Basically, Oros, while it was by far my favorite deck and goldfished really well, when I actually played it, it had this tendency to draw extremely awkwardly. Either I'd draw all of my proactive cards and zero lands, or I'd draw all my reactive cards and too much land. Adding to that that most of my draw spells left me with 7-land hands, I was starting to really get fed up.
I kept wishing I had Exploration and Seedborn Muse in my Oros deck, so I did what I think was the right call in switching to green as my third color. The whole reason I went to black in the first place was a bunch of Gatecrash cards and Grave Pact, and through my months of editing, I'd cut almost all of the black cards from the deck, save for tutors, which ended up finding key creatures most of the time, anyway. Thus, I felt it best I make the move to green.
Besides, Marath is cool. He's cheap, will always be relevant no matter how much he costs to cast, and he's got a lot of value, which is definitely something I think is awesome.
How does one play this deck?
Cautiously. Sunforger is a very difficult card to pilot properly, and is not for the faint of heart. When mastered, however, it's incredibly difficult not to pilot well.
The trick is never tapping out once you have a key resource to protect and the means to protect it. When playing against opponents with experience against this strategy, it's wise to bluff, as opponents will dismiss your board state entirely if you leave mana up, assuming that you won't be of any real threat. That's their mistake.
Typically, the game plan is to win the game through grinding opponents' resources out with Sunforger, and getting them either with general damage or just beating their faces in enough.
This is a lot more about what's being taken out than what's being added. The acceleration is severely disproportionate. The biggest offenders were Kodama's Reach and Skyshroud Claim; having spells that search for 8 of your 13 targets is rather shoddy, especially when many of the spells don't come with a body attached, so that they're not completely dead draws. Thus, the move to more creature-oriented ramp was a smooth transition.
This is backed by the inclusion of a superior recursion package; Lark/Guide has more immediate board impact than a Sun Titan trigger, imo, because you get to tutor your noncreature Sun Titan targets with everything a Reveillark trigger will bring back, backed up by Mistveil Plains. (In addition, there's also Eternal Witness.
Aside from that, since I added a Lark/Guide package, I wanted decent targets for Lark's trigger, so I added some removal/tutors in addition to acceleration creatures.
I needed an excuse to cut City of Brass, and while replacing it with a Shimmering Grotto seems weak on the surface, I think I can afford the dip in fixing to make up for what's being added here. I'll continue testing the manabase to see if I can work with the mana costs this deck requires of me.
I realized while unsleeving Oros that I somehow miscounted my nonbasic lands at 34 rather than the advertised 33. Whoops. If not having that sixth basic becomes a problem, I'll cut Battlefield Forge.
I realized I should be running a Pod in this list because I have enough 1's that turning Marath's token into Serra Ascendant just seems like pure value. Plus, being a Mistveil Plains deck, I can easily recycle my graveyard.
I got my first successful playtest of Marath this week, and the deck overperformed, defeating two tables with absolute impunity, the second without use of Mistveil Plains or Bow of Nylea until the very end of the game.
The issues I've been having is the consistent need to answer things; Aura Shards and Wrath of God come in to add to the repertoire of answers this deck already has. (I just really don't like having to waste Orim's Thunder or Return to Dust when I don't need to.)
Druidic Satchel is a card I kept in because I'm currently lacking the Lark/Guide package, but it was by far one of the standout performers of the first test, so much so that I decided I needed to make room for it in the deck.
The rest is issues with what's being taken out. Having transitioned from black to green successfully, I find the problems I was having in black aren't that big a deal with green anymore - beating control is extremely easy at this point, and Sword of War and Peace just isn't going to gain me as much life now that I'm not running as many card draw outlets.
In addition, despite my increased lifegain sources, I'm just taking too much damage from my painlands, and I felt cutting them entirely was the right call. I'm also drawing way too many land, despite Oracle of Mul Daya, so I'm going to cut to 38 and see how it runs. Mirari's Wake should help.
Also, with Birthing Pod having been the MVP, I feel I have enough access to the creatures of the deck that Primal Command has quickly become irrelevant and clunky.
11/19/2013:
-Made a huge edit to the Nuances of the Deck section, giving in-depth analyses of each card in the deck.
11/21/2013:
-Added a second sorting of the list that organizes them by the three main engines of the deck.
-Updated the Nuances of the Deck section. (Still a WIP.)
*sigh*
I hate cutting foils. Especially ones I've just purchased not even a month ago. Despite my distaste, I drew way too many dorky ramp dudes and not enough threats in this week of live testing, and in every single game, I drew Knight alongside Wood Elves after using Cultivate and Krosan Verge. It was just miserable, so I decided to cut them.
In exchange, I'm moving to more creature-centric threats, due to Birthing Pod. Sun Titan makes its return as a great recursive creature that can fetch Mistveil Plains, Bow of Nylea, Eternal Witness, and another new addition, Loaming Shaman, a creature that's equal parts recycling and graveyard hate. Whereas I have the option to run Eldrazi, I feel in a Birthing Pod list, the Shaman just fits, despite having 1 point of power too many. He's also great graveyard hate.
I've decided I want a top-heavy finisher, and Elesh Norn fits the bill with the deck's propensity to crank out both dorks and tokens.
Another decision was to swap Wrath of God for Sunblast Angel, which I feel is the right call because a good 6 to Pod out and plays well with Ghostway.
Solemn Simulacrum is right at home in a Pod list, and I feel it'll do some great work alongside Karmic Guide and Reveillark.
Goblin Welder feels at home in a list like this, when your goal is to just make sure your artifacts don't die. He's joined with his BFF Wurmcoil, who you Pod into Elesh Norn, and then swap with one of your dead big artifacts.
-Untagged the spoilers pertaining to both styles the list is organized in.
-Updated the Nuances of the Deck section. (STILL a WIP. Will I ever finish it? Who knows?)
My last update for 2013. Phew.
Basically, these days, all I'm playing are this, Purphoros and Wanderer. Whereas Wanderer is an autopilot (you can literally put just about anything in that deck and it'll work. Stupid Wanderer.), and Purphoros obviously needs a lot of work (which I'll get to in the new year), I want to again bring light to Marath. In the last few games I had it, Sword of War and Peace overperformed, often killing entire tables just based on the damage it did, and I wasn't against two Nekusar, the Mindrazer lists, making the fact that I didn't draw some kind of dig/recycle engine a massively punishing factor in why I lost games. (which I haven't been doing much of lately, surprisingly enough)
That being said, I'm keeping Sword of War and Peace in the list moving forward. As much as I like the idea of more consistent lifegain when I'm running on empty, the damage War and Peace does is invaluable and far more impactful than the Raise Dead effect on Light and Shadow, and I don't feel like splurging on a Light and Shadow when I lack Windswept Heath, which is really troubling when I fail to draw any other way of searching for Mistveil Plains.
Cathars' Crusade was something I've pondered over for a long time, and the fact that in many cases, it's good on its own (it only really needs Marath to be good), I've decided to include it. I'll be testing over the next few weeks and I'll be seeing if it pulls its weight, but I'm excited. Perhaps now I have reason to perhaps ponder the idea of Doubling Season. It would certainly encourage me to include my Domri Rade, or perhaps invest in a Xenagos, the Reveler.
-Updated the Nuances of the Deck section. (To say highlighting every card was ambitious would be an understatement...sigh.)
With 2014 rolling in, I've settled on making more curve-heightening changes by including the Doubling Season package mentioned in the last update. Out of all of the planeswalkers I could have included, I feel the most important were Ajani Vengeant, a powerful control spell, and Garruk Medium, an extremely powerful spell in general, but downright absurd with Doubling Season active. A powerful draw engine really helps keep the deck going, and it's largely what's influenced me to make this update. 'Tis the Season.
Overall, I feel like the three cuts weren't pulling their weight. The change to green meant that Weathered Wayfarer got significantly more useless the more I cast him, because he was never a priority target for Ranger of Eos. Vexing Shusher is just not an effect I need to stack anymore, due to the fact that this deck's matchup against heavy-permission control is already absolutely insane, and it just felt like too much of one thing when the deck can afford to be flexible. I have Grand Abolisher already, who is just overall the better card when it came down to it. Hero of Bladehold, on the other hand, was a card I've been contemplating removing for quite some time. Despite its individual strength, cohesively, it doesn't much work with what I'm trying to do. It doesn't immediately impact the board, and while it threatens a ton of damage, it usually doesn't ever get to deal it, because something large and in charge stands in its way. Overall, I also had an issue of "too many 4 stops" on my Birthing Pod chain, and I want to try and cut down on that as much as possible. (It was also the stop I least wanted to stop at.)
Moving forward, I look at Dragonmaster Outcast and Temple of Plenty, the latter of which I really wanted to fit in the manabase but could never find the room. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and any comments are much appreciated. Cheers!
-Updated foils.
-Updated the Nuances of the Deck section.
(I swear, I'm just going to do a video deck tech on this deck and do an in-depth card choice analysis and just delete all that annoying text. Why did I ever think that was a good idea ever?)
First thing's first - NEW FOILS. I did an insane trade this week that got me $160 worth of stuff for this, including the Savannah as well as a couple of high-end foils. Really psyched going forward; I've almost hit the halfway point!
So, as my longest-standing, most finely-tuned EDH deck, editing this has become an uphill battle. I have to ask myself four questions:
"What doesn't live up to expectations?" Honestly, having an indestructible body didn't matter when it came down to it; I always had a destructible body such as Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite or Seedborn Muse out that I needed to save with Boros Charm or Ghostway. Also, I've been introducing more and more multicolor permanents to the deck, making Renounce an awkward draw. Thirdly, I never drew enough cards that Reliquary Tower became necessary, because I only drew too many cards when ahead, when I could recycle what I discarded anyway.
