Mayael's Hunting Grounds

Commander / EDH* Budget Multiplayer Ramp RGW (Naya) Value Engine

C4rnif3X

Lands (37)

• 1x Battlefield Forge
• 1x Brushland
• 1x Canopy Vista
• 1x Centaur Garden
• 1x Cinder Glade
• 1x Clifftop Retreat
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Forbidden Orchard
• 8x Forest
• 1x Holdout Settlement
• 1x Jungle Shrine
• 1x Karplusan Forest
• 1x Mosswort Bridge
• 5x Mountain
• 3x Plains
• 1x Prismatic Vista
• 1x Rootbound Crag
• 1x Sacred Foundry
• 1x Stomping Ground
• 1x Sunpetal Grove
• 1x Survivors' Encampment
• 1x Temple Garden
• 1x Windswept Heath
• 1x Wooded Foothills

Deck Engine (4)

• 1x Drumhunter
• 1x Wilderness Reclamation
• 1x Soul of the Harvest
• 1x The Great Henge

Removal Creatures (4)

• 1x Sunder Shaman
• 1x Kalemne's Captain
• 1x Angel of Serenity
• 1x Terastodon

Recursion Creatures (2)

• 1x Dawnbreak Reclaimer
• 1x Greenwarden of Murasa

Ramp (13)

• 1x Blighted Woodland
• 1x Krosan Verge
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Druid of the Anima
• 1x Edge of Autumn
• 1x Farseek
• 1x Whisperer of the Wilds
• 1x Zhur-Taa Druid
• 1x Mul Daya Channelers
• 1x Search for Tomorrow
• 1x Wayward Swordtooth
• 1x Explosive Vegetation
• 1x Shefet Monitor

Instant Speed (10)

• 1x Pyroblast
• 1x Reclaim
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Eladamri's Call
• 1x Return to Nature
• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Chaos Warp
• 1x Congregation at Dawn
• 1x Naya Charm
• 1x Savage Beating

Instant Speed Card Draw (8)

• 1x Forgotten Cave
• 1x Scattered Groves
• 1x Secluded Steppe
• 1x Sheltered Thicket
• 1x Tranquil Thicket
• 1x Momentous Fall
• 1x Return of the Wildspeaker
• 1x Krosan Tusker

Fetch The Great Henge (1)

• 1x Gamble

Commander (1)

Defensive Creatures (10)

• 1x Marisi, Breaker of the Coil
• 1x Mycoid Shepherd
• 1x Spellbreaker Behemoth
• 1x God-Eternal Rhonas
• 1x Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs
• 1x Rienne, Angel of Rebirth
• 1x Sigarda, Host of Herons
• 1x Thragtusk
• 1x Omnath, Locus of Rage
• 1x Celestial Force

Offensive Creatures (10)

• 1x Woolly Thoctar
• 1x Cliffrunner Behemoth
• 1x Polukranos, World Eater
• 1x Rumbling Slum
• 1x Surrak, the Hunt Caller
• 1x Tahngarth, First Mate
• 1x Ilharg, the Raze-Boar
• 1x Rakeclaw Gargantuan
• 1x Armada Wurm
• 1x Ruric Thar, the Unbowed

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MAYAEL'S HUNTING GROUNDS

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Mayael, the Anima

GAMEPLAN

Why play Mayael? Well, one could say to drop fatties and call it a day. The avid control player in me loves the opportunities Mayael brings to the table. The big creatures are great.. But the other element at play here is being able to leave mana open for reactionary "spin the wheel'ing." Holding up instant answers, or finding creatures that might deal with the next set of situations in response makes my control based brain ecstatic. Mayael is also very easy to build on budget, which is what this deck is.. Minus my splurge into mana base. So how do we build a consistent deck around this gameplan you ask? Well first off, we need math. This will give us an approximate creature foundation so we know how much to add, then we can build around this base.









1. In layman's terms the above graph shows the law of diminishing returns in the context of hitting a target per spin (somebody smarter than me figured this out lol.) As you see, around 25+ targets puts us at 77%.. Or miss roughly 1 out of 4 times. Which is ok, but not for this build. We want the best odds while still having room to add other spells. +30 targets puts us around an 85% chance to hit every spin, which seems like a good place to stop. The curve starts to diminish from 2% increases more progressively as we add more targets above 24, to about 1% more frequently.


