Ilysian Caryatid

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Legality

Format Legality
1v1 Commander Legal
Archenemy Legal
Arena Legal
Block Constructed 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 Duel Commander Legal
Pauper EDH Legal
Pioneer Legal
Planechase Legal
Quest Magic Legal
Tiny Leaders Legal
Vanguard Legal
Vintage Legal

Ilysian Caryatid

Creature — Plant

: Add one mana of any colour. If you control a creature with power 4 or greater, add two mana of any one colour instead.

lhetrick13 on Ty-Ramp-A-Saurus Wrex

2 months ago

Grends27 - Thanks for your thoughts on my deck so I wanted to repay the favor! Disclaimer, looking at your decklist, I am assuming more of a budget build so I will take that into account.

So first off, I like the high creature count of the deck. Similar to my deck, I think I counted 8 creatures that are not dinos that will not hit with Gishath. Most of the non-dino creatures in my deck are there for utility/ramp purposes and seems like yours are filling similar roles. Personally, I am a little underwhelmed by Ilysian Caryatid, Llanowar Elves, and Ixalli's Lorekeeper and try to avoid anything with toughless less than 3 due to Marauding Raptor. I would encourage you to try out Kinjalli's Caller, Shaman of Forgotten Ways, and Intrepid Paleontologist as they provide a similar role but usually have something more than just adding mana/acceleration to the deck. You really need to consider Forerunner of the Empire. The tutor effect is great by itself but the ability to trigger your Enrage dinos is very powerful. Plus with the abundancy of 1/1 tokens in EDH, this is a board wipe for any creatures weaker than say 2 toughness. He is another great utility creature for dinosaur decks!

I like the dinos you included. I know I said I would suggest budget but Trapjaw Tyrant and Silverclad Ferocidons do work. Especially when you have the ability to trigger their Enrage ability multiple times per turn!

Your land count is very similar to mine, I did not count up all the ways you have to ramp up but see a lot of ways to do that via creatures, artifacts, sorceries, instants, etc. I was going to try adding Poetic Ingenuity into my deck as a way to add some additional treasure tokens in the early turns via swinging with smaller dinos to generate mana to cast Gishath. Can not suggest it 100% without trying it but I love the idea of it!

On the enchantment/artifact side, the only thing I would really suggest is adding Strionic Resonator. Similar to me, you are running enough triggered effects that this card will win you games. A good drop for it would be Descendants' Path. I ran that for a while and was just not impressed with the results. Maybe Aggravated Assault if you would like to swing multiple times...combos well with the Poetic Ingenuity!

FOr the Instants/Sorceries, my only suggestion is that with how common boardwipes and interactions are in EDH, I would suggest more single/mass protection. Flawless Maneuver is not to expensive and can be cast for free if Gishath is out. Clever Concealment is nice for those pesky mass exile spells as you can just phase out your creatures and if your deck is firing on all cylinders and you have a board presence, you can usually cast it for free as well!

Otherwise, looks pretty solid! You can tell you have a plan...cast Gishath quick...swing hard...raid dinos...repeat.

Valengeta on Triassic Trample

7 months ago

I think it's important to have a good 3 drop to start increasing the offensive preassure early, or to support the big dinos in combat, and Giant Cindermaw seems the perfect one for the job. A cheap 4/3 trample. Not many other decent 3 drop dinosaurs around. Territorial Hammerskull might be interesting to pacify a dangerous blocker, although it doesn't have Trample and it's weaker

I think Ilysian Caryatid is good for giving up to 2 mana, but I understand the allure of Birds of Paradise

I need something to draw more cards but in these colors I find it hard to do so efficiently. I was thinking about replacing Lead the Stampede by something else, maybe Hunter's Insight (?)

Boros Charm is 3 useful effects in one instant. It can help with the damage, save multiple creatures from being destroyed or give an unblocked or chump blocked Carnage Tyrant or Ancient Imperiosaur Double Strike for a massive hit

wallisface on Triassic Trample

7 months ago

Better for sure.

I’m not sold on Giant Cindermaw being useful, and I think you should use a 1-mana dork instead of Ilysian Caryatid.

I also don’t think Lead the Stampede is worth running as a 3-mana sorcery to get on average 2 cards seems very meh.

What’s your plan for Boros Charm? The indestructible could be nice but i’m not sure how often you’ll have mana to respond to stuff, and I don’t see the other 2 modes coming up much

BlobHobbit on Kucklebeast Beatdown *Help Wanted*

8 months ago

I think the first thing to do is simply state that Pioneer is a faster format than Standard and most decks are also much more powerful because you have a broader range of access cardwise, so there would be certain cards I would recommend taking out and replacing just so the deck can keep up. Secondly, the best themes in your deck seem to be activated creature abilities along with "Ferocious" creatures and abilities. Not all the cards in the deck necessarily suit this theme.

Cards I recommend putting in: Training Grounds - This card recently had a reprint and it works extremely well with Knucklebeast as well as other cards like Shaman of the Great Hunt.

Ghor-Clan Rampager - Essentially an improvement on Boon Satyr with better stats and a better keyword as a creture with the ability to effectively buff a creature by addinng it's keyword and stats to it. The ability is also 3 mana cheaper.

Fable of the Mirror-Breaker  Flip - It's an expensive card moneywise but worth it. For an explanation read the card XD.

Ilysian Caryatid - A newer version of Rattleclaw Mystic that improves when you have a "Ferocious" creature on field.

Lovestruck Beast - Fits the power 4 or greater theme perfectly and the one drop effect can help you curve out better. Good replacement for Heir of the Wilds

Migloz, Maze Crusher - 4/4 with lots of extra utility.

The Akroan War - An improvement on Yasova Dragonclaw in my opinion as it can also help thin or even wipe your opponents board.

