MTG Salvation

You just need to discard it, so that means playing Izzet Charm. Or Thirst for Knowledge if you have the artifacts to support it.

The bigger question is, why are you playing two different combos in your deck? More combo cards means less cards that help you survive or draw into your combos.

well I was thinking that you can use gifts as a just general control card, then maybe have the unburial rites combo in the board to side in when people see the resto kiki combo, because you can have strong piles with snapcaster + 3 spells. Just throwing out the idea I was thinking of testing it on cockatrice some time if I do I'll be sure to post how I go.

Well, I am currently testing Grixis twinless-twin, and it works.
It's obviously not twin, but ut's good.
It has the advantage of catching people off guard, and with grixis colors, you have the option of tempoing your opponent out or forcing them to tap out and just combo for the win G1.
Also, Markwizard has started the primer Kiki transformer on deck creation with a transformational sideboard (see my sig), going control and basically blanking their "anti-combo" sideboard plan.

The way I looked at the deck is like a Tempo-grindy style of deck, always trying to gain card advanatage and trying to force tapouts from the opponent.
When that happens, we should be able to combo off.

With grixis you actually almost never went T3 exarch into T4 twin, it was more of a grindy game with remand, tempo and vendilion clique to clear the way for a safe exarch into Twin (now kiki).
I feel it has lost power, but it definetly is not dead, we just need to optimize it and think a bit outside of the box.

Lets bring life to modern again (hopefully more after the Eldrazi ban).

Quote from Hazzrd »

what about a U/W/R Kiki/Angel control deck that also runs the Gifts Ungiven Unburial rites combo?

So I give you angel and Kiki? Or Rites and Kiki?

Quote from Zulzanet »

Quote from Hazzrd »

what about a U/W/R Kiki/Angel control deck that also runs the Gifts Ungiven Unburial rites combo?

So I give you angel and Kiki? Or Rites and Kiki?

I assume you have to have one in your hand/in play and then Gifts for the other. Seems like a lot of work. I would think a Kiki Chord shell would just be better than trying to replicate Twin with Kiki. In my personal experience, Kiki is just bad in a UR shell unless it is a backup plan to like Geist beats or an otherwise creatureless Jeskai control shell.

Quote from cfusionpm »

I assume you have to have one in your hand/in play and then Gifts for the other. Seems like a lot of work. I would think a Kiki Chord shell would just be better than trying to replicate Twin with Kiki. In my personal experience, Kiki is just bad in a UR shell unless it is a backup plan to like Geist beats or an otherwise creatureless Jeskai control shell.

Actually in the jeskai shell, if you run several boardwipes and control cards, you can easily kiki with restoration angel or just angel beat.

its a bit of a turn off the way some people in here are just so full of themselves, accusing their peers of being "lazy", "not good at magic" and uncreative.

Please, get over yourselves. You can sell your idea without putting people down. You know who you are.


You think using kiki as a substitute is incredibly creative? Yes, its a creature, which means it can be chorded, is hit by more removal spells, as opposed to the twin which is an Aura, and we know how little enchantment hate there is in modern maindecks. The problem here is tapping out to play a 5 mana creature, as opposed to 4. the way modern curves out is that people typically want to play their stuff t3, but t4 onwards they tend to have mana up.

If you have played twin and kiki after the ban, you would know this, but OP has already come out and said he doesn't play either. Of course you wouldn't know the difference, you don't even play the deck!

All this being said, I brewed the grixis kiki deck because grixis still has solid control elements, and of all the variations that can stay alive until it hits 5 lands, this is probably one of em. I don't like auto-folding to tron's inevitability when I play grixis control, hence the combo. Its very different to try and paint kiki as an equal to twin- it just isn't. And anyone trying to sell it as such is deceiving others. And yes, its a lot worse when you don't play the deck yourself but want to criticize the deck's ex-pilots for not innovating. You're just assuming that because you don't see the deck around, it means nobody is trying it.

newsflash: you aren't seeing the deck in droves because they didn't survive the internal testing by twin players and their teammates.

I think at this point, trying Splinter Twin in legacy with actually powerful cards like Brainstorm, Ponder, Jace the Mind Sculptor, etc. is better than trying to force Twin with Kiki-Jiki.

I meant kiki in modern, not in legacy.

I mean, anything in legacy that's playing 4 brainstorm 4 ponder is somewhat viable.

Really cool deck idea I saw before the twin ban and even before blittetblossum unban

Blue red faeries. Kiki allows you to win with pestermite but even without the combo you can severely hinder the opponent with spellstutter kiki and mistbind kiki interaction. Also lets you main bloodmoon.

Although Kiki has many factors going against him: cost 5, triple red, is a creature, can be Bolted, can't copy legends, etc...he does have a few things going for him: can actually attack and block, can go infinite with cards like Restoration Angel, can be fetched by things like Chord of Calling or Primal Command, can be played on an empty field (with Kiki, you can play him down, and wait for the second half of the combo. Can't do that with Twin).

I'm not saying that Kiki decks are as good as Twin decks, but each has its pros and cons.