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Land (30)
- 2x Boseiju, Who Endures
- 1x Commercial District
- 1x Crumbling Vestige
- 1x Echoing Deeps
- 2x Forest
- 1x Golgari Rot Farm
- 4x Gruul Turf
- 1x Hanweir Battlements Meld
- 1x Mirrorpool
- 1x Misty Rainforest
- 1x Otawara, Soaring City
- 4x Simic Growth Chamber
- 2x The Mycosynth Gardens
- 1x Tolaria West
- 1x Urza's Cave
- 4x Urza's Saga
- 1x Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
- 1x Vesuva
Creature (13)
- 3x Arboreal Grazer
- 1x Azusa, Lost but Seeking
- 4x Dryad of the Ilysian Grove
- 4x Primeval Titan
- 1x Springheart Nantuko
Instant (4)
Artifact (9)
Sorcery (4)
Sideboard
Land (4)
Instant (4)
Creature (2)
Enchantment (2)
Sorcery (1)
Artifact (2)
Please read the description (there's toggles). I'd suggest at least reading the Overview of the Deck, Basic Play of the Deck, and Key Differences Explained sections if you don't want to read the whole thing. However, each section does help to explain the deck a little better, so if you have the time, I highly suggest reading it fully. ===accordion ===panel:
Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle - the only red expedition frame
Primeval Titan - Time Spiral Remastered old frames (different coloring)
Urza's Saga - look for the Saga frame on the left (any print works)
Amulet of Vigor - only artifact in old frame pre-boarding
Tolaria West - the "Heads I Win, Tails You Lose" print with the stamp bottom left
I have a lot of full art cards for this purpose as well, and try to use "the List" or similar prints to have the small stamp on the bottom left to help differentiate at a glance some cards that don't have unique frames. You can also use the Modern and old frames in a similar way, since the coloring or frame itself is a slightly different color. ===endpanel ===panel: Hard to See Lines Some of these lines aren't commonly known, or are very hard to see, so I will mention them here. Haste with double Amulet of Vigor in play and Hanweir Battlements in hand - play your Primeval Titan and clone it with Mirrorpool and any bounce, then on the second trigger, find Tolaria West + Gruul Turf producing . Transmute Tolaria West using for Summoner's Pact. Fetch and cast Arboreal Grazer putting Hanweir Battlements into play and using your remaining to double activate it giving both Primeval Titans haste. Remove a blocker/threat with singular Amulet of Vigor - play your Primeval Titan finding Crumbling Vestige + Hanweir Battlements for haste, leaving Crumbling Vestige untapped. On the attack trigger, find Otawara, Soaring City + any bounce, allowing you to bounce almost anything back to your opponent's hand. Instant speed Bojuka Bog - play your Primeval Titan finding Crumbling Vestige + Hanweir Battlements for haste, leaving Crumbling Vestige untapped. On the attack trigger, find Urza's Cave + any bounce, allowing you told hold up graveyard removal at instant speed. Some other little tricks are: playing Vesuva untapped as nothing with Dryad of the Ilysian Grove to produce mana and using Dryad of the Ilysian Grove as a pseudo-answer to Blood Moon thanks to layering (if played after Blood Moon, you have Mountains that are every basic land type). ===endpanel ===endaccordion ===endpanel __________ ===panel:
Amulet of Vigor (4) - One of the cards that makes this deck really shine, eliminating the downside of many of my lands, while also giving my titans +2/0 and haste (plus an extra land!). Multiples of this ramp me really fast, and is a force to be reckoned with. The One Ring (4) - a powerful stalling option which provides card advantage. This helps us to stay alive and find whatever card we may be missing. Primeval Titan (4) - The main creature this deck revolves around, quite the force to be reckoned with. Even if it gets removed, you still get the ETB trigger, so sometimes playing into removal and finding Tolaria West or Shifting Woodland is the correct play, ignoring haste for redundancy. Summoner's Pact (4) - Pretty much 4 more copies of Primeval Titan or whatever creature is needed, but be careful with the upkeep (I like to account for them potentially destroying any of my lands)! As this is a commonly sided out card thanks to Subtlety, it is reasonable to trim slightly, but I wouldn't go below 2-3 copies. Arboreal Grazer (1-4) - This is actually fetchable ramp in a sense, because it can net you 1+ extra mana in a lot of situations with a Summoner's Pact (not a suggested path against interaction). It also has reach and makes a decent blocker afterwards. You always want to run at least one of these, even post-sideboard against decks with 0 creatures to block, as it enables a lot of lines when fetching with Summoner's Pact. Azusa, Lost but Seeking (0-2) / Dryad of the Ilysian Grove (0-4) - Azusa, Lost but Seeking is two additional land drops per turn, which enables Primeval Titan the turn after pacting and having 0 open mana with an amulet and bounceland. However, she is legendary, so you never want more than 1, which is why I generally run less than 4 copies of her. Dryad of the Ilysian Grove is an additional land drop every turn, mana-fixing, and a solid 2/4 body for 3 mana, allowing us to flex into a midrange deck. It also combos with Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle as a win-condition. 3 CMC is also a critical point for the deck, since we can usually go from 3 mana straight to 6+, so this slot is very important. Springheart Nantuko (1-3) - This is actually a very broken card with almost all of our creatures, allowing them to essentially go infinite with a singular Amulet of Vigor in play and a bounce in hand. While an army of Arboreal Grazers might not win us the game outright, not many decks can get through an army of 0/3 reach creatures. With Dryad of the Ilysian Grove or Primeval Titan as the copy target, you essentially win. Bestow is also nice since if they remove the creature, your aura just stops being an aura and becomes a creature. Gaining an army of 1/1 insects on every landfall is still a good effect, especially if they already traded removal to make you get that effect. Spelunking (0-2) / Explore (0-4) - Spelunking is a bit stronger, having an Amulet of Vigor effect built into it, especially post-board. However, it does get progressively worse in duplicates, becoming an overpriced Explore after the first copy. Malevolent Rumble (0-4) - This is essentially a power crept version of Ancient Stirrings. Being able to pull any permanent from the top 4 is a powerful effect, especially when you consider it is really only costing you and not thanks to the Spawn Token. This also puts cards into the graveyard which can be very relevant with Shifting Woodland to enable delirium. At the same time, putting key cards into your graveyard is mitigated by Echoing Deeps, so this card definitely has synergy with the deck. Do not confuse the "ramp" from the Spawn Token with the ability to play additional lands, as they are two different things. This card also has added upside in matches where you are siding in permanents, as it can find them a lot easier. Elvish Reclaimer (0-4) - Surprisingly, this versatile guy is decent at just about everything you could want. It can act as a pseudo-extra land card, a land tutor, a sizable threat to stabilize when you have nothing. This is a 1 drop that scales up as the game goes on, and can also be used as a tutor for the land you really need (really good at finding your missing bounceland or Urza's Saga). You can also use the activated ability in response to the triggered ability of Urza's Saga's 3rd chapter to basically replace/upgrade your land in addition to searching for your artifact of choice. The main downside of this option is it is a tap ability, so it suffers from summoning sickness, which may not always be desired in a combo deck. Realistically, this is very close to a hybrid Arboreal Grazer and Expedition Map, being able to fulfill the main uses of both cards (although not being findable with Urza's Saga and only Summoner's Pact). Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle (0-2) - This is actually a win-con with enough land drops and Dryad of the Ilysian Grove. Due to bouncelands being able to bounce themselves, you are generally able to utilize all your extra land drops on each turn, so this damage can add up really quickly. It can be used to clear the board or to do direct damage. Vesuva (1-2) - This is essentially a mandatory include because of all the great plays it enables. Vesuva is probably the best land in the deck, as it can be pretty much anything. In addition to copying anything (opponent's lands included), you can play it untapped copying nothing with Dryad of the Ilysian Grove out to produce mana, an often overlooked line of play. Crumbling Vestige (1-4) - This is a pseudo-bounce, producing 2 mana with an Amulet of Vigor. It also allows us to go +1 land or +1 mana with certain lines, which is very relevant. Also being an untapped green source makes this one of the most useful/versatile lands in the deck, essentially filling all the checkmarks of what we want a land to do in this deck. It also enables us to activate Otawara, Soaring City during our combat step with only 1 Amulet of Vigor if using the Hanweir Battlements package to haste by finding it to enable the haste, leaving it untapped to get up to 4 mana during our combat phase. You can also haste your Primeval Titan without an Amulet of Vigor using some combination of this, Hanweir Battlements and a bounce. For all these reasons, I would call it a mandatory include, and generally prefer to play 2 copies if possible, but some people choose not to play any copies. Tolaria West (1-2) - this can transmute into Summoner's Pact for whichever creature fits your situation best. It can also become any other land, a Chalice of the Void or Engineered Explosives if either is in the deck (or any other 0 CMC sideboard card, including lands). At least 2 copies enables swinging with 3+ Primeval