My friend ran it in an Omnath, locus of mana, which got him at least close to winning games (he had a budget deck) but painted too big a target in his case. In a tuned Voltron build with lots of protection and evasion, it could be killer...Like anything, it depends on Meta, the other cards you run and what you want to achieve.
Sigil Tracer is my pick because once she hits the board, any removal can probably be bounced back at the opponent, possibly more than once... Echo Mage might be better if you can reliably keep it alive, but that can be much harder. Tracer just has more impact right out of the gate without much investment, especially if you are Wizard heavy.
Agreeing with those above, stare it down until one of you breaks down and starts to cry (if it is well built, that person will be you). Playtesting also gives you a really good idea of what you want to keep and what you could live without, if you draw a card and say 'i haven't used this thing to help me win in so long...' then cut it like an extra toe.
What i did today for my deck was make an excel spreadsheet with all the things that the deck focuses on and what it needs to survive. From there i plan to cut the cards that serve only one minor function or that are redundant. I have found 2 already...
Good luck and remember, it is more afraid of you than you are of it.
Praetor's Grasp, Bitter Ordeal and their kin are pretty good if you can get them early and you know what you're looking for. Other than that and the stuff mentioned above, divine intervention or a lethal paper cut...
What happened in my group was that my main EDH deck was taken to be such a threat that i was immediately targeted before i could really get anything out. What then happened was 2 of us kept tuning our decks to kill each other. Eventually we were the only ones to ever win because we were willing to trade and buy pieces rather than just rummage through our collections. An unfortunate side effect was that it became hard to build a new deck that could compete without dropping hundreds on cards, so we just kept the same overpowered decks for years.
What we actually did a few times was play 2HG games so that we could balance out the decks strengths. This worked and would switch up the strategy and flow. Planechase can also act as a sort of balancing when a plane nobody wants shows up, people are focused on just getting off of it or one player suddenly becomes a huge threat and gets beaten on.
I agree with the posts above. Planchase in EDH is very fun. Between two of us in my meta, we have almost every regular plane. We do remove some of the more color/creature specific ones so we don't end up with a boring plane in play.
I do agree that in your case, proxies/digital would be best. There should be no complaint because it is a group deck and if it ends up being a huge success, then you can fork over the money to get the real versions (or have other people chip in).
One thing that we tried was having 2 planes up at once. This is REALLY fun in casual because you can get 2 completely different effects to use and doesn't really leave any player without something useful to get from a chaos roll.
I like it on principle, though it is fairy easy to remove even with indestructible. I run it in an experimental Zedruu the Greathearted deck and have had some fun playtesting it. I think it would combo nicely with Rite of Replication (kicked) as you watch every one panic. Blasphemous Act, Earthquake and friends look especially good at that point.
A 7/7 Viridian Joiner or Spikeshot Elder is even better. I keep cutting Quicksilver Gargantuan from my Reaper King deck and then adding him back in. I'm never upset to draw him.
Quite true, for some reason I was confusing Spikeshot Elder with Bloodshot Trainee. He can really be versatile and is almost always fun to use.
Arc000 - I would really love to hear how you were able to use Quicksilver Gargantuan effectively.
He was removed from my deck for while, but I love him for Cold-Eyed Selkie effects for example and anything with Shroud/Hex proof (Invisible Stalker), Utility dudes and as an emergency general kill. It's not the best, but it can shine if protected and there is no such thing as too many clones. A 7/7 BoP is pretty useful though.
p.s: Cryptoplasm is another clone that is useful in certain situations.
Depending on how crafty your feeling, there are ways of converting junk foils into custom alt-art foils. They are cheap to make and I don't think they take too long. I've personally designed close to a full deck with custom borders and alternate art. Since your looking to use the original art and photoshop being wonderful, I'm sure someone would make you an image for free if you asked nicely.
