Ascendancy Storm is a 1-card engine based combo deck based around the interaction between Jeskai Ascendancy, Birds of Paradise like-creatures, and cheap blue cantrips.
Each cantrip
1) Untaps all of your mana creatures
2) Draws 1 and Discards 1
3) grants all your creatures +1/+1
Generating mana, drawing into more gas and eventually pumping your creatures for the win all in a single spell.
The deck typically uses Glittering wish as additional copies of Jeskai Ascendancy as well as to search the sideboard for specific answers and additional win conditions.
Winning on T2 is technically possible with hands like
BoP, Jeskai Ascendancy, Land, Land, Probe and any other 2 cards (more cantrips makes it easier), although it requires some lucky draws/loots at first.
More likely
T1: Land, BoP equivalent
T2: Land, Serum Visions or BoP #2, Wish for Ascendancy
T3: Land, Ascendancy, Cantrip, Go nuts.
With a maximum CMC of all the combo pieces of only 3 it seems faster than other well known combos. With upwards of 10 possible mana elves, 7 copies of your engine (more if you want to run demand) and a large amount of tutoring/drawing it seems remarkably consistent compared with other decks capable of winning on turn 3. Further, none of the combo pieces except the ascendancy itself are embarrassing on their own (mana elves, wish for a tutor toolbox, cantrips)
Weak to abrupt decay, thoughtseize and lightning bolting too many of the mana dorks means jund and UWR are rough matchups.
I like the postmortem lunge.
Some ideas I've thought of is Fatestitcher once discarded, its another mana dork and it can tap down opposing blockers for a blue. Wind Zendikon can act as another mana dork that also triggers ascendancy rude awakening is probably way too expensive. I wish life / death was modern legal.
The big issue I see is when your comboing, you don't have ways to gain on cards in hand (besides treasure cruise) which could cause one to fizzle.
Secondly, intruder alarm and ascendancy could spur another deck.
I like the postmortem lunge.
Some ideas I've thought of is Fatestitcher once discarded, its another mana dork and it can tap down opposing blockers for a blue. Wind Zendikon can act as another mana dork that also triggers ascendancy rude awakening is probably way too expensive. I wish life / death was modern legal.
The big issue I see is when your comboing, you don't have ways to gain on cards in hand (besides treasure cruise) which could cause one to fizzle.
Secondly, intruder alarm and ascendancy could spur another deck.
Happy brewing
Really good suggestions imo. With Fatestitcher and Wind Zendikon we could even cut green.
This is a more tempo-esque build, with a back-door "I Win" combo. The idea is to burn him out when the Asc. comes online and then attack for lethal. Wind Zendikon basically acts as a pseudo Delver when we're not going off. Fatestitcher doesn't do much without an Asc in play. Grim Lavamancer is tech though. Asc. fills the yard and keeps on untapping him. With all the looting, cantrips, fetches and cheap spells this deck screams Treasure Cruise. It works against Lavamancer, but I'm sure there's ways to play around that.
Wind Zendikon is a great find. Definitely a 4 of. It nicely solves the haste issue, where playing most creatures mid-combo doesn't actually contribute to your mana ramping and can't attack. Getting going with only 1 seems hard, although my version is pretty heavy on the mana generation aspect.
With wind zendikon I can stop playing any arbor elves, which improves the mana a lot. You can use a few rainbow lands instead of only fetches+shocks.
I too was seeing the problem with cards-in-hand. Eventually one will fail to hit on the cantrip and the loot from asendancy, ending the combo. Treasure cruise was added as a way to help with that problem. I think I need to start playtesting as to the right ratio of mana production to card draw. This version might be too heavy on the mana production without a good way to restock. One possibility is glittering wish for sphinx's revelation, but that seems like you are waiting to draw into another wish specifically.
The UWR version seems like it has potential as well. I hadn't realized there were so many plausible 'elves' in mono U! On the other hand, I really like the glittering wish as copies 5-7, and think the sideboard wish targets might be pretty useful even when comboing.
I have been editing my deck like crazy before reading your post.
