I know what you mean when you worry about mana after you plop down Crusher since I also play Shard Volley with him main deck, I end up worrying if I'll have enough mana to consistently plop down cards...However I don't think he'll hurt you that badly in the end unless you really need the lands.
i meant the fact that's he's double red in a deck that wants a large supply of green mana(playing colossus, playing a dude and activating perfect, playing turn 1 elves, activating ttv) and also wants to play colorless lands. to support him really, you'd need to play birds over elves or play a full set of grove of the burnwillows, and i don't think that the crusher is worth that. he also kinda requires shard volley, which i really think is suboptimal when compared to incinerate and rift bolt and playing more burn takes away from creatures that can take up the axe.
btw, i found some interesting bit of sideboard tech: Bloodshot Trainee. axe him up and he's becomes an all purpose sniper for no mana investment.
altogether mutivault is a mixed blessing. i've really been liking the 3/2 split of vaults and treetop villages i've tested with. ttv is usually better in the situations you really want a man land in(ie. when you have no other creatures) so there are logically more of them, but mutivault is cheap to activate and will attack alongside your other creatures all day long.
mirri is actually a really interesting idea. most likely not maindeck but mirri could really help out in the mirror. get her axed up and she hits for 4 unblockable every turn and eats up everything but colossus or an axed, perfected vanquisher.
i think if you are going to play taurean mauler it's as a 3 of and 2 colossus' and if you play radha it's 2 of with 3 colossus'.
personally i just don't like having 14-15 2 drops in a deck, so i'm gonna stick with the mauler.
btw, i've been having some problems in my testing against doran. the deck can outrace goyf just fine, but a turn 2 doran is basically game against us. it's bigger than our threats and makes axe a good bit worse.
Edit: as to elvish handservent. it's decent in changeling zoo but i can't see it being nearly as good in a deck with maybe 6 changelings tops.
i strongly suggest testing with the mauler. his main job isn't to be staggeringly efficient but to draw removal to him. if your opponent ignores the mauler and goes after your lords he soon has to contend with a large mauler that's rather hard to kill, and if he goes after your mauler your lords get to live on and do their job. it's a win win. also, he does have some great synergy with the axe. after getting axed up the only commonly played removal spell that kills him is shriekmaw.
Better elf: Rhada, Heir to Keld. Putting more mana accel would improve the amount of cards you can put into play, and therefore the amount of aggro you can play with! I'm thinking of something to make the mana from Rhada "go" into something... pump land or a warrior elemental. With a card draw outlet if anything goes wrong. Phyrexian Arena?
radha is much worse than llanowar elves, and she finds herself in the already overcrowded two drop slot and has nothing particularly good to accel in to. the deck shouldn't be trying to make multiple guys in one turn anyhow. the deck plays best playing out an early axe(best on turn 2 off an elf) and then running guys with haste out and forcing them to be dealt with. the lords are kinda just a backup plan in case you don't draw axe or it gets destroyed.
well the list i've been testing to great effect runs 4 llanowars simply because they are elves and an aggro deck can't really function without 1 drops.
if you want a 5 casting cost lord you can do a lot better than lovisa coldeyes.
an interesting one is Stonebrow, Krosan Hero. with the axe he's 8 to the dome for 5 mana and he really works well with bramblewood paragon
although truthfully, i can't see any reason to need anything higher on the curve than the colossus.
well right off the top of my head, obsidian battle-axe and cloak and dagger are both quality uncommons that could go for a dollar or 2 once post mor standard decks start coming out of the woodwork. especially watch the axe since i know a lot of people(including myself) have been working on g/x warriors and the axe plays a lot like fires of yavimaya.
other than those and a few others tho, i have to agree with rancored elf on this one. in general morningtide is a weak follow up to the strength of lorwyn in the way of game shaping cards. even on the rare side only mutivault and murmering bosk really stand out, and those plus a few sleeper hits aren't gonna nearly measure up to the silly money cards in the last 2 sets.
but its not a 3 mana 5/3. its a 5 mana 5/3 that costs 2 less mana if your opponent is a goldfish.
have you tested earwig squad at all? tell me what your opponent is gonna do to stop it if you play a turn 1 rogue of any variety(they all have evasion) or a turn 2 oona's prowler or looter il-kor?
seriously, my comparison to scab-clan mauler is pretty legit here. would you say that he was unplayable? because many many pros would disagree.
tarmogoyf and doran do not set a curve so high that a 3 mana 5/3 is unplayable. if they did no creature other than those two would see play in standard.
tell me, completely ignoring the jester's cap effect would you play this card?
