You know Bob I was looking thru and sorting some cards to find some ideas and I found a way for you to maybe bring endbringer back and a fairly consistent way to use horse if you decide to head down that route, pristine talisman. I was also thinking mind stone and or talisman of unity for other colorless option but pristine seems like a way to get uses from both sides of the equation. Admittedly there could be a better option and I have no idea how this would dilute a build like yours....
Was also considering sylvok lifestaff but the more I consider it the less I consider it enough, since the creature HAS to die to get the life for the horse, there has to be a easier way.
Pristine Talisman is a card I've used to great effect in various other decks. Both for lifegain matters, as well as for incidentally staying in a game far longer than I should. (First time I used it was a very bad mono-red deck, where it gained me 17 life over the course of the game).
I could probably use a lot more mana rocks in this deck to make it safer, and more consistent. There is a player at my meta who runs heavy land-D. At some point I should sit down and consider what's actually crucial to the deck, and rebuild from the ground up, just to see what it would look like. All three you mentioned are very good.
I've used the lifestaff to great effect in other decks, but I don't think it's quite so good here. We don't kill off enough creatures, or reliably enough. I like that you're thinking outside the usual circles though.
Hey Bob was looking through the changelogs and was wondering something. Did you ever play Luminarch Ascension in your deck? I would have though that doing the landfall/fog thing would have made it a go to token provider in a deck like this. Which leads me to the other thing I found in Seraph Sanctuary. Maybe going into a secondary token theme of angel tokens of various sizes with the ability to search out certain lands at near will would be interesting? Or did you consider it and decided it brought too much heat to you too early and agro to you late?
Still unsure if Angelic Accord is worth it or it would be better to nickel and dime single life more for the sunmare and frustration of others alongside helping the costs of Glacial Chasm. Too bad Solemnity keeps the +1 counters off or own creatures or it basically makes Glacial free.
Courser of Kruphix, Grazing Gladehart, and pristine talisman look to be almost auto includes if your trying for a mini life gain theme. Admittedly a lot of this is starting to clog up the 3 cc spot but there HAS to be a way to fit what would work in.
I personally use Crested Sunmare and it is MARVELOUS.
On God-Pharaoh I think it comes out a little too much after when you want it to even with all the ramp included, admittedly the plus side is that the token stays around unlike séance, but the 4cc of séance vs the 7cc on God-pharaoh might make a difference in timing.
Teferi's protection is a great card for fogs deck. The only issue you have to recall is that you don't get leaves the battlefield or enters the battlefield effects so you equally don't get any lifegain when everything phases back in.
A card I think needs to be examined or re-examined, out of all the embalm creatures is Angel of Sanctions. I think since we don't have much removal in some respects and the fact that after bringing it back either through effect or some other means, it is still a copyable o-ring effect once we get the token out.
I too use Crested Sunmare and it is wonderful! Especially with Seedborn and Trostani - gain life, triggers token, untap, populate, triggers get more tokens and more life
I honestly have enjoyed God-Pharaoh's Gift more than Seance. I've found that by the time I'm wanting to cast Seance (having enough creatures in the graveyard) that I can easily cast GPG and the token is a bit more immediate/sticks around.
Teferi's Protection has been great here as well as Rootborn Defenses and Heroic Intervention. Really great ways to protect our board state!
In my opinion, an additional Séance effect might not hurt. And though God-Pharaoh's Gift does not trigger on the opponent's turn, it does leave a somewhat formidable body unlike Seance. I am using it in my list, though it haven't appeared yet in games. I also agree with Zastin, that since we wait for our graveyard to be loaded with critters when we cast Seance, on that timing we can also cast God-Pharaoh's Gift. Just don't forget to enter combat phase
I agree with the Angel of Sanctions shoutout. It can make itself a token, giving us the ability to populate it before Séance arrives.
And I have no other words for Crested Sunmare, but G L O R I O U S.
