The deck is nearly mono-G, only splashing U for a few useful cards on this theme. It certainly doesn't play like most U-containing Commander decks, and doesn't take full advantage of U's strengths, besides some card draw. With that in mind:
This deck is NOT for you if:
- you like to have an answer for everything;
- you like to control the stack;
- you like to win by combo;
- you like to win consistently.
This deck might be for you if:
- you like big, splashy plays;
- you like to come from behind, or come out of nowhere;
- you don't care if your deck isn't particularly consistent;
- you let others deal with threats, and would rather do your own thing to some extent (e.g. build a huge army and swing for the win);
- you like to turn creatures sideways (attack Attack ATTACK).
That said, there are a few cute interactions in the deck. I've highlighted several in the "spoilers", below.
After developing a pretty intense Sliver Overlord toolbox deck (which focuses on stealing creatures and having a toolbox of answers, with several Sliver Queen combos through which to win) and a Rafiq "voltron" deck specifically for 1-on-1, I decided I needed something that plays "fair" and is both fun to pilot and to play against in multiplayer games. I always play to win, but this deck isn't meant to be as cutthroat as my other decks, and is for playing against other less competitive decks (e.g. the Commander pre-cons, other slow decks with high CMC "big splashy plays", etc) where my budget-ignoring Sliver deck wouldn't be appropriate.
It started off as a squirrel deck (at one time, I was even considering getting my commander altered to "Edric, Squirrelmaster of Trest"). In addition to including nearly every squirrel card in Magic (including the old Might of Oaks art), it was originally based on two infinite combos: Earthcraft + Squirrel Nest, and Intruder Alarm + Druid's Call + Stuffy Doll. Unfortunately, these combos rely on two enchantments each, and U/ doesn't provide tutors for enchantments, so these combos are pretty unreliable in a U/ deck (would be much stronger in Bant, and I already have a Bant deck). I found that the latter combo was particularly bad in this deck, since the only creature we want to put Druid's Call on is Stuffy Doll, and we never want to cast Intruder Alarm unless we have both of the other two pieces - otherwise, it's likely to backfire. Since these cards are "dead draws" for most of the game, I decided to cut them for more token producers - but kept the Squirrel Nest / Earthcraft combo. In my opinion, every deck should have a way to win the game outright if it lasts long enough.
After some testing, I developed the deck into "Edric's Circus", a zoo of over 15 different types of creature tokens. The goals of the deck are to: (a) generate tremendous numbers of tokens in surprisingly few turns, and (b) draw tremendous numbers of cards... so that we can generate tremendous numbers of tokens... so that we can draw tremendous numbers of cards...
Things get silly with Doubling Season and/or Parallel Lives in play. Pentavus was included to exploit that. Just keep converting counters to tokens and vice versa with any extra mana and watch your army grow. Goes especially nicely with Gaea's Cradle. And for a sudden boost, drop Parallel Evolution AND flash it back to quadruple your token army... or leave it in your graveyard for future use (post-wrath?). And things get really complicated when you cast + flashback Parallel Evolution while Doubling Season or Parallel Lives is in play...
Another massive token doubler is Rite of Replication. Kick it on Terastodon to remove 15 lands from the game (not to mention giving yourself 5x 9/9 monsters), or kick it on Hornet Queen for 25 more flyers with deathtouch. Or it can be cast on an opponent's commander for straightforward removal. I've even used it on Dryad Arbor when I've been desperate for (green) land.
Followed Footsteps is similar, giving you a copy of a creature (presumably with an EtB effect) on each of your upkeeps. Keep in mind it's easy to get 2-for-1'ed with this one - and it will certainly paint a huge target on the head of your enchanted creature.
A few of the token generators are also "lords" for their tokens. Murkfiend Liege is a universal "lord" that gives +2/+2 to your multicoloured creatures (notice that Leafdrake Roost generates a 4/4 flyer for GU with the Liege in play), and untaps your creatures each turn. This is better than giving vigilance, as it also untaps your mana dorks. I've also included Caged Sun and Gauntlet of Power, which double as mana ramp. Novijen, Heart of Progress and Oran-Rief, the Vastwood give +1/+1 counters to new creatures, while Pendelhaven gives repeatable temporary +1/+2 boosts to 1/1's. Additionally, Eldrazi Monument, Akroma's Memorial, and Asceticism give your army several desirable characteristics.
The recent FTV: Legends set added a creature that makes our army virtually unblockable (Sun Quan, Lord of Wu), which is awesome considering our commander is Edric, Spymaster of Trest. Otherwise, Dolmen Gate lets us attack an opponent with large numbers of low-toughness creatures without worrying about them dying in combat.
