Gyre Sage

Creature — Elf Druid

Evolve (Whenever another creature enters the battlefield under your control, if it has greater power or toughness than this creature, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.)

{T} Add {G} for each +1/+1 counter on this creature.

Combos

• Apocalypse Hydra + Gyre Sage
• Blade of the Bloodchief + Gyre Sage
• Elvish Archdruid + Elvish Mystic + Gyre Sage

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
Penny Dreadful	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (50)

Epicurus on ¿Mono green control?

1 month ago

Awesome build!

Personally, I would take Gyre Sage over Manaweft Sliver, and Leafkin Druid over Tangled Florahedron  ^Flip. But they're all pretty close in power level, so that's a matter of opinion.

I'd also take Predator Ooze over Managorger Hydra.

StoryArcher on Don't Let Em Breathe (Quick)

2 months ago

PickleNutz

I hadn't messed with the counter deck in a while, so I just ran a quick playtest. It's just solataire, of course, but at the end of round 5, I had:

• 11/12 Gyre Sage
• 7/6 Renegade Krasis
• 6/6 Swarm Shambler
• 9/9 Experiment One
• 12/11 Avatar of the Resolute
• 12/13 Voracious Hydra

and...

• 42/42 Wildwood Scourge

That was with one Hardened Scales on the board and an Inscription of Abundance in my hand.

Not every hand ends up like that, but more than you would think. It's just crazy.

thefiresoflurve on Cheapo Super Skullbriar

7 months ago

Looks overall okay. There are also a couple good Trample sources I see missing: Rancor - great because it comes back to your hand Cartouche of Strength - doubles as sorcery speed creature removal

Forced Adaptation feels too slow for me in a deck like this. Compare to Hydra's Growth - you're not going to be casting either til turn 3 at least anyway (as you have no targetable 1-drops). On turn 3 with Hydra, you'll swing +1 counters, then turn 4 you'll swing with +2, then +4.... I know the point of Forced Adaptation is that no one can ever take those counters away from Skullbriar, I just would prefer running some form of graveyard recursion akin to Phyrexian Delver, rather than simply turning your commander into an even bigger removal magnet.

The deck also looks a bit lacking in mana ramp, which you'll very much need since you're going to be racking up commander tax. A few good budget options - Arcane Signet Rampant Growth Coldsteel Heart is an upgrade over Moss Diamond Golgari Signet Talisman of Resilience Gyre Sage

As far as draw goes... I love the Colossal Majesty type effects. Garruk's Uprising, however, seems like a weak choice to me. There are only 5 creatures (6 if you buff your commander a little) that will trigger its third ability, and likewise its first ability has a decent chance of being unusable when you draw the card. Its trample ability is great, but I think there are probably better ways of accomplishing that in the deck already. I would honestly cut this for something like Deeproot Champion, which would be awesome with how many non-creature spells you have.

Drestlin on G/W +1/+1 counters

8 months ago

Arcus Acolyte is just terrible.

I read outlast wrong at the start i didn't see the tap part lol.

out they go, need to put some other creature. Thinking maybe some ramp is a good idea, something that fetches land, or some other stuff like Gyre Sage or Incubation Druid.

will think on this tomorrow

AstroAA on need to speed things up …

9 months ago

To start, your average converted mana cost is 3.44, which is kind of high. I would definitely work on lowering that. In addition, while you are running things like Somberwald Sage, Heronblade Elite, and Gyre Sage - things that can tap for lots of mana - they are all three CMC, which is a lot for ramp that you cannot even use that turn. You'd want to look at things like Elvish Mystic, Llanowar Elves, Fyndhorn Elves and Birds of Paradise.

You're also running a lot of lands, but no way to ramp via lands besides Cultivate. Things like Exploration, Kodama's Reach, Burgeoning, etc can help with this.

