There come's a time in every man's life where he wants to go on an adventure. A vacation really. And there are always endless possibilities! However, not all men can afford to go anywhere. Or if they can, not all men can be bothered to actually get up, pack and do it. But worry not fellow EDH players! For now, you can go on an adventure whenever you want from the comfort of anywhere with a sizable hard surface and at (probably) less that half the cost of airfare and expenses to whatever random place! Nay, instead of traveling the world, you can go to the mythical land of... Value Town! *insert canned applause here* How you ask? Why, that's easy! All you have to do is play this guy as your general!
What guy you ask?
That guy!
And when you travel with Roon to the Hidden Realm of Value Town, you better be prepared. Because you're probably going to end up running around the place over and over and over again!
Poor introduction and bad jokes aside, welcome to my EDH decklist for Roon of the Hidden Realm. While there are a few different ways to play Roon, I will be discussing playing the "Blink" variety of the deck - which is to say - my decklist will be based around abusing Roon's activated ability and others like it to reuse "Enter the Battlefield" (ETB) triggers on all sorts of cool creatures.
Why Play Roon?
You like Bant colors
You're tired of all the Rafiq lists in Bant
You're one of the cool kids
You like the (almost) guarenteed value that comes with ETB effects
You like playing your cards over and over again
You like having great synergy amongst all your cards - rather than having one or more isolated combos
Roon's art is cool
You like versatility
You like to have nigh uncountable paths to victory!
You're friends don't get upset at cards like Sylvan Primordial and possibly reusing such cards
You like to *pretend* to play fair. But not really.
You want to play blue in EDH, but you don't like running counterspells
You like to be in charge of the board, and enjoy directing the flow of the game to your whim; whether your opponents know it or not!
You like to play control, but want to try an interesting creature focused twist
You like to play aggressive creature packed beatdown decks, but you want to dabble in the art of controlling the board without giving up your precious bodies
Wow! That's a lot of reasons! I bet you already can't wait to play with Roon. However, to be fair to our opposition, I suppose I should tell you some of the cons to playing Roon.
Why not play Roon?
You're boring
You don't like winning
You don't like fun
You would much rather play by yourself than actually play with others ('Certain' Blue players know who they are... *cough* Stasis *cough*)
You for some reason don't like Value Town
You live in a extremely fast EDH format (were talking Game Over every single time on like turn 4 or something)
You live in an EDH format that really really loves the keyword 'Hexproof'
All your friends play Voltron because their boring and uncreative
You hate creatures and life in general
All of your friends run Torpor Orb for some odd (and probably gimmicky) reason
Alright. A little back story on this deck and how it came to be. So before the Commander 2013 set came out or was even spoiled, I didn't like EDH much. Mostly because at that point (basically before I got a job) my card collection was still smallish and the only deck I could really put together that was any good was Rafiq. And after like a year of playing Rafiq, I was bored silly. So I started playing with completely proxyed decks in EDH. But I could never make up my mind - I had a new deck like every week. Eventually my friends got tired of seeing my printed slips of paper and told me to man up and make a real deck. So I rebuilt Rafiq and tried to avoid playing the most popular format at my College. But then, Roon of the Hidden Realm was spoiled! I immediately latched onto the card and went out and blew basically all my money on buying all sorts of cards and toys to play with for building with him once he came out. In fact I even built the deck just with Rubinia Soulsinger as a replacement commander for awhile. And I just fell in love. This deck really renewed my sputtering love for EDH, and the game in general. So for those of you who are just browsing decklists trying to decide what they want to play - I really suggest you try this. It's great fun.
When I first build this deck, I was really conflicted over which cards to play. Obviously, in bant colors when building a deck around abusing ETB effects, there is A LOT to choose from. However, after hours and hours of testing before Roon even came out, I had come up with a pretty fine tuned Bant Blink EDH list. But it was a little inconsistent. Some games it fired on all cylinders, and others it kind of sputtered out. However, once I finally got my hands on a copy of Roon and slotted him in as the commander - that all changed. The presence of a guaranteed blink engine that I could always get back if it died gave the deck a level of consistency and power that I frankly did not expect it to achieve. And while of course it's no-where near perfect, it is quite good (not to sound arrogant).
Anyways enough of me talking (which I'm sure you're all either skipping or about to start skipping at this point) here is the decklist! (numbers next to cards are CMC's EXCEPT FOR LAND))
(Not going to go into land discussion, other that Reliquary Tower all of my lands just produce Mana, and not much else)
1 Drops: Nephalia Smuggler: The deck is all about being able to abuse and re-use ETB effects, and the smuggler is a repeatable blink engine. While having to tap and pay 4 mana hinders this card somewhat; it does exactly what the deck wants it to do - and you can get it out early in the game without people noticing it all too much. And once they do notice, it's often too late. It's important to note that this is IMMEDIATE blink.
Sol Ring: Sol Ring is kind of auto include in EDH these days. Allows insanely accelerated plays. Repeatable 2 mana for 1 is kind of a no-brainer after all!
2 Drops: Fauna Shaman: If a Fauna Shaman stays alive after one turn rotation, you're on a fast track to victory. This chick lets you tutor over and over again for anything you need. With her on the field you can answer and do just about anything you want. And the best part is, with the recursion suite this deck is packing, the graveyard is practically like a second hand. So the discard isn't that bad at all! Repeatable Tutors staying on the field push this deck into overdrive.
Eladamri's Call: While it's not repeatable, it's basically just better Worldly Tutor for one more mana. You want to have as many tutors as possible, and this is a good one.
Mistmeadow Witch: Another Blink engine. Similar to Nephalia smuggler, it hits the board early and goes relatively unnoticed. The activation cost is steep, but at least you don't have to tap it. It's important to note that this is DELAYED blink.
Coiling Oracle: This card is great. 2 Mana for a 1/1 ETB effect that either ramps me or draws me a card? AWESOME! Love to play this early game, because ramp is good. Love to play it late game, because cards are good. This guy's birth certificate reads Value Town.
Azorius Signet, Simic Signet, Selesnya Signet: I run all the signets my colors allow. Mana rocks are good. This deck can guzzle mana - having more is always good at any time in the game. And I heard acceleration early game is really good too!
Swiftfoot Boots: This is mostly just to protect important pieces on the board like Prophet of Kruphix, our general, a blink or tutor engine, etc. Also gives a couple of our tap abilities haste. Most importantly, it gives hexproof and not shroud, so we can still blink and mess with our own cards.
3 Drops: Wargate: While you'll never end up casting this card for 3 mana, it technically goes here. Anyways, Wargate is another tutor, but unlike the others, is the only thing that can fetch non-creatures. This is important, as there is lots of awesome things to get like Birthing Pod, Conjurer's Closet, Mimic Vat, and Venser, the Sojourner. It can also still hit creatures. While expensive, being able to slam any card in your deck on the field is always good, in a deck like this it's just kind of nuts.
Aether Adept: A modest ability, but still valuable and useful. While not as good as real blink, bouncing our own creatures back to our hand to recast them is pretty good, and it can also serve a dual purpose of being able to bounce opponents threats and play a little tempo/stall. Versatility is key here, so it deserves a spot.
Flickerwisp: Another one off blink effect, and this one isn't even instant speed! Why would I play this??? Well I'll tell you why. While it's a little lackluster late game, flickerwisp gives me a cheap way to get more value out of my cards in the early game, before my more mana guzzling blink engines are active. It can also temporarily get rid of my opponents stuff, which is kind of neat. It's important to note that this is DELAYED blink.
Sea Gate Oracle: While it's no Coiling Oracle, this card is here to net us some card advantage, and it does that just right. And it digs a little deeper. Good stuff.
Fiend Hunter: Ah Fiend Hunter. So many uses. It exiles opponents creatures. It tucks away our own guys in precaution of a board wipe or removal spell (this is important. Board wipes are a little mean to this deck, and Fiend hunter plays a very important strategic role. by exiling one of our own most important pieces, we ensure that we will have something left after a board wipe and might possibly even convince a player not to cast one!) For those who don't know, by responding to it's ETB trigger with another blink effect, one can permanently exile the first target and still hide another creature under Fiend Hunter when it comes back! All around good card. All this for just the low cost of 3 mana! Seems good to me.
Eternal Witness: While we might not run more cards dedicated to recursion than the average deck, the fact that we can use them over and over and over makes this deck a recursion machine. Like I said before, graveyards are like second hands almost. It's gotten to the point where people are directing their early game graveyard hate at me instead of reanimator lists or decks built around graveyard shenanigans - and my deck isn't even built around that. It gets pretty crazy some games. This is our only non-creature recursion, and while it sends things to our hand, it's cheap and reusable. Very effective.
Mimic Vat: This card is a little interesting. I typically think of it as recursion, but it both is and isn't. Suffice it to say that the ability to make copies of opponent's dead stuff or our own stuff is really strong. Even if it only worked on your own cards, making a copy of almost any card in the deck seems awesome, or at least pretty good.
Krosan Grip: Originally this wasn't in the list, but I decided that if I ever somehow happened to run into that one guy with the Torpor Orb, that I'd like to have a definitive answer for it. So there it is. Also, split second is just nice to have sometimes, isn't it?
Darksteel Ingot: Mana rocks are always good. This one taps for all colors, and is resilient to destruction and board wipes. Seems like a good investment to me.
Chromatic Lantern: Like darksteel ingot, this taps for all colors. it trades indestructibility for making all of our lands tap for all colors. with this on the field, there's no more worrying about how many symbols of each land you can make and what-not. Practically auto include for 3 or more color EDH.
Farhaven Elf: Now a lot of people look at this and tell me to play wood elves, because untapped lands. Honestly, the tapped or untapped thing hasn't been TOO relevant, and I like the ability to grab non-green sources more than once or twice (after all, there is only 1 shock and 1 true dual for each other color to grab with wood elves). Personal preference mostly, run one or the other. (I wouldn't suggest both. you only really need one, and the list is very tight as it is).
Harmonic Sliver: In the end, despite all the crazy things you can do to boost yourself along, the path to victory lies in beating your opponents. This deck is very good at getting rid of your opponents stuff over and over again - especially non-creatures. Resource denial is the most common way this deck wins. While it doesn't hit lands, this is our cheapest mana cost true removal, and it hits a lot of stuff early game - even if it's just as simple as a mana rock, don't be afraid to cast it. You will likely be able to deal with their bigger stuff later as well.
Champion of Lambholt: This guy can very easily get very big. Sometimes we just win by squeaking in the damage when we can while we deal with all of our opponents stuff. This makes your guys unblockable and is huge himself - a great all in all boon. He also draws removal away from more important engine pieces, which is good.
