"Help me cut a card" thread

[OCPunisher]

I need some advice on my Selvala, Explorer Returned deck. This is my oldest deck and nearly every card has proved ist value many times or is a pet card I don't want to cut. I really like the power level because it's on par with my playgroup's. Nontheless there are some cards I want to test:

1. Sometimes the deck struggles with finishing games. I'd like to test Finale of Devastation. It fetches End-Raze Forerunners, Champion of Lambholt or other endgame creatures and transforms my elves into a leathal force.
2. Mostly I need a really good timing to use Selvala, Explorer Returned effectively. So an additional mana sink would be great. Dawn of Hope is a card I wanted to test for a some time now. It ticks all of my boxes, can be recurred by Sun Titan and works well with my other life gainers.
3. I am unsure if my untap toolbox needs a little change. At the moment I'm playing Qurion Ranger (an elf for my elf package) and Wirewood Symbiote (an elf synergy card to re-trigger). Scryb Ranger would be another option, but it's not an elf. Typically I have more Plains than Forests in play due to my obsession with Emeria, the Sky Ruin.

I really struggle with finding some cuts within my pet deck. Any help is greatly apreciated.

This is my current decklist:

Decklist

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//Creatures

1 Elvish Mystic

1 Essence Warden

1 Fyndhorn Elves

1 Llanowar Elves

1 Quirion Ranger

1 Serra Ascendant

1 Wirewood Symbiote

1 Gaddock Teeg

1 Priest of Titania

1 Qasali Pridemage

1 Remorseful Cleric

1 Saffi Eriksdotter

1 Sakura-Tribe Elder

1 Scavenging Ooze

1 Selfless Spirit

1 Champion of Lambholt

1 Dauntless Escort

1 Elvish Archdruid

1 Eternal Witness

1 Knight of the Reliquary

1 Lifeblood Hydra

1 Mirri, Weatherlight Duelist

1 Mirror Entity

1 Reclamation Sage

1 Selvala, Explorer Returned

1 Yisan, the Wanderer Bard

1 Beast Whisperer

1 Shalai, Voice of Plenty

1 Yeva, Nature's Herald

1 Acidic Slime

1 Ant Queen

1 Karametra, God of Harvests

1 Karmic Guide

1 Reveillark

1 Seedborn Muse

1 Sigarda, Host of Herons

1 Bane of Progress

1 Kamahl, Fist of Krosa

1 Soul of the Harvest

1 Sun Titan

1 Avenger of Zendikar

1 Realm-Cloaked Giant // Cast Off

1 End-Raze Forerunners

1 Terastodon

1 Woodfall Primus

//Artifacts

1 Skullclamp

1 Lightning Greaves

1 Lifecrafter's Bestiary

//Sorceries

1 Green Sun's Zenith

1 Austere Command

//Instants

1 Path to Exile

1 Swords to Plowshares

1 Eladamri's Call

1 Chord of Calling

//Enchantments

1 Rest in Peace

1 Survival of the Fittest

1 Aura Shards

1 Growing Rites of Itlimoc

1 Oblivion Ring

1 Song of the Dryads

1 Mirari's Wake

1 Mana Reflection

//Planeswalkers

1 Vivien, Champion of the Wilds

//Lands

1 Blighted Woodland

1 Canopy Vista

1 Emeria, the Sky Ruin

11 Forest

1 Fortified Village

1 Krosan Verge

11 Plains

1 Reliquary Tower

1 Sejiri Steppe

1 Stirring Wildwood

1 Sunpetal Grove

1 Tectonic Edge

1 Temple of the False God

1 Vesuva

1 Vitu-Ghazi, the City-Tree

1 Wirewood Lodge

1 Wooded Bastion

Approximate Total Cost:

Boy, this is a tough one. All of these cards are really strong, and there's enough synergy to boot.
- Lifeblood Hydra: I get the appeal and the upside with this card, but I've never actually seen it live up to the potential. It was briefly in my all-flash Yeva deck, and even then it just wasn't good enough.
- Oblivion Ring: What's the appeal of this card, which can be easily undone, over cards like Beast Within or Generous Gift?
- Terastodon or Woodfall Primus: both are fine cards, but do you really need both on top of Rec-Sage, Slime, Shards, etc?

[pokken]

@cheonice - That deck is fairly tight but the cut almost surely has to come from creatures. The non-creature base is too tight. If you cut one of the removal spells they should replace with more removal, not another game ender (e.g. o-ring should become unexpectedly absent). And the safest pick is going to pick something that does the same thing but worse than finale. That card is mirror entity.

[OCPunisher]

https://scryfall.com/@shquidia/decks/6c ... 60d2d82f1a (Arjun, red/blue peculiar junk)

this is basically a pile of my favourite cards rather than a cogent deck. I was hoping someone could suggest another "core" card for the deck, ie, not a refinement of the engine or an improvement to the terrible land base, but something that I'd have a plan for if it appeared in my opening hand! there's so many cantrips in here that opening hands are terrible about 100% of the time. thanks for looking in if ya do!

