Selvala Brostorm

Commander / EDH asm

SCORE: 530 | 490 COMMENTS | 259996 VIEWS | IN 261 FOLDERS


Updates (No HOU Changes yet) —July 22, 2017

Cuts:
Chrome Mox
Mox Diamond
Vitalize

Adds:
Mutagenic Growth
Vines of Vastwood
Paradox Engine

I haven't liked the moxen as much as I like the pump. Mutagenic growth is particularly good with the the 5 power creatures and Ravaging Riftwurm. Vines doubling as protection has been reasonably useful as well as random spicy plays with making an opponent's creature untargetable.

The Vitalize swap is just personal taste. Paradox is more fun for me, and I don't feel much difference between the two in terms of performance.

The 3 cards from HOU worth testing are Rhonas's Last Stand, Uncage the Menagerie, and Hashep Oasis. Here are my thoughts on them currently:
Hashep Oasis - Won't really do anything most of the game, but I think it is probably better than Nykthos.
Uncage the Menagerie - This seems pretty weak to me. It's a very expensive tutor. I'm not convinced it's better than anything currently in the deck, but it's a tutor and warrants testing. At a glance though, I think it is worse than Sylvan Tutor and Primal Command, both of which I think are solid.
Rhonas's Last Stand - I don't hate the card, but it's pretty risky and I don't think it is better than a pump spell.

asm says... #1

We'll be updating the list after we play around with Amonkhet. The plan for now is to be updating after each set release (if there are any updates).

The tappedout list is sort of the stock list but there's a fair amount of flex in card choices, hence why we decided not to remove some stuff from the primer. Some of us are running paradox engine and some of us have opted not to. It goes in and out of my personal list, depending on my mood lol.

April 14, 2017 9:35 p.m.

asm says... #2

metallegs this is my personal list: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/selvala-brostorm-testing/

April 14, 2017 9:38 p.m.

metallegs says... #3

Thanks for the test list. How do you find it running without chrome mox and mox diamond? Does it hurt your turn 2 Selvala much?

I have a couple other questions if you don't mind.

What do you think of walking ballista? I think it's a great option to have something in there that will let you win and not have to attack(besides the mill plan)

I also wonder about the lack of 5 drop for yisan(i find myself using him often) Do you just try and double 6 drop skipping the 5? I feel like Seedborn Muse would be a great 5 drop.

Also since we are a storm list I feel like Aetherflux Resevoir might deserve a test spot also?

Thanks!

April 17, 2017 11:12 a.m.

metallegs says... #4

Also I've been trying to find gameplay video of this deck as there are a lot of lines and it would be great to see.

Sadly the only thing I came across was Team Turn Three's video where someone was running it. Unfortunately they had some bad hands/draws and didn't really do anything. So video wasn't really useful for Selvala players.

Are you guys planning on releasing any game videos?

April 17, 2017 11:24 a.m.

asm says... #5

I'll address your points in order -

  1. Cutting the mox do reduce your t2 selvala rate, but I feel adding them fucked up the ratios of the other combo pieces and I felt myself not being able to go off as reliably. I have been happier without the moxen.
  2. I don't think ballista is needed. 99% of the time, you win with crossroads+inf pump. If you can't, that's where the mill plan comes in. If that's not safe either, there's beast within loops. If that still isn't enough, your opponeny probably deserved to win. 3 backup wincons is more than enough.
  3. You have somberwald stag on 5. You don't need any other 5 drops because you win at verse 4 by fetching sabertooth.
  4. Aetherflux reservoir doesn't go in for the same reason as walking ballista - we don't need more backup wincons. One of selvala's strengths is not needing to fill dead slots with wincons, and fishbowl is a dead card.

There aren't any plans to make video right now, but it is something I'd like to do.

April 17, 2017 12:43 p.m.

tw0handt0uch says... #6

I had a bunch saved on cockatrice but i lost them with a reinstall. I'll ping the team about saving up some good replays and porting them to youtube. It's a good idea.

April 17, 2017 12:45 p.m.

Meut says... #7

Any thoughts on Amonkhet for this set? Nothing screams amazing although Manglehorn is pretty much a better Reclamation Sage.

April 17, 2017 8:49 p.m.

asm says... #8

Manglehorn seems playable. Other than that, there's Benefaction of Rhonas, Hapatra's Mark, and Synchronized Strike are potentially playable. I don't think they're good enough but mayyybeeeeee.

April 17, 2017 11:37 p.m.

LordNazahn says... #9

this was labeled in a T1 deck on the tier list, can someone explain how any of those wincons actually work? Like w/o craterhoof field swarm how is this winning?

April 21, 2017 3:26 a.m.

asm says... #10

DarkEclipse18 I don't think the deck is tier 1, but the description of how to play the deck and how it wins is right in the primer in the description.

April 21, 2017 3:34 a.m.

LordNazahn says... #11

Hello again, so been messing around with the deck to get a feel for the combo in winning and i found and interesting interaction and want to see if my assumptions might be right?

On Board is Temur Sabertooth and Selvala, Heart of the Wilds and I am gonna play Phyrexian Dreadnought for the 12mana and draw trigger combo. SO: He enters, his ability hits stack, then i stack Selvala Draw, Then pay Green to tap Selvala for 12.

BUT can i do this: Dreadnought ETB trigger, in response Selvala Draw trigger, in reponse i pay 1 and green for temur sabercat, then finally in response i pay green for selvala mana ability

If this works then i get 12 mana, bounce dreadnought, draw card, and finally his trigger fizzles since he is not on field?

