This. Is. Sparta!!
I will discuss this deck in detail, this will be a work in progress. One of the fun parts about this deck is that it is super adaptable, so I will discuss that as well.
Reasons to play this deck:
1) You love making decisions, gaining % points by small differences in the choices you can make
2) You don't like to be trapped into 1 game plan and executing it over and over again.
3) You have an aversion to being "normal" or "typical"
4) You enjoy shuffling (LOTS of shuffling)
5) Big deck!
6) You think pod/kiki-chord were the coolest decks you ever played in modern and also enjoy titan decks at the same time.
7) You either have been playing modern a long time, or, have a lot of time on your hand to learn how to play 4 decks at once.
8) you enjoy commander/EDH and love how every game you play a different deck - why not do it in modern!
Reasons not to play this deck:
1) Shuffling...its' huge! Ill talk about some "short cuts" that can be done if you and opponent agree at the FNM level. Playing this in comp REL requires speaking to judges beforehand and demonstrating your ability to sufficiently randomize your deck in under 3mins.
2) Tons of decisions. And, it's not like "do I shock or get a basic" its like "I can get one 2-3 drop creature - which one. There are literally 37 options!"
3) You like countering spells, or thoughtseizing people.
4) You like playing a similar deck/style over and over again.
5) Small deck?
Deckbuilding READ THIS
It is important to note. This deck plays 243 cards. Yes, that is a lot. More than 4 decks one might say (and be correct). That being said, there are very intentional decisions made in building it. This is a creature value/ramp focused deck, with lots of combos that can win the game. The point is to always have play, create a deck where there are a lot of decisions made. The combo's almost all overlap. The pieces are put in with specific numbers because of their inherit value when not comboing. There are 4 resto angels, but only 1 spike feeder. There are 4 renegade rallier, but only 1 corridor monitor. This is all done scientifically. I have gone back and forth up and down with many of these numbers. I believe this is the best for this type of build. BoW
Battle of Wits
can be built many ways. Usually people lean towards all spells, draw/tutor effects, board wipes, and rely on BoW for the win. I think this could be valid, gets to play a lot of fun cards I like as well. But, whenever I played it too often it felt like a control deck with many extra cards in it.
This version, I often want to add 1-2 more cards. I feel like every piece fits and has a purpose. I cut cards like serum visions and path to exile because although they are great, they don't fit in this deck in particular.
I say all this to point out, don't come to this deck, and immediately change 5-10 cards just because "that's nothing in a 242 card deck" or add 5 more. The numbers are very intentional. I will point out cards you can cut while maintaining the integrity of the deck! The first cuts would be venser, nissa, nahiri. Then archangle+spike feeder. after that cuts get into your card draw/value (watcher, courser or oracle etc.) and I am not sure that will end well for the deck!
The general gameplan:
Step 1
Get some value into play, draw cards, ramp, get your colors out there. Very rarely if ever keep a 1 land hand. Often keep 2-3 though. Figure out if you are going for a fast combo, value, or control type of strat in this game
Step 2
Start to execute your plan. If we are trying to combo - generally getting vannifar out asap is best. Or, if you have saheeli, or bring to light, getting what you need to finish the combo. If its value, chord/call get things like ewit and tracker. soulherder becomes a must answer etc. IF its a control - get your silver bullet that shuts them down! sometimes you do all the above at once (revoker a karn and ewit back the chord to go get a vannifar ftw)
Combos in the deck
1)
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
+ any of the following:
Corridor Monitor
Bounding Krasis
Breaching Hippocamp
Restoration Angel
Felidar Guardian
Zealous Conscripts
2)
Prime Speaker Vannifar
and any other creature (that is not cmc 6+ - so not Prime Time) will allow you to get a Kiki-combo. Will explain all the lines later.
3)
Saheeli Rai
+
Felidar Guardian
4)
Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
+ mountains. This can be naturally/slow. Sped up greatly with
Primeval Titan
(aka prime time) or even faster with a
Dryad of the Ilysian Grove
. Keep in mind this is always an inevitable combo...a way to win vs. control decks. Eventually, its coming!
