RowanKeltizar wrote: ↑2 years ago
Kess usually has some cross over with Niv, so i like to compare notes. I maybe should give
Double Vision another chance. And i actually like
Cleansing Wildfire quite a lot. The cantrip makes it fantastic IMO
Sounds good! Yeah, I'm looking forward to testing out Cleansing Wildfire, which seems awesome with Kess - cantrip + disruption is an excellent combination. I've generally been happy with my spell-copying effects (
Swarm Intelligence and
Primal Amulet // Primal Wellspring) - they're obviously quite expensive, but the explicit goal of the deck is to copy giant spells, so they're sort of necessary.
In general, i would try to run as many instants and sorceries as possible to synergize with your commander. running less permanents means you can maindeck some great boardwipes without fearing as much collateral damage. I would also take a look at your curve. I know this isn't exactly a spellslinger list, but you have quite a few high cmc spells and not a lot of discard or wheel effects to mitigate that.
Yeah, I've been trying to fit in more board wipes, but using Kess to flash them back often feels a bit awkward. Could probably run one or two more though. On the other hand, I have a ton of spot removal to double-dip on with Kess, which means that individual large creatures usually aren't a big issue.
Ha, the curve could definitely use some work. I haven't noticed myself having many issues with mana, but the deck can certainly be a bit slow to get going. It's usually good enough as a control deck to slow things down until I can start slinging big stuff, but can definitely be tempo'd out.
The next thing i would highly recomend is that you take a look at the instant and sorcery based rituals.
Dark Ritual Pyretic Ritual Mana Geyser Jeska's Will Unexpected Windfall and others. Kess being able to recur these make them better than a lot of mana rocks in my opinion. I've really had a lot of success with them but i think they would be even better here. Drawing a signet lategame isn't going to do much for you.
Mmmm, that's probably a good call. I've held back on ritual effects a bit because I intentionally didn't want to be a storm deck (I already have Mizzix). Still, probably worth running a few, if only to get to my topend a little quicker - it's hard to find a window to drop the more expensive artifacts / enchantments.
I've always thought
Firestorm would be great for Kess, but you might not have enough bulk handsize to make it consistent. Same with
Scorched Earth .... Im a bit surprised to not see
Mystical Tutor here, especially since you wanted to be casting
Cruel Ultimatum specifically.
I generally stick to a pretty low budget, so no Firestorm or Mystical Tutor here. I don't think I've ever actually seen Scorched Earth before, but I think I'll pass - this deck usually doesn't keep lands in hand. As a side note, this deck's desire to cast Cruel Ultimatum is sort of a joke, so don't take that too seriously. I'll pretty much always do so if I have the opportunity, but that goes for pretty much all the big spells.
Hmmmm, maybe. I've decided to go with cheap cantrips (
Ponder,
Mental Note, etc) instead of looting effects - they actually generate card advantage when cast off Kess. Honestly, my main reason for not running them is that my build is pretty light on graveyard synergies other than Kess, so there isn't much inherent value in discarding. That could obviously change if I were running something like
Spelltwine or
Mizzix's Mastery (or just more reanimation), but I generally view discarding something to cast later off Kess as a negative, not a positive (especially since grave hate and Kess removal are things).
....the addition of
Ignite the Future and
See the Truth have made discard effects go up in value slightly though.
See above. I'm fine with running a bit of countermagic, but I don't currently have any explicit need for discard outlets. The fact that Kess only works on my own turn also makes countermagic go down a bit in value relative to other instants/sorceries, since they're less likely to be cast on my turn.