Since Commander 2017 was released (which is hardly 3-4 days back), I bought a copy of Arcane Wizardry as I was looking for a spellslinger and/or possibly a commander that can replace my creature based Animar EDH deck. Inalla at the beginning strikes me as a commander which suites my playstyle, since I love synergies and interactions she will be an excellant commander. Hence, I bought cards and formed the deck centering around her Eminence ability. After playing Inalla for 5-6 games with a couple of games leading to me comboing off with Altar + Bloodline Necromancer/Changeling Berserker, I was like "Dammit, this commander is so one dimensional."
Hence, I dropped Inalla (yeah most probably would not build with her as a commander anymore) and settled on using Kess as my spellslinger commander. Hell yeah the deck is really fun to play, not the kind which is single direction, storm based spellslinger nor is the control heavy type.
[strike]Currently this decklist still needs quite a fair bit of work, am having huge trouble finding cards to cut and inserting cards which I love to see in the deck. There is a staggering amount of cards I really want in, sighz.[/strike]
Am quite happy with the current decklist now.
Why you should consider this deck
This is the deck which is suitable for those who:
Likes using opponent's resources (creatures and combos) against them.
Prefers spellslinging
Likes a much slower pace game
Likes being in control of the game
Likes the deck to be synergistic
Likes combos (infinites of not)
This deck might not be suitable to those who:
Likes spikish plays, every card must be powerful
Likes good stuff decks
Prefers straight up control via permission (blue counterspells)
Prefers simple interactions with cards and combos
Only plays competitive decks. (This isn't a consistant T4 win deck, although it can win on Turn3 with a god hand)
It is actually a really fun and interesting process on how I approach building this deck. Unlike other decks that focus on getting efficient wincons and self contained combos, I start with a single durdle combo which I really like to see in my spellslinger deck and build the deck from there. A durdle combo that doesn't advance the board state in anyway, add more pieces to make it net positive then the deck will build itself. The key card is
The Lotus of Combos
Gilded Lotus Durdle loop 1 with Ghostly Flicker
This is a simple loop, cast Ghostly Flicker targeting Archaeomancer and Gilded Lotus. Both permanents will blink out and in, Ghostly Flicker place in the graveyard. Archaeomancer's ETB trigger targets Ghostly Flicker, bringing it back to hand. Gilded Lotus provides the 3 mana to cast the loop again.
This is basically a durdle loop which does nothing but up storm count. However, with cost reducers such as Helm of Awakening or Jace's Sanctum, it starts to net positive mana every loop. It also plays well with on cast damage dealers such as Guttersnipe and Sphinx-Bone Wand.
But we don't include cards without them having cross synergies with other cards, hence enter our...
Gilded Lotus Durdle loop 2 with Ghostly Flicker
Another combo that durdles except Ghostly Flicker is cast from the top of the library instead of from our hand. Similarly like loop1, it nets positive mana when used with Helm of Awakening and also becomes a kill con with Guttersnipe. Not to mention that Helm of Awakening + Future Sight + Sensei's Divining Top creates some interesting synergy.
Speaking of Bloodwater Entity, this elemental is heard to be brothers with a really Weird creature...
Gilded Lotus Durdle loop 3 with Ghostly Flicker/Saheeli's Artistry
Now this gets interesting, with Melek and Bloodwater, Ghostly flicker gets copied, which nets more mana as Gilded Lotus is blinked twice per cast. The blinks can be used on other lands/creatures/artifacts to use their ability again, for example, our commander Kess so that she can cast "more than one spell" from the graveyard during our turn. Bloodwater can also be blinked twice using the same trick to get instants back to top of library, and with good stack management, we can get to draw and cast almost all our instant spells from our deck (hint: some blue 1 mana tutor or searching frantically will help) and win from there.
So, we see what Ghostly Flicker can do, what about Saheeli's Artistry? Saheeli's Artistry under Melek and Bloodwater nets 2x Gilded Lotus Tokens, 1x Bloodwater Token and 1 creature token of your choosing. The 2 Gilded Lotus Tokens gives just enough mana to cast the recurred Saheeli's Artistry again, redoing the entire loop.
What can the above 3 durdle loops power, besides damage and mana? Well, for starters we can generate creature tokens when we have cards such as the following:
We get a bunch of 1/1 wizards, 3/3 or 6/6 tokens, neat. One important thing to highlight is the type of token in which Metallurgic Summonings create while we cast our spells. They are artifacts, and they come with a neat synergy that helps us cast more spells.
Growing Pseudo Mana Rocks with spell casts
Inspiring Statuary is a really super-underrated card. It is a mana rock by itself (It can pay for 1) for nonartifact spells, and it gets past artifact hosers such as Null Rod or Stony Silence since Improvise is a static ability. What makes this card so in line with spellslinger decks is the 2 cards which create artifact tokens on each sorcery/instant cast. This creates an incremental advantage the longer Inspiring Staturary and the token producer are on the field.
Are we limiting Kess' ability?
Sometimes we see the sweet cultivate or stroke of genius in the opponent's 'yard we want to use, then we look sadly at our commander's ability which only allow us to cast sorceries/instants from our own graveyard. What should we do when we don't want to waste our Memory Plunder on such as cards like the above? Plunder on stroke doesn't work as we can't pay for X.
Enters Shaman's Trance (although Kess isn't technically a shaman, but oh well = =), with this card we can cast any spell from opponents' graveyards with Kess's ability. Pairing it with Yawgmoth's Will makes it even more fun. A single Dark Ritual in any opponent's graveyard will instantly lead to infinite B; or we can keep casting and recasting their tutors and ramps (and other stuff such as mana rocks) as long as our mana pool allows it, since Yawgmoth's Will's exile clause only affects our own graveyard and not others.
Dualcaster Magic
Ahh, the red wizard that makes everything so scary and comboable. This combo generates infinite copies of dualcaster mage (although not hasted, but it doesn't mean we can't grab a haste effect from opponents *hint*). If Rites is kicked, it generates infinite copies of any targetable creature on the board.
Dualcaster's magic doesn't just end with clone spells. With ghostly flicker + Gonti, we can exile entire libraries.
Dualcaster Magic - Additional Combo
Added in this combo to round things off. Although this deck is a spellslinging deck, being versatile is still the best, not necessarily need to be full spell based deck.
Pre-requisite: Have either Dualcaster Mage/Ghostly Flicker + Mystical Teachings in hand (or best is have 3 cards all in hand, but 2 will suffice). Have a combination of 6 mana in the form of mana rocks/lands, with the ability to produce UBRR2
Effect: Bounce or Wipe everyone off the game.
This is best to do it end of opponent's turn, just right before our turn, like how a blue player would play. Then we just need 6 initial mana to pull it off during our turn. We can do at any point of time during opponent's turn too if have 10 mana untapped if we want, but most of the time we have hardly have that much mana unless the game is rather slow paced and not wipe friendly.
How to use the combo:
End of opponent's turn (before our turn), cast Mystical Teachings for the other part of the combo, dualcaster and ghostly flicker (to get the teachings into the yard)
During our turn, cast Ghostly Flicker, targeting either of our lands/rocks/creatures.
Flash in Dualcaster Mage, targeting Ghostly Flicker to create a copy
Have the ghostly flicker copy target Dualcaster and a land
Copy resolves, blinking dualcaster and the land
Dualcaster and land ETBs, if you have enough mana around 14 extra mana (in assortment of UBR, at least BRR is needed) from the loop go to point 7. If not repeat loop from point 3 to do the flicker land again.
