Hinata, the Morning Star [Spellslinger Primer]

Commander / EDH Control Counterspell Flying RUW (Jeskai, America) Spellslinger Tokens Value Engine

UltimateRoxas40

Land (36)

• 1x Adarkar Wastes
• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Battlefield Forge
• 1x Clifftop Retreat
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Deserted Beach
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Fabled Passage
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 1x Glacial Fortress
• 1x Hallowed Fountain
• 5x Island
• 5x Mountain
• 2x Plains
• 1x Prismatic Vista
• 1x Raugrin Triome
• 1x Sacred Foundry
• 1x Scalding Tarn
• 1x Sea of Clouds
• 1x Shivan Reef
• 1x Spectator Seating
• 1x Steam Vents
• 1x Stormcarved Coast
• 1x Sulfur Falls
• 1x Sundown Pass
• 1x Training Center

Enchantment (6)

• 1x Darksteel Mutation
• 1x Metallurgic Summonings
• 1x Rhystic Study
• 1x Shark Typhoon
• 1x Smothering Tithe
• 1x Whirlwind of Thought

Instant (22)

• 1x Apostle's Blessing
• 1x Aurelia's Fury
• 1x Clever Concealment
• 1x Comet Storm
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Deflecting Swat
• 1x Disorder in the Court
• 1x Fierce Guardianship
• 1x Flame of Anor
• 1x Heliod's Intervention
• 1x Magma Opus
• 1x Mana Drain
• 1x March of Swirling Mist
• 1x Mystic Confluence
• 1x Mystical Tutor
• 1x Negate
• 1x Prismari Command
• 1x Reality Spasm
• 1x Rewind
• 1x Snap
• 1x Sublime Epiphany
• 1x Swords to Plowshares

Sorcery (14)

• 1x Baral's Expertise
• 1x By Force
• 1x Chaotic Transformation
• 1x Crackle with Power
• 1x Curse of the Swine
• 1x Distorting Wake
• 1x Hunted by The Family
• 1x Jeska's Will
• 1x Pull from the Deep
• 1x Red Sun's Twilight
• 1x Release the Gremlins
• 1x Shatterskull Smashing  ^Flip
• 1x Solve the Equation
• 1x Soulfire Eruption

Commander (1)

Creature (14)

• 1x Archaeomancer
• 1x Archivist of Oghma
• 1x Archmage Emeritus
• 1x Battlefield Thaumaturge
• 1x Chrome Host Seedshark
• 1x Deekah, Fractal Theorist
• 1x Dockside Extortionist
• 1x Esper Sentinel
• 1x Illithid Harvester
• 1x Kykar, Wind's Fury
• 1x Ovika, Enigma Goliath
• 1x Soulfire Grand Master
• 1x Spellseeker
• 1x Zaffai, Thunder Conductor

Artifact (7)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Talisman of Conviction
• 1x Talisman of Creativity
• 1x Talisman of Progress

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Maybeboard

Instant (3)

• 1x Eerie Interlude
• 1x Icy Blast
• 1x Storm King's Thunder

Land (1)

• 1x Command Beacon

Creature (2)

• 1x Exalted Flamer of Tzeentch
• 1x Jin-Gitaxias, Progress Tyrant

Artifact (1)

• 1x Veilstone Amulet

Sorcery (2)

• 1x Jaya's Immolating Inferno
• 1x Smoke Spirits' Aid

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"Kirin by nature have always been curious about the affairs of mortals, but none are quite as curious—or as meddlesome—as Hinata, who has also been called "the Impertinent" and "One Who Bothers." As far as they're concerned, though, they're simply granting mortals the gifts that they deserve. Other kirin, however, find Hinata's antics amusing and will shamelessly encourage them."

Welcome to my first real attempt at a spellslinger-type deck! I am usually a more creature-oriented deck, and I primarily use {G} and {B} in my deck construction, so I knew if I'd ever build a {U}{R}{W} Jeskai deck, it would need to be something special. I've looked at commanders like Narset, Enlightened Master or Vadrok, Apex of Thunder, but none of them stood out to me as much as Hinata, Dawn-Crowned.

Our Commander

{U}{R}{W}Hinata, Dawn-Crowned is a powerful scaler, essentially a legendary Battlefield Thaumaturge, reducing the cost of our spells by {1} for each target (This does not affect creatures/permanents with an ETB effect that targets, as the spell would have resolved first for the creature/permanent to even be on the battlefield to target - Thanks Eddy_Khil for clarifying that for me haha).

