Silverback Elder

Creature — Ape Shaman

Whenever you cast a creature spell, choose one —

• Destroy target artifact or enchantment.
• Look at the top five cards of your library. You may put a land card from among them onto the battlefield tapped. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.
• You gain 4 life.

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Alchemy	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
Historic Brawl	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Modern Beyond Horizons	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Planar Constructed	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Pre-release	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Standard	Legal
Standard Brawl	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (22)

SaberTech on Help creating a commander deck

1 week ago

Hi Angelsprout, welcome to the game! Starting out with Commander will be a little tough in the beginning because it is a format that benefits a lot from having a large collection but cards don't rotate out like they do in Standard so you get longer use out of the cards that you buy. Your deck will improve over time as you slowly pick up new cards for it. The commander that you are starting with also has black and green, which I think are the best colours to start off with in Commander because a lot of the good cards in those colours that you'll want can be used in lots of other decks, so I think that you are off to a good start! The game has lots of support cards for +1/+1 counter and sacrifice strategies too.

Honestly, it's a little hard to help with the deck when we don't know all the cards you have at this point. My suggestion would be to watch a few youtube videos on building commander decks so that you understand the sorts of cards that a commander deck needs. After that, try to make a list of your own and post it with a link to it in this thread. It doesn't matter how good or bad the starting deck list is. Just having a starting point of some sort will make it a lot easier for everyone to make suggestions to help you build the best deck with the cards that you have, and maybe even offer some budget options for cards you could buy to quickly upgrade for cheap.

If you search "The Command Zone, Commander Deck Building Template for the New Era" on youtube, that video will give you a good starting point.

The video "Felothar, Dawn of the Abzan EDH Deck Tech" by New Horizons MTG will also give you a good idea of the sorts of cards you would want in a Felothar deck. It doesn't matter if you have the cards that are suggested in the video, just do your best to put in similar sorts of cards from your collection into your deck list and people here can help you work out options from there.

Since we at least know the cards in the 2023 Starter Kit, I think that Dusk Legion Duelist, Siege Veteran, Storm the Seedcore, Boon-Bringer Valkyrie, Silverback Elder, In the Trenches, Cooped Up, and Broken Wings would all work as decent cards to include from the start.

YouDontKnowMu on BlinkLantza

2 months ago

I'll definitely look into Communal Brewing that seems wild without any "big" drawbacks

I have Legion's Initiative in my maybeboard, but did'nt saw the blink as defensive option, I'm going to switch for Legion's Initiative instead of Another Round

I updated the list to integrate :

• Invasion of Ikoria  ^Flip instead of Parting Gust -> Didn't had many tutors nor revival from Graveyard + good transofrmation. Parting Gust seemed to tricky to play with 2 whites needed and I fell like I already have enough blink.

• Silverback Elder Instead of Hulking Raptor -> more control, since Hulking doesn't discover that much + was discoverable with pantlaza, didn't feel like a card I wanted to get with Discoveries

• Guardian Project instead of Rishkar's Expertise -> more draw on the long run, discoverable by Pantlaza, and don't need to already have a big Dino to work

• Bonders' Enclave instead of Temple of the False God -> less slow + draw engine

Considering to add :

• Warstorm Surge -> big damages if I blink all my board... and lots of control anyway Maybe instead of Lightning Greaves

• Heroic Intervention -> fore more protection, but I don't see what to cut.. Maybe a land, as you said

rangab7 on Gilanda and Kodama's wild weekend

5 months ago

Heyo,

I also run a gilanra kodama list: https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/gron-3/

It's not upto date (way more removal added in since). But I'll fix it today.

First note is that Three mana ramp is bad.

Add in dorks so you can get gilanra turn two/three and kodama turn four. You want kodama out early before people can start holding up mana for removal.

So cultivate effects can go for the other two mana ramp spells in green.

Secondly, generic stompy big creatures don't need to be there.

Terra Stomper, Treeshaker Chimera, Thrun, Breaker of Silence, Polukranos, World Eater, Gaea's Revenge.

If it costs a lot and all it does is swing, it's not the best effect.

Silverback Elder is better than Hivespine Wolverine

Oakhame Adversary is better than Deadly Recluse

Your enchantments are also pretty bad

Abundance, Assemble the Entmoot, Bonds of Mortality, Elemental Bond, Season of Growth, Sandwurm Convergence. Don't do enough.

Your garruk planeswalkers can. be replaced with Garruk, Primal Hunter.

IDK what your goals are with the deck. But prioritze low to the ground creatures that pair well with top end cards like Ohran Frostfang.

The deck is fun, so if you want that kitchen table ono green hitter deck. Take my changes with salt.

