MTG Salvation

Gempalm Avenger

I'm planning to make an Anax & Cymede deck that has a balanced focus of Heroic and Soldier Tribal.

Should I consider putting in Gempalm Avenger? I think it has a good body, and the Cycling is always helpful.

This is assuming that I'll swarm tokens and flood with anthems. If not, what are the other Soldier Tribal-friendly cards that are (strictly) better than this?

I like Field Marshal over the avenger. The Marshal may not draw you a card or come at instant speed, but he can stick around longer.

I think it's fine. Just treat it as a spell and not a creature. Like most Gempalms...

I'd say it's real bad. You either get a vanilla 3/5 for 6, or a tiny combat trick that won't matter 95% of the time in EDH.

If you're playing enough soldiers for this to matter, I'd rather play another anthem effect over this:

Dictate of Heliod
Crusade
Glorious Anthem
Shared Triumph
Legion's Initiative

I like Darien, King of Kjeldor with effects like ancient tomb and city of brass. Cryptic Gateway is decent if you make enough soldier tokens.

Otherwise for anthems I like Spear of Heliod. Along with Honor of the Pure because I'm assuming most of your creatures will be white. Hero of Bladehold is pretty much an anthem. Soltari Champion kind of also has that anthem trigger ability that Hero of Bladehold has. Agrus Kos, Wojek Veteran is another creature that pumps all the rest of your creatures. Rally the Peasants is an instant speed combat pump that you can use twice.

Otherwise there are some other good soldiers that have combat tricks like Preeminent Captain and Odric, Master Tactician.

Quote from Entropic Melody

I like Darien, King of Kjeldor with effects like ancient tomb and city of brass. Cryptic Gateway is decent if you make enough soldier tokens.

Otherwise for anthems I like Spear of Heliod. Along with Honor of the Pure because I'm assuming most of your creatures will be white. Hero of Bladehold is pretty much an anthem. Soltari Champion kind of also has that anthem trigger ability that Hero of Bladehold has. Agrus Kos, Wojek Veteran is another creature that pumps all the rest of your creatures. Rally the Peasants is an instant speed combat pump that you can use twice.

Otherwise there are some other good soldiers that have combat tricks like Preeminent Captain and Odric, Master Tactician.

Haha! Was really planning to put in a Darien~ Didn't really notice the Ancient Tomb / City of Brass in this but now I think I'll look into it.

Was also thinking of sneaking in some more focus in Red since I think the White!Anthems (which will probably include the Gempalm Avenger - strictly as a spell)

Maybe some Radiance would work? Like Surge of Zeal to give even those tokens without haste, a chance to attack with their other friends.

So

• Wojek Siren
  
• Rally the Righteous
  
• Bathe in Light
  

I dunno, seems like it could be okay in a Soldier Tribal deck (obviously) but the effect doesn't strike me as something I would play. The cost for the body is kind of bleh - 3/5 with no evasion or combat skills isn't something I want for 6 mana, it's too reliant on lords to be great at that point in the game - and you can get a permanent Crusade effect for the cycling cost in the place of the miniscule combat trick.

Pass on the Gempalm. I like me some Jihad. So cheap for a +2/+1. And it's Arabian Nights!

But I had forgotten about Rally the Peasants. Lol. That's a nice boost too, and two times.

My personal favorite though is Marton. What a beastmonster. He and Mercadia's Downfall off the 'Forger.

Honestly, the only Gempalm I ever really liked was Polluter. This one isn't that strong, and while you can use it for a potential alpha strike, I think there are way better options for that. I'd only consider it if you were trying to pad how many soldiers you were running and wanted something a little versatile - even then though, I think slotting it in is potentially wasting said slot.