The reverse is true for our opponents, making our opponent's spells cost {1} for each target. A Counterspell will cost {1}{U}{U}, a Force of Will will cost {1} if cast for its alternative/free cost, or Animate Dead will cost {2}{B} instead. And those spells don't have to be aimed at us to get taxed. We could have built this pillowfort-esque, but I didn't go that route. Couple that cost reduction/taxation with a 4/4 body with Flying and Trample, and you've got a beast to be wary of.

The Gameplan

With Hinata, Dawn-Crowned's cost-reducing ability, we can draw out the maximum potential of a ton of spells that otherwise might not be too powerful. {X} spells can be quite draining on mana, especially in Jeskai colors without access to green mana and ramp. However, since each target reduces the cost of the spells by {1}, we can effectively pay the non-{X} cost, then select all the targets we want.

The {X} Spells

• {R}{W}Aurelia's Fury - A powerful finisher, or at least a staller. For {R}{W}, we can target each opponent and creature they control and deal 1 damage to them, either preventing the casting of non-creature spells or tapping the creature down. If we have a decent horde of tokens, we can swing in for the win and our opponents can't stop us unless they counter Aurelia's Fury first.

• {R}By Force - Pay {R} to destroy all artifacts we don't like. Better than a Vandalblast

• {R}{R}Comet Storm - With Hinata's cost reduction ability making Multikicker trivial, this turns into an {X}{R}{R} spell dealing {X} damage to any target we want.

• {R}{R}Crackle with Power - This becomes {X}{X} instead of {X}{X}{X}, allowing us to pour more mana into the spell and deal tons of damage!

• {U}{U}Curse of the Swine - This card is one of the main reasons I wanted to build Hinata, Dawn-Crowned. I love Greek/Roman Mythology, and this card clearly references Circe, a Greek sorcerous famous from the Oddessey, but infamous for turning men into all kinds of beasts, especially pigs! This becomes an excellent creature removal, costing {U}{U} to Exile all creatures we don't like, replacing them with a 2/2 Boar creature token.

• {W}{U}Disorder in the Court - A temporary creature removal plus paid card draw. For {W}{U}, we can Exile {X} number of creatures until the beginning of the next end step, then we Investigate {X} times. If our opponents are swinging in with a ton of potential damage, we can push it back temporarily, then get enough Clue Tokens to hopefully draw into some kind of removal that's more permanent. And since this can target our creatures, we can also get extra benefits out of our Enter the Battlefield (ETB) creatures like Archaeomancer, Spellseeker, and Dockside Extortionist.

• {U}{U}{U}Distorting Wake - For three blue mana, we have an even cheaper Cyclonic Rift to bounce all non-land permanents to their owner's hand. Similar to Disorder in the Court, we can bounce our own creatures to our hand and recast them for continued benefits.

• {W}{W}Heliod's Intervention - For {W}{W}, we can Destroy any number of Artifacts or Enchantments we don't like, or in a pinch, gain a ton of life.

• {U}{U}Illithid Harvester - With the Plant Tadpoles side, we can easily tap down all our opponent's creatures for {U}{U}, then cast Illithid Harvester to turn any target non token creature facedown and they become 2/2 Horror creatures.

• {U}March of Swirling Mist - A good defensive spell in case we get board wiped. We don't really need to worry about exiling Blue spells from our hand since we have Hinata, Dawn-Crowned to reduce the cost for us.

• {U}{U}Reality Spasm - For just two mana, we can either tap down everything that we don't like, and I mean everything (all permanents, including lands, are viable targets), or we can untap everything we want, including our own lands.

• {R}{R}Red Sun's Twilight - A slightly more expensive By Force (and by slightly more, I mean one {R} more haha), for {R}{R} we can destroy up to {X} Artifacts. If {X} is 5 or more, we create token copies of those Artifacts we've destroyed. Stock up on all our opponent's Sol Ring's or Mana Crypt's for a turn until they are exiled.

• {R}Release the Gremlins - A {X}{X} essentially reduced to just {R}{X} thanks to Hinata, Dawn-Crowned, we can destroy {X} Artifacts and create {X} token:Gremlin creature tokens. Another good way to deal with pesky combo pieces or artifact creatures.

• {R}{R}Shatterskull Smashing   - A powerful damage spell that also doubles as a land if necessary. We can deal {X} damage up to two creatures or planeswalkers, and if {X} is 6 or more, the damage is doubled. So if we choose two targets, that reduces the cost by {2}, making this at least a 6 mana for 12 damage spell.

The Multi-target Spells

However, not all of our powerful cards are {X} spells. Some have multiple targets in their resolution, which reduces their costs even further!

