To start everyone off, here is my first build of the deck:
this is my Naya version of this deck, i'll be building a Bant version in the near future, mostly because of consistency issues, but also because i like what a lot of the blue stuff gives me that synergizes with the deck
basically play astral slide then start cycling like crazy!
this is only about version 2.0 of this deck, so it is definitely still in development
Astral Slide:
probably your first question on card choices is actually "Why the heck did you build an EDH deck around a single copy of an enchantment in your deck?"
well, i am glad you asked that! the answer is pretty simple, it's because Astral Slide is awesome of course! ok, it's actually because i keep finding myself cycling cards, and getting a little value out of them, when i could be getting more! and it is (almost) uncounterable! also, i had played slide when it was in type 2 and it was always so much fun (for me, not for my opponents)
Creatures:
academy rector - i need as many ways to get slide out of my deck as i can, and this is a good one, i kill it myself pretty often, unless my opponent has never seen the deck before
angel of serenity - amazing slide target, slide her with her ETB ability on the stack to permanently remove 3 creatures from the game... sometimes i start targetting my own creatures with her to pull them out of my graveyard
eternal dragon - great cycler, sometimes a fatty dragon... either way i always have a card i can cycle every turn
eternal witness - one of the best slide targets, can slide her out in response to slide being destroyed, and get slide back when she comes back
knight of the reliquary - i end up with lots of lands in my graveyard in this deck, and he helps me get mistveil plains sometimes
krosan tusker - great cycler that i play in every green deck, fixes land draws, and draws a card at instant near uncounterable speed... he is greens divination
loaming shaman - in testing, i needed some kind of graveyard hate, and he likes the slide
mangara of corondor - tap ability on the stack, slide, or just a one shot removal
psychosis crawler - when you cycle as much as this deck does, you draw lots of cards, which means everyone loses lots of life
riftsweeper - if you slide out someone's general, then riftsweeper it into their deck, they will always opt to put their general into the command zone from then on
solemn simulacrum - i play this guy in every deck with basic land, and he slides well
sun titan - gets back slide, eternal witness, tilling treefolk, lands, etc... best creature in the deck
thragtusk - good slide target, pure beefy butter when it starts happening
tilling treefolk - amazing slide target, since you mostly cycle lands, he lets you infinitely cycle 2 lands, then get them back at EOT
valley rannet - the deck needs it's lands on turn 3-5, and land cycling fills that roll
vexing shusher - hey, i'm playing red and green, and i want my spells to resolve
emerald medallion - most of the spells you cast in this deck are green or white, mostly green, and loaming multiple times in 1 turn typically wins
fluctuator - making cycling 1 mana, or especially free is AMAZING in this deck
library of leng - i like having a full hand, and i thought it let me put cycled cards on top of the deck (checked and it doesn't boo!) it'll probably get replaced
sunforger - always wanted to play with one of these, and this is my first deck that could utilize it... and it is very amazing!
lightning rift - helps you get even more value out of cycling!
oblivion ring - it's o ring, it goes in a deck that contains white
seismic assault - this deck ends up wuth lots of lands in it's hand, and near the end of a game you can blast people for 14+ with this, i might add new gruul guild leader if he is what he is spoiled as
sterling grove - helps find the enchantments you need, or protects them later on, can be brought back with sun titan
Instants: (the purpose behind some of these was sunforger)
akroma's blessing - good utility, cycle away if in your hand most of the time
chaos warp - sunforger's answer to perky permanents
chord of calling - finds eternal witness, then comes back to your hand to find someone else
enlightened tutor - need as many tutors as you can to find astral slide
gilded light - randomly good card to counter combo decks... or cycle
naya charm - more regrowth at instant speed that can be sunforged, or tapout opponent's board for the alpha strike
oblation - typically sunforged out of the deck to save something on my side, or deal with something i have no answers for
orim's thunder - great removal and disenchant effect all in one, can pay kicker even off of sunforger
path to exile - yes, i know i need more swords to plowshares
pull from eternity - can slide something out, then put it into graveyard, or bring back something of yours that has been exiled, then regrow it
punishing fire - always loved this + grove of the burnwillows
realms uncharted - amazing, it finds you 4 of your cycling lands! 2 of which you get right away, the other 2 you wait till you get tilling treefolk, or loam
return to dust - very enchantment artifact removal, can also be sunforged
General
as with most of my decks, the general was an after thought, i chose Mayael the anima because she was cheap to cast, and there were enough big creatures in the deck that i felt her ability MIGHT be more relevant than hazezon tamar and his mini army, but i'm not 100% sure on this... i just didn't like paying 7 mana on first casting of a general, especially in this deck, since in the later turns it has a lot of cycling to do!
let me know what you think/suggestions.
