I've been a huge fan and avid advocate of Yeva, Nature's Herald since forever, so i'm very happy to see a deck with her at the helm here!
Aside from several good suggestions above i find the avg. CMC in combination with the "lack" of early ramp to be rather akward. Birds of Paradise i great ramp and also a fantastic flying surprise blocker in this deck. The usual 1-drop Elves wouldn't hurt anyways.
There's not a ton of disruption in the deck either. I'd consider Song of the Dryads, Lignify and the new Return to Nature from WAR.
What [d]o you think about the new Vivien for a bit of redundancy?
I've just included Vivien, Champion of the Wilds in both my Ezuri, Renegade Leader as well as my Mirri, Weatherlight Duelist deck and i can say she's more than "just" redundancy. Her + can make her very hard to kill and her - is classic CA, so you won't be mad drawing into her when you already have your commander out. Definite suggestion on my behalf!
Brago, King Eternal has always been fantastic at using Planeswalkers multiple times a turn, but PWs with mainly - abilities but static effects of WAR are just perfect to be abused this way.
While playtesting the changes Teferi, Time Raveler appeared to be especially obnoxious when i was able to draw into him early. Bounce + CA + the static effect is just disgustingly good. Bonus points for 2/3 of the added PWs for being Sun Titan material!
WAR was one of the first sets in a while that came with more than a single card for this deck, so i just had to get me some toys. Return to Nature is a fantastic common and strictly better than the classic Naturalize, which already is a solid card itself.
Since i'm not too fond of too many unlimited tutors per deck, Vivien's Arkbow is the perfect fit of strength and randomness. Same goes for Vivien, Champion of the Wilds' - ability, while she doubles as a second Yeva, Nature's Herald.
ps. I'm looking to include Vivien's first iteration Vivien Reid as well, but her price is currently inflated due to her being standard legal.
Both this and Regrowth are fine, but first ask yourself if your green deck actually needs the recursion. Sometimes, going for redundancy and more draw power is the more effective option.
This.
Right now i have 5 Gx decks and i don't run Eternal Witness in any of them - for several reasons.
In a (Elf) tribal deck the number of slots for non-tribal creatures are scarce, some decks are so fast recursion is "too slow" or you're able to return/recast stuff directly with Reanimate/Karmic Guide/Snapcaster Mage/Mizzix's Mastery things.
I've been running it since day 1 in my Traxos, Scourge of Kroog deck and it outperformed my expectations.
You're going to take damage sooner or later in the game and unless you do so while being comboed off it comes in very handy. Plus, the combo off "limitation" isn't anything to worry about necessarily. In C you're unlikely to deal with combos anyway.
Not being KOS but potentially constant CA is really neat.
Having access to colored mana makes it a lot weaker ofc.
4WWBB total just to exile the first creature is aweful already. 10WWWWBBBB are required to flip it... 12WWWWWBBBBB ... to get a single one of the exiled creatures back at a time is an utter joke.
I mean, with infinite mana you can exile all creatures before it flips then return them one by one. That has to be one of the "fairest" and most Timmy-esque things to with infinite mana, though.
You know a card with activated abilities is bad, if Rings of Brighthearth doesn't really make it better.
R comes with several interesting commanders and has gotten a lot of love lately. G on the other hand doesn't come with a lot of necessarily interesting commanders but several fun and usually Timmy like commanders.
As for my faves:
R:
1. Neheb, Dreadhorde Champion - God, this card is just lovely. Card draw, mana generator, madness enabler, discard outlet, ... So much to explore.
2. Zada, Hedron Grinder - Absolutely love the unique interaction. A lot of fun to maneuver, yet a bit shakey at times.
3. Neheb, the Eternal - A lot more linear than the other iteration, still makes for some big splashy plays.
4. Grenzo, Havoc Raiser - Aggressive leader with CA and politics included.
5. Daretti, Scrap Savant - By far the best designed Precon PW. Though anyone might've seen "the Daretti deck" already.
6. Etali, Primal Storm - The Timmy option. Therefor not as viable in stronger Metas.
7. Ilharg, the Raze-Boar - Close to Sneak Attack in the Command Zone.
8. Feldon of the Third Path - One of the best back stories in MTG and a cool deck.
Tough choice. I'm a big fan of instant speed removal that's flexible, so both Anguished Unmaking and Utter End are certainly top picks. Despark vs. Vindicate is a close one. One is more limited yet timely flexible and exiles, the other one may only destroy at sorcery speed but can hit lands as the only one of the bunch. Due to a very gy heavy meta i'd give it to Despark in the end.
Tbh, i always found Unmake to be very unconvincing. Only hits one card type, isn't necessarily mana light and can be akward 3C and up. The fact that it exiles at instant speed doesn't really make up for its downsides. There are several W and B cards i'd pick over it.
So, usually i'm buying singles over sealed product, but today i got tempted to buy 2 packs of WAR...
