CUT #19 - Glissa vs Solphim vs Ezuri

As always, we begin the article with a look back at the last CUT. Last time, we looked at the holiday decks made by myself and my playgroup for each other. Like last year, after we received and gushed over them a little bit, we battled them against each other. With that backstory out of the way, let's see who you thought was going to win:

It looks like you all chose Ben to win, amd it looks like you all were correct: Ben did indeed end up winning that game. Better luck next time for the rest of us; that's what we get for leaving the planeswalker deck alone. Of course, during the game itself, there were times where it could've gone one way or another. Next up on the docket are new deckbuilders (and the first ones of 2023!) and the challenges they are taking on. Enough of my blabbering, let's see the challenges!

• Must play at least 10 planeswalkers

• Commander must be from Phyrexia: All Will Be One (the main set, not the Commander set)

• Must include two of the following planeswalkers: Nissa, Jace, The Wanderer, Kaito, Nahiri, Kaya, Tyvar, Koth, Lukka, or Vraska.

First up is Tom (Or Nareas). Let's see what he has brought to the slab!

When I first saw Glissa Sunslayer, I wasn't too thrilled about her, because it was just another generic legend corrupted by the bad oil of Phyrexia, but then I read again and thought to myself, why not? Let's make a Golgari Voltron Deck that HATES planeswalkers! The current state is still quite rough but gives a bit of a starting point to improve on the Voltron or on the removing counters strategy.

So how do we manage to do this?

First of all, we got our standard green ramp to get as many lands out of the deck as possible and have enough mana for our commander, and more importantly, the Equipment cards we run. The ramp package includes Rampant Growth, Cultivate, and Sylvan Scrying. With the latter one, we can Dig Up either Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, or even Rogue's Passage, which is going to be quite the enabler of the strategy. Nissa of Shadowed Boughs really profits from every type of land ramp we can utilise. Nissa also helps us a bit with graveyard recursion, just like Noxious Revival

Now we just have to get a lot of cards; thankfully, green has some possibilities to draw on hit with Toski, Bearer of Secrets, Keeper of Fables, and even with neat Auras, like Sixth Sense and Keen Sense. Snake Umbra, just like the other Umbras, also provide a really good protection for Glissa herself.

Now to the Equipment. Nothing really special here, just the normal stuff and some pet cards of mine. The two rings (Ring of Kalonia and Ring of Xathrid) provide Glissa with basic evasion and a neat regeneration ability. Protection is great, so we run Commander's Plate. The Darksteel Plate is not only for flavour reasons, but it's also very powerful and will make sure that Glissa is able to get in for combat damage.

There are really fun interactions involving Glissa and the planeswalkers in this deck. If you put Colossification onto her, you can easily untap her with Tyvar Kell and swing for lethal. Garruk, Unleashed, Vivien, Nature's Avenger, and, to a lesser extent, Jiang Yanggu, Wildcrafter helps make her bigger and stronger! Once she's buffed beyond belief, we can start drawing cards with Soul's Majesty and Garruk, Primal Hunter. Since Glissa naturally has deathtouch, it seemed to me Vraska, Swarm's Eminence was an auto-include. It may not be fast, but it buffs the oily Elf.

Two cards I really want to put a spotlight on are Elvish Champion and Leshrac's Rite. Elvish Champion is a well known and GREAT card in every Elf deck for obvious reasons, but it also gives us the reason to run Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth. If everything is a Forest, we can just walk straight through it and straight to our opponent. You can also consider some more budget versions instead of Elvish Champion, like Ivy Dancer or an Unseen Walker. If Yavimaya isn't an option, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth with Leshrac's Rite does the same.

Thanks, Tom! Feel free to go and check Tom out on his Twitch, Twitter, and Instagram!

Next up we have a returning deckbuilder to CUT, everyone welcome back Robyn! You may remember Robyn from her showing in CUT #11 with Hidetsugu, Devouring Chaos. Now she's back and ready to rumble!

Where does one derive enjoyment from in a game of Commander? Is it from flashy combos and big plays? From shared fun? From playing tight lines and scrounging a win?

Sometimes, sure, these are all... admirable... goals. However, sometimes fun is a zero-sum game. Sometimes what you truly need is to feed upon the salt of your opponents. Welcome, our unholy Phyrexian horror: Solphim, Mayhem Dominus.

The Punisher archetype is one that is loathed by many in EDH, some with good reason. I, however, love the notion of killing other players through their own playing of the game. Cast a spell? Take damage. Play a land? Take damage. Go to upkeep? You better believe you're taking damage.

Solphim is the perfect commander for this strategy, as while our group slug pieces will be dealing damage to us, which is only fair, Solphim will double that damage for our opponents, ensuring that they'll perish before we do. The only question now is how are we going to best break our opponents on the wheel of punishment.

Let's begin with our suite of planeswalkers. Koth is a personal favourite 'walker of mine; my first real Modern deck was Skred which featured the OG Koth of the Hammer. Both versions of Koth in this deck revolve around Mountains, of which we have many. Koth of the Hammer can boost our mana or swing with our mountains, while Koth, Fire of Resistance ensures we hit our land drops and can deal with pesky creatures.

