Make Love and War
A Rubinia Soulsinger Populate Deck, by Hallucigenia
Introduction
So most folks who want to try a Populate deck in EDH will probably run Trostani as the general, but I don't want to just be populating boring-ass wurm or centaur tokens (though it does that too)... I want to be populating token copies of my Woodfall Primus or my opponent's Angel of Serenity! So GUW it is. No Bant-coloured generals are particularly thematic, but Rubinia adds some extra functionality to Cackling Counterpart and Tempt with Reflections, and allows me to put Followed Footsteps on an opponent's creature using Sovereigns of Lost Alara, rather than just my own. Plus, creature theft is never bad in Commander!
This deck attempts to put token copy cards like Rite of Replication and Spitting Image into overdrive using the Populate mechanic, and has a healthy amount of token generation and fatties with good come into play abilities like the Primus and Craterhoof Behemoth to make sure the copy cards have good targets. I've tried to round it out with some mid-range beats and card advantage.
In a game of heavy removal, you'll get the most out of your populate spells by copying creatures with handy come-into-play (ETB) abilities as you get an immediate benefit, even if the creature doesn't stick around.
Decks like this should have a nice curve, with plenty of early utility creatures that curve nicely into Conjurer's Closet and can start generating some nice early engines with creature-copiers or just start hitting with swords.
Note Ixidron turns over NON-TOKEN creatures, making it very effective here.
Card advantage and mana acceleration should ideally come in the form of copyable bodies, like Farhaven Elf and Regal Force.
Finally, Conjurer's Closet is an all-star not only because of all the handy ETB abilities, but note that it returns the creature back under YOUR control, not ITS OWNER'S control, meaning that creatures stolen with Rubinia's ability may be blinked and kept permanently.
- If I see Doubling Season go down in price, I'll consider it, but for now, it's a bit out of my budget principles.
- Soul Foundry is a good idea for this archetype, but for my deck in particular it didn't quite make the cut as there aren't enough applicable creatures right now to justify the risk, as it's a big target, I've found.
- The Sargeant is the same... good idea for the theme, maybe not so much for my deck, as I'm not sure I'm that able to have a blue permanent around that often.
- Echo Chamber and Parallel Evolution are great ideas. I especially like Echo Chamber, as the downside (opponent chooses) hardly matters in EDH, especially in my metagame. It will almost always get me a handy token, and the populated token won't die as the text is attached to the artifact, not the creature itself. Awesome!
I wonder how strong she is overall, though. Looking at her compared to Merieke Ri Berit she's two mana more expensive and unlike Merry, she gives the creatures back, no questions asked. This in trade for increased survivability (meh... 1 vs. 3 toughness rarely makes a difference in EDH) and the ability to untap if you wish (better). Angus drops early and his ability is consistently useful.
I think I'll try her and see how it goes. Thanks for the suggestion.
Just remembered Minion Reflector; it's replaced Pollenbright Wings. The Wings are nice with stuff like Cathar's Crusade, but I can't really make much use of the saprolings without an Overrun effect.
I'm working on a similar list with Señor Mackenzie at the helm, although not as focused on Populate. Have you considered Collective Blessing as an anthem effect over Cathar's Crusade? How frequently are you pumping out multiple tokens a turn? If its fairly frequently, Crusade might be better, but otherwise I would think Blessing to be more consistent.
I'm working on a similar list with Señor Mackenzie at the helm, although not as focused on Populate. Have you considered Collective Blessing as an anthem effect over Cathar's Crusade? How frequently are you pumping out multiple tokens a turn? If its fairly frequently, Crusade might be better, but otherwise I would think Blessing to be more consistent.
Thank you.
This is a close one. This deck doesn't generate tokens at the rate elf ball decks do, but after a few plays I've noticed the creature count gets quite high, enough, on average, to be comparable to the Blessing, with the added benefit that the counters stick around with Crusade. I will keep that idea on the backburner as I playtest it more, as I may have had good luck.
Edit: Though that said, some redundancy might be good here. Blessing would pack a wallop. Maybe thinking of replacing it with Back from the Brink, as it hasn't done much work I've noticed.
