I've been playing a similar list to great success, and I've had a lot of success with some Eldritch Moon cards.
It's a little deep but Gisela, the Broken Blade and Bruna, the Fading Light are pretty strong. I used to run Baneslayer Angel as a filler card and found it to be a really solid finisher, and Gisela is pretty similar. Bruna animates most things in the deck, since you're mostly humans or angels, and you don't have to worry about Torpor Orb. Getting them both out makes a very strong hatebear and game finisher.
Eldritch Evolution is a creature tutor you can cast under Gaddock Teeg. Can't say the same for Chord, GSZ, Natural Order, Pod, etc. Normally I like all those cards better but I'm running this purely for being usable with Gaddock Teeg on the field.
Thalia, Heretic Cathar seems like an autoinclude. Having a soft Kismet on a cost effect creature is really nice. Stops Kiki combos outright and generally slows down your opponents.
Also I like Tireless Tracker for card advantage in a deck that's pretty hard pressed for it. You'll get clues even under Torpor Orb/Hushwing Gryff and it gets around Spirit of the Labyrinth when you just crack a clue on every person's turn. Also if you want, you can generate a ton of clues, then slam Kataki and not pay their upkeep cost. Tireless Tracker gets +1/+1 counters when they all get sacced and now you have a decent beater on your hands.
I run Exhume in my deck too for the same reasons as Living Death. Having a 1B "reanimate any creature" spell with no downside is pretty sweet.
Tireless Tracker was added along with Ghostly Prison. That was a very well thought out explaination. I got the promo Thalia, Heretic Cathar, I just am not a big fan of Kismet effects, they aren't aggressive enough. I know they can buy you a turn to help the table find answers, but they don't do anything to advance the board after. I'll get into it more when my review is up, which usually follows after EDHREC collects enough data about the new set to show what's being played in which decks.
I love Thalia as a character. She's one of my favorites in Magic. I may try to find this new version a slot in my take of this list just because of that.
Hey folks. First off, got to tell the original thread maker person thanks for getting me back on the old EDH pony. Took a hiatus from the format because local playgroup all switched over to 60 card formats killing the local scene. Played for a few months and got bored, missed the big interactions that out little format can produce either on large scale MP games or in 1v1. I had built an Anafenza deck back during the block she came out in and it was actually getting good. Decided to share off my work in progress. Unfortunately I had to sell off most of my collection to pay for my summer projects, yeah I got my return but starting at square one with building the decks back up. Right now in the nit pick phase, I know this is a very meta dependent deck so I tried to work around the dependency a bit until I can find another group therefore, amped up the passive aggressiveness of the neck and try to win by the "4 each turn" or alt win cons by keeping things off the table and making a problematic board state. So here is my 70% completed list. I do like the tracker idea mentioned above. Still working on getting used to MTGS formatting of posts so if it looks disorganized blame me.
Nath of the Gilt-Leaf, Lodestone Golem, Drana, Liberator of Malakir and Kytheon, Hero of Akros seem like weird cards to include, and I don't see any sacrifice engines to get the Persist loop started. It is hard for non-dedicated, non-Combo decks to join that elite group of turn 3-4 decks. Even if you manage to disrupt them they can just go off later.
I had planned a theoretical deck around going through the Persist loop as fast as humanly possible and casting Bitter Ordeal to just empty their library and win, but that's not a deck I need to build because my Meta is controlled by me essentially with input.
I had planned a theoretical deck around going through the Persist loop as fast as humanly possible and casting Bitter Ordeal to just empty their library and win, but that's not a deck I need to build because my Meta is controlled by me essentially with input.
When I started playing your Anafenza with persist combo I was in love with it. I really wanted to push the combo further myself, but the lack of Murderous Redcap in Abzan colors was holding it back. I came to the thought process that if you wanted to optimize that combo it would have to be in either Jund (sadly you'd be cutting stuff like mono-white Anafenza and Cathar's Crusade,) 5 color, or wait to see what the WGBR commander will be this fall. IMO unless the WGBR commander has some solid graveyard or +1/+1 counter interaction, I think 5 color would be the way to go so you can include Glen Elendra Archmage and River Kelpie.
