With sac outlets, Gaddock Teeg is blocking a pair of incredibly flexible ones: Greater Good and Dimir House Guard. Greater Good does literally everything you want in a deck with a creature-based graveyard combo, but it does share a niche in this deck with Birthing Pod; DHG doesn't do much without a range of CMC4 targets. You have to ask what you want the sac outlets for - if it's just to protect against theft and get things into the graveyard, then I think you're alright as Birthing Pod + sac outlets with costs + one-off cards like Diabolic Intent go a long way (could include Phyrexian Tower and/or Victimize, which are both very good at what they do), but if you wanted more focus on the Reveillark combo, you probably want a backup to Mirror Entity. So, some suggestions, with their pros and cons:
Viscera Seer: Scry 1 is surprisingly powerful filtering - every little death adds up. Viscera Seer comes with a very insignificant body, though, and you have no Ranger of Eos to just find him as an afterthought.
Martyr's Cause: It goes under Gaddock Teeg and is a big stop-sign to any Voltron deck, as well as random damage-based combo things like Green Wort or Kaervek. As an enchantment it's easier to defend, but harder to recover if it gets destroyed.
Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter: A combo piece that actually does something on its own (kill all creatures and get huge). Vish Kal's a good guy, but he's fat and competes fairly unfavourably with the rest of your top end.
Maw of the Obzedat, Flesh-Eater Imp, Varolz, the Scar-Striped: A couple of outside-the-box suggestions. These three are often only slightly underwhelming bodies that can eat your other creatures, but sometimes randomly will let you steal games via combat damage (or general damage, if Varolz suddenly doubles Teneb's power).
Teeg blocks Dimir House Guard? I don't think so... But that is a good suggestion! I was wondering how good Greater Good is. I've heard it is a hit and miss in most decks. Do you think it could have a place? Both of those seem good, but perhaps the Seer may warrant a spot. I'd like a sac outlet to do a little more than scry.
What do you think doesn't work for the deck? What can I take out for Greater Good and/or Dimir House Guard? I have the Guard, just need to get my hands on a Greater Good.
Teeg blocks Dimir House Guard? I don't think so... But that is a good suggestion! I was wondering how good Greater Good is. I've heard it is a hit and miss in most decks. Do you think it could have a place? Both of those seem good, but perhaps the Seer may warrant a spot. I'd like a sac outlet to do a little more than scry.
What do you think doesn't work for the deck? What can I take out for Greater Good and/or Dimir House Guard? I have the Guard, just need to get my hands on a Greater Good.
Gaddock Teeg doesn't stop you from using DHG directly, but without a density of CMC4 cards it loses a lot of value - although already it does grab Captain Sisay, Birthing Pod, and Academy Rector, so I'm not really sure why it should need to get anything else. So, my bad on that one.
Greater Good is downright disgusting in decks with lots of creatures; whoever said it's hit or miss is almost objectively wrong, it's far and away the best sac outlet Green has, and it only gets stronger when you have ready access to graveyard recursion. The big problem it has in this deck is that it is blocked by Gaddock Teeg, although there are ways around that (Rector into it, or kill Teeg for a minute to cast it) - if you're able to squeeze Birthing Pod through most of them time, then I would say Greater Good will have the most impact, as it's strong as a value card and even stronger as a combo piece.
For cuts, I'd take out Kitchen Finks, 'cause... I don't really know what that does here. Gains life and provides a body twice, sure, but I don't see anything that wants the body with persist (no Black Mike, no Melira) and they're just not as impressive in EDH as they are in 60/4 - you have plenty of other cheap dorks to block with, if you need blockers. Could also drop Garruk, unless you have some secret to getting him to flip and stay on the table - his abilities are all okayish but they come off as a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none package, and there's other cards that can do more work making tokens/killing things/finding creatures.
Gaddock Teeg doesn't stop you from using DHG directly, but without a density of CMC4 cards it loses a lot of value - although already it does grab Captain Sisay, Birthing Pod, and Academy Rector, so I'm not really sure why it should need to get anything else. So, my bad on that one.
