Alms Collector
Okay, so how didn't anyone here go nuts for this card?
I know we don't need card draw, but it's pretty much a strict upgrade to Spirit of the Labyrinth, since it's asymmetrical, it's fatter and it has flash.
I know I'm running that card for sure, even if it causes a few frowns.
Cuts:
Owl familiar
Merfolk traders
Color Scarabs and Wards
Catalog
Divination
Slot in:
Flickering Ward - good with enchantress
Protective bubble - all you need on Bruna
Medomai, the Ageless - making this guy unlockable is really good
Windfall
Vow of duty + flight - removal that buffs Bruna when she swings
Curiosity
Righteous authority
The comment above is very important. The main concern with Bruna lists is running out of steam with all the aggression we are packing. Try and find ways to reward yourself with card draw for casting creatures or enchantments, or smashing face. That way your hand is always full and you aren't totally dependent on your graveyard.
The best possible scenario I see for this card is to have Whitemane Lion with it on the field and generating tokens each time you flicker it for W, which is nice but unnecessary. I'd rather have only the W flicker with no tokens for cheaper.
Most of my advantage has been from cards like Mobilization and Sacred Mesa anyways, and this card wouldn't help that strategy.
I wouldn't concern myself too bad with what's going on in Standard. Crested Sunmare is a deck there, and with enough engineering it could be stellar here - but not really worth it.
I have synergy I'm going to be testing out - I've ordered As Foretold as I've figured it would generate ludicrous amounts of mana in my list. The thing is that I have both Tolaria West and Restore Balance in my collection, so I can include them both to cast AF followed by transmuting TW into instacasting RB. I also have Trinket Mage to get Expedition Map to get TW.
I've really wanted to test this, but I get the feeling that Restore Balance is a really dead card without AF since the suspend will take forever. What do you guys think?
Also... Lately I've started getting a really tingly feeling in wanting to try and include Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur. I do recall several times where the deck had good amounts of mana and just did nothing but draw cards for 2-3 rounds until it got something significant. Go ahead and shoot me down, I guess... LOL
With Angel of Jubilation being an anthem/hatebear hybrid and Thistledown Liege a flash creature anthem that immediately activates a 8/6 Ephara, I doubt that we have need of conditional anthems like Always Watching or ones that buff our enemies as well like Celestial Crusader.
White is an incredible color for consistently buffing hordes of tokens, the way we want to. It just sucks at giving them evasion.
I beg to differ on your opinions on Land Tax.
It's a fantastic card that gives me my choice of land drops or card fuel for Forbid/Solitary Confinement, plus it thins out my deck. And when we draw a massive amount as we do with Ephara, that is a critical factor that can't be ignored. Land Tax has almost never been a dud, even as a topdeck.
So I guess I won't be running Oketra, sadly enough. In addition to the expensive token cost, even though she's indestructible she's still a creature so she's very vulnerable as a token producing engine. I think I'll keep Mobilization in my deck because 3 mana tokens are exactly what I need.
I'm not a big fan of Cathars' Crusade here since almost none of the creatures stay long enough to get a substantial amount of counters. Eldrazi Monument can be very cool, but a lot of my tokens already have flying (1/1 Pegasus + 4/4 Angel from Luminarch) and Ephara is already indestructible, and I can see a bad spot where I have a ton of enchantments but no creatures so I'm forced to sacrifice Ephara.
I guess I could play anthems, but the only one I would really play is Thistledown Liege.
Ætherling has not been making appearances in recent games. The deck didn't play him even when it had more than 6 mana, since it already had a token engine it could abuse for cards and board position.
I'm really starting to think whether this card is worth the hassle... In most cases I don't even see myself using U to make him shoot an opponent, only blinking him for cards, and Saltskitter is cheaper and can do that better.
In a recent pod, Ephara was one of the most dominant decks on the table (my friend was playing it). However, it seemed the deck had several problems:
1. The deck got out Heliod rather early, but didn't use his token making ability at all, and he never became a creature. I've come to realize that 4 is a lot for a token, not to mention 2WW for Heliod or 3W for Oketra. I'm starting to question if I really want to slot her in.
2. I wasn't happy with the amount of mana that Ephara got out. Sure, it was plenty for an Azorius deck, but I still felt it could have been better. I've been considering Walking Atlas as a 2 CMC mana creature, only this one is dependent on our hand and on us drawing cards to fuel its ramp. If we are in and advantageous position this card can help filter our hand from terrible serial land draws, or get more value out of Land Tax... But if we don't draw well it's a creature that does nothing. What are your thoughts?
