Discard spells and counters are not removal. Out of the cards you listed, only Baffling End,Price of Fame and Collision would get there in time before you could protect Feather on your own turn 3. Still, fairly limited options.
I can think of only two cards that can deal with T1 Grazer into T2 Feather and those are Lava Coil and Walk the Plank. If you manage to untap with a protection spell, it’s party time.
Other than this scenario, you’re not supposed to play her and hope she’s not going to be removed. Wait a turn or two more then land her with mana open for Adamant Will or Dive down
Mardu doesn’t have anything for Feather, only Blessing of Belzenlok, no good creature targets and removal is available in RW already.
Thanks guys, Amber is indeed a better name for the (R/W) one, changing!
To answer the question as to why are these artifacts. Well, that was part of the challenge in the contest. The design space for such effects is very nice though, as functionally the're quite different from instants/sorceries.
Maybe you're right hoser about Boros pure aggro being a valid choice, I just don't think you can't gain anything by including another color given the landbase we have atm. You can splash even for one card. Seeing your list, it looks like Pteramander could be a solid contender to swap Rustwing Falcon for.
More results: Defiant Strike is bad in Jeskai. It's only any good with Feather, otherwise it's just a silly cantrip and the deck does not have the time to sift through the deck, it wants value ASAP. Removed completely.
Cut Dreadhorde Arcanist down to 2. Again, Jeskai isn't about trying to all-in with all the cards in your hand, Arcanist can be explosive with the right setup, but this 1 power does not make him an ideal 2-drop. Tenth District Legionnaire is effective on it's own, 4-of atm. Reckless Rage up to 4. It's R for 4 damage, dope. What's silly, it doesn't fizzle when its target gains hexproof and gets back to hand with Feather anyway
A few thoughts after initial couple of games:
- Feather works, if you can keep her alive she wins games alone.
- The deck really wants mana to keep casting those recurring spells and still have some open for protection.
- Dreadhorde Arcanist is good, but weak on its own, I cut him down to 3
- Beamsplitter Mage wins games, just he and any other creature can give a solid beating and can both be protected from wrath effect with one card
- Sheltering Light can't reliably protect Feather on T4 due to mana issues (exactly RWWW required)
- Adamant Will is nice as it provides both pump and protection
- Dovin's Veto is like the best card in this deck right after Feather. Just stops everything.
- Stealth Mission is great in that the buff persists, so with Feather she gets bigger every turn.
- Feather + Essence Capture is hard lockdown vs midrange. Against other decks it's not so good, so probably SB material.
- Reckless Rage worked ok'ish so far
- Run Amok is bad in that you can't cast it twice with Arcanist
- Defiant Strike is weak without Feather or Beamsplitter.
About interactions:
It's disappointing that Feather's trigger is not optional and you can't have two activations with her + Arcanist on the same turn.
She can, however, return to your hand cards that were in the graveyard before she hit the field and are revived by Arcanist.
T1 whatever
T2 Arcanist
T3 Colossus, recast with Arcanist, swing for 9, Thud.
Other than this scenario, you’re not supposed to play her and hope she’s not going to be removed. Wait a turn or two more then land her with mana open for Adamant Will or Dive down
Mardu doesn’t have anything for Feather, only Blessing of Belzenlok, no good creature targets and removal is available in RW already.
To answer the question as to why are these artifacts. Well, that was part of the challenge in the contest. The design space for such effects is very nice though, as functionally the're quite different from instants/sorceries.
T1: Temple Garden, Llanowar Elves
T2: Tap Elves, Enter the Unknown, Rootbound Crag, Sunpetal Grove, Feather
Another nice find: Incubation // Incongruity works very well in decks with few creatures.
More results:
Defiant Strike is bad in Jeskai. It's only any good with Feather, otherwise it's just a silly cantrip and the deck does not have the time to sift through the deck, it wants value ASAP. Removed completely.
Cut Dreadhorde Arcanist down to 2. Again, Jeskai isn't about trying to all-in with all the cards in your hand, Arcanist can be explosive with the right setup, but this 1 power does not make him an ideal 2-drop.
Tenth District Legionnaire is effective on it's own, 4-of atm.
Reckless Rage up to 4. It's R for 4 damage, dope. What's silly, it doesn't fizzle when its target gains hexproof and gets back to hand with Feather anyway
- Feather works, if you can keep her alive she wins games alone.
- The deck really wants mana to keep casting those recurring spells and still have some open for protection.
- Dreadhorde Arcanist is good, but weak on its own, I cut him down to 3
- Beamsplitter Mage wins games, just he and any other creature can give a solid beating and can both be protected from wrath effect with one card
- Sheltering Light can't reliably protect Feather on T4 due to mana issues (exactly RWWW required)
- Adamant Will is nice as it provides both pump and protection
- Dovin's Veto is like the best card in this deck right after Feather. Just stops everything.
- Stealth Mission is great in that the buff persists, so with Feather she gets bigger every turn.
- Feather + Essence Capture is hard lockdown vs midrange. Against other decks it's not so good, so probably SB material.
- Reckless Rage worked ok'ish so far
- Run Amok is bad in that you can't cast it twice with Arcanist
- Defiant Strike is weak without Feather or Beamsplitter.
About interactions:
It's disappointing that Feather's trigger is not optional and you can't have two activations with her + Arcanist on the same turn.
She can, however, return to your hand cards that were in the graveyard before she hit the field and are revived by Arcanist.
Updated my decklist