Titan when you get to that many amulets, which is essentially enough for lethal. Otawara, Soaring City (0-1) - this is basically required in the Hanweir Battlements version of the deck, since it essentially enables pseudo-vigilance. By removing a blocker on the swing, they are unable to swing with it their following turn, so it can both help to sneak in some additional damage, and allow us a form of protection the following turn, some of the main pros of Slayers' Stronghold. Boseiju, Who Endures (1-3) - One of the best utility lands for the deck, since we can easily bounce it back to hand, making it fetchable removal for artifacts, enchantments, and even troublesome lands (essentially a broader version of Ghost Quarter if you don't plan to use it on yourself). It does technically ramp your opponent in most cases, but that's a fair tradeoff for eliminating a more troublesome permanent. Be careful not to run too many copies, as the legendary rule does come up when trying to use multiples as a land. Disciple of Freyalise (0-1) - this is a pactable untapped/tapped green manasource, and also a great way to gain life and draw cards, which is a very important line to have access to. Urza's Cave (0-1) - a great tutor for another land, with finding Bojuka Bog at instant speed being one of the most powerful forms of interaction we get access to. This is also another way to cheat in extra landfall triggers, at instant speed, or find that missing bounce, all while being an untapped land. Cavern of Souls (0-3) - Good for control matches, and it can also be useful for colored mana when trying to hard cast more color intensive creatures like Sigarda, Host of Herons. Since we have a lot of bouncelands in here, we can change the creature type named almost as often as wanted, so this is almost like an Ancient Ziggurat that can tap for colorless when not casting creature spells. Hanweir Battlements (0-1) / Slayers' Stronghold + Boros Garrison - These are some of the best utility lands for this deck. It allows your titans to come out with haste, you can't really ask for more. Slayers' Stronghold is arguably the better of the two, since it gives haste/vigilance and +2/0, which can be important (this does require committing another slot to Boros Garrison as well). Hanweir Battlements is better at granting our titans haste without an amulet, or squeezing extra damage out of Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle. Having both as an option gives some added flexibility in plays, and makes us less susceptible to things like Surgical Extraction or drawing into our only haste enabling land before playing the titan. It is not really recommended to run both, and I recommend being careful not to overcommit to non-green lands, as you really need green lands for the deck to function early. Urza's Saga (4) / The Mycosynth Gardens (2-4) - These are super powerful in game 1, but they are also super vulnerable to removal/hate (you basically concede against an early Blood Moon, Magus of the Moon, or Force of Vigor). However, one thing they both do well is allow for a double amulet more often (making them a solid turn 1/2 land). One additional upside the Saga does have going for it is the negatives aren't really preyed upon until games 2/3 of the match making it a powerful game 1 tool, which is why most decks want 4 copies, then side them out as needed. The Mycosynth Gardens needs a first Amulet of Vigor to copy, but it can have us go +1 the same turn, instead of needing to wait. It is a little less vulnerable to hate than its counterpart, since it isn't a Saga or Enchantment, but a little less powerful overall. When comparing the two, Urza's Saga is an investment of 2 turns for an Amulet of Vigor, while The Mycosynth Gardens is an investment of 2 mana, which also requires a first copy for us to copy. While it is pretty clear which of these effects is more powerful, both cards enable us to have an explosive turn 3 more consistently. These are also both colorless lands, which is something you need to be careful of running too many copies of, especially if you have a lot of early plays that want colored mana. Forest (2+) / Snow-Covered Forest (2+) - basic lands are needed, enough said. It stops Path to Exile-type effects from being as devastating, and gives hope against Blood Moon. I typically like to use white bordered basics to make fetching easier (you can fan out your deck instead of going card by card) if going with fetchlands, just a little trick I like to use to help speed up games. I never suggest dropping below 2 basics with this deck, and if you aren't splashing heavily, more is always better. Misty Rainforest (0-2) - fetches are surprisingly great in here, for two main reasons. First, the reason they are played in most decks, great mana-fixing. We can play more virtual copies of our non-basics without being forced to draw into them, which is great for something like the Surveil lands. Second, it enables additional landfall triggers, which is very important to our deck with the inclusion of Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle. Lush Portico (0-1) / Temple Garden (0-1) - this is a forest subtype land which allows us to dig into our deck or has the option of coming in untapped. This makes our opponent's Boseiju, Who Endures into even more of a double edged sword, now giving us some additional card selection. If running any fetches, it also gives us decent access to pseudo-turn 1 plays, playing this tapped and potentially eliminating a bad draw. Selesnya Sanctuary (0-4) / Golgari Rot Farm (0-4) / Simic Growth Chamber (1-4) / Gruul Turf (0-4) - green bouncelands, the main thing this deck revolves around. It is a good idea to keep one of these in hand at all times (or a Vesuva to copy one) to make the most of your multiple land drop potential. The only time I play my last one in hand is if it means I can hard cast a bomb that I feel will get through when I untap next turn. Otherwise it is best to keep one in hand with the potential of drawing extra land cards, allowing you to "go off" in a lot of cases (considering you have either an amulet in play, or dryad/azusa in hand, and are just waiting on the other piece). I would suggest having 8+ of these, with 9-10 being preferred. Simic Growth Chamber is a mandatory include alongside Tolaria West so you can bounce it back to hand and transmute it. Castle Garenbrig (0-4) / Sunken Citadel (0-2) - Castle Garenbrig is decent as potential ramp if you run enough fetches + Forest Subtypes that it can consistently come out untapped. Not really worth forcing into the deck, but it can be viewed as +2 for mana calculations in a lot of scenarios, so definitely a solid include if there's enough space and support for it. Sunken Citadel can be used to enable many of our lands, and can even be seen as a 5 color land, since we can pick any color. They both compliment each other quite well also, so if playing a more budget version, look to use these instead of Urza's Saga. Echoing Deeps (0-1) - This is my "kill" land of choice. I chose it over all the options below, mainly because it does something beneficial outside of the combo. Being able to copy a key land that was removed or surveilled away is quite nice, but we also like being able to copy a fetch, whether it is ours or our opponent's. Mirrorpool (0-1) / Kessig Wolf Run (0-1) / Oran-Rief, the Vastwood (0-1) / Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion / Mosswort Bridge / Drannith Ruins / Novijen, Heart of Progress - Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion is great to block something with deathtouch (take that Wurmcoil Engine - I live and you don't even gain life), or just double your damage. Mosswort Bridge can cover the defensive and offensive purposes of Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion in almost every situation, without the need of as much mana investment, even allowing more aggressive plays sometimes, all while being a colored mana source instead of colorless. Mosswort Bridge is the most powerful digging tool and virtual advantage this deck has to offer. Cast off anything for 1 green? Yes please! Need to find some removal because they are just stalling with something stupid and annoying? Keep copying/bouncing this until you find what you are looking for. If you are running Mosswort Bridge, it is basically required to run Slayers' Stronghold + Boros Garrison alongside it, allowing you to get to 10+ power far more consistently. Because of those mandatory inclusions, Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion is a basically equivalent option as well, being in the same colors. Also worth mentioning is that you can use the hideaway of Mosswort Bridge to exile cards you don't want to draw, if you don't plan on activating it prior to bouncing it back to your hand. After a shuffling effect, this deck-thinning helps increase your odds of hitting cards you do want by a few percentage points. Mirrorpool is able to be a strict replacement for Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion allowing us to create 2 titans to double pump with Slayers' Stronghold for lethal, or Kessig Wolf Run / Oran-Rief, the Vastwood / Drannith Ruins / Novijen, Heart of Progress if you are on Hanweir Battlements to enable haste. Expedition Map (0-1) - this is mainly found with Urza's Saga when you already have the mana or Amulet of Vigors but are missing a bounce or a threat. Expedition Map lets you tutor for a specific land like Simic Growth Chamber, Tolaria West, Forest, or Shifting Woodland, etc. so it can still have value in non-Urza's Saga games if a specific land is powerful. ===endpanel ===panel: Filler Options The number in parenthesis after the card is its suggested quantity. As an example, Amulet of Vigor (4) means I suggest running 4 copies of the card. Excluding all of the mandatory includes, we are able to fit around 5 land and 5 non-land Filler options, allowing tweaking the deck for specific needs.
