lol, wish i could say wraths wernt a problem for me but that's just not true. its such an issue i run 3 real counters and 2 creature counters and pattern of rebirth to help get back on board after a board wipe. like how can you be faster than a 4 mana spell? this format can realistically be prepared to wrath off a sol ring on turn 2. pattern of rebirth isn't a creature, but neither is cord of calling. i understand that there's an immense difference between the cards but with pattern of rebirth its like wrath-eldrazi, block-eldrazi, sac wild cantor- kiki jiki. its just good
so i did my best to read through the entire primer and saw no mention of pattern of rebirth, (though i very well may have missed it) have you ever considered it for the tutor or wrath detterent slot? i actually chose it over alluren. i've been piloting animar for about a year now and have found it to be a miracle of a card. also i've been using sylvok replica as torpor orb protection, have you tried this as opposed to the vigilante? and if so was cloudstone curio the deciding factor?
UNDER CONSTRUCTION hi guys, let me just start by saying that i've been optimizing this build for quite some time now with the purposes of competitive social 1v1. I've put extra work into it this past year as ive been piloting it through weekly FNM events. This build is an absolute monster, geared to go off turn 3-4 regularly and turn 5 easily and even get a turn 2 every now and again, all the while being more sturdy than its slower imperial recruiter/glimpse of nature,or morph synergy builds. With 50 mana sources and a high threat density the deck is simply explosive! so please, take a look at my presentation and feel free to engage in discussion on any level.....DOOM
Animar is engine. To be frank he's not the best engine out there. however, for a 3 mana commander he's an amazing engine, and in the game of magic having a 3 mana engine that you always have access to is too tempting not to try and build around. He's what happens when you dump ninja turtle ooze in aluren. As for how he shapes up as a general... well let's just say you better pack a B plan. This build is tailor made to reduce dependence on Animar yet be able to abuse him immediately and to lethal degree once he's in play. Animar is good in some match ups but a kiki jiki win is more favorable in others and doesn't require Animar at all. some games you need to play slow and get multiple answers in your hand then push through what you can, be it animar win or some other bomb. Animar doesn't usually help if he cost more than 5 unless it's a wrath heavy match that isn't assaulting your mana base. In that case dig for a ancestral statue and a counter before you even cast animar again. the deck is curved low enough to play with out him and very few cards you draw are only good with animar in play. Looking at it now they seem to be the same few cards I mulligan. .
ACCELERATE
This deck is combo at heart, thak makes ramp a huge facet of the build. I keep the deck around 50% mana sources. like most streamlined Animar combo variants it plays just 32 lands. key factors to consider when slotting mana sources for this build are as follows:
1:does it produce any color mana?
2: does it enable animar to come out faster than turn 3?
3:does it produce mana this turn?
4:does it replace itself per card count?
5:does it curve well with a turn 2-3 animar yet also aid an early win(turn 2-4) without Animars presence?
6: is it just ridiculous?
MANA CRYPT
playing the wizards commander banned list, as my meta does, makes this the most powerful rock in the format. It's the best thing to see in your hand it feels so unfair. as far as pestermite/ kiki-jiki, mirror breaker interactions are concerned it nearly replaces animars presence.
MANA VAULT
This will put you so far ahead it's silly. It's a colorless dark ritual that may see value later in the game. especially with 10 or so twiddle/ boomerang effects in the deck.
BIRDS OF PARADISE
When you really analyze a bird it seems pretty dorky, but a bird in the opening hand just make you feel happy, and in Animar it nearly guarantees you see a turn 2 animar and lets you mulligan away lands or worse accelerates. It's just worth it.
ORCISH LUMBERJACK
This card gets major points for just being too much to handle. If an opposing build isn't chock-ful of 1 and 2 mana answers than it isn't equipped to handle the turn 2-3 pressure orcish lumberjack can put out. This deck plays 9 fetches 4 green duals and 2 actual forests. the word (forest) is no big deal for this deck and sometimes it has 2-3 lands with 2 being forests. At the very least it sucks up a removal spell every time you don't use it.
TINDERWALL
This card has been a favorite of mine since I played channelfireball as a child. That it fits so well in animar is pleasing to me. turn 2 animar, RR is serious kiki-jiki, mirror breaker/splinter twin fuel, pattern of rebirth kamikaze, great non bias ramp to push towards bribery and win more cards, cleans up extra mana requirments that imperial recruiter chains need to get rolling. All in All it will aid in every ideal early game plan so it seems at home and It's just so good. I have never in all my life activated it's combat ability, but the day will come.
UTOPIA SPRAWL
utopia sprawl is similar to wild growth but has a forest sub clause. as i expressed above with orcish lumberjack that's really no hindrance here however, if you've ever heard, "Even good players make at least 3 mistakes a game" this is going to be one of them every game. you can stare at the card all you want. you still probably fetched a vocanic island.
EARTHCRAFT
This card is nuts. It's more of an engine than Animar himself. Draw an earthcraft and your chances of winning go up. Keep in mind when you play a creature that can return itself to your hand for a lone colored mana you can tap it to untap the land in responce and that effect will resolve before the bounce effect. It becomes infinite. Once upon a time I held earthcraft and cloudstone curio next to each other and decided they were the both similar in there capacity as engines. That being determined I felt that they each needed utility to be layered through out the deck. earthcraft curved better coming down turn 2 without help, and bouncers/basics felt quicker and more thematic to the combo element I was seeking than morph creatures/mana replacing creatures.
LOTUS COBRA
Like birds of paradise this card seems iffy on paper but it's great in application. produces mana the turn it's played and works great with wood elves and sakura tribe elder. 9 fetch lands lend it power as well. When you cast it you'll be satisfied. 2 mana cost guys are actually the best for the way this animar plays. they curve very well before and after a turn 3 animar cast.
BLOOM TENDER
Turn 2 bloom tender, turn 3 tap 3 lands cast animar tap bloom tender for RUG. It's not always that cut and dry but that is really all you need to consider to see it belongs in an Animar build like this.
SYLVAN RANGER faraven elf and yavimaya granger would put the lands into play tapped which some people consider to be better, but with a land count of 32 and 13 cards thinning them from my library, a land in the hand may very well be a land untapped into play. land 3-4 are not guaranteed in this build, but with the 2 CMC curving so well they are when you cast this guy. I ran pilgrims eye for a long time because my low land count would allow it to come in for 0 and produce a colored mana that turn. Also this guy and gatecreeper vine rely less on Animar to do their job than cards like farhaven elf
SAKURA-TRIBE ELDER
for a long time I didn't run sakura-tribe elder because there was no bounce/clone harmony. That was a mistake. 2 mana creatures that come into play and bring another card from your deck into your resource pool is exactly what this deck screams for.
WOOD ELVES Wood elves is an anomaly. Though hordes of redundant green creatures strive to do his job like he does, none of them do. He feels vanilla but is far from it. G put tropical island into play untapped from your library is an AWEsome effect.
