Yeah. I'm waiting to do a review of the new cards until the full spoiler is out, but with all of our tokens, Second Harvest can be a real beating. I'm still worried about it being only good on an existing board, but then, you sometimes need that something to put a board from good, to winning.
I think I'd like to get some of High Market, Thespian's Stage, Gaea's Cradle, and the new Drownyard Temple in the deck. In order to make room for them, I'm paying attention to my lesser used lands to see what can make room. Current options include:
the two old cycling lands (that cost 2) - I rarely seem to re-use the cycling, or even rarely bring them back with Sun Titan. I'll keep the cheaper versions in, and if I increase use of them, can rotate these back in.
Petrified Field - It's occasionally useful to return a tech land, or save one from GY hate, but it rarely gets used.
Haunted Fengraf - Still looks good on paper, but I still rarely use it, and the random clause is still a thing.
There's no immediate need for changes, so this is a "watch and evaluate" moment.
====
GAME REPORT!
Last night, I went to a Commander FNM, and due to a misunderstanding, I brought out my big guns game 1 (Chainer). Once that was done, I settled back to relax, and one of the players selected Trostani from my proposed Commanders.
So. Trostani vs. Red Akroma, Kemba, and Ezuri.
I start off strong with a turn 2 Budoka Gardener, into a turn 3 Tempt with Discovery, getting a fetch. All 3 players were tempted, so I boost that up with an Emeria, the Sky Ruin, a Strip Mine and... something else untapped. Sac the Fetch for the Canopy Vista, and drop a Tilling Treefolk to return the fetch. (Wish I hadn't switched away from off-color fetches, because I'd have loved to return 2 fetches there). Next turn I drop Trostani, and some stuff, and play goes around, but my newly-flipped Dokai, Weaver of Life dies horribly. A dropped Sun Titan Likewise gets Burn Awayed, which makes me really sad. I am seriously tempted to Swords to Plowshares my own Sun Titan to save my Graveyard, but then figure I can live without a few fetches and Budoka, and some other small stuff.
Kemba has a few equipment and cats, and Ezuri's +1 counter army is pretty scary. I drop a Knight-Captain of Eos, and stuff, and pass. Red Akroma makes a deal to hold off on the Wheel of Fortune in hand, if the Ezuri army (with the previously revealed Overwhelming Stampede to top it off) promises not to attack him. Deals are made, so he drops a Furnace of Wrath intead. Ezuri casts the Stampede, then checks for blockers, and finally reads the Knight-Captain, is dissappointed, and swings all out at Kemba, putting her at 1 life, as she absorbs what she can with cats and stuff. Ezuri dies in the exchange. I contemplated saving her, but the Akroma player votes against, so I accede. I do however make an 8/8 vigilant token from that land thing, and populate it. While I might be sitting at the highest lifetotal, I also have the largest number of random tokens (8 1/1 Kor allies, 2 1/1 soldiers, + 5-6 creatures, and now +2 8/8's), so that Repercussion is deliciously scary to me. So I kill Akroma with an army, and damage out some of Ezuri's lifetotal with left over tokens. Somewhere in there I had dropped a Doubling Season.
Then I drop an Endbringer which makes Kemba Sad, but Kemba recovers some life (4) from an Umezawa's Jitte while it's still sick, and drops an Avacyn, Angel of Hope, and some other things. Then follows up with a Day of Judgment. So I fog, and populate a few more tokens into my Garruk's Packleader to at least fill up my hand. Emeria brings back the Knight-Captain of Fog to keep Kemba off of Umezawa's Jitte lifegain (I also have a Constant Mists in hand), and I drop a Mirari's Wake and rebuild my position. Of course, Kemba now has many cats and an Akroma's Memorial, so, fog. I obviously can't attack into kemba (Jitte lifegain, +doom cat army), so I kill Ezuri. Akroma Austere Commands my creatures away, and Return to Dusts my Doubling Season and Crucible of Worlds. Not sure where the wake should have landed in that trifecta of threats (I always kill a wake), but of the three, all three are good hits, and it hurts. So I rebuild up again, returning knight captain of fog, and stuff, and Vesuva my Emeria.
I finally return my Endbringer, and stuff, but Kemba finally finds a Elesh Norn, grand Cenobyte to deal with my Soldier tokens, but I fog in response, and no big deal. I then begin the pinging, as after those two wraths, Kemba has many many more cats than I have board presence. (Curse you Avacyn!). I also drop a Glacial Chasm to seal the deal. I'm also sitting at having broken 250 life, somewhere in there.
With my Swords to Plowshares used earlier on in the game, my only answers to Avacyn were Tragic Arrogance and Path to Exile, luckily, Endbringer brought the end, one ping at a time, as I turbo fogged Kemba's doomcat army, and Umezawa's lifegain.
Angel of Deliverance - Combat damage requirements, plus delirium, make it hard to justify this angel, but for big beefy scary things in the air, she gets the job done. I'd perfer her in a deck with more vigilance, doublestrike, or extra combats, to really make use of that ability.
Bygone Bishop - With only 8 creatures to trigger him in my list, I won't be running him, but more card draw options are always worth mentioning.
Declaration in Stone is acceptable removal, as they still need to pay for their cards. It can also handle a token army in a pinch, though you give up a lot of cards at that point. I guess you could use it on yourself in a pinch on Kor Ally tokens of something as an emergency card draw, but that seems bad. Sorcery speed on top kills this card for me.
Descend Upon the Sinful is a strictly better Final Judgment, that gives us a populatable token. Not in any rush to change my wrath suite, but this seems like a fine choice for this deck. And of course, the French version is epic. (For those not in the know, a translation error put the wrong accent on the card, making it "Descend Upon the Fishermen" in French).
Eerie Interlude allows for mass blink saving without necessarily eliminating our tokens. I'm still favoring Rootborn Defenses, but this is a worthy consideration, as you can use it proactively for more ETB goodness as well. Gets stupid dumb with Eternal Witness.
Not Forgotten is a huge card. Obviously, being in green we have direct access to Regrowth, but Not Forgotten gives white a powerful reclaim style recursion, which includes spells, as well as potentially allowing for limited grave hate in case of emergencies. Fantastic addition for the color, even if it won't get run here. (you know, because, Regrowth is just better)
Open the Armory - we're not running the suite for this, but tutors are at least worth mentioning, in case someone else is.
Topplegeist is just so adorable, he had to get a mention. One day I'll build a deck with him, Citadel Siege, and Martial Law. Probably be Roon. So I can say "Stop. Hammer Time."
Vessel of Ephemera - I don't see us needing more token production, but it's Sun Titanable, so it gets a mention.
Green
Cryptolith Rite could be good value to get extra mana from our early creatures and get going faster. It's like a budget 'fixed' earthcraft, which, given how good earthcraft is as a card, isn't a point against it. Run Earthcraft first though, if you're looking for this effect.
