I've played a couple EDH games with this draft. I'm a hardcore 60 card casual player but since a lot of people are trending to this format, I'd figure I'd hop on board to try it and join in on the fun.
I picked Azusa, Lost but Seeking as my general and took the primer for her as a guideline with some minor tweeks.
This deck is for all EDH games so for 1v1 and multiplayer. I don't want to change things based on if it's 1v1 or multiplayer.
Please let me know what you guys think and if there are suggestions, please explain why since I am new to EDH deck building. Thanks.
There are cards in here that I have tweeked. I added Ursapine because with cards like Beacon of Creation, Howl of the Night Park, or creatures with trample, the extra boost with 10+ lands is going to be amazing.
Journeyer's Kite keeps an engine of lands coming. Amazing card.
I added Exploration > Gaea's Touch. It's one mana less and makes a turn 2 Azusa if possible.
Cards I want to add are Rampaging Baloths and Terastodon. Baloth's is very synergetic, big body, and has trample. Terastodon gives me that emergency outlet. Considering taking out Abundance and another card. thoughts?
Also, is there any cards that
a) is creature removal in green that's also a creature (like Duplicant)
and
b) a useful enter the battlefield trigger from a Genesis Wave or GSZ on a creature?
edit: I should also add Mosswort Bridge huh?
edit#2: Organized the decklist by card type to make it easier to analyze for you guys.
If you want to play Azusa, there is going to be a consistency to your experience. You're going to ramp out fat early, drawing the hate of the rest of the table, since they see you as the obvious threat. Sometimes you'll get orc-piled, sometimes you'll smash face anyway.
The takeaway is that they will remember the face-smashing in much more vivid detail than the times you got neutralized and will start panicking when you reveal your General.
Thanks for the suggestions guys! I love this deck. Azusa and EDH is so fun and I love the resiliency and utility green has (which is a really big surprise) Duplicant, Woodfall Primus, Terastodon are beasts and the Avenger of Zendikar + Primeval Titan is just an epic combo.
Changes:
Terastodon > Abundance. More useful + GSZ/CoC target
Vorinclex > Pelakka Wurm. Just a better card for the deck
Armillary Sphere, Journey of Discovery, and Seek the Horizon > Kodama's Reach, Cultivate, and Journeyer's Kite. Dalamar suggested better cards for synergy purposes
All is Dust > Oblivion Stone. I don't like Oblivion Stone at all. Trying out All is Dust as a sweeper.
Karn > Tower. I LOVE this card. Thank you for suggesting it as it is just a recurring removal spell.
Storm Cauldron > Exploration. Exploration didn't do much and I honestly don't like Storm Cauldron on paper. I might replace this with another card. We'll see how it goes.
I don't like Seedborn Muse either. It is a green staple I've heard, but after tapping out and swinging with all my creatures, I have nothing to sink my 15+ mana into. In this deck, Seedborn Muse reads "All creatures have vigilance" essentially. Is there another utility creature I can run > Seedborn Muse? I'll keep it for now.
Any more suggestions guys? I'd love to hear it cause I feel like I'm missing something.
It all depends on how you want to win. I run the eldrazi and creatures like ant queen that I can dump my large amounts of mana into. If you arent going to play a combo win (such as aluren/elvish visionary/cloudstone curio) then you should consider that Azusa gets to 5 or 6 mana faster than just about anyone, which means you can dump a big creature pumper or beater like primeval Titan and win with it. When I play multiplayer I make players wipe the board again and again to stop me from winning, I also play tons of artifacts that draw everyone cards (howling mine, well of knowledge). I am more likely to take advantage of extra cards due to me having more mana, so I get to take HUGE turns later in the game like playing multiple eldrazi or genesis wave for X=40+
If you are not running token producers, why run clamp? Beacon of creation isn't enough to make clamp a card you should run.
Changes
-2 Forest
+1 Dryad Arbor
+1 Deserted Temple
Dryad Arbor leads to turn 2 Azusa with GSZ. Seems useful so I'll try it out.
Deserted Temple helps untap Maze of Ith, Gaea's Cradle, etc.
-1 Storm Cauldron
+1 Vernal Bloom
I get that it's a good lock with Azusa but it doesn't really help my deck. I've had instances where I'm sinking all my mana into things and I Genesis Waved into it, which hindered me from doing all the stuff I wanted to do. Vernal Bloom gives me an emergency ramp on turn 4 (which is why I have it instead of Mana Reflection)
-1 Beacon of Creation
+1 Ant Queen
Gives me something to sink all my mana into. Also makes having Seedborn Muse worth having.
-1 Skullclamp
+1 Tower of Fortunes
I took what you said into consideration and you're right. I often have skullclamp as just a +2/-1 equipment when I really want card draw. Tower of Fortunes gives me something to restock my hand when I have nothing else. I havn't drawn it yet so I don't know how well it does. Any other suggestions in this department would help.