Would Hazezon tamar be a better general? i know he'd be more unique
Do you think the bant version will be better? (i'm not 100% sure, but i hope so... i'll miss my sunforger and seismic assault though~)
Now then, that build was fun and all, it had it's moments (like loaming 10 times in a turn, then assaulting my opponent for 22 to the face)
But it was VERY inconsistent....
So, i bring you Astral Slide EDH v3, Bant Edition:
Now, two things before i continue...
1) i cut a lot of cards that are "Just Good" to fit my strategy/theme into the deck
and 2) i don't like playing with counter spells much (that's why there are only 2 soft counters, also they fit the strategy)
On with the Explanations!
Deck Overall Strategy:
Ok, so this is a sliding and blinking deck, you play creatures with enter the battlefield effects and then you reuse them all day till your opponent is either controlled to the point of surrender, or sometimes you actually play creatures and attack with them for combat damage.
Roon of the Hidden Realm - perfect fit for any blink based deck, also not a bad beater since he can attack, get blocked, then blink all of his blockers so trample goes through
Gilded Drake - cheap reusable and PERMANENT creature stealing seems so powerful
Ixidron - our answer to large, protected, hexproof/shroud, or indestructible creatures. Can also blink your own creatures who get flipped to unflip them (or blink ixidron to do it all over again!)
Loaming Shaman - i wanted some graveyard hate in the form of a creature ETB ability, and this is all i found, but heck he is pretty good at it, he also saves me from milling myself when/if i go infinite... he makes my infinite even MORE infinite.... plus people aren't as mad at you when you just shuffle away their graveyard as opposed to exiling it, haha
Mistmeadow Witch - big things come in small packages, and this is a good example, with a small casting cost, and a mid-ranged ability cost, she fits early drops very well, and starts the blinking early... and if i have nothing to blink she protects me from large attackers too!
Palinchron - he is here for the same reason he is in every deck... sometimes you just need to combo off to win, also it's not too bad that i can cycle a lot on my turn, then slide him out, and have cycle mana open on my opponent's turn!
Psychosis Crawler - one of my combo pieces, or just a big butted beater, i tend to draw more cards with this deck than most people, so the life loss from this guy adds up... Fast
Riftsweeper - a much more versatile creature than one might first think, he can be defensive/recursive: it has been many a time that i had one of my key cards exiled, only to bring it back into my own deck then tutor it out on the same turn... Or he can be offensive/disruptive: i have slid out my opponent's general and asked them if they will let it go to exile, or the command zone... if they say command zone, then i got a free general kill, if they say exile, then it is bye bye general! buahahaha
Thragtusk - wait, you mean i get something when it Enters the battlefield.... AND when it Leaves the battlefield? cha ching!
Tilling Treefolk - omg, pure gold right here. So many lands go to my graveyard with this deck, and reusing them... with an etb ability! cycling lands has never been better!
Astral Slide - i dunno why i am playing this card, it's straight terrible!.... ok no seriously i love playing this card, it gives me so much card advantage and disruption while not having to actually cast any spells, so i can never be negative on card advantage! and it triggers off of opponent's cycling cards, not just me!
Copy Enchantment - why yes i do like having 2 of the card that the deck is built around... or maybe thought reflection for quad draws! having the little enchantment clone makes things fun/funnier (well, for me at least) also other people's enchantment's can be nice too.
Spirit Cairn - so, when you cycle, you technically are discarding the cards! so add one W and you get a little white flier! also, if OTHER people discard, you can again pay more W for a little ghostly army!
Thought Reflection - when i was changing to blue i was looking at Omniscience as being my big monster enchantment to get with Academy Rector, but then i realized that i don't cast so many spells, i'm basically always cycling! so i opted for doubling all my cycling instead, and i love it! (also doubles your turn card draws which is nice, 7 mana Phyrexian Arena for the win!)
Trade Routes - ok, sometimes you have to actually play your cycling lands for mana early in the game... and other times, you get land flooded! well this answers both of those problems in a single little 2 mana investment!
just kidding, the give you mana and they make things cost less, Duh!
ok, Fluctuator is the only special one... but it only makes MY cycling cost less (and typically cost 0!)
Complicate - ok, i guess every now and then you are up against a deck where you know they will eventually tap out/low to cast a super splashy bomby spell, ad they won't expect your little Force Spike / Mana Leak after a whole game of zero counters.... and other times you don't feel like playing counters and you cycle!
Gilded Light - a beautiful little anti-combo bomb that can stop a lot of decks from suddenly killing you with their 50 copies of Tendrils of Agony or cycle!
