Yeah, I used to run Thallid Shelldweller in here; but I found that the Dreampod Druid was much more effective. I rarely got more than a single saproling from a thallid before they were no longer an important generator.
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Maybe add some Soul's Attendant? It is an easy to get and cheap card (both casting cost, and literal money). It would provide you a healing source which relies on creatures entering the battlefield, which seems useful in a token deck like this. I personally use the green alternative to it, Essence Warden, a lot in my Saproling token deck.
I actually considered Dragonspeaker Shaman.... but didn't add it for 2 reasons. #1, and most relevant, the majority of the dragons cost 3 different mana and then 3 colorless. the casting of a creature which costs 1RR for the sake of lowering the cost by 2 colorless more or less makes no sense on the majority of the dragons. What if I have a dragon which costs 3WBU (Dromar), you will need 2 additional R mana in the first place which is not being used on the dragon, for the sake of lowering cost by 2, of which only 1 will be used (in best case scenario). Obviously it is not going to be much of a problem with dragons which actually have R, or better yet RR, in their casting cost; but the reality stands that you are spending 3 mana to put out a monster (requiring RR nonetheless) to try and reduce the colorless casting cost. In a multi-colored deck, this is better spent on a mana ramp card. I would only use him in a mono-red deck where dragon arch is not an option. As for reason #2? He isn't a dragon... :P
Of course it is a costly combo; but I actually manage to last long enough to play it... well... unless I have decided to finish them off before pulling the combo. The combination of Signets, Gilded Lotus, and Palladium Myr (all of which can also be imprinted on a Prototype Portal) allows you to get up to 10 mana "relatively" quickly. While it may be odd, this deck is still a control deck; and as such, it is not so difficult to last that long (Depending on the foe of course).
Ouch... your right... dunno how I didn't notice that the tokens were also Warriors... :\
I dunno, I think the easiest way to cut it down is to remove Bramblewood Paragon. His effect only applies to creatures with 1/1 counters on them (not creatures that get 1/1... it has to be counters). His abilities are relatively useless in this deck... since all the bonuses your creatures are getting do not count as counters. I mean, sure... he makes it so that creatures that come into play after him get +1/+1 (which gives them nice bonuses under his effect and doubling season... unfortunately it does not apply to stuff that got out before him. Furthermore, it will only apply to your warriors, which excludes your many tokens) You already have ways of granting your elves trample, even if they are not permanent. I think a simple Coat of Arms would be infinitely more useful in this deck, or even a simple overrun. (Which would have more surprise; he will not be boosting your creatures already on the field, so it lacks that element of surprise) Cut him out completely and replace with Essence Warden. ;) That, or figure out a way to add in some counters. While you are at it, cut your Llanowar Elves and replace them with maybe 2 Coat of Arms and maybe an Overrun and a Triumph of the Hordes. You already have many good ways to get mana from your elves, Llanowar is useful, but probably the least useful of all these options. Try removing it and see if your mana still flows well? The ability to crush your opposition in the late game with the boosts of Coat of Arms and finishing cards like Overrun and Triumph of the Hordes are likely going to be much more helpful.
oddly enough I have not had any problems with correct mana types in this deck... I would have expected it in a 5 color deck, but thus far it has played smoothly.
Perhaps focus down which type of token creature you want to get out? I like this deck idea, but I get the feeling it could become stronger if you narrowed its focus a little. Cathars' Crusade could help ya a bit here. If you do decide to focus the type of token creatures, Coat of Arms can work wonders! Here is my Green/White Token creature Deck; it doesn't really use populate much, but rather focuses on boosting 1/1 creatures... but perhaps it might give you some ideas? Keep up the good work, this deck definitely appeals to me.http://www.mtgvault.com/omnimalevolent1/decks/blessed-are-the-meek/
Considering how few plains based cards in here you got, and how little they really contribute to the overall theme... I would ditch the addition of White to this deck. I am sure you can get Blue cards which offer similar advantages, and will ultimately contribute more to its synergy. Even something basic like Ponder or Boomerang? All in all, the mono blue would be a more stable play than making dual with so little advantage provided by White.
Isochron Specter is a great card! Perhaps throw in a Panoptic Mirror or two? It allows you to play that effect at the beginning of each of your upkeeps for free (after cost of imprint), plus you can imprint multiple spells, and not only when you play it! I would also advice adding some Reverberate and Dual Casting, should help you get the most out of your spells.
I would remove Cognivoire, the mana cost for him is not justified, especially by your general lack of instants. By that stage of the game you can play significantly better cards/combos for that cost... even if there are like 20 instants in the graveyards. All in all the deck could use some focus in what it is trying to do. Although to be fair, focus is not quite as important when running a Blue Control deck. Perhaps just go through and really think about the synergy each card gives the others. Think about what cards benefit others, and so on... http://www.mtgvault.com/omnimalevolent1/decks/mother-issues/I also have a control deck, maybe it will give you some ideas? Obviously your deck is mostly made up of cheap affordable cards, so many of the things in my build are going to be out of your price range. Figure out what your favorite cards are and try and get playsets of x4 for them (like Guard Gomazoa is a great defender, and certainly better than Fog Bank or Haunted Guardian), it should be affordable. Decide if you want to get out strong monsters, or kill your opponents deck; the focus will help you greatly. Afterall, going after both of them at the same time will not help you do either thing since neither promote the other.