And boy does Bitter Ordeal look so fun for a win-con.
4-color Commanders do not appeal to me, you might as well play 5-colors at that point. I like the Persist loop version of the deck, but it's not like the pieces were amazing. Like Kitchen Finks is not a great multiplayer card, it was just fun to pull off. Being able to free up so much space by removing it makes it feel like a brand new deck, I like it
Where does it sit on the spectrum when it comes to competitiveness? I feel like it is a tad too slow (Cobblepot's Boonweaver Combo Karador with hate bears is an example of a "fast" version of this list) to be a truly competitive list at a cutthroat table, but I'm not sure if the hate bears make it so that you are too strong for actual 75% lists.
My concern is this leaves this deck in an awkward limbo between competitive and 75% where you are too slow for one and too good for the other. Does that happen? What are the kinds of lists that you feel evenly powered with while running this deck?
Where does it sit on the spectrum when it comes to competitiveness? I feel like it is a tad too slow (Cobblepot's Boonweaver Combo Karador with hate bears is an example of a "fast" version of this list) to be a truly competitive list at a cutthroat table, but I'm not sure if the hate bears make it so that you are too strong for actual 75% lists.
My concern is this leaves this deck in an awkward limbo between competitive and 75% where you are too slow for one and too good for the other. Does that happen? What are the kinds of lists that you feel evenly powered with while running this deck?
This deck just plays other decks in my planned meta . Do I think a version of Hatebears could beat turn 3 combos? I do. They just wouldn't look like my list. Perhaps, when time allows, I will lay out all the ways a Hatebear List can win: Cobblepot's version, Persist version, ect. I've done a great deal of write-ups on cards I don't actually play and even went as far as to in my introduction point out the importance of meta on shaping the deck.
It's not a 75% deck because it isn't a 75% meta. It's planned around long games, lots of interaction and playing powerful, old and new cards - with minimal overlap in strategies and cards (soon to be virtually no shared cards). Do I think I can take this to a pod of players I've never met? Yup, but if they have a turn 3 deck it would need adjustments
I've been thinking about maybe "borrowing" my Nether Void and Moat, taxing creature attacking Ghostly Prison and whatnot. My Meta is very creature based so adding a few more cards could really help. I'm not into the land destruction thing as much
I think that would be a good idea, especially in a creature-heavy meta. If tokens are in your meta, Caltrops is a nice piece of tech.
Action, not sure what content you want posted on your thread, but would it be alright if we posted game experiences and/or decklists to share and critique? Or would you rather I make my own thread for that?
I've been getting a lot of games in with Anafenza lately and have adjusted my list a bit since playing.
Action, not sure what content you want posted on your thread, but would it be alright if we posted game experiences and/or decklists to share and critique? Or would you rather I make my own thread for that?
I've been getting a lot of games in with Anafenza lately and have adjusted my list a bit since playing.
Post away! I'd love to read it, and if time allows Ill add something to the primer. I love reading about games and what you learned, and it helps me too. I haven't got a ton of games in since the latest revision, so any data is helpful
Edit: Eldritch Moon review is up, has been for a few days, just didn't want to bump it
I personally love Thalia, Heretic Cathar, but I guess it's just preference. She's also one of my favorite characters in Magic so that doesn't hurt either.
Here is my current iteration: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/04-08-16-anafenza-edh/
I've gotten somewhere between 15-20 games in since I've completed the deck. I'll post some highlights of different games I've had along with some observations. These are not in chronological order.
