Animar is a meta crusher
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on May 21, 2019, 9:48 a.m. by GhostChieftain
I am in a commander league in Lincoln, Ne and within that league most of the players in the higher ranked tables play a competitive or semi-competetive deck. We have jeleva storm, shuffle hulk, jhoira, food chain niv, couple of gitrogs, blood pod, my karador hulkweaver, a few others I am sure I am missing... and lastly a couple of Animar decks.
Somehow, these animar decks are winning much more consitantly than others and many of the decks are having issues keeping the animar players in check. Sure, they don't win every time since most of the decks have the ability to combo off fairly quickly, but they are enough to make me want to look for some animar hosers.
Are there any decks that seem better in your meta than they should be?
tl;dr: Let me know if you know any way to hose animar.
Last_Laugh says... #3
WotC made a mistake when they printed Spellseeker . Way too consistent of a combo line to play Weird Harvest into Walking Ballista and Ancestral Statue which only takes 4 mana and 3 counters on Animar (2 counters and 5 mana if you Spellseeker into it). To top things off, Imperial Recruiter can look up Spellseeker for just 1 more mana.
Even Recruiter>Spellseeker>Harvest>Ballista/Statue is less than a non-entwined Tooth and Nail.
May 21, 2019 10:22 a.m.
Last_Laugh says... #4
Easiest way to keep Animar in check is to remove/counter their draw engines.
Without Primordial Sage, Beast Whisperer, Soul of the Harvest, Glimpse of Nature, Tishana, OG Kozilek, and Recruiter/Spellseeker Animar will blow through it's hand and be in topdeck mode fast. Animar in topdeck mode loses a lot more often than it wins.
May 21, 2019 10:35 a.m.
SynergyBuild says... #5
Last_Laugh between their numerous cantrip creatures ( Wall of Roots , Elvish Visionary , Fblthp, the Lost , and the Divination in Generous Patron , etc.) as well as their many tutor creatures, and tutors for creatures, I have many times seen Animar win from top-deck mode, and currency, only Beast Whisperer , glimpse, and the Recruiter/Spellseeker you talked about does the Harvest Animar run. OG Kozilek is rare now, and Soul, Sage, and Tishana don't see any cEDH play in Animar any more.
May 21, 2019 10:46 a.m.
Last_Laugh says... #6
@SynergyBuild - Animar is my oldest and most competitive deck at this point. I'm not saying that shutting down their draw will cause Animar to lose every time but it is easily the best way to even things out.
When Animar is able to juggle mana and card draw in the same turn, you lose. Get rid of either of those and Animar's win rate gets cut in half.
Reading between the lines on the cards you brought up, I agree that bounce enablers like Cloudstone Curio, Temur Sabertooth, and Equilibrium cannot stick either.
May 21, 2019 11:07 a.m.
SynergyBuild says... #7
Luckily only Curio is being run often, with Sabertooth being rare. I can't remember the last Equilibrium list I saw, that was prolly back when people ran Aluren or something. Pretty trash IMO.
May 21, 2019 11:08 a.m.
I believe Force of Despair, a new Modern Horizons card (not on the sight yet), is a great way to deal with Animar if you have the card advantage to cast it for free. You can kill Animar when he comes out while also having an answer to other strategies if needed.
May 21, 2019 4:01 p.m.
TheRileyMan525 says... #11
I have an animar deck in my meta, and while it is very powerful, its not that hard to deal with. The most important in my opinion is to kill it on SIGHT. Never underestimate a lone animar. If you give it more thatn 1 turn, you probably lost. This isn't that hard though, as he does start as a 1/1. Another way, which is also my personal favorite, it stax. Torpor Orb is one of my favorite cards, and it absolutly crushes animar. All of the combos turn off AND it hits most of the removal. Cursed Totem is a close second, and will hurt almost as much as the Orb, as well as shutting off the rest of the removal. With both of these out, they might as well scoop. (Seriously)
My deck is Jhoira, the Beyblade Recycler for anyone curious
SynergyBuild says... #2
Play Aminatou/GAAIV/Heman variants of Humility Control. They oppress Animar.
May 21, 2019 9:58 a.m.