"The realization that one is dying is far more terrifying than death itself." -Sidisi, Silumgar Vizier
The purpose of this thread is not to tell you how you have to build Sidisi, but rather how personally believe you should build Sidisi. It seems that every time I find a decklist for her someone has a different take on what she should be doing. Is she a combo machine? A reanimator? Pure control? Or some combination thereof? What does a Sidisi deck do?
Let's take a moment and look at what Sidisi does.
Pretty simple, right? She clearly has two things going on:
She self-mills for 3 each time she enters the battlefield or attacks.
Whenever creature cards are put into you graveyard from your library, she creates a zombie.
(Remember though, it's a single zombie for each instance of creature cards going to the graveyard from library, not a zombie per creature.)
Right off the bat we know at least one thing: Sidisi wants creatures. Specifically, she wants to put creatures from library to graveyard to amass herself an army. So we need to get those cards in there to make use of that as best possible. There are a variety of ways to do that, we'll get to that more later.
Now let's take a look at the colors Sidisi brings with her.
B Black lets us access tutors to grab what we need in a pinch and a few board wipes for when things get out of hand. Not to mention those sweet, sweet zombies. U Blue brings a lot to the table, namely card advantage, counterspells, and clone-effects. This is our way to control the flow of the game. G Green in EDH does what it does best: ramp. Other than that it also gives us artifact/enchantment hate and the ability to get things back from the graveyard that we didn't want to be there.
Put all of this together and what do we get? A toolbox. Now that may sound a little off. If my general wants to create a bunch of creatures to kill my opponents, why would I want a toolbox? Why not get a bunch of huge, beefy creatures and do that? Why would I want a toolbox for that? It's simple really. Take a moment to think about what we want to do with our creatures here. A team of Worldspine Wurm, Guile, and Reiver Demon can all attack well, they all have evasion and will kill an opponent quickly. But what are you going to do when they get put in the graveyard? Yes, we could easily reanimate them in some way, we have the right colors for that. But tell me, what happens when an enemy exiles your graveyard, kills your reanimated creature, or simply counters the reanimation spell? It just sit there, another large creature that you either get nothing out of because it never got to your hand or something you have to put all or your resources into getting out and trying to keep on board. Now think of the other option. What happens when I have Reclamation Sage on the field? Maybe it's a Fleshbag marauder or Snapcaster Mage. Am I going to kill my opponent in three turns? Probably not. Am I really going to be that upset that those are now a few zombies instead when they get put in the bin though? Probably not. Therefore, the idea is not to have every single creature in my deck be game ending. But rather, for every creature to be useful either in hand or graveyard as what they are, tools in a toolbox.
Time to scout out the competition.
Now that we have a bit more understanding of what we're to do with Sidisi, I would like to take a moment to compare her to the other options we have for generals in BUG. Like I said, every creature needs to be a tool in its toolbox, we need to see what brand of toolboxes we can choose from.
Damia, Sage of Stone: Damia is an amazing control general. Refilling your hand is huge in a permissions-style deck so, naturally, doing that every single turn is fantastic. The issue is that people tend to dislike when you draw 5 cards every turn and she gets hated off the board very quickly in my experience. Casting her for 4BUG is doable, casting her for 6BUG is painful, and casting her for 8BUG+ is downright dreadful when you're trying to keep up counterspell mana. Combine this with the fact her effect doesn't start until your next upkeep and now we're starting to get a headache because we poured all our mana into.. nothing.
Tasigur, the Golden Fang: Tasigur is the the new kid on the block. He has two very synergistic abilities just on himself that make playing him seem very interesting and varied. The problem I see here is that it's difficult to do things you want to do when you give your opponent(s) the decision of what you are actually doing. When you put Wonder and Damnation in the graveyard while facing an oppenent who has a huge group of flyers, what do you think they are going to give you? That's right, it's the Solemn Simulacrum that died at the beginning of the game.
The Mimeoplasm: Mimeoplasm is the graveyard combo general for BUG. Having the ability to dump just near everything into your graveyard and combo out on turn 5 is ridiculous. Then you shuffle up and play again and combo out turn 4 if you get lucky, or turn 7 if you're unlucky. But then the next game you are trying to the same thing, and the next game, and the next game... Playing him gets to be a little repetitive after a while and you start looking for a break to play something else. Then, when you want to go back to The Mimeoplasm, you find out the no one in your group wants to play against him because every game is the same.
Vorosh, the Hunter: Vorosh is our option for a Voltron commander. I have to admit, it's very nice when you can attack 3 times and kill 2 opponents with commander damage. Vorosh is very good at doing that. Very, very good at doing that. The issue that I find with Volrosh is that when voltron is you choice, there are often W or R generals that can simply do it better. This, coupled with the issue that every Voltron-syle deck has in removal, makes me feel that maybe Volrosh, without a way to protect himself, just isn't the best option for that particular strategy.
So why choose Sidisi over the others?
This, of course, brings up the question: What makes Sidisi the best general for us?
You will like playing Sidisi if...
You like having an answer to everything.
You prefer efficiency to grandeur.
You like having multiple options.
You want every decision to be impactful.
You want a deck with a lot of synergy.
You likely won't like Sidisi if...
