So I've been wanting to reply and post in this thread for three weeks now, but have never taken the time to do so. I finally have some time to go over what I've been doing with Rashmi and just how much I love this style of deck.
A brief intro on my part; I'm a longtime French Commander player who loves to try new things and falls in love with crazy commanders. I've played Grand Arbiter, Sydri, Marath, Kaalia, Thrun, Jenara, and Karona competitively, with only the last Commander really failing to impress. The leagues that I play in tend to have 10-20 players, with at least 5 being reliably competitive. With Grand Arbiter being my first love for multiplayer and 1:1, I've always enjoyed card advantage and control. This newest league I was planning on crafting Keranos because I attained a foil one, but the night before decklists needed turned in I ended up pulling Rashmi and falling in absolute love.
Because I crafted her in a single night, I have some absolute gaping holes in my decklist that currently cannot be remedied. However, I plan on keeping her constructed as long as I can, so that I can work towards a more efficient list.
I will be posting a link to my current list, as well as reports for each of my matches throughout the coming weeks and the ones I've already played.
One thing you'll notice is that our league does include a sideboard. The other is that I have some odd inclusions.
Here are the results from my current games (I'm undefeated at the moment).
Week 1: Rashmi vs Xenagos, God of Revels
I did not enter with Rashmi expecting her to perform half as well as she has--this was a match I did not think would be within grasp of winning.
Game one I had an AMAZING hand and opener; turn 1 Forest, Exploration, Fetch, Mystic. During my turn two I decided not to cast Rashmi and instead dropped a Dryad Arbor and Llanowar Elves. He ended up Earthquaking for 1 and I lost off the back of that. I was greedy and punished for it.
Game two was more interesting; I was playing more slowly, but able to keep his pressure off with counterspells and Rashmi draws. He was ultimately poised to win (I couldn't keep Xenagos off the field and he kept pushing in with a creature I couldn't block) but a well timed Think Twice and Rashmi Trigger drew me into Bribery, which I used to fetch an Atarka and clear his board. He conceded and we moved to Game 3.
The third game was much like the first, wherein I was being pushed hard by a Hanwir Garrison and unable to block profitably because of Xenagod. I eventually ended up stalling the board by casting Venser into Acidic Slime, and proceeded to process triggering Rashmi every turn after that for a total of ten cards drawn. As strange as it was, it was quickly a draw go game as both of us searched for an answer to one anothers board state. His final turn he drew into a Rogues Passage that hit me down to 12 (I had a dustbowl in hand and hoped to utilize that), and at the end of his turn I used Soothsaying to Shuffle and then look at the top 3. I ended up being able to cast a Courser of Kruphix and draw a Craterhoof Behemoth, which when cast gave me enough damage (7 creatures muddying the board) to swing through for game. Thank god for shuffling!
Week 2: Rashmi vs Kruphix
This was a match I expected to win easily because the opponent isn't necessarily a skilled player, nor does he have access to the best cards. Nevertheless, I shall post results:
Game 1: Game one was quick and easy; I countered his largest plays and swung in with Rashmi and crew for game.
Game 2: Game two I kept a very, very scrupulous hand that I should have mulled. A single land, a Maze of Ith, a Dork, and some cards I couldn't play. Because of this our game dragged on and on, and I nearly lost. The early game was a slog for both of us as we tried to establish a mana base, and a couple amazing draws lead to me sifting and drawing. A Rashmi landed early and stayed out the whole game, but he ended up casting Altered Ego on her. I ended up casting Altered Ego on Kruphix, as we both needed tons of mana to operate. The problem was I didn't hit very many reliable counterspells, so I was only able to keep him off tempo for so long; he eventually had the ability to generate 10-20 mana each turn, and it didn't help that he was utilizing his own Rashmi triggers to push ahead. This culminated in him casting a Void Winnower, and if it wasn't for Capsize and Eternal Witness I would have been done for; the deal was that my only legitimate Counterspell the whole game was Desertion, and I had used it to halt an early Garruk. Staring down his Void Winnower, I knew I had to do something soon because I could barely block (Maze of Ith was dedicated to handling a 20/20 Mistcutter Hydra), and I had no true answer. What I ended up doing was Capsizing (after building mana to buyback twice) and then using Witness to fetch Desertion and snag his Winnower. One thing I've learned playing this deck is that Eternal Witness, Torrential Gearhulk, Snapcaster Mage, and Greenwarden of Murasa are invaluable. If not for them, I'd have lost this game and others. After taking his Void Winnower, he only had one viable blocker and I was able organize the top of my library with a Soothsaying to arrange a Decimator of the Provinces for game.
Week 3: Rashmi vs Ezuri
This was not a match I expected to win after listening to players who opposed this deck. Consistent turn four wins horrified my imagination, and I expected to be absolutely trampled. However, that wasn't the case.
Game 1: We both built a steady board, with him being unable to just roll out the Elf brigade for absolute stompage. Utilizing Rashmi triggers, I was able to land a somewhat decent boardstate and stop him from pushing in too hard. There was a single turn where he had Priest of Titani'd to cast Ezuri twice (once after countering), and potentially could have won the game. At that moment I had no actual blockers, and he could have activated Ezuri's ability and swung with at least three creatures--however, he miscounted his mana and passed the turn. This gave me just enough capacity to cast a Craterhoof and swing in overwhelmingly for game. This was a strange match where we both misplayed somewhat (I played a turn 2 Thought Vessel instead of holding up mana for a Condescend) and agreed that it could have gone either way.
Game 2: I was absolutely started with how fast he came out; turn 1 Juraga Treespeaker into a turn 2 Sylvan Fairie thing (the one that has prot. Blue and lets you return a forest to untap a creature). I was holding on to a Cyclonic Rift and Aether Rift, but was ultimately to slow to handle the hoard of creatures he cast. It was a rough and fast loss. There was one cool thing I did, though! I cast a Torrential Gearhulk and revealed an Eternal Witness! It was great, but his Scooze ate the targets
Game 3: This game was strange for both of us. I started off with a Burgeoning that lead to a second land during his turn, and a fetch on my second; he had a lot of land but not much action. Ultimately both of our early games were squandered. I resolved a Rashmi and he had a Wood Elves, and we pushed into the mid game. I ended up casting Arcane Denial to stop an Elvish Harbinger and immediately regretted it; he cast a green spell for free that granted him an extra turn, and drew three cards to really push ahead. At this point all I had on the field was a Rashmi and an Eternal Witness, and he started dumping his hand. I was forced to try and keep things off of the field, so I cast a Mystic Confluence to keep him off of lords and a Scavenging Ooze. I knew I didn't have a lot of time to find true answers, and ultimately ended up casting a Vendillion Clique to get rid of one of his other lords. This didn't stop him from overwhelming me, so I ended up casting a Wash Out to return everything and try and figure out what to do. After recasting Rashmi and Eternal Witness, I ended up drawing into a Bribery and crafting a new game plan; with him a little lower, my choice was to get Mystic Confluence back and stop him from rebuilding while I built up on my side with Rashi, Clique, and Witness. After he rebuilt a third time from getting rid of his board, I finally cast Bribery to steal his Craterhoof and swing for Game.
