Rise of the Elementals! (Updated Post Rotation)
Standard*
SCORE: 69 | 143 COMMENTS | 11453 VIEWS | IN 45 FOLDERS
Hobbez9186 says... #3
Alright, so I like what you have for most of this, but there are some things that I don't think work quite as well. In no particular order I'm going to explain what I might consider doing a little differently.
First, I don't think Sylvan Advocate fits other than being able to ramp up to 6 land quickly with your other spells. Without Nissa or Awaken Spells or something that land creatures they are basically just cheap creatures with Vigilance. Not bad, but just not interesting.
I also recommend splitting Mina and Denn with Omnath to 2 of each instead of 3 and 1. You don't benefit from having more than 1 of either but it is beneficial to eventually get to either or both of them. I think 2 and 2 is a better fit (I've been playtesting those same two cards in mine and that has been the best mix).
Tireless Tracker is another good card, but sort of clunky since you only get clues for his landfall. You have to invest your mana to buff him and since he is vulnerable to spot removal you can find yourself wasting turns. He works a lot better in decks that have other ways to generate quick clue tokens and in here he literally only fuels himself. Again, not a bad card, but I don't think he is comfortable here.
So, in those 6 creature slots (if we were removing Advocate and Tracker) I recommend 2 Akoum Stonewaker and 4 Crater Elemental. Both synergize incredibly well with Omnath since the Stonewaker gets an Elemental that can attack just like Chandra and must be sacrificed at end of turn so anywhere between 3-6 damage gets through for each one of them. Well worth the 3 mana. For also 3 mana, Crater Elemental is a great body blocker that is outside of Languish range and has 2 very flexible skills. If you have Omnath already, a red mana gets you 4 damage to a creature and 3 damage to a player. Worth it. Once you drop Omnath you will likely also have another Elemental token of varying size, which means you can also pump the hell out of the Crater Elemental for 8 more possible damage. Another good choice would be 2 Stonewaker, 3 Craters, and a second Undergrowth Champion.
Your ramp cards are a bit out of whack since you will most definitely not have enough land after using just a few of them and they become dead cards. Nissa's Renewal is a great card, but you will only ever need to do it once, maybe twice tops. You will draw basic land and will quickly run out of targets. I'd run only one of them and also one Nissa's Pilgrimage. Instead of having another ramp card in that third slot I would add a second Sword of the Animist. Same thing for Blighted Woodland. You won't need more than 1. I would drop 3 of them and replace them with 3 Evolving Wilds. Wilds will allow you to trigger Elemental drops on your terms, offensively or defensively. Its too good not to. I'd also replace the Cinder Glades with Warped Landscape because colors will not be a problem (trust me) and you can use it offensively or defensively to trigger various things when you need them to happen.
Vessel of Nascency is 100% a card for Delirium decks. That is it's job and it does it better than almost any other card. Since you are not running Delirium, do something else. I'd highly recommend mainboarding 2x Retreat to Valakut. Buffing creatures or simply making them unblockable is very powerful and since you will be dropping lands often, you will get the benefit.
Radiant Flames is kind of, meh. I think Chandra is all you will need for board wipe options, and those 3 slots can go to better use. I'd move to sideboard for playing against tokens or weenies. Swell of Growth is amazing ramp for this kind of deck, especially with Slab Hammer and Mina and Denn. I'd put 3 in mainboard in that slot.
Oath of Nissa is also kind of, meh. It works very well with Super Friends, but otherwise I don't personally care for it. Atarka's Command is a better card to get your hands on and run in it's place. I would either do 2x or even drop the Natural Connection as well and run 4x. It's good cheap damage and early land ramp as long as you have an extra in your hand (which you probably will).
Finally, I would consider finding a place for 1x Animist's Awakening. This could be an absolute bomb mid game when you have 6-8 mana to spend towards X. Think of all the 5/5 Elementals that could rain down from Omnath. Dare your opponent to wipe the board and take all the face damage, or just attack for an absolute crapload of damage. You can even followup by using Chandra to -X for 5 and kill them all for 3x damage for every one of them. Would be a marvelous finisher.