This deck is more about generating threats and board presence than having answers to others. An obvious issue with a token deck is dealing with sweepers. This deck is susceptible, but has a couple of ways to deal. For one, it can simply generate tokens so quickly that it can often just put a new army on the battlefield. Some of the token generators have flashback (Acorn Harvest, Chatter of the Squirrel), and Parallel Evolution can also flashback to double your token count. There are also "staple" recursion cards including Eternal Witness (see "synergy" spoiler) and Academy Ruins. And there is one counterspell: Mystic Snake (see "synergy" spoiler).
A recent addition is Spawning Pit. It's a sac outlet that lets you recover at least half your army in the form of 2/2 Spawn tokens. With Parallel Lives or Rings of Brighthearth, we can get the whole army back; with Doubling Season, we get twice the army! Combine any of those, and we can end up with a lot more Spawn than our opponents bargained for.
Another thing you can do with Cloudstone Curio (or Crystal Shard) is give yourself exclusive benefits of Edric's ability. Simply use a mana dork to cast Edric during your first main phase, bouncing the mana dork. Then attack with your army. Then cast the mana dork during your second main phase, bouncing Edric to your hand. Repeat next turn. If you have enough mana, instead of bouncing/recasting a mana dork, do it with something like Terastodon or Eternal Witness or Hornet Queen instead.
Another good target for bouncing is Deranged Hermit. Cast her during first main phase, attack with your 2/2 squirrels (at least, the ones without summoning sickness), then cast another creature during second main phase to bounce her so you don't have to pay the echo fee next turn. Instead, you get another 4 squirrels for your 3GG, in addition to having the "squirrel lord" in play during your attack phase.
If you opt to sideboard-in the Stuffy Doll, Druid's Call, Intruder Alarm combo, you'll notice that when assembled, it allows you to instantly kill one opponent while generating an infinite horde of squirrels. If you don't have Akroma's Memorial, this is often followed by another opponent sweeping the board, and now you have a useless Stuffy Doll since it's target no longer exists. With Cloudstone Curio, you can play an enchantment to bounce Druid's Call, then play a (non-artifact) creature to bounce Stuffy Doll. Then you can play them again, naming a different opponent for Stuffy Doll's ability.
Another less-obvious tutor is Elvish Harbinger. It's a mana dork that also puts an elf on top of the deck. Why an elf? Well, there are more elves in this deck than are obvious at first glance. Here's the complete list:
I recently took Mystical Tutor out. I found that the only "good" targets it had were Rite of Replication, Praetor's Counsel, and Parallel Evolution... and those cards are only useful late in the game - and crazy good when I do draw into them. If you want more consistent wins, by all means: run Mystical Tutor. Personally, I wanted more utility cards and individual token producers, and drawing into those potential game-changers is more rewarding to me than tutoring them up. Ymmv.
The primary goal of the deck is to attack with an army of small, efficient creatures to draw cards via Edric's ability, rinse, and repeat. When that fails (e.g. Edric gets tucked, or our opponents find a way to keep our army insignificant), there are a few other ways to keep going. Consecrated Sphinx is a "staple" and needs no further introduction. Thought Reflection should be a "staple" for similar reasons, although its CMC is quite high. Garruk, Primal Hunter can draw 3+ cards (and pumps out a lot of tokens). Skullclamp can quickly turn a few 1/1 tokens into a lot of cards. Distant Melody is sitting in the sideboard at the moment, but is the first card I'd add if I had a free slot. Most token generators will drop 4+ copies of a creature, so Distant Melody will always perform well.
Once the cards start coming in, it's important to get Reliquary Tower or Venser's Journal in play so we don't have to discard too many cards. If we are forced to discard down to 7 a few times, the next thing we'd like to cast is Praetor's Counsel, as it recovers those cards and is a permanent effect if it resolves.
Another reason to have "unlimited hand size" is to benefit Overbeing of Myth. It's our biggest single-creature threat, and it too helps draw more cards. Lorescale Coatl is similar, but I dropped it in favour of more token producers ("quantity over quality"?).
A lot of Commander "staples" are excluded from this deck. One reason is I didn't think they were needed. For example, this deck doesn't rely on protecting its commander. Edric only gets cast when we're ready to attack with an army, and it doesn't really matter if he gets killed. Thus, no Lightning Greaves, Whispersilk Cloak, Swiftfoot Boots, Champion's Helm, etc.
Next, fixing draws by digging ~ 3 cards deep isn't really necessary when you're going to be drawing > 3 cards per turn; hence no Sensei's Divining Top, Mirri's Guile, Sylvan Library, etc. I did put a Scroll Rack in the sideboard because it's possible to accidentally mill yourself with this deck. Most of the draw effects are "may", but you might suddenly find yourself with only ~ 10 cards left in your library, but 20+ in your hand. At that point, you could use Scroll Rack to swap those numbers. So far, it hasn't been an issue. Besides, if it becomes a problem, it might be better to run Elixir of Immortality et al instead. Right now, the only card that prevents milling is Primal Command - but I'd usually use that effect against a reanimator deck.
