One card I am eager to try out in my Animar deck is Vanishing as an ultimate form of protection for Animar. Due to the way phasing works, Animar retains his counters and the Vanishing enchantment (as well as any equipment or other enchantments he might have), and comes back right when you'll want him on your untap step. This means for UU once per round you can effectively keep Animar, and Vanishing itself, safe for an entire run of Wraths, Clones, and even spot removal.
I've also been using Transmute a lot as a means of tutoring, and I'm thinking about Dizzy Spell to pull Vanishing, Shrieking Drake, Lightning Serpent, or even Worldly Tutor as needed. I don't have Glimpse of Nature, but it would tutor that out for you as well and facilitate your primary combo.
@MikeCline83 - Thanks for the feedback I'm glad you enjoy the deck.
@ Rhys DeAnno - I also like that Vanishing can act as removal by enchanting an opponents creature and phasing it out when you feel like it. I'll add Vanishing to my list of ways to protect against spot removal, however it doesn't protect against instant speed removal in response to the enchantment targeting (like so many forms of protection :(). Also keeping UU available is pretty difficult at times.
I'm not so impressed with transmute given we only have the blue options. I suppose it is nice to have another tutor, but Dizzy Spell is just bad otherwise and it is also pretty slow with a UU commitment. I suppose it depends on your meta and how desperately you need additional tutors.
I have played Animar since he was released last year. I started with a control combo style and slowly changed to an aggro build as my meta is very unfriendly towards infinite combos and returning the entire board to their hands.
The recent planar chase release this summer gave animar an amazing friend that I very much enjoy. Maelstrom Wanderer, double cascade and gives everything haste. He's an all-star for me.
I know you are more of a heavy combo deck, but this guy pretty much always adds three counters to Animar for me.
Ya, I've been toying with the idea of using Maelstrom Wanderer as well... For potentially RUG, he's a steal of a beat alone and then the double cascade is gravy. I'd have to look more into what all he would actually hit in my deck though.
Ya, I've been toying with the idea of using Maelstrom Wanderer as well... For potentially RUG, he's a steal of a beat alone and then the double cascade is gravy. I'd have to look more into what all he would actually hit in my deck though.
On average I think I cast him for about 4 on turn 4-5. The double cascade really gets the steam rolling with Animar.
I'm toying with Animar a little, and I'm in the process of making some changes to the list you use, Gelf. I like it, but there are just some cards I do and don't like, so making changes accordingly. I just wanted to let you know I thoroughly enjoyed the primer, and look forward to seeing how this baby runs.
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@BCGamer - I really want to play around with Maelstrom Wanderer. Still haven't managed to get it off my mate. I suppose if it takes much longer I'll proxy it in the mean time. Even at full mana cost, 3 spells (likely creatures) for 8 mana, plus haste for the team, seems like very good value. The potential to have that initial mana cost decreases is simply insane.
I also play an animar list
I like using increasing savagery and jugan becuase it helps getting animar going and can help getting an animar back to a good start after removal
also it creates a really fast clock against white and black decks.
But that's just personal opinions
cards I recommend are cloud of faeries and peregrine drake, these can really get an animar deck going and can combo to infinite mana with tidespout tyrant
another card I recommend because of its combo ability and its pure utility is hovergaurd sweepers, this can reuse creatures and combo to infinite mana and animar with the peregrine drake, it is also a good reusable removal and a creature
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Graham from Loading Ready Run
For wipes, I love fecundity, but it pains me that it's not easily tutorable. I've been trying out Murder of Crows as an alternative.
Argothian Elder and Krosan Restorer interact nicely with Cradle and obviously just lands in general. On that note, I cannot explain just how powerful earthcraft is. Infinite counters with Shrieking drake and another bouncer.
Ethereal Usher for a tutorable voltron wincon, and it has transmute for harvest and sage and duplicant
Nantuko Vigilante is a better acidic slime IMO: 1 green mana, don't really need the land destruction unless you're super cutthroat, and it's morph!
