Okay, so we have sweet 2 card combo in standard. That's great.
But what would be the right shell for it?
Can we avoid going "all in" and have alternative win conditions?
What are the ways to interact with our combo and how can we protect it?
I will try to provide some answers and ideas in this primer.
The deck
After some online testing, I decided to go tempo/stall route.
Here is the current list:
So how do we play it? The goal is to simply live long enough to jam in the combo in one turn with dispel / negate backup to protect agains countermagic / removal.
We have creatures that can benefit from Guardian's blink affect to help us stall the board long enough to make this happen.
Some key notes:
multiple combo pieces can bait counters / removals and help you setup your combo jamming turn
we can go off with 6 lands (Guardian untaps one). We need 7 lands for Dispel protection.
it's better to wait than go all in with the combo. Try it with backup if they don't threaten you with lethal.
So I guess main question here is where are the manlands. I decided not to run them, because we usually want to play on curve. More often than not the fact that they enter tapped makes things really awkward. It is still possible to run Wandering Fumarole and Needle Spires although it makes a lot of keep/mulligan decisions harder.
Saheeli Rai - scry 1 can be very relevant, 4 of for consistency.
Filtering
Anticipate - cheap way to filter a missing card. Helps us to assemble combo / find protection. An easy 4 of.
Smuggler's Copter - not only it helps to dig for what we need but also can block and protect [card=Saheeli Rai]Saheeli[card] from the pesky fliers.
Glimmer of Genius is missing here. The reason for this is the mana cost. It is very useful card but it fits alternative control shell much better.
Stall/tempo
Thraben Inspector - blocker that can replace himself. It's also good to have a 1 drop
Shielded Aether Thief - I mostly use it as a surprise blocker, but I'm not 100% convinced by the card yet. It probably requires a replacement.
Reflector Mage - tempo, tempo, tempo, that we can blink with the Guardian for even more tempo. This makes surviving agains aggro decks possible.
Filigree Familiar - this card is all star. Gaining 2 life is very relevant since we use our life as a resource in this build. Also drawing a card of it can be very useful. Another potential blink target.
Cloudblazer - late game stall breaker. Gives us life, cards, and has evasion. Obvious blink target in later game.
Combo protection
Dispel - against counterspells / instant speed removal. You'll be bringing a lot of them game 2.
Negate - same as dispel but also helps against marvel / hand disruption. You'll be bringing a lot of them game 2.
Most sideboard cards are already described in the combo protection section. The ones that remain:
Radiant Flames - we want this against various aggro decks.
Tears of Valakut - this slot is not fixed. My meta game used to run a lot of UW Flash decks and this simply helps agains them. UW flash matchup is also the toughest one so far...
The maybe board
Wandering Fumarole - could be a good blocker and possible beater. The beater role seems to be unnecessary though, and we have other blockers. Also the fact that it enters tapped makes keep/mulligan decisions harder.
Glimmer of Genius - this is an awesome card if we want to take our deck more into jeskai control direction. If we want to stall enough for the combo it's very hard to find anything to cut for it.
Torrential Gearhulk - if we want to go control route he will be very useful. Right now there's not enough targets to play the hulk.
Disallow - it's a great choice if we want to go control route. To protect the combo it's simply to expensive. Possible sideboard card against Emrakul, the promised end though.
Metallic Rebuke - I don't think we have enough artifacts to run this. Would require completely different shell.
Mechanized Production - interesting as an alternative win condition. But we don't have non-creature artifacts to target. Would require a major shift with, but would go along with Metallic Rebuke.
Essence Flux - as an additional blink piece / evasion.
Panharmonicon - to make even more out of our ETBs. But it seems too expensive for me.
They usually have multiple ways to interact with our combo. Thalia, Heretic Cathar, Harnessed Lightning, Unlicensed Disintegration, Fiery Temper, and if they're splashing blue then also possibly some countermagic.
The thing is that they need to keep us under pressure. That means they either do that and tap out in the key moment, making it impossible to answer the combo or they leave the mana open but don't keep us under pressure, which makes our life a lot easier.
The decks without blue splash will naturally be much easier to battle, but it seems that we can even beat their solid draws.
Control
We play beatdown here. It's much easier if they don't play Thing in the Ice and I suspect that this one might return.
We need to be aware of Dynavolt Tower (if they play it), as it stops the combo. But more often than not we win with the beatdown.
They will go with Grim Flayers and a lot of potential hand disruption. We need to play around it and their removal. We can go off faster, so game 1 should be easier and it can make us a bit favored.