No problem. No creatures on board... so I cast Garruk, Primal Hunter; he came in with 6 loyalty, so I chose his ultimate. I had 7 lands, so I got 14x 6/6 green wurm creatures (thanks to Doubling Season)... and 2x 2/2 wolves (thanks to Fable of Wolf and Owl). I passed the turn. The very next player then cast Phyrexian Rebirth... wiping out my creatures and giving himself a 16/16 horror! Doh!
When it came back to my turn, I cast Hornet Queen (for the second time in the game; hence the Eternal Witness, above); The 2/2 queen came into play with 8x 1/1 green flying insects with deathtouch and another 2x wolves. I passed the turn. When it came back to the mono-B player who had cast Damnation earlier, this time he cast Massacre Wurm... to wipe out my army and punch me in the face for 22 life. Doh!
Later in the game, I was down to 9 life. On my previous turn, I drew Venser's Journal and was able to put 20 creatures in play (including wolves and owls; highest toughness among them was 2). I was planning to play Venser's Journal and Edric this turn; then I could swing with my army to draw a massive number of cards, and would gain a pile of life on a future upkeep. But before I got the chance, The Mimeoplasm player across from me cast Rise from the Grave... on the mono-B player's Massacre Wurm... punching me in the face for 40 damage!
It was a blast! I went from 0 creatures to an army in a single turn on at least 3 occasions. Unfortunately, Massacre Wurm is basically the "anti-token deck" card, and I couldn't do anything about it. If only I had Murkfiend Liege/Caged Sun/Gauntlet of Power/Eldrazi Monument in play to give my guys a toughness boost.
Another game report with this deck (which I've been continually tweaking):
It was a 3-player game. I hadn't done much of anything all game, but on my previous turn, I played Mana Reflection with Fable of Wolf and Owl out, and then cast Edric, Spymaster of Trest to encourage my opponents to attack each other (rather than me), giving me two 2/2 wolves and a 1/1 flying bird token. Sure enough my opponents did battle it out, and on the last turn before mine, the Sharuum artifact deck's controller was able to kill the other player.
My next turn... was EXPLOSIVE! I started with Eldrazi Monument (opponent groans), then cast Murkfiend Liege (and gained another wolf and bird token). That's +2/+2 to each of my wolves and owls, and +3/+3 to Edric... and they're all flying and indestructible. Then... Parallel Evolution - putting another wolf on the battlefield before doubling all of my tokens. I swung, and my artifact-y opponent had no flyers to block with. Then during his upkeep, I untapped all my tokens thanks to Murkfiend Liege.
He played everything he could, sacrificed most of his (non-flying) creatures via Skullclamp to dig for more answers, and with 15+ cards still in hand, finally said "go... and I scoop" before I had a chance to finish saying "I flashback Parallel Evolution to double my army before swinging for lethal."
--------------------------
In another game, I discovered a particularly crazy series of plays from seemingly innocent cards. It's a MANY card combo, but goes to show you what a board state might look like with this deck.
Tap the Squirrel Nested Forest (henceforth simply "Squirrel Nest") to put a 1/1 Squirrel token (1) in play. Then tap an Island and Deserted Temple to untap Squirrel Nest and tap it again for a Squirrel token (2). Then tap Argothian Elder to untap Squirrel Nest and Deserted Temple. Tap Squirrel Nest for a Squirrel token (3), then a forest + Deserted Temple to untap Squirrel Nest before tapping it for (4) Squirrel token. Then tap another forest + Wirewood Lodge to untap Argothan Elder before tapping it to untap Squirrel Nest and Deserted Temple again. Repeat to get Squirrel tokens (5-8). That's 8 Squirrel tokens in one turn without playing a card!
*edit* And with a Murkfiend Liege in play, you can repeat part of that combo (minus parts requiring mana) on each opponents' upkeep (untapping Argothian Elder to untap Squirrel Nest + Deserted Temple to get a Squirrel token; next opponent's upkeep, untap Argothian Elder again to untap Squirrel Nest + a basic land, and now you can get 2 Squirrel tokens via Deserted Temple; that's 3 more tokens for every 2 opponents).
Of course, Earthcraft is "easy mode" (and infinite), but everybody sees that one coming as soon as it hits the battlefield.