Yeah I think Treasure Cruise is necessary (and pretty sweet with the deck's ability to fill the yard too I'd imagine). You tend to forget that the Asc. doesn't draw your cards but just loots, so every spell you cast is one less card in your hand.
I like Fatesticher too since you can play the Asc. cast Probe (or whatever), draw 2 and discard Stitcher and then Unearth it. You are then half way there.
Glittering Wish is sweet too though. I think that's a good reason to stay in green. On first site, I'd add more Treasure Cruises to your list though. It seems like a deck that can get away with it.
Getting going with only 1 seems hard, although my version is pretty heavy on the mana generation aspect.
All mana dorks are free and have haste. So I'm not too worried about going off with only one in play. Stitcher gets discarded when you loot and then when you Unearth it, it immediately untaps the land you used to Unearth it with. Zendikon triggers the Asc. and untaps whatever dude you have on the field and after you've cast a spell it untaps too. So both are essentially free, you just need to loot until you find the second one (the deck has 18 0-1 cmc non-creature spells to get there, not including Treasure Cruise).
Alternatively I could throw in Izzet Boilerworks but that seems a bit loose.
I think a lack of creatures makes it so sprout swarm is hard to get off. I have another idea/ concept in mind that uses this in tandem with intruder alarm, so when I get time I will put the idea on paper. My luck, its probably is 60 cards, not including land lol.
Dakra and View are interesting. They solve the refilling issues. I guess it depends on the build and how many spells you need to chain together before the opponent is dead. They're not the greatest outside the combo so I'd test the deck and see how often it "fizzles" before adding them.
Hehe good ol' Sprout Swarm. Works wonders with Young Pyromancer too
I don't know how good this would actually be, but something along the lines of Signets and other mana artifacts, Jeskai Ascendancy and March of the Machines (I admit, I love this card!) could do some cool things as well, given cards like Serum Visions and Gitaxian Probe. The artifacts are non-creature spells, but untap each other! Too bad I have exams until monday, so I can't brew right now...
I feel like you probably want 4 Bloom Tenders in the green versions (which I prefer, because the Wish is really important for consistency). They just solve all of your mana problems forever, all on their lonesome. Fatestitcher and Zendikon are very clever, but Crimson Wisps is a sort of "free" spell that helps in the same way. My preferrred way to solve the fizzle issue would just be Past in Flames.
Edit: Lightning Greaves is also a non-creature, and it pays for itself if you play two elves or one Tender afterward. I feel like being able to untap with only an Ascendancy and then win is important in some matchups.
I feel like you probably want 4 Bloom Tenders in the green versions (which I prefer, because the Wish is really important for consistency). They just solve all of your mana problems forever, all on their lonesome. Fatestitcher and Zendikon are very clever, but Crimson Wisps is a sort of "free" spell that helps in the same way. My preferrred way to solve the fizzle issue would just be Past in Flames.
Edit: Lightning Greaves is also a non-creature, and it pays for itself if you play two elves or one Tender afterward. I feel like being able to untap with only an Ascendancy and then win is important in some matchups.
I like the PiF/Fatestitcher/Sprawl/Looting take. I think that could turn out to be pretty explosive. Wisps is a nice find too. Could Empty/Young Pyromancer/Bushwhacker be the win con?
I disagree that the straight up UWR version will have inconsistency issues though. It runs 15 cantrips (7 of them which dig 3 cards deep) in what essentially is a 1-card combo. That is a lot more consistency than U/R Twin.
Speaking of Twin, that's actually a fun card to throw on Fatestitcher (make an infinite army of 1/2's and then untap them by casting a non-creature spell) . Probably too cute though unless we mash the 2 decks together but that's probably just going to delude both game plans
Alternate win con: Ascendancy "Storm" probably can't go off against removal-heavy decks, so pack some stuff that doesn't need synergy to win and that preferably doesn't get hit by all the removal. Sigarda, Host of Herons is a good one.
Mana dork: Ascendancy combos with mana dorks...yeah...sometimes, you don't have a mana dork. I don't think Knotvine Mystic is the best option here because it's 3 cmc--I think stuff like Kiora's Follower, Steward of Valeron, or Zhur-Taa Druid are better. Kiora's Follower is probably the best because it can tap for blue mana and the mana fixing is the best for it, but Zhur-Taa Druid loves helping you get lethal...
