Kykar, Wind's Fury - Spellslinger Tokens

[shermanido37]

For some weird reason I was 100% sure you guys were talking about Narset and Hour of Revelation. I'm running Hour of Reckoning in mine as well.

[MeowZeDung]

IKO/C20 Update

We got some goodies this time around y'all! A lot of cards will have to be added to the maybeboard, and I know a few of them are slam dunks for the 99 depending on your specific Kykar build. Here are the ones I'm adding and some rationale behind my picks.

---

• Arcane Signet - Easy swap for Thought Vessel.
  
  
• Fierce Guardianship - This is really good for obvious reasons. A free way to blank removal or a board wipe, or protect a combo is great. I'm going to swap it for Swords to Plowshares. I consistently find myself playing proactively rather than reactively with this deck, so spot removal loses some of its appeal. I know that sounds stupid when bringing in a counter, the most reactive thing in magic, but since it will be used mostly to protect my army and combos rather than shut down opponents it really is a proactive play for me.
  
  I debated between StP and PtE and settled on swords since the lifegain for my opponent from exiling something huge is more likely to sway the game than a single land, and I generally don't path early on anyhow to avoid ramping opponents.
  
  
• Flawless Maneuver - Another free spell that blanks opposing board wipes. I believe it was @WizardMN that also made the point that this is great in the early game when someone may decide Kykar should be killed on sight while we don't have mana up to protect it.
  
  One play I'm excited to make is to convoke Hour of Reckoning with Jeskai Ascendancy in play, respond with Maneuver to save Kykar and my other non-token creatures, and after I resolve the Kykar/Ascendancy triggers actually start taking my turn since I haven't spent any mana yet :laugh:
  
  The hard part is the cut, since I want to keep the other Sunforger counterspells in the deck. I'm going to go with Valor in Akros. Being a worse Cathars' Crusade/Jeskai Ascendancy proved a liability enough times that I'm not as excited about it as I was originally. Still good though, and maybe with another new toy in the future it will be worth slotting back in.
  
  
• Impulse - I pulled this out for Telling Time a few updates ago and I'm going to switch 'em right back. This is a debatable swap in either direction, and I think the difference is marginal, but ultimately I'm convinced Impulse is better, if only by a smidge.
  
  
• Narset of the Ancient Way - The most uncertain of the new cards that I'm going to include. There's already been some good discussion in recent posts, but I'll repeat the salient points here:
  
  1.) 4 mana for a 4 loyalty PW that ultimates on 6 is pretty darn good. The "fast" and impactful ultimate is the #1 reason Narset has my attention, and we have lots of protection for her. Tokens, Mandate of Peace, Mirrorweave, Turnabout, Role Reversal, the counterspells, and the removal spells.
  
  IF she ults with any consistency (big if), she's bananas. 2 damage to ANY target per non-creature spell in a deck that reliably generates a high storm count is going to be pretty oppressive for opponents' board states.
  
  2.) Regarding the plus ability: Ramp at 4 mana in this deck is. . . bad. All our rocks are 2 mana since they get Kykar out quicker, the exception being Chromatic Lantern because you can't beat that fixing. That means that Narset is at a weird spot on the curve and is not an early game play. The earliest I would play her is the turn after Kykar since the token trigger affords a little protection and, assuming a land drop, you still have 2 mana to work with for an additional spell or two and token trigger(s) *without* saccing spirits. The lifegain is fine, we'll take it. Colored mana is better than colorless. The non-creature restriction is unlikely to cause us trouble.
  
  3.) Since I'm looking to ult with Narset, the -2 ability will probably be the most neglected, but it has its place and isn't half bad. It's an extra card when you need it, and since the discard is a "may", this can be raw card advantage. When something needs to die the option is there to discard, but unfortunately this isn't amazing with the deck's low curve. I'm sure it will come up on some occasions with Sevinne's Reclamation, Cathars' Crusade, The Locust God, or Hour of Reckoning.
  