Ghostway: Blinks to reuse our whole board, dodges sweepers. Seems pretty good to me! More value than cloudshift.
4 Drops: Defense of the Heart: This card is almost guaranteed to go off in multiplayer games, and is very restrictive on your opponents if they don't want it too. Wins games outright by fetching Deadeye Navigator + anything really.
Birthing Pod: Having this on the board just enables us so well. The deck is really good at having answers for most anything at each CMC level. So we can climb up to our late-game finishers while still keeping control of the board. Like I said before, repeatable tutors are fan-freakin-tastic, and this one takes the icing on the cake by allowing us to climb up the CMC ladder. It also enables dies/leaves play triggers, which is occasionally relevant.
Spike Weaver: From suggestion by Rockondon, I tested this instead of Stonehorn Dignitary and decided to swap them out. It's main purpose is to stop or dissuade people from attacking us, and it does this well!
Venser, Shaper Savant I run a "counterless" blue deck. Most argue with me when I say that by saying Venser, but he technically doesn't counter. Either way, he is extremely useful, acting as a counter to dangerous spells before the resolve or also disrupting your opponents board. All-star of the deck. There have been many an occasion where I would instant speed tutor for venser just to stop an opponent from casting a crucial spell, and then proceed to win the game - or at least get another shot at it.
Restoration Angel: Cloudshift on a 3/4 flying body. One can tutor for it with creature tutors, re-use it, etc. Played for the same reason as cloudshift. It costs more, but comes with the benefit of a neat body and can synergize with all the creature specific abilities.
Galepowder Mage: A repeatable blink engine that can also get pesky blockers out of the way or temporarily clear away a threat for the turn. Very versatile, and one of many blink engines. Clear include. It's important to note that this is DELAYED blink.
Solemn Simulacrum: Ramp is always good, this deck just loves mana. Sad Robot just comes with the added bonus of possibly drawing us a card. Seems good to me.
Rite of Replication: You'll almost never cast this card for 4. Mainly in the deck as a win condition. Resolving a kicked Rite on almost anything in our deck, or even one of our opponents major threats often just outright wins the game. 'Nuff said.
Phyrexian Metamorph: This deck prides itself on versatility and flexibility. Clones are extremely good at doing just that. Phyrexian Metamorph is an all star clone that can even hit artifacts. Of course it's in here.
Clone: Like I said before. Clones are awesome in this deck. It's no metamorph, but it's good enough to make the cut. Redundancy in singleton formats is always good.
Stonecloaker: Stops our opponents from messing with cards in graveyards, and allows us to re-cast any of our ETB creatures. Disruption with upside. Seems like exactly what we want.
5 Drops: Lavinia of the Tenth: At first I kept trying to find something to replace this. However, I eventually came to realize how good it was. It stops most of our opponents mana rocks. There are absolutely TONS of cheap utility creatures it turns off. It slows down or stops so many gameplans that you can't not have it in.
Riftwing Cloudskate: While this is just almost strictly worst Venser, at least it can suspend and fly right? It hits all permanents, which is a plus. Nothing too special, but good enough disruption to make the cut. Redundancy is good!
Conjurer's Closet: Yet another repeating blink engine. It's almost like this deck has a theme... It's important to note that this is IMMEDIATE blink.
Venser, the Sojourner: Another blink engine that also doubles as a win-con. If I get a Venser emblem, I basically win, no ifs ands or buts. So it does everything I want! It's important to note that this is DELAYED blink.
Mulldrifter: I have never evoked this card once. While I guess it could theoretically be something you might want to do, really this is in here because re-useable card draw. It's harder to reuse if its not on the field anymore. Drawing cards is good!
Acidic Slime: Ah. Now we are starting to get into some of the real names of the deck. Replaying acidic slime over and over is a surefire path to victory. Destroys mana, utility, combos, you name it. Must have.
Reveillark: You might be a little more surprised to hear that I've never evoked this card. However, having it in play is just usually better. It staves off sweepers and lets us recover from them. It brings back a majority of our smaller utility creatures. It's a decent body. This card is a total all-star. It has won so many games. People under estimate this card so much. Now, I purposefully did not play any of the infinite combos with this card - as that's not what I wanted for this deck. You're welcome too, but that's not how I want to play. This and Body double are fearsome. Because bringing back the double copying itself. then the double is almost unkillable, and gives repeating recursion. It's just bonkers.
Body Double: Recursion and cloning all mixed into one? Seems awesome to me! So many hidden synergies.
Karmic Guide: ETB reanimate trigger? Yes please! Man I just love the recursion package in this deck! Protection from black is actually more relevant than you might think.
Thragtusk: This is actually one of the more underperforming cards in the deck. It just makes me go "meh." However, as my only form of lifegain, I can't really justify taking it out - because sometimes I need it. Oh well.
Prophet of Kruphix: Having this card on the field takes this deck from very good/solid into God Tier. If you're opponents don't exile this thing on the spot (as it's not hard to recur, even reveillark hits it) you will probably win the game. All your creatures are disruption or card advantage. Now they all have flash. And you untap on your opponents turn, allowing you to reuse blink engines and cast more spells. Easily one of the three best cards in the deck, and almost always the first thing you tutor for any time after early game.
Karametra, God of the Harvest: It's not an ETB, but ramp for every creature cast is too dang good to pass up. And I needed to replace Sylvan Primordial after the ban.
6 Drops: Deadeye Navigator: Best blink engine in the deck. Combos with almost everything I have. Usually reads "I win" if you can land him with mana open. Insane. Up there with Prophet for Top 2-3 cards in the deck. Combos infinite with palinchron.
Prime Speaker Zegana: Even better card draw that mulldrifter! Seems really good - I've drawn some pretty huge amounts of cards by blinking her 3 times in a turn.
Duplicant: Its a permanent exile spell that I can reuse. It doesn't need colored mana, and can possibly be really big depending on what I exile. Seems like something I would want.
Austere Command: The only sweeper in the deck. Rare for EDH to not have multiple, but if there's ever a time you really need to sweep the board while running this deck - you're probably going to lose anyways. Only running this one because of the versatility and the ability for it to be molded to hurt opponents more than you. Also the other answer to torpor orb.
Soul of the Harvest: Big body? Check. Draws me cards? Check. Seems like something I want. Moving on.
Sun Titan: A big body that recurs a good amount of utility cards and fetch lands. Good enough for me! Yay recursion!
Deadwood Treefolk: Has a recursion trigger for entering AND leaving. That's just nuts! That's two for the price of one blink! Woo hoo!
Progenitor Mimic: This card is it's own combo. Getting a token that makes another ETB trigger every upkeep of our stuff is bonkers. Getting multiples of opponents threats is awesome too. Great Card.
7 Drops: Sphinx of Uthuun: Big body, and fact or fiction over and over again. Nothing flashy, but a very solid card.
Tooth and Nail: You should always entwine this, so it really costs 9. Get any two card from your library and smack them down? Sounds like it reads "I win." Sylvan Primordial+Deadeye Navigator for the win anybody?
Phyrexian Ingester: Another permanent exile removal spell. Basically just bigger Duplicant.
Palinchron: Infinite combo with Deadeye navigator for instant win. Enough said.
Angel of Serenity: So versatile! Like Fiend Hunter but better. It's recursion, removal, protection from sweepers, and a big body all rolled into one. What more do you want in a card?
8 Drops: Terastodon: Honestly it's worse Sylvan Primordial in all but 1 vs 1 games. Still very good and wins games with blink engines. (Destroy ALL the lands)
Woodfall Primus: Another terastodon/sylvan primordial. More resiliant, doesn't blow up as much stuff each trigger. Still wins games. Easy enough include.
WHEW! That took awhile to write!
Wall of Omens: Just doesn't do quite enough. All the card advantage creatures I have already are just better.
Worldly Tutor: While originally in my list, this card was cut for defense of the heart; because the whole 'top of your library' thing was becoming a pain, and I needed to make room.
Fierce Empath: While it's an ETB trigger tutor, it just doesn't fetch enough. Too limited in my mind.
Loaming Shaman: Honestly, I never want to dig out my own graveyard
Archaeomancer, Mnemonic Wall, etc.: While some varients of Roon run a more expanded toolbox of instants and sorceries, I have found that going all in on creatures is both more effective and more fun. So I forwent the use of these cards and the strategy that came with them.
Avenger of Zendikar: Most people look at this and assume that it's just an auto include. And while its great and all, and is a good win-con; I have enough win-cons. And I don't really have anything in my deck that synergizes with the tokens. I'm not really trying to win by swarm with an army. I just win by destroying or dealing with all of my opponents stuff until they die or concede. Eventually I'll kill them with damage, but that's not as much fun. Maybe its the sadistic side of me, but I'd rather destroy all their lands and non-creature permanents, exile all their creatures, and laugh manically as they pick up their cards, crushed.
Craterhoof Behemoth: For similar reasons as the above, I just don't feel like it has a place in the version of Roon I built.
Stonehorn Dignitary: Used to be in the deck, but swapped it out for spike weaver instead.
Various other neat instants and sorceries: Building a creature focused deck!
Counterspelling: I don't like counterspelling. Hence I refuse to run counters.
Playing the Deck:
Because of the way this deck is built, there are a lot of different ways you can play the deck, depending on how you want to play and what you draw. There is almost infinite possibilities, because the deck is just essentially a toolbox with which you can control the entire flow of the game. In the name of helping those new to the deck, I'll give you a couple outlines.
When you pick up the deck, each and every game you kind of have to decide what kind of mindset you're in for the game. Do you want to...
A) Win the game as fast as possible
or B) Sit back, relax, and try to keep the game going as long as possible for fun times
If you chose A, how you react to the cards you get will be different. The plan for winning will always depend on what you get, as there is multiple paths for victory. However, a player that chooses A has a couple things they will do consistently. For one thing, when they get a tutor, they are either going to get something to immediately answer a powerful threat of an opponent, or they are going to get a win-condition/'combo' piece. Remember, Deadeye Navigator+almost anything=You win. Also, Prophet of Kruphix allows you to basically play all your opponents turns, react to anything, and very quickly achieve what's known as critical mass.
Basically, the 'A' minded player is going to grab all the pieces they need to just annihilate their opponents boards and win.
UPDATE: For those 'A' minded players, there is now an easy infinite combo with deadeye navigator and palinchron to tutor for to instantly win! Yay!