One of them had Liliana, Dreadhorde General, the other Teferi, Time Raveler. Quite a catch for 6€.
Conceding isn't an easy topic to discuss. I'd split the discussion in (at least) 3 subtopic:
1. Timing:
Whenever possible, i'm a 100% pro "concede at sorcery speed", with the few exceptions being very drawn out combo offs that are obvious to succeed, infinite turns etc. This way several possible feel bads can be avoided.
2. Reasoning:
Yes, the usual instances of losing may be 0 life, 10 poison counters, drawing from an empty library and 21 commander damage, but i don't mind (others) conceeding, if it is either highly unlikely to turn things around or could be as unpleasant/drawn out as it gets.
In most cases i won't sit through an ulted Narset Transcendent, Jace, Architect of Thoughts' -8, an enormous Villainous Wealth or Primal Surge. Chances are, we already lost, just not yet, if anyone resolves any of them and i don't need to waste my time sitting through that.
3. Fairness:
If anyone wants to scoop before the game is won/lost allegedly, i expect them to do so in a fair fashion. Denying triggers/cast from others libraries/hands/graveyards will not go well with me and i will try my best to convince the rest of the table to proceed as if that spite scoop never happened - even if that requires changing targets and/or attacks.
Maybe one or 2 players are focusing on us to 'have revenge' for past games, and that is ok
I'd disagree and consider this an epitome of bad sportsmanship. Holding grudges over matches warps gameplay, hence, may obliterate any fun that could've come out of a normal game.
Hello there, neighbor!
Aside from several good suggestions above i find the avg. CMC in combination with the "lack" of early ramp to be rather akward. Birds of Paradise i great ramp and also a fantastic flying surprise blocker in this deck. The usual 1-drop Elves wouldn't hurt anyways.
There's not a ton of disruption in the deck either. I'd consider Song of the Dryads, Lignify and the new Return to Nature from WAR.
Other than these it's a solid looking deck. I've just included Vivien, Champion of the Wilds in both my Ezuri, Renegade Leader as well as my Mirri, Weatherlight Duelist deck and i can say she's more than "just" redundancy. Her + can make her very hard to kill and her - is classic CA, so you won't be mad drawing into her when you already have your commander out. Definite suggestion on my behalf!
+ Kasmina, Enigmatic Mentor
+ Narset, Parter of Veils
+ Teferi, Time Raveler
Out:
- Deep Freeze
- Ghostly Flicker
- Gideon's Intervention
Brago, King Eternal has always been fantastic at using Planeswalkers multiple times a turn, but PWs with mainly - abilities but static effects of WAR are just perfect to be abused this way.
While playtesting the changes Teferi, Time Raveler appeared to be especially obnoxious when i was able to draw into him early. Bounce + CA + the static effect is just disgustingly good. Bonus points for 2/3 of the added PWs for being Sun Titan material!
+ Return to Nature
+ Vivien's Arkbow
+ Vivien, Champion of the Wilds
Out:
- Caged Sun
- Creeping Renaissance
- Vanquisher's Banner
WAR was one of the first sets in a while that came with more than a single card for this deck, so i just had to get me some toys. Return to Nature is a fantastic common and strictly better than the classic Naturalize, which already is a solid card itself.
Since i'm not too fond of too many unlimited tutors per deck, Vivien's Arkbow is the perfect fit of strength and randomness. Same goes for Vivien, Champion of the Wilds' - ability, while she doubles as a second Yeva, Nature's Herald.
ps. I'm looking to include Vivien's first iteration Vivien Reid as well, but her price is currently inflated due to her being standard legal.
Right now i have 5 Gx decks and i don't run Eternal Witness in any of them - for several reasons.
In a (Elf) tribal deck the number of slots for non-tribal creatures are scarce, some decks are so fast recursion is "too slow" or you're able to return/recast stuff directly with Reanimate/Karmic Guide/Snapcaster Mage/Mizzix's Mastery things.
The card is obviously very good and gets a lot better the more good stuff (bleh) a deck is. Personally i prefer Noxious Revival for its multi-utility and would only run it in decks, that can abuse the hell out of it, like Meren of Clan Nel Toth, Saffi Eriksdotter, Yeva, Nature's Herald, Prime Speaker Vannifar and Roon of the Hidden Realm especially.
You're going to take damage sooner or later in the game and unless you do so while being comboed off it comes in very handy. Plus, the combo off "limitation" isn't anything to worry about necessarily. In C you're unlikely to deal with combos anyway.
Not being KOS but potentially constant CA is really neat.
Having access to colored mana makes it a lot weaker ofc.
4WWBB total just to exile the first creature is aweful already.
10WWWWBBBB are required to flip it...
12WWWWWBBBBB ... to get a single one of the exiled creatures back at a time is an utter joke.
