[EDH] Azusa, Lost but Seeking (MTGO)

[BweeBwee]

Please read the thread before posting.

Deck

General: 1 Azusa, Lost but Seeking Land Search: 1 Kodama's Reach 1 Seek the Horizons 1 Far Wanderings 1 Deep Reconnaissance 1 Evolution Charm 1 Mulch 1 Civic Wayfinder 1 Sylvan Scrying 1 Explosive Vegetation 1 Hunting Wilds 1 Krosan Tusker 1 Journey of Discovery 1 Armillary Sphere Card Advantage/Quality: 1 Jayemdae Tome 1 Staff of Domination 1 Illuminated Folio 1 Journeyer's Kite 1 Citanul Flute 1 Harmonize 1 Citanul Woodreaders 1 Primordial Sage 1 Deadwood Treefolk 1 Mind's Eye 1 Candles of Leng 1 Restock 1 Horn of Greed 1 Sensei's Divining Top Mana Doubling: 1 Extraplanar Lens 1 Mana Reflection 1 Vernal Bloom Utility: 1 Indrik Stomphowler 1 Wickerbough Elder 1 Nantuko Vigilante 1 Mystic Melting 1 Woodfall Primus 1 Duplicant 1 Tornado Elemental 1 Silklash Spider 1 Squall Line 1 Carven Caryatid 1 Traproot Kami 1 Arashi, the Sky Asunder 1 Rending Vines 1 Primal Order 1 Lifegift

Good Stuff: 1 Rude Awakening 1 Kamahl, Fist of Krosa 1 Seedborn Muse 1 Verdeloth the Ancient 1 Verdant Force 1 Howl of the Night Pack 1 Centaur Glade 1 Tooth and Nail Lands: 1 Jungle Basin 1 Gruul Turf 1 Simic Growth Chamber 1 Selesnya Sanctuary 1 Golgari Rotfarm 1 Sapseep Forest 1 Urza's Factory 1 Temple of the False God 1 Mosswort Bridge 1 Reliquary Tower 1 Tranquil Thicket 35 Forest

So I posted a version of this a while ago, but I've been playing it more recently and there are a number of changes I made so I figured I ought to post a new thread.

Anyway, so my game plan in this deck is pretty straightforward:
1. Stay alive.
2. Get a lot of lands.
3. Draw a lot of cards.
4. Win eventually (usually rude awakening into kamahl to kill everyone remaining).

I want all my cards to contribute to this game plan in some fashion (most cards can be somehow shoehorned into the first objective, but I'd like the majority to fit into the second and third ones).

Things to keep in mind:
1. This is online, so don't suggest things that aren't available.
2. I am on a budget online, so while obviously eternal witness would be good, it costs like 4-5 tix online, so please refrain from suggesting it and similarly priced cards.

Thanks!

[heroicraptor]

You can play off-color lands?

Time of Need is a pretty nice way to search out Kamahl.

[Accaris]

I thought off-color lands were ok, since the off color was counted as colorless.

[jokalhaups]

You can't play any cards that have a mana symbol in them that isn't in your general's mana cost (however they've adapted this rule to allow you to play Memnarch as your general so maybe it's now considering the mana cost on the general's rules text). So yea, those Ravnica block lands are not legal.
Is Skyshroud Claim not available online?
Have you considered Crucible of Worlds/Strip Mine/Wasteland (again I don't know what's available online and how much they cost)?
Sylvan Library for more card advantage (great with all the land fetching you do).
You might want some artifacts (other than Duplicant) for utility... stuff like Pentavus, Triskelavus, etc. Actually these are going to get worse when M10 comes in, however you can still have eternal blockers with Pentavus (make a token, block, put token back on to Pent before damage). Trisk can just offer you some removal in a color that desperately needs it.
Oh, you know what? This could be a fun guy: Feral Hydra! And you should be able to get him cheap too!
Planar Portal is another great card if you can get your hands on one.
So what are the weaknesses of the deck? Pro Green really stick it to ya (like Sphinx of the Steel Wind)? Do you utilize all your mana every turn, or do you find yourself having little to play on some turns (i.e. not enough business spells)?

[BweeBwee]

Off-color lands are allowed online.

Skyshroud claim and strip mine are not available online. Crucible is available, but wasteland is prohibitively expensive so there's not much point without that and strip mine.

Sylvan library is a possibility. At one point I played grim poppet, but I think duplicant is enough, since I really just wanted some removal I could search for with tooth or flute.

I had feral hydra in at one point, but it was cut since it was never really something I wanted to spend my mana on.

