[EDH] Animar, Soul of Elements

[Kuma]

Lands (35):

Tropical Island, Volcanic Island, Taiga
Breeding Pool, Steam Vents, Stomping Ground
Wooded Foothills, Windswept Heath, Verdant Catacombs, Misty Rainforest, Arid Mesa, Bloodstained Mire, Scalding Tarn, Polluted Delta, Flooded Strand
Yavimaya Coast, Shivan Reef, Karplusan Forest
Fire-Lit Thicket, Flooded Grove, Cascade Bluffs
Command Tower
City of Brass
Exotic Orchard
Reflecting Pool
Gaea's Cradle
3 Forest
4 Island
Mountain
Dryad Arbor

Acceleration: (12)

Mana Crypt
Sol Ring
Carpet of Flowers
Earthcraft
Bloom Tender
Lotus Cobra
Sakura-Tribe Elder
Somberwald Sage
Oracle of Mul Daya
Skyshroud Claim
Hunting Wilds
Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger

Card Draw: (5)

Sylvan Library
Edric, Spymaster of Trest
Magus of the Future
Consecrated Sphinx
Soul of the Harvest

Tutors: (15)

Gamble
Worldly Tutor
Sylvan Tutor
Green Sun's Zenith
Fauna Shaman
Survival of the Fittest
Signal the Clans
Birthing Pod
Chord of Calling
Imperial Recruiter
Tooth and Nail
Mystical Tutor
Muddle the Mixture
Defense of the Heart
Bribery

Combo Pieces: (10)

Shrieking Drake
Dream Stalker
Man-o'-War
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
Splinter Twin
Deceiver Exarch
Pestermite
Breaching Hippocamp
Zealous Conscripts
Palinchron

Copy/Steal/Counter/Kill/Bounce: (17)

Phantasmal Image
Phyrexian Metamorph
Rite of Replication
Gilded Drake
Sower of Temptation
Treachery
Pact of Negation
Swan Song
Mana Drain
Plasm Capture
Glen Elendra Archmage
Force of Will
Beast Within
Bane of Progress
Sylvan Primordial
Cyclonic Rift
Llawan, Cephalid Empress

Other: (5)

Sylvan Safekeeper
Spellskite
Eternal Witness
Stranglehold
Temporal Mastery

It may not look like it, but Animar, Soul of Elements is the most complicated EDH deck I've ever seen or played with. Combo and control are the hardest archetypes to pilot, and Animar, Soul of Elements has the cards to play both roles. You will need to master both to succeed. There are numerous combos that are not immediately obvious, and with 32 creatures, activating a Birthing Pod or Survival of the Fittest is an adventure.

How to play:

Most of the time, the first order of business will be to cast Animar, Soul of Elements. Carpet of Flowers and Green Sun's Zenith (for Dryad Arbor) facilitate this. Bloom Tender and Somberwald Sage can also let you cast turn two Animar, Soul of Elements provided you cast them turn one with a Mana Crypt. If you have a Somberwald Sage or Bloom Tender, it's usually best to cast them before Animar, Soul of Elements. The loss of the +1/+1 counter is more than made up for by the huge boost in mana production.

After you have Animar, Soul of Elements out, there are about a million ways you can win.

Combos:

Earthcraft + Island + Shrieking Drake/Dream Stalker/Man-o'-War + Animar, Soul of Elements

Like the above combo, this gives you an arbitrarily large Animar, Soul of Elements. Cast Shrieking Drake/Dream Stalker/Man-o'-War and with the bounce trigger on the stack tap them to untap the basic Island. Use the Island to recast the creature and repeat.

Adding Soul of the Harvest to the above combo allows you to draw as many cards as you want.

Adding Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger to the above combo allows you to generate infinite mana of any color for which you have the corresponding basic land.

Animar, Soul of Elements + Palinchron

If you have six lands, none of which is Gaea's Cradle, this gets you an arbitrarily large Animar, Soul of Elements. Note that you will need either five +1/+1 counters on Animar, Soul of Elements or the extra mana to get Animar to five +1/+1 counters for this to work.

If one of your six lands is Gaea's Cradle, or you have seven or more lands, this combo also gets you infinite mana. You will need three lands capable of producing blue mana to make infinite blue mana this way.

If you use Phantasmal Image to copy a Palinchron already on the battlefield, you can make an arbitrarily large Animar, Soul of Elements with five lands and infinite mana with six. You only need two lands capable of producing blue mana to make infinite mana this way. This also works with Phyrexian Metamorph if you have an Animar, Soul of Elements with at least three +1/+1 counters and six or more lands. You can even make "infinite" mana with five lands, but it will cost you two life per mana generated. You can add counters to Animar, Soul of Elements with four lands for the cost of two life per counter.

Adding Soul of the Harvest to the above combo allows you to draw as many cards as you want.

