Ok so I have been trying to get some sort of general that uses green online for some time now. I had originally sort of wanted to build Rafiq of the Many but a buddy in my pool beat me to it. The more I look around I think Jenara, Asura of War could make a really cool vultron general. I like how the deck gets to use green and take advantage of a lot of the big cool spells, yet it has some great control colors in it yet with u/w still.
I guess I will start throwing some card ideas down on a decklist. We can talk about cuts and additions from there.
Ok some of the wishlist is reasonable. The old school duals are realistically never gona happen but I will put them there anyways.
COMBOS
1) I purposly put in the cards for a yosei lock as I like the cards in the combo. I can also substitute yosei for mass land destruction using the Acidic Slime or ramp using one of several land ramp creatures.
Start out by evoking Reveillark into play. He dies rezing Karmic Guide and Mirror Entity into play. The guide rezes Reveillark back to play. Activate Mirror Entity say 100 times at 0 mana on the stack. They all die and lark rezes Karmic Guide and Saffi Eriksdotter. Guide rezes lark. Saffi sacs targeting lark before the second Mirror Entity trigger goes off. Second trigger goes off and lark rezes off saffi. Lark's trigger rezes guide and saffi. Guide rezes Yosei into play. Saffi sacs to rez lark before the 3rd Mirror entity trigger executes. Creatures wipe and yosei taps down one player. This continues until you have taped down everyone. You can then do other things like rez all of your land into play with this using any land fetcher in place of yosei at the end of this cycle.
End this cycle by rezing Reveillark with Mirror Entity, and Saffi Eriksdotter in play and you can execute it as needed at instant speed. If someone has a swords or path to exile they can still catch you in the middle of this fun little combo even after you tap them down unfortunately but its a solid combo.
2) This one isnt an infinite combo but Tooth and Nail can get very silly in this deck. Out of my options I like doing one of the following
a) Eternal Witness + Any appropriate fatty, recur tooth and nail back to hand ready to be used again.
b) Regal Force + Avenger of Zendikar trigger it so avenger executes first then your hand explodes into goodness. (Sadly regal force was cut from the list as he was a bad draw into. He was only good off tooth and nail and boy was he good there, however as he was bad otherwise he has been removed from the list)
3) Even if I dont feel like locking everyone down with Lark combo I could always go for infinite turns using infinite recursion of eternal witness along with Time Stretch. Its so close to the lark lock though and a lot harder to attain as I have to get Time Stretch which I dont have much to tutor into. Figured I would list it though.
The thing about Jenara is that she doesn't need to go voltron since, well, she powers herself up really quickly. Putting equipment on her or exalting her just seems win more most of the time. I originally started my Jenara deck the same way, but eventually I took them all out because they just weren't needed. Maybe you'll get better mileage from them though, I just never found them useful.
The thing about Jenara is that she doesn't need to go voltron since, well, she powers herself up really quickly. Putting equipment on her or exalting her just seems win more most of the time. I originally started my Jenara deck the same way, but eventually I took them all out because they just weren't needed. Maybe you'll get better mileage from them though, I just never found them useful.
As for the equipment, not all of the equipment is just to power her up. Some of them provide card advantage and protections. The light and shadow provides 2 of the best spot removal protections out there as well as rezing into other targets for card advantage. I see soooooo much spot removal in black and white I want to hold onto this one.
Ya I agree now looking back at it. I think they would both make better cards. I suppose Priviledged over Asceticism? or do you think both is a decent call?
I could see all of those making it in. I am not quite as fond of the archmage as I dont run much for countering but its good and it can be recurred several ways.
Your curve looks a little high. Remove some of your big stuff like Clarion Ultimatum for better, cheaper stuff like Skyshroud Claim.
Ya that was at the top of my cut list. Do you think Skyshroud as I plan on having the rav dual lands in or should I just go with Explosive Vegitation? Or I suppose both if I can find room.
EDIT: ok I got most of that updated. What do you think of the signets / rampant growth / Farseek / wayfarer's bauble? It could help me try landing that turn 3 commander for sure as getting a combination of all 3 mana by turn 3 could be rough.
EDIT 2: Looking at the list I notice a few things. 1) I have a lack of kill / counter. That might be just fine as I plan on possibly comboing quickly. 2) I dont have a whole lot of mana ramping / mana stones. 3) I dont have a whole lot of ways to tutor into a artifact / enchant. One of my better lockdowns requires me to have a lot of specific creatures ready to go.
EDIT 3: any chance you can link me to your decklist Telekinesis as I wouldnt mind seeing how you set yours up.
Privileged Position is better than Asceticism since it protects all your permanents and I never found regeneration to be that important. Running both is a bit redundant.
Skyshroud Claim >>>>> Explosive Vegetation, but I'd personally run both if you can, as well as Cultivate and Kodama's Reach. You'd have to fit in more basics though for these.
I prefer land ramp to mana stones personally. Mana stones tend to get destroyed by splash damage from sweepers, lands tend to stay intact.
Link to my decklist is in my sig. I haven't updated it in a while though due to laziness so it's a bit outdated. It's just good stuff bant, though I've since shifted it to put more emphasis on ETB effects.
I ended up adding Regal Force and Avenger of Zendikar to the list as they make a crazy good combo when using Tooth and Nail together. Also they are decent creatures on their own. I added Long-Term Plans as with the top and Sylvan Library it is as close to a tutor for anything I want as it gets.
Ok, The deck has gone through lots of small changes since last update. I spent probably somewhere around $80 or so, most of it ended up being for lands as I didn't have much for multicolored bant lands.
I added some single target removal since last. I am still running very little as far as wrathing the board. Usually there is just one or two things that is giving me trouble at a time and I hate being the go to guy for wrathing the board. In decks that I have that run like that if I dont wrath then people put pressure on me so that I die first and don't draw into the control for later.
Privileged Position turned into an Asceticism simply due to the fact that I had it and Privileged Position is getting kind of spendy for a small upgrade.
I picked up several tutoring outlets Mystical Tutor, Enlightened Tutor, Idyllic Tutor, and Long-Term Plans to hopefully give the deck some consistency. I axed a few more creatures and equipment that I didnt feel were vital. The deck currently has a strong graveyard rezurect theme going for it which I hope isnt too overpowering. If it is I will probably cut one more of those cards out.
I had hoped to find some more room for some ramp but I think I have decided to wait until some deck testing to decide what to do with that. I am really looking forward to this deck coming together.
EDIT: I am a bit afraid I might have toooo many tutors in here. Considering I have 4 creature tutors, 2 enchantment / artifact tutors, one instant / sorcery tutor, and one generic anything I want tutor. That makes 8 tutors in this deck... that might pan out to be a bit excessive.
For the manaramp:
Farhaven Elf is very good, and come back with the titan...
And dont forget eternal dragon, especially when you play dual land, go fetch the savannah and the tundra...and always came back.
Ok, As far as Farhaven Elf goes, its a good creature, however I already have a lot of early game critter guys and it fetches a basic land instead of a forest specifically which in this specific slot I think I would rather have Wood Elves as they fetch a forest which can be a dual land. Even then I think I would rather have Cultivate, Kodama's Reach, or Explosive Vegitation as the small blocker creature seems sort of like a dud in this deck. Granted I can recur small creatures easier than sorceries I think I will have better things than a land fetch elf to go recur late game.
I love Eternal Dragon. However I don't think he adds all that much utility to this decklist. I have so many ways already of pulling out the ravnica duals that I don't think his plainscycle gives me much. Plus the deck is already plenty vulnerable enough to graveyard removal tactics I don't want any more dependancy on graveyard recursion.
Also I made a few other updates such as:
-1 Long-Term Plans just wasnt needed
-1 Aethermage's Touch originally I thought it was a cool idea as I can get coming into play effects twice... but then I realized that this seems like a bad tutor thats sort of a pain in my ass. Plus it seems like it could wiff really easy.
