Vanilla beater: Craw Wurm
Essentially a creature that does nothing but beat face.
the Titan's are an example of a creature that beats face, as well as has a useful come into play ability, and abilities that trigger when they attack. Obviously not all creatures are this good, but there are definitely some strong options.
I'm not sure I like some of the effects that you run. For example, you mention Adaptive automiton is run as a buff. But why run a small anthem on a small body for only one creature? I just don't think you're getting much benefit out of him. A 2/2 for 3 that's an angel and buffs Aurelia by 1? No thank you, I think it's a wasted card slot.
Instigator Gang -> Another mediocre buff that can be crazy if flipped I'll give you that. But the likeliness of him staying flipped is pretty slim in EDH. Again, I'd much rather run a better effect.
Figure of Destiny -> Sure, he's a decent 1 drop. You know who's better? Serra Ascendant.
Balefire Liege -> Another mediocre Anthem that has little to no synergy with the rest of your deck.
Archon of Justice -> A good card, but with few sac outlets it's just a rattlesnake.
Sun Titan -> What? Where are you? If nothing else, this card is great for recurring fetch lands or strip mine. He's an outstanding creature, and he's not seeing any love here.
Inferno Titan -> A decent creature by itself, but with Aurelia that's 6 damage + his two attack steps a turn. Why would we omit this here?
Sword of Fire and Ice -> Boros has terrible card draw, this helps. Gives some extra damage and a little spot removal as well. I think you should run this and a little equipment package.
I was about to post my list when I realized two things. A) Our lists are all over this thread and B) My list online is nowhere near up to date.
While I update my list Bob, might I recommend taking a page out of Pathfinder's book and throwing some of the lists that we've posted up on the first page for people to look at.
With Riku you really want to prioritize on one thing, and that's generating card advantage with things you want to copy. Just looking through the first few creatures I can see a ton of things that are just not worth copying at all, or will blow up when copied.
As a super rough list: Ulasht, Birds, Intet, Spellbreaker, Spore Frog, Niv, Tuktuk, Elvish Abberition, Ant Queen, Animar, Hostility, Lacolith Titan, Lord of shatterskull, Edric, Platinum Angel, Simic Sky Swallower, Trench Gorger, Hoard-Smelter, T&L, Pelakka Wurm.
Or in other words, ALMOST ALL OF YOUR CREATURES. Now I'm not trying to bash your deck or deckbuilding skills here, but look at Riku's ability and look at the creatures you have in your list. None of them are worth copying except the ones that generate you mana, but those are generally bad in EDH as creatures die frequently and lands don't. Unless of course you play in a meta full of land D, in which case they're decent.
Replace all of the creatures that tap for mana with ones that get lands into play when they ETB. Replace all of your legendary's with creatures that work with Riku. Some examples
All of this cards have some value when coming into play and have immediate value when copied. You lose no card advantage to having them being blown up because they have already fulfilled their purpose upon just hitting the battlefield. Copy them for added bonuses.
Your general CAN NOT copy artifacts. Cut them, save for Sol Ring and Sensei's Divining Top and probably skullclamp too, otherwise you probably should not be running any.
Enchantments? See above! Play sorcery's and instants that have the same effect. You can copy those! You can't copy enchantments. Get rid of them!
Instants and Sorcery's are mostly solid, but you want to capitalize on things that have a relevant effect to the game. Ponder / Brainstorm are okay, but to be truthful this is EDH where you can generally afford to spend a bit more mana on a better spell. Cut the little cantrips, cut savage twister and reverberate. Cut electrolyze and prophetic bolt, while these are all decent cards there's much better available.
Your sorcery based land ramp is decent as well, but I like things that destroy lands whilst getting you some. Frenzied Tilling is a solid example. Copy that and destroy some lands while getting your own. Sounds solid to mee.
your planeswalkers can't be copied either. Probably get rid of them.
Your lands are okay, but stick to things that don't come into play tapped. There's much better budget lands out there than the CIPT ones, and you should be running them. Get rid of the vivid's, they're god damn terrible.
Your deck does not win because there is no synergy. Add cards that make sense and work with your general, and you will be much happier.
