I'm really digging the deck. Animar is one of my faves. I think Llanowar Reborn would be a decent addition, along with Helium Squirter and Plaxcaster Frogling.

some cards i use in mine are Forgotten Ancient to get alot of counters on animar fast Bogardan Hellkite as removal for some annoying stuff and good burn Spearbreaker Behemoth protects your stuff Steel Hellkite removal Maelstrom Wanderer speeds things up for a finishPhyrexian Ingester removal Krosan Drover general speed up Keiga, the Tide Star good creature Anger speed up Wild Pair for tutoring. to name a few maybe you should give em a try

Those are all great suggestions, I just need to figure out things to cut.

It's hard because in testing, crazy things are happening like topdecking a Zegana after my Primordial Hydra hits 20/20. I have no clue what's bad in the deck.

well keiga could replace Riptide Entrancer . or Forgotten Ancient could replace Zameck Guildmage because in the end he'd probably get more counters distributed and hes crazy with Fathom Mage out. I mean yesterday i played and i had animar, fathom, and ancient on the field turn five in a four way. before my turn came again nine spells got cast so i put 4 counters on 3/3 animar to give him 6 +1/+1's then five on fathom mage to draw five. played Maelstrom Wanderer , Steel Hellkite and some random blue guy i could throw out for 1 mana plus the two creatures maelstrom picked up and just started swinging game on each player in turn. otherwise the choice is yours but some stuff i wouldnt use (even though or decks are pretty different in play style) are Expedition Map i use Solemn Simulacrum it cant get a non basic but it adds an easy counter early on and once it dies it'll replace the draw and Bioshift just cause i feel it could be something elsebut then again i could see it ending games so idk

Wanderer is terrible with all my X costed spells.

Zameck Guildmage is a draw engine on his own and adds more counters, so not cutting him.

Expedition Map lets me get a non-basic, so no way am I cutting it.

So I'll do this:

Riptide Entrancer -> Forgotten Ancient

Biomass Mutation -> Mana Reflection

Dragonshift -> Bred for the Hunt

Bioshift -> Urban Evolution

I needed some more card draw mainly, and Mana Reflection is just fun.

I'm also making some minor changes to my mana base, just swapping out a few lands to make it cheaper and more green-centric.

I would try to make it a bit more creature heavy to get more use out of Animar. Maybe change out Gruul War Plow for Brawn , and swap the signets for creatures that fetch lands like Solemn Simulacrum and Sakura-Tribe Elder

I like the signets, because they fix for 2 colours, they're stright up better than Basics. Brawn is a good idea though.

Cards I'm also considering:

Genesis

Loaming Shaman

Champion of Lambholt

Hamletback Goliath

Mighty Emergence

Plaxcaster Frogling

I think I'm gonna rework the deck, it'll take a little while, but I think I need more of a focus on counters.

Alright, I made the deck a bit different, now I need cuts for things that can protect Animar, namely Swiftfoot Boots , Lightning Greaves and Darksteel Plate .

If you need fixing that badly, I would consider lands like Rupture Spire , Transguild Promenade , and Reflecting Pool . I wouldn't replace the signets with these, but maybe the guildgates? They slow you down about as much, but give more flexibility (personal opinion). I really like the synergy of Animar and hydras, btw. I'd highly recommend keeping them in

I'm obviously keeping the hydras in, as they are based around +1/+1 counters, which is the theme of the deck.

I've never been a fan of rupture spire, they set you back farther than the Guildgates.

I'm a fan of mana rocks, it's a personal choice. But I still do need cuts for Commander protection.

I'd say cut War Cadence at least. I know it can help you get the hydras through, but you've got better options in the deck already. Animar has a fair amount of protection built in, so you shouldn't need too much

Actually, keep the War Cadence and cut the Gruul War Chant . Just realized War Cadence is more beneficial for trampling

Animar doesn't have protection from burn removal, Beast Within or bounce, sadly. I want something to get around non-traditional removal.

War Chant is also way too good to cut, it makes my opponents double-block my 10/10s, which will almost always result in both creatures being stomped into oblivion.

I'll think of something to cut soon I'm sure.

If I'm running green there are a lot of better options than the signets in my opinion. Sakura-Tribe Elder , Farseek , Rampant Growth and Explore all have the same cmc, do the same thing and don't leave you open to artifact destruction. Of course if you play with land destruction artifact ramp is very good otherwise I prefer to be ahead on land.

Also Domri Rade hits less than a third of the time so unless you have Momir or Cream of the Crop I see it as low impact. Here is my list that you can use to get some ideas Animar Sets Fire to Your Brain.

Playtested it a couple times. I dig it. Not sure of what to change, I'd have to test it some more, but thus far it's pretty solid.

+1

Well, I'm taking out Epochrasite and Clone for Wonder and Vesuvan Shapeshifter when I can. Other than that, I'll find space for cards as I get them. Thanks for the +1.

Cool aggro commander. Not too expensive on the wallet either. If it wasn't a budget deck, I would've recommended Garruk, Caller of Beasts . Nice to see you don't have any of those expensive shock lands in here, either.

Thanks for the kind words. I wanted to make a deck with a budget mana base that could hold its own in my meta, and I succeeded. I plan to include Garruk and Kalonian Hydra when I can nab them, but I can't really see me ever getting shocks or filters for this deck.

nice! my animar deck has a lot of the same stuff. i went with cascade abilities instead of "X" in casting costs, which i think is great in this deck

creatures like Wood Elves and Farhaven Elf work with animar better than the signets etc

check it out and leave some feedback! Animar & friends!

why is there no Cyclonic Rift in here?!

imagine doing that RIGHT BEFORE your turn. Then being able to swing in at one opponent to kill with general damage, and the rest with your steroids army!

No Cyclonic Rift because it's a mainly creature deck and I don't have slots. In fact, I'm cutting even more non-creatures when Theros releases.

As for Wood Elves, I would run it if I had shock lands. As it stands, I'll keep my signets for turn 2 ramp.

Cards I'm considering after Theros:

Prophet of Kruphix

Purphoros, God of the Forge

Bow of Nylea

Nykthos, Shrine of Nyx

Karametra's Acolyte

Thassa, God of the Sea

Xenagos, the Reveler

I love playing Magmatic Force with Progenitor Mimic in my build, Timmy's Super Happy Fun Time Show!. Who doesn't love dealing 6 damage per upkeep in 6 man EDH games?

Plus, Garruk's Horde and Garruk's Packleader have allowed me to draw far too many cards in one turn.

I like the build. +1 from me

what about the other two rings? valkas and evos isle? also, since a lot of your other creatures have +1/+1 counter abilities, I'd consider getting the original simic guildmage and bioshift. Sweet deck though!

@ ldvatwa: I'm not a huge fan of RRR in a primarily green deck, this deck isn't really meant to handle more than UU or RR. I've been trying to find space for the Horde though, perhaps in place of Gigantomancer?

@ Cartham: The other 2 rings aren't that great, they don't give counters to most of my creature, and adding more non-creatures is off theme for me. As for Simic Guildmage and Bioshift, I had them in preliminary lists and removed them.

I think its a great switch. Being able to draw 1-7 cards a turn because of the ability or making your creatures 7/7's sound a little bit imbalanced. More so when you don't have to play anything for their colorless mana cost.

If you have a copy of him, I'd suggest trying him out. With my build, if I have him in my opening hand, more often than not I'm able to play him around turn 4-5. It helps speed up how quickly you win and if you can combine it with a cloning mechanic, you can win games alone. He's one of the few cards I'll never take out of my deck considering how much of an impact he has every game I draw into him.