Sideboard


Maybeboard


Disclaimer Deck is in constant flux right now, so description may not be accurate.

Please read the description (there's toggles). I'd suggest at least reading the Overview of the Deck section if you don't want to read the whole thing. However, each section does help to explain the deck a little better, so if you have the time, I highly suggest reading it fully.

There's custom categories on the deck, which you can view by clicking one option in the pie chart to the right, and it will highlight the cards in that category. These categories will just help to give a quick overview understanding of the deck initially, so feel free to give that a peak.

The deck has become quite the toolbox deck (Summoner's Pact is a virtual copy of my creatures, allowing more than 4 of each one, and Primeval Titan does silly things with all the lands - view the Godhand section for some examples).

Aftermath Analyst enables infinite combos with an Amulet of Vigor or Spelunking and Shifting Woodland / Mirrorpool along with a way to get enough lands in the graveyard to loop it, usually Lotus Field and Echoing Deeps to copy it. Most notably, Scapeshift allows you to assemble all these pieces with only 4 lands in play, finding the Aftermath Analyst and all the pieces required (outlined in the Godhand Section). Depending on lands in play / the graveyard, you can do with less lands, for example if a bounce is in play, you can find Echoing Deeps to copy it, allowing you to return Tolaria West and copy Lotus Field later. Similarly, we can use Lumra, Bellow of the Woods + Mirrorpool / Otawara, Soaring City to transition into the Aftermath Analyst loop.

Our general sideboarding strategy is to move out some of the cards they will be targeting to essentially invalidate them, and move in some more "fair" cards like green mana sources, Spelunking and big green creatures with powerful effects. We do have specific hate, but we have roughly half our sideboard double as a "fair" gameplan while addressing specific needs.


The basic play of the deck game 1 is to mulligan until some type of ramp, usually in the form of Amulet of Vigor / Urza's Saga and multiple land drop cards or a fatty. You basically want to have a plan to have potential for around 6 mana by turn 3 (4 at the latest) when you look at your opening hand, or at least a bunch of little guys that synergize well and create board presence to block with. Alternatively, any infinite combo involving Scapeshift -> Aftermath Analyst is also a desired opening hand depending on the deck you are facing (Scapeshift can also ramp you to the critical 6 mana on only 2 lands).

I've definitely had more than a few turn 3 wins with a 4 card opener, so don't be afraid to mulligan aggressively if you see no opening turns in your hand. The cards you want missing in a keepable opening hand are generally ramp or Amulet of Vigor and/or Primeval Titan (with access to multiple amulets you don't need the extra land cards and vice versa). You need a basic mana engine and some board presence/hate if you don't have the ability to play an early titan. Reason being that Primeval Titan basically runs 8+ copies because of Summoner's Pact, Scapeshift and Tolaria West and you don't actually need an Amulet of Vigor for your lands/creatures to produce value, it just gives them more value (with the exception of turning Scapeshift into an "I win" card).

I also suggest trying to keep a green bounce land in hand if you happen to have either an amulet or extra land play creature out, and are just waiting on the other piece. Generally speaking, the only time I play my last bounce is when I can hard-cast an impactful card the next time I untap and need to play it for that line. There's certain "key lands" you generally don't want in your hand and want to play as soon as possible, with the priority of playing them depending on which path to victory you are planning to take. Generally speaking, the priority should be Hanweir Battlements  -> Mirrorpool -> Shifting Woodland / Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle but that order may change depending on other cards in hand. Keep in mind you can fix for Hanweir Battlements  / Mirrorpool in hand on a double amulet hand by finding Gruul Turf + Tolaria West and pacting for Arboreal Grazer / Azusa, Lost but Seeking respectively.

Once you cast Primeval Titan you can almost always swing with it same turn. With 1+ Amulet of Vigor(s) and Dryad of the Ilysian Grove you generally want to find Hanweir Battlements  + Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle. If you suspect removal and need an extra green, but still want to try swinging while still being able to pay for your Summoner's Pact go for Hanweir Battlements  + Gruul Turf or even Hanweir Battlements  + Lotus Field if you need double green and have enough lands in play. Another very common line with a single Amulet of Vigor is to find Hanweir Battlements  + Crumbling Vestige leaving it untapped, then finding Otawara, Soaring City + Gruul Turf on the attack trigger to bounce a blocker, effectively giving your titan pseudo-haste and getting more damage through.

Scapeshift can be used as a ritual, a mana-fixer, or a finisher, making it one of our more flexible cards. It also enables a kill line with nothing more than an amulet effect and 4 lands, so quite the powerful card in our deck's newest version.

With multiple Amulet of Vigor you can go for Mirrorpool + Gruul Turf or even Gruul Turf + The Mycosynth Gardens if you have a way to play another threat, to be able to swing with 3+ Primeval Titan after transmuting Tolaria West. From there, the huge land toolbox will set up your future turns quite nicely, even if that titan was the only thing your hand had going for it. Always look for lines where you can get multiple Primeval Titan into play (don't walk into removal when doing so, sometimes it is better to do this after combat), preferably alongside cheating more Amulet of Vigor effects into play with The Mycosynth Gardens as well. You can view the Godhand section for some specific lines.

In games 2 and 3 of a match, once you know the deck of your opponent, solid hate can be keep-able instead of the whole fatty plan. You will also be siding out some of your more aggressive lines for something more consistent, but do try to keep the extra land effects close to your number of green bounces. It really comes down to the opponents deck when you are deciding how to play the deck, because it can be played as just about any type of deck (tempo, control, midrange, combo, and even prison if you run some obscure options - not suggested, they are obscure for a reason). I marked some of the more common targets to side out with #flexslot so you can have a better understanding of the core of the deck and some of the "filler" cards.

How you stack triggers matters. My general advise is to resolve things where you have no choice, first (so you stack them in the opposite order). I generally resolve my triggers as Vesuva / Echoing Deeps copies (not a trigger, but you have to choose it first), Amulet of Vigor untaps, Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle targets, Crumbling Vestige color choice, then Simic Growth Chamber etc. bounce a land. It is very important to stack them so you have the most options available if a response happens, as sometimes how you stack things can make or break you (you can also play instant speed interaction before resolving some triggers, netting you extra information / resetting it before making certain choices). For example, we can use a shuffle effect like Summoner's Pact or cracking Misty Rainforest for deck thinning before resolving some triggers or draw effects.

A few important tips are that you can bounce utility lands (without an Amulet of Vigor) after fetching to replay and use them the same turn or play Vesuva as an untapped copy of nothing to produce mana with Dryad of the Ilysian Grove, to name some of the most overlooked lines of play. One other important thing is that Vesuva / Echoing Deeps can only copy lands already in play / the graveyard, not lands found with the same Primeval Titan fetch.


In this section, I will explain some of the key differences from your "normal" archetype. First, let's look at the manabase. One of the key differences from the more traditional 4x Dryad of the Ilysian Grove lists is that we are only running 1x Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle and 1x Vesuva instead of 2x of either one to be able to get 3 on the field at once for lethal. We are able to retain a similar lethal line, thanks to Misty Rainforest (or Echoing Deeps to copy it) on the final trigger. By fetching Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle and Hanweir Battlements  to enable haste, followed by Vesuva (copying Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle) and Misty Rainforest on the attack trigger, we are getting 12+6 damage instead of 18 damage. This is "better" in my opinion for 2 reasons. First, we have better mana-fixing and faster mana (untapped green source vs. a tapped red source). Second, we can now activate some of that damage at instant speed to help counter something like The One Ring or be used as removal if not doing lethal.

Another thing that this manabase has going for it over your traditional lines is the access to Hedge Maze. Since we are running essentially 3 copies thanks to Misty Rainforest / Verdant Catacombs, we get to surveil dead draws quite often, which helps the deck to be more consistent. We also don't need to worry about hitting a key land like Hanweir Battlements  or Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle thanks to Echoing Deeps being our double Amulet of Vigor kill land. Running a surveil land also gives us some upside when an opponent uses Boseiju, Who Endures against us, letting us find Hedge Maze to get a surveil as a form of compensation. Also, fetches are notably able to choose to be a tapped or untapped land, which is very powerful for the deck, along with being an untapped green that becomes a "value land" with Aftermath Analyst allowing you to do something meaningful with loops.

Finally, many of you will be questioning (or maybe not because the deck seems to have moved away from it) - "Where's the 2 Amulet of Vigor kill line with Kessig Wolf Run?" Sorry to disappoint, but I've long since cut it for Echoing Deeps, which actually does some amazing things without double amulet (like enabling its own lethal line), while also enabling some disgusting board presence lines that assure we can win the turn after swinging if unable to just flat-out kill them against almost any deck (explained in great detail in the Godhand section). The main draw here is that Kessig Wolf Run often does nothing in games 2/3 when they start targeting our Amulet of Vigor and Urza's Saga. Echoing Deeps is capable of copying any land that was destroyed by hate (does not come up often) or even an opponent's (or our own) fetch, effectively making it a tapped green source if needed. It is also capable of copying Urza's Saga in our more grindy matchups, which is one of the best lands in those matchups. For the "kill" lines we are often copying Mirrorpool or Misty Rainforest to squeeze in extra mana or damage, but the card is so much more flexible than simply being a "kill" land.

Next, we will look at our non-lands, as the remainder of the manabase is fairly "standard" in the archetype. The most obvious difference from today's builds should be my lack of The One Ring. I just don't find the card as good into the field as it once was, and I also don't like that the card is just an overpriced Fog that lets you draw cards. We also already have a decent matchup against most aggro decks where it is relevant, where the lifeloss crackback can be an actual real cost. There's also a lot of decks that have figured out how to work around The One Ring's protection at instant speed, or ignore it with a "damage can't be prevented" clause, making it an active liability sometimes.

We are also running Scapeshift which was unheard of, but has more recently become the norm, since it combos quite nicely with Aftermath Analyst. I mainly play it as a way to add more threats to the deck, and even though it is one of the softer options into countermagic, it is much better to have your 4 CMC spell countered than your 6 CMC spell (and you can always pivot into Urza's Saga beatdowns and/or Shifting Woodland if it does resolve, instead of falling into the trap of having your Summoner's Pact target countered).

Another less played option is Azusa, Lost but Seeking which I will explain why I am still including her over something like 4x Arboreal Grazer - in game 1 anyway. Azusa, Lost but Seeking just enables far too many lines that you can't do otherwise as a 1-of. Summoner's Pacting for her and setting up a Primeval Titan the turn after if not answered is quite the powerful line. Being able to put your Mirrorpool into play with double Amulet of Vigor so you can still swing with 2x Primeval Titan is another powerful line she enables. She is just a powerful option to have, and I don't see myself cutting her anytime soon.

Explore is just a better Arboreal Grazer when we don't need the blocker. Both it and Malevolent Rumble also help to enable delirium for Shifting Woodland in our post-board matches and also help with our consistency strategy by allowing us to see more cards in our deck with minimal deckbuilding costs. We are going pretty heavy on draw/tutor effects to help us naturally draw into whatever missing piece(s) we may need for the matchup. You'll notice there's a lot of digging/tutoring effects in this particular iteration of the deck (in both the main and side), allowing us to more consistently get to the cards we want. I am basically running Explore + Malevolent Rumble over Arboreal Grazer + a land to give the deck a little more consistency at the cost of a little speed. We do have the 4th Arboreal Grazer and a Boseiju, Who Endures in the sideboard to undo that decision if needed.


I like to place a die on top of my deck after casting Summoner's Pact - you can also conveniently track how many triggers this way - to remind myself not to miss the trigger(s) prior to drawing.

Always stack triggers with the most options first so they resolve last. Stack triggers where you have no option last, that way you still have the most options available if your opponent responds to a trigger.

Always hold priority after playing an extra land card, and play those land(s) immediately after to play around removal. On this note, if possible and when you suspect removal, try to play a land without a trigger following Azusa, Lost but Seeking so you can get in both extra lands without your opponent having a chance to respond.

Try to play Explore with no other "extra Land" creatures in play if possible. This prevents giving your opponent the opportunity to remove that creature in response, to make you miss out on a land drop.

If you don't need to activate the draw effect of something like Explore prior to swinging with Primeval Titan, don't. You want to avoid drawing into your haste enabling (or other key) lands as much as possible, so activate it in your second main if possible. Fetching more lands after swinging also trims your deck giving you a higher probability of drawing into threats instead of blanks (lands).

If you mulligan badly game 1, it may be beneficial to just not play lands that give away your deck if you will probably lose anyway (basically play like you kept a 0 land hand). You'll gain information as to what your opponent is playing and they won't have any information. This of course depends on if your opponent already knows your deck, but it is still worth mentioning. This also applies to your opponent playing a searching effect like Necromentia where you have no hope of recovery. It may be beneficial to just concede in response, so they can't see all of your deck tech.

On the note of information management, another nice little trick is to track cards your opponent knows (or should know) by turning them upside down in your hand. You may have revealed cards from a Grief / Thoughtseize, or even simply by bouncing a land back to your hand. This matters, since not tracking this information is giving the more skilled players better information, if you were to play a land they didn't see yet, while you just bounced a Forest back to hand for 0 additional lines (sometimes playing a different land has benefits).

You'll notice that a lot of my commonly tutored for targets have an easily recognizable unique coloring to the card when the deck is fanned out, making finding them that much faster instead of having to search card by card. For example:

Forest - all of my basics are white-bordered
Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle - the only red expedition frame
Primeval Titan - Time Spiral Remastered old frames (different coloring)
Urza's Saga - look for the Saga frame on the left (any print works)
Amulet of Vigor - only artifact in old frame pre-boarding
Tolaria West - the "Heads I Win, Tails You Lose" print with the stamp bottom left


I have a lot of full art cards for this purpose as well, and try to use "the List" or similar prints to have the small stamp on the bottom left to help differentiate at a glance some cards that don't have unique frames. You can also use the Modern and old frames in a similar way, since the coloring or frame itself is a slightly different color.

