”Whether gargantuans are the manifested will of Progenitus or simply the result of
overabundant resources is moot when a herd of them is thundering at you.“
Progenitus has always seemed like the ideal commander for a true 5-color deck; a deck that contains primarily 5-color cards or are fully-powered by having access to all 5 colors of mana or all 5 basic land types (i.e. Sunburst, Converge, Domain, etc.). Actually playing Progenitus doesn’t seem very realistic most of the time, but I like the statement it makes; that this is a deck serious about being all five colors.
The issue that arises is that non all 5-color cycles or mechanics are equal. There are some that are great and some that are awful. On top of that, there are also plenty of cycles of cards that span all five colors that don’t really need one another to function (Kamigawa Dragons for example) so I tried to just avoid those altogether.
After a first pass through various cards available, plus trying to get a working mana base together, the deck is starting out like this.
Updated through Amonkhet, 2/9/2018, through Rivals of Ixalan
The deck is essentially trying to ramp and fix it's mana to get WWUUBBRRGG on the board, at which point it can either cast Progenitus or cast 2 big spells a turn (or more thanks to Cascade).
Some of the things that were considered for this list.
Overall, I was very disappointed with Sunburst. It is mostly a limited mechanic, with very few of the cards getting into the realm of ‘constructed playable’, much less EDH playable. Etched Oracle is a good card draw engine and gives the deck something nice to recur with Bringer of the White Dawn.
Converge did a little better than Sunburst, but a lot of the cards were tied into the Allies theme of Battle for Zendikar so they are much less playable than if we were building General Tazri.
This was the one category where I wanted to be as loose as possible given that this was likely the only spot I would be able to play the non-Sliver cards (they have their own deck).
There is a chance that I might change things up at some point to include Horde of Notions plus 5-6 Elementals or Reaper King plus some Scarecrows/Changelings, but in the end there just wasn’t enough room to fit everything into the deck.
And a special note on Naked Singularity and Reality Twist; these were in the deck at one point as a delaying mechanism that is very flavorful and kind of hilarious. People can still play the game for the most part, and a lot of decks have plenty of mana sources that are not basic lands or rely on basic land types (such as Checklands, Man Duals, Painlands, etc.). I don’t try to cheat the cumulative upkeep, so for the most part they are only on the board for 1-2 turns. At best, they are the world’s worst Time Walk. I've pulled them for now, but they are on the short-list to come back in at some point.
The Hondens were a slam dunk; this is a deck that is made for them to shine in. The others are just really good cards that are at maximum power in a 5-color deck.
This is all the best mana ramp and mana fixing available. It is good to note that the deck runs only 16 basic lands and you have several ramp cards that fetch only basics. Use your cards that can fetch Forests on dual lands and try to use Farseek to find a non-green dual land.
Everything Else Maelstrom Wanderer, Maelstrom Pulse: Both great cards that go with all the other Maelstrom cards that the deck already runs. Swords to Plowshares, Cyclonic Rift, Vindicate: We obviously would like more removal, so as the deck evolves we’ll be looking at adding in more. Sylvan Library, Scroll Rack: The deck runs a few Cascade cards, so manipulating the top of the deck is important. Demonic Tutor: The deck runs lots of situationally good cards, so DT seems very natural to run here. Whether it is to grab another Honden, one of the few removal spells, or a situational card, tutors are a necessity in this deck. Eldrazi Titans: These came into the deck because I found that I wasn't utilizing Fist of Suns in the deck very much. I tried some things like Enter the Infinite, Omniscience, and Primal Surge, but nothing really made an impact the way the Eldrazi do. These also double as removal and card draw as the deck is light on either of those.
I run a janky as all hell Progenitus and a lot of my more serious opponents recommended it. This looks a little serious, so that's why I'm recommending it.
The deck is fairly new (since the spoiling of Cascading Cataracts), so I hadn't even though about trying to have any aynergy with my commander. Finest Hour seems like pure gas, especially since it not only works well with Progenitus but the Eldrazi also (maybe a little too well, repeated Annihilator triggers might be a little too much).
I run a janky as all hell Progenitus and a lot of my more serious opponents recommended it. This looks a little serious, so that's why I'm recommending it.
I don't know about that. This deck is like a lot of my decks in that it is very serious about doing not-so-serious things; in this case, playing with as many cards as I can that cannot really be played in any other deck. I actually think I overdid it on the ramp and "underdid" the card advantage and removal for this to be too serious.
