When it comes to choosing a favorite color to play on its own, for me the choice is easy. I am a blue player through and through. There's good reason why blue has always had a reputation for being the strongest color in magic: an unrivaled ability to interact with the stack, disruption in multiple forms, and even some big beaters, blue has it all. Funnily enough, my favorite guild (Golgari) doesn't have any blue in it, but when it comes to mono-color, I'm a blue girl.
I've had a number of different versions of a mono-blue EDH deck over the years, but no deck really jived with me. Before Higure, my longest-lived blue deck was Braids, Conjurer Adept, but she felt like too much craziness without enough actual strength. Two aspects of my magic personality led me to Higure, the Still Wind: I like to build commanders and strategies that aren't commonly seen and I am a huge fan of the Kamigawa block. It's two parts passion for the art and flavor, and one part nostalgia because that was my first set, but I always try to include at least one card from the block in each deck I build. So one day I got the idea to build Higure, and this deck was born. At first, it was a pretty straight-forward mono-blue control deck: lots of counters and bounce spells, and no real win-con aside from making people frustrated and repeated attacks from my creatures. It wasn't until I started looking into the legacy deck High Tide and started watching Feline Longmore's matches that I got the idea to center this around High Tide. This is also the origin of the deck's name, Ninja Tide.
There are two important things you need to know about this deck. First of all, there just isn't enough support for ninja tribal. This is not a ninja tribal deck. There are ninjas in the deck (including the commander, there are 5 ninjas in the deck, every mono-blue non-changeling ninja), but it's not really a tribal deck in any way. Second of all, by using Higure, this can probably never be the best it could be. Usually this deck wins through High Tide and Laboratory Maniac. This is neither the best High Tide deck (that would probably be Jace, Vryn's Prodigy) or the best lab maniac deck (Azami, Lady of Scrolls). But we're not here to be the best deck. We're here to be the best ninja.
As I explained in the introduction, this deck could run someone other than Higure and would probably be more competitive. But if you wanted a cutthroat, competitive mono-blue list, you wouldn't be reading about Higure in the first place, would you? No, there aren't enough ninjas to support ninja tribal. And no, the Ninjitsu ability isn't even usable from the command zone. But a tutor on a commander, even if there are only a few targets, is always a plus. And, as I'll explain later, there's a lot more to Higure then just tutoring a few ninjas.
I should also add that, when playing this deck, I often hear "oh, cool, by playing Higure, you slip under the radar, because people aren't expecting a combo deck." While this is a cute reason to play Higure, the problem is it only works once. So, while the first time you sit down at a table, people will be confused, I really don't think hiding behind an unassuming commander is a real strategy.
You might like Higure if...
...you like to play decks with a gimmick.
...you want to play mono-blue control AND you want to turn creatures sideways.
...you like to cast a lot of spells in one turn.
...you like to shuffle your library.
You might not like Higure if...
...you play in a cutthroat meta.
...you're opposed to countering spells.
...you just want to play control and not worry about your own creatures.
...you don't like to shuffle your library.
The Blue Competition
Azami, Lady of Scrolls/Jace, Vryn's ProdigyArcanis the Omnipotent: These commanders all play very similar lists but, as I've already stated, while this deck is somewhat competitive and often does combo off, it does so with a theme and a gimmick, something that these three (aside from Azami Wizard Tribal) don't really give you. Personally, I also think there's an advantage to playing lesser-known commanders, because they don't paint as large of a target on your head.
Talrand, Sky Summoner: Another similar build to this list: lots of cantrips and control spells. Of course, Talrand usually runs few to no creatures, opting for more spells. I do like running Talrand in the 99 of this list, because his tokens have evasion and can help get ninjitsu through.
Arcum Daggson: Another competitive mono-U commander, but with artifacts. We aren't here to play artifacts, we're here to play ninjas. And High Tide.
Braids, Conjurer Adept: My commander before Higure. Another mono-U gimmick deck, but very different. Higure's creatures are small and sneaky. Braids's creatures are big.
Jalira, Master Polymorphist: I'd classify her as another gimmick/combo deck. Both decks can use Blightsteel Colossus to great success, but where Higure says "you can't beat my giant-metal-ninjitsu-monstrosity," Jalira says "oh look, this measly token turned into a giant metal monstrosity."
There are, of course, a lot of great mono-U commanders, but you've probably already noticed that none of them are ninjas.
Counterspells: An important part of this deck. I play mostly multiplayer and I know that counterspells aren't as strong in multiplayer, but they are still important. Mostly, they are used to stop big plays before I've set up, or protect myself once I cast High Tide and start going off. Void Shatter is great against reanimation strategies, which is a big part of my meta. Rewind is sort of free, and can help out with High Tide storm shenanigans. I'm only running Disrupting Shoal as a budget Force of Will or Pact of Negation and because it's a pet card, as it's from Kamigawa.
Big Card Draw: Blue Sun's Zenith is one of my favorite cards, and I think it should be an auto-include in any blue deck. Recurring Insight draws a ton of cards, and is nice to use the turn before I can start storming off, because it's a free first cast that fills my hand. Dig Through Time should be self-explanatory: draw the best two cards from the top 7, what's not to love? Finally, Windfall can be pretty versatile: late game when I have a big hand, it helps get closer to a Laboratory Maniac win, it let's me mess with opponents if they tutor, and if I have a small and weak hand and someone else has a lot of cards, I can level the playing field.
Board Wipes: Cyclonic Rift is another auto-include in any blue deck: instant-speed, one-sided removal. Crush of Tentacles is a bit of a pet card. Sometimes you just need a hard reset and I like that it can leave me with an 8/8 beater. What's extra nice is something like: cast Archaeomancer, grab something from your yard, then surge cast CoT, reloading Archaeomancer. Curse of the Swine is exile removal, something every deck needs and blue doesn't have a lot of. And finally, Capsize isn't really a board wipe, but with a lot of mana and/or cost-reducing effects, repeatedly buyback-casting Capsize can really hinder your opponents from establishing any real board state.
"Cantrips," Storm, and High Tide: The deck runs a lot of small draw spells, like Brainstorm, Preordain, and Peer Through Depths. These cards work two fold: they help me set up in the early game, and/or they are easy spells to cast when I'm trying to get my storm count up for Brain Freeze or Mind's Desire. I'll go more into that combo in the strategy section, but these low-cost cards, as well as the untappers, like Frantic Search and Turnabout are critical when combined with High Tide.
