[EDH/Commander] Vampire Swarm

[SveinMarvin]

Hi,

I've constructed a vampire deck with Edgar Markov as my commander. I've only played MtG for a couple of months, and this deck is the result of much tweaking during that period. If you view the deck on Deckstats, you'll find comments on almost all the cards in the deck where I explain my thought behind them. You'll also see my Sidebord and Maybe-board and my reasons for not including those cards in the deck (the Maybe-board is actually more of an "No, and here's why"-board)

The deck focuses on pumping vampires and generating tokens and counters. There's a couple of simple combos thrown in, but mainly my win condition is to overwhelm with progressively stronger vampires.

As I mentioned, I'm quite new to MtG, so any advice would be greatly appreciated!

https://deckstats.net/decks/132614/1354543-vampire-swarm

[Judaspriester]

Hmm.. I haven't checked in detail, but on the first look I think the average cmc is a litlte to high if you want to go fast aggro.
A friend got a similar deck with like 10 1 mana drops, so that he can go ultra agressive from the beginning. He also uses Culling the Weak and Dark Ritual in order to get Edgar out faster.

Then, what about Diabolic Intent as tutor? With your token engine in command zone, the additional cost shouldn't be a big deal. Besides that, it's way more affordable than Diabolic Tutor.

Btw, you wrote into the comment that Sword of the Animist fetches 2 lands. It only fetches one, unless you've got a way to copy the trigger.

[SveinMarvin]

Thanks for your input. I have corrected Sword of the Animist - don't know what I did there :-)

I own Diabolic Tutor, but not Diabolic Intent. It's on my shopping list though. I agree that Diabolic Intent would be better for this deck than Diabolic Tutor, since I usually have enough tokens.

This is mainly a tribal/aggro deck, so I've been more concerned about getting ENOUGH cards than getting SPECIFIC cards. I use Final Parting and Forerunner of the Legion to find specific cards, and I also played Beseech the Queen for a while, but so far, the games I've won have been by won by combat damage where no particular creature has been pivotal - just enough creatures, heavily pumped.

That being said, I would love to put Diabolic Intent in there, but I struggle deciding which cards I should drop to make room. I've already got too high avg CMC (as you mentioned), and this has happened because the 1-drop vampires are easiest to discard. Many of the more expensive cards are so yummy that it's hard to let them go :-)

Currently, my first candidate for removal is Drana's Emissary. Would you support this choice, or are there other cards you believe I could leave out?

[Judaspriester]

Okay, before we start the big cutting, I would like to know a little more about your gameplan. If you want to play mid range, your average cmc is okay, but we could still take a look what could be optimized here. If you want to play very agressive and kill as fast as possible, we should get the average cmc down.

I mixed up Diabolic Tutor and Demonic Tutor. I don't like the Diabolic, since he's kinda expensive manawise. The Demonic is far better, but the price could be an issue here. For decks where sacrificing a creature isn't a big deal, Diabolic Intent is a great alternative.

About Drana's Emissary, she's okay, but nothing that really pushes your deck forward. So yes, she's a candidate for a cut.

A simple question for future cuts: Does the card make the deck good, or does it make a good deck better?
The answer for this won't be always easy or solve all decision problems, but especially for the yummy ones, it may help.

[SveinMarvin]

Yeah, Demonic Tutor is quite expensive, and Vampiric Tutor even more so. I'm not sure my wife would be symphatetic :-)

My gameplan is closer to mid range than ultra agressive, and I try to focus on vampires that pump the entire tribe, not just themselves.

Even if it's not ultra-aggro, I would still like to get the avg cmc down a notch or two. I feel I have plenty 2- and 3-drop vampires, but it would be nice to add a couple of 1-drops. I have concidered exchanging Dranas Emissary for Indulgant Aristocrat. His pumping is somewhat expensive, but he might give me something to do when there's nothing else to use mana on. I've also concidered dropping Dark Impostor. She's very nice, but her activated ability is a bit too expensive. I might discard her for a good 1-drop (or even for a non-vampire? Dark Ritual or Blade of the Bloodchief maybe?)

I'm also in doubt about Dark Prophecy. I frequently get short on cards, so I'm usually willing to pay life for draw, but Dark Prophecy is a bit too unpredictable, and I can really get hurt by a board wipe when I have amassed a ton of tokens.

[Judaspriester]

Okay, first the card draw. We could add some one-shots like Sign in Blood, or try to focus a little more on permanent solutions like Phyrexian Arena or Dark Prophecy.

