Chrono Control: A Jhoira Mini-Primer Mastery is achieved when "telling time" becomes "telling time what to do."
Why Jhoira?
Competition:
Tibor and Lumia: This cute couple is exactly that.....cute. Both of their effects are extremely minor and you would need to chain several spells to make thier effects significant it. They work well with Neko-Te and deathtouch equipment, but that's about more or less as far as that goes. They might be interesting in prevent you from losing the game in that aspect, but let's talk more about winning the game.
Nin, the Pain Artist: Some more of the cute department, her ability is really mana intensive, but drawing cards can be alot of fun, she's pretty good I guess and has a few cute tricks but she dosen't specifically reinforce any kind of strategy. If you were just going the Red-Blue good stuff route she seems like a solid choice. But I like building around a strategy that the general is integral to. To me that is the point of Commander.
Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius: Feels like another good stuff general. Both Niv 2.0 and Nin like decks that have large amounts of mana laying around, other than that their isn't too much in terms of interactions or solid combos (other than typical Red-Blue combos.). Like Nin , but this guy is a little more costly and mana-intensive, but more versatile and can draw one for free during combat.
Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind Our closest competition. This guy loves chaining wheel effects or dropping a Curiosity effect to close the game. He's good no doubt, but Jhoira gets the nod for a few main reasons:
1) Cheaper to cast.
2) Can combo off regardless if she remains in play or not.
3) Not forced to jam excessive amounts of wheel effects in the deck to function.
4) Has many ways to stick to the strategy even if the general gets nerfed.
So in summary, Jhoira has a straight forward comboish plan, but can be built to be a little more flexible as well and be more resilient than competing combo generals. She could be categorized as a Combo-Control deck.
That's Nice, but is she for me?
Jhoira is for you if:
You like Straight forward game plans.
You like Big epic size spells.
You like the challenge of fighting 3 on 1.
You want a relatively budget deck that is very competitive.
You like time-traveling redheads.
Jhoira is not for you if:
You don't want to end up playing archenemy.
You don't like straight forward plans.
You like aggressive decks.
You hate shuffling, ( not necessarily always the case, but my decklist tutors quite a bit.)
Deck History
So, let's face it, this isn't the first time someone has made a Jhoira deck right?
It all started many years ago, when commander, or at the time EDH was first being born for me it was a little before Shards of Alara. Many of us were under the wondrous spell of the new format that encouraged huge splashy spells and heinous card interactions. Being an Izzet mage at heart from my very first day of magic within the Mercadian Masques block, led me straight away to the favored Red-Blue combination.
I knew that EDH was just as much about expression as it was about big epic and splashy effects. So the decision became a no brainer, I was going to choose the cute redhead who could manipulate time and allow me to cast as many big and splashy spells as I want!
It was very casual at first, doing cute things like suspending Deep-sea Kraken and Greater Gargadon and getting them out much faster than normal was my idea of a "good plan". There was no obliterate-suspend nonsense at the time, just good ole Time Stretch to annoy everyone. It wasn't until Conflux came out with cards like Inkwell Leviathan that I started to shape some strategy, along side a slew of artifacts and ways to cheat them into play outside of Jhoira, such as Master Transmuter and Darksteel Colossus. I also got creature and land destruction only cards so I could save my artifacts and recuperate faster than my opponents. Things like Devastation and Wildfire were the norm.
I toyed back and forth with cards like Jokulhaups for a couple of years, while in the meantime collecting new gems as each set came out. Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, Blightsteel Colossus, etc, etc. I put the deck away sometime around New Phyrexia to build and try some other decks. I came back several months ago to even more new gems, such as Omniscience. A feverish intrigue for the deck was reborn. Playing around with new found enchantments and opening the deck to few planeswalkers allowed me to make a final 100% decision on how the deck wants to be played. Jokulhaups and all his land busting friends were here to stay. From previous experiments, I had a pretty good idea what was good and what wasn't. So it was just a matter of maximizing my chance of my game plan working from start to finish and thus the third iteration of the deck was born. This is the version I will share with you.
Kozilek, Butcher of Truth - One of the Eldrazi Gods and one of the most powerful creatures you can unsuspend, ensures you get some value whether he even resolves or not, kills a player in 4 swings and ensures that no one can gain any ground again post Obliterate (as does all eldrazis) Exceptional....
