Conditions Allow - Iname as One EDH

Iname as One by Stephen Tappin)
Death is Part of Life
Hello, and welcome back to Conditions Allow, where I take a card with a drawback and build a deck to turn it into a strength. Wizards finally announced our impending return to Kamigawa, one of my favorite planes. To commemorate that news, it only seemed appropriate to talk about one of my favorite legends from the plane, Iname as One
Iname as One
This is undeniably powerful. Iname as One
Out of the Zone
Starting off with effects to get Iname as One
Which makes Kodama of the East Tree
Wait, It Costs How Much?
As awesome as all that sounds (seriously, who doesn't want to play Impervious Greatwurm
Black and Green are both great at playing a long game of attrition, and this deck relies on that to last long enough to take advantage of Iname as One
There are plenty of powerful instants and sorceries to supplement these planeswalkers as well. Casualties of War
The Spirit of the Game
Once you get all the mana you need though, what are the best spirits to search for? Kodama of the East Tree is possibly the most impactful option, especially in conjunction with Sanctum of Eternity. Putting Garruk, Apex Predator, Ugin, the Spirit Dragon, or even just Impervious Greatwurm into play for free will have a huge impact on the game. Ugin in particular is fun. Most of the time he's a glorified board wipe, but you'll want to aim for his ultimate in this deck. Putting any seven permanents from this deck into play should be more than enough to take over a game.
Depending on the texture of your hand, you might instead choose to search for Kokusho, the Evening Star. Kokusho is a great reanimation target, and applies immediate pressure on your opponent's life totals. In conjunction with Iname as One's reanimation effect, Kokusho can take over a game all on its own. If, on the other hand, you have all your removal spells in hand Patron of the Orochi might be a better place to start. Patron of the Orochi is essentially a much bigger Seedborn Muse. It pairs especially well with Tendershoot Dryad, giving all your tokens virtual vigilance. Just keep in mind that Patron of the Orochi doesn't only untap your forests.
Finally, I'm including Iname, Death Aspect and Iname, Life Aspect as well. When you cast Iname as One from your hand and put Iname, Death Aspect into play you can put every spirit in your deck into your graveyard. Then, sacrifice Iname as One to revive Iname, Life Aspect. When the Life Aspect dies, you can exile it to return all your spirits to your hand. From there you can play them as needed.
What is Dead Cannot Die
To round out the deck, I'm including a couple of reanimation spells. Ever After is one of my favorite spells for a reanimation sub-theme. Getting back multiple creatures is powerful, especially when they have the impact of Kokusho, the Evening Star or Kodama of the East Tree. Patriarch's Bidding is even better, putting all of your spirits back in play. Just make sure you're paying attention to what tribes your opponents are playing, as they might get more out of your spell than you do.
The last card I want to mention briefly is Maskwood Nexus. With it in play, Iname as One could search for, or reanimate, any creature regardless of type, but I don't think that makes it worth playing. You already have to do so much to make Iname as One work, it doesn't make sense to add another step to make it work slightly better. And while there are plenty of splashy creatures, I'm fairly confident that the best creature to search for is Kodama of the East Tree. It will continue to enable a powerful game plan whether you can recast your commander or not.
With that out of the way, here's the final decklist
Iname as One EDH
View on ArchidektCommander (1)
Creatures (13)
Planeswalkers (6)
Artifacts (8)
Enchantments (3)
Sorceries (22)
- 1 Casualties of War
- 1 Circuitous Route
- 1 Crux of Fate
- 1 Damnation
- 1 Deadly Tempest
- 1 Decree of Pain
- 1 Ever After
- 1 Explosive Vegetation
- 1 Farseek
- 1 Hour of Promise
- 1 Life from the Loam
- 1 Migration Path
- 1 Nature's Lore
- 1 Patriarch's Bidding
- 1 Pir's Whim
- 1 Rampant Growth
- 1 Ranger's Path
- 1 Rishkar's Expertise
- 1 Road of Return
- 1 Skyshroud Claim
- 1 Three Visits
- 1 Vastwood Surge
Instants (7)
Iname as One is a clunky commander, but it also has a powerful effect that encourages you to play powerful cards. It isn't difficult for this deck to take off without you needing to cast your commander. Ramping hard into Kodama of the East Tree or Kokusho, the Evening Star is a recipe for success no matter what card is in the command zone. This particular list does lean on Iname as One's search ability to compensate for the low amount of card draw.
How would you approach Iname as One? Are there other spirit synergies I overlooked? Am I undervaluing the utility of Maskwood Nexus?