You like to win with commander damage.
You like crazy infinite combos.
You dislike playing control.
You want to make massive creatures
You like decks that are easy to pilot
So what exactly are we running here?
"Let the world behold what becomes of those who defy us."-Taigam, Sidisi's Hand
I would like to take a few moments to speak on each individual card choice at least briefly and explain what my thought process was on each of these. Some will be longer than others, though most will be rather short and simple.
Ramp spells: letting you do things before turn 10.
Deathrite Shaman: Often called the one-mana planeswalker, this little shaman ramps us using the lands put in any graveyard as well as giving us some reach and the ability to stabilize, all while hating on others' graveyard-based strategies.
Sol Ring: 2 mana on turn 1? 4 mana on turn 2? Yes please
Bloom Tender: Will nearly always tap for BG and sometimes even UBG! (Thank ZenN for the correction!)
Lotus Cobra: Makes multiple mana per turn with fetchlands
Far Wanderings: One of the very few ramp cards that work with graveyard strategies to huge effect.
Krosan Restorer: See above. Becomes broken when we have land producing mutiple mana each.
Wood Elves: Puts an untapped Forest into play. Notice it doesn't say Basic Forest.
Hunting Wilds: So. Much. Value. Ramp and/or game ending. Remember, they don't lose creature-status end of turn.
Oracle of Mul Daya: Play an extra land every turn. Also lets us get those pesky lands off the top of library to get some creatures inj the bin.
Skyshroud Claim: Hunting Wilds minus the creatues but wioth the upside of not coming in tapped normally.
Solemn Simulacrum: Basic land ramp and card draw on a single creature? Yes please.
Card Draw and Tutors: I need it and I need it now.
Vampiric Tutor: Choose what your next draw/mill is at instant speed.
Entomb: Allows you to get things like Wonder or Filth into the graveyard. Also can produce a token at instant speed with Sidisi out.
Vision of Beyond: Let's you pretend Ancestral Recall was never banned.
Demonic Tutor: Grabs an any answer you need. Extremely Versatile.
Sylvan Library: Extreme synergy with Sidisi by checking the top of library for creatures. Also has the ability to fill you hand every turn.
Buried Alive: Triple Entomb for creatures at sorcery speed. Does ridiculous things at times.
Forbidden Alchemy: Card "draw" that triggers Sidisi. Also has Flashback. What's not to love?
Fact or Fiction: Gives you multiple cards. Triggers Sidisi. Opponent's are always wrong.
Graveborn Muse: Exponential card draw dependent on board state, also a zombie herself. Just watch your life total.
Diabolic Intent: With free creatures this is our second Demonic Tutor
Mullldrifter: Card draw on a creature. Almost always Evoke.
Treasure Cruise: This is Visions of Beyond 2.0, better though.
Graveyard Interactions: Sometimes two in the bush is better.
Gravecrawler: This 2/1 doesn't do much by himself but he comes back every turn if you want him to and is a great answer to forced sacrifice.
Life from the Loam: Ever put a bunch of land in the graveyard when your mana-starved? Problem, meet solution. Over and Over and...
Crucible of Worlds: Makes fetchlands broken, also get the land back that you needed
Lightning Greaves: Giving Sidisi or your game-ender protection lets you focus on stopping other people from doing their rather than the other way around
Birthing Pod: Useful for replacing one answer with a new one, also turns a zombie into ramp if needed.
Bloom Tender: Unfortunately doesn't work with tokens but a lot of the creatures we have a multiple colored mana casting costs.
Umm... wat? The tokens are still permanents, and they still have a colour. So, if you have Bloom Tender and a zombie token on the table, he'll tap for BG.
Bloom Tender: Unfortunately doesn't work with tokens but a lot of the creatures we have a multiple colored mana casting costs.
Umm... wat? The tokens are still permanents, and they still have a colour. So, if you have Bloom Tender and a zombie token on the table, he'll tap for BG.
In regard to Bloom Tender, you are correct. It appears I originally misread the card and will update the post shortly to reflect the correct information. Thank you.
As far as Yavimaya Dryad is concerned, I feel that the downside of ramping for your opponent greatly outweighs the 2/1 Forestwalk. Especially if it dies.
When it comes to Sylvan Library, I didn't consider the synergy it has to make sure a creature is on top of library as best possible. This coupled with the immense amount of card advantage it gives has made me decide to cut Beseech the Queen in favor of it. Again, thank you.
Birthing Pod also looks like a very interesting card for us in this deck I am considering replacing Mesmeric Orb with it but will take some more deliberation first.
The other cards you mentioned seem very strong in most decks but I don't feel that they fit here as well as they do in something more reanimation based.
I want to thank you for the time you took to read and post, if you have any more suggestions I would be happy to hear them!
In regard to Bloom Tender, you are correct. It appears I originally misread the card and will update the post shortly to reflect the correct information. Thank you.
As far as Yavimaya Dryad is concerned, I feel that the downside of ramping for your opponent greatly outweighs the 2/1 Forestwalk. Especially if it dies.
When it comes to Sylvan Library, I didn't consider the synergy it has to make sure a creature is on top of library as best possible. This coupled with the immense amount of card advantage it gives has made me decide to cut Beseech the Queen in favor of it. Again, thank you.
