MTG Salvation

Pretty straightforward control deck, dedicated to getting value out of isperia with a good selection of flyers.


Main things learned:

Having hatebirds in the deck is a little awkward because usually I'm trying to do something proactive, so they aren't generally in my hand or play when I need them.

100 card singleton with loads of nonbasics makes it really hard to guess what's in someone's hand, but I was able to have 100% guesses off enemy buyback and karoo lands. After that I had wandering eye up.

Actually getting through with a 3/6 flyer was pretty far from guaranteed. At one point I was basically totally boxed out, but was able to get an angle with removal. Still, a bummer to be forced to use it against a lower-priority target.

Brisela is freakin' sweet.

I really like the idea of the deck. But instead of so many boardwipes that destroy wouldn't mass bouncing be better considering you want to know what opponents have in their hand in order to take advantage of Isperia's ability?

EDIT:
I also forgot to mention, along with bouncing, you can deny players from casting cards - thus making them stay in their hands as long as possible. Cards like Meddling Mage, Nevermore, and Voidstone Gargoyle. Oh, and Isperia can even tutor for Voidstone Gargoyle.

Oh! Here's some Super Secret Tech for you, as well: Arcane Adaptation + Didgeridoo. Play any creature tutored with Isperia at instant speed. You can also bypass your own Meddling Mage type effects since you're not casting the creatures with it. Though I do admit this combo is pretty janky.

Capsize would do wonders in this deck.

Those are solid points, a lot of my removal was set aside for other decks so I didn't go through it as thoroughly as I did for the flyers and other stuff that was uncontested. Bounce would make a lot of sense here, at least for some of my favorites like capsize and wipe away.

Voidstone gargoyle is super cute but it does have the downside that I'd probably want to use it to lock out a commander, which is likely sitting in the command zone instead of the hand (unless I bounce it, ofc). Also I just generally shy away from proactive answers - if I want to disable a commander, why not just use sower of temptation? Disables 99% of commanders just as effectively, dies to 99% of the same removal spells, but I get the benefit of the commander until it dies and I get to wait and see how much of a problem it's going to be before I have to react. Proactive answers are also very bad politically. I also think I'd have to really commit heavily to bounce effects before meddling mage-type effects were worth the payoff, which only really has an upside vs simple removal in that it lets me know enemy cards...which could just be attained by running telepathy or something instead.

So, bounce yes in moderation, meddling mage no.

True, I get what you mean. But politically speaking, mass removal in the form of destruction is also a way to make quick enemies. Bounce is just lost tempo and won’t attract as much ire.