{"ops":[{"insert":"KODAMA & SAKASHIMA — VERSATILE CLONING"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"DECK PHILOSOPHY"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"This is not a traditional Simic value deck.\nIt is not built around resolving my own giant threats, assembling a predetermined combo, or executing the same win condition every game.\nThe central idea of the deck is simple:\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"I want to play your deck."},{"insert":"\nVersatile Cloning is built around copying the most useful, powerful, or interesting permanents that the other players bring to the table and then exploiting those cards more effectively than their original owners.\nThat means the deck intentionally contains very few traditional win conditions of its own.\nThere is no package of giant Simic creatures waiting to be ramped into. There is no dedicated two-card combo that I am trying to tutor every game. There is no single scripted endgame that the deck is designed to repeat.\nInstead, the other three decks at the table provide most of my threats.\nIf somebody plays an incredible creature, I want one.\nIf somebody plays an incredible creature and I already have Sakashima, I probably want several.\nIf somebody plays a ridiculous noncreature permanent, cards such as Clever Impersonator and Phyrexian Metamorph allow me to get involved there too.\nIf somebody presents a creature that would normally be balanced by only having one copy on the battlefield, this deck asks what happens when there are three, four, or six of them.\nThe answer is frequently:\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"something fucking stupid."},{"insert":"\nWHY BUILD THE DECK THIS WAY?"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"The biggest reason is variance.\nI do not want this deck to play the same game twice.\nA traditional deck becomes more consistent as it becomes more optimized. Normally, that is a good thing.\nThis deck intentionally approaches consistency differently.\nI want the deck to be consistent at:\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"finding mana, drawing cards, interacting, protecting itself, and cloning things."},{"insert":"\nI do NOT necessarily want it to be consistent at:\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"winning the same way."},{"insert":"\nThe identity of the deck changes depending on the table.\nAgainst a creature deck, I may become the creature deck.\nAgainst a value deck, I may become the value deck.\nAgainst a deck built around enormous ETB creatures, suddenly I have enormous ETB creatures.\nAgainst a deck whose commander or centerpiece becomes absurd in multiples, Sakashima can turn that design restriction into a suggestion.\nThe stronger and stranger the opposing decks become, the more interesting my decisions become.\nThat is the point.\nWHY KODAMA OF THE EAST TREE?"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Kodama is what turns cloning from a cute value strategy into an engine.\nWhenever another permanent enters the battlefield under my control, if it was not put onto the battlefield by Kodama's ability, Kodama can allow me to put another permanent with equal or lesser mana value from my hand onto the battlefield.\nThat means a clone entering the battlefield can do much more than simply become the best creature on the board.\nIt can also generate another permanent from my hand.\nThat permanent can create another trigger.\nThe deck can turn a single clone into an avalanche of permanents very quickly.\nKodama also does something particularly important for this deck's philosophy:\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"it lets me exploit the cards I copy without requiring my deck to contain an enormous number of expensive threats of its own."},{"insert":"\nMy opponents supply the targets.\nMy deck supplies the infrastructure that lets me abuse them.\nWHY SAKASHIMA OF A THOUSAND FACES?"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Sakashima removes one of the fundamental restrictions that would otherwise limit the deck:\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"the legend rule."},{"insert":"\nNormally, copying a legendary permanent is awkward because controlling multiple legendary permanents with the same name forces me to choose one and put the others into the graveyard.\nSakashima changes that.\nAs long as I control Sakashima, the legend rule does not apply to permanents I control.\nThat turns legendary creatures from inconvenient clone targets into some of the BEST clone targets in the game.\nIf an opponent's commander has an ability that becomes ridiculous when duplicated, I do not have to stop at one.\nThe deck contains a large number of clone effects specifically because Sakashima allows those copies to coexist.\nAnd Sakashima himself can enter as a copy of another creature while retaining his ability that turns off the legend rule.\nThe result is the fundamental question this deck repeatedly asks:\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"\"This permanent is clearly designed around the assumption that there will only be one of it. What happens if there are five?\""},{"insert":"\nWHY PARTNER THESE TWO?"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Kodama provides acceleration and explosive permanent deployment.