Welcome to Derevi, the Despotic Overlord of Bant. While this list has elements of control, stax, and combo I'd classify this list as a tempo deck. Each play tries to gain additonal options for ourselves or limit the options available to opponents. The design philosophy of this list emphasizes speed, efficiency, and disrupting our opponents' game plan. Everything accelerates us toward our win condition. Or it stops opponents from getting there first. All done as efficiently as possible. The list is resilient. It survives through T1 Duress, Thoughtseize, and early wipes with enough draw and ramp to fill two lists. The mana base is well diversified. Our Derevi can eat a Cataclysm/LD/Blood Moon/Contamination and keep on ticking. Undisrupted we usually combo out T3-6. However in practice getting control of the board or finding counter backup is rarely easy. Most of my wins are drawn out wars of attrition. In a meta filled with control-combo (Zur, Mimeo, Prossh), establishing an engine, gaining control of the board with our prison elements, and finishing with combo has proven to be the most consistent path towards victory.
Infinte mana combos:
Derevi + Deadeye Navigator + (Bloom Tender or Gilded Lotus or Market Festival/Dawn's Reflection or Lotus Vale)
Outlets:
Eternal Witness, Venser, Birthing Pod
Win conditions:
Infinite mana + Venser bouncing all opponents' permanents, Eternal Witness and Extract to remove their libraries, or just tap down opponents during their upkeep
Derevi with 4-6 creatures and Hokori, Winter Orb
How to play the deck:
Accelerate into a board. Get an engine online. Slow down our opponents. Finish them.
Board development is one of the most critical area for Derevi as there must be pieces on the board to abuse if we are to get any value from our general. Build a quick board presence. Set the table for our tax pieces and engines to come online early. It cannot be stressed enough just how important getting an engine up and runnning is. We play out so quick we will enter top-deck mode usually around T4. Our engines are the key to our success. They can be divided into draw and tutor engines. Our draw engines consist of: Mystic Remora, Rhystic Study, Sylvan Library, JTMS, Edric, and Consecrated Sphinx. Our tutor engines include: Survival, Tezzeret, Congregation at Dawn, Captain Sisay, and Birthing Pod. The tutor engines quickly assemble the necessary pieces to stall opponents. Derevi with a few creatures and Orb/Hokori or 2 tax pieces is generally enough to stall the game until we're ready to go off. Null Rod and Stony Silence are allstars in my meta. Once the game is effectively ground to a halt (for our opponents) we can combo off at our leisure. Finding Survival, getting Prophet of Kruphix online, and using Masked Admirers to assemble Glen Elendra, Deadeye, and Venser is the most efficient way for us to win.
Final thoughts: The last thing I'll say is, the best thing which can happen to a list is getting a good beat down. You learn more from a lopsided defeat than an easy victory. I've lost a lot of games over the last 2.5 years with my Derevi. I've lost to Contamination, fast combo, too many wipes - each of my friends plays Toxic Deluge, you name it, I've lost to it. Each time I went back to the drawing board and tweaked things to reduce my vulnerability to a tactic. I sped my list up, made it more efficient. I diversified my mana base, tax pieces, engines, and changed my lines of attack. I threw more roadblocks in front of my opponents. I put more engines in. Dropped the land count. From the fires of hate that is my meta this list was forged. For each defeat it suffered it has become stronger.
Card Choice Commentary
Mana: 18
1x Chrome Mox - Mana
1x Lotus Petal - Mana. Offers early acceleration and insurance against Mana denial strategies.
1x Mana Crypt - The 'card' everyone wants to see in an opening hand
1x Mox Diamond - Card disadvantage mana rock. Accelerates, color fixes and insurance against mana denial.
1x Birds of Paradise - Mana dork. Diversifies mana base, color fixes
1x Carpet of Flowers - Mana. Diversifies mana base. Accelerates us
1x Mana Vault - Mana rock. Works well to bust out early and with Derevi in play we can generate lots of mana
1x Noble Hierarch - Mana dork. Diversifies mana base and color fixes
1x Sol Ring - Mana rock
1x Bloom Tender - Key early accelerator and combo piece
1x Grim Monolith - Mana rock
1x Lotus Cobra - Early accelerator
1x Sunscape Familiar - Allows more spells cast per turn
1x Elvish Spirit Guide - Early accelerator and pitchable body. Insurance against Contamination and other mana denial strategies
1x Dawn's Reflection - Mana ramp, combo piece, insurance against Contamination
1x Market Festival - Mana ramp, combo piece
1x Gilded Lotus - Mana rock, combo piece
1x Prophet of Kruphix - Untapper
Draw: 9
1x Brainstorm - Draw and smooths out openings
1x Mystic Remora - #1 Draw engine
1x Sage of Epityr - Smooths out opening hand, filter
1x Sylvan Library - Draw engine, card filtering
1x Edric, Spymaster of Trest - Draw engine
1x Rhystic Study - Draw engine
1x Jace, the Mind Sculptor - Draw engine. Works great with Gilded Drake or Venser
1x Masked Admirers - Engine with Survival
1x Consecrated Sphinx - Draw engine
Tutors: 12
1x Crop Rotation - Gets to Cradle or High Market
1x Enlightened Tutor - Gets stax piece, draw, or combo piece
1x Weathered Wayfarer - Land Tutor, color fixes or gets us to Cradle or High Market
1x Eladamri's Call - Instant speed creature tutor
1x Survival of the Fittest - One of the best creature tutors we have access to. Must have in any creature-based list splashing green. Best friends with Masked Admirers.