I've just done a quick search with scryfall for permanents, this is what I've found:
Blood Scrivener
Champion of Dusk
Arguel's Blood Fast
Erebos, God of the Dead
Greed
Vampiric Rites

Besides that, there are some common Artifacts like Mind's Eye or Loreseeker's Stone. The latter may seem expensive, but if you run out of cards often, he may be worth it.

I've also found a 2 drop vampire that may be worth adding: Dusk Legion Zealot


Btw, we can also cut at the 2 and 3 drops, but first of all I would recommend to check every card with cmc 5+. Since we want to lower the curve and speed up the deck, these cards hurt the most. Every card with cmc 5+ should have real impact on the board.
An example is Ascendant Evincar: He may seem nice on the first look, but first of all, he also pushes your opponents black creatures. Besides that, I don't think he's worth the mana. Cards like Captivating Vampire, Glorious Anthem, Path of Bravery, Spear of Heliod or Bad Moon also offer +1/+1 for your creatures, but are only cmc 2-3. Is the additonal -1/-1 for non-white creatures really worth paying 3-4 mana?

Btw, about Dark Impostor: 3 mana for a 2/2 doesn't seem that great, but I think shes worth it because of her effect. yes, it is expensive, but you can use it on instant speed and doesn't even need to tap her ofr the effect. It could work as a last resort creature removal if things go bad or mana sink if you run out of cards later on.

[SveinMarvin]

Many excellent points and cards - thank you for taking the time 

Some of the cards you mentioned I have already concidered (and rejected), but there were some new treats I really liked.

Loreseeker's Stone is a bit too expensive, both to get in play and to activate. Blood Scrivener is too unpredictable. If I sit with 3 lands and nothing else on my hand, it doesn't do anything for me. Vampiric Rites costs a token AND 2 mana - I find that a bit too expensive for a card. I also think Arguel's Blood Fast costs to much. I don't have as much lifegain in my deck as some other vampire decks, so I can't be too extravagant with life.

Champion of Dusk, on the other hand, is a good candidate, and I've played him before. However, during testing I've discovered that I often got plenty of vampires, but didn't have much mana. I would often end up drawing 10+ cards, but only having mana to play a few or none. This meant I had to discard a bunch at end of turn. Still, on my next turn I had 7 cards ready to ble played - very nice. And, of cource, he's a vampire 

Now, to the cards I haven't seen before:

Greed seems like a decent choice. Initial cost was a bit higher than Arguel's Blood Fast and Vampiric Rites, but the activation cost was lower. Often the initial cost is not a big concern, but when I start draw more cards, activation cost is.

Mind's Eye looked really sweet! I'm surpised I haven't seen this before. I sometimes (often?) find myself in a sitution where I have plenty of mana and nothing to use it on. Might as well spend mana on opponents turns and have a stacked hand when it's my turn again! Also, it's nice to draw cards without paying with life every single time. Definitely a card I'll pick up the next time I go shopping 

Erebos, God of the Dead is somewhat expensive, but he's indestructible which helps. There aren't many enchantment wipes in my group, but it happens.


As for your other comments, I agree with your take on Dark Impostor. I actually hadn't thought about using her ability at instant speed - it makes quite a difference.

Finally, one thing about Ascendant Evincar you might not have concidered - he kills nonblack 1/1 creatures! There's usually at least one in my group who plays some kind of swarm deck with lots of tiny creatures. All those creatures - poof, gone   Furthermore, he can't cast more of these critters before Evincar is gone. (In addition he's a vampire, so I get another token and other synergy effects)

[Judaspriester]

About life: it may take alot of time, but especially in black, life is a ressource like mana. only the last lifepoint matters, everything above is expendable.

About Vampiric Rites: Keep in mind that the effect is instant. If someone attacks you, declare a token as blocker and then sacrifice it for a card before combat. Unless the blocked creature has trample, it won't harm you.

I've copied your 4 drops and all afterwards. Lets take a look at the cards.

