Vivien, Champion of the Wilds

Legendary Planeswalker — Vivien

You may cast creature spells as though they had flash.

+1: Until your next turn, up to one target creature gains vigilance and reach.

-2: Look at the top three cards of your library. Exile one face down and put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order. For as long as it remains exiled, you may look at that card and you may cast it if it’s a creature card.

Discussion (51)

Heliogabale on Kinnan Brings Us Together!

1 week ago

Thank you for commenting DadHumanPraetor.

So your version of Kinnan would be infinite combo, but what would you use as a wincon? What would you include in your list that makes it special to you?

We don't play infinite in my group, so I am using Murkfiend Liege or Seedborn Muse along with Leyline of Anticipation or Vivien, Champion of the Wilds to get the advantage.

Abzkaban on You Just Activated My Trap Card!

1 month ago

shwanerz88

I just realized I hadn't replied! Oops!

Thank you! I had a lot of fun putting the deck and page together.

My only problem with the new Vivien is she cost 5 mana, and I'm not sure if that's worth the top deck utility she provides. At least I would have to find something to cut for her. Vivien, Champion of the Wilds was in a draft of this list but was ultimately cut for a few reasons. First off, once I have a flash effect (that's not a land) in play, any more flash effects become dead draws. I went with Leyline of Anticipation for the fact that enchantments are harder to get rid of than creatures or planeswalkers and can be set from my hand for free if I get it in my opening hand. I also went with Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir because he stops opponents from playing at instant speed and can be tutored. A successful Defense of the Heart means I can get a Prophet of Kruphix effect if I'm not going for a lock. Still, there is something to be said about her -2 which provides some decent utility. Maybe she can find a slot again, but at this point I'm not sure if it would be worth cutting anything I'm already running for her.

The deck has no problem ramping, so I don't see any need for Farseek. Even still I would probably prefer Nature's Lore for the fact that the land enters untapped. If I really need another color then I can just grab the appropriate shock.

Thank you for your suggestions, and I'm glad you like the deck! I'll seriously hear out any arguments for either Vivien if you think something is worth cutting for them.

Faerion on Otrimi, Ever-Playful

1 month ago

Yeva, Nature's Herald and Vivien, Champion of the Wilds allow you to mutate at instant speed, with Kaseto, Orochi Archmage you can win with commander damage, Lazav, the Multifarious can do some nasty tricks with your graveyard, Glissa, the Traitor with trample is a real pain, Elusive Tormentor  ^Flip can be a solid target to mutate on. Hope this can help :)

shwanerz88 on You Just Activated My Trap Card!

2 months ago

Excellent use of the theme here!! +1 just for that. looking to thew future the new Vivien from Ikoria will give you some additional top deck capabilities and if combined with Vivien, Champion of the Wilds it'll give you lots of tricks. I would also say Farseek could be a good addition if you need any more ramp.

capriom85 on RG vs RUG

2 months ago

I want to build a midrange beatdown deck for pioneer. I played Temur monsters back in RTR/KTR standard with much success. Given the current state of pioneer, I am wondering is splashing blue for Savage Knuckleblade and Prime Speaker Zegana would be worth it.

So far I am thinking Llanowar Elves and Elvish Mystic to get the party started. Vivien, Champion of the Wilds and Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner for some card advantage. Top of my curve is going to look like Glorybringer. What do I do in between? Would the blue be worth it, or should I just stay where I am and start looking at Gruul Spellbreaker and Questing Beast instead?

Serpej on Morphing Mind Games

2 months ago

Hey Exxie97!

Wow I'm excited to be here!! When I found this decklist it was almost like looking at my own deck! For a really long time I went with Thrasios and Sidaar, bringing lots of morph to the table, but since my playgroup had quite high powerlevel I had to shift into a manifest & flicker theme. My deck was built around sneaking in big things with manifest and then flickering them up in an opponents endstep, therefore relying more on etb effects and big permanents like Ugin, the Spirit Dragon, Sphinx of Uthuun and Soul of the Harvest. By then I felt like I had to switch out the commanders for Roon of the Hidden Realm to make space for Manifest/Lifegain/ETB themes. Although getting the powerlevel up, I feel like I've lost the original idea with the sneaking and making threats.

