Kykar, Wind’s Fury

[MeowZeDung]

Narset putting in work. It's a shame you couldn't work toward her ultimate with all the tokens protecting her, but it's encouraging that you could keep her safe.

Gotta love skullclamp.

[pokken]

Ramos, Dragon Engine (sort of a niche theme deck where everything costs either 6 or 9 mana).

Dovescape is a card I don't think I would cater to with dedicated slots in your deck, esp not taplands; 99% of the time you should be countering it, and on the occasion it gets cheated into play I think you can just live with it Just drop an anthem and kill that person.

You can always win with Purphoros, God of the Forge and dovescape just makes it faster, so maybe just tutor for Purph too (although you'd obviously need to do that proactively lol -- the same goes for Boseiju though, it's just as hard to find without casting noncreature spells)

[WizardMN]

That is exactly it for that deck. And, if I remember right, the total cost of everything adds up to 420 Sort of childish but the deck actually performs reasonably well. Especially considering they also have 69 nonland cards. If I remember right about 420, that means they have two 9 CMC and the rest are 6 CMC. They went in on it hard.

That is a fair point actually. Ascendancy and Purphoros are the Go-Tos for that situation since Purphoros wouldn't be countered. You are right that countering it, if possible, is best. As for tutoring with Purphoros, the deck doesn't have any way to do that so I would just need to draw into it naturally. I don't see Dovescape in many games as it is, so it probably isn't something worth considering for now. If I really wanted something, I am thinking Dismantling Wave might still be a reasonable card to try out anyway though. It gives me another out to a lot of different things and is still good when just cast.

Narset putting in work. It's a shame you couldn't work toward her ultimate with all the tokens protecting her, but it's encouraging that you could keep her safe.

Gotta love skullclamp.

Yeah, I really just needed the cards though. I did get her to 6 counters but I felt that her card draw was more important than the pinging at the time so I ticked her down since I only had 1 or 2 cards in hand at the time anyway. Using her, I was able to get to my Pull from Tomorrow to refill my hand which I would have had to wait for without her. Maybe I should have been more aggressive with her? I am not sure on that one to be honest.

And yes, Skullclamp is awesome in this deck

[WizardMN]

I played this game today online against Ayara, First of Locthwain, Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, and Oloro, Ageless Ascetic.

I started off reasonably well with a few lands, a Sol Ring and a Temple of the False God for some additional mana. I tried to cast Whirlwind of Thought but it was countered by Oloro. Some day I will get that card to resolve

Kiki on their next turn really started going off though. They had mana rocks and Conjurer's Closet and ended up getting Avalanche Riders to start blowing up lands. They only went after one of mine after going after others first. For some reason they never went after Oloro's Maze of Ith though. I never quite understood that.

At the same time, Ayara was building up a decent board state so we had two players that were doing very well while Oloro and myself were just kind of sticking around.

I had a Wear // Tear in my hand for the longest time but I felt that I wasn't the target for anything so I didn't have anything necessary to destroy. So I held onto it for a long time. Nobody was really doing a lot to move the game forward beyond Ayara draining us all and I just had Kykar around.

Eventually Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker attempted to go infinite with Combat Celebrant but because Oloro had Aetherflux Reservoir and 56 life, they just killed them. Which worked out great. Now they were at 6 life and I didn't have to spend my Cyclonic Rift I had in hand.

I tried to kill them because they kept countering stuff and Reservoir really did a lot to keep them alive. In the last hurrah the deck I had, I cast a spell which they tried to counter. I then tried to Wear their Reservoir which they countered with Pact of Negation. Next turn, they were at 5 life thanks to Ayara and I had 5 tokens. So, I swung those 5 tokens at....Sorin Markov I felt I needed to get Sorin down. So I just Chaos Warped one of Oloro's lands so they couldn't pay for the Pact trigger. I was really hesitant about giving Ayara anything else on board with Chaos Warp and they were swarming anyway so it wasn't going to do a lot.

