Kykar, Wind's Fury - Spellslinger Tokens

[Muffins1001]

So a follow up on the deck after trying split it into a polymorph and token mix deck I hate to say it but it's now just bad at both things. Going half and half has messed up the balance of the deck and it's just too slow/you always feel like your missing the other half to just go off. I am gonna have to rebalance the deck again to go more of the token route

[MeowZeDung]

So a follow up on the deck after trying split it into a polymorph and token mix deck I hate to say it but it's now just bad at both things. Going half and half has messed up the balance of the deck and it's just too slow/you always feel like your missing the other half to just go off. I am gonna have to rebalance the deck again to go more of the token route

That's a bummer to hear. I can understand why, since trying to straddle the gap means your polymorph payoffs need to be stuff like Cloudgoat Ranger and Siege-Gang Commander, and that just doesn't feel as high impact as polymorphing into a Molten Primordial or Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite or what have you. Keep us posted on your list, whether it goes full token or full polymorph.

Just a note on the newly printed Mystic Reflection (which I plan to test, but I don't think my build is going to use to its full busted potential unfortunately), if you do try polymorphing into army-in-a-can creatures like Cloudgoat Ranger, Belfry Spirit, Siege-Gang Commander, Evangel of Heliod, etc., you can respond with reflection while the ETB token maker is on the stack and then the tokens can enter as additional copies of the token maker, assuming you don't have a sweeter target. Especially cool with Evangel of Heliod IMO since the reflection copies will all ETB at the same time and bring their devotion with them.

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This leads me to a rules question re: Mystic Reflection that I had today which somebody might be able to answer for me here and save me a trip to the rules forum. If I cast a noncreature spell and it triggers multiple token makers - say Kykar, Monastery Mentor, and Saheeli, Sublime Artificer - and I respond with Mystic Reflection, will all three tokens get the reflection effect, or just whichever cast trigger resolves first? I guess another way to ask the question is "do multiple token creation effects that trigger upon a single spell being cast cause all of their tokens to ETB simultaneously, or does ordering the stack impact things so that the tokens ETB one at a time?" Based on my experience with stuff like Cathars' Crusade, I'm assuming it's the latter, but I'm wrong about rules stuff all the time

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On a completely separate note: I haven't put my hands on any Kaldheim cards yet, but hope to this week. I'm re-thinking Search for Glory and I think I'm just off of it. Still definitely going to test Tibalt's Trickery and Mystic Reflection though, and possibly Birgi, God of Storytelling // Harnfel, Horn of Bounty and the U/W land.

As for other inclusions, I'm still eager to give Snap, Soulfire Grand Master, and Springleaf Drum test runs, and @RxPhantom blew me away with the correct ruling on Insult // Injury which I feel like I can't pass up experiencing in conjunction with Underworld Breach at least once.

I need to take a long hard look to see how many of those I can squeeze in, but I also wanted to bring up one other card for discussion since I am increasingly intrigued by the idea of filling the deck with a threshold of "free" spells - or, more accurately, spells which are mana neutral or positive the turn they are played, thus granting both a cast trigger and more velocity. (As an aside, I think this is a perfectly reasonable basis for an entire deck strategy with Kykar storm, where you can just run a zillion cmc 2 or less mana rocks and build up a big ol' storm count with them and spirit mana)

The card in question is a little janky, but I think it could work. What do y'all think of Hidden Strings? It's a cheapo spell that can tap down a flying blocker or two, cipher onto Kykar, then untap some lands or rocks after damage. It's even better if I have a clear attack in the skies and can just untap 4 mana sources. The only awkward bits are sorcery speed and needing to deal combat damage in order to regain my mana.

[WizardMN]

This leads me to a rules question re: Mystic Reflection that I had today which somebody might be able to answer for me here and save me a trip to the rules forum. If I cast a noncreature spell and it triggers multiple token makers - say Kykar, Monastery Mentor, and Saheeli, Sublime Artificer - and I respond with Mystic Reflection, will all three tokens get the reflection effect, or just whichever cast trigger resolves first? I guess another way to ask the question is "do multiple token creation effects that trigger upon a single spell being cast cause all of their tokens to ETB simultaneously, or does ordering the stack impact things so that the tokens ETB one at a time?" Based on my experience with stuff like Cathars' Crusade, I'm assuming it's the latter, but I'm wrong about rules stuff all the time

It is indeed the latter. Reflection's "one or more" wording only applies to the next time a token enters. Since you have multiple triggers, it means that each is its own instance of creating a token so only the first trigger to resolve will be a copy of whatever you target.

