I'm back once again to catalogue another one of my EDH decks. I'm in need of sleeves and cards once again, so this deck shall soon be disassembled. Sooo...time to archive a decklist before it gets ripped apart!
This is my Damia, Sage of Stone deck. It's basically a control deck with a combo finisher. It attempts to trade one-for-one with spot removal and counterspells (or one-for-more with mass removal) to control the board while utilizing Damia's ability to refill the hand and provide card advantage. Her ability synergizes extremely well with playing lots of cheap spells, therefore the early game consists of playing lots of ramp spells to build a good mana base. In the mid game, it plays like a typical reactionary control deck; sitting back, evaluating threats, and reacting to those threats when necessary with removal or counters. Once it gets to at least 11 mana available, it can then proceed to combo out and win.
Assuming no other board position or cards in hand, the deck can manage to win with at least 11 mana available upon drawing Tooth and Nail (or a tutor for T&N with at least 11 mana left over). The line of play basically goes: Tooth and Nail for Palinchron and Eternal Witness. Palinchron untaps 7 lands (leaving you with 9 mana left). Eternal Witness gets back Tooth and Nail, which is then recast for Phyrexian Metamorph or Phantasmal Image and Deadeye Navigator. The Clone becomes another Palinchron, untapping 7 lands, and the Navigator pairs with the original Palinchron. Navigator then proceeds to flicker Palinchron out, making infinite mana. Navigator is then flickered out to pair with Eternal Witness, which is flickered out to regrow Tooth and Nail. Tooth and Nail is then cast once again for Rune-Scarred Demon and whatever else you want/need. At this point, it simply becomes evaluating the game state and determining what exactly you need to be able to win, as Navigator can be paired with the Demon to tutor for every card in your deck, if need be. The simplest method is typically to tutor for Time Warp and take infinite turns by flickering Witness. Then you can tutor Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief, who can kill anything she can target, become huge, and swing for the win. Capsize plus infinite mana lets you bounce any and all problem permanents that stand in your way (as long as they don't have hexproof). And Blue Sun's Zenith lets you deck opponents, should you be unable to attack them (which, now that I think about it, might actually be simpler than going the infinite-turns-of-combat route, hehe).
The deck is pretty potent, as well as resilient. It packs a decent amount of removal, and Damia provides insane card advantage if you can protect her. It runs tons of ramp, so you can race to that magical 11-mana milestone and combo out before there gets to be too many threats to answer. The ramping also gives you plenty of mana to play your answers to others' threats, all while synergizing perfectly with Damia's card advantage engine. Elixir of Immortality, Serene Remembrance, and Loaming Shaman keep your deck stocked with answers. Eternal Witness and Archaeomancer recycle cards more directly. And Body Double and Havengul Lich allow you to utilize lost creatures (especially important if a key combo piece has found its way into your graveyard). It runs several tutors which can find whatever you need, as well as the combo win.
My main issue with the deck (and a big part of why I'm choosing it as the next deck to get dismantled for parts/sleeves) is that it is predictable. It plays out very similarly each game, and it basically has one win condition that it utilizes every game (aside from simply mising a win here or there attacking with small-to-medium-sized utility creatures or connecting with Damia 6 times....which personally has never happened to me, I've always won by comboing out). The control aspect of the deck can be fun to play, but I find it boring to win the exact same way game after game. That sort of defeats the purpose of the format, in my opinion. So, yeah...it was fun while it lasted, but she's getting broken down now.
- Other ramp options: There is no shortage of ramp options available for green decks. I tried to go with the ones I felt were the most efficient while also playing into Damia's abilities. But there are tons of other options; including the simple Rampant Growth, Sakura Tribe Elder, Wood Elves, Yavimaya Dryad, Ranger's Path, and Reap and Sow. I feel generally that ramping spells are more desirable than additional mana dorks like Urborg Elf or mana rocks like the appropriate signets and keyrunes, because lands tend to be less vulnerable to removal in my playgroup than creatures and artifacts. The few mana creatures I do run I chose because of their particular levels of power and efficiency.
- Other value creatures: This deck errs on the side of running more non-creature spells than creatures mostly due to synergy with Damia. Spells tend to be cheaper than their creature equivalents. However, I do run Deadeye Navigator, so it wouldn't be entirely wrong to include a few other value creatures. I run Coiling Oracle in virtually every deck I can fit him in, and I'm kinda surprised in retrospect to not see him here. Gravedigger, Cadaver Imp, Pharika's Mender, and the like provide more value if the creature count gets higher. Venser, Shaper Savant would likely be in here if I had a spare one available. Man-o'-War is cheaper, but much less versatile. Riftwing Cloudskate is more versatile than the jellyfish and his analogues, but is quite a bit more expensive if not suspended. Duplicant is one of the best creatures in the format...I've got several, but not nearly enough for every deck I have sleeved up. The same goes for Solemn Simulacrum, but I don't like him better than any of the other ramp options I am using for this particular deck. Terastodon is another versatile creature that is a bit expensive for what this deck wants to be doing. Mold Shambler, while unfortunately not compatible with Navigator, is very versatile and is one of the few ways to directly deal with planeswalkers. This category could go on for quite some time...I'll leave it at that for now.
