very nice

I don't know too much about Doran, the Siege Tower decks, honestly. I've never built one, and I've only played against them a few times. However, here's what advice I can think of:

I would remove Shrouded Lore. You don't have enough black mana to make it work well, and you're in the color that has Regrowth and Noxious Revival and Eternal Witness.

I'd add Sylvan Library if you have one. It's a great card to sit on and look unthreatening while assembling the perfect late-game hand.

You are in the colors with the best reanimation, which is wonderful in the late game. I'm ashamed if I build a black deck without an Animate Dead ;)

It seems like it needs more draw power and hand sculpting. There are a million ways to do that in Abzan colors, so I leave that decision to you.

What I do know, however, is that Doran decks are some of the most commander-centric decks in all of Magic (and that's saying something). If I play against one, if I can keep Doran off of the field, I just...win. Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots seem like a must, and Asceticism should probably come in from the maybeboard.

And finally...no Sol Ring?? Lol.

Happy deckbuilding! I'd love if you had a chance to look over my new Oathbreakers and Kingslayers: Adriana EDH deck :)

Howdy there PartyJ, sorry for the wait, but I am here to respond to your question on reanimation. Much of my play with my Liliana Heretical Healer EDH deck has given me some insight on the art of reanimator and I'd love to give you some tips!

First off, I do like Doran, the Siege Tower as a commander, but with the reanimation aspect, He doesn't line up too well. It has always been my philosophy that the commander must be in sync with the deck, (except some very rare occasions) and right now, Doran, the Siege Tower does not cooperate with his deck. Of the GWB legendaries that exist, none contribute well to sac-reanimator, and If you wanted to utilize that system, I would Suggest you use the GB commanders such as Meren of Clan Nel Toth, or Savra, Queen of the Golgari, As your ability to sac-reanimate needs to feed something. All functions in a commander deck need to have synergy, and things like lifegain, or S+R need to feed into something else, be it an ability or a deck functions, see lifegain into Karlov of the Ghost Council, or Mana Ramp into Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief.

Currently in your deck, there is no input for your S+R, it is just there for the sake of return. From what I see, it has no real solid way of winning. I would recommend, If you wanted to keep Doran, the Siege Tower as your commander, you would need to play a more treefolk type of deck, but with S+R, you would need to eliminate whit from the deck, and balance out your return, your sacrifice, and your feeding sources, if you want to talk some more, I would love to help, as I love S+R and have been playing with my Liliana, Heretical Healer deck for quite some time,and I would certainly be willing to bring the idea more into focus.

Best Wishes, Gundra, Son of Gundar

Thanks for the help Gundra_son_of_Gundar. I am venturing into reanimator and I think I like the style of play.

As I explained, I tried to do something off the chart... and quite frankly, if I want to bring this to a serious level, then the commander needs to be changed indeed.

I made this deck private and gave you rights to see what is going on in here.

I will begin work on this deck shortly and I love to have your expert input on this project.

I play alot of competitive - see my Sisay deck - but never even tried this piece of the (reanimator)cake yet. And it tastes for more, so I need to swap as you suggested.

I will give Doran a resting place in the fun fields of a big butt deck for him to go creature heavy on :) Treefolk is just not my theme of play :p

I'll go through each card type to make it easier on both of us.

Creatures

Obviously the most important aspect of Doran, but I'm not a fan of what I call "vanilla beatsticks", aka creatures with no abilities. Things like Grizzled Leotau, Kami of Old Stone, etc. And there are other creatures that have lackluster EDH abilities, mainly Disowned Ancestor. Unfortunately Doran does have a lot of utility cards with CMC of 6.

Creatures you could be running:

• Wall of Omens / Wall of Blossoms / Ulvenwald Observer - card draw is good
• Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim - a sac outlet for when things go wrong
• Dragonlord Dromoka / Unstoppable Ash / Verdeloth the Ancient - beefsticks
• Deathrite Shaman / Birds of Paradise - mana dorks that can swing under Doran
• Deadwood Treefolk / Eternal Witness - recursion

Land

I'm not a fan of too many lands that enter tapped. I think the scry temples are fine because I run those in my deck, but the single life land are pretty meh.

Artifacts

I don't think you'll need Mind's Eye (simply because of the colors you have access to, it's more of a card for 2 or less color decks) and Noetic Scales is a bit weird. You could replace them with Sol Ring and the best booty equipment Slagwurm Armor.

Enchantments

Consider Lignify

Instants/Sorceries

You could do with some more spot removal, things like Mortify, Swords to Plowshares, Nature's Claim, cheap stuff like that. You do have a lot of situational boardwipes. Yes, they work with Doran, but don't doubt Wrath of God or Merciless Eviction.

This deck is very similar to what I have going. I haven't managed to playtest it since I'm still looking for a few cards. To expand on what brokendwarf has already mentioned:

I agree that the vanilla beatsticks are lackluster. Kami of Old Stone and Indomitable Ancients are the only two I run simply for the value (or until I find something else).

