You should add Staff of Nin to EVERY edh ever. Draw power like that is so important and pinging is nice. Lavinia of the Tenth gets real stupid for a large quanity of edh decks that you face. Soul of the Harvest for said draw power. Maybe you'll catch some ideas from my deck I Prefer Not to Attack.

Soul of the Harvest is definitely on my short list, and was actually in my deck until the last set of cuts a few days ago. The problem I've run into is it's not actually all that great at recovering me from a bad situation. If its out, and I have enough creatures to consistently trigger it, I'm probably not that far behind and it's a bit win more. If I really need the draws to catch up, I have to wait until I draw into gas to get the effect. I agree that I'd like something to help me play catch up when needed, but I'm not sure Soul is it.

Lavinia of the Tenth is also under strong consideration, but I feel like it fits in the same spot as Stonehorn Dignitary and I'm not sure I have space for both. Maybe Lavinia is a better card, but I guess it'd come down to meta, and I haven't pinned down my meta enough to figure out if weenies or big alpha strikes are the bigger problem. This is a definite "maybe."

Staff seems good, but what do you take out for it? And if I am going to take out a card for a once-a-turn draw effect, wouldn't Jace, the Mind Sculptor be more powerful for a lower CMC? Sure, his ultimate would probably never be used, but I could see using the bounce for extra pseudo-blink effects when needed.

If you have the money definately use Jace, the Mind Sculptor . Hes banned in almost everything for a reason. I think I would cut Blue Sun's Zenith for it.

You know, as much as I am pained to have not realized it earlier, I just now came to the realization of how redundant Blue Sun's Zenith really is in this deck. It is flat out unnecessary overkill. If I already have infinite mana, and my entire deck in hand, why do I need a corner case dedicated kill card when I can just kill with, I don't know...my whole deck? If I can't win with infinite mana, my whole deck, an arbitrary number of blinks, and two more available combos built in, I probably don't deserve to win anyway!

Any changes with the new THS-BNG cards? Love this deck.

Also, I feel like Teferi belongs in here somewhere. Instant speed blink and blast just seems fun...

Sorry for the triple post, what are you using in Sylvan Primordial 's place?

Hadn't gotten to play any games since the banning announcement (and as a result I hadn't been up on here to tinker). Sorry for the slow answer daveprince. Anyway, I've been thinking a lot on what to put in Sylvan's place, and it's admittedly got some big shoes to fill. Other Primordials could fit (Luminate Primordial can be good in a pinch if you are behind), but I think one of the strongest candidates may also be an answer to your question about BNG - Ephara, God of the Polis . It's basically a tweaked Soul of the Harvest in different colors, but indestructible, along with coming down two turns earlier, more than outweighs the lack of trample/fewer draws in multiple-creature turns as I see it. Being out earlier also alleviates the problem I had with Soul up above in the comments - since it's out earlier I'm more likely to already have gas left in my hand, meaning that it actually can help me play catch-up. If my meta went heavy artifact/enchantment I could also see an argument for Bane of Progress , I guess?

I will say I have been pretty unhappy with Ondu Giant . It feels like whenever I see it early game I would almost always rather it be a 3-mana accelerator, even if it meant I couldn't bounce it for extra effect. Mimic Vat has also been pretty lackluster since I have little control (via sac outlets/targeted removal/etc) of when cards go to the graveyard. As a result, I'm tinkering with replacing them with Cultivate and Kodama's Reach

Another BNG card I've considered is Kiora's Follower , maybe in the spot of the Cultivate I just popped into the deck. It could play Arbor Elf/accelerator in the early game, and then if it's still alive later, it can give me extra Roon/Birthing Pod activations. I just don't know if I have enough of a critical mass of cards that care about tapped/untapped status to make it worth the risk of it being a 2-mana do-nothing bear that doesn't do anything the turn it comes down. Thoughts?

Apparently I should have paid closer attention to the BNG list as it was being spoiled - not sure how I missed Perplexing Chimera . Sure, it's 3 more mana, but a "fixed" Gilded Drake that can also hit spells seems pretty awesome. Now just to figure out what I can cut.

Kiora's Follower is a very nice card in this deck. The ability to bounce two things with Roon is really good and in times of need it lets you get extra mana.

Fun trick with this deck if you have the mana. If you cast Angel of Serenity , then use Roon to bounce her with her ETB trigger still on the stack, the cards will be permanently exiled because her leaving the battlefield trigger actually resolves first, and since there are no cards exiled because the ETB trigger hasn't resolved yet, you get to permanently exile 3 creatures, then reuse her ability when she re-enters. Works well with Kiora's Follower too to do it twice! Also, I would probably play all 3 of the Primordials in your colors if I was playing the deck. Sylvan Primordial , Diluvian Primordial , and Luminate Primordial give you some very strong ETB triggers that are attached to well bodied creatures and can be easily abused.

