Volo's Guide to Shenanigans by WiseGuy

Format: Commander

Commander: Volo, Itinerant Scholar and Master Chef

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 46

Deck overview

This Simic deck pairs Volo, Itinerant Scholar with Master Chef to turn diverse creature typings into overwhelming card advantage and +1/+1 counter scaling. Early turns focus on accelerating mana with low-cost mana dorks such as Birds of Paradise, Incubation Druid, and Delighted Halfling. Once Volo and Master Chef are established, every unique creature cast enters with additional counters and notes a new creature type in the hexproof Volo's Journal token. This allows Volo to draw massive card bursts for just two mana each turn. The deck leverages this velocity into infinite mana lines via Freed from the Real paired with Incubation Druid or Kami of Whispered Hopes, sinking excess resources into Psychosis Crawler, Laboratory Maniac, or Simic Ascendancy. Alternatively, it overwhelms the table through unblockable combat damage with Herald of Secret Streams and one-sided board wipes like Wave Goodbye, backed by robust protective instants like Mutational Advantage and Inspiring Call.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Ancient Ziggurat
  • 1 Archdruid's Charm
  • 1 Badgermole Cub
  • 1 Barkchannel Pathway // Tidechannel Pathway
  • 1 Beast Whisperer
  • 1 Benevolent Hydra
  • 1 Birds of Paradise
  • 1 Cankerbloom
  • 1 Chasm Skulker
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Counterspell
  • 1 Cryptic Trilobite
  • 1 Delighted Halfling
  • 1 Dreamroot Cascade
  • 1 Enduring Vitality
  • 1 Evendo, Waking Haven
  • 1 Fathom Mage
  • 1 Fauna Shaman
  • 1 Flooded Grove
  • 8 Forest
  • 1 Freed from the Real
  • 1 Gnarlid Colony
  • 1 Growing Rites of Itlimoc // Itlimoc, Cradle of the Sun
  • 1 Gyre Engineer
  • 1 Hardened Scales
  • 1 Herald of Secret Streams
  • 1 Hinterland Harbor
  • 1 Hullbreaker Horror
  • 1 Incubation Druid
  • 1 Inga and Esika
  • 1 Innkeeper's Talent
  • 1 Inspiring Call
  • 1 Instill Energy
  • 1 Intruder Alarm
  • 1 Ioreth of the Healing House
  • 6 Island
  • 1 Kami of Whispered Hopes
  • 1 Karn's Bastion
  • 1 Kiora's Follower
  • 1 Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner
  • 1 Laboratory Maniac
  • 1 Llanowar Elves
  • 1 Maraleaf Pixie
  • 1 Marvin, Murderous Mimic
  • 1 Master Biomancer
  • 1 Master Chef
  • 1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
  • 1 Mistrise Village
  • 1 Mizzium Skin
  • 1 Mockingbird
  • 1 Mutational Advantage
  • 1 Omen Hawker
  • 1 Ouroboroid
  • 1 Overflowing Basin
  • 1 Patriar's Seal
  • 1 Proft's Eidetic Memory
  • 1 Psychosis Crawler
  • 1 Rejuvenating Springs
  • 1 Reliquary Tower
  • 1 Riptide Laboratory
  • 1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
  • 1 Sea Gate Restoration // Sea Gate, Reborn
  • 1 Seedborn Muse
  • 1 Simic Ascendancy
  • 1 Simic Growth Chamber
  • 1 Siren Stormtamer
  • 1 Sodden Verdure
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Sphere Grid
  • 1 Spore Frog
  • 1 Swiftfoot Boots
  • 1 Teferi's Ageless Insight
  • 1 Tender Wildguide
  • 1 Thought Vessel
  • 1 Thousand-Year Elixir
  • 1 Thrummingbird
  • 1 Toothy, Imaginary Friend
  • 1 Training Grounds
  • 1 Twenty-Toed Toad
  • 1 Vineglimmer Snarl
  • 1 Volo, Guide to Monsters
  • 1 Volo, Itinerant Scholar
  • 1 Voyaging Satyr
  • 1 Waterlogged Grove
  • 1 Wave Goodbye
  • 1 Willowrush Verge
  • 1 Wizard Class
  • 1 Yavimaya Coast