[EDH] Doran Reassembled -- Help putting it together and making cuts

[Bulwer]

EDIT: I've got this almost totally built at TappedOut, and I've gotta play it this weekend with just the cards I have now. This is a link to just the available cards that aren't in yet. (It's the same as the sideboard on the other link, but independently sortable.) There's some fairly decent stuff I haven't added yet, like Reach of Branches, Hundred-Handed One, Alpha Authority, Oathsworn Giant, and Rebuff the Wicked.

I'm coming back to Magic by way of EDH, and I bought what I'm pretty sure are all the necessary pieces for a Doran-led Voltron-type deck that won't get me totally slaughtered by my friends who've been doing this for longer. I've bought more cards than there's room for, and now I'm putting it together, fixing the manabase, and cutting what needs to be cut.

Lands: I've got all the decent cheap ones and a couple of scry lands. I'll need a good chunk of basics, esp. Swamps, to fuel the checklands and Tainted lands. I wish I had Shizo, Death's Storehouse. Ah, how I wish that.
1 Blossoming Sands
1 Brushland
1 Caves of Koilos
1 Command Tower
1 Forbidding Watchtower
1 Graypelt Refuge
1 Isolated Chapel
1 Jungle Hollow
1 Murmuring Bosk
1 Razorverge Thicket
1 Saltcrusted Steppe
1 Sandsteppe Citadel
1 Scoured Barrens
1 Selesnya Sanctuary
1 Sungrass Prairie
1 Sunpetal Grove
1 Tainted Field
1 Tainted Wood
1 Temple of Plenty
1 Temple of Silence
1 Transguild Promenade
1 Vivid Grove
1 Vivid Marsh
1 Vivid Meadow
1 Woodland Cemetery

Equipment & Auras: More than I need here, obviously. Lightning Greaves and Stonehewer Giant are on the want-to-have list.
1 Accorder's Shield
1 Argentum Armor
1 Bladed Pinions
1 Ensouled Scimitar
1 Fireshrieker
1 Inquisitor's Flail
1 Magebane Armor
1 Quietus Spike
1 Slagwurm Armor
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Sword of Vengeance
1 Trailblazer's Boots
1 Vorrac Battlehorns
1 Warmonger's Chariot
1 Whispersilk Cloak
1 Alpha Authority
1 Bear Umbra
1 Eland Umbra
1 Indrik Umbra
1 Rancor
1 Shield of the Oversoul

Other Artifacts and Enchantments: A handful of mana rocks in there, plus Assault Formation, and a few other key items. Chromatic Lantern and Sterling Grove are on the wishlist.
1 Abzan Banner
1 Belbe's Armor
1 Bow of Nylea
1 Colfenor's Urn
1 Golgari Cluestone
1 Meekstone
1 Sol Ring
1 Assault Formation
1 Brave the Sands
1 Crackdown
1 Dauthi Embrace
1 Necrogenesis
1 Pestilence
1 Primal Rage
1 Rolling Stones
1 Spidersilk Armor
1 True Conviction
1 Utopia Sprawl

Instants: This is where removal goes. Oh, and Tower Defense.
1 Doom Blade
1 Erase
1 Golgari Charm
1 Grim Contest
1 Mortify
1 Putrefy
1 Reach of Branches
1 Rebuff the Wicked
1 Return to Dust
1 Rootgrapple
1 Strip Bare
1 Tower Defense

Sorceries: Do you know how many power-hating creature wipes there are in white? 4, as far as I can tell.
1 Cultivate
1 Deadly Allure
1 Duress
1 Fell the Mighty
1 Increasing Ambition
1 Kodama's Reach
1 Profane Command
1 Remember the Fallen
1 Retribution of the Meek
1 Solar Tide
1 Three Dreams
1 Wave of Reckoning