+1 Path to Exile gota love cheap removal
-1 Idyllic Tutor academy rector seems better
+1 Academy Rector
-1 Rafiq of the Many he seems like a win more card. I would rather use an equipment or something over him.
+1 Duplicant creature kill in creature form, whats not to like. He is usable off lark as well.
+1 Farseek I like how this can easily fix my way to landing my commander turn 3. I usually like getting 2 cards per ramp but I will make an exception and try this one out for now
-1 Evolving Wilds Strict upgrade to fetchland
+1 Windswept Heath
-1 Grand Coliseum Upgrade to fetchland
+1 Misty Rainforest
i think you should take out explore for kodama's reach. id rather get the CA even if its just land because your deck never really complains about too much land. just replay jenara and swing.
also maybe try some true conviction.
if you want your deck to be abit more single minded(smashing with jenara), try running some of the better exalted cards like qasali pridemage, battlegrace angel and giltspire avenger(nice rattlesnake)
i would cut seedguide ash(seems like too much work. id run a ramp spell or just another land over it)
if you want your deck to be abit more single minded(smashing with jenara), try running some of the better exalted cards like qasali pridemage, battlegrace angel and giltspire avenger(nice rattlesnake)
Exalted cards aren't worth it with Jenara. Considering that every single exalted creature gives the same benefit as paying 1W, you might as well just pay 1W and not build around a mechanic better suited for Rafiq.
Well a few things. I like explore as it replaces itself so late game it is always decent as it just cycles away. Early on its ramp. I like it more than I do Farseek so if I end up cutting one of my 2 drop ramp spells it would be Farseek.
True Conviction - ... I have always hated this card. Lifegain in edh is such a moot point. I would say somewhere arround 80% of decks end up killing opponents using either infinite combos / general damage in my meta. Gaining life just gets nowhere.
I like how my general is a threat all by herself. She powers herself up all on her own, I would spend mana to drop a creature that has exault instead of just leveling her up instead???? this makes no sense plus then I am out a lot more cards when someone drops a wrath. I sort of built this deck to have a plan A) a plan B) and a Plan C) swinging in with my general for the win is currently somewhere between plan A and plan B.
I could possibly see the seedguide ash being cut. He doesn't really recur very nicely with anything and doesn't ramp me until he dies. on top of it all I am not going to have all that many forests specifically. I might add Kodama's Reach in his place.
Exalted cards aren't worth it with Jenara. Considering that every single exalted creature gives the same benefit as paying 1W, you might as well just pay 1W and not build around a mechanic better suited for Rafiq.
Ha you beat me to it.
EDIT: Also I was contemplating possibly trying to add one more sword back to the deck. Which do you think might be better between Sword of Fire and Ice, Sword of Light and Shadow, and Sword of Feast and Famine? I could see all 3 of them having decent interaction with the deck but though I would just put one in. I am sort of thinking Fire and Ice or Feast and Famine might be the better two of the three.
Exalted cards aren't worth it with Jenara. Considering that every single exalted creature gives the same benefit as paying 1W, you might as well just pay 1W and not build around a mechanic better suited for Rafiq.
yea but thats why you play the exalted cards that have other utility. idk i like it cause they do other things, power up jenara and give you a blocker.
plus alot of the time it will be late game and you cast jenara for 9mana with a greaves on the table and you just want to get in.
but there is a reason why i said you dont have to do this unless you want to be more single minded.
as for explore, lategame id say explore and reach are about the same. reach gets you more mana and jenara can always use more of that. and your deck is already thin from all the ramping. meh maybe what you want is krosan tusker. explore just seems bad both early and late game.
Explore - Early game it allows me to just drop an extra land into play for 2 mana. It replaces itself with the top card of my library which very well could be another land or not, either way I was going to draw it next turn.
One of the big things I would say about land fetch cards that go search is that I do currently run 2 top effects and looking to possibly add a third. These effects allow me to clear out my topdeck when it doesnt look so great.
As for the exault. I dont mind a few effects so long as they arent creatures as I feel like my group usually ends up using a wrath when something is unfavorable instead of spot removal. I dont see utility guys who are only good if they are sitting on the board as useful cards. I am currently using Finest Hour and if I do go back to some of the exault it would be by adding Rafiq back to the decklist. He isnt terrible as the turn I drop him I totally jack up all combat math. I didnt like how he ends up being a semi meh beater though sometimes.
I will consider some of the exault cards but I want to wait for my cards to come in and do some deck testing with it before I try modifying it too far.
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I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
Have you considered Vigor as a creature? I don't see him run very much on decklists here (but then again I haven't been on in a while) - he seems like a beast in any deck with green and creatures.
I'm surprised not to find Body Double in your list. He recurs himself when copying Reveillark and I think he's just a better card than Saffi and serves pretty much the same purpose but running them both would be fine. Venser, Shaper Savant makes an excellent back up creature to loop if something should happen to Acidic Slime and is another card that is just good on it's own. Congregation at Dawn is useful for setting up the combo as it fetches 3 pieces.
Vigor - Cool creature but I dont see a whole lot of creatures actually trade combat damage all that often. I think he is a cool creature but I am not too fond of creatures that do incrimental advantage over time rather than on entry / leaving play. I have tried him in decks in the past and just never found him to matter all that much. I think he is just a creature that is better in 60 card formats.
Body Double I had actually been thinking about this guy for a bit. The reason I currently have Clone in there is well... I have an Uril, the Miststalker deck in my meta and clone just seems to be a good solution to him. If I can find something to cut for this spot I would love to include. If you can give me some suggestions to cut for it I would gladly consider it.
Venser, Shaper Savant this guy went right under my radar for this deck. This could be an amazing substitute for Yosei for the lockdown. I hate to cut Yosei as he is a good creature but I will try pondering what I might cut for him to make a spot. He is a bit like Acidic Slime but so different at the same time.
Congregation at Dawn fun tutor but I already have a lot of good tutors in the deck. I have other tutors in the deck I like more than this one. I like this in a deck with Lurking Predators and prehaps Call of the Wild. It is ok but I think I have enough creature tutors currently.
Well time to mull the decklist over to see if I might be able to make room for Venser and or Body Double...
EDIT: A few updates. Still contemplating Venser in this deck. As I looked at the list a bit closer he isnt quite as needed as I had originally thought but am still up for suggestions. Updates are as follows:
-1 Farseek (didnt like how it only ramped one card. Seems like it could be a bit of a dud late in the game. It only seems strong in the first 2-4 turns.
-1 Wing Shards (I love the nontargeting aspect of this card. But I replaced it with a better card)
+1 Body Double (I like how I could abuse someone else's graveyard with it when I hit the lark combo. Or I could use it as a second lark)
+1 Hallowed Burial (seemed better than Wing Shards. I love how wing shards is instant speed but tucking enemy commanders is win)
EDIT 2: Soooo..... It just occured to me that I really need to put Rings of Brighthearth in here. I can use it off all of the fetchlands, multiple rez abilities, and god knows I have enough utility creatures for this card to be really just busted in here... Gota make some room >_< Ewwww Avenger of Zendikar + rings....
Before Acidic Slime was printed as used Yosei as my loop card of choice but he just isn't good enough on his own unless you have a lot of sac outlets in your deck. I think Congregation is better than you are giving it credit for, typically the first card I draw will be Mulldrifter negating the card disadvantage and giving me the other 2 cards right way and being an instant is a really nice bonus. If you are going for the combo more tutors are definitely not going to hurt. Eladamri's Call is missing as well, I mean just compare it to Impulse. Same cost except you get any creature in your deck instead of a random top 4 card. Rings doesn't work with triggered abilities btw.
Ahhh ur right Avenger is triggered >_< oh well there is still a lot of interaction for rings.
