Simic Initiate

Creature — Human Mutant

Graft 1 (This creature enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it. Whenever another creature enters the battlefield, you may move a +1/+1 counter from this creature onto it.)

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Pauper Duel Commander	Legal
Pauper EDH	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (49)

rekkim on Heroic

1 year ago

Changelog v2.0:

• Changed Lagonna-Band Trailblazer to Simic Initiate and quantity from three to four.
・It's functional and also frees up a slot for basic land by replacing a Llanowar Reborn.
• Reduced Phalanx Leader to two copies.
・Strictly better than the generic heroic effect, but it costs WW, and waiting on that can gimp an entire match. On top of that, all of my combat tricks're green, so having access to say, one of those per turn is going to slow down what you got out of it, anyway.
• Increased Ainok Bond-Kin to three.
・Deck is otherwise lacking in things that enter the field with proportional size to their cost, and, first strike aside, it has a lax 1W casting cost.
• Increased Akroan Skyguard to three.
・Easy-to-achieve casting cost for reliable creature, assuming you can get it to grow.
• Reworked mana: dropped vivid lands, reduced Llanowar Reborn to three, added Fortified Village, added five forests and reduced plains by one.
・Much better without waiting a turn. I guess you can use the vivid stuff for a poor man's five-color deck.

pinto_bean1324 on Human Scales

2 years ago

I would highly recommend using Simic Initiate over Servant of the Scale, as it guarantees a way to move the counters onto a stronger creature when cast early game, where as Servant of the Scale requires it to die. Pretty solid deck, ive got a similar one.

zapyourtumor on Oozing with Potential (?)

2 years ago

Necrotic Ooze doesn't fit here as you barely have any activated abilities on your creatures, and no real way to get them into your graveyard either.

You're never going to get delirium for Inexorable Blob with no fetchlands, 3 artifacts, 3 enchantments, and zero sorceries.

Simic Initiate is just a bad one drop, and not even an ooze. If you don't mind running non-ooze 1-drops, then run Pelt Collector. Probably better off running none because 4x Experiment One + 3x Hardened Scales + 3x Ozolith is enough in my opinion, could be useful if you want to lower your curve.

Predator Ooze and Scavenging Ooze are like the only actually good and cheap oozes, and they synergize with the counter theme. I see no reason to run less than a playset.

Acidic Slime is another good ooze.

Corpsejack Menace feels too slow for me, if you really want more hardened scales effects run Winding Constrictor.

Fatal Push way better than Putrefy.

Agree with Corrosive Ooze for hammertime but that's only if you actually decide to make a sideboard -- I don't think this is needed since this is clearly a casual deck.

I assume you didn't add expensive lands due to budget constraints. Some cheaper lands are MDFC lands Darkbore Pathway  ^Flip, check lands Woodland Cemetery, scry lands Temple of Malady, pain lands Llanowar Wastes.

mobizque on $50 1-Up Green

2 years ago

Gotta say, zapyourtumor, don't overlook Simic Initiate . Over the course of a few turns he cranks out value when his grafted counters multiply due to Hardened Scales . Things get out of hand quickly if you have a couple initiates and one hardened scales in your opening hand.

Pelt Collector is a legit one drop though.

zapyourtumor on $50 1-Up Green

2 years ago

I strongly recommend Experiment One / Pelt Collector over Servant of the Scale / Simic Initiate for the deck's 1-drop slot.

lagotripha on Primal Permutations

3 years ago

Mutate is a really interesting mechanic that I expect to find a place in modern, even if it never reaches tier 1. Modern already has some wild 1 drops, and attaching, say Parcelbeast to a Steppe Lynx can start looking cool- its just a question of the right combination being found to power the deck.

I'd focus on low cost mutate cards, 1 drops to mutate them on that either protect a powerful mutate effect or multiply it, and mana dorks as backup mutate targets.

Auspicious Starrix will likely win you the game if your opponent cannot remove it. Gemrazer to back that up will offer a lot of blowout potential. Most of the lower tier mutate creatures could work with the right synergy picks in the rest of the list.

In terms of 1 drops to examine, Glistener Elf and Slippery Bogle for efficient voltron, as well as less conventional voltron like Spikeshot Elder or Vector Asp, Young Wolf returns all its creatures seperated to the battlefield with +1+1 counters, Blistercoil Weird and legendary spell recursion point to a jeskai spellslinger, Signal Pest+ a white go wide list, Arcbound Worker/Servant of the Scale/Simic Initiate/Hardened Scales and +1+1 counters could get pretty out of hand.

Hedron Crab land drop mill is a cute option, Permeating Mass will make people call for the judge, but isn't actually any good. Some +1+1 counter synergies will likely let you abuse some mechanics like Devoted Druid's untap, if you can find the combination.

Keyword piles like Banehound Healer's Hawk, abilities like Figure of Destiny or 'conditional' P/T boosts like Scute Mob could make for a decent beatstick if you can spend two cards on it - Gnarlwood Dryad, Toolcraft Exemplar Wild Nacatl, Loam Lion could all find places in some lists,as they are already efficient and pushing them out of kill range for lightning bolt/anger of the gods may be relevant.

Mortician Beetle with the bat strapped to it is a great casual clock.

None of these are crazy effecient, but building a list of sixty cards that all sorta work together is the heart of brews like this.

All told though, its a bit of a mess where the best bet is to pick two colours with 2/3 mana mutates, and throw them on creatures which protect them while hunting for stirix. Trying to stretch into more colours will pressure a budget manabase very hard. Keeping to mostly green with basic searching to fix for a second colour will ease that process a lot- especially with dorks like Avacyn's Pilgrim or Elves of Deep Shadow.

lagotripha on OP Dragon!

4 years ago

I'd look at skewing things towards more creatures- mainboarding servants, cutting the number of Increasing Savagery / Bioshift / Forced Adaptationfor cards like

Deeproot Champion Merfolk Branchwalker Feral Hydra Grim Initiate Mistcutter Hydra Pollenbright Druid Quirion Dryad Runaway Steam-Kin Scrounging Bandar Stromkirk Noble Simic Initiate Vastwood Hydra Young Wolf

Keeping your creature count high massively increases the reliability of lists like this without breakning the bank. I'd also look at Temple of Abandon , Magma Jet , Cream of the Crop and Thunderous Wrath - the red and green miracles are really good with a little support, especially maindeck noxious.

RoarMaster on

5 years ago

I think as an aggro deck you want, no, NEED to play creatures to win. Champion of Lambholt doesnt need you to warp that focus in order to work, and in fact rewards you for doing so. Champion also comes with a field buffing effect, rather than a vanilla body that very slowley grows. As you have more creatures than others, Champion will also be a more reliable trigger for you, and judging by card costs, will be cheaper to trigger as well. I think Deeproot would be a much better fit in maybe a G/W or G/B build where you are running a bunch or removal spells naturally.

As far as other critters and stuff goes, I think Scute Mob kinda sucks here. With 21 land, you probably wont be hitting 5 lands until, like, turn 7-9? And you should probably have won, or are dead at that point, meaning Scute lived out his whole life on your field as a weezy 1/1 almost every game. An alternative might be Simic Initiate who works great with Avatar.

Bond beetle is... alright. Its a card Id like to use, but it never makes the cut. I personally use Narnam Renegade in its place. In a vacuum it has the same body as the beetle, but also has deathtouch, and if triggerable is bigger and better by far(if you can get dem triggers at least).

Also, you gunna want more Hardened Scales when you can afford them, they supercharge the deck :)