I personally think these last few sets have been amazing for Yeva as well, though my decks leans heavily on the more competitive side.
M20: WOW, Veil of Summer gives us Protection from counters from any source, a cantrip, and hexproof from UB on all permanents/yourself. Shared Summons gives us answers and combos at instant speed.
C19: Ohran Frostfang is a hell of a card, but unfortunately I couldn't make it work. We tend to want our card advantage at instant speed and tapping out makes our Chord of Calling weaker and east to telegraph. Voice of Many is a little to expensive for the uncertainty, I still prefer Generous Patron for this role.
ELD: Oakhame Adversary has been amazing and typically a 2-drop elf in most metas, so that went straight in. Kenrith's Transformation replaced my Lignify, though I believe both should be run alongside each other, so I am still having trouple figuring out a cut for that.
I believe a deck's core build can definitely be finished. New cards should only be considered if they improve upon every facet of the card it would be replacing without deviating from the deck's core strategy. So yes, I believe a deck can be finished.
Great set review! I agree with with everything, except, maybe Vivien's Arkbow. It's pretty great when you need steam but are mana flooded. Still a maybe, since 2 games with it isn't an accurate enough way of gauging its practicability.
Bond of Flourishing: You were right about this one, I tested it out and twice, it made me tuck two tutors. That really sucked.
Emergence Zone: This one has been pretty phenomenal, playing cards like Eldritch Evolution at instant speed really makes for some crazy interactions. I've also used it to combo off like 5 times. Once you go infinite, you can literally do anything at any time, since you can access Crop Rotation out of the deck and unlock that final door for a definitive win.
I do really like this deck, and I hope you are having good luck with it! Make sure to keep us up to date. -Iansisle, 12/07/18
Wow, what an incredible journey it's been since I wrote on here and about a year since I created my Yeva deck, which I owe all the credit to you, dude! Thank you so so so much!
Updates: Well I managed to accomplish what my primary objective was, which was to move Yeva up from being a Mid Power tier general to a High Power tier general. The deck can efficiently win on turns 4-5 at instant speed by:
1. Killing a table with Shaman of Forgotten Ways (we can even remove summoning sickness at instant speed)
3. Wipe all lands, artifacts, planeswalkers, enchantments, and creatures asymmetrically. Doesn't outright win the game, but usually all you need to close.
Generous Patron has still performed marvelously as well as Earthcraft (really hoping you reconsider those two). Genesis Hydra is a beast that can essentially play artifacts and enchantments at instant speed once you hit infinite mana, so I would consider giving this one a try as well, its effect can't be countered btw since it's on cast.
I am hopelessly addicted to playing this deck and it's thanks to you I was able to create it, so thanks a lot and hope you like the route my deck took, Iansisle!
No worries! It's nice to know someone is reading that insane pile of words out front. I went ahead and updated the introduction to include your deck!
Oh, I more than read them, I absorbed and studied it intensely. It was incredibly well written and extremely helpful, so thank you for taking the time to make this post. I know how difficult it was to get it all out there and know it was purely a labor of love makes me appreciate it that much more. I found myself coming back it to a million times while brewing. Once again thank you so much for including me in your intro paragraph, it's a huge honor!
A legitimate question, and I probably should have addressed it! I do think Generous Patron has a role in a budget or elf-centric build of Yeva, but I'm not nearly as bullish on it as you are, and I don't think I'd ever include it in my main list. It's fail case -- a mediocre elven body distributing +1/+1 counters to my creatures -- is pretty devastating, and that case is decided by the opponent. If they don't play any creatures, it's useless. Now, it's true a majority of the time your opponents will have creatures, especially in EDH, but I feel there are other, more reliable forms of card draw. Elvish Visionary, for example, provides half the card advantage guaranteed, without a fail case scenario, for one less mana. If it's working for you, I'm glad to hear! One of these times when I do a budget league I'll give it a test out and see if it performs better than my expectations.