For me, your decklist gave me inspiration to go in a more hatebear approach in the future, probably cutting a bit part of the ETB theme since it will be a bit of a "nonbo" anyway. I espescially like your include of Pygmy Hippo!

What I would recommend you is to include stuff like Seedborn Muse, Wilderness Reclamation and Vivien, Champion of the Wilds to be able to respond more efficiently and be able to flash in Felidar Sovereign or use Mastery of the Unseen in every other players turn. One last tip is an underrated wincon that nobody expects if you succeed in manifesting it, and that is Shaman of Forgotten Ways. The faces of control players when they suddenly drop to 0 life because of them having 0 creatures on board is hilarious.

It's nice to see how great minds think alike, keep beeing awesome!

//Serpej

ShreddedByCrows on Offenza is the Best Defenza

3 months ago

Lots of subthemes you got there, that's some interesting challenge. All in all, you're running way too many high-costed cards for a Commander that generally revolves around more of an aggressive strategy. I'll further provide you a personalized list of adjustments, trying my best to keep it at the lowest budget as possible.

Very first thing, 37 lands is too much for an Anafenza deck imo. You can easily go down to 35/34 in order to feel more proactive. That being said, the mana base of your decklist is pretty unstable, and you'll need better mana rocks, around 5/6 good rocks should do it helping you stabilizing.

The second thing to bring up is that you play loads and loads of creatures with actually specific abilities that don't always combine altogether well. Like, for example, in which way would Slimefoot, the Stowaway help Anafenza, the Foremost being consistent? My answer, without another kind of appreciation than logic: not any single one. If you need cheap legendary to keep it up with your theme, there are better options, but remind that this was only a little example.

Finally, you lack reactivity because of very few instant/flash spells. It's not as necessary as some think, but still have a way to protect dutifully your creatures is a key for aggro/midrange decks in EDH. Being able to answer what your opponents bring up to the tape is moreover essential, and I don't see enough removals/tricks in there.

So, let's take a closer look from now on. I'll make some different categories starting with the cuts to make it easier to read.

1.) Back to 100 cards:

• Abzan Battle Priest > not bad on its own, fits decently in some casual decks with +1/+1 as their central archetype. It's not a good card to include since you aren't only focusing on this aspect. It's too slow, unreliable.

• Abzan Falconer > same comment

• Mer-Ek Nightblade > still the same / it's even the worst one

• Tuskguard Captain > still and still water

• Spirit of the Hearth > overcosted, overrated, no particular reason to include this card there even if a Cat Spirit feels pretty cool

• Wingmate Roc > not bad but too slow, doesn't synergize well with your themes, in concurrence with just better cards on the spot

• Soul of the Harvest > overcosted card draw outlet, I'll procure you some better option for a cheap price

• Slimefoot, the Stowaway > despite being legendary, doesn't do much

• Reya Dawnbringer > recursion is like... really good, but damn this card is slow and bad. You have to wait one whole turn for it to trigger, with only cards like Shalai, Voice of Plenty in your list to protect it. Yeah, I don't think it'll happen often. Definitively cut.

• Noosegraf Mob > +1/+1 card but without any real synergies. You have better options.

• Mowu, Loyal Companion > a bad Pir, Imaginative Rascal is just bad

• Lena, Selfless Champion > too slow

• Hornet Queen > good card but doesn't fit in there, seems like a weird choice of token generator

• Parhelion II > cool card, poor consistency there

• Quietus Spike > same: cool card, poor consistency

• Kaya, Bane of the Dead > slow removal, pretty bad imo

• Brave the Sands > non-mbo with Anafenza, overrated card

• Abundance > good card, not needed there

• Kin-Tree Invocation > not bad not good, lacks interactions

• Mirari's Wake > same comment as for Abundance

• Leyline of Abundance > not enough interactions

• Panharmonicon > not enough interactions

• Trostani, Selesnya's Voice > not enough interactions

• Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord > not enough interactions

• Oketra's Monument / Rhonas's Monument > not needed, too slow

• 3 basic lands

2.) Cheap Improvements:

2.1.) Mana Rocks:

• Sol Ring > yeh it's boring to see this card everywhere I know

• Talisman of Unity / Talisman of Hierarchy / Talisman of Resilience > better than the Signet Cycle and affordable since Horizon is a recent expension

• Fellwar Stone > excellent mana rock, tapping for every color most of the time

2.2.) More removals:

• Beast Within

• Krosan Grip

• Swords to Plowshares

Those are the classical ones you surely know. They are easily affordable and would give your deck a small lift at controlling the board state.

