Teysa, Token Shenanigans
Commander / EDH*
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this is what happens when things need to happen —Sept. 18, 2016
Gotten an influx of higher-power decks in my meta, so decided to actually order cards to improve my decks for once. Lots of changes, so may need to undo a few of them at some point.
Cuts:
-Grave Betrayal - as a 7 mana enchantment, this can take over a game once it comes online... but hitting 7 mana is difficult, plus I don't have many ways to force my opponent's creatures to die.
-MImic Vat - generally want to imprint my opponent's creatures on it... but once again, don't have a ton of ways to force things to die. Plus, need to hold up 3 mana.
-Vampiric Rites - costing 2 mana to activate always meant it was weak as a sac outlet. The incidental lifegain and card draw will be missed though.
-Butcher of Malakir - 7 mana creatures make this slower and more vulnerable than Grave Pact and Dictate of Erebos. Not sure I actually want 3 of the effect anyway.
-Pontiff of Blight - always got stuck in my hand due to being a 6 mana creature that doesn't impact the board. Bigger issue was generally that I was pinched on mana - casting Exsanguinate every turn is sweet, but less so when X = 3.
-Diabolic Servitude - had a bit more recursion in the deck than I think I needed. Servitude has the downside of exiling the returned creature, and the upside of getting to reanimate multiple things is limited by me having multiple things worth reanimating.
-Harvester of Souls - nontoken, plus I don't have the ability to kill my opponents' things on demand.
-Bloodgift Demon - a bit slower an more fragile than I would like.
-Greed - a difficult cut, but 2 life and a mana per card is a bit steep. Wish I just had a Necropotence lying around...
-Devout Chaplain - best case scenario is amazing, but I always find it too slow. If I play it early, my opponents don't play their big artifacts/enchantments until after it dies. If I play it after threats come down, I need to have it survive a full turn cycle before I can exile something. Maybe if I were playing some haste equipment? I do want more artifact/enchantment removal in the deck.
-Prismatic Lens - cutting for some different rocks.Didn't hate its inclusion though, so may add it to a different deck.
-Gift of Estates - always a bit too slow, and a bit too conditional.
Adds:
+Tombstone Stairwell - generates a lot of tokens, and makes them die. Very strong synergy alongside Teysa.
+Karmic Guide - one of the best reanimation effects available. No Reveillark here, unfortunately, but still good.
+Phyrexian Furnace - solid graveyard hate, plus it cycles in a pinch. Guaranteed to exile relevant cards eventually.
+Spirit of the Labyrinth - good at slowing down opposing blue decks, plus I can sacrifice it in a pinch.
+Merciless Eviction - when you absolutely need a lot of something gone. Will usually be naming artifacts/enchantments, but flexibility is good in general.
+Ashnod's Altar - premium sac outlet - free, instant speed, and relevant upside in the form of mana generation.
+Blasting Station - slightly awkward timing restrictions, but it can turn tokens into removal or serve as a win condition.
+Carrion Feeder - premium sac outlet - free, instant speed, and cheap. Cartel Aristocrat is a bit better, but Feeder has the upside of being an enormous beater.
+Knight of the White Orchid - primarily serves as ramp.
+Orzhov Keyrune - another mana rock, taps for both colors, turns into a creature in a pinch.
+Worn Powerstone - above-average mana rock.
+Everflowing Chalice - mana rock, potentially taps for lots.
+Oath of Lieges - not necessarily ramp, and it is symmetric, but it will hopefully allow me to catch up to any green decks.
+Terrain Generator - testing. I've noticed that I tend to draw cards in large batches, and often need to discard lands. This should hopefully let me play multiple lands per turn.