For whatever reason I got to drafting some Derevi. I don't know what my intentions are but it seemed interesting in a lot of ways. The goal of this build is sort of crazy abundant mana and it uses Derevi in a few fun ways to abuse things.
I'd suggest increasing your land count while adding Sakura-Tribe Scout, Skyshroud Ranger, Azusa, Lotus Cobra, Crucible of Worlds, Titania, Scapeshift, Stone-Seeder Hierophant, basically Derevi Lands. I think it gets you to 10+ mana faster while taking advantage of more creature/land synergies. A T1 Scout or Ranger with a couple lands in hand translates into 4 lands T2
I'd suggest increasing your land count while adding Sakura-Tribe Scout, Skyshroud Ranger, Azusa, Lotus Cobra, Crucible of Worlds, Titania, Scapeshift, Stone-Seeder Hierophant, basically Derevi Lands. I think it gets you to 10+ mana faster while taking advantage of more creature/land synergies
Yea I think you are right on pushing my ramp a bit harder since that is my goal. I want to try to keep the draw sort of heavy yet but I think I can cut into some things yet.
CUTS: Angel of the Dire Hour I started with a flash control list which is why it got in there and I slowly merged it to be ramp tokens after so some things are still a little wonky. Snapcaster Mage similar to above. I ended up with less spells than I assumed I would and while its good I dont think its as core as I was going to make it if I was heavy flash spellcasting. Elspeth, Sun's Champion it doesnt interact with big mana really and while useful I think I can go elsewhere instead. Stoneforge Mystic Trinket Mage still gets skullclamp which I suspect will be the big one. I like the other two but I think they are less of important to tutor. Skyshroud Claim I am just moving it to quality over quantity with Reap and Sow.
1 Plains - given how much focus I have on ramp and such I am sacrificing my count by one to allow other things. It will still leave me with 38 lands (one doesn't produce mana) but I think thats still a good count to allow everything else I want to be doing.
ADDS: Sun Titan - oops how did I not add him.. Crucible of Worlds - seems good given my high value land targets. Titania, Protector of Argoth - I didn't think about her before but she seems amazing in retrospect. Scapeshift - I think this looks better given some of my land setups. Given that I could essentially out of the blue set up an active Emeria, the Sky Ruin or something that sounds just gravy. Reap and Sow moving a quantity ramp to a quality ramp. Beast Within derp moment in deckbuilding lol.
Swords to Plowshares -> Mystical Tutor I feel like the amount of spot removal spells I have is a bit high and I want to increase my ability to pull up an appropriate card. With so many important land setups in the deck as well as the big mana generation it feels like it could be a normal situation to want to just wildcard my way into a specific card. Swords is really good removal but in this deck I feel like producing large amounts of mana is going to be a regular thing which makes me think that extremely cheap spot removal is less necessary.
EDIT 2: More changes, some I had to think about for a while and some are just things I forgot or think would be good with this.
Phyrexian Altar -> Azusa, Lost but Seeking when it comes to the mana altars it seems to be mostly just a means of storing mana in tokens to pull it out later. I think that is still a good thing but I think that the one mana Altar is less needed offhand. Azusa has good interactions with the draw and Crucible in this deck. I am trying to keep it fast on the lands and so this is just sort of moving one type of ramp to another.
Mystic Snake -> Kamahl, Fist of Krosa I felt that with Glen Elendra + Venser + the snake I was a little heavy handed on these effects in the 4 mana slot. Creatures dont give me that much value offhand and having other targets I can also pick made me less keen on the snake who has a more narrow job and cannot be poded into well. Its nice that the snake is a hard removal effect but I still prefer venser for his versatility. Kamahl gives me wrath protection as well as another wincon. Vs removal light decks he will be able to smash the win on his own and against wrath heavy decks he can make them think twice on smashing their wraths.
Pact of Negation -> Eternal Witness pact seems less needed in this list given the large focus on ramp. I derped and left out witness who seems good for just generic recovery. I have more of a focus so I am trying to keep from my random goodstuff spells taking over too much here.
I am still playing with this list a bit. I am actually liking the concept more since swift's idea of making it into more of a lands.deck.
DECK CHANGE:
Sylvan Scrying -> Knight of the Reliquary the downside is that its a little slower of a change but with the deck's land recursion and importance in nonbasic lands it seems like a good move to make still. The Knight interacts with some of the creature interactions of the deck and can get large / be a Sun Titan target. (S)he also acts as a mana dork in that you can tap the land before cycling it which is nice.
