I think Stonecloaker is exactly what you are looking for, especially since you can always pay 2W to get a land if you got nothing else to do with your mana
Has anyone tested Selvala, Heart of the Wilds in Marath? You can respond to the trigger and put counters on the creatures that enters the battlefield so you can draw a card or just ensure that your creatures are larger as opponents creatures enter the battlefield. And the mana ability seems just absurd.
Opinions?
I think Animation module could be interesting because of its low casting cost, however it essentially enables "2: Put a 1/1 into play" and I don't know if that's strong enough to warrant an inclusion. If you run a planeswalker-heavy list, there's more of an argument, of course.
The difference is actually not that large and I think both will do the job equally well in most cases. Qasali Pridemage gives me something to do with my mana on turn two, so it curves into Marath and it can be used at instant speed which can also be important. I also like that it puts itself into the graveyard for recursion purposes and what finally made me do the switch is that it isn't stopped by Hushwing Gryff (which is in my list) and can also deal with Torpor Orb should it stop me from winning with Purphoros.
I used Myojin of Life's Web in my Animar list and I liked it a lot. It's just a very nice ensurance policy against wraths. Cast it for GGG when Animar is out, beat down with an indestructible 8/8 and if someone wipes the board just put your hand into play eot and continue.
In an all out combo list however it probably isn't worth it though, but if you like to win in the red zone I very much recommend it
I think he maybe isn't an auto-include card, but he's also not to be dismissed. I think comparing him to Teferi is very valid and it's hard to say which of the two would be better.
Teferi gives all our creatures flash, which is very good and he shuts down all kinds of stuff not only counterspells. On the other hand Surrak is much easier to cast, because the UUU of Teferi can often lock us out of blue spells for the rest of the round, he is much beefier which means he can ambush-kill most attackers (which is nice because we don't have too much removal) and the trampling part is very strong. I play Nylea for a while now in my version of the deck and giving Animar trample has been awesome because it overwhelms opponents incredibly fast.
Bottomline: In a straight up combo version Teferi is probably the better choice and if you don't play him, you probably shouldn't play Surrak. In a deck that tends to go into the red zone a lot he is probably very strong.
On the matter of Momir Vig and Edric: I've been playin both in the deck for ages and I wouldn't cut either. Edric is great at keeping the hand filled, especially in the early game where we can put those awkward Wood Elves and Coiling Oracles to got use. Momir Vig, while clunky at times, often faciliates wins. Casting Maelstrom Wanderer with him out is just game over. He's a nice tutor on a creature that can be used the turn he was played and even triggers upon casting which means he can find those answers to Torpor Orb and Hushwing Griffin.
I finally found time to post my own list with a decent explanation here.
One card I found is Planar Guide. I don't like that he exiles himself but he is very easy to tutor for and the W casting cost means that he's a very cheap land of Karametra.
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Opinions?
I think Animation module could be interesting because of its low casting cost, however it essentially enables "2: Put a 1/1 into play" and I don't know if that's strong enough to warrant an inclusion. If you run a planeswalker-heavy list, there's more of an argument, of course.
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In an all out combo list however it probably isn't worth it though, but if you like to win in the red zone I very much recommend it
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Teferi gives all our creatures flash, which is very good and he shuts down all kinds of stuff not only counterspells. On the other hand Surrak is much easier to cast, because the UUU of Teferi can often lock us out of blue spells for the rest of the round, he is much beefier which means he can ambush-kill most attackers (which is nice because we don't have too much removal) and the trampling part is very strong. I play Nylea for a while now in my version of the deck and giving Animar trample has been awesome because it overwhelms opponents incredibly fast.
Bottomline: In a straight up combo version Teferi is probably the better choice and if you don't play him, you probably shouldn't play Surrak. In a deck that tends to go into the red zone a lot he is probably very strong.
On the matter of Momir Vig and Edric: I've been playin both in the deck for ages and I wouldn't cut either. Edric is great at keeping the hand filled, especially in the early game where we can put those awkward Wood Elves and Coiling Oracles to got use.
Momir Vig, while clunky at times, often faciliates wins. Casting Maelstrom Wanderer with him out is just game over. He's a nice tutor on a creature that can be used the turn he was played and even triggers upon casting which means he can find those answers to Torpor Orb and Hushwing Griffin.
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One card I found is Planar Guide. I don't like that he exiles himself but he is very easy to tutor for and the W casting cost means that he's a very cheap land of Karametra.