Mono-green. It's the color of Timmys and Tammys all around the world. While I love intricate plays involving the stack, combo-ing out, and getting my storm count over 20, sometimes I just want to drop a ton of lands on the field and swing for over 100 points of damage. I've had many different versions of mono-green over the years. One of the first EDH decks I built was Kodama of the Center Tree spirit-tribal. I've also built Azusa, Lost but Seeking, Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury, and even Yisan, the Wanderer Bard combo. While all of these decks have been fun, I tend to lose interest after a while. Except for Yisan, the commander's identity sort of gets lost in the ramp-and-stomp. And for me to hold onto an EDH deck for a long time, I want some personality from my commander. Enter Jolrael, Empress of Beasts. Now that's some personality! This deck feels like the culmination of my years of playing mono-green, and finally it's time for the commander to really shine. Yes, this deck is still all about big ramp and big creatures, but Jolrael provides a different twist. When I first built this deck, I included a sort of "stax-lite" element to it with effects like Sphere of Resistance and Root Maze. My thought was that I would need those sorts of things to keep up with the blue decks in my meta. While this deck certainly isn't top tier competitive, I eventually found that it was just more efficient to cut the resource-denial cards and focus entirely on the deck's speed, a choice that has served the deck well.
I should add that I have chosen to take this deck in the "play a lot of lands and swing really wide" direction. In my opinion, this is the most obvious direction to take Jolrael. However, I have seen some lists play Jolrael more like a mono-G land destruction deck. This typically looks something like: activate Jolrael targeting an opponent, crack Nevinyrral's Disk (or some other board wipe). I play in a meta that is very strongly opposed to land destruction, so there's none of that in this deck. However, if destroying your opponents' lands appeals to you, it is something to consider.
As for my experience playing Magic, I first played as a kid in the days of Kamigawa. A combination of nostalgia and genuine love for the art and flavor of that block has led me to still be a huge fan today. In fact, one of my deckbuilding goals is to include at least one card from the block in each deck I build. I continued playing until Time Spiral, when life started getting in the way and my friends stopped playing. I then took a long break until college. My friends played Magic and there were two main things that pulled me back in. One, Return to Ravnica had just been released and I had fond memories of OG Ravnica. Two, my friends introduced me to the wonderful world of EDH. I built my first EDH deck by turning my old RWG Samurai deck into a sort-of legendary-matters deck with Johan at the helm. As with most first-ever EDH decks, it was pretty bad. But over the years I honed my skills and started building better decks. Today, I also play Modern (mostly Esper Control) but EDH will always be my one true love. Blue and black are my favorite colors (shameless plug for my Dralnu, Lich Lord primer), but I've always had a soft spot for playing mono-green, as well. As I mentioned above, I built a number of different green decks of varying power level and it wasn't until I built this deck that I finally found a commander that stuck around.
You might like playing Jolrael if...
...you like to win in the combat step.
...you like to have tons of mana at your disposal.
...you like to swing with huge armies of pumped-up creatures.
...you want to play a commander not many people have seen.
You might not like playing Jolrael if...
...you don't like needing to attack to win.
...you like to interact with spells on the stack.
...you like to play combo.
...you don't like being dependent on your commander.
...you play in a meta with a lot of land destruction.
The Competition - Other Commanders Worth Considering
Kamahl, Fist of Krosa - Green Kamahl is another go-wide, turn big creatures sideways kind of commander, and a star in this deck. With an overrun stapled to your commander, it is easy to crank your creatures' power all the way to 11 (and higher). Though Kamahl can animate lands, his army typically comes in the form of non-land creatures. I prefer Jolrael because she's less vulnerable to a board wipe: by activating Jolrael's ability, we go from 1 or 2 creatures to 15 or more in a single turn, and that usually means game over.
Omnath, Locus of Mana - Another heavy ramp commander. Omnath plays more like a voltron deck than a go-wide, swing with lots of creatures deck. Omnath has the added bonus of keeping your mana in your mana pool to be used at a later date. Play Omnath if you want to swing with one gargantuan creature. Play Jolrael if you want to swing with tons of huge creatures.
Omnath, Locus of Rage - Another choice for a lands-matter commander, now in more than one color! Despite playing an additional color, Angry Omnath is probably the most similar commander to Jolrael, but instead of swinging with your lands, you're swinging with creatures created by your lands.
Azusa, Lost But Seeking - One of the first mono-green commander I ever played, and a fine choice for mono-G lands-matter. What better way to play lots of lands than by playing 3 a turn? I prefer Jolrael over Azusa because the former gives more of a direction than Azusa. Sure, having 20 lands in play is kinda a direction on it's own, but Jolrael adds a je ne sais quoi to the experience.
Strategy - If You Want to Make an Omelette, You Gotta Ramp Some Lands
Strengths
The deck ramps very quickly, so you will almost always be ahead of your opponents on mana.
Because the deck wants to win by animating all of your lands, it is very resilient to board wipes: you only need Jolrael on the field to suddenly have 10+ creatures.
Similar to the above point, this deck keeps your opponents on their toes since an alpha strike can come out of nowhere.
Your commander can be used as a political bargaining tool. Since you target a player with her ability, you can use the ability to give your opponent some creatures to attack another player, or animate all of their lands in response to a board wipe (if that's how you roll).
Weaknesses
The deck is pretty dependent on activating Jolrael's ability, so as long as your opponents can deal with her every time she hits the board, you're going to have trouble.
The deck wins in the combat step, so if your opponents can mitigate that through pillowfort effects or massive lifegain, the deck can have trouble.
You need lands to win, so mass land destruction really cripples the deck.
Lands are much more vulnerable when they are creatures. You need to be wary of cards like Evacuation.
Jolrael, first and foremost, is a lands-matter kind of commander. Given that her activated ability animates lands, the more lands you have on the battlefield, the more effective each activation will be. Ideally, you won't have to activate her ability more than once or twice per game. If you have 15 lands on the board, even without an Overrun type of effect, that's 45 power on the board. Add in some buffs, and it won't take more than a single combat step to run over your opponents. So if you can't just activate Jolrael's ability all willy-nilly, when can you activate it? To answer that, let's get into the nitty-gritty.
Early Game - Choosing a Starting Hand and Playing (A Lot of) Lands
Drawing your initial hand and deciding on your mulligans. The "turn 0" actions might not seem like much, but they can make or break your game. When playing this deck, first and foremost, you want land-ramp in your starting hand. Ideally, you'll keep something like three lands and two ramp spells. Beyond "lands, lands, lands," I usually look for at least one source of card draw in my opening hand. A big drawback to Jolrael's ability is the "discard two cards" part of the cost, so the last thing you want is to be caught with 20 lands on the board but only one card in hand. Start padding your hand early.
Once the game begins, you should have one goal and one goal alone: ramp. I like to prioritize creature-based ramp like Sakura-Tribe Elder and Oracle of Mul Daya over sorceries at this stage of the game since they help deter some initial attacks. The goal I like to aim for is seven or eight lands by turn four or five, but of course the more the merrier. This allows you to coast easily into the mid-game and start preparing your alpha strike. The only time you should be playing a non-ramp spell in the first few turns of the game is if you can instead cast some source of card draw like Sylvan Library or Tireless Tracker.
You'll notice that there is very little artifact ramp in this deck. Hell, I don't even play Sol Ring (EDH blasphemy, I know...). That's because lands are much more valuable in this deck, for reasons that should be obvious at this point. Sure, Sol Ring costs a whole three mana less than Skyshroud Claim, but the latter means (at least) 6 more power when we get to activating Jolrael. In fact, the only "artifact ramp" in the deck is Caged Sun, and that's because mana doublers are very important: they mean you have to tap fewer "creatures" on your stampede turn.
