I do and it works out alright. I'm running Ghost Quarter, Bojuka Bog, and just added in Stirring Wildwood in my lands package (with going down to two Townships), and the diversity of lands is useful even without drawing KotR. She's not to be relied on for mana fixing, but the land tech opens up some interesting options.
I used to run Knight of the Reliquary but ended up cutting it. I found it to just be too slow for the limited land toolbox we have and that speed tradeoff wasn't worth dropping from 3 Gavony to 1 when it comes to naturally drawing them. I find the deck to be a Gavony Township deck at it's core (especially when people are hating Birthing Pod) and so drawing them as much as possible is just too good. Having to go through the extra hoop of activating Knight especially when your opponent is stopping you from searching just hurt consistency too much.
I went 3-1 at my LGS Wednesday, beating Affinity, bad burn, and good burn/sligh. This week the prize is FTV, so I'm expecting a big turn out. *So far* my meta does not include Tron or Scapeshift. But I continue to struggle with control.
I Lost to essentially BBS-- Ub draw go with Thoughtseize, Snapcaster, Cryptic Command, et al. Game two I resolved a turn 2 Pod and I thought the game was over. Shadow of Doubt is an absolute killer against us. He had so much card advantage there was nothing I could do. Game three I resolved three spells that survived until my next upkeep. Do I just hope to avoid it? I don't mind dedicating 3-10 SB slots, but I'm just not sure what would even help. The best option really is Thrun, isn't it? Maybe I can get one by Wed. But is one enough?
Thanks in advance. It was just a really frustrating match.
Thoughtseize seems important here, and against UB the life loss is less of a drawback because they can't burn you out with Lightning Bolts. Also Sin Collector.
One Thrun has always been enough for me, although a lot of people run a Sigarda, Host of Herons, too. Thrun is the reason I cut down to 2 Voices--it's just so unbeatable against control, and you have 7 ways to search it up (ok, disregarding Shadow of Doubt). Did they play Damnation?
I'm ready to call my experiment with Pharika as a second source of GY hate a failure. Does anyone have another suggestion? The requirements are that it can interact with the GY, I can pod/chord into it, and that it doesn't have a CMC of 2 (since Ooze is already in that slot).
What are you playing against where Scavenging Ooze isn't enough graveyard hate? I'm curious.
What are you playing against where Scavenging Ooze isn't enough graveyard hate? I'm curious.
It's not that Ooze is poor but everyone has a plan to beat it, just like how GY decks had a plan to beat DRS. I like having a back up out of the board that I can use in addition to the Ooze for that reason. I also like having them at different CMC's for Pod purposes, I'm a big fan of having lots of similar but different cards so that they can all cover each others weaknesses without detracting from consistency. I do it in virtually any deck I play (for example 1 Doom Blade, 1 Go for the Throat, 1 Ultimate Price, 1 Terror vs 4 Go for the Throat). I do the same thing with my sac outlets having Cartel Aristocrat and Viscera Seer, I used to run Blasting Station as well but found I needed to cut it if I wanted to run Gitaxian Probe which is something I've been playing with for about the past 6 weeks now, it's certainly not a mainstream choice but I've been liking it depending on the meta that day.
But back to the point, being able to attack the GY from multiple angles is great. I'll end up picking up the suggested Loaming Shaman whenever I next order cards but in theory it seems really good. Ooze will be capable of spot removal at 2 CMC and plays well with our recursion while Loaming Shaman functions as mass removal and plays well with Restoration Angel. The shuffle in also has some potential ability to turn on our Pods if the opponent kills the creature we want to tutor for or perhaps if they're on mill. I don't expect those modes to come up often but having some interaction in that situation is nice.
Okay, so after updating Firefox and reinstalling my add-ons, I can't quote from the forum. Apparently put my pop-ups/ad blocker on too restrictive
That being said, thank you everyone who responded with feedback! It was very helpful, I won the event*, and the prize was FTV Annihilation! Woot! Woot!
