DekTek: The Sacred Order of Mana (EDH)

Here's a new segment where I talk about some of my own decks and share the list with you. So here's the first deck: The Sacred Order of Mana, my Seton, Krosan Protector EDH.

Creature (36)

1x Arbor Elf
1x Argothian Elder
1x Chameleon Colossus
1x Citanul Woodreaders
1x Civic Wayfinder
1x Craterhoof Behemoth
1x Dungrove Elder
1x Elvish Archdruid
1x Elvish Harbinger
1x Elvish Mystic
1x Eternal Witness
1x Farhaven Elf
1x Fyndhorn Elder
1x Fyndhorn Elves
1x Gilt-Leaf Archdruid
1x Greenweaver Druid
1x Juniper Order Druid
1x Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
1x Karametra's Acolyte
1x Krosan Restorer
1x Ley Druid
1x Llanowar Elves
1x Nylea, God of the Hunt
1x Omnath, Locus of Mana
1x Ondu Giant
1x Regal Force
1x Seedguide Ash
1x Seeker of Skybreak
1x Siege Behemoth
1x Solemn Simulacrum
1x Somberwald Sage
1x Soul of the Harvest
1x Treefolk Harbinger
1x Voyaging Satyr
1x Wolfbriar Elemental
1x Yavimaya Elder

Sorcery (13)

1x Collective Unconscious
1x Creeping Renaissance
1x Cultivate
1x Genesis Wave
1x Green Sun's Zenith
1x Kodama's Reach
1x Overwhelming Stampede
1x Praetor's Counsel
1x Reap and Sow
1x Regrowth
1x Skyshroud Claim
1x Sylvan Scrying
1x Tempt with Discovery

Artifact (7)

1x Akroma's Memorial
1x Emerald Medallion
1x Expedition Map
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Loreseeker's Stone
1x Staff of Domination
1x Thousand-Year Elixir

Planeswalker (3)

1x Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury
1x Garruk, Caller of Beasts
1x Garruk, Primal Hunter

Land (34)

1x Cavern of Souls
1x Deserted Temple
1x Dryad Arbor
24x Forest
1x Gaea's Cradle
1x Maze of Ith
1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1x Petrified Field
1x Reliquary Tower
1x Wirewood Lodge
1x Yavimaya Hollow

Enchantment (6)

1x Aluren

1x Concordant Crossroads

1x Helix Pinnacle

1x Mana Reflection

1x Mirri's Guile

1x Rowen

So, what does this deck do? It's basically mono green Storm. Ever seen how Legacy Elves plays? It's basically like that except I don't need to wait for 2 other Elves for Heritage Druid. My commander, Seton, allows all my Druids (which are basically all my creatures) to become Llanowar Elves the turn they come in, so I get a lot of mana early on. Once that happens, I can easily start stomping on my opponent and force them into panic mode before they have set-up.

Superstars (that aren't obvious):

This guy is probably the primo removal target in my deck. At least, during the second and subsequent games. As I said before, my commander lets my Druids tap for mana the turn they hit the field which means they can be used to cast more Druids. This card makes sure that I have that next Druid in my hand. If I fail to draw enough Druids, I can always just remove a player from the game by stealing all their lands. 

This is a magic time machine that warps you from turn 4 to turn 6 (at least). That in itself doesn't make it very magical, but the fact that the Forests come in untapped, meaning I can follow this up with more ramp spells or more creatures (which are basically ramp spells in this deck).

Seeing as my commander only costs 3, playing him after a boardwipe is not that much of an issue (much easier if I have Aluren out). Even if I tap out in order to play both him and this, I can probably get most of my boardstate back in the following turn. If it happens again, this card has flashback and I can just recur my board a second time.

So yeah, this is one of my favourite EDH decks. It's not the cheapest to build due to cards like Gaea's Cradles and Regal Force (although I use a gold-bordered Cradle because no one here cares) but it is really fun and quite competitive. If you're looking for a mono-green competitive EDH deck, this one is a great place to start.

