Deadeye Navigator and Phantasmal Image are redundant as catalysts, and Palinchron and Peregrine Drake are redundant as reactants. I don't usually find that running only one direct backup for each primary piece is an issue.

For indirect backups, Eternal Witness and Ghostly Flicker serves the same purpose as Deadeye Navigator.

Dryad Arbor was in the deck for a long time due to the ramp interaction with Green Sun's Zenith on T1, but I cut it because it was often too slow and vulnerable. I replaced it with Gaea's Cradle because I think Cradle has more explosive potential.

As for consistency, you can improve that in a few ways. One is to increase the redundancy in the list. For example, I plan Burgeoning, Exploration, Oracle of Mul Daya, and Azusa, Lost but Seeking as extra land effects. You could get by with fewer (it would be dangerous), but having more of them increases the chance that you'll draw at least one card with such an effect.

Tutors are another means of improving consistency because they act as additional copies of a card, but are more flexible.

Raw draw power also improves consistecy; the more you draw, the more likely you are to see any given card during a game.

Question time

What does everyone think of Cryptolith Rite? I feel like it could be a great way to squeeze extra value out of my utility creatures, but its usefulness is directly proportional to my board state.

I feel like if you are looking for that type of effect that Earthcraft is strictly better since it allows you to commit more to the board and it doesn't need to worry about summoning sickness.

I thought really hard about cryptolith rite....I personally really like it. However, it is as you say with the usefulness being proportional to board state. With your deck, as well as mine (which takes heavy inspiration admittedly from you), I think it requires heavy testing.

I did almost put in Concordant crossroads just to be dumb with rite, deadeye, and an untapper.

The thing I can see about Earthcraft is that it's for basic lands only. Epochalyptik is running about 5 basic snow-lands which wouldn't benefit him. Also, it is limited to what basics are on the board as opposed to Cryptolith Rite which adds any color mana.

If you feel like your deck is working as is, what we can only suggest is based on your play outs. Are you more likely to have creatures out on the board to benefit from that? To me, that card seems more likely for a token based deck to ramp. Like an elves token tribal. But that's my opinion.

Epochalyptik In regards to your response to my comment, I will reevaluate my deck and update my list. Perhaps I can PM you to take a gander in the future? I am on a strict tight budget so $40 + cards are out of the question.

Cryptolith Rite is interesting. But I don't like that fact that it isn't actually ramp in and of itself. It will help with some of the creatures, however the most of your early drop weenies already tap for mana anyway. I still personally think you should look into Kiora's Follower instead.

Yes! I was at my prerelease today and actually thought about utilizing Cryptolith Rite in this deck. However I'm not sure just how good it could be in this deck. Creatures account for less than one fifth of the deck, and most of those creatures, when you do get the opportunity to play them, either already have a tap for mana effect, or they wouldn't be on the board unless you were going to win anyway (unless I'm playing the deck wrong.) It just doesn't seem to pack as much of a punch or give immediate value like much of the rest of the deck.

hey i love this deck i made some changes to may Damia, Sage of Stone after seeing this and reading your primer. in my deck i went for the more win con aproach and mid - late game ramp rather then early game ramp. i would appreciate any advice u have on minethe golden walkers

I don't think Cryptolith Rite is even an contender for this deck, that card requires very specific conditions to be any good (lots of creatures, the possibility to give haste to creatures) and this deck doesn't offer that at all.
However, could you imagine Traverse the Ulvenwald being okay? It's not easy to enable delirium in this deck, but not overly difficult either (instant, sorcery and land should be a given by turn ~3-4, creature, artifact or enchantment are less likely). The possibility to tutor either a combo relevant creature or a powerful land like Boseiju or Cavern seems very solid.

Sylvan Scrying / Expedition Map / Crop Rotation just feel more solid. The heavy reliance on delirium to make a card good in a non graveyard based deck feels like way too much risk for very little payoff.

Not sure if it was specified elsewhere but what was the reasoning for cutting Dig Through Time/Damnation?

Damnation was replaced by Toxic Deluge as it is cheaper to cast and kills indestructible creatures. I dont think the deck ever ran Dig Through Time.

Hm may have been someone's edited list that ran the dig

Have you ever considered Dictate of Karametra? It makes infinite mana with Palinchron. You tap 7 lands to float 14 mana, then use 13 of it to cast and bounce Palinchron, untapping all your lands in the process, netting you 1 mana with each iteration.

It's pretty expensive for a ramp piece and ramping your opponents isn't super desirable, but flashing it in end of turn before you go to combo can make it a little easier and help make the ramp more one-sided.

ToolmasterOfBrainerd: There are two issues with Dictate of Karametra. The first is that it can't be fetched by Tooth and Nail, meaning you have to naturally draw into it and the other half of the combo. It also only works with Palinchron, not Peregrine Drake.

But the big one you've already hit on the head - outside of combo the card is unplayable. At the competitive level you don't want to help your opponents by giving them extra mana. This means that outside of the specific combo, the card is just a dead draw. And since it isn't blue, it's not like you can even pitch it to Force of Will or Misdirection.

Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger is the card you were looking for. It's a creature, which makes it easier to access, and its effect is one sided. Nonetheless it's extremely expensive and just not good enough outside the combo.

Ok, that makes sense.

@ Epochalyptik I'm never going to learn how to spell your name...

Anyways, thank you for including the budget option on this deck. I love the fact that you list how to buy on a budget. Most decks don't have this and as someone without a steady stream of income it's very much appreciated. I've also read your articles and they're fantasticly written. I particularly enjoyed the casual vs competitive. I just want to say thank you for all you've done for the Tappedout community. Big fan.

Discussion reset.

This is comment #2,667 on this deck.

I hate to say this, but the off color fetches in here are now not legal to run as of the rules update. Awesome deck though.

@Dredge4life: As of which rules update? I'm not aware of any change that affects the legality of off-color fetches.

Dredge4life - That was a rumored change that hasn't been made, and is very unlikely to be made. It's a topic the RC has talked about, but you can still run your off-color fetches.

Ah, it appears I was mistaken. A quick rules search turned up nothing. I guess that's rumors for you. My apologies, and thanks for the clarification. I may need to go buy a Windswept Heath...

Have you thought about running three basic islands and tossing in a Walk the Aeons as part of the Azusa, Lost but Seeking+Walk the Aeons+Crucible of Worlds combo?

I made my own version of this deck and its seems to world well and if played right you can walk the aeons into the turn that you can azusa and crucible and either Eternal Witness it or other cards and win that way.

Plus with your commander you just make sure to cast one spell a turn and then keep your hand full when milling other players in order to not draw out yourself with the extra turns.

Just food for thought.

Also ideas on Quickling to flicker a creature if its in threat of being destroyed and you dont want to waste a counter spell?

@Inces_Velus: Walk the Aeons is covered in the primer. I don't personally like it because it's expensive and risky. If you do go that route, I don't really think it's necessary to limit yourself to one spell per turn. Infinite turns isn't a win condition, and your opponents won't be decking out if they never get a turn. You need to use the infinite turns to dig for an actual finisher and execute it. Even if you have to draw every card in the deck, you reach a point at which it's possible to combo and win without decking out.

Quickling isn't that good. Think of it like this: I could use Quickling to save a counterspell for later (with the assumption that Quickling is therefore worse than a counterspell), or I could just run another counterspell instead of Quickling. The latter gives me more flexibility.

what do you think about Voidslime