Azusa, Lost but Seeking

[94teen]

General: Azusa, Lost but Seeking

Lands
Mouth of Ronom
Scrying Sheets
Dark Depths
Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
Deserted Temple
Gaea's Cradle
Maze of Ith
Dryad Arbor
32 Snow-Covered Forest

More Land Drops Please
Exploration
Rites of Flourishing
Gaea's Touch
Oracle of Mul Daya
Storm Cauldron

Acceleration
Gauntlet of Power
Vernal Bloom
Mana Reflection

Finding Some Lands
Gaea's Bounty
Krosan Tusker
Seek the Horizon
Armillary Sphere
Kodama's Reach
Sprouting Vines
Journey of Discovery
Khalni Heart Expedition
Skyshroud Claim
Journeyer's Kite

Utility
Acidic Slime
Krosan Grip
Mold Shambler
Desert Twister
Woodfall Primus

CITP Package
Stampeding Serow
Stampeding Wildebeasts
Wirewood Symbiote
Cloudstone Curio
Farhaven Elf
Wood Elves
Elvish Pioneer
Elvish Visionary
Civic Wayfinder
Borderland Ranger
Eternal Witness

Card Draw and Tutoring
Font of Mythos
Harmonize
Sensei's Divining Top
Horn of Greed
Primal Command
Summoner's Pact
Restock
Regrowth
Natural Order

Bombs and Misc
Beacon of Creation
Howl of the Night Pack
Ant Queen
Verdeloth, the Ancient
Rampaging Baloth
Doubling Season
Concordant Crossroads
Akroma's Memorial
Seed the Land
Chameleon Colossus
Baru, Fist of Krosa
Overrun
Dauntless Dourbark
Adventuring Gear
Rude Awakening
Grazing Gladeheart
Tooth and Nail

[Bahamuth]

Yo, thanks for posting this list. Gave me some nice ideas. Can't belive I missed Rampaging Baloth and Baru. I'll post my list soon. Mine is more multiplayer-oriented I think though.

[MPL]

This is my first EDH deck, so I would be glad if you could point out mistakes I made. I guess the biggest difference is that I didn't include your CiP package.

Link (http://deckstats.net/deck-16634-f1007fc367e7266b6060539dd231d423-en.html) (for nice graphics :wink: )

Azusa, Lost but Seeking

Turbo

1 Gaea's Touch
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Exploration
1 Rites of Flourishing
1 Fastbond

Gas

1 Yavimaya Elder
1 Seek the Horizon
1 Far Wanderings
1 Gaea's Bounty
1 Journey of Discovery
1 Khalni Heart Expedition
1 Kodama's Reach
1 Crop Rotation
1 Harrow
1 Krosan Tusker
1 Skyshroud Claim
1 Armillary Sphere

Beats

1 Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
1 Nature's Revolt
1 Natural Affinity
1 Jolrael, Empress of Beasts
1 Rude Awakening
1 Earth Surge
1 Living Plane
1 Nantuko Cultivator
1 Allosaurus Rider
1 Molimo, Maro-Sorcerer
1 Beacon of Creation
1 Waiting in the Weeds
1 Vinelasher Kudzu
1 Rampaging Baloths
1 Howl of the Night Pack

Lands are fun

1 Grazing Gladehart
1 Horn of Greed
1 Lifegift
1 Well of Knowledge
1 Zuran Orb
1 Constant Mists
1 Life from the Loam
1 Crucible of Worlds

Random good stuff

1 Ant Queen
1 Tower of Fortunes
1 Wurmcalling
1 Planar Portal
1 Helix Pinnacle
1 Silklash Spider
1 Tooth and Nail
1 Defense of the Heart
1 Gauntlet of Power

Utility

1 Survival of the Fittest
1 Genesis
1 Eternal Witness
1 Mold Shambler
1 Acidic Slime
1 Desert Twister
1 Restock
1 Revive
1 Krosan Grip
1 Sylvan Library

Lands

1 Strip Mine
1 Wasteland
1 Deserted Temple
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 Jungle Basin
1 Slippery Karst
1 Tranquil Thicket
1 Glacial Chasm
32 Forest

I guess most of the "Random good stuff" section can be cut for something more suited to the deck.

