A while back I decided to build a BUG deck and used Damia, Sage of Stone as the general. The deck was fun, but was just a goodstuff deck that I didn't really like. I already had Karador goodstuff and swapping White for Blue didn't feel like much of a change. Over time, I got bored with the deck and dismantled it.
A few months back I decided to go on a deck building spree. Sidisi, Alesha, Ephara, Horobi, Atraxa, Bruse Tarl & Ikra Shidiqi, Mina and Denn, and a couple others were built during this time. Only three of those decks are still around including Sidisi. Sidisi popped up because I had always been interested in her ability and I really wanted to build a BUG deck that wasn't just goodstuff. There would be goodstuff elements as there are for any deck, but I wanted it to have a more cohesive identity; one that included and focused more on the commander.
As I went through, I started off really heavily on the self milling plan. Hair-Strung Koto, Mesmeric Orb, Splinterfright, Nyx Weaver, and a few others were tossed into the deck. Most self milling remained, but Hair-Strung Koto was cut early on for being too expensive and Splinterfright was cut due to the rare times I couldn't cast it and because it was just a big dumb beater. I have thought about cutting Nyx Weaver a couple times, but never have. I am guessing it will get cut eventually, but I do like the card.
A lot of the card choices are self explanatory, but there are a few I want to call out. One thing to note is that while this is a black deck with reanimator elements to it (Chainer, Dementia Master and Sheoldred, Whispering One being the big two) it is not meant to function as a reanimator deck. That is, there are a number of cards in here that will shuffle my graveyard away. I am focused on being able to mill myself over and over again to get value out of Sidisi and reanimation, but I am not actively trying to fill my graveyard to necessarily use the cards out of it. I am just trying to trigger Sidisi and then get some residual value out of that plan. Hopefully that makes sense and it is why I include Gaea's Blessing and the two EldraziTitans. Yes, they will often shuffle my graveyard away at inopportune times, but I am fine with that as it keeps my library full to keep triggering Sidisi.
Phenax, God of Deception is another card that fits the self mill plan while also being able to mill out opponents when I need to.
Phyrexian Plaguelord is a bit of a pet card for me as my first ever "real" Magic deck I built was a mono-black deck with Plaguelord as the curve topper. In EDH it is often not that great, but in this deck it is awesome. It is a free sac outlet when I need it and, due to the amount of tokens I make, it has saved me on a couple of occasions by getting rid of large indestructible creatures. It is awesome and I am glad to have finally found a home for it.
There are normal ramp elements (no artifact ramp since I am running green) as well as a few things that work from the graveyard. The most recent change was taking out Time Reversal and replacing it with Commit // Memory. It is 1 mana more, but since I can cast it after it has been milled, it works out great.
I have a couple Dredge cards to help with the mill plan as well as Mesmeric Orb. Orb is probably the best of these because it creates a separate trigger for each permanent I untap. Since Sidisi doesn't like multiple creatures going to the graveyard at once (if I mill 3 creatures off her ability, I only get 1 Zombie), the separate triggers give me more value than things that mill multiple cards as part of one effect.
I have the list pretty tight right now, so I am not sure if there are any slots I could feasibly replace (other than potentially Nyx Weaver) if new cards come up. I will have to see how good the new cards are compared to the ones I have I suppose
I've got the same gameplan of self-milling repeatedly but more on Zombie Tribal.
The first thing that jumped out at me is Pedantic Learning, neat card that I didn't even knew existed. But I think The Gitrog Monster is probably better in its slot because A) It's a Creature for Sidisi to mill B) It's a Creature that interacts with your Reanimation gameplan C) You don't need to pay mana to draw if you mill lands D) You draw no matter where the Land came from. Overall, the Gitrog is an absolute beast whenever I stick it.
You've got Urborg and lots of other expensive lands (Bayou, Cradle, etc.); why not Cabal Coffers?
Also, since you are going with the self-mill route, why not include Wonder and/or Filth for some amazing evasion?
I do think your curve is a bit high, though I guess that could be with your intention of cheating things into play. If that's the gameplan, I don't see enough cards that'll help that work. Doomed Necromancer could help a lot in cheating these fatties into play, as well as Hell's Caretaker.
I know Sidisi lists tend to feel incredibly tight just because you have so many cards that you have no intention of ever playing but you do use for the mill gameplan. It's going to be hard to make any changes. I felt like a lot of good cards were spoiled for Hour of Devastation and all I could think was "How am I going to make any of these cuts?!" Good luck!
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To answer the question about lands, I have had a couple games early on in the deck's life where I got mana screwed. However, I bumped up the lands and 38 seems to be the right number for the deck. With my early ramp, I never seem to have a problem getting the lands/colors I need.