Bonny Pall, Clearcutter - This is just a solid option for when we don't have Amulet of Vigor, creating 2 blockers, and even allowing the attack trigger without haste by swinging with something like an Arboreal Grazer. Altered Ego (0-1) / Phyrexian Metamorph (0-1) - with the increased access to 2 copies of Amulet of Vigor, Altered Ego is a very powerful option, essentially lowering the mana threshold for 2+ Primeval Titans. You can now play that second titan after transmuting Tolaria West if you have access to 7 mana, with 6 of it coming from the Simic Growth Chamber + Tolaria West you found. Phyrexian Metamorph cant be tutored for, but it is the superior version when drawn into, both being cheaper, and allowing us to also copy The One Ring, Amulet of Vigor or whatever we are already copying with The Mycosynth Gardens. Cultivator Colossus (0-1) - This is basically Primeval Titan's big brother when your hand is mana flooded or a utility land you need is in your hand instead of your deck. It doesn't quite go infinite with bouncelands since you need to fully resolve Cultivator Colossus's ability before resolving anything else, but it is definitely a way of making the most of mana-flooding, letting you draw into things to spend that mana on. This is significantly worse than Primeval Titan if you don't have at least 2 lands in hand. If you have 4+ lands in hand, I would say it is generally better (you can still whiff). With 3 lands in hand, they are generally equivalent, with certain board states preferring one option over the other. Aether Hub / Gemstone Mine / Mana Confluence / Waterlogged Grove / Reflecting Pool / Flooded Grove - Gemstone Mine probably has the most synergy, since you can use it twice then bounce it to reset its counters. Aether Hub is a strictly better version of Tendo Ice Bridge and is next in line, since you can bounce it and replay it without using the to stack multiples for later. The draw-land cycle of cards like Waterlogged Grove is one land that actually isn't terrible to draw when mana-flooded. The filter cycle like Flooded Grove helps manafix if you have a lot of non-green double cost cards. Reflecting Pool is basically a psuedo-5-color land that makes cards with multiple of the same color cost a lot easier to cast. It gets exponentially better with more multicolored lands, and is quite nice in greedy manabases like this one. Some similar options are Tendo Ice Bridge / City of Brass / Vivid Grove / Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth Worldsoul's Rage - at worst removal and ramp, but at best an infinite combo with Mirrorpool. It is a bit slower, and does require a specific splash color, so there are some downsides for this powerful option. Scapeshift - capable of winning games with Dryad of the Ilysian Grove or Amulet of Vigor + 6 lands out by finding Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle or setting up a (usually) game winning Cultivator Colossus by finding Bouncelands + Tolaria West. With only 5 lands and Amulet of Vigor out, you can run away with the game by transmuting into Primeval Titan in pretty much the same way, depending on which lands you have to sacrifice. With 2+ Amulet of Vigor you only need 3 lands to sacrifice to produce enough mana to transmute into a threat. It is strongly suggested to run multiple haste enabling lands if you run any copies of this. It can also function as mana-fixing or ramp depending on the situation as well. Not really the greatest thing in multiples, since most of our lands are important utility lands, but definitely a lot of strong synergy with the deck overall. It's also pretty horrible without Dryad of the Ilysian Grove or Amulet of Vigor, so it isn't ideal against decks with interaction. Fae of Wishes / Wish / Glittering Wish / Karn, the Great Creator - even though Fae of Wishes is technically a creature, it's adventure mode is a non-creature spell, which is what we are interested in mainly. This is the most relevant of the wish cards, since we can still cast it for the adventure mode when hidden away, and it has extra synergy when hit with Turntimber Symbiosis for a 4/7 flier. Wish is just the most flexible wishing card, letting you grab literally anything. However, it forces you to use it the same turn, so it isn't as ideal as some other wish options in certain scenarios. Glittering Wish is the most reasonably priced of the bunch, but can only tutor for something multicolored in the sideboard. Karn, the Great Creator is the artifact wish and potentially usable multiple turns.
Honorable Mentions Tyrranax Rex - keyword soup, toxic edition... Seriously though, this card fits fairly well by being a near impossible to deal with threat against any kind of control variant. It also helps with any kind of "infinite" life shenanigans, since we can now win through poison counters instead. Gwenna, Eyes of Gaea - This is a very interesting option for the deck, which has some pros and cons to it. The first (and really only) major con is that this card doesn't do much the turn it is played, unlike most of our other ramp options. However, this is a card that can color-fix, and gets us to a turn 4 titan on its own. It also makes it far easier to chain Tolaria West into multiple Primeval Titans since it untaps when playing a 5+ power creature, essentially reducing the casting cost by 2. Tireless Tracker / Courser of Kruphix - Tireless Tracker is a form of card advantage that is capable of growing itself, although at the cost of investing further mana. Courser of Kruphix is good at letting us eliminate land draws, which can really be a problem sometimes. It also is Lightning Bolt proof, which can be huge sometimes. Lifegain from lands hitting play is just icing on the cake. Something that is also very relevant for both is that the 2+ power can be just what's needed for that Mosswort Bridge activation. Ghostly Flicker - this is actually a super flexible option, able to be used to reset our The One Ring, ramp us by flickering lands / ETB creatures, or even just protecting our creatures from removal. Even though it has all that going for it, it is a bit dependent on having certain cards in play already, so we don't want to over-invest in it. Manamorphose - color-fixing where the main downside is not knowing what card it "really is" when considering your hand for a mulligan. It also doubles as a pseudo-answer for Blood Moon as a happy coincidence. Khalni Garden / Radiant Fountain / Kabira Crossroads / Blossoming Sands cycle - chump blocker or lifegain slot. Sometimes that is enough to turn the tide of battle, so it isn't to be under-estimated as a utility option. I generally go with Khalni Garden / Kabira Crossroads if I have enough space (can potentially filter the with Wooded Bastion). ===endpanel ===panel: Weakest Cards It's important to be realistic about the deck, and realize what the weakest/most unneeded cards are. I'll point out what I consider the top weakest main/sideboard cards, and why I don't think they are "ideal." Feel free to discuss other options or suggest replacements to try out. Right now, I would say the deck feels like it sometimes wants access to more threats and ways to pay for them earlier, but don't all decks want that?
Urza's Cave - this probably seems like a very underwhelming card to be in the maindeck, and that's because it is. On its own, it doesn't do a lot. However, it is essentially the same as Expedition Map, since it is able to tutor up any land, but this time directly into play. This is most notably used for Bojuka Bog, giving us an extra slot of gravehate, but this time one that can be used at instant speed. This definitely isn't the most needed land slot, but if you have the space for it, there's plenty of upside and additional lines that it provides. Expedition Map - this is an overpriced land in a lot of scenarios, until you actually need it. It does let Urza's Saga replace itself with a land, but more importantly, it will let us find a missing land to win with when we already have 2+ Amulet of Vigor turning a lot of do-nothing hands into winners. This is still one of the most sided out cards, mainly because we side out Urza's Saga so often, which is where Expedition Map's utility matters. Azusa, Lost but Seeking - of all the mana dorks and extra land cards, this is probably one of the worst, as strange as it sounds. She can ramp far better than any other, but in a world full of removal sometimes we don't even get to play the second extra land (it's usually easy to play around removal). She also has the least amount of toughness of all our dorks, which makes her a less than ideal blocker. That being said, casting Summoner's Pact for her to set up a Primeval Titan the following turn is one of the more powerful lines of the deck, so I find it very difficult to cut her and not miss her. Replacement Options:
In addition to anything listed in the Filler Options section, you can always run increased copies of anything we don't already run 4 of, like Arboreal Grazer, Explore, or any key lands are always great replacement options. Moving any creature from the sideboard to the mainboard can also be an option if your meta supports that decision. The deck would almost always like more extra land cards or creatures, 3 CMC or less that fit, like Courser of Kruphix or Tireless Tracker or anything else that grants a useful ability and can be used to generate value, apply pressure and/or block with. There's also plenty of ideas in the maybe board, for both the main and side.
