UL's Better Deckbuilding: Doran, the Explorer EDH

Over the rolling hills and beyond the weeks I've spent rambling on and on about Animar and Hidetsugu, there's a deck I've also been equally challenged to hone and tune.

And I've finally got it in a pretty good place.

This is the deck I call Doran the Explorer for all the goofy puns you can imagine, but also because of its functionality.

There's really not much to talk about with this deck, because the mechanics are rather self-explanatory.

It's an Enchantment-Voltron deck designed mostly for 1-on-1, though it has done quite well in multiplayer.

How it goes about this is fairly unique. For starters, the mana curve in this deck is a pretty skinny 2.82 Converted Mana Cost. When coupled with a strong tutor package and some rather powerful enchantments, Doran can pack quite a wallop.

The skinny mana curve not only allows me to get Doran out fast and pumped, but also to leverage card advantage. In turn, this design has created a home for some cards that went from binder-junk to all-star overnight.

It was a rather exciting revelation to find a home for this particular card.

We all have junk rares somewhere or another, and Dark Tootz has always been one of those cards that I wanted to abuse to the max.

If I'd a thought of it sooner, Tootz should've probably been in my Damia 45-lander, cause it really shines in builds where you can draw 0 cost stuff.

In Doran, 40 lands feels like a whole lot more for me, even with all the ramp. The majority of the time, I find that this card is almost as good as drawing Arena. I get to filter land out, and I don't have to be worried about consistently taking a huge hit out of my life total. If I do, hopefully it just means that I'm going to win.

There's a lot of people that seem to take issue with Ad Nauseam because of Maralen of the Mornsong and how it imprisons fun.

A newer CommanderCast writer, Nole aka mtgnole, published an article where he cited Ad Nauseam as one of the "5 Cards You Probably Shouldn't Be Playing."

To him I say, "lolwut?"

Ad Nauseam only hurts you, and only ruins your games if you're attempting to combo out with Maralen. Shit's boring for everyone at the table. Like playing Omniscience and Enter the Infinite.

Obviously, this deck isn't fortified with dudes and defense like some of the Doran Defender Decks I've seen, so Ad Nauseam becomes a skill-testing card. So it's only as game-breaking as you are confident in your assessment of the field- which makes Ad Nauseam a silver bullet here, comparable to Three Dreams, except you get a nice trade-off of paying life for instant speed.

So, in case I didn't say it, I'm very, very up on this card. It's the best version of Moonlight Bargain I can slam into this deck, and I've been very happy about paying five mana and 15 life to draw 8 cards on an opponent's end step.

The recent addition of Alpha Authority has proved useful. Hexproof is all good, but no gangblocks is also pretty relevant with Doran as the game drags on and people start casting Titans and Primordials or whatever the trendy 6/6 for six is.

Along with all the Totem Armor, Alpha Authority is as close as I can get to protecting Doran. It's a worse Diplomatic Immunity, but it's enough most of the time to get Doran to deal 21 damage.

Ol' Teegy, I know, isn't so much secret tech, and he's kind of a dick, but it's worth noting his value in a deck where you can't really afford to take too many Wraths.

I think I mentioned in one of my previous articles that the majority of my playgroup doesn't play Swords to Plowshares or Doom Blade because they don't like it, so Teeg roams free and complements the low-cost Auras Doran needs to win.

Getting back on my "right card, right deck" philosophy, Eland Umbra has probably never had a more stable home than in Doran.

An efficient pump spell that makes Doran wrath proof is cool and fun, so it seems rather harmless until the Treefolk Shaman uses his ass to smack for 9 Commander damage. Funny, and awesome. A strange little silver-bullet.

Blind Obedience is a fairly fresh addition to the deck, and one that I was hesitant to put in because I was unsure of how relevant it would be. The verdict's still out, really.

When I first saw the Gatecrash spoilers, I knew I'd be interested in this card. Theoretically speaking, this card should fit nice in here. It prevents people from thinking they can topdeck creatures or Oblivion Stones to keep from losing. Also, the Extort ability is currently the only way I have of recovering any life lost from and of the tutor or card draw spells in the deck.

Again, the Verdict's still out. Haven't played it yet, but it seems good here.

The last card is one of the more relevant powercards in the deck.

In a world where God and Strip Mine are absent, quite a few games with Doran have been decided by using .

This card is as good as anyone could've predicted. And Doran loves his unblocked killing stroke.

I love to hold this card in hand until the late late, just when people think they're safe.






The rest of the deck is really self-explanatory, filled with a bunch of fairly typical cards.

One of the only real surprises you'll find is that I don't roll deep with Eldrazi Conscription. Though it makes for a nice 2 Turn Clock, I don't like hardcasting it.

Other than that, the deck list is here on tappedout.

Doran, the Explorer EDH

So if you like my ideas, Swiper does allow a nice amount of swiping.

And I sure don't mind.

I'll be back on Saturday with one of a couple new segments we're gonna have on TGZ, so get excited and stay tuned!

Pass it up.

-UL