Animar, Soul of Combos ::: cEDH Primer

Commander / EDH* ToffMcSoft

SCORE: 185 | 91 COMMENTS | 70723 VIEWS | IN 79 FOLDERS


ToffMcSoft says... #1

Opps, fat fingered that on setup, my bad.

March 13, 2018 6:40 p.m.

AStorm02 says... #2

Have you considered Altar of the Brood as a win con with Animar, Soul of Elements on the field and Ancestral Statue in hand?

April 28, 2018 2:49 p.m.

Shane.Allen says... #3

Very nice deck, As A cEDH player myself I think its a very good well done deck.

April 29, 2018 6:21 p.m.

ToffMcSoft says... #4

I like the idea of Alter of the Brood, the only concern is when you're already at the point of playing permenants to "Mill" someone, you're most likely playing those permanents for another win con already.

Definitely going to play test this though. Awesome suggestion and really makes the argument to put Trinket Mage in the build.

Thanks AStorm02

April 30, 2018 4:04 a.m. Edited.

ToffMcSoft says... #5

@ Shane.Allen - thanks for the comment. Took a lot of playing to get it tuned to this point. So far it's stacked up nicely against multiple Tier 1 & 2 decks in both multiplayer & heads-up matches.

April 30, 2018 10:32 a.m.

ToffMcSoft says... #6

Most likely going to be replacing Deadeye Navigator, Stunt Double, Phantasmal Image.

Absolutely need spot removal, specifically Artifact removal.

Thinking about these: Caustic Caterpillar, Gamble, Sylvan Safekeeper or Siren Stormtamer

April 30, 2018 11:02 a.m.

AStorm02 says... #7

for artifact/enchantment spot removal have you considered Ainok Survivalist and Nantuko Vigilante? They both can be played basically for free with animar and they can be returned to hand for another use rather than Caustic Caterpillar which has to be sacrificed.

April 30, 2018 3:32 p.m.

AStorm02 says... #8

Also morphs don't use the stack so they can't be countered by cards like stifle, and their targets controller can't respond

April 30, 2018 3:33 p.m.

ToffMcSoft says... #9

@ AStorm02 - Ainok Survivalist has been swapped right away for Deadeye Navigator

May 1, 2018 10:01 a.m.

SynergyBuild says... #10

Love all Animar Builds, when you went over what decks you go against, no Tana/Tymna Stax?

May 3, 2018 11:56 a.m.

ToffMcSoft says... #11

SynergyBuild - Nope, no Tana./Tymna Stax in the meta currently.

The Thrasios/Tymna build is this 1: Thrasios and Tymna Infinite Loops of Death

It's really dirty, deck is a monster.

May 3, 2018 12:05 p.m.

SynergyBuild says... #12

I've seen http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/walkingball/, but paradox/isochron combo is new to me in the meta, cool!

May 3, 2018 12:21 p.m.

ToffMcSoft says... #13

Spellseeker from the new set Battlebond is absolutely making it into the list, also considering adding Gamble

May 24, 2018 10:55 a.m.

DirtyBirdy says... #14

Have you thought about adding in Warstorm Surge?

May 31, 2018 8:05 p.m.

Driemer84 says... #15

Really liking the deck. I've been looking at taking apart of couple of my lists and putting together something like this.

What is the purpose of the Wild Growth over Llanowar Elves, Fyndhorn Elves, or just another land?

Also, I've never been a big fan of Chrome Mox, but I understand the need for colored mana. Is the deck color intensive enough that Mana Crypt isn't a viable replacement for the mox?

June 1, 2018 10:08 a.m.

ToffMcSoft says... #16

Driemer84 - Wild Growth can be used the same turn it comes into play and avoids mass creature destruction. A lot of times I'll enchant a dual land or multicolor land with wild growth.

Chrome Mox is awesome if you enter a state of drawing your deck and strapped for Mana. It truly saves the day.

Many times I've been in a draw the entire deck Turing a Cloudstone loop and didn't have the Mana needed to play a win con.

June 1, 2018 10:21 a.m.

ToffMcSoft says... #18

SynergyBuild - Couldn't agree more - great insight.

June 4, 2018 3:16 p.m.

SynergyBuild says... #19

Thanks for reading, sorry for the long comment. Love to chat about Animar, mind if you answer some questions?

