Wholly comment reset batman. So I assume that since you are a creature based combo list your best card draw would involve a way to get all your combo pieces to hand cheaply. For that it does not get much better than Weird Harvest. I also love Caustic Caterpillar which has tons of synergy with Renegade Rallier. What do you think of Aven Mindcensor. It is a great form of control which coincidentally makes wierd harvest somewhat one sided

The deck looks really good. I only have a few suggestions to make, and a few are nit-picks:

1) Since your combos frequently require 3 pieces, some of which are creatures, Congregation at Dawn can give you a lot of advantage. Here, I feel like it's usually better than Worldly Tutor (though of course I'd play both).

2) With all of the ETB cards (reused with Saffi) have you considered Panharmonicon?

3) Starved Rusalka and Mortarpod seem bad without some way to generate infinite mana. Why are they in this deck? Sorry of I'm missing a combo.

4) I'd give my strong recommendation of Song of the Dryads. It locks down many commander-reliant decks surprisingly hard.

5) Of your maybe board, they all seem like good suggestions when you get the chance to acquire them.

And finally, the comments need to be cleared on this page, lol.

Happy deckbuilding! Hope this was helpful :)

Hey guys, sorry for the delayed reply - I've had two super busy weeks at work but that's all over now (it's never over...)

Lilbrudder: Weird Harvest seems... interesting. I do like how cheap and scalable it is, however I can see the downside biting me quite badly in the form of an opponent's Hushwing Gryff or similar. The other thing is that I usually only need to tutor one creature to win (as I usually will have Saffi ready) and so I want my tutoring to be as cheap as possible if I have to do it combo turn, as deploying combos is quite expensive. That's why I've been considering cards like Fauna Shaman which tutor much more cheaply. And if I'm playing it outside of combo turn, I would much rather not feed my opponents creatures.

Caustic Caterpillar is cool and I have been considering it for a while on and off. My only reservation is that while it's cheaper to play than Qasali Pridemage, it costs more to activate. That being said, it's an awesome Yisan 1 drop. I'll add it to the maybeboard. What would you cut for it?

Aven Mindcensor is solid. I've ummed and ahhed about running it in the past but it might be a good replacement for Archon of Justice. I'll maybeboard it too.

Daedalus19876: Congregation at Dawn is interesting. I've seen in in the past and it's good however the mana cost is so saturated T_T. I don't think I would run it over Worldly Tutor but I would consider running it in addition to. Maybeboarded.

Panharmonicon is funny in more casual and more creature heavy decks, however here it feels win more.

Starved Rusalka is actually pretty solid. It's one of the best creature based sac outlets in white/green (there aren't that many to begin with and most of them are rubbish). It's not primarily in the deck as a combo piece, but more to generate value with my commander if needs be. That being said, there is a goofy infinite combo with Titania, Protector of Argoth, Nim Deathmantle, Strip Mine and Gaea's Cradle.

Mortarpod is in there as an additional sac outlet which can be tutored by Stoneforge Mystic which can be in turn tutored via the creature tutors. It also provides a win condition given infinite mana. That being said, you're right in that it's not the strongest card in the deck. It'll most likely get subbed out with cards from the maybeboard.

Cheers for the responses, it's given me a few new ideas as well as helped lock in stuff I was on the fence about.

Why don't you run Loyal Retainers? That's an infinite combo with Saffi too, right?Although you can't combine it with blasting station, it is a 2-card (one being your commander) combo that results in infinite ETB/dies triggers

Ooh sorry, I just realised you don't use ANY cards that abuse etb/dies, only "on sacrifice", nothing like altar of the brood or the like. I guess I expected your combodeck to look more like my marchesa, but there are hardly any River Kelpies or Grave Pact effects in GW, and you run 0 of them :')

joriiiii12345: Yeah, it's a bit of a bummer it doesn't work with either of the two win conditions. I think though even if I did run a few etb trigger cards (like Altar of the Brood) my concern would be that Retainers is a bit too narrow scope.

I did used to run a few persist combos in the deck, however I did ultimately cut them in favour of recursion only combo. While the added effects were ok, none of the big three (Woodfall Primus, Kitchen Finks and Twilight Shepherd) either did either did enough (Primus/finks) or were cheap enough (Shepherd) to warrant staying in the deck. especially when the combo ran no redundancy and didn't integrate with the primary combo package of the deck.

I'm not really a big fan of "addon" combos in the deck. Part of the reason I don't run Altar of the Brood. While it's nice, you already need a sac combo up and running and at that point, You should be a position where you're winning the game and don't need it. I would much rather a tutor or raw card advantage to help me dig for my combo. And as you said, there are barely any of those effects in GW and they're not worth running.

