Birds of Paradise
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Legality

Format Legality
1v1 Commander 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
Oldschool 93/94 Legal
Penny Dreadful Legal
Premodern Legal
Tiny Leaders Legal
Vintage Legal

Birds of Paradise

Creature — Bird

Flying

: Add one mana of any colour.

DarlekSec on Standard Sad-pod

4 days ago

Welcome to nostalgia.

Basic ramp with Avacyn's Pilgrim and Llanowar Elves, but should be replaced with Birds of Paradise. Objective to get Birthing Pod to get board presence advantage. Glissa, the Traitor and Solemn Simulacrum to get more value.

Side board it to slow down aggro and spell caster decks

CoarselyRefined on 1-Drop Creatures Only Chulane

2 weeks ago

I also like hamstringing my decks for themes. Dunno what your budget is but if you're looking to grab creatures with some better/different utility I've some suggestions.

Have you considered: Abu Ja'far, Serra Ascendant, Hexdrinker, Drowned Rusalka, Giant Killer, Cosi's Trickster, Kytheon, Hero of Akros  Flip, Hypnotic Siren, Elvish Scrapper, Planar Guide, Giver of Runes, Scavenger Folk, Noble Hierarch, Birds of Paradise, Weathered Wayfarer, Sylvan Safekeeper, Phyrexian Dreadnought, Scute Mob, Hope of Ghirapur Capricopian, Mikaeus, the Lunarch, Devoted Caretaker, Cursecatcher, Elvish Lyrist, Judge's Familiar, Ascendant Spirit, Siren Stormtamer, Honored Hierarch.

Utopia Mycon and Thallid provide slow-growth bodies.

Mother of Runes and Ulvenwald Tracker make for some nifty jank removal with your Sedge Scorpion.

Elvish Reclaimer and Groundskeeper might be worth considering if you add more utility lands.

Also, some Hydras fit the theme of being 1-drops but also give you a mid-to-late game mana sink/beater.

Spirits on Morph :D

3 weeks ago

Hey Zorke,

Ok based on your comment about the combo, I'm basing these recommendations on a:

Tuned tier - Power level 5 (6 usually has a combo) - Win before Turn 14 - "Upgraded Precon". Visual Guide to Power Levels in EDH.

-- Land Base -- Prioritize untapped, Mana colors, Target 33: +Shivan Reef -Island +Yavimaya Coast -Forest +City of Brass -Aether Hub +Mana Confluence -Mountain Valley +Riverglide Pathway  Flip -Simic Growth Chamber +Rootbound Crag -Mountain +Hinterland Harbor -Forest +Sulfur Falls -Mountain +Rejuvenating Springs -Path of Ancestry +Training Center -Rogue's Passage +Spire Garden -Ancient Ziggurat +Boseiju, Who Endures -Island

--Ramp-- Creature preferred +Birds of Paradise -Thought Vessel +Three Visits -Heraldic Banner +The Great Henge -Gilded Lotus (Also important for draw) +Farseek -Harvest Season

--Morph-- +Kadena's Silencer -Stuffy Doll +Icefeather Aven -Keep Safe (Morph flavor) +Echo Tracer -Omnath, Locus of Mana (Morph flavor) +Mistfire Weaver -Forsaken Monument (Morph flavor) +Jeering Instigator -Shaleskin Plower (Morph flavor less salt)

--Draw-- +Fathom Seer -Zendikar Resurgent +Temur Ascendancy -Tomb of the Spirit Dragon +Tishana, Voice of Thunder -Ashcloud Phoenix +Guardian Project -Tidespout Tyrant +Toski, Bearer of Secrets -Fabricate +Garruk's Uprising -Creeping Renaissance

--Offense other than Animar-- +Garruk's Horde -Forest +Artisan of Kozilek -Island +Bane of Bala Ged -Trophy Mage (Pulls 1 unneeded artifact!) +Shrieking Drake -Temur Sabertooth (Non-Infinite Ancestral Statue) +Decimator of the Provinces -Temur War Shaman

--Control-- +Beast Within -Fog

I've left out some salty card for this power level: Cyclonic Rift Ancestral Statue Craterhoof Behemoth Rhystic Study Mystic Remora Dockside Extortionist

Special mention (would need to playtest): Secret Plans (Draw) Solemn Simulacrum (Ramp & Draw) Mulldrifter (Draw) Trail of Mystery (Ramp) Rhythm of the Wild (Don't think you'll see heavy counterspell in power 5)

Could go more less if needed Theres other stuff I didn't suggest because of the morph theme, like Cloud of Faeries, Hullbreaker Horror, Fierce Empath etc.

