This is my Saffi deck that I've been working on for a while. I don't think there's anything it really needs at the moment. It's a typical goodstuff combo Saffi deck. It's similar to Karador, but it doesn't have to worry about 3 colors and the general is better.
I don't have many tutors in here since the deck mainly draws cards and ramps until I either hit Avenger of Zendikar or hit a combo. I can search for part of the combo with these tutors since they only get creatures. As long as I can get out Sun titan, Reveilark, or Karmic Guide the game shouldn't go on much longer. If there's something missing it might be an artifact tutor. Usually I draw enough in a game that I can get to any card fairly quickly.
With Brutilizer Exarch if I'm going against just one player if I really want to hurt a player I'll usually tuck their land with him. I use the tutor if I need to.
Farhaven Elf and wood elves are so nice especially when I can kill them with Skullclamp and draw 2 cards. It's even better if Saffi is in play so I can ramp again. Sakura-tribe elder is nice as a blocker and ramp. If I need to clamp it I can. I can recur it with Reveilark, Saffi, Sun-titan, Karmic Guide and even Nostalgic dreams, just like most of the creatures in my deck. Some of my ramp does cost a little, maybe too much. I like Primal Growth because I can get a bonus from Saffi's Ability. I want to use her ability as much as possible. I don't care if she goes to the graveyard because I have so much recursion, but generally I put her in the general Zone until I know I can recur with Sun Titan and its ilk. Boundless Realms is a little costly, but it does filter my deck and make Avenger of Zendikar tokens huge, which is always a plus. I'm not sure if it still deserves a spot in the deck.
Knight of the Reliquary is in the deck in case of land destruction and if I need to ramp by getting Ancient Tomb or temple of the false god.
Knight of the White Orchid can ramp if someone else got a bigger start than me, which isn't that unlikely since most of my ramp isn't super cheap.
Scapeshift combos with Avenger of Zendikar, ramps me, filters my deck, and gives me threshold. I have a few threshold cards.
Oracle is a nice ramp card that will often get me 2 lands that turn. Garruk is nice as ramp, overrun, and even his token ability can be useful. I think he's the best planeswalker in edh.
Most of my removal is in creature form. I can abuse the etb/ltb creatures with a sac outlet and Saffi blowing up every one else's card advantage. I have a few instant speed removal in case of Rafiq or Skithiryx. I only have 1 mass removal spell because I only need one. I can blow up every thing one by one and I rarely need a global wipe. I someone somehow made all their permanents untouchable I would try to race them with a combo or with creature beatings. While Archon of Justice isn't as amazing as Duplicant he does make people hesitant to attack me, plus he can block flyers which is always a plus. Tectonic edge is necessary against Gaea's Cradle, but I like to use it as a lesson against bouncelands.
Eternal Witness is a staple in almost any green deck. It can be skullclamped, sac'd and recurred with Saffi, Karmic Guide, Sun Titan, Reveilark, or Nostalgic Dreams. If I genesis Wave I can do it again next turn if I drop an eternal witness.
Karmic Guide is amazing in almost any white deck I'd imagine. It won't ever die with Saffi, since they bring each other back. I can get more etb value out of my dead creatures. It can also safely block Skitheryx if needed.
If Saffi is the General then Sun Titan would be the lieutenant. It can recur most of my creatures, combos with saffi, and brings back lands. He's a secret ramping creature if there isn't a better target, if you want to assure you get Avenger of Zendikar next turn so you can play Craterhoof Behemoth for the win.
Reveilark can combo with Saffi like the others. It brings back 2 creatures which is nice. My deck will always have targets so it will never be a waste. It can be played as a 5 drop to deter attacks. What is nice is that Reveilark can bring back Karmic Guide which can bring back Sun titan, which can bring back Saffi. They all interact with each other which is great. In any edh deck you want synergy.
I chose Nostalgic dreams over Regrowth and Praetor's Council, because it's like an in between version. Regrowth is nice, but it only brings back one card. You might only need a single card, but the options you have the better your chances of winning are. Praetor's Counsil costs too much. You pay 8, bring your graveyard into your hand, but now you are vulnerable for a turn. Usually when you cast the big spell you won't have much mana left to cast much of importance. I usually get enough cards in hand that I can afford to discard a few to bring others back to my hand. The only problem about the card is its weakness to counterspells. If it gets countered I lose x cards in hand plus a recursion spell. I haven't played it enough to know if it's really worth it.
Most of my sac outlets are 1 time use. They are fine because they give me card advantage. For instance Momentous Fall can be used in response to theft. With Momentous Fall I can draw lots of cards and gain life, which can be relevant against an aggro deck. Natural Order is a good card on its own, but in Saffi it's even better. I want Saffi to be used whenever possible. I don't think I need any other ones. I don't think I need Ashnod's Altar or Phyrexian Altar because I don't need the mana. What would I use infinite mana for? Genesis Wave? That's probably it. I only have 3 "free" sac oulets, but I think that's enough considering how much ramp and card draw I have.
Win Cons
Saffi + Sun Titan/Reveilark/Karmic Guide + altar of dementia = everyone else mills their decks
Saffi + Sun Titan/Reveilark/Karmic Guide + Greater Good = draw my deck so I can find altar of dementia or caller of the claw
Saffi + sun titan/reveilark/Karmic Guide + sac Outlet + Caller of the Claw = infinite 2/2 bears
Avenger of Zendikar + Boundless Realms/Scapeshift/Craterhoof Behemoth = enough damage to kill everybody
Other combos
Saffi + Sun Titan/Reveilark/Karmic Guide + Martyr's Cause = prevent all targetable damage that would be dealt to you or a creature you control
Sun Titan + Peace Keeper = You may attack during your turns, but your opponents may not.
Dryad Arbor is nice as a blocker, another attacker, but great as a skullclamper. Besides I get so happy when I can bring her out on turn 1 with green sun's zenith.
Gaddock Teeg is a hoser for certain decks. I'm not sure he's necessary, but he stays for now.
Peacekeeper is nice because I can keep myself alive while I find my combos to win. The fact that it combos with sun titan makes it extra nice.
Regal Force is just another draw spell but in etb form which I am very capable of abusing.
Restoration Angel just makes another etb effect trigger, but it's only one of 2 that does so at instant speed. You never know when that will come in handy. I'm not sure if the deck needs it.
Scavenging Ooze is in here for KArador mainly. I need a way to deal with graveyards, which it does nicely. The lifegain is a plus.
Soul of the HArvest is another draw spell. He doesn't have an etb himself, but I can easily draw cards off of him.
Stonecloaker is another graveyard hate card that can help redo etb effects and save a creature from exile or theft.
Yosei is in to lock down very dangerous combo player, who are usually blue. My main way of dealing with blue players is to blow up their lands. This guy isn't a "fun" card, but he really is nice at shutting down opponent's cards. I just added him so I don't know for sure how well he'll do.
Glaring Spotlight is worth a try in the deck. It can stop Uril, Sigurda, and Geist of St. Traft. so I can kill them. i Like the second mode better, because it could help push a game in my favor. I'm not sure if it'll be good or not, but it's worth a try.
Seedtime is my one true "anti-blue" card. I say that in quotes because it only stops them if they try to counter my spell, tutor during my turn, or play brainstorm. I recently added this so hopefully it'll be worth it. My deck is trying to be aggressive so I want to promote my deck rather than stall everyone elses.
1x knight of the white orchid -> Lotus Cobra
The knight depended on my opponents to ramp more than me, which didn't happen very often. Lotus cobra works so well with the deck and can enable a very fast early start.
1x woodfall primus -> Terastodon
Terastodon used to be in the deck, but I took him out when Sylvan Primordial came out. I put him back in because he does more damage than primus does. Primus would be better in here if I had Melira, Sylvok outcast to infinite. I don't care about the persist as much because my deck does a good job of recursion as it is. I just felt he didn't do enough.
1x glaring spotlight -> Genesis
I wanted to try out the spotlight hoping it would be worth it. I wanted to be able to handle anything, especially Sigurda, but the spotlight is just a dead card most of the time. If I go against Sigurda I have other ways of dealing with her.
1x seedtime -> Grand Abolisher
Seedtime is dead against non-blue decks. I like the Grand Abolisher, because I can still play spells during other people's turns but they can't on my turn.
1x gaddock teeg -> aven mindscensor
The other day I looked at my deck at realized that if I had Gaddock Teeg out, I couldn't play 14 cards in my deck. I felt he had to go. I replaced him with aven mindscensor as a "mess with your opponents" card. I was thinking about replacing Teeg with either Aven Mindscensor or Seht's Tiger. I chose the Mindscensor because the people I play with use tutors more than they target players.
