Lukka, Wayward Bonder - an experiment in mini-goals

[DirkGently]

A lot of people didn't seem to understand what I meant by a mini-goal in my thread from a week ago. A mini-goal isn't an achievement unlock, it's not a silly way to win the game that might come up on occasion. It's more of a pit-stop on your way to victory, part of your plan that you'll almost always at least attempt to execute because it will significantly boost your chances to win if you can execute it. It simplifies and redirects your objective within the game, giving you something easier to aim for instead of trying to find an outright win.

Personally, I think this creates a much more interesting and enjoyable play experience for everyone involved, whether you win or lose.

Anyway, this is one of the decks I thought about to explore this idea. Having a particular emblem to aim for gives a really strong direction to go in, both in terms of deckbuilding and deckplaying, and means you can still feel pretty good about "doing your thing" even if you lose after getting the emblem down. Lukka's emblem, while kinda underwhelming considering it's the same as an enchantment with the same cmc as lukka himself, is a pretty rad effect to build around, and also maybe not so threatening that people will feel compelled to throw everything at you to make sure he doesn't get there.

Anyway, here's the list.

Decklist

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

Commander (1)

1 Lukka, Wayward Bonder

Other Planeswalkers (7)

1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance

1 Rowan Kenrith

1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion

1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant

1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar

1 Ajani, Steadfast

Defend the Planeswalkers (4)

1 Maze of Ith

1 Orzhov Advokist

1 Moat

1 Magus of the Moat

Get to Ult Range (5)

1 Grateful Apparition

1 Throne of Geth

1 Volt Charge

1 Oath of Gideon

1 Sword of Truth and Justice

An Ult so Nice, I Ulted Twice (3)

1 Lithoform Engine

1 Rings of Brighthearth

1 Repeated Reverberation

Lukka Emblem Synergies (23)

1 Soul of Eternity

1 Warstorm Surge

1 Terror of the Peaks

1 Tooth and Claw

1 Mimic Vat

1 Parallax Wave

1 Ogre Battledriver

1 Rakka Mar

1 Stonecloaker

1 Serra Ascendan

1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos

1 Norin the Wary

1 Outlaws' Merriment

1 Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin

1 Warchief Giant

1 Skyknight Vanguard

1 Loyal Apprentice

1 Dragonmaster Outcast

1 Seasoned Pyromancer

1 Rekindling Phoenix

1 Herald of the Host

1 Angel of Invention

1 Aethergeode Miner

Discard Fodder (3)

1 Squee, Goblin Nabob

1 Anger

1 Ox of Agonas

Targeted Removal (5)

1 Unexpectedly Absent

1 Path to Exile

1 Swords to Plowshares

1 Chaos Warp

1 Generous Gift

Wipes (7)

1 Martial Coup

1 Promise of Loyalty

1 Austere Command

1 Hour of Revelation

1 Rout

1 Blasphemous Act

1 False Prophet

Tutors (4)

1 Enlightened Tutor

1 Gamble

1 Imperial Recruiter

1 Recruiter of the Guard

Ramp and etc (13)

1 Land Tax

1 Keeper of the Accord

1 Cartographer's Hawk

1 Mana Crypt

1 Sol Ring

1 Component Pouch

1 Worn Powerstone

1 Coalition Relic

1 Palladium Myr

1 Jeweled Lotus

1 Mana Vault

1 Grim Monolith

1 Jeska's Will

Lands (25)