Tutors and Others: It may be a combo deck with a gimmick, but this is still a combo deck, so tutors are important. Both Mystical Tutor and Merchant Scroll can grab critical pieces to combo out, such as High Tide or Turnabout. Pull from the Deep is there for some recursion, and Part the Waterveil was the extra turn card I happened to have when I built this deck. It will likely be replaced with something more efficient, such as Time Warp.
The Ninjas: Obviously, an important part of this deck. Mistblade Shinobi can be critical removal, bouncing problematic creatures back to their owner's hand. Ninja of the Deep Hours is a very useful card for generating card advantage during the combat step. Sakashima's Student is one of the best clones in the format: oh, you didn't block my small/unblockable creature? Now it's a copy of your Blightsteel Colossus/Ulamog/other giant creature on the board. Walker of Secret Ways is the only ninja on the cutting board right now. I've kept her in because she's a ninja and can help "reload" other ninjas (which is especially nice with Sakashima's Student) and sometimes take a peak at an opponent's hand, but I'm not convinced she's worth keeping.
ETB Effects: Only two, but they're both crucial. I really like Archaeomancer because sometimes you just need to get a card back from you graveyard. Scourge of Fleets, in my opinion, is an auto-include in any mono-blue deck. By the time I'm casting it, it usually bounces all of my opponents' creatures. Man-o'-War is a nice piece of pseudo-removal. Glen Elendra Archmage, though technically not an ETB creature, falls under this category, because its benefit in the deck is similar to the ETB creatures. The key thing about ninjitsu is it not only cheats someone into play, it also brings another creature back to your hand. This allows you to get repeated value from your ETB creatures, as well as allowing you to "reset" Glen Elendra when she already has a -1/-1 counter from persist.
Card Draw and Filter Creatures: Consecrated Sphinx should speak for itself, and gets even better when Kami of the Crescent Moon is out, meaning you draw 4 on your opponents' draw steps. As well as filtering cards with her upkeep trigger, Thassa, God of the Sea can make your non-ninjas unblockable. Tomorrow, Azami's Familiar is a bit of a pet card for me, but I can't emphasize his usefulness enough. Yes, the 6 CMC is a bit high, but having all of your draws turn into Anticipate helps you dig deep through your library, his toughness is high enough to block smaller creatures, and, if you have trouble with Nekusar, the Mindrazer in your meta, he prevents you from taking damage from his ability because he replaces your draw.
Win-Cons and Others: Laboratory Maniac is the deck's main win-con, so he's probably the most important non-ninja creature in the deck. Because there are a lot of instants and sorceries in the deck, Talrand, Sky Summoner can often produce a lot of tokens. The tokens also have flying, making them useful for sneaking in a ninja with ninjitsu. Finally, though expensive, Tidespout Tyrant makes a huge impact when it hits the board. The high number of low cost spells mean that the Tyrant is going to be bouncing a lot of your opponents' permanents. With the help of Helm of Awakening and/or Archaeomancer, he can also get the storm count very high.
Coastal Piracy and Bident of Thassa: I think one thing that makes this deck unique as a mono-U control deck is its use of the combat step. Cards such as these two help turn your small, unblockable creatures into card advantage. These, combined with other draw sources, mean that the deck can dig through your library quite quickly.
Other Sources of Card Draw: Rhystic Study is another auto-include in my blue decks: either you're making your opponents pay more mana, or you're drawing cards, win win. Sensei's Divining Top, Future Sight, and Scroll Rack allow you to manipulate the top of your library. Future Sight is another favorite card of mine that can help you dig very deep into your deck. Also, it goes infinite with Top and Helm of Awakening to draw your whole library. Scroll Rack is especially nice when you have a huge hand, because it means you can keep swapping large chunks of your hand for more card from you library. One of Higure's roles in this deck is the use of his combat trigger not to search for a ninja, but just to get value out of shuffling your library, whether that be shuffling away three useless cards you can see with Top, or to shuffle away cards you don't need set aside with the Rack.
Mana Rocks: Right now, I run Thought Vessel, Mind Stone, Sol Ring, and Gilded Lotus, all of which either produce more than one mana, or have an added benefit on top of mana. (No maximum hand size can be very important in this deck). I also run Caged Sun as a mana doubler, and Helm of Awakening and Sapphire Medallion as cost-reducers. Landing both of the reducers means you'll be slinging spells for days, getting your storm count higher. Finally, though not really a mana source, Sword of Feast and Famine's untap trigger is very important, especially when trying to go for a high storm count.
Miscellaneous: Isochron Scepter has a lot of great targets in this deck. Imprinting it with High Tide is very risky, as you might lose the card, but easily wins game if it sticks. Putting a counterspell on the scepter can be just mean. Copy Artifact is another blue staple and there really isn't one thing it usually copies. Sometimes it's a second Sol Ring early game. Sometimes it helps me get two activations/triggers off something like Scroll Rack or Sword of Feast and Famine. Sometimes it's a second Caged Sun for a huge mana burst.
Not much to say here. Right now, this is really a budget mana base, hence the high number of Islands. Of the non-basics I currently have, Command Beacon and Reliquary Tower are the most crucial.
Originally, I tried to have a higher Ninja count, mostly through the addition of Shapeshifters. Throughout the deck's history, I've tried:
Ego Erasure mostly as a psedu-fog and to hose other tribal decks in my meta. It was too niche of a use and got cut
Shapesharer: Every once and a while, he was clutch in copying a crucial creature. In the end, not worth it
Wings of Velis Vel either pumped one of my creatures, and made non-ninjas targetable by Higure's ability, or briefly hosed a giant opposing creature. A lackluster ability not worth the slot
Xenograft is a card I really wanted to work. It helps to make any creature unblockable by Higure. If this were Conspiracy, it would be an auto-include. But as is, just not worth the 5 mana.
Amoeboid Changeling and Blightsteel Colossus: Originally, this deck had this combo of making the Colossus an unblockable ninja as a secondary win-con. As I played the deck more, though, the storm win-con became very efficient, and these two were dropped for cards to help the main event. These are definitely worth including if you don't want to go all in on the storm angle.
Umezawa's Jitte: Seems like an easy pick for a control-y deck that uses the combat step. However, it never really felt like it had enough of an impact. The -1/-1 ability was overshadowed by bounce and other removal, the buff never won me games, and life gain is somewhat negligible in a 40 life format. It may still be worth considering if you're a fan of the card.
Proteus Staff: I really like the card. It's a fun piece of removal, and can help cheat big creatures into play. As I tweaked the list, though, it just didn't make the cut.
