The group I play EDH with has a lot of mono-green (Omnath, Ezuri, Seton), so I wanted my mono-green deck to be vastly different from what the rest of my group was trying to do. While it's vulnerable and has no interaction whatsoever, this deck is still a blast to play. Do you like entwining Journey of Discovery four times in one turn? Do you like your Forests to each tap for 10+ green mana? Do you like casting your X spells for triple digits? If so, this deck is for you.
How does one play this deck?
This deck is actually quite simple. You try to keep your hand at 7 or more cards (an early Reliquary Tower helps keep your resources well-managed), try to mulligan aggressively out of a hand with 3+ win conditions, and draw your way into a Sasaya activation when you have a win condition in hand. In my experience, you get a lot of hate (and more than a few Naturalize effects) thrown your way when you go off with Sasaya, so it helps to make use of the effect right away when you flip it.
Once you have flipped it, use the deck's penchant for card advantage to dig through your deck for a win condition and run it out there. Generally, if it sticks for more than one turn, you're probably gonna win.
Nuances of the Deck
-Always spend Regrowth effects on Journey of Discovery. The card lets you accelerate better than any other card in the deck once Sasaya is active, and lets you continuously gain mana.
-Your most stable win condition is Helix Pinnacle. If you have Sasaya active, it will usually take 3 turns or less to get it active early on, and lategame it's nigh unanswerable if you've exhausted Austere Command.
-Play around Aura Shards and Nullmage Shepherd by conserving Sasaya until you can cast it, flip it and threaten a next-turn win all in one turn. (I've actually won vs. Nullmage Shepherd and a donated Pyromancer's Swath by drawing enough cards to cast Helix Pinnacle with a flipped Sasaya and won my next turn at one life. That was an epic game :P)
-Always remember that you don't need to rush flipping Sasaya, or using your permanent-based tutors. Be patient when piloting the deck.
-Cast Realms Uncharted only when you have a way to return your Reliquary Tower back from your graveyard. You can't risk that your opponent will have you pitch it, then will use a graveyard hate card to seal it away from you forever. If you don't have it, consider using Realms as a way to just add two lands to your hand at instant speed.
-Cast Crop Rotation as soon as you get it, and beeline Reliquary Tower. The deck 100% needs it in play, so the faster you can tutor it, the better.
Dosan wasn't doing what I'd hope it would; this deck's biggest weakness by far is still A/E hate, and with Citanul Flute now in the deck, it doesn't just fold to Hinder or Spell Crumple.
Citanul Flute seems like an extremely obvious addition in retrospect; it really helps deal with tuck effects, and tutors your primary win conditions at the same time.
I've wanted to "reboot" this deck for a long time; ever since changing my meta from Genesis Waves to Hinders, I feel I wanted to put my mono-green deck back through the ringer. Regardless, my It that Betrays is now in my Rakdos deck and in general feels really awful in a meta full of Phyrexian Metamorphs. So, I've decided to swap it out for something I can use Time of Need to tutor. We'll see how well he played with Nemata, Grove Guardian as well.
I have been playing Sasaya for about 4 years now and she is one of my favorite decks. I only run about 4 real win conditions and then a LOT of tutors to try and get them. I felt that there was a lot of good creatures to win with but that i always went for the same 2-3 creatures so i just cut the rest for tutors. I also love Nostalgic Dreams as a way to recur things, just ditch lands. I'm working on a Primer for her if you wanted to check it out in my sig. I'm always amazed by how much people underestimate her at first, she really can be very powerful when you know how to use her.