Deep-Sea Kraken - What is most attractive about this card is that even if jhoira is tucked or incapacitated, you can still go for the suspend-obliterate plan. Suspend this guy off of jhoira and he will come out close to immediately, a 6/6 unblockable in the first 4-5 turns is very solid even without an obliterate.
Sphinx of Uthuun - Not unreasonable to hardcast this guy to dig into some cards, the 5/6 flying body is plenty to close in the game post obliterate. Ths deck operates best with cards that are both good post-obliterate and pre-obliterate and this fits the bill nicely.
Inkwell Leviathan - Untargetable by your opponents tricks/spot removal, not unreasonable even if obliterate is not handy. But nigh impossible to stop post-obliterate (sorry path to exile/ swords to plowshares!) Tutorable via Fabricate.
Greater Gargadon - Included for the same reasons as Deep-sea Kraken, if jhoira gets tucked, you still have these guys. Can come out alot sooner than expected at any point in the game. Very Scary!
Akroma, Angel of Fury - Might as well be untargetable most of the time, bonus points for being relatively easy to hardcast via morph in a pinch.
Pathrazer of Ulamog - Annihilate 3 is about as close as your going to get to annihilate 4, unblockable 9/10.
Artisan of Kozilek - Most reasonable Eldrazi to hardcast that doesn't suck really bad, you will often gain a little value off of him as well, and annihilate 2 can still keep people off balance.
Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre - Possibly Strongest creature in the deck. I could see someone suspending this guy, with no intention of obliterating and still win. At the very worst case, you will be able to destroy anything. And indestructible to boot?
Blightsteel Colossus - Fights with Ulamog for strongest creature in the deck, one shot kick to the nuts? AND indestructible? If you are playing Fabricate you will see this guy alot. Watch out for Bribery though!
Consecrated Sphinx - Blue Staple is Staple, great card draw pre-obliterate, and an okay beater that will draw you far ahead of your opponents post-obliterate. Auto-include in blue decks, no different here.
Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur - Shuts down opponents on a level of eldrazi's, slows their recovery to a soft-lock post obliterate, while you draw seemingly infinite gas. Worried about milling yourself? Discard an eldrazi! Soooo gooood!
Aeon Chronicler - Like Deep-sea Krakenand Greater Gargadon as another way to suspend-obliterate. Very good if suspended via Jhoira and a good plan B if you can't. So it's always good. Tutorable via Imperial Recruiter!
Omniscience - A hard to get rid of permanent that can survive board wipes! With all your spells now being free while your opponents can't cast anything, how can you lose? You can suspend this at any time, since you don't have to cast obliterate while it is in exile, which makes it a little more versatile.
Bribery - One of the strongest cards in the deck. Very easy to hard cast, good to suspend and win off of post-obliterate. Good to nab utility creatures in a pinch. Tutorable via personal and mystical tutor.
Fabricate - Gets Phyrexian Metamorph, Quicksilver Amulet, Blightsteel Colossus, Inkwell Leviathan and all aman rocks.
Dizzy Spell - Gets mana vault, sol ring, Rift elemental, mystical and personal tutors, and mystic remora.
Long-Term Plans - Gets anything, with the amount of card manipulation/draw, we should be able to get our desired card sooner, even if we don't it's still solid. Instant to boot.
Expedition Map - Worse case we get ancient tomb, which makes this a worn powerstone that comes into play untapped. We can also get Boseiju or Cavern of souls to ensure our stuff resolves or Homeward path if someone wants to use bribery.
Merchant Scroll - Nabs some other tutors, sunder, evacuation and counters if we need to fight off a blue mage, when stuff unsuspends.
Intuition - Surefire way to get a sweeper or a win-con, which ever we need.
Counters
This deck wants to have a certain amount of counters for the following reasons: Make sure your suspend spells resolve, stop opponents from comboing out, or stop the few spells that you would actually care about. This deck isn't out to control all of your opponents and most of what they do you can ignore. However, having access to some "answer anything" cards for those few things that actually will cripple you is important. Especially in a deck that leaves it's mana open more often than not. I put priority on castability, so my counterspells are either free or equal 2 mana.
To summarize:
Force of Will - Free
Muddle the Mixture - Cheap and a tutor as well
Mana Drain - cheap and can cause very broken follow-ups.
Counterspell - cheap staple
Arcane Denial - cheap and cycles, if im countering something, i dont care if they draw two
Misdirection - free and pretty much a counterspell, also can nab some tasty spells passing by.