1x Chord of Calling - Creature tutor
1x Congregation at Dawn - Tests very nicely, gets a creature chain going to lock down game
1x Idyllic Tutor - Enchantment tutor
1x Wargate - Flexible tutor to get to wincons, draw, disruption, or answers
1x Birthing Pod - Very, very good engine with Derevi. 2-3 activations per turn are possible to help get us there
1x Captain Sisay - Gets us lands, accelerators, or answers. Tutor engine
1x Tezzeret the Seeker - Artifact toolbox engine
Removal: 5
1x Chain of Vapor - Cheap bounce
1x Cyclonic Rift - Instant speed one-sided wipe
1x Gilded Drake - Creature theft
1x Llawan, Cephalid Empress - Bounces Gilded Drake, gets back a stolen Derevi, stops Zur and Mimeo
1x Bane of Progress - Wipe
Recursion: 2
1x Eternal Witness - Graveyard recursion on a stick and combo piece
1x Sun Titan - Value
Counter/Disruption: 21
1x Extract - Combo deck target must counter this
1x Mental Misstep - Free counter
1x Root Maze - Stops several infinite combos and slows the game down
1x Swan Song - Efficient counter
1x Mana Drain - Efficient counter
1x Null Rod - Buys us time. This shuts down a lot of strategies
1x Sphere of Resistance - Buys us time
1x Stony Silence - Buys us time. Shuts down a lot of strategies
1x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben - Buys us time
1x Thorn of Amethyst - Buys us time
1x Winter Orb - Slows opponents down. Buys us time. With a board it can be a wincon.
1x Aven Mindcensor - Ends opponents' ability to tutor
1x Glowrider - Buys us time
1x Tangle Wire - Buys us time
1x Trinisphere - Buys us time
1x Vryn Wingmare - Buys us time
1x Glen Elendra Archmage - Board control.
1x Grand Arbiter Augustin IV - Slows opponents down
1x Hokori, Dust Drinker - Slows opponents down. Buys us time
1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence - Nullifies activated creature abilities of opponents
1x Venser, Shaper Savant - Combo piece with Deadeye and infinite mana. Can also buy us time
This is a midrange Derevi stax variant focused on stalling the game until it can close with Stasis or face beats. It's built to neutralize fast combo and drag games out into the late-game with layers and layers of stax pieces. Our goal is to deny and severely limit our opponents' access to their resources as well as their ability to play cards by running asymmetrical stax pieces; they hurt our opponents, us less so. We try to break gameplans while advancing ours towards a slow, grindy finish. Our priority is to get an engine online, then put multiple stax pieces on the board to paralyze opponents. Once the third piece hits the table victory is all but assured. Our most efficient line is through Birthing Pod: double Archon or a sequence of GAIV, Sakashima/Spark Double, Glen Elendra, and Hokori is usually sufficient to gain insurmountable board control. Prime Speaker Vannifar is our second engine. She can put down several lines of creatures to seize board control within 2 turns of activations. Our third engine is Survival of the Fittest. Survival with Emeria Shepherd can quickly dominate the board; a loaded graveyard with 5 mana and a fetch in hand can rebuild a board just one turn. If we're behind, reset the board with Cyclonic Rift. We can also entice opponents to tap out by playing a wheel effect (with a taxer on the board) and then dropping an orb effect to swing control of the table back to us.
Didn't see that. You're right on Mangara. I took a quick peek at your list and Prodigal Sorcerer/Reveka, Wizard Savant may be a nice choice. It can do a number on people with Kamahl and Cradle out.
For a competitive deck, you're not really abusing all that Derevi has to offer. Maybe it isn't your goal to go for lockdown, but at that point I think I'd rather just play Roon.
For a competitive deck, you're not really abusing all that Derevi has to offer. Maybe it isn't your goal to go for lockdown, but at that point I think I'd rather just play Roon.
The lock approach was on my mind. Ultimately I decided I'd set it aside (for now) and explore kinder, gentler pastures. Roon is too slow. Dervi is also kind of slow but can offer broken plays once it gets going. The problem is getting the board developed enough to the point where Derevi can go off
No games yet, but tinkered with the list a bit on deckstats. The key card in the list appears to be Captain Sisay. Once she goes around, getting Cradle then Azami/Edric/Bident lead directly to blowouts.
Second week of theory-crafting with Derevi. Looking forward to first game Sat. I think I may have stripped out too much of the draw. Will look towards bumping it back up.
The list plays like Azusa. By turn 5 I've usually got 1-2 cards left. Turn 4-6 is when it can usually go off.
Master of Waves feels a little odd overall. Its a one shot effect but how much blue devotion do you really get and how has him dying taking out his tokens affected him for you. I sort of feel like moving to something like Hero of Bladehold might pan out better. I suppose you might be using it more for a continuous deadeye blink though more so than for the actual tokens though I guess.... still, it feels a bit underwhelming.
Also, your intro block of text is sort of harsh lol.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
You noticed Master of Waves may not fit. I went back and forth on it. Master of Waves is a cheap token maker to bump up our creature count and to just swing and get untaps with Derevi. Deranged Hermit is 5 mana for 4/5 guys. Master of Waves is 4 mana for 3 guys with Derevi out, maybe more if we have other blue stuff out. The tokens also setup Craterhoof and are clampable, so while not a perfect card for the list, Master of Waves does fill a need here: a cheap creature token producer. I did try Heliod and Avenger but they were inefficient. Didn't have enough lands for Avenger and Heliod sucked up too much mana.