Also, general suggestion - if you want to do things with counters, run Doubling Season and/or Anointed Procession; they're too good in counter-based decks. You also need a Cathars' Crusade, as it can easily distribute multiple counters in a single turn to every single creature you control.

lhetrick13 on G/W +1/+1 counters exile

9 months ago

I saw that which does put a damper on it but does still provide a good way to drag up lands. Especially as you can do it on your opponent's turn. Most ramping cards are at sorcery speed and Fertilid is a creature's ability that does not even require you to tap. Others to consider would be Rishkar, Peema Renegade, Gyre Sage, and Incubation Druid...the list likely goes on!

I am telling you a ramping counter deck is sounding pretty good. It would give you the ability to play some of the big guns like Vigor and Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider.Chasmolinker recommended those two for my deck and while they are absolute game-enders, They are so expensive, I would never usually be able to cast them.

LordsofChaos115 on aggro growth animar

10 months ago

here are some recommendations Desolation Twin, Giant Adephage, Omnath, Locus of Rage, Quartzwood CrasherShaman of Forgotten Ways, Zhur-Taa Druid, Hammer of Purphoros, Idol of Oblivion, Divination, Predator's Rapport, Evolution Vat, Farseek, Explore, Cultivate, Colossal Majesty,Simic Ascendancy,Sarkhan Vol, Decimate, Relentless Assault, Fellwar Stone, Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Gift of Paradise, Domri, Chaos Bringer, Song of Freyalise, Gyre Sage, Nimbus Swimmer,Simic Sky Swallower, Kiora, the Crashing Wave, Simic Growth Chamber, Hinterland Harbor, Whelming Wave, The Locust God, Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle

eliakimras on Ghired - Precon Primal Genesis - Heavy Upgrade

1 year ago

Hey! Kinda late, but I would like to suggest some stuff:

(Disclaimer: I have a budget way lower than yours, but I've been tinkering with Ghired for almost two years - he's my favorite commander. I'll break the suggested upgrades down into categories for better organization.)

Haste enablers:

• You need them for Ghired and his tokens to attack right away, as well as to use your creatures with tap abilities on demand. Please consider Hammer of Purphoros in addition to Lightning Greaves and Fires of Yavimaya. The Hammer can even create tokens if needed.

Ramp: Run at least 15 ramp cards to make your deck flow smoother and faster.

• As an aggressive deck, speed is fundamental. Fellwar Stone, Nature's Lore, Three Visits, Skyshroud Elf, Bloom Tender, Faeburrow Elder, Chromatic Lantern, Coalition Relic, Wood Elves, Skyshroud Claim and Mirari's Wake can ramp and heavily fix your mana, taking the place of Gyre Sage, Solemn Simulacrum, Rampant Growth, Sakura-Tribe Elder and Xenagos, the Reveler - the latter is a win-more ramp, and his 2/2 token is not large enough to synergize with the power-based card draw, while the other four fix for a single color of mana (Ghired decks can sometimes be color-hungry), and this deck can't abuse the sad robot for value.

• In the land department, Krosan Verge and Blighted Woodland pull their weight, and synergize greatly with Avenger of Zendikar and Rampaging Baloths. Maybe remove Cascading Cataracts? (Your spells are not THAT color hungry.)

Direct damage:

• Have you considered Warstorm Surge and Terror of the Peaks as a mean to do damage even before attacking? The dragon can even be cloned with Flamerush Rider, Flameshadow Conjuring and Soul Foundry for extra copies of the same effect (the game ends quiiiickly after that). I'd remove Dragonmaster Outcast for that, since its effect is slow (albeit amazing if he lasts on the field).

• Talking about damage, how about doubling it? Gratuitous Violence, Fiery Emancipation, Gisela, Blade of Goldnight, Angrath's Marauders and True Conviction can assist you on that.

Extra combats: You don't have to worry about your opponents' answers if they never get to their turn, so...

• Moraug, Fury of Akoum, Aurelia, the Warleader, Combat Celebrant, Scourge of the Throne (I believe there is an infinite combo involving those two), Savage Beating, Response / Resurgence, Breath of Fury (always attach it to your disposable tokens to keep attacking).