Top Black Commons for EDH

Here are some of my favourite black commons for use in EDH. These aren't broken or super-powerful, but these deserve a thought when you're building an EDH deck with black in it.

1. Barren Moor/Polluted Mire

The cycling lands are pretty awesome in the late game, especially in EDH. Once you've got all the mana you need, you can easily turn these into more useful cards. Both of these are pretty awesome inclusions in black decks.

2. Blood Seeker

Death by a thousand cuts is still death, right? This is a great addition to most decks. It slowly drains your opponents of life (or quickly if your opponent has tokens) and probably won't get removed for a while, and if it does, at least it's eating a removal spell instead of your general or another one of your important creatures.

3. Bog Initiate

Mono-black colour-fixing? What is this madness?! Seriously though, in a tri or five-colour deck, this card can allow you to run black-intensive spell without much worry of being short on black mana.

4. Choking Sands/Rancid Earth/Sinkhole

Ask anyone I play with and they'll tell you I love land destruction. Yes, it's dirty. Yes, it's unfair. However, despite being those two things, it is effective. Most decks don't have a way to recur their land cards from their yards so being able to blow and important one up at the right time can be crucial. Given that black can't really deal with noncreature permanents that well, these are great additions for dealing with problems.

5. Darkness

I think Fog is a largely underrated card in EDH, especially since more than a few games are won via alpha swings. Having a mono-black version in your deck will definitely catch opponents off-guard.

6. Diabolic Edict/Geth's Verdict

People often discount the early game, but many problem creatures are played on the first few turns. From dealing with cheap commanders like Rhys the Redeemed and Gaddock Teeg to quick-drop creatures such as Serra Ascendant and Weathered Wayfarer, these cards are pretty efficient at their job. Finally, it also kills traditionally solo protected creatures like Rafiq of the Many and Uril, the Miststalker.

7. Eyeblight's Ending/Victim of Night

These are basically unconditional removal cards. The number of times that you won't be able to cast either of these can probably be counted on that guy on the right's fingers.

8. Oubliette

It's mono-black Journey to Nowhere. Yeah, it lets the creature keep all the counters and Auras attached to it, but mono-black exile is hard to come by, so I'll take what I can get.

9. Psychotic Episode

This works really well when played after an opponent tutors for a card since it forces them to waste another card to get it back. I also really like it because graveyards are very easily accessed in EDH, so discard spells aren't as valuable as other formats. Finally, if their commander is in your opponent's hand, they probably aren't going to be seeing it for a while.

10. Sadistic Glee

I just like this because it will eventually demand an answer, even if you don't do anything. Since EDH is a multiplayer format, your opponents can easily do all the heavy lifting for this card to work.

11. Shade's Form

Remember False Demise? This is the black version, only better. I don't even really care for the first bit (although it's pretty great for your own creatures) but the second part is great. Put it on an opponent's creature that you want or put it on your own that you don't want to die.

12. Tortured Existence

Finally, we come to a card that most people have seen, but I thought I'd include anyway since it is a common. Being able to constantly cycle through your creatures is pretty powerful, especially in reanimator decks. While not a powerhouse in its own right, it can easily be a very strong card when used correctly.

Things People Need to START Running in EDH

As a follow-up to this post, I thought I'd make a list of things I think more people should run in EDH. This isn't a list of essential cards like I have done in some other posts, but a list of suggestions that I have for people building decks.

Mind Stone

This is a new discovery for me. I used to think it wasn't all that great back in the day, but now I've come around and seen it's potential. The one mana it produces isn't super-spectacular, but it's pretty cheap as far as mana rocks go. Its true potential lies in the fact that it can draw a card at instant-speed, which is never a bad thing. Use it as ramp to get you where you want to be then break it for the card you need.

Credit Voucher

This may seem like an odd choice, but give me a chance to explain. Let's say you've got a hand of six cards on turn three. Three cards are cards you want and the three you've drawn are complete crap in your current situation. With this card, you can get rid of those cards and try and draw something better. Now, many people are going to be turned off by the random chance aspect, but try looking at it like this: the cards in your hand are bad, but the cards you draw might be better. If you're in a bad spot, there's no reason to not gamble. And unlike, say, Winds of Change, you get to keep any cards you want, which puts you at a more advantageous position.

