Stalking the mists

There are various labels give to different types of magic decks; Aggro, Control, Mill etc and EDH is no different but it does have it's own types.

One of those is Voltron.

Voltron is a robot formed from 5 smaller robots and thus it is deemed to be greater than the sum of it's parts.

In Magic terms Voltron focussing on two things:

1.  Commander damage - you only need to deal 21 points of combat damage to an opponent with your commander to defeat them.
2.  A Commander who can be equipped and enchanted so that he becomes unstoppable.

For this post I obviously wanted to focus on a commander that benefits from a Voltron build and who better, I asked myself, than...

Uril, the Miststalker

Let's have a look at my chosen commander in more detail:

Always good to start with the commanders colour identity. RGW give us access to just the right spells. Some of the best Auras at in White and Green.

He's a Beast both literally and figuratively speaking. I'm not likely to go down the tribal route with this commander so it's just something to note.

So he has his own version of Hexproof. Your opponents can't target him but that still means cards like Wrath of God will hurt him.

But it's his second ability that makes him just so good as a Voltron commander.  For every Aura attached to him her gets +2/+2.  That adds up very quickly especially with some of the auras we are going to use with him.

Lastly he is a 5/5 for 5 which is about right given his abilities.

One thing to note Uril lacks evasion of any kind which means he can be blocked by a 1/1 token and destroy all our hard work. So when we're looking to enchant or equip him evasion of any kind will be a big deal.

Before I look at what enchantments (and equipments)  I want to use I want to first have a look at cards that interact favourably with enchantments that I want to be using.

First and foremost the tutors:

There are four enchantment tutors in white and each one is slightly different to the others. 

Academy Rector, for example, is a creature that needs to die (not be exiled) to let you search for an enchantment but he does then put that enchantment into play.

Enlightened Tutor is an instant which put an artifact or enchantment at the top of your library. Great for getting Equipment cards as well as enchantments but needs to be used at the right time.

Plea for Guidance is a sorcery that has a fairly steep casting cost but it does grab you two enchantments for your money.

Idyllic tutor is a sorcery that allows you to find an enchantment and put it into your hand. Simple, unflashy but very usable.

While not strictly a tutor I am also running Kruphix's Insight it's the closest thing Green has to tutoring enchantments.

Next up are the Enchantresses, creatures that care about enchantments. Now I'm only using two - even with 100 card decks space is limited - and an actual enchantment as well but you'll see why.

These are the two Enchantresses I went for. There is a third a green version of Mesa Enchantress that I wanted to play but ended up cutting.

Enchantress's Presence does the same job as the creatures but is an Enchantment instead.

I also chose one Planeswalker because of her interaction with Enchantments.

"You get an emblem with "Artifacts, creatures, enchantments, and lands you control have indestructible." What's not to like about that in a deck like this.

I think I've kept you waiting long enough....so here are the Enchantments I chose to go into the deck:

Keep in mind that every one of these when cast on Uril gives him +2/+2 before they apply there own bonuses. So Epic Proportions gives Uril a total of +7/+7 and Trample.

There is as much defensive work going on here as offensive. There's plenty of evasion in Flying, Trample, and Protection from Creatures or Colours and there's even a way to make him unblockable using Alpha Authority and cards I'm going to talk about later.

Keen sense is just there to increase my draw opportunities, regular readers will know I love having plenty of ways to draw cards.

One Aura I'm playing is not intended for my own commander at all but for one of my opponents.

Aside from outright stealing your opponent's commanders this is one of my favourite ways to shut them down.

There are some other enchantments I'm also playing I've not mentioned above; Creature Enchantments.

First up Enchantment Creatures with Bestow. I think these four represent the best of the bunch. Note that when Bestowed on a creature they are Aura's. This is important for Eidolon of Countless Battles for example.

Purphoros's Emissary and Alpha Authority make Uril unblockable. They act to exclude any number of blockers.

Next up are the Gods. I originally wanted to play with every God available in my commander's colours. However, I ended up whittling it down to just two; Nylea and Iroas.

Nylea I chose because she pumps and gives my commander Trample which helps to get that Commander damage through any blockers. Iroas because again it has synergy with Alpha Authority and also offers protection to my commander when they attack.

With my Enchantment choices out of the way I turned my attention to Equipment. Artifacts are pretty good when it comes to Voltron decks. But, Uril has a particular affinity with Enchantments that makes Equipment cards slightly less attractive. With that in my mind I sat down and looked long and hard at all the best choices I could make and ended up choosing 4 swords. Now I have to admit the choice was tough but these are the swords I chose:

Sword of Fire and Ice I chose because it lets me draw cards. Sword of Feast and Famine I chose because I get to untap all my lands which gives me a big boost. Sword of Kaldra because it gives a whopping +5/+5 and has a form of Deathouch that Exiles. Finally Sword of Vengeance because it bestows  First Strike, Vigilance, Trample and Haste.

With all that as the 'guts' of the deck I added ramp, sweepers and spot removal until I was happy with the results. 

You can see my finished deck here,

Until next time may your next draw always be relevant.

Phil