Some friends of mine built some scarily powerful decks as of late, and while they may not be exactly what you're talking about I'll share anyway.
One friend built a 99 permanent Damia, Sage of Stone deck that just revolves around breaking primal surge. Card draw, ramp, tutors, etc. all in permanent form with counters like mystic snake, venser, and the wizard that morphs to counter or redirect a spell. Boseiju to protect primal surge otherwise, and it's surprisingly strong and consistent.
Two other friends both built Maelstrom Wanderer decks that are accidentally strong. Stuff in a few extra turn cards, a ton of ramp, some good creatures, and some recursion and the deck is just accidentally bonkers. Both of these decks have become extremely difficult to beat without playing 'competitive' tuned decks because the haste is just so powerful.
"Don't play X because wrath" is basically what I got from that. I guess I shouldn't play a creature based Aggro-Combo deck in EDH b/c Wrath exists.
Not running Bird in a Green EDH deck is something that is hard to justify.
What you should have got from it was "Don't play bad cards in the format because wrath's happen". Rhys costs 1 mana and a BoP isn't going to get you any closer to making a token on turn 2 unless you get a Sol Ring in opening hand. In which case you're making a dude on turn 2 regardless, and it doesn't matter if you have a bird. Priest of Titania, Earthcraft, Joraga Treespeaker, Sakura Tribe Elder, Top, etc. are all better cards that fit into your curve, help accel you well past the mana you would be putting out in a few turns, and are all strictly better cards in a deck such as this. Unless of course, as Donald mentioned, you're playing against Stax / MLD / mana denial as the bird is another source by which you can diversify your mana generation.
Most playgroups however feature little of these types of cards and EDH is all about big effects. Think of Rampant Growth for Example. In a creature based EDH deck that can't abuse sorcery cards, when would you run Rampant Growth over Cultivate? The answer should be right along the lines of "never" since cultivate is strictly a better card in the format. Unless of course you're facing heavy T6 combo, mana denial, etc. Even so, two lands for 3 more mana is exceedingly better than 1 land for 2 as it does more than just replace itself.
Why would I play a card that nets me one mana for only a few turns when I could play a card that nets me one mana for the rest of the game? I don't see the logic. Birds of Paradise is a GOOD card and it has its applications. It is not in this deck.
All three of those sound very useful, and I might just have to make room for all of them. I did notice I have quite a bit of spot removal in the list - might be time to cut back on the creatures with the ETB removal abilities like Boneshredder.
I disagree. As your general (not to mention black as a color) gives you cheap and easy access to creature recursion I would instead cut back on your non-creature based creature removal. I hope that last sentence made sense, but you can always recur Shriekmaw. The same can't be said for Go for the Throat, the enchantment, etc. If you decide to keep Dark Banishing, might I recommend swapping it out for Rend Flesh. There are far fewer spirits than there are useful black creatures.
Rune-scarred Demon was in the list until I found Griselbrand. I had to drop him because of the ban,(I forget what I swapped him for), and had completely forgotten about him until now. I do like the interaction between the Rings and the altar - if I can get ahold of a copy of Rings of Brighthearth, I'll definitely put them in.
Also, Heartless Summoning, yay or nay? On the one hand, it makes all my beefy creatures, of which I run a good number, significantly easier to cast from hand, and turns my 1/1 utility creatures into cheap spells. Obviously, not so helpful for Undertaker, one of several reasons I've been on the fence about it. It also drops Chainer, Dementia Master to a 2/2, putting him in Pyroclasm range.
I dunno if heartless summoning is really worth it. Bobthefunny did something interesting with his chainer list by adding in Attrition + Nether Traitor, Reassembling Skeleton, and Bloodghast. Making it very easy to repeatedly snipe opponents creatures. Add into the mix skullclamp and you find yourself a really strong draw engine as well. Bitterblossom adds a nice addition to this grouping as well. Heartless summoning makes these, as well as any other small utility creatures you might have, completely useless.
I'm also not sure how I feel about undertaker. Why run him when you can get your creatures back into play, as apposed to hand? Add in the stipulation you can only do it once a turn and it takes a turn to be useful? I would much rather run Hell's Caretaker and I don't even like him.