Greater Good is downright disgusting in decks with lots of creatures; whoever said it's hit or miss is almost objectively wrong, it's far and away the best sac outlet Green has, and it only gets stronger when you have ready access to graveyard recursion. The big problem it has in this deck is that it is blocked by Gaddock Teeg, although there are ways around that (Rector into it, or kill Teeg for a minute to cast it) - if you're able to squeeze Birthing Pod through most of them time, then I would say Greater Good will have the most impact, as it's strong as a value card and even stronger as a combo piece.
For cuts, I'd take out Kitchen Finks, 'cause... I don't really know what that does here. Gains life and provides a body twice, sure, but I don't see anything that wants the body with persist (no Black Mike, no Melira) and they're just not as impressive in EDH as they are in 60/4 - you have plenty of other cheap dorks to block with, if you need blockers. Could also drop Garruk, unless you have some secret to getting him to flip and stay on the table - his abilities are all okayish but they come off as a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none package, and there's other cards that can do more work making tokens/killing things/finding creatures.
Kitchen Finks can go out for sure. I don't mind putting in Dimir House Guard for that. As for Garruk, I like that he is a Jack-of-Trades. He offers some versatility other planeswalkers don't. I agree he doesn't perform his talents top tier, but I can't think of another card that makes tokens, kills creatures, tutors and fills the yard, and finally pumps all creatures for the win. I like him. I'm sure there are better choices, but Garruk will stay for a while. As for my changes:
Kitchen Finks -> Dimir House Guard Kitchen Finks, while resilient, was taking up crucial space that I needed. Enter the House Guard. A dude that can get damage through, a sac outlet on a stick, and a tutor for Birthing Pod, Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord, and other awesome dudes. Including...
Oracle of Mul Daya -> Greater Good Oracle has lately been doing more harm than good. When I need lands, she gives me none, and instead shows my opponents what's going into my hand. Ughhhh. And when I don't need lands, that what comes up. She just needs to go. So I'l gladly throw her out for the Greater Good (see what I did there). A sac outlet that, according to DeadManSeven is "Greater Good is downright disgusting in decks with lots of creatures". Soo, point made
I think your list, as of this post, is missing 1 creature and 1 land.
Thank you! Fixed
Last night played in the league... The deck performed horribly. There were two problems that lost me the majority of games. Here are the issues:
There is very little ramp in my build. I ended up slow rolling most of the game while other decks got up there with ramp and were dropping dudes before I was. I was forced to answer threats early instead of establishing my board, which resulted in no reach in the late game. My second issue was once the game began taking off, I had a board full of bears. 2/2's, 2/1's, just littered my board and I had nothing to do with them. I have no pump and no advantage engines. To combat this I made the following changed:
Yesterday I noticed ramp was a serious issue. With my new version of the deck, I wasn't ramping fat enough, and had to spend valuable tutors just getting lands and/or fetchers. It was horrible. I decided to raise the land count, taking out the Ooze. Ooze is gone because it simply did too little. I am the graveyard deck running around my meta, so he wasn't very effective against anyone. And the life gain is very irrelevant. I decided to take him out for the extra land. I am now running 36. Hopefully this will be enough.
I played against 5 total builds with green. Each one ran Baby Garruk. And each Garruk was doing more work than my guy. First of all, Baby Garruk ramps, which is what I need, and he Overruns, which is another thing I need. Relentless is awesome by doing so much, but it takes time and effort that I can't afford. My Garruk started tutoring after my opponents began ramping into their own fatties. I think this is the healthy choice for my deck.
As I said earlier, I needed more ramp. Animate Dead is awesome, and can be recurred, but it is outclassed by Necromancy. Also, I have enough reanimation. Decided to put in a Elder for that advantage. Also, I made a risky move by adding Skyshroud Claim. Gaddock Teeg stops it dead in its tracks. But I need all the ramp I can get. The claim will probably placehold until I get a creature that can ramp better. Mirror Entity didn't do anything really. He was dead in my hand most of the time, and I never wanted to use his pump with my 6/6's out.
Soul of the Harvest was awesome... until it kept getting stolen. For some reason, that card is a target n my meta. He keeps dying and getting snagged and dying again, ughh it was annoying. I decided I could use the slot for something else... My baby <3 she's back, in all of her glory. I'm gonna enjoy her soooo much. Welcome home!
