Interesting, apparently Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant works awesomely with Nin, the Pain Artist, because you still draw X cards even if the damage is prevented, as per Gatherer. Worth thinking about!

Both the Gate and Ascendant have their pros and cons. You have a lot of three costing cards and the Gate is never a dead-draw whereas the Ascendant may be if you draw it after being hit a few times. That said, the effect of the Ascendant is markedly better. Pros and cons.

And as far as Akroma's Memorial is concerned... I just actually put up the cash for one (it's in the mail now and I'm super excited). I feel like it'll get me targeted once it hits the board, but I feel like I'll kill them the turn I play it. Moot point. I don't see why you can't run both. They're houses. I will let you know how it works out though, I'm planning on playing a few games with it tonight or tomorrow (whenever it arrives).

After playing with the deck a few more times, I wondering about the effectiveness of Blood Moon here. Especially as I want to run more utility non-basics (and bribe someone into trading me a Maze of Ith, I thinking I want something that helps me kill people faster, and not a hoser that doesn't benefit me much more than putting a target on my head. Even Price of Progress would be better in that spot. Maybe Ajani Vengeant?

MarkBGH:

Lifeline

Pack some gy removal to prevent your opponents from using it against you.

+1

Then to get around the lifeline requiring a creature to remain on the battlefield, persist / undying / indestructible.

care to take a gander at my deck and see if you can offer some suggestions?

deck:the-mimeoplasms-dredge-return

The colors he's working with don't really have excellent graveyard denial that actually helps the rest of the deck. I like the card though. I run Portcullis in my Ruhan deck (and Gather Specimens and it's usually hilarious).

And yeah generally Blood Moon doesn't make you many friends. On paper it's a solid card, but more than likely you'll just get targeted by the guy you screwed over when it eventually gets blown up. Also, Akroma's Memorial.... :) When even your weakest utility creature is Akroma, there's nothing you can't do!

-1 Blood Moon, +1 Price of Progress. In EDH PoP seems like an uber burn spell that could sometimes end the game.

For the time being, Maze of Ith and Akroma's Memorial are very high on my acquire list, but I'm looking for more great suggestions. Thanks for all the help so far!

Is Coat of Arms too much of a risk? With so many Giant Warriors in this deck it seems like it would be kind of insane.

How many Giant Warriors do you usually have on the field at once? I was hesitant to put it into my Ghave token deck (I make a lot of different types of tokens) for fear that my board could be wiped and the guy playing dragons could one shot me.

As far as tribes go, Giants usually play the fewest creatures, but they are the biggest. Only if no one else plays a tribe (or tokens) would I consider putting it in.

Now that I'm dropping Blood Moon, I think I'm going to add a few (note: FEW) more non-basics. Specifically, Homeward Path absolutely needs to go in because of how huge most of my dudes end up. I'm still a bit butthurt about a game online where someone was gaining 40+ life a turn with my Hamletback Goliath+their Wall of Reverence

I'm looking on jamming a Reverberate in here too. It seems too good not to play. I have plenty of spells i'd like to copy, and in multiplayer games, I'm sure I can always find a use for it.

Call to the Kindred also needs to find a home in here. It seems almost tailor-made for this deck, cheating in huge giants. I can even cheat in other stuff with Mistform Warchief, but Non-giants will probably be the first to go in favor of the card. This should be the end of the comment spam for now :)

If you want copied spells, Cast Through Time is cool.

Also, I notice a lack of Path to Exile. I'd stick it in over Condemn.

Also, why not run Planar Chaos? It is almost always worth it just for the counters it spits out.

Cauldron of Souls gives you wipe protection, and Decree of Annihilation and Apocalypse let the game restart if things go sour.

Wheel of Fortune is good to refill your hand, and can screw people sitting on tutors or combo pieces.

Those are all really good suggestions. I think Cauldron of Souls specifically has some nice interactions for me. Time to start trimming the fat!

What does everyone think I should take out at this point. I know Wall of Denial and Pyrohemia are on the chopping block at this point. Anything else?

Thousand-Year Elixir doesn't really do anything game changing on it's own, and it primary ability only affects four of your creatures.

Alright, time to actually start cutting stuff!

-1 Wall of Denial, -1 Pyrohemia, -1 Thousand-Year Elixir, -1 Price of Progress+1 Deathrender, +1 Akroma's Memorial, +1 Path to Exile, +1 Cauldron of Souls

I like wall of denial for cheap defense. I'm making a deck like this as well. I think a good addition would be Desolation Giant Easy removal and acts like a giant

-1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, -1 Bloodshot Cyclops, -1 Sundial of the Infinite, -1 Darksteel Plate, -1 Plains

+1 Hammerfist Giant, +1 Call to the Kindred, +1 Swiftfoot Boots, +1 Wall of Denial. +1 Arena

This is part of my continued effort to eliminate cards that don't do anything on their own. Call to the Kindred is in because it seems like it could almost be a Lurking Predators in this deck. Arena, as Ivan suggested is a good way to keep Ruhan out of trouble and kill things at the same time. I finally got myself a handful of Hammerfist Giants, so that's in now too. Wall of Denial is back in, for now.

The #1 card on the "chopping block" for the time being is Phyrexian Processor. It's ok without Brion Stoutarm out and borderline obscene with him. I'm wondering if it's too situational/risky to stay in when I could just go for a utility dude like Puresteel Paladin, who I'm also considering.

You need to find a place for Chameleon Colossus it is so good

In my experience, Dictate of the Twin Gods is more useful than Gratuitous Violence due to the fact that the text read, "If a source you control would deal damage to a permanent or player, it deals double that much damage to that permanent or player instead." This includes Planeswalkers, and it has instant speed. I find it so much better than Gratuitous Violence

BLue pie