Birthing Pod also looks like a very interesting card for us in this deck I am considering replacing Mesmeric Orb with it but will take some more deliberation first.
The other cards you mentioned seem very strong in most decks but I don't feel that they fit here as well as they do in something more reanimation based.
I want to thank you for the time you took to read and post, if you have any more suggestions I would be happy to hear them!
Read Yavimaya Elder again. You don't use it to give your opponent a land. It's a second Wood Elves with a more aggressive body.
Also, don't undervalue Sheoldred and Delver. The really nice thing here is that they're creatures, so they trigger Sidisi, but they also allow you to recur the numerous creatures you'll be putting in your graveyard.
Read Yavimaya Elder again. You don't use it to give your opponent a land. It's a second Wood Elves with a more aggressive body.
Also, don't undervalue Sheoldred and Delver. The really nice thing here is that they're creatures, so they trigger Sidisi, but they also allow you to recur the numerous creatures you'll be putting in your graveyard.
You gave me the wrong Yavimaya creature at first!
The only issue I have with the reanimator creatures is that nearly all of the creatures I have aren't worth reanimating. I don't personally like reanimation as it puts too much focus on keeping things in the graveyard and most, if not all, EDH players run some kind of graveyard hate
Oh wow, I read that as "target opponent" instead of "target player". What do you think you would cut for it? I'm looking at Solemn Simulacrum because 4 is a lot though it does also draw a card..
Oh wow, I read that as "target opponent" instead of "target player". What do you think you would cut for it? I'm looking at Solemn Simulacrum because 4 is a lot though it does also draw a card..
You definitely don't want to cut Solemn. He's a staple, should be in almost every deck. Too good not to play.
Even though Krosan Restorer and Far Wanderings can give you a bit of added value sometimes, I think the added value isn't worth the rest of the times that those cards will just be bad when you have an empty yard. I personally don't like them, so I'd probably cut them both, and replace them with Yavimaya Dryad and Sakura-Tribe Elder.
Also, personal preference thing I guess, but I like Hunting Wilds better than Explosive Vegetation.
You definitely don't want to cut Solemn. He's a staple, should be in almost every deck. Too good not to play.
Even though Krosan Restorer and Far Wanderings can give you a bit of added value sometimes, I think the added value isn't worth the rest of the times that those cards will just be bad when you have an empty yard. I personally don't like them, so I'd probably cut them both, and replace them with Yavimaya Dryad and Sakura-Tribe Elder.
Also, personal preference thing I guess, but I like Hunting Wilds better than Explosive Vegetation.
Krosan Restorer and Far Wanderings are both old favorites of mine, even running them in non-graveyard decks. Treshold is so easy to turn on, especially in this deck.
Hunting Wilds on the other hand, not a personal preference thing, that card is almost strictly better, i just didn't know about it! Updated.
Krosan Restorer and Far Wanderings are both old favorites of mine, even running them in non-graveyard decks. Treshold is so easy to turn on, especially in this deck.
Hunting Wilds on the other hand, not a personal preference thing, that card is almost strictly better, i just didn't know about it! Updated.
I don't know what to say. I just built a damia deck, and am now considering switching it more to this style.
The only comments I would have would be about your counterspells. Love voidslime, I am assuming mana drain is not here because you don't have one? Cause that should certainly be in there. I also don't like rewind. I have played some heavy counter decks and it makes the cut, but most of the time I'd rather have a remand, or dissipate. Rewinds is cool in that it untaps, but you don't run a lot of counters, why do you need the mana after you counter something? Is it worth the 1 more mana lost in a counter war? Is it comparably better than 1 less mana to remove a threat forever (barring general)?
It has also been pointed out to me that the majority of the time cryptic command is generally just a more expensive dismiss. Do you find that?
again, love the idea and might actually try building this.
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I basically only play EDH:
Damia, Jenara, Xiahou Dun, Mareth, Nekusar, Oloro, Kresh, Deretti
I don't know what to say. I just built a damia deck, and am now considering switching it more to this style.
The only comments I would have would be about your counterspells. Love voidslime, I am assuming mana drain is not here because you don't have one? Cause that should certainly be in there. I also don't like rewind. I have played some heavy counter decks and it makes the cut, but most of the time I'd rather have a remand, or dissipate. Rewinds is cool in that it untaps, but you don't run a lot of counters, why do you need the mana after you counter something? Is it worth the 1 more mana lost in a counter war? Is it comparably better than 1 less mana to remove a threat forever (barring general)?
It has also been pointed out to me that the majority of the time cryptic command is generally just a more expensive dismiss. Do you find that?
again, love the idea and might actually try building this.
For Rewind, you make a good argument and I think I'll actually replace it with Mana Drain there. I know a friend who has one he is willing to trade.
I would say that Cryptic Command may sometimes be just a harder to cast Dismiss but you have to realize that Dismiss has only 1 thing that it can do. Cryptic Command has 6(!) different options for its cost which makes it more than worth being harder to cast.
I don't know what to say. I just built a damia deck, and am now considering switching it more to this style.
