Well, we’ve seen the Pro Tour, and a massive GP down in Richmond with one major thing in common. Both of these premier events were Modern in their format, and that’s super cool. We all spend so much time and energy focused on playing Standard that we often forget how interesting Modern can be…until it’s Modern season and then it gets really fun. So many cool decks, so many divergent lines of play, and talk about cards long thought forgotten…it’s a fun time of year.
However, what becomes abundantly clear to many people is that playing Modern just isn’t feasible because the cards are so extremely expensive. Tarmogoyfs go for close to $150 a card! Fetch lands can run set you back $200 for a play set! Not to mention all the other ridiculous creatures, spells, and other cards you would like to play with. Playing Modern appears to be a format designed to crush your wallet and is unattainable for most.
I, however, disagree with the premise that playing Modern is unattainable. It doesn’t have to be super expensive. What? You ask…surely you’re nuts. No, I’m not. You can very reasonably play Modern and at a modest price investment, but it will take a little creativity in order to make it happen. Let me highlight how you too can play Modern on a very modest budget. Now, let’s make this clear, you will not be duplicating winning Tier 1 decks, but you can, with a little ingenuity brew your own deck that can play Modern and not look out of place.
Let’s start with the Mana base. This is usually the most expensive part of any deck, but it doesn’t have to be. Many Modern decks play Fetchlands like Arid Mesa or Scalding Tarn or Mirrodin fast lands like Razorverge Thicket or Seachrome Coast as their preferred lands, but the Fetchlands in particular, are super expensive. The Mirrodin fast lands are less expensive, but picking up full playsets can be tricky. However, as I have outlined in a previous article you can play Zendikar life gain lands such as Graypelt Refuge or Kazandu Refuge and they cost you a mere $0.50 a card on Three Kings Loot, making them a viable option and really keeping the cost of the cards down. For Fetch lands, there really isn’t an equivalent land, but Evolving Wilds, at $0.50 a card on Three Kings Loot, is a super inexpensive way to fetch the lands you need without having to go for much pricier Fetch lands. There are other options but these are the least expensive options I’ve found, but there are lots of choices to make. So, now you have access to most of the mana you will need to cast your spells, but what to cast? Let’s take a look.
There are a whole range of creatures that have just been overlooked to the point that they have been forgotten. One of these is Sphinx of Magosi from Rise of the Eldrazi. So often people think of just playing the three Eldrazi that they often forget all the other interesting creatures available and the Sphinx is no exception. Sure, he’s 6 mana and hard to cast, but at the top of a curve in a deck you get a massive 6/6 flier. However, what really sells me is that for 2 colourless and a blue the Sphinx gets a +1/+1 counter and draws you a card. That is a pretty terrific ability that nets you card advantage and a huge body. The best part is the Sphinx is a mere $0.50 a card at Three Kings Loot (although availability may be an issue). If you can pick a couple of these guys up you have the top end of your curve and a devastating finisher to pound your opponents with. In the right control deck premised on seeing the Long Game, it could be that finisher you are looking for to finish the game off.
Another option is Seht’s Tiger from Future Sight. Future Sight is known as the set that gave us Tarmogoyf, but what about the tiger? For 4 mana (3 colourless and a white) you get a 3/3 with Flash. That alone is pretty terrific because it can be splashed with just the 1 white mana in order to cast it, it makes a mess of combat math as a last minute blocker, and gives you a sizeable body to use afterwards. However, even better is the extra ability that gives the player (you in other words) protection from target colour of your choice. So, let your opponent crash through, cast Seht’s Tiger and take out one of his better creatures, give yourself protection from all or some of the rest of the damage, and then counter attack The quasi fog effect can be hugely back breaking and seriously swing the game in your direction as it puts you in the driver’s seat. Largely an overlooked card, Seht’s Tiger could easily slide into a modestly priced Modern deck seeing as they too are only $0.50 a card on Three Kings Loot.