2b
goblin rogue
5/3
because that's what earwig squad is, the prowl is gonna happen if you deck is even half dedicated to being an aggro deck. saying that you aren't gonna be hitting your opponent in the early game is like arguing scab-clan mauler is bad when it saw massive play when it was standard legal. and in standard rogues is easily one of the top 3 tribes, no matter what ol' ben says.
and the cap effect is not to be underestimated either since it is attached to such an efficient theat. I've been testing him in the sideboard of even extended goblins and he's almost always stellar. decks are so threat light that removing 3 tarmogoyfs or vensers or psychatogs is crippling.
well after testing with the paragon i've realized there simply is not room in this deck for everything i want to play. i've been thinking marauders is likely the cut because he's just worse than paragon if you have any other warriors to play. even with all the synergy goyf still reigns as the best two drop in the deck, although vanquisher does give it a run for it's money. the mana base feels clunky splashing so few red cards, but i really think that this deck needs incinerate and the mauler, and more importantly the sideboard ancient grudges for the mirror and pyroclasms for rogues.
i meant the fact that's he's double red in a deck that wants a large supply of green mana(playing colossus, playing a dude and activating perfect, playing turn 1 elves, activating ttv) and also wants to play colorless lands. to support him really, you'd need to play birds over elves or play a full set of grove of the burnwillows, and i don't think that the crusher is worth that. he also kinda requires shard volley, which i really think is suboptimal when compared to incinerate and rift bolt and playing more burn takes away from creatures that can take up the axe.
btw, i found some interesting bit of sideboard tech: Bloodshot Trainee. axe him up and he's becomes an all purpose sniper for no mana investment.
personally i just don't like having 14-15 2 drops in a deck, so i'm gonna stick with the mauler.
btw, i've been having some problems in my testing against doran. the deck can outrace goyf just fine, but a turn 2 doran is basically game against us. it's bigger than our threats and makes axe a good bit worse.
Edit: as to elvish handservent. it's decent in changeling zoo but i can't see it being nearly as good in a deck with maybe 6 changelings tops.
radha is much worse than llanowar elves, and she finds herself in the already overcrowded two drop slot and has nothing particularly good to accel in to. the deck shouldn't be trying to make multiple guys in one turn anyhow. the deck plays best playing out an early axe(best on turn 2 off an elf) and then running guys with haste out and forcing them to be dealt with. the lords are kinda just a backup plan in case you don't draw axe or it gets destroyed.
4 llanowar elves
4 keldon marauders
4 bramblewood paragon
4 wren's run vanquisher
4 imperious perfect
3 tauren mauler
2 chameleon colossus
4 incinerate
3 rift bolt
4 obsidian battle-axe
2 garruk wildspeaker
2 mutivault
4 karplusian forest
2 grove of the burnwillows
4 mountain
6 forest
4 pyroclasm
3 ancient grudge
2 chameleon colossus
2 elvish champion
4 riftsweeper
the marauders would be tarmogoyfs but i don't have them and don't plan on getting them, but marauder is good too.
an interesting one is Stonebrow, Krosan Hero. with the axe he's 8 to the dome for 5 mana and he really works well with bramblewood paragon
although truthfully, i can't see any reason to need anything higher on the curve than the colossus.
other than those and a few others tho, i have to agree with rancored elf on this one. in general morningtide is a weak follow up to the strength of lorwyn in the way of game shaping cards. even on the rare side only mutivault and murmering bosk really stand out, and those plus a few sleeper hits aren't gonna nearly measure up to the silly money cards in the last 2 sets.
have you tested earwig squad at all? tell me what your opponent is gonna do to stop it if you play a turn 1 rogue of any variety(they all have evasion) or a turn 2 oona's prowler or looter il-kor?
seriously, my comparison to scab-clan mauler is pretty legit here. would you say that he was unplayable? because many many pros would disagree.
2b
goblin rogue
5/3
because that's what earwig squad is, the prowl is gonna happen if you deck is even half dedicated to being an aggro deck. saying that you aren't gonna be hitting your opponent in the early game is like arguing scab-clan mauler is bad when it saw massive play when it was standard legal. and in standard rogues is easily one of the top 3 tribes, no matter what ol' ben says.
and the cap effect is not to be underestimated either since it is attached to such an efficient theat. I've been testing him in the sideboard of even extended goblins and he's almost always stellar. decks are so threat light that removing 3 tarmogoyfs or vensers or psychatogs is crippling.
4 llanowar elves
4 wren's run vanquisher
4 tarmogoyf
4 bramblewood paragon
4 imperious perfect
4 tauren mauler
2 chameleon colossus
4 incinerate
3 garruk wildspeaker
22 land
3 ancient grudge
4 riftsweeper
2 elvish champion
4 pyroclasm
2 chameleon colossus