I have been playing EDH for roughly 5 years. I've always wanted to build to a seamonster deck since I have always had a fascination with deap-sea creatures. I am currently trying to introduce two of my friends to MTG and beating them down with either a finely tuned Horde of Notions or Azami deck is proving to be counter-productive. The purpose of this deck is to be casual, ocean-themed and relatively cheap to build.
The General
I really do not want to be using this general for my deck since Kruphix's relation with water is ambiguous to say the least and does not necessarily fit with the theme. That being said, playing high cmc seamonsters requires you to have access to green. Ignoring the thematic limitations, I have found kruphix to work exceptionally well since he ramps well and remains on the board.
I am also currently trying out Lorthos. Mono-blue is slower then UG, but stuff such as power gauntlet, caged sun, extra-planar lens, high tide, and sapphire gem he might work. Another plus for Lorthos is that he is one of my favorite creatures in the game and draws very little aggro because no one uses him.
If lorthos proves too slow, my next option will be using Prime Speaker Zegana as general. She fits the theme, she is powerful and provides access to green. The only problem with her being that the people who have used her in my playgroup tend to play her as a bounce/combo general that draws +30 cards in one turn and then combos out. Generally speaking, she attracts a lot of aggression from the other players.
Limitations
This deck suffers from a large number of flaws since it is a purely casual deck. The two most noticeable ones being the vulnerability to boardwipes and the poor deck tempo. On the bright side, this deck draws very little initial aggro and can put out a surprisingly large amount of creature damage past turn 7-8. I am generally not too keen on fitting in cards that do not fit with the nautical theme, but I would appreciate any suggestions.
Please feel free to provide any feedback. Do keep in mind that I do not plan on spending more then $30 total on improving this deck.
I'd argue that monoblue with manarocks allows for a more thematic build, with either Thassa or Lorthos at the helm.
Still, I like the incorporation of merfolk with the sea monsters, and may merge my monoblue sea monsters and my Thada Adel decks together to do so, myself. Also the Arcane Lighthouse is an excellent inclusion - that is going right in!
Thassa is my Commander, and I rely on artifact mana and scrying to mitigate the high cmc of many of my threats. Objectively, several of the cards I run are inefficient garbage. Subjectively, many of those same cards are thematically strong.
As for handling boardwipes, check art for sea-based countermagic? I know there is one based on Thassa and devotion. Maybe a merfolk wizard that can counter? Disrupting Shoal? Familiar's Ruse?
Love the deck, I'm in the process of buildling a similar casual deck with Thassa as the general. Per your $30 or less statement, and you did mention you wanted to stick to theme I have the following suggestions:
Prophet of Kruphix, while it is absolutely bonkers and a huge hate magnet, wouldn't do anything too broken aside from the off chance you can Blue Sun's Zenith someone to death, or tap down the whole board with Icy Blast. However you're already doing the latter with cards like Lorthos, the Tidemaker, Shipbreaker Kraken, and Breaching Leviathan so it's actually not too oppressive here. At about $1.50 you can't go wrong. I may be stretching the theme here, but Kruphix is your general, so followers right?
Teferi's Veil is a super cheap inclusion ($0.25) that saves you from opposing board wipes.
Surestrike Trident (($0.25) is nautical themed and allows you to skip the combat phase and go straight for the face.
I'd argue that monoblue with manarocks allows for a more thematic build, with either Thassa or Lorthos at the helm.
Still, I like the incorporation of merfolk with the sea monsters, and may merge my monoblue sea monsters and my Thada Adel decks together to do so, myself. Also the Arcane Lighthouse is an excellent inclusion - that is going right in!
Thassa is my Commander, and I rely on artifact mana and scrying to mitigate the high cmc of many of my threats. Objectively, several of the cards I run are inefficient garbage. Subjectively, many of those same cards are thematically strong.
As for handling boardwipes, check art for sea-based countermagic? I know there is one based on Thassa and devotion. Maybe a merfolk wizard that can counter?
Cheers!
