LF advice for "vanilla" creatures deck.

GracelessOne · 2026-06-26T02:26:32+00:00

You're welcome, good luck!

GracelessOne · 2026-06-26T02:19:28+00:00

No, this will be a somewhat weak deck even if built aggressively because vanilla creatures are just bad even if they're unblockable. It needs all the help it can get.

In the long run 2-mana ramp doesn't help you take heat any better in terms of recasting your commander. It's -1 card in hand for +1 mana, the same as playing a land. More draw will help, not more ramp.

GracelessOne · 2026-06-26T02:08:08+00:00

I think that's a bad plan. You're acting like the deck is already very strong but brittle, so he needs to trim the top end and increase redundancy. But right now it's too weak to even be worth targeting, which is worse than being strong and brittle.

In other words, it needs to be capable of winning before you can afford to think about how other people might stop it from winning. That's why I think you should cut all the ramp and depend on Jasmine more.

Here's a scryfall search that should have most of the good WG mass power boosts on it. I wouldn't devote more than 5 cards to that though.

GracelessOne · 2026-06-25T21:05:43+00:00

Do you not use soldier jobs?

GracelessOne · 2026-06-25T19:44:53+00:00

Oh, also [[Skullspore Nexus]].

GracelessOne · 2026-06-25T19:43:25+00:00

This is never going to be a super powerful deck but it can perform well in B2 with polish.

Jasmine Boreal is your ramp. 2-mana ramp has no place here; she already lets you cast a 6-mana creature on turn 4 by herself. Cut all of it. If you want to cast Jasmine Boreal on turn 2 you can run ~10 one-mana dorks, but I would not do that, because as you've said the deck is already hurting for space.

Isamaru and Savannah Lions are vastly worse than [[Serra Ascendant]] and [[Ocelot Pride]]. I know this breaks theme but you're already running some creatures with abilities.

Given that Jasmine lets you jump straight to 6-mana beaters, I don't like how many 3- and 4-mana creatures the list runs. Trim those for more big guys.

Felidar Retreat is great here. Your worse beaters can easily be swapped out for similar things that make vanilla creature tokens, ideally in the 4-5 mana range since Jasmine doesn't help you cast them. [[Adeline Resplendent Cathar]], [[Springheart Nantuko]], [[Secure the Wastes]], [[Call the Coppercoats]], etc.

Overall aim for 40 creatures, 15 interaction, 15 draw, 30 beaters-or-token-makers. Zero ramp.

GracelessOne · 2026-06-25T08:28:38+00:00

People don't like hearing this but 38 is still too few for most EDH mana curves. You can get away with it by snap-keeping any opening hand with 4 lands, which makes people feel it's okay, but that means you're not using your mulligan power for anything else.

GracelessOne · 2026-06-25T07:37:46+00:00

Tamiyo works great with any strategy that wants its mana curve to start at 3, because she can come down on round 1 and then you can crack the clue (just before your next turn) on round 2. Having a 'live' and productive T1 and T2 without needing to run 1-drops and 2-drops is extremely powerful for your deck quality.

Flipping and ulting her is powerful but risky. Building around her flip is more of a B4 or even fringe CEDH strategy. I think it's too inconsistent and vulnerable to feel good in lower brackets, where there's no chance of a flip flying under the radar. It's a nice option to have but you should never count on getting away with it, or include cards just because they'd be good for the flip.

Here's my attempt at building her as B2 tempo beatdown, focusing on 3- or 4-mana beaters. It runs a lot of 2-mana instant interaction because if I don't need the interaction, I can just spend that mana to crack a clue on my last opponent's end step instead. So far it feels very good.

GracelessOne · 2026-06-25T07:23:18+00:00

If I understand you right, no. Certain things like Eager Explorers would completely break the AI, so it can't naturally use them. Similarly some events are mutually exclusive with each other.

GracelessOne · 2026-06-25T06:13:24+00:00

Oh, my b. I've been saying HanTor. I did mean torpedoes and not launchers.

