Help Wanted - EDH Reaper King Scarecrows/Changelings

{"ops":[{"insert":"I hear your concerns about $$$-budgeting, but I can't offer much advice on that point other than to make sure you balance your wallet with the satisfaction of final effects. My own deck (listed above) runs an average of $4 per land, so I'm basically buying my way out of tap delays. It's not cheap, but it's also not as expensive as I've seen in others. Take a look and you'll find a few bargains, I think. \n\nIf you can afford a single investment card, I'd strongly suggest "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sol Ring"}},{"insert":" for immediate use and long-term planning. You'll notice that any two generic mana can be used to cover one of Reaper King's colored mana casting requirements, so at a cost of one mana Sol Ring is very valuable to getting your commander into play. But more broadly, the artifact is a standard in any MtG format -- it's just that good -- which means you will definitely transfer it some day when you deconstruct this deck and make your next one.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"attributes":{"link":"https://archidekt.com/decks/149188#Reaper_Scarelings"},"insert":"https://archidekt.com/decks/149188#Reaper_Scarelings"},{"insert":" This is the end evolution (so far) of a deck I've been building for about a year. I asked one of the EDHRec guys for fine-tuning, which yielded mixed results that I further fixed to my satisfaction. As it plays now, I'm able to consistently bring Reaper King out by turn-5 and start causing problems immediately, typically removing 6-10 of my opponents permanents by turn-8.\n\nWhat I've learned about this commander is that building a sturdy five-color mana engine is Goal No. 1 even before your focus on the tribe. Until RK is on the board, you don't benefit from his powerful destruction ability; you're merely running a 5-color deck of 99 cards instead of EDH. Perhaps you'd be happier with Morophon in the lead position? ... Temple lands are middle-costed($$$) and really worth the tap delay because they help sort through your library, whereas other tapped multi-mana lands ("},{"insert":{"card-link":"Vivid Creek"}},{"insert":" , for example) have mixed value depending on your final deck color profile. "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Springleaf Drum"}},{"insert":" and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Paradise Mantle"}},{"insert":", contrary to popular consensus, are very effective 1-mana 'rocks' that play naturally off any creature on the field during commander prep. "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Chief Engineer"}},{"insert":" is pretty nifty because true scarecrows are creatures as well as artifacts. You can check out the rest of my \"Mana Help\" card category yourself. ... The point here is to approach your mana engine with flexibility and precision so that you don't waste those first few plays, and don't simply buy into all versions of a particular type of card. In the deck you have at this point, I see from your color pie that you rely more on green and blue mana and need very few red or blacks as the game plays out, so pick more lands that can default to G and/or B (and W) and avoid those like "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Rakdos Guildgate"}},{"insert":". Also, "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Gateway Plaza"}},{"insert":" is a no-no because you're not only missing a new mana on the tapped turn, but it's costing you a second mana simply to keep it on the board. ((Ugh)) That's a fake bargain.\n\nOnce you feel good about "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Reaper King"}},{"insert":"'s speed, then ask yourself if your tribal concept is defined by a bunch of unique creatures or cloning/copying scarecrows. I tried to limit my use of copies as a matter of personality, but there are strengths to both. ... In your case, look at whether any creature costing more than 3-CMC is pulling its weight -- "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Changeling Sentinel"}},{"insert":", for example, provides a vigilant blocker, and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Game-Trail Changeling"}},{"insert":" provides a trample threat, but "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Chameleon Colossus"}},{"insert":" needs even more mana investment to be powerful on its own. "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Birthing Boughs"}},{"insert":" is highly questionable, because it costs a total of 7 mana (casting+activation) before you get a single 2/2 creature. And "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Morophon, the Boundless"}},{"insert":" is awesome -- I love him, truly -- but huge at 7-CMC and not really worth the savings he provides by the time you get around to him. Every mana spent in a turn of play is lost flexibility for some other threat. (I tend toward low-mana cards while my son likes to build up to big-mana blowouts.)