Decided to build this deck as my first EDH deck rather than Krenko, Mob Boss because it fits my playstyle way better- Swarm, stompy, combo, or politics all in one, where Krenko's politics were "kill the white player before he Wrath of Gods"! I appreciate any and all help on making this into a better deck, but keep in mind my budget is tight and I can't afford things like eldrazi and ABUR duals.
Sideboard is what I'm thinking of cutting.
This deck aims to get out Animar, Soul of Elements and proceed to win with one of three ways-
The first win condition is to combo off. The combos we have in this deck to win are listed below. This is most likely the way games will end if I feel someone else is in the lead, if I'm leading the smash-fest I probably would just smash until a sweeper since combo-ing off unexpectedly in a tense game can be anti-climatic.
The second win condition is to swing with Animar, Soul of Elements for 21 general damage to end the game. White and black players are the biggest threat to remove Animar, because of their access to Wrath of God, Damnation, and other sweeper effects, so I will most likely swing at the white and black players first. His protection allows him to easily swing through and he grows fast.
The third win condition is to swing for 40+ points of damage with Animar's huge, beefy army. This is possible but usually I focus more on the beatsticks being Animar's back-up singers.
Artisan of Kozilek can recover milled or killed combo pieces for a cheap or free price thanks to Animar, Soul of Elements. He also functions as a beatstick and will make life awful for anyone on the receiving end.
Kalonian Hydra is amazing as a beatstick, as well as doubling Animar's counters to put him beyond spot removal of any color. He makes the hydras more fearsome as well and ends games with one swing.
Maelstrom Wanderer has a big body and can cascade into some other fatties, but his lack of evasion or trample make him a less optimal choice to be swinging with. However, 7 damage is still nothing to scoff at.
Mistcutter Hydra comes out as a "you lose" with infinite mana against a mono-blue guy. He also functions as an evasive beatstick that destroys blue-based defenses, and the only person safe from him and Animar, Soul of Elements combined is the guy playing red and green.
Prime Speaker Zegana serves as draw and beatstick. Nothing to say here, except that Deadeye Navigator and her make quite the pair.
Primordial Hydra can come out early and swing for the fences late, or come out late and take a dump on the whole game. Easy inclusion with the built-in trample and as always, cost reductions = stupid big hydras.
Purphoros, God of the Forge will pump up Animar, Soul of Elements for general damage or just serve as a 6/5 indestructible body. His passive also allows for Deadeye Navigator to say "1U: Each opponent loses 2 life".
Soul of the Harvest is more draw/combo piece than beater, but a 6/6 trample isn't the worst choice to lay down beats with.
Acidic Slime has a horrible mana curve but I'd pay 5 mana just for it's effect. It goes absolutely bonkers with Deadeye Navigator, and even without infinite mana you can usually hit a good portion of a troublesome player's mana base. The cost also isn't too bad after some Animar, Soul of Elements reductions.
Birds of Paradise is great for mana fixing as well as giving me a turn two Animar, Soul of Elements. Late game she gives Animar, Soul of Elements another counter and early to mid game she helps me cast color-saturated things like Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker or Worldspine Wurm.
Deadeye Navigator is one of the only combo pieces in magic that has a good body on it. 5/5 for 6? Add some Animar, Soul of Elements cost reduction and you've got a combo piece with attack power.
Deceiver Exarch is nothing but a combo piece for Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker and Splinter Twin. If used as a creature (when both pieces are milled/exiled) it can tap down a permanent like a general or a big creature. Not much to say for it though since the likelihood of two cards being exiled or milled and being unable to recover through
Genesis
or Artisan of Kozilek is very unlikely.
Dream Stalker
is one of 3-self bouncers that goes infinite with Aluren for infinite counters on Animar, Soul of Elements. Before I figured out how amazing the self-bouncers were, I thought they were mediocre cards. Holy shit, I was so wrong. These things put the already crazy creature output into overdrive that would have me winning turn 6 with no combos.
Duplicant is a great way to exile beaters, generals, problem creatures, etc. 6 counters isn't hard to reach for Animar, Soul of Elements meaning this guy can come in for free. Can double as a beater by exiling another beater, but will usually end up being a Path to Exile.
