Hi there! I also have a Stonebrow deck, so I'd like to ask you some questions as well as critique some of your card choices.
For a question, how do you like Bloodbraid Elf in the deck? You have over 20 targets, so the chance of getting something for free seems pretty high. Another question I have is with Oracle of Mul Daya and Garruk's Horde. Does the gain of extra cards outweigh the information you may be giving your table? Giving away info always turned me off of some certain cards like these, but I haven't played with them to know exactly how beneficial they are.
For some card choices: You have Vexing Shusher. I suggest switching it out for Spellbreaker Behemoth because you are running a lot of creatures with power 5 or greater. This also removes having to spend an extra R/G to make sure your creatures stick.
Stranglehold is in the deck, and in my opinion it feels a bit out of place for Stonebrow. With this card on the field, your tutor and ramp spells become mostly dead draws until it is removed. I don't have a particular card I would switch it out for, but I would like to ask if you have considered playing with the Mwonvuli Beast Tracker toolbox? It is an all star in my deck, tutoring up cards like Acidic Slime , Wurmcoil Engine , Silklash Spider , Troll Ascetic , and even your commander if it gets tucked.
The last card I would suggest switching out is Sword of Vengeance. If you're using it for it's abilities instead of for damage, ignore this statement. However, if it is more for the damage ability, Mage Slayer is a great weapon to have.
You have over 20 targets, so the chance of getting something for free seems pretty high. Another question I have is with Oracle of Mul Daya and Garruk's Horde. Does the gain of extra cards outweigh the information you may be giving your table? Giving away info always turned me off of some certain cards like these, but I haven't played with them to know exactly how beneficial they are.
You sir have obviously not been at this format for very long :p.
I'm going to make an outlandish statement - Oracle of Mul Daya belongs in any deck that plays G. She just does way too much good in a format that prides itself on crazy ramp and splashy plays. She helps to clean up your draws by getting lands out of the way (especially relevant with non-U/B generals), and she lets you ramp faster than a lot of other options (esp. in post-Prime Time days). In an ideal situation, you play her turn 4, drop an extra land, then play two lands the next turn. That's a net gain 2 lands over a turn - only things like Skyshroud Claim can match that, and that's not even repeatable.
As far as giving away information, you've got to keep in mind this is a political format. Who cares if your opponent knows what you've got in hand? It's not like you're going to be playing draw-go with this deck anyways.
Garruk's Horde is a little more questionable. He's decent here as he's fat, but it's a lot harder to get creatures off the top fast compared to lands. Plus, he doesn't come down until late.
For a question, how do you like Bloodbraid Elf in the deck?
I originally just shrugged off Bloodbraid as not being all that great for the deck. But I tossed it in the deck because my friend happened to get one for me through trades. So far, I've been pretty happy with her. I'm pretty much happy with anything that I cascade into with except for G-Wave. I also prefer to hold onto Beast Within, Stingscourger, and Gone (Dead/Gone), but overall she's served me pretty well so far.
Another question I have is with Oracle of Mul Daya and Garruk's Horde. Does the gain of extra cards outweigh the information you may be giving your table?
I don't really care about giving away information unless I'm playing a heavy control deck. I also find the extra information helpful for planning ahead for future turns.
You have Vexing Shusher. I suggest switching it out for Spellbreaker Behemoth because you are running a lot of creatures with power 5 or greater. This also removes having to spend an extra R/G to make sure your creatures stick.
I did run both Shusher and Spellbreaker in my original builds. After some playtesting, I found that having both was somewhat unnecessary. I prefer Shusher since it's cheaper to play, and there aren't restrictions as to what you can make uncounterable. It's also a handy ability for multiplayer politics.
I don't have a particular card I would switch it out for, but I would like to ask if you have considered playing with the Mwonvuli Beast Tracker toolbox?
I forgot about Beast Tracker. She didn't make the cut in my initial builds because I wasn't running nearly as many targets in them.
The last card I would suggest switching out is Sword of Vengeance. If you're using it for it's abilities instead of for damage, ignore this statement.
Yup. Mainly just for the haste and trample. Everything else is just icing on the cake.
I'm just putting my own creature heavy Stonebrow deck together after some testing on cockatrice, and i've found Cream of the Crop & Lurking Predators to work like a charm.