4-drop vampires (5)
Bloodline Keeper - no need to talk about this card, it offers alot of value
Olivia Voldaren - an interesting vampire, but you'll need 7 mana in order to steal a single creature and you lose control again once olivia dies. I think she would be better in a deck around stealing. cut
Sanctum Seeker - since you want to flood the board with vampires, this card is great
Twilight Prophet - no need for discussions, he stays
Vampire Nocturnus - he depends a little on the number of black cards in your deck, but I've got a good feeling about him, for now he stays
5-drop+ vampires (6)
Edgar Markov - stays
Ascendant Evincar - I'm still not that sure about him, but he seems meta reelevant, so he stays
Butcher of Malakir - Grave Pact on a stick. He may be nice if you don't want to spend the money for Grave Pact or Dictate of Erebos, but with cmc 7 hes damn hard to cast. cut
Champion of Dusk - if played in the right moment, he offers alot of card draw. he may offer you more than you can play, but even in this case you have plenty of options and can pick the best of them. - stays
Mephidross Vampire - I liked him in the mirrodin story, but in your deck he isn't worth the mana. If you really want an effect like this, better add Necropolis Regent.
Patron of the Vein - hmm.. hes damn expensive but he kills a creature on etb, pumps your creatures and works against reanimation. I think he can stay, for now.
Pump, Counters and Tokens (10)
Anointed Procession - stays
Cathars' Crusade - stays
Coat of Arms - stays
Door of Destinies - this card may seem better than it is. it pumps all vampires, yes, but you only get a counter per cast, so tokens doesn't count.
Iroas, God of Victory - stays
Sorin, Grim Nemesis - we are trimming the cmc down, so the +1 won't be that reelevant anymore. the ult is nice, but with cmc 6 and 4 additonal turns (without any damage on him) until he can ult, I think he's to slow. - cut
Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord - I'm not sure I would spend 10+€ for him, since there are more interesting cards in that price region, but if you have one, its fine. - stays
Sorin, Lord of Innistrad - mhh.. I'm really not sure about him. but since he's only cmc 4, he can stay for now.
Sorin, Solemn Visitor - the only really great about him is his ult, you would need 3 turns after you played him. If you're sure you can protect him this long, he may stay, otherwise cut.
Teysa Karlov - cmc 4 and no vamp, but on the other hand he gives your tokens 2 reelevant keywords - stays
Fetch, Draw, Scry (7)
Damnable Pact - you already said you want to replace it, cut
Final Parting - since you don't reanimate, its worse than Diabolic Tutor, cut
Heirloom Blade - not that great but its okay, stays unless we really need slots
Skullclamp - great card daw, unless you got some anthem effects for your tokens. stays
Slate of Ancestry - I'm really not sure about this. it may work great, especially with a good board state, but if you don't manage to get your vamps on the board, this card is useless. really think about this one
Sword of the Animist - Madru always lacks ramp, and you want to play agressive, it can stay.
Vanquisher's Banner - anthem + card draw on CAST for cmc 5. again this doesn't trigger for your tokens, because of this I would think about it.
Misc (2)
Disrupt Decorum - this card may cause havoc on the board and may buy you a turn, stays
Winter Orb - since you have no options to tap it and a very low amount of tutors, you can't reliable use this card. It's a "win more" if you're already ahead, but it won't help you if you're behind. unless we manage to get the average cmc below 2.5 with at least 3 more mana rocks, I would reccomend to cut it.

Btw, for your 1 drops, Vampire Cutthroat is very good. lifelink and some evasion.

Aaaaaand I've got another idea for card draw: Well of Lost Dreams.


allright, thats already alot of input. I would reccomend you take a look at it, and cut all cards you agree with. I would like to see how much slots we'll get and how much the average cmc changes before we start filling up again.

[SveinMarvin]

Thank you again. I have looked at your list, and agree with many of your points.

Sacrifice after declaring blockers, check. Vampiric Rites is back in (for now at least)

Olivia was never my favorite anyway, but at a point I played Archetype of Finalty which gave hear deathtouch - a great combination with her activated ability. A bit hard to get both cards on tht BF though, so agreed - she's out.

I also agree on Butcher of Malakir. I don't have Grave Pact or Dictate of Erebos in my collection yet, but they're on my shopping list 

I don't really agree on your take on Mephidross Vampire. The crucial difference between him an Necropolis Regent is that Necropolis Regent triggers on PLAYER damage while Mephidross triggers on CREATURE damage - meaning I get counters also when blocked or blocking. I already have Rakish Heir which gives counters on player damage (On the other hand, Mephidross and Rakish only give one counter, while Necropolis Regent give many. Ah, well...)

Door of destinies stays for now, but I see you point. It's a somewhat slow pump, but it's reliable. As long as I have the cards and the mana, I drop vampires every round, often several.