You noticed Master of Waves may not fit. I went back and forth on it. Master of Waves is a cheap token maker to bump up our creature count and to just swing and get untaps with Derevi. Deranged Hermit is 5 mana for 4/5 guys. Master of Waves is 4 mana for 3 guys with Derevi out, maybe more if we have other blue stuff out. The tokens also setup Craterhoof and are clampable, so while not a perfect card for the list, Master of Waves does fill a need here: a cheap creature token producer. I did try Heliod and Avenger but they were inefficient. Didn't have enough lands for Avenger and Heliod sucked up too much mana.
I still feel like Hero of Bladehold or Emeria Angel might give you better results though. I myself sort of mulled over the idea of running Homarid Spawning Bed as well just to sac Derevi to but I dont know if thats too much of a long shot. Its not cheap to drop + use or even just use but it seems interesting.
If you are looking at the flip side of those two white creatures being removed before they can generate much value, I would counter that master of waves has the same weakness because he would take out his own tokens if he dies. The two white ones are better in a lot of ways because they can generate more overall value and dont take out their own tokens if they die. Plus, the angel makes flying tokens and thats nothing to blow off.
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I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
I still feel like Hero of Bladehold or Emeria Angel might give you better results though. I myself sort of mulled over the idea of running Homarid Spawning Bed as well just to sac Derevi to but I dont know if thats too much of a long shot. Its not cheap to drop + use or even just use but it seems interesting.
If you are looking at the flip side of those two white creatures being removed before they can generate much value, I would counter that master of waves has the same weakness because he would take out his own tokens if he dies. The two white ones are better in a lot of ways because they can generate more overall value and dont take out their own tokens if they die. Plus, the angel makes flying tokens and thats nothing to blow off.
Those white guys will generate more value over time but I'm looking for explosiveness. The tokens must all be down T4 or they don't have enough value when I tap Cradle or swing T5. Emeria would be my 3rd choice as a token producer. 4 for 2 after a land drop and if I have a fetch its 4 for 3 immediately, with the potential for growth as long as we hit our land drops. She's good with Scapeshift. Instant token army. With some work I could move her up to #1 or #2 but that's some cards I'd be adding: Scapeshift, Crucible, Stone-Seeder? I'll pick up a foil Emeria just in case, the idea is certainly worth exploring
Got in my first 6-7 games with Derevi. Cut a bunch of stuff which felt awkward: Summoner's Pact, Surgespanner, Voidmage Prodigy, Stroke of Genius, Expedition Map, and Master of Waves.
Got in my first 6-7 games with Derevi. Cut a bunch of stuff which felt awkward: Summoner's Pact, Surgespanner, Voidmage Prodigy, Stroke of Genius, Expedition Map, and Master of Waves.
I am interested to hear your results on Voidmage Prodigy. It seems like its been controversial at best in most Derevi decks.
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
I am interested to hear your results on Voidmage Prodigy. It seems like its been controversial at best in most Derevi decks.
The Voidmage was in my hand a few games but I did not have enough blue to cast it and still be able to use its ability that turn. A counterspell would have been a better option. In addition the list seems to like keeping its creatures on the battlefield to get as many untaps as possible.
Surgespanner takes a lot of work to tap it. For UUU3 that's too much work. Summoner's Pact is pretty much only good for Mystic Snake or Craterhoof. Stroke of Genius was a dead card several times. Master of Waves did not have enough of a board impact to justify its inclusion. Expedition Map takes all our tempo away to play and activate turn 1 or 2. Late game it was a dead card too. Also going to cut Garruk and Lotus Cobra. They probably aren't necessary to our game plan.
Hokori was surprisingly good. One game the trio of Hokori, GAAIV, and Prophet slowed down opponents long enough for me to get to Deadeye. Winter Orb, Thalia, Glowrider, and Seedborn Muse are worth taking a look at. Going to put in Winter Orb and Seedborn Muse
Looking forward to getting some games in this Sat. Just toying with the list on Deckstats things looks reasonably smooth. Craterhoof doesn't have much of a place in the list after I cut the token producers. I can trim him and the curve should go down further. The main finisher is Deadeye. I'm looking for more creature bombs I can drop turn 3-4 after a start of either Bloom Tender or Somberwald. Jin-Gitaxias comes to mind but he is 10 mana. That may be too much. Nice thing is he has flash so we can cast him during combat phase with enough triggers.
It might be crazy left field, but what about something like Voice of Resurgence? I know its totally a standard card, but it might screw with others trying to play control and those are some big old tokens it can make. I like that its cheap to cast and can reanimate off of a lot of good cards assuming you run / want to run them.
Knight of the Reliquary can serve as ramp, fix, and utility fetching or just be a decent beater.
Silverblade Paladin can give a lot of untap triggers and can be used to voltron in a little bit if you want. Its sort of like adding rafiq as a singleton but not being bound to the single attacker plan which is good since you sort of do some token swarm. He can be decent if you run swords too.
I've got 6-7 slots I'm playing with: Mana Vault, Mystic Remora, Azami, Glowrider, Winter Orb, Thalia, Craterhoof. Not really big on Voice it doesn't combo or disrupt opponents to a large extent? Creatures which scream deal with me or die, preferably green or legendary would be great. Knight of the Reliquary isn't bad it can get Cradle and is a creature. I'll put him into my deckstats list and see what happens. Silverblade Paladin is an interesting suggestion. Generating 2 untaps immediately with Derevi out and 4 next turn can be pretty potent. I like that idea. Explosiveness is good.