Restoration Angel-> Survival of the fittest
While the angel is good, she isn't good enough. I could get another etb trigger from a dude, but I felt that it wasn't enough. I replaced it with Survival of the fittest, because Survival is amazing. Every creature in hand is any creature I want it to be for G. Since my deck is basically a toolbox deck it really helped my deck. I didn't want Fauna shaman, because I felt it was too slow and would be killed easily. Also I don't think I need another tutor, as I already have plenty.
Gavony Township -> emeria, the Sky ruin
Gavony Township isn't as great as it once was, because I very rarely attack. The counters only really mattered on Woodfall Primus, which I also removed. I've been trying out Emeria, the Sky Ruin which has been working out for me so far. It's a little slow to get, but once I get it, it really helps out. I'll see if I still think it's great in the future.
Plains -> Strip Mine
Strip mine should have been in here from the beginning.
10/22
I haven't updated in a while, so this is a big change.
mimic vat -> blasting station
mimic vat is nice, but it just wan't powerful enough for me. Sometimes I wouldn't be able to do anything with it, while other times it would get removed right away. It was just too slow for what the deck was trying to accomplish. The vat would be fine in a more grindy deck. I may consider re-adding it in the future, but time will tell.
Blasting station is a sac outlet, but more than anything it's another way to combo out.
Mirari's wake -> emerald medallion
Mirari's wake is nice, but unnecessary in this deck. I like having an explosive start, but once I have 5 or 6 mana I don't really need a lot more. Mirari's wake is also a likely to be destroyed right after I cast it, which would waste that turn. If I faced a lot of humility decks I might put this back in, but it's too slow and not worth the risk here.
emerald medallion is great in this deck, especially since I've been lowering the curve of the deck. It allows me to keep chaining spells and makes me dangerous, well more dangerous.
peace keeper -> kataki, war's wage
I put peace keeper in to at least slow down fast spammy aggro decks like krenko decks. I took out my last board wipe a while ago so while this deck has a lot of strengths, wiping the board isn't one of them. In reality I rarely faced an aggro deck where I needed it, or the aggro deck just killed the peace keeper since he dies to everything. Don't get me wrong if you face aggro frequently peace keeper is annoying for those players, but I just didn't face that many aggro decks.
I just put Kataki in so I don't know how it'll perform yet. I put it in to really hurt other combo decks or control decks that rely on artifacts, specifically Damia. My dream play is to have a Damia player vommit their hand with artifacts and then end up sacing half of them to Kataki. Hopefully it'll be good.
Genesis -> Skullmulcher
I found that I rarely used the ability once I found a way to get him in the graveyard. He's not bad, just a little too slow for my taste.
I was looking through my cards one day and saw skullmulcher and thought I'd give it a try. I've only played a few games with it, but it worked. In general my deck wanted more card draw and sac outlets. This guy provides both. I have a fair bit of recursion so I don't care too much if my things die. The card draw part is nice. My deck is becoming faster, which also means I need more card draw. I could have added soul's majesty , but I think Skullmulcher will better suit my deck.
I realized my deck wants to be the thing that everyone else needs to answer and not the one that provides the answers. I have plenty of answers to things, but I feel like Akroma's Vengeance is too slow and better suited in a more grindy control deck. This was my last board wipe. Ever since I took it out It hasn't really been an issue.
I don't know why path to exile wasn't in here before. Well better late than never.
Along with some of the cards the recurring theme is that some of the cards cost too much, Boundless Realms is one of them. It doesn't provide enough benefit for the risk of the huge cost.
Worldly tutor just makes the deck more consistent.
Far wanderings is a great casual card, but it's just a little too unreliable in a competitive deck.
I can't believe I ever underestimated edge of autumn. If you would ever put rampant growth in a deck, this should go in first. Sure it only ramps in the early game, but in a deck with a low curve you won't need a lot of mana for your deck to perform well. So if you draw this late it's basically a free cantrip. There are some games when that can mean the difference between life and death
It's too expensive, gives my opponents creatures which hurts occasionally, and is outclassed by Sylvan Primordial. My deck used to basically try to blow up as much as possible until I could combo out, but that was slow and unnecessary. I don't need to blow up 3 things from one player. Usually blowing up just one thing is enough to help me not lose or make the other people playing lose.
explore can fail, I find it usually doesn't. At the very least it cantrips which helps me get more fuel. It's not for everyone, but I like it.
The archon was slow and needed a way to die, which I didn't always have. It's a defensive card in an aggressive deck so it had to go. It may return if porphoros is too much of a pain or if torpor orb decks become more frequent.
I didn't want to take out Brutilizer exarch, but there were better things I wanted in the deck. Since I added more tutors I don't need the tutor aspect. If Porphoros decks become a problem for me I may add him back in. As of now he's too slow.
Rampant growth is the bread and butter of ramp spells. You can't go wrong with more 2 cmc ramp.
I put in caller of the claw because I could create infinite bears with saffi, suntitan and a sac outlet. There were a few ways to do that. The thing was that whenever I could combo out with infinite bears I usually had a different combo without the caller of the claw. It was just necessary.
Being a competitive deck I though I should include tooth and nail.
I don't know how I've gone this long without the altar. The altar combos with saffi and titan/guide/lark and usually wins me the game. As long as I have 1 useful etb/ltb creature either on the field on in my graveyard with the combo I can trigger it an infinite number of times. I first get infinite mana and then I can recast saffi from the general zone. Skullmulcher just ins't good without tokens. I only have avenger, so I had to cut it.
farhaven elf ->Angel of finality
farhaven elf, while clampable, is just too slow. Angel of finality is a nice new card to help me against those graveyards and can be easily poded into.
Katai WAr's Wage->arbor elf
I put kataki in to slow down fast artifact decks. Most of the time it's just too slow and it hurts me a little. It might be better in 1v1, but not in multi. Arbor elf is part of my want to make the deck faster. It's more vulnerable, but that's ok. Saffi needs speed to be competitive.
Solemn Simulacrum->Avacyn's pilgrim
Solemn was just too slow and didn't do enough. I don't constantly recur creatures, like in Karaador decks, so it had to go. The pilgrim is faster and I like it like that.
Soul of the harvest -> birds of paradise
Soul of the harvest is too expensive for me. Birds are nice.
Stone cloaker->Elvish mystic
Stone cloaker was actually replaced by angel of finality, but this isn't in order. You may have noticed a mana dork trend. I'm fitting in as many as I can and getting rid of my more expensive ramp to give me more speed and flexibility.
Yosei, the morning star->elvish visionary
Yosei is probably better for 1v1. The only time I really feel like I can cast is when one player is left, otherwise it really doesn't do enough. It might just be me. I also don't actively want to become the enemy of the table. Elvish visionary is cheap, cantrips, boosts gaea's cradle, boosts craterhoof behemoth, skullclamps, and gives me infinite draw with saffi + sac outlet + reveilark. Seems good.
Martyr's cause->fyndhorn elves
Martyr's cause doesn't really do anything most of the time. If I have the combo, then I'm just sitting there. If I have a combo, I want it to win.
Worldly tutor->Enlightened tutor
I may add worldly tutor back in the future, but for now it's cut. I already have several creature tutors. Worldly tutor is the weakest since it puts the creature on top. Enlightened tutor can get me my combo piece or something like birthing pod or duplicant, which is more useful.
Farseek->mentor of the meek
Even the 2cmc ramp is getting cut, but not all of it. With all of these new weenies, mentor is an auto include.
Nostalgic dreams-> Wall of omens
I didn't really need the dreams. Things get cut when I'm trying to make my deck faster. wall is nice for same reasons as elvish visionary.
Primal growth->cream of the crop
I don't to sac my dudes unless I have to. Primal growth forces a sac otherwise it's mediorce. Cream of the crop helps me dig for an answer or a combo piece.
Scapeshift->Mirri's guile
I've been removing a lot of land ramp, so Scape**** looses it's value. I didn't really need it. Mirri's guile is a poor man's top. It helps me smooth out my draws.
Greater good-> scout's warning
As I keep cutting my bigger cmc dudes, greater good loses it's value. I want to try Scout's Warning. I think it can perform. It gives a dude flash so I can respond to people's shenanigans plus it draws me a card.
The only 2 cmc land ramp I'm keeping is ones that do other things, like draw me a card. Swords is just an auto include in any white deck. I recently acquired one from my brother.
[CARD]
Emeria, the sky ruin[/CARD]->armageddon
Emeria never triggered. cipt hurts, so it got cut. Armageddon can give me an edge if I'm ahead or to screw over a greedy player.
Miren, the moaning well->forest
Miren was too slow and too colorless. Adding more 1cmc dorks means I need to make sure I can cast them on turn 1, so I add more forests.
Temple of the false god->archon of justice
Temple is fine in a more casual deck, but I don't want a dead card early(or at least fewer of them). I added Archon back in, because while it's a little harder to abuse then an etb ability creature, permanent exile is a nice way to stop things that need to die. It also pods well.