After this, I wrathed and Ayara cast Living Death. I couldn't find another wrath so I Rifted but I had very little in hand as I didn't get much for card draw. They, on the other hand, got Bolas's Citadel and really had too much going on.

In hindsight, I probably should have worked to keep Oloro alive but I thought I could handle the game 1v1. Living Death really did me in though.

I did have one other misplay that I was sort of rewarded for. I attacked Ayara with Kykar a early forgetting they just got a flying token off of their Saga. Luckily, they gave me more credit than I deserved and though I had a trick so they let it go through

All in all, it wasn't a bad game. No real draw engine hurt and it turned out the mono-black player was the one to watch for (just like @MeowZeDung's recent game). I am disappointed I lost but I am not sure I could have played it much differently, other than keeping Oloro alive and trying to go 2v1.

Click here to view game 3 in main post

[MeowZeDung]

Two opponents dead to another player's Aetherflux Reservoir, and the reservoir goes away. Sweet.

Countered twice by the same player is gross though. I can understand pact on the wear/tear, but I'm surprised someone would counter whirlwind. I guess they saw you as the most threatening deck. Big Bird's reputation precedes him

Ugh, Living Death is so good against us.

[WizardMN]

Both times Whirlwind of Thought has been countered in a game I was surprised, but I suppose they don't like the idea of "free" cards? I get the mindset for sure, but I think they would have been better off trying to save it for Kiki in this game.

But yeah, maybe they are just afraid of Kykar

At least I got a Purphoros out of the deal with Living Death

[MeowZeDung]

I think people see Kykar and presume storm combos rather than tokens. They aren't completely wrong to do so I guess. They probably see whirlwind and figure a ton of cheerios will follow and dig us into Grapeshot or whatever.

[WizardMN]

Here are my overdue card summaries/evaluations for Zendikar Rising and Commander Legends. I just bunched them all together and tried to limit the scope of what cards are being discussed. There might be something I missed of course, but hopefully I got the main ones.

White Cards

Dauntless Unity - I like this card. I think it can have a place in the deck considering the number of tokens that might be created which then allows for a sort of massive strike. However, Rally of Wings is a far better option for this deck and it isn't in here (perhaps it should be?). So, I definitely won't put this in without Rally already in the deck.

Akroma's Will - I think the effect of this card is very good, though it doesn't do a lot to beef up our attack (beyond Double Strike) which means it is primarily going to be used as a defensive card. Generally speaking, that means being able to choose both modes isn't all that relevant. The second mode is the one that makes sense here so the question ends up being "what does this replace". I am sort of leaning into Unbreakable Formation. I lose the potential counter, but gain Protection from all colors. I think that is a worthwhile trade off for the additional mana. The lifelink is icing on the cake and probably ends up being quite relevant in certain board states.

I am considering Call the Coppercoats as a potential cut as well as it is inconsistent and might not be quite as good as I would like it to be. I will have to see where I land on this one but I do think the effect is good enough to warrant an inclusion; the mana cost is the sticking point.

Benevolent Blessing - Instant timing Protection is really good for the deck, especially one that is permanent. But, looking through the deck it is hard to figure out if it is better than Valorous Stance, or Emerge Unscathed, or Sheltering Light and I think that answer is "no". 2 mana is more than a couple of these and permanent protection is always the most useful anyway. I think it wouldn't be the worst effect if I wanted another Protection effect this might be towards the top of the list but as it stands, it ends up being a superfluous.

Slash the Ranks - I am not sure where this card really fits as it doesn't get rid of commanders, but this is likely the best deck for it because of that reason. Being able to wrath the board and still keeping Kykar is not the worst thing. But, even with that, it probably doesn't matter enough to include it. I don't want to lose out on being able to destroy commanders.

Timely Ward - I think this ends up being a better option than Benevolent Blessing. 3 mana is still a lot though and the other cards it would replace are 2 mana and modal or just 1 mana so it isn't easy to justify increasing the curve even for a permanent Indestructible option. Giving it Flash does put it into contention though.