I would definitely cut a land for caustic catipillar

Lilbrudder: I don't think I want to cut lands, at least for non ramp pieces. I have the last two fetches on the way and then after that I'm going to look at getting Mana Crypt, Mox Diamond and potentially Mana Vault. I would potentially go down to 35 lands but anything below that feels a bit low.

I've been contemplating swapping out Qasali Pridemage for it but I'm unsure. I mean adding it would be nice but so you think it's worth running that much artifact/enchantment hate?

Any reason why you don't run Boonweaver Giant and Pattern of Rebirth combo?

EDHTest: I don't think it adds enough to the deck to warrant running it.

The biggest issue with the deck is getting a sac outlet. Because I'm in white/green, my options are quite limited. I have 5 main ones: Blasting Station, Altar of Dementia, Greater Good, Phyrexian Altar and Ashnod's Altar. Of these, Blasting Station and Altar of Dementia are win conditions - I only need a recursion loop with these and it's game and Greater Good draws me into the rest of my deck already with a recursion loop. This only leaves the two mana altars. And since I run enough raw card advantage, it makes up for these two cases.

On the side of recursion loops, my commander already forms half of the loop, so really I only need one of 4 other creatures to combo (Sun Titan, Karmic Guide, Reveillark and Renegade Rallier). On top of that, there is a bunch of redundancy between these and other cards as well. And I already run a bunch of creature tutors to help me find any of the other "other half of the loop" creatures.

So while Boonweaver package is nice, ultimately Boonweaver Giant himself is too expensive as I'm trying to deploy the combo cheaply (seven mana is a lot for one card) and while Pattern of Rebirth is cheaper to play, I have only one card in the deck which can tutor for it (Enlightened Tutor) and chances are I'm going ot be using this card to find a sac outlet rather than pattern (which still needs a sac outlet anyway). So I have to draw into it.

Not to mention, once I have the sac outlet out, 60% of the time Boonweaver Giant could just tutor up Gift of Immortality rather than needing to get Pattern anyway.

Couple all this with the fact that outside of combo, Boonweaver Giant doesn't really do anything and while Pattern of Rebirth is an ok creature tutor, a) you have to sac the creature it's attached to and b) you can remove the creature in response to it being enchanted. So while you're ahead it's find but trying to come from behind, it's just not as powerful as something like Eladamri's Call.

I get that's the boonweaver package is very nice and could work here, but overall I think it actual detracts from the deck in this instance. If this was a Karador, Ghost Chieftain deck I would probably be running it as I would have access to things like Viscera Seer and Demonic Tutor.

It's worth noting that Altar of Dementia isn't completely dead if your opponents have any shuffle cards in their libraries. If you use it to mill yourself you can (usually) still build up to the full kill:

Saffi + Reveillark: Mill to Karmic Guide and Sun Titan, get Blasting Station with Sun Titan's trigger.

Saffi + Karmic Guide: Same as above, but you reanimate Reveillark with Karmic Guide.

Saffi + Sun Titan: This one is a little trickier and board-dependent. If you have the mana you can just let Saffi go to the command zone and use Sun Titan to return Blasting Station, then recast Saffi. If you need extra mana and you have the board state for it, you can bring back Phyrexian Altar first, then sac extra creatures to get the mana to recast Saffi. You then can loop Sun Titan for enough mana to send Saffi to the command zone one last time and bring back Blasting Station. This one is much more boardstate-dependent, unfortunately.

Separately, Boonweaver Giant is a little more nuanced than you give it credit for. Most of the time it's just grabbing Gift of Immortality over Pattern, sure, but the key is that it can grab it from anywhere. If both of them have been binned, Boonweaver Giant gives you another direction of resilience. Even if one of them is still in your hand, it means you only need to cast one of them, since Boonweaver Giant will find it there, too, unlike Sun Titan. Still, overall I agree with most of your points on Boonweaver Giant - I go back and forth on it fairly regularly.

I do strongly disagree with you on your points RE: Pattern, however. I think it's far better than Eladamri's Call, just because it puts the creature directly into play. I can't count the number of times I've put Pattern on Saffi, sac'ed Saffi, and tutored up something to bring her back. It also cranks Academy Rector up to 11, since Rector dying (or better yet, being sac'ed) often means you just win the game.

Finally, thoughts on Sylvan Tutor? It's slow, for sure, and it's a huge advertisement, but sometimes the extra consistency offers so much value. I go back and forth on it personally.

I'd be interested in swapping notes on our builds. I've been playing mine for 3+ years and I think I moved in a fairly different direction. It would be interesting to go over card choices and testing experiences: Saffi's Weenie Hut Jr.

