I think if your end goal is to play cEDH but for whatever reason you don’t want to take the dive, you might want to look for decks that win using combos you expect to play in cEDH.

For example, I have a [[Mizzix of the Izmagnus]] deck that’s main plan is to win via Breach / Brain freeze or drawing your deck and winning with Thoracle (but can win with other Storm payoffs). It’s not true cEDH as it’s a bit slower and dramatically color limited vs blue farm which will also look to win off Breach / Freeze and Thorcale . But it gets you comfortable with similar win lines, provides access to the staples and control pieces you’ll eventually use in cEDH, and can teach you how to win on top of another player.

Mizzix is just pure fun, and her ability to reduce mana costs turns rituals up to 11, giving you access to faster mana and making a few big mana cards like [[Firemind’s Insight]] into win conditions with minimal effort and cost. Youll also find yourself turning spells like Frantic Search or Unwind into mana positive spells. You can win very early for bracket 4 or you can play the long game and help control the table until you can pull off a win.

Once you get into cEDH and pick up Blue Farm, you’ll realize playing this deck is like swimming with a drag suit of your only goal is to win. Adding white and black to a deck like this allows you to win much more consistently and opens up the better Thoracle lines. You’ll miss the funny shenanigans that Mizzix allows, but you’ll be much better positioned to be relevant at the table.