\nSakashima removes the legend rule and becomes another copy of the best creature available.\nTogether, they provide exactly what the deck needs without dictating what the deck must copy.\nThat distinction is important.\nThe commanders are not the win condition.\nThey are the "},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"machinery"},{"insert":".\nThe table supplies the ammunition.\nWHERE ARE THE WIN CONDITIONS?"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Mostly?\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"In everybody else's decks."},{"insert":"\nThat is intentional.\nThe deck does not need to devote fifteen slots to giant creatures when three opponents have already brought giant creatures for me.\nInstead, those slots can become:\nClone effects\nRamp\nCard draw\nProtection\nCountermagic\nRemoval\nUtility\nThis makes the deck unusually adaptable.\nThe creature that wins one game may not even exist in another game.\nSometimes I win with an opponent's giant trampler.\nSometimes I win with copies of an absurd value engine.\nSometimes I copy a creature that was never intended to be a win condition until there are six copies of it.\nSometimes an opponent plays exactly the wrong permanent against a deck containing this many clone effects and effectively hands me my game plan.\nThat uncertainty is not a weakness of the deck.\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"It is the reason the deck exists."},{"insert":"\nTHEN WHY IS CRATERHOOF BEHEMOTH IN HERE?"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Craterhoof Behemoth is the major exception to the philosophy above.\nIt is the deck's intentional emergency win condition.\nAnd its job is very simple:\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Make sure the fucking game eventually ends."},{"insert":"\nClone decks can generate enormous amounts of value without necessarily converting that value into a clean victory.\nKodama can flood the battlefield.\nSakashima can create absurd board states.\nThe deck can draw cards, counter threats, copy engines, and accumulate an overwhelming advantage.\nBut Commander games occasionally reach a point where everyone knows who is ahead and somehow nobody actually dies.\nI do not want a six-hour game.\nCraterhoof exists to prevent that.\nIt is not the primary plan.\nI am not spending the game aggressively tutoring for Craterhoof so I can execute the same kill every time.\nIt is the eject button.\nIf the deck has accumulated an enormous battlefield, the table has run out of meaningful answers, and the game needs to fucking end:\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Craterhoof ends it."},{"insert":"\nTHE DECK'S ACTUAL WIN CONDITION"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"The closest thing this deck has to a consistent win condition is not a particular card.\nIt is:\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Asymmetry."},{"insert":"\nI am trying to identify whichever permanent on the battlefield becomes substantially more powerful for ME to copy than it was for its original controller to cast.\nThen I multiply it.\nThis means target selection is the most important skill involved in piloting the deck.\nThe biggest creature is not necessarily the best clone target.\nThe most expensive creature is not necessarily the best clone target.\nThe creature that looks scariest is not necessarily the best clone target.\nOften, the best target is the permanent whose ability becomes exponentially more ridiculous when duplicated.\nTriggered abilities.\nStatic abilities.\nETB effects.\nMana multiplication.\nCard draw.\nToken generation.\nCost reduction.\nCombat bonuses.\nEffects whose designers clearly expected there to be one copy.\nThose are the cards I am looking for.\nDO NOT CLONE ON AUTOPILOT"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Before copying something, ask:\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"What happens if I have TWO of this?"},{"insert":"\nThen:\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"What happens if I have FIVE?"},{"insert":"\nThat second question is frequently much more important.\nA 12/12 becoming several 12/12s is good.\nA powerful triggered ability triggering five times may be game-ending.\nA replacement effect becoming multiplicative may completely break the game.\nA legendary creature balanced around uniqueness may become absurd once Sakashima removes that restriction.\nThe goal is not merely to copy value.\nThe goal is to identify "},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"scaling value"},{"insert":".\nPLAYING OTHER PEOPLE'S DECKS BETTER THAN THEY DO"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"The deck rewards knowing what everyone else's cards actually do.\nWhen somebody resolves a powerful permanent, I am immediately evaluating it from a different perspective than its owner.\nThey are asking:\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"\"What does this do for my deck?\""},{"insert":"\nI am asking:\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"\"What does this do if I control several of them?\""},{"insert":"\nThose can have VERY different answers.\nA card that is merely strong in the deck it came from can become completely unreasonable once removed from its intended context and multiplied.