Treetop village->deglamer
Treetop village cipt is not good. At one point I had every manland I could fit in here. I like manlands, but unfortunately they aren't good enough here. Deglamer is nice and cheap and it deals with indestructible shenanigans.
4/5/14
I haven't updated this since the sylvan Primordial ban. Besides the primoridal I changed a few other cards.
Scout's warning->unexpectedly absent
Scout's warning is cool, but gimmicky. Since the commander decks came out I found that unexpectedly absent would be a nice addition. The more removal, the better.
archon of justice->Sylvan Safekeeper
as good as archon seems, it had problems. I don't have many sac outlets, and since I don't have many ways to kill the archon, it was too slow and didn't do much. Sylvan safekeeper will help keep my combos safe. I was thinking of adding mother of runes, but she's better for a voltron build.
Sylvan Primordial->Terastodon
Since Sylvan was banned I had to find something else. Initially I went for Brutilizer exarch. The exarch is nice, but not enough of an impact for 6 mana. Sylvan was great when I natural ordered him out. I needed something to really pack a punch, especially when cheated out. A turn 3/4 Terastodon seems like a good fit.
I just recently acquired a scroll rack and I want to try it out. This deck has the most shuffling of any of my decks, so it's the best to abuse the rack. Cream was nice for filtering the top of my deck to find an answer or a combo piece. It may come back, but for now scroll rack is in.
Wall of omens cantrip s nice, but it doesn't work well with skullclamp and I finally realized I should get fauna shaman to make the deck more consistent.
I could rarely use armageddon. Even when I had lots of mana dorks, everyone had lots of guys too. I know that If I blew up all lands I'd be a huge target. Ultimately it was rarely worth it. Armageddon might be better if my deck was designed on having more of a board presence. I found a top for $15 which I threw in here to help smooth out my deck. I kept in mirri's guile, because I figure I can use more of those kind of things.
I may switch back at some point. I put in Vorinclex instead of Terastodon, because I feel Vorinclex is better in Multiplayer. While I like the ability to nuke 3 things and Terastodon is great early game thanks to a natural order, Vorinclex quickly turns the game in my favor. If he gets answered the player that answered it will have less mana the next turn. Another thing is that a weakness of the deck is aggro and I don't want to give the deck I'm weak to more fuel. I may switch it back in the future. It could go either way depending on the meta game.
Even though Teeg is a risk in my deck it just hoses some decks so well. I can be careful when I play it and if it is out when I want to play something I can't I have a fair amount of sacrifice in the deck. Elvish visionary is nice, but as I improve my deck I'm favoring tutoring over card draw.
I thought the safekeeper was going to be better than it turned out to be. It would be fine against a deck with a few control spells to respond to saffi or my creatures making comboing difficult. In reality most of the time it just sat there. Ranger of eos is like a second oracle of mul daya. The only 1 drops are mana dorks, which is fine. I can excel my mana, discard to fauna shaman/survival, draw cards with skullclamp, fuel gaea's cradle, add more power for Craterhoof, and help with convoke. So it's not so bad. Oh also it helps take out the mana dorks so I draw them late game.
I just don't have enough colorless mana symbols for the medallion to be relevant. My curve is low and most of my guys have a lots of colored mana. I can some use out of it, but not anything that I feel is consistent enough. Restore is nice because I can get another use out of gaea's cradle after killing it with strip mine or I can steal an opponent's gaea's cradle. Most games I'll at least have a fetch land in the yard. So it's at least a rampant growth, sometimes better.
This may be a surprise to some. In my deck I don't have any combos I can play from just Tooth and nail aside from avenger + craterhoof. That only works late game. I could also get avenger + regal force. I feel that in my deck it's too slow for what I'm trying to do. At 9 mana I don't to play value, I want to win the game. I may not have many lands since I have so many mana dorks, so aveneger won't be all that powerful until later. Avenger is fine by itself, but I don't need tooth and nail to get it out. Worldy tutor just helps my early game and helps my deck's consistency.
Since I'v been lowering my curve I don't have so many creatures with big power/toughness. I've been improving my card draw power and tutoring so I just don't need a card like momentous fall. It doesn't add anything in a competitive game. My main weakness aggro is now something I can handle a little better. I've been thinking about adding spore frog which I may add. Spike weaver just has more value and will help me regain board control long enough to win, hopefully.
mostly just an uprgrade. Flagstones i great against land destruction and is nice when you use it on harrow. Not something that'll be a huge player, but a nice little thing to have.
Thanks for commenting. Now that you mention it I think Survival of the Fittest would be great in here. I'm not sure I need fauna shaman, although I can tutor for that. I have several tutors. Only 2 of them can be used at instant speed, but I don't think I need a ton. I don't want too many tutors, because I feel that would slow the deck down.
Most of my ramp isn't super cheap so if I get the Knight in my opening hand I have a decent chance of using its ramp, but It doesn't ramp as often as I would hope. I forgot that about a week ago I traded for a lotus cobra. I'll replace that with the knight
Garruk doesn't get that much hate really. I don't have a token deck so unless avenger of zendikar plant tokens are in play he usually isn't deemed a threat. I can usually stop most hate with blockers or removal. People rarely run flyers so I can usually stop the attack. He benefits me more often than not. He's good in a subtle way, which means he will generally live longer.
I'm not a huge fan of false prophet. I don't want to exile my own dudes, and depending on what the opponents do It could hurt me more. I could false prophet great in a meta against a high number of graveyard reanimating shenanigan decks, but my meta isn't like that. I feel that I generally have enough power in my etb effects and recursion that I can safely kill everything that threatens me. Strip mine and wasteland are possible, but I do already have a lot of colorless slots. I have 8 colorless producing lands. Getting a forest in the beginning is crucial. I have had games where I only seem to have colorless lands and I get behind.
I don't have a problem with indestructible creatures, at least not yet. I have Duplicant, Brutilizer exarch, oblation, and archon of justice which deal with them nicely. The only problem I could see is hexproof/shroud indestructible creatures. I haven't had that problem before so I'm going to worry about it. I used to have terminus in here, but I realized I didn't need it.
I like my one time use cards. Are you referring to cards like momentous fall? That one in particular is nice because the sac is part of the cost so if someone tries to steal one of my dudes and has a counter in hand I still get to sac the creature. I have this over a sac outlet, because it gets me more cards and a life buffer against aggro deck. My general edh philosophy is card draw > tutors.
I haven't run into problems with Gaddock. Sometimes I will cast him and topdeck something I can't play. Usually he's enough of a threat that someone will kill him, or I can sac him if I really need to. Sometimes he doesn't do much, other times he shuts down decks. The important thing is that he stops armageddons, which will really hurt this deck.
Aggressive blue decks can be really annoying. I do like Grand abolisher, so I think I'll get one. I keep forgetting his ability is one sided. I will let you know how glaring spot performs for me. I think It'll be fine. Most of my removal is targeted except for Akroma's vengeance so with the glaring spot I can hit Sigurda, Geist, Uril, or Thrun. The unblockable part could be useful, but since I generally win with combo I doubt that part will used very often.
I would consider fiend hunter, works terrific with sun titan. Cast it, exile sun titan, pod it out for four drop of your choice, sun titan hits, get fiend hunter back, target something else. straight profit. And if you can sac it in response to its trigger a creature is gone forever. I would run more sac outlets, notably Ashnod's Altar and/or Phyrexian Altar. Infinite mana is always fun
I would consider fiend hunter, works terrific with sun titan. Cast it, exile sun titan, pod it out for four drop of your choice, sun titan hits, get fiend hunter back, target something else. straight profit. And if you can sac it in response to its trigger a creature is gone forever. I would run more sac outlets, notably Ashnod's Altar and/or Phyrexian Altar. Infinite mana is always fun
I'm not sure if it's really worth it. That interaction with pod is nice, but it seems like it would get too much hate. When the pod isn't there with fiend hunter, it doesn't do as much. Sure I could sac in response and exile a creature, but I have a few things that exile/tuck and plenty of effects that re-trigger etb effects. I just think there are better options. Ashnod's altar would be great if I had a use for infinite mana. Maybe genesis wave? I could always just use it as a sac outlet, I'll consider it.
Have you thought about Blasting Station? It allows you to just kill people with Titan/Reveillark/Karmic Guide and Saffi. And Oracle Gould honestly be in every green deck interested in ramping.
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I am going to look into adding maybe caller of the claw as an additional combo piece. This would give me an incentive to start the "empty" Sun titan loops.
