The C14 precons are definitely better if you're going to keep them together to play with other people. They're much better built than the C13 ones overall, and three of them are the most fun preconstructed decks I think I've ever played (Red, Green, and Black).
I don't have access to a number of the cards you use so I haven't been testing them (most of my EDH time is spent playing ‘real’ games where I can't proxy), but I wanted to say I've been super pleased with Wild Pair, a card I had previously dismissed as gimmicky & clunky because of the poor creature selection in the decks I had seen running it.
I'd say the Bant, Jund, and Naya '13 decks are all very worth getting, and the Green and Black ones from '14 are, as well. The Red '14 deck has a lot of great cards, but it's best if you're really interested in an Artifact deck. (If you are, you should oddly probably get that and the Esper '13 deck if you bought two.)
This has easily been one of the more interesting/useful/entertaining threads on this site.
Edited to add: Did you experiment with Sterling Grove at any point while making this deck? It's slow & expensive as a tutor, but extra protection for all those nice enchantments in GW doesn't hurt. I'm fond of the card, though I admit I'm not sure if it fits here or not.
I played with Erebos for a while when I was bored with the other black generals I had enjoyed and before I acquired a copy of Xiahou Dun. I liked him, but he was slow even by mono–black standards at impacting the board.
If you want to go the mill route, Undercity Informer with any sort of consistent token generation can be brutal. When I was playing Shirei, the Informer was one of my most reliable victory conditions. With Grave Pact and friends, you can combine your win–con with board control. I think if you want to win this way, you also should be looking at a Stax package.
Mind stone I don't mind, thought I tend to reach for it more often in red or white decks that worry about running out of gas, which is less of a concern here. Do you run Everflowing Chalice? That is the 2cmc rock that has been really impressing me lately.
What does anyone think about Pawn of Ulamog in this deck? I imagine it would end up almost acting like a mana rock, but have never tried it.
I've thought about Everflowing Chalice because it seems like it would be pretty good at soaking up the excess mana the deck sometimes has in the mid–game, but I've been playing in settings where people are really willing to destroy lands and mana rocks such that I'm typically holding back my Cabal Coffers until I'm really ready to get a lot out of it in the same turn. I also dropped Exsanguinate from my build, so large amounts of colorless mana have become less useful. I'm still considering it, though, and I'm glad to hear it's working out for someone.
I really like Pawn of Ulamog in the deck, and unlike some other token generators, players seem to be willing to let him stick around for a bit accruing value.
I like Necromancy and used to run it in here when it was more about big fatties. I have never thought of it as a strict upgrade over Animate Dead though, 2 mana is just so cheap for that effect. What is it you are doing with XDOE to abuse the instant speed of Necromancy, not sure I see it?
I could have been more clear there. I don't think that Xiahou lets you abuseNecromancy so much as he removes part of the opportunity cost of using it at instant speed. Normally if you use it at instant speed you're not just only going to have the creature for one turn, you've also blown a card that could be offering a continual effect. While I think I've only used Xiahou to retrieve Necromancy twice out of all the times I've played this deck, both times were after I had used it at instant speed to bail myself out of one jam or another.
Also, I'm not sure why I mentioned Fellwar Stone when the mana rock I normally run in that slot in mono–black (when I run one at all) is Mind Stone. I don't think you need the colored mana at all, and the card draw is nice. (And more so if you run ways to retrieve it from the yard.)
But no, this isn't in the usual range of bad behavior.
I played against a Stasis deck while running Animar tonight, which was an interesting puzzle.
That alter is beautiful. That's my favorite Wood Elves art, as well, and my second favorite is, well, the other Rebecca Guay Wood Elves (from Exodus).
Thanks for linking this; it was interesting.
Edited to add: Did you experiment with Sterling Grove at any point while making this deck? It's slow & expensive as a tutor, but extra protection for all those nice enchantments in GW doesn't hurt. I'm fond of the card, though I admit I'm not sure if it fits here or not.
If you want to go the mill route, Undercity Informer with any sort of consistent token generation can be brutal. When I was playing Shirei, the Informer was one of my most reliable victory conditions. With Grave Pact and friends, you can combine your win–con with board control. I think if you want to win this way, you also should be looking at a Stax package.
This and this alone is my issue with Group Hug.
I've thought about Everflowing Chalice because it seems like it would be pretty good at soaking up the excess mana the deck sometimes has in the mid–game, but I've been playing in settings where people are really willing to destroy lands and mana rocks such that I'm typically holding back my Cabal Coffers until I'm really ready to get a lot out of it in the same turn. I also dropped Exsanguinate from my build, so large amounts of colorless mana have become less useful. I'm still considering it, though, and I'm glad to hear it's working out for someone.
I really like Pawn of Ulamog in the deck, and unlike some other token generators, players seem to be willing to let him stick around for a bit accruing value.
I could have been more clear there. I don't think that Xiahou lets you abuse Necromancy so much as he removes part of the opportunity cost of using it at instant speed. Normally if you use it at instant speed you're not just only going to have the creature for one turn, you've also blown a card that could be offering a continual effect. While I think I've only used Xiahou to retrieve Necromancy twice out of all the times I've played this deck, both times were after I had used it at instant speed to bail myself out of one jam or another.
Also, I'm not sure why I mentioned Fellwar Stone when the mana rock I normally run in that slot in mono–black (when I run one at all) is Mind Stone. I don't think you need the colored mana at all, and the card draw is nice. (And more so if you run ways to retrieve it from the yard.)