Any other thoughts and suggestions? These comments have really helped me shape this deck into my liking.
Thanks for the input Dalamar and everyone else. I made some more changes after everyone's input.
-1 Howl of the Night Pack
+1 Rampaging Baloths
I make more 4/4 tokens than I can make with Howl of the Night Pack. Also makes me less reliant on forests now so I can run non-basics freely
-1 Armillary Sphere
+1 Gaea's Bounty
Costs 3 instead of 4. Totally read over this card.
-1 All is Dust
+1 Oblivion Stone.
Costs 1 more overall but I can see it hitting artifacts my opponent controls like equipments and stuff being more useful. Plus, it gives me an outlet for Seedborn Muse, again. The Seedborn Muse is becoming more and more useful as I make more changes, which is what I like
Regarding Restock and Summoner's Pact, I REALLY like both. However, I don't think I have any room for either. I might just run Restock by itself and not Regrowth because I can make the mana for it.
For Summoner's Pact, I run the same problem. I can't find space for it since I can just cast any creature in my deck when I draw this and easily pay for 4 mana next turn. Any ideas on what I could cut for the Pact? Restock I can just replace over Regrowth but the Pact... I have no idea.
I would cut either crystal ball or abundance : these cards don't improve your board position so I wouldn't hesitate too much before cutting them. (actually abundance comboes with sylvan library so probably i'd cut the crystal ball to make room for summoner's pact).
speaking of tutors, fauna shaman is a great option if you don't have a survival. and I recently added birthing pod to my list and it's very good with lots of etb creatures.
Thanks again for the help. However, I think you're looking at an old list since my current one doesn't run Abundance.
hmm... I'll consider running the Pact > Crystal Ball since you are right about board position. However, the Crystal Ball goes well with Sensei's Divining Top and Oracle of Mul Daya as well as helping with my draws. Looking at my current list, is there any other options to cut?
I tried running tower of fortunes for quite sometime and just couldn't keep it in there. Sure, it's amazing if you get 8 mana and get to use it on everyone's turn (seedborn). Unfortunately I found myself casting it and getting stuck not getting to activate it. For draw sources I run:
Horn of greed
Recycle
Seers sundial
Howling mine
Mikokoro, center of the sea
Soul's majesty
Momentous fall
Well of knowledge
Temple bell
Greater good
Also, howl of the night pack isnt necessary, but you shouldn't compare it to rampaging baloths. You need to play baloths and follow it up with land drops. Howl will just dump 15+ 2/2's when you top deck it after a board wipe. You need to have some of those recovery spells like that since you will not always have things go your way of course.
I'd figure I put the sphere back in here since it'll help me ramp on the early turns.
Summoner's Pact is such a good card so I took a forest out for it.
Regarding the tower, I really don't know what to think about it. if my board gets wrathed with no cards in hand, I like it a lot. And often times when I don't activate it, I'm doing something else which leads me to win the game. This card in my view is more of an emergency card. Plus nothing on that list stuck out to me (besides the cards I already run) But I'll keep an open mind to those options if the tower becomes a dead card, thanks!
Any other thoughts or suggestions?
BTW, is this deck "casual" or "competitive"? I proposed a "Casual EDH" game on MWS and someone called me out saying Azusa was not a casual EDH. He then proceeded to kill me on Turn 4 while I only played Azusa and then a Seek the Horizon. (BTW, his general was Rafiq. Is Rafiq a casual or competitive general?) If undisrupted, this deck wins around turn 7/8 or 9 but thats UNDISRUPTED. So, is this deck casual or competitive? Plus other comments would be nice as well to improve the deck. Everyone's feedback is very helpful
edit: Is this considered a "Douche Bag" deck? I'm just wondering because I don't want to invest in a deck that would be discouraged to play against.
Rafiq is pretty competetive 1v1.. Azusa can be pretty strong, although it is very dificult to play out if Azusa gets tucked.. Blue decks are harder for you to beat, and extremely aggressive decks like Uril can be really tough to beat as well...
You will get people who say "douche bag" to you whenever you do something extremely dumb to them (like entwined tooth and nail on turn 2).. But this deck can stall easily enough sometimes...
Rafiq is pretty competetive 1v1.. Azusa can be pretty strong, although it is very dificult to play out if Azusa gets tucked.. Blue decks are harder for you to beat, and extremely aggressive decks like Uril can be really tough to beat as well...