Palinchron + Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger

Generates infinite mana of any color you can produce with your lands provided you have at least six lands and at least two of them can tap for blue (otherwise you get infinite red and/or green mana.) This can potentially be done with as few as four lands if you have an Animar, Soul of Elements with at least five +1/+1 counters. If you use Phantasmal Image to copy Palinchron, it can be done with three lands. This works very similarly to the Animar, Soul of Elements + Palinchron combo above.

Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker/Splinter Twin + Pestermite/Deceiver Exarch/Breaching Hippocamp/Zealous Conscripts

Use Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker/Splinter Twin to make a copy of Pestermite/Deceiver Exarch/Zealous Conscripts untapping Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker/The creature enchanted by Splinter Twin. Repeat until you have an arbitrarily large number of Pestermites/Deceiver Exarchs/Zealous Conscripts. Kill all your opponents with your army of hasty tokens.

Note that Splinter Twin + Breaching Hippocamp is a non-bo.

Birthing Pod:

Playing Birthing Pod correctly in this deck is difficult. The most important thing to remember is that if you have a Birthing Pod, a creature with CMC two, a creature with CMC four on the battlefield, and two mana available, you can win the game. Activate Birthing Pod, sacrificing the CMC two creature to get a Pestermite or Deceiver Exarch untapping Birthing Pod. Activate Birthing Pod again, turning your CMC four creature into Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker. You now have the game winning combo described in the previous section.

You can also win the game if you have Birthing Pod and two creatures with CMC four, or Glen Elendra Archmage. Activate Birthing Pod sacrificing one of the CMC four creatures to get Zealous Conscripts untapping Birthing Pod. Sacrifice the other CMC four creature (or Glen Elendra Archmage after it persists) to get Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker. You now have the game winning combo described in the previous section.

You can turn a CMC two creature into a CMC four creature by getting Pestermite/Deceiver Exarch and using it to untap Birthing Pod. You can also turn a CMC four creature into a CMC six creature by getting Zealous Conscripts and using it to untap Birthing Pod.

Here is a list of creatures in the deck sorted by CMC to help you decide how to use your Birthing Pod

0: Dryad Arbor

1: Shrieking Drake, Sylvan Safekeeper

2: Bloom Tender, Dream Stalker, Fauna Shaman, Gilded Drake, Lotus Cobra, Phantasmal Image, Sakura-Tribe Elder, Spellskite

3: Deceiver Exarch, Edric, Spymaster of Trest, Eternal Witness, Imperial Recruiter, Man-o'-War, Pestermite, Somberwald Sage

4: Breaching Hippocamp, Glen Elendra Archmage, Llawan, Cephalid Empress, Oracle of Mul Daya, Phyrexian Metamorph, Sower of Temptation

5: Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, Magus of the Future, Zealous Conscripts

6: Bane of Progress, Consecrated Sphinx, Soul of the Harvest

7: Palinchron, Sylvan Primordial

8: Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger

General Tips:

The first creature you want to search out from your deck is almost always Shrieking Drake. He builds up your Animar, Soul of Elements while staying safely in your hand. Even if you're using Survival of the Fittest/Fauna Shaman to assemble Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker/Pestermite combo, you probably want to get Shrieking Drake first.

Tutor for Shrieking Drake -> cast Shrieking Drake twice, putting two counters on Animar, Soul of Elements -> Tutor for Pestermite -> cast Pestermite -> Tutor for Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker -> cast Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker

G + UU + G + 0 + G + RRR = UUGGGRRR = 8 mana

Without Shrieking Drake:

G + 2 + G + 2RRR = 4GGRRR = 9 mana

It's also better to cast your cheaper creatures first. With Animar, Soul of Elements out, consider:

Sylvan Safekeeper -> Bloom Tender -> Somberwald Sage = GGG = 3 mana.

Somberwald Sage -> Bloom Tender -> Sylvan Safekeeper = 2GGG = 5 mana.

Llawan, Cephalid Empress is a fantastically powerful card that shits all over almost every top-tier EDH deck.

Some good Signal the Clans piles are:

Shrieking Drake/Dream Stalker/Man-o'-War
Deceiver Exarch/Pestermite/Zealous Conscripts
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker/Imperial Recruiter/Eternal Witness
Any creature with power two or less/Imperial Recruiter/Eternal Witness

Or just three really strong creatures.

[menace13]

Jester from MTGSally has the best version of the deck I've seen. They actually have a very good 1v1 edh forum.

http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=388912

Skullclamp equips into Curio loops. Recruiter-Metamorph-> Ullamog infi chain, go.
Deck is so hard to play.

[TeenieBopper]

I have Animar as my competative (in a loose sense of the word) EDH deck. It's fairly similar to yours, though I guess all Animar decks are going to look pretty similar.

