In the folklore of its plane, the Animar is the ultimate source of all life—the seed from which all creation grows. In the presence of Animar, crops blossom and herds thrive, and the wake of its wanderings determines the course of the seasons.
Hi everyone. I've been playing Magic and EDH since Innistrad, and I consider myself a skilled player and competent deckbuilder. This is my rendition of Imperial Animar, an extremely fast and efficient Animar, Soul of Elements combo deck coined by Jester831. Check out his thread here, with decklist here, though it hasn't been updated in some time.
Isn't this just Imperial Animar with a couple changes?
Imperial Animar is only Animar in my opinion I actually linked to Jester's list, but I'll make it more obvious.
It's good that you all bring this up though. This list was initially optimized for a more multi-player setting, so it is still in kind of a transition mode to 1v1. Could you point out specific differences that you believe to be poor? I think what I'm probably going to cut first are Primordial Sage / Soul of the Harvest, even though they won me the most games in multiplayer. Thanks in advance.
The question is: have you tested the deck in a competitive setting?
Long story short: In college we played very competitive multiplayer, but I had two friends that played 1v1 against me often. Damia, Sage of Stone Combo-Control using the regular banlist and Vendilion Clique using duel commander. I was pretty evenly matched against Damia, though I'd say Clique was probably favored against me. I couldn't really convince other people in my playgroup or the LGS to play 1v1 against me since to this day I've never lost with this deck against anyone else.
Then I graduated, moved to a new city, played this deck basically one and a half times at the LGS before essentially being banned from playing there. They were all very bad. So now I'm looking to just play on Cockatrice with my Damia friend, but looking for more ways to play too. So while the deck is way better than most people I've played, I haven't played in Duel Commander tourneys. I playtest this deck a LOT though too.
The problem is you're playing a combo Animar list, with a bunch of cards that don't help you combo.
Combo Animar expends a significant amount of resources getting to the higher CMC tiers, so once you get there, you want to be sure you immediately win.
Purphoros, Prophet of Kurphix, Soul of the Harvest, Primordial Sage, Deadeye Navigator, etc, are all unreliable or win more.
You should really look at Jester's list, and think over the card differences, and whether or not each one makes sense for a competitive 1v1 setting.
Even on Cockatrice, a lot of people asked to Jester "why no Emmy?!? why no x or x?!? Why no DEN?" The following turn, Jester exploded his deck and he answered "he really doesn't need it."
You really have to test it on Cockatrice as most "well known DC players" tested their decks there before a major tourney.
The problem is you're playing a combo Animar list, with a bunch of cards that don't help you combo.
Combo Animar expends a significant amount of resources getting to the higher CMC tiers, so once you get there, you want to be sure you immediately win.
Purphoros, Prophet of Kurphix, Soul of the Harvest, Primordial Sage, Deadeye Navigator, etc, are all unreliable or win more.
You should really look at Jester's list, and think over the card differences, and whether or not each one makes sense for a competitive 1v1 setting.
You're right about those cards, in 1v1 they are definitely win-more. I cut those cards, made some changes which you can see in the change log. But more importantly, I put a section with the differences between mine and Jester's list under my decklist too. Take a look at that and let me know what you think!
Well, you might want to start logging some game plays and report back to us. In my case, I used to report a lot and honestly and shamefully included my bad ones even when the mu is usually favorable.
The thing with Jester is that we actually see how he plays even with a crappy program. He either wins or loses but at least he has tons is spectators watching his games. We also discussed on his strength and weaknesses on his deck and usually he criticized on some of the "Goodstuff's" assets on making their Animar work.
Art by Peter Mohrbacher
In the folklore of its plane, the Animar is the ultimate source of all life—the seed from which all creation grows. In the presence of Animar, crops blossom and herds thrive, and the wake of its wanderings determines the course of the seasons.
Hi everyone. I've been playing Magic and EDH since Innistrad, and I consider myself a skilled player and competent deckbuilder. This is my rendition of Imperial Animar, an extremely fast and efficient Animar, Soul of Elements combo deck coined by Jester831. Check out his thread here, with decklist here, though it hasn't been updated in some time.