Long-Term Plans - ok, this is a bad tutor, but i REALLY want to get the card i am looking for, and fast (it isn't too bad since there are so many cycling cards, if you cast this at EOT, then you can also cycle once normally, untap, draw again... then the next card is the one! and you can probably cycle again)
Rebuild - ever play against people who rely on artifact mana way too much? well i do... or you can cycle!
.... i Feel like all the sorcery spells are pretty self explanatory...
Venser, The sojourner - love him, he lets me blink my things with zero investment, and his ultimate is very scary!
Mistveil Plains - i love this land, i play it in every White deck i own! the ability to suddenly put a card from your grave on the bottom of your deck is very strong, especially with shuffle effects, also saves stuff from exile effects
the rest are just lands that i had, the mana base can easily be fixed with better fetches, but i didn't have any extra
11/8/13
IN Ixidron - love this guy, opponents kept playing lame hexproof guys or something huge, and this completely shuts them up Gilded Drake - seems mean, but play group was complaining about infinite combos and blah blah blah, so this oughta shut 'em up Roon of the Hidden Realm - finally! the general i have been waiting for!
OUT Rubinia Soulsinger and Angus Mackenzie - never really liked either of them Tamiyo, The Moon Sage - love this card so much! but has so little to do with the deck, so i took her out to make room Deadeye Navigator - kind of a degenerate card in general, took it out due to play group complainers (guess we'll see how much they prefer their stuff all being Gilded Drake'd)
To start everyone off, here is my first build of the deck:
this is my Naya version of this deck, i'll be building a Bant version in the near future, mostly because of consistency issues, but also because i like what a lot of the blue stuff gives me that synergizes with the deck
1 Mayael the anima
creatures - 20
1 academy rector
1 acidic slime
1 angel of serenity
1 eternal dragon
1 eternal witness
1 indrik stomphowler
1 inferno titan
1 knight of the reliquary
1 krosan tusker
1 loaming shaman
1 mangara of corondor
1 psychosis crawler
1 riftsweeper
1 solemn simulacrum
1 sun titan
1 thragtusk
1 tilling treefolk
1 valley rannet
1 vexing shusher
1 woodfall primus
enchantments - 5
1 astral slide
1 lightning rift
1 oblivion ring
1 seismic assault
1 sterling grove
artifacts - 9
1 boros signet
1 chromatic lantern
1 emerald medallion
1 fluctuator
1 gilded lotus
1 gruul signet
1 library of leng
1 selesnya signet
1 sunforger
1 akroma's blessing
1 chaos warp
1 chord of calling
1 enlightened tutor
1 gilded light
1 krosan grip
1 naya charm
1 oblation
1 orim's thunder
1 path to exile
1 pull from eternity
1 punishing fire
1 realms uncharted
1 return to dust
1 selesnya charm
1 wild ricochet
sorcery - 10
1 austere command
1 decree of justice
1 edge of autumn
1 gamble
1 green sun's zenith
1 idyllic tutor
1 life from the loam
1 regrowth
1 replenish
1 slice and dice
lands - 39
1 arid mesa
1 blasted landscape
1 bloodstained mire
1 drifting meadow
1 flooded strand
6 forest
1 forgotten cave
1 grove of the burnwillows
1 gruul turf
1 horizon canopy
1 marsh flats
3 mountain
1 mistveil plains
1 misty rainforest
3 plains
1 plateau
1 reflecting pool
1 reliquary tower
1 sacred foundry
1 savannah
1 secluded steppe
1 sejiri steppe
1 selesnya sanctuary
1 slippery karst
1 smoldering crater
1 stomping ground
1 taiga
1 temple garden
1 tranquil thicket
1 wooded foothills
basically play astral slide then start cycling like crazy!
this is only about version 2.0 of this deck, so it is definitely still in development
Astral Slide:
probably your first question on card choices is actually "Why the heck did you build an EDH deck around a single copy of an enchantment in your deck?"
well, i am glad you asked that! the answer is pretty simple, it's because Astral Slide is awesome of course! ok, it's actually because i keep finding myself cycling cards, and getting a little value out of them, when i could be getting more! and it is (almost) uncounterable! also, i had played slide when it was in type 2 and it was always so much fun (for me, not for my opponents)
Creatures:
Artifacts:
Enchantments:
Instants: (the purpose behind some of these was sunforger)
Sorcery:
Lands
do they cycle? yes? play them all!
are you playing punishing fire? yes? play grove of the burnwillows
are you playing white? yes? play mistveil plains
General
as with most of my decks, the general was an after thought, i chose Mayael the anima because she was cheap to cast, and there were enough big creatures in the deck that i felt her ability MIGHT be more relevant than hazezon tamar and his mini army, but i'm not 100% sure on this... i just didn't like paying 7 mana on first casting of a general, especially in this deck, since in the later turns it has a lot of cycling to do!
let me know what you think/suggestions.