Played 8 or so games Saturday night vs Derevi, Prossh, and Zur/Thromok. The other Derevi list was a stax type build and did a lot of damage in terms of slowing down the game and imposing its will on the table. Prossh had a couple insane starts into turn 3 wins. Zur nuked me pretty good for a turn 2 Mind Twist for 6 our last game, but I did take 3 of the games comboing off with Deadeye.
Creatures like Thalia and Glowrider did nothing. They are good against non-creature based decks like Zur early game. Did nothing versus Derevi or heavy creature based decks. The Orbs on the other hand looked very effective. Stasis was also a powerhouse. Derevi with one of those in play was a nightmare for opponents. Going to try and integrate that approach into the list. Silverblade and Jin Gitaxias didn't do much. Out they go. Going to also cut Kamahl to make room for the orbs and supporting cards
Added in a Stonehewer package for SoFaF. Has Vigilance and should work well with Stasis/Orbs. Also added in Gaddock Teeg. The list is Gaddock Teeg compliant but for 6 cards: Gilded Lotus, GSZ, Chord of Calling, Natural Order, Bribery, and Birthing Pod. With our increased artifact count I'm considering Transmute Artifact to help get around Teeg and serve as another artifact tutor. Teeg stops a lot of board wipes. There are a few he doesn't stop like Deeds, O-stone, and Cyclonic Rift but almost everything else is a no-go. Also testing Thada Adel, Acquisitor. Can deny opponents key artifacts and it can help ramp us early game. Added in more tuck spells for Prossh. That guy was a problem
In my experience (which is considerable, I've run this deck nearly thirty times in its current state), Stoneforge Mystic outperforms Stonehewer Giant simply because you can drop her several turns earlier and she only has to touch the field once to generate value whereas the Giant is unlikely to survive an entire round.
I've also played with both a good amount. And normally I'd always give the nod to Stoneforge but in a stasis/orb list I think I'm going to go with Stonehewer. Stonehewer will come down and sit around, but so will Sisay, Sphinx, Fauna Shaman, Prophet, Hokori, etc. If he eats removal so be it. Stonehewer also has Vigilance. It's very nice with Stasis and Static Orb. I looked around at every creature with Double Strike and Vigilance to work with Derevi and Stasis/Static Orb. There are not very many options. Heliod, Elesh Norn, Sun Titan were the 3 best. Then Court Hussar, Stonehewer, Luminate Primordial, and Avacyn were left. Didn't find any decent double strike creatures. The one which best maintains Stasis or gets around the Orb is Stonehewer Giant. So I picked it.
Made some more adjustments. Draw is a constant problem. The list plays a lot like my Azusa list. We're always out of gas if we get a fast start. So lets take a look at cards to help in that area.
Heartwood Storyteller: I think the smaller the table the better this card is. 2-3 man table we play this card we get to untap with all the newly drawn cards. The player immediately after us will get 0 benefit. It is however a very dangerous card to play on a large table. Someone can win outright or shut down the table.
Howling Mine: Derevi will be able to tap the Mine so no one else benefits. It is not a creature sadly
Insight: Almost everyone in my meta plays green. A second turn Insight could net 4 cards by the time it rolls around to turn 3. Sadly it is not a creature.
Masked Admirers: This guy works great with Survival or Fauna Shaman. He is the green version of Squee. Derevi can squeeze out more mana each turn than most lists with untaps so paying the extra GG is feasible. More token makers would make this card even stronger, but I don't really have those in at the moment.
Mentor of the Meek: Most of our creatures are small and we can usually pay. The drawback is we would tap out more often leaving no room for counters or Stasis/Orb effects
Skullclamp: Derevi likes our creatures on the battlefield to generate taps and untaps, but this is still a good card especially with more sac outlets
Timetwister: Cleans up graveyards and refills hands. Too bad its not a creature
Mikokoro, Center of the Sea: Symmetrical draw, not great but not awful. LoA would be better
My play group frowns upon stuff like Stasis, Static Orb and Winter Orb, so I'm trying not to run those and finding something else to replace them with. Seems kind of silly, but I don't want another deck that is priority one at the table since I have 3 already.
What would you suggest replacing those with? Hokori is probably the only one I'm considering keeping since it's easy to get into and everyone runs a lot more creature hate than artifact/enchantment hate. I can pod into it and keep getting it back with Revillark if I need to. I'm going to run the setup for the infinite Mirror Entity/Karmic Guide/Revillark combo so I can get back anything I need.
My play group frowns upon stuff like Stasis, Static Orb and Winter Orb, so I'm trying not to run those and finding something else to replace them with. Seems kind of silly, but I don't want another deck that is priority one at the table since I have 3 already.
What would you suggest replacing those with? Hokori is probably the only one I'm considering keeping since it's easy to get into and everyone runs a lot more creature hate than artifact/enchantment hate. I can pod into it and keep getting it back with Revillark if I need to. I'm going to run the setup for the infinite Mirror Entity/Karmic Guide/Revillark combo so I can get back anything I need.
Well if that is your primary win-con then I would consider putting in Opposition and more creature based card draw or tutors. Opposition with Seedborn Muse or Prophet of Kruphix can buy you some time or even lock down opponents if your list produces enough creatures or tokens on the table. Survival of the Fittest gets you to your combo really quick so Academy Rector with a few sac outlets could probably be in there. Sac outlets also work great with a Karmic Guide Reveillark loop.