Sideboard
Relic of Progenitus - this slot is probably not strictly needed with all the other gravehate we are already running. However, being able to find Relic of Progenitus off an Urza's Saga is very powerful, especially against black decks. Strictly black graveyard decks have gone down in metashare now, so this can probably be swapped for a different piece of hate if needed. Also of note, cracking it hits our grave too, which can be very relevant if you are trying to use Shifting Woodland. Roxanne, Starfall Savant - as much as I love her as an answer to Magus of the Moon and a threat at the same time, most people are running a normal Blood Moon now, so she isn't quite as effective. She also does nothing against Harbinger of the Seas which is another moon effect we need to look out for. Spelunking - a very underwhelming card. It is two of our best effects combined, Amulet of Vigor + Explore, so it isn't like it is a weak option or anything, it is just an unassuming card that is underestimated. It is one of the best options to help get that first Amulet of Vigor effect out there when we are siding out Urza's Saga, and that is exactly what I use this for. Replacement Options:
A few too many to list, since this deck can easily flex into any of the 5 colors. Basically, you want to always have a few gravehate slots, a few lands to move in, and some ways to deal with problem cards/decks, whatever those may be (always consider Blood Moon and Magus of the Moon). You may also want some redundant threats, as there's cards like Surgical Extraction that can target our very linear plan, which is why mill is a surprisingly difficult matchup if not respected. "Silver Bullet" type cards are also always a great choice, cards where when you play it against a certain deck, they basically lose on the spot. ===endpanel ===endaccordion ===endpanel ____________ ===panel:
Green Creatures - 1 card is 6+ virtual copies (Summoner's Pact / Tolaria West)
Everything Else I also suggest mapping out a general idea of your 1 to 1 swaps for commonly sided out cards. For example, if I am siding out all 4 copies of Urza's Saga (and Expedition Map / Mirrorpool because I will have less access to double Amulet of Vigor) because I suspect a Blood Moon effect or a lot of artifact/enchantment hate, I know which 6 cards will always be replacing those, my Boseiju, Who Endures, Shifting Woodland, Spelunking, and whatever else is good in the matchup. Knowing a general idea of your sideboard mapping like this helps to eliminate a lot of the thinking and have a more consistent sideboarding experience, often leading to better results. Just as a disclaimer, the Glittering Wish and Karn, the Great Creator sections may be a bit outdated, since I do not keep their sections up to date. They are still worth mentioning as potential options though. ===panel:Card Choices ===accordion ===panel:Current Options Vexing Bauble - This is a powerful card that turns off free spells. That means no more pitch elementals, forces, or anything like that to worry about. it does turn off our own pacts, but we can always crack it to turn our pacts back on again. Unfortunately, that will open us back up to Subtlety and Solitude, but the true dream is to retrace this with Six after doing so. Even though needing to sacrifice it to use our own pacts is not ideal and can create some weird play patterns, it does a whole lot outside of when we need a pact. Shifting Woodland - Even though Delirium can be a little challenging to enable, being able to copy any permanent in the graveyard is a very powerful effect, especially for a potentially t2 untapped green source. This enables us to play around non-exiling removal, or even just copy lands or a utility creature. They would still have summoning sickness, and you miss out on ETB effects, but other than that a great card. Some common usages would be recurring a Primeval Titan the turn after it is removed with a non-exiling effect, or cheating in a Dryad of the Ilysian Grove effect same turn because we don't care about summoning sickness, but would be able to enable some additional damage. Force of Vigor / Boseiju, Who Endures / Pick Your Poison / Tear Asunder / Stormkeld Vanguard - some of the best artifact and enchantment removal in the format. Force of Vigor is capable of removing 2 problem permanents at the cost of 2 cards and no mana, this option definitely keeps some unfair decks in check (ours included, as this is one of our problem cards). Being a potential "colorless" out to a resolved Blood Moon is also a huge upside that cannot be overstated enough. Boseiju, Who Endures has the added benefit of being a land we can use to replace Urza's Saga when suspecting Blood Moon. Pick Your Poison / Tear Asunder can flex as an answer to larger creatures, alongside everyone's favorite indestructible artifact - The One Ring with the later option. Stormkeld Vanguard is capable of being a threat later into the game after being used as removal, and is also searchable by Summoner's Pact. They all have their respective pros/cons. Dismember / Firespout / Hail Storm / Engineered Explosives / Storm's Wrath / The Filigree Sylex / Ratchet Bomb - some of the best creature removal in the format, not really much else to say. The board wipe option(s) flex depending on the meta, but you do want a way to deal with go-wide decks, whether that is through direct damage or targeted CMC. The first of the targeted CMC options should always be Engineered Explosives, since being able to be found by Tolaria West is a very powerful effect. But, if planning to run multiple versions of that effect, I generally prefer the other 2 options, as they don't require you to hold open mana on your opponent's turn to threaten cracking it. Hail Storm is a non-symmetrical effect, and at instant speed, so against low toughness decks, this is definitely one of the better options, although it isn't as easy to cast as some other options. Endurance / Turn the Earth / Relic of Progenitus / Bojuka Bog - Endurance is preferred mainly due to it's evoke cost and the ability to be found with a Summoner's Pact. Even when you are tapped out, you can find this card and essentially counter anything if it is going to be game-ending by exiling another green card in hand. It can also be used on yourself to help in the mill matchup, unlike some other options (I only run 1-2 copies to not expose ourselves to Surgical Extraction and Extirpate as much since we have lots of creature tutor options). Turn the Earth makes up the other copies, and has some things going for it over multiple copies of Endurance. It is both usable from the grave when milled over, and can be used multiple times thanks to the flashback. The lifegain isn't completely irrelevant either. Relic of Progenitus is probably the weakest of the bunch, but it is a nice option to have vs. black graveyard decks especially. Its strength is being findable with Urza's Saga and able to be held up as instant speed interaction, while slowly keeping the opponent's graveyard in check at no additional cost. Bojuka Bog is a land that is findable with primveal titan (TSR) giving it some added utility, although usually at sorcery speed. Ironically enough, don't consider this as a land when sideboarding it in, since it is not a fast mana source and is not green - so it does nothing we want a land to do in this deck. Roxanne, Starfall Savant - this is a nice option against Magus of the Moon, both removing it and producing a 5 color mana source alongside a decent threat that needs to be answered before it produces too much value. Spelunking - this is a very underrated card in a lot of scenarios and has some very niche uses. The main benefit to this card is in games where we side out Urza's Saga so we will see less double Amulet of Vigor, as that is really the card's only downside, turning off one of our key cards. The major upside of this card is to stop untap triggers. So for example, with Azusa, Lost but Seeking we can play a tapped land followed by a bounce and they cannot react in-between. It is essentially Amulet of Vigor + Explore as a single card, but multiples of it or Amulet of Vigor are bad and we'd just rather have Explore in that scenario. That makes it a very good option to help replace the 3-4 Urza's Saga we side out against most red decks.