On the other hand, if you chose B, the way you play the deck is vastly different. When given the opportunity, instead of grabbing the 'douchey' cards that immediately win the game at the expense of your opponents enjoyment, they will grab cards that fuel themselves along or just stop their opponents from ending the game. Prophet of Kruphix is still a very common choice for tutors, but B minded players will typically avoid playing cards like deadeye navigator or sylvan primordial, because they quickly end the game and your opponents certainly will not like it. Instead they might grab interesting interactions like mimic vat+birthing pod, Prime speaker zegana+blink engine, etc. The B minded player is more in it to allow the opponents to play the game while you basically fondle yourself (as my friends like to call it), amassing your advantage and dealing with your opponents just enough to prevent them from outright winning the game. They are definitely in it to see just what kind of crazy shenanigans that they and everyone else can pull off. (I once rite of replication kicked my soul of the harvest, and then proceed to purposefully mill myself out, just for the fun of it!).
Typically I like to play in 'B' mode, because it is more enjoyable for everyone, and I like longer games. I really only ever find myself playing in 'A' mode if someone at the table is doing things to piss me off, or if I just really don't like playing with my opponent. Sometimes I'll do it if the game has to be short because of time constraints. Or if an opponent was getting particularly cocky and needed to be taken down a peg (usually having all of one's permanents destroyed will burst their bubble).
However you like to play though, here are a couple outlined paths to victory.
(Early game > Mid Game > Late game)
Ramp > Tutor > Infinite Combo
Ramp > Powerful creatures > Beat face
Ramp > Blink engines > VALUE TOWN > Profit? > Win (<- typically a 'B' strategy)
Ramp > Blink engines > destroy all of your opponents lands > everyone else concedes
Ramp > Tutor engines > Play creature control for awhile
Ramp > Prophet of Kruphix > Whatever the hell > profit > win
Ramp > Engines in general > Opponent board wipes/deals with you > Recursion engines > rebuild > win
As for the Commander himself, there will be games where I won't even cast him, and there will be games where he is the lynchpin to my success. It all depends. First and foremost, he is my blink engine. If I do not pull a better one, or if I want more than one, that is his main purpose in the game. Sometimes you need him, sometimes you don't, but his presence in the command zone gives the deck all new levels of consistency.
The top 10 cards in the deck are probably:
Deadeye Navigator
Prophet of Kruphix
Palinchron
Venser, the Sojourner
Farhaven Elf
Venser, Shaper Savant
Reveillark
Birthing Pod
Fauna Shaman
Conjurer's Closet
and Wargate (I know, that's eleven, big deal).
I can't even go into all the different ways to win. Usually its a combination of several of the above. It all just depends on what you draw and what you decide to tutor for with the ones you get. Ultimately, what the deck does during the game is up to you. It has all the tools it needs to play combo, control, aggro, durdle, you name it. The deck excels overall at just being the master of the board state, whether your opponents like it or not or even realize it. With that kind of power over the game, it's up to you what you decide to do.
It's really hard to talk about how to pilot or strategy of the deck because it was designed to be so versatile. But in opening hands, you generally want to have at least 3-4 lands, a mana rock or ramp of some sort, a tutor of some kind, and 1-2 creatures with cool ETB effects or a blink engine. Nothing specific effects wise, because disruption, removal, and card advantage all work just fine. You just play differently based on what you get. It takes a little knowledge of situational magic and a hearty dab of common sense, but most newer players should be able to get it down after a dozen games or so.
The most common win condition I've found is eventually just wiping all your opponents lands or permanents in general. But it's certainly not the only one.
Weaknesses of the Deck and How to Combat Them
Now this whole time I've been not so stealthily talking up how good this deck is and fun it is to play. But by no means do I mean the deck doesn't have weaknesses.
Sweepers: Sweepers are tough on this deck, because it often relies on having 'critical mass' to win. There's not a whole lot you can do to stop a sweeper other than Venser it back to their hand. However, if you have some key cards tucked away for later once you're ahead under something like fiend hunter or angel of serenity; that's a good start. Also with the right cards the deck can rebuild like crazy. Body double, reveilark, and karmic guide are all all-stars when it comes to combating sweepers. Remember, if you have prophet of krupix or deadeye, protect it at all costs! with prophet, you can just respond to the sweeper by tucking it under a flashy creature or delayed blinking it.
Countermagic: Countermagic isn't a huge weakness per se, but it is extremely annoying. So just watch the blue players mana and hand-size when playing key cards, and make judgement calls as to good times to cast them
Voltron/Hyper Aggro: In 1v1 games, where the opponent has only you to deal with, this is probably our worst matchup. You absolutely have to be able to kill your opponents mana or disrupt their board state early. Stonehorn dignitary is an all star here.
Well anyways, thanks for reading you all! Please feel free to give your input! This is my first decklist posting for EDH, so I hope it's alright, I tried to give as much information as possible; as it seems there is very little dedicated Roon information on this forum.
Author's Note: A couple times in this post the difference between immediate or delayed blink is discussed. For those who don't know, delayed blink is when something is exiled until the beginning of the next end step. Roon's ability uses delayed blink. This is good because it can get around sweepers or other board effects; however it is bad because you don't get it back right away. Immediate blink (can be found on restoration angel or nephalia smuggler) is good because you get value right away and can still dodge targets, but it doesn't get around world effects like sweepers. Both have advantages and disadvantages, which is why I have a good mix of both throughout the deck.
I made a roon deck and its a blast.
If your weakness is boardwipes then one blink card that you're missing is ghostway. Plus its recurrable with eternal witness and friends. And if seedborn or prophet of kruphix and eternal witness is out it renders your creatures pretty much invulnerable.
I prefer spike weaver over stonehorn dignitary. The weaver can stop multiple people from attacking you instead of just one but what's even better about it is that if you have weaver in play, people will keep attacking each other. If you take away someone's attack with the dignitary they will not attack anyone and they will remember that and likely revenge you when they get the chance.
The deal isn't like insanely weak to sweepers (it's not like they say "I lose"), it's just that when you're hitting critical mass or building; they are kind of road blocks. You can get around them with some smart predictive play though. I like ghostway either way though! What do you suggest to take out for it? Maybe flickerwisp?
I'm skeptical about spike weaver. I see your logic, but I don't like the activation cost. I will test with it and get back to you on that! I'll add it to other options either way for sure though.
I'm skeptical about spike weaver. I see your logic, but I don't like the activation cost. I will test with it and get back to you on that! I'll add it to other options either way for sure though.
I've seen dignitary on other lists but for me, spike weaver is a no-brainer.
The activation cost is typically zero because if someone is thinking about attacking me I just tell them I'll just prevent all damage then blink it back with more counters if I need to. So they attack someone else instead - which is awesome.
If you blink the dignitary, then that person will be gunning for you because you stole their combat phase. Roon will be tied up blinking the dignitary every turn to stop that person and that ties up your resources. This helps your other opponents since the two of you are dealing with each other instead of getting attacked like they would if you had weaver in play.
Also, if two people want to attack you, the dignitary only stops one of them. Weaver can stop both.
Plus it can occasionally be useful to take +1 counters from the weaver and put them on other creatures.
Like I said, I'll test it, but I'm not sold on it. Because keeping 2 mana open every turn for roon is kind of a pain already, nonetheless keeping one or more open for spike weaver. I also have never had anyone be too upset for having to skip their combat - I don't live in a very aggressive format. Most people just kind of hold their creatures until they can one-shot someone.
Thanks for the suggestion, it's definitely worth trying. Any other thoughts?
By Rockondon's Suggestion, I slotted in Spike Weaver over Stonehorn Dignitary. Still unsure as to what to cut to try testing with Ghostway, as it seems very powerful but I can't find a slot.
Anyone else have any suggestions? This isn't a perfect list by any means, and I'd greatly appreciate the help! I want to make this as powerful as possible, without using infinite combos and staying on theme.
By Rockondon's Suggestion, I slotted in Spike Weaver over Stonehorn Dignitary. Still unsure as to what to cut to try testing with Ghostway, as it seems very powerful but I can't find a slot.
Anyone else have any suggestions? This isn't a perfect list by any means, and I'd greatly appreciate the help! I want to make this as powerful as possible, without using infinite combos and staying on theme.
I would cut Cloudshift for Ghostway. Cloudshift, in my opinion, simply does not give you enough value for a spot in the deck. You need more value that one blink, in my opinion, to make the cut.
Other suggestions:
Defense of the Heart for Tooth and Nail. It will help you cut down on your already-huge curve, it can help discourage aggro from committing to the board, and it will help you keep mana open in the late game.
Qasali Pridgemage for Woodfall Primus. Again, this will help you cut down on your mana curve, and you get the type of repeatable removal out of the pridgemage that you get out of the primus. Pridgemage is recurrable with Sun Titan, Revillark, and Karmic Guide.
Finally, I'd find a way to fit some counter magic in here. If you want them on a stick consider Vendilion Clique or Mystic Snake. Otherwise, consider Spell Crumple or Hinder. Some places I see you could cut are the blinkers (you have a lot of blink effects, not as many ways to protect the dudes you have out) or your removal (in multiplayer EDH, people are often using cards that have value one the card resolves....putting in some counter magic over removal may help with this).
Another benefit of the Qasali Pridemage addition that Outcry recommended is that it gives you a bit more resilience from Torpor Orb. That's somewhat of a meta-specific issue, but if you start winning a ton in your playgroup (which Roon can definitely do), they will wise up and start packing heat against you. I might also exchange Harmonic Sliver for Aura Shards. Neither of these work around the aforementioned Torpor Orb, but there are two benefits of Aura Shards over Sliver. First, it turns all your creatures (that already have built-in value) into super-Harmonic Slivers. Second, and this is subtle but easy to miss, Aura Shards is a >may<, while Harmonic Sliver doesn't give you a choice. If you need a blocker, and Sliver is the only creature in your hand, and no one else has an artifact/enchantment out, well, guess you're going to have to destroy your Sol Ring.
Another benefit of the Qasali Pridemage addition that Outcry recommended is that it gives you a bit more resilience from Torpor Orb. That's somewhat of a meta-specific issue, but if you start winning a ton in your playgroup (which Roon can definitely do), they will wise up and start packing heat against you. I might also exchange Harmonic Sliver for Aura Shards. Neither of these work around the aforementioned Torpor Orb, but there are two benefits of Aura Shards over Sliver. First, it turns all your creatures (that already have built-in value) into super-Harmonic Slivers. Second, and this is subtle but easy to miss, Aura Shards is a >may<, while Harmonic Sliver doesn't give you a choice. If you need a blocker, and Sliver is the only creature in your hand, and no one else has an artifact/enchantment out, well, guess you're going to have to destroy your Sol Ring.