Deepfathom Skulker: I like that it's a third Coastal Piracy effect, and if you really want another, it might be worth running. 6 mana just felt too expensive, it's a creature, so it doesn't last as long in a format with lots of wipes, and its unblockable ability is overpriced.
Strategy
The key to this deck is balancing your control elements with use of your combat step. Higure's trigger and Coastal Piracy effects require you to attack, but you don't want to be too aggressive. Doing so will attract a lot of hate and you won't have the strongest creatures on the board. In other words, though the combat step is very important, you probably won't win during the combat step. Hard control also attracts a lot of hate, so you have to find a balance there, too. In an opening hand, look for mana rocks, a source of card draw or filtering, and one counterspell.
In the early game, you want to be setting up. Drop some mana rocks, use Ninja of the Deep Hours or Coastal Piracy to help you stay ahead with card advantage. Counterspells are important, but you don't want to counter everything. This will require a little bit of meta knowledge, but counters should be saved for preventing your opponents from getting too far ahead themselves. Ninja of the Deep Hours is almost always the first ninja I grab with Higure. After that, it's either Sakashima's Student or Mistblade Shinobi, depending on what is happening on the board.
Given the nature of how this deck wants to win, it really just has an early game and a later game. The key is to use your control elements to drag out the early game until you're set up to go off. Late game is often just one or two turns when you've assembled the necessary pieces and are ready to fire away. Something like a full hand of seven cards, High Tide, and Turnabout is the sort of thing you're looking for. With these two cards, used along side other untappers, such as Frantic Search, this deck's winning turn usually looks like generating a high storm count and then targeting yourself with Brain Freeze while Laboratory Maniac is on the board. This is another reason why you don't want to use too many counterspells in the early game. This win-con is quite fragile and can be easily ruined with well-timed removal. You want to hold onto some counters in order to protect yourself while getting your storm count up. This is one reason I run Forbid: when you have a huge hand, the buyback is negligible, and repeatable counters are important.As well as the usual untappers, like Turnabout another one to remember is Sword of Feast and Famine. A winning turn with this deck can look like this: start with a big hand, a Coastal Piracy effect and Sword of Feast and Famine on the board. Cast High Tide and get your storm count up in main phase one. Move to attacks, swing with a few creatures, draw some cards, and untap with the Sword, then repeat in main phase two, getting your storm count high enough for a game-winning Brain Freeze. Also, as well as helping to control your opponents' board, Tidespout Tyrant can be a strong storm enabler, through one of two main ways. With Helm of Awakening and Sensei's Divining Top or Sol Ring he goes infinite by repeatedly casting and bouncing one card. Also, you can get maximum value out of High Tide by repeatedly casting and bouncing Archaeomancer.
Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!
05/15/2016
Removed:Dream Fracture, Proteus Staff, Deepfathom Skulker, and Dissipate.
I needed to cut some cards and the number of counter spells was just a bit too high. Deepfathom is nice as a third Coastal Piracy effect, but 6 mana is a bit much, and it's a creature, so it's harder to get it to stick around. Proteus Staff I took out to test some cards and I found I just really didn't miss it. Added: 1 Island, Glen Elendra Archmage, Peer Through Depths, and Man-o'-War
Removed:Blightsteel Colossus and Amoeboid Changeling Added:Copy Artifact and Merchant Scroll
I was sad to see these two go, as it was a fun, gimmicky win-con (for an already gimmicky deck) but, honestly, the storm angle of the deck got too efficient and these two, especially the changeling, just turned into dead draws. The tutor helps with more consistency and Copy Artifact is always a ton of value.
Cool deck! I see you have some cantrips but I would push that further with Ponder, Impulse & Peer Through Depths. They help increase your consistency, dig for key cards and are great for upping your storm count. Monoblue lacks tutoring so you'll need to get your key cards through draw and digging. On that note though I would definitely run Merchant Scroll and Muddle the Mixture. I think there's plenty of good targets for both and Muddle the Mixture is a reasonable spell to cast and goes along with your game plan. Lastly even on a budget I would try to get a Time Spiral. It's a really powerful card on it's own but when you add a mana doubler or High Tide to the mix it's a free Timetwister that adds UUUUUU to your mana pool which is pretty crazy, especially in a storm deck.
Another thing you can explore is the ability of the ninjas to bounce back creatures. Ones with evasion are more likely to go unblocked so Mulldrifter and Glen Elendra Archmage might be worth a look.
As for cuts I personally try to lean on bounce + wheels to deal with problems over a ton of counterspells. Counterspells are certainly useful but I think running a lot of them makes it easier to metagame against. It also forces you to run lots of 3cc+ counters which I think are much weaker than basic Counterspell, though there are a few exceptions like Forbid and Cryptic Command that I like. Arcane Denial is a good option I don't see here. Proteus Staff feels pretty weak now that tuck is gone and I never felt it was that great even with tuck (unless you played a deck with no creatures then it was insane).
On the write up it looks pretty good. I always like to a discussion about the deck's weaknesses and how it deals with them. Are there cards or strategies which make things difficult and how do you deal with them? You could also expand on the section about the cards that didn't make the cut, I'm sure there are more than 4 and it gives people ideas if they want to tweak the deck. It requires some specific cards but Tidespout Tyrant can produce infinite storm and possibly mana by bouncing your own permanents. In this deck I believe it requires either Sol Ring or Helm of Awakening but basically you're just bouncing and recasting the same 2 permanents over and over (Sol Ring and Mind Stone for example).
I think you're right about more cantrips. I've found that the deck sometimes feels lacking in its ability to dig. There have been some embarrassing games where I get a really good start to a turn, starting getting my storm count out, and then just...fizzle, without it actually doing anything. Obviously, the less of that the better, haha. And as for Time Spiral, you're totally right. I actually had a game just last night where Time Reversal really helped turn the tides in my favor, and if it had been Time Spiral, it would have just been that much better. I've also been a little worried that Time Spiral might spike, given how weird prices have been for some other reserved list cards, so I think I'm going to bite the bullet and get one. I also like the idea of utilizing the bounce a bit more. I think I'm going to test one or two less counters for another cantrip, Glen Elendra, and maybe Mulldrifter (I'll have to find a copy of that, though it's not like it's expensive). I'm also going to test Man-o'-War for the same reason. No evasion, but I like its ETB ability.
I'm still trying to figure out what the deck's strengths and weaknesses are, as far as match ups go. I'll expand that section as I playtest it more. And you know, I hadn't even thought about upping storm count with Tidespout Tyrant (which is a little embarrassing, haha). I'll add that to the part about TT.