Planeswalkers:
* I agree that Sorin, Grim Nemesis might be slow for ulting, but that's not the main reason I have him. He also lets me draw a card each turn AND deal some damage to all opponents. I believe I'll keep him for now.
* Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord allows me to play one of my more expensive vamps for {2}{B} by using his -3 ability right away. In 4 turns I can get two expensive vampires on the battlefield for {2}{B}, not a bad deal!
* Sorin, Lord of Innistrad. I usually play him and immediately do -2 to get the +1/0 emblem. It's not a big pump, but it's the only really secure pump I have, the others are a bit more volatile. It's also quite easy to get several of these emblems.
* Sorin, Solemn Visitor. I'm not really sure if I can protect him long enough, so I agree, he's out.

One of the reasons I like planeswalkers is that they function like shields. As long as their ult is something my opponents fear, they'll spend a lot of resources on taking them out, giving me time to do other stuff.

Final parting has its place because it fetches two cards - Pitiless Plunderer to hand, Oathsworn Vampire to graveyard. I believe I will keep it, but also make room for Diabolic Tutor. I'll replace Diabolic Tutor with Diabolic Intent as soon as I get it.

As for Vanquisher's banner, I like it. Not too expensive at {5}. I drop a vampire or two almost every round giving me a great draw and the +1/+1 is thematically very correct for this deck.

Winter Orb. Ok, I see your point, and I'll cut it. Still, I'm gonna miss it. The hate and frustration it causes gives it great entertainment value 

Well of Lost Dreams looks very good, definitely something to put on my shopping list. With that AND Mind's Eye I have a steady stream of cards - as long as I have the mana.

------

I did some modifications yesterday (for example, I removed Mavren Fein who didn't work well with Ascendan Evincar, and I also removed Soul Collector, a costly creature stealer), and today, after reading your comments, I did these modifications:

Out:
  Olivia Voldaren
  Butcher of Malakir
  Sorin, Solemn Visitor
  Winter Orb
  Damnable Pact

In
  Vampiric Rites
  Vampire Cutthroat
 
 
Leaving me with 3 slots to fill. One of these I used for Diabolic Tutor, one for Radiant Destiny. I've used it before, and the vigilance is great. Teysa Karlov also gives vigilance, but only to tokens. In addition, with my limited fetch options it's good to have TWO cards that give vigilance.

To keep the deck legal (100 cards) I also added a swamp. It'm always a bit short on mana, so this will help.

The revised deck has better mana flow and a very comfortable mana curve. There are several cards I'll put in when I get around to purchasing them (Well of Lost Dreams and/or Mind's Eye. Demonic Tutor. Grave Pact and/or Dictate of Erebos, Diabolic Intent), but I feel the current revision is quite solid already.

[Judaspriester]

About  Mephidross Vampire: the main point for me is, that I think he's to expensive for his effect. Necropolis Regent is, at least for me, a little better. She's harder to trigger, but if she does, she triggers way harder. Still I'm not sure one of them would be worth the mana in your deck.

About Sorin, Grim Nemesis: Yes he allows you to draw and deal some damage, which may be nice, but still you have to pay 6 mana to get him out first. I don't think he's bad, I just think he's to expensive in your deck for what he's doing.


Lets continue with your 1-3 drop vampires. To make it a little shorter, I only write comments if I feel like there is something to discuss.

1-drop vampires (9)
Duskborne Skymarcher
Indulgent Aristocrat
Knight of the Ebon Legion
Shadow Alley Denizen
Stromkirk Noble
Vampire Cutthroat
Vampire of the Dire Moon
Vicious Conquistador
Viscera Seer -  do you use her sacrifice effect? If yes, she's fine, if not, I would reccomend to cut her.

2-drop vampires (12)
Blood Artist
Bloodghast
Bloodthrone Vampire - same as Viscera Seer, cut it unless you use her sacrifice effect
Cordial Vampire
Cruel Celebrant
Gatekeeper of Malakir
Gifted Aetherborn
Legion Lieutenant
Metallic Mimic
Oathsworn Vampire - he's okay because he has his own recursion. but is it worht it? I'm not that sure since you don't have any sacrifice combos, but as long as you're happy with him, he may stay.
Pitiless Pontiff - it may be a nasty surprise for blocking, but once again, cut it unless you really use the activated ability.
Vampire Hexmage - great card but very meta dependant. if you have many targets for her effect in your playgroup, she's fine, otherwise I would replace her.
3-drop vampires (10)
Captivating Vampire
Dark Impostor
Drana, Liberator of Malakir
Forerunner of the Legion
Kheru Mind-Eater
Mathas, Fiend Seeker
Pawn of Ulamog
Rakish Heir
Stromkirk Captain
Yahenni, Undying Partisan


Some cards I would like to see in the deck:
Cover of Darkness - great evasion tool
Dark Ritual - allows you to get edgar out faster
Culling the Weak - same as Dark Ritual
Fervor - haste enabler
Mass Hysteria - works for all players, but since you want to play aggro, 2 turns advantage for your haste enabler (compared to fervor) should be worth it.