SOMBERWOLD SAGE
This card has been in and out. most people who play it probably feel the same. a thousand games and I feel like i'd draw this thing twice. If you read the card it sounds PIMP-TASTIC. When it his the tabe.... guess I'll know better in the future. i've resolved it and activated it but i've never really seen it early enough to be an mvp ramp guy. I can say his spot has been held by rattleclaw mystic, and satyr hedonist, both of which under preformed here. I just feel like 3 mana is a great number to tap for.
PEREGRINE DRAKE
A Dark Ritual++ that sticks around to form a game winning combo engine with temur sabertooth or deadeye navigator. Without Animar its' not gonna do a whole lot. That's a good reason not to run it with great whale for redundancy. I usually mulligan this card away unless I have stable mana for animar and i see a path towards temur sabertooth or a living wish to pull in deadeye navigator. even then it's a gamble to keep a late game combo piece in the first 7.
PROPHET OF KRUPHIX
This card is like earthcraft, it's nuts. you play so many more cards and guys like clone and man-o'war get sooo much better. Without Emakrul, the aeons torn in the card pool this is the closest thing we get to a creature that time walks. you'll anger all your opponents forcing them to declare their upkeep/draw step so you can play your new turn first. I commonly seal games by summoner's pact-ing for this guy. It's almost always a good deal. This is probably the only big casted card next to kiki-jiki, mirror breaker himself I wouldn't mulligan away. Always keep this in your first 7 unless perhaps your holding a win like splinter twin or kiki, then maybe mull it away in hopes of more specific ramp or counterspell coverage.
DRAW
A vehicle goes no where with out fuel. you should burn more the further your trying to get. I'm trying to work in more where I can but the options leave a bit to be desired. My NON-INCLUDE section for draw will be a mile long. but this gives me hope. This makes me look forward to what wizards will print. I like the majority of my draw cards to draw when they resolve. like elvish visionary. I usually don't want to have to play then pass to draw like with consecrated sphinx or rhystic study(I know I play remora. I'm trying it here as it is the cheapest of these). I need my draw spells to be actual card advantage whenever possible but i won't let a 1 for 1 trade be excluded for that reason, such as elvish visionary. I do try to stray from cards that simply replace themselves like gitaxan probe and manamorphose. The ability to reuse the draw trigger as with a clone or combination of bounce/recast is also a huge factor when slotting draw spells.
MYSTIC REMORA
The low-curve non ceature draw slot. Should it even exist? some would argue not but I think it has a place here.
ages ago it was glimpse of nature and for quite some time it was brainstorm. There's strong evidence supporting sylvan library as the prime canidate, ceta sanctuary sounds the best but it's curved wrong for me at 2U so I've been testing mystic remora. I've had tons of experience with the card in casual, vintage and 5-color so i Know well enough to hold on to it for a while til I think it's just the right time(mana-base wise) to cast it. I'm not sure if it will stay in or not but I've already had pleasing results with it. My only qualm thus far is seeing yet another card I want to mull away in the first 7.
ELVISH VISIONARY 2cmc creature that replaces itself with another card. bread and butter of the "Animar plan" in this build. Without Animar it digs towards a threat for 2 and puts a body down for combat. could be worse. if your going infinite with peregrine drake and temur sabertooth, or a profitable earthcraft scenario, one of these, "spot draw" guys can pick up your whole library. other than that clones can choose them in a pinch and bouncers may target them for additional cards and Animar counters. They kind of feel like lottery tickets. They come cheap and you may win you a prize.
COILING ORACLE
I used to think alchemist's apprentice was better than this card and that I would only run coiling oracle if I included momir vig, simic visionary. After playing it I realize it's always an advantage and you'll always be glad to resolve it. land in play or nonland in hand. For UG It's fair enough
RAVEN FAMILIAR
It digs 3 cards deep to give you a 1 and makes sure at the very least your not depressed about your top deck.
the fact that it won't be around next turn does get aggravating from time to time. Every resource counts. I'm not gonna pull it out for a trinket mage just because it doesn't uber impress me, but at the moment I honestly am testing citanul woodreaders in it's spot.
SEA GATE ORACLE
Digs two deep draws 1, sticks around to do it again I wish it cost 1U for the situation where Animar is absent or for Animars fledgling counters, but i'm fine paying what it does cost.
MULLDRIFTER
#The Best We Have. Evoke it or don't if you can afford to cast it. Draws more cheaper than any other creature available.
SLITHERMUSE
Some people don't like it. They havn't cast it enough. Bouncing it sets it off to if you want to use it as an engine rather than an evoked spot draw. i'ts not for digging into the answer it's for rebuilding after the fail.
PRIME SPEAKER ZEGANA
I honestly didn't catch on to this soon enough. It was the missing holy grail of Animar creatures. If Animar has 2 counters and you cast zegana it resolves to draw 5 cards. The sky is the limit from there. tutorable by like every good restrictive tutor, green sun zenith, natural order, summoner's pact, time of need, imperial recruiter, fierce empath. If you have a tutor you have large draw access with zegana in your build. prime speaker zegana is definitely a card you mulligan away.
SPHINX OF UTHUUN
Before I discovered prime speaker zegana this was my big draw card and it significantly lacks the ability to be tutored by the majority of those I played. A fact or fiction on a sliding scale between 5UU and UU is probably a good thing. Being a 5/5 flyer that stands a good chance of flipping a clone can bring a surprising aggro shift to the game state. it just sort of happens.
KOZILEK, BUTCHER OF TRUTH
We need so much draw but we mull it all away, lol yes this guy has no place in hand 1 either. Super common tutor Target and a win condition in his own right. kozilek is purely terrifying to a guy with no removal, and his draw 4 may just bring him what it takes to protect himself. Eldrazi are scary and 4 cards for a potential 0 mana is enticing. I just thought he was an auto and I've been casting him like an M.V.P since day 1. Answer kozilek or die. I'ts as simple as that.
TUTOR
This deck is combo oriented. It needs certain things at certain times. Thus the tutor becomes a large part of the plan.
SUMMONER'S PACT
This card was on the list to test when primevial titan was playing his last rounds. he never made it to testing until I added prophet of kruphix. pact-ing for a tinderwall gave me a turn 2 kiki,jiki win against a mimeoplasm that had just tapped out for a sylvan library one time. I was still going to remove it for lack of targets until bounding krasis came about. once the krasis was in I switched deadeye navigator for temur sabertooth. I figured with two additional paths to victory in its tool box it was worth another go. Only time will tell. I usually keep this card in my opening hand, but if no win set up or the mana to support prophet shows up i'll throw it back.
WORLDLY TUTOR
Seeing this in your starting hand in a 1v1 scenario makes you giggle. It means you WILL be seeing an imperial recruiter. Unless your playing some guy like geist of st. traft or nin, the pain artist with a guaranteed flusterstorm or daze or some such counter in hand. Later in the game... WEll everyone likes feeling like they have end step plays. Even Animar players.
