[EDH] Momir Vig, Elfball Engine Visionary

[Aggro_zombies]

This deck is pretty straightforward:

General: 1 Momir Vig, Simic Visionary

18 Forest
1 Island
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Windswept Heath
1 Terramorphic Expense
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Tropical Island
1 Breeding Pool
1 Yavimaya Coast
1 Flooded Grove
1 Hinterland Harbor
1 Simic Growth Chamber
1 Command Tower
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 Wirewood Lodge

1 Arbor Elf
1 Birchlore Rangers
1 Boreal Druid
1 Essence Warden
1 Fyndhorn Elves
1 Heritage Druid
1 Joraga Treespeaker
1 Joraga Warcaller
1 Llanowar Elves
1 Nettle Sentinel
1 Quirion Ranger
1 Coiling Oracle
1 Devoted Druid
1 Elvish Visionary
1 Fauna Shaman
1 Multani's Acolyte
1 Priest of Titania
1 Quirion Elves
1 Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
1 Seeker of Skybreak
1 Sylvan Ranger
1 Wellwisher
1 Wirewood Herald
1 Elvish Archdruid
1 Elvish Champion
1 Elvish Harbinger
1 Ezuri, Renegade Leader
1 Fyndhorn Elder
1 Greenweaver Druid
1 Imperious Perfect
1 Viridian Shaman
1 Wood Elves
1 Lys Alana Huntmaster
1 Nullmage Shepherd
1 Wirewood Channeler
1 Wren's Run Packmaster
1 Yeva, Nature's Herald
1 Gilt-Leaf Archdruid

1 Wirewood Symbiote
1 Scryb Ranger
1 Eternal Witness
1 Primordial Sage
1 Soul of the Harvest
1 Regal Force

1 Summoner's Pact
1 Glimpse of Nature
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Survival of the Fittest
1 Chord of Calling
1 Distant Melody
1 Collective Unconscious

1 Regrowth
1 Revive

1 Mobilize
1 Vitalize
1 Concordant Crossroads
1 Mana Severance
1 Thousand-Year Elixir
1 Intruder Alarm
1 Cloudstone Curio
1 Aluren

1 Akroma's Memorial
1 Blue Sun's Zenith
1 Hurricane

Current as of 5-xii-2012.

Basically, you're looking to generate absurd amounts of mana in as little time as possibly, vomit your deck into play, and either attack everyone to death (thanks to lords, Warcaller, Ezuri, and Memorial), Blue Sun's Zenith out the people you can't attack, or gain some life with Wellwisher and then Hurricane everyone out. Momir is not required for any of the this but makes comboing easy mode.

The deck is a pile of stupid made bearable by the fact that it's all creature-based. People complain less that way.

[Phoenix Ignition]

Would Painters Servant making all your dudes blue help the combo? Easy to tutor, lets you draw your deck with enough mana.

[Aggro_zombies]

Would Painters Servant making all your dudes blue help the combo? Easy to tutor, lets you draw your deck with enough mana.
He's banned.

EDIT: Assuming he wasn't, though, it wouldn't help too much. You already have two different creatures that draw cards whenever you play a creature, and you've got Glimpse as a spell backup.

The deck doesn't really need more draw since it has so many robust card advantage engines; it needs to be faster.

[hyc8028]

Where is Aluren? Most of your creature are 3 CMC or less.

Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary deserve a spot in the deck.

Umbral Mantle allows you to have infinite mana if your elf can produce 4 mana or more.

Capsize for utility/kill condition?

Sylvan Library is your 2nd top.

[Brizzle]

I love the look of this deck. It does exactly what I like doing in EDH and I think you're right about creature-based combo being less frowned upon. Excellent work!

Also, what about Skullclamp?

[MattH]

Do you even need Nissa? I can't imagine letting her go ultimate, ever. Chosen is garbage. And you don't need the lifegain, you have Warden. Even if you're Hurricane-ing, you can just redirect the damage to you to Garruk.

[Brizzle]

Even if you're Hurricane-ing, you can just redirect the damage to you to Garruk.
Planeswalkers don't work that way; you can't redirect damage sources you control.

[Phoenix Ignition]

He's banned.


Whoops, I thought Grindstone was banned and Painters Servant got the unban, but it's the other way around.

[Aggro_zombies]

Thanks for the replies.

@ Skullclamp: It works well...until I get a Lord out. Then it kind of sucks because it won't auto-kill anything relevant. If I drop Chosen, I'll probably add Wirewood Hivemaster and then Skullclamp would be quite good.