MrKrabs: Sorry about the delayed response, it has been a really busy week.

I can still win with Altar of Dementia through reshuffle effects by using Mikokoro, Center of the Sea in response to the shuffle. Though the statement was more with regards to if Blasting Station was exiled. Thgough you are right, there are many ways to dig for Blasting Station with Altar of Dementia.

On the topic of Boonweaver Giant - I know that the card is pulled from anywhere. But this is my point, all of the focus is on the fact that with either Pattern or Boonweaver and a sac outlet you win. But the hardest part of that is not getting Boonweaver, it's the sac outlet. And outside of that, boonweaver giant is a 7 mana creature that adds very little to the deck. Even Reveillark does something outside of combo. however Boonweaver is more expensive to cast than any card in the deck but only fills a niche role.

As for Pattern of Rebirth, there are a few things at play here. The first is that my preferred playsstyle is combo control. Whiule creatures aren't as big a thing, I prefer to fly under the radar until my combo turn. And I almost never run out an Altar until I'm ready to win on the spot. And Pattern flies in the face of that. Inside of combo, it's not a problem. However if I need to tutor up utility, I want to a) have mana open as long as possible to give me options and b) Not give away what I'm doing or draw attention to it until the last second.

The other issue I have with Pattern is that you need a creature out and then 4 mana to cast it. And while I'm not sure what your meta is like, mine is quite removal heavy. So for 1 mana (via a Swords to Plowshares), I can have my entire play shut down. Plus with Eladamri's Call, I can do it as early as turn 2 without any boardstate requirements.

I do like Sylvan Tutor. I'm not sure if I'd run it in this list, however I did put togehter a slightly more combo focused list here which I am running it in (full disclosure that I haven't built/play tested the other deck in real life). If you prefer instant speed choices, there's always Congregation at Dawn which is more suited towards finding combo pieces. It just depends on the context. I don't mind it in your list as you're running a lot more stax so I think you can take your time a bit more.

I'm not sure if you've had this list posted in the past - the name sounds familiar though (I've looked through a lot of Saffi decks over the years to see what other people do with theirs). I'd be happy to have a look at your deck and leave some comments - the two themes are definitely very different but it's good see something from a different perspective.

enpc -

A lot of really good points! I'll definitely be reevaluating Boonweaver now that Rallier is a thing. I think you make a lot of good points on the topic. Cutting it for something lower on the curve will also feel great.

I think what it sounds like is that Pattern is a very meta-dependent card. Since I count Saffi as always available I view it pretty strongly as a 4-mana win on the spot card, if I already have a sac outlet. You're right though, without a sac outlet prepared it can be really underwhelming. I think the difference is the absence of Rector in your list - often I find myself just putting the enchantment into play, which makes the line more resilient.

I don't love Congregation all that much, since I'm often not going more than a turn or two before I'm shuffling again, so the mana cost feels less than super. Worth the thought, though I'm attached to the Sylvan Tutor, personally, just because I have a matching alter with my Worldly Tutor...eheh...

I have, in the past, included Mortarpod, in case Blasting Station gets exiled. It moves in and out of my list, depending on how I feel about the card. It just sucks because you also need one of the mana combos if you want to go off with it.

i personally would remove the land that has while are dual color have 1 color that doesn't have any significance and replace them with cards that promote green and/or white like Grasslands, horizon canopy, or even lands that can summon more land like evolving lands, fertile thicket, or even ones that can summon creatures/token like Mosswort bridge and Treetop village

The_Overlord_666: Are you referring to Wooded Bastion? Because while there is an inherent risk, the rest of the manabase is generally good enough to make sure I have a coloured mana source to fuel it. Plus as the deck is more green heavy but most of the combo pieces need double white, it does an excellent job of producing that in a single land.

While it can be risky to run filter lands in tri-coloured decks, here the reward far outweighs the risk. Not to mention I want to avoid running tap-lands (I make an exception for Canopy Vista).

enpc: i was referring to the mana like: Wooded Foothills,Marsh Flats, Verdant Catacombs, Flooded Strand, and Arid Mesa. and if this is a commander tournament this deck could be disqualified due to the the fact there are none- mana available

The_Overlord_666 - that's just incorrect, sorry. Fetchlands can be run even if they don't fetch both your colors and, frankly, are far better than other random on-color duals since they can fetch Savannah/Temple Garden (I personally wouldn't even run filters, but that's because my meta is more punishing to nonbasics than enpc's).

