Selesnya Guildmage

Creature — Elf Wizard

({GW} can be paid with either {G} or {W}.)

{3}{G}: Create a 1/1 green Saproling creature token.

{3}{W}: Creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn.

Tokens

• Saproling 1/1 G

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	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
Modern Beyond Horizons	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Planar Constructed	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (31)

enpc on Feedback Requested! Tsukimi Moon's Mirror

2 years ago

sean360: generally, the point of tapping creatures (or even tapping additional creatures) is to help reduce the mana cost of an ability (an example would be Selesnya Evangel vs Selesnya Guildmage). This also works ith powerful abilities as your options would be to have them cost prohibitive amounts of mana, or to have hybrid costs.

Given that Trostani, Selesnya's Voice only costs 3 to populate as a tap ability and Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage only costs 4 mana to populate with no other restrictions, 3 mana as a tap ability is very reasonable. Also worth noting is that sure, the commander gets much better with Seedborn Muse, but so do a lot of other commanders. That's more about seedborn muse than it is about your commander though.

The point of this creature though (similar to Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage) is that it has the ability to create a token which you can then start populating from (i.e. it doesn't need any additional card support to do its thing). Guildmage has the ability to create multiple tokens at a high cost (6 mana for a 3/3 is quite expensive if it were a creature, but on an ability it makes a lot of sense). Your idea here is that your commander does a similar thing. While you can't keep churning out 'seed tokens' (something guildmage can do if all tokens are destroyed), your token has the ability to be very powerful.

This is why I would recommend tying it to "creatrue you control" which helps self balance the card. You can't just copy the biggest baddest thing on the battlefield, unless you're the one who already played it (regardless of how you got it onto the battlefield). It also stops you from just straight up cloning an opponent's commander. Again, there are cards that do this but you have to work for it (in that you have to find/draw the card and then play it - it's not just straight up tied to your commander).

Additionally, this isn't a "copy/steal" deck as much as it's a "play big tokens then make more of them" deck. Not only are you the wrong colours for that kind of deck (typically they lean more into grixis) but also you really don't want to play a copy/steal deck.

Lord_of_Lords on Ellie's Saprolings

4 years ago

Do you want to replace Song of Freyalise with a creature, mana, utility, or some combination of these? For a 2-drop, I like Selesnya Guildmage if you have the mana to use it. And if it gets removed, better that than a lord.

Just some other ideas:

Sporeweb Weaver: blocks flyers, heals, and makes tokens.

Fungal Rebirth: a post-wipe 3-for-1?

Bow of Nylea: give all your tokens deathtouch + some utility.

Heroic Intervention: anti-board wipes

mlink4 on Trostani, Selesnya's Voice

4 years ago

DoctorAwker I appreciate the feedback! I'll definitely tweak the ramp package as when I put it together it was mostly based on what I had on hand. I'll look at some of the big token makers you mentioned because I want the deck to have legs in the late game too! I may swap Selesnya Guildmage for Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage as it seems to do the same job just better. Another instance of me just putting in what I have. As I stated in another comment, she's just picking up the game and I have some EDH decks that will match well with this one. I'm hoping she picks it up like she has been and then we can invest more in optimizing with cards you mentioned such as Doubling Season! I'm trying to keep costs down a bit but I'll definitely keep your comment handy!

Idoneity on Big Tokens

4 years ago

Ah, tokens! Initiate the throng, then fulminate as such.

I have many suggestions.

Now, typically I am an advocate for running fewer lands in decks, however, this deck has an excruciatingly low amount of card draw. Either make way for lands or add a half-dozen cantrips.

Some of my favourite draw spells you could use are Once Upon a Time, Skullclamp, Adventurous Impulse, and Oath of Nissa. These dig for lands whilst having value late-game.

You have many anthems, some of which are quite lacking in my opinion. Syr Alin, the Lion's Claw, Kongming, "Sleeping Dragon", Selesnya Guildmage, Oakhame Ranger, Ahn-Crop Champion, Cultivator of Blades, Valor in Akros, Spear of Heliod, and Dragon Throne of Tarkir are all quite mana-hungry and little impact. They depend on a board state to work, and without one they verge on useless. I would like to call out Call for Unity in particular as being incredibly slow and capricious.