I add Squee, Goblin Nabob because I hate having to choose a target for fauna shaman and survival of the fittest (but you don't run that?). Squee's also nice for any sac decks.
As for your deck, i'd remove tracker. tracker's cute with animar and all, but I'm underwhelmed by it. Mindclaw shaman is a dead weight man...have fun with it and all, but i'd recommend you get over it fast. so many better things to aid the combo or control the board better. The only thing you'd really want to cast that disrupts your game is a wipe anyway, so it's a meh for me. Akroma is also kinda just there. I get the morph redundancy, but she sticks out like a sore thumb.
I run probably 15 cards different than what you got, most of them are just flavor differences. If you like my suggestions I can figure out how to put a decklist on this thing after i make some final changes.
Edit: Oh and I totally second cloud of faeries, great card with any bouncer, though peregrine drake is just too expensive.
Edit: Oh and I totally second cloud of faeries, great card with any bouncer, though peregrine drake is just too expensive.
I play a storm combo version of animar and Peregrine Drake is incredible, its almost a time walk (in fact, with Glimpse of Nature it there is little to no diffrence) you can definitly replace Erratic Portal with Crystal Shard. Also, have you considered Worldly Tutor? It allows you to search for any creature and can be played before your draw step to set it up for combo.
I play a storm combo version of animar and Peregrine Drake is incredible, its almost a time walk (in fact, with Glimpse of Nature it there is little to no diffrence) you can definitly replace Erratic Portal with Crystal Shard. Also, have you considered Worldly Tutor? It allows you to search for any creature and can be played before your draw step to set it up for combo.
Nice list all around!
yeah Peregrine drake has saved me many times, it will cost up to -4 mana which is amazing especially in a bounce version of animar
my favorite totur of choice for animar is weird harvest: it gives the opponents cards but, when you play it you will go off, and it you can use it to totur for cards like the drake and the cloud of faeries in combination with eternal witness to gain animar counters and reuse it
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Graham from Loading Ready Run
THANK YOU FOR THIS AMAZING THREAD!! I play Riku as my commander, but having Animar and not using it depressing so I'm using this as my go-to source for info. =]
I play a storm combo version of animar and Peregrine Drake is incredible, its almost a time walk (in fact, with Glimpse of Nature it there is little to no diffrence) you can definitly replace Erratic Portal with Crystal Shard. Also, have you considered Worldly Tutor? It allows you to search for any creature and can be played before your draw step to set it up for combo.
Nice list all around!
I would argue that Erratic Portal is the better card to play as it the cost to activated is 1 colorless as opposed to 1U... I've found with my own Animar deck that it is best to stay away from color specific costs that are not creatures. Yes it costs more to cast, but, when a deck build like this is firing properly, that additional mana will hardly matter.
I would argue that Erratic Portal is the better card to play as it the cost to activated is 1 colorless as opposed to 1U... I've found with my own Animar deck that it is best to stay away from color specific costs that are not creatures. Yes it costs more to cast, but, when a deck build like this is firing properly, that additional mana will hardly matter.
I will have to second the erratic portal over crystal shard. Think about it this way, most of your bouncers are already blue cost, so if you have both shrieking drake and this out, at least you can continue looping erratic portal with your green (and red) mana.
I will have to second the erratic portal over crystal shard. Think about it this way, most of your bouncers are already blue cost, so if you have both shrieking drake and this out, at least you can continue looping erratic portal with your green (and red) mana.
Ill try to see if erratic portal suits my build better (I don't think so, mostly because a lower curve and land count). Reconsider Earthcraft as Earthcraft + Drake = Infinte Animar, not to mention extreme mana generation
There has to be another card involved, such as another bouncer effect or ideally a morph creature
Wait. I might not have properly understood the power of earthcraft. Can I get a confirmation that when shrieking drake enters the battlefield it's ability triggers and is put on the stack, to which I can respond with earthcraft's ability and pay its cost using the drake?
