MTG Salvation

First, an introduction. I’ve known of Magic for quite a while now, but never actually knew anybody who played it, and although I love the art and stories, collecting to me isn’t worth it unless I have someone to play it against.

Flashback to 1-2 months ago. After some persuasion by my roommates and their friends, all of whom play Magic (specifically EDH), I decided to give it a go. My first deck was a heavily budget Nath of the Gilt-Leaf deck, which I almost immediately decided to deconstruct because I realized that discard is a) horribly inefficient in multiplayer and b) really unfun to play. (I was hated off the table frequently.)

My second deck is a Patron of the Orochi goodstuff: there’s little strategy other than ramping and punching people in the face until they die. It’s served me surprisingly well so far, particularly once the lands start pouring out. However, I’m vulnerable to countermagic. And almost everyone in my playgroup plays blue. So, if you can’t beat them, join them!

What’s this mean to me? GU elves! And since there’s only two options and I’ve heard that Edric, Spymaster of Trest tends to be a prime hate target, I think I’d like to go with Momir Vig, Simic Visionary as the general for my second deck. His tutoring ability will give me a way to grab whatever creature I need at the moment.



So, how’s the deck been so far? I don’t actually know. I’m slowly buying/trading for the cards I need, and my budget’s slim. I’d love some suggestions, particularly on the ideas below, but anything else can’t be over $5.





Wishlist:
All cards on here are “for a rainy day.”

Considerations:
- Greenseeker: Lay of the Land on a stick ain't bad, although my curve is low enough that it may not be needed.
- Viridian Shaman, Viridian Zealot: Zealot can destroy enchantments, but in all other instances I think I'd prefer Shaman. Decisions, decisions.
- Wren's Run Packmaster: Something to do with all that mana I'm gonna be generating. 2/2 deathtouchers on demand? Yes please.
- Deglamer, Unravel the Æther: Mainly meta-focused, because I know I'll be encountering some stupid artifacts and enchantments. Mostly artifacts.
- Fade into Antiquity: Same as above. Also can be tutored out by Momir via Drift of Phantasms.
- Unified Will: I'm going to have a lot of creatures, right?
- Familiar's Ruse: There are enough ETB effects in this deck to warrant having a second Counterspell. Plus, it gives me another tutor opportunity with Momir.
- Hinder: An excellent card, although if it isn't entirely necessary I may go with other cards first due to it being a bit pricy.

What this Needs:
More graveyard recovery. There's only one card in this deck that grabs anything out of the graveyard. If I can be convinced that something needs to be cut, I'll probably use Eternal Witness and/or Elixir of Immortality.

So, have at me!

Recollect - Graveyard recovery
Trygon Predator U/G creature with some destruction
Colossus of Akros just a good EDH staple especially for mana ramping green
Boundless Realms huge mana ramp
Unexpected Results - Should be fun in your deck
Murkfiend Liege Prophet of Kruphix-like card

Hmmm. I like Recollect, Trygon Predator and Murkfiend Liege, and maybe Colossus of Akros. (The only thing about him is that he doesn't trigger Momir's abilities.) Boundless Ramp seems like it'd be overkill, though, and Unexpected Results would kill any tutoring I'd get through Momir.

What would you suggest cutting, though?

Quote from Rinne

Hmmm. I like Recollect, Trygon Predator and Murkfiend Liege, and maybe Colossus of Akros. (The only thing about him is that he doesn't trigger Momir's abilities.) Boundless Ramp seems like it'd be overkill, though, and Unexpected Results would kill any tutoring I'd get through Momir.

What would you suggest cutting, though?

I have never been a fan of a card that just counterspells in EDH unless it is part of a theme for the deck or is an added ability like with Mystic Snake and muddle the mixture that acts as tutor. I would get rid of the counterspells.

Wellwisher can be useful since you already have around 30 elves in the deck. A few elves with Prophet of Kruphix and Wellwisher could result in a crazy amount of life after a few trips around the table.

Timberwatch Elf or Coat of Arms could provide additional mass creature pumping if you want more of that.

And I have both Wellwisher and Timberwatch already! :'D

What would you considering cutting, though?

Cutting in Commander is always about personnel taste.... but if it was me I would cut Expedition Map. Green has several cards that do the same thing for less mana (such as Sylvan Scrying).

I also prefer to have more cards that "do things" rather than cards that "prevent things". I might play Steely Resolve or Asceticism but both at the same time might be overkill. It would be funny to have both on the table at once. You could then yell out "You can't target my stuff twice over!".

Sylvan Scrying's a possibility. I've also been considering Far Wanderings, and of course a Skullclamp if I can get my hands on it.

As for Steely Resolve/Asceticism, redundancy of effects helps me be more consistent. ;3

Keep in mind that Steely Resolve/Asceticism only protect you from targeted removal, not wraths, which your deck is far more vulnerable to I think. Asceticism has an out for this, but it's pretty mana intensive, and only protects from certain wipes. In addition, if I were you I'd just go ahead and run Edric as your general. Edric is powerful, but in multiplayer he's far less terrifying than 1 vs. 1. In addition I feel like even if you become a target the first time you play a deck, your play group will realize the deck's actual power level and respond accordingly.

Hmm. If I were to run Edric as my general in that case, what adjustments would the deck need to more work around him while still keeping the Elf tribal? Why I like Momir is that I can grab whatever thing I need at the time, while Edric can't give that same sort of assurance.

Edric would likely be more useful in an all blue meta. Momir is fairly slow and a prime target for removal.

Okay, switching to Edric.

- Momir Vig, + Wren's Run Packmaster
- Expedition Map, + Eldrazi Monument (got it from a friend as a belated birthday present)
- Gaea's Skyfolk, + Wolf-Skull Shaman

Any other suggestions? Thinking of cutting some of the other non-Elves like Mystic Snake.

Wirewood Symbiote should probably find a place in your list. He works nicely with Elvish Visionary, Coiling Oracle, Lys Alana Huntmaster, and of course Door of Destinies. Although spot removal isn't your worst fear, he protects against it and can save a valued target in a wrath. Plus, there's the whole second phase of his ability which can allow you to bring up blockers or abuse tap abilities.

A number of us worked on tuning Edric to be as powerful as possible for multiplayer, there's a decklist in my sig. Given this deck is both pretty broken and very easy to metagame against if your goal is to tune the deck to be as strong as possible I'd recommend sticking with Momir Vig. d0su has a very cool elfball Vig list which uses Sleight of Mind type cards to hack Momir's abilities so they both trigger on green creatures. Cast a dude and go to town.

Would Edric still be that threatening with an Elf-focused deck that's not just good stuff, though? I dunno which'd be more suited to the strategy.

moxnix has an Edric list floating around somewhere and he says it works very well for him. Edric is a really strong commander but if you focus more on winning without him than with him you'll probably be fine. He just has a tendency to take over the deck.

My opinion here, and it may be misinformed, that unless you're running a well tuned, powerful list, it's generally better for your general to be a consistent resource than a required win condition or engine. I think to this end Edric is more powerful. I am of the opinion that if you were to tune strongly towards a general Vig would be more fun, for you and your group. However if just want to play elf tribal, Edric probably rewards you more for the broad strategy.