Matt Capra

[Bracket 4] Azusa, Lost but Seeking

Decklist

https://moxfield.com/decks/-8Mm0GH4AEGdW-RXwS-Ivw

Credit: Boyen

Primer

https://moxfield.com/decks/TP7YChOQpEiHXRpLd3EBJg/primer

Introduction

Welcome to my Primer on Azusa Unchained the Bracket 4 deck utlizing Azusa, Lost but Seeking. This deck plays as a combo deck with a few stax elements as interaction. It aims to win around turn 3/4/5 and has the possibility to put many consecutive combo attempts on the table. Many of the pieces in the deck are interchangable. Mana generators, token generators and finishers all works with each of the combo lines. There is a lot of redundancy and even without a combo the individual cards provide value.

This deck can play at a CEDH table, but it will rely on opponents for stack interaction (read, counterspells) when other opponents try to combo off.

Why CLAW?

CLAW is a really difficult deck to stop. Some of the combo’s that it can present don’t even cast any spells. Additionally when a combo attempt is stopped the deck plays enough recursion that you can try again the next turn. A lot of the value lies in the lands that are being played which offer a lot of utility and are difficult to interact with.

CLAW is the sister deck of the Cocaine Bear: https://moxfield.com/decks/2MrG9ADf9km-Lg4hVDHweQ which is even more resilient than what CLAW offers. However, CLAW in comparison does have more angles of attack and is very difficult to hate out completely it also has many more viable hands whereas the Cocaine Bear relies on good mulligan decisions. Ultimately, however, this deck is not on CEDH level. But it scratches that surface.

Strengths

  • Explosive Mana Acceleration
  • High Combo Density & Redundancy
  • Resilient Engines
  • Difficult to Interact With
  • Protection vs. Stack/Removal
  • Alternative Win Routes
  • Consistent Turn 3–5 Threats

Weaknesses

  • Weak to Nonbasic Land Hate
    • Backbreaking effects include: Back to Basics, Blood Moon, Magus of the Moon
  • Weak against creatures
    • The deck has good answers against enchantments and artifacts, but has trouble answering creatures, especially Opposition Agent / Dauthi Voidwalker
  • Combo Complexity / Fizzle Risk
    • Many lines involve sequencing with triggers exactly the right way. Additionally, some combo lines are only a 80% chance win, so need to be played out.
  • Graveyard Dependence
    • Many loops Aftermath Analyst, Lumra lines, Loam recursion fold to Rest in Peace / Dauthi Voidwalker / Endurance at the wrong time.
  • Meta Reliance
    • Turbo combo is usually much faster, and we rely on our allies/opponents to deal with that

Combo Lines

Combo Lines The deck has several combo lines

  • Ashaya, Soul of the Wild / Quirion Ranger - a combo with a lot of options and possible lines
  • Springheart Nantuko / Inkmoth Nexus / Dryad Arbor - a combo that requires a very minimal mana investment
  • Icetill Explorer / Springheart Nantuko / Lotus FIeld / Untapper
  • Several Lumra lines
  • Aftermath Analyst / Shifting Woodland / Untapper / Sylvan Safekeeper

Combo Engine Each of these combolines utlize the following “combo engine” pieces:

  • Infinite mana: Lotus Cobra / Tireless Provisioner / Nissa, Resurgent Animist
  • Infinite tokens: Field of the Dead / Springheart Nantuko / Scute Swarm
  • Untappers: Tiller Engine / Amulet of Vigor / Horizon Explorer

Finishers If you want to ensure a win in the same turn the deck has 3 cards that can be added to the top combo plays::

  • Infinite draw: Tireless Tracker
  • Shifting Woodlands, unlocking Forgotten Cellar, getting protection on the table and finishing the game with a Finale of Devastation
  • Looping Sunscorched Desert when endlessly milling

Ashaya

Initial Card State Ashaya, Soul of the Wild and Quirion Ranger on the battlefield.

Notable Prerequisites You control a nontoken creature other than Quirion Ranger that does not have summoning sickness.