Hey Bob was looking through the changelogs and was wondering something. Did you ever play Luminarch Ascension in your deck? I would have though that doing the landfall/fog thing would have made it a go to token provider in a deck like this. Which leads me to the other thing I found in Seraph Sanctuary. Maybe going into a secondary token theme of angel tokens of various sizes with the ability to search out certain lands at near will would be interesting? Or did you consider it and decided it brought too much heat to you too early and agro to you late?
Still unsure if Angelic Accord is worth it or it would be better to nickel and dime single life more for the sunmare and frustration of others alongside helping the costs of Glacial Chasm. Too bad Solemnity keeps the +1 counters off or own creatures or it basically makes Glacial free.
Courser of Kruphix, Grazing Gladehart, and pristine talisman look to be almost auto includes if your trying for a mini life gain theme. Admittedly a lot of this is starting to clog up the 3 cc spot but there HAS to be a way to fit what would work in.
I have not personally run Luminarch Ascension - it has a bit of a negative stigma in my playgroup, so I tend to not even consider it. You're right that it certainly could fit well with the theme.
The lifegain is more of a minor theme, that I don't think Courser or Gladeheart do enough to justify a slot.
All three are great cards. God-Pharaoh's Gift impressed me when it was first spoiled, and playing it has only improved my opinion. It's good even in decks it has almost no right to be in. This was obviously the first deck I considered for it, and I'm happy to have extra token making options for it.
Crested Sunmare is another glorious addition to the deck, spitting out nice sized tokens and synergizing so well with Trostani. Takes a bit of effort to really get the ball rolling on each turn, but that's not too difficult. Even better, if you manage to Token it and populate it, the two granting indestructible to each other is insane. I didn't rush to acquire one, since while good, it didn't give me quite the same feeling as God-Pharaoh's Gift, but now that I have one, I'll be evaluating it even more closely.
Teferi's Protection could easily take Rootborn Defense's slot for me. Rootborn was in there as a bit of a flavor fit, but Teferi's is such a powerful card. That said, I only have one and it's currently in another deck (though I often have no problem proxying certain cards...)
I personally use Crested Sunmare and it is MARVELOUS.
On God-Pharaoh I think it comes out a little too much after when you want it to even with all the ramp included, admittedly the plus side is that the token stays around unlike séance, but the 4cc of séance vs the 7cc on God-pharaoh might make a difference in timing.
Teferi's protection is a great card for fogs deck. The only issue you have to recall is that you don't get leaves the battlefield or enters the battlefield effects so you equally don't get any lifegain when everything phases back in.
A card I think needs to be examined or re-examined, out of all the embalm creatures is Angel of Sanctions. I think since we don't have much removal in some respects and the fact that after bringing it back either through effect or some other means, it is still a copyable o-ring effect once we get the token out.
Great to hear that the Sunmare has been working for you!
So far, God-Pharaoh's has been excellent in every deck I've put it in, including a creature light spell deck, so I'm suitably impressed. Getting the token the turn you play it is huge for its power level.
My only issue with Angel of Sanctions is that I don't feel it beats Angel of Serenity overall. Maybe with your recommendation, I'll need to reexamine it.
I too use Crested Sunmare and it is wonderful! Especially with Seedborn and Trostani - gain life, triggers token, untap, populate, triggers get more tokens and more life
I honestly have enjoyed God-Pharaoh's Gift more than Seance. I've found that by the time I'm wanting to cast Seance (having enough creatures in the graveyard) that I can easily cast GPG and the token is a bit more immediate/sticks around.
Teferi's Protection has been great here as well as Rootborn Defenses and Heroic Intervention. Really great ways to protect our board state!
In my opinion, an additional Séance effect might not hurt. And though God-Pharaoh's Gift does not trigger on the opponent's turn, it does leave a somewhat formidable body unlike Seance. I am using it in my list, though it haven't appeared yet in games. I also agree with Zastin, that since we wait for our graveyard to be loaded with critters when we cast Seance, on that timing we can also cast God-Pharaoh's Gift. Just don't forget to enter combat phase
I agree with the Angel of Sanctions shoutout. It can make itself a token, giving us the ability to populate it before Séance arrives.