  4.) It was mentioned that Narset Transcendent is a better option, so I think it's worth discussing. The problem with NT is that, like most PWs, she lends herself to incremental advantage over time. I mentioned the same with regard to Teferi, Hero of Dominaria in @WizardMN's thread. Now, NT's -2 for rebound *can* be explosive, but in multiplayer it loses some of its impact. I see the best case scenario as rebounding Bonus Round, Turnabout, or Role Reversal, but it doesn't seem worth it to rebound any of the cheap cantrips, so her +1 would be the order of the day a lot of the time, and that's not anywhere near the mana to card ratio we're looking for from our draw spells.
  
  Long story short, Narset of the Ancient Way could be a swing and a miss, but she seems too spicy to not at least test. I'm going to have her replace Past in Flames for now. PiF has really lost some punch with the advent of Underworld Breach. Just like with Treasure Cruise and Dig Through Time, I'm now a lot less interested in exiling breach fodder from the yard, and even in its best-case scenario PiF is expensive for us.
  
  
• Raugrin Triome - Another slam dunk. Goodbye Terramorphic Expanse. The pressure is really on me to pick up Arid Mesa and Scalding Tarn now. A minor bone to pick with WotC: "Raugrin"? Really. It's hard to pronounce, and it looks and sounds ugly. RAW-grin, or r-OW-grin??? Boo!
  
  
• Reconnaissance Mission - Bident of Thassa was already close to being worth inclusion, so making it harder to remove by making it strictly an enchantment and adding cycling pushes Reconnaissance Mission over the top. This should draw a lot of cards while giving us flexibility when we aren't set up for it. Drawing off of it is a "may" ability, so we don't have to worry about it milling us to death.
  
  Settle the Wreckage will come out for it. Settle basically played as a conditional ramp spell, or a silver bullet when I am about to be killed in combat, so I'm ok with an upgrade in consistency while not really losing much in terms of raw power.
  
  
• Skycloud Expanse - I was close to buying this as a single anyhow, so having it in the precon was swell. Later Evolving Wilds!
  
  
• Whirlwind of Thought - Welcome aboard Jeskai Ascendancy 2.0! Heck. Yeah. Ascendancy pumps the team and fills the yard when we need either of those effects, but this is going to be a sick source of card advantage that also triggers Kykar and some of the other token generators. Fetchable with Idyllic Tutor.
  
  It was mentioned that WoT is awkward on the curve by being the same cost as Kykar. I disagree. I would never want to play this before I have Kykar in play in the early game. Assuming all land drops, you can play this the turn after Kykar, create a spirit and have still have a land untapped. This sets you up to chain some combination of Faithless Looting / Gamble / Burning Inquiry / Skullclamp / Sol Ring / the 2 mana rocks / 1-2 1cmc blue or white spells OR 1-2 2cmc spells, more if you got Sol Ring out. Keep in mind, that's just for the turn after Kykar assuming normal mana development. Imagine untapping your lands and resolving just a couple of cantrips with this thing. . .
  
  Kykar + WoT is just a bananas positive feedback loop of mana and card draw. Throw a Anointed Procession or Bonus Round + any draw/cantrips in for good measure and this card will fuel some downright nasty storm turns. Can. Not. Wait. *A note of caution*: the draw off of WoT is not a "may" ability, so this can mill you to death if you aren't careful.
  
  I'm going to have it replace Perilous Research for now. It was either that or Forsake the Worldly, but FtW is Sunforger friendly, sometimes downright necessary (like when we need to blow up WoT before it kills us! ), and it can cycle when it's not needed. WoT makes up for losing Perilous Research's card draw.
  
  

I'll post all this in the changelog and update the OP when I get my grubby paws on the cards, and I may have to do it in a couple chunks depending on how everything is going with releases, prices, shipping, covid-19 craziness, etc.

[pokken]

If you draw yourself to death with whirlwind of thought I would personally count that as a victory

Nice summary!

[MeowZeDung]

Live shot of me waiting for my copy of Whirlwind of Thought to arrive:

SPOILER

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I have my copies of the C20 precons and have gotten to see both Fierce Guardianship and Flawless Maneuver in action. They play as good as expected and will surely perform in this list.

For whatever reason all of my other IKO cards have arrived other than the one I'm most looking forward to. Sigh. At this rate I'll be looking through the core set spoilers before I get to play with the IKO/C20 updated version of the deck.

[MeowZeDung]

Alrighty, today's mail delivery made dreams come true. I'll sleeve up the new additions and hopefully get a Kykar game in this weekend.