Season's Past is a great extra form of mass recursion. I still prefer Creeping Renaissance's flashback and cheaper initial cost, but being able to return multiple different card types 9including spells) is a pretty big boon.
Second Harvest seems like a win more card, but the instant speed makes it quite worth testing, to turn that 'almost' end of turn position into a murder everyone's faces board position.
Tireless Tracker straight up trumps Seer's Sundial as card draw for decks. It drops sooner, and gives more flexibility in your payments. Fantastic card.
Traverse the Ulenwald seems like a good tutor, but I fear those moments where surprise grave hate turns it into just another basic.
Ulenwald Hydra though seems nice. Great body, reach protection, and a good ETB effect makes this a 'fixed' Primeval Titan. It could definitely be a worthy addition to our existing ramp/recur suite of things. Might replace Realm Seekers, while Realm will be bigger, getting the land directly to play will be nice, and reach protection is not irrelevant.
Ulenwald Mysteries - Mostly it's our tokens that will be dying, but we have non-tokens as well. This seems like a 'fixed'/budget Fecudity, but again, that's not bad. The extra human tokens are bonus gravy.
Tamiyo's Journal - If you end up with a clue theme, this might be ok tutoring/draw. It seems forced though.
Lands
Drownyard Temple is a good card, and we're doing the sacrifce/discard/mill thing, so it's a bit good for this deck. Still trying to see how it can come in.
While Realm Seekers has been solid for me as a huge body, and the land search has been beneficial, I feel the hydra will match those roles equally well, while the size will be more easily controlled, and the land search being built in will make it an easier drop in the early game. The reach is added bonus, as flyers can still be a concern from time to time.
I will miss the bad card draw that Realm Seekers can provide by tutoring up a cycling land.
Once my Tireless Trackers arrive, I will indeed be adding them, probably replacing the Well of Lost Dreams (which accidentally got saved instead of Seer's Sundial), as the Trackers is simply a better sundial for us.
I'm also tempted to try out Ulvenwald Mysteries - I've had excellent success with them over the weekend pre-release, as card draw + token generator can be quite strong, though this deck is perhaps less set up to abuse it than some others. Retreat to Emeria may be a potential cut, but I am undecided on that, as retreat has sometimes put in solid work, though been useless in other times.
Finally, though I remain concerned about Traverse the Ulvenwald, I'm going to start paying attention to my delirium count at various times in the game, as it could potentially replace Green Sun's Zenith, which has been on the decline due to my non-green creature count.
With Cradle of Vitality now in the deck, I am also once again examining the role that Spike Weaver could play in the deck, likewise looking for an opening for Archangel of Thune (which might be the Cradle of Vitality, though this card if fun (for me, at least))
I was hungry after FNM, so we jumped over to Applebees and asked for a large table. My friend didn't have his decks with him, so I passed him Karador, since he usually mains a Chainer and would be at least familiar with some recursion loops. We had decided on Karador vs. Trostani, because I was interessted in knowing which of my two decks would 'go off' first. Of course, some handicap has to be given since he doesn't know my decks as well.
Going in, I warn that the two decks might stalemate into fog wars. Then I realize that Trostani has recurring Strip Mines and Karador does have inifnite combo potential. SO one of them will win. Eventually.
GAME ONE is pretty short, as I don't frown on land D 1v1.
Suddenly we're at a standoff, where he can't get through my Hydras (and fogs). I've dropped a Phyrexian Processor on 60, and a Parallel Lives (it died a while after), so I'm gaining somewhere between 100-200 life per turn. Karador is pretty stable on 100. We both have fogs.
I finally get an Angel of Serenity, but by then he can simply sac anything I target on the ground, and resurrect anything in the grave. He's gotten an Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim, but doesn't have the mana to activate her to exile, without then losing to my Angel of Serenity. But I can't cast the angel as long as Ayli is on the field. I also can't Mirrorpool my stuff until Ayli is down for the count.
He needs more land, but can no longer afford to search for Ranger of Eos, or search and crack the land grabbers. At least, until he draws into more mana. I have populating Hydras pullling all the lands out of my deck, but I need to pull something like 5-7 extra for each 1 he pulls out.
Well was saved by accident instead of Seer's Sundial, as the immediate payment can be annoying to meet. Tireless Tracker fixes all of that. He's cheaper, turns into a beater, can be more easily revived (passes the Sun Titan test!), and the clues can be cashed in 'as needed.' Overall happy to have him join the team.
Hypothetically speaking, if a single card in this deck were to become a Protean Hulk for a day... what card should it be?
I'd say just cut out any of your 5+cmc creatures, probably Angel, Nacatl or Baloths? However you don't have any sac outlets in your deck from what I can see. With all the land tutoring you have, I'd swap in a High Market for a day as well.
Nacatl would probably be the right choice. Ended up piloting Karador instead, but only got 1 game in, and we didn't see the Hulk in it that night, so it may happen again.
Karador is more likely to get value out of it, but Trostani is more likely to go through more of the deck and has a higher chance of seeing it. And if I can token it and populate...
Emrakul, The Promised End - With the amount of mana we can generate, various Eldrazi have always been a viable plan B. Emrakul 2.0 isn't the most destructive of the bunch, but certainly does promise a lot of extra power in multiplayer. This deck has a fair amount of balance between card types as well, so she could get a decent discount too.
Eternal Scourge - I'm sure there's a potential combo somewhere, but this isn't a food chain deck, so perhaps not the most solid option here.
Bruna/Gisela/Brisela - Could be amusing for fun value. Bruna has a decent smattering of reclamation targets, and Gisela will synergize to some amount with our lifegain cards. That said, as a threat they don't interact well with our tokening theme on their own.
Collective Effort - We tend to have extra creatures, so a 2 for 1 on removal, and incidental pump for low cost is not bad, though the sorcery speed hurts it quite a bit.
Selfless Spirit - another copy of that loxodon guy if you want some of this effect. Flying makes the body slightly more manageable, but I'll stick with Rootborn Defences for my copy of this effect.
Sigarda's Aid will see play in a few of my decks, but this isn't the place for it. It is a cool card though.
Subjugator Angel Is actually quite powerful. It opens someone up for demolishment, or like the guy that makes people skip their attack steps, using her with populate can add an excellent defensive capability. Once we get a tokenizing chain on her, she becomes brutal. She can also combo with the angel that destroys all tapped creatures if we wanted to run that. I may want to try to get this girl slotted in to the deck for some testing.
Thalia, Heretic Cathar - legendary creatures don't copy well, but Thalia is an efficient hate bear.
Thalia's Lancers - Fetching Nykthos or Gaea's Cradle are powerful plays, and these may get me to rethink my land base some.
Green
Clear Shot - Likely one of the better instant speed green removals we've seen in a while. A definite possibility, but it doesn't hold up vs white's removal options.
Eldritch Evolution - This deck isn't geared too perfectly for Birthing Pod or Natural Order, but both effects are incredibly strong, and the merger of the two (with a bit of added flexibility) is a solid creature tutor.
