Odds and Ends Commander Deck Upgrade Guide: 18 Easy Changes You Can Make

Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign | Background Illustration by Chris Rahn

Odds and Ends is a new Secret Lair Commander deck, and this time they’ve listened to the fans. This precon will be printed to demand, and there are many funny, wacky reprints, as well as a special art style for some cards.

From Sensei's Divining Top to Void Winnower, there are many good reasons ($$$) to get this precon. But if you have it already, let’s take a look at the deck’s strategies and how you can upgrade it by changing a couple of cards. I’m well aware that you’ve just spent some money on the product, so I’ll be responsible and not suggest any card well above the $10 range.

Odds and Ends Secret Lair Commander Deck Overview

Source: Secret Lair Website

This is the original decklist from Odds and Ends. Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign is a commander that lets you cast spells with odd mana values (1, 3, 5, etc.) for free when it attacks. Ideally, you want to attack with your 3/5 flying commander, reveal a 9-drop, and cast it for free. If you reveal a land or an even-costed card, you’ll at least draw it. But to get the most out of the deck, you want to attack often, and you want a deck that’s mostly odd-costed cards.

The themes in this deck are mixed because as a Secret Lair deck, WotC has a place to reprint some weird cards to go with the “odd” theme. Not just mathematically odd; they want you to play like a mysterious sphinx that’s manipulating the battlefield and doing enigmatic stuff. There are many cards in this precon with a “spin the wheel” style that look to reveal some cards and see what happens. Pure chaos.

Upgrade Plan

The biggest problem when playing a 5-mana commander and a bunch of 5-9 MV cards is that sometimes the deck will be slow. Improving the ramp and card draw is a must to make sure we don’t miss a land drop. I think that the mana base and the mana fixing are very playable right out of the box, so upgrading them is a matter of changing some dual lands case-by-case, if you want.

Yennett lives or dies by its main ability, so you need to invest in ways to manipulate the top of your library better and to protect your commander.

Finally, there’s a mysterious theme in this deck to tie in with the sphinx’s flavor, so I’ll cut these more random, chaotic cards for more practical, run-of-the-mill cards, some Esper () staples in EDH, all preferably odd-costed cards to synergize with the commander.

I’m not necessarily making 1:1 swaps in the deck, so sometimes I might add a creature and take out a sorcery to make room for it, or something along those lines.

Honorable Mention: Budget Cards

Let’s quickly go over some cards that I’m not mentioning just because they’re more expensive, and my main objective is to improve this deck on a budget.

• Scroll Rack is an odd, cheap card and a way to set the top of your library.
• Mystical Tutor and Vampiric Tutor are cheap ways to tutor a card at instant speed to the top of your library, and you can do that as your commander attacks to make sure to hit that card.
• Cards like Summon: Bahamut, Emrakul, the Promised End, and Portal of Phyrexia are heavy hitters in this deck, and they improve your “lucky” expensive hits a lot.
• Raffine's Tower is the perfect tri-land for a deck like this.

Lavaspur Boots

Suggested Cut: Leadership Vacuum

This deck absolutely wants Lightning Greaves, but Lavaspur Boots keeps it odd and still gives you a combination of haste + protection. Play Greaves if you don’t mind a one-off even-costed card, but every one of those you add interferes with the deck’s plan more. Leadership Vacuum is better in decks that want to recast their commanders, and it’s just okay as interaction with your opponents.

Whispersilk Cloak

Suggested Cut: Shared Fate

With Whispersilk Cloak, I want to increase the chances that Yennett attacks without any problems. This deck also has some good creatures that can wear the Cloak to great results. Shared Fate is a chaotic card that allows players to play spells from their opponents’ libraries. While that’s nice when you’re playing five colors or a specific theft theme, that’s not this deck.

Jin-Gitaxias, Progress Tyrant

Suggested Cut: Exchange of Words

One of my additions to improve the deck’s odd-costed bombs, Jin-Gitaxias, Progress Tyrant is just an annoying card on the battlefield: Your opponents can’t cast some cards unless they double spell. It’s annoying to remove, and while it’s on your side, you get to copy your spells. Exchange of Words is also in the chaotic fun mentality, and I’m sure you can come up with nice combos or bizarre situations, but I’m taking that out here.

Artisan of Kozilek

Suggested Cut: Profane Transfusion

Another odd bomb, Artisan of Kozilek is a big reanimation stick, and it’s a nice top-end card in a deck with some expensive threats. Casting a big Eldrazi and bringing back a powerful sphinx is a nice play, but it requires you to have some guys in your graveyard. To make room for it, I’m taking out Profane Transfusion, a card that, like many other cuts, brings some random situations to the game that sometimes may be really strong. But what if players have similar life totals and you get nothing from your 9-mana spell?

Hidetsugu and Kairi

Suggested Cut: Psychic Battle

Hidetsugu and Kairi is Brainstorm #3 in this deck, and it’s a nice value threat. A 5/4 that does something good when it enters or dies is strong, and considering the high mana value cards in this deck, your opponents won’t be too keen on killing this. Psychic Barrier plays into that same high mana value bonus, but it’s at the same time a do-nothing, chaos-like 5-MV card that I’d rather not play.

Magister Sphinx

Suggested Cut: Time Stop

Magister Sphinx is an intriguing surprise card to have, especially if you reveal it while your commander is attacking. Suddenly, a player’s life total becomes 10, and you can easily kill them. Considering that in EDH life totals are usually in the 40-50 range, this card can be a huge blowout in this format. I’m taking out Time Stop because I want my expensive cards to have an odd mana value.

