Last week I shared a landfall-themed Flubs, the Fool deck with you here in my regular Monday column. I couldn't help but be amused that Flubs was the second Frog deck I had put together this year. When I realized there was a third legendary Frog that might be fun to build and write about in Bloomburrow, I couldn't resist the urge to snap him up and go for a Frog trifecta.

Clement, the Worrywort turned out to be more powerful than I expected, able to win games with mana dork Frogs and on the back of cards like Aluren, Intruder Alarm and Deadeye Navigator. I haven't picked up a copy of Flubs, the Fool yet, but I'm convinced it is going to be a very capable landfall commander.

Today's Frog might turn out to be the most powerful of the three. I've already gotten wrecked by a well-tuned Helga list at the LGS I play at, and even the more modest list I put together for today looks to be pretty strong. Before I leap into how I built today's commander, let's meet her.

Helga, Skittish Seer is a legendary Frog Druid who is a very capable mana dork in colors that are great at letting you abuse mana dorks. She starts with a meager 1 power and can tap for X of any one color, where X is her power. That mana can only be spent to cast creature spells with mana value 4 or greater, or creature spells with X in their mana costs. Whether I use Helga's mana or not, whenever I cast a creature spell with mana value 4 or greater I'll draw a card, gain 1 life, and put a +1/+1 counter on Helga.

The deck that I got to see crush a table in fairly short order was built around playing like a Chulane, Teller of Tales deck. I already have a Chulane deck, so I'm not interested in building a second one. I do have a second copy of Chulane that I may eventually slot into Helga if I feel like the deck needs more oomph.

Another way to build Helga, Skittish Seer might be to lean into creatures with X in their casting costs. There are plenty of Hydras that could go into the mix, along with a few oddball X creatures like Nimbus Swimmer. That might be fun, but I decided to lean into something else: untapping Helga.

Untap Effects

One of the most powerful things you can do in an Elf deck is tap someone like Marwyn, the Nurturer, Selvala, Heart of the Wilds, or Priest of Titania to create a ton of mana. You then use some of that mana on an artifact like Sword of the Paruns, Umbral Mantle, or Staff of Domination to untap that mana dork and you can make as much mana as you like.

Helga's mana can only be used to cast creatures with a mana value of 4 or greater, or with X in their mana costs. My goal isn't to dig for an artifact infinite mana combo, but there is still plenty of trouble we can get up to with this Frog as my commander. It's worth noting that I wanted to avoid running too many creatures with a mana value of 3 or less, so my options for creature untappers were a bit limited.

The first category of untappers I'm running are ones that have a trigger to untap a creature or even my entire board. Sparring Mummy is a four-mana zombie that will untap target creature when it enters. Derevi, Empyrial Tactician is also in the list. Derevi is a legendary Bird Wizard with a combat damage trigger that will let me tap or untap target permanent. Great Oak Guardian might be my best option. For six mana this Treefolk will let me have creatures target player controls get +2/+2 until end of turn, and I'll untap them. That works perfectly with Helga, as I'll be able to tap her for two more mana.

I'm also running a couple of powerful auras that will let me untap the creature they are enchanting. Pemmin's Aura and Freed from the Real won't combo with Helga, as her mana can't be used to pay their untap costs, but I can pay a regular (non-Helga) Blue mana to untap enchanted creature.

Chakram Retriever is so good with Helga that I may eventually throw in a creature tutor or two. Retriever partners with Chakram Slinger, but the latter is in Red, so it can't be run in this deck. This good boy will have me untap target creature whenever I cast a spell during my turn. Casting any spell at all will let me untap Helga, so I might be able to bank a bunch of Helga mana with cheap non-creature spells. If I've got anything resembling a draw engine on board I should be able to dig for creatures, play them, and dig some more.

I had considered running artifacts and creatures that can tap to untap target creature, but the vast majority of those creatures were three mana and under. I also lined up a set of instants that could untap target creature and do other things like draw a card, give hexproof, and so on, but I decided to leave them out. This deck wants to lean into creatures pretty heavily and I tend to favor running permanents in EDH, as having blockers and a better board presence can go a long way towards surviving against more combat-oriented decks.

A fully tuned Helga list would be running Intruder Alarm as an untapper, though that enchantment affects everyone so it can backfire and hand someone else the game. Chakram Retriever only affects me, it only untaps one creature, and it's less likely to throw up red flags with my tablemates.

Making More Mana

Helga will get a +1/+1 counter when I cast a creature with mana 4 or greater, but there are faster ways to make Helga big enough to produce tons of mana.

Sigil of the Nayan Gods will give enchanted creature +1/+1 for each creature I control. I'm running 36 creatures, so I should have a handful to help Helga tap for more mana.

