$0.36 Ooze Uses Broken Mechanic to Make Infinite Tokens and Mana

Since its debut in Scourge 23 years ago, the Storm mechanic has become infamous for its broken applications, causing repeated bans throughout its life cycle. Yet, despite this, Wizards has continued designing unique cards featuring the keyword. Now, Commanders like Aeve, Progenitor Ooze Aeve, Progenitor Ooze Storm (When you cast this spell, copy it for each spell cast before it this turn. Copies become tokens.)
Aeve isn't legendary if it's a token.
Aeve enters with a +1/+1 counter on it for each other Ooze you control. let you abuse Storm in a unique but powerful way.

MTG Aeve, Progenitor Ooze

Like most Storm cards, Aeve, Progenitor Ooze gets better and better the more spells you can cast before it. Your reward is basically an army in a can that creates token copies of itself, each bigger than the last. Given that Aeve is a bit on the expensive side at five mana, though, it takes some work to cast a flurry of spells before it on the same turn.

Your first step to maximizing Aeve is to build up a mana advantage using cheap cards like Birds of Paradise Birds of Paradise Flying
{T}: Add one mana of any color. or Rampant Growth Rampant Growth Search your library for a basic land card, put that card onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle. . These then help get more robust engines like Circle of Dreams Druid Circle of Dreams Druid {T}: Add {G} for each creature you control. and Karametra’s Acolyte Karametra’s Acolyte {T}: Add an amount of {G} equal to your devotion to green. (Each {G} in the mana costs of permanents you control counts toward your devotion to green.) into play ahead of schedule, giving you a burst of mana for your big turn. Badgermole Cub Badgermole Cub When this creature enters, earthbend 1. (Target land you control becomes a 0/0 creature with haste that's still a land. Put a +1/+1 counter on it. When it dies or is exiled, return it to the battlefield tapped.)
Whenever you tap a creature for mana, add an additional {G}. is particularly strong here, dialing up your extra mana production across all your dorks.

To cast a flurry of spells in one turn, draw engines like Beast Whisperer Beast Whisperer Whenever you cast a creature spell, draw a card. and Glimpse of Nature Glimpse of Nature Whenever you cast a creature spell this turn, draw a card. can pair incredibly well with Ornithopter Ornithopter Flying and similar free creatures. Cost reducers like Emerald Medallion Emerald Medallion Green spells you cast cost {1} less to cast. also make it much easier to pop off.

Once you have an army of Aeves, token doublers like Parallel Lives Parallel Lives If an effect would create one or more tokens under your control, it creates twice that many of those tokens instead. and +1/+1 counter effects like Hardened Scales Hardened Scales If one or more +1/+1 counters would be put on a creature you control, that many plus one +1/+1 counters are put on it instead. can scale your army immeasurably. Besides amplifying Aeve’s Storm trigger, cards like Second Harvest Second Harvest For each token you control, create a token that's a copy of that permanent. , alongside Populate effects like Full Flowering Full Flowering Populate X times. (To populate, create a token that's a copy of a creature token you control. Do this X times.) , can keep putting Oozes in play. If these synergies aren’t enough, you can also add typal payoffs like Biowaste Blob Biowaste Blob Oozes you control get +1/+1.
At the beginning of your upkeep, if you control a commander, create a token that's a copy of this creature. and Biogenic Ooze Biogenic Ooze When this creature enters, create a 2/2 green Ooze creature token.
At the beginning of your end step, put a +1/+1 counter on each Ooze you control.
{1}{G}{G}{G}: Create a 2/2 green Ooze creature token. to get more mileage out of your Ooze squad.

All the while, Garruk’s Uprising Garruk’s Uprising When this enchantment enters, if you control a creature with power 4 or greater, draw a card.
Creatures you control have trample. (Each of those creatures can deal excess combat damage to the player or planeswalker it's attacking.)
Whenever a creature you control with power 4 or greater enters, draw a card. , Tribute to the World Tree Tribute to the World Tree Whenever a creature you control enters, draw a card if its power is 3 or greater. Otherwise, put two +1/+1 counters on it. , and similar card advantage engines help refuel your hand in a heartbeat. If you’re fortunate enough to find a Haste enabler like Concordant Crossroads Concordant Crossroads All creatures have haste. off the extra draws, you should be able to end the game on the spot.

Infinite Tokens and Mana Combos

While Aeve is perfectly serviceable as a pure value engine, the legend shines as a combo payoff. Generating infinite tokens and mana isn’t hard, with Food Chain Food Chain Exile a creature you control: Add X mana of any one color, where X is 1 plus the exiled creature's mana value. Spend this mana only to cast creature spells. creating a two-card combo with the Ooze.

With Food Chain in play and at least one spell cast before Aeve, you’re free to cast your Commander, netting at least one token. From there, you’ll want to exile one token and the nontoken copy of Aeve via Food Chain, netting 12 green mana and putting Aeve back in the command zone. This lets you recast Aeve once more, netting more tokens in the process.

These extra tokens make it trivial to pay Aeve’s Commander tax alongside Food Chain, letting you cast Aeve infinitely. After generating infinite tokens, a Haste enabler lets you attack for lethal, guaranteed. Alternatively, you can cast a massive Walking Ballista Walking Ballista This creature enters with X +1/+1 counters on it.
{4}: Put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.
Remove a +1/+1 counter from this creature: It deals 1 damage to any target. with the excess mana to win the game.

The only downside with this Food Chain combo is that you can spend infinite mana only on creatures, but other combo lines can get around this. Pairing Aeve with Ashnod’s Altar Ashnod’s Altar Sacrifice a creature: Add {C}{C}. and a color filterer, like Gemstone Array Gemstone Array {2}: Put a charge counter on this artifact.
Remove a charge counter from this artifact: Add one mana of any color. or Energy Refractor Energy Refractor When this artifact enters, draw a card.
{2}: Add one mana of any color. , will do the trick, for instance. While this does give Aeve a fair few ways to go infinite, they’re more or less all the same.

A Great Deal

Whether you go the combo route or focus on maximizing Aeve without infinites, the Ooze legend is an excellent Commander option. Considering Aeve’s massive upside as a build-around, it’s a bit surprising that it commands just 6,277 decks according to EDHREC.

Luckily, thanks to its limited level of demand, this creature’s price tag sits at a budget-friendly $0.36. This makes Aeve a risk-free purchase with the potential to dominate your Commander Nights. Consider giving it a shot; you may be surprised how powerful it truly is.

Stick with us here at mtgrocks.com: the best site for Magic: The Gathering coverage. Be sure to check out our deckbuilder for your next big brew, and our brand new MTG Rocks Podcast!