Blue Cards

Deliberate - I do like Instants in this deck and one that allows for card filtering is pretty good. I know one mana more for this is quite a bit, but I think it is worth running over Serum Visions at least.

Silundi Vision // Silundi Isle - With the thought of Deliberate allowing for Instant timing card selection, this falls right in there as well. It is basically guaranteed to never whiff and can really do some work to get some necessary cards.

Jace, Mirror Mage - This can do some pretty good work with card selection and drawing and it should be relatively easy to protect him (and the copy if he is kicked). 3 mana to draw a card isn't awful, and our curve is low enough that it is unlikely he dies to the first card draw. Repeatable Scry is good too but we don't want to spend too many resources protecting him I don't think.

Also, with Teferi's Ageless Insight though he won't lose counters which is kind of cool.

Though, I would assume that with other, more aggressive lists, he might be a little slow or even a potential tempo hit at 5 mana. Even at 3 mana, his effects might not be enough to warrant inclusion if one is trying to go faster.

[MeowZeDung]

Re: Dauntless Unity and Rally of Wings - I think there are better pump options to explore for your list, Cathars' Crusade and Valor in Akros being top of the heap (I know you don't like cathars though). Then there's Haze of Rage and even Heroic Reinforcements/Goblin War Party for alpha striking on the big storm turns. In the Web of War too.

[WizardMN]

I have never really explored the option of a mass pump because I don't think I need it (and Jeskai Ascendancy sort of does it anyway). I do agree that there are still better options that Rally (and Rally is better than Dauntless Unity). Valor is effectively the same as Ascendency and Crusade is expensive, but obviously the better option.

I don't know that I want to go too far into that at this time, but I think Crusade is easily the top pick if I really think I need more.

[WizardMN]

With the cards from Zendikar and Commander Legends, here are the changes I am going to make for now:

11/12/20

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

CUTS

1 Serum Visions

1 Serra, The Benevolent

1 Narset of the Ancient Way

1 Call the Coppercoats

ADDS

1 Akroma's Will

1 Deliberate

1 Silundi Vision // Silundi Isle

1 Jace, Mirror Mage

Approximate Total Cost:

As mentioned above, I think Serum Visions and Deliberate are essentially a straight swap. I don't really know which is better but I like Instants so that is what I am going with.

Serra and Narset have always been inching towards the chopping block as it is. They have come up in other discussions and I think this is finally the time to cut them to see what else makes sense in their place.

Call the Coppercoats just didn't do as well as I had hoped. The ceiling is obviously super high, but it is not something I really saw as attainable during play. Often, it resulted in 3-6 tokens which, while not bad, isn't quite what I was hoping for.

Akroma's Will is another way to make sure Kykar and my army survive as well as allowing for a little more aggressiveness which can be important as the game wears on.

Silundi Vision is another card selection card but is limited to Instants and Sorcery but allowing for more cards to be seen as a trade off. I don't really see "wasting" it as a land drop too often, but having the option is worthwhile as well.

And Jace is sort of replacing Narset but remains a flex slot. I don't have exceptionally high hopes for him, but the curve is low enough that he could get me a few cards. I am not sure he is actually better than Narset since Narset at least won't die from the card draw (at least, not unexpectedly) and she allows for damage to be done if I want. I am interested to see how Jace plays out in this list and others.

[WizardMN]

Note Akroma's Will wasn't in the deck for this game due to not being released online yet

I played online against Glissa, the Traitor. Nicol Bolas, the Ravager // Nicol Bolas, the Arisen, and Muxus, Goblin Grandee.

I started off with Top and a couple lands, but no white mana. I just ended up using Top for a while and tried to interact where I could. It was tough since Muxus got down an early Defense Grid but I eventually drew into a Wear // Tear for it.

A turn later, Muxus tried to cast Possibility Storm and I countered it with Counterflux. They had wanted to do it the turn before but ended up passing through their turn accidentally. Though, I think they only had 4 mana for it so I don't think they could have anyway. In any case, after I countered it, they scooped.

