I have tried a couple times in the past to build a Simic deck and it never really does what I want. Most recently, I had a Prime Speaker Zegana deck that was meant specifically to hate on Planeswalkers (I had about 7 spells just to counter activated abilities). It was fun when it worked, mostly because I hated playing against superfriends decks. But, in any other game, it was just boring so I took it apart.
I then saw Tatyova in Dominaria and I wanted to revisit the color combination. One of my favorite things to do in EDH is play all my lands or do what I can with lands so I figured Tatyova could be a good general to accomplish this. The main focus of the deck is to ramp into Tatyova and then use other cards to get lands onto the battlefield to gain me life and, more importantly, keep my hand full.
The deck is built mostly around this concept with a few other things thrown in to make the deck be able to finish the game. Here is the current decklist:
Harrow and Skyshroud Claim are good to ramp and draw me cards. Harrow especially since it turns into "Sac a land, get 2 untapped lands, gain 2 life, draw 2 cards" at Instant Timing for 3 mana. It is pretty sweet to cast with Tatyova.
The main win conditions are Avenger of Zendikar, Kruphix, Progenitor Mimic (depending on what it is copying), Tishana, Voice of Thunder, and swarming with the rest of the smaller things. As it is now, I have not had a problem closing out games and it rarely "stalls" as the deck is fairly aggressive. That is, with the land drops and available mana, it is pretty easy to stay aggressive with the green side of the deck while also leaving up mana for the blue spells as needed.
As odd as it seems, I do believe one of the least impactful cards is Avenger of Zendikar. When I do get it, it feels a bit "win-more" in that I often don't need the tokens to close out the game since everything else can get through. I am considering cutting it if I ever find anything better. As it is, it fits the theme of the deck very well, so I am not really pushing to replace it.
I have played 4 or 5 games with it and I have yet to lose a game. In a few of those, I ended up with more than 20 cards in hand when I won. This has quickly become my favorite blue based deck I have (I have 5 now) and I intend to keep this around for a while.
I have played this deck a couple more times and had someone else play it. So far, it has gone undefeated. Though, admittedly, the time it was played by someone else, that person won because another player was dead set on making sure they won. That is, the Tatyova player had 16 8/9 Plant tokens from Avenger and I had two opportunities to get rid of them with False Prophet, but another player prevented both by turning my False Prophet face down before my turn and then Remanding my Mikeaus, the Unhallowed which would allow me to get it back face up to then sac again. That is not to say the Tatyova player/deck would not have still won, but it does skew the results of the deck's performance a little.
Anyway, the deck has proven to be fairly strong though it has been much slower than I initially expected it to be. And, I mean "slow" in that the turns take a while to complete just because of the number of triggers and things to do. The deck itself can close out games fairly quickly in the sense of how many turns it takes; it's just that each turn takes a while. I am not sure if there is much that can be changed with it due to the nature of the deck, but it is something I am going to keep in mind.
I have not been entirely sold on Avenger due to its high mana cost and the fact that it is "delayed". I prefer that my creature's do a bit more in all stages of the game. Now, in the game above, it did quite a bit of work, but, at the time, the player had no answers for a wrath which means if any of the other 3 players could destroy everything, they were back to square one. I know it is not the best justification for cutting a card since almost everything can die to a wrath. It has just been a card that I, in the past, have not liked and only included it because of its synergy with the deck. I have nothing I really want to cut for it, so this line of thinking is more just "thinking out loud" as it were rather than a real push to cut the card.
During that game (I was the one playing Tatyova) Avenger of Zendikar did feel off at first because of needing to wait a turn rotation fairly late in the game to deal damage. However, if a wrath or the sacrificing of False Prophet did occur I saw a few lines of play which allowed me to sacrifice and recast Avenger (had a Diamond Valley and High Market untapped) on the following turn. And as the deck is full of ways to play extra lands, the tokens would have started to climb up in power. So maybe even though Avenger is "fragile" to some extent, it felt like I'd be able to bring my board state back and win if there wasn't another wrath effect. Just something to keep in mind.
I played this deck again the other night and it, again, went very well. I ended up not playing my general until turn 8 or 9 or something for a variety of reasons. One was that one opponent had a Phoenix that, when it died, dealt 3 damage to everything so I didn't want to throw her out there to just die. I was able to ramp quite a bit before this though my cards in the early game were not quite what I wanted.
