I'd drop Sun Qun because of the UU in the cost. 5G is effectively G in Animar. G for Overrun is pretty fantastic, much better than granting all your board unblockable. I really like Etherium-Horn because he digs so efficiently & is an artifact (which is relevant in my deck). It's also nice as board wipe protection and as a card which is excellant without Animar on the board. Primordial Sage is great, but I've always thought he is just second fiddle to the superior Soul of the Harvest. Oblivion Sower seems greedy and frankly pretty useless 90% of the time. It's effectively a bigger Wood Elves. That being said the potential for game winning combos is strong, especially when paired with Cloudstone. Testing still needs to be done, it seems more comparable to Bogardan Hellkite than anything else in the deck.
Upon further thought towards the Great Oak Guardian, you can have an infinite +2/+2 bump to your board for a win con, paired with Kiki.
Referring to your post, I've found Draining Whelk to be game saving at times if Animar has counters. Etherium-Horn Sorcerer has also been a great draw at most points of a game for me. I like O So, but so far there isn't much to cut, if you're running an Ulamog, Artisan, and Cloustone then you don't really need it as a win con. However, O So can be fueled by Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, so there is the possibility for the play testing.
Sun Quan seems redundant next to the trample enabled by Surrak Dragonclaw. If you're dropping free creatures like Duplicant, then you could be hitting the targets that are problems, continually feeding Animar. Plus Surrak gives counter protection, so his stock in my mind is amplified.
Upon further thought towards the Great Oak Guardian, you can have an infinite +2/+2 bump to your board for a win con, paired with Kiki.
That's undoubtably true. I admit that I actually don't see any substantial difference between going infinite and going infinite with a +2/+2 on every token.
The thing with Great oak is you can use it politically you can boost someone else's attack or defense, boost your own defense while you're waiting for Kiki. It's also fetchable with natural order
I guess the more infinite engines you run for Kiki will mean that you're more likely to draw them instead of having to use a tutor. I don't generally use Kiki, mainly because it's a predictable path and I don't really enjoy those kinds of scenarios. Either way it slipped my mind that it wouldn't matter getting infinite +2/+2 because you'll have infinite creatures with haste lol.
Somewhat delayed, but here is my review of Commander 2015 new cards. I'm sure since people will have had a chance to test these by now they can add to my (untested) impressions.
Experience Counters – A creature mechanic (yay!) that works best when the creature is your commander (boo!) and can be easily cast again after removal to enjoy the benefit that the experience counters are gained by the player and not the creature itself. Limited to the five pre-con commanders and further limited by Animar’s colour identity, there are only two creatures with this ability that we can consider playing.
Myriad – Another creature mechanic and designed for multiplayer. Sadly the few creatures with this ability are French vanilla and unlikely to be worth running in Animar.
Confluences – A spell cycle. Nifty versatility by design, but not creatures, so not likely to find their way into an Animar deck.
Cool mechanics, but the printed cards (see below) don’t really do them justice in terms of the options Animar would want.
New Cards for Animar:
UBlueU
Broodbirth Viper – If you are planning on attacking and can push Broodbirth Viper through to multiple opponents, it could draw you a fair few cards over a game. In general however, Animar combo doesn’t use that many attack steps, so I feel this wouldn’t gain as much advantage as it might in a different style of deck.
Gigantoplasm – A strictly better Clone, because it offers a mana sink as a potential win condition. Whether it would make it into the deck depends a good deal on how many clone variants you want. In my opinion it’s not better than Phyrexian Metamorph, Phantasmal Image or Vesuvan Shapeshifter, so you’d have to be running a pretty clone heavy deck to consider this one.
Illusory Ambusher – Flash is a cool ability. This cat lets you surprise chump against a powerful attacker and refill your hand. This is a reactive card and Animar tends to be a proactive deck; you shouldn’t anticipate gaining value during other players turns as ideally they won’t get many. Much like Broodbirth Viper, I feel this isn’t the right sort of creature for my style of Animar deck.
RRedR
Dream Pillager – A fairly solid card advantage engine for a deck that plans to attack for victory. This style of ‘red draw’ however is weak compared to the options available in blue in green.
Magus of the Wheel – Wheel of Fortune on a sacrificial stick! If you really want this effect (and drawing 7 cards is a pretty big!) this guy has more synergy than the sorceries with the same effect. Also don’t underestimate the disruption you can cause by using this ability at instant speed.