I will caution against using too many walls or creatures with defender. The only two cards I run with defender are Tree of Perdition (aka "Tree of Sorin" as I'm going to call it) and Tree of Redemption since no one will want to attack into an effective 13/13 and Perdition is hilarious...

Other options I've cooked up:

Creatures:

Raving Dead: While the random aspect sucks, it's an effective 6/6 d/t and is a Quietus Spike with legs.

Guiltfeeder: Normally he won't deal combat damage but with Doran/Assault he is an effective 4/4. Not only does his ability trigger before combat damage is applied, he then can hit for 4 doing a sort-of "double-whammy."

Priests of Norn/Tangle Angler: Puts a turn clock on opponents.

Necroskitter: Why not play with our opponent's critters

Selvala, Explorer Returned: Draw and Ramp

Heartwood Storyteller: Draw, albeit group hug fashion. Works great in my Karametra deck.

Eidolon of Rhetoric: Hoses combo/storm decks while not really affecting us "too" much. Also an effective 4/4.

Enchantments:

Necropotence: Crazy draw, works well in combination with Nyx-Fleece Ram, Rhox Faithmender, Ikra Shidiqi, the Usurper.

Burgeoning: Crazy ramp

Crackdown: Meekstone clone

Rites of Flourishing: another group hug card that ramps and draws. Again, has been good to me with Karametra.

Link to my deck for more ideas:

Doran's Spring: 'Tis the Season of Big Butts

Commander / EDH Flagellum

SCORE: 2 | 15 COMMENTS | 538 VIEWS | IN 1 FOLDER

Keep in mind I'm also in the playtesting stage so I'm by no means a seasoned Doran player. :p

Made some changes based on the suggestiosn you all made. Thanks for the solid advise.

If you have any suggestions or concers, let me know!

I don't do much non budget building, but Yoked Ox and Tasseled Dromedary are both powerful 1 drops, so you might want to include them. I'm not sure if you want too many 1 drops due to the lack of draw cards, but they might be worth the include.

Grunyarth: I would say that Yoked Ox and Tasseled Dromedary (and their other friend Disowned Ancestor) are great value cards but they are strictly vanilla filler who's slot would be better used for something else. Indomitable Ancients is vanilla, but it is one helluva value card with Doran.

As Grunyarth said, both Yoked Ox and Tasseled Dromedary are great.In my own Doran deck (Doran's Gonna Get Your Head Kicked In) I play both of them, and also Disowned Ancestor, Lagonna-Band Trailblazer and Nyx-Fleece Ram.

Although similar, I think Grizzled Leotau is not as good as the rest because it's mana cost is pretty specific, but it's nice too.

I don't think Sapling of Colfenor is very useful because there are about 25 other creatures in your deck so once in 4 turns, you gain about 3 life and draw a card. Without this ability, it's "just" a 5/5 indestructible, but when you practically can cast a 4/4 in turn 1, sapling is quite useless.

Rhox Faithmender is awesome.

I'm not a fan of Ohran Viper also.

Those eyes give me the creeps.

Hey i24, thanks for the suggestions. Personally I am not a big fan of the original vanilla creatures like Yoked Ox, Tasseled Dromedary and such... I would like them to bring something extra to the battlefirld besides just being fat.

Do you think there are still cards which you might cut?

ok I'll try not to be harsh with comments and keep in mind you want a casual deck for semi competitive uses.

First off, I will always suggest more tutors and a lower curve (you currently have an average CMC of 3.45) An alternate win con can also be be kamahl and living plane in conjunction with elesh norn. Mana dorks are also very good. maybe even craterhoof if you can consistently get many creatures.

Debt to the deathless effects are also really bad unless you can generate large amounts of mana on a whim (this deck doesnt seem to have that ability).

Next, from your sideboard and my own suggestion, I would really emphasize maelstrom pulse and abrupt decay. Unless you have a large use for black, urborg is a REALLY bad card.

I also noticed you dont really have much of a way of recovering from cards like cyclonic rift, wrath of god, supreme verdict, etc, effects. I would either suggest small boards with regeneration protection, or going wide with mana dorks and craterhoofing for the game.

Creatures Id remove: dragonlord dromoka (city of solitude, dosan and grand abolisher are all better), Magnigoth Treefolk, and oketra.

You also do not have enough mana rocks and mana dorks to sustain 34 lands. You also should add more white sources to match the card costs pie chart. I do not see a way currently for you to produce enough mana of each color without chromatic lantern (unlikely draw).

If you have any other decks you want me to comment on or if you want me to explain any of my above suggestions, please let me know. Good luck

Hi chaosumbreon87, thank you for your indepth comment.

Today I made several changes, which were made based on recent games and some of your suggestions. But I think I am not there yet...

In a casually run deck we agreed not to play too many top notch tutors in our group. Casual means diverse play. My main objective was to give them a good old beating in the face with fat creatures.

Which cards would you cut to lower the curve?

Debt to the Deathless has been removed as it was indeed lacking for this build.

I removed most single target removal to make room for some nice troops.

