Hey bob thanks for posting, much appreciated.
I definitely stole some of your Fog tech hehe. Glacial Chasm and Martyr's Cause specifically.
In the previous version of this deck it had a very difficult time ending games and things would drag on unnecessarily because I had goblets of life, but no ways of beating my opponent. Thats why I run Felidar and Test. However with all of the new things I've added to the deck, they may no longer be necessary.
Ajani Goldmane is honestly just there out of my fondness for the card. He has been in the deck since I started playing EDH and I wanted a use for my avatar token haha. But yes, I agree he should absolutely be cut.
The previous iteration of this deck was much more stompy and large token heavy where True Conviction could pull its weight and it hasn't done so in a while.
I just inserted Nissa about 2 weeks ago to test her strictly as a card draw option. Nothing more. I have no reason to ever use her other abilities. She has been great so far, but perhaps I could use something like Elvish Visionary as I could populate/blade/seance/sun titan/lark combo it.
I just splashed the signet in this week because there is a fair number of players in my meta (4 of about 15+) that run MLD. I recently (painfully) cut cultivate and kodama's reach to play test without them.
And I definitely forgot to add Rings in this decklist! Thank you for pointing that out.
This build is fairly new as I haven't run pieces like the Lark combo before. So I'll post a report after this weekend of how it turned out as I'll be playing a lot of EDH.
Also depending how successful or not this build is with its recursion package, I may also experiment with Gift of Immortality.
Trostani was the first commander deck I built and this deck has gone through several revisions. When I started, it was a basic budget selesnya deck with anthems and some token generators. As I learned more about the format and the urge to increase the power level of this deck, I decided to try focusing the deck on a new objective. Eventually I built it with a heavy emphasis on creating large body tokens. It's entertainment value waned as it felt that I could do more. This is my current build:
Nice report! That is crazy they agreed to the tempt! Love it.
You make good points all around on those card choices. Especially on the planeswalker+doubling season shenanigans. Even though I know it is far from optimal I still always keep a copy of Ajani Goldmane in my deck for that specific reason and quadruple my life total with 2 hulking Avatar tokens.
Since the new mulligan change, do you feel your deck needs to make any adjustments or just stay the same? I'm considering on upping my land count to 39-40 lands and cutting 1-2 ramp cards in place for either card draw or removal. I think the new mulligan rule helps midrangey-slower decks like ours compete vs the faster decks in the format. I've played about 8 games since the rule change and games definitely are at a slower pace.
First you were talking in a previous post you were iffy on your Planeswalkers. IMO I think you could stand to keep Primal Hunter and Sun's Champion and cut the rest. Primal hunter synergizes with your deck and gives you much needed card draw. Sun's Champion is really just kind of a goodstuffs card so it she could stay or go honestly. Her 4 power wrath and her Emblem are fantastic for your deck. Regular Garruk is a fantastic card, but you want landfall triggers. Freyalise just looks like she doesn't do enough for your deck. Cards like Skyshroud Claim and Harrow give you 2 fantastic landfall triggers each and put lands in untapped. Harrow also is another way to kill your Riftstone Portal.
As for Azusa, you now have Exploration, Oracle, and now Burgeoning, I think you could cut her for something else, especially now that you have less card draw. That is why I think you need a good ol' fashioned Harmonize as, lets be real, it gets you what Sundial and Lost Dreams tries to give you but they require setup and extra mana. Burgeoning is also super dumb, you won't regret putting it in. I don't understand how Exploration is in the Top 50 over it.
I can't count how many times I've built a game winning board but sadly have to wait a round to attack due to summoning sickness or just need a key piece to stay around for 1 turn and then my board gets dismantled by the other players. Crossroads eliminates that for 1 mana and lets me just win on that turn. I've noticed most of the time players run targeted removal of artifacts/enchants/lands/PW rather than something global as they want to keep their stuff. Privileged Position would be fantasic for your deck to protect your key non-creature pieces and it goes in line with your addition of rootborn defenses in protecting your board for a win.
Ibex is so much fun to play. He's not just a wincon, he's a fantastic beater and psuedo anthem that you can play T6 (or earlier) and just apply pressure. Craterhoof is super strong in the late game, but Ibex is strong in the mid and late game.
