Ivy (EDH / Commander)

Gameplan

1. Play [[Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief]].
2. Circumvent the "legend rule" to allow copies of [[Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief]] to be created.
3. Make as many copies of [[Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief]] as possible and somehow win the game.

Getting around the "legend rule"

• [[Mirror Box]] and [[Sakashima of a Thousand Faces]] simply remove the "legend rule" problem.
• [[Double Major]], [[Helm of the Host]], [[Irenicus's Vile Duplication]], [[Spark Double]], [[Vesuvan Duplimancy]], and [[Echoing Equation]] can create copies of [[Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief]] that are not legendary. Once a nonlegendary version of [[Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief]] is on the battlefield, it can be copied again without interference from the "legend rule."

To make getting one of these cards easier,

• [[Fabricate]] can search for [[Mirror Box]] or [[Helm of the Host]].
• [[Solve the Equation]] can search for [[Fabricate]], [[Irenicus's' Vile Duplication]], [[Intuition]], or any other spell that might be needed.
• [[Intuition]] can search for anything.

Copy effects

• The copy cards can create copies of [[Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief]]. If [[Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief]] has already been copied, then casting a targeted copy spell can generate 2 additional copies, for a total of 4 [[Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief]]s. After that, another targeted copy spell creates 4 additional copies for a total of 8.
• [[Endless Evil]] gets copied when it is cast, so multiple new [[Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief]]s can be created on every upkeep!
• [[Orvar, the All-Form]] combines with the copy spells and also the draw spells to create extra copies of [[Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief]].
• [[Sublime Epiphany]] can be used as a copy spell, but be careful because if any of the other modes are chosen, then [[Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief]] cannot copy [[Sublime Epiphany]]. But still, overall it is a versatile and on-theme card.
• [[Echoing Equation]] can turn non-[[Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief]] creatures into [[Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief]]s, which can be an explosive way to generate more copies of [[Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief]].

Creatures
Creatures are important to this deck because the best way to start the game off is by playing [[Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief]] and then casting a spell on a non-[[Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief]] creature to get 2 copies of the spell. For this reason, there are many creatures in the deck.

• Mana dorks are a great way to accelerate while also having spell targets. For example, if you start by playing [[Birds of Paradise]] into [[Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief]] then you set up for casting a draw spell or a copy spell on the [[Birds of Paradise]]. The point is that while you are copying your [[Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief]]s, you can also be copying other things like mana dorks.
• [[Sakura-Tribe Elder]] is better than spell-based options because it can be targeted and/or copied.
• [[Skullwinder]] and [[Eternal Witness]] are better than [[Regrowth]] here because they can be targeted/copied.
• [[Archmage Emeritus]] is a card draw engine that can be targeted/copied and triggers off [[Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief]]'s copies of spells.
• [[Collector Ouphe]] is a great stax piece that can be targeted/copied. The only artifact that it turns off in this deck is [[Helm of the Host]]. This isn't great, but it's probably still worth it.

Early Turns

• The best start involves a 1-mana mana dork and a 1-mana card draw spell. Turn 1 involves playing a land and a mana dork. Turn 2 involves playing [[Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief]] and using the mana dork to cast a card draw spell. This sets up turn 3 with 4 mana, the commander in play, and a full hand of 7 cards after playing a land.
• The deck is very color-hungry, especially early on. [[Plaza of Heroes]] helps get the ball rolling with colors.
• [[Boreal Druid]] has been omitted since the colorless mana really messes up these early turns. Overall, ramp is not very prioritized because this deck is not trying to reach large amounts of mana.

Draw spells
There are many targeted draw spells that can become powerful when copied. 1-mana instants are prioritized.

• [[Curious Obsession]] and its variants get copied for each [[Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief]], so that can turn into a lot of card draw.

Notable interactions

• There are some on-theme cards in the mana base: [[Vastwood Fortification]] pumps all the [[Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief]]s, while [[Glasspool Mimic]] can become an extra [[Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief]].
• [[Biovisionary]] can randomly win since there are so many copy effects.
• [[One with Nature]] is a great ramp option because it can get copied onto all the [[Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief]]s.
• [[Gaea's Cradle]] is obviously good with the creature plan.
• Protection spells can save every copy of [[Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief]] at once. (some even put +1/+1 counters on them all while protecting them!)
• Mutating onto a creature counts as targeting that creature with a spell, so [[Gemrazer]] will get copied and acts as a pump aura plus removal.

Side-/Maybeboard Thoughts
There are many redundant pieces in the side-/maybeboards. The balance is hard to see.

• For example, getting around the "legend rule" is tantamount to this deck's strategy, but [[Mirror Gallery]] is still in the sideboard for now.
• Pump cards like [[Become Immense]] aren't in the deck right now on the thought that generating many copies of [[Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief]] with a single counter on them will kill people already.
• There are other draw, protection, and ramp options that just didn't all fit.
• Cards that double tokens seem cool, but it's probably too much setup. Getting multiple non-legendary copies of [[Adrix and Nev, Twincasters]] and then trying to create more and more of them sounds really cool, but it's just too much of a stretch.