[pokken]

AFAIK if you put multiple tokens with one spell (e.g. White Sun's Zenith then they will all benefit from Mystic Reflection but with multiple individual triggers only the first to resolve will get it since they each resolve individually rather than simultaneosly.

Hidden Strings is a very powerful card but I would not want to give anyone incentive to kill Kykar, Wind's Fury myself. I think it's probably better in a higher rock density deck where you can make the first cast a ritual (e.g. untapping stuff like Thran Dynamo or Gilded Lotus). It might be worth a try I guess but not amazing.

[MeowZeDung]

Alas, so I thought. Oh well. I still believe the default for Mystic Reflection will be as a way to hose opposing commanders and ETB trigger fatties, but I hope to put some Avenger of Zendikars and other bombs on my side of the battlefield with it as well.

@pokken Hidden Strings is a very powerful card but I would not want to give anyone incentive to kill Kykar, Wind's Fury myself. I think it's probably better in a higher rock density deck where you can make the first cast a ritual (e.g. untapping stuff like Thran Dynamo or Gilded Lotus). It might be worth a try I guess but not amazing.

Agreed that it's better with bigger rocks. I thought the same about incentive to kill Kykar, but I'm not sure a two mana cipher screams "must remove". It is definitely a target though.

It's too bad only the actual card itself can be encoded, or else Hidden Strings would be sweet with some copy effects to encode it on multiple flyers

EDIT: Oh, of course I forgot to mention one of the key reasons Hidden Strings appeals to me - since the cipher exile is a "may", strings can build up storm for "free" with Underworld Breach in play if I don't have one of the stronger alternatives available.

[pokken]

I thought the same about incentive to kill Kykar, but I'm not sure a two mana cipher screams "must remove". It is definitely a target though.

There is a certain subset of the EDH population who want to 'get' people with their removal spells maybe more than they want to win the game, it's one of the reasons I don't often run cards like Kjeldoran Outpost - some people just want to see the world burn

That said, it becomes a pretty powerful ramp spell even just untapping two lands on combat when your deck is so lean, and Kykar, Wind's Fury is a pretty juicy target already so I could see it push someone over the edge.

Could be wrong though, might be a thing worth trying out.

[MeowZeDung]

That said, it becomes a pretty powerful ramp spell even just untapping two lands on combat when your deck is so lean, and Kykar, Wind's Fury is a pretty juicy target already so I could see it push someone over the edge.

Yeah, it's hard to tell where the line is. Meta dependent of course. For example, I don't bother running Sword of Feast and Famine, because I know Kykar would never live to connect with it, but I like my odds much more with strings.

[MeowZeDung]

One of my struggles with this deck is managing the desire to always retool it. There are SO many good cards for big bird to play with. Here's a few I was reminded of while brewing away at another deck:

• aetherworks marvel
• Jar of eyeballs
• Shenanigans
• Reality scramble
• Tears of rage
• Throes of chaos

I can haz 200 card deck?

[V92131]

MeowZeDung, I just want to say that your primer is extremely well-written and I've been going back and referring to it ever so often. It's so cool to see you update the deck over time and to see your explanations of card choices. I've been a lurker since half a year ago but no longer, as I made an account on MTGNexus so I could actually reply to you hahaha.

Kykar, Wind's Fury is my favorite Commander in all of Magic (got into playing EDH only since mid-2019). I love token decks, and I love Spellslinging. Your build captures the style of Commander gameplay I enjoy.

Real quickly, Jar of Eyeballs is a card that is subpar in most other decks that have trouble with card advantage (looking at you, mono-White) but in this deck is actually a slightly overcosted but nice value engine in this deck. Yes, it does cost 3 colorless to cast initially and 3 colorless and a tap to use its effect. BUT, the fact that you can use Kykar's sacrifice spirits ability to give you mana to pay for the ability AND the sacced spirits give you eyeball counters at the same time makes the cost more reasonable. It's done work for me almost every time I've drawn into it in my games (except when topdecking and without Kykar on the battlefield).

However, slots are tight and your build is already amazing as is! Glad you brought up one of my favorite techs, Jar of Eyeballs, that I think can really shine in Kykar decks.

[MeowZeDung]

Thanks for the positive feedback and the vote of confidence in the primer! It's very appreciated!

Real quickly, Jar of Eyeballs is a card that is subpar in most other decks that have trouble with card advantage (looking at you, mono-White) but in this deck is actually a slightly overcosted but nice value engine in this deck. Yes, it does cost 3 colorless to cast initially and 3 colorless and a tap to use its effect. BUT, the fact that you can use Kykar's sacrifice spirits ability to give you mana to pay for the ability AND the sacced spirits give you eyeball counters at the same time makes the cost more reasonable. It's done work for me almost every time I've drawn into it in my games (except when topdecking and without Kykar on the battlefield).