[xXxBretWeedxXx]

This is my first EDH deck, so I would be glad if you could point out mistakes I made. I guess the biggest difference is that I didn't include your CiP package.

Link (http://deckstats.net/deck-16634-f1007fc367e7266b6060539dd231d423-en.html) (for nice graphics :wink: )

Azusa, Lost but Seeking

Turbo

1 Gaea's Touch
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Exploration
1 Rites of Flourishing
1 Fastbond

Gas

1 Yavimaya Elder
1 Seek the Horizon
1 Far Wanderings
1 Gaea's Bounty
1 Journey of Discovery
1 Khalni Heart Expedition
1 Kodama's Reach
1 Crop Rotation
1 Harrow
1 Krosan Tusker
1 Skyshroud Claim
1 Armillary Sphere

Beats

1 Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
1 Nature's Revolt
1 Natural Affinity
1 Jolrael, Empress of Beasts
1 Rude Awakening
1 Earth Surge
1 Living Plane
1 Nantuko Cultivator
1 Allosaurus Rider
1 Molimo, Maro-Sorcerer
1 Beacon of Creation
1 Waiting in the Weeds
1 Vinelasher Kudzu
1 Rampaging Baloths
1 Howl of the Night Pack

Lands are fun

1 Grazing Gladehart
1 Horn of Greed
1 Lifegift
1 Well of Knowledge
1 Zuran Orb
1 Constant Mists
1 Life from the Loam
1 Crucible of Worlds

Random good stuff

1 Ant Queen
1 Tower of Fortunes
1 Wurmcalling
1 Planar Portal
1 Helix Pinnacle
1 Silklash Spider
1 Tooth and Nail
1 Defense of the Heart
1 Gauntlet of Power

Utility

1 Survival of the Fittest
1 Genesis
1 Eternal Witness
1 Mold Shambler
1 Acidic Slime
1 Desert Twister
1 Restock
1 Revive
1 Krosan Grip
1 Sylvan Library

Lands

1 Strip Mine
1 Wasteland
1 Deserted Temple
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 Jungle Basin
1 Slippery Karst
1 Tranquil Thicket
1 Glacial Chasm
32 Forest

I guess most of the "Random good stuff" section can be cut for something more suited to the deck.

Fastbond is banned. Mainly because of the combo in your deck Crucible/Orb/LD.

[MPL]

Ah, I didn't know. What should I include instead? I guess more draw couldn't hurt, or maybe Storm Cauldron, which would benefit me but screw others. Any suggestions?

[94teen]

I like the lifegain/stall package you've added. I'm going to make some huge changes to the deck soon. It was built for a friend who had some pretty stringent requirements and made subpar choices.

First few things that come to mind:

Do you really need things like Harrow? I don't really like too many of the cards that are dumping lands into play since you can generally get lands into your hand for less, and it's effectively the same thing. I guess I can see them working out though. Scapeshift maybe?

How effective has the Crucible/Loam package been working out. You have a few ways to abuse it, but without a way to reliably set the up I just don't see it working out too often. Some miscellaneous suggestions based on that engine:

Blasted Landscape is another cycling land.
Sunstone is another fog effect if you go the snow-land route.
Centaur Garden might let you pull off random wins with general damage, which would be kind of awesome.
Terramorphic Expanse/Terminal Moraine for more land drops/deck thinning

You're missing Woodfall Primus, I think, which is awesome in general.

I've got a few questions to ask which will help color how I approach redesigning my own deck:

1) How has Well of Lost Knowledge been as a draw engine. Seems like a narrow combo considering it doesn't work with many of your cards.