Despite these changes, I will need a lot of help with this deck. Does anyone have some solutions for the problems I've had? Little ramp and what to do with an army of bears and/or narrow down the army? Anything? Thank you all
GPABQ was an amazing experience. My first GP and I loved every minute of it!! Had Rob Alexander sign my shocklands also won with Teneb in a Two-Headed Giant Commander side event. He is performing well these days, but more help is needed to optimize the list. At the GP, I got some very special cards, like...
These cards are pretty self explanatory. They are the basic duals!!!! So happy I have the full set now. The rainforest wasn't putting in that much work. I'd rather get the fetches that matched Teneb's colors.
The elf wasn't doing much work for me. Getting a basic into play tapped wasn't accelerating this deck that much, and when I tutor for dorks, I usually get this one last. I also need to cut down the number of bears and small dudes in my deck. Enter Bane of Progress. That thing is just gross. Goes with our anti-artifact team, and can wreck artifact-based decks.
Man so you really don't like artifact? What do you think you would cut for things like Sol Ring or Chromatic Lantern and Coalition Relic? Great deck Btw I think I'm gonna put it together. Also what do you think about a Ashnods Altar with a Corpse dance package?
Everyone, I'm so sorry about the delayed reply this holiday season has kind of been a bummer for me. But all is well, thank you all for the feedback!!!
Man so you really don't like artifact? What do you think you would cut for things like Sol Ring or Chromatic Lantern and Coalition Relic? Great deck Btw I think I'm gonna put it together. Also what do you think about a Ashnods Altar with a Corpse dance package?
Hahaha yes and no. I mean when I was first drafting this deck, it seemed to be the most powerful aspect to take advantage of. Now that I have been playing it, a Sol Ring and Skullclamp wouldn't hurt. I am definitely considering it. Thank you for the feedback! The Altar combos and shenanigans are good, but best maximized with Ghave, Lord of Spores. Corpse Dance on its own is a good card. I wouldn't run it personally, but it is definitely worth the look.
Also how well does this deck keep up with others? Doesnt seem like theres too much ramp in here with all your artifact hate.
I have noticed that too. That's why I'm considering adding a Sol Ring perhaps. But in terms of racing with other decks, it really depends on your opening hand. If you take a gamble with a hand of two to three lands and no ramp, you're going to be in a slump for a while. One piece of ramp and a couple lands usually get me there however. I can start putting out creatures to block and take the fall against aggro decks, and setting up hatebears against control. So the only deck's I've seemed to have problems with is U/B Tempo decks, especially when they focus on me specifically. It is super hard to combat that. Thank you for taking a look and your feedback!!
Hey man, just wanted to say grats on your primer! Love the flavor of this thing, one of my favorites to look at. Good job, again!
Anything out of the new set that you're looking at?
The mighty Feverous visited my primer?! I'm honored Oh my!
Thank you for the feedback! I have heard lots of people ask for more flavor so I'll try to corporate that as soon as possible. As for the new set, here is what I have my eyes on:
Black: I have heard many suggestions for black. I'm actually seeing no strong cards. Champion of Stray Souls, I'm not gonna lie, is super awesome. It just seems like lots of mana and investment to activate. Sheoldred costs one more and is just more consistent. Fated Return is grossly overcosted. I'm not sure why you would consider it as a reanimation spell, as Zombify is half the cost without scry and indestructible. We need cheap spells to reanimate because our creatures are usually value, not beaters.
Green: I'm excited about that Hydra! What hydra? Why, Scourge of Sokla Vale! This thing looks like a potentially exciting sac outlet. Problem is, it can only be used once per turn. Not sure how I feel about that, but we shall see. The Mul Daya Oracle seems like a great card, but I think I'd run the actually Oracle before I run this girl.
Multicolor: Karametra seems like an awesome ramp tool, but when you think about it, five mana is a little pricey for ramp. Not only that, ramp that will become obsolete in a couple of turns, since you will run out of targets quickly. So I don't think she will make the cut, although I haven't crossed her off totally.
Artifacts: None I can see or think of.
Lands: Not sure If I should add the tap lands in yet.
Thats all for now! Please give me your thoughts on the new set. I'd love to hear them.
Great to see youre using artifacts now! Btw what do you think of recursion strategies that arent infinite? Like nim deathmantle corpse dance with sac outlets?
