mayael fo' sho'
Commander / EDH*
SCORE: 2 | 4 COMMENTS | 1636 VIEWS
after a long break —Sept. 15, 2013
The deck has been put to the test against Rafiq of the Many, Sliver Overlord, Ruric Thar, the Unbowed, Borborygmos Enraged, Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
, Skullbriar, the Walking Grave, and Wydwen, the Biting Gale. That's pretty much my local gauntlet right now, and even just generalizing about staple cards seen in those decks may explain some of my card choices.
(-) 9
3 creatures: Knight of the Reliquary, Fauna Shaman, Spearbreaker Behemoth.
2 artifacts: Thousand-Year Elixir, Illusionist's Bracers.
2 utility: Rest in Peace, Vandalblast.
2 lands: Strip Mine, Wirewood Lodge.
(+) 9
5 creatures: Angelic Arbiter, Hellkite Charger, Akroma, Angel of Wrath, Boros Battleshaper, Vengeful Archon.
2 utility: Insurrection, Savage Beating.
2 lands: 2 Forest.
The cards I pulled out are great, but not in my deck against my meta. I needed more reliable green sources because opening hands with no green source are auto-mulls. Strip mine is only useful turn one and pretty bad in multiplayer. It could make it back in if my meta starts including powerhouse lands like Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. The deck will whif with Mayael the Anima less often now and she is still an important bomb that has to be depended on at times. Vengeful Archon, and Boros Battleshaper are the cards I am least sure about in terms of situational utility.
In a recent game I lost a Bloom Tender with Mayael in play and could not cast an Avacyn, Angel of Hope to save my life. This hasn't been a problem in the majority of games I've played. Typically losing an elf or two to spot removal clears the way for more important dorks, and the deck seems to support a critical mass of elves and spells to fetch lands. In more than 20 games now I have tended to be far ahead from the beginning mana-wise, but can lose ground pretty fast if an early mayael activation whiffs. Usually by the time mass removal resolves I have too many lands to be far behind. I have not run into mass land destruction so far.
I have not tested the deck with the most recent changes. I switched Birds of Paradise for Sylvan Scrying , and I expect Exploration and Sylvan Library to be more efficient than Chromatic Lantern and Journey of Discovery .
After a recent bout of many games with the previous deck iteration, I can see dropping either a few dorks, a few fetch spells, or some actual lands. I'm leaning on the lands because I like the flavor of the elf ramp with Mayael. Less land makes Exploration and Oracle of Mul Daya worse however.
Whiffing with Mayael the Anima makes Scroll Rack and friends look better and better. I keep getting my butt kicked by a pillow fort/combo/voltron Rafiq of the Many deck that kills me with general damage or something like Spin into Myth + Tunnel Vision .
TL:DR; the deck has shown itself to be versatile under attack. It seems to keep up without dorks, if Mayael gets tucked (damn Spin into Myth ), or even with a grip full of fatties thanks to Elvish Piper , Quicksilver Amulet , and copious ramp.
ChiefWannaHacka says... #1
Do you ever find that if your mana dorks get killed you fall behind?
July 11, 2013 12:10 p.m.