"Do I really need what this does?" And really, that's the tide and true way to decide what to cut. I really don't need these effects; a lasting body isn't necessary when my board gets cluttered, targeted removal is more powerful than Renounce in almost all situations, and I'm not drawing enough cards that Reliquary Tower's lack of colored mana makes it worth its slot anymore.
"What do I need to be doing?" For the longest time, this deck has wanted a mass haste outlet. I felt like Swiftfoot Boots was that card, but recently I've desired this effect tacked onto a creature. Pound for pound, the effect is best utilized through Urabrask, though I weighed Anger pretty heavily, I'm not going to lie. My distaste for how my meta has evolved has made Urabrask's freeze ability much more useful in the long run, so I'm sticking with it for now.
"Does what I bring in outperform what I cut?" That's what testing is for, my friends! I'd like to think so, but everything is better in a vaccuum, so we'll see how the changes work. I still haven't quite determined whether the Doubling Season package has pulled its weight yet, so we'll see.
-Updated foils.
-Removed the Nuances of the Deck section.
This edit just shows how ruthless my meta has become; I can't run cute dependent 5-drops anymore, and I really have to start playing more efficient, curve-light utility spells and disruption; my meta has just become a cluster of disruption, combo, and Avacyn, Angel of Hope; it's really dumb.
I've been having trouble operating on 38 lands, 5 filters and 3 fetches lately, along with all of the colorless utility lands, so I've opted to re-introduce Weathered Wayfarer to help ease the pain of holding 4 lands and all 5-drops. Hopefully, going forward, I'll be able to have smoother, less inconsistent draws. I'll keep you posted.
Now at 46 foils; almost halfway done! Some of the foils will prove more difficult to find than others, but I can just hold off on those until later. Not being able to find foils like Kher Keep and Orim's Thunder is really starting to bother me.
Permission-based control is starting to become a big part of my meta again, so in light of that, Vexing Shusher makes his triumphant return. If control starts to become a matchup I don't need as much prep for, then I'll rotate him out again.
I'm going to do my full Journey Into Nyx update when the set is fully spoiled--I decided against Godsend after the hype wore off. The new Ajani definitely seems worth a try, so expect to see him soon. =)
Basically, testing a theory that forcing all the Gods I can into every deck I have for EDH isn't just busted as hell. It probably isn't. I'll report results as I gather them.
Basically, once I added Unexpectedly Absent, Condemn and Return to Dust started getting worse and worse. All-purpose removal has a lot more value, which is why Decimate takes its place; even in the advent of Gods, I can just tuck them if they're really screwing me that much.
Urabrask does what Ghostly Prison does, provides devotion to a better color (because making Purphoros, God of the Forge was a serious issue sometimes), and can be drawn off Ajani, Mentor of Heroes (which I was having trouble drawing cards with before I started shifting towards Gods). Xenagos is necessary now that the deck has shifted towards a more midrange build, especially useful alongside Ajani and Doubling Season.
Only having 7 targets that a wide variety of other cards also tutor was making Karametra less and less useful. She had her merits, but I lacked the fuel to make her useful, which just make her a bit of an awkward draw. I had cut Xenagod a long time ago and never looked back; he's bad with both my Swords and he's only decent at best with Aurelia, the Warleader. Plus, getting a foil would be a huge pain.
One issue I was having was making Purphoros, God of the Forge and Nylea, God of the Hunt creatures, so Vexing Shusher fits the bill for both, as I wanted 2-power or less creatures. Lately, my wins have been due to abusing Fauna Shaman and Seedborn Muse to create a Ghostway loop with Eternal Witness and Purphoros. However, I'd also like to be attacking with him, so I'm adding two cards that add devotion to red. Dragonmaster Outcast has been a creature I've considered for a long time, and am now just adding due to his power with Doubling Season and my ramp being mostly land tutors.
So, first thing's first; foil updates! I got Mother of Runes and Karmic Justice foiled out, which are huge accomplishments for me. Having a foil Mother is especially a massive victory for me, as she's a multi-purpose creature that's overall an amazing foil to have.
Yisan, the creature I've christened "Solid Snake Bard", has won me over instantly. He's an absolute workhorse in this strategy, functioning excellently with both Seedborn Muse and Doubling Season.
Past that, I've needed draw outlets more often than not, because I find I draw dead in some games. In light of that, I'm cutting my one-drops which don't really do anything on their own, or I've found too slow. Eidolon of Blossoms, while relatively slow, has 10 triggers, and is pretty nutty with Ghostway in addition to being a Reveillark target. Akroma's Vengeance, on the other hand, is necessary for the draws where I find myself unable to outrace others, and want the board dead. When ahead, I can just cycle it and recur it later with Eternal Witness, which make it multi-purpose. Adding to that, the latter two's foils are both super cheap!
Got a foil Reflecting Pool for the other day, and managed an FTV Vengeance, which is rather nice. I still have yet to pick up Duplicant or an Eidolon of Blossoms, which will both more than likely end up being foil. Looking forward to that.
Recently, a menace has flooded our borders at our LGS. A Captain Sisay player with a rather well-tuned list, in his defense, has started wiping the floor with us. These changes are to specifically adapt to him, because I really don't want to spend $50 on a foil Mindcensor. In time, I'll likely stop playing it, unless it's really just that good. (It likely is, much to the dismay of my wallet.)
Wurmcoil Engine, sadly, did little, I found, once Goblin Welder got cut. It was only a matter of time. What helps my argument for both the additions is they're both 2 power creatures, one of whom works fantastic alongside Ghostway. Overall, I'm looking forward to testing these two, so we'll see how next week goes. (If I flash in the Mindcensor in response to his Sisay activation, it will be glorious.)
So I'm not exactly sure why I haven't removed Nylea from the deck yet, as she does extremely little for the deck without her bow on the table. Duergar Hedge-Mage, while a pet card of mine, was a card I never wanted to draw, tutor or cast until I could have both modes, and it ended up stranded in my hand some games. Vitu-Ghazi, while strong in the later stages of the game with Seedborn Muse, fell flat in the early game and color screwed me more often than not, so I needed to cut it.
Farseek is my choice for ramp, as my turn 2 is generally a setup turn anyway. My other option was Garruk Wildspeaker, which doesn't shuffle or come down in the early turns, where he'd have the most impact. If ramp becomes something I value more, I may look at him again. Brimaz was the creature I settled on, seeing as I picked one up for a Stax deck that didn't end up working out. Windbrisk Heights was sitting around in my collection and felt at home here, but it might prove to not be as useful as I expect it to be, so it may wind up getting cut.
Getting ever closer to foiling out the list. Now that I'm employed, this task will be that much easier. I have two foils at my LGS; Brimaz, King of Oreskos and Doubling Season. I'll have to probably order the rest online, which'll be bothersome, but worth it. Now that I've gotten to the halfway point, it's pointless not to go all the way, even though Stoneforge Mystic is literally absurd.
Moving to edits, Unexpectedly Absent has, in its three-month run in this deck, has been cast in response to a shuffle effect all of one time, and it's easily the least attractive Sunforger target by a wide margin. In addition, it also lacks a foil, so while I like the card's best-case, it definitely doesn't have the most impressive track record, and while I value spot removal, it truly isn't spot removal, which bothers me.
Ranger of Eos, on the other hand, has begun to find itself less and less useful. After I cut Weathered Wayfarer, it definitely found itself in the position of some awkward draws for the deck, as drawing 2 of my 3 targets (or more, in lategame scenarios) made it an almost completely dead card. In addition, I've recently introduced Yisan, the Wanderer Bard to the list, who is an absolute all-star at most stages of the game, as tutoring Serra Ascendant early and Dragonmaster Outcast or Mother of Runes late was superb. Because he wound up making Ranger a dead card on his own, it became time to part ways with our faithful Ranger.
I tried to make Windbrisk Heights work, but I find I'm already a pretty big target whenever I play, and getting it Strip Mined is just miserable. Thespian's Stage, on the other hand, while pretty, is far too slow for my tastes, and didn't wind up doing much in a lot of situations, so it ended up falling flat and getting cut.
As far as additions go, I wanted more acceleration, so I decided to add more basics to the list and play Cultviate. Additionally, as of recent, artifact-based strategies have become a popular choice of my metagame, so Vandalblast comes in as an answer to those. I feared the repercussions of Reiterate, but I realized losing all my artifacts really isn't that bad.
Moving forward, I'm not sure if I want to shift towards more of an aggressive strategy or leave that for the Oros, the Avenger shell and update that when I can. I'm favoring the control shell I have right now, however.
Our meta is shifting away from Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker and Hinder-based strategies, so these two find themselves getting replaced. You'll see them back if the metagame at my LGS shifts.
I'm thinking of scrapping the list by function and replacing it with a "sideboard" (a list of cards I shift in and out as my meta changes), because this is, like, the 7th update featuring Vexing Shusher. It's so good when it's good, and it's so miserably bad when it's bad. Sob...
I've found there are games where I in fact do draw way too much answers. When I'm ahead, I just want to kill people, and while removal is rarely, if ever dead, I found a lot of my removal was incredibly awkward. Though Akroma's Vengeance sounded great at first, I only ever cast it once, cycling it every other time. I also think I was too hasty in jumping on the idea of Duplicant, as it's too top-heavy and my matchup against the Captain Sisay terror is already supposed to be pretty damn good now. Aside from that, I'm just taking out the removal that has the potential to be completely dead in some matchups, and add in some other options. Gahiji, Elspeth, and Hero of Bladehold all contribute quite well to adding pressure, something I find I can lack in some draws.