True, Omnath is a huge beatstick, but he's bereft of evasion or protection, and that doesn't help when he has such a huge target on his head like he does. I also want to go a bit (just a wee bit) out of the competitive zone for this deck, and Omnath is brutal even when fair. I'd play Molimo over him.
My friend has an Omnath, Locus of Mana deck that is quite fun to play against. Its basically Bear Umbra, Canopy Cover, Whispersilk Cloak and stuff like that. He usually stays low key and ramps before making an awesome play that warrents an "OMG KILL HIM NOW!".
A deck is only OP if you play/build it that way. He doesn't win very often but always has fun.
The synergy looks like it could be amazing and with 9 mana and an open swing, it can really change the game in an instant. As Slivortal said, Sunforger gets the good spells you're already running so, I'd try and find room for both.
Scythe of the Wretched isn't even that broken after the first use (not that the game would last much longer under good conditions), it seems like a limited but permanent Insurrection style effect.
I haven't done this at an LGS but have done it with friends. Overall, it helps when the teams are evenly matched and not overly tuned. What I'd probaly suggest to the owner implementing a cost cap for the decks and possibly some sort of color restriction (atleast one matching color for example).
It should be fun either way especially if you eventually get paired with similiar teams but I don't know the meta you'd be in. No matter what ends up happening, any chance to play with a friend is usually fun.
Magic really is one of those "to each their own" kind of games. The LGS I go to has lots of EDH players, some super casual and others competitive. My group has actually stopped playing other constructed formats when we get together and I now don't even consider playing standard at all.
The response I would probably give to a standard player is "Have fun with your $500 deck post rotation". Though, it is fun trading new stuff at high prices for rotated goodies.
What i did today for my deck was make an excel spreadsheet with all the things that the deck focuses on and what it needs to survive. From there i plan to cut the cards that serve only one minor function or that are redundant. I have found 2 already...
Good luck and remember, it is more afraid of you than you are of it.
What we actually did a few times was play 2HG games so that we could balance out the decks strengths. This worked and would switch up the strategy and flow. Planechase can also act as a sort of balancing when a plane nobody wants shows up, people are focused on just getting off of it or one player suddenly becomes a huge threat and gets beaten on.
I do agree that in your case, proxies/digital would be best. There should be no complaint because it is a group deck and if it ends up being a huge success, then you can fork over the money to get the real versions (or have other people chip in).
One thing that we tried was having 2 planes up at once. This is REALLY fun in casual because you can get 2 completely different effects to use and doesn't really leave any player without something useful to get from a chaos roll.
Best of luck in whatever you choose.
Quite true, for some reason I was confusing Spikeshot Elder with Bloodshot Trainee. He can really be versatile and is almost always fun to use.
He was removed from my deck for while, but I love him for Cold-Eyed Selkie effects for example and anything with Shroud/Hex proof (Invisible Stalker), Utility dudes and as an emergency general kill. It's not the best, but it can shine if protected and there is no such thing as too many clones. A 7/7 BoP is pretty useful though.
p.s: Cryptoplasm is another clone that is useful in certain situations.
Quicksilver Gargantuan (this can be hilarious)
I haven't used theft effects not attached to a body, so I can't be much help there...I love my clones though.
EDIT::This trick can also make non foils.
My friend has an Omnath, Locus of Mana deck that is quite fun to play against. Its basically Bear Umbra, Canopy Cover, Whispersilk Cloak and stuff like that. He usually stays low key and ramps before making an awesome play that warrents an "OMG KILL HIM NOW!".
A deck is only OP if you play/build it that way. He doesn't win very often but always has fun.
Scythe of the Wretched isn't even that broken after the first use (not that the game would last much longer under good conditions), it seems like a limited but permanent Insurrection style effect.
It should be fun either way especially if you eventually get paired with similiar teams but I don't know the meta you'd be in. No matter what ends up happening, any chance to play with a friend is usually fun.
The response I would probably give to a standard player is "Have fun with your $500 deck post rotation". Though, it is fun trading new stuff at high prices for rotated goodies.