This deck is how to play Kiora, Master of the Depths in T2 mode.Kiora, Master of the Depths is like a cross between Garruk Wildspeaker and Jace, Architect of Thought two cards that were staples in Standard and that have seen fringe Modern playalthough she has a harder time protecting herself and doesnt provide much help when youre behind on board.
Let's see what she can do:
+1: Untap up to one target creature and up to one target land.This ability provides mana while untapping a utility creature, a blocker, or an awakened land. Free mana is always good, and untapping a decent blocker like Savage Knuckleblade or Mage-Ring Responder (perhaps after they attacked a planeswalker on the other side of the board) can help protect Kiora. Your deck should be built to take advantage of this, however. I would want at least 12 good creatures of 3 mana or less in my Kiora deck.
-2: Reveal the top four cards of your library. You may put a creature card and/or a land card from among them into your hand. Put the rest into your graveyard.Four mana for two instances of this effect would already be a good deal, but how reliable is it? Naturally, I did the math on it. As it turns out, in a typical deck with 24 lands, 24 creatures, and 12 other spells, Kioras -2 yields the following probability distribution for an expected total of 1.77 cards drawn.
Land and creature: 77.1%
Land but no creature: 11.4%
Creature but no land: 11.4%
No land or creature: 0.1%
All in all, Id say her -2 is about as good as drawing 2 cards. You get fewer than 2 cards in expectation, but thats compensated by the card selection and the fact that cards go to the graveyard. This graveyard aspect means that Kiora can fill a similar role as Satyr Wayfinder.
-8: You get an emblem with "Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control, you may have it fight target creature." Then put three 8/8 blue Octopus creature tokens onto the battlefield.The emblem is merely the part in quotation marks. Then the Octopuses, which aren't part of the emblem text, go on the battlefield and fight.This ultimate is a clear game-winner, but youll rarely use it. You need to tick up for four turns unopposed before you get to 8 loyalty, which is an unlikely play pattern.Kioras real power lies in her +1 and -2 abilities, so Ill provide two Standard decks to showcase their respective power.
I also add Sarkhan Unbroken to give more power on a Temur's RUG deck. He could cast a 4/4 flying dragon with his second ability or, more important, he could make you draw for free, and add one mana to your mana pool with his 1st ability. His 1st ability also works very well with the Kiora's 1st abilty. Damn! 2 STRONK!
During your first and second turn you must cast for 2 mana Rattleclaw Mystic or Whisperer of the Wilds. If you dont have them in your hand, just reroll and shuffle your deck again.
During your third turn is where the fun begin: you have 4 mana to spend and you could cast Savage Knuckleblade with haste or you could cast Temur Ascendancy and wait your next rounds to deal a lot of damage with other powerfull creatures. If you cant cast them, you just wait and ramp with another Rattleclaw Mystic.
During your subsequents round you can cast whatever you want, you could destroy their stupid creatures with a Wild Slash or the most stronger creatures with Crater's Claws.
With Dragonlord Atarka and Mage-Ring Responder you also deal TONS OF DAMAGE!!
I forgot to quote Hangarback Walker, but, you know, it's the most stronger card of this season, so you can cast it whenever you want. It has a good synergy with Kiora, Master of the Depths and her +1.