Always a fan of some sweet mono blue brews. I especially love the addition of Crush of Tentacles. I don't think I've seen anyone run it yet.
As for the write-up, I'm also writing up a primer for Azami, Lady of Scrolls. Primers can be written in a variety of styles that are widely accepted, but I prefer to break up sections within sections. I feel this adds depth to the construction and playing of the deck as well as helps the reader follow along with my decision process more clearly.
It's really all personal taste, but I'd recommend dividing the card choice and strategy sections into more detailed subsections such as "the early game" and so on. Again, many styles work so your current set up might be good the way it is. Just thought I'd throw out some advice that might help Other than that I'd make a table of contents just for organization purposes.
Sweet list with an even sweeter commander. Thanks for posting it.
Made a fairly big change in the form of removing the Amoeboid Changeling plus Blightsteel Colossus win-con. As I explain in the first post, the primary angle of playing this like a High Tide deck just got too efficient and I needed the space in the list.
Hello again ninja warrior! Agree with your newest changes. Have you thought of the classic Palinchron for the list? "Infinite" mana plus all the storm triggers you want? I know he's not exactly original though so maybe he's not right for the build.
Yes, I did consider Palinchron though, like you said, I felt like he was a bit too "win more" for the deck. Because I don't want to give up the core gimmick of ninjas and using the combat step, there are going to be some more competitive considerations that won't make the cut, like Palinchron.
If you plan on using more ETB creatures, maybe consider Crystal Shard? It's pretty sweet with Glen Elendra, Venser Shaper Savant, ManOWar, Archaeomancer etc. Maybe some way to grant all of your creatures flying like Wonder would work wonders with Bident of Thassa and Coastal Piracy.
Crystal Shard is definitely worth testing. I'm a little worried that it doesn't do much aside from reload my ETB creatures, as the 1 mana is often negligible, but I'll give it a try soon. And it's funny, you mentioned Venser, Shaper Savant and he isn't even on the list, but that's a total oversight. He's definitely an objectively better Man O' War. I'll have to hunt down a copy and throw him in the deck. I also might give Wonder a try, but I'm even more concerned about finding something to cut for that. I just don't know if it would be worth it.
Actually it doesn't have to be Wonder, their is always Archtype of Imagination as he will grant your creatures flying and make your opponents lose flying and they can't gain flying. If not Crystal Shard their is Waterfront Bouncer who can save your guys from removal, but as a spellshaper he does require tapping and to pitch a card for his effect. Mask of Memory is also a cool card that gives card draw and a little looting. If you decide to add creatures that ping for damage another cool card is Charisma as it acts as a steal ability whenever the enchanted creature deals damage, and with a pinger you never have to attack, you just do it before attackers are declared or EOTurn for silly fun. If you want to play a Storm based combo you can always try and jam SDTop+Future Sight/Magus of the Future+Helm of Awakening+Brainfreeze. I know a lot of my suggestions are janky, but I am coming more from a fun and slightly competitive mindset and trying to match what I think you are trying to achieve (I think lol).
Haha, well, I'm playing a High Tide Storm deck with ninjas, so I'm definitely a fan of jank.
I think between Wonder and Archetype, I would give Wonder a try. Archetype is a little expensive at 6 CMC and only gives flying while it's on the field. With Wonder, with a discard method you don't have to spend any mana to get it online, and the only way to stop it is with graveyard hate. Also, my issue with Waterfront Bouncer over Crystal Shard is it's slower, since I can't activate it right away, and have to discard something to activate it. Though, I suppose it has the advantage of always bouncing an opponent's creature and not giving them the option of paying 1.
As for Top + Future Sight + Helm, I actually do run that combo already. It's not as fun as trying to stitch together a bunch of different spells together to get the storm count up, but it's definitely got me out of some tough spots already.
I just realized Waterfront Bouncer can act as the discard outlet for Wonder, so that's something to keep in mind. You can also maybe add a couple wizards for Sigil Tracer since he can copy High Tide, which would be pretty ridiculous. If not that perhaps Echo Mage or Meletis Charltan as copy cats. You could always go for Isochron Scepter and imprint High Tide on it which would be deliciously fun, albeit risky. Turnabout with High Tide as well.
A way to copy spells might be worth adding, since there are a lot of powerful spells in the deck. (And the thought of copying Time Spiral, and casting a bunch of instants in between the two copies sounds like fun...) I don't think it would be Sigil Tracer, though, since that requires me to also add more wizards, and I don't think I have that many slots just for a copy effect. Mirari might be worth testing.
Both Isochron Scepter and Turnabout are in the deck already, and I even talk a little bit about imprinting High Tide on the Scepter. Like you said, it's very risky. I've never done it before, and I don't think I ever will. I don't really have any way to untap artifacts to get multiple activations in one turn, and losing High Tide to exile if the Scepter were removed would be too devastating. Usually, I imprint something like Peer Through Depths or a counter spell. And yes, Turnabout plus High Tide is a classic, killer combo. If I can get both of those in hand, I've almost certainly won.
Been a while since I've updated, so here's a game report from earlier this week:
Game 1
Opponents: Talrand and Marath, 3-player free for all
My starting hand was three islands, a Copy Artifact, a Blue Sun's Zenith, Tomorrow, and something else. Not the best starting hand, but I decide to keep it, thinking I can copy someone else's mana rocks. Sure enough, Talrand starts with a turn 1 Sol Ring, and I think for the first time in my Magic career, this doesn't bother me, because on turn 2, I play Copy Artifact, getting my own Sol Ring. Both Talrand and Marath start builing their boards pretty quickly, and I'm stuck going slow. Turn 4 though, Talrand plays a Gauntlet of Power, naming blue, which turns the game into more like 1v1, because it pushes both me and Talrand way ahead. Talrand plays CSphinx, which made me very thankful to have Tomorrow, as I never actually draw cards to trigger the sphinx. I get out Tomorrow and Higure, and get a single trigger off Higure, searching for Ninja of the Deep Hours, thinking it can help me dig with Tomorrow. I pass my turn with 12 mana, thinking I'll play a big BsZ when Talrand passes to me, with Hinder as counter spell back up. Marath casts Descent of the Dragons and Talrand counters it. Talrand then plays Scourge of the Fleets, bouncing everything except Tomorrow (thanks, Gauntlet!), which totally shuts down Marath, as his board was primarily tokens. Talrand then tries to cast Curse of the Swine on Tomorrow. I respond by tapping 12 mana and casting BsZ for x = 6, leaving 3 mana for Hinder. Talrand then tries to Cyclonic Rift Tomorrow before Zenith resolves, which I Hinder. I dig deep thanks to Tomorrow, but don't get a great set of cards. A few draw spells, but only one untapper (Frantic Search). However, in the last three cards, I grab Disrupting Shoal, allowing me to counter Curse for free. Talrand swings for 14, but I still have around 20 life. The next turn, I'm able to storm off, fueled primarily by a High Tide cast while I had a Windfall on the stack. I had forgotten about CSphinx, so Talrand drew something like 16 cards, but miraculously, he didn't draw any counter spells. Marath responded to Windfall with Angel's Grace, but I was still able to win. I got a little tight on mana, getting a storm count of about 20 and running out of most of my untappers, but I managed to find Future Sight + Sensei's Divining Top + Helm of Awakening, get a huge storm count, and Brain Freeze both of them for the win.