Middle Game - Shaking the Rattlesnake's Rattle
What I really love about playing Jolrael is that it feels like a "rattlesnake" style deck. Given that we can turn 15 lands into 45 power with a single activation of our commander, a game-winning turn can come out of nowhere and our opponents are forced to always pay attention to their defenses. Try to play this to your advantage. The mid-game is when you want to be playing and protecting your mana doublers and getting in some incidental damage with your non-land creatures. While Jolrael can give you a lot of power fast, you want to save her for an alpha strike that you know will take out at least one opponent, and it's not until this becomes a possibility that you've really left the midgame.
So rather than rushing to activate Jolrael, the midgame strategy capitalizes on your other token producers. Things like Zendikar's Roil, Sandwurm Convergence, and Avenger of Zendikar can give you a lot of non-land creatures to start chipping away at your opponents' life totals. In fact, not every game I've won has been with an activation of Jolrael. Sometimes Avenger of Zendikar + Triumph of the Hordes is enough.
A note about activating Jolrael's ability: it's really just something you want to use offensively, not defensively. The reason for this is the same reason that my list doesn't want effects that permanently make your lands creatures: you're just inviting your opponents to turn a sorcery-speed board wipe like Damnation into a one-sided Armageddon. Thankfully, instant-speed board wipes are rare, but they are something you should be aware of, too. If you think your opponents are prone to casting something like Evacuation in response to an attack with 20 9/9 Forests, let me introduce you to my friend Dosan the Falling Leaf.
You also want to use the mid-game to prepare for an eventual alpha strike by sculpting your hand a little bit. Jolrael's ability requires you to discard two card as part of the activation cost, so start paying attention to cards you wouldn't mind throwing away when you need to bring out your army. A perfect example is a card like Burgeoning. If you can play this on turn one, you absolutely should do so. You probably have a ton of lands in your hand, and this will allow you to get a bunch of them out by turn two. But if you draw this on turn six with no lands in hand, then there's no need to play it. Instead, keep it around for when you're ready to go for an alpha strike.
Late Game - Alpha Team Go!
You've entered the late game once you feel ready to send in your alpha strike. What does an alpha strike look like, you ask? Good question! It can look like a couple of different things.
First, you might just have enough lands to kill your opponents without anything fancy. Life loss is a fact of life in Magic. Maybe someone got greedy with Sylvan Library, or maybe the two Boros decks have been going back and forth. By the time you get to the late game, it's likely that no one is at 40 life. Then it's just a matter of some simple math. If your opponents have no blockers, and if (Opponents' Combined Life Totals) < 3 x (Number of Lands You Control - 3), then you don't need an Overrun effect! You've already won! (The -3 on the right side is to account for paying for Jolrael's ability).
But it's never that easy, is it? Of course not. But don't worry! We've come prepared! The absolute best tools in your arsenal for preparing an alpha strike are the untap effects. Cards like Patron of the Orochi or Vitalize allow for lines of play like so:
1. Have 15 lands in play
2. Tap 3 lands and discard two cards to activate Jolrael's ability
3. Tap 10 lands and activate Kamahl, Fist of Krosa's ability twice.
4. Cast Vitalize
5. Swing with 15 9/9 land-creatures with trample, plus whatever other creatures you have on the board.
And that's just the most basic version of it. Add in mana doublers, multiple untap effects, or other sources of mass buffs and you'll really start scratching your head trying to add up all your trample damage.
Any cards that are currently in the deck have their name bolded. Non-bolded card names are cards that aren't in my list, but may be worth considering nonetheless.
Creatures
Avenger of Zendikar - An obvious choice for any green deck with a lands-matter theme (really just a solid choice for any deck with green...). This guy is one of our non-Jolrael wincons because he makes tons of tokens when he comes down, and the tokens can get very big with how many landfall triggers we get in this deck.
Azusa, Lost but Seeking - Who doesn't love playing three lands per turn? Obviously, the earlier Azusa comes down, the better. But she can be really impactful at any stage of the game, especially when paired with a draw ability allowing you to find those extra lands.
Budoka Gardener - This guy's role is twofold. In the early game, he allows us to play extra lands, thus helping with the ramp aspect. Also, since it's an activated ability, not static like Azusa, he allows us to get landfall triggers at instant speed. Then in the late game, once he flips, he can start making huge tokens for us to swing with. An important thing to be aware of is the tokens he makes are X/X, not */*. This means their P/T is set at the number lands in play when the token is created and that number does not increase with each new land you play.
Dosan the Falling Leaf - Good ol' Dosan acts as our counter protection. We don't have a lot of instants in the deck, so we aren't affected by his ability much at all. So as long as you've got this guy on the field, you can cast Overruns galore without worrying about those pesky blue mages getting in the way. He also protects you from the few instant-speed board wipes on the turns when you want to activate Jolrael.
Embodiment of Insight - Vigilance seems like it fits well with all of our land creatures, so this card is worth considering. The reason I cut it is that the untap effects are just much stronger. We want to use our untap effects to untap all our lands after using them to pay for Overrun effects. All vigilance allows us to do is use our lands in main phase 2, which is less effective.
Eternal Witness - Another green staple. Recursion is good. Whether its bringing back Avenger of Zendikar for more plant tokens or Overrun for another alpha strike, this girl's always got your back.
Kamahl, Fist of Krosa - Kamahl is one of our wincons and a mana sink when we can make tons of mana. What's better than casting Overrun? Activating an Overrun-effect three or more times in a single turn! He can also help out by destroying your opponents' utility lands (or all of their lands, if you're into that) by activating his first ability in response to a board wipe.
Lifeblood Hydra - This is here as a mana sink as well as a source of card draw. In the first part of the game, even casting this hydra for five mana means we'll be drawing three cards. And in the late game? Your opponents will be staring down a 20/20 (or bigger!) with trample who draws you 20 cards when it dies.
Nissa, Vastwood Seer - Creature Nissa has a lot of great uses. First of all, she searches for a land, which is always great. Then, once we have seven or more lands (which usually happens pretty quickly), she flips and draws us lots and lots of cards (or puts lands on the field which, in this deck, is almost just as good). Honestly, I don't think I've ever used any of her planeswalker abilities aside from her +1.
Oracle of Mul Daya - Another effect that allows us to play extra lands. She also provides a source of pseudo-card advantage as she allows us to play cards from the top of deck. Yes, this means your opponents see everything you draw but in this deck, that doesn't really mean much.
Patron of the Orochi - One of the multiple untap effects in the deck. As I outlined in the strategy section, Patron allows for some game-ending plays by untapping all of your Forest creatures after you've used them all to pay for pump effect.
Reclamation Sage - Sometimes you just need a pesky permanent removed. And that's why we have this lovely elf. Since we run Green Sun's Zenith, having this effect on a creature is especially nice since it means it is tutorable.
Sakura-Tribe Elder - A pretty run-of-the-mill ramp effect, just stapled on a body that can block if needed. Not much else to say about this guy.
Soul of New Phyrexia - This artifact creature serves as protection for all of your creatures. As long as you have the mana to activate this ability, you can animate your lands without fear that someone will cast Damnation and really ruin your day.
Sylvan Advocate - Worth including if you're looking for more ways to pump your land creatures. For me, this card just wasn't efficient enough. Yes, we ramp a lot, so the static effect will almost certainly be active, but I'd rather include an Overrun effect or a huge anthem like Beastmaster Ascension than Sylvan Advocate.
Terastodon - Sometimes you just need THREE pesky permanents removed. And you want them taken care of by a creature with a 9/9 body. Not much to complain about with this guy. Like RecSage, this guy is also tutorable with GSZ.
Thunderfoot Baloth - Another Overrun effect, though only +2/+2, not +3/+3. The one point of power though is worth the trade for an effect that doesn't just end when the turn is over. Plus, when we really need this ability (turns when we activate Jolrael), we'll definitely have our commander on the field.
