Thundyr, i'm glad you like my decklist but I very strongly disagree with using Abyssal Persecutor.
My list does not have an adequate number of sacrifice outlets to support this card. Further, it has not particular synergy with anything in the deck. Its just a big guy. The deck has lots of big guys already and doesn't benefit from another one in particular.
Hmm, not entirely sure about all that. The synergy he brings is that he's out at least a turn faster than anything you have, which means you might need one fewer dragon for Sarkhan's ultimate on occasion. Also, I count 11 ways of removing him in your deck, 4 of which are recurring sources, which is far from "not adequate". Note that Maelstrom Pulse will kill them all if you've been forced to play multiples.
The reason there are 4 Sarkhan's is not because he's needed in the opening hand. Its because you need redundancy. Sarkhan will die. Sarkhan will be removed by your opponent. Sarkhan will run out of loyalty and you'll need to recast him to keep going.
I play 3 in my deck and I don't seem to want for them. I feel that if one takes an idea too far the deck becomes too much of a one-trick pony; even if it is a very powerful trick. Yes, consistency, but yes also versatility. Ok, Sarkhan does let you draw a card if you've an empty board, so he's never a wasted draw, but I reckon that with sufficient firepower you won't need him every game. Just a small strategy difference is all. I'd hold Sarkhan back a bit so he doesn't get exposed too early. If my opponent wants to waste time casting Blightning to deal with threats I *may* have rather than handling my 6/6 flyer, then that's not something I'm worried about.
Perhaps the difference in my approach may be down to my choice of dragon. I'm perhaps rather too fond of Dragon Broodmother, but that's because I've seen it turn or win games single-handedly against just about anything. Although it's just a creature it has a degree of inevitability that not a lot of other cards have. Broodmate can't handle BSA - Broodmother can, and does. Bearing this in mind, for me Sarkhan is all about cluttering up the sky with an early 5/5, and popping his ultimate the next turn after the Broodmother has made one big broodling (courtesy of whatever else survived up until then). It's still a one-two much like Broodmate+Sarkhan, but it follows a bit of softening up. Persecutor fits the softening up role very well, and is happy to be turned into a dragon to play defense or win the game immediately.
The main reason I suggest cutting a Sarkhan is that he is often just "win more", particularly as far as his ultimate is concerned. You certainly don't need him in your opening hand every game - turn 4-5 is good enough, which suggests 3-of to me, but ymmv. Persecutor changes the game on turn 3, and while he's often the first casualty of war he forces your opponent to be -1 removal spell when the dragons come calling.
-3 Oracle of Mul Daya
+3 Battle Rampart
More consistence is always welcome
While I agree that consistency is key, I'm not sure removing a card that takes land from the top of my library and puts it into play and replacing it with a subpar 3-mana defender is the answer. I'm concerned you've not seen how the oracle works as a passive ramp spell that never gets killed even though it deserves to be shot on sight at least as much as Birds of Paradise. It's definitely one of the more under-rated spells out there.
Personally I think the card to be cut is Joraga Treespeaker. He is pretty solid as a mana source, but the risk involved in giving up one's second turn to pump him and be met with instant speed removal is rather too great. As such I'm re-evaluating Rampant Growth in that slot. Still, he's really good when he doesn't die....
3 copies of Soul's Majesty is probably also too many, while an extra Summoning Trap makes a bit more sense - better to be less reliant on the Piper as a method of 'greater consistency'.
I may drop the Mul Daya package entirely but I'm not really sure what to run instead - this deck is very much a work in progress.
Yup. I'm slowly leaning towards RGW cus black is just weak for this.
I'm not sure what you mean by "this", because I thought this was a Sarkhan the Mad deck and that's a black spell... I also wouldn't call Abyssal Persecutor "weak".
I dunno that Stupidgreen will ever be a top deck, but it will surprise some people. If you want to stick with mono-green, you're probably best off checking out lists for EldraziGreen or Elfdrazi or whatever they call it now - an elf-based deck that wins on the back of Eldrazi Monument.
Otherwise, much as I hate to say it, just play Jund if you want a good result. It's not the best deck for nothing.
Having seen the PiperTrap deck, but not being one to be overly enamoured by the idea of decks with 4 Lotus Cobra, 4 KoTR, 4 BSA, I wanted to make something different of the idea of pairing Elvish Piper with Summoning Trap in order to drop a major fattie such as Emrakul, the Aeons Torn.