Steps

  • Activate any nontoken creature you control except Quirion Ranger by tapping it, adding .
  • Activate Quirion Ranger by returning itself from the battlefield to your hand, untapping the creature tapped for mana.
  • Cast Quirion Ranger by paying .
  • Repeat.

Results

  • Infinite ETB.
  • Infinite landfall triggers.
  • Infinite LTB.
  • Infinite storm count.

Discussion The most common line for winning after this combo is tutor in hand -> get Woodland Bellower -> Tireless Tracker -> draw your entire library Note that infinite mana can also be achieved with Earthcraft

Infinite manlands

Initial Card State Springheart Nantuko in hand. Blinkmoth Nexus with one off Lotus Cobra / Tireless Provisioner / Nissa, Resurgent Animist OR Dryad Arbor with two off Lotus Cobra / Tireless Provisioner / Nissa, Resurgent Animist

Notable Prerequisites You have a land card in hand. You are able to play a land this turn. Mana Needed (

Steps

  • Activate Blinkmoth Nexus’s first ability by tapping it, adding .
  • Activate Blinkmoth Nexus’s second ability by paying , causing it to become a creature until end of turn.
  • Cast Springheart Nantuko for its bestow cost by paying , attaching it to Blinkmoth Nexus.
  • Play any land.
  • When the land enters the battlefield, Springheart Nantuko and Tireless Provisioner trigger.
  • Resolve the Tireless Provisioner trigger, creating a Treasure token.
  • Activate the Treasure by tapping and sacrificing it, adding .
  • Resolve the Springheart Nantuko trigger, causing you to pay to create a token copy of Blinkmoth Nexus.
  • When the Blinkmoth Nexus token enters the battlefield, Tireless Provisioner and Springheart Nantuko trigger.
  • Holding priority, activate the Blinkmoth Nexus token’s first ability by tapping it, adding .
  • Repeat from step 6.

Results Infinite landfall triggers. Infinite tapped Blinkmoth Nexus tokens.

Discussion The Dryad Arbor line is unlikely, but not impossible. With a Gaea’s Cradle in play you can tap it after exucting the loop for X times to create X untapped tokens. This allows a same turn win with Ulvenwald Oddity / Ulvenwald Behemoth. This combo is the safest to execute when you are not going to win the same turn, as it is very difficult for opponents to deal with infinite flying infect manlands. This combo is easily tutorable with Uncage the Menagerie.

Icetill Explorer

Initial Card State Tiller Engine or Amulet of Vigor on field Icetill Explorer on field Springheart Nantuko in hand

Notable Prerequisites Lotus Field in hand or in graveyard OR Gaea’s Cradle and Strip Mine in hand or graveyard (if Gaea’s Cradle produces at least 4 mana) Able to play a land for the turn

Steps

  • With Icetill Explorer on field, bestow Springheart Nantuko on Icetill Explorer for
  • Play Lotus Field from hand or from graveyard, tapping for before sac trigger (Itself & any other land)
  • Pay for Nantuko trigger making a copy of Icetill Explorer
  • Play Lotus Field from the graveyard
  • Loop from 2

Steps

  • With Icetill Explorer on field, bestow Springheart Nantuko on Icetill Explorer for
  • Play Gaea’s Cradle from hand or from graveyard, tapping for at least
  • Pay for Nantuko trigger making a copy of Icetill Explorer
  • Play Strip Mine from the graveyard
  • Pay for Nantuko trigger making a copy of Icetill Explorer
  • Destroy Gaea’s Cradle with Strip Mine, sending both to the graveyard
  • Loop from 2

Initial Card State Icetill Explorer on field Springheart Nantuko in hand

Notable Prerequisites Gaea’s Cradle and Strip Mine in hand or graveyard (if Gaea’s Cradle produces at least 4 mana) Able to play 1 land for the turn

Results This will create Infinite copies of Icetill Explorer, Infinite Mill triggers, Infinite landfall, and Infinite mana of any color

Discussion There are multiple ways to win with infinite mill triggers and infinite mana but the easiest is probably by recurring a Shifting Woodland that copies a Walk-in Closet unlocks the second door that allows you to play your entire deck. It’s also possible to Harmonize Nature’s Rhythm on Eternal Witness and then cast a Finale of Devastation. You can start this combo without Amulet of Vigor or Tiller Engine using a Lotus Cobra or alike. This won’t go infinite, but will create Icetill Explorer’s equal to the number of mana available.