Some of these lines aren't commonly known, or are very hard to see, so I will mention them here.

Haste with double Amulet of Vigor in play and Hanweir Battlements  in hand - play your Primeval Titan and clone it with Mirrorpool and any bounce, then on the second trigger, find Tolaria West + Gruul Turf producing . Transmute Tolaria West using for Summoner's Pact. Fetch and cast Arboreal Grazer putting Hanweir Battlements  into play and using your remaining to double activate it giving both Primeval Titans haste.

Double Primeval Titan with double Amulet of Vigor in play and Mirrorpool in hand - play your Primeval Titan and find Tolaria West + Gruul Turf producing . Transmute Tolaria West using for Summoner's Pact. Fetch and cast Azusa, Lost but Seeking putting Mirrorpool + any bounce / Lotus Field into play and copy your Primeval Titan.

Remove a blocker/threat with singular Amulet of Vigor - play your Primeval Titan finding Crumbling Vestige + Hanweir Battlements  for haste, leaving Crumbling Vestige untapped. On the attack trigger, find Otawara, Soaring City + any bounce, allowing you to bounce almost anything back to your opponent's hand.

Instant speed Bojuka Bog - play your Primeval Titan finding Crumbling Vestige + Hanweir Battlements  for haste, leaving Crumbling Vestige untapped. On the attack trigger, find Urza's Cave + any bounce, allowing you told hold up graveyard removal at instant speed.

Some other little tricks are: playing Vesuva untapped as nothing with Dryad of the Ilysian Grove to produce mana and using Dryad of the Ilysian Grove as a pseudo-answer to Blood Moon thanks to layering (if played after Blood Moon, you have Mountains that are every basic land type).

Scapeshift line with less than 4 lands - Sometimes it is possible to Scapeshift with less than the critical 4 lands with only one Amulet of Vigor effect. This will usually be when you have a bounce in play. Instead of finding your usual Tolaria West + Simic Growth Chamber + 2x Lotus Field, you can instead find something like Tolaria West + Echoing Deeps (copying Simic Growth Chamber) + Lotus Field, allowing you to pivot the Echoing Deeps into the second Lotus Field later.


The number in parenthesis after the card is its suggested quantity. As an example, Amulet of Vigor (4) means I suggest running 4 copies of the card. In general, I suggest 30-33 total lands if running Urza's Saga with 28-29 being preferred if not including the card, of which at least 8-9 should be green bouncelands, with at least a copy of all of the "mandatory" utility lands, like your haste enabler. Try to maximize on untapped and green sources as much as possible, as that helps to keep the deck explosive and consistent. You should also run 9-11 extra land cards, with 10 being the preferred number. These numbers can flex a bit, but try to keep your green bounce and extra land creature counts relatively close, never off by more than 1 card if possible, as you want to maximize having both in hand.



Amulet of Vigor (4) - One of the cards that makes this deck really shine, eliminating the downside of many of my lands, while also giving my titans +2/0 and haste (plus an extra land!). Multiples of this ramp me really fast, and is a force to be reckoned with.

The One Ring (0-4) - a powerful stalling option which provides card advantage. This helps us to stay alive and find whatever card we may be missing. I suggest playing either 4 or none, as being legendary is actually an upside, allowing you to play a second copy to reset the damage.

Primeval Titan (4) - The main creature this deck revolves around, quite the force to be reckoned with. Even if it gets removed, you still get the ETB trigger, so sometimes playing into removal and finding Tolaria West or Shifting Woodland is the correct play, ignoring haste for redundancy.

Summoner's Pact (2-4) - Pretty much 4 more copies of Primeval Titan or whatever creature is needed, but be careful with the upkeep (I like to account for them potentially destroying any of my lands)! As this is a commonly sided out card thanks to Subtlety, it is reasonable to trim slightly, but I wouldn't go below 2-3 copies.

Arboreal Grazer (1-4) - This is actually fetchable ramp in a sense, because it can net you 1+ extra mana in a lot of situations with a Summoner's Pact (not a suggested path against interaction). It also has reach and makes a decent blocker afterwards. You always want to run at least one of these, even post-sideboard against decks with 0 creatures to block, as it enables a lot of lines when fetching with Summoner's Pact.

Azusa, Lost but Seeking (0-2) / Dryad of the Ilysian Grove (0-4) - Azusa, Lost but Seeking is two additional land drops per turn, which enables Primeval Titan the turn after pacting and having 0 open mana with an amulet and bounceland. However, she is legendary, so you never want more than 1, which is why I generally run less than 4 copies of her. Dryad of the Ilysian Grove is an additional land drop every turn, mana-fixing, and a solid 2/4 body for 3 mana, allowing us to flex into a midrange deck. It also combos with Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle as a win-condition. 3 CMC is also a critical point for the deck, since we can usually go from 3 mana straight to 6+, so this slot is very important.

Aftermath Analyst (0-3) - this enables lots of infinite loops with Shifting Woodland / Mirrorpool / Springheart Nantuko and we have a number of lands, like Urza's Cave, Commercial District, Boseiju, Who Endures, Otawara, Soaring City, Misty Rainforest, Tolaria West, or even Mirrorpool that enable you to profit with each loop.

Lumra, Bellow of the Woods (0-1) - this is usually the bridge to get to the Aftermath Analyst loop. Enabled with Otawara, Soaring City / Mirrorpool / Springheart Nantuko and you should be able to eventually transition to an Aftermath Analyst loop to stop milling your deck.

Scapeshift (0-4) - capable of winning games with 4 lands + Amulet of Vigor / Spelunking using Aftermath Analyst, Dryad of the Ilysian Grove + 6 lands out by finding Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle or setting up a powerful Primeval Titan with 4 lands and an Amulet of Vigor if you suspect gravehate. With 2+ Amulet of Vigor you only need 3 lands to sacrifice to produce enough mana to transmute into a threat. It is strongly suggested to run multiple haste enabling lands if you run any copies of this. It can also function as mana-fixing or ramp depending on the situation as well. Not really the greatest thing in multiples, since most of our lands are important utility lands, but definitely a lot of strong synergy with the deck overall. It's also pretty horrible without Dryad of the Ilysian Grove or Amulet of Vigor, so it isn't ideal against decks with interaction.

Cultivator Colossus (0-1) - This is basically Primeval Titan's big brother when your hand is mana flooded or a utility land you need is in your hand instead of your deck. It doesn't quite go infinite with bouncelands since you need to fully resolve Cultivator Colossus's ability before resolving anything else, but it is definitely a way of making the most of mana-flooding, letting you draw into things to spend that mana on. This is significantly worse than Primeval Titan if you don't have at least 2 lands in hand. If you have 4+ lands in hand, I would say it is generally better (you can still whiff). With 3 lands in hand, they are generally equivalent, with certain board states preferring one option over the other.

Springheart Nantuko (0-3) - This is actually a very broken card with almost all of our creatures, allowing them to essentially go infinite with a singular Amulet of Vigor in play and a bounce in hand. While an army of Arboreal Grazers might not win us the game outright, not many decks can get through an army of 0/3 reach creatures. With Dryad of the Ilysian Grove or Primeval Titan as the copy target, you essentially win. Bestow is also nice since if they remove the creature, your aura just stops being an aura and becomes a creature. Gaining an army of 1/1 insects on every landfall is still a good effect, especially if they already traded removal to make you get that effect.

Spelunking (0-2) / Explore (0-4) - Spelunking is a bit stronger, having an Amulet of Vigor effect built into it, especially post-board. However, it does get progressively worse in duplicates, becoming an overpriced Explore after the first copy.

Malevolent Rumble (0-4) - This is essentially a power crept version of Ancient Stirrings. Being able to pull any permanent from the top 4 is a powerful effect, especially when you consider it is really only costing you and not thanks to the Spawn Token. This also puts cards into the graveyard which can be very relevant with Shifting Woodland to enable delirium. At the same time, putting key cards into your graveyard is mitigated by Echoing Deeps, so this card definitely has synergy with the deck. Do not confuse the "ramp" from the Spawn Token with the ability to play additional lands, as they are two different things. This card also has added upside in matches where you are siding in permanents, as it can find them a lot easier.

Elvish Reclaimer (0-4) - Surprisingly, this versatile guy is decent at just about everything you could want. It can act as a pseudo-extra land card, a land tutor, a sizable threat to stabilize when you have nothing. This is a 1 drop that scales up as the game goes on, and can also be used as a tutor for the land you really need (really good at finding your missing bounceland or Urza's Saga). You can also use the activated ability in response to the triggered ability of Urza's Saga's 3rd chapter to basically replace/upgrade your land in addition to searching for your artifact of choice. The main downside of this option is it is a tap ability, so it suffers from summoning sickness, which may not always be desired in a combo deck (it needs to survive an entire turn to be relevant or do anything at all). Realistically, this is very close to a hybrid Arboreal Grazer and Expedition Mapfoil, being able to fulfill the main uses of both cards (although not being findable with Urza's Saga and only Summoner's Pact).

Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle (0-2) - This is actually a win-con with enough land drops and Dryad of the Ilysian Grove. Due to bouncelands being able to bounce themselves, you are generally able to utilize all your extra land drops on each turn, so this damage can add up really quickly. It can be used to clear the board or to do direct damage.

Vesuva (1-2) - This is essentially a mandatory include because of all the great plays it enables. Vesuva is probably the best land in the deck, as it can be pretty much anything. In addition to copying anything (opponent's lands included), you can play it untapped copying nothing with Dryad of the Ilysian Grove out to produce mana, an often overlooked line of play.

Crumbling Vestige (1-4) - This is a pseudo-bounce, producing 2 mana with an Amulet of Vigor. It also allows us to go +1 land or +1 mana with certain lines, which is very relevant. Also being an untapped green source makes this one of the most useful/versatile lands in the deck, essentially filling all the checkmarks of what we want a land to do in this deck. It also enables us to activate Otawara, Soaring City during our combat step with only 1 Amulet of Vigor if using the Hanweir Battlements  package to haste by finding it to enable the haste, leaving it untapped to get up to 4 mana during our combat phase. You can also haste your Primeval Titan without an Amulet of Vigor using some combination of this, Hanweir Battlements  and a bounce. For all these reasons, I would call it a mandatory include, and generally prefer to play 2 copies if possible, but some people choose not to play any copies.

Tolaria West (1-2) - this can transmute into Summoner's Pact for whichever creature fits your situation best. It can also become any other land, a Chalice of the Void or Engineered Explosives if either is in the deck (or any other 0 CMC sideboard card, including lands). At least 2 copies enables swinging with 3+ Primeval Titan when you get to that many amulets, which is essentially enough for lethal.

Otawara, Soaring City (0-1) - this is basically required in the Hanweir Battlements  version of the deck, since it essentially enables pseudo-vigilance. By removing a blocker on the swing, they are unable to swing with it their following turn, so it can both help to sneak in some additional damage, and allow us a form of protection the following turn, some of the main pros of Slayers' Stronghold.

Boseiju, Who Endures (1-3) - One of the best utility lands for the deck, since we can easily bounce it back to hand, making it fetchable removal for artifacts, enchantments, and even troublesome lands (essentially a broader version of Ghost Quarter if you don't plan to use it on yourself). It does technically ramp your opponent in most cases, but that's a fair tradeoff for eliminating a more troublesome permanent. Be careful not to run too many copies, as the legendary rule does come up when trying to use multiples as a land.

Disciple of Freyalise  (0-1) - this is a pactable untapped/tapped green manasource, and also a great way to gain life and draw cards, which can be a very important line to have access to.

Urza's Cave (0-1) - a great tutor for another land, with finding Bojuka Bog at instant speed being one of the most powerful forms of interaction we get access to. This is also another way to cheat in extra landfall triggers, at instant speed, or find that missing bounce, all while being an untapped land.

Cavern of Souls (0-3) - Good for control matches, and it can also be useful for colored mana when trying to hard cast more color intensive creatures like Sigarda, Host of Herons. Since we have a lot of bouncelands in here, we can change the creature type named almost as often as wanted, so this is almost like an Ancient Ziggurat that can tap for colorless when not casting creature spells.

Hanweir Battlements  (0-1) / Slayers' Stronghold + Boros Garrison - These are some of the best utility lands for this deck. It allows your titans to come out with haste, you can't really ask for more. Slayers' Stronghold is arguably the better of the two, since it gives haste/vigilance and +2/0, which can be important (this does require committing another slot to Boros Garrison as well). Hanweir Battlements  is better at granting our titans haste without an amulet, or squeezing extra damage out of Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle. Having both as an option gives some added flexibility in plays, and makes us less susceptible to things like Surgical Extraction or drawing into our only haste enabling land before playing the titan. It is not really recommended to run both, and I recommend being careful not to overcommit to non-green lands, as you really need green lands for the deck to function early.

Urza's Saga (4) / The Mycosynth Gardens (1-4) - These are super powerful in game 1, but they are also super vulnerable to removal/hate (you basically concede against an early Blood Moon, Magus of the Moon, or Force of Vigor). However, one thing they both do well is allow for a double amulet more often (making them a solid turn 1/2 land). One additional upside the Saga does have going for it is the negatives aren't really preyed upon until games 2/3 of the match making it a powerful game 1 tool, which is why most decks want 4 copies, then side them out as needed. The Mycosynth Gardens needs a first Amulet of Vigor to copy, but it can have us go +1 the same turn, instead of needing to wait. It is a little less vulnerable to hate than its counterpart, since it isn't a Saga or Enchantment, but a little less powerful overall. When comparing the two, Urza's Saga is an investment of 2 turns for an Amulet of Vigor, while The Mycosynth Gardens is an investment of 2 mana, which also requires a first copy for us to copy. While it is pretty clear which of these effects is more powerful, both cards enable us to have an explosive turn 3 more consistently. These are also both colorless lands, which is something you need to be careful of running too many copies of, especially if you have a lot of early plays that want colored mana.