1x Derevi, Empyrial Tactician
Lands: 30
1x Tundra
1x Savannah
1x Tropical Island
1x Hallowed Fountain
1x Breeding Pool
1x Temple Garden
1x Flooded Strand
1x Windswept Heath
1x Misty Rainforest
1x Verdant Catacombs
1x Scalding Tarn
1x Wooded Foothills
1x Polluted Delta
1x Marsh Flats
1x Arid Mesa
1x Horizon Canopy
1x Command Tower
1x City of Brass
1x Mana Confluence
1x Adarkar Wastes
1x Brushland
1x Yavimaya Coast
1x Forest
1x Flagstones of Trokair
1x Gaea's Cradle
1x Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1x High Market
1x Ancient Tomb
1x Gemstone Caverns
1x Lotus Vale
Mana: 18
1x Chrome Mox
1x Lotus Petal
1x Mana Crypt
1x Mox Diamond
1x Birds of Paradise
1x Carpet of Flowers
1x Mana Vault
1x Noble Hierarch
1x Sol Ring
1x Bloom Tender
1x Lotus Cobra
1x Grim Monolith
1x Sunscape Familiar
1x Elvish Spirit Guide
1x Dawn's Reflection
1x Market Festival
1x Gilded Lotus
1x Prophet of Kruphix
1x Brainstorm
1x Mystic Remora
1x Sage of Epityr
1x Sylvan Library
1x Edric, Spymaster of Trest
1x Rhystic Study
1x Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1x Masked Admirers
1x Consecrated Sphinx
Tutors: 12
1x Crop Rotation
1x Enlightened Tutor
1x Weathered Wayfarer
1x Eladamri's Call
1x Survival of the Fittest
1x Chord of Calling
1x Idyllic Tutor
1x Congregation at Dawn
1x Wargate
1x Birthing Pod
1x Captain Sisay
1x Tezzeret the Seeker
Removal: 5
1x Chain of Vapor
1x Cyclonic Rift
1x Gilded Drake
1x Llawan, Cephalid Empress
1x Bane of Progress
Recursion: 2
1x Eternal Witness
1x Sun Titan
Counter/Disruption: 21
1x Extract
1x Mental Misstep
1x Root Maze
1x Swan Song
1x Mana Drain
1x Null Rod
1x Sphere of Resistance
1x Stony Silence
1x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1x Thorn of Amethyst
1x Winter Orb
1x Aven Mindcensor
1x Glowrider
1x Tangle Wire
1x Trinisphere
1x Vryn Wingmare
1x Glen Elendra Archmage
1x Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
1x Hokori, Dust Drinker
1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1x Venser, Shaper Savant
1x Sakashima the Impostor
1x Deadeye Navigator
Deckstats: Updated 09/15/17
Mana Curve: 2.57
Lands: 30
Creatures: 30
Artifacts: 15
Enchantments: 9
Instants: 11
Sorceries: 3
Planeswalkers: 2
Infinte mana combos:
Derevi + Deadeye Navigator + (Bloom Tender or Gilded Lotus or Market Festival/Dawn's Reflection or Lotus Vale)
Outlets:
Eternal Witness, Venser, Birthing Pod
Win conditions:
Infinite mana + Venser bouncing all opponents' permanents, Eternal Witness and Extract to remove their libraries, or just tap down opponents during their upkeep
Derevi with 4-6 creatures and Hokori, Winter Orb
How to play the deck:
Accelerate into a board. Get an engine online. Slow down our opponents. Finish them.
Board development is one of the most critical area for Derevi as there must be pieces on the board to abuse if we are to get any value from our general. Build a quick board presence. Set the table for our tax pieces and engines to come online early. It cannot be stressed enough just how important getting an engine up and runnning is. We play out so quick we will enter top-deck mode usually around T4. Our engines are the key to our success. They can be divided into draw and tutor engines. Our draw engines consist of: Mystic Remora, Rhystic Study, Sylvan Library, JTMS, Edric, and Consecrated Sphinx. Our tutor engines include: Survival, Tezzeret, Congregation at Dawn, Captain Sisay, and Birthing Pod. The tutor engines quickly assemble the necessary pieces to stall opponents. Derevi with a few creatures and Orb/Hokori or 2 tax pieces is generally enough to stall the game until we're ready to go off. Null Rod and Stony Silence are allstars in my meta. Once the game is effectively ground to a halt (for our opponents) we can combo off at our leisure. Finding Survival, getting Prophet of Kruphix online, and using Masked Admirers to assemble Glen Elendra, Deadeye, and Venser is the most efficient way for us to win.
Final thoughts: The last thing I'll say is, the best thing which can happen to a list is getting a good beat down. You learn more from a lopsided defeat than an easy victory. I've lost a lot of games over the last 2.5 years with my Derevi. I've lost to Contamination, fast combo, too many wipes - each of my friends plays Toxic Deluge, you name it, I've lost to it. Each time I went back to the drawing board and tweaked things to reduce my vulnerability to a tactic. I sped my list up, made it more efficient. I diversified my mana base, tax pieces, engines, and changed my lines of attack. I threw more roadblocks in front of my opponents. I put more engines in. Dropped the land count. From the fires of hate that is my meta this list was forged. For each defeat it suffered it has become stronger.
Card Choice Commentary
Mana: 18
1x Chrome Mox - Mana
1x Lotus Petal - Mana. Offers early acceleration and insurance against Mana denial strategies.
1x Mana Crypt - The 'card' everyone wants to see in an opening hand
1x Mox Diamond - Card disadvantage mana rock. Accelerates, color fixes and insurance against mana denial.
