We totally need another EDH thread

[Designer Genes]

epiclevelwarrior

Coalition Relic imediately comes to mind.

Are you and I like the only people who remember and love Coalition Relic?

[epiclevelwarrior]

We may be on this board. I've heard Zed mention it once or twice.

It's not like it was all that long ago, even. The thing was up to $6-7 at one point.

I'm glad it came down, though. It's a really flexible mana fixer for decks that want to go big. It's also pretty much the only reason my 5c silly dragon deck functions at all.

[Designer Genes]

epiclevelwarrior

We may be on this board. I've heard Zed mention it once or twice.

It's not like it was all that long ago, even. The thing was up to $6-7 at one point.

I'm glad it came down, though. It's a really flexible mana fixer for decks that want to go big. It's also pretty much the only reason my 5c silly dragon deck functions at all.

I don't remember it ever getting much play, due to the old mana burn rules, and the Signets being more competitive in Standard.

[epiclevelwarrior]

It got a reasonable amount of play in TS, Lw/SM standard. It facilitated the omni colored control decks before SM came out and made color discipline obsolete.

It was also good for dropping a PC dragon on turn 4.

[SporkMaster5000]

epiclevelwarrior

It got a reasonable amount of play in TS, Lw/SM standard. It facilitated the omni colored control decks before SM came out and made color discipline obsolete.

It was also good for dropping a PC dragon on turn 4.

pretty much all i remember about coalition relic was it being worth more than i would pay for it because of 5cc decks. then again, i blocked out a lot of timespiral, most of block just turned me off.

even if you do have them, i think you have to be extremely critical of mana artifacts in the format, if they aren't explosive, they're often too weak for somewhere that loves the hell out of its disks, and sees sweepers of all variety (akroma's vengeance and planar cleansing included). Sol ring is, as always, explosive, gilded lotus is just a lot of mana in one package, and darksteel ingot doesn't get blown up by that stuff I said. signets, obelisks, any other cycle of mana artifacts, all too weak for the format, imo. i've never seen relic in action to be able to say which of those two categories to put it in, but honestly, it seem more like the latter, considering how common nonbasic lands are to ease mana troubles.

[epiclevelwarrior]

Relic can provide 2 mana every other turn. That's not Gilded Lotus but it's not priced like gilded lotus either.

I'd have to play it myself to be certain but I like it plenty in non EDH multiplayer and from browsing various EDH forums lots of other people like it in EDH. It compares reasonably to Grim and Basalt Monoliths which also see a fair amount of play in EDH.

[SporkMaster5000]

epiclevelwarrior

It compares reasonably to Grim and Basalt Monoliths which also see a fair amount of play in EDH.

i'm willing to accept that comparison, which still means i personally wouldn't run it, but it's not outright underpowered.

[Arturos Knightblade]

epiclevelwarrior

Zyxas: Feel free to toss a list on this thread.

Arturos:

On the manabase: Looks good. Depending on how well you field your colors you could consider some more effect lands. Kor Haven, Yavimaya Hollow, Prahv, and Vitu-Ghazi all seem like they could potentially work for you.

On the Creatures: Viridian Shaman seems a bit of an odd choice given the number of similar options in your colors that hit both artifacts and enchantments. Kor Sanctifiers or Harmonic Sliver are the closest to the shaman's stats but there's also Qasali Pridemage, Viridian Zealot, Nantuko Vigilante, Wickerbough Elder, and Indrik Stomphowler.

Civic Wayfinder also seems a bit underpowered. Not sure what I'd replace with. Maybe Yavimaya Granger or Farhaven Elf. Maybe Yavimaya Elder.

How are Tarmogoyf and Lorescale Coatl working for you? They're big and cheap but without evasion how often do they manage to get through for damage?

I might run either creatures with more evasion or more ways to make your current set evasive, like Glory for instance.

If you tossed in Mirror Entity you'd have the whole of the Reveillark combo. If that was something you cared about.

On the Other Spells:

The signets could be options with a bit more punch. Coalition Relic imediately comes to mind.

If you're going for a single attacker with Rafiq pump you might want more ways to buff that single attacker. Behemoth Sledge is an effective second warhammer you might want.

Rampant Growth probably wants to be something more powerful like Explosive Vegetation or far wanderings.

No Hinder?

Disenchant could also take a power upgrade. Krosan Grip, Dismantling Blow, and Ray of Distortion all come to mind.

Hah, lots of great suggestions, thanks. What I'd really like is a Breeding Pool. I posted that shortly before I went to FNM, and I went and cracked 3 fetchlands. 2 of the were the U/G one, so that's certainly going in. ^_^ I'll consider those lands, but I still have some color issues from time to time.

Ohh, you're right about Viridian Shaman. Quasali Pridemage is excellent and is also on theme. I'd really like an Indrik Stomphowler. I was trying to remember that card's name when I was gathering cards for the deck, but everyone asked just gave me blank looks. I know it's excellent, and I mysteriously don't have any in my Ravnica block crap.

