Goal: Utilize Planeswalkers and removal spells to control the board and eventually win with combat damage from Elspeth tokens or Kiora tokens.
Early white removal is limited on what it can hit but our weak spot removal is made up for later in the game when we drop End Hostilities. End Hostilities doesn't wipe our walkers, so if an enemy was planning on killing us and ignoring our walkers we will have a walker and a clean board. If the enemy focused our walker we gained life equal to the damage dealt and can now board wipe with a high life total. From that point on we are focused on drawing cards, countering large threats, and activating an ultimate on either Elspeth or Kiora.
Jace, the Living Guildpact
and Kiora, the Crashing Wave are amazing at stalling the board and getting us to a point in the game where we can ultimate Elspeth, Sun's Champion safely.
-The Planeswalkers-
Jace, the Living Guildpact
- Do not underestimate Jace. He costs 4 CMC which can be hard to pull off if the opponent is playing a token or beat down strategy, however, if they are playing any of the midrange decks, he is a potent threat. If you find yourself needing more than one turn to wipe the board, or End Hostilities is not in your opening hand Jace will give you options. Option 1, bounce a threat. Simple, elegant. Sure, it cost 3 out of his FIVE loyalty but look at it this way. That creature won't hit you next turn, and Jace will be juicy target for a Lightening Strike or 2-3 damage from the enemy's boardstate. This means Jace can bounce a threat and gain you life at the same time, helping to stall until you hit End Hostilities next turn. If End Hostilities is not in your hand, or you find yourself at a healthy life total, consider using his +1 ability right off the bat. This ability is amazingly underrated. I want to spend some more time explaining this ability in full.
~Jace's +1~It's not flashy, its not obvious, but this ability is amazingly powerful. Consider this. For 4 mana you can psuedo gain 6 life (the amount of loyalty Jace has when coming into play and instantly +1'ing), psuedo scry 2, AND instead of putting the one you want less at the bottom, you get to gain a mana later for your Treasure Cruise or Dig Through Time! Every single time you +1 Jace you gain a life, you scry, and you gain a mana for those draw spells. You only have to do this 3 times before you may ultimate jace. Against midrange and enemy control decks the ultimate will win the game. They are forced to deal damage or kill Jace.
Kiora, the Crashing Wave - This planeswalker is weaker than Jace in some aspects, but stronger in others. They compliment each other well enough when on the field together, Jace can bounce a creature and Kiora makes the other one worthless. However, Kiora is weaker when the enemy has a small army of tiny poking, annoying creatures. Even when she seems weak, though, she has uses. Coming into play as a 4 mana card that allows you to draw a card and (because of our mana base) most likely scry again isn't something to scoff at. Worst case scenario for a Kiora turn 4: You play Kiora into a token filled board, you minus her, she is at 1 loyalty. You have drawn a card but have no extra lands to play this turn. You pass turn and the tokens smack you in the face and only 1 damage is dealt to Kiora. That seems pretty terrible, but look at it this way. Kiora drew a card and gained a single life for you. If that card was not helpful, good thing you got it out of the way that turn instead of top decking it now. You still have a chance to come out of this board state ahead if you find a land for End Hostilities, and your life wouldn't be much higher if you played a Banishing Light or
Last Breath
. Over all, her worst case scenario is still better than the majority of cards you can play on turn 4. Lets say you have last breathed on turn 2 and 3 so they only have a single creature out, or they are playing midrange. Kiora Threatens to take over the game. She ults in 3 turns, you can wipe the board next turn, and you stopped their only creature from doing anything?! Uh oh. Sounds like the enemy needs to kill her with a spell in their hand THIS TURN or Kiora will be protected by a board wipe or counter magic... So, worst case, still a great card, best case, win the game. Sounds good.
Elspeth, Sun's Champion - This card is the reason we can even play a control strategy. She comes into play on turn 6 or later, but protects herself with an army of 1/1s and can board wipe enemy
Butcher of the Horde
s or Siege Rhinos if they pose a significant threat to her before popping out her token army. Her ultimate persists through her death, so Kiora's tokens, or Sideboarded Brimaz and tokens will also reap the benefits if the enemy has a board wipe. A self sufficient card, but late in the game we protect her very well with a suite of counter-magic.
