Budget EDH Deck Tech: Rhoda and Timin - Control the Board!

If you're looking for a fun, accessible, and effective Commander deck, Timin, Youthful Geist and Rhoda, Geist Avenger are a fantastic duo. Their synergy lets you control the battlefield and grow exponentially, as Rhonda gets +4/+4 every turn. You'll be able to win matches in no time at all with commander damage alone!

In this article, let's explore the best cards, strategies, and interactions in this deck so you can get the most out of it and win lots of games.

The main strategy centers around Timin and Rhoda.

Timin, Youthful Geist lets you tap up to four creatures per cycle, and, as such, it limits your opponents' options considerably.

Rhoda, Geist Avenger grows whenever an enemy creature is tapped, so it becomes a huge threat incredibly fast.

Your goal is to control the board the best way you can, prevent blocks, and kill your opponents with commander damage.

To do that, you'll need to protect Rhoda and use cards that tap multiple targets at once.

Oh, here's our decklist, by the way:

This deck truly shines when you tap multiple targets at the same time, as this buffs Rhoda exponentially and often kills a player when you attack. You can do this in two ways: at sorcery speed, and instant speed.

Sorcery Speed Tappers

Tempest Caller taps all enemy creatures at once and opens the way for you to set up a massive attack, with a huge commander.

Ivory Giant does the same as Tempest Caller, and is incredibly useful in your opening hand.

Sleep, besides tapping everything a target player controls, keeps those cards tapped for an extra turn.

Bond of Discipline taps all enemy creatures and gives your creatures lifelink.

Cone of Cold does the same, and, depending on your dice roll, you may get to keep them tapped for longer.

Instant Speed Tappers

Blustersquall works just like Sleep, but you can play it on your opponent's turn.

Downpour taps three creatures.

Blinding Light taps everything that is not white.

Githzerai Monk does the same as Tempest Caller, but it has a bigger body, flies, and has flash.

Besides these three cards, this deck also includes many cards similar to Gideon's Lawkeeper, which taps an enemy creature. In fact, it plays far too many of them for us to list them all.

You can play different ones depending on the meta and your game style, but including some that work at instant speed is essential so you can catch your opponents off-guard and disrupt their attacks or blocks.

Besides traditional tappers, a few other cards in this list make the entire strategy even more valuable, either by giving you new interactions to play or putting more pressure on the board.

Sharae of Numbing Depths draws extra cards and works perfectly with this strategy.

Scroll of Isildur taps and draws cards, and might ramp mana for you, so it's everything you want in this list.

Time of Ice taps creatures and keeps them tapped. It's also a one-sided board wipe.

Verity Circle can draw many cards for you, as it draws four cards per turn in the worst-case scenario. It rivals Rhystic Study in that sense.

Solitary Sanctuary turns Timin into a second Rhoda with flying, or doubles the damage she deals.

These cards make this deck resilient and are extra threats, so you'll be able to pressure the board throughout the entire match.

Besides controlling the game with your tappers, you also need ways to remove problematic permanents. Unfortunately, tapping creatures will not always be enough. Below are some of the best options for this deck.

Removing Creatures or Permanents

Giant Killer // Chop Down is versatile, as it kills big creatures and is a tapper later on.

Resculpt removes creatures and artifacts, but also gives your opponent a 4/4 (which can be good for you, as it's another card to tap).

Generous Gift is similar to Resculpt, but it hits any permanent.

Sunblast Angel is a one-sided boardwipe.

Please note that any removal that creates a body for your opponent can be useful, as you can simply tap them and buff Rhoda.

Stack Interactions

Okay, we know these aren't exactly removals, but some permanents are too problematic to even come into play (or maybe they're sorceries or instants). We grouped the spells above because they're cheap counterspells and mostly do the same thing.

Protecting Rhoda: Stopping Removals

Dealing with threats also means protecting your own, and Rhoda is your biggest threat, so protecting her is essential. Here are some of the best ways to protect her:

Swiftfoot Boots gives her haste and hexproof, so she'll be more resilient.

Robe of Mirrors is cheap and efficient, and gives her shroud.

Mystic Veil is an enchantment that gives a creature shroud, and you can play it as if it had flash.

Giant's Amulet gives a creature hexproof while it isn't tapped (and our commander has vigilance).

You can equip Neurok Stealthsuit as an instant with her other ability to protect Rhoda from removals. It also gives her shroud.

You See a Guard Approach gives her hexproof and can tap a creature!

With all of these tools, Rhoda will be active at all times and keep growing. You'll be able to win with just a few attacks, usually two for each player.

Have Patience with Rhoda

If you can't find many targets for Timin's ability on the battlefield, it might be best to wait to play Rhoda at a better time. You also have other creatures to grow and other ways to tap creatures. Usually, Rhoda is your best choice, as her ability triggers with mana dorks, but playing her is not always the best call.

Timin as a Political Tool

You can negotiate with other players, and ask them which creatures they prefer you tap. Honestly, it is one of the best ways to use this friendly ghost, as you'll still grow Rhoda this way, and might even form an alliance!

Pushing Attacks Through

If your opponent's board is simply far too strong, you can tap their creatures, force them to block with something important, and use Rhoda as a removal! Or you can just tap all of their blockers and kill them.

This deck can be a lot better, particularly as this is just a budget version. Cyclonic Rift would be a great addition, fetchlands and shocklands like Hallowed Fountain would be great for the mana base, as well as smaller counterspells like Dovin's Veto and Mana Drain. Explosive mana rocks would go a long way to increase your speed (omg, Mana Vault, hi!), particularly as both commanders use a good amount of colorless mana.

What would we remove, though? Simple: swap ramp for ramp and answer for answer! If you're out of ideas, here's another list with a few very basic upgrades:

This deck is excellent if you enjoy control, politics, and explosive commander damage. With a well-structured gameplan and accessible cards, it can face any table and still catch your opponents off-guard.

If you want a fun, relatively cheap, efficient list, this duo might be perfect for you. Test it, refine it, and find the perfect strategy to dominate your Commander tables!

What did you think of this list? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!