Saffi Eriksdotter or How to Lose Friends and Alienate Permanents
Saffi Eriksdotter loans herself to the aggro-attrition variant of EDH. Grinding card advantage out over several turns puts you ahead of other opponents who focus on a single plan of attack. This deck combos in several ways and can easily be modified to go infinite, but an infinite combo isn't necessary to win most games.
This deck has advantages over the W/G/B variant, commonly Karador, Ghost Chieftan or Teneb, the Harvester, because of how much more useful the general is. Saffi is one of the few reasons to attempt competitive G/W, and she is a damn good reason. She generates mythic levels of CA, combos with many cards, and is resilient to a lot of hate since she can sacrifice herself before an Oblation, Condemn, or Hallowed Burial.
Here's my decklist, along with full descriptions of all card choices.
Saffi Eriksdotter- Saffi is the keystone of the deck. This is absolutely an EDH deck where you play around your general. Often, the first time I use her, I'll send her to the general zone, but sending her to the GY is perfectly reasonable with so many ways to bring her back out.
Primeval Titan- Prime-Time is another key card in the deck. I get almost all my activations on him entering the battlefield- he rarely lives long enough to swing. I use him to quickly get Emeria, the Sky Ruin online.
Stonecloaker- Stonecloaker is neat in two ways. First, you can use him when triggers are stacked with Mangara of Corondor (see Mangara). Secondly, it can target itself, allowing you to cast it over and over, exiling cards from the opponent's library. For this reason, I often run a tutor out for it early.
Sun Titan- Sun Titan goes infinite with Saffi Eriksdotter. He's also amazing for getting back almost every permanent in the deck, including all-stars like Sterling Grove.
Woodfall Primus- Woodfall Primus goes infinite with Melira, Slyvok Outcast and a sac outlet, so he can clear the board of lands and non-creature permanents. He's also great with Saffi and Karmic Guide, sticking around a long time and destroying a lot of stuff.
Twilight Shepherd- Regrowth on a Stick. This card is great with sac outlets. An empty hand never means you have nothing to do. Sac, bounce, and regrow your field to generate on-field CA! Also infinite with Melira, Sylvok Outcast.
Fiend Hunter- deceptively powerful. There's the obvious mechanics of killing tokens and removing blockers. There's also subtle politics when you hide a bomb. You do the table a favor by eliminating an Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre from someone's field and you remind them, constantly, not to attack you.
Leonin Relic-Warder- Infinite mana with a sac outlet, a Reveillark combo, and a Sol Ring. Just keep sacrificing him and bringing him back out on top of the ring, and keep making mana in between. Excellent rattlesnake.
Auramancer- With so many powerful, game-winning enchantments, this card is like a second Eternal Witness.
Dust Elemental- I most commonly use this card bouncing Saffi, an ETB creature, and itself in response to boardsweeps or at EOT when I have mana to blow. Very fun card to play with.
Mangara of Corondor- This is a cornerstone of the deck. If you put her ability on the stack and then bounce her with Dust Elemental, Stonecloaker, or a flash creature w/ Cloudstone Curio, she goes to your hand before she exiles herself. Her ability, like all abilities, will still resolve, so you get recurring exile effects. Additionally, you can sacrifice her on the stack. Seven different cards in my build get her back from the graveyard.
Eternal Dragon- Classic manafix for Emeria, the Sky Ruin. Also nuts when Emeria is already online. This deck can sit on a lot of land without much action sometime. Cards like this give you mana-sinks.
Starved Rusalka- Starved Rusalka gets the nod over Claws of Gix because this deck has so much artifact hate. Having a Sac outlet means you can use infinite combos to gain CA for as much green mana as you have to spend. It's also good to be able to sac your own
Linvala, Keeper of Silence- Stops other generals from comboing or just activating. It's a one-sided effect, too, so it doesn't slow us down. This card can decide games.
Enchantments:
Greater Good- THE Sac outlet of the deck. This is a premier combo piece, so I don't play it unless I'm ready to really abuse it. Melira combo, Saffi combo, and just saccing big creatures can really decide games in a matter of a single turn.
Glare of Subdual- This can lock someone's attack step up or keep people from abusing common cards like Mimic Vat. The threat of it is often enough to prevent someone from bothering with an attack.