My initial plan was to combine these two as a sub-theme in a Hellcarver Demon deck, where the demon hitting the opponent could allow a free cast of Summoning Trap which would dig through the next seven cards for an additional creature target. Unfortunately for the 6/6 demon, he just didn't cut it.
Instead another stellar performer from the deck made such an impression I went for him as the combo enabler instead. Meet Madrush Cyclops.
Plan A: Use Birds of Paradise to race into turn 3 Madrush, followed by turn 4 hasty Piper to dump Emrakul into play, which then attacks and ends the game right there. With 4BRGGG you can do it all in the same turn; which amounts to a Level 1 Treespeaker, a Channelers, a land on top of the library, and 5 lands in play. Iona is just as effective at shutting out an opponent, though the game is not necessarily won as immediately.
Secondary plays involve Charnelhoard Wurm repeatedly fetching Summoning Trap or Soul's Majesty. Note that with a dork on top of the library, Channelers gives 5 cards for Soul's Majesty, which digs quite far in order to get Madrush after it's been killed (and it will). Charnelhoard can of course fetch any card, including a dead Madrush.
Fun deck, but needs a bit more tweaking, so comments and suggestions are more than welcome!
Hm... It kind've drifted from what i was going for but it looks good.
I agree it's different - I'm just trying to show other paths to a similar end. Maybe somewhere we can find something that works every game - my list does occasionally produce a few good things early that get killed, and then just produces land or eldrazi spawn until I die (aah, the fatal flaw of ramp decks).
One of the problems I had with your initial list was that it looked really slow. You have 8 dragons that cost 6, and 3 copies of Dragon Outcast which requires 6 lands during your upkeep; that is almost 20% of a deck accelerated by a mere 3 Harrow. This tells me you'll have a lot of dead cards when Blightning comes calling. Maybe that is why Malfegor looks so good to you - you always have uncastables to toss to it!
Also your other two 3-drops require rather different mana to play - BRG and 1BB, which means you must hit at least one special land at the start of each game. This is all asking a bit much, I think. Given that the only things you want Sarkhan the Mad or the Broodmother to eat are broodmother or thrinax tokens, the deck seems to need to hit the right stuff all the time to function, and that just isn't going to happen often enough. I also found Malfegor to be less exciting than he looked; about the only thing good about him is that BSA can't outright kill it!
Which is when I figured that maybe the Eldrazi Spawn can act as accelerators early and as sacrifice fuel later, with less focus on Sarkhan's ultimate (which requires at least 2 dragons costing 6+ each), and more on beating down. The fact that Awakening Zone blocks a walker (eg Putrid Leech) all day for no mana investment each turn is just gravy. I'm sure you're already aware that an unanswered Broodmother will win the game by herself, and she is the ultimate goal - especially if one of her brood each turn is a spawn-powered 5/5.
One card that caught my eye (in a big way, and despite how weak it looks in isolation) is Crucible of Fire. With that in play, even Dragon Whelp and Hellkite Hatchling are dangerous with Sarkhan the Mad. You can cascade into it off Bituminous Blast as well. It doesn't really work in my deck, because I have a different goal, but for the idea of casting Sarkhan the Mad and winning with him that turn it deserves a second look, I think. And there's always Might of Oaks!
Garruk is your Overrun, if you need it, otherwise he gets extra use out of Eldrazi Temple to accelerate the Eldrazi spells, especially the Conscription (which makes Leatherback Baloth a scary, scary beast). The Mul Daya pair work very well in tandem - the Channelers are a 5/5 for 1GG most of the time, while the Oracle gets land into play in a hurry. Don't forget they are Elves for the Archdruid!
Don't underestimate Pelakka Wurm either. That 7 life makes a big difference, and he comes back for more with the Artisan!
You'll need Eldrazi Monument in the board because DoJ and Earthquake wreck you, and learn to mulligan hands without Llanowar Elf or Noble Hierarch. Remember to discard Vengevine to Blightning.
Another evening of testing (against a strong Pre-ROE Jund), and I've evaluated several cards.
Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief: I like Drana, just not in this deck. As time when by I understood that despite my ramp/acceleration I simply had too many spells that cost 4 or more, especially in the 'or more' category. Butcher of Malakir: Just too slow - sideboard material at best Hellkite Charger: Cute, but in the end here he's little more than a 7 mana Lava Axe and that's not a card people play even in Limited. Again, suits a different deck. Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund: I thought this would be good against Jund, as you steal their dragons and then smash face with them. Except that Jund usually kills you before it needs the dragons, so this is just a 7 damage Lava Axe - a bit better, but not much. Slave of Bolas: While it does eliminate an enemy threat while dealing some damage to the face, that's not what this deck is about. Often the threats you want to deal with have Shroud as well (outside Jund, that is). Not better than Bituminous Blast at the same cost in this deck, and I'm not playing 4 of those (anymore). Awakening Zone: I dropped these entirely for a while, and I learned two things. a) this deck suddenly loses its ability to maintain a stream of 0/1s, and b) without the 0/1s this is just a random pile. I might be able to accelerate into a turn 4 Broodmother, but her children can only feed on themselves. This card does what Goblin Assault always failed to in Broodmother decks - provide warm bodies that clutter up the ground when the dragon isn't in play. Magmaw: You always want it. Really good value as a 4/4 for 5, though the mana cost to activate is annoying. With 1 open, Maelstrom Pulse (your worst nightmare) is not all that anymore.
The current deck is not foolproof against Jund (what is?), but it doesn't just roll over either.
Can't you just draw off of him till he hits business?
Haha! I didn't even realize that! I'm such a scrub...
I've changed the deck somewhat, and it runs a little better now. I stripped out the removal though, which makes it pretty scary sometimes. One of my test decks tries to get Eldrazi Conscription on a guy asap, and that's quite a wrecking ball if you can't kill it. Of course, I'm trying to accelerate into Butcher of Malakir, and all my threats fly so I have the upper hand most games. But playing this deck does feel a bit like you've arrived at the prom without any pants, hoping the queen likes what she sees before you get thrown out the door.
I'm thinking of going -1 Awakening Zone and -1 Sarkhan for something that smacks of removal - maybe even two more Bituminous Blast. In fact I'll try just that!
Ideal plays include Land, Land Nest Invader, Land Persecutor (or Bloodbraid into Awakening Zone).
Persecutors are easy to get rid of once they've done the business - there are a great many sacrifice sources. Butcher + Eldrazi Spawn is also a very neat combo for keeping the enemy side down.
The problem is that the deck really fails to do much of anything until its too late most of the time. I know I haven't got the land/acceleration right - I often find I've only got 3 lands and that's just not enough to run with. I'm thinking the Butcher is way too expensive and should be cut for more ramp or more land, but when I do that I flood on land and find myself getting beaten down by Eldrazi.
That said, the 5/5 dragon threat is quite easy to create, but the fact that Sarkhan can't kill himself is REALLY annoying when you have the second in your hand. I often have to use Magmaw to kill the planeswalker first.
I'm going to test removing the other spells Bloodbraid can cascade into so that I always get some kind of ramp, but that will mean being exposed to early game nastiness.
Any suggestions on how to make this a bit more focussed?
Trying out a version of this without Sovereigns - I think the card is too slow for the new environment. If you want a small blue splash you're probably better off running Rafiq. Otherwise cut Uril and the red, and play Rafiq and Sovereigns - you can bring Rhox War Monk from the board then too, as well as playing Noble Heirarch.
I'm not playing blue and have this work-in-progress:
I'm finding that Uril is somewhat too slow! But I think he's good for the longer game, so I'm loathe to cut more than 1 copy. Between Nimbus Wings, Savage Hunger, Birds of Paradise, and the Gnarlid, getting Snake Umbra to draw cards is fairly easy. Gigantiform is just a finisher.
Been playing with various attempts at something similar, mono-G, RG, and GU. Brood Birthing into Hand of Emrakul is the fastest way to get a guy in, but Annihilator 1 is pretty weak. Still, he's a good start. Been running the following lately, taking the inclusion of Expedition Map from the OP - props!
I haven't been as impressed as others regarding Ancient Stirrings - if I need an Eldrazi I can just use Eye of Ugin. NoTW makes the deck - without it this is just a pile. I used to play 3 Artizan, mainly cos they're fun to cascade into each other.