Regarding Pedantic Learning: The Gitrog Monster probably should be in the deck, but I don't think I would replace Learning. I just never thought about Gitrog as it is the general for another deck and sometimes I get tunnel vision regarding using my commanders in other decks. I will definitely be finding a spot for it now. I just need to figure out what it is.
World Breaker is way better than the two options presented even discounting the ability to get it back. Being able to exile and get a 5/7 Reach creature on top of it is worth the extra 2 mana when compared to Acidic Slime. Being able to get it back is just a bonus. And 6 colorless mana sources seems like a small amount (because it is) but Winding Canyons and/or High Market are often some of my first lands to search out so I usually have at least one source to get back World Breaker if I need it.
Coffers probably should be in the deck, but I don't like running it in 3 color decks. It doesn't do enough on its own (I don't have enough Swamps to make it work) and I would rather be searching out other lands before Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. Maybe some day it will make it in, but just the presence of Urborg isn't enough to include Coffers.
Speaking of Urborg: this is the entire reason I run Filth (as to your suggestion). With Filth and Urborg my creatures are often unblockable. I don't do much with Wonder just due to the fact that Flying is easier to block and it bogs down the deck just to get evasion. If, in the future, I feel flying would be beneficial, I will certainly look to add it.
As mentioned, Reanimation is secondary to swarming the board. I have some elements of it, but it is not a primary goal of the deck. I also don't like Necromancer. It is extremely slow and I don't feel I need it.
Yes, the curve seems high, but I have plenty of ramp. By my count, I have 13 sources of ramp and so far that has been more than enough to cast my creatures. The ramp I do have is also the reason I run so many basics. It has been working well for me so far. From looking at it, I don't think my curve is exceptionally high as to be unplayable. 32 spells are 4 mana and under, 16 are 5 or 6, with 20 being 7 and above. Yes, 20 is high, but I have yet to see any problems with curving out or flooding the board with early creatures.
I appreciate the questions and suggestions. I will definitely find a spot for Gitrog and I will think about Coffers some more
I don't feel you should see Wonder as helping to attack; you should see it as defensive. Since you're already running Wonder, it's good to give disposable tokens flying to chump block potential threats.
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I don't feel you should see Wonder as helping to attack; you should see it as defensive. Since you're already running Wonder, it's good to give disposable tokens flying to chump block potential threats.
That's a good point. I haven't had to deal with flyers and I want to be the aggressor as much as possible so I still don't think I want to make room for it. However, if I find (through more games) that this changes and Flying would be helpful, it will certainly find its way into the deck. It fits with the strategy and becomes easy to get online.
Based on Tev's comments (and DementedKirby's agreement), I went through my deck a little more and I goldfished it a little as well and I don't know that their concerns are that great. The concerns are certainly valid as I did find that I have 18 cards that are 6 mana or higher. I did not include the Eldrazi in that count because they are not meant to be cast. It is great if I can get there, but there are meant to find their way into the graveyard to shuffle it back in. As such, I counted them as 0 mana cards.
With 39 lands and 13 ramp spells, I am not sure the curve is an issue (or, at least, it is less of one in reality than on paper). However, I did review the spells I have above 5 mana and tried to see what I could cut. Here is what I have in that range:
Bane and Realm Seekers get me lands. Grave Titan pumps up Cradle and gives me more blockers/attackers/fodder for Plaguelord etc. Massacre Wurm takes down token and weenie armies. Mikaeus gives me protection against wraths and Sheoldred just makes my milled creature cards more useful and easy to get back. Butcher and Leviathan helps clear the opposing boards (Leviathan is more of a nuclear option). World Breaker deals with certain cards that are a nuisance and potentially indestructible. Sphinx is potential card advantage and helps trigger Sidisi. And Craterhoof is part of the end game of just swarming. Rune-Scarred is just a standard tutor and flying beater.
Time Spiral and Memory are both there to refill my hand and shuffle my graveyard back into my library.
Of the cards above, the ones that came to mind first to cut are Grave Titan (just a big dumb beater that produces tokens), Rune-Scarred Demon (a flyer that tutors, but I have been looking to cut back on tutors in general), Soul of the Harvest (draw engine, but Gitrog may be a better one; not sure if I need both), and Leviathan (can wreck my board harder than my opponents'; still nice to have it as an option though). I know in my OP I mentioned Nyx Weaver being on the chopping block, but it does get me back something important for little mana investment and fits well in the curve.
In the end, I decided to remove the Demon mainly to limit the number of tutors I have. I find that games often become stale or repetitive if I have too many tutors and this deck plays a few. It does get rid of a Flyer so Tev and DementedKirby's suggestions about Wonder may be even more relevant now. I have ordered a Wonder just in case, but I still need to find a cut for it.
