I also like the idea of Burning-Tree Emissary as a replacement for Elvish Visionary. I wouldn't describe it as combing with Horned Kavu the way a visionary does, but it removes the downside and leaves you with a 3/4 for 2, plus an emissary in hand. Also it fixes your mana a little, giving you a few more percentage points in the games where you have to mulligan a few times.
Edit: Swapping Visionary for Emissary makes the deck a lot more all-in, maybe the deck would need other changes if that were to happen. Also I should mention that Vines of Vastwood and Violent Outburst don't feel like they belong in the same deck.
First of all nice job getting the party started, it's sure to be a long and interesting one, and I congratulate you on the work and love you've already put into this deck.
I feel like Mystic Snake and his new functional reprint should be in here somewhere, as well as maybe even [[Phyrexian Revoker]] if you run a critical mass of 1-drops. Winter Orb seems solid too.
This deck reminds me a lot of Yisan for fairly obvious reasons, you can steal a lot of cards from there, particularly the best parts of the disruption suite. But the commander costing 1 more mana is a huge deal.
I had some ideas for a slightly different build when I was reading your post, one that would be built to play decently without the commander because you can't protect it from interaction by playing it on turn 2 every game. The main difference here would be that you want to cut down the untappers suite to be as slim as it possibly can be, and play more disruption.
I think that Emerald Charm and similar untappers could actually be really good, you can think of them as kind of being like Dark Ritual on steroids in this deck, since they would allow you to fetch something like a Peregrine Drake instead of an untapper, reducing the mana required to combo by pretty much all of it. Speaking of Perigrine Drake and freinds, if you run multiples of them, you can draw one and then you just have to fetch your Deadeye Navigator.
I haven't tested any of this; it's pure speculation at this point. But you can see the beginning of a different take on the deck that might be a more optimal one.
I didn't see Immolation on your list. For 1 mana, repeated removal of any x/2 creatures is pretty strong. It can also be attached to Tiana once you're going in for the win. Guise of Fire has a somewhat similar effect, it can't immediately kill most creatures but it will force them to attack, potentially causing them to die to a blocker. Flowstone Blade can eventually kill any creature with enough mana, but would be RRRR in order to kill anything that Immolation can't, at that point Ordeal of Purphoros or Fatal Attraction are better, or just rely on your instants/sorceries in that case.
The other thing about removal auras like Immolation is that they get stronger in numbers. Immolation by itself might not be able to take out a fattie, but Immolation, Fatal Attraction and Flowstone Blade probably can.
Also it can be very useful to have some interaction in the early game to kill people's broken tutor commanders like Yisan and Arcum Dagsson.
This version of the deck leans pretty heavily on the mana denial element, obviously it is not perfectly optimal and there are plenty of cards that are just there because I like them (Orcish Squatters, Conquer). I haven't played a game with this list yet, but I goldfished it several times. I came to the following conclusions:
1. Red creature removal enchantments seem really good (you should probably add Immolation, Flowstone Blade, etc, to your list somewhere). I want to run more stuff like this.
2. The deck needs more ways to protect Tiana from a wildfire in order to run it truly productively.
3. The deck can flood out super hard right now but still has trouble finding hands with enough mana to start.
I'm considering moving into a build which uses a large amount of 0-2 cost equipment with the relevant artifact card type to sacrifice to things like Kuldotha Forgemaster and Goblin Welder.
What the deck really needs is an aura that destroys artifacts, and a land-animating aura that doesn't have a restriction on what it can animate (the Genjus) or return the land to its owner's hand (the Zendikons). Then you would be able to cycle Immolation (or another removal aura) and the land-animating aura to nuke a land every turn.
EDIT: Deck should be somewhat formatted now, as opposed to an unreadable mess.
Thoughts on Elephant Guide?
Edit: Swapping Visionary for Emissary makes the deck a lot more all-in, maybe the deck would need other changes if that were to happen. Also I should mention that Vines of Vastwood and Violent Outburst don't feel like they belong in the same deck.
I feel like Mystic Snake and his new functional reprint should be in here somewhere, as well as maybe even [[Phyrexian Revoker]] if you run a critical mass of 1-drops. Winter Orb seems solid too.