Yeah, I'd say the Jar is jank as far as 99% of commander decks are concerned and Kykar turns it into a hidden gem. You hit on most of the reasons it is good in Kykar, but I will add these: TWO counters per spirit death adds up quick, each tap and activation will likely dig deep as a result (making it a low-key quasi-tutor), and the fact that the deck has so many strong synergies means this kind of card selection is very powerful. In ideal circumstances (ie. slinging multiple spells per turn cycle and churning through spirit mana - not uncommon) I daresay it could be *almost* the equivalent of a Dig Through Time each turn cycle.

That's all pure speculation from looking at the card though, I've never tested it myself. It is tempting me again though. Again, I mentioned it because it fits into this ever growing pile of "Great stuff for Kykar that unfortunately doesn't get played because I've already got a pretty cool tuned thing going on". You nailed it when you said slots are tight.

I really should get working on some alt lists to scratch some of these itches I have for Kykar. Hidden commander Winota, Joiner of Forces, hidden commander Zada, Hedron Grinder, Polymorph/Reality Scramble for stuff like Moraug, Fury of Akoum or Adriana, Captain of the Guard, artifact storm, enchantress, voltron, tribal, blink. AHHHH! They are all great options. The embarrassment of riches is frustrating and awesome at the same time.

[MeowZeDung]

Speaking of having more good cards for the deck than I know what to do with, Lorehold Command and Prismari Command are a promising start for Kykar in Strixhaven (beg pardon, but does your wizard school accept birbs?).

Lorehold strikes me as a more flexible but maybe slightly less powerful Heroic Reinforcements, and I'll be happy to have another effect like that. Making the team indestructible at instant speed to offset a sweeper is also amazing, albeit heavily costed at 5 cmc.

Prismari seems very solid just as a loot 2, make a spirit and a treasure, and the additional modes are gravy. Tasty tasty gravy.

Yeesh, I haven't even gotten my Kaldheim stuff yet. Thankfully Strixhaven is still a couple months away.

[MeowZeDung]

Alrighty, I spent some time today going over the cards I was looking at including and made some tough decisions about what to include and what not to include, and of course agonized over what to cut. I also got my hands on the Kaldheim cards I was most interested in. So, in the end I decided to hold off on Snap, Hidden Strings, and Stroke of Genius, but did make the following swaps:

2/28/21

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

IN (7)

1 Soulfire Grand Master

1 Tibalt's Trickery

1 Springleaf Drum

1 Tears of Rage

1 Secure the Wastes

1 Mystic Reflection

1 Akroma's Will

OUT (7)

1 Forsake the Worldly

1 Counterflux

1 Role Reversal

1 In the Web of War

1 Electrodominance

1 Confounding Conundrum

1 Expansion // Explosion

Approximate Total Cost:

Forsake the Worldly → Soulfire Grand Master -I think the buyback from Grand Master will be great in situations where I'm low on cards and have lots of mana and just need some cast triggers. There's also the corner case of gaining life with a well timed Mirrorweave or buying back a Boros Charm repeatedly. She also gives another way to go ham with a card other than Haze of Rage in the combo with Kykar, Sakashima the Impostor, and Anointed Procession, so I'm looking forward to that too. Forsake the Worldly was originally in the deck because of the abundance of indestructible gods in the format, but honestly the only one I see with any regularity is Purphoros, Bronze-Blooded, and I've still got Chaos Warp or Path/Swords when and if a god becomes a creature.

Counterflux → Tibalt's Trickery - Here I'm swapping one Sunforger friendly hard counter for another. You could argue that flux is better because it can't be countered and doesn't reimburse the opponent, but I'm also hoping to use trickery on myself from time to time and the mana cost is a definite factor.

Role Reversal → Springleaf Drum - Reversal is a sweet and fun card in a casual format, and I've had a blast with it. It is tough to cut, but it just isn't high impact enough in a lot of situations. The way the deck plays out I often end up having a huge turn where I just want to keep casting spells, generating mana, and getting the next Jeskai Ascendancy, Kindred Discovery, or Whirlwind of Thought trigger to maintain velocity and Springleaf Drum does so in a way that is mana positive with Kykar in play (mana neutral if it is not) and actually filters me into one of my non-red colors. It's quite a small corner case, but it can also be a proper mana rock that accelerates me into T3 Kykar if I play it on T1 and either Young Pyromancer or Secure the Wastes for X=1 on T2.