GGreenG
Bloodspore Thrinax – Offers redundancy on the ability of Master Biomancer if you’re playing a +1/+1 counters deck. Requires a bit more set up if you’re relying on the Devour mechanic, but there are usually some utility creatures lying around that can be sacrificed. Can potentially let you combo off much quicker if you need to bring Animar out after a couple of deaths.
Great Oak Guardian – Obligatory combo with Kiki-Jiki; being able to kill all opponents with fewer iterations of the combo (care of +2/+2 repeated) can protect you from ‘anti-token’ tech such as Rakdos Charm and Suture Priest. It has quite a bit of upside even if you’re not comboing off with the Mirror Breaker; Flash and untap all creatures lets it act defensively as well as offensively (+2/+2 is a decent overrun impression). You can also use it politically by untapping and buffing an opponent’s board. The biggest downside is that it is a 6 cmc drop, of which we have so many good choices. Since I’ve taken Kiki-Jiki out for the moment, I won’t be running this in the near future, but I think it has a lot of potential if you’re pursuing that victory condition.
Pathbreaker Ibex – For an aggro deck with haste enablers this does a fair impression of Craterhoof Behemoth. At worst (where it is the biggest creature on the battlefield) this is an overrun effect every combat phase. Overrun wins games. Again this is a six drop (why so many good six drops?) and it’s not going to be right for every deck, but I suspect it could replace the Craterhoof if you want a more budget friendly build.
Skullwinder – Eternal Witness on a more defensive deathtouch body, that can be cast for G with Animar’s help. There may be times where you don’t want to give an opponent a card back, but a lot of the time the ‘group hug’ effect won’t be a problem. I think it’s probably a meta call whether you think the downside of helping an opponent is worth the upside of a lower potential casting cost. Ideally, you’ll combo off before anything relevant is even in your opponents’ graveyard.
GRUMulticolouredURG
Arjun, the Shifting Flame – A fairly chaotic effect that would let you see a lot of cards, but make choosing which to cast quite a bit harder. If you’re using Psychosis Crawler (as I once did) this effect would probably win the game, so in the right deck build I think this is a great effect.
Ezuri, Claw of Progress – The ability to gain experience counters is easily activated in Animar and the result can produce a lot of +1/+1 counters at the beginning of combat. Probably worth a place in more aggro focused builds.
Kaseto, Orochi Archmage – Animar snake tribal might be a thing? A decent mana sink to push through damage (and can make Animar unblockable) with additional upside that she can pump herself if nothing else is available. A comparison could probably be made with Thassa, God of the Sea if you want to ability to make your creatures unblockable.
Mizzix of the Izmagnus – Synergy with instants and sorcery spells makes Mizzix the exact opposite of what we’d want.
XArtifacts/ColourlessX
Blade of Selves – If you really want to make myriad work, this equipment is the way to go. Bear in mind the limitations here, it requires combat, multiple opponents and the mana to pay 4 to equip. I think this could be a lot of fun on a Mulldrifter, Solemn Simulacrum or Craterhoof Behemoth, but a lot of things have to be going your way to make this worthwhile.
Sandstone Oracle – Slithermuse redundancy that can be cast for 0. Has potential, but I’d run Slithermuse first (and I don’t run Slithermuse) because it is cheaper to cast if you’re behind and Animar is not on the board.
0Lands0
Command Beacon – Colourless mana is awkward in Animar, so you don’t really want to be running too many utility lands, but this land offers an opportunity to recast Animar for his original cost, if he’s died one too many times during the course of the game. I’m not sure it’s worth it, but maybe in the right meta this could find a spot. It’s a unique effect and for that reason it’s notable.
Overall, the new green creatures are the most impressive, but Skullwinder is probably the only new card I’d consider picking up. If you’re running a more aggro list and/or a +1/+1 counters matter theme, then Ezuri, Claw of Progress and Bloodspore Thrinax would also be interesting additions. A more controlling build might enjoy Illusory Ambusher and Arjun, the Shifting Flame. As I’ve previously reiterated, cards have to be exceptional or unique to replace existing card choices, which is both a blessing (yay, so many good choices!) and a curse (nooo, so many cards to cut!).
What have you added to your Animar decks? Anything I didn't mention that is better than anticipated? Feedback as always, is appreciated
Gelf, Omnath, Locus of Rage is all the rage at the shop. Would you make any changes in the deck with the assumption that you will be target number one?
I am playing Survival of the Fittest, Fauna Shaman, Cyclonic Rift, Imperial Recruiter, Force of Will, Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker and Primordial Sage.