@ Nissa: Sometimes you can't just combo off in one turn. I like Nissa because she gives me the option of slow-rolling and then going off when the time for it seems good by dumping my entire library into play for me. People tend to go bonkers after you come out of nowhere the first time, so it's nice to protect my Elves by keeping them in my library. Nissa seems to be less of a threat to people than eight million guys.

@ Sylvan Library: it's not exactly a second Top, because it does nothing when I go off, but I guess it helps me set up better. And there are a bunch of cards in this deck that do nothing when I go off anyway.

@ Capsize: It's hard to make two blue mana in high quantities: only Wirewood Channeler can do it, although Rangers can make bursts of blue mana. If I get to the point that I can make that much mana, though, I'd only be bouncing stuff to grief people. There's no Glacial Chasms/Solitary Confinements around here.

@ Mantle: What do I cut for it? :/

@ Rofellos: I generally only have a few Forests in play when I go off, so he's not that hot. On the other hand, he does tap for multiple mana. He is also a candidate for Chosen's slot.

@ Aluren: Derp, missed this one. If I can find one, I'll add it. Being able to go off on other people's turns seems stupid.

[MattH]

Whoops, I thought Grindstone was banned and Painters Servant got the unban, but it's the other way around.

It used to be that way, but Iona pushed PS to be too much of a problem, so they banned it. Without PS, Grindstone could then be unbanned.


Planeswalkers don't work that way; you can't redirect damage sources you control.
Huh! I wonder why it works that way. It seems like you should be able to burn your own Walker out.

[hyc8028]

How about cut Veilstone Amulet and Sages of the Anima for aluren and mantle?

[Aggro_zombies]

How about cut Veilstone Amulet and Sages of the Anima for aluren and mantle?
Veilstone protects my creatures the turn I'm going off, which is pretty big since most people don't remove them prior to that (unless wiping the board). Even people who know what this deck does tend to hold removal in multiplayer games, which is fine (after all, why waste a Swords on a Llanowar Elf or Multani's Acolyte?).

Sages helps with setup and keeps me from decking myself with Glimpse if I decide to go infinite. That said, if someone has another way to stop drawing cards, Sages is pretty weak.

I'd probably cut Promenade for Aluren. I can already make lots of Elves, and Promenade hasn't proven to be too compelling so far.

[Anusien]

I have a Nissa. I haven't gotten a chance to try it yet. In theory I like it because it's another spell to help me beat Wraths.

How do you find the 2 and 3 mana mana Elves (like Devoted Druid)? I imagine they'd be too awful.

Thousand Year Elixir needs a place. Wirewood Lodge is insane. Slate of Ancestry is playable. Kaysa is another Elf Lord.
Patron of the Orochi seems better than Mobilize.

[Blitzbold]

This looks like a very good deck, but it's probably too strong for a medioce playgroup. After playing this once I'd expect similar reactions to this as to something like Azami. On the other hand, if your playgroup is that cut-throat, this will be a nice contender and nicely differs from other, more frequently seen strong decks that can be found within such groups.

[Anusien]

No Timberwatch Elf? No Drove of Elves? Both of those are also good ways to win the game.

Also, Sylvan Messenger and Skyshroud Poacher are both good card draw.

And no Natural Order?

Weird Harvest and Door of Destinies are both bonkers. Akroma's Memorial is another mass haste spell.

[AngryTroll]

Also, Sylvan Messenger and Skyshroud Poacher are both good card draw.

Brass Herald costs six, but it's a Messenger and Elf lord in one body.

[Aggro_zombies]

No Timberwatch Elf? No Drove of Elves? Both of those are also good ways to win the game.
I consciously avoided those because I was approaching this deck as a deck that Hurricanes, but can sometimes attack to win; those two are more geared towards the reverse. Heedless One only got the nod because I thought it was the best option due to trample punching through blockers, but really if this deck is attacking all the creatures are, like, 10/10 minimum.


Also, Sylvan Messenger and Skyshroud Poacher are both good card draw.
Messenger draws an average of two cards in this deck with Vig in play, and is actually pretty weak otherwise for four mana. Poacher is great as a tutor but tends to die immediately, or at least after the first time I find a Priest with it. Seven mana to find a guy and Duress a removal spell is not exactly the pinnacle of efficiency.


And no Natural Order?
I don't own any and don't want to sell any organs to cover the costs of getting one. Even if I did, the most compelling thing I could fetch is, what, Regal Force? I would think having both kidneys is better than that.


Weird Harvest and Door of Destinies are both bonkers. Akroma's Memorial is another mass haste spell.
Door is okay, I guess, but Warcaller is a Door I can fetch and I don't have to find it prior to going off. Memorial seems pretty good, but I'd have to find one.

