Here is a really fun theme deck that has actually ended up being pretty strong. I have been fiddling around with it for a while and have got it almost completely on-theme without sacrificing too much power.
For a general of a sea-monster deck, Prime Speaker Zegana works really well for a few reasons. From a functional point of view, she allows us green for the ramp we need to force out giant over-costed blue sea-monsters and also give the deck massive draw power it needs to keep a grip full of threats and answers into the long-game. From a theme perspective, she is maybe a tad weaker than someone like Thassa, God of the Sea, who I have tried out here in the past, but as a whole, the deck ends up more on-theme than a decent Thassa deck. The main reason for this is that there is not very much draw that fits with a nautical/seamonster/exploration theme. Since prime speaker does most of this work for us, we don't need to use staples like fact or fiction, rhystic study, blue sun's zenith that you would need to run to get your Thassa deck running. As long as you consider exploration/voyage ramp cards as on theme, Prime speaker does the job nicely, afterall anything that goes off to find us an island is plenty on-theme for me.
I will add some more details of card choices and strategies later on. For now here is the deck:
Straightaway looking at this I can see I need to up my island count to support high tide. Since my land fetch ramp is usually going for islands it has still been useful, but it should be at least 9 islands in there I would say. Beyond a Tropical Island that is out of my budget, the only other thing I was thinking of getting for this was a M10 time warp with the big wave on it, I have got the old squee version which doesn't really fit so got cut a while back. I know there are lots of other sea creature cards, is there anything I should add to either increase the power without hurting the theme, or else strengthen the theme without hurting the power too much? What do you figure the weakest of the big sea-monsters I have in there now are, if I were to try and lower the insane curve a little. All feedback appreciated.
is there a reason that Quest for Ula's Temple isn't in this deck? flavorwise its bang on
Fair enough, guess it should be in there for flavour. I had left it out because really it is a pretty crap card, even in the deck it was meant to be played in, isn't it? At the time I decided to leave it out I probably only had 20 creatures in here, maybe a bit more feasible with 30 now. Even with 30 creatures, you are putting a counter on it on average once ever 3 turns, so an average of 9 turns to turn it on. And then once it is on, there are only 10ish creatures in the deck it lets you cheat in. What I did have in there for a long time was quicksilver amulet. At least that has the additional utility of working with Whales and Whelks and Spirits and letting you flash in smaller creatures which is not insignificant in this deck. Even then, it is basically ramp that only works with a fraction of the deck. But I guess this is a theme deck, and the quest is pretty on-theme. I will find a copy and see if I can live with it in the deck.
Greater Good is a really strong card. Lets you sac PSZ for a bunch of cards, then recast her for even more cards! Super easy to draw your deck with Dream Halls, by the way. No Palinchron?
Wow, greater good would definitely be fantastic with my commander. Now I just need one printed with a picture of a bunch of elves sacrificing a whale instead of a robot killing treefolk, or whatever that thing is in the original art. Palinchron could easily be in there, looks like a big pelican, right? I actually got ripped off in an online trade for one and then settled on the inferior Great Whale I found locally. Less of a combo issue now that I don't have much in the way of creature tutors, but I should probably try and grab one.
I was just brainstorming about a deck exactly like this (flavor wise) and started googling around a bit. I came across your deck only a few hours after it posted. I love it. Quicksilver Fountain is a cool card I'm planning on adding.
It's just a scramble of ocean/water oriented stuff I've found atm, I'll look into cutting and optimizing after I've scrounged up all the cool looking cards I might want.
Nice! Glad you like the list, it is a lot of fun to play. Quicksilver Fountain definitely seems neat and is on my list of things to try out at some point. I actually come across a bit less blue than you would think in my games, and a decent amount of it is in 5 colour decks where the fountain could still really do some damage to a mana base. Let me know how it works out in your deck.
Lurking Predators could have some serious potential to help you cheat out some higher mana creatures, especially if your play group likes to combo off.
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Lurking Predators could have some serious potential to help you cheat out some higher mana creatures, especially if your play group likes to combo off.
Very cool! That would certainly provide a steady flow of creatures, leaving mana up for counter/bounce protection, and the additional scry is a nice bonus if it wiffs. Not sure what I could cut for this, have been thinking that Prophet of Kruphix probably wants to go back in too, theme be damned.
What strategy is Unstable Obelisk a part of? Unless it's part of some bigger plan it could be cut for Lurking Predators or Prophet of Kruphix. One it's a three drop for a one mana return (colorless) and 7 mana for a non-repeatable destroy effect seems slightly ham-fisted.