Hunting Grounds- Threshold is pretty easy to obtain with fetchlands. Once you have it, you can bounce creatures with Cloudstone Curio and Dust Elemental to abuse the crap out of this.
Land Tax- Use Selesnya Sanctuary to make sure you're behind! One activation is worth a single mana.
Mirari's Wake- Classic mana-doubling.
Stony Silence- This wrecks so many metagames, it's not even funny. it can turn off entire decks, and there are 4 ways to tutor it and 5 ways to get it back from the graveyard.
Martyr's Bond- This is the Grave Pact for non-black decks. It turns Saffi into a Diabolic Edict, and it makes boardsweeps devastating for the opponent.
Ghostway- This card is perfect for avoiding boardsweeps (even Evacuation) and for re-triggering ETB effects. with Eternal Witness, you have reusable protection.
i really like glare of subdual. especially with the high creature count. have you tried out earthcraft yet? its one of those cards im always happy to see and if you get emeria angel online early she can generate a ton of mana or tap down your opps boards with all them handy bird tokens. and Proteus Staff has that pesky blue mana symbol... maybe a good spot for earthcraft?
i personally prefer trying to abuse sun titan as the main engine as opposed to primeval titan. primeval titan just feels so stupid and unfair in a bad way.
sun titan feels stupid and unfair but it feels like its more because you built your deck to break it than hey heres my expensive mythic that is big and dumb.
Nooo, proteus staff does have a blue mana symbol!! I was using it in Bant, and just never noticed. It has that pesky memnarch-style grey mana symbol..... Replaced it with a Planar Cleansing, since I was always happy to see a boardsweep in testing and wanted room for a third.
Before Earthcraft, I'd probably go with Springleaf Drum since it's cheaper and has the .001% chance to mana fix, but it doesn't synergize with Mirari's Wake/Reflection as well.
As for Primeval Titan, it's usually fine. My opponents are casting Jokelhaups, Beacon of Tomorrows, Luminarch Ascension, Blightsteel Colossus, Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre...
So in my meta, going big isn't a bad thing.
Primeval Titan lets me get Emeria online, which is one of the points of the deck, and it does a good job of it! I'm pleased.
Once I have time I'll try loading up your list and trying it out, looks pretty interesting.
I question the inclusion of Land Tax and Weathered Wayfarer. I know how strong they are, and Wayfarer finds all of your utility lands, but it's very antisynergistic with land ramp, which is just a much stronger strategy.
Hierarch and Mom look weak here, what are you trying to protect your creatures from? If you're skill of grave hate, just run more grave hate-hate. Elvish Hexhunter also looks weak as well.
However, my build has a much larger emphasis on ETB (Enter the Battlefield) effects
...
Every deck in my meta plays a ton of artifact and enchantment-based threats
I thought about it seriously, but it's too unfair. By turn 8 or 9, I'm entering 1-4 creatures per turn. it would literally turn off my meta.
Since the Arcanus the Omnipotent deck has the capability of existing as a permission control deck, cutting him off artifacts at once means he changes his gameplan.
The Hanna, Ship's Navigator deck runs a lot of GY recursion (Hanna, Ship's Navigator) so he can recover from a destruction spell but it serves to slow him down.
These are the things that matter to me. Controlling the entire game indefinitely sounds kind of boring to me.
Once I have time I'll try loading up your list and trying it out, looks pretty interesting.
I question the inclusion of Land Tax and Weathered Wayfarer. I know how strong they are, and Wayfarer finds all of your utility lands, but it's very antisynergistic with land ramp, which is just a much stronger strategy.
Hierarch and Mom look weak here, what are you trying to protect your creatures from? If you're skill of grave hate, just run more grave hate-hate. Elvish Hexhunter also looks weak as well.
Elvish Hexhunter is nice because it costs 1; I can get it with Ranger of Eos or a quick Green Sun's Zenith. As for Mom, I wanted to cut her, but I felt obliged to keep her in because of how good she is. However, I'm really not opposed to just chopping her.
I have four anti-wrath spells since my meta wraths a lot; Loxodon Heirarch, Dauntless Escort, Ghostway, and Second Sunrise. If I was thinking about cutting one, it would probably be Second Sunrise, just because Loxodon has a nice ETB effect if I get the chance to recur him a few times.
