The Island Awakened [[Primer]]

Commander / EDH PrismMTG

SCORE: 31 | 42 COMMENTS | 2516 VIEWS | IN 20 FOLDERS


ONE Additions —March 1, 2023

After a frankly ridiculous amount of playtesting, here are the cuts for Nissa, Ascended Animist and Conduit of Worlds

+1 Nissa, Ascended Animist, -1 Nissa, Worldwaker

+1 Conduit of Worlds, -1 Nissa, Who Shakes the World

In general, planeswalkers have fallen by the wayside of my strategy as they haven't reliably been fast enough to capitalize on the amount of attention they attract, so they both got the cut.

king-saproling says... #1

Hey Catpocolypse I would cut Crucible of Worlds to make room for Perilous Forays.

So the reason I think haste enablers are good here alongside big ramp spells is that you could make a bunch of elementals and then immediately take an opp out with combat damage. Null Brooch works similarly in that if you make say 10 elementals in a turn but don't have haste, you at least have the Brooch to counter any board wipes or combos so that you can win on your next turn.

Things like Boundless Realms will actually end the game faster than your current strategy. For example Dryad of the Ilysian Grove takes 7 turns of being alongside Titania to have the same impact as a Boundless Realms. Technically Dryad + Titania could never match the damage-output-over-time of Boundless Realms + Titania but I digress. I understand wanting to have a Rube Goldberg machine that wins the game rather than a glock haha. Nothing wrong with cruising to victory.

December 8, 2022 9:39 a.m.

Since you're running Prismatic Omen already, what do you think about Sylvan Scrying? It can grab Yavimaya or, technically, any other land you may want, and is less vulnerable to removal.

December 8, 2022 11:10 a.m.

PrismMTG says... #3

Alright, a 2 for 1 response comment.

First, @king-saproling. I really don't think that Crucible of Worlds is the right card to drop. Because this list runs so many fetches, effects that allow you to play more than just Forests from your graveyard are very necessary. What do you think about dropping Zendikar's Roil instead? The list loses some token generation, but with Titania you have more than enough of that, and Perilous Forays adds another layer to the recursion engine.

Second, @TheOfficialCreator: Sylvan Scrying is a good card that I'm pretty sure flew under my radar because I misread it for a basic land tutor... yeahhhh, oops. But anyway, I'm thinking of slotting that in for Far Wanderings because during playtesting, Far Wanderings preformed much worse than I would have hoped and the effect without the Threshold ability active is not worth the cost.

Thoughts?

December 8, 2022 11:48 a.m.

Yeah, in every deck I've tried to put Far Wanderings in it doesn't do very well (except a Mimeoplasm deck I made once). I think Sylvan Scrying is a fitting replacement.

December 8, 2022 12:06 p.m.

king-saproling says... #5

S̶i̶n̶c̶e̶ P̶r̶i̶s̶m̶a̶t̶i̶c̶ O̶m̶e̶n̶ o̶n̶l̶y̶ a̶f̶f̶e̶c̶t̶s̶ l̶a̶n̶d̶s̶ y̶o̶u̶ h̶a̶v̶e̶ i̶n̶ p̶l̶a̶y̶ (̶m̶e̶a̶n̶i̶n̶g̶ i̶t̶ d̶o̶e̶s̶n̶'t̶ l̶e̶t̶ y̶o̶u̶ r̶e̶t̶u̶r̶n̶ a̶n̶y̶ l̶a̶n̶d̶ f̶r̶o̶m̶ g̶r̶a̶v̶e̶ v̶i̶a̶ T̶i̶t̶a̶n̶i̶a̶)̶, I̶ w̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ c̶u̶t̶ t̶h̶a̶t̶. T̶h̶e̶ o̶n̶l̶y̶ b̶e̶n̶e̶f̶i̶t̶ I̶ s̶e̶e̶ f̶r̶o̶m̶ O̶m̶e̶n̶ i̶s̶ a̶l̶o̶n̶g̶s̶i̶d̶e̶ N̶i̶s̶s̶a̶ W̶h̶o̶ S̶h̶a̶k̶e̶s̶, a̶n̶d̶ t̶h̶e̶ o̶d̶d̶s̶ o̶f̶ h̶a̶v̶i̶n̶g̶ b̶o̶t̶h̶ a̶t̶ o̶n̶c̶e̶ a̶r̶e̶n̶'t̶ g̶r̶e̶a̶t̶. P̶l̶u̶s̶ Y̶a̶v̶i̶m̶a̶y̶a̶C̶r̶a̶d̶l̶e̶ w̶o̶r̶k̶s̶ b̶e̶t̶t̶e̶r̶ f̶o̶r̶ t̶h̶a̶t̶ r̶o̶l̶e̶ i̶n̶ l̶i̶k̶e̶ e̶v̶e̶r̶y̶ w̶a̶y̶.

Edit: I'm dumb, thought Titania's elemental-making effect was just like regular landfall but it has to be a forest. Omen is worth keeping in then. Yeah Zendikars Roil is good but could come out for Forays

Field of the Dead is another card that might deserve a spot.

December 8, 2022 12:22 p.m. Edited.

PrismMTG says... #6

king-saproling

Prismatic Omen is actually in the decklist in order to get Forest etb triggers from Titania, Nature's Force off of many of the fetch lands I run in the list, getting 2 Forest triggers the same way any other landfall trigger would work.