Wait. I might not have properly understood the power of earthcraft. Can I get a confirmation that when shrieking drake enters the battlefield it's ability triggers and is put on the stack, to which I can respond with earthcraft's ability and pay its cost using the drake?
You are correct. As shrieking drake enters, you declare the target of its effect and then you use earthcraft in response.
Another infinite mana combo is fun, although Misthollow Griffin is otherwise underwhelming. Also, doesn't this only generate infinite blue mana? Or I suppose A LOT of blue mana, plus 5 of another colour when you break the loop. I don't think I'll add this to my deck, but it's worth mentioning in the primer
For wipes, I love Fecundity, but it pains me that it's not easily tutorable. I've been trying out Murder of Crows as an alternative.
I have played with Fecundity, but removed it for meta reasons, it might go back in as it is an excellent sweep recovery tool. I like the suggestion of Murder of Crows as an alternative, although it doesn't quite work the same, at least it filters out excessive land draws.
Argothian Elder and Krosan Restorerinteract nicely with Cradle and obviously just lands in general. On that note, I cannot explain just how powerful Earthcraft is. Infinite counters with Shrieking drake and another bouncer.
I tend to avoid creatures that need to tap to use their abilities in this deck, as once it gets going it tends to end the game before another upkeep. With haste enablers the Elder and Restorer are exceptional so I'll have a look at my deck and mess around with them, although I suspect Peregrine Drake and Cloud of Faeries will find room before these two.
Earthcraft is a card I've been meaning to play with, I keep hearing good things!
Ethereal Usher for a tutorable voltron wincon, and it has transmute for harvest and sage and duplicant
Hmm, interesting as a tutor as I run quite a few 6 CMC bombs, but I'm underwhelmed by the creature itself, even with it's ability to make another unblockable. Seems situationally excellent, but also bad. It is quite difficult to assess.
Wow, that is devastating... I might have to trial this as Equilibrium number two.
Nantuko Vigilante is a better acidic slime IMO: 1 green mana, don't really need the land destruction unless you're super cutthroat, and it's morph!
Morph redundancy is nice, but the cost ends up the same (well 1G instead of GG) as the slime (Animar doesn't reduce 'turn face up' costs). Depending on what other Morphs come out of the deck, this might find a spot, but don't underestimate the slime as it's great as a blocker as well as removal.
I add Squee, Goblin Nabob because I hate having to choose a target for fauna shaman and survival of the fittest (but you don't run that?). Squee's also nice for any sac decks.
Squee is cool but yeh I choose not to run Survival in my meta. Also my Squee is in another deck.
As for your deck, I'd remove tracker. Tracker's cute with Animar and all, but I'm underwhelmed by it. Mindclaw Shaman is a dead weight man...have fun with it and all, but i'd recommend you get over it fast. So many better things to aid the combo or control the board better. The only thing you'd really want to cast that disrupts your game is a wipe anyway, so it's a meh for me. Akroma is also kinda just there. I get the morph redundancy, but she sticks out like a sore thumb.
Mindclaw Shaman is on the list of things to go, but I just want to have one amazing moment of spell theft with him first! The Ulvenwald Tracker hasn't really had an impact yet, so I'm also giving him a bit more time in the deck.
Akroma... yeh she's pretty bad in the deck in all honesty. I've kept her on, because she's the only Morph target tutorable with Fierce Empath in the deck and her Protection from Blue and White makes her a pretty good win condition against some decks, but more often than not she's a colourless 2/2 for free.
I run probably 15 cards different than what you got, most of them are just flavor differences. If you like my suggestions I can figure out how to put a decklist on this thing after i make some final changes.
I prefer Peregrine Drake to Cloud of Faeries myself. I thought I had mentioned these in my Primer already, but I don't seem to have. I'll get around to fixing that.
I play a storm combo version of animar and Peregrine Drake is incredible, its almost a time walk (in fact, with Glimpse of Nature it there is little to no diffrence) you can definitly replace Erratic Portal with Crystal Shard. Also, have you considered Worldly Tutor? It allows you to search for any creature and can be played before your draw step to set it up for combo.