3 Animar, Soul of Elements
Creatures (48)
1 Arbor Elf
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Bond Beetle
1 Cursecatcher
1 Elvish Mystic
1 Faerie Impostor
1 Flamekin Harbinger
1 Fyndhorn Elves
1 Hapless Researcher
1 Llanowar Elves
1 Orcish Lumberjack
1 Shrieking Drake
1 Wirewood Symbiote
2 Alchemist's Apprentice
2 Augury Owl
2 Bloom Tender
2 Cloud of Faeries
2 Coiling Oracle
2 Dream Stalker
2 Elvish Visionary
2 Gatecreeper Vine
2 Gilded Drake
2 Lotus Cobra
2 Owl Familiar
2 Phantasmal Image
2 Quirion Sentinel
2 Sylvan Ranger
2 Wall of Blossoms
2 Wall of Roots
2x Genesis Hydra
3 Imperial Recruiter
3 Man-o'-War
3 Raven Familiar
3 Sea Gate Oracle
3 Shardless Agent
3 Trinket Mage
3 Wood Elves
4 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Oracle of Mul Daya
4 Phyrexian Metamorph
4 Slithermuse
5 Mulldrifter
5 Peregrine Drake
6 Primeval Titan
9 Artisan of Kozilek
10 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
11 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
Instant/Sorcery (13)
0 Gitaxian Probe
1 Brainstorm
1 Careful Study
1 Faithless Looting
1 Gamble
1 Glimpse of Nature
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Preordain
1 Sylvan Tutor
1 Worldly Tutor
1x Green Sun's Zenith
2 Manamorphose
3x Chord of Calling
1 Utopia Sprawl
1 Wild Growth
2 Earthcraft
2 Survival of the Fittest
Artifact (4)
0 Chrome Mox
0 Mox Diamond
1 Skullclamp
3 Cloudstone Curio
1 Arid Mesa
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Flooded Strand
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Polluted Delta
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Foothills
4 Island
4 Forest
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Gaea's Cradle
Dual color (9)
1 Volcanic Island
1 Taiga
1 Tropical Island
1 Steam Vents
1 Stomping Ground
1 Breeding Pool
1 Shivan Reef
1 Yavimaya Coast
1 Flooded Grove
1 Command Tower
1 City of Brass
1 Mana Confluence
All the utility I need
1 Eye of Ugin
0 Chrome Mox
1 Careful Study
1 Faithless Looting
1 Gamble
1 Orcish Lumberjack
1 Preordain
2 Manamorphose
2 Alchemist's Apprentice
2x Genesis Hydra
4 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Oracle of Mul Daya
0 Shivan Reef
0 Yavimaya Coast
0 City of Brass
0 Mana Confluence
1 Arctic Merfolk
1 Sage of Epityr
1 Shared Discovery
1 Tinder Wall
1 Wild Cantor
1 Wirewood Herald
2 Daze
2 Fathom Seer
2 Land Grant
2 Spellskite
5 Gush
0 Grove of the Burnwillows
0 Mountain
0 Forest
0 Forest
-Krosan Restorer, Wheel of Fortune, Deadeye Navigator, Sporeback Troll, Future Sight, Tezzeret the Seeker, Stranglehold, Zealous Conscripts, Sylvan Tutor, Tarnished Citadel, Thespian's Stage, 1xIsland
+Elvish Mystic, Crystal Shard, Dream Stalker, Soul of the Harvest, Ruric Thar, the Unbowed, Maelstrom Wanderer, Prime Speaker Zegana, Deceiver Exarch, Green Sun's Zenith Windswept Heath, Verdant Catacombs, Dryad Arbor
2/18/2014
-Garruk, Primal HunterGarruk, Caller of Beasts, Strip Mine
+Erayo, Soratami Ascendant, Kamahl, Fist of Krosa, Rishadan Port
2/22/2014
-Ulvenwald Tracker, Prime Speaker Zegana, Green Sun's Zenith, Expedition Map Xenagos, the Reveler, Rishadan Port, Dryad Arbor
+Coiling Oracle, Wall of Blossoms, Fierce Empath, Wood Elves, Voidmage Husher, Garruk's Horde
7/11/2014
Transition to Duel Commander deck
- Zealous Conscripts, Godo, Bandit Warlord, Sylvan Library, Aluren, Stranglehold, Sol Ring, Lightning Greaves, Sword of Feast and Famine, Sword of Fire and Ice
+ Lotus Cobra, Primeval Titan, Painter's Servant, Shardless Agent, Gamble, Faithless Looting
7/13/2014
- Erayo, Soratami Ascendant, Edric, Spymaster of Trest, Eternal Witness, Purphoros, God of the Forge, Venser, the Sojourner, Prophet of Kruphix, Primordial Sage, Soul of the Harvest, Deadeye Navigator
+ Careful Study, Hapless Researcher, Owl Familiar, Orcish Lumberjack, Wirewood Herald, Faerie Imposter, Sylvan Ranger, Artisan of Kozilek, Genesis Hydra, Mystical Tutor, Wall of Roots, Reclamation Sage
7/18/2014
-Reclamation Sage, Wirewood Herald, Sage of Epityr, Painter's Servant
+Chrome Mox, Utopia Sprawl, Alchemist's Apprentice, Preordain
1 Ponder
cEDH: [G(U/R) Animar] - [(U/B)(G/W) Redless Wheels] - [(G/U)(W/B) Redless Pod] - [(B/G)W Ghave Metapod]
Duel Commander
URG [Primer] Maelstrom Wanderer [Primer] URG
Duel Commander Current Projects:
RGWMarath, Will of the WildRGW
BRXMogis, God of SlaughterBRX
RWxIoras, God of VictoryRWx
WBxAthreos, God of PassageWBx
Created By: DarkNightCavalier
Imperial Animar is only Animar in my opinion
It's good that you all bring this up though. This list was initially optimized for a more multi-player setting, so it is still in kind of a transition mode to 1v1. Could you point out specific differences that you believe to be poor? I think what I'm probably going to cut first are Primordial Sage / Soul of the Harvest, even though they won me the most games in multiplayer. Thanks in advance.
