I have never run Bond Beetle, but it is the only one I'd consider if I wanted this effect. I do run Llanowar Reborn still, because I never aim for a turn 2 Animar it has less downside for me if I play in turn 1 or 2. I haven't managed to use Opal Palace to add counters at all yet, so can't really comment on it's usefulness.
1. I run them both. I like Granger because he's cheaper and since I'm keeping a three land hand I know I'll be able to cast him. I can also avoid his echo cost with bounce creatures or Cloudstone. If you run Aluren, he becomes free. I like Ondu giant because he has a bigger body and no echo cost. However, he is slower to cast due to the increased mana cost. I like redundancy of ramp in the deck, so I run them both, but if you are going to only run one I would lean towards Granger, but ultimately it depends on your curve.
2. Never ran it, but getting the activate it shouldn't be a problem. I don't believe it casts the spell so there isn't synergy with Animar. I think with a deck like this I'd just rather draw the card. Cheating out fatties is what we do best, and most smaller cards we want to control when we cast.
Mosswort Bridge does in fact cast the spell, so it triggers Animar and Eldrazi on cast effects. I like it for casting Time Spiral or non-creature combo pieces. It can also cast spells outside of normal time restrictions (essentially with flash) provided you still have 10 power on the board.
I haven't tested Fauna Shaman, but as slow as I found it to be in my Karador deck I don't really have an interest in it. If I owned Survival it would be in my Karador deck (but this one is good as well), and I wish I could afford an Imperial Recruitor.
Fauna Shaman is better in Karador by far, as he can make use of both the grave aspect, and the tutor, and Karador tends to be more tool-boxy. Since Animar can be combo-explody, a single key creature can make a difference, and getting it with as little warning as possible is often better. If you're torn on a slot, I recommend the tutor.
Opal Palace is cutesy in animar to turbo charge his counters. Since he gives an immediate discount once the counters are on, it pays for itself even on the first use. This is only in regards to animar himself though. After animar is out, you run into the issue that it's a color-less tapping land, in a deck that is going to care very very strongly about having many colored sources available.
No matter what you compare Fauna Shaman against, it has the downside of being a creature with summoning sickness and a cost associated with using the effect. It is a good tutor, but a slow one. And realistically, you should only be using him one time to tutor up a creature to win the game. So between Fauna Shaman and Sylvan Tutor, both project your intent for a full turn without a way to cheat them, and both should be viewed as single use applications. I guess of the two I would go with Fauna Shaman.
1. Natuko Vigilante is superior because it is a combo piece or removal when need it. Reclamation Sage is only removal.
2. They are two different cards with two different effects. If you want to cast Animar (or any other creature) at instant speed you go with Winding Canyons. If you want to add a counter to Animar you run Opal Palace. I haven't tried it in this deck so I can't speak from experience with Opal Palace.
Gelf, I think I'm going to replace Ondu Giant for Oracle of Mul Daya, so should I try to find a home for Garruk's Horde again? And what should I cut for Prime Speaker? Lastly, I've decided that any lost which runs Fabricate should run Drift of Phantasms instead (especially if if runs Primal Surge). So I want to find a home for it as well. What would you suggest cutting?
I really want to like Garruk's Horde, but I just feel it under-performs, and I'm not entirely sure why. I'm not sure it's worth adding purely to 'combo' with Oracle of Mul Daya. The Oracle is so much better than Garruk's Horde, and the deck runs plenty of ways to shuffle to try and hit more lands. I think the reason I feel unsure about Garruk's Horde, is that it isn't always worth casting the creature on top of the library, but you feel it's worth overextending just to see more cards. With Oracle of Mul Daya on the other hand, you pretty much always want to play whatever land is on top of the library. If you wanted to put Horde back in, I think Avenger of Zendikar is the best cut to keep mana curve the same. If you don't mind putting in more 7 drops, Dack's Duplicate would be my cut (although I want you to test the duplicate and tell me if I'm misevaluating the card!).
Consecrated Sphinx for Prime Speaker Zegana is an easy switch in my opinion. Replace draw that requires your opponents to be doing stuff, with draw you get the turn you play it.