With dualcaster ETB copy ability targeting Ghostly Flicker on the stack, Flashback Mystical Teachings, search for Bogardan Hellkite
Flash in Bogardan Hellkite, dealing 5damage to something (players or non-allied/self creatures)
Dualcaster's ETB resolves, put a copy of ghostly flicker on the stack, targeting Dualcaster and Bogardan Hellkite
Rinse and repeat until everyone else dies.
Note: The above combo can be done using Venser instead of Bogardan Hellkite too, except the game will take longer since no other opponent has any permanents left in play.
The deck's focus and how to play this deck
Although at first glance this looks like a combo centric deck, with various combos and synergies here and there... this is, at the very core, a control deck. For the current deck list we only a small suite of countermagic as a form of permission, not really much but the deck makes up for its lack of countermagic in other ways.
Creature board control is done with creature sacrifice like Barter in Blood and to a lesser extent, a board wipe with Decree of Pain. Other permanents control is achieved using cards like Torment of Hailfire and Cyclonic Rift.
One interesting thing to note is, while this deck lacks in terms of control and removal, it makes it up by utilizing resources of its opponents. If a pesky enchantment is giving the deck problems, go Praetor's Grasp a white or green player for a Return to Dust or Krosan Grip.
Be proactive than reactive. Rather than wait for threats to happen, remove them before they even become a threat. Better still, convert them to become threats to your opponents instead.
The deck runs a suite of cards that grabs opponents resources.
These cards are extremely powerful and often or not, turn the tide to our favor. Tip: When playing this deck, it is always good to keep telling ourselves that opponents' cards are part of our removal package too. If we don't have an answer to something, there is a high chance that one of our opponents have an answer for it. Time to dig it out ourselves.
Grab opponent's Elesh Norn to kill off weenie token decks. Or run Bribery x2 (once from hand, and once from graveyard using Kess) to grab off a MikeTrike / KikiConscripts to end the game. Praetor's Grasp is a really good card which also acts as a ramp in early game. It allows us to grab a Sol Ring or some other mana rock with just a small cost of 1BB.
These cards are used primarily to reanimate opponents' creatures. As the deck is relatively creature light, grabbing creatures from opponents is a good way to protect ourselves and also extend our reach in terms of abilities, which is why a number of our creature control cards wants opponents to sacrifice creatures. It gets around color protection, equipment shroud, toughness against damage, indestructible so on and forth.
Do take note of the various synergies found in the deck, like Ghostly Flicker, though used in many infinite combos, it can be paired with other cards such as Reins of Power to gain control of 2 creatures permanently. If you have a Inspiring Statuary in play, it might be better to Acquire a Myr Battlesphere from an opponent's deck instead of a normal mana rock. 5 artifacts to improvise provides a whole lot of mana for the next spell (it is just like paying for the acquire mana cost).
How this deck seeks to win
This deck wins in 2 ways, the first method is which we assemble our deck's combo, either a mass turn sideways attack using Rites+Dualcaster Mage, attacking with numerous Metallurgic Summonings tokens or assembling Torment Hailfire copied a number of times. A Dualcaster Mage + Ghostly Flicker + Gonti, Lord of Luxury combination can also exile all opponents' libraries for a deckout win.
The 2nd method of winning is via opponent's combos and resources. If opponents run 2 card combos like kiki+resto and such, we can use these cards to get a win too.
Card Breakdown
Besides the key cards listed in the combos section, here is the card breakdown by sections.
Using Opponent's Stuff
All the cards in this category is what makes this Kess deck fun to play. The deck's power level varies based on opponents' power level which makes it fun and engaging, with the exception of hyper aggro decks which this deck is weak against. There is really nothing much the deck can do except to pray for a removal on starting hand when the opponent comes swinging with a Kozilek 1.0 or a Samut as early as Turn 2 (when I just drop my 1st land). For this Kess deck, these are the cards which she will recast from the graveyard most of the time.
Acquire, Bribery and Memory Plunder are signature steal cards which is available to us. All 3 are relatively straightforward to use, just grab the most usable card/artifact/spell an opponent has available or a card which suits the situation the most.
Praetor's Grasp is a staple which I think every black deck should run. It works like a reverse Demonic Tutor which also coincidentally acts as some sort of hoser against combo decks. A card which I'm always happy to see in my hand, whether it is turn 1 or turn 15+.
Talent of the Telepath is a card which I feel is more red aligned than blue due to the gambling nature of it. Not all opponents' decks run plenty of instants/sorceries and there are a number of times I get nothing from the 7 cards revealed. But so far it is working quite well, getting 2x ramp spells via 1 Talent (due to spell mastery) always put a smile to my face. It also works in good synergy with Shaman's Trance since it drops the cards into the yard for us to cast later.
Gonti, Lord of Luxury this is what we get when Praetor's Grasp is neutered by Aven Mindcensor. One thing to note that is we can't cast lands though, so it doesn't work like a land ramp like what the grasp does. Gonti also comes with a 2/3 deathtouch body which is a really great defence creature. Another thing to note for Gonti is that we can still cast the exiled card even when Gonti leaves the battlefield, this is something which we need to highlight to our opponents if they don't know about his card rulings.
Land changes
-1 Island
-1 Mountain
+1 Exotic Orchard
+1 Mystic Confluence
Edit: 2/9/2017
-1 Capital Punishment
-1 Dark Intimations
-1 Decree of Pain
-1 Frantic Search
-1 Grave Upheaval
-1 Guttersnipe
-1 Tezzeret the Seeker
+1 Bogardan Hellkite
+1 Insidious Will
+1 Mystical Teachings
+1 Nightscape Familiar
+1 Reins of Power
+1 Toxic Deluge
+1 Venser, Shaper Savant
Edit: 1/9/2017
-1 Commander's Sphere
-1 Read the Runes
-1 Sphinx-Bone Wand
-1 Syphon Flesh
-1 Wheel of Fortune
+1 Capital Punishment
+1 Dark Intimations
+1 Fact or Fiction
+1 Rakdos Charm
+1 Rakdos Signet
Edit: 30/8/2017
-1 Mystic Remora
+1 Gonti, Lord of Luxury
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As this deck is still new, I'll be updating the write-up as I play more and discover more about the deck. Comments and suggestions are greatly welcomed. :3
Good write up on your list, I can tell you put quite a bit of effort and work here. Your list is very combo based and given I have a limited knowledge and understanding on that subject I won't comment much on that area.
Is there some infinite combo or something I'm missing with Read the Runes, because at face value it seems rather mediocre.
How is Barter in Blood performing? I assume you only cast it when you have tokens out or when Kess isn't out?
I notice your list doesn't run Fact or Fiction which seems like a major oversight. It's an amazing card advantage spell and it's incredibly powerful with Kess, Dissident Mage.
Sphinx-Bone Wand seems bad and too low impact. I get that you are using it as a combo piece, but outside of that, it's not good, and even then, paying 7 mana for part of a combo seems a too steep.
I don't think the three CMC mana rocks are necessary, especially considering your curve is pretty low.
I recommend if you haven't yet you review my Kess, Dissident Mage list, Controlling Dissidents. It is more of a mid range control list, but I would imagine you can get something from my list or the discussion in the thread.
Edit: Reading over your deck list again and it seems like it may be too ambitious and multi focused. Is it a control deck, a combo deck or a reanimator deck? How do you want to win with this deck? Why are you running cards like Syphon Flesh and Bloodwater Entity?