Bird wizard HYYYYYYPE!

[MeowZeDung]

Official update which includes what I posted after C20/IKO spoilers were over, plus a couple other upgrades:

5/24/20

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

IN (11)

1 Flawless Maneuver

1 Impulse

1 Whirlwind of Thought

1 Narset of the Ancient Way

1 Fierce Guardianship

1 Reconnaissance Mission

1 Talisman of Progress

1 Arcane Signet

1 Hall of Heliod's Generosity

1 Raugrin Triome

1 Skycloud Expanse

OUT (11)

1 Valor in Akros

1 Telling Time

1 Perilous Research

1 Past in Flames

1 Swords to Plowshares

1 Settle the Wreckage

1 Mind Stone

1 Thought Vessel

1 Rogue's Passage

1 Terramorphic Expanse

1 Evolving Wilds

Approximate Total Cost:

I got my first game in with the new lineup tonight, but alas, it was not Kykar's night. I kept up steadily with land drops (Narset's Reversal on a Broken Bond for some early ramp and lolz) and solid board development with Kykar + Talrand, Sky Summoner spitting out dudes, and I even filtered quite a bit, but never got a card draw engine going unfortunately. I just couldn't keep up with my medium sized token army once the haymakers started raining down.

I'd say it happened that way against the odds because I Brainstormed and shuffled away some chaff with Ash Barrens, escaped Brainstorm with Underworld Breach, sacced Sunbaked Canyon, bounced Irrigated Farmland with Boros Garrison and cycled it, but couldn't get any draw going. There's quite a list of cards that I could have drawn any one of to change everything: Skullclamp, Whirlwind of Thought, Jeskai Ascendancy, Reconnaissance Mission, Expansion // Explosion, Gamble, Faithless Looting, Frantic Search, Idyllic Tutor, Sevinne's Reclamation, The Locust God, etc.

I still feel like the deck has tons of play in most situations, but a whiff feels bad despite my confidence in the list.

Anyhow, the only new cards I saw were Raugrin Triome and Flawless Maneuver. Both did their jobs admirably.

[WizardMN]

That is a rough game. That is one of the biggest reasons I have so much draw in my deck (though I have scaled it back with the latest changes). It sucks when you have that draw and then can't get anything going. It sounds like you gave it the old college try though which means you at least had the option to get more cards; it just didn't work out.

I am not sure about losing Swords to Plowshares though, as you said, you needed to cut something for Fierce Guardianship. I know I like my spot removal but hopefully you haven't missed its omission.

How has Underworld Breach been overall? Do you generally have the cards you need in the graveyard? Have you ever had an issue where you just didn't want to exile cards?

[MeowZeDung]

That is a rough game. That is one of the biggest reasons I have so much draw in my deck (though I have scaled it back with the latest changes). It sucks when you have that draw and then can't get anything going. It sounds like you gave it the old college try though which means you at least had the option to get more cards; it just didn't work out.

Yeah, and it's games like that where the calls for Fact or Fiction and Stroke of Genius and Thirst for Knowledge and what not can get in their "I told you so!"s I just try not to get salty and results oriented. Like I mentioned, there was a bunch of individual cards currently in the deck that could have propelled me into card advantage galore.

I am not sure about losing Swords to Plowshares though, as you said, you needed to cut something for Fierce Guardianship. I know I like my spot removal but hopefully you haven't missed its omission.

My thoughts are I will try to go without Swords to Plowshares and be heavier on the counterspells in my suite of answers for now, but I'm kind of inclined to think that Swords will eventually find its way back in over something like Absorb. I kind of go back and forth on how heavily I weigh spot removal in importance when deckbuilding. A lot of it is meta dependent, but here the proactive nature of thisk deck is my main reasoning for going light on removal here.

How has Underworld Breach been overall? Do you generally have the cards you need in the graveyard? Have you ever had an issue where you just didn't want to exile cards?

Thus far my experience is that it's either 1) on-the-spot game winning, 2) early/mid game value with the intent to get it back, or 3) a desperation play.

