I'm working on this brew, and I just wanted to get some feedback on it.
Link: https://archidekt.com/decks/12289676/tarkir_roots_upgrade
Some decisions that I'm not sure about:
I decided to run [[harvester of misery]] in the mainboard. It's there to contest mono red for board presence while putting a creature into my graveyard. I'm considering putting it in the sideboard in favor of more copies of [[go for the throat]] to remove animated leyline bindings and the like once Zur is off the field.
[[Winternight stories]] seems like a good card in a deck with 24 creatures, but in testing it has been extremely underwhelming. The deck just has so many other things to do with its mana, so I'm not sure if it should stay.
[[attuned hunter]] is there as a backup wincon if I don't draw roots, but is also just a big meatball. Not sure if that's good enough. If I was to cut it, I would want to replace it with another creature that can contest the board in a meaningful way, as this is something the deck definitely struggled with in previous iterations.
I've never been good with manabases, so I'm not sure how bad mine is. If anyone out there can help out with that, that'd be great.
Also not good with sideboards. I think I covered most bases, but I'm not sure.
lmk what y'all think! I sure hope I did this right, this is my first time posting here.
#Tarkir Sultai roots
haughty cape
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Creature — Spirit
Menace
When this creature enters, other creatures get -2/-2 until end of turn.
, Discard this card: Target creature gets -2/-2 until end of turn.
5/4
Sorcery
Draw three cards. Then discard two cards unless you discard a creature card.
Harmonize 
(You may cast this card from your graveyard for its harmonize cost. You may tap a creature you control to reduce that cost by 
, where X is its power. Then exile this spell.)
ember salmon
Do you want to specifically play roots? Or sultai?
haughty cape
roots is the idea
I know beans is just a way better graveyard deck, but I think roots is more fun
ember salmon
roots is the idea
Ok so honestly abzan is just better
For roots
Also what's your budget?
haughty cape
not sure
I don't have a lot of cash, so honestly this is probably only ever going to exist on Arena
ember salmon
Ok so first of all I'd switch to abzqn
ember salmon
Ketramose?
Ketramose [[serra paragon]] [[Case of uneaten feast]] [[raise the past]]
ember salmon
Also [[specter of mortality]]
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peak starBOT
Creature — Human Detective
When this creature enters, surveil 2. (Look at the top two cards of your library, then put any number of them into your graveyard and the rest on top of your library in any order.)
, Exile this card from your graveyard: Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature. Activate only as a sorcery.
1/1
ember salmon
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ember salmon
[[Ichor drinker]]
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Creature — Phyrexian Vampire
Lifelink
, Exile this card from your graveyard: Incubate 2. Activate only as a sorcery. (Create an Incubator token with two +1/+1 counters on it and "
: Transform this token." It transforms into a 0/0 Phyrexian artifact creature.)
1/1
haughty cape
Also [[specter of mortality]]
isn't that a lil expensive, resource wise? 5 mana plus empty the graveyard seems rough, especially with the fact that the roots trigger would resolve before the boardwipe, so you don't even get a token out of it.
ember salmon
[[Tyvar jubilant]]
ember salmon
[[Kaya spirits jusctice]]
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haughty cape
I've tried Tyvar, generally I've found that the static ability is a little winmore, and the -2 whiffs way more than I would like
Maybe that's because I'm not running enough aggressive creatures, idk
ember salmon
I've tried Tyvar, generally I've found that the static ability is a little winmo...
I mean it's usually played in decks that run [[llanowar elves]] or [molt tender] As far as I remember
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Creature — Elf Druid
: Add .
The elves of the Llanowar forest have defended it for generations. It is their sacred duty to keep outside influences from corrupting their ancestral home.
1/1
Creature — Insect Druid
: Mill a card. (Put the top card of your library into your graveyard.)
, Exile a card from your graveyard: Add one mana of any color.
The Speedbrood regards molting as a selfless act worthy of the highest of honors. It allows one to be born anew for the good of the brood.
