I'm currently running a Kiki-Jiki list that's been a blast to play. I'm looking to tune it up a little and whittle down some of the cards that I'm considering. What has been your experience with the following? I'll give my initial thoughts so you have a baseline. I'd love to hear if there is anything in the deck or maybeboard that just hasn't performed, seems out of place.
Dualcaster Mage and Fork - These cards serve the same purpose, but how useful have you found duplicating opponents spells on the stack?
Mindclaw Shaman, Stolen Strategy, Direfleet Daredevil - I've always been a little unsure about cards that rely on your opponents deck. They don't always have what you need so they can be inconsistent, but sometimes you get to cast Expropriate.
Magewright's Stone - Getting two Kiki activations is awesome, but Kiki-Jiki and Feldon are about the only creatures in the deck that it synergizes with. Is it worth it?
How do the cards in my maybeboard look?
Goblin Welder - I'm not really an artifact centric deck, but this card is just powerful.
Molten Primordial and Meteor Golem - Two cards whose value scales with how powerful your opponent's board is. I feel like I'm full at the 6-8cmc slot, so do any of these seem like more powerful finishers at that cmc than what I'm already running?
Helm of Possession - This card seems like a great outlet for Kiki tokens, but is it too clunky?
Flameshadow Conjuring - This card looks great on paper, but I've never had experience with it in play. Generally I haven't cared for cards that add a tax to anything you're trying to do. How well has this card played out for anyone who's ran it?
Copying spells - I have never found copying spells to be quite as useful as I want them to be. They are fun and kind of cool to do but they tend to be inconsistent which makes them tough to play with.
Of the 3 "steal spell" cards, I would probably only go with the Mindclaw Shaman if I went with any. This is because it works better with Kiki, it takes a spell before your opponent can cast it, and you can cast it for free. The others are less good.
Magewright's Stone should just be Thousand-Year Elixir if you want that effect. It works with everything (Kiki already has haste but Feldon doesn't) and can be used to untap a creature to block with if needed.
You have a decent number of artifacts that Goblin Welder is probably worth trying out.
Molten Primordial can be really good, but you would probably just be better off paying 1 mana more for Insurrection. Granted Primordial can be used on multiple turns with Kiki, but Insurrection is probably still better. Meteor Golem is good if you need the removal. Being a creature makes it work well with Kiki.
Helm of Possession can be decent, but I never really liked it. I think this comes down to how well it seems to play when you get to play it, but I am not sure it is worth it.
I like Flameshadow Conjuring, especially with all the other ETB creatures you have. 4 mana is kind of steep but the 1 mana can be very well spent. Combine it with Sneak Attack to get a cheap army for an alpha strike.
Dualcaster Mage and Fork - These cards serve the same purpose, but how useful have you found duplicating opponents spells on the stack?
Mindclaw Shaman, Stolen Strategy, Direfleet Daredevil - I've always been a little unsure about cards that rely on your opponents deck. They don't always have what you need so they can be inconsistent, but sometimes you get to cast Expropriate.
Magewright's Stone - Getting two Kiki activations is awesome, but Kiki-Jiki and Feldon are about the only creatures in the deck that it synergizes with. Is it worth it?
How do the cards in my maybeboard look?
Goblin Welder - I'm not really an artifact centric deck, but this card is just powerful.
Molten Primordial and Meteor Golem - Two cards whose value scales with how powerful your opponent's board is. I feel like I'm full at the 6-8cmc slot, so do any of these seem like more powerful finishers at that cmc than what I'm already running?
Helm of Possession - This card seems like a great outlet for Kiki tokens, but is it too clunky?
Flameshadow Conjuring - This card looks great on paper, but I've never had experience with it in play. Generally I haven't cared for cards that add a tax to anything you're trying to do. How well has this card played out for anyone who's ran it?
1x Kiki-Jiki, the Mirror Breaker
Creature (29)
1x Abbot of Keral Keep
1x Bogardan Hellkite
1x Burnished Hart
1x Combat Celebrant
1x Combustible Gearhulk
1x Dire Fleet Daredevil
1x Dualcaster Mage
1x Duplicant
1x Fanatic of Mogis
1x Feldon of the Third Path
1x Flametongue Kavu
1x Goblin Chirurgeon
1x Goblin Cratermaker
1x Goblin Matron
1x Humble Defector
1x Imperial Recruiter
1x Inferno Titan
1x Lightning Crafter
1x Matter Reshaper
1x Mindclaw Shaman
1x Sandstone Oracle
1x Siege-Gang Commander
1x Skirk Prospector
1x Solemn Simulacrum
1x Spawn of Thraxes
1x Treasure Keeper
1x Tuktuk Scrapper
1x Wurmcoil Engine
1x Zealous Conscripts
1x Ashnod's Altar
1x Everflowing Chalice
1x Fellwar Stone
1x Gauntlet of Might
1x Hedron Archive
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Magewright's Stone
1x Mimic Vat
1x Mind Stone
1x Panharmonicon
1x Ruby Medallion
1x Scroll Rack
1x Sensei's Divining Top
1x Skullclamp
1x Sol Ring
1x Thornbite Staff
Sorcery (7)
1x All Is Dust
1x Blasphemous Act
1x Mizzium Mortars
1x Reforge the Soul
1x Shattering Spree
1x Vandalblast
1x Wheel of Fortune
Enchantment (5)
1x Blood Moon
1x Experimental Frenzy
1x Goblin Bombardment
1x Outpost Siege
1x Stolen Strategy
1x Ancient Tomb
1x Arid Mesa
1x Bloodstained Mire
1x Ghost Quarter
26x Mountain
1x Myriad Landscape
1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1x Scalding Tarn
1x Scavenger Grounds
1x Terrain Generator
1x Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
1x Wooded Foothills
Instant (5)
1x Abrade
1x Chaos Warp
1x Fork
1x Pyroblast
1x Red Elemental Blast
Maybeboard
1x Goblin Welder
1x Manic Vandal
1x Meteor Golem
1x Molten Primordial
1x Helm of Possession
1x Phyrexian Altar
1x Wayfarer's Bauble
1x Electrodominance
1x Ruination
1x Flameshadow Conjuring
BLiliana, Heretical HealerB| |GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
GWBDoom Plane EnchantressBWG
Of the 3 "steal spell" cards, I would probably only go with the Mindclaw Shaman if I went with any. This is because it works better with Kiki, it takes a spell before your opponent can cast it, and you can cast it for free. The others are less good.
Magewright's Stone should just be Thousand-Year Elixir if you want that effect. It works with everything (Kiki already has haste but Feldon doesn't) and can be used to untap a creature to block with if needed.
You have a decent number of artifacts that Goblin Welder is probably worth trying out.
Molten Primordial can be really good, but you would probably just be better off paying 1 mana more for Insurrection. Granted Primordial can be used on multiple turns with Kiki, but Insurrection is probably still better. Meteor Golem is good if you need the removal. Being a creature makes it work well with Kiki.
Helm of Possession can be decent, but I never really liked it. I think this comes down to how well it seems to play when you get to play it, but I am not sure it is worth it.
I like Flameshadow Conjuring, especially with all the other ETB creatures you have. 4 mana is kind of steep but the 1 mana can be very well spent. Combine it with Sneak Attack to get a cheap army for an alpha strike.