Titania, Protector of Argoth - A good choice for this deck if you are looking for more token removers or if you change the mana base to be sending more lands to the graveyard. I found that I just didn't trigger Titania enough to make her worth keeping around.
Tireless Tracker - In a deck that gets as many landfall triggers as this one, this guy gives us a lot of card advantage. Sure, he can get pretty big too with all those +1/+1 counters, but really he's just here as a dependable source of card draw.
Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger - Yet another mana sink. 10 mana is a very achievable goal in this deck and sometimes you just want to spend it all in one place. Given that Newlamog is indestructible, exiles two permanents, AND provides a fast clock with his on-attack trigger, he's my go-to Eldrazi titan, but he could also be exchanged for any of the others if you have a personal preference.
Enchantments
Abundance - This card helps smooth out your draws when you really need a land or non-land card. It also has two added bonuses: first, if you have a lot of Nekusar, the Mindrazer players in your meta, this card can ruin their day since the replacement effect doesn't actually have you draw card. Also, with Sylvan Library in play, if you use the replacement effect three times during your draw step, you can keep all three in your hand without paying any life since you never actually drew any cards to put back.
Asceticism - Protect the queen! It's no surprise that Jolrael is pretty crucial to this deck's function. Because of that, making sure she actually stays on the field is very important. Asceticism is here to protect not only Jolrael but ALL of your creatures from spot removal. Plus, you have some resilience to board wipes too as long as you have the mana to regenerate.
Beastmaster Ascension - Another wincon and another mass buff that is a static ability instead of a one-time thing (at least once you have all the counters on it). The best part about having this card in this deck is that on the turns when you really want the boost (i.e. when you're swinging with all of your lands) you are definitely swinging with seven or more creatures, so this lovely enchantment can usually be turned on the turn you play it.
Burgeoning - Another "play more lands than the game usually allows" card. Like Azusa, this card is much better in the early game since that's when you usually have a lot of lands in hand. But if you have a lot of sources of card draw on the field, this enchantment can shine at any point in the game.
City of Solitude - It's Dosan the Falling Leaf, but on an enchantment. I've opted to only run one of the two. I've chosen Dosan because he's tutorable with Green Sun's Zenith, and I really like the Kamigawa block. If you want more of these effects, or you prefer enchantments to creatures, run the City.
Concordant Crossroads - Jolrael's ability requires us to tap her in order to use it, so this enchantment is here to make sure we can tap her right away. Sure, the card gives all your opponents' creatures haste too. But when we're swinging with 15 9/9s, hopefully that won't matter much.
Elemental Bond - As I said before, Jolrael's ability requires us to have plenty of cards in our hand, so card draw is important. Many of our creatures, including Jolrael herself, have 3 or more power, so Elemental Bond can draw us plenty of cards over the course of a game.
Hall of Gemstone - If you have a ton of blue players in your meta, it can't hurt to have too many effects like this. My meta is less blue-saturated, so I think Dosan the Falling Leaf does a better job of cutting off people casting spells on your turn since the Hall just cuts them off of their non-green lands (i.e. they can still use artifacts to make mana to counter your stuff).
Into the Wilds - Ramp and card advantage. What isn't to love? Especially when paired with a way to manipulate the top of our library, like Sylvan Library, this card can put a lot of lands on the field as well as help us dig deeper into our deck.
Sandwurm Convergence - Anyone who's played a mono-green deck before can tell you that one big weakness is fliers. There just aren't that many airborne green creatures, and this means you'll have trouble blocking your opponents' fliers. This is where the sandwurms come in. Not only does this enchantment protect us from fliers, it also gives us a big token every turn. Well worth the 8 mana.
Song of the Dryads - A really great piece of spot removal that should really be included in any deck with G. It gets rid of any type of permanent. It gets rid of indestructible permanents. It's even a way to permanently deal with pesky commanders like Purphoros, God of the Forge, at least until they find a source of enchantment removal.
Sylvan Library - The poster child of mono-green card draw. It's a little bit more expensive money-wise, but well worth it. It's basically a free activation of Sensei's Divining Top each turn, plus it can draw us extra cards if we're willing to spend some life. And don't be afraid to spend some life on this card. It's almost always worth it. And don't forget the trick I mentioned with Abundance.
Vernal Bloom/Zendikar Resurgent - These are our enchantment-based mana doublers. The latter has the added bonus of also drawing us some cards. Yes, Vernal Bloom is symmetrical, but I guarantee you you will have more Forests than your opponents.
Zendikar's Roil - A token producer. As has been said multiple times, this deck likes putting lands on the field. This enchantment gives us tokens every time we do.
Sorceries
Cultivate/Kodama's Reach/Nissa's Pilgrimage - All three of these cards do basically the same thing: pull two basic forests out of your library, put one on the field, and the other in your hand. Nissa's Pilgrimage can also put a third land into your hand if you have spell mastery. Ramp is very important with Jolrael, and many of our sorceries fill the ramp role.
Explosive Vegetation/Hunting Wilds/Skyshroud Claim - Here we have the second class of ramp spells: the ones that put two forests onto the battlefield. Skyshroud Claim has the added bonus of bringing them in untapped. Hunting Wilds also has the kicker option, though I don't think I've ever actually used that one.
Green Sun's Zenith -Tutors make sure we can find the cards we need when we need them. You'll notice that, with the exception of Newlamog and SoNP, all of our creatures are green, so all of our creatures are tutorable with this card. Usually, I either cast this early for some ramp in the form of Nissa, Vastwood Seer or Oracle of Mul Daya, or for some late game devastation with Avenger of Zendikar or Terastodon.
Harmonize - If you feel like you need more card draw, this is a good card to consider. It ended up dropping from my list because I prefer repeatable sources of card draw like Sylvan Library and larger burst draw spells like Rishkar's Expertise.
Nature's Lore/Rampant Growth - Our most basic form of ramp. These two cards grab a single land and put it onto the field. Nature's Lore even gives it to you untapped!
Overrun/Overwhelming Stampede - Our Overrun effects. At this point, I've already talked at length about the importance of these cards. If you're using it on the turn you activate Jolrael, Overwhelming Stampede will be at least as good as Overrun, though it has the ability to pump your creatures by even more.
Rishkar's Expertise - Another source of card draw. We can make some big creatures in this deck and the bigger we can make them, the more cards we get to draw. This card would probably be worth running even if it only drew us cards. The fact that it then lets us cast something for free is just icing on the cake.
Rude Awakening - One of our untap effects. Though this one is pretty expensive, it also has the added bonus of allowing us to animate our lands without Jolrael.
Seasons Past - A crazy strong form of recursion. Usually this card will be bringing back at least three or four cards from the graveyard, but the sky's the limit here. The nice thing about this deck is that we ramp so much that we can afford to run the more-effective-but-more-expensive cards like this over their cheaper counterparts like Regrowth.
Tempt with Discovery - Our most unique ramp effect. This card allows us to find any land in our deck, not just basics. 99% of the time, that means it's digging out Gaea's Cradle or Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx. And if our opponents are greedy enough to search for lands of their own, it can find us both (or even more!) General note if you find your opponents casting this card: don't search for the land. I know it's tempting, but is your one land worth someone grabbing Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth and Cabal Coffers? Probably not.
The Great Aurora - A very unique boardwipe. Sometimes you just need to get rid of everything on the board. Given the amount of ramp in this deck, it's pretty common for us to have the most permanents on the board. This means we get to benefit from the Aurora the most and can usually dump enough lands to have a blow out turn.
Triumph of the Hordes - Yes, this is another Overrun effect, but I feel it deserves a slot of its own. Yes, it only gives +1/+1, but it also gives infect. This means this card can close out games even faster than Overrun. A warning though: depending on your playgroup, this card may lead to some bad feelings. Use at your own risk. Or find a better playgroup.