*edit to the edit* With Murkfiend Liege in a multiplayer game, I realized it's better to use Argothian Elder to untap Squirrel Nest + Wirewood Lodge; then next opponent's upkeep, use Argothian Elder to untap Squirrel Nest + a basic land, then use the basic land + Wirewood Lodge to untap Argothian Elder again, use it on Squirrel Nest + Wirewood Lodge. That way, you get 1 token for the first opponent, and 2 tokens for each additional opponent.
This deck is NOT for you if:
- you like to have an answer for everything;
- you like to control the stack;
- you like to win by combo;
- you like to win consistently.
This deck might be for you if:
- you like big, splashy plays;
- you like to come from behind, or come out of nowhere;
- you don't care if your deck isn't particularly consistent;
- you let others deal with threats, and would rather do your own thing to some extent (e.g. build a huge army and swing for the win);
- you like to turn creatures sideways (attack Attack ATTACK).
That said, there are a few cute interactions in the deck. I've highlighted several in the "spoilers", below.
Here is the deck list I'm currently playing (2011-10-21). I've included a rather lengthy "sideboard", which lists some cards that were recently cut in favour of more utility (e.g. recursion, wrath recovery, a sac outlet), and/or a conversion kit for different moods: group hug/team play (Hunted Phantasm, Hunted Troll, Liege of the Hollows), more ramp (Kodama's Reach, Journey of Discovery, Hunting Wilds, Skyshroud Claim, Expedition Map), more consistency (Mystical Tutor, Worldly Tutor, Fabricate, Distant Melody), more combo (Stuffy Doll + Druid's Call + Intruder Alarm; Cloudstone Curio + Mystic Snake or Venser, Shaper Savant), more cannons/catapults (Hornet Cannon, Doom Cannon, Fodder Cannon, Skull Catapult, Blasting Station), more squirrel tokens (I mean, really, who doesn't love squirrels?), more insect tokens (e.g. Swarmyard targets).
1x Edric, Spymaster of Trest
Creatures (24)
1x Arbor Elf
1x Argothian Elder
1x Avenger of Zendikar
1x Birds of Paradise
1x Consecrated Sphinx
1x Deranged Hermit
1x Elvish Archdruid
1x Elvish Harbinger
1x Eternal Witness
1x Genesis
1x Hornet Queen
1x Mitotic Slime
1x Murkfiend Liege
1x Oracle of Mul Daya
1x Overbeing of Myth
1x Pentavus
1x Phyrexian Metamorph
1x Primeval Titan
1x Stone-seeder Hierophant
1x Sun Quan, Lord of Wu
1x Terastodon
1x Trygon Predator
1x Verdant Force
1x Wurmcoil Engine
Artifacts (12)
1x Acorn Catapult
1x Caged Sun
1x Crystal Shard
1x Dolmen Gate
1x Eldrazi Monument
1x Gauntlet of Power
1x Rings of Brighthearth
1x Simic Signet
1x Skullclamp
1x Sol Ring
1x Spawning Pit
1x Venser's Journal
Enchantments (10)
1x Asceticism
1x Beastmaster Ascension
1x Defense of the Heart
1x Doubling Season
1x Earthcraft
1x Fable of Wolf and Owl
1x Followed Footsteps
1x Mana Reflection
1x Parallel Lives
1x Squirrel Nest
Planeswalkers (2)
1x Garruk Wildspeaker
1x Garruk, Primal Hunter
Sorceries (12)
1x AEther Mutation
1x Cultivate
1x Green Sun's Zenith
1x Kodama's Reach
1x Life from the Loam
1x Natural Order
1x Parallel Evolution
1x Praetor's Counsel
1x Primal Command
1x Rite of Replication
1x Skyshroud Claim
1x Tooth and Nail
Instants (1)
1x Chord of Calling
Lands (38)
1x Academy Ruins
1x Breeding Pool
1x Command Tower
1x Deserted Temple
1x Dryad Arbor
1x Flooded Grove
7x Forest
1x Gaea's Cradle
1x Hinterland Harbor
2x Island
1x Lonely Sandbar
1x Lotus Vale
1x Misty Rainforest
1x Mosswort Bridge
1x Novijen, Heart of Progress
1x Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
1x Pendelhaven
1x Reliquary Tower
1x Remote Isle
1x Simic Growth Chamber
1x Slippery Karst
1x Strip Mine
1x Swarmyard
1x Temple of the False God
1x Thawing Glaciers
1x Tranquil Thicket
1x Tropical Island
1x Vesuva
1x Wasteland
1x Wirewood Lodge
1x Yavimaya Hollow
Good Stuff
1x Akroma's Memorial
1x Clone
1x Cold-eyed Selkie
1x Concordant Crossroads
1x Genesis Wave
1x Hibernation's End
1x Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
1x Lorescale Coatl
1x Muraganda Petroglyphs
1x Vigor
1x Winged Coatl
1x Fabricate
1x Mystical Tutor
1x Slate of Ancestry
1x Thought Reflection