1 Sasaya, Orochi Ascendant
Creatures
2 Eternal Witness
3 Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
4 Krosan Tusker
5 Nantuko Cultivator
6 Nemata, Grove Guardian
7 Seedborn Muse
8 Verdeloth the Ancient
9 Wolfbriar Elemental
10 Yavimaya Elder
Sorceries
11 Cultivate
12 Gaea's Bounty
13 Gelatinous Genesis
14 Genesis Wave
15 Journey of Discovery
16 Kodama's Reach
17 Mulch
18 Praetor's Counsel
19 Regrowth
20 Seek the Horizon
21 Sylvan Scrying
22 Time of Need
23 Wurmcalling
24 Crop Rotation
25 Realms Uncharted
26 Sprouting Vines
Artifacts
27 Armillary Sphere
28 Citanul Flute
29 Expedition Map
30 Font of Mythos
31 Horizon Spellbomb
32 Horn of Greed
33 Howling Mine
34 Journeyer's Kite
35 Planar Portal
36 Scroll of Origins
37 Temple Bell
38 Tower of Fortunes
Enchantments
39 Gaea's Touch
40 Helix Pinnacle
41 Rites of Flourishing
51 Forest
Nonbasic Lands
93 Blasted Landscape
94 Ghost Town
95 Jungle Basin
96 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
97 Reliquary Tower
98 Slippery Karst
99 Terrain Generator
100 Tranquil Thicket
Why Sasaya, Orochi Ascendant?
How does one play this deck?
Once you have flipped it, use the deck's penchant for card advantage to dig through your deck for a win condition and run it out there. Generally, if it sticks for more than one turn, you're probably gonna win.
Nuances of the Deck
-There are a lot of interactions with Seedborn Muse in the deck. Try to separate your Mikokoro, Center of the Sea, Terrain Generator, and your tap artifacts from the rest of the permanents you have in play.
-Your most stable win condition is Helix Pinnacle. If you have Sasaya active, it will usually take 3 turns or less to get it active early on, and lategame it's nigh unanswerable if you've exhausted Austere Command.
-Play around Aura Shards and Nullmage Shepherd by conserving Sasaya until you can cast it, flip it and threaten a next-turn win all in one turn. (I've actually won vs. Nullmage Shepherd and a donated Pyromancer's Swath by drawing enough cards to cast Helix Pinnacle with a flipped Sasaya and won my next turn at one life. That was an epic game :P)
-Always remember that you don't need to rush flipping Sasaya, or using your permanent-based tutors. Be patient when piloting the deck.
-Cast Realms Uncharted only when you have a way to return your Reliquary Tower back from your graveyard. You can't risk that your opponent will have you pitch it, then will use a graveyard hate card to seal it away from you forever. If you don't have it, consider using Realms as a way to just add two lands to your hand at instant speed.
-Cast Crop Rotation as soon as you get it, and beeline Reliquary Tower. The deck 100% needs it in play, so the faster you can tutor it, the better.
Changes Log
Nemata, Grove Guardian
Crop Rotation
Realms Uncharted
Citanul Flute
Planar Portal
-Removed:
Dosan, the Falling Leaf
Spawnsire of Ulamog
Steel Hellkite
Orochi Hatchery
Centaur Glade
Dosan wasn't doing what I'd hope it would; this deck's biggest weakness by far is still A/E hate, and with Citanul Flute now in the deck, it doesn't just fold to Hinder or Spell Crumple.
The win conditions were getting somewhat stale; Steel Hellkite felt strong in theory but it would always just kill them instead of destroying permanents. Orochi Hatchery is extremely clunky to use, and Centaur Glade is inferior to Nemata, Grove Guardian.
Citanul Flute seems like an extremely obvious addition in retrospect; it really helps deal with tuck effects, and tutors your primary win conditions at the same time.
Crop Rotation and Realms Uncharted are there to help tutor Reliquary Tower, a card you rely on every game to keep you that much closer to getting Sasaya active.
-Added notes in the Nuances of the Deck section for Realms Uncharted and Crop Rotation.
12/25/2012:
Verdeloth the Ancient
-Removed:
It that Betrays
I've wanted to "reboot" this deck for a long time; ever since changing my meta from Genesis Waves to Hinders, I feel I wanted to put my mono-green deck back through the ringer. Regardless, my It that Betrays is now in my Rakdos deck and in general feels really awful in a meta full of Phyrexian Metamorphs. So, I've decided to swap it out for something I can use Time of Need to tutor. We'll see how well he played with Nemata, Grove Guardian as well.
Input is appreciated as always!
RRRSlobad, Goblin TinkererRRR
GUBSnapcaster GushBUG
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