The only comments I would have would be about your counterspells. Love voidslime, I am assuming mana drain is not here because you don't have one? Cause that should certainly be in there. I also don't like rewind. I have played some heavy counter decks and it makes the cut, but most of the time I'd rather have a remand, or dissipate. Rewinds is cool in that it untaps, but you don't run a lot of counters, why do you need the mana after you counter something? Is it worth the 1 more mana lost in a counter war? Is it comparably better than 1 less mana to remove a threat forever (barring general)?
It has also been pointed out to me that the majority of the time cryptic command is generally just a more expensive dismiss. Do you find that?
again, love the idea and might actually try building this.
The thing about Cryptic Command is that it just has so much versatility and play. The card is absolutely insane. Let me quote Conley Woods real quick from a recent article he wrote, 'cause I think he put it wonderfully:
Quote from Conley Woods »
Cryptic Command could do anything because while it had four modes, most of the modes had modes and some of those modes also had modes. Any spell and any permanent could be touched by Cryptic Command.
The options you get when you play that card are just insane.
Also, as far as Rewind goes, I'd probably cut that for Plasm Capture. Love that card. And yeah, Mana Drain should definitely be in here if you can have it.
I feel that Oracle just doesn't do enough in this deck as the list is getting tighter and tighter, also concerned about Orb turning on others' graveyard shenanigans...
Thoughts?
Also from that list you gave me, the thing I'm most interested in is Diabolic Intent but am having trouble choosing what to take out for it.
Well, as far as things to cut, some cards I don't really care for here, personally: Fleshbag Marauder - I'd probably swap this out for like Big Game Hunter or Bone Shredder or something Kessig Cagebreakers - If he ever gets to attack he could be cool, but unless you're in a very removal light meta, he's just going to die before you ever untap with him. Nullmage Shepherd - Probably better as an Acidic Slime Seedborn Muse - Prophet is just waaay better, and I'm not sure you need both. Skaab Ruinator - The main issue with this guy is just that he doesn't do anything. He's just a big dumb beater. Steel Hellkite - Doesn't really fit with what you're doing here. Seems really random and out of place. Vengevine - Cute, but not great here, I don't think. Regrowth - Not a bad card, but I'd probably replace it with the new wanna-be Eternal Witness, Den Protector. Villainous Wealth - It's not a bad card, but like the Hellkite it just seems out of place. Mesmeric Orb - Too dangerous, for multiple reasons, in my opinion.
Well, as far as things to cut, some cards I don't really care for here, personally: Fleshbag Marauder - I'd probably swap this out for like Big Game Hunter or Bone Shredder or something Kessig Cagebreakers - If he ever gets to attack he could be cool, but unless you're in a very removal light meta, he's just going to die before you ever untap with him. Nullmage Shepherd - Probably better as an Acidic Slime Seedborn Muse - Prophet is just waaay better, and I'm not sure you need both. Skaab Ruinator - The main issue with this guy is just that he doesn't do anything. He's just a big dumb beater. Steel Hellkite - Doesn't really fit with what you're doing here. Seems really random and out of place. Vengevine - Cute, but not great here, I don't think. Regrowth - Not a bad card, but I'd probably replace it with the new wanna-be Eternal Witness, Den Protector. Villainous Wealth - It's not a bad card, but like the Hellkite it just seems out of place. Mesmeric Orb - Too dangerous, for multiple reasons, in my opinion.
Skaab Ruinator may be a dumb beater but he can come back whenever I need him to, similar to Gravecrawler. In fact, those two and Vengevine often time makes Buried Alive a really broken play if I already have a few creatures in the 'yard. I would like to play those all a few more times before I consider removing them because they have done so much for me in past games.
After going back and forth with ZenN yesterday I realized that I had cut down to too few creatures in the deck and therefore decided to make add another.
I have decided to cut Grim Discovery in favor of Lighthouse Chronologist. The Chronologist gives me another creature to tutor for using birthing pod when a one-drop is no longer relevant, and a very powerful creature to boot. Discovery was, in many games, under-performing when drawn and doing absolutely nothing when put into the graveyard itself.
Furthermore: The following changes have been made in order to better fit what this deck does specifically.
I feel that Kessig Cagebreakers is a good card; I don't believe this is the right deck for it. We don't run as many creatures as other Sidisi builds and it tends to get hated off the board very quickly. Necromaster Dragon is the current choice for replacement. Though it doesn't amass tokens as quickly, it does give us token that match our game plan, especially important due to the lords we run.
Increasing Ambition is, simply put, too expense mana-wise. Often times I am never able to use the flashback on this card because I have more important things to do. Diablic intent is usually just a second Demonic Tutor because we get so many free creatures.
This is done in a a similar vein to the previous change. Sower of Temptation also adds another creature to our list that is nearly a 3-for-1 as it is usually Removal + Get another creature + a 2/2 Flyer. Very happy with this change so far
It's very easy for opponents to play around your answers when they know what you've brought to hand. In addition, seldom was Oracle netting a land later in the game as many of our lands had been tutored out some how. Lotus Cobra has a lot of synergy with the Fetchlands that we play and I think will add more consistency to the deck.
