cEDH Deck Tech: Top 16 - Redshift, Rocketeer Chief

Competitive MTG formats are constantly evolving, and cEDH is no different. That being said, the next development seems to be Redshift, Rocketeer Chief, which could become the next cEDH powerhouse. Let's be clear about something, though: a commander in these colors will hardly become one of the pillars of this format.

Yet, does he have what it takes to rival the Gruul king, Etali, Primal Conqueror - which, by the way, if you'd like to see more about, you can just click here!

The list piloted by John O'Byrne surprised us all. It took him all the way to Play to Win 7's Top 16, despite the many well-established decks in his way. Can this list keep it up, or is it just another fleeting fancy?

Let's see!

Redshift, Rocketeer Chief's main strategy is aggressive, based around combos. The idea is to make the most out of his ability, which creates colored mana equal to his power. The only drawback is that you can only use this mana to activate abilities.

Like so, you can use him to set up explosive plays to victory, combining effects that create infinite mana with efficient finishers that are usually difficult to interact with.

Here's the decklist John O'Byrne played:

Creating Infinite Mana

This deck's main combos involve Redshift and pieces like:

You can use all the cards above to get infinite mana from your commander's ability. Simply untap your commander, tap him for mana, and then untap it again. This is a classic way to create infinite mana and play many other combos that might need more mana or less.

Oh, and in Ashaya's case, you'll need a Quirion Ranger and an Orochi Leafcaller.

Please note that, to create enough mana, you just need to use one of the many buffs in this list to increase Redshift's power!

Redshift Combos

Now that know how to create infinite mana with this list, let's see how we can kill our opponents.

These cards are your main way to turn infinite mana into an instant win. With Ballista, you can both set X to infinite if you have Orochi Leafcaller in play, or use Ballista's 4-cost ability to get infinite counters, particularly if you don't have another way to use your mana.

You can use Welder Automaton's ability to deal an infinite amount of damage to your opponents, or use Aggravated Assault to fight them to the death.

Furthermore, if you combine Sunspine Lynx with Welder Automaton, you can simply ignore The One Ring and remove players from your board.

Other Combos

Your commander isn't the only way to win with this list.

Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker + Hyrax Tower Scout – This combo creates infinite tokens with haste, and, as such, can deal an infinite amount of damage.

Godo, Bandit Warlord + Helm of the Host – This is a classic combo in this format. Like Kiki, it lets you attack an infinite number of times. By the way, you can use your commander's mana to equip cards like Helm of the Host!

Draw Engines and Consistency

In this list, the cards that create the value you need all cost 3 mana and fit this game plan well:

Heartwood Storyteller draws cards consistently for you, and also lets you put pressure on your opponents constantly by forcing them to play their answers. It is an excellent card that makes winning with anything other than creatures rather difficult.

Runic Armasaur is excellent against the current midrange meta. It is also great against Thrasios, Triton Hero.

Scrawling Crawler is an interesting tech that draws cards for you and also deals a bit of damage to your opponents automatically as the turns go on. It also punishes The One Ring and other card draw engines.

Professional Face-Breaker creates Treasures and works as a pseudo card draw. It is perfect for this list.

Jeska’s Will combines explosive mana with 3 extra cards, so it's perfect for combo decks.

The One Ring, as we all know, is one of the best card draw engines in the entire format.

Sylvan Library, despite a bit slow, gives us 2 cards per cycle.

Adaptive Omnitool is a new piece that adds even more synergy to this list. It lets you dig through the top 6 cards in your deck, and also buffs Redshift.

A picture is worth a thousand words, and, in TCGs, numbers are worth more than ten thousand words. Let's go through John O'Byrne's numbers with Redshift!

John O'Byrne managed to get into Play to Win 7's Top 16 with this list, and his opponents played competitive, well-established, extremely midrange/control lists. On the first day of competition, Redshift, Rocketeer Chief was consistent, as he won the first two rounds incredibly fast. Despite his promising performance, however, the path to Top 16 was full of challenges.

Let's see how each round played out.

This deck performed really well in round 1. It won on turn 3 against Hashaton, Scarab's Fist, Hashaton, Scarab's Fist, and Tymna, the Weaver/Jeska, Thrice Reborn. The speed and synergy in this list let O'Byrne play his combos incredibly fast, and, as such, gave him a solid head start at this event.

Round 2 - Win

O'Byrne kept winning, this time against Selvala, Heart of the Wilds, Magda, Brazen Outlaw, and Tymna, the Weaver // Thrasios, Triton Hero. Redshift, Rocketeer Chief's consistency and the list's ability to find the right pieces to finish the match as soon as possible were once again critical.

Round 3 - Draw

In this round, John faced a bigger challenge. A critical moment of the game was when his opponent played a Force of Vigor, which compromised his mana base and his best pieces. However, he managed to control the match for long enough to force a tie before Najeela, the Blade-Blossom could win the game. As such, he avoided a loss and increased his chances of advancing in the tournament.

Round 4 - Intentional Draw

In this round, O'Byrne and his opponents decided on an intentional draw. This decision basically put him in the final phase of the tournament, but this is common in high-level competitive events when a few players are already well-set to advance to the next phase.

Top 16 - Elimination

In the Top 16, John O'Byrne had a bit of trouble with his opening hands. His attempts to stabilize and put pressure on the board failed, and eventually a Grixis Pirates Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator player won the round quite fast with one of their explosive combo lines.

The Future of Redshift

Despite being eliminated, it was a notable performance for Redshift. It showed us this deck has some potential competitively and that we should keep an eye on Redshift, Rocketeer Chief in the next tournaments.

However, the jury is still out on this list. Is this performance a result of John O'Byrne's skills, or were his opponents simply not ready to deal with this strategy? O'Byrne himself mentioned there is still a lot we can explore in this list, so we're all anxious to see whether this deck will keep showing up in the future, or if it was just a fleeting fancy.

Future Adjustments

John O'Byrne commented that he's still trying out a few cards in this list, namely:

Reckless Charge lets you buff another creature by +3/+0 and also has flashback.

Siege Smash is an interesting option with split second, as it is both a buff and a removal.

Furthermore, the meta could force us to change this list a bit more so we can deal with other rising threats. After all, cEDH is constantly evolving!

Redshift's performance at Play to Win 7 showed us this deck can compete with the best. However, the big question is, will it show up again in the next tournaments, or will it fade into the background with the other passing trends? Its explosive game plan and multiple paths to win are definitely eye-catching, but maybe we need to test out how consistent it is against other, more resilient, meta decks.

With a few adjustments and more refining, Redshift can become a true contender in cEDH. Will we see more players betting on this strategy? Only time will tell.

What do you think of this list? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!