And I have no other words for Crested Sunmare, but G L O R I O U S.
It looks like I'll definitely need to give the Angel a try then!
-Wurmcoil Engine +Crested Sunmare - This was a straightforward, if painful change. Wurmcoil is solid value, but is otherwise generally uninteresting. Crested Sunmare is a token producer that comes online sooner, triggering the turn it comes out. Both are also rock solid when populating their tokens, or themselves. Overall, it feels like Sunmare can snowball a little harder, though it does increase reliance on having Trostani out.
-Tempt with Discovery +Ramunap Excavator - Tempt is a powerful card, which honestly should not get as much traction as it does, especially in my group. I've decided to cut it in order to not fuel bad decisions. It's also a dead card once some of my powerful lands are out, since I don't want to help people get their Strip Mines. Ramunap, on the other hand, is yet another crucible effect. I briefly considered butting the treefolk for him, but I've decided to keep both in the list for now.
note: I'm keeping an eye on the search 2 nonbasics spell from Amonkhet block as well, so the treefolk may get cut for that, or to open a land slot, depending on what I need.
-Retreat to Emeria +God Pharaoh's Gift - Retreat to Emeria fits well, but the 1/1 tokens are overall a bit awkward. It combos really powerfully with Cathars' Crusade (and skullclamp), but honestly, what doesn't? In the end, I need a slot for God-Pharaoh, and felt this was the weakest link.
-Blade of Selves +Mirage Mirror - Perhaps it's best to say that Blade of Selves is being replaced for God-Pharaoh's? They have similar purpose, and similar costs - The big thing here was the equip cost being so high, needing Trostani online and active before attacking, and how vulnerable the whole set up was to removal.
-Riftstone Portal +Scavenger Grounds - We're highly reliant on our own graveyard, so Scavenger Grounds isn't a proactive type of card in this deck. Mostly, it's the emergency panic button when someone starts using their graveyard worse than we do. It's the only desert in the deck, so it's not multi-use, though if it proves useful perhaps the two cycling deserts may make an appearance, either adding to existing cycling options, or replacing them.
Finally, I'm well aware that I'm still missing the add of my Gaea's Cradle into the deck. I keep forgetting it when actually working on the deck, and I need to find a cut, as I refuse to drop the basic count any lower than it is.
Well, with the Commander decks coming around the corner, I guess I should brush off the dust on this thread and point out some of the new cards that look super cool.
To be honest, Turntimber Sower is the card that really got me excited this time around, so it's a shame that the rest of the Land matters deck is a little bit of a let down. But hey, at least this guy is cool.
He hits a couple points, all in one card - First, we have a fairly sizable landfall theme, and getting more creatures from landfall is something we love, so... score! And second, he brings back lands! Super score! He also makes tokens, for our token theme, but we're not likely to be populating these guys. They're kinda small and sucky, though they are plants if you run Avenger of Zendikar.
On his own, he takes 3 landfalls just to return one land, which is a bit tough, but good enough on its own. If we have other things, like Zendikar's Roil, that makes it that much faster. Of course, things like Parallel Lives boosts it up as well.
Aside from being land protection (Glacial Chasm has a tendency to die) and returning our utility lands that naturally kill themselves off, like Buried Ruin or Grove of the Guardian - That he returns the lands to hand allows for some use out of cycling lands in a pinch - though 3 creatures + a cost to draw a card isn't great, it's nice to have the option in a pinch. Of course, with Mirrorpool and populate effects, we could get a sizable loop of plant generators... though again, that's a lot of effort for that.
Either way, I'm excited to try this guy in the deck.
Otherwise from the new Commander products, Boreas Charger straight up looks like a nice addition to most any white deck. Finding Mistveil Plains or duals is great, plus it's a land ramp in white. I tend to be wary of the "if an opponent has more lands" clauses though, since I usually tend to ramp hard and have the most.