\n\nAfterthought: As Kudla mentioned above, changelings are typically most useful to fill gaps in other tribes with their \"everything\" nature, otherwise their value is all over the place. I'd suggest reconsidering what your tribe is and how open-minded you can be about pseudo-tribal members. In my case, I've only got nine true scarecrows (including Reaper King himself), bolstered by seven changelings and four \"fixable\" creatures like "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Adaptive Automaton"}},{"insert":" for an effective total of 20 scarecrows. The nine remaining creatures are outside the tribe entirely until they're affected by "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Arcane Adaptation"}},{"insert":". In your case, do you want to play strictly close to a theme or are you willing to include whatever gets the job done?\n\nThe deck I made also eschews combat, which might not sit well with some players. My scarecrows rarely attack or block until after they blink-ETB remove everything else. Your deck looks like a lot of front-line punchers, which isn't a bad thing but it does take a while to take down 40 life points.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"I have checked out the deck (pretty cool) and I have played a couple games on MTGO with it as well. I would. say the first place to start is - figuring out what you want from this deck. You seem to have couple ideas listed so I would run hard into them (Take out the clutter). Ill try to list what I saw and if you have any corrections please reply back.\n\nDeck themes\n\n1) "},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Scarecrow Triba"},{"insert":"l- With changelings you have a lot of options but in most cases changelings are used for their every creature static. The only pay- off card in your 99 is your commander. Consider running more "},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"payoff cards"},{"insert":" (you'll hear this term a lot) such as "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Risen Reef"}},{"insert":" to take advantage of the every creature typing from the changelings (more changelings if you go this route). Also there really are none of the typical tribal payoff such as "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Coat of Arms"}},{"insert":" or "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Shared Animosity"}},{"insert":" for combat damage(only path to victory in the deck).\n\nOverall the count of scarecrows/changelings needs to increased to around 1/3 of the deck, maybe slightly lower with the clone effects."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\n2) "},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Enchantress - "},{"insert":"I had a hard time understanding why the totems were in the deck, I figured maybe for pseudo-protection, but I think if you want to keep em in then why not run an enchantment package. Your three dominant colors are in bant which happens to be the best colors for enchantress style decks, plus you could add the best cards from R/B! Pay offs would include card like "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Enchantress's Presence"}},{"insert":". This would in turn help your card draw which is severally lacking. \n \nOVERALL it seems like you have a good start here just needs more enchantments (18+) and the payoffs for it."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\n3) "},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Flicker/Copy"},{"insert":"- This looks good. Keep it minimal and don't over value these effects. Can be very powerful with more pay-offs in the deck. "},{"attributes":{"color":"rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87)","background":"#ffffff"},"insert":"THUMBS UP!!"},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87)","background":"#ffffff"},"insert":" "},{"insert":" "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Rite of Replication"}},{"insert":" kicked with "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Reaper King"}},{"insert":" seems gross. \n\nThose are the three major themes I saw from the deck so if you would like any further help just let me know and if I missed anything let me know. \n\nP.S. - I did not see a way to interact with hexproof/shroud permeants or indestructible. Just something to think about. \nAlso after you polish off the main idea it would be a good idea to work on your land/mana fixing. I can suggest cards if you would like before you go shopping.\n\nCheers!!\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"I would suggest to swap "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Convolute"}},{"insert":" with a regular "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Counterspell"}},{"insert":"; it's just much more efficient. And since you are in 5 colors, you might want to take a look at "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Counterflux"}},{"insert":".\nDepending on your meta, I would replace "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Pili-Pala"}},{"insert":" and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Scuttlemutt"}},{"insert":" with regular mana artifacts, such as "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Darksteel Ingot"}},{"insert":", "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Commander's Sphere"}},{"insert":" or "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Fellwar Stone"}},{"insert":".\nIn general, I would recommend restructuring your deck into categories other than the standard, so you know, what each card is supposed to do. For example: you can create a custom category named \"Counter/Control\", which comprises all of your counter spells. You can have a look at my decks, if you need inspiration.\n"}]}