1x Worldly Tutor
1x Crop Rotation
1x Expedition Map
1x Gilded Lotus
1x Hunting Wilds
1x Journey of Discovery
1x Reap and Sow
1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
1x Solemn Simulacrum
1x Utopia Sprawl
1x Wild Growth
1x Wood Elves
1x Yavimaya Elder
1x Eladamri's Vineyard
1x Forbidden Orchard
1x Hunted Phantasm
1x Hunted Troll
1x Liege of the Hollows
1x Magus of the Vineyard
1x Rites of Flourishing
1x Blasting Station
1x Doom Cannon
1x Fodder Cannon
1x Hornet Cannon
1x Master of the Wild Hunt
1x Skull Catapult
1x Cloudstone Curio
1x Mystic Snake
1x Venser, Shaper Savant
1x Druid's Call
1x Intruder Alarm
1x Stuffy Doll
1x Acorn Harvest
1x Chatter of the Squirrel
1x Krosan Beast
1x Nut Collector
1x Squirrel Mob
1x Ant Queen
1x Living Hive
1x One Dozen Eyes
1x Saber Ants
1x Symbiotic Wurm
It started off as a squirrel deck (at one time, I was even considering getting my commander altered to "Edric, Squirrelmaster of Trest"). In addition to including nearly every squirrel card in Magic (including the old Might of Oaks art), it was originally based on two infinite combos: Earthcraft + Squirrel Nest, and Intruder Alarm + Druid's Call + Stuffy Doll. Unfortunately, these combos rely on two enchantments each, and U/ doesn't provide tutors for enchantments, so these combos are pretty unreliable in a U/ deck (would be much stronger in Bant, and I already have a Bant deck). I found that the latter combo was particularly bad in this deck, since the only creature we want to put Druid's Call on is Stuffy Doll, and we never want to cast Intruder Alarm unless we have both of the other two pieces - otherwise, it's likely to backfire. Since these cards are "dead draws" for most of the game, I decided to cut them for more token producers - but kept the Squirrel Nest / Earthcraft combo. In my opinion, every deck should have a way to win the game outright if it lasts long enough.
After some testing, I developed the deck into "Edric's Circus", a zoo of over 15 different types of creature tokens. The goals of the deck are to: (a) generate tremendous numbers of tokens in surprisingly few turns, and (b) draw tremendous numbers of cards... so that we can generate tremendous numbers of tokens... so that we can draw tremendous numbers of cards...
Regarding specific card choices:
- 1/1 green Squirrel (Deranged Hermit, Nut Collector, Acorn Catapult, Acorn Harvest, Squirrel Nest)
- 2/2 green wolf (Wren's Run Packmaster, Fable of Wolf and Owl)
- 1/1 blue Bird with flying (Fable of Wolf and Owl)
- 3/3 green Elephant (Terastodon)
- 1/1 green Insect with flying and deathtouch (Hornet Queen)
- 1/1 green Saproling (Verdant Force, AEther Mutation)
- 0/1 green Plant (Avenger of Zendikar)
- 2/2 green Ooze with "When this creature dies, put two 1/1 green Ooze creature tokens onto the battlefield." (Mitotic Slime)
- 1/1 green Ooze (Mitotic Slime)
- 3/3 green Beast (Garruk Wildspeaker, Garruk, Primal Hunter)
- 6/6 green Wurm (Garruk, Primal Hunter)
- 2/2 green and blue Drake with flying (Leafdrake Roost)
- 1/1 artifact Pentavite with flying (Pentavus)
- 3/3 artifact Wurm with deathtouch (Wurmcoil Engine)
- 3/3 artifact Wurm with lifelink (Wurmcoil Engine)
- 2/2 artifact Spawn (Spawning Pit)
- ?/? ??? (Rite of Replication, Followed Footsteps)
Optional:
- 1/1 artifact Hornet with haste (Hornet Cannon)
- 1/1 red Goblin (Hunted Phantasm)
- 1/1 blue Faerie with flying (Hunted Troll)
- 1/1 green Insect (Living Hive, One Dozen Eyes, Saber Ants, Symbiotic Wurm)
- 5/5 green Beast (One Dozen Eyes)
Another massive token doubler is Rite of Replication. Kick it on Terastodon to remove 15 lands from the game (not to mention giving yourself 5x 9/9 monsters), or kick it on Hornet Queen for 25 more flyers with deathtouch. Or it can be cast on an opponent's commander for straightforward removal. I've even used it on Dryad Arbor when I've been desperate for (green) land.
Followed Footsteps is similar, giving you a copy of a creature (presumably with an EtB effect) on each of your upkeeps. Keep in mind it's easy to get 2-for-1'ed with this one - and it will certainly paint a huge target on the head of your enchanted creature.