I was starting to get really annoyed with specific draws I was having when playing the deck. Drawing all my colorless utility lands in the early game felt miserable, and while I didn't mind having Opal Palace right on turn 4 or when I was casting Marath for the third time, I found it worthless in almost every other situation. Nykthos comes in as a test spot because of that; I might just get another Forest if I'm still having trouble with colored mana.
I think I overlooked Hydra, because it's actually pretty insane in a number of draws, specifically any where it has haste, Doubling Season or Aurelia, the Warleader. I'm just not looking forward to hunting down a foil copy.
I'm going to test Ajani Steadfast over Mentor of Heroes because tapping 5 mana to do nothing is outright miserable. If worst comes to worst, I'll just sub it out for Domri Rade or Sarkhan Vol.
10/2/2014:
-Updated foils.
I think I have Marath in a great place right now, so I'm just dropping by the thread to update the foils so it doesn't look like I've straight-up abandoned it. In truth, Khans of Tarkir brought next to nothing for this deck, because it was already running the allied fetches that it could.
Ajani Steadfast has tested wonderfully, going from turn 2 to an emblem in no time, and winning me a game single-handedly. It has definitely earned its spot.
Right now, I think I'm just gonna wait on the Commander 2014 precon spoilers and keep acquiring the foils. I've gotten 6 since the last update, including the much-sought-after Oblation, which my friend had to get in a city 6 hours from mine. I've almost ran out of foils to acquire in my city, it's actually unfortunate. ;-;
My meta has shifted towards a fast-paced, Stax/Voltron variant, where I find myself in need of Condemn again. Purely a metagame call, so heed this update at your discretion.
My work got a foil Steadfast in, so I scooped it up right quick.
I hate this update. This will probably be the change to this deck I truly regret the most. I honestly loathe the fact that I'm basically cornered into putting Basilisk Collar into my deck. For a full year now, all I've done is say "Oh, Bow of Nylea is so much better!", and how much I actually hate that card, but my meta has gotten so fast, so aggression-based, and so creature-oriented that edits to make the deck more consistent are absolutely necessary. I have to be able to kill all 1-toughness creatures. I have to be able to gain life and kill things on command. And with the printing of Comeuppance, I'm pretty happy to include it.
I just absolutely hate not being able to play an enchantress package anymore. It was so fun to have that draw. Right now, however, the draw just isn't good enough. Paying 4 mana just isn't strong enough for what my meta requires of me. Prease understand.
First update of 2015. I was struggling with the direction I wanted this deck to take for the longest time, because I was convinced the Equipment package was misplaced and all forms of aggression were a waste of my time. I wanted to do nothing more than control the board. I was thinking of a lot of ways to overhaul the deck; make it about tokens and Planeswalkers and jam sweeper after sweeper and just slap Sunforger on tokens to get value, I was thinking about making it super aggressive and reintroducing Gahiji as well as something like Ogre Battledriver for more threat density--but then in one game where I had mentioned that, one of my opponents said something to me that stuck;
"I don't think you should change it, really. It's your best deck, and it's worked so well for you in the past."
It took hearing it from someone else to really help give me some semblance of direction and renewed purpose with the deck. In light of that, I'm taking out the cards that have limited synergies and contribute only to aggressive draws, in light of trying to make this more of a boxing-style hyper-reactive control/aggro mix.
I've got a lot of foils on the way and I'll probably update my gallery of foils when Duel Decks: Elspeth vs. Kiora drops. Until then, I'm going into 2015 with renewed confidence in my baby.
I really dislike removing one of my all-time favorite Magic cards, but while Aurelia is undeniably powerful, she's not that great on her own, and as a 6 that relies on secondary board presence, she feels like the right cut. I'm trying to shy away from an aggressive angle, and stick to controlling the board. Cards that do so slowly or very rarely also have to get the cut. Besides, LD is not this deck's friend, and cards that fight that are very useful. The Knight and Crucible also function extremely well when ahead, letting you set up a loop with a recycle card and fetchlands, in addition to any Wood Elves shenanigans.
I lost to Uril yesterday, which is something I haven't played against in a long time. It just brought up how I have some really bad matchups against hexproof things, and Arcane Lighthouse is going to help fix that problem. In addition, I've been meaning to put this Tempt somewhere since I took Damia apart.
The other day, I opened an Ugin in a fat pack. None of my decks can profitably support Ugin aside from this one, which has to really try to. I'm not sure he's fit for the deck and it's not just better to sell them, but for now, I'm going to try him.
Ugin's time in this deck was short-lived. While a powerful card, I don't particularly make good use of what he does, so he's going to my friends who collect Planeswalkers.
I also picked up a foil Crucible of Worlds and a foil Exploration the other day; expensive finds, but well worth it long-term, especially the latter. Crucible is a great short-term purchase as well, since it's slowly climbing.
Dragons of Tarkir brings Marath a surprising wealth of options, depth unseen in a set since Gatecrash. A lot of new toys to use that I'm excited to try.
The Commands are all excellent, and I'm over the moon that the four that are in the colors of a Sunforger activation are in its converted mana cost range as well. Dromoka's Command is a great two-for-one that can, in a pinch, blank Blasphemous Act, but most of the time, will be used to nuke opposing Rhystic Studys, Purphoros, God of the Forges, and Blood Moons, as well as scrapping with their dude of choice. Atarka's Command, on the other hand, is a little less useful and may be a short-term addition. Most of the time, I foresee it as deal 3 and drop a land, but it can be a Glorious Charge in certain scenarios, and can blank large Exsanguinates, or more importantly, break the chain of Exquisite Blood and Sanguine Bond for that crucial turn, if possible. It and Radiant Purge can be a little narrow sometimes, but I feel they're interesting enough to give a shot and see how they work. Surrak, on the other hand, is a haste outlet, and Marath loves curving out into a 5/4 haste that gives the rest of his creatures haste (I loved me some Urabrask, and he's one less mana to boot).
It's a period of heavy testing for Marath. (and heavy foil purchasing; Anger, Krosan Verge and Basilisk Collar are in the mail, and I plan to reupload the foil progress album when that happens. Stay tuned!) I hope that I find use for these new cards and that they pull their weight in the midst of the arms race my playgroup is having. Time will tell.
Acquired most of the DTK foils. Need only Surrak, which I'll have by Friday if all goes as planned.
The tuck changes are not ones I like, since I haven't had my foil Oblation for very long and it's now completely useless. Condemn was always a nice little metagame call for me, too, and it is similarly quite useless at this point. So, I'm stuck here having to go the route of "play more tutors instead as a bitter 'screw you' to the RC", and including Dryad/Zenith.
-Updated foils.
-Added a foil gallery to the top of the thread. (TOTALLY NOT A HUMBLEBRAG OR ANYTHING I SWEAR)
Turns out Atarka's Command fell flat and was the only instant in the deck that actually didn't do anything. Whoops. Oh, well; you win some, you lose some.
-Updated sections of the deck to make them more compact.
-Updated foils.
Magic Origins gives the deck Animist's Awakening, the best ramp spell probably ever, and Evolutionary Leap, a very cheap and powerful repeatable "tutor" that's just superb with our token generation subtheme.
I did an update to the TappedOut thread a while ago that I failed to put here, where I tried Adarkar Valkyrie, but honestly, I needed a cut, and the Valkyrie is powerful, but it just wasn't good enough.
pls be gentle you guys know this little project is my baby it just got a green thumb ok pls be kind n rewind
If you are playing an equipment based Marath, Grafted Exoskeleton and Illusionist Bracers are 2 good equipments to include. The exoskeleton works extremely well with Marath being able to ping poison damage to opponents as an when we want it.
Another seldom seen equipment that is legal in Marath's colors is Mage Slayer, might want to consider too.
Running the Stronghold is way too many colorless lands when I have enough as is. Also, Enlightened Tutor is better than Steelshaper's Gift because it can tutor Mirari's Wake and is a Sunfirger target. I'm lazy and don't want to get one, though. Thanks for the compliment, though~
Grafted Exoskeleton has next to no value when Marath will only ever have 10 counters on him after being cast so many times, and the only other creature the Exoskeleton is good on is Firemane Avenger. Plus, I just am not a big fan of infect overall.
Illusionist's Bracers only work well with Marath and Stonehewer Giant, the latter of which works better with Aurelia and Seedborn Muse, anyway. Overall, there's not much value gained putting it into the deck IMO.
I actually considered Mage Slayer as well as Behemoth Sledge, but I simply put way too much into this; it was at the point where I said to myself, "Hmm, I don't need Wood Elves, even though I have a Skullclamp. Nah!"
As for the Sunforger targets you suggested;
-Krosan Grip and Beast Within are not tutorable, or damn right I'd run them. I was strongly considering running the Grip regardless, too.
-Selesnya Charm is outclassed; Boros Charm applies a much more significant combat trick, Swords to Plowshares doesn't fat-shame, and Rith's Charm makes more blockers that play better with both Skullclamp and Hero of Bladehold.
Missed the most important sunforger piece: tithe. Hit that mistveil plains! Also, and especially with sunforger since mistveil is so crucial, you should be running fetches, plus you can hit your duals. I'd cut some of the subpar fixers, like ancient amphitheater, city of brass, and the scry lands. And especially without fetches, those checklands probably aren't very good either.