Taking a second look at your deck, if you have a Reanimation plan, you sure do run a lot of Timetwister effects that would reshuffle your graveyard back into your deck. I understand that sort of decision with a different build, but you plan on using your graveyard as a resource.
And when I first commented on your high curve I also got didn't include the Eldrazi. They're never meant to be Cast, they're just reshuffles. For comparison, I only have three "6+ drops" - I have a fourth but I never intent to ever cast Gempalm Polluter as well as Kozilek. I find the deck works great with a lowered curve because it helps me do things when I'm tight on mana. And when I have plenty of mana, then I can drop tons of value that makes it hard for my opponents to keep up.
Also, I would recommend Silverglade Elemental over Seedguide Ash just because the benefit is frontloaded. Sometimes you don't have a Sac Outlet, or you don't want the Creature to die so you wouldn't get the benefit. I figure you're going with Ash because it searches for Forests specifically, so you can get all of those great duals into play. Hell, you reminded me of Yavimaya Dryad which I'm considering adding as another 3 drop. If you're not doing that specifically, I would recommend playing with cheaper ETB Land Fetchers like Solemn Simulacrum, Wild Wanderer or Ondu Giant. Personally, I use the Ramp-on-a-Stick Strategy because I'm more paranoid about Wraths, unlike the Untap shenanigans that Kirby runs - though I think his is more powerful due to various interactions and opening of Wincons. Another 'Ramper' you should consider is Nissa, Vastwood Seer - sure, she doesn't directly Ramp but she provides a Card Advantage engine when she flips.
I am running Seedguide because it gets me 3 Forests for 5 mana. Nothing comes close to that. If I wanted something more frontloaded, I would be using Yavimaya Granger over Silverglade. 5 mana to ramp 1 is not worth it. And, I am already running Solemn, but Ondu Giant and Wild Wanderer aren't enough. Solemn makes the cut since he is colorless and he draws me a card when he dies.
I have found room for Filth and Wonder. I cut Soul of the Harvest due to never really using it. Since it only triggers off nontokens I found that I was frequently not caring if I had it on the battlefield. It also lowers my curve a small amount.
I also cut Harvest Season. I really wanted this card to be good and this seemed like the best deck for it. However, I just never found a time where I could cast it for much value. I envisioned it giving me at least 3 lands for 3 mana, but I just never got to it or I found there were better things to be doing.
I would also like to reiterate: this is not meant to be a reanimation deck. The reanimation elements are there because a) they are really good and b) they work with my primary focus which is self-mill. If I wanted a reanimation deck, you would see things like Corpse Dance, Strands of Night, good ol' Reanimate and the like. By my count, I only have about 5 "reanimation" spells:
Dread Return - Only in since it works from the graveyard Chainer, Dementia Master - It's awesome and works on anyone's graveyard; not just mine. Sheoldred, Whispering One - Reanimates but also makes other players sac their creatures. Phyrexian Reclamation - Gets me creature cards to my hand before they are shuffled; doesn't actually reanimate. Liliana, Death's Majesty - In here for her first ability. Her second and third are just icing on the cake.
The main focus on self mill is actually the reason I have held off Filth and Wonder up until now. If I am constantly shuffling away my graveyard, they become less useful. I am willing to try them out as Entomb gets them when needed and they seem better than the cards I am replacing. I am not sure how long they will stick around though.
I haven't updated this in a while, but I wanted to give a quick summary of my thoughts on the deck and some of the card interactions.
To start with, I was completely wrong on Wonder. I had been willing to try it based on suggestions above, but it is way more powerful than I had expected considering I don't expect my graveyard to stick around. I have had at least two games where I won solely because my dudes had flying (and one game where Cloudthresher wiped my board because of it ). I have often been finding that I am willing to go through some hoops to cheat out a wonder via Protean Hulk and then sacrifice it just to give my creatures flying at the right time.
At the same time, I really like Filth in Alesha, but I am not sure it has ever mattered here. I still like the inclusion as it gives my creatures evasion, but I just find it interesting that I don't think it has ever really been relevant in this deck.
Per some of Tev's earlier suggestions, I am still conscious of the curve of the deck. I have begun to realize that the deck doesn't utilize Sheoldred as much as it could. She is slow and she is rarely the best play to make.
I now actively want to cut Grave Titan as it just does not do enough. I am not sure what should go into these two card slots. I think maybe I should run Ramunap Excavator in one spot since I am milling myself so much that I often have lands I would like to play from my graveyard. I will see what I want to put in the other spot though.