Cast Aluren. If you haven't cast him already, you can now cast Animar, Soul of Elements for free since his CMC is three.

I'm curious, because I hadn't thought of this before now, but how does this work if Animar has been removed before? Can you still cast it for free? Or do you still pay 2 for each death counter on Animar?

[Kuma]

Jester from MTGSally has the best version of the deck I've seen. They actually have a very good 1v1 edh forum.

http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=388912

Skullclamp equips into Curio loops. Recruiter-Metamorph-> Ullamog infi chain, go.
Deck is so hard to play.

That list looks very good. I don't play 1v1 EDH, and I'm not sure if that's the best way to approach the deck in multiplayer. I'll definitely try that list out and see if I like the idea better.

I'm curious, because I hadn't thought of this before now, but how does this work if Animar has been removed before? Can you still cast it for free? Or do you still pay 2 for each death counter on Animar?

I am not a judge, but as far as I can tell you can cast Animar, Soul of Elements for free with Aluren no matter how many times he has been sent to the command zone. The extra 2 is an additional mana cost, and Aluren reads "you may cast...without paying their mana cost." Maybe someone with better rules knowledge can confirm.

[Aggro_zombies]

I am not a judge, but as far as I can tell you can cast Animar, Soul of Elements for free with Aluren no matter how many times he has been sent to the command zone. The extra 2 is an additional mana cost, and Aluren reads "you may cast...without paying their mana cost." Maybe someone with better rules knowledge can confirm.

IIRC it's the same as the interaction between, say, Aluren and Sphere of Resistance: you don't have to pay the regular cost, but you still have to pay the additional cost.

[Kuma]

IIRC it's the same as the interaction between, say, Aluren and Sphere of Resistance: you don't have to pay the regular cost, but you still have to pay the additional cost.

Looks like you're right. I found this:

Additional costs, such as the additional cost to cast your commander from the command zone each time after the first, are applied after alternate costs are determined. So you would still have to pay the additional 2 each time you cast Animar from the command zone. From the MTG Comprehensive Rulebook on Casting Spells:

601.2e The player determines the total cost of the spell. Usually this is just the mana cost. Some spells have additional or alternative costs. Some effects may increase or reduce the cost to pay, or may provide other alternative costs. Costs may include paying mana, tapping permanents, sacrificing permanents, discarding cards, and so on. The total cost is the mana cost or alternative cost (as determined in rule 601.2b), plus all additional costs and cost increases, and minus all cost reductions. If the mana component of the total cost is reduced to nothing by cost reduction effects, it is considered to be 0. It cant be reduced to less than 0. Once the total cost is determined, any effects that directly affect the total cost are applied. Then the resulting total cost becomes locked in. If effects would change the total cost after this time, they have no effect.

Wizards even made a rule to clarify this situation:

117.9d If an alternative cost is being paid to cast a spell, any additional costs, cost increases, and cost reductions that affect that spell are applied to that alternative cost. (See rule 601.2e.)

[Davran]

I'm curious, because I hadn't thought of this before now, but how does this work if Animar has been removed before? Can you still cast it for free? Or do you still pay 2 for each death counter on Animar?

IIRC it's the same as the interaction between, say, Aluren and Sphere of Resistance: you don't have to pay the regular cost, but you still have to pay the additional cost.

I agree here. I think you still pay the appropriate "tax" each time. I was tinkering with the idea of an Omnath deck that used Aluren as removal insurance (recast Omnath at instant speed to keep the massive mana pool), and I was always under the impression that the tax had to be paid.

[Kuma]

- Balefire Dragon
- Tidespout Tyrant

+ Treachery
+ Bribery

Balefire Dragon actually cost me more games than he won me because people would Bribery him out of my library and wreck my board. Tidespout Tyrant was never used to any good effect. I pretty much always won before I'd ever cast him.

Treachery and Bribery are too powerful not to run. Anybody who has played enough EDH knows how powerful those two cards are. I can't believe I wasn't running them.

[Kuma]

- Cloudstone Curio
- Triumph of the Hordes
- Momir Vig, Simic Visionary
- Sun Quan, Lord of Wu
- Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger
- Forest

+ Utopia Sprawl
+ Wild Growth
+ Sylvan Safekeeper
+ Green Sun's Zenith
+ Chord of Calling
+ Dryad Arbor

I never used Cloudstone Curio in all the games I played with this deck. It looked good in theory, but I never wanted it in practice. The games where it would have been useful were the games I was already ahead.

Triumph of the Hordes and Sun Quan, Lord of Wu didn't do enough work. If I had an infinitely large Animar, Soul of Elements, chances are I was winning whether he was blockable or not. I still want to run a creature that lets Animar, Soul of Elements get around an opponent's defenses, but the card needs to do more than just that. Looking for suggestions.