Never heard of Cream of the Crop, but it seems like pretty nice card to test. Not really a fan of Lurking Predators because I don't really like to overextend. I usually just sit on a just handful of big creatures to minimize getting blown out by a board wipe.
I originally just shrugged off Bloodbraid as not being all that great for the deck. But I tossed it in the deck because my friend happened to get one for me through trades. So far, I've been pretty happy with her. I'm pretty much happy with anything that I cascade into with except for G-Wave. I also prefer to hold onto Beast Within, Stingscourger, and Gone (Dead/Gone), but overall she's served me pretty well so far.
I did run both Shusher and Spellbreaker in my original builds. After some playtesting, I found that having both was somewhat unnecessary. I prefer Shusher since it's cheaper to play, and there aren't restrictions as to what you can make uncounterable. It's also a handy ability for multiplayer politics.
Glad to hear about Bloodbraid Elf, I always seem to forget about Cascade >< And I didn't even realize the potential for Shusher politics, too cool!
You sir have obviously not been at this format for very long :p.
I'm going to make an outlandish statement - Oracle of Mul Daya belongs in any deck that plays G. She just does way too much good in a format that prides itself on crazy ramp and splashy plays. She helps to clean up your draws by getting lands out of the way (especially relevant with non-U/B generals), and she lets you ramp faster than a lot of other options (esp. in post-Prime Time days). In an ideal situation, you play her turn 4, drop an extra land, then play two lands the next turn. That's a net gain 2 lands over a turn - only things like Skyshroud Claim can match that, and that's not even repeatable.
As far as giving away information, you've got to keep in mind this is a political format. Who cares if your opponent knows what you've got in hand? It's not like you're going to be playing draw-go with this deck anyways.
Garruk's Horde is a little more questionable. He's decent here as he's fat, but it's a lot harder to get creatures off the top fast compared to lands. Plus, he doesn't come down until late.
Truth be told, I've only been seriously studying commander for about 1 month now, but playing for about 5 :). That's good to hear about the cards like Oracle of Mul Daya and Garruk's Horde. I must get myself a copy of both, and both look like they would perform wonderful in Mayael the Anima decks! Thanks for the tips Bismuth.
I also second donfuan's suggestion of Stalking Vengeance, and possibly Mimic Vat as another form of protection/gas.
Truth be told, I've only been seriously studying commander for about 1 month now, but playing for about 5 :). That's good to hear about the cards like Oracle of Mul Daya and Garruk's Horde. I must get myself a copy of both, and both look like they would perform wonderful in Mayael the Anima decks! Thanks for the tips Bismuth.
No problem :). It can be tough evaluating cards in this format when you're used to hyper-competitive formats (I was a big Legacy player until I gave it up completely for EDH a year ago).
Both Oracle and Horde would be great for Mayael. For your deck in particular, Horde is fantastic because he's got a big butt to fight with Contested Cliffs. Most Mayael lists have enough beasts to warrant its inclusion.
Managed to get my hands on a Stomping Ground thanks to trading with someone in my playgroup. Also working on trading for Domri Rade with one of my friends.
Kamahl gives access to more trample with his Overrun ability. Someone also mentioned in another thread using him as a rattlesnake against wrath effects, which I hadn't thought of. Animating opponent lands with his first ability in response to a wrath to troll people sounds like fun XD. I can also animate my own lands to help give me some extra reach with my attacks if needed.
Vengeance is another rattlesnake against wrath effects and gives me another Birthing Pod target for the awkward CMC 7 slot. Wiping my board means someone is going to have a decent chunk of their life gone, possibly even being lethal. Also gives me some synergy with Greater Good.
Chandra 2.0 gives me some draw power with her -2. I normally hate Wheel of Fortune effects since they refresh your opponents with a full hand. But Ablaze only has everyone draw three cards, which can be crippling to decks that like holding onto cards. And since she comes in with 5 loyalty, she has some decent value being able to -2 at least twice.
Made some changes after playtesting over the past few days.
Definitely felt the need to increase the land count to 40 since "permanents only" theme restricts my choices of ramp. I do miss running Cultivate, Kodama's Reach, and Explosive Vegetation...
Dosan the Falling Leaf got cut. It does protect my own plays, but it also prevents U players from keeping combos and shenanigans in check during a multiplayer game.
Felt like these were necessary additions since aggro tends to be at a disadvantage in EDH with the higher life totals and multiple players. I'm also not the type of player to just come swinging out of the gates, so speeding up the clock helps a lot.
Hydra Omnivore seems like an amusing card for a deck like this, especially if you can arm it with Grafted Exoskeleton. Turn it sideways toward an unguarded player, kill everyone in one shot.
Seems legit, since you can't actually tutor for the Exoskeleton.
Also, Mwonvuli Beast Tracker seems like another decent tutor you could run. You have a few tramplers it can fetch, as well as Stonebrow himself if he gets tucked.
Hydra Omnivore seems like an amusing card for a deck like this, especially if you can arm it with Grafted Exoskeleton. Turn it sideways toward an unguarded player, kill everyone in one shot.
Also, Mwonvuli Beast Tracker seems like another decent tutor you could run. You have a few tramplers it can fetch, as well as Stonebrow himself if he gets tucked.
Omnivore sounds like a fun card. Beast Tracker has been sitting in my box for a really long time. I've just been waiting to run enough targets to warrant running it.
On that note, either Survival of the Fittest or Fauna Shaman, more likely the latter judging by your wish list, might be good adds, so you have more ways to tutor up and pitch Anger/Brawn. Fauns Shaman seems like it'd be more at home here than in other decks due to all of your haste enablers.
On that note, either Survival of the Fittest or Fauna Shaman, more likely the latter judging by your wish list, might be good adds, so you have more ways to tutor up and pitch Anger/Brawn. Fauns Shaman seems like it'd be more at home here than in other decks due to all of your haste enablers.
Fauna would also be my choice for being a fraction of the cost of Survival. However, she has gotten a lot more expensive than when I remember. I'll try to keep an eye out for one for trade.
5 Stonebrow, Krosan Hero
Win Conditions (2)
3 Genesis Wave
10 Primal Surge
Haste and Flash Enablers (9)
4 Anger
5 Urabrask the Hidden
3 Fires of Yavimaya
5 In the Web of War
7 Akroma's Memorial
2 Lightning Greaves
2 Swiftfoot Boots
3 Sword of Vengeance
4 Vedalken Orrery
Trample and Evasion Enablers (4)
4 Brawn
6 Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
4 Gruul War Chant
4 Gruul War Plow
3 Loxodon Warhammer
Ramp and Mana Rocks (6)
3 Farhaven Elf
4 Ondu Giant
4 Oracle of Mul Daya
2 Sakura-Tribe Elder
4 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Sol Ring
Draw Power and Fixing (7)
5 Hystrodon
7 Krosan Tusker
3 Yavimaya Elder
4 Abundance
4 Greater Good
5 Mind's Eye
1 Skullclamp
6 Brutalizer Exarch
3 Fierce Empath
1 Expedition Map
Spot Removal (6)
5 Acidic Slime
6 Duplicant
7 Hateflayer
8 Terastodon
1 Ulvenwald Tracker
8 Woodfall Primus
Board Sweepers (4)
7 Balefire Dragon
8 Scourge of Kher Ridges
6 Steel Hellkite
3 Oblivion Stone
Recursion (2)
3 Eternal Witness
7 Moldgraf Monstrosity
Trampling Dudes (5)
7 Borborygmos
7 Garruk's Horde
6 Hellkite Tyrant
6 Vigor
5 Weatherseed Treefolk
Extra Combat and Tricks (4)
6 Hellkite Charger
6 Rubblehulk
5 Wrecking Ogre
3 Aggravated Assault
Combo Pieces (3)
4 Bear Umbra
4 Nature's Will
4 Sword of Feast and Famine
6 Chandra Ablaze
3 Domri Rade
5 Garruk, Primal Hunter
4 Sarkhan Vol
Miscellaneous Things (1)
2 Vexing Shusher
Utility Lands (10)
1 Forgotten Cave
1 Hall of the Bandit Lord
1 Inkmoth Nexus
1 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Raging Ravine
1 Skarrg, the Rage Pits
1 Strip Mine
1 Tranquil Thicket
1 Treetop Village
1 Winding Canyons
Dual Lands (5)
1 Command Tower
1 Copperline Gorge
1 Karplusan Forest
1 Rootbound Crag
1 Stomping Ground
Basic Lands (23)
15 Forest
8 Mountain
For a question, how do you like Bloodbraid Elf in the deck? You have over 20 targets, so the chance of getting something for free seems pretty high. Another question I have is with Oracle of Mul Daya and Garruk's Horde. Does the gain of extra cards outweigh the information you may be giving your table? Giving away info always turned me off of some certain cards like these, but I haven't played with them to know exactly how beneficial they are.