2. "Too long didn't read that!" Going above 30+ Mayael targets isn't worth it. So with this base, now what do we do? Well this is the hardest part. We need creatures that synergize very well together, and find some ratio that nearly guarantees us an answer for any given situation with natural drawing and spinning the wheel. I'll go over the synergy elements later on, but for now this is how I built my targets.. 10 that always want to be attacking, 10 that give us or our creatures some form of protection, and 10 split between removal/drawing/recursion/ramp & fixing. This will be a soild base to build around with some other non-target mana and utility dorks like Drumhunter and Mul Daya Channelers. Our final numbers are 30+ targets, and 4 other creature dorks.

3. Great, we have our creature base. Now we will form our control shell around these synergized creatures. Remember our strategy route with Mayael to leave mana open? Well you know what works great with open mana and passing the turn? Instants, Cycling, and Card Draw! Lets stick to our plan though.. We want to utilize our creatures we just built. This is where Eladamri's Call and Congregation at Dawn come in. Leaving open mana and being able to wheel or just find the exact creature you need is very powerful. We also want some instant speed recursion so we can get back our heavy hitters. Noxious Revival is great because we can do it for free and maybe spin the wheel where we otherwise might not have been able too, but Reclaim works just as well. Naya Charm does this for us too, and provides us with some other synergistic utility.

4. Now we need removal. Sunder Shaman is great for targeted artifact removal, while Kalemne's Captain can get rid of it all. Angel of Serenity can manage the creatures, while Terastodon gives us more options. As for the supporting removal spells we're adding.. Swords to Plowshares, Beast Within, Chaos Warp, and some additional artifact removal are all solid spot removal options. Cards like Pyroblast seem cute, but blue cards suck hard for us, and a red card that says "none shall pass" to blue is pretty valuable in my eyes. Stares angrily at Cyclonic Rift - This is our removal package. Most of the removal creatures do a majority of the heavy lifting in this department, so we went a little lighter on the spells. Plus, when you're attacking with a board of 5/5's.. You're bound to destroy some blockers.

5. We're almost done.. We need to be able to ramp to our 6CMC sweet spot and have enough lands to do so. The obvious Sol Ring helps us with Mayael spins, Zhur-Taa Druid seems like an obvious inclusion too, Druid of the Anima gives us all our colors, and some other ramp staples finish our ramp package. We have a couple spots left so lets make them count. Wilderness Reclamation and The Great Henge are excellent additions, and synergize well with our focus.

6. Lastly, the mana base.. We want a lot of it. Mul Daya Channelers, Wayward Swordtooth, and Omnath, Locus of Rage will thank us. 44 lands roughly equates to 26 in a 60 card deck, so unless I have a very good reason my control build OCD won't let me go below this amount. It's fine though, we'll just utilize the higher land count with some cycle lands which will work well with leaving mana open! I built the deck heavily around 4CMC.. That's because I want to ideally play Mayael turn 3, have some form of ramp in hand, and be able to start spinning by turn 5/6. But if we start missing some land drops, or hitting the "comes into play tapped" lands.. I want to smoothly transition into fatties naturally by turn 4.

That's it, we're done! We've built a semi-competent budget Mayael brew. I've been inspired by many Mayael decks, and had to throw my flair in as well. I love the control-esque take on Mayael, it's super fun to play while not being overly brain dead fatty dropping. Read on for more of the deeper deck synergies in the "Synergies" section, because there is a lot of them.



- Here is a huge pool of Naya cards that are on theme if you would like to experiment yourself -

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Mayael's Hunting Grounds MB

Commander / EDH* C4rnif3X

76 VIEWS | IN 1 FOLDER

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Synergies

Mana Base

BASIC LANDS

8x Forest
5x Mountain
3x Plains



SHOCK LANDS

1x Stomping Ground
1x Sacred Foundry
1x Temple Garden



PAIN LANDS

1x Karplusan Forest
1x Battlefield Forge
1x Brushland



CHECK LANDS

1x Rootbound Crag
1x Sunpetal Grove
1x Clifftop Retreat



BATTLE LANDS

1x Cinder Glade
1x Canopy Vista



TRI-LANDS

1x Jungle Shrine



ANY MANA LANDS

1x Forbidden Orchard
1x Holdout Settlement
1x Survivors' Encampment



FETCH LANDS

1x Prismatic Vista
1x Windswept Heath
1x Wooded Foothills



CYCLE/DRAW LANDS

1x Sheltered Thicket
1x Scattered Groves
1x Tranquil Thicket
1x Secluded Steppe
1x Forgotten Cave



UTILITY LANDS

1x Krosan Verge
1x Blighted Woodland
1x Centaur Garden
1x Mosswort Bridge

Creature Interactions

Mayael the Anima - We all know what she does, so lets be real.. It's about all she's really good for. If she ain't spinnin' she ain't winnin. So with the inclusion of Holdout Settlement and Survivors' Encampment, at least we can utilize mana out of her when we don't need to spin and she's just sitting there.



