Give 'em the Cane - Feldon of the Third Path EDH

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Oh man, oh man, oh man...

New Commander 2014 spoilers! And boy if they aren't just awesome. Even with the few legendary creatures (as well as Commander-available planeswalkers) that have been revealed, I just know I'm going to end up buying one of each of the boxes. I mean, each box has a Medallion in it! How's that for value?

The two new lands that have been spoiled, Arcane Lighthouse and Myriad Landscape, are also awesome. A way to push through to annoying hexproof Commanders and a land-based ramp card? Sign me up. Freyalise and Ob Nixilis are both looking awesome in planeswalker form, and Reef Worm gets by creative juices flowing. But which of these awesome new Commanders am I going to be creating a deck for today?

That honor goes to Feldon of the Third Path. He might be a strange choice: there's no denying the artificer's power, but he seems a better fit as a normal card in a graveyard-based EDH deck for a multicolored Commander. Red's the worst EDH color, right? We're about to prove that wrong today. Besides, not every deck needs to center around power - especially when you're building budget decks, as we are here.

And I just love Feldon's story. If you can get your hands on the '99 short story about him, have yourself a good read. The idea of fashioning oneself a perfect, golden wife comes from Arctic Eurasian folklore, being a common myth in the area. The story is best laid out in Kalevala, the Finnish national epic - and since I'm a Finn myself, I'd be a traitor not to build a deck for ol' Ilmarinen!

What Feldon needs in his deck is a good number of powerful creatures that provide value both when entering and when leaving the battlefield, that is, the kind of creatures you'd put in an EDH deck anyway. Copying his ability is also a funny trick, especially since his ability doesn't remove the targeted card from your graveyard. Feel free to repeatedly copy your favorite creature - Molten Primordial is my budget choice - and make your foes feel the pain.

Give 'em the Cane - Feldon of the Third Path EDH

CREATURE (46)


• Anarchist
• Balefire Dragon
• Beetleback Chief
• Bogardan Hellkite
• Caldera Hellion
• Chancellor of the Forge
• Clone Shell
• Conquering Manticore
• Crater Hellion
• Dong Zhou, the Tyrant
• Duplicant
• Firemaw Kavu
• Flametongue Kavu
• Hammer Mage
• Hammerheim Deadeye
• Hellkite Charger
• Hoarding Dragon
• Imperial Recruiter
• Inferno Titan
• Jaya Ballard, Task Mage
• Keldon Vandals
• Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
• Magma Phoenix
• Manic Vandal
• Mindclaw Shaman
• Mogg War Marshal
• Molten Primordial
• Myr Battlesphere
• Pilgrim's Eye
• Precursor Golem
• Rage Thrower
• Rummaging Goblin
• Ryusei, the Falling Star
• Scuttling Doom Engine
• Siege-Gang Commander
• Solemn Simulacrum
• Spitebellows
• Steel Hellkite
• Stingscourger
• Summoner's Egg
• Thundermaw Hellkite
• Tuktuk the Explorer
• Tyrant of Discord
• Volcano Hellion
• Wurmcoil Engine
• Zealous Conscripts

ARTIFACT (712)


• Anvil of Bogardan
• Illusionist's Bracers
• Magewright's Stone
• Rings of Brighthearth
• Sol Ring
• Strionic Resonator
• Thousand-Year Elixir

INSTANT (3)


• Chaos Warp
• Firestorm
• Lightning Axe

SORCERY (5)


• Blasphemous Act
• Chain Reaction
• Gamble
• Tormenting Voice
• Wild Guess

LAND (37)


• Ancient Tomb
• Buried Ruin
• Forgotten Cave
• Haunted Fengraf
• High Market
• Homeward Path
• Keldon Necropolis
• Miren, the Moaning Well
• 22 Mountain
• Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• Opal Palace
• Rogue's Passage
• Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep
• Temple of the False God
• Thawing Glaciers
• Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
• Winding Canyons

Any creature that has both an "enters the battlefield" and a "leaves the battlefield/dies" trigger is a godsend in Feldon's deck, thanks to his ability sacrificing the token it creates, instead of exiling it. This makes cards like Solemn Simulacrum and Wurmcoil Engine, both powerful on their own, incredibly strong in the deck. Feel free to tutor for either with Gamble - for once, you're hoping the random discard is the tutored card!

