That's a tough one. I think you're better off with the Drake.

Your deck seems to lack card draw. Is this ever a problem for you? I like Mirari's Wake , but you might benefit more from swapping it for Zendikar Resurgent . It's a bit higher on the mana curve, but it provides card draw as well as the extra mana, which I think your deck needs. I think I'd also find a way to work Jace Beleren back into the deck, too, as he provides some card draw, too. Inspiring Call would also be on-theme.

bushido_man96, I did have both Steady Progress and Tezzeret's Gambit in this deck, but I replaced them with repeatable sources of proliferate, and this deck does still have both Fathom Mage and Temple Bell , which are only two cards, but I cannot afford to remove any cards that contribute to the central theme of this deck.

Also, do you believe that I can afford to replace Abzan Falconer with Merfolk Skydiver ? I already removed Abzan Battle Priest in favor of Crystalline Crawler , so I supposed that I could do the same for the falconer; Herald of Secret Streams and Mer-Ek Nightblade , however, are too good to remove, so I am keeping them in this deck.

If the bulk of your creatures have flying, then cutting the Falconer will be fine.

Also, I get wanting to contribute to the theme of the deck, but card draw does that. Once you end up being in top-deck mode, it gets tough to keep up with a decent table (in my experience, anyways). Card draw is always an important element I work into my decks, especially as many repeatable effects as I can. It just helps so much with play consistency.

bushido_man96, in that case, I shall replace Abzan Falconer with Merfolk Skydiver .

I understand the importance of drawing cards, but I am not certain what I could remove, since I have spent so much time improving this deck; I need to use it extensively if I am to determine if it needs to be improved in any areas.

I have replaced Abzan Falconer with Merfolk Skydiver , which had three effects; first, it lowered the average converted mana cost of this deck from 3,65 to 3,63, which is nice; second, it improved the balance of colors in the deck, and; third, it proves an additional source of proliferation for the deck.

I am contemplating putting Walking Ballista in this deck, because I am certain that it would be awesome in it, but I cannot decide what card to remove, if any, to make room for it. What does everyone else say about that?

I have replaced Herald of Secret Streams with Abzan Falconer, which lowered the average converted mana cost of this deck from 3.63 to 3.62, and also because flying is more versatile than is unblockability.

I don't think Walking Ballista is a good card for this deck mainly because you can't go infinite. Also, I would take out Archangel of Thune and replace it with Renata, Called to the Hunt mainly because Renata is cheaper cmc wise and you don't have many creatures with lifegain besides atraxa. My other suggestion is to add in Evolution Sage and take out Guildpact Informant because with 40 land you are bound to consistently be able to proliferate.

King_marchesa, Renata, Called to the Hunt is nice, but it is not wise to have a create the relies upon devotion to a single color in a four-colored deck, and her ability provides only a single +1/+1 counter, whereas Archangel of Thune can repeatedly place +1/+1 counters on creatures, and I specifically have True Conviction in this deck to grant lifelink to all of my creatures.

As for Evolution Sage, that is a very nice card, so I may possibly experiment with it, to see how well it performs.

I have replaced Temple Bell with Otherworld Atlas, which did increase the average converted mana cost of this deck from 3.62 to 3.63, which is only a very minor increase, and I feel that that increase shall be worth the greater advantage that it shall provide.

If you insist on running a bounce spell, drop Recoil for Snap. It at least untaps some lands for you.

bushido_man96, Snap is a nice card, but the ability to target any permanent is very important, and I have Seedborn Muse to untap my own permanents.

Then you should just run another removal spell that is not temporary. Why bounce something you could exile or throw to the graveyard?

bushido_man96, I already have Utter End, Anguished Unmaking, and Assassin's Trophy, so how many other spells with low costs are there that can unconditionally destroy any type of permanent? Also, if a player has no cards in hand, Recoil has the same effect as destroying a permanent.

If. Anyone who builds a decent deck probably won't.

Other options: Generous Gift and Beast Within.

If you've got some excuse to not run either of those, I really don't want to hear it.

Countersquall should definitely be swapped for Dovin's Veto, or even Negate. The 3-cmc counters could also be something else: Counterspell, Swan Song, Narset's Reversal, Fierce Guardianship, Dispel, etc.

Grubbernaut, why are you recommending those particular spells?

Lower CMC spells that perform the same role will do better, generally speaking. The 2 life loss from Countersquall almost literally doesn't matter in EDH, where you're trying to get rid of ~120 life if you're winning through damage; conversely, Counterspell has the upside of countering anything, Dovin's Veto can't be countered, and Negate has a lower colored requirement to do the same thing.

Regarding the others: They cost less and largely perform the same function. Countering noncreature spells is generally much more important than countering creatures, and the lower the CMC, the more you can do (or protect) in a turn. That being said, if you're aiming for a lower power level or playing in a meta where creatures matter more than noncreature spells, there's merit to the other options.

I have replaced Dovin Baan with Teferi, Who Slows the Sunset, because, while Dovin is certainly not the worst planeswalker who has ever been printed, he is fairly mediocre overall. His first ability is highly situational, his second ability is very nice, but nothing spectacular, and his third ability is very powerful, but cannot be used immediately, even when he is summoned with a Doubling Season present, so he simply is not sufficiently powerful for this deck. Also, having played in too many games in which another player cast a Winter Orb, I know how unpleasant that effect can be, so I do not wish to subject my opponents to it, either (Narset’s emblem is also very annoying, but she, like Teferi, provides amazing overall value, so I shall risk drawing the ire of other players when I summon her).

By contrast, the new Teferi provides amazing value, regardless of which of his abilities his controller activates, and, very significantly, his third ability can be used immediately if a player controllers a Doubling Season when they summon him, so I feel that this was an excellent decision for this deck.

I have replaced Voidslime with Endless Detour, because, as awesome as the former card is, the latter card simply has amazing versatility; I had considered replacing Recoil with Endless Detour, but that card is also very versatile, as well, so I kept it in the deck.

I have replaced Ring of Three Wishes with Liliana Vess, since she simply has far greater utility than does the ring.

DemonDragonJ in reply to you Utter End, Anguished Unmaking and Assassin's Trophy, there is also Despark as well as Go for the Throat. Not to mention your Path to Exile, Swords to Plowshares, Darksteel Mutation, Song of the Dryads, Polymorph, Beast Within, that one blue destroy spell that makes it into a 3/3 green Ape...

Like, probably a dozen low-mv kill spells in these four colors.

TypicalTimmy, those cards are good, but too many of them are conditional, and I like to have unconditional removal spells, whenever possible.