Forest (2+) / Snow-Covered Forest (2+) - basic lands are needed, enough said. It stops Path to Exile-type effects from being as devastating, and gives hope against Blood Moon. I typically like to use white bordered basics to make fetching easier (you can fan out your deck instead of going card by card) if going with fetchlands, just a little trick I like to use to help speed up games. I never suggest dropping below 2 basics with this deck, and if you aren't splashing heavily, more is always better.

Misty Rainforest (0-2) - fetches are surprisingly great in here, for two main reasons. First, the reason they are played in most decks, great mana-fixing. We can play more virtual copies of our non-basics without being forced to draw into them, which is great for something like the Surveil lands. Second, it enables additional landfall triggers, which is very important to our deck with the inclusion of Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle.

Commercial District (0-1) / Temple Garden (0-1) - this is a forest subtype land which allows us to dig into our deck or has the option of coming in untapped. This makes our opponent's Boseiju, Who Endures into even more of a double edged sword, now giving us some additional card selection. If running any fetches, it also gives us decent access to pseudo-turn 1 plays, playing this tapped and potentially eliminating a bad draw.

Selesnya Sanctuary (0-4) / Golgari Rot Farm (0-4) / Simic Growth Chamber (1-4) / Gruul Turf (0-4) - green bouncelands, the main thing this deck revolves around. It is a good idea to keep one of these in hand at all times (or a Vesuva to copy one) to make the most of your multiple land drop potential. The only time I play my last one in hand is if it means I can hard cast a bomb that I feel will get through when I untap next turn. Otherwise it is best to keep one in hand with the potential of drawing extra land cards, allowing you to "go off" in a lot of cases (considering you have either an amulet in play, or dryad/azusa in hand, and are just waiting on the other piece). I would suggest having 8+ of these, with 9-10 being preferred. Simic Growth Chamber is a mandatory include alongside Tolaria West so you can bounce it back to hand and transmute it.

Castle Garenbrig (0-4) / Sunken Citadel (0-2) - Castle Garenbrig is decent as potential ramp if you run enough fetches + Forest Subtypes that it can consistently come out untapped. Not really worth forcing into the deck, but it can be viewed as +2 for mana calculations in a lot of scenarios, so definitely a solid include if there's enough space and support for it. Sunken Citadel can be used to enable many of our lands, and can even be seen as a 5 color land, since we can pick any color. They both compliment each other quite well also, so if playing a more budget version, look to use these instead of Urza's Saga.

Echoing Deeps (0-1) - This is my "kill" land of choice. I chose it over all the options below, mainly because it does something beneficial outside of the combo. Being able to copy a key land that was removed or surveilled away is quite nice, but we also like being able to copy a fetch, whether it is ours or our opponent's.

Mirrorpool (0-1) / Kessig Wolf Run (0-1) / Oran-Rief, the Vastwood (0-1) / Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion / Mosswort Bridge / Drannith Ruins / Novijen, Heart of Progress - Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion is great to block something with deathtouch (take that Wurmcoil Engine - I live and you don't even gain life), or just double your damage. Mosswort Bridge can cover the defensive and offensive purposes of Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion in almost every situation, without the need of as much mana investment, even allowing more aggressive plays sometimes, all while being a colored mana source instead of colorless. Mosswort Bridge is the most powerful digging tool and virtual advantage this deck has to offer. Cast off anything for 1 green? Yes please! Need to find some removal because they are just stalling with something stupid and annoying? Keep copying/bouncing this until you find what you are looking for. If you are running Mosswort Bridge, it is basically required to run Slayers' Stronghold + Boros Garrison alongside it, allowing you to get to 10+ power far more consistently. Because of those mandatory inclusions, Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion is a basically equivalent option as well, being in the same colors. Also worth mentioning is that you can use the hideaway of Mosswort Bridge to exile cards you don't want to draw, if you don't plan on activating it prior to bouncing it back to your hand. After a shuffling effect, this deck-thinning helps increase your odds of hitting cards you do want by a few percentage points. Mirrorpool is able to be a strict replacement for Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion allowing us to create 2 titans to double pump with Slayers' Stronghold for lethal, or Kessig Wolf Run / Oran-Rief, the Vastwood / Drannith Ruins / Novijen, Heart of Progress if you are on Hanweir Battlements   to enable haste.

Expedition Map (0-1) - this is mainly found with Urza's Saga when you already have the mana or Amulet of Vigors but are missing a bounce or a threat. Expedition Map lets you tutor for a specific land like Simic Growth Chamber, Tolaria West, Forest, or Shifting Woodland, etc. so it can still have value in non-Urza's Saga games if a specific land is powerful.

The number in parenthesis after the card is its suggested quantity. As an example, Amulet of Vigor (4) means I suggest running 4 copies of the card. Excluding all of the mandatory includes, we are able to fit around 5 land and 5 non-land Filler options, allowing tweaking the deck for specific needs.



Altered Ego (0-1) / Phyrexian Metamorph (0-1) - with the increased access to 2 copies of Amulet of Vigor, Altered Ego is a very powerful option, essentially lowering the mana threshold for 2+ Primeval Titans. You can now play that second titan after transmuting Tolaria West if you have access to 7 mana, with 6 of it coming from the Simic Growth Chamber + Tolaria West you found. Phyrexian Metamorph cant be tutored for, but it is the superior version when drawn into, both being cheaper, and allowing us to also copy The One Ring, Amulet of Vigor or whatever we are already copying with The Mycosynth Gardens.

Aether Hub / Gemstone Mine / Mana Confluence / Waterlogged Grove / Reflecting Pool / Flooded Grove - Gemstone Mine probably has the most synergy, since you can use it twice then bounce it to reset its counters. Aether Hub is a strictly better version of Tendo Ice Bridge and is next in line, since you can bounce it and replay it without using the to stack multiples for later. The draw-land cycle of cards like Waterlogged Grove is one land that actually isn't terrible to draw when mana-flooded. The filter cycle like Flooded Grove helps manafix if you have a lot of non-green double cost cards. Reflecting Pool is basically a psuedo-5-color land that makes cards with multiple of the same color cost a lot easier to cast. It gets exponentially better with more multicolored lands, and is quite nice in greedy manabases like this one. Some similar options are Tendo Ice Bridge / City of Brass / Vivid Grove / Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth

Worldsoul's Rage - at worst removal and ramp, but at best an infinite combo with Mirrorpool. It is a bit slower, and does require a specific splash color, so there are some downsides for this powerful option.

Fae of Wishes / Wish / Glittering Wish / Karn, the Great Creator - even though Fae of Wishes is technically a creature, it's adventure mode is a non-creature spell, which is what we are interested in mainly. This is the most relevant of the wish cards, since we can still cast it for the adventure mode when hidden away, and it has extra synergy when hit with Turntimber Symbiosis  for a 4/7 flier. Wish is just the most flexible wishing card, letting you grab literally anything. However, it forces you to use it the same turn, so it isn't as ideal as some other wish options in certain scenarios. Glittering Wish is the most reasonably priced of the bunch, but can only tutor for something multicolored in the sideboard. Karn, the Great Creator is the artifact wish and potentially usable multiple turns.



Honorable Mentions

Tyrranax Rex - keyword soup, toxic edition... Seriously though, this card fits fairly well by being a near impossible to deal with threat against any kind of control variant. It also helps with any kind of "infinite" life shenanigans, since we can now win through poison counters instead.

Gwenna, Eyes of Gaea - This is a very interesting option for the deck, which has some pros and cons to it. The first (and really only) major con is that this card doesn't do much the turn it is played, unlike most of our other ramp options. However, this is a card that can color-fix, and gets us to a turn 4 titan on its own. It also makes it far easier to chain Tolaria West into multiple Primeval Titans since it untaps when playing a 5+ power creature, essentially reducing the casting cost by 2.

Tireless Tracker / Courser of Kruphix - Tireless Tracker is a form of card advantage that is capable of growing itself, although at the cost of investing further mana. Courser of Kruphix is good at letting us eliminate land draws, which can really be a problem sometimes. It also is Lightning Bolt proof, which can be huge sometimes. Lifegain from lands hitting play is just icing on the cake. Something that is also very relevant for both is that the 2+ power can be just what's needed for that Mosswort Bridge activation.

Ghostly Flicker - this is actually a super flexible option, able to be used to reset our The One Ring, ramp us by flickering lands / ETB creatures, or even just protecting our creatures from removal. Even though it has all that going for it, it is a bit dependent on having certain cards in play already, so we don't want to over-invest in it.

Manamorphose - color-fixing where the main downside is not knowing what card it "really is" when considering your hand for a mulligan. It also doubles as a pseudo-answer for Blood Moon as a happy coincidence.

Khalni Garden / Radiant Fountain / Kabira Crossroads / Blossoming Sands cycle - chump blocker or lifegain slot. Sometimes that is enough to turn the tide of battle, so it isn't to be under-estimated as a utility option. I generally go with Khalni Garden / Kabira Crossroads if I have enough space (can potentially filter the with Wooded Bastion).

It's important to be realistic about the deck, and realize what the weakest/most unneeded cards are. I'll point out what I consider the top weakest main/sideboard cards, and why I don't think they are "ideal." Feel free to discuss other options or suggest replacements to try out. Right now, I would say the deck feels like it sometimes wants access to more threats and ways to pay for them earlier, but don't all decks want that?

Malevolent Rumble - this is a weaker option mainly because it does nothing on its own. I evaluate this card as pay find a land with upside. That upside could be paying for an Eldrazi Spawn 0/1 C. It could be finding a threat/ramp/amulet/sideboard card instead of a land. It could be enabling delirium. However, don't fall into the trap of viewing this card as a form of "ramp" - because it isn't. Yes, you can store 1 mana for a different turn, to use one time, but that is all it does. It does not permanently ramp you, unless you pick up a card to do so in the top 4, such as Arboreal Grazer and have the additional mana to actually use it. These are all exception scenarios though, and you should really be evaluating this card at its floor, which is to essentially find a land for .

Lumra, Bellow of the Woods - this card is often the bridge to Aftermath Analyst and can do things on its own that the cheaper version can't, but it is a lot softer into gravehate, removal, and countermagic - often sided out against certain hate, in my list anyway. It is a better standalone card than Aftermath Analyst when not facing hate, as it stays as its own threat. It is also a redundant version of the card, making Surgical Extraction effects less punishing.

Expedition Map - this is a card that goes in and out of the deck constantly, demonstrating how it lines up against the rest of the cards in the deck. It singlehandedly turns certain opening hands or play patterns into winnable, where they would otherwise be losing, because you just run out of steam without it. That being said, these scenarios do not come up that often, and the majority of the time, you are finding Amulet of Vigor making this a mana land tutor, which isn't the worst effect, with our land toolbox, but it also isn't something you particularly need.

Replacement Options:
In addition to anything listed in the Filler Options section, you can always run increased copies of anything we don't already run 4 of, like Arboreal Grazer or any key lands are always great replacement options. Moving any creature from the sideboard to the mainboard can also be an option if your meta supports that decision. The deck would almost always like more extra land cards or creatures, 3 CMC or less that fit, like Courser of Kruphix, Elvish Reclaimer, or anything else that grants a useful ability and can be used to generate value, apply pressure and/or block with. There's also plenty of ideas in the maybe board, for both the main and side.



Sideboard

Vampires' Vengeance - instant speed board wipe that gives us a little digging power. It is a little overpriced, but being instant speed allows for some nice combat tricks before/after blocks. Definitely not the most well positioned card, as we already have decent matches against most aggro decks. It does deal with energy a little better, being able to hit cards before they get counters on them.

Skylasher - this is a great option vs aggro blue decks, able to block and survive, while potentially removing their threat, while avoiding countermagic. This is a great card vs Psychic Frog and Harbinger of the Seas able to remove both on blocks. Even if they pump the frog, you still effectively 2 for 1 them, removing their draw and forcing them to pitch a card to pump the frog. As great as it is for the matchup we want it for, it does next to nothing against your typical control decks, as a 2/2 is near irrelevant, making it quite narrow.

Mystical Dispute - as great as this card is in the matchups we want it for (mainly the frog matchup), it is quite narrow. Being essentially unplayable outside of blue matchups is a real downside to the card, so it could be trimmed if you have other ways to deal with those matches, or if you need the space for something else.

Replacement Options:

A few too many to list, since this deck can easily flex into any of the 5 colors. Basically, you want to always have a few gravehate slots, a few lands to move in, and some ways to deal with problem cards/decks, whatever those may be (always consider Blood Moon, Harbinger of the Seas, and Magus of the Moon). You may also want some redundant threats, as there's cards like Surgical Extraction that can target any linear plan, which is why mill is a surprisingly difficult matchup if not respected. "Silver Bullet" type cards are also always a great choice, cards where when you play it against a certain deck, they basically lose on the spot.


In my current sideboard, your main consideration should be where to double up on hate and where not to. You also want to consider which cards are strictly wish targets (if running any of the options), and which cards you can actually side in. Siding in your targets enables you to have a faster response, so that is generally the preferred line. This means you don't go heavy on cards which are only good when wished for.

My biggest suggestion is to try to have a tutor-able target for your major issues when possible (Summoner's Pact functions as a tutor for green creatures). There's a lot of smaller synergies with lands, since we can tutor them up with Primeval Titan but you shouldn't rely on those paths as your only answers, since they are less reliable to have access to early. Think of land hate in this deck as more coincidental than something you can rely on, even with all the tutor options.

I would order your preferred hate cards as:
Green Creatures - 1 card is 6+ virtual copies (Summoner's Pact / Tolaria West / Scapeshift)
Everything Else

I also suggest mapping out a general idea of your 1 to 1 swaps for commonly sided out cards or sideboard patterns. For example, if I am siding out all 4 copies of Urza's Saga (and Expedition Map / Mirrorpool because I will have less access to double Amulet of Vigor) because I suspect a Blood Moon effect or a lot of artifact/enchantment hate, I have a general idea of which 6 cards will be replacing those, usually my Boseiju, Who Endures, Gruul Turf, Dryad of the Ilysian Grove and whatever else is good in the matchup.

