feralex1472

Yes, that is currently what I have in mind as a swap.

zrob

Waterlogged Grove is a shoe-in. I'm considering whether the list wants more of the Canopy/Horizon lands. Beyond that, Force of Vigor is going to take a maybeboard/technology slot for stax metas featuring lots of Blood Moon/Cursed Totem and I'm also considering doing some "private" (i.e. not reflected in the primer) testing with a small Green Sun's Zenith package of Collector Ouphe and Vexing Shusher.

I was also gonna be testing GSZ with collector ouphe! Only because I just built the deck and didn't pick up cursed totem lol. I'm missing scalding tarn so I'm also trying dryad arbor since GSZ got in.

The biggest issue with adding GSZ is that it makes the deck softer to Grafdigger's Cage. As-is, we can run it really easily and it's a great tech choice if you frequently play against Hulk. Ouphe is also painful to have in play alongside Najeela if we happen to get hit by a board wipe--from that perspective, Null Rod is a stronger option. Still, I do enjoy experimenting. :)

I've been playing Finale of Devastation for a while and I've had alot of success with it as a recovery option or a tutor effect. I've tested both it and GSZ and I like finale better simply because the flexibility it offers is always worth the extra mana, but again, this has been my experience trying them.

Whats your opinion about Narset's Reversal ? I think its really depends on the situation. and my exp testing it, it almost always be a dead card, keep us wait to the right moment to cast it. It is good againts big spells like Expropriate , Tooth and Nail , overloaded Cyclonic Rift or extra tunrs maybe, but most of time spell that we can copy is ramp or removal which not too effective. Swap it with the new Force of Negation is nice imo.

allanrichardo

Against a lot of spells it functions very similarly to Remand, gaining you a fair bit of tempo. This is usually a fine use case. Sometimes it just wins the game because it snags something huge like an overloaded Cyclonic Rift, an Ad Nauseam, a tutor or it stops an Abrupt Decay at a critical moment.

Overall I've been quite happy with it and don't plan on swapping it for Force of Negation. Don't love that the card is a three mana Negate when it comes to win attempts.

Is it possible to get a list of cards to swap out for the 1v1 banlist?

I agree with your thoughts on Force of Negation. As you say, protecting the queen is the #1 priority. If I'm about to go off, that's when my opponent will try to stop me, making the spell useless, imo.

Also, this is an odd one, but I've really liked Orochi Leaf-caller. What do you think?

First of all: outstanding deck! Adding that budget version is great. I'd love to know what are your (and community's) thoughts on Force of Negation? Both as a Force of Will replacement and as a standalone disruption piece. On one hand counterspell for 0 seems always good but I fear it will be essentially useless in defending my own turn.

oops, missed the latest comments. Please disregard my previous comment. Except the gratitude and commendation. They still stand.

Collector Ouphe off the GSZ has been doing quite a bit of work for me, same with Vexing Shusher. Quite liking those. I saw you commented that you are trying something similar yourself.

For creature heavy metas, what do you find yourself doing with your deck? Lists where everyone is running good blockers for Najeela, etc.

zrob

The plan in these situations is typically to tutor Fire Covenant to clear a path or use Derevi/spot removal to also open a path. Nature's Will is extremely useful in situations where you can only reliably connect with a single creature. Jace, Wielder of Mysteries + forbidden tutor is also a nice plan that doesn't require the combat step.

Possible tech choices are Reconnaissance , Champion of Lambholt or Mirri, Weatherlight Duelist . Reconnaissance is very efficient and lets you amass enough warriors to overcome blockers. Mirri seems okay because she at least interacts with Kiki-Jiki combos. Champion plays to the beats plan but I don't love the fact that it doesn't interact with opponents in any appreciable way.

A card I've found to have some incredible utility against a large number of match ups is Lavinia, Azorius Renegade countering free spells is amazing, even more so now that urza and first sliver are running around, stops dramatic scepter,and most protection people are going to use. Also it being asymmetrical so you can still cast free things is amazing.

I love this list, but I can't play Darevi in my format. We play mtgo 1v1 rules/banlist. What would be your best replacement for Derevi, and would not having that particular creature mess up the flow of the deck too badly to consider? Thanks. And awesome build.

hecubus333

Losing Derevi is super rough, considering it's the deck's best win-con and it means that none of the creature tutors can find a win at that point. The next best combo pieces are probably Sword of Feast and Famine or Bear Umbra but these are considerably worse. Beyond that, I can't really tell you if the deck's still worth considering as I've never played with that particular banlist.