You will get people who say "douche bag" to you whenever you do something extremely dumb to them (like entwined tooth and nail on turn 2).. But this deck can stall easily enough sometimes...
ahh, I see. Well would you consider Azusa (my deck in particular) casual? I don't think a Turn 2, even a turn 3 or 4 or 5 T&N is possible lol. I would like to think my deck is casual since the games I've played so far drag on so long when I made my MWS join note as "Casual EDH'. And games like vs. Rafiq, I don't want to keep losing turn 4 when I didn't even play more than 2 spells.
you run Rofellos, you can hit turn 3/4 tooth and nail easily.. Playing it on turn 2 for me requires:
turn 1 forest, mana crypt, azusa, forest, forest, rofellos
turn 2 land, tooth and nail
like I said before, you can run cards that make you very scary, but you can also run stuff that makes people want to keep you around (like well of knowledge, temple bell).. Sure you are giving them advantage too, but you are more likely to capitalize on it.. If you want to remain more casual build more of a token theme and definitely drop the Eldrazi since most people moan when they hit as early as this deck can cast them...
Its not too hard to just play a few threats and play a little political with the deck, not overextending and waiting to play a big turn to kill everyone (like a genesis wave for 40+ and hitting avenger of zendikar and Akroma's Memorial along with 8 or so land)..
you run Rofellos, you can hit turn 3/4 tooth and nail easily.. Playing it on turn 2 for me requires:
turn 1 forest, mana crypt, azusa, forest, forest, rofellos
turn 2 land, tooth and nail
like I said before, you can run cards that make you very scary, but you can also run stuff that makes people want to keep you around (like well of knowledge, temple bell).. Sure you are giving them advantage too, but you are more likely to capitalize on it.. If you want to remain more casual build more of a token theme and definitely drop the Eldrazi since most people moan when they hit as early as this deck can cast them...
Its not too hard to just play a few threats and play a little political with the deck, not overextending and waiting to play a big turn to kill everyone (like a genesis wave for 40+ and hitting avenger of zendikar and Akroma's Memorial along with 8 or so land)..
I guess i never got a god hand like that before. From only playing 10 or so games so far, this deck does early beaters (obviously) but not as early as that.
I guess the point of this is question is to ask if i asked for a casual game of EDH, would yoy disagree with this deck being casual?
Edit: if i had that god hand and asked for a casual game, i wouldnt go off that early anyway. That would be no fun winning by turn 4. Id probs hold off on the rofellos and further ramp up instead of tooth and nailing turn 2.
What do you define as casual? A deck that can't win? In 1v1, if you play any of the good green creatures in EDH (kamahl, primeval, etc..) unless you are holding them back to be "nice" you will out speed most decks. Of you want to play something that is "fair" without intentionally holding back punches, I would honestly pick another deck. Even a different mono green general can work for you. Use kamahl as the general and play more creatures that dig for lands and run less actual land. Play the land fetching creatures, play kamahl, use kamahl's ability to turn the land ferchers into threats. It's probably harder to disrupt than Azusa too, but less fast
Thanks for the reply. Well i guess this leads to my next question. How unfair is Azusa? (Im new to EDH so im trying to get a feel for this format). Ive heard bad things about Azami and Rofellos to the point where you reveal it as a general and people dont want to play you. Does Azusa have that kind of rep? What kind of rep does she have?
The thing is i think i fell in love with Azusa and i dont want to cut the deck unless i have a good reason for it.
Thanks for the reply. Well i guess this leads to my next question. How unfair is Azusa? (Im new to EDH so im trying to get a feel for this format). Ive heard bad things about Azami and Rofellos to the point where you reveal it as a general and people dont want to play you. Does Azusa have that kind of rep? What kind of rep does she have?
The thing is i think i fell in love with Azusa and i dont want to cut the deck unless i have a good reason for it.
Don't worry too much about Rofellos given that he is banned as a general. Azusa herself has a reputation of being a rather explosive general given her potential to ramp (especially given that rampers is ever so important in this format) -- this is especially true since better bombs have been printed of late, among which includes huge Eldrazi-level bombs. That said, in my experience, the crucial difference between Azusa and other generals like Azami lies in the fact that while Azusa is rather explosive, most tables are aware that Azusa is stoppable even after it is explosive; decks like Azami and friends usually ends the game on the spot when it goes off (combo wins are frowned in some playgroups but are perfectly acceptable in some playgroups).
More importantly, I believe a deck itself only has as bad a reputation as its particular build. Assuming that you play at a regular playgroup, your opponents should be able to gauge the "unfairness" of your deck regardless of the general you use after a repeated series of games.
Again, thanks for the reply. The thing is Im new to EDH and im not sure how people in the playgroup at my local game store feel about it. Thus, i dont want to invest in a deck just to end up with people complaining about it. Aka. Not going to be able to play with it.
Again, thanks for the reply. The thing is Im new to EDH and im not sure how people in the playgroup at my local game store feel about it. Thus, i dont want to invest in a deck just to end up with people complaining about it. Aka. Not going to be able to play with it.
