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Heliod, Sun-Crowned

Protected compact combo (Heliod + Walking Ballista lifegain engine) · Commander / EDH deck · shared by Pinstripedragon

ARCANE Power 81 Forge 67 Bracket 4 ~$725 100 cards W
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Game Plan

Compact combo core: Heliod, Sun-Crowned + Walking Ballista wins the game on the spot by creating an infinite damage and lifegain loop. Heliod grants lifelink to Walking Ballista, then each time you remove a counter from Ballista to deal 1 damage, Heliod's trigger puts a counter back, letting you repeat forever. The setup: Sol Ring and Esper Sentinel, plus 2 more ramp pieces deploy cheap mana and card draw early. Enlightened Tutor and Idyllic Tutor find your combo pieces or the tutors themselves, while Giada, Font of Hope ramps into your threats. Once Heliod lands (turn 2–3 with acceleration), you tutor Walking Ballista and execute the loop the same turn or next turn, often protected by instant-speed interaction.

How It Wins

Heliod's triggered ability fires whenever you gain life, putting a +1/+1 counter on any creature or enchantment you control — the scaling variable is how many times you gain life in a turn, and each gain triggers once. Walking Ballista enters with X counters (you choose the cost), then its second ability removes a counter to deal 1 damage to any target. When Ballista has lifelink (granted by Heliod's {1}{W} activation), that 1 damage becomes 1 life gain, which triggers Heliod again, replacing the counter you just spent. The loop is deterministic: you pay {1}{W} once, then repeat the Ballista activation for free, dealing infinite damage and gaining infinite life. Enlightened Tutor and Idyllic Tutor find Walking Ballista, Heliod (if not in hand), or tutors themselves, ensuring you assemble the combo by turn 3–4. Land Tax and Ranger-Captain of Eos fetch small creatures (Serra Ascendant, Speaker of the Heavens, Soul Warden) that accelerate into Heliod or protect the combo turn with Ranger-Captain's sacrifice ability (shutting down noncreature spells). Recruiter of the Guard and Ranger-Captain of Eos also tutor creatures with toughness 2 or less, finding Esper Sentinel (which draws cards when opponents cast noncreature spells, taxing their interaction) or other cheap bodies. Well of Lost Dreams converts your lifegain into card draw, letting you dig for combo pieces or protection. Brilliant Restoration is a sole enabler that returns all artifacts and enchantments from your graveyard to the battlefield — if Heliod or Ballista is milled or discarded, Brilliant Restoration rebuilds the combo after a board wipe. Mind Stone and Esper Sentinel provide early card advantage and mana, while Giada, Font of Hope taps for white mana and scales your Angels (Avacyn, Angel of Hope; Sephara, Sky's Blade) into evasive threats that pressure the table while you assemble the combo.

Decklist (100 cards)

Commander (1)

  • Heliod, Sun-Crowned

Creature (28)

  • Archangel of Thune
  • Archivist of Oghma
  • Avacyn, Angel of Hope
  • Battle Angels of Tyr
  • Bishop of Wings
  • Deep Gnome Terramancer
  • Esper Sentinel
  • Giada, Font of Hope
  • Grand Abolisher
  • Guardian of Faith
  • Hopeful Initiate
  • Linvala, Keeper of Silence
  • Lyra Dawnbringer
  • Mangara, the Diplomat
  • Ranger-Captain of Eos
  • Recruiter of the Guard
  • Resplendent Angel
  • Righteous Valkyrie
  • Selfless Spirit
  • Sephara, Sky's Blade
  • Serra Ascendant
  • Serra Paragon
  • Soul Warden
  • Soul's Attendant
  • Speaker of the Heavens
  • Walking Ballista
  • Weathered Wayfarer
  • Welcoming Vampire

Instant (11)

  • Akroma's Will
  • Cosmic Intervention
  • Enlightened Tutor
  • Flawless Maneuver
  • Generous Gift
  • Path to Exile
  • Rebuff the Wicked
  • Return to Dust
  • Silence
  • Swords to Plowshares
  • Teferi's Protection

Sorcery (4)

  • Brilliant Restoration
  • Farewell
  • Idyllic Tutor
  • Wrath of God

Enchantment (11)

  • Authority of the Consuls
  • Blind Obedience
  • Cleric Class
  • Dawn of Hope
  • Land Tax
  • Luminarch Ascension
  • Rest in Peace
  • Sigarda's Splendor
  • Smothering Tithe
  • Tocasia's Welcome
  • Trouble in Pairs

Artifact (12)

  • Aetherflux Reservoir
  • Arcane Signet
  • Coldsteel Heart
  • Marble Diamond
  • Mind Stone
  • Pearl Medallion
  • Skullclamp
  • Sol Ring
  • Thought Vessel
  • Venser's Journal
  • Wayfarer's Bauble
  • Well of Lost Dreams

Land (33)

  • Buried Ruin
  • Emeria, the Sky Ruin
  • Flagstones of Trokair
  • Hall of Heliod's Generosity
  • Inventors' Fair
  • Minas Tirith
  • Myriad Landscape
  • Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
  • 23× Plains
  • Reliquary Tower
  • War Room

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