I've been away from this deck too long, it seems; do you really not run Uril anymore? I thought the original purpose of this deck was to not have the aura carrier die, losing card advantage. Sovereign costs 4WU, so I don't expect you to have G or 1U open the turn you play it. Why do these lists look like Bant Midrange with an Aura and Sovereigns rather than BSA and removal? How do you think you will succeed with these where those have failed?
Having said that, the strategy has been good against Jund (a lot of decks can say that), but I don't recall this ever being good against a gauntlet of top decks.
Too bad Annihilator 2 doesn't trigger if you fetched Eldrazi Conscription with the Sovereign. But I guess it does help Rafiq kill in one hit (and stairc can attest to how much I've played him, so I know exactly how often he hits the opponent - zero).
Ideal start is not reliant on the Coatl:
T1 Forest, Heirarch
T2 Island, Mul Daya Channelers (reveal another land for eg)
T3 Draw the land (reveal a guy, eg Coatl), play land Vengevine, attack for 9
Following this with Jace and use the return creature to hand ability as long as there is a creature on top of the library, before finishing off with Distortion Strike.
Oracle of Mul Daya is excellent for keeping lands off the top of the library (in addition to Jace and the Sphinxes), putting them into play where they are much more useful (powering up Scute Mob or powering out Sphinx of Magosi which really shines in this deck where your opponent is throwing his removal at all the things that cost 3 or 4), and doing its best to make the Channelers a permanent 5/5 for 1GG. Sphinx of Lost Truths is Jace 5-7 as far as the Coatl is concerned, and you dump a Vengevine or two and follow with a guy costing G (there are 9) for good times all round.
Also with turn 2 Channelers and a land on top you can play Sphinx of Magosi on turn 3.
Hmm, not entirely sure about all that. The synergy he brings is that he's out at least a turn faster than anything you have, which means you might need one fewer dragon for Sarkhan's ultimate on occasion. Also, I count 11 ways of removing him in your deck, 4 of which are recurring sources, which is far from "not adequate". Note that Maelstrom Pulse will kill them all if you've been forced to play multiples.
I play 3 in my deck and I don't seem to want for them. I feel that if one takes an idea too far the deck becomes too much of a one-trick pony; even if it is a very powerful trick. Yes, consistency, but yes also versatility. Ok, Sarkhan does let you draw a card if you've an empty board, so he's never a wasted draw, but I reckon that with sufficient firepower you won't need him every game. Just a small strategy difference is all. I'd hold Sarkhan back a bit so he doesn't get exposed too early. If my opponent wants to waste time casting Blightning to deal with threats I *may* have rather than handling my 6/6 flyer, then that's not something I'm worried about.
Perhaps the difference in my approach may be down to my choice of dragon. I'm perhaps rather too fond of Dragon Broodmother, but that's because I've seen it turn or win games single-handedly against just about anything. Although it's just a creature it has a degree of inevitability that not a lot of other cards have. Broodmate can't handle BSA - Broodmother can, and does. Bearing this in mind, for me Sarkhan is all about cluttering up the sky with an early 5/5, and popping his ultimate the next turn after the Broodmother has made one big broodling (courtesy of whatever else survived up until then). It's still a one-two much like Broodmate+Sarkhan, but it follows a bit of softening up. Persecutor fits the softening up role very well, and is happy to be turned into a dragon to play defense or win the game immediately.
-1 Predator Dragon
-1 Sprouting Thrinax
-1 Sarkhan the Mad
+3 Abyssal Persecutor
The main reason I suggest cutting a Sarkhan is that he is often just "win more", particularly as far as his ultimate is concerned. You certainly don't need him in your opening hand every game - turn 4-5 is good enough, which suggests 3-of to me, but ymmv. Persecutor changes the game on turn 3, and while he's often the first casualty of war he forces your opponent to be -1 removal spell when the dragons come calling.
While I agree that consistency is key, I'm not sure removing a card that takes land from the top of my library and puts it into play and replacing it with a subpar 3-mana defender is the answer. I'm concerned you've not seen how the oracle works as a passive ramp spell that never gets killed even though it deserves to be shot on sight at least as much as Birds of Paradise. It's definitely one of the more under-rated spells out there.