Honorable Mentions Six - this is a great card that gives us some inevitability, being able to recur basically anything from the graveyard. It is a way to loop The One Ring or replay a creature / Amulet of Vigor that was removed, all for the low price of a land card. It also has a decent body and reach making its stats not irrelevant. If you decide to swing, it is almost like drawing 3, thanks to its retrace ability. Quite the valuable engine in more grindy matchups. Surge of Salvation / Veil of Summer / Silence / Blossoming Calm - Surge of Salvation is essentially a Leyline of Sanctity effect with some additional upsides that be used as a combat trick against select decks. Veil of Summer is a nice option against any blue or black deck. It is mainly here to stop targeted discard. That being said, it is only effective against it if you have the mana open, so it is not nearly as effective on the draw. Blossoming Calm is of the nature. Silence can be used to protect our combo by resolving it first, or to "time walk" any sorcery speed deck. Spell Pierce / Swan Song / Strix Serenade / Test of Talents - Spell Pierce hits hard early, and becomes less powerful into the late game. Strix Serenade is mostly useful against big creatures and troublesome artifacts like The One Ring. The other options are really solid hate against problem instant or sorceries (or enchantments) which just so happen to be some of the matchups we don't typically have interaction with otherwise. These are very useful against Indomitable Creativity, Calibrated Blast, Persist, any cascade target like Living End / Glimpse of Tomorrow, any storm piece, or just a Counterspell war. They can't be tutored for and have to be drawn into naturally - but it can be fairly game changing when you do, especially against combo decks, which is the intended target. Spell Pierce is currently the option because of the prevalence of The One Ring and its ability to answer planeswalkers as well,, but with the printing of Strix Serenade that may change. I personally prefer to not have to hold up mana in my opponent's turn to use my cards with a mostly sorcery speed deck, but that's just my preference. Chalice of the Void - very powerful denial against decks that are efficiently mana-curved, as most modern decks are. This is one that is best played early for 0 or 1, maybe even 2 if facing a hatebears/goodstuff kind of deck. It doesn't deal with any current threats at that CMC, it only prevents future ones from being played. This also hits your own cards as well, so be careful about that. It is findable with Tolaria West, giving it extra value in the deck. If you run lots of 0 or 1 drops, this gets a lot less valuable, as it is a double-edged sword. The Stone Brain - good for removing any problem card from our opponent's deck, usually useful against more linear combo decks. Void Mirror / Defense Grid - good options vs various decks, both mostly deal with the MH2 pitch elementals though. Cursed Totem / Stone of Erech - these are mainly there for the creature combo decks, completely invalidating them until dealt with. Tyrranax Rex - this helps against anything that wants to play like control, whether they are blue or not. Being a near impossible to kill threat, that cannot be interacted with beneficially really cripples the decks it is meant to deal with. Hokori, Dust Drinker - this lets you shift into more of a prison-style gameplay. It's a shame it isn't green and the cost is a little hard to consistently have early. If you play this while your opponent is tapped out (and they aren't an aggro deck or don't have a crazy board state) you basically win. This card hits most "fair" decks hard, but barely affects us because of Amulet of Vigor + Bouncelands, turning it's effect into more of a 1 sided Winter Orb. You basically transition a combo-deck into a prison deck with this sideboard option. Most non-aggro decks just aren't ready for that in modern and can't recover fast enough. Since most of the current meta is aggro oriented, this card isn't positioned very well in the meta. However, in a slow meta, this is some top-tier sneaky tech. Elderscale Wurm / Empyrial Archangel / Hornet Queen - I found myself being able to cast off a Summoner's Pact for a Primeval Titan in a lot of situations against more aggro builds, only to realize it didn't matter since I was dead the next turn anyway. Elderscale Wurm and a lot of the following options help to solve that, albeit in different ways. Everything has their specific situations and pros/cons, which I will try to explain. Elderscale Wurm just makes you invulnerable to damage until it is either removed or you drop below 7 life (loss of life bypasses the protection). Empyrial Archangel has shroud, which really comes in handy against removal. One thing worth noting is that the replacement effect is not optional, so they can remove it by simply doing 8 damage to you in 1 turn, probably its biggest downside to consider. Hornet Queen is less vulnerable to targeted removal, but more vulnerable to wipes due to low CMC and toughness. However, an army of deathtouch blockers will often slow/stop the opponents deck for a bit. Wurmcoil Engine / Inferno of the Star Mounts / Inferno Titan / Dragonlord Atarka - mainly for Blood Moon matchups, although they all have other uses as a solid uncounterable threat, resilience against removal, Land destroyer, or pinger (killing Magus of the Moon on entry), which helps with the intended use since most Blood Moon decks tend to play counterspells and removal too. The firebreathing ability on some also gives you something to do with all that red mana, if you aren't able to deal with Blood Moon. Wurmcoil Engine is more relevant in other matches since colorless is a lot easier for our manabase to support, and is a resilient to removal option, so it is probably the best option of them all. Forest / Plains / Island or other basic land - This is just a land to side in, when I side out Urza's Saga. An off-color basic does help with splashing vs. Blood Moon and has synergy with the correct fetches, Sakura-Tribe Elder and Springbloom Druid making them into better mana-fixers. ===endpanel ===panel:Generic Wish Options These are some Fae of Wishes / Wish guidelines. Scapeshift - This is basically the go-to option in most scenarios. It's capable of winning games with Dryad of the Ilysian Grove or Amulet of Vigor + 6 lands out by finding Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle or setting up a (usually) game winning Cultivator Colossus by finding Bouncelands + Tolaria West. With only 5 lands and Amulet of Vigor out, you can run away with the game by transmuting into Primeval Titan in pretty much the same way, depending on which lands you have to sacrifice. It can also function as mana-fixing or ramp depending on the situation as well. Not really the greatest thing in multiples, since most of our lands are important utility lands, but definitely a lot of synergy with the deck overall. It generally ends up a cheaper Cultivator Colossus or Primeval Titan, but sometimes one of your lands in play were important, so it's not always game winning on the spot (we help to mitigate this by running both Hanweir Battlements + Slayers' Stronghold). It's also pretty horrible without Dryad of the Ilysian Grove or Amulet of Vigor, so it does very poorly against decks with interaction. Worship - some sneaky tech that can buy us enough time to get back in the game in most cases. It's not really the best thing to try for, as you are dangerously close to death for it to take effect, but effects like these are capable of turning games around on their own. Since we can wish for it, then cast Fae of Wishes from exile to enable it, this is a pretty decent option to pivot a game you feel slipping away. It is actually really solid tech against RDW variations, as they don't expect troublesome enchantments from us, and will mainly pack artifact hate, or use their removal on Dryad of the Ilysian Grove instead. It's also important to have some access to "free" options that answer specific things like Chalice of the Void, Force of Vigor, Endurance, or Slaughter Pact as at least a 1-of. Being able to convert a wish card into a specific answer or win on the spot card, is the main benefit of it over a standard sideboard. Make sure the slots you are committing to the wishboard are worth it, if you don't plan to actually side them in, as those are slots you cannot use for something else. ===endpanel ===panel:The Glittering Wish Package I'm keeping this here more for archival purposes, as I think Fae of Wishes / Wish is almost better in every situation. I ran this wish package for a long time, so I'll just keep this subsection for now (it may not include some newer options). Silver Bullets Fracturing Gust - mostly there for affinity/hexproof, or anything else with lots of artifacts/enchantments. I feel the recent Culling Ritual does a better job in most situations, since it can also ramp me. It's basically ramp vs. lifegain when considering the two (instant speed and initial mana cost matters too of course). I tend to think a wipe + threat with the ramped mana is better generally speaking. Batwing Brume - another form of hate that is fairly specific to certain decks. the mode is potent against the Splinter Twin variants, while the mode is very effective against things like infect that go all in on one turn, where you just need to survive past their combo. This particular silver bullet isn't in my sideboard currently, as I've been seeing a lot less of both types of decks (infinite creature swarms and 1 trick ponies). Lavinia, Azorius Renegade / Gaddock Teeg / Yasharn, Implacable Earth / Scheming Fence - very strong denial in matches where relevant. Most of the decks Gaddock Teeg shut down have become less prevalent in the meta, so he isn't a needed option right now. Lavinia, Azorius Renegade on the other hand is strong against Tron, and 'free' spells like Solitude, Living End, Memnite, etc. Yasharn, Implacable Earth is very good against fetchlands, and anything that plans to sacrifice anything, like sacrifice outlet creature combo decks, Treasure and Food token decks, etc. Scheming Fence is a solid option against anything with activated abilities. It steals the abilities of anything short of planeswalkers, and it still turns those off. It is like an upgrade to Pithing Needle that's wishable. Wheel of Sun and Moon - this one is anti-mill and gravehate built into one neat package. It is also a softlock when combined with Elderscale Wurm if your opponent has no form of removal. Simply cast it on yourself and keep casting an instant to prevent yourself from decking out. Unmoored Ego / Slaughter Games - basically a silver bullet against most combo decks. This lets you completely remove one of their key pieces.
