MTG Salvation

Quote from ChazA4 »

Did he sputter? Or hit his head on the table in despair? It would be SO much better if he sputtered, though.

He’s very thorough, and he’d talked out loud through options. I had UWB mana open, so he noted I didnt have UU for Counterspell. I said I could have Swords to Plowshares but said “I’ve seen 6 of your 7 cards, I think the odds are in my favor”. Once I used Swords on his Avacyn, he kind of chuckled, like the laugh you do when you’re at your wits’ end.

I got to live the dream this weekend. We were in our 3rd hour in a 5-player game. The mono white angels deck was in a good position, and he landed Avacyn, Angel of Hope. The table had seen most of what I’d drawn into my 7 card hand from some triggers off Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign and Sphinx of Uthuun. The only card that the table hadn’t seen was the card I drew the turn prior, Swords to Plowshares. After the angel deck resolved Avacyn, he promptly tried to cast Armageddon...and in response I used the Swords on his Avacyn. Felt great, and I finished off the table with my sphinxes.

Thanks for the suggestions! I will test the lords to see how they perform and report back.

Yup, Birthing Pod is very powerful. I haven’t yet drawn Prime Speaker Vannifar, but I’m excited to have two repeatable sources of that effect.

I really enjoyed the +1/+1 counter themes that I played during the pre-release events of Ravnica Allegiance, and so I wanted to make a deck that focused on counters. I chose Atraxa, Praetors' Voice to have access to the colors I care about, and because she supports the theme. I recognize that Atraxa has a reputation for being built as a superfriends build, so I will have to let my opponents know that I'm building it in a much less competitive manner.

Because I'm building something new to me, I need help! I haven't played with many of these cards, and I'm looking for some help from the community about which of these cards have worked well, which haven't, and any other suggestions. The decklist is comprised of cards that I definitely own and am considering, while the list that follows is a list of cards I either am considering to put in the list, or need to track down a physical copy of the card.

Thank you in advance for your help!



Other ideas

• Creatures
• Mikaeus, the Lunarch
  
• Biomancer's Familiar
  
• Combine Guildmage
  
• Festercreep
  
• Gyre Sage
  
• Incubation Druid
  
• Sage of Hours
  
• Selfless Spirit
  
• Thrummingbird
  
• Anafenza, the Foremost
  
• Fertilid
  
• Marwyn, the Nurturer
  
• Plaxcaster Frogling
  
• Vorel of the Hull Clade
  
• Abzan Battle Priest
  
• Corpsejack Menace
  
• Ezuri, Claw of Progress
  
• Ishai, Ojutai Dragonspeaker
  
• Meren of Clan Nel Toth
  
• Odric, Lunarch Marshal
  
• Prime Speaker Vannifar
  
• Viral Drake
  
• Archangel of Thune
  
• Biogenic Ooze
  
• Galloping Lizrog
  
• Ghave, Guru of Spores
  
• Ikra Shidiqi, the Usurper
  
• Kalonian Hydra
  
• Sunscorch Regent
  
• Vulturous Zombie
  
• Prime Speaker Zegana
  
• The Haunt of Hightower
  
• Avenger of Zendikar
  
• Craterhoof Behemoth
  


• Enchantments
• Land Tax
  
• Retribution of the Ancients
  
• Abzan Ascendancy
  
• Hadana's Climb
  
• Citadel Siege
  
• Smothering Tithe
  
• Wilderness Reclamation
  
• Doubling Season
  
• Inexorable Tide
  


• Artifacts
• Hangarback Walker
  
• Azorius Signet
  
• Dimir Signet
  
• Golgari Signet
  
• Orzhov Signet
  
• Selesnya Signet
  
• Commander's Sphere
  
• Darksteel Ingot
  


• Instants
• Swan Song
  
• Heroic Intervention
  
• Abzan Charm
  
• Titanic Brawl
  


• Soceries
• Biogenic Upgrade
  
• Rishkar's Expertise
  


• Planeswalkers
• Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
  

Notes

• Do you think the experience cards Ezuri, Claw of Progress and Meren of Clan Nel Toth are worthy of inclusion if they aren't the general?
• Is green-based spell ramp enough, or should I consider signets, since the mana base will be cheap?
• Do I need a quick finisher, like Avenger-Hoof, or should this deck naturally be able to finish off a table without those finishers? Same idea with Sage of Hours tricks.
• Without infinite mana, is Simic Ascendancy a fool's errand, or is it a realistic threat that can end the game later?
• I tried to avoid a lot of the "goodstuff" cards like Eternal Witness, Krosan Grip, Beast Within, and Sylvan Library. But is the deck lacking in recursion?

A little off subject, but depending on what colors you want (you said maybe Atraxa, Praetors' Voice might work), don't forget the outlast ability creatures. Abzan Falconer, maybe Abzan Battle Priest, Mer-Ek Nightblade, Tuskguard Captain.

Quote from Xxarien »

I'd just like to point out that Lumbering Battlement can be used to effectively let you trigger instant-speed ETB effects from your other creatures since they come back as soon as he leaves. Makes things like Mystic Snake and the like MUCH more valuable.

That’s a very good point. Too often I skip over a creature because its ETB ability is more relevant when done at instant speed, and this would help make those more useful. Since it is not written like O-ring, I believe there’s no way that someone could stack triggers to permanently exile our creatures. Pretty neat trick.

Quote from benjameenbear »

Prime Speaker Vannifar is probably the first card I'd be looking to slot in for any Bant deck. Having a second copy of Birthing Pod, albeit fleshy and much more easily removed, is simply too good to pass up methinks.

I agree, the card is really good. Thankfully I picked up two copies over the weekend!

Ravnica Allegiance set review! Below is a list of cards I think deserve discussion about adding to this list. I will not address reprints. Let me know your thoughts!