April 23, 2017 3:07 a.m.

tw0handt0uch says... #12

Hi Dark,

Yes this works... and you might use it to dig for cards if you have no gas. The end result is you have a tapped Selvala with dreadnought back in hand and you've gained a card. Often we are waiting to use dreadnought until we have a payoff card and a win lined up but I could see using that line as a value play if you are totally out of gas or have an untap effect to play dreadnought again and push your mana up near 20 for a winning genesis wave or something.

April 23, 2017 8:59 a.m.

DarkEclipse18 , tw0handt0uch

Hey Guys, I just wanted to remind you that you can NOT respond to Selvala, Heart of the Wilds's "Pay , :" Ability. This is so because her ability is a mana ability. Take a look at the card's rulings page on Gatherer.

It is quite important to know it because sometimes your oponents might try to respond to/counter the ability.

Regarding DarkEclipse18's shenanigans, that is just nasty!

April 24, 2017 4:10 p.m.

LordNazahn says... #14

Yeah, so i found out from a judge, the ruling doesn't allow you to stack a trigger between the etb effects. Therefore you cannot get the draw trigger out of selvala since temur sabertooth bounces phyrexian dreadnought before the draw can resolve.

April 24, 2017 4:28 p.m.

tw0handt0uch says... #15

I don't think that's right but I have been wrong before. You play dreadnought and it makes 2 triggered ETB abilities: Selvala's draw and Dreadnought's death trigger. Since they are both yours I believe you can stack them how you want. You set them so the draw trigger resolves first off the stack. After the draw comes off the stack priority goes around again and things can happen. You could at that point use Temurcat to bounce the Nought which again goes to the top of the stack and resolve before the Nought Sac trigger. At least that's how I understand it.

April 24, 2017 6:03 p.m.

asm says... #16

I don't see why that wouldn't work. I think the judge's point is that you can't have a stack that looks like:
Draw trigger
Cat active
Sac trigger

You have to resolve the draw trigger first before you can use the cat.

April 24, 2017 8:09 p.m.

LordNazahn says... #17

Ok, so looked up Selvala ruling, she doesn't care where the creature is when the ability resolves, just that when it entered the field it was biggest. Therefore the stack order only matters for her mana to resolver first then for the cat to bounce. Thanks though, glad i found a disgusting idea for the deck :P

April 24, 2017 8:31 p.m.

trancer99 says... #18

Does Protean Hulk un-banning effect us at all?

April 24, 2017 10:16 p.m.

Rarian says... #19

trancer99 - I don't think so. Hulk doesn't suit this deck at all, cause there is no way to sacrifice him to abuse the trigger (apart from NO and Evolution and two cards are not enough).

April 25, 2017 12:23 a.m.

tw0handt0uch says... #20

there's life's legacy, momentous fall, and greater good but it's still probably not enough.

April 25, 2017 1:05 a.m.

p0megranates says... #21

Now if Prime Time was banned, I think Cradle+Wirewood Lodge would be too good to pass up (the Prime Time pays for itself). C'mon Sheldon....

April 26, 2017 3:52 p.m.

ScrOuch says... #22

I sometimes find myself not being able to win cause a key combo card like sabertooth gets exiled with PTE, Swords or something like that, so... how about adding Riftsweeper? It's an elf which works in the wirewood combo and provides decent utility since creature exile is a constant threat for the deck. Shuffling it back to the library isn't that bad either since there are enough tutors to get the creatures back to the battlefield.

May 2, 2017 8:13 p.m.

asm says... #23

Perfectly fine if you find it frustrating. You can still draw yourself out of it when taking the stormy lines where you draw a lot of cards and find a staff of dom or similar combo piece.

May 2, 2017 11:15 p.m.

astorlapapa says... #24

Hi, Ive started up with a "normal" selvala (big creatures) and drifted up to a very similar list. The first thing I want to say, its an incredible deck, super fun to pilot and risky, which makes it worthwhile... you bet a lot, against counters and if the "combo" will work or just fall short in the middle. Sometimes you'll be mana short, sometimes youll miss a tutor and others youll need your finisher.My personal deck (not on this page) does have more non-combo finishers in the form of: both ulamogs, kozilek (good one) and Darksteel colossus (not sure about this one). I did this because I noticed that it was not always "easy" to go infinite, so I needed some heavy hitters (plus removal and card draw).Well back to the brewing and general questions:1. How does Memory Jar and Scroll Rack working for you? I ask because sometimes its possible to draw "too much" it does happen in this deck; as stated I think my deck is pretty similar, but I have my hitters in here.2. I do have more anti-counter strategies (ex: dosan, defense grid, gaeas herald), you have more anti artifact in this place, which is the reason for this? Have you ever thought replacing one for the other? I found out that my biggest hinder are early counters and Autumn's Veil wont always be at hand.3. which is the interaction between Duskwatch Recruiter  Flip and Paradox Engine? Both cards are not on my list, as stated I find sometimes difficult to go infinite.4. I do have Aluren, its just crazy!5. How do you tend to use Yisan? Isnt it too slow?6. Does Crop Rotation pay out?7. DoesHickory Woodlot work for you, isnt it a "fast" mana alternative just plain better?

May 16, 2017 4:21 p.m.

astorlapapa says... #25

sorry, but dont know why my comments are not formatted as expected :(

May 16, 2017 5:15 p.m.