Remember the first time you laid eyes upon a Phelddagrif and thought... "what the heck is that?" There has always been something alluring to me about this card and I've built several iterations of it throughout my commander playing days. Let's dig into the latest version.
Phelddagrif giveth and Phelddagrif taketh and that is how we are going to link Phelddagrif to Santa for this Christmas deck tech!
Before we get started, there are a lot of players who HATE playing against a "group hug" strategy which is what most Phelddagrif decks tend to be. Always make sure you have a pre-game discussion with the table before pulling this deck out to ensure the table is okay with it. One thing you can assure them is we will not have access to most of the tech that is prevalent in the group hug strategy. The other thing is a tip... we spend a lot of time hugging everyone but make sure and utilize politics when playing this deck. It's a strategy that will really help you to gain this skillset and for that reason, I recommend everyone play a group hug strategy at some point in their commander playing days.
This deck tech is written out in the order the deck should play out, which also happens to be analogous to how the holiday season plays out! Let's have some fun with this classic Christmas jingle.
Saving Money
When the holidays begin to approach, it's time you start saving up your resources (money) in order to provide for your loved ones (opponents). At the same time, the beginning of my deck building process and game play involves accounting for plenty of ramp spells which serve as our resources. Cards like Eladamri's Vineyard really help to jumpstart your game plan while also showing your opponents some love. New Frontiers will also put lands onto the battlefield for yourself and your opponents. We will probably be able to take more advantage of it though since people tend to run minimal basics these days. Open the Way is a card that gets a lot of hype from other content creators and I have yet to cast it. I do trust these sources though so I am starting to include it in my green decks with hopes of playing it sometime. Time will tell on this one, but it looks promising.
Going Shopping
Once you've accumulated your resources in ramp spells and putting lands onto the battlefield, it's time to go shopping! Let's go find the cards that we are looking forward to cast in this deck and to do that, we will shop through our deck. Esper Sentinel is a Tier 1 ramp spell in this format and thankfully we now have access to it as well. Prosperity, Words of Wisdom, Flux, and Windfall will leave your opponents feeling loved by giving them access to more spells in their library and ensuring they too will be making their land drops. The best part of the holiday season is giving to others and knowing they're happy. The same is true for Phelddagrif. There are some more draw effects that we will discuss soon. I really like the creatures that can trip by drawing when they enter the battlefield.
Gifts For All
For those of you who played during tempest block, remember the Oath cycle? I loved these cards and they're one of the reasons I wanted to build this deck. howling Mine and horn of Greed are both classic cards that find their way in this deck and will be sure to leave everyone feeling warm and fuzzy this holiday season.
Show Everyone What You Got
Every kids worst nightmare... "Hold up your toy and show everyone so we can take a picture." Well, hopefully these cards are not quite as painful. These cards will allow everyone to play their biggest and best things or the things they need the most in the case of Veteran Explorer and Noble Benefactor. Show and Tell is a Legacy format all star but it is not quite as scary in this deck.
Take This Instead
The card Generous Gift reminds of a White Elephant Christmas party. It just so happens that the way these next cards play out is exactly like a white elephant party! You open something up and you're excited about it, just to see it taken away from you and get replaced with something else. These cards really embody the white elephant party in my mind. Sometimes the new gift can actually be better than the thing you thought you were going to get in the case of Arcane Denial or Oblation. But, sometimes they're not... Time will tell.
Just For You
These are the gifts that really make someone feel special. You saw something and thought "This person would really enjoy having this." One often forgotten aspect of group hugs are the more personal hugs. Here are some examples that can really help you when making political moves. Rainbow Vale is a fun one and is a reserved list card that I am really not quite sure why it was ever printed. The Advocate cards are great in this strategy as you can politic that the cards retrieved from their graveyards can be used to do your bidding. And yes, another Phelddagrif! The two Phelddagrif's will do the majority of this by giving blockers or attackers with the hippo tokens and they're also part of how we hope to win. More on that later.
You'll Poke Your Eye Out
Just like how Ralphie was at risk of shooting his eye out, this deck will leave your opponents at risk of poking their eyes out from little pings here and there. One of the things this deck aims to do is establish a "pillow fort" by making it so your opponents have to pay to attack you. Because of this, their attacks will typically be aimed elsewhere. This is where the gift of hippo comes into play. Cards like Angel's Trumpet are going to start to hurt your opponents really bad either from forcing attacks on unsuspecting opponents or from taking the damage from Angel's Trumpet. Orim's Prayer and Briar Patch protect you from their attacks and Dingus Staff will hurt your opponents really bad when all of their hippos are killed in a board wipe or die in combat when attacks are not profitable. Reins of Power is a great way to end the game when it's down to 1 vs 1 as you can take the remaining hippo tokens and swing for lethal. Hopefully your opponents have also put some other juicy targets down from cards like Show and Tell earlier in the game before our full strategy was revealed.
I'll Take That
I've said it before and I'll say it again. Stealing your opponents toys is one of my favorite things to do in this game and is one of the ways this deck hopes to win. Stealing your opponents best toys will leave you feeling like you were last pick in the white elephant gift exchange. You will have your choice of targets or, in the case of enchantments tap your High Market to sacrifice Aura Thief and steal everything at once.
Much like the holiday season, playing against a Phelddagrif deck can leave you feeling like you just rode a rollercoaster and it hit you before you knew what was happening. These decks can be a lot of fun to play but remember that sometimes you encounter a real Scrooge who doesn't enjoy the experience.
Have fun and Happy Holidays!
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