I transformed this deck from my All-Permanent Animar list which became more and more a combo deck.
Witch the change to Wanderer the deck has become less explosive and probably weaker but also more resilient to disruption and above all much more fun to play! I decided to stick with the all-permanent theme, because I played against a regular list with a fair number of extra-turn-effects and that wasn't fun to play against at all.
The bulk of the cards are still creatures because Maelstrom Wanderers haste ability makes those that much stronger. But there's also a fair number of planswalkers because they dodge most sweeps and are easy enough to protect with the number of creatures I'm generating.
Joraga Treespeaker: I like to call this card a "green Sol Ring". While not exactly as fast and a bit more fragile, it's still very potent to accelerate me into the midgame.
Sakura-Tribe Elder: Rampant Growth on a stick. There are very few reasons not to run this in a green deck, especially if your ramp has to be permanent-based.
Somberwald Sage: Another way to get you several turns ahead provided he doesn't die.
Animar, Soul of Elements: Everyone knows how broken this is as a commander. This deck has more than 40 creatures and so it can grow really fast (especially with cascaders), it's hard to kill and will eventually swing for a LOT.
Trinket Mage: Can get Sol Ring to ramp into Wanderer or Sensei's Divinig Top to set up draws and cascades. If none of those are in your library anymore, you can use Tops ability to at least draw an extra card.
Wood Elves: Gets any forest untapped. Just a very nice ramp creature and becomes only better with the new BFZ lands.
Trygon Predator: Early this has to be removed before a number of decks can really begin to build their board and he won't stop being annoying in the lategame.
Shardless Agent: I play every available cascade-creature. They provide extra bodies to chump or create a critical mass. Plus cascading is fun
Thassa, God of the Sea: Gods provide wrath insurrance and indestructible bodies (devotion is very often online in this deck). The scry is more relevant than it's often given credit (especially to find lands) and the unblockability is great when you swing with fatties.
Oracle of Mul Daya: Sets up draws and can accelerate like crazy. Seeing the topcard of your deck is also not bad when you cascade.
Solemn Simulacrum: In some other thread someone wrote "the definition of value". It's true.
Glen Elendra Archmage: A "counterspell" that's not bad to cascade into. Great to protect the board.
Kruphix, God of Horizons: There was a lot of rage because people found the UG god underwhelming but it's another resilient body and his mana storage ability generates a lot of value over a game.
Beguiler of Wills: In almost any other deck this is much to fragile and and the ability too unstable, but with almost guaranteed haste and the creature density of this deck it's very powerful. You should always be able to steal at least one big creature and for decks that can't deal with her she can be a nightmare.
Djinn of Infinite Deceits: I only just discovered this card and like Beguiler of Wills this effect is just great in this deck. There is almost always some token or small ETB/cascade creature lying around and if not you can just play politics by switching out stuff your opponents control. The non-legendary clause is kind of a bummer but on the other side he's much more sturdy than his colleague. Also works hilariously with Flameshadow Invocation
Deadeye Navigator: While I don't think this card should be banned, there is a reason why a lot of people ask for exactly that. There is a good number of ETB abilities and with haste it's ability doubles as an untap effect for cards like Bloom Tender, Heartless Hidetsugu and Beguiler of Wills.
Thunderfoot Baloth: Turns everything into a veritable threat and makes big stuff HUGE...and trampling. Not exactly as strong as Craterhoof Behemoth but can be cascaded into and has a permanent effect.
Bane of Progress: There are a few situations where this could hurt me as well but much more often this should be able to break up my opponents boards or at least set them far behind by blowing up their mana rocks. Oh and I get a huge beater out of the deal.
Steel Hellkite: Combat damage triggers are much better if the creature has haste. This deck doesn't have too many answers and this helps out in that regard since it can deal with almost anything on a large scale.
Hellkite Tyrant: See Steel Hellkite. It only works against artifacts but he literally gets them.
Etherium Horn Sorcerer: Another cascader which I can bounce and recast, should I run out of cards.
Homura, Human Ascendant: He may be a bit gimmicky but once he flips he's a super threatening anthem which most importantly grants powerful evasion. His biggest issue is the high cmc but this is probably one of the EDH decks that can best support a bit overpriced but powerful threats. He also is a bit of wrath insurance (kind of) and this deck also has some ways of getting him to flip aside from just continually shoving him in someone's face until they block.
Omnath, Locus of Rage: What a fun card! For me definitely the most exciting out of BFZ. This deck has all on color fetches and Myriad landscape along land-based ramp. It's also fairly good at making its landdrops on every turn. That means triggering landfall is not an issue. The tokens also have haste with Wanderer so Omnath can add a LOT of hard-hitting power to the board...and if someone decides to Wrath it all away they take a lot of damage for it.
Siege Behemoth: Another card that's only meh without haste but becomes very lethal with it. Makes sure your alpha strikes hits someones face directly.
Balefire Dragon: Basically a one sided boardwipe on a big beatstick.
Sphinx Ambassador: Another very fun but largely unplayable card if you don't have haste. Basically Bribery every time you hit someone. If you are smart about which creature you pick, the guessing condition shouldn't be a problem most of the time.
Myojin of Life's Web: I excluded almost any creature above 7cmc because I want to be able to cascade into all my expensive stuff but Myojin of Life's Web fits many purposes. By default it's a huge indestructible beatstick which is already nice. He lets me get to the board in a BIG way by dumping the fatties I didn't cascade into but drew, on the battlefield. And if I need to use Birthing Pod to get Wanderer back into my command zone I at least get an 8/8 out of the deal.
Kozilek, Butcher of Truth: BIG, POWERFUL and much more threatening with haste. He also refills my hand and provides some insurance if Primal Surge runs into something like a Rout.
