For the longest time I've been wanting to build a deck that revolved around handsize, which naturally evolved into a landfall deck. Using just GU I've found a perfect balance between the two, where the massive amounts of cards that I draw also help to fuel the absurd land drops I have. I chose GU because it has the best handsize/drawing creatures and best landfall abilities combined.
Obviously Edric, Spymaster of Trest is my commander.
I've been building this list for some time now and need help trimming and picking the best cards.
It's a vicious circle. Edric allows for some ridiculous card draw, which leaves me with a bunch of cards in my hand, a good bit of which are naturally going to be land cards. The deck works to increase hand size while ramping basic lands, allowing for a variable mix between having cards in my hand, landfall, and having lands on the field. Many cards such as Meloku the Clouded Mirror and words of wind allow me to bounce lands or other permanents for instant hand increase, while cards like Patron of the Moon and Journey of Discovery allow me to increase land drops and landfall. There are a couple of token spawners like Aether Mutation just for funsies, but they add another layer of defense and/or card draw when Edric is on the field.
I run mostly basic lands because they are much easier to tutor and they don't come into play tapped which helps. Tendo Ice Bridge is in here because it doesn't come into play tapped, and when I bounce it, It comes back with the charge counter. I don't know how many lands to run, given that fact that I want a lot of lands, but I also have tons of draw and ramp so having more land cards seems a little unnecessary. I'm shooting for around 35+ lands at least.
The List as it currently could use some pruning, as the current list allows for only about 34 lands, and they are definitely some cards that I left in from my preliminary editing. I don't know whether to run more forests or islands, what should I do?
Let me know what you think, what I could add, what I could remove, any advice or suggestions are welcome.
All that Bounce is something I thought I might wanna go with, but it doesn't really fit with the deck. Cards like Exploration are obviously amazing, but a tad expensive for just one card, but feel free to mention any cards as I could keep an eye out for trades.
5/30/12
-Patron of the Orochi
-Fable of Wolf and Owl
-Biomantic Mastery
-Recurring Insight
+Brainstorm
+Blue Sun's Zenith
7/23/12
-Aeon Chronicler
-Masumaro, First to Live
-Overbing of Myth
-Baloth Woodcrasher
-Uyo, Silent Prophet
-Amulet of Vigor
-Regrowth
-Words of Wilding
+Trinket Mage
+Eternal Witness
+Staff of Nin
+Dissipation Field
+Sunken Hope
+Overburden
+Garruk, Primal Hunter
+Homeward Path
First off I want to say that I love how you laid this post out. I like the formatting. Anyway, other than your general, you don't really seem to have all that much card draw power. Well you have the draw power but alot of it seems to 1. be REALLY expensive (might not be an issue if you are ramping well), 2. Require opponents to have many creatures, 3. Require creatures to get through for damage (doesn't work well with 2.) and 4. also let opponents draw (can be a big problem if they are running a lower curve than you are). I think I would have to see this deck played to really understand how it all works together. There are alot of cool synergies in it though. Looks like fun! I would suggest Primeval Titan and Jace Beleren to add in. I'll see if anything else come to mind too.
Instead of Alchemist's refuge, why not run Leyline of Anticipation? Gives you the same effect but dont need to play mana to use the effect, plus it plays for free if its in your opening hand. And you can play the cards whenever. Not just on that turn
Sol Ring you can never go wrong with.
As for lands, Rupture Spire, Command Tower??
Just Suggestions
@Everyone: I am on the lookout for a trade for Primeval Titan, but $15 is too much for one card at this point.
@Lord Byron: Thanks took me forever. And that's a good point about the drawing. I didn't think letting everybody draw would be too bad. What would you suggest that I put in that either is a bit cheaper, or just lets me draw? And a Jace Beleren doesn't seem like it would be too helpful, especially over a temple bell or otherworld atlas, which allow me to draw at instant speed.
@NC Justin: I really only put Alchemist's Refuge in because I already had one, it costs GU which is in colors, and it takes up a land slot instead of an enchantment slot. I didn't have a real need for instant speed combos to necessitate a Leyline of Anticipation. After I play the deck a few times I'll see if I would rather have the leyline. And Sol Ring and Command Tower will all be in the deck, I just forgot to include them in the list. Fixin' that now. Rupture Spire comes into play tapped, costs mana to play, and in a GU deck, the mana of any one color doesn't seem that helpful for a card with such drawbacks.
