MTG Salvation

Rosheen Meanderer

Hello! This is my first EDH deck. I'm here to humbly ask ye olde sages for advice. I started playing 2 weeks ago, but am helplessly addicted. I've already got a Spike deck (Zur), but am trying to make a Johnny deck with the ability to win against some powerful decks. I realize Rosheen has been done before. No one in my play-circle has seen it yet.

The strategy I envision with the deck is pumping out creatures that force my opponents to deal with them. I want meatshields take a lickin' and keep on tickin'. They should allow me enough turns to ramp up to a huge mana pool, so I can sit back and start lobbing huge game-ending bombs. I can use the exiling damage cards (Disintegrate, Red Sun's Zenith, etc.) for spot removal of pesky creatures (i.e. fliers).

The creatures I'm interested are somewhat low-cost (nothing more than 6 CMC) so that I can use excess mana to fuel X cost spells. I also prefer that they can ramp up and get out of hand quickly. I've looked at a lot of Rosheen decklists and some of them seem to include cards simply because they have an X-requirement, but that are garbage otherwise. I don't want the deck to be gimmicky, and I don't want to rely solely on my general. I don't want to flounder and feel helpless when I can't produce those 4 hits of X. Therefore, I've included only a moderate amount of X-cost spells. You'll notice the deck also focuses on mirroring spells, so that I can lob 2x or 3x big Fireballs for 1-shot kills. I've got a little redundancy built in to make sure those bombs are uninterrupted, but I could include more (City of Solitude, Overmaster).

Decklist @ MTGVault
I'm over 100, and that's part of the reason I'm here. I need to make cuts. On the sideboard are other cards I'm considering.


First off, the creatures:
Ooze
Acidic Slime Deathtouch and versatile removal
Scavenging Ooze Answer to GY play
Predator Ooze Low cost, nice blocker
Hydra
Primordial Hydra Xcost and meddlesome, what's not to love?
Protean Hydra ^ Ditto
Feral Hydra On the chopping block, nice mana/X sink but not much else
Apocalypse Hydra Also might get cut, but seems nice for sniping pesky 2/2s and 1/1s here and there
Trolls
Thrun, the Last Troll Hexproof and hard to get rid of
Troll Ascetic Thrun's little brother
6CMC beat sticks
Flameblast Dragon XR cost spell, a gift that keeps on giving
Steel Hellkite X cost permanent removal
Wurmcoil Engine Seems to fit into this deck nicely
Primeval Titan 6/6 for 6, untap lands and trample? i think so (I know it's banned, but I'll use it until someone complains)
Utility and other
Obstinate Baloth Nice blocker, deters attacks
Orcish Settlers 1-Sided armageddon with enough mana (X cost)
Urabrask the Hidden Haste for all, opponents' creatures enter tapped
Fire Servant 2x damage
Dragonmaster Outcast Removal magnet for 1
Wort, the Raidmother Spell duplicator and tokens
Vexing Shusher Makes my nukes uninterruptable
Eternal Witness GY tutor
Mana dorks
Solemn Simulacrum Expendable, gives me a land, no card disadvantage
Sakura-Tribe Elder Cheap chump blocker and gives me a land
Magus of the Candelabra Converts Rosheen's mana into regular mana
Llanowar Elves
Birds of Paradise

Next up, enchantments and artifacts:
Asceticism expensive, but seems really powerful
Curse of Bloodletting double the pleasure, double the fun
Pattern of Rebirth deterrent for killing general, or I can suicide a lackey that I can regen, tutoring me a 6CMC for 5
Mana Reflection
Bear Umbra Untap lands, saves a life, but may be too spendy
Knives in the toolbox
Basilisk Collar Makes my indestructible, regenerators and hexproofs a lot more scary
Lightning Greaves Shroud/haste for beat sticks
Sword of Feast and Famine +DMG and untapping, love it
X dumps
Chimeric Mass Expendable, essentially a 4/4 for free with Rosheen at the very least, sticks around after Wrath of God
Sigil of Distinction Can think of a lot of uses for this, staple
Soul Foundry X dump, token factory
Mana
Thousand-Year Elixir Doubles the mana I get from Rosheen, not useless without her either
Thran Dynamo
Coalition Relic
Sol Ring
Doubling Cube
aaaand Skullclamp for card advantage

Instants
Utility
Beast Within removal when I really need it
Chord of Calling X cost tutor that puts creature onto battlefield
Strength of the Tajuru +X/X for creatures, perfect for this deck
Tangle Stall when I need more turns for mana to ramp, also leaves opponents' creatures tapped, both offensive and defensive utility
Moment's Peace Same reason as above, with flashback
Nature's Claim Artifact/enchantment removal on the cheap
Krosan Grip Split second version of above, redundancy
Mana
Harrow Armageddon defense, or just card/land advantage/mana fixer
Duplicators
Reverberate
Increasing Vengeance Same as above with flashback
Damage
Comet Storm A taste of what's to come
Fling Make them pay for exiling my 15/15 Hydra