*It was super low turnout and I only had to play 3 matches for the win: 2-1 burn, 2-0 infect, 2-0 8-Rack.
Some observations: I think the deck is combo-aggro, which is an odd MTG combination. But I have always felt more comfortable playing control, so I've really turned it into a combo-control-aggro build. I like it. A lot.
My meta includes Affinity, Ub/UBR control, lots of burn, Infect, Hate Bears, Vengevine, and random standard decks. I have the advantageous position of ignoring Tron and Scapeshift. Lingering Souls had been suggested for aggro and control. As that's my entire meta, I put 2 souls in for the Angel/Feeder combo (I was running both but almost always siding it out). Really liked the way it worked. I also dropped 1 Overgrown Tomb and 1 Swamp for 1 Llanowar Waste and 1 Urborg to try to shave a few points off the burn matchup. I'm happy with it. Tapping a Fetch for black didn't come up, but I could see it being important vs. burn.
The other super tech that really worked out for me was the addition of 2x Extirpate in the board. This was my far fetched answer to Snapcaster shenanigans, or hitting a key piece from burn Skullcrack or wrecking Vengevine's day. I did not expect 8-Rack to show up, and game 2 he was going for the Raven's Crime + Dakmor Salvage plan. Discarding Lingering Souls felt good. Exiling the Raven's Crime from the yard with Extirpate was gg.
I seriously dislike discussion getting clogged down with decklists and it was only a very small tournament, but in case anyone is interested in my more control-ish build, I'll post it. I'm missing the extra fetches, the Restoration Angel, and a Thrun in the SB due to $. I think everything else is by choice.
Fellow pod players, I have need of your opinion once again!
I still have to acquire Noble Hierarch x3 and the fetchlands but I am not sure which one to get first. Plenty of rumours of fetchland reprints and odds are Noble Hierarch will not be reprinted anytime soon.
Same goes for Voice of Resurgence and Archangel of Thune. I have no idea if they'll tank or rise post-rotation.
My theories/opinions: I'd pick up the Noble Hierarchs before the fetches, both because fetches *might* get reprinted some time soon, and because fetches are more easily replaced in my opinion. I expect you'll see a drop in the price of Voice of Resurgence post-rotation because it's currently being used in the selesnya list that recently placed well; however, Archangel of Thune hasn't been seen in many (any?) high-placing lists, I don't expect his price to change as dramatically as voice. Also, the archangel combo isn't absolutely necessary - pod can play very well using toolbox creatures and just the Melira combo (I'm assuming you play a Melira list). Good luck!
I disagree on Hierarch over fetches - Avacyn's Pilgrim does most of the job of Noble Hierarch but you really need a manabase with fetches if you want to hit your early plays with accuracy - but it is more likely that the fetches will be reprinted in a way that will impact their price (Hierarch at mythic for MM2? Very plausible...); I'd just eat the extra cost on buying the fetches now and have a more consistent deck, wait for Voices until they fall out of Standard, not bother with Archangel if you already main Melira, and slowly work towards the Hierarchs. Maybe the fetches will be like the shocks were with RTR, and you can eventually flip your original Zen fetches for a newer printing + other stuff.
You can put in a couple of Marsh Flats over Misty Rainforests and there's not much difference; you shock yourself a little more T1 to lay down a Birds or whatever, but I find I do that a lot anyway because I'm a bit paranoid about being kept off colours by my opponent Bolting my mana dork. Kitchen Finks picks up a lot of the slack in terms of the self-harm the deck tends to do to itself anyway, and then you're not out some extra $60~ like you would be with the 4xCatacombs/4xRainforest manabase.
I agree that Marsh Flats can replace a few Misty Rainforest or Verdant Catacombs. The reason why I say fetches are more easily replaced is that shocks and buddy lands do a *mediocre* job of filling in for fetches. Many optimized lists are running 8-10 fetches, which is more expensive than a set of hierarchs.
