MTG Salvation

This is my take on spellslinging Shu Yun deck. It works like this:

1. Cast a ton of cheap spells for Prowess triggers
2. Activate Shu Yun's double strike ability off of one of those spells
3. Attack
4. Repeat

Cantrips are the key for multiple reasons. If you can chew through more of your library, then you can more readily find what you need in a given situation. Taking that a step further, every cantrip makes Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest bigger and provides another opportunity to give him or another critter you have double strike. On top of that, you'll get a big enough graveyard to play Dig Through Time for or Treasure Cruise for on a consistent basis.

Why Shu Yun?
Shu Yun is a card that made me want to build around it. I'm also one of those people that doesn't feel good about a win unless I've smashed face to get it. I've got decent Daretti, Scrap Savant and Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord decks that can win consistently that I almost never play because the wins feel hollow. Hence, my move to Shu Yun.

You'll like Shu Yun if:

• You like Voltron, but want to try something different. I've done a tonne of research, but there's not a lot of Shu Yun decks out there that commit as hard to spellslinging as I do.
• You enjoy interactive play. Combat is always an interactive strategy. Additionally, this deck can pack a hefty removal and counterspell suite that will keep both you and your opponents on your toes.
• You like a deck that requires a lot of thought to play effectively. This deck can play linearly if you get the right draw, but often you'll be stringing spells together in the hopes of being able to get some damage through.
• You like smashing face.

You'll hate Shu Yun if:

• You want to win all the time. Let's face it, most Voltron decks can only take out a single opponent before running out of steam. There will be times when you'll run the table, but those are exceptions.
• You want linear play. It looks like a linear deck at first glance, but if you're not careful, you'll get knocked out before you get started.

Deck History
I've been playing this deck almost exclusively for the last 4 months and thus it's been iterating very quickly to get to the point where it is now. There were more creatures in the first builds, but it quickly became apparent to me that I wanted to be doing more with Shu Yun than I was. I whittled it down to the few that you see here, but at one point it had been down to just Aurelia, the Warleader and Phyrexian Metamorph, but that may have been a bit drastic.

The Deck Itself


Card Choices
Piloting the Deck
Game Plan
Your general plan is to set up for 5-6 mana, cast Shu Yun and equip or enchant him and then go to town. Is it that simple in practice? No. You'll need to keep track of the board state, how many spells you have in hand, how much available mana, and how many cards are in your opponents' hand, guess at what they might have, determine what you can afford to bait for disruption, and then decide if it's worth it to throw caution to the wind and swing in one punch or to play it out over a couple of turns.
Strengths
This deck has serious explosive potential. It's not unreasonable to be able to chain together multiple combat phases across two (or more) turns, but you'll probably only be able to pull it off once before your play group catches wise. You'll almost always end up telegraphing your big turns with an enabler in place (like Narset, Enlightened Master; Aurelia, the Warleader; or Sword of Feast and Famine). That said, if you're not facing LotsOfCounterspells.dec, then you can often find yourself with enough counterspells of your own to make things stick.
Weaknesses
Because Shu Yun is such a mana hungry general you can't really run MLD and still be effective. I would love to use Sunder, Cataclysm, Armageddon, and Boom // Bust, but most of those attempts backfired and just annoyed the other players. Cyclonic Rift (and to a lesser extent, Tragic Arrogance and Wash Out) can provide some help on that front, but they're not as powerful in all cases. As a result, I've chosen to double down on the spellslinging. Better to come up short while going all out than to just bring everything to a screeching halt.

The mana hungry angle for this deck also means that you'll have awful match ups against other decks with MLD and against Stax strategies. Additional counterspells and cheap artifact and creature hate can come in as appropriate. You'll never have a good match up against those decks, but you can give yourself a fighting chance. Edict effects are almost always brutal because you'll never want to sacrifice a creature you have down. Be ready with those counters!

Changelog