This deck reminds me a lot of Yisan for fairly obvious reasons, you can steal a lot of cards from there, particularly the best parts of the disruption suite. But the commander costing 1 more mana is a huge deal.
I had some ideas for a slightly different build when I was reading your post, one that would be built to play decently without the commander because you can't protect it from interaction by playing it on turn 2 every game. The main difference here would be that you want to cut down the untappers suite to be as slim as it possibly can be, and play more disruption.
I think that Emerald Charm and similar untappers could actually be really good, you can think of them as kind of being like Dark Ritual on steroids in this deck, since they would allow you to fetch something like a Peregrine Drake instead of an untapper, reducing the mana required to combo by pretty much all of it. Speaking of Perigrine Drake and freinds, if you run multiples of them, you can draw one and then you just have to fetch your Deadeye Navigator.
I haven't tested any of this; it's pure speculation at this point. But you can see the beginning of a different take on the deck that might be a more optimal one.
From a more casual perspective, Scornful Egotist and Hooting Mandrills could be fun.
edit: wow words
Whoops.
Anyways, uh, Morality Shift?
The other thing about removal auras like Immolation is that they get stronger in numbers. Immolation by itself might not be able to take out a fattie, but Immolation, Fatal Attraction and Flowstone Blade probably can.
Also it can be very useful to have some interaction in the early game to kill people's broken tutor commanders like Yisan and Arcum Dagsson.
1 Tiana, Ship's Caretaker
Land Base
10x Mountain
10x Plains
1 Thawing Glaciers
1 Terrain Generator
1 Karoo
1 Dormant Volcano
1 Boros Garrison
1 Evolving Wilds
Ramp/Land CA:
1 Eternal Dragon
1 Journeyer's Kite
1 Expedition Map
1 Land Tax
1 Worn Powerstone
1 Gift of Estates
1 Armillary Sphere
1 Sol Ring
Generally Useful Stuff
1 Ghostly Prison
1 Sigarda's Aid
1 Heliod's Pilgrim
1 Open the Armory
1 Faithless Looting
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Sram, Senior Edificer
1 Scout's Warning
1 Sheltering Light
1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Smelt
1 Shelter
1 Echoing Ruin
1 Smash
1 Guilty Conscience
1 Cho-Manno's Blessing
1 Immolation
1 Galvanic Arc
1 Flowstone Blade
1 Inferno Fist
1 Pariah
1 Fatal Attraction
1 Custody Battle
1 Kithkin Armor
Protection
1 Hyena Umbra
1 Eland Umbra
1 Relic Ward
1 Ward of Lights
1 Felidar Umbra
Weapons of Mass Destruction
1 Destructive Urge
1 Capashen Standard
1 Balancing Act
1 Obliterate
1 Destructive Force
1 End Hostilities
1 Wildfire
1 Magmaquake
1 Crack the Earth
1 Smokestack
1 Possessed Portal
1 Nevinyrral's Disk
1 Crusher Zendikon
1 Uncontrolled Infestation
1 Conquer
1 Orcish Mine
1 Pacifism
1 Planar Bridge
1 Orcish Squatters
1 Angelic Renewal
This version of the deck leans pretty heavily on the mana denial element, obviously it is not perfectly optimal and there are plenty of cards that are just there because I like them (Orcish Squatters, Conquer). I haven't played a game with this list yet, but I goldfished it several times. I came to the following conclusions:
1. Red creature removal enchantments seem really good (you should probably add Immolation, Flowstone Blade, etc, to your list somewhere). I want to run more stuff like this.
2. The deck needs more ways to protect Tiana from a wildfire in order to run it truly productively.
3. The deck can flood out super hard right now but still has trouble finding hands with enough mana to start.
I'm considering moving into a build which uses a large amount of 0-2 cost equipment with the relevant artifact card type to sacrifice to things like Kuldotha Forgemaster and Goblin Welder.
What the deck really needs is an aura that destroys artifacts, and a land-animating aura that doesn't have a restriction on what it can animate (the Genjus) or return the land to its owner's hand (the Zendikons). Then you would be able to cycle Immolation (or another removal aura) and the land-animating aura to nuke a land every turn.
EDIT: Deck should be somewhat formatted now, as opposed to an unreadable mess.