Would Hazezon tamar be a better general? i know he'd be more unique
Do you think the bant version will be better? (i'm not 100% sure, but i hope so... i'll miss my sunforger and seismic assault though~)
Now then, that build was fun and all, it had it's moments (like loaming 10 times in a turn, then assaulting my opponent for 22 to the face)
But it was VERY inconsistent....
So, i bring you Astral Slide EDH v3, Bant Edition:
1 Roon of the Hidden Realm
Planeswalker - 1
1 Venser, The Sojourner
creatures - 24
1 academy rector
1 acidic slime
1 angel of serenity
1 Coiling Oracle
1 Drift of Phantasms
1 eternal dragon
1 eternal witness
1 Gilded Drake
1 Ixidron
1 krosan tusker
1 loaming shaman
1 Mistmeadow Witch
1 Palinchron
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 psychosis crawler
1 riftsweeper
1 Sea Gate Oracle
1 solemn simulacrum
1 sun titan
1 thragtusk
1 tilling treefolk
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
1 Wood Elves
1 woodfall primus
enchantments - 9
1 astral slide
1 Copy Enchantment
1 Lingering Mirage
1 Mirari's wake
1 oblivion ring
1 Spirit Cairn
1 sterling grove
1 Thought Reflection
1 Trade Routes
1 Azorius signet
1 chromatic lantern
1 emerald medallion
1 fluctuator
1 gilded lotus
1 selesnya signet
1 Simic signet
instants - 10
1 Complicate
1 chord of calling
1 enlightened tutor
1 gilded light
1 Intuition
1 Long-Term Plans
1 Muddle The Mixture
1 Radiant's Judgment
1 realms uncharted
1 Rebuild
sorcery - 10
1 Akroma's Vengeance
1 decree of justice
1 edge of autumn
1 idyllic tutor
1 life from the loam
1 regrowth
1 replenish
1 Ponder
1 Preordain
1 Wargate
lands - 38
1 arid mesa
1 blasted landscape
1 Breeding Pool
1 Command Tower
1 drifting meadow
1 flooded strand
6 forest
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 horizon canopy
4 Island
1 Lonely Sandbar
1 marsh flats
1 Mirrodin's Core
1 mistveil plains
1 misty rainforest
2 plains
1 reflecting pool
1 reliquary tower
1 Remote Isle
1 Riptide Laboratory
1 savannah
1 secluded steppe
1 selesnya sanctuary
1 slippery karst
1 temple garden
1 tranquil thicket
1 Tropical Island
1 Tundra
1 wooded foothills
Now, two things before i continue...
1) i cut a lot of cards that are "Just Good" to fit my strategy/theme into the deck
and 2) i don't like playing with counter spells much (that's why there are only 2 soft counters, also they fit the strategy)
On with the Explanations!
Deck Overall Strategy:
Ok, so this is a sliding and blinking deck, you play creatures with enter the battlefield effects and then you reuse them all day till your opponent is either controlled to the point of surrender, or sometimes you actually play creatures and attack with them for combat damage.
Roon of the Hidden Realm - perfect fit for any blink based deck, also not a bad beater since he can attack, get blocked, then blink all of his blockers so trample goes through
Academy Rector - she wasn't as useful in my naya build, but now she found some more powerful enchantments to play with in the forms of Thought Reflection, Copy Enchantment, and Mirari's Wake which really pushes her over the edge
Gilded Drake - cheap reusable and PERMANENT creature stealing seems so powerful
Ixidron - our answer to large, protected, hexproof/shroud, or indestructible creatures. Can also blink your own creatures who get flipped to unflip them (or blink ixidron to do it all over again!)
Loaming Shaman - i wanted some graveyard hate in the form of a creature ETB ability, and this is all i found, but heck he is pretty good at it, he also saves me from milling myself when/if i go infinite... he makes my infinite even MORE infinite.... plus people aren't as mad at you when you just shuffle away their graveyard as opposed to exiling it, haha
Mistmeadow Witch - big things come in small packages, and this is a good example, with a small casting cost, and a mid-ranged ability cost, she fits early drops very well, and starts the blinking early... and if i have nothing to blink she protects me from large attackers too!
Palinchron - he is here for the same reason he is in every deck... sometimes you just need to combo off to win, also it's not too bad that i can cycle a lot on my turn, then slide him out, and have cycle mana open on my opponent's turn!
