Ten Guild of Commander: Simic - Vorel In Slow Motion

Welcome to part 2 of the Ten Guilds of Commander, this week we are looking at Simic! This is part two of ten of the Ten Guilds of Commander, where I will be making a new deck list for each guild using the Commanders from Return to Ravnica block!

Vorel in Slow Motion is a journey through patience and time. We aim to see just how slow we can go, while still always moving towards the goal of winning. This deck takes those fast pace, heart pounding games and slows them down until you can hear the rage building in your opponents.

Disclaimer: This deck sits in that horrible place where its not quite fast or consistent enough, and a little too fragile to play against the most competitive decks, but its too ‘unfun’ for many people in more casual playgroups to want to play against. The deck is pretty powerful, but not absurdly so, and you are unlikely to make many new friends playing it, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.

The Commander

Vorel of the Hull Clade doubles the counters on a creature, land or artifact. Now your first thought might be to double the +1/+1 counters on a creature to make it huge, double the counters on your Jitte or find a way to double the counters on a planewalker. We’re going for a much more obnoxious interaction though.

Tangle Wire

This deck is built around slowing the game down with the interaction between Vorel and Tangle Wire. In your upkeep, in response to the Tangle Wire trigger, you can use Vorel to double the number of counters on Tangle Wire, with the aim of making every player tap every one of their permanents each upkeep, stopping people doing much of anything except in their upkeep. Most of the deck is built around using this to your advantage, being able to fight through it yourself while it slows your opponents down, or to stopping your opponents casting things even in their upkeep.

Sometimes we need to slow the game down even more. For this, we have Stasis.

That’s right, no untap steps for anyone. This is helpful early game to slow the game down until you can draw into one of the many win conditions, or late game when you will hopefully either have Capsize and 6 mana  or Vedalken Mastermind so you can return it to your hand in your opponent's end step, or Staff of Domination, so you can untap Vorel and play around with counter. Plus, it gives us an excuse to play Mana Bloom.

The deck is built around slowing down or stopping your opponents with Stasis and Tangle Wire. We have things we can cast and play in our upkeep, and things that let us generate mana without tapping as our lands will be tapped, or cast things in response to the Tangle Wire trigger in our upkeep. An early Tangle Wire can slow the game down until you find a way to win through it, or find Stasis and a way to return it to hand each turn, or an early Stasis can slow the game down until you find Tangle Wire and way to win through that.

The Decklist

Deck

Artifact (20) 1x Basalt Monolith 1x Coalition Relic 1x Darksteel Forge 1x Darksteel Reactor 1x Everflowing Chalice 1x Gemstone Array 1x Gilded Lotus 1x Grim Monolith 1x Illusionist's Bracers 1x Lux Cannon 1x Magistrate's Scepter 1x Mana Vault 1x Pentad Prism 1x Rings of Brighthearth 1x Sol Ring 1x Staff of Domination 1x Swiftfoot Boots 1x Tangle Wire 1x Thousand-Year Elixir 1x Umbral Mantle Instant (11) 1x Beast Within 1x Blue Sun's Zenith 1x Capsize 1x Chord of Calling 1x Cyclonic Rift 1x Force of Will 1x Hinder 1x Krosan Grip 1x Misdirection 1x Pact of Negation 1x Worldly Tutor Sorcery (5) 1x Cultivate 1x Fabricate 1x Kodama's Reach 1x Regrowth 1x Reshape 1x Sylvan Tutor 1x Transmute Artifact

Creature (16) 1x Eternal Witness 1x Fathom Mage 1x Fertilid 1x Gilder Bairn 1x Glen Elendra Archmage 1x Gyre Sage 1x Laboratory Maniac 1x Oracle of Mul Daya 1x Plaxcaster Frogling 1x Seedborn Muse 1x Simic Manipulator 1x Shimmer Myr 1x Spike Weaver 1x Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir 1x Triskelion 1x Vedalken Mastermind Land (37) 1x Academy Ruins 1x Alchemist's Refuge 1x Breeding Pool 1x Buried Ruin 1x Command Tower 1x Flooded Grove 14x Forest 1x Halimar Depths 1x Hinterland Harbor 10x Island 1x Minamo, School at Water's Edge 1x Misty Rainforest 1x Reliquary Tower 1x Tolaria West 1x Tropical Island 1x Yavimaya Coast Planeswalker (3) 1x Garruk Wildspeaker 1x Tamiyo, the Moon Sage 1x Tezzeret the Seeker Enchantment (5) 1x Doubling Season 1x Leyline of Anticipation 1x Mana Bloom 1x Power Artifact 1x Stasis

Vorel’s Toys

We normally want to tutor for Tangle Wire, then get Tangle Wire and Vorel on the battlefield. With Tangle Wire out, we are likely only going to be doing things in our upkeep for a while, so we have lots of things for Vorel to play with in our upkeep.

Pentad Prism and Gemstone Array can both come in with a few counters while we double them with Vorel to get us lots of mana. This lets us cast things even through the Statis/Tangle Wire lock down.

