Ulasht, the Token Devourer

Commander / EDH Dominator42

SCORE: 5 | 4 COMMENTS | 3632 VIEWS | IN 4 FOLDERS


May 26, 2013

-1 Mountain

+1 Reliquary Tower

UncleLanddrops says... #1

Especially with Thromok out now, Ulasht really gets a raw deal as a Commander, so kudos for trying something that I consider pretty low on the totem pole as far as R/G Legends are concerned.

I like that you've thematically centralized the themes here. Damage, tokens, cards with "For each creature you control." Some of those are really neat, and I think they function really well in here. Parallel Evolution and Saproling Symbiosis feel like very nice fits.

That said, I think this deck could improve greatly if the creature base was tuned even further, focusing on dudes that make "more dudes." Before I get into that though, I have a few questions for you, for my own "scientific curiosity."

Ulasht. When you cast him, what's his average CMC? What about Stag Beetle and Scion of the Wild?

How good is Perilous Forays in this deck? It seems kinda like a perfect fit.

Sorry. A little sidetracked. So... suggestions-Mogg War Marshal and Beetleback Chief want to be invited to this party so they can help pump Krenko, who's quite a few Goblins short of finding himself the boss of an actual mob without a Mogg Infestation. Caller of the Claw sincerely wants to join your gang too so you don't get owned by Wraths. Also, Ant Queen might be better here than a Devour dude or a Hissing Iguanar because it gives you something to do when you run out of cards, which is probably going to happen to you in the late-late here. She's also a personal favorite. I call her tokens "Ant Babies," for some stupid reason, and I'm sure I'll be making a token here of something like it soon.

Other cards I like here. Mitotic Slime, Nemata, Grove Guardian, and Hornet Queen are some fairly affordable additions, and the last two can be got with a Fierce Empath. Personally, Nemata looks wayy better than Verdeloth. When you're winning, or if you need a bunch of blocks in the late-late, he's okay. But he's not helping anywhere before you've got maybe 10-12 mana, though that seems pretty logical cause you're doing it right with a consistent 40 land. And you've got some token ramps.

Avenger of Zendikar and Rampaging Baloths because of your good decisions with the mana base, also seem really strong. They'd need an Evolving Wilds though.

Eldrazi Monument is a big noncreature silver bullet that will help you protect your board state. If you can get your hands on one, that would be pretty good too.

I hope I've helped. This deck seems pretty fascinating and challenging to play. Good Luck with it. Hail Hydra!

March 22, 2013 4:57 a.m.

Dominator42 says... #2

Thanks for all the feedback on the deck.

To answer your questions, I assume you meant power rather than their CMC.Ulasht, when I usually cast him, has somewhere between 10-30 counters on him. I don't actually draw Stag Beetle or Scion of the Wild that often so I can't say for certain. However, the fact that Stag Beetle says all creatures is quite nice.

Perilous Forays works really well in the deck, and I like it a lot.

The deck is actually pretty efficient at making creatures, so adding more dude that make dudes isn't quite necessary.

Caller of the Claw says non-token, so it doesn't work that well, I think a board wipe might get me 3-4 bears.

The deck also doesn't produce a lot of colored mana (Mana Echoes and Ashnod's Altar make plenty of colorless) so Ant Queen and Nemata, Grove Guardian won't be helping too much.

Mitotic Slime is decent, I've seen other people play, but it's never really that impressive or scary.

Avenger of Zendikar and Rampaging Baloths are very high-cost, so I would have played most of my lands for the game by the time I play them. Also, unless I draw Perilous Forays , I probably would only get a few landfall triggers after they were dropped.

I was thinking of adding Eldrazi Monument , but then I would immediately become the focus of everyone at the table. Maybe I'll try it out though.

April 23, 2013 5:51 p.m.

UncleLanddrops says... #3

Thanks for answering my questions, and educating me. Sometimes I give dumb suggestions too, so thanks also for your patience.

I apparently didn't have any grasp on the deck before, but I'm seeing how this works more clearly and it's pretty neat.

It's obviously got several ways to win, but it's essentially playing like the big Goblin combo-engine decks that do similarly abusive stuff with Mana Echoes and the like, except you've got ramp and the ability to manipulate your deck a little better with green. Also, you can trigger this combo in response to a big swing with him, so your opponents actually don't avoid the beatdowns. Fill in the gaps if I'm missing something.

Also one last question- What would you say is the pace of this deck? Does it take long for you to get to a board state where you just say, "Okay, it's Ulasht time," or "Okay, it's feeding time," and you're able to go off? Again, I'm intrigued and curious. I can't really tell if this deck would be too fast, too slow, or somewhere in between by looking at it. Also, it seems like you've got the "Army in a can" plan going so Wraths aren't so bad. Is that right, or are they still pretty rough?

It looks like you've been working on this deck a while, so I'm guessing you'd know.

Sorry for all the questions. I love seeing cool, unique designs like this, and it's really refreshing to find decks that do old tricks in new ways. Thanks again.

April 23, 2013 7:15 p.m.