This is definitely something to think about. Another idea that bears mentioning on the Harmonic Sliver versus Aura Shards discussion is that Aura Shards will typically draw a ton of heat from everyone at the table, whereas Harmonic Sliver generally only angers one opponent. If you play in a meta filled with well-tuned decks, I would consider this political aspect carefully, as I've had games where I became a public enemy #1 simply by playing Aura Shards.
Nice list! I also was going to build Roon but in testing every time he hit the board he got ate removal so it got discouraging. Do you not have that problem in your meta? Maybe it was just cause he was brand new?
Nice list! I also was going to build Roon but in testing every time he hit the board he got ate removal so it got discouraging. Do you not have that problem in your meta? Maybe it was just cause he was brand new?
I find with my build (and let's be honest, most Roon builds are probably 15 cards off of identical from each other), it doesn't matter >too< much if Roon himself is a lightning rod. At worst, the deck is still chock full of great value-on-a-stick cards anyway, and sometimes you win just by dropping creature after creature and stacking up incremental value. Sometimes, in my build's case, you give up on the Roon/blink plan all together and just Defense of the Heart/Tooth and Nail up either an auto-win (if you feel the group is tired of the game and wants to move to the next one) or an almost-certain win of Avenger of Zendikar+Sylvan Primordial or something similar.
In short, in my experience, the deck, if built correctly, isn't too dependent on Roon, or even "blink" as such. Your mileage may vary, as always.
Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't checked this in awhile! Thanks for all the feedback! Here's my thoughts.
Quasali pridemage: love the card, but I don't want to put it in. Woodfall primus is way too good. It also hits land. More importantly, I'm building this deck to be VERY theme oriented. Torpor orb is not a thing in my meta, and doubtfully ever will be (we discourage hating). I don't have an issue with my mana curve, and because pridemage doesn't say ETB, there isn't enough reason there for me to want to change. Your argument is good though. I'm going personal preference here.
Defense of the heart: I'd love to play this card. But I'd much rather play both than just one. I will look for something to slot out.
As for counter magic, I again have to go with preference here. I haven't ever really found that not having it is a problem, but more importantly I just hate counter magic. It bugs me and pisses me off. So I refuse to use it. Closest thing I allow is venser, shaper savant. Good suggestions though! For others reading I'm sure it would make a valuable change.
Aura shards: this card would immediately turn every deck against me at the table. Every. Last. One.
As for roon drawing removal: I've never had this problem really. I don't swing with him much, and people just kind of tend to ignore him. Which is fine by me. My format is a little light on spot removal - more sweeping effects. But usually I'll cast him and have some sort of protection. Mistmeadow witch is great for this. However I really only ever cast him if I don't hit a blink engine. If I do, he's not as useful. So it depends. Also, it is true that this deck can just win outright without blink on pure value.
Changes:
-cloudshift
-worldly tutor
+defense of the heart
+ghostway
Will edit the main post later, I am on my phone right now.
Main post has been edited. Just wanted to run something past you guys; how good/bad do you all think it would be to run Rubinia Soulsinger in the deck? After all, the ability to take (and in some cases permanently take) opponents creatures is pretty powerful. But Rubinia also doesn't have an ETB trigger.
Main post has been edited. Just wanted to run something past you guys; how good/bad do you all think it would be to run Rubinia Soulsinger in the deck? After all, the ability to take (and in some cases permanently take) opponents creatures is pretty powerful. But Rubinia also doesn't have an ETB trigger.
I personally like Rubinia in my list. Especially when I have a sac outlet out such as Birthing Pod. It is wonderful to steal a creature then pod it away to find a usually better version of my own.
Roon is great fun, and there are different takes on building the deck, for example my deck actually has 6 boardwipes in it and uses land ramp instead of baubles, since I like the deck thinning and not having my mana destroyed by artifact sweepers (like my own bane of progress). This deck is super mana-hungry, so mana ramp should be of a more permanant nature.
Something that I am surprised is not in your deck is Craterhoof Behemoth. I don't really understand how you win games without that card. My deck's win-con is to make a bunch of tokens and then destroy everyone with a Craterhoof Behemoth for 15 x 15 damage.
Here are some cards that I noticed you're not running that I really like in my Roon deck:
Knight Captain of Eos
Armada Wurm
Captain of the Watch
Farhaven Elf
Glen Elendra Archmage
Sunblast Angel
Trostani's Summoner
Avenger of Zendikar
Akroma's Memorial
Cyclonic Rift
Cards in your list that I have played with and found underwhelming
Fiend Hunter - usually just worse than STP or PTE, since you'll only exile one creature permanently with it, especially considering the sorcery speed and the required setup to make it not suck. After all, you don't get any additional value for blinking it on later turns.
Restoration Angel / Flickerwisp - Others have pointed out how weak Cloudshift is as a card, and these are just more expensive cloudshifts. Blink effects in the deck should be of a recurring nature.
Nephalia Smuggler - Yes it's recurrable, but 4 mana and having to tap makes this thing inferior to Mistmeadow Witch in every way. You already have Roon as your general, you don't really want to stuff your deck with too many flicker effects lest you draw them with nothing to flicker, which happened to me a lot when I first built the deck.
I kind of like the Djinn of Infinite Deceits more than Rubia if only for the synergy with Roon. You can use Roon to return any creature you trade away to your control and maybe even get another etb effect out of it. Plus, sometimes it us just fun to mess with other people's boardstates. Of course, you can't steal generals or other legendary creatures this way so it is not as versatile, I suppose.
2) +Green Sun's Zenith, -Fauna Shaman
Reasoning: With your toolbox-type decklist, it may be hard to pitch creatures. I think the Zenith would fit better, allowing you to fish up answers to problematic board states.
5) +Thassa, God of the Sea, -Galepowder Mage
Reasoning: Galepowder Mage is weak because you have to attack to use it: I love Thassa in this deck because she helps filter draws (like Sylvan Library would) but also gets your creatures through to finish the game, which I've found can be a problem in this deck.
6) +Aceticism, -Thragtusk
Reasoning: I too began this deck with Thragtusk in; however, after playing the deck a lot I realized he just doesn't do enough in a multiplayer EDH game. For our toolbox to work well, I've gotten a lot of value out of Aceticism, which protects our dudes but also helps us bounce back from a boardwipe (which is the primary reason I liked Thragtusk).
To be honest, I don't think this deck is really that competitive (and in my book that is a good thing ). Roon as a general doesn't seem that competitive to me in general (see what I did there). Either way, I like your list, but I agree with others that there are some underwhelming cards in your list.
I've played a blink deck with Rasputin Dreamweaver as my general for a long time. So I was very happy when I saw this general. Not only do we get to add green mana ramp, which will make things a lot easier, noncreature permanents are easier to destroy.
Cards that I find underwhelming in your list are the follwing:
- Aether adept: I played the better version Man-'o-War for a long time and it's just underwhelming. Bouncing an opponents creature most of the time means that he/she gets another ETB trigger from you more than anything else.
- Fiend Hunter: After a boardwhipe opponent will have a creature on the board. Not good. Play Mangara of Corondor instead. Repeatable Vindicate on a stick? Yes please!. Activate, blink with roon rinse repeat.
- Lavinia of the Tenth: Very underwhelming for the manacost. Detaining is not that good to be honest. Why Detain when you can Exile? For two mana more you already have Luminate Primordial.
- Riftwing Cloudskate: 5 mana for a 2/2 Man-o'-war with a slightly better effect? Meh. Try one of the many dudes that destroy artifacts and enchantments.
- Nephalia Smuggler: This card is just bad. This is another Roon, but with double the activation cost and a smaller body. Throw it out, you won't use it probably anyway because of Roon.
- Galepowder Mage: Used to play it in Rasputin and it would always be destroyed before I could attack, or all players had flying creatures. It's just not a "sure thing".
- Sea Gate Oracle: With so many great blinkable card draw options in blue, why play one of the most underwhelming ones?
Mana stones vs mana ramp: I would always play green mana ramp when playing green. The filtering and sheer speed are just much better than mana stones. Mana stones I play when not playing green.
Here's my decklist. Some obvious choises I might not play because I don't like to have to many overlapping cards in my EDH decks (I've got 7). I play more mana ramp in creature form to blink so I can have 'infinite' access to mana ramp through the whole game while filtering my deck. I also chose to play more untap aura's, because yes it is just that good. They also work on Mangara, which will make it a "U: Exile target permanent" repeat until you are out of blue mana, then exile with Roon and repeat next turn. It basically means you have total control over the board. Insane
Disclaimer: Yes Primeval Titan is still allowed in our playgroup (thank god), but we are only allowed to search for basic lands. Didn't post entire manabase btw:
Pro's: A lot of board control. Rasputin was my only real control deck and I would like to keep it that way :). A lot of combo potential with untap aura's and tokenspammers. When I knew I could add green in the mix, this was a no-brainer for me. Lots of protection for the general. Roon's going to need it. People find blink decks scary (and they should :P). Also, two options of giving Roon haste is not too shabby either. A lot of (reusable) mana-ramp. Means a lot of filtering so drawing into usefull cards becomes more and more likely the longer the game goes on.
Con's: I still have to test this deck, but I think I might not run enough card draw options. Because blinking is now within the general, I can use 1 card over and over again, so my theory is that I don't need as much card draw as normal. I'm playing not that many mass-removal cards. Same reason. I have plenty of reusable targeted removal. So blowing up the board isn't that necessary anymore I think. Though I might have trouble dealing with token or wheenie decks.
Cards I might cut:
Aetherling. It's in there just for the theme basically.
Training grounds: It does seem awesome because there's always a use for it. We'll see...
Detention Sphere: I just don't like the fact that people can get there stuff back be removing this and maybe get an ETB ability as extra bonus....
Voidwalk: Not a big fan yet, but I have to test it more.
Anyway, maybe there are some options you might like. Thoughts on my list are of course welcome :). Oh and just to be sure (if people skipped reading the lot): Primeval Titan is legal in our group, only to search basic lands.
(No idea what I'm doing wrong with the "deck /deck" tags but it doesn't seem to work....)
Thanks. Good idea, sort of forgot about that one. I run it in my Wanderer deck. I'll probably cut either voidwalk or Aetherling. The latter is such a fun card on its own against mass removal though
What guy you ask?
That guy!
And when you travel with Roon to the Hidden Realm of Value Town, you better be prepared. Because you're probably going to end up running around the place over and over and over again!
Poor introduction and bad jokes aside, welcome to my EDH decklist for Roon of the Hidden Realm. While there are a few different ways to play Roon, I will be discussing playing the "Blink" variety of the deck - which is to say - my decklist will be based around abusing Roon's activated ability and others like it to reuse "Enter the Battlefield" (ETB) triggers on all sorts of cool creatures.
Why Play Roon?