Another example is that I will often side out less Urza's Saga on the play against moon decks, as getting under the effect with Urza's Saga is game-changing in some of those matches. This is why an option like Gemstone Caverns fits that sideboarding strategy well, making the OTP / Draw sideboarding strategies a little closer. Knowing a general idea of your sideboard mapping like this helps to eliminate a lot of the thinking and have a more consistent sideboarding experience, often leading to better results.

I would make a detailed sideboard guide, but honestly my sideboard changes so often, it would be in constant flux and often inaccurate.

Force of Vigor / Boseiju, Who Endures / Pick Your Poison / Tear Asunder / Stormkeld Vanguard - some of the best artifact and enchantment removal in the format. Force of Vigor is capable of removing 2 problem permanents at the cost of 2 cards and no mana, this option definitely keeps some unfair decks in check (ours included, as this is one of our problem cards). Being a potential "colorless" out to a resolved Blood Moon is also a huge upside that cannot be overstated enough. Boseiju, Who Endures has the added benefit of being a land we can use to replace Urza's Saga when suspecting Blood Moon. Pick Your Poison / Tear Asunder can flex as an answer to larger creatures, alongside everyone's favorite indestructible artifact - The One Ring with the later option. Stormkeld Vanguard is capable of being a threat later into the game after being used as removal, and is also searchable by Summoner's Pact. They all have their respective pros/cons.

Dismember / Vampires' Vengeance / Firespout / Pyroclasm / Whipflare / Hail Storm / Engineered Explosives / Storm's Wrath / The Filigree Sylex / Ratchet Bomb - some of the best creature removal in the format, not really much else to say. The board wipe option(s) flex depending on the meta, but you do want a way to deal with go-wide decks, whether that is through direct damage or targeted CMC. The first of the targeted CMC options should always be Engineered Explosives, since being able to be found by Tolaria West is a very powerful effect. But, if planning to run multiple versions of that effect, I generally prefer the other 2 options, as they don't require you to hold open mana on your opponent's turn to threaten cracking it. Hail Storm is a non-symmetrical effect, and at instant speed, so against low toughness decks, this is definitely one of the better options, although it isn't as easy to cast as some other options (surprisingly easier to see than in our green deck, so Vampires' Vengeance is slightly better).

Endurance / Turn the Earth / Relic of Progenitus / Ghost Vacuum / Bojuka Bog - Endurance is preferred mainly due to it's evoke cost and the ability to be found with a Summoner's Pact. Even when you are tapped out, you can find this card and essentially counter anything if it is going to be game-ending by exiling another green card in hand. It can also be used on yourself to help in the mill matchup, unlike some other options (I only run 1-2 copies to not expose ourselves to Surgical Extraction and Extirpate as much since we have lots of creature tutor options). Turn the Earth makes up the other copies, and has some things going for it over multiple copies of Endurance. It is both usable from the grave when milled over, and can be used multiple times thanks to the flashback. The lifegain isn't completely irrelevant either. Ghost Vacuum / Relic of Progenitus is probably the weakest of the bunch, but it is a nice option to have vs. black graveyard decks especially, with Ghost Vacuum being particularly good against reanimator decks, since we can steal their threats. Its strength is being findable with Urza's Saga and able to be held up as instant speed interaction, while slowly keeping the opponent's graveyard in check at no additional cost. Bojuka Bog is a land that is findable with primveal titan (TSR) giving it some added utility, although usually at sorcery speed. Ironically enough, don't consider this as a land when sideboarding it in, since it is not a fast mana source and is not green - so it does nothing we want a land to do in this deck.

Colossal Skyturtle - a big threat that has evasion and is difficult to remove. Its main purpose is to fight Harbinger of the Seas, but we also want some redundant threats vs decks that run Extirpate and Surgical Extraction.

Vexing Bauble - this is super powerful against any free spells. It is notably able to be found off Urza's Saga as well, which makes it super powerful against the mill matchup and certain black decks, since they usually don't have a way to deal with artifacts. There's plenty of decks this card is useful against, so it is a solid option overall.

Ghost Vacuum - this is mainly for black graveyard strategies, particularly UB frog and Goryo's. Any deck that relies on its graveyard and can't easily deal with enchantments / artifacts is what this card slots in for, since it can be found by Urza's Saga making it a powerful asset in those matches.

Mystical Dispute - one of the best options against blue decks, letting us essentially hard counter any blue spell for 1 mana. Keeping up a mana isn't something we necessarily want to do, but it can also be used defensively to help resolve our first Primeval Titan or protect it from removal. The flexibility of this card makes it a potential game changer against any deck that includes problematic blue cards.

Cavern of Souls - great verse any counterspell deck, allowing us to get our threats through countermagic. It is also reusable thanks to bounces being able to reset the creature type. An all-around great option, most closely comparable to a second Shifting Woodland which also helps to get threats through countermagic by recurring them. The major difference is that this is an untapped manasource, which is why I prefer this option in my current sideboard configuration.

Golgari Rot Farm - this might look like a strange inclusion, but there are times we want to lean into Lotus Field a little less, and this gives us that option. It's a great land to have more access to, as our deck is built around the bouncelands. Having access to also lets us potentially save life on Dismember, but this could easily be any bounce. It could honestly be any land, but I really think the power of bounces is understated in current lists, and increasing access to them is one of the best things we can be doing, reverting closer to the "Plan A" of attack, curving into a titan.

Arboreal Grazer / Dryad of the Ilysian Grove - these are there to tweak our ramp to meet our needs, or still go fast when siding out Urza's Saga. Consistent, marginal improvements like that can really pay off long term, which is why I am a big believer in lands in the sideboard you can side in to improve the manabase as well.



Honorable Mentions

Spelunking - this is a very underrated card in a lot of scenarios and has some very niche uses. The main benefit to this card is in games where we side out Urza's Saga so we will see less double Amulet of Vigor, as that is really the card's only downside, turning off one of our key cards. The major upside of this card is to stop untap triggers. So for example, with Azusa, Lost but Seeking we can play a tapped land followed by a bounce and they cannot react in-between. It is essentially Amulet of Vigor + Explore as a single card, but multiples of it or Amulet of Vigor are bad and we'd just rather have Explore in that scenario. That makes it a very good option to help replace the 3-4 Urza's Saga we side out against most red decks.

Skylasher - this is mainly there for the Dimir Frog matchup, being an absolute star in the matchup. It can blank the card advantage of Psychic Frog or even remove Harbinger of the Seas if they choose to swing with it. Since we get to run 5 copies thanks to Summoner's Pact this is actually a very common answer, and forces them to trade down mana on our 0 CMC spell instead of waiting for its target once they are aware we are running it.

Roxanne, Starfall Savant - this is a nice option against Magus of the Moon, both removing it and producing a 5 color mana source alongside a decent threat that needs to be answered before it produces too much value.

Six - this is a great card that gives us some inevitability, being able to recur basically anything from the graveyard. It is a way to loop The One Ring or replay a creature / Amulet of Vigor that was removed, all for the low price of a land card. It also has a decent body and reach making its stats not irrelevant. If you decide to swing, it is almost like drawing 3, thanks to its retrace ability. Quite the valuable engine in more grindy matchups.

Surge of Salvation / Veil of Summer / Orim's Chant / Silence / Blossoming Calm - Surge of Salvation is essentially a Leyline of Sanctity effect with some additional upsides that be used as a combat trick against select decks. Veil of Summer is a nice option against any blue or black deck. It is mainly here to stop targeted discard. That being said, it is only effective against it if you have the mana open, so it is not nearly as effective on the draw. Blossoming Calm is of the nature. Silence can be used to protect our combo by resolving it first, or to "time walk" any sorcery speed deck.

Spell Pierce / Swan Song / Strix Serenade / Test of Talents - Spell Pierce hits hard early, and becomes less powerful into the late game. Strix Serenade is mostly useful against big creatures and troublesome artifacts like The One Ring. The other options are really solid hate against problem instant or sorceries (or enchantments) which just so happen to be some of the matchups we don't typically have interaction with otherwise. These are very useful against Indomitable Creativity, Calibrated Blast, Persist, any cascade target like Living End / Glimpse of Tomorrow, any storm piece, or just a Counterspell war. They can't be tutored for and have to be drawn into naturally - but it can be fairly game changing when you do, especially against combo decks, which is the intended target. Spell Pierce is currently the option because of the prevalence of The One Ring and its ability to answer planeswalkers as well,, but with the printing of Strix Serenade that may change. I personally prefer to not have to hold up mana in my opponent's turn to use my cards with a mostly sorcery speed deck, but that's just my preference.

Chalice of the Void - very powerful denial against decks that are efficiently mana-curved, as most modern decks are. This is one that is best played early for 0 or 1, maybe even 2 if facing a hatebears/goodstuff kind of deck. It doesn't deal with any current threats at that CMC, it only prevents future ones from being played. This also hits your own cards as well, so be careful about that. It is findable with Tolaria West, giving it extra value in the deck. If you run lots of 0 or 1 drops, this gets a lot less valuable, as it is a double-edged sword.

The Stone Brain - good for removing any problem card from our opponent's deck, usually useful against more linear combo decks.

Void Mirror / Defense Grid - good options vs various decks, both mostly deal with the MH2 pitch elementals though.

Cursed Totem / Stone of Erech - these are mainly there for the creature combo decks, completely invalidating them until dealt with.

Tyrranax Rex - this helps against anything that wants to play like control, whether they are blue or not. Being a near impossible to kill threat, that cannot be interacted with beneficially really cripples the decks it is meant to deal with.

Hokori, Dust Drinker - this lets you shift into more of a prison-style gameplay. It's a shame it isn't green and the cost is a little hard to consistently have early. If you play this while your opponent is tapped out (and they aren't an aggro deck or don't have a crazy board state) you basically win. This card hits most "fair" decks hard, but barely affects us because of Amulet of Vigor + Bouncelands, turning it's effect into more of a 1 sided Winter Orb. You basically transition a combo-deck into a prison deck with this sideboard option. Most non-aggro decks just aren't ready for that in modern and can't recover fast enough. Since most of the current meta is aggro oriented, and there's more and more "free" cards being printed, this card isn't positioned very well in the meta. However, in a slow meta, this is some top-tier sneaky tech, much in the same way that something like Worship can be (not in today's removal happy meta unfortunately).

Elderscale Wurm / Empyrial Archangel / Hornet Queen - I found myself being able to cast off a Summoner's Pact for a Primeval Titan in a lot of situations against more aggro builds, only to realize it didn't matter since I was dead the next turn anyway. Elderscale Wurm and a lot of the following options help to solve that, albeit in different ways. Everything has their specific situations and pros/cons, which I will try to explain. Elderscale Wurm just makes you invulnerable to damage until it is either removed or you drop below 7 life (loss of life bypasses the protection). Empyrial Archangel has shroud, which really comes in handy against removal. One thing worth noting is that the replacement effect is not optional, so they can remove it by simply doing 8 damage to you in 1 turn, probably its biggest downside to consider. Hornet Queen is less vulnerable to targeted removal, but more vulnerable to wipes due to low CMC and toughness. However, an army of deathtouch blockers will often slow/stop the opponents deck for a bit.

Wurmcoil Engine / Inferno of the Star Mounts / Inferno Titan / Dragonlord Atarka - mainly for Blood Moon matchups, although they all have other uses as a solid uncounterable threat, resilience against removal, Land destroyer, or pinger (killing Magus of the Moon on entry), which helps with the intended use since most Blood Moon decks tend to play counterspells and removal too. The firebreathing ability on some also gives you something to do with all that red mana, if you aren't able to deal with Blood Moon. Wurmcoil Engine is more relevant in other matches since colorless is a lot easier for our manabase to support, and is a resilient to removal option, so it is probably the best option of them all.

Castle Garenbrig - great to make up speed after siding out Urza's Saga. It is a tapped source early, but with any Forest-typed card (we run 5 currently) it becomes an untapped double manasource. This is able to be used for any creature or ability, so it still lets us cast and activate Aftermath Analyst, with the only threat it can't be used on, Scapeshift, not needing the ramp necessarily.

Forest / Plains / Island or other basic land - This is just a land to side in, when I side out Urza's Saga. An off-color basic does help with splashing vs. Blood Moon and has synergy with the correct fetches, Sakura-Tribe Elder and Springbloom Druid making them into better mana-fixers.

Just as a disclaimer, the Glittering Wish and Karn, the Great Creator sections may be a bit outdated, since I do not keep their sections up to date. They are still worth mentioning as potential options though. It is also worth mentioning that I found wish packages most valuable when combined with mosswort brdige (LRW), since you could essentially dig until you found it, thanks to all the extra land creatures in the deck. It has more value in a Slayers' Stronghold package, as you are getting a free +2/0 to get to 10 power.

These are some Fae of Wishes / Wish guidelines.

Scapeshift - This is basically the go-to option in most scenarios. It's capable of winning games with Dryad of the Ilysian Grove or Amulet of Vigor + 6 lands out by finding Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle or setting up a (usually) game winning Cultivator Colossus by finding Bouncelands + Tolaria West. With only 5 lands and Amulet of Vigor out, you can run away with the game by transmuting into Primeval Titan in pretty much the same way, depending on which lands you have to sacrifice. It can also function as mana-fixing or ramp depending on the situation as well. Not really the greatest thing in multiples, since most of our lands are important utility lands, but definitely a lot of synergy with the deck overall. It generally ends up a cheaper Cultivator Colossus or Primeval Titan, but sometimes one of your lands in play were important, so it's not always game winning on the spot (we help to mitigate this by running both Hanweir Battlements   + Slayers' Stronghold). It's also pretty horrible without Dryad of the Ilysian Grove or Amulet of Vigor, so it does very poorly against decks with interaction.