- Other counterspells and spot removal: Another category I could list tons of cards for. I don't own a Cryptic Command, or else it would definitely have a home here. Dissolve will likely replace Cancel whenever I get one. I have a shiny, foil Counterlash I've been wanting to run somewhere. It's on the expensive side, but the potential payoff is tempting. Rewind is often amazing, as well. I typically find Remand a bit underwhelming in this format, but it is great in the early-to-mid game, and this deck kinda wants to combo out and win before it gets to late in the game anyways. There are lots of other less versatile options like Negate, Essence Scatter, Remove Soul, Annul, Muddle the Mixture, etc. And stuff like Undermine are generally a little too expensive to justify the small bonuses they provide. The key here is mana efficiency in relation to power. I want to be able to cast lots of cheap spells so Damia draws me more cards.
There's tons of options for removal and bounce, so I attempted to find the best ones for the mana cost. Doom Blade and Terror are cheap, but not quite versatile enough. Sudden Death and Sudden Spoiling can both be amazing, but might be too situational. Sickening Shoal is pretty interesting, as Damia can easily make up for the card disadvantage. I'd love a Hero's Downfall in here, but I don't own one. Disperse is easier to cast than Boomerang, but generally worse than it or Echoing Truth. Recoil is pretty decent.
- Other mass removal: I went with a smaller amount of mass removal than I normally do due to cheaper single-target removal synergizing with Damia so well. But I would love to have a Cyclonic Rift here for those cases in which I combo off, but can't go for the win because of some annoying hexproof permanent or permanents. Unfortunately, I only own one and it's in my Riku deck atm. I have a set of Gaze of Granite coming to me soon. It seems too good to pass up for a deck headlined by a gorgon, so it will probably find it's way in here eventually. There are a few other mass removal/bounce options, but nothing off the top of my head really interests me enough to add here.
- Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir: What a bro. Teferi is great for protecting myself or my board as I attempt to combo off. The other upsides he provides (such as letting me cast my creatures on my opponents' turns and generally slowing down the pace of everyone else's game, not to mention turbo-charging Mystical Teachings) are icing on the cake. I'd really like to find a spot for him.
- Other tutors: If you've read many of my other EDH decklist threads, you may be surprised to see how many tutors I run in this list. While I generally like to run a minimum amount of tutors to enable game variance, the nature of this deck sort of requires more than I generally run. It is a control deck filled with lots of single-target answers that typically relies on a single line of play in order to win. I went with more tutors as opposed to card draw in order to make the most out of Damia as my engine, while providing me with more immediate access to specific answers or combo pieces. Believe it or not, I actually cut some tutors from my initial list. Green Sun's Zenith, while generally amazing, fell just short. It recovers a tucked Damia, but other than that, I have relatively few targets for it. Mwonvuli Beast Tracker is a similar case. It was a bit more tempting when I had additional threats such as Simic Sky Swallower, but he has very few targets now other than my commander. Worldly Tutor certainly fits the bill, however. It's cheap, and allows me to combo off much sooner if I happen to draw one of my pieces. I probably don't need more tutors, though. In fact, I've been underwhelmed with Insidious Dreams in this list. I do have a few ways to make use of the cards I dump in the graveyard (Witness, Havengul Lich, Archaeomancer, Body Double), but not quite as much as other lists I run it in. So it might get cut eventually.
- Other non-basic lands: I might have missed a couple here or there due to the fact that I only own so many of each land, I have way too many decks sleeved up, and I am really lazy about making proxies. Creeping Tar Pit was likely in here originally, but got taken out for another deck. I'd also consider running a couple Ravnica karoo lands (Dimir Aqueduct and friends), if not the whole set of three, in order to reuse Bojuka Bog and Halimar Depths (not to mention that they allow me leeway on comboing out with Palinchron). That's all I can really think of at the moment that would be worth consideration.
probably more to come for this section later.
Change Log, Chopping Block considerations, etc coming at some point in the future.
Any feedback is appreciated, but I'm not actively working on this deck anymore at the moment, as I'm taking it apart to feed other deck projects. Just mainly posting it here for my own future reference, as always.