Game 2
Opponents: Jori En, Nicol Bolas, and Daghatar the Adamant (Abzan enchantress), 4-player free for all
My starting hand was Man-o'-War, Mystical Tutor, Sword of Feast and Famine, Future Sight, Nykthos, and 2 islands. The game starts slow for all of us. Jori En never really got a footing in the game because he missed a bunch of land drops. However, between a Howling Mine that he played and a lot of people not paying for my Rhystic Study (hint for anyone playing against a blue deck: always pay for Rhystic Study), I'm averaging a hand size of around 10 at all times in the game. The attention shifts from me to Daghatar as he starts to build a fairly big board, and despite my huge hand, I only have Sword of Feast and Famine, Rhystic Study, and Future Sight out. I just can't get any creatures to stick, and when I finally do, Nicol Bolas plays a board wipe. (Good news, though, because Daghatar's board was getting huge). Daghatar plays Quarantine Field, wiping all three of my permanents. Nicol Bolas also had only one blue source for most of the game, which was holding him back. Finally, he reanimates Solemn Simulacrum to get his second island, but has to tap out to do so. I have Mystical Tutor and an extra turn spell in my hand, so I attempt to go off. I Capsize the Quarantine Field and cast Part the Waterveil. On turn 2, I cast Mystical Tutor, grab High Tide, and cast it off the top. I was a little hesitant that I wouldn't have enough momentum to go off, but my first draw spell hits Archaeomancer, which returns Mystical Tutor, grabbing Turnabout, allowing me to combo off.
Biggest take away: try to find at least one more draw or dig spell, as I almost lost steam in both games. This will also come with becoming more comfortable with the deck, but I need to get more confident in when the deck can go off. I really don't want to take a 5 or 10 minute turn just to get nowhere, so sometimes I'm hesitant in going for it. Turn 1 also showed that Tomorrow, Azami's Familiar, despite his mana cost, is an all-star. Not only did he prevent Talrand from getting CSphinx triggers, his replacement effect had me digging really deep into my library. Finally, both games played out with a pretty straight-forward High Tide combo, without much use of Higure or the combat step.
Nothing I can really suggest, as I don't play much blue, but awesome deck idea! I always thought Higure needed more love, but (as you've pointed out) there just isn't enough ninjas in mono-blue to make him worth it. I love the idea of using him as a High Tide commander.
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W.A.S.T.E
EDH Decks: GRUlasht, the Hate SeedGR BRRakdos, Lord of RiotsBR
Now that the full set has been revealed, I thought I'd discuss the cards I'm interested in testing in this list:
Imprisoned in the Moon: I don't really think this card will fit into the deck, but I think it's worth mentioning since it's so unique for blue. I've always been a huge fan of Song of the Dryads, so it's nice to see the effect coming to blue. This deck doesn't really have problems with any of those card types though, so, as I said, maybe worth testing, but I don't have high hopes.
Summary Dismissal: I like that it exiles, hits all spells on the stack, and can hit uncounterable things. However, I'm pretty happy with the counterspells in my list so, we'll see.
Curious Homunculus: The cost reduction on a creature is nice and flipping him shouldn't be too hard in the deck. My one issue with it is it's not a creature that can really enable Ninjitsu, since sending him back to our hand reverts him to the frontside.
Nephalia Academy: This is the only card I can almost guarantee will go in the deck. Honestly, this card will probably go in most of my decks. There's just no reason not to run it and the effect is really nice and fairly unique.
In short, not much. Some things that might be worth trying out, but I don't really see any of them being new all-stars in the deck, or even sticking around for very long. Honestly though, I didn't have high hopes for the set having stuff for this deck, as Wizards doesn't like printing cards that enable blue combo decks anymore.
Introduction and History
When it comes to choosing a favorite color to play on its own, for me the choice is easy. I am a blue player through and through. There's good reason why blue has always had a reputation for being the strongest color in magic: an unrivaled ability to interact with the stack, disruption in multiple forms, and even some big beaters, blue has it all. Funnily enough, my favorite guild (Golgari) doesn't have any blue in it, but when it comes to mono-color, I'm a blue girl.
I've had a number of different versions of a mono-blue EDH deck over the years, but no deck really jived with me. Before Higure, my longest-lived blue deck was Braids, Conjurer Adept, but she felt like too much craziness without enough actual strength. Two aspects of my magic personality led me to Higure, the Still Wind: I like to build commanders and strategies that aren't commonly seen and I am a huge fan of the Kamigawa block. It's two parts passion for the art and flavor, and one part nostalgia because that was my first set, but I always try to include at least one card from the block in each deck I build. So one day I got the idea to build Higure, and this deck was born. At first, it was a pretty straight-forward mono-blue control deck: lots of counters and bounce spells, and no real win-con aside from making people frustrated and repeated attacks from my creatures. It wasn't until I started looking into the legacy deck High Tide and started watching Feline Longmore's matches that I got the idea to center this around High Tide. This is also the origin of the deck's name, Ninja Tide.
There are two important things you need to know about this deck. First of all, there just isn't enough support for ninja tribal. This is not a ninja tribal deck. There are ninjas in the deck (including the commander, there are 5 ninjas in the deck, every mono-blue non-changeling ninja), but it's not really a tribal deck in any way. Second of all, by using Higure, this can probably never be the best it could be. Usually this deck wins through High Tide and Laboratory Maniac. This is neither the best High Tide deck (that would probably be Jace, Vryn's Prodigy) or the best lab maniac deck (Azami, Lady of Scrolls). But we're not here to be the best deck. We're here to be the best ninja.
