Nikara & Yannik - Punk rock died

[cheonice]

Punk rock died, when the first kid said 'Punk's not dead, Punk's not dead'*

*Silver Jews - Tennessee

History and Strategy

Nikara, Lair Scavenger and Yannik, Scavenging Sentinel tick quite some of my boxes. They support +1/+1 counters, don't focus on graveyard shenanigans and are some kind of underdogs. In addition to that @darrenhabibs decklist looked really fun and I couldn't resist.

Let's see, what they are capable of! The powerlevel should be somewhere between 6 and 7.

+1/+1 counters
Nikara, Lair Scavenger is the reason this theme works. She makes everybody think twice before they wrath, which is a real problem for counter decks. Yannik, Scavenging Sentinel provides counters to all your creatures, so we can dive into some synergies like Rishkar, Peema Renegade. He even combos with Karmic Guide (which is not in the deck atm). Good-Fortune Unicorn and her friends support all of our creatures with counters.

Ramp
This is the place, where cards like Incubation Druid really shine! And every Birds of Paradise with a counter is a potential carddraw.

Removal Suite
I really like the removal spells Orzhov provides (Anguished Unmaking, Utter End), but never had a deck to put them in.

Onedrop subtheme
Another card I wanted to play for years is Ranger of Eos, but no deck had enough one-drops. With Carrion Feeder, Mother of Runes, Caustic Caterpillar, Planar Guide], [card]Spore Frog and Scute Mob there will allways be a target for the ranger.

Decklist

Decklist

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

//Commanders

1 Nikara, Lair Scavenger

1 Yannik, Scavenging Sentinel

//+1/+1 counters

1 Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit

1 Good-Fortune Unicorn

1 Renata, Called to the Hunt

1 Tayam, Luminous Enigma

1 Juniper Order Ranger

1 Rishkar, Peema Renegade

1 Hardened Scales

1 Pollenbright Druid

1 Winding Constrictor

1 Corpsejack Menace

1 Forgotten Ancient

1 Managorger Hydra

1 Together Forever

//Onedrop subtheme

1 Ranger of Eos

1 Carrion Feeder

1 Caustic Caterpillar

1 Mother of Runes

1 Planar Guide

1 Scute Mob

1 Spore Frog

//Ramp

1 Birds of Paradise

1 Llanowar Elves

1 Bloom Tender

1 Devoted Druid

1 Incubation Druid

1 Sakura-Tribe Elder

1 Wall of Roots

1 Wood Elves

1 Karametra, God of Harvests

1 Kodama's Reach

//Removal

1 Qasali Pridemage

1 Plaguecrafter

1 Acidic Slime

1 Shriekmaw

1 Magister of Worth

1 Path to Exile

1 Remorseful Cleric

1 Heliod's Intervention

1 Abzan Charm

1 Anguished Unmaking

1 Beast Within

1 Mortify

1 Utter End

1 Rout

//Goodstuff

1 Den Protector

1 Kitchen Finks

1 Skullwinder

1 Lord of Extinction

1 Reveillark

1 Hornet Queen

1 Woodfall Primus

1 Rancor

1 Bitterblossom

1 Sprout Swarm

1 Swiftfoot Boots

1 Heroic Intervention

1 Abzan Ascendancy

1 Beastmaster Ascension

1 Mimic Vat

1 Cathars' Crusade

1 Unburial Rites

1 Deadbridge Chant

1 Ever After

//Lands

1 Blighted Woodland

1 Blossoming Sands

1 Canopy Vista

1 Caves of Koilos

1 Command Tower

1 Evolving Wilds

1 Exotic Orchard

6 Forest

1 Gavony Township

1 Isolated Chapel

1 Jungle Hollow

1 Krosan Verge

1 Llanowar Reborn

1 Myriad Landscape

1 Nesting Grounds

1 Orzhov Basilica

5 Plains

1 Sandsteppe Citadel

1 Scoured Barrens

1 Sungrass Prairie

4 Swamp

1 Terramorphic Expanse

1 Vivid Grove

Approximate Total Cost:

Future Considerations

Decklist

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

1 Mikaeus, the Lunarch

1 Gyre Sage

1 Abzan Falconer

1 Caller of the Claw

1 Fertilid

1 Reyhan, Last of the Abzan

1 Armorcraft Judge

1 Shalai, Voice of Plenty

1 Temur Sabertooth

1 Elite Scaleguard

1 Karmic Guide

1 Lumbering Battlement

1 Phyrexian Delver

1 The Ozolith

1 Branching Evolution

1 Eerie Interlude

1 Ghostway

1 Inspiring Call

1 Jiang Yanggu, Wildcrafter

1 Teferi's Protection

Approximate Total Cost:

Changes

25.07.2020
Harvest Season → Wood Elves
Soul-Guide Lantern → Remorseful Cleric

[darrenhabib]

Looks good

My only suggestions are to try and use creatures to fill in roles where possible over non-creature cards for the obvious bonuses.

Soul-Guide Lantern → Remorseful Cleric
Kodama's Reach → Wood Elves

I didn't think about the infinite's you can get with persist creatures with Juniper Order Ranger, Good-Fortune Unicorn, Renata, Called to the Hunt and a sacrifice outlet.
You can literally blow up all of your opponents non-creature permanents with Woodfall Primus and get infinite life with Kitchen Finks.
Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit can also go infinite with Kitchen Finks, but you can't with Woodfall Primus as its toughness is higher than Anafenza at the very least.

[cheonice]

Thanks The first two games went really well. I did not win, but the deck did, what it is supposed to do.

Yeps, these are easy swaps, maybe I have a spare copy of Remorseful Cleric...and I nee to find my Wood Elves or another mana elf.

Puh, the infinites are more like plan C, but yeah they could work as an out in drawn-out games. I will have a look on them. If I ever want to focus on them Altar of Dementia could be a great outlet.

[Hawk]

Looks awesome! A few notes:

- If you are struggling to find a copy of Wood Elves, Yavimaya Dryad is only slightly worse (and arguably sometimes better). I also think Channeler Initiate, Fertilid, or Yavimaya Elder are reasonable in your list. I haven't loved Harvest Season even in a dedicated tokens deck so I'd consider one of these instead.

- Conclave Mentor is a new Hardened Scales effect with a nifty burst of lifegain at the end. Maybe better than Pollenbright Druid?

- Walking Ballista and Hangarback Walker are fetchable by Ranger of Eos and do awesome things in this deck even if they don't reliably trigger Nikara. Stonecoil Serpent is also intriguing.

[cheonice]

Thanks a lot!

The first few changes based on sour suggestions:
Harvest Season → Wood Elves
Soul-Guide Lantern → Remorseful Cleric

Pollenbright Druid will be replaced by Conclave Mentor, when my cards finally arrive.
Kodama's Reach is a pet card... so for the moment it stays.
I totally missed on the X-creatures! Finally an excuse to play Hangarback Walker!

What do you think of Basri's Lieutenant? He seems to be a very solid addition, especially because he digs into similar holes like Nikara.