Lukka serves a different purpose. While we cannot include the newly compleated form of Lukka, we have a special purpose for Lukka, Coppercoat Outcast. Incidentally, the deck includes a number of different token-producers - mostly from our other 'walkers, which means we can always turn a temporary elemental into something more valuable. The real kicker with Lukka, though, is if we hit a three-mana-value creature, we can guarantee flipping into Torbran, Thane of Red Fell from our deck, which is a perfect partner for our commander, boosting any red damage we do.

For our other 'walker slots, I have included a whole six different Chandras, along with her mentor, Jaya, Fiery Negotiator. These Chandras are the basis for a lot of the "card advantage" of our deck in the form of impulse draw. They also have a nasty habit of pinging players for minor damage, but in this deck and with Solphim this all adds up.

Our creature and enchantment package is where the true punishment lies. Here is where we can stack pieces that deal incremental damage to our opponents just because they want to play Magic! First stop is mana hate, either in Blood Moon effects or just damage for daring to tap lands. Manabarbs and its ilk are painful on their own, but with Solphim, players will seriously need to consider if playing spells is worth it. If players do wish to cast spells, however, we hurt them even more with our Spellshock effects. Gaining life is no answer to this pain, Rampaging Ferocidon and friends will ensure there is only one direction life totals go and that's down.

But all of this is in vain if the board gets out of hand. Very quickly, opponents will band together to swing at us, so making sure we can kill our opponents' creatures is key. Our standard red board wipes are great in the early turns, but where they really shine is with our commander. Pyroclasm will deal four damage to opposing creatures, while Earthquake quickly becomes a true lethal threat. The real evil in this, however, is the combination of Solphim with Pyrohemia or Aether Flash; good luck to anyone trying to build a board.

Our few instants and sorceries not reserved for dealing with creatures are instead going to assist in card draw, or really the red equivalent. Wheel of Misfortune is a personal favourite, because some desperate player will almost always lose significant life. For artefacts, the reality of this deck is that we need ramp; the faster the better, so we've made sure to pack our rocks.

Finally, I have included the brand-new combo of All Will Be One and Quest for Pure Flame. With these on the board, any uptick from one of our 'walkers spells infinite damage and an end to our opponents' misery. Given the deck is mono-red, assembling this combo will be difficult, so it's lucky then that both pieces put in work even by themselves.

Solphim is therefore the perfect deck for ensuring that your playgroup will quickly have a new Rule 0 conversation. You may only get a few games out of it before the salt becomes too much to bear, but what glorious games they will be. If you too have a sadistic side, I urge you to give it a go.

That was great, Robyn, I'm feeling the burn from here! Robyn can be found on twitter @Robyn2721.

Last up, we have Kenneth! Another returning deckbuilder, Kenneth was featured in CUT #13, and also was part of my playgroup that did the deck exchange I mentioned earlier. Here's what he brought to the Phyrexia: All Will Be One CUT challenge!

As soon as I saw Ezuri, Stalker of Spheres, I knew that I had to build a deck with him. He stalked my creative side, and a decklist quickly became apparent.

Proliferate is such a fun mechanic and can support a plethora of different archetypes from Superfriends to Infect. With the inclusion of Ichormoon Gauntlet I knew that planeswalkers would be a large part of what I wanted to include. So I included a few copies of Jace and almost as many Nissa cards. Narset, Parter of Veils and Teferi, Master of Time also found their way in for the additional value they gain, and at the top end of my planeswalker package I've included Karn Liberated, for an easy restart if needed, and Ugin, the Spirit Dragon, for his game altering ultimate.

Drawing every time I Proliferate gave me the idea to include Laboratory Maniac and other cards like him so that I do not accidentally draw my deck and lose due to too much value.

What deck is complete without an alternate win con? That's why I had to include Simic Ascendancy as it fits perfectly into the Proliferate archetype. It buffs my team with +1+1 counters, and after a few extra turns and Proliferations, the game is as good as mine.

The last set of cards I included were the extra turn creatures, like Lighthouse Chronologist and Sage of Hours, as that can get out of hand with the included planeswalkers and quickly secure my win if they are not dealt with quickly. I've purposefully left out any and all cards with Infect because that is a surefire way of becoming the archenemy. The counterspells Force of Will and Mental Misstep were put into this deck, as I need to be able to protect my spells until they are ready for the glory of Phyrexia.

And finally, what Simic deck is complete without the greatest card in Magic history... the godly Pygmy Hippo. This card is both ramp and mana denial and at worst is still a bear.

Enjoy the glory of New Phyrexia and may you join us in becoming ONE.

Thanks, Kenneth, for your addition to the ever growing Phyrexian army!

They have all compleated their creations to share with you and wait upon your votes to see whether or not they make it to the finals. Unlike the heroes in Magic's current story, you hold all the power! Vote for your favourite deck down below and in the next article we'll find out who made it! Until next time, remember, if you don't love it, CUT it!

If you or a friend would like to participate in a future CUT article, email the.only.travis.stanley@gmail.com or reach out to me on twitter @chipman007!

Poll Closes: February 17, 2023