Hydra's Growth works nicely with Helga, as she already deals in +1/+1 counters. It will enter and put a +1/+1 counter on enchanted creature. At the beginning of my upkeep I'll double the number of +1/+1 counters on enchanted creature. That could get out of hand after a few turns if things have been going well. I could easily see myself wishing I was running more Hydras to have somewhere to put all that Helga mana.

I couldn't resist throwing in Hero's Blade, as it can easily be cast before Helga hits the field and it will equip to a legendary creature for free when that creature enters the battlefield. Having Helga be able to tap for four mana right out of the gate is pretty good, though I'll need to wait a turn unless I'm able to get Swiftfoot Boots out and equipped.

I almost included Excalibur, Sword of Eden, but its high casting cost scared me off. I did include Blackblade Reforged, which gives +1/+1 for each land I control. It has a high equip cost, but a reduced cost for equipping to a legendary creature.

I'm running a few additional ways to put +1/+1 counters on Helga. Forgotten Ancient will pick up counters as players play spells and I'll be able to move them onto Helga at the beginning of my upkeep. Loyal Guardian is also in the list. It's a five-mana 4/4 Rhino that will put a +1/+1 counter on each creature I control at the beginning of combat on my turn.

While I didn't lean heavily into this as a subtheme, I did throw in a few mutate creatures. These are creature spells so they will trigger Helga, and they can be mutated onto her to give her a higher base power. The mutated creature will still be my commander, it will still be able to tap for its power, and any +1/+1 counters will let me make even more mana. Auspicious Starrix, Archipelagore, and Pouncing Shoreshark are all in the list and each has a mutate trigger. The first will get me a permanent off the top of my library. The second lets me tap down a target creature. The last one lets me bounce an opponent's creature to its owner's hand.

Keeping My Momentum

This is the kind of deck that is really going to want to keep drawing cards so I can hopefully keep casting spells and building up my board. I've got ways to untap Helga and if I can keep Chakram Retriever on the field I'll really be off to the races. A lot of that depends upon drawing cards.

I'm running a bunch of card draw staples like Rhystic Study, Esper Sentinel, Beast Whisperer, and Guardian Project, but I also threw in a bunch of lesser known cards that can help me keep my momentum.

I've got a pair of flying Azorius Humans in Cloudblazer and Elite Guardmage that will gain me life and draw a card when they enter the battlefield. I've also got a pair of flying Blue Sphinxes in Sphinx of Enlightenment and Sphinx of Uthuun. The former will draw an opponent a card and will draw me three cards. The latter has an enter the battlefield Fact or Fiction effect that should get me something good to play.

Hydroid Krasis is the only creature I'm running with X in its casting cost, though I suspect I will probably move towards Hydras as I play and fiddle with this list over time. This Jellyfish Hydra Beast will have me gain half X life and draw half X cards (rounded down each time) when I cast it. It's got flying and trample, and will enter the battlefield with X +1/+1 counters.

I'm also running a classic card draw staple in Mulldrifter and a fantastic card I've recently started playing more in Heartwood Storyteller. It's a Treefolk that will have each other player draw a card when a player casts a noncreature spell. I'm running a few noncreature spells, but I've got a full three dozen creatures. That's above average for an EDH deck, so I should get more card draw than I give to my opponents with Heartwood Storyteller in play.

A Frog and Her Dog

I don't mind playing combo decks and leaning on format staples and powerhouse cards, but I love when a deck can pivot around a card that feels a bit obscure. Chakram Retriever feels like it's going to be the secret sauce that helps this deck really flood the board with creatures. I'm running Overwhelming Stampede as a finisher, but I could see a need for cards like End-Raze Forerunners or even Craterhoof Behemoth as additional ways to close out games.

This isn't a budget build, but if you dropped out Rhystic Study, Teferi's Protection and Esper Sentinel you could really get this down towards budget territory. There are plenty of affordable cards that could fill out a more affordable version of this list. As an example, if I had an extra copy of the 35-cent Quandrix Cultivator lying around, I would have slotted it into this first draft in a heartbeat.

