[EDH] Ulasht, the Hate Seed

[Davran]

Been playing a ton of EDH lately, so it seemed like a good time to make a new deck (I think I have a problem...). Ulasht, the Hate Seed is a card I've always liked and never seen anyone actually do anything with, so I figured I'd give it a shot.

Commander:
Ulasht, the Hate Seed

Creatures:
Sakura-Tribe Elder
Scavenging Ooze
Vexing Shusher
Archetype of Aggression
Champion of Lambholt
Courser of Kruphix
Eternal Witness
Farhaven Elf
Fierce Empath
Wood Elves
Boartusk Liege
Cytoplast Root-kin
Forgotten Ancient
Hellrider
Ivy Lane Denizen
Nullmage Shepherd
Ogre Battledriver
Purphoros, God of the Forge
Rubblebelt Raiders
Wolfbriar Elemental
Acidic Slime
Kalonian Hydra
Mycoloth
Seedborn Muse
Dragon Broodmother
Dragonlair Spider
Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
Nacatl War-Pride
Avenger of Zendikar

Instants:
Artifact Mutation
Sprout Swarm
Beast Within
Chaos Warp
Chord of Calling
Fresh Meat

Sorcery:
Green Sun's Zenith
Tempt With Vengeance
Hull Breach
Regrowth
Cultivate
Kodama's Reach
Collective Unconscious

Artifacts:
Basilisk Collar
Skullclamp
Sol Ring
Ashnod's Altar
Cloudstone Curio

Enchantments:
Hardened Scales
Earthcraft
Goblin Bombardment
Sylvan Library
Beastmaster Ascension
Mana Echoes
Parallel Lives
Doubling Season
Primal Vigor
Vicious Shadows

Planeswalkers:
Domri Rade
Sarkhan Vol
Xenagos, the Reveler
Garruk, Primal Hunter

Lands:
Command Tower
Copperline Gorge
Dryad Arbor
Fire-lit Thicket
9 Forest
Grove of the Burnwillows
Gruul Turf
Homeward Path
Karplusan Forest
Kessig Wolf Run
Kher Keep
Mossfire Valley
7 Mountain
Mountain Valley
Opal Palace
Oran-rief, the Vastwood
Raging Ravine
Rootbound Crag
Stomping Ground
Strip Mine
Taiga
Winding Canyons
Wooded Foothills

[TsumiBand]

I feel like if I were gonna roll with this deck I'd try to throw in as many RG guys as I could, such to give Ulasht +2/+2 as often as possible and just make it big huge icky. Polis Crusher seems like a decent RG guy that shows up in good-stuff lists; on the other end of the spectrum you have my homeboy Rumbling Slum. (no, not really my homeboy, i just wish he could see play somehow)

There are probably some shenanigans with the gating RG guys like Horned Kavu and Shivan Wurm that you could milk.

[Davran]

I feel like if I were gonna roll with this deck I'd try to throw in as many RG guys as I could, such to give Ulasht +2/+2 as often as possible and just make it big huge icky. Polis Crusher seems like a decent RG guy that shows up in good-stuff lists; on the other end of the spectrum you have my homeboy Rumbling Slum. (no, not really my homeboy, i just wish he could see play somehow)

There are probably some shenanigans with the gating RG guys like Horned Kavu and Shivan Wurm that you could milk.

The thing abut most of the RG guys is that they're kinda lame. In terms of cards not currently featured:

You've got Vithian Renegades I guess, which ain't half bad. I think Artifact Mutation does its job better, but maybe there's a case to be made for including both?

Wort, the Raidmother is some nice cardboard, but there isn't all that much here to actually conspire. I suppose maybe she's worth it as a token farm?

I played Polis Crusher in an old RG list of mine, and I wasn't really impressed with it. A 4 mana 4/4 trampler is fine, but paying an extra 6 to get half of a disenchant on contact isn't all that exciting, especially in a format where wrath effects and other removal are fairly common.

There's Zhur-Taa Ancient too...but I don't think this deck takes enough advantage of the mana flare without also overextending into a Wrath.

Gruul Ragebeast is interesting as a card. Throwing my saporlings and other random tokens into my opponent's fatties seems bad though.

I like Burning-tree Shaman, but given that the whole purpose of my general is to activate his/her/its ability it seemed like a non-bo.