Eventually, I got into an Exploration and Wayward Swordtooth so I could start playing more lands so that is about when I cast Tatyova. The Phoenix had been dealt with at that time. From there, it was just a matter of controlling the board, using Cyclonic Rift to clear a path, and attacking with my bigger creatures.
I never needed Avenger of Zendikar and, with where I was, I don't think I would have ever tapped for it since I would have preferred to keep my mana available. This ended up coming in handy so I could activate Thrasios a bunch of times. There still isn't anything I really want to replace it with, but it is coming closer to being cut.
Another thing that occurred was that I had Seedborn Muse in my hand towards the mid to late game and I never wanted to cast it. With my board (especially Thrasios and Kruphix) it just felt that it would have elicited a negative reaction from the other players and just made the game even worse for them. By not playing it, I don't think I weakened my position in any way in that it wasn't going to win me the game or keep me alive when I couldn't already do so. In that vein, it feels more like a "win-more" card. It has other uses for sure, but it is not a card I enjoy playing with and my refusal to cast it with the board state I had shows I should just cut it. I am going to be looking for other cards to replace it. I am not positive what I want in that slot though.
It has been a while since I have played this deck, but I was watching the end of a game where someone else was playing it. They had a massive board state, but not a lot of big creatures that they could attack with. As such, they were unable to really get through a lot of damage.
Someone ended up board wiping and destroying all the creatures. I realized, and discussed it with that player afterwards, that the way to win that game would have been Kamahl, Fist of Krosa. I actually thought it was already in the deck and they had looked for it too before realizing it wasn't.
So, with that, I have decided to add Kamahl and cut Seedborn Muse. My opinions on the card haven't really changed since my last post and I don't think it is really what I want in the deck.
I then saw Tatyova in Dominaria and I wanted to revisit the color combination. One of my favorite things to do in EDH is play all my lands or do what I can with lands so I figured Tatyova could be a good general to accomplish this. The main focus of the deck is to ramp into Tatyova and then use other cards to get lands onto the battlefield to gain me life and, more importantly, keep my hand full.
The deck is built mostly around this concept with a few other things thrown in to make the deck be able to finish the game. Here is the current decklist:
1 Tatyova, Benthic Druid
Lands
1 Alchemist's Refuge
1 Breeding Pool
1 Diamond Valley
1 Evolving Wilds
12 Forest
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 High Market
1 Hinterland Harbor
10 Island
1 Miren, the Moaning Well
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Myriad Landscape
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Tropical Island
1 Winding Canyons
1 Yavimaya Coast
Instants
1 Beast Within
1 Chord of Calling
1 Crop Rotation
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Deprive
1 Disallow
1 Evacuation
1 Harrow
1 Mana Drain
1 Momentous Fall
1 Overwhelming Intellect
1 Plasm Capture
1 Stifle
1 Trickbind
1 Burgeoning
1 Exploration
Planeswalkers
1 Kiora, the Crashing Wave
1 Nissa, Steward of Elements
Creatures
1 Avenger of Zendikar
1 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
1 Coiling Oracle
1 Courser of Kruphix
1 Diligent Farmhand
1 Draining Whelk
1 Eternal Witness
1 Farhaven Elf
1 Fertilid
1 Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
1 Kruphix, God of Horizons
1 Mystic Snake
1 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Prime Speaker Zegana
1 Progenitor Mimic
1 Protean Hulk
1 Ramunap Excavator
1 Realm Seekers
1 Regal Behemoth
1 Regal Force
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Spike Weaver
1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
1 Thrasios, Triton Hero
1 Tishana, Voice of Thunder
1 Trygon Predator
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
1 Wayward Swordtooth
1 Wood Elves
1 Yavimaya Dryad
1 Yavimaya Elder
1 Yeva, Nature's Herald
1 Day's Undoing
1 Devastation Tide
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Skyshroud Claim
1 Time Spiral
1 Timetwister
1 Urban Evolution
1 Windfall
The deck has a lot of cards that work to get lands on the battlefield or to allow me to play more lands. Exploration, Azusa, Lost but Seeking, Oracel of Mul Daya, Wayward Swordtooth, Burgeoning, Kiora, the Crashing Wave, and a few others are here specifically to let me play more lands. Burgeoning also helps ramp me while allowing me to draw cards on my opponents' turns.
