I have a very competitive derevi deck that is wizard themed and just from glancing at your decklist you need voidmage prodigy, mirror entity, and deadeye navigator. Mystic snake plus deadeye is sick. Mirror entity will give you a viable win-con, and voidmage prodigy is a great sac outlet for derevi.
Looking better. I'd consider cutting your land tutors (Crop Rotation, Reap and Sow) and equipment package (though SoFaF may be a good choice). They don't do much. Getting to Thawing Glaciers isn't critical. Blue Sun's is pretty good as an instant speed draw option during combat if you have enough blue (I'd recommend Stroke or Sphinx's Revelation over it). Nature's Will is excellent with Orbs/Hokori. Not only can you generate a ton of mana during combat but you have the option of tapping an opponent out. Which brings us to the problem of having enough creatures to attack with. Still looking a bit thin.
Tonight I ran with a slight variation from my list, I took out the equipment package (before you posted this lol) and threw in a foil Bident that I picked up last night, Edrec, Mirror Entity, and Mirran Crusader.
Game 1
I managed to get Hokori out and took quite a pounding as they could not remove Hokori, so they all tried to remove me taking me down to 13 life, but I eventually got out Seedborn and Mirror Entity and started swinging with 8/8 mana elves, and closed it out agro style.
Game 2
I got a turn 2 Winter Orb followed by a turn 4 Derevi, turn 5 Crusader, turn 6 Trygon Predator, and made a critical counter when they tried to take out my orb, then one by one they scooped after the counter.
Your deck performed really well last night, I think the multiple Winter Orbs is what you need to help versus the Roon deck that has been dominating. I think Nature's Will would be an excellent addition to your deck.
What's up with Mirran Crusader? He was decent in our game but seemed like just a random beater for you.
I think I have this love/hate thing going on with the Crusader, it is just a beater, but pro GB and double-strike makes him quite useful, thus far he has done well for me. Nature's Will will probably make it in after I get some time to work through the lands.
I need to work on a plan for possible theft of Derevi, I kinda got lucky last night, as Thomas did not draw into his Gilded Drake. Its too cheap to lock out, and I know he was just itching to play it. I am less worried about Sower of Temptation. Thinking about going old school and adding in Despotic Scepter, but for now it has not happened, so I will just keep it in the back of my mind.
Still thinking on Fact or Fiction vs Impulse, Impulse is half the mana, but it lets me dig through 1 less cards, though it is most likely I get one card I want, and one meh card with Fact or Fiction.
Yeah, modern is big this year and the Noble shot through the roof, along with many other EDH staples, I am hoping some of them will come back down to earth when the modern season ends and standard comes back in demand.
I have been thinking about Jorga, will probably add one to my order on payday.
I was winning with this deck nearly constantly but almost invariably by comboing off with Derevi/Navigator/Lotus/draw engine.
I also won a few by just going ape***** lockdown with dismiss into dream+jitte, bear umbra and sofaf on the board.
Once I took navigator out I realized I need to rebuild--the other infinite was a bit too clunky (mycosynth lattice/foodchain + anything).
My conclusion: I think this deck will be the most fun as a tap for value with evasive critters and nice kit (swords, jitte, etc.). I had a great time with Thawing glaciers and Rubinia and Roon for example.
I was winning with this deck nearly constantly but almost invariably by comboing off with Derevi/Navigator/Lotus/draw engine.
What was the draw engine?
My conclusion: I think this deck will be the most fun as a tap for value with evasive critters and nice kit (swords, jitte, etc.). I had a great time with Thawing glaciers and Rubinia and Roon for example.
I started out this way and in my meta I would live until about turn 6 or 7 and then die to either combo or big creature agro. Adding in lock down has made it possible to survive much longer and even win sometimes, something I was unable to do with "tap value happy time play" or "Draw/go". At this point I am only looking to make my prison faster and more resilient.
I am curious as to why you changed from prison to "tap value"?