Pedantic Learning - Tev had a good take on this in their initial comment and over the course of a few games I realized it wasn't doing as much as I would like. Gitrog is definitely the better card but even without Gitrog, this card is somewhat underwhelming. It is nice to have and the synergy is very good in this deck, but at some point I just don't want to pay the mana to draw a card.
Perpetual Timepiece - This is high on synergy as well, but I have never (or, at least, very rarely) used the shuffle ability. It is a good mill card as it comes down early but I am not sure the difference it has made has been all that great. Since I rarely, if ever, have needed the shuffle ability, it just becomes a card to mill two and I don't think that is enough for this deck.
Craterhoof Behemoth - This is potentially a contentious cut as it is a way to end the game, especially with the amount of tokens I have. However, there are a couple reasons to cut the card. Namely, I want to cut down the curve a little and it can't be gotten off Protean Hulk. The last one is not hugely relevant, but I have been slowly trying to get to a point where all my creatures can be tutored off Hulk to give Hulk a bit more value in the deck.
Now, here are the cards I am putting into the deck for the cuts above:
Ramunap Excavator - This gets me my lands from the graveyard after I mill them and is "cheaper" than Life From the Loam in that I don't need to cast it each turn to get a land back. Once it is on the field, playing a land from my graveyard is essentially free.
Grimgrin, Corpse-Born - This does a few things in this deck. First, it is a repeatable sac outlet when I need it (such as when Butcher of Malakir is on the table) and it is creature destruction when I need it to be. Since it will generally be pretty big, it is tough to kill it in combat.
Spike Weaver - This is a fog that I can get off Protean Hulk when needed and sometimes the fog is essential to winning a game by surviving an alpha stroke from a player. I have been caught once or twice when looking for it in my deck and not finding it, so I thought I should probably just find a spot for it.
Noxious Gearhulk - This is creature removal, evasion, and life gain all in one. I like the card and have never really found a spot for it. I am hoping it ends up being decent in this deck since I should be able to re-use it fairly often. It is also a good "gotcha" card when someone attacks me with a huge creature and I cheat this in destroy that creature and gain a bunch of life.
Gravespawn Sovereign - This one is a bit questionable as to how good it will actually be. It is a "free" reanimation effect and can get creatures from any graveyard (so it is still good when my graveyard goes away). But, it requires 4 other zombies to activate. I currently have 5 zombies in the deck (this will make 6) so I am banking on Sidisi to keep churning out tokens to make this good. Since I have cut Grave Titan, this may be worse than I want (and I don't want to keep Grave Titan in just for this, though that may change).
I will hopefully provide an update over the course of the next couple weeks as to how well these cuts/additions are working.
I haven't made any changes to this for a while and unfortunately the new sets haven't really offered much in the way of additions to this deck. Rivals of Ixalan provided a great addition in World Shaper though. This card is perfect for this deck so I just need to find the slot for it. I am not sure what I am going to cut for it yet though.
Another card I never got to including or thinking of including is Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign. This would replace Sphinx of Uthuun. I get one fewer card but it is cheaper to cast. I won't get much use out of the cost reduction for Sphinxes as I would only have one so I am not sure if lowering the curve is worth Unesh over Sphinx of Uthuun. The lower stats also might be a concern. I will keep this in the back of my mind for now.
I have decided to make a few more changes, but first a quick summary of how well the changes I made in October are doing (since I never followed up on them:
Ramunap Excavator - This has been doing the job I expected. It gives me a way to mill or discard lands but still be able to play them as needed. Last night I had Oracle of Mul Daya, The Gitrog monster, and this and I was able to keep hitting my land drops due to having a fairly full graveyard. I think it has more than earned its place.
Grimgrin, Corpse-Born - This has been an all-star in the deck. It deals with opponents' blockers which lets me attack with Sidisi more, Which, in turn, gives me a steady stream of zombies to sac to it to untap it. I think it killed 6 or 7 creatures last night on its own.
Noxious Gearhulk - This hasn't been bad and has come though for me on a number of situations. Using Chainer to reanimate it to gain life and get rid of big creatures has been a huge boon. Menace has also been relevant in a few cases as well.
Spike Weaver - This has actually been fairly irrelevant in the deck. It might be the decks I am playing against or just the way some games have gone, but I rarely need Spike Weaver to help out. However, in the cases where I needed Spike Weaver, I really needed it. There are a handful of games I won based on Spike Weaver being able to save me long enough for me to build my board or wrath my opponents' boards.
Gravespawn Sovereign - I think, in the last 3 months, I have activated the Sovereign's ability 1 time at most. The deck has gotten rid of some minor self-mill cards since I built it and the ones I have, while working very well to make the deck play the way I want it to, do not provide enough Zombies to activate the Sovereign's ability. I am going to cut this from this deck. However, I have been considering building a mono-black deck with Ghoulcaller Gisa at the helm so this will make its way into that deck for sure. It just does not work well with the build I have here.
