This is my first primer! Introducing, Yisan, the Wandering Heavy Metal Guitarist! In a vacuum he can win between turns 3-5! At the moment, this list is running below $800 USD on TCGPlayer low. I've played over 60 games with this deck and lost 5. 2 of those losses were from simple mistakes, while the others were from heavy and hateful control.
The idea is to pump out as many creatures and beat face, like any green deck!
The only combo I've included is the Umbral Mantle equipped to any creature that taps for 3+ mana.
It can outrace just about anything and tokens are sad because tramplers don't even care.
Constant removal can ruin your day, but there are answers to that!
Pros:
Fast
Linear
Versatile
Easy
Cons:
Linear
Boring after a while
Weak to control
Below is a breakdown of why each card is in the deck. Post a comment here or my Reddit post
@(https://dm.reddit.com/r/CompetitiveEDH/comments/4gmg1w/yisan_the_wandering_heavy_metal_guitarist_yisan/) to critique.
Commander:
Yisan, the Wanderer Bard (Obviously)
Lands:
Ancient Tomb (Don't be afraid of losing life. In EDH, it's more of a resource)
Command Beacon (when Yisan gets removed a lot, it's nice to be able to cast him again for cheap)
Dryad Arbor (mostly for ramp with Green Sun's Zenith on turn 1)
Forest (24 of them actually)
Gaea's Cradle (the best land for any green creature based deck)
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx (your devotion will be insane, so will your mana)
Strip Mine (for problem lands like Cabal Coffers or Gaea's Cradle)
Wasteland (same as above)
Wirewood Lodge (More ramp or for more Yisan activations with Seeker of Skybreak)
Yavimaya Hollow (in case Yisan takes damage for some reason. Does not protect against destruction)
Creatures:
1 Mana -
Arbor Elf (ramp)
Birds of Paradise (ramp)
Boreal Druid (ramp)
Caustic Caterpillar (artifact/enchantment removal)
Elvish Mystic (ramp)
Fyndhorn Elves (ramp)
Llanowar Elves (ramp)
Quirion Ranger (land drops and yisan activations)
Sakura-Tribe Scout (early ramp and synergy with Quirion Ranger)
Sylvan Safekeeper (targeted protection)
Wirewood Symbiote (yisan activations. Works well with elves that dont tap for abilities like Quirion Ranger)
2 mana-
Elvish Visionary (looking for replacement. currently emergency card draw or Chrome Mox Fodder)
Gaea's Herald (Use against any decks playing blue)
Phyrexian Revoker (useful against many MANY other cards, especially combos)
Scavenging Ooze (graveryard hate)
Scryb Ranger (Yisan activations)
Seeker of Skybreak (Yisan Activations)
3 mana-
Elvish Archdruid (ramp)
Eternal Witness (graveyard retrival)
Reclamation Sage (artifact/enchantment removal)
Shaman of Forgotten Ways (ramp for creatures in hand or alternate win-con)
4 mana-
Elvish Piper (cheat out creatures you didnt want in your hand)
Karametra's Acolyte (ramp)
Temur Sabertooth (if Yisan would leave the battlefield, Return him to your hand along with anything else you can afford)
5 mana-
Acidic Slime (artifact/enchantment/land removal)
Seedborn Muse (the best creature in the deck. allows you to have your turn at the same time as every opponent)
6 mana-
Bane of Progress (mass artifact/enchantment removal)
Woodland Bellower (if something is missing, or if there's not many things Bane would remove)
7 mana-
Hornet Queen (anti-beater)
Avenger of Zendikar (only if it would create more tokens than Hornet Queen)
8 mana-
Craterhoof Behemoth (primary win condition)
Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger (if craterhoof is somehow unable to attend the party)
Instants:
Beast Within (spot removal)
Chord of Calling (tutor)
Crop Rotation (to get that Cradle or Nykthos)
Natural State (artiface/enchantment removal)
Nature's Claim (same as above)
Noxious Revival (graveyard retrival)
Vitalize (basically a-whole-nother turn)
Worldly Tutor (tutor, duh)
Sorceries:
Green Sun's Zenith (for that turn 1 Dryad Arbor usually)
Praetor's Counsel (graveyard retrival and an emblem for no max hand size, nice)
Regrowth (Graveyard Retrival)
Sylvan Scrying (for that Cradle or Nykthos)
Enchantments:
Burgeoning (virtually, dump all your lands to the table turn 1)
Concordant Crossroads (Haste, anyone?)
Earthcraft (Emergency Ramp)
Exploration (extra land, especially turn 1)
Lignify (spot removal)
Mirri's Guile (keep creatures out of your hand)
Quest for Renewal (seedborn muse type effect)
Song of the Dryads (spot removal)
Sylvan Library (keep creatures out of your hand or draw extra cards. Remember, life is a resource)
Utopia Sprawl (ramp)
Wild Growth (ramp)
Artifacts:Chrome Mox (ramp)
Expedition Map (Cradle or Nykthos)
Mana Crypt (ramp, even turn 1 Yisan)
Mox Diamond (ramp)
Sensei's Divining Top (keep creatures out of your hand)
Sol Ring (ramp)
Staff of Domination (multi purpose, usually for Yisan activations)
Swiftfoot Boots (you should know why)
Umbral Mantle (infinite mana combos or Yisan activations. Why not both?)