Great to see youre using artifacts now! Btw what do you think of recursion strategies that arent infinite? Like nim deathmantle corpse dance with sac outlets?
Hahahaha I agree. This deck is now ten times faster!! Nim Deathmantle is interesting but in my testing I have found that it is very clunky. Not all recursion strategies need to be nessesarily infinite, but they can be resilient. Sun Titan and Dauntless Escort creates a very tight net. In terms of recursion, I think your strategy needs to be tight, able to recur fast and early, but always have a plan B for graveyard hate.
Besides some cool reprints, I don't see many worthy inclusions from the Conspiracy set. While the set is fricken awesome, it didn't give Teneb much to work with. I am considering Magister of Worth and Council's Judgment, but those are very iffy. Magister offers a second Living Death, but I feel is very conditional. Judgment seems like a great card but I see no use for it in my meta. Any suggestions about the new set?
Soul of Theros is the only card I like from M15. Or should I say love? This card is everything I've every wanted: pump and a mana sink, all in a huge dude who can beat someone's face. I really am going to enjoy this card. Besides that, updated the thread and fixed some kinks. Any suggestions for the list? It seems semi complete and runs pretty smoothly at this point.
Thank you very much! Blood Artist would be a cute card to include but I don't know if it is that good of a stand alone card. Thank you for asking though!
I haven't had time to review the new set but I just made the updates so here it goes:
==Khans of Tarkir Preview==
We have much to dive into this set. It is one of the first sets that gave a lot of support options for this deck. That being said, there were a few cards added but I didn't just jam in every Abzan support card into this deck. I'm not going to go over every Abzan card (or card in these colors because cards like Abzan Guide are limited fodder and while the art and flavor is so cool, its not really appropriate for a top-tier deck. That being said, I tried to jam in as many relevant flavor cards as I could into my build without diluting the playability that much. I will discuss cards that people have brought up in discussion as well as go over my own personal views.
Anafenza the Foremost: Looking at her critically and perhaps as an alternative general, she doesn't bring anything to the table that could surpass Teneb's playability. She is a whole three mana less and carries a 4/4 body which is pretty aggressive on turn two/three. That being said, her +1/+1 ability isn't that amazing. Anafenza is an odd general because she was constructed more for 60 card formats rather than commander. Her pump ability is too dependent and doesn't bring much to a table of three or more players with forty life. Her last ability hates out other graveyards, which in itself really helps protect against other degenerate strategies. But it does have anti-synergy with Teneb's ability, meaning that if she is on the field the same time as Teneb, our reach with his ability drastically reduces to our side of the field, which is fine but does create problems sometimes. Overall, I think she is a great hatebear, but doesn't have the power Teneb has as a general, and is a little tight to consider in the 99. As an alternative general, no way. As the 99, we'll see.
Abzan Charm: Charm is a versatile card in where all three modes are relevant in this deck. Drawing cards is great for advantage, removal is great for control, and the pump makes Teneb a three turn clock. At instant speed, I say its worth a slot.
Abzan Ascendancy: I feel like this card could be broken, but I don't think this is the right deck for it. Ghave, Guru of Spores seems more of a fit home for this card.
Duneblast: Well, there is much better removal than this. I'd run [c]Merciless Eviction[/c[ before I run this.
Utter End:I personally think this card in better than Vindicate. Vindicate is a mana less and does reach lands, but how often do you destroy a land with it? Also, destroying at sorcery speed is pretty meek. Exiling at instant speed for one more mana is worth it, and it gives our deck so much reach. If the spots for removal weren't so tight, I would run both. But for this build, I'm sticking with Utter End.
End Hostilities: As I said, there is much better mass removal than this. Move along.
Rakshasa Deathdealer: Being a Hindu, Hindu mythology in Magic is kind of the best thing ever. That being said, the Rakshasas of this set are not that playable. His pump gets too pricey and while he is resilient, I feel he is too mana specific.
Sorin, Solemn Visitor: Say hello to our new 'Walker! Sorin is much like his other W/B Version, but this one makes bigger dudes and also still makes Teneb a three turn clock. His final can help give Teneb some fodder to reach for. A great utility walker and worth a spot in our build.
Did I miss something? Was there a card you really wanted to see reviewed form the new set? Please let me know!