SYLVAN TUTOR
Even though a sorcery speed top deck isn't much of an answer to anything, the power of being able to use turn 1 mana to ensure you get imperial recruiter or kiki jiki is good enough to be here. phyrexian revoker and gilded drake are more than important enough to want a sylvan tutor too. If only wizards of the coast banned list allowed for painters servant I would tutor it more than either of those 2cmc guys I'm sure..
LIVING WISH
People are like WHAT! YOU CAN'T PLAY THAT! and I'm like yeah I can. look it up. It feels like cheating and it almost is.sylvan scrying your wish board or demonic tutor it for a creature. Either way It is the Bees Knees. keep this in the opening 7 search a land if you need to. Be aggressive with this tutor because it's not going to be ideal.
FABRICATE
This card was in when cloudstone curio was in, then they both came out. In hindsight fabricating for cloudstone curio was a mistake. I should have held it for phyrexian revoker, phyrexian metamorph, or duplicant. Now that Ancestral statue exists, and other tutors I play are not fetching it adequately, fabricate is back and it actually does something productive. not that searching artifact answer creatures isn.t productive, it's just not too spectacular for 2U. At that point you HOPE they're free. But ancestral statue can just change a game out of nowhere. That's worth 2U. If mana is tight I could see myself searching mana crypt. Wether or not to mulligan this is a personal decision. I believe I would but I'm not sure if I ever havn't.
WEIRD HARVEST
What to say... beware when staring down BUG or another deck that has snapcaster mage shenanigans. Beyond taht it wins out of nowhere and the fact that it's so cheap and puts the creatures in your hand so they can feel the effect of Animars cost reduction makes this a chord of calling and tooth and nail replacement. It almost always wins. It's so versatile for so little and you see it so rarely It's bad match ups arn't often relevant. definately mull it away though.
BOUNCE
Bounce is a fundamental concept of most Animar builds. Because most creatures slotted into Animar stack triggers when they enter the battlefield, bouncing them allows you to get multiple uses out of those triggers. This keeps a quick tempo because you don't have to out wait summoning sickness on tap; activated abilities. because sac effects and tap; activated abilities don't work well with bounce abilities is yet another reason we've included very few in the build. obviously this level of synergy is largely irrelevant when deciding on cards like birds of paradise. some cards are just too good to reason out of a build. these creatures layer effectiveness into imperial recruiter and earthcraft and share a similarity with clones. Animar usually doesn't need many counter usually just 1-5 to do a sufficient job of reducing costs. Bounce guys just seem to get you there. These cards give cantrip creatures like sea gate oracle or wall of blossoms way more reach and can turn slithermuse into an engine. Whenever you cast prime speaker zeganasphinx of uthuun and kozilek, butcher of truth these cards and clones are what you want to see. Try to keep the colorless cost low and the colored cost to a lone mana when slotting these. They are necessary to the build but not worth investing heavily in.
SHRIEKING DRAKE
This card will infuriate you if you play a PIMP deck. Wizards is probably never going to foil this guy, but he's always going to be an iconic part of competitive Animar decks. Imperial recruiter 1v1 requires this in his toolbox hands down. Any bounce creature that returns itself for a single mana with Animars reduction can cast itself infinitely with earthcraft. This card does not target.
DREAM STALKER
Silly big toughness. Combos with earthcraft. Doesn't target. Curves well at 2cmc.
MAN-O'-WAR
We need 3 more of these in my opinion. A cheap potential removal option or plan furtherer. It's been an all star ever since I started playing magic and it still is. At 2U no other bouncer compares. combos with earthcraft. does target. In infinite loops with peregrine drake and temur sabertooth/deadeye navigator it wipes all the creatures off your opponents board so the infinite Animar you just made can walk right through to your opponents life total.
ANCESTRAL STATUE
The newest chapter in our story. when primeval titan was banned Animar lost an arm. literally. when Ancestral statue was born it grew a different arm back and even though it is't the mighty supporting pillar that prime time was, it's getting there. Hopefully the newer sets will give us a cheap colorless creature tutor that will make it even better. It bounces itself infinitely and returns a non land from your board to your hand when you're done. On a naked Animar this chain costs a whopping 10 colorless mana as opposed to 0 mana if Animar has 4 counters.. This is why an ancestral statue in the opening hand isnt as good as an imperial recruiter. I don't run chord of calling or survival of the fittest/Fauna shaman so fabricate and weird harvest are pretty much how I dig for it. The fact that those are slow and clunky tutors is really okay considering animar needs to be cast and set up to get ancestral statue going. It nets mana with earthcraft and that's actually relevant.
TEMUR SABERTOOTH
So obviously deadeye navigator is a more powerful card. And commander is a format for powerful cards and in a deck like Animar where creatures come cheap and we run bombs like eldrazi, surely six mana isn't too much to pay for a gem like deadeye navigator right? well it kind of is. you don't ramp into deadeye. after an opponent has decimated your creature board a couple times over you drop a deadeye and win with the scraps stone soup style. So if your coming at the card with a place and plan like that you can reason that temur sabertooth fits the bill better. curves better which is super important with stripmine and LD packs infesting my meta. It protects itself from the sort of decks I need it against (heavy removal). And the combo of choice, peregrine drake, works just as well with him as deadeye. I mulligan this card.
CLONE
This suite follows close in play to the bounce agents. If one of them is already on the field the clone can assume their function for the same cost. Even the ability to combo with earthcraft. most of them have "choose" in the rules text rather than "target". Once upon a time they would remove your opponents general if you played them. that made them better, but don't be fooled, they're still powerful enough to be fundamental inclusions. GGUU for prime speaker zegana drawing 5+cards is okay. doing it again for U, then again for U, then again for UU, is why you play Animar. Cloning a big draw guy then bouncing the clone is cheap too. Clones by nature are far more aggressive than bounce creatures though. A clone can Turn an opponents bomb into a useless card or a complete loss.
PHYREXIAN METAMORPH
M.V.P. paying a couple life and no mana for a clone is exactly what we want to do. The card art should be MIRACLE in giant letters falling from heaven. An essential part of imperial recruiter combos. Can copy any artifact or creature on the field. Pay 2 life play guilded lotus? Thanks Daretti, scraper savant.
CLONE
The namesake of the archetype Earns his spot due to his dependable 3U casting cost. easy as pie to cast with animar in play and comes down with mana open late game when your board position is non existent. your jin gitaxis, core auger isn't as much of an advantage when I have my own. Does not target. mulligan this card to be efficient but dont worry if you draw it on the mull. you'll get good value out of it.