In Garruk’s Wake

Suggested Cut: Promise of Loyalty

Decks like this are perfect for running expensive, 9-mana sweepers, like In Garruk's Wake. A one-sided wrath typically ends games, and this deck has very few sweepers. Promise of Loyalty is an interesting sweeper-like card that keeps creatures on the battlefield, and they can’t attack you, but I’d rather go with a more comprehensive one.

Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire

Suggested Cut: Aboleth Spawn

Here we’re changing 3-mana creatures. Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire is a nice Vampiric Tutor on a stick, and while it won’t get in that easily, it has deathtouch, so it’ll often trade. And if you attack with this card and your commander, you can boast while attacking and set up the top card, which is a powerful combo. Aboleth Spawn lets you copy your opponents’ abilities, which has higher variance: Sometimes it’s really good, and sometimes it’s blank, so I’m taking out an unreliable card.

Prognostic Sphinx

Suggested Cut: Space Beleren

Prognostic Sphinx is just a nice work-horse in this deck. It’s a relevant threat, it scries a bunch, and it has nice, built-in protection. I get that this deck wanted to reprint Space Beleren, but it’s just an even-costed planeswalker I’m not that interested in playing.

Ugin’s Insight

Suggested Cut: Aeon Engine

With Ugin's Insight, sometimes you’ll scry 7, draw three, and set up your future Yennett attacks. Besides, raw card draw and selection is always nice. Sometimes you’ll get something good from reversing the turn order, but if that’s all it does, I’m inclined to take Aeon Engine out.

Brainsurge

Suggested Cut: Planeswalker's Mischief

Brainsurge is another Brainstorm backup to give you more card draw, which this deck lacks, and more ways to stack a future Yennett attack. Ideally you’ll do that at the end of an opponent’s turn, or even before attacks.

Planeswalker's Mischief is a weird card that lets you sometimes play instants and sorceries for free from your opponent’s hands. Yep, it’s more chaos. Probably a fun card, though a random one, so that’s why I’m taking it out.

Path to Exile

Suggested Cut: Rapid Hybridization

Here, the cut is based on what I want to give my opponent: Land is usually worse than a 3/3 token, but exiling is better than destroying. So I’m going with Path to Exile instead of Rapid Hybridization.

Anguished Unmaking

Suggested Cut: Skyclave Apparition

Another change based on the practical effect. Anguished Unmaking is an unconditional exile removal spell and an EDH staple. Skyclave Apparition works, but it’s clunky, and this deck doesn’t have additional synergies like blinking, so I prefer the one-shot effect.

An Offer You Can’t Refuse

Suggested Cut: Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth

An Offer You Can't Refuse is a flexible protection spell, and for 1 mana you can protect your commander from removal or your creatures from a sweeper. And giving your opponent two Treasure tokens is a cost far less problematic in Commander than it is in 1v1.

Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth is just there as a good value reprint, and for some synergies with Shared Fate, which I also cut from the deck, so that’s going away.

Lim-Dûl’s Vault

Suggested Cut: Thief of Sanity

Lim-Dûl's Vault is excellent in a deck like this where you can manipulate your top card, and one of the few even cards in this deck. For some life, it basically gives you a hot target for your commander’s ability. Although Thief of Sanity is a solid creature, you don’t have any incentives for stealing cards from your opponents, and I’m comfortable taking it out.

Arcane Denial

Suggested Cut: Chaos Wand

Arcane Denial is a staple blue counterspell in Commander, and you even get to draw a card while the other spellcaster draws two. Like An Offer You Can't Refuse, not that big of a downside in Commander, and we get some cantripping interaction. Chaos Wand is, well, chaos, and you’ll never know what you’re getting.

Talisman of Dominance

Suggested Cut: Coalition Relic

Here’s a little change in artifact ramp. Talisman of Dominance is a 2-mana rock, and while Coalition Relic is odd and can get you from 3 to 5 mana, here I’m switching a 3-MV for a 2-MV card that has the same function in this deck.

Explorer’s Scope

Suggested Cut: Weathered Wayfarer

Explorer's Scope is a ramp equipment that works wonders with Yennett’s ability. If you have a land and a 5-mana card on top of your library while Yennett attacks, you can stack the triggers so you reveal the land to Explorer's Scope first, put it on the battlefield, and after that you reveal the 5-mana card to your commander, getting both benefits in a single attack. Weathered Wayfarer is conditional ramp on a 1/1 body, so that’s what’s being taken out of the deck.

The Final Deck and New Cards

Here’s my final decklist with the new cards included. I made an effort to raise some points like consistency and deck curve, and to ensuring we have some real bangers to cast for free with Yennett’s ability.

The decklist below contains just the new added cards, which you can buy with a click of the shopping cart button icon.

Commanding Conclusion

Void Winnower | Illustration by Chase Stone

And that’s my take on the Odds and Ends precon, guys. If you don’t like the route I took here, there are other possibilities.

There’s a full stax deck filled with cards like Propaganda, Ghostly Prison, and cards that limit what your opponent can do, or tax their actions. It’s an interesting way to mitigate the fact that your deck is kinda slow and clunky without many 2- and 4-mana plays.

This deck also supports a theft build in which you cast cards from your opponents’ libraries, and many strong theft cards cost 7 mana, like Brainstealer Dragon or Agent of Treachery.

Finally, I’m sure you can embrace chaos and the weirder cards in this deck, and even add more of that. This deck already has Breena, the Demagogue to benefit from players attacking each other, and I’m sure you can lean more into that.

Which of these do you think would be the better route? Are you going to get this Secret Lair precon? Let me know what you think in the comments section below or on the Draftsim Discord. And for more on Commander precons, be sure to check out The Daily Upkeep, Draftsim’s YouTube channel.

Thanks for reading!