Congregation at Dawn is very good yes. However I just dont see much room or need for it in the deck. I have so much tutoring already and I just dont see Congregation being better than what I have already.
I might have to think over Eladamri's Call as it is an amazing tutor. I like it a bit more than Primal Command but I do like the option for other utility abilities on the Command. If I am looking for a creature then yes Eladamri's Call is stricly better than Impulse, however that wont always be the situation so I dont know about cutting impulse for it. I will have to wait until I get some test games in before I know if Eladamri's should go in for Impulse.
Ok I managed to get most all of the cards in for the current decklist. I played a few games with my playgroup and managed to get some testing on a lot of the deck. Here are a few things I found to be somewhat weak and or unnecesary in the deck.
Stoneforge Mystic (I am down to 2 equipment in the deck and I haven't been finding the Sword of Vengeance all that effective in the deck. I think he can be cut as I never feel like I need my equipment, as great as Lightning Greaves are I dont need a tutor just for it)
Seedborn Muse (as funny as this is on paper I never had any opponents let me keep this going with my general for a full round. If this is setting up my general I will get wrathed or hated off the board. Funny but not all that effective. Felt a bit like a lightning rod.)
Genesis (I am a bit on the fence on this guy. Yes he is really cool but I had him in the yard and wasn't even using him when I was at 14+ mana as I always had other things I wanted to do.)
Yosei, the Morning Star (Yosei lock is funny but I can use Acidic Slime in his place and just pop all lands / mana stones. He isnt needed and he just sat on the board yesterday like a fat little blocker till someone wrathed. Wasnt all that impressed by him.)
Sword of Vengeance (it sat in my hand for like 5 turns. I had my general out and online already. It is cool as it gives haste but thats about it as my general can level herself up for the 4 mana instead of the 3 mana to get the 2 power this gives. Other than haste and vigilance, this is kind of a moot card.)
Impulse (I have always liked this card, I feel like it might be better as a tutor in this deck though. I used it to decent use last night to clear the top of my deck out when my sylvan library was getting a bit dried up but a creature tutor would do the same thing and provide me with something good. Eladamri's Call will probably come in as *Donald had suggested.)
Ok well thats what have been giving me a bit of trouble. As for what could come in in its place:
as for creatures, I wouldnt mind adding a few extra side combos to the deck. Out of what is avalible for me I can only think of 2 extra combos I could add here.
Palinchron + Keeper of Progenitus / Mana Reflection / Mirari's Wake (able to generate infinite mana. The Keeper of Progenitus is actually sort of difficult to use in here as it would only apply to forests and plains for me so my basic lands and my ravnica duals would be the only ones that doubble for mana. This would mean I need at least 5 plains / forests for it to work here. However due to the fact that I could tooth and nail directly into infinite mana, it seems decent) (If I were to add this I would probably keep it small and only use the Keeper of Progenitus as the mana generation)
I feel like I could use another wrath or two in the deck. Our first test game yesterday we realized we were all running light wraths and the sliver deck won by like turn 7... I think Blatant Thievery would help in place of a wrath. I could also see either Rout or Final Judgment take a slot in here.
I love my top effects to no end. One option would be to add Mirri's Guile to the deck but I think a better play would be to add Trinket Mage to the list as the top is just more robust and useful to me than Guile would be. Guile gets swept up in a lot of sweepers that the top can dodge.
Skullclamp should probably be considered as well if Trinket Mage goes in. It is a good part of the toolbox as well as the fact that I am using a lot of little utility guys anyways.
I actually saw very few tutors in my test play of the deck. I want to add Eladamri's Call which seems like an incredibly solid tutor.
I keep looking over Basalt Monolith for the deck. It generates infinite colorless mana with Rings of Brighthearth, but I am just not sure how great infinite colorless will be for me. (for now this will probably be passed up on)
Genesis Wave.... I have considered adding this card several times. It just isnt that impressive in a deck that wants to try comboing out but the ability to land ramp / ramp permenants in general is just crazy good.
So it looks like I have 6 going out and up to 9 I think could be good in the deck. I would love some input on what should make the cut. I will probably only do 1 of the cards between Blatent Thevery, Rout, and Final Judgment for now. If I want a second one I would probably end up cutting out Spin into Myth to fit a second.
maybe just have a fabricate instead of the stoneforge mystic? then you could grab your top as well since you like it so much =P
and maybe loxodon warhammer instead of the sword?
i agree with you on genesis. he looks really powerful but early game he is a dead draw and late game he takes a surprisingly high amount of mana to use and makes the game kinda boring if you are just reviving the same guy over and over.
I love Fabricate but I just dont have that many good artifact targets in here for it. I think Trinket Mage will be more effective especially if I were to pull him out with a skullclamp and equip for some good card draw / blocker action.
I think if Trinket Mage gets a slot I have to put the Skullclamp in too though as if I draw him late game then Sol ring is sort of a meh draw into so I want at least 2 good targets for him at all times.
As for Loxodon Warhammer, it is actually very difficult to mass produce blockers that have flying for most decks. I love trample but realistically I never had much of a problem with flying blockers for my general as they usually only lasted a turn then I went back to hitting their life total. Lifegain has always been a bit suck on my list for EDH. Not to say there arent situations wehre I like having the lifegain but it isn't very often. I am trying to stay away from using too many cards to pump up my general. I would rather she just free roams without to many other cards relying on her. If I were to pick up some more equipment it would probably be Sword of Fire and Ice, Sword of Light and Shadow, or Sword of Feast and Famine.
i probably wouldnt play blatant thievery or genesis wave.
your deck seems pretty streamlined in getting choice parts out onto the battlefield. so while those cards are good, Id rather aim for a deck with abit more finesse and stuff to do all along the curve rather than late game bombs. opening hands are abit miserable if you have gen wave, thievery, tooth and nail, time stretch and praetors counsel.
edit* nvm i just re-read your OP and you said you jsut want the deck to cast big spells with lots of mana. so w/e.
Regardless I had been leaning away from both of those spells in the first place. I felt I might put them down in the possible area as they could go in but I didnt really think they would end up making the cut this time arround. I have Thevery in a few too many decks already and dont like using it as a staple. I will probably cut them from the list of possibles.
Getting a whole bunch of random 2 drop utility guys off a genesis wave isnt that great and it is a dead card for a long time early game. That alone seems like enough for it not to make the cut.
I suppose if I can decide which of the two wrath spells to use I would be at the same number of spells going in as out. Any other suggestions as to what could go in in place of one of my suggested cards would be welcome as well.
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I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
Wow I have been having a blast playing this deck of late. I cant even get myself to play another deck. I have been doing so well that people just start targeting me for everything which sort of sucks but I have been winning so many of the games that its to be expected. A lot of my playgroup really need to step their decks up a notch though. I try not to cheeze win with the lark combo unless my opponents are playing super lame which I did last night as Akroma and Thrax both targeted me out and made a pact to kill me first. So I said screw that and comboed out and locked them all down
Anways I have a tonnnnn of changes for the list due to some amazing games and testing with a lot of cards. I will try to explain why I am trying the changes that I am. Some of it will be just due to specific things in my meta but I will try to list that.
NO LONGER IN THE DECK
Trinket Mage I got him in hand a few times but his toolbox for this deck was always a bit meh. I rarely am able to draw off the clamp, I run 3 top effects and a few tutors that could get one of them so I dont really need him for tutoring into the top. And by the time I can drop him and grab sol ring I dont really need it much anymore as it has become a bit slow for what it does.
Keeper of Progenitus I ran him for the infinite mana with palinchron. It comboed nicely off tooth and nail as well which was a perk. The problem was that I really dont have much use for infinite mana other than with my general so I found this a bit lacking to set up just to turn my general huge.