Going on down the line, if you like to play Mono green ramping strategies why not try out Kazandu Tuskcaller. This little 2 mana creature (1 colourless and 1 green) is one of the several “level up” creatures and requires an investment of mana in order to make this guy work. However, once you have him up and going he can spew out 3/3 elephant tokens like they are going out of style. Have him reach his ultimate level and he will spit out 2 3/3 elephants a turn. You could very easily imagine a board state where this guy has gone unchecked because he appears to be non threatening, but he can quickly flood the board with hefty 3/3 tokens that open the door for you to stampede on through on your way to a win. His real appeal is that he too is mere $0.50 a card on Three Kings Loot, so in the right deck he could be an inexpensive addition that may take your opponents by surprise.
In the spirit of finding something for all the colours, for Red there are a number of good options. One option is Conquering Manticore that gives you a 5/5 flier for 6. This alone is very powerful and could be a terrific creature at the top of a curve. However, the real treat is the Threaten ability that comes with the Manticore as it enters play. So, you steal their best creature for the turn, attack with it, and still have a 5/5 flier! That’s pretty terrific. This little gem from Rise of the Eldrazi is overlooked and a deal at $0.50 a card. If the Manticore isn’t your style, try Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs. This 3/3 Legendary Ogre from Worldwake is almost instant value. The moment your opponent attacks you get 3/3 Ogre tokens for each attacking creature unless they are prepared to spend 3 colourless mana for each token . So, this guy can stay home, play a little defence while you go straight to the dome, and have him produce an army of defenders to plug up the ground. Again, low financial investment and potential big reward in the right deck make both of these cards things that players looking to keep their cost down should be prepared to entertain.
For Black I often go the route of pairing it with another colour instead of running a true mono black deck. One of my favorite combinations is B/W because of some of the cool synergies. One card that has always made me laugh is Ravenous Demon//Archdemon of Greed from Dark Ascension. This is perfect in a B/W humans deck that could be inexpensively put together and provide hours of entertainment. Ravenous demon is a very serviceable 4/4 for 5 mana, but sacrifice a human to it and POOF! Voila…you have a 9/9 flying, trampling demon. Sure, you need to pay upkeep to the silly monster or it caves YOUR face in, but with this on the battlefield you can bet THEY are on a real short clock as well. As is the theme today, the cost to pick up a couple of these guys for a spicy little Modern deck is quite low and it gives you some real punch to close out a game.
Now, I get grief from my friends for finding some of these obscure creatures and trying to craft decks around them. They say “They are too expensive to cast! You’ll never get there!”. My response is often this: Every deck needs a lynchpin. Every deck needs some key component to allow you to finish of your game. For some people combos are the way to get there. For others it is a bomb that people never saw coming. You can design a deck, in most cases, that will give you a chance to cast these bombs. You don’t want to exclusively be running these guys because you will be in trouble, but having some of these guys as options in a deck could give you an unexpected edge and the relative financial investment is quite low. This mean that even I can get in to Modern and enjoy the opportunity to play and interact with some of the most powerful cards and decks in the format and really and truly not be out of place.
Thanks very much guys, and as always, if you have other hidden gems or treats that you like to use when you play, I’m always keen to hear about what other people are playing.
Until next time, keep it fun, keep it safe…keep it casual.
Bruce Gray
I have never been a guy to quibble much over format. I’ve mostly just played whatever I had in whatever deck I felt like building. This can yield some very interesting and fun deck ideas, but it is really only practical if you play with your friends at the kitchen table. However, sometimes, as an exercise to challenge yourself, it is interesting to limit your deck building options and force yourself to do as much (or perhaps more) with less.
To this end, my friends and I are meeting for our monthly game. We get together once a month and it is a collection of people from all the stages of my life. Some of the players are guys I played with as a teenager, others are friends that I have made through playing Magic, while others are spouses or acquaintances I have made elsewhere. It is a very eclectic group with some of them having all the top tier 1 competitive decks. Others are very much interested in brewing with a small number of cards in order to keep the relative cost down. This can result in some match-ups that just aren’t super fun as one guy plays a Legacy “Show and Tell” deck, while the other guy plays a random smattering of cards from the most recent set.