Magistrate Scepter will eventually let us take infinite turns. We can put a counter on it and double it a couple times until there are 6 counters on it. Then we can take 3 counters off it to take an extra turn. Next turn we double the counters back up to 6 and do it again! If you can’t win with infinite turns you are either doing something very wrong, or your opponents are doing something very right.

Triskelion can be used for removal, or given enough time, a win condition. By doubling the number of counters on Triskelion, you can eventually get the counters high enough to outright kill an opponent. Early game its usually used to kill any creatures your opponents manage to play.

If you opponents get some creatures out and for some reason you don’t have Stasis or Tangle Wire out or you foolishly let them get blown up or countered, then we have the magnificent Spike Weaver to help combat combat damage! In testing, Spike Weaver has stopped some aggro decks dead in their tracks momentarily until they find a way to deal with him. Repeatable fog that can double as a massive creature if you keep doubling his counters, what’s not to like!

Simic Manipulator can be a pain for certain decks if you use it to steal their important creatures again and again. Evolve him once, double ‘dem counters, and keep stealing things.

Gilder Bairn is a funny little thing. It works incredibly well with Tangle Wire, as Tangle Wire gives you a way to tap him! Untap him and get more counters on whichever horrible toy you please.

Fertilid is awesome ramp in any deck that uses +1/+1 counters, and this deck is no different. 2 mana to get a basic land each turn is a good deal even when you are limited to doing it twice, let alone when Vorel can keep you doing it every turn.

And then there is Fathom Mage. Fathom Mage can draw you a metric ton of cards throughout the game, drawing more and more each turn. But what if we deck ourselves, you ask? Well we have Laboratory Maniac, I reply.I know its not the most exciting win condition, and may even be a little predictable, but it works, and it works well.

Lux Cannon is reapable removal, and while its expensive and slow to use most of the time, after a few turns its just T: Destroy Target Permanent. You’ll have to use Vorel to top it up every once in a while of course, but its totally worth it.

The last of the toys for Vorel to play with each upkeep is one of our main win conditions: Darksteel Reactor. This is probably going to be a very common win condition for Vorel decks, as you can win after 5 turns instead of 20 with nothing other than Vorel, by doubling counters on the Reactor. When you add in things like Illusionists Bracers or Thousand Year Elixir, it can be even faster. In this deck, you can pretty much cast the Reactor and keep the game locked down until you win, even without Vorel, though using Vorel to speed it up is often more of a courtesy than necessity.

Fighting Through Tangle Wire!

The main way we have of fighting through Tangle Wire is by utilising our upkeep. Most decks won't be built to utilise their upkeep, so Tangle Wire can be a major problem for them. Decks that can utilise their upkeep are often a major problem for us though.

The most obvious way of abusing our upkeep is by giving things flash. We have Leyline of Anticipation to give everything flash. Shimmer Myr will give artifacts flash, while Tefferi will give creatures flash. We also have Alchemist Refuge, which is a bit mana intensive, but if we’re slowing the game down with Tangle Wire then it shouldn’t be an issue.

The other way to fight through Tangle Wire ourselves is by utilising our Planeswalkers. Garruk can untap our lands to let us cast things in our main phase if we want to. Tezzeret helps use tutor for whatever artifacts we need, and to untap artifacts so we can use them in our main phase. Stasis with either Tezzeret or Garruk out can lock the game down until someone finds a way to destroy it. Tamayo is great to tap problem permanents before you have Tangle Wire out. Once you have Tangle Wire out, you can either use it to draw lots of cards if your opponents have lots of creatures, or just keep ticking her loyalty up until you can use her last ability.

We also have ways of producing mana without needed to tap anything, so they work fine when we have to tap all our permanents in our upkeep, or if we can’t untap because of Stasis. Mana Bloom is an otherwise terrible card, but in this deck, it allows us to produce mana even when we have to tap all our permanents. It’s also one of the best ways to keep Stasis going. We also have Pentad Prism and Gemstone Array. These both work amazingly with Vorel to produce massive amounts of mana, and even go infinite with Staff of Domination or Umbra Mantle and Vorel. Grim Monolith and Basalt Monolith can also be untapped in our upkeep after floating mana, so we can use them again in our main phase.

Protecting Tangle Wire

So you get the idea of the deck. The plan is to get out Tangle Wire, Vorel, and ideally a couple or toys for Vorel to play with, then find a combo or win condition while people are trying to fight through Tangle Wire. The biggest problem with Tangle Wire is it will still die to any removal cast in response to its upkeep trigger. We have a couple ways to deal with this.

Our main man Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir. Teferi is an all-star in this deck.. Not only does he let you cast all your creatures with flash as discussed before, but he also, more importantly, stops your opponents casting anything except when they can cast a sorcery. With Tangle Wire out, for the most part, this will limit the to casting 1 cmc spells.

We have Force of Will and Pact of Negation as ‘free’ counterspells so we can counter just about anything (pesky Abrupt Decay and Krosan Grip) we need even when we are tapped out from our own Tangle Wire. Save these for things that are important to counter. We also have Misdirection to change the target of something.