I never use Hunting Wilds or Ranger's Path and I don't really know why. I picked up a bunch of Skyshroud Claim a long time ago and I default to using them. I could conceivably see putting in one or the other over something like Armillary Sphere.
As for running shocklands, I can totally see that. I had originally started at 10 ABU duals/10 fetches, then trimmed down some of the minor color fetchlands. At a minimum, I think the deck needs a Breeding Pool.
I like the idea of running Murmuring Bosk; I'm pretty sure I have one and I'll toss it in once I find it.
And I only own two or three Three Visits; I was lucky enough to be able to trade for them a few years ago when they were still reasonable and I had some excess Modern stuff that I no longer needed. Nowadays, they are $35-$45... (hint to WotC; reprint Three Visits in the next Commander product please!!!!)
Thanks for the suggestions. This is a total work in progress, so pleas keep them coming!
Door to Nothingness is super fun in my Cromat deck, which is somewhat similar to this.
It was on my short-list of things to put into the deck, but it seemed more like a cheap way to win than actually fun. What kind of reactions do you get with it?
Also, how good is Cromat? I'm pretty sure that I'm pulling Tek out of the deck, and Cromat seems like a perfect replacement. Do you have you Cromat list posted anywhere?
It is so hard to pull off and late enough in the game that people don't get upset about it.
Cromat is pretty solid just for his resilience and versatility. This also makes him a really good voltron option. I'm running Civic Saber, Rafiq, Finest Hour , Conquerer's Flail, etc. so even though it isn't the main game plan it's not uncommon to two shot someone. Not sure how he'd be in the 99.
The Ur-Dragon - So the deck runs no Dragons currently, and even though it would count itself it hardly feels worth the 9 mana to play it. However, this now brings into question whether I should be running the Changelings package as the Changelings are also Dragons (as well as Elementals for Horde of Notions and Scarecrows for Reaper King). That sounds good in theory, but in practice there are only probably 5 Changelings worth playing (Chameleon Colossus, Mirror Entity, Taurean Mauler, Cairn Wanderer, and Shapesharer). Of course, I would only have about 5 slots to work with anyway, so perhaps this is not a bad thing. I could also get crazy with the Conspiracy/Xenograft) effects now that Arcane Adaptation has been printed. This sounds more like something that needs more than just a few card slots to be able to pull off.
I'm pretty sure that the way to go right now is to tweak the mana, add the above cards, dump some of the less interesting Elementals, and make room for some Nephilim
That's a great suggestion, but I'm not sure how it would actually work out in practice. Since it is symmetrical, I fear that it might end up backfiring too often. On the one hand, my 5-color guys essentially can't be blocked (except for colorless creatures) and it turns off a lot of commonly played removal. On the other hand, it basically means my 5-color guys can't block (except for colorless creatures) and it will sometimes turn off some of my removal. I'll have to think about this one some more. Thanks for the suggestion.
Progenitus has always seemed like the ideal commander for a true 5-color deck; a deck that contains primarily 5-color cards or are fully-powered by having access to all 5 colors of mana or all 5 basic land types (i.e. Sunburst, Converge, Domain, etc.). Actually playing Progenitus doesn’t seem very realistic most of the time, but I like the statement it makes; that this is a deck serious about being all five colors.
The issue that arises is that non all 5-color cycles or mechanics are equal. There are some that are great and some that are awful. On top of that, there are also plenty of cycles of cards that span all five colors that don’t really need one another to function (Kamigawa Dragons for example) so I tried to just avoid those altogether.
After a first pass through various cards available, plus trying to get a working mana base together, the deck is starting out like this.