I guess it depends on the amount of enchantment removal you're up against. Collective Blessing will be of use the turn it comes into play (assuming you have creatures on the board and have no instant speed removal to deal with), but once it's removed its removed. Cathar's Crusade appears to be the inverse; not gaining immediate value on its own, but it has more impact the longer it stays in play.
I do love the concept of what Back from the Brink does here, but when you look at what it takes to make it awesome (a creature in the yard, a populate effect and an enchantment that doesn't do much the turn it comes into play), its a bit harder to justify.
I guess it depends on the amount of enchantment removal you're up against.
Somewhere in the middle. Not so little that I could safely run Beastmaster's Ascension; not so much that I can't get a few counters out of Crusade before it dies.
I love Back from the Brink too much to cut it **yet** but if it keeps underachieving the it's going bye-bye.
Anthem effects have actually not been doing the work I expected them to, partially because they don't stick around, and partially because this deck doesn't create the huge population of tokens others do. I'm keeping Silver Seraph as it's a copy-able body, but since I finally traded for a Doubling Season, that will replace Cathar's Crusade.
Great thread, I'm in the process of making a Bant populate deck as well. My main concern is making it too janky. How does your deck do at maintaining steam throughout and are you able to win games? Also, I have Treva as my commander, is Rubinia much better?
I was also wondering about how these cards have been for you
Also, my list doesn't run Eyes in the Skies, or Coursers' Accord because the non-populate part of them is pretty bad for the cost. How have they been for you?
Great thread, I'm in the process of making a Bant populate deck as well. My main concern is making it too janky. How does your deck do at maintaining steam throughout and are you able to win games? Also, I have Treva as my commander, is Rubinia much better?
Thank you.
I have played about seven four-player games, and won, I believe, three (I'd consider my group a 8/10 on the competitive scale). The deck maintains steam very well. It keeps its hands full and recovers quickly from wrath. As for your concern, I've given it a fair bit of thought, and I'm afraid a bit of jankiness will be unavoidable. Populate will not a Rafiq or Bant Control deck make, no matter how you build it!
In one game, everybody scooped early when a fast Dance of Many + Wayfaring Temple went logarithmic. In another couple, I was simply overpowering the board with fat ETB creatures + Mimic Vat + Parallel Lives. Another I Phyrexian Rebirthed the board with Growing Ranks out. All our lives were low and they couldn't recover from that bottleneck. At some point I accelerated into a very early kicked Rite of Rep on Acidic Slime. I forget what happened for the win but the tempo was too much to recover from either way.
Concerning the commander, theft is excellent in my metagame as there are a lot of fatties, and as I mention earlier she adds functionality by applying Cackling Counterpart and Sovereigns of Lost Alara+Followed Footsteps to my opponent's creatures. Treva is solid, but adds no particular synergy to the deck's function. Angus is nice, cost-effective defense, but I find this deck functions better aggressively.
I was also wondering about how these cards have been for you
The dragon that Tatsumasa creates is not Legendary. A 5/5 Flyer is a good use of populate, the sword trons nicely with creatures like Mr. Traft the Selkie, and provides late-game relevance to Centaur/Elephant tokens and early-game creatures who would otherwise be scratching their bums. Nonetheless, it's a slow card and up for cutting.
Selkie is excellent early-game card advantage with a copy-able body and a great late-game target for Tatsumasa, Behemoth Sledge and Wurmweaver Coil. Plus she keeps the curve reasonable. I'd be most reluctant to cut her.
Coil is backup choice for Sovereigns after Followed Footsteps, also provides relevance to otherwise useless tokens, and provides a Wurm token to boot, but is also a bit clunky.
Also, my list doesn't run Eyes in the Skies, or Coursers' Accord because the non-populate part of them is pretty bad for the cost. How have they been for you?
At worst, the birds block two dragons, at best it's a four-mana, instant-speed Sylvan Primordial. Courser's Accord is a tough one. I'm still of the opinion that this deck has little enough Populate. I'll play the deck further, but I feel more often disappointed I can't draw a Populate card for another Woodfall Primus than I feel disappointed at drawing an Accord. Even if I only get two Centaurs, there's Tatsumasa, Behemoth Sledge, Wurmweaver Coil...
I definitely am hoping to see more Populate in Dragon's Maze, so I can be more choosy, though. As is, I dropped the Rhino Populater as too expensive.