This is where I learned of one of my own terrible, terrible mistakes; my opponent made me aware of the fact that if I had simply kept casting Wash Out and Eternal Witness, I could have just beat him to death with Clique. Lesson learned--synergy is super important!
Next week my opponent is going to be Keranos. This is another matchup I am not very excited for, as him destroying my lands and creatures will ultimately hamper any gameplan I have. I am going to have to depend on well timed Counterspells and hope I have the ability to protect Rashmi.
Cards I really, desperately need to put in the deck: Voidslime, Cavern of Souls, Teferi (.creature), and Seedborn Muse. There are definitely others, too, and I'm up for questions about my list as well!
Thank you if you read that whole wall of text! I hope my games and list will help us craft an amazing Commander!
I'm not touching 20 life while I don't have a banlist. That said, I've been choosing cards based on holding life. Retreat to Kazandu, Courser of Kruphix and more token producers (both to block and to hold Jitte) are nods to 20 life. But I won't stress the list for a meta that doesn't exist yet.
Euphony, thanks for the report.
What made you choose the elfball route? It's not what the topic's list is about, and I found reducing counterspells makes the deck vulnerable to a lot of nearly unanswerable threats. I feel a hard control list is more suited to abuse Rashmi and can be made to suffer less from aggro threats. How do you feel about that?
Also, how's Soothsaying doing? I though about it, but found it too mana intensive. You have elves to generate mana, so maybe it's better, but anyway, spending 2-4 mana on it every turn is really worth it?
Also, you're missing Prophet of Kruphix in your list, since it's bonkers in a creature heavy list, maybe even coupled with Opposition. I mean, you need mana denial in your deck, I guess. Winter Orb, Tangle Wire, Opposition are all good cards to compensate the lack of counterspells/answers.
Dark Depths seems fast, but is actually super slow since it requires 2 land drops to work. That's the reason I cut it.
I tested Lumbering Falls a lot, but 4 mana to activate is too much. Treetop can be an option though, but it's hard to have mana to activate manlands and keep mana up for permission. I'd say Mishra's Factory is OK if you can afford an extra colorless land. You should be careful on the number of tapped lands though. I'm playing Temple, Sanctum and sometimes Halimar Depths, and sometimes that hurts me. WIth 20 life I'd assume making untapped land drops is even more important (I'm probably cutting Halimar Depths in the future).
I like Mox Diamond, but as I said I can't find what to cut yet. Burgeoning can be great turn 1-2, but late game it's really bad because it depends on your opponent. Exploration can still be good late, specially if you're playing Gush, Meloku or Courser of Kruphix.
Actually, Burgeoning is not really that great early game because it doesn't mean a 2nd turn Rashmi like Exploration does...
Ultimately, I decided that I needed to be ramping into Rashmi or other things as quickly as I could; although I do not have the full mana dork suite I use in other decks (Jenara, Thrun, and Marath primarily), I have the basic suite to help get into more efficiency faster. The other side of this thinking was simply that I wanted a win condition that worked along with this sort of ramp strategy; when deciding to ramp, I looked at either creatures, spells, or mana rocks. I decided that spells and rocks were somewhat slow for what I wanted to do, and that creatures could suit the job very well. My next question was how I wanted to win, and with what sort of high end. I figured if I wasn't able to win through tempo with the spells and counterspells, I needed a way to surprise the opponent with my board state. Thus, I decided on running Craterhoof and Decimator.
I wouldn't necessarily call it an elf ball strategy. Rarely do I have more than one dork out, and the rest of the time it's creatures that have proven to be advantageous but not strong enough to win a fight on their own. You'd be surprised how quickly the board develops with 2/1 and 2/2 creatures. Acidic Slime, Venser, and Eternal Witness are the biggest offenders here, haha. Along with Edric, I suppose.
Soothsaying has performed extremely well. I've cast it four times off of a Rashmi Trigger, and I've always been able to utilize the scry to some extent. Depending on what I see, I then need to decide how to order my turn so that I can afford a shuffle--and yes, it's expensive. However, it's literally won me a game, and I appreciate that effect.
You're extremely right about Prophet, and along with Seedborn she's one of my most overwhelming and glaring oversights. I will be making room for her and other things ASAP. Once I can freely edit this list you'll see it changing a bit. I still believe that it leans more towards tempo/control than the likes of the Elfball Rashmi lists I've seen (which are basically Ezuri lists with blue), and don't go overly ham on the expensive, inefficient spells.
I know you said your list had holes because you built it the night before, but there is a lot of room for improvement there. I asked about Soothsaying because Mirri's Guile seems strictly better, for example.
My issue with the creature approach is that it's bound to not fully enjoy Rashmi's trigger. I'd say there are probably better decks that suit that elvish ramp strategy - Jenara comes to mind. For me Rashmi shines when you're able to abuse her instant speed too, and playing creatures dilutes that strategy. I'll have to add a few more creatures to contain 20 life strategies, but I probably won't be playing elves or any mana creature. I guess Courser of Kruphix, maybe even Thragtusk can come in, but because they have more than one role in the deck.
Also, seems to me Wash Out and Evacuation are nombos with a creature heavy strategy, specially since you are going to be Washing Out for green a lot.
Definitely. I haven't really had any turns where I can't exploit Rashmi's triggers. I'm usually holding on to something, and in most cases even a late dork triggers a desperately needed draw. More often than not casting the spell is only secondary--as long as I have a full hand I feel I'm doing well.
Evacuation and Washout are simply to help exploit some triggers again and to reset a desperate board. Washout especially shined for me against my Ezuri match--forcing him to rebuild a rather large board while I was able to extend the game and find a win out of it. I know that it seems counter intuitive, but for me it can even be a way to get more advantage out of my own built board. I played a match for fun and ended up casting Evacuation just so I could recast Rashmi into an Acidic Slime holding on to countermagic.
Miri's Guile is a card I need to purchase--one of the few cards I don't own at the moment that I really need to. I don't know whether I'd replace Soothsaying at this point, though.
I do appreciate the criticism. I'm going to be making a lot of changes, as mentioned. There are some cards in here that are definitely more fluff and less powerful, although adhering to my original goal of hitting my win conditions.
Don't get me wrong, Wash Out is great, as is Evacuation (although I'm more inclined to play Engulf the Shore or Whelming Wave, but maybe Evac is better than Wave). I just feel there's a tension between those cards, but maybe I'm wrong.
Rashmi is far from defined as a deck, so I can't say my approach is the best approach possible to her deck. The only proof of concept I have are the tournaments I played, but who knows if a creature heavy build would've won those tournaments anyway, and maybe even with easier wins? I know at least one of the matches I won (GAAIV) was because my opponent played wrong.
I'm going into a period of heavy work, so I'll probably just be able to play Magic again after the 20 life change. Time to focus on a streamlined build without test cards like Reclaim...
Cool list. I've been thinking about Shoal in the list too. Misstep is probably getting better after 20 life since people will play decks with lower curves. I don't like Daze though. Early game, when you're most vulnerable and where Daze would shine, you really need the land drops. You could play Mox Diamond instead to have 2 mana turn 1 for counters.