There's a lot of things that cost 3+ mana, so you may want to consider those 1 drops like Scythe Leopard or Dragonmaster Outcast. The Outcast is obviously more powerful, and can draw out spot removal. Scythe Leopard looks harmless, but there are plenty of options to drop enough land all at once to make him pack a punch, especially early on with Swell of Growth.
These are just thoughts of me thinking out loud. I have a similar list unpublished that is an Elemental variation of my Landfall deck that you already saw, and I feel like it has a lot of potential. Feel free to try out these suggestions and see how you like them, I've already put a lot of time in this area and it is fun synergy that you just don't see every day. Keep in mind that since you do not have a 15 card side board, the cards you are attached to can move there instead of pulling them out of the deck completely.
June 12, 2016 8:34 p.m.
geneticfreak09c says... #4
Hobbez9186 thanks you thank you for the suggestions. I have just about all of those cards and can luckily test it out a little bit today. Getting a hold of one or two more Undergrowth Champion and Omnath, Locus of Rage are gonna be a doozy but I can see why 1 more would be beneficial. I have exactly 1 Animist's Awakening lucky for me so I will swap that in. Dragonmaster Outcast is another beautiful card I haven't had much luck getting and may just buy because it can be nasty if not dealt with early.
June 12, 2016 9:17 p.m.
geneticfreak09c says... #6
Hobbez9186 Buffetpond Some cards I had been wanting/needing for this deck came in I think this build works out pretty well. What do you think?
June 18, 2016 1:37 p.m.
geneticfreak09c says... #8
Hobbez9186 Thanks thinking about running it by FNM next week. It's not something I've seen at my local store so should be interesting and fun to play with and against.
June 18, 2016 10:31 p.m.
Hobbez9186 says... #9
That's what it's all about right there, stir things up ;)
That's what I do every week, people are sick of seeing the same decks every week and I enjoy bringing new things that people aren't expecting. There's always a new flavor that 2-4 people show up and play and it drives me nuts. Used to be 2-3 Sphinx's Tutelage mill decks every week, then Bant Collected Company decks, and now half the people show up either playing Black/White control or Blue/White control.
I had a crowd of people watching me play Elves last time and it made people happy, even the people that I beat. You go get 'em with Elemental Landfall and ramp up to victory with Omnath :)
June 18, 2016 10:50 p.m.
geneticfreak09c says... #10
Hobbez9186 hopefully I can come out on top. I too get tired of seeing the same decks and since I dont have alot of the cards that most of them do to even build those decks mine never could stand much of a chance other than just for fun. I got lucky when building this one having the vast majority of the cards already on hand from lucky booster pulls. So I feel a bit more confident with this deck than my previous ones. I'll update again after FNM next week. Fingers crossed!
June 18, 2016 11:01 p.m.
Thanks for the credit friend. For anybody wondering the original deck is here. Earthquake (Landfall Burn)
June 20, 2016 4:03 p.m.
geneticfreak09c says... #12
Theoduin No, Thank you I had cards laying around that I had no idea how to use (new to playing after a 5 year break) and your deck sparked my interest and I ran with it how I could. This deck is extremely fun popular or not I thoroughly enjoy playing it. Undergrowth Champion has become my favorite card in MTG hahaha.
June 20, 2016 4:54 p.m.
Shockwave115 says... #13
Personally I would drop a Warped Landscape for a 4th Evolving Wilds because I like it a lot more but that's just some personal preference. Have you ever tried running Retreat to Kazandu instead of Retreat to Valakut? I like Kazandu more just because it gives permanent counters and offers life gain if your against an aggro deck or just in a really close match. I originally ran Jaddi Offshoot in my landfall deck but ended up taking it out for 4 Scythe Leopards for the extra damage. Jaddi Offshoot can be a nice blocker and I think it would be a decent sideboard card but this seems like a very aggresive deck and I think the extra damage from Scythe Leopard or maybe even a few Dragonmaster Outcasts would serve you better for putting your opponents on a faster clock. I also prefer Natural Connection over Explosive Vegetation since it's instant speed. It's really nice to have some instant speed landfall procs to blow out your opponents when you need to play defense AND if you play it on their turn it'll untap on yours. (As a side note if you aren't already doing it saving your Evolving Wilds occasionally for an instant speed landfall proc can also help blow out an opponent since you can sac it after they declare blockers or attackers). My only other possible recommendation would be to swap out Akoum Stonewaker for Makindi Sliderunner. Akoum Stonewaker is a nice card and I used it for a time but it forces you to sink too much mana into it for it to really pay off. With Akoum Stonewaker you have to pay to put him down and another to get a 3/1 trampler thats gone after one turn. With Makindi Sliderunner you pay to get him out and then any time you play a land he's a 3/2 trampler. With all of your ramp and various ways to cheat in landfall triggers he can easily swing for 3-5 trample damage and can blow your opponents out on the back swing.