DACK'S DUPLICATE
My favorite new clone. I didn't like it at first but I was really bein' biased based on its mana requirement. Months later after I read the card I fell in love. A clone with Haste. your bribery takes my ulamog, the infinite gyre, ulamog blows up my Animar, you pass I pay 2UR and proceed to annihilate your board. And dethrone is cool. I always have less life. 9 fetches, crypt, vault, and combo haters for opponents. I'm gonna get that +1+1 and kill that mirror blocker if we go that route. Amazing utility for an additional R. does not target. mulligan this card unless you're playing reanimator or something where you know you got turn 3-4 monsters in your face. If you draw it on the mull it's not horrible like an eldrazi but it isn't so ideal as clone when you're on a clock You wouldn't think the slight difference in cost would make that much of a difference but it really is about as awkward as duplicant is those early hands.
RELEVANT INTERACTIONS imperial recruiter and animar with no counters can link into a chain for UR4 mana and an arbitrary amount of life to make animar lethal and duplicant out a blocker. keep and mind for each counter on animar the cost of UR4 is reduced. and for an additional G you can cast ulamog instead of duplicant.
Animar plus ancestral statue is a quick and cheap infinite animar.
peregrine drake and deadeye navigator can form the best win condition in the deck. even though the combo only produces mana and counters itself, it allows you near perfect utility by using hang around creatures to draw your library and remove your opponents entire field. Earthcraft is amazing here too.
the main show is kiki jiki mirror breaker or splinter twin and pestermiteor deceiver exarch. hands down the fastest win in the deck. every time I play I "kiki out" on 3rd turn atleast once and more than likely 2 or 3 games. if responses to this post are high, to elaborate on the ferocity of this combo, i'll chronicle about 20 hands that could win on second turn if they were amazing,(so you see how possible it would be on turn 3 with coverage), some with as few as 1 land, i'll also show you abt 20-30 hands that can kiki out on turn 3 without holding both kiki or pestermite, then i'll show some more elaborate plays that involve more than 2 nonland mana sources and a "big tutor" that kiki out on turn 3. some of which,(but very few), involving animar.
THE ACTUAL INTERACTIONS HERE ARE AS FOLLOWS;
kiki jiki + pestermite
kiki jiki +deceiver exarch
kiki jiki +zealous conscripts
kiki jiki +living wish for breaching hipocamp splintertwin + pestermite splintertwin + deceiver exarch splintertwin + zealous conscripts
hi guys, let me just start by saying that i've been optimizing this build for quite some time now with the purposes of competitive social 1v1. I've put extra work into it this past year as ive been piloting it through weekly FNM events. This build is an absolute monster, geared to go off turn 3-4 regularly and turn 5 easily and even get a turn 2 every now and again, all the while being more sturdy than its slower imperial recruiter/glimpse of nature,or morph synergy builds. With 50 mana sources and a high threat density the deck is simply explosive! so please, take a look at my presentation and feel free to engage in discussion on any level.....DOOM
CURRENT 1V1 LIST
3 animar, soul of elements
accelerate
0 mana crypt
1 mana vault
1 Birds of paradise
1 orcish lumberjack
1 wild cantor
1 tinder wall
1 wild growth
1 utopia sprawl
2 earthcraft
2 lotus cobra
2 bloom tender
2 sylvan ranger
2 sakura-tribe elder
2 gatecreeper vine
3 wood elves
3 somberwald sage
5 peregrine drake
5 Prophet of kruphix
draw
1 mystic remora
2 elvish visionary
2 wall of blossoms
2 coiling oracle
3 raven familiar
3 sea gate oracle
3 mulldrifter
4 slithermuse
6 prime speaker zegana
7 sphinx of uthuun
10 kozilek, butcher of truth
tutor
0 summoner's pact
1 worldly tutor
1 sylvan tutor
2 living wish
3 fabricate
3 weird harvest
3 fierce empath
3 imperial recruiter
4 pattern of rebirth
4 defense of the heart
5 bribery
combo
3 pestermite
3 deceiver exarch
3 bounding krasis
4 splinter twin
5 kiki-jiki, mirror breaker
bounce
1 shrieking drake
2 dream stalker
3 man-o'-war
4 ancestral statue
4 temur sabertooth
5 kiri-onna
clone
2 phantasmal image
3 phyrexian metamorph
4 clone
4 dack's duplicate
control
1 caustic caterpillar
1 chain of vapor
1 stubborn denial
1 swan song
1 flusterstorm
2 mana drain
2 plaxmanta
2 spellskite
2 gilded drake
2 phyrexian revoker
6 duplicant
11 ulamog, the infinite gyre
lands (32)
1 taiga
1 tropical island
1 volcanic island
1 breeding pool
1 steam vents
1 stomping ground
1 flooded grove
1 cascade bluffs
1 fire-lit thicket
1 misty rainforest
1 scalding tarn
1 verdant catacombs
1 arid mesa
1 flooded strand
1 polluted delta
1 wooded foothills
1 windswept heath
1 bloodstained mire
1 command tower
1 ancient ziggurat
1 grove of the burnwillows
1 temple of mystery
1 yavimaya coast
1 hinterland harbor
1 pendelhaven
1 strip mine
3 island
2 forest
1 mountain
1 zealous conscripts
1 gaea's cradle
1 kessig wolfrun
1 grinning ignus
1 goblin matron
1 palinchron
1 sylvok replica
1 magus of the moon
1 deadeye navigator
1 tajuru preserver
I've got a pretty solid substitution list for when I switch from 1v1 to pods.
-shrieking drake +quickling
-caustic caterpilar +trygon predator
-bounding krasis +zealous conscripts
-lotus cobra +lightning greaves
-chain of vapor +muddle the mixture
-stubborn denial +glen elendra archmage
-weird harvest +birthing pod
-mystic remora +survival of the fittest
SIDEBOARD
-zealous conscripts +bounding krasis
-kessig wolf run +ixidrion
THEMATIC BREAKDOWN
ANIMAR
Animar is engine. To be frank he's not the best engine out there. however, for a 3 mana commander he's an amazing engine, and in the game of magic having a 3 mana engine that you always have access to is too tempting not to try and build around. He's what happens when you dump ninja turtle ooze in aluren. As for how he shapes up as a general... well let's just say you better pack a B plan. This build is tailor made to reduce dependence on Animar yet be able to abuse him immediately and to lethal degree once he's in play. Animar is good in some match ups but a kiki jiki win is more favorable in others and doesn't require Animar at all. some games you need to play slow and get multiple answers in your hand then push through what you can, be it animar win or some other bomb. Animar doesn't usually help if he cost more than 5 unless it's a wrath heavy match that isn't assaulting your mana base. In that case dig for a ancestral statue and a counter before you even cast animar again. the deck is curved low enough to play with out him and very few cards you draw are only good with animar in play. Looking at it now they seem to be the same few cards I mulligan. .
ACCELERATE
This deck is combo at heart, thak makes ramp a huge facet of the build. I keep the deck around 50% mana sources. like most streamlined Animar combo variants it plays just 32 lands. key factors to consider when slotting mana sources for this build are as follows:
1:does it produce any color mana?