Avacyn's Pilgrim is decent but the exalted trigger from Noble Hierarch, in my experience, is huge. It turns your early threats into must-answer creatures. It's saved me many games against opposing player's 8rack decks (Ensnaring Bridge when they have an empty board. Hierach allows you to still attack with a creature with power 0, such as Birds of Paradise, Noble Hierarch, and Spellskite.)
I haven't had the same experience with Hierarch - it's always been to make 3-mana plays T2 first, to turn into a Voice second, and to make random early Kitchen Finks/late Shriekmaws bigger a pretty distant third - but nobody here plays 8Rack, so YMMV. Always being able to decide Birds or Thoughtseize T1 is big. Playing Pod or Finks T2 is big. The exalted trigger, while clutch in some games, has always felt like less than those two things.
Fellow pod players, I have need of your opinion once again!
I still have to acquire Noble Hierarch x3 and the fetchlands but I am not sure which one to get first. Plenty of rumours of fetchland reprints and odds are Noble Hierarch will not be reprinted anytime soon.
Same goes for Voice of Resurgence and Archangel of Thune. I have no idea if they'll tank or rise post-rotation.
Any theories or opinions on the matter?
From a performance standpoint the fetches are a bigger contributor to the deck. They probably won't be reprinted until the block after Khans so we're looking at Fall 2015. It's possible we'll see them in Modern Masters 2 if it happens this spring but if the previous MM was anything to go by along with the Shock reprint they'll probably only drop to about $40 each. If you weren't looking at playing the deck for a very long time I would say wait on the fetches but actually being able to use the cards is a big upside to paying the premium now.
Noble Hierarch may see a promotion to Mythic if it's reprinted in order to avoid crashing the price. That said we don't even know if MM2 is going to happen. I would wait until after they announce the spring product before making any purchasing decisions just to be safe but fetches don't have a good substitute. Noble can be replaced with Avacyn's Pilgrim while still keeping 50% of the functionality. You also have the very real option of playing 4 Birds, 2 Pilgrim, 2 Wall of Roots if you're in an aggro meta which would again push towards the idea of fetches being more impactful than Hierarchs.
If you also want to stick Noble Hierarchs in other decks, buy Hierarch first. If Melira/Junk Pod is your only deck, I'd get fetchlands first.
...Especially since I'm hoping for a broken Abzan/Junk mana dork in Khans of Tarkir (TappedOut.com had Elves of Anarchy in its version of Abzan--it was a 0/1 that tapped for B, W, or G and that also did a decent Saffi Eriksdotter impression--I pushed to make it 0/1 instead of 1/1, even though you could only get B or W by paying 1 life).
The general consensus seems to be fetchlands first so I suppose I will do that. Using Avacyn's Pilgrim instead of Noble Hierarch will feel super strange. All things in due time.
A Junk mana dude would be nice but I doubt that, even with the ability to create black mana, it would replace Noble Hierarch. 1 green to create bant + exalted is insane. Odds are, we'll trade exalted for more power and higher mana cost.
regarding melira/spike angel, which do you prefer? I myself play both combos but am leaning towards angel, but that's mostly because I love hot chicks with wings. I know it's very very clunky, but with a sac outlet and either spike/finks you can even have dat 4 card redneck combo!
I prefer Melira, mainly because Spike Feeder is SO much worse as an individual card than her. Also, I don't miss the Archangel finishing power, because I play more 4-drops than most people. Playing both takes a lot of space, so I think that's the worst option.
If you also want to stick Noble Hierarchs in other decks, buy Hierarch first. If Melira/Junk Pod is your only deck, I'd get fetchlands first.
...Especially since I'm hoping for a broken Abzan/Junk mana dork in Khans of Tarkir (TappedOut.com had Elves of Anarchy in its version of Abzan--it was a 0/1 that tapped for B, W, or G and that also did a decent Saffi Eriksdotter impression--I pushed to make it 0/1 instead of 1/1, even though you could only get B or W by paying 1 life).
is this confirmed? that would be oh so sweet, but abzan doesn't seem to have elves...
regarding melira/spike angel, which do you prefer? I myself play both combos but am leaning towards angel, but that's mostly because I love hot chicks with wings. I know it's very very clunky, but with a sac outlet and either spike/finks you can even have dat 4 card redneck combo!
