MTG Salvation

I've tried some red variants before, using Painter's Servant set to white for consistency with Martyr, 8 1/2, and Chaotic Backlash.

Alternatively, one would find a way to discard Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, recur it (or just hardcast it) and then use Sky Hussar. The sneakiest way to do this would be to use a TFK/Peace of Mind on the enemy EOT, with Emeria online.

I see these as working better or faster than the Dragonmaster outcast, and its low cost doesn't warrant its use since it serves no functions early-game.

In regards to Valakut: its interactions with Realmwright are meant to be icing on the cake, as opposed an effect you should try to instantly get online. You should focus on Realmwight to Plains (or reaching a natural Emeria 7) before focusing on Realmwright to Mountain. If the opportunity arises to get it online early, however, do take advantage of it.

Secondly, Valakut is only a 1-of. It's tutorable and it's not destructive to the mana base. If your opening hand had just this in it, you should have mulled. The only reason you'd ever keep a 1-land hand is if you happen to have both a W source and Wayfarer.

Regarding Sky Hussar: Stop for a moment, step back, and count the number of white and/or blue creatures in this deck (v2.1) that have a converted mana cost between 1 and 3. 23. That's even more than we have land cards. In this deck, Sky Hussar is almost always usable. Even if a creature croaks -- you got a valuable sac trigger out of it (or some activated/triggered ability) and will be able to not only benefit from it again (thanks to recursion efforts), but the enemy will be down a few hate spells. One way or the other -- you WILL get CA from this setup: Either by forcing their hand or utilizing yours.

Another way to perceive Sky Hussar is in comparison to Bob. People work their way around running it just to have the draw-on-the-upkeep of turn 3. Sky Hussar permits the same initiative: You can have two creatures in play by turn 2. Same effect, except no lifeloss and these 1/1 dorks do a lot more than Bob.

Regarding the mana base: There's nothing wrong with going towards a two-color variant of the deck. This deck stretches to 4 colors easily because of the way costs are managed: nothing requires more than one mana of the splash color, lands are tutorable and recurrable, and each color has something significant to offer the deck which inevitably leads to having more land, meaning another splash color becomes active afterward (recursion, card drawing, KotR).

So if you can manage to make a BW build that fills the gaps while following the recursive themes, then more power to you! But, the splashes are easy to make with this build, and it would be a wasted opportunity to not use such beautiful potential.

Lingering Souls, however, is a strong option and can even work well -in conjunction- with Sky Hussar as opposed to being a replacement for it. You'll notice this is already added to the "Variants" section of the OP.

Speaking of the OP, that reminds me -- updates are due to it. I'm going to get started right away and fill in the variants section/conclusion section with 2.1's info.

Gideon Jura's abilities are certainly attractive for this deck. The only thing I've disliked about running any walkers, however, is that they cannot recur (Except for Ajani, Caller of the Pride). If Jura is countered/destroyed/exiled there's no getting him back unless I find another copy of it. How can we address this issue? Perhaps this should be added in conjunction with Eternal Witness? I love EW's effect but paying double-green might be a little heavy. Also, maybe Obzedat's Aid?

Maybe the better option is to simply use the 3-cost Ajani. It's not the end of the world if I lose it, and it can turn one of my early 2/2's into something fierce (Looking primarily at Vizkopa or 8 1/2 Tails), and possibly another wincon. He could also make Sun Titan incredibly deadly.

Gargoyle Castle is another great option. It's a failsafe for when I can't get any other creatures online, or if I need a comeback from an opposing board nuke like ***/Verdict.

The Grove of the Guardian looks nice, but it comes at the cost of not taking the extra draw for whichever turn I am saving up for the tap. That said, an 8/8 vig is something enemies will have to deal with, especially if activated at a flash. Partnered with KotR, they could be a disaster waiting to happen. But that case seems like a "win more" issue where I wouldn't need it.

Thanks, pyro!

On the topic of reaching out for different lands like Bojuka Bog, I'm wondering if there are any other neat ones I could squeeze in. For instance -- should I consider a basic Forest/Swamp/Island for Ghost Quarters/Path to Exiles? Or could there be hidden usage in another nonbasic land?