Eilel on Selvala, Heart of the Wilds

6 months ago

RAMP:

Llanowar Elves

Elvish Mystic

Fyndhorn Elves

Incubation Druid

Gwenna, Eyes of Gaea

Quirion Ranger (commander untap)

Scryb Ranger (commander untap + flying en prod blue)

Entish Restoration

Patriar's Seal

Gaea's Touch

Fanatic of Rhonas

Awaken the Woods (mana sink)

Archdruid's Charm (ook removal)

Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma (ook trample enabler)

Nyx Lotus (late game super ramp wss)

Lands:

Boseiju, Who Endures

Emergence Zone

Homeward Path

Oran-Rief, the Vastwood (ik vind niet super maar ik ken genoeg mensen die m dat wel vinden)

Temple of the False God

Myriad Landscape (niet te veel tap lands spelen maar denk dat deze wel kan)

Blighted Woodland

Card draw / advantage

Vivien, Monsters' Advocate (buiten de ability ook tutor op de -2)

Last March of the Ents

Lurking Predators

Monstrous Vortex

Tribute to the World Tree

Garruk's Uprising (ook trample enabler)

Battle Mammoth (creature en soort ward voor alle creatures)

Disciple of Freyalise  ^Flip (kan je als een landslot spelen, dus eigenlijk gratis include. als je niet nodig hebt als land heb je carddraw en lifegain)

Regal Force (creature)

Tutor

Finale of Devastation (ook haste enabler)

Tooth and Nail

Weird Harvest

Natural Order

Green Sun's Twilight

Recursion / Graveyard

Bala Ged Recovery  ^Flip (ook een land)

Long Rest (kan elk type kaart terug pakken, mass recursion)

Eternal Witness

Enablers

Concordant Crossroads (haste)

Surrak and Goreclaw (trample + haste)

Temur Sabertooth (combo kaart, alles met etb kan je opnieuw spelen, ook voor meer carddraw etc)

Ulvenwald Oddity  ^Flip (Trample + haste en +1/+1 enabler als die geflipt is)

Thousand-Year Elixir (geeft je commander soort van haste en kan untappen)

Removal

Scavenging Ooze (graveyard)

Rampaging Yao Guai (ook mana sink)

Beast Within (raakt practish alles)

Terastodon (super goed)

Collective Resistance

Khalni Ambush  ^Flip (fight spell die je als land kan spelen)

Bridgeworks Battle  ^Flip (fight spell die je ook als land kan spelen)

Kogla, the Titan Ape

Protection

Tyvar's Stand (of een mana sink)

Lightning Greaves (haste voor je commander met 0 equip)

Swiftfoot Boots

wincons

Goldvein Hydra (mana sink en eventueel super late game extra ramp)

Ochre Jelly (mana sink + trample + moeilijk vanaf te komen)

Silverback Elder (removal / card draw / lifegain)

Alternative wincons

Helix Pinnacle

Triumph of the Hordes (als je een teringlijer wilt zijn)

dr.kronski on Who's Counting?

7 months ago

Railway Brawler, Silverback Elder, Beast Whisperer and Court of Garenbrig.

Nice deck!

GregariousG on Manifest the Deadly Disguise

9 months ago

To dylan.575:

Kaust is definitely a commander that screams, “I’m working harder to do my thing than you are.” Yes, the draw of Kaust is the surprise element. There is nothing better than an opponent using panic removal on a manifested land. However, Kaust’s problem is that he supports a draft mechanic. As well, Sultai, particularly {U} and {B}, have more impactful morph creatures. However, there should be more resources as Magic will return to Tarkir in 2025. As well, I’m hoping that Disguise will be an evergreen mechanic. For me, this deck needs more ways to manifest and cloak. Ugin's Mastery, Veiled Ascension, and Mastery of the Unseen pull plenty of weight for me. Though it isn’t a permanent, Hide in Plain Sight is too good to not play.

---

You are 100% correct on your assessment for instants and sorceries. My build really wants to manifest and cloak the top card, which makes these two cards types even worse. Because of that, I use permanent types that do similar things to the instants and sorceries that were previously in the deck. The thing I found about Kaust, whether testing, playing, or research, is that Kaust has to make the gameplay experience “fair”. “Fair” for who? Fair for Kaust, and just Kaust. That means Kaust needs to slow down the game and shut off game elements he doesn’t utilize. The biggest change in success was shutting off ETB triggers. ETB triggers are simply too good. Almost every deck is playing a creature with ETB triggers, except Kaust for the most part. That isn’t fair and it shows. Torpor Orb, Hushbringer, and Doorkeeper Thrull are some of the best cards in the deck. You could add more Torpor Orb-effects, but I prefer these two because they have flying. You also notice that I’m playing some stax creatures, like Void Winnower and Yasharn, Implacable Earth. I'm gonna point out Yasharn because I don’t use any sacrifice elements outside of fetchlands. Though yahsarn’s ETB will be shut off, I will gladly pay that price to stop players from sacrificing treasures. I’m to the point where I want to add more stax elements to the deck. I agree with your assessment about “on attack” creatures, except for Phlage, Titan of Fire's Fury. Phlage has been great both with and without a Torpor Orb on the field.

