Added cards to the 'Protecting Animar' section of the primer based on the suggestions about dealing with wrath effects. Thanks for everyone's contributions
gelf, what do you think about Sneak Attack (for those of us older gents and/or those for who budget is not object)? I put Animar on hiatus for a bit to try something similar to Sonik's Riku list, and I love the flexibility and reach that card can give you. Do you think it has a place in Animar? It might be a good way to power out guys for an alpha-strike if Animar gets tucked or for getting in there with early Eldrazis.
Firstly I love Sneak Attack as a card (and wish I had one from the "Urza's" years), however I haven't considered it's synergy with Animar. Here is my initial response:
Cons
It's an enchantment, so cannot benefit from Animar's cost reduction and is difficult to search for in these colours if we need it.
It requires red mana to activate, which could be a significant limitation if you wanted to use it more than once or twice a turn.
The creature is sacrificed after use. Animar can run recursion (I have some in my deck) but in general it is better to keep creatures in play for bounce shenanigans if possible, especially due to the Eldrazi graveyard shuffle which tucks resources away.
Putting the creature in play bypasses 'on cast' triggers, such as putting +1/+1 counters on Animar, drawing cards from Primordial Sage and the legendary Eldrazi effects.
Animar's cost reduction effect can already reduce most casting costs to two mana or less, so there is redundancy of effect with Animar being available more often than not (Animar being tucked is really not a huge problem in my experience, as green has plenty of creature tutors to assist in pulling him out).
Most of the creatures in the deck are for utility rather than aggro.
Pros
It is only four mana initially for powerful ongoing utility, so it doesn't pain me as much as the many powerful six mana enchants that could potentially assist Animar.
Unlike Animar, survives creature sweepers.
Combined with other value engines such as Cloudstone Curio and Birthing Pod it can allow cheating creatures into play then gaining more value (by either returning them to hand by casting a cheap utility creature, or sacrificing them to find something from the library to keep.
It does effectively act like a proxy Animar, as long as you have enough red mana. Allows Palinchron to generate infinite mana and EtB triggers.
The sacrifice clause can be completely bypassed, with Deadeye Navigator for example.
Turns utility creatures into instant spells which are difficult to counterspell.
Final thoughts. I think that Animar provides a powerful enough and reliable enough effect that we don't need to put Sneak Attack into the deck. Also the functionality of Sneak Attack pushes the deck in a slightly different direction. Sneak Attack wants you to play lots of big/expensive creatures and follow it up with recursion, to consistently cheat on costs. With Sneak Attack cheap utility creatures have less value (although being able to use EtB effects instantly helps). Animar requires lots of small creatures and a few big creatures, to build up the +1/+1 counters and then benefit from the cost reduction.
This got me thinking 'what if Sneak Attack effect was on a body?' and then I remembered Elvish Piper. Perhaps that would be a better (if more fragile and slower) fit? Sneak Attack does survive wraths 'though, which is probably it's biggest advantage.
Ya, I agree Gelf. I think the main cons are that it isn't synergistic with the rest of the deck right now. If the deck was more of a ramp to big creatures with Animar's ability just being one of many ways to get the bigs out (including sneak attack, elvish piper, quicksilver amulet, birthing pod). This could certainly be a build that people use, but I've always felt it doesn't do justice to Animar's ability and is a build that screams for a different kind of commander. I would just personally feel dirty playing animar like that. I think your build actually tries to make Animar the focus, for better or for worse.
So I think the biggest difference between our two decks, after looking at the OP, is that you include more delvers, and I'm thinking you still essentially want to get animar out early and try to combo within a few turns? And I am more and more moving to a "only play animar when i am about ready to win" and build up control and ramp/fix until I have assembled the bulk of the combo. I just got really tired of getting burned after a quick 3rd or 4th the animar. I used to feel so much worse about playing creatures before I played animar than I currently do. Eh, that's what I got from lookin at at your deck at least.