You're absolutely right that Thassa is much much more thematic and Lorthos is probably my favorite creature in the MTG. That being said, I dont feel very comfortable without green. With stuff like Caged sun and power gauntlet, and high tide, I can definitely see mono-blue working, but those are out of my budget for the moment. Running mono U would also make Master of Waves Viable, which is awesome.
I'll be trying to fit in Rootwater Thief and Fathom Crawler, they look like great cards. Im not a fan of wave elemental, but I do think that Tidal Force might be a good inclusion.
Love the deck, I'm in the process of buildling a similar casual deck with Thassa as the general. Per your $30 or less statement, and you did mention you wanted to stick to theme I have the following suggestions:
Prophet of Kruphix, while it is absolutely bonkers and a huge hate magnet, wouldn't do anything too broken aside from the off chance you can Blue Sun's Zenith someone to death, or tap down the whole board with Icy Blast. However you're already doing the latter with cards like Lorthos, the Tidemaker, Shipbreaker Kraken, and Breaching Leviathan so it's actually not too oppressive here. At about $1.50 you can't go wrong. I may be stretching the theme here, but Kruphix is your general, so followers right?
Teferi's Veil is a super cheap inclusion ($0.25) that saves you from opposing board wipes.
Surestrike Trident (($0.25) is nautical themed and allows you to skip the combat phase and go straight for the face.
You probably don't need it here, but I figure I would mention that Flood works well when paired with Archetype of Imagination.
EDIT: I also just noticed that Borrowing 100,000 Arrows has boats on it. Again, stretching the theme but it works well with your tapdown suite.
Prophet of Kruphix is amazing, and the promo art is awesome. I think I will leave it out for the moment, because my playgroup tends to focus down people who get that card out.
Teferi's veil also look incredibly good. I honestly paid no attention to it until now because I never really bothered to look up the Phase keyword. Will be playtesting this. Not a fan of the Remora, I know it's good and that it fits the theme, but Rhystic Study just seems more reliable. It's a shame mono-blue doesnt have recursion, some cards like Shipbreaker Kraken, get taken out pretty quickly by the opponent.
I could have sworn I played against you yesterday but then I realized that the Kruphix deck I played against didnt play merfolk. The only suggestion I have that hasnt been mentioned is Simic Sky Swallower. Its still a leviathan (how is Draining Whelk not one?) and fits well with your theme.
Im bookmarking this page for future reference as I love the idea of this deck and have been looking to build a more casual deck.
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I could have sworn I played against you yesterday but then I realized that the Kruphix deck I played against didnt play merfolk. The only suggestion I have that hasnt been mentioned is Simic Sky Swallower. Its still a leviathan (how is Draining Whelk not one?) and fits well with your theme.
Im bookmarking this page for future reference as I love the idea of this deck and have been looking to build a more casual deck.
Im not a fan of Simic Sky Swallower because he seems more like so air serpent thing. Draining Whelk definitely has a place somewhere in the list, he is very fish-like.
Wouldn't Zegana be more fitting general than Kruphix? She's merfolk and you'd draw quite a bunch of cards with some seamonster in the battlefield.
Im currently trying the list out as mono-blue with Lorthos. I do agree that Zegana would be a better general then Kruphix theme-wise. The main reason she is currently *not* the general is because a number of people in my play group run her as a combo/control deck, and I dont want people to get the wrong idea about the deck I'm running. If Lorthos proves too slow, I will probably go with Zegana.
You could try using a Sultai-colored general thus being able to include all the leviathans and sea monsters that use B.
Sultai is a great color combo, but non of the generals seem to fit the theme. Sidsi is arguably the closest fit since he is a Naga. In Warcraft lore, Naga are definetley an aquatic race, but in MTG it is much more ambiguous. Are there any sea-monsters other then Wrexial who use black mana?
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This thread has me tinkering with my sea monsters, and I found Tempt with Reflections. The art fits, and depending on what you target and your meta, could be fun. Its only drawback is that involves targeting only creatures you control. Sorcery speed may or may not also be a drawback.
I'll try to post my deck in its own thread later today, for comparison and posterity.
It seems you've already noted that card. For discussion, then, how many giant fish are too many?
Cheers!