Primal Druid joins the lineup as another land fetcher, but I much prefer the 2/1 stats of the Viridian Emissary as it can take an aggressive stance, trade out with other small utility creatures, and is much better on the clamp on demand. That said, as a secondary effect, this guy may make some decks.
Splendid Reclamation, another recovery for all of our lands, this has insane ceiling potential. I paid attention during my games last week, and while I never went higher than 2 lands in grave at any time, that is considerable value already, and I will be slotting one in to see how it goes.
Ulvenwald Observer - We make large tokens, and most other green card draw options don't work so well with tokens. That makes this guy an amusing draw option, though I don't know if I have room behind Elemental Bond and Garruk's Packleader.
Lands
Geier Reach Sanitarium - Extra loot effects is an interesting utility piece to add to any deck. Could be an option if you are hurting for draw/options, or run a heavier recur package.
Custodi Soulcaller - It's important to not get too carried away by this guy. Unless you're playing in a grand melee of some sort, he's realistically only going to return things that cost 1, 2, and maybe 3, from the graveyard. For this deck, that means 4 realistic targets, with about 5 more reach targets. Returning for free is cool, but thisprobably isn't the deck for it.
Palace Jailer, Palace Sentinels, other monarch cards: The monarch benefits look to be quite nice, especially in this deck where we aim to make it difficult for our opponents to hit us. Of course, the benefits are tempered with a bit of risk - if someone else can get to be the monarch, it could be free benefit for them. Either way, finding out exactly which monarch cards can make the cut is certainly an interesting conundrum.
Regal Behemoth - Could be one of the Monarch options of choice.
Selvala, Heart of the Wilds - Can be risky, as others can profit... but when we do make creatures, we usually try to make them big, such as 8/8 vigilant tokens, or Phyrexian Processor tokens. Then we make a lot of them. This girl could have value.
Spltting Slime - an interesting mana sink option. While most decks would have issues when the non-monstrous copy dies, breaking the chain, we can always populate out more copies, aside from our typical token doubling.
Throne of the High City - A steep cost to become the monarch, but since you can activate it EOT of an opponent, you know that you're guaranteed a card back, at least. Given this deck's ability to re-use lands, this could be an interesting card draw option on a land.
I am a fan of this Trostani build, and building one myself. That being said, there are times where the board is clear (people in my meta tend to wrath once I have Trostani + several tokens), and am only left with a very healthy life. I'm considering Aetherflux Reservoir as an alternate wincon, as we can Rings of Brighthearth it to kill multiple players at once.
So I played part of a game in between rounds of the pre-release, and one thing that came up is that I was looking to crop rotate a land into a Gaea's Cradle and then remembered it wasn't in the deck yet. I then remembered wanting to slot it into the list, but not having an easy time finding a cut.
This poses a problem, as I'd also like to add the new Inventors' Fair into the list, making it two land counts that I'd like to replace.
So, looking at the new set, cards that I'm tempted to find a home for:
Cataclysmic Gearhulk - Simply looks to be a beating, and will likely become a new staple for me. I'm rather happy with where the removal is for this deck though, so I'm not in too much of a rush to acquire one, and there are several decks in line ahead of this one to get him.
Nissa, Vital Force - a lot of the fog effects that this deck has don't help protect planeswalkers. That said, recursion on a PW seems like it could be good. Also, super fast emblem enabling.
Aetherflux Reservoir - not gonna lie. Already put it in. Cut Nacatl War-Pride for now.
Architect of the Untamed - Big tokens, so I'm keeping her on the radar. If more energy cards become prevalent, or enough of them want to come in, this girl could be quite interesting, but at present, appears to be too slow.
Aetherworks Marvel - Keeping on the energy radar. Could work well with fetch lands?
Decoction Module - keeping on the energy radar (though it sucks).
Oviya Pashiri, Sage Lifecrafter - Seems less good than Rhys, but an available option for a low drop, and eventual big tokens, though those tokens might be win-more?
Nissa, Nature's Artisan = Intro pack pw's are pretty... bad. We'll just leave that there. That said, the -4 to draw two cards is quite nice. Not worth 6 mana on its own, but if we can get 4 cards over three turns, it doesn't seem so... bad? Looks like she could fly under the radar some.
I believe Panharmonicon does not affect lands. I see so much upside with that card, doubling life gain from Trostani, exile up to 6 creatures with Angel of Serenity, and so much more.
Decoction Module is an interesting card, indeed. It can bounce those utility creatures with ETB triggers (most notably forever exiling creatures with Angel of Serenity). This might be a deal breaker to include Architect of the Untamed.
With regards to Inventors' Fair, it seems the deck doesn't have enough artifacts to fuel the requirement to search. Any thoughts on this?
Tough I myself run Karametra and probably won't swap her for Trostani in the foreseeable future, I find your list really awesome.
Some questions/suggestions:
Why don't you run Admonition Angel? I mean sure, she is a target, but if she sticks around,she completely dominates the battlefield (note that she can exile all non-land permanents!) and even if she doesn't, there are all kinds of powerful shenanigans with her, not to mention if you manage to have multiple copies through population.
One card I think is incredibly undervalued in the format is Mosswort Bridge. I guess in your deck it's almost always active, it's actual card advantage (including card selection) on a land, you probably get a huge discount on the casting cost and it even grants pseudoflash.
I also really like Eldrazi Displacer as it's a very versatile mana sink.
If I mentioned something that was already discussed, I'm sorry.
I believe Panharmonicon does not affect lands. I see so much upside with that card, doubling life gain from Trostani, exile up to 6 creatures with Angel of Serenity, and so much more.
Decoction Module is an interesting card, indeed. It can bounce those utility creatures with ETB triggers (most notably forever exiling creatures with Angel of Serenity). This might be a deal breaker to include Architect of the Untamed.
With regards to Inventors' Fair, it seems the deck doesn't have enough artifacts to fuel the requirement to search. Any thoughts on this?
Panharmonicon - You are right! I need to read my cards more carefully! Since the lands are the ones that typically have the drawbacks, this just makes this card even more gravy. I may cycle it into the deck to try at some point, once I can find a new flex slot.
My biggest issue with Decoction Module is that I never want to have to pay 4 for that effect. Erratic Portal is a card which I can use to self bounce for one, or mess with an opponent's left open mana, or boardstate if they foolishly tap out. It's really only good for energy decks, and while I would be tempted to make that build, I don't think there's enough support for it yet. The biggest issue for me is that Architect of the untamed is simply a slower Rampaging Baloths. I'm hoping that more support gets added in the next set, as I think it could be nice to give the deck a larger overhaul and breathe new life into it, but I'm just not seeing it right now.