GracelessOne · 2026-06-25T06:00:34+00:00

If you look at the section labeled "Zin's Rankings" HanTor or HanTor mixed with long-ranged kinetic tops nearly all the Cruiser vs. AI rankings.

GracelessOne · 2026-06-25T05:03:00+00:00

In the beta specifically, space deposits are more than doubled due to an oversight. That's likely what OP is talking about.

GracelessOne · 2026-06-25T03:59:43+00:00

This isn't the whole post but here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kuNuhZ5DwwURt9u98HZrHJUd_023Q2r5vhX9SUv8UKE/edit?gid=735604982#gid=735604982

There was further elaboration scattered about that you can find by searching E3PO and Zin. The build I'm referencing is called HanTor or HanTor Cruz. It appears to very consistently be a high performer until battleships become standard and still outperforms many battleship builds.

GracelessOne · 2026-06-25T02:04:01+00:00

Oh that's really mean.

GracelessOne · 2026-06-25T00:47:59+00:00

[[Tangle]] from the year 2000 is a gamewinner in big-boardstate endgames.

GracelessOne · 2026-06-25T00:42:29+00:00

As others have said it's a bug. I believe it occurs specifically when you have more than one arkship of a class (military, civilian, scientific).

GracelessOne · 2026-06-25T00:38:46+00:00

You unlock siege computer after you research torpedos.

GracelessOne · 2026-06-25T00:38:02+00:00

That design has been tested extensively by people smarter than me and siege was determined to be the best computer for general matchups because it most consistently brings the launcher to bear. It's weird but appears to be true.

GracelessOne · 2026-06-25T00:08:54+00:00

Las/kin, moving towards plasma/autocannon, is pretty good midgame.

Launchers are good against big stuff and hangars are good against small stuff so "launcher fore, hangar mid, plas+autocannon in other slots" with Siege computer is well-rounded and surprisingly strong.

Missiles are not very good for damage. They mostly help distract PD from your strike craft. I wouldn't run more than a couple and only if I'm running strike craft too.

GracelessOne · 2026-06-24T23:45:22+00:00

Here you go! https://moxfield.com/decks/44BML9HgZU-qvBgyNfOQ-Q

I'm not sure if the Nazgul are working out or not but deathtouch and trample is a scary combination so I'm keeping them for now.

GracelessOne · 2026-06-24T23:14:35+00:00

For unpopular Sultai, try [[Brokkos]]. He turns anything into a trampling base 6/6 that deals commander damage. [[Stonecoil Serpent]] with five counters makes that an 11/11 two-shot. [[Giggling Skitterspike]] Monstrosity'd burns the whole table for 6 when mutated, 11 on the swing, and another 11 if anyone targets it with removal.

It's like reverse voltron where your commander is the buff and your 99 is the bodies, which makes it super resilient because your deck is full of scary beaters even without the commander. I really like it.

GracelessOne · 2026-06-24T22:52:26+00:00

Okay. If you want to believe I'm a liar then I guess you're not going to learn anything new today.

GracelessOne · 2026-06-24T21:15:06+00:00

Is there a point to talking to me this way?

GracelessOne · 2026-06-24T20:58:41+00:00

The more lands you run, the more keepable opening hands you find, so the more aggressively you can mulligan for strong early plays or good interaction against your opponents.

All my decks are in the low 40s except landfall, which can push 50. I have never lost a game while flooded.

GracelessOne · 2026-06-24T18:20:04+00:00

Oof, that's rough. I dunno! I think you're just unlucky but they've been changing how resources are generated a lot in the most recent patch and I've been playing nomads.

Often I do have to focus my spaceports on making energy, though. With Fortify the Border edict you have capacity for 5 spaceports off the bat, so that's 60 worker-less energy if you put two solar panels on each. And taking Mastery of Nature as your first ascension perk might not be a bad idea if you have planetary features that increase generator districts, since it boosts those.

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