I wanted to use Maelstrom Wanderer as my general at first, but realized that Animar was a bit more to my style; and while I want to play this deck as fairly as possible (as fair as Animar can be, anyway), I like 187's and tempo. It's just how I like to play Magic; don't judge me! D:
How does one play this deck?
The deck is pretty simple, actually; get out Animar, Soul of Elements as soon as you can, protect him with Darksteel Plate, Lightning Greaves, Swiftfoot Boots or Asceticism, and spit out creature after creature after creature until you've amassed an army. Then, once you've accomplished this, use your bounce effects to start reusing your 187's and Cascade triggers. Eventually, you'll be able to either wipe the board of creatures forever, or deal 21 general damage with Animar.
Nuances of the Deck
-Cowardice is a very powerful card in this deck; from Opposition to Asceticism, the deck finds ample ways to out-tempo opponents. It's also powerful when reusing your own creatures.
-Try to assemble a position where you can cast Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre for free with a bounce permanent and any other colorless creature in play. If you do, you can generally win the game right on the spot on the principle of destroying every permanent on the table. It's mean, but it works, right?
About the only card I can think to add is Cloudstone Curio.
Also, to get more bounce going, you could always add Blood Clock and there's a functionally identical one, but that's a matter of taste, I suppose.
I'd cut all the bounce-the-board effects (seriously these seem horrible, why would you want to reset Animar??), the artifact ramp (creature-based ramp fits the deck better) and Seedborn Muse (nothing here to abuse it with, really), Decimate (you have creature-based ench/arti kill), and Night Soil (again, for creature-based gy hate like Scavenging Ooze or Loaming Shaman). Also not huge on Esperzoa, and Cowardice seems pretty meh. Mana Reflection also seems unneeded, as your General should save you lots of mana. A
lso your curve is pretty high in general, I'd cut some of the big random stuff like Paleoloth and consider stuff like Wood Elves, Oracle of Mul Daya, Wall of Roots etc, they work great with Animar and get you to your fatties sooner. I also really like t1 accelerants like BoP, Animar on t2 is awesome.
Edit: and I'll second Clamp, Cloud of Faeries, Palinchron, Trinket Mage, Prime Time and Glimpse, all mentioned by Lonk below.
Could be wrong but deadeye navigator seems good here.
Animar triggers upon casting things, not creatures actually entering the battlefield.
My suggestions: Aluren+Cloudstone Curio are two of the biggest reasons to play Animar. Aluren casts relatively inexpensive creatures for free and that means free Animar counters. Also some of those creatures will have good etb abilities which Cloudstone Curio will let you abuse. Together you have an infinite combo.
In creatures department consider cards with relatively low color requirements and ETB triggers. You've got very little creature based ETB ramp, and very few bounce outlets. Consider Wood Elves, Farhaven Elf, Sakura Tribe Elder, and Primeval Titan for the ramp. Consider Man-o-war, Aether Adept, and Venser, Shaper Savant for the bounce. You don't play enough instants or sorceries to make good use of Mnemonic Wall, and without that, it's just a wall. Cloud of Faeries and Palinchron are both infinite mana combo machines that become progressively more obnoxious the after Animar gains just a few counters. If you've got a bit of money, Glen-Elendra Archmage is insane, and one of the best blue creatures Animar could hope to play. Creature based counterspells are limited already and two counterspells on one body is just marvelous.
In the artifacts department, Oblivion Stone, and Nevinyrall's Disc, are hard sweeps which add a layer of finality evacuation and devastation tide just can't beat. Also get skullclamp in here. You've got plenty of utility creatures to exploit here, and skullclamp is perhaps the best way to do it. I see only one real graveyard hate card here, and don't see anyway of tutoring for it at will. If you add trinket mage to the list of creatures, then zero and one mana graveyard hate cards like Tormod's Crypt, Relic of Progenitus, and Grafdigger's Cage create a toolbox. Skullclamp and Trinket Mage's sordid love affair dates all the way back to mirrodin 1.0 and they're still practically made for one another. Sol Ring also becomes really tempting too, but I can understand the lack of interest in colorless mana ramp.
Sorceries and Instants, I don't have a lot of suggestions here outside of Glimpse of Nature which is Primordial Sage on crack. It's the perfect card for Animar and often a key combo piece to going off. Sadly, it's also really expensive.
Also, if you're meta tends to have decent-sized multiplayer games, Forgotten Ancient seems like he could be fun. He's only got one coloured mana symbol, so he isn't a burden late-game, plus he could spread the +1/+1 counter-love, and early game, he could stock up Animar.
My retired decks - Basically, I've either given up on these old ones or I need to desperately update them and haven't found the time. If you're seeing these from the decklist database, I apologize.
1 Animar, Soul of Elements
Cascaders
2 Bloodbraid Elf
3 Etherium-Horn Sorcerer
4 Maelstrom Wanderer
5 Shardless Agent
Colorless Creatures
6 Artisan of Kozilek
7 Blightsteel Colossus
8 Duplicant
9 It that Betrays
10 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
11 Myr Battlesphere
12 Pilgrim's Eye
13 Scarecrone
14 Shimmer Myr
15 Solemn Simulacrum
16 Spellskite
17 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
18 Wurmcoil Engine
Colored Creatures
19 Acidic Slime
20 Birds of Paradise
21 Brutalizer Exarch
22 Deadeye Navigator
23 Deadwood Treefolk
24 Eternal Witness
25 Farhaven Elf
26 Fierce Empath
27 Forgotten Ancient
28 Garruk's Packleader
29 Indrik Stomphowler
30 Kederekt Leviathan
31 Loaming Shaman
32 Man-O'-War
33 Mulldrifter
34 Mystic Snake
35 Ondu Giant
36 Paleoloth
37 Primordial Sage
38 Seedborn Muse
39 Soul of the Harvest
40 Tidespout Tyrant
41 Venser, Shaper Savant
42 Wood Elves
43 Creeping Renaissance
44 Hurkyl's Recall
45 Praetor's Counsel
46 Reduce to Dreams
Artifacts
47 Cloudstone Curio
48 Crystal Shard
49 Darksteel Plate
50 Expedition Map
51 Library of Leng
52 Lightning Greaves
53 Swiftfoot Boots
Enchantments
54 Aluren
55 Asceticism
56 Cowardice
57 Equilibrium
58 Greater Good
59 Leyline of Anticipation
60 Opposition
Nonbasic Lands
61 Academy Ruins
62 Alchemist's Refuge
63 Buried Ruin
64 Command Tower
65 Desolate Lighthouse
66 Halimar Depths
67 Hinterland Harbor
68 Karpulsan Forest
69 Kessig Wolf Run
70 Llanowar Reborn
71 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
72 Mossfire Valley
73 Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers
74 Raging Ravine
75 Reliquary Tower
76 Rootbound Crag
77 Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep
78 Shivan Reef
79 Sulfur Falls
80 Terramorphic Expanse
81 Tolaria West
82 Yavimaya Coast
3 Mountain
6 Island
9 Forest
Why Animar, Soul of Elements?
How does one play this deck?
Nuances of the Deck
-Try to assemble a position where you can cast Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre for free with a bounce permanent and any other colorless creature in play. If you do, you can generally win the game right on the spot on the principle of destroying every permanent on the table. It's mean, but it works, right?
Cards I Want to Add to the Deck
Both work well with Cowardice and are easily reusable. Thoughts?
Changes Log
-Birds of Paradise
-Deadeye Navigator
-Farhaven Elf
-Forgotten Ancient
-Loaming Shaman
-Man-O'-War
-Ondu Giant
-Venser, Shaper Savant
-Wood Elves
-Cloudstone Curio
-Aluren
Removed:
-Evacuation
-Devestation Tide
-Decimate
-Night Soil
-Esperzoa
-Izzet Signet
-Gruul Signet
-Simic Signet
-Sunken Hope
-Mana Reflection
-Mnemonic Wall
LOVE ME
Also, to get more bounce going, you could always add Blood Clock and there's a functionally identical one, but that's a matter of taste, I suppose.
I'd cut all the bounce-the-board effects (seriously these seem horrible, why would you want to reset Animar??), the artifact ramp (creature-based ramp fits the deck better) and Seedborn Muse (nothing here to abuse it with, really), Decimate (you have creature-based ench/arti kill), and Night Soil (again, for creature-based gy hate like Scavenging Ooze or Loaming Shaman). Also not huge on Esperzoa, and Cowardice seems pretty meh. Mana Reflection also seems unneeded, as your General should save you lots of mana. A
lso your curve is pretty high in general, I'd cut some of the big random stuff like Paleoloth and consider stuff like Wood Elves, Oracle of Mul Daya, Wall of Roots etc, they work great with Animar and get you to your fatties sooner. I also really like t1 accelerants like BoP, Animar on t2 is awesome.
Edit: and I'll second Clamp, Cloud of Faeries, Palinchron, Trinket Mage, Prime Time and Glimpse, all mentioned by Lonk below.
Modern: Jund, Wafo-Tapa UWR
Legacy: Witch-Maw Stoneblade
EDH: Ruhan of the Fomori, Hazezon Tamar, Maga, Traitor to Mortals
Animar triggers upon casting things, not creatures actually entering the battlefield.
My suggestions: Aluren+Cloudstone Curio are two of the biggest reasons to play Animar. Aluren casts relatively inexpensive creatures for free and that means free Animar counters. Also some of those creatures will have good etb abilities which Cloudstone Curio will let you abuse. Together you have an infinite combo.
In creatures department consider cards with relatively low color requirements and ETB triggers. You've got very little creature based ETB ramp, and very few bounce outlets. Consider Wood Elves, Farhaven Elf, Sakura Tribe Elder, and Primeval Titan for the ramp. Consider Man-o-war, Aether Adept, and Venser, Shaper Savant for the bounce. You don't play enough instants or sorceries to make good use of Mnemonic Wall, and without that, it's just a wall. Cloud of Faeries and Palinchron are both infinite mana combo machines that become progressively more obnoxious the after Animar gains just a few counters. If you've got a bit of money, Glen-Elendra Archmage is insane, and one of the best blue creatures Animar could hope to play. Creature based counterspells are limited already and two counterspells on one body is just marvelous.
In the artifacts department, Oblivion Stone, and Nevinyrall's Disc, are hard sweeps which add a layer of finality evacuation and devastation tide just can't beat. Also get skullclamp in here. You've got plenty of utility creatures to exploit here, and skullclamp is perhaps the best way to do it. I see only one real graveyard hate card here, and don't see anyway of tutoring for it at will. If you add trinket mage to the list of creatures, then zero and one mana graveyard hate cards like Tormod's Crypt, Relic of Progenitus, and Grafdigger's Cage create a toolbox. Skullclamp and Trinket Mage's sordid love affair dates all the way back to mirrodin 1.0 and they're still practically made for one another. Sol Ring also becomes really tempting too, but I can understand the lack of interest in colorless mana ramp.
Sorceries and Instants, I don't have a lot of suggestions here outside of Glimpse of Nature which is Primordial Sage on crack. It's the perfect card for Animar and often a key combo piece to going off. Sadly, it's also really expensive.
Oh Rider, my heart will go on...
It's not to put more counters on Animar, it's to get more value out of your ETB durdles.
stuff
Zedruu the Greathearted
Sasaya, Orochi Ascendant
Ulasht, the Hate Seed
Damia, Sage of Stone
Sisters of Stone Death
Tolsimir Wolfblood
Olivia Voldaren
Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius
Radha, Heir to Keld
Vela the Night-Clad
Vorel of the Hull Clade
Stonebrow, Krosan Hero