25 Not enough slots left but I'm working on it

1 Lukka, Wayward Bonder 1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance 1 Rowan Kenrith 1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion 1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant 1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar 1 Ajani, Steadfast 1 Maze of Ith 1 Orzhov Advokist 1 Moat 1 Magus of the Moat 1 Grateful Apparition 1 Throne of Geth 1 Volt Charge 1 Oath of Gideon 1 Sword of Truth and Justice 1 Lithoform Engine 1 Rings of Brighthearth 1 Repeated Reverberation 1 Soul of Eternity 1 Warstorm Surge 1 Terror of the Peaks 1 Tooth and Claw 1 Mimic Vat 1 Parallax Wave 1 Ogre Battledriver 1 Rakka Mar 1 Stonecloaker 1 Serra Ascendan 1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos 1 Norin the Wary 1 Outlaws' Merriment 1 Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin 1 Warchief Giant 1 Skyknight Vanguard 1 Loyal Apprentice 1 Dragonmaster Outcast 1 Seasoned Pyromancer 1 Rekindling Phoenix 1 Herald of the Host 1 Angel of Invention 1 Aethergeode Miner 1 Squee, Goblin Nabob 1 Anger 1 Ox of Agonas 1 Unexpectedly Absent 1 Path to Exile 1 Swords to Plowshares 1 Chaos Warp 1 Generous Gift 1 Martial Coup 1 Promise of Loyalty 1 Austere Command 1 Hour of Revelation 1 Rout 1 Blasphemous Act 1 False Prophet 1 Enlightened Tutor 1 Gamble 1 Imperial Recruiter 1 Recruiter of the Guard 1 Land Tax 1 Keeper of the Accord 1 Cartographer's Hawk 1 Mana Crypt 1 Sol Ring 1 Component Pouch 1 Worn Powerstone 1 Coalition Relic 1 Palladium Myr 1 Jeweled Lotus 1 Mana Vault 1 Grim Monolith 1 Jeska's Will 25 Not enough slots left but I'm working on it //Sideboard

[TheAmericanSpirit]

Chandra, Acolyte of Flame seems better than normal here. MDFC like Flamescroll Celebrant // Revel in Silence and Skyclave Cleric // Skyclave Basilica seem good too, if only as spells/lands Lukka can toss for draw.

[DirkGently]

Chandra, Acolyte of Flame seems better than normal here. MDFC like Flamescroll Celebrant // Revel in Silence and Skyclave Cleric // Skyclave Basilica seem good too, if only as spells/lands Lukka can toss for draw.

Y'know I totally missed that Chandra is another way to proliferate. Not quite as good ofc since she can't help me ult white walkers, but probably worth it just for lukka, even if her other abilities are pretty unexciting for me.

I could see running the land/creature mdfcs to improve lukka's looting. Not so sure about the stuff like flamescroll celebrant since I doubt I'd want to cast either side of it. I will say, from playing the deck tonight the play pattern seems to be that you play him, plus him, and then hope he survives around the table so you can proliferate and immediately ult. So the plus ability doesn't usually come up super often.

[TheAmericanSpirit]

Y'know I totally missed that Chandra is another way to proliferate. Not quite as good ofc since she can't help me ult white walkers, but probably worth it just for lukka, even if her other abilities are pretty unexciting for me.

I could see running the land/creature mdfcs to improve lukka's looting. Not so sure about the stuff like flamescroll celebrant since I doubt I'd want to cast either side of it. I will say, from playing the deck tonight the play pattern seems to be that you play him, plus him, and then hope he survives around the table so you can proliferate and immediately ult. So the plus ability doesn't usually come up super often.

Interesting. I assumed you were leaning harder on Lukka's +1 because the rest of the deck feels really CA light. Maybe add Skullclamp or Scroll Rack? I dunno.

[DirkGently]

It didn't feel that bad last night. The +1 is strong, and while it's not something you're doing super often you've always got access to it if you want it. But also you've got a lot of other planeswalkers that give you repeatable value, so it feels like you've always got stuff to do. I only played 4 games though so maybe I just need more iterations. It doesn't feel like a deck that needs a ton of draw - it's not churning super hard or anything. I could see throwing in some weaker draw effects but strong repeatable ones like skullclamp I think are overkill (not to say they wouldn't be useful, but I think I'd tend towards draw effects that better match what we want with the deck - partly to avoid playing the same stuff in every deck, and partly because skull clamp rightly draws hate that might not be worth it in a deck that doesn't get enough value from it).