Simic Midrange is a weird beast. For some it might seem like a ramp deck. For others it falls under the Midrange category. For me, Simic Midrange is actually a control deck that disguises itself as midrange.
The deck was designed initially to take full advantage of the power of Prophet of Kruphix. She benefits both strategies a lot, letting us tap-out during our turn and then have all of our mana available during our opponent's, where we can interact like a control deck with Counterspells, Flash Creatures, and other instant cast spells and abilities.
Prophet of Kruphix also gives our creatures pseudo-vigilance, which is very good when you need to have blockers but also need to get the game over with. How bout attacking with a 7/7 Prognostic Sphinx?, this deck does that. How bout drawing 2 to 5 cards per turn?, this deck does it. How bout controlling what your opponent resolves or not?, you can do that too.
I invite you to tryout Simic Midrange, you're gonna have a great time with it
Staples of the Deck
Courser of Kruphix: 3 to 4-of, the best card coming out of Born of the Gods and for good reason as it is amazing. It was the missing simic 3-drop and it improves the archetype dramatically. Play it!
Sylvan Caryatid: 4-of, a list that revolves around playing a 2/3 creature for 5 needs to be able to get to 5 mana fast, and there's nothing better than Caryatid for that role. She also fixes our mana and blocks aggro guys all day long.
Prophet of Kruphix: 3 to 4-of, the absolute build around card for Simic midrange decks, she enables our strategy and lets you take over a game that was going downhill. She lets you catch up like nothing else currently in standard (well, maybe Sphinx's Revelation hehe).
Kiora's Follower: 2 to 3-of, in a deck that tries to play big stuff, ramp is necessary and not only do you get ramp with this guy, but also a whole lot of sinergies with the deck, like untapping Prognostic Sphinx or Bow of Nylea. You don't really want 4 of them since the mana cost can sometimes cause trouble and you really want it more for its synergies than its ramp. I consider it to be a support card.
Prognostic Sphinx and/or Kalonian Hydra: Some people prefer to play 5-drops like Kalonian Hydra and while I can understand that, I like Sphinx for being particularly hard to remove, and his ability to scry 3 every turn helps a ton in finding exactly what you need. Consistent lists should be playing 24 to 25 lands, and this guy makes sure you stop seeing them once he gets going, it makes your whole deck better. On the other end, you have a monster that requires an answer now or he just wins the game in no time, I tested the Hydra once and it did just that: win the game. Wether you choose to go with the hard to remove Sphinx or the "answer me now" Hydra thats up to you and what is better for your meta.
Eidolon of Blossoms: I tried a lot of stuff in my card-draw slot, and this guy beats them all. Some of our best cards are already enchantments, and this guy turns them all into cantrips. Very good card.
Boon Satyr: 2 to 3-of, Boon Satyr becomes an easy staple of the deck since most of our creatures are high toughness ones (not exactly good at attacking) providing a much needed power pump which can be quite devastating when your opponent can't deal with your threat (7/7 Prognostic Sphinx?). Boon Satyr is also very good against control decks, as its only 3 mana and has high power on its own, which makes it very good at putting pressure as well as letting you play on their end step or baiting their counterspells / removals so you can resolve something even scarier on your turn.
Dissolve: 2 to 3-of, as soon as you start playing with instant spells and flash creatures, you need to diversify your instant-suite, as otherwise your opponents will always know what you have in hand. This is where Dissolve comes in, as it lets you draw-go your opponent while also being able to cast a creature (like Boon Satyr) if they don't do anything worth countering.
Ætherling: Do I need to say anything here?, this is the absolute bane of control decks, as it's nearly impossible to deal with. Heck, almost nothing can deal with a resolved AEtherling so I'd never leave home without my copy. Run him no questions asked.
Cyclonic Rift: 1 to 2-of, this is the card that will make you win games out of nowhere, every Simic list needs to play some number of it. I prefer to play a couple of them as I only want to see it once I hit 7 mana.
Following these guidelines, I've been tuning a list that intends to abuse these cards to the maximum potential:
LeoninKha's Simic Midrange (old list, keeping it here just for the record)
My testing so far shows that Monoblue is in our favor, as well as most aggressive red decks. Control and Monoblack Devotion are harder, but we still have a lot of ways of interacting with them and it only gets better after the sideboard.
One of the weaker matchups right now seems to be G/R monsters due to Stormbreath Dragon which can wreck you if you are not prepared for them. Lists that play Flesh / Blood can be extremely explosive so keep that in mind when going against them.
Other Card Choices
Curse of the Swine: one of the most effective removals that we have, this thing demolishes devotion based strategies as Boar tokens have no mana cost. It doesn't care about indestructibility, so Gods are pigs too. It can also upgrade your late managuys and it can improve your army if you're also playing Master Biomancer
Mistcutter Hydra: very good against blue-based strategies such as Blue Devotion, and it becomes much better in a list that ramps. Run it alongside Kalonian Hydra.
Garruk, Caller of Beast: the best way to keep your hand full in a list that focuses on having lots of creatures, this guy can make life a pain for control decks.
Primeval Bounty: if you want to go over the top, this is the card to pick. Its very hard to lose once its in play. Its obviously better if you can play something on the same turn, which is why I like to play Plasm Capture alongside it.
Sylvan Primordial: Having issues against Monster decks?, look no further, as this guy deals with their Planeswalkers and also stops Stormbreath Dragon as well as Desecration Demon cold. Its a bit expensive on the mana though.
