Wow, Archon of Valor's Reach from the bird wizard primer would be a perfect finisher if it was only recurrable with Loyal Retainers.

Yeah I cried when they spoiled it and it wasn't legendary :'( , but they probably consider that anti-fun as a commander and didn't do it because of that...

Last question, I swear! Is Iona, Shield of Emeria even remotely playable or does she simply cost too much/depend too heavily on graveyard recursion?

Dankey, Don't worry about it, I try and answer all questions as best as I can :)!

• Iona, Shield of Emeria;

First and foremost What this deck tries to do is enforce soft locks to hinder early strategies and make sure we don't lose in the first few turns. This makes it so we can set up for a midgame hard lock or prevent people from doing what they wanted to do (for example tutor a Aven Mindcensor vs an opponents Yisan, the Wanderer Bard or search for Kataki, War's Wage against artifact decks around turn 1 - 2 - 3 - 4), We do this because our late game is comparably poor to other decks out there and we don't recover too well generally if we don't have a good time early on...

This doesn't mean we don't have outs in the late game! Because my meta is filled with mana dorks and combo's that use creatures with low toughness for which I prefer to use Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite! if this does not apply to you and people play a lot of control, for example, you could switch Elesh for Iona!

(You can still do the same trick with either Fauna Shaman or Survival of the Fittest and pitch Iona to find Loyal Retainers and put her live really early on! Although I think it is a harder to cast card even with the ramp we run because of the triple white)

I'm currently using Sun Titan and Elesh Norn as finishers. Titan synergizes with Mana Vortex and Smokestack for a hard lock, and Elesh Norn is a soft "board clear" that allows us to trade more efficiently and end the game faster. I'm a BIG fan of titan in metas that don't require us to run Rest in Peace.

Some lists run additional finishers including Jin-Gitaxias which I personally find too slow. He costs way too much to flash in at the end of an opponent's turn, and usually dies to removal before his effect can force parity. I find Iona does more of what the deck tries to do, (prevent our opponents' from playing spells) while also locking specific answers/combos straight out of the game as soon as she resolves. Alternately, I could stick to running just 2 large bombs instead of the more traditional 3.

Yes, Elesh Norn is the MVP against decks that run several mana dorks or annoying combo pieces. :) I wouldn't remove her.

Yeah, I can't remove her because of those many important creatures on toughness or can't do combat damage anymore but Elesh is still most of the time just used as a finisher and shouldn't be the top priority to get out!!!

Jin is mostly used during combat with some insane explosive starts or with the loyal retainer combo but I stepped away from that a long time ago as it way too all in and doesn't fit a true hard lock as it still only goes in effect at the end step which gives them time... I'd also rather use the retainer combo to bring back Stax pieces 99% of the time.

Sun Titan is bonkers for recursion and hitting people in the face!

Updooted for the reference.

It makes me so happy to see another Deveri deck that has had so much effort and dedication put into it. I am also pleased to see the true stax version. I personally have always leaned tempo over stax with Derevi but my other top deck is Marath Hatebears. Mostly commenting because I want to remember this list and keep up on updates but I will also share my Deveri in case you are interested.

Tactical Beauty

Commander / EDH Kaleo42

SCORE: 5 | 1071 VIEWS | IN 2 FOLDERS

I was into this deck until I didn't see Energy Flux. Stax deck is incomplete.

Thoughts on your inclusion of containment priest? It turns off your own derevi's ability; is it worth playing still?

@Kaleo42, Thank you!! will check yours out! always on the lookout for sideboard hate I perhaps didn't know about yet or just another way of abusing the best bird girl :).

@Skillville, We run more than enough artifact hate and if we would opt for more I have sideboard cards for that in the description... Energy Flux is just the poor man's Kataki, War's Wage. but you could combine both if your meta is purely artifact heavy.

@ToolmasterOfBrainerd, So Containment Priest has a niche role to counter some combo's in my meta that revolve around cheating stuff in play which effectively stops ETB's (Be it Recursion, Flash or other effects). Yes it stops Derevi's ability but the priest is mainly never slammed down for no reason and either kept for its flash play vs some combo decks or grave recursion (Was working on it in the description don't think I added it yet). But if this doesn't apply to your meta, for example, it can be a flexible cut.

Is Arcane Denial worth playing over Negate? Consider how both it and Edric, Spymaster of Trest have synergy with Consecrated Sphinx.

