It's always been fine for me. I like to split my card draw between one-shot big draw spells and incremental draw-over-time. He's also a 6/6 trampler for 6, which is a fine body.
Anytime i saw deadwood treefolk in my hand, it seemed pretty dead. I see a lot of exiling problem creature in my meta which was making deadwood dead in hand alot. I still think Greenwarden Murasa is better but I can see the caee for Deadwood treefolk. Anyways what do you guys think about Eldritch Moon? In particular Eldritch Evolution and Spendid reclamation. Eldritch Evolution is an amazing budget replacement for Natural order and we finally got an answer for mass land removal. Does any other card from this set jump out and say omnath to you?
I tried Nissa, Vital Force. As much as I wanted to like it, it simply didn't do enough because it's so politically charged for having a turn-2 ultimate that draws cards. The problem is that, even if you ultimate, you're not really guaranteed to get a ton of benefit from it, but people will still look at you and say "you have an ultimate that draws you cards, you've gotta die now" because the card draw CAN eventually become overwhelming, but it takes some time. Unfortunately you're also not likely to get more than one Regrowth-effect out of her either, so functionally she was mostly just a damage sponge.
I had the same sort of impression with her. Her ultimate is the only reason she is worth running unlike Nissa, Worldwaker who is amazing.
Have you tested Selvala, Heart of the Wilds yet? She seems to be the best greater than 1 cost mana dork that we've gotten since Rofellos. I'd jam her over Karametra's Acolyte, imo. It's what I did in my own list.
Freyalise and Yavimaya Hollow had price increases that now put them above the $10 TCG-mid threshold. Meanwhile, Chord of Calling and Regal Force fell in price and are now below that threshold. I replaced Freyalise with Nissa and Yavimaya Hollow with a Forest (I couldn't really conjure any better non-basic options at the time). Meanwhile, I cut Hornet Queen for Regal Force and Primal Command for Chord of Calling, as I felt they were stronger choices now that they met the value conditions.
I've gone back to school and am in a fairly intense program, so I haven't had any chance to test anything new. Truth be told, I've had maybe 4 games of EDH since the beginning of September. As such, I don't really have any changes for the main list as it stands.
I don't think Rishkar's Expertise is what the deck really needs. Paying for spells isn't really much of a problem in a deck like this, and aside from that ability, the card is basically Soul's Majesty. I think Garruk, Primal Hunter is the best place for this effect because it has other utility if you don't need the draw, and can be activated multiple times over the course of a long game.
I also finally acquired a Rise of the Eldrazi foil Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre. I was never really happy with how the FTV foil looked for that card. Great for Sol Ring, not so hot there. I know that this in itself seems like I'm just bragging about foils, but it does lead me to some changes I'm debating.
The points that original Ulamog has going for it are:
Destroys one permanent when cast.
Annihilator
Indestructible
Graveyard Shuffle
Newlamog, conversely has:
Exiles two permanents when cast.
Indestructible
Eats opponents' libraries
Costs 1 less.
While the ability to exile two permanents when cast is fantastic, I feel like the exile-mill effect is irrelevant, and I'm not convinced that exiling two abilities is better than the Annihilator and graveyard reshuffle abilities present on the original.
Finally, Terastodon brings the following:
Destroy 3 non-creature permanents on ETB.
The cheapest of the 3.
While it can't deal with creatures and leaves the opponent with tokens, I like the fact that its ability triggers without having to cast it, which is relevant if it enters play off a Genesis Wave or a tutor such as Natural Order or Tooth and Nail that puts it directly onto the battlefield.
I like that Gaea's Touch is a non-creature making it less vulnerable to removal, and can cash itself in when its work is done. However, sometimes the fact that it can't drop a second land unless its a forest is relevant. Also, and I can't emphasize this enough... it's not available in foil. I like having a deck that's worth more than a 10 year old car.
Courser of Kruphix is a great workhorse, and provides a good body early on. And, of course, it can get lands off the top of the library and into play, just like the wonderful Oracle of Mul Daya. Plus, a little incidental life gain is a nice side-benefit. However, it doesn't technically ramp me. It's more like virtual card draw. That might be worse, but it might be better; that's what I'm trying to decide.
Finally, Azusa, Lost But Seeking. By herself, she's one of the most prolific green commanders ever, right up there with Omnath, and it's clear to see why: ALSO like Oracle of Mul Daya, she allows you to play extra lands per turn. However, aside from being castable off a turn 1 Mana Crypt, that's all she does, and the usefulness of that ability dries up fast, even if it does lend itself to a speedy start if in the right opening hand.
So... anyone have thoughts on this little dilemma?