Helga EDH | Commander | Stephen Johnson

• Commander (1)
• 1 Helga, Skittish Seer

• Creatures (35)
• 1 Acidic Slime
• 1 Arcanis the Omnipotent
• 1 Archipelagore
• 1 Auspicious Starrix
• 1 Beast Whisperer
• 1 Birds of Paradise
• 1 Chakram Retriever
• 1 Cloudblazer
• 1 Derevi, Empyrial Tactician
• 1 Druid of the Emerald Grove
• 1 Elite Guardmage
• 1 Esper Sentinel
• 1 Eternal Witness
• 1 Faeburrow Elder
• 1 Forgotten Ancient
• 1 Great Oak Guardian
• 1 Heartwood Storyteller
• 1 Hydroid Krasis
• 1 Loyal Guardian
• 1 Mulldrifter
• 1 Pouncing Shoreshark
• 1 Regal Force
• 1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1 Sandstone Oracle
• 1 Sky Hussar
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Sparring Mummy
• 1 Sphinx of Enlightenment
• 1 Sphinx of Uthuun
• 1 Sumala Woodshaper
• 1 Temur Sabertooth
• 1 Terastodon
• 1 Timeless Witness
• 1 Whiptongue Hydra
• 1 Wild Wanderer

• Spells (16)
• 1 AEtherize
• 1 Akroma's Will
• 1 Arcane Denial
• 1 Counterspell
• 1 Heroic Intervention
• 1 Path to Exile
• 1 Rapid Hybridization
• 1 Swords to Plowshares
• 1 Teferi's Protection
• 1 Austere Command
• 1 Farewell
• 1 Farseek
• 1 Nature's Lore
• 1 Overwhelming Stampede
• 1 Rampant Growth
• 1 Shamanic Revelation

• Enchantments (6)
• 1 Freed from the Real
• 1 Guardian Project
• 1 Hydra's Growth
• 1 Pemmin's Aura
• 1 Rhystic Study
• 1 Sigil of the Nayan Gods

• Artifacts (5)
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Blackblade Reforged
• 1 Hero's Blade
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots

• Lands (37)
• 7 Forest
• 7 Island
• 7 Plains
• 1 Adarkar Wastes
• 1 Botanical Sanctum
• 1 Brushland
• 1 Castle Garenbrig
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Exotic Orchard
• 1 Mosswort Bridge
• 1 Opal Palace
• 1 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
• 1 Razorverge Thicket
• 1 Rogue's Passage
• 1 Seachrome Coast
• 1 Temple of Enlightenment
• 1 Temple of Mystery
• 1 Temple of Plenty
• 1 Yavimaya Coast

Buy This Deck Export text

A tuned-up version of this list would look different depending on what direction you wanted to take it. I expect you would run Chulane, Teller of Tales, Intruder Alarm, Defense of the Heart, Lurking Predators, and an assortment of the top finishers in the format. A really good Helga turn could easily produce enough mana to hardcast both Avenger of Zendikar and Craterhoof Behemoth. A cheeky shortcut to victory like Triumph of the Hordes would also fit in perfectly.

My list is positioned for a mid-powered table, and you'll note that while it has some powerful cards, it's lacking Cyclonic Rift, Swan Song, and the kind of efficient manabase that you might put into your favorite deck. I don't proxy, so my own favorite decks currently have a hold on my best lands and a lot of my best cards. This is an actual list I've built in paper and am looking forward to playing. It might not be able to keep up in high powered EDH, but I'm sure an optimized Helga list would be fine and might even be playable in fringe cEDH.

Final Thoughts

The other night I was reminded of how often new releases end up giving us games that are so unbalanced that they are essentially non-games. New commanders come out and people brew up their best deck around them, but they don't always know if their hopes and dreams for the new card will actually come to fruition. That happened with that Helga, Skittish Seer match where Chulane hit the field and their deck just ran away with the game. It happened again recently with Valgavoth, Terror Eater, a new card a player had built around that's going to be coming out in Duskmourn: House of Horror.

It's fine to be honest about how little fun it was to have a terribly unbalanced game of EDH, but I would encourage you to also give the "pubstomper" the benefit of the doubt.

A lot of deckbuilders, myself included, really need a few games to learn how powerful and how consistent a new deck will be. If you just have one of those super lucky games, your mid-powered build could feel like a fringe cEDH deck. In another game it might not give you what you need to keep up with your tablemates at all. Trust that everyone is trying to have a fun, enjoyable game, but everyone is usually also trying to win.

I suspect this list, even pared down from what an optimized Helga list would look like, should be fairly strong. If you build Helga and it turns out to be too much for your playgroup, play it sparingly and try your best to match power levels.

I always try to look at an entire play session for "balance" and if I crush one game I try to play a weaker deck for the next game. That gives more room for everyone in the pod to hopefully have a game they can feel good about when the night is over. You'll never perfectly balance every single game, so looking at the whole night or the whole afternoon feels like the next best thing.

That's all I've got for today. I started 2024 all excited about the year of the Dragon and it's starting to feel like the year of the Frog. I'm still not sure if I'll pick up a copy of Flubs, the Fool, but I would find it amusing to have a bunch of Frog decks in paper.

Thanks for reading and I'll see you next week!