*Edit* How big of a role has Disrupting Shoal played for you in the past? I'm asking because it's either a mana sink for a high cmc counter effect or you're giving up a possibly much needed spell that needs to be the exact mana cost of whatever you're countering.
What strategy is Unstable Obelisk a part of? Unless it's part of some bigger plan it could be cut for Lurking Predators or Prophet of Kruphix. One it's a three drop for a one mana return (colorless) and 7 mana for a non-repeatable destroy effect seems slightly ham-fisted.
*Edit* How big of a role has Disrupting Shoal played for you in the past? I'm asking because it's either a mana sink for a high cmc counter effect or you're giving up a possibly much needed spell that needs to be the exact mana cost of whatever you're countering.
Yeah, not sure what Obelisk is doing there. I think it must have been part of the "that is a sweet new card, better jam it in every deck" strategy. Cut. Disrupting Shoal is a sub-optimal flavor choice, it's a school of fish that counters their spell! Aside from that it has been fun, ans since I am a bit ham-fisted at the helm of a blue deck and tend to tap out when I shouldn't it has actually served me well. Its high point was countering a Blasphemous Act when I had a solid board position by pitching a surplus inkwell leviathan. Once this deck gets going I usually have a full grip and can afford to pitch something, whether the cmcs line up is a bit of a gamble, but also a bit of fun.
For a general of a sea-monster deck, Prime Speaker Zegana works really well for a few reasons. From a functional point of view, she allows us green for the ramp we need to force out giant over-costed blue sea-monsters and also give the deck massive draw power it needs to keep a grip full of threats and answers into the long-game. From a theme perspective, she is maybe a tad weaker than someone like Thassa, God of the Sea, who I have tried out here in the past, but as a whole, the deck ends up more on-theme than a decent Thassa deck. The main reason for this is that there is not very much draw that fits with a nautical/seamonster/exploration theme. Since prime speaker does most of this work for us, we don't need to use staples like fact or fiction, rhystic study, blue sun's zenith that you would need to run to get your Thassa deck running. As long as you consider exploration/voyage ramp cards as on theme, Prime speaker does the job nicely, afterall anything that goes off to find us an island is plenty on-theme for me.
I will add some more details of card choices and strategies later on. For now here is the deck:
6 Prime Speaker Zegana
Creatures
1 Hypnotic Siren
1 Embodiment of Spring
1 Diligent Farmhand
1 Birds of Paradise
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Gilded Drake
2 Lighthouse Chronologist
3 Man-o'-War
3 Chasm Skulker
3 Thassa, God of the Sea
4 Reef Worm
5 Stormsurge Kraken
5 Mulldrifter
5 Kruphix, God of Horizons
5 Chromeshell Crab
6 Keiga, the Tide Star
6 Draining Whelk
6 Deadeye Navigator
7 Pearl Lake Ancient
7 Simic Sky Swallower
7 Scourge of Fleets
7 Great Whale
7 Tromokratis
8 Kederekt Leviathan
8 Stormtide Leviathan
8 Lorthos, the Tidemaker
9 Breaching Leviathan
9 Inkwell Leviathan
10 Deep-Sea Kraken
1 Burgeoning
1 Exploration
4 Rising Waters
4 Leyline of Anticipation
Artifacts
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Expedition Map
3 Unstable Obelisk
Planeswalkers
4 Kiora, the Crashing Wave
Instants
0 Pact of Negation
1 Swan Song
1 Pongify
1 Mystical Tutor
1 High Tide
2 Cyclonic Rift
2 Constant Mists
3 Voidslime
3 Capsize
7 Commandeer
2 Disrupting Shoal
Sorceries
1 Ancestral Vision
2 Piracy
2 Farseek
2 Merchant Scroll
2 Into the North
3 Cultivate
3 Komada's Reach
4 Explosive Vegetation
4 Wash Out
4 Scapeshift
4 Whelming Wave
4 Pull from the Deep
6 Innundate
8 Treasure Cruise
1 Dark Depths
1 Soaring Seacliff
1 Thespian's Stage
1 Alchemist's Refuge
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Remote Isle
1 Myriad Landscape
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Lonely Sandbar
1 Tolaria West
1 Halimar Depths
1 Mosswort Bridge
1 Mana Confluence
1 Simic Growth Chamber
1 Breeding Pool
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Yavimaya Coast
1 Hinterland Harbor
1 Temple of Mystery
1 Forbidden Orchard
1 Flooded Grove
2 Snow-Covered Island
2 Snow-Covered Forest
6 Forest
7 Island
Straightaway looking at this I can see I need to up my island count to support high tide. Since my land fetch ramp is usually going for islands it has still been useful, but it should be at least 9 islands in there I would say. Beyond a Tropical Island that is out of my budget, the only other thing I was thinking of getting for this was a M10 time warp with the big wave on it, I have got the old squee version which doesn't really fit so got cut a while back. I know there are lots of other sea creature cards, is there anything I should add to either increase the power without hurting the theme, or else strengthen the theme without hurting the power too much? What do you figure the weakest of the big sea-monsters I have in there now are, if I were to try and lower the insane curve a little. All feedback appreciated.