Vs Meren Midrange, Mikaeus, Melek Spellslinger
Did 5 games with this pod. I won 2 (Living Plane each times) Mikaeus won 2 games (1 Mike+Trike and 1 Mike+Blood Vassal+Retribution of the Ancients+Sac) Melek won 1. With 2 Reanimation decks Anafenza was an all-star. 2 of the games I got great hands and attempted to get the Living Plane lock on turn 5, but only 1 of them stuck. The other game Living Plane was Pact of Negation’ed by the Melek and Anafenza died 3 times. I spent all my resources so quickly and couldn’t recover. The other game I won I played it steady, got out Stony Silence turn 2, followed by Spirit of the Labyrinth which slowed Meren and Melek, Anafenza stayed on board most of the game and I eventually tutored into Elesh Norn+Living Plane. Vs Meren, Karlov Lifegain, Melek
Got an opening hand with Survival of the Fittest, Phyrexian Arena, Mana Crypt and Carpet of Flowers. Decided to be gutsy and try to jam Iona out early (naming black) and it didn’t quite work out as much as I planned as she only survived 1 round then promptly path’d out of the game. Afterwards my board got dismantled via Caustic Caterpillar loops. I couldn’t recover in time and died to commander damage via Karlov. This was the 2nd Time Iona flopped on me. I need to play it safe and play the long game. Vs Azusa, Nissa Flipwalker
The Azusa player ramped like a madman into a getting Ulamog, the Ceasless Hunger on the table by turn 4. Ulamog hit me first. Lost Shaman and Living plane from the exiled 20. Ouch. I had a decent amount of mana and Eladamri's Call. Unfortunately, I was starting to learn this deck has trouble getting rid of large creatures and there was nothing I could tutor to solve this issue. Next turn he dropped Archetype of Endurance and I scooped after getting another 20 exiled. Made me seriously contemplate putting in a Fiend Hunter just to have creature removal on a creature. Vs Mikaeus, Derevi Superfriends
Got a hand with Carpet of Flowers, Bloom Tender, Tireless Tracker and Eldritch Evolution. I ramped up, tutor’d for Teeg to shut down Derevi, slapped down Anafenza for Mikaeus and had board control throughout the game. Tracker net me quite a few cards due to fetches. As the game went on both were trying to focus me down and remove my threats but I had amassed so much card advantage and had slowed them down long enough to Chord of Calling into Shaman of Forgotten Ways!
Overall observations:
-The deck feels like it’s an alternative to Captain Sisay Toolbox. Instead of guaranteed legendary tutoring every turn you have access to black tutors which make it easier to tutor Living Plane and noncreature utility pieces.
-Many games I’ve had key creatures destroyed or had no ways of playing towards a win-con. I’m contemplating on following Action_Mane and making room for my swords.
-Some games you’ll get a hand that can lead to an early Iona or a turn 5 Living Plane lock if there is no disruption. It is extremely risky to go straight to those plays. More often than not it has been better to play the long game..
-Need to replace my 2 painlands. With all the life loss in the deck its affected me more than I’d like.
-Eldritch Evolution is perfect for this deck. Mana dorks = any hatebear/removal/draw creature. Any 2cmc+ creature= Linvala.
-Carpet of Flowers is bonkers.
-New Thalia has been a great help in slowing opponents down and pressuring life totals. Quite a few players in my meta run the maximum number of fetches and it makes them pull their hair out. And the 3 power with first strike kills a lot of important EDH creatures. She is also a prime candidate for the +1/+1 counter Anafenza makes every combat.
-Going to cut Natural Order for Crop Rotation. Natural order pretty much only grabs Bane of Progress. Crop Rotation can give me instant speed Bog, ramp via Ancient Tomb or utility lands.
Sanctum Prelate joins the hatebear family. Call 1 - no Sol Ring/Mana Vault, Path/Swords, Pognify/Rabid, 1cmc counter spells, Vamp/Enlightened/Mystical/Wordly/Crop Rotation/Gamble. Also Storm decks will cry. Call 2 - Ramp, 2cmc tutors, most counter spells, some removal, Call 3 - no swords and various 3cmc spot removal, ramp, and much much more. Partner with Gaddock Teeg for a more oppressive lock.