I would be very intrigued to know your suggestions for grave hate-hate. There are some Tormod's Crypts in my opponent's decks and I'd love to not get hit by them.
Do you think something as efficient as True Believer / Imperial Mask / Seht's Tiger would do the trick? Or is there something even better?
so Im stealing your emeria tech. And i found a nifty interaction with her, earthcraft, and perilous forays . almost like recurring prime-time to pull all your lands except you can only get basics. Those interactions also make avenger of zendikar seem pretty appealing with mirror entity out to make all my guys plants
Emeria Angel and perlious Forays is awesome!! I'm stealing my own tech. Idk, though, land destruction exists in my meta so I might be reluctant to do it. I'd probably want to run Terra Eternal AND Crucible of worlds if I did.
Sweet tech! I'll steal my own idea? O.O
I think, for resiliency's sake, I want to add:
Seht's Tiger
Crucible of Worlds
Terra Eternal
Anyone have any suggestions for possible cuts? Cards that aren't pulling their weight in the list. There are a few untouchables because of flavor, but I'll leave that to your imagination so I can see what you think deserves the axe.
Elvish Hexhunter is nice because it costs 1; I can get it with Ranger of Eos or a quick Green Sun's Zenith. As for Mom, I wanted to cut her, but I felt obliged to keep her in because of how good she is. However, I'm really not opposed to just chopping her.
I have four anti-wrath spells since my meta wraths a lot; Loxodon Heirarch, Dauntless Escort, Ghostway, and Second Sunrise. If I was thinking about cutting one, it would probably be Second Sunrise, just because Loxodon has a nice ETB effect if I get the chance to recur him a few times.
I would be very intrigued to know your suggestions for grave hate-hate. There are some Tormod's Crypts in my opponent's decks and I'd love to not get hit by them.
Do you think something as efficient as True Believer / Imperial Mask / Seht's Tiger would do the trick? Or is there something even better?
I love Seht's Tiger and I think he should fit in the deck anyway (He's saved my life several times) but he doesn't work against Crypt since colorless isn't a color.
The thing about grave hate is, most of it comes in the form of artifacts or creatures, ie. Crypt, Relic, Nihil Spellbomb, Geth, Withered Wretch, etc. That means they die to removal. Stuff like Acidic Slime or Duplicant, which take out many other threats, also double as anti-grave hate. As long as you don't overextend, you should be fine against them, especially since most decks pack at most 3-4 of these spells and thus it shouldn't be much of a problem. Other stuff like Duplicants and [card]Final Judgment/card]s are pretty easy to play around as long as you have a sac outlet handy.
I explain a little more in my own thread about how to combat hate. Geth and similar effects are probably the most crippling since they can steal Saffi, but that's about the only thing you really need to worry about.
So is it wrong to run something like Imperial Mask, just to combat grave hate? It seems like the one I'd like to run since group bonuses are always interesting to gameplay.
So is it wrong to run something like Imperial Mask, just to combat grave hate? It seems like the one I'd like to run since group bonuses are always interesting to gameplay.
It's fine, I won't say it's wrong, it just depends on the meta. I personally don't think it's worth a spot but your mileage may vary.
So is it wrong to run something like Imperial Mask, just to combat grave hate? It seems like the one I'd like to run since group bonuses are always interesting to gameplay.
The white leyline is just good in general, its cheap, can be free, and in addition to keeping stray graveyard hate from flying your way, you can stop 90% of combos dead in their tracks.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
EDH Decks:
Halfdane Sek'Kuar
Please remember to autocard, just do [ card ] CARD NAME [ / card ] and for decks you can cover the whole thing in one deck tag like this: [ deck ] All of the cards in the deck [ / deck ]
Yeah, stopping combos is definitely a plus. I re-read Imperial mask; it's not 1W like I for some reason thought, and it also doesn't give your opponents a mask; it gives Teammates one!