Wow! That's a lot of reasons! I bet you already can't wait to play with Roon. However, to be fair to our opposition, I suppose I should tell you some of the cons to playing Roon.
Why not play Roon?
Alright. A little back story on this deck and how it came to be. So before the Commander 2013 set came out or was even spoiled, I didn't like EDH much. Mostly because at that point (basically before I got a job) my card collection was still smallish and the only deck I could really put together that was any good was Rafiq. And after like a year of playing Rafiq, I was bored silly. So I started playing with completely proxyed decks in EDH. But I could never make up my mind - I had a new deck like every week. Eventually my friends got tired of seeing my printed slips of paper and told me to man up and make a real deck. So I rebuilt Rafiq and tried to avoid playing the most popular format at my College. But then, Roon of the Hidden Realm was spoiled! I immediately latched onto the card and went out and blew basically all my money on buying all sorts of cards and toys to play with for building with him once he came out. In fact I even built the deck just with Rubinia Soulsinger as a replacement commander for awhile. And I just fell in love. This deck really renewed my sputtering love for EDH, and the game in general. So for those of you who are just browsing decklists trying to decide what they want to play - I really suggest you try this. It's great fun.
When I first build this deck, I was really conflicted over which cards to play. Obviously, in bant colors when building a deck around abusing ETB effects, there is A LOT to choose from. However, after hours and hours of testing before Roon even came out, I had come up with a pretty fine tuned Bant Blink EDH list. But it was a little inconsistent. Some games it fired on all cylinders, and others it kind of sputtered out. However, once I finally got my hands on a copy of Roon and slotted him in as the commander - that all changed. The presence of a guaranteed blink engine that I could always get back if it died gave the deck a level of consistency and power that I frankly did not expect it to achieve. And while of course it's no-where near perfect, it is quite good (not to sound arrogant).
Anyways enough of me talking (which I'm sure you're all either skipping or about to start skipping at this point) here is the decklist! (numbers next to cards are CMC's EXCEPT FOR LAND))
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Flooded Grove
1 Hinterland Harbor
1 Flooded Strand
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Mystic Gate
1 Savannah
1 Seachrome Coast
1 Sungrass Prairie
1 Tropical Island
1 Tundra
1 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Bastion
1 Skycloud Expanse
1 Command Tower
1 Sunpetal Grove
1 Breeding Pool
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Razorverge Thicket
1 Glacial Fortress
1 Seaside Citadel
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Temple Garden
5 Forest
4 Island
3 Plains
TUTORS
2 Fauna Shaman
2 Eladamri's Call
4 Defense of the Heart
DISRUPTION
3 Aether adept
3 Fiend Hunter
4 Stonecloaker
4 Spike Weaver
4 Venser, Shaper Savant
5 Lavinia of the Tenth
5 Riftwing Cloudskate
BLINKERS
1 Nephalia Smuggler
2 Mistmeadow Witch
3 Flickerwisp
3 Ghostway
4 Restoration Angel
4 Galepowder Mage
5 Venser, the Sojourner
5 Conjurer's Closet
6 Deadeye Navigator
CARD ADVANTAGE/DRAW
2 Coiling Oracle
3 Sea Gate Oracle
5 Mulldrifter
6 Prime Speaker Zegana
6 Soul of the Harvest
7 Sphinx of Uthuun
REMOVAL
3 Harmonic Sliver
3 Krosan Grip
5 Acidic Slime
6 Duplicant
6 Austere Command
7 Luminate Primordial
7 Phyrexian Ingester
8 Terastodon
8 Woodfall Primus
3 Eternal Witness
3 Mimic Vat
5 Reveillark
5 Body Double
5 Karmic Guide
6 Deadwood Treefolk
6 Sun Titan
MANA
1 Sol Ring
2 Azorius Signet
2 Simic Signet
2 Selesnya Signet
3 Chromatic Lantern
3 Darksteel Ingot
3 Farhaven Elf
4 Solemn Simulacrum
5 Karametra, God of the Harvest
CLONES
4 Clone
4 Phyrexian Metamorph
6 Progenitor Mimic
PROTECTION
2 Swiftfoot Boots
OTHER VALUE
3 Champion of Lambholt
5 Thragtusk
5 Prophet of Kruphix
7 Angel of Serenity
7 Palinchron
CHANGE LOG:
12/6/2013
+Spike Weaver
-Stonehorn Dignitary
12/11/2013
-Cloudshift
-Worldly tutor
+Ghostway
+Defense of the Heart
2/15/2014
-Sylvan Primordial
-Pemmin's Aura
+Palinchron
+Karametra, God of the Harvest
(Not going to go into land discussion, other that Reliquary Tower all of my lands just produce Mana, and not much else)
1 Drops:
Nephalia Smuggler: The deck is all about being able to abuse and re-use ETB effects, and the smuggler is a repeatable blink engine. While having to tap and pay 4 mana hinders this card somewhat; it does exactly what the deck wants it to do - and you can get it out early in the game without people noticing it all too much. And once they do notice, it's often too late. It's important to note that this is IMMEDIATE blink.
Sol Ring: Sol Ring is kind of auto include in EDH these days. Allows insanely accelerated plays. Repeatable 2 mana for 1 is kind of a no-brainer after all!
2 Drops:
Fauna Shaman: If a Fauna Shaman stays alive after one turn rotation, you're on a fast track to victory. This chick lets you tutor over and over again for anything you need. With her on the field you can answer and do just about anything you want. And the best part is, with the recursion suite this deck is packing, the graveyard is practically like a second hand. So the discard isn't that bad at all! Repeatable Tutors staying on the field push this deck into overdrive.
Eladamri's Call: While it's not repeatable, it's basically just better Worldly Tutor for one more mana. You want to have as many tutors as possible, and this is a good one.
Mistmeadow Witch: Another Blink engine. Similar to Nephalia smuggler, it hits the board early and goes relatively unnoticed. The activation cost is steep, but at least you don't have to tap it. It's important to note that this is DELAYED blink.
Coiling Oracle: This card is great. 2 Mana for a 1/1 ETB effect that either ramps me or draws me a card? AWESOME! Love to play this early game, because ramp is good. Love to play it late game, because cards are good. This guy's birth certificate reads Value Town.
Azorius Signet, Simic Signet, Selesnya Signet: I run all the signets my colors allow. Mana rocks are good. This deck can guzzle mana - having more is always good at any time in the game. And I heard acceleration early game is really good too!
Swiftfoot Boots: This is mostly just to protect important pieces on the board like Prophet of Kruphix, our general, a blink or tutor engine, etc. Also gives a couple of our tap abilities haste. Most importantly, it gives hexproof and not shroud, so we can still blink and mess with our own cards.
3 Drops:
Wargate: While you'll never end up casting this card for 3 mana, it technically goes here. Anyways, Wargate is another tutor, but unlike the others, is the only thing that can fetch non-creatures. This is important, as there is lots of awesome things to get like Birthing Pod, Conjurer's Closet, Mimic Vat, and Venser, the Sojourner. It can also still hit creatures. While expensive, being able to slam any card in your deck on the field is always good, in a deck like this it's just kind of nuts.
Aether Adept: A modest ability, but still valuable and useful. While not as good as real blink, bouncing our own creatures back to our hand to recast them is pretty good, and it can also serve a dual purpose of being able to bounce opponents threats and play a little tempo/stall. Versatility is key here, so it deserves a spot.
Flickerwisp: Another one off blink effect, and this one isn't even instant speed! Why would I play this??? Well I'll tell you why. While it's a little lackluster late game, flickerwisp gives me a cheap way to get more value out of my cards in the early game, before my more mana guzzling blink engines are active. It can also temporarily get rid of my opponents stuff, which is kind of neat. It's important to note that this is DELAYED blink.
Sea Gate Oracle: While it's no Coiling Oracle, this card is here to net us some card advantage, and it does that just right. And it digs a little deeper. Good stuff.
Fiend Hunter: Ah Fiend Hunter. So many uses. It exiles opponents creatures. It tucks away our own guys in precaution of a board wipe or removal spell (this is important. Board wipes are a little mean to this deck, and Fiend hunter plays a very important strategic role. by exiling one of our own most important pieces, we ensure that we will have something left after a board wipe and might possibly even convince a player not to cast one!) For those who don't know, by responding to it's ETB trigger with another blink effect, one can permanently exile the first target and still hide another creature under Fiend Hunter when it comes back! All around good card. All this for just the low cost of 3 mana! Seems good to me.
Eternal Witness: While we might not run more cards dedicated to recursion than the average deck, the fact that we can use them over and over and over makes this deck a recursion machine. Like I said before, graveyards are like second hands almost. It's gotten to the point where people are directing their early game graveyard hate at me instead of reanimator lists or decks built around graveyard shenanigans - and my deck isn't even built around that. It gets pretty crazy some games. This is our only non-creature recursion, and while it sends things to our hand, it's cheap and reusable. Very effective.
Mimic Vat: This card is a little interesting. I typically think of it as recursion, but it both is and isn't. Suffice it to say that the ability to make copies of opponent's dead stuff or our own stuff is really strong. Even if it only worked on your own cards, making a copy of almost any card in the deck seems awesome, or at least pretty good.
Krosan Grip: Originally this wasn't in the list, but I decided that if I ever somehow happened to run into that one guy with the Torpor Orb, that I'd like to have a definitive answer for it. So there it is. Also, split second is just nice to have sometimes, isn't it?
Darksteel Ingot: Mana rocks are always good. This one taps for all colors, and is resilient to destruction and board wipes. Seems like a good investment to me.
Chromatic Lantern: Like darksteel ingot, this taps for all colors. it trades indestructibility for making all of our lands tap for all colors. with this on the field, there's no more worrying about how many symbols of each land you can make and what-not. Practically auto include for 3 or more color EDH.
Farhaven Elf: Now a lot of people look at this and tell me to play wood elves, because untapped lands. Honestly, the tapped or untapped thing hasn't been TOO relevant, and I like the ability to grab non-green sources more than once or twice (after all, there is only 1 shock and 1 true dual for each other color to grab with wood elves). Personal preference mostly, run one or the other. (I wouldn't suggest both. you only really need one, and the list is very tight as it is).
Harmonic Sliver: In the end, despite all the crazy things you can do to boost yourself along, the path to victory lies in beating your opponents. This deck is very good at getting rid of your opponents stuff over and over again - especially non-creatures. Resource denial is the most common way this deck wins. While it doesn't hit lands, this is our cheapest mana cost true removal, and it hits a lot of stuff early game - even if it's just as simple as a mana rock, don't be afraid to cast it. You will likely be able to deal with their bigger stuff later as well.