There are a few routes here. If you are unsure what the social contract dictates, maybe you can simply ask around in your LGS if they are okay with an aggressive ramp deck. This is usually the fastest way of determining the social norms there. Another good way of doing it is to observe the generals being played in the playgroup and observing how competitive their generals are (if you are unsure, you can always observe what generals / strategies they are playing and post them here -- pretty sure that someone here can tell you if those generals are competitive or otherwise). As a rule of thumb though, any generals with blue in it has no right to complain about Azusa
What I do -- which I realise may not be realistic for a relatively new EDH player but I am throwing this out there anyway since you are likely to move here once you are all settled with the format -- is to build multiple decks for various occasions -- I have about three decks with various level of competitiveness for different playgroups and a fourth one is in the works.
Another good way of doing it is to observe the generals being played in the playgroup and observing how competitive their generals are (if you are unsure, you can always observe what generals / strategies they are playing and post them here -- .
Well i observed an EDH game last week where a guy had Memnarch as a general and had a Future Sight + Sensei's Divining Top combo and sprnt like 5-7 minutes per turn playing everything. However I dont think the other 2 players were happy. One player had Wort, the Raidmother with a bunch of goblins. The other player had a blue general that I dont remember but he was mana screwed so i didnt pay attention to him.
Well i observed an EDH game last week where a guy had Memnarch as a general and had a Future Sight + Sensei's Divining Top combo and sprnt like 5-7 minutes per turn playing everything. However I dont think the other 2 players were happy. One player had Wort, the Raidmother with a bunch of goblins. The other player had a blue general that I dont remember but he was mana screwed so i didnt pay attention to him.
Without any further information on their particular build and assuming the conventional builds (which I observe) for these generals, I'll say that Azusa should be fine socially.
On a side note, politically, bear in mind that since a well-built Azusa deck can be quite explosive (i.e.: it can go T2: Lotus Cobra, T3: fetchland, Azusa, fetchland, fetchland, Avenger of Zendikar or more typically Acidic Slime and its ilk), you may want to avoid these situations even if you do draw your god-hand.
Thanks everyone for clearing things up for me. I'm testing more changes and I want peoples opinions on them.
Akroma's Memorial > Seedborn Muse
Seedborn Muse pretty much gives all my creatures vigilance. The deck doesn't take advantage, or even use the Muse's ability at all. So, I'd figure I'd give everyone vigilance on top of haste and trample. Seems pretty standard in Azusa right?
Wolfbriar Elemental > Wurmcalling
I am really iffy on this one. What do people think about this? (BTW, in the Ruling department, if I Genesis Wave/T&N/Defense of Heart/GSZ Wolfbriar Elemental in, can I still play the multikicker cost? Or only when I play it from my hand?
And I'm really on the fence with Regal Force. It seems good on paper, but if I already have 10+ creatures as a result of tokens, I should already be winning and this card seems like a win more card. The obvious candidate to replace is Tower of Fortunes. This deck can get 8 mana easily and I can draw cards without a sweat but Regal Force is a 5/5. thoughts on this one?
Thanks everyone for clearing things up for me. I'm testing more changes and I want peoples opinions on them.
Akroma's Memorial > Seedborn Muse
Seedborn Muse pretty much gives all my creatures vigilance. The deck doesn't take advantage, or even use the Muse's ability at all. So, I'd figure I'd give everyone vigilance on top of haste and trample. Seems pretty standard in Azusa right?
I probably won't do that for your build. You are running unusually few creatures -- only about 17. Even with your token generators, that's not many creatures that would eventually benefit from the memorial. Add to the fact that many of your creature either do not need trample (Kozilek, Ulamog, etc.) or doesn't benefit much from trample (e.g. Acidic Slime) to begin with. I suppose the other part of the abilities can be useful (haste and flying can be useful for a token-led alpha strike) though.
Wolfbriar Elemental > Wurmcalling
I am really iffy on this one. What do people think about this? (BTW, in the Ruling department, if I Genesis Wave/T&N/Defense of Heart/GSZ Wolfbriar Elemental in, can I still play the multikicker cost? Or only when I play it from my hand?
No. Multikicker only works as you are casting the spell.
And I'm really on the fence with Regal Force. It seems good on paper, but if I already have 10+ creatures as a result of tokens, I should already be winning and this card seems like a win more card. The obvious candidate to replace is Tower of Fortunes. This deck can get 8 mana easily and I can draw cards without a sweat but Regal Force is a 5/5. thoughts on this one?
I would run Regal Force myself since card draw is almost always welcome and Regal Force is as efficient as it gets.
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I picked Azusa, Lost but Seeking as my general and took the primer for her as a guideline with some minor tweeks.
This deck is for all EDH games so for 1v1 and multiplayer. I don't want to change things based on if it's 1v1 or multiplayer.
Please let me know what you guys think and if there are suggestions, please explain why since I am new to EDH deck building. Thanks.