Or if the opponent runs specific combo pieces they rely on, call that cmc.
Looks like a fantastic hatebear that goes too well with Mr. Teeg. I'm excited to play it.
Sanctum Prelate joins the hatebear family. Call 1 - no Sol Ring/Mana Vault, Path/Swords, Pognify/Rabid, 1cmc counter spells, Vamp/Enlightened/Mystical/Wordly/Crop Rotation/Gamble. Also Storm decks will cry. Call 2 - Ramp, 2cmc tutors, most counter spells, some removal, Call 3 - no swords and various 3cmc spot removal, ramp, and much much more. Partner with Gaddock Teeg for a more oppressive lock.
Or if the opponent runs specific combo pieces they rely on, call that cmc.
Looks like a fantastic hatebear that goes too well with Mr. Teeg. I'm excited to play it.
Calling 3 is dead on. This card is an auto include and I'm going to start writing about it as soon as possible be sure I cover the valuable territory. A+
I have no doubt it'd probably be useful, especially since it can have recursion, but I've got no way to abuse it with blinking like I can in Roon. Also, I'm not playing Eladamri's Call or the other good tutors I don't know how much I want Recruiter of the Guard over them but that may change with some testing and reports from you fine folks. I just imagine pitching it too often to Survival of the Fittest to find something I desperately want instead.
Recruiter of the Guard is a solid creature tutor, but when you're already in GB it is hard to find room for it in this list. The biggest plus sides to Recruiter is it is recurrable, and it gets around our stax effects. However almost all the tutors in the deck are generally 1-2 mana and/or instant speed. Eldritch Evolution is the odd-man-out but it is great because it puts the creature directly in play instead of the hand and, in this deck's case, can search more targets than Recruiter can.
In builds where Anafenza has a very strong and prominent recursion package I would say he is an auto-include though.
Also I'm adjusting my Anafenza list based on advice I got from some players and trying some things.
Do you have a budget version of your deck that a newbie player may start with? I'll be buying the pieces one by one but until then, I was hoping to get a budget list that stays true to the core of the deck list you made. Thanks in advance.
Do you have a budget version of your deck that a newbie player may start with? I'll be buying the pieces one by one but until then, I was hoping to get a budget list that stays true to the core of the deck list you made. Thanks in advance.
I did a similar thing in my Oloro Primer, but I'm not sure I ever really got into the end zone with it. I know budget builds are something that's been requested in the past, and with time I do plan on doing it. It's actually quite a bit easier with this deck considering I'm playing 5 reserve list cards. I'm not the world's greatest budget builder, that's for sure.
Do you have a budget version of your deck that a newbie player may start with? I'll be buying the pieces one by one but until then, I was hoping to get a budget list that stays true to the core of the deck list you made. Thanks in advance.
I did a similar thing in my Oloro Primer, but I'm not sure I ever really got into the end zone with it. I know budget builds are something that's been requested in the past, and with time I do plan on doing it. It's actually quite a bit easier with this deck considering I'm playing 5 reserve list cards. I'm not the world's greatest budget builder, that's for sure.
So may I ask for a rough draft of the budget list? I would love to play your list and rough working draft would do me fine.
Do you have a budget version of your deck that a newbie player may start with? I'll be buying the pieces one by one but until then, I was hoping to get a budget list that stays true to the core of the deck list you made. Thanks in advance.
I did a similar thing in my Oloro Primer, but I'm not sure I ever really got into the end zone with it. I know budget builds are something that's been requested in the past, and with time I do plan on doing it. It's actually quite a bit easier with this deck considering I'm playing 5 reserve list cards. I'm not the world's greatest budget builder, that's for sure.
So may I ask for a rough draft of the budget list? I would love to play your list and rough working draft would do me fine.