Worship - some sneaky tech that can buy us enough time to get back in the game in most cases. It's not really the best thing to try for, as you are dangerously close to death for it to take effect, but effects like these are capable of turning games around on their own. Since we can wish for it, then cast Fae of Wishes from exile to enable it, this is a pretty decent option to pivot a game you feel slipping away. It is actually really solid tech against RDW variations, as they don't expect troublesome enchantments from us, and will mainly pack artifact hate, or use their removal on Dryad of the Ilysian Grove instead.

It's also important to have some access to "free" options that answer specific things like Chalice of the Void, Force of Vigor, Endurance, or Slaughter Pact as at least a 1-of. Being able to convert a wish card into a specific answer or win on the spot card, is the main benefit of it over a standard sideboard. Make sure the slots you are committing to the wishboard are worth it, if you don't plan to actually side them in, as those are slots you cannot use for something else.

I'm keeping this here more for archival purposes, as I think Fae of Wishes / Wish is almost better in every situation. I ran this wish package for a long time, so I'll just keep this subsection for now (it may not include some newer options).

Silver Bullets

Fracturing Gust - mostly there for affinity/hexproof, or anything else with lots of artifacts/enchantments. I feel the recent Culling Ritual does a better job in most situations, since it can also ramp me. It's basically ramp vs. lifegain when considering the two (instant speed and initial mana cost matters too of course). I tend to think a wipe + threat with the ramped mana is better generally speaking.

Batwing Brume - another form of hate that is fairly specific to certain decks. the mode is potent against the Splinter Twin variants, while the mode is very effective against things like infect that go all in on one turn, where you just need to survive past their combo. This particular silver bullet isn't in my sideboard currently, as I've been seeing a lot less of both types of decks (infinite creature swarms and 1 trick ponies).

Lavinia, Azorius Renegadefoil / Gaddock Teeg / Yasharn, Implacable Earth / Scheming Fence - very strong denial in matches where relevant. Most of the decks Gaddock Teeg shut down have become less prevalent in the meta, so he isn't a needed option right now. Lavinia, Azorius Renegadefoil on the other hand is strong against Tron, and 'free' spells like Solitude, Living End, Memnite, etc. Yasharn, Implacable Earth is very good against fetchlands, and anything that plans to sacrifice anything, like sacrifice outlet creature combo decks, Treasure and Food token decks, etc. Scheming Fence is a solid option against anything with activated abilities. It steals the abilities of anything short of planeswalkers, and it still turns those off. It is like an upgrade to Pithing Needle that's wishable.

Wheel of Sun and Moon - this one is anti-mill and gravehate built into one neat package. It is also a softlock when combined with Elderscale Wurm if your opponent has no form of removal. Simply cast it on yourself and keep casting an instant to prevent yourself from decking out.

Unmoored Ego / Slaughter Games - basically a silver bullet against most combo decks. This lets you completely remove one of their key pieces.

General Options

The Gitrog Monsterfoil / Sigarda, Host of Herons / Dragonlord Dromoka / Empyrial Archangel / Hydroid Krasis / Nethroi, Apex of Death / Vhati il-Dal / Shelob, Child of Ungoliant - This slot is basically a multi-colored filler card that's in there for when I just need some presence on the field, but there's lots of great options, even beyond these (I try to go with creatures with at least 1 green cost so they can be found with Summoner's Pact when sided in - being castable with green/white is also suggested, so you always have access to cast it when wished for and aren't manascrewed). The Gitrog Monsterfoil is a beater with lots of synergy with the deck. It can transform our excess lands into cards and give us much needed extra land plays every turn. It's only real downside is its lack of protection and evasion. Sigarda, Host of Herons is a hard to remove threat - its effect is notable against annihilator, plus it's a flyer and hexproof. Dragonlord Dromoka is very good in a lot of matchups, specifically against blue/red due to the uncounterable and lifegain. Empyrial Archangel just ends games where it does its job right. It's biggest downside is that the replacement effect is not optional. Hydroid Krasis is just card advantage and life gain attached to a large beater with evasion and trample. Nethroi, Apex of Death is a different form of anti-removal from the hexproof/shroud options. Let them remove your creatures, then use the mutate cost on this guy to bring back some nice board presence that just happens to be enough to let you use Mosswort Bridge's hideaway. Vhati il-Dal is a very solid controlling option, making my creatures into essentially deathtouch blockers or attackers, or allowing me to block with Vhati il-Dal then tap it before damage calculation and block just about anything without it dying.

There's also a lot of multi-colored planeswalkers, and non-green multi-colored creatures that could be options as well (Geyadrone Dihada / Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh / Blood Baron of Vizkopa / Dragonlord Ojutai / Narset, Enlightened Master being some top choices). However, I generally prefer to go with a green creature in this deck, as Summoner's Pact makes a singleton green creature into essentially 5 copies once sided in.

Finally, let's look at some of the more generic removal options - these are some of my top choices:


Potential 2 for 1 or better:
Firespoutfoil
Deafening Clarion
Culling Ritual
Quandrix Command
Crime / Punishment
Hazardous Conditions
Fiery Justice
Maelstrom Pulse
Catch / Release
Razia's Purification


Permanents:
Abrupt Decayfoil
Assassin's Trophy
Despark
Vanishing Verse
Vindicate
Anguished Unmakingfoil


Specialized:
Kaya's Guile
Crackling Doom
Hide / Seek
Catch / Release
Riveteers Charm
Eladamri's Call
Cindervines


Honorable Mentions:
Anafenza, the Foremost
Kambal, Consul of Allocation
Knight of Autumn
Meddling Mage
Lightning Helix
Nature's Chant
Terminate
Detention Sphere
Deputy of Detention


I suggest picking well balanced removal spells for the slots (that fit in your color options, and are capable of dealing with more problems), but the choice(s) is/are yours.

Since Karn, the Great Creator is limited to artifacts, and is the highest CMC of all the wishes, it is probably the worst option of them all. However, it is a permanent, so if the game goes longer, you can get more value from it. It is in a very awkward spot of the mana curve, and most modern games are over by the time it does anything, so I don't particularly like it. However, with that being said, there are some very good options, which are valid sideboard cards with or without Karn, the Great Creator.

The One Ring - capable of buying a turn and granting 3 cards of card advantage, all for the low cost of 4 mana and 1 life.

Liquimetal Coating - this allows your Karn, the Great Creator to destroy your opponent's lands, provided you can also protect him.

Chalice of the Void - very powerful denial against decks that are efficiently mana-curved, as most modern decks are. This is one that is best played early for 0 or 1, maybe even 2 if facing a hatebears/goodstuff kind of deck. It doesn't deal with any current threats at that CMC, it only prevents future ones from being played. This also hits your own cards as well, so be careful about that. It is findable with Tolaria West, giving it extra value in the deck. If you run lots of 0 or 1 drops, this gets a lot less valuable, as it is a double-edged sword.

Engineered Explosives - targeted CMC removal. Being findable with Tolaria West, gives it extra value in the deck.

Defense Grid - solid against control, and even better against MH2 elementals.

Unlicensed Hearse / Relic of Progenitus / Tormod's Crypt / Stone of Erech - Unlicensed Hearse has better interaction, being twice as powerful, and letting you choose the targets, along with being a potential threat on its own, while Relic of Progenitus is able to cantrip itself, and is findable with Urza's Saga. Tormod's Crypt is a one time shot at 0 CMC, but like Relic of Progenitus, it is findable by Urza's Saga and also Tolaria West making them all have their specific pros and cons. Stone of Erech is a great form of hate for anything that hits the battlefield, being a replacement effect, the strongest of all effects, but slightly more narrow than the rest.

Pithing Needle / Sorcerous Spyglass - quite powerful against planeswalkers, fetches, and anything else with an activated ability. Either option can break certain combo decks if they rely on activated abilities. I generally go with Sorcerous Spyglass because it gives extra information, and can be cast through a Chalice of the Void at 1. However, with Urza's Saga, Pithing Needle can be a better option.

Haywire Mite - artifact/enchantment removal, something we always want. Also, since this is findable with Urza's Saga it gets some extra value.

The Stone Brain - an effect previously restricted to splashing at least - there's 4+ variations of this effect in multiple colors, but they've always included at least previously - this is a very powerful card. Against a lot of combo decks, eliminating their key card can be back breaking and win the game on the spot.

Phyrexian Metamorph / Blade of Shared Souls - having access to a copy effect can sometimes be extremely beneficial. These cards are not to be underestimated.

Crucible of Worlds / Conduit of Worlds - pretty solid against your typical land destruction, essentially letting you gain card advantage from their removal.

Wurmcoil Engine / Cityscape Leveler - big threats to help seal the game.

To make things a little easier, I marked all the cards I sometimes side out in various matches with the tag #flexslot if you look at custom categories.

First of all, when heading into game two, I usually decide what to side out first. I evaluate which cards are less than optimal. Arboreal Grazer gets cut to as little as 1 copy against decks that don't plan to attack much (never side out all copies). Things along those lines, where you take out suboptimal cards. Any "wish" cards like Fae of Wishes will almost always go out after the first game, since we generally move most relevant targets in. Another option is removing some utility lands that don't really serve a purpose in the match (Cavern of Souls or Bojuka Bog) depending on the deck you are facing. I generally don't suggest going down below 28 lands with the deck. You can also move out The One Ring if the protection does nothing against the opponent's deck.

After all that, I decide which sideboard cards could prove useful in the match, and move them in. Afterwards, I adjust to make my sideboard as close to 15 cards as I can, whether I need to remove more "filler" slots like Summoner's Pact / Explore, or if I have to move in some of the "better" cards I tried to side out (dependent on the match).

Also worth mentioning is don't stress about getting exactly 60/15; there's times I will play with a 61 card deck in game 2 (usually against some weird homebrew where I want more options and lots of our sideboard seems relevant).

Lastly, you can always include some sneaky tech like Hokori, Dust Drinker / Worship / Elderscale Wurm if you have the space (I ran Elderscale Wurm mainboard for a while before modern became a removal heavy format). If you're facing anything with a more aggro build, Hokori, Dust Drinker isn't the best option. For example, puresteel decks can be seen as a combo deck, but they are a more aggro combo deck, where they get early board presence. Hokori, Dust Drinker is not a good option against decks like these, since they can still keep applying pressure even without mana with a quick start, and since a large majority of the meta falls into this aggro-esque category, Hokori, Dust Drinker isn't really poised as a solid sideboard option currently. However, the surprise factor of an obscure card like this definitely pays off sometimes, so that's just something to keep in mind. I am talking about obscure cards in general being a solid enough option if you have the extra slots, and am just using Hokori, Dust Drinker as an example. If you feel they will do enough in your meta to justify inclusion, feel free to experiment a little.


Tutor for any 0 CMC
Tolaria West + Simic Growth Chamber

Removal
Boseiju, Who Endures + Bounceland

Extra Burn damage with Dryad of the Ilysian Grove and at least 4 lands out
Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle + Hanweir Battlements  for haste (Vesuva can't copy a land entering at the same time, so fetch it after attacking along with the 2nd Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle for 3 copies). You can also target yourself with Ghost Quarter for an extra landfall trigger.

+2/0 and Haste/Vigilance (another fetch after attack)
Slayers' Stronghold + Boros Garrison

Free Plays with 10 power (if you have extra landdrops left, it gets really broken)
Mosswort Bridge + Bounceland - you can stack triggers so you can resolve and activate the hideaway before bouncing Mosswort Bridge back to your hand

Haste without Amulet
Hanweir Battlements  + Crumbling Vestige or a Bounceland and extra land plays to replay the Hanweir Battlements  and give the titan haste



Simic Growth Chamber + Tolaria West - Tolaria West + Simic Growth Chamber lets you transmute into a 0 CMC card
Boseiju, Who Endures + Selesnya Sanctuary - Boseiju, Who Endures + any bounceland lets you have removal for any artifact/enchantment/land
Dryad of the Ilysian Grove + Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle - Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle + Dryad of the Ilysian Grove allows everything to be mountains, so Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle + Hanweir Battlements  becomes one of the better fetch options
Amulet of Vigor + Arboreal Grazer + Springheart Nantuko - combined with any bounceland, this lets us make infinite Arboreal Grazers
Amulet of Vigor + Dryad of the Ilysian Grove + Springheart Nantuko - combined with any bounceland, this lets us make infinite Dryad of the Ilysian Groves
Amulet of Vigor + Primeval Titan + Springheart Nantuko - if you have a landfall and the 2 mana to pay for the ability (attacking does this) you can make near infinite Primeval Titans, limited only by the number of lands in your deck


If you don't believe something is played out how I described it, please feel free to ask a certified judge here.

There's Toggles below with specific lines if you already have a general idea of how the deck works.


Example Hand:
2x Amulet of Vigor / The Mycosynth Gardens (at least one must be an actual Amulet of Vigor)
1x Forest or any other untapped source if both were Amulet of Vigor
1x Simic Growth Chamber or any other green bounceland
1x Summoner's Pact / Primeval Titan or in some cases Cultivator Colossus with enough lands in hand
1x Summoner's Pact / Azusa, Lost but Seeking / Arboreal Grazer / Explore
or
2x Dryad of the Ilysian Grove


Turn 1: Play an untapped land, then tap it to play Amulet of Vigor.

Turn 2 (The Mycosynth Gardens): play your green bounce and use the non-green to copy Amulet of Vigor, then use the green to play Arboreal Grazer and replay your bounce. Skip down to Turn 2 (continued).

Turn 2 (w/o TMG): Tap your first land for another Amulet of Vigor, play a bounceland, untap twice (amulet triggers) and add 4 to mana pool, then bounce that same land back to your hand (unless you have another bounce in hand) so you can use it again.

Turn 2 (continued): Now there's a few variations here, but long story short you need Arboreal Grazer / Azusa, Lost but Seeking or at least 2 other land drop cards with a Primeval Titan or Summoner's Pact to fetch missing pieces.