cEDH: [G(U/R) Animar] - [(U/B)(G/W) Redless Wheels] - [(G/U)(W/B) Redless Pod] - [(B/G)W Ghave Metapod]
Duel Commander
URG [Primer] Maelstrom Wanderer [Primer] URG
Duel Commander Current Projects:
RGWMarath, Will of the WildRGW
BRXMogis, God of SlaughterBRX
RWxIoras, God of VictoryRWx
WBxAthreos, God of PassageWBx
Created By: DarkNightCavalier
Long story short: In college we played very competitive multiplayer, but I had two friends that played 1v1 against me often. Damia, Sage of Stone Combo-Control using the regular banlist and Vendilion Clique using duel commander. I was pretty evenly matched against Damia, though I'd say Clique was probably favored against me. I couldn't really convince other people in my playgroup or the LGS to play 1v1 against me since to this day I've never lost with this deck against anyone else.
Then I graduated, moved to a new city, played this deck basically one and a half times at the LGS before essentially being banned from playing there. They were all very bad. So now I'm looking to just play on Cockatrice with my Damia friend, but looking for more ways to play too. So while the deck is way better than most people I've played, I haven't played in Duel Commander tourneys. I playtest this deck a LOT though too.
cEDH: [G(U/R) Animar] - [(U/B)(G/W) Redless Wheels] - [(G/U)(W/B) Redless Pod] - [(B/G)W Ghave Metapod]
Combo Animar expends a significant amount of resources getting to the higher CMC tiers, so once you get there, you want to be sure you immediately win.
Purphoros, Prophet of Kurphix, Soul of the Harvest, Primordial Sage, Deadeye Navigator, etc, are all unreliable or win more.
You should really look at Jester's list, and think over the card differences, and whether or not each one makes sense for a competitive 1v1 setting.
You really have to test it on Cockatrice as most "well known DC players" tested their decks there before a major tourney.
Duel Commander
URG [Primer] Maelstrom Wanderer [Primer] URG
Duel Commander Current Projects:
RGWMarath, Will of the WildRGW
BRXMogis, God of SlaughterBRX
RWxIoras, God of VictoryRWx
WBxAthreos, God of PassageWBx
Created By: DarkNightCavalier
You're right about those cards, in 1v1 they are definitely win-more. I cut those cards, made some changes which you can see in the change log. But more importantly, I put a section with the differences between mine and Jester's list under my decklist too. Take a look at that and let me know what you think!
cEDH: [G(U/R) Animar] - [(U/B)(G/W) Redless Wheels] - [(G/U)(W/B) Redless Pod] - [(B/G)W Ghave Metapod]
The thing with Jester is that we actually see how he plays even with a crappy program. He either wins or loses but at least he has tons is spectators watching his games. We also discussed on his strength and weaknesses on his deck and usually he criticized on some of the "Goodstuff's" assets on making their Animar work.
Duel Commander
URG [Primer] Maelstrom Wanderer [Primer] URG
Duel Commander Current Projects:
RGWMarath, Will of the WildRGW
BRXMogis, God of SlaughterBRX
RWxIoras, God of VictoryRWx
WBxAthreos, God of PassageWBx
Created By: DarkNightCavalier