Haazda Marshal, Recruit the Worthy, and Oakhame Ranger are quite halacious in the aspect that they do not much.

Avoid Fate is interesting, but it doesn't do a lot. Many of the cards in here are restrictive depending on board state, thus I would cut this.

Painter's Servant is cute with your effects that care about colour, but I believe this to be rather inconsistent. Without Lifeforce or Order of the Sacred Torch, it's a two-mana 1/3.

I am unsure as to why Reito Lantern is even here. If you seek graveyard hate, Ground Seal replaces itself, Relic of Progenitus is awesome, as is Remorseful Cleric. Night Soil is on theme.

For what I would include, Rootborn Defenses defends the board, Druids' Repository adds far too much mana, Aura Shards and Aura Mutation shatter and batter, Hour of Reckoning kills many things, Increasing Devotion allows for rebounding eftsoons wrath, Master of the Wild Hunt is one I particularly enjoy, Sprout Swarm is difficult to interact with, Sigarda, Heron's Grace has early and late-game potential, and Devout Invocation creates tokens abound. Triumph of the Hordes can just wipe out an entire table.

This deck has almost no card draw. Mentor of the Meek, Skullclamp, and Huatli, Radiant Champion can draw many, many cards. When you get to it, Sylvan Library is fantastic. Harmonize, Slate of Ancestry, Shamanic Revelation, Collective Unconscious are ways to refill in preparation of a board wipe.

Beast Whisperer is just good value.

Swords to Plowshares, Kenrith's Transformation, and Path to Exile get problematic permanents out of the way at an excessively cheap cost.

I would recommend far more ramp. Llanowar Elves, Avacyn's Pilgrim, Fyndhorn Elves, Elvish Mystic, and/or Birds of Paradise. Incredibly quick if you get them out turn one, and oft set you far ahead enough that it doesn't matter when you get wrathed.

That shall be all from me. If you so wish, I have two swarm decks that you could reference for honing your build, each of which have tested well for the years I have had them.

The decklists: Eladamri, Leader of Skyshroud Beseeming Perfection

May fortune betide you, and the tokens your enemies. Farewell!

MontaukMonster on BaneOfLordran

5 years ago

Depending on which browser I use, I can't comment on the deck page so I'll post here though I dunno if you'll see it here:

Played a few more rounds:

vs. Ravager

Game 1: I'm on the draw. Dude drops a turn 1 Arcbound Ravager , sacs everything, and proceeds to swing away with an 8/8 starting on turn 2. I take a profound beating but respond with Emmara, Soul of the Accord and attack, making chumps to feed his monster. He doesn't draw anything else after that and I bust him ftw. 1-0

Game 2: He's a little slower and only makes Frogmite and Arcbound Worker on turn 1. Ravager comes out turn 2. I get Hero of Precinct One and make dudes with Tajic, Legion's Edge and spank for 6 right away. He responds with all out attack. I block the Frogmite and he sacs out, pumping the Ravager up to 6, brings me down to 5, and finishes with Shrapnel Blast . 1-1

Game 3: On the play again. I have to mulligan, keeping two land and a mox, but make Hero while he makes Ravager and a pair of Ornithopter . He swings, I try Response / Resurgence on the Ravager so he sacs everything and makes the Ornithopter 5/7, just outside Collision range (in my effing hand, no less!). Whatever. I make a Swiftblade Vindicator while he attacks me down to 1, I throw Colossus on the vindicator and swing all out, pummeling him for 14... he's at freaking 15. One more freaking damage OMFG!!! Ornithopter finishes me off while I stare at the same two land and useless mox. 1-2

vs. CopyCat

Game 1: On the play, I get no red mana but two mox and Emmara, and which allows me to drop her and Hero on turn 2. Next turn Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice and swing for 6. All I see on his end is Anticipate and Eldrazi Skyspawner . 1-0

