The Wizard of Kraj

Once again, I think I'm far wittier than I actually am when making titles for these posts. And depending on your pronunciation of Kraj, the pun might not even present itself clearly. But enough of that. I came here today to write of another Magic EDH deck that I recently made. This one, as you might expect, involves Experiment Kraj, but its concept began when I looked at two different cards: Vorel of the Hull Clade and Djinn of Wishes. Vorel I already had, but the Djinn I came across online. The combo potential was immediately obvious, and I wondered what other sorts of unique counters I could manipulate to staggering amounts for otherwise unobtainable effects. I didn't open a lot of Simic cards from the latest block, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. I've always wanted to use Kraj in EDH, and so in place of multi-colored cards I mixed in blue wizards and green shamans and druids, or just cards with abilities that I felt had a Simic flavor, which of course can then be stacked on Kraj. Equip a pair of Illusionist's Bracers for extra fun.

Now, before I reveal the deck list, I should clarify something. Despite the title of the post (which is also what I named the deck), Experiment Kraj is not the general. He's iconic, and his name worked better when I tried to make up something clever, but Vorel takes the spotlight here. For one thing, he has a mana cost of 3 as opposed to 6, and for another, he combos more consistently and with ever increasing rates of return. He is a general I actually feel is integral to the deck, as opposed to a couple of others I've built where the generals are mostly there to give me the color identity I want and might never see play throughout the course of an entire game. I enjoy playing those decks, but they never feel quite as true to the spirit of EDH as when the commander is on the front lines, activating effects and/or leading the charge.

 Alright, now to the good stuff:

Creatures
Vorel of the Hull Clade
Experiment Kraj
Djinn of Wishes
Puppeteer
Beetleform Mage
Quirion Druid
Drakewing Krasis
Llanowar Elves
Walking Sponge
Crowned Ceratok
Student of Elements/Tobita, Master of Winds
Ivy Lane Denizen
Yavimaya Elder
Simic Manipulator
Information Dealer
Terraformer
Shambleshark
Thalakos Seer
Vigean Graftmage
Oak Street Innkeeper
Horseshoe Crab
Floodchaser
Leech Bonder
Bond Beetle
Neurok Invisimancer
Cloudfin Raptor
Gilt-Leaf Seer
Aven Windreader
Cytospawn Shambler
Latch Seeker
Vodalian Mage
Merrow Levitator
Eternal Witness
Mossdog

Instants/Sorceries
Stolen Identity
Naturalize
Preordain
Index
Wildwood Rebirth
Twiddle
Search for Tomorrow
Miming Slime
Mutant's Prey
Spell Burst
Lay of the Land
Clockspinning
Refresh
Turn Aside
Blessings of Nature
Fungal Sprouting

Enchantments
Shapeshifter's Marrow
Fool's Demise
Shielding Plax
Trollhide
Forced Adaptation
Ferocity
Venom
Training Grounds
Spidersilk Armor

Artifacts
Magma Mine
Hankyu
Shrine of Piercing Vision
Courier's Capsule
Illusionist's Bracers

Lands
1 x Novijen, Heart of Progress
1 x Magosi, the Waterveil
1 x Simic Guildgate
17 x Islands
16 x Forests

There are numerous little combos in the deck, most of them focused on moving/multiplying counters (this is Simic, after all). Some of the more fun ones are:

• Using Shrine of Piercing Vision to reorder your entire library
• Detonating a Magma Mine with 128 counters on it
• Firing a swarm of arrows from Hankyu
• Using Magosi, the Waterveil, to take 2 or more turns every round (Warning: Use with caution. Length of your turns may aggravate opponents)
• Cloning your opponent's side of the field by ciphering Stolen Identity onto an unblockable creature
• Using Vorel to wish for more wishes from Djinn of Wishes
• Winning the game with a 100/100 flying Beetleform Mage

There are also a couple of spells with the buyback mechanic. I thought it would make sense for the Simic to invent "reusable" magic, maybe even in conjunction with the Izzet (one of my favorite guilds). Some of the enchantments are meant to represent the Simic idea of bio-manipulation, such as grafting Trollhide and Venom into creatures, or Shapeshifter's Marrow, which is magic that literally morphs itself into a new creature. All in all, I would say it's one of the more flavorful (and fun) decks I've constructed.

-Arcthos