Wow this is a pretty cool list. Only thing I can say is I think you need a little more green in your sun forger green. I know its got a price tag but voice of resurgence would wreck face in here. Qasili Pridemage, Huntmaster of the Fells, and Sigarda, Host of Herons are all really good sword carriers. Especially sigarda. I just think some of your creatures are a bit strange. As far as sun forger targets I think you are spot on.
I know you said you didn't like infect but have you tried Triumph of the Hordes? I feel like some sort of overrun effect could help you punch damage through even more if the board is clogged. That's the sneakiest one. Craterhoof seems too clunky in here.
I actually just removed Tithe because of how awkward it is to actually draw, and the Plains I tutor is better in play than in my hand, which led to me replacing it with Farseek and Knight of the White Orchid; having it tutored to play is just so much better, imo.
The only reason I have the duals is because I'm borrowing them. I'm not sure I'd be able to borrow them AND the fetches, but we'll see. I do have Arid Mesa, in my defense.
I like Qasali Pridemage, but Acidic Slime does the same thing and gets Maze of Ith, a huge problem for this deck, as well. In addition, deathtouch makes blocking difficult when it's wielding a Sword and your opponent is able to block. I was also considering Huntmaster and Sigarda, and if Shadow proves an inferior ability, I'll cut Soltari Visionary.
The problem I have with Triumph, aside from my problems with Infect, is that the card requires me to be ahead when I cast it, making it win-more in nature. Not only do I need creatures on board, but I need a lot of them for it to be effective.
Oh wow one really cool trick would be Debt of Loyalty since people will forget you have it as an option to play because all they see is the forger and they probably don't have your decklist. So you can randomly get any creature that dies under your control and surprise them. Or if they do know you have it as an option since you'd have done it before it'll make them think twice about attacking or blocking, which can only benefit you.
The issue I have with Debt of Loyalty is that in a vacuum, the sweepers all prevent regeneration, and the good targets have hexproof. It has a really good best-case, but a really bad worst-case, it's a really awkward draw, and it just feels narrow.
If I ran more sweepers, I'd definitely consider it, though.
The issue with both of those equipment is how little they do when not attached to Marath. Literally the only other creature Illusionist's Bracers is decent on is Fauna Shaman, making it not strong enough overall.
Marath is a very strong card by itself; it doesn't require me to play something specifically to enable it. It's just a really high-value creature on its own.
So going off what you have started here I have developed a list of my own that is fairly similar. I like your ideas and I have built around them with the cards that I have avialable to me.
Metagame calls, which is why the deck has both Vexing Shusher and Grand Abolisher. There's so much Maze of Ith in my meta to counter this deck that I feel I need the LD that Rith's Charm provides. Another big thing is non-trample aggro, so the blockers at instant speed are a lifesaver sometimes.
Naya Charm is fine, but I feel what Wing Shards loses in flexibility it gains in raw power. The Regrowth effect is mirrored in Eternal Witness, and the 3 damage is more permanent through Firemane Avenger.
Instant speed 3 damage can mess some people up. Lightning Bolt has been doing some serious work in my deck, but obviously the Charm would be preferable.
Naya Charm is fine, but I feel what Wing Shards loses in flexibility it gains in raw power. The Regrowth effect is mirrored in Eternal Witness, and the 3 damage is more permanent through Firemane Avenger.
Yes but you can't tutor up Witness and Avenger with Sunforger
I think the strongest option of naya charm is the third one. Tapping down an opponent at the right moment can be really backbreaking. That Naya Charm also has other options is what makes it an amazing card.Tthere are very few occasions where it does nothing.
I've done another recent update to the list and I'm still looking for feedback.
I'm on the fence on whether or not to keep Stoneforge Mystic in the deck. It would be replaced by either Tithe or Naya Charm. Thoughts?
Why would you want to cut Stoneforge Mystic? It not only gets you Sunforger but also Skullclamp which is just insane cardadvantage, along all the other equipments. And he gives you a body to put that equipment on. I'd say it's on of the best cards you have in here.
And a TappedOut thread, as well!
3 Marath, Will of the Wild
The Goods
3 Sunforger (*)
1 Swords to Plowshares (*)
2 Boros Charm (*)
2 Dromoka's Command (*)
2 Radiant Purge (*)
3 Chaos Warp (*)
3 Ghostway (*)
3 Orim's Thunder (*)
3 Wing Shards (*)
4 Comeuppance
4 Wild Ricochet (*)
The Goodstuff
1 Mother of Runes (*)
1 Serra Ascendant
2 Grand Abolisher (*)
2 Scavenging Ooze (*)
2 Swiftfoot Boots (*)
3 Aven Mindcensor
3 Crucible of Worlds (*)
3 Eternal Witness (*)
3 Genesis Wave (*)
3 Sword of Feast and Famine (*)
4 Ajani Steadfast (*)
4 Anger (*)
4 Elspeth, Knight-Errant (*)
4 Purphoros, God of the Forge (*)
5 Doubling Season (*)
5 Karmic Guide (*)
5 Reveillark (*)
5 Seedborn Muse
6 Sun Titan (*)
Removal
1 Basilisk Collar (*)
1 Ulvenwald Tracker (*)
2 Umezawa's Jitte (*)
3 Aura Shards
3 Bow of Nylea (*)
3 Goblin Sharpshooter
3 Viashino Heretic (*)
4 Decimate (*)
6 Austere Command
6 Elspeth, Sun's Champion (*)
7 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Animist's Awakening
1 Exploration (*)
1 Sol Ring
2 Farseek (*)
3 Wood Elves (*)
4 Solemn Simulacrum
4 Xenagos, the Reveler (*)
5 Mirari's Wake (*)
Tutors
1 Green Sun's Zenith (*)
2 Fauna Shaman (*)
2 Stoneforge Mystic
3 Chord of Calling (*)
3 Knight of the Reliquary (*)
4 Birthing Pod
4 Defense of the Heart
5 Stonehewer Giant (*)
Card Draw
1 Skullclamp (*)
2 Evolutionary Leap
2 Sylvan Library
3 Sword of Fire and Ice
5 Garruk, Primal Hunter (*)
Basic Lands - 5
1 Forest (*)
1 Mountain (*)
3 Plains (*)
Nonbasic Lands - 32
0 Arcane Lighthouse
0 Arid Mesa
0 Clifftop Retreat (*)
0 Command Tower (*)
0 Dryad Arbor (*)
0 Fire-Lit Thicket
0 Gavony Township (*)
0 Jungle Shrine (*)
0 Kessig Wolf Run (*)
0 Kher Keep (*)
0 Krosan Verge
0 Mistveil Plains (*)
0 Mossfire Valley (*)
0 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx (*)
0 Plateau
0 Reflecting Pool (*)
0 Rootbound Crag (*)
0 Rugged Prairie
0 Sacred Foundry (*)
0 Savannah
0 Stomping Ground
0 Sungrass Prairie (*)
0 Sunpetal Grove (*)
0 Taiga
0 Temple Garden (*)
0 Temple of Abandon (*)
0 Temple of Plenty (*)
0 Temple of Triumph (*)
0 Windswept Heath (*)
0 Wooded Bastion (*)
0 Wooded Foothills (*)
0 Yavimaya Hollow
Why Marath, Will of the Wild?
Basically, Oros, while it was by far my favorite deck and goldfished really well, when I actually played it, it had this tendency to draw extremely awkwardly. Either I'd draw all of my proactive cards and zero lands, or I'd draw all my reactive cards and too much land. Adding to that that most of my draw spells left me with 7-land hands, I was starting to really get fed up.
I kept wishing I had Exploration and Seedborn Muse in my Oros deck, so I did what I think was the right call in switching to green as my third color. The whole reason I went to black in the first place was a bunch of Gatecrash cards and Grave Pact, and through my months of editing, I'd cut almost all of the black cards from the deck, save for tutors, which ended up finding key creatures most of the time, anyway. Thus, I felt it best I make the move to green.
Besides, Marath is cool. He's cheap, will always be relevant no matter how much he costs to cast, and he's got a lot of value, which is definitely something I think is awesome.
How does one play this deck?
The trick is never tapping out once you have a key resource to protect and the means to protect it. When playing against opponents with experience against this strategy, it's wise to bluff, as opponents will dismiss your board state entirely if you leave mana up, assuming that you won't be of any real threat. That's their mistake.
Typically, the game plan is to win the game through grinding opponents' resources out with Sunforger, and getting them either with general damage or just beating their faces in enough.
Changes Log
Karmic Guide
Reveillark
Primal Command
Wood Elves
Fauna Shaman
Farseek
Soltari Visionary
Acidic Slime
Knight of the White Orchid
-Removed:
Chromatic Lantern
Kodama's Reach
Skyshroud Claim
Sun Titan
Dauntless Escort
Tithe
Mirari's Wake
Batterskull
Naya Charm
-Updated the Nuances of the Deck section.
This is a lot more about what's being taken out than what's being added. The acceleration is severely disproportionate. The biggest offenders were Kodama's Reach and Skyshroud Claim; having spells that search for 8 of your 13 targets is rather shoddy, especially when many of the spells don't come with a body attached, so that they're not completely dead draws. Thus, the move to more creature-oriented ramp was a smooth transition.
This is backed by the inclusion of a superior recursion package; Lark/Guide has more immediate board impact than a Sun Titan trigger, imo, because you get to tutor your noncreature Sun Titan targets with everything a Reveillark trigger will bring back, backed up by Mistveil Plains. (In addition, there's also Eternal Witness.
Aside from that, since I added a Lark/Guide package, I wanted decent targets for Lark's trigger, so I added some removal/tutors in addition to acceleration creatures.