Pact of Negation - free
Deprive - cheap
Jace, The Mind Sculptor - all modes are relevent, brainstorm is good with all of our shuffling, bounce is good for something that didn't die post obliterate, he is also an additional win-condition. Survives almost all obliterates too!
Mystic Remora - If this card even draws you 2 cards, then it has been very good. It will always draw you more than that.. Tutorable via dizzy spell.
Rhystic Study - If this card draws you 3 cards, then it is good it ususally draws you more than that, bonus points for surviving obliterates and still draweing you cards as other try to rebuild.
Scroll Rack - more than enough shuffling to make this good.
Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir - Stops blue mages from messing with our spells, also the best removal of Teferi himself (our archnemesis), since Teferi!
Phyrexian Metamorph - Incredible versatile and tutorable, need mana rock? check, kill generals? check, copy utility stuff? check.
Rift Elemental - For the price of time warp you get an additional counter removed and a 5/1 to block/swing with. Best part about him is your opponents will never expect when you will resolve things from now on. You can end a game before it really begins with this guy out.
Fury Charm - surprise! That obliterate is happening NOW! Also option of destroying the second mose relevent permanent in edh.
Chaos Warp - destroy anything? Tuck generals? Bonus points for mising a Blightsteel colossus off the top if your desperate.
Quicksilver Amulet - Another Plan B if Jhoira gets busted, you don't have to wait for this one!
Stasis - completely lock everyone down until your stuff unsuspends, buys lots of time.
Paradox Haze - accelerates your unsupension into overdrive, comparable to rift elemental.
In-depth card explanations (under construction)
On Mana
One thing that we want to make sure we do every game is get 5 mana to cast jhoira. That way, no matter what happens, you have the extra 2 mana to spare suspending. If we can get to 5 mana faster then, even better. Counting 35 lands and 9 mana rocks, along with 1 expedition map, we have 45 ways to get mana, not counting other tutors (such as Trinket Mage). Expected value of mana sources on turn 5 with 45 mana sources is 5 mana sources.
Consistency is better than this due to tutors like Trinket Mage, or Dizzy Spell as well as card draw. Plus since most mana rocks gives us more than 1 mana, we can often get 5 mana way before turn 5.
I feel like Arcane Denial, Rift Elemental, Destructive Force, and Dizzy Spell would be the first to go. Stasis seems out of place here, I don't see a lot of ways to abuse it other than the fact that it stalls the game out a little bit. Long-Term Plans might be a little low priority as well.
I think i'm sold on cuting Destructive Force and Stasis, maaaayyybe long term plans and dizzy spell.
Rift elemental and Arcane denial have been stellar. especially the elemental. I tutor for that thing so much actually... I feel like 8 counters is the right number, so for me it would be a switch to an inferior counterspell, i really don't care if they draw 2 if I actually bothered to counter and it digs me 1 deeper. I would certainly hate arcane denial a little more in 1 v 1 though.
- Destructive Force: Obviously very weak compared to the other sweepers, I will never tutor for it and 10 sweepers seems fine.
- Stasis: Bad top deck, it's only use was to lock the game for a few turns to let my stuff unsuspend. Pretty useless other wise.
- Mind Stone: Pretty weak compared to the other mana rocks, drawing a card wasn't significant enough to warrant inclusion anymore. Deck dosen't miss it at all.
- Phyrexian Metamorph: I really love this card, he's just very awkward in this deck. He's terrible post-obliterate and often I don't care about copying all that much in the early game. I just want to ramp, search and draw during the first 1-4 turns, then just make sure my stuff resolves after that. The metamorph can be ramp, but it's not guaranteed. He just dosen't consistantly do something that I need the deck to do so he's on the bench for now.
- Imperial Recruiter: Not too many great targets compared to other tutors, so....boot!
- Trinket Mage: It was down to this guy and Dizzy Spell. I chose Dizzy spell because the targets it can fetch are relevent at all points of the game. Trinket mage gets ramp or ramp or more ramp or top. Dizzy spell gets sol ring, mana vault, Top, Expedition Map, Rift Elemental, Personal Tutor and Mystical Tutor (Thus getting Bribery or a sweeper.) or mystic remora to draw a bunch of cards. There is no way to abuse the 2/2 body either in this deck.
Next Stage - going to pimp this thread up to "look" more primer-like. We will see about actual primer status later.
Played a few more games and made some changes that I should have caught on to earlier:
- Coldsteel Heart: I felt this was pretty weak, when I drew it. My other ramp is much better than this.
