Vorthos Vortex: Enjoying Easter with Atla Palani, Nest Tender

Atla Palani, Nest Tender | Illustrated by Ekaterina Burmak

Greetings, Commander players! Easter is coming up, and of course, that means another holiday-themed edition of Vorthos Vortex. Today's commander is Atla Palani, Nest Tender, who has the ability to create (Easter) eggs and then crack them open to summon creatures from our deck.

For those of you who are reading this column for the first time, Vorthos Vortex is a column that builds flavorful and narrative-centric decks on a budget. One of the most common types of Vorthos decks that I cover in this column is holiday-themed decks, as I am a huge fan of holidays and celebrations, and hopefully, you are too!

When it comes to Easter, what comes to mind first? You probably either thought of eggs or bunnies, and while one could certainly go the bunny route and make a Kwain, Itinerant Meddler deck, I decided to go the egg route and design an egg-themed deck around Atla Palani.

Atla's first ability is to create 0/1 Egg tokens; hardly something to cower at. It's her second ability that makes her a force to be reckoned with, however, as it allows us to fetch a creature off the top of our library when an Egg we control dies (keep in mind that sacrificing Eggs will also be recognized by this trigger). That means that we will want a plethora of eggs in our deck to sacrifice or throw in the way of our opponents so that we can fetch heavy hitters from our deck. That also means that we will want a critical mass of powerhouse creatures to find off of Atla's ability.

When it comes to an Easter Vorthos deck, one obvious direction is to lean into religious imagery and to make an angel deck, and while this deck does contain a number of Angels for both strategic and Vorthos reasons, I didn't want to limit the deck to one creature type. Easter, like many other holidays, has just as many secular and popular culture associations as it does religious ones, and I wanted this deck to evoke those myriad associations as well.

Since the deck strategy is largely self-explanatory, I've decided that for this edition of Vorthos Vortex I'll discuss the themes and associations with Easter and provide card recommendations related to them.

Springtime/Regrowth/Renewal

One of the immediate associations with Easter is springtime. Words like regrowth, renewal, and rebirth come to mind. Some cards that fit this idea well include Sundering Growth, Congregation at Dawn, Regrowth, Rampant Growth, Cultivate, and Explosive Vegetation.

Gifts/Bestowing Grace

Another association with Easter is the act of gift-giving, particularly in the form of eggs and Easter baskets. Obviously, Atla Palani herself and the many Eggs in our deck fulfill this category. There are several other thematic cards that fit into this category as well, however, including Generous Gift, Tamiyo's Safekeeping, and Druid's Deliverance.

Angels and Divinity

Finally, there is of course the association with religion, specifically Christianity. Easter is generally considered the most important day in Christianity, even more important than Christmas to many. Given how important angels and divinity are to the holiday, it makes sense to stuff our deck with powerful Angels and angelic spells. There are too many such spells to list here, but some important ones include Angel of Serenity, Basandra, Battle Seraph, Birds of Paradise, Eternal Witness, Karmic Guide, Resolute Archangel, Cleansing Nova, and Austere Command.

Also, given the significance of the trinity in Christianity, Three Visits seems like an obvious inclusion as well.

Final Thoughts

Whether you are religious or not, I think that the Atla Palani, Nest Tender Easter EDH deck is a fun and flavorful deck that anyone can enjoy. Atla Palani is already an incredibly popular commander, and this deck offers a unique Vorthos spin that gives players a flavorful choice for their next game of Commander. Until next time, happy gathering, Commander players!