To be blunt, the deck seems to lack purpose. It definitely needs to be focused. If you want to make a deck that focuses on getting large numbers of monsters that get large quickly, it is best to just make it a token deck. (at least in my opinion... I mean, this build I have can spawn thousands of creatures quickly, and then boost them each into multi-thousand strength creatures)http://www.mtgvault.com/omnimalevolent1/decks/blessed-are-the-meek/This is the token deck that I have developed, as green and white, its strength doesn't come out until you hit around 5 mana, so it is slightly slower than your build here mana wise. However, notice the clear focus on numbers of monsters; specifically towards saprolings? My deck will ultimately end up being faster because it has focus; you cannot run a fast deck which lacks focus in what it does; otherwise your hand is filled with different options which do not strive to the same goal. Having variety in options is more for a slower deck which focuses on control. This is what you need to do, stop trying to do too many things, and think clearly what your goal is, and build exclusively around it. Sure diversity is great in some decks, but only when cards have great synergy across the board. This seems more like multiple strategies which lack that synergy.
I also run an Izzet deck (RB), check it out, it may give you some ideas. Obviously I favor control over the burning aspect; mostly because I find that control tends to lead to longer, more prolonged games; in which case direct damage starts to lose its advantage.http://www.mtgvault.com/omnimalevolent1/decks/mother-issues/Some obvious options are Reverberate/Dual Casting/Twincast, Charmbreaker Devils, Fling, Dominus of Fealty, Red Sun's Zenith, and Mark of Mutiny.
Immaculate Magistrate, Incremental Growth, Power Conduit, Experiment Kraj... there are a few cards you could use to put 1/1 counters on creatures. And I am fairly certain you can proliferate suspend counters. Overwhelming Stampede or Overrun should suit the bill just fine. Since Mycoloth is out of the question, perhaps use Verdant Embrace or Saproling Symbiosis to generate token creatures? Or you could use Thallid Shell-Dweller? I have seen other good cards for this, but cannot remember them at the moment.
I highly recommend Essence Warden. As for the concern of something like Damnation being played, maybe add a few Ghostway to the deck? I added them to my token deck for some protection from board wiping effects, since they are the critical weakness in decks like this. The problem with Ghostway is that it will remove all your 1/1 counters, but it will let you keep your token creatures. A combination of Cathars' Crusade and Essence Warden can actually make the usage of Ghostway HIGHLY beneficial. As the creatures come back into play, you will gain life for each creature AGAIN from Essence Warden, plus Cathars' Crusade will allow you to put 1/1 counters on each creature for every creature entering your control again. And even more awesome, these effects can stack! (And allow you to take advantage of Doubling Season) You have now turned a defensive maneuver into an amazing life gain and creature boosting move... one that makes Coat of Arms look small time! :D Oh, and if you have Aura Shards of the field, you can also use this maneuver to wipe the board of every enchantment or artifact that doesn't suit your fancy!Check out my Token Deck to see what I am talking about; of course it is saproling rather than elf, but the defensive uses should still be similar!http://www.mtgvault.com/omnimalevolent1/decks/blessed-are-the-meek/
So very true.... just wish Sol Ring was not so pricy. I mean, it is at least somewhat affordable unlike some cards I want like Gaea's Cradle... but it is still fairly pricey. Might add it some day...
I used to use Jinxed Idol in this deck, and yes, it was frustrating to the opposition. I ended up replacing them with the Dominus of Fealty and the Gilded Lotus. I have since found that being able to take control of monsters is more helpful. ^_^ I have debated adding them back in, but am not sure what I should remove in exchange.
The difference is that Lightning Bolt costs a single mana to play AND it is an instant. Most of your monsters effects only work when they come into play. There are times that being able to deal damage to a creature or a player during THEIR turn is needed. Instants are great!
Since you are running a red deck, I would add cards such as Thunder Bolt or Red Sun's Zenith. I would also recommend a monster which can boost a lot such as Kiln Fiend, or an enchantment that can be used like Claws of Valakut. Then add in a Fling (this card works great, and is a staple of my red decks) and couple it with Dual Casting and Reverberate (for duplication of damage) and also Mark of Mutiny.http://www.mtgvault.com/omnimalevolent1/decks/herp-derp/http://www.mtgvault.com/omnimalevolent1/decks/mother-issues/Neither of these are pure red control, but they do use red for some control, look them over, they might give you ideas!
http://www.mtgvault.com/omnimalevolent1/decks/devastating-dragons/Try comparing with this deck that I constructed; you might just start considering making a multi-color deck. Unlike most 5 color decks, this one actually works really well! The only real downside to it is the lack of monsters below 5 mana, or lack of instants or sorceries. It uses mana ramping, so it can get out stuff in 3 or 4 turns. It is not the most amazing deck, but as far as dragon themed decks go, it is great. If you really need some diversity in it, try modding it! I just wanted to be purely themed!
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