• {U}{U}Baral's Expertise - For essentially two mana, we can bounce up to three creatures and/or artifacts to their owner's hand, then cast something with a CMC of four or less. Super efficient, as we could bounce our opponents Sol Ring or other important creature, then cast something of our own. Most of our most impactful creatures are 4 or fewer (Archmage Emeritus, Talrand, Sky Summoner, Kykar, Wind's Fury). And we aren't limited to our opponent's creatures to bounce either, we can bounce something of ours to replay for more benefit.

• {R}Chaotic Transformation - Effectively a one {R} mana spell to Exile up to five target permanents, one for each permanent type (Creature, Artifact, Planeswalker, Enchantment, Land), though we do risk something better coming in on the Chaos Warp type effect.

• {W}{W}Clever Concealment - A great defensive spell, costing only {W}{W} by targeting two or more creatures, then we can Convoke to reduce that cost even further if we tap some White creatures to pay for the cost.

• {U}{U}Hunted by The Family - Either removal or token generation! For effectively three mana, for four creatures, we can either turn them into 1/1 Humans with no abilities or create a copy of that creature.

• {U}{R}Magma Opus - What a bonkers card. If we fully utilize the targets mentioned in this card, for just {U}{R}, we can Deep Breath: Deal four damage up to any four targets, tap two permanents, create a 4/4 Elemental creature token, and draw four cards! Wow, that's a lot for two mana! Even if we wanted to focus all four points onto one target, it still reduces this spell to {3}{U}{R} for all that benefit.

• {U}{U}Mystic Confluence - This modal spell covers a lot of ground. It could be 5 mana to draw three cards, or two mana for a counterspell and bouncing two creatures to their owner's hands (Once again, can target our own creatures for extra benefits), or any combination of the three options.

• {U}{R}Prismari Command - Four solid options, all of which target someone or something, so this spell is almost always going to be cast for just two mana. We can ramp a little with a Treasure Token, Loot twice, Destroy an Artifact, or ping a target for two damage. All good options.

• {U}{U}Sublime Epiphany - I'm so happy to finally have a deck to put this card in. I remember cracking it and thinking "Wow, this is the epitome of Blue". Counter a spell and/or ability, create a token copy of one of our creatures, bounce another creature, and draw a card. There are five options to pick from, and we can use any number of them, so this could basically become a Counterspell with tremendous upside.

• {R}{R}{R}Soulfire Eruption - A great card draw source disguised as a finisher. In this deck, we don't have a ton of high CMC cards for this to go off with, but we can target any number of creatures, planeswalkers, or players to make the cost of this spell go way down. For each target, we exile the top card of our library, then deal damage equal to that exiled card's CMC to the chosen targets. But the important thing is that we may play the exiled cards until the end of our next turn. So we can quickly have access to many of our (effectively) low CMC {X} spells to use until the end of our current and next turn. If we used Hinata, Dawn-Crowned's cost reduction ability, we could potentially play several of those spells the same turn we cast Soulfire Eruption.

The Payoffs

With all the spells we are casting, we have plenty of additional payoffs beyond just casting spells

• {U}{U}Archmage Emeritus - Draws us a card whenever we cast an Instant or Sorcery, so we should be replacing the spells in our hand fairly quickly.

• {U}Chrome Host Seedshark - Whenever we cast noncreature spell, we Incubate X, where X is the CMC of the spell. This can be a great sleeper card - just create a bunch of Incubate tokens and leave them alone, then wait until after a boardwipe to 'hatch' them and swing out at our opponents.

• {U}Deekah, Fractal Theorist - Whenever we cast an Instant or Sorcery, we create an X/X Fractal creature token, where X is the CMC of the spell. Since we can easily target everything we want, we can make monstrous token creatures, and for {3}{U}, we can make a token creature unblockable and they can swing in for big chunks of damage.

• {U}{R}{W}Kykar, Wind's Fury - Whenever we cast an Instant or Sorcery, we create a 1/1 Spirit Creature Token. This is one of our best token creators, if only because the 1/1 Spirit Tokens it creates have Flying, so they can be effective blockers or damage dealers if our opponents can't block. We can also sacrifice a Spirit to generate a {R}, which could be helpful to pay for the colored mana cost of our {X} spells.

• {U}{U}Metallurgic Summonings - Whenever we cast an Instant or Sorcery, we create an X/X Construct Artifact creature token, where X is the CMC of the spell. And since it's an Enchantment, it can avoid some of the creature removal that Deekah, Fractal Theorist is susceptible to.