Sacred Ground is much better than Terra Eternal. No reason to pay more mana to protect your opponents lands as well. It's also much better against sac effects since things like the Eldrazi just untap 4 of your lands when they swing.
i think your decklist is 4 cards short. anyway i got to thinking about the prime time land grabbing then the emeria/forays land grabs and was wondering what you thought about rampaging baloths. with that many lands dropping youd get a bunch of 4/4 ground dudes. not sure if theyd be that good without evasion though but you could get a lot of big-ish guys. and something like concerted effort or akroma's memorial could make them pretty bad-ass.
i think your decklist is 4 cards short. anyway i got to thinking about the prime time land grabbing then the emeria/forays land grabs and was wondering what you thought about rampaging baloths. with that many lands dropping youd get a bunch of 4/4 ground dudes. not sure if theyd be that good without evasion though but you could get a lot of big-ish guys. and something like concerted effort or akroma's memorial could make them pretty bad-ass.
I've updated the decklist entirely, fixing all the previous errors and adding in all the new cards. Rampaging Baloths folds to removal pretty harshly, so his tokens won't matter even if I'm saving them with Cauldron of Souls, since they're tokens. Avenger of Zendikar actually gets better post-sweep most of the time, since I have more lands in play.
I'm strongly considering adding Crucible of Worlds.
Juniper Order Ranger does hilarious things with Woodfall Primus, Twilight Shepherd, and Cauldron of Souls, on top of becoming a rather large beater himself fairly quickly.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
You don't have the proper clearance for this signature Citizen.
I tried Juniper order Ranger. He's interesting. He gives Woodfall Primus infinite ETB triggers, and he allows Kitchen Finks to grant me infinite life, provided I have a sacrifice outlet like Blasting Station or Phyrexian Altar. Still, I'm not sure I want to go infinite with this.
The Saffi deck is particularly interesting since it has this kind of competitive potential. You have many repeatable combos for infinite damage, infinite mana, infinite life, and infinite ETB triggers with things like Aura Shards, so it can be brutally competitive. Saffi and Sun Titan can combo out with Greater Good to net me huge amounts of card filtering, which right now, is enough for me.
I'm still tooling around, though. Whitemane Lion with Wild Pair is a sweet combo that I've been thoroughly enjoying. I want to fit in a Gaddock Teeg just so I have more Wild pair targets at the 2/2 mark, and with a very few exceptions, Wild Pair will always hit another creature. I think Reveillark is the only one who can't find a buddy. The best potential one I can think of for him is Plaguemaw Beast, but currently, that doesn't do enough for the deck besides... proliferate Garruk a million times, I guess! Maybe if I were running Gideon Jura and a few other counter-based win conditions.
Decklist seems solid. Very annoying to play against 1 vs 1. However, even though your stuff has a lot of recursion, now that Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite exists, a chunk of your creatures, including your general, just kind of die.
I mean, Mirari's Wake kind of helps out with the whole -X/-X thing, but consider some other enchantments too, like Glorious Anthem and Gaea's Anthem?
Also I really, really like Aura Shards. I just ordered one for my own edh deck. Make all of your stuff removal on a stick.
I don't know if Elesh Norn is the biggest deal in the world. It's definitely a concern, but I can probably just play my own or run a few more removal spells if it shows up in my meta, which I doubt it will since everyone's pretty tied to their generals as-is.
If I was going to run another anthem effect, it would probably be Marshal's Anthem, since I can recur creatures with it.
I wouldn't be too afraid of Elesh Norn. Your creatures still get the ETB/Leave play triggers so you can still build resources until you find removal, then you can just recur anything you lost. Besides, there are far better ways of combating it than Anthem effects. Also keep in mind with any Anthem effect you can't combo out with Mirror Entity, which won't come up much but it's worth noting.
Also, if you're looking to combo out with Persist, IMO the new Melira, Sylvok Outcast does the job much better than Order Ranger since she's much cheaper and randomly hoses infect.
Saffi Eriksdotter
or
How to Lose Friends and Alienate Permanents
Saffi Eriksdotter loans herself to the aggro-attrition variant of EDH. Grinding card advantage out over several turns puts you ahead of other opponents who focus on a single plan of attack. This deck combos in several ways and can easily be modified to go infinite, but an infinite combo isn't necessary to win most games.
This deck has advantages over the W/G/B variant, commonly Karador, Ghost Chieftan or Teneb, the Harvester, because of how much more useful the general is. Saffi is one of the few reasons to attempt competitive G/W, and she is a damn good reason. She generates mythic levels of CA, combos with many cards, and is resilient to a lot of hate since she can sacrifice herself before an Oblation, Condemn, or Hallowed Burial.
Here's my decklist, along with full descriptions of all card choices.
