Yeah, there is a lot of Instant timing interaction it can draw you into. To be fair, so can the Thirst cards but if we are talking Alpha Strike we are probably talking 5+ creatures. It certainly gives an out. And, honestly, can give us a lot of gas when someone else gets alpha striked. If we have 1 card in hand, and Player B is attacked and killed, we now get 5+ cards in hand to potentially deal with their board the next time around.
I keep going back and forth on Settle the Wreckage but I think it has its uses for things like that. If giving them a lot of lands causes us to lose, I guess they got us. But if we were going to lose anyway, why not roll the dice? I would be curious if you ever tried Fight to the Death though. That one looks a lot less consistent but maybe we have enough tokens to really take care of things. Interestingly, we can sac our tokens after blocking (or being blocked) and the attacking/blocking creature is still "blocked/blocking" so we can even get mana from our Spirits in either case.
Kykar, Wind's Fury - Spellslinger Tokens
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MeowZeDung
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I think adding Keep Watch would put me on Settle the Wreckage over Slaughter the Strong since I'd have better odds of digging into instant speed interaction. Settle can ramp us in a pinch, and against 4 or 5 color decks with little to no basics there could be no downside. I agree though, I'm not too worried about the downside, because there's a chance I'm casting this just to survive the turn.
Fight to the Death is interesting for sure. The fact that I'd essentially be trading tokens for something much larger is great, and being able to sac spirits for mana after blocks is gravy. Pairs well with Flawless Maneuver and Boros Charm.Sunforger fetches it. It can also be used in combats involving only my opponents' creatures, which is hillarious. I just don't like having a card in hand waiting for a perfect casting opportunity which may never come.
Fight to the Death is interesting for sure. The fact that I'd essentially be trading tokens for something much larger is great, and being able to sac spirits for mana after blocks is gravy. Pairs well with Flawless Maneuver and Boros Charm.Sunforger fetches it. It can also be used in combats involving only my opponents' creatures, which is hillarious. I just don't like having a card in hand waiting for a perfect casting opportunity which may never come.
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shermanido37
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For the record, you're running Mirrorweave. I just wanted to remind you of that.MeowZeDung wrote: ↑4 years agoI just don't like having a card in hand waiting for a perfect casting opportunity which may never come.
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MeowZeDung
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There's always an opportunity to mirrorweave, it's just a question of HOW hilarious or awesome it's going to be 
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MeowZeDung
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Well, after @WizardMN 's recent game reports and vids, I have been pumped for a Kykar game this weekend and got one in tonight. It was one of the smoothest, most insanely fun Kykar games I've had to date. Fun, powerful magic.
This is my kitchen table meta, with tonight featuring some of the usual suspects of Drana, Liberator of Malakir, Alela, Artful Provocateur, and Gishath, Sun's Avatar. All of the decks the family plays are built by me and sit in the 6.5-8 out of 10 power range, depending on your POV.
I don't recall exact sequencing at all points of the game, but it played out roughly as follows:
T1 - Exotic Orchard → Sol Ring → cycle Ash Barrens for a Mountain.
T2 - Tap Sol Ring and Exotic Orchard for (thanks for playing that Temple of Plenty Naya deck!) to play Idyllic Tutor and fetch Anointed Procession. . . or at least that's what I'd normally do with an early Idyllic. Tonight, however, I decided that I've had far too little Whirlwind of Thought action in my life since I got it, so I searched it up instead. Played Azorius Chancery, returning Exotic Orchard and passed.
T3 - Mountain → Kykar and lost a colorless mana
T4 - Exotic Orchard → Whirlwind of Thought → sac the spirit for → Young Pyromancer → 1 mana held up for Opt on final opponents end step.
Normally I would think that this line is a bit greedy and paints too clear a target on my back. Typically I would go with either Pyromancer or Whirlwind, but not both right away. Better to sling some spells and make tokens / draw cards. However, Alela, Artful Provocateur was the clear threat at this point and would draw all the hate away from me. They were player 1 and IIRC they were up to Alela plus 3 5/4 Faeries with Blind Obedience, Dictate of Heliod, and Radiant Destiny in play having also opened the game with a T1 Sol Ring.
T5 - I had drawn into Jeskai Ascendancy with either the Whirlwind trigger or the Opt. Oh baby. Windmill slammed that sucker onto the table and followed it up with Ponder. Sniped a Huatli, Warrior Poet in combat and dealt some commander damage to Drana while her shields were down. Post combat Burning Inquiry untapped everything with the Jeskai Ascendancy trigger. I had Sevinne's Reclamation, Talrand, Sky Summoner, and Slaughter the Strong in hand along with a few others I can't remember. None were of much use to me, or were of equal use to me in the GY anyway, so it was a very safe Inquiry. Pitched Role Reversal, Sevinne's Reclamation, and Slaughter the Strong. Was very fortunate to have Alela randomly discard Ethereal Absolution and Doomwake Giant.
I passed with a Flawless Maneuver in hand and a deep sense of satisfaction within
Gishath was struggling to remain relevant with all the fliers around the table and no flying/reach of their own. Ramp and land drops held steady though, and they resolve a Blood Mist and had enough to stick Gishath, Sun's Avatar the following turn assuming they hit their land drop.