Mulldrifter I go back and forth on this guy a lot. Not saying he will stay out but I am currently cutting a lot of my recursion for one reason or another. He is best when he can be used in recursion combos for several card draw. I never really wanted to evoke him as I like creatures... And I was never all that excited to see him. It was a bit of a pain.
Palinchron I cut the infinite mana combo as stated above so he comes out.
Sol Ring I know, why would I ever be taking out sol ring???? Well I found the problem with sol ring being it cannot accelerate my general out faster early in the game. This will probably turn into a wayfarer's bauble / rampant growth instead to fix mana to land the turn 3 general. This could be a mistake and if you think so please do voice it.
Aura Shards I havent really ever goten this to work. I tried dropping it early one game to blow out some mana stones and it always gets locked down / blown out immediately. I run 2 creatures to shoot out artifacts / enchantments so I decided between them and my tutoring ability to get them I would be fine changing this into a Bribery. If I need an artifact / enchant destroy effect I can still use bribery to pull out a similar creature and blow it out.
Explore I felt that Farseek fits a better position in this deck. Explore does not fix my manabase if I dont already have the correct mana in play. I can always use more land in a deck like this and farseek is just solidly better early on.
Restock this was a bit of a tough call but I haven't ever really liked restock when I have drawn it. This one was a bit of a borderline card and just happened to be one that I picked to come out where I felt another card would be better in its place. The more recursion I end up using the more I encourage my playgroup to run grave hate and I dont know how badly I want them to escalate their grave hate yet.
Prison Term I felt like I needed to play this out too early against a lot of the haste / shroud generals in my meta. It always ends up getting eaten by a wrath before it becomes all that usable. I am going to try Oblation in its spot as Oblation is instant speed and can hit any target including generals for a better effect.
CARDS THAT HAVE BEEN ADDED SINCE LAST UPDATE
Panglacial Wurm oh wow I love this guy, I dont know why I didnt think of him earlier but I run like 9 different fetchlands and he seems like exactly the card to use for late game with the fetchlands. Essentially flashing him into play off a fetchland just sounds wayyyy too fun.
Life from the Loam I havent had a chance to really utilize this card yet but I have a lot of fetchlands that could be reused with this. I also run a lot of cards that manipulate the top of my library which could be very useful to peek and then clear the top of my library out assuming I do not like what is coming up. I hate getting stagnant top of library due to sitting behind a top too long. This deck has a lot of ways to shuffle and throw out top cards I don't want.
Bribery I was a bit reluctant to run this at first in this deck but it is soooo good and this deck has a lot of different ways to win the game, swinging in for 40 damage being one of them so I figure this ends up giving me a whole new toolbox of things to target. Seems like win to me.
Rampant Growth / Wayfarer's Bauble one of these two cards could be used to replace the sol ring in this deck. Out of all of the decks that I have ever used sol ring in this deck seems to need it the least of all. I dont know if this is a solid play or not but heck not needing a sol ring in a deck seems like good news to me.
Farseek Seems to be better off early game for me than Explore had been. I normally like Explore more than Farseek later on but in this deck I suppose another land never hurt.
Mirri's Guile Extra top effect. Yum. I tried running Mystic Speculation in this spot and just found the mana every turn to be wayyyy too much. Also for some reason nobody in my playgroup tends to go after top effects.... not really sure why. If I have a problem with it being blown up in the future I might swap it into a trinket mage.
Glen Elendra Archmage I just felt a bit light on my counterspells in here. I like the archmage but I could also see Mystic Snake potentially taking its place. I like archmage's ability to discourage noncreature spells though.
Rampaging Baloths a bit of a trial card. He can really spit out a heap of attack power fast. I would love to tooth and nail into a primeval titan and this guy as it would be a cool play. People in my meta wrath a lot though so I don't know if he will pan out.
Strip Mine all those pesky cabal coffers out there need some answers. I mainly put this in here to give me the option to destroy them using Primeval Titan as well.
Oblation found myself liking the instant speed of this card as well as its ability to hit any permenant.
Sword of Fire and Ice this card has come in as a bit of a trial in the deck. So far I am extremely not impressed by it in here. I will keep it in a bit longer before I give it a final judgement but I have yet to see anything impressive come from it. Perhaps my meta is a bit odd but we see a whole lot of white and black removal so the protections are almost null for me other than it lets me swing in past a few generals. I wouldn't be surprised if this is cut soon though.
EDITGilded Drake forgot I added him to the list. I really like him as he gives me a very amazing piece of utility that I had been missing before. I look forward to abusing the crap out of him in the future. (I know he works great with Venser, Shaper Savant but I just dont like Venser much.)
YET TO ADD
Archon of Justice I have always really liked this guy. He can also be used in the place of the Acidic Slime in the lark combo to blow out everything your opponents control instead of most everything He is an amazing creature to have out most any time though. Unless they exile him
Wooded Foothills +1 fetchland yays. managed to pick relatively cheap in an auction.
Flooded Strand hummm well not so cheap but I really wanted this fetch for the deck as it is able to fetch into so many lands.
Mystic Gate I managed to get it very cheap at $4 after shipping. I like this one a little more than the green / blue one for this deck as well since having extra white mana avalible can pump my general up some more.
YET TO CUT
Brushland I have so many nonbasics that I have problems running out of basics to go get in my deck. I have so many fetchlands now that I think these can finally go. I need to increase my basic count by a few.
Terramorphic Expanse I have plenty of good fetchlands. I dont need this anymore.
CARDS ON THE FENCE (they could be cut any day if I find something to work better)
Fauna Shaman I have never been all that happy to draw fauna. It would never work to pull off any of my combos as it would be wayyy to slow to tutor into them. I dont like it late game as we throw around a lot of wrathing and I would rather have a regular creature tutor at that point. Archon of justice might come in for her.
Clone nothing really wrong with clone. I have on occasion wondered if I would rather have the utility of Sakashima the Impostor or Vesuvan Shapeshifter in its place. Its a tough call though and for now I will probably just sit tight with clone. I would love to drop Sakashima as a copy of my drake and activate his ability to return at end of turn as he is traded off
Academy Rector my only problem with her is that my enchantment tool box is shrinking rapidly. I wish I could get 1-2 more enchantments that do something useful that I dont have now to really solidify her spot.
Sword of Fire and Ice blehhhh just hasnt been impressive for me. I love the idea behind it but the protections havent helped me at all against my meta and my opponents run very few little creatures I would even want to off given the option. We have like no utility generals that would die to 2 damage currently either. We have little to nobody that uses blue or red kill in our meta either. This is probably coming out for any one of the cards I pulled out last cut.
Spin into Myth its a good effect. The only problem I have with it is what it costs to do it. For that reason alone I am considering axing it as it has been tough to sit behind 5 mana entire turns to have this ready to rock.
I would love to hear any comments on the update. I will continue to enjoy playing this deck and love hearing feedback on changes. While I know a lot of the cards that were cut are good cards I hope they will give me more ability in this deck and make the overall experience better.
Hopefully these changes are as close to accurate as possible. Most of this is off the top of my head so I will try to edit it a bit later after work.
EDIT: Ohhh and grats to myself on my 750th post I totally didn't notice until after I posted it.
EDIT: looking back on the post its sort of a wall of test... Had to use some spoiler tags to try cutting it up a bit. Hopefully that will make it easier to read.
I am surprised you cut Sol Ring. I think you know how strong the card is but you were just hurting for space. I would certainly play it over most of your "on the fence" cards. Just because you can't cast your general early doesn't mean you can't cast the rest of your spells early. It's not just 4 mana on turn two. It's 5 mana on turn three, 6 mana on turn four, etc. The long term advantage of an early Sol Ring is just to powerful to cut if you ask me.
I notice that you are also playing a large amount of creatures with ETB abilities. Why not go all the way and abuse them with Mimic Vat and Crystal Shard? Then you could play Mystic Snake over Glen Elendra Archmage. That way, even if you don't have the Lark combo set up, you can still get sick value out of your creatures. Having a Mystic Snake (or a Draining Whelk!) on a Mimic Vat is just bananas.
