It's a high-price low-upside move but how about adding in a few fetchlands? They play very well with Rings of Brighthearth and Khalni Heart Expedition and present very little in the way of opportunity cost. They also "synergize" with Three Visits in that you get to use an expensive card to fetch up a basic forest.
Ha ha, very funny
In all fairness, I do see your point. There is some element of synergy, and it might be optimal to have them in here. Just as they announce no fetches in BFZ and prices skyrocket on the enemy ones, woo
Hall of the Bandit Lord seems like something I should try out in here, it could work. There's no Crop Rotation as the deck's been 100% basic for the vast majority of its existence, as is the current iteration (after a short stint with Myriad Landscape). Patron of the Orochi is limited to untapping forests, and no nonbasics really seemed to do enough to merit a slot. This is the sort of weird list where Gaea's Cradle doesn't really do anything until you're about to win anyway.
Ulvenwald Tracker is currently in the sideboard, and I sometimes slip him into the 99 to shake things up a notch. He's pretty good at doing what you outlined, I may promote him into the base 99 again.
EDIT: As it's brainstorm season in here suddenly, Spawnsire of Ulamog seems like an interesting possibility for the deck. The token making itself is roughly Ant Queen efficiency (slightly inferior due to the double trouble bundle), but if you can generate 30 mana across your opponents' turns after he comes down (20 to make spawns, then sac off the spawns for 10 and make 10 more to activate the ability) then you pretty much win the game. He fails to respond to a few of the tutors though, and 10 mana up front is a bit more than any of the other options ask for. I just wrote my vendor inquiring how many Hand of Emrakuls he has just in case.
I agree that Winding Canyons is probably the second best non-basic for the deck after Hall of the Bandit Lord, I'll give them both a go with some dedicated tempo-assessing goldfishing. I'm not hugely optimistic about it, though - I literally just cut a flash source from the deck for not doing enough. Maybe having it on a land would be less distracting, but then you get cases of it getting in the way of doublers etc.
I don't think I'll go for the Spawnsire in the end. It's not really an issue of "boring", as the deck is "boring" by default and just wants to make tokens and overrun people (with dropping 100 Hand of Emrakul not being hugely different). However, Spawnsire is soft to some really odd hate (think Ætherspouts), and doesn't feel sufficiently awesome. I guess I'll keep the Woodland Bellower slot on hold for any interesting future cards. Also yes, Avenger of Zendikar is quite efficient at making bodies, but a standard engine/finisher chain is able to consume any amount of Patron mana thrown at it (further amplified through non-land-count sources such as doublers, extra untaps or basic non-land ramp, inherently scaling with the size of the table) and usually deal more damage, which quite often could make the difference between a table wipe and a solid alpha strike with cleanup needed.
With regards to the suggestions discussed a few posts up - tempo goldfishing reveals Hall of the Bandit Lord to be a bit problematic to play around in a similar manner to Myriad Landscape, I may slot it in later but not now. Winding Canyons only grants creatures flash, which makes it a touch too limited to merit a space. All basics for now it is then!
BFZ seemed like it may be an exciting time for the deck, it turned out not to be. There's a big fat ramp spell in Nissa's Renewal, which is a triple Rampant Growth with 7 life stapled on top. That's not bad, especially given the fact I get aggroed when I play the list, but at the same mana you get something like Mana Reflection, and one mana more gets you Boundless Realms. Reasonably underwhelming in comparison. May try to rotate with Woodland Bellower for fun for a few games if I get my paws on one, but not expecting it to make splashes. Nothing else really worth it - a three mana instant speed Rampant Growth, some tutoring for Eldrazi (which would be okay if I ran Spawnsire of Ulamog, I guess, but would be completely dead if the Spawnsire was not hiding in the depths of the deck anymore).
As such, no changes, at least at this point. Woodland Bellower is still probably the worst thing in the 99 at the moment, but due to the fact I always went for mana efficiency with my utility creatures I can now easily hit a Reclamation Sage, Eternal Witness or a mana chicken if I don't want to (or can't) hit the Fierce Empath, offering up a mini toolbox of sorts. Not a bad worst card in the 99 to have then. And hey, no matter how one looks at it, that's more utility than the previously grandfathered Vedalken Orrery, so win there.
Lack of Commander 2015 changes. The offered cards are pretty cute, but lack just a smidgen of extra oomph to actually merit slots. Verdant Confluence looks like mad flexible value, but in the end no matter what you do it doesn't really feel like you're getting 6 mana's worth of bang for your buck when you recall what other cards would be doing. Skullwinder is, possibly literally, a rattlesnake variant of Eternal Witness, but the political aspect of the card is likely to at least partially screw you up if you're doing well. Pathbreaker Ibex lacks haste, and doesn't offer Kamahl-style board impact when just chilling. And that's about it. Updated primer with this stuff in there, and some other recent choices that have been ignored.
True, a global +2/+2 to your dudes is nice. However, you have to admit that Kamahl, Fist of Krosa and Craterhoof Behemoth are both more potent at killing people, as are Elder of Laurels, Beastmaster Ascension and Coat of Arms (all of which were in the list at one point or another but got cut). The Patron untap is actually rather useless, as he untaps himself as part of his own ability resolving - he is a green creature, after all. It's a cool tech'y card, but it doesn't bring all that much new to the table, and there's other things that do it better already.