Drana was being slowed down by the Blind Obedience, but had a respectable board of Drana, Liberator of Malakir with some counters, Vampire Nighthawk, Guul Draz Overseer, and a Cabal Coffers netting +3 mana/turn at that point. They Bojuka Bogged my quite sizable GY, so Burning Inquiry and Sevinne's Reclamation were out of the picture.
Alela's turn 6 was something like Bident of Thassa → take the Gishath player down to 1 life (!) → draw into their land drop → Intangible Virtue. They were snowballing quickly and I had to move in on them now or never. Soooo...
T6 - I forget what I started the turn with in my hand aside from Flawless Maneuver, but fueled by Ascendancy and Whirlwind I chained together Signet → Skullclamp → Generous Gift targeting the stupid Blind Obedience and sent the +3/+3 Jeskai Ascendancy pumped team at Alela, who had 5 big ol faerie tokens, Alela, and a newly acquired 3/3 elephant. IIRC I was threatening 42ish damage and their life total was somewhere in the mid 50s. I had 1 mana open and my spirits were 1 power too small to kill Faeries, so I was blatantly telegraphing a trick. 40+ damage doesn't leave a great choice though, so they blocked Young Pyromancer, the elementals, Kykar, and all but 3 spirits I believe.
Cue the free Flawless Maneuver: make a spirit, make an elemental, draw for Whirlwind of Thought, loot for Jeskai Ascendancy, untap and pump the team, resolve combat damage killing all opposing creatures and dealing 15. *Fist pumps in Jeskai*
Post combat I sacced some spirits to play another signet, Fellwar Stone, and a sorcery cantrip (Preordain maybe? I can't remember) to keep cards flowing and start filling the yard again. Somewhere in all that mess I drew into Celestial Colonnade and played it since I could get away with the ETB tapped land this turn and had a Command Tower and Steam Vents in hand to take care of the next two turns. Passed with Path to Exile in hand and open mana for it.
I'm not usually a "wait, wait, let me take a picture of this you guys!" type of player, but I couldn't resist. If I pass after T6 with my board looking like this, let me assure you that I'm on cloud 9:
Gishath was in no position to really set me back at all, and was at 1 life. However, I did do them the immense courtesy of clearing the way for a Blood Mist fueled double strike with their hasty commander on Alela, and Gishath, Sun's Avatar combat triggers were their only hope at this point. Out of fourteen revealed cards they only hit Thrashing Brontodon, Verdant Sun's Avatar, Ranging Raptors, Ripjaw Raptor. That's pretty bad luck considering the deck is chock full of dinos, but also good luck in that they hit exactly Verdant Sun's Avatar which pulled them out of a real bind with 1 life.
Drana also couldn't do much other than play a Door of Destinies, Bloodtracker, and Expedition Map then pass with blockers held back and no cards in hand.
Alela was pretty much royally screwed no matter what at this point, but made a mis-play by Frogifying Gishath while he had Thrashing Brontodon on board. Should have frogged big bird. I guess they felt safe from my ascendancy and token swarm by playing a Ghostly Prison. *Laughs in spellslinger*. How naive.
T7 - I decided not to use the Path to Exile before my turn since I had The Locust God in hand and wanted every draw trigger I could get. I can't possibly recall the sequencing and totality of spells played on this turn, but it basically came down to The Locust God → Silence → sac spirits for all and generic costs while being very picky about using white and blue mana. Drawing into some more artifact mana helped, and drawing into Underworld Breach really helped. Eventually I got there with Impact Tremors and Frantic Search + Underworld Breach with Kykar, Pyromancer, Locust God, and Saheeli, Sublime Artificer all spitting out tokens.
I doubt I will have many occasions to have both Whirlwind of Thought AND Jeskai Ascendancy in play together that early. Geez it was beautiful. 10/10 would recommend.
This is my kitchen table meta, with tonight featuring some of the usual suspects of Drana, Liberator of Malakir, Alela, Artful Provocateur, and Gishath, Sun's Avatar. All of the decks the family plays are built by me and sit in the 6.5-8 out of 10 power range, depending on your POV.
I don't recall exact sequencing at all points of the game, but it played out roughly as follows:
T1 - Exotic Orchard → Sol Ring → cycle Ash Barrens for a Mountain.
T2 - Tap Sol Ring and Exotic Orchard for (thanks for playing that Temple of Plenty Naya deck!) to play Idyllic Tutor and fetch Anointed Procession. . . or at least that's what I'd normally do with an early Idyllic. Tonight, however, I decided that I've had far too little Whirlwind of Thought action in my life since I got it, so I searched it up instead. Played Azorius Chancery, returning Exotic Orchard and passed.
T3 - Mountain → Kykar and lost a colorless mana
T4 - Exotic Orchard → Whirlwind of Thought → sac the spirit for → Young Pyromancer → 1 mana held up for Opt on final opponents end step.
Normally I would think that this line is a bit greedy and paints too clear a target on my back. Typically I would go with either Pyromancer or Whirlwind, but not both right away. Better to sling some spells and make tokens / draw cards. However, Alela, Artful Provocateur was the clear threat at this point and would draw all the hate away from me. They were player 1 and IIRC they were up to Alela plus 3 5/4 Faeries with Blind Obedience, Dictate of Heliod, and Radiant Destiny in play having also opened the game with a T1 Sol Ring.