After that, I cast Kykar, Wind's Fury only to see it blown up right after I drew Skullclamp. I had 4 tokens at the time. I recast Kykar and Clamp and clamped the token for a couple cards and passed. Glissa cast Ugin, the Spirit Dragon to exile Kykar.

Next turn, with Ugin on 3, I cast Teferi's Ageless Insight and kicked Jace, Mirror Mage. Both resolved and I drew 4 cards. I did think modo bugged out on me after drawing since Jace was at 1 counter, but I didn't realize the copy started at 1 loyalty.

I drew 4 cards off of them without losing any loyalty. Ugin blew it up but I still had the other Jace to draw me 2 cards a turn.

Glissa was going pretty heavy against Nicol Bolas, probably rightfully so, so I tried to sit back for a little bit. They ended up getting down a Marionette Master and I tried counting the artifacts they could sac and came up with 3. They also had Bolas's Citadel which ended up getting them down to 3 life. I was watching the whole time as they were doing this, trying to keep up with the math since I had Chaos Warp in hand and I figured they could only target me 4 times total after they cast at least one other thing they could sac.

They passed the turn with me at 19 and with 1 more artifact they could sac. Bolas starts their turn and goes to cast Bolas when Glissa reminded all of us (themselves included) that Citadel actually has a final line of text on the card; who knew??

So, with that, they had enough triggers from Master and the 10 life loss from the ability itself to just kill us. It was a good play and it was definitely an oversight on my part as I should have just removed the Master with the Fabricate trigger on the stack. I didn't and it lost us the game.

I do think I was in a pretty good spot though. I had 2 spells to protect Kykar along with Purphoros, God of the Forge to do some incidental damage when I got my tokens. I also had a Supreme Verdict for a nuclear option if I needed it, and I would have been drawing 3 cards per turn thanks to Jace. Bolas never really did get much going so they weren't a huge threat at the time anyway.

Other than my oversight for Citadel, the game actually played out pretty well. I never had anything come up that I didn't like and I did like Jace (with Insight anyway). Narset wouldn't have been nearly as good there.

Only other misplay I had was casting Portent and then casting Kykar, Wind's Fury. I was digging for lands but forgot I wasn't going to draw the card right away so I should have just tapped out for Kykar and Portent to get another token on board. It didn't matter in the end, but still something I should pay more attention to.

[WizardMN]

After some discussions in the three color mana base thread, as well as the card of the day regarding ABUR duals, I decided to revisit the mana base of this deck to see if I could do a few more things with it. First, I never added the ABUR duals because the deck started off as a budget build of sorts but that restriction is gone so I do whatever I want. And second, I am looking into the Battlebond lands and Pathway lands as other forms of mana fixing.

Here is where I am going with changes:

12/02/20

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

CUTS

1 Temple of the False God

3 Island

2 Mountain

2 Plains

ADDS

1 Training Center

1 Spectator Seating

1 Sea of Clouds

1 Needleverge Pathway

1 Riverglide Pathway

1 Plateau

1 Tundra

1 Volcanic Island

Approximate Total Cost:

The main thing I think to take away from the changes being made is that this makes this deck the one of mine with the fewest overall basics in the list. Which, on some level, makes sense. It is not heavily weighted to a specific color like Varina, and is not running land ramp like my Windgrace and Karador.

Temple of the False God is just being cut because this deck doesn't really need it. Yeah, it is "ramp" but I really need to make sure I can do stuff with 4 lands on the field and Temple doesn't help facilitate that.

The lands being added mainly speak for themselves. ABUR duals are obvious and the others are the main reason for making the change. I don't see anything that is concerning with going down to this few basics. I guess I can get got with Blood Moon and Back to Basics but I haven't seen them in forever so for the 1 time out of 1,000 I might see them, it isn't worth thinking about. Until they become more prevalent anyway.

[WizardMN]

I played a game with this deck online against Grenzo, Havoc Raiser, Neheb, the Eternal, and Emry, Lurker of the Loch. The game wasn't too long so I don't have a lot to say about the game.