As far as the meta in which I've tested this deck, I play mostly multiplayer, and some 1v1 (not Duel Commander). I play at a weekly league at my LGS, so my meta is fairly diverse. Common decks I play against are: Krenko, Mob Boss, Marath, Will of the Wild, Alesha, Who Smiles at Death, Purphoros, God of the Forge, Prime Speaker Zegana, Karador, Ghost Chieftain, Ezuri, Claw of Progress and Dakkon Blackblade
Why Higure?
As I explained in the introduction, this deck could run someone other than Higure and would probably be more competitive. But if you wanted a cutthroat, competitive mono-blue list, you wouldn't be reading about Higure in the first place, would you? No, there aren't enough ninjas to support ninja tribal. And no, the Ninjitsu ability isn't even usable from the command zone. But a tutor on a commander, even if there are only a few targets, is always a plus. And, as I'll explain later, there's a lot more to Higure then just tutoring a few ninjas.
I should also add that, when playing this deck, I often hear "oh, cool, by playing Higure, you slip under the radar, because people aren't expecting a combo deck." While this is a cute reason to play Higure, the problem is it only works once. So, while the first time you sit down at a table, people will be confused, I really don't think hiding behind an unassuming commander is a real strategy.
You might like Higure if...
You might not like Higure if...
The Blue Competition
The List
1 Blue Sun's Zenith
1 Brain Freeze
1 Brainstorm
1 Capsize
1 Counterspell
1 Cryptic Command
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Dig Through Time
1 Disrupting Shoal
1 Forbid
1 Frantic Search
1 High Tide
1 Hinder
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Negate
1 Peer Through Depths
1 Pongify
1 Rewind
1 Snap
1 Swan Song
1 Turnabout
1 Void Shatter
Creatures
1 Archaeomancer
1 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Kami of the Crescent Moon
1 Laboratory Maniac
1 Man-o'-War
1 Mistblade Shinobi
1 Ninja of the Deep Hours
1 Sakashima's Student
1 Scourge of Fleets
1 Talrand, Sky Summoner
1 Thassa, God of the Sea
1 Tidespout Tyrant
1 Tomorrow, Azami's Familiar
1 Walker of Secret Ways
1 Crush of Tentacles
1 Curse of the Swine
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Mind's Desire
1 Part the Waterveil
1 Preordain
1 Pull from the Deep
1 Recurring Insight
1 Time Spiral
1 Treasure Cruise
1 Windfall
Artifacts
1 Bident of Thassa
1 Caged Sun
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Helm of Awakening
1 Isochron Scepter
1 Mind Stone
1 Sapphire Medallion
1 Scroll Rack
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Thought Vessel
1 Coastal Piracy
1 Copy Artifact
1 Future Sight
1 Rhystic Study
Lands
1 Command Beacon
1 Halimar Depths
29 Island
1 Skyline Cascade
1 Rogue's Passage
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Temple of the False God
Card Selection Specifics
Strategy
The key to this deck is balancing your control elements with use of your combat step. Higure's trigger and Coastal Piracy effects require you to attack, but you don't want to be too aggressive. Doing so will attract a lot of hate and you won't have the strongest creatures on the board. In other words, though the combat step is very important, you probably won't win during the combat step. Hard control also attracts a lot of hate, so you have to find a balance there, too. In an opening hand, look for mana rocks, a source of card draw or filtering, and one counterspell.
In the early game, you want to be setting up. Drop some mana rocks, use Ninja of the Deep Hours or Coastal Piracy to help you stay ahead with card advantage. Counterspells are important, but you don't want to counter everything. This will require a little bit of meta knowledge, but counters should be saved for preventing your opponents from getting too far ahead themselves. Ninja of the Deep Hours is almost always the first ninja I grab with Higure. After that, it's either Sakashima's Student or Mistblade Shinobi, depending on what is happening on the board.
Given the nature of how this deck wants to win, it really just has an early game and a later game. The key is to use your control elements to drag out the early game until you're set up to go off. Late game is often just one or two turns when you've assembled the necessary pieces and are ready to fire away. Something like a full hand of seven cards, High Tide, and Turnabout is the sort of thing you're looking for. With these two cards, used along side other untappers, such as Frantic Search, this deck's winning turn usually looks like generating a high storm count and then targeting yourself with Brain Freeze while Laboratory Maniac is on the board. This is another reason why you don't want to use too many counterspells in the early game. This win-con is quite fragile and can be easily ruined with well-timed removal. You want to hold onto some counters in order to protect yourself while getting your storm count up. This is one reason I run Forbid: when you have a huge hand, the buyback is negligible, and repeatable counters are important.As well as the usual untappers, like Turnabout another one to remember is Sword of Feast and Famine. A winning turn with this deck can look like this: start with a big hand, a Coastal Piracy effect and Sword of Feast and Famine on the board. Cast High Tide and get your storm count up in main phase one. Move to attacks, swing with a few creatures, draw some cards, and untap with the Sword, then repeat in main phase two, getting your storm count high enough for a game-winning Brain Freeze. Also, as well as helping to control your opponents' board, Tidespout Tyrant can be a strong storm enabler, through one of two main ways. With Helm of Awakening and Sensei's Divining Top or Sol Ring he goes infinite by repeatedly casting and bouncing one card. Also, you can get maximum value out of High Tide by repeatedly casting and bouncing Archaeomancer.
Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!
I needed to cut some cards and the number of counter spells was just a bit too high. Deepfathom is nice as a third Coastal Piracy effect, but 6 mana is a bit much, and it's a creature, so it's harder to get it to stick around. Proteus Staff I took out to test some cards and I found I just really didn't miss it.
Added: 1 Island, Glen Elendra Archmage, Peer Through Depths, and Man-o'-War
Added: Copy Artifact and Merchant Scroll
I was sad to see these two go, as it was a fun, gimmicky win-con (for an already gimmicky deck) but, honestly, the storm angle of the deck got too efficient and these two, especially the changeling, just turned into dead draws. The tutor helps with more consistency and Copy Artifact is always a ton of value.
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx and Blighted Cataract as possible non-basics. I'm also testing Crystal Shard in place of Isochron Scepter.
[Primer] Dralnu Control/Reanimator BU
[Primer] Jolrael, Empress of Beasts GG
Nath Stax BG | Borborygmos Enraged RG | Ladies of Magic UGW | Aminatou Control UWB | Enduring Ideal Zedruu UWR | Momir Vig Combo UG
Modern
Restore Balance RWUG
Kiki Chord RWG
Another thing you can explore is the ability of the ninjas to bounce back creatures. Ones with evasion are more likely to go unblocked so Mulldrifter and Glen Elendra Archmage might be worth a look.