Plasm Capture: Back-up counter that lets you cast Sylvan Primordial, Primeval Bounty and even Aetherling as soon as turn 4, which makes them much more devastating.
Prime Speaker Zegana: Garruk is probably better than Zegana for what you want it, which is drawing cards, but the upside of her over the planeswalker is that she's also a creature and will never send those Cyclonic Rifts to the bottom of your deck, which is about the only downside Garruk has.
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I'll be reporting my results as they come, so check back often
May I suggest Kalonian Hydra? Appart from being a dumb beater, it has a lot of sinergy with master biomancer on itself, and flashing at your opponent's EOT is always a nice surprise.
I've thought about it but I don't think it belongs in this list. There's not a lot of creatures that you "need" to kill here outside of our iconic ones, which is why I wanted a hard-to-remove one for the 5-drop, hence Prognostic Sphinx
I can see playing it if it was a more aggressive list, but this one is more oriented at controlling with creatures and most of your offense comes from sneaking attacks in due to Prophet's untap effect (your opponent attacks you and taps out > you attack back, and then untap and are ready to block).
I see where you're coming from though since I've made the very same suggestion to other people building Simic decks
@PrideOfTheClouds: Zegana is a valid inclusion but I would not cut the Omenspeakers for her. I'd start with Primeval Bounty and then maybe cut a Chimera (gotta have the curve in mind or everything goes to hell). You gotta see Omenspeaker as the glue that sticks things together, at least for now that we lack a good 3-drop, but I'm hoping that'll change with Born of the Gods.
I'm trying Primeval Bounty here as I think if it sticks it will very quickly out grind control and monoB - it fits the ramp theme nicely also and allows mana dorks to represented gamethreats.
I play a more flash themed version and also commune with the gods to dig for the right pieces. Not a fan of Master Biomancer as the card doesn't seem to have enough impact for my liking.
Primeval Bounty is good, however I don't like seeing it when I'm facing aggressive decks as it does nothing when you first resolve it and by that point you're probably about to die and need something to stabilize fast. This is why I like 1 copy maindeck, however, there are other matchups where the card simply dominates so I'm gonna say this is meta dependant
Regarding Biomancer: I know it can seem underwhelming on its own, but that's fine, they can ignore it if they want, it'll be a huge mistake as things get crazy pretty fast with one in the field
I'm not fond of evolvers in these kind of lists despite all the big creatures, they are really bad top decks in a list that is already playing managuys
From testing I wouldn't, you want to avoid getting hands full of ramp and nothing to do with it. Besides, with 25 lands you need ways to ensure your draws are live and scry does that. Trust me when I say the card is there fulfilling a role and there's other small interactions that make it worthwhile in the end, such as being a blocker against aggro and fodder for Scavenging Ooze as well as becoming a threat once Biomancer sticks.
You could say that I should cut some lands to include the Satyr, however, I'd tell you that that would be the worst mistake you can make in a ramp deck, which is relying on your managuys to do all the ramping.
You are not ramping if you are not dropping a land every turn in addition to playing mana-guys or ramp spells. I personally want to ramp the right way, and when you do that you need card draw, or at least something to ensure you see spells once you have enough lands to cast whatever you want.
PD: I'd like to add though, that if Born of the Gods brings a good 3-drop I would indeed look at replacing Omenspeaker with it. Right now I don't think there's a better choice.
Thanks for posting this OP. I've found that Simic Prophet decks and primers are surprisingly scarce around here. But they certainly deserve some attention.
After seeing these in action and how much fun they looked, I finally buckled and started working on my own. It doesn't look all that much like the OP's, but I have consistently beaten all types of decks including Blue Devotion, Black Devotion and Control decks.
I have changed and morphed this thing quite a bit, but the main deck has stayed mostly the same with a few slots being changed out for other test cards.
I've tried Horizon Chimera , Fathom Mage , Simic Charm and a few others in this mix, and some other Simic-y cards but I felt like they were clunky - with the exception of Fathom Mage which can really boost card draw in a pinch, and represents this deck's only real four-drop, so it went into the sideboard for such occasions.
In any case, let me point out that the most important card in the deck is Cyclonic Rift , it is really what wins the game. An overloaded Rift is most often followed up with the opponent saying "gg" and is the culmination of the illusory deceptiveness of this deck.
Unless the opponent is well versed in going against Simic decks featuring Prophet and Garruk, they can easily be lulled into a false sense of security. This is amplified by the fact that you will very likely be low on life by the time this deck stabilizes. But when it does, the tide turns very quickly. And if you've still got 18 or more life by the time you have six mana on board, there's really no hope for your rival.
My Card Choices:
I run 4x Prophet of Kruphix for consistency and because he's the obvious target for removal, although I am surprised at how often and how long he sometimes stays alive, even against Black and Red. Prophet is the key to this deck.
Sylvan Primordial is a game-winning and tide-turning card. Seven mana? Pfff, so what, I've rarely played a game that I didn't get Primordial (at least one) on the board. It is a must-have. If Nykthos doesn't help you get him down, Garruk will. He's especially fun to flash in during late game with a Stormbreath Dragon swinging at you (with Reach FTW). Oh yeah, he blows up permanents too, so go ahead and get back your creatures that were Chained to the Rocks or Detention Sphere 'd. And fetch a forest for some icing on the cake.
