Derevi Tempo EDH

Commander / EDH SealableZero

SCORE: 32 | 27 COMMENTS | 16368 VIEWS | IN 20 FOLDERS


Nov. 6, 2015

gobucks says... #1

I really like your ideas. Pretty nasty commander too. Great job.

As for suggestions, Glare of Subdual is another Opposition that fits the theme with its ability and flavor, with its only difference of not being able to hit lands.

June 3, 2015 10:37 a.m.

Omega346 says... #2

Cowardice to Bounce enemy creatures to their hand for free each a creature hits an opponent, thanks to Derevi's triggered ability which targets.

June 12, 2015 5:51 p.m.

SealableZero says... #3

gobucks too much redundancy of the stasis idea isn't a good thing. I ended taking a lot of it out. I'm thinking of adding Equilibrium as I can just bounce creatures for playing creatures. But I'm gonna see how this current build works and continue fine tuning from there

June 26, 2015 1:51 p.m.

Stasis. You're welcome

July 2, 2015 1:04 p.m.

SealableZero says... #5

ninjaman16782. I had it in an old version of the deck. It just doesn't do it for me, do to the fact it contradicts Prophet of Kruphix. Hokori, Dust Drinker does pretty much the same thing when I'm ready to lock it down. Keep in mind this isn't an attacking deck. It can later in the game with Mirror Entity, but as you can see most creatures in here are 0/2 and 1/1. The goal is to have creatures to set up a combo or one of my alternate won cons, that's why there's a lot of recursion. And chances are I won't be able to attack through my opponents creatures until I set up.

July 2, 2015 1:48 p.m.

Schmidty says... #6

Rest in Peace and Tormod's Crypt are both great GY removal. Just a couple of suggestions as you said you struggled against recursion decks.

July 25, 2015 1:23 p.m.

merrowMania says... #7

As a fellow Derevi player, f#$% you. As a Blue player, +3! Wheel of Sun and Moon is awesome against recursion decks, while still maintaining your graveyard capabilities. I love to use Lotus Vale, Seaside Citadel, Simic Growth Chamber, Azorius Chancery, Selesnya Sanctuary, and Thespian's Stage with Derevi. I don't know the layout of the deck like you do, but the bounce lands will provide extra land drops and artificially up your landcount. But, again, I run a different kind of deck (and only one of each basic too)

July 28, 2015 2:56 p.m.

Tata says... #8

Gilded Lotus is a little slow for ramp. x3 of a colour really isn't all that great, either. Thran Dynamo makes the same amount for 1 less - definitely faster, since you get it online a turn earlier and can use it in conjunction with the rest of your lands the next turn faster. Give it a shot.

I dislike Proteus Staff now that we have no-tucking rules. Used solely as a value engine, I think it's unreliable and generally really slow and bad.

Soul of the Harvest is good because it triggers off of blinking a creature, but Primordial Sage requires you to cast a creature, making it worse. I'd cut it for something better. Maybe Genesis? Great pod target.

Ephara, God of the Polis is a little weak as a draw/value engine. It's expensive and conditional and only leads to 1 card per turn. I'd replace it with a card that's abusable with your general and other untap strategies. Like other posters have suggested, Stasis is has a brutal supersynergy with your general, but there's also things like Oblivion Stone, Bloom Tender, Captain Sissay, etc, that are absolutely bonkers.

Bident of Thassa is really strong with a creature-swarm Derevi strategy.

Azami, Lady of Scrolls wants more mages! Arcanis the Omnipotent is pretty good. So is Snapcaster Mage.

I think you should play a few more spells like Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile and maybe even Bant Charm. I think Sphinx's Revelation is too slow in EDH. Counterspell is really good, too. Swan Song is a personal favorite.

July 28, 2015 8 p.m.

SealableZero says... #9

Tata: I had Thran Dynamo, but took it out as I am in need of colored mana for spells.

Proteus Staff is on the fence for me, but it's a free creature getting rid of derevi and just placing him in the command zone instead. Thing is I don't need this effect, so probably would put another finisher instead soon.

Primordial Sage is needed for this deck as it helps the draw engine continue, and since it gets to the point where I'm casting creatures on everyone else's turns, it helps the engine continue, hence why there are 42 creatures in the deck.

As for Stasis it goes against what I'm trying to do with the deck. It was in the original version, but it doesn't synergise with Prophet of Kruphix and other similar cards.

Ephara, God of the Polis allows me to draw pretty much every turn once I get the engine going. Also synergizes with Sages of the Anima as well as all the other draw engines.

I'm also not a big fan of creatures that have a tap ability because that means it needs to last a full turn around the board. Which is why I avoid those.

I had bident of thasa in as well, might put it back in soon because it is a good free draw ability.

There is no need for Snapcaster Mage as there aren't enough spells to support it, I might as well use that slot for something else. Yes it's a blue thing, but you always need to consider what you are playing, and this is a creature heavy deck. It will most likely just sit in hand the whole game.

Azami, Lady of Scrolls is a win con piece, it draws me 2 or 3 cards which just helps me win faster. The amount of mages is irrelevant.