@Dankey so if you're looking for counterspells to add to Derevi I mean both are good counters! just depends what your meta is like I suppose.. even though I find Arcane Denial more valuable in the long run regardless of synergy as it loots you a card as well and even though your opponent gets more they might not be able to play them in certain "Stax" conditions...

(I also really like Spell Pierce and the likes of these as under orb and sphere effects like Winter Orb + Sphere of Resistance it's a heavy cost that puts them even further behind.)

My playgroup loves board wipes and I was wondering what you would substitute in/out for an environment where Wrath of God, Supreme Verdict, Swords to Plowshares, and Path to Exile run rampant.

Hi @maraxus1070, Personally this deck fears the mana board wipes far more than the mana ones...

Anyhow,

• Wrath of God, Damnation and Supreme Verdict or others like this can be stopped by Gaddock Teeg / Sanctum Prelate (Although I rather use him on 1 - 2 - 3)... Or as intended they are delayed by any of our sphere effects and hopefully defused before the can save up for them...

• Aggressive taps of lands during orb effects is also necessary instead of going for greedy plays and ramp for example and it prevents this. Occasionally yes people tend to get some RNG luck and are able to cast it earlier with sol ring, crypt or any ramp they were able to get out before you were able to react properly to any of it, and you can try to rebuild or just deal with it that you weren't fast enough or on top of the game with that certain starting hand which as we all know happens sometimes. (I don't side anything in for a board wipe heavy meta though but you could look to add Spell Pierce kind of counters and they even exist in creature form which is also good for aggressive tapping and threatening to counter Seth board wipe, for example; Cursecatcher, Patron Wizard, Judge's Familiar, Mana Tithe, Force Spike, Spiketail Hatchling, and many more at Low CMC that can be found if you search for "counter target spell unless its controller pays" )

• Mistakes, like Holding back or playing into this, and keeping creatures back might lose you the game to others as well that are just biding their time, so that creates a dilemma too... Rather you will want to be ahead of that by slamming down sphere effects and keeping them down as fast as possible by straining every recourse possible be it artifacts or lands...

• I do have one card that does some miracles and scares people of using wipes which is Living Plane... I tend to slam it down fairly early if I have nothing else to do as this creates a lot of problems regardless of Board wipes and lands even enter with summoning sickness so rebuilding after it becomes easier. It might also take their focus away from wiping as they might know what comes after a resolved living plane. (= Linvala or Elesh... )

• Swords and Paths are mostly used when they see an opening and can combo after end-step removing something valuable that is preventing their win I presume. You could apply the same Spell pierce effects + sphere effects to battle this somewhat... but at one mana it is far harder. Although one would also be able to do it with winter orb + a sphere effect and root maze-like effects out while they are on no lands untapped mode! this is far harder to manage as you can't always have everyone locked out this much as early as turn 1 or 2. this also applies to the mana board wipes like Fire Covenant and Toxic Deluge which are far harder to combat...

• The same thing can be said about people running loads of artifact and enchantment removal in my many different meta... Personally, I really don't side in anything against hate like this. What we do try though is prepare a board state that prevents this from even being an option. (Again yes RNG might screw you over a small number of times if so just go gg next game ;) )

(I Hope this helps. If you do find solid solutions yourself during playtest feel free to let me know, but this is all I can think of right now.)

(I forgot One small thing, you could look for artifact or enchantment versions of creatures with the same kind of Stax even though it lessens the possible asymmetry we can create by abusing taps and untaps of Derevi... for example : Eidolon of Rhetoric into Rule of Law and it opens up the possibility for you to play some more hurtful planeswalkers like Dovin Baan and Tamiyo, Field Researcher which need to be dealt with after a board wipe)

Thanks for your detailed response! I will definitely try some of your suggested cards and see how it does. I liked the idea of using living plane as a deterrent--it seems just evil, but funny.

A couple of questions:

1. Budget Priorities: I have to do some swapping for the ABR Duals, Gaea's Cradle, and Living Plane. I was wondering how to prioritize acquiring these pricier cards. My thinking was 1. Gaea's Cradle (currently using Hinterland Harbor)> 2. Living Plane (currently using Nature's Revolt) > 3. ABR Duals ( I put in Bountiful Promenade, Sea of Clouds, Botanical Sanctum)

2. Tutoring choices: I found Edric, Spymaster of Trest to be an amazing choice (so much so I am considering Bident of Thassa), but what do you typically find yourself tutoring for when searching for creatures.