Goyf is cheap and effecient, and not so bad for the early game. He and Coatl are just fun beaters, mostly. If I add that Behemoth Sledge like you're suggesting, I might boost their effectiveness.

I thought I had a Hinder in here, somewhere...oh wait, that's the Thraximundar deck. >.<

Anyway, the Rampant Growth and Disenchant are in because I had textless versions of them. Increased the deck's sexiness power, but probably didn't boost its power level all that much.

I'll think through those cards a bit.

[epiclevelwarrior]

Sexiness is actually nearly as important as power in EDH (some say moreso but I am a die hard casual spike).

On Stomphowler:He is nice but I narrowly prefer Wickerbough Elder as it gives you the same body for the same mana (including the artifact kill) but you get the option to drop it and wait for something killable to show up. Stomphowler synergies somewhat better with blink effects, though.

If you do get breeding pool you could consider Yavimaya Dryad or Wood Elves for the Wayfinder slot. Hunting Wilds is another forest fetch option which gives you potential threats in the lategame.

[SporkMaster5000]

epiclevelwarrior

On Stomphowler:He is nice but I narrowly prefer Wickerbough Elder as it gives you the same body for the same mana (including the artifact kill) but you get the option to drop it and wait for something killable to show up. Stomphowler synergies somewhat better with blink effects, though.

stomphowler's also easier on your colors in the few situation you need to play and kill an artifact. not often important, but a consideration.

[Arturos Knightblade]

epiclevelwarrior

Sexiness is actually nearly as important as power in EDH (some say moreso but I am a die hard casual spike).

On Stomphowler:He is nice but I narrowly prefer Wickerbough Elder as it gives you the same body for the same mana (including the artifact kill) but you get the option to drop it and wait for something killable to show up. Stomphowler synergies somewhat better with blink effects, though.

If you do get breeding pool you could consider Yavimaya Dryad or Wood Elves for the Wayfinder slot. Hunting Wilds is another forest fetch option which gives you potential threats in the lategame.

Heh, EDH is at heart a casual format. You want your deck to be good, certainly, but it's also an opportunity to show off your collection of awesome cards. Player Rewards cards, FNM cards, prerelease promos, or just foiled out commons/uncommons. I try to go for maximum pimpage.

But yeah, some things would be strictly better.

I went ahead and took out the Viridian Shaman for Pridemage. I don't know why I didn't think of it before - he's on-theme in addition to being a better card. I think it's a remnant from when Chord of Calling was in there. Had sort of a CIP toolbox...

I don't really wanna be that guy who puts infinite combos in his edh decks. Doesn't seem very sporting for a casual format. You become that guy who gets consistently attacked. Plus, all I could really do is bounce all their permanents with Venser. To do something ridiculous like infinite life, I'd have to add like, Aven Riftwatcher or something. Not so much into that.

I used to have a Kitchen Finks in here, but I needed it for a tournament deck. What do you guys think of it?

I also feel like Wargate should be good.

[epiclevelwarrior]

Wargate would be good. I have it in my Jenara list so I don't know why I didn't mention it.

Finks is hurt a little by the scale of EDH. 4 life and a 3/2 persist don't mean as much in games that tend towards big swings. Still a solid card is a solid card.

You could also fetch all your lands and/or draw your deck with the reveillark combo. I see the issue with combos, though it depends on your meta. Mirror Entity isn't on point for you in any case.

[Arturos Knightblade]

Heh, not much of a meta, honestly...I'm the only one around here with EDH decks. There was another guy, but I had such a massively better card pool than him that the games were just total slaughters. sad

He has since refused to play with me, even when I offer him my decks.

Kinda sad.

[SporkMaster5000]

Okay, just to prove i'm not always awesome, here's a deck that also started as a complete pile, but rather than a pile of PURE GOLD this started as a pile of artifacts. some rather random artifacts among them. i just don't know what would be appropriate to put in it, the deck just started as a random idea and then i actually made it, and now it's there and I don't know what to do with it. for added randomness it used to be a senn triplets deck that was chock full o' artifacts for no reason, I fixed that at least.

Quote:

General:
Sharuum the Hegemon (yeah, been done to death, but this one's bad, so it's different! smile )

Lands:
9x Plains
10x island
9x swamp
leechridden swamp
flood plain
orzhov basilica
dimir aqueduct
Ancient Den
Vault of Whispers
Esper Panorama
Coastal Tower
Bad river
Azorius Chancery
Darksteel Citadel
Glimmervoid

Other mana:
Mistvein Borderpost
thunder totem
spectral searchlight
darksteel ingot
sanctum plowbeast

Mana Sinks:
Myr Matrix
Chimeric Staff
Staff of Domination
Orochi Hatchery

Good Artifacts:
Tidehollow Strix
Cloud Key
Tidehollow Sculler
Sphinx of the Steel Wind (Foil baby!)
Whispersilk Cloak
Etherwrought Page
Shield of the righteous