Consider City of Shadows as a land. Steal creature, make a token copy of it, then exile it. Happy times.
David, great choice for utility lands. If you run any form of Control Magic effects besides your general. You can Gilded Drake their best creature just to remove it from the game, then bounce back your Gilded Drake before your next turn.
Andy did that in his Esper Control deck as Sen Triplets as his general. It was extremely effective.
Sower of Temptation comes to mind for most value for its cmc.
I've noticed that you aren't running giant adephage and his little brother spawnwrithe. Have you considered these cards and figured they wouldn't be good because they need to connect or did they slip under your radar?
They're both good clone targets and they're both great populate targets once they connect just once.
I have indeed had Giant Adephage on my Maybepile for a bit, just forgot to add it to the OP. Spawnwrithe is good if you draw it early, but even an army of bears doesn't go a terribly long way in this deck. I want tokens to be 3/3 minimum if for no other reason than Garruk's Packleader.
Work's been hectic so I haven't had much time to make adjustment considerations, but suggestions for fitting in the Adephage in the mean time are welcome.
That said, it would be a tough fit. Seven mana into a guy that doesn't start spitting out tokens until he connects with an opponent in a hard sell. I'm wary about upping the mana curve any further, so it would have to replace something up on the curve as well. Perhaps Tatsu, but like I said last page, the added utility to add late-game relevance to tokens and early creatures makes this a close one.
Perhaps Crush of Wurms... it has a more immediate benefit, but vanilla creatures don't go a very long way in EDH. The Trample on Adephage is nice. Then again, so is the Flashback.
This deck is now 5-in-8 after winning another game a couple of days back.
Geist of Saint Traft and Wayfaring Temple are best buds, as Mr. Traft spits out the angel in time for the Temple to populate. It got out of hand quickly, and even though an opponent managed to respond with a Wrath of God, I replied with a Sun Titan and got it going again quickly. I eliminated the opponent for whom the deck was a worse match-up and took the game against the remaining friend whose deck deals poorly with aggro.
The more recent "flicker" effects that return the creature from exile "under your control" (instead of the older "owner's control") are perfect for Rubinia. You get to steal a creature, blink it out and then back in under your permanent control, then untap Rubinia next turn to do it again.
Two games I've played with this deck since his inclusion and I still haven't drawn him yet! I can't wait to have him on the field. He's perfect for this deck.
The more recent "flicker" effects that return the creature from exile "under your control" (instead of the older "owner's control") are perfect for Rubinia...
Wow! You know I never once noticed the wording on those new cards? I just assumed they went back to owner like all the rest. Definitely a consideration thanks.
Lot of changes lately. I've cut some weaker options, and I'm trying to move as much card advantage and mana acceleration into the creature slot as possible, so I can abuse them with Populate.
A Rubinia Soulsinger Populate Deck, by Hallucigenia
Introduction
So most folks who want to try a Populate deck in EDH will probably run Trostani as the general, but I don't want to just be populating boring-ass wurm or centaur tokens (though it does that too)... I want to be populating token copies of my Woodfall Primus or my opponent's Angel of Serenity! So GUW it is. No Bant-coloured generals are particularly thematic, but Rubinia adds some extra functionality to Cackling Counterpart and Tempt with Reflections, and allows me to put Followed Footsteps on an opponent's creature using Sovereigns of Lost Alara, rather than just my own. Plus, creature theft is never bad in Commander!
This deck attempts to put token copy cards like Rite of Replication and Spitting Image into overdrive using the Populate mechanic, and has a healthy amount of token generation and fatties with good come into play abilities like the Primus and Craterhoof Behemoth to make sure the copy cards have good targets. I've tried to round it out with some mid-range beats and card advantage.
Without further ado...
