I have another version of this Shirei deck but tended to faulter and not beable to win after a certain point in the game. After some thinking shortly after Scars of Mirrodin came out It seemed that Poison was a viable way to win with 1/X dudes. Thus build is oriented toward the deadly art of poisoning. It has less random built in utility answers cards, discard, and mass removal but it makes up for it by being able to kill faster. There is a heavier artifact theme, proliferate, card draw, and a potential Magistrate's Scepter lock. Most people treat Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker as a joke deck until they die to it.
I left out Ichorclaw Myr due to space and his potential to not come back via Shirei.
I will have to make room for Whispering Specter when New Phyrexia comes out.
again I am sure there are more but this is all I can think of at this time.
Other Notes:
- You basically want to get Shirei set up with Lightning Greaves or Darksteel Plate or both and then you are sitting pretty good.
- adding poison to the deck made cut a lot of the disruption the regular version of the deck had, as well as more draw spells, and sweepers. The sweepers were actually really bad most of the time because I had more to lose than everyone else.
- Reiver Demon was really good but he got cut.
General Overview:
Rhys was my first EDH back in May of 2008 and although I have made many decks he is still my favorite. It plays really well and can hold it's own in 1 on 1 and multi-player. The only global pumps I run do something else, I don't like cards like glorious/gaea's anthem. The current build is a little light on removal because I have found I am usually the aggressive deck and the removal just sits in my hand dead.
Removal for creatures is all but gone, aside from Elspeth Tirel if you can even count that. The deck pumps out so many creatures other players are the ones who want to sweep the board.
The deck seems to want big mana fast so alot of the changes reflect that with the Citanul Hierophants and Rofellos (both of which keep bouncing in and out of the deck), and the Joraga Treespeaker.
The hardest decision was Joraga Treespeaker or Nemata, Grove Guardian. With Green Sun's Zenith now in the deck you can turn 2 Zenith for the Treespeaker and level it up turn 3 without missing a beat. Plus the treespeaker can make all my elf tokens tap for 2 mana should that ever happen and I can grab him with Skyshroud Poacher so he won.
The Primal Growth replaced Journey of Discovery. Heads or tails on which is better. It all depends on what is happening in the game.
[card]Gaea's Cradle
Beastmaster Ascension
Doubling Season
Glare of Subdual
Earthcraft
Slate of Ancestry
Skullclamp
Helm of Possession
Seedborn Muse
Skyshroud Poacher
Citanul Hierophants
[/card]
Game Play:
The basic Strategy is to play Rhys, the Redeemed turn one, except if you have Joraga Treespeaker in your opener. Turn 1 Joraga Treespeaker gets you an active Rhys and at least 5 mana turn on Turn 3. From there you can just start making tokens with Rhys or ramp and hold on to your cards for awhile.
Other than that that deck likes big mana and lots of creatures. It tends to recover pretty fast after a wrath and after a while Rhys just becomes a win more card so you don't care when people try really hard to deal with him.
Other Notes:
Restock could just as well be Praetor's Counsel, the deck has pretty must strayed away from using the graveyard as a resource except for Restock, Sun Titan, and Marshal's Anthem. The green and white reanimate cards sometimes never had a target and Eternal Witness was subpar except for a few occasions.
I have really been liking Nim Deathmantle and have it in most of my decks. With or without some sac outlets it might be good.
Kozilek's Predator is pretty new to the deck after being out a while and so far it has been ok.
The card closest to the chopping black is proably Ajani Goldmane because he likes to hide in the deck and the few times I have played him he has been lackluster
I've never pulled it off but I really want to have a bunch of tokens out, Mirror Entity, and Myr Battlesphere and then just dome the crap out of someone.