In the Web of War → Tears of Rage - I was finding with Web that I was usually only valuing it for the haste and could almost always find some better form of pump, whether it be Jeskai Ascendancy, Mirrorweave, or Cathars' Crusade, all of which are cheaper. So my thought was to just swap it out for a cheaper haste enabler like Surge of Zeal, or Fervor/Hammer of Purphoros, but I think I'm good for now with just Anger and Heroic Reinforcements - especially since I can make a lot of my tokens at instant speed before untapping for my turn. As a result I decided to go for another powerful pump spell that can be paid for entirely with spirit mana if need be, and Tears of Rage is a doozy since it can straight up assassinate one or more players, even with a medium sized army.

Electrodominance → Secure the Wastes - This was a hard cut since electrodominance has almost always been good for me. The problem with it is that, if I'm saccing mass amounts of spirits in response to a board wipe to pump into X, there's (usually) by definition no great target for the damage other than someone's dome or a creature the board wiping player follows up with if they aren't clever enough to realize that my floating red mana might do something nefarious to it if they don't move to their second main before casting it. Secure the Wastes, however, turns a board wipe from "all my spirits are dead" to "all my spirits became warriors". I'm not into single use noncreature spells that make tokens in this deck since my strategy centers around Kykar and the various mentors, but secure is the best one being scalable, an instant, light on colored mana demands, and a total army in a can. Neatest of all, perhaps, is how it's going to allow me to do absolutely silly things with Mystic Reflection. I cannot wait.

Confounding Conundrum → Mystic Reflection - Speaking of reflection, I decided to cut conundrum for it even though I think it's a good card. My reasoning is that in my meta the ramp decks aren't completely oppressive and stupid. Rashmi, Eternities Crafter, Roon of the Hidden Realm, and Gishath, Sun's Avatar can go pretty ham on the ramp at my kitchen table, but not so much that I feel the need to have a silver bullet, and I've found that conundrum draws more hate than I thought it would originally. It's still great, and as the power creep of ramp and landfall centered strategies continues to invade I'll likely revisit it. For now though, I'll shelf it to make room for Mystic Reflection and hopefully turn a Secure the Wastes army into a pile of Monastery Mentors in the near future.

Expansion // Explosion → Akroma's Will - The izzet split card seems like it should be such a utilitarian value spell, but with my low curve and proactive gameplan I'm finding that I almost always want my card draw in cheap, smallish burst a la Faithless Looting or Frantic Search until I can find a real degenerate draw engine like Skullclamp or Kindred Discovery. With the Turnabout/Narset's Reversal/Bonus Round loop no longer available, the damage part of the spell isn't really that great either. TL;DR, this means that I'm really only running it for the expansion half, and that's fairly low impact. So, I'm switching it out for a banger that I kept forgetting about, and I can see Akroma's Will ending games, gaining me a ton of life, saving me from certain death, clearing a messy board, etc. etc. Great card.

[MeowZeDung]

This evening I played my first game with the new lineup. It was a 3-player game against Gishath, Sun's Avatar and Niv-Mizzet, Parun with me going last.

Kykar got hated on more than usual. It started with a kicked Blink of an Eye right before a Reforge the Soul from the Niv player. So much for the sweet hand I had sculpted with Impulse and Ponder. The wheel did give me a Sevinne's Reclamation that got me back a Jeskai Ascendancy though. Narrator: It was relevant.

I ran out the Ascendancy with the Reclamation on the following turn and held up Tibalt's Trickery in anticipation of either Gishath or Niv. Neither opponent quite got their ramp/fixing in line for their commanders that turnset, but Niv played a Lightning Greaves that I thought was just way too threatening in conjunction with a commander that wrecks tokens. Tibalt's Trickery countered the greaves, milled them for 2, and flipped a Surly Badgersaur. . . which also wrecks tokens.

I flashed back Sevinne's Reclamation for two lands and had Frantic Search and Mystic Reflection in hand with mana open before passing. I could have used reflection when Gishath was cast, but I felt Niv was the bigger threat at that point. So did Gishath apparently because I didn't get hit, and Gishath got blocked - so no dino triggers.

Niv still didn't quite have colors fixed, so they drew some cards and cast Narset, Parter of Veils. . . with their wheel deck. . .

After groaning inwardly I did a double take at my hand and realized that Mystic Reflection, bless its little heart, targets planeswalkers as well. Narset entered as a Kinjalli's Caller

Instead of wheeling with their remaining mana, they just ran out Niv.