2) How have Planar Portal and Tower of Fortunes been? They seem really expensive relative to options like Heartwood Storyteller, Font of Mythos, etc. Those have been really good in my experience since you're better equipped to cast all the extra cards you're drawing.

3) How has the Loam/Crucible package been? It seems like it's hard to set up, but awesome if you can get it to work.

4) Why no Journeyer's Kite? It's like armillary sphere, but every turn. It's kinda mana intensive, but still pretty awesome.

5) With all the token generation in the deck, is Skullclamp a good draw engine? Seems like it would be to me.

6) How effective would Mosswort Bridge be? Not too hard to activate in my experience. Vesuva can act as a second copy if necessary/desired.

IF some of these things with activated abilities are added (terramorphic, fetches, etc) is Rings of Brighthearth worthwhile? Draw two cards for cycling, eight cards off of tower of fortunes, 4 lands off an armillary sphere, etc seems pretty okay.

EDIT: How are the spells that make your lands creatures? Seems risky to me. Turning Wraths into Armageddons seems bad, though you do have Loam and Crucible to help you recover.

[MPL]

I didn't have that many opportunities to play with the deck, so I can't really answer these questions from experience. Anyway, I'll try my best.

1) No idea. I have yet to draw or you use it.

2) Tower of Fortunes was pretty nice, because getting 8 mana is not that hard. I do think there should be better options though.

3) If you hit Crucible or Loam, you are in pretty good shape, especially with Glacial Chasm. You just don't pay the cost and reanimate it every turn. With Loam, this is really hard to disrupt and you can set up an alpha strike.

4) I didn't try Kite. I just thought it's way to expensive to use. Sure, for other colors there are no other options, but this deck is green anyway, so why not use the more efficient cards.

5) I will give that a try, sounds like a good idea.

6) No idea.

As I said before, I can't look back on many games, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

Animating lands has not been troublesome to me up to now, because all the cards I run animate ALL lands in play, except for Rude Awakening. I made sure to not include cards that stay in play and only count for one side. The opponent has to kill his lands too to get rid of yours. As the deck is rather is centered around lands, you will surely recover faster and with Loam / Crucible he would have to be pretty stupid to wipe the board.

// Edit: Btw, I went - Wurmcalling - Fastbond + Skullclamp + Woodfall Primus

[xXxBretWeedxXx]

You can add Greater Good since you run Crucible/Loam. it'll help you dig for the cards you need and you have plenty of lands you can afford to pitch.

[94teen]

Actually, You're able to play out just about every land you draw as you get them just off of your general. I have a Sasaya, Orochi Ascendant deck that abuses things like that since it plays 60+ lands, but I don't think this deck is as capable.

Even things like Nantuko Cultivator I'm a little wary of. I've never been stuck with more than 1 or 2 lands in hand after turn 5. Unless you hold back lands specifically for Greater Good and Nantuko Cultivator, I don't think they're going to be very effective.

[xXxBretWeedxXx]

Actually, You're able to play out just about every land you draw as you get them just off of your general. I have a Sasaya, Orochi Ascendant deck that abuses things like that since it plays 60+ lands, but I don't think this deck is as capable.

Even things like Nantuko Cultivator I'm a little wary of. I've never been stuck with more than 1 or 2 lands in hand after turn 5. Unless you hold back lands specifically for Greater Good and Nantuko Cultivator, I don't think they're going to be very effective.

I'm not sure you understand what I mean. You draw them off of Greater Good, lets say you sac a Baloth Token, draw 4, discard 3, net 1 card, pitch lands. There's a lot of fluff for you to easily discard and with loam/crucible those lands are as good as in your hand. It's a way to dig for Chasm or even Howl/Win Con/Crucible.

[94teen]

I'm still not really sold on it. It requires that you already have a creature engine running. There aren't all that many creatures I'd want to sac to greater good. For the cost I'd rather have something like Summoner's Pact or Primal Command and just go get something I want. Really I think greater good is only going to be awesome when you're already winning.

