Work in progress Temur Elementals build. Recommendations are appreciated.
General Notes:
This deck is somewhat of an aggro-focused midrange build. Our primary goal is to curve out and maximize the value of
Risen Reef
and
Omnath, Locus of the Roil
, with Nissa and Big Chandra serving as finishers, but we definitely want to go face early and often.
I am still in the process of learning the deck and matchups, but so far things are promising.
Mainboard Commentary:
This section will be a breakdown of the deck by card, with my thoughts on each and how it plays with the deck.
Healer of the Glade
- This card feels pretty decent so far. We can net one life turn one, and it gives us an easy trigger for Risen Reef later on. It also makes a good +1/+1 counter target later on.
Lightning Stormkin
- Only sucks if you don't open with all 3 colors in hand, and it's almost never a bad draw. This might can be cut in favor of going lighter on blue and into more of a midrange build instead.
Creeping Trailblazer
- I've only ever used the pump in sealed, but the +1/+0 is already worthwhile enough for me. I like this in either an aggro or a midrange build
Growth Spiral
- There is almost no scenario in which we want to use this for turn 3 Omnath, but cheating lands and replacing itself is good enough for me. I was running
Cloudkin Seer
for the card draw originally, but this just feels a bit better to me. This card can be cut in favor of other draw options or lands.
Overgrowth Elemental
- Put a counter on something and make chump blocking actually valuable. Feels fine so far as a 3 of, so I haven't added or cut any yet.
Risen Reef
- If this lives past the turn you cast it you just get so much value. 4 of in every elemental deck in standard until it rotates.
Living Twister
- Brought in to replace uncommon Chandra. This drops our curve a bit and provides a good body with interesting effects. I'm still skeptical of how good this will be in the deck, but I think it will at least be less of a dead card at times.
Spark Double
- This card is somewhat feast or famine. You basically only want to be paying 4 mana for Omnath/Nissa/Big Chandra, so if you can't do that it's a super dead card. This is the second or third thing I'd look to cut if I found something better, but it does have enough upside to stay for now.
Omnath, Locus of the Roil
- Pretty much the only time this card doesn't get slammed on 4 is if you have nothing else in play. It is worth noting that casting with one on the board will see both for the etb effect before legendary rule kicks in. I especially like this to give the finger to
Fog
effects. The landfall ability is just extra goodness.
Nissa, Who Shakes the World
- You already know Nissa is an amazing card, but I'm going to repeat: This card is amazing. 3 of feels just right for this deck. You'll see her often enough to get value from her, but won't likely see more than you can cast.
Chandra, Awakened Inferno
- Solid finisher card, though I don't expect to cast her often. Hoping her price drops a bit so my wallet doesn't cry.
23 lands - I have gone up to 23 lands from 22 to slightly increase my odds of turn 3 and turn 4 land drops. I've also added some basics to make
Field of Ruin
less of a blowout.
Sideboard Commentary:
Again, I have only done Bo1s so far, so I can't speak to the actual value of the sideboard just yet. That said, I'll give my current reasoning for each card.
Veil of Summer
- I haven't even played this card yet and I'm already laughing maniacally at all the control players I'm gonna destroy with this.
Negate
- My favorite Temur sideboard card, though I am slightly worried about how often I can leave 2 mana up early game, which is when I expect this to be most useful.
Fry
- I pitty the fool that tries to drop either version of Mr. T on me post-board, even if little t can't be killed until my turn.
Lava Coil
- Pretty much just phoenix hate as far as I know. Might get swapped depending on what the meta shows.
Mu Yanling, Sky Dancer
- Not gonna lie, I just have her in the board because I don't know what else to put here and I really like the card. She's too slow for mainboard in my experience, but when she's good she's super good. I like her against Thief of Sanity and maybe mono blue.
Vivien - Both versions are here just because I don't feel like spending the wildcards on one or the other just yet. I'll probably pick one after more testing. My current expectation is that 3 mana is better than 5 for this deck, but I could be wrong.
Cards Tested and Rejected:
This is a list of cards I have tried in some way in this build, but have cut for one reason or another.
Mu Yanling, Sky Dancer
- Cut to sideboard for now. Feels too slow/hard to cast typically.
Llanowar Elves
- Cut for Healer of the Glade. More mana is nice, but it doesn't synergize with the other elementals and is a really dead card later on. I may give this another shot at some point, but for now it's out.
Merfolk Branchwalker
Jadelight Ranger
Wildgrowth Walker
- My experience with explore package is that it's almost counter-tempo sometimes. You force yourself to play a wildgrowth instead of a jadelight because you want more counters/healing. That plus 6-8 non-elemental creatures just hurts too much for me.
Leyline of Abundance
- The upside with Nissa is amazing, but I need to run more dorks than just elves to feel this is worthwhile, and I don't value
Leafkin Druid
highly enough to go for it. This is another one I really want to make work somehow, but I don't think this is the deck to do it with.
Leyline of Anticipation
- Flashing in triggers of
Risen Reef
feels so good, but this removes a card from opening hand and is a dead draw later. I'll pass for now.
Cloudkin Seer
- Replaced by
Growth Spiral
. The body was only mediocre, the cost was 1 too high to be ideal, and there was the risk of overdraw with
Risen Reef
.
Multani, Yavimaya's Avatar
- Better for a more midrange deck, and even then nothing too spectacular until you've gone off with Risen Reef. It also probably needs to be flashed in for best results, otherwise it might not get to swing.
Icon of Ancestry
- Unfortunate cmc for this deck, as our turn 3 should always be Reef whenever possible. I'd like it more with ramp/midrange builds where I can maybe get it out earlier.
7/9/19 Update
Out:
3x Chandra, Novice Pyromancer
1x Rootbound Crag
In:
2x Living Twister
2x Forest
Reasoning:
Chandra was too often a dead card due to her cost, and the times she did make a difference I feel like another body on board might have been slightly better. As a result, I've slotted in Twisters as a 3 mana body to fill her slot, and also 1 additional land. The two forests are in instead of other duals because
Field of Ruin
is still a card.
That's all for now. Opinions and questions are welcome as always.