Updated through Amonkhet, 2/9/2018, through Rivals of Ixalan
1 Progenitus
Creatures - 23
2 Sakura-Tribe Elder
2 Bloom Tender
3 Burnished Hart
4 Solemn Simulacrum
4 Crystalline Crawler
4 Etched Oracle
4 Yore-Tiller Nephilim
4 Dune-Brood Nephilim
4 Glint-Eye Nephilim
5 Chromanticore
5 Maelstrom Archangel
5 Etched Monstrosity
5 Cromat
6 Composite Golem
6 O-Kagachi, Vengeful Kami
6 Ramos, Dragon Engine
8 Maelstrom Wanderer
9 Bringer of the White Dawn
9 Bringer of the Blue Dawn
9 Bringer of the Black Dawn
9 Bringer of the Red Dawn
9 Bringer of the Green Dawn
9 The Ur-Dragon
Instant/Sorcery – 19
1 Swords to Plowshares
2 Cyclonic Rift
2 Farseek
2 Nature's Lore
3 Three Visits
2 Demonic Tutor
3 Cultivate
3 Kodama's Reach
3 Maelstrom Pulse
3 Vindicate
3 Painful Truths
4 Shard Convergence
4 Channel the Suns
5 Bring to Light
5 Allied Strategies
5 All Suns' Dawn
5 Last Stand
6 Tromp the Domains
8 Conflux
2 Prismatic Omen
2 Sylvan Library
3 Honden of Infinite Rage
4 Collective Restraint
4 Honden of Cleansing Fire
4 Honden of Night's Reach
5 Honden of Life's Web
5 Honden of Seeing Winds
5 Maelstrom Nexus
5 Genju of the Realm
Artifacts - 10
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
2 Kaleidostone
2 Scroll Rack
3 Coalition Relic
3 Chromatic Lantern
3 Darksteel Ingot
5 Prismatic Geoscope
6 Obelisk of Alara
7 Legacy Weapon
Lands - 37
1 Tundra
1 Underground Sea
1 Badlands
1 Taiga
1 Savannah
1 Scrubland
1 Volcanic Island
1 Bayou
1 Plateau
1 Tropical Island
1 Flooded Strand
1 Polluted Delta
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Windswept Heath
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Temple Garden
1 Breeding Pool
1 Stomping Ground
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Crystal Quarry
1 Command Tower
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Cascading Cataracts
5 Forest
4 Island
1 Plains
1 Mountain
1 Swamp
5/16/2017:
-1 Tek - This card isn't worth jumping through hoops to fully power up.
-1 Fist of Suns - This is a cool card that requires running higher cost cards to justify its inclusion, but overall it wasn't worth adding more high-cost stuff just to combo with this.
-3 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth, Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre, Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger - These were only in the deck as a combo with Fist of Suns, but they felt totally out of place in the deck.
-4 Rampant Growth, Armillary Sphere, Explosive Vegetation, Skyshroud Claim - The deck didn't need as much ramp/fixing as I thought it would, so I pulled some of the ones that were less necessary to create deck space.
+1 Cromat - I wanted to add in a few more WUBRG cards, and this seemed perfect.
+1 Horde of Notions - Another WUBRG card that allows me to run a few elementals to fill in some gaps in the deck.
+7 Mulldrifter, Shriekmaw, Fertilid, Deepfire Elemental, Slithermuse, Greenwarden of Murasa, Fusion Elemental - Elementals for synergy with Horde of Notions and to shore up the deck's removal and card drawing.
2/9/2018:
+1 O-Kagachi, Vengeful Kami - Worse comes to worse, its a big beater that deters people from attacking me.
+1 Ramos, Dragon Engine - I suspect this card is going to be ridiculous in this deck
+1 The Ur-Dragon - With itself an the above two adds, I'm up to three Dragons.
+1 Coalition Relic - I wanted to get another two accelerator/mana fixer/early plays into the deck and this can double-fix mana if I need it.
+1 Three Visits - By swapping in some more dual lands, I'm able to run this.
+1 Yore-Tiller Nephilim - By removing the Elementals package, I was able to add in my favorite three Nephilim. Yore-Tiller has a nice recursion ability.
+1 Glint-Eye Nephilim - Glint-Eye is a card drawing machine if it gets through.
+1 Dune-Brood Nephilim - Tons of token are also nice
+1 Breeding Pool, +1 Overgrown Tomb, +1 Temple Garden, +1 Stomping Ground - More fixing fetchable with "search for a Forest card" accelerators.
-3 Forest, -1 Island - Pulled to maek space for more duals.
-9 Horde of Notions, Mulldrifter, Shriekmaw, Fertilid, Deepfire Elemental, Slithermuse, Greenwarden of Murasa, Fusion Elemental - I pulled the whole Elemental package for just not being something that really fit what the deck wants to do.
The deck is essentially trying to ramp and fix it's mana to get WWUUBBRRGG on the board, at which point it can either cast Progenitus or cast 2 big spells a turn (or more thanks to Cascade).
Some of the things that were considered for this list.