Otherwise, Ephara beat face. Thalia, Heretic Cathar that I had considered replacing broke the table almost completely, making it impossibly slow for the Sharuum the Hegemon player to reach his combo and for my Omnath, Locus of Rage deck to get a meaningful attack phase. Solitary Confinement saved the day when the deck was at 6 HP, making my opponents concede.
Food for thought: Confinement - another card that excels only when you have enough card draw - is splendid, so that might be a case for our Exploration creature.
More food for thought - when my friends asked how Ephara won, I replied that tokens and equipment was the way to go, but then I realized that it never actually came to that - my opponents conceded far before that almost every time I was winning. And that almost never happens in our meta.
It's been making me think... Conceding is not a very fun way of deciding a game. Perhaps there should be something more decisive to help win. In Pokken's deck there are a lot more threats like Umezawa's Jitte and SOLAS but I'm starting my studies and I don't want to spend too much money on cards.
Do you have any other suggestions? Maybe Empyrial Plate?
I've found Nezumi Graverobber to be ineffective in multiplayer since graveyards are either totally full or totally empty if there's a Rest in Peace. If you want a likelihood you can try Chainer, Dementia Master. You even have enough lifegain in your deck to mitigate his lifeloss.
If your opponents have swarm strategies, you can also try Demon of Dark Schemes. My friend plays a Liliana, Heretical Healer deck and trust me, the card can stack well over enough energy on its own.
I don't think trying out a new style needs to be so radical and only have cards matching that style.
In fact, the most effective way of building a deck is so that it doesn't depend on a single mechanic.
Another thing - draw-go is relatively weak in EDH, even if you are getting card advantage from it, simply because you have limited amounts of mana that don't allow you to play on all of your opponents' turns.
However, you might be able to mitigate this by playing cards with alternate costs that still abide to draw-go: Force of Will (budget dependent), Misdirection, Daze, Gush.
You might also like spells that untap lands, like Rewind.
And of course, Whispers of the Muse.
ETB you become the monarch. Drawing an extra 1 at EOT is pretty cool.
ETB exiles a creature. We can blink/bounce it all we like and exile more creatures.
The creature comes back only when an opponent becomes the monarch. That means the Jailer can die and we don't care much - we only care about getting hit.
So this can be a devastating board wipe if used correctly - but only if we can protect ourselves from combat damage. As soon as we let 1 damage through the opponent can get their Avacyn, Angel of Hope back.
However, if we can keep blinking the Jailer, we can keep becoming the monarch on their turns after they hit us, negating the monarch card draw for them.
I'm not sold on this card here because even though my deck can be pillow-forty, it isn't always so, and providing incentive for our opponents to see who can hit us first isn't really a good idea.
But if we can sustain monarchy, this can be backbreaking. This card is a one man army in 1v1 EDH and I've started seeing it mentioned in multiplayer as well.
I really want to see Glorious End ending up in a deck, and I think we might be a good deck for it.
It's great for shutting down opposing plays before we start our winning turn.
I have an Ephara, God of the Polis deck, where the idea is to get a creature every turn and draw a ton of cards, and this list heavily reminds me of it.
Lacking white is a substantial disadvantage, since white has much more reliable control options in all, yet switching it for green just might be the only acceptable alternative.
So considering your priority is to gain ridiculous card advantage from your commander, you might want to run more instant speed spells like the bounceable Draining Whelk or Plasm Capture or whatever.
The most powerful effect that decks like these have is to be able to cast a single card multiple times for substantial value. Cards that might help you achieve this are Cloudstone Curio and the infallible Temur Sabertooth to bounce cards like Mystic Snake and Snapcaster, as well as Archaeomancer for noncreature spells.
I don't think expensive cards like Void Winnower and even Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur help your game plan, because it's still a lot of mana to pay for them even though you're green. They won't benefit you if they just sit in your hand and do nothing.
My win conditions in Ephara are mostly token swarms once I lock the table down with control. You might look for something along those lines, but more to the direction of recasting spells that cripple your enemies to your advantage. Maybe bounce something like Acidic Slime a ton of times to kill your opponents' mana, bounce your Altered Ego then cast it to be a buffed up version of their Akroma, Angel of Wrath or maybe bouncing and recasting Emrakul, the Promised End since you have a bajilion Delirium, letting True-Name Nemesis wreck face... The options are many, but generally it's recommended that they take up the least amount of cards from your deck and hopefully synergize with bounces and what your deck generally does. Swords are also a good idea to push a board advantage farther.
Also, seeing as you really like your spell triggered tokens, buyback seems to be a straight up win for you. Forbid and Capsize are classic, Invulnerability helps you live longer, Worthy Cause might be good lifegain if you're interested, Allay because destroying stuff is good.