\nThat is where Versatile Cloning is at its best.\nINTERACTION IS PART OF THE ENGINE"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"The counterspells and removal in this deck are not simply defensive cards.\nThey allow me to choose which parts of the battlefield continue to exist.\nThat matters enormously in a strategy dependent on opposing permanents.\nI do not necessarily want to counter every powerful creature.\nSometimes somebody casting a ridiculous creature is the best thing that could happen to me.\nIf I can copy it, I may actively WANT it to resolve.\nThe cards I care most about stopping are often:\nEffects that prevent copying.\nEffects that shut down ETBs.\nEffects that remove my commanders or engines at critical moments.\nBoard wipes when I am heavily committed.\nCombo pieces that will end the game before I can exploit them.\nEffects that make the battlefield fundamentally hostile to my strategy.\nThis deck rewards patience.\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"A scary card is not automatically a card I want gone."},{"insert":"\nSometimes a scary card is inventory.\nWHY ARE THERE ALMOST NO BOARD WIPES?"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"This is intentional.\nVersatile Cloning generally does NOT want an empty battlefield.\nMost Commander decks evaluate an opponent's permanent primarily as a threat.\nThis deck evaluates it as both:\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"A threat AND a resource."},{"insert":"\nEvery interesting creature on the battlefield is another possible clone target.\nEvery powerful ETB ability is something I may be able to reproduce.\nEvery strange static or triggered ability creates another possible interaction.\nEvery legendary creature becomes especially interesting once Sakashima removes the legend rule.\nBecause of that, a loaded battlefield is often substantially better for this deck than an empty one.\nTHE BATTLEFIELD IS MY SECOND HAND"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"A useful way to understand the deck is:\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"My hand contains my clone spells."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"The battlefield contains many of the things those spells can become."},{"insert":"\nDestroying everything therefore destroys a significant portion of my own available options.\nIf three opponents collectively control fifteen creatures, I effectively have fifteen additional possibilities to consider whenever I draw a clone.\nIf I wipe the battlefield, those possibilities disappear.\nThat is why the deck has an intentional bias toward:\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Keeping interesting permanents alive."},{"insert":"\nI would much rather remove the ONE permanent that is actually causing a problem than erase an entire battlefield full of potential resources.\nREMOVAL SHOULD BE SURGICAL"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"The deck therefore strongly favors targeted interaction and countermagic over indiscriminate destruction.\nThe question is not:\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"\"Is that permanent powerful?\""},{"insert":"\nThe question is:\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"\"Does that permanent actually need to leave?\""},{"insert":"\nA giant creature may not need to leave.\nI may want to copy it.\nA powerful value engine may not need to leave.\nI may be able to exploit it better than its owner.\nA frightening commander may not need to leave.\nWith Sakashima available, that commander might be exactly what I want on the battlefield.\nThe things that DO need to leave are cards that:\nPrevent me from copying.\nShut down ETB abilities.\nThreaten to immediately end the game.\nMake my own board development impossible.\nPrevent me from interacting.\nCreate a resource advantage that I cannot realistically match by copying it.\nOr otherwise make the battlefield actively hostile to my strategy.\nThose are the things I want to counter or remove.\nWHY NOT PLAY MORE BOARD WIPES?"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Because deck slots have an opportunity cost.\nA board wipe might rescue me from one particular battlefield.\nBut most of the time, drawing that board wipe means I did NOT draw:\nA clone.\nProtection.\nCountermagic.\nRamp.\nCard advantage.\nTargeted interaction.\nOr another card that advances my actual strategy.\nI would rather construct the deck to be exceptionally good at exploiting creature-heavy battlefields and accept that this creates identifiable weaknesses.\nVersatile Cloning is NOT designed to have an equally strong answer to every possible board state.\nThat is intentional.\nMAJOR WEAKNESS — GOING WIDE"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"This philosophy creates one extremely obvious weakness:\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Token decks can absolutely fucking murder me."},{"insert":"\nThere is a huge difference between an opponent controlling:\nOne terrifying 15/15 creature\nand:\nOne hundred Goblins, Saprolings, Soldiers, Elves, Squirrels, Zombies, or other tokens.\nThe first situation is fantastic.\nI can copy the 15/15.\nI can potentially create several copies of the 15/15.