commander · Esika, God of the Tree
From Cute to Brute (SLD).
A five-color double-faced card deck from Secret Lair, led by Esika, God of the Tree, put legendary creatures into play off The Prismatic Bridge, or use Esika's front face to generate mana from your legendary permanents.
The Commander
From Cute to Brute is Secret Lair's double-faced card Commander deck. It contains forty-seven double-faced cards with "cute" art on the front and "brute" art on the back. Esika, God of the Tree is the face commander. She's a 1/4 with reach that lets all your legendary creatures tap for any color of mana. Her back face, The Prismatic Bridge, is a five-color enchantment that reveals the top card of your library at your upkeep and puts the first nonland permanent with mana value six or more straight onto the battlefield.
Esika, God of the Tree gives you two completely different game plans depending on which face you play. The front face builds a battery of legendary creatures that tap for any color. The Prismatic Bridge cheats an expensive permanent into play every turn, and in a five-color deck full of six-plus mana creatures, that's a free bomb every upkeep. Run the front face for legendary synergy builds or the back face to cheat in the deck's biggest threats.
Key Cards
Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
On entry, each opponent discards a card. Pay four mana to flip into Nicol Bolas, the Arisen, a planeswalker that draws, exiles, and drains. The Prismatic Bridge can put Nicol Bolas straight into play if he's the first six-plus mana card revealed. Once he flips to the planeswalker, he's an engine that gives you card advantage and removal every turn. A free Bridge entry hits all your opponents' hands the moment he lands.
Archangel Avacyn
Flash. When she enters, all creatures you control gain indestructible until end of turn. When a non-angel creature dies, Avacyn transforms into her Avacyn, the Purifier form at the beginning of the next upkeep and deals three damage to each non-angel creature and player. The Bridge can cheat her in, and her flash also lets you drop her at instant speed in response to a board wipe. She flips into a damage engine after any creature death, which in Commander happens constantly.
Bloodline Keeper
Creates a 2/2 Vampire token each turn when tapped. It transforms into Lord of Lineage once you control five or more Vampires, and Lord gives all Vampires +2/+2. In a five-color deck, those tokens feed whatever tribal payoffs you're running, and the flip to Lord of Lineage is a big board-wide pump. Since the deck packs double-faced cards from across every color, Keeper's Vampire tokens set off any other death or enter effects among the fifty-plus flip cards.
Westvale Abbey
A land that taps for colorless but can pay five mana and sacrifice five creatures to transform into Ormendahl, Profane Prince, a 9/7 flying lifelink indestructible haste demon. On a token-heavy board with the Bridge deploying threats every turn, trading five creatures for an indestructible 9/7 that attacks and gains life the turn it enters is a reliable way to end the game. Being double-faced, this land is a mana source and a finisher in one card slot.
Seedborn Muse
Untaps all permanents you control during each other player's untap step. The Prismatic Bridge triggers on each of your upkeeps, so Seedborn Muse turns every other player's turn into another Bridge trigger, which roughly triples or quadruples your free deployments each cycle. With Esika's legendary mana permanents also untapping every turn, your mana for big spells is basically unlimited.
How to Play
Picking Esika's front or back face sets up two completely different game plans. Against creature-heavy pods, The Prismatic Bridge cheats one bomb per turn cycle for no mana, so over three or four turns you've landed five huge permanents for free and the board gets away from everyone else. Against controlling pods, Esika's front face and its legendary mana keep you casting the full five-color spell package on time. The double-faced theme also means many threats have two useful sides: run them through Westvale Abbey as sacrifice fodder, then bring back the flipped versions when you need them. Most games you win on the raw power of the Bridge dropping a six-plus mana threat every turn.