This is my Damia, Sage of Stone deck. It's basically a control deck with a combo finisher. It attempts to trade one-for-one with spot removal and counterspells (or one-for-more with mass removal) to control the board while utilizing Damia's ability to refill the hand and provide card advantage. Her ability synergizes extremely well with playing lots of cheap spells, therefore the early game consists of playing lots of ramp spells to build a good mana base. In the mid game, it plays like a typical reactionary control deck; sitting back, evaluating threats, and reacting to those threats when necessary with removal or counters. Once it gets to at least 11 mana available, it can then proceed to combo out and win.
The deck is pretty potent, as well as resilient. It packs a decent amount of removal, and Damia provides insane card advantage if you can protect her. It runs tons of ramp, so you can race to that magical 11-mana milestone and combo out before there gets to be too many threats to answer. The ramping also gives you plenty of mana to play your answers to others' threats, all while synergizing perfectly with Damia's card advantage engine. Elixir of Immortality, Serene Remembrance, and Loaming Shaman keep your deck stocked with answers. Eternal Witness and Archaeomancer recycle cards more directly. And Body Double and Havengul Lich allow you to utilize lost creatures (especially important if a key combo piece has found its way into your graveyard). It runs several tutors which can find whatever you need, as well as the combo win.
My main issue with the deck (and a big part of why I'm choosing it as the next deck to get dismantled for parts/sleeves) is that it is predictable. It plays out very similarly each game, and it basically has one win condition that it utilizes every game (aside from simply mising a win here or there attacking with small-to-medium-sized utility creatures or connecting with Damia 6 times....which personally has never happened to me, I've always won by comboing out). The control aspect of the deck can be fun to play, but I find it boring to win the exact same way game after game. That sort of defeats the purpose of the format, in my opinion. So, yeah...it was fun while it lasted, but she's getting broken down now.
1 Damia, Sage of Stone
Ramp and Rocks: 13
1 Sol Ring
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Farseek
1 Fertile Ground
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Search for Tomorrow
1 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
1 Cultivate
1 Kodama's Reach
1 Journey of Discovery
1 Explosive Vegetation
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Skyshroud Claim
Utility Creatures: 10
1 Phantasmal Image
1 Loaming Shaman
1 Eternal Witness
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Archaeomancer
1 Body Double
1 Acidic Slime
1 Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief
1 Havengul Lich
1 Brutalizer Exarch
Counterspells: 7
1 Spell Burst
1 Counterspell
1 Cancel
1 Hinder
1 Spell Crumple
1 Voidslime
1 Plasma Capture
1 Nature's Claim
1 Pongify
1 Rapid Hybridization
1 Tragic Slip
1 Echoing Truth
1 Dismember
1 Beast Within
1 Krosan Grip
1 Murder
1 Capsize
1 Spin into Myth
Mass Removal: 4
1 Black Sun's Zenith
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Damnation
1 Evacuation
Tutors: 8
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Trinket Mage
1 Insidious Dreams
1 Mystical Teachings
1 Diabolic Tutor
1 Rune-Scarred Demon
1 Tooth and Nail
Card Draw: 2
1 Blue Sun's Zenith
1 Urban Evolution
Combo Pieces/Win Con: 3
1 Time Warp
1 Deadeye Navigator
1 Palinchron
Recycling Program: 2
1 Elixir of Immortality
1 Serene Remembrance
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Lightning Greaves
Lands: 37
1 Command Tower
1 Rupture Spire
1 Breeding Pool
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Watery Grave
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Bad River
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Drowned Catacomb
1 Hinterland Harbor
1 Woodland Cemetery
1 River of Tears
1 Llanowar Wastes
1 Yavimaya Coast
1 Halimar Depths
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Leechridden Swamp
1 Shizo, Death's Storehouse
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Vault of Whispers
1 Tree of Tales
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
1 Temple of the False God
5 Island
2 Swamp
5 Forest
<this section to be expanded upon later>
- Other ramp options: There is no shortage of ramp options available for green decks. I tried to go with the ones I felt were the most efficient while also playing into Damia's abilities. But there are tons of other options; including the simple Rampant Growth, Sakura Tribe Elder, Wood Elves, Yavimaya Dryad, Ranger's Path, and Reap and Sow. I feel generally that ramping spells are more desirable than additional mana dorks like Urborg Elf or mana rocks like the appropriate signets and keyrunes, because lands tend to be less vulnerable to removal in my playgroup than creatures and artifacts. The few mana creatures I do run I chose because of their particular levels of power and efficiency.