Something I forgot to mention in the previous meandering post - another consideration for the Bellower replacement is Avenger of Zendikar, on your recommendation. He may not be as in tune with the deck as Ant Queen or Nemata, Grove Guardian, but the decent commander-independent burst of presence make it an interesting backup plan to have somewhere in orbit.
As openly mentioned before, Woodland Bellower was the worst card in the 99, and taking him out won't hurt the deck's consistency. This merely makes it go back to its prior tutor density, which was already adequate. The problem with the Bellower was that, in the end, he'd have been far better as some form of X-cost tutoring for the deck. Just as I wrote in here half a year ago when ORI was fresh off the presses. Still, he was more functional in his odd, gimped, Fierce Empath/Eternal Witness-mediated ways than I initially expected when I first saw the ORI spoiler.
Zendikar Resurgent is one of those cards that any self-respecting 60-card format player will write off as an "EDH card" and leave to rot in the rare redraft. My gut tells me that this won't get lapped up by the EDH crowd, though, as seven mana is quite a hefty overhead to pay for his sort of effect, even with the draw slapped on for good measure. My gut has been known to be wrong though, as I expected Temur Sabertooth to become an overnight sensation and look how that turned out. Nevertheless, it fits right at home here, as the more doubling the merrier and this has a far more profound impact than three Rampant Growthsglued together. The draw is actually a welcome cherry on top of the cake, as in a standard gameplay scenario it will get a few cards to help refill the grip and rebuild from any unexpected happenings. In Temur Sabertooth-mediated infinite mode, this draws the deck off Patron/Arbor Elf casts. This unfortunately means that the card has to be dealt with at some point mid-infinite to avoid decking, but thankfully there are numerous ways to handle it lurking within the 99.
The rest of OGW isn't really anything to write home about. Bonds of Mortality cantrips for days and allows for some politics'y meddling in hexproof and indestructibility, but there's no real reason to run it. World Breaker is wonderfully uninteractive, but also limited in terms of range and timing. There's nothing in the colourless realm that would merit a splash of Wastes (which could be done quite easily, given the copious amount of basic digging). Once again, Ruin in Their Wake et al. should not merit preferential treatment just because they're new.
Well, SOI came and went, and brought literally nothing for the deck. That's okay. They can't all be zingers. Zendikar Resurgent is pretty tight and the list approves of its addition. However, I looked back on the list now, with a slightly broadened building/playing perspective than when I first made the list, and realised something glaringly obvious... given how combotastic the list has become, there's literally no reason not to run Earthcraft.
So, Earthcraft in. In a fair and balanced scenario, I make some more ants or something. Combine with doublers or enchantment ramp and I make infinite ants without casting Patron, ending the game potentially quite a bit ahead of the time it would have otherwise ended. Almost has me wanting to find room for Concordant Crossroads, but that one could backfire on me spectacularly so not going to happen, at least not today. Needed to make room, so took out the slightly grandfathered Defense of the Heart. Instead of a game-ending rattlesnake, it was just a bit of a delayed value engine. Patron's all about the here and now with the tutors, most of the time.
Also, found room to promote Ulvenwald Tracker out of the sideboard. Throwing Patron against something in every player's turn is pretty good value, as a lot of important things are small enough for him to eat. Another mindset difference - old me was like "but I can't eat Ulamog". New me's like "but I can eat that Marath in response to the deathtouch soulbond trigger, and many other things". Progress! Needed room, again, so took out Krosan Grip as the most limited spell when accounting for range and tutorability. Fear not, for both axed cards are likely going to live in a Meren deck, assuming Sheoldred does transform into it as it seems that she might.
That means I need to make an alteration to the sideboard...
I have officially terminated the Purph deck, so I have an unemployed Ensnaring Bridge. It was incredible in there, and it seems that it can be situationally great here too. So why not slot it into the sideboard to have situational access to it?
Hello guys this is a very interesting deck. But is only a for fun deck ora can seriosly win games?
Depends on your playgroup. If left to its own devices, the deck will typically offer a ~T6 tablekill. If disrupted, it can keep insisting on its game plan through the power of more ramp, tutors and recursion, or it can fall back into a slumber, amassing resources until it pulls a surprise stun kill when given an opportunity. It fares fine in my playgroup, but we don't have any of the "tier one" commanders cruising around.
The recent changes have worked out quite well. Fight Bear is pure removal value, and Earthcraft is hyper easy to activate given all the doubling and enchantment ramp. The element of unpredictability it adds to the game is wonderful, as that's another thing that I can pull off out of the blue. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I considered adding Avenger of Zendikar to the list as another Patron-independent avenue (thanks Artaud for the reminder upthread). I drew him a bunch of times, I never wanted to play him, slightly similar situation to what happens with Elspeth, Sun's Champion in my Daxos build. Fair enough, that's what backup plays are for, no? While I was holding said backup play, I noticed a different thing - surprisingly often, I wasn't hyper land dense to say the least. In between all the doubling and splash of enchantment ramp and dorks, it is not a given that a high amount of mana correlates to a high land count. As such, Avenger out, and a different minute tweak in.
