This is a Jhoira deck based on the one my cousin made before the Paradox Engine ban. I had an Arcum Dagsson deck that already contained a lot of the expensive cards so the transition was fairly easy. The deck wins in two ways. Mainly, storming into a deadly Aetherflux Reservoir activation, or finding infinite mana and using Rolling Earthquake to kill everyone in the pod. (Formerly Walking Ballista)
Using the cost reducers and automatic replacement of said cards from your commander, you can easily storm into whatever you need. Cast a spell for free, draw a card, cast it for free, draw a card, cast it for free, draw a card. How fun for your opponents!
Winning the game
This is a storm deck. Once you get your engine up, you will be casting upwards of 17-20 spells a turn. With this in mind is Aetherflux Reservoir is the main win-con. Assuming you start at 40 life and Aetherflux is already out, you need to cast a minimum of 17 spells to get above 150, which is what you need to kill a pod of 3. If you have infinite mana at your disposal, Staff of Domination can also be used to gain the life you need to kill with Aetherflux. Grapeshot can also be used to kill if you've cast enough spells, but this is better used as a boardwipe. I've only used it as a kill a few times along with infinite cast combos, never with regular storm. Infinite storm + Brain Freeze is also a win, and this is achieved fairly often with the Underworld Breach combo I will discuss later.
Sensei's Divining Top is also important to mention (Its the Beyblade the title refers to), as it is arguably the most important card in the deck. If you have a cost reducer, you can play it to draw a card and activate its ability to draw a card, netting 2 cards and putting it on top. Then, if you drew one artifact in the 2 you drew, you can cast it to draw Sensei's and repeat.
Cost Reducers
Helm of Awakening, Cloud Key, Semblance Anvil, Etherium Sculptor, Birgi, God of Storytelling
, and Foundry Inspector
While it can't on its own, I often use Sculpting Steel or Phyrexian Metamorph to copy one of these.
These cards are the backbone of the deck. Being as most spells cost more than 0, you're going to need help to cast this many spells in one turn. Semblance anvil is the best as it reduces by 2, making half of the artifacts free to play. This obviously comes at the cost of exiling a card, but its almost never not worth it. Its also important to note that Helm of Awakening reduces opponents costs, so be weary. Its a joke in my pod that this is the "Jim wins turn 2 card", as he is running a Dargo, the Shipwrecker + Jeska, Thrice Reborn
deck that is already busted when the cards are full price.
Infinite Combos
--- Infinite mana with Dramatic Reversal + Isochron Scepter
+ any nonland cards that produce 3 or more mana.
This combo is special because it can also produce infinite colored mana. Its also a win with Sensei's Divining Top in the same way the Rings + Basalt combo is.
--- (Near) Infinite mana and storm with Krark-Clan Ironworks + Scrap Trawler
I used to run Krark-Clan Ironworks + Myr Retriever + Scrap Trawler
(Infinite with a cost reducer), but it was too much to put together, and is good without Myr Retriever anyway, so I made room for other combos. These two together aren't infinite, but it feels pretty close. It gets even better when you get a 2 copies of Scrap Trawler.
--- Infinite storm and board removal with Words of Wind and any 2 net positive mana rocks.
Getting 2 net positives is fairly easy with the cost reducers. To do this combo, have one rock in your hand and the other on the field. Use the one on the field to activate Words of Wind and cast the one in your hand. Jhoira will draw you a card but Words of Wind will make everyone pick up a card. You pick up the now tapped net positive rock and you are back to where you started. One net positive in hand and one on the field, except everyone else has bounced a card and you have another spell cast for your Aetherflux Reservoir later this turn. Repeat this infinite times to wipe everyone board then Aetherflux or Grapeshot for the win. Even if you cant win, I don't imagine you opponents will be able to stop you when you bounce everything they own (including lands) every single turn.
This combo is also infinite mana if one of your rocks is a net 2 like Mana Crypt. It can also be used non-infinitely with 2 net evens to wipe someone's board down. You do the combo the same way, but with net evens, you have to use one mana from an outside source to continue each time.
--- Play your whole deck with Brain Freeze + Lotus Petal + Underworld Breach
With just 2 storm (Which can be achieved by casting just Breach and Brain Freeze), you can mill yourself for 9 with Brain Freeze, exile 6 of them to get two mana with Lotus Petal (And drawing for their casts), and then exile the other 3 to recast Brain Freeze and mill yourself 18. You are now netting cards in your graveyard and can play them with Underworld Breach and mana from Lotus Petal (Also cast again with breach).You can do this as long as you have cards in your Library to mill and find your wincon, or just gain enough storm to kill with Brain Freeze.
--- Play your whole deck with Grinding Station + Mana Crypt + Underworld Breach
(Or any other net positive rock.)
Sacrifice your rock to Grinding Station to mill 3, then exile the 3 to re-cast the rock. This untaps Grinding Station and draws you a card. Repeat until you draw something you can use to win or mill something important you can play. (Best executed when cards are already in your graveyard.)
--- Play everything with Mystic Forge + Sensei's Divining Top
and a cost reducer.