2.3.) Better Legendaries:

• Mikaeus, the Lunarch > not the cheapest already, but really effective, almost a staple for your deck style

• Hope of Ghirapur > underrated card, does a lot, insane with recursion to lock down a combo player at low cost

• Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit > certainly a staple / and somewhat a reason to get rid of the token subtheme which is maybe a bit too much

• Syr Faren, the Hengehammer > also certainly a staple / aggressive, good interactions with Anafenza, better than lords already in your deck

• Kethis, the Hidden Hand > Yawgmoth's Will for legendaries? I'll take that. It could also be a nice alternative commander when you face more control-ish decks you're stuck against, enabling you to have an efficient late game on its own once made your commander.

• Mangara of Corondor > Legendary creature which works as a nonsituational removal. Really good. Even if you can't always activate it when it hits the table, your opponents have to get rid of it using their hand resources and you make 1 for 1.

• Masako the Humorless > Underplayed card / can be a game-changer / and it's a legendary creature.

2.4.) Voltron Outlet:

• Swiftfoot Boots / Lightning Greaves > those are staples

• Sword of the Animist > ramp while keeping the pressure on your opponents

• Hero's Blade > certainly a staple there with your legendary subtheme

• Blackblade Reforged > same comment as for Hero's Blade

2.5.) Other cool cards to look at:

• Throne of the God-Pharaoh > feels like a staple / Legendary

• Vivien's Arkbow > cheap tutor / overall excellent

• Vivien, Champion of the Wilds > flash out your creatures for more survivability and tricks

• Primevals' Glorious Rebirth > excellent win condition / recursion

• Kamahl's Druidic Vow > excellent win condition / Genesis wave for legendaries' madmen

• Eladamri's Call > staple / it's cheap now that it's been re-edited in Modern Horizons, I'll try to get a copy of it by trading/buying it if I were you

3.) Medium Budget Improvements:

3.1.) Mana Rocks:

• Nyx Lotus

• Gilded Lotus

3.2.) Even more removals:

• Path to Exile

• Vindicate

• Anguished Unmaking

3.3.) Legendaries' Staples:

• Saffi Eriksdotter > ameliorated Brought Back on a legendary creature

• Rishkar, Peema Renegade > nice ramp, +1/+1 counters, overall really strong

3.4.) Neverending Voltron Outlet:

• Konda's Banner > Yeh, it's a little bit expensive money speaking, but it does everything you're searching for, like a bridge between your Cats, your legends and your Voltron strategy.

• Skullclamp > staple

3.5.) Cool cards:

• Eternal Witness > best green recursion card

• Green Sun's Zenith > one of the best green tutors

• Scout's Warning > good card overall, cycles when you don't need it

4.) Expensive Improvements:

• Finale of Devastation > tutor, win condition, not a necessity though

• Blade of Selves > good equipment, not a necessity

• Umezawa's Jitte > Core tool of lots of Voltron decks, would be necessary if you want to confront this deck to more competitive ones.

• Swords' package > same comment as for the Jitte

• Mox Amber / Mox Opal > definitively both staples, but really expensive, could be replaced with other suggested mana rocks even if you won't get the same efficiency

• Thalia, Guardian of Thraben > meta-depending staple

• Gaddock Teeg > meta-depending staple

• Liliana, the Last Hope > card-draw/legendary

• Loyal Retainers > staple if you're going more in the legendary archetype

• Heroic Intervention / Teferi's Protection > protect your stuff staples

• Selvala, Heart of the Wilds > card-draw/legendary/ramp

• Reki, the History of Kamigawa > card-draw/legendary

• Captain Sisay > staple / tutor / legendary

5.) Some other cards you could try (which I mostly haven't, or for which I have a doubt about their efficiency):

• Sigil of Distinction > feels Voltron-ish

• Sigiled Sword of Valeron > interacts with Anafenza, creates tokens, Voltron equipment

• Masterwork of Ingenuity > I used it long ago in my Tajic's deck, which was globally a Voltron deck running between 15/20 pieces of equipment. Dunno if it could be of use there but it's a good card for sure.

