Scarecrows and Changlings and Blightsteel, OH MY!
It's pretty crazy, how often this deck can cast Reaper King on/by turn 5. (Having said that, I recently did a huge overhaul on the land base, getting the mana you need just the same, but quicker, without having to rely on Amulet of Vigor to speed things up)
Pretty simple strategy; Use Reaper King, and all his compadres, to keep board control with ETB effects, by summoning and/or blinking. There are Scarecrows/Changelings, clones, flicker/create effects, tutors, some basic protection/utility........and a Blightsteel Colossus.
I decided that this deck finally needed Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir. He stomps the path open, for all the goals of the deck. Your opponents can't respond to you flickering, because they can't put spells onto the stack, only spells at sorcery speed, perfect, exactly what you are looking for. Plus, you get the 'Flash' ability on all your creatures. Not bad, in a deck that looks for ETB triggers, at instant speed.
Some Combos:
Your oppenent plays a board wipe spell, you respond with a Ghostway or Eerie Interlude. Not only do you save your creatures, but you also get all the EBT effects when they 'see eachother' as they re-enter the battlefield. If you have enough creatures out, you can cause some serious land destruction right back. Ouch.
There are 3 Changelings with 'Champion a creature,' (Changeling Berserker, Changeling Hero, and Changeling Titan) combo them with another scarecrow/changeling, then use any of the flicker effects (Eldrazi Displacer, Mistmeadow Witch, Deadeye Navigator, Conjurer's Closet, Eerie Interlude, or Ghostway) for an additional ETB trigger for Reaper King. On another level, clone the champion's for extra layers of effects, it can get pretty gross.
Doubling Triggers:
Mirrorworks, Strionic Resonator, Aura Shards, Panharmonicon and Sakashima the Impostor, all give you a second trigger off of your commander.
Getting the ETB trigger off, at instant speed, is something I've been adding more and more of. Cards like Riptide Replicator, Volrath's Laboratory, Soul Foundry, Master Transmuter, and Mimic Vat, give you an additional creature and ETB effect, whenever you need, without having to have a scarecrow/changeling already on the battlefield.
Some of my favorite targets to flicker, are:
Grim Poppet (helps to get rid of pesky indestructible creatures)
Treasure Mage (lets you tutor for Grim Poppet or Blightsteel Colossus
Trinket Mage allows you to ramp by getting the Mana Crypt, the Sol Ring, and Sensei's Divining Top.
And, any creature with 'Champion a Creature' for 2x the effect
Bunch o'clones:
Sakashima the Impostor gives you two Reaper Kings, seems good in this deck.
Stunt Double at instant speed.
Phantasmal Image gives you a second Blightsteel Colossus, for only two mana, gross.
Plus, the other flicker effects I already mentioned, Deadeye Navigator allows you to trigger when ever, as well as Mistmeadow Witch and Eldrazi Displacer.
My favorite card to play:
Rite of Replication, besides the 5 triggers on Reaper King, there are some fun targets. Target Adaptive Automaton, and all your scarecrow/changelings become huge. Grim Poppet gives you 15, -1/-1 counters, to distribute on some indestructible creatures your opponents control. In a pinch, Solemn Simulacrum will give you a land. Targeting the Kuldotha Forgemaster, gives you enough artifacts to tutor twice, which is nice. And, on the Blightsteel Colossus, that can end a game, real quick.
The tutors are there to do exactly what they're meant for. There are some different ways that opponents come at this deck, to try and shut it down. Sometimes you just have to go find what you need, in your deck......then blow up their lands. Their fault.
There's a couple tutors for land: Solemn Simulacrum and Wild-Field Scarecrow. I'm not gonna count lands that tutor for other lands. They're just there.
If you count Sensei's Divining Top as a tutor, it helps you stack your deck.
5 tutors for artifacts:
Kuldotha Forgemaster let's you put any artifact into play....very handy.
Trinket Mage is a mana ramp, essentially.
Treasure Mage gets the biggins'.
The basic tutors:
Enlightened Tutor can get you mana rocks, protection enchantments, or the fan-favorites Legacy Weapon and Blightsteel Colossus
Worldly Tutor will get you any scarecrow/changeling or utility/win-con creatures you need. Grabbing Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir always feels good, on the inside.
And, of course, Demonic Tutor get's you anything you want/need.
But, my favorite tutor is Transmute Artifact. You can just go ahead and put Capt. Blightsteel right into play, from your deck?!?.....Yes, please. (Kuldotha Forgemaster does the same thing, just slower)
And then you have the two planewalkers; Venser, the Sojourner and Teferi, Temporal Archmage
Venser is there for redundancy.
Teferi, Temporal Archmage is in the deck for the mana help. Being able to untap 4 different permanents is huge, especially if you have any mana rocks, that offer 2+ mana, out.
Thank you, to all who gave suggestions on the deck. It kicks arse.
Suggestions are always welcome....