5 Rubinia Soulsinger
Creatures (32)
1 Rhys the Redeemed
2 Sakura-Tribe Elder
2 Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage
3 Cold-Eyed Selkie
3 Drift of Phantasms
3 Eternal Witness
3 Geist of Saint Traft
3 Farhaven Elf
3 Trygon Predator
3 Wayfaring Temple
4 Fathom Mage
4 Ondu Giant
4 Oracle of Mul Daya
4 Trostani, Selesnya's Voice
5 Acidic Slime
5 Garruk's Packleader
5 Ixidron
5 Karmic Guide
5 Mulldrifter
5 Prophet of Kruphix
5 Rubinia Soulsinger
6 Armada Wurm
6 Consecrated Sphinx
6 Duplicant
6 Progenitor Mimic
6 Rampaging Baloths
6 Sun Titan
6 Brutalizer Exarch
7 Regal Force
8 Craterhoof Behemoth
8 Terastodon
8 Woodfall Primus
3 Cackling Counterpart
3 Wargate
4 Explosive Vegetation
4 Tempt with Reflections
5 Hallowed Burial
5 Rite of Replication
6 Phyrexian Rebirth
6 Spitting Image
6 Stolen Identity
7 Hour of Reckoning
Instants (5)
2 Druid's Deliverance
2 Sundering Growth
3 Rootborn Defenses
4 Eyes in the Skies
6 Trostani's Judgment
Planeswalkers (2)
4 Garruk Wildspeaker
5 Garruk, Primal Hunter
Artifacts (7)
1 Sol Ring
2 Swiftfoot Boots
3 Behemoth Sledge
3 Mimic Vat
3 Sword of Light and Shadow
4 Echo Chamber
5 Conjurer's Closet
Enchantments (8)
2 Dance of Many
2 Luminarch Ascension
3 Aura Shards
4 Growing Ranks
4 Parallel Lives
5 Doubling Season
5 Followed Footsteps
5 Mirari's Wake
1 Adarkar Wastes
1 Alchemist's Refuge
1 Azorius Chancery
1 Brushland
1 Command Tower
1 Evolving Wilds
9 Forest
1 High Market
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Gargoyle Castle
1 Grove of the Guardian
6 Island
6 Plains
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Selesnya Sanctuary
1 Simic Growth Chamber
1 Seaside Citadel
1 Terramorphic Expanse
Wishlist
0 City of Shadows
2 Eladamri's Call
3 Chord of Calling
** To be expanded when I have time **
In a game of heavy removal, you'll get the most out of your populate spells by copying creatures with handy come-into-play (ETB) abilities as you get an immediate benefit, even if the creature doesn't stick around.
As such, this deck runs a healthy amount of ETB creatures like the Primus, the Behemoth, Sun Titan, Mulldrifter and Duplicant, or they generate worthwhile tokens, like the Geist of Saint Traft and Rampaging Baloths. Some, like Hornet Queen, Wurmcoil Engine and Terastodon, do both.
Decks like this should have a nice curve, with plenty of early utility creatures that curve nicely into Conjurer's Closet and can start generating some nice early engines with creature-copiers or just start hitting with swords.
Note Ixidron turns over NON-TOKEN creatures, making it very effective here.
** To be expanded when I have time **
This deck likes a nice opening curve, as it can run away fairly quickly. Turn three Wayfaring Temples followed by turn four Cackling Counterparts or Dance of Manys have been known to happen. An early army of Trygon Predators, Cold-Eyed Selkies or accelerated Acidic Slimes is an excellent head-start.
Wrath is never nice when playing an aggro deck, but this deck proves robust against sweep: it keeps its hand full; it runs non-creature sources of aggro like Mimic Vat and Luminarch Ascension, and it runs some recursion like Sun Titan, Karmic Guide, Sword of Light and Shadow and Eternal Witness. Most mid-late game wraths are little concern -- last game I had a Parallel Lives out, I played a Karmic Guide and Dance of Many, and not only I was back in the game, my explosive start after the wrath won me it.
Big creatures here try to be solutions to late-game problems, like Woodfall Primus and Terastodon. Perhaps by the time you're playing them you have Minion Reflector and Parallel Lives in play! Ouch.
Card advantage and mana acceleration should ideally come in the form of copyable bodies, like Farhaven Elf and Regal Force.
Finally, Conjurer's Closet is an all-star not only because of all the handy ETB abilities, but note that it returns the creature back under YOUR control, not ITS OWNER'S control, meaning that creatures stolen with Rubinia's ability may be blinked and kept permanently.
Update Log
21/10/2012 -- Minion Reflector replaces Pollenbright Wings.
