Most of these cards definitely do work, although you really want mana dorks for Hall of Gemstone to do work.
Mana dork approaches also seem better in cEDH because you don't expect nearly as many sweepers.
Although, I'm not completely sold on Ritual of Subdual. That card is absolute boss in elf decks, but here the cumulative upkeep combined with the high cost along with the mana guzzling needs of the deck make me question it a bit more.
In any case, my build was always the kind of deck that did setup on the early turns and becomes an actual threat to everyone else starting turn 5. That is generally too slow for proactive competitive builds, but not by very much. It is still faster than most other decks. This, combined with the hate cards, is probably what keeps it running with acceptable results.
I've been testing Emmy. It becomes reasonable to cast assuming people actually try and destroy your stuff. However, I need more testing. I've pretty much been discounting Mana Crypt starts in my tests because they are disgusting on a level even beyond Sol Ring starts.
If you can get a solid list in, feel free to share.
Well, my group this week abruptly got way more competitive with its games this week... Now I'm facing things like Prossh and tuned Mizzix and Krenko with my decks.
As it turns out, I got the same result. It's not great at competitive EDH, but it's serviceable. I ended up blowing up Mizzix and Nekusar a bunch of times after their generals got answered, delaying their plans enough to die in 2 hits from my guys.
It didn't win a game, but it got close by a razor thin margin three times. Basically, almost every game I was about to win. And one was because of two other outclassed players who were just ganging up on me after I killed all the cutthroat decks. I didn't draw into anything.
Meanwhile, my Gitrog monster deck won three times, and almost won all of them if not for some spite plays from other players from it winning too much. That deck controlled Mizzix out of the game (then died to Ob Nixilis), Nekusar died to an unanswered Ob Nixilis, and made Azusa a non-threat via a dead Mindslicer.
More testing. Speed is great. Getting to 7+ mana on a timely manner is not an issue. Consistency with finding threats less so, which means I probably want another fatty, as that's the 'recent problem" so to speak.
Also, Blood Mist is worth trying. It's like the cost of playing and activating a Strionic Resonator once, but gets you the most important benefit out of it for free afterwards. It costs 4cmc instead of 5 and in an ideal manner adds only 1 devotion. Against decks that like paying life, this will very easily make almost anything you play 1-shot that opponent.
I will probably cut some other form of damage amplification for it. The cut for another (6cmc ideally) fatty or tutor for one is likely to be Scroll Rack. It is generally been only good very early or as a win-more card. My average hand size when business gets rolling is 3 cards, and it's pretty poor unless your average hand size is 4-5 cards. Generally, I'm also digging for only threats with the amount of acceleration I have now, and I'm probably just better off with a straight tutor.
Question: Should I run a Summoner's Pact in here? It seems good because the idea of "paying for it later" can work pretty well in this deck when you topdeck it on 6-7 mana and don't want to lose tempo. Seems better than something like Sarkhan's Triumph.
So, the rolldown for changes is likely going to be this.
I'm glad you are getting good results in some Competitive games via the combat step.
Blood Mist looks sick for this deck. The mana discount over Gratuitous Violence and Rage Reflection will probably make a huge difference for this deck, and only applying to one creature here is a non-issue also.
Natural Order is better than any similar card (Summoner's Pact, Sarkhan's Triumph etc), provided that you have Fetch Lands and Dryad Arbor. I see you don't have either NO or Dryad Arbor in the list on the OP, although you still have GSZ. NO is a lot easier to get since the reprint too. A lot of people don't run it because it's silly overpowered, but it's there.
I am not sold on new Emrakul. Between Annihilator and a Mindslaver effect, I'm not sure which is more unfriendly. If they're about the same, then annihilator is just a lot better. Pathrazer of Ulamog has done some good things for me before, since it doesn't reshuffle and doesn't mind sneaking in off Elvish Piper/Sneak Attack. You could try Kozzi, but 10 mana is just absurd for a hard cast.
More testing. Speed is great. Getting to 7+ mana on a timely manner is not an issue. Consistency with finding threats less so, which means I probably want another fatty, as that's the 'recent problem" so to speak.
Also, Blood Mist is worth trying. It's like the cost of playing and activating a Strionic Resonator once, but gets you the most important benefit out of it for free afterwards. It costs 4cmc instead of 5 and in an ideal manner adds only 1 devotion. Against decks that like paying life, this will very easily make almost anything you play 1-shot that opponent.