As others have already commented, the U requirement for Crystal Shard is far more limiting than the 1 of Erratic Portal, but if I could fit both I'd try to play both.
I might play Worldly Tutor if I had one, but at the same time there are plenty of excellent creature tutors in green, and I favour those tutors that are creatures themselves or put the creature directly onto the battlefield.
My favorite tutor of choice for animar is weird harvest: it gives the opponents cards but, when you play it you will go off, and it you can use it to tutor for cards like the drake and the cloud of faeries in combination with eternal witness to gain animar counters and reuse it
Weird Harvest looks fun :). I like that you can tutor for multiple creatures using it to set up a win.
Blood Moon and similar nonbasic hate is gaining popularity in my meta. I am currently building this deck and am curious what you would consider the "uncuttable" non basics. Fetches, Shocks, and Cradle are in, but the rest all look less appealing than a basic land right now. Are any of them truly uncuttable?
On Snap: It's often forgotten that the card has strong political uses. The untap two lands clause can untap ANY two lands, including an opponents. Help someone ramp, while putting someone else a little behind. It's a really fun trick, and it never seems to get old.
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Hoping for a cure, or at least an outbreak.
Blood Moon and similar nonbasic hate is gaining popularity in my meta. I am currently building this deck and am curious what you would consider the "uncuttable" non basics. Fetches, Shocks, and Cradle are in, but the rest all look less appealing than a basic land right now. Are any of them truly uncuttable?
On Snap: It's often forgotten that the card has strong political uses. The untap two lands clause can untap ANY two lands, including an opponents. Help someone ramp, while putting someone else a little behind. It's a really fun trick, and it never seems to get old.
If you increased the number of creatures in the deck that search up basic lands*, you could easily get away with a mana base made almost entirely of basics. If you're concerned about mana fixing, you can run this deck with very few red sources by cutting a lot of the red cards and just make sure you search up a red source when you want to cast Animar. Most of the non-basic lands I run is to improve the mana base consistency, but I started with a budget land base and only really ran into problems when I didn't draw my ramp creatures early.
Regarding Snap (and Palinchron too) untapping other peoples lands. I had no idea it could do that, but I like the added possibilities! Makes it really good in two-headed giant and similar team games too.
I've also been using Transmute a lot as a means of tutoring, and I'm thinking about Dizzy Spell to pull Vanishing, Shrieking Drake, Lightning Serpent, or even Worldly Tutor as needed. I don't have Glimpse of Nature, but it would tutor that out for you as well and facilitate your primary combo.
@ Rhys DeAnno - I also like that Vanishing can act as removal by enchanting an opponents creature and phasing it out when you feel like it. I'll add Vanishing to my list of ways to protect against spot removal, however it doesn't protect against instant speed removal in response to the enchantment targeting (like so many forms of protection :(). Also keeping UU available is pretty difficult at times.
I'm not so impressed with transmute given we only have the blue options. I suppose it is nice to have another tutor, but Dizzy Spell is just bad otherwise and it is also pretty slow with a UU commitment. I suppose it depends on your meta and how desperately you need additional tutors.
The recent planar chase release this summer gave animar an amazing friend that I very much enjoy. Maelstrom Wanderer, double cascade and gives everything haste. He's an all-star for me.
I know you are more of a heavy combo deck, but this guy pretty much always adds three counters to Animar for me.
WUB Sharuum the Hegemon, the Destroyer of Darksteel
BGW Teneb, the Harvester, my Pimped Out Reanimator
GUB The Mimeoplasm Ooze-Mill
GWU Rafiq the Exalted
On average I think I cast him for about 4 on turn 4-5. The double cascade really gets the steam rolling with Animar.
Done by Rivenor of Miraculous Recovery signatures!
@Zephynoir - I'd be keen to see your changes
Done by Rivenor of Miraculous Recovery signatures!
I like using increasing savagery and jugan becuase it helps getting animar going and can help getting an animar back to a good start after removal
also it creates a really fast clock against white and black decks.