Most of my Kykar games will have 8-10 cards in the yard by turn 5-6 I'd say, depending on how many of the filter/loot/cycling spells I've played, so Underworld Breach into Brain Freeze or Burning Inquiry will generally just end it if I have access to both pieces that early. Of course I'm not aggressively tutoring into the combo, so that's pretty rare.

That's where the early/mid game value version of Breach comes in, and it works great with those 8-10 cards in the yard and something like Frantic Search or Faithless Looting to prolong the durdling. If it doesn't outright dig me into a win, I'm looking to pull a stunt with Sevinne's Reclamation or Hall of Heliod's Generosity getting Breach back in the next couple of turns.

Unfortunately tonight it was a desperation Breach. I had Brainstorm, Narset's Reversal, and three lands in the yard when I played Breach. I would have liked to escape Brainstorm, then respond by escaping Reversal targeting Brainstorm, but alas, funds were low. After my original Brainstorm didn't get me anything spectacular, and Ash Barrens shuffled away the junk, I was really relying on the escaped Brainstorm to draw me into something. I think I hit two lands and Bonus Round iirc

Long story short, with my current build Underworld Breach is a "mileage may vary" card with a strong tendency toward game ending.

[cheonice]

Kykar looks like a really fun commander, but I'm not sure, if he's the right one for me. Spellslinger is not something I am really familiar with. I had no luck with Jori En, Ruin Diver, because my friends used to target the token producers.
So... can Kykar engage with medium hate and survive to tell the story? Is the deck fun and capable of playing the game, even if the commander is shut down in some games?

btw, reading your discussions made me wanna build that bird nontheless! Thanks for this primer!

[WizardMN]

Kykar has a few ways you can build him so that certainly helps. I chose a completely creatureless build (you can see my list in my sig) and I really like the playstyle. MeowZeDung went a little bit different direction but it still functions nicely. So, you can alter the build based on your meta and adding White adds in a lot of protection spells for him.

In my case, I tend to just want to make sure I can protect Kykar and Fierce Guardianship and Flawless Maneuver (and Deflecting Swat if you want to go that far) tend to make it easier to go "shields down" on turn 4 (or sooner depending on ramp).

I have had a lot of fun with him and I think you just need to tweak him to suit your meta if there is a lot of removal you are concerned about. There are plenty of spells that are cheap and give him Protection or Indestructible. Or, branch out a little and add in some redundancy so you don't really need your commander at all times. A few counter spells would help but eventually, if you play it right, you can probably get your opponents to spend a lot of resources to get rid of your stuff while stockpiling your own.

He might not be the best in a cEDH or super competitive meta but I think he an hold his own in most situations.

[cheonice]

Thanks for your insights! I will see how this works out in my meta (which is something between focused and optimised, but without combos), although the "free" spells are a bit out of my price range.
Are you ok with me posting my list later on, @MeowZeDung?

[MeowZeDung]

Feel free to post your list @cheonice!

Wizard hit the nail on the head: Kykar is incredibly flexible. I mention this in the primer itself, and I have a number of potential builds that I hope to someday get around to building alternate lists for and testing them out. If you're looking to break the mold, I would HIGHLY recommend considering an enchantment based build. Jeskai has some great enchantments to work with, and I don't think that gets appreciated enough. A core to start brewing around might look like this:

• Jeskai Ascendancy
• Whirlwind of Thought
• Wild Research
• Kindred Discovery
• Reconnaissance Mission
• Underworld Breach
• Goblin Bombardment
• Impact Tremors
• Cathars' Crusade
• Intruder Alarm
• Opposition
• Faces of the Past
• Kyren Negotiations
• Vicious Shadows
• Smothering Tithe
• Rhystic Study
• Arcane Adaptation

...and that's just off the top of my head in 30 seconds without any in depth planning or synergy. Surely I'm missing some obvious ones.

That said, I can think of a dozen other ways to build for big bird. IMHO, you should make it your own and don't feel like there's a "right" way.

If you are leaning more competitively though, give @darrenhabib's list (somewhere in this thread) a look over. IIRC it's mostly looking to Underworld Breach a big storm combo, and darren said it seemed more competitive than Elsha of the Infinite even.

Edit: I just saw your "somewhere between focused and optimised" comment. I'd say my build falls right about in that range. I'm lacking some fetches, obvious nut cards, ridiculous combos, etc., but the spellslinger build is able to hang with and surprisingly resilient to anything sub-cEDH.

