I go for Mirror Entity and Priest of Titania, since a wide option can go tall or generate mana. Also what is your opinion on Wild Pair.

What could I play in place of Gaea's Cradle and could I just run another basic until I can get a Savannah?

Hey GrandZamboa, I'm trying to find a spot for Mirror Entity because it's simply a good card for the deck for infinite mana or a big swing. I am also not too sold on Wild Pair because there aren't too many targets if I were to blink in and out Whitemane Lion / Kor Skyfisher .

@OptimalGreen, I suggest running Growing Rites of Itlimoc  ^Flip for a Cradle effect that takes very little effort to get. You can also substitute a basic for Savannah. If you have any other cards you are looking to substitute because of cost, you can check the "On a Budget?" section of the primer for some suggestions.

Would it be wise to run on 33 lands though if I replace Cradle with Growing Rites? I know there's a lot of mana dorks and a lot of green decks can get away with playing less lands because of it I'm just always worried when I go under 34 lands. Also on the Savannah front I actually found a "damaged" copy that's more HP today so all good on that front. Only other thing reserved list I don't exactly have at the moment is Survival of the Fittest but that has an easy replacement with Fauna Shaman. Thanks for the reply!

Hi OptimalGreen, sorry for the late response. I don't think you should drop below 34 lands. I slowly justified cutting lands from 37 to 34, it's a slippery slope. The deck heavily relies on hitting land drops early to reach karametra and our combo ASAP. You could instead just run a land of your choice in place of Cradle.

Thanks for the reference in your latest update Goretast :). Keep up the good work!

Thoughts on God-Eternal Oketra ? She synergizes well with karametra nicely

Hi munky702, I did consider God-Eternal Oketra when it was first released and was excited about it. However, the deck has taken a turn towards combo-ing off with infinite creature casts and relies on cheaper combo pieces like Genesis Chamber . I would say Oketra would be a good addition in a more casual and less combo-focused deck.

whats your thoughts on the new cards in thrones? any you can see making the cut ?

Hey Goretast. Just wanted to share an interaction with Earthcraft that I just realized: we can tap whitemane lion in response to its own ETB to untap a basic. So we only need either a cost reducer or an on-cast token producer to go infinite with Earthcraft :).

Hey Beebles, I did know about that. It was the biggest part in deciding to buy a more pricy card like that. It also works wonders with Chulane, Teller of Tales , which I'm slowly transitioning into. Shrieking Drake and Earthcraft is mighty gross.

Cool! Chulane surely has a lot of potential and looks like a fun alternative to Karametra. Do you already have a version ready? I for one am going to stick with Karametra for her resilience.

You're gonna abandon Karametra? :(

Sadly OptimalGreen, I do think I am going to change commanders. I have played Karametra for over 4 years, and while Karametra is fun and can have some explosive wins, she simply lacks interaction with the board. Chulane is a great step-up because it introduces counterspells and still lets me run our flicker combos but with grosser things like Intruder Alarm , Shrieking Drake , Mana Breach , Overburden , etc. I have a completed list you can check out: [cEDH] Chulane's Bounce House. I've bought the dual lands and everything, so I'm committed to say the least. I will keep updating Karametra and playing her, but she will not be my first pick anymore.

As long as you're gonna keep updating Karametra that's good. :)

I was just sad because I just found this primer and thought you were going to abandon it. So it's not that you're taking her apart you're just making a new main commander?

Still putting this together and was wondering what do you think of Castle Garenbrig as a sort of budget replacement for Cradle? Turning 2GG into six green mana sounds neat.

Oh yeah and also if I were to run Growing Rites what are some possible cuts that could be made for it besides the ones on your cut list? I already have all those cards after years of playing EDH.

Sorry one last comment but instead of the castle how about Hall of Heliod's Generosity so if an important enchantment gets blown up or I'm forced to sacrifice Karametra I can get them back?

Hey OptimalGreen, sorry for the late response. Castle Garenbrig is okay, but will likely not be included. If you think about it in terms of value, its costing 5 mana to activate because you have to tap castle AND 4 lands to activate. It's a pass for me because of that reason and the limit on what we can spend the mana on with its chance of being a tapped land early game. If it was a 'Forest' then I would include it. As for other cuts, I think Duskwatch Recruiter  ^Flip is becoming a weak link now that Ballista/Finale/Aetherflux are better finishers. I also haven't recently had much luck with Champion of Lambholt . Hall of Heliod's Generosity is pretty good utility. I think you could get away with cutting a forest for it, I'll try it out for a bit.

I think Odric could be dropped pretty easily. You don't really win through combat, and while it has synergy with Karametra, it is a 4 mana 3/3 do-nothing most of the time.

Odric could also be dropped, but I have some bias and will not drop. Protean hulk isn't an instant win in this deck, so I like some utility with Beastcaller/Odric for a haste swing. Also have done some janky combos with him during combat to haste my dorks to flash whitemane. In reality though, he should be cut for more ramp because that's what this deck needs.

What do you think of Smothering Tithe ?

Smothering Tithe can be lucrative depending on your meta and the length of your games. It would make a good addition to the deck. I will probably update this list soon with the above cuts and new cards.

I will also be trying out Nylea, Sharp-eyed from the new Theros set. If your playgroup is open to you playing unreleased cards then I would put this in. It seems really solid for the deck and lets us win once we get infinite mana by digging for Walking Ballista with her ability.

Oh nice. Also yeah I was thinking of replacing Growing Rites in my list with Smothering Tithe because even though Growing Rites is supposed to replace Cradle for budget reasons I think in general Tithe is the better ramp card because I have stalled out before with Growing Rites plenty of times and my playgroup runs plenty of Strip Mines.