Champion of Lambholt: This guy can very easily get very big. Sometimes we just win by squeaking in the damage when we can while we deal with all of our opponents stuff. This makes your guys unblockable and is huge himself - a great all in all boon. He also draws removal away from more important engine pieces, which is good.
Ghostway: Blinks to reuse our whole board, dodges sweepers. Seems pretty good to me! More value than cloudshift.
4 Drops:
Defense of the Heart: This card is almost guaranteed to go off in multiplayer games, and is very restrictive on your opponents if they don't want it too. Wins games outright by fetching Deadeye Navigator + anything really.
Birthing Pod: Having this on the board just enables us so well. The deck is really good at having answers for most anything at each CMC level. So we can climb up to our late-game finishers while still keeping control of the board. Like I said before, repeatable tutors are fan-freakin-tastic, and this one takes the icing on the cake by allowing us to climb up the CMC ladder. It also enables dies/leaves play triggers, which is occasionally relevant.
Spike Weaver: From suggestion by Rockondon, I tested this instead of Stonehorn Dignitary and decided to swap them out. It's main purpose is to stop or dissuade people from attacking us, and it does this well!
Venser, Shaper Savant I run a "counterless" blue deck. Most argue with me when I say that by saying Venser, but he technically doesn't counter. Either way, he is extremely useful, acting as a counter to dangerous spells before the resolve or also disrupting your opponents board. All-star of the deck. There have been many an occasion where I would instant speed tutor for venser just to stop an opponent from casting a crucial spell, and then proceed to win the game - or at least get another shot at it.
Restoration Angel: Cloudshift on a 3/4 flying body. One can tutor for it with creature tutors, re-use it, etc. Played for the same reason as cloudshift. It costs more, but comes with the benefit of a neat body and can synergize with all the creature specific abilities.
Galepowder Mage: A repeatable blink engine that can also get pesky blockers out of the way or temporarily clear away a threat for the turn. Very versatile, and one of many blink engines. Clear include. It's important to note that this is DELAYED blink.
Solemn Simulacrum: Ramp is always good, this deck just loves mana. Sad Robot just comes with the added bonus of possibly drawing us a card. Seems good to me.
Rite of Replication: You'll almost never cast this card for 4. Mainly in the deck as a win condition. Resolving a kicked Rite on almost anything in our deck, or even one of our opponents major threats often just outright wins the game. 'Nuff said.
Phyrexian Metamorph: This deck prides itself on versatility and flexibility. Clones are extremely good at doing just that. Phyrexian Metamorph is an all star clone that can even hit artifacts. Of course it's in here.
Clone: Like I said before. Clones are awesome in this deck. It's no metamorph, but it's good enough to make the cut. Redundancy in singleton formats is always good.
Stonecloaker: Stops our opponents from messing with cards in graveyards, and allows us to re-cast any of our ETB creatures. Disruption with upside. Seems like exactly what we want.
5 Drops:
Lavinia of the Tenth: At first I kept trying to find something to replace this. However, I eventually came to realize how good it was. It stops most of our opponents mana rocks. There are absolutely TONS of cheap utility creatures it turns off. It slows down or stops so many gameplans that you can't not have it in.
Riftwing Cloudskate: While this is just almost strictly worst Venser, at least it can suspend and fly right? It hits all permanents, which is a plus. Nothing too special, but good enough disruption to make the cut. Redundancy is good!
Conjurer's Closet: Yet another repeating blink engine. It's almost like this deck has a theme... It's important to note that this is IMMEDIATE blink.
Venser, the Sojourner: Another blink engine that also doubles as a win-con. If I get a Venser emblem, I basically win, no ifs ands or buts. So it does everything I want! It's important to note that this is DELAYED blink.
Mulldrifter: I have never evoked this card once. While I guess it could theoretically be something you might want to do, really this is in here because re-useable card draw. It's harder to reuse if its not on the field anymore. Drawing cards is good!
Acidic Slime: Ah. Now we are starting to get into some of the real names of the deck. Replaying acidic slime over and over is a surefire path to victory. Destroys mana, utility, combos, you name it. Must have.
Reveillark: You might be a little more surprised to hear that I've never evoked this card. However, having it in play is just usually better. It staves off sweepers and lets us recover from them. It brings back a majority of our smaller utility creatures. It's a decent body. This card is a total all-star. It has won so many games. People under estimate this card so much. Now, I purposefully did not play any of the infinite combos with this card - as that's not what I wanted for this deck. You're welcome too, but that's not how I want to play. This and Body double are fearsome. Because bringing back the double copying itself. then the double is almost unkillable, and gives repeating recursion. It's just bonkers.
Body Double: Recursion and cloning all mixed into one? Seems awesome to me! So many hidden synergies.
Karmic Guide: ETB reanimate trigger? Yes please! Man I just love the recursion package in this deck! Protection from black is actually more relevant than you might think.
Thragtusk: This is actually one of the more underperforming cards in the deck. It just makes me go "meh." However, as my only form of lifegain, I can't really justify taking it out - because sometimes I need it. Oh well.
Prophet of Kruphix: Having this card on the field takes this deck from very good/solid into God Tier. If you're opponents don't exile this thing on the spot (as it's not hard to recur, even reveillark hits it) you will probably win the game. All your creatures are disruption or card advantage. Now they all have flash. And you untap on your opponents turn, allowing you to reuse blink engines and cast more spells. Easily one of the three best cards in the deck, and almost always the first thing you tutor for any time after early game.
Karametra, God of the Harvest: It's not an ETB, but ramp for every creature cast is too dang good to pass up. And I needed to replace Sylvan Primordial after the ban.
6 Drops:
Deadeye Navigator: Best blink engine in the deck. Combos with almost everything I have. Usually reads "I win" if you can land him with mana open. Insane. Up there with Prophet for Top 2-3 cards in the deck. Combos infinite with palinchron.
Prime Speaker Zegana: Even better card draw that mulldrifter! Seems really good - I've drawn some pretty huge amounts of cards by blinking her 3 times in a turn.
Duplicant: Its a permanent exile spell that I can reuse. It doesn't need colored mana, and can possibly be really big depending on what I exile. Seems like something I would want.
Austere Command: The only sweeper in the deck. Rare for EDH to not have multiple, but if there's ever a time you really need to sweep the board while running this deck - you're probably going to lose anyways. Only running this one because of the versatility and the ability for it to be molded to hurt opponents more than you. Also the other answer to torpor orb.
Soul of the Harvest: Big body? Check. Draws me cards? Check. Seems like something I want. Moving on.
Sun Titan: A big body that recurs a good amount of utility cards and fetch lands. Good enough for me! Yay recursion!
Deadwood Treefolk: Has a recursion trigger for entering AND leaving. That's just nuts! That's two for the price of one blink! Woo hoo!
Progenitor Mimic: This card is it's own combo. Getting a token that makes another ETB trigger every upkeep of our stuff is bonkers. Getting multiples of opponents threats is awesome too. Great Card.
7 Drops:
Sphinx of Uthuun: Big body, and fact or fiction over and over again. Nothing flashy, but a very solid card.
Tooth and Nail: You should always entwine this, so it really costs 9. Get any two card from your library and smack them down? Sounds like it reads "I win." Sylvan Primordial+Deadeye Navigator for the win anybody?
Luminate Primordial: Swords to Plowshares for each of my opponents? I can reuse it? Seems good to me.
Phyrexian Ingester: Another permanent exile removal spell. Basically just bigger Duplicant.
Palinchron: Infinite combo with Deadeye navigator for instant win. Enough said.
Angel of Serenity: So versatile! Like Fiend Hunter but better. It's recursion, removal, protection from sweepers, and a big body all rolled into one. What more do you want in a card?
8 Drops:
Terastodon: Honestly it's worse Sylvan Primordial in all but 1 vs 1 games. Still very good and wins games with blink engines. (Destroy ALL the lands)
Woodfall Primus: Another terastodon/sylvan primordial. More resiliant, doesn't blow up as much stuff each trigger. Still wins games. Easy enough include.
WHEW! That took awhile to write!
Wall of Omens: Just doesn't do quite enough. All the card advantage creatures I have already are just better.
Worldly Tutor: While originally in my list, this card was cut for defense of the heart; because the whole 'top of your library' thing was becoming a pain, and I needed to make room.
Fierce Empath: While it's an ETB trigger tutor, it just doesn't fetch enough. Too limited in my mind.
Loaming Shaman: Honestly, I never want to dig out my own graveyard
Archaeomancer, Mnemonic Wall, etc.: While some varients of Roon run a more expanded toolbox of instants and sorceries, I have found that going all in on creatures is both more effective and more fun. So I forwent the use of these cards and the strategy that came with them.
Avenger of Zendikar: Most people look at this and assume that it's just an auto include. And while its great and all, and is a good win-con; I have enough win-cons. And I don't really have anything in my deck that synergizes with the tokens. I'm not really trying to win by swarm with an army. I just win by destroying or dealing with all of my opponents stuff until they die or concede. Eventually I'll kill them with damage, but that's not as much fun. Maybe its the sadistic side of me, but I'd rather destroy all their lands and non-creature permanents, exile all their creatures, and laugh manically as they pick up their cards, crushed.
Craterhoof Behemoth: For similar reasons as the above, I just don't feel like it has a place in the version of Roon I built.
Genesis Wave: It's just win-more. *shrug*
Evacuation: Tested with it. Didn't really do much for me. So it got cut.
Gilded Drake: That just seems mean-spirited. and unnecessary. I'm going to call it win-more.
Cloudshift: Was in the original list but was cut for ghostway. the way gives us more value and dodges sweepers.
Green Sun's Zenith: Too limited.
Stonehorn Dignitary: Used to be in the deck, but swapped it out for spike weaver instead.
Various other neat instants and sorceries: Building a creature focused deck!
Counterspelling: I don't like counterspelling. Hence I refuse to run counters.
Playing the Deck:
Because of the way this deck is built, there are a lot of different ways you can play the deck, depending on how you want to play and what you draw. There is almost infinite possibilities, because the deck is just essentially a toolbox with which you can control the entire flow of the game. In the name of helping those new to the deck, I'll give you a couple outlines.
When you pick up the deck, each and every game you kind of have to decide what kind of mindset you're in for the game. Do you want to...
A) Win the game as fast as possible
or B) Sit back, relax, and try to keep the game going as long as possible for fun times
If you chose A, how you react to the cards you get will be different. The plan for winning will always depend on what you get, as there is multiple paths for victory. However, a player that chooses A has a couple things they will do consistently. For one thing, when they get a tutor, they are either going to get something to immediately answer a powerful threat of an opponent, or they are going to get a win-condition/'combo' piece. Remember, Deadeye Navigator+almost anything=You win. Also, Prophet of Kruphix allows you to basically play all your opponents turns, react to anything, and very quickly achieve what's known as critical mass.