Artifacts/Enchantments Sol Ring: Do you really need an explanation
Exploration: The biggest problem in playing an all-permanent deck is finding enough good ramp options. With this deck, I find myself keeping very land-heavy hands a lot of the time and making double landdrops lets me play my midgame cards on turn 2-3 which then facilitate very early Wanderer casts.
Scroll Rack: Solid in any deck with a reasonable amount of shuffle effects. GREAT for setting up cascades.
Khalni Heart Expedition: This is a bit of an oddball. But it's a non manarock, 2 drop ramppermanent that creates card advantage.
Temur Ascendancy: This may seem a little weird but most of the creatures in here are only great because Wanderer gives them haste. The problem is that he can not always be around and so the redundancy granted by this is really good. It's also great to have haste online in the early turns with cards like Bloom Tender and Somberwald Sage.
And it draws cards...
Birthing Pod: THE green value machine. Number one Tezzeret target which makes this deck run extremly smooth and efficient. A great tutorengine in an otherwise almost tutorless deck.
Oblivion Stone: Sometimes everything goes wrong and you want to reset everything and start from new. If you cascade into it you have it lying around as a rattlesnake and you can get it with Tezz and if you need it again, you can use Academy Ruins.
Perilous Vault: One more way to reset the board. This deck is great when it comes out in front, but there are often situations where the mana doesn't come together fast enough or in the right way or where you face a lot of permission or even just someone who's got an amazing start and cards like those can just reset everyone allowing for Maelstrom Wanderer or other big tempo engines to take over the game again.
Flameshadow Invocation: What a fun card. It's kind of haste redundancy but apart from that it lets you hit so much harder for a minimal cost. Of course it also doubles ETB and combat damage triggers.
Eldrazi Monument: Sweep protection, mass evasion AND an anthem and all you have to do is sacing your commander so you can cascade again...or if you don't want to just pitch something like Wood Elves or a token.
Warstorm Surge: It can sometime be annoying when it takes up a whole turn to get it into play but once I have it out it's insane. The best thing about it is that you can either use it to control the board or to kill problematic opponents much faster. And it's also an awesome cascade because Maelstrom Wanderer only resolves after this is on the Battlefield.
Lurking Predators: What I really like about it is that you can just drop it and it starts generating value by itself. It's something my opponents have to deal with or they will get overwhelmed. It's also a natural fit for this deck, considering the high creature count and the top deck manipulation of Top and Scroll Rack.
Planeswalkers
They are great in here because the deck pressures my opponents really hard and they add an additional clock. Resources used to deal with my walkers are not used to deal with my creatures. Also they are not hit by most sweeps.
Domri Rade: Solid for his low cost. Slowly generates CA, provides removal and the emblem is just stupid. Garruk Wildspeaker: Fast ramp and overrun, wrapped into one neat package.
Xenagos, the Reveler: The middle ability is near worthless but boy, can he generate mana! And the ultimate is also very good with so many creatures in the deck.
Tezzeret the Seeker: One of the best tutors in the format imo and a lot of great targets in here. If you don't minus him to death immediately his +1 can also be quite relevant.
Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury: She may look a bit meh at first, but I'm never sorry to get her. Her loyalty can grow fast and this deck is almost in need of mana and expandable creatures but what makes her really great is the repeatable Naturalize because many decks have to deal with her or play awkwardly around it.
Garruk, Primal Hunter: Probably the weakest of the bunch but he is great in attrition wars,the ultimate will probably kill someone and he can refill your hand in a pinch. Also beasts are relevant because of Contested Cliffs
Teferi, Temporal Archmage: Gives you cards if you need them and otherwise produces lots of mana. The ultimate is just stupid with the amount of Planeswalkers in the deck.
The Sorcery Primal Surge: The BIG payoff for playing an all permanent deck!
Utility Lands Mosswort Bridge: Online most of the time and you almost always find something worthwhile with it.
Myriad Landscape: Hitting land drops is important and ramping is important. This helps with both
Academy Ruins: There are a lot of useful and powerful artifacts in this deck which can be recycled with this. It's just a nice engine, which in some games doesn't matter to much but in others (especially very grindy ones) it can play a huge role.
Homeward Path: My deck has a lot of big creatures which are very attractive targets for Treachery, Bribery or reanimation effects so it's good to have a cheap way to get my stuff back. It also allows for some fun shenanigans with Djinn of Infinite Deceits
Kessig Wolf Run: Great to push damage through and can enable wins with commander damage.
Alchemist's Refuge: This could be one colourless producing land to many but it is really great in very attrition heavy games where being able to cast my spells during my opponents combat steps or end steps allows me to get more value out of them.
-Woodland Bellower
-Eternal Witness
Woodland Bellower was a bit lackluster compared to other options and his toolbox relatively small. Eternal Witness had barely made the cut because a) I don't necessarily want cards in my hand, I want them on the BF and b) cascading into it with an empty GY sucks.
10.9.2015
-Master Biomancer
This was in and out for a while now. I finally decided to cut it. The main concern was that he is rather fragile and doesn't affect the creatures already in play.
-Perilous Vault: I decided to give O-Stone a try since it's more abusable with Academy Ruins and leaves my gods and Spearbreaker Behemoth alive. I still want to find a slot for this though. Redundancy is always nice.
23.9.2015
-Draining Whelk
It turned out that keeping 6 mana up was often impossible and while getting a 9/9 flyer out of countering my general you still end up one card behind in this exchange.
-Nature's Will
This is really a nice card and I regret to cut it and may reconsider it if I find a slot. In the end it was a bit too incosistent, not because dealing combat damage was a problem, but because I wouldn't always have uses for the mana.
-Contested Cliffs
Three beasts and two Planeswalkers that produce beasts were just too little to make this card relevant more often than once in a while and I needed a cut for Homeward Path.
+Bane of Progress: There are a few situations where this could hurt me as well but much more often this should be able to break up my opponents boards or at least set them far behind by blowing up their mana rocks. Oh and I get a huge beater out of the deal.