Draw spell/cantrip/...dig: If you're too early in the combo, you need some multicoloured dig. Sphinx's Revelation's life gain is pretty swell, but I'm not sure how often I hit 6+ mana for it. Some cheap alternatives include Abzan Charm (splashing black hurts), Cerebral Vortex (OK, that'll probably kill you), Azorius Charm (yes, I draw one card!), Izzet Charm (card disadvantage), Sultai Charm (again, splashing black hurts, but at least it can hit stuff like Linvala), Esper Charm (why do they ALL need the black splash?!?)...
Removal: Linvala hoses the mana dorks. Qasali Pridemage threatens to blow up Ascendancy. Deceiver Exarch just blows. Izzet Staticaster forces us to have the instant-speed spell every time (or to play an X/2+ mana dork). Look for removal so you can combo off. Some decent ones include Detention Sphere (pray they don't have the Abrupt Decay), Bant Charm (hits creatures and artifacts only, but can hit removal), Maelstrom Pulse (augh splash black), Abrupt Decay (hits Exarch but not Linvala, augh splash black), Utter End (hits everything, but is expensive as all get out and augh splash black)...
Depending on your tastes, outright hosers like Slaughter Games might also tickle your fancy.
Initial thoughts is it is a good combo deck that has great game against fair decks, pretty good game against twin and pod (By nature of equally fast/faster combo)and horrid game against Jund. Can't imagine it being T1 with thoughtseize and inquisition running rampant since the deck has pretty much no backup plan (I think the wish package is a must for this reason) while pod is a combo/aggro deck and twin is a combo/tempo deck.
I think I saw Crimson Wisps mentioned somewhere, which seems like a nice way to get extra mana guys going mid combo, although the Postmortem Lunge seems like a fine way to do so as well.
Ideas Unbound seems like a solid draw effect for the deck. The untaps should pay for itself pretty much any time you can actually combo out, and drawing 3 helps overcome the issue of running out of cards after looting a bunch of times, since every non-cantrip spell cast leads to one fewer cards in hand.
this deck is a cool idea, but it won't do anything in normal modern metagame. Bolt snapcaster bolt will destroy its gameplan, Abrupt Decay is impossible to overcome, even single countermagic can stop the combo. Without backup plan (like Twin or Pod have) it will always be only interesting, but not working brew. All in combo deck based on creatures can't be competitive.
The problem with deranged assistant is that it only generates 1 which is of limited value when actually going off. Similarly, I was thinking about crimson wisps, but was a little worried about generating the red mana. Noble Heirarch doesnt, and I can't imagine a manabase runing many R producing lands to untap as the target of wind zendikon. Then you are relying on specifically having birds of paradise, which seemed less likely.
The reason I was thinking knotvine mystic is that by the time you are wishing for an elf, you must have an ascendancy and therefore are sure to have 3 mana. and if you are wishing for an elf, you are probably only going to have one so the +2 generation seemed stronger. Kiora's follower seems like the best of the 2 CMC's though.
Standard ascendancy storm is playing 4x dig through time. I kinda think this deck wants the raw cards of Treasure hunt more since ascendancy itself gives great filtering, but could see it going either way. Maybe that is the fix to the card draw problem?
How many Sylvan Caryatids should a competitive Wish build use? Hexproof mana dorks are very nice, although they can't attack. I'm just not sure how hard Sigarda can swing fair, grindy matches in our favour. I tried Wish Ascendancy against a new UR Delver Delve Twin brew, and Twin kept killing my dorks, countering Glittering Wish, then comboing off. Since I can Wish for Slaughter Games, I'm seriously considering pulling Hierarchs for Caryatids.
Then again, I've fizzled multiple times and had to swing with dorks against Merfolk, so 4 Caryatids may not be a good idea...
I think the dedicated win con Wish target shouldn't be hosed by Twin's Spellskite, so that takes out Invoke the Firemind.
