I was trying to find a way to make Temur Ascendancy super deadly in this new format, as I like it's aggressiveness as well as its ability to draw cards. Eventually decided to splash white for Ojutai's Command which works amazingly well with several creatures and counters creature spells that Stubborn Denial misses. Playtesting it has been a lot of fun since there is a ton of flexibility and opportunity to get cards back from the graveyard that you really need late game. Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
is definitely the engine, but the big defender that keeps everything safe is Woodland Wanderer, which only got better by splashing a fourth color. This deck is really able to put on the pressure while defending the mid-late game with this card because a 6/6 vigilant trampler on as early as turn three can really mess with almost anyone's gameplan offensively or defensively. There is a ton of card draw and late game finishers that should be able to eek out wins out of nowhere due to the combo of Temur Ascendancy and Dragonmaster Outcast. Thoughts, questions, concerns are all very welcome. I personally have three parts of the deck I still need an opinion on, so if you can help that would be great:
1.) Should I keep Kiora, Master of the Depths, or switch it out for something else?
2.) How is the land base looking? Should I add more fetchlands? I'd like to keep the two Lumbering Falls as fallbacks if things get bad late game. Not super experienced with the tango lands in 4C so an opinion on the mana base would really be appreciated.
3.) What do you think of the sideboard? The biggest thing I'm worried about is early aggression, specifically aggressive flyers like Drana, Liberator of Malakir and Mantis Rider so they were my priority, as well as anyone with a "go wide" philosophy. A big Woodland Wanderer is good against Siege Rhinos, Tasigur, the Golden Fangs, and such, but obviously can only block one creature a time.
OVERALL CONCEPT:
Set up either an aggressive threat early to force bad blocks/exchanges while filling the graveyard. Using Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
, unnecessary spells during early game can be looted for better options, preferably lands/dorks that help fix the 4C mana base. Bring back anything you want with Greenwarden of Murasa or delve away with Dig Through Time to look for the answers that aren't in your graveyard. Eventually put a bunch of fatties all of over the place and finish off with Dragonmaster Outcast's dragons, hopefully having haste and drawing cards due to Temur Ascendancy. Counter any removal with Stubborn Denial and bring back threats with Greenwarden of Murasa and Ojutai's Command.
CREATURES:
Dragonmaster Outcast:
Terrible in the early game, but the goal is to put it in the graveyard via Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
until needed. Then bring it out with Greenwarden of Murasa or Ojutai's Command. Couple this with Temur Ascendancy and things can get nasty very quickly for an opponent.
Frost Walker:
Aggressive early threat or something to bring back late game from the graveyard with Ojutai's Command or discarded if not needed. Once again combo's well with Temur Ascendancy and Ojutai's Command. Early enabler of Stubborn Denial to protect Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
. If the opponent is having a slow start creature wise, it can deal a lot of damage quickly.
Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
:
Early engine of the game whose looter ability helps fix the mana base and get the cards needed earlier than before. Can be brought back right at the opponent's end step via Ojutai's Command to immediately start looting and possibly flip. Once this card flips, it's flashback ability allows for re-using Dig Through Time and Ojutai's Command which are great late game cards while it's +1 can stave off early attacks. After play-testing, it does seem possible to get to his ultimate ability sometimes.
Rattleclaw Mystic:
Beastcaller Savant was very tempting, but not being able to work with non-creature spells made it a no go. This card can work with everything and only misses on helping with Ojutai's Command, so it's the better fixer overall.
Nissa, Vastwood Seer
:
Helps fix mana base by bring in either a plain basic forest so playing her early on definitely doesn't hurt. She can always be brought back with Greenwarden of Murasa late game when she can fetch a land and immediately flip. Her -2 immediately puts something down that combo's perfectly with Temur Ascendancy and Stubborn Denial.
Woodland Wanderer:
With the right colors early this card can come out on turn three as a 6/6 with vigilance and trample, which is ridiculous. Can pound out early competition while still defending our weenies Jace and Rattleclaw, which is ultra important. Hard to play around and remove that early if there is mana left open for a Stubborn Denial.
Greenwarden of Murasa:
Extremely versatile card that can help get cards that were discarded back when needed late game. The really cool thing is his abilities can get ANY card back so the greenwarden can even get fetch lands to redeploy if mana needs fixing. Not the biggest body for a 6CMC card, but well worth it in terms of value.
NON-CREATURE SPELLS
Temur Ascendancy:
This can really be nights out for opponent's once this hits and a couple big guys start coming out. With 10 creatures over power four which isn't even including Dragonmaster Outcast, there should be ample card draw and tons of big threats with haste. Works well because the card draw from this deck is coming from everywhere (creatures, planeswalkers, instants, and enchantments), which makes it hard for an opponent to just sideboard against any of these super effectively.
Stubborn Denial:
Offers good protection early on if a Frost Walker hits the floor on curve. Obviously when mana is not a problem later on, it can allow you to really use all those extra cards elsewhere much quicker because of how cheap this spell is.
Ojutai's Command:
With the amount of looting going on early, this brings back both Dragonmaster Outcast and Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
in the late game where they really shine. Good utility card that can help protect against early threats via life gain and bringing back a blocker. Also super important because this deck doesn't have any HUGE creatures so this can counter any opponent's creatures who could lay down some hurt. Worth splashing.
Dig Through Time:
With the amount of looting and fetchlands, this card usually has tons of room to be cast for really cheap and search for answers or pieces to beat the opponent. There may not be four in this deck, but with Greenwarden of Murasa and Jace's flashback ability, this card well be cast pretty often still.
Crater's Claws:
Works well with ferocious and has flexibility that is wanted for early game or using it late game to close out an opponent's life total or huge creature that trumps our creatures.
Kiora, Master of the Depths:
Provides mana fixing/dorking and can be used to double loot with Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
or untap a creature who can now defend. The -2 ability provides card draw that also works well with our graveyard and Dig Through Time shenanigans.
LAND BASE:
Pretty much what people would expect. Blue and Green are the most important colors early on so they get the most support in terms of pain lands, fetches etc.... Any suggestions are welcome, but during play-testing it seems that the land base is working pretty well.
SIDEBOARD:
Still in progress, but the biggest scare seems to be early aggressive decks that go wide like Atarka red. As well, outside of Dragonmaster Outcast, there isn't a ton of defense vs. flying, so that is my focus. I could use help with help against artifacts (Hangarback Walker specifically), enchantments, and re-occurring threats like the Deathmist Raptor/Den Protector combo. Once the correct answers are determined though, I think this deck has the flexibility to deal with most decks.
Thank you for making it to the bottom and please upvote/+1 if you like the deck! I think it's pretty fun and unique since not many Temur-becks use dig through time to this degree!