@Tev: Thought about Cold-Eyed Selkie along with Vedalken Heretic, obviously the Selkie is much better, but as you said its only really good if I have some pump, and it costs like $4, which isn't too much, but in the grand scheme of my deck I don't think it fits too well.
@Tstorm: Thought about those cards, but I don't know how I feel about them. I do have a Budoka Gardener, but that doesn't last for very long after I flip it. And a Terrain Generator, but I might be able to make room for that Sakura-Tribe Scout.
I removed Patron of the Orochi and Fable of Wolf and Owl because they just seem like goodstuff, and I want this deck to flow rather than be a bunch of random spells.
As for the card draw, I took out Biomantic Mastery and Recurring Insight, because most of my other card draw is pretty steady and during my upkeep or draw phases. I wanted something that gave me an edge instant-wise, in case I needed to pump my hand at instant speed or activate Words of Wind at a moments notice. I added Blue Sun's Zenith because it is a large card drawing source for X amount of mana, and Brainstorm, which draws 3 cards for 1, and discards none.
Recursion and recycling my graveyard still remain a concern.
Updated the decklist since I actually acquired and have played the deck pretty thoroughly.
I had to switch computers and the updates to the decklist are pretty significant, so at this time the "mana cost" and "card list" lists aren't up to date, and the "alphabetical list" is no longer alphabetical but is up to date.
Not really keen on Sunken Hope or Overburden, mainly just holding space for other cards on the want list.
Obviously Edric, Spymaster of Trest is my commander.
I've been building this list for some time now and need help trimming and picking the best cards.
1 Graceful Adept
2 Multani, Maro-Sorcerer
3 Psychosis Crawler
4 Soramaro, First to Dream (*)
5 Sturmgeist (*)
6 Lorescale Coatl
7 Trinket Mage
8 Eternal Witness
9 Avenger of Zendikar
10 Rampaging Baloths
11 Roil Elemental
12 Vinelasher Kudzu
13 Allosaurus Rider
14 Budoka Gardener
15 Molimo, Maro-Sorcerer
16 Sakura-Tribe Scout
17 Brawn
18 Wonder
19 Patron of the Moon
20 Meloku the Clouded Mirror
21 Mystic Snake
22 Myojin of Seeing Winds (*)
Artifacts: 11
27 Staff of Nin (*)
28 Elixir of Immortality
29 Empyrial Plate
30 Ivory Tower
31 Library of Leng
32 Lightning Greaves
33 Sensei's Divining Top (*)
34 Sol Ring
36 Strata Scythe
37 Temple Bell (*)
38 Venser's Journal
39 Aether Mutation
40 Far Wanderings
41 Journey of Discovery
42 Praetor's Counsel
43 Prey Upon
44 Rain of Thorns
45 Primeval Light
46 Rite of Replication
47 Summer Bloom
48 Boundless Realms
Instants: 9
49 Beast Within
50 Blue Sun's Zenith (*)
51 Brainstorm (*)
52 Evacuation
53 Gush (*)
54 Hinder / Dissipate / Rewind
55 Overwhelming Intellect (*)
57 Spell Crumple
58 Thwart
Enchantments: 8
58 Archmage Ascension
60 Gaea's Touch
61 Lifegift
62 Rites of Flourishing (*)
63 Rhystic Study
64 Seed the Land
65 Dissipation Field
66 Words of Wind
67 Overburden
68 Sunken Hope
69 Quest for Ancient Secrets
69 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage (*)
70 Garruk, Primal Hunter (*)
Lands: 36
1 Forest [15]
1 Island [15]
71 Command Tower
72 Reliquary Tower
73 Homeward Path
74 Terrain Generator
75 Tolaria West
2 Budoka Gardener
2 Vinelasher Kudzu
3 Lorescale Coatl
3 Trygon Predator
4 Maro
4 Brawn
4 Wonder
4 Mystic Snake
5 Aeon Chronicler
5 Overbeing of Myth