This one is good because you don't even need Jhoira. Cast Sensei's from the top, draw a card and put Sensei's back, repeat Ad Nauseam.
--- One tricking with Gamble
After mentioning the combos with Underworld Breach, its important how powerful Gamble becomes. Gamble for breach, and as long as you don't discard it, you have unlimited 1 drop tutors as long as you can exile cards to cast gamble (You can cast it from the graveyard).
General Utility
Paradoxical Outcome, Rebuild, and Chain of Vapor are all very powerful. They allow you to return all of your cheapest artifacts to your hand and restart your Jhoira storming. They also both have their individual benefits. While it does cost more, Paradoxical Outcome draws you a card for each one you pick up, making it essentially a win con, as you will draw so many cards it would be hard not to win if you play it at the right time. Chain of Vapor is good because of its cheap cost, though you do have to sacrifice lands to get a good activation. By the time you are casting this though, that should be negligible. Chain can also be used to remove opponents stax and win-cons if need be. Rebuild is my least favorite, as it HAS to pick up everything, including cost reducers, so it isn't always a good thing, but it is an include for its power to keep storming, as well as hard stopping any other artifact deck.
Riddlesmith paired with Jhoira helps ensure you never run out of cards to play, as you draw to Jhoira, and if its not an artifact, chose to draw another and discard that one. Its also helpful to deal with commander hate, because even though its not as good as Jhoira, you can still manage to storm off with him if need be.
Tezzeret the Seeker is one of the best tutors, as it can grab ANY artifact onto the field, (They all cost 4 or less), and almost always do that twice unless threatened by an opponent. Don't forget that they retconned all plansewalkers to be legendary, so you draw off his cast as well.
Urza's Saga is a very exciting card for this deck new from MH2. Like any deck, its simply amazing ramp. Play it as a land, then tap it in response to its sac and get sol ring. Thats 3 additional mana on the crack. It can also get your moxes if you need the colored mana. Then, even better, it can fetch Sensei's Divining Top if you dont need the mana. The fact that it is almost unstoppable ramp (as not many people run wasteland in EDH) that can also grap our win con, stax (Pithing Needle), or removal (Pyrite Spellbomb) makes it an absolute necessity in this deck, and one that I am always glad to see in opening hand.
Grinding Station is somewhat dead without Breach, but don't forget it can counter topdeck tutors like Worldly Tutor or scry effects.
I had Vedalken Orrery in as an experiment, but I decided it wasn't necessary. Instant speed is a nice idea, but using a turn on Orrery rather than the rest of my deck isn't worth it. The cards best used at instant speed are already instants anyways.
Counterspells
It ends up being a topic of discussion whenever I talk to someone about my deck, so I wanted to address why I choose to play certain counterspells.
Fierce Guardianship and Deflecting Swat are no brainers. They make it so much safer to turn 1 or 2 your commander if you can, and is a great way to trick your opponent if they don't know you have them, as you can tap to 0 and still have protection.
Pact of Negation is the other free to play. I've seen some people not like this card, as its paying 5 to counter a spell, but I think its worth it. If you really need to tap out, this card allows you to without the risk of losing before your next turn. You might not be a be to do a whole lot on that turn but it definitely gives you a better chance. It also protects the win on 0 mana. I have tried to do my win line but get countered several times with 0 left, and this is a great card to save me in those scenarios. You don't have to pay on your next upkeep if you don't have one.
Mana Drain is also another no brainer. I counter you and win next turn? Thanks Dargo, the Shipwreaker!
Flusterstorm is simply too good to not put in a blue deck. I don't like how it can only counter instant and sorceries, but 1 mana to virtually Dovin's Veto a spell is too good. (Also, stopping storm cards, including another flusterstorm, is a nice bonus)
Muddle the Mixture is really a tutor, with an additional ability of countering. I didn't include this one for a while, but if you look at all the combos, stax, and generally OP cards this can grab, you'll see why it's in here.
Red Elemental Blast. I dropped Rapid Hybridization for this one, as its still a 1 drop removal (albeit conditional), while also being a one drop counterspell that hits all the important stuff. (Also, its some of the only enchantment removal, though that enchantment does have to be blue)
Stifle is underrated in commander. When someone casts a creature in CEDH, them having a body on the board is rarely the problem, its the triggered or occasionally activated ability that creature has. (Gilded Drake, Dockside Extortionist, and Reclamation Sage are good examples.) Stifle counters these better than any other spell, as its both 1 mana, and works around Allosaurus Shepperd, Destiny Spinner, and Cavern of Souls. It can also stop plansewalkers, dangerous artifacts, or any other immanent threat that you didn't get to counter when they played it.
Counterspell. Just a classic counterspell. Simplistic and Unconditional. Again, its 2 blue instead of other conditional spell's 1 drop cost, but in my opinion, its a fair price to pay to be able to both protect my win line and destroy someone else's.
And that's all I have so far. I will continue to add to this description when I feel I need to, and of course update it when I make changes to the deck. If you have any ideas for the deck or questions on why I'm keeping or cutting certain cards, please ask! It really helps fine tune the deck.
