At MagicCon Atlanta, a boatload of information about upcoming sets was revealed through a preview panel. This included the reveal of 24 scene box cards that are part of the Final Fantasy Holiday Release on December 5th.
These cards are all new mechanically unique designs that are clearly positioned for Commander play. We recently covered what we believe to be the strongest of the bunch, but there are plenty of other fun build-arounds that didn’t quite crack the list. My personal favorite is undoubtedly Edea, Possessed Sorceress. There are a lot of ways to abuse Edea’s abilities, and with the right support, Edea becomes a very scary legend to see on the other side of the table.
A Card Advantage Engine
Edea has two distinct triggered abilities that work hand in hand. Every time you enter combat during your turn, you get to steal an opposing creature and give it Haste. This is strong on the surface and gets significantly better as long as one of your opponents has a creature with a good attack trigger, which isn’t a big ask. Sometimes, you’ll even be able to steal a problematic threat from one opponent, attack a different opponent, and have them block that creature down.
The other trigger states that whenever a creature you control but don’t own dies, the creature’s controller gets their threat back and you draw a card for your troubles. While this does prevent you from being able to sacrifice the creatures you steal and get rid of them permanently, the card advantage Edea provides make sacrifice outlets well worth running.
From Ashnod’s Altar to Phyrexian Altar, there are tons of ways to maximize Edea’s final ability. Once you factor in the wealth of sacrifice outlets you’re encouraged to run, mass-steal effects become premium inclusions.
Insurrection immediately comes to mind. This card often ends the game by itself, but in the event that it doesn’t, you get to stash a boatload of mana during your second main phase with either Altar. You’ll also have the luxury of drawing a ton of cards. The final card draw ability isn’t limited to triggering once each turn, so you’ll have no problem refueling your hand to your liking.
Outside of Insurrection, there are similar all-stars like Mob Rule and Mutinous Massacre that become great inclusions in this shell. Add in cards such as Pitiless Plunderer that reward you whenever you sacrifice one of the creatures you steal, and you’ve got a gameplan.
Minimizing Opposing Triggers
The one main downside to this plan is that in some cases, the best creatures to steal have powerful enters-the-battlefield triggers. When you steal and sacrifice an opposing creature, your opponent will be rewarded with those triggers once again when the creature reenters. With this in mind, it’s in your best interest to minimize these benefits.
The simplest way to do this is to just play cards that negate triggered abilities. Torpor Orb doesn’t mess with your Commander at all and stops all enters-the-battlefield triggers, which are naturally super popular in EDH.
Another way to go about things is to play cards like Faerie Artisans. Rather than stopping enters-the-battlefield triggers altogether, anytime a creature comes into play under an opponent’s control, you get to make a token copy and thus get the same triggered abilities as the opponent. This consistent flow of tokens only further maximizes your sacrifice outlets and sacrifice payoffs, including Pitiless Plunderer.
Perhaps the best method of preventing your opponents from generating too much value, though, is simply to stop the creatures you steal from going back to your opponents in the first place. When you sacrifice a creature you don’t own, it will go to the opponent’s graveyard before reentering play via Edea’s trigger.
So, graveyard hate cards work like a charm. Leyline of the Void is a totally fine option, though you won’t be able to draw cards off Edea anymore with Leyline in play. Your strongest options are therefore cards like Abyssal Harvester and Grafdigger’s Cage.
Once you sacrifice a creature you don’t own and it goes to the opponent’s graveyard, you’re free to exile it with Harvester to prevent it from coming back. You’ll still get to draw a card in the process and even get a Nightmare token copy of the creature you exile.
In the case of Grafdigger’s Cage, creatures you steal and then sacrifice just won’t come back to play. Once again, because those creatures still die, you’ll still pull ahead on resources.
Other Cool Tech
Rounding things out, there are a few more ways to take advantage of what Edea brings to the table. For instance, because Edea’s first trigger occurs at the beginning of combat, cards that grant you additional combat phases are perfect additions. From Full Throttle to Relentless Assault, there are plenty of cards that fit the bill.
Eomer, Marshal of Rohan is especially intriguing. As long as you get to steal an opposing legend, attack with it, then sacrifice it, you’ll earn an extra combat step. If Eomer sticks around, this is a nice reward turn after turn.
Finally, it’s worth mentioning Norin, Swift Survivalist. Norin is a cool card that punishes your opponents for blocking your attackers. If an opponent ever blocks a creature you stole with Edea, you’ll be able to exile it and cast it yourself, and it won’t go back to its owner’s control. Of course, if they don’t block, they take a bunch of damage as a result.
Edea isn’t your typical Commander, and that’s what makes it such a sweet option. If crafting a deck around this card is of interest, don’t forget to get your hands on the scene boxes that come with the Final Fantasy Holiday Release on December 5th.
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