{"ops":[{"insert":"Ygra, Eater of All"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nPrimer updated August 2026. \n\nBracket Description"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"This is a bracket 3 deck. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Ygra, Eater of All"}},{"insert":"] can definitely be stalled or stopped all together, but she can win early and often if left uninterrupted. In a lucky game, we can ramp turn one and turn two to play Ygra on turn 3. If we have something like a sacrifice or artifact board wipe on turn 4, we can swing for lethal at our first opponent. In a standard 4-player game, we can win on turn 6.\nOn the other hand, this deck is by no means unbeatable. I've had opponents shut Ygra down, and since this deck doesn't have any other win conditions, that shuts the whole deck down. This deck is a bit of a glass cannon in that way. Thus, a bracket 3 label to respect the threat level but not to overestimate its durability.\n\nThe Muse"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"This deck is inspired by the cards ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Cauldron Familiar"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Nine-Lives Familiar"}},{"insert":"] originally, and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Teacher's Pest"}},{"insert":"] later. I packed ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Nine-Lives Familiar"}},{"insert":"] in a set, and I stumbled across ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Cauldron Familiar"}},{"insert":"] while I was building a 60-card deck. I thought these were such adorable cats, and I was shocked that not very many decks played them together even though their effects felt similar to me. I had the cards tucked away in a binder for a long time before Bloomburrow came out and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Ygra, Eater of All"}},{"insert":"] made her appearance. I love a deck that my friend has that is centered around food, so I was drawn to Ygra immediately - even more so when I realized she was the perfect home for ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Cauldron Familiar"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Nine-Lives Familiar"}},{"insert":"]. These cards are excellent at self-recursion and combo well with Ygra' s ability to turn all creatures into their own sac outlet.\n\nThe Strategy"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Ygra is a strong centerpiece to this deck, and the strategy revolves around casting her as soon as possible and keeping her on the battlefield for as long as possible. \nStep Zero is to draw a starting hand of (ideally) at least 3 lands and at least 2 mana dorks that cost 1 or 2 CMC. Then, the strategy will generally go as follows:\nPlay mana dorks on turn(s) 1, 2, and/or 3. Aim to play Ygra on turn 3 or 4."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Eat those mana dorks (and other food) to make Ygra bigger, ensure more food is available as Ygra feasts."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Utilize evasion cards that allow Ygra to swing for lethal."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Protect Ygra - she is a threat."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"underline":true},"insert":"Ramp to Ygra"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nThere are 22 ramp cards in this deck that cost either 1 CMC or 2 CMC, 3 ramp cards that cost 3 CMC, and 1 ramp card that costs 4 CMC. The 4 CMC ramp is ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Drumhunter"}},{"insert":"], which mostly exists in the deck as draw instead of ramp. A 3 CMC ramp card can be played on turn 2 if a 1 CMC ramp card was played on turn 1, so we functionally have 25 cards that will hopefully enable us to play our commander on turn 3 or 4.\n\nMost of the 1 CMC ramp is a simple creature that taps to add a green mana, but ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Birds of Paradise"}},{"insert":"] is unique in that it taps for any color. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Gilded Goose"}},{"insert":"] is fun because it can be used to ramp to our commander, but it also has repeated food creation to keep the engine going later in the game. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Insidious Fungus"}},{"insert":"] is also nice because it can be used as removal if we already have plenty of ramp cards.\n\nThe largest category of ramp cards in the deck is 2 CMC ramp. The standard here is a creature that taps to add a mana of any color, but there are also some unique abilities in this category to get more value. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Ilysian Caryatid"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Bloom Tender"}},{"insert":"] both have the chance to tap for extra mana if a condition is met. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Nightshade Dryad"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Noxious Newt"}},{"insert":"], and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Poison Dart Frog"}},{"insert":"] all have deathtouch and can serve as more threatening blockers while our commander is tapped from attacking. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Twitching Doll"}},{"insert":"] is a great card for this deck because if we get it out early and use it in subsequent turns, we can accumulate a lot of nest counters that will make spiders (which are food for Ygra) when we eventually sacrifice ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Twitching Doll"}},{"insert":"] to get Ygra counters. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Tender Wildguide"}},{"insert":"] is also an excellent creature because if we have the extra mana to spare, we get a token copy of the card.\n\n"},{"attributes":{"underline":true},"insert":"Feast with Ygra and Replenish Food Supply"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nEverything is on the menu. We can feast on our own creatures, we can feast on our opponents creatures. Ygra gets bigger on destroy spells, on forced sacrifice, on chump blockers, and on self-sacrifice. The destroy spells and forced sacrifice cards are covered in the \"Protect Ygra\" section of this primer, so I won't harp on those too much here. This is the time when we want to build up our own board state anyway, so we can't necessarily rely on our opponents having what we need to buff Ygra. \n\nSome of the best creatures to sacrifice on our side of the board will be the self-recursion creatures that inspired this deck - ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Cauldron Familiar"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Nine-Lives Familiar"}},{"insert":"], and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Teacher's Pest"}},{"insert":"]. Each of these can bring themselves back from the grave on a condition. They are incredibly powerful to give Ygra fresh counters every round without having to expend a card, and opponents find them very annoying to deal with long term.