1 Avenger of Zendikar
1 Eternal Witness
1 Karmic Guide
1 Primeval Titan
1 Stonecloaker
1 Sun Titan
1 Woodfall Primus
1 Reveillark
1 Twilight Shepherd
1 Fiend Hunter
1 Leonin Relic-Warder
1 Auramancer
1 Caller of the Claw
1 Dust Elemental
1 Kitchen Finks
1 Farhaven Elf
Other Creatures:
1 Yavimaya Elder
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Mangara of Corondor
1 Eternal Dragon
1 Genesis
1 Melira, Sylvok Outcast
1 Soul's Attendant
1 Starved Rusalka
1 Serra's Ascendant
1 Academy Rector
1 True Believer
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1 Greater Good
1 Glare of Subdual
1 Hunting Grounds
1 Land Tax
1 Mirari's Wake
1 Stony Silence
1 Martyr's Bond
1 Priviledged Position
1 Sterling Grove
1 Aura Shards
1 Holistic Wisdom
1 Oblivion Ring
Instants:
1 Eladamri's Call
1 Fracturing Gust
1 Chord of Calling
1 Congregation at Dawn
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Ghostway
1 Krosan Grip
1 Noxious Revival
Sorceries:
1 Austere Command
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Life from the Loam
1 Genesis Wave
1 Hallowed Burial
1 Idyllic Tutor
1 Nostalgic Dreams
1 Scapeshift
1 Cloudstone Curio
1 Skullclamp
1 Rings of Brighthearth
1 Sol Ring
Land (38):
1 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
1 Thawing Glaciers
1 Stirring Wildwood
1 Mosswort Bridge
1 Selesnya Sanctuary
1 Temple Garden
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Sunpetal Grove
1 Wooded Bastion
1 Marsh Flats
1 Arid Mesa
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Sungrass Prairie
1 Miren, the Moaning Well
1 Gavony Township
1 High Market
1 Dust Bowl
8 Forest
11 Plains
Card Choices:
Saffi Eriksdotter- Saffi is the keystone of the deck. This is absolutely an EDH deck where you play around your general. Often, the first time I use her, I'll send her to the general zone, but sending her to the GY is perfectly reasonable with so many ways to bring her back out.
ETB Creatures:
Avenger of Zendikar- The classic win condition. Excellent with Aura Shards
Eternal Witness- A classic re-buy card, with great synergy with cards like Ghostway and, of course, Saffi Eriksdotter.
Karmic Guide- This card goes infinite with Reveillark + a Sacrifice outlet. You can combine this, Reveillark, and Greater Good to see your entire deck. Use Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre to shuffle back the cards you don't need.
Primeval Titan- Prime-Time is another key card in the deck. I get almost all my activations on him entering the battlefield- he rarely lives long enough to swing. I use him to quickly get Emeria, the Sky Ruin online.
Stonecloaker- Stonecloaker is neat in two ways. First, you can use him when triggers are stacked with Mangara of Corondor (see Mangara). Secondly, it can target itself, allowing you to cast it over and over, exiling cards from the opponent's library. For this reason, I often run a tutor out for it early.
Sun Titan- Sun Titan goes infinite with Saffi Eriksdotter. He's also amazing for getting back almost every permanent in the deck, including all-stars like Sterling Grove.
Woodfall Primus- Woodfall Primus goes infinite with Melira, Slyvok Outcast and a sac outlet, so he can clear the board of lands and non-creature permanents. He's also great with Saffi and Karmic Guide, sticking around a long time and destroying a lot of stuff.
Reveillark- Reveillark returns most creatures in the deck, and goes infinite with Karmic Guide and Saffi, plus a sac outlet. It also lets you do some interesting things, like repeatedly return Leonin Relic-Warder on Sol Ring to generate infinite mana. Genesis Wave and Congregation at Dawn often lead to comboing in unorthodox ways.
Twilight Shepherd- Regrowth on a Stick. This card is great with sac outlets. An empty hand never means you have nothing to do. Sac, bounce, and regrow your field to generate on-field CA! Also infinite with Melira, Sylvok Outcast.
Fiend Hunter- deceptively powerful. There's the obvious mechanics of killing tokens and removing blockers. There's also subtle politics when you hide a bomb. You do the table a favor by eliminating an Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre from someone's field and you remind them, constantly, not to attack you.