Shaman's Trance is more of a removal card for me. I always use it to get more mileage with opponents' removals, like Shaman's Trance into Swords to Plowshares, or use their tutors in their graveyard to find my own cards. But that said, this card needs Kess to be out on the battlefield in the first place. It is rather useless without Kess or Yawgmoth's Will. Need to test it out more though.
Read the Runes is more of a meta call, since my meta runs plenty of Notion Thieves. It dodges the discard part when Thief is out. Wanted to add one of my own but totally no space for it. Totally forgot about Fact of Fiction, thanks for telling me about it. Maybe I should drop read the runes for it.
Barter in Blood is also a meta call. It is really good to get around equipment voltron decks and also cards like Boros Charm and Rootborn defences. In a similar vein is Syphon Flesh, it get rids of some creatures of others while giving me some 2/2 blockers, being able to recast it with Kess makes it quite worthwhile to have as a dual purpose spell.
Agree that Sphinx-Bone Wand is really bad. No once in my games (currently only 3-4 games with the deck, have to wait for weekend) I feel like tutoring for it or cast it out. It isn't the casting cost of the card, more of the number of times I need to cast spells just to get it to actually be a threat. By then it would have been destroyed. Definitely need to drop it.
So far the 3cc mana rocks go, I'll take out commander's sphere, replace it with a signet or a talisman will be better.
Speaking about Trail of Evidence, is fantastic in this deck. There is so much value packed as every spell cast we get a {2}:Draw a card artifact. It makes every single sorcery/instant into a cantrip if we can spare the extra 2 mana, even ones we cast with Kess from the graveyard. Definitely a card that I will not drop for the deck. It also combines beautifully with Inspiring Statuary, another low profile card that no one bother to look at (at least in my games). In the games where these 2 are out, I gain a big boost of mana the more spells I cast. Like of example before the start of my turn I cast frantic search, then a mystical tutor. In my next turn I gain 2 more mana for my other spells. Really great for spellslingers.
Yeah I too share your views on the deck being too multi-focused, just too many cards I want in for my 1st and probably only spellslinger EDH. Apart from assembling the combos listed if need be, what this deck seeks to do is to provide control in the form of using opponents' stuff against them, which is why there is a list of "control" spells, which I think will increase as I play more with the deck.
and some reanimator spells. Wanted to add in Diluvian Primordial and/or Chancellor of the Spires but feel that they are too risky to be played as there are many clone happy players in my meta. An opponent getting infinite mana and creature triggers by just cloning my Chancellor with a Ghostly Flicker in my yard is the last thing I want to see for my deck, although it makes a good conversation piece for the next few sessions lol.
In the games I played, Talent of the Telepath is a true sleeper in the deck. It is so good that I actually won a game with it by looping it multiple times over the course of the game. Stuff which I get to cast are cards like cyclonic rift (too bad can't overload), wash out, and land ramps. Hitting a Tooth and Nail will be fun as the 2 creatures that are coming out are the Bloodwater + Melek pair for more Talent of the Telepath casting. Copying it 5x for a total of 6x Talent off Melek, Increasing vengeance shaves 42 cards off opponent's library and netting up to 12 free instant/sorcery casts out of those 42 cards.
So yep, the main focus of the deck is to win off using cards from opponents' decks or try to combo off on my own (which is highly unlikely since they aren't really that easy to assemble) while maintaining a spellslinger shell. Assembling Mikaeus + Triskelion (from opponent's deck) using Bribery + Acquire is far easier in this deck imo than running them in the deck since we can Bribery x2 (with Kess's ability)
Updated thread with deck focus and how to play the deck.
Decklist changes: 1/9/2017
-1 Commander's Sphere
+1 Rakdos Signet
Commander sphere isn't faring that well in the deck. A darksteel ingot might be better imo though, since I need color mana which isn't in Grixis colors when I need to cast spells / activate abilities using opponent's cards. Put as Rakdos signet first to see if the lower mana cost is good enough.
-1 Read the Runes
+1 Fact or Fiction
Suggested by @Honor Basquiat. Fact or Fiction is much better then read the runes since the deck isn't really a full reanimator deck. Read the Runes is better if I'm pitching creatures that I would like to reanimate into my yard.
-1 Sphinx-Bone Wand
+1 Capital Punishment
Sphinx-Bone Wand is really lackluster in my games. Hardly get to use it at all. Not once I feel like tutoring for it and I always wish that it is another card when I draw it. Capital Punishment is under testing now, hopefully it is a good addition to the deck.
-1 Syphon Flesh
+1 Dark Intimations
Replaced Syphon Flesh with a more functional spell. Same casting cost except need more colored mana. Dark Intimations is good due to the fact it cantrips and allows me to recur my 2 planeswalkers.
-1 Wheel of Fortune
+1 Rakdos Charm
Wheel isn't working in this deck. Most of the time it feels like a dud as I don't want to give opponents cards. Replaced with a good catch-all charm, fabulous against reanimators, creature swarm and artifact combo decks.
Got back from my weekend EDH games, quite a fair bit of changes to make to my Kess deck. It is lacking in 'haymakers', but overall it is performing well as a controlish style of deck. The Trail of Evidence + Inspiring Statuary synergy surprised quite a number of players in my playgroup.
One of the highlights in the games yesterday is getting to cast Torment of Hailfire with X=10, coupled with Cooperate and Dualcaster Mage on turn 9 with just UBBRR, with the rest of the colorless mana provided by Clue tokens and Inspiring Statuary. The enchantment and artifact will be a mainstay in this deck.
Shaman's Trance is pulling good weight too. Being able to cast swords to plowshares is really valuable. Had a chance to do the Trance + YawgWill combo, fantastic as there is a high tide in one of the opponent's graveyard, getting my islands to tap for UUUUU and being able to cyclonic rift (non overload version) for 4x in that turn.
Decree is just too slow to go off. Slotted it with Toxic deluge after a couple of games and the wipes are more consistent as and when I need it them now.
Capital Punishment is a player dependent spell. In a 3 player game, it is a rather mediocre sac 1 discard 2. In a 5 player game, it becomes a really good sac 3 discard 2 (or whatever opponents choose). Would rather it be a tutor which I can push my wincon out.
Mystical Teachings forms another piece which allows me to grab the combo pieces easily. Will be highlighting about it in the original thread.
Guttersnipe just doesn't survive long in my meta, with boardwipes as frequent as once every 2-3 turns, creatures must be either indestructible or have high toughness to survive. Venser is a good alternative as it helps in removing pesky permanents and also provide some form of spell delay.
Need a haymaker. Dark Intimations, does so little in the deck for 5cc. Bogardan Hellkite is a good end game creature which helps kill off some opposing planeswalkers, creatures too. Not sure if Hellkite or Inferno titan is better suited for the deck though, any thoughts about that?
So far up to now, Grave Upheaval isn't really pulling its weight much. I would still very much like to use it though, mainly for its Basic Landcycling ability. Slot it out for a cost reducer which can function as a chump blocker.
Hmm, frantic search is one of the best loot cards printed, sad to see it go though, it is more of a meta decision due to the amount of graveyard hate in my meta (Every single game I have yesterday have some form of graveyard hate on board most of the time... scavenging ooze, nihil spellbomb, rakdos charm). It is hard to play graveyard strategies with cards like this around all the time.
Slotted in Refuse / Cooperate after a couple of games. It is a really cute card to play. Opponent cast commander for the 4th time for 12? I refuse and take 12 please. Can say that it is situationally good in some ways. I'm more for the cooperate side of the card though, but that requires the card to in the yard to be able to use first.