Maybe think about the mentioned cuts again, in order to make space for these cards.


Then about your mana base. Cards I would reccomend to cut:
Everflowing Chalice - flexible, yes, but better in a artifact deck, since you usually don't need that masses of colorless mana
Temple of Malice - My golden rule for lands is "if it always enters tapped, it needs to have a siginificant effect". Since you want to play aggro, I don't think scry 1 is significant enough
Temple of Silence - see above
Windbrisk Heights - see above
Cascading Cataracts - since you've cut olivia, there isn't that much need for generating mana of any color anymore
Orzhov Basilica - same as the Temples. The effect isn't bad, but it slows you down in the first place
Rakdos Carnarium - see above

Cards I would reccomend to add:
Exotic Orchard - a little dependant on what your opponents play, but, at least for me, suprisingly effective for colorfixing in 3+ colors
Fellwar Stone - see above
Luxury Suite - expensive, but usually enters untapped in edh
Rogue's Passage - usually doesn't hurt and allows some evasion later on
then fill up with basics


Btw, one reason why I reccomended to cut a little more on the high cmc cards is, that edgar works best, at least from my experience playing against him, if he's fast. His Eminence ability allows you to build up an army kinda fast, and once he enters the board itself, it's time to kill people.

Oh, before I forget it: If you like the salt spread by Winter Orb, I would reccomend to build a new deck around stax/control.
Decks I usually spread alot of salt with are Memnarch, because everone is afraid of playing something good and Muldrotha, the Gravetide because I play her with 100 permanents and she's incredible sticky (just imagine stuff like Spore Frog or Seal of Primordium every turn ).

[SveinMarvin]

Viscera/Bloodthrone: I need some free sac outlets. It's required for the Pitiless Plunderer/Bontu's Monument combo, but I also have some cards with abilities that trigger on creature deaths (the most important is Cordial Vampire). Also, if I have anything on the BF that pumps vampires, Skullclamp won't work without a sac outlet. On the other hand, I currently have 3 free sac outlets (Viscera, Bloodthrone and Yahenni). I suppose I don't need that many. I'll drop Bloodthrone because the +2/+2 is not really a big deal with all the other pumps I have, but I'll keep Viscera.

Oathsworn is important for the same reason. If I have Herald's Horn or Bontu's Monument and a free sac outlet on the BF, I can activate any death trigger as long as I have black mana - and if I have Pitiless Plunderer, I don't even need that. (And, as I'm sure you are aware, Oathsworn Vampire, Pitiless Plunderer, Bontu's Monument and a free sac outlet let me enter an endless loop that kills all opponents)

Pitiless Pontiff isn't very important, so I suppose I could let her go. Still, I love to spring that trap on an overeager opponent, and it's hard to find any REALLY powerful 1- or 2-drop vampires. I'll have to think about it

At some game nights I've used Filth and Blanket of Night to allow my vamps to attack unblocked, but it's a two-card combo which is unreliable in my deck. Cover of Darkness is much easier. It's a bit expensive, but I'll concider it for my shopping list.

Fervor is in my collection. I have used it from time to time, and it's awesome to suddenly drop 3 or 4 vampires and the same number of tokens, especially if I have Coat of Arms on the field   If I also have Anointed Procession the game's as good as won. I'll put him back in. I'll also concider getting Mass Hysteria.

Vampire Hexmage is situational. If I know some in may playgroup will play planeswalkers I might slip it in, but I agree that otherwise she's not very important. She's out.

Dark Ritual (which I own) and Culling the Weak (which I don't) are great, but only if I draw them early. At turn 10 they're almost inconsequential. Both of those cards are very good with 4 copies in a 60-card deck, but not as great in a commander deck. I think it's better to focus on a good mana base, which is the next thing I'll discuss:

I agree that lands should be fast for this kind of decks, and the scry-lands are not really pulling their weight. I'll keep Temple of Silence for the white mana, but I only need a splash of red so I'll drop Temple of Malice.

The Hideaway lands are very unreliable. To work optimally I have to draw an expensive card to exile, and with my avg cmc going down this becomes even more unlikely. On the other hand, Spinerock Knoll lets me play any card at instant speed on an opponents turn. That comes in handy sometimes. I'll leave Spinerock in but drop Windbrisk.