I like your assessment of Garruk's Horde about wanting to overextend. I look at it like a mini Glimpse at best and at worst another check against running out of gas. I ran it before and liked it but I think you made a really good point about it in that other thread (which is what made me think of it.)
Avenger/Hoof is more redundancy so I'm not relying on any one strategy so I think I'll leave him for now. Overwhelming Stampede has won me more games than I can remember, but now that I have Craterhoof you are probably right about cutting it.
Sphinx -> PSZ is a good call.
I'm surprised you think Fabricate is a better toolbox, although I guess since you run Birthing Pod that makes sense. I'm actually thinking of cutting Scroll Rack so Cloudstone is the only artifact that is really important to me, but Drift can also finefind Fierce Empath and probably some other cards.
Re Primal Surge: the thing is I don't want a sure win with it. That is boring. So I like having checks to make it a strong card that probably will win the game if it resolves but may not.
I think I'll cut CS, Scroll Rack, Overwhelming, and Ondu Giant and add Oracle, Garruk's Horde PSZ, and Drift for now.
Artisan of Kozilek or Nullstone Gargoyle are useful substitutes if you do not already run them...Other than that...maybe something like Soul of New Phyrexia or Woodfall Primus (utility) if you don't care about the colorlessness. Totally budget would be Ulamog's Crusher
1. No, the triple green isn't a problem for me. I try to be as redundant as possible in the lower end of my curve to get my mana fixing so that when I start to combo I am not held up by mana symbols.
2. Morph cards, other Eldrazi maybe? Artisan of Kozilek is the only other Eldrazi worth running, but you already have that. Those two gals are irreplacible because they enable Cloudstone Curio, have cast triggers, and can swing for massive damage. I personally don't run the Birthing Pod chain in Animar because it is very slow and doesn't synergize with the rest of the deck.
Maybe It That Betrays isn't so bad, but is not so cheap either.
Morph cards... I was thinking about the good old Brine Elemental, but I don't know if the combo with the Vesuvan Shapeshifter will be applied so often in a real game.
Any other ideas?
Maybe It That Betrays isn't so bad, but is not so cheap either.
Morph cards... I was thinking about the good old Brine Elemental, but I don't know if the combo with the Vesuvan Shapeshifter will be applied so often in a real game.
Any other ideas?
I ran the pickles lock for a while. I think I used it maybe once. More often it was for morph creatures and bounce.
2) What you think of Mosswort Bridge? Sometimes I think of cutting it to be a land enters tapped ... What do you think?
2. Never ran it, but getting the activate it shouldn't be a problem. I don't believe it casts the spell so there isn't synergy with Animar. I think with a deck like this I'd just rather draw the card. Cheating out fatties is what we do best, and most smaller cards we want to control when we cast.
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2) What you think of Opal Palace?
- Exotic Orchard
- Avalanche Riders
- Psychosis Crawler
- Zealous Conscripts
+ City of Brass
+ Dack's Duplicate
+ Bane of Progress
+ Earthcraft
I haven't tested Fauna Shaman, but as slow as I found it to be in my Karador deck I don't really have an interest in it. If I owned Survival it would be in my Karador deck (but this one is good as well), and I wish I could afford an Imperial Recruitor.
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Fauna Shaman is better in Karador by far, as he can make use of both the grave aspect, and the tutor, and Karador tends to be more tool-boxy. Since Animar can be combo-explody, a single key creature can make a difference, and getting it with as little warning as possible is often better. If you're torn on a slot, I recommend the tutor.
Opal Palace is cutesy in animar to turbo charge his counters. Since he gives an immediate discount once the counters are on, it pays for itself even on the first use. This is only in regards to animar himself though. After animar is out, you run into the issue that it's a color-less tapping land, in a deck that is going to care very very strongly about having many colored sources available.
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
Thanks for the answers
I wanted to ask you this: Now, comparing Fauna Shaman vs Sylvan Tutor, which you believe to be the best?
Thanks!