Patron was designed during another time. Partial Paris roamed the Earth, and the deck actively used that to help sculpt a hand of curved mana acceleration with a splash of draw/tutoring. You're not granted the same liberty now that it's Vancouver time, and shipping a hand with two clunkers is likely to get you a hand with two different clunkers in return. In the Partial Paris days, the mild hand sculpting meant the deck could get away with a little less land than it probably should run now. As such, the slot opened up for the Avenger goes to an extra forest instead.
Why Eldrazi Monument? But it protects stuff from wraths, man! Well, yes, yes it does. But it only properly comes online when a token engine has set up shop, and can't be easily tutored, and is a resounding five mana clunker in most opening hands. True, it saved my tuckus a few times over the 1.5 years this shell has been together, but there's so much more to life than straight wraths - -X/-X, bounce, the occasional tuck. Bumping up the land count to help smooth the early game is probably a good idea.
The low-cost tutors have been pulling a lot of work since the mulligan change, as I've started using my creature toolbox and ramp options more actively. I've used more GSZs on Joraga Treespeaker than Ant Queen since I started this recent playing-the-deck spree. Citanul Flute is insane value. It would be nice to expand the ramp/toolbox a bit, but nothing immediately apparent comes to mind. Wood Elves or maybe even Flip Nissa for the ramp potentially, but the "holy trinity" of Joraga Treespeaker, Arbor Elf and Sakura-Tribe Elder have got the tutorable bases covered. In terms of the toolbox, Acidic Slime kind of wants in, but his functionality is already handled by Reclamation Sage and Brutalizer Exarch. Avenger of Zendikar was already rather thoroughly discussed.
In case I decide to up my land count some more, Time of Need is on my radar for cuts, but it's incredible value and doesn't want to be cut. Since the shift in mulligan reliability, Nemata, Grove Guardian has put in a lot of work due to his one-man-army nature, and this grabs him for two mana, no questions asked, allowing me to use other tutors to help smooth out whatever else needs smoothing. For now the few games I got in since this tweak were okay in the mana department.
One more thing of note - typically, if entering dig mode (heavy draw), the deck switches gears from large finite token swarm to combo stun kill. It's one turn faster, simple as that, as it allows you to end the game when you untap (in your turn, heh) instead of waiting another go around the table to amass attack-ready bodies. Seeing how there's more and more combos with nearly each iteration, there's usually some variation of an infinite mana combo that can be pieced together using the fat grip you have as the turn returns to you. But if there isn't, there's no shame in just going for the standard token approach, or even another round of dig if needed. The joys of a multitude of mana infinites. So not sorry, infinite haters
Depends on your definition of "fun". It's quite linear and easy to interact with, albeit the interaction typically merely slows you down a bit. However, I really enjoy its weird janky uniqueness, and the potential to pull oddball infinites you wouldn't see in EDH otherwise.
This deck liked the old mulligan rules. You'd sculpt a nice hand with the right amount of ramp and draw/tutor etc and go to town. Now things are not guaranteed to go to plan, and the transition from early to mid game is an important factor to plan around when you decide what hand to keep. Mind's Eye is nice, but a little clunky to play around. Sylvan Library comes down early and provides insight into the top three cards of your deck, even some card advantage if you choose to be light-handed with your life total. There's a lot of shuffling going on at every stage of the game, so this helps you filter out the options you need at a given time. Works well, helps smooth out the early game. Win. Plus, I supported the LGS as they cracked some EMA and had it for sale for a reasonable amount of money.
Really been digging this list lately, probably because it gets to do broken things with a bulk rare. A few more random ideas:
I get that you want all your card draw to be recurring because mono-G has a way of running out of gas, but Harmonize and Memory Jar are both super efficient and fit nicely into a curve involving a Rampant Growth or a Cultivate.
You make a good case against Myriad Landscape in the primer, and Blighted Woodland looks at first glance to be more of the same. However, I think that entering the battlefield untapped is a big enough upside to actually run it. Having Blighted Woodland plus Snow-Covered Forest as the only two lands in your opening hand doesn't mess with sequences like turn 1 suspend Search for Tomorrow, turn 2 Rampant Growth the way Myriad Landscape would in that situation. It's not a Forest, but I feel like you'll be able to find time to pop it into two Forest before Papa Roach comes down.
This one's probably more cute than actually good, but how about Chameleon Colossus as a win condition? Protection from black is great, and it's a Snake you can offer up to the Patron!
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You would never guess, at the terrifying sight of the man, that Hunding was as charming a companion as one could wish for.
Glad to hear you've been getting a kick out of it Great suggestions all around, I'll give Blighted Woodland a go for sure as it seems less intrusive to the early plays as you pointed out. If I were to include standalone win-cons, I'd probably go for army-in-a-can style things like Hydra Broodmaster or Avenger of Zendikar first as they gel well with what the deck does while I foresee that the Colossus would have a tough time connecting and would need the help of a trample-granting finisher anyway. I may end up revamping the draw suite, and other elements of the list, as me caving a bit and putting in Sylvan Library shows that some cards I've been dismissing work perfectly well.
There's just no question, Selvala, Heart of the Wilds needs to be in the 99. With Patron out, she taps for 6 mana, which is already absolutely ridiculous. She also cooperates quite nicely with a few bits of the deck (Staff of Domination, the standard hasted Temur Sabertooth shenanigans) to make infinite mana instead. Her main downside is that in the buildup to casting Patron, she's got the efficiency of a Darksteel Ingot, but once the commander is on the field she really kicks into overdrive. True, she may hand out a few cards to my opponents off her ability, but I'm also likely to get one when Patron hits, and in some of the infinite scenarios juggling Patron on and off the board can let me cruise through my deck. Sounds like a risk worth taking.