Good nonartifacts:
Propaganda
Ghostly Prison
Unmake
Soul manipulation
Ray of command
Mortify
clone
soul warden
sakashima the imposter

Nonartifacts that like artifacts:
Roar of reclamation
Soulscour (lol geddon, also shiny)
Copy Artifact
Thoughtcast
Fabricate
Leonin Abunas

Artifacts that like other artifacts:
Sphinx summoner
Faerie Mechanist
Sanctum Gargoyle
Arcbound Crusher
Etherium Sculptor
glassdust hulk
Master of etherium
glaze fiend
Filigree Sages
Ethersworn Shieldmage
Lodestone Myr
Salvage slasher
Arsenal Thresher
Skeleton Shard
Sculpting Steel
Blinkmoth Urn

Random artifacts:
Vectis Dominator
Architects of will
Watchwing scarecrow
esper sojurners
ethercaste knight
executioner's capsule
Æther Spellbomb
crystal shard
cumber stone

Random other s**t:
Rebuff the wicked
Nether traitor

so yeah, a lot wrong with it. I should probably have a black landcycler. i was surprized to find out how few synod sanctums i own, but i don't think i went through all my cards for them, so there might be one i can still get to. I don't have the white/blue borderpost, but even if i did, i think the borderpost, searchlight, and probably even totem are kinda weak for the format. a couple of the artifact-loving artifacts, like faerie mechanist are weak even with the synnergy, and most of the random artifacts suck, and i should be ashamed.

Also, no idea why i have a bunch of potential mana sinks, i think I threw them in because they're pretty good on their own, but when i was setting the deck out to list them all i looks like i was expecting to be rolling in mana somehow, and i don't see it, aside from blinkmoth urn, which is nice but not super-good. i dunno what i was thinking.

one thing i am happy about is not having any "I win" combos with the sharuum loop. soul warden can get me infy life, the crusher, lodestone myr (i think the timing works, i don't want to think about it right now), glassdust hulk and glaze fiend can all get huge and KO one guy before i'm likely stomped on, but i have no way to down a whole table in one fell swoop, and i'm cool with that.

[Arturos Knightblade]

This thread is too pretty for God to let it die.

I played a pretty epic EDH game the day before yesterday. Surprisingly, my Thraximundar deck absolutely dominated. One of my friends didn't have an EDH deck, so I lent him my Rafiq deck, which I listed earlier. My other opponent was playing an ill-thought-out Bladewing the Risen deck.

I opened with Mana-forge cinder and Rakdos Guildmage, while the guy playing Bladewing played a bunch of pingers (Rakdos Ick-spitter). I started swinging through with Shadowmage Infiltrator. The Rafiq deck opened up strong, and started swinging with double-striking Dauntless Escort. During Bladewing's turn, he played a random kill spell on the Escort, which killed it. My first tech move of the game was to morph an Akroma, Angel of Fury and chump block the double-striking Rafiq which swung at me next turn. Then, I played a Body Double copying the Red Akroma. Turn 5 Akroma seems good. Sadly, it didn't last long, as the Rafiq player decided that having protection against his deck wasn't good for him, so he Wrathed the board.

The Bladewing made his first somewhat relevant play of the game by playing Rorix Bladewing, which I immediately casted Control Magic on. Rafiq player took control of the game by nailing Keiga, the Tide Star. All kinds of dragons flying around everywhere - basically made him immune to attacks, as there'd be no good trade-off. He did some other cool things, too, like playing his own Body Double to copy Red Akroma, but that was quickly answered with a Shriekmaw. So I drew the perfect answer to this battle of Dragons - Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker. So I played him and took control of Keiga, which dramatically shifted the balance of the game. From there, Bolas controlled the board.

I ended up having to chump block Rafiq's Simic Sky Swallower with Keiga, getting only a Decree of Justice token, but Nicol Bolas still stuck around and blew up lands and notable permanents every turn. Eventually his ultimate went off on Bladewing, which basically threw him out of the game. He "officially" died a few turns later, and then it was just me and Rafiq. He was actually still doing well, so I decided to make a board reset, as I had lost my imposing position and I'd lose Nicol Bolas to attackers next turn. So I played Damnation.

At some point, I also nailed Lilliana to the board and started tutoring. I was pretty well nailing him, but then he managed to land Akroma - something I couldn't just take with Nicol Bolas. Of course, she only lasted a turn - I played Thraximundar and swung, making him sacrifice her and then getting a +1/+1 counter for my general. Then, next turn, I reanimated his Akroma with Beacon of Unrest and started swinging at him with his own Angel. Then I played Torrent of Souls to get the Red Akroma back from my graveyard, and finished him off the next turn. XD

So my board was a bunch of land, Thraximundar, Akroma and Red Akroma, Nicol Bolas and Lilliana Vess.

It was a pretty awesome game. I'll post the Thraximundar list later - it's pretty time-consuming.