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Gavi, Nest Warden

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Gavi, Nest Warden

At a glance

  • Commander: Gavi, Nest Warden
  • Colors: Jeskai
  • Archetype: Jeskai cycling card-advantage control
  • Power tier: mid-high

Cards

The Real Card

You may pay rather than pay the cycling cost of the first card you cycle each turn. Whenever you draw your second card each turn, create a 2/2 red and white Dinosaur Cat creature token.

Two distinct engines bolted together:

  1. Free first cycle each turn — your first cycling activation every turn costs . Cycling lands (Forgotten Cave, the Deserts, etc.) and cycling spells all become free card-filtering.
  2. Second-draw token — every turn you draw a second card (your draw step is the first; any extra draw is the second), you spit out a 2/2. A free cycle on your own turn does exactly this: draw step = card 1, free cycle = card 2 → token.

So Gavi turns “I cycled a land for value” into “I drew a card AND made a 2/2,” every single turn, for free. The assignment tag is_control:false is correct in spirit — this is a proactive go-wide tempo/value deck, not draw-go. The printed text matches the scout’s paraphrase, so commander_oracle_ok = true.

Gameplan

Cheap interaction early, churn cycling cards for free off Gavi to bank a 2/2 each turn, and snowball. Mid-game the “draw your second card” creatures (Otter-Penguin, Erudite Wizard, Knights of Dol Amroth, Mystic Skyfish, etc.) all pump or evade off the same trigger that’s already making tokens, so a single extra draw does triple duty. You close with a wide board plus repeatable cycle-pings.

Key Synergy Lines

  • Free cycle = free token: On your turn, take your draw step, then make your first cycle cost (cycle a cycling land or a dead spell). That’s your second draw → 2/2 token, and you filtered toward action. Repeats every turn for zero mana.
  • Cycle-trigger pingers as inevitability: Drannith Stinger and Magmakin Artillerist deal damage to each opponent whenever you cycle/discard. With Gavi’s free cycle plus the cycling-land manabase, that’s a guaranteed clock at every table — three opponents take chip damage every turn while your board grows. This is the control-style “out-draw and grind them out” win the rubric wants.
  • Second-draw payoffs stack: Mantle of Tides auto-attaches on your second draw; Otter-Penguin/Mystic Skyfish go evasive; Erudite Wizard, Atlantean Cavalry, Knights of Dol Amroth, Lat-Nam Adept grow. One free cycle lights all of them up at once.
  • Cycle-as-interaction: Choking Tethers, Howler’s Heavy, Solar Blast, Constricting Tendrils, Renewed Faith, Vizier of Tumbling Sands all do something when cycled — so even your “free draw” can tap a blocker, shrink an attacker, or burn a face, and still makes a token.
  • Finish: Righteous Charge (+2/+2 team) or Gempalm Avenger / Quakefoot Cyclops alpha strike on a wide token board.

Role Breakdown (with counts)

  • Lands — 37. 9 cycling lands (free-cycle fodder + fixing), Ash Barrens, 3 artifact “Bridge” duals, 3 Guildgates, 6 tapland duals (one per guild pair), Command Tower, 4 any-color fixers (Crystal Grotto, Shimmering Grotto, Rupture Spire), 10 basics (3 Plains / 3 Island / 4 Mountain).
  • Ramp / mana rocks — 8. Chromatic Star, Prophetic Prism, Mind Stone, Guardian Idol, Commander’s Sphere, Manalith, Sphere of the Suns, Star Compass (most fix all three colors; Mind Stone + the diamonds among the draw bucket sac for cards). (Sky/Marble/Fire Diamond also ramp — counted under fixing sources below.)
  • Card advantage / draw — 11. Courier’s Capsule, Sewer-veillance Cam, Careful Study, Faithless Looting, Witching Well, Hard Evidence, Novice Inspector, Floodhound, Compelling Argument, Vizier of Tumbling Sands, Mantle of Tides — plus every cycling land/spell and Commander’s Sphere/Mind Stone as backup.
  • Spot removal / interaction — 11. Spark Spray, Burst Lightning, Galvanic Blast, Firebolt, Flame Slash, Lightning Axe, Electrostatic Bolt, Solar Blast, Constricting Tendrils, Snare Tactician (repeatable tap), Choking Tethers. Plus counters: Mana Tithe, Force Spike, Condescend, Dispel (4 soft counters for control posture).
  • Pseudo-wipes — 4. Blazing Volley, Scouring Sands, Boiling Earth, Hurly-Burly — all 1-damage opponent-side/non-flying sweeps that clear go-wide tokens while your 2/2s mostly survive (and Hurly-Burly lets you choose the flier half).
  • Payoffs / enablers — the rest. Drannith Stinger, Magmakin Artillerist, Drannith Healer, Cunning Survivor, Hekma Sentinels, Prickly Marmoset (cycle payoffs); Bloodhaze Wolverine, Otter-Penguin, Atlantean Cavalry, Erudite Wizard, Mystic Skyfish, Lat-Nam Adept, Steelgaze Griffin, Jaded Analyst, Knights of Dol Amroth (second-draw payoffs); Windcaller Aven, Gempalm Avenger, Quakefoot Cyclops, Howler’s Heavy (cycling bodies); Righteous Charge (finisher); Cloudshift / Renewed Faith (protection/lifegain).

Manabase / Fixing Note

~37 lands + 8 rocks + 3 diamonds = roughly 19 fixing sources across all three colors; every guild pair has a dedicated tapland, an artifact dual, and a Guildgate, and Command Tower / the Grottos / Rupture Spire tap for anything. The cycling lands double as free card flow, so flooding is rarely punishing.

Pilot Notes

  • Sequence your turn: draw step → cast a rock/threat → use Gavi’s free cycle last so the second-draw token resolves with mana untapped if you want to act.
  • Hold the free cycle for a turn where you also have a “second-draw” payoff out — one cycle then triggers Gavi + every payoff simultaneously.
  • Lead with cycling lands you don’t need that turn as the free-cycle target; keep basics/duals you need for casting.
  • The soft counters (Force Spike / Mana Tithe / Condescend) are best on the play protecting your engine; don’t hold them dead — pitch to cycling if irrelevant.

Weaknesses

  • No hard removal for noncreature permanents beyond a couple of artifact-burn modes; problematic enchantments/planeswalkers can sit.
  • Token board is fragile to real wraths — opponents with mono-black/red sweepers blow you out; Gavi herself dying slows the engine (though cycling still draws).
  • Grind, not burst — clock is incremental (Stinger/Magmakin pings + 2/2s), so a faster combo table can outrace you. Lean on counters + tappers to buy the turns you need.

Decklist

⬇ Download as .txt — paste into Moxfield, Archidekt, or MTG Arena.

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