\nI can use targeted interaction if the original becomes a problem.\nI can potentially turn my opponent's biggest threat into my biggest resource.\nThe second situation is much worse.\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Cloning one Goblin does not solve ninety-nine other Goblins."},{"insert":"\nThe deck's targeted removal is fundamentally inefficient against enormous quantities of individually disposable creatures.\nWithout a traditional suite of board wipes, a sufficiently large token army can simply overwhelm me.\nThis is one of the clearest weaknesses of the deck.\nOTHER MAJOR WEAKNESSES"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"1. THE TABLE DOESN'T GIVE ME GOOD TARGETS"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"The deck's greatest strength is also its most unusual weakness.\nI rely heavily on the quality of permanents available to copy.\nIf opponents are playing strategies with very few meaningful creatures or copyable permanents, many of my clone effects become substantially weaker.\nA clone is only as exciting as the battlefield allows it to be.\nAgainst creature-heavy decks, this deck can feel absurd.\nAgainst creature-light combo/control decks, I may have far fewer useful resources.\n2. GO-WIDE TOKEN STRATEGIES"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"This is probably the most obvious combat weakness.\nTwenty mediocre creatures can be more dangerous to this deck than one incredible creature.\nI am much better at exploiting QUALITY than answering QUANTITY.\n3. ETB HATE"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"A significant amount of the deck's explosive value comes from creatures entering the battlefield and the resulting triggered abilities.\nEffects that prevent or punish ETB triggers can severely reduce the value of both my clone effects and Kodama engine turns.\nThese effects deserve significantly more respect than an ordinary large creature.\n4. ANTI-COPY EFFECTS"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Anything that prevents permanents from being copied attacks the central premise of the deck.\nThese are priority interaction targets.\nI am willing to tolerate many powerful permanents.\nI am NOT willing to casually tolerate something that turns half my deck into bad cardboard.\n5. LOSING KODAMA DURING AN ENGINE TURN"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Kodama can turn individual permanent deployments into chains of additional permanents.\nIf I commit resources expecting Kodama triggers and Kodama is removed at the correct moment, my turn can become dramatically weaker.\nDo not confuse having protection with being obligated to use it.\nBut if Kodama is enabling an explosive turn, protecting him may be critical.\n6. LOSING SAKASHIMA AT THE WRONG TIME"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Sakashima's legend-rule ability can be fundamental to certain board states.\nIf my battlefield contains multiple legendary permanents with the same name because Sakashima has disabled the legend rule, losing Sakashima can create immediate consequences.\nWhen relying heavily on duplicated legendary permanents, protecting Sakashima becomes substantially more important.\n7. MY OWN SUCCESS MAKES BOARD WIPES DEVASTATING"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"The deck is very good at creating ridiculous battlefields.\nThat creates another weakness:\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Eventually somebody is going to look at my board and say absolutely fucking not."},{"insert":"\nOverextending into a board wipe can erase enormous amounts of accumulated value.\nJust because I CAN deploy another clone does not mean I SHOULD.\nOnce I already control the best battlefield, additional clones may be better held in hand as recovery.\n8. I DON'T HAVE A RELIABLE SCRIPTED WIN"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"This is intentional, but it remains a weakness.\nA conventional combo deck may reach a particular resource threshold and know:\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"\"I can win now.\""},{"insert":"\nThis deck often has to discover its win condition during the game.\nThat makes it adaptable, but it also makes it less deterministic.\nSometimes the battlefield gives me exactly what I need.\nSometimes it doesn't.\nSometimes I create an outrageous value engine that still doesn't actually kill anybody.\nThat is why Craterhoof Behemoth exists as the deck's emergency endgame.\nWHEN DO I ACTUALLY WANT THE BOARD EMPTY?"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Almost never.\nBut \"almost never\" is not \"never.\"\nIf the battlefield has reached a state where leaving everything alive means I lose the game, preserving potential clone targets is irrelevant.\nLikewise, if an opponent has assembled a creature board that I cannot reasonably exploit or survive, I have to stop treating those creatures as resources and start treating them as what they are:\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"A fucking problem."},{"insert":"\nThe philosophy is:\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Favor loaded boards."},{"insert":"\nIt is NOT:\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Die for the principle of loaded boards."