And cutting ghost quarter just so you can add Mirrorpool haha.
Got her out in one or two games, and she ran the value engine like nobody's business. Sakura-Tribe Elder got all (two) plains left in my deck, plus she returned a few value enchantments in a board position that was already solid.
One game, post-wrath, I brought her back with Emeria, the Sky Ruin, dropped a plains from hand to bring back Sun Titan, which brought back a plains, which brought back Crucible of Worlds, so I could cast an Oracle of Muldaya, ghost quartered my own plains for a different plains, to bring back Mirari's Wake, then play the plains I killed thanks to crucible/oracle, returning... I don't remember... It was silly.
In short, she's expensive, but a powerful and explosive recursion piece in this deck, even after all the lands have been stripped out due to how I am able to sacrifice and recur them.
Nice! I don't run a heavy landfall variant of Trostani, but I do pack plenty of ramp and my playgroup loves to destroy my big cards. I'll keep her in a bit longer.
Herald looks fun to populate, and looks like it can get out of hand quickly.
I have got to try this out. Looks super fun.
As for your removal dilemma, some additional recommendations would be Reclamation Sage and Acidic Slime, considering both of them can be recurred with Seance, Vat, Selves, Titan, Shepherd, Guide, are targets for clamp and greater good, and also easily tutored. But space in this deck looks tight so I understand not running either. Also that sucks about the missing Aura Shards :[
How is Tempt with Discovery working out? I own a copy but have been hesitant to put mine in. I think either 1 of 2 things will happen: Either I spend 4 mana to tutor 1 land into play, or a black deck will fetch urborg/cabal or a monocolored deck nabs nykthos.
And a suggestion I would like to make is that you should cut Worldly Tutor for Eladamri's Call. I feel like for 1 more mana it is almost strictly better.
Last bit, I love this Landfall package you've mustered up. Keep up the good work! I've definitely stolen a bit of tech from you that I've applied to my Trostani.
Hey Bob, fellow Trostani user here. Been playing her almost since she was released. How has Emeria Shepherd been working out for you? I splashed it in my deck a while ago, but haven't had an opportunity to play it yet.
In an earlier post, you were discussing on adding more removal to your deck. Here are a few suggestions for you that I've had a lot of success with: Sundering Growth - Populate + spot removal on a 2cc instant? Yes please. Council's Judgment - Exiles problematic cards, doesn't target, if you're in 4 player game, almost always 2 targets get scrapped. One of my favorite removal pieces. Aura Shards I'm surprised you don't use this in your deck especially with all the token production you can muster.
As for wraths, Austere Command and Rout have been great for me. I'm trying out Angel of the Dire Hour because 90% of the time I use Rout for its instant speed ability and I don't want to wrath my own board.
I'm also super excited to add Mirrorpool to my deck. That card is nuts for Trostani.
I use Trostani as well. My favorite 3 cards that work best with her are Séance, Mimic Vat, and Phyrexian Processor. Because her mana cost is kinda restrictive at times, dual lands and cards that fetch basics (Cultivate, Kodama's Reach etc...) are handy.
ISB, have you considered Greater Auramancy? It is fantastic protection from almost anything outside of Bane of Progress and any mass removal. I run Heliod Enchantress and I have had amazing success running that as well as Runed Halo to keep any Voltron decks in my meta from targeting me as well as direct damage dealers like Purphoros, God of the Forge.
Also Nevermore and Null Chamber are underrated and fantastic. Locking out a problem commander can be huge.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Runed Halo. It gets around hexproof/shroud and only costs 2 mana. Prison Term is also really good vs guys like Uril and Rafiq.
From my experience, straight anthems like Honor of the Pure and Glorious Anthem have low cmc and are ok, but fall by the wayside in this format to anthems with multiple functions like Angel of Jubilation, Caged Sun, and Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite or game ending anthems like Mirror Entity and True Conviction. And also anthems only seem to really have any weight in a game when the deck is a dedicated weenie rush and/or token. Currently I'm building a Token mono-white EDH with about 9 anthems in it, but I'm considering on cutting some if not all for rocks, disruption and draw.
