Yasharn or Ondu Giant?
Commander Deck Help forum
Posted on Oct. 22, 2021, 11:28 p.m. by DemonDragonJ
I have a copy of Yashan, implacable earth in my Chulane, Teller of Tales EDH deck, but I am contemplating replacing it with Ondu Giant, because, as great as it is to search for two lands from my deck, I would rather put a single land onto the battlefield that put two into my hand. Yasharn has higher power and a restrictive ability, but the ability is highly situational, and the difference in power shall rarely matter, since that deck rarely wins via combat damage.
What does everyone else say about this? Should I replace Yasharn, Implacable Earth with Ondu Giant?
Gidgetimer says... #3
(In case it wasn't clear, between the two I am in favor of leaving Yasharn, Implacable Earth in.)
October 22, 2021 11:40 p.m.
To be honest, you could easily run both.
You currently have the same set of artifacts in every single one of your deck. You also have basically the same enchantments in every single deck that allows the colours.
Chulane is all about flickering creatures, yet you're running stuff like Thran Dynamo when you could be running more creatures to flicker. You're also not leveraging cards like Exploration to lean more heavily into the lands theme. There's no Avenger of Zendikar, no Craterhoof Behemoth, you have cards like Village Bell-Ringer buth then aren't running any mana dorks (which help you both ramp Chulane into play but then can be bounced for lands), it just doesn't make sense.
I'm not saying yout should re-tool your list to be a competitive chulane list, or even to make ity like somebody elses. But you should look at broadening your horizons when it comes to deck building. And that should start with not copying the same 15 cards into every starting list.
October 23, 2021 12:54 a.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #5
Gidgetimer, in that case, with Chulane's own ability putting lands directly onto the battlefield, I shall keep Yasharn in my deck, for the present time.
enpc, having very similar lands and artifacts in all of my EDH decks was a deliberate choice that I made, as I like to have a reliable and consistent mana base.
As for Village Bell-Ringer, I have several creatures in that deck that have abilities that require them to be tapped; in particularly, if I have sufficient mana, I can use Chulane's ability multiple times, drawing a card (and potentially playing a land) each time that I resummon the bell ringer.
October 23, 2021 11:36 a.m.
griffstick says... #6
Yasharn, Implacable Earth seems like the better choice because of the second effect. Keeping your opponents from sacrificing or paying life can slow your opponents down 2 to 3 turns on average. And that can feel like ramping without ramping.
October 23, 2021 12:20 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #7
griffstick, yes, I played a game recently in which one of my opponents had an Eldritch Evolution in their hand and was not able to cast it, because Yasharn was on the battlefield, so that was a situation in which I was glad to have Yasharn in my deck.
Gidgetimer says... #2
With the understanding that my Chulane deck is VERY different from yours...
I never have a problem getting lands out of my hand, as a matter of fact I routinely have to sandbag a land so that I am guaranteed a land drop from the Chulane trigger.
October 22, 2021 11:37 p.m.