I love Triskelion. There is no doubt in my mind about that. I love it so much that I wrote a featured card entry on Magic Deck Vortex years ago!  I pushed for its reprinting prior to it being reprinted in Mirrodin. (Not directly, just through words on the net.) I own all of the versions of the card including the Antiquities, Fourth Edition and Mirrodin versions equaling about 30 copies total. I’ve even created around fifty decks using the card over the course of time.

Every once in a while there comes along a card that tickles my fancy with Triskelion and forces me to create a deck with it. In the past there was that silly Mephidross Vampire infinite trick. There was Doubling Season… there was Rite of Passage… even Power Conduit had the potential to give me a steady stream of +1/+1 counters, translated that means a steady stream of damage each and every turn.

This time around, Immaculate Magistrate gave me inspiration. Thus, I’m rather locked into a Tribal Elf deck. Is this exciting to you? If it is not, know that I will make it exciting for you. Moreover, with that said, let us move along!

I have to tell you a secret.

I am mad about Lorwyn Block.

It is not because the cards fell short of my expectations, because they did not. It is not that I disliked the art, because I loved the art. It is not that I did not get to buy any, because I did and I bought a lot.

It upsets me because I did not get to play with it. Sure, I bought the cards, sorted them into binders, and cataloged my extras for trading… but my first time playing with Lorwyn cards (not counting the pre-release events) was in testing the following deck with Death_By_Beebles. That depresses me because Tribal is one of my favorite aspects of Magic: the Gathering (hence the Tribal Deck Database). When Onslaught was released I played the cards, built decks, went to tournaments and played A LOT … like it was my job. I enjoyed Onslaught, I argued for it.

In addition, I think I would have enjoyed Lorwyn Block had I played it more. Moreover, what is nice is that I still can. It is not as if I cannot pick up a Lorwyn theme deck or a custom deck revolving around the Elves or Rogues, go to town, and duke it out against a similar deck.

While the following deck is not necessarily a Lorwyn Block deck (using only cards from Lorwyn and Morningtide), it does have many of its parts from Lorwyn and Morningtide and even some from Shadowmoor. Here is the deck:

The centerpiece of this deck is, of course, the Triskelion, and his partner in crime: Immaculate Magistrate. Together these two cards can swing the balance of the universe!

...ehem.

With a field of Elves on the board, let us say six, you want to tap the Magistrate and put all of those +1/+1 counters on the Triskelion. In turn, your Triskelion can throw those counters at your opponent’s head in the form of one damage per counter. Or you can ping your opponent’s multiple creatures. Six damage can take down one of your opponent’s annoying fat fliers or a pair of Watchwolves.

Now enter Thousand-Year Elixir. While the first ability is nice, especially if you want to hold the Immaculate Magistrate in hand until you are ready to annihilate your opponent, the key to the Elixir is its second ability. You can use it to untap the Magistrate and thus double the number of +1/+1 counters you put on the ‘Skelion each turn. Take that six I mentioned earlier and double that to twelve; that is potentially twelve damage you can throw at your opponent in one turn. Just pray they do not have Ivory Mask out….

So that is the heart of the deck. However, what happens if your opponent Splinters the Triskelion? Fear not, my fellow deck builder. That is why you see Hurricane, Devoted Druid and Oracle of Nectars in the deck. And you say, “Huh?”

Let me explain. Take that six counters I was referring to earlier and put them on the Devoted Druid. You can keep untapping the druid by putting -1/-1 counters on it and tapping it to add a Green mana to your mana pool. The -1/-1 counters will join with the +1/+1 counters and result in no counters on the Druid. So what this means is that for each +1/+1 counter on the Devoted Druid, you can potentially add a Green mana to your mana pool. With the Elixir and/or many Elves, put lots of +1/+1 counters on the Druid and power out a huge Hurricane.

Remember that Hurricane is symmetrical. This is why I’ve included Oracle of Nectars. He can gain you life every turn to keep you ahead of the life point race between you and your opponent.

The rest of the deck is straightforward. You have Harmonize for a mono-Green deck, which is always good. You have Chord of Calling to yank out one of your creature combo pieces should you lose one or need one to finish the combo masterpiece. Llanowar Elves and Imperious Perfect are almost givens considering this is also a Tribal Elf deck and Rhys, the Shadowmoor version, just seemed to fit the deck well.

Yavimaya Hollow is a nice little land trick that you want to keep in mind in combination with your Devoted Druid. You can be all tapped out, with exception to the Hollow (which only produces colorless mana) and your opponent could try to destroy one of your creatures with a Lightning Bolt or your Triskelion with a Shatter. Put a -1/-1 counter on the Devoted Druid and tap him for the Green needed to tap the Hollow and regenerate your creature.

Going Different Directions:

If you like the main combo in the above deck but you don’t like the rest of the deck, you could make a number of different changes. One change that immediately comes to mind is the replacement of the Elixir with Seeker of Skybreak. It will help your Elf count but it won’t allow you to do pseudo-haste tricks with your activated abilities like the Elixir.

With exception of Devoted Druid, I think you can mix up the Elves within the deck any way you like it. Remember that Oracle of Nectars is in this list only because I wanted to be sure that Hurricane did not kill me. Replace Hurricane with Raking Canopy from Shadowmoor and replace Oracle of Nectars with something more aggressive. Wellwisher, Wren’s Run Vanquisher, Essence Warden, Elvish Harbinger… they are all decent replacements.

You could replace Hurricane with Giant Growth or some other combat trick; you could replace Harmonize with Howling Mine… really there are a thousand possibilities.

One card that could make a great addition to this deck is Doubling Season. With all of the token creatures and the +1/+1 counters, Doubling Season could be great. I originally had one copy of it in the main decklist but removed it (with the suggestion from Death_By_Beebles) as this build did not need it and it didn't work with the Devoted Druid...

If you are having trouble keeping any of your creatures in play due to a plethora of removal spells from your opponent(s), try adding Privileged Position. It’s a hybrid card so it will still work in your all Green deck.

You could go the Heartbeat of Spring route with your mana production instead of the mana producing Elves. Just use land-fetching cards like Wood Elves and Civic Wayfinder instead of the mana producing Elves.

Well, I have done my Triskelion duty for today and fulfilled the Chronicles of Triskelion with another Combo deck. True that it is also a Tribal Elf deck, but that’s just a result of the combo.

Take some of my deck suggestions and consider building something similar to this yourself. You could go all out with a +1/+1 counter theme or your could do less Elf and more Conspiracy. Whatever way you do it, invest in a playset of Triskelion and experience the +1/+1 counter love that I’ve enjoyed since I first starting playing Magic: The Gathering. It is my all time favorite card.

In future Chronicles entries I will be discussing Triskelion and its relatives like Grim Poppet and Triskelavus.

John Streetz

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Articles Spotlights from 2008:
A Fresh Perspective: Stasis - Part One.
The Apprentice Magician - Part Six.
Design on a Dime: The Lunch Meat Edition!
Fit the Flavor 2008 - FINALE!
The Games People Play - Market & EDH.
Sarpadian Empires, Vol VII: Foreword.
More Evil Than Evil.
Pauper Chronicles: Top O' the Morningtide to You!
Words from the Streetz: Uncommon and Common Magical Treasures.
The Writers Guild: The Inside Scoop.