The recent FTV: Legends set added a creature that makes our army virtually unblockable (Sun Quan, Lord of Wu), which is awesome considering our commander is Edric, Spymaster of Trest. Otherwise, Dolmen Gate lets us attack an opponent with large numbers of low-toughness creatures without worrying about them dying in combat.
Also included in the deck are Sol Ring, Simic Signet, Reap and Sow (included also for its land destruction), Oracle of Mul Daya (comes in handy when you draw 6+ cards per turn), Primeval Titan (for fetching key lands), Journey of Discovery, Life from the Loam, Mana Reflection, Caged Sun, Gauntlet of Power, and others. I recently took out Gilded Lotus, Cultivate, Hunting Wilds, and Expedition Map for more token generators and utility cards, but I might put some back in if I find mana generation is a problem.
A recent addition is Spawning Pit. It's a sac outlet that lets you recover at least half your army in the form of 2/2 Spawn tokens. With Parallel Lives or Rings of Brighthearth, we can get the whole army back; with Doubling Season, we get twice the army! Combine any of those, and we can end up with a lot more Spawn than our opponents bargained for.
Similarly, many permanents and spells have activated abilities. These can be doubled with Rings of Brighthearth. For example, with Rings of Brighthearth on the battlefield, Wren's Run Packmaster essentially says "4G: Put 2x 2/2 green wolf tokens with deathtouch into play", and Leafdrake Roost says "2GU, tap enchanted land: Put 2x 2/2 green and blue drake tokens with flying into play". Rings of Brighthearth also lets us get extra mileage out of fetch lands (Misty Rainforest), cycling lands (Tranquil Thicket, Lonely Sandbar, Remote Isle, Slippery Karst), cannons and catapults (Acorn Catapult, Fodder Cannon; several more in the sideboard), either Garruk, regenerate via Asceticism or Swarmyard, etc, etc, etc. Notice that Life from the Loam + Rings of Brighthearth + cycling lands lets us repeatedly draw a lot of cards.
Another thing you can do with Cloudstone Curio (or Crystal Shard) is give yourself exclusive benefits of Edric's ability. Simply use a mana dork to cast Edric during your first main phase, bouncing the mana dork. Then attack with your army. Then cast the mana dork during your second main phase, bouncing Edric to your hand. Repeat next turn. If you have enough mana, instead of bouncing/recasting a mana dork, do it with something like Terastodon or Eternal Witness or Hornet Queen instead.
Another good target for bouncing is Deranged Hermit. Cast her during first main phase, attack with your 2/2 squirrels (at least, the ones without summoning sickness), then cast another creature during second main phase to bounce her so you don't have to pay the echo fee next turn. Instead, you get another 4 squirrels for your 3GG, in addition to having the "squirrel lord" in play during your attack phase.
If you opt to sideboard-in the Stuffy Doll, Druid's Call, Intruder Alarm combo, you'll notice that when assembled, it allows you to instantly kill one opponent while generating an infinite horde of squirrels. If you don't have Akroma's Memorial, this is often followed by another opponent sweeping the board, and now you have a useless Stuffy Doll since it's target no longer exists. With Cloudstone Curio, you can play an enchantment to bounce Druid's Call, then play a (non-artifact) creature to bounce Stuffy Doll. Then you can play them again, naming a different opponent for Stuffy Doll's ability.
Fabricate is a toolbox of artifacts. It usually fetches Cloudstone Curio or Rings of Brighthearth (see the "synergy" spoiler), but a late-game Akroma's Memorial or Eldrazi Monument is common as well. It can also fetch Wurmcoil Engine or a Stuffy Doll if you're including that (optional) combo.
Another less-obvious tutor is Elvish Harbinger. It's a mana dork that also puts an elf on top of the deck. Why an elf? Well, there are more elves in this deck than are obvious at first glance. Here's the complete list:
1x Arbor Elf (mana ramp + interacts with Squirrel Nest, Leafdrake Roost)
1x Argothian Elder (ditto; also untaps Gaea's Cradle and Deserted Temple)
1x Deranged Hermit (token generator; squirrel lord)
1x Elvish Archdruid (mana ramp; elf lord; better with more elves)
1x Oracle of Mul Daya (land ramp; card advantage)
1x Wren's Run Packmaster (token generator; wolf lord; mana sink)
I recently took Mystical Tutor out. I found that the only "good" targets it had were Rite of Replication, Praetor's Counsel, and Parallel Evolution... and those cards are only useful late in the game - and crazy good when I do draw into them. If you want more consistent wins, by all means: run Mystical Tutor. Personally, I wanted more utility cards and individual token producers, and drawing into those potential game-changers is more rewarding to me than tutoring them up. Ymmv.