1 Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker
Creatures (29)
Artifact Creatures
1 Coretapper
1 Dross Scorpion
1 Junk Diver
1 Kuldotha Forge Master
1 Mindless Automaton
1 Myr Retriever
1 Necropede
1 Pentavus
1 Pilgrim's Eye
1 Plague Myr
1 Scarecrone
1 Triskelavus
1 Triskelion
1 Vector Asp
1 Workhorse
1 Abyssal Gatekeeper
1 Apprentice Necromancer
1 Big Game Hunter
1 Bone Shredder
1 Butcher of Malakir
1 Cadaver Imp
1 Flesh-Eater Imp
1 Hell's Caretaker
1 Marsh Flitter
1 Phyrexian Plaguelord
1 Plague Stinger
1 Priest of Yawgmoth
1 Soldevi Adnate
1 Whispering Specter
Tutors
1 Beseech the Queen
1 Demonic Collusion
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Diabolic Intent
1 Diabolic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Ambition’s Cost
1 Beacon of Unrest
1 Profane Command
1 Promise of Power
Enchantments (1)
1 Phyrexian Arena
Artifacts (23)
1 Ashnod's Altar
1 Contagion Clasp
1 Contagion Engine
1 Darksteel Plate
1 Decimator Web
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Expedition Map
1 Genesis Chamber
1 Helm of Possession
1 Lightning Coils
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Lux Cannon
1 Magistrate's Scepter
1 Mortarpod
1 Phyrexian Altar
1 Scroll Rack
1 Skeleton Shard
1 Skullclamp
1 Sol Ring
1 Spine of Ish Sah
1 Thornbite Staff
1 Throne of Geth
1 Thousand-Year Elixir
1 Liliana Vess
Lands (35)
Basic
18 Swamp
1 Blinkmoth Nexus
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Deserted Temple
1 Dust Bowl
1 High Market
1 Inkmoth Nexus
1 Miren, the Moaning Well
1 Phyrexia's Core
1 Phyrexian Tower
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Shizo, Death's Storehouse
1 Spawning Pool
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Vesuva
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Winding Canyons
Basic land of choice for this deck because it matters:
Foil of Course
Things that Poison:
I left out Ichorclaw Myr due to space and his potential to not come back via Shirei.
I will have to make room for Whispering Specter when New Phyrexia comes out.
Cards that Aid in Poisoning:
Combo's:
* Proliferate + Magistrate's Scepter = Infinite Turns
* Coretapper + Magistrate's Scepter = Infinite Turns
* Thronbite Staff + Hell's Caretaker on your upkeep = Infinte enters the battlefield triggers, infinite sacrafices, and infinite damge via a Triskelion
* Thronbite Staff + Soldevi Adnate/Priest of Yawgmoth = a lot of black mana every players turn due to Shirei's Ability
* Thornbite Staff + Poison Guy = Poisned Opponent
* Mortarpod + Poison guy = Poisoned Opponent
* Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker + Mindless Automaton/Scarecrone = Draw extra cards every turn
* Throne of Geth + Dross Scorpion = a lot of proliferating every players turn due to Shirei's ability.
- Throne of Geth + Workhorse + Pentavus/Triskelavus + Dross Scorpion = infinite Proliferate or Infinite counters on something.
* Dust bowl + animated Inkmoth Nexus/Blinkmoth Nexus/Spawning Pool + Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker = never lose the land you sac to blow up a land.
- Shirei's Oracle text has changed to "you may return that card to the battlefield" instead of "you may return that creature card to the battlefield"
* Triskelion + Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker + Sac Outlet = 2 Damage to something/someone every players turn.
* Hell's Caretaker + Bone Shredder = Bone Shredder
- or Hell's Caretaker + Bone Shredder = return Big Game Hunter and Bone Shredder at the beginning of the end step. Setting up Hell's Caretaker + Big Game Hunter = return Bone Shredder and Big Game Hunter at the beginning of the end step.
I'm sure there are more but these are what I can think of right now.
other Synergies:
- Soldevi Adnate/Priest of Yawgmoth are really good since you never really lose your guys and help you make mana.
- Junk Diver, Myr Retriever, Cadaver Imp are really helpful for getting stuff back into the in play and in the graveyard rotation. Sometimes you just need to play a guy 2 times one turn and they will help. The Artifact guys are good at reusing Expedition Map and getting back things that are blown up.