We might not have a lot of targets for Inventor's Fair, but the ones we have are good ones. Any kind of repeatable tutor really should not be underestimated, and even if it simply grabs a Crucible of Worlds, that might not be bad. Heck, with our existing land recursion, it might grab rings of brighthearth first, and then just go nuts. That said, land cuts are especially hard in this deck, so I'm still puzzling it out. I'm still upset that I don't have cradle included still.
If it comes in though, I can easily see upping the artifact count though, swapping out some of the global destruction for a Cataclysmic Gearhulk and an Oblivion Stone, which would give added versatility to the package.
Tough I myself run Karametra and probably won't swap her for Trostani in the foreseeable future, I find your list really awesome.
Some questions/suggestions:
Why don't you run Admonition Angel? I mean sure, she is a target, but if she sticks around,she completely dominates the battlefield (note that she can exile all non-land permanents!) and even if she doesn't, there are all kinds of powerful shenanigans with her, not to mention if you manage to have multiple copies through population.
One card I think is incredibly undervalued in the format is Mosswort Bridge. I guess in your deck it's almost always active, it's actual card advantage (including card selection) on a land, you probably get a huge discount on the casting cost and it even grants pseudoflash.
I also really like Eldrazi Displacer as it's a very versatile mana sink.
If I mentioned something that was already discussed, I'm sorry.
Thanks for the comments, I'm glad you like it! Karametra was actually pretty high in consideration for this deck when I built it, but I decided in the end to go with slightly different flavor.
Admonition Angel is certainly a potential powerhouse. I'm... not actually sure if I have one? I may need to pick one up and try her, though it may be that she and Angel of Serenity may end up fighting for the same slot, and I think I like the option of recursion on serenity more, possibly. I'll have to keep it in consideration.
Mosswort Bridge (and even Windbrisk Heights) should be quite easy to trigger, and even bounce back and reset. Once again though, land slots are pretty tough right now, and several other lands really want to be tested. Maybe Haunted Fengraf or Riftstone Portal could be a temporary flex slot to try and get some test options in.
Displacer is great, but I had concerns in this deck about colorless mana production (though I guess I have 12 lands...), as well as that utilizing my mana is usually not too big an issue. As always though, he's high value, so depending on different changes, he could find himself a star.
And don't worry about mentioning something again! I have a terrible memory, so it helps to be reminded about good things time and again!
===
Some changes! Slotted in some cards I was lucky enough to get at the pre-release.
Don't be too sad for Heral or Nacatl, they were both fun cards and may find themselves back in the future. They were just the more obvious flex slots while fanning through the deck, and they have been a bit of a priority target for people at the table so far.
Aetherflux Reservoir looks like an impressive haymaker, and I can already see the possibility that it may in fact need to get cut after a while, as I imagine it may attract a high threat level. Once people know it's in the deck, they can never let me go above 50 life without feeling threatened. Still, time will tell if my fears are unfounded.
Nissa, Vital Force is the new test slot. Her abilities are all solid. With only needing one activation to be able to emblem, it should be decently easy to be able to time dropping her to survive a round. Especially since that + gives her own defense. I certainly see Embleming up to be a powerful priority, even possibly being able to recur her to do it again, as that emblem will have a high power potential in this deck. Even if we ignore that, having another solid recursion tool is great for the deck. And it hardly needs telling that dropping her with a Doubling Season is great news (as with all PW), as you get that immediate emblem, and she still has enough for a recursion in the future.
These changes do have me concerned of my creature count, as I cut 2 for non creatures, but it's not in a danger zone yet, I don't think. Just something to watch and be aware of.
Potential flex slots: Blade of Selves - fits the theme, is good, but not necessary.
I see where you are with Inventors' Fair, since its interaction with Crucible of Worlds is a bit broken. What I want to point out is that, it requires us to control 3 or more artifacts before we can activate it. That means, given the number of artifacts we have on the deck, most of the time we will not be able to search for any artifact. We indeed need to up the artifact count to make full use of the "Fair" (Twotothree cards can be easily slotted in to up the artifact count).
Would Mycoid Shepherd fit the deck? It's a great populate target for heavy lifegain and triggers on 8 creatures.
If someone were running a heavier lifegain theme, I wouldn't fault them for the inclusion of a Mycoid Shepherd, but I don't think it's really something that I'd be looking for in my own playstyle. Generally speaking, if I have a fair amount of big creatures, I'm not usually hurting for lifegain at that point in time.
I see where you are with Inventors' Fair, since its interaction with Crucible of Worlds is a bit broken. What I want to point out is that, it requires us to control 3 or more artifacts before we can activate it. That means, given the number of artifacts we have on the deck, most of the time we will not be able to search for any artifact. We indeed need to up the artifact count to make full use of the "Fair" (Twotothree cards can be easily slotted in to up the artifact count).
That's a fair point. Most of my decks tend to be artifact-heavy enough, that I forgot to take the 3 artifact limit into consideration. You also raise a valid point that the artifact lands could help on that, but I'd want to have further artifact land synergy before running them, I think.
Im almost musing how fun it would be to build this deck and show up on a wednesday, just because I could. Not exactly my style to copy a deck, but the chance seems funny enough.
Congrats on an awesome concept. Always wanted to play a deck with Cathars' Crusade and Doubling Season together. I will definitely be paying tribute when I put it together.
Couple of card-specific questions:
- Have you tried Gideon, Ally of Zendikar? I don't currently own one because Standard prices, but I'll be investing in one as soon as he rotates. He seems to fit with everything you're already doing quite nicely.
- Archangel of Thune seemed like a great choice on paper as well, and I'm fortunate enough to own one, so it'll get tested for sure.
- Is Doubling Season good enough to run the functional reprint Primal Vigor?
- Any reason to run/not run Gavony Township or Oran-Rief, the Vastwood?
- EDIT: Have you ever felt the need to protect our fearless leader with something like Lightning Greaves? Would that be enough of a package to open up the idea of running a Stoneforge Mystic?
From playing a variant of the deck myself Burgeoning stays good especially when playing retreat to emeria, emeria shepherd,rampaging baloths, and emeria angel. Havent gotten a exploration yet and I can kinda see why it can be sub optimal sometimes if you already stick a burge.
Diligent is all about how heavy the CC in this deck already is in the 3+ costs. That and a chump fetch is never a bad thing.
I play gavony in mine I like it, absolutely loath oran-rief in a deck like this. Its not its own ETBT that annoys. It's that after a creature/token has landed you only get to do it ONCE, and once is never enough to be threatening enough on its own in commander. That and it forces timing issues to your plays so that you have to get everything out NOW at a certain total CC and THEN tap the bugger to get the value out of it. Where as gavony you can do on the end step of the player right before your turn so that any surviving tokens/creatures can grow.
Thanks!
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I think I'd like to get some of High Market, Thespian's Stage, Gaea's Cradle, and the new Drownyard Temple in the deck. In order to make room for them, I'm paying attention to my lesser used lands to see what can make room. Current options include:
There's no immediate need for changes, so this is a "watch and evaluate" moment.
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GAME REPORT!