These replaced Glimpse of Nature, Stubborn Denial, Raven Familiar, Sage of Fables, Temur Sabertooth, Kruphix, God of Horizons and Woodland Bellower.
My first thought is to be proactive with Gilded Drake. I know that card is on your radar. Another option could be Elgaud Shieldmate. Both are creature based options that would go beyond just one shot protection like Spellskite or one turn like Plaxmanta. Artisan of Kozilek and Vesuvan Shapeshifter would be one of the cards I cut. Yavimaya Hollow was another card you rejected under a different set of circumstances. Homeward Path would have to come out of my deck.
Do I need to take a chill pill and trust in the deck you have created? Between Imperial Recruiter, Survival of the Fittest, Fauna Shaman, Fierce Empath, and Chord of Calling we have plenty of ways to get Duplicant into play. Man of War (to a lesser extent), Venser, Force of Will, Cyclonic Rift (last two mine) and our creature based counter spells also keep Omnath off the board.
Or am I right to make a change and if so am I choosing the wrong cards to go in and/or the wrong cards to remove?
I have no experience playing against Omnath, Locus of Rage. How difficult it is to combat depends a lot on the deck. Assuming you can combo to victory turn 5, 6 or 7, Omnath may not even have produced any landfall elementals. If Animar gets large enough, it will be able to resist multiple lightning bolt effects if that is Omnath's solution to Animar. On the other hand, if these decks are packing red spot removal (Lightning Bolt, Cunning Sparkmage) it may be impossible to keep Animar on the battlefield. In that case, you could go for Glamerdye or Whim of Volrath to set Animar to protection from red, or build the deck to be less reliant on Animar for victory, perhaps by focusing on Kiki-Jiki combo? Of course a well timed counterspell may give you enough of a break to combo out normally.
Gilded Drake is a great answer to most opposing Commanders, so it's probably worthy of a place. Elgaud Shieldmate is probably a bit too weak on its own, in my opinion. If hexproof is really that important it may be worth considering Swiftfoot Boots or Lightning Greaves, both of which operate at a similar speed but are more versatile to removal.
It has taken me almost a month to respond, so by now you've probably had a few games against Omnath, so how did it go? Have you made any other changes?
It is also possible that I am not being aggressive enough with mulligans. I have won by turn five but I believe turn 6-8 is more realistic. Are you playing with full mulligans or partial? It varies from group to group at Excelsior where I play.
Omnath, Locus of Rage is a problem but after multiple games I may have overestimated the threat. There are the games that my opponent gets Omnath out with a sac outlet before I get a tutor online. We are done is a vast majority of those games. Instant speed removal is just too much to overcome. His presence in your meta may necessitate the inclusion of the more powerful tutors.
Gelf, you are correct (as usual) that speed is out biggest ally in this match. We are very limited on our removal options for their sacrifice artifact and enchantment outlets. We have more counters available in creatures and spells. Still, several of the games were determined by Animar going off a turn ahead of Omnath.
If they're relying on artifacts, you could always pack hate like Null Rod. Phyrexian Revoker can also shut down a sac mechanic and has more synergy with Animar. Green has plenty of ways to deal with artifacts and enchantments; Nature's Claim is cheap and instant (not so synergistic, but a meta call), Acidic Slime, Reclamation Sage and Bane of Progress all attack this aspect of the deck if you want to play reactively.
Proactively, just make Animar faster. Ensure he's out turn two and win before Omnath gets established.
Sounds like it's a fairly even match up, but if it ever gets too hard or you don't want to become part of an arms race towards breakneck combo, remember you can always set Animar aside for a while until the meta shifts in a different direction
I think we are the better deck because of speed. I am down to 49 creatures and would like to be at 50-52. Evolutionary Leap is probably the weakest non creature spell. Birthing Pod, Survival of the Fittest, Fauna Shaman, Imperial Recruiter and possibly even Fierce Empath are all better options. How often has Evoluntionary Leap been relevant and/or effective for you? Do you agree with my assesment of its power level compared to the other tutors?
Guilded Drake is the best option I am not playing. Omnath should be playing four to five sac outlets. Guilded Drake gets around having to remove multiple artifacts and/or enchantments. Reclamation Sage has been in and out of the deck. What is the weakest creature? Vesuvan Shapeshifter or Willbender seems to me to be the most situational in the deck. I am playing both Kiki-Jiki and Craterhoof Behemoth having dropped Artisan of Kozilek.
Both are better than Artisan in my opinion.
