Kavu Lair - card drawing to share

J

jorael

Guest
Kavu Lair (2G)
Enchantment
Whenever a creature with power 4 or greater comes into play, its controller draws a card.

When I learned of the card Kavu Lair I was immediately sold. It is a draw engine for all players who play with big creatures. And that is always fun to promote during multiplayer games :). And yet, I have never experienced a game where an opponent had more advantage from the lair than I did.

4 powered Lair.dec (61 cards)
14 forest
10 mountain

4 rampant growth
4 kavu lair
4 savage twister
1 feldon's cane

4 wall of razors
4 keldon vandals
4 flametongue kavu
4 phantom centaur
4 blastoderm
4 beast attack

Basic, but effective. It only uses 4 powered creatures, not only for the lair but also to stay true to the theme (so no sakura-tribe elders). I have decked myself multiple times so I added 1 feldon's cane. I find it very amusing Wall of Razors is actually good in the deck: it is early defense and with a lair out it cantrips.

There are games when you won't draw a lair, but even then you can go for some savage beatings. There are enough creatures to keep the pressure on. It has some artifact & creature removal and the savage twisters are there to kill weenies or whipe the board. The deck isn't crippled by a massive savage twister, as phantom centaurs survives it and beast attack can be flashbacked. And with a Lair out your hand never gets empty :cool:.

Now, the deck runs pretty good, but maybe there are some other noticable 4-powered creatures out there that would be great for the deck. Do you have any suggestions?

Maybe I'll also try to make some kind of G/W/R controllish version version with Kavu Lair and Astral Slide (with vandals and FTK to slide). Is that realistic? Or is the lair just overkill with cycling already?
 
E

Ephraim

Guest
One 4-powered creature that I think is missing from your aresenal is Elvish Aberration. Granted, at a cost of 5G, it's at the top of your mana curve, but anything that helps to accelerate you to the point where you can cast two creatures a turn is a very good thing. In any case, it Forestcycles, which can never hurt you. To make room for them, I'd probably cut some combination of Rampant Growth (Forestcycling helps to reduce the need for additional lands), Keldon Vandals (You probably don't need four artifact-destruction cards in the deck) or Beast Attack (reason to be clarified shortly.)

Since Elvish Aberration definitely pushes the deck toward green, you might also consider replacing any remaining Keldon Vandals with Woodrippers. Obviously, if you want the artifact destruction available early in the game, this isn't a viable option.

I also think that it might be interesting to test Hunting Pack in place of Beast Attack. I wouldn't recommend using a full complement of four (hence the reason for removing one of the Beast Attacks anyhow), but as long as your opponent has cast even one spell or if you've just cast Rampant Growth, Wall of Razors or Feldon's Cane, the cost of getting a second 4/4 creature out of Hunting Pack is still less than the cost of getting two 4/4 creatures out of Beast Attack. Plus, since your opponent may sometimes be counted on to cast more than one spell in a turn, you will occasionally get a bonanza of 4/4 creatures out of Hunting Pack.

If you're looking to tighten your mana curve, here are some important creatures you might consider:
Branchsnap Lorian
Coiled Woodwurm (*/1)
Cradle Guard
Elvish Ranger
Viashino Sandstalker (nuts with Kavu Lair!)
 
S

Spiderman

Administrator
Staff member
Is using only 4 power creatures your self-restricted theme? Otherwise, along with Elvish Aberration mentioned above, you could use Krosan Tusker, another land fetcher...
 
I

Istanbul

Guest
Kavu Lair is in one of my Type 1 decks, and is extremely effective.

I'll remember what I can of the decklist.

Xx Forest (20?)

4x Priest of Titania
4x Llanowar Elves
4x Fyndhorn Elves
2?x Heart Warden
2x Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
2x Emerald Medallion
3x Kavu Lair

4x Weatherseed Treefolk
3?x Verdant Force
4x Yavimaya Wurm
2?x Cradle Guard
3x Killer Bees

...and a mix of other fatties. Basically, Kavu Lair triggers over and over for me, while my fat-impaired opponent just looks at his 2/2s and 1/1s and cries.
 
L

Limited

Guest
I really like the Weatherseed Treefolk in there.. a recurring cantrip creature..
With your current decklist, I'd choose the rampant growths over the forestcycling, because it allows you to 'skip' turn three and get straight to playing a creature, which in multiplayer means you will be spared the humiliation of everybody sending their weenies your way. On the other hand, if you add cards like Cradle Guard or Branchsnap Lorian, turn three might not need skipping.

