Big Counter Plays by Justduff1992

Format: Commander

Commander: Shalai and Hallar

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 43

Deck overview

This deck is a synergistic Naya midrange deck led by Shalai and Hallar. The strategy converts +1/+1 counter placement directly into player damage, bypassing defensive creature boards and combat blockers. The early game focuses on deploying low-cost mana dorks and land ramp to cast the commander ahead of curve on turn 3. On turns 4 and 5, the deck deploys high-impact counter engines and multipliers such as Innkeeper's Talent, Bristly Bill, Spine Sower, All Will Be One, and Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider. These engines trigger substantial bursts of direct damage while simultaneously growing massive attackers. Card draw engines like Keen Sense, Terrasymbiosis, and The Great Henge keep the hand full of gas and protection spells like Heroic Intervention and Silkguard. The deck closes games rapidly around turn 6 or 7 through unblockable burn damage combined with trampling combat attacks.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Abandoned Air Temple
  • 1 All Will Be One
  • 1 Annie Joins Up
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Arid Mesa
  • 1 Arwen, Weaver of Hope
  • 1 Battlefield Forge
  • 1 Beast Within
  • 1 Biophagus
  • 1 Birds of Paradise
  • 1 Black Widow, Agile Avenger
  • 1 Bloom Tender
  • 1 Bolt Bend
  • 1 Bountiful Promenade
  • 1 Bristly Bill, Spine Sower
  • 1 Brushland
  • 1 Bugenhagen, Wise Elder
  • 1 Casey Jones, Back Alley Brute
  • 1 Clifftop Retreat
  • 1 Collective Resistance
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Court of Garenbrig
  • 1 Delighted Halfling
  • 1 Doc Samson, Super Psychiatrist
  • 1 Dromoka's Command
  • 1 Dusk Legion Duelist
  • 1 Eladamri's Call
  • 1 Enlightened Tutor
  • 1 Esper Sentinel
  • 1 Evolution Witness
  • 1 Exemplar of Light
  • 1 Exploration
  • 1 Farseek
  • 1 Finale of Devastation
  • 4 Forest
  • 1 Gavony Township
  • 1 Generous Pup
  • 1 Guiding Hydra
  • 1 Gyre Sage
  • 1 Halana and Alena, Partners
  • 1 Herd Heirloom
  • 1 Heroic Intervention
  • 1 Hidden Hideout
  • 1 Horizon Canopy
  • 1 Hushwood Verge
  • 1 Incubation Druid
  • 1 Innkeeper's Talent
  • 1 Jetmir's Garden
  • 1 Kami of Whispered Hopes
  • 1 Karn's Bastion
  • 1 Karplusan Forest
  • 1 Keen Sense
  • 1 Kutzil, Malamet Exemplar
  • 1 Level Up
  • 1 Maester Seymour
  • 1 Mikaeus, the Lunarch
  • 1 Mikey & Leo, Chaos & Order
  • 1 Mountain
  • 1 Nature's Lore
  • 1 Overgrown Farmland
  • 1 Plains
  • 1 Reflecting Pool
  • 1 Reliquary Tower
  • 1 Rhythm of the Wild
  • 1 Rockfall Vale
  • 1 Rootbound Crag
  • 1 Sacred Foundry
  • 1 Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
  • 1 Shalai and Hallar
  • 1 Silkguard
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Spectator Seating
  • 1 Spire Garden
  • 1 Stomping Ground
  • 1 Sunbillow Verge
  • 1 Sundown Pass
  • 1 Sunpetal Grove
  • 1 Swiftfoot Boots
  • 1 Swords to Plowshares
  • 1 Temple Garden
  • 1 Terrasymbiosis
  • 1 The Earth Crystal
  • 1 The Great Henge
  • 1 The Ozolith
  • 1 Thornspire Verge
  • 1 Three Visits
  • 1 Tribute to the World Tree
  • 1 Uncivil Unrest
  • 1 Vigorbloom Vanguard // Seed Suture
  • 1 Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider
  • 1 Warden of the Grove
  • 1 Wildgrowth Archaic
  • 1 Winds of Abandon
  • 1 Windswept Heath
  • 1 Wooded Foothills
  • 1 Worldly Tutor
  • 1 Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth