So my old Mayael thread is extremely outdated, and I decided to give her another try, so here is my new thread. My decklist is finally down to 100 cards, so I no longer need to make any more cuts. I took a lot of input from Raikou Rider's Primer, so I have to give a shout-out to him for all of the great content there. Now, on to the list:
I'm pretty worried about the average CMC being as high as 4.59. I understand that it's going to be higher than a usual deck because of all the fatties, but I'm used to building decks around 3.50 or less, so being so much higher is a bit unsettling to me. I would prefer if I could get it down to something like 4.25 or even 4.40 or something like that.
I am looking forward to hearing all of your suggestions and I will definitely write more about it once I get it trimmed down to 100 cards and have a chance to start playing with it.
Alright 114 cards is a big issue. That's going to increase mayaels wiff percentage. Here's a list of cards you just don't need in this deck that I see in here.
Aura Shards - you have plenty of effects to blow artifacts. Anger - no way to put it into the graveyard. Explosive Vegetation - You have enough ramp Acidic Slime - you have plenty of these effects and its not power 5. Thousand Year Elixir - the untap trigger on mayael is a 13 mana investment. And it takes up a utility slot. It doesn't do enough. Try wirewood lodge if you want an effect like that.
Both Signets - You don't need them boros Charm - you don't need it. It isn't worth a slot in here. This is more for an Aggro deck that can't come back from wipes or needs to get in damage. That's not a problem in mayael. Naya Charm - Once again just doesn't do enough or fit in with the deck. Eladmri's Call - creatures in the hand is meh. You want them in the deck. Usually on top of it.
Cut Novablast Wurm for something else maybe Platinum Emperion. You have to do too much work to make that card halfway decent.
Alright 114 cards is a big issue. That's going to increase mayaels wiff percentage. Here's a list of cards you just don't need in this deck that I see in here.
Thanks for the reply. Obviously I am not going to stay at 114 cards but I couldn't decide what needed to be cut most. I will go through your suggestions one by one.
Aura Shards - you have plenty of effects to blow artifacts.
I didn't feel like I had enough, but going over my list, maybe I do have enough. This card is so strong for keeping scary enchantments and artifacts under control, and Mayael's ability to put stuff down at instant speed feels like it would be beneficial with this.
Agree. I want lots of ways to grant haste, but this isn't really working without Survival of the Fittest. If I get another copy of Survival I might run him, but until then he can probably get cut.
Agree that I have a lot of ramp and this is probably the worst one.
Acidic Slime - you have plenty of these effects and its not power 5.
I guess I am just used to using this guy in every green deck because he is generally useful, but he only costs 2 less than Sylvan Primordial and he doesn't flip off Mayael, so he should probably get cut.
Thousand Year Elixir - the untap trigger on mayael is a 13 mana investment. And it takes up a utility slot. It doesn't do enough. Try wirewood lodge if you want an effect like that.
Mostly running it for the psuedo-haste outlet because it works very nicely with things like Mayael and Elvish Piper. These creatures generally attract a lot of attention to themselves, so being able to guarantee at least one activation is crucial.
Both Signets - You don't need them
I believe I am running all three signets, but I am assuming you mean to cut all of them. I like to have a lot of ramp that I can play on turn 2 so that I can get a Mayael activation on turn 4 or 5 more often, but I guess these are inferior to land ramp. I also want to make sure I have a critical mass of acceleration so that I will be able to cast all of my fatties if I can't get Mayael to stick.
boros Charm - you don't need it. It isn't worth a slot in here. This is more for an Aggro deck that can't come back from wipes or needs to get in damage. That's not a problem in mayael.
Just figured that it would be nice to have a way to protect all of my permanents in the situation that someone plays a boardwipe when I'm in the strongest position. Sweepers are very common in my group, so having something like this can be a huge blowout in some situations, but it may have to be removed to keep cards that fit better with the deck's specific game plan.
Naya Charm - Once again just doesn't do enough or fit in with the deck.
Basically just like this one because it does a lot of different things. At one point I was going to run a Sunforger package, which would have definitely earned this card a spot. Without forger though, I think this is definitely a card that should get cut.
Eladmri's Call - creatures in the hand is meh. You want them in the deck. Usually on top of it.
Being able to pick a specific creature and put it into my hand is still an effect that I feel like the deck wants to have. Obviously the main method for putting guys into play is with Mayael, but sometimes that plan will get disrupted and it's nice to have some ways to get my fatties into hand to cast them. Also can be used to find Mayael if she gets tucked.
Cut Novablast Wurm for something else maybe Platinum Emperion. You have to do too much work to make that card halfway decent.
There's some ideas for cuts.
I think Novablast Wurm is a cool card, but you are probably right that it's not good enough.
A couple cards that I have though about including after posting the list are Fires of Yavimaya as a haste outlet and Spellbreaker Behemoth to stop my guys from getting countered if I need to cast them rather than cheating them in with Mayael.
EDIT: Shaved down to 105 and switched Novablast Wurm to Spellbreaker Behemoth.
Cool looks a lot slimmer. When you are cutting things you will probably end up cutting spot removal. Just what I always ended up cutting when I played mayael. Stuff like return to dust, swords, and path are meh when you run warstorm surge sort of FX. oblation and chaos warp are always good includes because they'll hit anything that would worry you plus they tuck voltron generals. I like them in xRW decks.
Cool looks a lot slimmer. When you are cutting things you will probably end up cutting spot removal. Just what I always ended up cutting when I played mayael. Stuff like return to dust, swords, and path are meh when you run warstorm surge sort of FX. oblation and chaos warp are always good includes because they'll hit anything that would worry you plus they tuck voltron generals. I like them in xRW decks.
Ok I will keep those in mind as possible replacements for some of my other removal. What do you think is the worst fatty I am running right now? I'm thinking about cutting one for Stalking Vengeance, but I'm not sure which would be the best choice.
The thing is though is that he costs 5 mana and he dies to a wrath, so he doesn't help me rebuild my board quickly. The nice thing about Mayael is that I'm usually flipping my fatties into play on someone else's turn, so they're good to attack by the time my next turn comes along. If someone wraths the board, it takes a little while to set up again because I have to recast Mayael and wait a full turn cycle before I can use her ability. Same goes for Elvish Piper, which is why having haste or psuedo-haste enablers like Lightning Greaves, Swiftfoot Boots, Thousand-Year Elixir, and Fires of Yavimaya are good.
On another note, I am probably going to be getting a Baneslayer Angel and I figured she would be worth finding a spot for since she is a fatty that's easily castable if I can't get Mayael going, and serves as a nice beater for a relatively low cost.
Next game was 4 player free for all with me against Triad of Fates as well as Ertai and Sedris from the previous game. I was able to get down an early Elvish Piper which in turn put down Avacyn, Angel of Hope/CARD], only to have it exiled by Oblivion Ring. I got Mayael down with Illusionist's Bracers and started throwing down fatties before she got killed. I ended up with a board consisting of Worldspine Wurm, Gisela, Blade of Goldnight, Nylea, God of the Hunt, and Sylvan Primordial. I was able to bring the Triad player down to 10 before a wrath came down, leaving me with the three 5/5 tokens from Worldspine Wurm. Of course, immediately after the sweeper I topdeck Stalking Vengeance and play him. I use the Wurms to swing Triad down to 5, just in range of the Bogardan Hellkite in my hand. He goes for another board wipe to try and save the rest of the people from me, dying to one of the Stalking Vengeance triggers in the process. Ertai player goes for an Elspeth, Knight Errant and I kill it EOT with the Hellkite. I untap and drop a couple more fatties, turning on Nylea again and start beating down, which earns a concession from the other two opponents who are out of answers.
The last game was a 3 player game with me, Grand Arbiter Augustin IV, and Animar, Soul of the Elements. I start off with a turn 2 Sylvan Library and then start ramping and get down a turn 4 Mirari's Wake, which accelerates me up to a ton of mana very quickly. Animar starts to build up some counters, but I drop Warstorm Surge and Wurmcoil Engine to kill it. Eventually the Animar guy has to leave, so it comes down to a showdown between myself and GAAIV. I end up getting down Where Ancients Tread and Quicksilver Amulet while he's tapped out, giving me a nice way to get my fatties around his counterspells. I manage to resolve a Worldly Tutor for Gisela, Blade of Goldnight and drop it off Amulet to deal him 20 damage to the face, then Swing in with a Steel Hellkite for what would be lethal. He has a Sphinx's Revelation for 6 to stay alive at 1 life, but my Library finds me a creature to Amulet in on my turn and he dies to the Warstorm Surge trigger.
All in all I would say the deck performed pretty well. Nylea was really nice when I flipped her off Mayael and was immediately able to use her ability to pump Mayael up to 4/5 to survive a 4 damage wipe from a Crater Hellion. I found myself tutoring for Gisela a lot because of her massive damage output, especially with Warstorm Surge, as well as Worldspine Wurm for his huge body and insurance against board wipes. I would have liked to have a little more consistent access to a haste outlet, so maybe I will try to find a spot to fit Fires of Yavimaya in somewhere. I was also really happy with the library manipulation provided by Sylvan Library, Sensei's Divining Top, and Scroll Rack, which helped smooth my draws in the two games where I won.
I am having a lot of fun with this list so far, but does anyone have suggestions for cutting down the curve a little bit? It just tends to feel like I don't do much early game unless I draw a bunch of my ramp spells. How do other Mayael players deal with the high mana curve?
Just play lots of land and lots of ramp. My current iteration of the deck has me running 40 lands and 12-14 ramp cards (sylvan primordial and genesis wave are both wincons that I count as ramp spells as well)
The key with your ramp should be that they take lands oyt of your deck and put them into play. If you can take 3-6 lands out of your deck with your ramp, those are lands you wont see when you activate mayael.
Standard Mardu Midrange Modern 4 Colour Delver, Naya Midrange CommanderSidisi 1v1, Sliver Overlord, Intet the Dreamer, Mayael the Anima (shameless plug http://youtu.be/4zu4QRvGSo8)
Alright, so lets say your commander is Riku of Two Reflections. Combo commander, to be sure, but lets push this into the realm of absurd. You cast Palinchron and do your Riku thing to make infinite mana because we're going to need it. Forget about your extra Palinchron tokens. A million flying 4/5s is boring. So now you cast Enter the Infinite, because drawing your deck is important. Follow it up with a Obstinate Familiar because not decking yourself is equally important. Laboratory Maniac could work here too, but we're gonna go some more levels deep. Cast a Greater Good because we want a tasteful sac outlet. Follow this up with Parallel Lives, Doubling Season,Copy Enchantment, Clever Impersonator, Mycosynth Latice, Phyrexian Metamorph, and Copy Artifact giving you 6 double token effects. Here's where it gets fun now. Cast a Reef Worm. Sac it to greater good and get 256 Fish, which you sac to get 65,536 whales, which you sac to get 16,777,216 Krakens. Are we done yet? Nope! Cast Thromok the Insatiable, devouring all your krakens to make a 281,474,976,710,656/281,474,976,710,656 Thromok. Where do we go from here though? Let your opponent cast Death Mutation on him! Why, that's 7.20575940x10^16 tokens! Good thing we have Body Double to make another Thromok the Insatiable who will be a 5.19229686x10^33/5.19229686x10^33! Seems big enough, but not for us! Since we're red anyways, lets cast a Furnace of Rath, Dictate of the Twin Gods, and a Fire Servant! Now it's time to Fling your guy, dealing a spicy 4.15383749x10^34 damage to your opponent. To put that in perspective, there are an estimated 3x10^23 stars in the known universe. You dealt more damage than there are stars. That'll give your opponent something to think about. PROTIP: Dodge Spellskite decks
Just play lots of land and lots of ramp. My current iteration of the deck has me running 40 lands and 12-14 ramp cards (sylvan primordial and genesis wave are both wincons that I count as ramp spells as well)
The key with your ramp should be that they take lands oyt of your deck and put them into play. If you can take 3-6 lands out of your deck with your ramp, those are lands you wont see when you activate mayael.
Not really a huge fan of the Genesis Wave thing because I've done it like a million times before, but I could see running a couple more lands.
Not really a huge fan of the Genesis Wave thing because I've done it like a million times before, but I could see running a couple more lands.
Huh? What is the benefit of Awakening Zone? Getting a 0/1 Eldrazi Spawn every turn doesn't seem like something that I particularly want.
Genesis wave isn't a must have, but it is a great game ender. If you really want a huge ramp card, there's the one from the first commander decks. Costs G and then every player pays x to dig for x lands. It ramps you hard, but the same goes for everyone else.
I'd be more than willing to post my current list in order to potentially give you some directions to take the deck. I've been honing mine for a while and is going to be featured in a project by a SCG writer in the near future.
Standard Mardu Midrange Modern 4 Colour Delver, Naya Midrange CommanderSidisi 1v1, Sliver Overlord, Intet the Dreamer, Mayael the Anima (shameless plug http://youtu.be/4zu4QRvGSo8)
Alright, so lets say your commander is Riku of Two Reflections. Combo commander, to be sure, but lets push this into the realm of absurd. You cast Palinchron and do your Riku thing to make infinite mana because we're going to need it. Forget about your extra Palinchron tokens. A million flying 4/5s is boring. So now you cast Enter the Infinite, because drawing your deck is important. Follow it up with a Obstinate Familiar because not decking yourself is equally important. Laboratory Maniac could work here too, but we're gonna go some more levels deep. Cast a Greater Good because we want a tasteful sac outlet. Follow this up with Parallel Lives, Doubling Season,Copy Enchantment, Clever Impersonator, Mycosynth Latice, Phyrexian Metamorph, and Copy Artifact giving you 6 double token effects. Here's where it gets fun now. Cast a Reef Worm. Sac it to greater good and get 256 Fish, which you sac to get 65,536 whales, which you sac to get 16,777,216 Krakens. Are we done yet? Nope! Cast Thromok the Insatiable, devouring all your krakens to make a 281,474,976,710,656/281,474,976,710,656 Thromok. Where do we go from here though? Let your opponent cast Death Mutation on him! Why, that's 7.20575940x10^16 tokens! Good thing we have Body Double to make another Thromok the Insatiable who will be a 5.19229686x10^33/5.19229686x10^33! Seems big enough, but not for us! Since we're red anyways, lets cast a Furnace of Rath, Dictate of the Twin Gods, and a Fire Servant! Now it's time to Fling your guy, dealing a spicy 4.15383749x10^34 damage to your opponent. To put that in perspective, there are an estimated 3x10^23 stars in the known universe. You dealt more damage than there are stars. That'll give your opponent something to think about. PROTIP: Dodge Spellskite decks
Genesis wave isn't a must have, but it is a great game ender. If you really want a huge ramp card, there's the one from the first commander decks. Costs G and then every player pays x to dig for x lands. It ramps you hard, but the same goes for everyone else.
I'd be more than willing to post my current list in order to potentially give you some directions to take the deck. I've been honing mine for a while and is going to be featured in a project by a SCG writer in the near future.
Sure, I would love to see that. How did you get it featured on SCG?
Standard Mardu Midrange Modern 4 Colour Delver, Naya Midrange CommanderSidisi 1v1, Sliver Overlord, Intet the Dreamer, Mayael the Anima (shameless plug http://youtu.be/4zu4QRvGSo8)
Alright, so lets say your commander is Riku of Two Reflections. Combo commander, to be sure, but lets push this into the realm of absurd. You cast Palinchron and do your Riku thing to make infinite mana because we're going to need it. Forget about your extra Palinchron tokens. A million flying 4/5s is boring. So now you cast Enter the Infinite, because drawing your deck is important. Follow it up with a Obstinate Familiar because not decking yourself is equally important. Laboratory Maniac could work here too, but we're gonna go some more levels deep. Cast a Greater Good because we want a tasteful sac outlet. Follow this up with Parallel Lives, Doubling Season,Copy Enchantment, Clever Impersonator, Mycosynth Latice, Phyrexian Metamorph, and Copy Artifact giving you 6 double token effects. Here's where it gets fun now. Cast a Reef Worm. Sac it to greater good and get 256 Fish, which you sac to get 65,536 whales, which you sac to get 16,777,216 Krakens. Are we done yet? Nope! Cast Thromok the Insatiable, devouring all your krakens to make a 281,474,976,710,656/281,474,976,710,656 Thromok. Where do we go from here though? Let your opponent cast Death Mutation on him! Why, that's 7.20575940x10^16 tokens! Good thing we have Body Double to make another Thromok the Insatiable who will be a 5.19229686x10^33/5.19229686x10^33! Seems big enough, but not for us! Since we're red anyways, lets cast a Furnace of Rath, Dictate of the Twin Gods, and a Fire Servant! Now it's time to Fling your guy, dealing a spicy 4.15383749x10^34 damage to your opponent. To put that in perspective, there are an estimated 3x10^23 stars in the known universe. You dealt more damage than there are stars. That'll give your opponent something to think about. PROTIP: Dodge Spellskite decks
Little Tricks I like with this deck:
Tooth and Nail for Purphoros and Avenger of Zendikar for (lands x 2)+2 damage to each opponent.
Worldly Tutor for Avacyn in response to wrath
Worldly Tutor for Sigarda in response to living end/all is dust
Vigor + Gruul Ragebeast
Bow of Nylea + Nylea for Trample Deathtouch on all guys
Bow of Nylea + Woodfall Primus for unkillable Primus
Woodfall Primus + Greater Good
Greater Good + Kessig Wolf Run
This certainly isn't the strongest version of the deck, but I think that it is the most consistent. I very rarely get mana screwed (Mana flood is fine with so many sinks), and Mayael Wiffs are very infrequent.
A tip I can give to every player playing Mayael is know your percentage of hitting. Putting more fat into your deck is good, but you need to know your likelihood of hitting in the midgame. If you're sitting there with Mayael in play, 7 lands, and a creature in hand, you need to see how many cards you've taken out of your deck/how many cards are left in, how many creatures are left in there to hit, and how likely you are to hit. Cards like the tutors, library and top can all help you see if you'll hit, but sometimes it's just correct to play fat, unless you absolutely need to hit an answer in your deck.
Hope that helps you all out. Feel free to ask questions about any card choices I've made. I assure you, I have a reason for pretty much all of them, and I hope you'll give me a chance to defend my choices. I'll keep an open mind too though, as I know I have a lot to still learn.
Cheers
p.s. Sorry about the formatting. I haven't posted a decklist in forever and I'm afraid I've forgotten what to do.
Standard Mardu Midrange Modern 4 Colour Delver, Naya Midrange CommanderSidisi 1v1, Sliver Overlord, Intet the Dreamer, Mayael the Anima (shameless plug http://youtu.be/4zu4QRvGSo8)
Alright, so lets say your commander is Riku of Two Reflections. Combo commander, to be sure, but lets push this into the realm of absurd. You cast Palinchron and do your Riku thing to make infinite mana because we're going to need it. Forget about your extra Palinchron tokens. A million flying 4/5s is boring. So now you cast Enter the Infinite, because drawing your deck is important. Follow it up with a Obstinate Familiar because not decking yourself is equally important. Laboratory Maniac could work here too, but we're gonna go some more levels deep. Cast a Greater Good because we want a tasteful sac outlet. Follow this up with Parallel Lives, Doubling Season,Copy Enchantment, Clever Impersonator, Mycosynth Latice, Phyrexian Metamorph, and Copy Artifact giving you 6 double token effects. Here's where it gets fun now. Cast a Reef Worm. Sac it to greater good and get 256 Fish, which you sac to get 65,536 whales, which you sac to get 16,777,216 Krakens. Are we done yet? Nope! Cast Thromok the Insatiable, devouring all your krakens to make a 281,474,976,710,656/281,474,976,710,656 Thromok. Where do we go from here though? Let your opponent cast Death Mutation on him! Why, that's 7.20575940x10^16 tokens! Good thing we have Body Double to make another Thromok the Insatiable who will be a 5.19229686x10^33/5.19229686x10^33! Seems big enough, but not for us! Since we're red anyways, lets cast a Furnace of Rath, Dictate of the Twin Gods, and a Fire Servant! Now it's time to Fling your guy, dealing a spicy 4.15383749x10^34 damage to your opponent. To put that in perspective, there are an estimated 3x10^23 stars in the known universe. You dealt more damage than there are stars. That'll give your opponent something to think about. PROTIP: Dodge Spellskite decks
Awakening Zone is so good. It gives you either 1 colorless mana every turn or a blocker. You can sac the 0/1 eldrazi creature for mana.
Genesis Wave is the most annoying card in edh. Players take a half hour to figure out all of their triggers going off then on the next turn the board gets wiped. Waste of time
Awakening Zone is so good. It gives you either 1 colorless mana every turn or a blocker. You can sac the 0/1 eldrazi creature for mana.
Genesis Wave is the most annoying card in edh. Players take a half hour to figure out all of their triggers going off then on the next turn the board gets wiped. Waste of time
Ive never really been a fan of awakening zone. It's a pretty miserable topdeck late and is only really strong on turn 3. If I wanted that effect, I'd run coalition relic.
As far as genesis wave goes, you win if it resolves for 8+. Sure it can take a while, and board wipes exist, but they have to answer it and if not they lose. I see it as a card draw engine/ramp/creature spell.
Standard Mardu Midrange Modern 4 Colour Delver, Naya Midrange CommanderSidisi 1v1, Sliver Overlord, Intet the Dreamer, Mayael the Anima (shameless plug http://youtu.be/4zu4QRvGSo8)
Alright, so lets say your commander is Riku of Two Reflections. Combo commander, to be sure, but lets push this into the realm of absurd. You cast Palinchron and do your Riku thing to make infinite mana because we're going to need it. Forget about your extra Palinchron tokens. A million flying 4/5s is boring. So now you cast Enter the Infinite, because drawing your deck is important. Follow it up with a Obstinate Familiar because not decking yourself is equally important. Laboratory Maniac could work here too, but we're gonna go some more levels deep. Cast a Greater Good because we want a tasteful sac outlet. Follow this up with Parallel Lives, Doubling Season,Copy Enchantment, Clever Impersonator, Mycosynth Latice, Phyrexian Metamorph, and Copy Artifact giving you 6 double token effects. Here's where it gets fun now. Cast a Reef Worm. Sac it to greater good and get 256 Fish, which you sac to get 65,536 whales, which you sac to get 16,777,216 Krakens. Are we done yet? Nope! Cast Thromok the Insatiable, devouring all your krakens to make a 281,474,976,710,656/281,474,976,710,656 Thromok. Where do we go from here though? Let your opponent cast Death Mutation on him! Why, that's 7.20575940x10^16 tokens! Good thing we have Body Double to make another Thromok the Insatiable who will be a 5.19229686x10^33/5.19229686x10^33! Seems big enough, but not for us! Since we're red anyways, lets cast a Furnace of Rath, Dictate of the Twin Gods, and a Fire Servant! Now it's time to Fling your guy, dealing a spicy 4.15383749x10^34 damage to your opponent. To put that in perspective, there are an estimated 3x10^23 stars in the known universe. You dealt more damage than there are stars. That'll give your opponent something to think about. PROTIP: Dodge Spellskite decks
Awakening Zone is so good. It gives you either 1 colorless mana every turn or a blocker. You can sac the 0/1 eldrazi creature for mana.
Genesis Wave is the most annoying card in edh. Players take a half hour to figure out all of their triggers going off then on the next turn the board gets wiped. Waste of time
Paying 3 to get 1 colorless mana every turn isn't very good, neither is getting a chump blocker every turn. I like this card in a token deck, but it doesn't really fit too well here.
Ive never really been a fan of awakening zone. It's a pretty miserable topdeck late and is only really strong on turn 3. If I wanted that effect, I'd run coalition relic.
As far as genesis wave goes, you win if it resolves for 8+. Sure it can take a while, and board wipes exist, but they have to answer it and if not they lose. I see it as a card draw engine/ramp/creature spell.
G-Wave is definitely a very powerful card, and it doesn't really take all that long to resolve it, but I am just bored of seeing it, and it's not like I'm short on wincons.
G-Wave is definitely a very powerful card, and it doesn't really take all that long to resolve it, but I am just bored of seeing it, and it's not like I'm short on wincons.
Standard Mardu Midrange Modern 4 Colour Delver, Naya Midrange CommanderSidisi 1v1, Sliver Overlord, Intet the Dreamer, Mayael the Anima (shameless plug http://youtu.be/4zu4QRvGSo8)
Alright, so lets say your commander is Riku of Two Reflections. Combo commander, to be sure, but lets push this into the realm of absurd. You cast Palinchron and do your Riku thing to make infinite mana because we're going to need it. Forget about your extra Palinchron tokens. A million flying 4/5s is boring. So now you cast Enter the Infinite, because drawing your deck is important. Follow it up with a Obstinate Familiar because not decking yourself is equally important. Laboratory Maniac could work here too, but we're gonna go some more levels deep. Cast a Greater Good because we want a tasteful sac outlet. Follow this up with Parallel Lives, Doubling Season,Copy Enchantment, Clever Impersonator, Mycosynth Latice, Phyrexian Metamorph, and Copy Artifact giving you 6 double token effects. Here's where it gets fun now. Cast a Reef Worm. Sac it to greater good and get 256 Fish, which you sac to get 65,536 whales, which you sac to get 16,777,216 Krakens. Are we done yet? Nope! Cast Thromok the Insatiable, devouring all your krakens to make a 281,474,976,710,656/281,474,976,710,656 Thromok. Where do we go from here though? Let your opponent cast Death Mutation on him! Why, that's 7.20575940x10^16 tokens! Good thing we have Body Double to make another Thromok the Insatiable who will be a 5.19229686x10^33/5.19229686x10^33! Seems big enough, but not for us! Since we're red anyways, lets cast a Furnace of Rath, Dictate of the Twin Gods, and a Fire Servant! Now it's time to Fling your guy, dealing a spicy 4.15383749x10^34 damage to your opponent. To put that in perspective, there are an estimated 3x10^23 stars in the known universe. You dealt more damage than there are stars. That'll give your opponent something to think about. PROTIP: Dodge Spellskite decks
Standard Mardu Midrange Modern 4 Colour Delver, Naya Midrange CommanderSidisi 1v1, Sliver Overlord, Intet the Dreamer, Mayael the Anima (shameless plug http://youtu.be/4zu4QRvGSo8)
Alright, so lets say your commander is Riku of Two Reflections. Combo commander, to be sure, but lets push this into the realm of absurd. You cast Palinchron and do your Riku thing to make infinite mana because we're going to need it. Forget about your extra Palinchron tokens. A million flying 4/5s is boring. So now you cast Enter the Infinite, because drawing your deck is important. Follow it up with a Obstinate Familiar because not decking yourself is equally important. Laboratory Maniac could work here too, but we're gonna go some more levels deep. Cast a Greater Good because we want a tasteful sac outlet. Follow this up with Parallel Lives, Doubling Season,Copy Enchantment, Clever Impersonator, Mycosynth Latice, Phyrexian Metamorph, and Copy Artifact giving you 6 double token effects. Here's where it gets fun now. Cast a Reef Worm. Sac it to greater good and get 256 Fish, which you sac to get 65,536 whales, which you sac to get 16,777,216 Krakens. Are we done yet? Nope! Cast Thromok the Insatiable, devouring all your krakens to make a 281,474,976,710,656/281,474,976,710,656 Thromok. Where do we go from here though? Let your opponent cast Death Mutation on him! Why, that's 7.20575940x10^16 tokens! Good thing we have Body Double to make another Thromok the Insatiable who will be a 5.19229686x10^33/5.19229686x10^33! Seems big enough, but not for us! Since we're red anyways, lets cast a Furnace of Rath, Dictate of the Twin Gods, and a Fire Servant! Now it's time to Fling your guy, dealing a spicy 4.15383749x10^34 damage to your opponent. To put that in perspective, there are an estimated 3x10^23 stars in the known universe. You dealt more damage than there are stars. That'll give your opponent something to think about. PROTIP: Dodge Spellskite decks
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So my old Mayael thread is extremely outdated, and I decided to give her another try, so here is my new thread. My decklist is finally down to 100 cards, so I no longer need to make any more cuts. I took a lot of input from Raikou Rider's Primer, so I have to give a shout-out to him for all of the great content there. Now, on to the list:
Average CMC: 4.55
1 Mayael the Anima
Artifact (8)
1 Illusionist's Bracers
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Quicksilver Amulet
1 Rings of Brighthearth
1 Scroll Rack
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Swiftfoot Boots
Fatties (25)
1 Angel of Serenity
1 Avacyn, Angel of Hope
1 Avenger of Zendikar
1 Balefire Dragon
1 Baneslayer Angel
1 Blazing Archon
1 Bogardan Hellkite
1 Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
1 Godsire
1 Hellkite Tyrant
1 Krosan Tusker
1 Nylea, God of the Hunt
1 Polukranos, World Eater
1 Ruric Thar, the Unbowed
1 Scourge of Kher Ridges
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Spellbreaker Behemoth
1 Stalking Vengeance
1 Steel Hellkite
1 Sun Titan
1 Sylvan Primordial
1 Terastodon
1 Twilight Shepherd
1 Worldspine Wurm
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Bloom Tender
1 Elvish Piper
1 Eternal Witness
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Seedborn Muse
1 Solemn Simulacrum
Enchantment (8)
1 Asceticism
1 Greater Good
1 Lurking Predators
1 Mana Reflection
1 Mirari's Wake
1 Sylvan Library
1 Warstorm Surge
1 Where Ancients Tread
Instant (5)
1 Eladamri's Call
1 Krosan Grip
1 Path to Exile
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Worldly Tutor
Sorcery (11)
1 Austere Command
1 Cultivate
1 Farseek
1 Genesis Wave
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Kodama's Reach
1 Nature's Lore
1 Rampant Growth
1 Skyshroud Claim
1 Terminus
1 Tooth and Nail
1 Arid Mesa
1 Battlefield Forge
1 Brushland
1 Clifftop Retreat
1 Command Tower
8 Forest
1 Jungle Shrine
1 Karplusan Forest
1 Kor Haven
1 Mosswort Bridge
3 Mountain
5 Plains
1 Raging Ravine
1 Rootbound Crag
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Stirring Wildwood
1 Stomping Ground
1 Strip Mine
1 Sunpetal Grove
1 Temple Garden
1 Temple of the False God
1 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Foothills
I'm pretty worried about the average CMC being as high as 4.59. I understand that it's going to be higher than a usual deck because of all the fatties, but I'm used to building decks around 3.50 or less, so being so much higher is a bit unsettling to me. I would prefer if I could get it down to something like 4.25 or even 4.40 or something like that.
I am looking forward to hearing all of your suggestions and I will definitely write more about it once I get it trimmed down to 100 cards and have a chance to start playing with it.
GUB [Retired Primer] The Mimeoplasm BUG
Modern: UR Storm RU
Cube: WUBRG Pauper Cube GRBUW
Credit for the banner goes to DarkNightCavalier at Heroes of the Plane Studios
GUB [Retired Primer] The Mimeoplasm BUG
Modern: UR Storm RU
Cube: WUBRG Pauper Cube GRBUW
Credit for the banner goes to DarkNightCavalier at Heroes of the Plane Studios
Aura Shards - you have plenty of effects to blow artifacts.
Anger - no way to put it into the graveyard.
Explosive Vegetation - You have enough ramp
Acidic Slime - you have plenty of these effects and its not power 5.
Thousand Year Elixir - the untap trigger on mayael is a 13 mana investment. And it takes up a utility slot. It doesn't do enough. Try wirewood lodge if you want an effect like that.
Both Signets - You don't need them
boros Charm - you don't need it. It isn't worth a slot in here. This is more for an Aggro deck that can't come back from wipes or needs to get in damage. That's not a problem in mayael.
Naya Charm - Once again just doesn't do enough or fit in with the deck.
Eladmri's Call - creatures in the hand is meh. You want them in the deck. Usually on top of it.
Cut Novablast Wurm for something else maybe Platinum Emperion. You have to do too much work to make that card halfway decent.
There's some ideas for cuts.
Current
RGWMarath, Will of the WildRGW
GWUPheldagriff Group HugGWU
RGRRuric Thar, the UnbowedGRG
UXBOona ControlUXB
Retired
RGWMayael, the AnimaRGW
XGXGlissa Sunseeker ComboXGX
Edit: Nevermind, just saw that you needed to cut down in original post.
Thanks for the reply. Obviously I am not going to stay at 114 cards but I couldn't decide what needed to be cut most. I will go through your suggestions one by one.
I didn't feel like I had enough, but going over my list, maybe I do have enough. This card is so strong for keeping scary enchantments and artifacts under control, and Mayael's ability to put stuff down at instant speed feels like it would be beneficial with this.
Agree. I want lots of ways to grant haste, but this isn't really working without Survival of the Fittest. If I get another copy of Survival I might run him, but until then he can probably get cut.
Agree that I have a lot of ramp and this is probably the worst one.
I guess I am just used to using this guy in every green deck because he is generally useful, but he only costs 2 less than Sylvan Primordial and he doesn't flip off Mayael, so he should probably get cut.
Mostly running it for the psuedo-haste outlet because it works very nicely with things like Mayael and Elvish Piper. These creatures generally attract a lot of attention to themselves, so being able to guarantee at least one activation is crucial.
I believe I am running all three signets, but I am assuming you mean to cut all of them. I like to have a lot of ramp that I can play on turn 2 so that I can get a Mayael activation on turn 4 or 5 more often, but I guess these are inferior to land ramp. I also want to make sure I have a critical mass of acceleration so that I will be able to cast all of my fatties if I can't get Mayael to stick.
Just figured that it would be nice to have a way to protect all of my permanents in the situation that someone plays a boardwipe when I'm in the strongest position. Sweepers are very common in my group, so having something like this can be a huge blowout in some situations, but it may have to be removed to keep cards that fit better with the deck's specific game plan.
Basically just like this one because it does a lot of different things. At one point I was going to run a Sunforger package, which would have definitely earned this card a spot. Without forger though, I think this is definitely a card that should get cut.
Being able to pick a specific creature and put it into my hand is still an effect that I feel like the deck wants to have. Obviously the main method for putting guys into play is with Mayael, but sometimes that plan will get disrupted and it's nice to have some ways to get my fatties into hand to cast them. Also can be used to find Mayael if she gets tucked.
I think Novablast Wurm is a cool card, but you are probably right that it's not good enough.