---

On a completely separate note, life has been very busy for little ol' me and I've still only had the one game with Kykar since the LAST update. There were delays in getting the cards for obvious reasons, and the handful of games I have played since then have mostly been precon vs precon. All that to say: Holy crap, it's spoiler season again already?!? I don't even have the energy for it at the moment with "real life" obligations being what they are. Honestly, I feel like WotC has kind of gone overboard with product releases at this point. It's like you can only keep up with new magic cards if it's your only hobby or you treat it like a second job. I've not even caught up on the rules changes that I heard came out recently (something to do with death triggers?)

I'll probably spend part of a day off this weekend or next looking over the M21 spoilers that I've only seen one or two of so far. If something bonkers pops out at me I'll get excited, but if not I'll be content to wait until Zendikar or whatever is next for another list update and just use the thread for discussion and game reports until then.

[shermanido37]

He might not be the best in a cEDH or super competitive meta but I think he an hold his own in most situations.

There is actually a pretty sick cEDH Kykar list going around, mostly going for Divergent Transformations into Elsha of the Infinite + Spellseeker to fetch Enlightened Tutor to fetch Sensei's Divining Top, then Thassa's Oracle for the win. Alt wincons include Underworld Breach shenanigans a la Burning Inquiry, Brain Freeze, Aetherflux Reservoir. The way Kykar generates spirits that can be sacced for mana is great for having interaction up.

EDIT: I might have confused the wincons.

[MeowZeDung]

If I'm not mistaken, the transformations into elsha/spellseeker/tutor/top was the initial cEDH rage with kykar, then breach and oracle came around and made it even better.

[MeowZeDung]

I got a game in last night, which was unexpected, and I won it quite handily.

I didn't see any of the exciting new cards, just Arcane Signet.

Pretty standard early game for this deck: T2 rock → T3 Kykar → T4 Faithless Looting with mana held up for the Boros Charm and Expansion // Explosion in my hand → T5 Talrand, Sky Summoner and then off to the races spellslinging. Nothing truly remarkable beyond that, just a standard spirit/drake/Bird Wizard beatdown with a little political maneuvering.

The play of the game was resolving Role Reversal to swap a spirit for a Zetalpa, Primal Dawn

[MeowZeDung]

Well hello poor man's Alhammarret's Archive!

I haven't been following the spoilers too closely and wasn't planning on updating my list until the next set unless something bonkers came out. Teferi's Ageless Insight is probably that card. It makes Jeskai Ascendancy and Whirlwind of Thought even more absurd, but that seems to be the "best case scenario" mindset that won't often play out. So I'm considering what the floor of Teferi's Ageless Insight is (apart from being countered):

- You tap out for it or play it with no other relevant action in hand, in which case it's a do-nothing enchantment that's recouped 1 mana from the spirit it generated and screams "remove me before I draw a million cards". Easily avoided by just not playing it until you have a follow up play ready to go.

- Follow it up with something "low impact" like Opt or Ponder and Insight has replaced itself, plus your cantrip has replaced itself and the mana spent to cast it (assuming Kykar is in play). By digging deeper into your library you are of course more likely to get a chain of cantrips and spirit mana started. Even better if you start the chain with something like Frantic Search or Faithless Looting because you're up mana and cards! It even brings stuff like Gitaxian Probe back up for discussion IMO.

That's really not a bad low end. Once I start to consider the average case or best case for this card though, it's sweet:

- Rhystic Study was already a good magic card by itself. . .

- Skullclamp *drool*

- Although I won't run it here for several reasons, Consecrated Sphinx is also happy to see this printed.

- Brainstorm becomes a draw 6, put 2 back for .

- Burning Inquiry becomes a draw 6, pitch 3 at random for . This makes the Underworld Breach/Burning Inquiry combo a bit more potent by reducing the need for Brain Freeze to get you ahead on cards to cast/escape.

- Explosion can draw a million.

- Reconnaissance Mission or any of those similar variants can draw gobs more cards if you can get through with attackers.

- The Locust God just got a lot scarier.