It depends on who I am playing with. Usually with my friends I don't play Animar as soon as possible, instead ramping until I'm able to cast him and then potentially combo off, or combo without him.
In the EDH league I've played at, there was a rule where you lost points if you didn't play your general but could of. Because I can usually play Animar turn 3, and people often kill me as quickly as possible, I had to bring Animar out as soon as possible.
Also when opponents can't deal with a turn three Animar, I can usually win on turns 6 or 7 without too much trouble, so sometimes it's worth forcing opponents to deal with him or lose.
I find the direction the discussion is taking interesting. Although my wincon isn’t combo but combat damage, I think my deck plays quite similar.
In the last couple of games I played I noticed a few things I wanted to share:
Until now I always played Animar on turn three and, as Gelf already said, if my opponents can’t deal with it in the next 1-3 turns, I likely win. The problem is that they probably can deal with it and if it died twice, Animar just costs too much mana to still be worth it. If that happens, I’m forced to play control but also to keep up a certain amount of pressure until I can push through enough damage. The problem here is that at some point combo decks become a problem since they just can win out of nowhere if they have enough time…
…unless I have enough counter backup. That’s the next thing: I noticed that I win most games where I draw two or more counterspells because they help me to either protect my board or stop those pesky combos. Also through bouncing and recursion I regularly get more uses out of one counter creature. That’s why I’m now testing Voidmage Prodigy. It’s another hard counter on a creature, plus I run quite a few wizards that can be throw in front of opposing spells
The only problem I see is the UUU you need to morph him up and use the ability.
Another thing I noticed is that I fast ramping isn’t necessary most of the time but having a landdrop every turn is. Only that way I can ensure that I can drop my fatties even without Animar.
Also I have a problem with cuts. DGM brought as Ruric Thar and Progenitor Mimic that I want to try out. Besides that I’d like to include Deadeye Navigator and possibly Warstorm Surge. Unfortunately those are all sixdrops and I don’t want to mess up my curve too much. So which sixdrops (and possibly sevendrops) would you cut from my list. The only thing I can think of is Deadwood Treefolk. While I like to get my stuff back from the GY it often costs too much mana (at least without Animar).
Maybe Terastodon could also be cut. Eight mana is a lot and it gives my opponents blockers, on the other hand destroying three artifacts/enchantments is sometimes just what you need to get back in the game…
A link to my list is in my sig, it would be great to hear what you think of the cards mentioned
Personally I really like Deadwood Treefolk, especially with Birthing Pod and Cloudstone Curio. The fact that it gets a creature back both entering and leaving the battlefield is great card advantage in the late game.
Terastodon plays a very similar role to Sylvan Primordial, so you probably don't need both. It depends a lot on your meta. If you know that one player has a lot of permanents you must destroy then Terastodon is probably better against that opponent. On the other hand Progenitor Mimic can potentially be a Sylvan Primordial entering the battlefield every upkeep.
Consecrated Sphinx relies on your opponents drawing cards while he is out. In my experience it will draw 2 to 6 cards before being killed. Is this efficient card draw? Certainly it's a lightning rod and unanswered can generate ludicrous card advantage, but in Animar I've never felt that Consecrated Sphinx is the right card draw engine.
Hellkite Tyrant again depends on your opponents having artifacts worth stealing. There are a lot of powerful artifact staples in EDH, but the more effective Hellkite Tyrant is in your meta, the more likely your meta will evolve away from using as many artifacts or having more effective answers to the Hellkite Tyrant. I think this is a meta call, and should only appear in the deck in response to particularly heavy handed artifact decks. It's a hate card rather than a staple in my opinion.
Diluvian Primordial depends on your opponents having Instants or Sorcery you wish to copy. While this is likely it is also unpredictable, so Diluvian Primordial's value varies depending on what your opponents are doing. Hence it could be worthwhile replacing it with a card that has a more reliable value (such as Deadeye Navigator) based on your own game plan.
