Simic Domain Incarnation | $100 Budget Nael EDH Deck Tech

Overlord of the Hauntwoods | Illustrated by Aogachou

Enigmatic Incarnation | Illustrated by PINDURSKI

Hey nerds! I planned on building another Duskmourn commander deck, but I got inspired to build around one of the newest non-legendary creatures from the set instead, Overlord of the Hauntwoods with Nael, Avizoa Aeronaut. 

The Overlords from Duskmorun are showing up in Pioneer alongside Enigmatic Incarnation. And I could just build a Bant or some four-color pile, I wanted to try something different. I've messed with the idea of building a domain deck with only two colors, and then using Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth and Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth in decks without black or green to get all five colors, without building a true five-color deck.

However, I wanted to use Enigmatic Incarnation as well, so instead I went with a Simic domain commander, Nael, Avizoa Aeronaut. At the time of writing, they only have 58 decks on EDHREC, which is unsurprisingly low. They are only two colors and have a pretty lackluster ability. But I think with some of the new cards from Duskmourn, we can turn this unassuming elf into a powerful, albeit, janky combo deck. 

Paint the Rainbow

First, let's talk about getting domain online, so we can draw cards with our commander. Due to budget, I couldn't add Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, but we are in green, so that isn't an issue. Overlord of the Hauntwoods makes land tokens when it enters and attacks, giving us all basic land types as early as turn three with a single land. Nylea's Presence and Prismatic Omen turn a single land or all of our lands into each land type for only two mana.

The same goes for Dryad of the Ilysian Grove and Omo, Queen of Vesuva. I also included Copy Land so if someone has something like Savai Triome in play you can copy that. Or whatever land you want. There are several other options you could add to get all basic land types, but I think these are the best and cheapest mana-wise. 

Use the Rainbow

I didn't want the only domain payoff to be the commander, and with 30 domain cards in Simic, there were quite a few options. To beat face we have Nishoba Brawler, Scion of Draco, and Briar Hydra. These are here as early to mid-game threats and back-up win conditions if we can't combo off. I'm still on the fence with Draco since we only have two colors of creatures, but a two-mana 4/4 flyer with some upside is still solid, and Sphinx of Clear Skies is a Fact or Fiction when it deals combat damage.

As for non-creatures, Allied Strategies, Worldly Counsel, and Jodah's Codex provide additional card draw. Evasive Action is a supercharged Mana Leak and Prismatic Geoscope is a powerful mana rock. 

Another mechanic we can take advantage of is Converge since we can generate all five colors for maximum value. Bring to Light is the most notable, letting cast a creature, instant, or sorcery from our deck. Generally, you'll want to find Overlord of the Hauntwoods, Overlord of the Floodpits, or one of the combo pieces I'll be covering later on. Woodland Wanderer and Infuse with the Elements improve the beating face back-up plan of the deck. 

The Pieces

I've always had trouble finding win conditions that I enjoy in Simic. Cards like Thassa's Oracle and Jace, Wielder of Mysteries seem boring to me, and beating face isn't always an option. So I included several combos around two key creatures. Both of which can be put directly into play with Protean Hulk; Temur Sabertooth and Sanctum Weaver. With these two creatures and enough enchantments, we can generate infinite mana in two ways. 

The Combos

The first is using Hyrax Tower Scout to untap Sanctum Weaver. Then we tap Sanctum Weaver for at least six green mana. We activate Sabertooth returning Hyrax to our hand. Then use three more to recast it. Now we have one extra green floating. We can now repeat this for infinite colored mana. The other way is if we have Surrak and Goreclaw in play and Sanctum Weaver can tap for five mana.

We use Sabertooth to return Sanctum Weaver to hand, then two mana to recast Sanctum Weaver, which leaves us with one floating again. Then Surrak will give Sanctum Weaver haste. Adding a cheap haste enabler like Concordant Crossroads would likely improve the consistency of the combo.

The last combo is Springheart Nantuko, Overlord of the Hauntwoods, Mana Reflection, and Spelunking. Okay, so a four card combo might not be the most consistent, but it's fun.

First, you need to bestow Overlord of the Hauntwoods with Springheart. Play a land and pay the two mana to make a copy of Overlord. When the token enters, you'll get a tapped land. Because of Spelunking, this land will enter untapped, and Mana Reflection causes the land to tap for two mana instead of one. So you can pay for Nantuko's trigger again. Giving you to infinite lands and Overlords. 

Winning

But we still need a way to win with infinite mana. This is where part two of the combo comes in. Helix Pinnacle, while telegraphed, is a fun way to win the game. Just pray your opponent doesn't cast Farewell on their turn. The other way is bouncing Triskelion to your hand with Sabertooth, then casting it an infinite number of times, and removing the counters to ping down the table each time.

Finding The Pieces

Now we need to find our combo so we can win, which is where Enigmatic Incarnation comes in. We can use it to find the missing pieces of our combo pieces or cheat a Protean Hulk. And we can use Estrid's Invocation or Mirrormade to make copies of Incarnation, so we can cheat multiple creatures on each of our end steps.

We don't have the generic tutors that black does, but Long-Term Plans can put a card third from the top, and then using our commander's ability, we can draw whatever piece we need. And Pattern of Rebirth will let us cheat any creature into play when it dies. So we want to enchant an enchantment creature with it, so we can use Incarnation to get two creatures essentially. 

And that wraps up Domain Incarnation! I'd love to hear your thoughts on the deck down below. Already nerds, I'll see you in the next one!