Instants
Arachnogenesis - Sometimes our opponents get to swing in for a lot of damage before we do. Maybe we didn't ramp fast enough, and Krenko, Mob Boss just got there first. But don't worry! That's why we have Fog effects. And not just any old boring Fog, no! Our fog comes with spiders! Given that this can make a lot of tokens for us and protect our life total, it's an obvious choice for our Fog effect. I ran Constant Mists for a while, but cut it for two reasons: A) one fog effect felt like enough, and B) even though we have tons of lands, we are so dependent on them that I never wanted to sac a land to the buyback.
Beast Within - More spot removal. It's important, and Beast Within does it really well, seeing as it can hit any type of permanent. Sure, the opponent gets a token, but usually that's an easy trade to make.
Benefactor's Draught - Another one of our untap effects and probably my favorite since it also draw us cards. Seriously, this can draw us a ton of cards. Again, the symmetry doesn't matter here because we're probably untapping 15+ 9/9 lands. It also shouldn't be overlooked that this card says "whenever A creature blocks." That's not just your own creatures. So it can also be used politically to untap another player's creatures when they're being attacked, earn some favor, and draw cards doing it! Politics!
Krosan Grip - A little bit more spot removal. And this one is (virtually) uncounterable!
Vitalize - Yet another untap effect. I've already talked about these at length, but at the low-low cost of G, this is our cheapest untapper.
Artifacts
Caged Sun - Another mana doubler that helps rocket you to the late game alpha strike. This artifact has the added benefit of also buffing our creatures. Unfortunately, the buff does not work on our lands as they are colorless.
Howling Mine - As I've said before, we want to be drawing a lot of cards. In my eyes, letting your opponents draw some cards is worth guaranteeing that you'll be able to activate Jolrael's ability.
Lifecrafter's Bestiary - A wonderful new artifact addition to the green player's tool belt. This card would probably be worth it if it just drew us cards when we cast creatures. But it also helps filter our draws with the scry-on-upkeep trigger.
Sol Ring (or any other mana rock) - I know that some people can't build an EDH deck without the Ring. Usually, I'm the same way. With Jolrael though, the Ring (and all other mana rocks) just doesn't make the cut. That's because I would much rather cast Skyshroud Claim. Yes, the sorcery costs three more mana. But it's also putting two lands on the field, which means at least six more power once we activate Jolrael.
Swiftfoot Boots - These boots serve two purposes: to allow us to use Jolrael's ability the turn she comes down, and to protect Jolrael once she's on the field. Honestly, there's really no reason this can't be replaced with Lightning Greaves.
Planeswalkers
Garruk, Primal Hunter - Yet another source of card draw. What I really like about this Garruk is that, as long as you have a creature on the field, you can use his card draw ability the turn he comes down (though he will die in the process). He can also make us tokens to grow our army.
Nissa, Worldwaker - Yes, she animates lands, but Jolrael does it better. Really, Nissa is here as a source of ramp by untapping our Forests. I don't like to judge a planeswalker by its ultimate, but in this case it's another plus. If we do manage to get off her -7, we'll have tons of lands for our alpha strike.
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon - When you absolutely, positively have to kill every mother f-er in the room, accept no substitutes. Unless you're facing an artifact deck, Ugin is one of the best boardwipes around. The -X ability is super effective at clearing the field of any and all pesky permanents. And if he survives, he gets to bolt anything and everything. Once again, ultimates are rare in EDH, but if that -10 does go off, you're probably winning the game.
Lands
While it's tempting to fill a deck like this with 50 lands, I really don't think it's necessary. I would much rather draw another ramp spell to put extra lands on the field than another land. I've found that 38 is a sweet spot for making sure you have enough lands, but also not feeling flooded, but you could probably increase the count to 40 if you'd like. Honestly, this deck can operate fine with 38 Forests, but let's take a look at our utility options.
Blighted Woodland - It's a land that ramps! What's not to love? A land that can turn into two means extra power once we activate Jolrael.
Boseiju, Who Shelters All - Another anti-blue card. A game-winning play by this deck usually involves resolving a sorcery like Overrun or Triumph of the Hordes. Boseiju helps to make sure that those cards resolve.
Buried Ruin - Sure, we don't have a lot of artifacts. But what we do have is important. The land is here to make sure that Caged Sun stays on the field.
Gaea's Cradle - The money maker. Both figuratively and literally. There's no doubt that this card is incredibly powerful. Activate Jolrael with 15 lands on the field and suddenly you're getting 15+ mana from a single land. That being said, this card is the opposite of budget friendly. In fact, I think this card alone is worth as much as the rest of the deck. This deck can operate without Gaea's Cradle, so do not feel like you cannot play this deck if you don't have one in your collection.
Mosswort Bridge - Hideaway is one of my favorite mechanics and, thankfully, we're playing the color with arguably the best hideaway land. 10 power is far from difficult for this deck, and who doesn't love casting spells for free?
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx - The other big mana land. If you can't afford Gaea's Cradle, I would make this land a priority. You're going to want at least one land that can make a ton of mana for your big plays.
Strip Mine - Sometimes you need to get rid of your opponent's Gaea's Cradle or some other pesky utility land. That's what the Mine is for. It can also be replaced, or supplemented, by Wasteland and/or Ghost Quarter.
Temple of the False God - Trading color for efficiency. Getting five lands out is laughably easy, making this sol land an obvious choice. Beware though because it can be a bummer to see in your opening hand.
Tranquil Thicket - I like having at least one cycling land just as a way to dig a little deeper in our deck in the late game. Don't be afraid to cycle this early too if you have a lot of other lands and ramp spells. Plus, more synergy with Splendid Reclamation.
I started cutting back on the stax plan, so Root Maze and Sphere of Resistance are gone. The main plan has proven effective enough that I don't really need to lean on stax. Howling Mine, Tireless Tracker, Garruk, and Rowen all provide some much needed card advantage. I've had a copy of Cradle since before I built this deck, so I don't know why I didn't think to add this before. I'm realizing the untap creatures effects are very strong in this deck since they untap all our lands after a Jolrael activation, so I added Benefactor's Draught. I also like that it draws us cards. Titania just doesn't get triggered enough to make her worth it. One big Eldrazi is enough and I like Ulamog better, so Kozilek is out. And finally, Steel Hellkite is a little too slow, plus I feel pretty good about the other removal in the deck.
Rishkar's Expertise draws us lots of cards. Caged Sun is a mono-color staple and really should have been here since the beginning. Hunting Wilds, Tempt with Discovery, and Crop Rotation all provide more ramp, the latter two being able to grab Gaea's Cradle or Nykthos. Rude Awakening and Vitalize are both more untap effects that have proven powerful here. Abundance combos with Sylvan Library and Arachnogenesis is just better than Constant Mists since it give us tokens and we don't really want to be sacrificing lands. I cut some of the less efficient draw spells like Admirers and Harmonize. Rampaginf Baloths are gone too because I think Zendikar's Roil is a better token producer after all. Gaea's Anthem and Sylvan Advocate just doesn't give us enough of a boost to be worth it and the Scythe only boosts one creature when we'd rather be boosting our whole army. Crucible is strong of course, but I prefer a single burst of returning all my lands in the form of Splendid Reclamation. Plus, I have no interest in adding the Strip Mine lock.
Lifecrafter's Bestiary proved to be very efficient in filtering our draws, as well as drawing us some extra cards. Sandwurm Convergence is well worth the seven mana, as mono-green has trouble with fliers AND it gives us huge tokens. Patron is just yet another untap effect. Hall of Gemstone is another "stax" piece that I feel I no longer need. Primal Command can be nice in removing permanents, but I found it usually just ends up sitting in my hand. Rowen just isn't very efficient and got out-shined by the Bestiary.
Not sure why I was running Ghost Quarter over Strip Mine in the first place... Boseiju helps us get a game-winning Overrun through our opponents' counters.