Regarding Ruric Thar, the Unbowed and Progenitor Mimic:
Ruric Thar is much more likely to punish your opponents than you, so it's worth considering, however it's likely he will either stop your opponents doing things (not a bad outcome), or simply deal 6 damage to the person that removes him. That said he is an efficient beater and blocker.
Progenitor Mimic, much like Consecrated Sphinx requires a longer game to gain value. If you are likely to have him out for a couple of turns, his value increases a lot. Bear in mind that because he has a higher cost and a longer term function, it makes it less desirable to fulfill the other role of the Clone, that is as legendary creature removal.
I'll post this response in your thread as well, to give it better context. Please note that I focus on what I know, which is Animar's game plan, but you know your meta better than I can possible know and so some of my evaluations may be irrelevant based on the decks you play against.
Also minor updates of original post with some more 'why don't you play?' and 'what are you considering cards?' cards.
Sounds like a good call. Thankfully I have not yet encountered Torpor Orb (no one seems to have one in my meta), but I suppose I should be more proactive and consider the best ways of dealing with it.
I never really bounced azusa, lost but seeking too much, but when I comboed off and drew my deck it was nice to know I could play all my lands. Bummer
The clone rule is what's really devastating. Cloning was one of the most reliable ways to kill legendary creatures. Honestly, I probably won't take my clones out because they are still awesome, but really puts a dent in their usability. Really bummed.
Edit: this ruling makes evil twin a lot better. Unfortunately we can't use it...
The landdrop rule kinda sucks from a powerperspective, but it's actually more intuitive this way.
The I think the new legend rule has more the one side:
We lose a good deal of removal power, especially since we don't have too many options that really fit the deck which is really annoying. But...
...Animar can't be killed with clones anymore!
...with the old rules, when we kill a legend with a role we lose card advantage compared to the other players who haven't just had their legend removed (which is the issue with all spot removal in multiplayer). With the new rules, if we copy an opponents legend, while it's true that he doesn't lose anything but compared to those other players we still get an advantage. Of course there are still a lot of legends that give the opponent who plays them a much bigger advantage because of color restrictions or because it simply better fits the deck, but there are also tons of legends that get played a LOT that kind of cancel each other out like e.g. the Praetors, Eldrazi or big fat angels like Avacyn, Iona, Akroma, etc. This way the opponent who originally cast it and us get the same advantage but the other players are left far behind. (I hope this paragraph is understandable...)
...instead of deteriorating the board a clone copying an opposing legend now adds something which potentially makes games crazier in a good way and thus more enjoyable.
In the end only time and experience with the new rule will tell us how much it changes the powerlevel of the deck, the way the deck plays and the impact of the format as a whole. I see potential in both directions.
To be honest I think I like the changes. Yes it will make some generals harder to remove and match ups against some Voltron generals may be tougher. It is a shame that clone creatures lose their extra utility, but I already have a very low number of clones in the deck and prefer to use them for value rather than removal.
Obviously I will have to put some more thought into how to deal with fast voltron (looking at you Uril, the Miststalker!) when it is part of my meta (may be as simple as using Back to Nature?).
The land drop change is more intuitive, and using extra permissions by bouncing Oracle of Mul Daya was rare.
Do you want your mono blue opponents to also have a copy of animar- where they can also ramp out their fatties as fast as you can while also having access to Gauntlet of might, lens, and other mana ramp effects. Yes, it sucked when you had a clone kill animar, but animar is a very dangerous effects to allow other to "give" away to opponents under the new rules.
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Do you want your mono blue opponents to also have a copy of animar- where they can also ramp out their fatties as fast as you can while also having access to Gauntlet of might, lens, and other mana ramp effects. Yes, it sucked when you had a clone kill animar, but animar is a very dangerous effects to allow other to "give" away to opponents under the new rules.
I don't think they could combo out faster than me using Animar.
