One of the most interesting groups of cards in Edge of Eternities is the cycle of mythic rare Planets. It takes a lot to fully power up cards like Evendo, Waking Haven, but the reward can be quite high for doing so. Still, while these lands have some appeal in Commander, it was hard to imagine lands that tap for a single color and enter tapped to make a Constructed splash.
Well, a couple days ago, one player went 5-0 in a Magic Online Standard League with a whopping eight total Planets in their deck! Thanks to a potent synergy with a scary Beast from Duskmourn, these lands actually pull their weight in this deck. For those who enjoy cheating huge creatures into play, this is the Standard deck for you.
Setting Up Kona
This deck’s entire gameplan revolves around one card: Kona, Rescue Beastie. Kona is a funky card that puts a unique spin on the classic Elvish Piper design. Rather than having to activate an ability to cheat a creature into play, you instead need to enable Survival.
Without any other support, this can be achieved simply by attacking with Kona and having it live through combat. The problem is that, just like with Elvish Piper, Kona doesn’t have Haste. Your opponent can simply untap, kill Kona, and you won’t be able to get an attack in. Your best bet is to pair Kona with some other effects that let you tap the Beast at little cost.
This is where all of the Edge of Eternities tools come into play. We mentioned the presence of eight Planets. Four copies of Evendo, Waking Haven and four copies of Adagia, Windswept Bastion make an appearance.
While playing this many tapped lands comes at a cost, this gives you maximum consistency so you can reliably tap Kona the turn you play it to pay for Station and cheat something into play before your opponent gets to untap. In addition to these lands, The Seriema serves a similar purpose, and even lets you tutor up Kona the turn you play it.
Of course, if you have Kona rolled up already, searching for a legend to cheat into play is totally fine, too. Valgavoth, Terror Eater and Ureni, the Song Unending are both game-breaking behemoths to tutor for.
Otherwise, simply cheating Overlord of the Mistmoors into play will sometimes be enough to close games, depending on the matchup. Casting Overlord for its Impending cost is a reasonable play in its own right, and Hard-casting Overlord in grindy games isn’t out of the question, either.
Other Support Cards
The rest of the deck is filled with solid support elements that are used to stave off early pressure, generate value, or dig for your key cards. Early in the game, Commune with Beavers is the perfect “cantrip” to help set things up. It digs for Kona, The Seriema, as well as your Station lands.
For removal, both Seam Rip and Get Lost show up in playsets in this decklist. It never hurts playing extra removal to buy you the time necessary to set up your strong synergies.
At three mana, Summon: Fenrir is just a decent source of value. It ramps you the turn it comes down. Then, if you can follow up with Kona next turn, Kona will enter with a +1/+1 counter.
This won’t often make a huge difference, but allowing Kona to enter with four toughness does eliminate the possibility of your opponent removing Kona with Torch the Tower or Nowhere to Run prior to your second main phase. From there, you’ll likely get to draw a card when the final Chapter resolves.
The other three-drop engine that this deck plays which happens to pair perfectly with the Planets is Wylie Duke, Atiin Hero. The payoff for tapping Wylie Duke is definitely lower than for triggering Kona. Regardless, your opponent will be hard-pressed to answer Wylie Duke before the card drawing gets out of control.
Resiliency
Overall, this deck is a lot of fun and is pretty consistent. With The Seriema in the mix, finding Kona and a big creature to cheat in isn’t too difficult. At the same time, having eight Station lands means once you land Kona, you should be able to cheat in a huge fatty that same turn.
Even still, though, this can be disrupted and isn’t guaranteed to win you the game. Many decks have access to instant speed answers to Kona. Dimir midrange plays Shoot the Sheriff, Izzet Cauldron plays Torch the Tower, Esper self-bounce plays Nowhere to Run, and Azorius control plays Get Lost.
Azorius control also has access to board wipes like Day of Judgment that can clean everything up if you successfully get something huge into play. With all these ways things can go wrong, it’s safe to say this archetype doesn’t feel like it’s poised for a major breakout just yet.
Nonetheless, your opponents won’t always have answers at the ready, and with The Seriema, you may be able to simply find another copy of Kona to get your engine rolling again. Voice of Victory appears as a four-of in the sideboard to help against decks with counter magic and other instant speed interaction, which is worth noting.
Other potential additions you could consider include Restoration Magic. Restoration Magic can protect Kona from a kill spell or your bomb you put into play from a board wipe for just one mana. Resiliency is an area of concern, so having some extra protection wouldn’t hurt.
The Kona and Planet package is a powerful core at the very least. Think about giving this deck a run at your next FNM.
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