Probably it is a personal problem, the card is refusing to cooperate with me. I find that most of the time I'm waiting for the big play (an opponent casting a spell with > 5cc) in order to use the Refuse side of the card, but it always fall short and I'm left with 4cc open to my next turn, which I have to leave it open again in order to use the card to make it more a "cooperative"(usable) card in the yard. Opponents aren't stupid, when they see a blue player with 4cc open most of their spells will be low casting cost or baits to see if they can fish out a counter before casting their haymaker.
I'll put the slot for Reins of Power, since most of the time I'm low in creatures, being able to grab opponent's creatures to do some work for me before I toxic deluge them away is good. Reins also stop creature type combos such as MikeTrisk (when the last trisk self shoot is on the stack), NotionThief + Wheel (will be so awesome if I reins for an onboard notion thief while opponent wheels) combos.
Tezzeret is supposed to function as a repeatable tutor for my mana rocks. It will be really good if I can get to see it in my early turns, which with my luck, it isn't happening anytime soon. Probably he seeks a better place as a card in another deck. T_T
Insidious Will is the kind of modular card which the deck really needs. It functions as a traditional counterspell/redirect in our hand, and when it is in the yard during our turn, it can be used as a twin cast. Really fantastic spell, though the cost to counter is slightly higher. But it is under a buck so it is worth a try.
Shaman's Trance is pulling good weight too. Being able to cast swords to plowshares is really valuable. Had a chance to do the Trance + YawgWill combo, fantastic as there is a high tide in one of the opponent's graveyard, getting my islands to tap for UUUUU and being able to cyclonic rift (non overload version) for 4x in that turn.
More curiosity than anything, but if you had that much mana, why not just Overload Cyclonic Rift instead of casting it "normally" 4 times?
Otherwise, it is pretty sweet to see that combo work out. I personally don't run it in any decks but it always looked like something fun to pull off once or twice.
For that game we are playing a Bang! variant (where you have the Sheriff, deputy, outlaws and renagade) of Commander instead of normal FFA since we have 6 players. Like the game Bang! I have to consider my allies boardstate too (outlaws ftw), hence not overloading is better in that game. Would have overloaded in a normal FFA, but then in a normal FFA people would have scavenging oozed/nihil spellbombed the moment I cast shaman's trance.
Reins of Power - Awesome card. Won a game with it when my friend overcommit with his creatures and creature tokens. 4cc instant speed for a mini-insurrection is a really powerful ability to have. Love it, a mainstay for this deck.
The main purpose of adding Hypersonic Dragon is to have a flier with a relatively beefy body that doesn't fold to Elesh Norn and such but still provide a relevant ability which supports the deck in a thematic way. Flash is... most of the time not really used much in the deck, with the exception of one particular game where I'm able to flash-cast a bribery to bring in a blocker against an opponent who is attacking me. Most of the time though, the dragon is kind of just sits there doing nothing as I mainly use it as a blocker rather than an attacker.
Thought of changing to either a Leyline of Anticipation or its artifact counterpart, but don't think it will really help that much since the deck runs many instants and is rather countermagic light.
Given the slot is more for a defensive creature card which is thematic (either associated to spellslinging or "take over opponent's stuff"). Niblis of Frost is a great addition to the list. It also helps slow down the game a little while providing some protection against the hyper aggro decks.
Nightscape Familiar isn't really doing that much. Although it is a good cost reducer, I rarely get to use it before it dies, mostly due to boardwipes and sweeps. Think with just Helm of Awakening and Jace's Sanctum in the deck, is good enough for the deck to function well. Most of the combos within the deck don't really require that many mana to pull off, which is great. So far the only huge haymaker combo is running the Torment of Hailfire copy spell, but that is usually a late game combo which mana is aplenty.
Not really sure if Notion Thief is a good choice here. Currently the deck is kind of lacking in draw power and also ways to prevent opponents from comboing out. Notion thief might fit the bill here since quite a number of combos require drawing into big card advantage. It also comes with flash which is tutorable with Mystical Teachings which is another plus point.
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Cards on verge of being on the chopping board.
Future Sight - Didn't get to play it much, most of the time when I drew into it I already have the cards I need to either resolve the situation or have a winning haymaker combo (Torment of Hailfire + Increasing Vengence). Need to monitor more before I decide.
Cards on verge of being on the chopping board. Future Sight - Didn't get to play it much, most of the time when I drew into it I already have the cards I need to either resolve the situation or have a winning haymaker combo (Torment of Hailfire + Increasing Vengence). Need to monitor more before I decide.
Takes deck dedication to run Future Sight. It's definitely not a good-stuff type card that slots in to any deck (well, except for Simic decks).
If you don't run the U cantrip suite, then it's probably not worth it to run Future Sight.
Played some games after the Ixalan prerelease today. Added in Search for Azcanta for testing, didn't open a Primal Amulet so didn't get to try it. Managed to get the enchantment out in one of the games.
One thing which I noted from the card is it is not really easy to flip it at all if the deck doesn't run some kind of loot effects (draw and discard). In the game I had it is really hard to flip it until I cast Ancient Excavation on upkeep during turn 4 before Azcanta's trigger resolves. In early stage (turns 1-4) of the game, most of the time our graveyard will be quite empty due to the number of cards we pack, like casting mana rocks on turns 1-3, and a couple of fetches/loot effects. At mid to end part of the game the card doesn't really do anything much until a full turn later, which is kind of slow unless the Kess deck runs an extra turn package to hasten the flip effect.
The Impulse part of the card works pretty in-line with some of the cards in the deck, and is a pretty good addition especially to get cards into the hand immediately after Mystical Tutor/Vampiric Tutor and others.
Need to test this more before saying whether I'll keep it.
Speaking of lands, Shivan Gorge seems like a good card to consider. It enables a flicker combo win without having access to Bogardan Hellkite.
------------------------
@Juristhalion As Foretold doesn't work really well for my decklist as it doesn't have enough 1-2 cc cards to capitalize on the enchantment.
I am curious how this deck has performed for you in the intervening time since your last post? I would like to make a Kess deck and really like the idea of running with this type of combo/theft/control. Have you made further edits since?
Just noticed your list. Very interesting take on a usually monochrome commander.
I like your Inspiring Statuary / Trail of Evidence synergy, it's something I've always wanted to do. An obvious shoe-in to this strategy is Storm the Vault - it's not amazing, but it's not dead, since Kess being a filer can often net you a Lotus Petal. However flipping it can be absolutely backbreaking for your opponents, especially if you run cards like Torment of Hailfire which you'd mentioned.
I'll also second earlier recommendations about Primal Amulet. Doubling spells can be very strong, especially if you can double a second time when you cast it from your graveyard.
Deck ver 1.0
Since Commander 2017 was released (which is hardly 3-4 days back), I bought a copy of Arcane Wizardry as I was looking for a spellslinger and/or possibly a commander that can replace my creature based Animar EDH deck. Inalla at the beginning strikes me as a commander which suites my playstyle, since I love synergies and interactions she will be an excellant commander. Hence, I bought cards and formed the deck centering around her Eminence ability. After playing Inalla for 5-6 games with a couple of games leading to me comboing off with Altar + Bloodline Necromancer/Changeling Berserker, I was like "Dammit, this commander is so one dimensional."
Hence, I dropped Inalla (yeah most probably would not build with her as a commander anymore) and settled on using Kess as my spellslinger commander. Hell yeah the deck is really fun to play, not the kind which is single direction, storm based spellslinger nor is the control heavy type.
[strike]Currently this decklist still needs quite a fair bit of work, am having huge trouble finding cards to cut and inserting cards which I love to see in the deck. There is a staggering amount of cards I really want in, sighz.[/strike]
Am quite happy with the current decklist now.