This might be a dumb question, but how much are you invested in having Arjun as the commander for that deck? I've seen some Parun lists that look very similar and are quite effective.

[folding_music]

This might be a dumb question, but how much are you invested in having Arjun as the commander for that deck? I've seen some Parun lists that look very similar and are quite effective.

I could probably be convinced )) it started as Jori En and morphed into Arjun when I realised I had the most fun when Arjun was in play - I managed to put together an Arjun + Archive + Jace win and decided that having one of those cards in my command zone would be an advantage!

[cheonice]

Thank you so much for your responses!

Boy, this is a tough one. All of these cards are really strong, and there's enough synergy to boot.
- Lifeblood Hydra: I get the appeal and the upside with this card, but I've never actually seen it live up to the potential. It was briefly in my all-flash Yeva deck, and even then it just wasn't good enough.
- Oblivion Ring: What's the appeal of this card, which can be easily undone, over cards like Beast Within or Generous Gift?
- Terastodon or Woodfall Primus: both are fine cards, but do you really need both on top of Rec-Sage, Slime, Shards, etc?

Lifeblood Hydra is probably a good call! In most cases she's just a haymaker and not a gamewinner. Woodfall Primus is a card I thought about, too. I think, these will be my cuts.

cheonice - That deck is fairly tight but the cut almost surely has to come from creatures. The non-creature base is too tight. If you cut one of the removal spells they should replace with more removal, not another game ender (e.g. o-ring should become unexpectedly absent). And the safest pick is going to pick something that does the same thing but worse than finale. That card is mirror entity.

I'm hesitant about cutting Mirror Entity. Sure, it's worse than Finale of Devastation, but nontheless it's a card that supports my go-wide strategy. On the other hand Oblivion Ring is probably outdated and will be replaced with Unexpectedly Absent.

Thanks a lot!

[OCPunisher]

My Scarab God deck (sig below) just received a copy of Woe Strider in the mail. This deck has been around for quite a while, so the list of possible cards is enormous, and cuts are extremely tight. Any suggestions for it?

[WizardMN]

My first thoughts are Millikin and Deranged Assistant. I get they fill your graveyard (one card at a time) and produce mana, but on paper they seem pretty underwhelming.

Kira, Great Glass-Spinner is another that I am not a fan of. Perhaps you have a lot of exile effects, but generally I would expect that any targeted removal could be reversed using The Scarab God itself.

And, finally, Spiketail Drakeling could be a reasonable cut. Not sure how much the "Quench on a stick" matters if games are going long enough?

[GabrielleAngelfire]

I've been wanting a deck with a high but not quite cEDH power level for quite a while now, and I've assembled nearly all the cards for a deck I was given a list for. Selvala, Explorer Returned is the general. The problem: The decklist does not include a copy of Angel's Grace, which is how you prevent decking yourself when you combo off. I've tested the deck and the combat wincons all work quite well, as does casting a huge Hurricane but the one time I went for the combo mill win my Green Sun's Zenith for 0 got countered, and I was screwed. The deck just plain needs Angel's Grace to protect the win, and the card is mentioned on the page, just not included in the deck list. I have every card on the list but Yeva, Nature's Herald. Should I just cut her to add Angel's Grace, or is there an unnecessary card I'm not seeing here? The list is at http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/selvala-friend-to-elves/ . Any help is appreciated.

[pokken]

Immaculate Magistrate or Wellwisher or Lys Alana Huntmaster are all cards I would cut before yeva I think. Privileged Position pretty medium too in my opinion. 5 mana is a lot for that effect.

[GabrielleAngelfire]

Immaculate Magistrate or Wellwisher or Lys Alana Huntmaster are all cards I would cut before yeva I think. Privileged Position pretty medium too in my opinion. 5 mana is a lot for that effect.

Thanks, these recommendations help me a lot. Narrows it down by a lot.

[cheonice]

Zendikar brought some good new cards for any land-related deck. Naturally Lord Windgrace needs an update, but I struggle to decide, which cards are worth the inclusion and which cards are on the chopping board.

New cards I might add:
Moraug, Fury of Akoum OR Geode Rager: I don't have enough space to play both. Moraug is a wincondition, Rager more of a defensive mechanism. I'm not really sure, who fits better.
Scute Swarm: This does a lot of work in Brawl, but I'm not sure this is enough in EDH. Does anybody have any experience with this card?
Valakut Exploration: Red Arena. Needs to be in the deck.

So I need to find two (or three) cuts for Valakut Exploration and Moraug, Fury of Akoum/Geode Rager/Scute Swarm
Genesis Hydra is obviously the first cut, she never did here job properly.

Any help is appreciated.

For reference, here is my decklist.