Regarding other cards, I have decided Woodfall Primus is not something I want in the deck. Not only does it go infinite" with Mikeaus and Plaguelord, it is also 8 mana. I would rather the curve a bit so I am going to slot in Acidic Slime over the Primus. I should probably get rid of World Breaker too, but I like the cast trigger as it gets around a few things, like Torpor Orb and Overwhelming Splendor so I am going to keep it for now.
A few months back I decided to go on a deck building spree. Sidisi, Alesha, Ephara, Horobi, Atraxa, Bruse Tarl & Ikra Shidiqi, Mina and Denn, and a couple others were built during this time. Only three of those decks are still around including Sidisi. Sidisi popped up because I had always been interested in her ability and I really wanted to build a BUG deck that wasn't just goodstuff. There would be goodstuff elements as there are for any deck, but I wanted it to have a more cohesive identity; one that included and focused more on the commander.
As I went through, I started off really heavily on the self milling plan. Hair-Strung Koto, Mesmeric Orb, Splinterfright, Nyx Weaver, and a few others were tossed into the deck. Most self milling remained, but Hair-Strung Koto was cut early on for being too expensive and Splinterfright was cut due to the rare times I couldn't cast it and because it was just a big dumb beater. I have thought about cutting Nyx Weaver a couple times, but never have. I am guessing it will get cut eventually, but I do like the card.
As of right now, here is my list:
1 Sidisi, Brood Tyrant
Lands
1 Bayou
1 Bazaar of Baghdad
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Breeding Pool
1 Command Tower
1 Dakmor Salvage
1 Diamond Valley
1 Duskmantle, House of Shadow
1 Fetid Pools
7 Forest
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 High Market
4 Island
1 Miren, the Moaning Well
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Nephalia Drownyard
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Polluted Delta
1 Sunken Hollow
4 Swamp
1 Tropical Island
1 Underground Sea
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Watery Grave
1 Winding Canyons
Enchantments
1 Phyrexian Reclamation
1 Acidic Slime
1 Agent of Erebos
1 Archfiend of Depravity
1 Bane of Progress
1 Burnished Hart
1 Butcher of Malakir
1 Chainer, Dementia Master
1 Eternal Witness
1 Farhaven Elf
1 Filth
1 Graveborn Muse
1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
1 Grimgrin, Corpse-Born
1 Kederekt Leviathan
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1 Loaming Shaman
1 Massacre Wurm
1 Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
1 Noxious Gearhulk
1 Nyx Weaver
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Phenax, God of Deception
1 Phyrexian Plaguelord
1 Protean Hulk
1 Ramunap Excavator
1 Realm Seekers
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Seedguide Ash
1 Shaman of Forgotten Ways
1 Sidisi, Undead Vizier
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Sphinx of Uthuun
1 Spike Weaver
1 The Gitrog Monster
1 Tilling Treefolk
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1 Ulvenwald Hydra
1 Wonder
1 Wood Elves
1 World Breaker
1 World Shaper
1 Yavimaya Dryad
1 Yavimaya Elder
1 Commit
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Entomb
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Mana Drain
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
Planeswalkers
1 Liliana, Death's Majesty
Artifacts
1 Elixir of Immortality
1 Mesmeric Orb
Sorceries
1 Day's Undoing
1 Dread Return
1 Gaea's Blessing
1 Life from the Loam
1 Time Spiral
1 Timetwister
A lot of the card choices are self explanatory, but there are a few I want to call out. One thing to note is that while this is a black deck with reanimator elements to it (Chainer, Dementia Master and Sheoldred, Whispering One being the big two) it is not meant to function as a reanimator deck. That is, there are a number of cards in here that will shuffle my graveyard away. I am focused on being able to mill myself over and over again to get value out of Sidisi and reanimation, but I am not actively trying to fill my graveyard to necessarily use the cards out of it. I am just trying to trigger Sidisi and then get some residual value out of that plan. Hopefully that makes sense and it is why I include Gaea's Blessing and the two Eldrazi Titans. Yes, they will often shuffle my graveyard away at inopportune times, but I am fine with that as it keeps my library full to keep triggering Sidisi.
Phenax, God of Deception is another card that fits the self mill plan while also being able to mill out opponents when I need to.
Phyrexian Plaguelord is a bit of a pet card for me as my first ever "real" Magic deck I built was a mono-black deck with Plaguelord as the curve topper. In EDH it is often not that great, but in this deck it is awesome. It is a free sac outlet when I need it and, due to the amount of tokens I make, it has saved me on a couple of occasions by getting rid of large indestructible creatures. It is awesome and I am glad to have finally found a home for it.