Personally I think the card to be cut is Joraga Treespeaker. He is pretty solid as a mana source, but the risk involved in giving up one's second turn to pump him and be met with instant speed removal is rather too great. As such I'm re-evaluating Rampant Growth in that slot. Still, he's really good when he doesn't die....
3 copies of Soul's Majesty is probably also too many, while an extra Summoning Trap makes a bit more sense - better to be less reliant on the Piper as a method of 'greater consistency'.
I may drop the Mul Daya package entirely but I'm not really sure what to run instead - this deck is very much a work in progress.
I'm not sure what you mean by "this", because I thought this was a Sarkhan the Mad deck and that's a black spell... I also wouldn't call Abyssal Persecutor "weak".
I'm interested in your new direction though. Do you plan to use Ranger of Eos to fetch Dragon Outcast and Scute Mob or Wild Nacatl? Or is this still to be a Dragon Broodmother deck?
Otherwise, much as I hate to say it, just play Jund if you want a good result.
My initial plan was to combine these two as a sub-theme in a Hellcarver Demon deck, where the demon hitting the opponent could allow a free cast of Summoning Trap which would dig through the next seven cards for an additional creature target. Unfortunately for the 6/6 demon, he just didn't cut it.
Instead another stellar performer from the deck made such an impression I went for him as the combo enabler instead. Meet Madrush Cyclops.
4 Joraga Treespeaker
3 Oracle of Mul Daya
3 Mul Daya Channelers
4 Elvish Piper
4 Madrush Cyclops
2 Iona, Shield of Emeria
2 Charnelhoard Wurm
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
3 Soul's Majesty
2 Summoning Trap
3 Swamp
3 Mountain
4 Savage Lands
4 Rootbound Crag
2 Dragonskull Summit
Plan A: Use Birds of Paradise to race into turn 3 Madrush, followed by turn 4 hasty Piper to dump Emrakul into play, which then attacks and ends the game right there. With 4BRGGG you can do it all in the same turn; which amounts to a Level 1 Treespeaker, a Channelers, a land on top of the library, and 5 lands in play. Iona is just as effective at shutting out an opponent, though the game is not necessarily won as immediately.
Secondary plays involve Charnelhoard Wurm repeatedly fetching Summoning Trap or Soul's Majesty. Note that with a dork on top of the library, Channelers gives 5 cards for Soul's Majesty, which digs quite far in order to get Madrush after it's been killed (and it will). Charnelhoard can of course fetch any card, including a dead Madrush.
Fun deck, but needs a bit more tweaking, so comments and suggestions are more than welcome!
I agree it's different - I'm just trying to show other paths to a similar end. Maybe somewhere we can find something that works every game - my list does occasionally produce a few good things early that get killed, and then just produces land or eldrazi spawn until I die (aah, the fatal flaw of ramp decks).
One of the problems I had with your initial list was that it looked really slow. You have 8 dragons that cost 6, and 3 copies of Dragon Outcast which requires 6 lands during your upkeep; that is almost 20% of a deck accelerated by a mere 3 Harrow. This tells me you'll have a lot of dead cards when Blightning comes calling. Maybe that is why Malfegor looks so good to you - you always have uncastables to toss to it!
Also your other two 3-drops require rather different mana to play - BRG and 1BB, which means you must hit at least one special land at the start of each game. This is all asking a bit much, I think. Given that the only things you want Sarkhan the Mad or the Broodmother to eat are broodmother or thrinax tokens, the deck seems to need to hit the right stuff all the time to function, and that just isn't going to happen often enough. I also found Malfegor to be less exciting than he looked; about the only thing good about him is that BSA can't outright kill it!
Which is when I figured that maybe the Eldrazi Spawn can act as accelerators early and as sacrifice fuel later, with less focus on Sarkhan's ultimate (which requires at least 2 dragons costing 6+ each), and more on beating down. The fact that Awakening Zone blocks a walker (eg Putrid Leech) all day for no mana investment each turn is just gravy. I'm sure you're already aware that an unanswered Broodmother will win the game by herself, and she is the ultimate goal - especially if one of her brood each turn is a spawn-powered 5/5.
One card that caught my eye (in a big way, and despite how weak it looks in isolation) is Crucible of Fire. With that in play, even Dragon Whelp and Hellkite Hatchling are dangerous with Sarkhan the Mad. You can cascade into it off Bituminous Blast as well. It doesn't really work in my deck, because I have a different goal, but for the idea of casting Sarkhan the Mad and winning with him that turn it deserves a second look, I think. And there's always Might of Oaks!
