{"ops":[{"insert":"This deck was made for a contest whose key restriction was that the deck's commanders be a couple."},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n\n"},{"insert":"Are Cecily and Wernog a Couple?"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Truthfully, probably not. Both of these characters were created exclusively as the non-Stranger-Things versions of two Stranger Things cards, and it shows. No flavor quotes on their cards. No mention of them on any other cards. The only lore I could find for either of them anywhere on the internet is basically that they're from Innistad.\n\nAnd I admit I have a bit of a soft spot for forgotten characters like that. I find myself wanting to tell their story, precisely because they don't really have one. So, in Cecily, I see an outcast practicing forbidden magic for good causes. And in Wernog I see an honorable man standing steadfast against the darkness of his home plane, who maybe needs to learn that his rules do have exceptions. I imagine Wernog being sent to capture or kill Cecily, but eventually joining her, and combining his magic with hers in a great heresy that ultimately saves the world.\n\nSo, I present to you, a deck that is both a vague gesture at a fanfic I will never write, and an ode to a pet mechanic of mine that happens to be somewhat thematically resonant with that imagined fanfic.\n\nIntro"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Splice is my favorite terrible mechanic. There's something inherently appealing to me about combining a bunch of spells into one big spell, and the card advantage it provides plays into the control game I typically like playing anyway. The only problems are:\n\nVery, very few of the cards that can be spliced, or that can be spliced onto, are actually any good"},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"The ones that are good are so different from one another that it's pretty hard to fit them in a single deck"},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"The mana costs are completely absurd"},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nI would be lying if I told you this deck solves all these problems completely, but it solves them well enough for a fun play experience at Bracket 2. \n"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Deck Construction"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"To solve the card quality issue, the deck needs a wide color identity. Red and blue have far more splice cards than the other colors, but black has probably the strongest one with "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Goryo's Vengeance"}},{"insert":", and we generally need every single one we can get. The pull towards a wide color identity is balanced by this being a Bracket 2 deck, which, at least for me, typically means a semi-budget manabase. I settled on excluding one color for this deck, and I chose green because I judged it to have the worst splice and arcane card pool.\n\nLooking at the splice cards in our four colors, the standouts are\n\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Goryo's Vengeance"}},{"insert":": a very efficient reanimation spell for legendary creatures, especially when paired with "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Flicker"}},{"insert":" effects"},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Reweave"}},{"insert":": a flexible polymorph effect that is actually cheaper to splice than to cast normally"},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Everdream"}},{"insert":", and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Evermind"}},{"insert":": two reasonably cheap (at least by the standards of splice cards) draw engines"},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Overblaze"}},{"insert":": A damage doubling effect"},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Blessed Breath"}},{"insert":": An efficient protection spell"},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nThat's already too many wildly different effects for a single commander to try to tie together, so we're in the market for a partner pair. I chose "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Cecily, Haunted Mage"}},{"insert":" because she cares about card draw as well as damage amplification and evasion, and because her ability to cast spells for free does a lot to help with our absurd mana requirements. And I chose "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Wernog, Rider's Chaplain"}},{"insert":" because his clues help reliably enable Cecily, both he and his clues are good targets for "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Reweave"}},{"insert":", and also because the fact that his effect triggers both on entering and leaving the battlefield makes him a remarkably good back-up target for the "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Flicker"}},{"insert":" effects that make "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Goryo's Vengeance"}},{"insert":" so strong.\n\nOne note about Goryo's Vengeance though, we have a total of 5 legendary creatures in the deck, including our two commanders, and basically no discard or mill effects designed to put them in the graveyard. The primary role of "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Goryo's Vengeance"}},{"insert":" in this deck is to let us \"recast\" Cecily with haste, for a steep discount, if she ever gets removed. And, because we can splice the effect on to other cards, and keep the actual card in hand until we need it, it's also completely worthwhile to chump block with Wernog and then reanimate him just to get 2 more triggers from him.\n\nWith this core decided on, the rest of the deck is filled out with a handful of high-cost ramp spells for Cecily to cast for free, just enough pump and evasion spells to make commander damage from Cecily a real threat with "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Overblaze"}},{"insert":", a couple big mana sources in "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Chromatic Orrery"}},{"insert":" and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Galazeth Prismari"}},{"insert":", a few more strong creatures and artifacts for "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Reweave"}},{"insert":" to find, and a smattering of protection and interaction.\n\nSetup"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"The first 4 and a half turns of every game with this deck will play out almost identically. \n\nTapped land on turn 1"},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Wernog, Rider's Chaplain"}},{"insert":" on turn 2, hopefully generating at least two clues"},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Another tapped land on turn 3, then wait until after the discard step to crack a clue, draw a card, and be left with 8 cards in hand"},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Cecily, Haunted Mage"}},{"insert":" on turn 4, increasing our maximum hand size so we can keep all 8 cards in our hand"},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Draw for turn (9 cards in hand), crack a clue (10 cards in hand), go directly to combat and attack with Cecily to draw one more card putting us at 11 cards in hand and allowing us to cast a spell for free"},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nI say 4 and a half turns because turn 5 will feel very different depending on exactly what spell ends up being cast for free, and what's left in the rest of your hand.\n\nRegardless, you'll notice that this setup requires 7 cards in hand at the start of the game, meaning this deck will be set back significantly if it has to mulligan more than once. Fortunately, nothing we plan to do for the first 4 turns of the game depends on any part of our hand except the lands. It's for this reason that the deck runs a full 42 lands. If you take a mulligan while playing this deck, it should only be because you can't play Wernog on turn 2. Any other problems you have with a hand will more than likely sort themselves out somewhere in the 7 cards we plan to draw during this setup.\n"}]}