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Ascendancy Storm is a 1-card engine based combo deck based around the interaction between Jeskai Ascendancy, Birds of Paradise like-creatures, and cheap blue cantrips.
Each cantrip
1) Untaps all of your mana creatures
2) Draws 1 and Discards 1
3) grants all your creatures +1/+1
Generating mana, drawing into more gas and eventually pumping your creatures for the win all in a single spell.
The deck typically uses Glittering wish as additional copies of Jeskai Ascendancy as well as to search the sideboard for specific answers and additional win conditions.
Sample Decklist
4 Birds of Paradise
2 Noble Hierarch
3 Sylvan Caryatid
Engine
3 Jeskai Ascendancy
4 Glittering Wish
Enablers
3 Wind Zendikon
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Serum Visions
4 Cerulean Wisps
4 Sleight of Hand
3 Treasure Cruise
1 Manamorphose
1 Dryad Arbor
20 other Lands
1 Jeskai Ascendancy
1 Hydroform
1 Detention Sphere
1 Scarscale ritual
1 Clan Defiance
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Sphinx's Revelation
1 Slaughter Games
Winning on T2 is technically possible with hands like
BoP, Jeskai Ascendancy, Land, Land, Probe and any other 2 cards (more cantrips makes it easier), although it requires some lucky draws/loots at first.
More likely
T1: Land, BoP equivalent
T2: Land, Serum Visions or BoP #2, Wish for Ascendancy
T3: Land, Ascendancy, Cantrip, Go nuts.
With a maximum CMC of all the combo pieces of only 3 it seems faster than other well known combos. With upwards of 10 possible mana elves, 7 copies of your engine (more if you want to run demand) and a large amount of tutoring/drawing it seems remarkably consistent compared with other decks capable of winning on turn 3. Further, none of the combo pieces except the ascendancy itself are embarrassing on their own (mana elves, wish for a tutor toolbox, cantrips)
Weak to abrupt decay, thoughtseize and lightning bolting too many of the mana dorks means jund and UWR are rough matchups.
Some ideas I've thought of is Fatestitcher once discarded, its another mana dork and it can tap down opposing blockers for a blue.
Wind Zendikon can act as another mana dork that also triggers ascendancy
rude awakening is probably way too expensive. I wish life / death was modern legal.
The big issue I see is when your comboing, you don't have ways to gain on cards in hand (besides treasure cruise) which could cause one to fizzle.
Secondly, intruder alarm and ascendancy could spur another deck.
Happy brewing
Really good suggestions imo. With Fatestitcher and Wind Zendikon we could even cut green.
Young Pyromancer is a fine win con as well...
4 Young Pyromancer
4 Fatestitcher
4 Wind Zendikon
4 Jeskai Ascendancy
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Lightning Helix
2 Path to Exile
4 Remand
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Serum Visions
3 Treasure Cruise
4 Flooded Strand
2 Steam Vents
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Sacred Foundry
2 Flagstones of Trokair
2 Island
1 Plains
This is a more tempo-esque build, with a back-door "I Win" combo. The idea is to burn him out when the Asc. comes online and then attack for lethal. Wind Zendikon basically acts as a pseudo Delver when we're not going off. Fatestitcher doesn't do much without an Asc in play. Grim Lavamancer is tech though. Asc. fills the yard and keeps on untapping him. With all the looting, cantrips, fetches and cheap spells this deck screams Treasure Cruise. It works against Lavamancer, but I'm sure there's ways to play around that.
With wind zendikon I can stop playing any arbor elves, which improves the mana a lot. You can use a few rainbow lands instead of only fetches+shocks.
I too was seeing the problem with cards-in-hand. Eventually one will fail to hit on the cantrip and the loot from asendancy, ending the combo. Treasure cruise was added as a way to help with that problem. I think I need to start playtesting as to the right ratio of mana production to card draw. This version might be too heavy on the mana production without a good way to restock. One possibility is glittering wish for sphinx's revelation, but that seems like you are waiting to draw into another wish specifically.