1 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
Lands
40 Forest
1 Strip Mine
1 Wasteland
1 Yavimaya Hollow
1 Winding Canyons
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
1 Maze of Ith
1 Miren, the Moaning Well
1 High Market
Creatures
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
1 Eternal Witness
1 Yavimaya Elder
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Seedborn Muse
1 Acidic Slime
1 Ursapine
1 Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
1 Duplicant
1 Steel Hellkite
1 Primeval Titan
1 Woodfall Primus
1 Pelakka Wurm
1 Avenger of Zendikar
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1 Sol Ring
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Mana Vault
1 Skullclamp
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Horn of Greed
1 Journeyer's Kite
1 Crystal Ball
1 Loxodon Warhammer
1 Nevinyrral's Disk
1 Tower of Calamities
1 Oblivion Stone
Enchantments
1 Exploration
1 Sylvan Library
1 Abundance
1 Defense of the Heart
1 Greater Good
Sorcerys
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Wurmcalling
1 Regrowth
1 Kodama's Reach
1 Cultivate
1 Genesis Wave
1 Beacon of Creation
1 Harmonize
1 Primal Command
1 Desert Twister
1 Tooth and Nail
1 Howl of the Night Pack
1 Rude Awakening
1 Beast Within
1 Krosan Grip
1 Chord of Calling
Planeswalkers
1 Garruk Wildspeaker
Journeyer's Kite keeps an engine of lands coming. Amazing card.
I added Exploration > Gaea's Touch. It's one mana less and makes a turn 2 Azusa if possible.
Cards I want to add are Rampaging Baloths and Terastodon. Baloth's is very synergetic, big body, and has trample. Terastodon gives me that emergency outlet. Considering taking out Abundance and another card. thoughts?
Also, is there any cards that
a) is creature removal in green that's also a creature (like Duplicant)
and
b) a useful enter the battlefield trigger from a Genesis Wave or GSZ on a creature?
edit: I should also add Mosswort Bridge huh?
edit#2: Organized the decklist by card type to make it easier to analyze for you guys.
Thanks for the help!
or 1 mana more and play praetor's counsel, which is AWESOME
and if you're into the tower cycle(I notice you're playing tower of calamities), then tower of fortunes is a MUST.
The takeaway is that they will remember the face-smashing in much more vivid detail than the times you got neutralized and will start panicking when you reveal your General.
EDIT: Thread moved again at poster's request to 1v1
Signature by Inkfox Aesthetics by Xen
[Modern] Allies
Here's an updated list after everyone's help
1 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
Lands
36 Forest
1 Strip Mine
1 Wasteland
1 Yavimaya Hollow
1 Winding Canyons
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
1 Maze of Ith
1 Miren, the Moaning Well
1 High Market
1 Mosswort Bridge
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 Temple of the False God
Creatures
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
1 Eternal Witness
1 Yavimaya Elder
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Seedborn Muse
1 Acidic Slime
1 Ursapine
1 Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
1 Duplicant
1 Steel Hellkite
1 Primeval Titan
1 Woodfall Primus
1 Avenger of Zendikar
1 Terastodon
1 Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1 Skullclamp
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Armillary Sphere
1 Horn of Greed
1 Crystal Ball
1 Loxodon Warhammer
1 Nevinyrral's Disk
1 Storm Cauldron
Enchantments
1 Sylvan Library
1 Defense of the Heart
1 Greater Good
Sorcerys
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Wurmcalling
1 Regrowth
1 Genesis Wave
1 Journey of Discovery
1 Beacon of Creation
1 Harmonize
1 Seek the Horizon
1 Primal Command
1 Desert Twister
1 Tooth and Nail
1 Howl of the Night Pack
1 Rude Awakening
1 All Is Dust
1 Beast Within
1 Krosan Grip
1 Chord of Calling
Planeswalkers
1 Garruk Wildspeaker
1 Karn Liberated
Changes:
Terastodon > Abundance. More useful + GSZ/CoC target
Vorinclex > Pelakka Wurm. Just a better card for the deck
Armillary Sphere, Journey of Discovery, and Seek the Horizon > Kodama's Reach, Cultivate, and Journeyer's Kite. Dalamar suggested better cards for synergy purposes
All is Dust > Oblivion Stone. I don't like Oblivion Stone at all. Trying out All is Dust as a sweeper.
Karn > Tower. I LOVE this card. Thank you for suggesting it as it is just a recurring removal spell.
Storm Cauldron > Exploration. Exploration didn't do much and I honestly don't like Storm Cauldron on paper. I might replace this with another card. We'll see how it goes.
I don't like Seedborn Muse either. It is a green staple I've heard, but after tapping out and swinging with all my creatures, I have nothing to sink my 15+ mana into. In this deck, Seedborn Muse reads "All creatures have vigilance" essentially. Is there another utility creature I can run > Seedborn Muse? I'll keep it for now.
Any more suggestions guys? I'd love to hear it cause I feel like I'm missing something.
