{"ops":[{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Not Like Us"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Bear with me for a second, let me put y'all on game"},{"insert":"\n\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Introduction"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nThe general idea of this deck was to create a viable mono blue pump deck. Blue is pretty much barren as far as pump cards go, so the first and last strategy with this deck is getting our commander, Alandra Sky Dreamer onto the battlefield as quickly as possible and keep her there. Her ability allows us to create a 2/2 drake token on the second card draw of the turn and pump those drakes +X/+X to the player's hand count when we draw a 5th card that turn. +7/+7 is already a very solid pump, but if we can remove the maximum hand count, we can end games very quickly. This deck also includes a couple of other draw related win conditions as well, if our commander is removed early or we happen to draw them.\n\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Rulings"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nThere are two interesting rulings on Alandra, Sky Dreamer's abilities that we can use to our advantage. The first one is that her abilities states 'each turn' not 'each controller's turn'. This means that as long as were drawing cards at instant speed, we can generate and pump our Drakes on our opponents' turns. This can double, triple or quadruple our Drake token generation, and/or give us massive pump right before an opponent attacks to defend ourselves.\n\nThe second interesting ruling is that her second ability, which gives us our +X/+X pump on our fifth card draw, only triggers when we draw our fifth card, and doesn't resolve until the previous spell is removed from the stack. This means that the +X/+X value doesn't lock in until after spells that give us card draw have allowed us to finish drawing cards. For example, Let's say I have drawn only 1 card on my upkeep, have 7 cards in my hand, and cast Tolarian Winds. Tolarian Winds wheels out my current hand, so I discard the remaining 6 cards in my hand and draw 6 cards. When I draw the 4th of those 6 cards, Alandra's ability triggers, since i've drawn my 5th card that turn, but it doesn't resolve until I finish drawing cards. Instead of a measly +4/+4 pump I would get when her ability triggers, we instead get +6/+6 from the 6 cards in our hand. \n\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Main Strategy"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nAs mentioned in the introduction, our main strategy here is token generation and pump of our Drakes and Drake Tokens. Doing that requires us to have our commander on the field, so we'll want to get here there as soon as possible. We have cards like Emrakul's Messenger, which generates us Eldrazi Spawn tokens we can sacrifice for mana and a series of mana rocks like Sol Ring, Thought Vessel and Bender's Waterskin, which can help us get Alandra out within the first couple of turns. Once she is out, we'll want to keep her there. \n\nThis commander is barely cracking the top 1000, so most players probably wouldn't know how dangerous she can be immediately, but we still want to make sure she is protected from basic removal. This deck includes a number of instant speed counter spells and abilities which can help, like Wizards Retort, Mana Sculpt or You Find the Villians' Lair. We also have Narset's Reversal, which allows us to send our opponents' spells back at them. Our Drakes can help protect our commander as well. Cards like Spiketail Drake, Spiketail Drakeling, or Spiketail Hatchling, can be sacrificed at instant speed to counter an opponent's spells. Monastery Siege and Callaphe, Beloved of the Sea can also be cast to give all our creatures Ward 1 and 2, respectively (or combined).\n\nAnother few important cards to look out for are Wizards Staff and Krang, the All-Powerful. Wizard's staff is a 2 drop with 1 equip cost that gives prowess and triggers abilities an additional time. This is obviously very strong for Alandra, since we can double our drake output and pump. Similarly, Krang is a unique card that allows card draw triggers to trigger an additional time. Since both our commander's abilities are card draw triggers, along with a significant number of our other creatures, this can double our counters, tokens and pump. \n\nStandard operating procedure with this deck is to be getting a good amount of ramp and drake cards on the field the first couple of turns. Around turn 2-4, we want to be getting the commander on the field and putting down protection spells, like Lightning Greaves or Monastery Siege to ensure she stays there. After that its just a matter of drawing cards. We'll want to make sure the math is right to maximize our hands at the end of instants/sorceries. For example, if we draw once on our upkeep, we need 4 more cards draw to activate our pump. Lets say I play Thirst for Identity and draw 3 more cards. That will generate a Drake token, since i've drawn my second card that turn and put me at a total of 4 cards drawn total. Any additional cards drawn after that would trigger Alandra's second ability, so i'd want to play a card that would give me the maximum amount of card draw possible to make my hand as large as possible when that spell resolves. Something like Drown in Dreams, Pull from Tomorrow, or Silver Scrutiny would be optimal, if we had the mana for it. \n"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Alternate Strategies/Combos"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n\n"},{"insert":"In the event our commander is removed early, or multiple times and we're basically left without our pump, we do have a couple of options. Cards like Iron Man, Armored Avenger or Chasm Skulker also benefit greatly from our card draw and can give themselves or other creatures counters on our card draw to strengthen them. Mischievous Mystic, Talrand, Sky Summoner and Chasm Skulker can create us an army of tokens in place of our commander. \n\nThere are also a few infinite or instant win combos in this deck. The Pensive Professor + Wizard Class or Pensive Professor + Iron Man, Armored Avenger combos gives us infinite card draw and counters while Triskaidekaphile + <Any Draw X Cards Instants> allows us to get our 13 card win condition on the end step of our opponents' turn. \n"}]}