Also Oracle of Mul Daya might be worthwhile. I'll have to run it and see how it does for and if I get accelaration out of it. With Sylvan Library I can see some ridicoulous things happening. Also I am running Scroll Rack, so maybe I can have my own Exploration
cool. There's nothing quite like having an infinite army of bears in your face. Well the closest thing is having infinite squirrels, but bears are cooler. I really like that he has flash. For a while sun + saffi was nice but didn't really do anything until I recently added the combos. Before that I always ended up winning with Avenger of Zendikar. Not having haste makes it a little harder to go off, but with craterhoof behemoth the plants get really big. One of my favorite plays is to cast Avenger of Zendikar with Chord of calling in hand and a few creatures already on the board. I'll play Aveneger and tap all the tokens for Chord of calling, which will get Craterhoof Behemoth. Hilarity ensues.
Have you thought about Blasting Station? It allows you to just kill people with Titan/Reveillark/Karmic Guide and Saffi. And Oracle Gould honestly be in every green deck interested in ramping.
I have. It's a nice combo win, when all the pieces are together. I don't think it does enough outside of combo. My sac outets are either "free" or have a specific purpose. I think I have enough combos anyway. I like all my cards to be good on their own and not depend on other cards. I just am not sure the station really cuts it.
Yeah I'm trying to ramp, but at the same time I try to keep the board relatively empty and thus try to get False Prophet triggers. As discussed in my Saffi thread, I might need to change my approach to playing Saffi slightly.
EDIT:
I can only second this
my ramp pretty much depends on Saffi to really get going. My Saffi deck originally started out as a really casual Chorus of the Conclave deck. I don't think one card that was originally there is still in here. I think This deck started about 1 1/2 years ago. See I don't need to clear the board early generally because I don't look threatening and I have blockers. Try some of my 1 time uncounterable sac cards. The way I play Saffi is pretty aggressively. I ramp, remove, recur, and then re-win(close enough). I don't really attack often. Other than that if it's a permanent I can deal with it if it inhibits my strategy or will kill me.
Deranged Hermit and Lifeline are both strong in Saffi. Hermit will get you a ton of tokens fast with Saffi's ability, which allows you to pretty much draw your entire deck with Gaea's Cradle and Skullclamp. Lifeline is just really good in a deck with sac outlets and ETB abilities.
Deranged Hermit and Lifeline are both strong in Saffi. Hermit will get you a ton of tokens fast with Saffi's ability, which allows you to pretty much draw your entire deck with Gaea's Cradle and Skullclamp. Lifeline is just really good in a deck with sac outlets and ETB abilities.
I don't need Hermit Druid, because I'm a combo deck. I want all of my cards to either synergize with most of the deck or be good on their own. The only token producer I have is Avenger of Zendikar, because he is a win condition on his own. I don't have the Cradle in the deck. Maybe I'll add it in when I become a millionaire.
I may have to consider lifeline. Most of my sac outlets are either infinite or are temporary cards that will create card advantage unless they get countered. The main problem with lifeline is that it doesn't actually make me sac the creature. I want to sac my value creatures and not just Saffi. The only way I can reliably gain advantage with Saffi is if I can sac the value creature, otherwise I'm waiting for something on my field to die so that I can take advantage of it. People will see this coming and hesitate to kill my stuff. People hesitate to kill my stuff anyway.
I have thought about adding Perilous forays back in the deck. I used to have it in here when I was a different deck. It doesn't infinite, but it will help me get board advantage while ramping. I do have Avenger of Zendikar and Lotus Cobra to take advantage of the landfall. I still feel it's a little expensive and that it won't last long against opponents who are prepared for it. I'll have to think about it.
So it's been a while since I've updated the deck. My deck in real life has changed a lot since I last updated on here. I've been meaning to get to it, but I keep forgetting.
update. deck is faster, but more vulnerable to board wipes. At the moment I'm pretty happy with it. I may add something from the new set if it's worth it.
would it be better if you went the route of real land accel? something similar to Pookelyduke's list. from what i understand, saffi shouldnt run strict ramp spells like rampant growth, cultivate etc. his ramp spells are creatures with etb triggers that get real lands (i.e. sakura tribe elder, solemn simulacrum, wood elves etc) . that way he doesnt really get hurt by board wipes since he got value already.
The main problem my deck had, was that it was weak against aggro. Combo is supposed to be better than combo. 1 mana dorks are faster than land ramping. Even though they don't trigger etb abilities, having that speed is important. Sure they could get board wiped, but that's not a problem since Saffi decks are already resilient to board wipes anyhow. I also want my deck to be more well rounded and better to face things like stax or LD. Hell I added in some LD in case I get ahead. The mana dorks also help with craterhoof, regal force, and gaea's cradle. They can also help me defend against aggro and buy me enough time for a counter attack. I try not use saffis ability just to ramp, unless I have nothing better to do. For one thing I don't want to blown out by LD, but I also want to be faster and more flexible against control. Since mana dorks are cheaper than land ramp, it gives me more mana to react to control strategies. I still have plenty of etb effects in the deck. I also don't want to be shut down by torpor orb. The only land ramp I've kept, is ramp that can do other things like explore can draw me an extra card, and edge of autumn can draw me a card if I need to answer something or I want to win that turn. I don't like cultivate and kodama's reach, because I feel they are too slow even if they do secure your land drops. Thanks for your input and thanks for looking at my deck.
Go check the saffi primer
There's a lot there to learn from
Wild pair is a god card just play it with a good curve and pairings with birthing pod, academy rector, survival and masked admirers and you will never be without the creature you want.
I find as well that going the combo route is extremely inconsistent even with the tutors unless you plan on not being the target of everyone at the table as soon as you sit down (cries, I'm that guy) or going the pillow fort route with some combo as a finisher. To combat this, I've found that having a deck that just throws down creatures and nickel and dimes synergistically the entire table out the game does the trick in place of the combo side of the coin (which I end up using about 30% of the time for the kill.
I'm talking about austere commanding 4 times in 8 turns with eternal witness and silly things like that.
I've actually ended up moving the majority of my deck over to creatures that do the same things that the original sorceries and instants did for that reason.
I'm talking about granger instead of explore, harmonic sliver or pridemage instead of nature's claim or deglaimer.
Brutalizer Exarch is a nice card.
And I can't find out why you're running scout's warning or edge of autumn.
Also, another sac outlet is greater good >_<
I'm posting from my phone btw and it's early in the morning, so please excuse any typos or lack of card linking or disjointed thoughts etc...
I've seen the Saffi primer. My deck is a little different than his. Mine focuses more on speed and resilience than value. I don't have as many ways to abuse Saffi without the infinites, but that's fine as I almost always have something to do. I don't want to add too many sac outlets, especially since more than one on the field at a time is a little redundant. I also have all the good ones. I may think about wild pair. My problem with wild pair is that it costs a lot and has no immediate impact. Sure I could go crazy with it, but I could also waste my turn as it gets blown up during someone else's turn. I basically only wants things in the deck that have immediate value. I have to assume that my opponents will always have an answer for my cards, because I want this to be able to compete in metas where that's true. Going the combo route for me has been fairly consistent. Even if people know what my deck does I have many ways of stopping them from killing me just long enough so I can win. Because I combo, I rarely have a super threatening board. That said I do have a weakness, which is tokens. Since all of my removal is 1 target, I have a ton of trouble with tokens. Luckily I don't run into token spam that often. And when I do I can usually win before I die.
I like explore, pridemage, nature's claim, and deglamer, because they are all cheap. Mana efficiency is key in edh. I have plenty of card draw so I won't run out of steam too easily. I just took out scout's warning, but I forgot to update the list. I replaced it with unexpectedly absent. I like edge of autumn, because it ramps me early game and if I need an answer I can sac a land and draw a card for free. That may sound inefficient, but it's saved my butt a few times. Saccing a land is worth it when the benefit is not losing or finding a combo piece.
I took out greater good a while ago, because as I've been lowering my curve I have fewer and fewer things I can abuse with it that won't set me back. It's just not worth it now.
I'd try running Flagstones of Trokair. It's only real vulnerability is Blood Moon, Magus of the Moon and Back to Basics (BtB being the only real problem), almost all the other relevant non-basic hate doesn't work very well on it and it has some fun little synergies like with Edge of Autumn and Harrow. It also provides a little protection against mass LD like the Armageddon you run. It's one of my favorite EDH lands.
I'd try running Flagstones of Trokair. It's only real vulnerability is Blood Moon, Magus of the Moon and Back to Basics (BtB being the only real problem), almost all the other relevant non-basic hate doesn't work very well on it and it has some fun little synergies like with Edge of Autumn and Harrow. It also provides a little protection against mass LD like the Armageddon you run. It's one of my favorite EDH lands.
cool, I'll have to try that. I keep looking at the card expecting it to come in tapped, but it doesn't. I want to limit how many etb tapped lands I have. I have a lot of basics, because at one point I was considering Rofellos and I need green mana early for mana dorks and for a possible back to basics attack. I have also been thinking of getting crucible of Worlds and taking out Armageddon. I threw the Armageddon in there to punish greedy decks, but I've found that I rarely have an opportunity to do so without dying from whatever creatures there are on the field.