Why you should consider this deck
This is the deck which is suitable for those who:
This deck might not be suitable to those who:
Decklist
1x Kess, Dissident Mage
//Center Piece (1)
1x Gilded Lotus
//Center Piece synergy (5)
1x Ghostly Flicker
1x Saheeli's Artistry
1x Archaeomancer
1x Bloodwater Entity
1x Melek, Izzet Paragon
//Tokens and doublers (3)
1x Rite of Replication
1x Dualcaster Mage
1x Increasing Vengeance
//Top Deck Manipulators (2)
1x Future Sight
1x Sensei's Divining Top
//Cast and Damage (2)
1x Bogardan Hellkite
1x Torment of Hailfire
//Other Creatures (5)
1x Niblis of Frost
1x Sphinx of the Final Word
1x Torrential Gearhulk
1x Docent of Perfection
1x Gonti, Lord of Luxury
//Cost Reducers (2)
1x Helm of Awakening
1x Jace's Sanctum
//Pseudo "Mana Rocks" (3)
1x Inspiring Statuary
1x Trail of Evidence
1x Metallurgic Summonings
//Real Mana Rocks (8)
1x Dimir Signet
1x Izzet Signet
1x Rakdos Signet
1x Coalition Relic
1x Chromatic Lantern
1x Sol Ring
1x Basalt Monolith
1x Fellwar Stone
1x Rhystic Study
1x Syphon Mind
1x Ancient Excavation
1x Mystical Teachings
1x Fact or Fiction
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Entomb
1x Mystical Tutor
1x Vampiric Tutor
//Graveyard Strategies (4)
1x Beacon of Unrest
1x Reanimate
1x Yawgmoth's Will
1x Shaman's Trance
//Use Opponent's Stuff (5)
1x Acquire
1x Praetor's Grasp
1x Bribery
1x Memory Plunder
1x Talent of the Telepath
//Control & Protection (14)
1x Capsize
1x Barter in Blood
1x Toxic Deluge
1x Vandalblast
1x Cyclonic Rift
1x Chaos Warp
1x Disallow
1x Reality Shift
1x Rakdos Charm
1x Venser, Shaper Savant
1x Reins of Power
1x Insidious Will
1x Notion Thief
1x Dack Fayden
//Lands (36)
1x Command Tower
1x City of Brass
1x Watery Grave
1x Steam Vents
1x Blood Crypt
1x Cascade Bluffs
1x Graven Cairns
1x Sunken Ruins
1x Ancient Tomb
1x Shivan Reef
1x Sulfurous Springs
1x Underground River
1x Drowned Catacomb
1x Sulfur Falls
1x Desolate Lighthouse
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Bojuka Bog
1x Ash Barrens
1x Fetid Pools
1x Smoldering Marsh
1x Polluted Delta
1x Bloodstained Mire
1x Inventors' Fair
1x Riptide Laboratory
1x Exotic Orchard
1x Mystic Confluence
6x Island
2x Swamp
2x Mountain
Stats:
Avg casting cost: 3.40
Creatures (excluding commander): 13
Sorceries and Instants: 33
Artifacts: 12
Enchantments: 5
Planeswalkers: 1
Lands: 36
Signature combos
It is actually a really fun and interesting process on how I approach building this deck. Unlike other decks that focus on getting efficient wincons and self contained combos, I start with a single durdle combo which I really like to see in my spellslinger deck and build the deck from there. A durdle combo that doesn't advance the board state in anyway, add more pieces to make it net positive then the deck will build itself. The key card is
The Lotus of Combos
Gilded Lotus Durdle loop 1 with Ghostly Flicker
This is a simple loop, cast Ghostly Flicker targeting Archaeomancer and Gilded Lotus. Both permanents will blink out and in, Ghostly Flicker place in the graveyard. Archaeomancer's ETB trigger targets Ghostly Flicker, bringing it back to hand. Gilded Lotus provides the 3 mana to cast the loop again.
This is basically a durdle loop which does nothing but up storm count. However, with cost reducers such as Helm of Awakening or Jace's Sanctum, it starts to net positive mana every loop. It also plays well with on cast damage dealers such as Guttersnipe and Sphinx-Bone Wand.
But we don't include cards without them having cross synergies with other cards, hence enter our...
Gilded Lotus Durdle loop 2 with Ghostly Flicker
Another combo that durdles except Ghostly Flicker is cast from the top of the library instead of from our hand. Similarly like loop1, it nets positive mana when used with Helm of Awakening and also becomes a kill con with Guttersnipe. Not to mention that Helm of Awakening + Future Sight + Sensei's Divining Top creates some interesting synergy.
Speaking of Bloodwater Entity, this elemental is heard to be brothers with a really Weird creature...
Gilded Lotus Durdle loop 3 with Ghostly Flicker/Saheeli's Artistry
Now this gets interesting, with Melek and Bloodwater, Ghostly flicker gets copied, which nets more mana as Gilded Lotus is blinked twice per cast. The blinks can be used on other lands/creatures/artifacts to use their ability again, for example, our commander Kess so that she can cast "more than one spell" from the graveyard during our turn. Bloodwater can also be blinked twice using the same trick to get instants back to top of library, and with good stack management, we can get to draw and cast almost all our instant spells from our deck (hint: some blue 1 mana tutor or searching frantically will help) and win from there.
So, we see what Ghostly Flicker can do, what about Saheeli's Artistry? Saheeli's Artistry under Melek and Bloodwater nets 2x Gilded Lotus Tokens, 1x Bloodwater Token and 1 creature token of your choosing. The 2 Gilded Lotus Tokens gives just enough mana to cast the recurred Saheeli's Artistry again, redoing the entire loop.
What can the above 3 durdle loops power, besides damage and mana? Well, for starters we can generate creature tokens when we have cards such as the following:
We get a bunch of 1/1 wizards, 3/3 or 6/6 tokens, neat. One important thing to highlight is the type of token in which Metallurgic Summonings create while we cast our spells. They are artifacts, and they come with a neat synergy that helps us cast more spells.
Growing Pseudo Mana Rocks with spell casts
Inspiring Statuary is a really super-underrated card. It is a mana rock by itself (It can pay for 1) for nonartifact spells, and it gets past artifact hosers such as Null Rod or Stony Silence since Improvise is a static ability. What makes this card so in line with spellslinger decks is the 2 cards which create artifact tokens on each sorcery/instant cast. This creates an incremental advantage the longer Inspiring Staturary and the token producer are on the field.
Are we limiting Kess' ability?
Sometimes we see the sweet cultivate or stroke of genius in the opponent's 'yard we want to use, then we look sadly at our commander's ability which only allow us to cast sorceries/instants from our own graveyard. What should we do when we don't want to waste our Memory Plunder on such as cards like the above? Plunder on stroke doesn't work as we can't pay for X.
Enters Shaman's Trance (although Kess isn't technically a shaman, but oh well = =), with this card we can cast any spell from opponents' graveyards with Kess's ability. Pairing it with Yawgmoth's Will makes it even more fun. A single Dark Ritual in any opponent's graveyard will instantly lead to infinite B; or we can keep casting and recasting their tutors and ramps (and other stuff such as mana rocks) as long as our mana pool allows it, since Yawgmoth's Will's exile clause only affects our own graveyard and not others.
Dualcaster Magic
Ahh, the red wizard that makes everything so scary and comboable. This combo generates infinite copies of dualcaster mage (although not hasted, but it doesn't mean we can't grab a haste effect from opponents *hint*). If Rites is kicked, it generates infinite copies of any targetable creature on the board.
