Gspot Found you!

Jokes aside, I said pretty much what you did. I told Epoch that I'd try to keep him appraised of spoils that might be relevant.

Yeah, I'm not terribly impressed with the competitive EDH viability of any of the new cards. At least, not for this deck.

Ohthenoises Ha! I remebered you saying that before the comment reset. I was just pointing out the inadequacies of those cards in this deck.

Epochalyptik Backburner for that 5c Hermit druid deck? Or something else?

I just have other things going on. I haven't actually played Magic in about a year (apart from maybe a game or two), so test-based decisions just aren't a priority for me.

Memory Lapse is now on the chopping block because of the RC's garbage decision about tuck effects.

I am so salty about this, the wanderer player in my group just got a huge boost.

Sucks this is happening, it's gunna hurt some of my edh decks. Now Epochalyptik What are you going to replace it for. My suggestions being one of the counter spells on the maybe board list (they all seem good options) or Diabolic Intent, maybe even Pongify. I really don't like the RCA and some of there disicions man.

I'm not so sure if Memory Lapse should be cut from the deck. It is still a cheap, efficient counterspell. From my experience it still does its job even with the new tucking ruling (which is honestly a big pile of shit).

Of course, if you feel that you don't need that many counterpells, Memory Lapse is definitely first in the cutting line.

Also, a quick question which probably has been asked before: what do you think of Chain of Vapor? I just recently added it into my deck for testing purposes, and I'd like to hear your thoughts on it.

I love the deck. I was hoping you could possibly look at my Damia build and tell me what you think? I'm not necessarily on a budget, but I can't go spending $300 on a single card.

You'd Better Watch Yourself.

How often do you use rune-scarred with deadeye? If it's not often you could swap it for the new sidisi to make it quicker

I think Rune-Scarred Demon is one of the key combo pieces, because he needs to be able to blink it to keep finding Blue Sun's Zenith to deck everybody.

Rune Scarred also doesn't rely on having another creature in play. Sidisi is good, but the extra mana for Rune Scarred is worth the exchange for the sac effect

@cosmicteapot: I'll replace Memory Lapse if something better comes along, but it's just a thought for now.

Chain of Vapor doesn't immediately impress me, but I haven't tested with it. It might be fine as last-ditch combo disruption or something, but it's not extraordinarily valuable for any other reason I can immediately think of.

@magicdai: Rune-Scarred Demon is a critical part of the combo engine. I could feasibly get by with Sidisi, Undead Vizier in some situations, but the latter just doesn't present the same utility.

It's also significant that I don't generally cast Rune-Scarred Demon unless I've already initiated the combo; in almost all other situations, I put it onto the battlefield through Tooth and Nail. Therefore, the cost isn't much cause for concern (although it does certainly limit the card's viability in other situations).

@vishnarg: You can sacrifice Sidisi, Undead Vizier to itself, which is fine if you only need to tutor once and get Blue Sun's Zenith (at which point you'd draw your deck using Blue Sun's Zenith and initiate the combo by using Eternal Witness to recur tutor spells to grab Blue Sun's Zenith), but the option ultimately isn't better than what I currently have.

Ah, I forgot about Tooth and Nail. That's a pretty important card.

I tried to look, and forgive me if this has been asked before, but what are some Intuition piles that you would often get? I'm slowly making a slightly more budget version of this deck at the moment, and I just added intuition. What do I normally get? 3 combo pieces? 3 counterspells?

@mrshadow: I have always struggled to give "good" answers to the Intuition question because the card is so flexible. I suppose that if you want an answer based on experience, I should tell you that I often use it to find free counterspells (Force of Will, Misdirection, Pact of Negation). I have sometimes used it to find three tutor spells. You can also find Eternal Witness, Crucible of Worlds, and Volrath's Stronghold if you're going for a slow utility game. Snapcaster Mage, Eternal Witness, and Tooth and Nail is another possibility.

I tend to avoid getting combo pieces because that exposes those pieces to unnecessary risk. It would be better to get cards to set up for your combo instead.

Does this deck ever get blown out by Blood Moon? There are only 5 basics and a select few other answers I see. It seems like you might get totally screwed if you get caught off guard by one.

Have you tried Life from the Loam and/or Crop Rotation? Loam allows for faster strip lock and works nicely with fetchlands + exploration effects. Crop Rotation helps find strip as well as any of the other utility lands and worst case scenario does fixing. Lastly, what are your thoughts on null rod? The artifacts in the deck are meh after the first few turns and can just randomly win vs some decks? Overall awesome list.

@vishnarg: I've never actually had Blood Moon resolve against me, mostly because I acknowledge that it would blow me out. Part of playing this deck is always trying to have an answer for the few cards that could wreck you.

@bonjarber1: I tested Life from the Loam for a while (in conjunction with Scroll Rack), but it didn't add value to the deck. I never really wanted to cast it.

Crop Rotation isn't appealing because the land sac is an additional cost. It would only really be useful for getting Boseiju, Who Shelters All out on the pre-combo turn. Or maybe for finding Cavern of Souls.

I use the ramp rocks up until and even during my combo (to get it started, anyway), so Null Rod isn't great. Against an artifact-heavy deck it might be alright, but it's definitely not something I'd mainboard.

I've recently started playing your list bar the cards over $100 each and my friends are asking me why I don't play Bounce lands considering how the additional land per turn effects from Azusa and the like should negate the 2 for 1 effect of losing them? is the ramp from them worth it?

Have you considered Kiora's Follower? I always found this to be an amazing utility/ramp card. Since it can just untap your Mana Crypt, Mana Vault and Grim Monolith, the card could boost your ramp even further.

The issue that I have with Kiora's Follower is that it's a 2-drop. If it were a 1-drop, it would replace Arbor Elf (and it would also be exponentially more powerful in a vacuum). However, I don't really want to invest two mana (both of which must be colored) in something that has summoning sickness and isn't extraordinarily useful. The ramp effect would be much better if it could be achieved on turn one (such that it would be available on turn two).

Cards in this deck have to be evaluated according to where they fall on the curve because that greatly influences playability in the early game.

If I'm not playing the duals are the bounce lands a viable replacement? I was thinking the extra land per turn effects and lotus cobra would negate the risk of getting two for oned. Also what are your opinions on Lion's Eye Diamond, Somberwald Sage, Alchemist's Refuge and Winding Canyons? I feel like I need more ramp as I'm only dropping Damia turn 4-6 on average with your list minus Mana Crypt, Duallands, FoW and Mana Drain.

No, the two for one of the karoo lands, in addition to the slowing down they do, are what make them inherently terrible in EDH. Definitely stick with shocks, fetches, and I usually use the Glacial Fortress check lands or Adarkar Wastes pain lands as replacements. Your call though.

Not listed on the primer, annother tooth and nail might be for eternal witness/snapcaster and teferi, then using the second tooth and nail for the two combo pieces.