First off, is Animar your favorite deck, or most competitive (what does it mean to you?)

Secondly, where do you see it in the format, Tier-1, 1.5, 2? I know plenty rate it tier 1.5, but do you think otherwise?

Lastly, how budget do you think this deck could become before it is too budget (whilst still being powerful enough to play in a similar meta to yours and pull wins)? (Price ranges like 400$, $150, $800, $1600, etc.)

June 4, 2018 4:20 p.m.

Driemer84 says... #20

SynergyBuild - This is an amazing write up. I definitely used this advice to tune up an abzan deck's mana base.

What do you think about running Polluted Delta over Bloodstained Mire since red is the smallest portion of the deck?

June 4, 2018 9:57 p.m.

SynergyBuild says... #21

Driemer84 thanks, and yes, I forgot to drop Karplusan Forest for it. Thanks a ton.

June 4, 2018 10:15 p.m.

SynergyBuild says... #22

And Arid Mesa for Exotic Orchard.

Let me redo the final bit:

In all, there are my drops, then I'll say what to run instead:

Drops:

Island (1x)

Forest (1x)

Cascade Bluffs

Shivan Reef

Exotic Orchard

Karplusan Forest

Additions:

Misty Rainforest

Verdant Catacombs

Flooded Strand

Tarnished Citadel

Arid Mesa

Polluted Delta

June 4, 2018 10:30 p.m.

Sunatar says... #23

Okay, so, speaking of combos...there's a lot of lines missing, in my opinion. Plus, too many missed opportunities for tutors that can win game for you. And a complete lack of mana rocks. Which, I get, is kinda the whole point of Animar, Soul of Elements. But what do you do against someone's turn one Torpor Orb? Or someone's turn two Nevermore?

Other good rocks for someone with no budget: Mana Vault, Mana Crypt, Fellwar Stone, any Moxen, and Commander's Sphere.

A Panharmonicon would probably go over really well in this deck.

A good tutor that is missing is Tooth and Nail. I like it over Green Sun's Zenith because it can send the cards to your hand, and allow you to cast it for Commander Triggers.

Also Mirran Spy + Banishing Knack would be a really good combo for your deck, in terms of infinite creature casts.

Another backupwin con to Walking Ballista and Purphoros, God of the Forge would be Aetherflux Reservoir. You definitely can cast enough spells to make just the lifegain worth it.

And I would probably add another land or two to the deck. 30 with almost no rocks is risky. My decks run 33 with a lot of rocks, and still sometimes can hit trouble. But if the number has worked for you so far, keep at it. Because if I could go with less lands, I would.

June 6, 2018 5:17 p.m.

HezTheGod says... #24

Crop Rotation gives you a redundant Gaea's Cradle

Palinchron gives you infinite mana/infinite ETB with animar with and 7 lands or big mana lands

June 13, 2018 3:36 p.m.

SynergyBuild says... #25

Animar as a commander nearly negates all colorless costs on all of the creatures, leading Mana Vault/Sol Ring/Mana Crypt and the other such effects to be a waste of a card slot, and the instants, artifacts, sorceries and enchantments can be paid for easily by the dorks and lands. Chrome Mox is already being run, and Mox Diamond is only meh in this build, 30 lands is a bit to little to run Mox Diamond

Panharmonicon is useless for comboes here, and it's value outside of them is negligible, like a second card off of Elvish Visionary

Tooth and Nail is a waste of mana, mana that you won't get a competitive table.

Without Banishing Knack, Mirran Spy is useless, and visa versa is true too. I wouldn't suggest that being run, as it sucks.

Aetherflux Reservoir is a much worse win outlet than either of the other options, Altar of the Brood, Impact Tremors, etc. are all much better in terms of mana, but none of those are good, because they can't be tutored for. Reckless Fireweaver is a much better option, though sadly it doesn't work outside of the Ancestral Statue, otherwise it'd be better than the other options being run.

Crop Rotation is quite powerful, but I don't think it is a second Gaea's Cradle powerful, yes it can tutor, but that means it has a cost, and it is a blowout when it gets countered early on my a Mental Misstep. Things like that are probably why it doesn't deserve a spot.

Palinchron is already run

June 13, 2018 4:18 p.m.

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