@maraxus1070;

I only recently got my Living Plane. I'd say the land base for this deck is far more important to get right to begin with but that doesn't mean you 100% necessarily need the most expensive ones asap... there are alternatives as long as they enter untapped and are able to create 2 to 3 ( , , ) colors like the ones you mentioned. (Yes duals make your fetch life easier by a small amount but Breeding Pool instead of a Tropical Island does the trick too, you just have fewer targets for your Fetch land and can't thin out your deck as effectively.)

(There is also the poor man's cradle... A card that flips into it, I guess I have it somewhere in my Sideboard and it did have synergy because of the number of creatures we run. And then there is also Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx... But I mean you should get upgrades if you feel like you are missing out on them not if you don't understand why you should get it therefor Proxy one and test it? nothing wrong with that?)

• SideBoard

I have some alternatives in my Binder/Sideboard to give you more ideas : 京 An illusion? (SideBoard) 京 (Some which aren't on the list as they reside in other decks but I mostly keep it up to date because I use it for different meta (It also has a little card explanation as on why what and when ;) )

• Tier list/ Collection

And I also have a collection of the most interesting Derevi decks on tapped out : 京 The Cedh Derevi tier list collection 京. As I Highly doubt all of these run an exact same land base. Hope you can find Alternatives or ideas there as well.

Tutoring

To tutor is to find answers that need to be dealt with in the near future, I typically tend to go for hate above engines, gas, and ramp... For example, a person on your table is playing a heavy tutor game with Momir Vig, Simic Visionary... A good tutor against a deck like this would be Aven Mindcensor and after that Linvala, Keeper of Silence as they play an army of dorks as well... Playing against a heavy artifact table or someone who got ahead and almost emptied their entire hand for artifact ramp who is ready for perhaps a game-winning big play turn 2 could be dealt with by using Kataki, War's Wage... Ofource the generic "everything costs 1 more to play" stops or slows down some decks as well... The way this deck plays out is very straightforward if you can see those details but how you win or present a lock is genuinely never the same but very effective when played correctly.

Knowing your opponent's commander therefor is key, it is not necessary to be aware of every jank adaption or card they use. It is necessary to know how a deck using a certain commander can win... (how do you even begin with a task like this? Play a lot, look at a lot of top-tier Cedh decks, Read their primers carefully, research combos and many more details...)

Yes at some point you can look for Things like Edric, Spymaster of Trest but they should never be your first choice as they don't really present a direct threat other than having people attack for card advantage. You should always try to go for lines that improve your disruptive play but you Shouldn't forget you're not playing to control or win because This deck is not as control as it seems in that it can rely on drawing gas, as that gas may or may not align with adequately disruptive lines of play!

Thoughts on the new lavinia, azorius renegade spoiler? link here

Lavinia, Azorius Renegade,

Legendary Creature - Human Soldier (Tutorable by Sissay / and 2 verse counters on Yisan and she's out!

Each opponent can't cast noncreature spells with converted mana cost greater than the number of lands that player controls.

Whenever an opponent casts a spell, if no mana was spent to cast it, counter that spell.

2/2

Lavinia seems to purely punish your opponents for cheating things in play with ritual effects or 0 costs. Storm decks tend to draw into a lot of cards and then play their 0 cost artifacts to go positive again and this just outright counters that. While also providing Derevi with a body and only affecting opponents this card seems stronger than the Teeg itself in a way. Although this card only delays certain storm decks until they make the land drop they need but this gives us a lot of time! (Nobody is going to Orcish Lumberjack their forests in Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder or sac lands for mana with Squandered Resources xD). Doomsday becomes less interesting as well with Gush and Lion's Eye Diamond! The cast of cards under Isochron Scepter become countered as well (could be wrong)! I'm sold by this card thank you!

(Also I like the normal art one better but I'll be getting both still as I can probably get my hands on a Japanese foil normal one and the store championship pretty easy! xD)

With the New Tests/Retests/Sideboard-Swaps/additions, I can already safely say that Priest of Titania is going to be replaced by Lavinia, Azorius Renegade as soon as I get my hands on one!...

I was Able to win the last FNM of the year with her in a F4A "end of the year" battle... (20 ish people)

(Playmat + boosters (price support) = I gave them to the "newer" players! Not because I care but because I came for First Place or to learn more of my mistakes as to why I didn't get there and how to improve myself!!!.)