Game 2: I lose one Emmara to Harnessed Lightning , a second to Thopter Arrest . Stuck on two mana and a useless Mox, I make Hero and lose that to another lightning. Everything in my hand costs 3. He makes Jace, Unraveler of Secrets . I find another land and make Legion Warboss , he responds with Eldrazi Skyspawner . This allows Tajic, who gets traded but I take Jace down to 1. Chandra, Torch of Defiance torches the Warboss, leaving me with a 2/2 and a 1/1 goblin so he makes Heart of Kiran which takes 6 from Collision / Colossus allowing me to polish off his planeswalkers. Tajic happens again only to fall under Thopter Arrest. Then Aurelia happens, pumping the goblin and this is the first time I actually damage this punk. Next turn, eleven, one Chance for Glory dies to Negate but the second gets through ftw. 2-0

Game 3: Vindicator dies to lightning, Emmara dies to Thopter Arrest, I drop a second Emmara and he plays Felidar Guardian to blink the arrest, kills one Emmara to the legend rule and arrests the survivor. I have Tajic but he's not going to bust through the 1/4, he topdecks Saheeli Rai . GG. 2-1

vs. Veggies

Game 1: I'm on the draw. Thunderherd Migration reveals Ghalta, Primal Hunger and pumped Vindicator takes down Steel Leaf Champion early. He then ramps while Tajic pumps Vindicator for 7 to the face when he drops 6/6 Multani, Yavimaya's Avatar . Tajic pumps the Vindicator again at a loss to himself while Warboss adds another, bringing him to 6. He then plays another Champion, then taps 2 for Ghalta. Colossus and the double-striker trade for the 12/12 and it costs me the Warboss and Emmara so I get him to 3 but I got nothing left but tokens. He finds a Gigantosaurus and sends 8/8 trampling Multani over. I've got 4 attackers, he's got 3 blockers and I topdeck the Planeswalker. I have another Vindicator so I offer him to the 10/10. We trade, then he throws down another Ghalta and my next card is a land. 0-1

Game 2: I keep two Clifftop Retreat and a hero and wait to draw a green while he ramps into Steel Leaf Champion , Gigantosaurus , then Aggressive Mammoth . I can make some dudes but not that much, he makes another 10/10 and Ghalta. 0-2

Game 3: Hero, Emmara, and Vindicator jump out the gate while he ramps into Gigantosaurus. I trade Vindicator plus Colossus for the big guy and cast Chance for Glory but it wouldn't have mattered since I had so many dudes out by that point. 1-2

vs. Stars n Stripes

Game 1: Early Tajic and Vindicator get in for sixteen before dying to Wrath of God . Hero dies to Incinerate , Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice eats a Force of Will , and Vindicator knocks him down to 1 before eating another Wrath. Out of creatures, Huatli sits there and adds counters until he finds Rainbow Efreet to eat away at her. I finally start to draw creatures again but by this time he's got two Thawing Glaciers being fed by Brainstorm and everything I cast gets burnt, countered, or nuked. Efreet ftw. 0-1

Game 2: Both decks get a slow pull, much to his advantage, not mine. Hero gets Incinerate, Aurelia eats a Force of Will while he digs for Glaciers. A second Aurelia + Huatli bounces off a Rainbow Efreet turn after turn when he finds his land. I drop Tajic and smash, pumping the angel and knock him down to 3. He kills Huatli with the Efreet, phases out, and taps out for Wrath. With nothing left I draw into a land clump while he goes crazy with two Glaciers, every creature I find gets swallowed by Hammer of Bogardan while hasty Tajic gets lost to a Dissipate . 0-2

Game 3: I gain some life early from Swords to Plowshares and then spank his mana-screwed ass with Tajic. Colossus saves him from the Incinerate and repeats the beats. Huatli grows while Tajic dies to a second Incinerate. Rainbow Efreet comes out and starts to eat Huatli, Legion Warboss makes a goblin before getting the Hammer. I'm forced to use Response to take out the Efreet though I probably should have done so sooner. He throws the Hammer at Huatli bringing her down to 5 and plays a second Efreet and Kjeldoran Outpost . Then a gross misplay leaves the wrong mana untapped, Tajic kags, gets fed by Colossus and Huatli sacs to add 1 for exactly his life total... his three land are two Island and the Outpost. Oops. 1-2 but he shoulda won that last one.

