Unconventional Magic from an Unconventional Monk

Commander / EDH Burn Creature Cheat Dragons Monk Primer Prowess RUW (Jeskai, America) Spellslinger

mudkipdude

Creature (22)

• 1x Archmage Emeritus
• 1x Backdraft Hellkite
• 1x Balmor, Battlemage Captain
• 1x Bloodwater Entity
• 1x Cunning Breezedancer
• 1x Dragonlord Ojutai
• 1x Elsha of the Infinite
• 1x Enigma Drake
• 1x Exalted Flamer of Tzeentch
• 1x Goblin Electromancer
• 1x Hypersonic Dragon
• 1x Leonin Lightscribe
• 1x Maelstrom Muse
• 1x Niv-Mizzet, Parun
• 1x Ojutai, Soul of Winter
• 1x Pristine Skywise
• 1x Smoldering Egg  ^Flip
• 1x Spectacle Mage
• 1x Sprite Dragon
• 1x Triskaidekaphile
• 1x Velomachus Lorehold
• 1x Zurgo and Ojutai

Sorcery (11)

• 1x Angelfire Ignition
• 1x Apex of Power
• 1x Banefire
• 1x Beacon Bolt
• 1x Collected Conjuring
• 1x Crackle with Power
• 1x Epic Experiment
• 1x Grapeshot
• 1x Inspired Ultimatum
• 1x Karn's Temporal Sundering
• 1x Solar Blaze

Land (40)

• 1x Azorius Chancery
• 1x Boros Garrison
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Haven of the Spirit Dragon
• 7x Island
• 1x Izzet Boilerworks
• 8x Mountain
• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 1x Mystic Monastery
• 7x Plains
• 1x Skycloud Expanse
• 1x Swiftwater Cliffs
• 1x Temple of Enlightenment
• 1x Temple of Epiphany
• 1x Temple of Triumph
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Tranquil Cove
• 1x Wind-Scarred Crag

Planeswalker (6)

• 1x Grand Master of Flowers
• 1x Jaya Ballard
• 1x Jaya, Fiery Negotiator
• 1x Narset of the Ancient Way
• 1x Ral, Izzet Viceroy
• 1x Rowan, Scholar of Sparks  ^Flip

Enchantment (4)

• 1x Assemble the Legion
• 1x Cloven Casting
• 1x Cryptic Pursuit
• 1x Sorcerer Class

Commander (1)

Instant (11)

• 1x Absorb
• 1x Blue Sun's Zenith
• 1x Channeled Force
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Firemind's Foresight
• 1x Flying Crane Technique
• 1x Izzet Charm
• 1x Jeskai Charm
• 1x Lightning Bolt
• 1x Practical Research
• 1x Shock

Artifact (5)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Commander's Sphere
• 1x Mox Tantalite
• 1x Nyx Lotus
• 1x Sol Ring

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Maybeboard

Enchantment (1)

• 1x Firemind's Research

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I loved Narset ever since I found out she was on the spectrum, not to mention she's from my favourite plane, Tarkir. I am autistic too, so it's good to see a major character on the spectrum. When I found out that many planeswalkers were getting desparked, I had mixed feelings. On one hand, I don't want Narset to lose her powers. On the other, a new Narset that I could use as my commander was great. Thus, the deckbuilding started. Along the way, this kind of turned into a burn/draw deck, but the core idea was making a instant/sorcery-focused deck that won through damage. Unconventional Magic. This deck will evolve, but as of right now I just wanted a start on a cool new card. Please note that when I say "spells" in this primer, I mean Instant and/or Sorcery spells.

Narset, Enlightened Exile

Our commander. The first ability is our Unconventional enabler. If we are casting noncreatures every turn, our basic creatures, who generally have 2 or 3 as their power, gain +1/+1 for every noncreature spell we cast that turn, of which we have 24! of within the 2-4 mana range. Her second ability is good, but the phrasing and the trigger doesn't help. If we've already had combat, what use will triggering prowess be when it'll all go away at the end step? Other than that, getting a free Inspired Ultimatum or something like that (assuming prowess triggered enough time during your first main phase).