General Options The Gitrog Monster / Sigarda, Host of Herons / Dragonlord Dromoka / Empyrial Archangel / Hydroid Krasis / Nethroi, Apex of Death / Vhati il-Dal / Shelob, Child of Ungoliant - This slot is basically a multi-colored filler card that's in there for when I just need some presence on the field, but there's lots of great options, even beyond these (I try to go with creatures with at least 1 green cost so they can be found with Summoner's Pact when sided in - being castable with green/white is also suggested, so you always have access to cast it when wished for and aren't manascrewed). The Gitrog Monster is a beater with lots of synergy with the deck. It can transform our excess lands into cards and give us much needed extra land plays every turn. It's only real downside is its lack of protection and evasion. Sigarda, Host of Herons is a hard to remove threat - its effect is notable against annihilator, plus it's a flyer and hexproof. Dragonlord Dromoka is very good in a lot of matchups, specifically against blue/red due to the uncounterable and lifegain. Empyrial Archangel just ends games where it does its job right. It's biggest downside is that the replacement effect is not optional. Hydroid Krasis is just card advantage and life gain attached to a large beater with evasion and trample. Nethroi, Apex of Death is a different form of anti-removal from the hexproof/shroud options. Let them remove your creatures, then use the mutate cost on this guy to bring back some nice board presence that just happens to be enough to let you use Mosswort Bridge's hideaway. Vhati il-Dal is a very solid controlling option, making my creatures into essentially deathtouch blockers or attackers, or allowing me to block with Vhati il-Dal then tap it before damage calculation and block just about anything without it dying. There's also a lot of multi-colored planeswalkers, and non-green multi-colored creatures that could be options as well (Geyadrone Dihada / Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh / Blood Baron of Vizkopa / Dragonlord Ojutai / Narset, Enlightened Master being some top choices). However, I generally prefer to go with a green creature in this deck, as Summoner's Pact makes a singleton green creature into essentially 5 copies once sided in. Finally, let's look at some of the more generic removal options - these are some of my top choices:
Potential 2 for 1 or better:
Firespout
Deafening Clarion
Culling Ritual
Quandrix Command
Crime / Punishment
Hazardous Conditions
Fiery Justice
Maelstrom Pulse
Catch / Release
Razia's Purification
Permanents:
Abrupt Decay
Assassin's Trophy
Despark
Vanishing Verse
Vindicate
Anguished Unmaking
Specialized:
Kaya's Guile
Crackling Doom
Hide / Seek
Catch / Release
Riveteers Charm
Eladamri's Call
Cindervines
Honorable Mentions:
Anafenza, the Foremost
Kambal, Consul of Allocation
Knight of Autumn
Meddling Mage
Lightning Helix
Nature's Chant
Terminate
Detention Sphere
Deputy of Detention
I suggest picking well balanced removal spells for the slots (that fit in your color options, and are capable of dealing with more problems), but the choice(s) is/are yours. ===endpanel ===panel:The Karn Wish Package Since Karn, the Great Creator is limited to artifacts, and is the highest CMC of all the wishes, it is probably the worst option of them all. However, it is a permanent, so if the game goes longer, you can get more value from it. It is in a very awkward spot of the mana curve, and most modern games are over by the time it does anything, so I don't particularly like it. However, with that being said, there are some very good options, which are valid sideboard cards with or without Karn, the Great Creator. The One Ring - capable of buying a turn and granting 3 cards of card advantage, all for the low cost of 4 mana and 1 life. Liquimetal Coating - this allows your Karn, the Great Creator to destroy your opponent's lands, provided you can also protect him. Chalice of the Void - very powerful denial against decks that are efficiently mana-curved, as most modern decks are. This is one that is best played early for 0 or 1, maybe even 2 if facing a hatebears/goodstuff kind of deck. It doesn't deal with any current threats at that CMC, it only prevents future ones from being played. This also hits your own cards as well, so be careful about that. It is findable with Tolaria West, giving it extra value in the deck. If you run lots of 0 or 1 drops, this gets a lot less valuable, as it is a double-edged sword. Engineered Explosives - targeted CMC removal. Being findable with Tolaria West, gives it extra value in the deck. Defense Grid - solid against control, and even better against MH2 elementals. Unlicensed Hearse / Relic of Progenitus / Tormod's Crypt / Stone of Erech - Unlicensed Hearse has better interaction, being twice as powerful, and letting you choose the targets, along with being a potential threat on its own, while Relic of Progenitus is able to cantrip itself, and is findable with Urza's Saga. Tormod's Crypt is a one time shot at 0 CMC, but like Relic of Progenitus, it is findable by Urza's Saga and also Tolaria West making them all have their specific pros and cons. Stone of Erech is a great form of hate for anything that hits the battlefield, being a replacement effect, the strongest of all effects, but slightly more narrow than the rest. Pithing Needle / Sorcerous Spyglass - quite powerful against planeswalkers, fetches, and anything else with an activated ability. Either option can break certain combo decks if they rely on activated abilities. I generally go with Sorcerous Spyglass because it gives extra information, and can be cast through a Chalice of the Void at 1. However, with Urza's Saga, Pithing Needle can be a better option. Haywire Mite - artifact/enchantment removal, something we always want. Also, since this is findable with Urza's Saga it gets some extra value. The Stone Brain - an effect previously restricted to splashing at least - there's 4+ variations of this effect in multiple colors, but they've always included at least previously - this is a very powerful card. Against a lot of combo decks, eliminating their key card can be back breaking and win the game on the spot. Phyrexian Metamorph / Blade of Shared Souls - having access to a copy effect can sometimes be extremely beneficial. These cards are not to be underestimated. Crucible of Worlds / Conduit of Worlds - pretty solid against your typical land destruction, essentially letting you gain card advantage from their removal. Wurmcoil Engine / Cityscape Leveler - big threats to help seal the game. ===endpanel ===endaccordion ===endpanel ===panel:Brief Sideboarding Suggestions To make things a little easier, I marked all the cards I sometimes side out in various matches with the tag #flexslot if you look at custom categories. First of all, when heading into game two, I usually decide what to side out first. I evaluate which cards are less than optimal. Arboreal Grazer gets cut to as little as 1 copy against decks that don't plan to attack much (never side out all copies). Things along those lines, where you take out suboptimal cards. Any "wish" cards like Fae of Wishes will almost always go out after the first game, since we generally move most relevant targets in. Another option is removing some utility lands that don't really serve a purpose in the match (Cavern of Souls or Bojuka Bog) depending on the deck you are facing. I generally don't suggest going down below 28 lands with the deck. You can also move out The One Ring if the protection does nothing against the opponent's deck. After all that, I decide which sideboard cards could prove useful in the match, and move them in. Afterwards, I adjust to make my sideboard as close to 15 cards as I can, whether I need to remove more "filler" slots like Summoner's Pact / Explore, or if I have to move in some of the "better" cards I tried to side out (dependent on the match). Also worth mentioning is don't stress about getting exactly 60/15; there's times I will play with a 61 card deck in game 2 (usually against some weird homebrew where I want more options and lots of our sideboard seems relevant). Lastly, you can always include some sneaky tech like Hokori, Dust Drinker / Worship / Elderscale Wurm if you have the space (I ran Elderscale Wurm mainboard for a while before modern became a removal heavy format). If you're facing anything with a more aggro build, Hokori, Dust Drinker isn't the best option. For example, puresteel decks can be seen as a combo deck, but they are a more aggro combo deck, where they get early board presence. Hokori, Dust Drinker is not a good option against decks like these, since they can still keep applying pressure even without mana with a quick start, and since a large majority of the meta falls into this aggro-esque category, Hokori, Dust Drinker isn't really poised as a solid sideboard option currently. However, the surprise factor of an obscure card like this definitely pays off sometimes, so that's just something to keep in mind. I am talking about obscure cards in general being a solid enough option if you have the extra slots, and am just using Hokori, Dust Drinker as an example. If you feel they will do enough in your meta to justify inclusion, feel free to experiment a little. ===endpanel ===endaccordion ===endpanel ________ ===panel:
Tolaria West + Simic Growth Chamber
Removal
Boseiju, Who Endures + Bounceland
Extra Burn damage with Dryad of the Ilysian Grove and at least 4 lands out
Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle + Hanweir Battlements for haste (Vesuva can't copy a land entering at the same time, so fetch it after attacking along with the 2nd Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle for 3 copies). You can also target yourself with Ghost Quarter for an extra landfall trigger.