Teeg blocks Dimir House Guard? I don't think so... But that is a good suggestion! I was wondering how good Greater Good is. I've heard it is a hit and miss in most decks. Do you think it could have a place? Both of those seem good, but perhaps the Seer may warrant a spot. I'd like a sac outlet to do a little more than scry.
What do you think doesn't work for the deck? What can I take out for Greater Good and/or Dimir House Guard? I have the Guard, just need to get my hands on a Greater Good.
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WUBRG The Primeval Dragon's influence on EDH
Gaddock Teeg doesn't stop you from using DHG directly, but without a density of CMC4 cards it loses a lot of value - although already it does grab Captain Sisay, Birthing Pod, and Academy Rector, so I'm not really sure why it should need to get anything else. So, my bad on that one.
Greater Good is downright disgusting in decks with lots of creatures; whoever said it's hit or miss is almost objectively wrong, it's far and away the best sac outlet Green has, and it only gets stronger when you have ready access to graveyard recursion. The big problem it has in this deck is that it is blocked by Gaddock Teeg, although there are ways around that (Rector into it, or kill Teeg for a minute to cast it) - if you're able to squeeze Birthing Pod through most of them time, then I would say Greater Good will have the most impact, as it's strong as a value card and even stronger as a combo piece.
For cuts, I'd take out Kitchen Finks, 'cause... I don't really know what that does here. Gains life and provides a body twice, sure, but I don't see anything that wants the body with persist (no Black Mike, no Melira) and they're just not as impressive in EDH as they are in 60/4 - you have plenty of other cheap dorks to block with, if you need blockers. Could also drop Garruk, unless you have some secret to getting him to flip and stay on the table - his abilities are all okayish but they come off as a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none package, and there's other cards that can do more work making tokens/killing things/finding creatures.
Erebos B | Ghost Council WB | Grimgrin UB | Jhoira UR
Jor Kadeen RW | Melek UR | Mimeoplasm GUB | Rasputin WU
Savra BG | Sisay GW | Teneb BGW | Thada Adel U | Wort BR
I draft and play EDH. If a Standard player can't understand who a card is for, it's probably for me.
I also write things about good films.
Kitchen Finks can go out for sure. I don't mind putting in Dimir House Guard for that. As for Garruk, I like that he is a Jack-of-Trades. He offers some versatility other planeswalkers don't. I agree he doesn't perform his talents top tier, but I can't think of another card that makes tokens, kills creatures, tutors and fills the yard, and finally pumps all creatures for the win. I like him. I'm sure there are better choices, but Garruk will stay for a while. As for my changes:
Kitchen Finks -> Dimir House Guard Kitchen Finks, while resilient, was taking up crucial space that I needed. Enter the House Guard. A dude that can get damage through, a sac outlet on a stick, and a tutor for Birthing Pod, Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord, and other awesome dudes. Including...
Oracle of Mul Daya -> Greater Good Oracle has lately been doing more harm than good. When I need lands, she gives me none, and instead shows my opponents what's going into my hand. Ughhhh. And when I don't need lands, that what comes up. She just needs to go. So I'l gladly throw her out for the Greater Good (see what I did there). A sac outlet that, according to DeadManSeven is "Greater Good is downright disgusting in decks with lots of creatures". Soo, point made
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WUBRG The Primeval Dragon's influence on EDH
Thank you! Fixed
Last night played in the league... The deck performed horribly. There were two problems that lost me the majority of games. Here are the issues:
There is very little ramp in my build. I ended up slow rolling most of the game while other decks got up there with ramp and were dropping dudes before I was. I was forced to answer threats early instead of establishing my board, which resulted in no reach in the late game. My second issue was once the game began taking off, I had a board full of bears. 2/2's, 2/1's, just littered my board and I had nothing to do with them. I have no pump and no advantage engines. To combat this I made the following changed:
Dryad Arbor -> Forest
Temple of the False God -> Stirring Wildwood
Treetop Village -> Forest
Scavenging Ooze -> Swamp
Yesterday I noticed ramp was a serious issue. With my new version of the deck, I wasn't ramping fat enough, and had to spend valuable tutors just getting lands and/or fetchers. It was horrible. I decided to raise the land count, taking out the Ooze. Ooze is gone because it simply did too little. I am the graveyard deck running around my meta, so he wasn't very effective against anyone. And the life gain is very irrelevant. I decided to take him out for the extra land. I am now running 36. Hopefully this will be enough.
