There’s nothing like those first few turns when you play a new opponent, or when an old nemesis brings a new deck to the tabletop. It’s the tension and thrill of trying to work out just what kind of deck they’re playing. You survey their lands; you give careful consideration to the colors, tribe and abilities of the creatures they play; you pay close attention to what types of instants & sorceries are cast. Furthermore, you know full well your opponent is sizing you up in exactly the same manner. So when you plop a mountain down and use it to create a goblin or human token with this deck, your whole aim is to present a false image. To that end, let’s discuss these little misdirections individually.
Satyr's Cunning
works beautifully in this build as a cheap, recursive token producer. Since the deck is loaded with instants and sorceries just waiting to be sent to the graveyard, there will be more than enough fuel should the need arise to pay its escape cost later on.
Dragon Fodder
is simple and unpretentious about what it is and what it does.
Forbidden Friendship
is here mostly for variety, but having hasty tokens is never a bad thing.
Callous Dismissal
is great at controlling tempo while also creating a nice token. The only downside is casting more than one won’t produce additional tokens if one is already in play. But that’s not much of a drawback here, really.
Speaking of tempo,
Opt
brings deck manipulation to the table. It’s quite nice to peel that top card away and relegate it to the bottom if it’s not exactly what you’re after.
Peer through the depths is the closest we’ll come to a real tutor here; using it we can sift through our top 5 cards and find what will hopefully be our win-con, when we’re ready.
Quicken
lets us set up a surprise play on an opponent’s turn that wouldn’t be possible otherwise. Few people come prepared to have the other player cast sorcery spells on their turn. Just be sure to have the requisite amount of mana on hand, if you plan to cast this spell.