Animar is a build around general, my whole deck is stacked with creatures for the purpose of using and abusing Animar's abilities. You can't just stick Animar in any deck and expect him to win you the game. Furthermore, the real value engine is Cloudstone Curio, and few decks apart from Animar make use of it. Most decks simply don't run enough creatures to get the value from Animar that this deck does. I'm really not seeing this as a major problem. Maybe once in a while it will happen, someone gets the perfect set of cards and goes to town with a clone of Animar, and frankly that will be cool. I'm more excited about cloning Oona, and decking the Oona player before he gets me, Jhoira of the Ghitu and suspending an Eldrazi for laughs, or Karador, Ghost Chieftain and casting cheap creatures straight from the grave.
You guys pretty much summed up what I was thinking. I do still stand by my original remark that these rule changes are gonna change the face of EDH. Not dramatically, bu I think some games will be very differents, for better or worse.
Now they need to print a card that says: "target player sacrifices a legendary permanent"
I'm on the fence about the new rulings. I like the ability for my clones to be able to become something super powerful like and opponent's Avacyn, Angel of Hope but I don't like like the idea of someone using vesuva or Thespian's Stage to copy my Gaea's Cradle.
I think we have some interesting times ahead in EDH with this new ruling
One thing I realized after a few games with the new, is that Eldrazi titans go absolutely nuts. The good thing is that we are probably one of those decks that can withstand a couple of Eldrazi swings because we have lots of creatures most of the time.
I also have a few questions:
If you don't play Animar turn three, how do your first few turns typically look like?
I just traded for Jhoira of the Ghitu and think she could be interesting. Has anyone any experiance with (or also against) her. How big of a target do you usually get once you've suspended a few fatties? How often is a counterspell ready to great the card once the last time counter is removed? Is she even worth it without any timecounter manipulation or MLD?
In one game I copied a Sword of Feast and Famine with my Phyrexian Metamorph and it was really great. Doubling your mana each turn and giving Animar protection from the color of chumpblockers makes it really dangerous. Do you think there may be a spot in this deck for it (also considering that I run more of an aggro/midrange list)? With SoFaF might Godo, Bandit Warlord worthy of consideration?
If you don't play Animar turn three, how do your first few turns typically look like?
If I'm not playing Animar turn three, I generally simply try to curve out with ramp and potentially search up and set up combo pieces like Cloudstone Curio. Basically if I fear that opponents will wipe the board or spot destroy Animar as soon as he steps out, I try to reach about 9 mana, as that is probably the right amount to cast Animar, and then get an infinite bounce loop going. If I can I try and set up some protection such as Willbender or Glen Elendra Archmage to try and keep Animar on board until I next untap.
Sometimes it's worth simply appearing like you're not doing anything to see if politics will cause your opponents to use up resources on each other, but Animar tends to get a reputation so that rarely works.
Alternatively I run out Animar as soon as possible knowing that it will be destroyed attempting to lull my opponents into thinking they've neutered the deck, and then try to set up other combo engines for card draw and mana, only running Animar out once I've already gone infinite.
I just traded for Jhoira of the Ghitu and think she could be interesting. Has anyone any experiance with (or also against) her. How big of a target do you usually get once you've suspended a few fatties? How often is a counterspell ready to great the card once the last time counter is removed? Is she even worth it without any timecounter manipulation or MLD?
Potentially as a back up plan Jhoira could be interesting. But really she is very slow and pretty much always hated off the table quickly. I don't know how often counters are saved to prevent the cast at the end of suspend, but I doubt it's that often. I don't think she's worth it, Animar already tends to put a target on your head, Jhoira does the same while leaving yourself without options for several turns while you wait for the suspend to resolve.
In one game I copied a Sword of Feast and Famine with my Phyrexian Metamorph and it was really great. Doubling your mana each turn and giving Animar protection from the color of chumpblockers makes it really dangerous. Do you think there may be a spot in this deck for it (also considering that I run more of an aggro/midrange list)? With SoFaF might Godo, Bandit Warlord worthy of consideration?
