Legality
| Format | Legality |
| Tiny Leaders | Legal |
| Noble | Legal |
| Leviathan | Legal |
| Magic Duels | Legal |
| Canadian Highlander | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Vanguard | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Archenemy | Legal |
| Planechase | Legal |
| 1v1 Commander | Legal |
| Duel Commander | Legal |
| Unformat | Legal |
| Casual | Legal |
| Commander / EDH | Legal |
Printings View all
| Set | Rarity |
| Conspiracy: Take the Crown (CN2) | Rare |
| 2012 Core Set (M12) | Rare |
| 2011 Core Set (M11) | Rare |
| 2010 Core Set (M10) | Rare |
| Tenth Edition (10E) | Rare |
| Ravnica: City of Guilds (RAV) | Rare |
| Eighth Edition (8ED) | Rare |
| Seventh Edition (7ED) | Rare |
| Classic Sixth Edition (6ED) | Rare |
| Fifth Edition (5ED) | Rare |
| Fourth Edition (4ED) | Rare |
| 4th Edition Foreign Black Border (4EDFBB) | Rare |
| Revised Edition (3ED) | Rare |
| Revised Foreign Black Border (3EDFBB) | Rare |
| Unlimited Edition (2ED) | Rare |
| Collector's Edition (CED) | Rare |
| International Collector's Edition (CEI) | Rare |
| Limited Edition Beta (LEB) | Rare |
| Limited Edition Alpha (LEA) | Rare |
| Promo Set (000) | Rare |
Combos Browse all
Birds of Paradise
Creature — Bird
Flying
: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.
Price & Acquistion Set Price Alerts
CN2
M12
M11
Ebay
Ebay
Recent Decks
Birds of Paradise Discussion
SynergyBuild on
Arahbo, Xenagos... for Cats EDH
4 hours ago
Oh, I take back what I said, forget it, sorry about me white-knighting the competitive tag in the past (not far past, but still) and I love the list!
If you really want to make it competitive, I can't promise I can make Arahbo tier 1, but tier 2-3 I can do, as long as you are willing to drop some of the more fun cats, and are able to build up this deck to become a stax-beatdown hybrid.
Okay, so to start, consistency is key, more tutors should be the goal, think Fauna Shaman and Survival of the Fittest type cards, and you'd really want to slow the deck down, which is the opposite of what most people will say.
Running Vryn Wingmare, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Glowrider, and Thorn of Amethyst can stop many combo decks in their tracks, and shut off storm decks in general, while not slowing you down nearly as much. Avacyn's Pilgrim, Birds of Paradise, Llanowar Elves, Arbor Elf, Elvish Mystic, Fyndhorn Elves, and Boreal Druid are all fast mana ramp that gets you to dropping your commander + Lost Leonin combo (what I believe to be the simplest wincon) faster and also gets unaffected by non-creature hate.
Many decks cannot win through Spirit of the Labyrinth or Alms Collector type cards, running them allows you to obliterate some opponents from combo to control.
Effectively I am arguing for stax, but not just stax, also combo, running the combo you already have is fine, Archangel of Thune and Spike Feeder, however it doesn't win the game until your next turn unless you already have a large amount of mana, or an Aetherflux Reservoir type effect.
Consider Priest of Titania/Elvish Archdruid/Wirewood Channeler + Umbral Mantle/Sword of the Paruns/Staff of Domination as a powerful combo with cards that are individually useful. Emptying all of that infinite mana into a Genesis Wave or Walking Ballista can easily win games.
Okay, for the 50 bucks thing, Armageddon, Ramunap Excavator, Glowrider, Vryn Wingmare, Aven Mindcensor, Norn's Annex, Ghostly Prison, Spirit of the Labyrinth, Birds of Paradise, Llanowar Elves, Fyndhorn Elves, Arbor Elf, Elvish Mystic, Yisan, the Wanderer Bard, Boreal Druid, Avacyn's Pilgrim, Nature's Claim, Dryad Militant, Rest in Peace, Path to Exile, Suppression Field, Aura of Silence, Beast Within, Manglehorn, Mother of Runes, and Return to Dust add up to $49.95 on TCGplayer not including tax or shipping costs, and make up a core stax build, with other reasonably cheap cards that could help being Root Maze, Natural State.
