Budget cEDH Deck Tech: Etali, Primal Conqueror

As usual, today we'll bring you another creative, powerful Commander list! This time, we brought you a relatively budget list that will be a lot of fun as well as competitive. It also includes one of the most chaotic commanders in the format: Etali, Primal Conqueror.

Etali is a Dinosaur that steals your opponent's cards and lets you cast them for free, so it creates unique, unpredictable situations every match. In this article, we'll explore a budget cEDH list, a format in which your deck (except for your commander) can't cost over a certain amount of money. Currently, this list costs 197 dollars including Etali.

However, why should you start playing budget cEDH? And why should you play Etali? We'll answer all of these questions and dive deep into this deck, which will create incredibly fun game states on your tables, at least for you.

Etali is a 7/7 Dinosaur with trample that costs seven mana. Its ability exiles the top of everyone's decks until it exiles a nonland card - then, it lets you cast that card for free. This is Etali's most relevant ability, and we built this entire strategy around getting as much as we can from it.

However, you can also use 9 mana and 2 life to turn Etali into its other side, an 11/11 with indestructible and trample. Its ability states, "whenever Etali, Primal Sickness deals damage to a player, they get that many poison counters. This is often a lethal play, so we'll use it as our plan C.

Oh! Another important detail: this is a Gruul commander. Though it looks monored, to turn it into Etali, Primal Sickness, you'll need a green phyrexian mana, so it is actually green.

As we mentioned before, this build focuses on getting the most out of Etali's ETB ability as possible. For this reason, we added many cloning effects, considering red and green aren't that great at blinking your permanents. Our plan is to use as many ETBs as possible so we can cast our cards without using mana and, eventually, find one of our winning combos.

Furthermore, we'll also play our opponent's cards for free, as we can cast them or leave them in exile. More free cards can't hurt us, right?

Ramp

Getting seven mana as fast as possible is essential for this plan to work. So, we included 32 sources of ramp, including mana dorks, mana rocks, and lands. With these 32 cards, you'll nearly always be able to cast Etali when you need to.

Besides traditional ramp, this deck also plays rituals, which are explosive, temporary sources of mana, like Geosurge. These cards will speed up the game even more, and let you put Etali in play before your opponents can prepare themselves.

Protection and Removals

As this is a Gruul deck, we can only interact with our opponents with removals. However, this deck is extremely proactive and wants to win before your opponents can set their plans in motion. As a result, you'll use your protection to make sure Etali and its clones resolve their ETBs without any interference.

Delighted Halfling is a key piece in this list. Though it will consume a significant part of your budget, it is a protection against both counterspells and ramp. If you want to save some money, you can cut it, but this will noticeably impact how this strategy performs.

As removal, we included Rending Volley, which can remove threats like Drannith Magistrate or Lavinia, Azorius Renegade in a way your opponents can't counter. These cards are essential to make sure your combos aren't interrupted by our opponents.

Tutors

To make this deck even more consistent, we included a few tutors, like Tooth and Nail. With its entwine cost, which you can use even if it is exiled by Etali because it is an extra cost, you can get the combo pieces you need directly. However, please note that tutors and X-costs don't work well with Etali, considering that, if you cast them with its ability, X will always be 0.

Combos

This deck has two main, winning combos:

1. Food Chain / Squee, the Immortal Combo:

- Prerequisite: 6 mana or 3 mana and a 2 cmc creature (or two 1 cmc creatures).

- Steps:

1. Cast Food Chain.

2. Cast Squee.

3. Exile Squee to create 4 red mana.

4. Cast Squee again for 3 mana.

5. Repeat this process to create infinite red mana.

6. Use the mana to cast Etali infinite times, and exile all your opponents' decks.

2. Rionya, Fire Dancer / Combat Celebrant Combo:

- Prerequisite: both cards need to be on the board.

- Steps:

1. At the beginning of combat, target Combat Celebrant with Rionya's ability.

2. Create a copy of Celebrant with haste.

3. Attack with the copy, trigger its ability, and exert it.

4. Repeat this process to create infinite extra combat steps.

Note: this also works with Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker.

Upgrades

This list costs just enough to make it into budget cEDH, but, if you want to improve your odds, here are a few suggestions:

- Tutors: Worldly Tutor and Time of Need make this deck even more consistent.

- Ramp: mana rocks that are more powerful, like Mana Vault, can speed up the game even more.

And, lastly, one card we didn't add to this list because of the budget is Fear of Missing Out. It is incredibly strong and works with Rionya in the same way Celebrant does.

These are the most relevant upgrades you can do, but here is a full list with more suggestions:

Etali, Primal Storm offers you a unique experience in budget cEDH, combining chaos, strategy, and a lot of fun. This deck is an excellent choice if you're looking for a competitive format, but still want to enjoy the creativity and interaction Commander is known for. Its well-adjusted curve, efficient combos, and the fact you can upgrade it make Etali stand out as a viable, fun option for players who want to explore this format without spending a fortune.

What did you think of this list? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!