I'm not sure if this is an angle you'd pursue, but I've won many a game with my Sidisi deck on the back of the combination of Lord of Extinction and Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord. Jarad can get himself out of the yard, and I run two reanimation spells (Beacon of Unrest, which is nice because it can be used multiple times throughout a game, and Dread Return, which plays very well with all the zombie tokens to feed the flashback) that can get the Lord back. Like you I don't hang my game on my ability to reanimate things, but those two spells seemed good enough to make the cut for the times when I'd like to have them. I also don't depend on the Jarad/Lord combo to win, but I've stolen games I had no business winning because of them.
I like to use Hua Tuo, Honored Physician to ensure that Sidisi hits a creature on every attack. Worst case scenario is that they use a removal spell on a creature who is not, himself, an actual threat.
My final favorite play is to use Intuition to search up Life from the Loam, Cabal Coffers, and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. It's a no-win situation for my opponents, and everyone at my table groans when I fire it off, because they know next turn I'll be rolling in black mana.
I think I agree with you and will be updating the deck later today to include Grave Titan rather than Necromaster Dragon. I'll have to wait until I get home from work unfortunately because I have to leave in just a few short minutes.
The interaction you gave me was really cute but I don't feel that Creeping Renaissance does enough on its own to include in the deck and I don't think I have room for Scroll Rack without a broken effect to go with it. (Looking at you, Land Tax, why can't you be green!?)
Yeah, I wasn't necessarily saying you should play it, just saying it would be cute. There's also a creature with a similar ability, forget what it's called.
Pretty simple, right? She clearly has two things going on:
U Blue brings a lot to the table, namely card advantage, counterspells, and clone-effects. This is our way to control the flow of the game.
G Green in EDH does what it does best: ramp. Other than that it also gives us artifact/enchantment hate and the ability to get things back from the graveyard that we didn't want to be there.
Put all of this together and what do we get? A toolbox. Now that may sound a little off. If my general wants to create a bunch of creatures to kill my opponents, why would I want a toolbox? Why not get a bunch of huge, beefy creatures and do that? Why would I want a toolbox for that? It's simple really. Take a moment to think about what we want to do with our creatures here. A team of Worldspine Wurm, Guile, and Reiver Demon can all attack well, they all have evasion and will kill an opponent quickly. But what are you going to do when they get put in the graveyard? Yes, we could easily reanimate them in some way, we have the right colors for that. But tell me, what happens when an enemy exiles your graveyard, kills your reanimated creature, or simply counters the reanimation spell? It just sit there, another large creature that you either get nothing out of because it never got to your hand or something you have to put all or your resources into getting out and trying to keep on board. Now think of the other option. What happens when I have Reclamation Sage on the field? Maybe it's a Fleshbag marauder or Snapcaster Mage. Am I going to kill my opponent in three turns? Probably not. Am I really going to be that upset that those are now a few zombies instead when they get put in the bin though? Probably not. Therefore, the idea is not to have every single creature in my deck be game ending. But rather, for every creature to be useful either in hand or graveyard as what they are, tools in a toolbox.
Now that we have a bit more understanding of what we're to do with Sidisi, I would like to take a moment to compare her to the other options we have for generals in BUG. Like I said, every creature needs to be a tool in its toolbox, we need to see what brand of toolboxes we can choose from.
1 Bloom Tender
1 Cemetery Reaper
1 Clever Impersonator
1 Craterhoof Behemoth
1 Death Baron
1 Deathrite Shaman
1 Diregraf Captain
1 Eternal Witness
1 Filth
1 Fleshbag Marauder
1 Grave Titan
1 Graveborn Muse
1 Gravecrawler
1 Krosan Restorer
1 Lighthouse Chronologist
1 Lotus Cobra
1 Lord of the Undead
1 Master Biomancer
1 Mulldrifter
1 Mystic Snake
1 Nullmage Shepherd
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Prophet of Kruphix
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Seedborn Muse
1 Shriekmaw
1 Skaab Ruinator
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Undead Warchief
1 Vengevine
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
1 Wonder
1 Wood Elves
1 Sidisi, Brood Tyrant
Enchantment (1)
1 Sylvan Library
Artifact (5)
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Birthing Pod
1 Sol Ring
Sorcery (10)
1 Buried Alive
1 Damnation
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Hunting Wilds
1 Far Wanderings
1 Diabolic Intent
1 Life from the Loam
1 Living Death
1 Skyshroud Claim
1 Treasure Cruise
Instant (11)
1 Counterspell
1 Cryptic Command
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Entomb
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Forbidden Alchemy
1 Krosan Grip
1 Mystical Teachings
1 Mana Drain
1 Visions of Beyond
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Voidslime
Land (36)
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Breeding Pool
1 Cabal Coffers
1 Command Tower
1 Drowned Catacomb
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Flooded Grove
1 Flooded Strand
4 Forest
1 Hinterland Harbor
5 Island
1 Bayou
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Polluted Delta
1 Strip Mine
1 Sunken Ruins