Garruk Relentless -> Garruk Wildspeaker
I played against 5 total builds with green. Each one ran Baby Garruk. And each Garruk was doing more work than my guy. First of all, Baby Garruk ramps, which is what I need, and he Overruns, which is another thing I need. Relentless is awesome by doing so much, but it takes time and effort that I can't afford. My Garruk started tutoring after my opponents began ramping into their own fatties. I think this is the healthy choice for my deck.
Animate Dead -> Yavimaya Elder
Mirror Entity -> Skyshroud Claim
As I said earlier, I needed more ramp. Animate Dead is awesome, and can be recurred, but it is outclassed by Necromancy. Also, I have enough reanimation. Decided to put in a Elder for that advantage. Also, I made a risky move by adding Skyshroud Claim. Gaddock Teeg stops it dead in its tracks. But I need all the ramp I can get. The claim will probably placehold until I get a creature that can ramp better. Mirror Entity didn't do anything really. He was dead in my hand most of the time, and I never wanted to use his pump with my 6/6's out.
Soul of the Harvest -> Massacre Wurm
Soul of the Harvest was awesome... until it kept getting stolen. For some reason, that card is a target n my meta. He keeps dying and getting snagged and dying again, ughh it was annoying. I decided I could use the slot for something else... My baby <3 she's back, in all of her glory. I'm gonna enjoy her soooo much. Welcome home!
Despite these changes, I will need a lot of help with this deck. Does anyone have some solutions for the problems I've had? Little ramp and what to do with an army of bears and/or narrow down the army? Anything? Thank you all
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WUBRG The Primeval Dragon's influence on EDH
Misty Rainforest -> Bayou
Plains -> Scrubland
These cards are pretty self explanatory. They are the basic duals!!!! So happy I have the full set now. The rainforest wasn't putting in that much work. I'd rather get the fetches that matched Teneb's colors.
Swamp -> Phyrexian Tower
Another Sac outlet that can also help us ramp! Make more usage and value from those mana dorks.
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WUBRG The Primeval Dragon's influence on EDH
Farhaven Elf -> Bane of Progress
The elf wasn't doing much work for me. Getting a basic into play tapped wasn't accelerating this deck that much, and when I tutor for dorks, I usually get this one last. I also need to cut down the number of bears and small dudes in my deck. Enter Bane of Progress. That thing is just gross. Goes with our anti-artifact team, and can wreck artifact-based decks.
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Hahaha yes and no. I mean when I was first drafting this deck, it seemed to be the most powerful aspect to take advantage of. Now that I have been playing it, a Sol Ring and Skullclamp wouldn't hurt. I am definitely considering it. Thank you for the feedback! The Altar combos and shenanigans are good, but best maximized with Ghave, Lord of Spores. Corpse Dance on its own is a good card. I wouldn't run it personally, but it is definitely worth the look.
Hey! Thank you for the feedback!! It is much appreciated, sorry again about the delayed response.
I have noticed that too. That's why I'm considering adding a Sol Ring perhaps. But in terms of racing with other decks, it really depends on your opening hand. If you take a gamble with a hand of two to three lands and no ramp, you're going to be in a slump for a while. One piece of ramp and a couple lands usually get me there however. I can start putting out creatures to block and take the fall against aggro decks, and setting up hatebears against control. So the only deck's I've seemed to have problems with is U/B Tempo decks, especially when they focus on me specifically. It is super hard to combat that. Thank you for taking a look and your feedback!!
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WUBRG The Primeval Dragon's influence on EDH
Elves
Loam Depths
Goblin Stompy
Kobold Aggro
GB Nic Fit
Pod Nic Fit
12 Post
Pattern Combo
Squirrel Stompy
Amulet of Vigor Combo
Restore Balance
Cascade Swans
Mono U Tron
Through the Breach
Elves
Mono Red Control
Tooth and Nail Tron
Leviathans
Krenko Combo
Jaya LD
Zirilan Dragons
Omnath
True. I have yet to find one, but it does deserve a spot in the deck.