11/6/2013:
Bow of Nylea
Intrepid Hero
Opal Palace
-Removed:
Farseek
Soltari Visionary
City of Brass
I needed an excuse to cut City of Brass, and while replacing it with a Shimmering Grotto seems weak on the surface, I think I can afford the dip in fixing to make up for what's being added here. I'll continue testing the manabase to see if I can work with the mana costs this deck requires of me.
11/9/2013:
Plains
-Fixed the name of Duergar Hedge-Mage.
I realized while unsleeving Oros that I somehow miscounted my nonbasic lands at 34 rather than the advertised 33. Whoops. If not having that sixth basic becomes a problem, I'll cut Battlefield Forge.
11/13/2013:
Birthing Pod
-Removed:
Fauna Shaman
-Fixed the name of Vitu-Ghazi, the City-Tree.
I realized I should be running a Pod in this list because I have enough 1's that turning Marath's token into Serra Ascendant just seems like pure value. Plus, being a Mistveil Plains deck, I can easily recycle my graveyard.
11/15/2013:
Aura Shards
Wrath of God
Mirari's Wake
Druidic Satchel
Sword of Light and Shadow
Windswept Heath
Wooded Foothills
-Removed:
Boros Keyrune
Vedalken Orrery
Primal Command
Sword of War and Peace
Ancient Amphitheater
Ancient Tomb
Battlefield Forge
-Highlighted the foils this deck currently has.
I got my first successful playtest of Marath this week, and the deck overperformed, defeating two tables with absolute impunity, the second without use of Mistveil Plains or Bow of Nylea until the very end of the game.
The issues I've been having is the consistent need to answer things; Aura Shards and Wrath of God come in to add to the repertoire of answers this deck already has. (I just really don't like having to waste Orim's Thunder or Return to Dust when I don't need to.)
Druidic Satchel is a card I kept in because I'm currently lacking the Lark/Guide package, but it was by far one of the standout performers of the first test, so much so that I decided I needed to make room for it in the deck.
The rest is issues with what's being taken out. Having transitioned from black to green successfully, I find the problems I was having in black aren't that big a deal with green anymore - beating control is extremely easy at this point, and Sword of War and Peace just isn't going to gain me as much life now that I'm not running as many card draw outlets.
In addition, despite my increased lifegain sources, I'm just taking too much damage from my painlands, and I felt cutting them entirely was the right call. I'm also drawing way too many land, despite Oracle of Mul Daya, so I'm going to cut to 38 and see how it runs. Mirari's Wake should help.
Also, with Birthing Pod having been the MVP, I feel I have enough access to the creatures of the deck that Primal Command has quickly become irrelevant and clunky.
11/19/2013:
11/21/2013:
11/22/2013:
Sun Titan
Solemn Simulacrum
Sunblast Angel
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
Loaming Shaman
Goblin Welder
Wurmcoil Engine
-Removed:
Knight of the White Orchid
Firemane Avenger
Rith's Charm
Cultivate
Wrath of God
Darksteel Plate
Figure of Destiny
-Updated the Nuances of the Deck section. (Still a WIP.)
*sigh*
I hate cutting foils. Especially ones I've just purchased not even a month ago. Despite my distaste, I drew way too many dorky ramp dudes and not enough threats in this week of live testing, and in every single game, I drew Knight alongside Wood Elves after using Cultivate and Krosan Verge. It was just miserable, so I decided to cut them.
In exchange, I'm moving to more creature-centric threats, due to Birthing Pod. Sun Titan makes its return as a great recursive creature that can fetch Mistveil Plains, Bow of Nylea, Eternal Witness, and another new addition, Loaming Shaman, a creature that's equal parts recycling and graveyard hate. Whereas I have the option to run Eldrazi, I feel in a Birthing Pod list, the Shaman just fits, despite having 1 point of power too many. He's also great graveyard hate.
I've decided I want a top-heavy finisher, and Elesh Norn fits the bill with the deck's propensity to crank out both dorks and tokens.
Another decision was to swap Wrath of God for Sunblast Angel, which I feel is the right call because a good 6 to Pod out and plays well with Ghostway.
Solemn Simulacrum is right at home in a Pod list, and I feel it'll do some great work alongside Karmic Guide and Reveillark.
Goblin Welder feels at home in a list like this, when your goal is to just make sure your artifacts don't die. He's joined with his BFF Wurmcoil, who you Pod into Elesh Norn, and then swap with one of your dead big artifacts.
12/27/2013:
Cathars' Crusade
Sword of War and Peace
-Removed:
Mentor of the Meek
Sword of Light and Shadow
-Untagged the spoilers pertaining to both styles the list is organized in.
-Updated the Nuances of the Deck section. (STILL a WIP. Will I ever finish it? Who knows?)
My last update for 2013. Phew.
Basically, these days, all I'm playing are this, Purphoros and Wanderer. Whereas Wanderer is an autopilot (you can literally put just about anything in that deck and it'll work. Stupid Wanderer.), and Purphoros obviously needs a lot of work (which I'll get to in the new year), I want to again bring light to Marath. In the last few games I had it, Sword of War and Peace overperformed, often killing entire tables just based on the damage it did, and I wasn't against two Nekusar, the Mindrazer lists, making the fact that I didn't draw some kind of dig/recycle engine a massively punishing factor in why I lost games. (which I haven't been doing much of lately, surprisingly enough)
That being said, I'm keeping Sword of War and Peace in the list moving forward. As much as I like the idea of more consistent lifegain when I'm running on empty, the damage War and Peace does is invaluable and far more impactful than the Raise Dead effect on Light and Shadow, and I don't feel like splurging on a Light and Shadow when I lack Windswept Heath, which is really troubling when I fail to draw any other way of searching for Mistveil Plains.
Cathars' Crusade was something I've pondered over for a long time, and the fact that in many cases, it's good on its own (it only really needs Marath to be good), I've decided to include it. I'll be testing over the next few weeks and I'll be seeing if it pulls its weight, but I'm excited. Perhaps now I have reason to perhaps ponder the idea of Doubling Season. It would certainly encourage me to include my Domri Rade, or perhaps invest in a Xenagos, the Reveler.
1/19/2014:
Doubling Season
Ajani Vengeant
Garruk, Primal Hunter
-Removed:
Weathered Wayfarer
Vexing Shusher
Hero of Bladehold
-Updated the Nuances of the Deck section. (To say highlighting every card was ambitious would be an understatement...sigh.)
With 2014 rolling in, I've settled on making more curve-heightening changes by including the Doubling Season package mentioned in the last update. Out of all of the planeswalkers I could have included, I feel the most important were Ajani Vengeant, a powerful control spell, and Garruk Medium, an extremely powerful spell in general, but downright absurd with Doubling Season active. A powerful draw engine really helps keep the deck going, and it's largely what's influenced me to make this update. 'Tis the Season.
Overall, I feel like the three cuts weren't pulling their weight. The change to green meant that Weathered Wayfarer got significantly more useless the more I cast him, because he was never a priority target for Ranger of Eos. Vexing Shusher is just not an effect I need to stack anymore, due to the fact that this deck's matchup against heavy-permission control is already absolutely insane, and it just felt like too much of one thing when the deck can afford to be flexible. I have Grand Abolisher already, who is just overall the better card when it came down to it. Hero of Bladehold, on the other hand, was a card I've been contemplating removing for quite some time. Despite its individual strength, cohesively, it doesn't much work with what I'm trying to do. It doesn't immediately impact the board, and while it threatens a ton of damage, it usually doesn't ever get to deal it, because something large and in charge stands in its way. Overall, I also had an issue of "too many 4 stops" on my Birthing Pod chain, and I want to try and cut down on that as much as possible. (It was also the stop I least wanted to stop at.)
Moving forward, I look at Dragonmaster Outcast and Temple of Plenty, the latter of which I really wanted to fit in the manabase but could never find the room. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and any comments are much appreciated. Cheers!
2/13/2014:
Oblation
Urabrask the Hidden
Temple of Plenty
-Removed:
Renounce the Guilds
Tajic, Blade of the Legion
Reliquary Tower
-Updated foils.
-Updated the Nuances of the Deck section.
(I swear, I'm just going to do a video deck tech on this deck and do an in-depth card choice analysis and just delete all that annoying text. Why did I ever think that was a good idea ever?)
First thing's first - NEW FOILS. I did an insane trade this week that got me $160 worth of stuff for this, including the Savannah as well as a couple of high-end foils. Really psyched going forward; I've almost hit the halfway point!
So, as my longest-standing, most finely-tuned EDH deck, editing this has become an uphill battle. I have to ask myself four questions:
"What doesn't live up to expectations?" Honestly, having an indestructible body didn't matter when it came down to it; I always had a destructible body such as Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite or Seedborn Muse out that I needed to save with Boros Charm or Ghostway. Also, I've been introducing more and more multicolor permanents to the deck, making Renounce an awkward draw. Thirdly, I never drew enough cards that Reliquary Tower became necessary, because I only drew too many cards when ahead, when I could recycle what I discarded anyway.
"Do I really need what this does?" And really, that's the tide and true way to decide what to cut. I really don't need these effects; a lasting body isn't necessary when my board gets cluttered, targeted removal is more powerful than Renounce in almost all situations, and I'm not drawing enough cards that Reliquary Tower's lack of colored mana makes it worth its slot anymore.
"What do I need to be doing?" For the longest time, this deck has wanted a mass haste outlet. I felt like Swiftfoot Boots was that card, but recently I've desired this effect tacked onto a creature. Pound for pound, the effect is best utilized through Urabrask, though I weighed Anger pretty heavily, I'm not going to lie. My distaste for how my meta has evolved has made Urabrask's freeze ability much more useful in the long run, so I'm sticking with it for now.