I just now read that Sylvan Primordial got banned, sorry about that. Although I really don't think it was that OP, apparently everything green is OP to wizards in EDH now

Yup, Angel of Serenity tricks are fun, and even if I don't end up going with Kiora's Follower, you can do the same repeating thing as you mentioned with Minamo as well.

Adding the two Primordials in would come down to a question of finding space not just in the deck, but in the curve. The deck's already a little top-heavier than I'd like as is. They're both definitely on my radar, though.

I've been testing Strip Mine in the place of Alchemist's Refuge . I only have so much space I can spare for colorless lands since the deck is pretty color-greedy as is, and I find that I'm pretty much never wanting to hold 2 mana open on top of whatever I was going to play, just to instant-speed some random creature. Strip Mine just seems to add more value by helping me keep Homeward Path from taking away all the stuff I steal with Drake and Chimera.

Trying out Garruk, Caller of Beasts over Jace TMS for a bit. Yes, it's more expensive on the curve, but when my deck is 37% creatures, the +1 is likely to give me more CA than Jace's brainstorm, and unlike Jace I'm likely to actually use the other abilities from time to time. That ultimate is pretty awesome.

Also, as discussed above, trying out Kiora's Follower , in the slot of Wall of Blossoms .

Sweet deck! I'm running a Roon list that's very similar to yours, only my meta discourages going infinite so I don't use Palinchron or Time Warp . I do take advantage of Mirror Entity , though, because of all the infinite combos out there I find Karmic/Lark to be the most elegant, and to me it's just more fun than producing infinite mana or taking infinite turns. At any rate, +1 from me!

I'm curious how Garruk, Caller of Beasts fares in your deck--I'm thinking of trying him out for myself.

Next, I'd like extoll the virtues of Bane of Progress . Sure, you might occasionally lose Birthing Pod or Survival of the Fittest , but the upside is totally worth it. Decks dependent upon lots of mana rocks get hosed so much harder.

I've also gotten really good results from Gaddock Teeg . At best, he prevents all manner of wrath effects. At worst, he eats removal that would've otherwise targeted Prophet of Kruphix . If I need to cast Tooth and Nail for the win I just flicker him or bounce him with Jace TMS. He's been an all-star against every creature-light deck I've played against.

On a side note, why the Supreme Verdict ? Seems a bit counterproductive in a deck with 38 creatures. I'd venture to say that Ixidron might be a better choice, because you have multiple ways of reflipping your dudes.

Thanks for the +1 and the comments!

Luckily, swapping out Palinchron and Time Warp on the fly depending on who you are playing with is pretty easy. My main group doesn't mind the infinite combos, but it wouldn't be hard to keep a spare creature and spell in your box (say, Luminate Primordial and Rite of Replication ) behind a divider, ready to jump in if you're worried about a group being touchy.

It may be a few weeks before I can come back with any results on Garruk because of my friends' schedules, but I'll try to let you know.

I also love Bane of Progress and it's always been just on the edge of being in my 100. You hit it on the nail though - I get so much value off off Survival/Pod/Closet that the bad player in me never wants to pull the trigger on it even if I know I'm losing less than my opponents.

Teeg seems awesome for the right build of the deck, but I feel like my particular version would be hit a little harder than I'd like to make it worth it. It'd shut off a big chunk of my deck - not just TnN, but GSZ, Genesis Wave , Austere Command , Supreme Verdict , Time Warp , Asceticism , Defense of the Heart , Garruk, Venser, Conjurer's Closet , and Birthing Pod . That's 12% of the deck, and a hair over 19% of the non-land cards. Adding Teeg would probably require a bit more tweaks than I'm comfortable making at the moment.

Verdict is in there because even though I'm the "creature guy" in a lot of games, there are always moments where I'm so far behind that I have to pull the grenade. Sometimes we're not the beatdown, and when those times happen, it's nice to be able to go EOT tutor for Verdict, draw Verdict, and be the guy that saves the day. Ixidron is definitely on my radar, though. I'm just not sure that leaving behind a swarm of 2/2's if you're really behind is optimal. Something to test though, for sure.

Cool, I'll be sure to check back often to see how Garruk does. I could also test him in my own build and compare notes.

Gaddock Teeg 's probably better in my build than in yours--I'm not running Defense of the Heart, Asceticism, Time Warp, or Supreme Verdict. Granted, you'd actually be able to cast GSZ and Genesis Wave because "X" doesn't count toward their CMC, but that's still 10% of your deck, so I can understand how it wouldn't work for you. Luckily for me, it only turns off about half that.