+Perilous Vault: I switched this out for O-Stone which really works a bit better for this deck but I also found that I'd like one more way to have a reset switch like that. This deck is great when it comes out in front, but there are often situations where the mana doesn't come together fast enough or in the right way or where you face a lot of permission or even just someone who's got an amazing start and cards like those can just reset everyone allowing for Maelstrom Wanderer or other big tempo engines to take over the game again.
+Homeward Path: My deck has a lot of big creatures which are very attractive targets for Treachery, Bribery or reanimation effects so it's good to have a cheap way to get my stuff back. It also allows for some fun shenanigans with Djinn of Infinite Deceits
03.10.2015
-Budoka Gardener: One of the reasons I cut him was because the copy I had ordered got lost in the mail. On a more serious note: While I love the fact that he can flip and spit out massive tokens the other half is just much worse than Exploration, since it takes till turn three until he lets you make extra landdrops.
-Malignus: I'm a bit sad to cut him because of the badass art, but he's really nothing but huge.
-Heartless Hidetsugu: This is a really interesting card and I can imagine reincluding him but he also requires the right setup and is in very many situations a nearly dead card.
-Garruk, Caller of Beasts: I just love this Planeswalker, he is an incredible CA engine, but I needed to find a cut for Lurking Predators, which in many regards is rather similar, only that it put the creatures directly onto the BF.
-Yavimaya Coast
-Karplusan Forest
+Exploration: The biggest problem in playing an all-permanent deck is finding enough good ramp options. With this deck, I find myself keeping very land-heavy hands a lot of the time and making double landdrops lets me play my midgame cards on turn 2-3 which then facilitate very early Wanderer casts.
+Homura, Human Ascendant: He may be a bit gimmicky but once he flips he's a super threatening anthem which most importantly grants powerful evasion. His biggest issue is the high cmc but this is probably one of the EDH decks that can best support a bit overpriced but powerful threats. He also is a bit of wrath insurance (kind of) and this deck also has some ways of getting him to flip aside from just continually shoving him in someone's face until they block.
+Omnath, Locus of Rage: What a fun card! For me definitely the most exciting out of BFZ. This deck has all on color fetches and Myriad landscape along land-based ramp. It's also fairly good at making its landdrops on every turn. That means triggering landfall is not an issue. The tokens also have haste with Wanderer so Omnath can add a LOT of hard-hitting power to the board...and if someone decides to Wrath it all away they take a lot of damage for it.
+Lurking Predators: What I really like about it is that you can just drop it and it starts generating value by itself. It's something my opponents have to deal with or they will get overwhelmed. It's also a natural fit for this deck, considering the high creature count and the top deck manipulation of Top and Scroll Rack.
+Alchemist's Refuge: This could be one colourless producing land to many but it is really great in very attrition heavy games where being able to cast my spells during my opponents combat steps or end steps allows me to get more value out of them.
+Cinder Glade
26.01.2016
- Birds of Paradise
- Trygon Predator
- Prophet of Kruphix
- Homura, Human Ascendant
- Deadeye Navigator
- Avenger of Zendikar
- Exploration
- Domri Rade
- Temple of Mystery
+ Coiling Oracle: Other than mana dorks there are actually very few two-mana ramp options on permanents. This thing optimally ramps and at worst it's a cantrip.
+ Kiora's Follower: More acceleration. And potentially very good with bouncelands, Sol Ring, Mana Vault, Bloom Tender and co and Beguiler of Wills.
+ Omnath, Locus of Mana: I think this could be solid in the early game, storing some mana to get Wandere out earlier and he can get huge later. Also nice synergy with Xenagos, the Reveler
+ Conduit of Ruin: I hesitated to run it at first but with the release of World Breaker, there is definitely a reason. It can also get Kozilek, Butcher of Truth which not only nets cards but is also a very pressuring clock, especially with haste.
+ Pathbreaker Ibex: This is not only fun but also very powerful. The only thing it's missing is haste but that's absolutely no problem in this deck. If it doesn't get removed pre-combat it will probably kill at least one opponent.
+ World Breaker: This is awesome. It is a huge body, it exiles and, if needed you can recur it.
+ Mana Vault: card]: Playing this deck really is a race to casting Wanderer and so cutting three turns off theat clock is really need.
+ Blighted Woodland: Ramp on a land is great, especially if it doesn't ETB tapped.
+ Spinerock Knoll: I wanted another land and this is not only a land but also gas. Activating it should not be a problem and in a pinch you can let others do the dirty work
Please, please let me know what you think of my list. I'm also always glad for suggestions to make this deck more fun (but it also needs to be strong because my meta is relatively cut throat).
I've also seen Crystal Shard put to good use in wanderer decks. It usually is used to bounce and recast wanderer, especially if they have Prophet of Kruphix out.
I had both Woodland Bellower and Eternal Witness in here but decided to cut them. Woodland Bellower just had too few worthwhile targets and Eternal Witness, while deservedly a staple in this format wasn't really exciting in here. The deck is relatively redundant in function, so getting stuff back from my GY isn't of high priority. Eternal Witness is also not a great cascade because he has a low cmc so it's not to great value mana wise and often enough there isn't anything or at least not something good in my GY.
I will consider Venser if I need more control. The problem I have with him is that sometimes his effect does almost nothing.
Fair enough, I thought of venser because he will always have a target when he comes out and can usually bounce their biggest blocker as well as be used like a Remand if you draw him.
A few more things I've thought of are Elemental Bond and Managorger Hydra. Bond will draw 3 for you most of the time you hit three creatures off of wanderer, but could lose you the game if you primal surge into it and then don't find Bane of Progress to destroy it, so it is a double edged sword. The hydra is just a 1/1, but gets big fast in multiplayer and becomes a must answer threat. Casting wanderer with the hydra already on the field will add three counters to it.