I started off with 3 lands and no ramp. But I did have a few protection spells for Kykar once I got him down. I tried to cast Brainstorm turn 2 just to shuffle away a couple of the extra spells I had but Grenzo countered it with Pyroblast. Which I was fine with since it hopefully left Kykar free.

However, Neheb just went off. Turn 1 they cast Sol Ring and Swiftfoot Boots. Turn 2 was land, Jeweled Lotus, Neheb, Equip Neheb, swing, cast Magus of the Wheel. Next turn they cast Price of Progress (only dealing damage to me) and ended up with 15 mana. They cast Knollspine Dragon into a bunch of mana rocks into Smuggler's Copter.

No one could stop them before their next turn so they just cast Slagstorm, Fiery Confluence, attacked and got a 38 mana, and then cast Comet Storm killing us all.

I can't be too mad. That was a ridiculous start (fueled heavily by Jeweled Lotus and Sol Ring though) but it was just too much for for any of our decks to handle.

Because of how short the game was, I didn't really get a feel for anything. Maybe Perilous Research is a little too cute for this deck? I had it in hand but couldn't really cast it early as I didn't want to sac a land, which meant I couldn't use it to dig for an answer. It might be right to switch this out and put back Serum Visions.

[MeowZeDung]

Dang, the online meta must be pretty cut throat to justify a Pyroblast on a Brainstorm, or maybe they just didn't want to be patient for a better target.

I didn't have great success with Perilous Research either to be honest. It only felt good if Saheeli, Sublime Artificer or Young Pyromancer were in play since saccing a spirit felt too much like losing mana or a relevant attacker.

[pokken]

I'm assuming you meant Neheb, the Eternal? That guy is kinda 'splosive. I'm not much of a fan tbh since it folds so hard to just having the commander killed a couple times. One removal spell and that hand becomes hot garbage.

[WizardMN]

Dang, the online meta must be pretty cut throat to justify a Pyroblast on a Brainstorm, or maybe they just didn't want to be patient for a better target.

I didn't have great success with Perilous Research either to be honest. It only felt good if Saheeli, Sublime Artificer or Young Pyromancer were in play since saccing a spirit felt too much like losing mana or a relevant attacker.

I don't think it really does justify that play. Maybe they thought I was digging for lands since I hadn't played one yet? That is somewhat justifiable.

Agreed and I don't even have Pyromancer to help out. I think I am going to move back to Serum Visions for that slot. While Research works well with Kykar, it works pretty poorly without him (or another token producer which I only have Saheeli I think).

I'm assuming you meant Neheb, the Eternal? That guy is kinda 'splosive. I'm not much of a fan tbh since it folds so hard to just having the commander killed a couple times. One removal spell and that hand becomes hot garbage.

I did I corrected the above. That was probably the worst feeling to be honest. I had removal in hand for him (Valorous Stance) that I could have cast if I really expected them to have 6 mana on turn 3. Which obviously I didn't. So, yeah, their hand just lined up super nicely with Boots and the rest of us being tapped out.

[WizardMN]

Now that we have the entire set spoiled, as well as the Commander Decks, here are some of the cards that stand out to me for this deck:

White Cards

Cosmic Intervention - The obvious issue is that this deck is a spellslinger deck so it has very few permanents. There are 5-8 lands this could get (depending on what I have for fetches) and 10 nonlands. Which is not very many. I think in this deck, this isn't quite good enough.

Doomskar - This is a cheap wrath. I don't think it is tough to have 2 extra mana to Foretell this and then just sit on it. The deck currently runs Verdict and Nova so the number of wraths is not high. And for good reason. There is probably an argument to be made to beef up the wraths in this deck a little. Doomskar lowers the curve (sort of) and Time Wipe allows us to sort of save Kykar. I will likely be looking at this as an include and it probably ends up going in over Nova just based on the curve. I don't like going down Enchantment and Artifact removal though as it basically just leaves me with a little spot removal and Rift as ways of dealing with out of control board states.