Temporal Extortion

 

This will usually be a free turn for you since not many players are willing to lose half their life to stop it. Either that, or it's going to hit someone for half their life. Either way, you win.

Sins of the Past

This card surprises so many people. Remember that Damnation that you used a couple turns ago? Well, now you can use it again and solve more problems. It works in so many situations and it's great. I've never been sad to draw this because, even if this is triple the targeted card's cost, it gives you access to something you normally wouldn't be able to in a black deck.

Skyshroud Claim

It's a Rampant Growth on cocaine (and cocaine accessories). It costs four, but it gets you two untapped lands. Two untapped lands. This may only be able to get forests, but you can get shocklands with it, so it's actually a lot better than it seems. Brings you from turn four to turn six in one fell swoop.

Sudden Spoiling

Remember that time someone swung at you with a bunch of tokens and you died? Sudden Spoiling remembers. This counters so many creature-based problems it's not even funny. Need to solve a Memnarch/High Tide/Palinchron combo? Use this and Memnarch is useless until the end of turn, making that High Tide a complete waste. Best part about it is that there's very little that can be done about it due to split second. Great one-shot solution.

Price of Glory

If you're like me, you tend to want to stop people from having shenanigans. This stops shenanigans. No more counter magic, no more "end of turn" happenings (at least not without a huge price tag). It's just like nature intended.

Pain Magnification

It's a backwards Sygg, River Cutthroat! It hands your opponents some serious card disadvantage, especially if you've got got some sort of repeatable damage system going. Unfortunately, it doesn't trigger on life loss nor does it count cumulative damage, but it's still a nice card that will probably make someone unhappy.

Fertilid

This little guy is a great ramper. He's two Rampant Growths on a stick, which makes him a great blocker (block, become two lands). Just a really good creature for decks with green.

Wipe Away

It's a better Boomerang. Even though it costs one more, the split second makes it well worth the extra mana. It's especially fun to run against control decks since most control players get really upset when something happens that they can't do anything about.

That's my list of things you should consider when making your next EDH. I'll have more at some point I'm sure.

Things People Need to STOP Running in EDH

Over the last couple years, as the popularity of EDH as a format has grown, I've seen many players and many decks. I've also seen a lot of things that people need to stop running in EDH for various reasons. Here is just a selection of those cards:

Jace, the Mind Sculptor

The main issue I have with people running this card is one of transliteration. A lot of newcomers to the format think that if a card is great in Legacy, it'll be great in EDH. That is not the case here. Big Papa here will not see more than one activation, and it's either going to be an expensive Brainstorm, an expensive Boomerang, or a one-shot Precognition. You can't even cheat in the ultimate very easily since it requires quadruple the number of loyalty counters for it to work. All-in-all, a pretty lackluster card for EDH.

Force Spike

 

Yes, I have seen several people run this card in EDH. Do I even need to go into why this is a bad idea? EDH is about high-cost things, meaning you'll probably have a lot of mana to burn after you cast your stuff. One whole mana once is not going to do much. Cards like Patron Wizard and Flusterstorm can be used because it's not actually one mana. This is just a waste of a slot.

Ambition's Cost

Black simply has better draw options in EDH. I was considering putting Sign in Blood on here for that reason, but it's actually not as bad as this. This is 4-and-3-for-3 whereas Sign in Blood is 2-and-2-for-2. Plus, I won a game with Sign in Blood, so I can't call it a bad card for EDH.

Thoughtseize

Another issue of bad transliteration. Plus, in EDH, you'd rather have them exile cards since graveyards are such a ripe target (unless you're about to take what they discard). Still, it's not worth the 2 life investment to temporarily deal with a threat that your opponent probably has ways of recovering or redundancy to cover the loss.