Sunburst
Cards that made it: Etched Oracle
Cards that are borderline: Engineered Explosives, Pentad Prism
Cards that aren’t good enough: Arcbound Wanderer, Baton of Courage, Clearwater Goblet, Heliophial, Infused Arrows, Lunar Avenger, Opaline Bracers, Sawtooth Thresher, Skyreach Manta, Spinal Parasite, Suncrusher, Suntouched Myr
Overall, I was very disappointed with Sunburst. It is mostly a limited mechanic, with very few of the cards getting into the realm of ‘constructed playable’, much less EDH playable. Etched Oracle is a good card draw engine and gives the deck something nice to recur with Bringer of the White Dawn.
Converge
Cards that made it: Bring to Light, Crystalline Crawler, Painful Truths
Cards that are borderline: Prism Array
Cards that aren’t good enough: Brilliant Spectrum, Exert Influence, Infuse with the Elements, Radiant Flames, Roilmage’s Trick, Skyrider Elf, Tajuru Stalwart, Unified Front, Woodland Wanderer
Converge did a little better than Sunburst, but a lot of the cards were tied into the Allies theme of Battle for Zendikar so they are much less playable than if we were building General Tazri.
Domain
Cards that made it: Allied Strategies, Collective Restraint, Prismatic Geoscope, Tromp the Domains
Cards that are borderline: Collapsing Borders, Draco, Evasive Action, Planar Despair, Worldly Counsel, Exploding Borders
Cards that aren’t good enough: Aven Trailblazer, Drag Down, Exotic Curse, Exotic Disease, Gaea’s Might, Kave Scout, Magninoth Treefolk, Manaforce Mace, Matca Riders, Might of Alara, Ordered Migration, Power Armor, Samite Pilgrim, Spore Burst, Stratadon, Strength of Unity, Tribal Flames, Voices from the Void, Wandering Goblins, Wandering Stream, Wayfaring Giant
Domain had a lot to choose from as it was a mechanic that had been repeated, and we get some above average cards out of the mix.
WUBRG Cards
Cards that made it: Chromanticore, Conflux, Genju of the Realm, Last Stand, Maelstrom Archangel, Maelstrom Nexus, Bringer of the White Dawn, Bringer pf the Blue Dawn, Bringer of the Black Dawn, Bringer of the Red Dawn, Bringer of the Green Dawn, Channel the Suns, Composite Golem, Etched Monstrosity,
Fist of Suns, Kaleidostone, Legacy Weapon, Obelisk of Alara,Naked Singularity,Reality TwistCards that are borderline: Child of Alara, Cromat*, Horde of Notions*, Door to Nothingness
Cards that are great, but don’t really fit: Fusion Elemental*, Karona, False God, Scion of the Ur-Dragon, Sliver Overlord, Sliver Queen, Sliver Hivelord, Sliver Legion, General Tazri, Reaper King
Cards that aren’t good enough: Atogatog, Dragonsoul Knight, Fleshformer, Paragon of the Amesha, Worldheart Phoenix
This was the one category where I wanted to be as loose as possible given that this was likely the only spot I would be able to play the non-Sliver cards (they have their own deck).
There is a chance that I might change things up at some point to include Horde of Notions plus 5-6 Elementals or Reaper King plus some Scarecrows/Changelings, but in the end there just wasn’t enough room to fit everything into the deck.
And a special note on Naked Singularity and Reality Twist; these were in the deck at one point as a delaying mechanism that is very flavorful and kind of hilarious. People can still play the game for the most part, and a lot of decks have plenty of mana sources that are not basic lands or rely on basic land types (such as Checklands, Man Duals, Painlands, etc.). I don’t try to cheat the cumulative upkeep, so for the most part they are only on the board for 1-2 turns. At best, they are the world’s worst Time Walk. I've pulled them for now, but they are on the short-list to come back in at some point.
Cards Fully-Powered in 5-color
Bloom Tender,
Tek, All Suns’ Dawn, Honden of Infinite Rage, Honden of Cleansing Fire, Honden of Night’s Reach, Honden of Life’s Web, Honden of Seeing WindsThe Hondens were a slam dunk; this is a deck that is made for them to shine in. The others are just really good cards that are at maximum power in a 5-color deck.
Cards that Allow me to actually play all 5 colors
Sakura-Tribe Elder, Burnished Hart, Solemn Simulacrum, Farseek, Nature’s Lore,
Rampant Growth, Cultivate, Kodama’s Reach,Explosive Vegetation,Skyshroud Claim, Prismatic Omen,Armillary Sphere, Chromatic Lantern, Darksteel IngotThis is all the best mana ramp and mana fixing available. It is good to note that the deck runs only 16 basic lands and you have several ramp cards that fetch only basics. Use your cards that can fetch Forests on dual lands and try to use Farseek to find a non-green dual land.
