MTG Salvation

Update:
Added Mitotic Slime (see above) and also Balefire Dragon, which seems like a "hit once and win" card. Also some changes to the land base, and I added in the talismans from Mirrodin. I took out Yavimaya Elder: the double green cost was too much early on.

I find that with each update to this deck, I'm pushing the CMC higher and higher. Think I should be adding in more cheap creatures and spells to the mix? I toyed with the idea of putting in aggro cards like Diregraf Ghoul, but unless you get that down turn one, it's pretty suboptimal in EDH.

EDIT: Minor update:

Mostly lowering the CMC curve, and also having a few cards stolen for other decks.

EDIT:

Update:

Divine Reckoning and Evacuation are two needed midrange cards. I've taken out the walls; I think some of the cards in my last couple updates are less needed, but I want to see them in action before I pull them out. I also pulled out two come-into-play-tapped lands and put in mana accelerators instead.

I was considering putting in the Onslaught cycle lands. On the one hand once Zur has enough lands, I can just cycle them away. On the other hand, lands that come into play tapped really slow the deck down; I want Zur working as soon as possible. Thoughts?

EDIT:

EDIT: Swapped an Island for Tolaria West. Also: Blighted Agent for this deck?

EDIT:

Update:
Minor Innistrad update, and also picked up a couple non-basics. Was considering Evil Twin for this update, but it's just a random decent card rather than helping my theme. Thoughts?

Update


Karona has been more trouble than she's worth, so I'm switching to Horde of Notions. This means I can recur my Changelings. Crib Swap is also thrown in; it's good removal even when the general isn't out.

Other changes include dropping my more lackluster allies, and putting in more removal. A few more clone effects; I'm excited about Cackling Counterpart. Cauldron of Souls and Back from the Brink act as anti-sweep cards.

I've got a Lurking Predators on its way, not sure what I'll cut for that. Cards that I was considering but decided against were Bramblecrush and Kaleidostone. Thoughts?

EDIT: Swapped out Shard Convergence for Mimic Vat. If it works out, I might shell out for more copies.

EDIT:

I bought a bunch of cards for my EDH decks a while back, and some of them could see some use in the cube as well. The big change with this update, though, is cutting ten artifacts from the cube and bumping each single colour section from 48 to 50 cards. 50 artifacts was too much, I think. Is 40 too little?

EDIT:

Most of those cards are too expensive for my tastes, but I'll definitely consider Body Double the next time I update the deck; thanks!

Speaking of anti-sweepers, one card I wanted to pick up for this deck but wasn't in stock when I made the last purchase is Cauldron of Souls. Most of my allies will get +1/+1 counters on them when they re-enter the battlefield, which works really well with the Cauldron granting persist.

I've never tried counterspells in this deck (not even EDH staples like Hinder or the new Spell Crumple). I'm not against them in general, but I already have one permission deck, and I'd rather have this one play differently.

Induce Paranoia was one of the possibilities I considered when I first built the deck. I used to run a lot more one-time mill effects in the deck, but I've found that repeatable effects are a lot better in EDH. At the moment, I only run three one-time mill effects in the deck (Mind Funeral, Archive Trap, and Traumatize), and that's because these are more powerful than the usual mill effect. Glimpse the Unthinkable would be in if it wasn't ten bucks.

I used to run Bojuka Bog and other graveyard hate cards in this deck. Oddly enough, they were never that useful. I think this is only due to the decks I play against; only one of them really uses the graveyard. Were I to play against more people, and start seeing more graveyard abuse in other decks, I would definitely put Relic of Progenitus and Bojuka Bog (and Tolaria West) back in the deck.

EDIT: Zur stole Sol Ring again, so Armillary Sphere is back in.

Update:


-5 Cromat

-1 Noble Hierarch
-2 Quirion Elves
-2 Mistmeadow Witch
-3 Yavimaya Elder
-4 Galepowder Mage

-2 Naturalize
-2 Momentary Blink
-3 Shared Animosity
-3 Behemoth Sledge

-1 Esper Panorama
-1 Grixis Panorama
-1 Jund Panorama

+6 Karona, False God

+4 Tuktuk Scrapper

+1 Pongify
+2 Deglamer
+3 Eyeblight's Ending
+1 Wayfarer's Bauble
+3 Vow of Duty
+3 Vow of Flight
+3 Vow of Malice
+3 Vow of Lightning
+3 Vow of Wildness
+3 Cloudstone Curio

+1 Ancient Ziggurat

--

Swapped generals, let's see how Karona likes the new Vow cycle.

I've cut down on mana-fixing and utility creatures (the decks seems to fix fine). A thematic plus, as now the deck only runs allies, changelings, and clones.

Ancient Ziggurat is something I'll keep an eye on. I run a lot of creatures, and most of my non-creature spells are at a higher CMC, so hopefully it functions as Command Tower Mark II.

One card I wanted to pick up but wasn't in stock was Lurking Predators. Next update, I hope.

I welcome any comments or criticisms!

Update:

-7 Szadek, Lord of Secrets
-8 Scion of Darkness
-1 Steel Wall
-2 Agony Warp
-2 Armillary Sphere
-3 Sudden Spoiling
-1 Bojuka Bog

+3 Riddlekeeper
+2 Nezumi Graverobber
+4 Sewer Nemesis
+1 Pongify
+2 Mindcrank
+1 Sol Ring
+1 Swamp

--

Pulled my copy of Sol Ring from my Zur deck to here; let's see what happens. This update cut high CMC cards and other cards that just weren't pulling enough weight. Added some cards I picked up from the Commander release and by trading.