The Hydras. Kalonian Hydra and Mistcutter Hydra are technically the "Win Cons" of this deck because they usually will be the ones swinging for lethal damage. Kalonian's Trample and counter-doubling , along with Mistcutter's haste is pretty ridiculous, especially when you flashed in the Kalonian at your opponent's end step. Mistcutter is also the bane of blue devotion. These guys also explain my inclusion of Vorel of the Hull Clade. It gets bonkers.
As for Garruk, Caller of Beasts... he was MADE for decks like this. One of the best planeswalkers in Standard right now, if not the top dog. Even if he never gets to use his ultimate (although I did just one time and it was just a slaughter at that point), his top two abilities synergize perfectly with this deck, and even with his -3 ability he's protecting himself.
Anywho, I'll digress, and I welcome thoughts, suggestions, feedback. I'm always looking for ways to improve this deck and the sideboard.
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Knowledge Pool count: 308
Looking for Knowledge Pools! All languages, conditions, foil/non-foil, etc. PM me with your Pools and we can work something out
Yes, since Mistcutter is pro blue, Vorel is mainly for doubling Kalonian's counters, and he's also great when Fathom Mage is in play. Kalonian Hydra doubles Mistcutter's though (and usually in a late game scenario, it will end up with 16 or so on first swing with a Kalonian).
Vorel can also be helpful with a nice 1/4 body on turn 3 if needed.
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@gambitking: Now THAT is a list that does Kalonian Hydra justice, I especially like the fact that you also play Mistcutter alongside it. It reminds me of my previous G/r deck where I'd go Wolfir Avenger on their end step, Strangleroot Geist on my main phase and wreck faces.
Aggro decks are usually the ones that fulfill the scenario "really low on life when it stabilizes", but with Vorel and Caryatid soaking up early beats, it usually isn't too bad.
Aggro decks run out of steam pretty quickly, about the time I'm dropping Prophet and Garruk, so they have threats to start dealing with and not many options. Most importantly, they can't recover from an overloaded Cyclonic Rift, especially when they're relying on Devotion.
In almost every case, they've got their whole battalion on the board, complete with enchantments and sometimes a planeswalker, swinging for the final blow and boom, everything gets bounced. With enough green devotion and a Nykthos, the overload only taps four of my lands. Almost always I have enough left for an EOT Kalonian Hydra. With a Mistcutter in hand, and/or a Garruk to draw into one, it's game over.
EDIT: I forgot to mention, aggro decks are also the reason for Hindervines in my sideboard
R1 vs Monoblue: I lose 0-2. Despite having an excelent match against this deck I simply got unlucky this time, not hitting my land drops in time (stuck at 2 in one game) I just couldn't deploy fast enough. That and Thassa's unblockable ability is damn good
R2 vs Orzhov Control: I lose 1-2. This one was my fault, I won the first game, and on the second I had Primeval Bounty down as well as a 3/3 beast token and an Elvish Mystic, he had 2 Pack Rats and a Blood Baron of Vizkopa which came attacking at me. I had a Cyclonic Rift in hand and I completely forgot about Bounty with its +1/+1 counters clause, so I just blocked the Baron with both my guys and let damage resolve instead of casting Rift (I only had 2 mana available), giving one of my guys +3/+3 and bouncing a Rat.
I would've been left with board presence as well as dealt with Baron and delayed Pack rat at least a turn.
On game 3 I got really unlucky and didn't hit a land after 2 for 3-4 turns in a row. By the time I got my third land he already had pack rats and Obzedat.
R3 vs Maze's End: I win 2-0. What can I say, I wasn't expecting on winning as my deck isn't very aggressive but he ran out of Fogs and couldn't find a Supreme Verdict before I hit him with huge guys. Scavenging Ooze went all the way here coming in with flash, eating guys and dealing the killing blow. Game 2 I had everything to beat him despite eating a painful Verdict in the beginning, Pithing Needle and Sylvan Primordial were good.
R4 vs UWR control: I win 2-0, another match I wasn't expecting on wining, especially since this was my friend whom I test with and his deck usually beats me. Prognostic Sphinx is boss, he just can't deal with it outside of Verdict so I just ride her for the win. On game 2 I have a lot of good sideboard stuff, including 3 Gainsays that really mess him up when he tries to resolve Jace to draw cards. Sphinx finds me a second Gainsay so I know I'm good for the game. A few more minutes into the match I drop Sylvan Primordial who frees up my Chained to the Rocks's Prophet of Kruphic which lets me untap during his turn and keep messing him up.
He uses another Chained to the Rocks on my Primordial, and a Detention Sphere on my Bident of Thassa and this is where it gets really ugly, as I manage to find my second Primordial, and use him to blow up his mountain, freeing my first Primordial who in turn frees up Bident of Thassa making my friend concede.
Conclusion of the day: Even though I faced some bad luck regarding land drops, my mistake in the second round was critical, and I need to keep in mind Primeval Bounty's counter ability, as it would've enabled me to put on the pressure on that game or at least last a lot longer and maybe even win it. Prognostic Sphinx is boss, and I think I might cut the second copy of Primeval Bounty from the sideboard and replace it with an Aetherling.
I find that I really need to draw cards, and I can't afford Garruk, so I run Prime Speaker Zegana x4. Usually with a Horizon Chimera I can draw 4 cards (and gain 4 life, and have a 4/4 creature, all for 6 mana), which is enough to give me fuel to take advantage of the Prophet.