If you used Dryad of the Ilysian Grove to get to your first Primeval Titan, you can fetch Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle + Hanweir Battlements  to grant your singular titan haste, then fetch Vesuva + Misty Rainforest (or Echoing Deeps if you already used it) to maximize your damage from Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle triggers (12 damage on the trigger after attacking + 6 more when you crack the fetch). If that's enough, you may need to go into a more complicated line, involving double Amulet of Vigor.

There's a few ways that you can go about a turn 2 "win". All of them not involving Dryad of the Ilysian Grove as a form of ramp converge to copying (or hard-casting if you have 3 extra mana to transmute Tolaria West) a second Primeval Titan and then swinging with both. After attacking with both Titans, you'll have 4 land fetches, which will branch out into any of the lines detailed below.

Most lines below assume we play Primeval Titan with 2 Amulet of Vigors and float all available mana on double/triple triggers unless otherwise mentioned. If you have Hanweir Battlements  in hand, instead of the haste fetch, you will be forced to find Tolaria West + Gruul Turf -> Summoner's Pact -> Arboreal Grazer for haste instead, greatly limiting your options. Similarly, if you have Mirrorpool in hand, you will find Tolaria West + Gruul Turf -> Summoner's Pact -> Azusa, Lost but Seeking to play out your Mirrorpool + bounce in hand.

Requires 2x Lotus Field / Mirrorpool / Echoing Deeps / Shifting Woodland in deck, and Tolaria West / Aftermath Analyst in deck or hand.

  1. Fetch Mirrorpool + Lotus Field
  2. Copy Primeval Titan
  3. Fetch Echoing Deeps (copying Mirrorpool) + Tolaria West
  4. Copy Primeval Titan
  5. Fetch Simic Growth Chamber + Lotus Field returning Tolaria West to hand
  6. Transmute Tolaria West into Summoner's Pact to then play Aftermath Analyst
  7. Activate Aftermath Analyst's ability, and with the Lotus Field triggers on the stack, copy Primeval Titan
  8. Fetch Shifting Woodland + Urza's Saga (to get delirium)
  9. Sacrifice Urza's Saga and use Shifting Woodland to copy Aftermath Analyst repeating steps 7-9 for infinite titans and the ability to get any lands out of the deck.

From here, you can piece together any number of winning paths once you establish the loop. Notably, this doesn't require combat, and lets you hold up the loop with access to infinite mana, meaning you can Otawara, Soaring City or Boseiju, Who Endures just about everything your opponent does.

Requires 2x Lotus Field / Mirrorpool / Echoing Deeps / Shifting Woodland in deck, and Tolaria West / Lumra, Bellow of the Woods in deck or hand.

  1. Fetch Mirrorpool + Lotus Field
  2. Copy Primeval Titan
  3. Fetch Echoing Deeps (copying Mirrorpool) + Tolaria West
  4. Copy Primeval Titan
  5. Fetch Simic Growth Chamber + Lotus Field returning Tolaria West to hand and sacrificing Simic Growth Chamber + Lotus Field
  6. Transmute Tolaria West into Summoner's Pact to then play Lumra, Bellow of the Woods
  7. Bring back all your lands bouncing Tolaria West to hand and sacrificing Simic Growth Chamber + Lotus Field (these 3 create the loop)
  8. Transmute Tolaria West into Otawara, Soaring City and bounce Lumra, Bellow of the Woods so you can replay it

From here, you can piece together any number of winning paths once you establish the loop. Notably, this doesn't require combat, and lets you hold up the loop with access to infinite mana, meaning you can Otawara, Soaring City or Boseiju, Who Endures just about everything your opponent does.

Requires 1 or more lands in play. Requires Hanweir Battlements  / Mirrorpool / Echoing Deeps / Vesuva / Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle / Verdant Catacombs or Misty Rainforest in deck, and Tolaria West / Dryad of the Ilysian Grove in deck or hand.

  1. Fetch Mirrorpool + Gruul Turf
  2. Copy Primeval Titan and keep floating
  3. Fetch Hanweir Battlements  + Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle to haste both Primeval Titans, leaving Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle untapped
  4. Fetch Echoing Deeps (copying Mirrorpool) + Vesuva (copying Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle) on first Primeval Titan attack trigger
  5. Fetch Simic Growth Chamber + Tolaria West returning Tolaria West to hand
  6. Copy Primeval Titan with floating mana
  7. Fetch Simic Growth Chamber + Verdant Catacombs or Misty Rainforest returning Hanweir Battlements  to hand
  8. Proceed to your Main Phase 2 (12 combat damage)
  9. Transmute Tolaria West into Summoner's Pact to then play Dryad of the Ilysian Grove
  10. Play your Gruul Turf in hand dealing 6 damage from Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle trigger and prior to selecting a land to return to hand, crack Verdant Catacombs or Misty Rainforest for another 6 damage

You have now done 24 total damage, 12 from combat and 12 total from Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle triggers.

Requires 1 or more lands in play. Requires Hanweir Battlements  / Mirrorpool / Echoing Deeps / The Mycosynth Gardens / Vesuva / Verdant Catacombs / Misty Rainforest in deck, and Tolaria West / Otawara, Soaring City in deck or hand.

  1. Fetch Mirrorpool + Gruul Turf
  2. Copy Primeval Titan and return Gruul Turf to hand
  3. Fetch Hanweir Battlements  + Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle to haste both Primeval Titans
  4. Fetch Echoing Deeps (copying Mirrorpool) + The Mycosynth Gardens (copying Amulet of Vigor) on first Primeval Titan attack trigger - floating
  5. Fetch Vesuva (copying Echoing Deeps which is copying Mirrorpool) + Tolaria West - floating
  6. Copy Primeval Titan with floating mana + Tolaria West - floating
  7. Fetch Otawara, Soaring City + Simic Growth Chamber, returning Otawara, Soaring City and leaving Simic Growth Chamber untapped
  8. Copy Primeval Titan with floating mana
  9. Fetch 2x Simic Growth Chamber leaving both untapped and returning Tolaria West + Hanweir Battlements  
  10. Activate Otawara, Soaring City with floating mana, returning a tapped Primeval Titan to hand
  11. Proceed to your Main Phase 2 (6 combat damage)
  12. Transmute Tolaria West into Summoner's Pact to then play Dryad of the Ilysian Grove
  13. Play your Gruul Turf in hand dealing 3 damage from Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle trigger
  14. Replay Primeval Titan fetching Verdant Catacombs + Misty Rainforest dealing 6 damage from Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle triggers - floating
  15. Crack both, dealing another 6 damage from Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle triggers

You have now done 21 total damage, 6 from combat and 15 total from Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle triggers.

Requires 1 or more lands in play. Requires Hanweir Battlements  / Mirrorpool / Echoing Deeps / Vesuva / Lotus Field / Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle / Urza's Cave or Misty Rainforest in deck, and Tolaria West / Dryad of the Ilysian Grove in deck or hand.

  1. Fetch Mirrorpool + Lotus Field
  2. Copy Primeval Titan in response to Lotus Field trigger and keep floating
  3. Fetch Hanweir Battlements  + Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle to haste both Primeval Titans, leaving Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle untapped and sacrifice Hanweir Battlements   + Lotus Field to the Lotus Field trigger
  4. Fetch Echoing Deeps (copying Mirrorpool) + Vesuva (copying Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle) on first Primeval Titan attack trigger
  5. Fetch Simic Growth Chamber + Tolaria West returning Tolaria West to hand
  6. Copy Primeval Titan with floating mana
  7. Fetch Simic Growth Chamber + Verdant Catacombs or Misty Rainforest returning a tapped, non-Valakut land to hand
  8. Proceed to your Main Phase 2 (12 combat damage)
  9. Transmute Tolaria West into Summoner's Pact to then play Dryad of the Ilysian Grove
  10. Play your Gruul Turf in hand dealing 6 damage from Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle trigger and prior to selecting a land to return to hand, crack Verdant Catacombs or Misty Rainforest for another 6 damage

You have now done 24 total damage, 12 from combat and 12 total from Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle triggers.

Requires Mirrorpool / Echoing Deeps / Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle / Vesuva in deck, and Tolaria West in deck or hand. Misty Rainforest in hand or an additional Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle or Vesuva in the deck makes this line lethal.

  1. Fetch Mirrorpool + Simic Growth Chamber
  2. Copy Primeval Titan and return Simic Growth Chamber to hand
  3. Fetch Hanweir Battlements  + Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle to haste both Primeval Titans
  4. Fetch Echoing Deeps (copying Mirrorpool) + Simic Growth Chamber on first Primeval Titan attack trigger leaving both untapped and returning Hanweir Battlements  to hand
  5. Fetch Tolaria West + Simic Growth Chamber returning Tolaria West and leaving Simic Growth Chamber untapped
  6. Copy Primeval Titan with floating mana
  7. Fetch Vesuva (copying Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle) + flexland leaving both untapped (you can bounce this land to hand later with Simic Growth Chamber after playing Dryad of the Ilysian Grove)
  8. Proceed to your Main Phase 2
  9. Transmute Tolaria West into Summoner's Pact and find Dryad of the Ilysian Grove, play any land for double Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle triggers (triple if the flexland was Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle or Vesuva)

This is a nice way to squeeze out more damage, which can double as removal, and if the land you are going to play is Misty Rainforest you can actually do +12 damage post-combat, which will usually be lethal (even 6 is almost always lethal since most deck's manabases damage them). You can also find Otawara, Soaring City / Boseiju, Who Endures / Bojuka Bog as your flexland in this line and have the mana to hold up Boseiju, Who Endures or use Otawara, Soaring City that turn.

Requires Mirrorpool / Echoing Deeps in deck, and Boseiju, Who Endures / Otawara, Soaring City in deck or hand.

  1. Fetch Mirrorpool + Simic Growth Chamber
  2. Copy Primeval Titan and return Simic Growth Chamber to hand
  3. Fetch Hanweir Battlements  + Gruul Turf to haste both Primeval Titans
  4. Return Hanweir Battlements  to hand
  5. Fetch Echoing Deeps (copying Mirrorpool) + Boseiju, Who Endures on first Primeval Titan attack trigger
  6. Fetch Otawara, Soaring City + Simic Growth Chamber, returning Otawara, Soaring City and leaving Simic Growth Chamber untapped
  7. Copy Primeval Titan with floating mana
  8. Fetch Gruul Turf + Simic Growth Chamber leaving both untapped and returning Boseiju, Who Endures + any tapped land

You now have an untapped Primeval Titan with Boseiju, Who Endures + Otawara, Soaring City in hand and 3 untapped bounces to pay for them (either turn).

Requires Mirrorpool / Echoing Deeps in deck.

  1. Fetch Mirrorpool + Simic Growth Chamber
  2. Copy Primeval Titan and return Simic Growth Chamber to hand
  3. Fetch Hanweir Battlements  + Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle to haste both Primeval Titans
  4. Fetch Echoing Deeps (copying Mirrorpool) + Urza's Saga on first Primeval Titan attack trigger, leaving both untapped
  5. Fetch Simic Growth Chamber + Gruul Turf, returning 2 tapped lands and leaving both untapped

You now have the open mana to copy your Primeval Titan at instant speed, allowing you to play any two lands at instant speed. Common uses are to get around an opposing The One Ring with Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle triggers (be sure to use Urza's Cave for additional triggers). Additionally, you can find Vesuva to copy a key land at instant speed (like Bojuka Bog) or pivot into Otawara, Soaring City / Boseiju, Who Endures if needed, although there's better lines if choosing these routes.

Requires Mirrorpool / Echoing Deeps / Misty Rainforest in deck, and Tolaria West in deck or hand.

  1. Fetch Mirrorpool + Simic Growth Chamber
  2. Copy Primeval Titan and return Simic Growth Chamber to hand
  3. Fetch Hanweir Battlements  + Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle to haste both Primeval Titans
  4. Fetch Echoing Deeps (copying Mirrorpool) + Simic Growth Chamber on first Primeval Titan attack trigger leaving both untapped and returning Hanweir Battlements  to hand
  5. Fetch Tolaria West + Misty Rainforest (fully tap Tolaria West)
  6. Copy Primeval Titan with floating mana
  7. Fetch 2x Simic Growth Chamber returning Tolaria West to hand and any tapped land.
  8. Proceed to your Main Phase 2
  9. Transmute Tolaria West into Summoner's Pact and find Springheart Nantuko, bestowing it on Primeval Titan
  10. Crack your Misty Rainforest for any land to pay for it's copy cost, along with remaining floating mana

You can now fetch 1 land at a time, maximizing the number of Primeval Titans you can make. Start with bounces until you have +2 mana left, then find The Mycosynth Gardens to cheat in more copies of Amulet of Vigor to produce even more mana. You can also bounce channel lands to your hand like Otawara, Soaring City and Boseiju, Who Endures, so prioritize them before you run out of bounces. You will eventually run out of lands to find, ending the loop, but you should now have every land from your deck in play or in your hand. With an additional Tolaria West in the deck, this would become a lethal line.

Requires Dryad of the Ilysian Grove in play, along with at least 2 lands in play and Vesuva in the deck if only using 1 Amulet of Vigor instead of 2. Does not actually require 2x Amulet of Vigor and still works with only 1 with some extra conditions.

  1. If double amulet - Fetch Mirrorpool + Simic Growth Chamber
  2. Copy Primeval Titan and return Simic Growth Chamber to hand
  3. Fetch Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle (or Echoing Deeps if destroyed) + Hanweir Battlements  
  4. Swing and find Vesuva (copying Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle) + Misty Rainforest (or Echoing Deeps if already used)
  5. If swinging with 2 Primeval Titan find 2 more lands (Urza's Cave adds more triggers)
  6. Crack your fetchland for lethal.

Requires Summoner's Pact or Springheart Nantuko in hand. Does not actually require 2x Amulet of Vigor and still works with only 1.