Lumra

Initial Card State At least (Springheart Nantuko attached to Lumra, Bellow of the Woods). One off: Sylvan Safekeeper, Tiller Engine, Amulet of Vigor, Lotus Cobra, Tireless Provisioner, Nissa, Resurgent Animist, Horizon Explorer

Notable Prerequisites You have at least two lands between the battlefield and your graveyard. You have a land card in hand. You are able to play a land this turn. Mana Needed

Steps

  • Play any land.
  • When the land enters the battlefield, Springheart Nantuko triggers.
  • OPTIONAL If available, holding priority, activate Sylvan Safekeeper by sacrificing a land.
  • OPTIONAL Repeat step 3 until you control no lands.
  • Resolve the Springheart Nantuko trigger, causing you to pay to create a token copy of Lumra.
  • Put the token Lumra, Bellow of the Woods into your graveyard due to the legend rule.
  • The Lumra token’s enter-the-battlefield ability triggers, causing you to mill four cards and returning all lands from your graveyard to the battlefield. 8a. When the lands enter the battlefield, Springheart Nantuko and Lotus Cobra trigger that many times. 8b. Resolve all Lotus Cobra triggers, adding 9a. All lands enter untapped and due to Amulet of Vigor or Tiller Engine allowing you to pay for the Springheart Nantuko trigger.
  • Resolve all but one Springheart Nantuko trigger, choosing not to pay and creating that many 1/1 Insect creature tokens.
  • Repeat from step 3.

Results Infinite LTB, Infinite ETB, Infinite death triggers, Infinite self-mill, Infinite lifegain triggers, Infinite lifegain, Infinite landfall triggers, Infinite mana lands you control can produce, Infinite untap of lands you control, Infinite colored mana, Put all land cards from your library and graveyard onto the battlefield tapped.

Discussion There are multiple ways to win with infinite mill triggers and infinite mana but the easiest is probably by recurring a Shifting Woodland that copies a Walk-in Closet unlocks the second door that allows you to play your entire deck. It’s also possible to Harmonize Nature’s Rhythm on Eternal Witness and then cast a Finale of Devastation.

You can start this combo without having all pieces available as long as you have (Springheart Nantuko attached to Lumra, Bellow of the Woods). You can do the entire combo without Sylvan Safekeeper but it might fizzle.

Initial Card State Vesuva in hand. Ashaya, Soul of the Wild and Lumra, Bellow of the Woods on the battlefield. Crumbling Vestige and Lotus Field not in hand.

Notable Prerequisites You are able to play a land this turn.

Steps

  • Play Vesuva, and choose to have it enter the battlefield as a copy of Lumra, Bellow of the Woods.
  • Put Vesuva into your graveyard due to the legend rule.
  • Vesuva’s ETB ability triggers, causing you to mill four cards and return all land cards from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped.
  • As Vesuva enters the battlefield, choose to have it become a copy of Lumra, Bellow of the Woods.
  • Repeat from step 2.
  • Crumbling Vestige and Lotus Field can be looped infinitely for infinite mana, even without an untapper.

Results Infinite LTB, Infinite ETB, Infinite death triggers, Infinite self-mill, Infinite landfall triggers, put all land cards from your library and graveyard onto the battlefield tapped.

Discussion There are multiple ways to win with infinite mill triggers and infinite mana but the easiest is probably by recurring a Shifting Woodland that copies a Walk-in Closet unlocks the second door that allows you to play your entire deck. Constantly looping Sunscorched Desert by sacrificing it with Lotus Field is another option. It’s also possible to Harmonize Nature’s Rhythm on Eternal Witness and then cast a Finale of Devastation on all tokens created with Field of the Dead

Initial Card State Arid Archway or Guidless Commons and Lumra, Bellow of the Woods in hand. Ashaya, Soul of the Wild, Sylvan Safekeeper and either on untapper (Tiller Engine or a landfall mana generator Lotus Cobra on the battlefield.