I will probably cut some other form of damage amplification for it. The cut for another (6cmc ideally) fatty or tutor for one is likely to be Scroll Rack. It is generally been only good very early or as a win-more card. My average hand size when business gets rolling is 3 cards, and it's pretty poor unless your average hand size is 4-5 cards. Generally, I'm also digging for only threats with the amount of acceleration I have now, and I'm probably just better off with a straight tutor.
Question: Should I run a Summoner's Pact in here? It seems good because the idea of "paying for it later" can work pretty well in this deck when you topdeck it on 6-7 mana and don't want to lose tempo. Seems better than something like Sarkhan's Triumph.
So, the rolldown for changes is likely going to be this.
Eldritch Evolution is like Birthing Pod in a way. However, my build is also not well-suited to taking advantage of it. Still a great card that I'll be finding room for in other decks!
I'll be rolling with a hydra and seeing how it goes. Putrefax, even with the evasion, still needs help to get there and thus I'll take the one-shot guy that can stick around.
I looked at the WCS and BCS for Natural Order in my build, and it's BCS is that I pay for a green 7 drop for 4 mana. That's not too shabby. The WCS is that it rots in my hand because I have no green creature to sac to it. In this build, the payoff is not worth the risk. Maybe later when I retool it again it would be more useful. If only Worldspine Wurm costed 9 mana.....
All good suggestions all around.
As for the cards I'm testing, Emrakul has done okay.. Sneak Attacks with it are actually fine. If my stuff ever gets answered, it becomes not too big of an issue to hit 9 mana or less to play it. I haven't hardcasted it in a game yet where I could take control of someone else's turn.
Blood Mist is sweet. Plopping this down, watching someone pay life for effects and lands, take chip damage from the other players, and suddenly realize they are within lethal range on my turn 5..
My meta is more blue heavy now but I also don't want to enable faster decks. It means I'm more vulnerable to Swords to Plowshares.dec, but my options for fighting that reliably are quite limited anyway.
+ Emrakul, the Promised End - Still somewhat unproven, but I'm not actually that unhappy with it so far. Protection from instants really matters. Expect it on average to cost 9 to cast, which is reasonable late game for this deck. However, I can still easily imagine scenarios where it rots in my hand for an eternity.
+ Blood Mist - This card has been sweet. Quad damage #2!
+ Phyrexian Hydra - It is Malignus #2, but being green means that GSZ can get it. Also need to up the threat count and don't want to play anything over 6cmc.
+ Summoner's Pact - This is temporary. I don't have the remaining fetches needed to reliably play a Dryad Arbor for Natural Order, so this is what I'll use instead. Paying for the tutor later is better than messing up your tempo by paying it after you play Xenagod. Also ups threat count.
+ Gamble - This card is amazing and I should probably talk about how to properly use this card. Gambling for Mana Crypt turn 1 is a very powerful play, however there are actually situations where you DON'T do this.
- Plated Crusher - This thing isn't actually bad, but it is redundant. Also the 3 devotion is kind of a bummer. It does work when other cards would have been stopped, so it is the #1 candidate for coming back if I want another 7-drop.
- Chain Reaction - I don't need two boardwipes. Usually I'm not so far behind anymore that I actually even want them. Blas act costs 1 and therefore is an exception.
- Wild Growth - This card is fine, yet I'm just adjusting the ramp numbers and I'm cutting the one that adds devotion when I don't want it. The fact that it is "free" is a significant upside, but I'm comfortable with this choice.
- Scroll Rack - This card underperformed badly because my average hand size is 2-4 and you want your hand size to be 5 via some means before this thing becomes better than top (you don't always want to scroll rack your whole hand)
- Thought Vessel - This card is orders of magnitude weaker than Gamble when Mana Crypt is in the list.
No real noteworthy plays recently. Although I did punch through two blocking Eldrazi Titans with a 48/48 Pathbreaker Ibex to do lethal to someone. Picture an image in your head where a really angry goat manages to bowl over two chump-blocking eldrazi titans and still have enough momentum to pulverize the poor wizard hiding behind both of them. Chandra's feats have got nothing next to that goat.
Hard casting Emrakul has not nearly been as much of a problem as expected, at least so far. Well, as long as people are trying to deal with your stuff, which they should be doing or else Emmy is probably not playing out to be a major factor in your victory.