Honorable Mention: Llanowar Elves - Could play four more one drop mana dorks but this deck might not want to given it's playing 2 other colours.

There are probably more possible options but these are ones that stick in my mind

Cards I would definitely take out: Ashcloud Phoenix - this is too expensive mana-wise for what it is and there a more useful cards you can play in the slots it's taking up.

Boon Satyr - Just to expensive generally for this format and there is an obvious better option.

Polukranos, World Eater - It's a four drop that outside of what is effectively a sacrifice ability has no function but being a 5/5, a role than can be filled by Lovestruck Beast

Crater's Claws and Icy Blast - X cost interaction of this kind has it's uses but generally never is played in Pioneer because it's normally worse than useless against Control decks with counterspells. Playing Stubborn Denial in your main deck feels so much better as it goes from a slightly worse spell pierce to a one drop Counterspell just by you playing the deck.

Rattleclaw Mystic - Tri-colour mana dorks are outdated nowadays really and the Morph ability doesn't make up for this, there are just better cards.

Another thing is that the mana base really would need some improvement because the speed of Pioneer is not very favourable towards anything more than two colours without playing some combination of shock, fast or pain lands along with a few basics.

I hope this is helpful for you and wish you the best of luck in any games you play

Epicurus on Ramos, Mutate Engine! Wait, what?

1 year ago

I love the idea, so +1 to that!

A couple notes, though, with regards to your choice of commander.

First, you have a lot of mono-colored spells on the list. In fact, only 15 multicolored spells for the deck, while also having 10 colorless spells. That won't get 5 counters on Ramos very quickly, and the longer he sits the greater the chance he will be removed before he can pop. Ramos is one of those kill-on-site type of commanders.

Pertaining to that, a lot of your Mono-colored spells are in your instants and sorceries - particularly draw spells. And, obviously, your colorless spells are mana producing artifacts. What I would do would be to find multicolored spells that draw cards or produce mana and swap them.

Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle, Faeburrow Elder, and Leyline Prowler are all good multicolored mana producers. And Ilysian Caryatid is mono-colored, but at least puts a counter on Ramos, which a colorless artifact won't (and, on top of that, is just really damn good).

For draw spells, I really like Brokers Charm for Ramos. Some good repeating draw engines are Chulane, Teller of Tales, Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait, Mask of Riddles, Jori En, Ruin Diver. A couple more single use draw spells are Diabolic Vision and Shielding Plax (which doubles as protection for Ramos).

A lot of this will potentially raise your mana curve a bit, so keeping a few of the 2-drop mana rocks wouldn't be bad, and maybe keeping Brainstorm, for example, wouldn't hurt. However, you'll be surprised how much more quickly and repeatedly you can get Ramos up to 5 counters if you include some of the stuff I've listed.

Sorry for the thesis, hahaha. I've just been playing Ramos a lot in the past few years, and I feel like I have a pretty solid understanding of how to play him.

Good luck, and happy gathering!

Epicurus on Ramos the Mutated Lord

1 year 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!

Andrey_ on Raggadragga

1 year ago

I like the idea, it seems very solid. I might create a similar version, but I'll probably change a few cards, I'm afraid it looses his gas in long matches.

May I suggest Ilysian Caryatid, Selvala, Heart of the Wilds, Nyxbloom Ancient and Ashaya, Soul of the Wild is trully a must pick for this list, seems like a fit.

Genesis Wave is better than it looks tho. Beastmaster Ascension can be very bad, but if played at the right moment, has potention to make some noise. Blood Moon and Magus of the Moon can make things hard for at least 2 opponents if I may say, depends on your playgroup. An hey, Kessig Wolf Run can really cause some pain.

Talking about big creatures, I'll suggest Apex Devastator. It's guaranteed you'll at least drop 4 spells with him due to the mana curve we have here.

But, again, it's just suggestions, your list looks hella fun to play!

golgarigirl on Life Gain Voltron (Trelasarra)

1 year ago

I always loved Trelissara's design. Sadly, my lifegain deck is Esper, so she didn't really fit! I don't know if this helps at all, but I think of my deck in terms of lifegain enablers (our Soul Warden and friends that gain us life) and payoffs (things that benefit us when we gain life, like Trudge Garden).

I would pay special attention to one thing with life gain payoffs: a lot of the cards care about one of 2 things...either 'instance of life gain' (the ones worded 'whenever'...they do not care how much life you gain, just if you do or not), and the ones that care about quantity (the ones worded 'if you gained X or more life).

You're going to want to sculpt your life gain enablers in the deck around what of those you have, and how much life gain they want you to have in a turn, to make sure they can hit your X.

I would consider that a little more next time you play, pay attention to what cards want what effects.

For example, my deck is built entirely around the 'instance of life gain effects', so I seldom need to worry about how much I gain.

That said, some weak spots I noticed: Benevolent Bodyguard, Ilysian Caryatid, Soulmender, From Beyond, Indomitable Might, Hedgewitch's Mask. These are excellent places to start with upgrades! They're not bad on their own, but we can do better!

Note on Aetherflux Reservoir: There are some playgroups that playing this will just get you ganged up on. I always caution people about that. If that's fine with you, it's a strong card. I didn't find it could gain enough life to make it worth it in my deck.

Some possible (not too expensive) upgrades that I enjoy:

Good in an 'instance of life gain' deck: Linden, the Steadfast Queen, Sunscorch Regent, Suture Priest, Gideon's Company, Twinblade Paladin, Omen of the Sun, Ajani's Pridemate, Oketra's Monument, Regna, the Redeemer

Good in a 'gain X or more life' deck: Nykthos Paragon, Gideon Blackblade

Good in both: Dusk / Dawn, Austere Command, Dawn of Hope, Shamanic Revelation

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