MTG Salvation

Yeah, some support !

Here is the list I use. I have also updated the primer to explain how it currently works.

I am testing online and in paper version (with friends who mainly play U tron, twin, burn and delver). I am looking forward to take this to a tournament but I have not had the chance so far.

Nice list and thanks for updating the primer! I will definitely be testing this in the next couple of days. Any deck that maindecks 4 Knight of the Reliquary I have to at least try out. Dromoka's Command and Naya Charm are just plain sexy in this deck lol.

Fun combination of today: knight of the reliquary + kiki-jiki. Wait for the end of turn of the opponent to copy the knight, then copy once more the knight during your turn. This made me swing with 3 knights for 18, of which 10 did go through (I had a kessig wolf run to trample over with one knight).

Also I would not hesitate to tutor a fetch in certain cases, just to keep KotR growing.

Nice! Never thought of that lol.

Thanks. I realised that this deck is full of interactions and not the easiest to pilot. So I added a tips section to the primer. I will complete it but here is what I have so far:

a. Utopia sprawl / arbor elf

When you have them in your starting hand, the preferred order is arbor elf, followed by utopia sprawl on turn 2. If you have two green sources, this will make no less than 4 mana turn 2. In some cases however, you could do the opposite but only if you have a strong feeling that arbor elf will be bolted and that you neede 3 mana to do something better on turn 2.

Also note that arbor elf interacts nicely with shockland, you can untap them and use them on your turn without paying life.

b. kiki-jiki, mirror breaker

Kiki interacts nicely with voice of resurgence and knight of the reliquary.

With voice of resurgence, this will provide you with a free voice token when you will sacrifice the copy of voice you have made.

Knight of the reliquary eases the hardcast of kiki-jiki (if you fetch fire-lit thicket) and protect him at the same time (in case the opponent throws a removal spell at kiki, copy knight in response and tap the copy to fetch sejiri steppe)

Also do not overlook the fact that:
(i) the copy only dies at the beginning of the next end of turn. This means that you can have up to 2 copies of a creature if you copy on the eot of the opponent and on your turn. This is especially useful with knight or post-sb against affinity with harmonic sliver (which will trigger with each copy to destroy 5 artefacts);
(ii) if you need a silver bullet and you are a little low on mana (eg to destroy a ghostly prison), you can copy combo pieces to have convoke material with chord of calling.

c. Sigarda, host of herons

If you expect heavy spot removal post-board, do not hesitate to replace one kiki with her. This will leave your opponent with blanked removal spells.

Please be aware that you cannot copy sigarda with kiki(she is legendary).

Gotcha, thanks for posting all those interactions. Hopefully, I'll be able to do some testing with this deck today.

Three games tonight, three wins.

I also added one point to the topic, interesting to know even though turn 3 wins are not the most common play.

d. Turn 3 winning hands

You will not get these consistently but you must be aware that this is possible with either of:

• 2 red sources (amongst which a stomping ground), arbor elf/utopia sprawl, restoration angel or village bell-ringer, kiki-jiki, mirro breaker (turn 1 arbor elf, turn 2 utopia sprawl - restoration angel or village bell-ringer at the end of the opponent's turn, turn 3 kiki).
• T 1: forest, arbor elf T 2: stomping ground, utopia sprawl on forest set on white T 3: tap two lands for GWR; used the green for another utopia sprawl on forest set on red; untap/tap the forest with arbor elf for GWWRR, play village bell-ringer to untap the elf (RR), untap/tap fhe forest for GWRRR and .... kiki-jiki, mirror breaker !

I am currently trying slayers' stronghold, instead of kessig wolf run.

Vigilance really makes knight of the reliquary stupid, attacking and fetching every turn.

Sweet! That's a nice 2-for-1 in a manner of speaking.

Thanks. Have you had the chance to try the deck ?

I found the following common line of play:

T1: land; arbor elf or utopia sprawl
T2: land, knight of the reliquary (if knight is not answered by T2, you are on the right track)
T 3: land, fetch filter land with kotr, kiki-jiki, mirror breaker. Your two pieces are now protected by any knight copy fetching sejiri steppe (chances are few that your opponent has two removal spell of different colours he can play on the same turn)
T4: land combo piece or start beatdown with 2 or 3 kotr.

Kiki-jiki is gonna be reprinted ! You now have no reason not to try this deck

Any one has a trick to get rid of Ugin, the spirit dragon in the tron MU ?

This card is stupidly powerful against creature based deck...

mainboard the ghost quarter and have the eternal witness return it to hand when you blow up one of the tron lands? also bringing in creatures such as Fulminator Mage from sideboard to do same affect

sideboard cards like stain the mind or Memoricide and naming Ugin, the spirit dragon? this option means you splash black or naming black with utopia sprawl

I indeed think that aiming for the lands is the better approach. Removing ugin will not ease the MU.

I might side sowing salt if the meta sees a tron rise. No need to splash black

Two T3 in a row. This deck is on fire tonight !!!!

I am currently attempting to increase the number of instants in this deck to 10 in order to increase the control aspect of the deck.

