Savannah

Land — Forest Plains

(: Gain or .)

Discussion (51)

SideBae on Tanks

1 month ago

So Enlightened Tutor comes to mind. I think it's probably better than Idyllic Tutor, though it's significantly more expensive. If you're working on a budget, Idyllic Tutor is perfectly okay.

Toxic Deluge is an expensive card that I expect to go down in price soon (it's been reprinted in Double Masters, and in my experience masters sets tank their rares, if only for a short while). It'd be especially good since you have a lot of high-toughness cards.

I think Mythos of Nethroi is probably better than Putrefy.

I also think that even in a deck based on walls, you can benefit a LOT from one-mana mana-dorks. Arbor Elf, Elves of Deep Shadow, Elvish Mystic, Llanowar Elves, Deathrite Shaman, Fyndhorn Elves etc. will accelerate you in a way that only green can do. Even with boardwipes, they're worth it. Note that they also let you land your general turn two, if you get the right mana.

Additionally, since you're not a landfall, I feel like you're running too many lands. Replacing some with dorks will let you come out of the gate a lot faster. (I play EDH with a lot of more powerful decks, and your experience may differ from mine. However, I find that being able to land a meaningful turn-one play like Birds of Paradise is good in all power-levels.)

Speaking of lands, your mana base can be improved for relatively cheap. Indatha Triome is about $4 these days, and could easily replace your Jungle Hollow... Fetches are busted, especially when paired with duals like Overgrown Tomb or Savannah. However, if you don't plan on selling a kidney, there're other ways to improve. Slow-fetches (Rocky Tar Pit, Bad River, Flood Plain, Mountain Valley and Grasslands) are super affordable. Note that they can also fetch your non-basic typed lands (like Canopy Vista or Indatha Triome). Other lands of various prices to consider are Exotic Orchard, City of Brass, Reflecting Pool, Llanowar Wastes, Brushland, Caves of Koilos and friends.

Card advantage decides most EDH (and Magic in general) games. Some cards to consider: Sylvan Library, Painful Truths, Harmonize, Night's Whisper, Phyrexian Arena, Dark Tutelage etc. are all good ways. I was going to suggest Runic Armasaur, but you already spotted that one.

Retribution of the Meek is a GREAT wipe for decks like this.

I also suggest cutting some cards. I don't think Path to Exile is very good in EDH, where one-for-ones need to be REALLY good (like Swords to Plowshares or non-type specific like Mythos of Nethroi), and Path to Exile ramps your opponents. They're very likely to just use the extra mana to deploy a more dangerous threat. Glyph of Doom is interesting, and might be good, but I don't think it would be (granted that's not based on direct experience). I think you could probably just use a more powerful card in that slot. I also think you can cut some of the equipments for more influential cards. For example, if you cut Spidersilk Net and friends you can run things like Collector Ouphe and Stony Silence. If you're running mana dorks, you'll have ramp while your artifact-based friends get nailed.

Right. That's all I got. Hope this helped!

kpres on Card creation challenge

1 month ago

Savannah Zebra

Creature - Zebra

Vigilance

Savannah Zebra costs less to cast if you control a Savannah.

Bands with other zebras, elephants, cats, rhinos, hippos, and apes.

Savannah Lions you control have ", Sacrifice a Zebra: Draw a card and gain 3 life."

2/3

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Create a god card based on someone from the Hindu pantheon.

Bulwer on Spy Cat (with Primer!)

2 months ago

XaiLo: Savannah is a pure budget decision-- I simply haven't got one. Survival of the Fittest, though, I just had my one copy in another deck, but that deck isn't presently together. I'm going to be fitting that in as soon as I can. Good call.

As far as tuning the deck more, reducing the ramp curve and adding cheaper interaction, I dunno. I want to make sure I can play it at a regular table without running everyone over. If I find the right meta, I might find room for Mana Crypt and Mana Vault.

Yeti_Confetti on RGW Armageddon?

3 months ago

Balaam__ Thanks! I’m excited to get it and start playing with it.

I almost got my hands on a Savannah a few years ago for like, $80-$100. They just stopped messaging me back and I’m still upset about it. Hopefully one day I can get those kind of cards for the collection and to play with.

Balaam__ on RGW Armageddon?

3 months ago

I prefer the older sets and iterations as well. Nice build. Dual lands Taiga, Savannah, Plateau) would probably have the most immediate, dramatic improvement here, but they’re prohibitively expensive:/

XaiLo on Spy Cat (with Primer!)

4 months ago

I noticed you don't run Savannah. Is that a budget call or a strategic one? Also not running Survival of the Fittest. Is that because of budget?