Seaside haven or staff of domination are the typical ones. Once you've got infinite colored mana, Derevi giving infinite untaps makes for a really stupid game. Hence no more navigator.
A couple things my playgroup doesn't enjoy--
Watching you win in the same way over and over (e.g. momir vig + intruder alarm, play all my blue/green creature, genesis wave for 40 | arcum rings of brighthearth lolz | etc. )
Being locked out of the game (winter orb, stasis, tanglewire, etc.)
Tap/sac for value just seems like it'll a better mix of fun and effective. I hope
----------------------------
In regards to your list, a few pretty obvious things that I think are really good with Derevi that may or may not fit:
-Aluren (it's just a very powerful card you can use for a lot of shenanigans, and many of your critters come out for free)
-Cloudstone Curio
-Sun Titan
-Mana rocks (gilded lotus, monoliths, worn powerstone, etc.)
-Skyshroud Claim
-Farseek
-Dismiss into Dream
Playing those last two ramp spells is almost obligatory in my opinion; they fix you, and this deck wants to run a lot of utility lands.
You are fortunate to be in a meta that frowns on degenerate game play and embraces the spirit of EDH, but sadly I am not in one of those metas. Every week there is a new kid trying to play some degenerate crap they found on the interwebs, not to mention the Jeleva trolls, so I pretty much need to get my decks as tight and competitive as possible.
Had a few games last week, was noticing I was holding True Conviction a lot, most of the games I run, the mana is just too tight to be able to hard cast it, and the more games I don't see board wipe, the more I realize I may not need it.
A friend played this deck last week (The Roon Guy) and he got a Ambi-Duck-Combo-Win (Lark/Entity/Double)in the first game. I was playing Wanderer and I won agro style in the 2nd game (4 man pods), though he refused to use orbs he just threw them away and used Hokori to fetch something else with Survival.
I have been a little disappointing with this deck as of late because my other decks are winning more, but I have some ideas to make it better. I seem to be obsessed.
I wanted to read through all the comments first so I didn't rehash on something that has already been said. I like this commander a lot, and I want to see people succeed with him, as well as find out what does and doesn't work so I can improve my own list. With that in mind, this will be a lengthy and overly critical post, because I want to give the best advice I can.
Right off the bat I'm glad I read the comments. You're right, Noble Hierarch is too expensive right now but definitely worth it when he drops even a bit. Serra Ascendant was also mentioned earlier, it's a great turn 1 play, because people do need to deal with it. If you pull it late game it can be Skullclamp'd! Speaking of which...
Dear god man, you don't run Skullclamp?? Might have slipped your mind since you recently added the dorks, but it is insane. Can not speak too highly of it, I can guarantee you won't be sorry if you run it.
How is Fauna Shaman? The once per turn and lack of haste has turned me away from even giving it a chance, but if you say it's good then keep it. You'll be hard pressed to convince me to run it though! Kataki, War's Wage... who told you to run that? Qasali Pridemage, Thada Adel, Trygon Predator... Do you play against Sydri or Sharuum combo? Otherwise not worth.Voidmage Prodigy meh, Mirran Crusader sounds like a pet card of yours, but do yourself a favor and move on.
May not need Swords AND Path, depends on your meta. Change your post to reflect your Arcane Denial -> Muddle the Mixture. Fact or Fiction is a bit steep, I'm very on the fence with that card.
Now that I've gone through a bunch of stuff to cut, I'll suggest a few things your deck could use.
You run Coiling Oracle, so how about Elvish Visionary? Creatures for Derevi untaps and Survival fodder are good, and this one replaces itself and can be Skullclamp'd too. Erayo, Soratami Ascendant is a mean, mean card and usually pretty easy to activate with this deck. Grand Abolisher is good when you're ready to win or bait a counterspell. Aven Mindcensor is a no-brainer addition to this deck, non-negotiable. Captain Sisay is good for a few uses, but then you should also run Venser, Shaper Savant. My favorite play with Venser is to cast Deadeye, control player casts a counterspell, flash in Venser to counter that. Then Deadeye+Venser is another good win con (especially since you have Peregrine Drake).