If you are not running token producers, why run clamp? Beacon of creation isn't enough to make clamp a card you should run.
1 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
Lands
34 Forest
1 Strip Mine
1 Wasteland
1 Yavimaya Hollow
1 Winding Canyons
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
1 Maze of Ith
1 Miren, the Moaning Well
1 High Market
1 Mosswort Bridge
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 Temple of the False God
1 Deserted Temple
1 Dryad Arbor
Creatures
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
1 Eternal Witness
1 Yavimaya Elder
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Seedborn Muse
1 Ant Queen
1 Acidic Slime
1 Ursapine
1 Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
1 Duplicant
1 Steel Hellkite
1 Primeval Titan
1 Woodfall Primus
1 Avenger of Zendikar
1 Terastodon
1 Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Armillary Sphere
1 Horn of Greed
1 Crystal Ball
1 Loxodon Warhammer
1 Nevinyrral's Disk
1 Tower of Fortunes
Enchantments
1 Sylvan Library
1 Defense of the Heart
1 Greater Good
1 Vernal Bloom
Sorcerys
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Wurmcalling
1 Regrowth
1 Genesis Wave
1 Journey of Discovery
1 Harmonize
1 Seek the Horizon
1 Primal Command
1 Desert Twister
1 Tooth and Nail
1 Howl of the Night Pack
1 Rude Awakening
1 All Is Dust
1 Beast Within
1 Krosan Grip
1 Chord of Calling
Planeswalkers
1 Garruk Wildspeaker
1 Karn Liberated
Changes
-2 Forest
+1 Dryad Arbor
+1 Deserted Temple
Dryad Arbor leads to turn 2 Azusa with GSZ. Seems useful so I'll try it out.
Deserted Temple helps untap Maze of Ith, Gaea's Cradle, etc.
-1 Storm Cauldron
+1 Vernal Bloom
I get that it's a good lock with Azusa but it doesn't really help my deck. I've had instances where I'm sinking all my mana into things and I Genesis Waved into it, which hindered me from doing all the stuff I wanted to do. Vernal Bloom gives me an emergency ramp on turn 4 (which is why I have it instead of Mana Reflection)
-1 Beacon of Creation
+1 Ant Queen
Gives me something to sink all my mana into. Also makes having Seedborn Muse worth having.
-1 Skullclamp
+1 Tower of Fortunes
I took what you said into consideration and you're right. I often have skullclamp as just a +2/-1 equipment when I really want card draw. Tower of Fortunes gives me something to restock my hand when I have nothing else. I havn't drawn it yet so I don't know how well it does. Any other suggestions in this department would help.
Any other thoughts and suggestions? These comments have really helped me shape this deck into my liking.
1 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
Lands
34 Forest
1 Strip Mine
1 Wasteland
1 Yavimaya Hollow
1 Winding Canyons
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
1 Maze of Ith
1 Miren, the Moaning Well
1 High Market
1 Mosswort Bridge
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 Temple of the False God
1 Deserted Temple
1 Dryad Arbor
Creatures
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
1 Eternal Witness
1 Yavimaya Elder
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Seedborn Muse
1 Ant Queen
1 Acidic Slime
1 Ursapine
1 Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
1 Duplicant
1 Steel Hellkite
1 Rampaging Baloths
1 Primeval Titan
1 Woodfall Primus
1 Avenger of Zendikar
1 Terastodon
1 Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Horn of Greed
1 Crystal Ball
1 Loxodon Warhammer
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Nevinyrral's Disk
1 Tower of Fortunes
Enchantments
1 Sylvan Library
1 Defense of the Heart
1 Greater Good
1 Vernal Bloom
Sorcerys
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Wurmcalling
1 Regrowth
1 Genesis Wave
1 Journey of Discovery
1 Gaea's Bounty
1 Harmonize
1 Seek the Horizon
1 Primal Command
1 Desert Twister
1 Tooth and Nail
1 Rude Awakening
1 Beast Within
1 Krosan Grip
1 Chord of Calling
Planeswalkers
1 Garruk Wildspeaker
1 Karn Liberated
Thanks for the input Dalamar and everyone else. I made some more changes after everyone's input.
-1 Howl of the Night Pack
+1 Rampaging Baloths
I make more 4/4 tokens than I can make with Howl of the Night Pack. Also makes me less reliant on forests now so I can run non-basics freely
-1 Armillary Sphere
+1 Gaea's Bounty
Costs 3 instead of 4. Totally read over this card.
-1 All is Dust
+1 Oblivion Stone.
Costs 1 more overall but I can see it hitting artifacts my opponent controls like equipments and stuff being more useful. Plus, it gives me an outlet for Seedborn Muse, again. The Seedborn Muse is becoming more and more useful as I make more changes, which is what I like
Regarding Restock and Summoner's Pact, I REALLY like both. However, I don't think I have any room for either. I might just run Restock by itself and not Regrowth because I can make the mana for it.
