Atraxa, Praetors’ Voice. Just the name itself evokes images of glistening Praetors, overwhelming value, and a nigh-unstoppable engine of card advantage. And in the cutthroat world of competitive Commander (cEDH), Atraxa has proven herself to be more than just a pretty face. In fact, recent tournament data suggests Atraxa decks boast some of the highest conversion rates, signaling a significant shift in the competitive landscape. Where commanders like Tymna the Weaver and Thrasios, Triton Hero once reigned supreme, Atraxa Food Chain has emerged as a top-tier contender, a testament to her versatility, resilience, and access to some of the most powerful tools in the game.
This article delves into the intricate workings of Atraxa Food Chain in cEDH, examining the reasons behind her success, the core combo components, optimal deck construction, and strategic gameplay considerations. We’ll explore why this glistening horror is not just a fun casual commander, but a force to be reckoned with in the most competitive Commander environments.
Atraxa, Praetors’ Voice provides access to a potent combination of colors, card advantage potential, and flexible strategies, solidifying its position as a top-tier cEDH commander. This potent mix allows for consistency and resilience that many other commanders cannot achieve.
Why Atraxa is a Good cEDH Commander
Let’s dissect the factors that make Atraxa such a formidable presence at the cEDH table.
Color Identity: The Foundation of Power (WUBG)
Atraxa’s WUBG (White, Blue, Black, Green) color identity is, without a doubt, her greatest asset. This potent combination unlocks access to a vast array of powerful cards that form the bedrock of any successful cEDH deck. Consider the sheer power of blue, which grants access to unparalleled card selection and countermagic. Cards like Force of Will, Fierce Guardianship, and Counterspell are staples in almost every blue-based cEDH deck, providing crucial protection for your own game plan and the ability to disrupt opponents’ strategies.
Black, on the other hand, delivers the best tutors in the game. Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, and Wishclaw Talisman are invaluable tools for finding the necessary combo pieces, ensuring consistency and speed. These tutors become even more potent when coupled with the resilience provided by white and green. White offers access to powerful stax pieces like Rule of Law and Drannith Magistrate, while green grants ramp and additional card advantage options. The ability to play a wide range of interaction, from Silence effects to targeted removal, further enhances Atraxa’s ability to adapt to diverse threats and strategies. With all these colors combined, Atraxa possesses the ability to react and answer almost any situation with great efficiency.
Built-in Value Engine: Proliferating to Victory
Beyond her potent color identity, Atraxa boasts a built-in value engine in the form of her Proliferate ability. At the end of each of your turns, you get to proliferate any number of counters on permanents and players. While this may seem subtle, it provides a consistent source of advantage over time. It supercharges planeswalkers, accelerating their ultimate abilities and providing consistent card advantage. Planeswalkers like Teferi, Time Raveler, and Narset, Parter of Veils, become even more powerful when their loyalty is consistently increased.
Furthermore, Proliferate helps to overcome stax pieces that hinder other decks. For example, in the face of a Rule of Law effect, Atraxa can still proliferate counters on permanents, allowing her to slowly grind out value while other decks struggle to cast multiple spells per turn. This inherent value generation allows Atraxa to keep pressure on opponents even under restrictive conditions, solidifying her position as a resilient commander.
Flexibility and Adaptability: A Chameleon of cEDH
One of the most appealing aspects of Atraxa is her flexibility. She can be built to focus on various strategies, depending on the pilot’s preferences and the demands of the metagame. While Food Chain is a common archetype, Atraxa can also be built as a stax-heavy control deck, a turbo-naus build focused on high-risk, high-reward plays, or a value-oriented deck that grinds out opponents with incremental advantage.
This adaptability allows pilots to tailor their deck to the specific challenges of their local meta. If your playgroup is filled with fast combo decks, you can lean into the stax elements, slowing down opponents and creating opportunities to execute your own game plan. If your meta is more grindy and control-oriented, you can focus on maximizing value and card advantage. The ability to adapt the game plan based on the pod and the evolving state of the game is a crucial element of Atraxa’s success.
Creature-Based Synergies: More Than Just Food Chain
While the Food Chain combo is a popular path to victory, Atraxa isn’t solely reliant on it. Her colors and proliferate ability allow her to synergize with other powerful creatures and combo lines. For example, she can support value creatures like Esper Sentinel, which provides early card advantage. She also can use combo lines such as Derevi, Empyrial Tactician with Freed from the Real or similar infinite mana combos. These creature-based synergies create multiple avenues to victory, increasing the deck’s resilience and ability to adapt to different situations.
The Food Chain Combo with Atraxa
Now, let’s delve into the heart of the Atraxa Food Chain strategy: the combo itself.
Core Components of the Food Chain Combo
The Food Chain combo revolves around generating infinite mana by repeatedly exiling a creature with Food Chain and then recasting it to generate a surplus. The key components are:
- Food Chain: The enchantment that allows you to exile creatures for mana that can only be used to cast creature spells.
- Squee, the Immortal or Misthic Pilgrim: A creature that can be exiled from hand and then recasted from exile, creating the infinite mana loop.
