kmk888

Call me crazy, but I suspect some sarcasm on kedvesem's part

It's true, the shittiest of budget decks are constantly sent to the front page. You're better off posting a deck with 4 Child of Night and 3 Stain the Mind than an interesting Modern deck here.

This is a real deck and it has a primer, I would suggest you look it up. However I can tell you for certain that you need all 4 Eternal Witnesses and at least 2 Primal Commands. Witnesses allow you to loop a Primal Command 4 times and also are just very good value and devotion. You also need less Joraga Treespeakers, less Genesis Waves, and more Burning Tree Emissaries.

The normal core of this deck is:

A bunch of forests
4 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
4 Utopia Sprawl
4 Arbor Elf
4 Eternal Witness
4 Garruk Wildspeaker
2-4 Primal Command
3-4 Primeval Titan

You can flavor it from there.

Aaron I don't much care for commander either, but I don't dismiss it as "unproductive" or the "red headed step child". You sound like kind of an asshat, to be honest. People can play what they want. And there is a banlist, it is a real format, and I'll bet if you tried to play it, you would lose. The main draw to the format is after all the multiplayer aspect, and you don't sound like much of a team player

...B-But Brainstorm isn't legal in modern... And that's why Legacy is better!

Legacy master race!

(No poor people allowed.)

Well, although the top end is high in Esper, most of the good Tiny Leaders decks I've seen are doing some pretty broken things already. I'm just trying to keep up, you know?

I really love the fact that this format is 50 card singleton. It makes every play experience so much more interesting, but at the same time you can pack legacy-like levels of power into it.

I just wish we had some better commander options for certain color combinations. But I'm sure Wizards will fix that soon with the amount of buzz the format is creating.

Slightly, yes. However in a format you expect to be defined by stalled board states, it's an excellent choice. If monogreen rises in popularity, so will it.

KJSJ3- That's one of the other deck types not mentioned here- I would classify it as attrition/control. Many midrange decks are also attrition based.

Gothy- You forgot the classic 4th deck- combo.

Shamanic Revelation is a different level of playable/nonplayable. It's a good looking card, but it is only really good when you have a lot of creatures in play, several of them with 4 power. Generally, you should be close to winning already in that spot, and almost any card would push you over the top... The only time it truly shines is large, locked board states in standard (which don't actually happen that much). It also is pretty bad against control because they have so many counterspells and several boardwipes. I would say in 1/4 quadrant it is very good, 1/4 quadrant it is decent, and 2/4 quadrants it is not very good. So most players prefer to focus on more flexible cards. However it has seen small amounts of play in green decks (mostly for the lifegain). For example, if I played Monogreen I would bring it in against Abzan Aggro.

Compare to Shaman of the Great Hunt, which is good in about 3/4 quadrants and has a similar ability tacked onto it for less mana. Or compare to Whisperwood Elemental, which gives you guaranteed card advantage at every end step, has a sizable body, and increases resilience against boardwipes.

Sorry for the essay. Do you have any questions?

We're going on a learning trip!

Aven Skirmisher is good for about 3 turns, but after that it is probably going to be useless. This is because most competitive standard decks either can play a larger flyer or field enough damage that they can just ignore a single point of damage per turn past that point. So although Skirmisher comes down early, you are most of the time trading a card in for 3 flying damage and then you have something that is only useful as a chump blocker. Most of the time this is not worth playing unless your deck is super aggressive (although it is almost playable in the warriors deck because of increased power). Judge's Familiar saw play in MonoU Devotion as a devotion enabler, damage dealer, and (most importantly) force spike against control decks. But even then, it wasn't fantastic. Just necessary to curve out.

However the evaluation above assumes that it was in your opening hand. The real issue with cards like Skirmisher is how bad of topdecks they are later in the game. More often than not, it's nearly as bad as drawing a land. And drawing multiples? Forget about it, you lose. For decks in standard, your first turn is better spent fixing mana (temples), ramping mana (Mystic) or using overly powerful discard (Thoughtseize). Almost no other 1 drops are playable because they do not retain much late game advantage. This may elaborate more:

http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/li/quadrant-theory-2014-08-20

If you put Skirmisher through this evaluation, it comes out good in 1/4 quadrants. This is why it's not even played in sealed.

...Do you understand why the pros hate it? Or are you willfully ignoring the advice of people that spend all of their freetime playing competitive magic?

You forgot Visions of Beyond! Also you're allowed to have a sideboard

Mean deck! I like it. You added two extra Lightning Greaves, btw. Also, you don't have a sideboard. That's allowed in this format!

Dude, that's not what we mean by used once. First of all, you spend a turn doing nothing but getting it into play, making it less mana efficient. Also, lifelink is not terribly valuable in a deck that plays Resolute Archangel. But the most concerning aspect is that if you whip back a fatty you feel great at the time but it disappears forever at the end step. Because you only play 5 creatures, it's quite possible that you won't find another one. So you use your one win con to attack for 3-6 damage and a bonus effect and then lose or go to time looking for another... Whip is only really worthwhile in a deck jammed with creatures.

Compare to Fearsome Awakening which leaves the creature around for another attack, and pumps dragons. Used on Silumgar creates a 6 power evasive win condition and you have counterspells even if they find a way to get around hexproof.

I'm only butthurt when I get downvoted without explanation.

This is very cool! Only problem: INCREDIBLY soft to counterspells, which I'm sure accounts partly for the losses to Tempo and Control. Try out some Gaea's Revenges! Haste and can't be countered are gonna take some games. It might only be reasonable in the sideboard though.

Garruk Wildspeaker or Caller of Beasts could also be good because they do basically everything the deck wants to do. Especially Wildspeaker since he comes down so early and his -4 can even makes your manadorks into threats.

I was inspired by this deck, so I made one that relies on Rescue from the Underworld, a pet card of mine. It combines really well with Jeskai Sage, which I use as a roadblock that doesn't lose card advantage.

3 Rescue from the Underworld
4 Jeskai Sage
3 Prognostic Sphinx
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
1 Resolute Archangel
1 Ashen Rider

4 Thoughtseize
4 Dissolve
4 Hero's Downfall
4 Dig Through Time
2 Bile Blight
1 Disdainful Stroke
1 Utter End
1 Crux of Fate

3 Flooded Strand
4 Island
2 Plains
4 Polluted Delta
2 Swamp
4 Temple of Deceit
3 Temple of Enlightenment
2 Temple of Silence
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

thanks mate.

I have no idea why someone would downvote my advice unless they have an emotional attachment to Whip or a score to settle with Prognostic Sphinx. Whip of Erebos is legitimately troubling because of the low numbers of creatures and one time usage. Lifelink is not enough by itself. Prognostic Sphinx is a proven control finisher and great way to smooth clunky draws and put fatties you can't cast into the grave, although admittedly not great with boardwipes. If you think I am wrong, tell me why.

Prognostic Sphinx would be phenomenal in this deck as a discard outlet for drawn fatties. It would also be a fine card to reanimate. I also think you have too few creatures to run 3 Whips, you may want to run more Fearsome Awakenings instead.

Abzan Ascendancy Abzan Ascendancy ABZAN ASCENDANCY. It would be awesome. I really want it to happen.

Also if those Birds of Paradise were Arbor Elves instead they would get buffed by Sigil Captain (at the loss of flying)

And I also thought of the fact that Squadron Hawks combine well with Sigil Captain. But I don't think they're a great inclusion.

Do you need 4 Lambholt Champion? It seems excellent in certain matches but a little slow in others. Plus I doubt you ever need more than 1.

I also cannot fully express how much the deck needs Lingering Souls. You're ignoring the best flying token generator ever printed...