MTG Phyrexia All Will Be One Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines Standard Bo1 Deck, Strategy

Magic: The Gathering's latest set, Phyrexia: All Will Be One, is hitting shelves now, and players are eager to get their hands on the latest cards. I've already detailed some strategies involving other popular new cards, like Vraska: Betrayal's Sting and Venerated Rotpriest, but now I'm taking on the Mother of Machines herself: Elesh Norn.

Read on for a deck strategy involving her new card.

Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines Standard Bo1 Deck

Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines Standard Bo1 Strategy

This is a Mono-White "Control" deck that focuses on doubling "enters the battlefield" effects with Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines. Most of its creatures, such as Spirited Companion and Annex Sentry, have an immediately useful effect when they first enter play, ranging from simply drawing cards to removing threats from the opponent's board. The deck usually wins by finding one of four copies of Elesh Norn and using her to rapidly generate value from subsequent spells that opponents can't keep up with.

Elesh Norn, Annex Sentry and Spirited Companion all play well together, but the cards you'll be using to close out games are Combat Thresher and Steel Seraph. These large artifact creatures can be cast early for instant protection or later for their more powerful form. They also interact with other cards in the deck in an unusual way, which I'll explain momentarily.

Zenith Chronicler can be used to generate value against decks running more than one color, as well as provide a potent attacker or blocker in the early game. Planesewalkers The Wandering Emperor and The Eternal Wanderer can be used to remove threats, buff allied creatures, and create tokens for attacking and blocking.

The other leg of the deck is the enchantment package, which includes four copies of Ossification, Borrowed Time and Touch the Spirit Realm. Ordinarily, these remove just one threat from the board but with Elesh Norn on the field they remove two, a major setback for an opponent.

Touch the Spirit Realm's "Channel" alternate ability also has a powerful synergy with Combat Thresher and Steel Seraph as I mentioned earlier - when used in conjunction with the weaker Prototype versions of those creatures, they return as their more powerful forms without having to pay the more expensive casting cost. This interaction can be used to both save one of those creatures from an enemy removal spell while simultaneously powering them up for their next attack.

Overall this deck is pretty simple and fun to play. It's capable of contending with fast and slow decks and is able to remove all types of threats thanks to its versatile suite of enchantments and creatures coupled with Elesh Norn herself.