I like OG Ulamog. I've been running him for a while and the Annihilator + GY shuffle combined with destroying on cast makes him the clear cut winner. I still run both him and Terastodon, but I think I'd side with original Ulamog if I had to pick.
I too like Courser and have debated her merits many times. It comes down to making it easier to get gas by filtering through your deck. As far as 3 drops go in mono-Green, I think she is excellent and is just generally a good card to be throwing out at that CMC. Every time I look to put Azusa in the deck, I shy away from her. 2 additional lands per turn is busted, but you need the two additional lands in your hand, which isn't super common, at least for me. I like that Gaea's Touch is more resilient and you can use it to repay for itself in a pinch where you need extra mana. While Azusa is great, I think we've gotten enough Green cards in the last few years that she isn't an auto-include.
I'm really curious why Doubling Cube wouldn't make the cut in your deck? Doesn't it essentially double your mana and commander's power at least once on your turn??
Depending on how fast your list is, I could see it being win-more. I run it, personally, and I am always happy to see it come up as it takes me from threatening to blowout win the majority of the time I can get it to stick.
One thing I'd be curious about is how good Paradox Engine could be in this deck with a draw engine + tap mana producer(like Doubling Cube). I could see you playing mono-Green storm (with a combat win-con or Helix Pinnacle if you can generally produce enough mana, which is possible). Potentially win-more if the draw engine and mana producer were going to win you the game normally, but it could be fun. Mono-G is far more complex than meets the eye.
I'm looking at replacing Scapeshift with Hour of Promise. I rarely need to fetch more than 2 utility lands at a time, and the ability to tutor them into play without saccing other lands is appealing. Thoughts?
What are your thoughts on the new 3 cost Legendary Enchantment/Land from Ixalan, Xaios? it's called Growing Rites of Itlimoc, when it etb's you get to look at the top 4 cards of your library, pick a creature, and put the rest on the bottom in any order. then at the beginning of your end step, if you have 4 or more creatures in play, it flips, becoming Itlimoc, Cradle of the Sun, which taps for a single green mana, or taps for a green mana for each creature you control. it's basically gaea's cradle, but a lot slower.
I'm certainly intrigued by it, but I'll certainly need to test it first. For a mono-green deck, my version of Omnath is remarkably light on creatures, which could make getting it to flip difficult depending on how often other players are wiping the board.
Any new changes to this deck? Also, how do you feel about adding in Shaman of Forgotten Ways for a nice win condition?
I haven't made any changes for a couple years now. I've looked at all the cards that have been printed since I made any changes and none of them really made the cut.
Shaman is a definitely a decent card to run if you're a) running in a meta with generally low creature counts, and b) running a fairly high creature-count build. My particular build has always been relatively creature light compared to what you'd expect from a mono-green deck, which is generally why I don't run it in mine (and also because there tends to be lots of token decks in my meta).
Omnath, Locus of Mana
GGG [Primer] Omnath, Big Green Beatstick Machine GGG
GGG [Primer] Omnath, Big Green Beatstick Machine GGG
Have you tested Selvala, Heart of the Wilds yet? She seems to be the best greater than 1 cost mana dork that we've gotten since Rofellos. I'd jam her over Karametra's Acolyte, imo. It's what I did in my own list.
EDH:
G[cEDH] Selvala, Heart of the StormG
URW[cEDH] Narset, the Last AirmericanURW
GWUSt. Jenara, the ArchangelGWU
UBGrimgrin, Chaos MarineUB
GOmnath, Mana BaronG
URWNarset, Justice League AmericaURW
GWUBAtraxa, Countess of CountersGWUB
GWUEstrid, Enbantress PrimeGWU
- Freyalise, Llanowar's Emissary
- Yavimaya Hollow
- Hornet Queen
- Primal Command
+ Nissa, Vital Force
+ Chord of Calling
+ Regal Force
+ Forest
Freyalise and Yavimaya Hollow had price increases that now put them above the $10 TCG-mid threshold. Meanwhile, Chord of Calling and Regal Force fell in price and are now below that threshold. I replaced Freyalise with Nissa and Yavimaya Hollow with a Forest (I couldn't really conjure any better non-basic options at the time). Meanwhile, I cut Hornet Queen for Regal Force and Primal Command for Chord of Calling, as I felt they were stronger choices now that they met the value conditions.
I've gone back to school and am in a fairly intense program, so I haven't had any chance to test anything new. Truth be told, I've had maybe 4 games of EDH since the beginning of September. As such, I don't really have any changes for the main list as it stands.
GGG [Primer] Omnath, Big Green Beatstick Machine GGG
I've made a couple changes to the deck, for the simple fact that I've finally acquired the cards to do so. Coming out are Karametra's Acolyte and Frontier Siege. Going in are the long awaited Selvala, Heart of the Wilds and (this one is especially sweet for me) Mana Crypt!