I think if you're pursuing an aggro game plan then equipment is much more useful. I generally don't attack that much with Animar, as I pursue the combo win more often than not. If you're running only a single equipment I don't think it's worth including Godo. You're probably better off with Fabricate as that gives you more search options. If you're including 3 or more pieces of equipment, then Godo is probably worth it. SoFaF is certainly a powerhouse, but given so many people run it, you may be better off simply using Phyrexian Metamorph or Zealous Conscripts to take it when able without actually dedicating a spot to it.
I usually don't play Animar on turn three because in my meta he gets killed right away. in fact there have been many games that I didn't even bring him out and still ended up winning. my turn threes are usually play and land then pass. My deck doesn't really start until turn 4.
as far a Jhoira of the Ghitu goes, she gets a ton of hate and I avoid her. My friend did make a fun EDH deck around Jhoira but it was hard for it to win because of all the attention it got.
I agree with gelf on godonot being needed unless your running more than a couple equipments
Tru dat. I also run Vicious Shadows to battle against the wipes.
stuff
Firstly I love Sneak Attack as a card (and wish I had one from the "Urza's" years), however I haven't considered it's synergy with Animar. Here is my initial response:
Cons
Pros
Final thoughts. I think that Animar provides a powerful enough and reliable enough effect that we don't need to put Sneak Attack into the deck. Also the functionality of Sneak Attack pushes the deck in a slightly different direction. Sneak Attack wants you to play lots of big/expensive creatures and follow it up with recursion, to consistently cheat on costs. With Sneak Attack cheap utility creatures have less value (although being able to use EtB effects instantly helps). Animar requires lots of small creatures and a few big creatures, to build up the +1/+1 counters and then benefit from the cost reduction.
This got me thinking 'what if Sneak Attack effect was on a body?' and then I remembered Elvish Piper. Perhaps that would be a better (if more fragile and slower) fit? Sneak Attack does survive wraths 'though, which is probably it's biggest advantage.
In the EDH league I've played at, there was a rule where you lost points if you didn't play your general but could of. Because I can usually play Animar turn 3, and people often kill me as quickly as possible, I had to bring Animar out as soon as possible.
Also when opponents can't deal with a turn three Animar, I can usually win on turns 6 or 7 without too much trouble, so sometimes it's worth forcing opponents to deal with him or lose.
In the last couple of games I played I noticed a few things I wanted to share:
Until now I always played Animar on turn three and, as Gelf already said, if my opponents can’t deal with it in the next 1-3 turns, I likely win. The problem is that they probably can deal with it and if it died twice, Animar just costs too much mana to still be worth it. If that happens, I’m forced to play control but also to keep up a certain amount of pressure until I can push through enough damage. The problem here is that at some point combo decks become a problem since they just can win out of nowhere if they have enough time…
…unless I have enough counter backup. That’s the next thing: I noticed that I win most games where I draw two or more counterspells because they help me to either protect my board or stop those pesky combos. Also through bouncing and recursion I regularly get more uses out of one counter creature. That’s why I’m now testing Voidmage Prodigy. It’s another hard counter on a creature, plus I run quite a few wizards that can be throw in front of opposing spells
The only problem I see is the UUU you need to morph him up and use the ability.
Another thing I noticed is that I fast ramping isn’t necessary most of the time but having a landdrop every turn is. Only that way I can ensure that I can drop my fatties even without Animar.
Also I have a problem with cuts. DGM brought as Ruric Thar and Progenitor Mimic that I want to try out. Besides that I’d like to include Deadeye Navigator and possibly Warstorm Surge. Unfortunately those are all sixdrops and I don’t want to mess up my curve too much. So which sixdrops (and possibly sevendrops) would you cut from my list. The only thing I can think of is Deadwood Treefolk. While I like to get my stuff back from the GY it often costs too much mana (at least without Animar).
