I recently picked up Animar, Soul of Elements, and have been trying to think of an interesting way to build it.
All I've really seen looking around is variations on Morph and Eldrazi/Artifact decks, running the exact same strategy: Play something like Soul of the Harvest, play out creatures, draw creatures, play creatures, draw creatures, and spiral into a huge board to win in one or two turns.
I get this is obviously Animar's most efficient modus operandi, and kinda what he's made to do, but I'm trying to avoid having too easy a path to victory/the same path to victory every game, and/or instantly becoming public enemy #1 just for playing Animar. I enjoy the casual side of the format and like games where there's a lot of dynamic interplay between everyone and each player has a chance to show off what their decks do, and we don't end up playing Archenemy after turn 3. I don't want to lean so heavily into Animar's strengths that I'm stifling the frequency of such games, and doing his usual thing feels like I'd be doing just that. It also feels like I'd effectively be doing the same thing every game, and I don't want every game to feel like a repeat (I'm the kinda guy who avoids including more than 1-2 tutors to keep the game spontaneous).
So what I'm looking for is some inspiration for alternate ways to play Animar that are fun without being completely jank, and that aren't just gonna be me churning out effectively the same combo every match at lightning speed. Or to be shown that my worries are unmerited and that it's not gonna be as big of an issue as I think it is in casual play.
My first thought is a Hydra tribal, focusing on X costs with includes like Doubling Season, Death's Presence, and Simic Ascendancy. It still operates similar to most Animar decks, but not quite as explosive. But that's the only thing I've thought of so far.
Tons of cool Allies in those colors. Also wizards. Pick a cool tribe. Infect is also possible as those creatures tend to be overcosted, and Animar mutes that.
If people are sick of reading about stuff just stop taking part. You have 100% control over what you read. Simic Ascendancy isn't going to get banned just because you didn't tell someone to shut up on the internet.
I'm looking into making an Elemental tribal deck for him, honestly. We got some new goodies in M20, and there are a surprising number of efficient elementals in EDH (including the aforementioned Soul of the Harvest ). Toss in Omnath 2.0 and 3.0 for flavor and you've got a pretty decent and fair tribal build.
All I've really seen looking around is variations on Morph and Eldrazi/Artifact decks, running the exact same strategy: Play something like Soul of the Harvest, play out creatures, draw creatures, play creatures, draw creatures, and spiral into a huge board to win in one or two turns.
I get this is obviously Animar's most efficient modus operandi, and kinda what he's made to do, but I'm trying to avoid having too easy a path to victory/the same path to victory every game, and/or instantly becoming public enemy #1 just for playing Animar. I enjoy the casual side of the format and like games where there's a lot of dynamic interplay between everyone and each player has a chance to show off what their decks do, and we don't end up playing Archenemy after turn 3. I don't want to lean so heavily into Animar's strengths that I'm stifling the frequency of such games, and doing his usual thing feels like I'd be doing just that. It also feels like I'd effectively be doing the same thing every game, and I don't want every game to feel like a repeat (I'm the kinda guy who avoids including more than 1-2 tutors to keep the game spontaneous).
So what I'm looking for is some inspiration for alternate ways to play Animar that are fun without being completely jank, and that aren't just gonna be me churning out effectively the same combo every match at lightning speed. Or to be shown that my worries are unmerited and that it's not gonna be as big of an issue as I think it is in casual play.
My first thought is a Hydra tribal, focusing on X costs with includes like Doubling Season, Death's Presence, and Simic Ascendancy. It still operates similar to most Animar decks, but not quite as explosive. But that's the only thing I've thought of so far.
Building: Varina