1/1
haughty cape
Tried those as well, maybe I just suck at the game but they always felt like dead cards. I'm currently playing the golgari beans deck on arena, and molt tender in that deck usually ends up just milling a card and then having to chump block
Tyvar, molt tender, and rubblebelt maverick all seem to see play in like every single root deck, but I feel like they just don't contest the board hard enough
ember salmon
Tyvar, molt tender, and rubblebelt maverick all seem to see play in like every s...
I mean roots kind of have this problem of not having good high ends and also the tempo meta kind of forces you to play fast so you play cheap, also I think that roots generally are rather a hard deck to play, especially considering how good the meta is so I wouldn't say that you suck at mtg
And if you want to play good, good roots you must play ketramose otherwise you don't really have an amazing engine
And rubblet maverick and others are just an easy way to get something exiled
[[Ketramose]]
ember salmon
But most decks don't run [[specter of mortality]] idk why
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haughty cape
couple of reasons I can see
haughty cape
isn't that a lil expensive, resource wise? 5 mana plus empty the graveyard seems...
some mentioned up here
it kills ketramose as well if that's the game plan
and wiping out the plant tokens instead of letting them get continually bigger is not great
ember salmon
some mentioned up here
You play cheap stuff anyway
ember salmon
it kills ketramose as well if that's the game plan
You'll draw another
ember salmon
and wiping out the plant tokens instead of letting them get continually bigger i...
You won't
ember salmon
You choose how many cards you exile
ember salmon
like choose a small enough value of x that the biggest tokens stay?
I mean 3 is great any way
For 5 mana: you get 3 cards 3 new tokens 3 counters around the board reduce enemy board and you still have additional 3/3 flyer
And you still have ketramose
haughty cape
For 5 mana: you get 3 cards 3 new tokens 3 counters around the board reduce enem...
no? if you exile three things at once, you get one ketramose trigger and one roots trigger
and then the token probably dies
and it doesn't kill zur or any animated enchantments
ember salmon
no? if you exile three things at once, you get one ketramose trigger and one roo...
I am pretty sure it doesn't work this way
haughty cape
[[insidious roots]]
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Enchantment
Creature tokens you control have ": Add one mana of any color."
Whenever one or more creature cards leave your graveyard, create a 0/1 green Plant creature token, then put a +1/+1 counter on each Plant you control.
The roots of Vitu-Ghazi allowed Trostani to reach every crack and crevice in the city.
haughty cape
both roots and ketramose say "one or more," meaning that if you exile more than one at once, you get one trigger
ember salmon
both roots and ketramose say "one or more," meaning that if you exile more than ...
I need to check the ruling of the specter hold on
I am asking judges rn bc I was pretty sure you get multiple triggers bc of [[syr konrad]] decks that run it but konrad is worded a lil bit differently but we'll see
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ember salmon
Anyways
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Legendary Creature — Human Knight
Whenever another creature dies, or a creature card is put into a graveyard from anywhere other than the battlefield, or a creature card leaves your graveyard, Syr Konrad deals 1 damage to each opponent.
: Each player mills a card. (They each put the top card of their library into their graveyard.)
5/4
ember salmon
Still roots aren't in the great place
Back in the aetherdrift I was thinking about adding [[brightglass gearhulk]] bc lots of one drops here
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haughty cape
yeah, but I've been running an azorius enchantments standard deck since duskmourn came out, so I'm used to playing with jank. Ultimately it is a game and I think roots is fun, so I'm going to try to make it work
ember salmon
But idk if it'll help that much
haughty cape
all the one drops are too low impact
ember salmon
yeah, but I've been running an azorius enchantments standard deck since duskmour...
Ye I understand
haughty cape
ok so I put together this list to try out abzan
https://archidekt.com/decks/12325692
ember salmon
all the one drops are too low impact
Honestly tuning the gearhulk cage in roots direction is not the worst idea
One thing
Play [[ride's end]]
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Instant
This spell costs 
less to cast if it targets a tapped permanent.
Exile target creature or Vehicle.