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I think you should go with a mono blue with thassa because you only have 10 green card in the deck. If you remove these 10 card you ould add some counterspell and blue control card.
This thread has me tinkering with my sea monsters, and I found Tempt with Reflections. The art fits, and depending on what you target and your meta, could be fun. Its only drawback is that involves targeting only creatures you control. Sorcery speed may or may not also be a drawback.
I'll try to post my deck in its own thread later today, for comparison and posterity.
It seems you've already noted that card. For discussion, then, how many giant fish are too many?
Cheers!
I look forward to seeing your list. As long as WTC keeps printing big fish cards, I'll keep adding 'em (200 card decks are a pain too shuffle, I guess...)
I think you should go with a mono blue with thassa because you only have 10 green card in the deck. If you remove these 10 card you ould add some counterspell and blue control card.
Im currently playing around with Mono-Blue Lorthos. Doesnt draw any hate and I dont have a foil Thassa yet. I cant use non-foil cards as generals, I just hate it.
In other news this guy has pretty cool typing. Not the most useful, but not the worse either. Plus, the artwork is nice.
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I am also currently trying out Lorthos. Mono-blue is slower then UG, but stuff such as power gauntlet, caged sun, extra-planar lens, high tide, and sapphire gem he might work. Another plus for Lorthos is that he is one of my favorite creatures in the game and draws very little aggro because no one uses him.
If lorthos proves too slow, my next option will be using Prime Speaker Zegana as general. She fits the theme, she is powerful and provides access to green. The only problem with her being that the people who have used her in my playgroup tend to play her as a bounce/combo general that draws +30 cards in one turn and then combos out. Generally speaking, she attracts a lot of aggression from the other players.
Please feel free to provide any feedback. Do keep in mind that I do not plan on spending more then $30 total on improving this deck.
1x Breaching Leviathan
1x Colossal Whale
1x Deep-Sea Kraken
1x Lorthos, the Tidemaker
1x Pearl Lake Ancient
1x Scourge of Fleets
1x Sealock Monster
1x Shipbreaker Kraken
1x Stormsurge Kraken
1x Stormtide Leviathan
1x Trench Gorger
1x Tromokratis
1x Inkwell Leviathan
Merfolk
1x Cold-Eyed Selkie
1x Coralhelm Commander
1x Deepchannel Mentor
1x Kiora's Follower
1x Lord of Atlantis
1x Master of the Pearl Trident
1x Merfolk Looter
1x Merfolk Sovereign
1x Merrow Harbinger
1x Merrow Reejerey
1x Prime Speaker Zegana
1x Stonybrook Banneret
1x Thada Adel, Acquisitor
1x Tideshaper Mystic
1x Wake Thrasher
1x Chasm Skulker
1x Keiga, the Tide Star
1x Reef Worm
Enchantments
1x Asceticism
1x Coastal Piracy
1x Flood
1x Leyline of Anticipation
1x Quest for Ula's Temple
1x Rhystic Study
1x Spreading Seas
1x Bident of Thassa
Artifacts
1x Armillary Sphere
1x Expedition Map
1x Quicksilver Fountain
1x Sol Ring
Instants
1x Ætherspouts
1x Blue Sun's Zenith
1x Cyclonic Rift
1x Harrow
1x Icy Blast
Sea Gods
1x Kruphix, God of Horizon
1x Thassa, God of the Sea
1x Kiora, the Crashing Wave
1x Æther Gale
1x Cultivate
1x Curse of the Swine
1x Devastation Tide
1x Explosive Vegetation
1x Inundate
1x Kodama's Reach
1x Rite of Replication
1x Whelming Wave
1x Aquitect's Will
Lands
1x Arcane Lighthouse
1x Cephalid Coliseum
1x Coral Atoll
14x Forest
1x Halimar Depths
1x Hinterland Harbor
20x Island
Potential Additions to the deck
These are cards that I have no tried yet, but may prove useful in the deck and fit the theme.