2: does it enable animar to come out faster than turn 3?
3:does it produce mana this turn?
4:does it replace itself per card count?
5:does it curve well with a turn 2-3 animar yet also aid an early win(turn 2-4) without Animars presence?
6: is it just ridiculous?
MANA CRYPT
playing the wizards commander banned list, as my meta does, makes this the most powerful rock in the format. It's the best thing to see in your hand it feels so unfair. as far as pestermite/ kiki-jiki, mirror breaker interactions are concerned it nearly replaces animars presence.
MANA VAULT
This will put you so far ahead it's silly. It's a colorless dark ritual that may see value later in the game. especially with 10 or so twiddle/ boomerang effects in the deck.
BIRDS OF PARADISE
When you really analyze a bird it seems pretty dorky, but a bird in the opening hand just make you feel happy, and in Animar it nearly guarantees you see a turn 2 animar and lets you mulligan away lands or worse accelerates. It's just worth it.
ORCISH LUMBERJACK
This card gets major points for just being too much to handle. If an opposing build isn't chock-ful of 1 and 2 mana answers than it isn't equipped to handle the turn 2-3 pressure orcish lumberjack can put out. This deck plays 9 fetches 4 green duals and 2 actual forests. the word (forest) is no big deal for this deck and sometimes it has 2-3 lands with 2 being forests. At the very least it sucks up a removal spell every time you don't use it.
]WILD CANTOR
This card is a remnant of when this build was an imperial animar variant. not only did it facilitate a turn 2 animar it produced interesting interactions with artisan of kozilek and cloudstone curio. Him and krosan wayfarer contended for the slot but when primeval titan got nixed so did the wayfarer, gaea's cradle, vesuva, and azusa, lost but seeking. I would question wild cantor's worthiness but it never fails to be relevant when drawn. his utility niche is currently as a kamikaze for pattern of rebirth
TINDERWALL
This card has been a favorite of mine since I played channel fireball as a child. That it fits so well in animar is pleasing to me. turn 2 animar, RR is serious kiki-jiki, mirror breaker/splinter twin fuel, pattern of rebirth kamikaze, great non bias ramp to push towards bribery and win more cards, cleans up extra mana requirments that imperial recruiter chains need to get rolling. All in All it will aid in every ideal early game plan so it seems at home and It's just so good. I have never in all my life activated it's combat ability, but the day will come.
WILD GROWTH
People often chide me for the inclusion of wild growth and utopia sprawl. People say I should play llanowar elves and fyndhorn elves instead because they are creatures. Since I do nut run skullclamp, cascaders, regal force, maindeck gaea's cradle, chord of calling, skull mulcher, food chain, purphorus, god of the forge, birthing pod, glimpse of nature, soul of the harvest, or even survival of the fittest, the number of creatures I play is relevant to very little outside of Animar himself. The dis-synergies are minimal (prophet of kruphix, bounding krasis, unlikely clone effects). The benefits are in having a stable mana base after a mass creature removal spell, and having a mana source that produces 2+mana for pestermite and deceiver exarch to untap.
UTOPIA SPRAWL
utopia sprawl is similar to wild growth but has a forest sub clause. as i expressed above with orcish lumberjack that's really no hindrance here however, if you've ever heard, "Even good players make at least 3 mistakes a game" this is going to be one of them every game. you can stare at the card all you want. you still probably fetched a vocanic island.
EARTHCRAFT
This card is nuts. It's more of an engine than Animar himself. Draw an earthcraft and your chances of winning go up. Keep in mind when you play a creature that can return itself to your hand for a lone colored mana you can tap it to untap the land in responce and that effect will resolve before the bounce effect. It becomes infinite. Once upon a time I held earthcraft and cloudstone curio next to each other and decided they were the both similar in there capacity as engines. That being determined I felt that they each needed utility to be layered through out the deck. earthcraft curved better coming down turn 2 without help, and bouncers/basics felt quicker and more thematic to the combo element I was seeking than morph creatures/mana replacing creatures.
LOTUS COBRA
Like birds of paradise this card seems iffy on paper but it's great in application. produces mana the turn it's played and works great with wood elves and sakura tribe elder. 9 fetch lands lend it power as well. When you cast it you'll be satisfied. 2 mana cost guys are actually the best for the way this animar plays. they curve very well before and after a turn 3 animar cast.
BLOOM TENDER
Turn 2 bloom tender, turn 3 tap 3 lands cast animar tap bloom tender for RUG. It's not always that cut and dry but that is really all you need to consider to see it belongs in an Animar build like this.
SYLVAN RANGER
faraven elf and yavimaya granger would put the lands into play tapped which some people consider to be better, but with a land count of 32 and 13 cards thinning them from my library, a land in the hand may very well be a land untapped into play. land 3-4 are not guaranteed in this build, but with the 2 CMC curving so well they are when you cast this guy. I ran pilgrims eye for a long time because my low land count would allow it to come in for 0 and produce a colored mana that turn. Also this guy and gatecreeper vine rely less on Animar to do their job than cards like farhaven elf
SAKURA-TRIBE ELDER
for a long time I didn't run sakura-tribe elder because there was no bounce/clone harmony. That was a mistake. 2 mana creatures that come into play and bring another card from your deck into your resource pool is exactly what this deck screams for.
GATECREEPER VINE
See sylvan ranger. the cards fill the same role in this deck.
WOOD ELVES
Wood elves is an anomaly. Though hordes of redundant green creatures strive to do his job like he does, none of them do. He feels vanilla but is far from it. G put tropical island into play untapped from your library is an AWEsome effect.
SOMBERWOLD SAGE
This card has been in and out. most people who play it probably feel the same. a thousand games and I feel like i'd draw this thing twice. If you read the card it sounds PIMP-TASTIC. When it his the tabe.... guess I'll know better in the future. i've resolved it and activated it but i've never really seen it early enough to be an mvp ramp guy. I can say his spot has been held by rattleclaw mystic, and satyr hedonist, both of which under preformed here. I just feel like 3 mana is a great number to tap for.
PEREGRINE DRAKE
A Dark Ritual++ that sticks around to form a game winning combo engine with temur sabertooth or deadeye navigator. Without Animar its' not gonna do a whole lot. That's a good reason not to run it with great whale for redundancy. I usually mulligan this card away unless I have stable mana for animar and i see a path towards temur sabertooth or a living wish to pull in deadeye navigator. even then it's a gamble to keep a late game combo piece in the first 7.
PROPHET OF KRUPHIX
This card is like earthcraft, it's nuts. you play so many more cards and guys like clone and man-o'war get sooo much better. Without Emakrul, the aeons torn in the card pool this is the closest thing we get to a creature that time walks. you'll anger all your opponents forcing them to declare their upkeep/draw step so you can play your new turn first. I commonly seal games by summoner's pact-ing for this guy. It's almost always a good deal. This is probably the only big casted card next to kiki-jiki, mirror breaker himself I wouldn't mulligan away. Always keep this in your first 7 unless perhaps your holding a win like splinter twin or kiki, then maybe mull it away in hopes of more specific ramp or counterspell coverage.