The battle plan is to get value creatures into your 'yard, cast your Commander, activate his ability a thousand times and pummel foes with massed creatures and effects. Pretty much every creature in your respectable arsenal has some effect or other. As the game goes on, you'll amass a hefty collection of possible creatures to copy with Feldon. Just be careful not to overextend: timely graveyard exiling ruins your day just as much as it ruins a reanimator deck's.

The discard and loot effects in the deck are there to allow you to get your creatures into the 'yard. Firestorm is by far the best of these: wipe the board clean and start copying things. The rest is creature-based removal of various kinds of permanents.

Being monored, the deck doesn't pack that many expensive cards, meaning making a budget version ought to be a piece of cake. However, you have to be careful not to change too much, or the deck gets inefficient and unpleasant to play. To get the deck from $200 to $50, try the following...

She Returns in Steel - Feldon of the Third Path EDH

CREATURE (51)


• Arc Mage
• Bloodpyre Elemental
• Burnished Hart
• Caldera Hellion
• Chancellor of the Forge
• Chartooth Cougar
• Cinder Elemental
• Clone Shell
• Conquering Manticore
• Crater Hellion
• Firemaw Kavu
• Flamekin Harbinger
• Flametongue Kavu
• Ghost-Lit Raider
• Giant Harbinger
• Goblin Marshal
• Goblin Matron
• Hammer Mage
• Hammerheim Deadeye
• Hellkite Charger
• Hoarding Dragon
• Inferno Titan
• Jaya Ballard, Task Mage
• Keldon Vandals
• Mad Prophet
• Magma Phoenix
• Manic Vandal
• Martyr of Ashes
• Mindclaw Shaman
• Mogg War Marshal
• Molten Primordial
• Myr Battlesphere
• Ogre Battledriver
• Oxidda Scrapmelter
• Pilgrim's Eye
• Precursor Golem
• Rage Thrower
• Rummaging Goblin
• Ryusei, the Falling Star
• Siege-Gang Commander
• Solemn Simulacrum
• Spitebellows
• Steel Hellkite
• Stingscourger
• Summoner's Egg
• Tuktuk the Explorer
• Tyrant of Discord
• Viashino Racketeer
• Volcano Hellion
• Wrecking Ogre
• Zealous Conscripts

ARTIFACT (4)


• Illusionist's Bracers
• Magewright's Stone
• Sol Ring
• Strionic Resonator

INSTANT (2)


• Lightning Axe
• Starstorm

SORCERY (10)


• Blasphemous Act
• Chain Reaction
• Tormenting Voice
• Wild Guess

LAND (38)


• Buried Ruin
• Forgotten Cave
• Haunted Fengraf
• Keldon Necropolis
• 28 Mountain
• Opal Palace
• Rogue's Passage
• Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep
• Smoldering Crater
• Temple of the False God
• Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle

The core idea of the deck remains the same, but they way to reach that goal changes. The deck is now even more creature-based, with many new additions to the Feldon-copy suite. Since expensive enabler cards had to be cut, cheaper alternatives (cards with cycling, bloodrush etc.) were added in their stead.

You have to be extremely careful when playing with a deck like this. It's easy to draw hatred when playing with a creature deck, so keep your creatures untapped and on the defense instead of pecking at your foes 1 life at a time. All that's going to do is bite you in the ass when they go off.

Instead, stay your hand and carefully fill your 'yard, gaining advantage from copying things like Solemn Simulacrum and Pilgrim's Eye. Your game-enders can wait for the perfect moment - why not you?

That was a blast! I absolutely adore the new Commander 2014 products, and the fact that there's more to come keeps me on the edge of my seat. Seriously: five new decks, each with EDH gold and Commanders! What if there's going to be more reprints like the Medallions?

Oh man, oh man, oh man...