Cards like Avacyn and the Primordials are a real bummer if they get stuck in your hand, and you are really hurting for mana here.
I still think Mulldrifter can be useful as a Divination in a pinch. Knight of the White Orchid can be obnoxious in a blink build because people run green.
You actually have several combos in the current list, so maybe you could include some combo-y cards? Like the Rishadan package.
Okay, so how didn't anyone here go nuts for this card?
I know we don't need card draw, but it's pretty much a strict upgrade to Spirit of the Labyrinth, since it's asymmetrical, it's fatter and it has flash.
I know I'm running that card for sure, even if it causes a few frowns.
Traveler's cloak -> Unquestioned Authority
Vodalian Merchant -> Looter Il-Kor
Fiendslayer Paladin -> Invisible Stalker
Cuts:
Owl familiar
Merfolk traders
Color Scarabs and Wards
Catalog
Divination
Slot in:
Flickering Ward - good with enchantress
Protective bubble - all you need on Bruna
Medomai, the Ageless - making this guy unlockable is really good
Windfall
Vow of duty + flight - removal that buffs Bruna when she swings
Curiosity
Righteous authority
The comment above is very important. The main concern with Bruna lists is running out of steam with all the aggression we are packing. Try and find ways to reward yourself with card draw for casting creatures or enchantments, or smashing face. That way your hand is always full and you aren't totally dependent on your graveyard.
Most of my advantage has been from cards like Mobilization and Sacred Mesa anyways, and this card wouldn't help that strategy.
I wouldn't concern myself too bad with what's going on in Standard. Crested Sunmare is a deck there, and with enough engineering it could be stellar here - but not really worth it.
I have synergy I'm going to be testing out - I've ordered As Foretold as I've figured it would generate ludicrous amounts of mana in my list. The thing is that I have both Tolaria West and Restore Balance in my collection, so I can include them both to cast AF followed by transmuting TW into instacasting RB. I also have Trinket Mage to get Expedition Map to get TW.
I've really wanted to test this, but I get the feeling that Restore Balance is a really dead card without AF since the suspend will take forever. What do you guys think?
Also... Lately I've started getting a really tingly feeling in wanting to try and include Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur. I do recall several times where the deck had good amounts of mana and just did nothing but draw cards for 2-3 rounds until it got something significant. Go ahead and shoot me down, I guess... LOL
White is an incredible color for consistently buffing hordes of tokens, the way we want to. It just sucks at giving them evasion.
It's a fantastic card that gives me my choice of land drops or card fuel for Forbid/Solitary Confinement, plus it thins out my deck. And when we draw a massive amount as we do with Ephara, that is a critical factor that can't be ignored. Land Tax has almost never been a dud, even as a topdeck.
So I guess I won't be running Oketra, sadly enough. In addition to the expensive token cost, even though she's indestructible she's still a creature so she's very vulnerable as a token producing engine. I think I'll keep Mobilization in my deck because 3 mana tokens are exactly what I need.
I'm not a big fan of Cathars' Crusade here since almost none of the creatures stay long enough to get a substantial amount of counters. Eldrazi Monument can be very cool, but a lot of my tokens already have flying (1/1 Pegasus + 4/4 Angel from Luminarch) and Ephara is already indestructible, and I can see a bad spot where I have a ton of enchantments but no creatures so I'm forced to sacrifice Ephara.
I guess I could play anthems, but the only one I would really play is Thistledown Liege.
Ætherling has not been making appearances in recent games. The deck didn't play him even when it had more than 6 mana, since it already had a token engine it could abuse for cards and board position.
I'm really starting to think whether this card is worth the hassle... In most cases I don't even see myself using U to make him shoot an opponent, only blinking him for cards, and Saltskitter is cheaper and can do that better.
In a recent pod, Ephara was one of the most dominant decks on the table (my friend was playing it). However, it seemed the deck had several problems:
1. The deck got out Heliod rather early, but didn't use his token making ability at all, and he never became a creature. I've come to realize that 4 is a lot for a token, not to mention 2WW for Heliod or 3W for Oketra. I'm starting to question if I really want to slot her in.
2. I wasn't happy with the amount of mana that Ephara got out. Sure, it was plenty for an Azorius deck, but I still felt it could have been better. I've been considering Walking Atlas as a 2 CMC mana creature, only this one is dependent on our hand and on us drawing cards to fuel its ramp. If we are in and advantageous position this card can help filter our hand from terrible serial land draws, or get more value out of Land Tax... But if we don't draw well it's a creature that does nothing. What are your thoughts?