Speaking of risks worth taking, Keeper of Progenitus is the one making room for Selvala in the 99. I will always think of him fondly, and the two fulfil vastly different roles - the Keeper offering mana in a can to half the board whenever he comes down, whilst Selvala takes it slower but largely keeps the benefits to me. This is further in line with the comborriffic enhancements the shell has been getting since Temur Sabertooth has been printed, and the potential to go off the rails with little to no warning is a wonderful thing to have. At the same time, all the pieces that lead to the dumbest outcome also work perfectly well in the "by design" token swarm mode.
Also, while tinkering with other Gx commanders, I've come to appreciate the power of what Fierce Empath can offer. As such, Greenwarden of Murasa has been added to allow the toolbox to also hit grave recursion, a vital component of the deck. Room had to be made, so Revive (the shoddiest of the recursion spells in the list) got offed.
Nothing else from Conspiracy 2 is likely to make its way into the deck though. Regal Behemoth is woefully unreliable and incentivises punching you. This is just not the deck for Selvala's Stampede.
Nothing new to add from Kaladesh. Oviya Pashiri, Sage Lifecrafter could merit consideration if her abilities didn't tap her. However, they do, so there's nothing to talk about really. Patron requires a very specific sort of card to make it into the 99. The recent cards that made it into the list and stayed there are largely oriented around making mana (and incidental card draw, which doesn't hurt either). The most recent non-mana card is Temur Sabertooth, and that bugger turned the deck upside down when he came in.
Every now and then I ponder if the deck could use a facelift to bring it up to my current play style. Since I built the core of the shell, I've become far more focused on running a variety of answers to handle all sorts of situations. I then look at the 99, think of the cards I'm not running, and realise I'm really not missing all that much in terms of functionality. In terms of utility ETB dudes, I could up my removal count with Acidic Slime and Woodfall Primus/Terastodon, but the bases are reasonably well covered by the existing cheaper options. The closest to a sensible include would be Duplicant, as straightforward creature removal is naturally lacking in green and this wouldn't be a bad thing to have on tap. However, no obvious cut presents itself. Instant speed answers to mess with people in their turns are also quite limited, as the best ones not currently in the deck are Krosan Grip and Scour from Existence. Fair enough, I could run the Grip and it would probably be a good idea, and I probably could even support Scour with my mana, but none of them jump out as immediate "hey boss why are you missing me in the 99" sort of scenarios. As such, it feels like I'm scraping the limitations of the colour more than anything. I might still up my answer count at some point, but Patron isn't really a control deck a heart.
If you look at the recursion in the list, you'll notice that every single thing is single target. Those tend to be cheap and efficient. If you start cranking up the mana cost, you notice that if you just add a little more mana you can get something way cooler. Why run Restock when Seasons Past is just one more? Why run Seasons Past when you can just get the whole enchilada for two more with Praetor's Counsel? Wait what, why are we running an 8 mana recursion spell? How did we land here from the realm of the 2/3 mana ones? Especially in a shell so focused on individual "chokepoint" plays resolving, and whose graveyard is likely to be ramp spell city with 15+ land on the field already with just a key bit or two left over?
For X=1, Wildest Dreams is a self-exiling Recollect. This is not a huge deal, as I just outlined the thought process behind why there's no sweeping recursion in the list, so its absence from the graveyard is not likely to be felt. However, it has potential to scale up. True, it does so inefficiently, as you get three things back with the mana spot between Seasons Past and Praetor's Counsel, but it's nevertheless a Recollect which can potentially reach for more things in the 'yard if you want to stretch out for more mana. As such, for this particular list, it feels like close to a direct upgrade and in it goes.
C16 has become the first commander set that contributed no cards to any of my decks. Interesting phenomenon really. If anything, this deck was the closest to getting a card in Conqueror's Flail, but that was still a very far shot, seeing how the "standard operating procedure" involves making tokens in everybody else's turn. However, I did finally do some goldfishing which I was going to do ages ago, to a positive outcome nonetheless!
Thanks for pointing this out upthread, Hunding, as the fact it comes in untapped does actually make a world of difference in comparison to Myriad Landscape. The crucial early ramp sequence doesn't get tripped up, and paying more to crack the land later on isn't that bad. It retains most of the upsides of Myriad Landscape while losing its major drawback and plays far better in the list. The most triumphant golfish saw me go from five lands to eight as this befriended a Khalni Heart Expedition. In it goes! Also, now I'll have to give serious thought to all non-Chameleon Colossus recommendations from that post
Fair points all round. The meta's Phelddagrif player expressed an interest in the card, and he's a tricksy shenanigansy sort of guy, so I just wrote the card off as situational shenanigans. Could merit some consideration in that case, but still not a windmill slam like Selvala or something.
The fact this card untaps Patron does nothing though, as Patron untaps himself as part of his own ability and it can only be used once a turn (per Patron :P).
The fact this card untaps Patron does nothing though, as Patron untaps himself as part of his own ability and it can only be used once a turn (per Patron :P).
Oh wow, I totally missed that. That makes the card waaaay less good for this deck.
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You would never guess, at the terrifying sight of the man, that Hunding was as charming a companion as one could wish for.
