Mana (18)
- 1x Birchlore Rangers
- 1x Carpet of Flowers
- 1x Cryptolith Rite
- 1x Cultivate
- 1x Earthcraft
- 1x Elvish Archdruid
-
1x
Exploration
- 1x Farhaven Elf
- 1x Growing Rites of Itlimoc Flip
- 1x Harvest Season
-
1x
Heritage Druid
- 1x Kodama's Reach
- 1x Marwyn, the Nurturer
- 1x Priest of Titania
-
1x
Selesnya Signet
- 1x Sol Ring
- 1x Song of Freyalise
- 1x Wood Elves
Token Producer (5)
-
1x
Imperious Perfect
-
1x
Legion's Landing *f-pre*
Flip
- 1x March of the Multitudes
- 1x Oviya Pashiri, Sage Lifecrafter
- 1x Squirrel Nest
Untap (4)
Draw (2)
Synergy (2)
- 1x Illusionist's Bracers
- 1x Spawning Pit *list*
Lands (37)
- 1x Arid Mesa
- 1x Canopy Vista
- 1x Cavern of Souls
- 1x Command Tower
- 12x Forest
- 1x Gaea's Cradle
- 1x Grasslands
- 1x Misty Rainforest
- 1x Path of Ancestry
- 10x Plains
- 1x Savannah
- 1x Springjack Pasture
- 1x Temple of the False God
- 1x Windswept Heath
- 1x Wirewood Lodge
- 1x Wooded Bastion
- 1x Wooded Foothills
Removal (9)
- 1x Aura Mutation
- 1x Aura Shards
- 1x Condemn
- 1x Council's Judgment
- 1x Hour of Reckoning
- 1x Path to Exile
- 1x Reclamation Sage
- 1x Sundering Growth
Payoff (3)
Lifegain (1)
Commander (1)
Tutor (12)
- 1x Chord of Calling
- 1x Crop Rotation
- 1x Eladamri's Call
- 1x Eldritch Evolution
- 1x Elvish Harbinger
- 1x Enlightened Tutor
- 1x Finale of Devastation
- 1x Green Sun's Zenith
- 1x Natural Order
- 1x Sterling Grove
- 1x Sylvan Scrying
- 1x Wirewood Herald
Protection (4)
Pump (2)
Suggestions
Updates Add
This Old Deck S01E01
Background
I've been playing this Rhys the Redeemed deck for 7+ years, and it's progressively fallen into a state of total disarray as cards are moved between other projects & decks. I'd like to get it back into fighting shape, but there's a lot of work to be done.
Rhys-tical Teachings (before) is the state of the deck before I started this remodel. There are a lot of key cards missing, such as Temple Garden
(!), Marsh Flats, Skullclamp, and Beastmaster Ascension. If you need a laugh, definitely take a look.
Philosophy and Goals
I'm trying to streamline the deck towards creating a bunch of tokens and killing the table, which means taking out some expensive durdly cards and replacing them with more efficient enablers and win conditions. Rhys has issues with sweepers slowing down the growth stages, and even once you have 10 to 20 tokens (or many more), it can be hard to convert them into a win.
Ideally, Rhys ends up as a "~75%" build, although I think Rhys/Selesyna decks built to 90%+ are still weaker than most 75% builds with stronger commanders or colors. There are some infinite combos, but they're mostly 3+ cards with plenty of room for interaction.
For the time being, I'm excluding fast mana like Mana Crypt, Chrome Mox, and Mox Diamond, although I may include some down the line. I'm also eschewing the traditional 1 cmc mana dork package, because I'm already weak to mass creature removal, and my normal turn 1 play is Rhys.
Demolition
We'll start by taking out the slowest, most expensive, or least impactful cards, and continue to iterate with future testing. EDH has changed a lot since I built the first revision of this deck, and some old staples no longer make the grade. I'm going to leave the lands alone for now, so that I have a better idea what we're working with after cuts and adds.
-Essence Warden While she has a relevant type line, I don't think there's a lot of demand for lifegain, and I'd rather have Anointer Priest for when the first sweeper resolves.
-Heliod, God of the Sun Many of our mana engines only produce green mana, so the 2WW activation can be fairly restrictive. It's been less than stellar in every game I've seen it, and the few scenarios where I can imagine generating enough white to properly utilize Heliod, it's already a win more card.
-Pentavus Has some fun synergies with the Doubling Season effects, but it costs 7 and doesn't impact the game enough.
-Sylvan Ranger I'm not entirely sure why I ever thought this was good enough. It's not ramp, it can't get nonbasic Forests like Wood Elves, and I think we can do much better.
-Wilt-Leaf Liege Decent pump, but there are better sources of pump that are cheaper. At some tables or metagames, the discard trigger might make this worthwhile. I need to spend some time apart and we'll see how much I miss it.