---

Your version has cost reduction, which is something I should put back into the deck. I was using Trinisphere but it was just ok. I thought about putting in Hydra Omnivore and Kamahl, Heart of Krosa in my version. I had Silverback Elder and it ended up on my “maybe” list. I’d be careful of Helm of Awakening cause I won’t want to reduce cost for everyone. I’m an old school player but I’m moving away from the auto inclusion of Lightning Greaves and/or Swiftfoot Boots. I’m finding that lots of ramp acts as recursion and protection for {G} decks. What is Dawn Charm doing for you? I cut Expose the Culprit for Teleportation Circle and I have no regrets. Your top end is good. I like the new Eldrazi support that I added to mine. Because my Kaust builds just makes tons of mana, I can just hard cast Eldrazi. Let’s keep helping each other to make Kaust great!

GregariousG on Somebody's Watching Me | *Primer*

9 months ago

To dylan.575:

Kaust is definitely a commander that screams, “I’m working harder to do my thing than you are.” Yes, the draw of Kaust is the surprise element. There is nothing better than an opponent using panic removal on a manifested land. However, Kaust’s problem is that he supports a draft mechanic. As well, Sultai, particularly {U} and {B}, have more impactful morph creatures. However, there should be more resources as Magic will return to Tarkir in 2025. As well, I’m hoping that Disguise will be an evergreen mechanic. For me, this deck needs more ways to manifest and cloak. Ugin's Mastery, Veiled Ascension, and Mastery of the Unseen pull plenty of weight for me. Though it isn’t a permanent, Hide in Plain Sight is too good to not play.

---

You are 100% correct on your assessment for instants and sorceries. My build really wants to manifest and cloak the top card, which makes these two cards types even worse. Because of that, I use permanent types that do similar things to the instants and sorceries that were previously in the deck. The thing I found about Kaust, whether testing, playing, or research, is that Kaust has to make the gameplay experience “fair”. “Fair” for who? Fair for Kaust, and just Kaust. That means Kaust needs to slow down the game and shut off game elements he doesn’t utilize. The biggest change in success was shutting off ETB triggers. ETB triggers are simply too good. Almost every deck is playing a creature with ETB triggers, except Kaust for the most part. That isn’t fair and it shows. Torpor Orb, Hushbringer, and Doorkeeper Thrull are some of the best cards in the deck. You could add more Torpor Orb-effects, but I prefer these two because they have flying. You also notice that I’m playing some stax creatures, like Void Winnower and Yasharn, Implacable Earth. I'm gonna point out Yasharn because I don’t use any sacrifice elements outside of fetchlands. Though yahsarn’s ETB will be shut off, I will gladly pay that price to stop players from sacrificing treasures. I’m to the point where I want to add more stax elements to the deck. I agree with your assessment about “on attack” creatures, except for Phlage, Titan of Fire's Fury. Phlage has been great both with and without a Torpor Orb on the field.

---

Your version has cost reduction, which is something I should put back into the deck. I was using Trinisphere but it was just ok. I thought about putting in Hydra Omnivore and Kamahl, Heart of Krosa in my version. I had Silverback Elder and it ended up on my “maybe” list. I’d be careful of Helm of Awakening cause I won’t want to reduce cost for everyone. I’m an old school player but I’m moving away from the auto inclusion of Lightning Greaves and/or Swiftfoot Boots. I’m finding that lots of ramp acts as recursion and protection for {G} decks. What is Dawn Charm doing for you? I cut Expose the Culprit for Teleportation Circle and I have no regrets. Your top end is good. I like the new Eldrazi support that I added to mine. Because my Kaust builds just makes tons of mana, I can just hard cast Eldrazi. Let’s keep helping each other to make Kaust great!

seshiro_of_the_orochi on Petting Zoo

1 year ago

This is similar to Her Royal Fluffness, so let me tell you: I prefer Goreclaw. The deck looks fine, good job. Some cards to consider: Nissa's Pilgrimage is sneakily powerful for mono-G. The same goes for Gaea's Touch. Surrak and Goreclaw are a very powerful addition for the strategy. Finally, I'll never tire of advertising for the versatility engine that is Silverback Elder.

Enjoy the Green!