I guess I see your point, I just felt as though Yeva emulates blue really well and getting draw from wherever and as cost efficiently as possible was key. In my deck it's always been a 3 for 3 (Draw 2; Elf Body), that could manipulated further with Earthcraft effects. As for Earthcraft itself, I implore you to at LEAST try it. It doesn't just turn your creatures into regular dorks, they're dorks with haste effectively giving you an Emerald Medallion, but with an untap effect you can keep vomiting your hand with little to no recourse. Especially if you do it with a Seedborn Muse, which in itself becomes a dork.
@Mirrislegend: I am 100% aware of Selvala Brostorm. The purpose of the deck as I've explicitly mentioned on both the guide and in my previous comment is to make the most optimized Yeva deck within her limitations. This is the direction the deck took and it's worked out marvelously well, however I am well aware that in the face of both Selvala and Yisan she is jank as hell, but then again they're in a whole different league where Breakfast Hulk and Paradox Sisay are your biggest threats.
So yes, I agree, given that context Yeva is hella bad. But take a look at the guide, it fleshes out every card choice and clarifies the misconception of it trying to do everything. Not only would I really appreciate it, you might see something you didn't before.
However, I do believe I am not perfect, so I'm willing to hear what you'd do to change it for the better.
Thank you! Thank you so much! You validating my deck really puts the cherry on top of an already glorious day. I would be totally honored to be put on your page as this is the first thing you get when googling for a competitive Yeva deck and you laid the groundwork for this thing I've worked so many sleepless nights on. You were onto something, dude, you really were thanks again.
As for the deck, it consistently closes out a game between T5-7, which is perfectly fine within Yeva's power level as the General. So if you're being threatened with a kill at T4 you might be up against a Competitive deck where Yeva is definitely outclassed. Which is something I am actually trying to get reevaluated. Yeva is currently considered a Mid Power tier General, so I created my list in defiance of that classification as I believe she can play with the Higher Power tiered generals. So, once I am perfectly happy with the list I can let Shaper know and he'll submit it for review. It'll probably after the upcoming Ravnica set, cause I want to see what Simic and Gruul will bring us Yeva mains :). Below is a link to the tier list created by arguably the best cEDH players known on the web, check their stuff out it really helped me optimized my deck.
As for the speed, it's quite great given all the value cards in it.
Which, by the way, why didn't you consider Generous Patron? When you neglected to even mention it in your Battlebond review I cried inside a bit. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!! It's an Instant-speed Divination that leaves an Elf body (Marwyn makes it feel even better since you can either draw 2 and buff once or buff her twice and still draw one). Sorry for the mini-rant, I legit bought two boosters boxes to get her lol.
The first 1-3 turns you do a neat amount of sorcery speed ramping/drawing and before you hit T4 you're looking to sneak in Yeva with a mana piece. T5 you're waiting to either interact with someone trying to win via: Warping Wail, Nature's Claim, Reclamation Sage, and Beast Within. OR you're legit trying to push a win. The unique thing I love about the deck that is that you can respond to something threatening by winning.
As for Temur Sabertooth, he is an all-star and as you mentioned, a bit of a lynchpin in the deck. Had I written my response this morning I would've told you that my only recourse for such a situation where he was unavailable would have been to use Cloudstone Curio in his place. It's less reliable given the difficulty of consistently getting artifacts out of a green deck. I would have also said to abuse Omnath, Locus of Mana w/ Selvala, Heart of the Wilds along with Quest for Renewal, Seedborn Muse, or one of the many untappers the deck has that could be repeated enough to make A LOT of mana, not infinite, but usually enough to cripple the table severely or look for Cloudstone Curio. Thankfully, I had been in communication with Shaper, the creator of what's arguably THEE best Yisan deck online and he helped me refine the deck. One of the changes we made was Staff of Domination, which effectively does more than Temur does since it only requires us that we sneak in a dork that produces 5 mana and we win without needing Great of Guardian or Wirewood Symbiote . The only downside being that Staff of Domination wins on my turn, which is a change of pace and I also have to draw into it but that could be set up with enough draw with Regal Force. So in the event where the cat is gone we have 2 forms of back up and if I feel like I need more in the future, I will find space for an Umbral Mantle. Yeva retroactively acts as our Concordant Crossroads, so it feels rather hurtful to have it sit in our hand until I need it and the idea of giving my opponents' dorks that might have Summoning Sickness haste doesn't sound too promising.