Hard casting Emrakul has not nearly been as much of a problem as expected, at least so far. Well, as long as people are trying to deal with your stuff, which they should be doing or else Emmy is probably not playing out to be a major factor in your victory.
I keep waffling on things like Phyrexian Hydra and Malignus precisely for these high life total situations, but I suppose multiplying damage enough times is bound to get there eventually. I’m not that sold on the new Emmy either, but I really want it to be good. I just don’t run enough Instants or Artifacts, enchantments rarely die, and so I keep seeing 10 mana cast as best case (Land, Creature, Sorcery). I would gladly run it at 8-9 average cost.
Also, great that Blood Mist is doing well. I suspected that it would be nuts in this deck. It’s so much easier to cast than similar cards. I have also been toying with it in Aurelia, and have landed it once or twice. I haven’t played enough with it to be certain, but I can’t imagine not being sold on it in the end.
Looking forward to playing with these, but I run all the eldrazi with annihilator so need a lot more mana then this version. Still, might be fun for you guys to test out.
Selvala, Heart of the Wilds will definitely be tested. Initial expectations say that it will probably stay given that it will always ramp you, but also I should expect at least a couple extra cards from this thing as well as having the ceiling of "I just made 40 mana off of a Malignus!"
Selvala is sick. Kessig Wolf Run and Akroma looove it, and I've also tried things like Blazing Shoal, Balduvian Rage, and Dragon Mantle before, which might be good enough now with a little more mana production in the deck. But, I have a feeling it will be a staple for any deck running Green.
Selvala's Stampede is also one where I have to reread it to make sure it's as powerful as it looks. It seems like it should cost 1-2 mana more than it does. Six is incredibly cheap for what seems similar to going down with Garruk, Caller of Beasts 4 times and up at least once. No color restriction either, or exile on resolution. Whoops, look like Sylvan Library kept an Eternal Witness on top.
Selvala is sick. Kessig Wolf Run and Akroma looove it, and I've also tried things like Blazing Shoal, Balduvian Rage, and Dragon Mantle before, which might be good enough now with a little more mana production in the deck. But, I have a feeling it will be a staple for any deck running Green.
Selvala's Stampede is also one where I have to reread it to make sure it's as powerful as it looks. It seems like it should cost 1-2 mana more than it does. Six is incredibly cheap for what seems similar to going down with Garruk, Caller of Beasts 4 times and up at least once. No color restriction either, or exile on resolution. Whoops, look like Sylvan Library kept an Eternal Witness on top.
Somehow, I failed to realize that the second mode on Selvala's Stampede allows you to cheat in PERMANENTS, not just creatures.
I'm enjoying this deck a lot so far and your guide is done very well, so I made an account just to say thanks and ask some questions on this and your gitrog deck. I really like the non-competive play style and I'm not a fan of infinite winning, so these feel nice and natural.
I got lucky in a conspiracy 2 box and got a berserk, selvala's stampede and selvala herself, so I'm wondering what your tests for those ended up like. Hopefully you have an update soon.
Also, Hellkite charger seems like a natural fit in this deck. Any reason you left him out? Too expensive?
I'm enjoying this deck a lot so far and your guide is done very well, so I made an account just to say thanks and ask some questions on this and your gitrog deck. I really like the non-competive play style and I'm not a fan of infinite winning, so these feel nice and natural.
I got lucky in a conspiracy 2 box and got a berserk, selvala's stampede and selvala herself, so I'm wondering what your tests for those ended up like. Hopefully you have an update soon.
Also, Hellkite charger seems like a natural fit in this deck. Any reason you left him out? Too expensive?
To be honest, I haven't gotten a chance to acquire the cards I want yet, so testing will take some time.
Actually, with cards like new Selvala, the stock on Hellkite Charger is actually getting better and better. If your deck can make stupid tons of mana (and I'm incorporating more and more cards that can do just that), then the idea of paying 7 to threaten kills without spending cards is looking quite enticing. So really, at this point it is personal preference, which may end up changing in favor of the charger in the future.
I've played both of these a lot and I think it depends on the situation and how you have your deck built on which is better. Berserk kills your creature but it interacts much better with the power matters draw spells. They'll both typically give the same combat bonuses. I do think both are great but they're also better in my deck the way I have it set up.
The stampede is quite high variance, but I'm never actually unhappy about the results and choosing the second option is not actually as simple of a pick as it seems because as soon as I drop one piece of damage amp along with the creature that you get out someone is going to end up regretting it. Also if your hand is huge you get solid value out of this card.
