Introduction:
Hi there, my name as this site goes is Reminor, but feel free to call me Rem. I'm a casual magic player so, that being said I don't want to spend $100+ on every deck I make. I would much rather have a collection of decks under $50. So, feel free to suggest any card to me that you think would be nice in the deck but, just know I would like to try and stay on budget. Something you should know, I do know what a side deck is and how to use it. Those cards listed under side deck are cards that I'm unsure about playing or I want to play test. Feel free to comment on them as well!
***One last thing, if you're using google chrome as a browser you should get an extention called "AutocardAnywhere" it's AWESOME. What it does is it turns ANY text with a card name in it into a hyperlink showing the card and it's price! (Also it makes reading things like this much easier on you!) Read on fellow magic players!***
How this deck came to be:
While attempting to make a blue/green Simic deck I stumbled upon the combo of undying and evolve. The backbone of the deck is Zameck Guildmage. By using his ability to remove +1/+1 counters you can "refresh" your creatures with undying such as Young Wolf and Strangleroot Geist while also drawing a card! Zameck Guildmage's other ability is also useful in the way of boosting a creature just that little bit higher to evolve creatures like Cloudfin Raptor.
Synergy:
The mechanics of undying and evolve work quite well in tandem. Here's an example:
Turn 1: Island, Drop Cloudfin (CF).
Turn 2: Forest, Drop Young Wolf (YW), Cloudfin evolves to 1/2, play Rapid Hybridization (RH) on Young Wolf, choose to activate the undying effect first, bring YW back as a 2/2, CF evolves to a 2/3, place your token from RH, Cloudfin Raptor evolves one last time to a 3/4!
End your third turn cycle: You have a 2/2, 2/2, 3/3, and a 3/4 Flyer!
Card Breakdown:
Here I'll breakdown each card in the deck and provide my opinions as well as what I think would work well with it, without it, or what could replace it, etc.
Cloudfin Raptor:
As this card is in one of the best combos of the deck it's easily one of the most important. For one blue mana it's no joke. Sure, it comes out as a 0/1 but, you'll often see that he becomes a threat quickly just as you play your other cards. There are no cards that contest this little guy, he's earned his place.
Elusive Krasis:
This card is a strange one for me. Of all the cards in my mainboard I'm most unsure about this guy. In Theory, he's amazing. An evolve that has unblockable is like a dream in this deck, especially with cards like Bred for the hunt. However, my concern with him stems from the fact that he does come out as a 0/4. So, on the off chance you have nothing to play for him on the next turn he's a relative dead draw.
Primordial Hydra:
One of the big hitters I chose for this deck. Primordial Hydra puts a fast clock on your opponent in the way of his counter doubling ability, especially once he starts trampling. That ability can also serve as a source for Zameck Guildmage to draw cards and it also works well with Forced Adaptation allowing you an extra 2 counters every turn for Primordial Hydra.
Shambleshark:
At first I was not playing Shambleshark but, unfortunately there are not many choices for creatures in this deck. That being said, the reason I put him in the deck is mostly because I needed more blue mana symbols to balance the deck. He's not a bad card though, especially with the flash. For example he can he flashed onto the battlefield as a creature with undying is coming in with a +1/+1 on it, evolving Shambleshark in the process. Another option would be flashing him onto the battlefield as a surprise blocker.
Strangleroot Geist:
This card is extremely useful in the deck, but it's almost just as worrying. As a two drop with 2 forests as it's CMC it doesn't fit extremely well into the deck seeing as it's dual color. The one saving factor that keeps Strangleroot Geist in the deck is it's haste. It's the only other low CMC card with undying in the deck as well so that is also a factor in it staying in.
Vorapede:
With Primordial Hydra, Vorapede is the other heavy hitter of the deck. Between having vigilance, trample, and being 5/4 Vorapede is a force to be reckoned with. The only thing that holds him back in this deck is his CMC. Those three forests can be difficult to have turn 5 sometimes. However, even with the sometimes difficult summon if you manage to get him out and have a Zameck Guildmage on the field you're pretty well set. Being able to "refresh" Vorapede's undying effect while also drawing a card is just an awesome play.
Young Wolf:
I've always held this card in high regard, even before building this deck. A 1/1 for 1 mana? That's fine... there's a more than a few cards with that statistic going for them. But, with the undying Young Wolf can become quite annoying for your opponent to deal with. Not even to mention the awesome combos you can do with it in this deck.
Zameck Guildmage:
If this deck was a project you made in wood shop, Zameck Guildmage would be the wood glue holding it together. Using his abilities this helpful mage assists both the undying creatures and the evolving ones in this deck. His first ability allows for you to squeak out that last activation of your evolving creatures. In addition, his second ability let's you "refresh" your undying beasts while also refilling your hand. Zameck Guildmage is truly the poster child of this deck.
Bred for the hunt:
The purpose of this card is extremely straight forward. If you're attacking almost all of your creatures will have +1/+1 counters on them just because of how the deck plays, being able to draw whenever a creature deals damage to a player is a powerful ability, especially for only 3 mana. This card synergies very well with Elusive Krasis, Cloudfin Raptor, and Rancor.
Forced Adaptation:
Originally I was playing 3 copies of Rancor in this deck but after doing some sample hand testing I decided I wanted to look for some other options. That's when I found Forced Adaptation. This card works wonders in this deck. It plays well with Zameck Guildmage, Primordial Hyrdra, and all of the evolve cards. My only concern is that it does mess up the undying mechanic a bit. I have considered playing a version of the deck the plays Master Biomancer and Ooze Flux with this card to maximize +1/+1 counter play, unfortunatly Master Biomancer is a little too expensive for my tastes and I have other problems with him as well.
Rancor:
I've always thought this card was insanely good, hell, I would still play it if it was 2 mana instead of 1. Giving a card +2/+0 and trample for 1 mana is quite impressive, the fact that it returns to your hand is just icing on your victory cake. In addition, this card can assist in the activation of Bred for the Hunt if you opponent is chump blocking you.
Rapid Hybridization:
Prior to doing research for this deck I hadn't actually seen this card before. This card has many uses, the best one being the 2nd turn combo I described. Other uses are killing your own undying creatures in order to play Zameck Guildmage's effect to draw, destroying your own creature that is dying anyways to still have field presence, or disrupting an opponents long combo chain by destroying a pivotal monster at the correct time.
Simic Charm:
Similar to Rapid Hybridization, Simic Charm has a variety of uses but it carries much more utility since you have 3 separate effects to choose from. The first effect can be a nice game ender or just an easy way to give your pokes with Cloudfin Raptor or Elusive Krasis a little more oomph. The second ability is my personal favorite of the three. There's just something magical about denying your opponent's Doomblade or Lightning Bolt to a creature they hate. The third effect I would mainly use to bounce back would be attackers but, it can also be useful to replay a card like Vorapede to evolve your little guys again.
Hinterland Harbor:
Yea, yea I know it's a land card. Since this deck is attempted budget deck of sorts choosing whether to run expensive lands is important. This decks main problems stems from it's unbalanced color ratios. Harbor really alleviates this much more than Simic Guildgate does. I may end up play some Simic Guildgate in the final version of this deck, i'm not sure.
**Thanks for reading! What are your thoughts about my deck? What could I do better? What do you think it does well? Let me know in the comments section below.**