DRAW
A vehicle goes no where with out fuel. you should burn more the further your trying to get. I'm trying to work in more where I can but the options leave a bit to be desired. My NON-INCLUDE section for draw will be a mile long. but this gives me hope. This makes me look forward to what wizards will print. I like the majority of my draw cards to draw when they resolve. like elvish visionary. I usually don't want to have to play then pass to draw like with consecrated sphinx or rhystic study(I know I play remora. I'm trying it here as it is the cheapest of these). I need my draw spells to be actual card advantage whenever possible but i won't let a 1 for 1 trade be excluded for that reason, such as elvish visionary. I do try to stray from cards that simply replace themselves like gitaxan probe and manamorphose. The ability to reuse the draw trigger as with a clone or combination of bounce/recast is also a huge factor when slotting draw spells.
MYSTIC REMORA
The low-curve non ceature draw slot. Should it even exist? some would argue not but I think it has a place here.
ages ago it was glimpse of nature and for quite some time it was brainstorm. There's strong evidence supporting sylvan library as the prime canidate, ceta sanctuary sounds the best but it's curved wrong for me at 2U so I've been testing mystic remora. I've had tons of experience with the card in casual, vintage and 5-color so i Know well enough to hold on to it for a while til I think it's just the right time(mana-base wise) to cast it. I'm not sure if it will stay in or not but I've already had pleasing results with it. My only qualm thus far is seeing yet another card I want to mull away in the first 7.
ELVISH VISIONARY
2cmc creature that replaces itself with another card. bread and butter of the "Animar plan" in this build. Without Animar it digs towards a threat for 2 and puts a body down for combat. could be worse. if your going infinite with peregrine drake and temur sabertooth, or a profitable earthcraft scenario, one of these, "spot draw" guys can pick up your whole library. other than that clones can choose them in a pinch and bouncers may target them for additional cards and Animar counters. They kind of feel like lottery tickets. They come cheap and you may win you a prize.
WALL OF BLOSSOMS
see elvish visionary
COILING ORACLE
I used to think alchemist's apprentice was better than this card and that I would only run coiling oracle if I included momir vig, simic visionary. After playing it I realize it's always an advantage and you'll always be glad to resolve it. land in play or nonland in hand. For UG It's fair enough
RAVEN FAMILIAR
It digs 3 cards deep to give you a 1 and makes sure at the very least your not depressed about your top deck.
the fact that it won't be around next turn does get aggravating from time to time. Every resource counts. I'm not gonna pull it out for a trinket mage just because it doesn't uber impress me, but at the moment I honestly am testing citanul woodreaders in it's spot.
SEA GATE ORACLE
Digs two deep draws 1, sticks around to do it again I wish it cost 1U for the situation where Animar is absent or for Animars fledgling counters, but i'm fine paying what it does cost.
MULLDRIFTER
#The Best We Have. Evoke it or don't if you can afford to cast it. Draws more cheaper than any other creature available.
SLITHERMUSE
Some people don't like it. They havn't cast it enough. Bouncing it sets it off to if you want to use it as an engine rather than an evoked spot draw. i'ts not for digging into the answer it's for rebuilding after the fail.
PRIME SPEAKER ZEGANA
I honestly didn't catch on to this soon enough. It was the missing holy grail of Animar creatures. If Animar has 2 counters and you cast zegana it resolves to draw 5 cards. The sky is the limit from there. tutorable by like every good restrictive tutor, green sun zenith, natural order, summoner's pact, time of need, imperial recruiter, fierce empath. If you have a tutor you have large draw access with zegana in your build. prime speaker zegana is definitely a card you mulligan away.
SPHINX OF UTHUUN
Before I discovered prime speaker zegana this was my big draw card and it significantly lacks the ability to be tutored by the majority of those I played. A fact or fiction on a sliding scale between 5UU and UU is probably a good thing. Being a 5/5 flyer that stands a good chance of flipping a clone can bring a surprising aggro shift to the game state. it just sort of happens.
KOZILEK, BUTCHER OF TRUTH
We need so much draw but we mull it all away, lol yes this guy has no place in hand 1 either. Super common tutor Target and a win condition in his own right. kozilek is purely terrifying to a guy with no removal, and his draw 4 may just bring him what it takes to protect himself. Eldrazi are scary and 4 cards for a potential 0 mana is enticing. I just thought he was an auto and I've been casting him like an M.V.P since day 1. Answer kozilek or die. I'ts as simple as that.
TUTOR
This deck is combo oriented. It needs certain things at certain times. Thus the tutor becomes a large part of the plan.
SUMMONER'S PACT
This card was on the list to test when primevial titan was playing his last rounds. he never made it to testing until I added prophet of kruphix. pact-ing for a tinderwall gave me a turn 2 kiki,jiki win against a mimeoplasm that had just tapped out for a sylvan library one time. I was still going to remove it for lack of targets until bounding krasis came about. once the krasis was in I switched deadeye navigator for temur sabertooth. I figured with two additional paths to victory in its tool box it was worth another go. Only time will tell. I usually keep this card in my opening hand, but if no win set up or the mana to support prophet shows up i'll throw it back.
WORLDLY TUTOR
Seeing this in your starting hand in a 1v1 scenario makes you giggle. It means you WILL be seeing an imperial recruiter. Unless your playing some guy like geist of st. traft or nin, the pain artist with a guaranteed flusterstorm or daze or some such counter in hand. Later in the game... WEll everyone likes feeling like they have end step plays. Even Animar players.
SYLVAN TUTOR
Even though a sorcery speed top deck isn't much of an answer to anything, the power of being able to use turn 1 mana to ensure you get imperial recruiter or kiki jiki is good enough to be here. phyrexian revoker and gilded drake are more than important enough to want a sylvan tutor too. If only wizards of the coast banned list allowed for painters servant I would tutor it more than either of those 2cmc guys I'm sure..
LIVING WISH
People are like WHAT! YOU CAN'T PLAY THAT! and I'm like yeah I can. look it up. It feels like cheating and it almost is.sylvan scrying your wish board or demonic tutor it for a creature. Either way It is the Bees Knees. keep this in the opening 7 search a land if you need to. Be aggressive with this tutor because it's not going to be ideal.
FABRICATE
This card was in when cloudstone curio was in, then they both came out. In hindsight fabricating for cloudstone curio was a mistake. I should have held it for phyrexian revoker, phyrexian metamorph, or duplicant. Now that Ancestral statue exists, and other tutors I play are not fetching it adequately, fabricate is back and it actually does something productive. not that searching artifact answer creatures isn.t productive, it's just not too spectacular for 2U. At that point you HOPE they're free. But ancestral statue can just change a game out of nowhere. That's worth 2U. If mana is tight I could see myself searching mana crypt. Wether or not to mulligan this is a personal decision. I believe I would but I'm not sure if I ever havn't.
