Ive also started dabbling in cEDH with a relatively stock Tymna & Thrasios list, let me know if the comments below if youd like to see a Plot Twist deck thats designed for more competitive pods
The end result is that costs have skyrocketed
Stonybrook Schoolmaster: From Lorwyn, Merfolk there gave a benefit when they become tapped - which is what you need to do to crew vehicles, and the tokens it makes are perfectly disposable blockers or bodies to crew vehicles
When I dug into the decklist, that gem count came from a rate of at least 40 gems per mythic, 20 gems per rare, 10 gems per uncommon, and about 5 gems per common
Strangleroot Geist 6 Another two in one with good stats and this one is more evenly distributed on the stats, has haste and is a creature card in both of its lives
Triskelion, for example, would enter the battlefield with six +1/+1 counters on it rather than three.