Hopefully you find some useful ideas here.

Spirits on Morph :D

3 weeks ago

Hey Zorke,

I have a Budget Animar deck built around morph.

Couple questions, first is what is the goal of the deck? Briefly looking, seems to be a Tuned (Mid) 5 or 6 deck, is your goal to stay around that or looking to build towards an Optimed (High) 7 or 8? It really will change what the recommendations are in terms of Land Base / Ramp Efficiency / Combo / Mana-Curve.

The obvious missing card here is Ancestral Statue. With Animar, Soul of Elements at 4 counters, he can make an infinitely large general just by repeatedly bouncing Ancestral Statue with itself. It also contributes to the infinite ETB triggers for things like Beast Whisperer and Purphoros, God of the Forge as examples. You have some non-morph in there, so I'm not sure its a flavor exclude, but maybe a no-combo exclude?

Keep in mind too that although Animar, Soul of Elements discounts the casting cost to play the morph face down, however, he doesn't discount the morph cost to flip them back up, so you have to selective on the morphs you choose, otherwise you lose the ability to activate their morph abilities.

There are some noteable ramp creatures missings, Birds of Paradise for sure, flying/ramp/animar counter, checks lots of boxes. Solemn Simulacrum can be decent ramp, he sticks with a 5/6 theme a bit tougher to find space in a 7/8 if that is the goal. Peregrine Drake is another notable ramp createure.

Heraldic Banner is a bit strange, name by volume, or for a majority of the flyers? I'm not sure. Something like Ornithopter of Paradise feels better even without haste/riot.

Dunno why Stuffy Doll would be in here, he needs either a Blazing Sunsteel or Ill-Tempered Loner  Flip to elminate a single opponent, so no highly efficient. You dont really have a way to retarget him either, even with a Blazing Sunsteel would need more creatures like Icefeather Aven or Echo Tracer. Not recommending, just saying without more bounce he just wasting a spot.

Aether Hub just seems like a bad City of Brass or Mana Confluence. There a lots of lands that would improve your deck, commander lands like Rejuvenating Springs/Training Center or fetch lands like Misty Rainforest/Wooded Foothills.

Unless Tidespout Tyrant is a favorite or something, his CMC is ridiculous and shouldn't be in there, Animar, Soul of Elements can't pay the .

Keep Safe isn't a modular counterspell. Just a plain Counterspell would be better. Depending on power level, there are 0 mana counterspells, 1 mana counterspells, and good 2 mana counterspells. Also, don't forget you have your morphs with counterspells.

Shaleskin Plower is a good example of a heavy morph cost, for an ability you dont really need.

Gilded Lotus isn't reduced by the general counters, not sure why we would want it.

Have lots more ideas, just need a deck goal point of reference to give some better recommendations.

Epicurus on Ramos the Mutated Lord

1 month ago

+1 just because I love Mutate! Hahaha, don't even know if this deck is good or not, but it definitely could be, and looks fun as hell either way.

I can make some suggestions, but take them with a grain of salt. I really believe that I would have to actually play the deck to determine what it needs, what it doesn't need, and what might be helpful to add or cut in order to improve it.

First, here's a list of cards that are generally good for a Ramos deck:

Shielding Plax - gives Ramos Hexproof, puts two +1/+1 counters on him, and draws a card.

Maelstrom Nexus - Puts five counters on Ramos with one spell, grants free casting.

Corpsejack Menace - Speeds up access to Ramos's mana ability.

Zacama, Primal Calamity - Castable using Ramos's ability, and in my experience one of the best things to do so with.

Horned Kavu - Two colors for feeding Ramos, allows you to recast something, and has the added bonus in this deck of possibly allowing you to re-mutate stuff.

Next, I think that you need more early ramp. Here are some suggestions for that, starting with the most obvious choices:

Cultivate

Birds of Paradise

Noble Hierarch

Ilysian Caryatid

Fellwar Stone

To help facilitate some of these inclusions, here are some suggested cuts:

Thrun, the Last Troll - You have enough targets to Mutate without this, and removing him lowers your mana curve.

Lore Drakkis - Yeah, I know, that would make one less Mutate trigger, but it really doesn't do much of anything else for you. You don't have many instants and/or sorceries.

Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin - I understand why you may want him (he generates blockers, and you are vulnerable to go-wide strategies), but I think he's just unnecessarily raising your curve. By the time you can cast him, you'll probably have a lot of other spells you'd rather cast with that mana. If your meta dictates that you require defense against go-wide, there are better choices. Crawlspace, Lightmine Field, Silent Arbiter/Dueling Grounds.

Fertilid - Absolutely a waste of mana. There are a million things you're better off with than this.