  1. Fetch Crumbling Vestige + Hanweir Battlements  
  2. Swing and find Gruul Turf + Misty Rainforest (or Echoing Deeps if already used)
  3. Proceed to Main 2, then use Summoner's Pact for Springheart Nantuko
  4. Bestow Springheart Nantuko onto your Primeval Titan
  5. Crack your fetch and stack triggers so you can use the land + Crumbling Vestige to pay for Springheart Nantuko's copy trigger.
  6. Eventually get Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle into play and transmute Tolaria West into Dryad of the Ilysian Grove for lethal with all the landfall triggers.

You now have "infinite" Primeval Titans (limited by number of lands in deck) and a way to produce mana on each loop. You should be able to get to lethal.

This basic loop requires at least 1 Amulet of Vigor / Spelunking and delirium (you add a creature to the graveyard when sacrificing Aftermath Analyst). Additionally, you will need at least 4 / 8 mana to get started, depending on where your cards are. You will activate your Shifting Woodland with delirium to copy your Aftermath Analyst to bring back all your lands and repeat.

With 1 Amulet of Vigor:
2 Lotus Field
1 Shifting Woodland
any land - 2+ is infinite mana (profitable lands are fetch, surveil, Boseiju, Who Endures, Otawara, Soaring City, Tolaria West)

With 2 Amulet of Vigors:
1 Lotus Field
1 Shifting Woodland
any land is infinite mana (profitable lands are fetch, surveil, Boseiju, Who Endures, Otawara, Soaring City, Tolaria West)

With this you are able to produce infinite mana, destroy all of your opponent's non-basics, bounce all their non-lands, transmute for another land/threat, or mill as much of you deck as you want (which allows one of the previous options).

This basic loop requires at least 1 Amulet of Vigor / Spelunking and you will need at least 9 / 11 mana to get started, depending on where your cards are. You will have to first copy your Aftermath Analyst then activate either to begin the loop, as you need one to remain in play to continue copying on future loops.

With 1 Amulet of Vigor:
2 Lotus Field
1 Mirrorpool
colorless land (Crumbling Vestige is best since it is 2 mana) remaining land(s) to produce 9+ mana (profitable lands are fetch, surveil, Boseiju, Who Endures, Otawara, Soaring City, Tolaria West)

With 2 Amulet of Vigors:
1 Lotus Field
1 Mirrorpool
any land - 2+ is infinite mana (profitable lands are fetch, surveil, Boseiju, Who Endures, Otawara, Soaring City, Tolaria West)

With this you are able to produce infinite mana, destroy all of your opponent's non-basics, bounce all their non-lands, transmute for another land/threat, or mill as much of you deck as you want (which allows one of the previous options).

This basic loop requires at least 1 Amulet of Vigor / Spelunking and you will need at least 4 / 6 mana and a landfall to get started. You will have to first copy your Aftermath Analyst then activate the token's ability to begin the loop, as you need the enchanted original to remain in play to continue copying on future loops.

With 1 Amulet of Vigor:
1 Lotus Field

With 2 Amulet of Vigors:
1 Lotus Field or a fetch

With this you are able to produce infinite mana and Insect 1/1 Gs.

Please note that with these lines, you will generally want to transition to an Aftermath Analyst line to stop milling your deck on each iteration. It is also worth mentioning that with Lumra, Bellow of the Woods you can essentially get around a Spelunking turning off your double Amulet of Vigor and still have lethal.

This basic loop requires at least 1 Amulet of Vigor / Spelunking and you will need at least 6 / 9 mana to get started, depending on where your cards are. You will bounce your Lumra, Bellow of the Woods with Otawara, Soaring City to replay it. You do get a discount since it is legendary.

With 1 Amulet of Vigor:
2 Lotus Field
1 Otawara, Soaring City
1 bounce
NOTE: any additional lands produce infinite mana. You can also get started with only 1 Lotus Field and potentially luck your way there with the 4 cards you mill from Lumra, Bellow of the Woods' triggers (profitable lands are fetch, surveil, Boseiju, Who Endures, Otawara, Soaring City, Tolaria West)

With 2 Amulet of Vigors:
1 Lotus Field
1 Otawara, Soaring City
1 bounce
You will already be producing "infinite" mana and have the ability to bounce things with Otawara, Soaring City.

With this you are able to produce infinite mana, destroy all of your opponent's non-basics, bounce all their non-lands, transmute for another land/threat, or mill as much of you deck as you want (which allows one of the previous options).

This basic loop requires at least 1 Amulet of Vigor / Spelunking and you will need at least 5 / 6 mana to get started, depending on where your cards are. You will copy Lumra, Bellow of the Woods with Mirrorpool on each loop.

With 1 Amulet of Vigor:
1 Lotus Field
1 Mirrorpool
colorless land (Crumbling Vestige is best since it is 2 mana) any land - 2+ is infinite mana (profitable lands are fetch, surveil, Boseiju, Who Endures, Otawara, Soaring City, Tolaria West)

With 2 Amulet of Vigors:
1 Lotus Field
1 Mirrorpool
any land is infinite mana (profitable lands are fetch, surveil, Boseiju, Who Endures, Otawara, Soaring City, Tolaria West)

With this you are able to produce infinite mana, destroy all of your opponent's non-basics, bounce all their non-lands, transmute for another land/threat, or mill as much of you deck as you want (which allows one of the previous options).

This basic loop requires at least 1 Amulet of Vigor / Spelunking and you will need at least 0 / 2 mana to get started. You will copy your Lumra, Bellow of the Woods then sacrifice the copy to the legendary rule, as you need the enchanted original to remain in play to continue copying on future loops.

With 0 Amulet of Vigor:
2 Lotus Field
2 Crumbling Vestige
(Echoing Deeps can replace either)

With 1 Amulet of Vigor:
1 Lotus Field

With 2 Amulet of Vigors:
1 Lotus Field or a fetch

With this you are able to produce "infinite" mana and Insect 1/1 Gs. You will also be growing your Lumra, Bellow of the Woods on each loop as you return more and more lands. You can choose not to pay the at any time to exit the loop and stop milling your deck.

Requires at least 1 Amulet of Vigor or Spelunking in play, with 4 lands (1 amulet) or 3 lands (2 amulets) in play. You also need 1-2x Lotus Field / Simic Growth Chamber in deck and Tolaria West / Aftermath Analyst in deck or hand. This also serves to illustrate the "basic" Aftermath Analyst line.

  1. Cast Scapeshift finding 1-2 Lotus Field + Simic Growth Chamber + Tolaria West returning Tolaria West to hand
  2. Transmute Tolaria West into Summoner's Pact for Aftermath Analyst
  3. Cast and activate Aftermath Analyst's ability, returning all lands you found + the 4 you sacrificed initially to Scapeshift
  4. Transmute Tolaria West into Summoner's Pact for Primeval Titan
  5. Fetch Shifting Woodland + Echoing Deeps (Lotus Field)
  6. Activate Shifting Woodland copying Aftermath Analyst and activate it (land + sorcery + instant + creature in graveyard)
  7. Transmute Tolaria West into Summoner's Pact for Primeval Titan
  8. Fetch at least 1 profitable land, so you can use Boseiju, Who Endures to blow up your opponent's non-basic lands, Mirrorpool to infinitely copy your Primeval Titan, Otawara, Soaring City to bounce all their non-lands back to hand, Misty Rainforest or Commercial District to self-mill, or Urza's Cave to find any of the previously mentioned lands. You can also loop for another Summoner's Pact to find Dryad of the Ilysian Grove if desired, so Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle triggers become lethal

You now have a way to win or at least highly inconvenience your opponent.

Aftermath Analyst is also capable of going infinite without Shifting Woodland and instead using Mirrorpool and a colorless land. You just need the mana to copy it then use the Aftermath Analyst's ability, so essentially access to 10 mana, since you need to keep one in play to continue copying. Not really an "ideal" line, but worth mentioning because it can come up.

In the deck's current version, I've cut Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle down to one copy since we don't naturally get to 6 lands without a Primeval Titan too often since we run a lot of lands that cash themselves in for Amulet of Vigor or sacrifice / bounce themselves. The Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle and 2+ Titan routes are fairly consistent when your hand is strong enough for the turn 2 win, so replacing the second copy for Misty Rainforest has been more than welcome. I also am only running a single Tolaria West which eliminates some potential lethal lines as well, but the smoother landbase allows me to be in the position to present lethal a little earlier, so I find these concessions to be fair.


This is probably the section that needs the most updating, as I tend to neglect it and not really go into specifics on cards (I've playtested well over 200+ various options - the better options have been listed as honorable mentions in the card options or sideboarding sections). With so many colors and ways to tutor for things, there's tons of options available. Historically, I've struggled to find that final card I'm happy with, so there's always at least one slot I am constantly changing in my version of the deck. There's a few #flexslots in the deck (look at custom categories), which I generally like to fill with cards that fit at least one of the following roles:

  • mainboard hate
  • dig/filter/cantrip cards
  • anti-hate
  • game plan enablers

I have a fairly extensive list of cards I've considered/tested, so if there's any particular problems you are facing when piloting the deck, feel free to share and I'll try to give the best advice possible. If there's anything else you've found to work well or would like me to test, feel free to share that too.

Some of the more interesting options I've found are Root Maze and Hokori, Dust Drinker to shift to a more prison-style. Root Maze makes my opponents feel the pain I feel with their manabase and allows me to stack amulet triggers for any land, plus it really hits decks with lots of fetches pretty hard. However, it does next to nothing against aggro decks, which is most of the meta right now. Root Maze can almost be viewed as a reverse Amulet of Vigor for the opponent, but multiple copies don't really do much, so I found 2-3 copies to work best if going that route. Hokori, Dust Drinker can be viewed in a similar light, being more of a 1 sided Winter Orb in a lot of cases, due to our ability to produce mana without lands untapping during our untap step (extra land plays an Amulet of Vigor with bouncelands). Green also has a lot of fatty options when you get enough mana, so there's plenty of options there. I'd say that where this deck struggles the most is a nice option for turn 1 and 2 that isn't a dead draw later.

I found cards like Once Upon a Time where you can find a land or a creature to be the most valuable option (you generally are looking for either a bounceland or a creature to generate more mana/be a finisher). Track Down is one of the closest cards I could find. You also have cards like Ancient Stirrings or Incubation / Incongruity which let you do one or the other. Once Upon a Time is just super strong and was rightfully banned (any deck that could play it did). Oath of Nissa is another comparable option worth mentioning. Also, green creatures with low CMC that can find lands like Elvish Reclaimer and Elvish Rejuvenator magically transform Summoner's Pact into a pseudo land tutor as well (it's debatable if paying 4 mana next turn is worth tutoring for a land).

Also, I have found cantrip cards with decent effects to be some of the more desirable options available to us that aren't just straight banned. Some of the more obvious ones are things like Explore / Growth Spiral, but there's also some more interesting ones like Manamorphose which actually make sense too. Manamorphose can be seen as an anti-Blood Moon card, which helps us to manafix, and essentially allows us to play with less than 60 cards when it isn't relevant.

Some other interesting ideas I've come up with are Valakut Exploration and Savor the Moment. Valakut Exploration is an obscure source of card advantage, or just extra burn damage alongside its namesake counterpart, while Savor the Moment is anything from an overpriced Explore to one of the cheapest game enders ever, depending on your board presence (remember, we don't need to untap our lands to have access to lots of mana in the extra turn).

Feel free to suggest more interesting ideas or present potential problems to be addressed with my current 75, or if you'd like me to go into any specifics on cards not mentioned anywhere in the description.



Some Specific Examples - not all inclusive, just some of the better ones

Kogla and Yidaro - This fits quite well into the bulky trample and hasty creature theme. It allows a form of creature removal, or an answer to troublesome artifacts and enchantments in a pinch as well. It is a quite versatile inclusion that can swing the tide of a game if used correctly.

Eldrazi Displacer - This card is capable of a lot more than you think at first glance. Its activated ability is where we are interested, which is flexible, because it can be used on both our creatures, and our opponents creatures. Also, since we have Amulet of Vigor this can also act as a pseudo-vigilance for us, while tapping down our opponent's creatures. It is usually best served when activated on one of our creatures with an ETB trigger, but there's other combat trick / protection usages as well. Of note, you can blink your titan, finding to loop for deck thinning, basically guaranteeing a hit with Mosswort Bridge later (start with Crumbling Vestige + Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle if you have Dryad of the Ilysian Grove to sneak in some extra damage). You can also use it similarly to refill your hand, or even find protection like Sejiri Steppe or some other utility land at instant speed. This can enable a lot, while also essentially being a double blocker on its own, so it isn't strictly a combo piece. It is also capable of ramping with multiple Amulet of Vigor or drawing loads of cards with Cultivator Colossus.

Omnath, Locus of Creation / Soul of Windgrace / Thalia and The Gitrog Monster - if you can somehow support the greedy casting cost in here, these are potentially worthy of inclusion. Omnath, Locus of Creation is one of the best landfall creatures ever created, and Soul of Windgrace can be seen as a creature version of a planeswalker, and Thalia and The Gitrog Monster is the stabilizing 4 drop the deck has always wanted. I tried them for a while, but found if I could get to their mana costs, I could get to almost as easily, so I found there's generally better options by the time we have access to the casting cost. Unfortunately, the deck has shifted to more of a colorless and green build since the release of Urza's Saga, but if there was ever a way to reliably support their costs early, these would be great options.

Woodland Bellower - a pretty decent option with the variety of 3 CMC and below creatures that are viable in this deck. We are still missing enough powerful options to make this guy + whatever comparable enough to Primeval Titan to be a real choice (mainly because this doesn't come down swinging without suboptimal cards), but it is definitely something worth considering as more green creatures are printed. Some better targets are things like Endurance, Knight of the Reliquary, Renegade Rallier, Kitchen Finks, Tireless Tracker, Courser of Kruphix, Dryad of the Ilysian Grove, Cemetery Prowler, Elvish Rejuvenator, Springbloom Druid along with all the various enchantment/artifact hate options like Knight of Autumn, Cankerbloom or Tranquil Frillback to name a few.