24/10/2012 -- Garruk's Packleader replaces Griffin Guide
-- Echo Chamber replaces Minion Reflector (token has sac clause, not artifact)
27/02/2013 -- Stolen Identity rep. Fable of Wolf and Owl
24/10/2012 -- Doubling Season rep. Cathar's Crusade.
-- Armada Wurm rep. Edric, Spymaster of Trest.
30/12/2013
Added
Oracle of Mul Daya
Karmic Guide
Eternal Witness
Progenitor Mimic
Drift of Phantasms
Farhaven Elf
Prophet of Kruphix
Fathom Mage
Mirari's Wake
Aura Shards
Regal Force
Scion of Vitu-Ghazi
Sylvan Primordial
Wake the Reflections
Tempt with Reflections
Sword of Light and Shadow
Removed
Drogskol Reaver
Hornet Queen
Kazandu Tuskcaller
Silver Seraph
Sovereigns of Lost Alara
Back from the Brink
Wurmweaver Coil
Biomantic Mastery
Courser's Accord
Crush of Wurms
Cultivate
Recurring Insight
Tidings
Moonsilver Spear
Tatsumasa, the Dragon's Fang
Darksteel Ingot
26/01/2014 -- Conjurer's Closet replaces Scion of Vitu-Ghazi
Playtesting | Karador, Ghost Chieftain | Narset, Enlightened Master | Ephara, God of the Polis
Established | Gahiji, Honored One | Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker | Opal-Eye, Konda's Yojimbo | Rubinia Soulsinger
Retired | Medomai the Ageless | Diaochan, Artful Beauty
Anyways, I was going to run Treva as my commander for the possible life gain, but there truly isn't a good Bant commander that fits the theme.
Here are some possible suggestions that I had written down for inclusion in my version:
I look forward to hearing how it plays!
--Evil
- If I see Doubling Season go down in price, I'll consider it, but for now, it's a bit out of my budget principles.
- Soul Foundry is a good idea for this archetype, but for my deck in particular it didn't quite make the cut as there aren't enough applicable creatures right now to justify the risk, as it's a big target, I've found.
- The Sargeant is the same... good idea for the theme, maybe not so much for my deck, as I'm not sure I'm that able to have a blue permanent around that often.
- Echo Chamber and Parallel Evolution are great ideas. I especially like Echo Chamber, as the downside (opponent chooses) hardly matters in EDH, especially in my metagame. It will almost always get me a handy token, and the populated token won't die as the text is attached to the artifact, not the creature itself. Awesome!
Playtesting | Karador, Ghost Chieftain | Narset, Enlightened Master | Ephara, God of the Polis
Established | Gahiji, Honored One | Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker | Opal-Eye, Konda's Yojimbo | Rubinia Soulsinger
Retired | Medomai the Ageless | Diaochan, Artful Beauty
I wasn't even aware of Rubinia Soulsinger. Not only would she make Cackling Counterpart better, I can get that Followed Footsteps on an opponent's creature using Sovereigns of Lost Alara.
I wonder how strong she is overall, though. Looking at her compared to Merieke Ri Berit she's two mana more expensive and unlike Merry, she gives the creatures back, no questions asked. This in trade for increased survivability (meh... 1 vs. 3 toughness rarely makes a difference in EDH) and the ability to untap if you wish (better). Angus drops early and his ability is consistently useful.
I think I'll try her and see how it goes. Thanks for the suggestion.
Playtesting | Karador, Ghost Chieftain | Narset, Enlightened Master | Ephara, God of the Polis
Established | Gahiji, Honored One | Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker | Opal-Eye, Konda's Yojimbo | Rubinia Soulsinger
Retired | Medomai the Ageless | Diaochan, Artful Beauty
Playtesting | Karador, Ghost Chieftain | Narset, Enlightened Master | Ephara, God of the Polis
Established | Gahiji, Honored One | Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker | Opal-Eye, Konda's Yojimbo | Rubinia Soulsinger
Retired | Medomai the Ageless | Diaochan, Artful Beauty
I'm working on a similar list with Señor Mackenzie at the helm, although not as focused on Populate. Have you considered Collective Blessing as an anthem effect over Cathar's Crusade? How frequently are you pumping out multiple tokens a turn? If its fairly frequently, Crusade might be better, but otherwise I would think Blessing to be more consistent.