Creatures

• Archmage Emeritus has Magecraft, which can turn our prowess into a draw engine, possibly for more prowess. Getting our spells for early game damage is massive, especially when it's four mana and an easy trigger
• Backdraft Hellkite. Getting to cast our spells twice is vital, even if it has the same problem as Narset's second ability.
• Balmor, Battlemage Captain gives us another prowess trigger, and trample means that your creatures that you spent so much time getting to 8/8 with your spells can't be utterly defeated by a simple 0/1 Plant. And for 2 (two!) mana, getting this card late game or early game is a win.
• Bloodwater Entity has inbuilt prowess, which stacks with the prowess from Narset, plus a spell back to the top is great if you had to discard something good, but it isn't necessary at times. By now, if you didn't go through the cards and skipped straight to the primer (like I occasionally do) you're starting to realize just how many cards have flying in this deck. Why? Unblockable damage from a creature with Prowess, the ability that can buff your creatures infinitely if you have the right setup.
• Cunning Breezedancer has inbuilt prowess 2, so let's make it 3! This will quickly become a target from your enemies once you have it at a 13/13 wit flying after 3 spells though, so try to give it hexproof or protection. Good tutor material too.
• Dragonlord Ojutai, Ojutai, Soul of Winter, Zurgo and Ojutai. If you know me, then you know why I included this card. If you don't, then let's go with "I included it for lore reasons."
• Elsha of the Infinite is NOT an infinite combo piece, as far as I know. But inbuilt Prowess and an ability specifically made for prowess is a good addition, in my belief. Good tutor material.
• Enigma Drake. Hrmm I wonder why I put an inbuilt permanent prowess in a prowess deck that centers around also casting the triggers from the graveyard, where it's power lies.
• card:exalted-flamer-of-tzeetch. This took me a good five minutes to put into the deck creator. Very good abilities. Shocking once a turn? Beautiful. The second ability allows us to instead of Shock, Lightning Bolt. Scary.
• Goblin Electromancer. Need I say it?
• Hypersonic Dragon. Just a little buffing, for everyone. Imagine dropping a X=5+ Banefire or Crackle with Power on some poor guys end step.
• Leonin Lightscribe is a second Narset, with another global prowess. Tutor this if you can.
• Maelstrom Muse. A buffing of spells. Cast 4 spells during your first main stage, attack with this, then drop a X=3 Crackle with Power in the end to demolish opponents.
• Niv-Mizzet, Parun. Out of the Izzet Nivs, this is a. the one I'm most familiar with, and b. probably the best for this deck.
• Pristine Skywise. This ridiculous attacker gives itself a pseudo-prowess with protection, which for some reason makes it more offensive than your regular ol' dragon with prowess.
• Smoldering Egg  . If you have a good turn, you can transform it into Ashmouth Dragon   in a single turn. Then it's just a Shock EVERY. SINGLE. SPELL.
• Spectacle Mage. Three words. X. Mana. Spells. Otherwise, not a lot of spells benefit from this.
• Sprite Dragon. I used this in my other Niv-Mizzet deck, but a permanent prowess is nice, even if it takes a while to get set up.
• Triskaidekaphile was only added as an alternate wincon if something went wrong. Given that the this deck puts all its eggs in one basket, so getting that shut down requires an alternate wincon.
• Velomachus Lorehold. Look at it and ask me why it's in this deck.

Lands

• I run 7 Islands, 7 Plains and 8 Mountains.
• I run the three return lands.
• I run the three scry lands.
• I run the three lifegain lands.
• I run Mystic Monastery, the tri colour land.
• I run Terramorphic Expanse, Myriad Landscape and Evolving Wilds. It is commander, after all.
• And finally Skycloud Expanse, which comes in untapped, Command Tower, need I explain it, and Temple of the False God.

Planeswalkers

Grand Master of Flowers. I may not have Monk of the Open Hand, but control is great. Plus, once he gets to 7, he gain prowess like everything else.

Jaya. Just a sweet old grandma OF FLAMES AND DESTRUCTION BY GOD THE CITY IS BURNING.

• Jaya Ballard.
• +1: 3 mana? Just for me? No? Just for spells? Ok.
• +1: Not as good as the last one, but if you have say, a Jeskai Charm that you wouldn't mind casting at the end of combat every turn, you could do that.
• -8: This emblem gets us so much value, it's almost funny. I'm not really sure what else to write here.
Right. I run two Jayas. Jaya, Fiery Negotiator is a 4 ability card.
• +1: Double prowess tokens. Always nice for more blockers.
• -1: Not useful, but if you're in a pinch, something useful might come out of it.
• -2: Good for removal, but it's a shame you can't activate it during combat.
• -8: This has more value than her other emblem. It combos into cards like Leonin Lightbringer, it's ridiculous with high-mana cards like Inspired Ultimatum and Crackle with Power.

