Need help with cutting cards from Anje - mix of power l., price and durdly

[AriInC]

https://deckstats.net/decks/126345/1392900-anje

Hi there, thanks for clicking on the link first. I find myself in the position of cutting 15 more cards from my Anje list and don´t know where to go? Maybe with the rummage effects like faithless etc - due to the fact that Anje proides that too. Or with the reanimation spells - only the enchantments work with the worldgorger combo. Or even the reanimation targets themselfs - like Garna and pyschosis crawler or syr conrad which are maybe way to overcosted but i like the effects they provide and they are a bit more on the durdly side. I find it easier to build highly optimized then with a bit more durdl but i don´t want my deck to be super hated out at every table.
For the mana base. I tryed to get every cheap way of getting a turn 2 Anje.
As far as budget goes I own the expensive cards that are still in like dockside, reanimate, gamble, necromancy, dance of the dead, deflecting swat, entomb and lands. So the only real expensive thing would be the dragon itself.
I really appreciate your feedback and hope that we can trim this list together to produce a nice deck.

Have a nice day.

[Judaspriester]

Hey,

you have already read this:
https://deckstats.net/forum/index.php/topic,42562.0.html
If not it would be a good start.

Then I would reccomend to check your mana ramp section. Cards like Jeweled Amulet may be interesting to ensure that you get Anje out at turn 2, but afterwards they are useless. Do you really need this speed at your playgroup?

Another thing that was just going through my mind: what about adding Phyrexian Reclamation? It gives the creature "only" back to your hand, but at least for the madness creatures, this would already be interesting enough. Besides that, you could grab some creatures again, that you would like to use again but that doesnt feel like they are worth your reanimation spells.
Then, Magewright's Stone would also fit into your deck. It basicly gives you another usage for Anje for just 1 mana.

[AriInC]

Hi and thank you. Yes I read the information. I tryed to fit it into the recomendations but still kept my own way. I try to adjust it a bit more. Phyrexian Reclamation seem like a good addition but does not help with cutting cards  Maybe in exchange for Garna even though Garna has higher highs but Phyrexian Reclamation is more consistent. I like magewrite stone but would focus more on getting madness cards back from grave to rummage again ;
The mana ramp part is difficult - on the one hand I want to be fast due to my playgroup playing lots of value commanders like meeren, teysa, etc. and I kind of have to outperform them in terms of speed. I will not win against them in the lategame except with my combo - so yes I kinda need the speed and will upgrade to cards like chrome mox etc. later on.

[ApothecaryGeist]

Most of the cards in you "madness" section are doing double duty.  For instance, Murderous Compulsion is removal.  Call to the Netherworld is recursion.  Anje's Ravager is card advantage.


Get rid of the "madness" section.  Move those cards into the other relevant section.  And then you can peel off cards that aren't doing double duty.


When I am deck building, I typically use the following categories:


Ramp - dorks, rocks, and spells
Card Advantage - mostly draw spells, but could be anything that gives me access to more cards to play
Removal - I make sure there's a good mix of creature, artifact, and enchantment removal
Recursion - from my grave or opponent's grave
Protection - things like Swiftfoot Boots, Teferi's Protection, Fog go here.  Sometimes counterspells too.


And then I will have other categories based on the theme of the deck.  But if a card fits into one of the above categories, it goes there rather than into one of the "theme" categories.  Because you need to make sure you have critical mass of ramp, card draw, removal, etc.  While still leaving room for your theme.

[AriInC]

Hi thanks for the feedback. I did as you told me and now I can see that i may pack a little much removal but on the one hand I don´t want to cut the madness cards due to Anjes effect and around 20-24 are necessary to be able to rummage with her but the non madness removal is the only one I run for artifacts, planeswalkers and enchantments. So the next place to cut would be my filter section. Any suggestions here?

[Judaspriester]

Hi thanks for the feedback. I did as you told me and now I can see that i may pack a little much removal but on the one hand I don´t want to cut the madness cards due to Anjes effect and around 20-24 are necessary to be able to rummage with her but the non madness removal is the only one I run for artifacts, planeswalkers and enchantments. So the next place to cut would be my filter section. Any suggestions here?

Cards that catched my eye:
Asylum Visitor - do you have enough discard in your deck in order to assure the card draws?
Street Wraith - is he really worth the slot?
Tectonic Reformation - with just 32 lands, I doubt that you will be able to cycle that much
Cut // Ribbons - is it really worth the slot? I would prefere something like Abrade here in stead
Ichor Slick - seems kinda expensive for me for what it does
Restless Dreams - do you really have that much non-creature cards in the deck that you want to get back and are worth discarding other stuff?

Btw, about your land base: I would reccomend to replace  Peat Bog, Piranha Marsh and Sandstone Needle with Scavenger Grounds + 2 basics. Their effects doesnt seem worth the fact that they enter tapped if you ask me.

That wont be enough for the necessary cuts, but I hope that already helps.

[AriInC]

Hi!

Thanks for the feedback:

I will put out Street Wraith, Ichor Slick and Tectonic Reformation
I am a bit more hesitant with the others:
Asylum Visitor is still a madness card and works with Anje.
Cut // Ribbons is an outlet for the worldgorger combo.
Restless Dreams is here to get back creature cards with madness and discard non madness cards to futher rummage with Anje.
I will not play scavanger Grounds due to the fact that i need my graveyard, but maybe i should play more gravehate.
i play the depletion lands to get a turn two Anje even though they come in tapped.
and the marsh is a redundancy for the worldgorger combo i run.

[Judaspriester]

The point with the depletion lands is, that they are fine in T1 for Anje, but nearly pointless of playing afterwards.
For gravehate: Soul-Guide Lantern. Cheap and can be sacrificed for a card draw for games where you dont need grave hate.

[AriInC]

Your right so I will swap the lands but keep the march. TY

[Judaspriester]

Your right so I will swap the lands but keep the march. TY

For me this is very easy. I just tell you what I think. What you make out of this information is up to you. 
Since the marsh is used for more than a single ETB, it may of course useful to keep it in.

[AriInC]

So now i am down to 103 cards. I have set an eye on 2 specific cards:
Azra Odsmaker - while I like the card - I mostly wont be able to regulary connect with opponents for combat damage to use the effect.
Cathartic Renunion - while the draw 3 is good - discarding 2 can be hard sometimes.

But we need to cut one more card.
maybe rite of flame or simian spirit guide - skirk prospector, blood pet can all be used as a creature to discard an returned to hand with phyrexian reclamation and jeweled amulet can be used later too

Suggestions?

[Morganator 2.0]

I'd ditch the Faith of the Devoted. You're already trying to win with Worldgorger Dragon, no need for small damage effects. I'm not sure how much protection you're going to need, so I'd say you can remove Imp's Mischief for now. If Anje getting removed is a problem in the future, you can find a way to swap it back in. Lastly you can probably drop one of the Worldgorger combo outlets. You don't need that many, and you've already got Piranha Marsh, Sunscorched Desert, Avacyn's Judgment, Syr Konrad, the Grim, and to some extent From Under the Floorboards and Netherborn Phalanx. I'd drop one of the non-lands.

[AriInC]

TY - so now i just have to cut one more card.

I am still thinking about the azra oddsmaker and cathartic reunion. maybe i should ditch both for lightning greaves just for the protection of Anje or elixer of immortality against graveyard hate.