Green doesn't have many options as far as board wipes go, but The Great Aurora is a good option for this deck. The nice thing about it is it gets rid of absolutely everything. Also, with the amount of ramping we do, it's pretty common for us to have the most permanents on the board, meaning we benefit from it the most. Usually when I cast this card, I'm able to drop enough lands to ramp me into a game-winning turn. The protection from Soul of New Phyrexia is nice in theory but given how much mana you have to hold up for it, it often wasn't as useful in practice.
You could also try big mana ramp like Boundless Realms to increase your land count even faster. Regrowth effects to get back handy game finishers could also be useful. Seedborn Muse could be a house with animated lands attacking and then being able to defend at the next turn.
There's also the few mono-green mass damage spells, or colorless wipes like Nevinyrral's Disk. This is all in combination with making your opponents' lands creatures with Jolrael, of course.
You could also try big mana ramp like Boundless Realms to increase your land count even faster. Regrowth effects to get back handy game finishers could also be useful. Seedborn Muse could be a house with animated lands attacking and then being able to defend at the next turn.
The only reason Exploration isn't on the list is I don't actually own one, and I wanted to start with just cards from my collection. It's definitely something that might be added down the road. I own a Boundless Realms, so I might give that a try.
Seedborn Muse was in the very first version of this list I put together, but I took her out. I just don't really have any ways to truly abuse her untap ability. Plus, I'm hesitant to animate my lands on an opponent's turn because that's just asking for a Damnation to cut me off all of my mana...
I'm skeptical about Liege of the Tangle just because I don't like having a lot of land creatures active on my opponents turn, since that would make board wipes hurt really bad. Embodiment of Insight could work though. Vigilance would allow me to do things like swing with a ton of lands, then tap them for mana to activate Kamahl.
If you like Embodiment of Insight I would also consider giving Bear Umbra at least a consideration. As it can also double as protection for Kahamhl or another valuable creature you have.
There's also the few mono-green mass damage spells, or colorless wipes like Nevinyrral's Disk. This is all in combination with making your opponents' lands creatures with Jolrael, of course.
You could also try big mana ramp like Boundless Realms to increase your land count even faster. Regrowth effects to get back handy game finishers could also be useful. Seedborn Muse could be a house with animated lands attacking and then being able to defend at the next turn.
The only reason Exploration isn't on the list is I don't actually own one, and I wanted to start with just cards from my collection. It's definitely something that might be added down the road. I own a Boundless Realms, so I might give that a try.
Seedborn Muse was in the very first version of this list I put together, but I took her out. I just don't really have any ways to truly abuse her untap ability. Plus, I'm hesitant to animate my lands on an opponent's turn because that's just asking for a Damnation to cut me off all of my mana...
I see your point in Seedborn Muse. I guess it's better if you pair her with Heroic Intervention type effects, solid card to consider btw.
I've just noticed that you don't have Budoka Gardener and/or Sakura-Tribe Scout . I'd put one of them in your deck. Patron of the Orochi could work as well but the high cmc should be considered.
Forgot to mention that I really like the style of this deck, kudos!
I see your point in Seedborn Muse. I guess it's better if you pair her with Heroic Intervention type effects, solid card to consider btw.
I've just noticed that you don't have Budoka Gardener and/or Sakura-Tribe Scout . I'd put one of them in your deck. Patron of the Orochi could work as well but the high cmc should be considered.
Forgot to mention that I really like the style of this deck, kudos!
Glad you like it! I'm excited to try it out (I haven't got to play the deck yet). I've always been a fan of green stompy, but I usually end up losing interest in the commander. Jolrael feels like she gives a refreshing twist to the archetype.
I hadn't considered Budoka Gardener but I think you're right that he would fit well here. I had considered Patron, but decided against it for exactly the reason you pointed out: 8 CMC is a little high.
He's on my maybe list and the only reason he didn't make the first draft was that I don't have a copy. I think he has a lot of potential here because a lot of what I'm trying to do is ramp into lots of mana and his mana storage helps with that quite a bit. Also, he provides a back up win con because we can make him huge with all our mana.
I was flipping through my deck and I noticed you didn't have Dungrove Elder. Its usually a pain for opponent's to deal with if they mostly have targeted removal in hand.
Oh yeah. I've run him in past Forest-themed decks. I don't know why I hadn't though of him here. I think 30 Forests is more than enough to guarantee he'll be pretty big.
Yeah, if you build this to be a MLD deck then you will be targeted the moment you reveal Jolrael to be your commander. However, it can be a very political commander: "Oh, you're gonna wipe the board? Don't mind if I pay 2G, tap Jolrael, discard two cards, and provide you with some instant karma."
Disgusting plays would be destroying all lands that are animated but having floated enough mana to cast Splendid Reclamation. Beyond scooping someone may flip the table, lol.
If you have the budget, Gaea's Cradle is ridiculous here.
Have you considered Embodiment of Insight or Sylvan Advocate? Or do you find them too underwhelming? Maybe for a more casual build (which I'm assuming you're going for?) or a build that's heavier on the land animation theme. Since you're going the stompy route maybe these can be helpful (since Embodiment of Insight gives vigilance to your land creatures).
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Yeah, MLD isn't really my style, so that's not direction I'm taking this. But, like you said, one advantage of Jolrael is the "rattlesnake" factor: people will be a bit more hesitant to cast a board wipe when I can turn it into a one-sided Armageddon.
I actually own a Gaea's Cradle. It's in another deck, but I'm not above sharing a card between two decks, especially when it costs that much...
I have considered both of those cards. Sylvan Advocate is actually already in the list, and Embodiment of Insight is on the list of things to test. Of the two, I think Advocate has more potential, since it acts as an anthem for all my lands. However, as I mentioned in the above comments, what I like about giving lands vigilance is I can swing and then tap them for mana and activate Kamahl.
This deck is indeed a fresh breath of brewing. It is interesting that land is the main resource: you are interested both in the mana it generates and in their overall number at the field.
I might take a while to build it since I don't own many of the cards but I will be looking forward for updates!
I can't believe how many cards could fit in this deck and how many I am forgetting. Tireless Tracker is nutty card advantage in green
Good call on Nissa, Vital Force. I hadn't considered her, but I considered Horn of Greed, which has the disadvantage of affecting all players. You're right that the emblem is easy enough to get that she's probably worth playing.
I agree on Root Maze. I actually think I cut it from the deck in the little bit of tweaking I've done on the main list. I just haven't updated it yet because I've only had a chance to do minimal testing so far.
This deck is indeed a fresh breath of brewing. It is interesting that land is the main resource: you are interested both in the mana it generates and in their overall number at the field.
I might take a while to build it since I don't own many of the cards but I will be looking forward for updates!
I can't believe how many cards could fit in this deck and how many I am forgetting. Tireless Tracker is nutty card advantage in green
Man, I'm surprised by how many I've been forgetting, too. Tireless Tracker hadn't even crossed my mind, but he seems perfect here.
Since you're running Nykthos and probably Cradle, there are several good cards for fetching nonbasics: Crop Rotation and Ulvenwald Hydra are my favorites, then there's Sylvan Scrying, Reap and Sow, and Tempt with Discovery. One day my meta will stop taking the temptation. But they keeping doing it and I keep getting UrzaTron assembled.
I decided I should just update the main list now to reflect what I'm currently working with on paper and on Cockatrice. I was able to get in a little bit of initial testing of the deck and like where it's going:
I'm starting to cut back on the stax-lite plan, as I haven't really felt it adds anything to the game plan, so Root Maze and Sphere of Resistance are out. I like Titania a lot and she feels like a good fit here, but in practice she hasn't added much to my game. I think that's largely because I don't send too many of my lands to the graveyard. Steel Hellkite just isn't efficient enough of removal to warrant staying here.