T5 - I had drawn into Jeskai Ascendancy with either the Whirlwind trigger or the Opt. Oh baby. Windmill slammed that sucker onto the table and followed it up with Ponder. Sniped a Huatli, Warrior Poet in combat and dealt some commander damage to Drana while her shields were down. Post combat Burning Inquiry untapped everything with the Jeskai Ascendancy trigger. I had Sevinne's Reclamation, Talrand, Sky Summoner, and Slaughter the Strong in hand along with a few others I can't remember. None were of much use to me, or were of equal use to me in the GY anyway, so it was a very safe Inquiry. Pitched Role Reversal, Sevinne's Reclamation, and Slaughter the Strong. Was very fortunate to have Alela randomly discard Ethereal Absolution and Doomwake Giant.
I passed with a Flawless Maneuver in hand and a deep sense of satisfaction within
Gishath was struggling to remain relevant with all the fliers around the table and no flying/reach of their own. Ramp and land drops held steady though, and they resolve a Blood Mist and had enough to stick Gishath, Sun's Avatar the following turn assuming they hit their land drop.
Drana was being slowed down by the Blind Obedience, but had a respectable board of Drana, Liberator of Malakir with some counters, Vampire Nighthawk, Guul Draz Overseer, and a Cabal Coffers netting +3 mana/turn at that point. They Bojuka Bogged my quite sizable GY, so Burning Inquiry and Sevinne's Reclamation were out of the picture.
Alela's turn 6 was something like Bident of Thassa → take the Gishath player down to 1 life (!) → draw into their land drop → Intangible Virtue. They were snowballing quickly and I had to move in on them now or never. Soooo...
T6 - I forget what I started the turn with in my hand aside from Flawless Maneuver, but fueled by Ascendancy and Whirlwind I chained together Signet → Skullclamp → Generous Gift targeting the stupid Blind Obedience and sent the +3/+3 Jeskai Ascendancy pumped team at Alela, who had 5 big ol faerie tokens, Alela, and a newly acquired 3/3 elephant. IIRC I was threatening 42ish damage and their life total was somewhere in the mid 50s. I had 1 mana open and my spirits were 1 power too small to kill Faeries, so I was blatantly telegraphing a trick. 40+ damage doesn't leave a great choice though, so they blocked Young Pyromancer, the elementals, Kykar, and all but 3 spirits I believe.
Cue the free Flawless Maneuver: make a spirit, make an elemental, draw for Whirlwind of Thought, loot for Jeskai Ascendancy, untap and pump the team, resolve combat damage killing all opposing creatures and dealing 15. *Fist pumps in Jeskai*
Post combat I sacced some spirits to play another signet, Fellwar Stone, and a sorcery cantrip (Preordain maybe? I can't remember) to keep cards flowing and start filling the yard again. Somewhere in all that mess I drew into Celestial Colonnade and played it since I could get away with the ETB tapped land this turn and had a Command Tower and Steam Vents in hand to take care of the next two turns. Passed with Path to Exile in hand and open mana for it.
I'm not usually a "wait, wait, let me take a picture of this you guys!" type of player, but I couldn't resist. If I pass after T6 with my board looking like this, let me assure you that I'm on cloud 9:
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Drana also couldn't do much other than play a Door of Destinies, Bloodtracker, and Expedition Map then pass with blockers held back and no cards in hand.
Alela was pretty much royally screwed no matter what at this point, but made a mis-play by Frogifying Gishath while he had Thrashing Brontodon on board. Should have frogged big bird. I guess they felt safe from my ascendancy and token swarm by playing a Ghostly Prison. *Laughs in spellslinger*. How naive.
T7 - I decided not to use the Path to Exile before my turn since I had The Locust God in hand and wanted every draw trigger I could get. I can't possibly recall the sequencing and totality of spells played on this turn, but it basically came down to The Locust God → Silence → sac spirits for all and generic costs while being very picky about using white and blue mana. Drawing into some more artifact mana helped, and drawing into Underworld Breach really helped. Eventually I got there with Impact Tremors and Frantic Search + Underworld Breach with Kykar, Pyromancer, Locust God, and Saheeli, Sublime Artificer all spitting out tokens.
I doubt I will have many occasions to have both Whirlwind of Thought AND Jeskai Ascendancy in play together that early. Geez it was beautiful. 10/10 would recommend.
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Jeez...I wasn't even there and even I felt satisfied by the way that played out 
I liked how Flawless Maneuver allowed you to go a bit more aggressive while allowing for some protection (in the first instance) and allowing for a trick (in the second). As you said 40+ damage really doesn't care if you have a big neon sign on your forehead saying "I am going to do something to wreck your day"
Overall, it really seems like Jeskai Ascendancy was a superstar here. Whirlwind of Thought was too of course, but the Ascendancy did so much to keep things running and really buff your creatures. I do like it far better than Cathars' Crusade just because I like being tricky and it untaps and loots which I think are more important than just getting counters. I was already thinking of adding the Ascendancy back in after contemplating Teferi's Ageless Insight and I think this report likely puts me over the edge on that decision. It just seems so good here.