Ashnod's Altar -> Karmic Guide I realized that I didn't like the Altar as much as I had first thought. This deck generates mana and makes tokens but outside of a few X mana spells I wasnt sure what I wanted from the altar. I also realized that Karmic Guide was an effect I did not yet posess which seems like a good thing to have at least one version of for toolboxing purposes.
Bant Charm -> Blatant Thievery I found myself sort of wanting another wrath like effect. I considered a few options and in the end I decided I liked the pinpoint theft as it can be harder to retrieve some things like gods and walker commanders.
Diviner's Wand -> Genesis Wave I still like the idea of the wand as it auto equips to my commander and acts as a mana dump to draw cards. That being said, I don't anticipate myself really tutoring for the wand and in the option of just drawing one or the other I will want to draw the wave.
Derevi lands can combine the best of green and blue with untap shenanigans. Landfall synergies like Thawing Glaciers with Lotus Cobra and Derevi are great. When you're dropping a lot of lands Roil Elemental can steal the show.
Derevi lands can combine the best of green and blue with untap shenanigans. Landfall synergies like Thawing Glaciers with Lotus Cobra and Derevi are great. When you're dropping a lot of lands Roil Elemental can steal the show.
I didn't really think that much about landfall in general but Admonition Angel, Avenger of Zendikar, Lotus Cobra, and Rampaging Baloths could all be worth considering. I have always had an issue with mana dorks in this format though to be honest and Lotus Cobra really resembles a mana dork. What are the chances that Lotus Cobra provides me with more value than Bloom Tender in an average turn? I will have to give more thought into Avenger of Zendikar and Rampaging Baloths as both would fit the theme but making room is always hard. Its possible that one of them might replace Ant Queen which makes small tokens that I mostly cant pump that easily in this list as it stands.
I am conflicted on Roil Elemental because its naturally going to be a lot better when I am running reusable free sac outlets which I have been pulling out to support better synergy with the lands and tokens. I think it still seems good though against some of the all gas sort of decks that have been cropping up of late.
DECK CHANGE:
Venser, Shaper Savant -> Roil Elemental I really do like Venser but he is a one shot goodstuff effect where as the elemental seems more on theme with what I am doing. It also serves as a decent theft effect that removal light decks will have a problem answering.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
Hmm Lotus Cobra + Scapeshift, Thawing Glaciers, Fetch, Crucible, Crop Rotation, Karametra. Lotus Cobra also swings. The best thing about Lotus Cobra is you can play it and continue playing spells unlike more costly ramp or doublers which end your turn. No tempo loss. On the issue of mana dorks vs more resilient mana sources as long as you have the draw to recover from wipes you don't lose out. Cheap creatures like Bloom Tender and Lotus Cobra are invaluable in reaching where you want to get earlier. They also generate untaps and you can always clamp them. T2 Bloom Tender or Cobra into T3 bomb is quite powerful. In my meta I'm never sorry to see them because if Contamination comes down my game is basically done. Other problems are Winter Orb/Hokori. I learned, quite painfully, to diversify my mana base and make up for any increased vulnerability by adding more draw.
Hmm Lotus Cobra + Scapeshift, Thawing Glaciers, Fetch, Crucible, Crop Rotation, Karametra. Lotus Cobra also swings. The best thing about Lotus Cobra is you can play it and continue playing spells unlike more costly ramp or doublers which end your turn. No tempo loss. On the issue of mana dorks vs more resilient mana sources as long as you have the draw to recover from wipes you don't lose out. Cheap creatures like Bloom Tender and Lotus Cobra are invaluable in reaching where you want to get earlier. They also generate untaps and you can always clamp them. T2 Bloom Tender or Cobra into T3 bomb is quite powerful. In my meta I'm never sorry to see them because if Contamination comes down my game is basically done. Other problems are Winter Orb/Hokori. I learned, quite painfully, to diversify my mana base and make up for any increased vulnerability by adding more draw.