So I wanted to get everyone's opinions in the matter. Are anthems decent in EDH? If so, what decks are they best suited for, and which would be the all-stars of anthems?
Heliod is a very unique commander. When he came out, I originally used him as a Cleric tribal Commander. The end result was pretty fun, but it left a lot to be desired. It didn't swarm and overwhelm opponents like I wanted. Then I began experimenting with the other part of Heliod: the fact he made enchantment tokens. This got me thinking I should take advantage of the array of support Mono-White has for enchantments. Enchantments in White provide removal, tokens, recursion, anthems, mana ramp via Nykthos and Serra's Sanctum, have many tutors. Honestly it can cover just about everything the outside of draw.
I've been working and changing this deck constantly over the last few weeks and I'm constantly looking for ways to improve and any criticisms.
The overall goal of the deck is get a few enchantments in play, generate a ton of tokens via instant speed cards (Decree and White Sun etc) coupled with the anthems to overwhelm opponents all the while using spot removal and some restricting cards (Spirit of the Lab, Torpor Orb, Sphere of Safety) to eliminate threats and slow down opponents.
I'll add and discuss synergies of the deck later. Any and all suggestions are welcome. Thanks!
I definitely stole some of your Fog tech hehe. Glacial Chasm and Martyr's Cause specifically.
In the previous version of this deck it had a very difficult time ending games and things would drag on unnecessarily because I had goblets of life, but no ways of beating my opponent. Thats why I run Felidar and Test. However with all of the new things I've added to the deck, they may no longer be necessary.
Ajani Goldmane is honestly just there out of my fondness for the card. He has been in the deck since I started playing EDH and I wanted a use for my avatar token haha. But yes, I agree he should absolutely be cut.
The previous iteration of this deck was much more stompy and large token heavy where True Conviction could pull its weight and it hasn't done so in a while.
I just inserted Nissa about 2 weeks ago to test her strictly as a card draw option. Nothing more. I have no reason to ever use her other abilities. She has been great so far, but perhaps I could use something like Elvish Visionary as I could populate/blade/seance/sun titan/lark combo it.
I just splashed the signet in this week because there is a fair number of players in my meta (4 of about 15+) that run MLD. I recently (painfully) cut cultivate and kodama's reach to play test without them.
And I definitely forgot to add Rings in this decklist! Thank you for pointing that out.
Also I probably should run Saffi in here.
1 True Conviction
1 Ajani Goldmane
1 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
1 Plains
1 Rings of Brighthearth
1 Elvish Visionary
1 Saffi Eriksdotter
1 Dryad Arbor (Forgot to put her in the list)
This build is fairly new as I haven't run pieces like the Lark combo before. So I'll post a report after this weekend of how it turned out as I'll be playing a lot of EDH.
Also depending how successful or not this build is with its recursion package, I may also experiment with Gift of Immortality.
1 Trostani, Selesnya's Voice
//Threats
1 Voice of Resurgence
1 Avenger of Zendikar
1 Archangel of Thune
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Entreat the Angels
1 Seedborn Muse
1 Trostani's Summoner
1 Serra Ascendant
1 Pathbreaker Ibex
1 Phyrexian Processor
//Tutors
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Eladamri's Call
1 Tooth and Nail
1 Academy Rector
//Recursion
1 Rhys the Redeemed
1 Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage
1 Blade of Selves
1 Rings of Brighthearth
1 Eternal Witness
1 Mimic Vat
1 Séance
1 Doubling Season
1 Reveillark
1 Sun Titan
//Removal
1 Stonecloaker
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Path to Exile
1 Beast Within
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Council's Judgment
1 Aura Shards
1 Tragic Arrogance
1 Acidic Slime
1 Austere Command
1 Terminus
1 Martyr's Bond
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Skullclamp
1 Scroll Rack
1 Sylvan Library
1 Tireless Tracker
1 Harmonize
1 Greater Good
1 Garruk, Primal Hunter
1 Alhammarret's Archive
//Utility
1 Concordant Crossroads
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Spike Feeder
1 Ajani Goldmane
//Ramp
1 Sol Ring
1 Land Tax
1 Exploration
1 Budoka Gardener
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Nature's Lore
1 Wood Elves
1 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Tempt with Discovery
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Mirari's Wake
//Land
10 Plains
10 Forest
1 Mistveil Plains
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Temple Garden
1 Canopy Vista
1 Windswept Heath
1 Krosan Verge
1 Sunpetal Grove
1 Mosswort Bridge
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Rogue's Passage
1 High Market
1 Strip Mine
1 Temple of the False God
1 Hall of the Bandit Lord
1 Grove of the Guardian
1 Gargoyle Castle
1 Mirrorpool
1 Glacial Chasm
Any suggestions and criticisms are appreciated.