Awesome addition to the deck, but what to cut? Honestly, as much as I hate to be that guy, I might cut a land for it. Probably a Plains, or perhaps the Ravnica bouncelands and replace two with basics.

[shermanido37]

I disagree with this card for Kykar. The best thing it does is give you a spirit when you cast it, and I don't think it would survive until a relevant play comes up. Maybe if you sandbagged it in hand until that play came along, then played them both, then you would get some value. But for all other intents and purposes, I would rather pay 3 more for Swarm Intelligence and copy every single instant / sorcery that I played. Double Generous Gift, double Role Reversal, etc.

As you get into more casual metas, where both this enchantment and you will be less likely to die as soon as it comes into play, it definitely becomes a consideration. But I think it gets win-more very easily.

[MeowZeDung]

As you get into more casual metas, where both this enchantment and you will be less likely to die as soon as it comes into play, it definitely becomes a consideration. But I think it gets win-more very easily.

@shermanido37 always there with the contrarian opinion. I love it! I genuinely do. You keep me honest and thinking about my choices.

I agree with you up to a point, but in all but the most competitive metas it is not unrealistic to have ~8-10 mana available by the mid game that you can use without constant fear of counters/removal -- unless you've established yourself as the major threat. Also, my list relies more on cheap cantrips and filters more than medium to large card draw spells for purposes of overall synergy. Insight plays into that in a big way. I can't overstate how important it is for this deck to "chain" cheap spells together and durdle around, all the while digging for game winning cards and massing an army.

So, consider an average case turn 6. Pretty standard play for my list sets me up with a mana rock, Kykar, and one additional token generator by this point. Let's say it's Talrand, Sky Summoner for the sake of the example. Let's also assume I have hit all my land drops, so I've got 7 mana on board (and probably a couple of spirits to sac too) after playing my land.

Hypothetical turn:

Swarm Intelligence + a 1-3 cmc spell and the copy. (2+ cmc spells would only be available to me at this point if I already had spirits on board before resolving Swarm Intelligence.) This is not a bad play at all, and it might be great depending on context and cards in hand. Best with removal/interaction IMO, as you suggested with Generous Gift and Role Reversal.

I could do something like Intelligence → Brainstorm + copy. Net gain in that case would be 2 spirits, 1 drake, 2 cards and some topdeck manipulation. Intelligence is now a big, obvious target for my opponents.

Teferi's Ageless Insight + Brainstorm, on the other hand nets me 2 spirits, 1 drake, 4 cards, a deeper dig into the library before I manipulate the top, and I've spent three less mana than in the previous example, which I will promptly use to cast some of the spells I just drew into. Insight is a target at this point, sure, but I've gotten some sick value already and I will accept its fate.

Obviously this is just one example, and you could do a card by card analysis and weigh a bazillion different synergies out, but the TLDR of it all in my mind is that Insight will occasionally be a dead card in hand early on, or an awful end-game top deck when I desperately need interaction, but I'm willing to take that risk. All of the same issues are true of something like Swarm Intelligence with the additional caveat of it costing nearly twice as much mana. When it comes to a doubling effect, I'd much rather rely on Bonus Round, which can be played with Teferi's Ageless Insight for the same cost as Swarm Intelligence.

[cheonice]

Feel free to post your list cheonice

Thanks!

I tried to fill out some of my missing cards with alternatives. The first game I played started really slow, but I managed to sneak a win by blanking an attack with Mirrorweave. Runechanter's Pike did some serious work. I added Stoneforge Mystic and Academy Rector, because some of the enchantments seemed important and because Sunforger is an awesome card!
Thanks for your primer!