I liked how Flawless Maneuver allowed you to go a bit more aggressive while allowing for some protection (in the first instance) and allowing for a trick (in the second). As you said 40+ damage really doesn't care if you have a big neon sign on your forehead saying "I am going to do something to wreck your day"
Overall, it really seems like Jeskai Ascendancy was a superstar here. Whirlwind of Thought was too of course, but the Ascendancy did so much to keep things running and really buff your creatures. I do like it far better than Cathars' Crusade just because I like being tricky and it untaps and loots which I think are more important than just getting counters. I was already thinking of adding the Ascendancy back in after contemplating Teferi's Ageless Insight and I think this report likely puts me over the edge on that decision. It just seems so good here.
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MeowZeDung
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Made a couple of quick changes before a kitchen table game tonight (no Teferi's Ageless Insight yet though):
It was a nutty back and forth game that was highly interactive. I ended up in an in-game feud with the Drana, Liberator of Malakir deck where we both kept trading hate while the Tayam, Luminous Enigma elf combo deck kept getting within a hair's breadth of going off before we would have to stop it then return to our war
I did get to play Fight to the Death and Settle the Wreckage. Fight was good in that it got rid of two attackers coming my way and I was able to sac one of the blocking spirits to Goblin Bombardment in response and kill a Blood Artist. Settle did what it does best and saved me from a huge alpha strike while giving the mono black mana.dek player with Jet Medallion, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, Sword of the Animist, and a dozen swamps in play just a few more.
The back and forth with Drana, Liberator of Malakir was really quite funny. Render Silent, Mandate of Peace, Settle the Wreckage, and Mirrorweave were all instrumental in foiling their plans. Unfortunately the Mirrorweave was just on a Solemn Simulacrum so I could kill Drana and draw a card before she got out of reach. Pretty lame weave.
Ultimately the big mana machine won out and they managed to draw every bit of anti-Kykar tech imaginable. Patron of the Vein would have been ridiculous had I not countered it and then started saccing spirits, and the same with Blood Artist to a lesser extent. Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief and Defile made the Boros Charm in my hand worthless. Ascendant Evincar was the real back breaker.
Truth be told, I lost the game before it began now that I think about it. I kept a hand with four lands, but no ramp, no draw/filtering, and no token engine. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Not following my own advice got me on the back foot and kept me there, and my list is just not meant to play control.
Mulligan aggressively kids.
7/6/20
Approximate Total Cost:
It was a nutty back and forth game that was highly interactive. I ended up in an in-game feud with the Drana, Liberator of Malakir deck where we both kept trading hate while the Tayam, Luminous Enigma elf combo deck kept getting within a hair's breadth of going off before we would have to stop it then return to our war
I did get to play Fight to the Death and Settle the Wreckage. Fight was good in that it got rid of two attackers coming my way and I was able to sac one of the blocking spirits to Goblin Bombardment in response and kill a Blood Artist. Settle did what it does best and saved me from a huge alpha strike while giving the mono black mana.dek player with Jet Medallion, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, Sword of the Animist, and a dozen swamps in play just a few more.
The back and forth with Drana, Liberator of Malakir was really quite funny. Render Silent, Mandate of Peace, Settle the Wreckage, and Mirrorweave were all instrumental in foiling their plans. Unfortunately the Mirrorweave was just on a Solemn Simulacrum so I could kill Drana and draw a card before she got out of reach. Pretty lame weave.
Ultimately the big mana machine won out and they managed to draw every bit of anti-Kykar tech imaginable. Patron of the Vein would have been ridiculous had I not countered it and then started saccing spirits, and the same with Blood Artist to a lesser extent. Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief and Defile made the Boros Charm in my hand worthless. Ascendant Evincar was the real back breaker.
Truth be told, I lost the game before it began now that I think about it. I kept a hand with four lands, but no ramp, no draw/filtering, and no token engine. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Not following my own advice got me on the back foot and kept me there, and my list is just not meant to play control.
Mulligan aggressively kids.
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That still sounds like a pretty epic game for a "bad" keep
Sometimes big mana just does that but it does seem the person to give more mana to. I mean, if they already had a ton of mana, what's a couple more lands? And I am glad to see Fight to the Death doing good work. I am not sure killing two attackers is enough to call it a good card, but it bodes well for the card.
And yeah, Evincar is just one of those that really ruins our day
Sounds like a tough matchup either way but at least you didn't just roll over and die.
Sometimes big mana just does that but it does seem the person to give more mana to. I mean, if they already had a ton of mana, what's a couple more lands? And I am glad to see Fight to the Death doing good work. I am not sure killing two attackers is enough to call it a good card, but it bodes well for the card.
And yeah, Evincar is just one of those that really ruins our day
Sounds like a tough matchup either way but at least you didn't just roll over and die.-
MeowZeDung
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As I was trying to find a solution, I cast something like 5 spells that resulted in instantly dead spirits
I think it was the most I've ever paid tax on kykar too. It got up to 10 mana, but I had nothing else relevant at that point.
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shermanido37
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I think this is the point where I recommend you guys anthem effects. Specifically instant speed ones: Dictate of Heliod and Force of Virtue, the latter even costs no mana.
Beyond the anti-Evincar tech, growing your board by even +1/+1 is very easy to abuse in our deck - I would gladly trade 3 spirits with a Grave Titan.