More details coming soon!
You make good points all around on those card choices. Especially on the planeswalker+doubling season shenanigans. Even though I know it is far from optimal I still always keep a copy of Ajani Goldmane in my deck for that specific reason and quadruple my life total with 2 hulking Avatar tokens.
Since the new mulligan change, do you feel your deck needs to make any adjustments or just stay the same? I'm considering on upping my land count to 39-40 lands and cutting 1-2 ramp cards in place for either card draw or removal. I think the new mulligan rule helps midrangey-slower decks like ours compete vs the faster decks in the format. I've played about 8 games since the rule change and games definitely are at a slower pace.
And I have some recommendations to boot.
1 Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury
1 Garruk Wildspeaker
1 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Skyshroud Claim
1 Harmonize
1 Pathbreaker Ibex
1 Harrow
1 Concordant Crossroads
1 Privileged Position
First you were talking in a previous post you were iffy on your Planeswalkers. IMO I think you could stand to keep Primal Hunter and Sun's Champion and cut the rest. Primal hunter synergizes with your deck and gives you much needed card draw. Sun's Champion is really just kind of a goodstuffs card so it she could stay or go honestly. Her 4 power wrath and her Emblem are fantastic for your deck. Regular Garruk is a fantastic card, but you want landfall triggers. Freyalise just looks like she doesn't do enough for your deck. Cards like Skyshroud Claim and Harrow give you 2 fantastic landfall triggers each and put lands in untapped. Harrow also is another way to kill your Riftstone Portal.
As for Azusa, you now have Exploration, Oracle, and now Burgeoning, I think you could cut her for something else, especially now that you have less card draw. That is why I think you need a good ol' fashioned Harmonize as, lets be real, it gets you what Sundial and Lost Dreams tries to give you but they require setup and extra mana. Burgeoning is also super dumb, you won't regret putting it in. I don't understand how Exploration is in the Top 50 over it.
I can't count how many times I've built a game winning board but sadly have to wait a round to attack due to summoning sickness or just need a key piece to stay around for 1 turn and then my board gets dismantled by the other players. Crossroads eliminates that for 1 mana and lets me just win on that turn. I've noticed most of the time players run targeted removal of artifacts/enchants/lands/PW rather than something global as they want to keep their stuff. Privileged Position would be fantasic for your deck to protect your key non-creature pieces and it goes in line with your addition of rootborn defenses in protecting your board for a win.
Ibex is so much fun to play. He's not just a wincon, he's a fantastic beater and psuedo anthem that you can play T6 (or earlier) and just apply pressure. Craterhoof is super strong in the late game, but Ibex is strong in the mid and late game.
And cutting ghost quarter just so you can add Mirrorpool haha.
Nice! I don't run a heavy landfall variant of Trostani, but I do pack plenty of ramp and my playgroup loves to destroy my big cards. I'll keep her in a bit longer.
I have got to try this out. Looks super fun.
As for your removal dilemma, some additional recommendations would be Reclamation Sage and Acidic Slime, considering both of them can be recurred with Seance, Vat, Selves, Titan, Shepherd, Guide, are targets for clamp and greater good, and also easily tutored. But space in this deck looks tight so I understand not running either. Also that sucks about the missing Aura Shards :[
How is Tempt with Discovery working out? I own a copy but have been hesitant to put mine in. I think either 1 of 2 things will happen: Either I spend 4 mana to tutor 1 land into play, or a black deck will fetch urborg/cabal or a monocolored deck nabs nykthos.