• Heart of Kiran > good card overall, you can Crew it and buff the creature you used to do so with Anafenza. That being said, I think it may reveal too inconsistent.

• Sensei Golden-Tail > seems funny

• Kunoros, Hound of Athreos > powerful hate-bear with good stats and abilities, certainly really good in a more good-stuff oriented iteration.

• Isamaru, Hound of Konda > Lil' bro' of Kunoros doubtlessly, made for aggressive purposes. Good overall.

• Thalia, Heretic Cathar > also more of a good-stuff card.

• Taranika, Akroan Veteran > I never played her but damn she seems strong af.

• Hua Tuo, Honored Physician > repeatable recursion.

• Pir, Imaginative Rascal > not that I dislike it, however Hardened Scales already was a bad card if I'm honest. Pir is a tad bit better. Certainly better than Corpsejack Menace you're running, and carries more interactions.

Azeworai on Animar Elemental Tribal

4 months ago

Okay, so I am quite fond of brews that are delectation to pilot, but I am beholden to recommend some changes.

Now, Panharmonicon is a fantastic card, but there are only eleven ways to trigger the thing in this deck. Two of those are Draining Whelk and Grave Sifter, so, whilst they may have their moments, they seem lacking for doubling _ETB_s. This is my same opinion for Conjurer's Closet; what value is blinking something? Flameshadow Conjuring is in the same boat. These all become useless far too quickly, save for maybe Risen Reef shenanigans. Bramble Sovereign somewhat falls under the same folly, but I don't believe it to be as narrow.

Another thing to consider is the mana costs of cards. The majority of your curve is at three, which is probably when you would want to cast your commander. Ramp at two mana is far more ideal, as athwart to Keyrunes and Cluestones. I'd cut Temur Banner, Harrow, Gruul Keyrune for Talisman of Curiosity, Talisman of Impulse, and Rampant Growth. Wayfarer's Bauble is also of note. Llanowar Elves, Fyndhorn Elves, and Elvish Mystic each can draw cards off of some of your effects late-game whilst being incredibly effective early.

Pillar of Origins is a fine card, but it only produces mana for elemental, being twenty cards in your deck and the commander. This leaves seven lands with activated abilities and forty-two nonland, non-elemental cards that cannot be used with the Pillar. I would just use Talisman of Creativity.

Seeing as that you have ramp in the command zone, doubling down on card draw seems important. Guardian Project, Beast Whisperer, Garruk, Caller of Beasts, Primordial Sage, and Vanquisher's Banner can draw off of each creature. Kindred Discovery is an especially potent one. Shamanic Revelation and Collective Unconscious each can refill the hand well, but Tishana, Voice of Thunder may just be the best form of this effect.

I would perhaps include more elementals and/or more creature tutors. Perhaps specific creatures for situations, such as Collector Ouphe and Reclamation Sage.

If budget so allows, Thassa, God of the Sea, Rhystic Study, Sylvan Library, and Cyclonic Rift are as good as they are played.

Specific to your deck, Vivien, Champion of the Wilds just seems lovely.

Seeing the decklist, it seems to have a sparse amount of interaction. Reality Shift, Incubation / Incongruity, Imprisoned in the Moon, Song of the Dryads, Lignify, Pongify, and Rapid Hybridization are some to consider. Kenrith's Transformation even replaces itself.

I run Decimate in every deck I can. It is absolutely amazing and has literally never been lacking.

Some counter magic is always great; Supreme Will, Counterspell, and Forbid are some favourites of mine.

That shall be all from me!

I do have a couple of tribal decks along the same route as this if you so wish to peer upon them: Eladamri, Leader of Skyshroud The River Anew

Good luck and happy casting.