Isolated Watchtower is interesting, but our basic count is pretty low, and again, the "more lands" clause is problematic for us. Ancient Stone Idol is pretty vanilla, but can be a fun slot for some good tokens to populate, especially once you tokenize the main body as well. Endless Atlas should be easy to turn on with basic plains, though I'll probably keep that for mono-colored decks which will need the draw power more - we're doing ok already in this deck. Finally, Retrofitter Foundry looks like a fun source of tokens, though I'd prefer it in a deck that synergizes more with Salvaging Station and artifact untaps.
===
From older sets, which I haven't been so good on updating during:
Some of the best news is the reprint of Crucible of Worlds (About darn time!), which helps make it considerably more affordable, though it's still stupidly expensive. Mentor of the Meek is another good reprint, especially if you build this deck with smaller tokens from Zendikar's Roil or similar effects.
Resplendent Angel is another nice add for this deck - Decent sized useful tokens that can be triggered by Trostani's lifegain, and the Angel herself can be brought back with Sun Titan makes her a useful option.
Elvish Rejuvinator gives us an additional wood elves like ability, with the bonus of hitting non-basics, but the drawback of being a top 5 deal.
Runic Armasaur just looks like a decent addition to any deck that runs green, drawing cards of of any fetch-land, plus other creature abilities. I'm starting to count how many creature/land abilities I see in my LGS to get an idea of how effective he might get.
Together Forever looks like one of those cards that's simply powerful enough to just build around. Right now I just have the Cathars' crusade to fuel it, so it won't be for this build, but with a bit more focus on +1 counters (which tend to synergize with tokens due to Doubling Season and similar), it could be something to keep in mind.
Bramble Sovereign however, hits the level of insta-add. We love our tokenized copies of things, and this thing is a prime new source of it.
The reprints of Seedborn Muse and Doubling Season should make those a bit more able to be acquired, though as both remain extremely powerful cards, their price will remain high.
Glad to see you're finally getting back to this deck! I've had huge success with using your list as a starting point for my own, and the last few sets have given it several cards that are nearly perfect for it.
- Bramble Sovereign is a no-brainer. Unless the price tag skyrockets, there's simply no reason not to run it.
- Another recent stud is Tendershoot Dryad. In exchange for the cumbersome triple-green CC and unnecessary power/toughness on Verdant Force, we get a very strong ascend trigger that is laughably easy to achieve and a body that comes back with a Reveillark trigger.
- Although I haven't acquired it yet, Helm of the Host is another must-have. I recall an episode of a podcast that discussed it as part of a set review, and the headline was that "every time you would normally think that there's a catch, there isn't one". It's just pure upside.
- Finally, I'm interested to hear your thoughts on Regna, the Redeemer, specifically compared to Resplendent Angel. The former costs a little more, but rewards you with two bodies for each trigger, and doesn't care how much life you gain. Also, Regna doesn't have an inflated price from the Standard format.
Hope to see more of your posts in the near future!
Glad to see you're finally getting back to this deck! I've had huge success with using your list as a starting point for my own, and the last few sets have given it several cards that are nearly perfect for it.
- Bramble Sovereign is a no-brainer. Unless the price tag skyrockets, there's simply no reason not to run it.
- Another recent stud is Tendershoot Dryad. In exchange for the cumbersome triple-green CC and unnecessary power/toughness on Verdant Force, we get a very strong ascend trigger that is laughably easy to achieve and a body that comes back with a Reveillark trigger.
- Although I haven't acquired it yet, Helm of the Host is another must-have. I recall an episode of a podcast that discussed it as part of a set review, and the headline was that "every time you would normally think that there's a catch, there isn't one". It's just pure upside.
- Finally, I'm interested to hear your thoughts on Regna, the Redeemer, specifically compared to Resplendent Angel. The former costs a little more, but rewards you with two bodies for each trigger, and doesn't care how much life you gain. Also, Regna doesn't have an inflated price from the Standard format.
Hope to see more of your posts in the near future!
Hey OC! Been a whole!
