This is the second draft of a deck I am building for a friend with the aim of abusing pet cards like Thragtusk and Siege Rhino with Conjurer's Closet and Panharmonicon. Seriously, neither of us play Standard, so we never got a chance to grow sick of Rhino and we both love the card. In testing, it's proven to be pretty fun, but loses to more unfair decks or decks with enough inevitability, like Mono Black Devotion and Season's Past, so I was hoping to get ideas from you all to improve it and make it a little less fair.
Cards that don't abuse your artifacts like Sakura-Tribe Elder may need to be replaced, as well as Angel of Serenity which is only in here because I based this list on a list Frank Lepore used during an old Standard. Another Acidic Slime or Aura Shards could also be useful. Blade Splicer feels like a placeholder and could also possibly be replaced. Finally, I think the 2/2 split between both artifacts is fine, perhaps even optimal. After all, playing a Sylvan Primordial with a Closet on the field feels like one of the best things I've ever done in Magic.
He doesn't buy Magic cards often, so it is important to him that the deck is able to compete in duels as well as 5+ player games. I realize that this caveat means the deck may not be optimal for either, but as long as he can win occasionally and not come in last, he'll be fine.
If you want this archetype without specifically (or exclusively) relying on Conjurer's Closet then I highly recommend using 4x Eerie Interlude as your blink engine and something like Eternal Witness, Skullwinder or Archaeomancer to recur them back to your hand. I play a bant blink deck in this fashion and it's a real winner.
Well everybody loves Siege Rhino, but right now it's your only justification for being in black. If you took those out it would make your mana a lot easier to manage. And if that were the case then you could probably get by without the Sakura-Tribe Elders.
Granted that this is essentially a mid-range deck, I would probably keep STE's in regardless, since I want to ramp into Panharmonicon and mid-game threats quickly. Removing Black however is a valid suggestion, but Rhino is part of the reason he enjoys playing the deck and surprising a reliable win condition with Closets, not to mention their may be other reasons to add more Black Painful Truths for example.
What do you think of removing Restoration Angel for Eerie Interlude? Angel is a wonderful tempo play, but maybe doesn't provide enough of an advantage in a large game.
Granted that this is essentially a mid-range deck, I would probably keep STE's in regardless, since I want to ramp into Panharmonicon and mid-game threats quickly. Removing Black however is a valid suggestion, but Rhino is part of the reason he enjoys playing the deck and surprising a reliable win condition with Closets, not to mention their may be other reasons to add more Black Painful Truths for example.
What do you think of removing Restoration Angel for Eerie Interlude? Angel is a wonderful tempo play, but maybe doesn't provide enough of an advantage in a large game.
Yeah, that sounds like a good substitution.
I shy away from Sakura-Tribe Elder is that it's got no blink synergy as opposed to Wood Elves or Farhaven Elf (or Coiling Oracle since I run blue in lieu of black.) But with that being said, it's still a very nice card and hitting a turn 3 Panharmonicon sounds like a nice situation to be in.
If you do decide to go the Eternal Witness/Skullwinder route, then Evolving Wilds is another good option to consider to help your curve (bringing it back from the GY to sacrifice again if played early.)
Also, if your friend is a big fan of Rhino, another midrange archetype I play with it that you can consider is a self-dredging Abzan Reanimator build centered around Unburial Rites, Stinkweed Imp and Satyr Wayfinder. In my experience, it's got a very similar feel to the blink deck where you can play a lot of value creatures and swap other fun-ofs in or out depending on what you're in the mood for.
Have you ever considered playing this deck with Nature's Lores and Wood Elves over STEves and Farhavens and using 4x Murmuring Bosk as your Black source? This seems almost strictly better than your current setup.
I would 100% run an Aura Shards if it's on the table. Card is absurd and should be included in 100% of Selesnya decks budget permitting.
I would 100% play 1-2 copies of Painful Truths. Synergy is nice and all but at the end of the day being able to pay 3 mana to draw 3 cards regardless of what you have in play/hand is extremely powerful. I always play at east 1 copy in my 3+ color Black decks because it requires absolutely nothing to be a stellar draw at virtually any stage of the game.
I'm just assuming that Recurring Nightmare isn't in the cards? It's a fantastic 1-2 of.
Have you ever considered playing this deck with Nature's Lores and Wood Elves over STEves and Farhavens and using 4x Murmuring Bosk as your Black source? This seems almost strictly better than your current setup.
I would 100% run an Aura Shards if it's on the table. Card is absurd and should be included in 100% of Selesnya decks budget permitting.
I would 100% play 1-2 copies of Painful Truths. Synergy is nice and all but at the end of the day being able to pay 3 mana to draw 3 cards regardless of what you have in play/hand is extremely powerful. I always play at east 1 copy in my 3+ color Black decks because it requires absolutely nothing to be a stellar draw at virtually any stage of the game.