I only got to first cast Selvala, Heart of the Wilds once today, but it literally won me the game. The card draw effect essentially gave me and one other person a card and that's about it. The first clause's ability to help opponents is practically a non-issue.
The second clause allowed me to play a huge guy and then Xenagos in the same turn, and then the next turn tap for 14 mana.
This is the crazy play that happened.
Pay 4 for Blood Mist, attack with 2 Giant Adephages, one pumped to hit for 14 double strike, get 3 tokens.
Give a new token double strike and +7, attack with 3 adephages for 5 more tokens, cast Relentless Assault again, attack with 4 adephages and get only 4 more from players who die to first strike damage.
I wipe a table of 5 and end a game with 12 Giant Adephage tokens. I tied my multikill record so I'm not updating that one.
I've gotten someone to help me test because he really likes the deck.
So far I have not actually seen a truly bad Selvala's Stampede. As long as you have card draw of any kind you can cheat mana and have a decent chance of getting a solid guy out of it. If they don't allow you to play stuff from hand, then it is free value. Yeah, it's bad while in topdeck mode, but I got a number of tools that can help prevent that these days.
Selvala herself taps for 1 mana early and threatens to run away with the game as soon as I have one extra and any huge guy ever. More importantly it leads to plays where I actually play the creature first and then float 6-20 for Xenagos and then play Xenagos. It works best with supporting ramp spells.
Permanent Changes
+ Selvala's Stampede - It's a lot of value or a lot of tempo gain in one card, and this deck doesn't mind either outcome.
+ Selvala, Heart of the Wilds - It taps for so much mana if you even get a moment to yourself.
Selvala is so wonderfully stupid, glad to hear (and not surprised at all) she's serving you well. The rare+ council's dilemma spells are so dumb as well. We got together with friends to draft Conspiracy 2 in a mini 4-man pod, and they each had one of them and I was the only one without. They warp the game so hard when they resolve in limited, let alone in EDH. Thankfully, nobody was super keen on them so I walked away with all three when we divided the card pool after the games It speaks volumes about how ridiculous the stampede is, as you have to admit the deck doesn't look like it would be tailored to milk it for maximum stupidity.
Basically, it forces them to spend pretty much all of their mana on their own turns or do nothing at all (or waste mana, also fine by me). It is also completely one-sided and doesn't ask you to play around it!
Why would this be good for this deck? Well... the deck is best suited for punishing people who don't operate at instant speed, and this card can almost ensure that your opponent's shields are down as long as they care about developing their own board state. And if someone doesn't do anything and you're in the lead, then it's a pretty clear sign that someone is ready for you and you should play around it accordingly.
Think about it. Pretty much everyone runs nonbasic dual lands. Unless you're up against tricolor basics.dec, I can't see this thing ever fail to do its job. It looks like it achieves what I want it to do without being overly invasive and potentially detrimental like City of Solitude would tend to be.
Oh yeah. As far as other testing goes, Hellkite Charger is still trash.
How dare you? Hellkite Charger is a lovely card that combos with land untappers and Savage Ventmaw for a crazy number of combat steps. No, like, in all honesty, it's a great card in terms of game ending power. Unless you don't run land untappers and Savage Ventmaw.
The Mana Web plan seems interesting, but I could see it working a little less good than expected. You're not contractually obliged to play each of your colours on each of your turns, and not every land taps for every colour, so with a bit of acrobatics I'm sure you could find a way to leave up that Counterspell or Swords to Plowshares.
Mana dork approaches also seem better in cEDH because you don't expect nearly as many sweepers.
Although, I'm not completely sold on Ritual of Subdual. That card is absolute boss in elf decks, but here the cumulative upkeep combined with the high cost along with the mana guzzling needs of the deck make me question it a bit more.
In any case, my build was always the kind of deck that did setup on the early turns and becomes an actual threat to everyone else starting turn 5. That is generally too slow for proactive competitive builds, but not by very much. It is still faster than most other decks. This, combined with the hate cards, is probably what keeps it running with acceptable results.
I've been testing Emmy. It becomes reasonable to cast assuming people actually try and destroy your stuff. However, I need more testing. I've pretty much been discounting Mana Crypt starts in my tests because they are disgusting on a level even beyond Sol Ring starts.
If you can get a solid list in, feel free to share.