I agree entirely on Bramble, it is far and away exactly what this deck was looking for. Helm of the host was one that I was very excited to look at when it was first spoiled, but then I paled a bit on the high cost to use. It has a decently high cost, and a high equip, and tends to be a priority one target. It does give 'immediate' value though, which is nice. I can see it reasonably compared to God Pharaoh's Gift, which is amazing. I would certainly run it over blade of selves, which I've found situational and a bit slow.
As a bonus, putting it on Trostani herself would get hilariously out of hand quickly. Even if you only get one token copy before they break the blade, they need to deal with the token ASAP, or they start populating themselves into insanity.
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I've had great success with Tendershoot dryad in other decks, and is really a card that seems to just be straight up good in plenty of decks that run green. Your assessment is pretty spot on. I tend to not run as many of the small tokens anymore, but your assessment is pretty darn good, and I have enjoyed the capability to clone token producers (the horse), as that gets nuts quickly.
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Regna, the Redeemer vs. Resplendent Angel, On paper I like the angel a lot more. The bodies are similar enough, but the angel costs half as much, and puts out a much better token. My experience with Sunmare says that it's fairly simple to just populate out a token on an alternate turn to re-trigger the lifegain on trostani, and thereby get another token. That said, the issue with the angel compared to sunmare is that Sunmare will trigger for itself on the turn you cast it, while the angel needs help. Further, populating the sunmare's horses is enough to qualify it, while the Angels are 1 short of the lifegain.
Now, Mirari's Wake or Parallel Lives are enough to offset it, but it's something to keep in mind. Even so, the fact that the angel costs half, and is returnable by sun titan I think makes it worth trying out. It's something I'll keep in mind though.
I kind of wish that Regna made soldiers instead of warriors, so she'd pair better with Knight-Captain of Eos, but alas.
I also don't want to go too overboard on the lifegain->token producers as well, as Trostani is my main form of lifegain, and I don't want the deck to become too reliant on the commander to function.
Nice recap as always, bob. I really want to get a hold of Bramble Sovereign. Such a good card for the deck.
By the way, I want to get your opinions on Enduring Renewal. I have been using it to good effect in my list. It gives the opponents information on what we have on hand, but it is a wrath protection and a Séance/GPG engine (the draw step trigger).
Nice recap as always, bob. I really want to get a hold of Bramble Sovereign. Such a good card for the deck.
By the way, I want to get your opinions on Enduring Renewal. I have been using it to good effect in my list. It gives the opponents information on what we have on hand, but it is a wrath protection and a Séance/GPG engine (the draw step trigger).
That's an interesting thought. I use Enduring Renewal in a different deck (Karador) where I can control my creatures' deaths more easily and more actively combo with it. I hadn't really thought about it for this one. If you try it out, I'd be interested to know the results, on paper it sounds nice for the reason's you've stated - plus we have a fair bit of other recursion as well.
Was also considering sylvok lifestaff but the more I consider it the less I consider it enough, since the creature HAS to die to get the life for the horse, there has to be a easier way.
I could probably use a lot more mana rocks in this deck to make it safer, and more consistent. There is a player at my meta who runs heavy land-D. At some point I should sit down and consider what's actually crucial to the deck, and rebuild from the ground up, just to see what it would look like. All three you mentioned are very good.
I've used the lifestaff to great effect in other decks, but I don't think it's quite so good here. We don't kill off enough creatures, or reliably enough. I like that you're thinking outside the usual circles though.
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
Still unsure if Angelic Accord is worth it or it would be better to nickel and dime single life more for the sunmare and frustration of others alongside helping the costs of Glacial Chasm. Too bad Solemnity keeps the +1 counters off or own creatures or it basically makes Glacial free.
Courser of Kruphix, Grazing Gladehart, and pristine talisman look to be almost auto includes if your trying for a mini life gain theme. Admittedly a lot of this is starting to clog up the 3 cc spot but there HAS to be a way to fit what would work in.
Crested Sunmare
God-Pharaoh's Gift
Teferi's Protection
Thoughts?
Signature by Inkfox Aesthetics by Xen
[Modern] Allies
On God-Pharaoh I think it comes out a little too much after when you want it to even with all the ramp included, admittedly the plus side is that the token stays around unlike séance, but the 4cc of séance vs the 7cc on God-pharaoh might make a difference in timing.