vs. Gazi-Glare

Game 1: I draw no red. He opens with Birds of Paradise and Wood Elves , equips Umezawa's Jitte so I kill the elf with Response / Resurgence and come at him with Hero of Precinct One and Tajic, Legion's Edge and spank for 7. He thinks he can stop me with Arashi, the Sky Asunder so I swarm him with tokens, save my dude with indestructible Chance for Glory , 5 damage get through and there's Colossus in hand. 1-0

Game 2: We both mulligan to six. He drops a turn-3 Kodama of the North Tree . Then Aurelia comes and pumps the Vindicator who eats a Saproling token. Kodama smashes again knocking me down to 3 while Llanowar Elves puts counters on Umezawa's Jitte to take out the Vindicator. No matter; with Aurelia, Hero, and tokens I've got 8 damage plus Chance for Glory and a +4/+2 combat trick on standby. 2-0

Game 3: Shanna, Sisay's Legacy comes, then Mox enables Aurelia to hit turn 3 and swing for 4. He answers with Loxodon Hierarch . I swing, he Seed Spark s the Mox and makes two Saprolings, I pump Shanna to save her and get through with two in the air, he answers with four on the ground. He then throws another Seed Spark at his own Pithing Needle to stack Shanna. I, pump to kill the elephant and he drops Yosei, the Morning Star . I play another Shanna and pass the turn. Yosei starts to beating and I make a Warboss. We trade blows, I get down to 6 and he kags a Selesnya Guildmage . My turn, I kag a Tajic and swing with just enough to force him to trade the guildmage along with the Saproling, he just made, leaving Aurelia to block the dragon ftw. 3-0

Summary

There were some cards I was thinking about that I no longer consider and others I'm more convinced of.

Mox Amber just didn't do much. 90% of the time it was just dead weight and even when it did do its job the best it did was bring me from 3 to 4. It doesn't give me colors I'm missing and when the Legends get killed it sits there worthless. I initially thought Lightning Strike would go here but now I think a simple Shock would do even better. Even if you don't draw it, the threat of instant damage should change the opponent's play to our advantage.

Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice I'm on the fence about. Sometimes she added just the right amount of damage, sometimes she looked pretty. Overcosted, she's the only flyer in the deck and sometimes that made a huge difference. I was thinking Gruul Spellbreaker . The advantages to him are haste, which was often the difference when Tajic, Legion's Edge , that it's not white though I don't see a lot of protection from white in Standard right now. He doesn't feed the combo, though that could be a plus. I dunno. I like the angel, just not as much as I'd like.

Sideboarding

2x Shalai, Voice of Plenty 3x Cindervines 3x Return to Nature 4x Unbreakable Formation 3x Banefire

I request that you add this list to your sideboard so that it may be tested. There are dependent factors, such as are you more likely to go up against control/combo in which case Cindervines should be an absolute killer, or are you more bothered by the graveyard recursion in which case Return to Nature would be better. 4:2, 2:4, or keep it at 3:3.

Banefire I anticipate should be a control destroyer. Without testing we can't be sure, but I suspect it can double as a Teferi-blaster or a face-puncher just the same. It might be too expensive, not sure, but imagine playing Chance for Glory , bash with creatures, and then Banefire lets us throw the mana at him as well.

Unbreakable Formation is a total spoiler. The indestructible is similar to the Chance but if we don't have lethal on the table we can't take the Chance. (you like that?) Hold back in anticipation of Kaya's Wrath or even use in conjunction with Chance to pump creatures.

I put Shalai in there to protect YOU, btw; lot of the cards that killed us targeted the player.

Anyway so there we have a sideboard. If you try it out let me know how it works.

SharpRaptor on Rhys Tokens

5 years ago

Hey :)

Ok I'm gonna start with recommended cuts to look at and then we'll move on to what possible additions could be looked at, and why.

Cut Recommentations

Creatures

Angel of Jubilation - This is a maybe cut. Its a good anthem effect and its anti-sac effect can be very useful. However due to being a token deck, we might want to be sacrificing our tokens to do things. So we'll evavluate this again later.