WGU - Jenara, Asura of War - Bant Counters
WUB - Sen Triplets - Blink Control
RWU - Ruhan of the Fomori - Combat Control
WB - Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts - Orzhov Knights
UB - Grimgrin, Corpse-Born - Tribal Combo
G - Yeva, Nature's Herald - Yo-Yo Champion
Thank you.
This is a close one. This deck doesn't generate tokens at the rate elf ball decks do, but after a few plays I've noticed the creature count gets quite high, enough, on average, to be comparable to the Blessing, with the added benefit that the counters stick around with Crusade. I will keep that idea on the backburner as I playtest it more, as I may have had good luck.
Edit: Though that said, some redundancy might be good here. Blessing would pack a wallop. Maybe thinking of replacing it with Back from the Brink, as it hasn't done much work I've noticed.
Playtesting | Karador, Ghost Chieftain | Narset, Enlightened Master | Ephara, God of the Polis
Established | Gahiji, Honored One | Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker | Opal-Eye, Konda's Yojimbo | Rubinia Soulsinger
Retired | Medomai the Ageless | Diaochan, Artful Beauty
I do love the concept of what Back from the Brink does here, but when you look at what it takes to make it awesome (a creature in the yard, a populate effect and an enchantment that doesn't do much the turn it comes into play), its a bit harder to justify.
WGU - Jenara, Asura of War - Bant Counters
WUB - Sen Triplets - Blink Control
RWU - Ruhan of the Fomori - Combat Control
WB - Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts - Orzhov Knights
UB - Grimgrin, Corpse-Born - Tribal Combo
G - Yeva, Nature's Herald - Yo-Yo Champion
Somewhere in the middle. Not so little that I could safely run Beastmaster's Ascension; not so much that I can't get a few counters out of Crusade before it dies.
I love Back from the Brink too much to cut it **yet** but if it keeps underachieving the it's going bye-bye.
Playtesting | Karador, Ghost Chieftain | Narset, Enlightened Master | Ephara, God of the Polis
Established | Gahiji, Honored One | Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker | Opal-Eye, Konda's Yojimbo | Rubinia Soulsinger
Retired | Medomai the Ageless | Diaochan, Artful Beauty
Oops... populated tokens from Minion Reflector keeps the sac clause. Underwhelming. Trying Echo Chamber instead.
Also, Griffin Guide actually hasn't been doing much work. Really want to try Garruk's Packleader here.
Playtesting | Karador, Ghost Chieftain | Narset, Enlightened Master | Ephara, God of the Polis
Established | Gahiji, Honored One | Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker | Opal-Eye, Konda's Yojimbo | Rubinia Soulsinger
Retired | Medomai the Ageless | Diaochan, Artful Beauty
I've been having a fair bit of success with Rubinia at the helm instead of Angus, so I've changed it officially.
Really hoping there will be more Populate cards in Dragon's Maze. Been noticing the half dozen Populate cards is a bit thin. Oh well.
Playtesting | Karador, Ghost Chieftain | Narset, Enlightened Master | Ephara, God of the Polis
Established | Gahiji, Honored One | Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker | Opal-Eye, Konda's Yojimbo | Rubinia Soulsinger
Retired | Medomai the Ageless | Diaochan, Artful Beauty
Also got my hands on an Armada Wurm. That's replaced Edric, Spymaster of Trest.
Very glad I added Garruk's Packleader to this deck. It's drawn me a lot of cards. Echo Chamber is proving to be excellent as well.
Playtesting | Karador, Ghost Chieftain | Narset, Enlightened Master | Ephara, God of the Polis
Established | Gahiji, Honored One | Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker | Opal-Eye, Konda's Yojimbo | Rubinia Soulsinger
Retired | Medomai the Ageless | Diaochan, Artful Beauty
I was also wondering about how these cards have been for you
as well as a few others.
Also, my list doesn't run Eyes in the Skies, or Coursers' Accord because the non-populate part of them is pretty bad for the cost. How have they been for you?
GW BenedictioWG
Thank you.