• {U}{R}Ovika, Enigma Goliath - If cards like Deekah, Fractal Theorist, Metallurgic Summonings, and Shark Typhoon make huge, tall creatures, this Phyrexian Nightmare goes wide. Whenever we cast a non-creature spell, we create X 1/1 Phyrexian Goblin creature tokens that gain Haste until the end of turn, where X is the CMC of the spell. We can easily make a horde of wee beasties for cheap if Hinata, Dawn-Crowned's is on the field letting us cast huge CMC spells for cheap.

• {U}Shark Typhoon - Whenever we cast a non-creature spell, we create an X/X creature token, where X is the CMC of the spell. But if we liked Kykar, Wind's Fury for a creature token with Flying, they have nothing on these Tokens. We create an X/X Shark Creature Token with FLYING! The skies will never be safe for our opponents!

• {W}Soulfire Grand Master - This Monk gives all our Instant and Sorcery spells Lifelink, so we can gain a bunch of life off damaging our opponents and their creatures. But even more importantly, we can pay four mana to make the next Instant and Sorcery spell we cast go back to our hand on resolution instead of the graveyard. With Hinata, Dawn-Crowned's cost reduction ability, we can easily pay that mana to repeatedly cast our spells, locking down the board and securing the win.

• {U}{R}Zaffai, Thunder Conductor - Whenever we cast or copy an Instant and Sorcery spell we can Scry 1. However, if the CMC is 5 or greater, we create a 4/4 Elemental Creature Token, and if the CMC is 10 or greater, Zaffai, Thunder Conductor deals 10 damage to a random opponent. With the number of big CMC spells we will be casting, it shouldn't be too difficult to start dealing some massive damage here and there!

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With all the spells we are going to be casting, it's important to make sure we have enough colored mana to cast the part of the spells that can't be reduced by Hinata, Dawn-Crowned, and to make sure we are drawing plenty of cards.

Ramp, Card Draw, Tutors and More!

Ramp

Our options for ramp are limited in Jeskai colors, so we do the best with what we've got!

• {R}Dockside Extortionist - When it ETBs, we create a number of Treasure Tokens equal to the number of Artifacts our opponents control. This card is somewhat divisive, but I fall on the side that it's powerful by scaling. If your opponents have a ton of artifacts out, you're balancing the scales rather than getting a massive advantage. However, we do have ways to bounce this creature to our hand to abuse its ETB, so it is a little cheeky.

• {R}Jeska's Will - Ideally cast when Hinata, Dawn-Crowned is in play, in which case this spell costs one less and we get both options, so a bunch of red mana and three cards to cast until the end of turn.

• {U}{R}{W}Kykar, Wind's Fury - As I said earlier, the Spirit Tokens it creates can be sacrificed for one {R} mana, which could be used to help cast our spells.

• {U}{U}Mana Drain - An upgraded Counterspell. With all the extra Colorless Mana we get, we could pump some of our {X} spells like Comet Storm or Crackle with Power that require an additional investment of mana to become truly powerful.

• {U}{R}Prismari Command - For effectively two mana, we can create a Treasure Token and have some other effect.

• {W}Smothering Tithe - If you didn't like Dockside Extortionist, you probably won't like this. We can create a Treasure Token every time an opponent draws a card unless they pay {2}. And that's every card draw, including the first draw each turn. These can slowly stack up until we need them.

Card Draw

With all the spells we should be slinging, we need access to a steady supply of cards, lest we run out of gas and are left to the mercy of our opponents

• {W}Archivist of Oghma - With all the fetchlands and tutors in EDH, it's nice that we can benefit off of those actions with an extra card here and there.

• {U}{U}Archmage Emeritus - Draws us a card whenever we cast an Instant or Sorcery.

• {W}{U}Disorder in the Court - Creates {X} Clue Tokens, which we can crack for {2} to draw a card.

• {W}Esper Sentinel - Basically White's answer to Rhystic Study, whenever an opponent casts their first non-creature spell each turn, we can draw a card unless they pay {X}, where X is the Power of Esper Sentinel. Just another small, annoying thing our opponents have to remember and pay for unless they want us swimming with card draws.

• {R}Jeska's Will - Exiles three cards that we can play this turn.

• {U}{R}Magma Opus - Draws us two cards.

• {U}{U}Mystic Confluence - One of its modes draws us a card

• {U}Rhystic Study - The original! Whenever an opponent casts a spell, you may draw a card unless that player pays {1}.

• {U}{U}Sublime Epiphany - One of its modes makes a target player draw a card (Probably us unless we can somehow deck an opponent with one card haha).

• {U}{R}{W}Whirlwind of Thought - Draws us a card whenever we cast any non-creature spell, so basically replaces each spell we cast.

Tutors/Recursion

Without access to black, we don't have some of the best tutors or recursive options around, but we do have several efficient spells to find answers or get them back again.