As much as I appreciate Cathars' Crusade, my habit of playing Ephara has made me hate to tap out on my turn, especially when playing such an interactive deck. Jeskai Ascendancy is a cheap combo madhouse, and probably shouldn't go.
You can also be a bit more standard and try Intangible Virtue if you're too worried about costs. Flying vigilance dudes can stack up to be a terrifying board presence.
Beyond the anti-Evincar tech, growing your board by even +1/+1 is very easy to abuse in our deck - I would gladly trade 3 spirits with a Grave Titan.
As much as I appreciate Cathars' Crusade, my habit of playing Ephara has made me hate to tap out on my turn, especially when playing such an interactive deck. Jeskai Ascendancy is a cheap combo madhouse, and probably shouldn't go.
You can also be a bit more standard and try Intangible Virtue if you're too worried about costs. Flying vigilance dudes can stack up to be a terrifying board presence.
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MeowZeDung
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I do miss Eldrazi Monument sometimes. Kykar and a ton of anthems is a legitimate build too. I think the one I'm closest to ever including is Intangible Virtue. Vigilance is sweet. As a one of, I think crusade is enough for me at the moment. Slots are already tight, and I have lots of answers to the evincar ascendant's of the world. It just helps to draw them when you need them
Now Akim, the Soaring Wind is a deck that wants the anthems!
Now Akim, the Soaring Wind is a deck that wants the anthems!
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This is my thought too. I don't even run Crusade, though I am not as aggressive anyway, but Virtue would be the one I *might* consider. It is tough to start throwing in cards to beat a handful of -x/-x static effects. We can beat them other ways and (for me anyway) Purphoros is still an out.MeowZeDung wrote: ↑3 years agoI do miss Eldrazi Monument sometimes. Kykar and a ton of anthems is a legitimate build too. I think the one I'm closest to ever including is Intangible Virtue. Vigilance is sweet. As a one of, I think crusade is enough for me at the moment. Slots are already tight, and I have lots of answers to the evincar ascendant's of the world. It just helps to draw them when you need them
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MeowZeDung
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I forgot to mention in that game I had Goblin Bombardment on board, and that was actually part of what was so frustrating about the stupid Evincar: I couldn't even use my bombardment against it lol.
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MeowZeDung
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Alrighty, so my Teferi's Ageless Insight has arrived, so I'll be swapping out Honor the Fallen to make room. My meta has some graveyard shenanigans, but not a huge amount, so this card has proven to be a kind of silver bullet that does nothing or very little other than trigger Kykar and company. I have a buddy who runs GY decks fairly often, and my kid now has a Tayam, Luminous Enigma elf combo list that abuses the yard, so I may have to stick honor back in eventually. We'll see.
I'm also going to test something out that I've been curious about for a while, which is Knowledge Pool. I feel like the fun factor for this card could be through the roof, and it's a good way to turn my cheapo Ponder and Faithless Looting gameplan into Nyxbloom Ancients, Razaketh, the Foulbloodeds, Eldrazi titans, Dagrons, and whatever else.
Per usual, the cut is the tough part. I'm going to take out Expansion // Explosion for now. The Expansion half has been great for me, but I do also have Narset's Reversal which has no restriction. The Explosion half, however, has proven to be clunky in my experience. I find myself in situations where I'd just be paying 6 to draw 2 or something like that, and it's just never appealing unless I'm straight up saccing all my spirits to draw a ton or in response to a board wipe. It just seems to require a very precise situation to be good in, so I don't think I'll miss it too much. Still, it's hard to give up a card that has so much utility, even if it can be inefficient.
I'm also going to test something out that I've been curious about for a while, which is Knowledge Pool. I feel like the fun factor for this card could be through the roof, and it's a good way to turn my cheapo Ponder and Faithless Looting gameplan into Nyxbloom Ancients, Razaketh, the Foulbloodeds, Eldrazi titans, Dagrons, and whatever else.
Per usual, the cut is the tough part. I'm going to take out Expansion // Explosion for now. The Expansion half has been great for me, but I do also have Narset's Reversal which has no restriction. The Explosion half, however, has proven to be clunky in my experience. I find myself in situations where I'd just be paying 6 to draw 2 or something like that, and it's just never appealing unless I'm straight up saccing all my spirits to draw a ton or in response to a board wipe. It just seems to require a very precise situation to be good in, so I don't think I'll miss it too much. Still, it's hard to give up a card that has so much utility, even if it can be inefficient.
7/9/20
Approximate Total Cost:
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Adding Knowledge Pool and a Teferi card, sounds like the fun police are in town.
Zedruu: "This deck is not only able to go crazy - it also needs to do so."
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MeowZeDung
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Teferi, Time Raveler will never, ever be in this list. Take it to the bank :laugh:
As far as Knowledge Pool; I'd say it will be plenty of fun. . . for me
As far as Knowledge Pool; I'd say it will be plenty of fun. . . for me
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MeowZeDung
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A friend came over last night and I got a bunch of magic in! I played Kykar in game 1 and have probably forgotten lots of the details, but here goes:
Kykar vs Tayam, Luminous Enigma elves vs Alela, Artful Provocateur vs Sliver Overlord
I had a solid opening hand with 3 lands, Arcane Signet, and Ponder. Between the Ponder and my first couple draws I hit another rock, Preordain, and Gamble. After turn 2 Arcane Signet into Preordain my hand was something like: Fellwar Stone, Render Silent, Settle the Wreckage, Gamble, Mandate of Peace, and two lands. It was one of those rare games where I didn't think it was worth running out Kykar on turn 3 since I didn't have a token engine and proactive spells in hand. With the spells I did have I figured it was better to keep developing my mana until I drew or gambled into some nonsense and in the meantime keep the others in check if they went too crazy. I played Fellwar Stone and passed.