1x Sigiled Starfish
1x Teferi's veil
1x Mystic Remora
1x Thassa's Rebuff
1x Draining Whelk
1x Fathom Trawl
1x Scattering Stroke
1x Tidal Force
1x Floodgate (Mono-U)
1x Ponder (Lorwyn)
1x Washout
1x Master of Waves (Mono-U)
1x Domineering Will
1x Breaking Wave
1x Dulcet Siren
1x Deadeye Navigator (especially if Zegana is general)
1x Equilibirum
1x Distorting wake
1x Elusive Krasis (especially with Vorel)
1x Nimbus Swimmer (not keen on airborne-leviathans)
1x Simic Sky-Swallower (not keen on airborne-leviathans)
1x Shambleshark (not a great card, but the art looks hilarious)
1x Wistful Selkie
1x Hedron Crab
1x High Seas
1x Homarid Spawning Bed (Nice response to spot removal)
1x Shell of the Last Kappa
1x Hypnotic Siren (She looks more like a harpy)
1x Iceberg
1x Inexorable Tide (No use unless Vorel is general)
1x Into the Roil
1x Isleback Spawn (Meh)
1x Kapsho Kitefins
1x Kederekt Leviathan (Art looks stupid)
1x Lingering Mirage
1x Lighthouse Chronologist
1x Man-O'-War
1x Merchant Scroll
1x Mind Spring
1x Sea's Claim
1x Seassinger
1x Sinking Feeling
1x Surgespanner
1x Talrand, Sky Summoner
1x Tempt with Reflections
1x Thassa's Ire
1x Time Warp (M10 art)
1x Well of Ideas
GSelvala, Heart of the Wilds Inf Combo/FattiesG
GWSaffi Eriksdotter Inf ComboGW
BLiliana, Heretical Healer StaxB
RKiki-Jikki, Inf Combo/ETB AbuseR
Still, I like the incorporation of merfolk with the sea monsters, and may merge my monoblue sea monsters and my Thada Adel decks together to do so, myself. Also the Arcane Lighthouse is an excellent inclusion - that is going right in!
I am having some success and fun with Aqueous Form, Sigiled Starfish, Interpret the Signs, Spiny Starfish, Research the Deep, Halimar Wavewatch, Ensnare, Rootwater Thief, Wave Elemental, High Tide, Fathom Trawl, Seasinger, Cryptic Annelid, Ghost Ship, and Serpent of the Endless Sea, alongside numerous means to ensure my opponents have an island when necessary.
Thassa is my Commander, and I rely on artifact mana and scrying to mitigate the high cmc of many of my threats. Objectively, several of the cards I run are inefficient garbage. Subjectively, many of those same cards are thematically strong.
As for handling boardwipes, check art for sea-based countermagic? I know there is one based on Thassa and devotion. Maybe a merfolk wizard that can counter? Disrupting Shoal? Familiar's Ruse?
Cheers!
Krichaiushii on PucaTrade.
Prophet of Kruphix, while it is absolutely bonkers and a huge hate magnet, wouldn't do anything too broken aside from the off chance you can Blue Sun's Zenith someone to death, or tap down the whole board with Icy Blast. However you're already doing the latter with cards like Lorthos, the Tidemaker, Shipbreaker Kraken, and Breaching Leviathan so it's actually not too oppressive here. At about $1.50 you can't go wrong. I may be stretching the theme here, but Kruphix is your general, so followers right?
Teferi's Veil is a super cheap inclusion ($0.25) that saves you from opposing board wipes.
Surestrike Trident (($0.25) is nautical themed and allows you to skip the combat phase and go straight for the face.
Mystic Remora instead of Rhystic Study maybe? It has a fish on it.
You probably don't need it here, but I figure I would mention that Flood works well when paired with Archetype of Imagination.
EDIT: I also just noticed that Borrowing 100,000 Arrows has boats on it. Again, stretching the theme but it works well with your tapdown suite.
You're absolutely right that Thassa is much much more thematic and Lorthos is probably my favorite creature in the MTG. That being said, I dont feel very comfortable without green. With stuff like Caged sun and power gauntlet, and high tide, I can definitely see mono-blue working, but those are out of my budget for the moment. Running mono U would also make Master of Waves Viable, which is awesome.
