What does the Simic mean to you? Do you envision a sky filled with rat bird hybrids? A legion of half man half beast mutants? Do think of creatures that graft or creatures that evolve?
Ive always been a fan of the Simic Combine. Ever since I laid eyes on Momir Vig my brain was filled with all sorts of strange experimental creatures.
My deck, The Simic Steamroller is a fun deck ready for your casual games.It is a great deck for beginners and features card synergy at its finest and works well against many kitchen table decks. Prepare your mutating vats, its about to get strange up in here.
The Deck
Creatures
4x
Shorecrasher Mimic
Starting off is Shorecrasher Mimic. This 2/1 creature grows to a 5/3 trample creature with just the summoning of one of our creatures. In games it can smash through for nearly ten points of unanswered damage before opponents consider blocking it. To them its a nuisance that will surely go away. Little do they know every creature in this deck triggers his boost and you plan on doing so nearly every turn. Treat this guy like a cannonball and dont be afraid to take down as many of your opponents creatures as possible with your early damage. If he dies early dont worry. More fun is to come.
3x Coiling Oracle
This Snake Elf Druid offers us a host of random boosts upon his arrival. He can net you an extra card in hand (note: this is not an official draw of a card.) or a land tossed into play to get ahead of your opponents mana. He also gains you a chump blocker if the need arises.
3x
Plaxcaster Frogling
This frog offers creatures with +1/+1 counters a little extra protection which is much welcomed. Most of your bead and butter creatures will be carrying the bonus and they will need some safety measures since the deck contains no countermagic. I play three of these tricky toads.
4x Bounding Krasis
If you thought the Plaxcaster Frogling was tricky, get a load of this guy. Not only does he count as a 3/3 body for just a three casting cost, he can be played as a flash creature. As if that wasnt enough he can tap or untap a creature when it comes into play. What more could you ask from a fish lizard? Consider the possibilitiesplaying him as a surprise blockerplaying it and untapping Shorecrasher Mimic for 3/3 and 5/3 surprise blockersplaying it before the opponents attack and tapping a large potential attackertapping a potential blockerboosting an Evolve creaturethe hits just keep coming.
3x Fathom Mage
Every time this creature evolves you draw a card and is one half of the card drawing/boost machine. Many times with this deck you can find easy ways to draw multiple cards per turn. The additional card draws can turn into a huge boost for
4x
Lorescale Coatl
Here comes the beef. Lorescale Coatl is the second part of the combo. This snake gains a +1/+1 counter each time you draw a card. With Fathom Mage in play you can quickly see these two becoming good friends. Just by playing the snake with the mage in play nets you a free draw as well as a Coatl trigger.
2x Zameck Guildmage
Using this wizard offers you additional card draws for two mana. When targeting Lorescale Coatl you basically get an extra card since the +1/+1 counter comes back once the card is drawn.
Spells
3x Pongify
This card has dual purposes. You can drop this monkey changer on an offending creature, play it on your own when its about to die or even play it on one of your tapped creatures as a surprise blocker. It even triggers a Fathom Mages evolve in a pinch. My favorite target for this spell is Coiling Oracle.
3x Prey Upon
This is one of my favorite green removal spells and in a deck with behemoth creatures, why not battle them out? Play on a boosted Shorecrasher Mimic or a massive Lorescale Coatl for optimal strength.
3x
Forced Adaptation
This enchantment is fuel to an already explosive fire. The best play for this spell is on a Fathom Mage with Lorescale Coatl in play. Each upkeep Forced Adaptation drops a +1/+1 counter on the Mage that triggers a card draw, which in turn triggers an additional +1/+1 on the Coatl. Then drop another counter on it for your usual draw step.
4x Hardened Scales
With all the incremental +1/+1 counters being tossed around, one cant help but to have four copies of this enchantment in the deck. Imagine the possibilities. Each graft trigger. Each evolve trigger. Each Coatl trigger. Each Forced Adaptation trigger. Each Zameck Guildmage activation. Multiple copies of this in play create even more havoc. Ive found ways to bring Lorescale Coatl into play as an 11/11 as soon as turn five thanks to Hardened Scales.
Other Prospects
Scute Mob seems like an interesting choice but didnt make my list because of its lack of ability to trigger graft. I can imagine it would become huge as the game goes on but seems to be slow going early which is where the current cards seem to shine.
Elusive Krasis
appeared to be a good card upon the decks creation but never really hit it home as I had liked. It built up slowly and never really mattered when the game was on the line. Im still tempted to try this guy out in future tests.
Ordeal of Thassa seems like an interesting card. It offers incremental increases which triggers the Hardened Scales. Sometimes, just casting this on a creature with +1/+1 counters already on it gives you a two cards drawn trigger which may help with a Fathom Mage in play.
Trygon Predator would make a great sideboard card against other artifact or enchantment riddled decks. He did not make the main deck however and this saddens me a bit.
Bred for the Hunt seemed clunky in playtest but may work better in a more control deck than a midrange one.
As you can see, this deck has the potential to build some pretty large creatures. This deck is interactive fun and allows you many opportunities with synergy. Substituting Breeding Pool cheapens an already cheap $70 deck and is ready to trounce the kitchen table.
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