Alela, Artful Provocateur had a pretty tame start with Vampiric Rites, Spear of Heliod, Alela, and Azorius Signet.
Sliver Overlord went Winged Sliver into Chromatic Lantern into Harmonic Sliver targetting my Arcane Signet
Tayam, Luminous Enigma was off the chain from very early on this game, and it was almost entirely due to the early game line of Sakura-Tribe Elder ramping/fixing into Beast Whisperer. Elvish Harbinger was the first creature after that I think, and their subsequent turns would be creature cantrip solitaire fests with multiple triggers.
After losing my signet and having mostly reactive spells in hand, I thought it best to get mana production as high as I could and I could probably only afford to tap out on my turn one time, so I played Kykar, Wind's Fury and gambled for Sol Ring. The random discard was Sol Ring
In hindsight and against another token deck and two tribal creature decks, I think I would have been better off gambling for Tragic Arrogance or even Hour of Reckoning since Alela only had a single faerie at that point and wasn't really set up to go off and get a bunch more before the next turn when I would resolve hour. With the hand I had set up to play draw-go control for at least a couple more turns, The Locust God might have been a decent gamble as well. Oh well. The silver lining was that I had drawn Monastery Mentor for the turn and it remained in hand.
Alela, Artful Provocateur nabbed Harmonic Sliver with a Cast Out, which was basically kryptonite for her deck. I was relieved to see it go too.
Sliver Overlord ran out it's commander and I think Striking Sliver.
Tayam, Luminous Enigma started really going off. I have no recollection of which order the herd of elves came out in. I know that on this turn Tayam and a pile of them emerged, each one drawing a card and getting a vigilance counter. I do remember that Dwynen, Gilt-Leaf Daen was one of them because the reach made it so now all three opponents could block Kykar and company
I drew a Keep Watch for the turn, cast Monastery Mentor and said go. IIRC I had just enough mana with my spirit to cast Settle the Wreckage if Tayam attacked en masse, but could Render Silent someone instead if I really needed to.
Alela spoiled that a bit by dropping a Doomwake Giant, thus killing my poor spirit taking me off Settle mana I thought about countering it, but Tayam was far and away the biggest threat and I thought it best to save interaction for them for the time being. The Giant also hosed the slivers pretty hard. The sliver deck followed up with Pulmonic Sliver and something else that I can't remember.
Tayam had another solitaire turn drawing a billion and vomiting elves out of their hand. They were triple stacking vigilance counters with Evolution Sage and had options for days. Most notably they played Altar of Dementia and Devoted Druid, but tapped out. As long as the druid got sent to the GY before their next turn they wouldn't be able to combo out without haste.
They attacked me and the sliver deck with 6 elves total, and I responded with Keep Watch to draw 6 followed by Mandate of Peace. I probably should have held on to the latter, and they got their lifegain from Dwynen, Gilt-Leaf Daen and the elves were vigilant and untapped anyhow, so it really wasn't bad for them to lose out on the combat.
I drew into Sunforger with the Keep Watch, played it, equipped it and chose to activate while it was still my turn since I didn't want to risk the Doomwake Giant going off. I got Forsake the Worldly and exiled the giant. I think this was the misplay of the game, and I'm kind of embarrassed about it TBH. I was suffering from Ascendant Evincar PTSD I suppose and just wanted the giant gone. I SHOULD have exiled the Altar of Dementia, and I considered it at the time, but I felt confident that one of the other players would answer Devoted Druid to prevent a combo. I didn't want to lose Kykar and Mentor, but given the elf deck's absurdity, I should have just let Alela try to go off and -x/-x the whole board and rid us of as much of the elf menace as possible.
I passed the turn and Alela promptly cast Ethereal Absolution
:laugh:
Sliver guy played The First Sliver and cascaded into something that died right away :laugh:
Somewhere in there Devoted Druid was targeted with a Swords to Plowshares and was sacced to Altar of Dementia or Evolutionary Leap in response.
Tayam played another game of solitaire and started self milling and activating Tayam a bunch. There was another big elf attack, this time I couldn't do anything since I didn't have Settle the Wreckage mana available thanks to Ethereal Absolution. Slivers and I took the beating. Devoted Druid was in the yard with Tayam mana up and Altar still on board, so the elf deck was set to combo their following turn if they weren't dealt with. They decided to durdle around a bit more before passing and somewhere in the process put a Safehold Elite on board and realized they had infinite on board with Elite + Altar of Dementia + Ivy Lane Denizen (@toctheyounger: it's just like we were talking about in the other thread, Tayam can end up being "oops I win" combo machine like Ghave, Guru of Spores and Saffi Eriksdotter)
So, not the greatest game for big bird. It reinforces my conviction that this particular Kykar list does not want to play control. I always do better in games where I am explosively proactive. The big mistakes IMO were gambling for a Sol Ring and exiling the Doomwake Giant instead of the Altar of Dementia. On a positive note, Keep Watch was solid!