That leaves Huntmaster of the Fells. I stuck him in here at first because he's really 2 (or more with a Doubling Season effect) bodies for 4 mana, which gives Ulasht +3/+3 at least. The nice thing is that I don't think the deck actually cares one way or another if it actually flips, and if it flips back that's actually kind of good for me. The shock kills all kinds of dorks, too. I might actually stick it back in there somewhere, but I'm not sure where.

Am I missing anything else relevant?

The gating guys are pretty cute, and I'm sort of on that plan with Cloudstone Curio. Thing is, I went all-in on the "+1/+1 counters rock" plan, which definitely ruins bouncing things to my hand. There's also the fact that neither one of those guys actually does all that much on their own. I think I'd run Roaring Primadox or maybe Stampeding Wildebeests before either of those, and even that isn't all that great.

[AngryTroll]

I actually put together an Ulasht deck this weekend. The Legendary Hydra Hellion was always really good in my Rith, the Awakener deck and I wanted to try it out as the general. I decided to go wide with tokens instead of deep on counters as I already have a Varolz, the Scar-Striped counters EDH deck.

In addition to some of the cards you're already running, equipment that are look like they should be really good on Ulasht include Scythe of the Wretched, Nim Deathmantle, Blade of the Bloodchief, Gorgon Flail, and Gorgon's Head. Other cards that looked really good are Tawnos's Coffin and Conjurer's Closet.

Yavimaya Dryad looks better than Sakura-Tribe Elder in your list, as the green body is important. Is Hornet Queen worth a slot? Khalni Garden and Dryad Arbor might be worth competing for the comes-into-play-tapped land slots.

Other RG creatures that either did or almost made it into my list include Radha, Heir to Keld, Zhur-Taa Druid, Skarrg Guildmage, and Tattermunge Witch. I went with a gating theme, so Horned Kavu, Sparkcaster, and Shivan Wurm made it into my deck but don't look good in yours.

One thing to note is that it's really easy to accidentally assemble infinite combos in the deck. I purposefully decided not to include any, but that means you need to be careful with Mana Echoes. Mana Echoes and Scythe of the Wretched or Nim Deathmantle is really good; Mana Echoes plus lots of other cards is a combo kill that is frowned upon in some Commander groups. Mana Echoes is a two-card combo with Sprout Swarm, and if you include any sort of color filtering like Phyrexian Altar or Food Chain, Mana Echoes comboes with Ulasht and Nemata, Grove Guardian, Ant Queen, Jade Mage, and a few others.

Artifact Mutation is one of my favorite EDh cards, and it's extra good in this deck. My opponents usually seem surprised that I get the tokens.

[Davran]

In addition to some of the cards you're already running, equipment that are look like they should be really good on Ulasht include Scythe of the Wretched, Nim Deathmantle, Blade of the Bloodchief, Gorgon Flail, and Gorgon's Head. Other cards that looked really good are Tawnos's Coffin and Conjurer's Closet.

Scythe is interesting, but I feel like you need too much to go right for it to actually do anything. I mean, if Ulasht had deathtouch without needing yet another equipment it would definitely be worth it...but I'm not sure the 3 card "combo" is where I want to be.

Nim Deathmantle is actually a pretty good idea. I've been playing with it in my much more casual Diaochan, Artful Beauty deck and it's been pretty great. I like the interaction it has in this deck with Mana Echoes and/or Earthcraft too...I might try and find a slot for it.

Blade of the Bloodchief is one of those cards that I find pretty lack-luster in this format. Maybe it's just my meta, but generally if creatures are dying it's because someone cast Wrath of God or a similar effect, which makes Blade relatively useless.

I'll lump Gorgon Flail and Gorgon's Head together. I think I'd run Nightshade Peddler over both of them (especially Gorgon's Head) if I were looking for more deathtouch enablers as it's a creature, but they're both certainly options if you're on the pinging creatures plan.

Tawnos's Coffin is one of my favorite hidden gems, and I love playing with it almost as much as I love watching the younger players at my LGS try to figure out what it does. I agree that it could be quite good in this list, and it may make its way in here if I need more removal/wrath protection.

I don't think Conjurer's Closet is that effective here because of the counter/token slinging plan, but I could be wrong. If Cloudstone Curio turns out to be the nuts I'll definitely find room for this.

Yavimaya Dryad looks better than Sakura-Tribe Elder in your list, as the green body is important. Is Hornet Queen worth a slot? Khalni Garden and Dryad Arbor might be worth competing for the comes-into-play-tapped land slots.

I agree with you about the Dryad, so I'll have to see about picking up a copy since apparently I don't have one. Yay random uncommons that are missing from my collection...?