Dualcaster's magic doesn't just end with clone spells. With ghostly flicker + Gonti, we can exile entire libraries.
Dualcaster Magic - Additional Combo
Added in this combo to round things off. Although this deck is a spellslinging deck, being versatile is still the best, not necessarily need to be full spell based deck.
Pre-requisite: Have either Dualcaster Mage/Ghostly Flicker + Mystical Teachings in hand (or best is have 3 cards all in hand, but 2 will suffice). Have a combination of 6 mana in the form of mana rocks/lands, with the ability to produce UBRR2
Effect: Bounce or Wipe everyone off the game.
This is best to do it end of opponent's turn, just right before our turn, like how a blue player would play. Then we just need 6 initial mana to pull it off during our turn. We can do at any point of time during opponent's turn too if have 10 mana untapped if we want, but most of the time we have hardly have that much mana unless the game is rather slow paced and not wipe friendly.
How to use the combo:
Note: The above combo can be done using Venser instead of Bogardan Hellkite too, except the game will take longer since no other opponent has any permanents left in play.
The deck's focus and how to play this deck
Although at first glance this looks like a combo centric deck, with various combos and synergies here and there... this is, at the very core, a control deck. For the current deck list we only a small suite of countermagic as a form of permission, not really much but the deck makes up for its lack of countermagic in other ways.
Creature board control is done with creature sacrifice like Barter in Blood and to a lesser extent, a board wipe with Decree of Pain. Other permanents control is achieved using cards like Torment of Hailfire and Cyclonic Rift.
One interesting thing to note is, while this deck lacks in terms of control and removal, it makes it up by utilizing resources of its opponents. If a pesky enchantment is giving the deck problems, go Praetor's Grasp a white or green player for a Return to Dust or Krosan Grip.
Be proactive than reactive. Rather than wait for threats to happen, remove them before they even become a threat. Better still, convert them to become threats to your opponents instead.
The deck runs a suite of cards that grabs opponents resources.
1x Acquire
1x Bribery
1x Memory Plunder
1x Praetor's Grasp
1x Talent of the Telepath
These cards are extremely powerful and often or not, turn the tide to our favor. Tip: When playing this deck, it is always good to keep telling ourselves that opponents' cards are part of our removal package too. If we don't have an answer to something, there is a high chance that one of our opponents have an answer for it. Time to dig it out ourselves.
Grab opponent's Elesh Norn to kill off weenie token decks. Or run Bribery x2 (once from hand, and once from graveyard using Kess) to grab off a MikeTrike / KikiConscripts to end the game. Praetor's Grasp is a really good card which also acts as a ramp in early game. It allows us to grab a Sol Ring or some other mana rock with just a small cost of 1BB.
The graveyard strategy suite:
1x Reanimate
1x Shaman's Trance
1x Yawgmoth's Will
These cards are used primarily to reanimate opponents' creatures. As the deck is relatively creature light, grabbing creatures from opponents is a good way to protect ourselves and also extend our reach in terms of abilities, which is why a number of our creature control cards wants opponents to sacrifice creatures. It gets around color protection, equipment shroud, toughness against damage, indestructible so on and forth.
Do take note of the various synergies found in the deck, like Ghostly Flicker, though used in many infinite combos, it can be paired with other cards such as Reins of Power to gain control of 2 creatures permanently. If you have a Inspiring Statuary in play, it might be better to Acquire a Myr Battlesphere from an opponent's deck instead of a normal mana rock. 5 artifacts to improvise provides a whole lot of mana for the next spell (it is just like paying for the acquire mana cost).
How this deck seeks to win
This deck wins in 2 ways, the first method is which we assemble our deck's combo, either a mass turn sideways attack using Rites+Dualcaster Mage, attacking with numerous Metallurgic Summonings tokens or assembling Torment Hailfire copied a number of times. A Dualcaster Mage + Ghostly Flicker + Gonti, Lord of Luxury combination can also exile all opponents' libraries for a deckout win.
The 2nd method of winning is via opponent's combos and resources. If opponents run 2 card combos like kiki+resto and such, we can use these cards to get a win too.
Card Breakdown
Besides the key cards listed in the combos section, here is the card breakdown by sections.
Using Opponent's Stuff
All the cards in this category is what makes this Kess deck fun to play. The deck's power level varies based on opponents' power level which makes it fun and engaging, with the exception of hyper aggro decks which this deck is weak against. There is really nothing much the deck can do except to pray for a removal on starting hand when the opponent comes swinging with a Kozilek 1.0 or a Samut as early as Turn 2 (when I just drop my 1st land). For this Kess deck, these are the cards which she will recast from the graveyard most of the time.
Acquire, Bribery and Memory Plunder are signature steal cards which is available to us. All 3 are relatively straightforward to use, just grab the most usable card/artifact/spell an opponent has available or a card which suits the situation the most.
Praetor's Grasp is a staple which I think every black deck should run. It works like a reverse Demonic Tutor which also coincidentally acts as some sort of hoser against combo decks. A card which I'm always happy to see in my hand, whether it is turn 1 or turn 15+.
Talent of the Telepath is a card which I feel is more red aligned than blue due to the gambling nature of it. Not all opponents' decks run plenty of instants/sorceries and there are a number of times I get nothing from the 7 cards revealed. But so far it is working quite well, getting 2x ramp spells via 1 Talent (due to spell mastery) always put a smile to my face. It also works in good synergy with Shaman's Trance since it drops the cards into the yard for us to cast later.
Gonti, Lord of Luxury this is what we get when Praetor's Grasp is neutered by Aven Mindcensor. One thing to note that is we can't cast lands though, so it doesn't work like a land ramp like what the grasp does. Gonti also comes with a 2/3 deathtouch body which is a really great defence creature. Another thing to note for Gonti is that we can still cast the exiled card even when Gonti leaves the battlefield, this is something which we need to highlight to our opponents if they don't know about his card rulings.
Other cards to be updated.
--------------------------------
Edit: 10/9/2017
-1 Hypersonic Dragon
-1 Nightscape Familiar
+1 Niblis of Frost
+1 Notion Thief
Land changes
-1 Island
-1 Mountain
+1 Exotic Orchard
+1 Mystic Confluence
Edit: 2/9/2017
-1 Capital Punishment
-1 Dark Intimations
-1 Decree of Pain
-1 Frantic Search
-1 Grave Upheaval
-1 Guttersnipe
-1 Tezzeret the Seeker
+1 Bogardan Hellkite
+1 Insidious Will
+1 Mystical Teachings
+1 Nightscape Familiar
+1 Reins of Power
+1 Toxic Deluge
+1 Venser, Shaper Savant
Edit: 1/9/2017
-1 Commander's Sphere
-1 Read the Runes
-1 Sphinx-Bone Wand
-1 Syphon Flesh
-1 Wheel of Fortune
+1 Capital Punishment
+1 Dark Intimations
+1 Fact or Fiction
+1 Rakdos Charm
+1 Rakdos Signet
Edit: 30/8/2017
-1 Mystic Remora
+1 Gonti, Lord of Luxury
--------------------------------
As this deck is still new, I'll be updating the write-up as I play more and discover more about the deck. Comments and suggestions are greatly welcomed. :3
WUBRG Reaper King - Elf Tribal WUBRG | Tribal Fun
WRG Gishath, Sun's Avatar - Dinosaur Tribal WRG | Rawr!!!