Planeswalkers
Garruk Wildspeaker Mana and tokens (sac fodder)
Garruk, Primal Hunter tokens and card draw

Sorcery
Nukes
Banefire Uncounterable if x>=5 which it will be with Rosheen
Kaervek's Torch Tough to interrupt
Bonfire of the Damned Burninating the peasants
Rolling Thunder Again, peasant destruction
Fanning the Flames
Fireball
Disintegrate Exile
Red Sun's Zenith Exile
Demonfire Exile
Mana ramping
Cultivate
Kodama's Reach
Utility
Regrowth Bounce back from removal at a critical point
Shattering Spree May be useless if opponent isnt using artifacts, but can also be devastating and efficient
Green Sun's Zenith Cheap creature tutor
Genesis Wave No brainer, right?
Gelatinous Genesis Meat shields, sac fodder for X cost

Lands
Boseiju Who Shelters All untinterrupted nuking
14 Forest
11 Mountain
Reliquary Tower
Valakut the Molten Pinnacle yesss!
Stomping Ground
Rootbound Crag
Kessig Wolf Run
Gaea's Cradle
Copperline Gorge
Gruul Turf

Some tweaks will be made depending on opponent.
Versus Fliers: Hurricane, Silklash Spider, Whirlwind, Crushing Vines
Versus White: Anarchy
Versus Black: Relic of Progenitus, Tormod's Crypt
Versus Blue: City of Solitude, Overmaster, Dosan the Falling Leaf

Some candidates for the deck I'm particularly interested in:
Mwonvuli Acid-Moss destroy enemy land, and I draw a land
Oracle of Mul Daya
Lotus Cobra interested in seeing an interaction between this and the Oracle

I can't get this deck out of my head. If I had more experience, I could refine it and have it really come to fruition. But I don't, so that's where you come in Please guide me; I'm eager to hear your suggestions. Thanks!

Try using deck tags, it increases readability a lot.

I actually started playing commander with a Rosheen deck, and I am still loving it. It's a very explosive commander and the colors are capable of answering a lot of threats as well and make good use of the all important green mana-ramp. I managed some surprise wins out of the deck, hitting players for 40+ damage with rosheen infused X spells.

Some advise:

1. The only Hydras that survived my deck changes were Genesis Hydra and Hydra Broodmaster. All other Hydras would die immediately to removal, and thus all the mana put into them was wasted, essentially turning my opponent's Doom Blade into a Time walk. With Genesis Hydra, you have car advantage built-in, and you know you can get some scary stuff out. Hydra Broodmaster is both a fatty and a second Gelatinous Genesis wrapped in one.

2. I'd take out Fireball for Clan Defiance. It will most likely hit 3 targets anyway, and at a much cheaper cost.

3. Add some sweepers! Starstorm, Rolling Earthquake and Street Spasm saved me more times than I can count.

4. Shattering spree should be replaced with either Vandalblast, or the more multiplayer-friendly Builder's Bane.

5. Switch Nature's Claim for Unravel the AEther or Deglamer. That way, you can have an answer to Gods.

6. You could use more ramp as well. I've noticed you have no Gilded Lotus, Talisman of Impulse, Gruul Signet or Pristine Talisman - All good mana rocks that can help you generate a lot of mana very fast. you should also run Explosive Vegetation and/or Skyshroud Claim.

7. I found Bear Umbra and Increasing Vengeance to be lacking. Reiterate over vengeance and Caged Sun replaced the umbra in my deck.

8. Where's Tooth and Nail?

9. You're making a lot of mana even without Rosheen, and there are a lot of creatures that can make use of that mana. Eldrazis come to mind, but I also run Colossus of Akros (a very undervalued card in commander, can win games on it's own and hard to deal with), Gruul Ragebeast (gets rid of a lot of creatures, and this + Gelatinous Genesis = Good times), Terrastodon (one of my MVPs) and Woodfall Primus.

10. Rosheen really needs card advantage. Mind's eye is a fine option, but I also run Garruk's Packleader and Soul of the Harvest and right now I also consider Staff of Nin. I also run Mask of Memory, mostly because I can't afford Sword of Fire and Ice.

11. As for the cards you mentioned you're interested in: the Acid-Moss I've seen being played but I find it too expensive both a LD and as mana ramp. Unless LD is you strategy, or your meta is full of annoying lands a la Tolarian Academy and Gaea's Cradle, I'd pass. Oracle and Cobra work well in Azusa, Lost but Seeking decks, but Rosheen has a radically different build.
Good luck!

Since this is for 1vs1 then Mishra's Helix can slow down or stall your opponent. Tapping out the remaining lands the opponent leaves open at the end of their turn, can prevent them from playing anything during your turn.