One of my favourite things in magic is cycles. My love of cycles started with the Pit Fighters cycle of Onslaught which included Jareth, Arcanis, Visara, Rorix, and Silvos.
So, this is what this deck is all about, starting with the aforementioned Pit Fighters. And because this is not a competitive EDH deck, but one for fun and nostalgia for myself, it is meant to be played in larger groups. And what better commander than Karona for a larger group? She only comes out when the board is getting stale and I want action to happen. She is a funny commander :-)
===================
THE CYCLES:
===================
(1) The Pit Fighters: Jareth, Leonine Titan, Arcanis the Omnipotent, Visara the Dreadful, Rorix Bladewing, Silvos, Rogue Elemental - Onslaught cycle that featured power (for their time) creatures born to fight in the pit. Still my favourite cycle in MTG.
(2) The Praetors: Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur, Sheoldred, Whispering One, Urabrask the Hidden, Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger - New Phyrexia completely trumps Onslaught when it comes to their cycle of powerful creatures. Even with their heavy casting costs, some have seen competitive play with Jin-Gitaxias single handedly re-energized Legacy Reanimator (Until a 7/7 lifelink draw engine demon took over).
(3) The Titans: Sun Titan, Frost Titan, Grave Titan, Inferno Titan, Primeval Titan - M11/M12 cycle of giants that defined the Standard Format for two years.
(4) The Bringers: Bringer of the White Dawn, Bringer of the Blue Dawn, Bringer of the Black Dawn, Bringer of the Red Dawn, Bringer of the Green Dawn - Fifth Dawn cycle of Bringers who all have a need upkeep ability, have a decent 5/5 trampling body, who can all be cast for WUBRG instead of their regular insane 9 cmc.
(5) Dual Land Cycling Creatures: Sanctum Plowbeast, Jhessian Zombies, Igneous Pouncer, Valley Rannet, Pale Recluse - Shards of Alara mana fixers who double as beefy creatures. They are nothing exciting but in a 5-colour deck they do sure help out.
(6) The Blades: Bant Sureblade, Esper Stormblade, Grixis Grimblade, Jund Hackblade, Naya Hushblade - Alara Reborn cycle of small creatures that get much better when you have another multicolour permanent in play. With only 15 gold permanents in the deck, they may be "off" a lot, but they are an early play which this deck is short on, so they fit the bill.
(7) The Walls: Wall of Essence, Wall of Tears, Wall of Souls, Wall of Razors, Wall of Blossoms - Stronghold cycle of walls that each have a neat ability. This deck takes a while to get in gear and this cycle of walls do a great job holding the fort down in the early turns.
(8) Honden Shrines: Honden of Cleansing Fire, Honden of Seeing Winds, Honden of Night's Reach, Honden of Infinite Rage, Honden of Life's Web - Champions of Kamigawa legendary enchantment cycle that gets better the more you have in play. But, the more you have in play, the more of a target you become.
(9)Double Edge Swords: Sword of Light and Shadow, Sword of Fire and Ice, Sword of Feast and Famine]], Sword of War and Peace, Sword of Body and Mind - A cycled that started in Darksteel and was completed throughout the Scars of Mirrodin block. These are some of the most powerful equipment in the game, and the two original swords are still my favoutire peices of equipment to this day.
(10) The Original Walkers: Ajani Goldmane, Jace Beleren, Liliana Vess, Chandra Nalaar, Garruk Wildspeaker - Lorwyn. These are the first and I feel the most fair set of planeswalkers out there. Their namesakes have brought us some doozies (I'm looking at you Jace), but this first set of Walkers, out as a cycle of one per colour are the only true cycle of walkers (core sets try but fail in my mind).
(11) Charms: Bant Charm, Esper Charm, Grixis Charm, Jund Charm, Naya Charm - Shards of Alara. There are many charm cycles out there, but this is my favourite and what I feel is the best of the bunch and with the charms are my only non-permanents, I wanted good options.
(12) Borderposts: Fieldmist Borderpost, Mistvein Borderpost, Veinfire Borderpost, Firewild Borderpost, Wildfield Borderpost - Alara Reborn - Perhaps the best named cycle, the borderposts help with smoothing out mana and can help ramp up as well. They also give me multicoloured permanents to play with the blades.
(13) Tri-Lands: Seaside Citadel, Arcane Sanctum, Crumbling Necropolis, Savage Lands, Jungle Shrine - Shards of Alara - I could have had better cycle of lands in here, but money constraints as well as the better lands being in competitive decks, I settled on the tri-lands and they do a lot of work.
And as a note, even my basic lands are 4 different "cycles" of lands in specific blocks, and where I could do it, the same artist.