• Awaken the Erstwhile[/c]: I think this card is too risky in the deck, unless we had a great boardstate before casting it. And in that case, this would be a "win more" type card.
• Priest of Forgotten Gods: Interesting card, but I think it's too creature intensive for this deck.
• Bedvil: Premium removal with no restrictions, this has a chance of getting tested, but I don't think it will make the final list.
• Judith, the Scourge Diva: Decent anthem effect, and the ability is OK, it's really a shame she doesn't have a zombie creature type.
• Theater of Horrors: Interesting design. I don't think we want card advantage that is dependent on other conditions being met, though.

Ravnica Allegiance set review below. I'll list cards that I think at least warrant discussion about inclusion in any version of this deck. I will disregard any reprints.

• Angel of Grace: that ETB is a very powerful effect, but in my playgroup, I suspect it won't save me. The biggest issue is that when you need that effect, you likely need it at instant speed, and unfortunately many of my blink sources return the creature at end of turn. However, the ability is appealing and there exist enough blink effects that return the creature immediately to make a solid argument to include this card.
• Civic Stalwart: in a creature-heavy Roon list, or one that likes to spam tokens, this might be OK. I wouldn't run it myself, but it's not terrible.
• Forbidding Spirit: This is a really cool card. The ability is written such that you can time your blink to make it most useful, and it's great in that it allows your opponents to attack each other, but only tax to pay you. I like that it's a creature and not the enchantment version of this effect (Ghostly Prison, Propaganda) and in a very control-oriented version of Roon I can definitely see this seeing play.
• Justicar's Portal: I am not a fan of one-shot blink effects, but they have a purpose and can do some great work in Roon decks. If you play them, this is another option, and I wouldn't fault someone for playing it.
• Lumbering Battlement: This card is hard to evaluate for me. If you're playing a creature heavy version of Roon, but your meta uses a lot of board wipes, this could be a decent defensive creature. It doesn't have flash for the first cast, which is a shame.
• Smothering Tithe: This card is not on-theme in a Roon deck, so I probably will not run it. But this card seems to be very powerful and I expect to see it at a lot of EDH tables after its release.
• Watchful Giant: this is very expensive for the effect. I think if you want this type of effect, you should run Blade Splicer and other cards long before this Giant.
• Mesmerizing Benthid: this is a really cool card. In a creature heavy meta, this guy can muck up combat and make it very unprofitable to attack into you.
• Sage's Row Savant: Another two drop that will help fix draws, but I don't think it does enough to warrant a slot.
• Biogenic Ooze: Ok, probably not a good fit in any Roon decks, but this card is just so cool!
• End-Raze Forerunners: Good in a creature heavy build of Roon, also will do a decent impression of Crafterhoof Behemoth in decks that are looking to combo out using Avenger of Zendikar and the like.
• Guardian Project: pretty neat, will be an "ok" source of card draw. Probably not as good as creature-based card draw like Mulldrifter.
• Silhana Wayfinder: I don't think this does enough to warrant a slot, but in a heavy creature build this might be decent.
• Wilderness Reclamation: Roon decks are mana hungry, and more control-oriented builds could take advantage of the extra mana. I'm not sure that we need this since we already should use Seedborn Muse, which is simply better for our deck.
• Biomancer's Familiar: This card is good, and will probably slot well into most Roon builds. Makes Roon's ability free, and reduces other useful activated abilities like Mistmeadow Witch and Eldrazi Displacer very reasonable.
• Deputy of Detention: This is an amazing card for this deck and will definitely be going in. Exiles the card, can be reset to get higher value targets later on, and is a creature so it is easily tutorable and recurrable.
• Frilled Mystic: This is a pretty good card, but the mana cost will be difficult. Mystic Snake is in many Roon lists, and I will be surprised if this isn't the same. As is my complaint with the Snake, the ability to reliably blink this card to count another spell does not happen very often.
• Prime Speaker Vannifar: This seems like a great card. Birthing Pod is extremely powerful in my Roon deck, and this would functionally be a second copy. I will try to make room for her.
• Repudiate//Replicate: Seems good in a more controlling build.

What do you think? Are there any other cards that you're excited to try in your Roon build, or do you have a different opinion on some cards? Feel free to share your thoughts!

I'm seeing a market price over $20 for hunting Cheetah

Edit: Lower case "h" at the beginning of the card name bothers me.

Quote from Ifloopthepig »

I recently built Roon and he's so much better than I thought. My list is more creature heavy than yours and missing some expensive stuff like Drake, but what are your thoughts on Recruiter of the Guard? Also, I have Avenger of Zendikar, but I'm discovering he's mostly being used to block. Is Luminarh Primordial just a better choice?

If you have good targets, I think Recruiter of the Guard is an amazing addition to a creature-heavy Roon deck.

I think Avenger of Zendikar and Luminate Primordial are used for different purposes. Avenger should generally be used as a finisher, blinking him to make a ton of plants, dropping lands to pump up those plants, and swinging with an army of small plants. On the other hand, the primordial is used as removal, and I prefer him for the exile (rather than destroy), as I see a ton of recursion in EDH. It’s the same reason I prefer Duplicant over other removal-based creatures.

Edit: Ravnica Allegiance set review should be done today! Lots to talk about.

Timetwister. P9, legal in commander, not too OP, beautiful card, and very useful.

I have a pretty solid 5c allies EDH deck, and like others are saying, the big expense is the mana base. There are a number of threads on these forums where they discuss budget 5c mana bases, I’d look into those.

For ideas on what to include, you can see my decklist here that might give you some ideas.

Quote from hyalapterouslemur »

(Also, we need a CODE tag.)

I think NOPARSE is what you might be looking for. [card]Atog[/card]