Fair enough, I thought of venser because he will always have a target when he comes out and can usually bounce their biggest blocker as well as be used like a Remand if you draw him.
A few more things I've thought of are Elemental Bond and Managorger Hydra. Bond will draw 3 for you most of the time you hit three creatures off of wanderer, but could lose you the game if you primal surge into it and then don't find Bane of Progress to destroy it, so it is a double edged sword. The hydra is just a 1/1, but gets big fast in multiplayer and becomes a must answer threat. Casting wanderer with the hydra already on the field will add three counters to it.
Managorger Hydra is definitely interesting. I'll see if I can pick one up.
What are your thoughts on Omnath, Locus of Mana? He lacks evasion but on the upside he can "accelerate" into a earlier Wanderer...
It's actually an all permanent ramp base
While there are a few dorks in here, there is also more "permanent" ramp like Sakura-Tribe Elder, Wood Elves, Kahlni Heart Expedition and Solemn Simulacrum. Boardwipes are of coarse something I kept in mind when building this deck and it is actually rather resilient to them since there is rarely a situation where I am left with a completely empty board. Something indestructible or some planeswalker or enchantment usually sticks around.
What is really important is hitting landdrops. If you can manage that, your mana scales up as the game progresses and you are always able to repopulate the board by casting your commander. To that purpose I also included another land in the latest changes (also in response to the change to the mulligan rule). Speaking of which: Here is the latest batch:
- Birds of Paradise
- Trygon Predator
- Prophet of Kruphix
- Homura, Human Ascendant
- Deadeye Navigator
- Avenger of Zendikar
- Exploration
- Domri Rade
- Temple of Mystery
+ Coiling Oracle: Other than mana dorks there are actually very few two-mana ramp options on permanents. This thing optimally ramps and at worst it's a cantrip.
+ Kiora's Follower: More acceleration. And potentially very good with bouncelands, Sol Ring, Mana Vault, Bloom Tender and co and Beguiler of Wills.
+ Omnath, Locus of Mana: I think this could be solid in the early game, storing some mana to get Wandere out earlier and he can get huge later. Also nice synergy with Xenagos, the Reveler
+ Conduit of Ruin: I hesitated to run it at first but with the release of World Breaker, there is definitely a reason. It can also get Kozilek, Butcher of Truth which not only nets cards but is also a very pressuring clock, especially with haste.
+ Pathbreaker Ibex: This is not only fun but also very powerful. The only thing it's missing is haste but that's absolutely no problem in this deck. If it doesn't get removed pre-combat it will probably kill at least one opponent.
+ World Breaker: This is awesome. It is a huge body, it exiles and, if needed you can recur it.
+ Mana Vault: card]: Playing this deck really is a race to casting Wanderer and so cutting three turns off theat clock is really need.
+ Blighted Woodland: Ramp on a land is great, especially if it doesn't ETB tapped.
+ Spinerock Knoll: I wanted another land and this is not only a land but also gas. Activating it should not be a problem and in a pinch you can let others do the dirty work
Witch the change to Wanderer the deck has become less explosive and probably weaker but also more resilient to disruption and above all much more fun to play! I decided to stick with the all-permanent theme, because I played against a regular list with a fair number of extra-turn-effects and that wasn't fun to play against at all.
The bulk of the cards are still creatures because Maelstrom Wanderers haste ability makes those that much stronger. But there's also a fair number of planswalkers because they dodge most sweeps and are easy enough to protect with the number of creatures I'm generating.
2 Bloom Tender
2 Sakura-Tribe Elder
2 Kiora's Follower
2 Coiling Oracle
3 Omnath, Locus of Mana
3 Somberwald Sage
3 Shaman of Forgotten Ways
3 Animar, Soul of Elements
3 Trinket Mage
3 Wood Elves
3 Shardless Agent
3 Thassa, God of the Sea
4 Oracle of Mul Daya
4 Solemn Simulacrum
4 Glen Elendra Archmage
4 Phyrexian Metamorph
4 Clever Impersonator
4 Nylea, God of the Hunt
4 Temur Sabertooth
4 Bloodbraid Elf
5 Xenagos, God of Revels
5 Kruphix, God of Horizons
5 Beguiler of Wills
6 Djinn of Infinite Deceits
6 Deadeye Navigator
6 Thunderfoot Baloth
6 Duplicant
6 Bane of Progress
6 Steel Hellkite
6 Hellkite Tyrant
6 Etherium Horn Sorcerer
6 Conduit of Ruin
6 Pathbreaker Ibex
7 World Breaker
7 Spearbreaker Behemoth
7 Omnath, Locus of Rage
7 Siege Behemoth
7 Balefire Dragon
7 Sphinx Ambassador
10 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
Artifacts/Enchantments
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Vault
1 Sensei's Divining Top
2 Scroll Rack
2 Khalni Heart Expedition
3 Temur Ascendancy
3 Oblivion Stone
4 Perilous Vault
4 Birthing Pod
4 Flameshadow Invocation
5 Eldrazi Monument
6 Warstorm Surge
6 Lurking Predators
Planeswalker
4 Garruk Wildspeaker
4 Xenagos, the Reveler
5 Tezzeret the Seeker
5 Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury
5 Garruk, Primal Hunter
6 Teferi, Temporal Archmage
The Sorcery
8 Warp World
10 Primal Surge
Lands
0 Command Tower
0 Ancient Ziggurat
0 Frontier Bivouac
0 Scalding Tarn
0 Misty Rainforest
0 Wooded Foothills
0 Stomping Ground
0 Steam Vents
0 Breeding Pool
0 Cinder Glade
0 Rootbound Crag
0 Sulfur Falls
0 Hinterland Harbor
0 Shivan Reef
0 Fire Lit Thicket
0 Cascade Bluffs
0 Myriad Landscape
0 Blighted Woodland
0 Academy Ruins
0 Homeward Path
0 Kessig Wolf Run
0 Alchemist's Refuge
0 Temple of the False God
0 Spinerock Knoll
0 Mosswort Bridge
1 Mountain
6 Forest
6 Island
So that's the list. Input and questions are very much welcome
Birds of Paradise: Not the greatest cascade, but just sooo good turn 1. Enables your much faster accelerators such as Somberwald Sage or Animar Soul of Elements that much sooner.
