gflutoman I have, but at the moment I feel that Dawnstrider is much more effective as I will usually have much more access to cards than +1+1 counters. I have considered changing some "infinite" engines like Dawnstrider to more finite versions in order to reduce the "maliciousness" of the play and focus more on just helping out rather than taking control of the game, but this deck as-is is mainly about just making the game as ridiculous as possible while allowing me to stay somewhat safe

Love this deck. Only time I was able to win was the time I was against Geth, Lord of the Vault, who milled me a ton reanimating and killing my Veteran Explorer to ashnod's alter and let everyone search for all of their lands. Next turn, I played Prosperity on 25 or something, and then with 3 remaining mana, Windfall, and boy was it a good laugh for everyone

mtgadictThat's awesome! Thanks for the feedback I love hearing how the deck does and I'm really glad you like it!

Noble Benefactor? Card can tutor your win cons under the guise of letting everyone else tutor for there win cons.

Xinofos While it is a very good idea, I'm trying to get rid of my non-land card tutors. I still have Weird Harvest because, well, it can get kinda rediculous, but even that I am considering removing. Land tutors are fine because they help ramp, but any form of card search just slows down the game, and people tend to dislike that

Have you considered Seasons Past? It is a really great card to continue being able to control the board and interacts well with Dawnstrider and other discard outlets.

buildingadeck That seems like a good idea! I'll have to see if there are any cards I can replace with it. At the moment I am not too concerned about card advantage since I have a lot of group hug style card draw, and stuff like Elixir of Immortality can let me put stuff back into my deck, but it seems good for getting answers that I need soon since it removes the element of randomness

Ever think about running Guilty Conscience it could work pretty well with Swans of Bryn Argoll

Sorvan_Korkoran That's a good idea! Although I wouldn't want to run it just for a synergy with that one card, but it could work pretty well in the deck regardless. I'll have to see since I don't really know what I would take out

Happy to help. Hope it works out okay.

I like it, especially since it's budget-friendly.

JacobTothe Thanks! Glad you like it

I imagine it was suggested already but Kor Haven, Maze of Ith & Mystifying Maze are great ways to keep people alive. Nice deck its a wonderful example of group hug. Happy gathering :)

Those cards would all be great additions to the deck, however I am trying to keep the deck fairly budget so I didn't include Kor Haven or Maze of Ith. Mystifying Maze seems like a pretty great addition as well, however I have been having mana fixing problems recently and I think I might benefit more from having more multi-colour lands than having a cool politics-style land. It's a great addition though! I'll try to get one and playtest with it to see how it works. Thanks!

Hey, I'm new to EDH and I'm looking for ideas to make a deck. I was originally interested in making a prison/tax deck but everything I've read about them seems to be that people absolutely hate playing against them so my Zur deck kinda went out the window. Alternatively, I'm considering a group hug style deck. Would a new EDH player be able to play a deck like this effectively or would it be more intelligent to go with a less political deck while learning the format?

Overall, though, your deck looks like a blast and I'm looking forward to trying it out eventually!

First of all, thanks for the comment!

For a first deck, I'd say you might want to gravitate towards something less political, or at the very least something less... Game changing. Group hug decks are extremely fun, but in moderation; sometimes people like to be able to play their decks as they intended them, and while group hug can make the game crazy and fun, it's good to have some normal games as well. This deck is very fun to play but it's mainly a good second or third deck to have when you are really feeling zany.

In terms of politics, there are a lot of cards that come to mind that you could play that would work perfectly in EDH for somebody who is new to EDH (for example Vow of Duty/any of the other vows, any form of offering like Intellectual Offering). In addition to cards like this, my advice to somebody who is new to EDH is to give your opponents a choice; Will of the Council is a really fun mechanic for EDH, same with cards like Illicit Auction, Pain's Reward or Liar's Pendulum. My main rule for playing politics in EDH is that you either go all-in or you only dabble slightly. If you try any middle-ground people will become pretty suspicious of you. Silly cards like Wild Ricochet and Puppet's Verdict will always gain you some allies though, since the format heavily rewards creativity.

Anyways, sorry for the wall of text! In short, I'd say you might want to save this deck for a second or third slot because going all-in on group hug definitely requires some finesse.