Creatures: The part I'm least sure of. I'm concerned I don't have enough 1 and 2 drops here. A few options that I know are good and might want to buy: Collected Company Dragon's Eye Sentry Grizzled Leotau Jeskai Barricade Kin-Tree Invocation Nyx-Fleece RamSylvan Caryatid.
1 Archers' Parapet
1 Axebane Guardian
1 Black Poplar Shaman
1 Crenellated Wall
1 Deadwood Treefolk
1 Disowned Ancestor
1 Glissa, the Traitor
1 Hundred-Handed One
1 Indomitable Ancients
1 Jareth, Leonine Titan
1 Luminate Primordial
1 Maddening Imp
1 Mirror Entity
1 Oathsworn Giant
1 Overgrown Battlement
1 Penumbra Spider
1 Pontiff of Blight
1 Sapling of Colfenor
1 Silklash Spider
1 Skinshifter
1 Tangle Angler
1 Teneb, the Harvester
1 Thornling
1 Timber Protector
1 Tireless Tribe
1 Totem-Guide Hartebeest
1 Tree of Redemption
1 Treefolk Harbinger
1 Trestle Troll
1 Unstoppable Ash
1 Vhati il-Dal
1 Wakestone Gargoyle
1 Wall of Blossoms
1 Wall of Omens
1 Whisperer of the Wilds

Looking at this list, what are the obvious keeps and obvious cuts here? Is there anything that I should definitely buy that I haven't mentioned as a wishlist item?

(If it helps, here's the list on TappedOut.)

[Davran]

My first suggestion is that 25 lands is nowhere near enough for a 100 card deck. Most of my decks run around 37 or 38, with somewhere around 45 total "mana sources" (e.g. Lands + Sol Ring, ramp cards etc.). Another general rule of thumb is that it's "safe" to cut one land for every 2 mana rocks...but I still wouldn't recommend dipping too far below 36 lands just so you actually draw them on time. Remember, EDH is battlecruiser magic, and one of the easiest and fastest ways to fall behind the rest of the table is to start missing land drops while everyone else is ramping into the stratosphere.

In keeping with the lands for a second, a few suggestions:

I'd personally replace the Vivid cycle with the Ravnica/RTR block shock lands (Overgrown Tomb, Godless Shrine, and Temple Garden) if those are in-budget for you. I'd also suggest the relevant fetch lands (Verdant Catacombs, Marsh Flats, and Windswept Heath). Reflecting Pool is excellent in decks that are 2 or more colors. Stirring Wildwood is a nice man-land that can both fix your mana and also be relevant with Doran in play.

Let's talk creatures next. I see a lot of Doran decks that run high toughness creatures just for the sake of doing so. Invariably, this leads you to a whole squad of guys with defender, or other unexciting and not-very-relevant things (e.g. Disowned Ancestor). Personally, I think this is a mistake...especially as creatures continue to get better. Some examples:

Courser of Kruphix provides a relevant ability, some incidental lifegain, and a 4/4 body with Doran in play for the low cost of three mana.

Eidolon of Rhetoric shouldn't affect you as much as it might affect the other players, and is also a 4/4 for 3 mana.

Skinshifter can adapt to whatever is relevant at the time, but if you just need beats he's an 8/8 for 2 mana.

Ohran Viper is a 3/3 Ophidian with deathtouch. What's not to like?

Siege Rhino is a 5/5 trampler that also comes with a built in life-swing. He loves to be reanimated too!

Granted, none of these are as intimidating as a random 13 toughness wall, but at least they can attack and help you to actually win a game. There are plenty of creatures out there with a high toughness to power ratio and also a relevant ability if you really search for them.

[Bulwer]

My first suggestion is that 25 lands is nowhere near enough for a 100 card deck. Most of my decks run around 37 or 38, with somewhere around 45 total "mana sources" (e.g. Lands + Sol Ring, ramp cards etc.). Another general rule of thumb is that it's "safe" to cut one land for every 2 mana rocks...but I still wouldn't recommend dipping too far below 36 lands just so you actually draw them on time. Remember, EDH is battlecruiser magic, and one of the easiest and fastest ways to fall behind the rest of the table is to start missing land drops while everyone else is ramping into the stratosphere.