After a quick once over of your list, I can see why you have had poor experiences with emeria. Its a shame though, as it is an incredible engine.
With the loss of primeval Titan a few years ago, most lists have dropped emeria, which I feel is not optimal. With a proper manabase and a supporting group of creatures, the land can be a severe headache for your opponents. From what I have seen, most pilots have not wanted to learn to actually play emeria to cause those headaches and were complacent with those "easy mode" plays.
In order to make emeria work, your mananase would need a complete overhaul, a retrofit of all your spells and a fair amount of time to learn how to safely get to live emeria. It is definitely worth it if you are willing to take the necessary steps.
After a quick once over of your list, I can see why you have had poor experiences with emeria. Its a shame though, as it is an incredible engine.
With the loss of primeval Titan a few years ago, most lists have dropped emeria, which I feel is not optimal. With a proper manabase and a supporting group of creatures, the land can be a severe headache for your opponents. From what I have seen, most pilots have not wanted to learn to actually play emeria to cause those headaches and were complacent with those "easy mode" plays.
In order to make emeria work, your mananase would need a complete overhaul, a retrofit of all your spells and a fair amount of time to learn how to safely get to live emeria. It is definitely worth it if you are willing to take the necessary steps.
my problem with Emeria is that most of my deck needs green mana, especially early game. So in order to try to ramp to get it to work, I'd be casting fewer things. I also don't like that it comes in tapped. My deck needs to be fast. The land is also too slow to activate and I don't have a whole lot of sac outlets to abuse a lot of recursion. I don't want to be too vulnerable to graveyard hate. I feel like to make Emeria work I'd have to switch out my mana dorks for land ramp, which is not something I want to do.
As I said... I can see why you don't way to play it. Just putting it out there as a card that should not be dismissed as quickly as many are as it is a card that requires effort (something most players are opposed to).
As for your dislikes of the card, i can assure you that they are not warranted. My list is mostly green as well, yet I have never had an issue turning on an emeria. Coming into play tapped is not a big deal as a good saffi build will always have abundant mana. Good emeria play will also not weaken you to graveyard removal, but it will strengthen your graveyard. Emerias "on switch" is also not as big of a deal as you make it out to be. Unless you are racing to combo as quick as possible every game (which is a recipe for disaster), there is ALWAYS time to set it up as it should come natural to the deck.
All i am getting it here is "don't be so quick to dismiss a card". Your deck is obviously of different design then mine, but I do have a lot of experience with the cards... and experience has shown emeria to be amazing (it just takes a bit of exploration to fully understand what it is capable of). End of the day, it is YOUR build and you should play the cards YOU want to play.
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Saffi Eriksdotter
1x Acidic Slime
1x angel of finality
1x arbor elf
1x avacyn's pilgrim
1x aven mindscensor
1x Avenger of Zendikar
1x birds of paradise
1x Craterhoof Behemoth
1x Dryad Arbor
1x Duplicant
1x elvish mystic
1x Eternal Witness
1x Fierce empath
1x fauna shaman
1x fyndhorn elves
1x Gaddock Teeg
1x grand abolisher
1x Karmic Guide
1x Knight of the Reliquary
1x llanowar elves
1x Lotus Cobra
1x mentor of the meek
1x Mirror Entity
1x Oracle of Mul Daya
1x Qasali Pridemage
1x Ranger of Eos
1x Regal Force
1x Reveillark
1x Saffi, Eriksdotter
1x Sakura-tribe elder
1x Scavenging ooze
1x spike weaver
1x Sun Titan
1x Vorinclex
1x Wood Elves
1x Aura Shards
1x mirri's guile
1x survival of the fittest
1x Sylvan Library
Artifact (8)
1x Altar of Dementia
1x Birthing Pod
1x blasting station
1x phyrexian altar
1x scroll rack
1x sensei's divining top
1x Skullclamp
1x Sol ring
Instant (12)
1x Beast within
1x Chord of calling
1x deglamer
1x Eladamri's call
1x enlightened tutor
1x Harrow
1x Nature's Claim
1x Oblation
1x path to exile
1x swords to plowshares
1x unexpectedly absent
1x worldly tutor
Sorcery (7)
1x edge of autumn
1x explore
1x Genesis Wave
1x Green Sun's Zenith
1x Harmonize
1x Natural Order
1x Restore
1x Garruk Wildspeaker
Lands (33)
1x Ancient Tomb
1x brushland
14x forest
1x gaea's cradle
1x flagstones of trokair
1x High Market
1x Horizon Canopy
1x nykthos, shrine to Nyx
6x plains
1x Savannah
1x strip mine
1x Tectonic Edge
1x Temple Garden
1x windswepth heath
1x wooded foothills
Non-land tutors
With Brutilizer Exarch if I'm going against just one player if I really want to hurt a player I'll usually tuck their land with him. I use the tutor if I need to.
Land Tutors
basic
Non-basic
Knight of the Reliquary is in the deck in case of land destruction and if I need to ramp by getting Ancient Tomb or temple of the false god.
Knight of the White Orchid can ramp if someone else got a bigger start than me, which isn't that unlikely since most of my ramp isn't super cheap.
Scapeshift combos with Avenger of Zendikar, ramps me, filters my deck, and gives me threshold. I have a few threshold cards.
Other Ramp cards
Blow up Things/exile/tuck
Recursion
Karmic Guide is amazing in almost any white deck I'd imagine. It won't ever die with Saffi, since they bring each other back. I can get more etb value out of my dead creatures. It can also safely block Skitheryx if needed.
If Saffi is the General then Sun Titan would be the lieutenant. It can recur most of my creatures, combos with saffi, and brings back lands. He's a secret ramping creature if there isn't a better target, if you want to assure you get Avenger of Zendikar next turn so you can play Craterhoof Behemoth for the win.
Reveilark can combo with Saffi like the others. It brings back 2 creatures which is nice. My deck will always have targets so it will never be a waste. It can be played as a 5 drop to deter attacks. What is nice is that Reveilark can bring back Karmic Guide which can bring back Sun titan, which can bring back Saffi. They all interact with each other which is great. In any edh deck you want synergy.
I chose Nostalgic dreams over Regrowth and Praetor's Council, because it's like an in between version. Regrowth is nice, but it only brings back one card. You might only need a single card, but the options you have the better your chances of winning are. Praetor's Counsil costs too much. You pay 8, bring your graveyard into your hand, but now you are vulnerable for a turn. Usually when you cast the big spell you won't have much mana left to cast much of importance. I usually get enough cards in hand that I can afford to discard a few to bring others back to my hand. The only problem about the card is its weakness to counterspells. If it gets countered I lose x cards in hand plus a recursion spell. I haven't played it enough to know if it's really worth it.
Sacrifice cards
Win Cons
Saffi + Sun Titan/Reveilark/Karmic Guide + Greater Good = draw my deck so I can find altar of dementia or caller of the claw
Saffi + sun titan/reveilark/Karmic Guide + sac Outlet + Caller of the Claw = infinite 2/2 bears
Avenger of Zendikar + Boundless Realms/Scapeshift/Craterhoof Behemoth = enough damage to kill everybody
Other combos
Sun Titan + Peace Keeper = You may attack during your turns, but your opponents may not.
Other Cards/Utility
Gaddock Teeg is a hoser for certain decks. I'm not sure he's necessary, but he stays for now.
Peacekeeper is nice because I can keep myself alive while I find my combos to win. The fact that it combos with sun titan makes it extra nice.
Regal Force is just another draw spell but in etb form which I am very capable of abusing.
Restoration Angel just makes another etb effect trigger, but it's only one of 2 that does so at instant speed. You never know when that will come in handy. I'm not sure if the deck needs it.
Scavenging Ooze is in here for KArador mainly. I need a way to deal with graveyards, which it does nicely. The lifegain is a plus.
Soul of the HArvest is another draw spell. He doesn't have an etb himself, but I can easily draw cards off of him.
Stonecloaker is another graveyard hate card that can help redo etb effects and save a creature from exile or theft.
Yosei is in to lock down very dangerous combo player, who are usually blue. My main way of dealing with blue players is to blow up their lands. This guy isn't a "fun" card, but he really is nice at shutting down opponent's cards. I just added him so I don't know for sure how well he'll do.
Glaring Spotlight is worth a try in the deck. It can stop Uril, Sigurda, and Geist of St. Traft. so I can kill them. i Like the second mode better, because it could help push a game in my favor. I'm not sure if it'll be good or not, but it's worth a try.
Seedtime is my one true "anti-blue" card. I say that in quotes because it only stops them if they try to counter my spell, tutor during my turn, or play brainstorm. I recently added this so hopefully it'll be worth it. My deck is trying to be aggressive so I want to promote my deck rather than stall everyone elses.
Please let me know what you think of my deck.
