Deathbloom Gardener

Creature — Elf Druid

Deathtouch

{T}: Add one mana of any colour.

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Alchemy	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Arena	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Brawl	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Pauper EDH	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Pre-release	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Standard	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (5)

Darb_the_Bard on Buttercup: Princess Bride

6 months ago

I don't think I'm interested in Jhoira's Familiar in this deck. If you reliably cast two historic spells each turn, then it's essentially Sisay's Ring as it is providing you with two generic mana. If you reliably cast three spells each turn, then it's Thran Dynamo. I suppose it has some upside being a creature with flying, but it also has some downsides since it can't help us cast our non-historic spells. It's good in a deck where you can reliably cast two or more historic spells in a turn, especially in artifact decks where you can combine it with other similar effects and start casting artifacts for zero mana. In this deck, however, I think we are only occasionally casting more than one spell per turn. I think we are normally tutoring with Buttercup and hopefully casting one additional spell. If I decide I want another ramp piece, then I either want to bring back Deathbloom Gardener for the deathtouch synergies or another 2-mana ramp piece that can produce multiple colors. Something like a Fellwar Stone would be one of my next considerations.

Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain on the other hand would be a very good fit. It's another legendary with two colors, so it pumps Buttercup's power by 2. And more card draw is always good. My budget-minded side wants to swap this card in and take out Reki as that would save me at least $5.00. But the deck builder inside me never wants to cut card draw and knows there are weaker cards I could remove. It's a dilemma...

At this point the weakest non-Princess Bride card is Lord Skitter, Sewer King which is only included for the flavor of buffing our Rodents of Unusual Size (Pack Rat). And, yes, I absolutely plan to tutor for Lord Skitter if I draw the Rodents, even though it will never be the smartest move if my goal is to win. The ultimate goal, of course, is to have fun with Princess Bride cards, although I am trying to win some games along the way. So it's a balance between optimizing the deck for power while still "optimizing" for flavor.

All that to say I believe Jhoira deserves a slot but I'm struggling to decide what to remove! Any suggestions are welcome. Perhaps something will come to me after more playtesting...

Darb_the_Bard on Buttercup: Princess Bride

6 months ago

rwn1971 I was thinking the same thing. Even before your last comment, I had added Spark Double. As you said, we should hopefully have enough deathouch creatues that we can copy one if we feel we need another (or we can tutor for Westley and then copy him). I took out Deathbloom Gardener as I felt that 3 mana to ramp only 1 turn ahead was too awkard with a 3-mana commander and a companion. Plus if we really need more ramp or color fixing, we can also potentially copy Jegantha or another mana producer like Birds of Paradise or Faeburrow Elder.

I also added Legion Loyalist and swapped out Bilious Skulldweller. I'm just afraid that without evasion the Skulldweller will too often not able to get in and thus the toxic won't matter. Plus, with the budget mana base I am often playing a tapped land on turn 1 to ensure I have an untapped land to play on turn 2 (so we can ramp). I left in Wasteland Viper as I like the versatility and surprise factor too much. Of course, this is based on individual preference, so feel free to do something different with your list.

Darb_the_Bard on Buttercup: Princess Bride

6 months ago

Another thing I really like about Legion Loyalist is the first strike. Even without Odric, giving first strike and trample to our deathtouch creatures is really powerful. As long as our deathtouch creatures have 2+ power, then the trample damage will carry over to trigger Westley for poison counters (assuming each is blocked by a single creature). For that reason, deathtouch creatures with only 1 power and without a second form of evasion (like flying) are quite a bit weaker. Plus, if we want to go all in on the Odric plan, then having so many creatures with deathtouch is less necessary. That said, I'm still hesitant to remove too many deathtouch creatures as I still want to stay true to my original plan of focusing around Westley, and I would still like him to be functional without Odric on the battlefield.

The next deathtouch creatures potentially on the chopping block for me are Bilious Skulldweller, Deathbloom Gardener, Mirkwood Spider, and Wasteland Viper. All of them are super budget, so I'm not sure I'd want to swap them out for the $5.00 Legion Loyalist right away, but it could be something I do down the road after playing the deck in paper several times. rwn1971, thoughts on what you would cut first?

Headers13 on

8 months ago

Cheap creatures with deathtouch:

Acidic Slime Ambush Viper Deathbloom Gardener Fang of Shigeki Gnarlwood Dryad Gorgon Flail Greater Basilisk Heir of the Wilds Ichorspit Basilisk Kessig Recluse Mirkwood Spider Moss Viper Narnam Renegade Oakhame Adversary Skullwinder Tajuru Blightblade Thornweald Archer Turntimber Basilisk Underdark Basilisk

Creatures with infect/toxic

Blight Mamba Core Prowler Corpse Cur Cystbearer Ichorclaw Myr Paladin of Predation Plague Myr Rot Wolf Spinebiter Tyrranax Atrocity Venomous Brutalizer Viridian Corrupter Carrion Call

Proliferate:

Adaptive Sporesinger Cankerbloom Carnivorous Canopy Copper Longlegs Courage in Crisis Evolution Sage Expand the Sphere Smell Fear Thirsting Roots Unnatural Restoration Urban Daggertooth

Equipment:

Grafted Exoskeleton Prosthetic Injector Swiftfoot Boots Fireshrieker Bladed Pinions Chariot of Victory Jousting Lance No-Dachi Peregrine Mask Sharpened Pitchfork Surestrike Trident Viridian Claw Livewire Lash Pathway Arrows Rogue's Gloves Sorcerer's Wand Thornbite Staff Viridian Longbow*

Instant kill:

Aggressive Instinct Ambuscade Animist's Might Bite Down Clear Shot Cosmic Hunger Devouring Tendrils Halana, Kessig Ranger Infectious Bite Nature's Way Rabid Bite Spinning Wheel Kick

Unblockable:

Access Tunnel Rogue's Passage Executioner's Hood Prowler's Helm Skeleton Key Wedding Invitation Whispersilk Cloak

magickrispykreme on wrath of mono grape

1 year ago

TRADE: Mathew gives Wooded Ridgeline and Deathbloom Gardener Nikita gives Zar Ojanen, Scion of Efrava