4 Elvish Archdruid
4 Oracle of Mul Daya
4 Mul Daya Channelers
2 Noble Hierarch
4 Leatherback Baloth
3 Pelakka Wurm
2 Ulamog's Crusher
2 Artisan of Kozilek
2 Eldrazi Conscription
14 Forest
4 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
4 Eldrazi Temple
Garruk is your Overrun, if you need it, otherwise he gets extra use out of Eldrazi Temple to accelerate the Eldrazi spells, especially the Conscription (which makes Leatherback Baloth a scary, scary beast). The Mul Daya pair work very well in tandem - the Channelers are a 5/5 for 1GG most of the time, while the Oracle gets land into play in a hurry. Don't forget they are Elves for the Archdruid!
Don't underestimate Pelakka Wurm either. That 7 life makes a big difference, and he comes back for more with the Artisan!
You'll need Eldrazi Monument in the board because DoJ and Earthquake wreck you, and learn to mulligan hands without Llanowar Elf or Noble Hierarch. Remember to discard Vengevine to Blightning.
Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief: I like Drana, just not in this deck. As time when by I understood that despite my ramp/acceleration I simply had too many spells that cost 4 or more, especially in the 'or more' category.
Butcher of Malakir: Just too slow - sideboard material at best
Hellkite Charger: Cute, but in the end here he's little more than a 7 mana Lava Axe and that's not a card people play even in Limited. Again, suits a different deck.
Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund: I thought this would be good against Jund, as you steal their dragons and then smash face with them. Except that Jund usually kills you before it needs the dragons, so this is just a 7 damage Lava Axe - a bit better, but not much.
Slave of Bolas: While it does eliminate an enemy threat while dealing some damage to the face, that's not what this deck is about. Often the threats you want to deal with have Shroud as well (outside Jund, that is). Not better than Bituminous Blast at the same cost in this deck, and I'm not playing 4 of those (anymore).
Awakening Zone: I dropped these entirely for a while, and I learned two things. a) this deck suddenly loses its ability to maintain a stream of 0/1s, and b) without the 0/1s this is just a random pile. I might be able to accelerate into a turn 4 Broodmother, but her children can only feed on themselves. This card does what Goblin Assault always failed to in Broodmother decks - provide warm bodies that clutter up the ground when the dragon isn't in play.
Magmaw: You always want it. Really good value as a 4/4 for 5, though the mana cost to activate is annoying. With 1 open, Maelstrom Pulse (your worst nightmare) is not all that anymore.
The current deck is not foolproof against Jund (what is?), but it doesn't just roll over either.
4 Nest Invader
4 Abyssal Persecutor
3 Dragon Broodmother
3 Master of the Wild Hunt
3 Magmaw
3 Growth Spasm
3 Awakening Zone
3 Bituminous Blast
3 Sarkhan the Mad
4 Rootbound Crag
2 Dragonskull Summit
6 Forest
4 Mountain
3 Swamp
Haha! I didn't even realize that! I'm such a scrub...
I've changed the deck somewhat, and it runs a little better now. I stripped out the removal though, which makes it pretty scary sometimes. One of my test decks tries to get Eldrazi Conscription on a guy asap, and that's quite a wrecking ball if you can't kill it. Of course, I'm trying to accelerate into Butcher of Malakir, and all my threats fly so I have the upper hand most games. But playing this deck does feel a bit like you've arrived at the prom without any pants, hoping the queen likes what she sees before you get thrown out the door.
4 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Abyssal Persecutor
3 Dragon Broodmother
3 Magmaw
2 Butcher of Malakir
4 Rampant Growth
3 Growth Spasm
2 Bituminous Blast
4 Sarkhan the Mad
4 Rootbound Crag
2 Dragonskull Summit
6 Forest
4 Mountain
3 Swamp
I'm thinking of going -1 Awakening Zone and -1 Sarkhan for something that smacks of removal - maybe even two more Bituminous Blast. In fact I'll try just that!
Ideal plays include Land, Land Nest Invader, Land Persecutor (or Bloodbraid into Awakening Zone).