I replayed Kykar, Frantic Searched before deciding on my land drop, then passed with an Underworld Breach in hand and Render Silent ready to go with mana to cast it. Narrator: For those of you watching from home, Underworld Breach is part of a game ending combo with Jeskai Ascendancy and Frantic Search, both of which are available. Will MZD be able to survive the turnset and combo out the table? Yes. Yes he will.

Gishath ramped some more and drew some cards, clearly looking ready to recast their general and wreak havoc the following turn. Niv untapped and attempted to resolve Curiosity. To my absolute amazement, Render Silent did not get countered and I was able to stop their combo and shut down their turn. Felt good.

In retaliation they Chaos Warped Kykar on my upkeep, and I got Anger. That was fine by me since I had enough mana and just played Underworld Breach, escaped Murmuring Mystic, then started escaping Frantic Search with Jeskai Ascendancy in play until I hit Goblin Bombardment a few cards down. Then I started the loop back up until I had enough tokens and killed my opponents with birdshot loaded in my goblin cannon. I didn't realize until afterward that I could have just sacced the Anger and attacked with an Ascendancy pumped birb army. Silly me. I'm not sure there's anything at that point that could have stopped me from winning the way I did though, so it's unlikely to have mattered.

More of a controlling game than I'm used to playing, but I felt like Niv would have absolutely slaughtered me if I hadn't stopped greaves, narset, or (definitely) curiosity. I'm glad that two new cards played major roles. Fun fun fun.

[MeowZeDung]

Welp.

I am trying to keep my own personal brand of Kykar on the "fair" side of things, which is why I took a turn off combo in the not so distant past (but there's a new set every weekend now, amirite?). WotC seems determined to break the bird even more with this new set though. I can't imagine magecraft not giving Kykar more toys that push things to a silly breaking point. The guy who makes treasure seems purty good for any spellslinging deck too. I'm still going to be REAL picky about adding creatures to the list, but to any other Kykar aficionados out there, just make a note that Lorehold Apprentice, a haste enabler, and Jeskai Ascendancy can take you to combo town easily enough. For it to be a table kill you'll need arbitrarily high storm, which would make Impact Tremors or Goblin Bombardment a kill already, so it's redundant and stapled to a creature in the apprentice's case, but it's worth noting at least.

Now, standing by for something with text along the lines of: "Whenever you cast or copy an instant or sorcery spell, create a [P/T] [color] [creature type] token. . ."

Put it on a noncreature permanent too plz? K Wizards thx bai.

[Rumpy5897]

Now, standing by for something with text along the lines of: "Whenever you cast or copy and instant or sorcery, create a [P/T] [color] [creature type] token. . ."

Dear Magical Fairy, please let this be in red (or white) so Feather can have it too

I like the thought of Lorehold Apprentice as a janky kill condition in Kykar though. The commander's engine is so ridiculous by default that you can easily get creative with finishing if desired.

[MeowZeDung]

I like the thought of Lorehold Apprentice as a janky kill condition in Kykar though. The commander's engine is so ridiculous by default that you can easily get creative with finishing if desired.

True. It could be a way to power down from tremors/bombardment if desired. But, Kyren Negotiations exists, and noncreature > creature, so there's that. New card will be cheaper and more accessible though. The lesson is, kids, that options are nice.

[illakunsaa]

Have you tried Grenzo, Havoc Raiser ? I've been running him in my kykar artifax list and I think he is pretty decent. It's pretty easy to just slap with few spirits to get some exile triggers, sac the spirits to cast opponent's spells and get more spirits.

[MeowZeDung]

Have you tried Grenzo, Havoc Raiser ? I've been running him in my kykar artifax list and I think he is pretty decent. It's pretty easy to just slap with few spirits to get some exile triggers, sac the spirits to cast opponent's spells and get more spirits.

I have not, in part because I don't own a copy. I see the appeal of him in a go-wide strategy though. Both modes are useful, and being cheap and mono red are solid upsides.

I personally don't run any creatures that don't make tokens or somehow help the spellslinger cause. Those are just my personal restrictions. I think there are plenty of avenues to go down with a kykar deck that leverages creatures, and grenzo would definitely be a good one.

Thanks for sharing. I love to see all the ways folks get creative with the avian spirit factory.

[MeowZeDung]

This set is being very nice to Kykar so far.

Curate has my eye, and First Day of Class is very exciting as a source of both haste and pump at an incredibly low rate, and even though Learn will only let us rummage in Commander that's still pure gravy.

Flamescroll Celebrant's back half is a nice addition alongside Silence, Render Silent, Tidal Barracuda, Mandate of Peace, etc. for anyone looking to build pure combo. Storm-Kiln Artist also lends itself to building down that path.