},{"insert":"\nTHE FUNDAMENTAL TRADEOFF"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Versatile Cloning deliberately gives up some control over the battlefield in exchange for greater access to the battlefield.\nThat means the deck is unusually comfortable sitting across from several powerful creatures.\nIn fact, that is often exactly where I want to be.\nBut it is much less comfortable against enormous numbers of interchangeable creatures or strategies that do not provide useful copy targets.\nThis is not an accidental deckbuilding flaw that needs to be patched until it disappears.\nIt is the cost of the strategy.\nI built the deck to look across a loaded Commander battlefield and see possibilities instead of problems.\nSometimes that means an opponent plays Nyxbloom Ancient and accidentally gives me the best card in my deck.\nSometimes that means somebody makes 100 Saprolings and I die like an asshole.\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"That's the deal."},{"insert":"\nPROTECTION MATTERS MORE THAN IT LOOKS"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"The deck contains powerful protection because its most explosive turns often depend on keeping an established engine alive.\nKodama surviving can be the difference between playing one permanent and deploying an entire hand.\nSakashima surviving can be the difference between controlling a collection of absurd legendary copies and suddenly having the legend rule matter again.\nCards such as Heroic Intervention and Veil of Summer are therefore not merely generic defensive spells.\nThey protect the infrastructure that allows the clone engine to become ridiculous.\nLikewise, free or efficient countermagic lets the deck commit mana to developing its board while retaining the ability to protect the turn that matters.\nPOLITICS"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"This deck has an unusual political advantage:\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"I frequently want my opponents to do cool shit."},{"insert":"\nI am not necessarily trying to prevent everybody from developing.\nIf somebody wants to spend seven mana casting an enormous creature with a ridiculous triggered ability, I may be the last person at the table who wants to counter it.\nThat can create temporary alliances.\nIt also creates a warning for opponents:\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Be very careful what you give me access to."},{"insert":"\nIf you cast the best creature at the table, you should assume I am now considering it part of my deck.\nTHE IDEAL GAME"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"The ideal game does NOT look like:\nRamp → tutor predetermined combo → assemble combo → win.\nThe ideal game looks like:\nDevelop mana.\nEstablish Kodama and/or Sakashima.\nWatch the table.\nInteract only when necessary.\nIdentify the permanent that scales most dangerously in multiples.\nCopy it.\nCopy it again.\nUse Kodama to turn those clone deployments into additional permanents.\nProtect the resulting engine.\nAdapt as the battlefield changes.\nEventually reach a board state where I am doing something that absolutely was not supposed to happen.\nAnd if somehow everybody is still alive after all of that:\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Fine. Here's Craterhoof. Go home."},{"insert":"\nPILOTING MINDSET"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"This deck should never be piloted from a rigid script.\nEvery game asks different questions because every table supplies different resources.\nThe important questions are:\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"What is the best thing on the battlefield?"},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Is it actually the best thing to COPY?"},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"What becomes broken in multiples?"},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"What should I allow to resolve because I can exploit it?"},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"What absolutely must be countered?"},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Do I need Kodama right now, Sakashima right now, or both?"},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Can I safely commit more clones, or should I hold some after a potential board wipe?"},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"What does my hand become capable of if this opponent's permanent remains alive?"},{"insert":"\nAnd most importantly:\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"How can I make somebody else's game plan become my game plan — except worse for everybody else?"},{"insert":"\nTL;DR"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"My opponents bring the win conditions."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"I bring the photocopier."},{"insert":"\nKodama turns copies into explosive board development.\nSakashima lets legendary permanents exist in numbers they were never designed to exist in.\nThe deck deliberately avoids relying on its own traditional win conditions because doing so would make games more repetitive and undermine the reason I built the deck.\nCraterhoof Behemoth is the exception.\nHe is not Plan A.\nHe is not even Plan B.\nHe's the guy who turns the lights off when everybody has overstayed their welcome.\n"}]}