The original combo had "another creature or way to damage sekki" included, so Sprouting Phytohydra does work as a refutation for any Parallel Lives+Blasting Station combo, unfortunately.
I got him with the stealth edit after he quoted my initial post. Not on purpose, obviously. I'm just immensely indecisive.
You don't need to put +1/+1 counters on Sekki, Seasons' Guide in order to go infinite, you just need to make sure it doesn't die as a state based effect for having zero toughness.
Step 1) Ping Sekki, Sekki's second ability triggers, creating two tokens with Parallel Lives
Step 2) Blasting Station's untap ability triggers twice, use one untap and a token to ping a player and the other to ping Sekki. Repeat until the table is dead.
I don't know if the premise (that the only infinite combos with Multani's Presence involve turning it into a virtual Recycle) is true, but if it is then your conclusion (Recycle refutes every Multani's Presence combo) looks right to me.
After having re-read Recycle, I noticed that it cares about cards played, whereas Multani's Presence cares about spells cast. Since you can cast copies of spells that are not necessarily cards (and counter them too), you can build a draw engine from Multani's Presence that you could not build with Recycle.
EDIT: However, there are only 10 cards containing the phrase, "cast the copy" in all of Magic. Of those 10 cards,the most promising ones look to be Elite Arcanist, Eye of the Storm, and Isochron Scepter. All of these can go infinite without Multani's Presence.
I think that all of the infinite combos involving Multani's Presence require you to build your own Recycle. If so, how does Recycle not refute all of these?
More edits. I picked up some sweet foils this past weekend and here are the changes I made.
Out: Igneous Pouncer - This and Monstrous Carabid were in that initial vein of cards that could combine with Oversold Cemetery and Phyrexian Rebirth to assemble a draw engine. I let my johnny get in the way of running a card that would draw more cards by itself. Monstrous Carabid - See above Blazing Hellhound - This did minimal damage to people's faces and didn't control the board well. Mountain - The curve of this deck is pretty low, I just lowered it even more with these most recent cuts, and I added some card draw
In: Necropotence - This is probably the best black card ever and EMA made foils easy to find. Slight nombo with some of the discard outlets, but I probably don't care because I'll have all the cards I ever want forever. Wheel of Fortune - Bins my recursive dudes while refilling my hand. Obviously an excellent card. Damnation - Better board control. Toxic Deluge - Foils of this didn't even exist prior to EMA. Also strong board control.
I can second this usage. You don't really need to reanimate Gray Merchant too many times before you win the game, so the land sacrifice isn't super painful. For me, this card offered repeatable reanimation redundancy with Chainer, Dementia Master and Corpse Dance in my Toshiro Umezawa reanimator list. Dawn of the Dead is another excellent inclusion if you've got sac outlets laying around. It's also very good with Sidisi, Undead Vizier.
Yeah, I've been flirting with the idea of extra combats, and I may try adding some at some point. I'm already running Selfless Spirit, and nearly all your suggestions come with the downside of not being evasive while this deck likes its creatures to be cheap and evasive, a faux-Edric of sorts. Yeah, I know, it seems crazy. Check my original list in the spoiler for creatures that actually do things instead of being unblockable 1/1s, but somehow the deck plays better with Augur il-Vec et al. Mother of Runes would make the most sense and could use a trial run, but I'm not optimistic.
I feel a bit silly for having missed the Selfless Spirit in your list. I'm still wholly unconvinced that running a handful of slightly harder to block Suntail Hawks is good enough for commander.
Have you considered going deeper on extra combat steps? I see you've already got Aurelia in your list, and since Tymna triggers at the beginning of your postcombat main phase, multiple combats will give you multiple Tymna triggers. For an on-theme inclusion, Godo, Bandit Warlord tutors equipment onto the battlefield and grants multiple combats for extra Tymna triggers. Also, the random 1-2 cmc shadow/horesemanship dudes would be better off as cheap utility/value creatures like Weathered Wayfarer, Oreskos Explorer, Knight of the White Orchid, or Mother of Runes. Swap out Augur Il-Vec for Selfless Spirit. You can do better than french vanilla weenies.
Glad I could be of at least a little help. The last batch of suggestions/cuts were based on what I consider strict upgrades of the cards you were running that would perform a similar role but cost less mana or synergize better with the rest of your deck. Also, I forgot about Tezzeret the Seeker when I was making recommendations for replacements to Fabricate. He's going to be better than Reshape in your deck since he costs 1 less mana to tutor out Aetherflux Reservoir and doesn't require you to sacrifice an artifact as part of his casting cost.