At risk of overextending myself here, which cards in particular do you need replacement for? Anything over $10? $20? Or a completely budget take on it? Because I live in the middle or nowhere in Virginia, no internet. I use my cellular phone data to communicate, which often times makes it rather difficult to do wholesale revisions to the deck list. My personal issues aside, I live to serve and help the budget conscious, established and new players who use this as a resource.
Tireless Tracker was added along with Ghostly Prison. That was a very well thought out explaination. I got the promo Thalia, Heretic Cathar, I just am not a big fan of Kismet effects, they aren't aggressive enough. I know they can buy you a turn to help the table find answers, but they don't do anything to advance the board after. I'll get into it more when my review is up, which usually follows after EDHREC collects enough data about the new set to show what's being played in which decks.
What is coming out for Tracker and the Prison?
EDH:
G[cEDH] Selvala, Heart of the StormG
URW[cEDH] Narset, the Last AirmericanURW
GWUSt. Jenara, the ArchangelGWU
UBGrimgrin, Chaos MarineUB
GOmnath, Mana BaronG
URWNarset, Justice League AmericaURW
GWUBAtraxa, Countess of CountersGWUB
GWUEstrid, Enbantress PrimeGWU
6 Swamp
5 Plains
6 Forest
1 Temple of Silence
1 Temple of Malady
1 Temple of Plenty
1 Temple of the False God
1 Tainted Wood
1 Windswept Heath
1 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
1 Vivid Groove
1 Vivid Marsh
1 Woodland Cemetery
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Temple Garden
1 Godless Shrine
1 Llanowar Wastes
1 Mana Confluence
1 Sunpetal Grove
1 Command Tower
1 Caves of Koilos
1 Tainted Field
1 Fortified Village
1 Spirit of the Labyrinth
1 Ethersworn Cannonist
1 Nath of the Guilt Leaf
1 Brain Maggot
1 Tidehollow Sculter
1 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Mother of Runes
1 Aegis of the Gods
1 Kitchen Finks
1 Meren of Clan Nel Toth
1 Kataki, War's Wage
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Loxodon Smiter
1 Sun Titan
1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Shriekmaw
1 Lodestone Golem
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Puppetmaster Clique
1 Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit
1 Eternal Witness
1 Drana, Liberator of Malakir
1 Archangel of Tithes
1 Vyrn Wingmare
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Hushwing Gryff
1 Deathrite Shaman
1 Leonin Arbiter
1 Kytheon, Hero of Akros
1 Lilana of the Veil
1 Krosan Grip
1 Anguished Unmaking
1 Dismember
1 Mortify
1 Putrefy
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Hero's Downfall
1 Merciless Eviction
1 Crux of Fate
1 Unearth
1 End Hostilities
1 Wrath of God
1 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Armageddon
1 Day of Judgment
1 Cultivate
1 Despise
1 Duress
1 Cathar's Crusade
1 Martyr's Bond
1 Aura Shards
1 Pernicious Deed
1 Sol Ring
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Smokestack
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Winter Orb
1 Thorn of Amethyst
1 Tangle Wire
1 Trinisphere
I had planned a theoretical deck around going through the Persist loop as fast as humanly possible and casting Bitter Ordeal to just empty their library and win, but that's not a deck I need to build because my Meta is controlled by me essentially with input.
Change Log on the OP has been updated with relevant changes
When I started playing your Anafenza with persist combo I was in love with it. I really wanted to push the combo further myself, but the lack of Murderous Redcap in Abzan colors was holding it back. I came to the thought process that if you wanted to optimize that combo it would have to be in either Jund (sadly you'd be cutting stuff like mono-white Anafenza and Cathar's Crusade,) 5 color, or wait to see what the WGBR commander will be this fall. IMO unless the WGBR commander has some solid graveyard or +1/+1 counter interaction, I think 5 color would be the way to go so you can include Glen Elendra Archmage and River Kelpie.