Cascading Cataracts is in my deck mainly because of Kheru Mind-Eater (and also Olivia when I had her), but it also gives excellent mana fixing. It's almost like having Vizier of the Menagerie on the field. And it's indestructible to boot. I think I prefer it over Fellwar Stone. The main problem with Cascading Cataracts is that it's unusable before I aquire enough mana, so Exotic Orchard is a nice addition (and I have it in my collection, yay)

Luxury Suite is an excellent replacement for Temple of Malice. A bit expensive, but it goes on the shopping list.

The bounce lands slow me down, but not by much. Also, I save space in the deck. With 3 fast lands i get 1,2 and 3 mana on the first 3 turns for a total of 6. With a bounce land I get 1,1 and 3 for a total of 5 (Turn 1:play and tap swamp. Turn 2:tap swamp, play bounce, return swamp. Turn 3:Play swamp, tap bounce and swamp). I now have 3 mana on the BF that only required 2 cards in my deck, at the cost of 1 less mana on turn 2. I believe it's worth it.

I agree about Everflowing Chalice. It's out.

I also have doubts about Concealed Courtyard. It's almost never fast! I'll replace it with Nomad Outpost for more flexibility even if it's no speed gain. When I inherit some money from a long lost uncle I'll buy Scrubland and Badlands, I promise.

As a last little tweak, I'll drop Stromkirk Noble for Skymarcher Aspirant. It makes me even less dependant on red mana, and it's nice with another flyer.

For now I'll work with the cards in my collection, so these are my changes for this iteration:
  - Temple of Malice
  - Everflowing Chalice
  - Stromkirk Noble
  - Windbrisk Heights
  - Bloodthrone Vampire
  - Concealed Courtyard 
  - Vampire Hexmage
   
  + Fervor
  + Plains
  + Swamp
  + Exotic Orchard
  + Nomad Outpost
  + Skymarcher Aspirant
  + Oversold Cemetery (cheap, and I have no other recursion)
 
I'm at about 3 avg cmc and have 25 fast lands and only 9 slow/bounce/transform lands. I'm down to 40 creatures (38 vamps), which is as low as I'll go. After some testing I might drop a land for another cheap vampire. I may also decide to drop Sorin, Grim Nemesis for another vamp, but for now he'll stay.

I officially declare this deck to be the ultimate killing machine, unbeatable and superiour under any conceivable circumstances - thank's for all your help   It really helps to have some input. When I sit by myself, mulling over my deck, it's easy to overlook some glaring truths.

[Judaspriester]

You're welcome. I tried to explain what I would change and why, I hope it was useful.

Btw, if you liked the Filth + Blanket of night combo, it can be done a little better (even if more expensive) if you replace the Blanket with Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. But I think Urborg will go on the shopping list for birthday/christmas presents.

The Idea for Dark Ritual is, that IF you draw it early, it allows you to play edgar at turn 4, which usually means havoc on the board. But I agree with you that it isn't that important later on anymore.

About colorfixing, don't be afraid to add a low amount of non-swamp basics. Btw, what about adding 1 Mountain and Ash Barrens? In case you just need mana, you can play it, in case you need colorfixing, you can fetch out the needed basic for 1. Since you're flexible its a little better than Evolving Wilds.

Do me a favour and write how the deck is working after all the changes. I'm a little curios. 

[SveinMarvin]

Unfortunately it'll be some time before I can test it with my group. Most of them are on vacation now, and I leave in a week. No more playing before well into August I'm afraid    But when I've had a chance to try it I'll let you know. I'm confident I'll have stories of some legendary wins

[SveinMarvin]

Oh joy, we managed a short session! Three games played; one 5-player, two 3-player. I won the 5-player and one of the 3-player games. Not too shabby :-)  Not a thorough testing, obviously, but the deck worked like a charm in all three games. I didn't manage to pull off the pitiless-combo, but I amassed a sizeable army quickly in all games, which is  the main idea anyway.

[Judaspriester]

Oh joy, we managed a short session! Three games played; one 5-player, two 3-player. I won the 5-player and one of the 3-player games. Not too shabby :-)  Not a thorough testing, obviously, but the deck worked like a charm in all three games. I didn't manage to pull off the pitiless-combo, but I amassed a sizeable army quickly in all games, which is  the main idea anyway.

I like to hear that.
I agree with you that 3 games aren't enough for a real test, but this short test indicates that we are on the right track.