\n\nIn addition to cards that will allow us to perform repeatable sacrifice, we also have cards that create other foods or provide some other benefit when they are sacrificed. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Vinereap Mentor"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Undercellar Myconid"}},{"insert":"], and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Twitching Doll"}},{"insert":"] all create creature/food tokens when they die, which make them great targets for a sacrifice. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Nutrient Block"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Heaped Harvest"}},{"insert":"] are both food artifacts themselves and are meant to be sacrificed, so they provide some extra benefit besides standard food tokens. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Rapacious Guest"}},{"insert":"] is a great sacrifice target if we've managed to give her a decent number of counters.\n\nThere are also cards that produce food for us to sacrifice later. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Camellia, the Seedmiser"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Experimental Confectioner"}},{"insert":"] should not be sacrificed themselves, as they will create creatures (which are also food) when other food is sacrificed. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Gilded Goose"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Nuka-Cola Vending Machine"}},{"insert":"], and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"The Shire"}},{"insert":"] all produce fresh food tokens as an activated ability. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Rapacious Guest"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Restless Cottage"}},{"insert":"] both produce food tokens on attack/combat damage triggers. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Bake into a Pie"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Return from the Wilds"}},{"insert":"] only provide a single food token but are attached to a secondary effect.\n\n"},{"attributes":{"underline":true},"insert":"Make Ygra Evasive"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nI'm personally of the opinion that lands that make creatures unblockable are VERY busted in commander. With that being said -- there are two of those in this deck. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Rogue's Passage"}},{"insert":"] is the most standard land that gives unblockable, but ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Tower of the Magistrate"}},{"insert":"] does work in this deck. Since all creatures are artifacts, Ygra won't be able to be blocked by any creatures with ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Tower of the Magistrate"}},{"insert":"] on board.\n\n["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Filth"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Brawn"}},{"insert":"] are such fun cards for me in this deck. They can sacrifice themselves using Ygra's food ability, and then they give our board a permanent evasion effect for as long as they are in the graveyard. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Drix Fatemaker"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Whispersilk Cloak"}},{"insert":"] are both cards that will give Ygra evasion for as long as they last on the battlefield.\n\nIn terms of instant-speed evasion, we have ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Gaea's Gift"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Biosynthic Burst"}},{"insert":"] to give trample as a combat trick. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Season of Gathering"}},{"insert":"] does the same at sorcery speed.\n\n"},{"attributes":{"underline":true},"insert":"Protect Ygra"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nTo protect Ygra against counterspells (which is by far her greatest weakness because her ward protection is not yet in effect), ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Frenzied Baloth"}},{"insert":"] is included in the deck to prevent counterspells on our creatures. It also has the added benefit of negating any ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Fog"}},{"insert":"] effects that might be present in a deck. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Whispersilk Cloak"}},{"insert":"] protects our commander from targeted removal, and shroud is uniquely good in this deck because the buffs for Ygra are built-in and don't require targeting her with our own cards. If ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Whispersilk Cloak"}},{"insert":"] is not attached, we have some targeted protection to help in a pinch. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Revitalizing Repast // Old-Growth Grove"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Malakir Rebirth // Malakir Mire"}},{"insert":"], and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Biosynthic Burst"}},{"insert":"] will all functionally save our commander from being destroyed in addition to some other benefits, and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Gaea's Gift"}},{"insert":"] will also help prevent targeted removal.