Edric, Spymaster of Trest is super political, giving me time to assemble combo pieces or overwhelm my opponents in card advantage. He might end up being a problem for me late-game when I am losing but as long as I can get my combos off, I don't really care how everything else goes.
Eternal Witness is the definition of recursion, letting me net crazy card advantage with Deadeye Navigator or recovering milled or dead combo pieces. The double green is a little prohibitive early, but I'm never casting this early game so it's no problem.
Fauna Shaman is a cheap counter for Animar, Soul of Elements and a very good uncounterable tutor. The cost is very easy to reach and helps me assemble combo pieces early.
Fierce Empath tutors me a number of good creatures. Artisan of Kozilek (creature recursion), Deadeye Navigator (combo assembly), Duplicant (exile problem creature), Maelstrom Wanderer (army expansion), Palinchron (combo assembly), Prime Speaker Zegana (card draw),
Primordial Sage
(card draw), Soul of the Harvest (card draw), and Worldspine Wurm (BEATSTICK.CARD).
Flamekin Harbinger comes out to tutor for Slithermuse (or as I like to call it
Ancestral Recall
), a tucked Animar, Soul of Elements, or Soul of the Harvest. All three of these are great options so this guy is never a dead draw.
Genesis
is absolutely bonkers with a creature-based deck. I can usually spare 3 mana and getting a creature back every turn is just crazy. I can swing in with crazy recklessness and have no drawbacks. With just a hint of politics or a sweeper, I can always get him in my graveyard too.
Goblin Sharpshooter says no to dorks and other utility creatures. The ability to ping anything with 1 toughness away can shut down token decks like Rhys the Redeemed and Krenko, Mob Boss.
Grinning Ignus goes infinite with Aluren and is yet another way to put counters on Animar, Soul of Elements. Even while bouncing him I still net two colorless mana every time, very relevant early game and is another way to kick the deck into overdrive.
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker is a combo piece as well as something to double beaters with. What's better than a Kalonian Hydra? How about TWO Kalonian Hydras? The RRR can be restrictive but with the perfectly split mana-base I can usually cast this when I need to. Then again, Tooth and Nail will be all I need to get this guy on the battlefield usually.
Man-o'-War is one of 3-self bouncers that goes infinite with Aluren for infinite counters on Animar, Soul of Elements. Before I figured out how amazing the self-bouncers were, I thought they were mediocre cards. Holy shit, I was so wrong. These things put the already crazy creature output into overdrive that would have me winning turn 6 with no combos.
Momir Vig, Simic Visionary is a huge tutoring engine and lets me assemble combo pieces quickly and efficiently. Again, the cost reduction from Animar, Soul of Elements makes his cost easy to achieve early and the psuedo-card draw on blue creatures makes a huge difference digging for anything.
Mulldrifter is a one-time draw effect for cheap almost all the time, and he gets crazy with Deadeye Navigator. He digs with animar out, and even then I get a nice blocker or a cheap deal.
Oracle of Mul Daya ramps more than any other creature since it doesn't just sit in the grave after a sweeper. It has me sitting on a huge pile of lands before it bites the dust 80% of the time, and the "top revealed" just lets me use my blind shuffles more effectively.
Palinchron combos off with Deadeye Navigator or just plain ol' Animar, Soul of Elements. An easy choice for any blue deck that needs infinite mana (every blue deck) and enables insta-win combos.
Peregrine Drake is an extra Palinchron. Thinking of cutting this for redundancy or maybe a Phantasmal Image, but not quite sure yet since it's a very nice tool for dumping my hand with Animar, Soul of Elements.
Pestermite goes infinite with Splinter Twin or Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker. Nothing noteworthy, except maybe flashing it in to tap down a beater about to swing for game.
Phyrexian Metamorph
goes infinite with any cost reduction and Palinchron. It can also double by copying an opposing beater or eldrazi and swinging the game in my favor. Very utility and very potent.
Pilgrim's Eye is a cheap ramp spell that doubles as a counter on Animar, Soul of Elements. It doesn't do too much other than that but that's all I need it to do.
Primordial Sage
helps keep the creatures flowing and is ridiculously potent with Momir Vig, Simic Visionary. The body isn't too bad and the only thing restrictive is double green, easily achievable.