WUG Derevi, Empyrial Tactician - Enchantress Tactics WUG | Enchantments Focused
GBG The Gitrog Monster - Land Shenanigans GBG | Lands/Mill Focused
WBW Kambal, Consul of Life Allocation Matters WBW | Life Gain/Loss focused
UBR Kess, Dissident Mage of the Lotus UBR | Spellslinger
BGB Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons - Counters & Tokens BGB | -1/-1 counters focused
I will say that both Yawgmoth's Will and Shaman's Trance are interesting for Kess, Dissident Mage. I'm not sure about Shaman's Trance though, paying 4RG plus a card for Cultivate doesn't seem like it's worth it.
Trail of Evidence seems great with Kess, Dissident Mage even non spell variants. How has this card been performing?
Is there some infinite combo or something I'm missing with Read the Runes, because at face value it seems rather mediocre.
How is Barter in Blood performing? I assume you only cast it when you have tokens out or when Kess isn't out?
I notice your list doesn't run Fact or Fiction which seems like a major oversight. It's an amazing card advantage spell and it's incredibly powerful with Kess, Dissident Mage.
Sphinx-Bone Wand seems bad and too low impact. I get that you are using it as a combo piece, but outside of that, it's not good, and even then, paying 7 mana for part of a combo seems a too steep.
I don't think the three CMC mana rocks are necessary, especially considering your curve is pretty low.
I recommend if you haven't yet you review my Kess, Dissident Mage list, Controlling Dissidents. It is more of a mid range control list, but I would imagine you can get something from my list or the discussion in the thread.
Edit: Reading over your deck list again and it seems like it may be too ambitious and multi focused. Is it a control deck, a combo deck or a reanimator deck? How do you want to win with this deck? Why are you running cards like Syphon Flesh and Bloodwater Entity?
UBRKess, Dissident MageUBR - Controlling Dissidents
GRhonas the IndomitableG - Indomitable Four Drops
WUBOloro, Ageless AsceticWUB - Loot & Renanimate
Read the Runes is more of a meta call, since my meta runs plenty of Notion Thieves. It dodges the discard part when Thief is out. Wanted to add one of my own but totally no space for it. Totally forgot about Fact of Fiction, thanks for telling me about it. Maybe I should drop read the runes for it.
Barter in Blood is also a meta call. It is really good to get around equipment voltron decks and also cards like Boros Charm and Rootborn defences. In a similar vein is Syphon Flesh, it get rids of some creatures of others while giving me some 2/2 blockers, being able to recast it with Kess makes it quite worthwhile to have as a dual purpose spell.
Agree that Sphinx-Bone Wand is really bad. No once in my games (currently only 3-4 games with the deck, have to wait for weekend) I feel like tutoring for it or cast it out. It isn't the casting cost of the card, more of the number of times I need to cast spells just to get it to actually be a threat. By then it would have been destroyed. Definitely need to drop it.
So far the 3cc mana rocks go, I'll take out commander's sphere, replace it with a signet or a talisman will be better.
Speaking about Trail of Evidence, is fantastic in this deck. There is so much value packed as every spell cast we get a {2}:Draw a card artifact. It makes every single sorcery/instant into a cantrip if we can spare the extra 2 mana, even ones we cast with Kess from the graveyard. Definitely a card that I will not drop for the deck. It also combines beautifully with Inspiring Statuary, another low profile card that no one bother to look at (at least in my games). In the games where these 2 are out, I gain a big boost of mana the more spells I cast. Like of example before the start of my turn I cast frantic search, then a mystical tutor. In my next turn I gain 2 more mana for my other spells. Really great for spellslingers.
Yeah I too share your views on the deck being too multi-focused, just too many cards I want in for my 1st and probably only spellslinger EDH. Apart from assembling the combos listed if need be, what this deck seeks to do is to provide control in the form of using opponents' stuff against them, which is why there is a list of "control" spells, which I think will increase as I play more with the deck.
1x Acquire
1x Praetor's Grasp
1x Bribery
1x Memory Plunder
1x Talent of the Telepath
1x Gonti, Lord of Luxury
and some reanimator spells. Wanted to add in Diluvian Primordial and/or Chancellor of the Spires but feel that they are too risky to be played as there are many clone happy players in my meta. An opponent getting infinite mana and creature triggers by just cloning my Chancellor with a Ghostly Flicker in my yard is the last thing I want to see for my deck, although it makes a good conversation piece for the next few sessions lol.
In the games I played, Talent of the Telepath is a true sleeper in the deck. It is so good that I actually won a game with it by looping it multiple times over the course of the game. Stuff which I get to cast are cards like cyclonic rift (too bad can't overload), wash out, and land ramps. Hitting a Tooth and Nail will be fun as the 2 creatures that are coming out are the Bloodwater + Melek pair for more Talent of the Telepath casting. Copying it 5x for a total of 6x Talent off Melek, Increasing vengeance shaves 42 cards off opponent's library and netting up to 12 free instant/sorcery casts out of those 42 cards.
So yep, the main focus of the deck is to win off using cards from opponents' decks or try to combo off on my own (which is highly unlikely since they aren't really that easy to assemble) while maintaining a spellslinger shell. Assembling Mikaeus + Triskelion (from opponent's deck) using Bribery + Acquire is far easier in this deck imo than running them in the deck since we can Bribery x2 (with Kess's ability)
WUBRG Reaper King - Elf Tribal WUBRG | Tribal Fun
WRG Gishath, Sun's Avatar - Dinosaur Tribal WRG | Rawr!!!
WUG Derevi, Empyrial Tactician - Enchantress Tactics WUG | Enchantments Focused
GBG The Gitrog Monster - Land Shenanigans GBG | Lands/Mill Focused
WBW Kambal, Consul of Life Allocation Matters WBW | Life Gain/Loss focused
UBR Kess, Dissident Mage of the Lotus UBR | Spellslinger
BGB Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons - Counters & Tokens BGB | -1/-1 counters focused
Decklist changes: 1/9/2017
-1 Commander's Sphere
+1 Rakdos Signet
Commander sphere isn't faring that well in the deck. A darksteel ingot might be better imo though, since I need color mana which isn't in Grixis colors when I need to cast spells / activate abilities using opponent's cards. Put as Rakdos signet first to see if the lower mana cost is good enough.
-1 Read the Runes
+1 Fact or Fiction
Suggested by @Honor Basquiat. Fact or Fiction is much better then read the runes since the deck isn't really a full reanimator deck. Read the Runes is better if I'm pitching creatures that I would like to reanimate into my yard.
-1 Sphinx-Bone Wand
+1 Capital Punishment
Sphinx-Bone Wand is really lackluster in my games. Hardly get to use it at all. Not once I feel like tutoring for it and I always wish that it is another card when I draw it. Capital Punishment is under testing now, hopefully it is a good addition to the deck.
-1 Syphon Flesh
+1 Dark Intimations
Replaced Syphon Flesh with a more functional spell. Same casting cost except need more colored mana. Dark Intimations is good due to the fact it cantrips and allows me to recur my 2 planeswalkers.
-1 Wheel of Fortune
+1 Rakdos Charm
Wheel isn't working in this deck. Most of the time it feels like a dud as I don't want to give opponents cards. Replaced with a good catch-all charm, fabulous against reanimators, creature swarm and artifact combo decks.
WUBRG Reaper King - Elf Tribal WUBRG | Tribal Fun
WRG Gishath, Sun's Avatar - Dinosaur Tribal WRG | Rawr!!!
