Imoti, Celebrant of Bounty - Theorycrafting

[Rorseph]

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This is a card that I'm vaguely surprised isn't more popular. Cascade is pretty good, right? So, I'm working on figuring out how to build an appropriate deck for this and I'm a bit torn. While I know (mostly) what big spells I want to play, I'm not sure what shell fits in this.

Traditional draw-go is definitely out since hitting a counterspell off of cascade feels bad. This is fine draw-go is something I've done to death over the years. I'm guilty of having played Blue Bulls--t a lot around the turn of the century.

Lands.dec is a Simic speciality as is the similar yet distinct Ramp.dec. This feels weird to me for some reason. If I can just cast all my big spells, cascading off of them feels like a win more.

While Imoti's 5 CMC feels too small to be super useful, I remain convinced that this can be made to work. This is where I am and where I'm kinda stuck and maybe starting to understand why there aren't more Imoti decks.

Decklist I'm working on

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Big Spell Tribal

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

Creatures (31)

1 Birds of Paradise

1 Elvish Mystic

1 Llanowar Elves

1 Ilysian Caryatid

1 Phantasmal Image

1 Sakura-Tribe Elder

1 Wall of Roots

1 Eternal Witness

1 Fierce Empath

1 Gilanra, Caller of Wirewood

1 Trinket Mage

1 Wood Elves

1 Clever Impersonator

1 Temur Sabertooth

1 Imoti, Celebrant of Bounty

1 Thryx, the Sudden Storm

1 Archetype of Imagination

1 Conduit of Ruin

1 Greenwarden of Murasa

1 Pathbreaker Ibex

1 Prime Speaker Zegana

1 Soul of the Harvest

1 Bane of Bala Ged

1 Diluvian Primordial

1 Nezahal, Primal Tide

1 World Breaker

1 Terastodon

1 Ulamog's Crusher

1 Void Winnower

1 Desolation Twin

1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre

Planeswalkers (1)

1 Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner

Artifacts (4)

1 Expedition Map

1 Sensei's Divining Top

1 Sol Ring

1 Thought Vessel

Enchantment (3)

1 Mystic Remora

1 Greater Good

1 Leyline of Anticipation

Instants (13)

1 Brainstorm

1 Mystical Tutor

1 Nature's Claim

1 Pongify

1 Swan Song

1 Worldly Tutor

1 Cyclonic Rift

1 Heroic Intervention

1 Remand

1 Unsubstantiate

1 Cryptic Command

1 Fact or Fiction

1 Scour from Existence

Sorceries (10)

1 Ponder

1 Preordain

1 Serum Visions

1 Farseek

1 Rampant Growth

1 Bala Ged Recovery // Bala Ged Sanctuary

1 Kodama's Reach

1 Tempt with Discovery

1 Crush of Tentacles

1 Beacon of Tomorrows

Land (38)

1 Alchemist's Refuge

1 Ancient Tomb

1 Blighted Woodland

1 Botanical Sanctum

1 Breeding Pool

1 City of Brass

1 Command Tower

1 Eye of Ugin

1 Flooded Strand

6 Forest

1 Hinterland Harbor

5 Island

1 Lonely Sandbar

1 Mystic Sanctuary

1 Scavenger Grounds

3 Snow-Covered Forest

3 Snow-Covered Island

1 Strip Mine

1 Tarnished Citadel

1 Temple of Mystery

1 Tolaria West

1 Tranquil Thicket

1 Wasteland

1 Windswept Heath

1 Yavimaya Coast

Approximate Total Cost:

[Treamayne]

This is a card that I'm vaguely surprised isn't more popular. Cascade is pretty good, right? So, I'm working on figuring out how to build an appropriate deck for this and I'm a bit torn. While I know (mostly) what big spells I want to play, I'm not sure what shell fits in this.

Traditional draw-go is definitely out since hitting a counterspell off of cascade feels bad. This is fine draw-go is something I've done to death over the years. I'm guilty of having played Blue Bulls--t a lot around the turn of the century.

Lands.dec is a Simic speciality as is the similar yet distinct Ramp.dec. This feels weird to me for some reason. If I can just cast all my big spells, cascading off of them feels like a win more.

While Imoti's 5 CMC feels too small to be super useful, I remain convinced that this can be made to work. This is where I am and where I'm kinda stuck and maybe starting to understand why there aren't more Imoti decks. :P

From the Errata:

SPOILER

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6/18/2021
- A spell's mana value is determined only by its mana cost. Ignore any alternative costs, additional costs, cost increases, or cost reductions.
- If you cast a card "without paying its mana cost," you can't choose to cast it for any alternative costs. You can, however, pay additional costs. If the card has any mandatory additional costs, you must pay those to cast the card.
- The mana value of a split card is determined by the combined mana cost of its two halves. If cascade allows you to cast a split card, you may cast either half but not both halves.