And boy does Bitter Ordeal look so fun for a win-con.
1x Bayou
1x Bojuka Bog
1x Canopy Vista
1x Command Tower
5x Forest
1x Fortified Village
1x Godless Shrine
1x Homeward Path
1x Isolated Chapel
1x Kor Haven
1x Marsh Flats
1x Overgrown Tomb
5x Plains
1x Reflecting Pool
1x Reliquary Tower
1x Savannah
1x Scrubland
1x Strip Mine
1x Sunpetal Grove
3x Swamp
1x Temple Garden
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Verdant Catacombs
1x Windswept Heath
1x Wooded Bastion
1x Woodland Cemetery
Instant (7)
1x Anguished Unmaking
1x Enlightened Tutor
1x Hallowed Moonlight
1x Krosan Grip
1x Path to Exile
1x Swords to Plowshares
1x Vampiric Tutor
1x Academy Rector
1x Athreos, God of Passage
1x Avacyn, Angel of Hope
1x Avacyn's Pilgrim
1x Birds of Paradise
1x Bloom Tender
1x Deathrite Shaman
1x Dragonlord Dromoka
1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1x Erebos, God of the Dead
1x Eternal Witness
1x Gaddock Teeg
1x Grand Abolisher
1x Hushwing Gryff
1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1x Ob Nixilis, Unshackled
1x Scavenging Ooze
1x Shaman of Forgotten Ways
1x Sheoldred, Whispering One
1x Sigarda, Host of Herons
1x Spirit of the Labyrinth
1x Stoneforge Mystic
1x Vryn Wingmare
Artifact (8)
1x Chromatic Lantern
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Sensei's Divining Top
1x Skullclamp
1x Sol Ring
1x Sword of Feast and Famine
1x Sword of Fire and Ice
1x Sword of Light and Shadow
1x Vraska the Unseen
Enchantment (13)
1x Aura of Silence
1x Awakening Zone
1x From Beyond
1x Ghostly Prison
1x Hunting Grounds
1x Leyline of Sanctity
1x Living Plane
1x Pattern of Rebirth
1x Phyrexian Arena
1x Stony Silence
1x Suppression Field
1x Survival of the Fittest
1x Sylvan Library
Sorcery (11)
1x Armageddon
1x Cultivate
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Diabolic Intent
1x Kodama's Reach
1x Maelstrom Pulse
1x Nature's Lore
1x Toxic Deluge
1x Unburial Rites
1x Victimize
1x Vindicate
Modern : Huh?
EDH : UBGW Thrasios / Tymna Combo UBGW // GRW Mayael Big Stuff GRW // GU Edric Timewalkers GU
Where does it sit on the spectrum when it comes to competitiveness? I feel like it is a tad too slow (Cobblepot's Boonweaver Combo Karador with hate bears is an example of a "fast" version of this list) to be a truly competitive list at a cutthroat table, but I'm not sure if the hate bears make it so that you are too strong for actual 75% lists.
My concern is this leaves this deck in an awkward limbo between competitive and 75% where you are too slow for one and too good for the other. Does that happen? What are the kinds of lists that you feel evenly powered with while running this deck?
EDH:
G[cEDH] Selvala, Heart of the StormG
URW[cEDH] Narset, the Last AirmericanURW
GWUSt. Jenara, the ArchangelGWU
UBGrimgrin, Chaos MarineUB
GOmnath, Mana BaronG
URWNarset, Justice League AmericaURW
GWUBAtraxa, Countess of CountersGWUB
GWUEstrid, Enbantress PrimeGWU
This deck just plays other decks in my planned meta . Do I think a version of Hatebears could beat turn 3 combos? I do. They just wouldn't look like my list. Perhaps, when time allows, I will lay out all the ways a Hatebear List can win: Cobblepot's version, Persist version, ect. I've done a great deal of write-ups on cards I don't actually play and even went as far as to in my introduction point out the importance of meta on shaping the deck.