To level the playing field a bit and to make the evening a little different I challenged my friends to build Standard Pauper decks for this month. In case you aren’t overly familiar, Pauper is a format that only uses common cards. By limiting the cards even further by only allowing cards that would be Standard legal (Return to Ravnica and Theros blocks) we have limited the pool of options available and evened out the power level of the cards that can be played.
This is a relatively new experience for me as I have never consciously made a Pauper deck. Sure, I have used common cards and tried to limit my choices, but I have never been one to purposefully limit my card choices so dramatically. Herein lies the challenge: build a deck that I feel can win without leaning on the cards that I come to rely on. My friends all jumped at the suggestion and so it is ON! This weekend we will battle with Pauper!
The first dilemma when trying to build any winning deck is anticipating what you will be playing against. If I were going to be playing at a Stadard event at a local game shop I would come prepared to play against all the top decks like Mono-Black, Mono-Blue, and G/R Monsters. However, we have no meta…this is one off…and so I need to instead rely on my understanding of my opponents and what some of their tendencies are.
Some of the players will be wild cards. They are relatively inexperienced players (even compared to me) and are likely to bring decks packed with creatures and just looking to turn sideways and smash. This likely means inexpensive white, green, and red creatures and ramping into some sort of fatty that will be hard to deal with. With those decks in mind, I will need to ensure I have access to enough removal to slow them down and give myself a chance to get into the game.
My friend David likes mill decks. He likes to play B/U and will undoubtedly slide in some cards that are designed to force me to grind through my library. He will also likely play hand destruction, so I need to come prepared for that. If his mill cards are creatures, then I should be okay because my removal should be able to handle them too, so that isn’t a concern for me overly. The bigger issue is seeing enchantments or artifacts that force the milling of my deck. So, some enchantment destruction needs to be considered in order to close down this angle to some degree. Hand destruction is tougher to deal with because I will need countermagic, but Duress on turn 1 totally ruins the hope of any counter spells, so I may hedge my bets and hope David goes for creatures and not hand destruction.
Sam is a terrific player but invariably will be running a U/x deck with a bunch of counter magic. Sam is the quintessential control player and I expect nothing different. This is always a troubling matchup and Sam is good at it. So, if I can’t beat the control match up…I may have to join it. This is the matchup that I need to be most interested in performing well, so time to go to the old box of stuff and see what I can put together.
I start off with cards from the most recent set, Born of the Gods, and see what I can find. Divine Verdict is a fine reprint of a reasonable removal spell. Most creatures need to attack, and this gets rid of them and is a solid card. Stratus Walk is another strong card. It gives something flying, draws me a card, and is reasonably costed. The last addition is a little steep in terms of cost, but potentially a bomb. Sphinx’s Disciple makes use of the Inspired ability, so for 5 mana (3 colourless and 2 blue) I get a 2/2 flier, but whenever it untaps I draw a card. If I can protect this guy, it could be a real card draw engine. Card advantage in this sort of game will be key and this could be just the ticket.
Next, I look at some options in Theros. Prescient Chimera is one place to start that could be a pretty good bomb. For 5 mana (3 colourless and 2 blue) I get a 3/4 flier that let’s me Scry 1 every time I cast an Instant or Sorcery. As a 5 drop at the top of my curve this is pretty strong creature that allows me to draw into better cards as the late game continues. It also works pretty well with Sphinx’s Disciple to set up the Inspired trigger to ensure that the extra card is more valuable to me. Next I need to look at some enchantments and conclude that Chosen by Heliod is a solid, inexpensive Aura that is useful and pairs really nicely to help protect Sphinx’s Disciple. Chosen By Heliod is also a very dynamic card with Wingsteed Rider to trigger the Heroic trigger. All in all, some good fodder for a viable Pauper deck.
