Welcome to the land of free stuff! Narset, Enlightened Master doesn't want to pay for things, that's a waste of precious mana. It should be no surprise that this deck works like many Voltron-esque decks. Suiting up Narset allows her to attack more freely, and thus begins the heart of the deck - the free spells. So without further ado, let's dive into the card choices.
The Planeswalker Package:
Ajani Vengeant - Provides some board control with keeping things tapped and clearing littler pests. His ultimate is devastating and can win the game when you do it to everyone by utilizing Inexorable Tide (particularly after Enter the Infinite + Omniscience
.
Chandra, the Firebrand - Basically there for a -2 Fork. That's about it. Debating including a Chandra, Torch of Defiance so if anyone has thoughts on her in this list, let me know down below.
Elspeth, Sun's Champion - Chump blockers are helpful, and the board clear that misses a raw Narset has been useful multiple times before. Also, the emblem is huge if you ever get there.
Jace, Architect of Thought - The mini Fact or Fiction that can possibly be repeated is awesome. And a game-winning ultimate if you manage it with Inexorable Tide.
Nahiri, the Harbinger - Card selection is prime, and a nice removal option for certain things. The ultimate does leave a bit to be desired in this deck, but the other two abilities are quite good already.
Narset Transcendent - Card selection, rebounding important spells, and an emblem that makes a huge impact on a game. Plus a beefy loyalty count as a 4-mana walker. What's not to love?
Ral Zarek - Can accelerate mana by untapping lands and mana rocks, can tap blockers, and can remove littler creatures. Plus extra turns are great if you can get there.
Tamiyo, the Moon Sage - Board control walker. Sometimes you can draw a bunch if someone tapped out for a big swing. And the emblem with Omniscience is game over.
Venser, the Sojourner - Mostly in here because -1 unblockable, but the flicker can be relevant. Can flicker Narset, then wipe the board, or use the flicker to reset a mana rock for mana on your opponents turns.
The Artifacts:
Batterskull - Huge buffs for Narset. Makes her big, gains us back the life we lost early to more aggressive decks, and vigilance allows us to not have to let the defenses down to attack. Also, it can be a creature on its own and can evade boardwipes, so it's quite resilient.
Chromatic Lantern, Chrome Mox, Darksteel Ingot, Gilded Lotus, Sol Ring, Thran Dynamo - Mana rocks, because Narset can hit these but not lands. Debating adding one or two more instead of a land or two, probably two of the signets. Thoughts?
Crawlspace - Protecting us from the people who want to swing wide. We don't run enough creatures to have ground superiority so we need to pillowfort a little.
Darksteel Plate - Because Hexproof isn't enough sometimes.
Sensei's Divining Top - Lets us look at the top three, put the land on top, draw it with the top, then attack and replay the top, preventing us from exiling as many lands with Narset's trigger.
Strionic Resonator - Because 8 free spells are better than 4.
Sunforger - Huge power buff and allows us to tutor for something like Enlightened Tutor so that we can find Omniscience.
Swiftfoot Boots - Haste.
Sword of Feast and Famine, Sword of War and Peace - Protection helps get Narset through, and they provide nice effects. Feast and Famine goes infinite with Aggravated Assault if you can continue to hit face.
Sword of the Animist - Removing the lands from the deck to allow more Narset hits.
The Enchantments:
Aggravated Assault - More combats means more free stuff.
Banishing Light, Oblivion Ring, Detention Sphere - General get rid of anything removal.
Eldrazi Conscription - Narset is now a two turn clock, and annihilator is just an insane keyword.
Ghostly Prison and Propaganda - More pillowforting to survive early stuff.
Inexorable Tide - This card is just dumb with planeswalkers. With Enter the Infinite + Omniscience
it makes countless things possible that will just win you the game.
Land Tax - Fixes your mana early, and makes sure that late game you can just pull a ton of lands out of the deck for more Narset hits.
Omniscience - If I need to talk about why this card is good, I think you need to read the card again.
Reconnaissance - Lets you attack with Narset into unfavorable boards, get the trigger, and pull her back.
Steel of the Godhead - Unblockable and a solid P/T buff, as well as lifelink.
Non-Permanant Spells:
Baral's Expertise - This card is pretty great. Bounce three problem permanants, and play something solid for 4 mana for free? Sign me up!
Beacon of Tomorrows, Temporal Tresspass, and Time Stretch - Extra turns means more combat, means more free spells. More of this likely incoming eventually, specifically Temporal Mastery and Time Warp.
Day of Judgment, Divine Reckoning, and Supreme Verdict - Sometimes you just really need to blow everything up. You're not always the scariest person.
Enter the Infinite - Draw my deck, play everything off of Omniscience. Yeah.
Howl of the Hord and Reverberate - Copy effects to copy turn/combat effects or other really powerful spells.
Mind's Desire - Cast it last for a whole lot of fun stuff. Many, many things for free.
Ponder and Brainstorm - Making sure the early game can go smoothly, and can set up Narset hits.
Relentless Assault, Waves of Aggression, and World at War - More combats = more free spells.
Storm Herd - Lots of evasive 1/1's has won me the game on multiple occasions.
Enlightened Tutor - 1 mana, find Omniscience, hit it with Narset.
Lightning Helix - Goes infinite with a Tamiyo emblem and Omniscience.
Path to Exile and Swords to Plowshares - Single target creature removal.
Return to Dust - Removal for two troublesome artifacts and enchantments.
What We Can't Hit:
Aurelia, the Warleader - More combats for more free stuff.
Stoneforge Mystic - Searches up a nice equipment and can cheat it in.
And the landbase. Nothing really crazy in there to note.
So there it is. The card choices explained. I've been running and continually updating this list since she came out, and I will continue to keep her around for a while to come. I wouldn't call this a budget deck, but upgrades will come slowly because I can only spend so much on it so often (life is expensive). But suggestions are welcomed and appreciated, as well as just general discussion and inquiry. Thanks for taking the time to look through the list and description, and don't forget to hit that upvote button if you like what's going on.
-evncrbch