I have played about seven four-player games, and won, I believe, three (I'd consider my group a 8/10 on the competitive scale). The deck maintains steam very well. It keeps its hands full and recovers quickly from wrath. As for your concern, I've given it a fair bit of thought, and I'm afraid a bit of jankiness will be unavoidable. Populate will not a Rafiq or Bant Control deck make, no matter how you build it!
In one game, everybody scooped early when a fast Dance of Many + Wayfaring Temple went logarithmic. In another couple, I was simply overpowering the board with fat ETB creatures + Mimic Vat + Parallel Lives. Another I Phyrexian Rebirthed the board with Growing Ranks out. All our lives were low and they couldn't recover from that bottleneck. At some point I accelerated into a very early kicked Rite of Rep on Acidic Slime. I forget what happened for the win but the tempo was too much to recover from either way.
Concerning the commander, theft is excellent in my metagame as there are a lot of fatties, and as I mention earlier she adds functionality by applying Cackling Counterpart and Sovereigns of Lost Alara+Followed Footsteps to my opponent's creatures. Treva is solid, but adds no particular synergy to the deck's function. Angus is nice, cost-effective defense, but I find this deck functions better aggressively.
You've definitely spotted a couple 'maybe's.
The dragon that Tatsumasa creates is not Legendary. A 5/5 Flyer is a good use of populate, the sword trons nicely with creatures like Mr. Traft the Selkie, and provides late-game relevance to Centaur/Elephant tokens and early-game creatures who would otherwise be scratching their bums. Nonetheless, it's a slow card and up for cutting.
Selkie is excellent early-game card advantage with a copy-able body and a great late-game target for Tatsumasa, Behemoth Sledge and Wurmweaver Coil. Plus she keeps the curve reasonable. I'd be most reluctant to cut her.
Coil is backup choice for Sovereigns after Followed Footsteps, also provides relevance to otherwise useless tokens, and provides a Wurm token to boot, but is also a bit clunky.
At worst, the birds block two dragons, at best it's a four-mana, instant-speed Sylvan Primordial. Courser's Accord is a tough one. I'm still of the opinion that this deck has little enough Populate. I'll play the deck further, but I feel more often disappointed I can't draw a Populate card for another Woodfall Primus than I feel disappointed at drawing an Accord. Even if I only get two Centaurs, there's Tatsumasa, Behemoth Sledge, Wurmweaver Coil...
I definitely am hoping to see more Populate in Dragon's Maze, so I can be more choosy, though. As is, I dropped the Rhino Populater as too expensive.
Playtesting | Karador, Ghost Chieftain | Narset, Enlightened Master | Ephara, God of the Polis
Established | Gahiji, Honored One | Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker | Opal-Eye, Konda's Yojimbo | Rubinia Soulsinger
Retired | Medomai the Ageless | Diaochan, Artful Beauty
WUBRG Some of these decks can actually win games...WUBRG
How I know I should build a deck:
David, great choice for utility lands. If you run any form of Control Magic effects besides your general. You can Gilded Drake their best creature just to remove it from the game, then bounce back your Gilded Drake before your next turn.
Andy did that in his Esper Control deck as Sen Triplets as his general. It was extremely effective.
Sower of Temptation comes to mind for most value for its cmc.
EDH
BWG Doran Suicide Tempo BWG
BUW Sharuum Midrange Control BUW
They're both good clone targets and they're both great populate targets once they connect just once.
GW BenedictioWG
Work's been hectic so I haven't had much time to make adjustment considerations, but suggestions for fitting in the Adephage in the mean time are welcome.
That said, it would be a tough fit. Seven mana into a guy that doesn't start spitting out tokens until he connects with an opponent in a hard sell. I'm wary about upping the mana curve any further, so it would have to replace something up on the curve as well. Perhaps Tatsu, but like I said last page, the added utility to add late-game relevance to tokens and early creatures makes this a close one.
Perhaps Crush of Wurms... it has a more immediate benefit, but vanilla creatures don't go a very long way in EDH. The Trample on Adephage is nice. Then again, so is the Flashback.
Playtesting | Karador, Ghost Chieftain | Narset, Enlightened Master | Ephara, God of the Polis
Established | Gahiji, Honored One | Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker | Opal-Eye, Konda's Yojimbo | Rubinia Soulsinger
Retired | Medomai the Ageless | Diaochan, Artful Beauty
Why did I miss this post? Sac lands are an excellent idea with Rubinia, thanks kraus.
