Hi All,

Been a while since I 5-0d (bloomin' June!!!) and thought i'd share my 4c pile here. I took a lot of inspiration from AspiringSpikes latest chord lists, and decided I didn't want chord. Those that know of me, will know this is not my first time registering Yorion and/or Kiki-Jiki.

Lets start with the list:

https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/4355872#online

Before I get started on the MUs and card choices, I actually didn't test this in 2-mans or play any leagues before the 5-0. I currently have a 100% winrate lol. So it's hard for me to critique the list - I ran well, and had MUs that you'd want to face. However, this is the first iteration, and so it's very possible (99%) that tweaks should be made.

Before we go any further, just be aware that this isn't really a combo deck. It's a "hang on as long as you can" deck and then finish them with whatever is left laying around.

Ok, match review:

Round 1 vs Humans - I have t1 bop, they go t1 aether vial. I rip prismatic ending off the top, but dont play it yet. I play T2 Magus with Bop forest in play. They play a 2nd land and pass. I ending the vial and they scoop.

G2 is a bit more grindy. They play Meddling Mage naming Magus that I boarded out :) The game ends when I get Reflector Mage Soulherder online, with my opp saying "i drew the nuts that game" without seeing Ephemerate or Solitude. Seems that this might just be a decent MU for me.

Round 2 vs Affinity - G1 I don't remember too well, just hang on and run them out of gas. Deputy ate 2 urza's saga tokens and the yorion flickered deputy to eat some 4/4s. G2 went recruiter -> Collector Ouphe after they had blast-ed my Bop on t1. They did eventually go to kill ouphe again but at that point i had ephemerate up and they scooped.

Round 3 vs Jeskai Pheonix - In this game, i had 2 early recruiters but wrongly put my opp on rhinos (had only seen brazen borrower). So, I tutored up some real dumb stuff (1 was a misclicked karmic guide) but they never really got going. They had a murktide out, but I never saw pheonix's. I did misplay, got greedy with my blocks and went to 3, only for them to have their 3rd bolt in the top 20 cards. Going into Game 2 I hadn't seen pheonix but the SB plan is pretty much the same anyhow. 1 of my 2 wins here both decks had very little going on. I made solitude Resto on T4 after they had tapped out for double-pheonix and just cast kiki on T5. Very powerful just naturally drawing the combo pieces and correct lands like that, but my opp just didn't put enough pressure on and tapped out at a terrible time!

Round 4 vs Etron - they didn't have impressive draws. TKS on turns 3-4 in both games, but I never saw the scary cards like Karn, Ugin or All Is Dust. This deck can batter Matter Reshapers, TKS, and Chalice of the Void, but just doesn't like the bigger bombs. In G2 I managed to keep them off mana with skyclave on a mind stone, and then flickering it to eat an expedition map while they missed land drops. Easy 2-0 but a match that can go differently.

Round 5 vs MonoR Prowess - Game 1 was mental. I had to run out Magus of the Moon to block with, but my opp never gave me a chance to kill it off! On 2 seperate occasions, I had 1 life, facing at least 2 creatures, and just Magus on the board. I rip Imperial Recruiter into Wall of Omens and then Recruiter into Charming Prince to gain 4. Later on, I rip another recruiter which lets me karmic the prince. The opp was a bit salty, but I did sunrun off the top. Game 2 I dont think was quite as fortunate, but I have t5 Solitude Resto Ephemerate, and that's pretty much GG right there. They waste a load of resources trying to deal with it which means my chin goes unbolted.

Cards of Note:

Ice-Fang Coatl's - these were brilliant in my league. They killed Murktides, Humans and Affinity stuff. The MUs were very Ice-fang focused, but in general, I can't see too many spots where wall of blossoms would have been better.

Chord of Calling - I'm not running it, and honestly, I didn't miss it. The deck is very capable of using all it's mana for the first 7-8 turns, and at that point, you're either in control or dead. Chord is very much a late game card, but this list doesn't struggle with that part of the game. Chord is particularly good vs UW Control, but I've added MD T3feri that other kiki lists don't always register, and so gain quite a few % there instead. I have 12 creatures with flash in the MD too.

Venser, Shaper Savant - this wasn't the league for Venser. No combo and no control faced. I did however, pick up my own felidar post-combat, cast it, flicker yorion, flicker my board to beat MonoR in 1 of the games. It's a terrible card in that MU, but just happened to find the perfect boardstate for it to be good.

Teferi, Time Raveler - it was pretty unimpressive in this league in all honesty. Decks like Pheonix, Prowess and Affinity just have so many cheap spells that bouncing something back is not much better than a man-o-war, which we're not going to be registering any time soon. It got boarded out a lot, and so there is definitely a possibility this should live in the SB, with perhaps Knight of Autumn / Reflector Mage moving in the opposite direction.

Hope you liked the write-up, please feel free to ask anything and i'll respond as always :)

Happy Gaming

Dave