Flavor wise, i love the set. I didnt mind the story, and was VERY happy when ANY of the main walkers died. Sorry, but the story gets boring once you know for a fact the main characters are safe. Elspeth dieing? ok, its sad - but at least we can hope Jace is next....
Um Elspeth is semi-alive and so is Xenagos. Elspeth is in the Underworld, brought there by Erebos and has been stated to still posses her spark. Xenagos was not stated to have been killed either. Not to mention that wizards view Jace to be their most favourite walker and so won't kill him. Personally Ixidor and Venser can take turns kicking the crap out of Jace. Sadly and apparently according to Wizards latests tests, Jace is the poster child of mtg.
Fair point. Regardless, its a step in the right direction, and I refuse to give up hope in Jace dieing off. Most of Jace's popularity is aided by the 'legacy' of JtMS. Part of the problem is that this concept is propagated by the new players, as they come in, and in an attempt to familiarize with the 'older' players (the ones playing longer) ask about the power cards of recent formats. My hope is that he will lose his charm among newer players, and that it will lead a change in WotC lore focus.
I have been playing since Onslaught - and I personally enjoyed Theros.
That said - no were near my top 5 favorite sets. There were cool cards, fun interactions, etc... but overall, it just felt like a new set. Nothing adding to that. Of course any new set is something people will be happy and excited for - but consider Zendikar; great story, fun cards, a meta of fast pace and flashy creatures - that was fun (mostly talking about alara-zendikar here). Scars of Mirrodin- Innistrad? again, great fun. Return to Ravnica? Amusing, but not the same. Theros? much better than RTR in my opinion, but whatever.
Mostly, I feel like they are going to safe on much of what they do. They want to keep cards and mechanics from getting out of hand (ok, thats been true since affinity) but seriously. Scry was over-costed in all ways. Heroic has been 'mostly' ignored. Inspired, the same. Bestow, still clunky and not very used. Devotion? So out of control, it almost makes their caution seem reasonable.
Flavor wise, i love the set. I didnt mind the story, and was VERY happy when ANY of the main walkers died. Sorry, but the story gets boring once you know for a fact the main characters are safe. Elspeth dieing? ok, its sad - but at least we can hope Jace is next....
Few things-
First: you don't seem to like infinite combos, which is odd considering the choice of general...
Second: Much of your ramp could be upgraded I think, though it would take me a bit to compile a list of options.
Third: You may, since you run more ramp than other decks of Maelstrom, need more card draw, as often, it seems, you will run into a lot of mana and nothing to do with it.
Finally, and MOST IMPORTANT: I find your lack of Kiki-Jiki disturbing.
How are the recent changes testing for you? I didn't like Magus at first, but once I went back over your list, he should be nuts! Intruder Alarm looks like it should do really well for you also.
I play at an FNM EDH fairly consistanly, and so far have a +66% win rate (will try to get stats over the next couple months). Mostly, the deck is simply looking to accelerate into the general, and usually will hit something with the first casting to reach continued acceleration.
I assume Prophet more or less does what Prophet does in this list, although you do have some insane mana potential. Have you thought about adding more creatures that draw you cards in order to better take advantage of this? Sphinx of Uthuun and Arcanis the Omnipotent come immediately to mind for such things. Might keep the engine running, since you get soooo much mana.
Prophet's main use so far has been a scare tactic in some situation and a way to play my sorceries and planeswalkers on my turn without losing the chance to play creatures. it also helps akeup for the lack of instants, escpecially as my deck has great focus in enters play or immediate reward from my creatures.
Is Hippocamp just there as another Kiki payoff card?
Yes.
Many have suggested draw, and the main reason I don't is a lack of options for cuts. some of the recent ones have been very painful, losing cards that should normally be auto-locked into the deck for EDH.
The idea of a control based Maelstrom is very interesting, but after some work, I found myself basically creating mono-blue or blue-green with red splashed more as an excuse to use Maelstrom than because the deck particularly wanted to use it.
On that note, I need to thank you. It was your list that got me thinking about food chain, and it has won me many a game recently, even in tournament.^_^
Considering your choice to exclude combos, I like the deck.. Mine is here (though I use far more combos than are really necessary) you may look it over for a few other options you may have missed.
Mine is considerably more filled with combos, but i have done turn 3 before (everyone else's turn two)... But you should probably increase the power level of some cards, and I would definitely suggest more en masse mana generators (mana flare and heartbeat of spring for example)
To be honest, my Maelstrom is FULL of combos (as seen in the thread that link will take you too) but there are a few other cards and ideas you may find interesting.
That said - no were near my top 5 favorite sets. There were cool cards, fun interactions, etc... but overall, it just felt like a new set. Nothing adding to that. Of course any new set is something people will be happy and excited for - but consider Zendikar; great story, fun cards, a meta of fast pace and flashy creatures - that was fun (mostly talking about alara-zendikar here). Scars of Mirrodin- Innistrad? again, great fun. Return to Ravnica? Amusing, but not the same. Theros? much better than RTR in my opinion, but whatever.
Mostly, I feel like they are going to safe on much of what they do. They want to keep cards and mechanics from getting out of hand (ok, thats been true since affinity) but seriously. Scry was over-costed in all ways. Heroic has been 'mostly' ignored. Inspired, the same. Bestow, still clunky and not very used. Devotion? So out of control, it almost makes their caution seem reasonable.
Flavor wise, i love the set. I didnt mind the story, and was VERY happy when ANY of the main walkers died. Sorry, but the story gets boring once you know for a fact the main characters are safe. Elspeth dieing? ok, its sad - but at least we can hope Jace is next....
WOAH. Llanowar Elves and Birds were printed together HOW many times?
First: you don't seem to like infinite combos, which is odd considering the choice of general...
Second: Much of your ramp could be upgraded I think, though it would take me a bit to compile a list of options.
Third: You may, since you run more ramp than other decks of Maelstrom, need more card draw, as often, it seems, you will run into a lot of mana and nothing to do with it.
Finally, and MOST IMPORTANT: I find your lack of Kiki-Jiki disturbing.
Many have suggested draw, and the main reason I don't is a lack of options for cuts. some of the recent ones have been very painful, losing cards that should normally be auto-locked into the deck for EDH.
Shardless Agent -> Magus of the Candelabra
Collective Voyage -> Prophet of Kruphix
Chandra, the Firebrand -> Breaching Hippocamp
Sakura-Tribe Elder -> Intruder Alarm
Please list thoughts!
(Intruder alarm + anything that taps to create a token = infinite tokens)
(Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker + Breaching Hippocamp = Infinite tokens)