I don't like Nature's Claim. I'd rather play Krosan Grip or Deglamer instead. I know you can gain life from it, but these two have other uses, like getting rid of Keranos, Purphoros or being uncounterable (or destroying an opposing Jitte without them having time to take counters off).
I really don't like Nissa's Renewal nor Seasons Past though. There are a lot of cards for those slots. Wash Out, Noxious Revival, Lignify, another counter, etc. Also would fit Gush instead of Life from the Loam, and maybe fit Tireless Tracker into the landfall plan
I see you cut to 40 lands so maybe Loam feels important, but it seems too slow to me (although I understand Dredge can mean a guaranteed Rashmi trigger every turn).
Creature base is great overall and pretty much where I was leaning towards. I'd play Courser of Kruphix though.
Zurgo is hard, but manageable if you play stuff like Wash Out, Propaganda, etc. I'll go on a forced hiatus of work for about 2 weeks and come back to it mid-november, after the banlist is out. I'll try and produce a decklist by then.
Kamenitza, I think you really need to play cheap counters like Force Spike and Spell Snare, they're great. I also like Garruk since he can produce a lot of blockers and dominates the board against cheap creatures. More removal like Lignify, Reality Shift and Imprisoned in the Moon are also great.
You should try Gush before dismissing it. I thought it was bad at first too, but it's been really, really great. I works amazingly at casting spells for free with Rashmi's triggers and Mirri's Guile, Sylvan Library, etc.
I can't argue with your whole list, I like a lot of ideas there, but I'd strongly consider the following changes, just because I think the cards are similar but better.
- Daze
+ Force Spike
- Rewind
+ Arcane Denial
- Think Twice
+ Impulse
(Think Twice being able to trigger Rashmi twice is marginal)
- Merchant Scroll
+ Mirri's Guile
(don't know if this is the slot, but Guile is amazing)
- Opt
+ Gush
ps: what's your plan to deal with Geist and Narset?
Gush plays multiple roles. It draws card (remember it can be just cast for 4U), can generate mana if you miss a land drop but need to cast a spell this turn, it works pretty well with any top manipulation and Rashmi since almost the whole deck costs less than 5, it generates land drops for landfall abilities AND makes Foil a much better counter than what it is. Just don't expect Gush to hit Rashmi triggers everytime you cast it. And don't cast it as an instant unless you have to or if you know your top card. Gush is a sorcery disguised as instant
I can say I did many plays like "leave a counterspell on top, Gush in hand, tapout to play something, pass".
After I discovered Retreat to Kazandu I decided Pulse of Murasa doesn't make the cut. UNLESS I'm running Depths combo, then it's cool. Primeval Bounty seems great too. It's a shame it can't produce tokens without depending on creatures. BUT it's a card that can, by itself, negate Diabolic Edicts on Rashmi.
How did Disrupting Shoal feel? I like it in theory, but I feel it can be stuck in your hand countering nothing. It's also not a safe counter to have turn 4 since it depends on what your opponent has as an answer to it for it to be useful...
You need stuff like Wash Out, Engulf the Shore, Lignify, Reality Shift, Psionic Blast, etc for the deck to work IMO. And also after adding Retreat to Kazandu, Nissa and Garruk, I don't feel the need for a finisher anymore. Maybe Primeval Bounty, maybe add a Tireless Tracker, but that's it.
Marchesa is another reason to add Throne of the High City to the deck. It's an easy way to steal Monarch. But you're right, Monarch doesn't hurt us as much as other control decks.
I feel Declaration of Naught probably has a place here. It's a good way to deal with Marchesa/Narset and maybe even Geist, requiring Cavern of Souls on their part.
Look, it's hard for me to give advice on your changes since you're using a different list (Kamenitza's) as your base deck and I feel our decks (mine and Kamenitza's) are very different strategically. All I can say is that I dislike your changes overall - I wouldn't add any of the green cards you added, MAYBE Wall of Blossoms, but that's meta dependent so it's something I'll decide after november (I'd consider Primal Command in the future too, but it feels too expensive for a sorcery). I like your cuts though, and they're all cards I'd probably cut from Kamenitza's list too (except Gilded Drake, I guess. But I'm not sure if I'll play Treachery or Drake yet).
My cards (Mirri's Guile and Voidslime) got here today. Maybe I'll be able to play tomorrow, although I feel it will be hard to have time for it. I will try to add an updated list here though, so we can talk about it too.
T1 plays for me are Spell Pierce, Spell Snare, Force Spike and cantrips (and Mirri's Guile). My problem is that tappout control is a terrible strategy for Rashmi IMO, since you don't enjoy all of her triggers and making you wish you were playing Keranos/Grand Arbiter instead. I mean, why am I going to tap turn 2 for Wall of BlLossoms or Cloudskate if that's the crucial turn for me to counter something? UG has a harder time with removal, so letting things resolve it a bit more of a problem than with UW or UR.
So I don't think we need big finishers in the deck. Avenger, Primeval, Consecrated Sphinx all feel unnecessary. I'd play any Swords before them in the deck. Also, Courser of Kruphix is better than Wall of Blossoms against Geist because it can kill Geist (it's 1 mana more, which matters a lot, but you get what I mean).
The best play to avoid late game bombs from your opponent is Parallax Tide. For me it's the single strongest card in the deck. It works with a LOT of your cards, so drawing it means your opponent is probably going to lose 4-5 lands. It wins games by itself, even if just for tempo. Gaining 3 turns with it with a Rashmi in play, or playing it and removing lands in order to be able to resolve Rashmi next turn are great plays. Just so you guys understand its power, here are the cards that work with it:
Bouncing it requires more mana than Stifle'ing it, but can be done even just for a little tempo. For example, a Tide turn 4 can remove 2-3 land, than on your next upkeep you remove the rest and bounce in response, taking 2-3 lands out and getting another go at Tide this or next turn.
One of the reasons I didn't cut Reclaim yes is because the pile Tide/Noxious/Reclaim is great to get with Intuition against a lot of decks (it will net you Reclaim, for sure, but is good anyway if you have Rashmi in play)
I'd keep Logic Knot because it's not just a T2 counter. It can counter a lot of late game spells too. Something Rune Snag can't. You can also ramp it up with Delve in order to resolve something with Rashmi in play. Even if I don't know what's on top, a lot of the time I'll delve a bit more to make Knot cost 6 so I'll be able to cast anything I reveal.
I dislike all 4+ mana counterspells here. I could consider playing Dismiss - or Summary Dismissal in a Maelstrom meta. Maybe, just maybe, Plasm Capture. But that's it. (Summary Dismissal is interesting because it can interact with Parallax Tide too.
EDIT: Forgot to talk about Mirri's Guile. I've been playing it since day 1 in testing, I just didn't own one to be able to play tournaments with it. It's the best T1 play you can ask for. I can't stress how awesome it is. I'd say it's a core card in the deck and a must have.