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I believe it is the latest (I'm already losing the credibility to speak it XD)
1)In your opinion, what is better in your deck: Reclamation Sage vs Nantuko Vigilante? (Considering I run Imperial Rcruiter on my deck?
2) In your opinion: Winding Canyons vs Opal Palace, which you think is best? Why ?
1. Natuko Vigilante is superior because it is a combo piece or removal when need it. Reclamation Sage is only removal.
2. They are two different cards with two different effects. If you want to cast Animar (or any other creature) at instant speed you go with Winding Canyons. If you want to add a counter to Animar you run Opal Palace. I haven't tried it in this deck so I can't speak from experience with Opal Palace.
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I had put Reclamation Sage over Acidic Slime, now, I'll put Nantuko Vigilante over Reclamation Sage
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Consecrated Sphinx for Prime Speaker Zegana is an easy switch in my opinion. Replace draw that requires your opponents to be doing stuff, with draw you get the turn you play it.
I like Drift of Phantasms in the place of Fabricate if you're aiming for a Primal Surge victory. Drift of Phantasms doesn't give you quite the same tool box, but Cloudstone Curio is most often the search target. If you're aiming to decrease spell count to improve Primal Surge consistency, I'd suggest cutting Overwhelming Stampede, especially if you already cut Avenger of Zendikar. If you want the Overrun effect you can always search up Craterhoof Behemoth.
Avenger/Hoof is more redundancy so I'm not relying on any one strategy so I think I'll leave him for now. Overwhelming Stampede has won me more games than I can remember, but now that I have Craterhoof you are probably right about cutting it.
Sphinx -> PSZ is a good call.
I'm surprised you think Fabricate is a better toolbox, although I guess since you run Birthing Pod that makes sense. I'm actually thinking of cutting Scroll Rack so Cloudstone is the only artifact that is really important to me, but Drift can also finefind Fierce Empath and probably some other cards.
Re Primal Surge: the thing is I don't want a sure win with it. That is boring. So I like having checks to make it a strong card that probably will win the game if it resolves but may not.
I think I'll cut CS, Scroll Rack, Overwhelming, and Ondu Giant and add Oracle, Garruk's Horde PSZ, and Drift for now.
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I'm likely to cut Psychosis Crawler soon, and Bane of Progress is currently in Steel Hellkite's spot, so my artifact count is dropping, but it still gives me a fair few options.
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what's that 6 "Soul of the Elements" in the creatures list?
The only card that I know with "Soul of the Elements" is Animar and is the general...
Tiny - Yasova
That should have been Soul of the Harvest.
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I like your decklist. I've got a pair of questions:
Tiny - Yasova
Artisan of Kozilek and Nullstone Gargoyle are already in my decklist (see here).
Ulamog's Crusher is cheap, but I'm searching for 10-11 converted cost to chain them with Birthing Pod; same problem with Soul of New Phyrexia or Woodfall Primus (which are good utility card indeed).
Myojin of Infinite Rage and Myojin of Seeing Winds have a good price, but three specific mana may be a problem.
Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur is better, but is not so cheap...
(edit, corrected last option card in "Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur" and added more explanation abuut my requirements)
Tiny - Yasova
1. No, the triple green isn't a problem for me. I try to be as redundant as possible in the lower end of my curve to get my mana fixing so that when I start to combo I am not held up by mana symbols.
2. Morph cards, other Eldrazi maybe? Artisan of Kozilek is the only other Eldrazi worth running, but you already have that. Those two gals are irreplacible because they enable Cloudstone Curio, have cast triggers, and can swing for massive damage. I personally don't run the Birthing Pod chain in Animar because it is very slow and doesn't synergize with the rest of the deck.
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Maybe It That Betrays isn't so bad, but is not so cheap either.
Morph cards... I was thinking about the good old Brine Elemental, but I don't know if the combo with the Vesuvan Shapeshifter will be applied so often in a real game.
Any other ideas?
(p.s.: thanks for the fast answer! )
Tiny - Yasova
I ran the pickles lock for a while. I think I used it maybe once. More often it was for morph creatures and bounce.
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(edit: Rattleclaw Mystic is the real name)
Tiny - Yasova