1x Birds of Paradise - Mana dork. Diversifies mana base, color fixes
1x Carpet of Flowers - Mana. Diversifies mana base. Accelerates us
1x Mana Vault - Mana rock. Works well to bust out early and with Derevi in play we can generate lots of mana
1x Noble Hierarch - Mana dork. Diversifies mana base and color fixes
1x Sol Ring - Mana rock
1x Bloom Tender - Key early accelerator and combo piece
1x Grim Monolith - Mana rock
1x Lotus Cobra - Early accelerator
1x Sunscape Familiar - Allows more spells cast per turn
1x Elvish Spirit Guide - Early accelerator and pitchable body. Insurance against Contamination and other mana denial strategies
1x Dawn's Reflection - Mana ramp, combo piece, insurance against Contamination
1x Market Festival - Mana ramp, combo piece
1x Gilded Lotus - Mana rock, combo piece
1x Prophet of Kruphix - Untapper
Draw: 9
1x Brainstorm - Draw and smooths out openings
1x Mystic Remora - #1 Draw engine
1x Sage of Epityr - Smooths out opening hand, filter
1x Sylvan Library - Draw engine, card filtering
1x Edric, Spymaster of Trest - Draw engine
1x Rhystic Study - Draw engine
1x Jace, the Mind Sculptor - Draw engine. Works great with Gilded Drake or Venser
1x Masked Admirers - Engine with Survival
1x Consecrated Sphinx - Draw engine
Tutors: 12
1x Crop Rotation - Gets to Cradle or High Market
1x Enlightened Tutor - Gets stax piece, draw, or combo piece
1x Weathered Wayfarer - Land Tutor, color fixes or gets us to Cradle or High Market
1x Eladamri's Call - Instant speed creature tutor
1x Survival of the Fittest - One of the best creature tutors we have access to. Must have in any creature-based list splashing green. Best friends with Masked Admirers.
1x Chord of Calling - Creature tutor
1x Congregation at Dawn - Tests very nicely, gets a creature chain going to lock down game
1x Idyllic Tutor - Enchantment tutor
1x Wargate - Flexible tutor to get to wincons, draw, disruption, or answers
1x Birthing Pod - Very, very good engine with Derevi. 2-3 activations per turn are possible to help get us there
1x Captain Sisay - Gets us lands, accelerators, or answers. Tutor engine
1x Tezzeret the Seeker - Artifact toolbox engine
Removal: 5
1x Chain of Vapor - Cheap bounce
1x Cyclonic Rift - Instant speed one-sided wipe
1x Gilded Drake - Creature theft
1x Llawan, Cephalid Empress - Bounces Gilded Drake, gets back a stolen Derevi, stops Zur and Mimeo
1x Bane of Progress - Wipe
Recursion: 2
1x Eternal Witness - Graveyard recursion on a stick and combo piece
1x Sun Titan - Value
Counter/Disruption: 21
1x Extract - Combo deck target must counter this
1x Mental Misstep - Free counter
1x Root Maze - Stops several infinite combos and slows the game down
1x Swan Song - Efficient counter
1x Mana Drain - Efficient counter
1x Null Rod - Buys us time. This shuts down a lot of strategies
1x Sphere of Resistance - Buys us time
1x Stony Silence - Buys us time. Shuts down a lot of strategies
1x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben - Buys us time
1x Thorn of Amethyst - Buys us time
1x Winter Orb - Slows opponents down. Buys us time. With a board it can be a wincon.
1x Aven Mindcensor - Ends opponents' ability to tutor
1x Glowrider - Buys us time
1x Tangle Wire - Buys us time
1x Trinisphere - Buys us time
1x Vryn Wingmare - Buys us time
1x Glen Elendra Archmage - Board control.
1x Grand Arbiter Augustin IV - Slows opponents down
1x Hokori, Dust Drinker - Slows opponents down. Buys us time
1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence - Nullifies activated creature abilities of opponents
1x Venser, Shaper Savant - Combo piece with Deadeye and infinite mana. Can also buy us time
Combo/Utility: 2
1x Sakashima the Impostor - Doubles tax pieces
1x Deadeye Navigator - Finisher
BRGrenzo, Dungeon Warden EDH
GAzusa, Always in a Rush EDH
GWUDerevi, Empyrial Warlord EDH
Trade thread on MOTL
1x Tundra
1x Savannah
1x Tropical Island
1x Hallowed Fountain
1x Breeding Pool
1x Temple Garden
1x Flooded Strand
1x Windswept Heath
1x Misty Rainforest
1x Verdant Catacombs
1x Scalding Tarn
1x Wooded Foothills
1x Polluted Delta
1x Marsh Flats
1x Arid Mesa
1x Horizon Canopy
1x Adarkar Wastes
1x Brushland
1x Yavimaya Coast
1x Command Tower
1x City of Brass
1x Mana Confluence
1x Flagstones of Trokair
1x Gaea's Cradle
1x Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
1x Gemstone Caverns
1x Ancient Tomb
1x Plains
1x Island
1x Forest
Mana: 17
1x Chrome Mox
1x Lotus Petal
1x Mana Crypt
1x Mox Diamond
1x Birds of Paradise
1x Carpet of Flowers
1x Mana Vault
1x Noble Hierarch
1x Sol Ring
1x Wild Growth
1x Utopia Sprawl
1x Bloom Tender
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Lotus Cobra
1x Sunscape Familiar
1x Elvish Spirit Guide
1x Oracle of Mul Daya
1x Mystic Remora
1x Sylvan Library
1x Edric, Spymaster of Trest
1x Rhystic Study
1x Timetwister
1x Windfall
1x Jace, the Mindsculptor
Tutor: 10
1x Enlightened Tutor
1x Green Sun's Zenith
1x Transmute Artifact
1x Survival of the Fittest
1x Fabricate
1x Spellseeker
1x Birthing Pod
1x Captain Sisay
1x Prime Speaker Vannifar