For Summoner's Pact, I run the same problem. I can't find space for it since I can just cast any creature in my deck when I draw this and easily pay for 4 mana next turn. Any ideas on what I could cut for the Pact? Restock I can just replace over Regrowth but the Pact... I have no idea.
Thanks again for the help. However, I think you're looking at an old list since my current one doesn't run Abundance.
hmm... I'll consider running the Pact > Crystal Ball since you are right about board position. However, the Crystal Ball goes well with Sensei's Divining Top and Oracle of Mul Daya as well as helping with my draws. Looking at my current list, is there any other options to cut?
Horn of greed
Recycle
Seers sundial
Howling mine
Mikokoro, center of the sea
Soul's majesty
Momentous fall
Well of knowledge
Temple bell
Greater good
Also, howl of the night pack isnt necessary, but you shouldn't compare it to rampaging baloths. You need to play baloths and follow it up with land drops. Howl will just dump 15+ 2/2's when you top deck it after a board wipe. You need to have some of those recovery spells like that since you will not always have things go your way of course.
1 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
Lands
32 Forest
1 Strip Mine
1 Wasteland
1 Yavimaya Hollow
1 Winding Canyons
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
1 Maze of Ith
1 Miren, the Moaning Well
1 High Market
1 Mosswort Bridge
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 Temple of the False God
1 Deserted Temple
1 Dryad Arbor
Creatures
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
1 Eternal Witness
1 Yavimaya Elder
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Seedborn Muse
1 Ant Queen
1 Acidic Slime
1 Ursapine
1 Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
1 Duplicant
1 Steel Hellkite
1 Rampaging Baloths
1 Primeval Titan
1 Woodfall Primus
1 Avenger of Zendikar
1 Terastodon
1 Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Armillary Sphere
1 Horn of Greed
1 Crystal Ball
1 Loxodon Warhammer
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Nevinyrral's Disk
1 Tower of Fortunes
Enchantments
1 Sylvan Library
1 Defense of the Heart
1 Greater Good
1 Vernal Bloom
Sorcerys
1 Summoner's Pact
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Wurmcalling
1 Regrowth
1 Genesis Wave
1 Journey of Discovery
1 Gaea's Bounty
1 Harmonize
1 Seek the Horizon
1 Primal Command
1 Desert Twister
1 Tooth and Nail
1 Rude Awakening
1 Beast Within
1 Krosan Grip
1 Chord of Calling
Planeswalkers
1 Garruk Wildspeaker
1 Karn Liberated
+1 Summoner's Pact
+1 Armillary Sphere
I'd figure I put the sphere back in here since it'll help me ramp on the early turns.
Summoner's Pact is such a good card so I took a forest out for it.
Regarding the tower, I really don't know what to think about it. if my board gets wrathed with no cards in hand, I like it a lot. And often times when I don't activate it, I'm doing something else which leads me to win the game. This card in my view is more of an emergency card. Plus nothing on that list stuck out to me (besides the cards I already run) But I'll keep an open mind to those options if the tower becomes a dead card, thanks!
Any other thoughts or suggestions?
BTW, is this deck "casual" or "competitive"? I proposed a "Casual EDH" game on MWS and someone called me out saying Azusa was not a casual EDH. He then proceeded to kill me on Turn 4 while I only played Azusa and then a Seek the Horizon. (BTW, his general was Rafiq. Is Rafiq a casual or competitive general?) If undisrupted, this deck wins around turn 7/8 or 9 but thats UNDISRUPTED. So, is this deck casual or competitive? Plus other comments would be nice as well to improve the deck. Everyone's feedback is very helpful
edit: Is this considered a "Douche Bag" deck? I'm just wondering because I don't want to invest in a deck that would be discouraged to play against.
You will get people who say "douche bag" to you whenever you do something extremely dumb to them (like entwined tooth and nail on turn 2).. But this deck can stall easily enough sometimes...
ahh, I see. Well would you consider Azusa (my deck in particular) casual? I don't think a Turn 2, even a turn 3 or 4 or 5 T&N is possible lol. I would like to think my deck is casual since the games I've played so far drag on so long when I made my MWS join note as "Casual EDH'. And games like vs. Rafiq, I don't want to keep losing turn 4 when I didn't even play more than 2 spells.
Also, when at a multiplayer game of EDH, how scary is Azusa to everyone else? Lets say compared to Rafiq of the Many, Uril, the Miststalker, Arcanis the Omnipotent, and Memnarch
turn 1 forest, mana crypt, azusa, forest, forest, rofellos
turn 2 land, tooth and nail
like I said before, you can run cards that make you very scary, but you can also run stuff that makes people want to keep you around (like well of knowledge, temple bell).. Sure you are giving them advantage too, but you are more likely to capitalize on it.. If you want to remain more casual build more of a token theme and definitely drop the Eldrazi since most people moan when they hit as early as this deck can cast them...