EDIT: Mulldrifter seems to be doing better than Court Hussar -- especially in the event that lands have thinned out mid-late game. Having the creature come back when I need it to stay and block something is proving useful also.

Oh wow. I am pleasantly surprised to come back to read this; to find mostly constructive criticism, for a change. I see a lot of fantastic ideas here and am definitely going to have to try these shoes on myself.

Something I just noticed -- Sky Hussar's Forecast is instant. That means if we are recurring Court Hussar through Emeria -- you can respond to its sacrifice by tapping it and one other dude for a draw AND a pick-from-3 trigger.

Knight of the Reliquary is also going in right away -- I always felt the creature might be too slow -- but when you showed me those interactions, I think it's worth a lot more than I previously viewed it.

Bojuka Bog is also a formidable option to consider -- especially considering Realmwright can turn it plains if I'm feeling short on Emeria. And 1 of it is plenty since lands in this deck are tutorable and blinkable.

Ranger of Eos is an issue of necessity. In practice I had always felt by turn 4 my draws were eliminating the need for searches. I'm wondering if a green splash warrants the use of Fauna Shaman, Eternal Witness or even Primal Command?

EDIT: Court Hussar is proving to be fantastic, as is Knight of the Reliquary. The only issue is hardcasting Court Hussar the first time, in which it doesnt immediately sac.

@divisionbyzorro -- I think you're jumping into the conversation late. In case you hadn't noticed, I've had quite the inviting attitude towards those who actually made valid points when talking to me -- see the replies to Forest Hex and Phoenios and Badd Business. The people I've condescended were those who didn't bother to read text that was emboldened in the header of the primer, persisted about a particular deck when it was already made clear that such a matchup was easy, or by people trying to call this "midrange" when it clearly is not.

I don't have time to answer the demands of those who want proof of this, nor those who can't read the first four words of a thread. That's not what this thread's for. I came here to share this because a small faction of people asked for a primer, because this build has started to perform incredibly well. If you want to know what this deck's statistic based matchups are so badly -- go playtest and stop being lazy: contribute your results and I'll add them to the matchups section. Otherwise I have no time nor need for statistics with the matchups. I'm just a casual player sharing a primer for a deck that holds its own fairly decently in my opinion, because other players want to use it too.

Sorry if scolding someone for not reading bold text is such a crime to you, but you really should look at entire argument before making radical judgment calls like that.

@Felix the Cat: My attitude is not "This deck is great and if you don't think so you're not looking hard enough." I never made any claims as to the potential the deck has. I simply laid out the plan as to what this deck does and how to use it, because several people from my network of friends wanted to see the build laid out in a place where it can be discussed and built upon, not criticized for not having proof.

I also did not only say "If you know what you're doing, you can cripple them." I also said to read page 2. You can do it! Scroll up! This is page 2! I said to read this page because the details were so heavy regarding pod that it's better to simply read the Pod discussion already on this page of the discussion, because lots of valid points were made, and I replied in kind as to what one's options would be in that matchup. All of this you would have known if you simply read.

I also did not come here trying to "make anyone believe" that this deck does what I claim it does. I know for a fact what it's capable of, and I know its limits as well. The point of bringing this here is to make remarks that are constructively critical, not "OMG this deck sucks OMG it dies to deck X, Y, or Z." I don't have time to reply to such tomfoolery. So yes, I'm going to condescend and turn away those who do not wish to read or make an effort to the deck's contribution, because their comments are simply a distraction from the topic at hand: the deck's primer and how other people can use it and make their own versions of this deck, as well as potentially differing strategies.

I'm sure Badd B's looking into a new CA alternative to Sky hussar, and Forest Hex is hard at work trying this deck from his point of view.

I dare ask, what will you do to help? Or did you come to call me a randomly condescending egotistical jerk rogue brewer with an awful deck too?

So now that you've taken failed potshots at me it needs to be flagged? That sounds like rage to me. Try making a valid point when bashing.

One of the things I tested heavily against was Pod, thanks to the help of pyro314. He showed me where my strengths and weaknesses with that deck exactly laid.

You are exactly right about the midrange beating scenario: this is usually what it comes down to when facing pod. At this point the deck becomes reliant on using the kamis, martyrs, paths, and wraths to get by, if they haven't been used already. The tipping point is where I get to make Vizkopa bombs or let Admonition Angel loose.