One of my primary win cons is Deadeye + Peregrine -> Deadeye + Vensor, but another one is Time Warp + Eternal Witness + Deadeye/Sun Titan+Skullclamp. Just something to consider since all of those are value cards on their own.
Niche suggestion: I run Brainstorm and Gitaxian Probe. Brainstorm because I have 9 fetches and Git Probe because it thins out my deck for (essentially) free. Also Sphinx's Revelation can get big early when you cast it at the end of combat using Derevi untaps.
With all the basics in this deck, why not Land Tax? Also consider Faerie Conclave or other manland for an extra tap or untap with Derevi.
In short, here is a list of things you should reevaluate:
Sorry for the lengthy post, I just want to see this deck continue to succeed and be the best deck in the format. Best of luck to you! I'll be checking in, I hope you're able to turn some more wins with such a great deck!
Actually, thank you for the lengthy post, I don't have all of those, but I will try to incorporate what I have in the deck. I have mostly been looking at other decks and putting in what they are using and seeing if I like it.
Trying to run too many combos was making the deck too light on threat/draw, and too heavy on combo pieces that would pop up and be irrelevant to what was going on, so I am taking most of the Reviellark/Body Double combo out, since my meta throws grave hate out like candy anyway.
For starters I did some test draws from Swifts deck, granted drawing for a paper deck and a random number generator are a little different, but I liked the draws I got with his 38 land much better than my 36 land, so I am going to go with a little more land. Earlier this week I had a game where I only got 2 islands out before turn 4, I still recovered to come in 2nd, but it possibly could have been a win with better starting position. I am also finding the speed advantage I expected from Dryad Arbor only seems to work in mono green, so its coming out, as losing a land drop to the first wrath is kinda bad.
Everybody has been giving me crap about Mirran, so he is going, both Coastal Piracy and Rising Waters just feel to be excess redundancy, and sometimes clog up the works.
Tonight I ran with a slight variation from my list, I took out the equipment package (before you posted this lol) and threw in a foil Bident that I picked up last night, Edrec, Mirror Entity, and Mirran Crusader.
Game 1
I managed to get Hokori out and took quite a pounding as they could not remove Hokori, so they all tried to remove me taking me down to 13 life, but I eventually got out Seedborn and Mirror Entity and started swinging with 8/8 mana elves, and closed it out agro style.
Game 2
I got a turn 2 Winter Orb followed by a turn 4 Derevi, turn 5 Crusader, turn 6 Trygon Predator, and made a critical counter when they tried to take out my orb, then one by one they scooped after the counter.
I also won with Wort, the Raidmother tonight, nuked em' good.
So it was a good night.
EDIT: I too have been thinking about Nature's Will as a poor man's SoFaF. I am thinking of running it rather than Coastal Piracy.
..
Azusa - Derevi - Glissa - Mizzix - Sharuum - Wanderer - Wort
Out
-Stoneforge Mystic
-Diviner's Wand
-Grafted Wargear
-Loxodon Warhammer
-Crop Rotation
In
+Mana Drain
+Bident of Thassa
+Mirran Crusader
+Edric, Spymaster of Trest
+Mirror Entity
..
Azusa - Derevi - Glissa - Mizzix - Sharuum - Wanderer - Wort
What's up with Mirran Crusader? He was decent in our game but seemed like just a random beater for you.
I need to work on a plan for possible theft of Derevi, I kinda got lucky last night, as Thomas did not draw into his Gilded Drake. Its too cheap to lock out, and I know he was just itching to play it. I am less worried about Sower of Temptation. Thinking about going old school and adding in Despotic Scepter, but for now it has not happened, so I will just keep it in the back of my mind.
..