Patron's been getting a bit more play time recently. Prime Speaker Zegana isn't getting a particularly warm reception the recent games made me realise something crucial to the future of the deck - it's no longer a swarm deck with the occasional combo, it's now a combo deck with a very reliable swarm backup. Whilst most combos require at least one piece which is tricky to fish out of the library, their density coupled with the range of the tutor package means that in most games something can be assembled. And if it can't, or it gets stopped, you still have Ant Queen in reserve. The deck's quite a bit stronger than it was a few months ago - Earthcraft is stupid, as even outside of combos turning anything that hits your board into a bonus hasted Arbor Elf is ridiculous, and Selvala, Heart of the Wilds is pretty ridiculous as well.
With a slight change in perspective comes a change in the primer (slightly stressed the combo aspect throughout, and used this fiddling as an excuse to re-format the thing to largely match my formatting-superior Daxos write-up) and the 99. Due to multiple shifts in the list through the years and the newfound embrace of combos, Seedborn Muse is drifting away from what the deck is doing.
Don't get me wrong, Muse is a beast of a card. In fact, she's one of the primary stupidity generators in my Prime Speaker Zegana, but all she offers here now is an extra untap. Has her extra untap ever actually won the game? Rarely, if ever. I got to assemble the dream of Muse with Planar Portal twice, and it was nice both times, but it's not worth keeping her around as a slot in the 99 to make that happen from time to time. Some of her other friends, such as Tower of Fortunes, have faded out of the list with time. As such, I'm going to sideline her for the time being. I wish I came up with this idea before splurging on a second Muse for the aforementioned Zegana deck, those suckers went up like mad in price since I assembled the core of this shell two years ago.
A number of options were considered for the newly open slot. Maybe a nifty instant? Or Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger? In the end, the two most serious candidatures turned out to be Avenger of Zendikar and Harmonize. Harmonize was chosen over Memory Jar as the Jar happens to give everybody else a hand for the turn as well, which is not ideal - if anybody draws any interaction, they'll fling it at your stuff with much gusto. Another draw option briefly considered was Garruk, Primal Hunter, but this was soon abandoned due to how conditional and risky it was. Avenger's testing was very consistent with what happened before - he'd just rot in my hand most of the time. I mean, in all honesty, the deck hasn't changed that much since, so the fact he still doesn't gel with the shell is to be expected. However, Harmonize turned out be a very pleasant surprise. It was great regardless of when it would be encountered. Brief early game stall on sub-Patron mana? Quickly refuel your grip, possibly chaining into a ramp spell that very turn. Topdeck: the Gathering with 20+ mana? Have three topdecks instead. Very cheap, efficient and wonderfully independent of anything else that may or may not be going on. In it goes, as a post-Paris game smoother akin to Sylvan Library.
Ha ha, very funny
In all fairness, I do see your point. There is some element of synergy, and it might be optimal to have them in here. Just as they announce no fetches in BFZ and prices skyrocket on the enemy ones, woo
Hall of the Bandit Lord seems like something I should try out in here, it could work. There's no Crop Rotation as the deck's been 100% basic for the vast majority of its existence, as is the current iteration (after a short stint with Myriad Landscape). Patron of the Orochi is limited to untapping forests, and no nonbasics really seemed to do enough to merit a slot. This is the sort of weird list where Gaea's Cradle doesn't really do anything until you're about to win anyway.
Ulvenwald Tracker is currently in the sideboard, and I sometimes slip him into the 99 to shake things up a notch. He's pretty good at doing what you outlined, I may promote him into the base 99 again.
EDIT: As it's brainstorm season in here suddenly, Spawnsire of Ulamog seems like an interesting possibility for the deck. The token making itself is roughly Ant Queen efficiency (slightly inferior due to the double trouble bundle), but if you can generate 30 mana across your opponents' turns after he comes down (20 to make spawns, then sac off the spawns for 10 and make 10 more to activate the ability) then you pretty much win the game. He fails to respond to a few of the tutors though, and 10 mana up front is a bit more than any of the other options ask for. I just wrote my vendor inquiring how many Hand of Emrakuls he has just in case.
I don't think I'll go for the Spawnsire in the end. It's not really an issue of "boring", as the deck is "boring" by default and just wants to make tokens and overrun people (with dropping 100 Hand of Emrakul not being hugely different). However, Spawnsire is soft to some really odd hate (think Ætherspouts), and doesn't feel sufficiently awesome. I guess I'll keep the Woodland Bellower slot on hold for any interesting future cards. Also yes, Avenger of Zendikar is quite efficient at making bodies, but a standard engine/finisher chain is able to consume any amount of Patron mana thrown at it (further amplified through non-land-count sources such as doublers, extra untaps or basic non-land ramp, inherently scaling with the size of the table) and usually deal more damage, which quite often could make the difference between a table wipe and a solid alpha strike with cleanup needed.
BFZ seemed like it may be an exciting time for the deck, it turned out not to be. There's a big fat ramp spell in Nissa's Renewal, which is a triple Rampant Growth with 7 life stapled on top. That's not bad, especially given the fact I get aggroed when I play the list, but at the same mana you get something like Mana Reflection, and one mana more gets you Boundless Realms. Reasonably underwhelming in comparison. May try to rotate with Woodland Bellower for fun for a few games if I get my paws on one, but not expecting it to make splashes. Nothing else really worth it - a three mana instant speed Rampant Growth, some tutoring for Eldrazi (which would be okay if I ran Spawnsire of Ulamog, I guess, but would be completely dead if the Spawnsire was not hiding in the depths of the deck anymore).