As for the alternate sacrifice methods, a well-placed Path can get rid of whoever's not covered by the silences and needles; although I usually end up responding to a first sacrifice by aiming at the problem permanent: Melira. As long as I focus removal on it and not the pieces that revolve around it, I'm generally OK. Another thing about the needles is that I tend to cast them late as opposed to predicting what's out there.

Missed your post Badd -- There is Stony Silence and Aura of Silence already, but nothing to hate on an enchantment directly unless I pray to topdeck the Aura or wait for A-angel, or Necrotic Sliver. What else could I use?

I'm also trying to be patient with you, but you keep seeming to miss key points already mentioned in the OP. You're taking one glance at this without reading the details, and attempting to assure to me that simply because this deck has a truckload of creatures, it must thereby immediately die to Living End. You've also just asked me if this was Control/Aggro, when this is answered in the bold header.

Read the General Strategy paragraphs one more time. This is not Control nor Aggro. The idea is to -allow- most common strategies of your opponents to be played outright, and render it harmless through a cheap defense -- followed by a swift counterattack.

Beast Within destroys a permanent at instant level. If casted before Living end, the destroyed creature simply returns. If casted after, you can cash the creature out with a sacrifice in response. Either way, Beast Within is wasted.

Fulminator Mage isn't a threat either. I can afford to be Nuked, because that simply means more searches for Wayfarer or KOTWO. Grim Discovery and Sun Titan also recur land.

Faerie Macabre is a very narrow case and it tends to be sideboarded in when talking about a Living End deck. If somehow this guy is a threat to you -- Pithing Needle exists in the sideboard for problems like this.

If you're worried about Bojuka Bog, you can wait until you see Living end, then respond with sacrifices. Can't land drop in response to that. Also Leyline of Sanctity = they must nuke their own grave when playing the Bog.

I can tell you haven't read this all the way through. You know why? You're asking me about my Kiki-matchup when it's already mentioned in the OP.

Affinity and Tron hate the Stony Silence, G1 might be a little rough, but you can block Karn with Tails, and you can simply beat tron to death. Don't forget to tutor your Ghost Quarters.

Affinity drops to the sight of ***. As long as you can gain life or prevent one combat hit, you will make it to the *** turn.

Storm's not really a viable deck anymore since Seething Song got the nerfbat.

Pyro Ascension doesn't do enough damage to outpace the lifegain.

There's nothing wrong with using Supreme Verdict at all. I prefer *** simply because of its anti-regeneration clause, and I can cast it if I, for some reason, am missing a Fountain. Bear in Mind I have a Grand Abolisher in the board if we're worried about countermagic.

However, only two major threats have countermagic, Tempo, and control, only the former of which would you cast a nuke-all spell such as *** or Verdict.

Living End is a hilarious matchup. All you need to do is deliberately plant your creatures in the grave while they cycle -- sac your martyrs, sac your kamis, etc. Living End is simply more recursion for you to ride while you wait for emeria.

I can understand your position there. If you want even more Oomph from the Sky Hussar, you may even want to try it in combo with Kiki-Jiki. It takes some setup time, but that's something this deck always seems to have.

Another thing I should mention -- Most opponents (usually those unfamiliar with this) tend to be reluctant about using a hate spell on a sacrifice-able creature, especially in regards to Martyr when there's mana up -- people tend to leave it alone because they feel their removal will have been useless.

Players also tend to avoid using Path to Exile against my Wayfarer -- they feel it defeats the purpose.

Last update: May 11th, 2013. 9:18 AM CDT


Let me first begin by saying that this deck, upon first glance, will look like a complete wad of garbage if you fail to notice the many interactions the deck has.

I plead you, before posting, study the interactions as I explain them before replying (or at least play against, or use this deck a few times to see it in action): I've likely covered the issues you thought of already. I will only reply to serious questions about this deck with serious concern for this deck's progression.

I want to give out special thanks to pyro314, ForestHex, Badd Business, and the Modern-playing community that resides here. If it wasn't for them, I would have stopped playing this game altogether after getting roflstomped at my first tournament here. Now I have a build that I think is stronger than ever, and ready to handle most things that get thrown at me from the top tiers of the format.