• {U}{U}Archaeomancer - When it ETBs, we can return one target Instant and Sorcery spell from our graveyard to our hand.

• {U}{U}Metallurgic Summonings - If we have six or more Artifacts in play, we can spend {3}{U}{U} to Exile Metallurgic Summonings and return all Instant and Sorcery spells from our graveyard to our hand.

• {U}Mystical Tutor - Easy choice, the iconic Blue Tutor. Allows us to go get an Instant and Sorcery spell from our library and put it on top of our library.

• {U}{U}Pull from the Deep - Return one target Instant and one target Sorcery from our graveyard to our hand, reduced to just {U}{U} if Hinata, Dawn-Crowned is out, though the spell Exiles itself on resolution, so it's a one-time deal.

• {U}Solve the Equation - A more expensive Mystical Tutor, but this spell puts an Instant and Sorcery to our hand. No cost reduction since it doesn't target a spell in our library.

• {U}Spellseeker - When this creature ETBs, we can go find an Instant and Sorcery spell with a CMC of 2 or less and put it in our hand. And since {X} counts as 0 until you cast it with some amount, we can go find almost any of our {X} spells and put them into our hand.

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Synergies and Paths to Victory!

Infinite Mana and Magecraft triggers: Hinata, Dawn-Crowned + Soulfire Grand Master + Reality Spasm + {3}{UR}{UR}{U}{U} worth of mana producing permanents.

1. Tap all mana-creating permanents to generate at least {3}{UR}{UR}{U}{U}.

2. Activate Soulfire Grand Master's ability for {3}{UR}{UR}, then cast Reality Spasm to untap all your permanents.

3. When Reality Spasm resolves, it goes back to your hand, then you repeat until you've got all the mana you want

Add Archmage Emeritus to draw as many cards as you want.

Add Comet Storm, Crackle with Power, or Shatterskull Smashing   to deal enough damage to your opponents and win.

Add Ovika, Enigma Goliath to make an infinite number of 1/1 Phyrexian Goblin Creature Tokens with Haste to overrun the board.

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ETB Synergies: Archaeomancer + Baral's Expertise/Mystic Confluence/Disorder in the Court + Spellseeker/Dockside Extortionist

• Archaeomancer can either be blinked or bounced to constantly return spells like these to our hand, and we can then blink/bounce Spellseeker or Dockside Extortionist to find all the spells we want or create a large number of Treasure Tokens

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Cards I'm considering

• Command Beacon - Since Hinata, Dawn-Crowned kinda signals what the deck is going to do, it might get hated on enough that casting it becomes difficult. Command Beacon could be used to circumvent that cost. Thanks to Crow_Umbra for the suggestion.

• Ghostly Flicker - Can be used in a variety of Infinite Combos due to the cost reduction from Hinata, Dawn-Crowned. I might add it in later, once I've played with this deck more and figured out the direction I want to take it.

• Dualcaster Mage - Same as above, can be used in a variety of Infinite Combo shenanigans, might add later.

• Eerie Interlude - Since this spell targets, it can cost 1 {W} to Exile any number of creatures we control until the end of turn. A good way to dodge a board wipe. Once I've figured out the number of defensive cards needed, this might come in. Thanks to Crow_Umbra and Eddy_Khil for the suggestion.

• Jin-Gitaxias, Progress Tyrant - An excellent suggestion from KongMing. This Praetor can double up our Instant and Sorcery Spells, even our {X} spells too (Double Aurelia's Fury or Crackle with Power sound good to anyone?). He auto-counters the first Instant/Sorcery/Artifact spell an opponent casts each turn, which will probably make our opponents a little angry at us, so he also can act as a lightning rod for removal that might otherwise be aimed at our commander.

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Thanks for taking a look and reading through the description. As I said, I'm new to the spell-slinger type of deck, so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Top Ranked	Achieved #16 position overall 1 year ago Achieved #13 position in Commander / EDH 1 year ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Flying 1 year ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Spellslinger 1 year ago
Date added	1 year
Last updated	8 months
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	13 - 0 Mythic Rares 57 - 0 Rares 12 - 0 Uncommons 5 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.09
Tokens	Boar 2/2 G, Clue, Construct */* C, Copy Clone, Elemental 4/4 UR, Fractal 0/0 GU, Gremlin 2/2 R, Incubator, On an Adventure, Phyrexian 0/0 C, Phyrexian Goblin 1/1 R, Shark */* U, Spirit 1/1 W, Treasure
Folders	My Deck Creations, Compare, Designs I Like, Untested, interesting, to play, untap decks to try