The last additions to the deck are from Return to Ravnica block and include Lyev Decree. Lyev Decree is very interesting because it allows me to tempo my opponents out by rendering their creatures unable to block. It is cheap and efficient and allows me to power through some extra damage. Shielded passage is another interesting little twist that protects cards, either Sphinx’s Disciple, or enacts the Heroic trigger on Wingsteed Rider, and triggers the Scry on Prescient Chimera. All three are very relevant abilities in this deck making Shielded Passage a very interesting card and neat combat trick. The last creature is Keening Apparition which builds in a little enchantment destruction and a very reasonable 2/2 body. This is in essence a “Bear” with a bonus and raises its appeal considerably.
Here’s the Decklist
U/W Tempo – Standard Pauper
In building this deck I looked at a variety of things and considered what pieces went together. I started with my curve looking to curve out into my powerful creatures and not miss out on any of the spots if I could help it. There is no Turn 1 play, which is unfortunate, but I struggled to fit a solid 1 drop in this deck and opted to pass on it. Turn 2 I can play Concordia Pegasus or Keening Apparition, at 3 there is Wingsteed Rider and Wavecrash Triton. I almost stumbled at 4, but I noticed Runewing and immediately saw that it was a viable option with an upside. I curve out at 5 with Prescient Chimera and Sphinx’s Disciple giving yet more flying threats.
The Spells really serve three purposes. My first play is to try and straight up remove my opponent’s creatures from the battlefield with Divine Verdict or Last Breath. If that doesn’t work I can use Lyev Decree to slow them down and punch my own creatures through their defences. All the other spells are there to protect my creatures and to trigger Heroic abilities on my Wingsteed Rider or Wavecrash Triton, which can also serve the dual role of adding to the tempoing out of my opponent by tapping their creatures.
Overall, I think the deck looks pretty solid and like it may have a good showing this weekend when I sit down for my Casual Encounter with my pals. If you have any suggestions, let me know as I would love to hear what you guys think. I’ll also give you an update on how it fares and what adjustments I intend to make down the line. I have really enjoyed this process and think that this may be something I continue to bring forward to my Casual Encounters to keep them fun and different.
Until next time keep it fun, keep it safe…and keep it Casual.
Bruce Gray
The opening strategy is focused on your mana dorks to come and ramp to the fatties. We find full sets of Elvish Mystic, Sylvan Caryatid and Courser of Kruphix all of which can speed you plan up by several turns. Also, removal aimed at them means less removal to deal with the big boys. As far as those ‘big boys’ are concerned there is Polukranos, World Eater and Stormbreath Dragon who’s ability to become Monstrous will often spell certain doom for your opponents well before they’re ready to deal with them. Then there are a few support creatures with Reaper of the Wilds with a Scry ability helpful when the opponent is removing your creatures or chumping with his, Ghor-Clan Rampager which can turn a game saving chump block into a game ending surprise, Scavenging Ooze with incidental lifegain and graveyard hate, and Xenagos, God of Revels pushing the beatdown plan into high gear. Speaking of Xenagos we find the same standard package of Planeswalkers as in Gruul with Domri Rade and Xenagos, the Reveler which both are invaluable in a creature heavy deck both accelerating and digging for them while also working hard to control the battlefield. The addition of Black is what allows an interesting one of Vraska, the Unseen which can spell certain doom if her assassins are able to infiltrate through the enemies defenses but will most often be used as removal of various types of threats. And speaking of removal the deck is completed with a minor removal suite which consists of a pair of Dreadbore and pair of Mizzium Mortars but is also somewhat supplemented by the Monstrous ability.
Oh burn…ever since the printing of Lightning Bolt there have been Red mages looking to blast their spells straight to the dome. Each block there is always a Mono-Red or R/x deck that is straightforward, efficient and appeals to highly aggressive players. This deck is just one like that exactly.