- Other value creatures: This deck errs on the side of running more non-creature spells than creatures mostly due to synergy with Damia. Spells tend to be cheaper than their creature equivalents. However, I do run Deadeye Navigator, so it wouldn't be entirely wrong to include a few other value creatures. I run Coiling Oracle in virtually every deck I can fit him in, and I'm kinda surprised in retrospect to not see him here. Gravedigger, Cadaver Imp, Pharika's Mender, and the like provide more value if the creature count gets higher. Venser, Shaper Savant would likely be in here if I had a spare one available. Man-o'-War is cheaper, but much less versatile. Riftwing Cloudskate is more versatile than the jellyfish and his analogues, but is quite a bit more expensive if not suspended. Duplicant is one of the best creatures in the format...I've got several, but not nearly enough for every deck I have sleeved up. The same goes for Solemn Simulacrum, but I don't like him better than any of the other ramp options I am using for this particular deck. Terastodon is another versatile creature that is a bit expensive for what this deck wants to be doing. Mold Shambler, while unfortunately not compatible with Navigator, is very versatile and is one of the few ways to directly deal with planeswalkers. This category could go on for quite some time...I'll leave it at that for now.
- Other counterspells and spot removal: Another category I could list tons of cards for. I don't own a Cryptic Command, or else it would definitely have a home here. Dissolve will likely replace Cancel whenever I get one. I have a shiny, foil Counterlash I've been wanting to run somewhere. It's on the expensive side, but the potential payoff is tempting. Rewind is often amazing, as well. I typically find Remand a bit underwhelming in this format, but it is great in the early-to-mid game, and this deck kinda wants to combo out and win before it gets to late in the game anyways. There are lots of other less versatile options like Negate, Essence Scatter, Remove Soul, Annul, Muddle the Mixture, etc. And stuff like Undermine are generally a little too expensive to justify the small bonuses they provide. The key here is mana efficiency in relation to power. I want to be able to cast lots of cheap spells so Damia draws me more cards.
There's tons of options for removal and bounce, so I attempted to find the best ones for the mana cost. Doom Blade and Terror are cheap, but not quite versatile enough. Sudden Death and Sudden Spoiling can both be amazing, but might be too situational. Sickening Shoal is pretty interesting, as Damia can easily make up for the card disadvantage. I'd love a Hero's Downfall in here, but I don't own one. Disperse is easier to cast than Boomerang, but generally worse than it or Echoing Truth. Recoil is pretty decent.
- Other mass removal: I went with a smaller amount of mass removal than I normally do due to cheaper single-target removal synergizing with Damia so well. But I would love to have a Cyclonic Rift here for those cases in which I combo off, but can't go for the win because of some annoying hexproof permanent or permanents. Unfortunately, I only own one and it's in my Riku deck atm. I have a set of Gaze of Granite coming to me soon. It seems too good to pass up for a deck headlined by a gorgon, so it will probably find it's way in here eventually. There are a few other mass removal/bounce options, but nothing off the top of my head really interests me enough to add here.
- Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir: What a bro. Teferi is great for protecting myself or my board as I attempt to combo off. The other upsides he provides (such as letting me cast my creatures on my opponents' turns and generally slowing down the pace of everyone else's game, not to mention turbo-charging Mystical Teachings) are icing on the cake. I'd really like to find a spot for him.
- Other tutors: If you've read many of my other EDH decklist threads, you may be surprised to see how many tutors I run in this list. While I generally like to run a minimum amount of tutors to enable game variance, the nature of this deck sort of requires more than I generally run. It is a control deck filled with lots of single-target answers that typically relies on a single line of play in order to win. I went with more tutors as opposed to card draw in order to make the most out of Damia as my engine, while providing me with more immediate access to specific answers or combo pieces. Believe it or not, I actually cut some tutors from my initial list. Green Sun's Zenith, while generally amazing, fell just short. It recovers a tucked Damia, but other than that, I have relatively few targets for it. Mwonvuli Beast Tracker is a similar case. It was a bit more tempting when I had additional threats such as Simic Sky Swallower, but he has very few targets now other than my commander. Worldly Tutor certainly fits the bill, however. It's cheap, and allows me to combo off much sooner if I happen to draw one of my pieces. I probably don't need more tutors, though. In fact, I've been underwhelmed with Insidious Dreams in this list. I do have a few ways to make use of the cards I dump in the graveyard (Witness, Havengul Lich, Archaeomancer, Body Double), but not quite as much as other lists I run it in. So it might get cut eventually.
- Other non-basic lands: I might have missed a couple here or there due to the fact that I only own so many of each land, I have way too many decks sleeved up, and I am really lazy about making proxies. Creeping Tar Pit was likely in here originally, but got taken out for another deck. I'd also consider running a couple Ravnica karoo lands (Dimir Aqueduct and friends), if not the whole set of three, in order to reuse Bojuka Bog and Halimar Depths (not to mention that they allow me leeway on comboing out with Palinchron). That's all I can really think of at the moment that would be worth consideration.
probably more to come for this section later.
Change Log, Chopping Block considerations, etc coming at some point in the future.
Any feedback is appreciated, but I'm not actively working on this deck anymore at the moment, as I'm taking it apart to feed other deck projects. Just mainly posting it here for my own future reference, as always.