Boardwipes:

• Winds of Abandon might replace Hour of Reckoning. I don't really like to lose Ghired on a boardwipe, since he costs 7 mana to recast. Winds of Abandon also works as evasion for your creatures, since your opponents won't have creatures to block. As for the ramp it offers, an opponent can't do anything with the extra lands if he/she's dead, right? :-)

• Blasphemous Act/Vanquish the Horde plus Boros Charm/Heroic Intervention is a good combo that saves your creatures while taking your opponents' creatures out for not a lot of mana.

Card draw: Alongside ramp, it is my main concern with Ghired. I want to be able to rebuild my board after a boardwipe.

• Garruk's Uprising is a better Colossal Majesty, even giving evasion to your creatures.

• I believe that Camaraderie can be substituted for Shamanic Revelation as the latter cost less mana. Mouth / Feed is another option that creates its own big token. Return of the Wildspeaker can either draw cards or buff creatures for an alpha strike.

• Keeper of Fables triggers all other power-based card draw, while giving easy draw triggers to all your trampling creatures. Elder Gargaroth is a buffed, more versatile version of it. And remember: both can be cloned for extra juicy draw or extra tokens.

• Sylvan Library is an overall great card filter for your regular draws. It gets better with shufflers like fetchlands and tutors.

• Since your deck is focused on attacking and getting extra combat steps, Etali, Primal Storm might be a fun way to play your opponents' cards while lowering their life points.

Some cards I suggest you to remove:

• Sundering Growth: you already have enough flexible removal. You will almost never be in a situation in which the token to copy and the artifact/enchantment to remove are optimal choices. Since you're running Eladamri's Call, Reclamation Sage might be worth including (and cloned for the enjoyment of your friends).
• Starnheim Unleashed: one token is too little for a whole card slot in the deck. If you're foretelling, it costs a lot of mana to be worthwhile. The game might be over before that.
• Growing Ranks: waiting a whole rotation to get a token which does not even have haste is not ideal.
• Ghired's Belligerence, Full Flowering: good for a late game play, mostly dead until then. I like those, but I removed them in favor of more mid-game cards, since I might not last until 9+ mana.
• Trostani, Selesnya's Voice: while on-theme, it does little to advance your win condition.
• Thunderfoot Baloth: not an amazing buff. Your creatures are big already, and Garruk's Uprising takes care of the evasion.
• Feldon of the Third Path: all-star when there is a lot of graveyard filling - there is none in this deck. (I really tried to keep him on my deck because I like the card, but most of the time there was no creature in my graveyard.)
• Eldrazi Displacer: are you using it for a combo? I couldn't identify it.

Some cool lands for you to try out: (landbase is my favorite part of deckbuilding)

• Castle Garenbrig: how easily do you have access to a Forest for it to be worth including in your deck?
• Rogue's Passage: can sometimes help you to finish an opponent.
• Scavenger Grounds: if you face graveyard-centric decks (you don't seem to use your graveyard much).
• Hanweir Battlements  ^Meld: another haste enabler.
• Gargoyle Castle: sometimes you need a flying token. (I rarely use it, but I like to have the option.)
• Gemstone Caverns: a turn-0 ramp when the first turn is not yours.
• Bonders' Enclave: card draw on a land (easily accessible).
• Mana Confluence, Battlefield Forge, Karplusan Forest, Brushland, Horizon Canopy, Sunbaked Canyon, Prismatic Vista, Cragcrown Pathway  ^Flip, Branchloft Pathway  ^Flip, Needleverge Pathway  ^Flip: more untapped dual lands.

I hope I've been of some help to you. I didn't suggest many token-related cards because I believe that, as long as you have decent ramp, draw and removal in your deck, you can win to your heart's content. Wanna throw in a Godsire? Do it. Prefer to clone your opponents' creatures with Hate Mirage? Go ahead. But the fundamentals of the deck is what makes it flow consistently. Have fun and smash 'em all (and run Doubling Season for extra fun) ;-)