2 Swamp
1 Tolaria West
1 Tropical Island
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Twilight Mire
1 Underground Sea
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Watery Grave
1 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Woodland Cemetery
4 Sidisi, Brood Tyrant
Ramp
1 Deathrite Shaman
1 Sol Ring
2 Bloom Tender
2 Lotus Cobra
3 Far Wanderings
3 Krosan Restorer
3 Wood Elves
4 Hunting Wilds
4 Oracle of Mul Daya
4 Skyshroud Claim
4 Solemn Simulacrum
Card Draw or Tutor
1 Entomb
1 Visions of Beyond
1 Vampiric Tutor
2 Demonic Tutor
2 Diabolic Intent
2 Sylvan Library
3 Buried Alive
3 Forbidden Alchemy
4 Birthing Pod
4 Fact or Fiction
4 Graveborn Muse
5 Mulldrifter
8 Treasure Cruise
1 Gravecrawler
2 Life From the Loam
2 Snapcaster Mage
3 Crucible of Worlds
3 Eternal Witness
3 Skaab Ruinator
4 Vengevine
4 Filth
4 Wonder
Toolbox
2 Counterspell
2 Mana Drain
2 Cyclonic Rift
3 Fleshbag Marauder
3 Krosan Grip
3 Reclamation Sage
4 Nullmage Shepherd
3 Voidslime
4 Cryptic Command
4 Damnation
4 Mystic Snake
4 Sower of Temptation
4 Venser, Shaper Savant
5 Living Death
5 Prophet of Kruphix
5 Seedborn Muse
5 Shriekmaw
3 Cemetery Reaper
3 Death Baron
3 Diregraf Captain
3 Lord of the Undead
4 Master Biomancer
8 Craterhoof Behemoth
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Lighthouse Chronologist
2 Lightning Greaves
4 Clever Impersonator
4 Phyrexian Metamorph
6 Grave Titan
I would like to take a few moments to speak on each individual card choice at least briefly and explain what my thought process was on each of these. Some will be longer than others, though most will be rather short and simple.
Coming Soon
Umm... wat? The tokens are still permanents, and they still have a colour. So, if you have Bloom Tender and a zombie token on the table, he'll tap for BG.
Also, Yavimaya Dryad says hi.
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Current Commanders: Derevi, Empyrial Tactician (coming soon) | [Primer] Sedris, the Traitor King | Maelstrom Wanderer | Najeela, the Blade Blossom | Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow
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Retired Commanders: [Primer] Jenara, Asura of War | [Primer] Ghave, Guru of Spores | Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury | Saskia the Unyielding | Sydri, Galvanic Genius
This deck also seems like it really wants a Sheoldred, Whispering One and maybe a Phyrexian Delver.
And Birthing Pod. Lots and lots of Birthing Pod.
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Current Commanders: Derevi, Empyrial Tactician (coming soon) | [Primer] Sedris, the Traitor King | Maelstrom Wanderer | Najeela, the Blade Blossom | Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow
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Retired Commanders: [Primer] Jenara, Asura of War | [Primer] Ghave, Guru of Spores | Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury | Saskia the Unyielding | Sydri, Galvanic Genius
In regard to Bloom Tender, you are correct. It appears I originally misread the card and will update the post shortly to reflect the correct information. Thank you.
As far as Yavimaya Dryad is concerned, I feel that the downside of ramping for your opponent greatly outweighs the 2/1 Forestwalk. Especially if it dies.
When it comes to Sylvan Library, I didn't consider the synergy it has to make sure a creature is on top of library as best possible. This coupled with the immense amount of card advantage it gives has made me decide to cut Beseech the Queen in favor of it. Again, thank you.
Birthing Pod also looks like a very interesting card for us in this deck I am considering replacing Mesmeric Orb with it but will take some more deliberation first.
The other cards you mentioned seem very strong in most decks but I don't feel that they fit here as well as they do in something more reanimation based.
I want to thank you for the time you took to read and post, if you have any more suggestions I would be happy to hear them!
Read Yavimaya Elder again. You don't use it to give your opponent a land. It's a second Wood Elves with a more aggressive body.
Also, don't undervalue Sheoldred and Delver. The really nice thing here is that they're creatures, so they trigger Sidisi, but they also allow you to recur the numerous creatures you'll be putting in your graveyard.
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Current Commanders: Derevi, Empyrial Tactician (coming soon) | [Primer] Sedris, the Traitor King | Maelstrom Wanderer | Najeela, the Blade Blossom | Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow
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Retired Commanders: [Primer] Jenara, Asura of War | [Primer] Ghave, Guru of Spores | Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury | Saskia the Unyielding | Sydri, Galvanic Genius
You gave me the wrong Yavimaya creature at first!
The only issue I have with the reanimator creatures is that nearly all of the creatures I have aren't worth reanimating. I don't personally like reanimation as it puts too much focus on keeping things in the graveyard and most, if not all, EDH players run some kind of graveyard hate
Sorry, read Yavimaya Dryad again.
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Current Commanders: Derevi, Empyrial Tactician (coming soon) | [Primer] Sedris, the Traitor King | Maelstrom Wanderer | Najeela, the Blade Blossom | Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow
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Retired Commanders: [Primer] Jenara, Asura of War | [Primer] Ghave, Guru of Spores | Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury | Saskia the Unyielding | Sydri, Galvanic Genius
You definitely don't want to cut Solemn. He's a staple, should be in almost every deck. Too good not to play.