Eladamri's Call / Time of Need - Even though this isn't quite as good as Summoner's Pact in most situations, they are solid tutors. Eladamri's Call lets you tutor for any creature, which is often the missing piece in the puzzle (solid turn 2 if manabase supports it). Time of Need does basically the same, but only finds legendary creatures. Azusa, Lost but Seeking is the obvious ramp choice, which fits into the deck perfectly, but the Legendary threat can be a trickier card to slot in. Amongst some of the top options are: Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines, The Gitrog Monster, Titania, Protector of Argothfoil, Dragonlord Dromoka, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Emrakul, the Promised End, Kenrith, the Returned King, and Golos, Tireless Pilgrim.

Timeless Lotus - this works as some great color-fixing and ramp all at the same time. It coming into play tapped is actually a benefit for us, since it lets it tap multiple times thanks to stacking Amulet of Vigor triggers.

Bitter Reunion - This helps us to filter through our deck faster, is usable through Blood Moon and also gives our cards haste at the very low cost of 1 mana for all creatures. It has a lot going for it although it is a bit slower of a card.

Bring to Lightfoil - tutor for any 3 drop or lower creature, or even Scapeshift to tutor into a threat with Tolaria West. It essentially works as Eladamri's Call where you put the card into play, but instead of finding something larger than 3 CMC, we find Scapeshift instead. Without Amulet of Vigor for the Scapeshift line, we will look for an extra land creature like Dryad of the Ilysian Grove, a silver bullet sideboard card, Fae of Wishes to cast as an adventure to find the perfect card, or Valki, God of Lies  / Selfless Glyphweaver  to play as Tibalt, Cosmic Impostor  / Deadly Vanity  for value plays. Extra turn cards like Savor the Moment / Time Warp are worth mentioning as potential targets as well.

Turntimber, Serpentine Wood  / Port of Karfell / Littjara Mirrorlake - Turntimber, Serpentine Wood  is basically a land that doubles as a threat with any bounce later in the game. It is very comparable to Tolaria West in functionality, except it cannot be fetched by Primeval Titan and is a much preferred untapped green source when needed (notable when trying to stretch your manabase a little too much). Port of Karfell is basically recursion of a titan that's uncounterable in most situations and Littjara Mirrorlake lets you clone a copy, great for cheating in another attacker with 2+ amulets.

Gemstone Caverns - this makes being on the draw a little more desired, as you can actually ramp with it. It is fairly niche, and is potentially a hindrance if you can't do something with the colorless when it isn't in your opener.

Lair of the Hydra / Oran-Rief, the Vastwood / Turntimber Grove - Lair of the Hydra is a green land that is untapped when you need it early, so basically another Forest. However, this is a manland, which can let you pump your total power on a titan fetch, or become a threat on its own. Oran-Rief, the Vastwood is great with the prevalence of Unholy Heat in the meta, being able to protect a Primeval Titan by just leaving it untapped, or just pumping creatures, sometimes enough for a Mosswort Bridge activation. Similarly, Turntimber Grove works pretty much the same, but it is better on the titan fetch (being able to pump and tap for ), but is not reusable every turn without other support.

Lotus Field / Flagstones of Trokair - Typically these two lands are a package deal, as they are a nice fetch-combo when you need lots of mana. These are capable of producing 5 mana per Amulet of Vigor and still netting you +2 lands for your Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle triggers when fetched. Lotus Field is also capable of pumping our Elvish Reclaimer on its own (can be used after blocking). Flagstones of Trokair being a non-green source, and Lotus Field decimating your land count on their own are substantial downsides to consider, so you need enough synergy to justify inclusion of these. You'll often see these alongside Elvish Reclaimer due to the great synergy.

Crystal Grotto / Temple of Mystery / Halimar Depths - scry lands. If there's not a whole lot of early plays that need a turn 1 untapped land in your 75, the scry outweighs the slower land in most cases. Crystal Grotto is Zhalfirin Void 2.0, which can let you mana-fix as well, now giving you a relevant untapped version of the temples. Halimar Depths is similar in functionality, although not technically a scry land.

Ghost Quarter / Field of Ruin / Demolition Field - land destruction that can double as another copy of a Forest if facing hate like Blood Moon. In most cases, Boseiju, Who Endures is superior due to the added flexibility, but these are still solid options worth mentioning, especially if you have a way to recur lands from your graveyard. Ghost Quarter is especially good against something that lets you play lands from the graveyard, completely decimating your opponent's access to splash colors.

Blast Zone - This is more of a utility land to deal with the decks that pump out tons of low cost creatures/board presence. This is basically an Engineered Explosives attached to a land. It's biggest drawback is that it can't hit 0 cost permanents, since it enters with 1 counter on it already. You can also use it to blow up some big hard to remove threat with hexproof/shroud if you have enough mana.

Arena / Quicksand / Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire / Otawara, Soaring City - targeted removal with their own respective pros and cons. Notably, Arena + Sejiri Steppe have decent synergy as a Primeval Titan fetch package. However, Arena not producing its own mana is the main thing holding it back, so you should consider it as more of a fetchable creature removal than a land if trying to fit it in. Otawara, Soaring City is definitely the most flexible of the bunch.

Arcbond - surprisingly good against red decks, and that's about it. Being able to clear a board at instant speed when they try to bolt your Arboreal Grazer to get their Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer through is always funny. Same thing with Unholy Heat on a Primeval Titan for example. The main thing holding it back though is that this deals symmetrical damage to players as well, which is generally something we don't want to do against red decks.


CR = Comprehensive Rules
SR = Card Specific Rulings

Urza's Saga
CR 715.4: If the number of lore counters on a Saga permanent is greater than or equal to its final chapter number, and it isnt the source of a chapter ability that has triggered but not yet left the stack, that Sagas controller sacrifices it. This state-based action doesnt use the stack.

CR 715.2d A Sagas final chapter number is the greatest value among chapter abilities it has. If a Saga somehow has no chapter abilities, its final chapter number is 0.

First of all, CR 715.4 allows us to sacrifice/bounce a saga on it's final chapter in response to its trigger, and still resolve the trigger. The combination of CR 715.2d and CR 715.4 is why Sagas are sacrificed when they lose their abilities, which in our case, is usually to Blood Moon.

Amulet of Vigor
SR (2010-03-01): If you control more than one Amulet of Vigor, each Amulets ability triggers when a permanent enters the battlefield tapped and under your control. The first ability that resolves will untap that permanent. If the permanent somehow becomes tapped again before the next ability resolves, the next ability will untap it as well (and so on).

This allows us to tap our lands multiple times when they enter tapped with multiple amulets, by tapping them for mana between resolving triggers.

Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
SR (2009-10-01): Valakut, the Molten Pinnacles triggered ability has an intervening if clause. That means (1) the ability wont trigger at all unless, at the time a Mountain enters the battlefield under your control, you control five or more Mountains other than that new one, and (2) the ability will do nothing if you control fewer than five Mountains other than that new one by the time it resolves.

SR (2009-10-01): If multiple Mountains enter the battlefield under your control at the same time, Valakuts second ability could trigger that many times. Each ability takes into consideration the other Mountains that entered the battlefield at the same time as the one that caused it to trigger.

Basically, this means you need 6+ lands with the mountain subtype for it to trigger/resolve, and multiple lands entering at the same time (through Primeval Titan) will see each other.

Spelunking
SR (2023-11-10): If a land has an ability that says it enters the battlefield tapped, you choose the order in which that ability's effect and Spelunking's effect apply. This means you can choose to have the land enter tapped or untapped. If a land you control is simply put onto the battlefield tapped without a replacement effect being applied, it always enters untapped if you control Spelunking.

This means if you are "playing" a tapped land you get to choose the order of the replacement effects, allowing you to still benefit from multiple amulets. However, if you have an effect putting a land into play tapped, like Arboreal Grazer or Primeval Titan that will not let you ignore Spelunking's replacement effect on something like Forest since there is no replacement effects to choose the order of.


Dryad of the Ilysian Grove and Blood Moon
CR 613.1c applies
613.1 The values of an objects characteristics are determined by starting with the actual object. For a card, that means the values of the characteristics printed on that card. For a token or a copy of a spell or card, that means the values of the characteristics defined by the effect that created it. Then all applicable continuous effects are applied in a series of layers in the following order:
613.1a Layer 1: Rules and effects that modify copiable values are applied.
613.1b Layer 2: Control-changing effects are applied.
613.1c Layer 3: Text-changing effects are applied. See rule 612, Text-Changing Effects.
613.1d Layer 4: Type-changing effects are applied. These include effects that change an objects card type, subtype, and/or supertype.
613.1e Layer 5: Color-changing effects are applied.
613.1f Layer 6: Ability-adding effects, keyword counters, ability-removing effects, and effects that say an object cant have an ability are applied.
613.1g Layer 7: Power- and/or toughness-changing effects are applied.

CR 613.7 Within a layer or sublayer, determining which order effects are applied in is usually done using a timestamp system. An effect with an earlier timestamp is applied before an effect with a later timestamp.

CR 305.7 If an effect sets a lands subtype to one or more of the basic land types, the land no longer has its old land type. It loses all abilities generated from its rules text, its old land types, and any copy effects affecting that land, and it gains the appropriate mana ability for each new basic land type. Note that this doesnt remove any abilities that were granted to the land by other effects. Setting a lands subtype doesnt add or remove any card types (such as creature) or supertypes (such as basic, legendary, and snow) the land may have. If a land gains one or more land types in addition to its own, it keeps its land types and rules text, and it gains the new land types and mana abilities.

CR 305.6 The basic land types are Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, and Forest. If an object uses the words basic land type, its referring to one of these subtypes. An object with the land card type and a basic land type has the intrinsic ability {T}: Add [mana symbol], even if the text box doesnt actually contain that text or the object has no text box. For Plains, [mana symbol] is {W}; for Islands, {U}; for Swamps, {B}; for Mountains, {R}; and for Forests, {G}. See rule 107.4a. See also rule 605, Mana Abilities.

Basically, all of this means the last to ETB is the last layer applied. If they play a Blood Moon after your Dryad of the Ilysian Grove, you can't tap for any color. However, this also means Dryad of the Ilysian Grove is a psuedo-answer for Blood Moon allowing you to play through it if you played your Dryad of the Ilysian Grove after.


Vesuva and Echoing Deeps
CR 706.5 An object that enters the battlefield “as a copy” or “that’s a copy” of another object becomes a copy as it enters the battlefield. It doesn’t enter the battlefield, and then become a copy of that permanent. If the text that’s being copied includes any abilities that replace the enters-the-battlefield event (such as “enters the battlefield with” or “as [this] enters the battlefield” abilities), those abilities will take effect. Also, any enters-the-battlefield triggered abilities of the copy will have a chance to trigger.

CR 616.2 A replacement or prevention effect can become applicable to an event as the result of another replacement or prevention effect that modifies the event.

Basically, you can copy a "blank" Vesuva or Echoing Deeps with the other to have it's replacement effect. This allows you to play Vesuva copying Echoing Deeps that was copying nothing, to copy a land in the graveyard (as a Cave), or to play Echoing Deeps as a Vesuva in the yard, allowing it to become any land you currently have in play (notably no longer a Cave subtype).


Cultivator Colossus
SR (2021-11-19): You repeat the process as part of Cultivator Colossus's triggered ability's resolution. If the land you put onto the battlefield caused any abilities to trigger, those abilities won't go on the stack until after the ability has finished resolving.

This is important, because you can stack all the triggers however you want, not just in the order they entered. However, there are a few intricacies to be wary of. For example, Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle triggers as a land enters, and also checks your mountain count upon resolution. So if you would go below 6 "mountains" by bouncing lands back to your hand, the order in which you stack and resolve triggers would become very important. Additionally, Vesuva is actually capable of copying lands from the same trigger, as they are entering separately and not at the same time.

Phyrexian Metamorph
SR (2011-06-01): Any enters-the-battlefield abilities of the copied permanent will trigger when Phyrexian Metamorph enters the battlefield. Any “as [this] enters the battlefield” or “[this] enters the battlefield with” abilities of the chosen permanent will also work.

This allows us to actually get the protection trigger when copying something like The One Ring as long as we cast the card.


Don't hesitate to suggest something because it's off color; leave trying to fit it in to me (a few cards I've really considered are off color, can't be tutor'd for, and look like they have no place in this deck - like Trade Routes / Hokori, Dust Drinker / Pollen Lullaby).

All suggestions are more than welcome.

Suggestions

Updates Add

Thanks to everyone who's contributed in one way or another (there's been a whole lot of changes from the deck's inception).

I'd like to especially thank Jay, CurdBrosBrewingCo, Earthsfire, Crazybop09, JacobAGrossman, and asasinater13 for the useful suggestions. topdeckermtg2010, DaggerV, and pacundo also made notable suggestions, which were inevitably cut for bigger and better things. Ealon suggested using a card in a way I didn't think of previously, which led me to finding a very nice sideboard option.

Also, special thanks to The Doctor for the name (thank you to everyone else for the suggestions too!)

Thank you to everyone else for the +1s and support, really appreciate it all. Keep the ideas coming if you have any, I try to give them all a shot.

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Top Ranked
Date added 11 years
Last updated 2 hours
Splash colors UB
Key combos
Legality

This deck is Modern legal.

Rarity (main - side)

3 - 2 Mythic Rares

32 - 6 Rares

13 - 5 Uncommons

7 - 0 Commons

Cards 61
Avg. CMC 2.29
Tokens Construct 0/0 C, Copy Clone, Eldrazi Spawn 0/1 C, Insect 1/1 G, Meteorite Token
Folders Deck, Interesting Decks, good, Modern, Modern, pricey modern decks i want, Amazing, MDN Decks, Mono Green, Playtest
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