Otherwise, Ephara beat face. Thalia, Heretic Cathar that I had considered replacing broke the table almost completely, making it impossibly slow for the Sharuum the Hegemon player to reach his combo and for my Omnath, Locus of Rage deck to get a meaningful attack phase. Solitary Confinement saved the day when the deck was at 6 HP, making my opponents concede.
Food for thought: Confinement - another card that excels only when you have enough card draw - is splendid, so that might be a case for our Exploration creature.
More food for thought - when my friends asked how Ephara won, I replied that tokens and equipment was the way to go, but then I realized that it never actually came to that - my opponents conceded far before that almost every time I was winning. And that almost never happens in our meta.
It's been making me think... Conceding is not a very fun way of deciding a game. Perhaps there should be something more decisive to help win. In Pokken's deck there are a lot more threats like Umezawa's Jitte and SOLAS but I'm starting my studies and I don't want to spend too much money on cards.
Do you have any other suggestions? Maybe Empyrial Plate?
If your opponents have swarm strategies, you can also try Demon of Dark Schemes. My friend plays a Liliana, Heretical Healer deck and trust me, the card can stack well over enough energy on its own.
In fact, the most effective way of building a deck is so that it doesn't depend on a single mechanic.
Another thing - draw-go is relatively weak in EDH, even if you are getting card advantage from it, simply because you have limited amounts of mana that don't allow you to play on all of your opponents' turns.
However, you might be able to mitigate this by playing cards with alternate costs that still abide to draw-go:
Force of Will (budget dependent), Misdirection, Daze, Gush.
You might also like spells that untap lands, like Rewind.
And of course, Whispers of the Muse.
Palace Jailer
ETB you become the monarch. Drawing an extra 1 at EOT is pretty cool.
ETB exiles a creature. We can blink/bounce it all we like and exile more creatures.
The creature comes back only when an opponent becomes the monarch. That means the Jailer can die and we don't care much - we only care about getting hit.
So this can be a devastating board wipe if used correctly - but only if we can protect ourselves from combat damage. As soon as we let 1 damage through the opponent can get their Avacyn, Angel of Hope back.
However, if we can keep blinking the Jailer, we can keep becoming the monarch on their turns after they hit us, negating the monarch card draw for them.
I'm not sold on this card here because even though my deck can be pillow-forty, it isn't always so, and providing incentive for our opponents to see who can hit us first isn't really a good idea.
But if we can sustain monarchy, this can be backbreaking. This card is a one man army in 1v1 EDH and I've started seeing it mentioned in multiplayer as well.
It's great for shutting down opposing plays before we start our winning turn.
Lacking white is a substantial disadvantage, since white has much more reliable control options in all, yet switching it for green just might be the only acceptable alternative.
So considering your priority is to gain ridiculous card advantage from your commander, you might want to run more instant speed spells like the bounceable Draining Whelk or Plasm Capture or whatever.
The most powerful effect that decks like these have is to be able to cast a single card multiple times for substantial value. Cards that might help you achieve this are Cloudstone Curio and the infallible Temur Sabertooth to bounce cards like Mystic Snake and Snapcaster, as well as Archaeomancer for noncreature spells.
I don't think expensive cards like Void Winnower and even Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur help your game plan, because it's still a lot of mana to pay for them even though you're green. They won't benefit you if they just sit in your hand and do nothing.
My win conditions in Ephara are mostly token swarms once I lock the table down with control. You might look for something along those lines, but more to the direction of recasting spells that cripple your enemies to your advantage. Maybe bounce something like Acidic Slime a ton of times to kill your opponents' mana, bounce your Altered Ego then cast it to be a buffed up version of their Akroma, Angel of Wrath or maybe bouncing and recasting Emrakul, the Promised End since you have a bajilion Delirium, letting True-Name Nemesis wreck face... The options are many, but generally it's recommended that they take up the least amount of cards from your deck and hopefully synergize with bounces and what your deck generally does. Swords are also a good idea to push a board advantage farther.
If you were to use a 2 CMC grave hate it would have to be Rest in Peace in my opinion.
Also, seeing as you really like your spell triggered tokens, buyback seems to be a straight up win for you. Forbid and Capsize are classic, Invulnerability helps you live longer, Worthy Cause might be good lifegain if you're interested, Allay because destroying stuff is good.
I still think Mulldrifter can be useful as a Divination in a pinch. Knight of the White Orchid can be obnoxious in a blink build because people run green.
You actually have several combos in the current list, so maybe you could include some combo-y cards? Like the Rishadan package.
Crossing my fingers to see how it works out.