How is your early ramp? Most competitive decks run things like Wild Growth, Utopia Sprawl, Carpet of Flowers, other 1 cmc dorks etc, rather than Skyshround Claim, Cultivate, etc. (Three Visits is another nonbudget card that I think is better than Cultivate in a competitive combo deck. There's also Arcane Signet, Talisman of Unity, Fellwar Stone, Mana Crypt, etc)

Would it be possible to shave off some combo lines, focus on only the best ones, and free up more slots for ramp and maybe removal/interaction like Nature's Claim or Veil of Summer or Rebuff the Wicked.

I totally get why this deck doesnt run hate bears like most competitive GW decks would. But on the other hand, I worry about it not having enough removal for OPPONENTS' hate pieces which could stifle the combo.

Mortlocke on The Song of Phyresis

4 months ago

AscendedLandfalls, I appreciate you asking me some hard questions. Yes, lands are definitely the top option as most EDH decks don't run land destruction, but the only viable option (In my opinion) you've suggested thusfar is Farseek. It's a good card, but i'm having a hard time finding a place for it. What would you cut? and why.

I do have some comment for some of your statements: "since you are running Defense of the Heart and some high cmc spells, which are cards for mid-range decks, not fast decks, I wouldn't worry too much about a few lands coming in tapped since it also allows you to color fix early on, but this is also predicated on running a few more basic lands."

• Spells like Rampant Growth just aren't a good fit for the deck as it is. To get the most use out of Growth i'd have to cut either filter lands or utility lands to make room for basics - that doesn't make sense, and would only serve to weaken the deck's manabase overall. Additionally, with lands coming in tapped early on, I lose out on opportunities to play my 2 or 3 drop mana rocks. I disagree with your logic as lands entering play tapped can potentially waste a play early or late game.

• I was not aware that Defense of the Heart was an enchantment geared more toward mid-range archetypes - could you provide a source? This deck isn't intentionally designed to be a "fast archetype" (what do you mean by fast? like aggro?). I guess to that point I unintentionally built a midrange deck as I can "combo" with a soft lock on the board (utilizing Tangle Wire and a proliferation source - while proliferating poison counters, ideally). The alternative strategy is trying to swing in with an infect creature and pump it up with enough +1/+1 counters to go for lethal before an opponent can go for a combo.

• Honestly, I don't run Vampiric Tutor because of two reasons - 1. I have no idea what I would cut for it, and 2. I'm still paying off my Revised Tropical Island (in played condition) + Savannah (in lightly played condition). I have a sweet deal with a friend (he's a legacy player) who wants to offload some revised dual lands (he's upgrading to unlimited) and is giving me a steal of a deal. So, i'm currently working on paying off those two cards and the deck will be fully assembled in paper. What would you cut to make room for Vampiric Tutor? Inexorable Tide? Maybe Lux Cannon. It's a pet card that I enjoy...so I feel at odds about removing it. Plus it is a gaudy distraction on the board, especially when I have multiple proliferation sources active.

• My landbase is pretty competitive as I want to give this 4 color deck as much of an advantage as I can. This deck isn't meant to be casual, but not entirely competitive either. It's in a strange place where it's a strong deck that can win knock out an opponent as early as turn 4 or 5, but defeat all opponents around 7. Personally i'm not a fan of Stax, as I enjoy actually playing against others. I could push the deck a little further in that direction, but what I really want is a strong and viable means of sealing a win via Infect/Poison counters. My personal hope is that the upcoming Commander Legends set will have something of use to that end. I know Infect is a parasitic mechanic, but it is one that I champion and will forever advocate for.

Thanks for the talk and criticism so far, I look forward to more from you.

Mortlocke on The Song of Phyresis

4 months ago

AscendedLandfalls, thanks for the comment and suggestion. I haven't thought about running Dryad of the Ilysian Grove because outside of color-fixing and a psuedo Wayward Swordtooth effect for it doesn't offer the deck much. Worse yet, it's a very unsafe form of color-fixing as it is on a creature body that can easily be removed by a whole host of different targeted and non-targeted spells. I'll argue that it suffers from something similar to the "glass cannon" trope where it's super strong in some aspects - but super vulnerable at the same time.

Rampant Growth is good ramp in a certain context. I don't run that many basic land cards in this deck (only 3) so it's not really worthwhile to include. Farseek is probably more worthwhile as it can find typed lands, but paying for a tapped land doesn't seem as appealing as a mana rock for the same cost. You say Skyshroud Claim is not efficient? For I can tutor for two lands that come into play untapped and can fetch any forest typed land. That means I can fix my manabase by fetching any two of the following - Tropical Island, Bayou, or Savannah (or their shockland equivalent). If you think this spell is not efficient, then please tell me what i'm missing because I think it's nothing short of amazing for a multi-color deck.