Notable Prerequisites You are able to play a land this turn.

Steps

  • Play Lumra, Bellow of the Woods putting the trigger on the stack.
  • Tap all your lands for mana and sacrifice with Sylvan Safekeeper (do not sacrifice Lumra, Ashaya, or Sylvan Safekeeper)
  • All lands return to the battlefield, Arid Arid Archway or Guildless Commons returns Lumra back to hand, Lumra is a Forest due to Ashaya.
  • Repeat from 1

Results Infinite LTB, Infinite ETB, Infinite death triggers, Infinite self-mill, Infinite landfall triggers, put all land cards from your library and graveyard onto the battlefield tapped.

Discussion There are multiple ways to win with infinite mill triggers and infinite mana but the easiest is probably by recurring a Shifting Woodland that copies a Walk-in Closet unlocks the second door that allows you to play your entire deck. Constantly looping Sunscorched Desert by sacrificing it with Lotus Field is another option. It’s also possible to Harmonize Nature’s Rhythm on Eternal Witness and then cast a Finale of Devastation on all tokens created with Field of the Dead

Initial Card State Lumra, Bellow of the Woods, Mirrorpool, TIller Engine OR Amulet of Vigor OR Horizon Explorer on the battlefield

Notable Prerequisites At least available

Steps

  • Activate any number of other lands by tapping them, providing:
  • Optional Activate Sylvan Safekeeper by sacrificing all lands except Mirrorpool (this allows it to go infinite but is not always needed)
  • Activate Mirrorpool’s third ability by paying tapping and sacrificing it, creating a token copy of Lumra, Bellow of the Woods.
  • Put the Lumra token into your graveyard due to the legend rule.
  • The Lumra token’s enters-the-battlefield ability triggers, causing you to mill four cards and return all land cards from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped.
  • When the lands enter the battlefield, Amulet of Vigor / Tiller Engine / Horizon Explorer triggers that many times, untapping the lands.
  • Repeat.

Results Infinite ETB, Infinite death triggers, Infinite self-mill, Infinite mana lands you control can produce, Infinite landfall triggers, put all land cards from your library and graveyard onto the battlefield.

Discussion When you start the combo without Sylvan Safekeeper, make sure there is a landfall mana producer in play. Do note that you will need on each iteration. There are multiple ways to win with infinite mill triggers and infinite mana but the easiest is probably by recurring a Shifting Woodland that copies a Walk-in Closet unlocks the second door that allows you to play your entire deck. Constantly looping Sunscorched Desert by sacrificing it with Lotus Field is another option. It’s also possible to Harmonize Nature’s Rhythm on Eternal Witness and then cast a Finale of Devastation on all tokens created with Field of the Dead

Aftermath Analyst

Initial Card State Aftermath Analyst in your graveyard. Shifitng Woodland, Sylvan Safekeeper on the battlefield Depending on the amount of lands, either one of or both Tiller Engine/Amulet of Vigor and Lotus Cobra on the battlefield.

Notable Prerequisites There are at least four card types among cards in your graveyard for Delirium You control enough lands to sustain the combo, that’s about 4 lands producing mana if you have 1 untapper and 1 landfall mana generator and 8 lands if you only have 1 untapper OR landfall mana generator. Initial mana needed:

Steps

  • Activate Sylvan Safekeeper by sacrificing any land except Shifting Woodland.
  • Repeat step 1 until you control no other lands except Shifting Woodland.
  • Activate Shifting Woodland’s second ability by paying causing it to become a copy of Aftermath Analyst until end of turn.
  • Activate Shifting Woodland by paying and sacrificing it, returning it and all other land cards from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped.
  • Optional When the lands enter the battlefield, Lotus Cobra triggers that many times, adding
  • Optional The lands enter the battlefield untapped due to untappers (Tiller Engine, Amulet of Vigor or Horizon Explorer), allowing you to tap all lands for mana
  • Repeat.