Joraga Treespeaker: I like to call this card a "green Sol Ring". While not exactly as fast and a bit more fragile, it's still very potent to accelerate me into the midgame.
Bloom Tender: Another very efficient accelerator. With Deadeye Navigator it can produce infinte RG
Sakura-Tribe Elder: Rampant Growth on a stick. There are very few reasons not to run this in a green deck, especially if your ramp has to be permanent-based.
Somberwald Sage: Another way to get you several turns ahead provided he doesn't die.
Shaman of Forgotten Ways: Similar to Somberwald Sage plus a powerful alternate win-con in the lategame.
Animar, Soul of Elements: Everyone knows how broken this is as a commander. This deck has more than 40 creatures and so it can grow really fast (especially with cascaders), it's hard to kill and will eventually swing for a LOT.
Trinket Mage: Can get Sol Ring to ramp into Wanderer or Sensei's Divinig Top to set up draws and cascades. If none of those are in your library anymore, you can use Tops ability to at least draw an extra card.
Wood Elves: Gets any forest untapped. Just a very nice ramp creature and becomes only better with the new BFZ lands.
Trygon Predator: Early this has to be removed before a number of decks can really begin to build their board and he won't stop being annoying in the lategame.
Shardless Agent: I play every available cascade-creature. They provide extra bodies to chump or create a critical mass. Plus cascading is fun
Thassa, God of the Sea: Gods provide wrath insurrance and indestructible bodies (devotion is very often online in this deck). The scry is more relevant than it's often given credit (especially to find lands) and the unblockability is great when you swing with fatties.
Oracle of Mul Daya: Sets up draws and can accelerate like crazy. Seeing the topcard of your deck is also not bad when you cascade.
Solemn Simulacrum: In some other thread someone wrote "the definition of value". It's true.
Glen Elendra Archmage: A "counterspell" that's not bad to cascade into. Great to protect the board.
Phyrexian Metamorph: The second most versatile clone and searchable with Tezz and recurrable with Academy Ruins.
Clever Impersonator: The most versatile clone. Rarely will there be a board where there's nothing to copy with it.
Nylea, God of the Hunt: A resilient trample enabler and a big indestructible creature most of the time.
Temur Sabertooth: Great to abuse Wanderers cascade and once you untap with it, dealing with your board becomes a nightmare for opponents.
Bloodbraid Elf: See Shardless Agent.
Prophet of Kruphix: BROKEN. If it isn't dealt with, it almost always wins me the game in a few turns.
Xenagos, God of Revels: Indestructible beater, haste redundancy and makes stuff BIG!
Kruphix, God of Horizons: There was a lot of rage because people found the UG god underwhelming but it's another resilient body and his mana storage ability generates a lot of value over a game.
Beguiler of Wills: In almost any other deck this is much to fragile and and the ability too unstable, but with almost guaranteed haste and the creature density of this deck it's very powerful. You should always be able to steal at least one big creature and for decks that can't deal with her she can be a nightmare.
Djinn of Infinite Deceits: I only just discovered this card and like Beguiler of Wills this effect is just great in this deck. There is almost always some token or small ETB/cascade creature lying around and if not you can just play politics by switching out stuff your opponents control. The non-legendary clause is kind of a bummer but on the other side he's much more sturdy than his colleague. Also works hilariously with Flameshadow Invocation
Deadeye Navigator: While I don't think this card should be banned, there is a reason why a lot of people ask for exactly that. There is a good number of ETB abilities and with haste it's ability doubles as an untap effect for cards like Bloom Tender, Heartless Hidetsugu and Beguiler of Wills.
Thunderfoot Baloth: Turns everything into a veritable threat and makes big stuff HUGE...and trampling. Not exactly as strong as Craterhoof Behemoth but can be cascaded into and has a permanent effect.
Duplicant: Deals with any creature permanently. I use this over Phyrexian Ingester because it can be abused with Academy Ruins
Bane of Progress: There are a few situations where this could hurt me as well but much more often this should be able to break up my opponents boards or at least set them far behind by blowing up their mana rocks. Oh and I get a huge beater out of the deal.
Steel Hellkite: Combat damage triggers are much better if the creature has haste. This deck doesn't have too many answers and this helps out in that regard since it can deal with almost anything on a large scale.
Hellkite Tyrant: See Steel Hellkite. It only works against artifacts but he literally gets them.
Etherium Horn Sorcerer: Another cascader which I can bounce and recast, should I run out of cards.
Homura, Human Ascendant: He may be a bit gimmicky but once he flips he's a super threatening anthem which most importantly grants powerful evasion. His biggest issue is the high cmc but this is probably one of the EDH decks that can best support a bit overpriced but powerful threats. He also is a bit of wrath insurance (kind of) and this deck also has some ways of getting him to flip aside from just continually shoving him in someone's face until they block.
Omnath, Locus of Rage: What a fun card! For me definitely the most exciting out of BFZ. This deck has all on color fetches and Myriad landscape along land-based ramp. It's also fairly good at making its landdrops on every turn. That means triggering landfall is not an issue. The tokens also have haste with Wanderer so Omnath can add a LOT of hard-hitting power to the board...and if someone decides to Wrath it all away they take a lot of damage for it.
Spearbreaker Behemoth: Makes all my fatties (and there are a lot) much harder to kill. Best buddy with Contested Cliffs
Siege Behemoth: Another card that's only meh without haste but becomes very lethal with it. Makes sure your alpha strikes hits someones face directly.