For some card choices: You have Vexing Shusher. I suggest switching it out for Spellbreaker Behemoth because you are running a lot of creatures with power 5 or greater. This also removes having to spend an extra R/G to make sure your creatures stick.
Stranglehold is in the deck, and in my opinion it feels a bit out of place for Stonebrow. With this card on the field, your tutor and ramp spells become mostly dead draws until it is removed. I don't have a particular card I would switch it out for, but I would like to ask if you have considered playing with the Mwonvuli Beast Tracker toolbox? It is an all star in my deck, tutoring up cards like Acidic Slime , Wurmcoil Engine , Silklash Spider , Troll Ascetic , and even your commander if it gets tucked.
The last card I would suggest switching out is Sword of Vengeance. If you're using it for it's abilities instead of for damage, ignore this statement. However, if it is more for the damage ability, Mage Slayer is a great weapon to have.
Always glad to see another Stonebrow pilot.
Oh wow, that card is wonderful then! Good on you, OP!
Step 4 = Take multiple combat phases.
- World at War
- Relentless Assault
- Savage Beating
or infinite combat phases:Hellkite Charger plus either Bear Umbra or Sword of Feast and Famine.
Just now finishing up my Stonebrow deck too
Banner by Nakamura, Thanks!
EDH Math
EDH Decks:
Ghost Council: The Magic Mafia of Orzhova
BB Drana: Down with the Sickness
Rasputin: Reality is Broken
Vish Kal Bleeder: Bloody Kisses
Teysa, Orzhov Dominatrix
Stonebrow: Breaking Things
BWR Kaalia Punisher: Heaven's on Fire
Grimgrin: Dead Reckoning
Do you think World at War , pre rebound, is just asking for a board wipe?
Sure. Lots of things beg for a sweep.
Kill the guy you think is holding the sweeper
Banner by Nakamura, Thanks!
EDH Math
EDH Decks:
Ghost Council: The Magic Mafia of Orzhova
BB Drana: Down with the Sickness
Rasputin: Reality is Broken
Vish Kal Bleeder: Bloody Kisses
Teysa, Orzhov Dominatrix
Stonebrow: Breaking Things
BWR Kaalia Punisher: Heaven's on Fire
Grimgrin: Dead Reckoning
You sir have obviously not been at this format for very long :p.
I'm going to make an outlandish statement - Oracle of Mul Daya belongs in any deck that plays G. She just does way too much good in a format that prides itself on crazy ramp and splashy plays. She helps to clean up your draws by getting lands out of the way (especially relevant with non-U/B generals), and she lets you ramp faster than a lot of other options (esp. in post-Prime Time days). In an ideal situation, you play her turn 4, drop an extra land, then play two lands the next turn. That's a net gain 2 lands over a turn - only things like Skyshroud Claim can match that, and that's not even repeatable.
As far as giving away information, you've got to keep in mind this is a political format. Who cares if your opponent knows what you've got in hand? It's not like you're going to be playing draw-go with this deck anyways.
Garruk's Horde is a little more questionable. He's decent here as he's fat, but it's a lot harder to get creatures off the top fast compared to lands. Plus, he doesn't come down until late.
stuff
I originally just shrugged off Bloodbraid as not being all that great for the deck. But I tossed it in the deck because my friend happened to get one for me through trades. So far, I've been pretty happy with her. I'm pretty much happy with anything that I cascade into with except for G-Wave. I also prefer to hold onto Beast Within, Stingscourger, and Gone (Dead/Gone), but overall she's served me pretty well so far.
I don't really care about giving away information unless I'm playing a heavy control deck. I also find the extra information helpful for planning ahead for future turns.
I did run both Shusher and Spellbreaker in my original builds. After some playtesting, I found that having both was somewhat unnecessary. I prefer Shusher since it's cheaper to play, and there aren't restrictions as to what you can make uncounterable. It's also a handy ability for multiplayer politics.
I forgot about Beast Tracker. She didn't make the cut in my initial builds because I wasn't running nearly as many targets in them.
Yup. Mainly just for the haste and trample. Everything else is just icing on the cake.