EDIT:
change log
5/13/2013
10/22/2013
1/20/2014
4/5/2014
4/18/2014
9/18/2014
out -> in
1x knight of the white orchid -> Lotus Cobra
The knight depended on my opponents to ramp more than me, which didn't happen very often. Lotus cobra works so well with the deck and can enable a very fast early start.
1x woodfall primus -> Terastodon
Terastodon used to be in the deck, but I took him out when Sylvan Primordial came out. I put him back in because he does more damage than primus does. Primus would be better in here if I had Melira, Sylvok outcast to infinite. I don't care about the persist as much because my deck does a good job of recursion as it is. I just felt he didn't do enough.
1x glaring spotlight -> Genesis
I wanted to try out the spotlight hoping it would be worth it. I wanted to be able to handle anything, especially Sigurda, but the spotlight is just a dead card most of the time. If I go against Sigurda I have other ways of dealing with her.
1x seedtime -> Grand Abolisher
Seedtime is dead against non-blue decks. I like the Grand Abolisher, because I can still play spells during other people's turns but they can't on my turn.
1x gaddock teeg -> aven mindscensor
The other day I looked at my deck at realized that if I had Gaddock Teeg out, I couldn't play 14 cards in my deck. I felt he had to go. I replaced him with aven mindscensor as a "mess with your opponents" card. I was thinking about replacing Teeg with either Aven Mindscensor or Seht's Tiger. I chose the Mindscensor because the people I play with use tutors more than they target players.
Restoration Angel-> Survival of the fittest
While the angel is good, she isn't good enough. I could get another etb trigger from a dude, but I felt that it wasn't enough. I replaced it with Survival of the fittest, because Survival is amazing. Every creature in hand is any creature I want it to be for G. Since my deck is basically a toolbox deck it really helped my deck. I didn't want Fauna shaman, because I felt it was too slow and would be killed easily. Also I don't think I need another tutor, as I already have plenty.
Gavony Township -> emeria, the Sky ruin
Gavony Township isn't as great as it once was, because I very rarely attack. The counters only really mattered on Woodfall Primus, which I also removed. I've been trying out Emeria, the Sky Ruin which has been working out for me so far. It's a little slow to get, but once I get it, it really helps out. I'll see if I still think it's great in the future.
Plains -> Strip Mine
Strip mine should have been in here from the beginning.
10/22
I haven't updated in a while, so this is a big change.
mimic vat -> blasting station
mimic vat is nice, but it just wan't powerful enough for me. Sometimes I wouldn't be able to do anything with it, while other times it would get removed right away. It was just too slow for what the deck was trying to accomplish. The vat would be fine in a more grindy deck. I may consider re-adding it in the future, but time will tell.
Blasting station is a sac outlet, but more than anything it's another way to combo out.
Mirari's wake -> emerald medallion
Mirari's wake is nice, but unnecessary in this deck. I like having an explosive start, but once I have 5 or 6 mana I don't really need a lot more. Mirari's wake is also a likely to be destroyed right after I cast it, which would waste that turn. If I faced a lot of humility decks I might put this back in, but it's too slow and not worth the risk here.
emerald medallion is great in this deck, especially since I've been lowering the curve of the deck. It allows me to keep chaining spells and makes me dangerous, well more dangerous.
peace keeper -> kataki, war's wage
I put peace keeper in to at least slow down fast spammy aggro decks like krenko decks. I took out my last board wipe a while ago so while this deck has a lot of strengths, wiping the board isn't one of them. In reality I rarely faced an aggro deck where I needed it, or the aggro deck just killed the peace keeper since he dies to everything. Don't get me wrong if you face aggro frequently peace keeper is annoying for those players, but I just didn't face that many aggro decks.
I just put Kataki in so I don't know how it'll perform yet. I put it in to really hurt other combo decks or control decks that rely on artifacts, specifically Damia. My dream play is to have a Damia player vommit their hand with artifacts and then end up sacing half of them to Kataki. Hopefully it'll be good.
Genesis -> Skullmulcher
I found that I rarely used the ability once I found a way to get him in the graveyard. He's not bad, just a little too slow for my taste.
I was looking through my cards one day and saw skullmulcher and thought I'd give it a try. I've only played a few games with it, but it worked. In general my deck wanted more card draw and sac outlets. This guy provides both. I have a fair bit of recursion so I don't care too much if my things die. The card draw part is nice. My deck is becoming faster, which also means I need more card draw. I could have added soul's majesty , but I think Skullmulcher will better suit my deck.
Akroma's vengeance -> path to exile
I realized my deck wants to be the thing that everyone else needs to answer and not the one that provides the answers. I have plenty of answers to things, but I feel like Akroma's Vengeance is too slow and better suited in a more grindy control deck. This was my last board wipe. Ever since I took it out It hasn't really been an issue.
I don't know why path to exile wasn't in here before. Well better late than never.
Boundless Realms -> worldy tutor
Along with some of the cards the recurring theme is that some of the cards cost too much, Boundless Realms is one of them. It doesn't provide enough benefit for the risk of the huge cost.
Worldly tutor just makes the deck more consistent.
Far wanderings -> edge of autumn
Far wanderings is a great casual card, but it's just a little too unreliable in a competitive deck.
I can't believe I ever underestimated edge of autumn. If you would ever put rampant growth in a deck, this should go in first. Sure it only ramps in the early game, but in a deck with a low curve you won't need a lot of mana for your deck to perform well. So if you draw this late it's basically a free cantrip. There are some games when that can mean the difference between life and death
Terastodon -> explore
It's too expensive, gives my opponents creatures which hurts occasionally, and is outclassed by Sylvan Primordial. My deck used to basically try to blow up as much as possible until I could combo out, but that was slow and unnecessary. I don't need to blow up 3 things from one player. Usually blowing up just one thing is enough to help me not lose or make the other people playing lose.
explore can fail, I find it usually doesn't. At the very least it cantrips which helps me get more fuel. It's not for everyone, but I like it.
Archon of Justice -> farseek
The archon was slow and needed a way to die, which I didn't always have. It's a defensive card in an aggressive deck so it had to go. It may return if porphoros is too much of a pain or if torpor orb decks become more frequent.
farseek is just more good 'ol fashioned ramp.
Brutilizer exarch -> rampant growth
I didn't want to take out Brutilizer exarch, but there were better things I wanted in the deck. Since I added more tutors I don't need the tutor aspect. If Porphoros decks become a problem for me I may add him back in. As of now he's too slow.
Rampant growth is the bread and butter of ramp spells. You can't go wrong with more 2 cmc ramp.
caller of the claw -> tooth and nail
I put in caller of the claw because I could create infinite bears with saffi, suntitan and a sac outlet. There were a few ways to do that. The thing was that whenever I could combo out with infinite bears I usually had a different combo without the caller of the claw. It was just necessary.
Being a competitive deck I though I should include tooth and nail.
vesuva -> gaea's cradle
I rarely needed vesuva to copy something. Coming into play tapped really hurt.
I recently got a gaea's cradle and damn it is as good as I thought it would be.
Thespian's stage -> Nykthos, shrine to Nyk
I rarely used thepsian's stage to copy lands and the fact that it was colorless hurt.
Nykthos, like gaea's cradle can provide a lot of mana in one turn, although of course it isn't nearly as good as the cradle.
1/20
another big deck change. I like to constantly make my deck better. I lowered the curve a bit.
Skullmulcher -> Phyrexian Altar
I don't know how I've gone this long without the altar. The altar combos with saffi and titan/guide/lark and usually wins me the game. As long as I have 1 useful etb/ltb creature either on the field on in my graveyard with the combo I can trigger it an infinite number of times. I first get infinite mana and then I can recast saffi from the general zone. Skullmulcher just ins't good without tokens. I only have avenger, so I had to cut it.
farhaven elf ->Angel of finality
farhaven elf, while clampable, is just too slow. Angel of finality is a nice new card to help me against those graveyards and can be easily poded into.
Katai WAr's Wage->arbor elf
I put kataki in to slow down fast artifact decks. Most of the time it's just too slow and it hurts me a little. It might be better in 1v1, but not in multi. Arbor elf is part of my want to make the deck faster. It's more vulnerable, but that's ok. Saffi needs speed to be competitive.
Solemn Simulacrum->Avacyn's pilgrim
Solemn was just too slow and didn't do enough. I don't constantly recur creatures, like in Karaador decks, so it had to go. The pilgrim is faster and I like it like that.
Soul of the harvest -> birds of paradise
Soul of the harvest is too expensive for me. Birds are nice.
Stone cloaker->Elvish mystic
Stone cloaker was actually replaced by angel of finality, but this isn't in order. You may have noticed a mana dork trend. I'm fitting in as many as I can and getting rid of my more expensive ramp to give me more speed and flexibility.