The Unidentified Fantastic Flying Girl.
EDH
Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.
As it turns out, I got the same result. It's not great at competitive EDH, but it's serviceable. I ended up blowing up Mizzix and Nekusar a bunch of times after their generals got answered, delaying their plans enough to die in 2 hits from my guys.
It didn't win a game, but it got close by a razor thin margin three times. Basically, almost every game I was about to win. And one was because of two other outclassed players who were just ganging up on me after I killed all the cutthroat decks. I didn't draw into anything.
Meanwhile, my Gitrog monster deck won three times, and almost won all of them if not for some spite plays from other players from it winning too much. That deck controlled Mizzix out of the game (then died to Ob Nixilis), Nekusar died to an unanswered Ob Nixilis, and made Azusa a non-threat via a dead Mindslicer.
Carpet of Flowers is good. City of Solitude and friends got boarded out for other forms of hate cards.
- Mountain
+ Carpet of Flowers.
The Unidentified Fantastic Flying Girl.
EDH
Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.
Also, Blood Mist is worth trying. It's like the cost of playing and activating a Strionic Resonator once, but gets you the most important benefit out of it for free afterwards. It costs 4cmc instead of 5 and in an ideal manner adds only 1 devotion. Against decks that like paying life, this will very easily make almost anything you play 1-shot that opponent.
I will probably cut some other form of damage amplification for it. The cut for another (6cmc ideally) fatty or tutor for one is likely to be Scroll Rack. It is generally been only good very early or as a win-more card. My average hand size when business gets rolling is 3 cards, and it's pretty poor unless your average hand size is 4-5 cards. Generally, I'm also digging for only threats with the amount of acceleration I have now, and I'm probably just better off with a straight tutor.
Question: Should I run a Summoner's Pact in here? It seems good because the idea of "paying for it later" can work pretty well in this deck when you topdeck it on 6-7 mana and don't want to lose tempo. Seems better than something like Sarkhan's Triumph.
So, the rolldown for changes is likely going to be this.
- Plated Crusher (redundant) for Emrakul, the Promised End
- Thought Vessel for Gamble
- Scroll Rack for Summoner's Pact
- Wild Growth or weak ramp card like Farseek for hopefully another good threat. (Putrefax?)
- ????(Probably Chain Reaction) to test Blood Mist.
The Unidentified Fantastic Flying Girl.
EDH
Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.
Blood Mist looks sick for this deck. The mana discount over Gratuitous Violence and Rage Reflection will probably make a huge difference for this deck, and only applying to one creature here is a non-issue also.
Natural Order is better than any similar card (Summoner's Pact, Sarkhan's Triumph etc), provided that you have Fetch Lands and Dryad Arbor. I see you don't have either NO or Dryad Arbor in the list on the OP, although you still have GSZ. NO is a lot easier to get since the reprint too. A lot of people don't run it because it's silly overpowered, but it's there.
I am not sold on new Emrakul. Between Annihilator and a Mindslaver effect, I'm not sure which is more unfriendly. If they're about the same, then annihilator is just a lot better. Pathrazer of Ulamog has done some good things for me before, since it doesn't reshuffle and doesn't mind sneaking in off Elvish Piper/Sneak Attack. You could try Kozzi, but 10 mana is just absurd for a hard cast.
Here's the link: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/autocardanywhere/eobkhgkgoejnjaiofdmphhkemmomfabg?hl=en
I'll be rolling with a hydra and seeing how it goes. Putrefax, even with the evasion, still needs help to get there and thus I'll take the one-shot guy that can stick around.
I looked at the WCS and BCS for Natural Order in my build, and it's BCS is that I pay for a green 7 drop for 4 mana. That's not too shabby. The WCS is that it rots in my hand because I have no green creature to sac to it. In this build, the payoff is not worth the risk. Maybe later when I retool it again it would be more useful. If only Worldspine Wurm costed 9 mana.....
All good suggestions all around.
As for the cards I'm testing, Emrakul has done okay.. Sneak Attacks with it are actually fine. If my stuff ever gets answered, it becomes not too big of an issue to hit 9 mana or less to play it. I haven't hardcasted it in a game yet where I could take control of someone else's turn.
Blood Mist is sweet. Plopping this down, watching someone pay life for effects and lands, take chip damage from the other players, and suddenly realize they are within lethal range on my turn 5..
The Unidentified Fantastic Flying Girl.
EDH
Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.
