Simic Commander - Let the counters in
Commander / EDH
SCORE: 16 | 38 COMMENTS | 3763 VIEWS | IN 10 FOLDERS
Well, before anything else, I want to thank both of you, CasualSax and Tata for all the good inputs. I appreciate and find instructive this kind of in-depth discussion.
That said, I do agree with Tata when they say decks need some kind of interaction. I'd rather not play completely goldfish, especially when most of other decks in my playgroup are heavily interactive (we have a draw hate Nekusar, the Mindrazer, a discard/madness/reanimate Malfegor and a multiple wrath effects Oros, the Avenger to name but a couple). I do feel answers are a necessity, and if it is true that they slow down the deck, it is also true that we need them if we dont want to be quickly destroyed. Since we are in simic colours, it seems appropriate that said answers come from creatures rather than instants.
Plaxmanta looks really good, and i'll definitely take out Simic Charm for it. The charm was one of those cards I had in mind to change. The same goes for Evolution Charm: I put it in the very first form of the deck when it had way less ramp and recursion, but now it can make room for something better for sure, probably Scavenging Ooze. On the subject of recursion, I dont feel Regrowth is needed here, as awesome as it is - I prefer Genesis to it, it costs more but can be used indefinitely.
Avatar of the Resolute I also quite like, and it is my only body that can block flyers. Maybe it could be exchanged with Trygon Predator for extra utility?
Fancy lands are for sure going to be added when I get them.
July 12, 2015 5:24 a.m.
Garruk, Caller of Beasts would be good here, and why no Give / Take?
July 16, 2015 5:27 a.m.
Thank you for your inputs, Cicjose.
I don't think Give / Take is good. With this deck we are gonna have a lot of counters on our hitters, so adding three is not a big difference, and paying three mana for it is definitely too much. The 'Take' half would be nice if we could decide how many counters to remove rather than removing them all. The way it is, we are most likely gonna draw too much and be forced to discard at cleanup.
I'd like to know why you think Garruk, Caller of Beasts would be good here, and what you'd take away for him. If you would use his +1 as pure draw, then we might as well go with Harmonize. If you would use it to generate creature advantage in the hand, then Momir Vig, Simic Visionary does it better.
His -3 does not trigger Momir Vig, Simic Visionary, so I see no point in using it.
His emblem is good, but I don't feel it makes up for the other two abilities.
He is also very expensive, and I cannot see a point in the game when I would want to play him. In the mid game, that mana would be best spent to get out our combo pieces; in the late game, we are either gonna be winning really hard - infinite turns ready to go off, or at the very least a bunch of huge tramplers, in which case there is no point in playing him as well - or be losing just as hard - in which case we are gonna need all of our mana to get our recursion engines going.
The only situation I can see myself playing him would be if I already had Doubling Season on the field, which would allow me to immediately get his emblem out. This is however a very slim chance, since we can not tutor either of them.
July 16, 2015 9:22 a.m.
lethalitycomplex says... #5
You have quite a lot of one or two land fetch in your ramp spells, it might be worth taking things like Rampant Growth and Cultivate out for Nature's Lore and Boundless Realms. Things like Brainstorm as well as the two tutors in blue and green Worldly Tutor and Mystical Tutor would also be worth looking into. Otherwise, just insert the usual spiel in here about counterspells and Rite of Replication to super utilize your Deadeye. +1 for the deck idea though.
July 18, 2015 6:35 p.m.
Instants: Krosan Grip and what lethalitycomplex said.
Sorceries: what lethalitycomplex said.
July 18, 2015 6:57 p.m. Edited.
Thank you lethalitycomplex for your contemplated suggestions. I will definitely consider them.
July 19, 2015 7:46 a.m.
Have you checked out Fertilid? It's creature, ramp, and interacts well with your counters strategy. I've used it in my Simic deck, and in some games use it to pull a land or two a turn for several turns thanks to Master Biomancer, Forgotten Ancient, and a few others.
August 1, 2015 12:14 p.m.
I don't think it is in this particular deck, since in my opinion it really shines when it gets fancy non-basics, which are a bit lacking in here. If our opponents had more, or better, it would be an andvantage more for them than for us.
August 3, 2015 8:16 a.m.
Novijen, Heart of Progress, Simic Growth Chamber and Yavimaya Coast are utility lands you could add to this deck
to allow you to get some benefit from Tempt with Discovery if you choose to add it
August 3, 2015 9:57 a.m.
On the topic of utility lands, you're already running the best one for the deck: Minamo, School at Water's Edge. Alchemist's Refuge allows for some pretty tricksy plays, and is cheap, too.
August 4, 2015 8:22 a.m.
Apodiktisch says... #13
You mentioned Nekusar, the Mindrazer. You can easily counter his ability with Horizon Chimera
If you still need suggestions feel free to check out my Momir deck :)
Tata says... #1
It guess it takes it towards a different direction in the sense that a few cards are doing things that the rest of the deck doesn't. But that's fine. Five or ten "control" cards don't make this a control deck. I prefer to call them "utility" cards, actually, since they offer you something super important in EDH: the ability to stop an opponent's key bomb or wincon from doing its thing. Blue does this best in the form of countermagic, Cyclonic Rift, etc, whereas green offers artifact/enchantment hate. Simic is traditionally weak on cards that interact with things on the board (creatures especially), so Beast Within and Reality Shift are great. I don't think a small utility package makes this deck... less aggro? Lightning Bolt is an aggro card, and that's essentially what Reality Shift is, but for EDH.
Cards like Reclamation Sage are amazing in a deck like this because a) it maintains creature presence, b) maintains creature-based swarm flavor, c) stops back-breaking permanents like Sol Ring and Survival of the Fittest from destroying you and your friends, etc. Reclamation Sage is a reactive card, too, since you want to cast it in response to something, but it can also be called proactive to the degree that it establishes a creature-threat after doing its main job. Clamping it, too, is good for you.
I think Evolution Charm is weak, so swap that out for something. Regrowth is awesome. Simic Charm is weak except for its last ability, which Mizzium Skin does better. MS is still a bad card, though, in EDH. Plaxmanta is better. More flavorful, a cool creature with flash, etc.
Avatar of the Resolute is merely ok as a flavorful dumb beater, but it's nothing more than that. Scavenging Ooze is much better since it has counters, is a dumb beater, and offers you the added utility of hosing graveyards. Which is awesome.
Tooth and Nail is super good, amazing, and essential.
You could improve your lands with a few utility goodies, like Strip Mine, Tectonic Edge, Arcane Lighthouse, Academy Ruins, etc.
July 11, 2015 8:37 p.m.