Playtesting | Karador, Ghost Chieftain | Narset, Enlightened Master | Ephara, God of the Polis
Established | Gahiji, Honored One | Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker | Opal-Eye, Konda's Yojimbo | Rubinia Soulsinger
Retired | Medomai the Ageless | Diaochan, Artful Beauty
Geist of Saint Traft and Wayfaring Temple are best buds, as Mr. Traft spits out the angel in time for the Temple to populate. It got out of hand quickly, and even though an opponent managed to respond with a Wrath of God, I replied with a Sun Titan and got it going again quickly. I eliminated the opponent for whom the deck was a worse match-up and took the game against the remaining friend whose deck deals poorly with aggro.
Playtesting | Karador, Ghost Chieftain | Narset, Enlightened Master | Ephara, God of the Polis
Established | Gahiji, Honored One | Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker | Opal-Eye, Konda's Yojimbo | Rubinia Soulsinger
Retired | Medomai the Ageless | Diaochan, Artful Beauty
The math jokes. Too good.
In any case, what do you think about Progenitor Mimic?
They include Conjurer's Closet, Venser, the Sojourner, and Nephalia Smuggler, along with the one-shots Ghostly Flicker and Cloudshift.
Two games I've played with this deck since his inclusion and I still haven't drawn him yet! I can't wait to have him on the field. He's perfect for this deck.
Ive also included Wake the Reflections and Scion of Vitu Ghazi, so the Populate sources should be numerous enough without resorting to expensive crap like Horncaller's Chant and Courser's Accord.
I'll be updating my list as soon as I'm home from this field project.
Wow! You know I never once noticed the wording on those new cards? I just assumed they went back to owner like all the rest. Definitely a consideration thanks.
Playtesting | Karador, Ghost Chieftain | Narset, Enlightened Master | Ephara, God of the Polis
Established | Gahiji, Honored One | Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker | Opal-Eye, Konda's Yojimbo | Rubinia Soulsinger
Retired | Medomai the Ageless | Diaochan, Artful Beauty
Added
Oracle of Mul Daya (accel with a body)
Karmic Guide (don't know why I didn't have this before... very nice Dance of Many target)
Eternal Witness (duh... was just waiting to get a second one)
Progenitor Mimic (haven't seen him in play yet but should be good)
Drift of Phantasms (3CC is very important)
Farhaven Elf (duh)
Prophet of Kruphix (can't wait to try her)
Fathom Mage (card advantage with a body; this deck reliably evolves her)
Mirari's Wake (not a body, but a nice jump and tough to kill)
Aura Shards (duh, just needed another one for this deck)
Regal Force (card adv. with a copyable body)
Scion of Vitu-Ghazi (more populate)
Sylvan Primordial (duh)
Wake the Reflections (affordable populate is important if you want to do something immediately)
Tempt with Reflections (another Cackling Counterpart is always welcome)
Sword of Light and Shadow (some recursion, good color protection and a nice buff for early creatures)
Removed
Drogskol Reaver (I love him, but doesn't quite make it)
Hornet Queen (durdly, not aggressive)
Kazandu Tuskcaller (low impact)
Silver Seraph (anthems aren't really useful in this deck)
Sovereigns of Lost Alara (much as I like to grab Follwed Footsteps, I cut Wurmweaver Coil so he doesn't do much)
Back from the Brink (I love this card, but it's been just to slow)
Wurmweaver Coil (meh.)
Biomantic Mastery (card draw's going to the creature slot)
Courser's Accord (too expensive, replaced with Scion and Wake)
Crush of Wurms (meh.)
Cultivate (land accel moving to bodies)
Recurring Insight (card adv. to bodies)
Tidings (card adv. to bodies)
Moonsilver Spear (too slow)
Tatsumasa, the Dragon's Fang (like what this did, but too slow)
Darksteel Ingot (mana accel. to bodies)
Playtesting | Karador, Ghost Chieftain | Narset, Enlightened Master | Ephara, God of the Polis
Established | Gahiji, Honored One | Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker | Opal-Eye, Konda's Yojimbo | Rubinia Soulsinger
Retired | Medomai the Ageless | Diaochan, Artful Beauty