After several weeks of brewing and goldfishing I think the deck has finally come together. Ghalta feels like he's got plenty of teeth and the curve seems to be at a decent place. Time and testing will tell. I was on the fence about land ramp because the best ones are spells and not creatures. After I see what fits and what seems awkward I will try and fit in Wood Elves and friends.
Thank you for all the suggestions in the Let's Brew!
Taking a good long look at things coming down after Ghalta. A 12/12 trampler is plenty gas and the main finisher so I think the other cards should be dino support in form of affinity, draw and removal.
A few changes:
Outs
So the mana dorks are getting the chop. They enable an early Ghalta but are terrible top decks. I feel the slots could be better used for utility at the cost of potential early tempo. With the dork loss, the vehicles are feel-bads for most of the deck.
So here are some changes:
The deck has yet to put up a win. A lot of horseshoes and hand grenades but no cigar. With any luck these changes will give me something to do early game or set up a K.O. when the time is right. I've kicked around fixing the mana curve, primarily 1 and 2 slots, but I worry that will water down the deck too much. The only 1 cmc creatures I think I'd add would be Brown Ouphe, Spore Frog, and Oviya Pashiri, Sage Lifecrafter.
If you don't mind I would like to make a few suggestions/comments. I have quite a few so I hope it doesn't come off as condescending or anything.
It could be I am missing some strategy you have, so feel free to let me know if that is the case. There is only so much space in a deck, after-all
I feel like the deck is not built enough around Ghalta, Primal Hunger. Except for the "draw=power" cards I would almost suggest going with a different commander. Ghalta's power is in, well... its power :). Berserk, Overwhelming Stampede, Hedron Matrix all double up your Commander's power. Lightning Greaves is one of the best cards for a big "one-shot" type of Commander. 3 of these 4 cards were suggested in the Let's Brew topic and they really are quite good with a huge creature. With that in mind I will try to suggest some cards that are more catered to your big dino, or have better synergy with it then they do with other commanders.
Personally, I like a couple of vehicles. Like you said in your previous topic, if someone casts a Damnation or Wrath of God, the vehicles stay and you just need to cast a creature to immediately equip the vehicle and you may be able to cast Ghalta again right away. While the mana dorks are bad top decks, getting Ghalta out earlier into a "draw=power" means you won't be top-decking. In my games with Ghalta, even playing one of the draw spells just once, usually means I am never top-decking again. It may be a bit more "all-in" but I think with Ghalta you have to kinda go big or go home, you know? I would run just a few, like Smuggler's Copter, Heart of Kiran and definitely Cultivator's Caravan. Cultivator's Caravan is 3 for 5 power and can tap for a mana as well, giving you that early push to get Ghalta out.
You could always try a couple of the "hidden" cards for early power, like Hidden Guerrillas, Hidden Herd and Hidden Stag. They avoid an early board wipe if they are not yet active but if triggered can quickly add power to your board (I avoid the ones that require an instant or enchantment be played, as they do not trigger early enough). I like how much they have helped me get Ghalta out within the first few turns of the game, to then follow up with a Soul's Majesty or Greater Good.
A creature I'm surprised you're not running is Wayward Swordtooth. Like Rhonas the Indomitable, it adds 5 power to your board for 3 mana. Additionally, it lets you play an extra land each turn. Even if it isn't ascended it helps get Ghalta out more than most cards. You may want to play-test it to see if you like it.
A card that basically guarantees I can keep casting Ghalta turn after turn, or multiple times in the same turn with Greater Good, is Traverse the Outlands. If you think the board is safe from an Armageddon-type effect (depending on playgroup meta and/or colours you are seeing opponents play), then playing this, especially after a Rishkar's Expertise, is devastating. At one point, I attacked with Ghalta, then sacced it just to replay it so I could have it untapped to block. I had so much mana I wasn't hindered at all by the extra 2 cmc.
Living Plane seems like a dangerous card for you. Without a Heroic Intervention in hand it gives the player who is running a lot of artifacts or enchantments an opportunity to play Damnation or Wrath of God to bust most of your board while they keep their non-land and non-creature permanents. While they lose their lands, too, if they are artifact heavy they may recover much faster. I feel like it favours players with less land and less creatures, things you will have a lot of. Unless you drop it, then drop Gaea's cradle and go nuts with Kamahl, Fist of Krosa, it just seems to make your board more fragile, more so than other players. Also, this seems to go away from the point of Ghalta, and divides your deck between two very different strategies. If you keep Living Plane, then I cannot recommend Overwhelming Stampede enough. With Ghalta in play you could swing in for well over 100 damage in a turn.