Since you're running Nykthos and probably Cradle, there are several good cards for fetching nonbasics: Crop Rotation and Ulvenwald Hydra are my favorites, then there's Sylvan Scrying, Reap and Sow, and Tempt with Discovery. One day my meta will stop taking the temptation. But they keeping doing it and I keep getting UrzaTron assembled.
I think you're right about multi-land ramp and non-basic tutors, I like Splendid Reclamation here, too. Any suggestions on cuts? Part of it is I just haven't got to do a ton of testing, but I'm having trouble figuring out what to drop.
Think of right now as a, stockpiling time, one where you are getting lots of suggestions. You can start cutting out the weeds from the garden that will be your deck when you have all what you need in front of you for considerations.
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I should add that I have chosen to take this deck in the "play a lot of lands and swing really wide" direction. In my opinion, this is the most obvious direction to take Jolrael. However, I have seen some lists play Jolrael more like a mono-G land destruction deck. This typically looks something like: activate Jolrael targeting an opponent, crack Nevinyrral's Disk (or some other board wipe). I play in a meta that is very strongly opposed to land destruction, so there's none of that in this deck. However, if destroying your opponents' lands appeals to you, it is something to consider.
As for my experience playing Magic, I first played as a kid in the days of Kamigawa. A combination of nostalgia and genuine love for the art and flavor of that block has led me to still be a huge fan today. In fact, one of my deckbuilding goals is to include at least one card from the block in each deck I build. I continued playing until Time Spiral, when life started getting in the way and my friends stopped playing. I then took a long break until college. My friends played Magic and there were two main things that pulled me back in. One, Return to Ravnica had just been released and I had fond memories of OG Ravnica. Two, my friends introduced me to the wonderful world of EDH. I built my first EDH deck by turning my old RWG Samurai deck into a sort-of legendary-matters deck with Johan at the helm. As with most first-ever EDH decks, it was pretty bad. But over the years I honed my skills and started building better decks. Today, I also play Modern (mostly Esper Control) but EDH will always be my one true love. Blue and black are my favorite colors (shameless plug for my Dralnu, Lich Lord primer), but I've always had a soft spot for playing mono-green, as well. As I mentioned above, I built a number of different green decks of varying power level and it wasn't until I built this deck that I finally found a commander that stuck around.
You might like playing Jolrael if...
You might not like playing Jolrael if...
Omnath, Locus of Mana - Another heavy ramp commander. Omnath plays more like a voltron deck than a go-wide, swing with lots of creatures deck. Omnath has the added bonus of keeping your mana in your mana pool to be used at a later date. Play Omnath if you want to swing with one gargantuan creature. Play Jolrael if you want to swing with tons of huge creatures.
Omnath, Locus of Rage - Another choice for a lands-matter commander, now in more than one color! Despite playing an additional color, Angry Omnath is probably the most similar commander to Jolrael, but instead of swinging with your lands, you're swinging with creatures created by your lands.
Azusa, Lost But Seeking - One of the first mono-green commander I ever played, and a fine choice for mono-G lands-matter. What better way to play lots of lands than by playing 3 a turn? I prefer Jolrael over Azusa because the former gives more of a direction than Azusa. Sure, having 20 lands in play is kinda a direction on it's own, but Jolrael adds a je ne sais quoi to the experience.
1 Avenger of Zendikar
1 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
1 Budoka Gardener
1 Dosan the Falling Leaf
1 Eternal Witness
1 Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
1 Lifeblood Hydra
1 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Patron of the Orochi
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Terastodon
1 Thunderfoot Baloth
1 Tireless Tracker
1 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
Artifact
1 Caged Sun
1 Howling Mine
1 Lifecrafter's Bestiary
1 Swiftfoot Boots
Planeswalker
1 Garruk, Primal Hunter
1 Nissa, Worldwaker
1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
1 Cultivate
1 Explosive Vegetation
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Hunting Wilds
1 Kodama's Reach
1 Nature's Lore
1 Nissa's Pilgrimage
1 Overrun
1 Overwhelming Stampede
1 Rampant Growth
1 Rishkar's Expertise
1 Rude Awakening
1 Seasons Past
1 Shamanic Revelation
1 Skyshroud Claim
1 Splendid Reclamation
1 Tempt with Discovery
1 The Great Aurora
1 Triumph of the Hordes
Enchantment
1 Abundance
1 Asceticism
1 Beastmaster Ascension
1 Burgeoning
1 Concordant Crossroads
1 Elemental Bond
1 Into the Wilds
1 Sandwurm Convergence
1 Song of the Dryads
1 Sylvan Library
1 Vernal Bloom
1 Zendikar Resurgent
1 Zendikar's Roil
1 Arachnogenesis
1 Beast Within
1 Benefactor's Draught
1 Crop Rotation
1 Krosan Grip
1 Vitalize
Land
1 Blighted Woodland
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1 Buried Ruin
29 Forests
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 Mosswort Bridge
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Strip Mine
1 Temple of the False God
1 Tranquil Thicket
Jolrael, first and foremost, is a lands-matter kind of commander. Given that her activated ability animates lands, the more lands you have on the battlefield, the more effective each activation will be. Ideally, you won't have to activate her ability more than once or twice per game. If you have 15 lands on the board, even without an Overrun type of effect, that's 45 power on the board. Add in some buffs, and it won't take more than a single combat step to run over your opponents. So if you can't just activate Jolrael's ability all willy-nilly, when can you activate it? To answer that, let's get into the nitty-gritty.
Early Game - Choosing a Starting Hand and Playing (A Lot of) Lands
Drawing your initial hand and deciding on your mulligans. The "turn 0" actions might not seem like much, but they can make or break your game. When playing this deck, first and foremost, you want land-ramp in your starting hand. Ideally, you'll keep something like three lands and two ramp spells. Beyond "lands, lands, lands," I usually look for at least one source of card draw in my opening hand. A big drawback to Jolrael's ability is the "discard two cards" part of the cost, so the last thing you want is to be caught with 20 lands on the board but only one card in hand. Start padding your hand early.
Once the game begins, you should have one goal and one goal alone: ramp. I like to prioritize creature-based ramp like Sakura-Tribe Elder and Oracle of Mul Daya over sorceries at this stage of the game since they help deter some initial attacks. The goal I like to aim for is seven or eight lands by turn four or five, but of course the more the merrier. This allows you to coast easily into the mid-game and start preparing your alpha strike. The only time you should be playing a non-ramp spell in the first few turns of the game is if you can instead cast some source of card draw like Sylvan Library or Tireless Tracker.
You'll notice that there is very little artifact ramp in this deck. Hell, I don't even play Sol Ring (EDH blasphemy, I know...). That's because lands are much more valuable in this deck, for reasons that should be obvious at this point. Sure, Sol Ring costs a whole three mana less than Skyshroud Claim, but the latter means (at least) 6 more power when we get to activating Jolrael. In fact, the only "artifact ramp" in the deck is Caged Sun, and that's because mana doublers are very important: they mean you have to tap fewer "creatures" on your stampede turn.
Middle Game - Shaking the Rattlesnake's Rattle
What I really love about playing Jolrael is that it feels like a "rattlesnake" style deck. Given that we can turn 15 lands into 45 power with a single activation of our commander, a game-winning turn can come out of nowhere and our opponents are forced to always pay attention to their defenses. Try to play this to your advantage. The mid-game is when you want to be playing and protecting your mana doublers and getting in some incidental damage with your non-land creatures. While Jolrael can give you a lot of power fast, you want to save her for an alpha strike that you know will take out at least one opponent, and it's not until this becomes a possibility that you've really left the midgame.
So rather than rushing to activate Jolrael, the midgame strategy capitalizes on your other token producers. Things like Zendikar's Roil, Sandwurm Convergence, and Avenger of Zendikar can give you a lot of non-land creatures to start chipping away at your opponents' life totals. In fact, not every game I've won has been with an activation of Jolrael. Sometimes Avenger of Zendikar + Triumph of the Hordes is enough.