- Pilgrim's Eye is excellent in this deck. If you don't need the lands save them up to Scroll Rack away.
- Abyssal Gatekeeper is such a good card.
- Phyrexian Plaguelord and Butcher of Malakir are great at killing things that Big Game Hunter and Bone Shredder can't deal with.
- Pentavus, Triskelavus, and Marsh Flitter can make an insane amount of tokens. Genesis Chamber can make a lot but be careful not to let your opponents abuse it more than you (ie don't run it out there just to play it with nothing going on).
- Coretapper + Everflowing Chalice/Lightning Coils makes a lot of mana or dudes.
- Kuldotha Forge Master is good.
again I am sure there are more but this is all I can think of at this time.
Other Notes:
- adding poison to the deck made cut a lot of the disruption the regular version of the deck had, as well as more draw spells, and sweepers. The sweepers were actually really bad most of the time because I had more to lose than everyone else.
- Reiver Demon was really good but he got cut.
Rhys was my first EDH back in May of 2008 and although I have made many decks he is still my favorite. It plays really well and can hold it's own in 1 on 1 and multi-player. The only global pumps I run do something else, I don't like cards like glorious/gaea's anthem. The current build is a little light on removal because I have found I am usually the aggressive deck and the removal just sits in my hand dead.
1 Rhys, the Redeemed
Creatures (28)
Token Makers
1 Ant Queen
1 Avenger of Zendikar
1 Captain of the Watch
1 Cloudgoat Ranger
1 Deranged Hermit
1 Emeria Angel
1 Imperious Perfect
1 Knight-Captain of Eos
1 Myr Battlesphere
1 Rampaging Baloths
1 Selesnya Guildmage
1 Verdant Force
1 Wolfbriar Elemental
1 Wren's Run Packmaster
1 Juniper Order Ranger
1 Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
1 Mirror Entity
1 Citanul Hierophants
1 Joraga Treespeaker
1 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Primeval Titan
1 Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
1 Nullmage Shepherd
1 Regal Force
1 Seedborn Muse
1 Skyshroud Poacher
1 Sun Titan
Mana Spells
1 Cultivate
1 Primal Growth
1 Kodama's Reach
1 Skyshroud Claim
1 Sylvan Scrying
1 Chord of Calling
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Idyllic Tutor
1 Natural Order
1 Tooth and Nail
1 Collective Unconscious
1 Genesis Wave
1 Harmonize
1 Restock
Enchantments (10)
Mana/Mana Fixing
1 Earthcraft
1 Mana Reflection
1 Mirari's Wake
1 Awakening Zone
1 Beastmaster Ascension
1 Doubling Season
1 Marshal's Anthem
1 Sterling Grove
1 Aura Shards
Artifacts (8)
Card Draw
1 Skullclamp
1 Slate of Ancestry
1 Sol Ring
1 Akroma's Memorial
1 Coat of Arms
1 Eldrazi Monument
1 Rings of Brighthearth
Planeswalkers (3)
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1 Elspeth Tirel
1 Garruk Wildspeaker
Lands (35)
Basics
8 Forest
6 Plains
1 Krosan Verge
1 Windswept Heath
1 Razorverge Thicket
1 Savanah
1 Selesnya Sanctuary
1 Stirring Wildwood
1 Sungrass Prairie
1 Sunpetal Grove
1 Temple Garden
1 Wooded Bastion
1 City of Shadows
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 Khalni Garden
1 Kor Haven
1 Mistveil Plains
1 Mosswort Bridge
1 Oran Rief, the Vastwood
1 Pendelhaven
1 Saltcrusted Steppe
1 Vesuva
1 Windbrisk Heights
Basic Lands of choice because it matters:
Foil of course
Most Recent Changes:
Removal for creatures is all but gone, aside from Elspeth Tirel if you can even count that. The deck pumps out so many creatures other players are the ones who want to sweep the board.
