Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix has been the partner that I have built around most since those decks came out in 2016. She has incredible potential and an ability that is easily built around in a bunch of different directions. The thing I had never done is in retrospect the simplest and most obvious. What does a Kydele deck look like if the last line of text was disregarded, what does this deck look like without Partner.
I had also recently picked up a card that is extremely useful in countless Commander decks but is perhaps most useful in this circumstance:
Starting from fresh and taking these two cards Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix and Staff of Domination together as the central focus of the deck the building began outward from there.
Math & Victory
With each card drawn on a turn Kydele taps for an additional mana, it costs 4 mana to produce no overflow of mana with The Staff, therefore this deck requires these things to achieve victory:
Kydele and The Staff in play
Summoning Sickness not an issue
5 Cards including for turn draw if it is our turn
Staff & Kydele are check so we look to
Haste
Now in Simic haste isn't the easiest thing to accomplish but in an artifact deck it becomes slightly easier. Thousand-Year Elixir is the obvious prime candidate it comes down a turn before Kydele and even untaps her, I have been unable to locate my copy so it is not in the list at the moment. Concordant Crossroads is in the list and it is a very dangerous card but so effective at what it does especially with the plethora of Mana Dorks available in these colors. I am not necessarily a fan of Lightning Greaves or Swiftfoot Boots but perhaps after some games with the deck it will be worth trying them out. A pseudo form of haste comes in the form of Alchemist's Refuge and Winding Canyons in that EoT Kydele will be good to, one of those lands is currently in the deck something obviously up for more testing. Unsure if I would try something like Savage Summoning but it has a lot of potential.
Drawing Cards
Now this being a Simic deck the methods of drawing cards within will be plentiful but the first focus should prioritize those effects that draw multiples or do so for reduced cost / free. Sylvan Library is the first of these regardless of whether or not the life is paid the cards are considered drawn so automatically with this Kydele three cards are drawn on the turn. Brainstorm and Jace, the Mind Sculptor are the next most obvious inclusions in that they draw 3 cards for small payoff. I don't have the budget for a Timetwister and I am not the biggest fan of proxies so that leaves the Windfall and Time Spiral I do have for more mass draw events (trying to limit these to limit how many cards helping opponents draw which is why something like Teferi's Puzzle Box is not here). After wheels for everyone we come to the very personal but very potent wheels of Tolarian Winds and the blue half Faithless Looting in Careful Study. As you can see this much discard fuels the next most obvious card in Treasure Cruise, not a lot of cards in this deck are vital and a bunch of them are cantrips powering the cruise quite nicely. Frantic Search and Gitaxian Probe are the *free* draw effects and I have also considered Gush and Thoughtcast but am unsure about them.
Putting the Pieces Together
So we have our Commander, our haste, our artifact and our draw. Now we just need ways to find them quicker than most. The total deck list ends up looking like this:
I want to play this as it is before I consider changing it to see how it goes but I wonder if the additional color would be worth it which additional color would be most worth it.
Oh I and I know that Umbral Mantle is a cheaper way to achieve the mana however that is all it does and I would rather play a slightly longer game in finding and assembling a better card.
Introduction
Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix has been the partner that I have built around most since those decks came out in 2016. She has incredible potential and an ability that is easily built around in a bunch of different directions. The thing I had never done is in retrospect the simplest and most obvious. What does a Kydele deck look like if the last line of text was disregarded, what does this deck look like without Partner.
I had also recently picked up a card that is extremely useful in countless Commander decks but is perhaps most useful in this circumstance:
Starting from fresh and taking these two cards Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix and Staff of Domination together as the central focus of the deck the building began outward from there.