Yosei, the morning star->elvish visionary
Yosei is probably better for 1v1. The only time I really feel like I can cast is when one player is left, otherwise it really doesn't do enough. It might just be me. I also don't actively want to become the enemy of the table. Elvish visionary is cheap, cantrips, boosts gaea's cradle, boosts craterhoof behemoth, skullclamps, and gives me infinite draw with saffi + sac outlet + reveilark. Seems good.
Martyr's cause->fyndhorn elves
Martyr's cause doesn't really do anything most of the time. If I have the combo, then I'm just sitting there. If I have a combo, I want it to win.
Worldly tutor->Enlightened tutor
I may add worldly tutor back in the future, but for now it's cut. I already have several creature tutors. Worldly tutor is the weakest since it puts the creature on top. Enlightened tutor can get me my combo piece or something like birthing pod or duplicant, which is more useful.
Explosive vegetation->LLanowar elves
Explosive is too slow, and llanwar elves is much faster. Case closed.
Farseek->mentor of the meek
Even the 2cmc ramp is getting cut, but not all of it. With all of these new weenies, mentor is an auto include.
Nostalgic dreams-> Wall of omens
I didn't really need the dreams. Things get cut when I'm trying to make my deck faster. wall is nice for same reasons as elvish visionary.
Primal growth->cream of the crop
I don't to sac my dudes unless I have to. Primal growth forces a sac otherwise it's mediorce. Cream of the crop helps me dig for an answer or a combo piece.
Scapeshift->Mirri's guile
I've been removing a lot of land ramp, so Scape**** looses it's value. I didn't really need it. Mirri's guile is a poor man's top. It helps me smooth out my draws.
Greater good-> scout's warning
As I keep cutting my bigger cmc dudes, greater good loses it's value. I want to try Scout's Warning. I think it can perform. It gives a dude flash so I can respond to people's shenanigans plus it draws me a card.
rampant growth-> swords to plowshares
The only 2 cmc land ramp I'm keeping is ones that do other things, like draw me a card. Swords is just an auto include in any white deck. I recently acquired one from my brother.
[CARD]
Emeria, the sky ruin[/CARD]->armageddon
Emeria never triggered. cipt hurts, so it got cut. Armageddon can give me an edge if I'm ahead or to screw over a greedy player.
Miren, the moaning well->forest
Miren was too slow and too colorless. Adding more 1cmc dorks means I need to make sure I can cast them on turn 1, so I add more forests.
Mosswort Bridge->forest
Bridge too slow, forest better.
Sunpetal grove->Windswept heath
Sunpetal isn't good on turn 1, so I cut it. Windswept heath is better.
Temple of the false god->archon of justice
Temple is fine in a more casual deck, but I don't want a dead card early(or at least fewer of them). I added Archon back in, because while it's a little harder to abuse then an etb ability creature, permanent exile is a nice way to stop things that need to die. It also pods well.
Treetop village->deglamer
Treetop village cipt is not good. At one point I had every manland I could fit in here. I like manlands, but unfortunately they aren't good enough here. Deglamer is nice and cheap and it deals with indestructible shenanigans.
4/5/14
I haven't updated this since the sylvan Primordial ban. Besides the primoridal I changed a few other cards.
Scout's warning->unexpectedly absent
Scout's warning is cool, but gimmicky. Since the commander decks came out I found that unexpectedly absent would be a nice addition. The more removal, the better.
archon of justice->Sylvan Safekeeper
as good as archon seems, it had problems. I don't have many sac outlets, and since I don't have many ways to kill the archon, it was too slow and didn't do much. Sylvan safekeeper will help keep my combos safe. I was thinking of adding mother of runes, but she's better for a voltron build.
Sylvan Primordial->Terastodon
Since Sylvan was banned I had to find something else. Initially I went for Brutilizer exarch. The exarch is nice, but not enough of an impact for 6 mana. Sylvan was great when I natural ordered him out. I needed something to really pack a punch, especially when cheated out. A turn 3/4 Terastodon seems like a good fit.
Cream of the crop->scroll rack
I just recently acquired a scroll rack and I want to try it out. This deck has the most shuffling of any of my decks, so it's the best to abuse the rack. Cream was nice for filtering the top of my deck to find an answer or a combo piece. It may come back, but for now scroll rack is in.
4/18/14
wall of omens -> fauna shaman
Wall of omens cantrip s nice, but it doesn't work well with skullclamp and I finally realized I should get fauna shaman to make the deck more consistent.
forest -> wooded foothills
I got this last week during the gp. Over time I'll get more shuffle effects to help with top, mirri's guile, and other library manipulation cards.
armageddon -> sensei's divining top
I could rarely use armageddon. Even when I had lots of mana dorks, everyone had lots of guys too. I know that If I blew up all lands I'd be a huge target. Ultimately it was rarely worth it. Armageddon might be better if my deck was designed on having more of a board presence. I found a top for $15 which I threw in here to help smooth out my deck. I kept in mirri's guile, because I figure I can use more of those kind of things.
9/18/2014
Terastodon-> Vorinclex
I may switch back at some point. I put in Vorinclex instead of Terastodon, because I feel Vorinclex is better in Multiplayer. While I like the ability to nuke 3 things and Terastodon is great early game thanks to a natural order, Vorinclex quickly turns the game in my favor. If he gets answered the player that answered it will have less mana the next turn. Another thing is that a weakness of the deck is aggro and I don't want to give the deck I'm weak to more fuel. I may switch it back in the future. It could go either way depending on the meta game.
Elvish Visionary -> Gaddock Teeg
Even though Teeg is a risk in my deck it just hoses some decks so well. I can be careful when I play it and if it is out when I want to play something I can't I have a fair amount of sacrifice in the deck. Elvish visionary is nice, but as I improve my deck I'm favoring tutoring over card draw.
Sylvan Safekeeper -> Ranger of Eos
I thought the safekeeper was going to be better than it turned out to be. It would be fine against a deck with a few control spells to respond to saffi or my creatures making comboing difficult. In reality most of the time it just sat there. Ranger of eos is like a second oracle of mul daya. The only 1 drops are mana dorks, which is fine. I can excel my mana, discard to fauna shaman/survival, draw cards with skullclamp, fuel gaea's cradle, add more power for Craterhoof, and help with convoke. So it's not so bad. Oh also it helps take out the mana dorks so I draw them late game.
Emerald Medallion -> Restore
I just don't have enough colorless mana symbols for the medallion to be relevant. My curve is low and most of my guys have a lots of colored mana. I can some use out of it, but not anything that I feel is consistent enough. Restore is nice because I can get another use out of gaea's cradle after killing it with strip mine or I can steal an opponent's gaea's cradle. Most games I'll at least have a fetch land in the yard. So it's at least a rampant growth, sometimes better.
Tooth and Nail -> Worldly tutor
This may be a surprise to some. In my deck I don't have any combos I can play from just Tooth and nail aside from avenger + craterhoof. That only works late game. I could also get avenger + regal force. I feel that in my deck it's too slow for what I'm trying to do. At 9 mana I don't to play value, I want to win the game. I may not have many lands since I have so many mana dorks, so aveneger won't be all that powerful until later. Avenger is fine by itself, but I don't need tooth and nail to get it out. Worldy tutor just helps my early game and helps my deck's consistency.
Momentous fall -> Spike Weaver
Since I'v been lowering my curve I don't have so many creatures with big power/toughness. I've been improving my card draw power and tutoring so I just don't need a card like momentous fall. It doesn't add anything in a competitive game. My main weakness aggro is now something I can handle a little better. I've been thinking about adding spore frog which I may add. Spike weaver just has more value and will help me regain board control long enough to win, hopefully.
plains -> flagstones of Trokair
mostly just an uprgrade. Flagstones i great against land destruction and is nice when you use it on harrow. Not something that'll be a huge player, but a nice little thing to have.
Sungrass prairie -> Brushland
Brushland is just a better card when my mana base needs to be perfect or very good.
forest -> Savannah
I finally got one. It's another target for my fetchlands which just adds to the deck's consistency.
My Saffi deck
Most of my ramp isn't super cheap so if I get the Knight in my opening hand I have a decent chance of using its ramp, but It doesn't ramp as often as I would hope. I forgot that about a week ago I traded for a lotus cobra. I'll replace that with the knight
Garruk doesn't get that much hate really. I don't have a token deck so unless avenger of zendikar plant tokens are in play he usually isn't deemed a threat. I can usually stop most hate with blockers or removal. People rarely run flyers so I can usually stop the attack. He benefits me more often than not. He's good in a subtle way, which means he will generally live longer.
I'm not a huge fan of false prophet. I don't want to exile my own dudes, and depending on what the opponents do It could hurt me more. I could false prophet great in a meta against a high number of graveyard reanimating shenanigan decks, but my meta isn't like that. I feel that I generally have enough power in my etb effects and recursion that I can safely kill everything that threatens me. Strip mine and wasteland are possible, but I do already have a lot of colorless slots. I have 8 colorless producing lands. Getting a forest in the beginning is crucial. I have had games where I only seem to have colorless lands and I get behind.