There are normal ramp elements (no artifact ramp since I am running green) as well as a few things that work from the graveyard. The most recent change was taking out Time Reversal and replacing it with Commit // Memory. It is 1 mana more, but since I can cast it after it has been milled, it works out great.
I have a couple Dredge cards to help with the mill plan as well as Mesmeric Orb. Orb is probably the best of these because it creates a separate trigger for each permanent I untap. Since Sidisi doesn't like multiple creatures going to the graveyard at once (if I mill 3 creatures off her ability, I only get 1 Zombie), the separate triggers give me more value than things that mill multiple cards as part of one effect.
I have the list pretty tight right now, so I am not sure if there are any slots I could feasibly replace (other than potentially Nyx Weaver) if new cards come up. I will have to see how good the new cards are compared to the ones I have I suppose
The first thing that jumped out at me is Pedantic Learning, neat card that I didn't even knew existed. But I think The Gitrog Monster is probably better in its slot because A) It's a Creature for Sidisi to mill B) It's a Creature that interacts with your Reanimation gameplan C) You don't need to pay mana to draw if you mill lands D) You draw no matter where the Land came from. Overall, the Gitrog is an absolute beast whenever I stick it.
I also don't think you have enough colorless sources get World Breaker back. I think an Acidic Slime or Caustic Caterpillar would be better on your curve.
You've got Urborg and lots of other expensive lands (Bayou, Cradle, etc.); why not Cabal Coffers?
Also, since you are going with the self-mill route, why not include Wonder and/or Filth for some amazing evasion?
I do think your curve is a bit high, though I guess that could be with your intention of cheating things into play. If that's the gameplan, I don't see enough cards that'll help that work. Doomed Necromancer could help a lot in cheating these fatties into play, as well as Hell's Caretaker.
I know Sidisi lists tend to feel incredibly tight just because you have so many cards that you have no intention of ever playing but you do use for the mill gameplan. It's going to be hard to make any changes. I felt like a lot of good cards were spoiled for Hour of Devastation and all I could think was "How am I going to make any of these cuts?!" Good luck!
Mid-Tier: Marchesa Aggro Rose Asmadi Get Dire Tymna Ikra Woke Women Tiana Aura Angel Ruric Thar SMASH Smasher Kraum Mana Positivity Zur Slides
Filthy Casual: WUBRG Jodah WUBRG WUBRG Fatties WUBRG Gahiji Vigilant Vengeance Ezuri Mysterious Morphs
I'm curious as to how effective your mana base is with so many basic lands. Has it been consistent? Have you been mana screwed much?
BGU [Primer] Sidisi, Brood Tyrant BGU | BG [Primer] Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest BG | G [Primer] Polukranos, World Eater G
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Regarding Pedantic Learning: The Gitrog Monster probably should be in the deck, but I don't think I would replace Learning. I just never thought about Gitrog as it is the general for another deck and sometimes I get tunnel vision regarding using my commanders in other decks. I will definitely be finding a spot for it now. I just need to figure out what it is.
World Breaker is way better than the two options presented even discounting the ability to get it back. Being able to exile and get a 5/7 Reach creature on top of it is worth the extra 2 mana when compared to Acidic Slime. Being able to get it back is just a bonus. And 6 colorless mana sources seems like a small amount (because it is) but Winding Canyons and/or High Market are often some of my first lands to search out so I usually have at least one source to get back World Breaker if I need it.
Coffers probably should be in the deck, but I don't like running it in 3 color decks. It doesn't do enough on its own (I don't have enough Swamps to make it work) and I would rather be searching out other lands before Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. Maybe some day it will make it in, but just the presence of Urborg isn't enough to include Coffers.
Speaking of Urborg: this is the entire reason I run Filth (as to your suggestion). With Filth and Urborg my creatures are often unblockable. I don't do much with Wonder just due to the fact that Flying is easier to block and it bogs down the deck just to get evasion. If, in the future, I feel flying would be beneficial, I will certainly look to add it.
As mentioned, Reanimation is secondary to swarming the board. I have some elements of it, but it is not a primary goal of the deck. I also don't like Necromancer. It is extremely slow and I don't feel I need it.
Yes, the curve seems high, but I have plenty of ramp. By my count, I have 13 sources of ramp and so far that has been more than enough to cast my creatures. The ramp I do have is also the reason I run so many basics. It has been working well for me so far. From looking at it, I don't think my curve is exceptionally high as to be unplayable. 32 spells are 4 mana and under, 16 are 5 or 6, with 20 being 7 and above. Yes, 20 is high, but I have yet to see any problems with curving out or flooding the board with early creatures.