Great draws let me get out Prophet on turn 3, drop a Chimera on their turn, enchant it with a Boon Satyr on my turn 4, then drop a Prime Speaker Zegana to draw 8 cards on their turn.
The Scatter Arcs are because I ran into a lot of trouble from opponents with spot removal. If they tap out and I can get out a prophet, I want to be able to counterspell however they try to kill it on their turn. In practice, though, I wonder if they'll just wait for me to flash something in, then respond with an instant. At least it stops Mizzium Mortars and sorcery removal.
have gone 3-1 at FNM with this. 1-3 tonight :(. Still, it is a fun list to play with. I'd like more ramp (nykthos) and another primeval bounty mainboard. Gets stomped by supreme verdict control though.
I took this to FNM last night. Went 3-1, and would have gone 4-0 if I hadn't been mana-screwed two games in a row. (Seriously, opening hand of 6 lands and a Zegana, mulliganed to 5 lands and a Boon Satyr.)
The best win of the night was taking two monstrous Stormbreath Dragons to the face, dropping to 1 life, then flashing in an Arbor Colossus, untapping and squishing one of his dragons with a monstrous colossus, then untapping again, counterspelling his burn spell, and smashing my way to victory.
I like the deck, though I always worry about running out of steam, since literally half the deck are just mana sources.
I wanted to include a package of counterspells, mainly because i'm very afraid of Aetherling and Blood Baron of Vizkopa. With the amount of mana Acolyte can produce, Syncopate is much more reliable late game, while Cancel is a relatively good hard-counter.
With many of the signature threats elusive to me in either budget or just plain can't-find-them (Why, Elvish mystic?.....) my threats find their place in Shipbreaker Kraken and Nimbus Swimmer, both of whom get stronger more quickly with the excess mana we'll get with Karametra's Acolyte. Nylea's Disciple is MB for better security with the lifegain, and Fathom mage + Zameck Guildmage and/or Prime speaker zegana for card draw. Voyaging Satyr is in there instead of Sylvan Caryatid and Elvish Mystic since she can just as easily ramp into our 4 drops, especially since they're much mroe important in this list. Triton Tactics is--yet again-- more security. Not sure if it's really necessary, especially since our threats can get big very quickly, but there just in case.
@chowdahrogansorah: I'd try to fit in the 4th Voyaging Satyr first of all.
I was using Shipbreaker Kraken in my initial testing because I didn't have the cards I needed yet. It was kinda cool xD, although a bit expensive mana-wise
PS: I got my Aetherling now so I changed my sideboard in the OP a bit:
Rogue's passage always seems untimely when i draw it early and i need a certain color, but seeing as i get mana screwed even with this number of lands (since most of my list is in the 4-drops, it's that much worse) I'm not cutting any lands. Fathom mage might be the best cut, but i'd only want to take one out since she'll evolve a LOT regardless. Zameck Guildmage is a great manasink and psuedo replacement to Master Biomancer--he's staying.
[Discpile of Nylea[/c] is probably the second best cut. with all three copies, life gain is STUPID. But I'm not sure if removing one will take enough away to weaken it significantly (even with Horizon Chimera + Fathom Mage + Bow of Nylea).
SIMIC MIDRANGE
Introduction
Simic Midrange is a weird beast. For some it might seem like a ramp deck. For others it falls under the Midrange category. For me, Simic Midrange is actually a control deck that disguises itself as midrange.
The deck was designed initially to take full advantage of the power of Prophet of Kruphix. She benefits both strategies a lot, letting us tap-out during our turn and then have all of our mana available during our opponent's, where we can interact like a control deck with Counterspells, Flash Creatures, and other instant cast spells and abilities.
Prophet of Kruphix also gives our creatures pseudo-vigilance, which is very good when you need to have blockers but also need to get the game over with. How bout attacking with a 7/7 Prognostic Sphinx?, this deck does that. How bout drawing 2 to 5 cards per turn?, this deck does it. How bout controlling what your opponent resolves or not?, you can do that too.
I invite you to tryout Simic Midrange, you're gonna have a great time with it
Staples of the Deck
Courser of Kruphix: 3 to 4-of, the best card coming out of Born of the Gods and for good reason as it is amazing. It was the missing simic 3-drop and it improves the archetype dramatically. Play it!
Sylvan Caryatid: 4-of, a list that revolves around playing a 2/3 creature for 5 needs to be able to get to 5 mana fast, and there's nothing better than Caryatid for that role. She also fixes our mana and blocks aggro guys all day long.
Prophet of Kruphix: 3 to 4-of, the absolute build around card for Simic midrange decks, she enables our strategy and lets you take over a game that was going downhill. She lets you catch up like nothing else currently in standard (well, maybe Sphinx's Revelation hehe).
Kiora's Follower: 2 to 3-of, in a deck that tries to play big stuff, ramp is necessary and not only do you get ramp with this guy, but also a whole lot of sinergies with the deck, like untapping Prognostic Sphinx or Bow of Nylea. You don't really want 4 of them since the mana cost can sometimes cause trouble and you really want it more for its synergies than its ramp. I consider it to be a support card.
Prognostic Sphinx and/or Kalonian Hydra: Some people prefer to play 5-drops like Kalonian Hydra and while I can understand that, I like Sphinx for being particularly hard to remove, and his ability to scry 3 every turn helps a ton in finding exactly what you need. Consistent lists should be playing 24 to 25 lands, and this guy makes sure you stop seeing them once he gets going, it makes your whole deck better. On the other end, you have a monster that requires an answer now or he just wins the game in no time, I tested the Hydra once and it did just that: win the game. Wether you choose to go with the hard to remove Sphinx or the "answer me now" Hydra thats up to you and what is better for your meta.
Eidolon of Blossoms: I tried a lot of stuff in my card-draw slot, and this guy beats them all. Some of our best cards are already enchantments, and this guy turns them all into cantrips. Very good card.
Polukranos, World Eater: 2 to 3-of, he eats stuff, what's more to say?, he's also nasty with Bow of Nylea in the battlefield.
Boon Satyr: 2 to 3-of, Boon Satyr becomes an easy staple of the deck since most of our creatures are high toughness ones (not exactly good at attacking) providing a much needed power pump which can be quite devastating when your opponent can't deal with your threat (7/7 Prognostic Sphinx?). Boon Satyr is also very good against control decks, as its only 3 mana and has high power on its own, which makes it very good at putting pressure as well as letting you play on their end step or baiting their counterspells / removals so you can resolve something even scarier on your turn.
Dissolve: 2 to 3-of, as soon as you start playing with instant spells and flash creatures, you need to diversify your instant-suite, as otherwise your opponents will always know what you have in hand. This is where Dissolve comes in, as it lets you draw-go your opponent while also being able to cast a creature (like Boon Satyr) if they don't do anything worth countering.
Ætherling: Do I need to say anything here?, this is the absolute bane of control decks, as it's nearly impossible to deal with. Heck, almost nothing can deal with a resolved AEtherling so I'd never leave home without my copy. Run him no questions asked.
Cyclonic Rift: 1 to 2-of, this is the card that will make you win games out of nowhere, every Simic list needs to play some number of it. I prefer to play a couple of them as I only want to see it once I hit 7 mana.
Following these guidelines, I've been tuning a list that intends to abuse these cards to the maximum potential:
LeoninKha's Simic Midrange (old list, keeping it here just for the record)
2 Omenspeaker
3 Prognostic Sphinx
2 Polukranos, World Eater
2 Horizon Chimera
4 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Prophet of Kruphix
4 Elvish Mystic
2 Scavenging Ooze
1 Ætherling
4 Master Biomancer
1 Zameck Guildmage
2 Bow of Nylea
2 Urban Evolution
1 Cyclonic Rift
4 Temple of Mystery
4 Breeding Pool
1 Rogue's Passage
6 Island
9 Forest
2 Bident of Thassa
3 Gainsay
1 Arbor Colossus
1 Horizon Chimera
2 Fog
2 Sylvan Primordial
2 Wasteland Viper
2 Pithing Needle
An enchantment centered list:
4 Eidolon of Blossoms
2 Kiora's Follower
4 Courser of Kruphix
4 Prognostic Sphinx
3 Boon Satyr
2 Polukranos, World Eater
4 Sylvan Caryatid
3 Prophet of Kruphix
1 Ætherling
3 Dissolve
2 Bow of Nylea
1 Cyclonic Rift
4 Temple of Mystery
4 Breeding Pool
2 Simic Guildgate
1 Rogue's Passage
4 Island
10 Forest
And the current list I'm playing:
4 Prognostic Sphinx
2 Boon Satyr
2 Polukranos, World Eater
4 Sylvan Caryatid
2 Prophet of Kruphix
4 Elvish Mystic
2 Scavenging Ooze
1 Ætherling
1 Master Biomancer
1 Deadbridge Goliath
2 Curse of the Swine
2 Dissolve
2 Bow of Nylea
1 Cyclonic Rift
4 Temple of Mystery
4 Breeding Pool
1 Simic Guildgate
1 Rogue's Passage
4 Island
11 Forest
2 Consign to Dust
1 Perplexing Chimera
1 Fated Intervention
2 Omenspeaker
3 Arbor Colossus
1 Primeval Bounty
1 Plasm Capture
2 Sylvan Primordial
2 Pithing Needle
Matchups and Future inclusions
My testing so far shows that Monoblue is in our favor, as well as most aggressive red decks. Control and Monoblack Devotion are harder, but we still have a lot of ways of interacting with them and it only gets better after the sideboard.
One of the weaker matchups right now seems to be G/R monsters due to Stormbreath Dragon which can wreck you if you are not prepared for them. Lists that play Flesh / Blood can be extremely explosive so keep that in mind when going against them.
Other Card Choices
Curse of the Swine: one of the most effective removals that we have, this thing demolishes devotion based strategies as Boar tokens have no mana cost. It doesn't care about indestructibility, so Gods are pigs too. It can also upgrade your late managuys and it can improve your army if you're also playing Master Biomancer
Mistcutter Hydra: very good against blue-based strategies such as Blue Devotion, and it becomes much better in a list that ramps. Run it alongside Kalonian Hydra.
Garruk, Caller of Beast: the best way to keep your hand full in a list that focuses on having lots of creatures, this guy can make life a pain for control decks.
Primeval Bounty: if you want to go over the top, this is the card to pick. Its very hard to lose once its in play. Its obviously better if you can play something on the same turn, which is why I like to play Plasm Capture alongside it.
Sylvan Primordial: Having issues against Monster decks?, look no further, as this guy deals with their Planeswalkers and also stops Stormbreath Dragon as well as Desecration Demon cold. Its a bit expensive on the mana though.
Plasm Capture: Back-up counter that lets you cast Sylvan Primordial, Primeval Bounty and even Aetherling as soon as turn 4, which makes them much more devastating.
Prime Speaker Zegana: Garruk is probably better than Zegana for what you want it, which is drawing cards, but the upside of her over the planeswalker is that she's also a creature and will never send those Cyclonic Rifts to the bottom of your deck, which is about the only downside Garruk has.
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I'll be reporting my results as they come, so check back often
I've thought about it but I don't think it belongs in this list. There's not a lot of creatures that you "need" to kill here outside of our iconic ones, which is why I wanted a hard-to-remove one for the 5-drop, hence Prognostic Sphinx
I can see playing it if it was a more aggressive list, but this one is more oriented at controlling with creatures and most of your offense comes from sneaking attacks in due to Prophet's untap effect (your opponent attacks you and taps out > you attack back, and then untap and are ready to block).
I see where you're coming from though since I've made the very same suggestion to other people building Simic decks
Primeval Bounty is good, however I don't like seeing it when I'm facing aggressive decks as it does nothing when you first resolve it and by that point you're probably about to die and need something to stabilize fast. This is why I like 1 copy maindeck, however, there are other matchups where the card simply dominates so I'm gonna say this is meta dependant
Regarding Biomancer: I know it can seem underwhelming on its own, but that's fine, they can ignore it if they want, it'll be a huge mistake as things get crazy pretty fast with one in the field
I'm not fond of evolvers in these kind of lists despite all the big creatures, they are really bad top decks in a list that is already playing managuys
You could say that I should cut some lands to include the Satyr, however, I'd tell you that that would be the worst mistake you can make in a ramp deck, which is relying on your managuys to do all the ramping.
You are not ramping if you are not dropping a land every turn in addition to playing mana-guys or ramp spells. I personally want to ramp the right way, and when you do that you need card draw, or at least something to ensure you see spells once you have enough lands to cast whatever you want.
PD: I'd like to add though, that if Born of the Gods brings a good 3-drop I would indeed look at replacing Omenspeaker with it. Right now I don't think there's a better choice.
After seeing these in action and how much fun they looked, I finally buckled and started working on my own. It doesn't look all that much like the OP's, but I have consistently beaten all types of decks including Blue Devotion, Black Devotion and Control decks.
Anywho, here is my current list I'm playing now:
4 Prophet of Kruphix
4 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Mistcutter Hydra
4 Kalonian Hydra
3 Sylvan Primordial
2 Vorel of the Hull Clade
1 Progenitor Mimic
3 Garruk, Caller of Beasts
3 Urban Evolution
4 Cyclonic Rift
3 Gainsay
3 Fathom Mage
3 Hindervines
3 Naturalize
2 Progenitor Mimic
1 Elixir of Immortality
I have changed and morphed this thing quite a bit, but the main deck has stayed mostly the same with a few slots being changed out for other test cards.
I've tried Horizon Chimera , Fathom Mage , Simic Charm and a few others in this mix, and some other Simic-y cards but I felt like they were clunky - with the exception of Fathom Mage which can really boost card draw in a pinch, and represents this deck's only real four-drop, so it went into the sideboard for such occasions.
In any case, let me point out that the most important card in the deck is Cyclonic Rift , it is really what wins the game. An overloaded Rift is most often followed up with the opponent saying "gg" and is the culmination of the illusory deceptiveness of this deck.
Unless the opponent is well versed in going against Simic decks featuring Prophet and Garruk, they can easily be lulled into a false sense of security. This is amplified by the fact that you will very likely be low on life by the time this deck stabilizes. But when it does, the tide turns very quickly. And if you've still got 18 or more life by the time you have six mana on board, there's really no hope for your rival.
My Card Choices:
I run 4x Prophet of Kruphix for consistency and because he's the obvious target for removal, although I am surprised at how often and how long he sometimes stays alive, even against Black and Red. Prophet is the key to this deck.
Sylvan Primordial is a game-winning and tide-turning card. Seven mana? Pfff, so what, I've rarely played a game that I didn't get Primordial (at least one) on the board. It is a must-have. If Nykthos doesn't help you get him down, Garruk will. He's especially fun to flash in during late game with a Stormbreath Dragon swinging at you (with Reach FTW). Oh yeah, he blows up permanents too, so go ahead and get back your creatures that were Chained to the Rocks or Detention Sphere 'd. And fetch a forest for some icing on the cake.
The Hydras. Kalonian Hydra and Mistcutter Hydra are technically the "Win Cons" of this deck because they usually will be the ones swinging for lethal damage. Kalonian's Trample and counter-doubling , along with Mistcutter's haste is pretty ridiculous, especially when you flashed in the Kalonian at your opponent's end step. Mistcutter is also the bane of blue devotion. These guys also explain my inclusion of Vorel of the Hull Clade. It gets bonkers.
As for Garruk, Caller of Beasts... he was MADE for decks like this. One of the best planeswalkers in Standard right now, if not the top dog. Even if he never gets to use his ultimate (although I did just one time and it was just a slaughter at that point), his top two abilities synergize perfectly with this deck, and even with his -3 ability he's protecting himself.
Anywho, I'll digress, and I welcome thoughts, suggestions, feedback. I'm always looking for ways to improve this deck and the sideboard.
It doesn't target it, so Vorel's ability still works on Mistcutter.
STANDARD:
RRRMono RedRRR
MODERN:
BGBeatdown ElvesBG
GWDevoted Druid ComboGW
EDH:
URGMaelstrom WandererURG
BBBSheoldred, Whispering OneBBB
BGNath of the Gilt-LeafBG
Looking for Knowledge Pools! All languages, conditions, foil/non-foil, etc. PM me with your Pools and we can work something out
Yeah it does. No you can't.
Aha, missed the first part where you choose the artifact, creature, etc. Thanks!
STANDARD:
RRRMono RedRRR
MODERN:
BGBeatdown ElvesBG
GWDevoted Druid ComboGW
EDH:
URGMaelstrom WandererURG
BBBSheoldred, Whispering OneBBB
BGNath of the Gilt-LeafBG
Looking for Knowledge Pools! All languages, conditions, foil/non-foil, etc. PM me with your Pools and we can work something out
Vorel can also be helpful with a nice 1/4 body on turn 3 if needed.
How are you doing against aggressive decks?
Aggro decks run out of steam pretty quickly, about the time I'm dropping Prophet and Garruk, so they have threats to start dealing with and not many options. Most importantly, they can't recover from an overloaded Cyclonic Rift, especially when they're relying on Devotion.
In almost every case, they've got their whole battalion on the board, complete with enchantments and sometimes a planeswalker, swinging for the final blow and boom, everything gets bounced. With enough green devotion and a Nykthos, the overload only taps four of my lands. Almost always I have enough left for an EOT Kalonian Hydra. With a Mistcutter in hand, and/or a Garruk to draw into one, it's game over.
EDIT: I forgot to mention, aggro decks are also the reason for Hindervines in my sideboard
R1 vs Monoblue: I lose 0-2. Despite having an excelent match against this deck I simply got unlucky this time, not hitting my land drops in time (stuck at 2 in one game) I just couldn't deploy fast enough. That and Thassa's unblockable ability is damn good
R2 vs Orzhov Control: I lose 1-2. This one was my fault, I won the first game, and on the second I had Primeval Bounty down as well as a 3/3 beast token and an Elvish Mystic, he had 2 Pack Rats and a Blood Baron of Vizkopa which came attacking at me. I had a Cyclonic Rift in hand and I completely forgot about Bounty with its +1/+1 counters clause, so I just blocked the Baron with both my guys and let damage resolve instead of casting Rift (I only had 2 mana available), giving one of my guys +3/+3 and bouncing a Rat.
I would've been left with board presence as well as dealt with Baron and delayed Pack rat at least a turn.
On game 3 I got really unlucky and didn't hit a land after 2 for 3-4 turns in a row. By the time I got my third land he already had pack rats and Obzedat.
R3 vs Maze's End: I win 2-0. What can I say, I wasn't expecting on winning as my deck isn't very aggressive but he ran out of Fogs and couldn't find a Supreme Verdict before I hit him with huge guys. Scavenging Ooze went all the way here coming in with flash, eating guys and dealing the killing blow. Game 2 I had everything to beat him despite eating a painful Verdict in the beginning, Pithing Needle and Sylvan Primordial were good.
R4 vs UWR control: I win 2-0, another match I wasn't expecting on wining, especially since this was my friend whom I test with and his deck usually beats me. Prognostic Sphinx is boss, he just can't deal with it outside of Verdict so I just ride her for the win. On game 2 I have a lot of good sideboard stuff, including 3 Gainsays that really mess him up when he tries to resolve Jace to draw cards. Sphinx finds me a second Gainsay so I know I'm good for the game. A few more minutes into the match I drop Sylvan Primordial who frees up my Chained to the Rocks's Prophet of Kruphic which lets me untap during his turn and keep messing him up.
He uses another Chained to the Rocks on my Primordial, and a Detention Sphere on my Bident of Thassa and this is where it gets really ugly, as I manage to find my second Primordial, and use him to blow up his mountain, freeing my first Primordial who in turn frees up Bident of Thassa making my friend concede.
Conclusion of the day: Even though I faced some bad luck regarding land drops, my mistake in the second round was critical, and I need to keep in mind Primeval Bounty's counter ability, as it would've enabled me to put on the pressure on that game or at least last a lot longer and maybe even win it.
Prognostic Sphinx is boss, and I think I might cut the second copy of Primeval Bounty from the sideboard and replace it with an Aetherling.
2 Arbor Colossus
4 Boon Satyr
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Horizon Chimera
2 Omenspeaker
1 Polukranos, World Eater
4 Prime Speaker Zegana
4 Prophet of Kruphix
4 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Scatter Arc
2 Simic Charm
11 Forest
9 Island
3 Temple of Mystery
2 Cyclonic Rift
4 Curse of the Swine
3 Gainsay
2 Mistcutter Hydra
2 Negate
2 Rapid Hybridization
I find that I really need to draw cards, and I can't afford Garruk, so I run Prime Speaker Zegana x4. Usually with a Horizon Chimera I can draw 4 cards (and gain 4 life, and have a 4/4 creature, all for 6 mana), which is enough to give me fuel to take advantage of the Prophet.
Great draws let me get out Prophet on turn 3, drop a Chimera on their turn, enchant it with a Boon Satyr on my turn 4, then drop a Prime Speaker Zegana to draw 8 cards on their turn.
The Scatter Arcs are because I ran into a lot of trouble from opponents with spot removal. If they tap out and I can get out a prophet, I want to be able to counterspell however they try to kill it on their turn. In practice, though, I wonder if they'll just wait for me to flash something in, then respond with an instant. At least it stops Mizzium Mortars and sorcery removal.
4 Breeding Pool
4 Temple of Mystery
9 Forest
8 Island
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Sylvan Caryatid
2 Scavenging Ooze
2 Witchstalker
2 Boon Satyr
2 Polukranos, World Eater
2 Kalonian Hydra
2 Prognostic Sphinx
3 Prophet of Kruphix
2 Prime Speaker Zegana
2 Plasm Capture
1 Opportunity
1 Bow of Nylea
2 Jace, Architect of Thought
1 Pithing Needle
2 Ætherling
2 Arbor Colossus
2 Polukranos, World Eater
2 Mistcutter Hydra
1 Scavenging Ooze
2 Rapid Hybridization
2 Negate
1 Nylea, God of the Hunt
have gone 3-1 at FNM with this. 1-3 tonight :(. Still, it is a fun list to play with. I'd like more ramp (nykthos) and another primeval bounty mainboard. Gets stomped by supreme verdict control though.
The one in the OP.
I made a few changes last night but nothing big, still waiting on my copies of Curse of the Swine and Aetherling, I'll update once I have them.
The spot removal problem is solved by playing Prognostic Sphinx.
@NickD: not crazy about so many 2-ofs, I think you should try to fit in at least 1 Cyclonic Rift as the card just wins the game on its own.
Cool to see more lists here
I'll be playing FNM today, so I'll bring in another report.
The best win of the night was taking two monstrous Stormbreath Dragons to the face, dropping to 1 life, then flashing in an Arbor Colossus, untapping and squishing one of his dragons with a monstrous colossus, then untapping again, counterspelling his burn spell, and smashing my way to victory.
I like the deck, though I always worry about running out of steam, since literally half the deck are just mana sources.
2 Nimbus Swimmer
2 Omenspeaker
1 Zameck Guildmage
3 Voyaging Satyr
3 Karametra's Acolyte
3 Nylea's Disciple
3 Horizon Chimera
2 Fathom Mage
3 Prophet of Kruphix
2 Shipbreaker Kraken
1 Prime Speaker Zegana
2 Syncopate
3 Trion Tactics
2 Bow of Nylea
1 Dissolve
1 Cancel
2 Urban Evolution
Lands 24
3 Simic Guildgate
2 Temple of Mystery
1 Rogue's Passage
8 Island
10 Forest
I wanted to include a package of counterspells, mainly because i'm very afraid of Aetherling and Blood Baron of Vizkopa. With the amount of mana Acolyte can produce, Syncopate is much more reliable late game, while Cancel is a relatively good hard-counter.
With many of the signature threats elusive to me in either budget or just plain can't-find-them (Why, Elvish mystic?.....) my threats find their place in Shipbreaker Kraken and Nimbus Swimmer, both of whom get stronger more quickly with the excess mana we'll get with Karametra's Acolyte. Nylea's Disciple is MB for better security with the lifegain, and Fathom mage + Zameck Guildmage and/or Prime speaker zegana for card draw.
Voyaging Satyr is in there instead of Sylvan Caryatid and Elvish Mystic since she can just as easily ramp into our 4 drops, especially since they're much mroe important in this list. Triton Tactics is--yet again-- more security. Not sure if it's really necessary, especially since our threats can get big very quickly, but there just in case.
If i decide to cut them, i would shove in another Zameck Guildmage, an extra Island, and something else. maybe another Nimbus Swimmer?
enchanting Witchstalker with Raised by Wolves
I was using Shipbreaker Kraken in my initial testing because I didn't have the cards I needed yet. It was kinda cool xD, although a bit expensive mana-wise
PS: I got my Aetherling now so I changed my sideboard in the OP a bit:
+2 Fog
+1 Aetherling
+1 Hover Barrier
-3 Disciple of Nylea
-1 Primeval Bounty
2 Nimbus Swimmer
2 Omenspeaker
2 Zameck Guildmage
4 Voyaging Satyr
3 Karametra's Acolyte
3 Nylea's Disciple
3 Horizon Chimera
2 Fathom Mage
3 Prophet of Kruphix
2 Shipbreaker Kraken
1 Prime Speaker Zegana
2 Syncopate
2 Bow of Nylea
1 Dissolve
1 Cancel
2 Urban Evolution
Lands 25
3 Simic Guildgate
2 Temple of Mystery
1 Rogue's Passage
9 Island
10 Forest
Rogue's passage always seems untimely when i draw it early and i need a certain color, but seeing as i get mana screwed even with this number of lands (since most of my list is in the 4-drops, it's that much worse) I'm not cutting any lands. Fathom mage might be the best cut, but i'd only want to take one out since she'll evolve a LOT regardless. Zameck Guildmage is a great manasink and psuedo replacement to Master Biomancer--he's staying.
[Discpile of Nylea[/c] is probably the second best cut. with all three copies, life gain is STUPID. But I'm not sure if removing one will take enough away to weaken it significantly (even with Horizon Chimera + Fathom Mage + Bow of Nylea).
well... since ramping is significantly more important in my build:
-1 Fathom Mage
-1 Disciple of Nylea
+2 Elvish Mystic
enchanting Witchstalker with Raised by Wolves