This list was produced for Bleeding Cool, in review of the Commander 2019 deck Primal Genesis.
The list of changes is as follows:
Garruk, Primal Hunter
>
Garruk Wildspeaker
(Duel Deck Antholog: Garruk Vs. Liliana)
Primal Hunter is okay, but the issue I mainly have is that he has three green symbols in his mana cost. In other decks i can understand this being not a big deal but this is a three-color deck, and with more than two colors this can often be a dead card in hand. Wildspeaker on the other hand is only two green symbols, helps ramp, replaces itself halfway maanawise when it comes out, makes tokens,
Overrun
s... the card is just better for our needs.
Trostani's Judgment
>
Throne of the God-Pharaoh
(Amonkhet)
Trostani's Judgment is way too pricey for a simple exile plus a populate. This is one of two cards with Populate that are being booted, and, in this case especially, for good reason. Throne makes sure that your attacks are even more potent by the end of the turn. You will likely have enough creatures to make this card shine.
Explore
>
Kodama's Reach
(Ultimate Masters)
I find that some redundancy is a good thing (see below, with the three Talismans that are going in). Explore is not a strong ramp spell compared to Kodama's Reach or Cultivate, and having both of the latter makes your ramping much better. Cultivate is already in, so Reach comes along with it.
Rugged Highlands
>
Talisman of Impulse
(Mirrodin)
Kazandu Refuge
>
Talisman of Conviction
(Modern Horizons)
Graypelt Refuge
>
Talisman of Unity
(Mirrodin)
Lands are a little too numerous in the deck and Talismans are excellent replacements. I have covered this all before.
Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage
>
Armada Wurm
(Selesnya Guild Kit)
Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage is a good populate card, and a good mana sink, but it's not a strong fighter. If we need things with a higher level of resilience (and we do), Armada Wurm is great because it is double its own stats due to its entering ability and the token that makes.
Roc Egg
>
Sun Titan
(Commander 2019)
Roc Egg isn't terribly helpful without Atla Palani, who we are cutting (see below). However, cards like Sun Titan provide value in so many ways that it's hard to not include it, especially if you can make a token of it.
Atla Palani, Nest Tender
>
Avenger of Zendikar
(Commander 2018)
Atla is great, but she doesn't belong in the 99 of this deck. As such, she has been cut for Avenger of Zendikar, a creature with a disgusting enter-the-battlefield effect which can and should be abused to your victorious ends.
Commander's Insignia
>
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
(Iconic Masters)
While "anthem" effects like the Insignia are great in token builds, the deck is actually pretty low on nontoken creatures overall, and could do with a few more. Kiki-Jiki is infamous for capitalizing on enter-the-battlefield effects (ETBs), and can make tokens with ease, so that populating time is even more lucrative for you.
Dragonmaster Outcast
>
Warstorm Surge
(Commander 2019)
Dragonmaster Outcast eats removal like candy, and then promptly dies before making even a single dragon. This isn't a helpful card valuewise except that your opponents are likely to throw a
Tragic Slip
,
Murder
, or other piece of spot removal at it, saving your other actual threats from dying to them. It's cut, but Warstorm Surge is in, because it'll do all the damage you need it to and more even if you merely populate creatures in.
Hate Mirage
>
Mirror March
(Ravnica Allegiance)
This is a case where an enchantment is just better than the one-shot spell that does something similar. Mirror March makes enter-the-battlefield effects go absolutely bonkers, and this warrants more inclusion than Hate Mirage, even if it can make two of your opponent's creatures your own for a hot minute.
Harmonize
>
Luminarch Ascension
(Masters 25)
Between
Garruk's Packleader
,
Colossal Majesty
, and
Shamanic Revelation
, we have enough card draw in the deck to tide us over with a good amount of resources. Harmonize is a slow and non-repeat effect and it is not necessary to keep. Luminarch Ascension, however, is a great inclusion so long as you can keep yourself protected for long enough.
Momentous Fall
>
Sandwurm Convergence
(Amonkhet)
We already have
Shamanic Revelation
to allow us to draw cards as a strong one-shot effect. We do not need too many of these draw effects (see Harmonize for more on that). Instead of this we will be investing in protection with built-in token generation in the form of Sandwurm Convergence.
Tectonic Hellion
>
God-Pharaoh's Gift
(Hour of Devastation)
This was a tough cut, in that Tectonic Hellion is a decent card which basically levels a field, but because most players (from my experience) don't like mass land destruction in any way, a decision had to be made. In place of destruction, however, comes creation in the form of God-Pharaoh's Gift, which basically eternalizes your graveyard and provides value from that aspect of the game.
Elemental Bond
>
Omnath, Locus of Rage
(Battle for Zendikar)
Garruk's Packleader
is already in this deck, as is
Colossal Majesty
. That should be enough to warrant a cut of Elemental Bond for better threats. Omnath is fantastic at making scary tokens which also act as a burn-insurance policy while he is out. This seems better.
Doomed Artisan
>
God-Eternal Oketra
(War of the Spark)
Doomed Artisan is a card which will almost always make a token for you, but asking for more than just a single 1/1 is asking too much. The Artisan will die quickly before that gets out of hand. Oketra will provide many generally-larger tokens for you as long as you're casting creature spells (something these colors tend to do).
Soul of Zendikar
>
Voice of Resurgence
(Modern Masters 2017)
Soul of Zendikar makes Beast tokens and is a greatly-sized, reaching body, but the tokens are too expensive and honestly, the creature itself is also on the high end of things. Voice of Resurgence is a great addition in its place because it's inexpensive and makes free tokens as insurance.
Giant Adephage
>
Anointed Procession
(Amonkhet)
Giant Adephage is a fair amount too slow for the deck to let you get away with making a token copy of it, save for having a
Mimic Vat
waiting in the wings. It should be cut. Anointed Procession is greater in impact because you then double your token output which is massive.
Scaretiller
>
Strionic Resonator
(Commander 2019)
Scaretiller remains a card without a niche in the Commander 2019 decks (as improved) so far. It should be cut, in part due to its high mana cost (per effect), and its lack of synergies with the deck as a whole. In its place, Sctrionic Resonator does a whole lot more for population and also ETB effects (including even the Rhino creation by your commander).
