4 Court Hussar
2 Ghosts of the Innocent
4 Remand
4 Disrupting Shoal
3 Psychic Possession
3 Skyscribing
4 Faith's Fetters
4 Plumes of Peace
2 Dream Leash
1 Ocular Halo
3 Three Dreams
3 Mark of Eviction
6 Island
6 Plains
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Adarkar Wastes
2 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
1 Prahv, Spires of Order |
  slOwned.
Description of deck by it's author
(quoted):
Psychic Possession is one of the better
alternate draw engines to see print. It can't really backfire, unlike
Symbiotic Deployment. It can rarely be card disadvantage, either. Sure,
you skip your draw phase, but by the time you do that, you've already
drawn a card during your opponent's draw step. Since you draw a card
whenever your opponent does, you break the symmetry of cards like
Skyscribing and Mikokoro, Center of the Sea. Skyscribing's Forecast
ability can ensure that you continue to draw cards during your own turn.
To fill out the rest of the deck, I turned to old
standbys Faith's Fetters and Mark of Eviction. Mark fits very well
thematically, having a legal flavour while also serving to maintain the
status quo. Just the way the Azorius likes it. You can even use it on your
own Court Hussars. Plumes of Peace is another great Three Dreams target,
and with both of those cards already in the deck, Dream Leash seems like a
natural inclusion, just as it was in the first deck. Ocular Halo is a fun
one-of that also lets you keep drawing cards on your turn if you have a
Psychic Possession in play.
Remand seems very Azorius. Since you want to tap out on
your turn so frequently (with all of the Sorcery speed spells), I wanted a
set of Disrupting Shoals as well. This way, I wouldn't be completely
helpless, which is very important since I would very likely be giving my
opponent cards with Skyscribing.
On Monday, Mark Rosewater said, “We wanted Azorius to be
the essence of White/Blue with many of the tools of White/Blue, but
without the mind-numbing boringness (for the opponent) that often ensues.”
Uh oh. That means that if I want to be subversive, I have to put the
“mind-numbing boringness” back in. To ensure that, I made the deck's win
condition Ghosts of the Innocent. If Remand, Faith's Fetters, and Mark of
Eviction don't slow the game down enough, the Ghosts sure will. If those
don't work, your only alternative is to stall and stall and eventually run
your opponent out of cards with Mikokoro and Skyscribing. Psychic
Possession's card-draw is a “may” ability, which means you can avoid
inadvertently decking yourself. You just have to be careful.
There are other cards worth trying out, like Vision
Skeins. With Psychic Possession on the table, Vision Skeins will draw you
four cards for two mana, which is pretty spectacular. Unfortunately, I
just ran out of room. Ghosts of the Innocent used to be Meishin, the Mind
Cage, which works very well with what the deck is trying to do: fill up
its hand and stall the opponent. In fact, many of the “Wisdom” cards from
Saviors of Kamigawa would fit here. I'd try Presence of the Wise,
Descendant of Kiyomaro, and Ivory Crane Netsuke. What better way to show
your approval for the status quo than to reward yourself for having seven
cards? |
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