Now, I have one that I absolutely love with big creatures, and is worth playing for the look on your opponents' faces alone. It is especially good if you are not running Lightning Greaves because the dino needs some protection from single-target stuff. Not of This World can counter a spell or ability that targets Ghalta. Imagine that sinking feeling someone gets when you swing for lethal and they casually try to Maze of Ith or Swords to Plowshares your big boy and you, as a green player, are maybe even tapped out and you counter their spell/ability. It is quite possibly one of my favourite single-card plays in all of MTG.
I am curious as to the addition of Bow of Nylea. Deathtouch when your commander is bigger doesn't seem to help. The +1/+1 counters seems too slow. You already have more than enough "anti-flying" in the deck, gaining life can be done with Batterskull, and the game shouldn't last long enough for the GY part of the card to matter.
Arachnogenesis is nice. I love having one "just in case" card like that, but in the spirit of helping out Ghalta, perhaps Tangle would be good for you? It won me a game just recently when it was down to two players she had a huge Taurean Mauler. She went all in, I stopped her damage and her creatures stayed tapped. Game over. If you add Overwhelming Stampede or Craterhoof Behemoth, then maybe Arachnogenesis would be better after all.
I know you want to have solutions provided by creatures, so perhaps Duplicant? I had a game recently where someone had a Stormtide Leviathan out. Fortunately, it hurt someone else as well and they killed it, but I realized I had that frailty in my deck. I will be adding Duplicant as well as perhaps a Scour from Existence. Scour isn't a creature, but maybe the Duplicant will interest you, especially since you can use a few of your "search for creature" cards to get it.
With enough power on the board, Life's Legacy can be used to sac Ghalta after which you can immediately re-play your commander. I know you took it out, but it can keep you in the game sometimes and prevent you from going into top-deck mode.
Mosswort Bridge is basically a free spell once Ghalta is on the board, or even just a couple of your other creatures.
Your decklist reminded me to add Selvala, Heart of the Wilds to my own deck. I keep forgetting to make modifications. She seems like she would just ensure victory if you draw a bunch of cards while she's out. Maybe Berserk Ghalta then add 24 mana, lol?
Well, that is all I can think of for now. Like I said, if you really do want to do a half big commander and half weenie strategy then maybe only a few of my suggestions are valid. I really want you to crush someone with Ghalta, though! Let me know what you think of my ideas and when you do stomp someone, tell us
Hey thanks for the feedback! I gravitate towards spellslinger so this project was a little out of my comfort zone. That being said, Ghalta has been a blast to play. My meta is an odd one. We've been playing EDH for years and very early on we abolished commander damage. It does hamstring aggressive generals a bit but the payoff was games weren't dragging on unnecessarily. So cards like Berserk that are tailor made for one hit K.O.'s in other metas, fall a little short for me. It does put out an awful lot of damage though!
I tried to jam in as many creature answers as possible. I can tutor for Pathbreaker Ibex and Kamahl, Fist of Krosa but the overrun effects end games and I should slot in more. I left out Craterhoof Behemoth because I legit dislike the card. It's Boring! Been done a million times and the win feels generic as crap. As for Lightning Greaves, I still don't know. Ghalta gets countered and eats removal. It's the board wipes that sting the most.
I Do miss the vehicles. They got the chop with the mana dorks and I feel that may have been a mistake. They dodge sorcery speed wraths and often seem to be low priority for removal.
I started playing Magic during the Onslaught block so those "hidden" cards are news to me. They look like they'd fit in perfect with the deck.
I was unsure about Wayward Swordtooth. Turn 3 with extra lands in hand he seems great. I try not to overextend so I don't know how reliably I can ascend. It's worth a shot though.
You are right, Traverse the Outlands needs to be in this deck. Bow of Nylea was a card I wanted to test and felt it was underwhelming.