5 Psychosis Crawler
5 Sturmgeist
5 Meloku the Clouded Mirror
6 Masumaro, First to Live
6 Multani, Maro-Sorcerer
6 Soramaro, First to Dream
6 Baloth Woodcrasher
6 Rampaging Baloths
6 Roil Elemental
6 Uyo, Silent Prophet
7 Avenger of Zendikar
7 Allosaurus Rider
7 Molimo, Maro-Sorcerer
7 Patron of the Moon
10 Myojin of Seeing Winds
0 Spellbook
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Amulet of Vigor
1 Elixir of Immortality
1 Ivory Tower
1 Library of Leng
2 Empyrial Plate
2 Lightning Greaves
3 Strata Scythe
3 Temple Bell
5 Venser's Journal
Sorcery:
1 Prey Upon
1 Collective Voyage
2 Summer Bloom
2 Regrowth
3 Far Wanderings
3 Journey of Discovery
4 Rite of Replication
5 Aether Mutation
5 Creeping Renaissance
6 Rain of Thorns
8 Praetor's Counsel
Instants:
1 Pongify
1 Brainstorm
2 Twincast
3 Beast Within
3 Spell Crumple
3 Voidslime
5 Gush
6 Overwhelming Intellect
Enchantments:
2 Gaea's Touch
3 Archmage Ascension
3 Lifegift
3 Rites of Flourishing
3 Rhystic Study
3 Words of Wilding
3 Words of Wind
4 Seed the Land
Lands:
0 Forest [16]
0 Island [16]
0 Terrain Generator
0 Tendo Ice Bridge
0 Alchemist's Refuge
0 Simic Growth Chamber
0 Command Tower
0 Reliquary Tower
0 Tolaria West
Planeswalkers:
5 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
1 Aeon Chronicler (*)
1 Maro
1 Masumaro, First to Live
1 Multani, Maro-Sorcerer
1 Overbeing of Myth (*)
1 Psychosis Crawler
1 Soramaro, First to Dream (*)
1 Sturmgeist (*)
1 Empyrial Plate
1 Ivory Tower
Whenever Draw:
1 Lorescale Coatl
1 Words of Wilding
1 Words of Wind
Whenever Lands Land:
1 Seed the Land
1 Lifegift
1 Avenger of Zendikar
1 Baloth Woodcrasher
1 Rampaging Baloths
1 Roil Elemental
1 Vinelasher Kudzu
# of Lands:
1 Allosaurus Rider
1 Budoka Gardener
1 Molimo, Maro-Sorcerer
1 Strata Scythe
1 Archmage Ascension
1 Myojin of Seeing Winds (*)
1 Blue Sun's Zenith (*)
1 Brainstorm (*)
1 Rhystic Study (*)
1 Gush (*)
1 Temple Bell (*)
Counter:
1 Overwhelming Intellect (*)
1 Spell Crumple
1 Thwart
1 Voidslime
1 Mystic Snake
Additional Lands:
1 Rites of Flourishing (*)
1 Gaea's Touch
1 Far Wanderings
1 Journey of Discovery
1 Patron of the Moon
1 Collective Voyage
1 Summer Bloom
Infinite Hand:
1 Venser's Journal
1 Library of Leng
1 Spellbook
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Praetor's Counsel
1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage (*)
1 Meloku the Clouded Mirror
1 Aether Mutation
1 Rite of Replication
Spot Removal:
1 Trygon Predator
1 Pongify
1 Beast Within
1 Prey Upon
1 Rain of Thorns
Utility:
1 Brawn
1 Wonder
1 Uyo, Silent Prophet
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Twincast
1 Amulet of Vigor
1 Sol Ring
1 Tolaria West
Recursion:
1 Creeping Renaissance
1 Regrowth
1 Elixir of Immortality
I run mostly basic lands because they are much easier to tutor and they don't come into play tapped which helps. Tendo Ice Bridge is in here because it doesn't come into play tapped, and when I bounce it, It comes back with the charge counter. I don't know how many lands to run, given that fact that I want a lot of lands, but I also have tons of draw and ramp so having more land cards seems a little unnecessary. I'm shooting for around 35+ lands at least.
The List as it currently could use some pruning, as the current list allows for only about 34 lands, and they are definitely some cards that I left in from my preliminary editing. I don't know whether to run more forests or islands, what should I do?