As such, no changes, at least at this point. Woodland Bellower is still probably the worst thing in the 99 at the moment, but due to the fact I always went for mana efficiency with my utility creatures I can now easily hit a Reclamation Sage, Eternal Witness or a mana chicken if I don't want to (or can't) hit the Fierce Empath, offering up a mini toolbox of sorts. Not a bad worst card in the 99 to have then. And hey, no matter how one looks at it, that's more utility than the previously grandfathered Vedalken Orrery, so win there.
Still pondering what to do with Woodland Bellower every now and then. Gauntlet of Power? Nah. Verdant Confluence? Nah. Tower of Fortunes? Nah. Well, if they print something good, I know what it goes in for at least.
Something I forgot to mention in the previous meandering post - another consideration for the Bellower replacement is Avenger of Zendikar, on your recommendation. He may not be as in tune with the deck as Ant Queen or Nemata, Grove Guardian, but the decent commander-independent burst of presence make it an interesting backup plan to have somewhere in orbit.
1 Woodland Bellower
1 Zendikar Resurgent
As openly mentioned before, Woodland Bellower was the worst card in the 99, and taking him out won't hurt the deck's consistency. This merely makes it go back to its prior tutor density, which was already adequate. The problem with the Bellower was that, in the end, he'd have been far better as some form of X-cost tutoring for the deck. Just as I wrote in here half a year ago when ORI was fresh off the presses. Still, he was more functional in his odd, gimped, Fierce Empath/Eternal Witness-mediated ways than I initially expected when I first saw the ORI spoiler.
Zendikar Resurgent is one of those cards that any self-respecting 60-card format player will write off as an "EDH card" and leave to rot in the rare redraft. My gut tells me that this won't get lapped up by the EDH crowd, though, as seven mana is quite a hefty overhead to pay for his sort of effect, even with the draw slapped on for good measure. My gut has been known to be wrong though, as I expected Temur Sabertooth to become an overnight sensation and look how that turned out. Nevertheless, it fits right at home here, as the more doubling the merrier and this has a far more profound impact than three Rampant Growths glued together. The draw is actually a welcome cherry on top of the cake, as in a standard gameplay scenario it will get a few cards to help refill the grip and rebuild from any unexpected happenings. In Temur Sabertooth-mediated infinite mode, this draws the deck off Patron/Arbor Elf casts. This unfortunately means that the card has to be dealt with at some point mid-infinite to avoid decking, but thankfully there are numerous ways to handle it lurking within the 99.
The rest of OGW isn't really anything to write home about. Bonds of Mortality cantrips for days and allows for some politics'y meddling in hexproof and indestructibility, but there's no real reason to run it. World Breaker is wonderfully uninteractive, but also limited in terms of range and timing. There's nothing in the colourless realm that would merit a splash of Wastes (which could be done quite easily, given the copious amount of basic digging). Once again, Ruin in Their Wake et al. should not merit preferential treatment just because they're new.
1 Defense of the Heart
1 Krosan Grip
1 Earthcraft
1 Ulvenwald Tracker
So, Earthcraft in. In a fair and balanced scenario, I make some more ants or something. Combine with doublers or enchantment ramp and I make infinite ants without casting Patron, ending the game potentially quite a bit ahead of the time it would have otherwise ended. Almost has me wanting to find room for Concordant Crossroads, but that one could backfire on me spectacularly so not going to happen, at least not today. Needed to make room, so took out the slightly grandfathered Defense of the Heart. Instead of a game-ending rattlesnake, it was just a bit of a delayed value engine. Patron's all about the here and now with the tutors, most of the time.
Also, found room to promote Ulvenwald Tracker out of the sideboard. Throwing Patron against something in every player's turn is pretty good value, as a lot of important things are small enough for him to eat. Another mindset difference - old me was like "but I can't eat Ulamog". New me's like "but I can eat that Marath in response to the deathtouch soulbond trigger, and many other things". Progress! Needed room, again, so took out Krosan Grip as the most limited spell when accounting for range and tutorability. Fear not, for both axed cards are likely going to live in a Meren deck, assuming Sheoldred does transform into it as it seems that she might.
That means I need to make an alteration to the sideboard...
1 Ulvenwald Tracker
1 Ensnaring Bridge
I have officially terminated the Purph deck, so I have an unemployed Ensnaring Bridge. It was incredible in there, and it seems that it can be situationally great here too. So why not slot it into the sideboard to have situational access to it?
Depends on your playgroup. If left to its own devices, the deck will typically offer a ~T6 tablekill. If disrupted, it can keep insisting on its game plan through the power of more ramp, tutors and recursion, or it can fall back into a slumber, amassing resources until it pulls a surprise stun kill when given an opportunity. It fares fine in my playgroup, but we don't have any of the "tier one" commanders cruising around.