Everything Else
Maelstrom Wanderer, Maelstrom Pulse: Both great cards that go with all the other Maelstrom cards that the deck already runs.
Swords to Plowshares, Cyclonic Rift, Vindicate: We obviously would like more removal, so as the deck evolves we’ll be looking at adding in more.
Sylvan Library, Scroll Rack: The deck runs a few Cascade cards, so manipulating the top of the deck is important.
Demonic Tutor: The deck runs lots of situationally good cards, so DT seems very natural to run here. Whether it is to grab another Honden, one of the few removal spells, or a situational card, tutors are a necessity in this deck.
Eldrazi Titans: These came into the deck because I found that I wasn't utilizing Fist of Suns in the deck very much. I tried some things like Enter the Infinite, Omniscience, and Primal Surge, but nothing really made an impact the way the Eldrazi do. These also double as removal and card draw as the deck is light on either of those.Jalira, Master Polymorphist | Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder | Bosh, Iron Golem | Ezuri, Renegade Leader
Brago, King Eternal | Oona, Queen of the Fae | Wort, Boggart Auntie | Wort, the Raidmother
Captain Sisay | Rhys, the Redeemed | Trostani, Selesnya's Voice | Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight | Obzedat, Ghost Council | Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind | Vorel of the Hull Clade
Uril, the Miststalker | Prossh, Skyraider of Kher | Nicol Bolas | Progenitus
Ghave, Guru of Spores | Zedruu the Greathearted | Damia, Sage of Stone | Riku of Two Reflections
I run a janky as all hell Progenitus and a lot of my more serious opponents recommended it. This looks a little serious, so that's why I'm recommending it.
Mid-Tier: Marchesa Aggro Rose Asmadi Get Dire Tymna Ikra Woke Women Tiana Aura Angel Ruric Thar SMASH Smasher Kraum Mana Positivity Zur Slides
Filthy Casual: WUBRG Jodah WUBRG WUBRG Fatties WUBRG Gahiji Vigilant Vengeance Ezuri Mysterious Morphs
The deck is fairly new (since the spoiling of Cascading Cataracts), so I hadn't even though about trying to have any aynergy with my commander. Finest Hour seems like pure gas, especially since it not only works well with Progenitus but the Eldrazi also (maybe a little too well, repeated Annihilator triggers might be a little too much).
I don't know about that. This deck is like a lot of my decks in that it is very serious about doing not-so-serious things; in this case, playing with as many cards as I can that cannot really be played in any other deck. I actually think I overdid it on the ramp and "underdid" the card advantage and removal for this to be too serious.
I never use Hunting Wilds or Ranger's Path and I don't really know why. I picked up a bunch of Skyshroud Claim a long time ago and I default to using them. I could conceivably see putting in one or the other over something like Armillary Sphere.
As for running shocklands, I can totally see that. I had originally started at 10 ABU duals/10 fetches, then trimmed down some of the minor color fetchlands. At a minimum, I think the deck needs a Breeding Pool.
I like the idea of running Murmuring Bosk; I'm pretty sure I have one and I'll toss it in once I find it.
And I only own two or three Three Visits; I was lucky enough to be able to trade for them a few years ago when they were still reasonable and I had some excess Modern stuff that I no longer needed. Nowadays, they are $35-$45... (hint to WotC; reprint Three Visits in the next Commander product please!!!!)
Thanks for the suggestions. This is a total work in progress, so pleas keep them coming!
Jalira, Master Polymorphist | Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder | Bosh, Iron Golem | Ezuri, Renegade Leader
Brago, King Eternal | Oona, Queen of the Fae | Wort, Boggart Auntie | Wort, the Raidmother
Captain Sisay | Rhys, the Redeemed | Trostani, Selesnya's Voice | Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight | Obzedat, Ghost Council | Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind | Vorel of the Hull Clade
Uril, the Miststalker | Prossh, Skyraider of Kher | Nicol Bolas | Progenitus
Ghave, Guru of Spores | Zedruu the Greathearted | Damia, Sage of Stone | Riku of Two Reflections
It was on my short-list of things to put into the deck, but it seemed more like a cheap way to win than actually fun. What kind of reactions do you get with it?