Living Plane, I love this card! It synergies well with the deck, making all my forests work double-time, and heavily discourages boardwipes. I know how dangerous it can be. Izzet Staticaster taught me that lesson the hard way... But I play it when I think it can be abused for a win.
Duplicant, I have no good reason for it not being in the deck.
And for Mosswort Bridge, the come into play tapped prevented me from running it here.. or anywhere. I might need to reconsider.
Lastly, after many MANY second places Ghalta brought home the gold! Surrak, the Hunt Caller gave haste to a Pathbreaker Ibex for a sleeper win. Overkill, maybe... But it got the job done!
Ohhhh dang, no commander damage. See I asked if there was something I was missing because you have an intelligent approach to your deck but I felt the deck design was "off". While I feel like commander damage can help end games I can definitely see how that is what made your design seem so different.
I agree on Craterhoof, btw. I never run him. You may still wanna try Overwhelming Stampede, though
Glad you got that win! And yeah, in my group Ghalta is so fast it may change how the group designs their decks, lol. But we play with commander damage so it is totally different.
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Thank you for all the suggestions in the Let's Brew!
12 Ghalta, Primal Hunger
Creatures (37)
0 Dryad Arbor
1 Ulvenwald Tracker
2 Fauna Shaman
2 Gyre Sage
2 Scavenging Ooze
2 Viridian Zealot
3 Caller of the Claw
3 Deathgorge Scavenger
3 Eternal Witness
3 Farhaven Elf
3 Manglehorn
3 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
3 Omnath, Locus of Mana
3 Prowling Serpopard
3 Reclamation Sage
3 Rhonas the Indomitable
3 Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
3 Shaman of Forgotten Ways
3 Wood Elves
3 Yavimaya Dryad
4 Ifh-Bíff Efreet
4 Polukranos, World Eater
4 Ripjaw Raptor
4 Solemn Simulacrum
4 Squallmonger
4 Surrak, the Hunt Caller
4 Temur Sabertooth
4 Vizier of the Menagerie
4 Wickerbough Elder
5 Genesis
6 Bane of Progress
6 Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
6 Pathbreaker Ibex
7 Regal Force
7 World Breaker
8 Terastodon
8 Woodfall Primus
3 Bow of Nylea
Artifacts (4)
3 Lifecrafter's Bestiary
4 Birthing Pod
5 Batterskull
7 Akroma's Memorial
Enchantments (6)
2 Evolutionary Leap
2 Survival of the Fittest
2 Sylvan Library
4 Greater Good
4 Living Plane
5 Asceticism
Instants (6)
1 Worldly Tutor
2 Heroic Intervention
3 Arachnogenesis
3 Chord of Calling
4 Fresh Meat
4 Momentous Fall
Sorcery (7)
1 Green Sun's Zenith
4 Harmonize
4 Natural Order
5 Shamanic Revelation
5 Soul's Majesty
6 Rishkar's Expertise
7 Tooth and Nail
Planeswalkers (2)
5 Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury
5 Garruk, Primal Hunter
1 Arcane Lighthouse
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 Homeward Path
1 Mishra's Factory
1 Mutavault
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Strip Mine
1 Temple of the False God
1 Wasteland
1 Winding Canyons
1 Yavimaya Hollow
24 Forest
A few changes:
Outs
Ins
Including Lotus Cobra helps with the woefully represented 2 slot, ramps well with fetch lands and BFF's with Ramunap Excavator.
So here are some changes:
1 Heart of Kiran
1 Smuggler's Copter
1 Renegade Freighter
1 Fleetwheel Cruiser
1 Ovalchase Dragster
1 Untethered Express
1 Life's Legacy
1 Arbor Elf
1 Boreal Druid
1 Elvish Mystic
1 Fyndhorn Elves
1 Llanowar Elves
1 Lotus Cobra
1 Ramunap Excavator
1 Thrashing Brontodon
4 Fetches
1 Bow of Nylea
1 Akroma's Memorial
1 Batterskull
1 Lifecrafter's Bestiary
1 Genesis Wave
1 Natural Order
1 Tooth and Nail
1 Fauna Shaman
1 Ifh-Bíff Efreet
1 Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
1 Pathbreaker Ibex
1 Polukranos, World Eater
1 Squallmonger
1 Ulvenwald Hydra
1 World Breaker
1 Forest
1 Arcane Lighthouse
1 Homeward Path
1 Winding Canyons
Hopefully these help with a few of Ghalta's problems... namely fliers... and add more value and threats.