Persecutors are easy to get rid of once they've done the business - there are a great many sacrifice sources. Butcher + Eldrazi Spawn is also a very neat combo for keeping the enemy side down.
4 Bloodbraid Elf
2 Sprouting Thrinax
2 Dragon Broodmother
2 Magmaw
2 Butcher of Malakir
4 Rampant Growth
2 Growth Spasm
4 Terminate
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Sarkhan the Mad
4 Rootbound Crag
3 Dragonskull Summit
3 Savage Lands
4 Forest
4 Mountain
1 Swamp
The problem is that the deck really fails to do much of anything until its too late most of the time. I know I haven't got the land/acceleration right - I often find I've only got 3 lands and that's just not enough to run with. I'm thinking the Butcher is way too expensive and should be cut for more ramp or more land, but when I do that I flood on land and find myself getting beaten down by Eldrazi.
That said, the 5/5 dragon threat is quite easy to create, but the fact that Sarkhan can't kill himself is REALLY annoying when you have the second in your hand. I often have to use Magmaw to kill the planeswalker first.
I'm going to test removing the other spells Bloodbraid can cascade into so that I always get some kind of ramp, but that will mean being exposed to early game nastiness.
Any suggestions on how to make this a bit more focussed?
I'm not playing blue and have this work-in-progress:
4 Mesa Enchantress
4 Kor Spiritdancer
4 Aura Gnarlid
3 Uril, the Miststalker
4 Hyena Umbra
4 Snake Umbra
4 Nimbus Wings
3 Canopy Cover
2 Savage Hunger
2 Gigantiform
4 Arid Mesa
3 Sunpetal Grove
2 Raging Ravine
6 Forest
2 Plains
1 Mountain
I'm finding that Uril is somewhat too slow! But I think he's good for the longer game, so I'm loathe to cut more than 1 copy. Between Nimbus Wings, Savage Hunger, Birds of Paradise, and the Gnarlid, getting Snake Umbra to draw cards is fairly easy. Gigantiform is just a finisher.
4 Nest Invader
2 Kozilek's Predator
3 Ulamog's Crusher
3 Hand of Emrakul
2 Artizan of Kozilek
4 Awakening Zone
4 Not of This World
3 Expedition Map
2 Everflowing Chalice
2 All is Dust
4 Eldrazi Temple
4 Rootbound Crag
3 Raging Ravine
1 Eye of Ugin
I haven't been as impressed as others regarding Ancient Stirrings - if I need an Eldrazi I can just use Eye of Ugin. NoTW makes the deck - without it this is just a pile. I used to play 3 Artizan, mainly cos they're fun to cascade into each other.
Having said that, the strategy has been good against Jund (a lot of decks can say that), but I don't recall this ever being good against a gauntlet of top decks.
Too bad Annihilator 2 doesn't trigger if you fetched Eldrazi Conscription with the Sovereign. But I guess it does help Rafiq kill in one hit (and stairc can attest to how much I've played him, so I know exactly how often he hits the opponent - zero).
3 Birds of Paradise
4 Lorescale Coatl
4 Oracle of Mul Daya
4 Mul Daya Channelers
4 Vengevine
3 Sphinx of Lost Truths
2 Sphinx of Magosi
2 Scute Mob
3 Distortion Strike
12 Forest
7 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
Ideal start is not reliant on the Coatl:
T1 Forest, Heirarch
T2 Island, Mul Daya Channelers (reveal another land for eg)
T3 Draw the land (reveal a guy, eg Coatl), play land Vengevine, attack for 9
Following this with Jace and use the return creature to hand ability as long as there is a creature on top of the library, before finishing off with Distortion Strike.
Oracle of Mul Daya is excellent for keeping lands off the top of the library (in addition to Jace and the Sphinxes), putting them into play where they are much more useful (powering up Scute Mob or powering out Sphinx of Magosi which really shines in this deck where your opponent is throwing his removal at all the things that cost 3 or 4), and doing its best to make the Channelers a permanent 5/5 for 1GG. Sphinx of Lost Truths is Jace 5-7 as far as the Coatl is concerned, and you dump a Vengevine or two and follow with a guy costing G (there are 9) for good times all round.
Also with turn 2 Channelers and a land on top you can play Sphinx of Magosi on turn 3.
EDIT: Added Misty Rainforest