5)
Nahiri, the Harbinger
+ any creature. Allows you to ult for vannifar and win from there.
6)
Scapeshift
+ 7 lands will deal 18 damage. 8 lands can do 36 damage. Note valakut needs to be in play or the deck. With dryad, the number of lands is 1 less because valakut will also count as a mount. Can use
Bring to Light
to cast scapeshift.
7)
Devoted Druid
+
Vizier of Remedies
= infinite green mana.
Chord of Calling
or
Shalai, Voice of Plenty
or
Duskwatch Recruiter
can win the game from there.
8)
Spike Feeder
+
Archangel of Thune
= infinite life. You already default win by them decking if they somehow have ways to remove and you dont have any other creature that can attack that turn. unless they have a way to shuffle their deck should be auto-win.
9)
Stoneforge Mystic
+ Swords and/or
Batterskull
not in any way an "I win" combo. But, with so many creatures finding someone to carry the skull/sword it pretty easy. This is a value combo that often wins game while they stop you from your other combos.
10)
Battle of Wits
+ upkeep = you win!! namesake of the deck. Some would say the reason to play this many cards, but really, it's an excuse!
Silver bullets. A.K.A. "You don't get to win"
Narrowing down this list is difficult, but I believe I have the best mix in here. There are some other hatebears, taxes pieces and value cards that are excluded as of now. But can be adjusted based on the meta.
1)
Grand Abolisher
a "must have" you could build teferi into this list, but, I like keeping it creature focused because of Chord and Evolution and call. Abolisher says "NO" to all counterspells, as well as shutting down abilities on the battlefield while you combo.
2)
Giver of Runes
a great "value" card that helps protect value pieces, while also protecting crucial combo pieces sometimes. Most of our combos involve creatures. I would play more, but, there are enough times it does nothing and is a 1/2 that its worth narrowing down.
3)
Selfless Spirit
great anti-board wipe.
4)
Scavenging Ooze
+
Remorseful Cleric
= good graveyard hate. Need both because they do different things well and both are needed in modern.
5)
Collector Ouphe
although affinity is dead. Hardended scales and thopter/sword decks are definitely out there. It also is needed vs. tron (our worst matchup). if you can get ouphe, and a revoker, you can usually survive long enough to win.
6)
Meddling Mage
a card that is seldom "dead" but sometimes can win the game by not allowing the opponent to cast things like supreme verdict, or primeval titan or lightning bolt.
7)
Phyrexian Revoker
with the rise of teferi's, karns, and other such pws. as well as cards like opposing walking ballista/spike feeder. This card is usually good.
8)
Knight of Autumn
another great example of an "answer" that at its worst can gain life or be a decent blocker/threat. can be wished for
9)
Deputy of Detention
used to play more - found skyclave to be better, especially with soulherder. need 1 for big things, and multiples. (can also wish for one)
10)
Eidolon of Rhetoric
love this card. it isn't just "anti-storm" but burn, urza, blitz, control (snapcaster) hammer and bogles. Thats most of the top decks! may be we should play more?
11)
Nissa, Vastwood Seer
classic value card. This one falls into "fun-of" and could be cut. wood elves may just be better for what we need.
12)
Reflector Mage
another one I used to have more of. when its good, its amazing! when its bad, it feels pretty lame. If death shadow becomes big, or humans/elves are big in your meta, add some of these bad boys!
13)
Venser, Shaper Savant
total "fun-of". glen elandra or stonehorn is probably better in this slot. But, I can't resist trying to set up venser+soulherder for bounce your stuff every turn fun!
14)
Huntmaster of the Fells
a great value card in grindy (looking at your Jund) matchups. can also close out a game fast!
Special Mention - 2 ofs
1)
Eternal Witness
is the only non-land 2 of in the deck. It is because just 1 isn't enough for the value plays/loops that it makes so possible. But, playing 4 feels clunky in a deck that doesn't purpose to put cards into the gy! The lands are only valakut, and ketria triome. Which is because of being a combo piece, and being a tapped try land that gives us 3 of our 4 colors. our priority goes double green, double blue before double white then red, but this lets us get green and blue and red!
Sideboard
In the sideboard we have a free companion card!