I like the tempo they can give when hit on the curve but for the most part we still frown on MLD, stax, and stasis effects in my meta. There is a few Keldon Firebombers / Natural Balance effects in my meta but they tend to be very few and in decks that cant really tutor for them. I might still consider Bloom Tender in here still because he can generate 3 mana on T3 with Derevi but for the most part its easier to stick with land ramp because its rarely disrupted for me.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
1 Derevi, Empyrial Tactician
CREATURES (25)
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
1 Eternal Witness
1 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Trinket Mage
1 Clever Impersonator
1 Ephara, God of the Polis
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Heliod, God of the Sun
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Ant Queen
1 Karametra, God of Harvests
1 Karmic Guide
1 Kruphix, God of Horizons
1 Prophet of Kruphix
1 Roil Elemental
1 Seedborn Muse
1 Titania, Protector of Argoth
1 Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
1 Nemata, Grove Guardian
1 Sun Titan
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
ARTIFACT (7)
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Skullclamp
1 Sol Ring
1 Hero's Blade
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Birthing Pod
1 Earthcraft
1 Sylvan Library
1 Aura Shards
1 Sacred Mesa
1 Nature's Will
1 Mirari's Wake
INSTANT (13)
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Arcane Denial
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Eladamri's Call
1 Mana Drain
1 Unexpectedly Absent
1 Beast Within
1 Capsize
1 Chord of Calling
1 Sphinx's Revelation
1 Cryptic Command
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Dig Through Time
SORCERY (9)
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Cultivate
1 Genesis Wave
1 Kodama's Reach
1 Wargate
1 Reap and Sow
1 Scapeshift
1 Rout
1 Blatant Thievery
PLANESWALKER (1)
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Academy Ruins
1 Alchemist's Refuge
1 Arid Mesa
1 Breeding Pool
1 City of Shadows
1 Command Tower
1 Diamond Valley
1 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
1 Flooded Strand
6 Forest
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 Gavony Township
1 Hallowed Fountain
4 Island
1 Kor Haven
1 Misty Rainforest
5 Plains
1 Polluted Delta
1 Savannah
1 Strip Mine
1 Temple Garden
1 Thawing Glaciers
1 Tropical Island
1 Tundra
1 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Foothills
CONSIDERATIONS
Signature by Inkfox Aesthetics by Xen
[Modern] Allies
BRGrenzo, Dungeon Warden EDH
GAzusa, Always in a Rush EDH
GWUDerevi, Empyrial Warlord EDH
Trade thread on MOTL
Yea I think you are right on pushing my ramp a bit harder since that is my goal. I want to try to keep the draw sort of heavy yet but I think I can cut into some things yet.
CUTS:
Angel of the Dire Hour I started with a flash control list which is why it got in there and I slowly merged it to be ramp tokens after so some things are still a little wonky.
Snapcaster Mage similar to above. I ended up with less spells than I assumed I would and while its good I dont think its as core as I was going to make it if I was heavy flash spellcasting.
Elspeth, Sun's Champion it doesnt interact with big mana really and while useful I think I can go elsewhere instead.
Stoneforge Mystic Trinket Mage still gets skullclamp which I suspect will be the big one. I like the other two but I think they are less of important to tutor.
Skyshroud Claim I am just moving it to quality over quantity with Reap and Sow.
1 Plains - given how much focus I have on ramp and such I am sacrificing my count by one to allow other things. It will still leave me with 38 lands (one doesn't produce mana) but I think thats still a good count to allow everything else I want to be doing.
ADDS:
Sun Titan - oops how did I not add him..
Crucible of Worlds - seems good given my high value land targets.
Titania, Protector of Argoth - I didn't think about her before but she seems amazing in retrospect.
Scapeshift - I think this looks better given some of my land setups. Given that I could essentially out of the blue set up an active Emeria, the Sky Ruin or something that sounds just gravy.
Reap and Sow moving a quantity ramp to a quality ramp.
Beast Within derp moment in deckbuilding lol.
I should also look to see if I cant squeeze Crop Rotation, and Life from the Loam in there if I get a chance.
EDIT: Adding one more change while I am at it.
Swords to Plowshares -> Mystical Tutor I feel like the amount of spot removal spells I have is a bit high and I want to increase my ability to pull up an appropriate card. With so many important land setups in the deck as well as the big mana generation it feels like it could be a normal situation to want to just wildcard my way into a specific card. Swords is really good removal but in this deck I feel like producing large amounts of mana is going to be a regular thing which makes me think that extremely cheap spot removal is less necessary.
EDIT 2: More changes, some I had to think about for a while and some are just things I forgot or think would be good with this.