Without further ado, I will now proceed into the presentation of the deck's strategy, interactions, win conditions, variants, and matchup details, followed by my version of the deck itself (I may change this to a primer in the future as more ideas circulate.).

The deck, in my belief, should classify as Survival for the following reasons:

• The deck does not try to win instantly nor through massive amounts of early damage (with one rare exception), thus making it non-Aggro.
• The deck does not always try to catch the opponent into an inescapable cycle of countermagic and simultaneous attacking (except for the case of blitz-with kami/martyr support), thus making it non-tempo.
• The deck does not rely on a specific one or two cards, nor does it try to "combo-off" by casting spells in quick succession, thus making it non-combo.
• The deck doesn't try to pin the enemy down into an immobilized state (though some could argue the preventative measures present in this deck may be considered immobilizing), thus making it non-control.

Instead, the deck aims to win by first allowing the enemy to try to throw the whole book at you, while you use defensive measures and a cleverly-built ramping method to not only evade the attack, but also prepare a swift counterattack.


Here's something that will surprise most opponents right off the bat -- This deck likes to go second! At first your opponents will gawk at you and wonder why the heck you're making a death wish in a 4-turn-endgame format. What they don't know is that your card advantage and your ramping will have you running circles around them -- all of which reliant on moving last.

What such ramping exists that you would want to go second? Weathered Wayfarer is obvious, but that alone isn't worth moving second. There's also Knight of the White Orchid, which, used here, is a Sakura on steroids -- a 2/2 first striker who can chump block a GoST or Goblin Guide (among a lot of other stuff), and fetch you a land as well. If you end up ahead of your opponent on lands, there's a few tricks you can pull to nudge them ahead -- Path to Exile used early, Ghost Quarter a potentially threatening land, or laying in wait with an uncracked fetch (stack it, then respond with Wayfarer).

Once you've developed a point where you feel comfortable on lands, shift gears to using creatures to tap for Sky Hussar. If you still have some untapped people, attack and chip away a few life points where applicable. There have been cases where the deck simply wins through attacking because the opponent is trying to deal with your other measures.

If you see it forming, one way to end the game quickly is through the pairing of Vizkopa Guildmage and Martyr of Sands. Be careful when stacking: First, sacrifice the martyr, then respond with Vizkopa's ability. Using Vizkopa first may result in the enemy responding to it by targeting the martyr with a hate spell. You might get away with saccing the martyr for lifegain, but you lose the wincon because Vizkopa's ability's still on the stack. So, Martyr first, then use Vizkopa.

Another nifty pairing in the deck is Realmwright set to Mountain, with the tutorable Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle. The main reason RW is used and not Prismatic Omen is twofold: Omen would require a green splash, and it cant be tapped for Sky Hussar like Realmwright can. Furthermore, Realmwright can be brought back through both Sun Titan and Emeria, whereas Prismatic Omen must rely on Sun Titan for recursion.

A side note -- you shouldn't cast Realmwright unless you have Valakut and four other lands in play, and you are ready to play land #6. The only other reason to cast it is out of necessity for Sky Hussar draws.

The deck's got some black for vizkopa, but why let a splash into such an amazing recursion color go to waste? To help carry you through the midgame, there's Grim Discovery, a fantastic one-for-two tradeoff that allows you to dig up a creature and a land from the grave. We take full advantage of this card here: the deck has 6 fetchlands, and it also has creatures that are sacrifice-able for a compelling purpose.


The late game closing aims to win in a few ways: poking creatures and players to death with Valakut, by having multiple fetches enter play in a given turn; or by Nuking problem permanents with Admonition Angel and swinging 6 at a time; or by recurring Martyr and linking it with Vizkopa,
or by having Vizkopa give a 6/6-er lifelink, followed up with another lifegain=lifeloss ability for 12 damage/turn; or simply combat cleaving -- going unblockable with the help of Eight-and-a-Half-Tails.

There are so many possibilities that it will be difficult to fend off all of them.


