MTG Salvation

Mayael the Anima comes from a place where enormous creatures are revered as gods. Imagine her surprise when enormous creatures from other places started showing up. She sees them all deities, and intends to share them with the rest of the world, and at a discounted price! I really wanted to make a deck that focused on her unique ability, so here's the list I came up with.




Comments and suggestions are appreciated. Thanks guys!

EDIT: Here's the first edit of the deck. What do you guys think?

Nice. I like the flavor of your intro lol.

In a deck where your only alt wincon is Mayael's Aria, and with no way to tutor for it, I think more support creatures for Mayael is important.

I see you have Spearbreaker Behemoth which helps.
Razia, Boros Archangel and Deathless Angel could find a slot for this purpose and also work with Mayael's ability. Lightning Greaves furthurs the cause.

I really like the inclusion of Fires of Yavimaya and am going to seriously consider it for my Mayael deck.

Seedborn Muse looks great to give Mayael a chance to activate every turn, but in the political spectrum she draws alot of hate. Awakening has a better reception by your opponents as a group hug card and is also harder to remove. But as with any group hug card, it has the potential to backfire. Same goes for Gate to the Aether. If you are looking for a another good "activate every turn" card to go along with Seedborn/Awakening, I recomment Godsire in place of Greater Gargadon. Gargadon seems like a vanilla beater compared to Godsire and even Steel Hellkite which has alot more utility. Can't say I like the Planeswalkers in this build either. Sarkhan Vol's haste ability has potential but is unfortunately at sorcery speed. I would much rather use that spot to tutor for Fires of Yavimaya if haste is what you're going for. x5 4/4 Dragons does look delicious, but this doesn't strike me as a "Mayael" play.


I see you are running Tooth and Nail which I suppose justifies a spot for Eternal Witness. It seems rare that you would ever Tooth and Nail the Eternal Witness though. If you own the card I guess find a spot for it. I haven't bothered to spend $5 on her yet though because without creature recursion it just feels like an over-priced Regrowth or Recollect.
Fauna Shaman, Worldly Tutor, and Congregation at Dawn greatly improve Eternal Witness though, so I concede that she will eventually find a home in Mayeal.

There's a great Mayael primer in here that abuses Scroll Rack, Cream of the Crop, and Timesifter that's worth a look-see

Long live Mayael - Queen of the Fatties!

Cool! More Mayael Love!

I won't go into a huge amount of comments, walls of text are boring, instead if you want to know what i might have said to you just check out my primer in my sig for some fun stuff to do with Mayael.

A few things i notice:

Blightsteel, Kozilek, and Ulamog: these guys are awesome but they hurt really bad when turned around in your face. Maybe if the playgroup you are in doesn't do that thats cool, but i would be a little afraid of running them. They usually do more harm than good.

Other than that seems like a decent fatties package. I might up the number (target: 28) to make ensure that Mayael has a chance to see one.

Some of the fatties strike me as a little useless, i'm looking at Greater Gargadon. One of the things you'll find is a big fatty with no evasion or utility is a waste because he can be chump blocked. I like a big 9/7 just like anyone else but you have to restrain yourself a little bit.

I also see both Asceticism and Privileged position. Is both really necessary? Maybe drop Asceticism and add Yavimaya Hollow for the rejuv effect.


Some Ideas to think about.

I second Shmo40 in upping the number of big creatures. Whiffing on a Mayael activation is never good, and the best way to fight that is to put as many big creatures in your deck as possibly can without impacting your ability to ramp and remove things. Some specific suggestions I would include are Spellbreaker Behemoth, Avatar of Might, Bloodfire Colossus, and Stalking Vengeance.

Two other suggestions. You might want to find some more ways to cheat your creatures in to play in case something happens to your general. Tooth and Nail is a staple, but I would also look at Natural Order and Lure of Prey. I would also recommend putting Contested Cliffs into your deck. You might need some more beasts to make it worthwhile, but it can help in a pinch when you need to get rid of an opposing creature or two.

Thank you, all three of you. Definitely given me some food for thought here. In order to adequately respond, I'm gonna give time to each of you:

Aeon-Phoenix, I like the idea of others who can protect my dudes, and as cool as Mayael's Aria is, maybe I'll take it (and Mossbridge Troll) out for more fatties/ways to tutor up my better enchantments. Awakening may fit in there too. The reason I like Greater Gargadon is because he gives me something to do when I get hit with a wrath. Maybe the 'Walkers aren't necessary, but we will see (I do love me some Garruk Wildspeaker). Gonna need to keep testing that. you might be right about Eternal Witness, and I could try replacing her with Regrowth. I don't like the thought of the deck having any <5 Power critters anyway, flavor wise. We'll see. I do like that primer, but I don't wanna spend the cash on the Scroll Rack. A college budget is a terrible thing.

Schmo40, I kind of share your concern about my large colorless friends. There's only one guy who plays Bribery (well, and me, when I play Niv-Mizzet), and I think I can handle him, but I'm not sure. Only way to know is to keep playing. I agree that I need a few more fatties, but 28 seems like a lot. I just don't want them to clog up my hand at the beginning, but you do know what you're talking about (I've reread that primer at least ten times). See above for our suspended red friend, and as for multiple enchantments doing the same thing, I just like increasing the odds to see them, and will get better if I decide to add a few ways to tutor up enchantments. Yavimaya Hollow might need to be in here anyway.

Ender84 (and I do love that book series; I met Orson Scott Card once), I like Stalking Vengeance and Spellbreaker Behemoth a lot. They may find a home in here soon enough, especially if I swap around the dudes and other things. Natural Order is mega expensive unfortunately, and Lure of Prey looks alright, but not that exciting. I know about those cliffs, and if I decide to throw more beasts in I will definitely be putting one in here.

Thank you guys so much. I really appreciate the help, especially from people who know the deck inside and out. If you guys (or anyone else, don't be shy) have any suggestions, let me hear 'em. Also, any suggestions on what to REMOVE are just as important. Thanks guys, and keep the advice coming!

In terms of what to remove, my suggestions would be Mycoid Shepard and the signets. There are better creatures you could use in the shepard's place, and you have enough ramp/mana fixing that you don't really need the signets.

I see you have a few beasts in the build + Garruk Wildspeaker.

Godsire + Contested Cliffs might make nice additions.
Godsire with a Seedborm Muse or Awakening in play is nuts.

As for the Scroll Rack, yeah it is pricey.
I personally love topdeck abilities in my Mayael - especially with running enchantment tutors and Timesifter. I've found Cream of the Crop, Abundance, and Mirri's Guile to be pretty useful.