Momir Vig, Simic Visionary, and Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger weren't relevant often enough. I never searched for Momir Vig, Simic Visionary because why spend a tutor to get another tutor? The game was usually over before I could cast Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger, and he was a liability if I ever was the target of Bribery.

Utopia Sprawl and Wild Growth help cast a turn two Animar, Soul of Elements while sticking around to continue making mana. They also add new avenues to make infinite mana with Earthcraft while making Palinchron better.

Green Sun's Zenith is another way to get a turn two Animar, Soul of Elements with Dryad Arbor. Later on, it tutors for a powerful green creature, or any creature if I get Fauna Shaman. Chord of Calling also improves consistency while adding an end of turn surprise factor.

Getting Animar, Soul of Elements or any big creature stolen by an opponent is one of the worst things that can happen to this deck. Sylvan Safekeeper helps prevent this by coming out sooner than any creature I care about getting stolen.

Updated decklist and primer.

[Hunding Gjornersen]

Cryptic Command obviously isn't a creature, but it lets Animar get in there and does other stuff, too.

[Kuma]

Cryptic Command obviously isn't a creature, but it lets Animar get in there and does other stuff, too.

That's true, but the reason I need a creature is that I can't reliably tutor for a card when I need it unless it's a creature.

[Hunding Gjornersen]

A creature that'll let Animar get through for a deathblow and do other stuff is a tall order to fill. Champion of Lambholt could work. It gets huge like Animar does. Ethereal Usher is probably too janky, but at least it transmutes into... stuff?

[Kuma]

A creature that'll let Animar get through for a deathblow and do other stuff is a tall order to fill. Champion of Lambholt could work. It gets huge like Animar does. Ethereal Usher is probably too janky, but at least it transmutes into... stuff?

Champion of Lambholt is close to what I'm looking for. It makes an arbitrarily large Animar, Soul of Elements unblockable while becoming arbitrarily large and unblockable itself. Ideally the card I'm looking for would do something other than unblockability, but Champion of Lambholt might be the best I can do.

Yeah, Ethereal Usher is too janky, but that's the kind of card I'm looking for. Something that makes Animar, Soul of Elements unblockable while being able to have entirely another affect on the game.

Keep the suggestions coming!

[Hunding Gjornersen]

Since you already run Primeval Titan you could use it to find a trample land like Skarrg, the Rage Pits or the probably superior Kessig Wolf Run.

[kombatkiwi]

Since you already run Primeval Titan you could use it to find a trample land like Skarrg, the Rage Pits or the probably superior Kessig Wolf Run.

Or turntimber grove even, giving the trample straight away without needing to wait for untap

[Kuma]

Since you already run Primeval Titan you could use it to find a trample land like Skarrg, the Rage Pits or the probably superior Kessig Wolf Run.

There are a couple of problems with Kessig Wolf Run. First, I'm trying to get on turn two as often as possible. Since Kessig Wolf Run can't help with that, I need to cut a spell for it. Also, since it's a land, I'd need Primeval Titan to tutor for it. I couldn't even use it the turn I cast Primeval Titan because it enters the battlefield tapped.

I do like that Kessig Wolf Run makes mana and gets Animar, Soul of Elements through, but there are some issues with it.

Or turntimber grove even, giving the trample straight away without needing to wait for untap

Turntimber Grove only grants +1/+1. You must be thinking of some other card.

[Hunding Gjornersen]

Well, I've looked through all 3871 creatures that are legal for play in this deck. It isn't impossible that I missed some gem, but I was pretty careful. Anyway:

Craterhoof Behemoth gives trample to Animar or it lets you alpha strike from a board full of random stuff.

Jolting Merfolk taps down lots of blockers or plays defense.

[Kuma]

Well, I've looked through all 3871 creatures that are legal for play in this deck. It isn't impossible that I missed some gem, but I was pretty careful. Anyway:

Impressive work. Really appreciate the effort.

I think the card is going to be Champion of Lambholt if anything.

[Hunding Gjornersen]

Impressive work. Really appreciate the effort.

No problem; beats actually working.

By the way, if you're completely bent on landing Animar on turn two, there's:


Elvish Spirit Guide
Simian Spirit Guide
Skirk Prospector
Wild Cantor
Orcish Lumberjack
Lotus Petal

[kombatkiwi]

oops
I just assumed it would give some sort of evasion like the red and blue ones
You can actually play the blue one if you want (Soaring Seacliff?) but it's not as 'comprehensive' of an evasion ability as trample/unblockable

I would consider playing Craterhoof over Champion
Yes, craterhoof is 5 mana more, but if animar is big enough that you want to crash through with it then the Behemoth is likely only 1 mana more. You don't need to follow it up with some other creature production in order to get it going. It also lets you win out of nowhere with a board of random dudes and is absurd with kiki jiki.