Ilharg, the Raze-Boar - Arguably one of the, if not the best card in the deck. This boar does everything we want him to do with our open mana strategy, along with his inherent board wipe protection. I don't have as many ETB effects as i'd like to make full use of him, but where I have them I make them count. There is only so many 5+ power creatures to choose from while keeping mana curve reasonable. Notable interactions of Greenwarden of Murasa, Terastodon, Angel of Serenity, Armada Wurm, and his best friend Thragtusk. A lot of the other creatures don't have ETB's, but still benefit from being out.. Like attacking with Sunder Shaman, mana abilities with Polukranos, World Eater and Kalemne's Captain, or first strike options with Rakeclaw Gargantuan.



Drumhunter and Soul of the Harvest - Some of the glue that holds this deck together. Without Drumhunter, the deck would fall on it's face. His inherent ramp is always beneficial for Mayael spins. I always want to cast Drumhunter when I have him, and is among my first priorities to get with tutors. The ability to further reduce my curve if i'm struggling with lands is paramount. Soul of the Harvest is a nice bonus if you draw him, and more of a late game engine setup. He works well with Mayael.



Marisi, Breaker of the Coil - In no way are we a Marisi deck, but he fits into the deck perfectly. With our slower controlling elements, he keeps us on the beat down both directly and indirectly. He benefits from a lot of our cards like giving our opponents creatures to attack with in Forbidden Orchard, Terastodon, and Dawnbreak Reclaimer. He also plays nicely with Tahngarth, First Mate.



Rienne, Angel of Rebirth - Is a spicy addition. There is a total of 13 targets she can return to us including Mayael, and will keep our hand full with our better cards. I like getting Mayael back to my hand to negate the tax, because her spins are still relevant late game for filter reasons. Although i'd like more targets for Rienne, there's only so many Mayael targets of multi-color.. But being able to save our bombs of Omnath, Locus of Rage and Ruric Thar, the Unbowed is too powerful to exclude. So she's a definite auto include in one of my defensive slots. Also the loop of Rienne, Angel of Rebirth, Ilharg, the Raze-Boar, and Armada Wurm or being able to Momentous Fall a multi-color and not feel bad about it.



Dawnbreak Reclaimer - Exellent in keeping our tempo going. Since we get to choose our opponents creatures, most of the time ours are always going to be better on board state. She works well with Ilharg, the Raze-Boar since you can order the end step triggers, then return her to hand.. Giving her some protection.



Omnath, Locus of Rage, Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs, and Thragtusk - All give us an offensive or defensive board state, and can make sacrificial targets for Momentous Fall. Omnath being our big bomb that we want to protect at all costs. Our higher land count and ramp package utilize him decently, and Wayward Swordtooth helps him out too. Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs acts like a Propaganda with the upside of board state. With a big enough accumulation from these creatures late game, we can take full advantage of Savage Beating.



Shefet Monitor and Krosan Tusker - Helps smooth our draws and land early game, then beat down if drawn late game. They fit perfectly into our focus. Shefet Monitor can fetch Survivors' Encampment so Mayael can do literally anything else.



Mul Daya Channelers - These chicks put in so much work in this build. With our high creature and land count, we're going to get either more often than not. The 2 any color ramp really helps us out, and when they're not doing that, they can help get in damage. I definitely prefer playing this card first over Mayael if I have them.

Spells

Wilderness Reclamation - Let's talk about my only enchantment. This powerhouse is exactly what the focus of this deck wants. With this we can do whatever we need to do for our turn, then pass the turn with a Mayael spin ready to go. If this wasn't a budget deck, I would definitely include some enchantment tutors for it.. It's that powerful here. With the fine tuned focus of only running one enchantment, we can find the most opportune time to play it.. Instead of trying to manage a bunch of other options.