Results Infinite LTB, Infinite colored mana (when the loop is mana positive), Infinite sacrifice triggers, Infinite death triggers, Infinite landfall triggers.

Discussion The loop requires a lot of effort to get going, but all pieces are strong within the deck. This is not an easy to assemble combo but rather a combo that you could potentially stumble upon because all individual pieces seem rather harmless.

Scapeshift

Scapeshift is a very strong entry to the above combo lines and usually a prime enabler for turn 3/4 wins.

Notable Prerequisites 6 lands in play, Azusa, Lost but Seeking 3 lands still playable

Steps

  • Cast Scapeshift finding the following cards: Gaea’s Cradle, Field of the Dead, Guildless Commons Arid Archway2 lands
  • Guidless Commons trigger goes on the bottom stack, Arid Archway after that, and Field of the Dead trigger six times on top of the stack
  • Resolves the 6 Field of the Dead triggers creating 6 Zombies
  • Return Gaea’s Cradle to owners hand with Arid Archway’ss trigger
  • Return Arid Archway to owners hand with Guidless Commons trigger
  • Play Gaea’s Cradle using your first land drop generate a zombie (7 Zombies)
  • Play Arid Archway using your second land drop
  • Put the Arid Archway trigger on the bottom of the stack, let the zombie trigger resolve (8 Zombies)
  • In response to the Arid Archway trigger, tap Gaea’s Cradle for 9G
  • Let the Arid Archway trigger resolve returning Gaea’s Cradle to your hand.
  • Replay Gaea’s Cradle, generating 1 zombie (9 Zombies)
  • Tap Gaea’s Cradle for 10G

Results 9 Zombies 19G mana

Discussion The result of Scapeshift is usually an excellent starting point for winning the game. With a card like Shared Summons or Uncage the Menagerie it can quite easily lead to a win. It is also possible to cast Scapeshift earlier, but it requires a token generator in play and usually at least an effect like Lotus Cobra. This gives a similar amount of mana generation:

4-land Scapeshift line

Notable Prerequisites 4 lands in play, Azusa, Lost but Seeking 3 lands still playable, Lotus Cobra (or similar), Scute Swarm (or similar)

Steps

  • Cast Scapeshift finding the following cards: Gaea’s Cradle, Field of the Dead, Guildless Commons Arid Archway
  • Guidless Commons and Arid Archway triggers go on the bottom stack, and Scute Swarm triggers four times, Lotus Cobra trigger 4 times
  • Resolves the Lotus Cobra and Scute Swarm triggers generating 4 and 4 Insect tokens
  • Return Gaea’s Cradle to owners hand with Arid Archway’ss trigger
  • Return Arid Archway to owners hand with Guidless Commons trigger
  • Play Gaea’s Cradle using your first land drop generating 1 Insect and 1 (total 5 Insects, 5)
  • Play Arid Archway using your second land drop, put the trigger on the stack and let the Lotus Cobra and Scute Swarm triggers resolve (total 6 Insects, 6)
  • Tap Gaea’s Cradle generating 9 return Gaea’s Cradle to hand (total 6 Insects, 15)
  • Play Gaea’s Cradle (total 7 Insects, 16)
  • Tap Gaea’s Cradle for 10 (total 7 Insects, 26)

Results 7G from Lotus Cobra 7 Insect tokens 19G From Gaea’s Cradle

Aggro

When the above combo lines aren’t available for any reason, don’t forget that this deck still has the possibility to go aggro. At 6 lands, a Crucible of Worlds effect and either Scute Swarm / Field of the Dead or Springtheart Nantuko can overwhelm opponents. 5 lands in play, a fetch land and a crucible effect will give you 64 Scute Swarm tokens in one turn.

Protection

The following cards are used to protect the combo:

  • Anti counter: Allosaurus Shepherd, Boseiju, Who Shelters All, Delighted Halfling
  • Targeted removal: Sylvan Safekeeper or Urza’s Cave / Crop Rotation for Talon Gates of Madara
  • All interaction: Dosan, the Falling Leaf

Engine

This deck utlizes a strong landfall engine that generates a lot of ramp, card advantage and interaction.