Once the cards start coming in, it's important to get Reliquary Tower or Venser's Journal in play so we don't have to discard too many cards. If we are forced to discard down to 7 a few times, the next thing we'd like to cast is Praetor's Counsel, as it recovers those cards and is a permanent effect if it resolves.
Another reason to have "unlimited hand size" is to benefit Overbeing of Myth. It's our biggest single-creature threat, and it too helps draw more cards. Lorescale Coatl is similar, but I dropped it in favour of more token producers ("quantity over quality"?).
Next, fixing draws by digging ~ 3 cards deep isn't really necessary when you're going to be drawing > 3 cards per turn; hence no Sensei's Divining Top, Mirri's Guile, Sylvan Library, etc. I did put a Scroll Rack in the sideboard because it's possible to accidentally mill yourself with this deck. Most of the draw effects are "may", but you might suddenly find yourself with only ~ 10 cards left in your library, but 20+ in your hand. At that point, you could use Scroll Rack to swap those numbers. So far, it hasn't been an issue. Besides, if it becomes a problem, it might be better to run Elixir of Immortality et al instead. Right now, the only card that prevents milling is Primal Command - but I'd usually use that effect against a reanimator deck.
- Mystic Snake
- Nut Collector
- Wolfbriar Elemental
- Wren's Run Packmaster
+ Genesis
+ Stone-seeder Hierophant
+ Trygon Predator
Artifacts:
- Akroma's Memorial
- Cloudstone Curio
- Fodder Cannon
+ Crystal Shard
Enchantments:
- Leafdrake Roost
- Thought Reflection
+ Followed Footsteps
+ Defense of the Heart
Sorceries:
- Acorn Harvest
- Fabricate
+ AEther Mutation
+ Kodama's Reach
+ Natural Order
+ Skyshroud Claim
+ Tooth and Nail
Lands:
- Forest
- Forest
- Island
- Island
- Yavimaya Coast
+ Command Tower
+ Lotus Vale
+ Temple of the False God
+ Thawing Glaciers
+ Wirewood Lodge
G Pumped Elvish Warriors G
GW Infectious Slivers WG
WU Milling Allies UW
Legacy:
UB Hex-Depths BU (combo-control)
G NO/Aggro Elves G
Commander:
WUBRG Sliver Army GRBUW (multiplayer)
WUG Rafiq the Exalted GUW (1-on-1 voltron)
GU Edric's Circus UG (multiplayer tokens)
B Relentless Rats B (multiplayer combo)
UB Sygg, the Punisher (in progress)BU
UBR Nicol Bolas, Elder Dragon Highlander RBU (in progress)
I had Fable of Wolf and Owl and Doubling Season in play, along with Edric, 2x 1/1 flying blue birds (owls), 8x 2/2 wolves, and an Eternal Witness. Several other players also had boards full of creatures. The mono-B player to my right then cast Damnation.
No problem. No creatures on board... so I cast Garruk, Primal Hunter; he came in with 6 loyalty, so I chose his ultimate. I had 7 lands, so I got 14x 6/6 green wurm creatures (thanks to Doubling Season)... and 2x 2/2 wolves (thanks to Fable of Wolf and Owl). I passed the turn. The very next player then cast Phyrexian Rebirth... wiping out my creatures and giving himself a 16/16 horror! Doh!
When it came back to my turn, I cast Hornet Queen (for the second time in the game; hence the Eternal Witness, above); The 2/2 queen came into play with 8x 1/1 green flying insects with deathtouch and another 2x wolves. I passed the turn. When it came back to the mono-B player who had cast Damnation earlier, this time he cast Massacre Wurm... to wipe out my army and punch me in the face for 22 life. Doh!
Later in the game, I was down to 9 life. On my previous turn, I drew Venser's Journal and was able to put 20 creatures in play (including wolves and owls; highest toughness among them was 2). I was planning to play Venser's Journal and Edric this turn; then I could swing with my army to draw a massive number of cards, and would gain a pile of life on a future upkeep. But before I got the chance, The Mimeoplasm player across from me cast Rise from the Grave... on the mono-B player's Massacre Wurm... punching me in the face for 40 damage!
It was a blast! I went from 0 creatures to an army in a single turn on at least 3 occasions. Unfortunately, Massacre Wurm is basically the "anti-token deck" card, and I couldn't do anything about it. If only I had Murkfiend Liege/Caged Sun/Gauntlet of Power/Eldrazi Monument in play to give my guys a toughness boost.