Prophet of Kruphix is BONKERS. Play with it once and feel the crazy creature flow with any draw engines online and Animar, Soul of Elements with some counters. It gives all my creatures psuedo-vigilance and generally just wins games.
Scavenging Ooze is an EDH staple and stamps out graveyard strategies like nobody's business. An auto-inclusion in any deck running green and creature-based.
Shrieking Drake
is one of 3-self bouncers that goes infinite with Aluren for infinite counters on Animar, Soul of Elements. Before I figured out how amazing the self-bouncers were, I thought they were mediocre cards. Holy shit, I was so wrong. These things put the already crazy creature output into overdrive that would have me winning turn 6 with no combos.
Slithermuse is
Ancestral Recall
that can be tutored for by Flamekin Harbinger. It's great to drop when the control player has been filling his hand all game.
Solemn Simulacrum is an EDH staple that ramps and draws for a cheap price, thanks to Animar, Soul of Elements. He ramps nicely and lets me draw a card after chumping him or a sweeper, so he replaces himself and ramps. Very nice for 0-4 colorless mana.
Somberwald Sage is Black Lotus on a stick. We can drop her right after Animar, Soul of Elements and prepare for shenanigans on turn five. She's ridiculously good at what she does and helps this deck put out creatures fast.
Sylvan Caryatid comes out to fix animar turn two and will fix my other creatures and ramp early to mid game. Also makes a good chump block.
Sylvan Ranger
is color-fixing and ramp. Pretty boring choice but very needed.
Thassa, God of the Sea smooths my draws as well as letting me make a huge animar unblockable. Any beatstick becomes unblockable with her out anyways, and while devotion isn't usually reached it's not a problem at all having her just an enchantment.
Trygon Predator is repeatable problem destruction and hinders mana rocks as well as auras. I can't kill your voltron general but I'll be damned if I get slammed by Eldrazi Conscription!
Vexing Shusher lets me resolve combo pieces without fear of counters, and even a
Shrieking Drake
loop can be done with one red open because it will take 2 counters or a counter and a kill spell to stop it. He is a power-house against control and is run over
Gaea's Herald
because someone needs to counter other people's infinites. He just shushes up anyone trying to use one of the only viable strategies against animar decks.
Wood Elves finds me a non-basic forest and puts it directly into play. Would be more potent with ABUR duals but those are waaaay out of my budget.
Zealous Conscripts is a Splinter Twin and Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker piece. Easy Tooth and Nail target to take out a win.
Nature's Lore will fix mana for a turn 3 animar if I'm missing red or blue in my opening hand, and late game it helps me ramp and thins my deck of shocks. ABUR duals would make it bonkers, but alas they are out of my budget.
Skyshroud Claim is usually cast to thin the deck or ramp up a bit. I usually cast this around turn five or six because I'd rather be building counters on Animar then ramping turns four and five, but the ramp certainly does help.
Tooth and Nail is an insta-win if it resolves entwined because of Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker and Zealous Conscripts, Deceiver Exarch and Pestermite.
Blue Sun's Zenith is an infinite mana win. It's recursion effect just has me use a self-bouncer with a draw engine out to draw into it, then recast as needed to win. The best in infinite mana finishers.
Krosan Grip is uncounterable in both the conventional and unconventional sense. It's great for artifact and enchantment hate but might get cut for the versatility of Chaos Warp.
Muddle the Mixture tutors up Survival of the Fittest. It's versatile as hell and adds consistency and protection to every combo in the deck.
Signal the Clans tutors for Man-o'-War,
Dream Stalker
, and
Shrieking Drake
for buttloads of counters. It's a great way to find self-bouncers or draw engines- searching Deceiver Exarch, Pestermite, and Zealous Conscripts is also an option.
Worldly Tutor is no questions asked, one mana grab a creature. EoT it grabs a game-winning combo piece or Vexing Shusher to protect a combo. It's such a versatile card in this deck it's bonkers.
Aluren makes infinite counters on Animar, Soul of Elements with Grinning Ignus, Man-o'-War,
Dream Stalker
, and
Shrieking Drake
. It's "all players clause" is barely ever a problem since most decks don't combo with it and just have a few good <4 cmc creatures.