As for cuts I personally try to lean on bounce + wheels to deal with problems over a ton of counterspells. Counterspells are certainly useful but I think running a lot of them makes it easier to metagame against. It also forces you to run lots of 3cc+ counters which I think are much weaker than basic Counterspell, though there are a few exceptions like Forbid and Cryptic Command that I like. Arcane Denial is a good option I don't see here. Proteus Staff feels pretty weak now that tuck is gone and I never felt it was that great even with tuck (unless you played a deck with no creatures then it was insane).
On the write up it looks pretty good. I always like to a discussion about the deck's weaknesses and how it deals with them. Are there cards or strategies which make things difficult and how do you deal with them? You could also expand on the section about the cards that didn't make the cut, I'm sure there are more than 4 and it gives people ideas if they want to tweak the deck. It requires some specific cards but Tidespout Tyrant can produce infinite storm and possibly mana by bouncing your own permanents. In this deck I believe it requires either Sol Ring or Helm of Awakening but basically you're just bouncing and recasting the same 2 permanents over and over (Sol Ring and Mind Stone for example).
I'm still trying to figure out what the deck's strengths and weaknesses are, as far as match ups go. I'll expand that section as I playtest it more. And you know, I hadn't even thought about upping storm count with Tidespout Tyrant (which is a little embarrassing, haha). I'll add that to the part about TT.
[Primer] Dralnu Control/Reanimator BU
[Primer] Jolrael, Empress of Beasts GG
Nath Stax BG | Borborygmos Enraged RG | Ladies of Magic UGW | Aminatou Control UWB | Enduring Ideal Zedruu UWR | Momir Vig Combo UG
Modern
Restore Balance RWUG
Kiki Chord RWG
As for the write-up, I'm also writing up a primer for Azami, Lady of Scrolls. Primers can be written in a variety of styles that are widely accepted, but I prefer to break up sections within sections. I feel this adds depth to the construction and playing of the deck as well as helps the reader follow along with my decision process more clearly.
It's really all personal taste, but I'd recommend dividing the card choice and strategy sections into more detailed subsections such as "the early game" and so on. Again, many styles work so your current set up might be good the way it is. Just thought I'd throw out some advice that might help Other than that I'd make a table of contents just for organization purposes.
Sweet list with an even sweeter commander. Thanks for posting it.
U Azami, Lady of Scrolls - Knowledge is Power U [Primer]
R Heartless Hidetsugu - The Art of Ending Games R
GB Ishkanah, Grafwidow - The Cluster HungersBG
[Primer] Dralnu Control/Reanimator BU
[Primer] Jolrael, Empress of Beasts GG
Nath Stax BG | Borborygmos Enraged RG | Ladies of Magic UGW | Aminatou Control UWB | Enduring Ideal Zedruu UWR | Momir Vig Combo UG
Modern
Restore Balance RWUG
Kiki Chord RWG
[Primer] Dralnu Control/Reanimator BU
[Primer] Jolrael, Empress of Beasts GG
Nath Stax BG | Borborygmos Enraged RG | Ladies of Magic UGW | Aminatou Control UWB | Enduring Ideal Zedruu UWR | Momir Vig Combo UG
Modern
Restore Balance RWUG
Kiki Chord RWG
U Azami, Lady of Scrolls - Knowledge is Power U [Primer]
R Heartless Hidetsugu - The Art of Ending Games R
GB Ishkanah, Grafwidow - The Cluster HungersBG
Congrats on your Azami primer, by the way!
[Primer] Dralnu Control/Reanimator BU
[Primer] Jolrael, Empress of Beasts GG
Nath Stax BG | Borborygmos Enraged RG | Ladies of Magic UGW | Aminatou Control UWB | Enduring Ideal Zedruu UWR | Momir Vig Combo UG
Modern
Restore Balance RWUG
Kiki Chord RWG
[Primer] Dralnu Control/Reanimator BU
[Primer] Jolrael, Empress of Beasts GG
Nath Stax BG | Borborygmos Enraged RG | Ladies of Magic UGW | Aminatou Control UWB | Enduring Ideal Zedruu UWR | Momir Vig Combo UG
Modern
Restore Balance RWUG
Kiki Chord RWG
I think between Wonder and Archetype, I would give Wonder a try. Archetype is a little expensive at 6 CMC and only gives flying while it's on the field. With Wonder, with a discard method you don't have to spend any mana to get it online, and the only way to stop it is with graveyard hate. Also, my issue with Waterfront Bouncer over Crystal Shard is it's slower, since I can't activate it right away, and have to discard something to activate it. Though, I suppose it has the advantage of always bouncing an opponent's creature and not giving them the option of paying 1.
As for Top + Future Sight + Helm, I actually do run that combo already. It's not as fun as trying to stitch together a bunch of different spells together to get the storm count up, but it's definitely got me out of some tough spots already.
[Primer] Dralnu Control/Reanimator BU
[Primer] Jolrael, Empress of Beasts GG
Nath Stax BG | Borborygmos Enraged RG | Ladies of Magic UGW | Aminatou Control UWB | Enduring Ideal Zedruu UWR | Momir Vig Combo UG
Modern
Restore Balance RWUG
Kiki Chord RWG
Both Isochron Scepter and Turnabout are in the deck already, and I even talk a little bit about imprinting High Tide on the Scepter. Like you said, it's very risky. I've never done it before, and I don't think I ever will. I don't really have any way to untap artifacts to get multiple activations in one turn, and losing High Tide to exile if the Scepter were removed would be too devastating. Usually, I imprint something like Peer Through Depths or a counter spell. And yes, Turnabout plus High Tide is a classic, killer combo. If I can get both of those in hand, I've almost certainly won.
Any suggestions on cuts?