I'm just assuming that Recurring Nightmare isn't in the cards? It's a fantastic 1-2 of.
Good call. For some reason, I never remember that Wood Elves brings something into play untapped.
So far in testing the deck is too slow, I can't seem to stabilize before I lose to something like a Gray Merchant.
Good call. For some reason, I never remember that Wood Elves brings something into play untapped.
To be fair Murmuring Bosk is basically never going to enter untapped, but the point is more so that Wood Elves fixes all 3 colors when that's what you're fetching. That's all that I was thinking about.
Update:
After play testing the deck fairly extensively it has put up very nice results at least one v. one. When it does lose, it mostly loses to combo decks with oppressive draw engines or mostly spell oriented control decks with tons of removal. All said, my friend is happy with it and wants to actually build it. Still, I'm not sure whether the build is optimal so I'd be happy to hear your thoughts on the most recent iteration.
Cards that don't abuse your artifacts like Sakura-Tribe Elder may need to be replaced, as well as Angel of Serenity which is only in here because I based this list on a list Frank Lepore used during an old Standard. Another Acidic Slime or Aura Shards could also be useful. Blade Splicer feels like a placeholder and could also possibly be replaced. Finally, I think the 2/2 split between both artifacts is fine, perhaps even optimal. After all, playing a Sylvan Primordial with a Closet on the field feels like one of the best things I've ever done in Magic.
He doesn't buy Magic cards often, so it is important to him that the deck is able to compete in duels as well as 5+ player games. I realize that this caveat means the deck may not be optimal for either, but as long as he can win occasionally and not come in last, he'll be fine.
4x Sakura-Tribe Elder
4x Wall of Blossoms
3x Farhaven Elf
1x Reclamation Sage
2x Blade Splicer
3x Restoration Angel
1x Acidic Slime
3x Thragtusk
2x Sylvan Primordial
2x Angel of Serenity
3x Path to Exile
2x Panharmonicon
2x Conjurer's Closet
Lands (24)
1x Swamp
7x Plains
8x Forest
4x Sunpetal Grove
4x Sandsteppe Citadel
4x Siege Rhino
What do you think of removing Restoration Angel for Eerie Interlude? Angel is a wonderful tempo play, but maybe doesn't provide enough of an advantage in a large game.
Yeah, that sounds like a good substitution.
I shy away from Sakura-Tribe Elder is that it's got no blink synergy as opposed to Wood Elves or Farhaven Elf (or Coiling Oracle since I run blue in lieu of black.) But with that being said, it's still a very nice card and hitting a turn 3 Panharmonicon sounds like a nice situation to be in.
If you do decide to go the Eternal Witness/Skullwinder route, then Evolving Wilds is another good option to consider to help your curve (bringing it back from the GY to sacrifice again if played early.)
Also, if your friend is a big fan of Rhino, another midrange archetype I play with it that you can consider is a self-dredging Abzan Reanimator build centered around Unburial Rites, Stinkweed Imp and Satyr Wayfinder. In my experience, it's got a very similar feel to the blink deck where you can play a lot of value creatures and swap other fun-ofs in or out depending on what you're in the mood for.
I would 100% run an Aura Shards if it's on the table. Card is absurd and should be included in 100% of Selesnya decks budget permitting.
I would 100% play 1-2 copies of Painful Truths. Synergy is nice and all but at the end of the day being able to pay 3 mana to draw 3 cards regardless of what you have in play/hand is extremely powerful. I always play at east 1 copy in my 3+ color Black decks because it requires absolutely nothing to be a stellar draw at virtually any stage of the game.
I'm just assuming that Recurring Nightmare isn't in the cards? It's a fantastic 1-2 of.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
Good call. For some reason, I never remember that Wood Elves brings something into play untapped.
So far in testing the deck is too slow, I can't seem to stabilize before I lose to something like a Gray Merchant.
To be fair Murmuring Bosk is basically never going to enter untapped, but the point is more so that Wood Elves fixes all 3 colors when that's what you're fetching. That's all that I was thinking about.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
After play testing the deck fairly extensively it has put up very nice results at least one v. one. When it does lose, it mostly loses to combo decks with oppressive draw engines or mostly spell oriented control decks with tons of removal. All said, my friend is happy with it and wants to actually build it. Still, I'm not sure whether the build is optimal so I'd be happy to hear your thoughts on the most recent iteration.
3x Wall of Blossoms
1x Reclamation Sage
3x Blade Splicer
3x Wood Elves
3x Siege Rhino
1x Acidic Slime
3x Thragtusk
2x Angel of Serenity
2x Sylvan Primordial
3x Path to Exile
4x Nature's Lore
2x Eerie Interlude
2x Painful Truths
2x Panharmonicon
2x Conjurer's Closet
8x Plains
8x Forest
4x Sandsteppe Citadel
4x Murmuring Bosk
It could be that the deck has too many one and two of's, but then again most of them fill similar roles at different spots on the mana curve