I think you need more centaurs : Centaur Healer , Fanatic of Xenagos , & something that make centaurs: Call of the Conclave , Centaur's Herald , Alive / Well

They have Mana Confluence and Pheres-Band Warchief in the system now.

emelw: I used to have Prime Speaker Zegana in the build but I since removed her to lower my curve. If the deck goes higher in average cmc again She will come back in though.

In any case, I found I don't need as many as I had, so I'm currently down to 1.

Old_Man: While I do want this deck to be about the synergy Pheres-Band Warchief brings, I don't want to have to use cards that make the deck "worse" to do it. I feel like blue is needed to give this deck reach that it needs, and splashing for a third color feels like it would hinder the deck, so that's why i have zero of the other centaur cards you've mentioned. I also just think of Centaur's Herald as really really bad, personally.

InconspicuousPotato: Thanks for the heads up!

I do like the blue, but I think that all the suggestions to add a third color have some merit. Going bant for Call of the Conclave and Centaur Healer could be pretty sweet. Maybe moving some of the other green dudes to sideboard to go more all in on the centaurs? I guess it depends on how much you want to keep the green devotion subtheme going. Nice deck though! +1

Timebender : Thank you for the suggestions and the +1!

One of the reasons that I think Pheres-Band Warchief is a decent card for constructed is that Mutavault exists in this format. Mutavault is a great way to keep the pressure on against Supreme Verdict decks, which is one of aggro's biggest threats right now -- You have to either win before it drops or be able to keep the pressure up immediately afterwards. The warchief and the vault work amazingly together.

The downside (obviously) is that Mutavault makes colorless mana. And when you're running a deck with a playset of Swordwise Centaur , this already can be really awkward. Splashing blue to the extent that I have is really only possible due to all of my blue-producing lands also producing green. And because of the fact that none of my blue cards NEED to be played on curve.

Adding a third color for more creatures because they are centaurs would mean increasing the number of lands that hurt me and/or lands that come in tapped, possibly needing to remove Mutavault , AND removing some of the creatures I already have in here (some of which I feel are necessary just because of the metagame). Doing all of that to make sure I have a T2 3/3 centaur token or a 3/3 centaur that gains me a little life (that would likely be counterbalanced by my lands) seems like a less-than-stellar idea to me.

Thoughts?

I must say Spootyone, I'm surprised you're not going with Selesnya as per usual. Call of the Conclave , Centaur Healer , and maybe even Trostani, Selesnya's Voice all seem like shoe-ins. Then you get Rootborn Defenses as well. But maybe that's too obvious of a route and you were trying to spice it up. I love me some Simic, but I don't really see what it has to offer here.

ChrisHansonBiomancin: One, you're absolutely right in assuming I did what I did to spice things up as half of the fun I have with this game is being creative and making a name for myself with creative and unique brews. Two, I've been playing more simic lately as I think it fits my preferred playstyle better. I've found that I'm a huge proponent of an aggro-control playstyle. I love being able to play small and efficient threats and then win by using skill through permission and control. G/U are the best two colors for this right now IMO.

Now, the reason to not run white over blue is explained in the previous post, so I won't go into that again. But I do want to say thanks for coming by and commenting :)

No I definitely see where you are coming from. I still think that the deck could profit from the third color, even if it is just a splash and here's why:

First, this format has some ridiculous mana fixing that is definitely worth taking advantage of. I don't think that replacing some forests with Temple Garden s or Temple of Plenty s will hurt you too bad, especially since you have Courser of Kruphix to help out too. The only turn one play you have is Elvish Mystic , and your deck has plenty of great two drops (especially if you decide to run Call of the Conclave ) so it matters less if you put in some lands tapped early.