Its not too hard to just play a few threats and play a little political with the deck, not overextending and waiting to play a big turn to kill everyone (like a genesis wave for 40+ and hitting avenger of zendikar and Akroma's Memorial along with 8 or so land)..
Uril, The Miststalker:Enchantress Beatdown
Borborygmos Enraged: Terrain Assault
Shattergang Brothers: Superfriends
I guess i never got a god hand like that before. From only playing 10 or so games so far, this deck does early beaters (obviously) but not as early as that.
I guess the point of this is question is to ask if i asked for a casual game of EDH, would yoy disagree with this deck being casual?
Edit: if i had that god hand and asked for a casual game, i wouldnt go off that early anyway. That would be no fun winning by turn 4. Id probs hold off on the rofellos and further ramp up instead of tooth and nailing turn 2.
The thing is i think i fell in love with Azusa and i dont want to cut the deck unless i have a good reason for it.
Don't worry too much about Rofellos given that he is banned as a general. Azusa herself has a reputation of being a rather explosive general given her potential to ramp (especially given that rampers is ever so important in this format) -- this is especially true since better bombs have been printed of late, among which includes huge Eldrazi-level bombs. That said, in my experience, the crucial difference between Azusa and other generals like Azami lies in the fact that while Azusa is rather explosive, most tables are aware that Azusa is stoppable even after it is explosive; decks like Azami and friends usually ends the game on the spot when it goes off (combo wins are frowned in some playgroups but are perfectly acceptable in some playgroups).
More importantly, I believe a deck itself only has as bad a reputation as its particular build. Assuming that you play at a regular playgroup, your opponents should be able to gauge the "unfairness" of your deck regardless of the general you use after a repeated series of games.
There are a few routes here. If you are unsure what the social contract dictates, maybe you can simply ask around in your LGS if they are okay with an aggressive ramp deck. This is usually the fastest way of determining the social norms there. Another good way of doing it is to observe the generals being played in the playgroup and observing how competitive their generals are (if you are unsure, you can always observe what generals / strategies they are playing and post them here -- pretty sure that someone here can tell you if those generals are competitive or otherwise). As a rule of thumb though, any generals with blue in it has no right to complain about Azusa
What I do -- which I realise may not be realistic for a relatively new EDH player but I am throwing this out there anyway since you are likely to move here once you are all settled with the format -- is to build multiple decks for various occasions -- I have about three decks with various level of competitiveness for different playgroups and a fourth one is in the works.
Well i observed an EDH game last week where a guy had Memnarch as a general and had a Future Sight + Sensei's Divining Top combo and sprnt like 5-7 minutes per turn playing everything. However I dont think the other 2 players were happy. One player had Wort, the Raidmother with a bunch of goblins. The other player had a blue general that I dont remember but he was mana screwed so i didnt pay attention to him.
Another person had a Xiahou Dun, the one-eyed as well
Without any further information on their particular build and assuming the conventional builds (which I observe) for these generals, I'll say that Azusa should be fine socially.
On a side note, politically, bear in mind that since a well-built Azusa deck can be quite explosive (i.e.: it can go T2: Lotus Cobra, T3: fetchland, Azusa, fetchland, fetchland, Avenger of Zendikar or more typically Acidic Slime and its ilk), you may want to avoid these situations even if you do draw your god-hand.
Akroma's Memorial > Seedborn Muse
Seedborn Muse pretty much gives all my creatures vigilance. The deck doesn't take advantage, or even use the Muse's ability at all. So, I'd figure I'd give everyone vigilance on top of haste and trample. Seems pretty standard in Azusa right?
Wolfbriar Elemental > Wurmcalling
I am really iffy on this one. What do people think about this? (BTW, in the Ruling department, if I Genesis Wave/T&N/Defense of Heart/GSZ Wolfbriar Elemental in, can I still play the multikicker cost? Or only when I play it from my hand?
And I'm really on the fence with Regal Force. It seems good on paper, but if I already have 10+ creatures as a result of tokens, I should already be winning and this card seems like a win more card. The obvious candidate to replace is Tower of Fortunes. This deck can get 8 mana easily and I can draw cards without a sweat but Regal Force is a 5/5. thoughts on this one?
I probably won't do that for your build. You are running unusually few creatures -- only about 17. Even with your token generators, that's not many creatures that would eventually benefit from the memorial. Add to the fact that many of your creature either do not need trample (Kozilek, Ulamog, etc.) or doesn't benefit much from trample (e.g. Acidic Slime) to begin with. I suppose the other part of the abilities can be useful (haste and flying can be useful for a token-led alpha strike) though.
No. Multikicker only works as you are casting the spell.
I would run Regal Force myself since card draw is almost always welcome and Regal Force is as efficient as it gets.