I built some decks to teach newbies into EDH. They are all proactive and able to establish a board, with clean ways to close out a game and enough answers to keep opponents at bay.
Go big or go home! Get Ghired on the battlefield then clone your creatures for extra spiciness. The deck is built to exponentiate its damage if let alone, but (as most token decks do) struggles to rebuild after the second wipe. It is fun nonetheless ;-)
Alternate commanders:
Links to all decks: || 7/15 || 7/15 || 5/15 || 7/15 || 9/15 ||
Special edition: || 5/5 || 2/5 || 2/5 || 2/5 || 2/5 ||
Leo's series: || 4/8 || 3/8 || 3/8 || 6/8 || 2/8 ||
Links to other decks I built:
Hey! Kinda late, but I would like to suggest some stuff:
(Disclaimer: I have a budget way lower than yours, but I've been tinkering with Ghired for almost two years - he's my favorite commander. I'll break the suggested upgrades down into categories for better organization.)
Haste enablers:
Ramp: Run at least 15 ramp cards to make your deck flow smoother and faster.
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As an aggressive deck, speed is fundamental. Fellwar Stone, Nature's Lore, Three Visits, Skyshroud Elf, Bloom Tender, Faeburrow Elder, Chromatic Lantern, Coalition Relic, Wood Elves, Skyshroud Claim and Mirari's Wake can ramp and heavily fix your mana, taking the place of Gyre Sage, Solemn Simulacrum, Rampant Growth, Sakura-Tribe Elder and Xenagos, the Reveler - the latter is a win-more ramp, and his 2/2 token is not large enough to synergize with the power-based card draw, while the other four fix for a single color of mana (Ghired decks can sometimes be color-hungry), and this deck can't abuse the sad robot for value.
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In the land department, Krosan Verge and Blighted Woodland pull their weight, and synergize greatly with Avenger of Zendikar and Rampaging Baloths. Maybe remove Cascading Cataracts? (Your spells are not THAT color hungry.)
Direct damage:
Extra combats: You don't have to worry about your opponents' answers if they never get to their turn, so...
Boardwipes:
Card draw: Alongside ramp, it is my main concern with Ghired. I want to be able to rebuild my board after a boardwipe.
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Garruk's Uprising is a better Colossal Majesty, even giving evasion to your creatures.
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I believe that Camaraderie can be substituted for Shamanic Revelation as the latter cost less mana. Mouth / Feed is another option that creates its own big token. Return of the Wildspeaker can either draw cards or buff creatures for an alpha strike.
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Keeper of Fables triggers all other power-based card draw, while giving easy draw triggers to all your trampling creatures. Elder Gargaroth is a buffed, more versatile version of it. And remember: both can be cloned for extra juicy draw or extra tokens.
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Sylvan Library is an overall great card filter for your regular draws. It gets better with shufflers like fetchlands and tutors.
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Since your deck is focused on attacking and getting extra combat steps, Etali, Primal Storm might be a fun way to play your opponents' cards while lowering their life points.
Some cards I suggest you to remove:
- Sundering Growth: you already have enough flexible removal. You will almost never be in a situation in which the token to copy and the artifact/enchantment to remove are optimal choices. Since you're running Eladamri's Call, Reclamation Sage might be worth including (and cloned for the enjoyment of your friends).
- Starnheim Unleashed: one token is too little for a whole card slot in the deck. If you're foretelling, it costs a lot of mana to be worthwhile. The game might be over before that.
- Growing Ranks: waiting a whole rotation to get a token which does not even have haste is not ideal.
- Ghired's Belligerence, Full Flowering: good for a late game play, mostly dead until then. I like those, but I removed them in favor of more mid-game cards, since I might not last until 9+ mana.
- Trostani, Selesnya's Voice: while on-theme, it does little to advance your win condition.
- Thunderfoot Baloth: not an amazing buff. Your creatures are big already, and Garruk's Uprising takes care of the evasion.