Even though Krosan Restorer and Far Wanderings can give you a bit of added value sometimes, I think the added value isn't worth the rest of the times that those cards will just be bad when you have an empty yard. I personally don't like them, so I'd probably cut them both, and replace them with Yavimaya Dryad and Sakura-Tribe Elder.
Also, personal preference thing I guess, but I like Hunting Wilds better than Explosive Vegetation.
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Current Commanders: Derevi, Empyrial Tactician (coming soon) | [Primer] Sedris, the Traitor King | Maelstrom Wanderer | Najeela, the Blade Blossom | Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow
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Retired Commanders: [Primer] Jenara, Asura of War | [Primer] Ghave, Guru of Spores | Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury | Saskia the Unyielding | Sydri, Galvanic Genius
Krosan Restorer and Far Wanderings are both old favorites of mine, even running them in non-graveyard decks. Treshold is so easy to turn on, especially in this deck.
Hunting Wilds on the other hand, not a personal preference thing, that card is almost strictly better, i just didn't know about it! Updated.
Well, Hunting Wilds is a strictly better Ranger's Path, but it's not necessarily strictly better than Explosive Vegetation. EV can go get you non-Forest basics. It's important to keep in mind the number of forests you have, when playing so many things that specifically fetch Forests (Wood Elves, Yavimaya Dryad, Skyshroud Claim, etc).
Also, I just realized you don't have Sensei's Divining Top in there. That should probably be there, too.
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Current Commanders: Derevi, Empyrial Tactician (coming soon) | [Primer] Sedris, the Traitor King | Maelstrom Wanderer | Najeela, the Blade Blossom | Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow
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Retired Commanders: [Primer] Jenara, Asura of War | [Primer] Ghave, Guru of Spores | Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury | Saskia the Unyielding | Sydri, Galvanic Genius
What do you think I should cut for top?
Also want to take a moment and step back to thank you for how extremely helpful you are, you're the man!
The only comments I would have would be about your counterspells. Love voidslime, I am assuming mana drain is not here because you don't have one? Cause that should certainly be in there. I also don't like rewind. I have played some heavy counter decks and it makes the cut, but most of the time I'd rather have a remand, or dissipate. Rewinds is cool in that it untaps, but you don't run a lot of counters, why do you need the mana after you counter something? Is it worth the 1 more mana lost in a counter war? Is it comparably better than 1 less mana to remove a threat forever (barring general)?
It has also been pointed out to me that the majority of the time cryptic command is generally just a more expensive dismiss. Do you find that?
again, love the idea and might actually try building this.
Damia, Jenara, Xiahou Dun, Mareth, Nekusar, Oloro, Kresh, Deretti
No problem, man. I love this stuff.
I'm not sure off the top of my head what to cut for Top.
I do, however, have more suggestions for things worth consideration:
Acidic Slime
Gurmag Drowner
Sultai Soothsayer
Diabolic Intent
Sadistic Hypnotist
Shamanic Revelation
Necropotence
Phyrexian Arena
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Current Commanders: Derevi, Empyrial Tactician (coming soon) | [Primer] Sedris, the Traitor King | Maelstrom Wanderer | Najeela, the Blade Blossom | Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow
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Retired Commanders: [Primer] Jenara, Asura of War | [Primer] Ghave, Guru of Spores | Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury | Saskia the Unyielding | Sydri, Galvanic Genius
For Rewind, you make a good argument and I think I'll actually replace it with Mana Drain there. I know a friend who has one he is willing to trade.
I would say that Cryptic Command may sometimes be just a harder to cast Dismiss but you have to realize that Dismiss has only 1 thing that it can do. Cryptic Command has 6(!) different options for its cost which makes it more than worth being harder to cast.
The thing about Cryptic Command is that it just has so much versatility and play. The card is absolutely insane. Let me quote Conley Woods real quick from a recent article he wrote, 'cause I think he put it wonderfully:
The options you get when you play that card are just insane.
Also, as far as Rewind goes, I'd probably cut that for Plasm Capture. Love that card. And yeah, Mana Drain should definitely be in here if you can have it.
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Current Commanders: Derevi, Empyrial Tactician (coming soon) | [Primer] Sedris, the Traitor King | Maelstrom Wanderer | Najeela, the Blade Blossom | Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow
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Retired Commanders: [Primer] Jenara, Asura of War | [Primer] Ghave, Guru of Spores | Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury | Saskia the Unyielding | Sydri, Galvanic Genius
I'm considering cutting Coiling Oracle for Plasm Capture and now strongly considering Birthing Pod over Mesmeric Orb.
I feel that Oracle just doesn't do enough in this deck as the list is getting tighter and tighter, also concerned about Orb turning on others' graveyard shenanigans...
Thoughts?
Also from that list you gave me, the thing I'm most interested in is Diabolic Intent but am having trouble choosing what to take out for it.
Fleshbag Marauder - I'd probably swap this out for like Big Game Hunter or Bone Shredder or something
Kessig Cagebreakers - If he ever gets to attack he could be cool, but unless you're in a very removal light meta, he's just going to die before you ever untap with him.
Nullmage Shepherd - Probably better as an Acidic Slime
Seedborn Muse - Prophet is just waaay better, and I'm not sure you need both.
