel your opponents into answers or into their own wincons, but that's OK. You're playing a deck that genuinely wants to give your opponents more cards and that also wants to keep everyone alive as long as possible. Hug decks can win games, but they can also backfire and that's just part of the fun.

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