- Feldon of the Third Path: all-star when there is a lot of graveyard filling - there is none in this deck. (I really tried to keep him on my deck because I like the card, but most of the time there was no creature in my graveyard.)
- Eldrazi Displacer: are you using it for a combo? I couldn't identify it.
Some cool lands for you to try out: (landbase is my favorite part of deckbuilding)
- Castle Garenbrig: how easily do you have access to a Forest for it to be worth including in your deck?
- Rogue's Passage: can sometimes help you to finish an opponent.
- Scavenger Grounds: if you face graveyard-centric decks (you don't seem to use your graveyard much).
- Hanweir Battlements
: another haste enabler.
- Gargoyle Castle: sometimes you need a flying token. (I rarely use it, but I like to have the option.)
- Gemstone Caverns: a turn-0 ramp when the first turn is not yours.
- Bonders' Enclave: card draw on a land (easily accessible).
- Mana Confluence, Battlefield Forge, Karplusan Forest, Brushland, Horizon Canopy, Sunbaked Canyon, Prismatic Vista, Cragcrown Pathway
, Branchloft Pathway
, Needleverge Pathway
: more untapped dual lands.
I hope I've been of some help to you. I didn't suggest many token-related cards because I believe that, as long as you have decent ramp, draw and removal in your deck, you can win to your heart's content. Wanna throw in a Godsire? Do it. Prefer to clone your opponents' creatures with Hate Mirage? Go ahead. But the fundamentals of the deck is what makes it flow consistently. Have fun and smash 'em all (and run Doubling Season for extra fun) ;-)
Hey, I'm back with some spicy tech for your deck, this time regarding the big tokens themselves:
My suggestion, whenever possible, is to run creatures over other spell types for the same effect: they synergize better with your deck, despite being more vulnerable to boardwipes. (It makes you more explosive, which is better the higher you go on power level).
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Have you considered Quartzwood Crasher? It is already a trampling beater that gives you even bigger trampling beaters.
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How about Emeria's Call
replacing a basic Plains? It creates tokens for you while protecting your team. Otherwise, it is a shock land version of Plains.
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Overwhelming Stampede is great when you have a 5+ power creature on the board. Unfortunately it doesn't apply to the tokens created thereafter.
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Delina, Wild Mage can copy your legendary creatures as non-legendary, just for Ghired to copy them even further. (Throw in Parallel Lives in the mix and we're salivating already.) Maybe you're lucky enough and roll 15+ three times in a row?
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Did you try Rionya, Fire Dancer, Bramble Sovereign and Mirage Phalanx as extra copies of Avenger of Zendikar, Combat Celebrant and Dockside Extortionist?
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I believe you should bring Aurelia, the Warleader back to the deck. It has great effect by itself, but it also comboes with Helm of the Host for infinite combat steps.
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Harmonic Prodigy and Wulfgar of Icewind Dale double your Ghired triggers. The former synergizes with Delina, Wild Mage and Rionya, Fire Dancer and can be cloned for extra spice, while the latter also doubles Etali, Primal Storm's, Aurelia, the Warleader's and Combat Celebrant's triggers. (Too bad Isshin, Two Heavens as One is black :-/)
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If you're relying a lot on "when-something-enters-the-battlefield" effects, Panharmonicon might be a good friend to you.
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In that matter, Hofri Ghostforge gives all your creatures a second life should your opponents dare removing them. (I played against him, and it is ANNOYING to have to kill things twice to get rid of them.) The bright side is that the exiled cards come back to the graveyard after they LEAVE the battlefield for any reason, so you can recur them.
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Talking about recursion, have you considered Timeless Witness? It shines against wheel decks (Wheel of Fortune) or mill decks (Maddening Cacophony), just as Dollhouse of Horrors does.
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Iroas, God of Victory gives evasion to your creatures while protecting them from blockers.
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Marisi, Breaker of the Coil should maybe return to the deck if you're afraid of being attacked when going all-in, since you removed Intangible Virtue. It also has the neat bonus of your opponents having to answer before you declare who you're attacking. (I know it doesn't scream "token" off its textbox, but it is a repeatable Disrupt Decorum effect which clears the board for your next attack).