The deck is playing great. You have the best multiplayer Animar thread/ list. What do you think about Gilded Drake in for Evoluntionary Leap and Reclamation Sage for either Vesuvan Shapeshifter of Willbender?
Although it doesn't counter artifacts at all (in fact it probably helps the artifact deck) Lodestone Golem is an oft overlooked creature which works wonders in the Animar deck. We rarely if ever care about an additional 1 on our mana costs, if ever it simply requires playing another creature first. The golem itself is colorless (and thus potentially free) and has a not irrelevant body as a 5/3. Obviously the card works better in an artifact-centric build for Animar (a highly viable alternative build for the deck which I have built and had great fun with), Lodestone Golem is still a very decent control card for any Animar build.
If artifacts chaining together is a real issue, have you considered more permission, such as Voidmage Husher or Pestermite? Both are affordable and fast creatures which can seriously delay your opponent's mana generation early (Mana Vault is an amazing early target) or prevent them from activating combos or delay developing their board. This of course helps us immensely, considering in any such match up we are almost certainly the aggro deck.
In terms of straight up removal I run both Ancient Grudge and Hull Breach in my 99. Ancient Grudge is the best flashback card ever printed for a very good reason. Being able to deny an artifact at instant speed, then threaten the deny for just one mana is huge. Oftentimes Ancient Grudge is more valuable in the graveyard than out, as it forces players (especially pesky blue players) to reconsider their strategy rather than just committing all their combo mana to the board super quickly. Hull Breach is about as efficient as removal comes, and always has viable targets.
Evolutionary Leap hasn't been amazing, but it has replaced creatures after a board wipe. It's not a tutor, it's card draw for creatures. If you're seeking maximum consistency, then it's probably an easy cut.
(*) Foil (P) Promo (A) Altered (F) Foreign (T) Testing for Fun, probably on it's way out (!) Broken Beyond Belief
This is really a deck I play frequently. All cards in it, I really own. Are there glaring omissions?
Recently I kicked out Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, he wasn't pulling his weight, and RRR in the mana was just too much.
In advance, I thank you for reading, and for your well-thought-through opinions.
Gelf, can I infer from your comments that Vesuvan Shapeshifter is one of the weaker inclusions in the deck? Evoluntionary Leap was dropped for Gilded Drake. My meta does not play a lot of board sweeps.
Force of Will has also been extremely viable as my opponents do not wait for Animar to get counters. I understand your reservation concerning exiling cards. I am going to make a effort to note when Stubborn Denial would have performed the same task.
Elgaud Shieldmate has been very useful. I do not have a large sample size of games to test it and my meta may be heavier on spot removal. It certainly does not feel like one of the weaker cards in the deck.
Vesuvan Shapeshifter is whatever you need it to be while maintaining a high morph count. It's not weak, but up against Willbender, it's the weaker card. I wouldn't consider cutting Willbender unless I was completely abandoning the morph synergy.
In my usual meta, spot removal is not nearly as prevalent as board wipes, so Elgaud Shieldmate has never appealed, but I'm glad it's working out for you
I'm not entirely sure if I'm ready to those cards out of the 99, as I play in a rather cutthroat meta. "Broken Beyond Belief" is just my way of saying "really really good", I guess. Surrak Dragonclaw is mostly a clunky counterspell to force my wincons through (comparable to Mystic Snake). If it resolves, it helps other cards like Purphoros or Craterhoof win that turn. The trample is nice, but mostly irrelevant.
I guess I can see Surrak Dragonclaw acting as a counterspell of sorts. In a meta where creatures are likely to be countered this acts as a way to force them through, but isn't Vexing Shusher better?
Jonas, if you are in a cutthroat meta, why not play Survival of the Fittest and Fauna Shaman? Gelf is right about Vexing Shusher. If your non creature spells are also getting countered, it is even a better replacement.
Creatures with the cascade ability (Maelstrom Wanderer, Bloodbraid Elf, Etherium-Horn Sorcerer and Shardless Agent) decrease the value of counterspells because they are terrible to 'cascade' into. If you cascade into a counterspell, the only valid target on the stack is the creature you cast yourself. You don't have to cast the counterspell, but then you're missing out on the value that cascade grants and have to put that spell on the bottom of your library (never to see it again).
Yeah that's happened to me before, ripping a Pact of Negation from a Bloodbraid Elf cascade. I find that Bloodbraid can only hit the lower portion of my curve, which is usually ramp or mana excel, so it is on the lower side of security in the deck. I also find that it's relatively low percentage to hit a noncreature spell because I only run 6 non.