- Izzet Keyrune: I really never wanted to activate the looter ability.
+ Trinket Mage: This guy didn't have to compete with dizzy spell, they should both be in here and since i'm cutting mana rocks, I should put in the guy that fetched my better ones.
+ Chromatic Lantern: Allows me to mess with a few more colorless lands and is immediately better than the keyrune, whether it is better than Darksteel Ingot remains to be seen.
- Chaos Warp: I really like this card but it doesn't help us streamline our strategy and i felt the deck could use a little more mana.
- Chromatic Lantern: Was pretty good, but we really just want to get a bunch of mana fast so we can drop jhoira and suspend asap, which is why it gets replaced with....
+ Basalt Monolith: A fair option for fast mana into jhoira, also good to have the option of untaping it wth excess mana so you can hardcast something cruel later.
+ Worn powerstone: The next best in line for cost vs. productivity. Unfortunetly, it comes into play tapped, but still very strong.
Long-term plans was okay, but just too slow when people were gunning for me. I chose Chaos Warp because I need answers to cards that skewer me like Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir, Gaddock Teeg and Linvala, Keeper of Silence, there are probably other too.
contemplating puting Phyrexian Metamorph Back in since the hate cards are usually legendary, plus metamorph is a solid card regardless.
Out of curiosity, why aren't you running Snapcaster Mage here? I definitely don't think he's an auto-include, but he seems pretty solid regardless. You have plenty of worthwhile targets in the counters, tutors, and utility spells.
I've been running a very similar deck with excellent results, and this post provided a good chunk of the foundation. I definitely think you could expand this into a full primer!
As for Snapcaster mage, he certainly is a decent option, the reasons I did not include him are:
1) The decklist is super tight right now, I'm still trying to find room to stick Phyrexian Metamorph in here.
2) By the time I have some decent flashback targets and the extra 2 mana to cast and flashback a spell, I should be well on my way already to setting my self for the game win.
Thran Dynamo and Gilded lotus didn't make it in, because my aim is too cast jhoira with the extra 2 mana to suspend right away. These two mana rocks come out too late/are too expensive to help with this goal, thus I opted for cheaper yet efficient mana rocks, plus I don't want to over-saturate on mana rocks.
As for Fury Charm, Paradox Haze and Rift Elemental. nearly 80% of the time I can resolve Jhoira, with 2 mana back-up. This is usually due to fast mana on turns 1-3 or cards like Cavern of Souls, or counterspells to help resolve her. At which point I can suspend whatever I want, regardless if she gets removed, so these cards are relevent almost every time. Even if jhoira isn't out I have a few suspend cards in the deck. Plus a good part of the time Fury Charm becomes a Shatter which is a pretty good option.
How do you feel about Clockspinning? Probably too expensive to buy back....
I build a variation of this and I dont normally get to live to see the first cards come off suspend. How do you keep your self alive with this deck?
Mastery is achieved when "telling time" becomes "telling time what to do."
Competition:
Tibor and Lumia: This cute couple is exactly that.....cute. Both of their effects are extremely minor and you would need to chain several spells to make thier effects significant it. They work well with Neko-Te and deathtouch equipment, but that's about more or less as far as that goes. They might be interesting in prevent you from losing the game in that aspect, but let's talk more about winning the game.
Nin, the Pain Artist: Some more of the cute department, her ability is really mana intensive, but drawing cards can be alot of fun, she's pretty good I guess and has a few cute tricks but she dosen't specifically reinforce any kind of strategy. If you were just going the Red-Blue good stuff route she seems like a solid choice. But I like building around a strategy that the general is integral to. To me that is the point of Commander.
Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius: Feels like another good stuff general. Both Niv 2.0 and Nin like decks that have large amounts of mana laying around, other than that their isn't too much in terms of interactions or solid combos (other than typical Red-Blue combos.). Like Nin , but this guy is a little more costly and mana-intensive, but more versatile and can draw one for free during combat.
Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind Our closest competition. This guy loves chaining wheel effects or dropping a Curiosity effect to close the game. He's good no doubt, but Jhoira gets the nod for a few main reasons:
1) Cheaper to cast.
2) Can combo off regardless if she remains in play or not.
3) Not forced to jam excessive amounts of wheel effects in the deck to function.
4) Has many ways to stick to the strategy even if the general gets nerfed.
So in summary, Jhoira has a straight forward comboish plan, but can be built to be a little more flexible as well and be more resilient than competing combo generals. She could be categorized as a Combo-Control deck.