Card I would recommend cutting for these suggestions would be:
Spin Into Myth: You are playing with at least 4 tuck effects by my count. I would cut the expensive one.
Vanish into Memory: I don't like giving back my cards but I admit the utility is good.
Clone: Seems meh, outclassed by Body Double anyway.
Academy Rector: Actually not sure about this one since he's a good just as a Survival Tutor alone.
I guess I will start throwing some card ideas down on a decklist. We can talk about cuts and additions from there.
1 Jenara, Asura of War
CREATURES (24)
1 Saffi Eriksdotter
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Gilded Drake
1 Coiling Oracle
1 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Eternal Witness
1 Mirror Entity
1 Trygon Predator
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Mystic Snake
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Karmic Guide
1 Reveillark
1 Acidic Slime
1 Body Double
1 Archon of justice
1 Primeval Titan
1 Sun Titan
1 Sunblast Angel
1 Rampaging Baloths
1 Duplicant
1 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Avenger of Zendikar
1 Woodfall Primus
ARTIFACTS (8)
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Skullclamp
1 Sol Ring
1 Scroll Rack
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Mimic Vat
1 Rings of Brighthearth
1 Cauldron of Souls
1 Sylvan Library
1 Night Soil
1 Survival of the Fittest
1 Equilibrium
1 Faith's Fetters
INSTANT (11)
1 Pact of Negation
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Path to Exile
1 Eladamri's Call
1 Chord of Calling
1 Oblation
1 Bant Charm
1 Hinder
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Desertion
SORCERY (12)
1 Farseek
1 Cultivate
1 Kodama's Reach
1 Wargate
1 Genisis Wave
1 Rite of Replication
1 Skyshroud Claim
1 Bribery
1 Hallowed Burial
1 Austere Command
1 Tooth and Nail
1 Time Stretch
PLAINSWALKERS (2)
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1 Venser, the Sojourner
1 Breeding Pool
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Temple Garden
1 Mosswort Bridge
1 Wooded Bastion
1 Mystic Gate
1 Sunpetal Grove
1 Glacial Fortress
1 Seaside Citadel
1 City of Brass
1 Grand Coliseum
1 Krosan Verge
1 Arid Mesa
1 Marsh Flats
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Flooded Strand
1 Strip Mine
1 Kor Haven
1 Vesuva
6 Forest
5 Plains
3 Island
Ok some of the wishlist is reasonable. The old school duals are realistically never gona happen but I will put them there anyways.
COMBOS
1) I purposly put in the cards for a yosei lock as I like the cards in the combo. I can also substitute yosei for mass land destruction using the Acidic Slime or ramp using one of several land ramp creatures.
The combo is fetched using Survival of the Fittest to draw and discard Saffi Eriksdotter, Karmic Guide, Mirror Entity, Yosei, the Morning Star, and finally putting Reveillark in hand. The rest starting in the graveyard is how it works so just throw out one creature to start the cycle and have Reveillark left in hand after you got the others in the yard.
Start out by evoking Reveillark into play. He dies rezing Karmic Guide and Mirror Entity into play. The guide rezes Reveillark back to play. Activate Mirror Entity say 100 times at 0 mana on the stack. They all die and lark rezes Karmic Guide and Saffi Eriksdotter. Guide rezes lark. Saffi sacs targeting lark before the second Mirror Entity trigger goes off. Second trigger goes off and lark rezes off saffi. Lark's trigger rezes guide and saffi. Guide rezes Yosei into play. Saffi sacs to rez lark before the 3rd Mirror entity trigger executes. Creatures wipe and yosei taps down one player. This continues until you have taped down everyone. You can then do other things like rez all of your land into play with this using any land fetcher in place of yosei at the end of this cycle.
End this cycle by rezing Reveillark with Mirror Entity, and Saffi Eriksdotter in play and you can execute it as needed at instant speed. If someone has a swords or path to exile they can still catch you in the middle of this fun little combo even after you tap them down unfortunately but its a solid combo.
2) This one isnt an infinite combo but Tooth and Nail can get very silly in this deck. Out of my options I like doing one of the following
a) Eternal Witness + Any appropriate fatty, recur tooth and nail back to hand ready to be used again.
b) Regal Force + Avenger of Zendikar trigger it so avenger executes first then your hand explodes into goodness. (Sadly regal force was cut from the list as he was a bad draw into. He was only good off tooth and nail and boy was he good there, however as he was bad otherwise he has been removed from the list)
3) Even if I dont feel like locking everyone down with Lark combo I could always go for infinite turns using infinite recursion of eternal witness along with Time Stretch. Its so close to the lark lock though and a lot harder to attain as I have to get Time Stretch which I dont have much to tutor into. Figured I would list it though.
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[Modern] Allies
Cloud Cover should probably be Privileged Position or Asceticism.
Needs more Seedborn Muse, Stonecloaker, Sun Titan, Glen Elendra Archmage.
Your curve looks a little high. Remove some of your big stuff like Clarion Ultimatum for better, cheaper stuff like Skyshroud Claim.
The problem with Pride of the Clouds is it eats up four mana a turn, during your upkeep. If you want stalling, use Spike Weaver.
Cauldron of Souls. Run it.
Commander/EDH:
WU Hanna, Ship's Navigator WU
GW Saffi Eriksdotter GW
BW Selenia, Dark Angel BW
W Heliod, God of Sun W
Retired:
Jenara, Asura of War Thada Adel, Acquisitor Jaya Ballard, Task Mage Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero Lyzolda, the Blood Witch Akroma, Angel of Wrath Nath of the Gilt-Leaf Tajic, Blade of the Legion Selvala, Explorer Returned Maga, Traitor to Mortals
Tiny Leaders:
W Mangara of Corondor W
Ahhh you have so many good points in here.
As for the equipment, not all of the equipment is just to power her up. Some of them provide card advantage and protections. The light and shadow provides 2 of the best spot removal protections out there as well as rezing into other targets for card advantage. I see soooooo much spot removal in black and white I want to hold onto this one.
I could possibly see cutting the Jitte, Sword of Fire and Ice, and Sword of Feast and Famine out but I think the Lightning Greaves, Sword of Light and Shadow, and Sword of Vengeance might still be needed.
Ya I agree now looking back at it. I think they would both make better cards. I suppose Priviledged over Asceticism? or do you think both is a decent call?
I could see all of those making it in. I am not quite as fond of the archmage as I dont run much for countering but its good and it can be recurred several ways.
Ya that was at the top of my cut list. Do you think Skyshroud as I plan on having the rav dual lands in or should I just go with Explosive Vegitation? Or I suppose both if I can find room.
Ya I figured that would probably get cut as well. its very narrow in use and very inconvenient.
Wow... totally overlooked it.
EDIT: ok I got most of that updated. What do you think of the signets / rampant growth / Farseek / wayfarer's bauble? It could help me try landing that turn 3 commander for sure as getting a combination of all 3 mana by turn 3 could be rough.
EDIT 2: Looking at the list I notice a few things. 1) I have a lack of kill / counter. That might be just fine as I plan on possibly comboing quickly. 2) I dont have a whole lot of mana ramping / mana stones. 3) I dont have a whole lot of ways to tutor into a artifact / enchant. One of my better lockdowns requires me to have a lot of specific creatures ready to go.
EDIT 3: any chance you can link me to your decklist Telekinesis as I wouldnt mind seeing how you set yours up.
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[Modern] Allies
Skyshroud Claim >>>>> Explosive Vegetation, but I'd personally run both if you can, as well as Cultivate and Kodama's Reach. You'd have to fit in more basics though for these.
I prefer land ramp to mana stones personally. Mana stones tend to get destroyed by splash damage from sweepers, lands tend to stay intact.