Every good deck should have a tweakable side to it to make it unpredictable. This one is no exception. As alternatives, you may wish to try cards such as:

• Supreme Verdict -- You might prefer this over *** for some reason.
• Painter's Servant -- Streamlines Martyr of Sands functions.
• Chaotic Backlash -- Use with the above card.
• Any Pro-W Equipment -- Amazing synergy with tails, strong midgame piece.
• Children of Korlis -- Leave it sitting on the porch with Vizkopa for an interesting threat.
• Unburial Rites -- If you permanently lose Emeria somehow, this may be your saving grace, pulling up a Titan.
• Sacred Mesa -- game-ending, recurrable token generation.
• Lingering Souls -- Need some dudes for Sky Hussar? Need to chump block? This answers both your needs.
• Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker -- Pair this with Sky Hussar for a Killer ending. You'll need to discard this through overflow or splash red to use it.
• Knight of the Reliquary -- Warrants a green splash -solely- for the use of this one card. Fantastic cost reducer and landfall troublemaker which works fantastically in 4 ways: T4/5 Sun Titan/Angel, extra landfall triggers for Valakut/Angel, land tutorer and beatstick by himself.
• Court Hussar/Mulldrifter -- Both serve the same purpose of re-triggerable card draws, but each has its positive and negative interactions with the deck. Mulldrifter can't recur through Sun Titan, and Court Hussar must be hardcast initially then die by means of combat/wrath (Furthermore, the creature can never stick to the battlefield again becuase of it's auto-sacrifice trigger).
• Reveillark -- capable of recurring any two creatures except for the two 6/6ers. Everyone else, even KotR, has p<=2.
• Bojuka Bog -- tutorable grave hate.
• Sejiri Steppe -- can jump in to protect KotR, or recur to make it unblockable.

These aren't exactly statistic based, as I haven't bothered to keep track. I will modify this as it sees more play and people share their views. For now this list of common matchups is based on what I have seen while steering this machine.

• RDW -- Way too flimsy. Once you make it to your *** or your lifegain, you're set. Just beware of Skullcrack and friends.
• UWx Tempo -- Looks scary early, but their tricks fade quickly. Lifegain and recursion is what wins against tempo.
• Jund -- A formidable opponent, but a well-guarded leyline assures g2-3 are yours. Most run Abrupt Decay now, instead of Maelstrom Pulse, leaving leylines out of the Decay's range.
• Eggs -- Kinda funny how they lock up when they see Stony Silence. Maindeck though, you hope to win through an early Martyr/Vizkopa trick, possibly riding a sunrise. Path your own creatures if it means ramping to the big guns. They won't have any creatures.
• UR Twin/Kiki -- This one's a tossup. You have preventative measures, but they can bounce things on your turn. Tails will swing the tide in your favor.
• Scapeshifters -- If you can pull off a few martyr cracks early, you're safe. Otherwise go all out and prioritize damage dealing before your other functions. Leyline is nice in the board. Ride his ramp with your wayfarers and Kotwos -- even go first.
• Against Living End, sacrifice your creatures and convert Living end into something you can ride. If you're worried about Bojuka Bog, you can wait until you see Living end, then respond with sacrifices. Can't land drop in response to that. Also Leyline of Sanctity = they must nuke their own grave when playing the Bog.
• Affinity and Tron hate the Stony Silence, G1 might be a little rough, but you can block Karn with Tails, and you can simply beat tron to death. Don't forget to tutor your Ghost Quarters.
• Affinity drops to the sight of ***. As long as you can gain life or prevent one combat hit, you will make it to the *** turn.
• Melira/Kiki Pod -- You'll want to see Page 2. There's much to discuss regarding this matchup. If you know what you're doing, you can cripple them.

The best part about this deck is that it has so many amazing synergies and cooperations to make the entire team work, and yet pulling one cog out of the system won't derail it. I hope you enjoy this deck as much as i do, and I look forward to your playtesting results and your thoughtful opinions. Cheers!



Below is version 2.1, which features a green splash to include KotR, and a reduction of Sky Hussar in favor of Court Hussar. See if you can spot the more subtle changes.

Jund, affinity, RDW, nayapod, bant, tron, gifts, esper teachings mostly.

Remember that you don't need removal here. Once the Bridge is online and protected by Tails you're pretty much safe. Or if you have Recursive Kami.