Math & Victory
With each card drawn on a turn Kydele taps for an additional mana, it costs 4 mana to produce no overflow of mana with The Staff, therefore this deck requires these things to achieve victory:
Staff & Kydele are check so we look to
Haste
Now in Simic haste isn't the easiest thing to accomplish but in an artifact deck it becomes slightly easier. Thousand-Year Elixir is the obvious prime candidate it comes down a turn before Kydele and even untaps her, I have been unable to locate my copy so it is not in the list at the moment. Concordant Crossroads is in the list and it is a very dangerous card but so effective at what it does especially with the plethora of Mana Dorks available in these colors. I am not necessarily a fan of Lightning Greaves or Swiftfoot Boots but perhaps after some games with the deck it will be worth trying them out. A pseudo form of haste comes in the form of Alchemist's Refuge and Winding Canyons in that EoT Kydele will be good to, one of those lands is currently in the deck something obviously up for more testing. Unsure if I would try something like Savage Summoning but it has a lot of potential.
Drawing Cards
Now this being a Simic deck the methods of drawing cards within will be plentiful but the first focus should prioritize those effects that draw multiples or do so for reduced cost / free. Sylvan Library is the first of these regardless of whether or not the life is paid the cards are considered drawn so automatically with this Kydele three cards are drawn on the turn. Brainstorm and Jace, the Mind Sculptor are the next most obvious inclusions in that they draw 3 cards for small payoff. I don't have the budget for a Timetwister and I am not the biggest fan of proxies so that leaves the Windfall and Time Spiral I do have for more mass draw events (trying to limit these to limit how many cards helping opponents draw which is why something like Teferi's Puzzle Box is not here). After wheels for everyone we come to the very personal but very potent wheels of Tolarian Winds and the blue half Faithless Looting in Careful Study. As you can see this much discard fuels the next most obvious card in Treasure Cruise, not a lot of cards in this deck are vital and a bunch of them are cantrips powering the cruise quite nicely. Frantic Search and Gitaxian Probe are the *free* draw effects and I have also considered Gush and Thoughtcast but am unsure about them.
Putting the Pieces Together
So we have our Commander, our haste, our artifact and our draw. Now we just need ways to find them quicker than most. The total deck list ends up looking like this:
1 Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix
Creature
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Elvish Mystic
1 Sylvan Safekeeper
1 Llanowar Elves
1 Spellseeker
1 Trinket Mage
1 Laboratory Maniac
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Eternal Witness
1 Trophy Mage
Enchantment
1 Sylvan Library
1 Concordant Crossroads
1 Exploration
Land
1 Strip Mine
1 City of Brass
4 Forest
7 Island
1 Cephalid Coliseum
1 Lonely Sandbar
1 Riptide Laboratory
1 Tranquil Thicket
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Halimar Depths
1 Alchemist's Refuge
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Breeding Pool
1 Mana Confluence
1 Flooded Strand
1 Polluted Delta
1 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Command Tower
1 Myriad Landscape
1 Mana Vault
1 Chromatic Sphere
1 Skullclamp
1 Staff of Domination
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Chromatic Star
1 Simic Signet
1 Sol Ring
1 Chrome Mox
1 Isochron Scepter
1 Walking Ballista
Instant
1 Arcane Denial
1 Force of Will
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Worldly Tutor
1 Intuition
1 Tolarian Winds
1 Frantic Search
1 Snap
1 Brainstorm
1 Remand
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Cerulean Wisps
1 Mindbreak Trap
1 Noxious Revival
1 Nature's Claim
1 Paradoxical Outcome
1 Dramatic Reversal
1 Benefactor's Draught
1 Whir of Invention
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Mana Drain
1 Flusterstorm
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Swan Song
1 Blue Sun's Zenith
1 Pact of Negation
1 Growth Spiral
1 Nature's Lore
1 Time Spiral
1 Careful Study
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Fabricate
1 Ponder
1 Explore
1 Preordain
1 Gitaxian Probe
1 Life from the Loam
1 Treasure Cruise
1 Windfall
1 Farseek
1 Regrowth
Planeswalker
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
I want to play this as it is before I consider changing it to see how it goes but I wonder if the additional color would be worth it which additional color would be most worth it.
Oh I and I know that Umbral Mantle is a cheaper way to achieve the mana however that is all it does and I would rather play a slightly longer game in finding and assembling a better card.