That's Nice, but is she for me?
Jhoira is for you if:
You like Straight forward game plans.
You like Big epic size spells.
You like the challenge of fighting 3 on 1.
You want a relatively budget deck that is very competitive.
You like time-traveling redheads.
Jhoira is not for you if:
You don't want to end up playing archenemy.
You don't like straight forward plans.
You like aggressive decks.
You hate shuffling, ( not necessarily always the case, but my decklist tutors quite a bit.)
Deck History
So, let's face it, this isn't the first time someone has made a Jhoira deck right?
It all started many years ago, when commander, or at the time EDH was first being born for me it was a little before Shards of Alara. Many of us were under the wondrous spell of the new format that encouraged huge splashy spells and heinous card interactions. Being an Izzet mage at heart from my very first day of magic within the Mercadian Masques block, led me straight away to the favored Red-Blue combination.
I knew that EDH was just as much about expression as it was about big epic and splashy effects. So the decision became a no brainer, I was going to choose the cute redhead who could manipulate time and allow me to cast as many big and splashy spells as I want!
It was very casual at first, doing cute things like suspending Deep-sea Kraken and Greater Gargadon and getting them out much faster than normal was my idea of a "good plan". There was no obliterate-suspend nonsense at the time, just good ole Time Stretch to annoy everyone. It wasn't until Conflux came out with cards like Inkwell Leviathan that I started to shape some strategy, along side a slew of artifacts and ways to cheat them into play outside of Jhoira, such as Master Transmuter and Darksteel Colossus. I also got creature and land destruction only cards so I could save my artifacts and recuperate faster than my opponents. Things like Devastation and Wildfire were the norm.
I toyed back and forth with cards like Jokulhaups for a couple of years, while in the meantime collecting new gems as each set came out. Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, Blightsteel Colossus, etc, etc. I put the deck away sometime around New Phyrexia to build and try some other decks. I came back several months ago to even more new gems, such as Omniscience. A feverish intrigue for the deck was reborn. Playing around with new found enchantments and opening the deck to few planeswalkers allowed me to make a final 100% decision on how the deck wants to be played. Jokulhaups and all his land busting friends were here to stay. From previous experiments, I had a pretty good idea what was good and what wasn't. So it was just a matter of maximizing my chance of my game plan working from start to finish and thus the third iteration of the deck was born. This is the version I will share with you.
1 Jhoira of the Ghitu
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1 Deep-Sea Kraken
1 Sphinx of Uthuun
1 Inkwell Leviathan
1 Greater Gargadon
1 Akroma, Angel of Fury
1 Pathrazer of Ulamog
1 Artisan of Kozilek
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1 Blightsteel Colossus
1 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
1 Aeon Chronicler
1 Omniscience
1 Bribery
Sweepers
1 Devastation
1 Jokulhaups
1 Decree of Annihilation
1 Obliterate
1 Apocalypse
1 Blasphemous Act
1 Chain Reaction
1 Sunder
1 Evacuation
1 Boom/Bust
Tutors
1 Drift of Phantasms
1 Personal Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Fabricate
1 Dizzy Spell
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Intuition
1 Trinket Mage
1 Expedition Map
1 Force of Will
1 Muddle the Mixture
1 Mana Drain
1 Counterspell
1 Arcane Denial
1 Misdirection
1 Deprive
Card Draw/Manipulation
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Jace, The Mind Sculptor
1 Jace, Architech of Thought
1 Mystic Remora
1 Rhystic Study
1 Scroll Rack
1 Sensei's Divining Top
Mana Rocks
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Izzet Signet
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Coalition Relic
1 Sol Ring
1 Grim Monolith
1 Basalt Monolith
1 Worn Powerstone
Etc utility Spells
1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
1 Rift Elemental
1 Fury Charm
1 Quicksilver Amulet
1 Paradox Haze
1 Chaos Warp
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
Lands
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Homeward Path
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Hammerheim
1 Arid Mesa
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Great Furnace
1 Flooded Strand
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Polluted Delta
2 Mountain
4 Island
1 Cascade Bluffs
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1 Cavern of Souls
1 City of Brass
1 Volcanic Island
1 Steam Vents
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Shivan Reef
1 Sulfur Falls
1 Command Tower
1 Tolaria West
1 Caldera Lake
1 Vivid Crag
1 Vivid Creek
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1 Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep
1 Riptide Laboratory
CARD EXPLANATIONS
Win Cons
Deep-Sea Kraken - What is most attractive about this card is that even if jhoira is tucked or incapacitated, you can still go for the suspend-obliterate plan. Suspend this guy off of jhoira and he will come out close to immediately, a 6/6 unblockable in the first 4-5 turns is very solid even without an obliterate.