In keeping with the lands for a second, a few suggestions:

I'd personally replace the Vivid cycle with the Ravnica/RTR block shock lands (Overgrown Tomb, Godless Shrine, and Temple Garden) if those are in-budget for you. I'd also suggest the relevant fetch lands (Verdant Catacombs, Marsh Flats, and Windswept Heath). Reflecting Pool is excellent in decks that are 2 or more colors. Stirring Wildwood is a nice man-land that can both fix your mana and also be relevant with Doran in play.

Let's talk creatures next. I see a lot of Doran decks that run high toughness creatures just for the sake of doing so. Invariably, this leads you to a whole squad of guys with defender, or other unexciting and not-very-relevant things (e.g. Disowned Ancestor). Personally, I think this is a mistake...especially as creatures continue to get better. Some examples:

Courser of Kruphix provides a relevant ability, some incidental lifegain, and a 4/4 body with Doran in play for the low cost of three mana.

Eidolon of Rhetoric shouldn't affect you as much as it might affect the other players, and is also a 4/4 for 3 mana.

Skinshifter can adapt to whatever is relevant at the time, but if you just need beats he's an 8/8 for 2 mana.

Ohran Viper is a 3/3 Ophidian with deathtouch. What's not to like?

Siege Rhino is a 5/5 trampler that also comes with a built in life-swing. He loves to be reanimated too!

Granted, none of these are as intimidating as a random 13 toughness wall, but at least they can attack and help you to actually win a game. There are plenty of creatures out there with a high toughness to power ratio and also a relevant ability if you really search for them.

Yeah, the list up there shows only 1 copy of the basic lands. What I'll actually be running is all those nonbasics except Transguild Promenade, as many Forests as I need, and as many Swamps as I can get away with, since the Tainted stuff needs 'em. The fetch and shock lands are on my to-buy-eventually list, and the other nonbasics you listed should be on there too. Here's my list of my current non-land mana/ramp: Axebane Guardian, Overgrown Battlement, Whisperer of the Wilds, Abzan Banner, Golgari Guildstone, Sol Ring, Utopia Sprawl, and Cultivate (I can add Kodama's Reach, too).

Really, you'd replace the Vivid lands before the lifegain taplands?

[Ace/Homebrew]

The recent change to the 'tuck'ing rule is pretty beneficial for Doran because you can now rely on him being available to make your guys with big butts swing hard.

Other creatures to consider:
Necroskitter
Deathrite Shaman
Order of Whiteclay
Blessed Orator
Village Bell-Ringer
Summoner's Egg

Depending on how aggro you want to go, you could always add Ornithopter or Phyrexian Walker.

If I were building Doran, I believe I would try to abuse low-power/high-toughness creatures. This turns cards like Retribution of the Meek into 1-sided wraths. Meekstone is also pretty devastating to most decks.

[Bulwer]

If I were building Doran, I believe I would try to abuse low-power/high-toughness creatures. This turns cards like Retribution of the Meek into 1-sided wraths. Meekstone is also pretty devastating to most decks.

That's, uh, Plan A. I've got Meekstone and 3 such wipes in the deck, and I might add Crackdown and Solar Wave, too.

People with money also say that the way to build a really *good* Doran deck is to ignore that entirely and build Abzan goodstuff, using Doran just as a cheap beater. I am not doing that.

EDIT: I've got this almost totally built at TappedOut, and I've gotta play it this weekend with just the cards I have now. This is a link to just the available cards that aren't in yet. (It's the same as the sideboard on the other link, but independently sortable.) There's some fairly decent stuff I haven't added yet, like Reach of Branches, Hundred-Handed One, Alpha Authority, Oathsworn Giant, and Rebuff the Wicked.