Teferi's protection is a great card for fogs deck. The only issue you have to recall is that you don't get leaves the battlefield or enters the battlefield effects so you equally don't get any lifegain when everything phases back in.
A card I think needs to be examined or re-examined, out of all the embalm creatures is Angel of Sanctions. I think since we don't have much removal in some respects and the fact that after bringing it back either through effect or some other means, it is still a copyable o-ring effect once we get the token out.
I honestly have enjoyed God-Pharaoh's Gift more than Seance. I've found that by the time I'm wanting to cast Seance (having enough creatures in the graveyard) that I can easily cast GPG and the token is a bit more immediate/sticks around.
Teferi's Protection has been great here as well as Rootborn Defenses and Heroic Intervention. Really great ways to protect our board state!
I agree with the Angel of Sanctions shoutout. It can make itself a token, giving us the ability to populate it before Séance arrives.
And I have no other words for Crested Sunmare, but G L O R I O U S.
RGForest BelcherRG
WUBRGBring to BalanceWUBRG
Commander Decks:
WUBSharuum the HegemonWUB
WUBRGScion of the Ur-DragonWUBRG
UBDralnu, Lich LordUB
UBRNekusar, the MindrazerUBR
The lifegain is more of a minor theme, that I don't think Courser or Gladeheart do enough to justify a slot.
All three are great cards. God-Pharaoh's Gift impressed me when it was first spoiled, and playing it has only improved my opinion. It's good even in decks it has almost no right to be in. This was obviously the first deck I considered for it, and I'm happy to have extra token making options for it.
Crested Sunmare is another glorious addition to the deck, spitting out nice sized tokens and synergizing so well with Trostani. Takes a bit of effort to really get the ball rolling on each turn, but that's not too difficult. Even better, if you manage to Token it and populate it, the two granting indestructible to each other is insane. I didn't rush to acquire one, since while good, it didn't give me quite the same feeling as God-Pharaoh's Gift, but now that I have one, I'll be evaluating it even more closely.
Teferi's Protection could easily take Rootborn Defense's slot for me. Rootborn was in there as a bit of a flavor fit, but Teferi's is such a powerful card. That said, I only have one and it's currently in another deck (though I often have no problem proxying certain cards...)
Great to hear that the Sunmare has been working for you!
So far, God-Pharaoh's has been excellent in every deck I've put it in, including a creature light spell deck, so I'm suitably impressed. Getting the token the turn you play it is huge for its power level.
My only issue with Angel of Sanctions is that I don't feel it beats Angel of Serenity overall. Maybe with your recommendation, I'll need to reexamine it.
It looks like I'll definitely need to give the Angel a try then!
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
-Wurmcoil Engine +Crested Sunmare - This was a straightforward, if painful change. Wurmcoil is solid value, but is otherwise generally uninteresting. Crested Sunmare is a token producer that comes online sooner, triggering the turn it comes out. Both are also rock solid when populating their tokens, or themselves. Overall, it feels like Sunmare can snowball a little harder, though it does increase reliance on having Trostani out.
-Tempt with Discovery +Ramunap Excavator - Tempt is a powerful card, which honestly should not get as much traction as it does, especially in my group. I've decided to cut it in order to not fuel bad decisions. It's also a dead card once some of my powerful lands are out, since I don't want to help people get their Strip Mines. Ramunap, on the other hand, is yet another crucible effect. I briefly considered butting the treefolk for him, but I've decided to keep both in the list for now.
note: I'm keeping an eye on the search 2 nonbasics spell from Amonkhet block as well, so the treefolk may get cut for that, or to open a land slot, depending on what I need.
-Retreat to Emeria +God Pharaoh's Gift - Retreat to Emeria fits well, but the 1/1 tokens are overall a bit awkward. It combos really powerfully with Cathars' Crusade (and skullclamp), but honestly, what doesn't? In the end, I need a slot for God-Pharaoh, and felt this was the weakest link.