I think it would have been a more fun and interesting game if the Sliver and enchantress deck had a little more action available, but such is life. Elves are pretty dang good.
Kykar vs Tayam, Luminous Enigma elves vs Alela, Artful Provocateur vs Sliver Overlord
I had a solid opening hand with 3 lands, Arcane Signet, and Ponder. Between the Ponder and my first couple draws I hit another rock, Preordain, and Gamble. After turn 2 Arcane Signet into Preordain my hand was something like: Fellwar Stone, Render Silent, Settle the Wreckage, Gamble, Mandate of Peace, and two lands. It was one of those rare games where I didn't think it was worth running out Kykar on turn 3 since I didn't have a token engine and proactive spells in hand. With the spells I did have I figured it was better to keep developing my mana until I drew or gambled into some nonsense and in the meantime keep the others in check if they went too crazy. I played Fellwar Stone and passed.
Alela, Artful Provocateur had a pretty tame start with Vampiric Rites, Spear of Heliod, Alela, and Azorius Signet.
Sliver Overlord went Winged Sliver into Chromatic Lantern into Harmonic Sliver targetting my Arcane Signet
Tayam, Luminous Enigma was off the chain from very early on this game, and it was almost entirely due to the early game line of Sakura-Tribe Elder ramping/fixing into Beast Whisperer. Elvish Harbinger was the first creature after that I think, and their subsequent turns would be creature cantrip solitaire fests with multiple triggers.
After losing my signet and having mostly reactive spells in hand, I thought it best to get mana production as high as I could and I could probably only afford to tap out on my turn one time, so I played Kykar, Wind's Fury and gambled for Sol Ring. The random discard was Sol Ring
In hindsight and against another token deck and two tribal creature decks, I think I would have been better off gambling for Tragic Arrogance or even Hour of Reckoning since Alela only had a single faerie at that point and wasn't really set up to go off and get a bunch more before the next turn when I would resolve hour. With the hand I had set up to play draw-go control for at least a couple more turns, The Locust God might have been a decent gamble as well. Oh well. The silver lining was that I had drawn Monastery Mentor for the turn and it remained in hand.Alela, Artful Provocateur nabbed Harmonic Sliver with a Cast Out, which was basically kryptonite for her deck. I was relieved to see it go too.
Sliver Overlord ran out it's commander and I think Striking Sliver.
Tayam, Luminous Enigma started really going off. I have no recollection of which order the herd of elves came out in. I know that on this turn Tayam and a pile of them emerged, each one drawing a card and getting a vigilance counter. I do remember that Dwynen, Gilt-Leaf Daen was one of them because the reach made it so now all three opponents could block Kykar and company
I drew a Keep Watch for the turn, cast Monastery Mentor and said go. IIRC I had just enough mana with my spirit to cast Settle the Wreckage if Tayam attacked en masse, but could Render Silent someone instead if I really needed to.
Alela spoiled that a bit by dropping a Doomwake Giant, thus killing my poor spirit taking me off Settle mana
I thought about countering it, but Tayam was far and away the biggest threat and I thought it best to save interaction for them for the time being. The Giant also hosed the slivers pretty hard. The sliver deck followed up with Pulmonic Sliver and something else that I can't remember.Tayam had another solitaire turn drawing a billion and vomiting elves out of their hand. They were triple stacking vigilance counters with Evolution Sage and had options for days. Most notably they played Altar of Dementia and Devoted Druid, but tapped out. As long as the druid got sent to the GY before their next turn they wouldn't be able to combo out without haste.
They attacked me and the sliver deck with 6 elves total, and I responded with Keep Watch to draw 6 followed by Mandate of Peace. I probably should have held on to the latter, and they got their lifegain from Dwynen, Gilt-Leaf Daen and the elves were vigilant and untapped anyhow, so it really wasn't bad for them to lose out on the combat.
I drew into Sunforger with the Keep Watch, played it, equipped it and chose to activate while it was still my turn since I didn't want to risk the Doomwake Giant going off. I got Forsake the Worldly and exiled the giant. I think this was the misplay of the game, and I'm kind of embarrassed about it TBH. I was suffering from Ascendant Evincar PTSD I suppose and just wanted the giant gone. I SHOULD have exiled the Altar of Dementia, and I considered it at the time, but I felt confident that one of the other players would answer Devoted Druid to prevent a combo. I didn't want to lose Kykar and Mentor, but given the elf deck's absurdity, I should have just let Alela try to go off and -x/-x the whole board and rid us of as much of the elf menace as possible.
I passed the turn and Alela promptly cast Ethereal Absolution
:laugh: Sliver guy played The First Sliver and cascaded into something that died right away :laugh:
Somewhere in there Devoted Druid was targeted with a Swords to Plowshares and was sacced to Altar of Dementia or Evolutionary Leap in response.
