Linvala, Keeper of Silence

Stax Strategy Guide

Stax decks are for players who want to win by deciding which resources matter before opponents can use them. This strategy wants to tax mana, cards, combat, and casting windows, using stax commanders and resource denial EDH pieces like Winter Orb and Smokestack, to win through a board state where your deck still functions and opponents cannot rebuild. Unlike Control, which answers threats after they appear, Stax locks the costs and rules of the game so many threats never get cast. The best stax commanders break parity, then convert the slowed table into combat damage, attrition, or a compact combo.