UW Flash
It is most difficult matchup so far. Stasis Snare means we need a Negate instead of Dispel to back up our combo, but Spell Queller gets around it as well, that's why we have Tears of Valakut. But as they have a lot of fliers it's a lot harder to stall out the board...
Essence Flux i fell is need in just in case you have to use your Felidar Guardians to early or you dont have the mana for a second one or want to save for a counter
It will die before you have a chance to flicker it, if it has 2 loyalty.
describe me a regualrly occuring scenario where you have saheeli and the cat but were unable to combo off?
Saheeli Rai at 4, downtick to 2 to copy Felidar Guardian. With the targeting of the Guardian on the stack, I cast shock and redirect to Saheeli. She is now dead and can't be flickered.
I've been debating making an Aggro list that had an I win button. This led me to a jeskai black version (don't know how to link cards sorry) what's nice is that saheeli can actually copy any of these guys and it's a fine target. Toolcraft on turn three is a swing for 6 with any artifact. Copy smugglers copter after it's been animated, reflector Mage and whirler leaves back another thopter.
I've been testing this deck and I really like how this version has been working. The sideboard can be adjusted to fit whatever metagame you expect. I actually included the Crackdown Construct and Wandering Fumarole combo because it only required one card. The fact I run Nahiri, the Harbinger means we can surprise someone when she hits 8 loyalty for the "Oops, I win" combo when they aren't expecting it. Or she can fetch the Felidar Guardian for the combo, leaving your lands untapped to protect both pieces. Try it out and let me know what you guys think.
Trying to slot this into the already successful U/W Panharmonicon shell also seems intriguing. A turn 4 Panharmonicon does enable you go off in one turn as early as turn 5, since the cat will be able to untap 2 of your lands. Also just some nice value with Saheeli and the kitty in a deck full of Reflector Mage, Cloudblazer, possibly Drowner of Hope, and whatnot.
I do like the Eldritch Evolution route as we would only have to play one Felidar Guardian, the thing is that this deck is going to be really popular so counter spells and Spell Queller are going to be everywhere.
The one catch with the combo is that if they can stop the swing in on the combat phase or stonewall the damage from Reckless Fireweaver, they likely will deal with the walker and end the combo. So basically it's going to come down to a waiting game to make sure the other guy is open. As for Disappearing Act, I've tried playing with it before and the issue is that if you cast it to protect a piece from some spell, you are either bouncing that piece as part of the cost and then countering the spell, leaving the key piece in play, bouncing something else like a land, and then countering the spell, or you bounce either target as part of the casting cost and they counter the spell. The upside is the last scenario where if you are playing protect the queen against removal you've won already one way or another even if they do something about the counter. Otherwise, it's a very situational card.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
Mana needs work of course. Reflector mage was much better then the Things. Needs more dig though as with out the combo I do not put enough pressure with Hulks alone.
Well after the banning flash shell lost its appeal.
I did a lot more testing and some changes and moved into the direction of control shell from the bottom of the OP. I will update it as soon as I have some more time, which would probably be around Wednesday.
Thank you all for the feedback and ideas.
Another thing that comes to my mind is to put some (3/4) Dynavolt Towers in the sideboard and swap the combo out to dodge the hate, as jeskai dynavolt also has potential.
Thoughts on the card choices:
The main deck is fairly self explanatory. General control package. I'd like to squeeze in 1 Fumigate, and maybe 2 Revolutionary Rebufff, now that thopter is gone. In the side, metallurgic summonings was an awesome win con in a few control brews I ran, and it seems like a good way to pivot off the combo and in to an alternate win con. Authority is for aggro matches as well as the mirror to stop the enemy combo, and the fragmentize are mostly to remove your opponents authority. I could probably cut down 1 Fumigate, as most decks don't go super wide.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Modern: UWR Breach, UWB Esper control
Legacy: UW RiP/Helm, UR Sneak and Show
Disallow was included for 'Kul, but WotC took care of her already; I guess it can stay in to keep Marvel in check. After reading the thread, it feels like Nahiri could deserve a spot here, especially with the current lack of card draw.
or blink combo deck
Introduction
The combo is pretty obvious:
Okay, so we have sweet 2 card combo in standard. That's great.
But what would be the right shell for it?
Can we avoid going "all in" and have alternative win conditions?
What are the ways to interact with our combo and how can we protect it?
I will try to provide some answers and ideas in this primer.
The deck
After some online testing, I decided to go tempo/stall route.
