Yet another changelog. Yay. As always, tl;dr at the bottom. See you there.
Almost two full years without updating, that's a lot. Haven't played that much edh lately (for quite obvious reasons) but many changes have been made since the last changelog. The second changelog went in the right direction, but made the annoying mistake of understimating the importance of winrate. By a huge amount. So a lot of changes have been made in order for the deck to actually work, starting by the most important of them all: An Actual Gameplan
Some redundancy (Displace, Mnemonic Wall) and a bunch of not good synergies (Nephalia Smuggler, Primal Amulet
Flip, Goblin Electromancer) went away to leave enough room for things that could, maybe, actually win us the game (Temporal Manipulation, Avenger of Zendikar, Inferno Titan, Craterhoof Behemoth). Also some of the more suboptimal control spells (Summary Dismissal, Mizzium Mortars) gave way to some better removal (Mystic Confluence, Aether Gale, Decimate).
The ramp has also changed quite a bit, disposing of the less efficient artifacts (Izzet Signet, Simic Signet) and getting more synergistic non-basic forest searching ramp (Wood Elves, Nature's Lore) while Commander's Sphere has been changed for Arcane Signet. Nothing wrong with Explore, but with a land count this low, I can't count on drawing the lands I need, and Rampant Growth and Birds of Paradise are just gone to make room for more interesting/impactful stuff. On the other side things like Coiling Oracle or Elvish Visionary have been changed for Llanowar Visionary and Risen Reef (even though the last one didn't make the cut), and a lot of draw has been added: Thrasios, Triton Hero, Sylvan Library, Valakut Awakening
Flip, Sea Gate Restoration
Flip, Guided Passage, Fact or Fiction. I really dislike Rhystic Study, it is annoying and has no fun interactions with the rest of the deck, so put it in if you like asking everyone whether they pay the tax, I will not include it in my 99.
It might be obvious in hindsight, but Zendikar Resurgent is really, really good for a deck as mana hungry as this one. So I put Nyxbloom Ancient and Mana Reflection in. I also felt like some cards like Bramble Sovereign, Reverberate or Twincast were not performing as good as I had expected, so I tried changing them for Clever Impersonator and Naru Meha, Master Wizard to add a bit of flexibility and more consistency to the only infinite combo I will allow into the deck (Dualcaster Mage + Ghostly Flicker).
The lands have changed quite a lot too, taking out some taplands and all the painlands (Frontier Bivouac, Karplusan Forest, Rootbound Crag, Shivan Reef, Yavimaya Coast) in favour of commander lands (Rejuvenating Springs, Training Center) and type-searchable lands (Wastes, Ketria Triome, Sheltered Thicket). Reliquary Tower, Alchemist's Refuge and Temple of Abandon have been switched for Castle Vantress and Gruul Turf which, considering the ammount of MDFC spells and the landfall in Avenger of Zendikar, I will count as a utility land. Three bounce lands should ensure that MDFCs can be bounced and cast at some point in time, but Cloudstone Curio has been on my mind for a long time now.
To close the new additions, Recollect has been changed for Bala Ged Recovery
Flip, Tooth and Nail for Finale of Devastation (Tooth and Nail is too much mana and more combo oriented), Krosan Grip for Beast Within (wanted to have a more versatile removal) and finally, in a saddening but unsurprising turn of events, Yisan, the Wanderer Bard was too slow and was replaced by Prime Speaker Vannifar.
Some stuff that I tried out but didn't like:
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Asceticism: I need way too much mana just to build up the board, if protecting it was to be considered, at least I'd want a bit more consistency than just one card.
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Deathgorge Scavenger: too narrow in its use, feels good to fetch it against graveyard decks, but it is not useful enough to deserve a slot.
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Rashmi, Eternities Crafter: could have been fun with Jori En, Ruin Diver, but it seems to me that deck would go in a different direction.
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Swarm Intelligence: this version of the deck is too much creature based for the card to be impactful enough on most games.
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Cryptolith Rite: looks like it should work fine, but most times it did not, which leaves me wondering. Maybe it fits better on a build that protects its board?
tl;dr: In the end, I think the deck has improven quite a lot. It can win games with Craterhoof Behemoth and Avenger of Zendikar, or just stall the game out by recycling Cyclonic Rift or Temporal Manipulation. Also it has a lot of neat interactions and it truly can tutor itself out of problems. Playing the deck requires a fair ammount of thinking and good knowledge of its toolbox, which makes it a little more interesting too, and I really love it.