Azusa - Derevi - Glissa - Mizzix - Sharuum - Wanderer - Wort
Out
-Reins of Power
-Return to Dust
-Desertion
-Ashnod's Altar
-Phyrexian Altar
In
+Survival of the Fittest
+Fauna Shaman
+Coastal Piracy
+Gilded Drake
+Sakura-Tribe Scout
..
Azusa - Derevi - Glissa - Mizzix - Sharuum - Wanderer - Wort
***UPDATE***
Out
-Chromatic Lantern
-Reap and Sow
-Tormod's Crypt
-Basic Land
In
+Dryad Arbor
+Wargate
+Mulldrifter
+Kataki, War's Wage
..
Azusa - Derevi - Glissa - Mizzix - Sharuum - Wanderer - Wort
Damia http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=410191
DDFT Legacyhttp://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=505247
Domain Zoo http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?p=10212429#post10212429
..
Azusa - Derevi - Glissa - Mizzix - Sharuum - Wanderer - Wort
Damia http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=410191
DDFT Legacyhttp://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=505247
Domain Zoo http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?p=10212429#post10212429
I have been thinking about Jorga, will probably add one to my order on payday.
..
Azusa - Derevi - Glissa - Mizzix - Sharuum - Wanderer - Wort
I also won a few by just going ape***** lockdown with dismiss into dream+jitte, bear umbra and sofaf on the board.
Once I took navigator out I realized I need to rebuild--the other infinite was a bit too clunky (mycosynth lattice/foodchain + anything).
My conclusion: I think this deck will be the most fun as a tap for value with evasive critters and nice kit (swords, jitte, etc.). I had a great time with Thawing glaciers and Rubinia and Roon for example.
UW Ephara Hatebears [Primer], GB Gitrog Lands, BRU Inalla Combo-Control, URG Maelstrom Wanderer Landfall
What was the draw engine?
I started out this way and in my meta I would live until about turn 6 or 7 and then die to either combo or big creature agro. Adding in lock down has made it possible to survive much longer and even win sometimes, something I was unable to do with "tap value happy time play" or "Draw/go". At this point I am only looking to make my prison faster and more resilient.
I am curious as to why you changed from prison to "tap value"?
..
Azusa - Derevi - Glissa - Mizzix - Sharuum - Wanderer - Wort
A couple things my playgroup doesn't enjoy--
Watching you win in the same way over and over (e.g. momir vig + intruder alarm, play all my blue/green creature, genesis wave for 40 | arcum rings of brighthearth lolz | etc. )
Being locked out of the game (winter orb, stasis, tanglewire, etc.)
Tap/sac for value just seems like it'll a better mix of fun and effective. I hope
----------------------------
In regards to your list, a few pretty obvious things that I think are really good with Derevi that may or may not fit:
-Aluren (it's just a very powerful card you can use for a lot of shenanigans, and many of your critters come out for free)
-Cloudstone Curio
-Sun Titan
-Mana rocks (gilded lotus, monoliths, worn powerstone, etc.)
-Skyshroud Claim
-Farseek
-Dismiss into Dream
Playing those last two ramp spells is almost obligatory in my opinion; they fix you, and this deck wants to run a lot of utility lands.
UW Ephara Hatebears [Primer], GB Gitrog Lands, BRU Inalla Combo-Control, URG Maelstrom Wanderer Landfall
..
Azusa - Derevi - Glissa - Mizzix - Sharuum - Wanderer - Wort
Out
-Mulldrifter
-Sakura-Tribe Scout
In
+Stasis
+Carpet of Flowers
Was never happy to see either Mulldrifter or Sakura-Tribe Scout, and I needed to add Stasis anyway.
..
Azusa - Derevi - Glissa - Mizzix - Sharuum - Wanderer - Wort
BRGrenzo, Dungeon Warden EDH
GAzusa, Always in a Rush EDH
GWUDerevi, Empyrial Warlord EDH
Trade thread on MOTL
Out
-Supreme Verdict
-True Conviction
In
+Reconnaissance
+Voidmage Prodigy
..