1x Tezzeret the Seeker
Recursion: 6
1x Eternal Witness
1x Ramunap Excavator
1x Felidar Guardian
1x Karmic Guide
1x Sun Titan
1x Emeria Shepherd
Disruption: 29
Layer 1 - Taxers: 9
1x Sphere of Resistance
1x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1x Thorn of Amethyst
1x Trinisphere
1x Vryn Wingmare
1x Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
1x Phyrexian Metamorph
1x Sakashima the Impostor
1x Spark Double
Layer 2 - Come into Play Tapped: 4
1x Root Maze
1x Manglehorn
1x Frozen Aether
1x Kismet
1x Chalice of the Void
1x Cursed Totem
1x Null Rod
1x Phyrexian Revoker
1x Stony Silence
1x Aven Mindcensor
1x Sanctum Prelate
1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1x Archon of Valor's Reach
Layer 4 - Restrict Untaps: 4
1x Stasis
1x Winter Orb
1x Tangle Wire
1x Hokori, Dust Drinker
Layer 5 - Counterspells: 1
1x Glen Elendra Archmage
Layer 6 - Removal: 2
1x Cyclonic Rift
1x Aura Shards
Derevi Prison
BRGrenzo, Dungeon Warden EDH
GAzusa, Always in a Rush EDH
GWUDerevi, Empyrial Warlord EDH
Trade thread on MOTL
BRGrenzo, Dungeon Warden EDH
GAzusa, Always in a Rush EDH
GWUDerevi, Empyrial Warlord EDH
Trade thread on MOTL
One-Eyed Black | Orzhov Combo | Ooze Reanimator | Mindwheeling Pain
The lock approach was on my mind. Ultimately I decided I'd set it aside (for now) and explore kinder, gentler pastures. Roon is too slow. Dervi is also kind of slow but can offer broken plays once it gets going. The problem is getting the board developed enough to the point where Derevi can go off
BRGrenzo, Dungeon Warden EDH
GAzusa, Always in a Rush EDH
GWUDerevi, Empyrial Warlord EDH
Trade thread on MOTL
BRGrenzo, Dungeon Warden EDH
GAzusa, Always in a Rush EDH
GWUDerevi, Empyrial Warlord EDH
Trade thread on MOTL
The list plays like Azusa. By turn 5 I've usually got 1-2 cards left. Turn 4-6 is when it can usually go off.
BRGrenzo, Dungeon Warden EDH
GAzusa, Always in a Rush EDH
GWUDerevi, Empyrial Warlord EDH
Trade thread on MOTL
Also, your intro block of text is sort of harsh lol.
Signature by Inkfox Aesthetics by Xen
[Modern] Allies
You noticed Master of Waves may not fit. I went back and forth on it. Master of Waves is a cheap token maker to bump up our creature count and to just swing and get untaps with Derevi. Deranged Hermit is 5 mana for 4/5 guys. Master of Waves is 4 mana for 3 guys with Derevi out, maybe more if we have other blue stuff out. The tokens also setup Craterhoof and are clampable, so while not a perfect card for the list, Master of Waves does fill a need here: a cheap creature token producer. I did try Heliod and Avenger but they were inefficient. Didn't have enough lands for Avenger and Heliod sucked up too much mana.
BRGrenzo, Dungeon Warden EDH
GAzusa, Always in a Rush EDH
GWUDerevi, Empyrial Warlord EDH
Trade thread on MOTL
I still feel like Hero of Bladehold or Emeria Angel might give you better results though. I myself sort of mulled over the idea of running Homarid Spawning Bed as well just to sac Derevi to but I dont know if thats too much of a long shot. Its not cheap to drop + use or even just use but it seems interesting.
If you are looking at the flip side of those two white creatures being removed before they can generate much value, I would counter that master of waves has the same weakness because he would take out his own tokens if he dies. The two white ones are better in a lot of ways because they can generate more overall value and dont take out their own tokens if they die. Plus, the angel makes flying tokens and thats nothing to blow off.
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[Modern] Allies
Those white guys will generate more value over time but I'm looking for explosiveness. The tokens must all be down T4 or they don't have enough value when I tap Cradle or swing T5. Emeria would be my 3rd choice as a token producer. 4 for 2 after a land drop and if I have a fetch its 4 for 3 immediately, with the potential for growth as long as we hit our land drops. She's good with Scapeshift. Instant token army. With some work I could move her up to #1 or #2 but that's some cards I'd be adding: Scapeshift, Crucible, Stone-Seeder? I'll pick up a foil Emeria just in case, the idea is certainly worth exploring
BRGrenzo, Dungeon Warden EDH
GAzusa, Always in a Rush EDH
GWUDerevi, Empyrial Warlord EDH
Trade thread on MOTL
BRGrenzo, Dungeon Warden EDH
GAzusa, Always in a Rush EDH
GWUDerevi, Empyrial Warlord EDH
Trade thread on MOTL
Sounds like my ex wife.
..
Azusa - Derevi - Glissa - Mizzix - Sharuum - Wanderer - Wort
I am interested to hear your results on Voidmage Prodigy. It seems like its been controversial at best in most Derevi decks.
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[Modern] Allies
The Voidmage was in my hand a few games but I did not have enough blue to cast it and still be able to use its ability that turn. A counterspell would have been a better option. In addition the list seems to like keeping its creatures on the battlefield to get as many untaps as possible.