Sphinx of Uthuun - Not unreasonable to hardcast this guy to dig into some cards, the 5/6 flying body is plenty to close in the game post obliterate. Ths deck operates best with cards that are both good post-obliterate and pre-obliterate and this fits the bill nicely.
Inkwell Leviathan - Untargetable by your opponents tricks/spot removal, not unreasonable even if obliterate is not handy. But nigh impossible to stop post-obliterate (sorry path to exile/ swords to plowshares!) Tutorable via Fabricate.
Greater Gargadon - Included for the same reasons as Deep-sea Kraken, if jhoira gets tucked, you still have these guys. Can come out alot sooner than expected at any point in the game. Very Scary!
Akroma, Angel of Fury - Might as well be untargetable most of the time, bonus points for being relatively easy to hardcast via morph in a pinch.
Pathrazer of Ulamog - Annihilate 3 is about as close as your going to get to annihilate 4, unblockable 9/10.
Artisan of Kozilek - Most reasonable Eldrazi to hardcast that doesn't suck really bad, you will often gain a little value off of him as well, and annihilate 2 can still keep people off balance.
Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre - Possibly Strongest creature in the deck. I could see someone suspending this guy, with no intention of obliterating and still win. At the very worst case, you will be able to destroy anything. And indestructible to boot?
Blightsteel Colossus - Fights with Ulamog for strongest creature in the deck, one shot kick to the nuts? AND indestructible? If you are playing Fabricate you will see this guy alot. Watch out for Bribery though!
Consecrated Sphinx - Blue Staple is Staple, great card draw pre-obliterate, and an okay beater that will draw you far ahead of your opponents post-obliterate. Auto-include in blue decks, no different here.
Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur - Shuts down opponents on a level of eldrazi's, slows their recovery to a soft-lock post obliterate, while you draw seemingly infinite gas. Worried about milling yourself? Discard an eldrazi! Soooo gooood!
Aeon Chronicler - Like Deep-sea Krakenand Greater Gargadon as another way to suspend-obliterate. Very good if suspended via Jhoira and a good plan B if you can't. So it's always good. Tutorable via Imperial Recruiter!
Omniscience - A hard to get rid of permanent that can survive board wipes! With all your spells now being free while your opponents can't cast anything, how can you lose? You can suspend this at any time, since you don't have to cast obliterate while it is in exile, which makes it a little more versatile.
Bribery - One of the strongest cards in the deck. Very easy to hard cast, good to suspend and win off of post-obliterate. Good to nab utility creatures in a pinch. Tutorable via personal and mystical tutor.
Sweepers
Jokulhaups - Staple for what this deck is trying to do.
Decree of Annihilation - Probably best sweeper, suspend it if you really want everything gone. Cycling it gives a giant middle finger to blue mages.
Obliterate - Another middle finger to blue mages.
Apocalypse - easiest to hard cast, you should have suspended all the important cards already, so the discard is irrelevent.
Blasphemous Act - useful if you don't want to obliterate completely yet, but need to stabalize against your opponents.
Chain Reaction - See Blaspemous act.
Sunder - also tutorable via Merchant Scroll. Instant makes this very powerful.
Evacuation - also tutorable via merchant scroll, also see chain reaction and blasphemous act.
Destructive Force - Weakest of them all, but redundancy is key.
Boom/Bust - In some situations you just want to blow up lands, also tutorable via muddle the mixture.
Tutors
Drift of Phantasms - Nabs Trinket Mage, Imperial Recruiter, Intuition, Long-Term plans, Chaos Warp, Fabricate, Rhystic Study, Paradox Haze and some mana rocks.
Trinket Mage - Nabs Sol ring and several mana rocks or lands, also grabs sensei's divining Top.
Personal Tutor - Nabs almost all sweepers, bribery, and Fabricate.
Mystical Tutor - Nabs about 50% of the deck.
Fabricate - Gets Phyrexian Metamorph, Quicksilver Amulet, Blightsteel Colossus, Inkwell Leviathan and all aman rocks.
Dizzy Spell - Gets mana vault, sol ring, Rift elemental, mystical and personal tutors, and mystic remora.