WEIRD HARVEST
What to say... beware when staring down BUG or another deck that has snapcaster mage shenanigans. Beyond taht it wins out of nowhere and the fact that it's so cheap and puts the creatures in your hand so they can feel the effect of Animars cost reduction makes this a chord of calling and tooth and nail replacement. It almost always wins. It's so versatile for so little and you see it so rarely It's bad match ups arn't often relevant. definately mull it away though.
FIERCE EMPATH
A card in hand when you cast a creature is the M.O. a duplicant or ulamog, the infinte gyre that you may cast for free is a thing you need to tutor for now and then. The fact that imperial recruiter and summoner's pact fetch him makes him fit nicely at the end of combos and chains.
IMPERIAL RECRUITER
If this card a couple lands an accelerate, and hopefully a counterspell are in your opening hand you may very well win.
the process is as follows: cast Imperial recruiter searching for phyrexian metamorph, cast phyrexian metamorph choosing imperial recruiter searching for shrieking drake. Cast shrieking drake returning phyrexian metamorph to your hand. cast phyrexian metamorph having it come into play as a copy of shrieking drake and returning itself to your hand, repeat that 15 times loosing 30 life to phyrexian mana and Animar is a 21/21 If your opponent has a blocker you can use the 13th cast of phyrexian metamorph to copy imperial recruiter searching for fierce empath, cast fierce empath searching for either ulamog, the infinite gyre or duplicant and casting them to remove a blocker. (yet again woe is the lack of painter's servant)
The total cost with Animar at 2+counters is RU + 30 life with removal RUG +26 life
If Animar has no counters this cost an additional 3 and 4 life such is why mana vault and mana crypt are more useful than player would have you believe. Mana vault covers that just as easily as bond beetle does in Imperial Animar, but Mana vault also funds turn 2 bribery and other fast threats. This deck may very well have the best line up of fast high impact mana accelerates in my meta next to karn or prossh with lumberjack, vault, crypt, bloom tender and various twiddle bounce effects. this chain happens fast turn 3-4 and it happens often. If you have an Imperial recruiter, worldly tutor or sylvan tutor in your opening hand, and your opponent isn't sitting on tons of stuff this early, then it should be happening. The fact that it can happen out of nowhere once you untap with a naked animar and 3-4 mana sources, just because you're holding one of those three cards is largely regarded as stupid good.
There is another permutation of this that costs less life but more mana for the late game. you need a protected imperial recruiter cast, 2 counter on Animar, RRUUU, and more than 4 life to win
It goes: imperial recruiter targets phyrexian metamorph: R
phyrexian metamorph targets imperial recruiter targeting kiri-onna :2 life
kiri-onna targets phyrexian metamorph : U
phyrexian metamorph targets kiri-onna : 2 life
kiri-onna targeting imperial recruiter triggers phyrexian metamorph :U
imperial recriuter targeting peregrine drake :R
peregrine drake : U
Now for RRUUU and 4 life you have 5 untapped lands with phyrexian metamorph in hand and kiri-onna, imperial recruiter and peregrine drake in play and you just added 7 counters to Animar.
From here anything is possible.
Infinite mana loop:
phyrexian metamorph targeting kiri-onna : U
kiri-onna targeting peregrine drake triggering phyrexian metamorph: U
cast peregrine drake : U
end with 5 lands untapped phyrexian metamorph in hand and kiri-onna/ peregrine drake on field
repeat
At any time you can return imperial recruiter and start fierce empath-ing for eldrazi or deadeye navigator/ temur sabertooth for the complete lock.
That is why my 1v1 list runs both shrieking drake and kiri-onna whereas my multiplayer removes the shrieking drake. The life loss for the fast version leaves you far too prone. ulamog and big Animar or not. Though I have won a pod event under those conditions in the past.
BOUNCE
Bounce is a fundamental concept of most Animar builds. Because most creatures slotted into Animar stack triggers when they enter the battlefield, bouncing them allows you to get multiple uses out of those triggers. This keeps a quick tempo because you don't have to out wait summoning sickness on tap; activated abilities. because sac effects and tap; activated abilities don't work well with bounce abilities is yet another reason we've included very few in the build. obviously this level of synergy is largely irrelevant when deciding on cards like birds of paradise. some cards are just too good to reason out of a build. these creatures layer effectiveness into imperial recruiter and earthcraft and share a similarity with clones. Animar usually doesn't need many counter usually just 1-5 to do a sufficient job of reducing costs. Bounce guys just seem to get you there. These cards give cantrip creatures like sea gate oracle or wall of blossoms way more reach and can turn slithermuse into an engine. Whenever you cast prime speaker zegana sphinx of uthuun and kozilek, butcher of truth these cards and clones are what you want to see. Try to keep the colorless cost low and the colored cost to a lone mana when slotting these. They are necessary to the build but not worth investing heavily in.
SHRIEKING DRAKE
This card will infuriate you if you play a PIMP deck. Wizards is probably never going to foil this guy, but he's always going to be an iconic part of competitive Animar decks. Imperial recruiter 1v1 requires this in his toolbox hands down. Any bounce creature that returns itself for a single mana with Animars reduction can cast itself infinitely with earthcraft. This card does not target.
DREAM STALKER
Silly big toughness. Combos with earthcraft. Doesn't target. Curves well at 2cmc.
MAN-O'-WAR
We need 3 more of these in my opinion. A cheap potential removal option or plan furtherer. It's been an all star ever since I started playing magic and it still is. At 2U no other bouncer compares. combos with earthcraft. does target. In infinite loops with peregrine drake and temur sabertooth/deadeye navigator it wipes all the creatures off your opponents board so the infinite Animar you just made can walk right through to your opponents life total.
ANCESTRAL STATUE
The newest chapter in our story. when primeval titan was banned Animar lost an arm. literally. when Ancestral statue was born it grew a different arm back and even though it is't the mighty supporting pillar that prime time was, it's getting there. Hopefully the newer sets will give us a cheap colorless creature tutor that will make it even better. It bounces itself infinitely and returns a non land from your board to your hand when you're done. On a naked Animar this chain costs a whopping 10 colorless mana as opposed to 0 mana if Animar has 4 counters.. This is why an ancestral statue in the opening hand isnt as good as an imperial recruiter. I don't run chord of calling or survival of the fittest/Fauna shaman so fabricate and weird harvest are pretty much how I dig for it. The fact that those are slow and clunky tutors is really okay considering animar needs to be cast and set up to get ancestral statue going. It nets mana with earthcraft and that's actually relevant.