While this deck is Boros by strict definition Red is the primary color with White a splash to add a few excellent cards. The creature package is is set with a tight curve building from Ash Zealot which can be a highly effective beater and the First Strike coupled with burn allows you some utility. Boros Reckoner has always been interestingly unique with his ability often making combat math complicated enough to hold off enemy attacks from even happening. Then with seventeen burn spells in the deck and additional help from Chandra her bird Chandra’s Phoenix is able to attack with impunity knowing that getting it to rise from the grave back to your hand is an almost guarantee. There is also a pair of Stormbreath Dragon which help the deck just go straight over the top when the games start to run long and can also be a huge surprise you’re dead. Because of the primarily Red base to the deck it can squeeze Mutavault into the manabase easily to get additional ground pounders. Then we find Chandra, Pyromaster who is the only source of card advantage in the deck and if you can ultimate it is doubtless that she’s going to hit the paydirt on that roll of the dice, and incidentally can prevent a big blocker from thwarting your attack while building loyalty. For straight removal we have Standards newest best impression of a Swords to Plowshares in Chained to the Rocks which should not have issue with the enchant Mountain clause given 15 copies in the deck. The rest of the deck consists of a plethora of burn spells which can double as either removal or damage right to the dome. We find a mix of Lightning Strike and Searing Blood as simple burn for the deck while the others carry some utility with them. Magma Jet helps to filter through your deck which is a key ability for this style of deck as draw isn’t one of these colors strengths. Warleader’s Helix is a beast of removal with four damage it’s able to get into those bigger creatures and coupled with First Strike creatures can surprise a chump block into the removal of a huge creature. And finally the ‘Boros’ deck would not be complete without the utility from Boros Charm which can either be that knockout punch taking down four points of life, can save your army from sweepers or is able to turn one of your creatures into a formidable fighting machine to Double Strike your opponent to the death.
Chromanticore. My muse. How intriguing you are, oh Chromanticore, all shiny and mutlicoloured with all those abilities…and borderline unplayable…ever. With your ridicoulous casting cost and hilarious bestow ability you are like the forbidden fruit, that apple that is dangling from the tree, and is so obviously a trap…but yet, I find myself strangely drawn to you, oh Chromaticore. I want to brew up a deck…but not just any deck…a Rainbow Chromanticore deck! Yes! Yes! It will be Legend- wait for it- ary!
Ok, so I’m mixing up some of my metaphors, but you get the point. Chromanticore is out there and it gives a new meaning to difficult to cast, but hilarious to play. Legend would have you believe that the Manticore were beasts that combined a lion with some other animal (usually a bird of some sort, but I have heard other animals suggested as well) and were dangerous and ferocious beasts. I feel like Born of the Gods has one upped this legend and turned the Manticore into something more. It’s not only a dangerous beast (if you can land it on the table), but it is for some the pinnacle of ridiculous casual cards that have recently been printed. Sure, I can think of a few more…but this ranks right up there as far as cards that I want to cast in “fantasy ChristmanLand”.
Let’s take a look at Chromaticore and establish exactly why it is so difficult to play and why you might even want to consider it. For 5 mana you a get 4/4 flying first strike, trample, life link vigilance enchantment creature manticore that can be bestowed for 7 mana. These are all very powerful abilities with a very solid body and the ability to bestow it makes very appealing because you can avoid getting 2 for oned when the creature that it is enchanting is destroyed. It is a bomb and if bestowed makes your”bear” into a 6/6 behemoth. All in all, a very cool card that has some potential. However, the drawback is that it takes 1 mana of each colour (1 green, 1 blue, 1 white, 1 black, and 1 red) to cast it. This makes it very difficult to cast, and even harder to Bestow because it costs an additional 2 colourless, but the same 5 colours. That’s very difficult to achieve because few players are prepared to play all 5 colours in a deck. The mana base would be just too unreliable. So, it would appear as if Chromanticore is destined live in trade binders across the Magic playing community, in search of a home.