Leonin Relic-Warder- Infinite mana with a sac outlet, a Reveillark combo, and a Sol Ring. Just keep sacrificing him and bringing him back out on top of the ring, and keep making mana in between. Excellent rattlesnake.
Auramancer- With so many powerful, game-winning enchantments, this card is like a second Eternal Witness.
Caller of the Claw- Infinite bears with any of the sacrifice combos. Also great boardsweep recovery. Great with Aura Shards. Returns with Reveillark.
Dust Elemental- I most commonly use this card bouncing Saffi, an ETB creature, and itself in response to boardsweeps or at EOT when I have mana to blow. Very fun card to play with.
Kitchen Finks- Infinite life and ETB/death triggers with Melira, Sylvok Outcast. Good body for the mana, too.
Farhaven Elf- Some games, this generates more land than Primeval Titan.
Other Creatures:
Yavimaya Elder- Classic CA with excellent Saffi use.
Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre- Shuffle trigger and a threat. Watch out for Bribery metagames, though. In that case, I suggest running Loaming Shaman or Gaea's Blessing.
Knight of the Reliquary- Great with Rings of Brighthearth and Scapeshift.
Mangara of Corondor- This is a cornerstone of the deck. If you put her ability on the stack and then bounce her with Dust Elemental, Stonecloaker, or a flash creature w/ Cloudstone Curio, she goes to your hand before she exiles herself. Her ability, like all abilities, will still resolve, so you get recurring exile effects. Additionally, you can sacrifice her on the stack. Seven different cards in my build get her back from the graveyard.
Eternal Dragon- Classic manafix for Emeria, the Sky Ruin. Also nuts when Emeria is already online. This deck can sit on a lot of land without much action sometime. Cards like this give you mana-sinks.
Genesis- Great with Rings of Brighthearth.
Melira, Sylvok Outcast- Melira is a combo piece, since Persist creatures will come back in without a -1/-1 counter. I generally don't like dedicated combo pieces, but having incidental protection from Blightsteel Colossus, Grafted Exoskeleton, Putrefax, and Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon decks is generally useful enough that she's a pretty decent hoser card as well.
Soul's Attendant- Infinite life when you combo, ridiculous lifegain when you don't. And who's going to kill her? Soul Warden is also good, as is Auriok Champion and Essence Warden.
Starved Rusalka- Starved Rusalka gets the nod over Claws of Gix because this deck has so much artifact hate. Having a Sac outlet means you can use infinite combos to gain CA for as much green mana as you have to spend. It's also good to be able to sac your own
Academy Rector, or save creatures from exile.
Serra's Ascendant- Too good not to run.
Academy Rector- Great rattlesnake, great effect.
True Believer- Protects your graveyard. If you have out Priviledged Position, it also protects you from Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind and Exsanguinate pretty well.
Linvala, Keeper of Silence- Stops other generals from comboing or just activating. It's a one-sided effect, too, so it doesn't slow us down. This card can decide games.
Enchantments:
Greater Good- THE Sac outlet of the deck. This is a premier combo piece, so I don't play it unless I'm ready to really abuse it. Melira combo, Saffi combo, and just saccing big creatures can really decide games in a matter of a single turn.
Glare of Subdual- This can lock someone's attack step up or keep people from abusing common cards like Mimic Vat. The threat of it is often enough to prevent someone from bothering with an attack.
Hunting Grounds- Threshold is pretty easy to obtain with fetchlands. Once you have it, you can bounce creatures with Cloudstone Curio and Dust Elemental to abuse the crap out of this.
Land Tax- Use Selesnya Sanctuary to make sure you're behind! One activation is worth a single mana.
Mirari's Wake- Classic mana-doubling.
Stony Silence- This wrecks so many metagames, it's not even funny. it can turn off entire decks, and there are 4 ways to tutor it and 5 ways to get it back from the graveyard.
Martyr's Bond- This is the Grave Pact for non-black decks. It turns Saffi into a Diabolic Edict, and it makes boardsweeps devastating for the opponent.
Privileged Position- Protection for all your favorite permanents.
Sterling Grove- Protection for the BEST permanents.
Aura Shards- Turns all your creatures into Harmonic Slivers.