[xXxBretWeedxXx]

The Asuza player in my group makes it seem like the best card in his deck so that's what I base it on. I hate when it's in play.

[Mantis]

General: Azusa, Lost but Seeking

// Lands and Sol Ring
1 [TE] Ancient Tomb
1 [TSP] Vesuva
1 [CS] Scrying Sheets
1 [CS] Mouth of Ronom
1 [LRW] Mosswort Bridge
1 [SOK] Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
1 [IA] Glacial Chasm
49 [IA] Snow-Covered Forest
1 [DK] Maze of Ith
1 [4E] Mishra's Factory
1 [10E] Treetop Village
1 [SC] Temple of the False God
1 [U] Sol Ring

// Fat of the land
1 [TSB] Verdeloth the Ancient
1 [SHM] Woodfall Primus
1 [ON] Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
1 [CHK] Budoka Gardener
1 [M10] Garruk Wildspeaker
1 [UL] Multani, Maro-Sorcerer
1 [LRW] Masked Admirers
1 [UL] Deranged Hermit
1 [M10] Howl of the Night Pack
1 [MR] Tooth and Nail
1 [JU] Crush of Wurms
1 [FD] Rude Awakening

// Utility creatures
1 [M10] Acidic Slime
1 [DIS] Indrik Stomphowler
1 [ZEN] Oracle of Mul Daya
1 [FD] Eternal Witness
1 [NE] Skyshroud Poacher
1 [EVE] Wickerbough Elder

// Spells
1 [UL] Defense of the Heart
1 [MR] Mind's Eye
1 [RAV] Bottled Cloister
1 [TE] Recycle
1 [PY] Well of Discovery
1 [SH] Horn of Greed
1 [FUT] Rites of Flourishing
1 [LRW] Primal Command
1 [8E] Planar Portal
1 [IA] Sunstone
1 [UD] Storage Matrix
1 [EVE] Ward of Bones
1 [UL] Crop Rotation
1 [SH] Burgeoning
1 [SH] Mulch
1 [MR] Oblivion Stone
1 [MOR] Scapeshift
1 [EX] Survival of the Fittest
1 [DK] Gaea's Touch
1 [TSP] Gauntlet of Power

My take on the deck, this deck is actually pretty darn powerful because you will quickly have 10 lands to their 4 and as a result get to cast much better spells.

EDIT: Was just thinking Hickory Woodlot and Exploration are needed as well as you want Azusa turn 2 as often as possible.

[Watcher487]

Any thoughts to Recycle combo between Reito Lantern and Early Harvest?

[MPL]

Mantis, how do these 50% land work for you in longer games? I can understand that you can mulligan the 7 land hands you get from time to time, but isn't it awful to hit a let's say 10 land pocket and no business spell?
The deck does look explosive, but what do you do when someone pulls the break?

Edit: I just saw the Burgeoning in your list, which has been underwhelming for me. I usually dumped all the lands during my turn and Burgeoning was just a dead weight. I would replace it with Harmonize which looks rather promising.

[deadlock]

No love for Scroll Rack? :frown:

[Mantis]

Mantis, how do these 50% land work for you in longer games? I can understand that you can mulligan the 7 land hands you get from time to time, but isn't it awful to hit a let's say 10 land pocket and no business spell?
The deck does look explosive, but what do you do when someone pulls the break?

Edit: I just saw the Burgeoning in your list, which has been underwhelming for me. I usually dumped all the lands during my turn and Burgeoning was just a dead weight. I would replace it with Harmonize which looks rather promising.
First of all, the list is far from perfect as I just havent played the deck all that much. Cards like Rampaging Baloths and Oracle of Mul Daya should obviously be in there and there are quite a few cards in the deck that are just bad. I will post my new list this weekend when I get to my parents house as I dont have it here. Key to the deck is getting down Azusa turn 2 as often as possible, Burgeoning helps here so Im not sure about cutting it but will keep an eye out. If you wish to play this uber competatively I suggest adsing Sundering Titan but I dont think my friends will like it if I add that card.