I'm just speculating. Nothing's confirmed. There may not be a Hierarch parallel in Khans of Tarkir.
I tend to prefer Melira because it enforces cowards and bad play after I stick Turn 2 Kitchen Finks and it deals infinite damage significantly better (all pieces can be summoning sick, Cryptic Command can't stall it, blockers can't stall it).
I like the Melira combo because the pieces are cheap and don't really take up space in the curve. I'm also more forgiving of Melira and Cartel Aristocrat when they're not used to combo out because being Grizzly Bears+ isn't awful - Spike Feeder doesn't get as many opportunities to get in for little bits of damage against vulnerable opponents - and Viscera Seer is amazingly cost-efficient and gives a ton of value against decks with a ton of spot removal (ie. everything running Snapcaster Mage). Archangel is a disgusting card when resolved but there's a lot of strong things you can do for five mana: I like having more small edges at the earlier stages of the game than big windmill slams at the end.
Plus Melira is a pre-emptive anti-Infect card, and I hate Infect.
Also, a Junk mana dork would be awesome. Even if it pained you on W and B a laMurmuring Bosk, if it came with some other ability. As long as it costs G.
Ivorytusk Fortress2WBG
Creature - Elephant
Untap each creature you control with a +1/+1 counter on it during each player's untap step.
5/7
It's the right colours and has synergy with a deck full of creatures + Gavony Township, but a potentially-vanilla 5-drop isn't so exciting no matter how big its butt is, and I'm not sure giving everything vigilance/extra tap abilities is such a big upside, and I say that while running four Chords.
Is there like a "creatures don't untap" guy in Modern? I don't think symmetrical prison effects were attached to creatures all that much, and in any case, the proper wording on the Elephant is probably "each other player's untap".
Ivorytusk Fortress2WBG
Creature - Elephant
Untap each creature you control with a +1/+1 counter on it during each player's untap step.
5/7
It's the right colours and has synergy with a deck full of creatures + Gavony Township, but a potentially-vanilla 5-drop isn't so exciting no matter how big its butt is, and I'm not sure giving everything vigilance/extra tap abilities is such a big upside, and I say that while running four Chords.
Is there like a "creatures don't untap" guy in Modern? I don't think symmetrical prison effects were attached to creatures all that much, and in any case, the proper wording on the Elephant is probably "each other player's untap".
Stoic Angel is the only thing immediately comes to mind as being similar. Could be a neat pair of cards against the right kind of all in aggro deck but would probably just be a little too cute most of the time. You would need those two in play as well activating Gavony; there's probably a better way to spend all that mana.
Ivorytusk Fortress2WBG
Creature - Elephant
Untap each creature you control with a +1/+1 counter on it during each player's untap step.
5/7
It's the right colours and has synergy with a deck full of creatures + Gavony Township, but a potentially-vanilla 5-drop isn't so exciting no matter how big its butt is, and I'm not sure giving everything vigilance/extra tap abilities is such a big upside, and I say that while running four Chords.
Is there like a "creatures don't untap" guy in Modern? I don't think symmetrical prison effects were attached to creatures all that much, and in any case, the proper wording on the Elephant is probably "each other player's untap".
I'm not a fan. 5/7 is a big body, but I can't imagine ever running a 5 drop that can't actually do anything the turn it comes down. Plus, it's a bit too reliant on Gavony to do anything in the first place.
On top of that, we can't use the most interesting part of the card in this deck which is what happens when you have multiples in play which gets into the same type of territory you're referring to with the question on it's wording.
Erebos B | Ghost Council WB | Grimgrin UB | Jhoira UR
Jor Kadeen RW | Melek UR | Mimeoplasm GUB | Rasputin WU
Savra BG | Sisay GW | Teneb BGW | Thada Adel U | Wort BR
I draft and play EDH. If a Standard player can't understand who a card is for, it's probably for me.
I also write things about good films.