To take a more in depth look at the list:
Demon's Horn: This will likely gain your life back, especially since it's non threatening. Although I don't think it's worth the slot. If you're dead set on running something like this, I'd play Paradise Plume in its steed. Gain some life for black spells, and use it as a mana rock. Which I don't think you're running enough of.
Phyrexian Processor: I don't see any synergy with the deck, and it's another way for you to lose life. I'd absolutely cut this.
Grimoire of the Dead: You already have access to all graveyards. I think this card is slow and not very good.
Befoul: Sorcery based creature / land removal? You should add in strip mine / tectonic edge to take the place of an actual card slot for land removal. If you're looking for sorcery based creature removal you should instead look at Sever the Bloodline. With it being able to hit all creatures with the same name, you can get rid of pesky opponents creatures or Avenger of Zendikar tokens. Plus it exiles with flashback!
Cadaver Imp: Dead draw early game, and your general is based off recursion. I don't like this guy especially since he only gets it to hand.
Urborg Syphon-Mage: Card disadvantage is a bad thing!
Magus of the Coffers: I like this guy, but Nirkana Revanent has an immediate effect on the game and is a win condition in itself. She's much better than the magus.
Extractor Demon: Has to target only one player and it's the only mill card in the deck. It may get you some creatures to use, but I think it's far too narrow of a card to be useful. Plus at 6cmc, he's not easy to get out.
Nightmare: Just a big beater. Meh!
Chancellor of the Dross: Strictly a lifelink beater. Much better available.
It that Berays: Not a ton out there that synergizes. I don't think this guy is worth it, especially at his CMC.
Bad Moon: I see no synergy. Pump effects work best with lots of tokens, not with a few big creatures.
Seal of Doom: Essentially sorcery based removal if it isn't in play. If it is, people won't play the nice things you want them to play.
No Mercy: Consider Dread in its place. Dread can be recurred at instant speed if Chainer is in play, and is useful! Although No Mercy is harder to remove. They each have their benefits.
Unnerve: I would prefer targeted discard, or something like syphon mind instead. Drawing cards while everyone else discards is neat.
Baneful Omen: Expensive, takes a turn to do anything, not exciting, doesn't do anything if you have a low cmc spell or a land on top.
Some cards I think you should be running: Gauntlet of Power, Extraplanar Lens (maybe), Sol Ring, 2-3 other mana rocks, more card draw (Harvester of Souls is nice)
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Essentially a creature that does nothing but beat face.
the Titan's are an example of a creature that beats face, as well as has a useful come into play ability, and abilities that trigger when they attack. Obviously not all creatures are this good, but there are definitely some strong options.
1
Instigator Gang -> Another mediocre buff that can be crazy if flipped I'll give you that. But the likeliness of him staying flipped is pretty slim in EDH. Again, I'd much rather run a better effect.
Figure of Destiny -> Sure, he's a decent 1 drop. You know who's better? Serra Ascendant.
Balefire Liege -> Another mediocre Anthem that has little to no synergy with the rest of your deck.
Archon of Justice -> A good card, but with few sac outlets it's just a rattlesnake.
Sun Titan -> What? Where are you? If nothing else, this card is great for recurring fetch lands or strip mine. He's an outstanding creature, and he's not seeing any love here.
Inferno Titan -> A decent creature by itself, but with Aurelia that's 6 damage + his two attack steps a turn. Why would we omit this here?
Sword of Fire and Ice -> Boros has terrible card draw, this helps. Gives some extra damage and a little spot removal as well. I think you should run this and a little equipment package.
Stoneforge Mystic -> With this. Tutor, recurrable by titan.
Sword of Feast and Famine -> And this: Ramp, discard, and pump
Stonehewer Giant -> And this (maybe), 2x equipment tutors a turn while swinging is pretty decent. Works really well with sunforger too.
Ajani 1 & 2, Gideon, Elspeth Tirel -> No synergy, no card advantage. Just okay cards.
Gratuitous Violence & Rage Reflection -> Both of these cards are good with all of your creatures, and even better with Aurelia in play.
Story Circle -> Bad in EDH. Sure it might hose a mono colored deck, but this is VERY situational.
Reforge the Soul & Wheel of Fortune -> You want these. Your card draw is close to nonexistent, these supplement the lack of that in these colors.