It's not a 75% deck because it isn't a 75% meta. It's planned around long games, lots of interaction and playing powerful, old and new cards - with minimal overlap in strategies and cards (soon to be virtually no shared cards). Do I think I can take this to a pod of players I've never met? Yup, but if they have a turn 3 deck it would need adjustments
I think that would be a good idea, especially in a creature-heavy meta. If tokens are in your meta, Caltrops is a nice piece of tech.
I've been getting a lot of games in with Anafenza lately and have adjusted my list a bit since playing.
Post away! I'd love to read it, and if time allows Ill add something to the primer. I love reading about games and what you learned, and it helps me too. I haven't got a ton of games in since the latest revision, so any data is helpful
Edit: Eldritch Moon review is up, has been for a few days, just didn't want to bump it
EDH:
G[cEDH] Selvala, Heart of the StormG
URW[cEDH] Narset, the Last AirmericanURW
GWUSt. Jenara, the ArchangelGWU
UBGrimgrin, Chaos MarineUB
GOmnath, Mana BaronG
URWNarset, Justice League AmericaURW
GWUBAtraxa, Countess of CountersGWUB
GWUEstrid, Enbantress PrimeGWU
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/04-08-16-anafenza-edh/
I've gotten somewhere between 15-20 games in since I've completed the deck. I'll post some highlights of different games I've had along with some observations. These are not in chronological order.
Vs Meren Midrange, Mikaeus, Melek Spellslinger
Did 5 games with this pod. I won 2 (Living Plane each times) Mikaeus won 2 games (1 Mike+Trike and 1 Mike+Blood Vassal+Retribution of the Ancients+Sac) Melek won 1. With 2 Reanimation decks Anafenza was an all-star. 2 of the games I got great hands and attempted to get the Living Plane lock on turn 5, but only 1 of them stuck. The other game Living Plane was Pact of Negation’ed by the Melek and Anafenza died 3 times. I spent all my resources so quickly and couldn’t recover. The other game I won I played it steady, got out Stony Silence turn 2, followed by Spirit of the Labyrinth which slowed Meren and Melek, Anafenza stayed on board most of the game and I eventually tutored into Elesh Norn+Living Plane.
Vs Meren, Karlov Lifegain, Melek
Got an opening hand with Survival of the Fittest, Phyrexian Arena, Mana Crypt and Carpet of Flowers. Decided to be gutsy and try to jam Iona out early (naming black) and it didn’t quite work out as much as I planned as she only survived 1 round then promptly path’d out of the game. Afterwards my board got dismantled via Caustic Caterpillar loops. I couldn’t recover in time and died to commander damage via Karlov. This was the 2nd Time Iona flopped on me. I need to play it safe and play the long game.
Vs Azusa, Nissa Flipwalker
The Azusa player ramped like a madman into a getting Ulamog, the Ceasless Hunger on the table by turn 4. Ulamog hit me first. Lost Shaman and Living plane from the exiled 20. Ouch. I had a decent amount of mana and Eladamri's Call. Unfortunately, I was starting to learn this deck has trouble getting rid of large creatures and there was nothing I could tutor to solve this issue. Next turn he dropped Archetype of Endurance and I scooped after getting another 20 exiled. Made me seriously contemplate putting in a Fiend Hunter just to have creature removal on a creature.
Vs Mikaeus, Derevi Superfriends
Got a hand with Carpet of Flowers, Bloom Tender, Tireless Tracker and Eldritch Evolution. I ramped up, tutor’d for Teeg to shut down Derevi, slapped down Anafenza for Mikaeus and had board control throughout the game. Tracker net me quite a few cards due to fetches. As the game went on both were trying to focus me down and remove my threats but I had amassed so much card advantage and had slowed them down long enough to Chord of Calling into Shaman of Forgotten Ways!