Basically, the 'A' minded player is going to grab all the pieces they need to just annihilate their opponents boards and win.
UPDATE: For those 'A' minded players, there is now an easy infinite combo with deadeye navigator and palinchron to tutor for to instantly win! Yay!
On the other hand, if you chose B, the way you play the deck is vastly different. When given the opportunity, instead of grabbing the 'douchey' cards that immediately win the game at the expense of your opponents enjoyment, they will grab cards that fuel themselves along or just stop their opponents from ending the game. Prophet of Kruphix is still a very common choice for tutors, but B minded players will typically avoid playing cards like deadeye navigator or sylvan primordial, because they quickly end the game and your opponents certainly will not like it. Instead they might grab interesting interactions like mimic vat+birthing pod, Prime speaker zegana+blink engine, etc. The B minded player is more in it to allow the opponents to play the game while you basically fondle yourself (as my friends like to call it), amassing your advantage and dealing with your opponents just enough to prevent them from outright winning the game. They are definitely in it to see just what kind of crazy shenanigans that they and everyone else can pull off. (I once rite of replication kicked my soul of the harvest, and then proceed to purposefully mill myself out, just for the fun of it!).
Typically I like to play in 'B' mode, because it is more enjoyable for everyone, and I like longer games. I really only ever find myself playing in 'A' mode if someone at the table is doing things to piss me off, or if I just really don't like playing with my opponent. Sometimes I'll do it if the game has to be short because of time constraints. Or if an opponent was getting particularly cocky and needed to be taken down a peg (usually having all of one's permanents destroyed will burst their bubble).
However you like to play though, here are a couple outlined paths to victory.
(Early game > Mid Game > Late game)
Ramp > Tutor > Infinite Combo
Ramp > Powerful creatures > Beat face
Ramp > Blink engines > VALUE TOWN > Profit? > Win (<- typically a 'B' strategy)
Ramp > Blink engines > destroy all of your opponents lands > everyone else concedes
Ramp > Tutor engines > Play creature control for awhile
Ramp > Prophet of Kruphix > Whatever the hell > profit > win
Ramp > Engines in general > Opponent board wipes/deals with you > Recursion engines > rebuild > win
As for the Commander himself, there will be games where I won't even cast him, and there will be games where he is the lynchpin to my success. It all depends. First and foremost, he is my blink engine. If I do not pull a better one, or if I want more than one, that is his main purpose in the game. Sometimes you need him, sometimes you don't, but his presence in the command zone gives the deck all new levels of consistency.
The top 10 cards in the deck are probably:
Deadeye Navigator
Prophet of Kruphix
Palinchron
Venser, the Sojourner
Farhaven Elf
Venser, Shaper Savant
Reveillark
Birthing Pod
Fauna Shaman
Conjurer's Closet
and Wargate (I know, that's eleven, big deal).
I can't even go into all the different ways to win. Usually its a combination of several of the above. It all just depends on what you draw and what you decide to tutor for with the ones you get. Ultimately, what the deck does during the game is up to you. It has all the tools it needs to play combo, control, aggro, durdle, you name it. The deck excels overall at just being the master of the board state, whether your opponents like it or not or even realize it. With that kind of power over the game, it's up to you what you decide to do.
It's really hard to talk about how to pilot or strategy of the deck because it was designed to be so versatile. But in opening hands, you generally want to have at least 3-4 lands, a mana rock or ramp of some sort, a tutor of some kind, and 1-2 creatures with cool ETB effects or a blink engine. Nothing specific effects wise, because disruption, removal, and card advantage all work just fine. You just play differently based on what you get. It takes a little knowledge of situational magic and a hearty dab of common sense, but most newer players should be able to get it down after a dozen games or so.
The most common win condition I've found is eventually just wiping all your opponents lands or permanents in general. But it's certainly not the only one.
Weaknesses of the Deck and How to Combat Them
Now this whole time I've been not so stealthily talking up how good this deck is and fun it is to play. But by no means do I mean the deck doesn't have weaknesses.
Sweepers: Sweepers are tough on this deck, because it often relies on having 'critical mass' to win. There's not a whole lot you can do to stop a sweeper other than Venser it back to their hand. However, if you have some key cards tucked away for later once you're ahead under something like fiend hunter or angel of serenity; that's a good start. Also with the right cards the deck can rebuild like crazy. Body double, reveilark, and karmic guide are all all-stars when it comes to combating sweepers. Remember, if you have prophet of krupix or deadeye, protect it at all costs! with prophet, you can just respond to the sweeper by tucking it under a flashy creature or delayed blinking it.
Countermagic: Countermagic isn't a huge weakness per se, but it is extremely annoying. So just watch the blue players mana and hand-size when playing key cards, and make judgement calls as to good times to cast them
Voltron/Hyper Aggro: In 1v1 games, where the opponent has only you to deal with, this is probably our worst matchup. You absolutely have to be able to kill your opponents mana or disrupt their board state early. Stonehorn dignitary is an all star here.
Well anyways, thanks for reading you all! Please feel free to give your input! This is my first decklist posting for EDH, so I hope it's alright, I tried to give as much information as possible; as it seems there is very little dedicated Roon information on this forum.
Author's Note: A couple times in this post the difference between immediate or delayed blink is discussed. For those who don't know, delayed blink is when something is exiled until the beginning of the next end step. Roon's ability uses delayed blink. This is good because it can get around sweepers or other board effects; however it is bad because you don't get it back right away. Immediate blink (can be found on restoration angel or nephalia smuggler) is good because you get value right away and can still dodge targets, but it doesn't get around world effects like sweepers. Both have advantages and disadvantages, which is why I have a good mix of both throughout the deck.
If your weakness is boardwipes then one blink card that you're missing is ghostway. Plus its recurrable with eternal witness and friends. And if seedborn or prophet of kruphix and eternal witness is out it renders your creatures pretty much invulnerable.
I prefer spike weaver over stonehorn dignitary. The weaver can stop multiple people from attacking you instead of just one but what's even better about it is that if you have weaver in play, people will keep attacking each other. If you take away someone's attack with the dignitary they will not attack anyone and they will remember that and likely revenge you when they get the chance.
Edit: Here's my decklist if interested: http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=551046
My G Yisan, the Bard of Death G deck.
My BUGWR Hermit druid BUGWR deck.
I'm skeptical about spike weaver. I see your logic, but I don't like the activation cost. I will test with it and get back to you on that! I'll add it to other options either way for sure though.
The activation cost is typically zero because if someone is thinking about attacking me I just tell them I'll just prevent all damage then blink it back with more counters if I need to. So they attack someone else instead - which is awesome.
If you blink the dignitary, then that person will be gunning for you because you stole their combat phase. Roon will be tied up blinking the dignitary every turn to stop that person and that ties up your resources. This helps your other opponents since the two of you are dealing with each other instead of getting attacked like they would if you had weaver in play.
Also, if two people want to attack you, the dignitary only stops one of them. Weaver can stop both.
Plus it can occasionally be useful to take +1 counters from the weaver and put them on other creatures.
My G Yisan, the Bard of Death G deck.
My BUGWR Hermit druid BUGWR deck.
Thanks for the suggestion, it's definitely worth trying. Any other thoughts?
Anyone else have any suggestions? This isn't a perfect list by any means, and I'd greatly appreciate the help! I want to make this as powerful as possible, without using infinite combos and staying on theme.
I would cut Cloudshift for Ghostway. Cloudshift, in my opinion, simply does not give you enough value for a spot in the deck. You need more value that one blink, in my opinion, to make the cut.
Other suggestions:
Defense of the Heart for Tooth and Nail. It will help you cut down on your already-huge curve, it can help discourage aggro from committing to the board, and it will help you keep mana open in the late game.
Qasali Pridgemage for Woodfall Primus. Again, this will help you cut down on your mana curve, and you get the type of repeatable removal out of the pridgemage that you get out of the primus. Pridgemage is recurrable with Sun Titan, Revillark, and Karmic Guide.
Finally, I'd find a way to fit some counter magic in here. If you want them on a stick consider Vendilion Clique or Mystic Snake. Otherwise, consider Spell Crumple or Hinder. Some places I see you could cut are the blinkers (you have a lot of blink effects, not as many ways to protect the dudes you have out) or your removal (in multiplayer EDH, people are often using cards that have value one the card resolves....putting in some counter magic over removal may help with this).
Hope this helps.
Currently Playing:
Multiplayer EDH Lists (click italics for a link to the thread!)
[Primer] Lord of Tresserhorn - Don't Tell Me What I Can't Do[Primer] Roon of the Hidden Realm - Rhino Blink
5 Color Tribal Guide (Slivers, Atogs, Allies, Spirits)
Also Playing (most decklists can be found on my profile)
MarathGeistKamahlGrenzoBolasThassaGitrog
PiratesZurVial Smasher&ThrasiosYennettJhoira(cEDH)Strix(Pauper)
Legacy: Maverick
Modern:
Melira PodRIP 1/19/15GWHatebearsUR Melek, Izzet ParagonUR, B Shirei, Shizo's CaretakerB, R Jaya Ballard, Task MageR,RW Tajic, Blade of the LegionRW, UB Lazav, Dimir MastermindUB, UB Circu, Dimir LobotomistUB, RWU Zedruu the GreatheartedRWU, GUBThe MimeoplasmGUB, UGExperiment Kraj UG, WDarien, King of KjeldorW, BMarrow-GnawerB, WBGKarador, Ghost ChieftainWBG, UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU, GWUDerevi, Empyrial TacticianGWU, RDaretti, Scrap SavantR, UTalrand, Sky SummonerU, GEzuri, Renegade LeaderG, WUBRGReaper KingWUBRG, RGXenagos, God of RevelsRG, CKozilek, Butcher of TruthC, WUBRGGeneral TazriWUBRG, GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
This is definitely something to think about. Another idea that bears mentioning on the Harmonic Sliver versus Aura Shards discussion is that Aura Shards will typically draw a ton of heat from everyone at the table, whereas Harmonic Sliver generally only angers one opponent. If you play in a meta filled with well-tuned decks, I would consider this political aspect carefully, as I've had games where I became a public enemy #1 simply by playing Aura Shards.
Currently Playing:
Multiplayer EDH Lists (click italics for a link to the thread!)