A couple cards that I have though about including after posting the list are Fires of Yavimaya as a haste outlet and Spellbreaker Behemoth to stop my guys from getting countered if I need to cast them rather than cheating them in with Mayael.
EDIT: Shaved down to 105 and switched Novablast Wurm to Spellbreaker Behemoth.
GUB [Retired Primer] The Mimeoplasm BUG
Modern: UR Storm RU
Cube: WUBRG Pauper Cube GRBUW
Credit for the banner goes to DarkNightCavalier at Heroes of the Plane Studios
spellbreaker behemoth is for sure better than the Wurm.
Current
RGWMarath, Will of the WildRGW
GWUPheldagriff Group HugGWU
RGRRuric Thar, the UnbowedGRG
UXBOona ControlUXB
Retired
RGWMayael, the AnimaRGW
XGXGlissa Sunseeker ComboXGX
Ok I will keep those in mind as possible replacements for some of my other removal. What do you think is the worst fatty I am running right now? I'm thinking about cutting one for Stalking Vengeance, but I'm not sure which would be the best choice.
GUB [Retired Primer] The Mimeoplasm BUG
Modern: UR Storm RU
Cube: WUBRG Pauper Cube GRBUW
Credit for the banner goes to DarkNightCavalier at Heroes of the Plane Studios
The thing is though is that he costs 5 mana and he dies to a wrath, so he doesn't help me rebuild my board quickly. The nice thing about Mayael is that I'm usually flipping my fatties into play on someone else's turn, so they're good to attack by the time my next turn comes along. If someone wraths the board, it takes a little while to set up again because I have to recast Mayael and wait a full turn cycle before I can use her ability. Same goes for Elvish Piper, which is why having haste or psuedo-haste enablers like Lightning Greaves, Swiftfoot Boots, Thousand-Year Elixir, and Fires of Yavimaya are good.
On another note, I am probably going to be getting a Baneslayer Angel and I figured she would be worth finding a spot for since she is a fatty that's easily castable if I can't get Mayael going, and serves as a nice beater for a relatively low cost.
EDIT: Akroma, Angel of Wrath -> Baneslayer Angel
Akroma, Angel of Fury -> Ruric Thar, the Unbowed
Rampaging Baloths -> Wurmcoil Engine
Got the list to 100 cards. Interested in trying out Polukranos, World Eater somewhere in the deck once I figure out which cards are the weakest.
GUB [Retired Primer] The Mimeoplasm BUG
Modern: UR Storm RU
Cube: WUBRG Pauper Cube GRBUW
Credit for the banner goes to DarkNightCavalier at Heroes of the Plane Studios
Next game was 4 player free for all with me against Triad of Fates as well as Ertai and Sedris from the previous game. I was able to get down an early Elvish Piper which in turn put down Avacyn, Angel of Hope/CARD], only to have it exiled by Oblivion Ring. I got Mayael down with Illusionist's Bracers and started throwing down fatties before she got killed. I ended up with a board consisting of Worldspine Wurm, Gisela, Blade of Goldnight, Nylea, God of the Hunt, and Sylvan Primordial. I was able to bring the Triad player down to 10 before a wrath came down, leaving me with the three 5/5 tokens from Worldspine Wurm. Of course, immediately after the sweeper I topdeck Stalking Vengeance and play him. I use the Wurms to swing Triad down to 5, just in range of the Bogardan Hellkite in my hand. He goes for another board wipe to try and save the rest of the people from me, dying to one of the Stalking Vengeance triggers in the process. Ertai player goes for an Elspeth, Knight Errant and I kill it EOT with the Hellkite. I untap and drop a couple more fatties, turning on Nylea again and start beating down, which earns a concession from the other two opponents who are out of answers.
The last game was a 3 player game with me, Grand Arbiter Augustin IV, and Animar, Soul of the Elements. I start off with a turn 2 Sylvan Library and then start ramping and get down a turn 4 Mirari's Wake, which accelerates me up to a ton of mana very quickly. Animar starts to build up some counters, but I drop Warstorm Surge and Wurmcoil Engine to kill it. Eventually the Animar guy has to leave, so it comes down to a showdown between myself and GAAIV. I end up getting down Where Ancients Tread and Quicksilver Amulet while he's tapped out, giving me a nice way to get my fatties around his counterspells. I manage to resolve a Worldly Tutor for Gisela, Blade of Goldnight and drop it off Amulet to deal him 20 damage to the face, then Swing in with a Steel Hellkite for what would be lethal. He has a Sphinx's Revelation for 6 to stay alive at 1 life, but my Library finds me a creature to Amulet in on my turn and he dies to the Warstorm Surge trigger.
All in all I would say the deck performed pretty well. Nylea was really nice when I flipped her off Mayael and was immediately able to use her ability to pump Mayael up to 4/5 to survive a 4 damage wipe from a Crater Hellion. I found myself tutoring for Gisela a lot because of her massive damage output, especially with Warstorm Surge, as well as Worldspine Wurm for his huge body and insurance against board wipes. I would have liked to have a little more consistent access to a haste outlet, so maybe I will try to find a spot to fit Fires of Yavimaya in somewhere. I was also really happy with the library manipulation provided by Sylvan Library, Sensei's Divining Top, and Scroll Rack, which helped smooth my draws in the two games where I won.
GUB [Retired Primer] The Mimeoplasm BUG
Modern: UR Storm RU
Cube: WUBRG Pauper Cube GRBUW
Credit for the banner goes to DarkNightCavalier at Heroes of the Plane Studios
GUB [Retired Primer] The Mimeoplasm BUG
Modern: UR Storm RU
Cube: WUBRG Pauper Cube GRBUW
Credit for the banner goes to DarkNightCavalier at Heroes of the Plane Studios
The key with your ramp should be that they take lands oyt of your deck and put them into play. If you can take 3-6 lands out of your deck with your ramp, those are lands you wont see when you activate mayael.