Seems like there should/could be some interesting ways to exploit that (cost reducers, Fuse Splits for versatility on the cascade trigger, buyback as additional costs paid on Cascade, etc)

[Dragoon]

Seems like there should/could be some interesting ways to exploit that (cost reducers, Fuse Splits for versatility on the cascade trigger, buyback as additional costs paid on Cascade, etc)

Remember that you can only Fuse cards when casting them from hand
Cards with big mana value that end up costing way less are also fun with cascade (Delve, Undaunted, etc).

[Rumpy5897]

I had an Imoti, for a single digit number of games. The card is bonkers good, and an openly suboptimal deck still became weaponised into something my group couldn't handle. Something that seemed important to the build's performance was having an irresponsibly high number of six drops, which made the occasional seven and up card all the more threatening as it was not unlikely to get further cascading going. Nothing like casting Archetype of Endurance, only to flip Sun Quan, Lord of Wu, only to flip Skyshroud Claim. This could potentially be specifically pursued with some Scroll Rack et al. action.

[Rorseph]

Thanks, y'all!

Seems like there should/could be some interesting ways to exploit that (cost reducers, Fuse Splits for versatility on the cascade trigger, buyback as additional costs paid on Cascade, etc)

Kicker is another thing I'm looking at along those lines. I'm definitely thinking about cost reducers like Krosan Drover, Conduit of Ruin, and Eye of Ugin as a means of acceleration. However, I'm doubtful there's a critical mass of those effects to make it a cornerstone of the deck, but it would still be worth including those cards.

I had an Imoti, for a single digit number of games. The card is bonkers good, and an openly suboptimal deck still became weaponised into something my group couldn't handle. Something that seemed important to the build's performance was having an irresponsibly high number of six drops, which made the occasional seven and up card all the more threatening as it was not unlikely to get further cascading going. Nothing like casting Archetype of Endurance, only to flip Sun Quan, Lord of Wu, only to flip Skyshroud Claim. This could potentially be specifically pursued with some Scroll Rack et al. action.

I somehow knew that if anyone knew the power of this card, it would be you! So, an irresponsibly high number of six drops? That sounds like a good way to do it. I guess I need to find all the good stuff at 6 CMC or higher. I'm thinking of having a lot of filtering, card selection, and ramp at the top of the curve, ditching all the cheap interaction (or maybe all interaction period, which feels very weird to me), and going for broke on the high CMC stuff. I've got a new meta that I'm still trying to figure out, but the power floor is a lot higher than it was in my previous group. At least it looks like I can be a bit saltier.

[Treamayne]

Kicker is another thing I'm looking at along those lines. I'm definitely thinking about cost reducers like Krosan Drover, Conduit of Ruin, and Eye of Ugin as a means of acceleration. However, I'm doubtful there's a critical mass of those effects to make it a cornerstone of the deck, but it would still be worth including those cards.

Don't forget Morophon. Also, consider Cloud key (and you can copy with things like Saheeli's Artistry - getting another cascade).

Cream of the Crop can also be good filtering (at less total cost than Scroll Rack) if the creature count is decent.

Seems like there should/could be some interesting ways to exploit that (cost reducers, Fuse Splits for versatility on the cascade trigger, buyback as additional costs paid on Cascade, etc)

Remember that you can only Fuse cards when casting them from hand ;)

Precisely my point. A fuse card in hand can be fused to get the cascade (something a normal split card can't do), but still offers a choice when it is hit during a cascade (hence versatility).

[Hawk]

I think I'd try to find room for...

Delve spells: Specifically Treasure Cruise and Dig Through Time, but you may consider Temporal Trespass and even relatively "simple" stuff like Hooting Mandrills. These all "look" like CMC 6-9, but can be cast cheaper allowing for more explosive turns. Related would be Ghalta, Primal Hunger, Thrasta, Tempest's Roar, and The Great Henge which all again "look" big, but can be cast cheaper.

"Free Spells": Palinchron, Great Whale, Peregrine Drake, heck maybe even Frantic Search. These are nice because they're "free rolls" that also refund mana when cascaded into.

[hyalopterouslemur]

You have plenty of good filtering in gu.

Khalni Hydra can be free. I would also suggest Ghalta, Primal Hunger.