[Primer] Lord of Tresserhorn - Don't Tell Me What I Can't Do[Primer] Roon of the Hidden Realm - Rhino Blink
5 Color Tribal Guide (Slivers, Atogs, Allies, Spirits)
Also Playing (most decklists can be found on my profile)
MarathGeistKamahlGrenzoBolasThassaGitrog
PiratesZurVial Smasher&ThrasiosYennettJhoira(cEDH)Strix(Pauper)
Legacy: Maverick
Modern:
Melira PodRIP 1/19/15GWHatebearsI find with my build (and let's be honest, most Roon builds are probably 15 cards off of identical from each other), it doesn't matter >too< much if Roon himself is a lightning rod. At worst, the deck is still chock full of great value-on-a-stick cards anyway, and sometimes you win just by dropping creature after creature and stacking up incremental value. Sometimes, in my build's case, you give up on the Roon/blink plan all together and just Defense of the Heart/Tooth and Nail up either an auto-win (if you feel the group is tired of the game and wants to move to the next one) or an almost-certain win of Avenger of Zendikar+Sylvan Primordial or something similar.
In short, in my experience, the deck, if built correctly, isn't too dependent on Roon, or even "blink" as such. Your mileage may vary, as always.
Quasali pridemage: love the card, but I don't want to put it in. Woodfall primus is way too good. It also hits land. More importantly, I'm building this deck to be VERY theme oriented. Torpor orb is not a thing in my meta, and doubtfully ever will be (we discourage hating). I don't have an issue with my mana curve, and because pridemage doesn't say ETB, there isn't enough reason there for me to want to change. Your argument is good though. I'm going personal preference here.
Defense of the heart: I'd love to play this card. But I'd much rather play both than just one. I will look for something to slot out.
As for counter magic, I again have to go with preference here. I haven't ever really found that not having it is a problem, but more importantly I just hate counter magic. It bugs me and pisses me off. So I refuse to use it. Closest thing I allow is venser, shaper savant. Good suggestions though! For others reading I'm sure it would make a valuable change.
Aura shards: this card would immediately turn every deck against me at the table. Every. Last. One.
As for roon drawing removal: I've never had this problem really. I don't swing with him much, and people just kind of tend to ignore him. Which is fine by me. My format is a little light on spot removal - more sweeping effects. But usually I'll cast him and have some sort of protection. Mistmeadow witch is great for this. However I really only ever cast him if I don't hit a blink engine. If I do, he's not as useful. So it depends. Also, it is true that this deck can just win outright without blink on pure value.
Changes:
-cloudshift
-worldly tutor
+defense of the heart
+ghostway
Will edit the main post later, I am on my phone right now.
I personally like Rubinia in my list. Especially when I have a sac outlet out such as Birthing Pod. It is wonderful to steal a creature then pod it away to find a usually better version of my own.
GWBKarador, Necrotic Ooze SubthemeBWG
Something that I am surprised is not in your deck is Craterhoof Behemoth. I don't really understand how you win games without that card. My deck's win-con is to make a bunch of tokens and then destroy everyone with a Craterhoof Behemoth for 15 x 15 damage.
Here are some cards that I noticed you're not running that I really like in my Roon deck:
Knight Captain of Eos
Armada Wurm
Captain of the Watch
Farhaven Elf
Glen Elendra Archmage
Sunblast Angel
Trostani's Summoner
Avenger of Zendikar
Akroma's Memorial
Cyclonic Rift
Cards in your list that I have played with and found underwhelming
Fiend Hunter - usually just worse than STP or PTE, since you'll only exile one creature permanently with it, especially considering the sorcery speed and the required setup to make it not suck. After all, you don't get any additional value for blinking it on later turns.
Restoration Angel / Flickerwisp - Others have pointed out how weak Cloudshift is as a card, and these are just more expensive cloudshifts. Blink effects in the deck should be of a recurring nature.
Nephalia Smuggler - Yes it's recurrable, but 4 mana and having to tap makes this thing inferior to Mistmeadow Witch in every way. You already have Roon as your general, you don't really want to stuff your deck with too many flicker effects lest you draw them with nothing to flicker, which happened to me a lot when I first built the deck.
http://magiccards.info/lw/en/88.html
Can be used to permanently take opponants creatures when used in conjunction with the correct blink engine.
1) +Dryad Arbor, -Forest
Reasoning: Dryad Arbor can make some very quick starts using Green Sun's Zenith, which I will also suggest you consider putting in your deck.
2) +Green Sun's Zenith, -Fauna Shaman
Reasoning: With your toolbox-type decklist, it may be hard to pitch creatures. I think the Zenith would fit better, allowing you to fish up answers to problematic board states.
3) +Rhystic Study, -Soul of the Harvest
Reasoning: Rhystic Study is a cheap source of card draw, whereas Soul of the Harvest is later on the curve, competing with your toolbox fatties, and requires you to play more creatures afterwards.
4) +Man-o-War, -Riftwing Cloudskate
Reasoning: Cheaper card, similar ability
5) +Thassa, God of the Sea, -Galepowder Mage
Reasoning: Galepowder Mage is weak because you have to attack to use it: I love Thassa in this deck because she helps filter draws (like Sylvan Library would) but also gets your creatures through to finish the game, which I've found can be a problem in this deck.
6) +Aceticism, -Thragtusk
Reasoning: I too began this deck with Thragtusk in; however, after playing the deck a lot I realized he just doesn't do enough in a multiplayer EDH game. For our toolbox to work well, I've gotten a lot of value out of Aceticism, which protects our dudes but also helps us bounce back from a boardwipe (which is the primary reason I liked Thragtusk).
Hope you find some of this helpful!
Currently Playing:
Multiplayer EDH Lists (click italics for a link to the thread!)
[Primer] Lord of Tresserhorn - Don't Tell Me What I Can't Do[Primer] Roon of the Hidden Realm - Rhino Blink
5 Color Tribal Guide (Slivers, Atogs, Allies, Spirits)
Also Playing (most decklists can be found on my profile)
MarathGeistKamahlGrenzoBolasThassaGitrog
PiratesZurVial Smasher&ThrasiosYennettJhoira(cEDH)Strix(Pauper)
Legacy: Maverick
Modern:
Melira PodRIP 1/19/15GWHatebearsHow exactly does that work?
10/1/2007: If Sower of Temptation leaves the battlefield before the ability resolves, the ability will have no effect.
However, you could make Sower theft permanent with blinks that return stuff to your control instead of owner's control eg. Restoration Angel.
I've played a blink deck with Rasputin Dreamweaver as my general for a long time. So I was very happy when I saw this general. Not only do we get to add green mana ramp, which will make things a lot easier, noncreature permanents are easier to destroy.
Cards that I find underwhelming in your list are the follwing:
- Aether adept: I played the better version Man-'o-War for a long time and it's just underwhelming. Bouncing an opponents creature most of the time means that he/she gets another ETB trigger from you more than anything else.
- Fiend Hunter: After a boardwhipe opponent will have a creature on the board. Not good. Play Mangara of Corondor instead. Repeatable Vindicate on a stick? Yes please!. Activate, blink with roon rinse repeat.
- Lavinia of the Tenth: Very underwhelming for the manacost. Detaining is not that good to be honest. Why Detain when you can Exile? For two mana more you already have Luminate Primordial.
- Riftwing Cloudskate: 5 mana for a 2/2 Man-o'-war with a slightly better effect? Meh. Try one of the many dudes that destroy artifacts and enchantments.
- Nephalia Smuggler: This card is just bad. This is another Roon, but with double the activation cost and a smaller body. Throw it out, you won't use it probably anyway because of Roon.
- Galepowder Mage: Used to play it in Rasputin and it would always be destroyed before I could attack, or all players had flying creatures. It's just not a "sure thing".
- Sea Gate Oracle: With so many great blinkable card draw options in blue, why play one of the most underwhelming ones?
Mana stones vs mana ramp: I would always play green mana ramp when playing green. The filtering and sheer speed are just much better than mana stones. Mana stones I play when not playing green.
Here's my decklist. Some obvious choises I might not play because I don't like to have to many overlapping cards in my EDH decks (I've got 7). I play more mana ramp in creature form to blink so I can have 'infinite' access to mana ramp through the whole game while filtering my deck. I also chose to play more untap aura's, because yes it is just that good. They also work on Mangara, which will make it a "U: Exile target permanent" repeat until you are out of blue mana, then exile with Roon and repeat next turn. It basically means you have total control over the board. Insane
Disclaimer: Yes Primeval Titan is still allowed in our playgroup (thank god), but we are only allowed to search for basic lands. Didn't post entire manabase btw:
Land:
Maze of Ith
Blink:
Removal/disruption/take over:
Take over/copy:
Mana ramp/fix:
Protection:
Carddraw/tutors:
Revival:
Tokenspammers:
Combo/other:
Pro's: A lot of board control. Rasputin was my only real control deck and I would like to keep it that way :). A lot of combo potential with untap aura's and tokenspammers. When I knew I could add green in the mix, this was a no-brainer for me. Lots of protection for the general. Roon's going to need it. People find blink decks scary (and they should :P). Also, two options of giving Roon haste is not too shabby either. A lot of (reusable) mana-ramp. Means a lot of filtering so drawing into usefull cards becomes more and more likely the longer the game goes on.
Con's: I still have to test this deck, but I think I might not run enough card draw options. Because blinking is now within the general, I can use 1 card over and over again, so my theory is that I don't need as much card draw as normal. I'm playing not that many mass-removal cards. Same reason. I have plenty of reusable targeted removal. So blowing up the board isn't that necessary anymore I think. Though I might have trouble dealing with token or wheenie decks.
Cards I might cut:
Aetherling. It's in there just for the theme basically.
Training grounds: It does seem awesome because there's always a use for it. We'll see...
Detention Sphere: I just don't like the fact that people can get there stuff back be removing this and maybe get an ETB ability as extra bonus....
Voidwalk: Not a big fan yet, but I have to test it more.
Anyway, maybe there are some options you might like. Thoughts on my list are of course welcome :). Oh and just to be sure (if people skipped reading the lot): Primeval Titan is legal in our group, only to search basic lands.
(No idea what I'm doing wrong with the "deck /deck" tags but it doesn't seem to work....)
Solid decklist. Why not find room for a Cyclonic Rift?
I can add more non-creature type removal, but it dilutes my deck because I run big garruk, Lurking Predators, etc.
I see the comment about Q-pridemage which I will include.
I buy HP and Damaged cards!
Only EDH:
Sigarda, Host of Herons: Enchantress' Enchantments
Jenara, Asura of War: ETB Value Town
Purphoros, God of the Forge: Global Punishment
Xenagos, God of Revels: Ramp, Sneak, & Heavy Hitters
Ghave, Guru of Spores: Dies_to_Doom_Blade's stax list
Edric, Spymaster of Trest: Donald's list