Tayam played another game of solitaire and started self milling and activating Tayam a bunch. There was another big elf attack, this time I couldn't do anything since I didn't have Settle the Wreckage mana available thanks to Ethereal Absolution. Slivers and I took the beating. Devoted Druid was in the yard with Tayam mana up and Altar still on board, so the elf deck was set to combo their following turn if they weren't dealt with. They decided to durdle around a bit more before passing and somewhere in the process put a Safehold Elite on board and realized they had infinite on board with Elite + Altar of Dementia + Ivy Lane Denizen (@toctheyounger: it's just like we were talking about in the other thread, Tayam can end up being "oops I win" combo machine like Ghave, Guru of Spores and Saffi Eriksdotter)
So, not the greatest game for big bird. It reinforces my conviction that this particular Kykar list does not want to play control. I always do better in games where I am explosively proactive. The big mistakes IMO were gambling for a Sol Ring and exiling the Doomwake Giant instead of the Altar of Dementia. On a positive note, Keep Watch was solid!
I think it would have been a more fun and interesting game if the Sliver and enchantress deck had a little more action available, but such is life. Elves are pretty dang good.
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Hello! I just wanted to say this deck is awesome! I've only been playing mtg for about a year now and I've been trying to figure out a deck to make in Jeskai (it's my favorite wedge). Bar none, I've had the most fun with your build, MeowZeDung! Here is my take on the deck with the cards I currently own. Feel free to critique. Thank you!
Kykar Spellslinger Tokens
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MeowZeDung
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I like it! The only thing that sticks out to me is Double Vision since it's expensive and jeskai has so many copy and doubling effects.
I assume Sakashima is kykar #2, or is there a combo I'm not seeing? Good stuff either way!
I assume Sakashima is kykar #2, or is there a combo I'm not seeing? Good stuff either way!
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Yeah, Sakashima is pretty much kykar two. I could take out double vision, it is expensive to cast. I pulled it as a promo and thought it would be cool to throw in. Not sure what I have that can replace it? Thank you for the input, I'm glad you like it!
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MeowZeDung
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I think I'd replace it with a 1-2 cmc rock. Talisman of Progress and Fellwar Stone are the two I run that you're missing, and there's also Mind Stone and Thought Vessel. If you don't have any of those, Sky Diamond and Marble Diamond exist and ramp into kykar, but aren't great mid or late game draws. There's also Silver Myr and Gold Myr which ramp into kykar and are shenanigans with Jeskai Ascendancy, but they're creatures and don't trigger your mentors.
Choose wisely
Edit: alternatively you could ask @tstorm823 what you could add to turn Sakashima into an infinite. IIRC Impact Tremors or Goblin Bombardment is one of the pieces, so you're halfway there already.
Edit again: how have Jeskai Charm and Deflecting Palm been for you?
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That combo in my deck needs Opalescence and Detention Sphere, which I don't think I'd recommend here.MeowZeDung wrote: ↑3 years agoEdit: alternatively you could ask @tstorm823 what you could add to turn Sakashima into an infinite. IIRC Impact Tremors or Goblin Bombardment is one of the pieces, so you're halfway there already.
OTOH, with two Kykar, Wind's Fury and Anointed Procession , you're 1 Haze of Rage away from infinite powered creatures, and that card's probably super playable in a Kykar deck.
Zedruu: "This deck is not only able to go crazy - it also needs to do so."
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MeowZeDung
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Yup, Haze of Rage is a fantastic Kykar card by itself. Sweet combo!
The Opalescence/Detention Sphere combo would be great in the enchantress version of kykar though. I swear I'll get to that and some other alt lists someday. I'm close to done with the crouching kykar hidden zada one
The Opalescence/Detention Sphere combo would be great in the enchantress version of kykar though. I swear I'll get to that and some other alt lists someday. I'm close to done with the crouching kykar hidden zada one
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Oooh Haze of Rage [/card] looks amazing! Of all those mana rocks, I got lucky and pulled a Mind Stone [/card] in a mystery booster, so I'll probably add that for now. I think I'll put Haze of Rage in there later though. I've only had a chance to play the deck once.
At one point, I had The Locust God and Skullclamp [/card]out and I should I have had enough mana to make enough attackers to kill everyone with evasive creatures. Unfortunately, I didn't pull the trigger when I had the chance and my friend played an infinite combo with Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God [/card] and Spark Double [/card] on the next turn, I believe. I had no responses in my hand. So he won You live and you learn. Jeskai Charm [/card]pretty much got me a lot of health and did some damage. It kept me alive. I haven't had a chance to use Deflecting Palm [/card] yet, but when I do, its going to be so much fun lol!
At one point, I had The Locust God and Skullclamp [/card]out and I should I have had enough mana to make enough attackers to kill everyone with evasive creatures. Unfortunately, I didn't pull the trigger when I had the chance and my friend played an infinite combo with Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God [/card] and Spark Double [/card] on the next turn, I believe. I had no responses in my hand. So he won You live and you learn. Jeskai Charm [/card]pretty much got me a lot of health and did some damage. It kept me alive. I haven't had a chance to use Deflecting Palm [/card] yet, but when I do, its going to be so much fun lol!
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MeowZeDung
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It's not really my thing since I've built it, done it, gotten the t shirt, and got bored of it, but just an FYI that Locust god, skullclamp, and Ashnod's Altar go infinite. Ashnod's pretty much opens up combo in general though tbh.
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