I don't have a problem with indestructible creatures, at least not yet. I have Duplicant, Brutilizer exarch, oblation, and archon of justice which deal with them nicely. The only problem I could see is hexproof/shroud indestructible creatures. I haven't had that problem before so I'm going to worry about it. I used to have terminus in here, but I realized I didn't need it.
I like my one time use cards. Are you referring to cards like momentous fall? That one in particular is nice because the sac is part of the cost so if someone tries to steal one of my dudes and has a counter in hand I still get to sac the creature. I have this over a sac outlet, because it gets me more cards and a life buffer against aggro deck. My general edh philosophy is card draw > tutors.
I haven't run into problems with Gaddock. Sometimes I will cast him and topdeck something I can't play. Usually he's enough of a threat that someone will kill him, or I can sac him if I really need to. Sometimes he doesn't do much, other times he shuts down decks. The important thing is that he stops armageddons, which will really hurt this deck.
Aggressive blue decks can be really annoying. I do like Grand abolisher, so I think I'll get one. I keep forgetting his ability is one sided. I will let you know how glaring spot performs for me. I think It'll be fine. Most of my removal is targeted except for Akroma's vengeance so with the glaring spot I can hit Sigurda, Geist, Uril, or Thrun. The unblockable part could be useful, but since I generally win with combo I doubt that part will used very often.
My Saffi deck
I'm not sure if it's really worth it. That interaction with pod is nice, but it seems like it would get too much hate. When the pod isn't there with fiend hunter, it doesn't do as much. Sure I could sac in response and exile a creature, but I have a few things that exile/tuck and plenty of effects that re-trigger etb effects. I just think there are better options. Ashnod's altar would be great if I had a use for infinite mana. Maybe genesis wave? I could always just use it as a sac outlet, I'll consider it.
My Saffi deck
Modern: Jund, Wafo-Tapa UWR
Legacy: Witch-Maw Stoneblade
EDH: Ruhan of the Fomori, Hazezon Tamar, Maga, Traitor to Mortals
cool. There's nothing quite like having an infinite army of bears in your face. Well the closest thing is having infinite squirrels, but bears are cooler. I really like that he has flash. For a while sun + saffi was nice but didn't really do anything until I recently added the combos. Before that I always ended up winning with Avenger of Zendikar. Not having haste makes it a little harder to go off, but with craterhoof behemoth the plants get really big. One of my favorite plays is to cast Avenger of Zendikar with Chord of calling in hand and a few creatures already on the board. I'll play Aveneger and tap all the tokens for Chord of calling, which will get Craterhoof Behemoth. Hilarity ensues.
My Saffi deck
I have. It's a nice combo win, when all the pieces are together. I don't think it does enough outside of combo. My sac outets are either "free" or have a specific purpose. I think I have enough combos anyway. I like all my cards to be good on their own and not depend on other cards. I just am not sure the station really cuts it.
My Saffi deck
my ramp pretty much depends on Saffi to really get going. My Saffi deck originally started out as a really casual Chorus of the Conclave deck. I don't think one card that was originally there is still in here. I think This deck started about 1 1/2 years ago. See I don't need to clear the board early generally because I don't look threatening and I have blockers. Try some of my 1 time uncounterable sac cards. The way I play Saffi is pretty aggressively. I ramp, remove, recur, and then re-win(close enough). I don't really attack often. Other than that if it's a permanent I can deal with it if it inhibits my strategy or will kill me.
My Saffi deck
My Saffi deck
I don't need Hermit Druid, because I'm a combo deck. I want all of my cards to either synergize with most of the deck or be good on their own. The only token producer I have is Avenger of Zendikar, because he is a win condition on his own. I don't have the Cradle in the deck. Maybe I'll add it in when I become a millionaire.
I may have to consider lifeline. Most of my sac outlets are either infinite or are temporary cards that will create card advantage unless they get countered. The main problem with lifeline is that it doesn't actually make me sac the creature. I want to sac my value creatures and not just Saffi. The only way I can reliably gain advantage with Saffi is if I can sac the value creature, otherwise I'm waiting for something on my field to die so that I can take advantage of it. People will see this coming and hesitate to kill my stuff. People hesitate to kill my stuff anyway.
I have thought about adding Perilous forays back in the deck. I used to have it in here when I was a different deck. It doesn't infinite, but it will help me get board advantage while ramping. I do have Avenger of Zendikar and Lotus Cobra to take advantage of the landfall. I still feel it's a little expensive and that it won't last long against opponents who are prepared for it. I'll have to think about it.
My Saffi deck
My Saffi deck
My Saffi deck
My Saffi deck
My Saffi deck
There's a lot there to learn from
Wild pair is a god card just play it with a good curve and pairings with birthing pod, academy rector, survival and masked admirers and you will never be without the creature you want.
I find as well that going the combo route is extremely inconsistent even with the tutors unless you plan on not being the target of everyone at the table as soon as you sit down (cries, I'm that guy) or going the pillow fort route with some combo as a finisher. To combat this, I've found that having a deck that just throws down creatures and nickel and dimes synergistically the entire table out the game does the trick in place of the combo side of the coin (which I end up using about 30% of the time for the kill.
I'm talking about austere commanding 4 times in 8 turns with eternal witness and silly things like that.
I've actually ended up moving the majority of my deck over to creatures that do the same things that the original sorceries and instants did for that reason.
I'm talking about granger instead of explore, harmonic sliver or pridemage instead of nature's claim or deglaimer.
Brutalizer Exarch is a nice card.
And I can't find out why you're running scout's warning or edge of autumn.
Also, another sac outlet is greater good >_<
I'm posting from my phone btw and it's early in the morning, so please excuse any typos or lack of card linking or disjointed thoughts etc...
I like explore, pridemage, nature's claim, and deglamer, because they are all cheap. Mana efficiency is key in edh. I have plenty of card draw so I won't run out of steam too easily. I just took out scout's warning, but I forgot to update the list. I replaced it with unexpectedly absent. I like edge of autumn, because it ramps me early game and if I need an answer I can sac a land and draw a card for free. That may sound inefficient, but it's saved my butt a few times. Saccing a land is worth it when the benefit is not losing or finding a combo piece.
I took out greater good a while ago, because as I've been lowering my curve I have fewer and fewer things I can abuse with it that won't set me back. It's just not worth it now.
My Saffi deck
cool, I'll have to try that. I keep looking at the card expecting it to come in tapped, but it doesn't. I want to limit how many etb tapped lands I have. I have a lot of basics, because at one point I was considering Rofellos and I need green mana early for mana dorks and for a possible back to basics attack. I have also been thinking of getting crucible of Worlds and taking out Armageddon. I threw the Armageddon in there to punish greedy decks, but I've found that I rarely have an opportunity to do so without dying from whatever creatures there are on the field.
My Saffi deck
I've tried emeria and didn't like it. I'll have to get the flagstones asasp.
My Saffi deck
With the loss of primeval Titan a few years ago, most lists have dropped emeria, which I feel is not optimal. With a proper manabase and a supporting group of creatures, the land can be a severe headache for your opponents. From what I have seen, most pilots have not wanted to learn to actually play emeria to cause those headaches and were complacent with those "easy mode" plays.
In order to make emeria work, your mananase would need a complete overhaul, a retrofit of all your spells and a fair amount of time to learn how to safely get to live emeria. It is definitely worth it if you are willing to take the necessary steps.
my problem with Emeria is that most of my deck needs green mana, especially early game. So in order to try to ramp to get it to work, I'd be casting fewer things. I also don't like that it comes in tapped. My deck needs to be fast. The land is also too slow to activate and I don't have a whole lot of sac outlets to abuse a lot of recursion. I don't want to be too vulnerable to graveyard hate. I feel like to make Emeria work I'd have to switch out my mana dorks for land ramp, which is not something I want to do.
My Saffi deck
As for your dislikes of the card, i can assure you that they are not warranted. My list is mostly green as well, yet I have never had an issue turning on an emeria. Coming into play tapped is not a big deal as a good saffi build will always have abundant mana. Good emeria play will also not weaken you to graveyard removal, but it will strengthen your graveyard. Emerias "on switch" is also not as big of a deal as you make it out to be. Unless you are racing to combo as quick as possible every game (which is a recipe for disaster), there is ALWAYS time to set it up as it should come natural to the deck.
All i am getting it here is "don't be so quick to dismiss a card". Your deck is obviously of different design then mine, but I do have a lot of experience with the cards... and experience has shown emeria to be amazing (it just takes a bit of exploration to fully understand what it is capable of). End of the day, it is YOUR build and you should play the cards YOU want to play.