Planar portal seems like a pretty good idea, right now I have replaced the primal order in the original post with a tower of fortunes, but if that doesn't work, I might try planar portal instead.

The weaknesses of the deck seem to be not drawing my card advantage artifacts, or getting all my artifacts and enchantments destroyed. I've also lost a few times to magister sphinx, but I don't know much I can do about that... I typically utilize most of my mana as long as I have one or two card drawing artifacts out. One card I really need to get my hands on is thran tome.

[funkmu]

Fastbond + Crucible of World + Stripmine seems very good and flavorful here.

[I_hate_Kyle]

Rowen and Gaea's Touch would both be quite nice in this deck.

[nirvanawn]

Fastbond is band

[BweeBwee]

Hey guys, while I appreciate the suggestions, it'd be nice if you read the thread before posting.

I've tried Rowen, and it was a bit too inconsistent for my liking.

[Kid Icarus]

Vinelasher Kudzu and Budoka Gardener fit in well with your general.

Also, I suggest Gauntlet of Power for every mono-colored deck that doesn't already play it.

[BweeBwee]

I had both the kudzu and the gardener in the build at one point, but I found that they were just a bit too threatening, and thus got killed before they could really accomplish anything. I'd rather have my opponents' removal directed at other players' permanents.

Gauntlet of power is certainly a consideration, and is probably something I should try to get my hands on at some point.

EDIT: By the way, to continue my comment from another post, Tower of Fortunes has turned out to be really good. I may have to find another slot to fit the planar portal in.

[Prismetrix]

While I understand that it is nice to have removal aimed elsewhere, you still need to have some threats so that when pieces you want to stick hit the board, they actually stay. I really like the idea behind the deck though. Any reason you couldn't fit in Eternal Witness? Also, me personally I really like Hall of Gemstone in mono-green for multiplayer EDH since it can really help screw over multicolor generals. City of Solitude can give you a chance to make a big play on your turn uninterrupted.

[BweeBwee]

Originally Posted by Prismetrix

While I understand that it is nice to have removal aimed elsewhere, you still need to have some threats so that when pieces you want to stick hit the board, they actually stay. I really like the idea behind the deck though. Any reason you couldn't fit in Eternal Witness? Also, me personally I really like Hall of Gemstone in mono-green for multiplayer EDH since it can really help screw over multicolor generals. City of Solitude can give you a chance to make a big play on your turn uninterrupted.

Thanks for the input.

To elaborate on my reasoning for not including cards that are purely threats, the way the deck is designed is such that the threats are either resilient to spot removal, fulfill multiple purposes, or win immediately. So I am not concerned about my opponent's having spare removal, especially when it is often the case that they will just use it on other players' more threatening cards before I even get around to playing threatening cards.

It serves a dual purpose. One, I am not throwing away cards for no reason. When I play a guy and they kill it, I haven't accomplished anything (this is obviously only relevant in multiplayer, which is what this deck is designed for). The other is that people tend to try and use their removal at a reasonable pace, so if I wait until the very late game to deploy my threats, it's likely that they will have used their removal spells on other threats, which also serves to help keep me alive.

Eternal witness is addressed in the opening post, near the bottom.

Hall of gemstone is good in some situations, but it kind of makes me stick out as the enemy against multicolor generals, since often they will still be able to cast some spells, and the hall preventing them from playing certain cards will only increase the likelihood of them attacking me. Basically I don't think it accomplishes enough to justify the threat it produces, since it doesn't cripple my opponents enough to actually be able to defend itself.

City of solitude isn't bad, but it has some antisynergy with my multitude of artifacts with activated abilities, as well as centaur glade and my instants.

[Prismetrix]

I'm just afraid that if you aren't doing anything to establish a board presence, people are just going to go after you as easy pickings. Sorry about the Witness, I forgot the whole MTGO thing while typing. The two enchantments I suggested were more for some protection for when you want to do an alpha strike with all your lands and such. Just hold em until you need them. I think I only counted 4 instants so it doesn't hurt you as much. And as another fatty finisher, Molimo plays nicely with Azusa. Oh yeah, I think you need to fix some of your lands. EDH rules say no non-general mana symbols so the Simic Chamber and Golgari Farm and the like have to go.

[bccarlso]

Checked your decklist, but skipped the replies. I'd recommend adding Yavimaya Elder as it provides good card advantage and fits perfectly with your general. Not sure what I'd take out, but I'd try to fit it in. Maybe Deep Reconnaissance as it's a little slow and not the best mana excel?