Grim Tutor

I get it. You have money and you want to flaunt it. But there are better ways to do it. Foil your deck. Get guru lands. Get an autographed Brian Kibler playmat. Just don't run crap cards because they're expensive. You look like a rich twit when you do and no one outside of the 10-year-olds thinks you're cool.

Jackal Pup

Blasphemous Act is run frequently in EDH. Consider that next time you build a deck with this in it.

Mons's Goblin Raiders (and other vanilla things)

EDH is probably the worst format to run vanilla things in. The life totals are doubled and the games are longer. Your bears aren't going to do much in the long run.

I think that about does it for the EDH lesson today folks. I'll have another one up... eventually.

EDH Help: Essential Land Cards

It's back! Here are some really good lands for EDH consideration.

Strip Mine

It's freaking Strip Mine. I don't think I need to explain it.

Lake of the Dead

This card can really give you a much-needed mana boost at the right moment. It's a 4-mana boost and that could easily win you a game.

Lotus Vale

Another mana boost-style land. Yeah, it requires land sacrifice, but it a deck that has a lot of "untap target land" effects can change the amount of mana from one land from 2 to 6. Again, that's enough mana to win you a game.

Kjeldoran Outpost

A land that makes tokens? Awesome. A land that makes useful tokens? Awesomer.

Winding Canyons

It's kind of like a colourless Alchemist's Refuge and that makes it pretty cool. Most decks can use flash creatures and this card makes it possible.

Oran-Rief, the Vastwood

Your green token deck will love this card. If I have to explain why, you probably shouldn't be playing a green token deck.

200th Post: Some EDH Should-Be Banneds

Well, for my 200th post, I thought I'd give you my opinion on some cards that I think should be banned in EDH. I won't be rating these cards, but I'll give the reasons why I think they should be banned. Now, I feel I should remind you that Worldfire was banned mainly of because Jhoira of the Ghitu. Since that's the case, if there's one general that can break a card, it was considered for this list. Finally, this list is not extensive. It's only the first 7 cards that came to mind.

Mind Over Matter

Why does this card need to be banned? Did you read what it does?! If a blue deck drops this card, it's pretty much game over. With Azami, Lady of Scrolls, it's infinite draw. With Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind, everyone else is dead. With Temple Bell, you can dig for that Laboratory Maniac and force everyone to draw out (or until you win). Finally, with Tamiyo, the Moon Sage, it's infinite (insert combo here). This is just too powerful for a format that usually isn't decided by turn 6, like what this was designed for.

Serra Ascendant

Another prime example of a card that wasn't designed for EDH that easily got broken. This is a 6/6 flying lifelinker for one. This is WAY too powerful! I can't really say much more about this, it's really stupid in EDH. A possible errata (which will never happen) could be: "If you have at least 10 life more than your starting life total, Serra Ascendant gets +5/+5 and has flying". You know, like Chalice of Life's wording?

Sorin Markov/Magister Sphinx

Sway of the Stars and Biorhythm are both banned because they set everyone's life totals to a certain number. Why are these two cards (one of which is extremely easy to put into play) not banned then? Again, these cards were not designed with EDH in mind and they were meant to halve someone's life, not to one-quarter of it's original level. I partially want these cards banned because they aren't fun to play against, but it's mostly because they aren't designed for this format and as a result, their power level shot through the roof. Maybe another errata to say "halve target player's life".

Transcendence

Why should this be banned? Because Zedruu the Greathearted exists, as does Donate. If a player is getting ganged up on, all they have to go is give someone else this card and that player loses. Once again, it's not a card that's meant for this format since everyone already starts way above the threshold of this card. 

Defense of the Heart

Once again, a card that was not designed for the format. Since EDH is a slower format, people tend to have bigger, more expensive creatures in their deck which means that this card gets a lot of value for its user. It's not difficult for an opponent to get 3 creatures either, which either means that your opponents won't play a third creature or they play one and trigger this card. Also, it's more repeatable in green than, say, Dramatic Entrance since it's a permanent.

Staff of Domination

This needs to be rebanned. It's a one-card combo machine. Plain and simple.

That's it. I'll be back to normal reviews soon.