Decklist

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

Creatures

1 Sprite Dragon

1 Stoneforge Mystic

1 Young Pyromancer

1 Academy Rector

1 Crackling Drake

1 Kykar, Wind's Fury

1 Murmuring Mystic

1 Talrand, Sky Summoner

1 Docent of Perfection

1 The Locust God

Instants and Sorceries

1 Brainstorm

1 Burning Inquiry

1 Enlightened Tutor

1 Faithless Looting

1 Gamble

1 Opt

1 Path to Exile

1 Ponder

1 Preordain

1 Silence

1 Swords to Plowshares

1 Boros Charm

1 Brain Freeze

1 Electrodominance

1 Expansion // Explosion

1 Honor the Fallen

1 Impulse

1 Mandate of Peace

1 Mission Briefing

1 Absorb

1 Chaos Warp

1 Counterflux

1 Forsake the Worldly

1 Frantic Search

1 Generous Gift

1 Render Silent

1 Role Reversal

1 Sevinne's Reclamation

1 Slaughter the Strong

1 Mirrorweave

1 Turnabout

1 Tragic Arrogance

1 Hour of Reckoning

Artifacts

1 Skullclamp

1 Sol Ring

1 Arcane Signet

1 Azorius Signet

1 Boros Signet

1 Fellwar Stone

1 Izzet Signet

1 Talisman of Progress

1 Runechanter's Pike

1 Chromatic Lantern

1 Sunforger

1 Aetherflux Reservoir

Enchantments

1 Goblin Bombardment

1 Impact Tremors

1 Underworld Breach

1 Jeskai Ascendancy

1 Anointed Procession

1 Bident of Thassa

1 Whirlwind of Thought

1 Cathars' Crusade

Planeswalkers

1 Saheeli, Sublime Artificer

Lands

1 Ash Barrens

1 Azorius Chancery

1 Battlefield Forge

1 Boros Garrison

1 Cascade Bluffs

1 Celestial Colonnade

1 Clifftop Retreat

1 Command Tower

1 Emergence Zone

1 Exotic Orchard

1 Fiery Islet

1 Flooded Strand

1 Glacial Fortress

1 Hall of Heliod's Generosity

1 Hallowed Fountain

1 Irrigated Farmland

2 Island

1 Izzet Boilerworks

1 Mountain

1 Mystic Monastery

1 Needle Spires

1 Nimbus Maze

2 Plains

1 Raugrin Triome

1 Reflecting Pool

1 Rugged Prairie

1 Sacred Foundry

1 Shivan Reef

1 Skycloud Expanse

1 Steam Vents

1 Strip Mine

1 Sulfur Falls

1 Sunbaked Canyon

1 Wandering Fumarole

Approximate Total Cost:

[MeowZeDung]

If you're waiting on a copy of Monastery Mentor you could run Mad Ratter, Nadir Kraken, or Promise of Bunrei temporarily. Any are better here than Sprite Dragon or Crackling Drake IMO.

Congrats on the win!

[cheonice]

Yep, the Mentor is quite expensive... Thanks for your help!

[MeowZeDung]

@WizardMN how has Keep Watch been for you?

I'm still firmly on board with Teferi's Ageless Insight, but @shermanido37 makes good points about cards that do nothing by themselves, which has me thinking of swapping out Reconnaissance Mission. It plays great with token swarm and all, the cycling is great, and RM + Insight would be stupid good, but Keep Watch checks several of those same boxes while also upping instant count and avoiding the risk of being a do nothing card.

[Rumpy5897]

So here's a bit of a hot take - there are already cards in the list you're willingly not running for power reasons. As such, you're not hamstringed by a pursuit of perfection and are completely free to just jam this in if you feel like it. Give it some spins, see how it does.

[WizardMN]

WizardMN how has Keep Watch been for you?

The couple of times I cast it, it was good enough for its spot. I think I drew 3 cards one time and 5 the other. It was quite as "spectacular" as it could have been but 3 or 5 cards for a 3 mana instant is a pretty good rate. I still like it. At least, it has yet to be a dead card when I absolutely needed something else.

[MeowZeDung]

Well said, @Rumpy5897! That's not a hot take, just a good take. I will say that I don't necessarily avoid raw power, just power that I personally dislike. Purphoros, God of the Forge, Cyclonic Rift, Sensei's Divining Top come to mind. I don't mind their power, just the play patterns and/or lack of interaction and grief they *might* lead to. Otherwise, deck optimization is half the fun for me! Nevertheless, I appreciate you bringing some perspective!

@WizardMN good to know! 1+ cards per mana is a fine base rate, and the ceiling is much higher. I particularly like the hidden mode on this card, which is "draw into Mandate of Peace, Boros Charm, Flawless Maneuver, Honor the Fallen, or Mirrorweave in response to opponent's massive alpha strike." It makes me reconsider including Settle the Wreckage and Fight to the Death.