Here's the link: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/autocardanywhere/eobkhgkgoejnjaiofdmphhkemmomfabg?hl=en
I'm swapping around a part of my hate package.
- Dosan the Falling Leaf
- City of Solitude
+ Relic of Progenitus
+ Vexing Shusher
My meta is more blue heavy now but I also don't want to enable faster decks. It means I'm more vulnerable to Swords to Plowshares.dec, but my options for fighting that reliably are quite limited anyway.
+ Emrakul, the Promised End - Still somewhat unproven, but I'm not actually that unhappy with it so far. Protection from instants really matters. Expect it on average to cost 9 to cast, which is reasonable late game for this deck. However, I can still easily imagine scenarios where it rots in my hand for an eternity.
+ Blood Mist - This card has been sweet. Quad damage #2!
+ Phyrexian Hydra - It is Malignus #2, but being green means that GSZ can get it. Also need to up the threat count and don't want to play anything over 6cmc.
+ Summoner's Pact - This is temporary. I don't have the remaining fetches needed to reliably play a Dryad Arbor for Natural Order, so this is what I'll use instead. Paying for the tutor later is better than messing up your tempo by paying it after you play Xenagod. Also ups threat count.
+ Gamble - This card is amazing and I should probably talk about how to properly use this card. Gambling for Mana Crypt turn 1 is a very powerful play, however there are actually situations where you DON'T do this.
- Plated Crusher - This thing isn't actually bad, but it is redundant. Also the 3 devotion is kind of a bummer. It does work when other cards would have been stopped, so it is the #1 candidate for coming back if I want another 7-drop.
- Chain Reaction - I don't need two boardwipes. Usually I'm not so far behind anymore that I actually even want them. Blas act costs 1 and therefore is an exception.
- Wild Growth - This card is fine, yet I'm just adjusting the ramp numbers and I'm cutting the one that adds devotion when I don't want it. The fact that it is "free" is a significant upside, but I'm comfortable with this choice.
- Scroll Rack - This card underperformed badly because my average hand size is 2-4 and you want your hand size to be 5 via some means before this thing becomes better than top (you don't always want to scroll rack your whole hand)
- Thought Vessel - This card is orders of magnitude weaker than Gamble when Mana Crypt is in the list.
No real noteworthy plays recently. Although I did punch through two blocking Eldrazi Titans with a 48/48 Pathbreaker Ibex to do lethal to someone. Picture an image in your head where a really angry goat manages to bowl over two chump-blocking eldrazi titans and still have enough momentum to pulverize the poor wizard hiding behind both of them. Chandra's feats have got nothing next to that goat.
The Unidentified Fantastic Flying Girl.
EDH
Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.
Also...
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/commander-edh/204399-crazy-plays-in-edh?page=204#c5154
The Unidentified Fantastic Flying Girl.
EDH
Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.
Sweet game, I'm totally jealous.
I keep waffling on things like Phyrexian Hydra and Malignus precisely for these high life total situations, but I suppose multiplying damage enough times is bound to get there eventually. I’m not that sold on the new Emmy either, but I really want it to be good. I just don’t run enough Instants or Artifacts, enchantments rarely die, and so I keep seeing 10 mana cast as best case (Land, Creature, Sorcery). I would gladly run it at 8-9 average cost.
Also, great that Blood Mist is doing well. I suspected that it would be nuts in this deck. It’s so much easier to cast than similar cards. I have also been toying with it in Aurelia, and have landed it once or twice. I haven’t played enough with it to be certain, but I can’t imagine not being sold on it in the end.
Looking forward to playing with these, but I run all the eldrazi with annihilator so need a lot more mana then this version. Still, might be fun for you guys to test out.
The Unidentified Fantastic Flying Girl.
EDH
Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.
Selvala's Stampede is also one where I have to reread it to make sure it's as powerful as it looks. It seems like it should cost 1-2 mana more than it does. Six is incredibly cheap for what seems similar to going down with Garruk, Caller of Beasts 4 times and up at least once. No color restriction either, or exile on resolution. Whoops, look like Sylvan Library kept an Eternal Witness on top.
Somehow, I failed to realize that the second mode on Selvala's Stampede allows you to cheat in PERMANENTS, not just creatures.
Big game changer. I want to try that too now!
The Unidentified Fantastic Flying Girl.
EDH
Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.