@Troll: Herald isn't an Elf. If it actually drew me four cards and was a lord, I'd play it anyway, but six mana to average two guys and a 2/2 that doesn't power up my mana engines is so mediocre it puts the American public school system to shame. If it were an Elf, I would probably only include it after using Messenger.

The approach with this deck was primarily to win through Hurricane or Brain Freeze, with the option of attacking with huge guys as a backup. Think of it as being kind of like the early versions of Extended combo Elves that ran Grapeshot. Therefore, I'm trying to save space by keeping the "strictly combat" cards to a minimum in favor of mana generators and cheap dudes.

EDIT: Son of a bitch, I just actually READ Weird Harvest and realized they all go to hand. Day-um, that shit's nuts.

[Anusien]

Yeah. Weird Harvest for anything is pretty much game over as long as you have mana untapped. And even if you don't, there are few things you care about.

[Kha]

Earthcraft is super stupid in elves combo.

Altar of Dementia is another brain freeze type effect if you need one(colourless if that matters)

Eladamri, Lord of Leaves or Steely Resolve can give all your guys shroud, or if you still want to be able to target them with equips and effects Dense Foliage works pretty well.

[the Thin White Duke]

I'm really diggin' this deck. Aluren is awesome; I'm running Rocket Launcher and Helix Pinnacle as an alternate wins.
I hate to say this, but it's almost as fun to play as my Azami deck. (Shh, don't tell her...)

[Aggro_zombies]

Thanks. I haven't been playing it at all lately, mostly because I'm still missing a bunch of cards for it and don't like mucking around with proxies, but also partly because I happen to like my Vorosh (http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?15924-EDH-Vorosh-the-Dredgenator) deck a little more.

I like the Rocket Launcher idea, but Goblin Cannon seems better because it doesn't have that weird quasi-summoning sickness Rocket Launcher has.

[the Thin White Duke]

Oh yeah, Goblin Cannon does play better. I just love dusting off old Antiquities stuff, though. I'm still missing a few pieces and I've been experimenting with substitutes. I have Sprouting Vines in there, but I'm not smart enough to figure out if there's an good use for it. Enshrined Memories is also another draw tool for back up.

[Aggro_zombies]

I have Sprouting Vines in there, but I'm not smart enough to figure out if there's an good use for it.
Windfall? There's also Nostalgic Dreams, Turbulent Dreams, and Mind Over Matter.

[the Thin White Duke]

Did I mention Sprout Swarm? That plays oh so well with a few creatures and Intruder Alarm.

[Hunding Gjornersen]

Sleight of Mind effects are pretty busted if your creature base favors a color.

[Aggro_zombies]

OP updated. Joraga Treespeaker is pretty nutty.

EDIT: I'd like Monument to be Akroma's Memorial, but I'd have to find one of those first.

[(nameless one)]

I'm planning on building this EDH. How does it do on FFA multiplayer games?

Also, any updates on the list?

[Aggro_zombies]

Haven't played this deck since last May, so no. What's FFA?

[(nameless one)]

Haven't played this deck since last May, so no. What's FFA?

Free For All.

I'm going to build this deck because Survivals are cheaper now, and Green has been getting a lot of love from MBS. Green Sun's Zenith has EDH written all over it. Lead the Stampede sounds like an okay card too (if it can fit in this deck)


http://www.starcitygames.com/images/article/01192011chapinprev.jpg

[Aggro_zombies]

Well...

In FFA, you tend to be a target because of Momir's reputation. If you play a bunch of mana elves, you'll be seen as a threat; if you play Momir and pass, you'll be seen as a huge threat. The other issue is that this deck is less consistent than something like storm combo because of the need to find one (or preferably more) of your draw engines before going off. The deck needs Skullclamp plus that two mana elf that makes insects (since the insects are immune to your lords, you can Clamp them with abandon).

The other issue is that the deck is actually kind of creature light for what it wants to do. Keeping Momir alive while going off is a monumental task, so more often than not you need to be able to chain elves together without getting to tutor for them via your general. That means the deck could use a higher creature count than it has, but importantly the creatures need to be cheap for mana efficiency reasons. There aren't a lot of cheap elves that actually do something (I mean, you could run stuff like Norwood Ranger if you really wanted), and this deck runs almost all of them. I would not include Lead the Stampede because you'd be better served by just running more guys (like the Elf version of Goblin Ringleader - Sylvan Messenger or something?), and Green Sun's Zenith probably replaces Chord of Calling.