Thoughtseize seems important here, and against UB the life loss is less of a drawback because they can't burn you out with Lightning Bolts. Also Sin Collector.
One Thrun has always been enough for me, although a lot of people run a Sigarda, Host of Herons, too. Thrun is the reason I cut down to 2 Voices--it's just so unbeatable against control, and you have 7 ways to search it up (ok, disregarding Shadow of Doubt). Did they play Damnation?
What are you playing against where Scavenging Ooze isn't enough graveyard hate? I'm curious.
Rasputin Dreamweaver EDH
It's not that Ooze is poor but everyone has a plan to beat it, just like how GY decks had a plan to beat DRS. I like having a back up out of the board that I can use in addition to the Ooze for that reason. I also like having them at different CMC's for Pod purposes, I'm a big fan of having lots of similar but different cards so that they can all cover each others weaknesses without detracting from consistency. I do it in virtually any deck I play (for example 1 Doom Blade, 1 Go for the Throat, 1 Ultimate Price, 1 Terror vs 4 Go for the Throat). I do the same thing with my sac outlets having Cartel Aristocrat and Viscera Seer, I used to run Blasting Station as well but found I needed to cut it if I wanted to run Gitaxian Probe which is something I've been playing with for about the past 6 weeks now, it's certainly not a mainstream choice but I've been liking it depending on the meta that day.
But back to the point, being able to attack the GY from multiple angles is great. I'll end up picking up the suggested Loaming Shaman whenever I next order cards but in theory it seems really good. Ooze will be capable of spot removal at 2 CMC and plays well with our recursion while Loaming Shaman functions as mass removal and plays well with Restoration Angel. The shuffle in also has some potential ability to turn on our Pods if the opponent kills the creature we want to tutor for or perhaps if they're on mill. I don't expect those modes to come up often but having some interaction in that situation is nice.
That being said, thank you everyone who responded with feedback! It was very helpful, I won the event*, and the prize was FTV Annihilation! Woot! Woot!
*It was super low turnout and I only had to play 3 matches for the win: 2-1 burn, 2-0 infect, 2-0 8-Rack.
Some observations: I think the deck is combo-aggro, which is an odd MTG combination. But I have always felt more comfortable playing control, so I've really turned it into a combo-control-aggro build. I like it. A lot.
My meta includes Affinity, Ub/UBR control, lots of burn, Infect, Hate Bears, Vengevine, and random standard decks. I have the advantageous position of ignoring Tron and Scapeshift. Lingering Souls had been suggested for aggro and control. As that's my entire meta, I put 2 souls in for the Angel/Feeder combo (I was running both but almost always siding it out). Really liked the way it worked. I also dropped 1 Overgrown Tomb and 1 Swamp for 1 Llanowar Waste and 1 Urborg to try to shave a few points off the burn matchup. I'm happy with it. Tapping a Fetch for black didn't come up, but I could see it being important vs. burn.
The other super tech that really worked out for me was the addition of 2x Extirpate in the board. This was my far fetched answer to Snapcaster shenanigans, or hitting a key piece from burn Skullcrack or wrecking Vengevine's day. I did not expect 8-Rack to show up, and game 2 he was going for the Raven's Crime + Dakmor Salvage plan. Discarding Lingering Souls felt good. Exiling the Raven's Crime from the yard with Extirpate was gg.
I seriously dislike discussion getting clogged down with decklists and it was only a very small tournament, but in case anyone is interested in my more control-ish build, I'll post it. I'm missing the extra fetches, the Restoration Angel, and a Thrun in the SB due to $. I think everything else is by choice.
