Gyruda, Grave Robber (EDH / Commander)

> Who is Gyruda?

Gyruda is a Dimir colored sea monster. What makes him so monstrous is not that he's a 6/6 Kraken, it's because he mills for pleasure. On ETB, each player moves the top four cards of their library into the grave. Gyruda chooses one even mana valued creature headed to the grave and moves them onto our battlefield instead. Gyruda decks will build around this mechanic, and limit our opponents' ability to react and disrupt.

> Triggering

The usual way to abuse ETB triggers are through bouncing and flickering. Gyruda prefers to get those triggers via his own mechanic. Clones truly shine here. Most have an even mana cost and die as soon as they come in. Their deaths are required for our Mortuary combo, where the dead clone will drop back on top of the library to get milled again, repeating until we find something better, or until all our opponents' libraries are in the grave. Panharmonicon and Strionic Resonator help the clones and Gyruda to double up on triggers.

> Anti-Mill?

In the tier of play we're competing in, we can absolutely expect our opponents to build anti-mill strategies into their decks. To combat this, we are including anti-anti-mill. The most common form of anti-mill protection is in the form of Eldrazi titans, or maybe Gaia's Blessing if they're green. Our first line of defense against their anti-mill is exile. Leyline of the Void and Dauthi Voidwalker are automatic. The Voidwalker is superior to the Leyline, since it can come out from a mill trigger and you can get an opponent's exiled card back. If we're lucky enough to find them early, Soul-Guide Lantern can exile a grave in response to a titan trigger and Ashiok, Dream Render can whittle them down as we mill them.

> Win Strategies

Every deck should have more than one way to win. Gyruda's colors allows us to include two complimentary combos: Bloodchief Ascension & Mindcrank, and Helm of Obedience with Leyline of the Void or Dauthi Voidwalker. While Helm of Obedience only works while an exiler is out, Bloodchief Ascension pairs well with Gyruda's unique Mortuary combo.

> Opening Hand

Our ideal opening hand is: Island, Sol Ring, Dimir Signet, Swamp, Mortuary, Jeweled Lotus, Phantasmal Image. Played in that order, Gyruda will combo on turn three. This best case scenario does not account for anti-mill, counterspells, removal or any interaction. We should not attempt such an aggressive strategy unless we're playing against casual decks or discouraging new players from financial ruin.
Our commander is Heavy. Seek an opening hand with a blue source and a mana rock, two or more lands preferred. This will allow us to play our counterspells and removal until Gyruda can come out, and be able to protect him when he gets in. Gyruda does not require both colors of mana to cast, thanks to his split mana, but is much easier to run with blue than with black.

> Protection

Many of the counterspells we run with Gyruda tend to be permanents, rather than instants. This is to allow us options if we don't uncover a clone with Gyruda's mill and our opponents' creatures are trash. Our interaction is meant to be played defensively. An opponent attempting to touch Gyruda or combo off must be denied. Anything else they do is none of our business. Our life is only intended to keep us in the game long enough to combo.

> Single Card Discussion

> Stars

• Malakir Rebirth, Supernatural Stamina, Essence Flux: Protection spells used in response to death. Rather than preventing the kill, we allow Gyruda to die to bring him back for another ETB.
• Animate Dead, Haunted Crossroads, Reanimate, Persist: Retrieves Gyruda or clones for easy triggers.

> Excluded

• The most notable exclusions are Spark Double and Sakashima of a Thousand Faces. Our clones must be allowed to die on entry to allow the Mortuary combo to function.