[Primer] Dralnu Control/Reanimator BU
[Primer] Jolrael, Empress of Beasts GG
Nath Stax BG | Borborygmos Enraged RG | Ladies of Magic UGW | Aminatou Control UWB | Enduring Ideal Zedruu UWR | Momir Vig Combo UG
Modern
Restore Balance RWUG
Kiki Chord RWG
Game 1
Opponents: Talrand and Marath, 3-player free for all
My starting hand was three islands, a Copy Artifact, a Blue Sun's Zenith, Tomorrow, and something else. Not the best starting hand, but I decide to keep it, thinking I can copy someone else's mana rocks. Sure enough, Talrand starts with a turn 1 Sol Ring, and I think for the first time in my Magic career, this doesn't bother me, because on turn 2, I play Copy Artifact, getting my own Sol Ring. Both Talrand and Marath start builing their boards pretty quickly, and I'm stuck going slow. Turn 4 though, Talrand plays a Gauntlet of Power, naming blue, which turns the game into more like 1v1, because it pushes both me and Talrand way ahead. Talrand plays CSphinx, which made me very thankful to have Tomorrow, as I never actually draw cards to trigger the sphinx. I get out Tomorrow and Higure, and get a single trigger off Higure, searching for Ninja of the Deep Hours, thinking it can help me dig with Tomorrow. I pass my turn with 12 mana, thinking I'll play a big BsZ when Talrand passes to me, with Hinder as counter spell back up. Marath casts Descent of the Dragons and Talrand counters it. Talrand then plays Scourge of the Fleets, bouncing everything except Tomorrow (thanks, Gauntlet!), which totally shuts down Marath, as his board was primarily tokens. Talrand then tries to cast Curse of the Swine on Tomorrow. I respond by tapping 12 mana and casting BsZ for x = 6, leaving 3 mana for Hinder. Talrand then tries to Cyclonic Rift Tomorrow before Zenith resolves, which I Hinder. I dig deep thanks to Tomorrow, but don't get a great set of cards. A few draw spells, but only one untapper (Frantic Search). However, in the last three cards, I grab Disrupting Shoal, allowing me to counter Curse for free. Talrand swings for 14, but I still have around 20 life. The next turn, I'm able to storm off, fueled primarily by a High Tide cast while I had a Windfall on the stack. I had forgotten about CSphinx, so Talrand drew something like 16 cards, but miraculously, he didn't draw any counter spells. Marath responded to Windfall with Angel's Grace, but I was still able to win. I got a little tight on mana, getting a storm count of about 20 and running out of most of my untappers, but I managed to find Future Sight + Sensei's Divining Top + Helm of Awakening, get a huge storm count, and Brain Freeze both of them for the win.
Game 2
Opponents: Jori En, Nicol Bolas, and Daghatar the Adamant (Abzan enchantress), 4-player free for all
My starting hand was Man-o'-War, Mystical Tutor, Sword of Feast and Famine, Future Sight, Nykthos, and 2 islands. The game starts slow for all of us. Jori En never really got a footing in the game because he missed a bunch of land drops. However, between a Howling Mine that he played and a lot of people not paying for my Rhystic Study (hint for anyone playing against a blue deck: always pay for Rhystic Study), I'm averaging a hand size of around 10 at all times in the game. The attention shifts from me to Daghatar as he starts to build a fairly big board, and despite my huge hand, I only have Sword of Feast and Famine, Rhystic Study, and Future Sight out. I just can't get any creatures to stick, and when I finally do, Nicol Bolas plays a board wipe. (Good news, though, because Daghatar's board was getting huge). Daghatar plays Quarantine Field, wiping all three of my permanents. Nicol Bolas also had only one blue source for most of the game, which was holding him back. Finally, he reanimates Solemn Simulacrum to get his second island, but has to tap out to do so. I have Mystical Tutor and an extra turn spell in my hand, so I attempt to go off. I Capsize the Quarantine Field and cast Part the Waterveil. On turn 2, I cast Mystical Tutor, grab High Tide, and cast it off the top. I was a little hesitant that I wouldn't have enough momentum to go off, but my first draw spell hits Archaeomancer, which returns Mystical Tutor, grabbing Turnabout, allowing me to combo off.
Biggest take away: try to find at least one more draw or dig spell, as I almost lost steam in both games. This will also come with becoming more comfortable with the deck, but I need to get more confident in when the deck can go off. I really don't want to take a 5 or 10 minute turn just to get nowhere, so sometimes I'm hesitant in going for it. Turn 1 also showed that Tomorrow, Azami's Familiar, despite his mana cost, is an all-star. Not only did he prevent Talrand from getting CSphinx triggers, his replacement effect had me digging really deep into my library. Finally, both games played out with a pretty straight-forward High Tide combo, without much use of Higure or the combat step.
[Primer] Dralnu Control/Reanimator BU
[Primer] Jolrael, Empress of Beasts GG
Nath Stax BG | Borborygmos Enraged RG | Ladies of Magic UGW | Aminatou Control UWB | Enduring Ideal Zedruu UWR | Momir Vig Combo UG
Modern
Restore Balance RWUG
Kiki Chord RWG
EDH Decks:
GRUlasht, the Hate SeedGR
BRRakdos, Lord of RiotsBR
Modern:
BWEldrazi & TaxesBW
Now that the full set has been revealed, I thought I'd discuss the cards I'm interested in testing in this list:
Imprisoned in the Moon: I don't really think this card will fit into the deck, but I think it's worth mentioning since it's so unique for blue. I've always been a huge fan of Song of the Dryads, so it's nice to see the effect coming to blue. This deck doesn't really have problems with any of those card types though, so, as I said, maybe worth testing, but I don't have high hopes.
Summary Dismissal: I like that it exiles, hits all spells on the stack, and can hit uncounterable things. However, I'm pretty happy with the counterspells in my list so, we'll see.
Unsubstantiate: Again, nice that it can hit uncounterable things. Also reminds me that I still need to find a Venser, Shaper Savant.
Curious Homunculus: The cost reduction on a creature is nice and flipping him shouldn't be too hard in the deck. My one issue with it is it's not a creature that can really enable Ninjitsu, since sending him back to our hand reverts him to the frontside.
Nephalia Academy: This is the only card I can almost guarantee will go in the deck. Honestly, this card will probably go in most of my decks. There's just no reason not to run it and the effect is really nice and fairly unique.
In short, not much. Some things that might be worth trying out, but I don't really see any of them being new all-stars in the deck, or even sticking around for very long. Honestly though, I didn't have high hopes for the set having stuff for this deck, as Wizards doesn't like printing cards that enable blue combo decks anymore.
#MakeBlueGreatAgain
[Primer] Dralnu Control/Reanimator BU
[Primer] Jolrael, Empress of Beasts GG
Nath Stax BG | Borborygmos Enraged RG | Ladies of Magic UGW | Aminatou Control UWB | Enduring Ideal Zedruu UWR | Momir Vig Combo UG
Modern
Restore Balance RWUG
Kiki Chord RWG