Seedborn Muse will let us untap in our opponents untap in our opponents untap steps, letting use protect Tangle Wire with Hinder, or even hardcasting *gasp* Force of Will. We can also use Vedalken Mastermind or Capsizee to return it to hand so we can recast it again. Don’t try and abuse Seedborn Muse with Stasis though, as Stasis will make your opponents skip their untap step, so you don’t get to untap either.

Finding Tangle Wire

To find Tangle Wire was have multiple tutors. Once we have Tangle Wire, we can use these to find whichever other artifacts we need to help us win faster. Tezzeret, the Seeker is a reusable tutor and can also be used to untap your artifacts one Tangle Wire or Stasis are out.

Fabricate is a straightforward artifact tutor, to get us whatever we need. Reshape and Transmute Artifact both require us to already have an artifact out, but that normally isn't a problem. We can sac an artifact to get Tangle Wire directly into play.

Staff of Domination

Staff of Domination is one of the most busted cards in the deck. In response to the Tangle Wire trigger we can float mana and then tap all our permanents. We can then use the floating mana to untap Staff of Domination and use it however we need. Staff of Domination can also creature infinite mana with a creature that can produce 6 or more mana. In this deck, that’s Gyre Sage with 3+ counters on it, or Vorel and either Gemstone Array or Pentad Prism with 5 counters on them. (Use Vorel to double counters, then use Gyre Sage to produce mana, use that to untap Gyre Sage and the Staff and repeat, or use Vorel to double counters on Prism/Array, remove counters to untap Vorel and Staff, repeat) It can also be used to tap Gilder Bairn and produce infinite mana with Gemstone Array or Pentad Prism. With infinite card draw, we also have infinite mana, so you should be able to find a win condition somewhere, even if its just Laboratory Maniac and drawing your deck out.
Its also not uncommon to have a massive amount of counters on Everflowing Chalice, so while it’s not infinite, you can get a lot of uses out of Staff of Domination.

Power Artifact

Power Artifact is a nice combo piece to get infinite mana and sometimes just steal the game. When enchanting Basalt Monolith or Grim Monolith, it makes infinite mana, as it produces more mana than it costs to untap it. These two also combo with Rings of Brighthearth to make infinite colourless mana. Power Artifact can also be put on Gemstone Array to make it only cost 1 to add a counter. While not ideal, this can help us generate more mana quickly. It can also enchant Staff of Domination to make it cost much less to activate it abilities, and make it means you only need 2 counters on Gyre Sage, Pentad Prism to make infinite mana. We want to use it on one of the Monoliths, but you can use it to enchant the Array of Staff if you need to. Vedalken Mastermind or Capsize can always return it to your hand to let you enchant it on something else.

Ramp, Tutors, and Everything Else

We have a standard ramp package in this deck of Cultivate and Kodama’s Reach to get us some lands out earlier, Oracle of Mul Daya to play extra lands off the top and hopefully help our draws, and a bunch of artifact ramp.

Worldly and Sylvan Tutor are basic creature tutors to help us find whichever creatures we need. Tefferi and Seedborn Muse are normally the go to creatures, but you can get any creature you need the minute. Chord of Calling is the most powerful tutor, as we can use it in our upkeep to get a creature straight onto the battlefield.

Doubling Season can help speed up how quickly we can add counters to everything and really speed up how quickly we can win. It also means our Planeswalkers enter with double counters, making them even more deadly.

Illusionist’s Bracers can make Vorel twice as effective, quadrupling the counters on something, or doubling the counters on two permanents instead. Magistrate’s Scepter lets us untap a creature to use their abilities twice, but more importantly, it lets us use them the turn they enter the battlefield.

Blue Sun’s Zenith can be a win condition, let us draw our decks, or just give us some instant speed card draw. Its possible to draw cards equal to the number of cards in your deck, Blue Sun’s Zenith shuffles in  so it will be the only card in your deck, then draw a card next turn, target an opponent to make them draw one more card than cards in their deck, then do the same next turn to the next opponent! Or just play a Lab Maniac and draw a few too many cards, but the former is a much more hilarious way to win.

Beast Within and Krosan Grip are both useful to blow up any problem permanents you need to get rid of. Finally, Darksteel Forge is there to stop people blowing up your artifacts. Its quite a high mana cost but the effect is powerful enough that it is worth it.
Academy Ruins and Buried Ruins can help you recur any artifacts you lose along the way too.

Summary

This is a fairly complex and very rewarding deck to play. You have to know the deck and interpret your opponents plays to decide when it is best to play out your combo’s or lock pieces, and keep the lock pieces in place long enough to find a win condition. You also need to know how to best utilise your upkeep and stop your opponents using theirs. The deck does have a lot of problems, primarily opposing decks using cards with flash, such as Yeva, or any deck with Leyline of Anticipation. Decks with high numbers of Planeswalkers can be a problem too as once Planeswalkers are down, it can be pretty hard to deal with them if you plan on keeping the board locked down. If someone gets a Planeswalker down early, it may be best to assess whether or not playing Stasis or Tangle Wire is worth playing until you get rid of the ‘walker.