Here is the current list:
4x Aether Hub
2x Prairie Stream
3x Inspiring Vantage
3x Spirebluff Canal
4x Evolving Wilds
4x Plains
3x Island
1x Mountain
Combo Pieces (8)
4x Felidar Guardian
4x Saheeli Rai
4x Anticipate
4x Smuggler's Copter
Stall / Tempo (15)
4x Thraben Inspector
1x Shielded Aether Thief
4x Reflector Mage
4x Filigree Familiar
2x Cloudblazer
Combo Protection (5)
2x Dispel
2x Shock
1x Negate
3x Fragmentize
2x Dispel
2x Shock
1x Ceremonious Rejection
3x Negate
2x Radiant Flames
2x Tears of Valakut
So how do we play it? The goal is to simply live long enough to jam in the combo in one turn with dispel / negate backup to protect agains countermagic / removal.
We have creatures that can benefit from Guardian's blink affect to help us stall the board long enough to make this happen.
Some key notes:
By no means is this list final. I mean it as a starting point for discussion.
Card choices
The mana base
So I guess main question here is where are the manlands. I decided not to run them, because we usually want to play on curve. More often than not the fact that they enter tapped makes things really awkward. It is still possible to run Wandering Fumarole and Needle Spires although it makes a lot of keep/mulligan decisions harder.
The combo
Filtering
Glimmer of Genius is missing here. The reason for this is the mana cost. It is very useful card but it fits alternative control shell much better.
Stall/tempo
Combo protection
The sideboard
Most sideboard cards are already described in the combo protection section. The ones that remain:
The maybe board
Testing results
Vehicles and other aggro decks
They usually have multiple ways to interact with our combo. Thalia, Heretic Cathar, Harnessed Lightning, Unlicensed Disintegration, Fiery Temper, and if they're splashing blue then also possibly some countermagic.
The thing is that they need to keep us under pressure. That means they either do that and tap out in the key moment, making it impossible to answer the combo or they leave the mana open but don't keep us under pressure, which makes our life a lot easier.
The decks without blue splash will naturally be much easier to battle, but it seems that we can even beat their solid draws.
Control
We play beatdown here. It's much easier if they don't play Thing in the Ice and I suspect that this one might return.
We need to be aware of Dynavolt Tower (if they play it), as it stops the combo. But more often than not we win with the beatdown.
Marvel
It looks like we can be faster than them game 1. Game 2 we bring more Negates and Ceremonious Rejection, which makes it hard to resolve Marvel. If they do we're in trouble as we don't have good responses to Emrakul, the Promised End or Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger...
BG Delirium
They will go with Grim Flayers and a lot of potential hand disruption. We need to play around it and their removal. We can go off faster, so game 1 should be easier and it can make us a bit favored.
UW Flash
It is most difficult matchup so far. Stasis Snare means we need a Negate instead of Dispel to back up our combo, but Spell Queller gets around it as well, that's why we have Tears of Valakut. But as they have a lot of fliers it's a lot harder to stall out the board...
Alternative builds
Flash shell
4x Aether Hub
4x Evolving Wilds
2x Port Town
3x Inspiring Vantage
3x Spirebluff Canal
4x Plains
3x Island
1x Mountain
Creatures (20)
4x Thraben Inspector
4x Selfless Spirit
4x Reflector Mage
4x Spell Queller
4x Felidar Guardian
3x Saheeli Rai
4x Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
Spells (9)
1x Declaration in Stone
4x Smuggler's Copter
4x Stasis Snare
3x Fragmentize
2x Dispel
4x Shock
3x Negate
1x Declaration in Stone
2x Metallic Rebuke
Jeskai control shell
4x Aether Hub
2x Port Town
4x Inspiring Vantage
4x Spirebluff Canal
2x Needle Spires
2x Wandering Fumarole
4x Plains
3x Island
1x Mountain
Creatures (6)
4x Felidar Guardian
2x Torrential Gearhulk
3x Saheeli Rai
3x Nahiri, the Harbinger
Spells (22)
2x Dispel
4x Anticipate
4x Harnessed Lightning
2x Declaration in Stone
2x Blessed Alliance
2x Negate
3x Disallow
3x Glimmer of Genius
2x Authority of the Consuls
3x Fragmentize
2x Dispel
2x Negate
2x Radiant Flames
2x Summary Dismissal
2x Fumigate
Saheeli Rai at 4, downtick to 2 to copy Felidar Guardian. With the targeting of the Guardian on the stack, I cast shock and redirect to Saheeli. She is now dead and can't be flickered.