Also, how good is Cromat? I'm pretty sure that I'm pulling Tek out of the deck, and Cromat seems like a perfect replacement. Do you have you Cromat list posted anywhere?
Jalira, Master Polymorphist | Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder | Bosh, Iron Golem | Ezuri, Renegade Leader
Brago, King Eternal | Oona, Queen of the Fae | Wort, Boggart Auntie | Wort, the Raidmother
Captain Sisay | Rhys, the Redeemed | Trostani, Selesnya's Voice | Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight | Obzedat, Ghost Council | Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind | Vorel of the Hull Clade
Uril, the Miststalker | Prossh, Skyraider of Kher | Nicol Bolas | Progenitus
Ghave, Guru of Spores | Zedruu the Greathearted | Damia, Sage of Stone | Riku of Two Reflections
Cromat is pretty solid just for his resilience and versatility. This also makes him a really good voltron option. I'm running Civic Saber, Rafiq, Finest Hour , Conquerer's Flail, etc. so even though it isn't the main game plan it's not uncommon to two shot someone. Not sure how he'd be in the 99.
Spirit of Resistance is another card you might want.
1) Fist of Suns + Kozilek, Butcher of Truth, Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre, Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger: I feel like the Eldrazi are the antithesis of what this deck wants to do thematically. They were basically added as something to do with Fist of Suns, but I'm considering cutting the whole package.
2) Rampant Growth, Armillary Sphere, Explosive Vegetation: There is too much ramp/fixing in the deck and cutting these frees up space.
3) Tek: This card is just not worth jumping through the hoops for 4/4 Flying, First Striking, Trampler.
So with the 8 new deck slots freed up, I have a few ways that I can go:
A) Horde of Notions + Elementals (probably Shriekmaw, Mulldrifter, Fertilid, Greenwarden of Murasa, Fusion Elemental, Nevermaker, Deepfire Elemental, Slithermuse, Ingot Chewer, and Reveillark would be on the short-list): Elementals are a natural fit in a 5-color deck, and Horde of Notions is powerful recursion. There are also lots of options for removal, card draw, and recursion.
B) Cascade Plan adding in Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder and some of the better Cascade spells (probably Bituminous Blast, Bloodbraid Elf, Captured Sunlight, Deny Reality, Enigma Sphinx, Enlisted Wurm, Etherium-Horn Sorcerer, and Shardless Agent). Cascade is already a bit of a non-bo with some the four Converge and Sunburst cards in the deck, but adding in Yidris would give me another Maelstrom card to help complete the Maelstrom mini-theme. There is already a Cascade mini-theme in the deck with Maelstrom Wanderer and Maelstrom Nexus so this would be a natural extension of that.
C) Reaper King + Scarecrows (probably Scuttlemutt, Scarecrone, and Changelings like Mirror Entity, Taurean mauler,
Chameleon Colossus, Shapesharer, and Cairn Wanderer): This would take care of some issues regarding removal
D) A hybrid plan using Horde of Notions, Reaper King, Shriekmaw, Mulldrifter, Mirror Entity, Taurean Mauler, Chameleon Colossus, and maybe something crazy like Conspiracy.
Jalira, Master Polymorphist | Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder | Bosh, Iron Golem | Ezuri, Renegade Leader
Brago, King Eternal | Oona, Queen of the Fae | Wort, Boggart Auntie | Wort, the Raidmother
Captain Sisay | Rhys, the Redeemed | Trostani, Selesnya's Voice | Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight | Obzedat, Ghost Council | Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind | Vorel of the Hull Clade
Uril, the Miststalker | Prossh, Skyraider of Kher | Nicol Bolas | Progenitus
Ghave, Guru of Spores | Zedruu the Greathearted | Damia, Sage of Stone | Riku of Two Reflections
Out - 9 cards: Tek, Fist of Suns, Kozilek, Butcher of Truth, Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre, Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, Rampant Growth, Armillary Sphere, Explosive Vegetation, Skyshroud Claim
In - 9 cards: Cromat, Horde of Notions, Mulldrifter, Shriekmaw, Fertilid, Fusion Elemental, Greenwarden of Murasa, Deepfire Elemental, Slithermuse
I'm also looking at what to cut to put in Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder to help complete the Maelstrom/Cascade theme.