I disagree completely that Parallax Tide needs Tangle Wire to be good. I don't even understand the relation, since Parallax is played in many control decks. If you want to make another thread for Rashmi feel free, but my list is not a list that doesn't have 20 life in mind. You guys seem to think 20 life meta plays very different than 30, but aside from needing lifegain and better early plays, mid-late game is the same. You can't think all you need to do is stabilize against Zurgo. You still need to cut his resources to maintain control o the game.
Parallax Tide turn 4 with FoW/Foil/Misdirection backup is a strong play, no matter if you have the combo in hand (and the combo is quite easy to find with Rashmi, and having 3 Stifles in the deck.
Now, I disagree Parallax forces you to play bad cards, since Stifle and Trickbind are strong on their own in this format. They counter stuff like Oblivion Ring, fetches, Ancestral Vision, Eldrazi triggers, Maelstrom trigger, Titania triggers, etc. Applications are many and they're never dead. I have countered Maelstrom triggers before, and also Ulamog triggers. Stifling a fetch turn 1 is absurdly good. I feel the cards are good on their own and adding a great card that hinders your opponent playing big spells is great. I probably wouldn't play Stifle or Trickbind without Parallax Tide, I understand that. But I don't think adding them to the deck is a problem at all.
MIrri's Guile is not good because it sets up Rashmi, but because it's a free Top activation every turn, making tour draws much smoother. Makes low-land hand better, for example. Nothing in the deck is there to set Rashmi up, that happens casually.
You're worried about Jenara but your playtest session show you lost 2 games to great hands by him vs mull to 6 on your side and a loss to Sylvan Library turn 2 with FoW backup. Jenara is obviously a strong deck, don't get me wrong, but even with bad hands and an unfinished deck you managed to 50/50 it? I'm cool with that. (I call the deck unfinished because Rashmi is still a brew. Jenara has been seeing play for years and is more optimized at this moment)
I'm currently overwhelmed with work, and will be until November 13th unfortunately... So I'll probably have no time between here and then to update the list with the care it needs. I'll have time here and then to comment on your lists, etc, but I probably won't be able to post a list until mid-november.
I like your changes, but would probably prefer Opt over Think Twice (even with the added synergy, Opt digs deeper, faster). I play Peek instead of Opt because I like to know if the way is clear for a T4 Rashmi. I also play Probe for that matter (and Probing with Rashmi in play is awesome).
Mox Diamond seems excellent in the deck, being able even to cycle with Rashmi late game. I'll definitely try it out, just need to find a slot.
All I can think about Life from the Loam and Pulse of Murasa is: why not play Noxious Revival and Reclaim/Regrowth instead? I really don't get why Loam is good here aside from being a constant source of Rashmi triggers, which would make any buyback spell better IMO. I mean, if you play Stage/Depths, then I can support it. But just as a Regrowth spell I don't see the appeal. Maybe I'm missing something, but I would want more impactful plays for that slot.
So I finally had my match this week, and I'm sorry for a slightly delayed report. I've been dealing with a broken heart and stuff, but I truly love Rashmi, and I need to let you guys know how it's treating me.
Week 4: Rashmi vs Keranos
This, along with Ezuri, are matches I expected to lose 100%. I love what I constructed, even though it isn't in peak condition, and this week further proved to be that Rashmi has the chops to push through more than I imagined.
Game 1: Game 1 was by far the longest, clocking in at an hour and ten minutes. Rashmi was cast three times. One thing I do remember is I had a really fast hand with Green Sun for Dryad Arbor, and it pushed me forward at a pace that was able to keep tempo with the heavy sort of control that Keranos packs. By the time the board was packed enough for me to move forward, I got hit by a Wildfire. Some counters later, I had a small presence again and got hit by another sweeper. What helped me win this game--and the ultimate all star, given that once Keranos resolved he got to trigger the three damage almost every upkeeep--was that Garruk was constantly on the field and he focused on my more potent threats like Rashmi, Edric, and other creatures. Garruk kept pumping out 3/3's, and every time I did build a presence, he had ways to remove everything from the board. This came to a peak when he was finally able to wipe the board and hit enough of our land to leave me at three land. However, Garruk was still on the field and I had four mana to work with. At the end of his turn I blew up one of my own mana rocks with a Beast Within for a 3/3, and soon he was looking at two, and then three, without a true answer. He was finally wiffing his Keranos reveals, and I ended up winning.
Game 2: Sideboard for me is interested here, and it's the first match I can say I feel I was well prepared for. I brought in Negate, Spell Pierce, Force of Will, Flusterstorm, and Sword of Fire and Ice. One thing I didn't do was remove Bribery, and that sadly cost me the game later on. I started pretty quickly, but soon ran into heavy counterspells. Although we were on pace with one another, he was able to push through a very early Vendillion Clique that sent my Flusterstorm to the bottom and replaced it with a land. That Clique got me to 15 before I was able to try and handle it, but doing so left me vulnerable. After he resolved Keranos, he cast Jhokullhops, and even though I was hitting land, I had a really hard time being able to get anything resolved. I did cast and use Bribery, but could only nab his own Snapcaster Mage, much to my dismay. I got him down to 13 before a Keranos Trigger and a burn spell killed me.
Game 3: Dismayed, I did end up removing Bribery and hoped for the best. This game started explosive for me again. Turn 1 Green Sun for Arbor will never get old. I quickly got a lead on this game as well. Rashmi resolved, as well as a Venser. Poor Mindsculptor got countered, but by the time he tried casting Earthquake I had him down to 16. His Earthquake I Memory Lapsed, and at the end of his turn I also cast Brainstorm to see what was coming; a land, Flusterstorm, and another important spell. I tried to decide what to do and left Flusterstorm second so I could get it off of a Rashmi Trigger if I needed to. During his turn he attempted to Earthquake again. In response I cast Beast Within targeting my own mana rock, and Rashmi triggered the Flusterstorm to counter that. Despite this huge victory (and getting him super low), he top decked a Wildfire the next turn and we went back to square one. With a Swiftfoot boots on the field, I was forcing counters on every creature or damage would get through. Eventually I got him down to 3, and was able to resolve a Sage of Ancient Lore with three other cards in hand. Being able to swing for game with that was one of the more satisfying things I've ever had happening. All totaled, our matches lasted about two hours and twenty minutes. They were all well played.
I am now undefeated, and my next opponent will most likely be Doran. This is another match where I feel I can fall behind, so wish me luck!
Hey guys, I think this deck is really cool and I dunno where all you guys are on it and if the whole things been scrapped or what but I think this could be a really fun and powerful draw-go style contender in the format. I've been playing a lot of Rashmi in 20 life games on Cockatrice against mostly Narset honestly, I feel like I've played her dozens of times. I opted to try the land sub-theme that was proposed a few posts back, so I've been running Tireless Tracker, Courser of Kruphix, Nissa, Vastwood Seer, Meloku the Clouded Mirror, Gush, Walk The Aeons, Life From the Loam and Spitting Image to support this. My original list was way overcommitted to being a legacy "lands" deck and I was playing utility lands, Crucible and Zuran Orb with a Trinket Mage package and it was just way too slow. However, I still find I'm struggling with aggressive decks (like Radha, Heir to Keld), the Narset tempo deck and storm combo.