Blue Cards

Behold the Multiverse - Not entirely sure here. Yes, 2 mana to Scry 2 and draw 2 is great. But it still requires paying 4 mana total which isn't that great. The deck is fairly low on the curve so having a turn, especially early on, where 2 mana can be "wasted" for nothing seems unlikely. I don't think this is where I want to be.

Bind the Monster - 1 mana removal is 1 mana removal. This deck has plenty of other removal options, such as Path and Swords, and I am already not playing Rapid Hybridization and Pongify (maybe I should be?) so I am not sure if this has a place over those cards. Yes, this doesn't give them a 3/3 but this can also be more easily removed to just get them back their original creature. At best, it is a cheaper, worse version, of something like Banishing Light. Which isn't necessarily bad, but I think there are better options ahead of it.

Mystic Reflection - This seems like a cool card, but it really requires casting two spells in a turn (not difficult of course) and there isn't a good way to get more than 1 creature to enter at a time so at best we turn a Spirit into something better. Maybe that is alright? But Mirrorweave is far and away the better option, even if it does transform everything. I think this doesn't quite do enough here.

Tales of the Ancestors - Potentially draw 7, but likely draw 2-4, for four mana isn't the worst. This has the same issue Behold does in that spreading out the mana payment doesn't often do enough in this deck. But the ability to get a significant hand out of the deal can be a turning point in games. Unfortunately it applies to everyone so it is more on the Timetwister side of things. I like the idea of it as something that can be top-decked and legitimately get us back in the game, but I have a feeling it would be better to just use one sided, cheaper draw effects to ensure our hand doesn't get that low to begin with.

Red Cards

Tibalt's Trickery - A free spin of the wheel if we do get into a bind, and one that gives us 2 tokens total (plus the one from the spell being cast that we are targeting), sounds good. I think I like it as a fun way to just "see what happens" but also give some flexibility to counter an important spell of an opponent's and hope to fade something worse. I don't know how it will actually play, but it seems fun while still doing enough for Kykar.

Multicolor Cards

The Raven's Warning - I have gone back and forth on a number of spells that let me draw cards or do different things to ensure I have cards in hand. I think this could be a contender. The first Chapter gets me two tokens (assuming Kykar is out) and then I can draw up to 3 cards with the second Chapter ability. The third is useless. So, the second is the big ability and I suppose the floor is most likely draw a card, while the ceiling is draw 3 cards. I am not sure how much the token adds to its value, but I think I like it better than a simple "draw 2 cards" type effect. Knowing what is in my opponent's hands can be important too. I like the card but I have a feeling it is just on the edge between good, and not good, enough.

Colorless and Land Cards

Gates of Istfell - I already run Blighted Cataract as a way to draw cards in the long game. This does it cheaper and produces colored mana, with the drawback of entering tapped. I think it is an easy swap and I likely will look at whether I might want both.

Hengegate Pathway - Just more mana fixing. We are getting somewhat spoiled with the duals available so I will be looking to see if this even fits in the deck. I don't want to go down to 0 basics after all (even being down to 4 seems wrong).

[WizardMN]

So, with the new cards I mentioned above, I am potentially looking at the following changes:

01/24/2021

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

CUTS

1 Blighted Cataract

1 Temple of Epiphany

1 Teferi's Ageless Insight

1 Comet Storm

1 Perilous Research

ADDS

1 Cosmic Intervention

1 Tibalt's Trickery

1 The Raven's Warning

1 Gates of Istfell

1 Hengegate Pathway

Approximate Total Cost:

Cataract and Gates seem like an easy swap so I am going to try that. Entering tapped is a concern and I don't like too many lands to do that so I am going to get Temple for the Pathway to minimize the number of lands that enter tapped.

Insight is expensive and might be overkill. A couple of times I have actually gotten it out and it didn't do a ton of work. It works well with Jace but Jace is already on the chopping block anyway.

Comet Storm seems like a good card for the deck, but the deck has other ways to win and I haven't found Comet Storm to be all that impressive.