Long-Term Plans - Gets anything, with the amount of card manipulation/draw, we should be able to get our desired card sooner, even if we don't it's still solid. Instant to boot.
Expedition Map - Worse case we get ancient tomb, which makes this a worn powerstone that comes into play untapped. We can also get Boseiju or Cavern of souls to ensure our stuff resolves or Homeward path if someone wants to use bribery.
Merchant Scroll - Nabs some other tutors, sunder, evacuation and counters if we need to fight off a blue mage, when stuff unsuspends.
Intuition - Surefire way to get a sweeper or a win-con, which ever we need.
Counters
To summarize:
Force of Will - Free
Muddle the Mixture - Cheap and a tutor as well
Mana Drain - cheap and can cause very broken follow-ups.
Counterspell - cheap staple
Arcane Denial - cheap and cycles, if im countering something, i dont care if they draw two
Misdirection - free and pretty much a counterspell, also can nab some tasty spells passing by.
Pact of Negation - free
Deprive - cheap
Honorable mentions: Memory lapse, Delay, Negate
Card draw
Jace, The Mind Sculptor - all modes are relevent, brainstorm is good with all of our shuffling, bounce is good for something that didn't die post obliterate, he is also an additional win-condition. Survives almost all obliterates too!
Jace, Architech of Thought - Mini fact or fiction or win condition? Survies obliterates too!?
Mystic Remora - If this card even draws you 2 cards, then it has been very good. It will always draw you more than that.. Tutorable via dizzy spell.
Rhystic Study - If this card draws you 3 cards, then it is good it ususally draws you more than that, bonus points for surviving obliterates and still draweing you cards as other try to rebuild.
Scroll Rack - more than enough shuffling to make this good.
Sensei's Divining Top - staple, see scroll rack.[/CARD]
Etc utility spells
Phyrexian Metamorph - Incredible versatile and tutorable, need mana rock? check, kill generals? check, copy utility stuff? check.
Rift Elemental - For the price of time warp you get an additional counter removed and a 5/1 to block/swing with. Best part about him is your opponents will never expect when you will resolve things from now on. You can end a game before it really begins with this guy out.
Fury Charm - surprise! That obliterate is happening NOW! Also option of destroying the second mose relevent permanent in edh.
Chaos Warp - destroy anything? Tuck generals? Bonus points for mising a Blightsteel colossus off the top if your desperate.
Quicksilver Amulet - Another Plan B if Jhoira gets busted, you don't have to wait for this one!
Stasis - completely lock everyone down until your stuff unsuspends, buys lots of time.
Paradox Haze - accelerates your unsupension into overdrive, comparable to rift elemental.
In-depth card explanations (under construction)
On Mana
One thing that we want to make sure we do every game is get 5 mana to cast jhoira. That way, no matter what happens, you have the extra 2 mana to spare suspending. If we can get to 5 mana faster then, even better. Counting 35 lands and 9 mana rocks, along with 1 expedition map, we have 45 ways to get mana, not counting other tutors (such as Trinket Mage). Expected value of mana sources on turn 5 with 45 mana sources is 5 mana sources.
Link to source by Mathochism:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Airj6A6lYAz_dG05T2JETnVTak1xQ0tqOHNSdEJLWVE&hl=en_US#gid=0
Consistency is better than this due to tutors like Trinket Mage, or Dizzy Spell as well as card draw. Plus since most mana rocks gives us more than 1 mana, we can often get 5 mana way before turn 5.
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Rift elemental and Arcane denial have been stellar. especially the elemental. I tutor for that thing so much actually... I feel like 8 counters is the right number, so for me it would be a switch to an inferior counterspell, i really don't care if they draw 2 if I actually bothered to counter and it digs me 1 deeper. I would certainly hate arcane denial a little more in 1 v 1 though.
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- Destructive Force: Obviously very weak compared to the other sweepers, I will never tutor for it and 10 sweepers seems fine.
- Stasis: Bad top deck, it's only use was to lock the game for a few turns to let my stuff unsuspend. Pretty useless other wise.
- Mind Stone: Pretty weak compared to the other mana rocks, drawing a card wasn't significant enough to warrant inclusion anymore. Deck dosen't miss it at all.
- Phyrexian Metamorph: I really love this card, he's just very awkward in this deck. He's terrible post-obliterate and often I don't care about copying all that much in the early game. I just want to ramp, search and draw during the first 1-4 turns, then just make sure my stuff resolves after that. The metamorph can be ramp, but it's not guaranteed. He just dosen't consistantly do something that I need the deck to do so he's on the bench for now.