The UWR version seems like it has potential as well. I hadn't realized there were so many plausible 'elves' in mono U! On the other hand, I really like the glittering wish as copies 5-7, and think the sideboard wish targets might be pretty useful even when comboing.
Yeah I think Treasure Cruise is necessary (and pretty sweet with the deck's ability to fill the yard too I'd imagine). You tend to forget that the Asc. doesn't draw your cards but just loots, so every spell you cast is one less card in your hand.
I like Fatesticher too since you can play the Asc. cast Probe (or whatever), draw 2 and discard Stitcher and then Unearth it. You are then half way there.
Glittering Wish is sweet too though. I think that's a good reason to stay in green. On first site, I'd add more Treasure Cruises to your list though. It seems like a deck that can get away with it.
EDIT: Sorry didn't read this part.
All mana dorks are free and have haste. So I'm not too worried about going off with only one in play. Stitcher gets discarded when you loot and then when you Unearth it, it immediately untaps the land you used to Unearth it with. Zendikon triggers the Asc. and untaps whatever dude you have on the field and after you've cast a spell it untaps too. So both are essentially free, you just need to loot until you find the second one (the deck has 18 0-1 cmc non-creature spells to get there, not including Treasure Cruise).
Alternatively I could throw in Izzet Boilerworks but that seems a bit loose.
some other cards
Hehe good ol' Sprout Swarm. Works wonders with Young Pyromancer too
Edit: Lightning Greaves is also a non-creature, and it pays for itself if you play two elves or one Tender afterward. I feel like being able to untap with only an Ascendancy and then win is important in some matchups.
Edit 2: A version with Arbor Elf and Fatestitcher might want Utopia Sprawls, and a version with Fatestitcher and PiF might want Faithless Looting.
Interested in Custom Card Creation.
My Cube:Cardinal Custom Cube
A custom version of a third modern masters: MM2019
(filter->rarity to see in set rarity).
I like the PiF/Fatestitcher/Sprawl/Looting take. I think that could turn out to be pretty explosive. Wisps is a nice find too. Could Empty/Young Pyromancer/Bushwhacker be the win con?
I disagree that the straight up UWR version will have inconsistency issues though. It runs 15 cantrips (7 of them which dig 3 cards deep) in what essentially is a 1-card combo. That is a lot more consistency than U/R Twin.
Interested in Custom Card Creation.
My Cube:Cardinal Custom Cube
A custom version of a third modern masters: MM2019
(filter->rarity to see in set rarity).
Their non-Glittering Wish-tutorable dedicated win con is Twinflame, which makes tons of Arbor Elfs or Voyaging Satyrs or makes a mana dork with Haste and loots with Ascendancy out. (It's a dedicated win con the same way Pyrite Spellbomb in Eggs is.)
Here's what I think a Glittering Wishboard should contain for this deck:
Initial thoughts is it is a good combo deck that has great game against fair decks, pretty good game against twin and pod (By nature of equally fast/faster combo)and horrid game against Jund. Can't imagine it being T1 with thoughtseize and inquisition running rampant since the deck has pretty much no backup plan (I think the wish package is a must for this reason) while pod is a combo/aggro deck and twin is a combo/tempo deck.
Ideas Unbound seems like a solid draw effect for the deck. The untaps should pay for itself pretty much any time you can actually combo out, and drawing 3 helps overcome the issue of running out of cards after looting a bunch of times, since every non-cantrip spell cast leads to one fewer cards in hand.
The reason I was thinking knotvine mystic is that by the time you are wishing for an elf, you must have an ascendancy and therefore are sure to have 3 mana. and if you are wishing for an elf, you are probably only going to have one so the +2 generation seemed stronger. Kiora's follower seems like the best of the 2 CMC's though.
Standard ascendancy storm is playing 4x dig through time. I kinda think this deck wants the raw cards of Treasure hunt more since ascendancy itself gives great filtering, but could see it going either way. Maybe that is the fix to the card draw problem?
Then again, I've fizzled multiple times and had to swing with dorks against Merfolk, so 4 Caryatids may not be a good idea...
I think the dedicated win con Wish target shouldn't be hosed by Twin's Spellskite, so that takes out Invoke the Firemind.