Argothian Elder has been in and out of the deck so many times. I find his pieces inconsistent, but since I just added the Arbor Elf package(Utopia Sprawl/Wild Growth), I might retest him, but I still feel super iffy about Maze of Ith.
I heavily recommend Earthcraft, Great Oak Guardian, Ambush Commander, and Generous Patron. These have out proven themselves time and time again.
It's been about 9 months now since I started my journey brewing Yeva and I would like to thank you so much for providing me with much-needed insight during the development stages of my Yeva deck. I hope you like my version as it wouldn't have come to fruition without your post. Here's a link to mine, I went into as much depth as possible to explain my different choice of cards.
M20: WOW, Veil of Summer gives us Protection from counters from any source, a cantrip, and hexproof from UB on all permanents/yourself. Shared Summons gives us answers and combos at instant speed.
C19: Ohran Frostfang is a hell of a card, but unfortunately I couldn't make it work. We tend to want our card advantage at instant speed and tapping out makes our Chord of Calling weaker and east to telegraph. Voice of Many is a little to expensive for the uncertainty, I still prefer Generous Patron for this role.
ELD: Oakhame Adversary has been amazing and typically a 2-drop elf in most metas, so that went straight in. Kenrith's Transformation replaced my Lignify, though I believe both should be run alongside each other, so I am still having trouple figuring out a cut for that.
2019 was Yeva's year imo.
Bond of Flourishing: You were right about this one, I tested it out and twice, it made me tuck two tutors. That really sucked.
Emergence Zone: This one has been pretty phenomenal, playing cards like Eldritch Evolution at instant speed really makes for some crazy interactions. I've also used it to combo off like 5 times. Once you go infinite, you can literally do anything at any time, since you can access Crop Rotation out of the deck and unlock that final door for a definitive win.
Happy brewing! I can't wait for Modern Horizon.
Finale of Devastation is insanely good and going straight into my version as well. Any Tutor to the field is worth it.
What do you think of Emergence Zone? You can pull off some crazy shenanigans with it.
Bond of Flourishing seems like another awesome card to generate card advantage in our color.
Wow, what an incredible journey it's been since I wrote on here and about a year since I created my Yeva deck, which I owe all the credit to you, dude! Thank you so so so much!
Updates: Well I managed to accomplish what my primary objective was, which was to move Yeva up from being a Mid Power tier general to a High Power tier general. The deck can efficiently win on turns 4-5 at instant speed by:
1. Killing a table with Shaman of Forgotten Ways (we can even remove summoning sickness at instant speed)
2. Mill the table by looping Geier Reach Sanitarium's effect. Noxious Revival loops keep us from milling out.
3. Wipe all lands, artifacts, planeswalkers, enchantments, and creatures asymmetrically. Doesn't outright win the game, but usually all you need to close.
Generous Patron has still performed marvelously as well as Earthcraft (really hoping you reconsider those two). Genesis Hydra is a beast that can essentially play artifacts and enchantments at instant speed once you hit infinite mana, so I would consider giving this one a try as well, its effect can't be countered btw since it's on cast.
I am hopelessly addicted to playing this deck and it's thanks to you I was able to create it, so thanks a lot and hope you like the route my deck took, Iansisle!
Oh, I more than read them, I absorbed and studied it intensely. It was incredibly well written and extremely helpful, so thank you for taking the time to make this post. I know how difficult it was to get it all out there and know it was purely a labor of love makes me appreciate it that much more. I found myself coming back it to a million times while brewing. Once again thank you so much for including me in your intro paragraph, it's a huge honor!