Are you going to be adding Season of Growth to the deck?

Klaive

Probably not. While it can generate a decent amount of virtual card advantage through scry triggers, it seems tough to actually draw from it. It's just a bit too slow at providing meaningful advantage, I reckon.

Hey Pongo, love the deck and write-up. What are your thoughts on Veil of Summer ? I'm piloting a slightly more budget version in a meta that moves back and forth interactive midrange grindfests and combo races, and I really like that the card can either cantrip or protect your combo depending on what situation you're in. Also, do you have a link to a cEDH Najeela Discord server? Would love to post my list and get a bit more in-depth feedback on my current list. Cheers

Hi there, very spicy list. There are so many great cards for this deck (that can handle all metas), it is a pain to fit them in. I play something very similar - and also play around with a few cards including shusher, opuche and GSZ. PE is banned but I still feel both running opuche and null rod is okay against the top tier decks that run more rocks than we do. Opuche giving a bit more value with druid, derevi, tymna and edric. Grafdiggers hurts, but I always feel it hurts other players more, often making it playable later in the game by finding Derevi. I also play around with grand abolisher and ethersworn canoist. With Druids I feel these creatures can work but they are pretty difficult to fit in. But all this you know. My real question is about the counter-package. Why not Red elemental blast over counterspell? And also can you please explain the jace? Thanks for sharing your list :)

cammayhew

Thanks for the kind words! :)

I've added a link to the Najeela Discord at the end of the primer's introduction. Let me know if it doesn't work for some reason.

Veil of Summer is a strong candidate for the main deck. I haven't picked one up to test it out yet but hope to do so ASAP. I might end up cutting Narset's Reversal for it since that's currently a flex slot. It's also worth mentioning that it is protection against Abrupt Decay .

CommanderDD

Like everything, it's a meta call. REB is a very strong consideration if you face against lots of heavy blue decks--especially commander-centric ones. I like Counterspell because I see plenty of Gitrog and Hulk decks that are just as likely to cast and sacrifice Academy Rector as they are to play Flash. It's just a more versatile answer that also protects against board wipes. Your mileage may vary.

Also, I've added a paragraph to the Forbidden Tutors section of the primer that discusses Jace. :)

Awesome list. Have been playing with it myself for a little and at the moment am trying to tune it to my meta. I am having a hard time determining just what exactly are the most flexible slots in the deck? Any insight?

MrMission
Usually meta tuning is related to the interaction suite.

For example, I expect to play against LabMan Cameron's Tasigur, Opus Thief, Kess MAN, Nin stax/control, Urza, Thrasios+Tymna Scepter Consult, First Silver Food Chain. I'm new to my meta (and this deck) so I've started off with only 3 adjustments.
- I've seen a lot of Back to Basics , Blood Moon , and Magus of the Moon which are back breaking on this manabase, so I swapped from Swords to Plowshares to Force of Vigor . Additionally, my opponents are using Jace, Wielder of Mysteries instead of Laboratory Maniac in consult backup lines, so Swords isn't that great of an answer. Force of Vigor also hits Isochron Scepter and Food Chain, so it's a better fit for my meta.
- None of my opponents are extremely graveyard dependent (like Gitrog / Hulk / Razaketh), and when I was piloting Razakats I saw that many of my opponents are already running Rest in Peace and Grafdigger's Cage . However, it is a very interaction-heavy meta, so I swapped Rest in Peace for Rhystic Study . I'm still testing this slot, perhaps it will become Misdirection .
- Finally, because a lot of the interaction I'm facing is permission-based, say 8+ counter spells in each list, I opted to replace the early-game focused Lotus Petal with a Vexing Shusher to help find openings in the mid to late game.

I hope some of this has helped. Just analyze which decks are your biggest threats, look for answer cards to those threats (probably just check out the Maybeboard to start), then look for which cards you can cut.
One final note, general answers are still usually better than situational answers. For example, cutting Counterspell to add Natural State is probably counter-productive. Good luck and have fun with it! Also, there's help on Discord and Reddit!

If you face a 'rock heavy' meta you might consider adding Stony Silence / Collector Ouphe on top of Null Rod.
Do you face a lot of graveyard-based strategies? Look at Grafdigger's Cage .
For example,