Ursa Major *PRIMER*

Commander / EDH NV_1980

SCORE: 4 | 5 COMMENTS | 258 VIEWS | IN 1 FOLDER


Looking at the budgets of both of our decks, yours is stupidly more expensive, and I see where the money went. This is pretty powerful. I still have some suggestions for your:

While I don't play it myself, Defiler of Vigor is bonkers powerful. You should give it a test run. It's similar to Goreclaw in what it does: It ramps and it grows your creatures.

The big weakness of our fluffy friend are well-timed boardwipes. A lot of the mana comes from creature sources, so at the correct moment, a wipe can spell defeat for us. You obviously have Heroic Intervention, but another way to recover from a wipe more eayily is Zendikar Resurgent. It'll survive most wipes, so rebuilding becomes easy with it. It's expensive with seven mana, but then again, Goreclaw casts 8-drops when other decks are still ramping. Seven mana are fine.

March 10, 2023 3:42 a.m.

NV_1980 says... #2

Hi seshiro_of_the_orochi,

Thanks a lot for paying my deck a visit and of course your advice. I've been looking for a Defiler of Vigor for the deck, I should have made mention of that fact in the description somewhere. Thanks for reminding me :) It's been a pain to find one. None of the good single-card vendors in my country has a spare at the moment but I'm keeping a lookout for one.

Zendikar Resurgent has been in previous versions of this deck but felt a bit like overkill because it already has a lot of non-creature ramping sources and even more draw-resources. But maybe I'll run it again in a game one of these days, see if it makes more of a difference during recoveries.

March 10, 2023 1:54 p.m.

Profet93 says... #3

NV_1980 +1 my good sir, I love reading your descriptions. It's evident that you spend a lot of time and love for each of your decks. I have some thoughts....

Return to Nature > naturalize - Strict upgrade

Elemental Bond > Garruk Packleader - Costs less and is an enchantment so it's much less likely to be removed and it's easier to cast

Nissa's Pilgrimage > Cultivate/Kodama - Strict upgrade

Primeval Bounty - First mode is the best, second is decent, third is not impactful. It has a high CMC and doesn't do much the turn it comes in. What has your experience been with it? Perhaps swapping it with something below could help....

Momentous Fall - Useful in response to removal. Sacrificing is additional cost to cast so watch out for the blue player. Alternatively, it's cousin, Life's Legacy might be worth considering. Return of the Wildspeaker also can act as draw or an overrun.

Green Sun's Zenith - While you do already run finale, some additional tutoring redundancy can't hurt.

Garruk, Primal Hunter - It's a soul's majesty that can make tokens to defend itself. Also adds devotion.

Dense Foliage - Not an entirely serious suggestion but worth mentioning, you usually target your creatures with abilities, not spells. Depends on the meta for sure. Could be useful to make someone burn a removal spell.

Greater Goodfoil - Best recommendation for your deck. Draws cards + virtual card advantage, acts as a sac outlet to prevent exile and theft (which apparently is a thing given your homeward path) and can be used in response to removal.

Shaman of Forgotten Ways - Nice little guy, not entirely serious but worth noting. It's ramp and an alt wincon.

Castle Garenbrig - Simple ramp

Boseiju, Who Endures - Removal in land form

Mirrorpool - Not a serious suggestion given your lack of nonbasics (which I think you can add some more). Imagine copying rishkar's, shamanic, beast within, etc.... not to mention any of your big dudes.

Turntimber, Serpentine Wood  Flip - Land when you need it, creature when you don't!

September 1, 2024 5:13 p.m.

NV_1980 says... #4

Thanks for the recommendations Profet93; I can always count on your valuable support. For now, Nissa's Pilgrimage will definitely replace Kodama's Reach and Castle Garenbrig will definitely replace a forest (can't believe I overlooked that one!).

You're suggesting a lot of additional (or replacement) draw mechanisms for a deck that already has at least sixteen scry/draw/tutor resources. During play with this set, I've rarely lacked for enough cards to cast so I'm not sure whether adding more CA is necessary. Greater Goodfoil is the one suggestion I'd still like to find a place for, considering that it allows one to still make use of a card that might already be on its way to the graveyard (or in emergencies, when one is stuck). I get Elemental Bond is harder to remove than Garruk's Packleader, but I opted for leader because as a creature it can do more than just remain a static enchantment (so for me, multi-functionality trumps survivability, but I can still understand Bond's appeal).

As for Primeval Bounty; it's mostly in for sentimental reasons (I will mention this in the primer, because you're not the first person to mention it in a similar context). It was the first mythic my wife ever pulled from a pack (she unexpectedly passed away in 2020) and the above deck is largely based on her favorite mono-green build (which featured Yeva as its commander).

September 2, 2024 9:12 a.m.

NV_1980 says... #5

Sorry, I may have misread, in that you seem to have meant everything you mentioned below your remarks on Primeval Bounty (except for maybe the Shaman) as a possible replacement for it, instead of all these cards acting as additional draw resources.

September 2, 2024 9:24 a.m.

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