Research was discussed above (or maybe in @MeowZeDung's thread) and just isn't good without Kykar on the field. I mentioned potentially throwing Serum Visions back in its place but I am going to try out The Raven's Warning instead to see what happens with it.

[shermanido37]

For me, the best option that Mystic Reflection offers is actually turning their commander into a 1/1 spirit token. It is a very common case and can easily be used, but overall can actually end up super huge, especially for commanders that want to be recast or have relevant abilities.
And on top of that, there exist amazing plays like making an opponent's Rite of Replication, Living Death, or Tooth and Nail be an overcosted Spectral Procession instead of potentially ending the game.
I think I'll definitely test the card in my list. Hopefully it will provide some utility.

[WizardMN]

I hadn't really thought of using it defensively but, even in those cases, it seems like I might as well just have a counterspell to stop the effect entirely. I think in lists with actual creatures it might not be bad offensively but here it doesn't do enough. And yeah, I realize turning their commander into a 1/1 is better than just letting them recast it but it is a pretty niche effect.

I would still be curious on your experiences with it as I don't think it is a bad card by any means.

[MeowZeDung]

I agree with your assessments for the most part, but I am personally stoked for Mystic Reflection and think you're sleeping on it tbh. The use-case that sherm points out is way better than a counterspell *for opposing commanders* IMO since they lose their general until they either find a sac outlet for it, get an opportunity to chump with it, or burn a removal spell on it.

As good as that can be against some ridiculous commanders, that isn't where I think Mystic is most often going to prove itself solid and flexible. As you said, double spelling is trivial, and the format is full of non-legendary beaters and utility/value critters we'd love to turn our next spirit into.

It only gets better if you can stack creature ETBs - admittedly easier for my list with all the various mentors and Anointed Procession that proc simultaneously, although you are still able to do similar with Saheeli, Sublime Artificer + kykar. If you ever go back to running White Sun's Zenith/Call the Coppercoats/Secure the Wastes you could pull off some real sick-o Mystic Reflections.

As far as the rest of the set: I am also on Tibalt's Trickery to go with Mystic. I'm going to try Search for Glory since it grabs some good legends and I don't own the tier 1 tutors yet. I'm thinking about Hengegate Pathway // Mistgate Pathway > something like Clifftop Retreat, but I'm not sure yet. The only other card that really has my attention is Birgi, God of Storytelling. I know you're creatureless, but I'm tempted to think the horn is the better half anyhow.

Edit: Last thought - I'm curious why The Raven's Warning over Reconnaissance Mission. Chapters 1 and 3 are marginal and useless respectively, and while the Peek is nice, why restrict your saboteur draws to one turn?

[WizardMN]

@MeowZeDung
I will continue looking at Reflection. Both you and Sherm make good points about it and it is possible I am not giving it enough credit.

I had thought of Birgi for the backside but I really didn't like the 5 CMC. Maybe it is still worth it. It is a gray area for the "creatureless" aspect but I think it is fine if I decided I wanted it.

As to The Raven's Warning: I really just wanted to try new cards But you make a good point. I keep doing stuff with different card draw effects and maybe I should just go with the simple solution: smash face → draw cards. I should look at that a bit more. I still think I have a few cards in here that are more for card draw than anything else, like Jace, and I might be able to tighten things up a bit if I just go with Mission.

Out of curiosity, why Mission of Bident of Thassa? Is the Cycling worth more than the forcing opponents to attack? Or is it just easier to get rid of Bident?

[MeowZeDung]

easier to get rid of Bident

Dis right here.

The cycling on Reconnaissance Mission is gravy if you don't have good attacks and need to keep cards flowing. I'd value the bident's goad effect more if I was doing stuff with deathtouch or pillowfort enchantments a la Propaganda and Ghostly Prison or something. It's still good if you are in a position to take a hit and make out like a bandit on the crackback - maybe with some pump and lifelink to go with the card draw?

[WizardMN]

Fair enough. I will think on it some more, but your arguments make sense. The Saga might just do too little (or I am expecting too much) so having something like Mission, even at 4 mana, makes sense.