Deck # 2: The 13th House (EDH / Commander) [Révision 125]

"Astrology has no thirteenth house back home in England, Mother Pharika. It stops at twelve. So I turned to the tarot, and the thirteenth card of the tarot is Death."

I simply decided to just collect only the cards I actually wanted to play. The cards that I felt were the spirit of this deck. Though I had to reduce my anti-artifact spells and creatures, I believe I've managed to hit most of what I was going for. Vraska the Unseen, Pestilence Demon, Rite of Passage, and Defiant Bloodlord, are in this deck again, and staying in it. This is their home. Beledross Witherbloom and a small alliance of demons are also granted a home here, hoping to provide a solid air defense and mislead people into looking for Liliana's Contract, which is not in here, so they won't notice the Epic Struggle, which is in here.

 Revel in Riches is also here, because I noticed that Prosperous Innkeeper creates a treasure token.  That means I don't have to kill you lot to win the game, though I can using the Qasali Slinger, Liquimetal Coating, and Jolrael, Mwonvuli Recluse, making and populating her cat tokens.  All I need to do is make clones of Prosp. Innkeeper, and that's the 10 treasures right there.  

Dr. Kylie Moriarty is attacked by a vengeful Vraska and her date, Sorin, who were in England as Count Dracula and the Bride of Frankenstein for a Halloween party, seeing as they caught her taking a DNA sample from Vivien Reid. When she won't give up her genetic sample, Sorin kidnaps Kylie and brings her to Theros, planning to destroy her, with Vraska watching. But Sorin when tries to use magic against Kylie, she reflects it back, and Sorin evades the reflected spell, but Vraska does not. Immediately, Kylie forgets about the battle and starts tending to Vraska's injuries. Still enraged, Sorin vows to kill Kylie right then and there. To both of their surprise, Vivien, who has been following, intervenes and stops the battle. It's not that Vivien was on Kylie's side. She simply wanted answers from the doctor.

 Once the fight is over, Kylie begins treating Sorin's wounds and reveals her discoveries about the ecological damage the planeswalkers are doing, and that planeswalkers are too dangerous to be free.  Realizing that Kylie is not evil, Sorin and Vraska drop their anger and allow Kylie to take genetic samples of them before they leave.  Kylie's medical expertise in treating the injuries of the three present planeswalkers is soon discovered by Pharika, God of Affliction.

 Kylie's medical knowledge outstrips even Pharika's, and so she invites the Brit to teach her all her medical secrets, in return for being granted all of Pharika's knowledge of Theros medicine.  The exchange of knowledge goes quite well, to the point where Pharika becomes the only deity Kylie considers to be real and worthy of worship.  

 Bored with the talk between the two healers, Sorin and Vraska leave Theros, but Vivien stays.  Pharika has a prophecy that an attack is coming.  Vivien challenges the two healers that all their medical mastery won't be of any use against an attacker. 

 Kylie and Pharika begin crafting clones, starting with clones of Vraska and Sorin/Dracula, which attracts the attention of Erebos and Nylea.  They come intending to challenge, only to find they willingly allow Kylie to clone them and send their clones in to help.  Before she knows it, they have also taken enough genetic material to clone Vivien herself, though they don't tell her this until after she leaves Theros, called to a greater matter.  (This is how I do things.  I don't have the original anything.  I mean, in real life I have every card I'm posting in these decks, but I explained to a player one day when he asked "How can we have the same legendary.  Why are they fighting for both of us." I replied to him, as it was a private match and not a tournament, "Well, I'm playing a mad scientist.  So, your creatures are the real thing and mine are simply clones Dr. Moriarty has produced."  We agreed on that, and that is how I justify using legendary and planeswalker cards.  They are all clones).  

 Kylie's medical mastery brings forth powerful healing, complete with a clone of Defiant Bloodlord and several ways to bring the whole graveyard back, or only part of it if all Kylie needs at a given moment is the Mirrorpool back.  She also creates a Helix Pinnacle.  Pharika, with help from the four cloned planeswalkers, prepares a squadron of demon clones who provide knowledge in exchange for service.  Qasali Slingers loves this, because draw from the demons means cat tokens from Jolrael.  Thus making good use of Liquimetal Coating, a clone of Qasali Slingers and Jolrael, and creatures and spells to work against newly metal-coated creatures in an emergency:  Kylie realized Skullwinder and Eternal Witness would allow her to regain access to any of the cards that suited her, while Dwell on the Past, Gaea's Blessing, Blessed Respite, and the Loaming Shaman aid this plan in a lesser way.  

It is Mirrorpool and Selesnya Eulogist that prove to be this deck's real power, meaning the five cards that return it either to hand or library become essential.  While Mirrorpool sacrifices itself to make clones of any creature I have, from Farhaven Elf to Verdant Sun's Avatar, from Qasali Slingers to Skullwinder, the real fun is when I make a clone of Rune-Scarred Demon or the production of even one cat token.  Once I have one clone, populate means I can have whatever amount I need at the time, which can erase an army that's attacking me (or at least erase the threats my gods can't block away) or let me go looking, first for the Archetype, then for whatever else is most helpful in the moment.  Making clones of creatures that I can populate isn't a problem thanks to Nightmare Shepherd.  

 Xenic Poltergeist works with Liquimetal Coating to turn an enchantment into a creature, allowing instant protection for Revel in Riches, Epic Struggle, Rite of Passage, Whip of Erebos, Death's Presence, or any of the artifacts (Helix Pinnacle does not need such protection).  Mind you, it only works when the Archetype is in play.  Still, this protection doesn't last long.  The power to turn them into a creature holds only until my next upkeep, which is why Helm of the Host has been moved here.  Helm of the host makes a clone of the temporary enchantment creature, which will remain a creature when the original reverts to being a mere enchantment.  

 Vraska calls this deck home and have a right to belong in it.  She counts as her own win condition, especially if aided by Nylea.  For the sake of the balance, Elixir of Immortality has been removed from the deck to ensure Vraska always has a home.  This is rare, but with four other ways to regain cards, the Elixir was superfluous.  

 Pestilence Demon and Rite of Passage only work when they're together.  Using his powers to harm all players and creatures one point at a time instead of all at once, Dr. Moriarty can effectively destroy her enemies' army, while slowly bolstering her own.  It's slow, but effective.  And anyone who doesn't survive the initial blast, such as a harpy token, can allow someone else to survive by giving their life to someone else with Death's Presence.  Nylea can also intervene to protect a harpy token, a medic, or anyone else if she chooses to.  This can strengthen anyone who survives it, especially the secret weapon creatures.  Throw in the Urban Daggertooth, and proliferate happens.  This means the Helix Pinnacle will stop feeling neglected, and that each creature who survives will have their counters proliferate.  It's also a way to finish off an infected player, but there is nothing in this deck to infect you in and of itself.  There was briefly, but Pharika ultimately did not like working with it.  "Either pure dedication with no other strategy, or not at all."  

 And finally, I have air control with tokens.  Angels, vampires with flying and lifelink, and Harpies wait to serve as guards - or if need be, a swarm of attackers.  The cat tokens compliment Qasali Slinger and work as emergency removal by turning attackers into cat food.    

 Let the 13th House rise.  This will be the final revision.