I appreciate the questions and suggestions. I will definitely find a spot for Gitrog and I will think about Coffers some more
BGU [Primer] Sidisi, Brood Tyrant BGU | BG [Primer] Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest BG | G [Primer] Polukranos, World Eater G
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With 39 lands and 13 ramp spells, I am not sure the curve is an issue (or, at least, it is less of one in reality than on paper). However, I did review the spells I have above 5 mana and tried to see what I could cut. Here is what I have in that range:
Bane and Realm Seekers get me lands. Grave Titan pumps up Cradle and gives me more blockers/attackers/fodder for Plaguelord etc. Massacre Wurm takes down token and weenie armies. Mikaeus gives me protection against wraths and Sheoldred just makes my milled creature cards more useful and easy to get back. Butcher and Leviathan helps clear the opposing boards (Leviathan is more of a nuclear option). World Breaker deals with certain cards that are a nuisance and potentially indestructible. Sphinx is potential card advantage and helps trigger Sidisi. And Craterhoof is part of the end game of just swarming. Rune-Scarred is just a standard tutor and flying beater.
Time Spiral and Memory are both there to refill my hand and shuffle my graveyard back into my library.
Of the cards above, the ones that came to mind first to cut are Grave Titan (just a big dumb beater that produces tokens), Rune-Scarred Demon (a flyer that tutors, but I have been looking to cut back on tutors in general), Soul of the Harvest (draw engine, but Gitrog may be a better one; not sure if I need both), and Leviathan (can wreck my board harder than my opponents'; still nice to have it as an option though). I know in my OP I mentioned Nyx Weaver being on the chopping block, but it does get me back something important for little mana investment and fits well in the curve.
In the end, I decided to remove the Demon mainly to limit the number of tutors I have. I find that games often become stale or repetitive if I have too many tutors and this deck plays a few. It does get rid of a Flyer so Tev and DementedKirby's suggestions about Wonder may be even more relevant now. I have ordered a Wonder just in case, but I still need to find a cut for it.
So, updates are:
-Rune-Scarred Demon
+The Gitrog Monster
So, I will have to look into that as a possibility as well.
Taking a second look at your deck, if you have a Reanimation plan, you sure do run a lot of Timetwister effects that would reshuffle your graveyard back into your deck. I understand that sort of decision with a different build, but you plan on using your graveyard as a resource.
And when I first commented on your high curve I also got didn't include the Eldrazi. They're never meant to be Cast, they're just reshuffles. For comparison, I only have three "6+ drops" - I have a fourth but I never intent to ever cast Gempalm Polluter as well as Kozilek. I find the deck works great with a lowered curve because it helps me do things when I'm tight on mana. And when I have plenty of mana, then I can drop tons of value that makes it hard for my opponents to keep up.
Also, I would recommend Silverglade Elemental over Seedguide Ash just because the benefit is frontloaded. Sometimes you don't have a Sac Outlet, or you don't want the Creature to die so you wouldn't get the benefit. I figure you're going with Ash because it searches for Forests specifically, so you can get all of those great duals into play. Hell, you reminded me of Yavimaya Dryad which I'm considering adding as another 3 drop. If you're not doing that specifically, I would recommend playing with cheaper ETB Land Fetchers like Solemn Simulacrum, Wild Wanderer or Ondu Giant. Personally, I use the Ramp-on-a-Stick Strategy because I'm more paranoid about Wraths, unlike the Untap shenanigans that Kirby runs - though I think his is more powerful due to various interactions and opening of Wincons. Another 'Ramper' you should consider is Nissa, Vastwood Seer - sure, she doesn't directly Ramp but she provides a Card Advantage engine when she flips.
Mid-Tier: Marchesa Aggro Rose Asmadi Get Dire Tymna Ikra Woke Women Tiana Aura Angel Ruric Thar SMASH Smasher Kraum Mana Positivity Zur Slides
Filthy Casual: WUBRG Jodah WUBRG WUBRG Fatties WUBRG Gahiji Vigilant Vengeance Ezuri Mysterious Morphs
I have found room for Filth and Wonder. I cut Soul of the Harvest due to never really using it. Since it only triggers off nontokens I found that I was frequently not caring if I had it on the battlefield. It also lowers my curve a small amount.
I also cut Harvest Season. I really wanted this card to be good and this seemed like the best deck for it. However, I just never found a time where I could cast it for much value. I envisioned it giving me at least 3 lands for 3 mana, but I just never got to it or I found there were better things to be doing.