Maybe Terastodon could also be cut. Eight mana is a lot and it gives my opponents blockers, on the other hand destroying three artifacts/enchantments is sometimes just what you need to get back in the game…
A link to my list is in my sig, it would be great to hear what you think of the cards mentioned
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GWR Marath - The Egg-laying Wool-Milk-Pig GWR
RBGrenzo - Restrained RakdosRB
UWRGBHorde of NotionsUWRGB
Retired: Karador, Ghost Chieftain | Rafiq of the Many | Animar, Soul of Elements | Maelstrom Wanderer
Looking at your deck list the cards you want to add I would cut:
Terastodon plays a very similar role to Sylvan Primordial, so you probably don't need both. It depends a lot on your meta. If you know that one player has a lot of permanents you must destroy then Terastodon is probably better against that opponent. On the other hand Progenitor Mimic can potentially be a Sylvan Primordial entering the battlefield every upkeep.
I have identified Consecrated Sphinx, Hellkite Tyrant and Diluvian Primordial as cuts, because those are the creatures that most rely on what your opponents are doing to be good.
Consecrated Sphinx relies on your opponents drawing cards while he is out. In my experience it will draw 2 to 6 cards before being killed. Is this efficient card draw? Certainly it's a lightning rod and unanswered can generate ludicrous card advantage, but in Animar I've never felt that Consecrated Sphinx is the right card draw engine.
Hellkite Tyrant again depends on your opponents having artifacts worth stealing. There are a lot of powerful artifact staples in EDH, but the more effective Hellkite Tyrant is in your meta, the more likely your meta will evolve away from using as many artifacts or having more effective answers to the Hellkite Tyrant. I think this is a meta call, and should only appear in the deck in response to particularly heavy handed artifact decks. It's a hate card rather than a staple in my opinion.
Diluvian Primordial depends on your opponents having Instants or Sorcery you wish to copy. While this is likely it is also unpredictable, so Diluvian Primordial's value varies depending on what your opponents are doing. Hence it could be worthwhile replacing it with a card that has a more reliable value (such as Deadeye Navigator) based on your own game plan.
Regarding Ruric Thar, the Unbowed and Progenitor Mimic:
Ruric Thar is much more likely to punish your opponents than you, so it's worth considering, however it's likely he will either stop your opponents doing things (not a bad outcome), or simply deal 6 damage to the person that removes him. That said he is an efficient beater and blocker.
Progenitor Mimic, much like Consecrated Sphinx requires a longer game to gain value. If you are likely to have him out for a couple of turns, his value increases a lot. Bear in mind that because he has a higher cost and a longer term function, it makes it less desirable to fulfill the other role of the Clone, that is as legendary creature removal.
I'll post this response in your thread as well, to give it better context. Please note that I focus on what I know, which is Animar's game plan, but you know your meta better than I can possible know and so some of my evaluations may be irrelevant based on the decks you play against.
Also minor updates of original post with some more 'why don't you play?' and 'what are you considering cards?' cards.
URThe Joy of Painting with Nin, the Pain Artist!UR
Trygon Predator is a very efficient creature. Nature's Claim is the cheapest of the disenchant variants.
More expensive, but more versatile is Beast Within. More specific, but with twice as many uses; Ancient Grudge.
GWKarametra - The MistveiledGW
GWR Marath - The Egg-laying Wool-Milk-Pig GWR
RBGrenzo - Restrained RakdosRB
UWRGBHorde of NotionsUWRGB
Retired: Karador, Ghost Chieftain | Rafiq of the Many | Animar, Soul of Elements | Maelstrom Wanderer
What does it mean?!: - in short!
Have I missed any other interactions with these changes?
I never really bounced azusa, lost but seeking too much, but when I comboed off and drew my deck it was nice to know I could play all my lands. Bummer
The clone rule is what's really devastating. Cloning was one of the most reliable ways to kill legendary creatures. Honestly, I probably won't take my clones out because they are still awesome, but really puts a dent in their usability. Really bummed.
Edit: this ruling makes evil twin a lot better. Unfortunately we can't use it...