+2/0 and Haste/Vigilance (another fetch after attack)
Slayers' Stronghold + Boros Garrison
Free Plays with 10 power (if you have extra landdrops left, it gets really broken)
Mosswort Bridge + Bounceland - you can stack triggers so you can resolve and activate the hideaway before bouncing Mosswort Bridge back to your hand
Haste without Amulet
Hanweir Battlements + Crumbling Vestige or a Bounceland and extra land plays to replay the Hanweir Battlements and give the titan haste
===endpanel ===panel:
Boseiju, Who Endures + Selesnya Sanctuary - Boseiju, Who Endures + any bounceland lets you have removal for any artifact/enchantment/land
Dryad of the Ilysian Grove + Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle - Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle + Dryad of the Ilysian Grove allows everything to be mountains, so Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle + Hanweir Battlements becomes one of the better fetch options
Amulet of Vigor + Arboreal Grazer + Springheart Nantuko - combined with any bounceland, this lets us make infinite Arboreal Grazers
Amulet of Vigor + Dryad of the Ilysian Grove + Springheart Nantuko - combined with any bounceland, this lets us make infinite Dryad of the Ilysian Groves
Amulet of Vigor + Primeval Titan + Springheart Nantuko - if you have a landfall and the 2 mana to pay for the ability (attacking does this) you can make near infinite Primeval Titans, limited only by the number of lands in your deck
===endpanel ===endaccordion ===endpanel _______ ===panel:
2x Amulet of Vigor / The Mycosynth Gardens (at least one must be an actual Amulet of Vigor)
1x Forest or any other untapped source if both were Amulet of Vigor
1x Simic Growth Chamber or any other green bounceland
1x Summoner's Pact / Primeval Titan or in some cases Cultivator Colossus with enough lands in hand
1x Summoner's Pact / Azusa, Lost but Seeking / Arboreal Grazer / Explore
or
2x Dryad of the Ilysian Grove
_______ Turn 1: Play an untapped land, then tap it to play Amulet of Vigor. Turn 2 (The Mycosynth Gardens): play your green bounce and use the non-green to copy Amulet of Vigor, then use the green to play Arboreal Grazer and replay your bounce. Skip down to Turn 2 (continued). Turn 2 (w/o TMG): Tap your first land for another Amulet of Vigor, play a bounceland, untap twice (amulet triggers) and add 4 to mana pool, then bounce that same land back to your hand (unless you have another bounce in hand) so you can use it again. Turn 2 (continued): Now there's a few variations here, but long story short you need Arboreal Grazer / Azusa, Lost but Seeking or at least 2 other land drop cards with a Primeval Titan or Summoner's Pact to fetch missing pieces. If you used Dryad of the Ilysian Grove to get to your first Primeval Titan, you can fetch Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle + Hanweir Battlements to grant your singular titan haste, then fetch Vesuva + Misty Rainforest (or Echoing Deeps if you already used it) to maximize your damage from Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle triggers (12 damage on the trigger after attacking + 6 more when you crack the fetch). If that's enough, you may need to go into a more complicated line, involving double Amulet of Vigor. There's a few ways that you can go about a turn 2 "win". All of them not involving Dryad of the Ilysian Grove as a form of ramp converge to copying (or hard-casting if you have 3 extra mana to transmute Tolaria West) a second Primeval Titan and then swinging with both. After attacking with both Titans, you'll have 4 land fetches, which will branch out into any of the lines detailed below. All lines below assume we play Primeval Titan with 2 Amulet of Vigors and float all available mana on double/triple triggers unless otherwise mentioned. If you have Hanweir Battlements in hand, instead of the haste fetch, you will be forced to find Tolaria West + Gruul Turf for haste instead, greatly limiting your options. ===accordion ===panel:
===endpanel ===endaccordion In the deck's current version, I've cut Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle down to one copy since we don't naturally get to 6 lands without a Primeval Titan too often since we run a lot of lands that cash themselves in for Amulet of Vigor. The Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle and 2+ Titan routes are fairly consistent when your hand is strong enough for the turn 2 win, so replacing the second copy for Misty Rainforest has been more than welcome. ===endpanel _______ ===panel:
Some Specific Examples - not all inclusive, just some of the better ones Kogla and Yidaro - This fits quite well into the bulky trample and hasty creature theme. It allows a form of creature removal, or an answer to troublesome artifacts and enchantments in a pinch as well. It is a quite versatile inclusion that can swing the tide of a game if used correctly. Eldrazi Displacer - This card is capable of a lot more than you think at first glance. Its activated ability is where we are interested, which is flexible, because it can be used on both our creatures, and our opponents creatures. Also, since we have Amulet of Vigor this can also act as a pseudo-vigilance for us, while tapping down our opponent's creatures. It is usually best served when activated on one of our creatures with an ETB trigger, but there's other combat trick / protection usages as well. Of note, you can blink your titan, finding to loop for deck thinning, basically guaranteeing a hit with Mosswort Bridge later (start with Crumbling Vestige + Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle if you have Dryad of the Ilysian Grove to sneak in some extra damage). You can also use it similarly to refill your hand, or even find protection like Sejiri Steppe or some other utility land at instant speed. This can enable a lot, while also essentially being a double blocker on its own, so it isn't strictly a combo piece. It is also capable of ramping with multiple Amulet of Vigor or drawing loads of cards with Cultivator Colossus. Omnath, Locus of Creation / Soul of Windgrace / Thalia and The Gitrog Monster - if you can somehow support the greedy casting cost in here, these are potentially worthy of inclusion. Omnath, Locus of Creation is one of the best landfall creatures ever created, and Soul of Windgrace can be seen as a creature version of a planeswalker, and Thalia and The Gitrog Monster is the stabilizing 4 drop the deck has always wanted. I tried them for a while, but found if I could get to their mana costs, I could get to almost as easily, so I found there's generally better options by the time we have access to the casting cost. Unfortunately, the deck has shifted to more of a colorless and green build since the release of Urza's Saga, but if there was ever a way to reliably support their costs early, these would be great options. Woodland Bellower - a pretty decent option with the variety of 3 CMC and below creatures that are viable in this deck. We are still missing enough powerful options to make this guy + whatever comparable enough to Primeval Titan to be a real choice (mainly because this doesn't come down swinging without suboptimal cards), but it is definitely something worth considering as more green creatures are printed. Some better targets are things like Endurance, Knight of the Reliquary, Renegade Rallier, Kitchen Finks, Tireless Tracker, Courser of Kruphix, Dryad of the Ilysian Grove, Cemetery Prowler, Elvish Rejuvenator, Springbloom Druid along with all the various enchantment/artifact hate options like Knight of Autumn, Cankerbloom or Tranquil Frillback to name a few. Eladamri's Call / Time of Need - Even though this isn't quite as good as Summoner's Pact in most situations, they are solid tutors. Eladamri's Call lets you tutor for any creature, which is often the missing piece in the puzzle (solid turn 2 if manabase supports it). Time of Need does basically the same, but only finds legendary creatures. Azusa, Lost but Seeking is the obvious ramp choice, which fits into the deck perfectly, but the Legendary threat can be a trickier card to slot in. Amongst some of the top options are: Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines, The Gitrog Monster, Titania, Protector of Argoth, Dragonlord Dromoka, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Emrakul, the Promised End, Kenrith, the Returned King, and Golos, Tireless Pilgrim. Timeless Lotus - this works as some great color-fixing and ramp all at the same time. It coming into play tapped is actually a benefit for us, since it lets it tap multiple times thanks to stacking Amulet of Vigor triggers. Bitter Reunion - This helps us to filter through our deck faster, is usable through Blood Moon and also gives our cards haste at the very low cost of 1 mana for all creatures. It has a lot going for it although it is a bit slower of a card. Bring to Light - tutor for any 3 drop or lower creature, or even Scapeshift to tutor into a threat with Tolaria West. It essentially works as Eladamri's Call where you put the card into play, but instead of finding something larger than 3 CMC, we find Scapeshift instead. Without Amulet of Vigor for the Scapeshift line, we will look for an extra land creature like Dryad of the Ilysian Grove, a silver bullet sideboard card, Fae of Wishes to cast as an adventure to find the perfect card, or Valki, God of Lies / Selfless Glyphweaver to play as Tibalt, Cosmic Impostor / Deadly Vanity for value plays. Extra turn cards like Savor the Moment / Time Warp are worth mentioning as potential targets as well. Turntimber, Serpentine Wood / Port of Karfell / Littjara Mirrorlake - Turntimber, Serpentine Wood is basically a land that doubles as a threat with any bounce later in the game. It is very comparable to Tolaria West in functionality, except it cannot be fetched by Primeval Titan and is a much preferred untapped green source when needed (notable when trying to stretch your manabase a little too much). Port of Karfell is basically recursion of a titan that's uncounterable in most situations and Littjara Mirrorlake lets you clone a copy, great for cheating in another attacker with 2+ amulets. Gemstone Caverns - this makes being on the draw a little more desired, as you can actually ramp with it. It is fairly niche, and is potentially a hindrance if you can't do something with the colorless when it isn't in your opener. Lair of the Hydra / Oran-Rief, the Vastwood / Turntimber Grove - Lair of the Hydra is a green land that is untapped when you need it early, so basically another Forest. However, this is a manland, which can let you pump your total power on a titan fetch, or become a threat on its own. Oran-Rief, the Vastwood is great with the prevalence of Unholy Heat in the meta, being able to protect a Primeval Titan by just leaving it untapped, or just pumping creatures, sometimes enough for a Mosswort Bridge activation. Similarly, Turntimber Grove works pretty much the same, but it is better on the titan fetch (being able to pump and tap for ), but is not reusable every turn without other support. Lotus Field / Flagstones of Trokair - Typically these two lands are a package deal, as they are a nice fetch-combo when you need lots of mana. These are capable of producing 5 mana per Amulet of Vigor and still netting you +2 lands for your Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle triggers when fetched. Lotus Field is also capable of pumping our Elvish Reclaimer on its own (can be used after blocking). Flagstones of Trokair being a non-green source, and Lotus Field decimating your land count on their own are substantial downsides to consider, so you need enough synergy to justify inclusion of these. You'll often see these alongside Elvish Reclaimer due to the great synergy. Crystal Grotto / Temple of Mystery / Halimar Depths - scry lands. If there's not a whole lot of early plays that need a turn 1 untapped land in your 75, the scry outweighs the slower land in most cases. Crystal Grotto is Zhalfirin Void 2.0, which can let you mana-fix as well, now giving you a relevant untapped version of the temples. Halimar Depths is similar in functionality, although not technically a scry land. Ghost Quarter / Field of Ruin / Demolition Field - land destruction that can double as another copy of a Forest if facing hate like Blood Moon. In most cases, Boseiju, Who Endures is superior due to the added flexibility, but these are still solid options worth mentioning, especially if you have a way to recur lands from your graveyard. Ghost Quarter is especially good against something that lets you play lands from the graveyard, completely decimating your opponent's access to splash colors. Blast Zone - This is more of a utility land to deal with the decks that pump out tons of low cost creatures/board presence. This is basically an Engineered Explosives attached to a land. It's biggest drawback is that it can't hit 0 cost permanents, since it enters with 1 counter on it already. You can also use it to blow up some big hard to remove threat with hexproof/shroud if you have enough mana. Arena / Quicksand / Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire / Otawara, Soaring City - targeted removal with their own respective pros and cons. Notably, Arena + Sejiri Steppe have decent synergy as a Primeval Titan fetch package. However, Arena not producing its own mana is the main thing holding it back, so you should consider it as more of a fetchable creature removal than a land if trying to fit it in. Otawara, Soaring City is definitely the most flexible of the bunch. Arcbond - surprisingly good against red decks, and that's about it. Being able to clear a board at instant speed when they try to bolt your Arboreal Grazer to get their Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer through is always funny. Same thing with Unholy Heat on a Primeval Titan for example. The main thing holding it back though is that this deals symmetrical damage to players as well, which is generally something we don't want to do against red decks. ===endpanel ________ ===panel:
SR = Card Specific Rulings Urza's Saga
CR 715.4: If the number of lore counters on a Saga permanent is greater than or equal to its final chapter number, and it isnt the source of a chapter ability that has triggered but not yet left the stack, that Sagas controller sacrifices it. This state-based action doesnt use the stack. _CR 715.2d A Sagas final chapter number is the greatest value among chapter abilities it has. If a Saga somehow has no chapter abilities, its final chapter number is 0. First of all, CR 715.4 allows us to sacrifice/bounce a saga on it's final chapter in response to its trigger, and still resolve the trigger. The combination of CR 715.2d and CR 715.4 is why Sagas are sacrificed when they lose their abilities, which in our case, is usually to Blood Moon.