Azusa - Derevi - Glissa - Mizzix - Sharuum - Wanderer - Wort
Rising Waters,Aura Shards, and Birthing Pod got Terastodon'd by a Bribery. I was definitely not expecting it as I have not seen a Bribery played in my meta in years.
Tried to Stasis, got countered. (though it was a play error on my part, I should have attacked first to tap down the islands of the control player)
High Market spent most of its time tied up by Faith's Fetters.
I swung a few rounds with Derevi and 3/3 beast tokens until half the table scooped due to standard round starting.
I am not sure what to add or change but in my meta I cant seem to maintain enough control with this deck.
I dunno, I have thought of Land Equalibrium, but not sure about it.
..
Azusa - Derevi - Glissa - Mizzix - Sharuum - Wanderer - Wort
Out
-Stonecloaker
In
+Green Sun's Zenith
A friend played this deck last week (The Roon Guy) and he got a Ambi-Duck-Combo-Win (Lark/Entity/Double)in the first game. I was playing Wanderer and I won agro style in the 2nd game (4 man pods), though he refused to use orbs he just threw them away and used Hokori to fetch something else with Survival.
I have been a little disappointing with this deck as of late because my other decks are winning more, but I have some ideas to make it better. I seem to be obsessed.
..
Azusa - Derevi - Glissa - Mizzix - Sharuum - Wanderer - Wort
Out
-Arcane Denial
-Peregrine Drake
In
+Fierce Empath
+Muddle the Mixture
I wanted Muddle for an additional tutor for Survival, figured I would try out Empath for grabbing DEM.
..
Azusa - Derevi - Glissa - Mizzix - Sharuum - Wanderer - Wort
Right off the bat I'm glad I read the comments. You're right, Noble Hierarch is too expensive right now but definitely worth it when he drops even a bit. Serra Ascendant was also mentioned earlier, it's a great turn 1 play, because people do need to deal with it. If you pull it late game it can be Skullclamp'd! Speaking of which...
Dear god man, you don't run Skullclamp?? Might have slipped your mind since you recently added the dorks, but it is insane. Can not speak too highly of it, I can guarantee you won't be sorry if you run it.
How is Fauna Shaman? The once per turn and lack of haste has turned me away from even giving it a chance, but if you say it's good then keep it. You'll be hard pressed to convince me to run it though! Kataki, War's Wage... who told you to run that? Qasali Pridemage, Thada Adel, Trygon Predator... Do you play against Sydri or Sharuum combo? Otherwise not worth.Voidmage Prodigy meh, Mirran Crusader sounds like a pet card of yours, but do yourself a favor and move on.
Cut Solemn Simulacrum. If you want a similar effect, Wood Elves. Cut Body Double, not doing enough for that cmc. Replace Reveillark with Sun Titan and ask yourself if Seedborn Muse is worth having a second, worse Prophet of Kruphix.
I personally don't think Reconnaissance does enough to hold a spot. Also, Stasis can be hard to circumvent, how do get around it? The only way I can think based on your list is Reconnaissance, hah. I would recommend cutting both because it's possible to have too many Stasis effects. I run just two, Winter Orb and Hokori, Dust Drinker, which means you should also cut Rising Waters. Martyr's Cause not necessary. And Coastal Piracy is good, but again, Edric, Spymaster of Trest and Bident of Thassa are probably enough.
May not need Swords AND Path, depends on your meta. Change your post to reflect your Arcane Denial -> Muddle the Mixture. Fact or Fiction is a bit steep, I'm very on the fence with that card.
Now that I've gone through a bunch of stuff to cut, I'll suggest a few things your deck could use.