I also finally acquired a Rise of the Eldrazi foil Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre. I was never really happy with how the FTV foil looked for that card. Great for Sol Ring, not so hot there. I know that this in itself seems like I'm just bragging about foils, but it does lead me to some changes I'm debating.
There are two situations in which I'm debating which 2 of 3 cards to have in the deck. The first is a debate between Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre, Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger and Terastodon.
The points that original Ulamog has going for it are:
Newlamog, conversely has:
While the ability to exile two permanents when cast is fantastic, I feel like the exile-mill effect is irrelevant, and I'm not convinced that exiling two abilities is better than the Annihilator and graveyard reshuffle abilities present on the original.
Finally, Terastodon brings the following:
While it can't deal with creatures and leaves the opponent with tokens, I like the fact that its ability triggers without having to cast it, which is relevant if it enters play off a Genesis Wave or a tutor such as Natural Order or Tooth and Nail that puts it directly onto the battlefield.
The other cards I'm debating between are Gaea's Touch, Courser of Kruphix (both of which are in the deck) and Azusa, Lost but Seeking.
I like that Gaea's Touch is a non-creature making it less vulnerable to removal, and can cash itself in when its work is done. However, sometimes the fact that it can't drop a second land unless its a forest is relevant. Also, and I can't emphasize this enough... it's not available in foil. I like having a deck that's worth more than a 10 year old car.
Courser of Kruphix is a great workhorse, and provides a good body early on. And, of course, it can get lands off the top of the library and into play, just like the wonderful Oracle of Mul Daya. Plus, a little incidental life gain is a nice side-benefit. However, it doesn't technically ramp me. It's more like virtual card draw. That might be worse, but it might be better; that's what I'm trying to decide.
Finally, Azusa, Lost But Seeking. By herself, she's one of the most prolific green commanders ever, right up there with Omnath, and it's clear to see why: ALSO like Oracle of Mul Daya, she allows you to play extra lands per turn. However, aside from being castable off a turn 1 Mana Crypt, that's all she does, and the usefulness of that ability dries up fast, even if it does lend itself to a speedy start if in the right opening hand.
So... anyone have thoughts on this little dilemma?
GGG [Primer] Omnath, Big Green Beatstick Machine GGG
I too like Courser and have debated her merits many times. It comes down to making it easier to get gas by filtering through your deck. As far as 3 drops go in mono-Green, I think she is excellent and is just generally a good card to be throwing out at that CMC. Every time I look to put Azusa in the deck, I shy away from her. 2 additional lands per turn is busted, but you need the two additional lands in your hand, which isn't super common, at least for me. I like that Gaea's Touch is more resilient and you can use it to repay for itself in a pinch where you need extra mana. While Azusa is great, I think we've gotten enough Green cards in the last few years that she isn't an auto-include.
EDH:
G[cEDH] Selvala, Heart of the StormG
URW[cEDH] Narset, the Last AirmericanURW
GWUSt. Jenara, the ArchangelGWU
UBGrimgrin, Chaos MarineUB
GOmnath, Mana BaronG
URWNarset, Justice League AmericaURW
GWUBAtraxa, Countess of CountersGWUB
GWUEstrid, Enbantress PrimeGWU
One thing I'd be curious about is how good Paradox Engine could be in this deck with a draw engine + tap mana producer(like Doubling Cube). I could see you playing mono-Green storm (with a combat win-con or Helix Pinnacle if you can generally produce enough mana, which is possible). Potentially win-more if the draw engine and mana producer were going to win you the game normally, but it could be fun. Mono-G is far more complex than meets the eye.
EDH:
G[cEDH] Selvala, Heart of the StormG
URW[cEDH] Narset, the Last AirmericanURW
GWUSt. Jenara, the ArchangelGWU
UBGrimgrin, Chaos MarineUB
GOmnath, Mana BaronG
URWNarset, Justice League AmericaURW
GWUBAtraxa, Countess of CountersGWUB
GWUEstrid, Enbantress PrimeGWU
GGG [Primer] Omnath, Big Green Beatstick Machine GGG
GGG [Primer] Omnath, Big Green Beatstick Machine GGG
I haven't made any changes for a couple years now. I've looked at all the cards that have been printed since I made any changes and none of them really made the cut.
Shaman is a definitely a decent card to run if you're a) running in a meta with generally low creature counts, and b) running a fairly high creature-count build. My particular build has always been relatively creature light compared to what you'd expect from a mono-green deck, which is generally why I don't run it in mine (and also because there tends to be lots of token decks in my meta).
GGG [Primer] Omnath, Big Green Beatstick Machine GGG