The Great Henge - Contender for best card in the deck alongside Ilharg, the Raze-Boar, but they arn't enemies they work great together! This card supercharges our deck in every way possible. We're always going to reliably cast it at a 4CMC discount, always going to meet the draw requirement, and always going to need the green because we're leaning into that color the most. The life gain doesn't hurt either, and provides us a buffer from early game stumbling. It's so essential to our plan that we set aside a permanent tutor to exclusively get it, Gamble.

Gamble - Even though this is a budget option for Enlightened Tutor, it ironically works better in this deck I think. For one it puts the card directly into our hand so we can usually cast it that turn. Obviously the downside is we might have to discard it which we can get back with recursion anyway.. But our hand is usually full because we're not trying to cast our cards, we're spinning with Mayael in most cases. So our odds to ditch can range from 1-5 / 1-7. For now, I like Gamble better but I might upgrade later. I kinda like the risk element anyway ;)

"Why Not This Card?"

First I would like to say that any criticisms are welcome, i'm more of a control player. So the realm of Naya is new to me, creature based strategies in general are not my forte. So if you have an idea in mind for a replacement, please feel free to suggest them! With that said, keep in mind this is a budget build. I only spluge for consistent mana bases, and build from there. If the card is over $10, I most likely already considered it over the other pricey options in the deck. See my maybeboard pool I linked in the "Mayel, the Anima" deck primer section.. But I would love to hear idea's I haven't gone over that are on theme.

Alright! Let's go over some common options.. but first, the giant elephant in the room.

"Why No Cheats?"

I did some experimenting with Hunting Grounds. To be honest, it didn't feel necessary in this deck. For one, we want to hold onto our better cards in hand for Ilharg, the Raze-Boar. If I was running 20 Eldrazi, then ya I see the argument to include it.. But we are not running the right build for cheats, one wrath could set us back a good deal if we're not careful. We don't have the card draw power to keep the tempo of the cheats going in my opinion. I just don't have any room for creature cheats either like Champion of Rhonas, we need to keep our 5+ power creatures above 30. Maybe it's something I will experiment with more. For now though we're playing from our library with Mayael spins, and holding cards in hand for backup. If there is a solution to include them while keeping on curve, I would love to hear it though!

"Why No Eldrazi?"

Budget reasons. I would love to work maybe one or two in, in the future.

"Where Is All Your Enchantments?"

Well, there is only so many spots available after adding +30 Mayael targets, some mana dorks, a ramp package, removal, and what I feel like is essential recursion. I only need 1 or 2 really powerful enchantment options in this build. What I need is the expensive enchantment/artifact tutors, but that will come later. If anything I need more draw outlets now, so potentially a Colossal Majesty or Elemental Bond will be worked in at some point.

"No Top Deck Manipulation?"

Again, budget reasons. I could definitely make room for either Mirri's Guile or Sensei's Divining Top. These are not too essential though, the odds of us hitting targets is on our side. Though the early game fixing would be nice. A card i'm considering heavily though is Cream of the Crop. This would definitely be a nice addition, and i'll have to do some experimenting with it.

"How About This [Insert Mono-Colored Creature Here]?"

I've been loving Rienne, Angel of Rebirth and I don't want to go down any more multi-colored creatures.. I want to go up lol. So even though Thunderfoot Baloth works like magic in this deck, it pained my heart to cut him. If commander decks were 101 cards, he'd be first up to go back on the list.. But Armada Wurm took his spot because it fits the decks focus better as a for instance. So unless there is something out there mono-colored and S-Tier on theme that i'm not seeing, they're last on my priority list.

"Defense of the Heart?"

Yes! This is one of the cards at the top of my list to squeeze in eventually.

"You Need More Tutors!"

I know! In due time i'll get Enlightened Tutor and possibly Worldly Tutor.

"Mayael's Aria?"

No.

Upgrades and Recommendations

Under Construction

Date added	5 years
Last updated	3 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	12 - 0 Mythic Rares 40 - 0 Rares 16 - 0 Uncommons 16 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	4.11
Tokens	Beast 3/3 G, City's Blessing, Elemental 5/5 RG, Elephant 3-3 G, Ogre 3/3 R, Spirit 1/1 C, Wurm 5/5 G w/ Trample
Folders	EDH, Cool Decks