G Pumped Elvish Warriors G
GW Infectious Slivers WG
WU Milling Allies UW
Legacy:
UB Hex-Depths BU (combo-control)
G NO/Aggro Elves G
Commander:
WUBRG Sliver Army GRBUW (multiplayer)
WUG Rafiq the Exalted GUW (1-on-1 voltron)
GU Edric's Circus UG (multiplayer tokens)
B Relentless Rats B (multiplayer combo)
UB Sygg, the Punisher (in progress)BU
UBR Nicol Bolas, Elder Dragon Highlander RBU (in progress)
It was a 3-player game. I hadn't done much of anything all game, but on my previous turn, I played Mana Reflection with Fable of Wolf and Owl out, and then cast Edric, Spymaster of Trest to encourage my opponents to attack each other (rather than me), giving me two 2/2 wolves and a 1/1 flying bird token. Sure enough my opponents did battle it out, and on the last turn before mine, the Sharuum artifact deck's controller was able to kill the other player.
My next turn... was EXPLOSIVE! I started with Eldrazi Monument (opponent groans), then cast Murkfiend Liege (and gained another wolf and bird token). That's +2/+2 to each of my wolves and owls, and +3/+3 to Edric... and they're all flying and indestructible. Then... Parallel Evolution - putting another wolf on the battlefield before doubling all of my tokens. I swung, and my artifact-y opponent had no flyers to block with. Then during his upkeep, I untapped all my tokens thanks to Murkfiend Liege.
He played everything he could, sacrificed most of his (non-flying) creatures via Skullclamp to dig for more answers, and with 15+ cards still in hand, finally said "go... and I scoop" before I had a chance to finish saying "I flashback Parallel Evolution to double my army before swinging for lethal."
--------------------------
In another game, I discovered a particularly crazy series of plays from seemingly innocent cards. It's a MANY card combo, but goes to show you what a board state might look like with this deck.
2x Island
1x Deserted Temple
1x Wirewood Lodge
1x Squirrel Nest (on a Forest)
1x Argothian Elder
Tap the Squirrel Nested Forest (henceforth simply "Squirrel Nest") to put a 1/1 Squirrel token (1) in play. Then tap an Island and Deserted Temple to untap Squirrel Nest and tap it again for a Squirrel token (2). Then tap Argothian Elder to untap Squirrel Nest and Deserted Temple. Tap Squirrel Nest for a Squirrel token (3), then a forest + Deserted Temple to untap Squirrel Nest before tapping it for (4) Squirrel token. Then tap another forest + Wirewood Lodge to untap Argothan Elder before tapping it to untap Squirrel Nest and Deserted Temple again. Repeat to get Squirrel tokens (5-8). That's 8 Squirrel tokens in one turn without playing a card!
*edit* And with a Murkfiend Liege in play, you can repeat part of that combo (minus parts requiring mana) on each opponents' upkeep (untapping Argothian Elder to untap Squirrel Nest + Deserted Temple to get a Squirrel token; next opponent's upkeep, untap Argothian Elder again to untap Squirrel Nest + a basic land, and now you can get 2 Squirrel tokens via Deserted Temple; that's 3 more tokens for every 2 opponents).
Of course, Earthcraft is "easy mode" (and infinite), but everybody sees that one coming as soon as it hits the battlefield.
*edit to the edit* With Murkfiend Liege in a multiplayer game, I realized it's better to use Argothian Elder to untap Squirrel Nest + Wirewood Lodge; then next opponent's upkeep, use Argothian Elder to untap Squirrel Nest + a basic land, then use the basic land + Wirewood Lodge to untap Argothian Elder again, use it on Squirrel Nest + Wirewood Lodge. That way, you get 1 token for the first opponent, and 2 tokens for each additional opponent.
It gets really crazy if you can untap a land that taps for more than 1 mana (Simic Growth Chamber, Lotus Vale, Temple of the False God, Gaea's Cradle). To go infinite, first get infinite G mana: Argothian Elder to untap Wirewood Lodge and Lotus Vale or Gaea's Cradle; use Wirewood Lodge to untap Argothian Elder, and repeat indefinitely. Now that mana isn't a limitation (floating unlimited G), use Argothian Elder to untap Squirrel Nest + Wirewood Lodge, with Wirewood Lodge untapping Argothian Elder; repeat indefinitely.
G Pumped Elvish Warriors G
GW Infectious Slivers WG
WU Milling Allies UW
Legacy:
UB Hex-Depths BU (combo-control)
G NO/Aggro Elves G
Commander:
WUBRG Sliver Army GRBUW (multiplayer)
WUG Rafiq the Exalted GUW (1-on-1 voltron)
GU Edric's Circus UG (multiplayer tokens)
B Relentless Rats B (multiplayer combo)
UB Sygg, the Punisher (in progress)BU
UBR Nicol Bolas, Elder Dragon Highlander RBU (in progress)