$2 MTG Experience Counter Commander Turns Tiny Creatures into Major Threats

Within Commander, there’s no shortage of different archetypes that you can build around. While this freedom is one of the format’s best selling points, it can be rather overwhelming. Thanks to this, it’s little wonder that preconstructed Commander decks have proven so popular over the years.

While many MTG precons offer a fantastic starting point, they can almost always do with a few key upgrades. This is true from the moment a new deck gets released, but the potential from upgrading a precon usually gets better with time. As a result, Commanders like Ezuri, Claw of Progress can become a real force to be reckoned with, while being a hoot to play, too.

MTG Ezuri, Claw of Progress

Originally released in the Swell the Host precon in 2015, Ezuri, Claw of Progress is a simple yet effective Commander. At its core, this legend wants to stack up as many Experience Counters as possible to dish out tons of +1/+1 Counters. To make this happen, you’ll want to be playing small creatures as often as possible. 

Thankfully, doing this in Simic is very easy to accomplish, especially with green’s mana dorks filled early game. Not only can mana dorks like Llanowar Elves Llanowar Elves {T}: Add {G}. provide Ezuri with Experience Counters, but they’ll help you churn out small creatures later on. Speaking of small creatures, cards like Champion of Lambholt Champion of Lambholt Creatures with power less than this creature's power can't block creatures you control.
Whenever another creature you control enters, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature. and Thrummingbird Thrummingbird Flying
Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, proliferate. (Choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there.) are fantastic options, allowing for fast scaling.

While it’s easy to build a massive board using Iridescent Hornbeetle Iridescent Hornbeetle At the beginning of your end step, create a 1/1 green Insect creature token for each +1/+1 counter you've put on creatures under your control this turn. and Chasm Skulker Chasm Skulker Whenever you draw a card, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.
When this creature dies, create X 1/1 blue Squid creature tokens with islandwalk, where X is the number of +1/+1 counters on this creature. (They can't be blocked as long as defending player controls an Island.) , you can easily share the love. Master Biomancer Master Biomancer Each other creature you control enters with a number of additional +1/+1 counters on it equal to this creature's power and as a Mutant in addition to its other types. , for instance, can turn every creature into a major threat from the moment it enters. Similarly, Wild Beastmaster Wild Beastmaster Whenever this creature attacks, each other creature you control gets +X/+X until end of turn, where X is this creature's power. and Cultivator of Blades Cultivator of Blades Fabricate 2 (When this creature enters, put two +1/+1 counters on it or create two 1/1 colorless Servo artifact creature tokens.)
Whenever this creature attacks, you may have other attacking creatures get +X/+X until end of turn, where X is this creature's power. can make your attacks that much more devastating.

To make these creatures really sing, you’ll also want counter doublers like Doubling Season Doubling Season If an effect would create one or more tokens under your control, it creates twice that many of those tokens instead.
If an effect would put one or more counters on a permanent you control, it puts twice that many of those counters on that permanent instead. and Branching Evolution Branching Evolution If one or more +1/+1 counters would be put on a creature you control, twice that many +1/+1 counters are put on that creature instead. . Similarly, you’ll need card draw, which Terrasymbiosis Terrasymbiosis Whenever you put one or more +1/+1 counters on a creature you control, you may draw that many cards. Do this only once each turn. , Guardian Project Guardian Project Whenever a nontoken creature you control enters, if it doesn't have the same name as another creature you control or a creature card in your graveyard, draw a card. , and Beast Whisperer Beast Whisperer Whenever you cast a creature spell, draw a card. handle with ease. You can even dip into Landfall with Evolution Sage Evolution Sage Landfall — Whenever a land you control enters, proliferate. (Choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there.) and Scute Swarm Scute Swarm Landfall — Whenever a land you control enters, create a 1/1 green Insect creature token. If you control six or more lands, create a token that's a copy of this creature instead. to push Ezuri even further.

While these counter-based synergies all work harmoniously together, Ezuri, Claw of Progress can be rather mean with its counter distribution. By loading up unblockable creatures like Cold-Eyed Seklie, for instance, you can almost guarantee your huge creatures get through. If you want to be really mean, loading up Blighted Agent Blighted Agent Infect (This creature deals damage to creatures in the form of -1/-1 counters and to players in the form of poison counters.)
This creature can't be blocked. can potentially one-shot opponents.

An Effortless Infinite Turns Combo

Beyond the synergies you can exploit with Ezuri, this Commander alone packs a serious punch. Because Experience Counters are attached to you, not Ezuri, you’ll only get stronger as the game goes on. This not only opens up synergies with other Experience Counter cards like Katara, Waterbending Master Katara, Waterbending Master Whenever you cast a spell during an opponent's turn, you get an experience counter.
Whenever Katara attacks, you may draw a card for each experience counter you have. If you do, discard a card. , but it also makes rebuilding effortless.

As useful as a fast rebuild is, the real party trick of Ezuri, Claw of Progress is its infinite combo potential. So long as you have at least five Experience Counters, you can effortlessly go infinite with Sage of Hours Sage of Hours Heroic — Whenever you cast a spell that targets this creature, put a +1/+1 counter on it.
Remove all +1/+1 counters from this creature: For each five counters removed this way, take an extra turn after this one. . Since you’ll get a new combat step for more counters on each new turn, repeating this loop is truly trivial.

Sadly, while getting infinite extra turns is a very easy way to end a game, this is notably a two-card combo. Due to this, running Sage of Hours will push your Ezuri deck to bracket four, though it’s not awful here. Notably, since our decklist is for bracket 3, Sage of Hours isn’t in the 99, but if you want to add him, cutting something like Devoted Druid Devoted Druid {T}: Add {G}.
Put a -1/-1 counter on this creature: Untap this creature. isn’t a bad idea.

Budget Price, Brilliant Performance

Overall, Ezuri, Claw of Progress is an incredibly capable Commander that can easily snowball out of control. This is especially true in longer games, when you can rack up a ton of Experience Counters. Considering this power will only set you back less than $2, it’s no wonder that Ezuri has a fair few fans already.

Notably, while Ezuri was originally printed in the Swell the Host precon, this isn’t a good way to get into Ezuri. Outside of a few cards that also originated in this precon, almost the entire 99 has changed in the decade since it was printed. Due to this, you’re better off buying singles rather than spending the $86 on the precon, only to pull it apart.

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