Link to my decklist is in my sig. I haven't updated it in a while though due to laziness so it's a bit outdated. It's just good stuff bant, though I've since shifted it to put more emphasis on ETB effects.
Commander/EDH:
WU Hanna, Ship's Navigator WU
GW Saffi Eriksdotter GW
BW Selenia, Dark Angel BW
W Heliod, God of Sun W
Retired:
Jenara, Asura of War Thada Adel, Acquisitor Jaya Ballard, Task Mage Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero Lyzolda, the Blood Witch Akroma, Angel of Wrath Nath of the Gilt-Leaf Tajic, Blade of the Legion Selvala, Explorer Returned Maga, Traitor to Mortals
Tiny Leaders:
W Mangara of Corondor W
Also do you have any thoughts on Mystical Tutor???
I figured as it can hit the following good cards it was good for the deck:
Rite of Replication
Time Stretch
Praetor's Counsel
Tooth and Nail
EDIT: I cut a few creatures that I wasnt too impressed by. I added some card draw in the form of Impulse and Fact or Fiction.
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[Modern] Allies
I added some single target removal since last. I am still running very little as far as wrathing the board. Usually there is just one or two things that is giving me trouble at a time and I hate being the go to guy for wrathing the board. In decks that I have that run like that if I dont wrath then people put pressure on me so that I die first and don't draw into the control for later.
Privileged Position turned into an Asceticism simply due to the fact that I had it and Privileged Position is getting kind of spendy for a small upgrade.
I picked up several tutoring outlets Mystical Tutor, Enlightened Tutor, Idyllic Tutor, and Long-Term Plans to hopefully give the deck some consistency. I axed a few more creatures and equipment that I didnt feel were vital. The deck currently has a strong graveyard rezurect theme going for it which I hope isnt too overpowering. If it is I will probably cut one more of those cards out.
I had hoped to find some more room for some ramp but I think I have decided to wait until some deck testing to decide what to do with that. I am really looking forward to this deck coming together.
EDIT: I am a bit afraid I might have toooo many tutors in here. Considering I have 4 creature tutors, 2 enchantment / artifact tutors, one instant / sorcery tutor, and one generic anything I want tutor. That makes 8 tutors in this deck... that might pan out to be a bit excessive.
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[Modern] Allies
Farhaven Elf is very good, and come back with the titan...
And dont forget eternal dragon, especially when you play dual land, go fetch the savannah and the tundra...and always came back.
Hakim, Loreweaver
Autumn Willow
Yomiji, Who Bars the Way
Hanna, Ship's Navigator
Chromium
Skyfire Kirin
I love Eternal Dragon. However I don't think he adds all that much utility to this decklist. I have so many ways already of pulling out the ravnica duals that I don't think his plainscycle gives me much. Plus the deck is already plenty vulnerable enough to graveyard removal tactics I don't want any more dependancy on graveyard recursion.
Also I made a few other updates such as:
-1 Long-Term Plans just wasnt needed
-1 Aethermage's Touch originally I thought it was a cool idea as I can get coming into play effects twice... but then I realized that this seems like a bad tutor thats sort of a pain in my ass. Plus it seems like it could wiff really easy.
+1 Path to Exile gota love cheap removal
-1 Idyllic Tutor academy rector seems better
+1 Academy Rector
-1 Rafiq of the Many he seems like a win more card. I would rather use an equipment or something over him.
+1 Duplicant creature kill in creature form, whats not to like. He is usable off lark as well.
+1 Farseek I like how this can easily fix my way to landing my commander turn 3. I usually like getting 2 cards per ramp but I will make an exception and try this one out for now
-1 Evolving Wilds Strict upgrade to fetchland
+1 Windswept Heath
-1 Grand Coliseum Upgrade to fetchland
+1 Misty Rainforest
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[Modern] Allies
also maybe try some true conviction.
if you want your deck to be abit more single minded(smashing with jenara), try running some of the better exalted cards like qasali pridemage, battlegrace angel and giltspire avenger(nice rattlesnake)
i would cut seedguide ash(seems like too much work. id run a ramp spell or just another land over it)
Commander/EDH:
WU Hanna, Ship's Navigator WU
GW Saffi Eriksdotter GW
BW Selenia, Dark Angel BW
W Heliod, God of Sun W
Retired:
Jenara, Asura of War Thada Adel, Acquisitor Jaya Ballard, Task Mage Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero Lyzolda, the Blood Witch Akroma, Angel of Wrath Nath of the Gilt-Leaf Tajic, Blade of the Legion Selvala, Explorer Returned Maga, Traitor to Mortals
Tiny Leaders:
W Mangara of Corondor W
True Conviction - ... I have always hated this card. Lifegain in edh is such a moot point. I would say somewhere arround 80% of decks end up killing opponents using either infinite combos / general damage in my meta. Gaining life just gets nowhere.
I like how my general is a threat all by herself. She powers herself up all on her own, I would spend mana to drop a creature that has exault instead of just leveling her up instead???? this makes no sense plus then I am out a lot more cards when someone drops a wrath. I sort of built this deck to have a plan A) a plan B) and a Plan C) swinging in with my general for the win is currently somewhere between plan A and plan B.
I could possibly see the seedguide ash being cut. He doesn't really recur very nicely with anything and doesn't ramp me until he dies. on top of it all I am not going to have all that many forests specifically. I might add Kodama's Reach in his place.
Ha you beat me to it.
EDIT: Also I was contemplating possibly trying to add one more sword back to the deck. Which do you think might be better between Sword of Fire and Ice, Sword of Light and Shadow, and Sword of Feast and Famine? I could see all 3 of them having decent interaction with the deck but though I would just put one in. I am sort of thinking Fire and Ice or Feast and Famine might be the better two of the three.
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[Modern] Allies
yea but thats why you play the exalted cards that have other utility. idk i like it cause they do other things, power up jenara and give you a blocker.
plus alot of the time it will be late game and you cast jenara for 9mana with a greaves on the table and you just want to get in.
but there is a reason why i said you dont have to do this unless you want to be more single minded.
as for explore, lategame id say explore and reach are about the same. reach gets you more mana and jenara can always use more of that. and your deck is already thin from all the ramping. meh maybe what you want is krosan tusker. explore just seems bad both early and late game.
One of the big things I would say about land fetch cards that go search is that I do currently run 2 top effects and looking to possibly add a third. These effects allow me to clear out my topdeck when it doesnt look so great.
As for the exault. I dont mind a few effects so long as they arent creatures as I feel like my group usually ends up using a wrath when something is unfavorable instead of spot removal. I dont see utility guys who are only good if they are sitting on the board as useful cards. I am currently using Finest Hour and if I do go back to some of the exault it would be by adding Rafiq back to the decklist. He isnt terrible as the turn I drop him I totally jack up all combat math. I didnt like how he ends up being a semi meh beater though sometimes.
I will consider some of the exault cards but I want to wait for my cards to come in and do some deck testing with it before I try modifying it too far.
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[Modern] Allies
Vigor - Cool creature but I dont see a whole lot of creatures actually trade combat damage all that often. I think he is a cool creature but I am not too fond of creatures that do incrimental advantage over time rather than on entry / leaving play. I have tried him in decks in the past and just never found him to matter all that much. I think he is just a creature that is better in 60 card formats.
Body Double I had actually been thinking about this guy for a bit. The reason I currently have Clone in there is well... I have an Uril, the Miststalker deck in my meta and clone just seems to be a good solution to him. If I can find something to cut for this spot I would love to include. If you can give me some suggestions to cut for it I would gladly consider it.
Venser, Shaper Savant this guy went right under my radar for this deck. This could be an amazing substitute for Yosei for the lockdown. I hate to cut Yosei as he is a good creature but I will try pondering what I might cut for him to make a spot. He is a bit like Acidic Slime but so different at the same time.