SPOILER

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Decklist

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//Commander

Lord Windgrace

//Creatures

1 Elvish Reclaimer

1 Sylvan Safekeeper

1 Genesis Hydra

1 Eternal Witness

1 Evolution Sage

1 Magus of the Wheel

1 Radha, Heart of Keld

1 Ramunap Excavator

1 Skullwinder

1 Tireless Tracker

1 Wayward Swordtooth

1 Mina and Denn, Wildborn

1 Oracle of Mul Daya

1 Stone-Seeder Hierophant

1 World Shaper

1 The Gitrog Monster

1 Underrealm Lich

1 Urabrask the Hidden

1 Bane of Progress

1 Multani, Yavimaya's Avatar

1 Rampaging Baloths

1 Ulvenwald Hydra

1 Avenger of Zendikar

1 Omnath, Locus of Rage

1 Thorn Mammoth

1 World Breaker

//Artifacts

1 Amulet of Vigor

1 Sol Ring

//Sorceries

1 Faithless Looting

1 Traverse the Ulvenwald

1 Demonic Tutor

1 Farseek

1 Life from the Loam

1 Cultivate

1 Genesis Wave

1 Kodama's Reach

1 Last One Standing

1 Maelstrom Pulse

1 Sylvan Awakening

1 Splendid Reclamation

1 Worm Harvest

1 Seasons Past

1 Wildfire

1 Destructive Force

//Instants

1 Crop Rotation

1 Constant Mists

1 Grisly Salvage

1 Rakdos Charm

1 Harrow

1 Putrefy

1 Realms Uncharted

//Enchantments

1 Burgeoning

1 Cindervines

1 Pernicious Deed

//Others

1 Garruk Wildspeaker

1 Nissa, Vital Force

//Lands

1 Barren Moor

1 Blood Crypt

1 Bojuka Bog

1 Canyon Slough

1 Cinder Glade

1 Command Tower

1 Dakmor Salvage

1 Emergence Zone

1 Evolving Wilds

1 Field of the Dead

1 Fire-Lit Thicket

4 Forest

1 Forgotten Cave

1 Ghost Quarter

1 Glacial Chasm

1 Golgari Rot Farm

1 Kessig Wolf Run

1 Kher Keep

3 Mountain

1 Overgrown Tomb

1 Raging Ravine

1 Savage Lands

1 Scavenger Grounds

1 Sheltered Thicket

1 Smoldering Marsh

1 Snow-Covered Forest

2 Swamp

1 Tectonic Edge

1 Temple of the False God

1 Terramorphic Expanse

1 Tranquil Thicket

1 Treetop Village

1 Twilight Mire

1 Vesuva

1 Volrath's Stronghold

1 Windswept Heath

1 Wooded Foothills

Approximate Total Cost:

[darrenhabib]

Zendikar brought some good new cards for any land-related deck. Naturally Lord Windgrace needs an update, but I struggle to decide, which cards are worth the inclusion and which cards are on the chopping board.

New cards I might add:
Moraug, Fury of Akoum OR Geode Rager: I don't have enough space to play both. Moraug is a wincondition, Rager more of a defensive mechanism. I'm not really sure, who fits better.
Scute Swarm: This does a lot of work in Brawl, but I'm not sure this is enough in EDH. Does anybody have any experience with this card?
Valakut Exploration: Red Arena. Needs to be in the deck.

So I need to find two (or three) cuts for Valakut Exploration and Moraug, Fury of Akoum/Geode Rager/Scute Swarm
Genesis Hydra is obviously the first cut, she never did here job properly.

Any help is appreciated.

Moraug, Fury of Akoum is outrageously good. I mean he is a reason you play this sort of deck in the first place.

Once you get a taste of the power of doubling then you'll understand that Scute Swarm is a win condition on its own. If your opponents do not remove the first copy immediately then it's game over unless they do a board wipe.

I'd cut Sylvan Awakening and Treetop Village for Moraug, Fury of Akoum and Scute Swarm.

I quick change I saw would be Terror of the Peaks instead of Thorn Mammoth.

I'd personally play Anger over Urabrask the Hidden just because you can discard to Windgrace and also Life from the Loam milling and Grisly Salvage. I know they are different, but not having to spend a turn to cast for the haste is where you want to be at for such a mana hungry deck.

[cheonice]

Thanks a lot!

I think I will make the following changes:
Genesis Hydra --> Moraug, Fury of Akoum
Sylvan Awakening --> Scute Swarm (though I will have an eye on the swarm. Awakening is a nice niche card that won me one or two games)
Treetop Village --> Valakut Exploration

Regarding your other suggestions:
Terror of the Peaks: If I manage to find one, this will be an easy swap.
Anger over Urabrask the Hidden: Good call. I will test this. I like Urabrask, but she is better in my upcoming Mono-Red brew.
Treetop Village: This will be Blinkmoth Nexus or Inkmoth Nexus some day...