1 Garruk's Packleader
1 Soul of New Phyrexia
1 Primordial Sage
1 Ulvenwald Hydra
1 Soul of the Harvest
1 Spearbreaker Behemoth
1 Worldly Tutor
1 Evolutionary Leap
1 Survival of the Fittest
1 Sylvan Library
1 Birthing Pod
1 Genesis
The deck has yet to put up a win. A lot of horseshoes and hand grenades but no cigar. With any luck these changes will give me something to do early game or set up a K.O. when the time is right. I've kicked around fixing the mana curve, primarily 1 and 2 slots, but I worry that will water down the deck too much. The only 1 cmc creatures I think I'd add would be Brown Ouphe, Spore Frog, and Oviya Pashiri, Sage Lifecrafter.
It could be I am missing some strategy you have, so feel free to let me know if that is the case. There is only so much space in a deck, after-all
I feel like the deck is not built enough around Ghalta, Primal Hunger. Except for the "draw=power" cards I would almost suggest going with a different commander. Ghalta's power is in, well... its power :). Berserk, Overwhelming Stampede, Hedron Matrix all double up your Commander's power. Lightning Greaves is one of the best cards for a big "one-shot" type of Commander. 3 of these 4 cards were suggested in the Let's Brew topic and they really are quite good with a huge creature. With that in mind I will try to suggest some cards that are more catered to your big dino, or have better synergy with it then they do with other commanders.
Personally, I like a couple of vehicles. Like you said in your previous topic, if someone casts a Damnation or Wrath of God, the vehicles stay and you just need to cast a creature to immediately equip the vehicle and you may be able to cast Ghalta again right away. While the mana dorks are bad top decks, getting Ghalta out earlier into a "draw=power" means you won't be top-decking. In my games with Ghalta, even playing one of the draw spells just once, usually means I am never top-decking again. It may be a bit more "all-in" but I think with Ghalta you have to kinda go big or go home, you know? I would run just a few, like Smuggler's Copter, Heart of Kiran and definitely Cultivator's Caravan. Cultivator's Caravan is 3 for 5 power and can tap for a mana as well, giving you that early push to get Ghalta out.
You could always try a couple of the "hidden" cards for early power, like Hidden Guerrillas, Hidden Herd and Hidden Stag. They avoid an early board wipe if they are not yet active but if triggered can quickly add power to your board (I avoid the ones that require an instant or enchantment be played, as they do not trigger early enough). I like how much they have helped me get Ghalta out within the first few turns of the game, to then follow up with a Soul's Majesty or Greater Good.
A creature I'm surprised you're not running is Wayward Swordtooth. Like Rhonas the Indomitable, it adds 5 power to your board for 3 mana. Additionally, it lets you play an extra land each turn. Even if it isn't ascended it helps get Ghalta out more than most cards. You may want to play-test it to see if you like it.
A card that basically guarantees I can keep casting Ghalta turn after turn, or multiple times in the same turn with Greater Good, is Traverse the Outlands. If you think the board is safe from an Armageddon-type effect (depending on playgroup meta and/or colours you are seeing opponents play), then playing this, especially after a Rishkar's Expertise, is devastating. At one point, I attacked with Ghalta, then sacced it just to replay it so I could have it untapped to block. I had so much mana I wasn't hindered at all by the extra 2 cmc.
Living Plane seems like a dangerous card for you. Without a Heroic Intervention in hand it gives the player who is running a lot of artifacts or enchantments an opportunity to play Damnation or Wrath of God to bust most of your board while they keep their non-land and non-creature permanents. While they lose their lands, too, if they are artifact heavy they may recover much faster. I feel like it favours players with less land and less creatures, things you will have a lot of. Unless you drop it, then drop Gaea's cradle and go nuts with Kamahl, Fist of Krosa, it just seems to make your board more fragile, more so than other players. Also, this seems to go away from the point of Ghalta, and divides your deck between two very different strategies. If you keep Living Plane, then I cannot recommend Overwhelming Stampede enough. With Ghalta in play you could swing in for well over 100 damage in a turn.