SynergyBuild on
Ancestral Animar
9 hours ago
This is a very land-light deck and Burgeoning will mostly only drop one or two lands maximum for a card. It also doesn't put counters on Animar, can't be tutored for, and is a bad draw at any time except turn one to drop a turn two Animar. Carpet of Flowers more consistently ramps this deck into a turn two Animar and still doesn't deserve a spot because just getting a turn two animar by spending a mana isn't enough, it normally has to either be free like Lotus Petal, Chrome Mox or the similar effects or be a creature like Birds of Paradise.
Venser, Shaper Savant is not useful in the same way Man-o'-War is, being that both can bounce themselves, but Man o' War can do it for half the mana, putting twice the +1/+1 counters that Venser will on Animar. This is a huge difference when you need a number of counters to cast a game-winning spell by turn 4 or trying to win right there.
helldanno due to Animar, Soul of Elements having protection from white & black, that means I assume you are running into blue/green/red removal.
Against Red Removal, Blasphemous Act type effects are unaffected by Lightning Greaves/Swiftfoot Boots, so I assume this isn't your problem. Against Lightning Bolt effects stuff like Spellskite, Sylvan Safekeeper, Glen Elendra Archmage, Force of Will, Pact of Negation, and Mental Misstep can counter as well as just putting a few counters on Animar, Soul of Elements. Against Chaos Warp, we still have Spellskite, Sylvan Safekeeper, Glen Elendra Archmage, Force of Will, and Pact of Negation, though you could run some cards like Swan Song and Dispel can be flex slots. They also happen to slow your opponents down if they try to combo out.
Against Blue Removal, which I assume is your problem, Chain of Vapor, Into the Roil, Rapid Hybridization and Cyclonic Rift can still be blocked with Spellskite, Sylvan Safekeeper, Glen Elendra Archmage, Force of Will, and Pact of Negation, but also can be blocked by some of the flex slots I talked about prior.
Green removal is pretty much just Beast Within and Song of the Dryads and is generally rare, but if it is really hurting your, Spellskite, Sylvan Safekeeper, Glen Elendra Archmage, Force of Will, and Pact of Negation can stop them all, and Caustic Caterpillar, Brutalizer Exarch, Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger can deal with Song of the Dryads type effects.
The point is, I don't see your reason for Swiftfoot Boots or Lightning Greaves, they are two mana non-creature permanents that protect things at sorcery speed, unlike the rest of the answers.
Now while I respect your opinion in your meta on the use and capability of Emrakul, the Promised End, in this deck it commonly reduces it's cost by 1-3 mana, and can be reduced by 4-7 on a mid-sized Animar, Soul of Elements like you said, so 5-10 mana on normal by turns 5-6, or mid game. Even saying it costs is pushing it and if that is the case, you should run it if your meta is overrun with decks that are ruined by it. However due to the top tiered decks normally running a high number of instants that can be used to disable their own ability, think Chain of Vapor, they could commonly stop you from ruining themselves too bad in response to the ability before their turn. Rarely can it do more than a Word of Command because of stuff like that. Even if it just killed target player, like you said about swinging in with a swoll Animar, it doesn't win you the game to kill one player.
Again, that is only the reason that it isn't good enough for JMCraig to toss it in with the goal of this for cEDH decks, but if it works in your playgroup, do it! I have only the best wishes for you and your Animar deck!
You want a backup-backup plan I think was that second-to-last line? I don't understand why you think that is nessecary, but I will go over the plan:
Main Plan : Animar + Statue + Outlet = Win
Backup Plan : Kiki-jiki + Untapper = Win
We have a backup plan, why do you assume we need another?
You seemed to argue for Tishana over Big Kozi, but Kozilek, Butcher of Truth does have other use in the deck, and I would argue is better with a pumped Animar than Tishana. It can be free if you need a wincon and have Ancestral Statued Animar, Soul of Elements to infinity and beyond and just need to win, but don't have much more mana, Kozi is free, also with Survival of the Fittest you can fetch him and discard him to reshuffle your yard back in if you couldn't otherwise get back a card. Due to the discard being the cost, you could then fetch out a card that was in your graveyard when you fetched, making a really cool Primal Command effect for and a Survival of the Fittest.
Arguing Tishana can be fetched with Fierce Empath is fair, no arguement here, and it is even a decent option, but Imperial Recruiter has a ton of much better options, like Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker to copy the recruiter fetching Deceiver Exarch and winning the game. I can't think of a game I have ever played with Animar in which I wished I had a tishana to fetch with Imperial Recruiter. But yes, it isn't technically wrong.