"Does what I bring in outperform what I cut?" That's what testing is for, my friends! I'd like to think so, but everything is better in a vaccuum, so we'll see how the changes work. I still haven't quite determined whether the Doubling Season package has pulled its weight yet, so we'll see.
3/27/2014:
Weathered Wayfarer
Aura of Silence
Ghostly Prison
Sylvan Library
Unexpectedly Absent
Fauna Shaman
Karmic Justice
-Removed:
Assemble the Legion
Cathars' Crusade
Ajani Vengeant
Oracle of Mul Daya
Loaming Shaman
Leonin Abunas
Urabrask the Hidden
-Updated foils.
-Removed the Nuances of the Deck section.
This edit just shows how ruthless my meta has become; I can't run cute dependent 5-drops anymore, and I really have to start playing more efficient, curve-light utility spells and disruption; my meta has just become a cluster of disruption, combo, and Avacyn, Angel of Hope; it's really dumb.
I've been having trouble operating on 38 lands, 5 filters and 3 fetches lately, along with all of the colorless utility lands, so I've opted to re-introduce Weathered Wayfarer to help ease the pain of holding 4 lands and all 5-drops. Hopefully, going forward, I'll be able to have smoother, less inconsistent draws. I'll keep you posted.
4/11/2014:
Vexing Shusher
Yavimaya Hollow
-Removed:
Aura of Silence
Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion
-Updated foils.
Now at 46 foils; almost halfway done! Some of the foils will prove more difficult to find than others, but I can just hold off on those until later. Not being able to find foils like Kher Keep and Orim's Thunder is really starting to bother me.
Permission-based control is starting to become a big part of my meta again, so in light of that, Vexing Shusher makes his triumphant return. If control starts to become a matchup I don't need as much prep for, then I'll rotate him out again.
I'm going to do my full Journey Into Nyx update when the set is fully spoiled--I decided against Godsend after the hype wore off. The new Ajani definitely seems worth a try, so expect to see him soon. =)
4/18/2014:
Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
-Removed:
Eladamri's Call
5/13/2014:
Heliod, God of the Sun
Purphoros, God of the Forge
Nylea, God of the Hunt
Xenagos, God of Revels
Karametra, God of Harvests
Iroas, God of Victory
-Removed:
Leonin Shikari
Puresteel Paladin
Sword of War and Peace
Acidic Slime
Vexing Shusher
Druidic Satchel
-Updated foils.
Basically, testing a theory that forcing all the Gods I can into every deck I have for EDH isn't just busted as hell. It probably isn't. I'll report results as I gather them.
5/17/2014:
Xenagos, the Reveler
Decimate
Urabrask the Hidden
-Removed:
Ghostly Prison
Condemn
Return to Dust
Basically, once I added Unexpectedly Absent, Condemn and Return to Dust started getting worse and worse. All-purpose removal has a lot more value, which is why Decimate takes its place; even in the advent of Gods, I can just tuck them if they're really screwing me that much.
Urabrask does what Ghostly Prison does, provides devotion to a better color (because making Purphoros, God of the Forge was a serious issue sometimes), and can be drawn off Ajani, Mentor of Heroes (which I was having trouble drawing cards with before I started shifting towards Gods). Xenagos is necessary now that the deck has shifted towards a more midrange build, especially useful alongside Ajani and Doubling Season.
5/30/2014:
Dragonmaster Outcast
Vexing Shusher
-Removed:
Xenagos, God of Revels
Karametra, God of Harvests
Only having 7 targets that a wide variety of other cards also tutor was making Karametra less and less useful. She had her merits, but I lacked the fuel to make her useful, which just make her a bit of an awkward draw. I had cut Xenagod a long time ago and never looked back; he's bad with both my Swords and he's only decent at best with Aurelia, the Warleader. Plus, getting a foil would be a huge pain.
One issue I was having was making Purphoros, God of the Forge and Nylea, God of the Hunt creatures, so Vexing Shusher fits the bill for both, as I wanted 2-power or less creatures. Lately, my wins have been due to abusing Fauna Shaman and Seedborn Muse to create a Ghostway loop with Eternal Witness and Purphoros. However, I'd also like to be attacking with him, so I'm adding two cards that add devotion to red. Dragonmaster Outcast has been a creature I've considered for a long time, and am now just adding due to his power with Doubling Season and my ramp being mostly land tutors.
6/26/2014:
Yisan, Wanderer Bard
Akroma's Vengeance
Eidolon of Blossoms
Plains
-Removed:
Weathered Wayfarer
Goblin Welder
Kor Duelist
Temple of the False God
-Updated foils.
So, first thing's first; foil updates! I got Mother of Runes and Karmic Justice foiled out, which are huge accomplishments for me. Having a foil Mother is especially a massive victory for me, as she's a multi-purpose creature that's overall an amazing foil to have.
Yisan, the creature I've christened "Solid Snake Bard", has won me over instantly. He's an absolute workhorse in this strategy, functioning excellently with both Seedborn Muse and Doubling Season.
Past that, I've needed draw outlets more often than not, because I find I draw dead in some games. In light of that, I'm cutting my one-drops which don't really do anything on their own, or I've found too slow. Eidolon of Blossoms, while relatively slow, has 10 triggers, and is pretty nutty with Ghostway in addition to being a Reveillark target. Akroma's Vengeance, on the other hand, is necessary for the draws where I find myself unable to outrace others, and want the board dead. When ahead, I can just cycle it and recur it later with Eternal Witness, which make it multi-purpose. Adding to that, the latter two's foils are both super cheap!
7/4/2014:
Aven Mindcensor
Duplicant
-Removed:
Wurmcoil Engine
Plains
-Updated foils.
Got a foil Reflecting Pool for the other day, and managed an FTV Vengeance, which is rather nice. I still have yet to pick up Duplicant or an Eidolon of Blossoms, which will both more than likely end up being foil. Looking forward to that.
Recently, a menace has flooded our borders at our LGS. A Captain Sisay player with a rather well-tuned list, in his defense, has started wiping the floor with us. These changes are to specifically adapt to him, because I really don't want to spend $50 on a foil Mindcensor. In time, I'll likely stop playing it, unless it's really just that good. (It likely is, much to the dismay of my wallet.)
Wurmcoil Engine, sadly, did little, I found, once Goblin Welder got cut. It was only a matter of time. What helps my argument for both the additions is they're both 2 power creatures, one of whom works fantastic alongside Ghostway. Overall, I'm looking forward to testing these two, so we'll see how next week goes. (If I flash in the Mindcensor in response to his Sisay activation, it will be glorious.)
7/12/2014:
Farseek
Brimaz, King of Oreskos
Windbrisk Heights
-Removed:
Nylea, God of the Hunt
Duergar Hedge-Mage
Vitu-Ghazi, the City Tree
-Updated foils.
So I'm not exactly sure why I haven't removed Nylea from the deck yet, as she does extremely little for the deck without her bow on the table. Duergar Hedge-Mage, while a pet card of mine, was a card I never wanted to draw, tutor or cast until I could have both modes, and it ended up stranded in my hand some games. Vitu-Ghazi, while strong in the later stages of the game with Seedborn Muse, fell flat in the early game and color screwed me more often than not, so I needed to cut it.
Farseek is my choice for ramp, as my turn 2 is generally a setup turn anyway. My other option was Garruk Wildspeaker, which doesn't shuffle or come down in the early turns, where he'd have the most impact. If ramp becomes something I value more, I may look at him again. Brimaz was the creature I settled on, seeing as I picked one up for a Stax deck that didn't end up working out. Windbrisk Heights was sitting around in my collection and felt at home here, but it might prove to not be as useful as I expect it to be, so it may wind up getting cut.
Moving forward, I'm hoping Duel Decks: Elspeth vs. Xenagos is announced soon and I can replace Blasphemous Act with Elspeth, Sun's Champion.
7/20/2014:
Cultivate
Vandalblast
Forest
Plains
-Removed:
Ranger of Eos
Unexpectedly Absent
Thespian's Stage
Windbrisk Heights
-Fixed name of Yisan, the Wanderer Bard.
-Updated foils.
Getting ever closer to foiling out the list. Now that I'm employed, this task will be that much easier. I have two foils at my LGS; Brimaz, King of Oreskos and Doubling Season. I'll have to probably order the rest online, which'll be bothersome, but worth it. Now that I've gotten to the halfway point, it's pointless not to go all the way, even though Stoneforge Mystic is literally absurd.
Moving to edits, Unexpectedly Absent has, in its three-month run in this deck, has been cast in response to a shuffle effect all of one time, and it's easily the least attractive Sunforger target by a wide margin. In addition, it also lacks a foil, so while I like the card's best-case, it definitely doesn't have the most impressive track record, and while I value spot removal, it truly isn't spot removal, which bothers me.
Ranger of Eos, on the other hand, has begun to find itself less and less useful. After I cut Weathered Wayfarer, it definitely found itself in the position of some awkward draws for the deck, as drawing 2 of my 3 targets (or more, in lategame scenarios) made it an almost completely dead card. In addition, I've recently introduced Yisan, the Wanderer Bard to the list, who is an absolute all-star at most stages of the game, as tutoring Serra Ascendant early and Dragonmaster Outcast or Mother of Runes late was superb. Because he wound up making Ranger a dead card on his own, it became time to part ways with our faithful Ranger.