- Eternal Scourge: This creature allows infinite casts with the combo because it is cast from exile, it can be targeted by Food Chain
The process is simple: Cast Food Chain, then exile Squee (or Misthic Pilgrim or Eternal Scourge) from your hand, generating mana. Use this mana to recast the exiled creature, generating a net positive of mana each time. Repeat this process to generate infinite mana.
Win Conditions: Turning Infinite Mana into Victory
Once you have infinite mana, you need a way to convert it into a win. Common win conditions include:
- Walking Ballista: A classic win condition that can be cast for an arbitrarily large amount of mana and deal infinite damage.
- Thassa’s Oracle: An alternate win condition that can be tutored with Demonic Consultation or Tainted Pact. Cast Thassa’s Oracle with a nearly empty library to win the game.
- Thrasios, Triton Hero: When combined with infinite mana you can draw your deck.
Tutors and Card Advantage: Ensuring Consistency
Tutors are crucial for assembling the Food Chain combo consistently. Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Wishclaw Talisman, and other tutors allow you to quickly find the necessary combo pieces. Card advantage engines like Rhystic Study and Mystic Remora provide a steady stream of cards, increasing the chances of drawing the combo pieces naturally.
Sample Combo Lines: A Demonstration
Here’s a simplified example of a Food Chain combo line:
- Cast Food Chain.
- Exile Squee, the Immortal from your hand, generating three mana.
- Use the mana to recast Squee from exile, generating a net profit of mana.
- Repeat steps two and three until you have infinite mana.
- Cast Walking Ballista for an arbitrarily large amount of mana and eliminate your opponents.
Deck Construction and Card Choices
Building an Atraxa Food Chain deck requires careful consideration of card choices.
Core Card Packages
- Tutors: Prioritize efficient tutors like Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, and Wishclaw Talisman to find Food Chain and win conditions.
- Interaction: Include a mix of counterspells (Force of Will, Fierce Guardianship, Counterspell), removal (Swords to Plowshares, Assassin’s Trophy), and stax pieces (Rule of Law, Drannith Magistrate) to control the board and disrupt opponents.
- Card Advantage: Incorporate card draw engines like Rhystic Study, Mystic Remora, and Sylvan Library to maintain a steady flow of cards.
Flex Slots and Meta-Dependent Choices
Adapt your flex slots based on the demands of your metagame. If you face a lot of fast combo decks, include more stax pieces. If your meta is more creature-heavy, include more removal. Examples include cards like Cursed Totem, Stony Silence, and similar cards that disrupt a variety of decks.
Mana Base Considerations
A fast and consistent mana base is essential for a cEDH deck. Prioritize fetch lands, shock lands, and dual lands to ensure you can cast your spells on time. Balance color requirements to ensure you have access to all colors of mana when needed.
Playing Atraxa Food Chain: Gameplay and Strategy
The successful pilot of Atraxa Food Chain requires careful planning and strategic execution.
Early Game: Ramp, Draw, and Assessment
In the early game, focus on ramping into Atraxa, drawing cards to find combo pieces, and assessing the pod to identify potential threats. Prioritize playing mana positive rocks to get Atraxa out and start proliferating quickly.
Mid Game: Setting Up and Disrupting
In the mid game, focus on setting up the Food Chain combo while disrupting opponents’ plans. Hold up interaction to protect your combo or disrupt your opponents’ attempts to win.
Late Game: Executing the Win
In the late game, execute the Food Chain combo and win the game. Be prepared to adjust your game plan if the combo is disrupted.
Common Pitfalls and Mistakes
Avoid common mistakes such as overextending into board wipes or failing to hold up interaction to protect your combo. Be mindful of stax pieces that can disrupt your plans and be prepared to adapt.
Strengths and Weaknesses of the Deck
Atraxa Food Chain is a powerful deck with its own set of strengths and weaknesses.
Strengths
The deck’s strengths lie in its consistency, speed, resilience, and adaptability. It can consistently assemble the Food Chain combo and win the game quickly.
Weaknesses
The deck is vulnerable to certain stax pieces and requires careful planning and execution. It can also be expensive to build due to the cost of the necessary tutors and lands.
Matchups and Meta Considerations
Knowing your matchups is crucial for success.
Good Matchups
Atraxa Food Chain has favorable matchups against slower, more controlling decks that struggle to disrupt the combo.
Difficult Matchups
The deck can struggle against fast combo decks that can win before Atraxa has a chance to set up, or against decks with heavy stax elements that can shut down the combo entirely.
Adapting to the Meta
Adjust your decklist and game plan based on the demands of your local metagame. Include more stax pieces if you face a lot of fast combo decks, or more removal if your meta is creature-heavy.
Conclusion
Atraxa, Praetors’ Voice, as a Food Chain commander in cEDH, is a formidable force with a potent combination of consistency, speed, and adaptability. While she has weaknesses, her inherent advantages and flexible strategies position her as a top-tier choice for competitive play. As the cEDH metagame continues to evolve, Atraxa Food Chain will likely remain a dominant strategy. The deck allows access to a wide variety of cards and has inherent card advantage and resiliency. She truly solidifies herself as a top-tier contender for the most powerful commanders in cEDH. With future releases, we can expect to see Atraxa continue to adapt and innovate, solidifying her place as a shining example of value and power in the format.