Now, I have one that I absolutely love with big creatures, and is worth playing for the look on your opponents' faces alone. It is especially good if you are not running Lightning Greaves because the dino needs some protection from single-target stuff. Not of This World can counter a spell or ability that targets Ghalta. Imagine that sinking feeling someone gets when you swing for lethal and they casually try to Maze of Ith or Swords to Plowshares your big boy and you, as a green player, are maybe even tapped out and you counter their spell/ability. It is quite possibly one of my favourite single-card plays in all of MTG.
I am curious as to the addition of Bow of Nylea. Deathtouch when your commander is bigger doesn't seem to help. The +1/+1 counters seems too slow. You already have more than enough "anti-flying" in the deck, gaining life can be done with Batterskull, and the game shouldn't last long enough for the GY part of the card to matter.
Arachnogenesis is nice. I love having one "just in case" card like that, but in the spirit of helping out Ghalta, perhaps Tangle would be good for you? It won me a game just recently when it was down to two players she had a huge Taurean Mauler. She went all in, I stopped her damage and her creatures stayed tapped. Game over. If you add Overwhelming Stampede or Craterhoof Behemoth, then maybe Arachnogenesis would be better after all.
I know you want to have solutions provided by creatures, so perhaps Duplicant? I had a game recently where someone had a Stormtide Leviathan out. Fortunately, it hurt someone else as well and they killed it, but I realized I had that frailty in my deck. I will be adding Duplicant as well as perhaps a Scour from Existence. Scour isn't a creature, but maybe the Duplicant will interest you, especially since you can use a few of your "search for creature" cards to get it.
With enough power on the board, Life's Legacy can be used to sac Ghalta after which you can immediately re-play your commander. I know you took it out, but it can keep you in the game sometimes and prevent you from going into top-deck mode.
Mosswort Bridge is basically a free spell once Ghalta is on the board, or even just a couple of your other creatures.
Your decklist reminded me to add Selvala, Heart of the Wilds to my own deck. I keep forgetting to make modifications. She seems like she would just ensure victory if you draw a bunch of cards while she's out. Maybe Berserk Ghalta then add 24 mana, lol?
Well, that is all I can think of for now. Like I said, if you really do want to do a half big commander and half weenie strategy then maybe only a few of my suggestions are valid. I really want you to crush someone with Ghalta, though! Let me know what you think of my ideas and when you do stomp someone, tell us
Everything combos with Tombstone Stairwell.
I tried to jam in as many creature answers as possible. I can tutor for Pathbreaker Ibex and Kamahl, Fist of Krosa but the overrun effects end games and I should slot in more. I left out Craterhoof Behemoth because I legit dislike the card. It's Boring! Been done a million times and the win feels generic as crap. As for Lightning Greaves, I still don't know. Ghalta gets countered and eats removal. It's the board wipes that sting the most.
I Do miss the vehicles. They got the chop with the mana dorks and I feel that may have been a mistake. They dodge sorcery speed wraths and often seem to be low priority for removal.
I started playing Magic during the Onslaught block so those "hidden" cards are news to me. They look like they'd fit in perfect with the deck.
I was unsure about Wayward Swordtooth. Turn 3 with extra lands in hand he seems great. I try not to overextend so I don't know how reliably I can ascend. It's worth a shot though.
You are right, Traverse the Outlands needs to be in this deck. Bow of Nylea was a card I wanted to test and felt it was underwhelming.
Living Plane, I love this card! It synergies well with the deck, making all my forests work double-time, and heavily discourages boardwipes. I know how dangerous it can be. Izzet Staticaster taught me that lesson the hard way... But I play it when I think it can be abused for a win.
Duplicant, I have no good reason for it not being in the deck.
And for Mosswort Bridge, the come into play tapped prevented me from running it here.. or anywhere. I might need to reconsider.
Lastly, after many MANY second places Ghalta brought home the gold! Surrak, the Hunt Caller gave haste to a Pathbreaker Ibex for a sleeper win. Overkill, maybe... But it got the job done!
I hope you have enjoyed Ghalta as much as I have!
I agree on Craterhoof, btw. I never run him. You may still wanna try Overwhelming Stampede, though
Glad you got that win! And yeah, in my group Ghalta is so fast it may change how the group designs their decks, lol. But we play with commander damage so it is totally different.
Everything combos with Tombstone Stairwell.