The following engine pieces are used:

  1. Land recursion: Crucible of Worlds / Ramunap Excavator / Walk-In Closet / Forgotten Cellar / Icetill Explorer / Conduit of Worlds
  2. Replaying lands: Storm Cauldron

This allows us to get continuous value out of our landcards, playing them potentially indefinitely such as:

  1. Land Destruction: Wasteland / Strip Mine / Ghost Quarter
  2. Board nukes: Blast Zone / Scavenger Grounds
  3. Card advantage Horizon of Progress
  4. Ramp: all fetches
  5. Recurring Petrified Field or using Guildless Commons / Arid Archway allows us to replay powerful effects: Boseiju, Who Endures / Disciple of Freyalise / Garden of Freyalise / Bridgeworks Battle / Tanglespan Bridgeworks / Talon Gates of Madara

Tutors

The deck employs both land tutors and creature tutors:

Creature Tutors

With 9 creature tutors, the deck has a relatively easy time to find combo and engine pieces. Tutors can be used liberally.

  • Archdruid’s Charm
  • Chord of Calling
  • Finale of Devastation
  • Green Sun’s Zenith
  • Invasion of Ikoria / Zilortha, Apex of Ikoria
  • Nature’s Rhythm
  • Shared Summons
  • Uncage the Menagerie
  • Eldritch Evolution

Turntimer Symbiosis is often also capabale of finding something you need.

Land Tutors

With 10 land tutors the deck is quite capable at finding lands.

  • Archdruid’s Charm
  • Crop Rotation
  • Sylvan Scrying
  • Elvish Reclaimer
  • Urza’s Cave
  • Nylea’s Intervention
  • Scapeshift
  • Realms Uncharted
  • Pir’s Whim
  • Sowing Mycospawn

Notable, it doesn’t play a creature ETB land tutor, and only Elvish Reclaimer as a creature land tutor. Currently, with Primeval Titan banned there are only two realistic options:

  • Ulvenwald Hydra
  • Sowing Mycospawn

Ulvenwald Hydra is unfortunately a bit on the weak side to be played. 6 mana for a single land is way off the curve. Sowing Mycospawn is on curve but has an on cast trigger, which means that it cannot be used with Nature’s Rhythm, Chord of Calling, Finale of Devastation, Green Sun’s Zenith, Invasion of Ikoria / Zilortha, Apex of Ikoria. The perfect card for this deck (Primeval Titan)) is unfortunately not yet available.

Ramp

A turn 2 Azusa is quite important for this deck. It is the difference between a turn 5 combo or a turn 4 combo. Or getting a Strip Mine lock online on turn 3 or turn 4. The amount of ramp to run is a difficult balance, too much ramp means bad topdecks, not enough ramp makes the deck too slow for the metagame. The deck has several ways to get ahead:

Colorless :

  • Ancient Tomb
  • Sol Ring
  • Crystal Vein
  • City of Traitors
  • Green Sun’s Zenith for Dryad Arbor
  • Crop rotation for Ancient Tomb or Crystal Vein

Green :

  • Exploration
  • Delighted Halfling
  • Hickory Woodlot
  • Havenwood Battleground

If you don’t aim for a turn 2 Azusa, aim for one of these turn 2 plays:

  • Earthcraft
  • Hermit Druid
  • Sylvan Library
  • Lotus Cobra

Usually you want your hand to contain at least one of the above cards. If it doesn’t contain these cards you usually want to have either stax pieces or engine pieces readily available.

Recursion

Green is a colour that has amazing card draw if you have creatures with high power or play a lot of creatures. We do neither, instead, we use our graveyard as a resource and get card advantage and selection by utlizing recursion.

The following cards are part of the recursion shell: Timeless Witness, Eden, Seat of the Sanctum, Six, Lazotep Quarry, Shifting Woodlands. Together with the land recursion package Crucible of Worlds, Ramunap Excavator, Walk-In Closet / Forgotten Cellar, Icetill Explorer, Conduit of Worlds, Lumra, Bellow of the Woods, Aftermath Analyst, Blossoming Tortoise