I'm also looking at World Breaker and Manglehorn to deal with pesky artifacts and [card]Kiora,
Crashing Wave[/card] for additional card advantage and to stop threats. If the lands theme turns out to be powerful perhaps Crucible of Worlds and Traverse The Ulenwald could be helpful too. And perhaps a couple acceleration options could be worth it too, casting Rashmi before turn four without tapping out on turn two is definitely powerful but difficult given that Mox Diamond was recently banned. It could be worth playing a mana dork or the signet. Joraga Treespeaker has the added benefit of allowing Rashmi to tap for mana but tapping for double green is kinda like 2 colorless sometimes in this deck.
I was just wondering if anyone else is still playing this deck and what y'alls thoughts are on defending against aggressive starts and control mirrors.
I stopped playing the deck because I felt it lacks removal to survive in a 20 life meta. It's probably impossible to survive things like Bruse or Zurgo consistently. How do you feel those matchups play out?
Things like Rapid Hybridization are bad because the creature it generates is hard to deal with (you should be playing Reality Shift or Lignify instead), but even then the creature removal package is lackluster.
I think a lands version should also pack Dark Depths and Thespian's Stage, coupled with Intuition for the combo. If not, Life from the Loam becomes just a slow value engine, which is not needed in the deck since Rashmi herself is that. Most of the "land-centric" cards you mentioned work even without Loam - except Spitting Image I guess, which I'd trade for Temporal Trespass. Walk the Aeons is a great add, but you'll probably only buyback it when you're far ahead, which probably makes it worse than Temporal Manipulation - you should test it more.
Pulse of Murasa also is a great card for a land-themed Rashmi and should be played. I feel Burgeoning can be better than any dork for early ramp and works well with the extra lands you draw with Rashmi.
This deck should be viable and good again in Wizards' 1x1 30hp format. We'll know in a few hours I guess.
Well, I don't think Baral can handle a resolved Rashmi. The CA is too much. Sure, resolving Rashmi is the actual problem, but I bet it'd put up a good fight. I never tested the matchup though, since I'm moving to Wizards format now.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
I changed temporal spring to voidslime and see how it goes.
A brief intro on my part; I'm a longtime French Commander player who loves to try new things and falls in love with crazy commanders. I've played Grand Arbiter, Sydri, Marath, Kaalia, Thrun, Jenara, and Karona competitively, with only the last Commander really failing to impress. The leagues that I play in tend to have 10-20 players, with at least 5 being reliably competitive. With Grand Arbiter being my first love for multiplayer and 1:1, I've always enjoyed card advantage and control. This newest league I was planning on crafting Keranos because I attained a foil one, but the night before decklists needed turned in I ended up pulling Rashmi and falling in absolute love.
Because I crafted her in a single night, I have some absolute gaping holes in my decklist that currently cannot be remedied. However, I plan on keeping her constructed as long as I can, so that I can work towards a more efficient list.
I will be posting a link to my current list, as well as reports for each of my matches throughout the coming weeks and the ones I've already played.
List: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/02-10-16-Apw-rashmi/
One thing you'll notice is that our league does include a sideboard. The other is that I have some odd inclusions.
Here are the results from my current games (I'm undefeated at the moment).
Week 1: Rashmi vs Xenagos, God of Revels
I did not enter with Rashmi expecting her to perform half as well as she has--this was a match I did not think would be within grasp of winning.
Game one I had an AMAZING hand and opener; turn 1 Forest, Exploration, Fetch, Mystic. During my turn two I decided not to cast Rashmi and instead dropped a Dryad Arbor and Llanowar Elves. He ended up Earthquaking for 1 and I lost off the back of that. I was greedy and punished for it.
Game two was more interesting; I was playing more slowly, but able to keep his pressure off with counterspells and Rashmi draws. He was ultimately poised to win (I couldn't keep Xenagos off the field and he kept pushing in with a creature I couldn't block) but a well timed Think Twice and Rashmi Trigger drew me into Bribery, which I used to fetch an Atarka and clear his board. He conceded and we moved to Game 3.
The third game was much like the first, wherein I was being pushed hard by a Hanwir Garrison and unable to block profitably because of Xenagod. I eventually ended up stalling the board by casting Venser into Acidic Slime, and proceeded to process triggering Rashmi every turn after that for a total of ten cards drawn. As strange as it was, it was quickly a draw go game as both of us searched for an answer to one anothers board state. His final turn he drew into a Rogues Passage that hit me down to 12 (I had a dustbowl in hand and hoped to utilize that), and at the end of his turn I used Soothsaying to Shuffle and then look at the top 3. I ended up being able to cast a Courser of Kruphix and draw a Craterhoof Behemoth, which when cast gave me enough damage (7 creatures muddying the board) to swing through for game. Thank god for shuffling!
Week 2: Rashmi vs Kruphix
This was a match I expected to win easily because the opponent isn't necessarily a skilled player, nor does he have access to the best cards. Nevertheless, I shall post results:
Game 1: Game one was quick and easy; I countered his largest plays and swung in with Rashmi and crew for game.
Game 2: Game two I kept a very, very scrupulous hand that I should have mulled. A single land, a Maze of Ith, a Dork, and some cards I couldn't play. Because of this our game dragged on and on, and I nearly lost. The early game was a slog for both of us as we tried to establish a mana base, and a couple amazing draws lead to me sifting and drawing. A Rashmi landed early and stayed out the whole game, but he ended up casting Altered Ego on her. I ended up casting Altered Ego on Kruphix, as we both needed tons of mana to operate. The problem was I didn't hit very many reliable counterspells, so I was only able to keep him off tempo for so long; he eventually had the ability to generate 10-20 mana each turn, and it didn't help that he was utilizing his own Rashmi triggers to push ahead. This culminated in him casting a Void Winnower, and if it wasn't for Capsize and Eternal Witness I would have been done for; the deal was that my only legitimate Counterspell the whole game was Desertion, and I had used it to halt an early Garruk. Staring down his Void Winnower, I knew I had to do something soon because I could barely block (Maze of Ith was dedicated to handling a 20/20 Mistcutter Hydra), and I had no true answer. What I ended up doing was Capsizing (after building mana to buyback twice) and then using Witness to fetch Desertion and snag his Winnower. One thing I've learned playing this deck is that Eternal Witness, Torrential Gearhulk, Snapcaster Mage, and Greenwarden of Murasa are invaluable. If not for them, I'd have lost this game and others. After taking his Void Winnower, he only had one viable blocker and I was able organize the top of my library with a Soothsaying to arrange a Decimator of the Provinces for game.
Week 3: Rashmi vs Ezuri
This was not a match I expected to win after listening to players who opposed this deck. Consistent turn four wins horrified my imagination, and I expected to be absolutely trampled. However, that wasn't the case.