Going off of the list above, you drop Nissa, Chord of Calling, and Restock and run the Elf Ringleader, GSZ, and another mana elf. You can also probably cut a forest for a Land Grant. I really wish there were more cards like Mana Severance because drawing lands while going off is the most common route to fizzling (assuming your general doesn't stick). Alternately, you run Elf Ringleader, GSZ, and the insect-making Elf guy, and cut a Summoner's Pact for a Skullclamp. I'd also cut a Chameleon Colossus for a Fauna Shaman.

[(nameless one)]

Have you ever done aggro first then combo late game?

Also I would like to point out Spellsharer. He can help with a lot of combo surrounding elves.

Combo One: Heritage Druid + Nettle Sentinel + Shapesharer: Use SS to copy Sentinel and do it like combo elves.

Combo Two: Ezuri + Devoted Druid + Shapesharer: Turn SS into DD and keep using DD and copy's mana+untap ability to feed Ezuri's Overrun ability. Your DD and copy won't die as they will just keep getting +3/+3 from Ezuri (and the rest of your elves), even if their untap clause is giving them -1/-1.

Norwood Priests and Elvish Piper are good too if you have massive creatures to cheat into play.

Hopefully I can brainstorm enough ideas to justify myself of building this EDH.

[Aggro_zombies]

Have you ever done aggro first then combo late game?
No, because you spend most of the game with a team full of shitty 1/1 dorks. If you want to go aggro, the creatures for that (a) aren't Elves, (b) don't overlap with a combo plan, and (c) push the deck in much more of a ramp/big mana direction.


Also I would like to point out Spellsharer. He can help with a lot of combo surrounding elves.

Combo One: Heritage Druid + Nettle Sentinel + Shapesharer: Use SS to copy Sentinel and do it like combo elves.

Combo Two: Ezuri + Devoted Druid + Shapesharer: Turn SS into DD and keep using DD and copy's mana+untap ability to feed Ezuri's Overrun ability. Your DD and copy won't die as they will just keep getting +3/+3 from Ezuri (and the rest of your elves), even if their untap clause is giving them -1/-1.
The issue with Sharer is that it's blue, and you don't have much blue in this deck. That's actually a huge issue because you basically just want blue for your general and Mana Severance (or Mystical Tutor for a spell), and after that you need a lot of green to keep chaining creatures. I realize that it's usually just a blue up-front and then a blue to activate it, but still, I'd rather not run blue at all.


Norwood Priests and Elvish Piper are good too if you have massive creatures to cheat into play.

Hopefully I can brainstorm enough ideas to justify myself of building this EDH.
Well, I mean, it's Vig, so you can take it one of two ways: it's either a deck full of utility creatures where Vig is an analog to Survival, or it's a combo deck where Vig is an engine that keeps the combo going. Those two plans overlap less than you might think at first glance. If you want to add some top-end fat, that's fine, but you don't need Piper or Priest since you can make a ton of mana off of your Elves. If you're cutting mana elves for fat, you can basically kiss a combo kill goodbye unless it involves making Blightsteel every game.

It's a fun deck, but I haven't run it in a while because I've switched back to storm as my non-interactive win of choice.

[Aggro_zombies]

I decided to put this deck back together because I was looking for something interesting to play for EDH and revisited a couple of my old ideas. The list in the OP is what I would consider putting together if I were to play this deck tomorrow.

[boneclub24]

This deck is sick. Will probably make something very similar for my next deck!

[Aggro_zombies]

It's not blazingly fast or anything - I'd say it's a fairly consistent turn six or seven deck in multiplayer if you're not facing multiple Wraths. But it is certainly fun, and it looks innocuous enough until you go off.

[boneclub24]

It's not blazingly fast or anything - I'd say it's a fairly consistent turn six or seven deck in multiplayer if you're not facing multiple Wraths. But it is certainly fun, and it looks innocuous enough until you go off.

Well, I meant 'sick' as in exactly what I was looking for :)

[264505]

Would Edric, Spymaster of Trest be a better general? You can play him on your combo turn to draw extra cards and continue to go off if you don't have everything already.

[Aggro_zombies]

Would Edric, Spymaster of Trest be a better general? You can play him on your combo turn to draw extra cards and continue to go off if you don't have everything already.
With the "draw a card when you play a creature" spells, Momir is essentially a Demonic Tutor for creatures (so I guess Eladamri's Call). This deck also doesn't tend to attack too much before its combo turn; when you attack, you want to attack for many times lethal thanks to huge Ezuris or Joraga Warcallers. I could see adding Edric to the main, but I don't know what he's better than right now. Possibly Yeva? I'll have to think about it.