Never heard of Cream of the Crop, but it seems like pretty nice card to test. Not really a fan of Lurking Predators because I don't really like to overextend. I usually just sit on a just handful of big creatures to minimize getting blown out by a board wipe.
LOL. Sounds like fun.
Completely forgot about Mosswort Bridge.
Haven't actually gotten a chance to use it yet. Just made these changes a day or two ago and have yet to play, let alone draw it, during a game.
Glad to hear about Bloodbraid Elf, I always seem to forget about Cascade >< And I didn't even realize the potential for Shusher politics, too cool!
Truth be told, I've only been seriously studying commander for about 1 month now, but playing for about 5 :). That's good to hear about the cards like Oracle of Mul Daya and Garruk's Horde. I must get myself a copy of both, and both look like they would perform wonderful in Mayael the Anima decks! Thanks for the tips Bismuth.
I also second donfuan's suggestion of Stalking Vengeance, and possibly Mimic Vat as another form of protection/gas.
No problem :). It can be tough evaluating cards in this format when you're used to hyper-competitive formats (I was a big Legacy player until I gave it up completely for EDH a year ago).
Both Oracle and Horde would be great for Mayael. For your deck in particular, Horde is fantastic because he's got a big butt to fight with Contested Cliffs. Most Mayael lists have enough beasts to warrant its inclusion.
stuff
My friend I bought Gatecrash fat packs. Go figure that I get nothing good while he pulls Domri Rade and Stomping Ground (-_-)
I played a quick 3-player game the other day against Kemba, Kha Regent and Geth, Lord of the Vault. I managed to drop Homura, Human Ascendant and have him flip to Homura's Essence. I dropped a hasty Stonebrow with Hall of the Bandit Lord and swung in with him as an 8/8 flying, trample with +2/0 from the Essence's Firebreathing ability. This hit Kemba for 10 general damage. I eventually swung into Kemba a second time for the kill thanks to bloodrush from Rubblehulk. Then I resolved a pretty deep Primal Surge on Geth, dropping a Boartusk Liege, Kessig Wolf Run, and Sarkhan Vol among other things.
Added Kamahl, Fist of Krosa, Stalking Vengeance, and Chandra Ablaze.
Kamahl gives access to more trample with his Overrun ability. Someone also mentioned in another thread using him as a rattlesnake against wrath effects, which I hadn't thought of. Animating opponent lands with his first ability in response to a wrath to troll people sounds like fun XD. I can also animate my own lands to help give me some extra reach with my attacks if needed.
Vengeance is another rattlesnake against wrath effects and gives me another Birthing Pod target for the awkward CMC 7 slot. Wiping my board means someone is going to have a decent chunk of their life gone, possibly even being lethal. Also gives me some synergy with Greater Good.
Chandra 2.0 gives me some draw power with her -2. I normally hate Wheel of Fortune effects since they refresh your opponents with a full hand. But Ablaze only has everyone draw three cards, which can be crippling to decks that like holding onto cards. And since she comes in with 5 loyalty, she has some decent value being able to -2 at least twice.
Definitely felt the need to increase the land count to 40 since "permanents only" theme restricts my choices of ramp. I do miss running Cultivate, Kodama's Reach, and Explosive Vegetation...
Dosan the Falling Leaf got cut. It does protect my own plays, but it also prevents U players from keeping combos and shenanigans in check during a multiplayer game.
Added Vedalken Orrery and Winding Canyons to help turn my otherwise sorcery speed permanents into instants.
I've been trying to get my hands on one every since GTC was released! I've been unsuccessful thus far unfortunately...
It doubly sucks because just about every other person in my playgroup has pulled one but aren't trading (>_<)
Also decided to add some infect with Putrefax and Grafted Exoskeleton.
Felt like these were necessary additions since aggro tends to be at a disadvantage in EDH with the higher life totals and multiple players. I'm also not the type of player to just come swinging out of the gates, so speeding up the clock helps a lot.
Seems legit, since you can't actually tutor for the Exoskeleton.
Also, Mwonvuli Beast Tracker seems like another decent tutor you could run. You have a few tramplers it can fetch, as well as Stonebrow himself if he gets tucked.
Omnivore sounds like a fun card. Beast Tracker has been sitting in my box for a really long time. I've just been waiting to run enough targets to warrant running it.
Fauna would also be my choice for being a fraction of the cost of Survival. However, she has gotten a lot more expensive than when I remember. I'll try to keep an eye out for one for trade.