Field of the Dead is a card that Profet93 and I already and we came to the conclusion that the list doesn't run enough non basic lands, that specifically aren't fetches, to consistently activate Field of the Dead. Even if you slot in half the Forests as Snow-Covered Forests, there are only 10 non fetch land cards with different names; Forest, Snow-Covered Forest, Field of the Dead, Yavimaya Hollow, Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth, Lotus Field, Lotus Vale, Jungle Basin, Dryad Arbor and Boseiju, Who Endures. Leaving a fetchland in play without cracking it is a really painful cost just to have Field of the Dead up and running, and without doing that, I don't know if it is consistent enough to consider running.

December 8, 2022 12:30 p.m.

Profet93 says... #7

Catpocolypse

Great discourse and swaps, agreed all around. I don't like Zendikar's roil as 5 cmc is too expensive for 2/2's, albeit continuously. Though, there is synergy so I understand why it was in the list. Truth be told, part of me wants to add it back in simply because of the perceived synergy, despite the actuality that it underperforms in most cases.

Regarding Tempt of Discovery 1) What are your primary targets 2) How often do they take the bait. The primary benefit of Tempt is that it brings your land into play untapped, so tutoring for a cradle or nykthos with Tempt is huge. The only impactful lands are yavimaya hollow and maybe the sac lands. I don't feel tempt of discovery is worth it depending on your answers to #1 and #2. A potential swap for it could be Pir's Whim.

king-saproling

"S̶i̶n̶c̶e̶ P̶r̶i̶s̶m̶a̶t̶i̶c̶ O̶m̶e̶n̶ o̶n̶l̶y̶ a̶f̶f̶e̶c̶t̶s̶ l̶a̶n̶d̶s̶ y̶o̶u̶ h̶a̶v̶e̶ i̶n̶ p̶l̶a̶y̶" - Is this not correct? Or was your point more focused on the end of your paragraph?

December 8, 2022 3:14 p.m.

PrismMTG says... #8

Profet93 Tempt with Discovery is a card that is specific to my playgroup, as almost every time it is played it nets a minimum of 3 lands. In other playgroups a switch to Pir's Whim or Rishkar's Expertise would probably be a good choice, Tempt with Discovery is a hilarious circumstance between my friends that often ends with at least 1 or 2 other people taking the bait

December 8, 2022 3:20 p.m.

king-saproling says... #9

Profet93 yeah sorry that part is correct, Omen doesn't affect lands outside of those on the battlefield.

December 8, 2022 3:48 p.m.

PrismMTG says... #10

@TheOfficialCreator, king-saproling and Profet93

With the launch of the new set, there are 2 main cards im looking at, those being Nissa, Ascended Animist and Conduit of Worlds. Nissa, Ascended Animist gives another incredibly potent finishing potential with her ultimate as well as a bit more interaction otherwise and I've found that more redundancy in the form of graveyard land recursion wouldn't be a bad thing, plus I can get a spell back if my hand if empty or I'm not planning on doing anything else. I'm thinking of swapping of one the walkers out for the new Nissa, though I'm not sure what to take out for Conduit of Worlds. I'm genuinely thinkin about taking out Constant Mists just because I have had yet to land in a scenario where I had the lands to sacrifice but not the creatures to defend myself. Interested to hear what your thoughts are on this

January 27, 2023 8:55 p.m.

Profet93 says... #11

Druid class and constant mists seem like good cuts should you wish to add those in.

January 27, 2023 9:03 p.m.

PrismMTG says... #12

You think I should drop Druid Class and have a 3rd walker?

January 27, 2023 9:06 p.m.

Profet93 says... #13

I'm personally unsure of how the walker will play out. I do think its worth testing. Druid class is unimpactful. The walker creates a token blocker, while not elemental, can be doubled with doubling season, not to mention ulting it on the turn it comes down and getting to keep it. The phyrexian mana is nice to ramp into. Moreover, having walkers means usually, they use combat damage to break through and can help trigger ur commander's mill ability for more synergy.

All of that being said, it depends on if you value another walker more than the redundancy that conduit of worlds can provide. Do you often find yourself lacking recursion? Do you find yourself ramping out too hard and not having a hand to take advantage of your mana generation? Does your playgroup consistently target your land recursion? Do they consistently exile your grave making land recursion less useful? All important things to consider

Alternatively, you can cut abundance should it not be performing to your liking as it's primary synergy is with Sylvan library and having a card (Conduit) which directly synergizes with your deck rather than an enchantment that doesn't always could be worth considering as well.

Keep in mind, you have 8 cards that recur lands, so I'm unsure if you need the redundancy or if you wanna swap out 1 of those 8.

January 27, 2023 11:27 p.m. Edited.

PrismMTG says... #14

This deck really values the land recursion, as Titania herself only half counts, as somewhere around 15 of my lands have the ability to end up in the graveyard. I only run 20 Forests, Titania only hits about 50% of my land base and not the "combo" lands. So Conduit and other effects like it are worth doubling up on, especially because I tend to be targeted in my pod simply due to my preference of big threatening decks. Nissa is going to be used as a finisher, similar to Triumph of the Hordes, her other abilities aren't as important because she can insta ult if you play her at 7. This being said, now that there are a possible 3 walkers in the mix, swapping Parallel Lives for Doubling Season isn't off the table, assuming all 3 walkers make it in

January 27, 2023 11:44 p.m.