-Blade of Selves +Mirage Mirror - Perhaps it's best to say that Blade of Selves is being replaced for God-Pharaoh's? They have similar purpose, and similar costs - The big thing here was the equip cost being so high, needing Trostani online and active before attacking, and how vulnerable the whole set up was to removal.
-Riftstone Portal +Scavenger Grounds - We're highly reliant on our own graveyard, so Scavenger Grounds isn't a proactive type of card in this deck. Mostly, it's the emergency panic button when someone starts using their graveyard worse than we do. It's the only desert in the deck, so it's not multi-use, though if it proves useful perhaps the two cycling deserts may make an appearance, either adding to existing cycling options, or replacing them.
Finally, I'm well aware that I'm still missing the add of my Gaea's Cradle into the deck. I keep forgetting it when actually working on the deck, and I need to find a cut, as I refuse to drop the basic count any lower than it is.
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
List is updated to my current version.
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
To be honest, Turntimber Sower is the card that really got me excited this time around, so it's a shame that the rest of the Land matters deck is a little bit of a let down. But hey, at least this guy is cool.
He hits a couple points, all in one card - First, we have a fairly sizable landfall theme, and getting more creatures from landfall is something we love, so... score! And second, he brings back lands! Super score! He also makes tokens, for our token theme, but we're not likely to be populating these guys. They're kinda small and sucky, though they are plants if you run Avenger of Zendikar.
On his own, he takes 3 landfalls just to return one land, which is a bit tough, but good enough on its own. If we have other things, like Zendikar's Roil, that makes it that much faster. Of course, things like Parallel Lives boosts it up as well.
Aside from being land protection (Glacial Chasm has a tendency to die) and returning our utility lands that naturally kill themselves off, like Buried Ruin or Grove of the Guardian - That he returns the lands to hand allows for some use out of cycling lands in a pinch - though 3 creatures + a cost to draw a card isn't great, it's nice to have the option in a pinch. Of course, with Mirrorpool and populate effects, we could get a sizable loop of plant generators... though again, that's a lot of effort for that.
Either way, I'm excited to try this guy in the deck.
Otherwise from the new Commander products, Boreas Charger straight up looks like a nice addition to most any white deck. Finding Mistveil Plains or duals is great, plus it's a land ramp in white. I tend to be wary of the "if an opponent has more lands" clauses though, since I usually tend to ramp hard and have the most.
Isolated Watchtower is interesting, but our basic count is pretty low, and again, the "more lands" clause is problematic for us. Ancient Stone Idol is pretty vanilla, but can be a fun slot for some good tokens to populate, especially once you tokenize the main body as well. Endless Atlas should be easy to turn on with basic plains, though I'll probably keep that for mono-colored decks which will need the draw power more - we're doing ok already in this deck. Finally, Retrofitter Foundry looks like a fun source of tokens, though I'd prefer it in a deck that synergizes more with Salvaging Station and artifact untaps.
===
From older sets, which I haven't been so good on updating during:
Some of the best news is the reprint of Crucible of Worlds (About darn time!), which helps make it considerably more affordable, though it's still stupidly expensive. Mentor of the Meek is another good reprint, especially if you build this deck with smaller tokens from Zendikar's Roil or similar effects.
Resplendent Angel is another nice add for this deck - Decent sized useful tokens that can be triggered by Trostani's lifegain, and the Angel herself can be brought back with Sun Titan makes her a useful option.
Elvish Rejuvinator gives us an additional wood elves like ability, with the bonus of hitting non-basics, but the drawback of being a top 5 deal.
Runic Armasaur just looks like a decent addition to any deck that runs green, drawing cards of of any fetch-land, plus other creature abilities. I'm starting to count how many creature/land abilities I see in my LGS to get an idea of how effective he might get.
Together Forever looks like one of those cards that's simply powerful enough to just build around. Right now I just have the Cathars' crusade to fuel it, so it won't be for this build, but with a bit more focus on +1 counters (which tend to synergize with tokens due to Doubling Season and similar), it could be something to keep in mind.