Overall observations:
-The deck feels like it’s an alternative to Captain Sisay Toolbox. Instead of guaranteed legendary tutoring every turn you have access to black tutors which make it easier to tutor Living Plane and noncreature utility pieces.
-Many games I’ve had key creatures destroyed or had no ways of playing towards a win-con. I’m contemplating on following Action_Mane and making room for my swords.
-Some games you’ll get a hand that can lead to an early Iona or a turn 5 Living Plane lock if there is no disruption. It is extremely risky to go straight to those plays. More often than not it has been better to play the long game..
-Need to replace my 2 painlands. With all the life loss in the deck its affected me more than I’d like.
-Eldritch Evolution is perfect for this deck. Mana dorks = any hatebear/removal/draw creature. Any 2cmc+ creature= Linvala.
-Carpet of Flowers is bonkers.
-New Thalia has been a great help in slowing opponents down and pressuring life totals. Quite a few players in my meta run the maximum number of fetches and it makes them pull their hair out. And the 3 power with first strike kills a lot of important EDH creatures. She is also a prime candidate for the +1/+1 counter Anafenza makes every combat.
-Going to cut Natural Order for Crop Rotation. Natural order pretty much only grabs Bane of Progress. Crop Rotation can give me instant speed Bog, ramp via Ancient Tomb or utility lands.
RGWMayael the AnimaRGW
UBRMarchesa, the Black RoseUBR
Modern Decks
RGWNaya BurnRGW
I agree. Will be testing for sure. It might end up in my Roon deck though, due to the new policy of minimizing overlap it might be better served there
Call 1 - no Sol Ring/Mana Vault, Path/Swords, Pognify/Rabid, 1cmc counter spells, Vamp/Enlightened/Mystical/Wordly/Crop Rotation/Gamble. Also Storm decks will cry.
Call 2 - Ramp, 2cmc tutors, most counter spells, some removal,
Call 3 - no swords and various 3cmc spot removal, ramp, and much much more. Partner with Gaddock Teeg for a more oppressive lock.
Or if the opponent runs specific combo pieces they rely on, call that cmc.
Looks like a fantastic hatebear that goes too well with Mr. Teeg. I'm excited to play it.
Calling 3 is dead on. This card is an auto include and I'm going to start writing about it as soon as possible be sure I cover the valuable territory. A+
RGWMayael the AnimaRGW
UBRMarchesa, the Black RoseUBR
Modern Decks
RGWNaya BurnRGW
I have no doubt it'd probably be useful, especially since it can have recursion, but I've got no way to abuse it with blinking like I can in Roon. Also, I'm not playing Eladamri's Call or the other good tutors I don't know how much I want Recruiter of the Guard over them but that may change with some testing and reports from you fine folks. I just imagine pitching it too often to Survival of the Fittest to find something I desperately want instead.
In builds where Anafenza has a very strong and prominent recursion package I would say he is an auto-include though.
Also I'm adjusting my Anafenza list based on advice I got from some players and trying some things.
1 Athreos, God of Passage
1 Ob Nixilis, Unchackled
1 Living Death
1 Sphere of Resistance
I did a similar thing in my Oloro Primer, but I'm not sure I ever really got into the end zone with it. I know budget builds are something that's been requested in the past, and with time I do plan on doing it. It's actually quite a bit easier with this deck considering I'm playing 5 reserve list cards. I'm not the world's greatest budget builder, that's for sure.
So may I ask for a rough draft of the budget list? I would love to play your list and rough working draft would do me fine.
At risk of overextending myself here, which cards in particular do you need replacement for? Anything over $10? $20? Or a completely budget take on it? Because I live in the middle or nowhere in Virginia, no internet. I use my cellular phone data to communicate, which often times makes it rather difficult to do wholesale revisions to the deck list. My personal issues aside, I live to serve and help the budget conscious, established and new players who use this as a resource.