I'll be trying to fit in Rootwater Thief and Fathom Crawler, they look like great cards. Im not a fan of wave elemental, but I do think that Tidal Force might be a good inclusion.
Water based counters that I am considering include: Thassa's Rebuff, Draining Whelk, Familiar's Ruse, Fervent Denial, Kheru Spellsnatcher, Possibly Kira?, Nullify, Scattering Stroke, Silumgar Spelleater, and Sunken Field. The other option would be to deviate from the theme and include all sorts of counters. I will probably only do this if further playtesting indicates that this deck cannot survive without counters.
Thanks for the advice!
Prophet of Kruphix is amazing, and the promo art is awesome. I think I will leave it out for the moment, because my playgroup tends to focus down people who get that card out.
Teferi's veil also look incredibly good. I honestly paid no attention to it until now because I never really bothered to look up the Phase keyword. Will be playtesting this. Not a fan of the Remora, I know it's good and that it fits the theme, but Rhystic Study just seems more reliable. It's a shame mono-blue doesnt have recursion, some cards like Shipbreaker Kraken, get taken out pretty quickly by the opponent.
GSelvala, Heart of the Wilds Inf Combo/FattiesG
GWSaffi Eriksdotter Inf ComboGW
BLiliana, Heretical Healer StaxB
RKiki-Jikki, Inf Combo/ETB AbuseR
I'm gonna need to revise sooner than later.
I applaud your not running Prophet in the GU build.
Cheers!
Krichaiushii on PucaTrade.
Promo Wash Out is right on theme too.
GSelvala, Heart of the Wilds Inf Combo/FattiesG
GWSaffi Eriksdotter Inf ComboGW
BLiliana, Heretical Healer StaxB
RKiki-Jikki, Inf Combo/ETB AbuseR
Im bookmarking this page for future reference as I love the idea of this deck and have been looking to build a more casual deck.
The Mimeoplasm || Karador, Ghost Chieftain
Prossh, Skyraider of Kher || Vial Smasher/Tymna Group Slug
Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief || Talrand, Sky Summoner
Yidris - Unblockable Saboteurs || Kiki-Jiki, ETB breaker
Kess, Dissident Mage
BGU [Primer] Sidisi, Brood Tyrant BGU | BG [Primer] Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest BG | G [Primer] Polukranos, World Eater G
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The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
Im not a fan of Simic Sky Swallower because he seems more like so air serpent thing. Draining Whelk definitely has a place somewhere in the list, he is very fish-like.
Im currently trying the list out as mono-blue with Lorthos. I do agree that Zegana would be a better general then Kruphix theme-wise. The main reason she is currently *not* the general is because a number of people in my play group run her as a combo/control deck, and I dont want people to get the wrong idea about the deck I'm running. If Lorthos proves too slow, I will probably go with Zegana.
Sultai is a great color combo, but non of the generals seem to fit the theme. Sidsi is arguably the closest fit since he is a Naga. In Warcraft lore, Naga are definetley an aquatic race, but in MTG it is much more ambiguous. Are there any sea-monsters other then Wrexial who use black mana?
GSelvala, Heart of the Wilds Inf Combo/FattiesG
GWSaffi Eriksdotter Inf ComboGW
BLiliana, Heretical Healer StaxB
RKiki-Jikki, Inf Combo/ETB AbuseR
I'll try to post my deck in its own thread later today, for comparison and posterity.
It seems you've already noted that card. For discussion, then, how many giant fish are too many?
Cheers!
Krichaiushii on PucaTrade.
I look forward to seeing your list. As long as WTC keeps printing big fish cards, I'll keep adding 'em (200 card decks are a pain too shuffle, I guess...)
Im currently playing around with Mono-Blue Lorthos. Doesnt draw any hate and I dont have a foil Thassa yet. I cant use non-foil cards as generals, I just hate it.
In other news this guy has pretty cool typing. Not the most useful, but not the worse either. Plus, the artwork is nice.
GSelvala, Heart of the Wilds Inf Combo/FattiesG
GWSaffi Eriksdotter Inf ComboGW
BLiliana, Heretical Healer StaxB
RKiki-Jikki, Inf Combo/ETB AbuseR