But that's just personal opinions
cards I recommend are cloud of faeries and peregrine drake, these can really get an animar deck going and can combo to infinite mana with tidespout tyrant
another card I recommend because of its combo ability and its pure utility is hovergaurd sweepers, this can reuse creatures and combo to infinite mana and animar with the peregrine drake, it is also a good reusable removal and a creature
Graham from Loading Ready Run
food chain and misthollow griffin interact well for infinite mana, and honestly, riftsweeper can be fun if you want to include it.
For wipes, I love fecundity, but it pains me that it's not easily tutorable. I've been trying out Murder of Crows as an alternative.
Argothian Elder and Krosan Restorer interact nicely with Cradle and obviously just lands in general. On that note, I cannot explain just how powerful earthcraft is. Infinite counters with Shrieking drake and another bouncer.
Ethereal Usher for a tutorable voltron wincon, and it has transmute for harvest and sage and duplicant
wizard mentor is a great card
words of wind is ridiculous
Nantuko Vigilante is a better acidic slime IMO: 1 green mana, don't really need the land destruction unless you're super cutthroat, and it's morph!
I add Squee, Goblin Nabob because I hate having to choose a target for fauna shaman and survival of the fittest (but you don't run that?). Squee's also nice for any sac decks.
As for your deck, i'd remove tracker. tracker's cute with animar and all, but I'm underwhelmed by it. Mindclaw shaman is a dead weight man...have fun with it and all, but i'd recommend you get over it fast. so many better things to aid the combo or control the board better. The only thing you'd really want to cast that disrupts your game is a wipe anyway, so it's a meh for me. Akroma is also kinda just there. I get the morph redundancy, but she sticks out like a sore thumb.
I run probably 15 cards different than what you got, most of them are just flavor differences. If you like my suggestions I can figure out how to put a decklist on this thing after i make some final changes.
Edit: Oh and I totally second cloud of faeries, great card with any bouncer, though peregrine drake is just too expensive.
I play a storm combo version of animar and Peregrine Drake is incredible, its almost a time walk (in fact, with Glimpse of Nature it there is little to no diffrence) you can definitly replace Erratic Portal with Crystal Shard. Also, have you considered Worldly Tutor? It allows you to search for any creature and can be played before your draw step to set it up for combo.
Nice list all around!
yeah Peregrine drake has saved me many times, it will cost up to -4 mana which is amazing especially in a bounce version of animar
my favorite totur of choice for animar is weird harvest: it gives the opponents cards but, when you play it you will go off, and it you can use it to totur for cards like the drake and the cloud of faeries in combination with eternal witness to gain animar counters and reuse it
Graham from Loading Ready Run
RUGRiku of Two Reflections
Constructed
UJace's ErasureMill
I would argue that Erratic Portal is the better card to play as it the cost to activated is 1 colorless as opposed to 1U... I've found with my own Animar deck that it is best to stay away from color specific costs that are not creatures. Yes it costs more to cast, but, when a deck build like this is firing properly, that additional mana will hardly matter.
I will have to second the erratic portal over crystal shard. Think about it this way, most of your bouncers are already blue cost, so if you have both shrieking drake and this out, at least you can continue looping erratic portal with your green (and red) mana.
I also want to throw nullmage shepherd as another acidic slime, but this one doesn't have as much utility/synergy as nantuko vigilante
Ill try to see if erratic portal suits my build better (I don't think so, mostly because a lower curve and land count). Reconsider Earthcraft as Earthcraft + Drake = Infinte Animar, not to mention extreme mana generation
There has to be another card involved, such as another bouncer effect or ideally a morph creature
RUGRiku of Two Reflections
Constructed
UJace's ErasureMill
RUGRiku of Two Reflections
Constructed
UJace's ErasureMill
Wait. I might not have properly understood the power of earthcraft. Can I get a confirmation that when shrieking drake enters the battlefield it's ability triggers and is put on the stack, to which I can respond with earthcraft's ability and pay its cost using the drake?