Legendary Creature - Elf Ally
You may play an additional land on each of your turns.
, Return a land you control to its owner's hand: Target creature gains trample until end of turn.
It seems interesting, but not quite a must.
It could be noticeable that it may Give trample to two creatures paying .
But I can't find at this moment a 6 cc card to drop in my deck to substitute with it: Duplicant, Prime Speaker Zegana, Soul of the Harvest, Sun Quan, Lord of Wu, Woodland Bellower... but there are also other nice cards like Draining Whelk, Oblivion Sower, Primordial Sage, Etherium-Horn Sorcerer...
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Upon further thought towards the Great Oak Guardian, you can have an infinite +2/+2 bump to your board for a win con, paired with Kiki.
Referring to your post, I've found Draining Whelk to be game saving at times if Animar has counters. Etherium-Horn Sorcerer has also been a great draw at most points of a game for me. I like O So, but so far there isn't much to cut, if you're running an Ulamog, Artisan, and Cloustone then you don't really need it as a win con. However, O So can be fueled by Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, so there is the possibility for the play testing.
Sun Quan seems redundant next to the trample enabled by Surrak Dragonclaw. If you're dropping free creatures like Duplicant, then you could be hitting the targets that are problems, continually feeding Animar. Plus Surrak gives counter protection, so his stock in my mind is amplified.
(W/U)(B/R)GForm of Progenitus, Shape of a Scrubland
BRGJund Tokens with Prossh, the Magic Dragon Foil
URGAnimar, the RUG CleanerFoil
RRRFeldon of the Third Path 2.0 Foil
BG(B/G)Not Another Meren DeckFoil
UR(U/R)Mizzix, Y Control and X Burn Spells
(W/U)(B/R)GHarold Ramos - The 35 Foot Long Twinkie (In +1/+1 counters)
UB(U/B)Dragonlord Silumgar
That's undoubtably true. I admit that I actually don't see any substantial difference between going infinite and going infinite with a +2/+2 on every token.
My thought was about using a 6cc card slot to go infinite with Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker while there already are Zealous Conscripts, Bounding Krasis, Deceiver Exarch and Pestermite.
There's a plus for Great Oak Guardian: it's tutorable via Fierce Empath and Green Sun's Zenith (in this cast it's very costly, Bounding Krasis seems a better choice for that tutor).
Maybe I will test it too.
Tiny - Yasova
(W/U)(B/R)GForm of Progenitus, Shape of a Scrubland
BRGJund Tokens with Prossh, the Magic Dragon Foil
URGAnimar, the RUG CleanerFoil
RRRFeldon of the Third Path 2.0 Foil
BG(B/G)Not Another Meren DeckFoil
UR(U/R)Mizzix, Y Control and X Burn Spells
(W/U)(B/R)GHarold Ramos - The 35 Foot Long Twinkie (In +1/+1 counters)
UB(U/B)Dragonlord Silumgar
Somewhat delayed, but here is my review of Commander 2015 new cards. I'm sure since people will have had a chance to test these by now they can add to my (untested) impressions.
Mechanics: Officially found here
New Cards for Animar:
U Blue U
What have you added to your Animar decks? Anything I didn't mention that is better than anticipated? Feedback as always, is appreciated
Gilded Drake is a great answer to most opposing Commanders, so it's probably worthy of a place. Elgaud Shieldmate is probably a bit too weak on its own, in my opinion. If hexproof is really that important it may be worth considering Swiftfoot Boots or Lightning Greaves, both of which operate at a similar speed but are more versatile to removal.
It has taken me almost a month to respond, so by now you've probably had a few games against Omnath, so how did it go? Have you made any other changes?
It is also possible that I am not being aggressive enough with mulligans. I have won by turn five but I believe turn 6-8 is more realistic. Are you playing with full mulligans or partial? It varies from group to group at Excelsior where I play.
Omnath, Locus of Rage is a problem but after multiple games I may have overestimated the threat. There are the games that my opponent gets Omnath out with a sac outlet before I get a tutor online. We are done is a vast majority of those games. Instant speed removal is just too much to overcome. His presence in your meta may necessitate the inclusion of the more powerful tutors.
Gelf, you are correct (as usual) that speed is out biggest ally in this match. We are very limited on our removal options for their sacrifice artifact and enchantment outlets. We have more counters available in creatures and spells. Still, several of the games were determined by Animar going off a turn ahead of Omnath.
Proactively, just make Animar faster. Ensure he's out turn two and win before Omnath gets established.
