Commander Deck Tech: Inga and Esika

Who doesn't like a game in which we don't have to worry about how much mana we have? As we all know, the more mana you have, the more advantage you have in the game.

In this deck tech, we'll discuss a pair released in March Of the Machine. It got first place in our article with the Top 10 "Two Color Commander Duos" from this set: Inga and Esika.

And here's a spoiler: with them on the board, mana won't be an issue for you.

Inga leads the Omenseeker clan, and is known for her different type of vision, which most mortals don't have.

Esika, on the other hand, is the only goddess that can prepare the Cosmos Elixir to bolster the power of the other Kaldheim gods. When Realmbreaker, the Invasion Tree invaded her plane, she was so disoriented she couldn't navigate the Cosmos anymore. Luckily, there was a mortal Esika trusted enough to help her guide her chariot through the Cosmos: the blind seer, Inga Rune-Eyes.

And that's how this incredibly pair was formed; they'll guide our deck through casual, fun matches.

Inga and Esika have two abilities that, particularly, I truly appreciate on commanders: besides turning all your creatures into mana dorks (creatures that create mana), this commander helps you draw cards when you use the mana created by these creatures to cast more creatures.

With green and blue , a deck with Inga and Esika as your commanders benefits from many Simic staples, and also offers great opportunities for any player who enjoys combos even in casual matches. We'll save some space to talk about them, in particular, later on in this deck tech.

Additionally, you can build a list with this card with many "vanilla" creatures to introduce Magic: the Gathering to new players. It is a simple deck, which makes it perfect for this type of introduction.

Let's see our decklist!

Decklist

The goal is to build a board big enough, with many creatures, to cast even more of them and defeat your opponents in combat quite aggressively.

Even though everything in this deck is a mana dork, this list includes a few cards that get you lands or increase the mana you'll create with your permanents.

Circle of Dreams Druid is one of this deck's great favorites, and doesn't depend on inga and Esika to create mana efficiently.

Mana Reflection, Nyxbloom Ancient, and Leyline of Abundance are great to boost how much mana you create, and get even more value out of your creatures. Harvest Season is strong as a ramp in this deck because, depending on how many spells you cast that turn, the three mana you need to cast this sorcery may get you numerous extra lands on your board.

Even though our commander draws us cards, we added a few tools to help you draw more cards every turn, and get even more ahead in the game.

Beast Whisperer, Guardian Project, and Soul of the Harvest are incredibly strong in this deck, and, if Teferi's Ageless Insight is on the board, you'll want to get Reliquary Tower in play as fast as possible.

Toski, Bearer of Secrets earns its slot in green decks, and it certainly deserved one here: our indestructible squirrel always puts pressure on our opponents, and also helps us draw cards when a creature we control deals combat damage to our enemies. As our commander gives our creatures Vigilance, Toski is also useful as a blocker.

Buffs and Counters

Tribute to the World Tree also draws cards for us, like the other cards we mentioned, but, just like Defiler of Vigor, Leyline of Abundance, and Surrak and Goreclaw, it also buffs our creatures' powers with +1/+1 counters.

This enchantment will be essential to finish matches, considering it will give you an extremely effective and oppressive attack to defeat each of your opponents. Even though it needs Quest Counters, the fact it buffs all your creatures by +5/+5 is incredibly significant.

This list might not focus on creating tokens, but we saved a few slots for cards that create creature tokens, which we'll then use as mana dorks.

Sandwurm Convergence protects you from future Flying threats. Meanwhile, Chasm Skulker buffs itself any time you draw a card, and when it dies it will give you tokens with Islandwalk so you can attack your blue opponents directly.

Scute Swarm and Rampaging Baloths are really valuable because they create their tokens when you add lands to your board.

Cards that untap creatures are critical; on the same turn you play your creatures, you'll be able to attack and even cast other creature spells.

Seedborn Muse and Murkfiend Liege stand out because they'll untap all your permanents on other players' untap step.

Intruder Alarm also works really well in this deck. Your creatures will only untap to create mana, which you'll use to cast other creatures, so this enchantment will guarantee they'll remain untapped after you use them to cast another creature.

Dealing with the Lack of Haste

Simic isn't known for its many Haste cards, but we can take care of this and make sure your creatures are ready to work as mana dorks on the same turn you cast them.

Casting Spells with Flash

Casting cards with Flash or at instant speed also helps you play around the fact your permanents don't have Haste. It will let you cast creatures as you're passing your turn or even use them as blockers in combat.

This list wasn't built around combos, and doesn't depend on them to win. However, the interaction between certain cards on your board do enable a few of them.

So, let's explain one of the combos in this list:

- Have Inga and Esika, Intruder Alarm and enough creatures to create at least on the board.

- Use part of the mana created by your creatures to cast Venser, Shaper Savant.

- Venser will enter the battlefield, activate itself and Intruder Alarm.

- Resolve Venser's triggered ability, and return it from the battlefield to your hand.

- Resolve Intruder Alarm's trigger, and untap all your creatures.

- Repeat this process to activate infinite ETBs, create infinite mana with your creatures, draw infinite cards, and also untap them infinitely.

Even though Venser costs a bit less than the mana you'll create, the idea is to always float mana to increase the amount of mana you'll create this way, and like so create "infinite mana".

Keep in mind that greed is your enemy, so be careful when you use effects that draw cards infinitely. Whenever you want to stop your loop, just target another permanent, or keep Venser in your hand.

Our alternative list brings Keruga, the Macrosage as our companion, and a few creatures that cost a little more mana.

Respecting Keruga's ruling, this list only has cards with a converted mana cost of 3 or greater, and lands. As a result, we added creatures like Terastodon, Craterhoof Behemoth, and Hornet Queen to our list to help our commander get us many victories.

This is an interesting option for players who like playing big creatures on the board.

Inga and Esika is the pair no one asked for, but quickly became a favorite! This commander will draw extra cards and create extra mana, which is an incredible advantage in Commander. However, it isn't so strong that it becomes impossible to deal with.

This is an honest creature that heavily depends on your board, but rest assured: this commander will reward you when you have a full board. Additionally, with Inga and Esika, we can build decks with a high or low power level, so you can adapt it to your group of players.

Which commander should we cover next? Tell us in our comment section!

See you next time!