I tried to make Windbrisk Heights work, but I find I'm already a pretty big target whenever I play, and getting it Strip Mined is just miserable. Thespian's Stage, on the other hand, while pretty, is far too slow for my tastes, and didn't wind up doing much in a lot of situations, so it ended up falling flat and getting cut.
As far as additions go, I wanted more acceleration, so I decided to add more basics to the list and play Cultviate. Additionally, as of recent, artifact-based strategies have become a popular choice of my metagame, so Vandalblast comes in as an answer to those. I feared the repercussions of Reiterate, but I realized losing all my artifacts really isn't that bad.
Moving forward, I'm not sure if I want to shift towards more of an aggressive strategy or leave that for the Oros, the Avenger shell and update that when I can. I'm favoring the control shell I have right now, however.
7/21/2014:
Anger
Ulvenwald Tracker
-Removed:
Urabrask the Hidden
Vexing Shusher
-Edited the last update.
Our meta is shifting away from Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker and Hinder-based strategies, so these two find themselves getting replaced. You'll see them back if the metagame at my LGS shifts.
I'm thinking of scrapping the list by function and replacing it with a "sideboard" (a list of cards I shift in and out as my meta changes), because this is, like, the 7th update featuring Vexing Shusher. It's so good when it's good, and it's so miserably bad when it's bad. Sob...
8/9/2014:
Defense of the Heart
Viashino Heretic
Elspeth, Sun's Champion
Gahiji, Honored One
Hero of Bladehold
-Removed:
Duplicant
Vandalblast
Akroma's Vengeance
Intrepid Hero
Blasphemous Act
-Updated foils.
First of all, foil update! I got Doubling Season and Wooded Foothills foiled out, among others. I'm waiting on trades to get Iroas, God of Victory and Sacred Foundry foiled out, which will be really nice!
I've found there are games where I in fact do draw way too much answers. When I'm ahead, I just want to kill people, and while removal is rarely, if ever dead, I found a lot of my removal was incredibly awkward. Though Akroma's Vengeance sounded great at first, I only ever cast it once, cycling it every other time. I also think I was too hasty in jumping on the idea of Duplicant, as it's too top-heavy and my matchup against the Captain Sisay terror is already supposed to be pretty damn good now. Aside from that, I'm just taking out the removal that has the potential to be completely dead in some matchups, and add in some other options. Gahiji, Elspeth, and Hero of Bladehold all contribute quite well to adding pressure, something I find I can lack in some draws.
8/17/2014:
Kalonian Hydra
Ajani Steadfast
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
-Removed:
Gahiji, Honored One
Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
Opal Palace
-Updated foils.
I was starting to get really annoyed with specific draws I was having when playing the deck. Drawing all my colorless utility lands in the early game felt miserable, and while I didn't mind having Opal Palace right on turn 4 or when I was casting Marath for the third time, I found it worthless in almost every other situation. Nykthos comes in as a test spot because of that; I might just get another Forest if I'm still having trouble with colored mana.
I think I overlooked Hydra, because it's actually pretty insane in a number of draws, specifically any where it has haste, Doubling Season or Aurelia, the Warleader. I'm just not looking forward to hunting down a foil copy.
I'm going to test Ajani Steadfast over Mentor of Heroes because tapping 5 mana to do nothing is outright miserable. If worst comes to worst, I'll just sub it out for Domri Rade or Sarkhan Vol.
10/2/2014:
I think I have Marath in a great place right now, so I'm just dropping by the thread to update the foils so it doesn't look like I've straight-up abandoned it. In truth, Khans of Tarkir brought next to nothing for this deck, because it was already running the allied fetches that it could.
Ajani Steadfast has tested wonderfully, going from turn 2 to an emblem in no time, and winning me a game single-handedly. It has definitely earned its spot.
Right now, I think I'm just gonna wait on the Commander 2014 precon spoilers and keep acquiring the foils. I've gotten 6 since the last update, including the much-sought-after Oblation, which my friend had to get in a city 6 hours from mine. I've almost ran out of foils to acquire in my city, it's actually unfortunate. ;-;
10/16/2014:
Condemn
-Removed:
Kalonian Hydra
-Updated foils.
My meta has shifted towards a fast-paced, Stax/Voltron variant, where I find myself in need of Condemn again. Purely a metagame call, so heed this update at your discretion.
My work got a foil Steadfast in, so I scooped it up right quick.
11/3/2014:
Basilisk Collar
Goblin Sharpshooter
Comeuppance
-Removed:
Heliod, God of the Sun
Eidolon of Blossoms
Iroas, God of Victory
I hate this update. This will probably be the change to this deck I truly regret the most. I honestly loathe the fact that I'm basically cornered into putting Basilisk Collar into my deck. For a full year now, all I've done is say "Oh, Bow of Nylea is so much better!", and how much I actually hate that card, but my meta has gotten so fast, so aggression-based, and so creature-oriented that edits to make the deck more consistent are absolutely necessary. I have to be able to kill all 1-toughness creatures. I have to be able to gain life and kill things on command. And with the printing of Comeuppance, I'm pretty happy to include it.
I just absolutely hate not being able to play an enchantress package anymore. It was so fun to have that draw. Right now, however, the draw just isn't good enough. Paying 4 mana just isn't strong enough for what my meta requires of me. Prease understand.
2/2/2015:
Arcbond
Chord of Calling
-Removed:
Brimaz, King of Oreskos
Hero of Bladehold
-Updated foils.
First update of 2015. I was struggling with the direction I wanted this deck to take for the longest time, because I was convinced the Equipment package was misplaced and all forms of aggression were a waste of my time. I wanted to do nothing more than control the board. I was thinking of a lot of ways to overhaul the deck; make it about tokens and Planeswalkers and jam sweeper after sweeper and just slap Sunforger on tokens to get value, I was thinking about making it super aggressive and reintroducing Gahiji as well as something like Ogre Battledriver for more threat density--but then in one game where I had mentioned that, one of my opponents said something to me that stuck;
"I don't think you should change it, really. It's your best deck, and it's worked so well for you in the past."
It took hearing it from someone else to really help give me some semblance of direction and renewed purpose with the deck. In light of that, I'm taking out the cards that have limited synergies and contribute only to aggressive draws, in light of trying to make this more of a boxing-style hyper-reactive control/aggro mix.
I've got a lot of foils on the way and I'll probably update my gallery of foils when Duel Decks: Elspeth vs. Kiora drops. Until then, I'm going into 2015 with renewed confidence in my baby.
2/5/2015:
Tempt with Discovery
Arcane Lighthouse
Exploration
Crucible of Worlds
Knight of the Reliquary
-Removed:
Cultivate
Mountain
Aurelia, the Warleader
Yisan, the Wanderer Bard
Karmic Justice
I really dislike removing one of my all-time favorite Magic cards, but while Aurelia is undeniably powerful, she's not that great on her own, and as a 6 that relies on secondary board presence, she feels like the right cut. I'm trying to shy away from an aggressive angle, and stick to controlling the board. Cards that do so slowly or very rarely also have to get the cut. Besides, LD is not this deck's friend, and cards that fight that are very useful. The Knight and Crucible also function extremely well when ahead, letting you set up a loop with a recycle card and fetchlands, in addition to any Wood Elves shenanigans.
I lost to Uril yesterday, which is something I haven't played against in a long time. It just brought up how I have some really bad matchups against hexproof things, and Arcane Lighthouse is going to help fix that problem. In addition, I've been meaning to put this Tempt somewhere since I took Damia apart.
2/10/2015:
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
-Removed:
Sunblast Angel
-Updated foils.
The other day, I opened an Ugin in a fat pack. None of my decks can profitably support Ugin aside from this one, which has to really try to. I'm not sure he's fit for the deck and it's not just better to sell them, but for now, I'm going to try him.
3/17/2015:
Atarka's Command
Dromoka's Command
Radiant Purge
Surrak, the Hunt Caller
-Removed:
Condemn
Arcbond
Dragonmaster Outcast
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
-Updated foils.
Ugin's time in this deck was short-lived. While a powerful card, I don't particularly make good use of what he does, so he's going to my friends who collect Planeswalkers.
I also picked up a foil Crucible of Worlds and a foil Exploration the other day; expensive finds, but well worth it long-term, especially the latter. Crucible is a great short-term purchase as well, since it's slowly climbing.
Dragons of Tarkir brings Marath a surprising wealth of options, depth unseen in a set since Gatecrash. A lot of new toys to use that I'm excited to try.
The Commands are all excellent, and I'm over the moon that the four that are in the colors of a Sunforger activation are in its converted mana cost range as well. Dromoka's Command is a great two-for-one that can, in a pinch, blank Blasphemous Act, but most of the time, will be used to nuke opposing Rhystic Studys, Purphoros, God of the Forges, and Blood Moons, as well as scrapping with their dude of choice. Atarka's Command, on the other hand, is a little less useful and may be a short-term addition. Most of the time, I foresee it as deal 3 and drop a land, but it can be a Glorious Charge in certain scenarios, and can blank large Exsanguinates, or more importantly, break the chain of Exquisite Blood and Sanguine Bond for that crucial turn, if possible. It and Radiant Purge can be a little narrow sometimes, but I feel they're interesting enough to give a shot and see how they work. Surrak, on the other hand, is a haste outlet, and Marath loves curving out into a 5/4 haste that gives the rest of his creatures haste (I loved me some Urabrask, and he's one less mana to boot).
It's a period of heavy testing for Marath. (and heavy foil purchasing; Anger, Krosan Verge and Basilisk Collar are in the mail, and I plan to reupload the foil progress album when that happens. Stay tuned!) I hope that I find use for these new cards and that they pull their weight in the midst of the arms race my playgroup is having. Time will tell.