I guess I see your point, I just felt as though Yeva emulates blue really well and getting draw from wherever and as cost efficiently as possible was key. In my deck it's always been a 3 for 3 (Draw 2; Elf Body), that could manipulated further with Earthcraft effects. As for Earthcraft itself, I implore you to at LEAST try it. It doesn't just turn your creatures into regular dorks, they're dorks with haste effectively giving you an Emerald Medallion, but with an untap effect you can keep vomiting your hand with little to no recourse. Especially if you do it with a Seedborn Muse, which in itself becomes a dork.
So yes, I agree, given that context Yeva is hella bad. But take a look at the guide, it fleshes out every card choice and clarifies the misconception of it trying to do everything. Not only would I really appreciate it, you might see something you didn't before.
However, I do believe I am not perfect, so I'm willing to hear what you'd do to change it for the better.
As for the deck, it consistently closes out a game between T5-7, which is perfectly fine within Yeva's power level as the General. So if you're being threatened with a kill at T4 you might be up against a Competitive deck where Yeva is definitely outclassed. Which is something I am actually trying to get reevaluated. Yeva is currently considered a Mid Power tier General, so I created my list in defiance of that classification as I believe she can play with the Higher Power tiered generals. So, once I am perfectly happy with the list I can let Shaper know and he'll submit it for review. It'll probably after the upcoming Ravnica set, cause I want to see what Simic and Gruul will bring us Yeva mains :). Below is a link to the tier list created by arguably the best cEDH players known on the web, check their stuff out it really helped me optimized my deck.
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/list-multiplayer-edh-generals-by-tier/
As for the speed, it's quite great given all the value cards in it.
Which, by the way, why didn't you consider Generous Patron? When you neglected to even mention it in your Battlebond review I cried inside a bit. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!! It's an Instant-speed Divination that leaves an Elf body (Marwyn makes it feel even better since you can either draw 2 and buff once or buff her twice and still draw one). Sorry for the mini-rant, I legit bought two boosters boxes to get her lol.
The first 1-3 turns you do a neat amount of sorcery speed ramping/drawing and before you hit T4 you're looking to sneak in Yeva with a mana piece. T5 you're waiting to either interact with someone trying to win via: Warping Wail, Nature's Claim, Reclamation Sage, and Beast Within. OR you're legit trying to push a win. The unique thing I love about the deck that is that you can respond to something threatening by winning.
As for Temur Sabertooth, he is an all-star and as you mentioned, a bit of a lynchpin in the deck. Had I written my response this morning I would've told you that my only recourse for such a situation where he was unavailable would have been to use Cloudstone Curio in his place. It's less reliable given the difficulty of consistently getting artifacts out of a green deck. I would have also said to abuse Omnath, Locus of Mana w/ Selvala, Heart of the Wilds along with Quest for Renewal, Seedborn Muse, or one of the many untappers the deck has that could be repeated enough to make A LOT of mana, not infinite, but usually enough to cripple the table severely or look for Cloudstone Curio. Thankfully, I had been in communication with Shaper, the creator of what's arguably THEE best Yisan deck online and he helped me refine the deck. One of the changes we made was Staff of Domination, which effectively does more than Temur does since it only requires us that we sneak in a dork that produces 5 mana and we win without needing Great of Guardian or Wirewood Symbiote . The only downside being that Staff of Domination wins on my turn, which is a change of pace and I also have to draw into it but that could be set up with enough draw with Regal Force. So in the event where the cat is gone we have 2 forms of back up and if I feel like I need more in the future, I will find space for an Umbral Mantle. Yeva retroactively acts as our Concordant Crossroads, so it feels rather hurtful to have it sit in our hand until I need it and the idea of giving my opponents' dorks that might have Summoning Sickness haste doesn't sound too promising.
Argothian Elder has been in and out of the deck so many times. I find his pieces inconsistent, but since I just added the Arbor Elf package(Utopia Sprawl/Wild Growth), I might retest him, but I still feel super iffy about Maze of Ith.
I heavily recommend Earthcraft, Great Oak Guardian, Ambush Commander, and Generous Patron. These have out proven themselves time and time again.
https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/yeva-draw-grow/