About your suggestion about combining Kavu Lair with Slide: NOooooOOoo! Please don't!
Seriously, i found that supporting three colors in a slide deck is no easy feat.. you'll deck will probably change from the three color version, to a W/G slide deck supporting two Kavu Lair's just for the heck of it.
 
J

jorael

Guest
tnx for the suggestions!

I'll not try a astral slide - kavu lair combo :) You write what I already feared a bit and it sounds like you tried it yourself, Limited.

The rampant growths are essential for the deck or else the deck becomes too slow. Any landcyclers would make the deck slower also so I'm hesitant to add them. Weatherseed Treefolk is very cool, but in my experience I never run out of creatures if a Kavu Lair is in play. I think I like Beast Attack more, anyway. The surprise of an extra blocker or attacker is just too big! It happens often that an opponent didn't count on an additional 4/4 creature to come his/her way :)

Ephraim, about 4 Keldon Vandals being too much: never happened. Mirrodin block made a huge impact on our playgroup. The woodrippers are a good idea, unfortunately they are a bit more expensive. I'll try them.

Hunting Pack is very cool indeed. But also more expensive to cast. This deck might also be too proactive for it. I rather play them along with Cognivore in a U/G instant deck :cool:

Ravenous Baloth would be awesome in the deck if I had any. Most creatures are beasts already (they could replace the phantom centaurs). Holy moose, why don't I add some contested cliffs??!! Hehe, -2 basic lands +2 cliffs :)
 
L

Limited

Guest
Contested Cliffs are great, but the only targetable beasts you have are your beast attack tokens.. The cliffs will still improve your deck, but probably won't have a wopping impact..
You could go for the "beastly" version of your deck, but would mean replacing a lot of very fine creatures (centaurs and kavus) with lesser beasts..
2ct
 
J

jorael

Guest
replacing 2 basic lands with 2 contested cliffs should not make a dramatic impact on it's manabase. Maybe not very useful, but could be handy some time.

I'll try them and see if I can still cast my Beast Attacks reliably...
 
L

Limited

Guest
Ironicly, it could happen that you won't be able to cast a Beast Attack because you replaced a forest with a contested cliffs, which is only functional in combination with said Beast-token..

Give in man! Decide if your deck is a Beast-deck or not! To Beast or not to beast! (this is my bad pun for today. I need to go lie down now)
 
J

jorael

Guest
Alright, I give in!

Contested Cliffs will have to wait until they can feast with the beasts.
 
M

Mikeymike

Guest
Looking at your current decklist, you are missing a way to give your creatures mass evasion. I see your direction in playing efficient 4+ powers critters, but by playing the speed card you've got an army waiting to be chump-blocked. Take a closer look at Istanbul's deck, he's running 13 bigguns with some way to get through naturally.

I just mention Bedlam in a another thread, but I don't see the necessary defense for it here. Hell, Primal Rage could work. If fits in the mana base. Stampede Driver too - you are drawing cards so you can afford its discard, and on turn 5/6 you'll be able to lay a hurting on someone.

Other specific creature ideas (which don't help at all with my evasion suggestion)....
If you are looking to keep it in color, you have the Viashino brothers at your disposal (Sandstalker and Cutt-throat). Jackalope Herd and Imaginary Pet can work as well. Thicket Elemental could be fun, but I think you'd need more mana.

A completely different direction could be Sneak Attack, which can also drop some beefcake. You'll beat, and refill your hand to beat again. The curve could work nicely as well.

Ooo, getting ideas for Gigapede/discard effects too.

Regarding the Contested Cliffs, I'm not in love with it for your current creature base. If you end up with more Beasts, then it gets scary.
 
J

jorael

Guest
Yeah, the current deck does not pack evasion and requires overrunning opponents defenses (pun always intended ;)). With a Kavu Lair out, that is rarely a problem. Without the lair it's more difficult, indeed. Primal Rage would fit nicely as it only costs 2 mana. Didn't know the card existed! Thanks.

Sneak Attack looks nice, unfortunately they cost more than 10 dollars each over here. Maybe I'll get them some day, but not today...
 
J

jorael

Guest
It will also be the day that tremendous powers will be unleashed in my playgroup *evil grin*

I'll be fair and give an advanced notice. That way you can brace for impact ;)
 
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