Birthing/Death (redeathing ? reanimating ?) Pod in Sultai
I'm trying to build this creature focused tool box-y kind of list in sultai colors that centers around ultimately trying to get either [[Colossal Grave-Reaver]] or [[Summon: Bahamut]] on the board, or just filling the grave and then going for a [[Living Death]] for the win. I like the idea of having the grave be a second hand while also having cards like [[Birthing Pod]], [[Sidisi, Regent of the Mire]], or even [[Cauldron of Essence]] act as sort of the hidden commander(s) that are enabling the deck. I'm not necessarily trying to win with a combo, more so just overwhelming the board state or having Bahamut survive long enough for his thermonuclear blast to laser beam the other players. That being said, I want this deck to be able to survive in a strong bracket 3 pod.
There have been a couple of problems I'm running into though. Firstly, I think birthing pod might be a little redundant. Or rather, it is sort of rendered useless if I start milling like crazy. Though there are some times where I don't get many cards that mill in the early game which is where birthing pod sort of comes in clutch. I like that both Sidisi and birthing pod are asking you to build the same in terms of curving out on creatures, but I wonder if its better to go for more cards like Sidisi, the cauldron, and [[Hell's Caretaker]] and forget the pod all together.
Another issue I have is finding early game plays. A lot of the times, my opening hands are less than ideal for turns 1-3. This is in part due to the fact that I don't have very many one drop creatures, but I just couldn't find many that were super worth it. [[Stitcher's Supplier]] and [[Hedron Crab]] were obvious choices, but it kind of falls of from there. That also leans into another problem, where I have so few blue pips and blue lands in my deck because of how golgari based it is, but at the same time early game cards like the crab, [[Gran-Gran]], [[Careful Study]], and others are blue spells.
Finally, I'm also looking for feedback on the commander and color identity as a whole. I like the idea of sultai because it gives me that boggy, marshy, creature from the black lagoon kind of vibe, but I also feel like I'm just looking for justifications to splash blue. I'm not super comitted to [[The Master, Transcendent]] either, he just seemed like the best fit for the 99 since he is repeatable recursion as long as I'm milling
Overall, I think the deck needs smoothing out in terms of getting it online faster and the mana base. I play with my friends mostly over spell table, so out of budget cards are an option to consider ! Budget friendly options are great too, especially for the mana base if I wanted wanted to try and make this in paper.
Thanks in advance for the feedback !