He's back! That's right, Nicolas "Bolas" Cage stars in the movie of the year: The Wicker Dragon! Coming to a Friday Night Movie near you!
Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker returns to finish what he started; Tamiyo, the Moon Sage and Jace, Architect of Thought are back for support, and there's a new Planeswalker joining in this time around. Sorin, Lord of Innistrad does something for this deck that it's predecessor didn't: make creatures. While the deck runs no creatures, Sorin can make tokens for us when we need it.
This time around, the removal is all over; Devour Flesh can handle Boros Reckoner, Thundermaw Hellkite, Geist of Saint Traft, Loxodon Smiter and other creatures that either dodge, survive or are a pain to Searing Spear. For things that can be Spear'd, we Spear. Azorius Charm doubles as a stall/removal or draw when you need it(lifegain will be pointless, as the only creatures we'll be getting out will already have lifelink).
Pillar of Flame
is for early game creatures like Arbor Elf and Avacyn's Pilgrim, and for creatures you want to exile like Gravecrawler, Geralf's Messanger and Blood Artist. It also allows us to turn to kill Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, who the BANE of this deck's existence if you let her.
With spot removal comes devestating sweepers: Supreme Verdict and Terminus. With Azorius Charm,
Think Twice
and Sphinx's Revelation, we can miracle Terminus whenever the odds are in our favor. Otherwise, Supreme Verdict is uncounterable, which means when we say "die", those creatures die.
Speaking of counter spells, we have some of them. Syncopate can be played for the same price as a Mana Leak, it can be played for the same effect as a Mana Leak, and it.... okay it's our Mana Leak(did I mention Mana Leak?). It also exiles, so no flashback Lingering Souls for you, sir. Dissipate exiles too, but it's an unconditional counter. Then there's the singleton Rewind. This is a good card for two reasons; the first is that it untap our lands, allowing us to Azorius Charm or Revelation or Searing Spear or whatever we want. It pays or itself. And second, look at Tamiyo's Final. The emblem she creates will mean we have a free counter for the rest of the game.
Blind Obedience isn't a counter. It isn't a removal spell. It IS a way to slow the game down. It slows Thundermaw Hellkite. It slows
Hellrider
. Aurelia, the Warleader? Nope. It gives you an extra turn to answers things you may not be able to yet answer. And Extort! Extort will sway the long game in your favor, and you life is important to keep up.
Finally, the wincons: Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker, Tamiyo, the Moon Sage,
Nephalia Drownyard
, sort of Sorin, Lord of Innistrad, and sort of Jace, Architect of Thought. If you've seen my other deck Nicolas "Bolas" Cage in: Lord of Control [5-0 FNM], you should know how explosive this dragon is. Once's he's played, he starts blowing things up. If he's not answered, he finals, and prepares to do it again. If need be, I can take the Thragtusk you just played. Tamiyo wants to be final'd. If you do that, and you have a Spear or Pillar in hand, you win. If you have a Dissipate or Rewind in hand, you don't lose. Nephalia is for the grindy games that grind a little too much for your comfort(surprisingly, you want the game to stabilize in your favor turn 4 or 5, you want to be in the direction of winning turn 8 or 9, and if it's turn 10-12 and this hasn't happened yet, you want to see the Drownyard as an alternate wincon. Sorin and Jace are "sort of" wincons because although there primary purpose isn't to go final with either of them, if you can and have in order to win, you theoretically can. Jace can grab something of their's you can kill them with like Thundermaw and also get you Bolas, and Sorin can do the same thing, just in a different way. However, these wincons are iffy and hard to use to the best effect, so these are only for "I have no other way to win this" situations. Know your options.
With the main board settle, I'll touch upon the side.
Witchbane Orb
- stops Rakdos's Return and Slaughter Games(if they Slaughter Games Bolas and/or Tamiyo, they kill half your wincons. This cannot happen, hard to recover from) and other things like that.
Blind Obedience - same purpose as for the ones in the main, but for when you need to see it more.
Curse of Echoes - stops people who are also using Sphinx's Revelations, and any control deck really.
Detention Sphere - more removal. Also, Assemble the Legion. Some decks play it in their sides. That will kill you unless you can use one of these or use Bolas to blow it up.
Dissipate - more counter magic.
Purify the Grave
- anti-graveyard. Self-explanatory.
Pillar of Flame
- Same reason for in the main. Want more, see more.
Slaughter Games - some cards you DON'T want your opponent to play. Maybe it's Swagtusk, maybe it's Sphinx's Revelation, maybe it's.... whatever it is, get rid of it before they play it. Bonus point if they're all in his or her hand.
Supreme Verdict = more sweeper. Sometimes you need to say "die" more than once.
There's the deck. I hope you enjoy. I hope it can handle the current standard. I'll test it some time soon. +1 if you like, and give feedback if you want.
Other films starring Nicolas "Bolas" Cage: Nicolas "Bolas" Cage in: Lord of Control [5-0 FNM]