Game 1: We both built a steady board, with him being unable to just roll out the Elf brigade for absolute stompage. Utilizing Rashmi triggers, I was able to land a somewhat decent boardstate and stop him from pushing in too hard. There was a single turn where he had Priest of Titani'd to cast Ezuri twice (once after countering), and potentially could have won the game. At that moment I had no actual blockers, and he could have activated Ezuri's ability and swung with at least three creatures--however, he miscounted his mana and passed the turn. This gave me just enough capacity to cast a Craterhoof and swing in overwhelmingly for game. This was a strange match where we both misplayed somewhat (I played a turn 2 Thought Vessel instead of holding up mana for a Condescend) and agreed that it could have gone either way.
Game 2: I was absolutely started with how fast he came out; turn 1 Juraga Treespeaker into a turn 2 Sylvan Fairie thing (the one that has prot. Blue and lets you return a forest to untap a creature). I was holding on to a Cyclonic Rift and Aether Rift, but was ultimately to slow to handle the hoard of creatures he cast. It was a rough and fast loss. There was one cool thing I did, though! I cast a Torrential Gearhulk and revealed an Eternal Witness! It was great, but his Scooze ate the targets
Game 3: This game was strange for both of us. I started off with a Burgeoning that lead to a second land during his turn, and a fetch on my second; he had a lot of land but not much action. Ultimately both of our early games were squandered. I resolved a Rashmi and he had a Wood Elves, and we pushed into the mid game. I ended up casting Arcane Denial to stop an Elvish Harbinger and immediately regretted it; he cast a green spell for free that granted him an extra turn, and drew three cards to really push ahead. At this point all I had on the field was a Rashmi and an Eternal Witness, and he started dumping his hand. I was forced to try and keep things off of the field, so I cast a Mystic Confluence to keep him off of lords and a Scavenging Ooze. I knew I didn't have a lot of time to find true answers, and ultimately ended up casting a Vendillion Clique to get rid of one of his other lords. This didn't stop him from overwhelming me, so I ended up casting a Wash Out to return everything and try and figure out what to do. After recasting Rashmi and Eternal Witness, I ended up drawing into a Bribery and crafting a new game plan; with him a little lower, my choice was to get Mystic Confluence back and stop him from rebuilding while I built up on my side with Rashi, Clique, and Witness. After he rebuilt a third time from getting rid of his board, I finally cast Bribery to steal his Craterhoof and swing for Game.
This is where I learned of one of my own terrible, terrible mistakes; my opponent made me aware of the fact that if I had simply kept casting Wash Out and Eternal Witness, I could have just beat him to death with Clique. Lesson learned--synergy is super important!
Next week my opponent is going to be Keranos. This is another matchup I am not very excited for, as him destroying my lands and creatures will ultimately hamper any gameplan I have. I am going to have to depend on well timed Counterspells and hope I have the ability to protect Rashmi.
Cards I really, desperately need to put in the deck: Voidslime, Cavern of Souls, Teferi (.creature), and Seedborn Muse. There are definitely others, too, and I'm up for questions about my list as well!
Thank you if you read that whole wall of text! I hope my games and list will help us craft an amazing Commander!
Euphony, thanks for the report.
What made you choose the elfball route? It's not what the topic's list is about, and I found reducing counterspells makes the deck vulnerable to a lot of nearly unanswerable threats. I feel a hard control list is more suited to abuse Rashmi and can be made to suffer less from aggro threats. How do you feel about that?
Also, how's Soothsaying doing? I though about it, but found it too mana intensive. You have elves to generate mana, so maybe it's better, but anyway, spending 2-4 mana on it every turn is really worth it?
Also, you're missing Prophet of Kruphix in your list, since it's bonkers in a creature heavy list, maybe even coupled with Opposition. I mean, you need mana denial in your deck, I guess. Winter Orb, Tangle Wire, Opposition are all good cards to compensate the lack of counterspells/answers.
I tested Lumbering Falls a lot, but 4 mana to activate is too much. Treetop can be an option though, but it's hard to have mana to activate manlands and keep mana up for permission. I'd say Mishra's Factory is OK if you can afford an extra colorless land. You should be careful on the number of tapped lands though. I'm playing Temple, Sanctum and sometimes Halimar Depths, and sometimes that hurts me. WIth 20 life I'd assume making untapped land drops is even more important (I'm probably cutting Halimar Depths in the future).
I like Mox Diamond, but as I said I can't find what to cut yet. Burgeoning can be great turn 1-2, but late game it's really bad because it depends on your opponent. Exploration can still be good late, specially if you're playing Gush, Meloku or Courser of Kruphix.
Actually, Burgeoning is not really that great early game because it doesn't mean a 2nd turn Rashmi like Exploration does...
I wouldn't necessarily call it an elf ball strategy. Rarely do I have more than one dork out, and the rest of the time it's creatures that have proven to be advantageous but not strong enough to win a fight on their own. You'd be surprised how quickly the board develops with 2/1 and 2/2 creatures. Acidic Slime, Venser, and Eternal Witness are the biggest offenders here, haha. Along with Edric, I suppose.
Soothsaying has performed extremely well. I've cast it four times off of a Rashmi Trigger, and I've always been able to utilize the scry to some extent. Depending on what I see, I then need to decide how to order my turn so that I can afford a shuffle--and yes, it's expensive. However, it's literally won me a game, and I appreciate that effect.
You're extremely right about Prophet, and along with Seedborn she's one of my most overwhelming and glaring oversights. I will be making room for her and other things ASAP. Once I can freely edit this list you'll see it changing a bit. I still believe that it leans more towards tempo/control than the likes of the Elfball Rashmi lists I've seen (which are basically Ezuri lists with blue), and don't go overly ham on the expensive, inefficient spells.
Thanks!
My issue with the creature approach is that it's bound to not fully enjoy Rashmi's trigger. I'd say there are probably better decks that suit that elvish ramp strategy - Jenara comes to mind. For me Rashmi shines when you're able to abuse her instant speed too, and playing creatures dilutes that strategy. I'll have to add a few more creatures to contain 20 life strategies, but I probably won't be playing elves or any mana creature. I guess Courser of Kruphix, maybe even Thragtusk can come in, but because they have more than one role in the deck.
Also, seems to me Wash Out and Evacuation are nombos with a creature heavy strategy, specially since you are going to be Washing Out for green a lot.
Evacuation and Washout are simply to help exploit some triggers again and to reset a desperate board. Washout especially shined for me against my Ezuri match--forcing him to rebuild a rather large board while I was able to extend the game and find a win out of it. I know that it seems counter intuitive, but for me it can even be a way to get more advantage out of my own built board. I played a match for fun and ended up casting Evacuation just so I could recast Rashmi into an Acidic Slime holding on to countermagic.
Miri's Guile is a card I need to purchase--one of the few cards I don't own at the moment that I really need to. I don't know whether I'd replace Soothsaying at this point, though.
I do appreciate the criticism. I'm going to be making a lot of changes, as mentioned. There are some cards in here that are definitely more fluff and less powerful, although adhering to my original goal of hitting my win conditions.
Rashmi is far from defined as a deck, so I can't say my approach is the best approach possible to her deck. The only proof of concept I have are the tournaments I played, but who knows if a creature heavy build would've won those tournaments anyway, and maybe even with easier wins? I know at least one of the matches I won (GAAIV) was because my opponent played wrong.