TEMUR SABERTOOTH
So obviously deadeye navigator is a more powerful card. And commander is a format for powerful cards and in a deck like Animar where creatures come cheap and we run bombs like eldrazi, surely six mana isn't too much to pay for a gem like deadeye navigator right? well it kind of is. you don't ramp into deadeye. after an opponent has decimated your creature board a couple times over you drop a deadeye and win with the scraps stone soup style. So if your coming at the card with a place and plan like that you can reason that temur sabertooth fits the bill better. curves better which is super important with stripmine and LD packs infesting my meta. It protects itself from the sort of decks I need it against (heavy removal). And the combo of choice, peregrine drake, works just as well with him as deadeye. I mulligan this card.
KIRI-ONNA
This card gets his slot to make imperial recruiter more valuable after the initial 4 turns. It's explained thoroughly above. It does target and just like man-o'-war he can unsummon your opponents guys. She has unique synergy with phyrexian metamorph. If kiri-onna is in play and you cast phyrexian metamorph choosing kiri-onna it comes into play as a spirit, bouncing itself,Or the creature of your choice+ kiri-onna. that's like a gestalt hoverguard sweepers. Having a lone U in its cost it does combo with earthcraft. I mulligan this card.
CLONE
This suite follows close in play to the bounce agents. If one of them is already on the field the clone can assume their function for the same cost. Even the ability to combo with earthcraft. most of them have "choose" in the rules text rather than "target". Once upon a time they would remove your opponents general if you played them. that made them better, but don't be fooled, they're still powerful enough to be fundamental inclusions. GGUU for prime speaker zegana drawing 5+cards is okay. doing it again for U, then again for U, then again for UU, is why you play Animar. Cloning a big draw guy then bouncing the clone is cheap too. Clones by nature are far more aggressive than bounce creatures though. A clone can Turn an opponents bomb into a useless card or a complete loss.
PHANTASMAL IMAGE
This is curved the best of all the clones. The clause about targeting is silly and usually only thwarts you when splinter twin is burning a hole in your hand. Phantasmal image does not target. It can copy any creature on the field. Even if your opponent has a lightning greaves on his vorinclex, voice of hunger, don't trip. You get a vorinclex too!
PHYREXIAN METAMORPH
M.V.P. paying a couple life and no mana for a clone is exactly what we want to do. The card art should be MIRACLE in giant letters falling from heaven. An essential part of imperial recruiter combos. Can copy any artifact or creature on the field. Pay 2 life play guilded lotus? Thanks Daretti, scraper savant.
CLONE
The namesake of the archetype Earns his spot due to his dependable 3U casting cost. easy as pie to cast with animar in play and comes down with mana open late game when your board position is non existent. your jin gitaxis, core auger isn't as much of an advantage when I have my own. Does not target. mulligan this card to be efficient but dont worry if you draw it on the mull. you'll get good value out of it.
DACK'S DUPLICATE
My favorite new clone. I didn't like it at first but I was really bein' biased based on its mana requirement. Months later after I read the card I fell in love. A clone with Haste. your bribery takes my ulamog, the infinite gyre, ulamog blows up my Animar, you pass I pay 2UR and proceed to annihilate your board. And dethrone is cool. I always have less life. 9 fetches, crypt, vault, and combo haters for opponents. I'm gonna get that +1+1 and kill that mirror blocker if we go that route. Amazing utility for an additional R. does not target. mulligan this card unless you're playing reanimator or something where you know you got turn 3-4 monsters in your face. If you draw it on the mull it's not horrible like an eldrazi but it isn't so ideal as clone when you're on a clock You wouldn't think the slight difference in cost would make that much of a difference but it really is about as awkward as duplicant is those early hands.
ANSWERS
CAUSTIC CATERPILLAR
CHAIN OF VAPOR
STUBBORN DENIAL
SWAN SONG
FLUSTERSTORM
MANA DRAIN
PLAXMANTA
SPELLSKITE
GILDED DRAKE
PHYREXIAN REVOKER
DUPLICANT
ULAMOG, THE INFINITE GYRE
COMBO
PESTERMITE
DECEIVER EXARCH
BOUNDING KRASIS
SPLINTER TWIN
KIKI-JIKI, MIRROR BREAKER
WIN MORE
PATTERN OF REBIRTH
DEFENSE OF THE HEART
BRIBERY
RELEVANT INTERACTIONS
imperial recruiter and animar with no counters can link into a chain for UR4 mana and an arbitrary amount of life to make animar lethal and duplicant out a blocker. keep and mind for each counter on animar the cost of UR4 is reduced. and for an additional G you can cast ulamog instead of duplicant.
Animar plus ancestral statue is a quick and cheap infinite animar.
animar plus earthcraft is a scary combination. it adds infinite mana to animar+ancestral statue, and allows animar to go infinite with both man'o'war and shrieking drake.
also animar, earthcraft, a mountain, and living wish will go infinite counters and colorless mana with grinning ignus
Living Wish also allows food chain to combo with misthollow griffin/ peregrine drake to combo with temur sabertooth/ deadeye navigator to combo with palinchron/ animar to combo with palinchron/ and can facilitate either half of a kiki jiki combo through goblin matron or breaching hipocamp. Living wish also creates a frustrating soft lock with vesuvan shapeshifter by accessing brine elemental.
peregrine drake and deadeye navigator can form the best win condition in the deck. even though the combo only produces mana and counters itself, it allows you near perfect utility by using hang around creatures to draw your library and remove your opponents entire field. Earthcraft is amazing here too.
the main show is kiki jiki mirror breaker or splinter twin and pestermiteor deceiver exarch. hands down the fastest win in the deck. every time I play I "kiki out" on 3rd turn atleast once and more than likely 2 or 3 games. if responses to this post are high, to elaborate on the ferocity of this combo, i'll chronicle about 20 hands that could win on second turn if they were amazing,(so you see how possible it would be on turn 3 with coverage), some with as few as 1 land, i'll also show you abt 20-30 hands that can kiki out on turn 3 without holding both kiki or pestermite, then i'll show some more elaborate plays that involve more than 2 nonland mana sources and a "big tutor" that kiki out on turn 3. some of which,(but very few), involving animar.
THE ACTUAL INTERACTIONS HERE ARE AS FOLLOWS;
kiki jiki + pestermite
kiki jiki +deceiver exarch
kiki jiki +zealous conscripts
kiki jiki +living wish for breaching hipocamp
splintertwin + pestermite
splintertwin + deceiver exarch
splintertwin + zealous conscripts
at any time bribery, pattern of rebirth, or defense of the heart can possibly provide a win condition
potential changes and recent substitutions are:
wild growth vs hardened scales
satyr hedonist vs somberwald sage
veniliion clique vs venser shaper savant
food chain vs survival of the fittestvs crucible of worlds vs artifact mutation
ulvenwald tracker vs cursecatcher vs flamekin harbinger vs trusted advisor
cards i'm leaning towards are:
daze
simic growth chamber
magus of the future
clever impersonator
fauna shaman
fabricate
consecrated sphynx
trinket mage
hardened scales
mystic remora
unified will
Any input will be appreciated