- Imperial Recruiter: Not too many great targets compared to other tutors, so....boot!
- Trinket Mage: It was down to this guy and Dizzy Spell. I chose Dizzy spell because the targets it can fetch are relevent at all points of the game. Trinket mage gets ramp or ramp or more ramp or top. Dizzy spell gets sol ring, mana vault, Top, Expedition Map, Rift Elemental, Personal Tutor and Mystical Tutor (Thus getting Bribery or a sweeper.) or mystic remora to draw a bunch of cards. There is no way to abuse the 2/2 body either in this deck.
Next Stage - going to pimp this thread up to "look" more primer-like. We will see about actual primer status later.
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- Coldsteel Heart: I felt this was pretty weak, when I drew it. My other ramp is much better than this.
- Izzet Keyrune: I really never wanted to activate the looter ability.
+ Trinket Mage: This guy didn't have to compete with dizzy spell, they should both be in here and since i'm cutting mana rocks, I should put in the guy that fetched my better ones.
+ Chromatic Lantern: Allows me to mess with a few more colorless lands and is immediately better than the keyrune, whether it is better than Darksteel Ingot remains to be seen.
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- Chaos Warp: I really like this card but it doesn't help us streamline our strategy and i felt the deck could use a little more mana.
- Chromatic Lantern: Was pretty good, but we really just want to get a bunch of mana fast so we can drop jhoira and suspend asap, which is why it gets replaced with....
+ Basalt Monolith: A fair option for fast mana into jhoira, also good to have the option of untaping it wth excess mana so you can hardcast something cruel later.
+ Worn powerstone: The next best in line for cost vs. productivity. Unfortunetly, it comes into play tapped, but still very strong.
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My Current Set Cube Lists:
Kamigawa Re-Experience
Ravnica, City of Guilds Re-Experience
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My Current Set Cube Lists:
Kamigawa Re-Experience
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Long-Term Plans ----> Chaos Warp
Long-term plans was okay, but just too slow when people were gunning for me. I chose Chaos Warp because I need answers to cards that skewer me like Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir, Gaddock Teeg and Linvala, Keeper of Silence, there are probably other too.
contemplating puting Phyrexian Metamorph Back in since the hate cards are usually legendary, plus metamorph is a solid card regardless.
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I've been running a very similar deck with excellent results, and this post provided a good chunk of the foundation. I definitely think you could expand this into a full primer!
As for Snapcaster mage, he certainly is a decent option, the reasons I did not include him are:
1) The decklist is super tight right now, I'm still trying to find room to stick Phyrexian Metamorph in here.
2) By the time I have some decent flashback targets and the extra 2 mana to cast and flashback a spell, I should be well on my way already to setting my self for the game win.
Once I get Phyrexian Metamorph in here, I might start to consider this guy.
EDIT: Wondering If I can make use of Enter the Infinite...
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Besides, it can always double back as mana ramp. There's almost always a sol ring or something to copy if you need ramp.
Hell, you could even copy your artifact lands if you had to for a makeshift ramp spell.
I'd also consider thran dynamo and gilded lotus.
also, fury charm, paradox haze and rift elemental. dead cards without your general, I'd seriously consider if they're worth the slots.
Hey thanks for the input.
I didn't update, but Phyrexian Metamorph made in in recently, Pact of Negation was dead a little too often, so it got the axe.
As for your suggestions:
Thran Dynamo and Gilded lotus didn't make it in, because my aim is too cast jhoira with the extra 2 mana to suspend right away. These two mana rocks come out too late/are too expensive to help with this goal, thus I opted for cheaper yet efficient mana rocks, plus I don't want to over-saturate on mana rocks.
As for Fury Charm, Paradox Haze and Rift Elemental. nearly 80% of the time I can resolve Jhoira, with 2 mana back-up. This is usually due to fast mana on turns 1-3 or cards like Cavern of Souls, or counterspells to help resolve her. At which point I can suspend whatever I want, regardless if she gets removed, so these cards are relevent almost every time. Even if jhoira isn't out I have a few suspend cards in the deck. Plus a good part of the time Fury Charm becomes a Shatter which is a pretty good option.
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My Current Set Cube Lists:
Kamigawa Re-Experience
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Alara Re-Experience
I build a variation of this and I dont normally get to live to see the first cards come off suspend. How do you keep your self alive with this deck?
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