Hornet Queen is sort of a pet card of mine, and I definitely jam it into places where it might not belong. That said, it does put 5 green bodies into play, or even more than that with one of the token doubling effects. I also like that the tokens fly. Despite all of that, it is on the watch-list. If it turns out to be a dead draw I'll probably do what I always do and swap it out for Woodfall Primus.

How the heck did I forget about Dryad Arbor? Certainly slotting that one in.

One thing to note is that it's really easy to accidentally assemble infinite combos in the deck. I purposefully decided not to include any, but that means you need to be careful with Mana Echoes. Mana Echoes and Scythe of the Wretched or Nim Deathmantle is really good; Mana Echoes plus lots of other cards is a combo kill that is frowned upon in some Commander groups. Mana Echoes is a two-card combo with Sprout Swarm, and if you include any sort of color filtering like Phyrexian Altar or Food Chain, Mana Echoes comboes with Ulasht and Nemata, Grove Guardian, Ant Queen, Jade Mage, and a few others.

Artifact Mutation is one of my favorite EDh cards, and it's extra good in this deck. My opponents usually seem surprised that I get the tokens.

My playgroup is relatively lenient when it comes to this format. We've all (for the most part) been playing the game for long enough that we just want to see cool things happen, win or lose, which is why we like EDH so much in the first place. I agree that Mana Echoes is the enabler for all kinds of crazy things in a deck like this, but without any tutors and not-the-best card draw it shouldn't come up all that often. The nice thing is that I have multiple decks, and this is the only one with any chance of ever going "infinite". If it turns out to be a powerhouse I'll just play something else for game two.


**EDIT:

- Forest, + Dryad Arbor

[AngryTroll]

Your comments all seem pretty spot on. Great call on the Nightshade Peddler! I am on the "Deathtouch ping everything" plan, so the Scythe, gorgon equipment, and Blade make a bit more sense in my deck. I'm still not sure if they'll all make the cut, but they're all on my short list (Blade is out, deathtouch things in, for now). I also considered a Sword of Kaldra, but eight mana was just too much mana to be useful.

Natural Order turns one of your mana ramp creatures into a Dragon Broodmother or a Verdant Force (which you don't seem to have; it's funny that in this deck the Broodmother is a lot better than Verdant Force because the tokens are red and green).

Cloudstone Curio is incredible in this deck, and Conjurer's Closet does a pretty good job as well. It's not as good as Tawnos's Coffin, but it will let you just about double the number of Saprolings and counters you have once per turn.

I need to go dig up a Vexing Shusher.

[Davran]

Your comments all seem pretty spot on. Great call on the Nightshade Peddler! I am on the "Deathtouch ping everything" plan, so the Scythe, gorgon equipment, and Blade make a bit more sense in my deck. I'm still not sure if they'll all make the cut, but they're all on my short list (Blade is out, deathtouch things in, for now). I also considered a Sword of Kaldra, but eight mana was just too much mana to be useful.

Natural Order turns one of your mana ramp creatures into a Dragon Broodmother or a Verdant Force (which you don't seem to have; it's funny that in this deck the Broodmother is a lot better than Verdant Force because the tokens are red and green).

Cloudstone Curio is incredible in this deck, and Conjurer's Closet does a pretty good job as well. It's not as good as Tawnos's Coffin, but it will let you just about double the number of Saprolings and counters you have once per turn.

I need to go dig up a Vexing Shusher.

Unfortunately, Natural Order is a little outside my budget right now...but you're right, it would be an excellent inclusion given the ease of making green creatures to sacrifice.

Verdant Force is definitely an oversight on my part - do you think it'll live long enough to be better than Hornet Queen?

The more I think about Coffin the more I agree with you. I'll try and test it out during tonight's games and see how it goes.

[AngryTroll]

Unfortunately, Natural Order is a little outside my budget right now...but you're right, it would be an excellent inclusion given the ease of making green creatures to sacrifice.

Verdant Force is definitely an oversight on my part - do you think it'll live long enough to be better than Hornet Queen?

The more I think about Coffin the more I agree with you. I'll try and test it out during tonight's games and see how it goes.

I did not realize that Natural Order had gotten so expensive. I'd guess that Hornet Queen is probably better than Verdant Force, especially with Dragon Broodmother already in the deck, but Verdant Force is a pet card of mine. I'm happy to run the dragon, Verdant Force, and Hornet Queen. My version of Ulasht is hard hit by Wraths, so I'm running a fair number of one-card armies to try and help recover to board wipes.