Another thing is that, with your lands hurting you, it is easy for really quick aggro decks to take advantage of that. Granted, your deck is also aggro, and centaurs are pretty decently sized as tribes go, but either way Centaur Healer is a great tool against aggro, and he also solves the problems that running shocklands causes. Sure you have Nylea's Disciple to gain life and leave a body, but healer gains life and leaves an on or above curve body for less mana. He is like a (admittedly less stupid) Kitchen Finks that gets the tribal boost from the warchief, which brings me to the third point

Tribal decks are usually based on synergy (of the basic kind), and this deck doesn't have all that many centaurs to take advantage of the warchief. There are a good amount, but in my opinion not quite enough to maximize the effectiveness of the warchief. As with most lords, you want to have as many creatures that can benefit from them being out as you can to optimize their effects.

Sorry for the long winded-ness, but all that being said, I don't think that you need to change up that much of the deck, and I definitely don't think you should try to accommodate everything a third color has to offer for centaurs. I just think that you could easily sacrifice a small amount of consistency for a large amount of extra power by adding a bit of white and exchanging some forests for dual lands. Also, I know it is not really consistent with what I have said, but white does give you access to some sweet removal options like Detention Sphere that could help out a lot, depending on your meta. All up to you of course, I am basing this on how I interpret the current standard and how it felt when I playtested the deck, and I assume you have a different vision for it than I do. Either way, best of luck, and I still really like the deck! sorry if i tl; dr 'd it

I definitely think you want to stick with 2 colors, whatever they may be, because having 3 or preferably 4 Mutavault (if you own a 4th) is a must and doing so with 3 colors is pretty sketchy.

Pheres-Band Tromper ...doesn't work in a centaur tribal deck...never thought you'd regret having vigilance...any way Pheres-Band Centaurs would still work well and Nessian Courser gets pretty decent with those boosts (not mention curves right into the lord, even better if one on turn two with that Elvish Mystic ).

ChrisHansonBiomancin + Timebender :

Oh not at all. I always take the time to read any comments I get haha :)

I think it's better to think of this as a mono-green deck than a simic one. I say this because the blue cards I use aren't typically being cast until turns 4-7. And because of that, the mana they need can be incredibly light and non-intrusive. That's what allows me to run as many Mutavault s as I do. And I definitely stand by my decision to run the vault in any tribal deck.

Now, adding white and even removing the blue changes things quite a bit. Why? Because the cards I'm adding white for need to be played on curve in order for them to have a huge impact. Desiring to have mana for both Swordwise Centaur and Call of the Conclave of T2 means there's no way in hell I'm running Mutavault in that build.

So I think the question becomes this: Which is better? Mutavault or Call of the Conclave /Centaur Healer ? My answer is Mutavault due to the meta full of spot removal and wraths and, most importantly, opposing Mutavault s. Others may have differing opinions on that matter and that is quite alright. But its for that reason that I run the colors I do.

Could a selesnya centaur deck do well or even better than this one? Its' honestly very possible. And I may make a mock up of a G/W version of centaur tribal to test and see which I think is better. Hmm...perhaps an idea for an article?

PrecintSix6Six: I actually did think of running Nessian Courser in here originally but when I started making cuts he was one of those that were removed. Despite his solid body and relevant typing, I just don't find him to be better than Boon Satyr , Witchstalker or Courser of Kruphix . And I don't really wish to overfill my 3-drop slot. Pheres-Band Centaurs is a 5-drop, which means I need it to REALLY have an impact. It does not have that, unfortunately. Without the warchief its really just a terrible card for constructed. Fated Intervention isn't amazing but it does finally become playable in this deck due to it making insta-centaurs. I like insta-centaurs.

I know you are purposely avoiding using three colors, but I don't think that blue is that big of a needed item. I just feel like G/W would be better, or even just splash some Temple Garden , which doesn't ruin your mana needs, as it still grants Green, in for Call of the Conclave and Alive / Well .

haha Hey, Spootyone! I reached this deck of yours too :)

I won't be long this time. I just wanna say that your simic approach is quite original (and that's what you say you wanna be). I also have my centaur deck, but it's (surprise!) only Selesnya. You may see it here: Selesnya Centaurs JOU.

It behaves quite well inside what I thought it would, and wins more than loses. Check it out and tell me what you think!

Best of luck!