Yisan, the Wanderer Bard based off of Reid Duke's design.
The basic idea behind this deck is very simple, but I have learned that it is much more difficult to pilot than your typical green devotion deck. The plan here is not rocket science: jam your green guys out on the field until you flood the board.
Sounds easy, right?
The hard part is using your instant-speed Yisan, the Wanderer Bard activations and Chord of Calling in the best way that you can. Here is a typical sequence of turns:
Turn 1) Land, Elvish Mystic
Turn 2) Land, tap Elvish Mystic for another Elvish Mystic and tap your 2 lands for either Sylvan Caryatid or Kiora's Follower
Turn 3) Land, tap all but 1 for a Prophet of Kruphix and on your opponents turn play Yisan, the Wanderer Bard.
At this point, it's the start of turn 4 (assuming you won the die roll) and you can activate Yisan, the Wanderer Bard 2 times on your turn and 2 times on your opponents turn. The following turn you can do it 3 TIMES at instant speed! This sequence isn't "the nut draw," but rather it is something that happens on a fairly regular basis. The times that this deck doesn't hit the "combo pieces" it can still function and win games like a typical green devotion deck.
Sideboard Tech
Plummet
+ Hornet Queen +
Arbor Colossus
are all in my sideboard to help against the inevitable scourge of flying creatures that will give me headaches in the coming standard season. Cards like
Butcher of the Horde
, Stormbreath Dragon, and whatever else people start using to go over the top when they see me clog up the ground need to be dealt with, which explains my liberal use of anti-aircraft guns.
Negate +
Kiora, the Crashing Wave
come in to help out in the match against (almost) creatureless control. In this matchup, the maindeck cards do fairly well to keep this an honest 50/50 and not a one-sided wholloping like it was when Supreme Verdict was standard, but the extra sideboard cards help swing the match in my favor if my opponent can't handle the speed of my deck.
Nylea's Disciple
+
Hornet Nest
+ Reclamation Sage are the go-to cards to fix my matchup against aggressive decks and mono-red strategies, specifically Rabble Red. I love blocking a gigantic Goblin Rabblemaster with a
Hornet Nest
and getting a bunch of bugs! Pure profit! The extra Reclamation Sage is here for utility against decks that either run 4 copies of something like Banishing Light or in the case of mono red devotion, Eidolon of the Great Revel.