Last night, I went to a Commander FNM, and due to a misunderstanding, I brought out my big guns game 1 (Chainer). Once that was done, I settled back to relax, and one of the players selected Trostani from my proposed Commanders.
So. Trostani vs. Red Akroma, Kemba, and Ezuri.
I start off strong with a turn 2 Budoka Gardener, into a turn 3 Tempt with Discovery, getting a fetch. All 3 players were tempted, so I boost that up with an Emeria, the Sky Ruin, a Strip Mine and... something else untapped. Sac the Fetch for the Canopy Vista, and drop a Tilling Treefolk to return the fetch. (Wish I hadn't switched away from off-color fetches, because I'd have loved to return 2 fetches there). Next turn I drop Trostani, and some stuff, and play goes around, but my newly-flipped Dokai, Weaver of Life dies horribly. A dropped Sun Titan Likewise gets Burn Awayed, which makes me really sad. I am seriously tempted to Swords to Plowshares my own Sun Titan to save my Graveyard, but then figure I can live without a few fetches and Budoka, and some other small stuff.
Kemba has a few equipment and cats, and Ezuri's +1 counter army is pretty scary. I drop a Knight-Captain of Eos, and stuff, and pass. Red Akroma makes a deal to hold off on the Wheel of Fortune in hand, if the Ezuri army (with the previously revealed Overwhelming Stampede to top it off) promises not to attack him. Deals are made, so he drops a Furnace of Wrath intead. Ezuri casts the Stampede, then checks for blockers, and finally reads the Knight-Captain, is dissappointed, and swings all out at Kemba, putting her at 1 life, as she absorbs what she can with cats and stuff. Ezuri dies in the exchange. I contemplated saving her, but the Akroma player votes against, so I accede. I do however make an 8/8 vigilant token from that land thing, and populate it. While I might be sitting at the highest lifetotal, I also have the largest number of random tokens (8 1/1 Kor allies, 2 1/1 soldiers, + 5-6 creatures, and now +2 8/8's), so that Repercussion is deliciously scary to me. So I kill Akroma with an army, and damage out some of Ezuri's lifetotal with left over tokens. Somewhere in there I had dropped a Doubling Season.
Then I drop an Endbringer which makes Kemba Sad, but Kemba recovers some life (4) from an Umezawa's Jitte while it's still sick, and drops an Avacyn, Angel of Hope, and some other things. Then follows up with a Day of Judgment. So I fog, and populate a few more tokens into my Garruk's Packleader to at least fill up my hand. Emeria brings back the Knight-Captain of Fog to keep Kemba off of Umezawa's Jitte lifegain (I also have a Constant Mists in hand), and I drop a Mirari's Wake and rebuild my position. Of course, Kemba now has many cats and an Akroma's Memorial, so, fog. I obviously can't attack into kemba (Jitte lifegain, +doom cat army), so I kill Ezuri. Akroma Austere Commands my creatures away, and Return to Dusts my Doubling Season and Crucible of Worlds. Not sure where the wake should have landed in that trifecta of threats (I always kill a wake), but of the three, all three are good hits, and it hurts. So I rebuild up again, returning knight captain of fog, and stuff, and Vesuva my Emeria.
I finally return my Endbringer, and stuff, but Kemba finally finds a Elesh Norn, grand Cenobyte to deal with my Soldier tokens, but I fog in response, and no big deal. I then begin the pinging, as after those two wraths, Kemba has many many more cats than I have board presence. (Curse you Avacyn!). I also drop a Glacial Chasm to seal the deal. I'm also sitting at having broken 250 life, somewhere in there.
With my Swords to Plowshares used earlier on in the game, my only answers to Avacyn were Tragic Arrogance and Path to Exile, luckily, Endbringer brought the end, one ping at a time, as I turbo fogged Kemba's doomcat army, and Umezawa's lifegain.
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
Shadows Over Innistrad
White
Angel of Deliverance - Combat damage requirements, plus delirium, make it hard to justify this angel, but for big beefy scary things in the air, she gets the job done. I'd perfer her in a deck with more vigilance, doublestrike, or extra combats, to really make use of that ability.
Angelic Purge - Open ended removal, but sorcery speed kills it for me. I would rather use Act of Authority or Council's Judgment.
Bygone Bishop - With only 8 creatures to trigger him in my list, I won't be running him, but more card draw options are always worth mentioning.
Declaration in Stone is acceptable removal, as they still need to pay for their cards. It can also handle a token army in a pinch, though you give up a lot of cards at that point. I guess you could use it on yourself in a pinch on Kor Ally tokens of something as an emergency card draw, but that seems bad. Sorcery speed on top kills this card for me.
Descend Upon the Sinful is a strictly better Final Judgment, that gives us a populatable token. Not in any rush to change my wrath suite, but this seems like a fine choice for this deck. And of course, the French version is epic. (For those not in the know, a translation error put the wrong accent on the card, making it "Descend Upon the Fishermen" in French).
Eerie Interlude allows for mass blink saving without necessarily eliminating our tokens. I'm still favoring Rootborn Defenses, but this is a worthy consideration, as you can use it proactively for more ETB goodness as well. Gets stupid dumb with Eternal Witness.
Not Forgotten is a huge card. Obviously, being in green we have direct access to Regrowth, but Not Forgotten gives white a powerful reclaim style recursion, which includes spells, as well as potentially allowing for limited grave hate in case of emergencies. Fantastic addition for the color, even if it won't get run here. (you know, because, Regrowth is just better)
Open the Armory - we're not running the suite for this, but tutors are at least worth mentioning, in case someone else is.
Topplegeist is just so adorable, he had to get a mention. One day I'll build a deck with him, Citadel Siege, and Martial Law. Probably be Roon. So I can say "Stop. Hammer Time."
Vessel of Ephemera - I don't see us needing more token production, but it's Sun Titanable, so it gets a mention.
Green
Cryptolith Rite could be good value to get extra mana from our early creatures and get going faster. It's like a budget 'fixed' earthcraft, which, given how good earthcraft is as a card, isn't a point against it. Run Earthcraft first though, if you're looking for this effect.
Season's Past is a great extra form of mass recursion. I still prefer Creeping Renaissance's flashback and cheaper initial cost, but being able to return multiple different card types 9including spells) is a pretty big boon.
Second Harvest seems like a win more card, but the instant speed makes it quite worth testing, to turn that 'almost' end of turn position into a murder everyone's faces board position.
Tireless Tracker straight up trumps Seer's Sundial as card draw for decks. It drops sooner, and gives more flexibility in your payments. Fantastic card.
Traverse the Ulenwald seems like a good tutor, but I fear those moments where surprise grave hate turns it into just another basic.
Ulenwald Hydra though seems nice. Great body, reach protection, and a good ETB effect makes this a 'fixed' Primeval Titan. It could definitely be a worthy addition to our existing ramp/recur suite of things. Might replace Realm Seekers, while Realm will be bigger, getting the land directly to play will be nice, and reach protection is not irrelevant.