A note about activating Jolrael's ability: it's really just something you want to use offensively, not defensively. The reason for this is the same reason that my list doesn't want effects that permanently make your lands creatures: you're just inviting your opponents to turn a sorcery-speed board wipe like Damnation into a one-sided Armageddon. Thankfully, instant-speed board wipes are rare, but they are something you should be aware of, too. If you think your opponents are prone to casting something like Evacuation in response to an attack with 20 9/9 Forests, let me introduce you to my friend Dosan the Falling Leaf.
You also want to use the mid-game to prepare for an eventual alpha strike by sculpting your hand a little bit. Jolrael's ability requires you to discard two card as part of the activation cost, so start paying attention to cards you wouldn't mind throwing away when you need to bring out your army. A perfect example is a card like Burgeoning. If you can play this on turn one, you absolutely should do so. You probably have a ton of lands in your hand, and this will allow you to get a bunch of them out by turn two. But if you draw this on turn six with no lands in hand, then there's no need to play it. Instead, keep it around for when you're ready to go for an alpha strike.
Late Game - Alpha Team Go!
You've entered the late game once you feel ready to send in your alpha strike. What does an alpha strike look like, you ask? Good question! It can look like a couple of different things.
First, you might just have enough lands to kill your opponents without anything fancy. Life loss is a fact of life in Magic. Maybe someone got greedy with Sylvan Library, or maybe the two Boros decks have been going back and forth. By the time you get to the late game, it's likely that no one is at 40 life. Then it's just a matter of some simple math. If your opponents have no blockers, and if (Opponents' Combined Life Totals) < 3 x (Number of Lands You Control - 3), then you don't need an Overrun effect! You've already won! (The -3 on the right side is to account for paying for Jolrael's ability).
But it's never that easy, is it? Of course not. But don't worry! We've come prepared! The absolute best tools in your arsenal for preparing an alpha strike are the untap effects. Cards like Patron of the Orochi or Vitalize allow for lines of play like so:
1. Have 15 lands in play
2. Tap 3 lands and discard two cards to activate Jolrael's ability
3. Tap 10 lands and activate Kamahl, Fist of Krosa's ability twice.
4. Cast Vitalize
5. Swing with 15 9/9 land-creatures with trample, plus whatever other creatures you have on the board.
And that's just the most basic version of it. Add in mana doublers, multiple untap effects, or other sources of mass buffs and you'll really start scratching your head trying to add up all your trample damage.
Creatures
Enchantments
Sorceries
Instants
Artifacts
Planeswalkers
Lands
While it's tempting to fill a deck like this with 50 lands, I really don't think it's necessary. I would much rather draw another ramp spell to put extra lands on the field than another land. I've found that 38 is a sweet spot for making sure you have enough lands, but also not feeling flooded, but you could probably increase the count to 40 if you'd like. Honestly, this deck can operate fine with 38 Forests, but let's take a look at our utility options.
I started cutting back on the stax plan, so Root Maze and Sphere of Resistance are gone. The main plan has proven effective enough that I don't really need to lean on stax. Howling Mine, Tireless Tracker, Garruk, and Rowen all provide some much needed card advantage. I've had a copy of Cradle since before I built this deck, so I don't know why I didn't think to add this before. I'm realizing the untap creatures effects are very strong in this deck since they untap all our lands after a Jolrael activation, so I added Benefactor's Draught. I also like that it draws us cards. Titania just doesn't get triggered enough to make her worth it. One big Eldrazi is enough and I like Ulamog better, so Kozilek is out. And finally, Steel Hellkite is a little too slow, plus I feel pretty good about the other removal in the deck.
Rishkar's Expertise draws us lots of cards. Caged Sun is a mono-color staple and really should have been here since the beginning. Hunting Wilds, Tempt with Discovery, and Crop Rotation all provide more ramp, the latter two being able to grab Gaea's Cradle or Nykthos. Rude Awakening and Vitalize are both more untap effects that have proven powerful here. Abundance combos with Sylvan Library and Arachnogenesis is just better than Constant Mists since it give us tokens and we don't really want to be sacrificing lands. I cut some of the less efficient draw spells like Admirers and Harmonize. Rampaginf Baloths are gone too because I think Zendikar's Roil is a better token producer after all. Gaea's Anthem and Sylvan Advocate just doesn't give us enough of a boost to be worth it and the Scythe only boosts one creature when we'd rather be boosting our whole army. Crucible is strong of course, but I prefer a single burst of returning all my lands in the form of Splendid Reclamation. Plus, I have no interest in adding the Strip Mine lock.
Lifecrafter's Bestiary proved to be very efficient in filtering our draws, as well as drawing us some extra cards. Sandwurm Convergence is well worth the seven mana, as mono-green has trouble with fliers AND it gives us huge tokens. Patron is just yet another untap effect. Hall of Gemstone is another "stax" piece that I feel I no longer need. Primal Command can be nice in removing permanents, but I found it usually just ends up sitting in my hand. Rowen just isn't very efficient and got out-shined by the Bestiary.
Not sure why I was running Ghost Quarter over Strip Mine in the first place... Boseiju helps us get a game-winning Overrun through our opponents' counters.
Green doesn't have many options as far as board wipes go, but The Great Aurora is a good option for this deck. The nice thing about it is it gets rid of absolutely everything. Also, with the amount of ramping we do, it's pretty common for us to have the most permanents on the board, meaning we benefit from it the most. Usually when I cast this card, I'm able to drop enough lands to ramp me into a game-winning turn. The protection from Soul of New Phyrexia is nice in theory but given how much mana you have to hold up for it, it often wasn't as useful in practice.
[Primer] Dralnu Control/Reanimator BU
[Primer] Jolrael, Empress of Beasts GG
Nath Stax BG | Borborygmos Enraged RG | Ladies of Magic UGW | Aminatou Control UWB | Enduring Ideal Zedruu UWR | Momir Vig Combo UG
Modern
Restore Balance RWUG
Kiki Chord RWG
I am obliged to mention the lack of Exploration
You could also try big mana ramp like Boundless Realms to increase your land count even faster. Regrowth effects to get back handy game finishers could also be useful. Seedborn Muse could be a house with animated lands attacking and then being able to defend at the next turn.
P.S How can you add MLD in mono G?
Edit: How could I forget Rude Awakening ?
Marath, Will of the Wild
Friendly Kess Twin Combo
Tatyova - Sir Bounce A Lot
Gonti's Luxury Pie
Prime (Eldrazi) Speaker Zegana (Retired)
There's also the few mono-green mass damage spells, or colorless wipes like Nevinyrral's Disk. This is all in combination with making your opponents' lands creatures with Jolrael, of course.
The only reason Exploration isn't on the list is I don't actually own one, and I wanted to start with just cards from my collection. It's definitely something that might be added down the road. I own a Boundless Realms, so I might give that a try.
Seedborn Muse was in the very first version of this list I put together, but I took her out. I just don't really have any ways to truly abuse her untap ability. Plus, I'm hesitant to animate my lands on an opponent's turn because that's just asking for a Damnation to cut me off all of my mana...
[Primer] Dralnu Control/Reanimator BU
[Primer] Jolrael, Empress of Beasts GG
Nath Stax BG | Borborygmos Enraged RG | Ladies of Magic UGW | Aminatou Control UWB | Enduring Ideal Zedruu UWR | Momir Vig Combo UG
Modern
Restore Balance RWUG
Kiki Chord RWG
[Primer] Dralnu Control/Reanimator BU
[Primer] Jolrael, Empress of Beasts GG
Nath Stax BG | Borborygmos Enraged RG | Ladies of Magic UGW | Aminatou Control UWB | Enduring Ideal Zedruu UWR | Momir Vig Combo UG
Modern
Restore Balance RWUG
Kiki Chord RWG
I see your point in Seedborn Muse. I guess it's better if you pair her with Heroic Intervention type effects, solid card to consider btw.
