Repay In Kind #4: Shawn's Wrexial, the Risen Deep EDH

Today Zoners I bring you a Wrexial deck designed by a guy in my playgroup. This deck is less than $100 but performs like a champ, I can't wait. Let's get Kraken!

Decklist

Creature (27)

• 1x Blood Artist
• 1x Blood Seeker
• 1x Circu, Dimir Lobotomist
• 1x Consuming Aberration
• 1x Dark Impostor
• 1x Deadeye Navigator
• 1x Deathcult Rogue
• 1x Diluvian Primordial
• 1x Dreamscape Artist
• 1x Duskmantle Guildmage
• 1x Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni
• 1x Invisible Stalker
• 1x Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker
• 1x Mnemonic Wall
• 1x Mortus Strider
• 1x Nephalia Smuggler
• 1x Patron of the Nezumi
• 1x Phantom Warrior
• 1x Pulse Tracker
• 1x Rune-Scarred Demon
• 1x Selhoff Occultist
• 1x Sepulchral Primordial
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Szadek, Lord of Secrets
• 1x Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
• 1x Tormented Soul
• 1x Undercity Informer

Sorcery (7)

• 1x Diabolic Revelation
• 1x Diabolic Tutor
• 1x Essence Harvest
• 1x Grasp of Phantoms
• 1x Last Thoughts
• 1x Mind Grind
• 1x Praetor's Grasp
• 
  

Instant (10)

• 1x Boomerang
• 1x Clutch of the Undercity
• 1x Dimir Charm
• 1x High Tide
• 1x Murder
• 1x Psychic Strike
• 1x Repulse
• 1x Shadow of Doubt
• 1x Spell Crumple
• 1x Spinal Embrace

Artifact (10)

• 1x Armillary Sphere
• 1x Coalition Relic
• 1x Dimir Keyrune
• 1x Dimir Signet
• 1x Gilded Lotus
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Mindcrank
• 1x Thran Dynamo
• 1x Traveler's Amulet
• 1x Whispersilk Cloak

Enchantment (8)

• 1x Biting Tether
• 1x Curiosity
• 1x Dire Undercurrents
• 1x Enslave
• 1x Jace's Erasure
• 1x Memory Erosion
• 1x Rhystic Study
• 1x Tricks of the Trade
• 
  

Wrexial is a 5/8 for 6 with Islandwalk and Swampwalk with the ability to cast your opponent's stuff after damage is dealt. Beastly, sure, but alone, these are not enough to make a deck work. So let's dive into his 99.

Since playing Wrexial will force any sensible opponent to use spells sparingly, more than likely you're going to be overseeing the whole process top-to-bottom. I'm talking about Milling, which this deck does well and frequently. Mind Grind, Jace's Erasure, Memory Erosion, and Consuming Aberration do most of the leg work in this deck. With Mind Grind, the later the game the better, especially if you add creatures that have good synergy with cards going to the graveyard.

Milling is more of a hit-or-miss strategy for EDH. It can really pay off against decks that can't survive big graveyards.




But what happens to a deck that performs well with a graveyard?


Patron of the Nezumi and Duskmantle Guildmage are two good dudes that this deck likes, adding serious and potentially lethal damage to Mind Grind, Traumatize or Mind Funeral.  




 

 Blood Seeker, Memory Erosion, and Mindcrank are part of the battlefield and stack ping-and-mill "punisher" style package. Blood Artist to ping when creatures die,  and Dire Undercurrents, Rhystic Study, Jace's Erasure, and Selhoff Occultist to keep Mill, Draw and Discard alive.


In the late-late, or when Wrexial can't play with spells in graveyards, the strategy switches to Mirko Vosk. This flying Dimir champ that I laughed at in a past episode of The Stack now makes me shudder.

Plan B is all about Mirko. The existing Milling and damage theme falls in line with what Mirko already does but unlike Wrexial he does not have a built in unblockability.

For most decks flying is good enough evasion.  Few generals really have a flying sub-theme to them so flying Mirko can usually make a connection.

Mirko has a small package of utility, but most of his Counter-spells and bounce spells are for protection.

Four big spells he uses are Psychic Strike, the counter with a mill, Clutch of the Undercity, bounce/ping or transmute for 4cmc, Shadow of Doubt; a bit odd but it's good to shut down tutoring and you get a card for it, and finally Whispersilk Cloak.

Whispersilk Cloak is essentially for Mirko, Giving both Shroud and Unblockable makes Vosk grin because he kinda needs it. The first time I played 1v1 vs him I didn't shut him down, but I learned the second time around. Mind Funeral on a stick is a stick worth having.

Now lets hear a few words from the Builder to get some insight into what he feels is important to his game.

JC: "How has your build performed for you, does it have good synergy"?

Shawn: "Most of the time if the lands find their way into play, the deck performs very well as long as I'm not the main target. 1v1 it's great, I can keep myself floating with few creatures and combos including Consuming Aberration and Essence Harvest I can deal massive amounts of damage while recovering the health I lost."

"Boomerang and Repulse are key for reducing the threats and preventing opponents in a Multiplayer setting from getting too far ahead."

JC: " I noticed you ran some interesting cards, What led you to Teferi and Patron of the Nezumi"?

Shawn: " About Nezumi- Because of how much milling I'm doing, I want to jump on the opportunity to get a two for one whenever I make my opponents mill, with cards like Mind Grind it works especially well. creatures constantly die in this game, the more they die the better it is."

"Teferi allows me to save my counterspells against saving my own creatures and opens up my control aspect on my enemies plays"

JC: "Where do your key strengths lie? What works consistently for you?"

Shawn: "Making sure the counterspells are keeping my enemies at bay, being able to mill with Mirko to death and copying spells cast before and milled with Wrexial make this pretty consistent synergy. When you pump up Szadek or Aberration and cast an Essence Harvest really makes the game interesting. Along with these I've got the usual tutor spells and always look for something good with a Rune-Scarred Demon."

JC: "What do you think your main weakness are?"

Shawn: "Not confident about my mana base haha, I tend to use a lot of creatures but i really only cast 5-7 a game. I am weak in an aggro sense. I have searched shops for mana acceleration cards and found Gilded lotus, Solemn Simulacrum and Dimir Keyrune to really help but I just feel like I need more."

JC: "I'm sure people are aware of the Mindcrank combo with Duskmantle Guildmage, How often do you search for that? is it a fun combo to pull off?"

Shawn: "I really try not to tutor that one up. It isn't really a win condition I want to rely on. Once they get destroyed or exiled I really have no means to recur them. When I do get a chance to run the combo I usually get a few sharp looks but they know it's not always going to be my win con. Like alcohol, always in moderation."

JC: "What cards from upcoming sets are you most excited for Wrexial/Vosk?"

Shawn: "Hopefully some cheaper counters that mill, a functional reprint of Nezumi and some more mana ramping for Blue/Black. I'm really after some more Unblockable combat-damage-trigger creatures."

I was honored to bring in a friends deck to see more deck construction ideas and also about how judging a card by its looks can really bite you in the ass. 

Untill next week Zoners, put some recycle effects in your decks so you don't lose your mind.

- Johnny C.