Ulenwald Mysteries - Mostly it's our tokens that will be dying, but we have non-tokens as well. This seems like a 'fixed'/budget Fecudity, but again, that's not bad. The extra human tokens are bonus gravy.
Vessel of Nascency - This is good filtration when paired with Sun Titan. Not a bad card to add.
Artifacts
Tamiyo's Journal - If you end up with a clue theme, this might be ok tutoring/draw. It seems forced though.
Lands
Drownyard Temple is a good card, and we're doing the sacrifce/discard/mill thing, so it's a bit good for this deck. Still trying to see how it can come in.
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
While Realm Seekers has been solid for me as a huge body, and the land search has been beneficial, I feel the hydra will match those roles equally well, while the size will be more easily controlled, and the land search being built in will make it an easier drop in the early game. The reach is added bonus, as flyers can still be a concern from time to time.
I will miss the bad card draw that Realm Seekers can provide by tutoring up a cycling land.
Once my Tireless Trackers arrive, I will indeed be adding them, probably replacing the Well of Lost Dreams (which accidentally got saved instead of Seer's Sundial), as the Trackers is simply a better sundial for us.
I'm also tempted to try out Ulvenwald Mysteries - I've had excellent success with them over the weekend pre-release, as card draw + token generator can be quite strong, though this deck is perhaps less set up to abuse it than some others. Retreat to Emeria may be a potential cut, but I am undecided on that, as retreat has sometimes put in solid work, though been useless in other times.
Finally, though I remain concerned about Traverse the Ulvenwald, I'm going to start paying attention to my delirium count at various times in the game, as it could potentially replace Green Sun's Zenith, which has been on the decline due to my non-green creature count.
With Cradle of Vitality now in the deck, I am also once again examining the role that Spike Weaver could play in the deck, likewise looking for an opening for Archangel of Thune (which might be the Cradle of Vitality, though this card if fun (for me, at least))
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
I was hungry after FNM, so we jumped over to Applebees and asked for a large table. My friend didn't have his decks with him, so I passed him Karador, since he usually mains a Chainer and would be at least familiar with some recursion loops. We had decided on Karador vs. Trostani, because I was interessted in knowing which of my two decks would 'go off' first. Of course, some handicap has to be given since he doesn't know my decks as well.
Going in, I warn that the two decks might stalemate into fog wars. Then I realize that Trostani has recurring Strip Mines and Karador does have inifnite combo potential. SO one of them will win. Eventually.
GAME ONE is pretty short, as I don't frown on land D 1v1.
Well, those colorless lands look terrible. I draw a card Rings of Brighthearth, drop mirrorpool and pass. Second turn I draw strip mine, drop ghost quarter, ghost away my own mirrorpool for a forest, drop Burgeoning, pass. Drop petrified field on his turn, the strip mine on mine, drop Rings of brighthearth, then move into Strip Mine + Life from the Loam + Rings of Brighthearth lock.
Well, it was fast, if a bit anti-climactic.
GAME TWO!
So, this game starts off one sided as I drop to 10 life, until I manage to Green Sun's Zenith out an Ulvenwald Hydra. Luckily Karador is a bit mana screwed (I keep telling him he should Survival of the fittest into Diligent farmhand and burnished hart...). I then Mirrorpool out a second hydra, and drop Trostani to populate and start getting my life back.
In this time though, he's assembled Kami of False hope + Phyrexian Reclamation. Also, his Serra's Ascendant can't really die. Or rather, it dies often, but still nets him life. I get fogs online to stop the lifegain, but he gets Zulaport Cutthroat, so I stop nothing of his combo.
Suddenly we're at a standoff, where he can't get through my Hydras (and fogs). I've dropped a Phyrexian Processor on 60, and a Parallel Lives (it died a while after), so I'm gaining somewhere between 100-200 life per turn. Karador is pretty stable on 100. We both have fogs.
I finally get an Angel of Serenity, but by then he can simply sac anything I target on the ground, and resurrect anything in the grave. He's gotten an Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim, but doesn't have the mana to activate her to exile, without then losing to my Angel of Serenity. But I can't cast the angel as long as Ayli is on the field. I also can't Mirrorpool my stuff until Ayli is down for the count.
He needs more land, but can no longer afford to search for Ranger of Eos, or search and crack the land grabbers. At least, until he draws into more mana. I have populating Hydras pullling all the lands out of my deck, but I need to pull something like 5-7 extra for each 1 he pulls out.
He decides to end this honorably, with a Orzhov Charm on my 300+/300+ Trostani, Selesnya's Voice thanks to Cradle of Vitality. I respond with Rootborn Defenses.
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
-Well of Lost Dreams
+Tireless Tracker
Well was saved by accident instead of Seer's Sundial, as the immediate payment can be annoying to meet. Tireless Tracker fixes all of that. He's cheaper, turns into a beater, can be more easily revived (passes the Sun Titan test!), and the clues can be cashed in 'as needed.' Overall happy to have him join the team.
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
I'd say just cut out any of your 5+cmc creatures, probably Angel, Nacatl or Baloths? However you don't have any sac outlets in your deck from what I can see. With all the land tutoring you have, I'd swap in a High Market for a day as well.
Karador is more likely to get value out of it, but Trostani is more likely to go through more of the deck and has a higher chance of seeing it. And if I can token it and populate...
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
Eldritch Moon!
'colorless'
Decimator of the Provices - Another overrun option, or a fixed Craterhoof Behemoth. Our token copies make good fodder for emerge, but the on cast makes this guy not work well with populated copies of itself. Stick to Craterhoof Behemoth or Pathbreaker Ibex if you're avoiding crater like me.
Emrakul, The Promised End - With the amount of mana we can generate, various Eldrazi have always been a viable plan B. Emrakul 2.0 isn't the most destructive of the bunch, but certainly does promise a lot of extra power in multiplayer. This deck has a fair amount of balance between card types as well, so she could get a decent discount too.
Eternal Scourge - I'm sure there's a potential combo somewhere, but this isn't a food chain deck, so perhaps not the most solid option here.
Mockery of Nature - If you need another Reclamation Sage, perhaps, but it feels to be a weaker option unless you run into a lot of Torpor Orb or Humility.
White
Bruna/Gisela/Brisela - Could be amusing for fun value. Bruna has a decent smattering of reclamation targets, and Gisela will synergize to some amount with our lifegain cards. That said, as a threat they don't interact well with our tokening theme on their own.
Collective Effort - We tend to have extra creatures, so a 2 for 1 on removal, and incidental pump for low cost is not bad, though the sorcery speed hurts it quite a bit.
Selfless Spirit - another copy of that loxodon guy if you want some of this effect. Flying makes the body slightly more manageable, but I'll stick with Rootborn Defences for my copy of this effect.
Sigarda's Aid will see play in a few of my decks, but this isn't the place for it. It is a cool card though.
Subjugator Angel Is actually quite powerful. It opens someone up for demolishment, or like the guy that makes people skip their attack steps, using her with populate can add an excellent defensive capability. Once we get a tokenizing chain on her, she becomes brutal. She can also combo with the angel that destroys all tapped creatures if we wanted to run that. I may want to try to get this girl slotted in to the deck for some testing.
Thalia, Heretic Cathar - legendary creatures don't copy well, but Thalia is an efficient hate bear.
Thalia's Lancers - Fetching Nykthos or Gaea's Cradle are powerful plays, and these may get me to rethink my land base some.
Green
Clear Shot - Likely one of the better instant speed green removals we've seen in a while. A definite possibility, but it doesn't hold up vs white's removal options.
Eldritch Evolution - This deck isn't geared too perfectly for Birthing Pod or Natural Order, but both effects are incredibly strong, and the merger of the two (with a bit of added flexibility) is a solid creature tutor.
Primal Druid joins the lineup as another land fetcher, but I much prefer the 2/1 stats of the Viridian Emissary as it can take an aggressive stance, trade out with other small utility creatures, and is much better on the clamp on demand. That said, as a secondary effect, this guy may make some decks.
Splendid Reclamation, another recovery for all of our lands, this has insane ceiling potential. I paid attention during my games last week, and while I never went higher than 2 lands in grave at any time, that is considerable value already, and I will be slotting one in to see how it goes.
Ulvenwald Observer - We make large tokens, and most other green card draw options don't work so well with tokens. That makes this guy an amusing draw option, though I don't know if I have room behind Elemental Bond and Garruk's Packleader.
Lands
Geier Reach Sanitarium - Extra loot effects is an interesting utility piece to add to any deck. Could be an option if you are hurting for draw/options, or run a heavier recur package.
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
Conspiracy 2!
White
Custodi Soulcaller - It's important to not get too carried away by this guy. Unless you're playing in a grand melee of some sort, he's realistically only going to return things that cost 1, 2, and maybe 3, from the graveyard. For this deck, that means 4 realistic targets, with about 5 more reach targets. Returning for free is cool, but thisprobably isn't the deck for it.
Palace Jailer, Palace Sentinels, other monarch cards: The monarch benefits look to be quite nice, especially in this deck where we aim to make it difficult for our opponents to hit us. Of course, the benefits are tempered with a bit of risk - if someone else can get to be the monarch, it could be free benefit for them. Either way, finding out exactly which monarch cards can make the cut is certainly an interesting conundrum.
Recruiter of the Guard - An almost functional Imperial Recruiter!? Sign me up! This may get me to bring back the Realm Seekers into the list as a tutor target. We already have 11 targets for it, including ramp (Burnished Heart, etc), Fogs (Knight-Captain of Eos), power (Knight of the Reliquary), Recursion (Karmic Guide), and draw (Tireless Tracker). This is already astounding. Adding in Realm Seekers and Spike Weaver as backup options seems incredible.
Notable reprints: Faith's Reward, Hallowed Burial
Green
Regal Behemoth - Could be one of the Monarch options of choice.
Selvala, Heart of the Wilds - Can be risky, as others can profit... but when we do make creatures, we usually try to make them big, such as 8/8 vigilant tokens, or Phyrexian Processor tokens. Then we make a lot of them. This girl could have value.
Spltting Slime - an interesting mana sink option. While most decks would have issues when the non-monstrous copy dies, breaking the chain, we can always populate out more copies, aside from our typical token doubling.
Notable Reprints: Berserk, Beast Within, Burgeoning
'colorless'
Notable Reprints: Horn of Greed
Lands
Throne of the High City - A steep cost to become the monarch, but since you can activate it EOT of an opponent, you know that you're guaranteed a card back, at least. Given this deck's ability to re-use lands, this could be an interesting card draw option on a land.
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
Sig and Avatar Credit: Heroes of the Plane Studios
Paying 50 life may be a sharp cost, usually if I have a lot of life, it's because I'm making lots of creatures (and thus will win anyways).
But still. It does look quite amusing.
I fully expect to get it willbendered back at me one of these days though.
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
RGForest BelcherRG
WUBRGBring to BalanceWUBRG
Commander Decks:
WUBSharuum the HegemonWUB
WUBRGScion of the Ur-DragonWUBRG
UBDralnu, Lich LordUB
UBRNekusar, the MindrazerUBR
This poses a problem, as I'd also like to add the new Inventors' Fair into the list, making it two land counts that I'd like to replace.
So, looking at the new set, cards that I'm tempted to find a home for:
Cataclysmic Gearhulk - Simply looks to be a beating, and will likely become a new staple for me. I'm rather happy with where the removal is for this deck though, so I'm not in too much of a rush to acquire one, and there are several decks in line ahead of this one to get him.
Nissa, Vital Force - a lot of the fog effects that this deck has don't help protect planeswalkers. That said, recursion on a PW seems like it could be good. Also, super fast emblem enabling.
Aetherflux Reservoir - not gonna lie. Already put it in. Cut Nacatl War-Pride for now.
Panharmonicon - keeping on the radar. Terrible with Kjeldoran Outpost and Glacial Chasm, but double landfall seems nice. Plus, all the lifes.
Inventors' Fair - sac, search you library for target Crucible of Worlds.
On the radar?
Architect of the Untamed - Big tokens, so I'm keeping her on the radar. If more energy cards become prevalent, or enough of them want to come in, this girl could be quite interesting, but at present, appears to be too slow.
Aetherworks Marvel - Keeping on the energy radar. Could work well with fetch lands?
Decoction Module - keeping on the energy radar (though it sucks).
Oviya Pashiri, Sage Lifecrafter - Seems less good than Rhys, but an available option for a low drop, and eventual big tokens, though those tokens might be win-more?
Wildest Dreams - mass recursion? I think I would run creeping renaissance first though. and that 6 cost super awesome sorcery.
Nissa, Nature's Artisan = Intro pack pw's are pretty... bad. We'll just leave that there. That said, the -4 to draw two cards is quite nice. Not worth 6 mana on its own, but if we can get 4 cards over three turns, it doesn't seem so... bad? Looks like she could fly under the radar some.
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
Decoction Module is an interesting card, indeed. It can bounce those utility creatures with ETB triggers (most notably forever exiling creatures with Angel of Serenity). This might be a deal breaker to include Architect of the Untamed.
With regards to Inventors' Fair, it seems the deck doesn't have enough artifacts to fuel the requirement to search. Any thoughts on this?
RGForest BelcherRG
WUBRGBring to BalanceWUBRG
Commander Decks:
WUBSharuum the HegemonWUB
WUBRGScion of the Ur-DragonWUBRG
UBDralnu, Lich LordUB
UBRNekusar, the MindrazerUBR
Some questions/suggestions:
Why don't you run Admonition Angel? I mean sure, she is a target, but if she sticks around,she completely dominates the battlefield (note that she can exile all non-land permanents!) and even if she doesn't, there are all kinds of powerful shenanigans with her, not to mention if you manage to have multiple copies through population.
One card I think is incredibly undervalued in the format is Mosswort Bridge. I guess in your deck it's almost always active, it's actual card advantage (including card selection) on a land, you probably get a huge discount on the casting cost and it even grants pseudoflash.
I also really like Eldrazi Displacer as it's a very versatile mana sink.
If I mentioned something that was already discussed, I'm sorry.
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
Panharmonicon - You are right! I need to read my cards more carefully! Since the lands are the ones that typically have the drawbacks, this just makes this card even more gravy. I may cycle it into the deck to try at some point, once I can find a new flex slot.
My biggest issue with Decoction Module is that I never want to have to pay 4 for that effect. Erratic Portal is a card which I can use to self bounce for one, or mess with an opponent's left open mana, or boardstate if they foolishly tap out. It's really only good for energy decks, and while I would be tempted to make that build, I don't think there's enough support for it yet. The biggest issue for me is that Architect of the untamed is simply a slower Rampaging Baloths. I'm hoping that more support gets added in the next set, as I think it could be nice to give the deck a larger overhaul and breathe new life into it, but I'm just not seeing it right now.
We might not have a lot of targets for Inventor's Fair, but the ones we have are good ones. Any kind of repeatable tutor really should not be underestimated, and even if it simply grabs a Crucible of Worlds, that might not be bad. Heck, with our existing land recursion, it might grab rings of brighthearth first, and then just go nuts. That said, land cuts are especially hard in this deck, so I'm still puzzling it out. I'm still upset that I don't have cradle included still.
Right now, our prime targets are Crucible of Worlds, Rings of Brighthearth, and Skullclamp for utility, with Phyrexian Processor as an available finishing option. Wurmcoil Engine is also never a bad target.
If it comes in though, I can easily see upping the artifact count though, swapping out some of the global destruction for a Cataclysmic Gearhulk and an Oblivion Stone, which would give added versatility to the package.
Thanks for the comments, I'm glad you like it! Karametra was actually pretty high in consideration for this deck when I built it, but I decided in the end to go with slightly different flavor.
Admonition Angel is certainly a potential powerhouse. I'm... not actually sure if I have one? I may need to pick one up and try her, though it may be that she and Angel of Serenity may end up fighting for the same slot, and I think I like the option of recursion on serenity more, possibly. I'll have to keep it in consideration.
Mosswort Bridge (and even Windbrisk Heights) should be quite easy to trigger, and even bounce back and reset. Once again though, land slots are pretty tough right now, and several other lands really want to be tested. Maybe Haunted Fengraf or Riftstone Portal could be a temporary flex slot to try and get some test options in.
Displacer is great, but I had concerns in this deck about colorless mana production (though I guess I have 12 lands...), as well as that utilizing my mana is usually not too big an issue. As always though, he's high value, so depending on different changes, he could find himself a star.
And don't worry about mentioning something again! I have a terrible memory, so it helps to be reminded about good things time and again!
===
Some changes! Slotted in some cards I was lucky enough to get at the pre-release.
-Herald of the Host
-Nacatl Warpride
+Aetherflux Reservoir
+Nissa, Vital Force
Don't be too sad for Heral or Nacatl, they were both fun cards and may find themselves back in the future. They were just the more obvious flex slots while fanning through the deck, and they have been a bit of a priority target for people at the table so far.
Aetherflux Reservoir looks like an impressive haymaker, and I can already see the possibility that it may in fact need to get cut after a while, as I imagine it may attract a high threat level. Once people know it's in the deck, they can never let me go above 50 life without feeling threatened. Still, time will tell if my fears are unfounded.
Nissa, Vital Force is the new test slot. Her abilities are all solid. With only needing one activation to be able to emblem, it should be decently easy to be able to time dropping her to survive a round. Especially since that + gives her own defense. I certainly see Embleming up to be a powerful priority, even possibly being able to recur her to do it again, as that emblem will have a high power potential in this deck. Even if we ignore that, having another solid recursion tool is great for the deck. And it hardly needs telling that dropping her with a Doubling Season is great news (as with all PW), as you get that immediate emblem, and she still has enough for a recursion in the future.
These changes do have me concerned of my creature count, as I cut 2 for non creatures, but it's not in a danger zone yet, I don't think. Just something to watch and be aware of.
Potential flex slots:
Blade of Selves - fits the theme, is good, but not necessary.
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
Competitive: GW Hatebears - UG Infect - BGW Liege Rhino
Casual: GR Titan Ramp - BR Aggro
WIP: BUW Control Mill
RGForest BelcherRG
WUBRGBring to BalanceWUBRG
Commander Decks:
WUBSharuum the HegemonWUB
WUBRGScion of the Ur-DragonWUBRG
UBDralnu, Lich LordUB
UBRNekusar, the MindrazerUBR
That's a fair point. Most of my decks tend to be artifact-heavy enough, that I forgot to take the 3 artifact limit into consideration. You also raise a valid point that the artifact lands could help on that, but I'd want to have further artifact land synergy before running them, I think.
I'll have to consider this more in depth...
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
540 Peasant cube- Gold EditionSomething SpicyCouple of card-specific questions:
- Have you tried Gideon, Ally of Zendikar? I don't currently own one because Standard prices, but I'll be investing in one as soon as he rotates. He seems to fit with everything you're already doing quite nicely.
- Archangel of Thune seemed like a great choice on paper as well, and I'm fortunate enough to own one, so it'll get tested for sure.
- Is Doubling Season good enough to run the functional reprint Primal Vigor?
- Any reason to run/not run Gavony Township or Oran-Rief, the Vastwood?
- EDIT: Have you ever felt the need to protect our fearless leader with something like Lightning Greaves? Would that be enough of a package to open up the idea of running a Stoneforge Mystic?
- What's the purpose of Diligent Farmhand over something like Farhaven Elf, Solemn Simulacrum, or even Dawntreader Elk? Are you planning some hot Muscle Burst-tech?
- How has Endbringer worked out for you? It just seems out of place with the rest of the deck. Maybe a Brushland would help it out?
- Are Burgeoning and Exploration necessary? They're historically bad after turn 3-4.
Yeva (88/92 foils)
Raff
Scarab
Rakdos
Wort ($50 budget, 94/97 foils)
Trostani
Diligent is all about how heavy the CC in this deck already is in the 3+ costs. That and a chump fetch is never a bad thing.
I play gavony in mine I like it, absolutely loath oran-rief in a deck like this. Its not its own ETBT that annoys. It's that after a creature/token has landed you only get to do it ONCE, and once is never enough to be threatening enough on its own in commander. That and it forces timing issues to your plays so that you have to get everything out NOW at a certain total CC and THEN tap the bugger to get the value out of it. Where as gavony you can do on the end step of the player right before your turn so that any surviving tokens/creatures can grow.