Can Highlander Academy Combo

Highlander*

apolloreactor

Land (33)

• 1x Academy Ruins
• 1x Ancient Den
• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Cephalid Coliseum
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Darksteel Citadel
• 1x Deserted Temple
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 1x Glimmervoid
• 1x Great Furnace
• 1x Hallowed Fountain
• 1x Inventors' Fair
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Maze of Ith
• 1x Minamo, School at Water's Edge
• 1x Misty Rainforest
• 1x Petrified Field
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Savannah
• 1x Scalding Tarn
• 1x Seat of the Synod
• 1x Spire of Industry
• 1x Temple Garden
• 1x Tolaria West
• 1x Tolarian Academy
• 1x Tree of Tales
• 1x Tropical Island
• 1x Tundra
• 1x Vault of Whispers
• 1x Verdant Catacombs
• 1x Windswept Heath
• 1x Wooded Foothills

Planeswalker (2)

• 1x Jace, the Mind Sculptor
• 1x Tezzeret the Seeker

Artifact (32)

• 1x Azorius Signet
• 1x Candelabra of Tawnos
• 1x Chrome Mox
• 1x Crucible of Worlds
• 1x Defense Grid
• 1x Dimir Signet
• 1x Ensnaring Bridge
• 1x Everflowing Chalice
• 1x Expedition Map
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Grindstone
• 1x Helm of Obedience
• 1x Izzet Signet
• 1x Jeweled Amulet
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Memory Jar
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Mox Diamond
• 1x Mox Opal
• 1x Mox Sapphire
• 1x Orzhov Signet
• 1x Prismatic Lens
• 1x Selesnya Signet
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Simic Signet
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Sword of the Meek
• 1x Talisman of Dominance
• 1x Talisman of Progress
• 1x Talisman of Unity
• 1x Thopter Foundry
• 1x Thran Dynamo

Enchantment (1)

• 1x Rest in Peace

Instant (15)

• 1x Brainstorm
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Crop Rotation
• 1x Fact or Fiction
• 1x Force of Will
• 1x Frantic Search
• 1x Impulse
• 1x Muddle the Mixture
• 1x Mystic Confluence
• 1x Pact of Negation
• 1x Pull from Tomorrow
• 1x Snap
• 1x Sphinx's Revelation
• 1x Thirst for Knowledge
• 1x Whir of Invention

Sorcery (14)

• 1x Balance
• 1x Compulsive Research
• 1x Plea for Power
• 1x Ponder
• 1x Pore Over the Pages
• 1x Preordain
• 1x Reap and Sow
• 1x Reshape
• 1x Sleight of Hand
• 1x Sylvan Scrying
• 1x Thoughtcast
• 1x Time Spiral
• 1x Upheaval
• 1x Wargate

Creature (3)

• 1x Painter's Servant
• 1x Spellskite
• 1x Trinket Mage

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For the Canadian Highlander Format.

POINTS LIST

1 - Tolarian Academy

1 - Balance

2 - Mana Crypt

3 - Mox Sapphire

3 - Sol Ring

DECK OVERVIEW

Mulligan aggressively into a hand that can drop a mox and a land on turn 1 and cast a signet/talisman. A keepable hand should have either a flexible tutor or a powerful draw spell to follow up with. If you are winning, by turn 3 you should have access to 5-8 mana and by turn 4 are either casting must-counter spells every turn (against blue) or pushing out a combo as fast as possible (against nonblue). If you are losing... there are backup plans. :)

Keep in mind that there are many tutor chains. For example:

Trinket Mage -> Expedition Map -> Inventors' Fair -> Helm of Obedience

Seems like a lot of mana, but you can spread this out over turns 2/3/4 for a turn 4 win, or if you draw Trinket on a stalled board on turn 8 you can possibly do it all in one turn. Just keep in mind that Expedition Map can turn artifact tutoring into land tutoring, and Inventors' Fair can do the opposite, so all your tutors are very flexible if you have the mana and land drops.

MATCHUPS

AGGRO: Ideally, we race them, but this isn't always possible. If they have a clock you can't race, either get Ensnaring Bridge or Maze of Ith + Deserted Temple. This should buy enough time to combo them out. Thopter Foundry can help you stay alive on its own before you get Sword.

CONTROL: Academy Ruins and Crucible of Worlds are the key tutor targets here. Sticking a planeswalker is always nice. Save instant-speed draw spells for the end of their turn when you actually have a follow-up on your turn. This way if they counter it on their end step, you can take advantage of them tapping out to resolve something important. Blood Moon/Back to Basics is not auto-lose, but it's not good.

MIDRANGE: The easiest matchup. They will ramp but you ramp much faster. Be mindful that they may have a combo win; this is likely their only line to beat you so be ready for it.

TEMPO: The hardest matchup. Maze of Ith can be strong but don't tutor for it until you see what their threat is; it might be blank. Ensnaring Bridge is always strong. Defense Grid is critical here.

COMBO EXPLANATIONS

A/B combos:

Helm of Obedience/Rest in Peace

Thopter Foundry/Sword of the Meek

Painter's Servant/Grindstone

There are also several "density combos" revolving around big mana.

• Float a lot, cast Upheaval, re-cast mana rocks.

• Float a lot, cast Time Spiral untapping Academy, generate mana, and hopefully find even more untappers and draw-sevens.

• Balance is often a one-card combo where you cast your whole hand (or everything but your draw-seven) and cast Balance, which functions as Plague Wind and Mind Twist rolled into one. Since you rely on very few land for mana, you can hit their land base, too.

FAQ

• Where's Batterskull? Coercive Portal?

Too slow! Against most Control lists you are favoured to win the longer the game goes on, so Coercive Portal is win-more and Batterskull just gets eaten by removal. Against faster decks, Batterskull is good, admittedly, but usually just slows them down a turn while they kill it. Take advantage of the fact that their removal is all blank.

• Where's Tinker?

Tinker wins some games on its own, but doesn't fit into the game plan. It's a risky play vs control and tempo because if they counter it you're down 2-for-1, and if it resolves they will likely remove whatever you find. It's not worth it to include at the expense of Mana Crypt and Mox Sapphire, which would be cut.

• Why is [card] in there? Have you ever tested [card]?

Ask me! I love talking about this deck. I'm sure it can be made better. Let's figure it out together.

Date added	8 years
Last updated	6 years
Exclude colors	BR
Splash colors	WG
Legality	This deck is Highlander legal.
Rarity (main - side)	14 - 0 Mythic Rares 42 - 0 Rares 25 - 0 Uncommons 19 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.31
Tokens	Thopter 1/1 U
Folders	Canadian Highlander, Decks