The I think the new legend rule has more the one side:
GWKarametra - The MistveiledGW
GWR Marath - The Egg-laying Wool-Milk-Pig GWR
RBGrenzo - Restrained RakdosRB
UWRGBHorde of NotionsUWRGB
Retired: Karador, Ghost Chieftain | Rafiq of the Many | Animar, Soul of Elements | Maelstrom Wanderer
Obviously I will have to put some more thought into how to deal with fast voltron (looking at you Uril, the Miststalker!) when it is part of my meta (may be as simple as using Back to Nature?).
The land drop change is more intuitive, and using extra permissions by bouncing Oracle of Mul Daya was rare.
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I don't think they could combo out faster than me using Animar.
Animar is a build around general, my whole deck is stacked with creatures for the purpose of using and abusing Animar's abilities. You can't just stick Animar in any deck and expect him to win you the game. Furthermore, the real value engine is Cloudstone Curio, and few decks apart from Animar make use of it. Most decks simply don't run enough creatures to get the value from Animar that this deck does. I'm really not seeing this as a major problem. Maybe once in a while it will happen, someone gets the perfect set of cards and goes to town with a clone of Animar, and frankly that will be cool. I'm more excited about cloning Oona, and decking the Oona player before he gets me, Jhoira of the Ghitu and suspending an Eldrazi for laughs, or Karador, Ghost Chieftain and casting cheap creatures straight from the grave.
Now they need to print a card that says: "target player sacrifices a legendary permanent"
I think we have some interesting times ahead in EDH with this new ruling
EDH
UWB Oloro, Ageless Ascetic
URG Animar, Soul of Elements
GGG Azusa, Lost but Seeking
I also have a few questions:
GWKarametra - The MistveiledGW
GWR Marath - The Egg-laying Wool-Milk-Pig GWR
RBGrenzo - Restrained RakdosRB
UWRGBHorde of NotionsUWRGB
Retired: Karador, Ghost Chieftain | Rafiq of the Many | Animar, Soul of Elements | Maelstrom Wanderer
If I'm not playing Animar turn three, I generally simply try to curve out with ramp and potentially search up and set up combo pieces like Cloudstone Curio. Basically if I fear that opponents will wipe the board or spot destroy Animar as soon as he steps out, I try to reach about 9 mana, as that is probably the right amount to cast Animar, and then get an infinite bounce loop going. If I can I try and set up some protection such as Willbender or Glen Elendra Archmage to try and keep Animar on board until I next untap.
Sometimes it's worth simply appearing like you're not doing anything to see if politics will cause your opponents to use up resources on each other, but Animar tends to get a reputation so that rarely works.
Alternatively I run out Animar as soon as possible knowing that it will be destroyed attempting to lull my opponents into thinking they've neutered the deck, and then try to set up other combo engines for card draw and mana, only running Animar out once I've already gone infinite.
Potentially as a back up plan Jhoira could be interesting. But really she is very slow and pretty much always hated off the table quickly. I don't know how often counters are saved to prevent the cast at the end of suspend, but I doubt it's that often. I don't think she's worth it, Animar already tends to put a target on your head, Jhoira does the same while leaving yourself without options for several turns while you wait for the suspend to resolve.
I think if you're pursuing an aggro game plan then equipment is much more useful. I generally don't attack that much with Animar, as I pursue the combo win more often than not. If you're running only a single equipment I don't think it's worth including Godo. You're probably better off with Fabricate as that gives you more search options. If you're including 3 or more pieces of equipment, then Godo is probably worth it. SoFaF is certainly a powerhouse, but given so many people run it, you may be better off simply using Phyrexian Metamorph or Zealous Conscripts to take it when able without actually dedicating a spot to it.
as far a Jhoira of the Ghitu goes, she gets a ton of hate and I avoid her. My friend did make a fun EDH deck around Jhoira but it was hard for it to win because of all the attention it got.
I agree with gelf on godonot being needed unless your running more than a couple equipments
EDH
UWB Oloro, Ageless Ascetic
URG Animar, Soul of Elements
GGG Azusa, Lost but Seeking
On the other news, Ruric Thar has been pretty good so far!