More Progenitus

When we last left off, this is what the Progenitus deck looked like:

General (1)Progenitus

Land (40)
Hallowed Fountain, Godless Shrine, Sacred Foundry, Temple Garden, Watery Grave, Steam Vents, Breeding Pool, Blood Crypt, Overgrown Tomb, Stomping Ground, Plains, Snow-Covered Plains, Island, Snow-Covered Island, Swamp, Snow-Covered Swamp, Mountain, Snow-Covered Mountain, Forest, Snow-Covered Forest, Mystic Gate, Fetid Heath, Rugged Prairie, Wooded Bastion, Sunken Ruins, Cascade Bluffs, Flooded Grove, Graven Cairns, Twilight Mire, Fire-Lit Thicket, Seaside Citadel, Arcane Sanctum, Crumbling Necropolis, Savage Lands, Jungle Shrine, Reflecting Pool, Exotic Orchard, City of Brass, Gemstone Mine, Reliquary Tower.

Sorceries (7)
Cruel Ultimatum, Violent Ultimatum, Brilliant Ultimatum, Primal Command, Incendiary Command, Austere Command, Profane Command.

Instants (1)
Cryptic Command.


Over the last couple days, I've been thinking about some of what I want in this deck. I quickly realized that a cycle of lands was missing from the deck: the Vivid lands (Crag, Creek, Grove, Marsh, Meadow). Adding these brings the number of lands up to 45, meaning that not much will be needed in the way of mana fixing/acceleration. I think for accelerants, Skyshroud Claim and Shard Convergence should do the trick.

Since I'm running white, Path to Exile and Swords to Plowshares should be included.

These bring the total number of cards up to 55, leaving 44 spaces for good stuff.

Because I'm not running any creatures, some really good removal will be necessary. Akroma's Vengeance, Decree of Pain, and Hallowed Burial are all fantastic. Although Wrath and Damnation are good, their low costs aren't as important in a format like EDH, where the first few turns are spent ramping up.

Card advantage will also be key. My favorite cards for generating tons of CA are Ancestral Vision, Rhystic Study, and Phyrexian Arena. Also, Mind's Eye will need to be included, since I'll be hitting lands a pretty good chunk of the time, and it doesn't care what colors I can produce. Staff of Domination is a good way to use mana for quite a variety of things, so it goes in.

This leaves 36 spots left to be filled.

While pondering the CA problem, I thought about maybe making a Cascade-chain into a counterspell. Unfortunately, there are only two instant-speed cascade spells, so that idea went out. Cascade as a whole, though, seems awesome. So in goes Maelstrom Nexus.

And speaking of counterspells, I should throw some in. I already have Cryptic Command there, but there's definitely need for more. Arcane Denial, Overwhelming Intellect, Spelljack, and Desertion are probably the best ones in the format, in my opinion, but Voidslime should also be in because of its versatility, and Double Negative for its ability to crack a counter-war wide open.

This brings the deck down to only 27 empty slots. Gifts Ungiven should be in any deck with blue (there's a reason it's on the watch list, but I really hope they don't give it the axe). Time Spiral, Regrowth, All Suns' Dawn, Temporal Cascade, Vengeful Rebirth and Gaea's Blessing should cover me on recursion (hopefully). This leaves only 20 spots for stuff.

So what else is good? I personally like Wild Ricochet. It's fun. 19 cards left.
Return to Dust is also amazing. 18. Allied Strategies seems pretty good too. 17.

Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker, is a total beating, so he can join the crew (16), and can bring his friend Ajani Vengeant as well, leaving me with 15 slots.

I need some answers to generals, so Condemn, Hinder, and Oblation can come in. 12 spots.
Red is feeling a little left out, so Insurrection can join the dogpile. 11.

A little more CA is deemed necessary from afar, and thusly I welcome Syphon Mind and Standstill to my list. 9 spots left.

Force of Will seems to good to leave out of this. 8. Bant Charm, Esper Charm, and Jund Charm are pretty good, so they can go in too.

Which leaves us with 5 spots.

Twisted Justice removes pesky critters like DSC and draws me cards.

Mortify, Putrefy, and Maelstrom Pulse are all fantastic, too.

Leaves me with just one spot. The grand-daddy of all WUBRG cards...

Conflux. So hot.

So, final decklist:

General (1)Progenitus

Land (45)
Hallowed Fountain, Godless Shrine, Sacred Foundry, Temple Garden, Watery Grave, Steam Vents, Breeding Pool, Blood Crypt, Overgrown Tomb, Stomping Ground, Plains, Snow-Covered Plains, Island, Snow-Covered Island, Swamp, Snow-Covered Swamp, Mountain, Snow-Covered Mountain, Forest, Snow-Covered Forest, Mystic Gate, Fetid Heath, Rugged Prairie, Wooded Bastion, Sunken Ruins, Cascade Bluffs, Flooded Grove, Graven Cairns, Twilight Mire, Fire-Lit Thicket, Seaside Citadel, Arcane Sanctum, Crumbling Necropolis, Savage Lands, Jungle Shrine, Reflecting Pool, Exotic Orchard, City of Brass, Gemstone Mine, Reliquary Tower, Vivid Crag, Vivid Creek, Vivid Grove, Vivid Marsh, Vivid Meadow.

Sorceries (25)
Cruel Ultimatum, Violent Ultimatum, Brilliant Ultimatum, Primal Command, Incendiary Command, Austere Command, Profane Command, Decree of Pain, Hallowed Burial, Akroma's Vengeance, Ancestral Vision, Time Spiral, Temporal Cascade, Gaea's Blessing, Regrowth, All Suns' Dawn, Vengeful Rebirth, Allied Strategies, Insurrection, Syphon Mind, Twisted Justice, Maelstrom Pulse, Conflux, Skyshroud Claim, Shard Convergence.

Instants (21)
Cryptic Command, Arcane Denial, Overwhelming Intellect, Spelljack, Desertion, Voidslime, Double Negative, Gifts Ungiven, Wild Ricochet, Return to Dust, Hinder, Condemn, Oblation, Force of Will, Bant Charm, Jund Charm, Esper Charm, Mortify, Putrefy, Path to Exile, Swords to Plowshares.

Enchantments (4)
Rhystic Study, Phyrexian Arena, Standstill, Maelstrom Nexus

Artifacts (2)
Mind's Eye, Staff of Domination

Planeswalkers (2)
Nicol Bolas (Planeswalker), Ajani Vengeant