Hey guys, I'm trying to make a really competitive animar and at the moment I have what I believe to be a pretty solid list. I appreciate any suggestions.
I don't often see this run in Animar and I understand that completely but in my meta, the flying is very very relevant and I would really like to keep this in the deck.
My personal feeling would be to cut the three signets and Asceticism. I used to run signets myself, but often they are completely unnecessary given the amount of ramp that green is already capable of.
Also please note that Painter's Servant is banned according to the official site.
Thanks for pointing that out about Painter's Servant. Don't know how I missed that.
I just had a couple questions about your suggestions which I really appreciate.
1. How much do you find is "enough" protection for Animar?
2. Looking at the mana base and the creature mana fixing do you think I'll run in to any problems dropping signets?
1. How much do you find is "enough" protection for Animar?
Unfortunately that is very meta dependent. I personally run relatively little protection for Animar. You do run Spellskite and Willbender both of which are excellent protections. If you want more, my inclination would be to use Whim of Volrath or Glamerdye to manipulate his inbuilt colour protections, as this acts not only as protection against removal and theft, but also can make Animar unblockable.
2. Looking at the mana base and the creature mana fixing do you think I'll run in to any problems dropping signets?
I think you will be fine on the mana base. You have plenty of card draw and mana ramp creatures to fix your mana. Cavern of Souls may be a tricky land that acts as colourless mana more often than you want it to (what is your dominant creature type? I remember looking at my list and found 'shaman' was most common, followed by 'elf'). Zoetic Cavern is a pretty cool land that can double as a combo enabler later on.
Just updated the list making cuts to take it down to 100 cards and making some improvements to the mana base. I've also been trying out Haze Frog and it has worked wonders so I'm trying it as a permanent addition to the list.
I would slim your creatures down to the BEST ones, not just things that you could use, then add some counters. You want to be able to stop wrath, because Animar is pretty resistant to anything else.
It is in there because of it's interaction with Vesuvan Shapeshifter* to lock out all opponents' untap steps, at which point you can win (combo or aggro) at your leisure. It is also a morph creature so at the worst it can become a free 2/2 creature and perpetuate creature cast loops via Cloudstone Curio.
That's true, I like Aether Adept though because Dream stalker's lack of "may" in his text can create some less than ideal situations. Additionally, Aether Adept can bounce an opponents threat or blocker if I need to get in with Animar.
I'm running Soul of the Harvest already and I prefer Slithermuse to one of the options you listed because since I already have Soul of the Harvest and Consecrated Sphinx for enabling me to draw a lot of cards over time, by having Slithermuse I can refresh my hand without having to do anything else like play more creatures or wait till my opponents draw.
I would slim your creatures down to the BEST ones, not just things that you could use, then add some counters. You want to be able to stop wrath, because Animar is pretty resistant to anything else.
I absolutely agree with this. The only things that ever really stop me are counter spells and field wipe so I am very much in favor of more counter spells. My only problem is deciding what to cut.
Here's the list
1 Animar, Soul of Elements
Creatures: 50
1 Shrieking Drake
1 Fauna Shaman
1 Sakura Tribe Elder
1 Aether Adept
1 Eternal Witness
1 Farhaven Elf
1 Fierce Empath
1 Man-o'-War
1 Raven Familiar
1 Wood Elves
1 Anger
1 Glen Elandra Archmage
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Voidmage Husher
1 Acidic Slime
1 Kiki Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1 Mulldrifter
1 Urabrask the Hidden
1 Vesuvan Shapeshifter
1 Zealous Conscripts
1 Draining Whelk
1 Soul of the Harvest
1 Palinchron
1 Tidespout Tyrant
1 Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger
1 Artisan of Kozilek
1 Kozilek,Butcher of Truth
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1 Brine Elemental
1 Mystic Snake
1 Squee, Goblin Nabob
1 Wonder
1 Phantasmal Image
1 Gatecreeper Vine
1 Coiling Oracle
1 Gilded Drake
1 Sea Gate Oracle
1 Slithermuse
1 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Spellskite
1 Bloom Tender
1 Cloud of Faeries
1 Peregrine Drake
1 Willbender
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Pilgrim's Eye
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
1 Haze Frog
1 Snap
1 Gamble
1 Fabricate
1 Tooth and Nail
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Worldly Tutor
Artifacts: 3
1 Cloudstone Curio
1 Sol Ring
1 Lightning Greaves
Enchantments: 5
1 Equilibrium
1 Defense of the Heart
1 Earthcraft
1 Survival of the Fittest
1 Asceticism
Land: 36
1 Command Tower
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Gruul Turf
1 Izzet Boilerworks
1 Simic Growth Chamber
1 Yavimaya Coast
1 Shivan Reef
1 Karplusan Forest
1 Sulfur Falls
1 Rootbound Crag
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Ancient Ziggurat
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Breeding Pool
1 Steam Vents
1 Stomping Ground
1 Grove of the Burnwillows
1 Zoetic Cavern
7 Forest
6 Island
3 Mountain
Strategy: Combo off using Kiki Jiki, Mirror Breaker+Zealous Conscripts or utilize one of a number of methods to create an infinitely large Animar
One brief explanation: Wonder
I don't often see this run in Animar and I understand that completely but in my meta, the flying is very very relevant and I would really like to keep this in the deck.
I'd appreciate any suggestions!
Also please note that Painter's Servant is banned according to the official site.
Pilgrim's Eye might be worth considering as another Sylvan Ranger/Gatekeeper Vine type creature (that can potentially be free to cast)
I just had a couple questions about your suggestions which I really appreciate.
1. How much do you find is "enough" protection for Animar?
2. Looking at the mana base and the creature mana fixing do you think I'll run in to any problems dropping signets?
Thanks again.
Unfortunately that is very meta dependent. I personally run relatively little protection for Animar. You do run Spellskite and Willbender both of which are excellent protections. If you want more, my inclination would be to use Whim of Volrath or Glamerdye to manipulate his inbuilt colour protections, as this acts not only as protection against removal and theft, but also can make Animar unblockable.
I think you will be fine on the mana base. You have plenty of card draw and mana ramp creatures to fix your mana. Cavern of Souls may be a tricky land that acts as colourless mana more often than you want it to (what is your dominant creature type? I remember looking at my list and found 'shaman' was most common, followed by 'elf'). Zoetic Cavern is a pretty cool land that can double as a combo enabler later on.
Brine Elemental is kinda meh.
I dont like Slithermuse here, I prefer Glimpse of Nature/Primordial Sage/Soul of the Harvest/Recycle for draw in Animar, much more explosive.
I would slim your creatures down to the BEST ones, not just things that you could use, then add some counters. You want to be able to stop wrath, because Animar is pretty resistant to anything else.
..
Azusa - Derevi - Glissa - Mizzix - Sharuum - Wanderer - Wort
It is in there because of it's interaction with Vesuvan Shapeshifter* to lock out all opponents' untap steps, at which point you can win (combo or aggro) at your leisure. It is also a morph creature so at the worst it can become a free 2/2 creature and perpetuate creature cast loops via Cloudstone Curio.
*Edit: I assume.
That's true, I like Aether Adept though because Dream stalker's lack of "may" in his text can create some less than ideal situations. Additionally, Aether Adept can bounce an opponents threat or blocker if I need to get in with Animar.
As Gelf mentioned, it is there for the lock with Vesuvan Shapeshifter
I'm running Soul of the Harvest already and I prefer Slithermuse to one of the options you listed because since I already have Soul of the Harvest and Consecrated Sphinx for enabling me to draw a lot of cards over time, by having Slithermuse I can refresh my hand without having to do anything else like play more creatures or wait till my opponents draw.
I absolutely agree with this. The only things that ever really stop me are counter spells and field wipe so I am very much in favor of more counter spells. My only problem is deciding what to cut.