I'm going into a period of heavy work, so I'll probably just be able to play Magic again after the 20 life change. Time to focus on a streamlined build without test cards like Reclaim...
I don't like Nature's Claim. I'd rather play Krosan Grip or Deglamer instead. I know you can gain life from it, but these two have other uses, like getting rid of Keranos, Purphoros or being uncounterable (or destroying an opposing Jitte without them having time to take counters off).
I really don't like Nissa's Renewal nor Seasons Past though. There are a lot of cards for those slots. Wash Out, Noxious Revival, Lignify, another counter, etc. Also would fit Gush instead of Life from the Loam, and maybe fit Tireless Tracker into the landfall plan
I see you cut to 40 lands so maybe Loam feels important, but it seems too slow to me (although I understand Dredge can mean a guaranteed Rashmi trigger every turn).
Creature base is great overall and pretty much where I was leaning towards. I'd play Courser of Kruphix though.
Kamenitza, I think you really need to play cheap counters like Force Spike and Spell Snare, they're great. I also like Garruk since he can produce a lot of blockers and dominates the board against cheap creatures. More removal like Lignify, Reality Shift and Imprisoned in the Moon are also great.
You should try Gush before dismissing it. I thought it was bad at first too, but it's been really, really great. I works amazingly at casting spells for free with Rashmi's triggers and Mirri's Guile, Sylvan Library, etc.
I can't argue with your whole list, I like a lot of ideas there, but I'd strongly consider the following changes, just because I think the cards are similar but better.
- Daze
+ Force Spike
- Rewind
+ Arcane Denial
- Think Twice
+ Impulse
(Think Twice being able to trigger Rashmi twice is marginal)
- Merchant Scroll
+ Mirri's Guile
(don't know if this is the slot, but Guile is amazing)
- Opt
+ Gush
ps: what's your plan to deal with Geist and Narset?
I can say I did many plays like "leave a counterspell on top, Gush in hand, tapout to play something, pass".
After I discovered Retreat to Kazandu I decided Pulse of Murasa doesn't make the cut. UNLESS I'm running Depths combo, then it's cool. Primeval Bounty seems great too. It's a shame it can't produce tokens without depending on creatures. BUT it's a card that can, by itself, negate Diabolic Edicts on Rashmi.
How did Disrupting Shoal feel? I like it in theory, but I feel it can be stuck in your hand countering nothing. It's also not a safe counter to have turn 4 since it depends on what your opponent has as an answer to it for it to be useful...
You need stuff like Wash Out, Engulf the Shore, Lignify, Reality Shift, Psionic Blast, etc for the deck to work IMO. And also after adding Retreat to Kazandu, Nissa and Garruk, I don't feel the need for a finisher anymore. Maybe Primeval Bounty, maybe add a Tireless Tracker, but that's it.
Marchesa is another reason to add Throne of the High City to the deck. It's an easy way to steal Monarch. But you're right, Monarch doesn't hurt us as much as other control decks.
I feel Declaration of Naught probably has a place here. It's a good way to deal with Marchesa/Narset and maybe even Geist, requiring Cavern of Souls on their part.
My cards (Mirri's Guile and Voidslime) got here today. Maybe I'll be able to play tomorrow, although I feel it will be hard to have time for it. I will try to add an updated list here though, so we can talk about it too.
So I don't think we need big finishers in the deck. Avenger, Primeval, Consecrated Sphinx all feel unnecessary. I'd play any Swords before them in the deck. Also, Courser of Kruphix is better than Wall of Blossoms against Geist because it can kill Geist (it's 1 mana more, which matters a lot, but you get what I mean).
The best play to avoid late game bombs from your opponent is Parallax Tide. For me it's the single strongest card in the deck. It works with a LOT of your cards, so drawing it means your opponent is probably going to lose 4-5 lands. It wins games by itself, even if just for tempo. Gaining 3 turns with it with a Rashmi in play, or playing it and removing lands in order to be able to resolve Rashmi next turn are great plays. Just so you guys understand its power, here are the cards that work with it:
Bouncing it requires more mana than Stifle'ing it, but can be done even just for a little tempo. For example, a Tide turn 4 can remove 2-3 land, than on your next upkeep you remove the rest and bounce in response, taking 2-3 lands out and getting another go at Tide this or next turn.
One of the reasons I didn't cut Reclaim yes is because the pile Tide/Noxious/Reclaim is great to get with Intuition against a lot of decks (it will net you Reclaim, for sure, but is good anyway if you have Rashmi in play)
I'd keep Logic Knot because it's not just a T2 counter. It can counter a lot of late game spells too. Something Rune Snag can't. You can also ramp it up with Delve in order to resolve something with Rashmi in play. Even if I don't know what's on top, a lot of the time I'll delve a bit more to make Knot cost 6 so I'll be able to cast anything I reveal.
I dislike all 4+ mana counterspells here. I could consider playing Dismiss - or Summary Dismissal in a Maelstrom meta. Maybe, just maybe, Plasm Capture. But that's it. (Summary Dismissal is interesting because it can interact with Parallax Tide too.
EDIT: Forgot to talk about Mirri's Guile. I've been playing it since day 1 in testing, I just didn't own one to be able to play tournaments with it. It's the best T1 play you can ask for. I can't stress how awesome it is. I'd say it's a core card in the deck and a must have.
Parallax Tide turn 4 with FoW/Foil/Misdirection backup is a strong play, no matter if you have the combo in hand (and the combo is quite easy to find with Rashmi, and having 3 Stifles in the deck.
Now, I disagree Parallax forces you to play bad cards, since Stifle and Trickbind are strong on their own in this format. They counter stuff like Oblivion Ring, fetches, Ancestral Vision, Eldrazi triggers, Maelstrom trigger, Titania triggers, etc. Applications are many and they're never dead. I have countered Maelstrom triggers before, and also Ulamog triggers. Stifling a fetch turn 1 is absurdly good. I feel the cards are good on their own and adding a great card that hinders your opponent playing big spells is great. I probably wouldn't play Stifle or Trickbind without Parallax Tide, I understand that. But I don't think adding them to the deck is a problem at all.
MIrri's Guile is not good because it sets up Rashmi, but because it's a free Top activation every turn, making tour draws much smoother. Makes low-land hand better, for example. Nothing in the deck is there to set Rashmi up, that happens casually.
You're worried about Jenara but your playtest session show you lost 2 games to great hands by him vs mull to 6 on your side and a loss to Sylvan Library turn 2 with FoW backup. Jenara is obviously a strong deck, don't get me wrong, but even with bad hands and an unfinished deck you managed to 50/50 it? I'm cool with that. (I call the deck unfinished because Rashmi is still a brew. Jenara has been seeing play for years and is more optimized at this moment)
I like your changes, but would probably prefer Opt over Think Twice (even with the added synergy, Opt digs deeper, faster). I play Peek instead of Opt because I like to know if the way is clear for a T4 Rashmi. I also play Probe for that matter (and Probing with Rashmi in play is awesome).
Mox Diamond seems excellent in the deck, being able even to cycle with Rashmi late game. I'll definitely try it out, just need to find a slot.