Balefire Dragon: Basically a one sided boardwipe on a big beatstick.
Sphinx Ambassador: Another very fun but largely unplayable card if you don't have haste. Basically Bribery every time you hit someone. If you are smart about which creature you pick, the guessing condition shouldn't be a problem most of the time.
Avenger of Zendikar: Magics instant army. He draws a sweeper by himself and makes cards like Xengos, the Reveler go into overdrive.
Myojin of Life's Web: I excluded almost any creature above 7cmc because I want to be able to cascade into all my expensive stuff but Myojin of Life's Web fits many purposes. By default it's a huge indestructible beatstick which is already nice. He lets me get to the board in a BIG way by dumping the fatties I didn't cascade into but drew, on the battlefield. And if I need to use Birthing Pod to get Wanderer back into my command zone I at least get an 8/8 out of the deal.
Kozilek, Butcher of Truth: BIG, POWERFUL and much more threatening with haste. He also refills my hand and provides some insurance if Primal Surge runs into something like a Rout.
Artifacts/Enchantments
Sol Ring: Do you really need an explanation
Sensei's Divining Top: Another commander staple. That sets up draws and cascades.
Exploration: The biggest problem in playing an all-permanent deck is finding enough good ramp options. With this deck, I find myself keeping very land-heavy hands a lot of the time and making double landdrops lets me play my midgame cards on turn 2-3 which then facilitate very early Wanderer casts.
Scroll Rack: Solid in any deck with a reasonable amount of shuffle effects. GREAT for setting up cascades.
Khalni Heart Expedition: This is a bit of an oddball. But it's a non manarock, 2 drop ramppermanent that creates card advantage.
Temur Ascendancy: This may seem a little weird but most of the creatures in here are only great because Wanderer gives them haste. The problem is that he can not always be around and so the redundancy granted by this is really good. It's also great to have haste online in the early turns with cards like Bloom Tender and Somberwald Sage.
And it draws cards...
Birthing Pod: THE green value machine. Number one Tezzeret target which makes this deck run extremly smooth and efficient. A great tutorengine in an otherwise almost tutorless deck.
Oblivion Stone: Sometimes everything goes wrong and you want to reset everything and start from new. If you cascade into it you have it lying around as a rattlesnake and you can get it with Tezz and if you need it again, you can use Academy Ruins.
Perilous Vault: One more way to reset the board. This deck is great when it comes out in front, but there are often situations where the mana doesn't come together fast enough or in the right way or where you face a lot of permission or even just someone who's got an amazing start and cards like those can just reset everyone allowing for Maelstrom Wanderer or other big tempo engines to take over the game again.
Flameshadow Invocation: What a fun card. It's kind of haste redundancy but apart from that it lets you hit so much harder for a minimal cost. Of course it also doubles ETB and combat damage triggers.
Eldrazi Monument: Sweep protection, mass evasion AND an anthem and all you have to do is sacing your commander so you can cascade again...or if you don't want to just pitch something like Wood Elves or a token.
Warstorm Surge: It can sometime be annoying when it takes up a whole turn to get it into play but once I have it out it's insane. The best thing about it is that you can either use it to control the board or to kill problematic opponents much faster. And it's also an awesome cascade because Maelstrom Wanderer only resolves after this is on the Battlefield.
Lurking Predators: What I really like about it is that you can just drop it and it starts generating value by itself. It's something my opponents have to deal with or they will get overwhelmed. It's also a natural fit for this deck, considering the high creature count and the top deck manipulation of Top and Scroll Rack.
Planeswalkers
They are great in here because the deck pressures my opponents really hard and they add an additional clock. Resources used to deal with my walkers are not used to deal with my creatures. Also they are not hit by most sweeps.
Domri Rade: Solid for his low cost. Slowly generates CA, provides removal and the emblem is just stupid.
Garruk Wildspeaker: Fast ramp and overrun, wrapped into one neat package.
Xenagos, the Reveler: The middle ability is near worthless but boy, can he generate mana! And the ultimate is also very good with so many creatures in the deck.
Tezzeret the Seeker: One of the best tutors in the format imo and a lot of great targets in here. If you don't minus him to death immediately his +1 can also be quite relevant.
Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury: She may look a bit meh at first, but I'm never sorry to get her. Her loyalty can grow fast and this deck is almost in need of mana and expandable creatures but what makes her really great is the repeatable Naturalize because many decks have to deal with her or play awkwardly around it.
Garruk, Primal Hunter: Probably the weakest of the bunch but he is great in attrition wars,the ultimate will probably kill someone and he can refill your hand in a pinch. Also beasts are relevant because of Contested Cliffs
Teferi, Temporal Archmage: Gives you cards if you need them and otherwise produces lots of mana. The ultimate is just stupid with the amount of Planeswalkers in the deck.
The Sorcery
Primal Surge: The BIG payoff for playing an all permanent deck!
Utility Lands
Mosswort Bridge: Online most of the time and you almost always find something worthwhile with it.
Myriad Landscape: Hitting land drops is important and ramping is important. This helps with both
Academy Ruins: There are a lot of useful and powerful artifacts in this deck which can be recycled with this. It's just a nice engine, which in some games doesn't matter to much but in others (especially very grindy ones) it can play a huge role.
Homeward Path: My deck has a lot of big creatures which are very attractive targets for Treachery, Bribery or reanimation effects so it's good to have a cheap way to get my stuff back. It also allows for some fun shenanigans with Djinn of Infinite Deceits
Kessig Wolf Run: Great to push damage through and can enable wins with commander damage.
Alchemist's Refuge: This could be one colourless producing land to many but it is really great in very attrition heavy games where being able to cast my spells during my opponents combat steps or end steps allows me to get more value out of them.
-Woodland Bellower
-Eternal Witness
Woodland Bellower was a bit lackluster compared to other options and his toolbox relatively small. Eternal Witness had barely made the cut because a) I don't necessarily want cards in my hand, I want them on the BF and b) cascading into it with an empty GY sucks.
