The King and The Collector (2021 Deck of Many Things Secret Santa Deck) (EDH / Commander)

The King was holding court out in his plain-
A monarch made of bits of cloth and straw
And all throughout his silent twilit reign
Demise befell whoever broke his law
-When the Collector came upon the throne

And asked His Majesty of Open Field
"My Lord, would you accept a code my own
To offer artifice a greater yield?"
"But those who moved against me now are dead!
No code could give me more," so spoke His Grace.
"Look at your subjects," the Collector said.
"And see my code, already here in place."
Companions now, their rule is writ in rhyme
So listen and beware in harvest time!

The Goal: Fun fact, of all the scarecrows ever printed, only one of them is not an artifact. This gives us a unique opportunity - play a tribal deck that can name something other than creatures with Umori, the Collector! Our goal is to use cost-reducers and cheap ramp to get our commander out fast, control the board with a surplus of scarecrow removal spells, dig through our library with artifact synergies, and crush our opponents with an army of strawmen.

You'll like this deck if:

• You want a degenerate artifact deck that doesn't just combo off.
• You like the flavor of creepy strawmen laying waste to the living.
• You hate your friends' cards and want to obliterate them completely.
• You can handle the Reaper King.

You'll dislike this deck if:

• You find aggro childish compared to the purity of other artifact wincons.
• You are easily scared by an inanimate object in the shape of a man because you are a crow!!
• You want to cast even a single non-artifact card.
• You can't handle the Reaper King.

Draw: We have a variety of ways to keep our deck humming, from one-off bursts like Thought Monitor and Combustible Gearhulk to repeatable draw like Lifecrafter's Bestiary and Trading Post. Work to ensure you always have a scarecrow in hand.

Ramp: While we run some standard mana producers, the real powerhouses here are Jhoira's Familiar, Foundry Inspector, and Umori. Remember, every spell is historic, so we'll usually be able to play whatever we want on any given turn and bounce back fast if our commander gets removed.

Removal: Broadly speaking, our scarecrows are our removal, but we do keep some surprises just in case. Steel Hellkite can obliterate a single board and protect our skies, Duplicant can exile and copy the best creature on the field, and Tormod's Crypt knocks out those pesky graveyard decks.

Protection: A single Vandalblast can spell doom for our kingdom. Keep your scarecrows safe with Master Transmuter, Crystal Shard, Swiftfoot Boots, and Voyager Staff. Besides the boots, these are also great ways to replay the scarecrows.

Win Conditions: Our artifacts will harvest victory through the usual tribal aggro. Either go wide with an army of scarecrows buffed by cards like Steel Overseer, or go tall with a single creature, like the king in Cranial Plating. Our nonstop removal spells should be able to knock out any blockers.

How to Play:

Early game, you'll want to focus on getting your ramp online. I wouldn't keep a starting hand that doesn't have at least 3 lands and 1 ramp spell. Your goal is to put Umori in your hand before turn 5 and play it before turn 6. Don't cast your scarecrows yet - unless you really need a blocker, save them for the king's arrival.
In the middle of the game, you should have at least 1 cost reducer and the Reaper King on the battlefield. This is where you start destroying other board states while drawing cards and establishing control. Avoid emptying your hand so you can sandbag and bluff a threat.
By late game, you should be ready to start dealing lethal combat damage and closing things out. Bounce effects and creature copiers will help you replay your threats if someone starts making a comeback.

Good Against:

• Combo: Few decks will be better than us at removing specific combo pieces and shutting down wins before they even start firing off.
• Blink: These decks typically rely on three or four creatures at any point, which our scarecrows can destroy easily.
• Aristocrats: Like blink decks, these win through a small collection of important permanents that won't last long against us.
• Voltron - We can eliminate both the commander and the permanents that make the commander untargetable - who needs edicts?
• Lands - Often hard to control, the King can eliminate a land deck's mana advantage and keep them level with the rest of the table.

Bad Against:

• Spellslinger: Decks without nonland permanents are harder for us to lock down. Focus your aggro toward them while controlling the other boards.
• Flash: This deck can really struggle to keep up with those that play at instant speed. Tutor for Shimmer Myr if possible so you don't get outpaced.
• Tokens: These decks squeeze out too many permanents to destroy them all. Find the pieces that leverage tokens the most and target them first.
• Graveyard: Destruction means little to those who want a full graveyard. Dig for Tormod's Crypt or make a deal with a player who can exile things.
• Lifegain: Our wincon is combat damage, so decks that reach over 100 life are a real challenge. Target their lifegain engines before they get out of hand.

Upgrade Ideas

~$10: Vanquisher's Banner - This wonderful, beautiful, perfect card pumps our tribe while giving us gas for playing them. If you enjoy the deck, this is the first card you should upgrade it with.

~$4: Conjurer's Closet - Artifact-only doesn't offer a lot of options for blinking, but this is good enough to make it into most blink decks anyway. This is an easy pickup if you get the promo from the upcoming Commander Party event.

~$5: Phyrexian Metamorph - In Commander, especially against more expensive decks, copies are king. At its best, Metamorph turns the strongest deck at the table against itself. At its worst, it's another scarecrow, which is still pretty damn good.

~$6: Lightning Greaves - Our commander is going to be a huge magnet for removal due to its powerful ability and artifact subtype. The more protection we can give it, the better.

~$3: Maskwood Nexus - A pretty clean upgrade to Birthing Boughs, this card can produce scarecrows as well as convert the creatures who aren't in our tribe.

~$8: Panharmonicon - Doubling our enter-the-battlefield effects is great, especially in this deck. I doubt I need to elaborate.

~$4: Cloud Key - This is essentially a medallion for every nonland card in the deck. With this and other cost reducers, almost the entire deck could be played for free.

~$15: Helm of the Host - Stronger scarecrows and even more destruction from duplicating the king. Man, remember when this card was 6 bucks? Good times.

~$7: Inventors' Fair - Incidental lifegain plus a tutor for our strongest artifacts is a perfect match. Swap out one of the weaker colorless lands for this, if you can.

~$7: Scourglass - An almost entirely one-sided Nevinyrral's Disk. It'll kill Umori, but that's a small price to pay for destroying every nonland, non-artifact permanent.

Artifact Land Cycle - The original cycle of 6 artifact lands is a great add in this deck if you want to kick the artifact subtheme into overdrive. Swap out some of the basics if you have them.

Remaining Scarecrows - A few scarecrows had mana costs too high or effects too niche to make the cut. These cards are really cheap pickups if you want to fully lean into scarecrow tribal.