I mean, with infinite mana you can exile all creatures before it flips then return them one by one. That has to be one of the "fairest" and most Timmy-esque things to with infinite mana, though.
You know a card with activated abilities is bad, if Rings of Brighthearth doesn't really make it better.
Still, not very likely. Agreed.
As for my faves:
R:
1. Neheb, Dreadhorde Champion - God, this card is just lovely. Card draw, mana generator, madness enabler, discard outlet, ... So much to explore.
2. Zada, Hedron Grinder - Absolutely love the unique interaction. A lot of fun to maneuver, yet a bit shakey at times.
3. Neheb, the Eternal - A lot more linear than the other iteration, still makes for some big splashy plays.
4. Grenzo, Havoc Raiser - Aggressive leader with CA and politics included.
5. Daretti, Scrap Savant - By far the best designed Precon PW. Though anyone might've seen "the Daretti deck" already.
6. Etali, Primal Storm - The Timmy option. Therefor not as viable in stronger Metas.
7. Ilharg, the Raze-Boar - Close to Sneak Attack in the Command Zone.
8. Feldon of the Third Path - One of the best back stories in MTG and a cool deck.
G:
1. Yeva, Nature's Herald - Makes G a lot stronger and more flexible. A lot of fun to maneuver and play against, too.
2. Nissa, Vastwood Seer|Nissa, Sage Animist - Has CA written all over it. Seen a lot of creative decks around her.
3. Surrak, the Hunt Caller - Haste is such a vital keyword for G! Meanest deck i've ever faced with him was ramp hard Eldrazi.
4. Reki, the History of Kamigawa - Why play one of the legends, when you can play all of them?
5. Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma - Again, Timmy option. But a strong one at that.
Happy brewin'!
2. Utter End
3. Despark
4. Vindicate
5. Mortify
...
N. Unmake
Tough choice. I'm a big fan of instant speed removal that's flexible, so both Anguished Unmaking and Utter End are certainly top picks. Despark vs. Vindicate is a close one. One is more limited yet timely flexible and exiles, the other one may only destroy at sorcery speed but can hit lands as the only one of the bunch. Due to a very gy heavy meta i'd give it to Despark in the end.
Tbh, i always found Unmake to be very unconvincing. Only hits one card type, isn't necessarily mana light and can be akward 3C and up. The fact that it exiles at instant speed doesn't really make up for its downsides. There are several W and B cards i'd pick over it.
Top cards on Cardmarket by 30th April 2019 00:00
01. Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God ~14,00€
02. Liliana, Dreadhorde General ~12,00€
03. Gideon Blackblade ~11,00€
04. Teferi, Time Raveler ~8,00€
05. God-Eternal Kefnet ~6,00€
06. Ilharg, the Raze-Boar ~5,50€
07. Blast Zone ~5,00€
08. Finale of Devastation ~5,00€
09. Karn, the Great Creator ~5,00€
10. God-Eternal Rhonas ~4,50€
Considering the other 254 cards in the set and 3,00€ per pack in my LGS it's no set to expect a ton off financially - at the moment at least.
One of them had Liliana, Dreadhorde General, the other Teferi, Time Raveler. Quite a catch for 6€.
The rest was rather bland, aside from Kaya's Ghostform for Gonti, Lord of Luxury, Samut's Sprint for Zada, Hedron Grinder, maybe Kasmina's Transmutation for Brago, King Eternal and an Emergence Zone i have no idea where to plug it in (yet).
1. Timing:
Whenever possible, i'm a 100% pro "concede at sorcery speed", with the few exceptions being very drawn out combo offs that are obvious to succeed, infinite turns etc. This way several possible feel bads can be avoided.
2. Reasoning:
Yes, the usual instances of losing may be 0 life, 10 poison counters, drawing from an empty library and 21 commander damage, but i don't mind (others) conceeding, if it is either highly unlikely to turn things around or could be as unpleasant/drawn out as it gets.
In most cases i won't sit through an ulted Narset Transcendent, Jace, Architect of Thoughts' -8, an enormous Villainous Wealth or Primal Surge. Chances are, we already lost, just not yet, if anyone resolves any of them and i don't need to waste my time sitting through that.
3. Fairness:
If anyone wants to scoop before the game is won/lost allegedly, i expect them to do so in a fair fashion. Denying triggers/cast from others libraries/hands/graveyards will not go well with me and i will try my best to convince the rest of the table to proceed as if that spite scoop never happened - even if that requires changing targets and/or attacks. I'd disagree and consider this an epitome of bad sportsmanship. Holding grudges over matches warps gameplay, hence, may obliterate any fun that could've come out of a normal game.
The other route would be going full blown creature hate. I'm currently building a creatureless Keranos, God of the Storms deck of that kind, that utilizes Aether Flash, Dingus Staff, Dream Tides, Overburden, Repercussion, Smoke and about every viable red board wipe. If you want to be an utter d*ck, add in Burning Sands, too.