Standard Mardu Midrange
Modern 4 Colour Delver, Naya Midrange
CommanderSidisi 1v1, Sliver Overlord, Intet the Dreamer, Mayael the Anima (shameless plug http://youtu.be/4zu4QRvGSo8)
Not really a huge fan of the Genesis Wave thing because I've done it like a million times before, but I could see running a couple more lands.
Huh? What is the benefit of Awakening Zone? Getting a 0/1 Eldrazi Spawn every turn doesn't seem like something that I particularly want.
GUB [Retired Primer] The Mimeoplasm BUG
Modern: UR Storm RU
Cube: WUBRG Pauper Cube GRBUW
Credit for the banner goes to DarkNightCavalier at Heroes of the Plane Studios
Genesis wave isn't a must have, but it is a great game ender. If you really want a huge ramp card, there's the one from the first commander decks. Costs G and then every player pays x to dig for x lands. It ramps you hard, but the same goes for everyone else.
I'd be more than willing to post my current list in order to potentially give you some directions to take the deck. I've been honing mine for a while and is going to be featured in a project by a SCG writer in the near future.
Standard Mardu Midrange
Modern 4 Colour Delver, Naya Midrange
CommanderSidisi 1v1, Sliver Overlord, Intet the Dreamer, Mayael the Anima (shameless plug http://youtu.be/4zu4QRvGSo8)
Sure, I would love to see that. How did you get it featured on SCG?
GUB [Retired Primer] The Mimeoplasm BUG
Modern: UR Storm RU
Cube: WUBRG Pauper Cube GRBUW
Credit for the banner goes to DarkNightCavalier at Heroes of the Plane Studios
Ill post the list tomorrow. Im not actually allowed to talk about the project just yet, but when it's made public, I'll talk a bit more about it.
Standard Mardu Midrange
Modern 4 Colour Delver, Naya Midrange
CommanderSidisi 1v1, Sliver Overlord, Intet the Dreamer, Mayael the Anima (shameless plug http://youtu.be/4zu4QRvGSo8)
12 True Ramp
6 Get it Outta Here!
7 Sick Utility
6 Go Getter's
2 Other Oddities
26 BFI (big fat idiots)
Little Tricks I like with this deck:
Tooth and Nail for Purphoros and Avenger of Zendikar for (lands x 2)+2 damage to each opponent.
Worldly Tutor for Avacyn in response to wrath
Worldly Tutor for Sigarda in response to living end/all is dust
Vigor + Gruul Ragebeast
Bow of Nylea + Nylea for Trample Deathtouch on all guys
Bow of Nylea + Woodfall Primus for unkillable Primus
Woodfall Primus + Greater Good
Greater Good + Kessig Wolf Run
This certainly isn't the strongest version of the deck, but I think that it is the most consistent. I very rarely get mana screwed (Mana flood is fine with so many sinks), and Mayael Wiffs are very infrequent.
A tip I can give to every player playing Mayael is know your percentage of hitting. Putting more fat into your deck is good, but you need to know your likelihood of hitting in the midgame. If you're sitting there with Mayael in play, 7 lands, and a creature in hand, you need to see how many cards you've taken out of your deck/how many cards are left in, how many creatures are left in there to hit, and how likely you are to hit. Cards like the tutors, library and top can all help you see if you'll hit, but sometimes it's just correct to play fat, unless you absolutely need to hit an answer in your deck.
Hope that helps you all out. Feel free to ask questions about any card choices I've made. I assure you, I have a reason for pretty much all of them, and I hope you'll give me a chance to defend my choices. I'll keep an open mind too though, as I know I have a lot to still learn.
Cheers
p.s. Sorry about the formatting. I haven't posted a decklist in forever and I'm afraid I've forgotten what to do.
Standard Mardu Midrange
Modern 4 Colour Delver, Naya Midrange
CommanderSidisi 1v1, Sliver Overlord, Intet the Dreamer, Mayael the Anima (shameless plug http://youtu.be/4zu4QRvGSo8)
Genesis Wave is the most annoying card in edh. Players take a half hour to figure out all of their triggers going off then on the next turn the board gets wiped. Waste of time
Ive never really been a fan of awakening zone. It's a pretty miserable topdeck late and is only really strong on turn 3. If I wanted that effect, I'd run coalition relic.
As far as genesis wave goes, you win if it resolves for 8+. Sure it can take a while, and board wipes exist, but they have to answer it and if not they lose. I see it as a card draw engine/ramp/creature spell.
Standard Mardu Midrange
Modern 4 Colour Delver, Naya Midrange
CommanderSidisi 1v1, Sliver Overlord, Intet the Dreamer, Mayael the Anima (shameless plug http://youtu.be/4zu4QRvGSo8)
Paying 3 to get 1 colorless mana every turn isn't very good, neither is getting a chump blocker every turn. I like this card in a token deck, but it doesn't really fit too well here.
G-Wave is definitely a very powerful card, and it doesn't really take all that long to resolve it, but I am just bored of seeing it, and it's not like I'm short on wincons.
GUB [Retired Primer] The Mimeoplasm BUG
Modern: UR Storm RU
Cube: WUBRG Pauper Cube GRBUW
Credit for the banner goes to DarkNightCavalier at Heroes of the Plane Studios
Fair enough. Like the rest of the list though?
Standard Mardu Midrange
Modern 4 Colour Delver, Naya Midrange
CommanderSidisi 1v1, Sliver Overlord, Intet the Dreamer, Mayael the Anima (shameless plug http://youtu.be/4zu4QRvGSo8)
It is though. Kodama's reach and cultivate allow for two colored mana and they take lands out of your deck allowingva higher mayael hit %
Standard Mardu Midrange
Modern 4 Colour Delver, Naya Midrange
CommanderSidisi 1v1, Sliver Overlord, Intet the Dreamer, Mayael the Anima (shameless plug http://youtu.be/4zu4QRvGSo8)