{"ops":[{"insert":"This is my favorite deck. It feels powerful and fun to play, it's mechanically unique, and new cards are relevant to it. I admire that the worse cards you put in it - the better it runs (as long as you're clever with its construction). You get to run lots of cards other decks don't. \n\n"},{"attributes":{"underline":true,"bold":true},"insert":"What makes it Bracket 3?"},{"insert":"\nNo Mass Land Denial"},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"No Chaining Extra Turns (No extra turns at all)"},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"No Tutors"},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"No Infinites"},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"No Game Changers"},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Intentionality: The deck does not need game changers in the current Bracket 3 meta. It's powerful enough. It could be significantly more powerful, so it's not optimized(4). It will wreck most precons, so it's not bracket 2. The deck would need a God hand to kill anyone on turn 6, much less end the game on that turn. It strikes a solid balance of fair and powerful that let's opponents play the game before brutally taking them apart."},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"underline":true,"bold":true},"insert":"Why is it not Bracket 4?"},{"insert":"\nThe only fast mana is Sol Ring (standard-issue in commander). It could be significantly faster with the addition of fast mana, moxxen, rituals, etc. This would be a significant step up in power."},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"The inclusion of extra turns would be the single largest step up in power I could make to the deck. Burning an opponent for 8-12, taking an extra turn where I untap everything and keep the mechanical chain going would be the end of the game."},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Low spell Interaction - with only a few counterspells, the deck primarily interacts with permanents and gets significantly kneecapped when counterspelled."},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Each Category contains cards that are sub-optimal. I'm not running the best Clones, Recursion, Ramp, or Burn possible in these categories."},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"underline":true,"bold":true},"insert":"Mechanics"},{"insert":"\nThe deck exploits the legend rule by cloning "},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Hidetsugu and Kairi"},{"insert":":\nYou control Hidetsugu and Kairi on the battlefield"},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"You cast a clone spell (like "},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Phantasmal Image"},{"insert":"), it resolves"},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"The Clone enters as a copy of Hidetsugu and Kairi"},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"707.2"},{"insert":" When copying an object, the copy acquires the copiable values of the original object’s characteristics."},{"attributes":{"indent":1,"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":" "},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"707.5"},{"insert":" A copy effect that modifies how a permanent enters the battlefield may cause that permanent to enter the battlefield with the copied characteristics already in place."},{"attributes":{"indent":1,"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"The Clone entering the battlefield causes its ETB ability to trigger"},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"603.2"},{"insert":" Whenever a game event occurs that matches a triggered ability’s trigger event, that ability automatically triggers."},{"attributes":{"indent":1,"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"State-Based Actions are checked before triggered abilities are put on the stack: you control two Hidetsugu and Kairi"},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"205.4d"},{"insert":" Any permanent with the supertype “legendary” is subject to the state-based action for legendary permanents, also called the “legend rule” (see rule 704.5j)."},{"attributes":{"indent":1,"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"704.5j"},{"insert":" If two or more legendary permanents with the same name are controlled by the same player, that player chooses one of them, and the rest are put into their owners’ graveyards. This is called the “legend rule.”"},{"attributes":{"indent":1,"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Putting one Hidetsugu and Kairi into the graveyard causes its death ability to trigger"},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"603.6c"},{"insert":" Leaves-the-battlefield abilities trigger when a permanent leaves the battlefield."},{"attributes":{"indent":1,"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Now both triggered abilities go on the stack in the order of your choice"},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"603.3"},{"insert":" Once an ability has triggered, its controller puts it on the stack the next time a player would receive priority."},{"attributes":{"indent":1,"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"603.3b"},{"insert":" If multiple abilities have triggered since the last time a player received priority, they are placed on the stack in APNAP order."},{"attributes":{"indent":1,"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"USUALLY, you'll put the ETB trigger on the stack on top of the DEATH trigger. This allows you to rig the top card of your library, then reveal it and cast it for free."},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Example:\nETB – Draw 3, put 2 back: "},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Sorin's Vengeance"},{"insert":", "},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Fossilize"},{"insert":"\nDEATH – Reveal Sorin's Vengeance: opponent loses 7 life from the reveal, then 10 life from casting it for free. You gain 10.\n\nThis loop gets especially deadly when the DEATH trigger reveals a spell that does one of two things:\nCreates multiple copies of a creature"},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Reanimates multiple creatures"},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"This results in multiple ETB/DEATH triggers on the stack which dig deeper into the deck and result in more ETB/DEATH triggers on the stack. In my experience, it's not uncommon to get 5 ETB/DEATH triggers on the stack once the deck gets rolling.\n\n"},{"attributes":{"underline":true,"bold":true},"insert":"Deck Construction"},{"insert":"\nRecursion and Clones are the two strongest categories of cards in the deck because they enable the loop described above. In fact, if the Burn and Removal cards were replaced with more Recursion and Clones, I'm confident that the deck would simply run a loop of reanimating and cloning until opponents were dead. However, I think this would push it into bracket 4 territory.\nWhen building your own version, you'll want Recursion and Clones as your two largest categories. Within clones, you'll want about half to be creatures and half to be instant/sorcery-based clone spells.\nReanimate spells (as a subset of recursion) are one of the more interesting puzzles the deck produces. If you only include high-mana value reanimators, you hit opponents harder on the reveal, but run less efficiently when you need to hard-cast a reanimate on a clone from the graveyard. I think that the sweet-spot for reanimate spells in MV=5. My rationale is: the commander's mana value is 5. we start playing the game at mv 5 If we can cast our commander, we can also hard-cast a 5mv reanimate. I do try to include some outliers on both sides of the mv curve (lower and higher) so that we can hard-cast low mv reanimates efficiently and flip high mv reanimates to burn opponents hard. When including high-mv reanimates, I try to include those that reanimate more than one creature at a time.\nI find draw spells to be mostly unhelpful since they un-rig the top card of your library and don't meaningfully advance your strategy any more than playing a clone would. \n\n"},{"attributes":{"underline":true,"bold":true},"insert":"Gameplay"},{"insert":"\nIn many games, you'll spend the first 4-5 turns playing a land and passing - getting up to 5 mana so you can cast your commander. it's pretty rare in bracket 3 for your opponents to present lethal before this point, but they will build their boards significantly while you won't. That's okay, this deck does not need a board. You will take damage on early turns, that's okay too.\nMy recommendation for the brainstorm trigger on the turn where you first play your commander is to put a reanimate spell on top with a Removal (or anything, really) underneath. It's completely acceptable from here on out to block with your commander, even one where you lose your commander and don't trade - send your commander to the grave (instead of the command zone) and reveal the reanimate spell on top. Cast it for free and bring your commander back, then brainstorm another reanimate on top, or something more brutal.\nOn your turn, be mindful of the timing of your clone effects - "},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Saw In Half"},{"insert":" and "},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Visage Bandit"},{"insert":" are both castable at instant speed and can let you set up a board wipe on top to instant speed blow out an opponent before they can set back up and get you. Otherwise, run through the loop in the Mechanics section as many times as you can using Clones and Recursion\n\n\n\n\n"}]}