-Akroma's Memorial It's great when combined with other pump effects, but otherwise I'm not sure that it has enough impact. One of the harder cuts, haste is really nice, and turns off a lot of targeted removal.
-Coalition Relic Really cute with Doubling Season and Seedborn Muse. Unfortunately, cute is not always good, and I think I can get better, less conditional mana ramp for <= 3 cmc. I will miss removing 8 counters at once though.
-Coat of Arms I think Beastmaster Ascension is good enough pump, while costing 2 less and not potentially helping your opponents.
-Eldrazi Monument Minor pump ability, several of the most played sweepers get around indestructible. Has only ever been good for me when I had multiple pump pieces in play.
-Constant Mists I think I'd be tempted to play Teferi's Protection if I wanted this sort of effect. Martyr's Cause does most of the same work to keep you alive, and also stops non-combat damage.
-Oblation This card used to be an EDH staple. I think now I'd rather run Krosan Grip, Beast Within, or Grasp of Fate. I've been playing this copy of Oblation since 2003, but I think it's retirement time.
-Mana Reflection It costs 4GG, and does far less work than Earthcraft or Cryptolith Rite. I ran a copy of Mirari's Wake for a long time, and I would consider putting it back in.
-Mobilization It only gives Soldiers vigilance, and while it's less white-intensive than Heliod, God of the Sun, it still can be hard to make enough white mana. Another card I've been playing since 2003...
-Perilous Forays I think it's too durdly for most tables, but if you're playing a budget version with more basics, this card can be an absolute house. I think Harvest Season will do sufficient work for less mana.
Refreshed Features
Right now I'm aiming for the low-hanging fruit, especially cards that have performed well in the past. To reiterate, I'm temporarily leaving the lands as is while adjusting the rest of the deck.
New Includes
+Priest of Titania This card fits efficiently into our curve, can reliably tap for 3 mana on the third turn, and only gets better from there, at least until the first sweeper hits.
+Elvish Archdruid Provides a small pump effect, but more importantly is another mana source that scales with # of elves.
+Marwyn, the Nurturer Has potential upside, but probably the worst of these three scaling mana sources. Not 100% sold on it, but I'd like to have it in play with Doubling Season at least once...
Classics
+Skullclamp Very good, don't own enough copies for all the decks and cubes it belongs in.
New Includes
+Aura Mutation There are a lot of powerful artifacts and enchantments Bolas's Citadel, Smothering Tithe, Aetherflux Reservoir, etc. I need to turn them into saprolings. Even better with a Doubling Season effect.
+March of the Multitudes Convoke has some strong upside, and I think I want a card like this for grindy games where I may have access to mana, but not to Rhys. Fun Fact: The most I've ever spent to cast Rhys was 13 mana.
New Includes
+Finale of Devastation Early game, it can be used to tutor for Heritage Druid or Birchlore Rangers, mid-game it can find Seedborn Muse or Mentor of the Meek and once I've achieved critical mass, it can go find Craterhoof Behemoth to end the game.
+Natural Order See above. Can't get Mentor of the Meek or Anointer Priest, but I think it's still okay.
+Green Sun's Zenith See above. Also can't get non-green creatures.
+Eldritch Evolution I'm less sure about this card, but it allows us to turn a token into a Heritage Druid or Birchlore Rangers, and allows us to turn one of our many 3cmc creatures into a Seedborn Muse. Maybe should be a Worldly Tutor? Discuss.
+Harvest Season I think this should typically search for 2-3 basics early game, and can clear our deck of basics later.
=Card
New Includes
+Song of Freyalise The worst version of Earthcraft or Cryptolith Rite, but I think maybe still good enough for a couple turns of burst mana followed by a strong combat step.
+Squirrel Nest I'm already running Earthcraft, and it's not terrible by itself.
Classics
+Beastmaster Ascension I think this is the best anthem we can run, it's cheap and effective. It's not uncommon to become public enemy #1 once you play this, so beware.
Closing Remarks
I'd love to hear from you, loyal viewers, if you have any opinions or feedback on the demolitions, additions, or format of today's episode.
Join us next week, where we'll be designing the dream manabase, on This Old Deck.
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| Date added | 5 years |
| Last updated | 5 years |
| Legality | This deck is not Commander / EDH legal. |
| Rarity (main - side) | 6 - 0 Mythic Rares 36 - 0 Rares 25 - 0 Uncommons 11 - 0 Commons |
| Cards | 100 |
| Avg. CMC | 2.51 |
| Tokens | 2/2 C Artifact Creature Spawn, Anointer Priest 1/3 W, Construct */* C, Copy Clone, Elf Warrior 1/1 G, Elf Warrior 1/1 GW, Goat 0/1 W, Morph 2/2 C, Saproling 1/1 G, Servo 1/1 C, Soldier 1/1 W w/ Lifelink, Squirrel 1/1 G, Vampire 1/1 W |
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