Surgespanner takes a lot of work to tap it. For UUU3 that's too much work. Summoner's Pact is pretty much only good for Mystic Snake or Craterhoof. Stroke of Genius was a dead card several times. Master of Waves did not have enough of a board impact to justify its inclusion. Expedition Map takes all our tempo away to play and activate turn 1 or 2. Late game it was a dead card too. Also going to cut Garruk and Lotus Cobra. They probably aren't necessary to our game plan.
Hokori was surprisingly good. One game the trio of Hokori, GAAIV, and Prophet slowed down opponents long enough for me to get to Deadeye. Winter Orb, Thalia, Glowrider, and Seedborn Muse are worth taking a look at. Going to put in Winter Orb and Seedborn Muse
BRGrenzo, Dungeon Warden EDH
GAzusa, Always in a Rush EDH
GWUDerevi, Empyrial Warlord EDH
Trade thread on MOTL
..
Azusa - Derevi - Glissa - Mizzix - Sharuum - Wanderer - Wort
BRGrenzo, Dungeon Warden EDH
GAzusa, Always in a Rush EDH
GWUDerevi, Empyrial Warlord EDH
Trade thread on MOTL
Knight of the Reliquary can serve as ramp, fix, and utility fetching or just be a decent beater.
Silverblade Paladin can give a lot of untap triggers and can be used to voltron in a little bit if you want. Its sort of like adding rafiq as a singleton but not being bound to the single attacker plan which is good since you sort of do some token swarm. He can be decent if you run swords too.
Signature by Inkfox Aesthetics by Xen
[Modern] Allies
BRGrenzo, Dungeon Warden EDH
GAzusa, Always in a Rush EDH
GWUDerevi, Empyrial Warlord EDH
Trade thread on MOTL
Creatures like Thalia and Glowrider did nothing. They are good against non-creature based decks like Zur early game. Did nothing versus Derevi or heavy creature based decks. The Orbs on the other hand looked very effective. Stasis was also a powerhouse. Derevi with one of those in play was a nightmare for opponents. Going to try and integrate that approach into the list. Silverblade and Jin Gitaxias didn't do much. Out they go. Going to also cut Kamahl to make room for the orbs and supporting cards
BRGrenzo, Dungeon Warden EDH
GAzusa, Always in a Rush EDH
GWUDerevi, Empyrial Warlord EDH
Trade thread on MOTL
BRGrenzo, Dungeon Warden EDH
GAzusa, Always in a Rush EDH
GWUDerevi, Empyrial Warlord EDH
Trade thread on MOTL
I've also played with both a good amount. And normally I'd always give the nod to Stoneforge but in a stasis/orb list I think I'm going to go with Stonehewer. Stonehewer will come down and sit around, but so will Sisay, Sphinx, Fauna Shaman, Prophet, Hokori, etc. If he eats removal so be it. Stonehewer also has Vigilance. It's very nice with Stasis and Static Orb. I looked around at every creature with Double Strike and Vigilance to work with Derevi and Stasis/Static Orb. There are not very many options. Heliod, Elesh Norn, Sun Titan were the 3 best. Then Court Hussar, Stonehewer, Luminate Primordial, and Avacyn were left. Didn't find any decent double strike creatures. The one which best maintains Stasis or gets around the Orb is Stonehewer Giant. So I picked it.
BRGrenzo, Dungeon Warden EDH
GAzusa, Always in a Rush EDH
GWUDerevi, Empyrial Warlord EDH
Trade thread on MOTL
Heartwood Storyteller: I think the smaller the table the better this card is. 2-3 man table we play this card we get to untap with all the newly drawn cards. The player immediately after us will get 0 benefit. It is however a very dangerous card to play on a large table. Someone can win outright or shut down the table.
Howling Mine: Derevi will be able to tap the Mine so no one else benefits. It is not a creature sadly
Insight: Almost everyone in my meta plays green. A second turn Insight could net 4 cards by the time it rolls around to turn 3. Sadly it is not a creature.
Masked Admirers: This guy works great with Survival or Fauna Shaman. He is the green version of Squee. Derevi can squeeze out more mana each turn than most lists with untaps so paying the extra GG is feasible. More token makers would make this card even stronger, but I don't really have those in at the moment.
Mentor of the Meek: Most of our creatures are small and we can usually pay. The drawback is we would tap out more often leaving no room for counters or Stasis/Orb effects
Skullclamp: Derevi likes our creatures on the battlefield to generate taps and untaps, but this is still a good card especially with more sac outlets
Timetwister: Cleans up graveyards and refills hands. Too bad its not a creature
Mikokoro, Center of the Sea: Symmetrical draw, not great but not awful. LoA would be better
BRGrenzo, Dungeon Warden EDH
GAzusa, Always in a Rush EDH
GWUDerevi, Empyrial Warlord EDH
Trade thread on MOTL
What would you suggest replacing those with? Hokori is probably the only one I'm considering keeping since it's easy to get into and everyone runs a lot more creature hate than artifact/enchantment hate. I can pod into it and keep getting it back with Revillark if I need to. I'm going to run the setup for the infinite Mirror Entity/Karmic Guide/Revillark combo so I can get back anything I need.
Well if that is your primary win-con then I would consider putting in Opposition and more creature based card draw or tutors. Opposition with Seedborn Muse or Prophet of Kruphix can buy you some time or even lock down opponents if your list produces enough creatures or tokens on the table. Survival of the Fittest gets you to your combo really quick so Academy Rector with a few sac outlets could probably be in there. Sac outlets also work great with a Karmic Guide Reveillark loop.
BRGrenzo, Dungeon Warden EDH
GAzusa, Always in a Rush EDH
GWUDerevi, Empyrial Warlord EDH
Trade thread on MOTL