The deck seems to want big mana fast so alot of the changes reflect that with the Citanul Hierophants and Rofellos (both of which keep bouncing in and out of the deck), and the Joraga Treespeaker.
The hardest decision was Joraga Treespeaker or Nemata, Grove Guardian. With Green Sun's Zenith now in the deck you can turn 2 Zenith for the Treespeaker and level it up turn 3 without missing a beat. Plus the treespeaker can make all my elf tokens tap for 2 mana should that ever happen and I can grab him with Skyshroud Poacher so he won.
The Primal Growth replaced Journey of Discovery. Heads or tails on which is better. It all depends on what is happening in the game.
I switched out the bad Artic Flats, Elfhame Palace, Graypelt Refuge, and a plains, for slightly less bad Sunpetal Grove, Stirring Wildwood, Sungrass Prairie, and Razorverge Thicket. To bad I replaced 4 foil cards for 4 nonfoil cards. You win some you lose some. I have a hard time replacing my foils I have worked hard to get. But the changes make a lot of sense.
I have been slowly getting away from the spells that make guys. Over time cards like Decree of Justice, Conqueror's Pledge, Howl of the Night Pack, Beacon of Creation, Spontaneous Generation, Storm herd, Saproling Symbiosis, Crush of Wurms, Wurmcalling, Sprout Swarm, Beast Attack, Roar of the Wurm, and One Dozen Eyes have all be removed from the deck. I have gone from being more spell centric to more creature centric. Whether or not that is the right call is up in the air.
05/01/2011
- Kozilek's Predator
- Ajani Goldmane
+ Sterling Grove
+ Genesis Wave
Deck Allstars:
[card]Gaea's Cradle
Beastmaster Ascension
Doubling Season
Glare of Subdual
Earthcraft
Slate of Ancestry
Skullclamp
Helm of Possession
Seedborn Muse
Skyshroud Poacher
Citanul Hierophants
[/card]
Game Play:
The basic Strategy is to play Rhys, the Redeemed turn one, except if you have Joraga Treespeaker in your opener. Turn 1 Joraga Treespeaker gets you an active Rhys and at least 5 mana turn on Turn 3. From there you can just start making tokens with Rhys or ramp and hold on to your cards for awhile.
From there you want to play dudes that make tokens and hopefully draw into something like an Beastmaster Ascension, Coat of Arms, Akroma's Memorial, Mirror Entity, Eldrazi Monument, Garruk Wildspeaker, or Kamahl , Fist of Krosa and win.
Citanul Hierophants, Seedborn Muse, Rings of Brighthearth do a pretty good job of letting you use your mana effectively to produce a large army quickly.
Most of the time if you get an early Natural Order you want grab Seedborn Muse, Verdant Force, or Citanul Hierophants, and to lesser extent Skyshroud Poacher, Knight of the Reliquary to get Gaea's Cradle, or Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary or Primeval Titan for ramp.
The Deck runs a Skyshroud Poacher tutor engine in it that can grab:
Other than that that deck likes big mana and lots of creatures. It tends to recover pretty fast after a wrath and after a while Rhys just becomes a win more card so you don't care when people try really hard to deal with him.
Other Notes:
Restock could just as well be Praetor's Counsel, the deck has pretty must strayed away from using the graveyard as a resource except for Restock, Sun Titan, and Marshal's Anthem. The green and white reanimate cards sometimes never had a target and Eternal Witness was subpar except for a few occasions.
Reliquary Tower and Night Soil probably wouldn't hurt.
I have really been liking Nim Deathmantle and have it in most of my decks. With or without some sac outlets it might be good.
Kozilek's Predator is pretty new to the deck after being out a while and so far it has been ok.
The card closest to the chopping black is proably Ajani Goldmane because he likes to hide in the deck and the few times I have played him he has been lackluster
I've never pulled it off but I really want to have a bunch of tokens out, Mirror Entity, and Myr Battlesphere and then just dome the crap out of someone.
For a while I ran Spawning Pit because it works in big ways with Doubling Season and Rings of Brighthearth