The deck is a control / combo deck that aims to control the board until you can muster together one of the four ways to win. Between using Disruption, Counter Magic, Removal and Card Draw, you can easily control the early game, and move onto the Mid / Late game where you assemble any of the win conditions.
This is a deck that I have worked hard on refining and perfecting. Taking inspiration from Legacy and Vintage combo decks, this deck is extremely fun to pilot, and highly rewarding of creative play!
Win Conditions:
Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
Since Griselbrand is banned in multiplayer EDH, we have to resort to this guy. Not only is he a card drawing machine, he also reduces your opponent's hand size by 7. (Which is key, Reliquary Tower and effects of the same, get around this.) Regardless, he is the best way to stall the game out, while you dig furiously for your combo pieces to win the game.The simplest way to cheat this guy in, is via Entomb + Reanimate
combo, which can be done as early as Turn 2.
You can also cheat him in via Show and Tell or
Victimize
but isn't the ideal strategy, as these cards are reserved for the alternative win conditions.
Pros:
- Can easily lock out the game for your opponent(s).
- Helps you dig fast for a quick cleanup.
- Combo requires minimal mana, making it easy to protect with counter magic.
- Entomb is instant speed, so it can be unexpected.
Cons:- Any removal stops this.
- Naturally drawing Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur is a pain, needs to be reshuffled via Brainstorm, or discarded to the Graveyard for reanimation.
- Isn't as strong on an already developed board.
- People get sad :(
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker + Pestermite
This modern combo of using Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker's activated ability to create a temporary token of a Pestermite which untaps Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker to repeat the process, effectively creating an unlimited amount of Pestermite tokens to which you can kill your opponent with via combat damage.
You can do this via natural means of casting a Pestermite end of turn, into a Main Phase Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker. Or, you can use the Buried Alive and
Victimize
combo.
Using Buried Alive you grab Bloodghast, Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker and Pestermite. Drop a land to return Bloodghast to the field, then cast
Victimize
sacrificing the Bloodghast bringing in the other two pieces back to the battlefield tapped. Then use Pestermite's untap trigger to commence chaos.
Pros:
- Wins the game in the current turn.
- Naturally drawing the creatures isn't bad. Use Brainstorm to shuffle them back into the deck, or cycle them to the Graveyard via the Draw / Discard spells, if needed.
- Casting the combo naturally can be unexpected.
- Can win regardless of the board state
- Easiest combo to Tutor for.
Cons:- Both spells are Sorcery speed.
- Graveyard interaction can shut this down.
- Removal on the Bloodghast in response effectively counters
Victimize
. Unless you have another creature.
- Requires 6 mana to complete, can be hard to defend.
Omniscience + Show and Tell
This Legacy combo helps makes all your spells in your hand cost 0 to cast. This, mixed with the amount of spells you can cycle can very easily build up enough storm to Tendrils of Agony someone out of the game.
Ideally, you want to have Omniscience on the field with a card draw spell (Or two) in hand to start the chain. When digging through your deck, you want to prioritize spells as: Win Conditions > Tutors > Draw Spells, but is still highly situation as to where you are, and what you have in hand.
For example, you cast an Impulse and see: Steam Vents, Demonic Tutor, Frantic Search, Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur. This is an easy one, you take Demonic Tutor and the cast it to search for either another draw spell, or a last piece of a win condition. Even though, Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur was in the pile, in the position of storming off, casting Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur won't advance you any further.
A key engine to this is
Pulse of the Grid
. Ideally you want to minimize your hand size by ditching land to Looting spells, and casting everything else. Thus being able to recur
Pulse of the Grid
enough to go through your entire deck, and generate lethal storm. Use tricks like, countering your spells, Thoughtseizeing your own uncastable spells, and my personal favorite, cast
Pulse of the Grid
hold priority, and cast Perplex targeting
Pulse of the Grid
.
With careful use of the stack, you can drop your reset spells (Yawgmoth's Will and Time Spiral), hold priority and continue to cast
Pulse of the Grid
to squeeze out the extra card draw from having less cards in your hand before having to reset.
You have ways to reset your hand in:
Wheel of Fortune
and Time Spiral. If you feel that you are going to fizzle, actively try to get either of these spells and restart for a better chance to continue.
In a 4-Player game, it might be hard to generate enough storm to kill 3 other opponents. You have to stagger your Tendrils of Agony with Pull from the Deep,
Ill-Gotten Gains
and Yawgmoth's Will to hopefully get enough damage through.
NOTE: Omniscience does not let you Transmute, cast spells from your Command Zone, or your Graveyard via a resolved Yawgmoth's Will, or a Snapcaster Mage flashback trigger. You will need to float mana from the untap effects of
Snap
, Frantic Search and Time Spiral to cast these spells. When deciding what mana to float, Prioritize: 2 Black > Blue > Black > Red. You want the initial 2 Black for casting Tendrils of Agony from a Yawgmoth's Will or Snapcaster Mage, then the Blue is for Cantrips such as Ponder and Preordain as well as your Mystical Tutor,
Personal Tutor
and backup counterspells. Red is for anything else.
Alternatively you can draw / tutor into the Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker + Pestermite
combo for a quicker win
Pros:
- Extremely rewarding to pull off.
- Hard to disrupt.
- Same turn win. (Assuming no fizzle)
- 3 Mana combo, easy to defend.
Cons:
Thraximundar Finally, if all else fails you can just cast your commander for a beatdown plan. This win condition is mainly a backup plan, but can be cast earlier with the mana rocks. You can play the control game if your opening 7 is control heavy, where you can just play Draw-Go until you land a Thraximundar for the game. Not the flashiest of win conditions, but if you clear the board and control your opponent's plays, he can be an easy way to clear our the win.
Pros:
Cons:- Has no evasion.
- 7 Mana spell, which requires one of each colour.
- Wins in 4 turns with no triggers.
Key Cards, Tricks and Synergy:
Perplex
One of my favorite cards in this deck, it's a counter spell. It helps reset your hand with
Pulse of the Grid
, and it's main feature, being able to Transmute for a 3 CMC card.
List of important cards to Transmute for:
Mystical Tutor, Demonic Tutor, Merchant Scroll. Entomb
Tutors help make the deck as consistent as possible. Keep in mind what tutors you have access to, and what remains. Remember which ones get which combo pieces, and which ones can't, and sequence your tutoring to allow for a smooth and quick combo.
Try to note which ones bring the card to your hand, or onto the top of your deck.
Simple Example of Sequencing: End of Turn cast Entomb getting Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur. Upkeep cast Mystical Tutor for
Reanimate
. Draw. Main Phase cast
Reanimate
.
Using Entomb to put a spell into the graveyard for Snapcaster Mage to flashback is a neat trick.
Counterspells
Counter magic helps you push through your combo, as well as protect you from anything that stops you from winning, or severely hinders your game-plan. With 10 Counterspells, some of which are conditional, you will run out of answers. So, use them wisely.
Rakdos Charm
This is our only answer to graveyard strategies. Use wisely and at key times to delay your opponent, buying yourself time to win, or enough to disrupt further.
Against non-graveyard decks, it can remove problematic artifacts (Tormod's Crypt) or opposing acceleration artifacts (Mana Vault). You might also find the last mode useful against other Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker + Pestermite
combo players, although you will only get them once with it.
Toxic Deluge
Board clear that bypasses Gaddock Teeg's permission. Excellent against the GW style decks that try to overwhelm with creatures and prison style effects. Shines against Indestructible creatures.
Pulse of the Grid
Very strong card draw spell. Not only as the main engine behind the Omniscience + Show and Tell
combo, but is strong in the mid-game where you're trading resources with your opponent(s).
Chain of Vapor
Good card for temporary removal of troublesome permanents. Can also help going off with Omniscience. Bounce your own permanents and copy by sacrificing your tapped lands. Look to bounce permanents like; Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Snapcaster Mage, Mana Vault.
Brainstorm
Legacy all-star. Use this card in conjunction with shuffle effects to put back cards you don't want or need in your hand for better cards. With 22 cards that shuffle your library, you will always be able to ditch those unwanted cards.
Lim-Dul's Vault
At the small cost of life, you are able to effectively tutor for any card in your deck and place it on top of your library. At instant speed, you can set it up End of Turn and look to win when you untap.
Yawgmoth's Will
One of the strongest recursion cards printed. Use this card while going off with Omniscience to help build extra storm. Just remember that you can't cast spells through Omniscience with this, so by floating mana as described above, you'll be able to cast select spells to finish the job, or help you get there.
Just remember, any card that enters your Graveyard after Yawgmoth's Will resolves, will get exiled. Don't make the mistake of casting Buried Alive with the expectation of reanimating those creatures.
Ill-Gotten Gains
Remember that this card is symmetrical with your opponent(s). They will be able to choose 3 cards that may disrupt with you winning. Note what they choose and play around it. Perhaps choose Thoughtseize to help clear any problems.
Bloodghast
Thanks to Bloodghast's Landfall ability, if you have a Fetch land available when you cast
Victimize
and an opponent kills your Bloodghast in response, before
Victimize
resolves, you can fetch to bring back the Bloodghast again and have it on the battlefield again to be sacrificed to
Victimize
.
Wasteland
Helps remove problematic lands that your opponent(s) might have. Reliquary Tower, Maze of Ith and Cavern of Souls are a few that interfere with this deck.
Boseiju, Who Shelters All
Helps push through your combo spells against opposing countermagic. Tutor for this early if you expect heavy resistance.
Mana Base Management
To be completed...
Quickly though, the deck is a Blue / Black deck, with a Red splash. Fetch accordingly.
Upgrades to Come:
For those interested here is my foil progression.