If you want to still play the politics game, try to start off with things that benefit you as well as other people like the Offerings. Targeted/semi-targeted spells ensure that you are able to help the little guy rather than making the big guy more powerful as well. A great example of stuff like this is either of these two decks: Your Best Evil Friend - EDH Tempting Deals and Chaotic Ruhan - Fun Randomness in EDH. They primarily focus on building your own defense/offense powers, but they still help people out just enough to gain their favour through the use of silly card effects and a bit more of a toned-down group hug style.

Hope this helps, and that you have a blast with whatever deck you end up playing! If you want any more suggestions just feel free to ask!

Hey poorpinkus, thanks for the detailed response! I'll take your advice and go with a more standard deck that has some political spells thrown in for fun (like the vow and offering cards you mentioned.) After reading a bit more it seems as if the group-hug playstyle, as you pointed out, is best served as a side-deck for the occasional zany game.

For now I think I will make an EDH deck using The Mimeoplasm as the general. I think there is potential there for some very fun and interesting combinations. However, I will definitely be coming back to this deck later on once I have some more experience under my belt.

Thanks again for the advice and words of encouragement!

No problem, have fun! Mimeoplasm is an awesome general!

I love this!

I also may be hanging myself up here.. but just for my own clarification..

You said that using Prosperity to mill everyone is unacceptable, but then list Prosperity milling as a win con. How do you mean for the player to use "everyone draw cards" as a win con without angering the entire table?

KvotheKingkiller man, I really need to fix that description lol

What I really meant to say is that context matters when you decide when to pull the trigger; you can't just let everyone give you lands and kill them the next turn, you have to use a bit of tact. Prosperity as a win con to kill everyone at the table is still an option, but it should be considered a last resort. If you do it consistently people will start focusing you. If however, say, the control player is making the game grind to a halt and people are just wishing for the game to end, you can use prosperity as a mercy game-reset. You'll still win, but people will be glad that you won that way. Another thing to remember is that everything for the most part is fair game in a 1v1 as long as you don't act like it is planned. Let's say you, for example, buffed the hippo to a 21/21 and killed the last player in a 1v1. Usually that would be considered an awesome comeback rather than you planning behind everyone's back. To win with Prosperity you have to be surprised when it happens (and usually you will be), otherwise you are just planning behind everyone's back.

My whole philosophy with this deck is that from the start of the game I am legitimately just trying to make everyone have a good time, but if later on when the fun starts to die down I find a way to end the game I will, however most of the time people will end up decking themselves by choosing to draw cards when offered. The reason why I like this deck is because you are legitimately killing the players with kindness, not plotting behind their backs

poorpinkus Ah, thanks for spelling it out for me! Can't wait to try this deck out, it does seem like a lot fo fun :D

KvotheKingkiller I'm really glad you like it! The finesse of the deck becomes a lot more apparent when you start playing it, I hope you enjoy it!

hello. i am new and impulsive. i just bought all of your deck (minus your maybeboard). i happen to have Concordant Crossroads. it seems like a fun card. however, your previous statements lead me to believe that the spell would help some players more than others. what is your take on the card in relation to this particular deck? thanks.

beets First of all, thanks for the support! I love that people like my take on group hug! As for the maybeboard, most of it isn't really that necessary for the deck (I don't even have the maybeboard), just options that people have suggested that ended up not making the cut either for being too expensive or not impactful enough.

I think cards like that could be thought of more like a group slug card rather than a group hug card, so I'm not necessarily sure if it fits in the deck for the group hug aspect. I will say however, that it would still introduce some interesting politics into the game and it could actually be an interesting option if you were low on resources and you needed somebody to pick a side with early game.

My suggestion is to put it in and see how it goes! I may have been the creator of the deck but I am by no means the be-all end-all decision maker on cards. It's a really interesting decision and I'd like to hear how it works - It would definitely make the game a lot more interesting since people know even less about what is going to happen.

If you're ever interested in the... darker side of politics, check out my other deck Your Best Evil Friend - EDH Tempting Deals. It's based on giving people just a little bit of resources in exchange for having them take damage. It's got a lot of really fun politics cards like Illicit Auction and Puppet's Verdict, but it still has just enough control options to make it viable as a standalone deck in a 1v1 situation. It's probably my other favourite deck aside from Phelddagrif and I just love the idea of grixis politics

So, this is a big noob question, but I'm going to ask anyway. I've never seen Phelddagrif played, so I'm confused about the best way to play him politically. I can see how giving an opponent a blocker and card draw would help, but what about the heal and the fact that you bounce him if you have them draw cards?