[EDH] Azusa Ramp

[FTW]

This is my old list with Prime Time and Sylvan Primordial, heavily illegal:

Below are the changes I made after losing them.


//Commander: 1
Azusa, Lost But Seeking

//Ramp: 14
Sol Ring
Mana Crypt
Exploration
Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
Sylvan Ranger
Wood Elves
Yavimaya Elder
Extraplanar Lens
Oracle of Mul Daya
Vernal Bloom
Mana Reflection
Caged Sun
Boundless Realms
Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger

//Tutors: 10
Worldly Tutor
Crop Rotation
Expedition Map
Green Sun's Zenith
Time of Need
Sylvan Scrying
Natural Order
Chord of Calling
Tooth and Nail
Planar Portal

//Draw: 9
Sensei's Divining Top
Sylvan Library
Elvish Visionary
Harmonize
Mind's Eye
Horn of Greed
Regal Force
Recycle
Garruk, Primal Hunter

//Utility: 11
Crucible of Worlds
Eternal Witness
Regrowth
Restock
Scavenging Ooze
Oblivion Stone
All is Dust
Terastodon
Woodfall Primus
Silklash Spider
Polukranos

//Bombs: 8
Genesis Wave
Praetor's Counsel
Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
Artisan of Kozilek
Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
Craterhoof Behemoth
Akroma's Memorial
Rude Awakening

//Tokens: 4
Nemata, Grove Guardian
Ant Queen
Beacon of Creation
Avenger of Zendikar

//Combo Engines: 4
Aluren
Cloudstone Curio
Staff of Domination
Earthcraft

//Lands: 42
Eye of Ugin
Maze of Ith
Ancient Tomb
Gaea's Cradle
Wasteland
Strip Mine
Petrified Field
Deserted Temple
Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
Thespian's Stage
Scrying Sheets
Mouth of Ronom
Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
Homeward Path
27 Snow-Covered Forest


4 cards over.

Any suggestions for cuts?
Any obvious misses?

The game plan used to be to cheat out Prime Time ASAP (ran more creature tutors to support that plan), fetching Eye of Ugin and another mana source to start digging up Eldrazi FTW. Without Prime Time, the game plan became cheat out Sylvan Primordial and manascrew everyone while ramping yourself. Now it's stuck being more of just a fair ramp deck.

There are a bunch of combos through Aluren and Cloudstone Curio. Also some combos with Earthcraft, mana doublers and token engines. And with Staff of Domination.

Drawing/Genesis Waving your whole deck trivially wins the game, with Akroma's Memorial + Craterhoof Behemoth + tons of hasty tokens.

EDIT:
-4 Llanowar Elf clones
-Journey of Discovery, Gaea's Bounty, Seek the Horizons, Forest
+Mind's Eye, Mikokoro, Planar Portal, Regal Force, Harmonize, Recycle, Rude Awakening, Tabernacle

[D@N]

I really dont think you need the mana dorks sure its awesome to have turn 2 asuza but without any draw ur gonna tank without primordial or titan. My list for comparison i havent lost many games in 1v1 and i dont think any in multi and ive been playing the list for 2+ years.

http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/deck.asp?deck_id=1138814

[FTW]

I really dont think you need the mana dorks sure its awesome to have turn 2 asuza but without any draw ur gonna tank without primordial or titan. My list for comparison i havent lost many games in 1v1 and i dont think any in multi and ive been playing the list for 2+ years.

http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/deck.asp?deck_id=1138814

Hmm yeah. I've got Sylvan Library and Garruk for draw and some tutors to find bombs, but that isn't much.

Thanks. Yeah, I had the mana dorks and also Survival of the Fittest + Sylvan Tutor in the list, then Primordial and Titan. It wasn't just to get turn 2 Azusa but also to ramp into fast fatty. Primeval would basically guarantee future gas by getting Eye of Ugin or whatever else I needed. But without it you're right, I probably have too many accelerants and not enough gas. Like I said, just ported the old list over and replaced Titan. A new strategy might be better. Thanks for sharing your list. Our lists have a lot of similarities but I guess the biggest difference is the number of draw engines you're running.

[D@N]

I really like some parts of your list and have also come close to putting ant queen in my self just to make more chumps and make my cradle/clamp better. Although nemanta looks really good as well seeing as she can pump out dudes and overrun by herself unchecked. Im thinking of cutting tabernacle because the games it is good are few and far between and it doesnt tap for G. might replace with either kamahl, silklash or constant mists, with a last not being tutorable i doubt it will get the nod.

[FTW]

I love Nemata, Ant Queen and Kamahl and would never cut them from my deck, especially with my playstyle.

Not only are they all powerful mana sinks for all that ramp mana, but they're my #1 ways to win immediately if I get an infinite mana combo going or resolve a massive Genesis Wave. IMO you have to threaten lethal to everyone if you have infinite mana or resolve Genesis Wave. Otherwise WTF. I don't just want a bunch of fatties and lands.

Note my deck runs a lot more mana combos than yours, which impacts a lot of card choices.

Aluren + Cloudstone Curio + Azusa + any 1-3cc creature is infinite mana
Rofellos + Staff of Domination is infinite mana
Cloudstone Curio + Azusa + tokens + Cradle + some other creature is infinite mana
Earthcraft + forests producing GGG + Ant Queen is infinite mana
Cloudstone Curio + forests producing GGG + Azusa + any 1-2 cc creature is infinite mana
Cloudstone Curio + Avenger on Zendikar + Earhcraft + 8 forests is infinite mana
etc...