I've got a couple more suggestions because I noticed that a couple of storm all-stars were missing from your deck. I'll list the expensive ones first. Snapcaster Mage - High Tide/Bubbling Muck turns are awesome. Double High Tide turns are even better.
Reality Spasm - This is usually not as good as Turnabout, but when you've got a lot of mana rocks that tap for at least 2, it can generate a similar amount of mana on your High Tide turns.
Ponder - Cheap card selection is good for combo decks. You've got Brainstorm, Preordain, and even Serum Visions. Thanks to being banned in modern, it's also cheaper to buy in real life than Serum Visions.
Ideas Unbound - This is specifically for getting more gas during combo turns. Obviously risky to cast if you're not in the middle of going off.
That's 7 cards to add. Here's what I'd cut: Rewind - I suppose you can counter your own spells to try and generate mana on High Tide turns, but this is an expensive counterspell, which makes leaving mana up for it a pain, and it's worse at generating mana than both Cabal Ritual and Reality Spasm in most cases.
Exsanguinate - Probably sounds like heresy, but this usually only wins with infinite mana, which your deck can generate, but those are all at least 3 card combos that don't involve your commander. I suppose a small one could put you over the necessary life threshold to kill the table with Aetherflux Reservoir and Sydri.
Capsize - Also only really good with infinite mana.
Thirst for Knowledge - This one's close with Ideas Unbound. I wouldn't fault you for not cutting this, but you're actually pretty low on artifacts, so you're not going to net cards off of this a good amount of the time.
Rhystic Study - Dead draw on combo turns. Annoying removal magnet.
This list seems fun. I thought I'd weigh in with some suggestions to make the deck more powerful. Feel free to disregard suggestions based on budget and personal taste.
Render Silent - I think this card is basically just a harder to cast Cancel, which is medium at best in Commander. Are there situations where the Silence rider matters? If you're looking to win counter wars or stop combo decks, there's Flusterstorm. For a catchall, I'd suggest Mana Drain or one of the 'free' counterspells like Thwart, Foil, or Force of Will.
1) Equip Sekki with Thornbite Staff and Viridian Longbow, have it ping itself, creating a spirit.
2) Sacrifice the spirit to Altar of Dementia, untapping Sekki with the Thornbite Staff trigger. Repeat until everyone is milled to death.
I got him with the stealth edit after he quoted my initial post. Not on purpose, obviously. I'm just immensely indecisive.
Sekki, Seasons' Guide + Gaea's Anthem + Parallel Lives + Blasting Station and any creature or way to damage Sekki is sufficient to combo out in monogreen.
Step 1) Ping Sekki, Sekki's second ability triggers, creating two tokens with Parallel Lives
Step 2) Blasting Station's untap ability triggers twice, use one untap and a token to ping a player and the other to ping Sekki. Repeat until the table is dead.
After having re-read Recycle, I noticed that it cares about cards played, whereas Multani's Presence cares about spells cast. Since you can cast copies of spells that are not necessarily cards (and counter them too), you can build a draw engine from Multani's Presence that you could not build with Recycle.
EDIT: However, there are only 10 cards containing the phrase, "cast the copy" in all of Magic. Of those 10 cards,the most promising ones look to be Elite Arcanist, Eye of the Storm, and Isochron Scepter. All of these can go infinite without Multani's Presence.
Elite Arcanist + Evermind + Paradox Engine = Draw your deck
Eye of the Storm + Call to Mind (or any variation thereof) + Pull from Eternity + Twiddle = Arbitrary casts of every other instant/sorcery exiled with Eye of the Storm
Isochron Scepter + Manamorphose + Paradox Engine = Draw your deck
Also, I think the best way to build your own Recycle with Multani's Presence is with Cephalid Shrine.
Out:
Igneous Pouncer - This and Monstrous Carabid were in that initial vein of cards that could combine with Oversold Cemetery and Phyrexian Rebirth to assemble a draw engine. I let my johnny get in the way of running a card that would draw more cards by itself.
Monstrous Carabid - See above
Blazing Hellhound - This did minimal damage to people's faces and didn't control the board well.
Mountain - The curve of this deck is pretty low, I just lowered it even more with these most recent cuts, and I added some card draw
In:
Necropotence - This is probably the best black card ever and EMA made foils easy to find. Slight nombo with some of the discard outlets, but I probably don't care because I'll have all the cards I ever want forever.
Wheel of Fortune - Bins my recursive dudes while refilling my hand. Obviously an excellent card.
Damnation - Better board control.
Toxic Deluge - Foils of this didn't even exist prior to EMA. Also strong board control.
I can second this usage. You don't really need to reanimate Gray Merchant too many times before you win the game, so the land sacrifice isn't super painful. For me, this card offered repeatable reanimation redundancy with Chainer, Dementia Master and Corpse Dance in my Toshiro Umezawa reanimator list. Dawn of the Dead is another excellent inclusion if you've got sac outlets laying around. It's also very good with Sidisi, Undead Vizier.
I feel a bit silly for having missed the Selfless Spirit in your list. I'm still wholly unconvinced that running a handful of slightly harder to block Suntail Hawks is good enough for commander.
I've got a couple more suggestions because I noticed that a couple of storm all-stars were missing from your deck. I'll list the expensive ones first.
Snapcaster Mage - High Tide/Bubbling Muck turns are awesome. Double High Tide turns are even better.
Yawgmoth's Will - This card is nuts. Another way to have a double High Tide turn and re-cast all of your rituals. Also gives you outs to someone blowing up Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth.
These next recommendations are around bulk prices.
Cabal Ritual - You're rocking both Dark Ritual and Mana Vault. Adding this will increase the odds that you can storm off early. Also it makes Yawgmoth's Will better.
Reality Spasm - This is usually not as good as Turnabout, but when you've got a lot of mana rocks that tap for at least 2, it can generate a similar amount of mana on your High Tide turns.
Ponder - Cheap card selection is good for combo decks. You've got Brainstorm, Preordain, and even Serum Visions. Thanks to being banned in modern, it's also cheaper to buy in real life than Serum Visions.
Ideas Unbound - This is specifically for getting more gas during combo turns. Obviously risky to cast if you're not in the middle of going off.
Mind's Desire - Spells that you cast for free via Mind's Desire count toward Aetherflux Reservoir, Tendrils of Agony, and subsequent casts of Mind's Desire should you find some way to recur it (like Yawgmoth's Will or Snapcaster Mage). It's pretty painful to hit with Ad Nauseam, though.
That's 7 cards to add. Here's what I'd cut:
Rewind - I suppose you can counter your own spells to try and generate mana on High Tide turns, but this is an expensive counterspell, which makes leaving mana up for it a pain, and it's worse at generating mana than both Cabal Ritual and Reality Spasm in most cases.
Peer Through Depths - Looks at 1-2 more cards than Ponder but costs twice as much mana and has the potential to hit nothing. Notably, it can't find Aetherflux Reservoir.
Exsanguinate - Probably sounds like heresy, but this usually only wins with infinite mana, which your deck can generate, but those are all at least 3 card combos that don't involve your commander. I suppose a small one could put you over the necessary life threshold to kill the table with Aetherflux Reservoir and Sydri.
Capsize - Also only really good with infinite mana.
Thirst for Knowledge - This one's close with Ideas Unbound. I wouldn't fault you for not cutting this, but you're actually pretty low on artifacts, so you're not going to net cards off of this a good amount of the time.
Rhystic Study - Dead draw on combo turns. Annoying removal magnet.
Archaeomancer - Pretty slow, and you're not doing Ghostly Flicker/Cloud of Faeries shenanigans, so I'd cut this.
Render Silent - I think this card is basically just a harder to cast Cancel, which is medium at best in Commander. Are there situations where the Silence rider matters? If you're looking to win counter wars or stop combo decks, there's Flusterstorm. For a catchall, I'd suggest Mana Drain or one of the 'free' counterspells like Thwart, Foil, or Force of Will.
Void Shatter - Pretty much the same as above.
Fabricate - This card is slow and I'd run Transmute Artifact, Reshape, or Whir of Invention first. Also, I'd run Vampiric Tutor over this.
Commander's Sphere - 3 CMC rocks should tap for 2 or more mana. Worn Powerstone and Coalition Relic are both better.
Darksteel Ingot - Same as above. Also, if you're planning on adding Paradoxical Outcome, you should look into getting rocks that generate mana the turn they hit play, like Mox Diamond, Mana Crypt and Grim Monolith. These also get bonus points for being additional rocks that go infinite with Tidespout Tyrant.
Mind Stone & Thought Vessel - Demand more from your rocks.
Grand Arbiter Augustin IV - I'm pretty sure this is a pretty easy straight swap for Baral, Chief of Compliance if you run this for cost reduction. Otherwise, get a Defense Grid or something to prevent others from disrupting your combo turns.