MTG Salvation

So looking at Ezuri, what would be the different ways to build him? Any utility creature will help with his experience counters and they will no doubt already be included in most builds.

Utility Creatures:

• Coiling Oracle
  
• Fauna Shaman
  
• Sakura-Tribe Elder
  
• Lotus Cobra
  
• Cold-Eyed Selkie
  
• Zameck Guildmage
  
• Eternal Witness
  
• Wood Elves
  
• Kaseto, Orochi Archmage
  
• Reclamation Sage
  
• Fathom Mage
  
• Mystic Snake
  
• Acidic Slime
  
• Mulldrifter

Cards that like +1/+1 counters:

• Den Protector
  
• Champion of Lambholt
  
• Spike Feeder
  
• Spike Weaver
  
• Spike Breeder
  
• Gyre Sage
  
• Sage of Hours
  
• Bloodspore Thrinax
  
• Master Biomancer
  
• Triskelion
  
• Triskelavus
  
• Pentavus

Adding Experience Counters quickly:

• Shrieking Drake
  
• Dream Stalker
  
• Man-o'-War
  
• Hangarback Walker
  
• Hooded Hydra
  
• Chasm Skulker
  
• Master of Waves
  
• Deranged Hermit
  
• Mycoloth
  
• Avenger of Zendikar
  
• Hornet Queen

Evasive Damage:

• Brawn
  
• Wonder
  
• Thassa, God of the Sea (unblockable)
  
• Skarrgan Pit-Skulk
  
• Wandering Wolf
  
• Aura Gnarlid (less effective without auras)

Infect creatures w/ power 2 or less:

• Blight Mamba
  
• Blighted Agent
  
• Blightwidow
  
• Cystbearer
  
• Glistener Elf
  
• Rot Wolf
  
• Tangle Angler
  
• Viral Drake
  
• Viridian Corrupter
  
• Core Prowler
  
• Corpse Cur
  
• Ichorclaw Myr
  
• Necropede
  
• Phyrexian Digester
  
• Plague Myr
  

What are some other cards that play well and have synergy/ combo with Ezuri's abilities? Adding trample or flying would be to our benefit or just straight up can't be blocked.

Sage of Hours if you just want to combo out.

Cold-Eyed Selkie can draw tons of cards when it connects.

By the same token, Cephalid Constable can wreck people if you can make it connect. Kaseto, Orochi Archmage can help.

Anything with morph plays well with Ezuri (Brine Elemental, Den Protector, Hooded Hydra).

Allows you to build experience counters early, then flip a fattier creature over and go to town.

Spike Feeder can gain you mountains of life while Fertilid fetches land. Spike Weaver, Spike Breeder, and Pentavus don't trigger Ezuri but do appreciate his boost. Forgotten Ancient is hi-larious with Ezuri. Persist creatures (namely Glen Elendra Archmage since it triggers his XP counters on both swings) are insane with Ezuri, which also means Cauldron of Souls is insane with him.

Other major token makers: Deranged Hermit, Patagia Viper, Hooded Hydra, Thelonite Hermit, Verdeloth the Ancient. Morph cards in general seem sorta fun with Ezuri since they always trigger XP and leave your opponent shaking in their boots over whether that pumped facedown guy is just a Willbender or is a Sagu Mauler or Den Protector that's about to flip out and kill them dead.

Mystic Snake will give an XP counter.

Champion of lambholt is good here 2. gets bigger with each creature as well. Honestly I'm not a fan of morph for this deck its really mana inefficient most of the time. I personally think that just small utility creatures go farther. Kinda wanna elf ball with him

Of course aluren is a must

Hornet Queen, Hangarback Walker, Vorel of the Hull Clade, Wild Beastmaster Just a few I can think of.

You also have cards like Shrieking Drake, Dream Stalker and Man-O'-War that allow you to cast them and tick up your counters (similarly to an Animar list).

aluren breaks him with cards like man o war and shrieking drake

Quote from GoodbyeWorld »

Anything with morph plays well with Ezuri (Brine Elemental, Den Protector, Hooded Hydra).

Allows you to build experience counters early, then flip a fattier creature over and go to town.

I've thought of this too and was on-board with it. Ironically though, Ixidor, Reality Sculptor would turn into a non-bo with Ezuri. Don't know how I'd sit with that...

You can go semi elf tribal and play Imperious Perfect with Intruder Alarm and a dork. Or get him some squirrels with the standard Earthcraft+Squirrel Nest.

Persist creatures as well as creatures utilizing -1/-1 counters like Devoted Druid are great also.

Triskelavus is an all-around great package with Ezuri, converting counters into tokens (which give more XP) which turn into direct damage.

Quote from luminum can »

Triskelavus is an all-around great package with Ezuri, converting counters into tokens (which give more XP) which turn into direct damage.

On the same note, Triskelion would also do wonder, and double the benefit by equipping with Basilisk Collar.

Fable of Wolf and Owl is a fun casual option.

Master Biomancer and Prime Speaker Zegana work so well in most of these shells. Also Zameck Guildmage and Bramblewood Paragon (Ezuri's even a Warrior!)

I'm putting him in my Animar deck, he's that good.

Looking at the new Bloodspore Thrinax spoiled earlier, he plays like a second Master Biomancer. I feel like he is a shoe in to most Ezuri builds and you don't even have to devour so it can trigger his experience counter trigger. Just add them with Ezuri to buff the other creatures. Pretty nice card.

I like the interaction with Triskelion and pinging off the board/direct damage. It's pretty nice, same is true with Triskelavus.

I updated the OP with many of the suggestions to help consolidate the ideas. Any other synergies that seem particularly broken with him?

I thought of both primordial hydra and Kalonian hydra would be rediculously good with Ezuri. They can garauntee games ending quickly. More ways to draw are sage of fables, novijen sages, greater good, life's legacy, and momentous fall that will get a lot of value from. Good trample enablers are kamahl, fist of krosa, overwhelming stampede, and triumph of the hordes.

Crowned Ceratok and Sapphire Drake both love counters and provide evasion.

There's plenty of token generators that play well with him also. I think I prefer the ones that can give you a good burst of tokens all at once though than the incremental ones.

Champion of Lambholt is Aura Gnarlid on steroids. Sure, she has 1 less power, and doesn't benefit from auras, but you get a +1/+1 counter whenever a creature ETB (which should be often), and she makes everyone else evasive too.

With how Ezuri gains and distributes counters, Doubling Season and Primal Vigor are just stupid broken with Hangarback Walker or anything like it, as just a few XP counters dropping +1/+1 counters can add a lot of tokens to the Hangarback's death trigger which will be further doubled by either of those enchantments adding 4 times your current XP counters back into the pool, with Doubling Season doubling that again for 8 times (did you have 5 XP tokens at the beginning of combat? You drop 10 +1/+1 counters, which turns into 20 more Thopters, and then 40 more XP tokens; assuming just Doubling Season is in play).

You could almost seriously use Champion of Lambholt as a win condition in this deck as a result of that synergy.