Phyrexian Altar -> Azusa, Lost but Seeking when it comes to the mana altars it seems to be mostly just a means of storing mana in tokens to pull it out later. I think that is still a good thing but I think that the one mana Altar is less needed offhand. Azusa has good interactions with the draw and Crucible in this deck. I am trying to keep it fast on the lands and so this is just sort of moving one type of ramp to another.
Mystic Snake -> Kamahl, Fist of Krosa I felt that with Glen Elendra + Venser + the snake I was a little heavy handed on these effects in the 4 mana slot. Creatures dont give me that much value offhand and having other targets I can also pick made me less keen on the snake who has a more narrow job and cannot be poded into well. Its nice that the snake is a hard removal effect but I still prefer venser for his versatility. Kamahl gives me wrath protection as well as another wincon. Vs removal light decks he will be able to smash the win on his own and against wrath heavy decks he can make them think twice on smashing their wraths.
Pact of Negation -> Eternal Witness pact seems less needed in this list given the large focus on ramp. I derped and left out witness who seems good for just generic recovery. I have more of a focus so I am trying to keep from my random goodstuff spells taking over too much here.
Signature by Inkfox Aesthetics by Xen
[Modern] Allies
DECK CHANGE:
Sylvan Scrying -> Knight of the Reliquary the downside is that its a little slower of a change but with the deck's land recursion and importance in nonbasic lands it seems like a good move to make still. The Knight interacts with some of the creature interactions of the deck and can get large / be a Sun Titan target. (S)he also acts as a mana dork in that you can tap the land before cycling it which is nice.
Ashnod's Altar -> Karmic Guide I realized that I didn't like the Altar as much as I had first thought. This deck generates mana and makes tokens but outside of a few X mana spells I wasnt sure what I wanted from the altar. I also realized that Karmic Guide was an effect I did not yet posess which seems like a good thing to have at least one version of for toolboxing purposes.
Bant Charm -> Blatant Thievery I found myself sort of wanting another wrath like effect. I considered a few options and in the end I decided I liked the pinpoint theft as it can be harder to retrieve some things like gods and walker commanders.
Diviner's Wand -> Genesis Wave I still like the idea of the wand as it auto equips to my commander and acts as a mana dump to draw cards. That being said, I don't anticipate myself really tutoring for the wand and in the option of just drawing one or the other I will want to draw the wave.
Signature by Inkfox Aesthetics by Xen
[Modern] Allies
BRGrenzo, Dungeon Warden EDH
GAzusa, Always in a Rush EDH
GWUDerevi, Empyrial Warlord EDH
Trade thread on MOTL
I didn't really think that much about landfall in general but Admonition Angel, Avenger of Zendikar, Lotus Cobra, and Rampaging Baloths could all be worth considering. I have always had an issue with mana dorks in this format though to be honest and Lotus Cobra really resembles a mana dork. What are the chances that Lotus Cobra provides me with more value than Bloom Tender in an average turn? I will have to give more thought into Avenger of Zendikar and Rampaging Baloths as both would fit the theme but making room is always hard. Its possible that one of them might replace Ant Queen which makes small tokens that I mostly cant pump that easily in this list as it stands.
I am conflicted on Roil Elemental because its naturally going to be a lot better when I am running reusable free sac outlets which I have been pulling out to support better synergy with the lands and tokens. I think it still seems good though against some of the all gas sort of decks that have been cropping up of late.
DECK CHANGE:
Venser, Shaper Savant -> Roil Elemental I really do like Venser but he is a one shot goodstuff effect where as the elemental seems more on theme with what I am doing. It also serves as a decent theft effect that removal light decks will have a problem answering.
Signature by Inkfox Aesthetics by Xen
[Modern] Allies
BRGrenzo, Dungeon Warden EDH
GAzusa, Always in a Rush EDH
GWUDerevi, Empyrial Warlord EDH
Trade thread on MOTL
I like the tempo they can give when hit on the curve but for the most part we still frown on MLD, stax, and stasis effects in my meta. There is a few Keldon Firebombers / Natural Balance effects in my meta but they tend to be very few and in decks that cant really tutor for them. I might still consider Bloom Tender in here still because he can generate 3 mana on T3 with Derevi but for the most part its easier to stick with land ramp because its rarely disrupted for me.
Signature by Inkfox Aesthetics by Xen
[Modern] Allies