Najeela's Hulk Pod Project (cEDH Primer)

Commander / EDH* Winterblast

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Primer finished —Oct. 1, 2018

The primer is finished now! If there's anything not clear yet, let me know in the comments...I will add the most frequently asked questions on card choices and strategy if they haven't been already addressed.

As for the most recent change (2nd sac outlet for Flusterstorm) I can only say it hasn't been missing so far. Of course you have to be aware that there's only one left but Hulk lines that are started by using Razaketh for example won't need another sac outlet at all...it's not as risky as it had felt before I took the step of cutting it.

SynergyBuild says... #1

If white mana is your problem, wouldn't Eidolon of Rhetoric have the same issue as Tymna the Weaver?

September 10, 2018 8:48 a.m.

Winterblast says... #2

SynergyBuild it's more the double colour including White. My first fetch is usually Bayou or Tropical Island, then if I have a t1 dork I'd have to fetch Scrubland next to easily cast her...when I would rather have Volcanic Island or the other one of the two (Bayou/Tropical). The issue is minimal because there are also rainbow lands but 1WB is definitely harder to get than the 1UG from Edric. Fetching on WB in the early game also might interfere with fetching the duals needed to cast a Derevi. Why I said Eidolon is because it would be a reasonable pod search (I rather fetch hatebears when not immediately going off) besides hardcasting it and I see more storm-ish decks recently, for example Jhoira.

I just keep an eye on the performance of the card in the next games, it's not that I would say it's already a questionable choice in theory

September 10, 2018 9:14 a.m.

SynergyBuild says... #3

I'd honestly argue for Spirit of the Labyrinth over Eidolon of Rhetoric against Jhoria storm, I have found it works much more. Against Ad Nauseam lists I'd rather Eidolon of Rhetoric.

September 10, 2018 9:35 a.m.

Winterblast says... #4

I think I rather have a problem with spirit myself but not with eidolon.

September 10, 2018 9:57 a.m.

SynergyBuild says... #5

I feel that. What do you think about Gaddock Teeg against storm? I have found their payoffs like Aetherflux Reservoir or Tendrils of Agony suck against him.

September 10, 2018 10:11 a.m.

ChaosHazard says... #6

I feel like Summoner's Pact is an easy inclusion here. It turns Spellseeker into an extra copy of Hulk and can also search for Derevi in order to go infinite with our Warriors. Would probably cut Brainstorm for it, unless Brainstorm's been doing serious work in the list; you already run Edric, Spymaster of Trest, Mindblade Render, Mystic Remora and Dark Confidant so I can't imagine we're hurting for card draw too badly.

September 10, 2018 11:11 a.m.

Winterblast says... #7

ChaosHazard brainstorm is important to shuffle back cards I don't want in hand, too good to remove. I'm also not a big fan of pact in this deck (had it in the deck at some point) because it's built to proceed with killing attempts even if it runs into counters early. Pact doesn't go along well with that because you blow yourself out with it if you use it in t2 or 3 and then don't actually win. As I've said, I'm looking critically at Tymna though...it's an option

September 10, 2018 11:56 a.m.

SynergyBuild says... #8

I mean, yeah, Summoner's Pact is fine, but wouldn't Chord of Calling or Sylvan Tutor have more value here?

September 10, 2018 noon

Winterblast says... #9

Sylvan is too clunky with sorcery speed to top and chord is too expensive. If I wanted another tutor it would probably be pact

September 10, 2018 12:10 p.m.

SynergyBuild says... #10

Also, do you know there is an interesting line to get any combo-creature from your hand into play with Apprentice Necromancer, Sootstoke Kindler, and Hapless Researcher to discard it, and reanimate it at the cost of and 5 Protean Hulk CMC, which is equal to Karmic Guide's CMC for many lines. It leads to a lot of dead combo-cards, but is a interesting thing.

September 10, 2018 12:14 p.m.

SynergyBuild says... #11

Also, I have found that Apprentice Necromancer allows the deck to go off with a Survival of the Fittest alone, by discarding a creature for hulk, discarding the hulk for the apprentice, and casting the apprentice, sacrificing it the next turn to bring back and sac the hulk on endstep, winning with a Karmic Guide line on end step.

September 10, 2018 12:18 p.m.

Winterblast says... #12

The tuning of the past months was all aimed at trying to find out which combo pieces can be left away while keeping enough redundancy to play around certain boardstates. Adding more back in isn't a trick.

The necromancer line works but with Survival I rather use Razaketh and Loyal Retainers, which doesn't have to wait a turn. Necromancer was in the deck last year but removed for being too slow.

September 10, 2018 1:01 p.m.

SynergyBuild says... #13

While I love Retainer, but as you said yourself white is a harder color to get, and I would argue that if you don't have enough creatures to Razaketh away, the Necromancer would still be a better line. I run both, but it is up to you.

September 10, 2018 1:05 p.m.

Winterblast says... #14

SynergyBuild white isn't hard to get, the issue was just the double color. There's absolutely no problem in casting any colored spell with only one colored mana symbol in the costs. Double color and multicolor costs need to be evaluated carefully, that's all I said.

September 11, 2018 5:42 a.m.

Winterblast says... #15

SynergyBuild on a side note, I have a critical mass of creatures here and no carddraw in the command zone, so while Tymna might be the hardest to cast among my combat based draw engines, it's still a possible and often realistic +2 or even 3 cards per turn effect. She definitely can't be cut because of a vague feeling that the cost might be restrictive.

September 13, 2018 9:03 a.m.

SynergyBuild says... #16

I think in a list like this, card draw is secondary to tutoring. In terms of outcome, this list can be good w/o tymna. I don't run her in my mtgo varient of this, however my tana/tymna blood pod is running it as the commander, so it definently depends.

September 14, 2018 11:17 a.m.

Auronit says... #17

I feel like you missed to opportunity to call this deck "Najeela Podracing". Think that'd be a nice name to make it popular in the cEDH community with.

Love the list, might copy some things. If it came to changes, I'd probably try Saffi Eriksdotter. I know you briefly touched on her in the description. Given that you have Karmic Guide and Loyal Retainers in the deck already (both of which combo with Saffi), I'd give it a shot.

September 21, 2018 8:08 a.m.

Winterblast says... #18

Auronit does someone else already use that deck name? I believe there's no other Hulk/Pod deck around anyway...I already changed the name once (see the deck url)

As for saffi, that would be for decks like Razaketh's Reign in which you don't have Felidar or Kiki and don't share a winning line with hulk and pod. I already have lines without either kiki or felidar, so I think adding saffi would be unnecessary redundancy. You can't put that loop together without 2 hulk searches, so it's not a way around a lost karmic guide. Which situation would need that line in which the already existing ones won't help?

September 21, 2018 9:04 a.m.