Alongside the 4 chord of calling, I have been trying:

• 2 path to exile;
• 2 boros charm;
• 2 naya charm

.

Long story made short: path is the go to creature removal, boros either aims at increasing the beatdown or at protecting the pieces and naya charm is my cryptic command-like /grave recursive tool. Have you guys any suggestion which would fit the plan of the deck ?

New release of the deck.

Curve has been improved: 9 1CMC, 9 2CMC, 8 3CMC, 5 4CMC, 2 5CMC and 4 chord of calling.
Linvala added to main. She is a powerhouse in the current format (elves, abzan collected company, affinity, top control, ...).
Back to 4 restoration angel.
One additional tutor in the form of fauna shaman.

Hey there,

Thanks.

The deck is competing very well against all modern archetypes. Tron remains a difficult one.

I win regularly with the combo but the beatdown route is not unsignificant (probably half of the win %)

Did u c Martin Colding-Jargensen playing this deck, or something similar at GP Copenhagen? He looses arbor elf / utopia sprawl but seems to curve slightly lower. He was running ghostway as a good utility card. I liked the look of his list, though would tweak it myself a bit! Voice of resurgence seems like a necessary card in the deck, but it's a nonbo with ghostway for the most part.

Hey, no I haven't seen it in play but I have just found it online. If you happen to find a video of him playing this deck, I would be very interested.

The list is nice, he's buying time against aggro with walls, build values with the ETB triggers, probably rebuying the ghostway with the witnesses. It seems a bit slow though, especially if he does not have a bird or a wall. He could not run arbor/utopia since he runs a 4-C deck.

I also think that 2 township seems better than 1 with a ghost quarter. I'd try run a magus of the moon for the tron match-up, and perhaps an avalanche rider that you can flicker - I think I'm maindecking moon and sideboarding rider as things stand. I'm going to join u on this deck though, kiki-pod was such a cool animal, and this is v similar!

Tron is really a pain currently. You really need that ghost quarter timely. I am fetching them with KotR. I also improved my side for this MU by playing blood moon, stony silence, magus of the moon, aven mindcensor and kataki. Everything really that can shut off their lands and artefacts. Nevertheless they are very consistent so that often they will just remove one of your hate card with karn, ugin, oblivion and do their thing...

Magus is fine in certain occasions but they have access to pyroclam ..

Few questions:
Is Linvala (in your opinion) a must in the main, or is it possible in the side?
Qasali Pridemage vs Reclamation Sage - which route would you take? Sage can be flickered, Pridemage is better agro card.
How good has Fauna Shaman been for you so far? Is Squee worth running with her!!?

Linvala shuts off elves, scavenging ooze, abzan company, tasigur, opposing spellskite , ... I think she is very powerful at the moment. However, you could put her in the sideboard if you are comfortable enough to start without her.

I go for pridemage main with a harmonic sliver in the board. I think the main reason is that a pridemage on the board is a threat for twin combo, which they have to deal with before going off. You cannot use reclamation sage at instant speed (it would be good if he had flash). I choose harmonic sliver over qasali in my SB because of the multiples trigger you can obtain when you copy it with kiki.

Fauna is a one-off, which can be very efficient if you can activate her, even once. Otherwise, it just attracts removal Since it is a one-off, I would not run squee, since the chance to have both is very narrow.

I'm going to join u on this deck though, kiki-pod was such a cool animal, and this is v similar!

You are more than welcome

The main thing I'm thinking about at the minute is 2 kiki vs 1. It feels like 2 is right in the main, but then how often do you naturally draw and play it? Are you more likely to tutor it, and if so, the 3 witness seem enough to re-coup if the first is pinged.

I often tutor for it but I also do hardcast it. The triple red is not a deal breaker in the version I run, thanks to (i) arbor elf/stomping ground/utopia sprawl and (ii) the two KotR and the fire-lit thicket. As I am more or less 50:50 in beatdown/combo wins, I did not want to give that extra life to the opponent with grove of the burnwillows but you should probably go for that kind of mana base if you play 4 colours.

The main reason for running two is path to exile. 3 eternal witness will not help you if your only copy of kiki is pathed.

Against deck playing the attrition game, I often side one kiki out and board one sigarda, host of herons (which basically leaves them with blanked removal spells in hand).

I'm unsure on stony silence vs ancient grudge, and may go for the latter since we have kataki as a blow-out, and grudge is useful vs stuff like amulet - tricky choice!

I understand. My current approach to artefact hate might be exaggerated. I have currently: qasali main and the following sb: fracturing gust, harmonic sliver, kataki, war's wage and stony silence.

His full 4 visionary's seem too much too, especially with 2 walls (which seem like the better card imo).

I guess he is only doing that to take advantage of the ghostway/resto. But I agree that this does not really favour the beatdown route. The issue with the 'blink' approach is that there is not really a good 2-drop to blink for.

Is Drakoma's command good?!

I like it. I play one side and one main. It protects your creatures from red wraths and burn spells, it is a way to get rid of twin at instant speed, it protects our life total from burn spells, reset kitchen finks, ... A nice Swiss knife.