Their race ended much the same way it began, walking through a sandstorm on a world that ended long ago.
haughty cape
probably correct
ok I've done a couple of rounds of goldfishing, and the deck is having trouble drawing enough cards if I don't happen to draw Ketramose. Probably on me, because I cut 9 draw cards in the sultai version for 4 in abzan. do you know of other draw cards could fit in there?
ember salmon
@haughty cape
haughty cape
Also where are you from
The southeastern United States. it is currently 5 PM where I'm at.
haughty cape
And tell me how it feels
the 4 colored pips on brightglass feel really bad, I find myself not being able to reliably cast it on turn 4
land count is also low, and having dusk rose reliquary as a 4 of feels bad when there's two in hand and nothing to sac. 1 or 2 of would do fine to fetch off of the gearhulk along with rubblebelt or dreamthief
I feel a little bit insane saying this, but sultai just feels better. I say I feel insane because it's a difference of like 6-10 cards between that and abzan or golgari, so either my brain is playing tricks on me or winternight stories and kishla skimmer are way more important than I thought
hearty kettle
So, problems have arisen
The first problem I'm seeing is your draw section is the only spot where you have blue, and part of it comes from a 2/2 in a meta where spot removal is everywhere
Next, your engine kind of lacks the ability to really take advantage of roots. Rubblebelt Maverick lets you bin some of your cards sure, but that's just him putting them there. You wanna power this deck up? Run mill effects that keep on giving
[[dredger's insight]] is fantastic for roots. Mills 4, potentially triggers roots, AND makes all your roots triggers also lifegain triggers
peak starBOT
hearty kettle
But the mill effects aren't all you need. Having some good creatures that trigger roots over and over are must haves
[[mosswood dreadknight]] is perfect here. Draws cards while getting triggers
peak starBOT
Creature — Human Knight
Trample
When this creature dies, you may cast it from your graveyard as an Adventure until the end of your next turn.
3/2
Dread Whispers
Sorcery — Adventure
You draw a card and you lose 1 life. (Then exile this card. You may cast the creature later from exile.)
hearty kettle
[[reassembling skeleton]] and recently reprinted [[bloodghast]] can be fantastic too since they can leave the graveyard at instant speed, meaning you have bigger plants and more mana on your turn
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Creature — Skeleton Warrior
: Return this card from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped.
"If none of the bones are original, is it even the same skele—aaagh!" —Mort the Philosopher, last words
1/1
hearty kettle
Wanna keep it sultai? [[fear of infinity]] has lifegain, evasion, and can leave on its own
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hearty kettle
As for some of your other cards, they're...not great. Scavenging ooze works better as a sideboard card, and you could be running removal that fits better in your gameplan
[[bitter triump]] lets you blow up creatures, walkers, AND lets you throw one of your cards that come back into the graveyard for later
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hearty kettle
Depending on the creatures you run, if you can have them enter from the graveyard consistently, [[satoru the infiltrator]] is gonna draw you loads of cards
hearty kettle
Since your plant tokens tap for mana, [[unstoppable plan]] means you always have mana open
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hearty kettle
These are just a few suggestions. The most important takeaway from everything I said is look into mill effects that can either trigger roots right away OR continue to give benefits after they mill, and look into card draw/advantage that can be triggered more often and/or isn't as easy to get rid of. This way, you'll have an army of plants and plenty of cards in hand to take advantage of your massive board
haughty cape
ok
so
tysm for all of the feedback, it was really helpful. I didn't even realize that mosswood dreadknight triggered roots. Ultimately I've decided to go back to Golgari and rely on the dreadknight as well as [[corrupted conviction]] to replace the lost draw effects. I do worry that the deck will have trouble winning without roots though, but hopefully between dreadknight, scavenging ooze, and qarsi revenant, there's enough potential to put power on the board. Also ooze is not there as removal, it is to repeatedly trigger roots while getting bigger and gaining life. Not sure if it will work out that way in an actual game, but in testing it provided a pretty reliable mana sink as well as a good beater when needed.
Once again, thanks for the suggestions, lmk if you have more thoughts
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haughty cape
it does make me a little sad that that cuts down the new cards in the deck to 2, but I guess that's what happens when standard is like 20 sets
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hearty kettle
Any roots trigger is a draw trigger now