+Master Biomancer
+Malignus
10.9.2015
-Master Biomancer
This was in and out for a while now. I finally decided to cut it. The main concern was that he is rather fragile and doesn't affect the creatures already in play.
-Perilous Vault: I decided to give O-Stone a try since it's more abusable with Academy Ruins and leaves my gods and Spearbreaker Behemoth alive. I still want to find a slot for this though. Redundancy is always nice.
+Djinn of Infinite Deceits
+Oblivion Stone
23.9.2015
-Draining Whelk
It turned out that keeping 6 mana up was often impossible and while getting a 9/9 flyer out of countering my general you still end up one card behind in this exchange.
-Nature's Will
This is really a nice card and I regret to cut it and may reconsider it if I find a slot. In the end it was a bit too incosistent, not because dealing combat damage was a problem, but because I wouldn't always have uses for the mana.
-Contested Cliffs
Three beasts and two Planeswalkers that produce beasts were just too little to make this card relevant more often than once in a while and I needed a cut for Homeward Path.
+Bane of Progress: There are a few situations where this could hurt me as well but much more often this should be able to break up my opponents boards or at least set them far behind by blowing up their mana rocks. Oh and I get a huge beater out of the deal.
+Perilous Vault: I switched this out for O-Stone which really works a bit better for this deck but I also found that I'd like one more way to have a reset switch like that. This deck is great when it comes out in front, but there are often situations where the mana doesn't come together fast enough or in the right way or where you face a lot of permission or even just someone who's got an amazing start and cards like those can just reset everyone allowing for Maelstrom Wanderer or other big tempo engines to take over the game again.
+Homeward Path: My deck has a lot of big creatures which are very attractive targets for Treachery, Bribery or reanimation effects so it's good to have a cheap way to get my stuff back. It also allows for some fun shenanigans with Djinn of Infinite Deceits
03.10.2015
-Budoka Gardener: One of the reasons I cut him was because the copy I had ordered got lost in the mail. On a more serious note: While I love the fact that he can flip and spit out massive tokens the other half is just much worse than Exploration, since it takes till turn three until he lets you make extra landdrops.
-Malignus: I'm a bit sad to cut him because of the badass art, but he's really nothing but huge.
-Heartless Hidetsugu: This is a really interesting card and I can imagine reincluding him but he also requires the right setup and is in very many situations a nearly dead card.
-Garruk, Caller of Beasts: I just love this Planeswalker, he is an incredible CA engine, but I needed to find a cut for Lurking Predators, which in many regards is rather similar, only that it put the creatures directly onto the BF.
-Yavimaya Coast
-Karplusan Forest
+Exploration: The biggest problem in playing an all-permanent deck is finding enough good ramp options. With this deck, I find myself keeping very land-heavy hands a lot of the time and making double landdrops lets me play my midgame cards on turn 2-3 which then facilitate very early Wanderer casts.
+Homura, Human Ascendant: He may be a bit gimmicky but once he flips he's a super threatening anthem which most importantly grants powerful evasion. His biggest issue is the high cmc but this is probably one of the EDH decks that can best support a bit overpriced but powerful threats. He also is a bit of wrath insurance (kind of) and this deck also has some ways of getting him to flip aside from just continually shoving him in someone's face until they block.
+Omnath, Locus of Rage: What a fun card! For me definitely the most exciting out of BFZ. This deck has all on color fetches and Myriad landscape along land-based ramp. It's also fairly good at making its landdrops on every turn. That means triggering landfall is not an issue. The tokens also have haste with Wanderer so Omnath can add a LOT of hard-hitting power to the board...and if someone decides to Wrath it all away they take a lot of damage for it.
+Lurking Predators: What I really like about it is that you can just drop it and it starts generating value by itself. It's something my opponents have to deal with or they will get overwhelmed. It's also a natural fit for this deck, considering the high creature count and the top deck manipulation of Top and Scroll Rack.
+Alchemist's Refuge: This could be one colourless producing land to many but it is really great in very attrition heavy games where being able to cast my spells during my opponents combat steps or end steps allows me to get more value out of them.
+Cinder Glade
26.01.2016
- Birds of Paradise
- Trygon Predator
- Prophet of Kruphix
- Homura, Human Ascendant
- Deadeye Navigator
- Avenger of Zendikar
- Exploration
- Domri Rade
- Temple of Mystery
+ Coiling Oracle: Other than mana dorks there are actually very few two-mana ramp options on permanents. This thing optimally ramps and at worst it's a cantrip.
+ Kiora's Follower: More acceleration. And potentially very good with bouncelands, Sol Ring, Mana Vault, Bloom Tender and co and Beguiler of Wills.
+ Omnath, Locus of Mana: I think this could be solid in the early game, storing some mana to get Wandere out earlier and he can get huge later. Also nice synergy with Xenagos, the Reveler
+ Conduit of Ruin: I hesitated to run it at first but with the release of World Breaker, there is definitely a reason. It can also get Kozilek, Butcher of Truth which not only nets cards but is also a very pressuring clock, especially with haste.
+ Pathbreaker Ibex: This is not only fun but also very powerful. The only thing it's missing is haste but that's absolutely no problem in this deck. If it doesn't get removed pre-combat it will probably kill at least one opponent.
+ World Breaker: This is awesome. It is a huge body, it exiles and, if needed you can recur it.
+ Mana Vault: card]: Playing this deck really is a race to casting Wanderer and so cutting three turns off theat clock is really need.
+ Blighted Woodland: Ramp on a land is great, especially if it doesn't ETB tapped.