I think you underestimate the power of Sphinx's Revelation. I've had tables just scoop when I play it, especially with Prophet of Kruphix out. Also not a big fan of targeted spells, I'd rather have counter spells instead. If you think about it, cards like Path to Exile etc is a card trade with 1 player with a table of 4 people in it. That's one card loss for me and that player and puts the other 2 players ahead 1 card. I'm not saying it's a bad card, I'm sure modern loves those cards, but for a multiplayer format, I'd rather have effects that effect everyone.

July 28, 2015 8:26 p.m.

SealableZero says... #10

Oh and also I chose guilder lotus because it has the capabilities of creating infinite mana with derevi and Deadeye Navigator

July 28, 2015 8:36 p.m.

can you look at my Queen Derevi deck and tell me what you think of it

July 28, 2015 11:22 p.m.

Tata says... #12

Your explanation for why you play Proteus Staff actually convinced me. Forgot about Derevi. It's actually pretty good, and if the deck had fewer creatures then it would be much better.

I don't think reducing the creature count is a bad idea, either. As you say, a lot of the value/draw engines like Ephara, God of the Polis and Primordial Sage require lots of creatures. But that makes them conditional and less powerful than, say, Sylvan Library.

Sphinx's Revelation can draw lots of cards, it's true, but so can Blue Sun's Zenith (and lots of other cards). For the same cost, too, you can mill opponents out (if you have infinite mana, which seems to be one of your end-game strategies), and it returns to your deck to be tutored. Gilded Lotus, in a rare appearance, actually makes it easier to cast for , too. I think sphinx rev's lifegain is largely irrelevant in EDH. But don't get me wrong: drawing is strong. I just think sphinx rev is easily outclassed by bsz and many other cards that don't require tapping tons of land.

I agree that 1-for-1 trades in multiplayer EDH are not the best. However, I still think it's important to have cards that interact with your opponents' stuff. Counterspells are probably the best way of doing this, you're right, and you should probably run some more. I like a little removal, though, and white has the best removal, so I don't think it hurts to run one or two pieces of targeted removal. Exile Avacyn on the cheap, for instance.

You're right: Azami, Lady of Scrolls draws a lot of cards. It's good like that. I also think increasing the number of mages makes it a better card in the deck. Think of it as a small substrategy surrounding one of your most powerful draw engines. Played correctly, Azami will consistently draw you more cards than any Braingeyser ever could. Also, mages tend to synergize with your general. Check out Voidmage Prodigy. You already have a ton of mages, so it's not terribly important to maximize this, but it's a nice synergy that I wanted to point out. Speaking of which, I think you could afford to play Trinket Mage.

After reading your post and looking at your deck more carefully, I think you may be over-relying on a variety of draw-engines to make up for the enormous amount of creatures in the deck. If you don't like 1-for-1s or losing value of any kind, a creature-based strategy doesn't sound like your cup of tea. For instance, I don't like Mystic Snake because it's essentially a tricky-to-cast 1-for-1 counterspell that produces a measly 2/2 body. This loss in value that creatures generally cause in EDH leads to many competitive (combo-centric) decks avoiding everything but the very best creatures. But I think many creatures are good and worthy of play, and your strategy works, but I think you could balance your list a little more to include a bit more utility in the form of spells. Honestly, I think your deck is missing crucial ramp sorceries like Nature's Lore and Skyshroud Claim, and maybe that's something you could cut a few creatures for.

July 29, 2015 4:07 a.m.

SaberTech says... #13

As someone who runs both Devevi and Animar I can offer a few suggestions. But before I start I can see that you aren't going heavy on the Derevi land lockdown route so I'll refrain from making any suggestions in that direction.

Derevi vs Animar: I've found this to be a tough match up for Derevi because Animar can quickly outpace the deck and Derevi can't tap or block Animar, which negates one of Derevi's biggest utilities against aggressive commanders. What Derevi can utilize well is Umezawa's Jitte, which Animar hates to see hit the board early if it doesn't have a fast start or an immediate answer in hand. You also need a few more wraths in the deck. I realize that your deck is mostly creature based, but almost every EDH deck should run a least a couple solid wrath spells in case it falls behind in the game and needs to make a comeback. Supreme Verdict and Wrath of God are probably the way to go. You also aren't running much in the way of instant speed answers to respond to Animar combos. Although it can't hit Animar, a Swords to Plowshares in hand can go a long way in buying you time, removing combo creatures, and dealing with Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre.

The hardest part of the match-up is if the Animar deck is running clones. Since it is also heavily creature based, if Animar can steal or clone Derevi it can usually utilize her ability just as well as your deck can. A tuned Animar deck with a copy of Derevi is often just a turn or two away from winning, so if that is the type of Animar deck you are facing you'll want to be very selective of when you put Derevi onto the battlefield.

To build on your tempo strategy, a couple cards to consider are Hero's Blade and Grafted Wargear. Both can make Derevi a prominent threat both as an evasive attacker and as a potent blocker. Hero's Blade will attach to Derevi for free each time she comes in, while Grafted Wargear also attaches for free and offers a way to sacrifice Derevi so you can use her ETB effect again.

For dealing with graveyards, another card that might work for you is Stonecloaker. It can repeatedly snipe cards in the graveyard, it plays well with your god cards, and it can return a creature to your hand at instant speed in a pinch.

August 10, 2015 5:34 p.m.