Nope, GSZ and Genesis Wave are turned off not by Teeg's "4 or greater" line, but by the second one - "Noncreature spells with X in their mana cost can't be played." I learned that lesson all to well a few years back playing "Big zoo" in legacy, when I realized that GSZ for my singleton Teeg turned off all my future GSZs.

oh derp, I'm not very smart sometimes.

So I've had a chance to resolve Garruk, Caller of Beasts a few times now, and I've been very pleased with him so far. Since I generally have enough creatures to protect him, I've been able to use his +1 three or four times fairly consistently, and even got his emblem online once. All in all, I think he tends to draw me more cards than JTMS, but for the time being I am running both of them. Just thought I'd check in to share my preliminary results.

Spent a year or so not playing due to having moved away from my group of friends that played, but thinking about getting back into it. I'm going to have to rebuy a few cards that I had to sell over the past while, but I still think that the list above is about as solid as it could have been when I last edited it last year. So that brings the question: does anyone have any suggestions for cards that need to go in a Roon deck that have come out in the past year? I've not had my finger on the pulse of Magic recently, so I don't know much about the sets released in the intervening time. Any suggestions would be awesome! Thanks!

I would also like to know what "new" cards could be used in this deck. The reprinting of Chord of Calling sparked my interests, probably taking over Wargate's place. The most obvious inclusion in Khans would definitely be Clever Impersonator. Anything else?

I've done some playtesting with Roon and here's a good maybelist to consider. Overall the deck gotten some nice additions and I still love playing it.

I also cannot stress cheap removal enough. Path to Exile, Swords to Plowshares and Dromoka's Command (sometimes) are easy inclusions, our value creatures are never big fatties that the other guys play so I always find myself needing something like that in my playgroup.

Ixidron (creates "morphans" that can't turn face up), Reclamation Sage (harmonic sliver upgrade), Sun Titan, Sower of Temptation (control magic upgrade), Mangara of Corondor (exile machine with a blink engine), Krosan Grip, Privileged Position (almost a strict upgrade over Asceticism and useful since I've added more non creature permanents), Dromoka's Command (blowouts to be had), Den Protector (Maternal Witness)

It's been a year or two since I've gotten to play Commander (or honestly, Magic in general), due to family obligations and the fact that I was living 80+ miles away from any friends who played. But, after moving back closer to my old playgroup, I've decided it's time to jump back in. Obviously, though, this means I've got a bit of catching up to do, considering the last time I played with any consistency was when Theros came out. After reading over several other Roon lists, I think I've got a handle on the options available, but it's going to take me a bit to get everything back exactly how I want it.

Because it's been so long, I went ahead and cleared old comments and update history, as the changes I made today shifted the deck a good bit and I just want to start fresh.

I have upped the creature count from 37 to 40 and tweaked the creature list substantially, adding Angel of Finality, Bane of Progress, Duplicant, Nissa, Vastwood Seer  ^Flip, Reclamation Sage, Resolute Archangel, Sun Titan, and Woodland Bellower. Some of these are new cards that just absolutely deserved a spot. Some of them are older cards that were on my radar but just hadn't made it in the deck for one reason or another. Obviously I had to cut Prophet of Kruphix due to the ban that happened in my absence.

Upping my creature count does two things. First, it slightly tilts the deck more to the beatdown/attrition/blink game away from the heavy combo plays. Honestly, I think in most games this is a good thing, as while the option for a quick combo is good if a game is running long or I just feel like an "oops, I win!" moment, I don't think I'll be playing in super-competitive circles right now, and so combo wins are less important right now.

Second, raising the creature count obviously lowers the non-creature count, which makes each and every artifact/enchantment/sorcery/instant/planeswalker really fight for their spot. If I'm reducing spell counts, and pulling back a teeny bit from the go-for-the-throat combo kills, it made sense to nix the Mystical Tutor and Enlightened Tutor. They have fewer targets now, and aren't as critical to the game plan. In their place I added Chord of Calling and Worldly Tutor. I no longer had space for both Sensei's Divining Top and Sylvan Library, so I cut Top, as I feel that Library is just a better card in this deck. I removed Conjurer's Closet and Asceticism as they felt overcosted and a bit win-more. Austere Command is amazing, but I feel like I really needed some cheap hard removal, and so for now I've cut it to try out Swords to Plowshares.

I know I've still got some changes to make, as this is all preliminary guesswork - I haven't gotten the new cards in hand yet, let alone played with them. Also, just for full disclosure, I am leaving the list of land as it is on the site "for posterity" as I really do believe it is probably the best land base for the deck, but as I sold all my duals a couple years back, for now I've swapped in Temples to replace the old ABUR duals in my actual physical deck. A straight downgrade, but meh, you do what you have to. Just know if you have the money and want to emulate the deck, go for the list above. If you don't have the money, Temples or painlands or any number of other lesser duals will work.