Ant Queen - Another maybe cut. Its a fine token creator, we might just be able to find something thats more efficient. But with some of the other things we'll be doing this might be worth keeping.

Geist-Honored Monk - The one off effect of creating 2 spirits probably isn't worth the slot here. We can find cheaper creatures that have the power and toughness equal to the number of creatures you control if we like that bit.

Jade Mage - Same argument as the Ant Queen really. Though this one doesn't even have a good body to back it up and three mana to make a 1/1 might not be good enough.

Kazandu Tuskcaller - It takes 6 mana to get this guy to the point where he makes 1 3/3 every turn. I think we can do a lot better than this. Its just soooo slow.

Selesnya Guildmage - This one is another maybe. The 4 mana for a 1/1 is rather underwhelming. But the anthem effect is ok.

Thelonite Hermit - Its a lot of mana to get anything out of this guy. It will cost you 8 to get the tokens which seems like a lot even if it is split over multiple turns.

Tukatongue Thallid - As much as we love this guy, the one off effect probably isn't worth his slot. We could do with a couple of other things at 1 mana.

Worldspine Wurm - I love this guy too, but its a lot of mana and he only makes the tokens on death. Seen as we want the tokens sooner rather than later so we can duplicate them with Rhys etc, we might want something that makes the 5/5s quicker. But we could keep this guy for the big guy turn sideways plan.

Enchantments

Cathars' Crusade - I despise keeping track of the board state that this thing creates. Though the effect is actually really powerful and should be in. I put it in the same boat as Coat of Arms. The "Oh Good God, you're on your own just tell me how much your attacking for" boat.

Growing Ranks - I'm never exactly a fan of cards which only trigger in your upkeep like this as they can feel so slow when you play them on your turn, then 3 other peoples turns go by, then you get your first activation. Especially when it only copies one guy.

Leyline of Vitality - While all the effects on this card are fine. I think we could just do better than this. The toughness buff is unlikely to save our creatures from a wrath effect, and the life effect we can find for cheaper. The chance of triggering the Leyline start in play is so low in EDH its probably worth discounting.

Sigil of the Empty Throne - We'll keep an eye on this one. Good card if we have enough Enchantments to reliably trigger it. But bad if we don't. So we'll check out count afterwards.

Verdant Embrace - I think this is expensive, but the effect could be great to stick on something and let it go. This one is more of a maybe.

Sorceries

Devout Invocation - I've always wanted to love this card. But if you have enough creatures to make this a viable card, then you should have enough creatures to be winning anyway without spending 7 mana and a card to make your board into overkill.

Storm Herd - Very expensive card. In fact is the 2nd most expensive card in the deck behind Worldspine Wurm. The effect is cool, but we need to see if its worth the mana.

Artifacts

Moonsilver Spear - another card I've always wanted to like, but rather slow. If it put the Angel into play attacking then It would be a different story, but it doesn't. This one might be ok to keep, but i'd put it on the short list of things to cut.

Sarpadian Empires, Vol. VII - Erm, i don't think i need to explain really why 6 mana for a 1/1 and a further 3 for another 1/1 each turn is bad.

General Ideas For Improvement

More Interaction

First thing i can say on this one is that the deck has no ways really of stopping your opponent from doing anything they want to you while you are trying to execute your game plan. Something that is going to happen is that you are going to get all your creatures destroyed. Its the nature of commander. You're also going to get comboed out with some creatures or you're going to have an artifact or creature that completely shuts down what you're trying to do. So you need some more things that will interact with that.

More Card Draw

You have a lot of good threats and synergies. But you're going to run out of gas in hand if you don't have something to refill after you've put everything into play. Especially if we get got by a wrath we couldn't stop. So we want a few things that will keep us ticking over when we have a board state. And a few things that might help us get back into it if we get blown out.

Ramp

We have a few ramp spells in here, but not a lot. We could do with some more if we wwant to be able to reliably get up to 6 mana to start Rhys'ing as soon as possible.

New Cards

Obviously, there has been some new cards printed since this was updated last so we can get them too :)

Card Recommendations

Interaction

Path to Exile Swords to Plowshares - Sometimes you just need that creature gone. An apposing Platinum Angel or Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite can ruin our day so we will want it gone.