The 50+ lands are pretty good, Recycle and Horn of Greed are the major engines and lands allow you to go absolutely nuts. If you dont run enough lands you are also not going to able to cast turn 4 Howling Night Packs, Crush of Wurms and Tooth and Nail. You can play 3 lands per turn and I want to run all the nutty green cards, thus +50 lands looks pretty good. Not sure I have the right number however..

[94teen]

Could you cut a couple of lands for things like:

Seek the Horizon
Journey of Discovery
Sprouting Vines
etc.

It just seems like lowering land density some makes it more likely for you to be able to cast bombs. You can also add Storm Cauldron and Cloudstone Curio to make sure you always take full advantage of your land drops. They're INSANE if you get them early, especially since Cauldron is disrpution and acceleration.

[Mantis]

That makes a lot of sense, very sound logic. I will test it out once I find the time to do so. In any case, this deck is pretty much a diamond in the rough, I think a well tuned Azusa deck could compete with Jhoira, Rofellos, Sharuum etc. Azusa does have a fair bit of difficulty with counters however since it so desperately wants the general to hit and then reap the rewards of the tempo gained.

[MPL]

Concerning Storm Cauldron: Do you think this should be run no matter what you focus on? My guess is that it's pretty cool when you want to disrupt the enemy or play bombs, but as my version wants to reanimate lands, it would be bothersome.


In any case, this deck is pretty much a diamond in the rough, I think a well tuned Azusa deck could compete with Jhoira, Rofellos, Sharuum etc. Azusa does have a fair bit of difficulty with counters however since it so desperately wants the general to hit and then reap the rewards of the tempo gained.

You could (but I wouldn't) make this more competetive by abusing the land destruction theme. Wasteland and Strip Mine combined with Sylvan Scrying, Crop Rotation, Expedition Map, Reap and Sow and the other cards I forgot make a pretty mean combo with LotL, Crucible and numerous land drops per turn. Adding Stunted Growth, Plow Under, Slime, Shambler, Creeping Mold, Desert Twister and others would be additional icing on the cake.
I think you could turn this into a "kill me by turn 3 or die" deck with some work, but would you really want to?

[94teen]

I don't think Storm Cauldron is a must if your theme is animating lands. Thing is, if you manage to drop an early storm cauldron, you're going to win. Unless someone casts artifact destruction immediately, you're going to go insane. It lets you drop lands even if you don't have them in your hand, and means your opponents can only cast spells once every couple of turns. It's especially insane with Horn of Greed.

Honestly, I think if you're going for a competitive deck, Rofellos is just about strictly better than Azusa. The disadvantage is that you come down a turn slower. The upside is that you get the advantage even if you don't get to untap.

I think that pretty much no matter how well you tune azusa, you're still going to lose to countermagic, and you're slower than Rofellos. Rofellos scales up over the course of the game while you don't, and still gets to play all the same land destruction you do. The only advantage you have is that you can wasteland/strip mine multiple times in a single turn, or that you can continue developing under a Sunstone/Constant Mists if you find crucible/loam. The problem is finding crucible/loam. If you can do that, you're set; if you can't, you're pretty much strictly worse than Rofellos.

[MPL]

Here's an update on my Azusa list, hopefully I get some replies or new ideas, things what a community is for :smile:

First, here's my current list:

//General
1 Azusa, Lost but Seeking

//Turbo
1 Gaea's Touch
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Exploration
1 Rites of Flourishing

//Land search
1 Yavimaya Elder
1 Seek the Horizon
1 Far Wanderings
1 Gaea's Bounty
1 Journey of Discovery
1 Khalni Heart Expedition
1 Kodama's Reach
1 Crop Rotation
1 Harrow
1 Krosan Tusker *
1 Skyshroud Claim
1 Armillary Sphere *