+ Spinerock Knoll: I wanted another land and this is not only a land but also gas. Activating it should not be a problem and in a pinch you can let others do the dirty work
GWKarametra - The MistveiledGW
GWR Marath - The Egg-laying Wool-Milk-Pig GWR
RBGrenzo - Restrained RakdosRB
UWRGBHorde of NotionsUWRGB
Retired: Karador, Ghost Chieftain | Rafiq of the Many | Animar, Soul of Elements | Maelstrom Wanderer
I also added a Card Explanations section, so make sure to check that out
GWKarametra - The MistveiledGW
GWR Marath - The Egg-laying Wool-Milk-Pig GWR
RBGrenzo - Restrained RakdosRB
UWRGBHorde of NotionsUWRGB
Retired: Karador, Ghost Chieftain | Rafiq of the Many | Animar, Soul of Elements | Maelstrom Wanderer
Please let me know what you think. I'd be very happy about feedback
GWKarametra - The MistveiledGW
GWR Marath - The Egg-laying Wool-Milk-Pig GWR
RBGrenzo - Restrained RakdosRB
UWRGBHorde of NotionsUWRGB
Retired: Karador, Ghost Chieftain | Rafiq of the Many | Animar, Soul of Elements | Maelstrom Wanderer
I'm also really excited about Omnath, Locus of Rage which I hope will be great in this deck.
I'm also considering Conduit of Ruin combined with Bane of Bala Ged and Myr Battlesphere but it will be very hard to find cuts.
Please, please let me know what you think of my list. I'm also always glad for suggestions to make this deck more fun (but it also needs to be strong because my meta is relatively cut throat).
GWKarametra - The MistveiledGW
GWR Marath - The Egg-laying Wool-Milk-Pig GWR
RBGrenzo - Restrained RakdosRB
UWRGBHorde of NotionsUWRGB
Retired: Karador, Ghost Chieftain | Rafiq of the Many | Animar, Soul of Elements | Maelstrom Wanderer
I've also seen Crystal Shard put to good use in wanderer decks. It usually is used to bounce and recast wanderer, especially if they have Prophet of Kruphix out.
I will consider Venser if I need more control. The problem I have with him is that sometimes his effect does almost nothing.
GWKarametra - The MistveiledGW
GWR Marath - The Egg-laying Wool-Milk-Pig GWR
RBGrenzo - Restrained RakdosRB
UWRGBHorde of NotionsUWRGB
Retired: Karador, Ghost Chieftain | Rafiq of the Many | Animar, Soul of Elements | Maelstrom Wanderer
A few more things I've thought of are Elemental Bond and Managorger Hydra. Bond will draw 3 for you most of the time you hit three creatures off of wanderer, but could lose you the game if you primal surge into it and then don't find Bane of Progress to destroy it, so it is a double edged sword. The hydra is just a 1/1, but gets big fast in multiplayer and becomes a must answer threat. Casting wanderer with the hydra already on the field will add three counters to it.
Managorger Hydra is definitely interesting. I'll see if I can pick one up.
What are your thoughts on Omnath, Locus of Mana? He lacks evasion but on the upside he can "accelerate" into a earlier Wanderer...
GWKarametra - The MistveiledGW
GWR Marath - The Egg-laying Wool-Milk-Pig GWR
RBGrenzo - Restrained RakdosRB
UWRGBHorde of NotionsUWRGB
Retired: Karador, Ghost Chieftain | Rafiq of the Many | Animar, Soul of Elements | Maelstrom Wanderer
While there are a few dorks in here, there is also more "permanent" ramp like Sakura-Tribe Elder, Wood Elves, Kahlni Heart Expedition and Solemn Simulacrum. Boardwipes are of coarse something I kept in mind when building this deck and it is actually rather resilient to them since there is rarely a situation where I am left with a completely empty board. Something indestructible or some planeswalker or enchantment usually sticks around.
What is really important is hitting landdrops. If you can manage that, your mana scales up as the game progresses and you are always able to repopulate the board by casting your commander. To that purpose I also included another land in the latest changes (also in response to the change to the mulligan rule). Speaking of which: Here is the latest batch:
- Birds of Paradise
- Trygon Predator
- Prophet of Kruphix
- Homura, Human Ascendant
- Deadeye Navigator
- Avenger of Zendikar
- Exploration
- Domri Rade
- Temple of Mystery
+ Coiling Oracle: Other than mana dorks there are actually very few two-mana ramp options on permanents. This thing optimally ramps and at worst it's a cantrip.
+ Kiora's Follower: More acceleration. And potentially very good with bouncelands, Sol Ring, Mana Vault, Bloom Tender and co and Beguiler of Wills.
+ Omnath, Locus of Mana: I think this could be solid in the early game, storing some mana to get Wandere out earlier and he can get huge later. Also nice synergy with Xenagos, the Reveler
+ Conduit of Ruin: I hesitated to run it at first but with the release of World Breaker, there is definitely a reason. It can also get Kozilek, Butcher of Truth which not only nets cards but is also a very pressuring clock, especially with haste.
+ Pathbreaker Ibex: This is not only fun but also very powerful. The only thing it's missing is haste but that's absolutely no problem in this deck. If it doesn't get removed pre-combat it will probably kill at least one opponent.
+ World Breaker: This is awesome. It is a huge body, it exiles and, if needed you can recur it.
+ Mana Vault: card]: Playing this deck really is a race to casting Wanderer and so cutting three turns off theat clock is really need.
+ Blighted Woodland: Ramp on a land is great, especially if it doesn't ETB tapped.
+ Spinerock Knoll: I wanted another land and this is not only a land but also gas. Activating it should not be a problem and in a pinch you can let others do the dirty work
As always: Feedback is very much welcome!
GWKarametra - The MistveiledGW
GWR Marath - The Egg-laying Wool-Milk-Pig GWR
RBGrenzo - Restrained RakdosRB
UWRGBHorde of NotionsUWRGB
Retired: Karador, Ghost Chieftain | Rafiq of the Many | Animar, Soul of Elements | Maelstrom Wanderer