Expression Rehearsal is *chef's kiss*. I mean, that's pretty close to "scry 1, draw 2" for UR. The fact that you may "play" the exiled card is the great part, since you can just always play this before your land drop then always exile a land, which you are fairly likely to see in 1 out of 3 random cards from the deck.

Elemental Evoker is very interesting as a windmill slam at the beginning of a stormy turn where you suddenly get to turn a portion of your spirits sacced for mana into 4/4's. Needs a haste enabler to be really great though. (Actually, now that I think of it. . . I'm not sure that "leave the battlefield, exile it instead" works in conjunction with sacrificing spirits. Someone more rules saavy like @WizardMN should let us know.)

I already mentioned the commands when they were first spoiled - still exciting but slots just keep getting more competitive.

Reconstruct History is nothing to sneeze at.

Resculpt is good stuff, but it kind of has me frustrated just for color pie reasons. I felt like Ravenform was already pushing it, and now they went and made it instant speed. Can't white have ONE thing Wizards?

Culmination of Studies is a great card. I love "spin the wheel" designs. Reminds me of Epic Experiment, but at a lower power level. It's a bummer that any monowhite cards it hits will be duds, and the red hits aren't great. . . unless of course you've generated an arbitrarily huge spirit army, in which case you can just sac em all to pay for a massive x, mill your entire library and machine gun the table. I'm not sure I'm going to go for it, but it's good to be aware of.

Rowan, Scholar of Sparks is tempting. Goblin Electromancer on a noncreature is sweet. The +1 activation is meh, but if she ults (sigh, I've said that with a PW before) there are shenanigans to be had. The Will half is ok too - neutralize a big threat or get some emergency card draw. Nothing sensational though. The static ability on a noncreature permanent is really where it's at IMO.

The "spirits matter" cards are neato. Some of them are just too low impact IMO, but a few stand out. I mentioned Lorehold Apprentice as a finisher, and Hofri Ghostforge has my attention as a dude that gives a small pump, haste for the team, and "protection" for Kykar and other mentors. Five mana is steep though. Same issue with Quintorious, Field Historian, but he's also only truly great with Underworld Breach, and that card really doesn't need the help.

TL;DR - I'm getting excited for this set. I think it will have more to offer Kykar in terms of card quantity than Kaldheim did, though it remains to be seen if any of the individual cards will rival Mystic Reflection's raw awesomeness.

[WizardMN]

Elemental Evoker is very interesting as a windmill slam at the beginning of a stormy turn where you suddenly get to turn a portion of your spirits sacced for mana into 4/4's. Needs a haste enabler to be really great though. (Actually, now that I think of it. . . I'm not sure that "leave the battlefield, exile it instead" works in conjunction with sacrificing spirits. Someone more rules saavy like @WizardMN should let us know.)

Yep, it works just fine with sacrificing tokens. They can be exiled and, even though they cease to exist pretty quickly, they will still get you a shiny new token.

I agree that there seems to be a lot going on for Kykar. I haven't gone through all of your comments but I agree on a number of them so far.

[MeowZeDung]

Yep, it works just fine with sacrificing tokens. They can be exiled and, even though they cease to exist pretty quickly, they will still get you a shiny new token.

Sweet. I wasn't sure how replacement effects work with sacrifice vs LTB/die vs graveyard vs exile, etc etc.

I still hesitate because, well, Elemental Evoker is a creature. But still, it can be paid for with pure spirit mana if needed, and if you get rolling with it in play and a haste enabler it could be lights out.

[duducrash]

Leonin Lightscribe is fun right? Prowess as an anthem

[MeowZeDung]

Leonin Lightscribe is fun right? Prowess as an anthem

That is certainly a more competitive rate than Strongarm Monk, Soulblade Djinn, or Goldnight Commander, making it the best creature based option for this type of pump effect that goes off with kykar + spells (MUST be instants/sorceries though). The question is whether it is better or even competitive with Cathars' Crusade, Jeskai Ascendancy, or Valor in Akros.

- Jeskai Ascendancy is better, no contest. This hardly needs to be said, but the untap, card selection, graveyard utility, combo potential, pump, and more durable permanent type that also procs Kykar and other "noncreature" based cast triggers make Ascendancy well worth the extra mana cost and color requirements.

- Valor in Akros is a close comparison, IMO. The extra 2 cmc is probably worth it just to have the effect stapled to an enchantment, which is A) harder to remove and B) a noncreature spell. However, I found Valor to be a bit lackluster when I ran it precisely because of the mana cost. 4 is on the higher end in this deck, so it often played out as a do nothing enchantment that hoped to table before I was able to storm off. Maybe the 2 cmc discount on Lightscribe is worth it.