WUG Derevi, Empyrial Tactician - Enchantress Tactics WUG | Enchantments Focused
GBG The Gitrog Monster - Land Shenanigans GBG | Lands/Mill Focused
WBW Kambal, Consul of Life Allocation Matters WBW | Life Gain/Loss focused
UBR Kess, Dissident Mage of the Lotus UBR | Spellslinger
BGB Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons - Counters & Tokens BGB | -1/-1 counters focused
One of the highlights in the games yesterday is getting to cast Torment of Hailfire with X=10, coupled with Cooperate and Dualcaster Mage on turn 9 with just UBBRR, with the rest of the colorless mana provided by Clue tokens and Inspiring Statuary. The enchantment and artifact will be a mainstay in this deck.
Shaman's Trance is pulling good weight too. Being able to cast swords to plowshares is really valuable. Had a chance to do the Trance + YawgWill combo, fantastic as there is a high tide in one of the opponent's graveyard, getting my islands to tap for UUUUU and being able to cyclonic rift (non overload version) for 4x in that turn.
WUBRG Reaper King - Elf Tribal WUBRG | Tribal Fun
WRG Gishath, Sun's Avatar - Dinosaur Tribal WRG | Rawr!!!
WUG Derevi, Empyrial Tactician - Enchantress Tactics WUG | Enchantments Focused
GBG The Gitrog Monster - Land Shenanigans GBG | Lands/Mill Focused
WBW Kambal, Consul of Life Allocation Matters WBW | Life Gain/Loss focused
UBR Kess, Dissident Mage of the Lotus UBR | Spellslinger
BGB Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons - Counters & Tokens BGB | -1/-1 counters focused
Otherwise, it is pretty sweet to see that combo work out. I personally don't run it in any decks but it always looked like something fun to pull off once or twice.
WUBRG Reaper King - Elf Tribal WUBRG | Tribal Fun
WRG Gishath, Sun's Avatar - Dinosaur Tribal WRG | Rawr!!!
WUG Derevi, Empyrial Tactician - Enchantress Tactics WUG | Enchantments Focused
GBG The Gitrog Monster - Land Shenanigans GBG | Lands/Mill Focused
WBW Kambal, Consul of Life Allocation Matters WBW | Life Gain/Loss focused
UBR Kess, Dissident Mage of the Lotus UBR | Spellslinger
BGB Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons - Counters & Tokens BGB | -1/-1 counters focused
Reins of Power - Awesome card. Won a game with it when my friend overcommit with his creatures and creature tokens. 4cc instant speed for a mini-insurrection is a really powerful ability to have. Love it, a mainstay for this deck.
----------------------
Cards on verge of being on the chopping board.
Future Sight - Didn't get to play it much, most of the time when I drew into it I already have the cards I need to either resolve the situation or have a winning haymaker combo (Torment of Hailfire + Increasing Vengence). Need to monitor more before I decide.
WUBRG Reaper King - Elf Tribal WUBRG | Tribal Fun
WRG Gishath, Sun's Avatar - Dinosaur Tribal WRG | Rawr!!!
WUG Derevi, Empyrial Tactician - Enchantress Tactics WUG | Enchantments Focused
GBG The Gitrog Monster - Land Shenanigans GBG | Lands/Mill Focused
WBW Kambal, Consul of Life Allocation Matters WBW | Life Gain/Loss focused
UBR Kess, Dissident Mage of the Lotus UBR | Spellslinger
BGB Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons - Counters & Tokens BGB | -1/-1 counters focused
Takes deck dedication to run Future Sight. It's definitely not a good-stuff type card that slots in to any deck (well, except for Simic decks).
If you don't run the U cantrip suite, then it's probably not worth it to run Future Sight.
WUBRG Reaper King - Elf Tribal WUBRG | Tribal Fun
WRG Gishath, Sun's Avatar - Dinosaur Tribal WRG | Rawr!!!
WUG Derevi, Empyrial Tactician - Enchantress Tactics WUG | Enchantments Focused
GBG The Gitrog Monster - Land Shenanigans GBG | Lands/Mill Focused
WBW Kambal, Consul of Life Allocation Matters WBW | Life Gain/Loss focused
UBR Kess, Dissident Mage of the Lotus UBR | Spellslinger
BGB Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons - Counters & Tokens BGB | -1/-1 counters focused
It just happens the running those cards is a good tactic for lowering the CMC of your deck.
With Ixalan's previews out, I'm particularly excited about the cards Primal Amulet and Hostage Taker. What cards should I replace for these 2?
WUBRG Reaper King - Elf Tribal WUBRG | Tribal Fun
WRG Gishath, Sun's Avatar - Dinosaur Tribal WRG | Rawr!!!
WUG Derevi, Empyrial Tactician - Enchantress Tactics WUG | Enchantments Focused
GBG The Gitrog Monster - Land Shenanigans GBG | Lands/Mill Focused
WBW Kambal, Consul of Life Allocation Matters WBW | Life Gain/Loss focused
UBR Kess, Dissident Mage of the Lotus UBR | Spellslinger
BGB Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons - Counters & Tokens BGB | -1/-1 counters focused
One thing which I noted from the card is it is not really easy to flip it at all if the deck doesn't run some kind of loot effects (draw and discard). In the game I had it is really hard to flip it until I cast Ancient Excavation on upkeep during turn 4 before Azcanta's trigger resolves. In early stage (turns 1-4) of the game, most of the time our graveyard will be quite empty due to the number of cards we pack, like casting mana rocks on turns 1-3, and a couple of fetches/loot effects. At mid to end part of the game the card doesn't really do anything much until a full turn later, which is kind of slow unless the Kess deck runs an extra turn package to hasten the flip effect.
The Impulse part of the card works pretty in-line with some of the cards in the deck, and is a pretty good addition especially to get cards into the hand immediately after Mystical Tutor/Vampiric Tutor and others.
Need to test this more before saying whether I'll keep it.
Speaking of lands, Shivan Gorge seems like a good card to consider. It enables a flicker combo win without having access to Bogardan Hellkite.
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@Juristhalion As Foretold doesn't work really well for my decklist as it doesn't have enough 1-2 cc cards to capitalize on the enchantment.
WUBRG Reaper King - Elf Tribal WUBRG | Tribal Fun
WRG Gishath, Sun's Avatar - Dinosaur Tribal WRG | Rawr!!!
WUG Derevi, Empyrial Tactician - Enchantress Tactics WUG | Enchantments Focused
GBG The Gitrog Monster - Land Shenanigans GBG | Lands/Mill Focused
WBW Kambal, Consul of Life Allocation Matters WBW | Life Gain/Loss focused
UBR Kess, Dissident Mage of the Lotus UBR | Spellslinger
BGB Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons - Counters & Tokens BGB | -1/-1 counters focused
I like your Inspiring Statuary / Trail of Evidence synergy, it's something I've always wanted to do. An obvious shoe-in to this strategy is Storm the Vault - it's not amazing, but it's not dead, since Kess being a filer can often net you a Lotus Petal. However flipping it can be absolutely backbreaking for your opponents, especially if you run cards like Torment of Hailfire which you'd mentioned.
I'll also second earlier recommendations about Primal Amulet. Doubling spells can be very strong, especially if you can double a second time when you cast it from your graveyard.
I will mention that I think looting is very good with this commander. There are very good cards in your colors that enable it, like Jace, Vryn's Prodigy, Jaya Ballard, Faithless Looting, Chandra, Flamecaller, Fact or Fiction as mentioned, and others.
There are also some very good cards that go well with your strategy and help you become more consistent, like River Kelpie, Secrets of the Dead, Burning Vengeance.
Those are my two cents, curious to see where else this will go.