I've just noticed that you don't have Budoka Gardener and/or Sakura-Tribe Scout . I'd put one of them in your deck. Patron of the Orochi could work as well but the high cmc should be considered.
Forgot to mention that I really like the style of this deck, kudos!
Marath, Will of the Wild
Friendly Kess Twin Combo
Tatyova - Sir Bounce A Lot
Gonti's Luxury Pie
Prime (Eldrazi) Speaker Zegana (Retired)
Glad you like it! I'm excited to try it out (I haven't got to play the deck yet). I've always been a fan of green stompy, but I usually end up losing interest in the commander. Jolrael feels like she gives a refreshing twist to the archetype.
I hadn't considered Budoka Gardener but I think you're right that he would fit well here. I had considered Patron, but decided against it for exactly the reason you pointed out: 8 CMC is a little high.
[Primer] Dralnu Control/Reanimator BU
[Primer] Jolrael, Empress of Beasts GG
Nath Stax BG | Borborygmos Enraged RG | Ladies of Magic UGW | Aminatou Control UWB | Enduring Ideal Zedruu UWR | Momir Vig Combo UG
Modern
Restore Balance RWUG
Kiki Chord RWG
[Primer] Dralnu Control/Reanimator BU
[Primer] Jolrael, Empress of Beasts GG
Nath Stax BG | Borborygmos Enraged RG | Ladies of Magic UGW | Aminatou Control UWB | Enduring Ideal Zedruu UWR | Momir Vig Combo UG
Modern
Restore Balance RWUG
Kiki Chord RWG
[Primer] Dralnu Control/Reanimator BU
[Primer] Jolrael, Empress of Beasts GG
Nath Stax BG | Borborygmos Enraged RG | Ladies of Magic UGW | Aminatou Control UWB | Enduring Ideal Zedruu UWR | Momir Vig Combo UG
Modern
Restore Balance RWUG
Kiki Chord RWG
[Primer] Dralnu Control/Reanimator BU
[Primer] Jolrael, Empress of Beasts GG
Nath Stax BG | Borborygmos Enraged RG | Ladies of Magic UGW | Aminatou Control UWB | Enduring Ideal Zedruu UWR | Momir Vig Combo UG
Modern
Restore Balance RWUG
Kiki Chord RWG
Disgusting plays would be destroying all lands that are animated but having floated enough mana to cast Splendid Reclamation. Beyond scooping someone may flip the table, lol.
If you have the budget, Gaea's Cradle is ridiculous here.
Have you considered Embodiment of Insight or Sylvan Advocate? Or do you find them too underwhelming? Maybe for a more casual build (which I'm assuming you're going for?) or a build that's heavier on the land animation theme. Since you're going the stompy route maybe these can be helpful (since Embodiment of Insight gives vigilance to your land creatures).
BGU [Primer] Sidisi, Brood Tyrant BGU | BG [Primer] Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest BG | G [Primer] Polukranos, World Eater G
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I actually own a Gaea's Cradle. It's in another deck, but I'm not above sharing a card between two decks, especially when it costs that much...
I have considered both of those cards. Sylvan Advocate is actually already in the list, and Embodiment of Insight is on the list of things to test. Of the two, I think Advocate has more potential, since it acts as an anthem for all my lands. However, as I mentioned in the above comments, what I like about giving lands vigilance is I can swing and then tap them for mana and activate Kamahl.
[Primer] Dralnu Control/Reanimator BU
[Primer] Jolrael, Empress of Beasts GG
Nath Stax BG | Borborygmos Enraged RG | Ladies of Magic UGW | Aminatou Control UWB | Enduring Ideal Zedruu UWR | Momir Vig Combo UG
Modern
Restore Balance RWUG
Kiki Chord RWG
I might take a while to build it since I don't own many of the cards but I will be looking forward for updates!
I can't believe how many cards could fit in this deck and how many I am forgetting. Tireless Tracker is nutty card advantage in green
Marath, Will of the Wild
Friendly Kess Twin Combo
Tatyova - Sir Bounce A Lot
Gonti's Luxury Pie
Prime (Eldrazi) Speaker Zegana (Retired)
Root Maze could get in your own way without ways to untap your lands.
Also, you might want to think about some flying defense.
old thread
old thread
old thread
R Zada Arcane Storm
RBU Marchesa
GWU Estrid
GWR Samut?
URB Kess
(R/W)(U/B) Akiri & Silas
BWR Alesha
R Neheb Dragons
G Nylea Wurms
W Darien
U Tetsuko
I agree on Root Maze. I actually think I cut it from the deck in the little bit of tweaking I've done on the main list. I just haven't updated it yet because I've only had a chance to do minimal testing so far.
[Primer] Dralnu Control/Reanimator BU
[Primer] Jolrael, Empress of Beasts GG
Nath Stax BG | Borborygmos Enraged RG | Ladies of Magic UGW | Aminatou Control UWB | Enduring Ideal Zedruu UWR | Momir Vig Combo UG
Modern
Restore Balance RWUG
Kiki Chord RWG
Man, I'm surprised by how many I've been forgetting, too. Tireless Tracker hadn't even crossed my mind, but he seems perfect here.
[Primer] Dralnu Control/Reanimator BU
[Primer] Jolrael, Empress of Beasts GG
Nath Stax BG | Borborygmos Enraged RG | Ladies of Magic UGW | Aminatou Control UWB | Enduring Ideal Zedruu UWR | Momir Vig Combo UG
Modern
Restore Balance RWUG
Kiki Chord RWG
Since you're running Nykthos and probably Cradle, there are several good cards for fetching nonbasics: Crop Rotation and Ulvenwald Hydra are my favorites, then there's Sylvan Scrying, Reap and Sow, and Tempt with Discovery. One day my meta will stop taking the temptation. But they keeping doing it and I keep getting UrzaTron assembled.
Since you're turning lands into creatures, you might consider things like Splendid Reclamation and Heroic Intervention to backup Soul of New Phyrexia.
old thread
old thread
old thread
R Zada Arcane Storm
RBU Marchesa
GWU Estrid
GWR Samut?
URB Kess
(R/W)(U/B) Akiri & Silas
BWR Alesha
R Neheb Dragons
G Nylea Wurms
W Darien
U Tetsuko
IN
+ Gaea's Cradle
+ Budoka Gardener
+ Embodiment of Insight
+ Tireless Tracker
+ Rowen
+ Benefactor's Draught
+ Garruk, Primal Hunter
+ Blighted Woodland
+ Howling Mine
OUT
- 2 Forests
- Kozilek, the Great Distortion
- Titania, Protector of Argoth
- Sphere of Resistance
- Peregrination
- Root Maze
- Zendikar's Roil
- Steel Hellkite
I'm starting to cut back on the stax-lite plan, as I haven't really felt it adds anything to the game plan, so Root Maze and Sphere of Resistance are out. I like Titania a lot and she feels like a good fit here, but in practice she hasn't added much to my game. I think that's largely because I don't send too many of my lands to the graveyard. Steel Hellkite just isn't efficient enough of removal to warrant staying here.
I think you're right about multi-land ramp and non-basic tutors, I like Splendid Reclamation here, too. Any suggestions on cuts? Part of it is I just haven't got to do a ton of testing, but I'm having trouble figuring out what to drop.
[Primer] Dralnu Control/Reanimator BU
[Primer] Jolrael, Empress of Beasts GG
Nath Stax BG | Borborygmos Enraged RG | Ladies of Magic UGW | Aminatou Control UWB | Enduring Ideal Zedruu UWR | Momir Vig Combo UG
Modern
Restore Balance RWUG
Kiki Chord RWG
Think of right now as a, stockpiling time, one where you are getting lots of suggestions. You can start cutting out the weeds from the garden that will be your deck when you have all what you need in front of you for considerations.