However, while the Manticore is a creature of legend, so is the deck that is able to successfully cast and play mythical “Shiny Rainbow flying lion”. However, I think that the pieces exist to put together a deck to play Chromanticore and have its abilities go crazy on the battlefield. Let’s see if we can put it all together.
The first issue becomes how to manufacture enough mana fixing in order to even roll out your Chromanticore. This is tough because you could play lands of all 5 basic colours, but the chances of you drawing the colours you need in succession is low to almost non-existent. So, we need to narrow down what colours we are playing and then find a way to splash for the missing colour or colours. For this exercise my default colour combination would be Bant colours (Green, White, Blue) and the requisite lands.
So, our land base will be a full playsets of Hallowed Fountains, Breeding Pool, and Temple Garden and then 3 each of Temple of Mystery, Temple of Plenty and Temple of Enlightenment. That makes up 21 land of the 25 lands in the deck and for the remainder I will suggest running a pair of swamps and a pair of mountains as basics. So, we largely have the mana base. It may need some adjustments, but that can be done without much in the way of issues.
Next, how do we get access to the full rainbow of lands? The first option is Traveler’s Amulet. A one costed artifact that allows you to sacrifice to fetch out a basic land and put it in your hand. This is a great way to take care of the mana fixing you need and access the full spectrum of lands you need. Another option is to run Lay of the Land which allows you to search your land for another basic land, once again letting you dig up the swamp or mountain you need. You could opt for Sylvan Caryatid as a solid 0/3 defender that taps for mana of any colour as a way to promote fixing your issues with the varying colours. The final way to fix for mana is Springleaf drum that allows you to tap a creature in order to produce a mana of any colour, giving you access to colours of mana you wouldn’t otherwise be able to access. So, with these options available to you, fixing yourself for the mana to cast your Chromanticore should be achievable.
Next, we need to look at some options available to support your Chromanticore and exploit some of other mechanics available to you. The one that has intrigued me since I read about it is the Inspired mechanic which pairs perfectly with the Springleaf drum as an inexpensive way to tap your creature without combat. I have been eyeing up one card in particular, Oreskos Sun Guide, as being a very interesting Inspired creature and one that could be a good fit in a Bant Chromanticore deck. So, tap your Sun Guide for mana with your Springleaf drum and then when it untaps you will gaining the 2 life points, which is a fair trade off and could be really useful. Another strong addition would be Courser of Kruphix which could help you to grind out some extra card advantage and gain you some life as you put together the pieces to drop Chromanticore on the table. Another interesting choice is Omenspeaker that will allow you to Scry 2 when it enters play in order to improve your card selection and help you to shape your hand. It also becomes a strong blocker and can tap easily for another land with your Springleaf Drum. The final piece is the need for an absolute bomb so that when you Bestow Chromanticore that you have something truly devastating that turn the heat way up. A couple of premium choices would be Brimaz, or Archangel of Thune, but I have had my eyes on another creature from the Core Set. Seraph of the sword fits into the curve as a 4 drop that is a 3/3 flying angel for 3 colourless and 1 white. The reason this one is interesting is because combat damage is reduced to 0 with the Seraph, meaning your angel survives all sorts of combat shenanigans. Yes, it still dies to targeted removal or a sweeper, but it is a little more robust than some of the others. Besides, we all have 3 or 4 sitting in a box from the summer that we just aren’t playing, and now would be an awesome time.
So, this is what this deck starts to look like:
Bant Chromanticore
So, there’s our 60 card deck. It obviously has a hard time dealing with heavy creature strategies and so in the remaining 3 card slots I slid in some supreme verdicts. Yes, that wipes my board clean, but if the alternative having my face smashed, I’ll clear the board. There are a number of holes and so the next challenge will be to put together a 15 card sideboard in order to give you a little flexibility. I am totally open to suggestions on what to include and hope to hear from many of you for creative ideas that will help take this funny deck into a higher stratosphere of ridiculous.
Now, is this intended to take out top tier 1 competitive standard decks? Not a chance. This is fun brew to try out at the kitchen table and play with your buds. Everyone will get a good laugh if you can get the Chromanticore out of your hand and on to the table, and you never know, it may even win you game. However, what this deck does show is that even outlandish cards such as Chromanticore can find a deck to be played in, if given a little time and a little creative application of some of the cards available. The next task will be to put all the pieces together and take it for a test drive and see how it does. Regardless of the outcome, I’m sure it will bring a smile to my face (and likely that of my opposition as well).
So, until next time keep it fun, keep it safe…keep it casual.
Bruce Gray
A huge part of the functioning of this deck comes from that newly legal enchantment which provides every turn a new 1/1 Flying Faerie with which to either continue a beatdown strategy or defend your life total, which can be very important as it slowly bleeds you one life each turn. The other Fae in the deck are not just aggressive creatures but are efficiently equipped with additional abilities and all are able to appear at will with Flash. Starting with a look at the permission package we have Spellstutter Sprite which with so many Faeries around to support it will more often then not be able to counter any spell threatening you. It is complimented by Mana Leak, Spell Snare and Cryptic Command to ensure dominance over the opponent. Next we look at the disruption which is rooted in the legendary Vendilion Clique which can appear out of nowhere to remove a key piece of action from their hand and then move into a beatdown role. There is also a mix of Inquisition of Kozilek and Thoughtseize which coming out turn one plays to the harsh opening into Bitterblossom turn two which can often spell doom for the opponent. Our last true Faerie is Mistbind Clique which is used as a virtual Time Walk by flashing out on the upkeep of your opponent to tap down his lands for that turn. The Champion ability can also be your savior in a long game where Bitterblossom, which is coincidentally also a Faerie, is taking down your life too low and you’re able to make it disappear for as long as Mistbind is around. To round out the creatures there is also a pair of Snapcaster Mage which help take full advantage of the decks instants and sorceries, and also manlands in the form of the evasive Creeping Tar Pit and Mutavault which when active is also a Faerie to help either Spellstutter or Mistbind if necessary. A bit of spot removal is found in the form of Tragic Slip and Go for the Throat to contain the most important of threats. Finally there is the powerful Sword of Feast and Famine which will allow you to play spells or activate manlands before combat and then untap your lands to keep up mana to counter the enemies plans as well as forcing incidental discard.
While the main combo finish involves enchanting an Exarch with a Twin there is a redundancy package which includes Restoration Angel that can interact with Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker as a secondary plan to create infinite token creatures. One way the White splash helps in this deck comes from Wall of Omens which is part of the decks draw engine and especially abusive if you Twin in, but more importantly in a new meta which is partially defined by recently unbanned Wild Nacatl a four toughness two drop can be the sole difference between holding off a ruthless assault and holding on to combo the win. Additional draw comes from format staple Serum Visions with its Scry ability to not only draw valuable cards but also filter unneeded cards away and a one of Desolate Lighthouse allows you to dig through the deck to find answers or missing combo pieces. For removal with this deck having access to both Red and White we find the requisite format all-stars Lightning Bolt and Path to Exile both efficient and effective for their purpose. There is also Swan Song as a light permission suite to handle at an very cheap cost many of the problems that the deck might face and the token you give usually not problematic, with the removal able to handle most other problems. A full set of Snapcaster Mage are able to rebuy all of your used instants and sorceries to effectively double the amount of draw, removal and counters in your deck. As an alternate beatdown plan the deck sports a full set of Celestial Colonnade to bring the ‘death from above’ should the game stall into a draw out affair. Finally a one of Spellskite in the maindeck is there as a hedge preboard in the mirror and also a way to draw removal away from your combo creatures so you can go off unhindered when you’re ready for the kill.