With a mana combo, Nemata on her own can make infinite saprolings of arbitrarily large size.
Kamahl can animate a few untapped lands, make them arbitrarily large, and swing.
Ant Queen is slightly worse in those situations but is much better with large but finite mana.

I should be clear that I run this as a ramp deck, not a combo deck, but I like all my decks to have at least degenerate combo in there somewhere so you have the capacity to close off stalled games. What I like about those combo engines and finishers is that, aside from Aluren, they're all good individually in the deck anyway so they're not chaff slots. They function decently in a monogreen ramp shell. And if you can dig into the right pieces, then awesome times.

Kamahl + Avenger is also a pretty brutal Tooth and Nail/Defense of the Heart duo. Threatens to kill everyone next turn. If you have haste, can just grab Craterhoof instead!!

I should probably run Concordant Crossroads so my tokens can attack immediately. Right now there's only Akroma's Memorial. I'm just terrified of giving haste to a Kaalia deck or a Zur deck. I wish there were some other decent mass-haste enablers in green. Ideas?

Maybe I should run Yeva to give everything flash.

[D@N]

concordant crossroads is only in the list to have another target to gen wave into and swing, and sometimes if you have to pass turn afterwards i usually just destroy it so i can use it later with e wit without giving the ability to others. I dont know if ur aware but with the m14 rule change land drops dont reset when asuza is destroyed and brought back in the same turn. otherwise the other combos should work i just dont use them because they may get destroyed and make the other half not as useful. Try out the list with jist single good cards that have synergy with them as you have to make every threat count if you have no draw engine.

[lost_ronin_soul]

// Deck: azusa (100)

// General
1 Azusa, Lost but Seeking

// Lands
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Eye of Ugin (engine)
1 Gaea's Cradle (ramp)
1 Glacial Chasm (utility)
1 Homeward Path (hate)
1 Misty Rainforest
28 Snow-Covered Forest
1 Strip Mine (utility)
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Wasteland(utility)
1 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Foothills

// Creatures
1 Arbor Elf (ramp/combo)
1 Birds of Paradise(ramp)
1 Elvish Mystic(ramp)
1 Fyndhorn Elves(ramp)
1 Llanowar Elves(ramp)
1 Wirewood Symbiote (engine)
1 Xantid Swarm (utility)
1 Elvish Visionary (engine)
1 Llanowar Druid (ramp)
1 Scavenging Ooze (utility)
1 Fierce Empath (engine)
1 Reclamation Sage(utility)
1 Eternal Witness (utility)
1 Yavimaya Elder(ramp)
1 Genesis Wave (engine, combo)
1 Avenger of Zendikar
1 Regal Force(engine)
1 Terastodon (utility)
1 Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger (ramp)
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth (engine/utility)
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre (utility)

// Instants
1 Crop Rotation (utility)
1 Worldly Tutor(tutor)
1 Chord of Calling (tutor)
1 Beast Within(utility)

// Sorceries
1 Green Sun's Zenith (tutor)
1 Sylvan Scrying (utility)
1 Cultivate (ramp)
1 Journey of Discovery (ramp)
1 Kodama's Reach(ramp)
1 Skyshroud Claim(ramp)
1 Harmonize (engine)
1 Natural Order (tutor)
1 Tooth and Nail (tutor, combo)

// Enchantments
1 Utopia Sprawl (ramp)
1 Wild Growth(ramp)
1 Earthcraft(combo, ramp)
1 Survival of the Fittest (combo, tutor)
1 Sylvan Library (engine)
1 Overgrowth(ramp)
1 Vernal Bloom(ramp)
1 Greater Good (engine)
1 Mana Reflection(ramp)
1 Recycle(engine)

// Artifacts
1 Mana Crypt(ramp)
1 Expedition Map(utility)
1 Sensei's Divining Top(engine)
1 Sol Ring(ramp)
1 Armillary Sphere(ramp)
1 Lightning Greaves(haste)
1 Crucible of Worlds(utility)
1 Extraplanar Lens(ramp)
1 Horn of Greed(engine)
1 Staff of Domination(engine, combo)
1 Thousand-Year Elixir(haste)
1 Gauntlet of Might (ramp)
1 Memory Jar (engine)
1 Caged Sun(ramp)
1 Akroma's Memorial(haste)



The deck normally combos off to infinity and beyond by turn 6. It's comboing off is very complicated most of the time. A genesis wave at 14 normally gets you enough gas to combo off with the engines it finds. Comboing off often involves 1. staff of domination+ Earth craft/arbor elf+ a forest that taps for 5 mana 2.discard engines (survival/greater good) recycling eldrazi into the deck. It can combo off as quick as turn 2 with a hand like "earth craft, mana crypt, forest, staff of domination,overgrowth, wild growth, utopia sprawl" drawing a fetchland/mana dork and starting turn one with mana crypt casting overgrowth(extremely unlikely). When you combo off you can kill everyone with infinite elephant/sprawling tokens or mill people with memory jar by cycling eldrazi (xantid swarm also helps here too besides handling blue decks). This deck is fun to play as it challenges you to use mana efficiently. You can play solitaire by trying to see what's the earliest turn you can combo off by. Hands that are the best to keep generally contain at least one engine. The deck has utility can recursion to help you adapt to changing battle field states.