Holistic Wisdom- This simple, yet elegant card can re-buy your Emeria, the Sky Ruin from the graveyard using basic lands, and it lets you turn Soul's Attendants into Primeval Titans.
Oblivion Ring- Tutorable removal. Don't be afraid to abuse it, the combos are in the triggers.
Instants:
Eladamri's Call- Instant speed, and to your hand.
Fracturing Gust- The life gain can sometimes paint a target on your head.
Chord of Calling- Instant speed means you can combo out at the end of an opponent's turn.
Enlightened Tutor- Need an explanation?
Ghostway- This card is perfect for avoiding boardsweeps (even Evacuation) and for re-triggering ETB effects. with Eternal Witness, you have reusable protection.
Krosan Grip- Anti-combo card.
Noxious Revival- This is one of my favorite hidden gems. it can often decide a game at almost no cost. It's a mirage tutor for your GY.
Sorceries:
Austere Command- My favorite mode is "Big Creatures and Artifacts."
Green Sun's Zenith- Tutors half the Melira combo easily, and saves your general from tuck effects.
Life from the Loam- Great for filling the GY with relevant targets for that Sun Titan.
Genesis Wave- Mirari's Wake can really fuel this.
Hallowed Burial- Careful not to shuffle Saffi. Luckily, you can sacrifice her! It's perfect for this general.
Idyllic Tutor- Nice birdy.
Nostalgic Dreams- I prefer this to Praetor's Council because sometimes, you want certain cards in your GY.
Scapeshift- Instantly assembles Emeria, the Sky Ruin, and it activates threshold. It also makes Knight of the Reliquary into Eldrazi-size. Ever block a Kozilek, Butcher of Truth, and win? Note to R&D- time to make the Open the Vaults for lands!
Artifact:
Cloudstone Curio- get more out of your Farhaven Elf.
Skullclamp- Card draw! Doesn't work with Stony Silence, but it's still a Skullclamp.
Rings of Brighthearth- Great with fetches, Mangara of Corondor, Saffi Eriksdotter, Knight of the Reliquary, Holistic Wisdom, Yavimaya Elder, and more.
Sol Ring- Sol Ring.
Land:
Emeria, the Sky Ruin- I set this up almost every game, despite only 1/4 of my lands being plains.
1 Stirring Wildwood
1 Mosswort Bridge
1 Selesnya Sanctuary
1 Temple Garden
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Sunpetal Grove
1 Wooded Bastion
1 Marsh Flats
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Sungrass Prairie
1 Miren, the Moaning Well
1 Gavony Township
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1 Dust Bowl
8 Forest
12 Plains
I'll be adding some of these when they come out, or when I get them:
sun titan feels stupid and unfair but it feels like its more because you built your deck to break it than hey heres my expensive mythic that is big and dumb.
Before Earthcraft, I'd probably go with Springleaf Drum since it's cheaper and has the .001% chance to mana fix, but it doesn't synergize with Mirari's Wake/Reflection as well.
As for Primeval Titan, it's usually fine. My opponents are casting Jokelhaups, Beacon of Tomorrows, Luminarch Ascension, Blightsteel Colossus, Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre...
So in my meta, going big isn't a bad thing.
Primeval Titan lets me get Emeria online, which is one of the points of the deck, and it does a good job of it!
I question the inclusion of Land Tax and Weathered Wayfarer. I know how strong they are, and Wayfarer finds all of your utility lands, but it's very antisynergistic with land ramp, which is just a much stronger strategy.
Hierarch and Mom look weak here, what are you trying to protect your creatures from? If you're skill of grave hate, just run more grave hate-hate. Elvish Hexhunter also looks weak as well.
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
Seems like Aura Shards should be a shoe in...
WUB Sharuum the Hegemon
BGW Karador, Ghost Chieftain
Since the Arcanus the Omnipotent deck has the capability of existing as a permission control deck, cutting him off artifacts at once means he changes his gameplan.
The Hanna, Ship's Navigator deck runs a lot of GY recursion (Hanna, Ship's Navigator) so he can recover from a destruction spell but it serves to slow him down.
These are the things that matter to me. Controlling the entire game indefinitely sounds kind of boring to me.
You're right though- Aura Shards is that good.
Elvish Hexhunter is nice because it costs 1; I can get it with Ranger of Eos or a quick Green Sun's Zenith. As for Mom, I wanted to cut her, but I felt obliged to keep her in because of how good she is. However, I'm really not opposed to just chopping her.