Bramble Sovereign however, hits the level of insta-add. We love our tokenized copies of things, and this thing is a prime new source of it.
The reprints of Seedborn Muse and Doubling Season should make those a bit more able to be acquired, though as both remain extremely powerful cards, their price will remain high.
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
- Bramble Sovereign is a no-brainer. Unless the price tag skyrockets, there's simply no reason not to run it.
- Another recent stud is Tendershoot Dryad. In exchange for the cumbersome triple-green CC and unnecessary power/toughness on Verdant Force, we get a very strong ascend trigger that is laughably easy to achieve and a body that comes back with a Reveillark trigger.
- Although I haven't acquired it yet, Helm of the Host is another must-have. I recall an episode of a podcast that discussed it as part of a set review, and the headline was that "every time you would normally think that there's a catch, there isn't one". It's just pure upside.
- Finally, I'm interested to hear your thoughts on Regna, the Redeemer, specifically compared to Resplendent Angel. The former costs a little more, but rewards you with two bodies for each trigger, and doesn't care how much life you gain. Also, Regna doesn't have an inflated price from the Standard format.
Hope to see more of your posts in the near future!
Yeva (88/92 foils)
Raff
Scarab
Rakdos
Wort ($50 budget, 94/97 foils)
Trostani
Hey OC! Been a whole!
I agree entirely on Bramble, it is far and away exactly what this deck was looking for. Helm of the host was one that I was very excited to look at when it was first spoiled, but then I paled a bit on the high cost to use. It has a decently high cost, and a high equip, and tends to be a priority one target. It does give 'immediate' value though, which is nice. I can see it reasonably compared to God Pharaoh's Gift, which is amazing. I would certainly run it over blade of selves, which I've found situational and a bit slow.
As a bonus, putting it on Trostani herself would get hilariously out of hand quickly. Even if you only get one token copy before they break the blade, they need to deal with the token ASAP, or they start populating themselves into insanity.
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I've had great success with Tendershoot dryad in other decks, and is really a card that seems to just be straight up good in plenty of decks that run green. Your assessment is pretty spot on. I tend to not run as many of the small tokens anymore, but your assessment is pretty darn good, and I have enjoyed the capability to clone token producers (the horse), as that gets nuts quickly.
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Regna, the Redeemer vs. Resplendent Angel, On paper I like the angel a lot more. The bodies are similar enough, but the angel costs half as much, and puts out a much better token. My experience with Sunmare says that it's fairly simple to just populate out a token on an alternate turn to re-trigger the lifegain on trostani, and thereby get another token. That said, the issue with the angel compared to sunmare is that Sunmare will trigger for itself on the turn you cast it, while the angel needs help. Further, populating the sunmare's horses is enough to qualify it, while the Angels are 1 short of the lifegain.
Now, Mirari's Wake or Parallel Lives are enough to offset it, but it's something to keep in mind. Even so, the fact that the angel costs half, and is returnable by sun titan I think makes it worth trying out. It's something I'll keep in mind though.
I kind of wish that Regna made soldiers instead of warriors, so she'd pair better with Knight-Captain of Eos, but alas.
I also don't want to go too overboard on the lifegain->token producers as well, as Trostani is my main form of lifegain, and I don't want the deck to become too reliant on the commander to function.
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
By the way, I want to get your opinions on Enduring Renewal. I have been using it to good effect in my list. It gives the opponents information on what we have on hand, but it is a wrath protection and a Séance/GPG engine (the draw step trigger).
RGForest BelcherRG
WUBRGBring to BalanceWUBRG
Commander Decks:
WUBSharuum the HegemonWUB
WUBRGScion of the Ur-DragonWUBRG
UBDralnu, Lich LordUB
UBRNekusar, the MindrazerUBR
That's an interesting thought. I use Enduring Renewal in a different deck (Karador) where I can control my creatures' deaths more easily and more actively combo with it. I hadn't really thought about it for this one. If you try it out, I'd be interested to know the results, on paper it sounds nice for the reason's you've stated - plus we have a fair bit of other recursion as well.
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek