Golos, ETB Pilgrim - Value Town

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ZenN
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Post by ZenN » 4 years ago

Golos, ETB Pilgrim - Welcome to Value Town

 
 
 
 

I, for one, welcome our new robot overlord.




Overview
Value. Even more important in a multiplayer format than it is in 1v1, it's often the deciding factor between keeping up, even taking over a game, or being left behind. We get value by gaining card advantage over our opponents. "Enters the battlefield" (ETB) triggers are prized because they do exactly that. Every ETB creature that hits the table is giving you virtual card advantage; they represent intrinsic 2-for-1s. You get a card's worth of benefit just from that creature showing up to play, and then still get to have a body to play with. Value.

Armed with that knowledge, this deck seeks to do one thing above all else: out-value your opponents. Card for card, you just get to be doing more. With so many cards pulling double-duty, able to fill multiple roles, the value generation they represent allows you to be consistently ahead on resources, or able to quickly replenish when you're down. By getting multiple uses of the ETB creatures through significant amounts of recursion, the toolbox nature of this sort of deck can really be allowed to shine.

The tools currently in this toolbox allow for a play style that heavily rewards greedily using up your own life total as a resource, through cards like Sylvan Library, Birthing Pod, and plenty of painful lands, only to easily reset yourself with a Resolute Archangel.

Welcome to Value Town.


History
What you see here is the product of countless hours of tweaking, tuning, and playing some version of this list, both within multiple private play groups and against a slew of "randoms", since sometime in 2011. Over that time, there have been different commanders, different colours, and different sub-themes. What started out as a Jenara, Asura of War deck has since spent time being led by Derevi, Empyrial Tactician; Roon of the Hidden Realm; Atraxa, Praetors' Voice; Thrasios, Triton Hero + Ravos, Soultender partners; and now Golos, Tireless Pilgrim.

Each previous version of the deck had something going for it, but I always gravitated back to a purer ETB Bant (GWU) list. That just felt better. More focused, more effective, and even more fun. The existence of Golos, Tireless Pilgrim changed things. Suddenly we were given an easy to cast, versatile, 5-colour commander, with both a huge value-generating activated ability and a strong ETB ability. While I resisted the Gospel of Golos for some time, once I finally tried a Golos version of this deck it became clear it was the way to go. It just felt right.

And so, with all that in mind, it has come to this: a deck that is still primarily Bant-focused in colour, but takes advantage of the access to red and black to be able to play a small splash of strong, on-theme cards that serve only to enhance the deck's effectiveness, without detracting from its feelings of focus and fun.




Golos, ETB Pilgrim
Approximate Total Cost:

Current shortlist of cards being considered includes:


Original Post
For posterity's sake, and for anyone who may look for it, I've kept the most up-to-date version of the original post and Derevi, Empyrial Tactician helmed version of the list right here in this spoiler for your viewing pleasure.
Original Post - Derevi, ETB Tactician
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Those of you who remember me from Salvation probably know that this was once a Jenara, Asura of War deck. My first ever EDH/Commander deck, in fact, from close to a decade ago. It started off as some confused jank that probably just wanted to be a Rafiq of the Many deck, before going through a major overhaul after some inspiration from @ISBPathfinder's ancient Jenara ETB primer.

Some time later, after the original primer was retired, I created my own Jenara ETB primer that was maintained for some years. Over the years since then, the deck has gone through many iterations. It has changed commanders a few times, even gaining an extra colour for a little while there, but has been most consistently a Derevi deck for the last couple years. Or, more accurately, several different Derevi decks. It has gone from pure ETB, to having a tax/hate subtheme, to having a wizards subtheme, to combining those subthemes, and right back to being close to a pure ETB deck again. Bant has been my favourite colour combination in Magic for a long, long time, and I suspect I'll have some version of this deck sleeved up for about as long as I continue to play Commander.

There are some toys in the current iteration you wouldn't likely have found in the old Jenara versions, specifically things that play really nicely with Derevi's untap ability. The list also includes a couple different ways to combo out to close a game, because sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.
Derevi, ETB Tactician

Commander (1)

Planeswalkers (1)

Approximate Total Cost:

Last edited by ZenN 3 years ago, edited 30 times in total.
Commander
Golos, ETB Pilgrim - Value Town
Maelstrom Wanderer a.k.a. The Kool-Aid Man
Korvold, Fae-Cursed King - OM NOM NOM
Kykar, Wind's Fury - Spellslinger + Tokens

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ZenN
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Post by ZenN » 4 years ago

Mana Vault is one of those very new additions, and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it. I usually only like it for super combo focused cEDH lists. But it should play well with Derevi's untap, so we'll see. Hopefully I get a chance to try it out in the near future.
Commander
Golos, ETB Pilgrim - Value Town
Maelstrom Wanderer a.k.a. The Kool-Aid Man
Korvold, Fae-Cursed King - OM NOM NOM
Kykar, Wind's Fury - Spellslinger + Tokens

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Mr_Webman
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Post by Mr_Webman » 3 years ago

Nice I was wondering when you were gonna post this again. I liked the deck list back on Salvation and I like it here too. Mine is a bit different though and I do plan on posting it soon, and when I do I'd like your input on it. What would you say is the main win condition in your list?
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ZenN
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Post by ZenN » 3 years ago

Mr_Webman wrote:
3 years ago
Nice I was wondering when you were gonna post this again. I liked the deck list back on Salvation and I like it here too. Mine is a bit different though and I do plan on posting it soon, and when I do I'd like your input on it. What would you say is the main win condition in your list?
Hey, thanks! I'll definitely gladly give some input when you post yours.

As the format has evolved and decks have gotten stronger overall, the reliance on a combo to close out the game has increased. It has become increasingly difficult to try to just chip damage people to death with small value creatures. For a while I played a version of the deck with a handful of more aggressive value creatures, or more taxy pieces to slow people down while I try to smack them around, and used to play Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite at the top end. I found that version of the deck was much worse at coming back from being down, and mostly just different but equal at staying ahead.

Really though, either amusingly or annoyingly, depending on your opinion, the main win condition here is my opponents seeing me set up a position where I've got insurmountable value and giving up. :P

The list as it is now is tooled for super high resilience. I really missed Angel of Serenity, and I'm super glad to be playing it again. When my group sees me have like an angel + Thassa, Deep-Dwelling + some value creatures, they often just give up I they can't shut it down in a turn or two, because it's essentially inevitable at that point. Plus the angel is just a large flying creature.
Commander
Golos, ETB Pilgrim - Value Town
Maelstrom Wanderer a.k.a. The Kool-Aid Man
Korvold, Fae-Cursed King - OM NOM NOM
Kykar, Wind's Fury - Spellslinger + Tokens

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Post by ZenN » 3 years ago

One current major consideration I have is whether or not I want to add in Felidar Guardian and Peregrine Drake. Along with the drake enabling another infinite mana combo with Deadeye Navigator, adding the cat would allow for being able to get to that combo with nothing but Birthing Pod, any 3 drop (which Derevi conveniently is), and some mana. The line goes like this:
  1. Pod 3 drop into Felidar Guardian, flicker Birthing Pod
  2. Pod Felidar Guardian into Karmic Guide, return Felidar Guardian, flicker Birthing Pod
  3. Pod Karmic Guide into Deadeye Navigator, pair with Felidar Guardian and flicker it, flicker Birthing Pod
  4. Pod Felidar Guardian into Peregrine Drake, pair with Deadeye Navigator, make infinite mana
  5. Pod into a draw creature and draw into a win
This could be done with as little as 6 mana, assuming Pod and a 3 drop are already on the table. My main concerns about adding this line in, though, are that A) the deck may start to feel too combo focused, B) as soon as people know it's a thing I can do, Birthing Pod immediately becomes a priority target over anything else on the table, rather than just a high value target.

I don't usually like to add combo pieces just for the sake of combo. Both Felidar Guardian and Peregrine Drake are solid cards in this deck on their own, which is what really makes this worth consideration for me.
Commander
Golos, ETB Pilgrim - Value Town
Maelstrom Wanderer a.k.a. The Kool-Aid Man
Korvold, Fae-Cursed King - OM NOM NOM
Kykar, Wind's Fury - Spellslinger + Tokens

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Post by ZenN » 3 years ago

I think I've decided against including that clear combo line. I'm very happy with the way deck is playing right now, and I think I'll just keep it in my back pocket for if and when I feel the need to increase the power a bit.

I played a couple games with this tonight, and it feels great right now. The one card I think is gonna go in the near future is Eldrazi Displacer. The card is very solid, but the requirement for colourless mana makes me sad. I'm really happy with my mana base the way it is right now, and just don't feel like tweaking it to up the colourless potential right now. Not sure what I'm going to replace it with just yet, but I think it's gonna go.
Commander
Golos, ETB Pilgrim - Value Town
Maelstrom Wanderer a.k.a. The Kool-Aid Man
Korvold, Fae-Cursed King - OM NOM NOM
Kykar, Wind's Fury - Spellslinger + Tokens

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Mr_Webman
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Post by Mr_Webman » 3 years ago

Since you run so many fetches, I would highly consider running Titania, Protector of Argoth. She can easily get you 15+ power on the board while she's out, and that's not even counting when you blink her.

I also agree about potentially cutting Eldrazi Displacer. You only run 4 lands in your deck that can tap for and they don't really wanna remain untapped because of their abilities. I cut it from my list for that very reason.
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ZenN
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Post by ZenN » 3 years ago

Mr_Webman wrote:
3 years ago
Since you run so many fetches, I would highly consider running Titania, Protector of Argoth. She can easily get you 15+ power on the board while she's out, and that's not even counting when you blink her.

I also agree about potentially cutting Eldrazi Displacer. You only run 4 lands in your deck that can tap for and they don't really wanna remain untapped because of their abilities. I cut it from my list for that very reason.
Well, there are also Sol Ring, Mana Crypt, and Mana Vault currently for additional colourless sources for Eldrazi Displacer, but that's still only 7 sources. If I were going to keep it, I'd probably want to cut Horizon Canopy and Waterlogged Grove for the regular pain lands, but those two lands are so good, especially with Sun Titan.

Edit: Oh, a 5th land that can tap for colourless: Reflecting Pool. So 8 sources total, plus a few ways tutor for them. Maybe that's enough.

Titania, Protector of Argoth is a solid card, no doubt. She can certainly be very aggressive, and getting lands back is sweet. I'm not sure if I'd want her over my current 5 drops, though, and I don't really want to add more 5 drops. Worth thinking about, at least.
Commander
Golos, ETB Pilgrim - Value Town
Maelstrom Wanderer a.k.a. The Kool-Aid Man
Korvold, Fae-Cursed King - OM NOM NOM
Kykar, Wind's Fury - Spellslinger + Tokens

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Post by ZenN » 3 years ago

Winds of Abandon is a great card, but lately I just haven't really felt like I needed it. As targeted removal it loses out to Path to Exile, and I've got both Cyclonic Rift and Tragic Arrogance to clear the board if I really need to.

On top of that, I've been thinking I might want one more creature ETB card draw source. I was originally thinking Coiling Oracle, since it did good work for me in the past, but I figure I'm going to try Risen Reef. I've got a few other elementals already, plus clones. Seems nutty to clone this thing. I look forward to trying it out.

Worth noting, if I end up keeping Risen Reef, it does add a little more appeal to some other cards that had already been on my mind, like Cavalier of Dawn.

Commander
Golos, ETB Pilgrim - Value Town
Maelstrom Wanderer a.k.a. The Kool-Aid Man
Korvold, Fae-Cursed King - OM NOM NOM
Kykar, Wind's Fury - Spellslinger + Tokens

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pokken
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Post by pokken » 3 years ago

You ever tried Oakhame Adversary? Feels like it'd add a pretty nice angle of attack as well as a derevi pinger that no one wants to block that also draws you a card.

I'm finding that card very, very good even in my medium-casual decks.

Podding into *5-drops is also enticing.
Last edited by pokken 3 years ago, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by ZenN » 3 years ago

pokken wrote:
3 years ago
You ever tried Oakhame Adversary? Feels like it'd add a pretty nice angle of attack as well as a derevi pinger that no one wants to block that also draws you a card.

I'm finding that card very, very good even in my medium-casual decks.

Podding into 6-drops is also enticing.
I've played it in other decks. It's a solid card, but doesn't really fit in with what this deck is doing. Being able to cheat the Pod curve (from 2 mana to a 5 drop) is cool and all, but that'd be such a rare occasion. Plus, with the heavier than normal density of wraths in my group it would rarely get in for more than an attack or two.
Commander
Golos, ETB Pilgrim - Value Town
Maelstrom Wanderer a.k.a. The Kool-Aid Man
Korvold, Fae-Cursed King - OM NOM NOM
Kykar, Wind's Fury - Spellslinger + Tokens

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Mr_Webman
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Post by Mr_Webman » 3 years ago

Sorry do you think you could explain to me the first combo you listed? The one with Derevi, Deadeye Navigator, and Bloom Tender/Faeburrow Elder. Since you have to use to activate Deadeye Navigator, wouldn't the infinite mana you get all be non- unless you used Lotus Field? And then how would you still be able to tap all their stuff?
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Post by ZenN » 3 years ago

@Mr_Webman No, you're totally right. The combo with Bloom Tender or Faeburrow Elder only makes infinite GW, which is great for using with Mirror Entity or Finale of Devastation, but doesn't allow the tap everything.

At some point I was editing and adding the "tap everything" bit and didn't split those lines. That's my bad.
Commander
Golos, ETB Pilgrim - Value Town
Maelstrom Wanderer a.k.a. The Kool-Aid Man
Korvold, Fae-Cursed King - OM NOM NOM
Kykar, Wind's Fury - Spellslinger + Tokens

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Post by Dunharrow » 3 years ago

How many cards is Zegana typically drawing you. I think that you would be better off with Coiling oracle.
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ZenN
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Post by ZenN » 3 years ago

Dunharrow wrote:
3 years ago
How many cards is Zegana typically drawing you. I think that you would be better off with Coiling oracle.
Prime Speaker Zegana is almost always 3+ cards, plus ~10 creatures that allow her to draw more than that, not counting clones or things stolen with Gilded Drake. She's also much nicer to flicker, and it's relevant that she's at the 6 mana spot in the curve, as she gives me something I'm very happy to Birthing Pod into and not at all unhappy to Pod away into a 7, and helps to keep card draw creatures split at different numbers in the curve (currently 2, 3, 5, and 6).

I've been playing this deck for nearly a decade and she's been in it since she was printed. In all that time, I've never once second guessed her inclusion. :)
Commander
Golos, ETB Pilgrim - Value Town
Maelstrom Wanderer a.k.a. The Kool-Aid Man
Korvold, Fae-Cursed King - OM NOM NOM
Kykar, Wind's Fury - Spellslinger + Tokens

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pokken
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Post by pokken » 3 years ago

It's really hard with the current trend toward efficiency but I'll tell ya...you still need some bombs like Zegana. Lots of games still close with someone resolving a Recurring Insight while everyone is trying to accumulate slow advantage with Mystic Remora and blinking Fblthp, the Lost and whatever efficient stuff folks are doing nowadays.

Zegana is gross. If you make her a 7/7 off a Sun Titan i don't see how anyone comes back from that :P

This deck has plenty of crap to do at 1-3 mana.

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Post by DeadPresident » 3 years ago

Hey Zen - followed a few of the posters here from MTGSalvation, glad to see this list still exists and you're going on with it! Jenara was my first half decent EDH deck and ever since I picked up a Mana Vault I've been running a Derevi list.

Just to chip in on the Zegana debate, she's almost always drawing at least 3+ cards for me, but I generally time playing her for when I've got Sun Titan/DEN/Palinchron out to make sure I'm getting full value. I even started running Serra Ascendant as a removal magnet that also means better PSZ hits.

Out of curiosity Zen, what's your view on cards like Nature's Will, Wilderness Reclamation, and Seedborn Muse? Do you ever miss those types of effects with your current list? I run quite a lot of interaction and I'm always glad to get one of them out (currently run both Reclamation and the Muse) just to ensure having potential interaction available because I often get a lot of attention from the rest of the table.

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Post by ZenN » 3 years ago

DeadPresident wrote:
3 years ago
Out of curiosity Zen, what's your view on cards like Nature's Will, Wilderness Reclamation, and Seedborn Muse? Do you ever miss those types of effects with your current list? I run quite a lot of interaction and I'm always glad to get one of them out (currently run both Reclamation and the Muse) just to ensure having potential interaction available because I often get a lot of attention from the rest of the table.
I miss being able to run Prophet of Kruphix, but none of the replacement untap effects have ever really felt worth it. I've usually got a couple of 2+ mana permanents that I can untap with a couple Derevi damage triggers to leave up for other people's turns, if I need to.

I did try Seedborn Muse for a bit, but rarely felt good about playing it. If I played more creatures with flash I could see being happier with it.

I actually ran Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir for a while. Around when I had a bit of a wizards subtheme going on. He was good, but he got cut when the list was refocused on ETB effects.

Ever managing to have both would be a sweet DIY Prophet, but that's two 5 drop spots dedicated to things that just don't contribute as much as I'd like.
Commander
Golos, ETB Pilgrim - Value Town
Maelstrom Wanderer a.k.a. The Kool-Aid Man
Korvold, Fae-Cursed King - OM NOM NOM
Kykar, Wind's Fury - Spellslinger + Tokens

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Post by Kitsune_18 » 3 years ago

Finally got the memo this thread had moved; It's great to see new discussion on this old deck!

I'm still (tentatively) rocking Jenara at the helm of my list, and one qualm I've had is the lack of a good-stuff 5cmc creature. There are plenty of recursion/toolbox creatures at this cmc, but sometimes I find myself looking for a big impact creature with my Birthing Pod. I've considered Cavalier of Dawn in the past, but have yet to test him. More recently, though, I've wondered if Yorion, Sky Nomad might be a good fit. God knows we have plenty of EtB effects to abuse.

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Post by ZenN » 3 years ago

@Kitsune_18 Welcome! Great to know others are still at it with versions of this deck. :)

As for a "good stuff" 5 drop, Cavalier of Dawn is definitely the one that keeps coming to my mind. It does some very sweet things, and with a solid body. Even Cavalier of Gales or Cavalier of Thorns would be fine. That was a solid cycle.

Another option that was suggested previously in this thread was Titania, Protector of Argoth, which has a some very solid potential if you're playing as many fetches as I am. Plus I've got Lotus Field to abuse with Derevi's untap.

I had actually not even considered Yorion, Sky Nomad as an option, but it could definitely fit. With my focus shifted back to more pure ETB and playing more flicker effects, this might be worth a thinking about more.
Commander
Golos, ETB Pilgrim - Value Town
Maelstrom Wanderer a.k.a. The Kool-Aid Man
Korvold, Fae-Cursed King - OM NOM NOM
Kykar, Wind's Fury - Spellslinger + Tokens

DeadPresident
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Post by DeadPresident » 3 years ago

ZenN wrote:
3 years ago
DeadPresident wrote:
3 years ago
Out of curiosity Zen, what's your view on cards like Nature's Will, Wilderness Reclamation, and Seedborn Muse? Do you ever miss those types of effects with your current list? I run quite a lot of interaction and I'm always glad to get one of them out (currently run both Reclamation and the Muse) just to ensure having potential interaction available because I often get a lot of attention from the rest of the table.
I miss being able to run Prophet of Kruphix, but none of the replacement untap effects have ever really felt worth it. I've usually got a couple of 2+ mana permanents that I can untap with a couple Derevi damage triggers to leave up for other people's turns, if I need to.

I did try Seedborn Muse for a bit, but rarely felt good about playing it. If I played more creatures with flash I could see being happier with it.

I actually ran Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir for a while. Around when I had a bit of a wizards subtheme going on. He was good, but he got cut when the list was refocused on ETB effects.

Ever managing to have both would be a sweet DIY Prophet, but that's two 5 drop spots dedicated to things that just don't contribute as much as I'd like.
I actually think this makes me consider perhaps taking one of the two out because Derevi's untaps should be sufficient to have the 2-3 mana required to keep interaction up and then I can include some sort of higher impact ETB card in the now opened slot 👍🏻
Kitsune_18 wrote:
3 years ago
Finally got the memo this thread had moved; It's great to see new discussion on this old deck!

I'm still (tentatively) rocking Jenara at the helm of my list, and one qualm I've had is the lack of a good-stuff 5cmc creature. There are plenty of recursion/toolbox creatures at this cmc, but sometimes I find myself looking for a big impact creature with my Birthing Pod. I've considered Cavalier of Dawn in the past, but have yet to test him. More recently, though, I've wondered if Yorion, Sky Nomad might be a good fit. God knows we have plenty of EtB effects to abuse.
Completely agree - I remember really struggling with 4cmc and 5cmc for the pod chain at a stage. I've gone through Azami, Cataclysmic Gearhulk, Ixidron, Seedborn Muse, Karmic Guide, Reveillark, Sigarda, Host of Herons, and Body Double and I've only ever really felt like Karmic Guide and Lark are the ones I would always include, although Muse and Azami have also been decent.

The Cavalier cycle does offer some good considerations, though.

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Post by ZenN » 3 years ago

The Cavaliers (and the aforementioned Titania, Protector of Argoth) actually add a little bit of even-more-value now that I've got a Risen Reef in the list (which I actually have yet to ever put on the batlefield, despite playing 5 or 6 games with this deck since including it...).
Commander
Golos, ETB Pilgrim - Value Town
Maelstrom Wanderer a.k.a. The Kool-Aid Man
Korvold, Fae-Cursed King - OM NOM NOM
Kykar, Wind's Fury - Spellslinger + Tokens

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ZenN
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Post by ZenN » 3 years ago

Two more games with this deck, and still no Risen Reef. The only time I saw it was when someone targeted me with an Ashiok, Dream Render and I got to watch it go to exile.

Lotus Field is turning out to be an absolute all-star. Having a permanent that always taps for 3 and my opponents can't target has been huge. Not as colour diverse as using the untap triggers on a Bloom Tender, but no summoning sickness to worry about, and is much harder for opponents to get rid of (especially in a meta with little to no mass land destruction).

I've been happy enough with it that I'm even tempted to include a Crop Rotation just to go find it more consistently. Hurts a little to be losing 3 lands for it, but it's honestly been that good.

Not sure what, but I'm pretty sure I want to cut Eldrazi Displacer for another value creature. I have just enough colourless for it to be viable, but it's just not consistent enough, and also 3 mana to flicker something is kind of just a lot anyway, especially now that I'm playing more things that will give me a free flicker per turn, like Soulherder and Thassa, Deep-Dwelling.
Commander
Golos, ETB Pilgrim - Value Town
Maelstrom Wanderer a.k.a. The Kool-Aid Man
Korvold, Fae-Cursed King - OM NOM NOM
Kykar, Wind's Fury - Spellslinger + Tokens

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Post by Kitsune_18 » 3 years ago

Has anyone tried Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath? I'm considering testing it in place of Mulldrifter as they perform very similar functions.

In regard to Eldrazi Displacer, I personally would have a hard time cutting it; I've had many situations come up when blinking my opponents' creatures has fizzled some effect or fogged a problematic creature and been just as impactful as blinking my own. Also being able to blink on command at instant speed instead of triggered at end of turn has many applications. I actually cut Venser, the Sojourner when was looking to make room for Soulherder.

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ZenN
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Post by ZenN » 3 years ago

Kitsune_18 wrote:
3 years ago
Has anyone tried Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath? I'm considering testing it in place of Mulldrifter as they perform very similar functions.

In regard to Eldrazi Displacer, I personally would have a hard time cutting it; I've had many situations come up when blinking my opponents' creatures has fizzled some effect or fogged a problematic creature and been just as impactful as blinking my own. Also being able to blink on command at instant speed instead of triggered at end of turn has many applications. I actually cut Venser, the Sojourner when was looking to make room for Soulherder.
I've thought about Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath a few times. My biggest gripe with it for this deck is just how poorly it plays with recursion, whether it be flickering or reanimating, both of which this deck does a lot of. It's got its own recursion built in, but that requires me to be eating my own graveyard, which is fine if it's full of things I don't care about/can't get back, but that's rarely the case. It's no doubt a strong card, and I sincerely wish that the sac trigger said "if you cast it from your hand", but of course that would break theme for the card, so I get it.

Pretty much everything you said about Eldrazi Displacer is on point, no doubt. When it comes down to it, I've just had too many games where I've got it and not enough colourless mana to use it effectively, or sometimes even at all. This basically leaves me with two options: cut it, or water down my mana base a bit to include more colourless production. The easiest thing would probably be swapping Horizon Canopy and Waterlogged Grove back out for Adarkar Wastes and Brushland like I used to have, and probably City of Brass out for Yavimaya Coast, which is a relatively minor change. It's not a huge loss, and I get back a bit of colourless production for when I need it, plus the option to not take damage off the lands sometimes. Those three extra colourless sources are probably enough to make Displacer more consistent, at the expensive of some value or consistency elsewhere in the deck. It'll mostly come down to if I figure there's something I'd really like to put in over Displacer.

I'm willing to admit that Venser, the Sojourner may be a little bit of a pet card, but I've never really been unhappy with him. At his worst, he flickers something and then either eats removal or fogs an attack. He's strong enough that if left alone he just wins the game, which has happened a few times when I've been able to protect him long enough to get the emblem. He has also won me the game a few times by making my team unblockable with a Mirror Entity on the table. That silly little changeling is one of my main non-combo win conditions, on top of being a component of my main combo win condition.
Commander
Golos, ETB Pilgrim - Value Town
Maelstrom Wanderer a.k.a. The Kool-Aid Man
Korvold, Fae-Cursed King - OM NOM NOM
Kykar, Wind's Fury - Spellslinger + Tokens

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