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Anything out of the new set that you're looking at?
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[Primer]WIsamaru, the Howling BladeW[Primer]
[Primer]BGSkullbriar: From Life, Death Eternal (1v1)GB[Primer]
BGRbighaben and Feverous' Prossh, Skyraider of KherRGB
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The mighty Feverous visited my primer?! I'm honored Oh my!
Thank you for the feedback! I have heard lots of people ask for more flavor so I'll try to corporate that as soon as possible. As for the new set, here is what I have my eyes on:
White: Not so much anything here. I would probably run Idylic Tutor before running Plea for Guidence. Spirit of the Labyrinth may make a nice hatebear to add to the toolbox package.
Black: I have heard many suggestions for black. I'm actually seeing no strong cards. Champion of Stray Souls, I'm not gonna lie, is super awesome. It just seems like lots of mana and investment to activate. Sheoldred costs one more and is just more consistent. Fated Return is grossly overcosted. I'm not sure why you would consider it as a reanimation spell, as Zombify is half the cost without scry and indestructible. We need cheap spells to reanimate because our creatures are usually value, not beaters.
Green: I'm excited about that Hydra! What hydra? Why, Scourge of Sokla Vale! This thing looks like a potentially exciting sac outlet. Problem is, it can only be used once per turn. Not sure how I feel about that, but we shall see. The Mul Daya Oracle seems like a great card, but I think I'd run the actually Oracle before I run this girl.
Multicolor: Karametra seems like an awesome ramp tool, but when you think about it, five mana is a little pricey for ramp. Not only that, ramp that will become obsolete in a couple of turns, since you will run out of targets quickly. So I don't think she will make the cut, although I haven't crossed her off totally.
Artifacts: None I can see or think of.
Lands: Not sure If I should add the tap lands in yet.
Thats all for now! Please give me your thoughts on the new set. I'd love to hear them.
Epic Signature by the one and only Ace in Ace of Spades Studio
Proud member of the Spirit of EDH
BGW Teneb, the Harvester [Primer]
R Márton Stromgald
WUB Dakkon Blackblade
GR Atarka, World Render
{Writing and Rants}
WUBRG The Primeval Dragon's influence on EDH
Epic Signature by the one and only Ace in Ace of Spades Studio
Proud member of the Spirit of EDH
BGW Teneb, the Harvester [Primer]
R Márton Stromgald
WUB Dakkon Blackblade
GR Atarka, World Render
{Writing and Rants}
WUBRG The Primeval Dragon's influence on EDH
Now now, lets not get carried away here. Bane of Progress is still a thing Thank you for the input!
Epic Signature by the one and only Ace in Ace of Spades Studio
Proud member of the Spirit of EDH
BGW Teneb, the Harvester [Primer]
R Márton Stromgald
WUB Dakkon Blackblade
GR Atarka, World Render
{Writing and Rants}
WUBRG The Primeval Dragon's influence on EDH
Epic Signature by the one and only Ace in Ace of Spades Studio
Proud member of the Spirit of EDH
BGW Teneb, the Harvester [Primer]
R Márton Stromgald
WUB Dakkon Blackblade
GR Atarka, World Render
{Writing and Rants}
WUBRG The Primeval Dragon's influence on EDH
Hahahaha I agree. This deck is now ten times faster!! Nim Deathmantle is interesting but in my testing I have found that it is very clunky. Not all recursion strategies need to be nessesarily infinite, but they can be resilient. Sun Titan and Dauntless Escort creates a very tight net. In terms of recursion, I think your strategy needs to be tight, able to recur fast and early, but always have a plan B for graveyard hate.
Epic Signature by the one and only Ace in Ace of Spades Studio
Proud member of the Spirit of EDH
BGW Teneb, the Harvester [Primer]
R Márton Stromgald
WUB Dakkon Blackblade
GR Atarka, World Render
{Writing and Rants}
WUBRG The Primeval Dragon's influence on EDH
Epic Signature by the one and only Ace in Ace of Spades Studio
Proud member of the Spirit of EDH
BGW Teneb, the Harvester [Primer]
R Márton Stromgald
WUB Dakkon Blackblade
GR Atarka, World Render
{Writing and Rants}
WUBRG The Primeval Dragon's influence on EDH
Epic Signature by the one and only Ace in Ace of Spades Studio
Proud member of the Spirit of EDH
BGW Teneb, the Harvester [Primer]
R Márton Stromgald
WUB Dakkon Blackblade
GR Atarka, World Render
{Writing and Rants}
WUBRG The Primeval Dragon's influence on EDH
Do you like blood artist? He could be good for your combos.