//Land Animation
1 Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
1 Nature's Revolt *
1 Natural Affinity *
1 Rude Awakening *
1 Earth Surge

//Tokens
1 Beacon of Creation
1 Waiting in the Weeds
1 Rampaging Baloths
1 Howl of the Night Pack
1 Avenger of Zendikar
1 Seed the Land
1 Ant Queen

//Lands matter
1 Grazing Gladehart
1 Seer's Sundial
1 Horn of Greed
1 Lifegift
1 Well of Knowledge
1 Zuran Orb
1 Constant Mists
1 Life from the Loam
1 Crucible of Worlds

//Recursion

1 Eternal Witness
1 Restock
1 Revive
1 Regrowth

//Hate

1 Mold Shambler
1 Acidic Slime
1 Desert Twister
1 Creeping Mold
1 Woodfall Primus
1 Terastodon

//Cards that don't fit in the other categories

1 Tower of Fortunes *
1 Planar Portal *
1 Helix Pinnacle
1 Silklash Spider
1 Tooth and Nail
1 Defense of the Heart
1 Gauntlet of Power
1 Survival of the Fittest
1 Genesis
1 Sylvan Library
1 Skullclamp
1 Harmonize

//Lands
1 Strip Mine
1 Wasteland
1 Deserted Temple
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 Jungle Basin
1 Slippery Karst
1 Tranquil Thicket
1 Glacial Chasm
1 Petrified Field
31 Forest

Cards with a * are doubtful cases, mabye there's something better out there. Also I there are a few cards that could make it into the deck, but I am not sure if they are good enough. Mabye someone has some experiences with them. Those would be Mana Reflection which sounds awesome, but it could be overkill. Krosan Grip could be added or replace Creeping Mold. Mold does destroy lands though, so I am not sure. Fetchlands for more landfall could be good. Then there are Storm Cauldron and Cloudstone Curio which look good, but could be bad (great explanation here).

Ideas? Critizisms? Opinions? I'll take em all!

[puppektion]

Well, I've been playing Azusa as a general since 2007. The more I played, themore the deck evolved into combo. I try not to play the deck too often now, as the last turn usually takes 5-15 minutes, but it's still a blast to pilot.

// General
Azusa, Lost but Seeking

// Land

Tectonic Edge
Slippery Karst
Wasteland
Strip Mine
Tranquil Thicket
Ghost Quarter
Dust Bowl
Dark Depths
Forest (x54)

// Draw
Seer's Sundial
Mind's Eye
Horn of Greed
Recycle
Tower of Fortunes
Credit Voucher
Magus of the Library
Sensei's Divining Top
Harmonize
Nantuko Cultivator
Abundance

// Reccursion
Nostalgic Dreams
Woodland Guidance
Elven Cache
Restock
Recollect
Nature's Spiral
Eternal Witness
Revive
Regrowth
Holistic Wisdom
Crucible of Worlds

// The Kill
Wurmcalling
Beacon of Creation
Goblin Cannon
Molimo, Maro-Sorcerer
Hunting Pack
Unyaro Bees

// Extra Azusa-like effects
Explore
Rites of Flourishing
Oracle of Mul Daya

// Untap Effects
Seedborn Muse
Early Harvest
Rude Awakening

// Misc.
Solemn Simulacrum
Seedborn Muse
Plow Under
Concordant Crossroads

As mentioned above, this deck pilots more like a combo deck. Generally, you can safely sit back for a few turns, until you have a decent chunk of lands. By cycling through Early Harvest/Rude Awakening through Regrowth effects, you can generate a decent ammount of mana and/or a decent storm count.

I'm kinda tired and not really sure what else to say right now, but the deck handles fairly well, and I haven't really had any real complaints about it.

Thoughts?

[MPL]

More or less a question for everyone who is interested in Azusa: What do you think about lands that produce 2 mana, but have a drawback? Like Ancient Tomb or Hickory Woodlot. Is the possibility of getting a turn 2 Azusa worth the downsides?