commander · Ezuri, Claw of Progress
Swell the Host (C15).
A Simic evolve and +1/+1 counters deck from Commander 2015, led by Ezuri, Claw of Progress, earn experience counters from small creatures entering play, then spend them to place +1/+1 counters on your biggest threat at the start of combat.
The Commander
Swell the Host is Commander 2015's Simic experience counter deck and Ezuri rewards running creatures with small power. Whenever a creature with power two or less enters under your control, you gain an experience counter. At the start of combat on your turn, you put X +1/+1 counters on another target creature where X equals your experience counter count. Every token, every small ETB creature, every evolve body feeds the experience track and then all of that investment goes onto your single biggest threat each combat step.
Ezuri, Claw of Progress sets up a snowball loop: small creatures build the counter track, the track buffs your big threats, and those threats win combat. The deck runs Simic's best evolve creatures to chain ETBs and counter placements, while payoffs like Sage of Hours turn stored counters into extra turns.
Key Cards
Sage of Hours
Remove five +1/+1 counters from Sage of Hours: take an extra turn after this one. Ezuri dumps his whole experience count onto Sage at the start of combat, so a five-counter Ezuri puts five on Sage, and you remove them for an extra turn. Next turn Ezuri loads him up again. Once you hit ten experience counters, Sage of Hours hands you an extra turn every turn cycle, forever. This is the deck's main infinite-turn combo and the reason Ezuri builds have been popular since 2015.
Fathom Mage
Whenever one or more +1/+1 counters are placed on Fathom Mage, draw a card. When Ezuri puts his combat counters on Fathom Mage, you draw a card for each one, so ten experience counters means ten cards in one precombat step. This is the deck's main card draw engine. A four-counter Ezuri on Fathom Mage draws four cards before combat. Once she's in play, every combat step refills your hand.
Vorel of the Hull Clade
Pay one green and one blue and tap Vorel: double each kind of counter on a target artifact, creature, or land. Point Vorel at a Fathom Mage with eight counters and she jumps to sixteen, then draws eight more cards on her next counter placement. Point it at a Sage of Hours with four counters and she hits eight, enough for an extra turn after one more removal activation. Doubling counters makes every other counter engine in the deck snowball much faster.
Master Biomancer
Each other creature you play enters with extra +1/+1 counters equal to Master Biomancer's power and also becomes a Mutant. With Biomancer at four power, every creature you play shows up with four counters. Those four counters on a creature with power two or less still trigger Ezuri's experience counter, since the game checks power as it enters, before the counters apply. Then Ezuri dumps his full experience count on any creature each combat, and the whole board snowballs in a hurry.
Prime Speaker Zegana
Enters with +1/+1 counters equal to the greatest power among other creatures you control and draws cards equal to her power. In a deck where Ezuri's counters have grown creatures to eight or ten power, Zegana comes down as an 8/8 or 10/10 and draws eight to ten cards on the spot. That refuel wins games by itself. Every time you rebuild after a board wipe, Zegana turns your biggest survivor's power into a fresh hand.
How to Play
Get small creatures and tokens down in the first three turns to start building Ezuri's experience counter track. Every 1/1 token, every Elvish Mystic equivalent, every evolve body feeds it. If you can, get to five experience counters before Ezuri hits the table, because the first time he puts five counters on Fathom Mage you draw five cards. Sage of Hours is the main win: get ten experience counters, drop them all on Sage each combat, take an extra turn, repeat. Vorel doubles the counter stacks to speed the cycle up. Against decks that can break the Sage of Hours loop, you win on raw creature power instead. A 20/20 Fathom Mage with Vorel's doubling closes games in combat on its own.