The_Overlord_666: There's a differnece between a card containing and a card saying "mountain" for example. Techinically any deck can run all 10 fetch lands (i.e. the ones you listed), as they are just considered as lands. However I can't run a land with a basic land type outside of forest/plains as this would break the colour idenity rules. So as I mentioned, I could technically run all 10 fetches (like Scalding Tarn), I just wouldn't have any legal targets for them in my deck.

Yeah, this is awesome, but kinda old news to me. saffi is a beast. My brother used to win on turn 3-4 consistently with her a few years ago until Anafenza came out ..lol..No one saw it coming or could understand how she would still combo even after almost being completely milled out.

Is that Saffi print you have on here an actual print?

Jpegwun: If you're referring to Anafenza, the Foremost, having access to black is very good. But Anafenza is much more of a hatebear commander. And yeah, I can usually get an unsuspecting player with the deck, but most of my playgroup knows I play combo so they're not surprised.

As for the alt art, yeah, I have the card in real life. Was done by stripping back an existing card and then the new print was later her the top (I didn't actually do it though). I also have a regular Saffi too, just in case somebody wants to complain.

Ohh well thats cool. I thought maybe they came out with a new saffi print that i hadn't seen. It looks awesome. Wish I could buy it looking like that lol

And yeah Anafenza is a hatebear, but it still shuts off most combo decks, since a good majority of them use the graveyard.

I like the list. I have a version that's similar but not as fast as yours likely is. I'm very curious what your most common win con is and how you have done with Starved Rusalka? I run about 8 sac outlets and stayed with artifact like Spawning Pit for the most part, despite some testing with Reaper of Flight Moonsilver and Rusalka and don't see how I could get away with less. I would love your feedback on my list as well. Thanks.

Saffi Synergy

Commander / EDH jjp16

SCORE: 1 | 1 COMMENT | 674 VIEWS

jjp16: I'm glad you like the list. It's been many tweaks to get to here (though there's still always so much to do T_T).

The main win condition of the deck is definitely Blasting Station. It's clean and efficient and the combo doesn't need too many moving pieces. Altar of Dementia still wins me a good chunk of games, however I see my fair share of eldrazi titans so unless I have Mikokoro, Center of the Sea or Selvala, Explorer Returned ready to go, I will just try to turn Altar of Dementia into Blasting Station.

Starved Rusalka is a little bit niche, but still very good as a card. While not typically used for combo (though there is a janky one with her), being able to sac a creature in response to exile or using it with Saffi to get some extra value out of an ETB is worth the slot. I was originally tossing up between Starved Rusalka and Martyred Rusalka, who has the better ability overall, but isn't Green Sun's Zenith fetchable. I used to run Spawning Pit a long time ago, but you basically have to draw into it (I'm not going to waste Enlightened Tutor or in) and I needed something more fetchable. I toyed with Reaper of Flight Moonsilver but activating delirium was a pain, and having to pay 5 mana on top of that made her too unplayable. if she either cost less (with a smaller body) mana or didn't need delirium, it might be a different story but as it stands she's just not good enough.

As for the number of sac outlets, I currently run 5 that don't need mana or have to tap, 3 that tap and 1 that needs mana. You don't need that many technically, but I've found it's a comfortable number. However I would recommend avoiding saturating your deck with sub-par sac outlets like Fanatical Devotion or Martyr's Cause. While these are "infinite" sac outlets, you need to add more pieces to make them viable and trying to assemble 5-6 card combos is not worth it. You're much better off running cards like Academy Rector or Sterling Grove which just act as tutors for your good sac outlets.

I'd be happy to have a look at your deck. It might take me a day or two to get around to it though, unfortuately I lead a bit of a busy life. But yeah, more than happy to.

+1

I'm in the process of building a saffi deck myself. Being unfamiliar with a lot of the interactions I was wondering if you could see Perilous Myr having any synergy with etb/ltb or recursion effects. It seems like Blasting Station on a body. I've seen perilous being used in other decks running black. Do you see any place for it alongside saffi?

Drake_Rider: Perilous Myr is ok. I've seen a handful of Saffi decks run Triskelion and I used to run Inquisitor Exarch for the same reason. ultimately though you still run into the issue of needing a "free" sac outlet as well as Reveillark or generating infinite mana through one of the altars and then using Nim Deathmantle to keep recurring it. It just ends up needing a lot of cards to make it work and more importantly, you still need that sac outlet. Without it, cards like Perilous Myr just feel like dead cards.

I ended up not going down the "combotastic" route (as in running every available recursion engine and every available sac outelt) and instead focused on raw advantage, either through card draw or tutoring. Overall I've found it to be the better option as the cards are dead draws much less of the time.