- Cathars' Crusade is objectively better on at least two axes: It's a noncreature and the pump lasts beyond the turn. It absolutely takes over games when not answered immediately. Even when answered relatively quickly, if it leaves behind a pile of tokens with 4-5 counters each piled on top of them, it's pretty backbreaking in my experience. All that said, I wouldn't fault anyone swapping it out for Lightscribe. Resolving CC triggers is t e d i o u s. Not to mention it's a $5 card, so budget token/spellslinger players hail your new best cat friend!

[MeowZeDung]

Strixhaven Update

Alrighty, time to look at the new set closely - and it was a good set for us spellslingers. I've already touched on a lot of the cards that caught my eye, but here are my official choices for cards I am going to test and a list of honorable mentions that I might try someday.

First Day of Class - Woohoo! A noncreature haste enabler for the team (minus any tokens that are created before it that turn, including by its own cast trigger). The fact that it's so cheap, only requires r, includes a pump effect, and throws in a rummage for good measure has me very excited to play this card. Haste has been a bit of a hangup for this deck for a while now, and this will certainly help. I was tempted to just add it on top of the haste enablers I already have, but I think it's just enough better than Anger that a direct swap is fine. Anger is a dud often enough that I've concluded I probably just need to cut it.

Expressive Iteration - This card and Curate seemed to me to be the most appealing cantrippy doohickeys in STX. Both are trying to be 2CMC Preordain with some sort of additional upside. Ultimately I don't think the "surveil" effect and instant speed on Curate are quite enough to sell me on it. Expressive Iteration, however, offers card advantage rather than a mere cantrip and card selection. I'm sure it will brick on showing me a land sometimes, but I expect the normal use case for this card will be to bottom the worst of the 3, put the best in my hand, then exile a land. The card says you may "play" that card until EOT, so save your land drop before casting this one! Even if it doesn't hit a land, that's still probably fine as long as it's not exactly turn 3 and I needed to hit the land drop since I can just exile the spell I most want to resolve that turn. Either way, I expect I will enjoy my new "ur: draw 2 cards" toy. I'll be taking out Chemister's Insight to make room for it.

Lorehold Command - Mmmmm... modal goodness. The mana cost is steep, but this spell is useful in all sorts of situations. Behind on board? Make a spirit, bolt something, and gain some life. Ready to smash face? Make a spirit, pump the team and give them indestructible and haste. Chump blocking? Bolt something to swing combat, sac a different chump to draw 2. Much flexible, very utility. I'll be taking out Soulfire Grand Master for it. Soulfire just isn't quite what I hoped since the situation where she's great is either very narrow or I'm hurting bad for cards and am just dumping mana into the buyback to try and cling to life for another turn. The deck has enough play that it doesn't want that sort of restriction and would be better off with a card like Lorehold Command to avoid/get out of those playing from behind situations.

Prismari Command - Good for pretty much all the same reasons Lorehold Command is - minus the haste for the team bit. The mana cost is more reasonable and the effects are a bit less splashy, but it does things and keeps the spell/mana/card stream flowing nicely, which is just what Kykar wants. Oof, cuts are so hard though. I think I'm going to go with swapping out Turnabout, which hurts my soul. I love that card. However, I've been pulling away from pure storm/combo, which is precisely what Turnabout specializes in. It is VERY satisfying for my opponent's to think "He's running out of steam, he's down to only 2 untapped lands and a couple spirits", then you slam this babe on the table and they realize you are just getting started. There's also the good ol' "tap-down-that-massive-army-before-it-crushes-me" mode. Useful as the card may be, I'm always looking for ways to lower the curve when reasonable, and Prismari Command is more in line with what I'm trying to accomplish with a spellslinger/token swarm strategy. I've got plenty of combo outs without Turnabout anyway. Sigh. Doesn't make it hurt less though.

Solve the Equation - Squish Mystical Tutor and Demonic Tutor together and make it more expensive and sorcery speed and you get this card. Cool. I don't intend to invest in a Mystical Tutor anytime soon, so I'm happy to embrace the "jank". It hardly needs to be said why a tutor is good, but the flexibility is very welcome. It's Swords to Plowshares when you need something dead. It's Fact or Fiction when you are otherwise top decking. It's Flawless Maneuver or Fierce Guardianship when you need to hold up protection. It's Sevinne's Reclamation when you want to buy back that Monastery Mentor. It's Heroic Reinforcements when you need haste/pump. It's Frantic Search or Haze of Rage when you're set up to combo off. It's Tears of Rage when you have the army ready to turn sideways and just need some more oomph. It's all just so nice you'll want to do it twice (or thrice) courtesy of Mystic Sanctuary or Mystic Retrieval. Much spells, very excite. I'm going to cut Silundi Vision // Silundi Isle for it. I do hesitate because I have had the land side be relevant in a game where I would have otherwise missed my land drop, BUT in 99% of my Kykar games I find mana screw is not an issue and I am often pitching excess lands with my loot effects. We'll see how 34 lands, 10 rocks, and spirit mana fares. I think it'll be fine... famous last words.