And a suggestion I would like to make is that you should cut Worldly Tutor for Eladamri's Call. I feel like for 1 more mana it is almost strictly better.
Last bit, I love this Landfall package you've mustered up. Keep up the good work! I've definitely stolen a bit of tech from you that I've applied to my Trostani.
In an earlier post, you were discussing on adding more removal to your deck. Here are a few suggestions for you that I've had a lot of success with:
Sundering Growth - Populate + spot removal on a 2cc instant? Yes please.
Council's Judgment - Exiles problematic cards, doesn't target, if you're in 4 player game, almost always 2 targets get scrapped. One of my favorite removal pieces.
Aura Shards I'm surprised you don't use this in your deck especially with all the token production you can muster.
As for wraths, Austere Command and Rout have been great for me. I'm trying out Angel of the Dire Hour because 90% of the time I use Rout for its instant speed ability and I don't want to wrath my own board.
I'm also super excited to add Mirrorpool to my deck. That card is nuts for Trostani.
If you're going the populate route, here are a few suggestions:
Doubling Season, Parallel Lives, Rhys the Redeemed, Rampaging Baloths, Giant Adephage, Armada Wurm, Grove of the Guardian, Knight of the Reliquary Vitu-ghazi Guildmage, Sundering Growth
Not all of these are the most "competitive" choices, but synergize with her pretty well.
Also Nevermore and Null Chamber are underrated and fantastic. Locking out a problem commander can be huge.
I'm considering on dropping Virtue, Glorious, Honor, and Mikaeus
So I wanted to get everyone's opinions in the matter. Are anthems decent in EDH? If so, what decks are they best suited for, and which would be the all-stars of anthems?
I've been working and changing this deck constantly over the last few weeks and I'm constantly looking for ways to improve and any criticisms.
So here's the deck!
1 Heliod, God of the Sun
1 Decree of Justice
1 Increasing Devotion
1 Luminarch Ascension
1 Sigil of the Empty Throne
1 Sacred Mesa
1 White Sun's Zenith
1 Ajani's Chosen
1 Springjack Shepherd
1 Twilight Drover
//Anthems
1 Mirror Entity
1 Mikaeus, the Lunarch
1 Glorious Anthem
1 Honor of the Pure
1 True Conviction
1 Spear of Heliod
1 Angel of Jubilation
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Hero of Bladehold
1 Marshal's Anthem
//Ramp
1 Caged Sun
1 Gauntlet of Power
1 Land Tax
1 Mana Vault
1 Pearl Medallion
1 Sol Ring
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Austere Command
1 Rout
1 Martial Coup
1 Hallowed Burial
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
//Spot Removal
1 Nevermore
1 Prison Term
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Act of Authority
1 Darksteel Mutation
1 Aura of Silence
1 Oblation
1 Unexpectedly Absent
1 Journey to Nowhere
1 Return to Dust
//Tutors/Draw
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Expedition Map
1 Idyllic Tutor
1 Mind's Eye
1 Plea for Guidance
1 Skullclamp
1 Weathered Wayfarer
1 Mesa Enchantress
1 Academy Rector
1 Staff of Nin
1 Greater Auramancy
1 Opalescence
1 Replenish
1 Scroll Rack
1 Spirit of the Labyrinth
1 Fountain Watch
1 Sun Titan
1 Angelic Renewal
1 Torpor Orb
1 Karmic Justice
1 Sphere of Safety
//Lands
26 Plains
1 New Benalia
1 Deserted Temple
1 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Serra's Sanctum
1 Strip Mine
1 Temple of the False God
1 Windbrisk Heights
1 Secluded Steppe
1 Drifting Meadow
The overall goal of the deck is get a few enchantments in play, generate a ton of tokens via instant speed cards (Decree and White Sun etc) coupled with the anthems to overwhelm opponents all the while using spot removal and some restricting cards (Spirit of the Lab, Torpor Orb, Sphere of Safety) to eliminate threats and slow down opponents.
I'll add and discuss synergies of the deck later. Any and all suggestions are welcome. Thanks!