Harrow and Skyshroud Claim are good to ramp and draw me cards. Harrow especially since it turns into "Sac a land, get 2 untapped lands, gain 2 life, draw 2 cards" at Instant Timing for 3 mana. It is pretty sweet to cast with Tatyova.
Seedborn Muse and Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir or Alchemist's Refuge is effectively a build your own Prophet of Kruphix. And it works well to store up mana with Kruphix, God of Horizons or to just activate Thrasios, Triton Hero a bunch of times each turn cycle.
The main win conditions are Avenger of Zendikar, Kruphix, Progenitor Mimic (depending on what it is copying), Tishana, Voice of Thunder, and swarming with the rest of the smaller things. As it is now, I have not had a problem closing out games and it rarely "stalls" as the deck is fairly aggressive. That is, with the land drops and available mana, it is pretty easy to stay aggressive with the green side of the deck while also leaving up mana for the blue spells as needed.
As odd as it seems, I do believe one of the least impactful cards is Avenger of Zendikar. When I do get it, it feels a bit "win-more" in that I often don't need the tokens to close out the game since everything else can get through. I am considering cutting it if I ever find anything better. As it is, it fits the theme of the deck very well, so I am not really pushing to replace it.
I have played 4 or 5 games with it and I have yet to lose a game. In a few of those, I ended up with more than 20 cards in hand when I won. This has quickly become my favorite blue based deck I have (I have 5 now) and I intend to keep this around for a while.
Anyway, the deck has proven to be fairly strong though it has been much slower than I initially expected it to be. And, I mean "slow" in that the turns take a while to complete just because of the number of triggers and things to do. The deck itself can close out games fairly quickly in the sense of how many turns it takes; it's just that each turn takes a while. I am not sure if there is much that can be changed with it due to the nature of the deck, but it is something I am going to keep in mind.
I have not been entirely sold on Avenger due to its high mana cost and the fact that it is "delayed". I prefer that my creature's do a bit more in all stages of the game. Now, in the game above, it did quite a bit of work, but, at the time, the player had no answers for a wrath which means if any of the other 3 players could destroy everything, they were back to square one. I know it is not the best justification for cutting a card since almost everything can die to a wrath. It has just been a card that I, in the past, have not liked and only included it because of its synergy with the deck. I have nothing I really want to cut for it, so this line of thinking is more just "thinking out loud" as it were rather than a real push to cut the card.
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Eventually, I got into an Exploration and Wayward Swordtooth so I could start playing more lands so that is about when I cast Tatyova. The Phoenix had been dealt with at that time. From there, it was just a matter of controlling the board, using Cyclonic Rift to clear a path, and attacking with my bigger creatures.
I never needed Avenger of Zendikar and, with where I was, I don't think I would have ever tapped for it since I would have preferred to keep my mana available. This ended up coming in handy so I could activate Thrasios a bunch of times. There still isn't anything I really want to replace it with, but it is coming closer to being cut.
Another thing that occurred was that I had Seedborn Muse in my hand towards the mid to late game and I never wanted to cast it. With my board (especially Thrasios and Kruphix) it just felt that it would have elicited a negative reaction from the other players and just made the game even worse for them. By not playing it, I don't think I weakened my position in any way in that it wasn't going to win me the game or keep me alive when I couldn't already do so. In that vein, it feels more like a "win-more" card. It has other uses for sure, but it is not a card I enjoy playing with and my refusal to cast it with the board state I had shows I should just cut it. I am going to be looking for other cards to replace it. I am not positive what I want in that slot though.
Someone ended up board wiping and destroying all the creatures. I realized, and discussed it with that player afterwards, that the way to win that game would have been Kamahl, Fist of Krosa. I actually thought it was already in the deck and they had looked for it too before realizing it wasn't.
So, with that, I have decided to add Kamahl and cut Seedborn Muse. My opinions on the card haven't really changed since my last post and I don't think it is really what I want in the deck.
ADDS
Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
CUTS
Seedborn Muse