In addition to those fine specimens, STX had a LOT of cool stuff for various Kykar strategies. Magecraft, Learn, Spirits matters, Instants/Sorceries galore. Here are the ones that I think you should look at if you're building or tuning your own Kykar list, whether that be budget, combo, voltron, enchantress, tribal, or whatever:

STX Honorable Mentions

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• Environmental Sciences
• Academic Probation
• Leonin Lightscribe
• Pilgrim of the Ages
• Reduce to Memory
• Secret Rendezvous
• Show of Confidence
• Study Break
• Curate
• Mentor's Guidance
• Mercurial Transformation
• Pop Quiz
• Resculpt
• Blood Age General
• Crackle With Power
• Illuminate History
• Storm-Kiln Artist
• Revel in Silence
• Rowan, Scholar of Sparks
• Culmination of Studies
• Elemental Expressionist
• Galazeth Prismari
• Hofri Ghostforge
• Lorehold Apprentice
• Practical Research
• Quintorius, Field Historian
• Reconstruct History
• Teach by Example
• Thrilling Discovery
• Strixhaven Stadium
• Frostboil Snarl
• Furycalm Snarl
• Divide by Zero
• Ingenious Mastery

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A couple of non-STX related notes:

@ISBPathfinder blew my mind in one of his threads recently by showing an interaction between Cleansing Wildfire and Cascading Cataracts/Flagstones of Trokair (I want to keep creature count low, so I won't go so far as to include Weathered Wayfarer and Lotus Field). Jeskai always appreciates ramp wherever it can get it, so I'm going to make a couple of additional swaps in the manabase. Since I was close to including Cleansing Wildfire when it came out anyway, I'll go ahead and swap it in for Gift of Estates.

I've concluded that either Sakashima of a Thousand Faces or Spark Double would just be a significant upgrade over Talrand, Sky Summoner, no use denying it pet card though Talrand may be. Unfortunately I don't own either, and their prices are silly. I'll be trying to work Spark Double into my magic card budget over the next couple of months though.

Whilst trying to keep creature count low in this deck I think I've been overlooking one of my favorites: Mirror Entity. I find that oftentimes I have a board state where my token count is split down the middle with half being spirits and half being birds/elementals/monks or what have you. ME lets me do a neat little trickeroo by activating for x=1 to make them all spirits, then sac anything summoning sick or not evasive or whatever for r and dump all that fresh mana into ME to pump everyone that can attack profitably. There's also some neat interactions there with Kindred Discovery or Skullclamp/Mirrorweave in some weird corner cases. The issue is what to cut for it, and while I suspect I may regret this, I'm going to try substituting it for Cathars' Crusade just because of the steep mana cost.

So when all is said and done (whew that was a lot), here's where I'm at:

STX Update 4/?/21

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

IN (9)

1 First Day of Class

1 Expressive Iteration

1 Lorehold Command

1 Prismari Command

1 Solve the Equation

1 Cascading Cataracts

1 Flagstones of Trokair

1 Cleansing Wildfire

1 Mirror Entity

OUT (9)

1 Anger

1 Chemister's Insight

1 Soulfire Grand Master

1 Turnabout

1 Silundi Vision // Silundi Isle

1 Riptide Laboratory

1 Ash Barrens

1 Gift of Estates

1 Cathars' Crusade

Approximate Total Cost:

I know we still have the C21 decks coming, but if I'm not mistaken they are going to be mostly reprints with a small handful of new cards, right? I'll just post another update if one of those ends up being a great fit for Kykar. Today was a lazy Saturday and worked well for me to write this up though, so awkward timing during spoiler season is just going to have to do.

[MeowZeDung]

Well, there's my Talrand, Sky Summoner replacement. The only downsides are that I must have kykar or another mentor in play for veyran to be meaningful and it only triggers on instant/sorcery spells, but that's kind of the plan. If I owned Sakashima of a Thousand Faces I'd probably go with him instead and look at other potential cuts.

Edit: although it is worth noting that veyran has the distinct advantage over Sakashima/Spark Double of multiplying more than one token generator's trigger at a time. And the lower cmc is certainly not irrelevant.