Sounds like it's a fairly even match up, but if it ever gets too hard or you don't want to become part of an arms race towards breakneck combo, remember you can always set Animar aside for a while until the meta shifts in a different direction
Guilded Drake is the best option I am not playing. Omnath should be playing four to five sac outlets. Guilded Drake gets around having to remove multiple artifacts and/or enchantments. Reclamation Sage has been in and out of the deck. What is the weakest creature? Vesuvan Shapeshifter or Willbender seems to me to be the most situational in the deck. I am playing both Kiki-Jiki and Craterhoof Behemoth having dropped Artisan of Kozilek.
Both are better than Artisan in my opinion.
The deck is playing great. You have the best multiplayer Animar thread/ list. What do you think about Gilded Drake in for Evoluntionary Leap and Reclamation Sage for either Vesuvan Shapeshifter of Willbender?
If artifacts chaining together is a real issue, have you considered more permission, such as Voidmage Husher or Pestermite? Both are affordable and fast creatures which can seriously delay your opponent's mana generation early (Mana Vault is an amazing early target) or prevent them from activating combos or delay developing their board. This of course helps us immensely, considering in any such match up we are almost certainly the aggro deck.
In terms of straight up removal I run both Ancient Grudge and Hull Breach in my 99. Ancient Grudge is the best flashback card ever printed for a very good reason. Being able to deny an artifact at instant speed, then threaten the deny for just one mana is huge. Oftentimes Ancient Grudge is more valuable in the graveyard than out, as it forces players (especially pesky blue players) to reconsider their strategy rather than just committing all their combo mana to the board super quickly. Hull Breach is about as efficient as removal comes, and always has viable targets.
GWU Rafiq
RWB Zurgo
WBG Ghave
WUB Oloro
WBR Kaalia (Archived)
My Blog, currently working on series about my custom set Cazia.
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Evolutionary Leap hasn't been amazing, but it has replaced creatures after a board wipe. It's not a tutor, it's card draw for creatures. If you're seeking maximum consistency, then it's probably an easy cut.
I really need to get myself a Gilded Drake.
Also how is Surrak Dragonclaw playing for you?
Force of Will has also been extremely viable as my opponents do not wait for Animar to get counters. I understand your reservation concerning exiling cards. I am going to make a effort to note when Stubborn Denial would have performed the same task.
Elgaud Shieldmate has been very useful. I do not have a large sample size of games to test it and my meta may be heavier on spot removal. It certainly does not feel like one of the weaker cards in the deck.
In my usual meta, spot removal is not nearly as prevalent as board wipes, so Elgaud Shieldmate has never appealed, but I'm glad it's working out for you
Surrak Dragonclaw is mostly a clunky counterspell to force my wincons through (comparable to Mystic Snake). If it resolves, it helps other cards like Purphoros or Craterhoof win that turn. The trample is nice, but mostly irrelevant.
WB Ayli, Eternal Recursion WB - GUPir and Toothy GU - WBR Mathas, Fiend SeekerWBR
The Survival of the fittest and Fauna Shaman are going both in, you're absolutely right.
I'm still doubting between countercritters like Surrak Dragonclaw or Vexing Shusher, and a cheap (or free) hardcounter like Force of Will. No cascaders like Maelstrom Wanderer means more possible counters.
WB Ayli, Eternal Recursion WB - GUPir and Toothy GU - WBR Mathas, Fiend SeekerWBR
I believe Force of Will is superior to Stubborn Denial. I am going to test this hypothesis over the next two weeks.
It should be noted that Gelf would be playing Imperial Recruiter (if he owned one), Fauna Shaman and Survival of the Fittest in a cutthroat meta.
(W/U)(B/R)GForm of Progenitus, Shape of a Scrubland
BRGJund Tokens with Prossh, the Magic Dragon Foil
URGAnimar, the RUG CleanerFoil
RRRFeldon of the Third Path 2.0 Foil
BG(B/G)Not Another Meren DeckFoil
UR(U/R)Mizzix, Y Control and X Burn Spells
(W/U)(B/R)GHarold Ramos - The 35 Foot Long Twinkie (In +1/+1 counters)
UB(U/B)Dragonlord Silumgar
Mina and Denn, Wildborn
Mina and Denn, Wildborn
Legendary Creature - Elf Ally
You may play an additional land on each of your turns.
, Return a land you control to its owner's hand: Target creature gains trample until end of turn.
It seems interesting, but not quite a must.
It could be noticeable that it may Give trample to two creatures paying .
Tiny - Yasova