\n\nSince ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Ygra, Eater of All"}},{"insert":"] does have built-in protection (\"Ward - Sacrifice a Food\"), one way to achieve protection for Ygra is by removing an opponent's ability to pay her ward cost. In this deck, that comes in the form of having opponents sacrifice permanents, destroying artifacts (which are also usually food which are usually also creatures), or just plain old creature destruction. \n["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Liliana, Dreadhorde General"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Season of Loss"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sheoldred's Edict"}},{"insert":"], and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Pick Your Poison"}},{"insert":"] are all excellent cards for forced sacrifice. The former two apply to all players, including us, while the latter two only apply for opponents. Sacrifice is an excellent mechanic because it gets around hexproof and indestructible mechanics. "},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Artifact destruction with cards like ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Fade from History"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Season of Gathering"}},{"insert":"] is so much fun in this deck because of the added effect that all creatures except Ygra are food artifacts. It makes artifact board wipes more damaging, functionally one-sided, and a buff because Ygra will get counters on death. There are also cards that will do targeted artifact removal like ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Scrapshooter"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Reclamation Sage"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Insidious Fungus"}},{"insert":"], and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Cankerbloom"}},{"insert":"]. Each of these removal effects are attached to a creature body so that we can then use the creature as food for Ygra."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"We also have some simple creature removal, so we aren't handicapped if Ygra is stuck in the command zone. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Hagra Mauling // Hagra Broodpit"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Fell the Profane // Fell Mire"}},{"insert":"] are both MDFCs that we can use as lands if we don't need the creature removal, and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Bake into a Pie"}},{"insert":"] will also net us a food token to use later with Ygra."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"If all goes to plan, opponents will either have none or too few creatures/food that they can sacrifice to target Ygra. In addition, the result of any one of these removal effects typically includes the death of one or more foods, which increases Ygra's counters.\n\n"},{"attributes":{"underline":true},"insert":"Other Things to Keep in Mind"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n\n"},{"insert":"REMINDER! Food Already is a Sac Outlet"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"This deck is unique in that it is a sacrifice deck without a lot of sac outlets. Why? Because Ygra herself provides all creatures with a sac outlet ability. They can sacrifice themselves to gain 3 life. This means that our deck doesn't need to rely on or be clogged up with cards that allow us to sacrifice creatures - we already can on our own. However, we do have SOME alternative sac outlets. Mostly for draw effects.\n["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Ravenous Squirrel"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Greta, Sweettooth Scourge"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Fountainport"}},{"insert":"], and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Corrupted Conviction"}},{"insert":"] all serve as draw cards that happen to require a sacrifice."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Gilded Goose"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Culling the Weak"}},{"insert":"] will both net us mana for a sacrifice."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Cards like ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Cauldron Familiar"}},{"insert":"] are technically sac outlets, but only to get itself back from the grave so that it can be used as a food again."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nYgra is a Sacrifice Payoff Herself, but There are Others"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"There are other cards that reward us for sacrificing either creatures or food by creating more food (which is what helps keeps the Ygra engine going), giving us mana, or giving us draw. When a food is sacrificed, cards like ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Camellia, the Seedmiser"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Experimental Confectioner"}},{"insert":"] will create a creature, which is also a food. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Nuka-Cola Vending Machine"}},{"insert":"] rewards us for sacrificing by creating a treasure token, and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Bonecache Overseer"}},{"insert":"] rewards us by letting us draw an extra card that turn. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Ravenous Squirrel"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Rapacious Guest"}},{"insert":"] both put counters on themselves on sacrifice like Ygra, but they both exist in the deck for another reason. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Ravenous Squirrel"}},{"insert":"] provides good draw, and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Rapacious Guest"}},{"insert":"] has the opportunity to create food.\n\n"},{"attributes":{"underline":true},"insert":"Win Conditions"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\n1. Commander Damage"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nThis deck is only going to win with commander damage. Ygra was removed? Too bad, pay the tax and play her again. Or get around it with ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Command Beacon"}},{"insert":"]. And while you're at it, keep her safe next time with one of the many protection cards in the deck. \"Many\" might be an overstatement. We have ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Whispersilk Cloak"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Frenzied Baloth"}},{"insert":"] as permanents to sit out and prevent people from targeting or counterspelling your commander. In terms of instants to disrupt an incoming spell or ability, we have ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Revitalizing Repast // Old-Growth Grove"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Malakir Rebirth // Malakir Mire"}},{"insert":"], and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Biosynthic Burst"}},{"insert":"] to protect against destruction, as well as ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Gaea's Gift"}},{"insert":"] will help with both hexproof and indestructable.\n\n2. No Really. Commander Damage is the ONLY Win Con."},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nTo quote Ally Beardsley: \"That's my whole shot, dude.\"\n\n"},{"attributes":{"underline":true},"insert":"Change Log"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\n"}]}