The last thing I want to cover was one of your first points, about the lack of outlets to win with Ancestral Statue, with Purphoros, God of the Forge and Walking Ballista being the outlets of choice, if you have found problems tutoring tehm out, try also running Reckless Fireweaver. It doesn't combo with Man-o'-War or Shrieking Drake, but is still very useful.
UnnacountedFor on
Naya dinos
2 days ago
This seems to be a standard deck. But if you are going for modern then here's a few upgrades and tips.
Add 4 Path to Exile, it can help you in many, many ways. Change out the Lightning Strikes, or just add in Lightning Bolt
You have a lot of dinosaurs in there with big prices. That can lead to dead cards in your hand and bad draws. You need more ramp than just the Drover of the Mighty . Potentially the Arbor Elf/Utopia Sprawl combo or Birds of Paradise. A good removal spell you can add as your creatures will almost be garunteed to have higher stats is Beast Within
Also, your creatures are extremely vulnerable to removal spells. I'll give you the choice of how you want to deal with that problem but a good suggestion would be Blossoming Defense I hope this helps your deck get on a good track. otherwise this deck looks like a lot of fun. :)
hungry000 on
Naya Fog
2 days ago
Haze of Pollen is better than Commencement of Festivities. I think you need some more main deck cards to improve your noncreature matchups like control and combo, it seems like a really bad matchup game 1. Silence is amazing on Isochron Scepter, and you could try out Mana Tithe too (likely not that great, but I like it and no one ever plays around it).
I don't really like Baird and Platinum Angel in your deck. Baird is redundant and costly, and without a way to cheat it out or tutor it Angel isn't worth it, especially since removal is gonna build up in your opponent's hand throughout the game. I also question the Birds of Paradises; you don't really need to ramp into things quickly since you have fogs. In their place something like Howling Mine to find more fogs and hit land drops would be better.
I suggest testing out the Silence/Scepter lock plan, it's pretty fun.
Quinnagin27 on
Bant Spirits
3 days ago
When i started playing Bant spirits I had to start with Birds of Paradise and it did just fine its just the exalted that pushes it to the next level in the early game with those points of damage mattering when it comes down to finishing off your opponent. If you would like to see the deck ive had success with you can look here http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/bant-spoopy/
Cereal_Killer on
Sultai New Eldrazi(+) - Exile all their stuff
5 days ago
Ok, so, first thing to do is to focus on what green cards you have that let you ramp. As said: Sakura-Tribe Elder, Explore, Utopia Sprawl, Farseek, Oath of Nissa, Search for Tomorrow, Birds of Paradise, Cultivate, Rampant Growth, Beneath the Sands, Burnished Hart, Dawntreader Elk, Expedition Map, Font of Fertility, Wayfarer's Bauble, Sylvan Scrying and Harrow are good options.
Of this, you should put at least 8 cards (I suggest Sakura-Tribe Elder, Birds of Paradise, Farseek, Oath of Nissa or Sylvan Scrying).
I don't really like From Beyond, Blisterpod, Catacomb Sifter, Void Attendant, Warden of Geometries and Grave Birthing, since they cost too much and they let you have only colorless mana, thing that you don't need since you are three-coloured.
Then, as said before, I'd increase Gonti, Lord of Luxury and Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver up to 2x copies and I don't really like Nightveil Specter, alternatives could be: Circu, Dimir Lobotomist, Bribery, Praetor's Grasp, Psychic Intrusion, Stolen Goods. Oblivion Sower it's a funny card, I'd put in in 1x.
Another thing: You have some big creatures and you are black-green-blue, I'd increase your land number up to 22. Remember also to choose lands that could be searched when you are ramping (if you have chosen to ramp only with cards that search for BASIC lands, well, put at least 4x basic lands of each type). Some lands you could might consider: obviously fetch lands and schocklands, Darkslick Shores, Blooming Marsh, Botanical Sanctum, Drowned Catacomb, Woodland Cemetery, Hinterland Harbor, Fetid Pools, Underground River, Llanowar Wastes, Yavimaya Coast, Sunken Ruins, Twilight Mire, Flooded Grove , Sunken Hollow. For all the rest of the cards that could enter your deck, I'll wait to see if you like the direction your deck is going and, most important thing, what types of cards you have chosen to ramp, to be your manabase and wich cards will steal your opponent's cards.