Present commanders on my tables;

• Table 1 : General Tazri(foodchain) + Omnath, Locus of Mana(Infect+otherInfinite stuff) + Athreos, God of Passage (Slower stuff like felidar, sanguine bond equisite = newer player i suppose unsure though)

(Copperhorn Scout Stasis lock is what got me too far ahead even after scout got removed I was able to keep it alive for so long!)

• Table 2 : Grenzo, Dungeon Warden(Doomsday) + Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder(Stormfluxervoir) + Oloro, Ageless Ascetic (Stax)

(Made everyone draw due to 2 oppressive locks with humility and specific storm hate, but reminder!!! ---> our pod consisted of all the players that won their last pods so it resulted in everyone getting dragged down a bit in score! everyone becomes simultaneously second... Too Many Resets and Rebuilds + slow play storm player!)

• Table 3 : Hokori, Dust Drinker(Stax) + Vial Smasher the Fierce(Stax,discard,removal) + Purphoros, God of the Forge(Burn/Stax)

(Managed to live a lot longer thanks to the other Hokori while a blood moon was out and got ignored for a short while! Discard deck had a "the rack" kind of playstyle and hurt the other players a lot as well... ended up 1v1 with Derevi and we all know how broken that is if left unchecked!)

Note:

Every Single card that was added recently saw play or got in my hand at some point and regarding most useless (even though explosive rarely) titania is redundant to what this deck tries to do, in this meta many two drops needing to be Stax is far more important and more likely to not lose you games!

Forsaken City + Stasis : It is so easy to set up... (Idea was taken from the Black vise vintage deck)

Hey, man! Love this build! I am in the process of building pretty much the same deck and, as you, I am very excited about Lavinia! But I Was wondering two things:

1) What do you think of the new simic legend, ? I think it is an immediate include in this deck,as a creature which is much easier to tutor for and has synergy with Copperhorn??? What's not to like?!?! But maybe I am a noob and I am missing something, so I would love to hear your thoughts on it.

2) Have you ever felt like you need some counterspells in your list? I ask this because it is mindblowing to me to have blue and not have any :P again, this might be a noob question.

Anyway, thanks in advance and happy new year!

Sorry for the double post, I meant Prime Speaker Vannifar regarding the simic legend, but I did something wrong and can't edit the comment :/

Prime Speaker Vannifar :

@pato_mtg ; Hey There! Regarding Prime Speaker Vannifar, This basically is Birthing Pod on a stick but with no cost (+ one mana more expensive due to the )... Being a creature does indeed make it far easier for us to tutor as you mentioned.

the sole difference is birthing pod is live the turn it hits so technically it provides more tempo value as you can instantly ("at sorcery speed") pod Derevi into Hokori for example without giving your opponents a turn to think as it telegraphs what you are going to do very bluntly! Yet having two cards that do kinda the same thing isn't all too bad either because it creates consistency like fauna shaman and survival of the fittest do at the moment!

I'de say the creature version is harder to deal with for most of the CEDH decks as they lack hard removal on creatures more than interaction towards artifacts and enchantments nowadays apart from like swords and paths or plain counterspells...

I'll definitely be testing this one out in the next few weeks (Proxy) + ( if I find a reasonable cut for my meta personally)

( / Also has a nice body compared to most creatures and isn't killed by Elesh or bolt! )

Counterspells :

I do have a few Counterspells in my sideboard (it's in the description). But yes currently I am running a counterless Stax deck due to the fact that under a lot of pressure of sphere effects these also become impossible to cast more often which was the case for me anyway! Having cards like Spell Pierce, Arcane Denial, Negate ,Nature's Claim , Swords to Plowshares and such won't hurt this deck at all and is perfectly viable if you like to run a tad more interaction depending on your meta, but it is not 100% necessary as this deck can operate fine without them! Even after suffering from a setback that got through somehow, As mentioned in the description this deck scales with the power level of your Pod... Meaning A rule of low effect can shut down all three of your opponents until they find answers whereas in a more casual pod this might do nothing and sheer counters are needed for rather "low end under the radar stuff".

Spoilers :

(Will post a comment as soon as I see one with potential and have gone over it with a few others or if people find them in the Spoilers before I do xD )

Interesting things so far:

Biomancer's Familiar (Might be of use if you run more value engines Like Yisan and such but I currently find it a bit too specific as we don't run as many targets that can abuse - Activation Costs... Perhaps WizzardBall might like this more.