Yorion, Sky Nomad
Then a wish board. Most of the wish package makes perfectly good sense. Call/Bring allow us to get those cards more often then just putting the 4th copy in the deck. Lavinia is great vs. tron, as well as burn and any deck with pacts (titan). wear/tear is the only strange one I think. It is there for a card like torpor orb, or blood moon. If we are casting wish - we already have gw, but the tear half only cost 1 mana instead of knight being 3. Technically qasali pridemage can also hit torpor orb. But again, this is a flexible card that is likely unexpected. I have liked it.
the non-wish cards are important and have rotated based on meta.
Linvala, Keeper of Silence
will likely always be here. Shutting down things like urza, elves, heliod combo, scales and stoneforge decks is super worth the slot.
Sword of Fire and Ice
is almost good enough to be in the main. Feast and famine and fire and ice are both so great. I am not sure which is actually "best" but I find the pro black/green to be better in more matchups currently. But, if all you see are blitz/burn then switch them from main/sb. I also considered and tried running a light and shadow as well. I found it to be lack-luster and come in less often.
Arasta of the Endless Web
is there ideally for blitz, burn, and controlly/jundy decks with lots of spells. instead of eidolon, which hurts us both sometimes.
Stonehorn Dignitary
+ soulherder can shut some decks out. or at least slow them down a LOT. So I like having that in the sb. I am often cutting the venser, nissa, ouphe, revoker, and other bullets that aren't good in the matchup.
Vannifar Lines
You can "go off" which is, to make infinite tokens that are copies of some creature using
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
and win in combat as long as you have any other 1-5CMC creature in play alongside a non-summoning sick Vannifar. Here is how:
The EZ line. If you have any 1 drop in play, congratulations. This is the shorter route to victory!
1. Sacrifice your 1 drop, search your deck for
Corridor Monitor
- use it to untap Vannifar
2. Sac your
Corridor Monitor
and get a
Renegade Rallier
. Revolt will trigger. Return the Monitor to play and untap Vannifar
3. Sac the
Renegade Rallier
to get a
Restoration Angel
(or
Felidar Guardian
) and use it's trigger to "flicker" the
Corridor Monitor
. Use the untap on vannifar
4. Sac the
Restoration Angel
and go get
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
. You can now use his ability on
Corridor Monitor
and the untap on Kiki - to make infinite 1/4 little guys ready to kill!
The more convoluted line
With anything other than a 1 drop, we have to get more creative. because we cannot "flicker" vannifar with a resto angel or the like. It limits how we can go get Kiki, while having a worthwhile target for him in play. I will start from a 2 CMC creature, and work up to the combo. If you have a 3, 4, or 5 drop. You can start the combo from that step! **Note:** if you have vannifar + 2 creatures - like a 2 and 4 drop. Sac the 2 drop for Krasis, and then the 4 for Kiki. Or if you have two 3 drops, one gets hippocamp - the other can get angel flicker hippo, then either 4 drop can be sacced for kiki. These steps are for if you only have 1 other creature!!!
1. Sac your 2 drop with vannifar - go get a
Bounding Krasis
- use the untap on vannifar
2. Sac the
Bounding Krasis
(or any other 3 drop) to go get
Breaching Hippocamp
- use the untap on vannifar.
3. Sac the
Breaching Hippocamp
(or 4 cmc creature) and go get
Zealous Conscripts
. Use the conscripts trigger on Vannifar, it will essentially "untap" her - while also giving haste.
4. Sac the
Zealous Conscripts
(or 5 cmc creature, which is basically only archangel of thune) to go get
Woodland Bellower
. Bellower's trigger will then search your deck for a
Bounding Krasis
, which is why we need exactly 3 in the deck!
5. Now, you sac the
Bounding Krasis
to go get a
Restoration Angel
which then "flickers"
Woodland Bellower
to go get _another_
Bounding Krasis
- this can untap Vannifar again. Leaving you with a Krasis and Resto angel (and bellower) in play.
6. Now, you can sac the
Restoration Angel
to go get
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
. Allowing you to go infinite with
Bounding Krasis
FTW!
Coming soon: notes on cards not included. Main, and sb
