This week, Lydia and JJ took some new topics for a spin. First, we reviewed our deckbuilding process, and not just another guide on how to select lands or build a curve. Instead we created a list of universal questions that help create the shape of any style deck.

After that we took a dive into a listener suggested combo using Jace, Wielder of Mysteries, Lost Legacy, and any card that allows any number of copies. For the first time we built our decks live on the air!

Lydia ended up with a Persistent Petitioners deck that splashes in a couple Fraying Sanity, and a playset of Ipnu Rivulet to try to gain extra self-mill value. 30 Petitioners rounds out the deck. Fabled Passage and a test copy of Evolving Wilds will help thin out the deck, especially after a Lost Legacy.

JJ opted for Shadowborn Apostle which also allows any number of copies. Being cheaper and needing 6 (rather than 4 like Petitioners) means we’ll need some easy draw, so we added Castle Locthwain. Since we hope to have 5 or 6 of them, we also decided to test a pair of Westvale Abbey. If we manage to land 6 apostles, we can sac them to fetch Demonlord Belzenlok who helps empty the graveyard

We also considered a Rat Colony deck, which would allow us to build a small army of ever-growing rats to hide behind while we look for our Jace and LL.

If you try either deck, leave us a comment to let us know how it goes. This week’s Decks

JJ’s Shadowborn Apostle build: https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/jaces-legacy-shadowborn-apostle-edition

Lydia’s Persistent Petitioners build: https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/jaces-legacy-persistent-petitioners-edition

Deckbuilding questions to ask yourself

• What is your plan?
• • What is your win condition?
  • • What is the winning board state?
    • What is your backup plan(s)?
  • How do you gather resources?
  • • Mana/lands
    • • Curving out may be fine or you may need mana dorks or ramp spells
    • Creatures
    • • Do you need a certain density of creatures?
    • Cards
    • • Aggro decks will use starting resources, but control requires a lot of card draw.
• How do you deal with your opponent?
• • What considerations do you have to make for the meta?
  • • This is a fairly advanced consideration but bears thinking about.
  • How do you protect yourself?
  • • Are you susceptible to any specific color, deck, or archetype?
    • How do you protect your resources, including your last life point?
  • How do you disrupt your opponent’s plan?
  • • Creature and Planeswalker removal
    • Artifact/Enchantment hate
    • Graveyard hate and other statics (e.g. Ashiok Dream Render)

Where to find us:

Decklists are hosted on TappedOut.net: http://tappedout.net/users/CleverCombo/mtg-decks/

Email: [email protected]

Website:  www.clevercombopodcast.com

Twitter: twitter.com/clever_combo