1 Eldrazi Monument
1 Snow-Covered Forest
Patron was designed during another time. Partial Paris roamed the Earth, and the deck actively used that to help sculpt a hand of curved mana acceleration with a splash of draw/tutoring. You're not granted the same liberty now that it's Vancouver time, and shipping a hand with two clunkers is likely to get you a hand with two different clunkers in return. In the Partial Paris days, the mild hand sculpting meant the deck could get away with a little less land than it probably should run now. As such, the slot opened up for the Avenger goes to an extra forest instead.
Why Eldrazi Monument? But it protects stuff from wraths, man! Well, yes, yes it does. But it only properly comes online when a token engine has set up shop, and can't be easily tutored, and is a resounding five mana clunker in most opening hands. True, it saved my tuckus a few times over the 1.5 years this shell has been together, but there's so much more to life than straight wraths - -X/-X, bounce, the occasional tuck. Bumping up the land count to help smooth the early game is probably a good idea.
The low-cost tutors have been pulling a lot of work since the mulligan change, as I've started using my creature toolbox and ramp options more actively. I've used more GSZs on Joraga Treespeaker than Ant Queen since I started this recent playing-the-deck spree. Citanul Flute is insane value. It would be nice to expand the ramp/toolbox a bit, but nothing immediately apparent comes to mind. Wood Elves or maybe even Flip Nissa for the ramp potentially, but the "holy trinity" of Joraga Treespeaker, Arbor Elf and Sakura-Tribe Elder have got the tutorable bases covered. In terms of the toolbox, Acidic Slime kind of wants in, but his functionality is already handled by Reclamation Sage and Brutalizer Exarch. Avenger of Zendikar was already rather thoroughly discussed.
In case I decide to up my land count some more, Time of Need is on my radar for cuts, but it's incredible value and doesn't want to be cut. Since the shift in mulligan reliability, Nemata, Grove Guardian has put in a lot of work due to his one-man-army nature, and this grabs him for two mana, no questions asked, allowing me to use other tutors to help smooth out whatever else needs smoothing. For now the few games I got in since this tweak were okay in the mana department.
One more thing of note - typically, if entering dig mode (heavy draw), the deck switches gears from large finite token swarm to combo stun kill. It's one turn faster, simple as that, as it allows you to end the game when you untap (in your turn, heh) instead of waiting another go around the table to amass attack-ready bodies. Seeing how there's more and more combos with nearly each iteration, there's usually some variation of an infinite mana combo that can be pieced together using the fat grip you have as the turn returns to you. But if there isn't, there's no shame in just going for the standard token approach, or even another round of dig if needed. The joys of a multitude of mana infinites. So not sorry, infinite haters
1 Mind's Eye
1 Sylvan Library
This deck liked the old mulligan rules. You'd sculpt a nice hand with the right amount of ramp and draw/tutor etc and go to town. Now things are not guaranteed to go to plan, and the transition from early to mid game is an important factor to plan around when you decide what hand to keep. Mind's Eye is nice, but a little clunky to play around. Sylvan Library comes down early and provides insight into the top three cards of your deck, even some card advantage if you choose to be light-handed with your life total. There's a lot of shuffling going on at every stage of the game, so this helps you filter out the options you need at a given time. Works well, helps smooth out the early game. Win. Plus, I supported the LGS as they cracked some EMA and had it for sale for a reasonable amount of money.
1 Keeper of Progenitus
1 Revive
1 Greenwarden of Murasa
1 Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
There's just no question, Selvala, Heart of the Wilds needs to be in the 99. With Patron out, she taps for 6 mana, which is already absolutely ridiculous. She also cooperates quite nicely with a few bits of the deck (Staff of Domination, the standard hasted Temur Sabertooth shenanigans) to make infinite mana instead. Her main downside is that in the buildup to casting Patron, she's got the efficiency of a Darksteel Ingot, but once the commander is on the field she really kicks into overdrive. True, she may hand out a few cards to my opponents off her ability, but I'm also likely to get one when Patron hits, and in some of the infinite scenarios juggling Patron on and off the board can let me cruise through my deck. Sounds like a risk worth taking.
Speaking of risks worth taking, Keeper of Progenitus is the one making room for Selvala in the 99. I will always think of him fondly, and the two fulfil vastly different roles - the Keeper offering mana in a can to half the board whenever he comes down, whilst Selvala takes it slower but largely keeps the benefits to me. This is further in line with the comborriffic enhancements the shell has been getting since Temur Sabertooth has been printed, and the potential to go off the rails with little to no warning is a wonderful thing to have. At the same time, all the pieces that lead to the dumbest outcome also work perfectly well in the "by design" token swarm mode.
Also, while tinkering with other Gx commanders, I've come to appreciate the power of what Fierce Empath can offer. As such, Greenwarden of Murasa has been added to allow the toolbox to also hit grave recursion, a vital component of the deck. Room had to be made, so Revive (the shoddiest of the recursion spells in the list) got offed.
Nothing else from Conspiracy 2 is likely to make its way into the deck though. Regal Behemoth is woefully unreliable and incentivises punching you. This is just not the deck for Selvala's Stampede.