Staff of Nin, Mind's Eye, etc. -> Also decent options for draw.
Lightning Helix, Intimidation Bolt -> Both of these are bad in EDH and show no synergy with the rest of your deck.
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While I update my list Bob, might I recommend taking a page out of Pathfinder's book and throwing some of the lists that we've posted up on the first page for people to look at.
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As a super rough list: Ulasht, Birds, Intet, Spellbreaker, Spore Frog, Niv, Tuktuk, Elvish Abberition, Ant Queen, Animar, Hostility, Lacolith Titan, Lord of shatterskull, Edric, Platinum Angel, Simic Sky Swallower, Trench Gorger, Hoard-Smelter, T&L, Pelakka Wurm.
Or in other words, ALMOST ALL OF YOUR CREATURES. Now I'm not trying to bash your deck or deckbuilding skills here, but look at Riku's ability and look at the creatures you have in your list. None of them are worth copying except the ones that generate you mana, but those are generally bad in EDH as creatures die frequently and lands don't. Unless of course you play in a meta full of land D, in which case they're decent.
Replace all of the creatures that tap for mana with ones that get lands into play when they ETB. Replace all of your legendary's with creatures that work with Riku. Some examples
All of this cards have some value when coming into play and have immediate value when copied. You lose no card advantage to having them being blown up because they have already fulfilled their purpose upon just hitting the battlefield. Copy them for added bonuses.
Your general CAN NOT copy artifacts. Cut them, save for Sol Ring and Sensei's Divining Top and probably skullclamp too, otherwise you probably should not be running any.
Enchantments? See above! Play sorcery's and instants that have the same effect. You can copy those! You can't copy enchantments. Get rid of them!
Instants and Sorcery's are mostly solid, but you want to capitalize on things that have a relevant effect to the game. Ponder / Brainstorm are okay, but to be truthful this is EDH where you can generally afford to spend a bit more mana on a better spell. Cut the little cantrips, cut savage twister and reverberate. Cut electrolyze and prophetic bolt, while these are all decent cards there's much better available.
Your sorcery based land ramp is decent as well, but I like things that destroy lands whilst getting you some. Frenzied Tilling is a solid example. Copy that and destroy some lands while getting your own. Sounds solid to mee.
your planeswalkers can't be copied either. Probably get rid of them.
Your lands are okay, but stick to things that don't come into play tapped. There's much better budget lands out there than the CIPT ones, and you should be running them. Get rid of the vivid's, they're god damn terrible.
Your deck does not win because there is no synergy. Add cards that make sense and work with your general, and you will be much happier.
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One friend built a 99 permanent Damia, Sage of Stone deck that just revolves around breaking primal surge. Card draw, ramp, tutors, etc. all in permanent form with counters like mystic snake, venser, and the wizard that morphs to counter or redirect a spell. Boseiju to protect primal surge otherwise, and it's surprisingly strong and consistent.
Two other friends both built Maelstrom Wanderer decks that are accidentally strong. Stuff in a few extra turn cards, a ton of ramp, some good creatures, and some recursion and the deck is just accidentally bonkers. Both of these decks have become extremely difficult to beat without playing 'competitive' tuned decks because the haste is just so powerful.
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What you should have got from it was "Don't play bad cards in the format because wrath's happen". Rhys costs 1 mana and a BoP isn't going to get you any closer to making a token on turn 2 unless you get a Sol Ring in opening hand. In which case you're making a dude on turn 2 regardless, and it doesn't matter if you have a bird. Priest of Titania, Earthcraft, Joraga Treespeaker, Sakura Tribe Elder, Top, etc. are all better cards that fit into your curve, help accel you well past the mana you would be putting out in a few turns, and are all strictly better cards in a deck such as this. Unless of course, as Donald mentioned, you're playing against Stax / MLD / mana denial as the bird is another source by which you can diversify your mana generation.
Most playgroups however feature little of these types of cards and EDH is all about big effects. Think of Rampant Growth for Example. In a creature based EDH deck that can't abuse sorcery cards, when would you run Rampant Growth over Cultivate? The answer should be right along the lines of "never" since cultivate is strictly a better card in the format. Unless of course you're facing heavy T6 combo, mana denial, etc. Even so, two lands for 3 more mana is exceedingly better than 1 land for 2 as it does more than just replace itself.