Recovery has been added in the form of Reinforcements and Disturbed Burial

Do you still believe that my mana pie in this build is not optimal? I do not intend to buy the expensive cards, since this is a casual deck.

But I do like to improve on a budget where possible. Thanks for your help already!

Hey PJ! Happy to help!

Things I like:

Immediate +1 for the name haha!

Elspeth, Sun's Champion... I mean, obviously.

I like that Sylvan Caryatid I see in there.

Abzan Beastmaster. He's cool.

Suggestions to put in:

You seem lacking in spot removal. Swords to Plowshares, Putrefy, Mortify, Utter End Hero's Downfall or a million other options in black and white.

Belligerent Brontodon is kinda a copy of Doran, just for your guys. Beware his cmc though!

Treefolk Harbinger if you want to go more into the tribal aspect of Doran.

Courser of Kruphix kinda does a similar thing to Oracle of Mul Daya but costs less and has a bigger butt.

Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim with some mana open, she's a great way to respond to an enemy boardwipe and gain a ton of life.

Grim Contest is a great fight effect that will almost always favor you.

Some to take out:

You have a ton of boardwipes. Maybe that's okay meta wise but you could probably drop the less useful ones like Whirlwind.

Obelisk Spider doesn't really synergize with anything else in the deck.

Painful Truths can be replaced with better draw options.

Kambal, Consul of Allocation seems kind of weak. Maybe it's a meta call.

Other than that, I suggest looking at the top of you curve and determine if those cards are worth it. Do you really need True Conviction or Ikra Shidiqi, the Usurper? Etc Etc

Hope some of this helps!

Hi Suns_Champion,

it took a while to get this deck back on the table. So I ignored it abit until now. As we tend to play more casual fun EDH here, I knew that it was time again to dust of my Doran build.

Spot removal is mostly ignored in this build since in casual we play in big pods of 6+ ppl. Spot removal is underwhelming during such games.

Whirlwind was not functional enough and has been replaced. Thanks for pointing this one out :)

Obelisk Spider I have to agree with you. it has been replaced too.

Painful Truths is very undervalued if you ask me. For 3 different colors of mana you get to draw three cards and lose 'only' 3 life. Pretty solid deal for a 3-color deck if you ask me.

Kambal, Consul of Allocation went to the eternal fields too. Other options prove far better.

Besides cutting cards, I added some interesting new cards to toy with in upcoming games. Let me know what you think of the current balance and card choices I made. Do you run or ran a Doran deck yourself?

Never ran him myself, my brother started a brew but never made it.

wait: I never Do_ran_ him myself! Haha!

Anyway, I like the inclusions of Mentor of the Meek and especially Twilight Prophet, which was my favorite card from Rivals of Ixalan. The late game draw/drain is fantastic. Elspeth, Sun's Champion is still a great fit for the deck too!

A few of the manlands might be good additions to the mana base, Shambling Vent or Stirring Wildwood.

Since this deck is able to get more "power" on the board faster than most other decks, Triumph of the Hordes might be good for a surprise kill or two. just I thought. Don't know your meta's thoughts on infect.

I still think Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim would be really good in here, especially if the 6+ people meta is prone to boardwipes.

I'd try to cut a few 3 drops so you can get Doran out on curve. Nissa, Vastwood Seer is the only card that seems lackluster to me. Perhaps replace her with Fellwar Stone for extra ramp/fixing.

Looks like a very solid deck friend! Good luck!

Hey Suns_Champion,

Good points made! I will change the following based on your comment.

Nissa, Vastwood Seer  ^Flip - > Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim

Forest - > Shambling Vent

Forest - > Stirring Wildwood

I think that Fellwar Stone would be a great addition, just not sure what I should remove for it.

ps: Are you active on Discord chat somewhere?

What do you think of these cards as some extra draw options in this deck:

• Slate of Ancestry
• Soul of the Harvest
• Tireless Tracker

Tagging Suns_Champion, chaosumbreon87 and i24 for being helpful in the past.

Im more of a fan of tireless tracker and soul of the harvest as slate has 8cmc equivalently. As alternatives, there are cards like regal force, freyleise, collective unconscious, or shamanic revelation.

How has the mana situation been? cause when more fetches come in ramunap excavator seems like a decent combo with tireless tracker.

Slate of Ancestry is just okay, probably better suited for a token deck. Maybe try one of the one shot sorceies below.

Soul of the Harvest is good!

Tireless Tracker I'm not sure on.

I think there might be better options though... consider Shamanic Revelation, Collective Unconscious Regal Force, Grim Haruspex, Harvester of Souls, and I think with your mana base, you can't go wrong with Necropotence.

@ chaosumbreon87 : The suggestion of adding Tireless Tracker and Ramunap Excavator feels like a good hit for the deck. I had to find some extra fetches and sac lands in order to make it valid. But I added several to the deck and added both cards. Additionally I added Colfenor's Urn and Sorceress Queen. Especially the queen with the tree I like to see. But also alone she acts as a defensive measure.Curious how this will end up :)