Let me know what you think, what I could add, what I could remove, any advice or suggestions are welcome.
1 Aeon Chronicler
1 Overbeing of Myth
1 Maro
1 Multani, Maro-Sorcerer
1 Sylvan Yeti
1 Masumaro, First to Live
1 Soramaro, first to dream
1 Psychosis Crawler
1 Sturmgeist
1 Lorescale Coatl
1 Empyrial Plate
Card Draw
1 Minds Aglow
1 Biomantic Mastery
1 Soul's Majesty
1 Momentous Fall
1 Howling Mine
1 Font of Mythos
1 Skyscribing
1 Temple Bell
1 Nature's Resurgence
1 Temporal Cascade or (Time Reversal or Timetwister )
1 Kozilek, the Butcher of Truth
1 Jushi Apprentice
1 Otherworld Atlas
Infinite Hand Size
1 Library of leng
1 Praetor's Counsel
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Venser's Journal
1 Spellbook
1 Anvil of Bogardan
1 Graceful Adept
1 Tamiyo, The Moon Sage
1 Trinket Mage
1 Rites of Flourishing
1 Tolaria West
1 Recurring Insight
1 Arcanis The Omnipotent
1 Myojin of Seeing Winds
1 Honden of Seeing Winds
1 Honden of Life's Web
Whenever you draw some cards
1 archmage ascension
1 Words of Wind
1 words of wilding
1 Storm Seeker
1 Ivory Tower
1 Spontaneous Generation
Counter
1 Mystic Snake
1 Deprive
1 Voidslime
1 Overwhelming Intellect
1 Fable of Wolf and Owl
1 Winged Coatl
1 Aether Mutation
1 Cytoshape
1 Brawn
1 Wonder
1 Trygon Predator
1 Beast Within
1 Bramblecrush
1 Creeping Mold
1 Desert Twister
1 Polymorph
1 Pongify
1 Predator, Flagship
1 Rain of Thorns
1 Relic Crush
1 Rootgrapple
1 Arena
1 Prey Upon
1 Ulvenwald Tracker
1 Twincast
1 Redirect
1 Rite of Replication
Landfall
1 Avenger of Zendikar
1 Roil Elemental
1 Rampaging Baloths
1 Baloth Woodcrasher
1 Vinelasher Kudzu
1 Lifegift
1 Seed the Land
1 Patron of the Moon
1 Amulet of Vigor
1 Baru, Fist of Krosa
1 Patron of the Orochi
1 Summer Bloom
1 Rites of Flourishing
1 Gaea's Touch
1 Exploration
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Burgeoning
1 Vernal Bloom
1 Drain Power
1 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
1 High Tide
1 Clear the Land
1 Collective Voyage
1 Crop Rotation
1 Early Harvest
1 Elfhame Sanctuary
1 Explosive Vegetation
1 Far Wanderings
1 Harrow
1 Journey of Discovery
1 Manabond
1 Seek the Horizon
1 Allosaurus Rider
1 Baru, Fist of Krosa
1 Strength of Cedars
1 Scapeshift
1 Budoka Gardener (Dokai, Weaver of Life)
1 Molimo, Maro-Sorcerer
1 Strata Scythe
1 Garruk, Primal Hunter
1 Joyous Respite
1 Scute Mob
1 Howl of the Night Pack
1 Sasaya, Orochi Ascendant (Sasaya's Essence)
Bounce
1 Gush
1 Thwart
1 Ensnare
1 Devastation Tide
1 Dissipation Field
1 Evacuation
1 Flooded Shoreline
1 Sunder
1 Cowardice
1 Distorting Wake
1 Equilibrium
1 Heidar, Rimewind Master
1 Hoverguard Sweepers
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Inundate
1 Linessa, Zephyr Mage
1 Overburden
1 Part the Veil
1 Reduce to Dreams
1 Sunken Hope
1 Surgespanner
1 Temporal Adept
1 Tidespout Tyrant
1 Turbulent Dreams
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
1 Ætherplasm
1 Arm with Æther
1 Mana Breach
Moonfolk
1 Meloku the Clouded Mirror
1 Uyo, Silent Prophet
1 Creeping Renaissance
1 Regrowth
1 Recollect
1 Eternal Witness
1 Elixir of Immortality
All that Bounce is something I thought I might wanna go with, but it doesn't really fit with the deck. Cards like Exploration are obviously amazing, but a tad expensive for just one card, but feel free to mention any cards as I could keep an eye out for trades.