[decklist]
CREATURES- 25
Kitchen Finks x4
Muderous Redcap x2
Meleira, Sylvok Outcast x2
Varloz, the Star-Striped
Viscera Seer
Birds of Paradise x4
Wall of Roots x2
Courser of Kruphix
Voice of Resurgence
Shriekmaw
Scavenging Ooze
Spellskite
Reveilark
Eternal Witness
Reclamation Sage
Entomber Exarch
SPELLS- 12
Birthing Pod x4
Chord of Calling x2
Abrupt Decay x2
Lingering Souls x2
Thoughtseize x2
Lands- 23
Overgrown Tomb x2
Temple Garden
Godless Shrine x2
Llanowar Wastes
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Verdant Catacombs x4
Arid Mesa
Marsh Flats
Razorverge Thicket x2
Gavony Township x2
Forest x3
Swamp
Plains x2
SIDEBOARD- 15
Forge-tender
Kor Firewalker
Duress x2
Extirpate x2
Kitaki, War’s Wage
Obstinate Baloth
Loxodon Hierarch
Sin Collector
Qasali Pridemage
Linvala, Keeper of Silence
Scavenging Ooze
Abrupt Decay x2
[/decklist]
I still have to acquire Noble Hierarch x3 and the fetchlands but I am not sure which one to get first. Plenty of rumours of fetchland reprints and odds are Noble Hierarch will not be reprinted anytime soon.
Same goes for Voice of Resurgence and Archangel of Thune. I have no idea if they'll tank or rise post-rotation.
Any theories or opinions on the matter?
Currently Playing:
Multiplayer EDH Lists (click italics for a link to the thread!)
[Primer] Lord of Tresserhorn - Don't Tell Me What I Can't Do[Primer] Roon of the Hidden Realm - Rhino Blink
5 Color Tribal Guide (Slivers, Atogs, Allies, Spirits)
Also Playing (most decklists can be found on my profile)
MarathGeistKamahlGrenzoBolasThassaGitrog
PiratesZurVial Smasher&ThrasiosYennettJhoira(cEDH)Strix(Pauper)
Legacy: Maverick
Modern:
Melira PodRIP 1/19/15GWHatebearsYou can put in a couple of Marsh Flats over Misty Rainforests and there's not much difference; you shock yourself a little more T1 to lay down a Birds or whatever, but I find I do that a lot anyway because I'm a bit paranoid about being kept off colours by my opponent Bolting my mana dork. Kitchen Finks picks up a lot of the slack in terms of the self-harm the deck tends to do to itself anyway, and then you're not out some extra $60~ like you would be with the 4xCatacombs/4xRainforest manabase.
Erebos B | Ghost Council WB | Grimgrin UB | Jhoira UR
Jor Kadeen RW | Melek UR | Mimeoplasm GUB | Rasputin WU
Savra BG | Sisay GW | Teneb BGW | Thada Adel U | Wort BR
I draft and play EDH. If a Standard player can't understand who a card is for, it's probably for me.
I also write things about good films.
Avacyn's Pilgrim is decent but the exalted trigger from Noble Hierarch, in my experience, is huge. It turns your early threats into must-answer creatures. It's saved me many games against opposing player's 8rack decks (Ensnaring Bridge when they have an empty board. Hierach allows you to still attack with a creature with power 0, such as Birds of Paradise, Noble Hierarch, and Spellskite.)
Currently Playing:
Multiplayer EDH Lists (click italics for a link to the thread!)
[Primer] Lord of Tresserhorn - Don't Tell Me What I Can't Do[Primer] Roon of the Hidden Realm - Rhino Blink
5 Color Tribal Guide (Slivers, Atogs, Allies, Spirits)
Also Playing (most decklists can be found on my profile)
MarathGeistKamahlGrenzoBolasThassaGitrog
PiratesZurVial Smasher&ThrasiosYennettJhoira(cEDH)Strix(Pauper)
Legacy: Maverick
Modern:
Melira PodRIP 1/19/15GWHatebearsErebos B | Ghost Council WB | Grimgrin UB | Jhoira UR
Jor Kadeen RW | Melek UR | Mimeoplasm GUB | Rasputin WU
Savra BG | Sisay GW | Teneb BGW | Thada Adel U | Wort BR
I draft and play EDH. If a Standard player can't understand who a card is for, it's probably for me.
I also write things about good films.
From a performance standpoint the fetches are a bigger contributor to the deck. They probably won't be reprinted until the block after Khans so we're looking at Fall 2015. It's possible we'll see them in Modern Masters 2 if it happens this spring but if the previous MM was anything to go by along with the Shock reprint they'll probably only drop to about $40 each. If you weren't looking at playing the deck for a very long time I would say wait on the fetches but actually being able to use the cards is a big upside to paying the premium now.
Noble Hierarch may see a promotion to Mythic if it's reprinted in order to avoid crashing the price. That said we don't even know if MM2 is going to happen. I would wait until after they announce the spring product before making any purchasing decisions just to be safe but fetches don't have a good substitute. Noble can be replaced with Avacyn's Pilgrim while still keeping 50% of the functionality. You also have the very real option of playing 4 Birds, 2 Pilgrim, 2 Wall of Roots if you're in an aggro meta which would again push towards the idea of fetches being more impactful than Hierarchs.
...Especially since I'm hoping for a broken Abzan/Junk mana dork in Khans of Tarkir (TappedOut.com had Elves of Anarchy in its version of Abzan--it was a 0/1 that tapped for B, W, or G and that also did a decent Saffi Eriksdotter impression--I pushed to make it 0/1 instead of 1/1, even though you could only get B or W by paying 1 life).
A Junk mana dude would be nice but I doubt that, even with the ability to create black mana, it would replace Noble Hierarch. 1 green to create bant + exalted is insane. Odds are, we'll trade exalted for more power and higher mana cost.
I prefer Melira, mainly because Spike Feeder is SO much worse as an individual card than her. Also, I don't miss the Archangel finishing power, because I play more 4-drops than most people. Playing both takes a lot of space, so I think that's the worst option.
I'm just speculating. Nothing's confirmed. There may not be a Hierarch parallel in Khans of Tarkir.
I tend to prefer Melira because it enforces cowards and bad play after I stick Turn 2 Kitchen Finks and it deals infinite damage significantly better (all pieces can be summoning sick, Cryptic Command can't stall it, blockers can't stall it).
Plus Melira is a pre-emptive anti-Infect card, and I hate Infect.
Also, a Junk mana dork would be awesome. Even if it pained you on W and B a la Murmuring Bosk, if it came with some other ability. As long as it costs G.
Erebos B | Ghost Council WB | Grimgrin UB | Jhoira UR
Jor Kadeen RW | Melek UR | Mimeoplasm GUB | Rasputin WU
Savra BG | Sisay GW | Teneb BGW | Thada Adel U | Wort BR
I draft and play EDH. If a Standard player can't understand who a card is for, it's probably for me.
I also write things about good films.
It's the right colours and has synergy with a deck full of creatures + Gavony Township, but a potentially-vanilla 5-drop isn't so exciting no matter how big its butt is, and I'm not sure giving everything vigilance/extra tap abilities is such a big upside, and I say that while running four Chords.
Is there like a "creatures don't untap" guy in Modern? I don't think symmetrical prison effects were attached to creatures all that much, and in any case, the proper wording on the Elephant is probably "each other player's untap".
Erebos B | Ghost Council WB | Grimgrin UB | Jhoira UR
Jor Kadeen RW | Melek UR | Mimeoplasm GUB | Rasputin WU
Savra BG | Sisay GW | Teneb BGW | Thada Adel U | Wort BR
I draft and play EDH. If a Standard player can't understand who a card is for, it's probably for me.
I also write things about good films.
Stoic Angel is the only thing immediately comes to mind as being similar. Could be a neat pair of cards against the right kind of all in aggro deck but would probably just be a little too cute most of the time. You would need those two in play as well activating Gavony; there's probably a better way to spend all that mana.
I'm not a fan. 5/7 is a big body, but I can't imagine ever running a 5 drop that can't actually do anything the turn it comes down. Plus, it's a bit too reliant on Gavony to do anything in the first place.
On top of that, we can't use the most interesting part of the card in this deck which is what happens when you have multiples in play which gets into the same type of territory you're referring to with the question on it's wording.