Epic Signature by the one and only Ace in Ace of Spades Studio
Proud member of the Spirit of EDH
BGW Teneb, the Harvester [Primer]
R Márton Stromgald
WUB Dakkon Blackblade
GR Atarka, World Render
{Writing and Rants}
WUBRG The Primeval Dragon's influence on EDH
We have much to dive into this set. It is one of the first sets that gave a lot of support options for this deck. That being said, there were a few cards added but I didn't just jam in every Abzan support card into this deck. I'm not going to go over every Abzan card (or card in these colors because cards like Abzan Guide are limited fodder and while the art and flavor is so cool, its not really appropriate for a top-tier deck. That being said, I tried to jam in as many relevant flavor cards as I could into my build without diluting the playability that much. I will discuss cards that people have brought up in discussion as well as go over my own personal views.
Anafenza the Foremost: Looking at her critically and perhaps as an alternative general, she doesn't bring anything to the table that could surpass Teneb's playability. She is a whole three mana less and carries a 4/4 body which is pretty aggressive on turn two/three. That being said, her +1/+1 ability isn't that amazing. Anafenza is an odd general because she was constructed more for 60 card formats rather than commander. Her pump ability is too dependent and doesn't bring much to a table of three or more players with forty life. Her last ability hates out other graveyards, which in itself really helps protect against other degenerate strategies. But it does have anti-synergy with Teneb's ability, meaning that if she is on the field the same time as Teneb, our reach with his ability drastically reduces to our side of the field, which is fine but does create problems sometimes. Overall, I think she is a great hatebear, but doesn't have the power Teneb has as a general, and is a little tight to consider in the 99. As an alternative general, no way. As the 99, we'll see.
Abzan Charm: Charm is a versatile card in where all three modes are relevant in this deck. Drawing cards is great for advantage, removal is great for control, and the pump makes Teneb a three turn clock. At instant speed, I say its worth a slot.
Sandsteppe Citadel: Yay! We have a tri-land! Woohoo!
Abzan Ascendancy: I feel like this card could be broken, but I don't think this is the right deck for it. Ghave, Guru of Spores seems more of a fit home for this card.
Duneblast: Well, there is much better removal than this. I'd run [c]Merciless Eviction[/c[ before I run this.
Utter End:I personally think this card in better than Vindicate. Vindicate is a mana less and does reach lands, but how often do you destroy a land with it? Also, destroying at sorcery speed is pretty meek. Exiling at instant speed for one more mana is worth it, and it gives our deck so much reach. If the spots for removal weren't so tight, I would run both. But for this build, I'm sticking with Utter End.
End Hostilities: As I said, there is much better mass removal than this. Move along.
Rakshasa Deathdealer: Being a Hindu, Hindu mythology in Magic is kind of the best thing ever. That being said, the Rakshasas of this set are not that playable. His pump gets too pricey and while he is resilient, I feel he is too mana specific.
Siege Rhino: I do realize that this could be abused with Karmic Guide, Reveillark, Saffi Eriskdotter and a sac outlet. But I feel like thats too narrow of a situation to warrant him a spot. On his own, he bleeds out some opponents. But for that purpose, Kokusho, the Evening Star is much better.
Sorin, Solemn Visitor: Say hello to our new 'Walker! Sorin is much like his other W/B Version, but this one makes bigger dudes and also still makes Teneb a three turn clock. His final can help give Teneb some fodder to reach for. A great utility walker and worth a spot in our build.
Did I miss something? Was there a card you really wanted to see reviewed form the new set? Please let me know!
Epic Signature by the one and only Ace in Ace of Spades Studio
Proud member of the Spirit of EDH
BGW Teneb, the Harvester [Primer]
R Márton Stromgald
WUB Dakkon Blackblade
GR Atarka, World Render
{Writing and Rants}
WUBRG The Primeval Dragon's influence on EDH