Congregation at Dawn fun tutor but I already have a lot of good tutors in the deck. I have other tutors in the deck I like more than this one. I like this in a deck with Lurking Predators and prehaps Call of the Wild. It is ok but I think I have enough creature tutors currently.
Well time to mull the decklist over to see if I might be able to make room for Venser and or Body Double...
EDIT: A few updates. Still contemplating Venser in this deck. As I looked at the list a bit closer he isnt quite as needed as I had originally thought but am still up for suggestions. Updates are as follows:
-1 Farseek (didnt like how it only ramped one card. Seems like it could be a bit of a dud late in the game. It only seems strong in the first 2-4 turns.
-1 Wing Shards (I love the nontargeting aspect of this card. But I replaced it with a better card)
+1 Body Double (I like how I could abuse someone else's graveyard with it when I hit the lark combo. Or I could use it as a second lark)
+1 Hallowed Burial (seemed better than Wing Shards. I love how wing shards is instant speed but tucking enemy commanders is win)
EDIT 2: Soooo..... It just occured to me that I really need to put Rings of Brighthearth in here. I can use it off all of the fetchlands, multiple rez abilities, and god knows I have enough utility creatures for this card to be really just busted in here... Gota make some room >_< Ewwww Avenger of Zendikar + rings....
-1 Tawnos's Coffin (while being cool I dont think its as useful as rings)
+1 Rings of Brighthearth
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[Modern] Allies
Congregation at Dawn is very good yes. However I just dont see much room or need for it in the deck. I have so much tutoring already and I just dont see Congregation being better than what I have already.
I might have to think over Eladamri's Call as it is an amazing tutor. I like it a bit more than Primal Command but I do like the option for other utility abilities on the Command. If I am looking for a creature then yes Eladamri's Call is stricly better than Impulse, however that wont always be the situation so I dont know about cutting impulse for it. I will have to wait until I get some test games in before I know if Eladamri's should go in for Impulse.
Hummmm should I consider taking out Impulse for Intuition? I could see a lot of crazy moves off of Intuition such as picking Tooth and Nail, Restock, and Eternal Witness or doing the same with Time stretch lol.
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[Modern] Allies
Stoneforge Mystic (I am down to 2 equipment in the deck and I haven't been finding the Sword of Vengeance all that effective in the deck. I think he can be cut as I never feel like I need my equipment, as great as Lightning Greaves are I dont need a tutor just for it)
Seedborn Muse (as funny as this is on paper I never had any opponents let me keep this going with my general for a full round. If this is setting up my general I will get wrathed or hated off the board. Funny but not all that effective. Felt a bit like a lightning rod.)
Genesis (I am a bit on the fence on this guy. Yes he is really cool but I had him in the yard and wasn't even using him when I was at 14+ mana as I always had other things I wanted to do.)
Yosei, the Morning Star (Yosei lock is funny but I can use Acidic Slime in his place and just pop all lands / mana stones. He isnt needed and he just sat on the board yesterday like a fat little blocker till someone wrathed. Wasnt all that impressed by him.)
Sword of Vengeance (it sat in my hand for like 5 turns. I had my general out and online already. It is cool as it gives haste but thats about it as my general can level herself up for the 4 mana instead of the 3 mana to get the 2 power this gives. Other than haste and vigilance, this is kind of a moot card.)
Impulse (I have always liked this card, I feel like it might be better as a tutor in this deck though. I used it to decent use last night to clear the top of my deck out when my sylvan library was getting a bit dried up but a creature tutor would do the same thing and provide me with something good. Eladamri's Call will probably come in as *Donald had suggested.)
Ok well thats what have been giving me a bit of trouble. As for what could come in in its place:
as for creatures, I wouldnt mind adding a few extra side combos to the deck. Out of what is avalible for me I can only think of 2 extra combos I could add here.
Palinchron + Keeper of Progenitus / Mana Reflection / Mirari's Wake (able to generate infinite mana. The Keeper of Progenitus is actually sort of difficult to use in here as it would only apply to forests and plains for me so my basic lands and my ravnica duals would be the only ones that doubble for mana. This would mean I need at least 5 plains / forests for it to work here. However due to the fact that I could tooth and nail directly into infinite mana, it seems decent) (If I were to add this I would probably keep it small and only use the Keeper of Progenitus as the mana generation)
I feel like I could use another wrath or two in the deck. Our first test game yesterday we realized we were all running light wraths and the sliver deck won by like turn 7... I think Blatant Thievery would help in place of a wrath. I could also see either Rout or Final Judgment take a slot in here.
I love my top effects to no end. One option would be to add Mirri's Guile to the deck but I think a better play would be to add Trinket Mage to the list as the top is just more robust and useful to me than Guile would be. Guile gets swept up in a lot of sweepers that the top can dodge.
Skullclamp should probably be considered as well if Trinket Mage goes in. It is a good part of the toolbox as well as the fact that I am using a lot of little utility guys anyways.
I actually saw very few tutors in my test play of the deck. I want to add Eladamri's Call which seems like an incredibly solid tutor.
I keep looking over Basalt Monolith for the deck. It generates infinite colorless mana with Rings of Brighthearth, but I am just not sure how great infinite colorless will be for me. (for now this will probably be passed up on)
Genesis Wave.... I have considered adding this card several times. It just isnt that impressive in a deck that wants to try comboing out but the ability to land ramp / ramp permenants in general is just crazy good.
So the breakdown being:
1 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Seedborn Muse
1 Genesis
1 Yosei, the Morning Star
1 Sword of Vengeance
1 Impulse
1 Palinchron
1 Keeper of Progenitus
1 Rout
1 Trinket Mage
1 Skullclamp
1 Eladamri's Call
So it looks like I have 6 going out and up to 9 I think could be good in the deck. I would love some input on what should make the cut. I will probably only do 1 of the cards between Blatent Thevery, Rout, and Final Judgment for now. If I want a second one I would probably end up cutting out Spin into Myth to fit a second.
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[Modern] Allies
and maybe loxodon warhammer instead of the sword?
i agree with you on genesis. he looks really powerful but early game he is a dead draw and late game he takes a surprisingly high amount of mana to use and makes the game kinda boring if you are just reviving the same guy over and over.
I think if Trinket Mage gets a slot I have to put the Skullclamp in too though as if I draw him late game then Sol ring is sort of a meh draw into so I want at least 2 good targets for him at all times.
As for Loxodon Warhammer, it is actually very difficult to mass produce blockers that have flying for most decks. I love trample but realistically I never had much of a problem with flying blockers for my general as they usually only lasted a turn then I went back to hitting their life total. Lifegain has always been a bit suck on my list for EDH. Not to say there arent situations wehre I like having the lifegain but it isn't very often. I am trying to stay away from using too many cards to pump up my general. I would rather she just free roams without to many other cards relying on her. If I were to pick up some more equipment it would probably be Sword of Fire and Ice, Sword of Light and Shadow, or Sword of Feast and Famine.
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[Modern] Allies
your deck seems pretty streamlined in getting choice parts out onto the battlefield. so while those cards are good, Id rather aim for a deck with abit more finesse and stuff to do all along the curve rather than late game bombs. opening hands are abit miserable if you have gen wave, thievery, tooth and nail, time stretch and praetors counsel.
edit* nvm i just re-read your OP and you said you jsut want the deck to cast big spells with lots of mana. so w/e.
Getting a whole bunch of random 2 drop utility guys off a genesis wave isnt that great and it is a dead card for a long time early game. That alone seems like enough for it not to make the cut.
I suppose if I can decide which of the two wrath spells to use I would be at the same number of spells going in as out. Any other suggestions as to what could go in in place of one of my suggested cards would be welcome as well.
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[Modern] Allies
Anways I have a tonnnnn of changes for the list due to some amazing games and testing with a lot of cards. I will try to explain why I am trying the changes that I am. Some of it will be just due to specific things in my meta but I will try to list that.