UGUPrime Speaker Seamonster RampUGU
WUGDerevi Does NothingWUG
RRRFeldon's Lovely LadiesRRR
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Karador, Ghost ChieftainJunk graveyard
Erebos, God of the DeadMy BIG BLACK.......deck
Zedruu the kindhearted My take on Pristaxcontrombmodruu!
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Fair enough, guess it should be in there for flavour. I had left it out because really it is a pretty crap card, even in the deck it was meant to be played in, isn't it? At the time I decided to leave it out I probably only had 20 creatures in here, maybe a bit more feasible with 30 now. Even with 30 creatures, you are putting a counter on it on average once ever 3 turns, so an average of 9 turns to turn it on. And then once it is on, there are only 10ish creatures in the deck it lets you cheat in. What I did have in there for a long time was quicksilver amulet. At least that has the additional utility of working with Whales and Whelks and Spirits and letting you flash in smaller creatures which is not insignificant in this deck. Even then, it is basically ramp that only works with a fraction of the deck. But I guess this is a theme deck, and the quest is pretty on-theme. I will find a copy and see if I can live with it in the deck.
UGUPrime Speaker Seamonster RampUGU
WUGDerevi Does NothingWUG
RRRFeldon's Lovely LadiesRRR
Jarad Graveyard Combo[Primer]!
Sidisi ANT!
Playing Commander to Win - A guide on Competitive, 4-player EDH
LandDestruction.com - An EDH blog
UGUPrime Speaker Seamonster RampUGU
WUGDerevi Does NothingWUG
RRRFeldon's Lovely LadiesRRR
It's just a scramble of ocean/water oriented stuff I've found atm, I'll look into cutting and optimizing after I've scrounged up all the cool looking cards I might want.
tappedout.net/mtg-decks/08-12-14-sea-monsters/
UGUPrime Speaker Seamonster RampUGU
WUGDerevi Does NothingWUG
RRRFeldon's Lovely LadiesRRR
U Arcum, Tinker to Victory Competitive EDH
RGB Kresh Sac EDH
RGU Animar Aggro EDH
Very cool! That would certainly provide a steady flow of creatures, leaving mana up for counter/bounce protection, and the additional scry is a nice bonus if it wiffs. Not sure what I could cut for this, have been thinking that Prophet of Kruphix probably wants to go back in too, theme be damned.
UGUPrime Speaker Seamonster RampUGU
WUGDerevi Does NothingWUG
RRRFeldon's Lovely LadiesRRR
*Edit* How big of a role has Disrupting Shoal played for you in the past? I'm asking because it's either a mana sink for a high cmc counter effect or you're giving up a possibly much needed spell that needs to be the exact mana cost of whatever you're countering.
U Arcum, Tinker to Victory Competitive EDH
RGB Kresh Sac EDH
RGU Animar Aggro EDH
Yeah, not sure what Obelisk is doing there. I think it must have been part of the "that is a sweet new card, better jam it in every deck" strategy. Cut.
Disrupting Shoal is a sub-optimal flavor choice, it's a school of fish that counters their spell! Aside from that it has been fun, ans since I am a bit ham-fisted at the helm of a blue deck and tend to tap out when I shouldn't it has actually served me well. Its high point was countering a Blasphemous Act when I had a solid board position by pitching a surplus inkwell leviathan. Once this deck gets going I usually have a full grip and can afford to pitch something, whether the cmcs line up is a bit of a gamble, but also a bit of fun.
UGUPrime Speaker Seamonster RampUGU
WUGDerevi Does NothingWUG
RRRFeldon's Lovely LadiesRRR
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Fierce Empath
Tooth and Nail
Cream of the Crop