Amulet of Vigor
SR (2010-03-01): If you control more than one Amulet of Vigor, each Amulets ability triggers when a permanent enters the battlefield tapped and under your control. The first ability that resolves will untap that permanent. If the permanent somehow becomes tapped again before the next ability resolves, the next ability will untap it as well (and so on). This allows us to tap our lands multiple times when they enter tapped with multiple amulets, by tapping them for mana between resolving triggers.
Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
SR (2009-10-01): Valakut, the Molten Pinnacles triggered ability has an intervening if clause. That means (1) the ability wont trigger at all unless, at the time a Mountain enters the battlefield under your control, you control five or more Mountains other than that new one, and (2) the ability will do nothing if you control fewer than five Mountains other than that new one by the time it resolves. SR (2009-10-01): If multiple Mountains enter the battlefield under your control at the same time, Valakuts second ability could trigger that many times. Each ability takes into consideration the other Mountains that entered the battlefield at the same time as the one that caused it to trigger. Basically, this means you need 6+ lands with the mountain subtype for it to trigger/resolve, and multiple lands entering at the same time (through Primeval Titan) will see each other. Spelunking
SR (2023-11-10): If a land has an ability that says it enters the battlefield tapped, you choose the order in which that ability's effect and Spelunking's effect apply. This means you can choose to have the land enter tapped or untapped. If a land you control is simply put onto the battlefield tapped without a replacement effect being applied, it always enters untapped if you control Spelunking. This means if you are "playing" a tapped land you get to choose the order of the replacement effects, allowing you to still benefit from multiple amulets. However, if you have an effect putting a land into play tapped, like Arboreal Grazer or Primeval Titan that will not let you ignore Spelunking's replacement effect on something like Forest since there is no replacement effects to choose the order of.
Dryad of the Ilysian Grove and Blood Moon
CR 613.1c applies
613.1 The values of an objects characteristics are determined by starting with the actual object. For a card, that means the values of the characteristics printed on that card. For a token or a copy of a spell or card, that means the values of the characteristics defined by the effect that created it. Then all applicable continuous effects are applied in a series of layers in the following order:
613.1a Layer 1: Rules and effects that modify copiable values are applied.
613.1b Layer 2: Control-changing effects are applied.
613.1c Layer 3: Text-changing effects are applied. See rule 612, Text-Changing Effects.
613.1d Layer 4: Type-changing effects are applied. These include effects that change an objects card type, subtype, and/or supertype.
613.1e Layer 5: Color-changing effects are applied.
613.1f Layer 6: Ability-adding effects, keyword counters, ability-removing effects, and effects that say an object cant have an ability are applied.
613.1g Layer 7: Power- and/or toughness-changing effects are applied.
CR 613.7 Within a layer or sublayer, determining which order effects are applied in is usually done using a timestamp system. An effect with an earlier timestamp is applied before an effect with a later timestamp. CR 305.7 If an effect sets a lands subtype to one or more of the basic land types, the land no longer has its old land type. It loses all abilities generated from its rules text, its old land types, and any copy effects affecting that land, and it gains the appropriate mana ability for each new basic land type. Note that this doesnt remove any abilities that were granted to the land by other effects. Setting a lands subtype doesnt add or remove any card types (such as creature) or supertypes (such as basic, legendary, and snow) the land may have. If a land gains one or more land types in addition to its own, it keeps its land types and rules text, and it gains the new land types and mana abilities. CR 305.6 The basic land types are Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, and Forest. If an object uses the words basic land type, its referring to one of these subtypes. An object with the land card type and a basic land type has the intrinsic ability {T}: Add [mana symbol], even if the text box doesnt actually contain that text or the object has no text box. For Plains, [mana symbol] is {W}; for Islands, {U}; for Swamps, {B}; for Mountains, {R}; and for Forests, {G}. See rule 107.4a. See also rule 605, Mana Abilities. Basically, all of this means the last to ETB is the last layer applied. If they play a Blood Moon after your Dryad of the Ilysian Grove, you can't tap for any color. However, this also means Dryad of the Ilysian Grove is a psuedo-answer for Blood Moon allowing you to play through it if you played your Dryad of the Ilysian Grove after.
Vesuva and Echoing Deeps
CR 706.5 An object that enters the battlefield “as a copy†or “that’s a copy†of another object becomes a copy as it enters the battlefield. It doesn’t enter the battlefield, and then become a copy of that permanent. If the text that’s being copied includes any abilities that replace the enters-the-battlefield event (such as “enters the battlefield with†or “as [this] enters the battlefield†abilities), those abilities will take effect. Also, any enters-the-battlefield triggered abilities of the copy will have a chance to trigger. CR 616.2 A replacement or prevention effect can become applicable to an event as the result of another replacement or prevention effect that modifies the event. Basically, you can copy a "blank" Vesuva or Echoing Deeps with the other to have it's replacement effect. This allows you to play Vesuva copying Echoing Deeps that was copying nothing, to copy a land in the graveyard (as a Cave), or to play Echoing Deeps as a Vesuva in the yard, allowing it to become any land you currently have in play (notably no longer a Cave subtype).
Cultivator Colossus
SR (2021-11-19): You repeat the process as part of Cultivator Colossus's triggered ability's resolution. If the land you put onto the battlefield caused any abilities to trigger, those abilities won't go on the stack until after the ability has finished resolving. This is important, because you can stack all the triggers however you want, not just in the order they entered. However, there are a few intricacies to be wary of. For example, Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle triggers as a land enters, and also checks your mountain count upon resolution. So if you would go below 6 "mountains" by bouncing lands back to your hand, the order in which you stack and resolve triggers would become very important. Additionally, Vesuva is actually capable of copying lands from the same trigger, as they are entering separately and not at the same time.
Phyrexian Metamorph
SR (2011-06-01): Any enters-the-battlefield abilities of the copied permanent will trigger when Phyrexian Metamorph enters the battlefield. Any “as [this] enters the battlefield†or “[this] enters the battlefield with†abilities of the chosen permanent will also work. This allows us to actually get the protection trigger when copying something like The One Ring as long as we cast the card. ===endpanel ===endaccordion ___________ Don't hesitate to suggest something because it's off color; leave trying to fit it in to me (a few cards I've really considered are off color, can't be tutor'd for, and look like they have no place in this deck - like Trade Routes / Hokori, Dust Drinker / Pollen Lullaby). All suggestions are more than welcome.
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Casual
100% Competitive
Date added | 4 months |
Last updated | 4 months |
Key combos |
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Legality | This deck is not Modern legal. |
Rarity (main - side) | 9 - 3 Mythic Rares 29 - 4 Rares 7 - 7 Uncommons 13 - 1 Commons |
Cards | 60 |
Avg. CMC | 2.43 |
Tokens | Construct 0/0 C, Copy Clone, Eldrazi Spawn 0/1 C, Insect 1/1 G, Meteorite Token |
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