I have four anti-wrath spells since my meta wraths a lot; Loxodon Heirarch, Dauntless Escort, Ghostway, and Second Sunrise. If I was thinking about cutting one, it would probably be Second Sunrise, just because Loxodon has a nice ETB effect if I get the chance to recur him a few times.
I would be very intrigued to know your suggestions for grave hate-hate. There are some Tormod's Crypts in my opponent's decks and I'd love to not get hit by them.
Do you think something as efficient as True Believer / Imperial Mask / Seht's Tiger would do the trick? Or is there something even better?
Sweet tech! I'll steal my own idea? O.O
I think, for resiliency's sake, I want to add:
Seht's Tiger
Crucible of Worlds
Terra Eternal
Anyone have any suggestions for possible cuts? Cards that aren't pulling their weight in the list. There are a few untouchables because of flavor, but I'll leave that to your imagination so I can see what you think deserves the axe.
Thanks in advance!
The thing about grave hate is, most of it comes in the form of artifacts or creatures, ie. Crypt, Relic, Nihil Spellbomb, Geth, Withered Wretch, etc. That means they die to removal. Stuff like Acidic Slime or Duplicant, which take out many other threats, also double as anti-grave hate. As long as you don't overextend, you should be fine against them, especially since most decks pack at most 3-4 of these spells and thus it shouldn't be much of a problem. Other stuff like Duplicants and [card]Final Judgment/card]s are pretty easy to play around as long as you have a sac outlet handy.
I explain a little more in my own thread about how to combat hate. Geth and similar effects are probably the most crippling since they can steal Saffi, but that's about the only thing you really need to worry about.
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
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
The white leyline is just good in general, its cheap, can be free, and in addition to keeping stray graveyard hate from flying your way, you can stop 90% of combos dead in their tracks.
Halfdane
Sek'Kuar
Please remember to autocard, just do [ card ] CARD NAME [ / card ] and for decks you can cover the whole thing in one deck tag like this: [ deck ] All of the cards in the deck [ / deck ]
Teammates?!:swear:
I've updated the decklist entirely, fixing all the previous errors and adding in all the new cards. Rampaging Baloths folds to removal pretty harshly, so his tokens won't matter even if I'm saving them with Cauldron of Souls, since they're tokens. Avenger of Zendikar actually gets better post-sweep most of the time, since I have more lands in play.
I'm strongly considering adding Crucible of Worlds.
Hypergenesis
Heartwood Storyteller
Wild Pair
Skullclamp
I still need a Crucible of Worlds.
Anyone have suggestions on the updated decklist?
The Saffi deck is particularly interesting since it has this kind of competitive potential. You have many repeatable combos for infinite damage, infinite mana, infinite life, and infinite ETB triggers with things like Aura Shards, so it can be brutally competitive. Saffi and Sun Titan can combo out with Greater Good to net me huge amounts of card filtering, which right now, is enough for me.
I'm still tooling around, though. Whitemane Lion with Wild Pair is a sweet combo that I've been thoroughly enjoying. I want to fit in a Gaddock Teeg just so I have more Wild pair targets at the 2/2 mark, and with a very few exceptions, Wild Pair will always hit another creature. I think Reveillark is the only one who can't find a buddy. The best potential one I can think of for him is Plaguemaw Beast, but currently, that doesn't do enough for the deck besides... proliferate Garruk a million times, I guess! Maybe if I were running Gideon Jura and a few other counter-based win conditions.
I mean, Mirari's Wake kind of helps out with the whole -X/-X thing, but consider some other enchantments too, like Glorious Anthem and Gaea's Anthem?
Also I really, really like Aura Shards. I just ordered one for my own edh deck. Make all of your stuff removal on a stick.
Casual Extended:
WBGSwords to Sawdust (Doran Aggro)GBW
Janky Legacy:
UBShutter Island (Mill)BU
WUBSlight of Hand (Esper Control)BUW
If I was going to run another anthem effect, it would probably be Marshal's Anthem, since I can recur creatures with it.
Also, if you're looking to combo out with Persist, IMO the new Melira, Sylvok Outcast does the job much better than Order Ranger since she's much cheaper and randomly hoses infect.
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