All I can think about Life from the Loam and Pulse of Murasa is: why not play Noxious Revival and Reclaim/Regrowth instead? I really don't get why Loam is good here aside from being a constant source of Rashmi triggers, which would make any buyback spell better IMO. I mean, if you play Stage/Depths, then I can support it. But just as a Regrowth spell I don't see the appeal. Maybe I'm missing something, but I would want more impactful plays for that slot.
Week 4: Rashmi vs Keranos
This, along with Ezuri, are matches I expected to lose 100%. I love what I constructed, even though it isn't in peak condition, and this week further proved to be that Rashmi has the chops to push through more than I imagined.
Game 1: Game 1 was by far the longest, clocking in at an hour and ten minutes. Rashmi was cast three times. One thing I do remember is I had a really fast hand with Green Sun for Dryad Arbor, and it pushed me forward at a pace that was able to keep tempo with the heavy sort of control that Keranos packs. By the time the board was packed enough for me to move forward, I got hit by a Wildfire. Some counters later, I had a small presence again and got hit by another sweeper. What helped me win this game--and the ultimate all star, given that once Keranos resolved he got to trigger the three damage almost every upkeeep--was that Garruk was constantly on the field and he focused on my more potent threats like Rashmi, Edric, and other creatures. Garruk kept pumping out 3/3's, and every time I did build a presence, he had ways to remove everything from the board. This came to a peak when he was finally able to wipe the board and hit enough of our land to leave me at three land. However, Garruk was still on the field and I had four mana to work with. At the end of his turn I blew up one of my own mana rocks with a Beast Within for a 3/3, and soon he was looking at two, and then three, without a true answer. He was finally wiffing his Keranos reveals, and I ended up winning.
Game 2: Sideboard for me is interested here, and it's the first match I can say I feel I was well prepared for. I brought in Negate, Spell Pierce, Force of Will, Flusterstorm, and Sword of Fire and Ice. One thing I didn't do was remove Bribery, and that sadly cost me the game later on. I started pretty quickly, but soon ran into heavy counterspells. Although we were on pace with one another, he was able to push through a very early Vendillion Clique that sent my Flusterstorm to the bottom and replaced it with a land. That Clique got me to 15 before I was able to try and handle it, but doing so left me vulnerable. After he resolved Keranos, he cast Jhokullhops, and even though I was hitting land, I had a really hard time being able to get anything resolved. I did cast and use Bribery, but could only nab his own Snapcaster Mage, much to my dismay. I got him down to 13 before a Keranos Trigger and a burn spell killed me.
Game 3: Dismayed, I did end up removing Bribery and hoped for the best. This game started explosive for me again. Turn 1 Green Sun for Arbor will never get old. I quickly got a lead on this game as well. Rashmi resolved, as well as a Venser. Poor Mindsculptor got countered, but by the time he tried casting Earthquake I had him down to 16. His Earthquake I Memory Lapsed, and at the end of his turn I also cast Brainstorm to see what was coming; a land, Flusterstorm, and another important spell. I tried to decide what to do and left Flusterstorm second so I could get it off of a Rashmi Trigger if I needed to. During his turn he attempted to Earthquake again. In response I cast Beast Within targeting my own mana rock, and Rashmi triggered the Flusterstorm to counter that. Despite this huge victory (and getting him super low), he top decked a Wildfire the next turn and we went back to square one. With a Swiftfoot boots on the field, I was forcing counters on every creature or damage would get through. Eventually I got him down to 3, and was able to resolve a Sage of Ancient Lore with three other cards in hand. Being able to swing for game with that was one of the more satisfying things I've ever had happening. All totaled, our matches lasted about two hours and twenty minutes. They were all well played.
I am now undefeated, and my next opponent will most likely be Doran. This is another match where I feel I can fall behind, so wish me luck!
1 Vedalken Shackles
1 Baral, Chief of Compliance
1 Courser of Kruphix
1 Meloku the Clouded Mirror
1 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Tireless Tracker
1 True-Name Nemesis
1 Vendillion Clique
1 Exploration
1 Imprisoned in the Moon
1 Mirri's Guile
1 Parallax Tide
1 Retreat to Kazandu
1 Song of the Dryads
1 Sylvan Library
1 Arcane Denial
1 Beast Within
1 Brainstorm
1 Capsize
1 Constant Mists
1 Counterspell
1 Cryptic Command
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Disallow
1 Engulf the Shore
1 Flusterstorm
1 Foil
1 Forbid
1 Force of Will
1 Gush
1 Into the Roil
1 Intuition
1 Krosan Grip
1 Logic Knot
1 Mana Leak
1 Mental Misstep
1 Miscalculation
1 Muddle the Mixture
1 Mystic Confluence
1 Negate
1 Noxious Revival
1 Rapid Hybridization
1 Remand
1 Stifle
1 Swan Song
1 Trickbind
1 Voidslime
1 Ancestral Vision
1 Bribery
1 Gitaxian Probe
1 Life From the Loam
1 Ponder
1 Preordain
1 Spitting Image
1 Time Warp
1 Walk the Aeons
1 Arcane Lighthouse
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1 Breeding Pool
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Command Tower
1 Flooded Grove
1 Flooded Strand
1 Halimar Depths
1 Hinterland Harbor
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Polluted Delta
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Temple of Mystery
1 Throne of the High City
1 Tranquil Thicket
1 Tropical Island
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Foothills
16 Island
4 Forest
I'm also looking at World Breaker and Manglehorn to deal with pesky artifacts and [card]Kiora,
Crashing Wave[/card] for additional card advantage and to stop threats. If the lands theme turns out to be powerful perhaps Crucible of Worlds and Traverse The Ulenwald could be helpful too. And perhaps a couple acceleration options could be worth it too, casting Rashmi before turn four without tapping out on turn two is definitely powerful but difficult given that Mox Diamond was recently banned. It could be worth playing a mana dork or the signet. Joraga Treespeaker has the added benefit of allowing Rashmi to tap for mana but tapping for double green is kinda like 2 colorless sometimes in this deck.
I was just wondering if anyone else is still playing this deck and what y'alls thoughts are on defending against aggressive starts and control mirrors.
Things like Rapid Hybridization are bad because the creature it generates is hard to deal with (you should be playing Reality Shift or Lignify instead), but even then the creature removal package is lackluster.
I think a lands version should also pack Dark Depths and Thespian's Stage, coupled with Intuition for the combo. If not, Life from the Loam becomes just a slow value engine, which is not needed in the deck since Rashmi herself is that. Most of the "land-centric" cards you mentioned work even without Loam - except Spitting Image I guess, which I'd trade for Temporal Trespass. Walk the Aeons is a great add, but you'll probably only buyback it when you're far ahead, which probably makes it worse than Temporal Manipulation - you should test it more.
Pulse of Murasa also is a great card for a land-themed Rashmi and should be played. I feel Burgeoning can be better than any dork for early ramp and works well with the extra lands you draw with Rashmi.
This deck should be viable and good again in Wizards' 1x1 30hp format. We'll know in a few hours I guess.