Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines Historic Brawl Decklist

I was very excited when I first saw Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines. I quickly started to build around it – both in paper Commander, as well as in Historic Brawl. There are just so many possibilities that open with a commander like that. Even before the set was fully released I built this Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines Historic Brawl decklist:

(Since the new Elesh Norn isn’t available yet, this decklist currently uses God-Eternal Oketra in its place.)

Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines Historic Brawl 

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Commander

1

God-Eternal Oketra

Creatures (27)

1

Dauntless Bodyguard

1

Selfless Savior

1

Thraben Inspector

1

Charming Prince

1

Loyal Warhound

1

Raffine's Informant

1

Rescuer Chwinga

1

Elite Spellbinder

1

Extraction Specialist

1

Guardian of Faith

1

Inspiring Overseer

1

Loran of the Third Path

1

Mentor of the Meek

1

Priest of Ancient Lore

1

Ranger-Captain of Eos

1

Rasaad, Monk of Selûne

1

Rumor Gatherer

1

Skyclave Apparition

1

Glorious Protector

1

Restoration Angel

1

Search Party Captain

1

Regal Caracal

1

Sigardian Savior

1

Inspiring Commander

1

Lena, Selfless Champion

1

Sanctuary Warden

1

Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite

Spells (11)

1

Emeria's Call

1

Cloudshift

1

Ephemerate

1

March of Otherworldly Light

1

Swords to Plowshares

1

Flicker of Fate

1

Ascend from Avernus

1

Eerie Interlude

1

Teferi's Protection

1

Lae'zel's Acrobatics

1

Farewell

Artifacts (9)

1

Esper Sentinel

1

Arcane Signet

1

Mind Stone

1

Swiftfoot Boots

1

Oketra's Monument

1

Nyx Lotus

1

Panharmonicon

1

Solemn Simulacrum

1

Skysovereign, Consul Flagship

Enchantments (11)

1

Alseid of Life's Bounty

1

Curse of Silence

1

Spirited Companion

1

Banishing Light

1

Borrowed Time

1

Tocasia's Welcome

1

Touch the Spirit Realm

1

Felidar Retreat

1

Smothering Tithe

1

Teleportation Circle

1

Cathars' Crusade

Lands (41)

1

Castle Ardenvale

1

Cave of the Frost Dragon

1

Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire

1

Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx

34

Plains

1

Scavenger Grounds

1

Secluded Steppe

1

Tyrite Sanctum

Cards (99)

Quick Guide for Elesh Norn in Historic Brawl

Elesh Norn offers a very clear direction. Play cards that have various enter-the-battlefield (ETB) triggers, and reap double the rewards. On top of that, stopping opponent’s ETB triggers is really strong. Some decks fold really hard to that effect.

All of that is nicely tied up with a 4/7 body for five, which is an important board presence.

In this quick guide, I’ll talk about some of the card types that are important when you’re building around Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines.

ETB Effects

As I said, it’s important to have lots of good enter the battlefield effects. There is no shortage of them on Arena.

I mostly like to have access to some card draw (Priest of the Ancient Lore), and removal (Skysovereign, Consul Flagship, Banishing Light), along with some other useful effects (Solemn Simulacrum).

Don’t forget that Elesh Norn triggers not only from creatures, so you’ll get twice the effects from card like Felidar Retreat and Borrowed Time too!

Flickering

With so many creatures with ETB effects, you’ll also want to play flicker (blink) effects. There’s a surprisingly large number of these effects on Arena. There are many variations, each with their own pros and cons. Here are some examples, and their uses:

• Ephemerate – Gives you two uses, protects against targeted removal.
• Eeriee Interlude – Lets you select the creatures, protects against both targeted and mass removal.
• Teleportation Circle – Repeatable effect, but doesn’t protect your creatures.
• Charming Prince – Sorcery speed, one time blink. Since it’s a creature, it can be flickered itself, which enables fun combos.
• Restoration Angel – Similar to Prince, but flash improves the card significantly, as now it can protect one of your creatures.

Good Cards

The final big group of cards, are the good cards. These can be cards that are very synergistic in the deck, or cards that are simply the best at what they do.

Panharmonicon is a must-have, as it doubles as another copy of your commander. This is not only a good synergistic card, but a perfect one at that.

On the other hand, you have cards like Swords to Plowshares and Arcane Signet. They have zero synergies with our commander, but that doesn’t matter. They are so good that you include them in your deck no matter what.

Conclusion

That’s it for today. If you have any suggestions for this build, let me know in the comments below. I’ve surely missed some very good cards for this shell, but I plan on updating the decklist in the future, once I get some actual games in. (Without a replacement commander.)

If you’re playing paper Commander as well, you should also read our article about Phyrexia Commander decks, which look quite exciting.

See ya next time, may you get lots of triggers with Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines.