MTG Salvation

This is mostly for my own records and amusement, but I wanted to keep a record of my current Geth deck, cuz it's just so darn fun to play. You really haven't lived until you have activated Geth five or six times in a row, all at EOT.

Quick question for all you fellow Geth-ers out there:

What kinds of mana acceleration do you run, and how many do you run?

My experience with Geth has always been "get lots and lots of mana, play Geth, and start stealing things". As mentioned above, I have a list of probably 30 different ways to make more mana, from simple stuff like Sol Ring to mana-doublers like Gauntlet of Power. Unfortunately, we just can't run them all, so I'm looking for some opinions on how much is enough, and which ones have worked for you.

I have a Geth deck that I love. For mana acceleration I run a pretty standard package I think, but I love getting huge amounts of mana so I might go a little overboard...

Coffers
Deserted Temple
Vesuva
Magus of the Coffers
Gauntlets of Power
Doubling Cube
Expedition Map (to fetch Coffers or Temple)
Journeyer's Kite / Thawing Glaciers to make sure I keep getting swamps
Worn Powerstone
Sol Ring
Thran Dynamo
Nirkana Revenant

I don't run Urborg anymore due to the bad synergy with Gauntlets of Power. I also cut Extraplanar Lens because it was helping opponents too much randomly, and the loss of the swamp that gets exiled often negated any gain with the lens, expecially once it gets disenchanted.

I wasn't sure on the doubling cube, but I have really gotten to like it. I play alot of sweepers and go for the longer game so it usually has a chance to shine.

One thing I didnt see on your list (hope I didnt just miss it) is Death Cloud. Floating 30 mana, playing Death Cloud, playing Geth and some dudes onto an empty board when everyone is in top deck mode is super fun (for me at least heh).

I should probably have mentioned that i'm only referring to "non-land" accelerators. Non-basic land accelerators like Coffers and Temple can easily replace one of the 20 or more basic lands in every list with minimal side effects, but it's much harder to find room for spell acceleration.

That being said, you raise a good point about Urborg not being necessary, and the negative interaction with the Gauntlet is annoying. Extraplanar Lens is fine if you run Snow-Covered Swamps, as long as you don't plan on playing it before turn 5 or 6. If you only run regular basics, then it's probably not worth it.

Where's Geth's girlfriend?
Some Ink-Eyes seems to fit here as well. Bitterblossom also..

Quote from Aeon-Phoenix

Where's Geth's girlfriend?
Some Ink-Eyes seems to fit here as well. Bitterblossom also..

Geth actually broke up with his girlfriend because she was too emo. Every time she reanimated something, she would get all mad and RFG the darn thing and then Geth couldn't use it anymore. Eventually, he realized that he was just better at recurring things than she was, and since she had no other purpose, he ended that relationship. It's the same reason why I don't run Mulldrifter in my Azami deck...the ability is redundant and my general is better at doing that ability than anyone else in the deck

Ink-Eyes is cool and all, but my general reanimates just fine, so more reanimation is usually redundant. Chainer is an exception because he reanimates my dead stuff (something Geth can't do).

Bitterblossom would be a good one here, just need to wait for them to stop being so expensive and then I'll get one.

More on the acceleration: There are a couple of color-specific accelerants that work particularly well in this deck, namely Black Market and Nirkana Revenant. These two are unavailable to other mono-colored generals, so I'm going to try and include more ways to make use of these unique abilities.

The revenant has worked great for me.

I kind of scoffed at Black Market at first, because I didn't own one, and then all of a sudden my roommate is pumping out 15 mana a turn with it. Thanks for reminding me I need to pick one up myself.

Another black mana source (kind of) I toyed around with was Altar of Shadows. I figured I had the mana to spare and reusable kill is always good. In practice I rarely had it work well. Just too expensive to really get rolling and once it is on the board an opponent isn't going to play profitably into it (I guess there is something to be said about deterring them from even playing their creatures; I digress).

Yeah, Altar of Shadows is WAAAAAY too expensive.

I routinely get Black Market up to 30, 40, or more charges. Once that happens, I'm off and running. Nothing quite as nice as FREE COLORED MANA EVERY TURN.

Quote from OCPunisher

Geth actually broke up with his girlfriend because she was too emo. Every time she reanimated something, she would get all mad and RFG the darn thing and then Geth couldn't use it anymore. Eventually, he realized that he was just better at recurring things than she was, and since she had no other purpose, he ended that relationship.

Aw. But you run rings! The Coffin Queen rocks with rings!
Agreed she is pretty fragile without Greaves though. Even a card like Twiddle can ruin her day.

I do disagree that when paired with Geth reanimation becomes redundant. Forcing discard and milling, plus all the sweepers played out there should supply you with plenty of juicy targets. Can Geth and Chainer get them all?
I say, "Gimme moar!"

Instead of Phyrexian Vault, I'd use Infernal Tribute. More reusable, harder to kill, and you can sac any permanent......for a stricter color requirement. I kinda think it's worth it.

Literally 1/5 of the cards in your deck are sac outlets. Do you really need that many? Especially considering the cards you are running. Spawning Pit? Viscera Seer? Krovikan Horror? Even Malevolent Awakening, spending 3 extra mana to cast a creature at the cost of another, when Geth does that job so much better. I could be missing something, but it seems like cutting a couple of sac outlets, when they don't get removed too often, is fine.

I run a lot of sac outlets because I've found that my opponents will generally try to destroy the things that I reanimate, and it's always nice to have a way to make sure that they return to their graveyards where I can reanimate them again if necessary. Sac outlets are nice because the sacrifice is part of the activation cost, so they can't respond by casting Swords to Plowshares or the like. It's also nice because Grave Pact is far and away the best source of removal in this deck.

That being said, I did notice that I had a few too many sac outlets in the last few games. I could see myself cutting Viscera Seer because scry1 is not all that exciting. Spawning Pit is kinda nice because it's free and makes more bodies to sacrifice. Malevolent Awakening is nice because it allows me to dump their stuff and get back my own stuff, although I am a little light on actual creatures, and 1BB is a fairly steep cost, so that one could maybe get cut. Krovikan Horror is awesome - it usually recurs itself and it's good at keeping planeswalkers honest or picking off smaller dudes like Oracle of Mul Daya and Eternal Witness (two of the best targets for Geth).

Quote from OCPunisher

I run a lot of sac outlets because I've found that my opponents will generally try to destroy the things that I reanimate, and it's always nice to have a way to make sure that they return to their graveyards where I can reanimate them again if necessary. Sac outlets are nice because the sacrifice is part of the activation cost, so they can't respond by casting Swords to Plowshares or the like. It's also nice because Grave Pact is far and away the best source of removal in this deck.

That being said, I did notice that I had a few too many sac outlets in the last few games. I could see myself cutting Viscera Seer because scry1 is not all that exciting. Spawning Pit is kinda nice because it's free and makes more bodies to sacrifice. Malevolent Awakening is nice because it allows me to dump their stuff and get back my own stuff, although I am a little light on actual creatures, and 1BB is a fairly steep cost, so that one could maybe get cut. Krovikan Horror is awesome - it usually recurs itself and it's good at keeping planeswalkers honest or picking off smaller dudes like Oracle of Mul Daya and Eternal Witness (two of the best targets for Geth).

Seems reasonable. I just see sac outlets getting exponentially worse the more that you have. Isn't much of a problem when you can recast Geth as much as you want though.

How have Minion Reflector, Massacre Wurm, and Chainer, Dementia Master worked for you? Minion Reflector seems like a Rings of Brighthearth for ETB effect creatures, looks like fun, but kind of expensive. Pawn of Ulamog is an interesting idea. How effective has it been without a Grave Pact out?

(Just a heads up: I just noticed you didn't mark the altars as sac outlets in your decklist.)

Quote from pookyrocks

How have Minion Reflector, Massacre Wurm, and Chainer, Dementia Master worked for you? Minion Reflector seems like a Rings of Brighthearth for ETB effect creatures, looks like fun, but kind of expensive.

My playgroup is all about killing whatever I put onto the battlefield, especialy if Geth steals it, so I always like to get some value out of things that are on the way out. Krark-Clan Ironworks is on the list of things to maybe come in, as I have fewer sac outlets for artifacts, and more free Geth mana is always good.

Minion Reflector is kinda expensive, but getting a second free Primeval Titan is never bad. Massacre Wurm is always good, and especially since most of my local competition plays green decks. Chainer is situational: there are a lot of times when he is better than Geth, and a lot of times when he is worse. Since they are almost functional reprints and both synergize well with the rest of the deck, it's nice to have both in there for redundancy.

Quote from OCPunisher

My playgroup is all about killing whatever I put onto the battlefield, especialy if Geth steals it, so I always like to get some value out of things that are on the way out. Krark-Clan Ironworks is on the list of things to maybe come in, as I have fewer sac outlets for artifacts, and more free Geth mana is always good.

Minion Reflector is kinda expensive, but getting a second free Primeval Titan is never bad. Massacre Wurm is always good, and especially since most of my local competition plays green decks. Chainer is situational: there are a lot of times when he is better than Geth, and a lot of times when he is worse. Since they are almost functional reprints and both synergize well with the rest of the deck, it's nice to have both in there for redundancy.

I've used Nezumi Graverobber for that purpose, although admittedly it can be anti-synergetic and can be a much worse top-deck than the Chainer. At worst, it's a poor man's Withered Wretch, at best it reanimates splashy creatures on the cheap and serves as flagbearer-esque protection for Geth.

Quote from pookyrocks

I've used Nezumi Graverobber for that purpose, although admittedly it can be anti-synergetic and can be a much worse top-deck than the Chainer. At worst, it's a poor man's Withered Wretch, at best it reanimates splashy creatures on the cheap and serves as flagbearer-esque protection for Geth.

Nezumi Graverobber is waaaaay too risky for my taste. Geth likes to have things in the graveyard to play with, and Nezumi Graverobber needs to empty someone's yard. Those two strategies are almost exact opposites of each other, so the Graverobber is probably not going to happen, especially when Withered Wretch is just infinitely better.

Liliana Vess should fit well in this deck. Her +1 will probably not get creatures in the graveyard, but it does mess with people. -2 Tutor for next turn? I think yes! -8 is Geth's best friend. Use those sac outlets to put a creature in the graveyard, then start milling again.

Oh and I know you don't have very many creatures yourself, but a Vampire Nighthawk might help, especially with flying and deathtouch.

Quote from Dakarai

Liliana Vess should fit well in this deck. Her +1 will probably not get creatures in the graveyard, but it does mess with people. -2 Tutor for next turn? I think yes! -8 is Geth's best friend. Use those sac outlets to put a creature in the graveyard, then start milling again.

I used to run Liliana, but I eventually cut it for other tutors like Demonic Collusion, because most of the time all she did was tutor once and then die. She never survives all the way up to 8 loyalty.

Quote from Dakarai

Oh and I know you don't have very many creatures yourself, but a Vampire Nighthawk might help, especially with flying and deathtouch.

It might, but a Basilisk Collar or a Wurmcoil Engine would help more.

Updated this list with a bunch of new cards, including all of the "when X dies" cards (Blood Artist, Harvester of Souls, etc).

Unfortunately, I am currently at 67 spells, so I need to cut at least five cards from this list, and probably more once M13 gives me new Liliana and her lovely Shade. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.