3/24/2015:
Dryad Arbor
Green Sun's Zenith
-Removed:
Oblation
Forest
-Updated foils.
Acquired most of the DTK foils. Need only Surrak, which I'll have by Friday if all goes as planned.
The tuck changes are not ones I like, since I haven't had my foil Oblation for very long and it's now completely useless. Condemn was always a nice little metagame call for me, too, and it is similarly quite useless at this point. So, I'm stuck here having to go the route of "play more tutors instead as a bitter 'screw you' to the RC", and including Dryad/Zenith.
3/31/2015:
Beast Within
-Removed:
Atarka's Command
-Updated foils.
-Added a foil gallery to the top of the thread. (TOTALLY NOT A HUMBLEBRAG OR ANYTHING I SWEAR)
Turns out Atarka's Command fell flat and was the only instant in the deck that actually didn't do anything. Whoops. Oh, well; you win some, you lose some.
7/7/2015:
Evolutionary Leap
Animist's Awakening
Genesis Wave
-Removed:
Surrak, the Hunt Caller
Beast Within
Tempt with Discovery
-Updated sections of the deck to make them more compact.
-Updated foils.
Magic Origins gives the deck Animist's Awakening, the best ramp spell probably ever, and Evolutionary Leap, a very cheap and powerful repeatable "tutor" that's just superb with our token generation subtheme.
I did an update to the TappedOut thread a while ago that I failed to put here, where I tried Adarkar Valkyrie, but honestly, I needed a cut, and the Valkyrie is powerful, but it just wasn't good enough.
pls be gentle you guys know this little project is my baby it just got a green thumb ok pls be kind n rewind
Another seldom seen equipment that is legal in Marath's colors is Mage Slayer, might want to consider too.
More cards to use with Sunforger:
WUBRG Reaper King - Elf Tribal WUBRG | Tribal Fun
WRG Gishath, Sun's Avatar - Dinosaur Tribal WRG | Rawr!!!
WUG Derevi, Empyrial Tactician - Enchantress Tactics WUG | Enchantments Focused
GBG The Gitrog Monster - Land Shenanigans GBG | Lands/Mill Focused
WBW Kambal, Consul of Life Allocation Matters WBW | Life Gain/Loss focused
UBR Kess, Dissident Mage of the Lotus UBR | Spellslinger
BGB Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons - Counters & Tokens BGB | -1/-1 counters focused
Grafted Exoskeleton has next to no value when Marath will only ever have 10 counters on him after being cast so many times, and the only other creature the Exoskeleton is good on is Firemane Avenger. Plus, I just am not a big fan of infect overall.
Illusionist's Bracers only work well with Marath and Stonehewer Giant, the latter of which works better with Aurelia and Seedborn Muse, anyway. Overall, there's not much value gained putting it into the deck IMO.
I actually considered Mage Slayer as well as Behemoth Sledge, but I simply put way too much into this; it was at the point where I said to myself, "Hmm, I don't need Wood Elves, even though I have a Skullclamp. Nah!"
As for the Sunforger targets you suggested;
-Krosan Grip and Beast Within are not tutorable, or damn right I'd run them. I was strongly considering running the Grip regardless, too.
-Selesnya Charm is outclassed; Boros Charm applies a much more significant combat trick, Swords to Plowshares doesn't fat-shame, and Rith's Charm makes more blockers that play better with both Skullclamp and Hero of Bladehold.
Thank you for your guys' input, though.
WUBRG Reaper King - Elf Tribal WUBRG | Tribal Fun
WRG Gishath, Sun's Avatar - Dinosaur Tribal WRG | Rawr!!!
WUG Derevi, Empyrial Tactician - Enchantress Tactics WUG | Enchantments Focused
GBG The Gitrog Monster - Land Shenanigans GBG | Lands/Mill Focused
WBW Kambal, Consul of Life Allocation Matters WBW | Life Gain/Loss focused
UBR Kess, Dissident Mage of the Lotus UBR | Spellslinger
BGB Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons - Counters & Tokens BGB | -1/-1 counters focused
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
I know you said you didn't like infect but have you tried Triumph of the Hordes? I feel like some sort of overrun effect could help you punch damage through even more if the board is clogged. That's the sneakiest one. Craterhoof seems too clunky in here.
Current
RGWMarath, Will of the WildRGW
GWUPheldagriff Group HugGWU
RGRRuric Thar, the UnbowedGRG
UXBOona ControlUXB
Retired
RGWMayael, the AnimaRGW
XGXGlissa Sunseeker ComboXGX
The only reason I have the duals is because I'm borrowing them. I'm not sure I'd be able to borrow them AND the fetches, but we'll see. I do have Arid Mesa, in my defense.
I like Qasali Pridemage, but Acidic Slime does the same thing and gets Maze of Ith, a huge problem for this deck, as well. In addition, deathtouch makes blocking difficult when it's wielding a Sword and your opponent is able to block. I was also considering Huntmaster and Sigarda, and if Shadow proves an inferior ability, I'll cut Soltari Visionary.
The problem I have with Triumph, aside from my problems with Infect, is that the card requires me to be ahead when I cast it, making it win-more in nature. Not only do I need creatures on board, but I need a lot of them for it to be effective.
If I ran more sweepers, I'd definitely consider it, though.
My Trades
Marath is a very strong card by itself; it doesn't require me to play something specifically to enable it. It's just a really high-value creature on its own.
1 Kor Duelist
1 Mother of Runes
1 Serra Ascendant
1 Weathered Wayfarer
1 Leonin Shikari
2 Grand Abolisher
2 Scavenging Ooze
2 Puresteel Paladin
2 Knight of the White Orchid
2 Stoneforge Mystic
3 Eternal Witness
3 Duergar Hedgemage
3 Intrepid Hero
3 Mentor of the Meek
3 Silverblade Paladin
3 Mirran Crusader
3 Kemba, Kha Regent
3 Aven Mindcensor
4 Hero of Bladehold
4 Leonin Abunas
4 Tajic, Blade of the Legion
4 Ranger of Eos
4 Huntmaster of the Fells
5 Karmic Guide
5 Reveillark
5 Sigarda, Host of Herons
5 Acidic Slime
5 Stonehewer Giant
6 Aurelia, the Warleader
6 Sun Titan
6 Godo, Bandit Warlord
1 Basilisk Collar
1 Skullclamp
2 Swiftfoot Boots
2 Umezawa's Jitte
3 Darksteel Plate
3 Fireshrieker
3 Sword of Fire and Ice
3 Sword of Light and Shadow
3 Sword of War and Peace
3 Sword of Feast and Famine
3 Sunforger
Artifacts
1 Sol Ring
3 Bow of Nylea
Enchantments
5 Assemble the Legion
Sorcery
1 Steelshapers Gift
6 Austere Command
Instant
1 Condemn
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Path to Exile
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Tithe
2 Boros Charm
2 Eladamri's Call
3 Chaos Warp
3 Ghostway
3 Orim's Thunder
3 Wing Shards
3 Krosan Grip
3 Oblation
4 Return to Dust
4 Wild Ricochet
0 Sacred Foundry
0 Stomping Ground
0 Temple Garden
0 Clifftop Retreat
0 Rootbound Crag
0 Sunpetal Grove
0 Boros Guildgate
0 Gruul Guildgate
0 Selesnya Guildgate
0 Ancient Amphitheater
0 Karplusan Forest
0 Boros Garrison
0 Selesnya Sanctuary
0 Battlefield Forge
0 Krosan Verge
0 Mistveil Plains
0 Jungle Shrine
0 Command Tower
0 Reflecting Pool
0 Cavern of Souls
0 Kessig Wolf Run
0 Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion
0 Kher Keep
0 Vitu-Ghazi, the City Tree
0 Strip Mine
0 Yavimaya Hollow
0 Brushland
5 Plains
2 Mountains
1 Forest
Couple of cards I should really make room for;
Salvage Scout, Buried Ruin
I think swapping Orim's Thunder for Sundering Growth is also a good idea.
Let me know what you guys think
I have Naya Charm in my Marath Sunforger list and have been happy with it. Tapping down their team is awesome in addition to the Regrowth effect.
Naya Charm is fine, but I feel what Wing Shards loses in flexibility it gains in raw power. The Regrowth effect is mirrored in Eternal Witness, and the 3 damage is more permanent through Firemane Avenger.
Yes but you can't tutor up Witness and Avenger with Sunforger
Granted, it's a good catch-all, but it's doing things I'm already doing.
To counter your argument, Battle, Naya Charm cannot hold Sunforger.
GWKarametra - The MistveiledGW
GWR Marath - The Egg-laying Wool-Milk-Pig GWR
RBGrenzo - Restrained RakdosRB
UWRGBHorde of NotionsUWRGB
Retired: Karador, Ghost Chieftain | Rafiq of the Many | Animar, Soul of Elements | Maelstrom Wanderer
I'm on the fence on whether or not to keep Stoneforge Mystic in the deck. It would be replaced by either Tithe or Naya Charm. Thoughts?
Why would you want to cut Stoneforge Mystic? It not only gets you Sunforger but also Skullclamp which is just insane cardadvantage, along all the other equipments. And he gives you a body to put that equipment on. I'd say it's on of the best cards you have in here.
GWKarametra - The MistveiledGW
GWR Marath - The Egg-laying Wool-Milk-Pig GWR
RBGrenzo - Restrained RakdosRB
UWRGBHorde of NotionsUWRGB
Retired: Karador, Ghost Chieftain | Rafiq of the Many | Animar, Soul of Elements | Maelstrom Wanderer