Well I know this is a fairly long comment but I love my landfall deck and I really hope you enjoy yours too! Remember that these are all just suggestions based on my experiences and my LGS so keep play testing and tweaking the deck to fit you as a player. Good luck and +1 from me!
June 20, 2016 8:23 p.m.
geneticfreak09c says... #14
Shockwave115 Thanks for stopping by I really appreciate it. I had thought about using Retreat to Kazandu over Retreat to Valakut primarily for its ability to make it even hard to rid my Undergrowth Champion or to save my creatures from a board wipe by using Evolving Wilds sac ability + the +1/+1 counter trigger from the landfall perk on Retreat to Kazandu. So it doesn't seem like a bad idea to put it in my sideboard depending on match ups and the life gain paired with Jaddi Offshoot could get pretty immense. Akoum Stonewaker is in the deck instead of Makindi Sliderunner because of its elemental synergy with its 3/1 elemental token ability being like having a Chandra, Flamecaller on the board with her +1 ability when Omnath, Locus of Rage is out. They either block it and kill it and take 3 damage from it dying or take the 3 damage to the face when it swings. Makindi Sliderunner also isn't an elemental and outside of having trample and costing 1 mana less to cast when it dies it quite possibly does nothing for me unless it was pumped up immensely, but I have thought about subbing it in at time. Dragonmaster Outcast is actually on it's way lol It works very well with this deck and if anything can draw out removal that can save me later on in the game if it last that long. Natural Connection is another card i've thought about using mainly for its defensive use similar to Swell of Growth along with its offensive potential so maybe I should put it in the sideboard depending on my matchups I deal with locally. All in all your suggestions have helped me start a bit of a sideboard and I'm very appreciative!
June 21, 2016 12:08 a.m.
Hobbez9186 says... #15
Stonewaker is only good in two points of the game, turn 2 to play and turn 3 to hit for 5 damage and then later in the game (which is only a few turns later) when you have Omnath because of the elemental damage. 3 mana for a 3/1 expendable trampler that is guaranteed to do 3 damage even if you don't attack is worth it, but if it goes unblocked it's twice as much. If it is blocked and kills a creature, you still get to deal the 3 damage when the token dies and possibly trample damage as well. It's win/win and there really aren't other things to sink your mana into anyway after a few turns.
I do agree that 4 Wilds and 2 Landscape is a better mix.
I disagree about replacing any other the other creatures since none of the others are elementals and just don't have the synergy you are building up to. The only creature to consider is Grove Rumbler since he is a bigger landfall elemental than Predators and also gets +2/+2 per trigger, but he has two things going for him. The extra mana comes with another power/toughness which is fine, but being multicolored protects him from Ultimate Price, which sees a lot of play locally. I personally run all of those mentioned creatures in my landfall deck, but mine focuses specifically on cheaper cost and smaller creatures to be able to fill the board and have multiple buffs occurring across the board which make it fast and furious but lacks the midrange. This deck is a lot more about ramping to Omnath and owning the board once you get there, which isn't all that much slower but a lot more potent once you hit your stride. This elemental strategy can really get out of hand, and it's best not to wander. You want all of your creatures to synergize as much as possible, and everything up there currently hits both Landfall and Tribal with Omnath's ability.
The other creature I do like that helps buy you setup time is Crater Elemental, but Undergrowth Champion is more menacing. I like the utility options that Crater Elemental has built in, but to each his own. It's missing Landfall so it's not 100% on theme, but it does synergize amazingly with Omnath so it's definitely a solid choice. You could run 2x and drop down to 3 Offshoot and 3 Undergrowth, but that's totally optional.
