My desire was to build a nicely thematic deck with kungfu monks. The Prowess mechanism seemed to be the best ability in common to focus on.
The Rebound mechanism for
Artful Maneuver
and
Emerge Unscathed
are really great with Prowess: you basically get a free activation at upkeep. I started building this deck with more cards using Rebound, but found in practice that
Expedite
and
Temur Battle Rage
gave more value because once opponents see what Prowess does, leaving summoning sick monks on the battleground for a turn just encouraged heavy removal. Speaking of that,
Journey to Nowhere
is here to try and stop big threats that come out. All these spells and casting the Acrum’s Astrolabe are Prowess triggers.
Of course,
Prophetic Prism
is there for colour fixing because we’re running and ambitious three!
Navigator's Compass
is a back-up Prophetic Prism and you could even run another. They all have great synergy with
Glint Hawk
, which can bounce back to your hand and allow you to play the Prophetic Prism/Navigator's Compass again just for card draw or life gain (I miss the Arcum’s Astrolabe)...and also as another Prowess trigger. Glint Hawk is nice to have around for flying damage and blocks regardless.
Ponder
and
Distant Melody
are there for card advantage too. This deck is mostly humans but it is low on total creatures, so there may be something better than distant melody. If you lose
Jeskai Sage
you can draw a card too. I’m testing an
Elusive Spellfist
to see how its unblockable ability plays out. The lifelink that Prowess gives
Seeker of the Way
is really great, which makes it pretty much an insta-target for opponents.
Ash Barrens
fantastic cycling ability that allows you to fetch a land and play it for your turn explains why the card is getting expensive, and it’s here to help if you can’t get the Astrolabe or Prism online soon enough.
The old-school snow-covered islands even come with nicely thematic snow-covered monks! ;-)
I have had some success with this deck. It is fun to play. Firing off the Prowess mechanism gives the game play a neat twist.
Perhaps 2
Rhystic Study
and 2
Refocus
to replace the
Ponder
and
Distant Melody
. They are should help with card draw but have more synergy with the deck?