Cereal_Killer on
Sultai New Eldrazi(+) - Exile all their stuff
6 days ago
Ok, since you want to have a fun deck, that could hold its owns but doesn't need to be super competitive I'd go in the "steal your opponent's cards" direction. So Gonti, Lord of Luxury and Lord of the Void are awesome cards I'd also put in 2x.
I don't really like Nightveil Specter (what if opponent has a rw deck? You can't cast that cards!), maybe Circu, Dimir Lobotomist could be an alternative.
Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver is a great card too, very powerful here.
Then, since your man curve is very high and you need to have tons of mana, there are 2 options I'd go: or make it a ub deck (cutting green and beeing more similar to a control with Duress, Inquisition of Kozilek, more counters, as Mana Leak, Negate and reducing your mana curve cutting some big eldrazi), or using green for ramp with cards like Sakura-Tribe Elder, Explore, Utopia Sprawl, Farseek, Oath of Nissa, Search for Tomorrow, Birds of Paradise, Cultivate, Harrow and so on. Remember you need tons of mana for your creatures and also to cast things you have exiled.
But this is your decision. And only after you have decided we can help you seeing what could be add in the deck and what cards you don't need.
galaxyman7 on
Rainbow Roids (5 color +1/+1 counters)
1 week ago
After a few more games with the deck, I would like to continue making the deck more threat heavy and resilient against removal. So I made some pretty deep cuts. The cards on the chopping block are the following:
Mirrorweave - just a little too slow and not good if you are up against any removal heavy decks. Much better against decks that rely on mostly creatures, of which there are not many. Humans is the best aggro deck in the format, yet most of its creatures will have +1/+1 counters on them, so mirrorweave isn't great.
Cytoplast Root-Kin - A big mana commitment for something that will only be good with a few other creatures out. I would rather just have removal instead, or a more robust standalone threat.
Nissa, Voice of Zendikar- Gets overrun easily if you are losing, and gets hit by lightning bolts after the -2. There are other more robust cards that have a similar effect. However, it is a standalone threat against an empty board that can be hard to get rid of for control, so it may be a sideboard card.
Birds of Paradise - I don't have too many things to ramp into at 3 mana, so I think I am better off running something that I want to draw late game, like Oath of Nissa, which can give me a land early, or a creature late, and isn't just going to die to removal like birds does. I might run 1 more land, and 3 oaths.
Hangarback Walker - not an aggressive card. Even if it does dodge removal, no one cares about it enough to kill it. Mostly blocks, and there's not a ton of blocking in modern.
Replacements:
Abzan Ascendancy - a replacement for nissa that is a bit more robust, and better against the decks with a mix of creatures and removal. It triggers bloodhall ooze twice, and works well with the graft stuff. It also triggers when my ballista or simic initiate runs out of counters.
Dromoka's Command - This deck needs some more removal, but I think it's also important to run cards that are synergystic with the deck. This card fills that role fairly well, especially with a hardened scales out. However, it is dependent on having a creature out, and can be interrupted by removal from the opponent, which is a little iffy.
Oath of Nissa - Our replacement for birds of paradise to act as our 22-24th lands. It also gets most of the stuff in the deck, which means it's a really good late game drop vs. the birds. It also gets us to our key cards like ballista and constrictor more consistently. Plus it sticks around as a green permanent for bloodhall ooze! That's way more important than you might think.
Bloodbraid Elf - I had this card on my list for a while and only recently considered it. It's a powerhouse with a lot of the cards in this deck, since the cascaded spell gets cast first. For instance, anafenza enters the battlefield, and then immediately triggers on Bloodbraid, which can make it a huge hasty creature with a hardened scales out. Same with simic initiate, dromokas command, and plaxcaster. The rest of the time it just gives you so much value. The only card that doesn't work with it is walking ballista, but even that can trigger the anafenza and ascendancy, so it's not horrible.
Plaxcaster Frogling - Another grafter that can protect itself and other creatures if you untap. Being able to protect your big bloodhall oozes from fatal push and other nonsense is going to make a lot of decks not be able to keep up. I admit it's probably the weakest card in the deck, but I want to try it out anyways. Grafting has proven to be very good, even on a lowly simic initiate. Other options for this slot are Trinket Mage (for the 5th and 6th copies of ballista), Predator Ooze, Ajani, Caller of the Pride, Nissa, Voice of Zendikar, Liliana, the Last Hope (mostly for recurring stuff), and Jadelight Ranger