NO LONGER IN THE DECK
Keeper of Progenitus I ran him for the infinite mana with palinchron. It comboed nicely off tooth and nail as well which was a perk. The problem was that I really dont have much use for infinite mana other than with my general so I found this a bit lacking to set up just to turn my general huge.
Mulldrifter I go back and forth on this guy a lot. Not saying he will stay out but I am currently cutting a lot of my recursion for one reason or another. He is best when he can be used in recursion combos for several card draw. I never really wanted to evoke him as I like creatures... And I was never all that excited to see him. It was a bit of a pain.
Palinchron I cut the infinite mana combo as stated above so he comes out.
Sol Ring I know, why would I ever be taking out sol ring???? Well I found the problem with sol ring being it cannot accelerate my general out faster early in the game. This will probably turn into a wayfarer's bauble / rampant growth instead to fix mana to land the turn 3 general. This could be a mistake and if you think so please do voice it.
Aura Shards I havent really ever goten this to work. I tried dropping it early one game to blow out some mana stones and it always gets locked down / blown out immediately. I run 2 creatures to shoot out artifacts / enchantments so I decided between them and my tutoring ability to get them I would be fine changing this into a Bribery. If I need an artifact / enchant destroy effect I can still use bribery to pull out a similar creature and blow it out.
Explore I felt that Farseek fits a better position in this deck. Explore does not fix my manabase if I dont already have the correct mana in play. I can always use more land in a deck like this and farseek is just solidly better early on.
Restock this was a bit of a tough call but I haven't ever really liked restock when I have drawn it. This one was a bit of a borderline card and just happened to be one that I picked to come out where I felt another card would be better in its place. The more recursion I end up using the more I encourage my playgroup to run grave hate and I dont know how badly I want them to escalate their grave hate yet.
Prison Term I felt like I needed to play this out too early against a lot of the haste / shroud generals in my meta. It always ends up getting eaten by a wrath before it becomes all that usable. I am going to try Oblation in its spot as Oblation is instant speed and can hit any target including generals for a better effect.
CARDS THAT HAVE BEEN ADDED SINCE LAST UPDATE
Life from the Loam I havent had a chance to really utilize this card yet but I have a lot of fetchlands that could be reused with this. I also run a lot of cards that manipulate the top of my library which could be very useful to peek and then clear the top of my library out assuming I do not like what is coming up. I hate getting stagnant top of library due to sitting behind a top too long. This deck has a lot of ways to shuffle and throw out top cards I don't want.
Bribery I was a bit reluctant to run this at first in this deck but it is soooo good and this deck has a lot of different ways to win the game, swinging in for 40 damage being one of them so I figure this ends up giving me a whole new toolbox of things to target. Seems like win to me.
Rampant Growth / Wayfarer's Bauble one of these two cards could be used to replace the sol ring in this deck. Out of all of the decks that I have ever used sol ring in this deck seems to need it the least of all. I dont know if this is a solid play or not but heck not needing a sol ring in a deck seems like good news to me.
Farseek Seems to be better off early game for me than Explore had been. I normally like Explore more than Farseek later on but in this deck I suppose another land never hurt.
Mirri's Guile Extra top effect. Yum. I tried running Mystic Speculation in this spot and just found the mana every turn to be wayyyy too much. Also for some reason nobody in my playgroup tends to go after top effects.... not really sure why. If I have a problem with it being blown up in the future I might swap it into a trinket mage.
Glen Elendra Archmage I just felt a bit light on my counterspells in here. I like the archmage but I could also see Mystic Snake potentially taking its place. I like archmage's ability to discourage noncreature spells though.
Rampaging Baloths a bit of a trial card. He can really spit out a heap of attack power fast. I would love to tooth and nail into a primeval titan and this guy as it would be a cool play. People in my meta wrath a lot though so I don't know if he will pan out.
Strip Mine all those pesky cabal coffers out there need some answers. I mainly put this in here to give me the option to destroy them using Primeval Titan as well.
Oblation found myself liking the instant speed of this card as well as its ability to hit any permenant.
Sword of Fire and Ice this card has come in as a bit of a trial in the deck. So far I am extremely not impressed by it in here. I will keep it in a bit longer before I give it a final judgement but I have yet to see anything impressive come from it. Perhaps my meta is a bit odd but we see a whole lot of white and black removal so the protections are almost null for me other than it lets me swing in past a few generals. I wouldn't be surprised if this is cut soon though.
EDIT Gilded Drake forgot I added him to the list. I really like him as he gives me a very amazing piece of utility that I had been missing before. I look forward to abusing the crap out of him in the future. (I know he works great with Venser, Shaper Savant but I just dont like Venser much.)
YET TO ADD
Wooded Foothills +1 fetchland yays. managed to pick relatively cheap in an auction.
Flooded Strand hummm well not so cheap but I really wanted this fetch for the deck as it is able to fetch into so many lands.
Mystic Gate I managed to get it very cheap at $4 after shipping. I like this one a little more than the green / blue one for this deck as well since having extra white mana avalible can pump my general up some more.
YET TO CUT
Yavimaya Coast Same
Adarkar Wastes Same
Terramorphic Expanse I have plenty of good fetchlands. I dont need this anymore.
CARDS ON THE FENCE (they could be cut any day if I find something to work better)
Clone nothing really wrong with clone. I have on occasion wondered if I would rather have the utility of Sakashima the Impostor or Vesuvan Shapeshifter in its place. Its a tough call though and for now I will probably just sit tight with clone. I would love to drop Sakashima as a copy of my drake and activate his ability to return at end of turn as he is traded off
Academy Rector my only problem with her is that my enchantment tool box is shrinking rapidly. I wish I could get 1-2 more enchantments that do something useful that I dont have now to really solidify her spot.
Sword of Fire and Ice blehhhh just hasnt been impressive for me. I love the idea behind it but the protections havent helped me at all against my meta and my opponents run very few little creatures I would even want to off given the option. We have like no utility generals that would die to 2 damage currently either. We have little to nobody that uses blue or red kill in our meta either. This is probably coming out for any one of the cards I pulled out last cut.
Spin into Myth its a good effect. The only problem I have with it is what it costs to do it. For that reason alone I am considering axing it as it has been tough to sit behind 5 mana entire turns to have this ready to rock.
I would love to hear any comments on the update. I will continue to enjoy playing this deck and love hearing feedback on changes. While I know a lot of the cards that were cut are good cards I hope they will give me more ability in this deck and make the overall experience better.
Hopefully these changes are as close to accurate as possible. Most of this is off the top of my head so I will try to edit it a bit later after work.
EDIT: Ohhh and grats to myself on my 750th post I totally didn't notice until after I posted it.
EDIT: looking back on the post its sort of a wall of test... Had to use some spoiler tags to try cutting it up a bit. Hopefully that will make it easier to read.
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[Modern] Allies
I notice that you are also playing a large amount of creatures with ETB abilities. Why not go all the way and abuse them with Mimic Vat and Crystal Shard? Then you could play Mystic Snake over Glen Elendra Archmage. That way, even if you don't have the Lark combo set up, you can still get sick value out of your creatures. Having a Mystic Snake (or a Draining Whelk!) on a Mimic Vat is just bananas.
Card I would recommend cutting for these suggestions would be:
Spin Into Myth: You are playing with at least 4 tuck effects by my count. I would cut the expensive one.
Vanish into Memory: I don't like giving back my cards but I admit the utility is good.
Clone: Seems meh, outclassed by Body Double anyway.
Academy Rector: Actually not sure about this one since he's a good just as a Survival Tutor alone.
:symu::symr: Melek WheelStorm
:symw::symg: Trostani Enchantress (updated 6/5)
:symg::symr::symu: Unexpected Results.dec
Thada Adel Stax WIP