GWUBAtraxa, Praetor's Voice PrimerGWUB
GWURoon Bant Blink WhateverGWU
BRGLord Windgrace LandsBRG
| WBAthreos God of Passage | WUDaxos of Meletis | WUBRG General Tazri | B Kalitast Traitor of Ghet | GPatron of the Orochi |
Every now and then I ponder if the deck could use a facelift to bring it up to my current play style. Since I built the core of the shell, I've become far more focused on running a variety of answers to handle all sorts of situations. I then look at the 99, think of the cards I'm not running, and realise I'm really not missing all that much in terms of functionality. In terms of utility ETB dudes, I could up my removal count with Acidic Slime and Woodfall Primus/Terastodon, but the bases are reasonably well covered by the existing cheaper options. The closest to a sensible include would be Duplicant, as straightforward creature removal is naturally lacking in green and this wouldn't be a bad thing to have on tap. However, no obvious cut presents itself. Instant speed answers to mess with people in their turns are also quite limited, as the best ones not currently in the deck are Krosan Grip and Scour from Existence. Fair enough, I could run the Grip and it would probably be a good idea, and I probably could even support Scour with my mana, but none of them jump out as immediate "hey boss why are you missing me in the 99" sort of scenarios. As such, it feels like I'm scraping the limitations of the colour more than anything. I might still up my answer count at some point, but Patron isn't really a control deck a heart.
1 Recollect
1 Wildest Dreams
If you look at the recursion in the list, you'll notice that every single thing is single target. Those tend to be cheap and efficient. If you start cranking up the mana cost, you notice that if you just add a little more mana you can get something way cooler. Why run Restock when Seasons Past is just one more? Why run Seasons Past when you can just get the whole enchilada for two more with Praetor's Counsel? Wait what, why are we running an 8 mana recursion spell? How did we land here from the realm of the 2/3 mana ones? Especially in a shell so focused on individual "chokepoint" plays resolving, and whose graveyard is likely to be ramp spell city with 15+ land on the field already with just a key bit or two left over?
For X=1, Wildest Dreams is a self-exiling Recollect. This is not a huge deal, as I just outlined the thought process behind why there's no sweeping recursion in the list, so its absence from the graveyard is not likely to be felt. However, it has potential to scale up. True, it does so inefficiently, as you get three things back with the mana spot between Seasons Past and Praetor's Counsel, but it's nevertheless a Recollect which can potentially reach for more things in the 'yard if you want to stretch out for more mana. As such, for this particular list, it feels like close to a direct upgrade and in it goes.
Thousands of miles away, Ebline grits his teeth
1 Snow-Covered Forest
1 Blighted Woodland
Thanks for pointing this out upthread, Hunding, as the fact it comes in untapped does actually make a world of difference in comparison to Myriad Landscape. The crucial early ramp sequence doesn't get tripped up, and paying more to crack the land later on isn't that bad. It retains most of the upsides of Myriad Landscape while losing its major drawback and plays far better in the list. The most triumphant golfish saw me go from five lands to eight as this befriended a Khalni Heart Expedition. In it goes! Also, now I'll have to give serious thought to all non-Chameleon Colossus recommendations from that post
Not even Benefactor's Draught? It's obviously not a windmill slam-dunk for this deck, but I think it deserves some attention because
I do what I can.
The fact this card untaps Patron does nothing though, as Patron untaps himself as part of his own ability and it can only be used once a turn (per Patron :P).
Oh wow, I totally missed that. That makes the card waaaay less good for this deck.
With a slight change in perspective comes a change in the primer (slightly stressed the combo aspect throughout, and used this fiddling as an excuse to re-format the thing to largely match my formatting-superior Daxos write-up) and the 99. Due to multiple shifts in the list through the years and the newfound embrace of combos, Seedborn Muse is drifting away from what the deck is doing.
1 Seedborn Muse
1 Harmonize
Don't get me wrong, Muse is a beast of a card. In fact, she's one of the primary stupidity generators in my Prime Speaker Zegana, but all she offers here now is an extra untap. Has her extra untap ever actually won the game? Rarely, if ever. I got to assemble the dream of Muse with Planar Portal twice, and it was nice both times, but it's not worth keeping her around as a slot in the 99 to make that happen from time to time. Some of her other friends, such as Tower of Fortunes, have faded out of the list with time. As such, I'm going to sideline her for the time being. I wish I came up with this idea before splurging on a second Muse for the aforementioned Zegana deck, those suckers went up like mad in price since I assembled the core of this shell two years ago.
A number of options were considered for the newly open slot. Maybe a nifty instant? Or Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger? In the end, the two most serious candidatures turned out to be Avenger of Zendikar and Harmonize. Harmonize was chosen over Memory Jar as the Jar happens to give everybody else a hand for the turn as well, which is not ideal - if anybody draws any interaction, they'll fling it at your stuff with much gusto. Another draw option briefly considered was Garruk, Primal Hunter, but this was soon abandoned due to how conditional and risky it was. Avenger's testing was very consistent with what happened before - he'd just rot in my hand most of the time. I mean, in all honesty, the deck hasn't changed that much since, so the fact he still doesn't gel with the shell is to be expected. However, Harmonize turned out be a very pleasant surprise. It was great regardless of when it would be encountered. Brief early game stall on sub-Patron mana? Quickly refuel your grip, possibly chaining into a ramp spell that very turn. Topdeck: the Gathering with 20+ mana? Have three topdecks instead. Very cheap, efficient and wonderfully independent of anything else that may or may not be going on. In it goes, as a post-Paris game smoother akin to Sylvan Library.
At this point, no other imminent cuts stick out to me. On the other hand, Tower of Fortunes, Vedalken Orrery, Eldrazi Monument and Seedborn Muse all got picked up one at a time...