I would also like to reiterate: this is not meant to be a reanimation deck. The reanimation elements are there because a) they are really good and b) they work with my primary focus which is self-mill. If I wanted a reanimation deck, you would see things like Corpse Dance, Strands of Night, good ol' Reanimate and the like. By my count, I only have about 5 "reanimation" spells:
Dread Return - Only in since it works from the graveyard
Chainer, Dementia Master - It's awesome and works on anyone's graveyard; not just mine.
Sheoldred, Whispering One - Reanimates but also makes other players sac their creatures.
Phyrexian Reclamation - Gets me creature cards to my hand before they are shuffled; doesn't actually reanimate.
Liliana, Death's Majesty - In here for her first ability. Her second and third are just icing on the cake.
The main focus on self mill is actually the reason I have held off Filth and Wonder up until now. If I am constantly shuffling away my graveyard, they become less useful. I am willing to try them out as Entomb gets them when needed and they seem better than the cards I am replacing. I am not sure how long they will stick around though.
- Soul of the Harvest
- Harvest Season
+ Filth
+ Wonder
To start with, I was completely wrong on Wonder. I had been willing to try it based on suggestions above, but it is way more powerful than I had expected considering I don't expect my graveyard to stick around. I have had at least two games where I won solely because my dudes had flying (and one game where Cloudthresher wiped my board because of it ). I have often been finding that I am willing to go through some hoops to cheat out a wonder via Protean Hulk and then sacrifice it just to give my creatures flying at the right time.
At the same time, I really like Filth in Alesha, but I am not sure it has ever mattered here. I still like the inclusion as it gives my creatures evasion, but I just find it interesting that I don't think it has ever really been relevant in this deck.
Per some of Tev's earlier suggestions, I am still conscious of the curve of the deck. I have begun to realize that the deck doesn't utilize Sheoldred as much as it could. She is slow and she is rarely the best play to make.
I now actively want to cut Grave Titan as it just does not do enough. I am not sure what should go into these two card slots. I think maybe I should run Ramunap Excavator in one spot since I am milling myself so much that I often have lands I would like to play from my graveyard. I will see what I want to put in the other spot though.
Now, here are the cards I am putting into the deck for the cuts above:
I will hopefully provide an update over the course of the next couple weeks as to how well these cuts/additions are working.
Another card I never got to including or thinking of including is Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign. This would replace Sphinx of Uthuun. I get one fewer card but it is cheaper to cast. I won't get much use out of the cost reduction for Sphinxes as I would only have one so I am not sure if lowering the curve is worth Unesh over Sphinx of Uthuun. The lower stats also might be a concern. I will keep this in the back of my mind for now.
Ramunap Excavator - This has been doing the job I expected. It gives me a way to mill or discard lands but still be able to play them as needed. Last night I had Oracle of Mul Daya, The Gitrog monster, and this and I was able to keep hitting my land drops due to having a fairly full graveyard. I think it has more than earned its place.
Grimgrin, Corpse-Born - This has been an all-star in the deck. It deals with opponents' blockers which lets me attack with Sidisi more, Which, in turn, gives me a steady stream of zombies to sac to it to untap it. I think it killed 6 or 7 creatures last night on its own.
Noxious Gearhulk - This hasn't been bad and has come though for me on a number of situations. Using Chainer to reanimate it to gain life and get rid of big creatures has been a huge boon. Menace has also been relevant in a few cases as well.
Spike Weaver - This has actually been fairly irrelevant in the deck. It might be the decks I am playing against or just the way some games have gone, but I rarely need Spike Weaver to help out. However, in the cases where I needed Spike Weaver, I really needed it. There are a handful of games I won based on Spike Weaver being able to save me long enough for me to build my board or wrath my opponents' boards.
Gravespawn Sovereign - I think, in the last 3 months, I have activated the Sovereign's ability 1 time at most. The deck has gotten rid of some minor self-mill cards since I built it and the ones I have, while working very well to make the deck play the way I want it to, do not provide enough Zombies to activate the Sovereign's ability. I am going to cut this from this deck. However, I have been considering building a mono-black deck with Ghoulcaller Gisa at the helm so this will make its way into that deck for sure. It just does not work well with the build I have here.
Regarding other cards, I have decided Woodfall Primus is not something I want in the deck. Not only does it go infinite" with Mikeaus and Plaguelord, it is also 8 mana. I would rather the curve a bit so I am going to slot in Acidic Slime over the Primus. I should probably get rid of World Breaker too, but I like the cast trigger as it gets around a few things, like Torpor Orb and Overwhelming Splendor so I am going to keep it for now.
So, here are my changes:
ADDITIONS
World Shaper
Acidic Slime
CUTS
Woodfall Primus
Gravespawn Sovereign