I do also prefer Sylvan Scrying to Natural Connection since it can dig for Wilds, Landscape, or Blighted Woodlands which are more potent than basic land and will just become the basic land anyway and it costs 1 less.
Kazandu I find too slow and too defensive. The counters staying may seem nice, but spot removal or board wipe take them all away. Direct damage from an unblockable Predator is a better option in the long run unless you want the game to last 30 turns by gaining 3+ life per trigger with Offshoots and Kazandu. You could run it in sideboard, but I don't think it works as consistently. You could try it, but I just didn't care for it when I ran both retreats.
June 21, 2016 1:59 a.m.
geneticfreak09c says... #16
I do see Grove Rumbler as a nice piece and his bit of "evasion" being multicolored he's been sitting next to the deck on my desk for about 2 weeks now lol Never actually read my Sylvan Scrying card but it seems it could be useful in the event I need a land in my hand or somehow miss land drops early on or if I just want to dig for a Blighted Woodland Evolving Wilds Warped Landscape to pump out some burst on the next turn that could potentially end a game. I have 1 Crater Elemental and I wish I had more because with that and Omnath, Locus of Rage on the board you could sac it or 4 damage and with it dying they take another 3 to the face they can't avoid. Retreat to Kazandu I'm still on the fence about but will give it a few runs to see if it helps me or just makes things far too long and decide whether to utilize it or not. I'm liking the way the deck has come together and its consistent play so far so we will see.
June 21, 2016 2:23 a.m.
geneticfreak09c says... #17
Debating on swapping out the 3x Valakut Predator for the Grove Rumbler...The extra point of health and damage along with trample make it a fine candidate for pump spells outside of landfall triggers and chump blocking can't stop it...It fits my mana ramp curve just fine on paper and is another threat they either have to deal with when it drops or pay later and pray that Omnath, Locus of Rage isn't on the board when they finally decide its time for the Rumbler to go...the baby predator may just take a backseat ride and be replaced lol
June 21, 2016 3:37 a.m.
geneticfreak09c says... #18
Atarka's Command is becoming one of my favorite instants in this deck and I think I need to play at least 2 to 4 of these. It can speed the game up quite a bit by applying pressure through damage or landfall triggers that equate to more damage if used properly. Looks like this will be my next pick up if my LGS doesn't have any lying around.
June 21, 2016 4:45 p.m.
geneticfreak09c says... #19
Description is finally done Thanks for the help everyone and any further tips and tricks to improve things are greatly appreciated!
June 21, 2016 10:30 p.m.
geneticfreak09c says... #21
iRidetheTvan I thought about Ulvenwald Hydra but it just didn't fit with the theme and felt like just another clunky card to play if for some reason Omnath, Locus of Rage isn't out already. It's power and toughness equalling my land count was nice but slower than I would like it to be if it ever was in an early draw since playing it early isn't an option and it's more for drawn out games I felt.
June 22, 2016 1:59 p.m.
geneticfreak09c says... #22
If I have time tonight I plan to take this deck to FNM and see how it does with the new improvements. Hopefully I do well if not I'll try again next week.
June 24, 2016 7:25 p.m.
Buffetpond says... #23
The Hydra is a beast try it out he won't disappoint I promise I run one in my ramp temur build that also runs omnath
June 25, 2016 2:48 a.m.
geneticfreak09c says... #24
Buffetpond I'll give Ulvenwald Hydra a try as a 1 of. I won't count it out without giving it a go at least once. Went 3-0 at FNM tonight had to leave early so didn't finish the entire setup but still got a good feel of the deck and turned lots of heads. Tears of Valakut was the mvp against controlling decks with frequent flyers and the rest of the sideboard player well. Satisfied so far with all the improvements.
June 25, 2016 4:29 a.m.
geneticfreak09c says... #25
Oran-Rief Hydra seems like a better fit than Ulvenwald Hydra yes it comes in 1 p/t smaller but ramps up faster also gaining +1/+1 per land or +2/+2 per forest landfall...
Buffetpond says... #1
Why not explosive veggie or nissa pilgrimage there on of the best ramp spells in the format
June 9, 2016 1:18 a.m.