Why would I play a card that nets me one mana for only a few turns when I could play a card that nets me one mana for the rest of the game? I don't see the logic. Birds of Paradise is a GOOD card and it has its applications. It is not in this deck.
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I.E.
General
1 Chainer...
Creatures
1 iusud
1 sudhfuh
1 ugfds
Planeswalker
instead of your
General
1 Chainer...
Creatures
1 iuhsg
1 suhg
Planeswalker
it will break up the decklist to be a bit more aesthetically pleasing and give it two tabs instead of one long list.
I disagree. As your general (not to mention black as a color) gives you cheap and easy access to creature recursion I would instead cut back on your non-creature based creature removal. I hope that last sentence made sense, but you can always recur Shriekmaw. The same can't be said for Go for the Throat, the enchantment, etc. If you decide to keep Dark Banishing, might I recommend swapping it out for Rend Flesh. There are far fewer spirits than there are useful black creatures.
I dunno if heartless summoning is really worth it. Bobthefunny did something interesting with his chainer list by adding in Attrition + Nether Traitor, Reassembling Skeleton, and Bloodghast. Making it very easy to repeatedly snipe opponents creatures. Add into the mix skullclamp and you find yourself a really strong draw engine as well. Bitterblossom adds a nice addition to this grouping as well. Heartless summoning makes these, as well as any other small utility creatures you might have, completely useless.
I'm also not sure how I feel about undertaker. Why run him when you can get your creatures back into play, as apposed to hand? Add in the stipulation you can only do it once a turn and it takes a turn to be useful? I would much rather run Hell's Caretaker and I don't even like him.
To take a more in depth look at the list:
Demon's Horn: This will likely gain your life back, especially since it's non threatening. Although I don't think it's worth the slot. If you're dead set on running something like this, I'd play Paradise Plume in its steed. Gain some life for black spells, and use it as a mana rock. Which I don't think you're running enough of.
Phyrexian Processor: I don't see any synergy with the deck, and it's another way for you to lose life. I'd absolutely cut this.
Grimoire of the Dead: You already have access to all graveyards. I think this card is slow and not very good.
Befoul: Sorcery based creature / land removal? You should add in strip mine / tectonic edge to take the place of an actual card slot for land removal. If you're looking for sorcery based creature removal you should instead look at Sever the Bloodline. With it being able to hit all creatures with the same name, you can get rid of pesky opponents creatures or Avenger of Zendikar tokens. Plus it exiles with flashback!
Cadaver Imp: Dead draw early game, and your general is based off recursion. I don't like this guy especially since he only gets it to hand.
Urborg Syphon-Mage: Card disadvantage is a bad thing!
Magus of the Coffers: I like this guy, but Nirkana Revanent has an immediate effect on the game and is a win condition in itself. She's much better than the magus.
Extractor Demon: Has to target only one player and it's the only mill card in the deck. It may get you some creatures to use, but I think it's far too narrow of a card to be useful. Plus at 6cmc, he's not easy to get out.
Nightmare: Just a big beater. Meh!
Chancellor of the Dross: Strictly a lifelink beater. Much better available.
It that Berays: Not a ton out there that synergizes. I don't think this guy is worth it, especially at his CMC.
Bad Moon: I see no synergy. Pump effects work best with lots of tokens, not with a few big creatures.
Seal of Doom: Essentially sorcery based removal if it isn't in play. If it is, people won't play the nice things you want them to play.
No Mercy: Consider Dread in its place. Dread can be recurred at instant speed if Chainer is in play, and is useful! Although No Mercy is harder to remove. They each have their benefits.
Unnerve: I would prefer targeted discard, or something like syphon mind instead. Drawing cards while everyone else discards is neat.
Baneful Omen: Expensive, takes a turn to do anything, not exciting, doesn't do anything if you have a low cmc spell or a land on top.
Some cards I think you should be running: Gauntlet of Power, Extraplanar Lens (maybe), Sol Ring, 2-3 other mana rocks, more card draw (Harvester of Souls is nice)