Geist of Saint Traft - I'm actually torn on this one, but I really believe that it falls into the same category as Thrun. You'll likely have other good targets for mutation, though the Flying and Hexproof combination is a good one. I'd still consider your mana curve when deciding whether to keep it.

The Ozolith - Other than Ramos and Crystalline Giant, I really don't see how this is incredibly useful. It's genuinely a good card, but I don't see enough here to justify its inclusion.

Zendikar Resurgent - Too high of a cost. By the time you can cast it, this deck shouldn't need it. If you want to keep the draw effect, you're better off with Chulane, Teller of Tales.

Windgrace's Judgment - Pure jank. I take it your meta is mostly multiplayer? Even so, you'd probably benefit much more from some kind of cheaper, targeted removal. However, if you're so inclined, Decimate for one less mana, or Ruinous Ultimatum for a much more beneficial effect.

Finally, your land base could use an upgrade. That's probably obvious, and likely due to budget restrictions. I get it, land can be what makes a deck expensive to build, and casual decks sometimes aren't worth the money. However, you have a lot of lands on your list that ETB tapped, and that is disconcerting. Pain lands and check lands are the cheapest way to remedy this problem (albeit, the check lands are way more effective if you have shock lands and/or triomes, and furthermore aren't exactly inexpensive either).

I hope I didn't explode your brain, hahaha. If anything, take all of this as proof that I really want this deck to be awesome!

Cheers!

TheOfficialCreator on Why Are Secret Lairs So …

1 month ago

I think it's partially because Secret Lairs simultaneously fill the positions that were previously filled by those product lines while giving them a unified market name to stand behind.

True, Secret Lairs aren't playable out of the box like Duel Decks or Premium Decks are, but I'm not entirely sure that the draw of pre-playable decks is even worth it in an environment where new Commander decks are created for every Standard set.

I'm not saying this is my preference or even a smart economic decision, but it seems like the reasoning for what Hasbro is doing with MTG. I've quite enjoyed a couple of the Secret Lairs that have come out, and I think that's the draw of them; they appeal very strongly to a smaller group of people.

The Pride Secret Lair, the Bird Secret Lair, and the Yargle Day Secret Lair have been some of my favorites thus far. The others I could care more about, but I understand why they exist, and I'm glad they do for those who want to buy them.

Obviously, the Yargle Day Secret Lair was incredibly low-value, but the Pride Secret Lair in general had decent value with its inclusion of Mana Confluence, and the Bird Secret Lair had things like Birds of Paradise. And the special arts can be worth the low relative value to some people, which I assume is the justification for them being priced the way they are.

king-saproling on Jodah's Unification with Nothingness

1 month ago

Ok hear me out. Pull out all the legendaries, then add in Arcum Dagsson. Also add Jegantha, the Wellspring as your companion. The rework to companions (having to pay 3 to put from command zone to hand) means that while Jodah is out, when you cast Jegantha, you will always get Arcum. Arcum can sac an artifact mana dork (e.g. Ornithopter of Paradise, Bronze Walrus, Scuttlemutt, Opaline Unicorn, etc. there are many of them) to get Door to Nothingness.

Thanks to Jegantha's ability, you will reliably be ready to use the Door as soon as it touches the board, and since it came in via Arcum's ability the Door can't be countered. You can also use Arcum to fetch artifacts that copy the Door/Door ability (like Sculpting Steel, Rings of Brighthearth) or artifacts that return the Door from grave to hand (e.g. Protomatter Powder, Codex Shredder)).

The other slots I would fill with cheap ramp effects like Birds of Paradise and all the available mana-producing artifact creatures. Maybe also cheap haste effects like Mass Hysteria, Concordant Crossroads, Lightning Greaves, Crashing Drawbridge, etc. so you can use Jegantha and Arcum immediately. You wouldn't really need to worry about interaction because you could keep the Door unused until the opp's end step before your turn and use it to threaten death of whomever tries to disrupt your setup in the meantime. For example if an opponent casts Cyclonic Rift, just respond by activating the Door to get that fool out da game thereby fizzling the Rift.

Chasmolinker on Death's Awakening (Help me Update!)

2 months ago

Nice deck list +1
I've built a similar deck BUG Scavenger using Birds of Paradise both as a ramp card to get Varolz in play earlier and also as an evasive threat thanks to flying.

I also like Lotleth Troll as my primary win-con since it already has trample and can be used to chump block/regenerate early on. It also gives you a discard outlet for Death's Shadow in hand.

I used to run Thought Scour to fill the yard, but I've really liked the addition of Life from the Loam and Otherworldly Gaze.

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