I got lucky in a conspiracy 2 box and got a berserk, selvala's stampede and selvala herself, so I'm wondering what your tests for those ended up like. Hopefully you have an update soon.
Also, Hellkite charger seems like a natural fit in this deck. Any reason you left him out? Too expensive?
To be honest, I haven't gotten a chance to acquire the cards I want yet, so testing will take some time.
Actually, with cards like new Selvala, the stock on Hellkite Charger is actually getting better and better. If your deck can make stupid tons of mana (and I'm incorporating more and more cards that can do just that), then the idea of paying 7 to threaten kills without spending cards is looking quite enticing. So really, at this point it is personal preference, which may end up changing in favor of the charger in the future.
Berserk is definitely playable, although I'd play Temur Battle Rage first.
The Unidentified Fantastic Flying Girl.
EDH
Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.
The stampede is quite high variance, but I'm never actually unhappy about the results and choosing the second option is not actually as simple of a pick as it seems because as soon as I drop one piece of damage amp along with the creature that you get out someone is going to end up regretting it. Also if your hand is huge you get solid value out of this card.
I only got to first cast Selvala, Heart of the Wilds once today, but it literally won me the game. The card draw effect essentially gave me and one other person a card and that's about it. The first clause's ability to help opponents is practically a non-issue.
The second clause allowed me to play a huge guy and then Xenagos in the same turn, and then the next turn tap for 14 mana.
This is the crazy play that happened.
Pay 4 for Blood Mist, attack with 2 Giant Adephages, one pumped to hit for 14 double strike, get 3 tokens.
Tap for 14. 7 for Knollspine Dragon, dump hand and draw 28. Play Relentless Assault into Eternal Witness getting it back, then spending the floating 4 for Sol Ring and Crop Rotation. Play land for turn.
Give a new token double strike and +7, attack with 3 adephages for 5 more tokens, cast Relentless Assault again, attack with 4 adephages and get only 4 more from players who die to first strike damage.
I wipe a table of 5 and end a game with 12 Giant Adephage tokens. I tied my multikill record so I'm not updating that one.
NEW RECORD!!!
Most Giant Adephage tokens created: 12
The Unidentified Fantastic Flying Girl.
EDH
Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.
So far I have not actually seen a truly bad Selvala's Stampede. As long as you have card draw of any kind you can cheat mana and have a decent chance of getting a solid guy out of it. If they don't allow you to play stuff from hand, then it is free value. Yeah, it's bad while in topdeck mode, but I got a number of tools that can help prevent that these days.
Selvala herself taps for 1 mana early and threatens to run away with the game as soon as I have one extra and any huge guy ever. More importantly it leads to plays where I actually play the creature first and then float 6-20 for Xenagos and then play Xenagos. It works best with supporting ramp spells.
Permanent Changes
+ Selvala's Stampede - It's a lot of value or a lot of tempo gain in one card, and this deck doesn't mind either outcome.
+ Selvala, Heart of the Wilds - It taps for so much mana if you even get a moment to yourself.
- Carpet of Flowers (blue is falling off of my meta hard)
- Summoner's Pact (It was filler anyway)
Lastly, there's nothing really in Kaladesh that I want for the deck. However, it is a very good set.
The Unidentified Fantastic Flying Girl.
EDH
Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.
Mana Web.
Basically, it forces them to spend pretty much all of their mana on their own turns or do nothing at all (or waste mana, also fine by me). It is also completely one-sided and doesn't ask you to play around it!
Why would this be good for this deck? Well... the deck is best suited for punishing people who don't operate at instant speed, and this card can almost ensure that your opponent's shields are down as long as they care about developing their own board state. And if someone doesn't do anything and you're in the lead, then it's a pretty clear sign that someone is ready for you and you should play around it accordingly.
Think about it. Pretty much everyone runs nonbasic dual lands. Unless you're up against tricolor basics.dec, I can't see this thing ever fail to do its job. It looks like it achieves what I want it to do without being overly invasive and potentially detrimental like City of Solitude would tend to be.
Oh yeah. As far as other testing goes, Hellkite Charger is still trash.
The Unidentified Fantastic Flying Girl.
EDH
Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.
The Mana Web plan seems interesting, but I could see it working a little less good than expected. You're not contractually obliged to play each of your colours on each of your turns, and not every land taps for every colour, so with a bit of acrobatics I'm sure you could find a way to leave up that Counterspell or Swords to Plowshares.
Credit to DolZero for this awesome sig!