You run Coiling Oracle, so how about Elvish Visionary? Creatures for Derevi untaps and Survival fodder are good, and this one replaces itself and can be Skullclamp'd too. Erayo, Soratami Ascendant is a mean, mean card and usually pretty easy to activate with this deck. Grand Abolisher is good when you're ready to win or bait a counterspell. Aven Mindcensor is a no-brainer addition to this deck, non-negotiable. Captain Sisay is good for a few uses, but then you should also run Venser, Shaper Savant. My favorite play with Venser is to cast Deadeye, control player casts a counterspell, flash in Venser to counter that. Then Deadeye+Venser is another good win con (especially since you have Peregrine Drake).
You've tried it before, but try it again with your new playstyle: Stoneforge Mystic package. Sword of Feast and Famine and Sword of Fire and Ice are great additions to help you with aggro, ramp and winning Stasis locks. Lightning Greaves is decent. Also, you're already running Skullclamp because I said so (non-negotiable ). Throw in Steelshaper's Gift as almost a second Fabricate.
One of my primary win cons is Deadeye + Peregrine -> Deadeye + Vensor, but another one is Time Warp + Eternal Witness + Deadeye/Sun Titan+Skullclamp. Just something to consider since all of those are value cards on their own.
Niche suggestion: I run Brainstorm and Gitaxian Probe. Brainstorm because I have 9 fetches and Git Probe because it thins out my deck for (essentially) free. Also Sphinx's Revelation can get big early when you cast it at the end of combat using Derevi untaps.
With all the basics in this deck, why not Land Tax? Also consider Faerie Conclave or other manland for an extra tap or untap with Derevi.
In short, here is a list of things you should reevaluate:
1 Kataki, War's Wage
1 Mirran Crusader
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Body Double
1 Reveillark
1 Reconnaissance
1 Stasis
1 Arcane Denial
1 Voidmage Prodigy
1 Thada Adel
1 Trygon Predator
1 Seedborn Muse
1 Rising Waters
1 Fact or Fiction
To add
1 SKULLCLAMP
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Muddle the Mixture
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
1 Sun Titan
1 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Steelshaper's Gift
1 Land Tax
1 Elvish Visionary
1 Erayo, Soratami Ascendant
1 Grand Abolisher
1 Captain Sisay
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Time Warp
1 Brainstorm
1 Gitaxian Probe
1 Sphinx's Revelation
1 Faerie Conclave
Also... planeswalkers. Do they stick in your meta? If so, these are real powerhouses!
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1 Garruk Wildspeaker
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Venser, the Sojourner
Sorry for the lengthy post, I just want to see this deck continue to succeed and be the best deck in the format. Best of luck to you! I'll be checking in, I hope you're able to turn some more wins with such a great deck!
cEDH: [G(U/R) Animar] - [(U/B)(G/W) Redless Wheels] - [(G/U)(W/B) Redless Pod] - [(B/G)W Ghave Metapod]
Body Double is part of a combo with Reviellark, but its only won once.
..
Azusa - Derevi - Glissa - Mizzix - Sharuum - Wanderer - Wort
Trying to run too many combos was making the deck too light on threat/draw, and too heavy on combo pieces that would pop up and be irrelevant to what was going on, so I am taking most of the Reviellark/Body Double combo out, since my meta throws grave hate out like candy anyway.
Out
-Seedborn Muse
-Kataki, War's Wage
-Body Double
-Reviellark
In
+Elvish Visionary
+Worldly Tutor
+Sun Titan
+Gilded Lotus
..
Azusa - Derevi - Glissa - Mizzix - Sharuum - Wanderer - Wort
Out
-Dryad Arbor
-Mirran Crusader
-Coastal Piracy
-Rising Waters
In
+Blue Sun's Zenith
+Consecrated Sphinx
+Land (x2)
Everybody has been giving me crap about Mirran, so he is going, both Coastal Piracy and Rising Waters just feel to be excess redundancy, and sometimes clog up the works.
..
Azusa - Derevi - Glissa - Mizzix - Sharuum - Wanderer - Wort