Psychosis Crawler - one of my combo pieces, or just a big butted beater, i tend to draw more cards with this deck than most people, so the life loss from this guy adds up... Fast
Riftsweeper - a much more versatile creature than one might first think, he can be defensive/recursive: it has been many a time that i had one of my key cards exiled, only to bring it back into my own deck then tutor it out on the same turn... Or he can be offensive/disruptive: i have slid out my opponent's general and asked them if they will let it go to exile, or the command zone... if they say command zone, then i got a free general kill, if they say exile, then it is bye bye general! buahahaha
Thragtusk - wait, you mean i get something when it Enters the battlefield.... AND when it Leaves the battlefield? cha ching!
Tilling Treefolk - omg, pure gold right here. So many lands go to my graveyard with this deck, and reusing them... with an etb ability! cycling lands has never been better!
Astral Slide - i dunno why i am playing this card, it's straight terrible!.... ok no seriously i love playing this card, it gives me so much card advantage and disruption while not having to actually cast any spells, so i can never be negative on card advantage! and it triggers off of opponent's cycling cards, not just me!
Copy Enchantment - why yes i do like having 2 of the card that the deck is built around... or maybe thought reflection for quad draws! having the little enchantment clone makes things fun/funnier (well, for me at least) also other people's enchantment's can be nice too.
Lingering Mirage - Land disruption with cycling? yes please! always satisfying to make a Gaea's Cradle into a tranquil little island
Spirit Cairn - so, when you cycle, you technically are discarding the cards! so add one W and you get a little white flier! also, if OTHER people discard, you can again pay more W for a little ghostly army!
Thought Reflection - when i was changing to blue i was looking at Omniscience as being my big monster enchantment to get with Academy Rector, but then i realized that i don't cast so many spells, i'm basically always cycling! so i opted for doubling all my cycling instead, and i love it! (also doubles your turn card draws which is nice, 7 mana Phyrexian Arena for the win!)
Trade Routes - ok, sometimes you have to actually play your cycling lands for mana early in the game... and other times, you get land flooded! well this answers both of those problems in a single little 2 mana investment!
just kidding, the give you mana and they make things cost less, Duh!
ok, Fluctuator is the only special one... but it only makes MY cycling cost less (and typically cost 0!)
crazy Fiko and his Atog summoning shenanigans
Complicate - ok, i guess every now and then you are up against a deck where you know they will eventually tap out/low to cast a super splashy bomby spell, ad they won't expect your little Force Spike / Mana Leak after a whole game of zero counters.... and other times you don't feel like playing counters and you cycle!
Gilded Light - a beautiful little anti-combo bomb that can stop a lot of decks from suddenly killing you with their 50 copies of Tendrils of Agony or cycle!
Intuition - Life From The Loam and 2 cycling lands, depending on if you have Fluctuator in play or not... or anything if you have a regrowth effect
Long-Term Plans - ok, this is a bad tutor, but i REALLY want to get the card i am looking for, and fast (it isn't too bad since there are so many cycling cards, if you cast this at EOT, then you can also cycle once normally, untap, draw again... then the next card is the one! and you can probably cycle again)
Rebuild - ever play against people who rely on artifact mana way too much? well i do... or you can cycle!
.... i Feel like all the sorcery spells are pretty self explanatory...
Venser, The sojourner - love him, he lets me blink my things with zero investment, and his ultimate is very scary!
Mistveil Plains - i love this land, i play it in every White deck i own! the ability to suddenly put a card from your grave on the bottom of your deck is very strong, especially with shuffle effects, also saves stuff from exile effects
the rest are just lands that i had, the mana base can easily be fixed with better fetches, but i didn't have any extra
i want to find room for Ixidron, Gilded Drake and maybe Phyrexian Injester
11/8/13
IN
Ixidron - love this guy, opponents kept playing lame hexproof guys or something huge, and this completely shuts them up
Gilded Drake - seems mean, but play group was complaining about infinite combos and blah blah blah, so this oughta shut 'em up
Roon of the Hidden Realm - finally! the general i have been waiting for!
OUT
Rubinia Soulsinger and Angus Mackenzie - never really liked either of them
Tamiyo, The Moon Sage - love this card so much! but has so little to do with the deck, so i took her out to make room
Deadeye Navigator - kind of a degenerate card in general, took it out due to play group complainers (guess we'll see how much they prefer their stuff all being Gilded Drake'd)
BW Haakon, Stromgald Scourge: Tribal Knights BW
UWG Roon Astral Slide: Cycling and Sliding Based Deck UWG