Skaab Ruinator - The main issue with this guy is just that he doesn't do anything. He's just a big dumb beater.
Steel Hellkite - Doesn't really fit with what you're doing here. Seems really random and out of place.
Vengevine - Cute, but not great here, I don't think.
Regrowth - Not a bad card, but I'd probably replace it with the new wanna-be Eternal Witness, Den Protector.
Villainous Wealth - It's not a bad card, but like the Hellkite it just seems out of place.
Mesmeric Orb - Too dangerous, for multiple reasons, in my opinion.
Also, you might want to add Crucible of Worlds. And Vampiric Tutor.
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Current Commanders: Derevi, Empyrial Tactician (coming soon) | [Primer] Sedris, the Traitor King | Maelstrom Wanderer | Najeela, the Blade Blossom | Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow
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Retired Commanders: [Primer] Jenara, Asura of War | [Primer] Ghave, Guru of Spores | Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury | Saskia the Unyielding | Sydri, Galvanic Genius
Fleshbag Marauder is specifically to get around hexproof or shroud plus it hits every oponnent. Know of somehting that does this better?
I am of the opinion that Nullmage Shepherd is the better of these two because she can hit multiple things, even in a single turn occasionally.
Seedborn Muse is, was, and always will be good. I think it is really worth its slot.
Mesmeric Orb is officially becoming a Birthing Pod and Regrowth will now be Crucible of Worlds. Den Protector is interesting but costs 5 mana to do anything really worthwhile and i don't think I'm comfortable with that
Will also be cutting Steel Hellkite in favor of Sensei's Divining Top and Villainous Wealth for Vampiric Tutor.
Skaab Ruinator may be a dumb beater but he can come back whenever I need him to, similar to Gravecrawler. In fact, those two and Vengevine often time makes Buried Alive a really broken play if I already have a few creatures in the 'yard. I would like to play those all a few more times before I consider removing them because they have done so much for me in past games.
I have decided to cut Grim Discovery in favor of Lighthouse Chronologist. The Chronologist gives me another creature to tutor for using birthing pod when a one-drop is no longer relevant, and a very powerful creature to boot. Discovery was, in many games, under-performing when drawn and doing absolutely nothing when put into the graveyard itself.
Furthermore: The following changes have been made in order to better fit what this deck does specifically.
- Kessig Cagebreakers
+ Necromaster Dragon
I feel that Kessig Cagebreakers is a good card; I don't believe this is the right deck for it. We don't run as many creatures as other Sidisi builds and it tends to get hated off the board very quickly. Necromaster Dragon is the current choice for replacement. Though it doesn't amass tokens as quickly, it does give us token that match our game plan, especially important due to the lords we run.
-Increasing Ambition
+Diabolic Intent
Increasing Ambition is, simply put, too expense mana-wise. Often times I am never able to use the flashback on this card because I have more important things to do. Diablic intent is usually just a second Demonic Tutor because we get so many free creatures.
-Mystical Teachings
+Sower of Temptation
This is done in a a similar vein to the previous change. Sower of Temptation also adds another creature to our list that is nearly a 3-for-1 as it is usually Removal + Get another creature + a 2/2 Flyer. Very happy with this change so far
-Coiling Oracle
+Lotus Cobra
It's very easy for opponents to play around your answers when they know what you've brought to hand. In addition, seldom was Oracle netting a land later in the game as many of our lands had been tutored out some how. Lotus Cobra has a lot of synergy with the Fetchlands that we play and I think will add more consistency to the deck.
I like to use Hua Tuo, Honored Physician to ensure that Sidisi hits a creature on every attack. Worst case scenario is that they use a removal spell on a creature who is not, himself, an actual threat.
My final favorite play is to use Intuition to search up Life from the Loam, Cabal Coffers, and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. It's a no-win situation for my opponents, and everyone at my table groans when I fire it off, because they know next turn I'll be rolling in black mana.
Also, something that just occurred to me, Creeping Renaissance + Scroll Rack would be really cute.
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Current Commanders: Derevi, Empyrial Tactician (coming soon) | [Primer] Sedris, the Traitor King | Maelstrom Wanderer | Najeela, the Blade Blossom | Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow
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Retired Commanders: [Primer] Jenara, Asura of War | [Primer] Ghave, Guru of Spores | Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury | Saskia the Unyielding | Sydri, Galvanic Genius
I think I agree with you and will be updating the deck later today to include Grave Titan rather than Necromaster Dragon. I'll have to wait until I get home from work unfortunately because I have to leave in just a few short minutes.
The interaction you gave me was really cute but I don't feel that Creeping Renaissance does enough on its own to include in the deck and I don't think I have room for Scroll Rack without a broken effect to go with it. (Looking at you, Land Tax, why can't you be green!?)
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Current Commanders: Derevi, Empyrial Tactician (coming soon) | [Primer] Sedris, the Traitor King | Maelstrom Wanderer | Najeela, the Blade Blossom | Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow
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Retired Commanders: [Primer] Jenara, Asura of War | [Primer] Ghave, Guru of Spores | Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury | Saskia the Unyielding | Sydri, Galvanic Genius