4 toolcraft exemplar
4 thraben inspector
4 scrapheap scrounged
4 reflector Mage
3 whirler virtuoso
3 felidar guardian
4 saheeli rai
4 smugglers copter
4 harnessed lightning
3 unlicensed disintegration
4 aether hub
4 spirebluff canal
4 inspiring vantage
4 concealed courtyard
2 prairie stream
3 island
2 plains
2 Torrential Gearhulk
1 Crackdown Construct
4 Anticipate
4 Glimmer of Genius
4 Harness Lightning
4 Disallow
2 Negate
1 Immolating Glare
2 Stasis Snare
2 Nahiri, the Harbinger
4 Wandering Fumarole
4 Aether Hub
3 Spirebluff Canal
2 Inspiring Vantage
3 Port Town
2 Prairie Stream
5 Island
3 Plains
4 Fevered Visions
3 Fragmentize
2 Fumigate
2 Radiant Flames
2 Dispel
2 Ceremonious Rejection
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
4 Saheeli Rai
3 Felidar Guardian
Stall/Alternate Wincons/Support
2 Thing in the Ice
2 Torrential Gearhulk
2 Filigree Familiar
4 Thraben Inspector
Control
3 Glimmer of Genius
3 Anticipate
4 Disallow
3 Negate
2 Immolating Glare
2 Shock
4 Port Town
4 Aether Hub
4 Plains
4 Island
3 Spirebluff Canal
2 Inspiring Vantage
2 Wandering Fumarole
1 Mountain
3 Radiant Flames
3 Authority of the Consuls
3 Fragmentize
2 Harnessed Lightning
2 Dispel
2 Negate
BG Rock
Modern:
RW Sun & Moon
RBG Dredge
RWG Burn
Legacy:
W Death & Taxes
3 Torrential Gearhulk
4 Felidar Guardian
4 Reflector Mage
// 21 Instant
4 Negate
4 Glimmer of Genius
2 Anticipate
3 Immolating Glare
4 Harnessed Lightning
4 Dispel
// 25 Land
4 Plains
4 Aether Hub
4 Island
2 Prairie Stream
2 Port Town
3 Mountain
3 Spirebluff Canal
2 Needle Spires
1 Inspiring Vantage
4 Saheeli Rai
// 3 Enchantment
3 Stasis Snare
// 7 Instant
4 Ceremonious Rejection
3 Summary Dismissal
// 5 Sorcery
3 Fragmentize
2 Fumigate
Mana needs work of course. Reflector mage was much better then the Things. Needs more dig though as with out the combo I do not put enough pressure with Hulks alone.
I did a lot more testing and some changes and moved into the direction of control shell from the bottom of the OP. I will update it as soon as I have some more time, which would probably be around Wednesday.
Thank you all for the feedback and ideas.
Another thing that comes to my mind is to put some (3/4) Dynavolt Towers in the sideboard and swap the combo out to dodge the hate, as jeskai dynavolt also has potential.
4 Saheeli Rai
2 Nahiri the Harbinger
Creatures 6
2 Torrential Gearhulk
4 Felidar Guardian
Instants 19
3 Anticipate
4 Glimmer of Genius
2 Negate
4 Dissallow
4 Harnessed Lightning
2 Shock
2 Declaration in Stone
Enchantments 2
2 Stasis Snare
Lands 25
4 Aether Hub
3 Prairie Stream
2 Port Town
3 Spirebluff Canal
2 Inspiring Vantage
2 Wandering Fumarole
4 Island
3 Plains
2 Mountain
3 Metallurgic Summonings
2 Dispel
2 Fumigate
2 Radiant Flames
3 Fragmentize
3 Authority of the Consuls
Thoughts on the card choices:
The main deck is fairly self explanatory. General control package. I'd like to squeeze in 1 Fumigate, and maybe 2 Revolutionary Rebufff, now that thopter is gone. In the side, metallurgic summonings was an awesome win con in a few control brews I ran, and it seems like a good way to pivot off the combo and in to an alternate win con. Authority is for aggro matches as well as the mirror to stop the enemy combo, and the fragmentize are mostly to remove your opponents authority. I could probably cut down 1 Fumigate, as most decks don't go super wide.
Legacy: UW RiP/Helm, UR Sneak and Show
4 Felidar Guardian
4 Thing in the Ice
3 Baral, Chief of Compliance
4 Galvanic Bombardment
3 Revolutionary Rebuff
4 Negate
3 Anticipate
2 Disallow
3 Incendiary Flow
2 Baral's Expertise
4 Inspiring Vantage
2 Wandering Fumarole
1 Needle Spires
3 Aether Hub
1 Prairie Stream
6 Island
3 Mountain
Disallow was included for 'Kul, but WotC took care of her already; I guess it can stay in to keep Marvel in check. After reading the thread, it feels like Nahiri could deserve a spot here, especially with the current lack of card draw.
EDIT- OF COURSE I DIDNT CLICK NEXT PAGE LOL.
Good deal. ya'll know