You are correct. As shrieking drake enters, you declare the target of its effect and then you use earthcraft in response.
RUGRiku of Two Reflections
Constructed
UJace's ErasureMill
Thanks for the responses, you've made some great suggestions that I will play around with and add to my primer as options.
Another infinite mana combo is fun, although Misthollow Griffin is otherwise underwhelming. Also, doesn't this only generate infinite blue mana? Or I suppose A LOT of blue mana, plus 5 of another colour when you break the loop. I don't think I'll add this to my deck, but it's worth mentioning in the primer
I have played with Fecundity, but removed it for meta reasons, it might go back in as it is an excellent sweep recovery tool. I like the suggestion of Murder of Crows as an alternative, although it doesn't quite work the same, at least it filters out excessive land draws.
I tend to avoid creatures that need to tap to use their abilities in this deck, as once it gets going it tends to end the game before another upkeep. With haste enablers the Elder and Restorer are exceptional so I'll have a look at my deck and mess around with them, although I suspect Peregrine Drake and Cloud of Faeries will find room before these two.
Earthcraft is a card I've been meaning to play with, I keep hearing good things!
Hmm, interesting as a tutor as I run quite a few 6 CMC bombs, but I'm underwhelmed by the creature itself, even with it's ability to make another unblockable. Seems situationally excellent, but also bad. It is quite difficult to assess.
Yes seems good, although again I don't like that it has to tap.
Wow, that is devastating... I might have to trial this as Equilibrium number two.
Morph redundancy is nice, but the cost ends up the same (well 1G instead of GG) as the slime (Animar doesn't reduce 'turn face up' costs). Depending on what other Morphs come out of the deck, this might find a spot, but don't underestimate the slime as it's great as a blocker as well as removal.
Squee is cool but yeh I choose not to run Survival in my meta. Also my Squee is in another deck.
Mindclaw Shaman is on the list of things to go, but I just want to have one amazing moment of spell theft with him first! The Ulvenwald Tracker hasn't really had an impact yet, so I'm also giving him a bit more time in the deck.
Akroma... yeh she's pretty bad in the deck in all honesty. I've kept her on, because she's the only Morph target tutorable with Fierce Empath in the deck and her Protection from Blue and White makes her a pretty good win condition against some decks, but more often than not she's a colourless 2/2 for free.
I prefer Peregrine Drake to Cloud of Faeries myself. I thought I had mentioned these in my Primer already, but I don't seem to have. I'll get around to fixing that.
Also always keen to see other deck lists
As others have already commented, the U requirement for Crystal Shard is far more limiting than the 1 of Erratic Portal, but if I could fit both I'd try to play both.
I might play Worldly Tutor if I had one, but at the same time there are plenty of excellent creature tutors in green, and I favour those tutors that are creatures themselves or put the creature directly onto the battlefield.
Weird Harvest looks fun :). I like that you can tutor for multiple creatures using it to set up a win.
Now that's just being mean! I like it, but I think my play group would make my life pretty uncomfortable if I went down that road
On Snap: It's often forgotten that the card has strong political uses. The untap two lands clause can untap ANY two lands, including an opponents. Help someone ramp, while putting someone else a little behind. It's a really fun trick, and it never seems to get old.
Hoping for a cure, or at least an outbreak.
Level 1 Judge (yay)
If you increased the number of creatures in the deck that search up basic lands*, you could easily get away with a mana base made almost entirely of basics. If you're concerned about mana fixing, you can run this deck with very few red sources by cutting a lot of the red cards and just make sure you search up a red source when you want to cast Animar. Most of the non-basic lands I run is to improve the mana base consistency, but I started with a budget land base and only really ran into problems when I didn't draw my ramp creatures early.
*Sylvan Ranger, Borderland Ranger, Pilgrim's Eye etc.
Regarding Snap (and Palinchron too) untapping other peoples lands. I had no idea it could do that, but I like the added possibilities! Makes it really good in two-headed giant and similar team games too.