5/30/12
-Patron of the Orochi
-Fable of Wolf and Owl
-Biomantic Mastery
-Recurring Insight
+Brainstorm
+Blue Sun's Zenith
7/23/12
-Aeon Chronicler
-Masumaro, First to Live
-Overbing of Myth
-Baloth Woodcrasher
-Uyo, Silent Prophet
-Amulet of Vigor
-Regrowth
-Words of Wilding
+Trinket Mage
+Eternal Witness
+Staff of Nin
+Dissipation Field
+Sunken Hope
+Overburden
+Garruk, Primal Hunter
+Homeward Path
GW BenedictioWG
Credit to Rivenor for the AWESOME sig.
RKrenko, Mob BossR
RWBAlesha, Who Smiles at DeathBWR
BRRakdos, Lord of RiotsRB
BGRProssh, Skyraider of KherDeckRGB
Modern:WBTokensBW
Standard: BUGSultai DeliriumGUB
Sol Ring you can never go wrong with.
As for lands, Rupture Spire, Command Tower??
Just Suggestions
Though I think that's better if you had more pump effects on your creatures, such as the Swords of X and Y (I'm a fan of Fire and Ice).
Primeval Titan has already be stated, but I am surprised. He would make all your Landfall guys get huge bonuses when they came into play.
Mid-Tier: Marchesa Aggro Rose Asmadi Get Dire Tymna Ikra Woke Women Tiana Aura Angel Ruric Thar SMASH Smasher Kraum Mana Positivity Zur Slides
Filthy Casual: WUBRG Jodah WUBRG WUBRG Fatties WUBRG Gahiji Vigilant Vengeance Ezuri Mysterious Morphs
@Lord Byron: Thanks took me forever. And that's a good point about the drawing. I didn't think letting everybody draw would be too bad. What would you suggest that I put in that either is a bit cheaper, or just lets me draw? And a Jace Beleren doesn't seem like it would be too helpful, especially over a temple bell or otherworld atlas, which allow me to draw at instant speed.
@NC Justin: I really only put Alchemist's Refuge in because I already had one, it costs GU which is in colors, and it takes up a land slot instead of an enchantment slot. I didn't have a real need for instant speed combos to necessitate a Leyline of Anticipation. After I play the deck a few times I'll see if I would rather have the leyline. And Sol Ring and Command Tower will all be in the deck, I just forgot to include them in the list. Fixin' that now. Rupture Spire comes into play tapped, costs mana to play, and in a GU deck, the mana of any one color doesn't seem that helpful for a card with such drawbacks.
@Tev: Thought about Cold-Eyed Selkie along with Vedalken Heretic, obviously the Selkie is much better, but as you said its only really good if I have some pump, and it costs like $4, which isn't too much, but in the grand scheme of my deck I don't think it fits too well.
@Tstorm: Thought about those cards, but I don't know how I feel about them. I do have a Budoka Gardener, but that doesn't last for very long after I flip it. And a Terrain Generator, but I might be able to make room for that Sakura-Tribe Scout.
GW BenedictioWG
I removed Patron of the Orochi and Fable of Wolf and Owl because they just seem like goodstuff, and I want this deck to flow rather than be a bunch of random spells.
As for the card draw, I took out Biomantic Mastery and Recurring Insight, because most of my other card draw is pretty steady and during my upkeep or draw phases. I wanted something that gave me an edge instant-wise, in case I needed to pump my hand at instant speed or activate Words of Wind at a moments notice. I added Blue Sun's Zenith because it is a large card drawing source for X amount of mana, and Brainstorm, which draws 3 cards for 1, and discards none.
Recursion and recycling my graveyard still remain a concern.
GW BenedictioWG
I had to switch computers and the updates to the decklist are pretty significant, so at this time the "mana cost" and "card list" lists aren't up to date, and the "alphabetical list" is no longer alphabetical but is up to date.
Not really keen on Sunken Hope or Overburden, mainly just holding space for other cards on the want list.
GW BenedictioWG