I was considering putting in Phyresis and Grafted Exoskeleton into this deck: attach them to Wrex and win in two swings. But I'm usually doing well if I can get a couple swings by Wrex in anyway.

I welcome any comments or criticisms!

Update:

-2 Fog Bank
-3 Guard Gomazoa
-3 Wall of Frost
-3 Trinket Mage

-3 Cage of Hands
-3 Ophidian Eye
-2 Luminarch Ascension

-2 Muddle the Mixture
-3 Faerie Trickery
-3 Stoic Rebuttal
-1 Condescend

-1 Sol Ring
-3 Fieldmist Borderpost
-3 Mistvein Borderpost

-6 Austere Command
-6 Open the Vaults

-1 Swamp
-1 Seat of the Synod
-1 Azorius Chancery
-1 Dimir Aqueduct
-1 Orzhov Basilica

+3 Auramancer
+4 Hokori, Dust Drinker
+5 World Queller
+6 Auratouched Mage
+6 Sovereigns of Lost Alara
+7 Magister Sphinx

+2 Arcanum Wings
+2 Phyresis
+3 Steel of the Godhead

+1 Pongify

+1 Wayfarer's Bauble

+1 Conjurer's Bauble
+4 Retether
+4 Grafted Exoskeleton
+5 Worldslayer
+8 Eldrazi Conscription

+1 Plains
+1 Hall of the Bandit Lord
+1 Vivid Meadow
+1 Vivid Creek
+1 Vivid Marsh

--

The deck is in a very transitional state right now. I'm trying out a bunch of new cards, and in order to test them all at once, I'm cutting down on my defense cards. Once I know what does and doesn't work, I can began rebuilding the deck.

Luminarch Ascension is a tricky cut; it's good, but not as much in 1v1, and paints a target on my head in multiplayer.

Evacuation wasn't in stock; it might go in for the next iteration.

I took out Sol Ring simply because another deck needed the fast mana more. Without Sol Ring, Trinket Mage wasn't really needed, and without Trinket Mage, the artifact lands weren't really needed.

Other cards I was considering for this update that haven't been mentioned previously in this thread:

• Gitaxian Probe and Peek (and Telepathy?): Lets me know if it's safe to play Zur if I have no counterspells in hand.
• Expedition Map and other mana fixers.
• Idyllic Tutor
• Pillory of the Sleepless and other pacifism effects.
• Oblivion Crown: Fast win if Zur has infect.

I welcome any comments or criticisms!

EDIT: I've been misreading Flickerform: the ability costs 2WW, not 1W. Duh. This limits the effectiveness of the Worldslayer combo, which was questionable to begin with. Anyway, those two cards are out, Sol Ring is back in, and I also threw in Beseech the Queen as another tutor to find Zur when he's tucked.

Update:

Bloodbraid Elf --> Kird Ape
Sylvan Ranger --> Viridian Emissary
Kamahl, Fist of Krosa --> Fangren Pathcutter

Gleeful Sabotage --> Deglamer
Volcanic Fallout --> Firespout
Necrogenesis --> Eyeblight's Ending
Mage Slayer --> Fires of Yavimaya

Rakdos Carnarium --> Vivid Marsh
Gruul Turf --> Vivid Crag
Golgari Rot Farm --> Vivid Grove

--

Not that much happened in this update: made some switches to cards that seem better in EDH, got rid of some colour-intensive cards, dropped the average CMC a little.

One card I forgot to buy for this update was Mitotic Slime, something that would be able to 'survive' board wipes and still put counters on Kresh. Other cards I was considering were Hull Breach, Phyresis, Grafted Exoskeleton, and Triumph of the Hordes. Again, my group doesn't play with general damage, so perhaps granting Kresh infect would 'fake' it.

I welcome any comments or criticisms!

Brothers Yamazaki + Brothers Yamazaki

I'd love to run Adaptive Automaton, along with cards like Coat of Arms and Door of Destinies. But they're a bit too pricey for my liking. I'll wait and see if the Automaton drops in price once it rotates out of Standard.

(There used to be a changelog here, but I don't keep that up to date anymore. Everything's on SVN, though, so if you want to see what I used to run, just send me a PM.)

NOTE: Last updated 2018-06-04, and I don't update unless someone needs to see the most recent version. If you want me to update with the current decklist, send me a PM.

Hello!

This was my fourth deck, a casual tribal deck using Zendikar's and Worldwake's allies. It came together quite easily, and I was pleased at how inexpensive the deck was. When I first uploaded the list to a price aggregator site like TCGPlayer, I got under ten cards that cost over a dollar (most of which I already owned before building). I've added cards since then, including all shocklands and the allied fetchlands, but cut those and it's a budget build.

Some assorted notes:

• My group plays with no general damage and no French ban list. We play with either 40 starting life (free for all or Star) or 60 starting life (Two Headed Giant, be it 2v2 or 2v2v2).
• My group frowns upon infinite combos, land destruction, and locks.
• I'm a budget player who plays with other budget players, so I'm not interested in buying expensive cards for this deck. I try to keep most cards under two dollars, with only a few in the five dollar range (or more, if it's something I've opened).
• I'm only interested in black-bordered, modern frame cards.
• Numbers in the decklist denote mana cost.

Thank you for your comments and criticisms!