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I believe Selesnya Eulogist might be swapped out for Scavenging Ooze or the recently spoiled Lion Sash. Despite not populating, they exile any card and are cheaper mana-wise. The Sash can also be equipped to a creature to buff it while avoiding creature wipes.
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Did you consider Flawless Maneuver and Teferi's Protection as protection for your creatures? They can replace Boros Charm and Heroic Intervention if you're running low on card slots on the deck.
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Worldly Tutor is a second Eladamri's Call.
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Farewell is Austere Command's brother. (I would run both in my white nonblack decks.)
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Since you run Cultivate, maybe run Kodama's Reach instead of Bloom Tender?
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Since you run the Moxen, Gemstone Caverns fills the same role of exchanging cards for tempo, while being a land. (You can always choose to not go first if you win the dice roll.)
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How realiably can you activate Eldrazi Displacer's abilities? Battlefield Forge, Karplusan Forest and Brushland might help with the colorless part of the cost.
Now, as always, I want to suggest some removals:
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I love Mimic Vat in battlecruiser games, but it doesn't pull the same weight on quick games. (It hurts to write it, but my beloved Soul Foundry might also only belong to Christmasland, since, if you don't have the mana to cast AND copy the creature right away, your opponents might see the danger incoming and remove the artifact before you get any value off it.)
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Flamerush Rider requiring an attacking creature target right away means that your options are too limited. In my opinion, Delina, Wild Mage and Rionya, Fire Dancer are better cards for the effect.
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Tendershoot Dryad might not belong here, since Ghired cares about quality, not exactly quantity of the tokens.
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Esika's Chariot. I understand it already comes with its tokens for crewing, but getting a token copy of TOKEN creatures is too narrow for my taste (and you don't generate noncreature tokens). Again, Rionya and Delina are better suited for this job.
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Sword of Hearth and Home is good protection stapled to decent blink and ramp effects, but the ramp comes too late for Ghired to care, the blink is unreliable and the protection can be better executed by Shalai, Voice of Plenty, Saryth, the Viper's Fang (trample + deathtouch is nasty), Privileged Position or Asceticism.
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Response / Resurgence is single-use. Aurelia, the Warleader's effect is repeatable.
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What are your experiences with Warstorm Surge? I usually leave it out of my deck if I have access to Terror of the Peaks, since 6 mana is a lot in my games and the Terror is tutorable by cards you already run.
If I can suggest something, Mirri, Weatherlight Duelist is great in a deck where you can tap and untap her at will, but not here. If you want some protection from attacks, Ghostly Prison and Reconnaissance serve you better (activating Reconnaisance during your "end of combat" step effectively gives your creatures vigilance).
I see you run Akroma's Will, Boros Charm, Heroic Intervention and Flawless Maneuver. Unless you play in a boardwipe-heavy meta, you can remove the Charm and Intervention for Gamble (if you can trade into it), Search for Glory and Helm of the Host. 9 mana is expensive to tech into, but it is an instant win condition with many of your cards, unlike Soul Foundry.
How reliable is Momentous Fall in your deck? The more I play, the more I value repeated draw on permanents (like Keeper of Fables) over single-use instant or sorceries (and to think I started as a blue control mage - darker times indeed). But if the Keeper is not working for you, bring back Eladamri's Call to get the creature you need from your deck, even if it is just to ramp into Ghired.
Lastly, unless you play against nonbasic land hate, I believe you should include Gavony Township and Kessig Wolf Run in your deck. They are mana sinks stapled on lands for when you have unused mana laying around or don't want to commit your cards in hand. If you're worried about not having the proper colored mana with that many lands, Skyshroud Elf fix you for all and costs while ramping you for . Also, you can run Mossfire Valley and Sungrass Prairie to filter colorless into colored mana.
Hey! I got some cheap cards that can pull some weight on your deck:
