So, Riku started as an excuse to take one of my favorite decks (Momir Vig come-into-play abilities) and add Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker. But then I realized I could duplicate Decimate, Krosan Grip, and other powerful spells, and the deck became its own. It's proven incredibly powerful and isn't as dependent on maintaining board position as Momir Vig. This deck has quickly risen to be one of my favorites.
The deck is built around both copying spells and CIP abilities and reusing them (through recursion and bounce). It manages to maintain some control over the board state without over-committing or appearing to be overpowered.
I've tried to use cards with mostly lower CMCs to ensure I will have copy mana. The ramp allows for crazy end plays and big X-spells (copyable!).
In my first build, I had some janky combos that just didn't merit their slots. For example, while it would be awesome to attack with Nacatl War-Pride and, with its token trigger on the stack, Cytoshape it into an Inferno Titan or Rishadan Brigand, the combo was too dependent on my opponent's board to be effective even if I could gather the right cards (no tutor for Cytoshape in here). So I scrapped that in favor of cards that support the rest of the deck and combo more readily.
I also had a ton of cards that I had considered but didn't have room for. Feel free to make suggestions if you think I'm missing anything.
Got my Duplicant - now the question is what to cut. Also, I have a Sakashima's Student, but I'm trying to decide if it should go in here or Momir - probably Momir because I have a better chance of Ninjitsuing it out (higher concentration of creatures). Wouldn't be a problem if I could find someone to trade me a second copy, but no one is willing to. It's as if they bought that deck for the express purpose of owning that card.
@Raszero - Far Wanderings is an interesting alternative. Threshold does make it nice, but I already have four other ramp spells in the three mana slot, so I probably wouldn't replace Rampant Growth. Maybe Search for Tomorrow could go. Of course, I'll have to find a copy first (wonder how many were in the 23,000 cards i just sold).
@reggaemaster - Glad you like it - It is my favorite deck and manages to be both powerful and versatile. As for Return to Ravnica, the only spell that has really caught my eye for this deck is Mizzium Mortars. At 1R, it's cheap removal that's easy to copy. At 3RRR, it's just a powerful spell. And if you have the mana to copy it once overloaded, it's pure awesome. I really like getting that kind of versatility out of a card. I've decided to pull Banefire to make room (X spells got a little worse without PrimeTime).
wow - that was a pretty big miss on my part - I prefer to reuse my creature cards rather than sac them, but it never occurred to me that the tokens could be disposable. Looks like I need another pod.
Also another big miss - Mystic Snake slipped through the cracks when I shifted from Momir to Riku. So, I need to open up two more slots. Any suggestions?
I ran Crystal Shard and Erratic Portal in my Momir Vig deck, which had a much heavier creature base than this. With the split focus on spells, I didn't feel I could dedicate that many slots to bounce. I could probably swap it for Cloudstone Curio, but do you think the added level of control (being able to activate when you want) overcomes having to dedicate more mana to bouncing and only being able to do it once per untap?
I really like it for it's flexibility. If you drop it early it stalls opponents that might tap out for a creature and being able to bounce on demand to get around removal or to Eternal Witness twice in a turn or whatever ETB you need again is nice. Everyone in my playgroup runs it in every deck with blue and it always makes a difference on the board.
with all those basics, you could run early harvest for mana boost. suprised i dont see mana reflection on your list, considering how mana hungry this deck becomes. aluren for your small cmcs like e-witness and man a war combined with curio make for some insane plays. could even add cloud of faries into the mix for even more mana boostin.
Made some changes. In theory, Djinn Illuminatus and Riftsweeper are good, but I just never had the right conditions for them to shine. Comet Storm did give me some kills back when I had PrimeTime, but I just find it less interesting than the rest of the deck.
@Rogue'd - I have a copy of Aluren, but I've never liked the symetrical advantage outside of a group hug deck. While it lets me do broken things, it sometimes aids my opponent more. I know it combos awesomely with Cloudstone Curio, but without that on the table, is it worth it? What's everyone else's experience?
Also - what do you guys think about Flash? With PrimeTime, it was awesome, but now I wonder how useful it may be. Without a creature in hand, it's a dead card, and with Leyline of Anticipation, it's redundant. Is this card still worthy of a slot, or should it be the next to go?
Sylvan Primordial makes me happy I never cut Flash. So now the question is what Gatecrash goodies do I want to add. All three Primordials are good contenders, but Molten feels like the weakest. As of now, I am looking to add Sylvan Primordial and Diluvian Primordial (and hoping to find juicy instants and sorceries with it for Riku to copy). Also along those lines, I am debating Mindclaw Shaman if I can pick up a copy.
Did I miss anything else from the set? And what should I cut to make room?
My Riku deck has been around for a long time but no longer sees much play - he's probably only had a couple games in the last year, and each time I realize how outdated it is, but I never get around to revamping the deck. No more. Blade of Selves and Mirrorpool have resparked my interest in updating Riku. Here are the possible changes I am contemplating, but feel free to make other suggestions on what to cut or add. I am looking to reduce the mana curve and increase power. I'll worry about fixing the manabase after I have finalized changes to the main deck.
So, Riku started as an excuse to take one of my favorite decks (Momir Vig come-into-play abilities) and add Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker. But then I realized I could duplicate Decimate, Krosan Grip, and other powerful spells, and the deck became its own. It's proven incredibly powerful and isn't as dependent on maintaining board position as Momir Vig. This deck has quickly risen to be one of my favorites.
The deck is built around both copying spells and CIP abilities and reusing them (through recursion and bounce). It manages to maintain some control over the board state without over-committing or appearing to be overpowered.
I've tried to use cards with mostly lower CMCs to ensure I will have copy mana. The ramp allows for crazy end plays and big X-spells (copyable!).
It does contain a few infinite combos (Kiki + Pestermite/Zealous Conscripts or Palinchron + Riku/Minion Reflector), but does not rely on them for the win.
In my first build, I had some janky combos that just didn't merit their slots. For example, while it would be awesome to attack with Nacatl War-Pride and, with its token trigger on the stack, Cytoshape it into an Inferno Titan or Rishadan Brigand, the combo was too dependent on my opponent's board to be effective even if I could gather the right cards (no tutor for Cytoshape in here). So I scrapped that in favor of cards that support the rest of the deck and combo more readily.
I also had a ton of cards that I had considered but didn't have room for. Feel free to make suggestions if you think I'm missing anything.
EDIT - RIP, PrimeTime.
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Anything from rtr that catches your eye for this deck?
RGB Jund Control BGR
@reggaemaster - Glad you like it - It is my favorite deck and manages to be both powerful and versatile. As for Return to Ravnica, the only spell that has really caught my eye for this deck is Mizzium Mortars. At 1R, it's cheap removal that's easy to copy. At 3RRR, it's just a powerful spell. And if you have the mana to copy it once overloaded, it's pure awesome. I really like getting that kind of versatility out of a card. I've decided to pull Banefire to make room (X spells got a little worse without PrimeTime).
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KAALIA SMASH!
Intet dreams of times ahead
and more
wow - that was a pretty big miss on my part - I prefer to reuse my creature cards rather than sac them, but it never occurred to me that the tokens could be disposable. Looks like I need another pod.
Also another big miss - Mystic Snake slipped through the cracks when I shifted from Momir to Riku. So, I need to open up two more slots. Any suggestions?
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1 Comet Storm
1 Djinn Illuminatus
1 Riftsweeper
1 Crystal Shard
1 Mystic Snake
Made some changes. In theory, Djinn Illuminatus and Riftsweeper are good, but I just never had the right conditions for them to shine. Comet Storm did give me some kills back when I had PrimeTime, but I just find it less interesting than the rest of the deck.
@Rogue'd - I have a copy of Aluren, but I've never liked the symetrical advantage outside of a group hug deck. While it lets me do broken things, it sometimes aids my opponent more. I know it combos awesomely with Cloudstone Curio, but without that on the table, is it worth it? What's everyone else's experience?
Also - what do you guys think about Flash? With PrimeTime, it was awesome, but now I wonder how useful it may be. Without a creature in hand, it's a dead card, and with Leyline of Anticipation, it's redundant. Is this card still worthy of a slot, or should it be the next to go?
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Did I miss anything else from the set? And what should I cut to make room?
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Blade of Selves and Mirrorpool have resparked my interest in updating Riku. Here are the possible changes I am contemplating, but feel free to make other suggestions on what to cut or add. I am looking to reduce the mana curve and increase power. I'll worry about fixing the manabase after I have finalized changes to the main deck.
1 Bogarden Hellkite
1 Cloudstone Curio
1 Elvish Visionary
1 Minion Reflector
1 Mystic Snake
1 Pelakka Wurm
1 Red Sun's Zenith
1 Rishidan Brigand
1 Rishadan Cutpurse
1 Sakashima's Student
1 Tornado Elemental
1 Avenger of Zendikar
1 Blade of Selves
1 Chaos Warp
1 Clever Impersonator
1 Conjurer's Closet
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Dack's Duplicate
1 Elixir of Immortality
1 Farseek
1 Mirrorpool
1 Plasm Capture
1 Ponder
1 Progenitor Mimic
1 Wild Ricochet
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