Sundering Growth - In the same way that some creatures ruin us. Some enchantments and artifacts do to. This is the best way to get rid of them for our deck. But some other Naturalize type effects are not a bad idea. Possibly in the form of creatures like Reclamation Sage or instants like Krosan Grip or Beast Within . Aura Mutation Is a specific enchantment removal that makes us guys which might be worth considering

Rootborn Defenses - The Anti Wrath cards. This one is our best option for our deck, and is the cheapest money wise. Dauntless Escort is good too. Then Heroic Intervention is more expensive moneywise and so is Selfless Spirit .

Card Draw

Mentor of the Meek - With the amount of small tokens we will be making, this guy is great.

Huatli, Radiant Champion - Her ultimate does not say 'Non-token'

Camaraderie - This one requires a board presence but can be well worth it

Shamanic Revelation - This one requires a board presence too. But a lot of green card draw does.

Harmonize - Straight up draw 3. Never bad.

Ramp

The standard suit of the rampent growth effects will probably do you fine here. Rampant Growth Nature's Lore Farseek Kodama's Reach . Harvest Season might be good for you?

New Cards

The New fun things!

Anointed Procession - Another Parallel Lives, but in white

Divine Visitation - Just read it.... its a bit good

Growing Rites of Itlimoc  ^Flip - A cantrip that turns into another Gaea's Cradle

Cryptolith Rite - Lets all of our guys tap for mana

March of the Multitudes - Instant speed make a lot of guys. Very good with our Gaea's Cradle effects.

Second Harvest - Instand speed 4 mana Rhys activation for double everything.

Shalai, Voice of Plenty - Gives your other things Hexproof and can be used to pump the team with any spare mana you have.

Oviya Pashiri, Sage Lifecrafter - Like another Rhys. Except she makes big things. Do note that for some reason WOTC made her make fixed size guys so they are equal to the number of creatures you have WHEN YOU MAKE IT. I played this wrong for a few rounds in the prerelease.

Shanna, Sisay's Legacy - Hexproof lass with P/T equal to the number of creatures you control for 2 mana.

Throne of the God-Pharaoh - A good way to kill everyone at once without attacking.

Song of Freyalise - Lets our guys tap for mana for a few turns before then buffing them for a turn.

Sandwurm Convergence - Good protection and starts making 5/5 Wurms.

Other Recommendations

Thousand-Year Elixir - This is great for us as it effectively gives Rhys haste and can let you activate him twice in a turn.

Illusionist's Bracers - Doubles all of Rhys's Activations

Triumph of the Hordes - Kill everyone without them expecting it?

Entity97 on The Fungus Among Us

5 years ago

If what you want is a go-wide tokens deck that abuses saproling and fungus synergy, I'd consider splashing white for cards like Intangible Virtue, Selesnya Evangel, and Selesnya Guildmage. You could also be so bold as to mix synergies with Life and Limb and Terra Eternal so you don't lose to cards like Anger of the Gods, but I wouldn't call that competitive as much as fun. There's also Eldrazi Monument for a similar effect with the added bonus of flying. Mycoloth could also be a great card to consider in this strategy since it can be huge, will have no shortage of creatures to devour, and dodges Fatal Push and Abrupt Decay, though lots of decks are moving toward Assassin's Trophy and Path to Exile is still a problem. Mycoloth also gives you lots of triggers for Slimefoot, the Stowaway and could potentially win the game on the spot. You could add sac outlets to get around those hard removal spells like Viscera Seer or even Thallid Soothsayer or Korozda Guildmage and get some value, but that could be too many moving parts to be good.

rasmith on

5 years ago

Thanks Monkos.

Saproling Migration and Second Harvest look like great additions. They are also budget friendly.

I'm aware that Selesnya Guildmage, Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage and Conclave Guildmage are expensive in their token making abilities. Seems useful to change some token making creatures to token making Instants, Enchantments or Sorceries.

From those above, might keep only Conclave Guildmage, since paying plus tapping seems like a good price for giving all creatures trample.