Earthcraft makes infinite counters on Animar, Soul of Elements with Grinning Ignus, Man-o'-War,
Dream Stalker
, and
Shrieking Drake
. It also ramps and helps me cast more and more creatures even if I don't go infinite.
Mystic Remora is to draw more. Still in it's testing phase.
Rhystic Study is to grind out the card draw I need in this deck without Soul of the Harvest or
Primordial Sage
. Still in it's testing phase.
Splinter Twin goes infinite with Deceiver Exarch, Pestermite, and Zealous Conscripts. Just another piece in the combo.
Survival of the Fittest is a powerful tutor engine that can be tutored for with Muddle the Mixture. It helps me dump guys like
Genesis
in the yard and makes Artisan of Kozilek POTENT.
Birthing Pod is a one-mana two life tutor effect that will win the game if left unchecked. I can sacrifice anything unneeded to get something crazy- after
Sylvan Ranger
does her job, I'll grab Man-o'-War and start the bouncing. I'll put
Genesis
in the yard to grab Soul of the Harvest and start drawing massive amounts. The point is, a very easy cost for a very powerful effect is contained in just one card.
Sensei's Divining Top is such a good way to spend your mana. I have enough shuffle effects even without fetches to make it worthwhile. It's a near-unremovable engine that leaves the luck of the topdeck with the other losers at the table.
Sol Ring is early ramp and late game Tooth and Nail helper. Casting Soul of the Harvest turn four following Animar, Soul of Elements is such a ridiculously good feeling.
So far, I've realized there is 3 strategies to stop an Animar, Soul of Elements deck from functioning.
The first is to bounce Animar, Soul of Elements back to my hand whenever I get some counters on him. This is generally the weakest strategy because Animar, Soul of Elements doesn't usually just accumulate counters- I abuse something to rack them up for zero to one mana. I adapt to beat this strategy by getting a repeatable loop set up so a bounce is irrelevant.
The second is ping and small burn effects. This is an okay strategy against me but I'll generally avoid playing Animar, Soul of Elements if someone has a pinger out. I adapt to beat this strategy by waiting on a wipe to play Animar, Soul of Elements or accumulating counters on him before they get a chance to ping.
The third and most effective way to beat this deck is wrath effects and tucking. I still need help on how to adapt to beat this strategy, but generally I just try not to overextend and only get a draw engine, self-bouncer and Animar, Soul of Elements. I adapt to beat this strategy by making them waste their wraths while building up a huge hand and assembling combo pieces until the time comes when Animar, Soul of Elements is no longer needed or I can combo off in one turn.
Animar, Soul of Elements with six or more counters + Palinchron = Infinite mana
Animar, Soul of Elements +
Shrieking Drake
/
Dream Stalker
/Man-o'-War + Earthcraft + Island = Infinite counters on Animar, Soul of Elements
Animar, Soul of Elements +
Shrieking Drake
/
Dream Stalker
/Man-o'-War + Aluren = Infinite counters on Animar, Soul of Elements
Animar, Soul of Elements with one or more counters + Palinchron +
Phyrexian Metamorph
= Infinite mana
Deadeye Navigator + Palinchron = Infinite mana
Deadeye Navigator + Peregrine Drake = Infinite mana
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker/Splinter Twin + Zealous Conscripts = Infinite hasty 3/3s
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker/Splinter Twin + Pestermite = Infinite hasty 2/1 fliers
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker/Splinter Twin + Deceiver Exarch = Infinite hasty 1/4s
Sylvan Ranger
is strictly worse than Sakura-Tribe Elder and is getting replaced when I order it.
Sylvan Caryatid only outclasses Lotus Cobra because I have no fetches. Once I get fetches the swap will be easy.
These are the cards I want but can't afford at the moment.
Fetches- Flooded Strand, Polluted Delta, Bloodstained Mire, Wooded Foothills, Windswept Heath, Arid Mesa, Scalding Tarn, Misty Rainforest, Verdant Catacombs
ABUR Duals- Taiga, Volcanic Island, Tropical Island
Filters- Fire-Lit Thicket, Cascade Bluffs, Flooded Grove
Eldrazi titans- Kozilek, Butcher of Truth, Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
Other- Imperial Recruiter, Consecrated Sphinx, Jace, the Mindsculpter, Gamble, Sylvan Tutor
