MTG Salvation

Greetings and Welcome to my personal EDH Deck for Ghave, Guru of Spores.

The purpose of this deck is to be both fun to play and play against, which means that I am purposely avoiding all the glorious infinite combos possible with Ghave.

My meta is fairly competitive, with no real limits or restrictions beyond the currently accepted ban-list, but I like to stay at a happy medium. I don't want to combo out with infinites (as I already said) or just wreck my opponents with no hope of recovery, but I still like to win. As the deck is right now, it's done exceptionally well, so I only plan on tweaking it a bit more before I leave it alone for awhile.

The play style of this deck revolves around three phrases:

Fueling the Mana Machine - I play lots of Land ramp and a bit of plain Mana ramp in order to fuel the many mini combos that Ghave can pull off (For instance, Ghave and Geralf's Messenger)

Massive Swarms/Swarming Mass - The main win condition of this deck is to swarm my enemies with large groups of tokens, usually after they've been pumped with counters/something else. Occasionally, I'll pump up one creature in particular (Usually Ghave or Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter) and swing it alone for the kill.

Resistance, Recovery, Inevitable End - Because I usually win through combat damage, and G/B/W has very limited Haste granting, my armies are quite vulnerable to Mass Removal. Because of this, I've inserted some cards that resist these effects (Like Dauntless Escort and Asceticism) and others that enable me to bounce back from Mass Removal (Like Fresh Meat and Creeping Renaissance). Through these effects, I seeks to make my enemy's defeat inevitable.

Now that that's out of the way, here's the deck as it currently stands:



Here are my current thoughts on possible improvements:
Here's what seems sub-par:

Crescendo of War - Seemed great at first, and is sometimes a win condition for me, but it's greatest problem is that all creatures get the attacking bonus, and while mine do get a blocking bonus, I somehow missed the loophole in which someone wipe out my creatures and hits me when this has some counters on it, usually killing me. I'll consider keeping it, but I tend to prefer my win cons to be one-sided.

Wurmcoil Engine - As always, a great card, but little to no synergy.

Oblivion Ring , Mortify , Putrefy - I tend to not find removal very helpful, as I'm usually more focused on building up my token army then destroying my opponents stuff. That said, removing all three without even one substitute would be a bad idea, and removal isn't always a bad thing when you're facing a Relentless Rats deck that's just played Thrumming Stone.

Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder - He can generate a good deal of tokens, yes, but with all the high CMC creatures I use he dies pretty fast. Just haven't gotten great results out of him, I guess.

Thopter Assembly - It does provide food for Ghave and flying protection, but those 5 tokens don't usually seem to have enough of an effect on the board.

Cards that seem worth adding:

Mentor of the Meek - When he's on the field with Ghave, he reads: Pay 3 colorless mana, draw a card. Talk about amazing card draw, and we're not even in blue!

Reliquary Tower - I don't like to have a limited hand if I happen to have some good card draw available (Skullclamp or Harmonize ), and it definitely needs to be added if I add the Mentor.

Mana Reflection - This deck is eternally hungry for more mana, and often is only limited by how much mana I can make. Double my mana output? Thank you very much! I know Mirari's Wake is basically better (although it only effects lands), but it's a bit more expensive and hard to find. I might add it later.

Martial Coup - My LGS finally has one in stock, so I'm gonna try and nab it this week! I don't much like wrath effects for the most part, as it usually hurts me the most if I have no wrath protection, but this one is probably one of the few exceptions.

Ant Queen - Thanks to my uses of Selesnya Guildmage I've discovered just how useful mana sinks can be. Mrs. Queen certainly seems like the Queen of mana-sinking token production, so she'll probably find a comfy home in my deck.

Mycoloth - I considering more and more, since my Meta doesn't seem to run removal/use removal unless it will get rid of someone else's win-condition. This guy is on the border, so I'll probably be very cautious with how many of my precious tokens I feed him, but he just seems like the ultimately token factory.

Mikaeus, the Lunarch - Much weaker in this deck then his second form, Mikaeus, the Unhallowed , but Black Mikey enables way to many infinite combos, which I'm trying to avoid. Plus, I've discovered just how useful the power of Gavony Township can be, so White Mikey seems like he'd be quite nice.

True Conviction - Was thinking about using it to replace Crescendo of War, and it's quite powerful regardless.

Beast Within - If I do get rid of one or more of the removal spells listed above, this guy will definitely get added, as he's extremely versatile.

Any more suggestions on what to take out/add in? Tips on any fun combos you've found with Ghave or other creatures I already have/could add?

Thanks for your time!,

~Mr. Mirage

What does it take to get a reply around here? Is my deck idea old and worn? Am I not formatting something properly? Does no one like Ghave? Maybe you think the deck is already fine as is, or I don't need any help, or there's too much to read? If you want more specific questions for help, I'll give 'em to ya.

Don't mean to sound all whiny, and I'm sorry if this bothers you, but even telling me why you aren't interested in replying would be a welcome courtesy.

~Mr. Mirage

I think it's commendable that you're trying to use Ghave in a fair fashion, even though I probably wouldn't myself. If that's your goal, then maybe you should strive more for a saproling tribal theme. Here are some cards that could be considered:

- Psychotrope Thallid - A card that I believe should be in ANY Ghave deck.
- Mycoloth - You think he might be subpar; he's not. Definitely a worthwhile addition.
- Skullmulcher
- Necrogenesis - Provides a source of graveyard hate that is both difficult to remove and easy to use.
- Saproling Symbiosis
- Beastmaster Ascension
- Rhys the Redeemed - Double the tokens, double the fun!
- Parallel Evolution - And again!
- Doubling Season - Confused as to why you have Parallel Lives and not this. It has awesome synergy with Ghave under any circumstance.
- Elspeth, Knight-Errant - If you get a Doubling Season, you have to get this card in as well. Because putting loyalty counters on a Planeswalker when it comes into play is considered a state-based effect, she would come in with 8 counters if you've got Doubling Season in play, effectively allowing her to use her ultimate the same turn.
- Earthcraft - More mana is always welcome.
- Gaea's Cradle - Harder card to come by and not cheap, but the synergy is obvious.
- Phyrexian Altar and Ashnod's Altar - These cards have obvious infinite combo potential, but they're still also quite useful outside of that context.
- Martyr's Bond - This card is basically a powered-up version of Grave Pact.

As far as the formatting of your post, it is a bit clunky. The standard convention around here is to use the [deck.] tag (without the period, of course), to format things, like so.



(Quote my post to see the formatting behind it.)

This thread, I think is along the lines of what im trying to accomplish. No infinite combos on purpose, no abusing any one strategy, more of a balance around what I feel is a well balanced General(Ghave). Life, Death and Rebirth = Balance.

That being said this is my first Commander/EDH deck. Been playing since Zendikar block and that is where most of my card pool comes from, aside from the two Commander boxes I own(Counterpunch, Mirror Mastery) and LCS pickups and the occasional trade from friends recommendations or "must haves".

I'm gonna post my deck list as is and continue to rework it using some of these card suggestions, combos, and interactions. As I will offer my advice on your current list.

My basic instinct tells me to keep my thoughts and strategy on my side of the board, because I'm so new to Commander, I won't be able to read combos, counter correctly or dodge aggressive counter strategies.