Jalira, Master Polymorphist | Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder | Bosh, Iron Golem | Ezuri, Renegade Leader
Brago, King Eternal | Oona, Queen of the Fae | Wort, Boggart Auntie | Wort, the Raidmother
Captain Sisay | Rhys, the Redeemed | Trostani, Selesnya's Voice | Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight | Obzedat, Ghost Council | Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind | Vorel of the Hull Clade
Uril, the Miststalker | Prossh, Skyraider of Kher | Nicol Bolas | Progenitus
Ghave, Guru of Spores | Zedruu the Greathearted | Damia, Sage of Stone | Riku of Two Reflections
O-Kagachi, Vengeful Kami - Hopefully, it makes other players direct their attacks elsewhere.
Ramos, Dragon Engine - Slam dunk
The Ur-Dragon - So the deck runs no Dragons currently, and even though it would count itself it hardly feels worth the 9 mana to play it. However, this now brings into question whether I should be running the Changelings package as the Changelings are also Dragons (as well as Elementals for Horde of Notions and Scarecrows for Reaper King). That sounds good in theory, but in practice there are only probably 5 Changelings worth playing (Chameleon Colossus, Mirror Entity, Taurean Mauler, Cairn Wanderer, and Shapesharer). Of course, I would only have about 5 slots to work with anyway, so perhaps this is not a bad thing. I could also get crazy with the Conspiracy/Xenograft) effects now that Arcane Adaptation has been printed. This sounds more like something that needs more than just a few card slots to be able to pull off.
I'm pretty sure that the way to go right now is to tweak the mana, add the above cards, dump some of the less interesting Elementals, and make room for some Nephilim
+1 O-Kagachi, Vengeful Kami - Worse comes to worse, its a big beater that deters people from attacking me.
+1 Ramos, Dragon Engine - I suspect this card is going to be ridiculous in this deck
+1 The Ur-Dragon - With itself an the above two adds, I'm up to three Dragons.
+1 Coalition Relic - I wanted to get another two accelerator/mana fixer/early plays into the deck and this can double-fix mana if I need it.
+1 Three Visits - By swapping in some more dual lands, I'm able to run this.
+1 Yore-Tiller Nephilim - By removing the Elementals package, I was able to add in my favorite three Nephilim. Yore-Tiller has a nice recursion ability.
+1 Glint-Eye Nephilim - Glint-Eye is a card drawing machine if it gets through.
+1 Dune-Brood Nephilim - Tons of token are also nice
+1 Breeding Pool
+1 Overgrown Tomb
+1 Temple Garden
+1 Stomping Ground
-1 Fertilid
-1 Slithermuse
-1 Deepfire Elemental
-1 Fusion Elemental
-1 Mulldrifter
-1 Shriekmaw
-1 Greenwarden of Murasa
-1 Horde of Notions
-3 Forest
-1 Island
Jalira, Master Polymorphist | Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder | Bosh, Iron Golem | Ezuri, Renegade Leader
Brago, King Eternal | Oona, Queen of the Fae | Wort, Boggart Auntie | Wort, the Raidmother
Captain Sisay | Rhys, the Redeemed | Trostani, Selesnya's Voice | Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight | Obzedat, Ghost Council | Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind | Vorel of the Hull Clade
Uril, the Miststalker | Prossh, Skyraider of Kher | Nicol Bolas | Progenitus
Ghave, Guru of Spores | Zedruu the Greathearted | Damia, Sage of Stone | Riku of Two Reflections
That's a great suggestion, but I'm not sure how it would actually work out in practice. Since it is symmetrical, I fear that it might end up backfiring too often. On the one hand, my 5-color guys essentially can't be blocked (except for colorless creatures) and it turns off a lot of commonly played removal. On the other hand, it basically means my 5-color guys can't block (except for colorless creatures) and it will sometimes turn off some of my removal. I'll have to think about this one some more. Thanks for the suggestion.
Jalira, Master Polymorphist | Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder | Bosh, Iron Golem | Ezuri, Renegade Leader
Brago, King Eternal | Oona, Queen of the Fae | Wort, Boggart Auntie | Wort, the Raidmother
Captain Sisay | Rhys, the Redeemed | Trostani, Selesnya's Voice | Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight | Obzedat, Ghost Council | Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind | Vorel of the Hull Clade
Uril, the Miststalker | Prossh, Skyraider of Kher | Nicol Bolas | Progenitus
Ghave, Guru of Spores | Zedruu the Greathearted | Damia, Sage of Stone | Riku of Two Reflections