Narset? I thought you lost your spark? Narset of the Ancient Way is a great card, fitting in thematically (sort of) and mechanically. Not to mention she's quick with her ult.

• +1: Lifegain works, I guess. The second bit is great, having choice mana helps a lot.
• -2: Card advantage is nice, but doesn't work as well as it could. It would work better in a different deck, but we wouldn't be using it for this purpose anyways.
• -6: Just a little Shock every spell. You know, just a little good.

Ral. Specifically Ral, Izzet Viceroy. Lots of value.

• +1: It's similiar to Jaya, Fiery Negotiator's minus one.
• -3: How would this be bad? By the time you have 5 mana, you'd likely have a couple spells in your graveyard, so it's pretty easy to activate as removal. The best part about this is it counts the cards in exile too. Lots of value in the deck sends spells into exile, so that not affecting this whatsoever makes this a value engine.
• -8: It's just a double of Narset's ult, with a draw engine built in. Great value.

Will  and Rowan  both have spell cost reduction, which gives them a lot of value in this deck, but rowan is the one we care about.

• +1: We have lots of card advantage in the deck, giving us 3 damage consistently.
• -4: How much value? Yes. Any of our X spells benefit much more from this than, say, Shock.

Enchantments And Artifacts

• Arcane Signet, Sol Ring, Commander's Sphere. It's commander, what did you expect.
• Mox Tantalite. This card is not hard to see the value of, but I like it simply because it has an idea, it does it well, and it's a personal favourite.
• Nyx Lotus. My secret weapon. It scales well, and in mono-coloured decks, especially green or creature central decks generate ridiculous amounts of mana.
• Sorcerer Class is ridiculous. At level one it has exchange, level 2 generates mana in the slow parts of the game, and at level three provides such ridiculous synergy you might win the game next turn.
• Assemble the Legion. Look at me and tell me it wasn't designed for this. But giving them prowess and finding smart ways to use cards is Unconventional. Perfect for... Unconventional Magic!
• Cloven Casting. 1 mana for a second spell. I like multicolour, so getting more of them feels good. A bit expensive mana-wise though.
• Cryptic Pursuit. Certainly a cryptic card. It combos off itself, which is always fun, and with prowess you could most likely combo off it for lots of power.

The Spells

• Angelfire Ignition. This card can just that little extra damage in a fight, not to mention it gives trample, so say by to all the little plants trying to stop your spell-blooded creature.
• Apex of Power is good for getting extra cards out as buffs. The refund mana to cast the spells you exile helps out a lot if this is all your mana.
• Banefire is just straight up burn. get a lot of mana, spend it all on this, and watch your opponents steady life total crumble away
• Beacon Bolt has excellent synergy, and it's jump-start cost buffs it if you discard a spell
• Collected Conjuring allows you to cheat out spells for free, and pop a beacon bolt to deal massive damage. Sometimes
• Crackle with Power is a ridiculous card, and if put in a ramp deck, this would destroy. It is actually cheaper than you'd think, too. X=1 costs less that an X=5 Banefire, even if it has that bonus.
• Epic Experiment has a cool rule that allows us to do X=4 and be able to cast, likelihood is, 3 out of the four cards we exile, what with our mana curve.
• Grapeshot. Go ahead, tell me what's wrong with a storm card in a deck that focuses on casting as many spells as possible.
• Inspired Ultimatum. unga bunga big magic cost i can see lots of symbols ooh look at that powers too
• Karn's Temporal Sundering. Such a cool name. Plus, pop this when they've gone all out and get 2 turns of prowess damage for one.
• Solar Blaze. Several of the creatures we control have higher toughness than power, turning this into a one-sided boardwipe if possible.
• Absorb and Counterspell are good nice if they pull out a Narset of their own, especially if it's the one with "your opponent can't cast noncreature spells".
• Blue Sun's Zenith. Blue staple, and the card advantage is crazy.
• Channeled Force is a mediocre card at best, and lore is the only thing stopping it from going to the chopping block for something better. Otherwise, decent removal of both useless cards and creatures.
• Firemind's Foresight is a good tutor, maybe for a counterspell or an X spell.
• Flying Crane Technique. Flight and Double strike for our high power creatures. Well deserving of a tutor.
• Izzet Charm. A counter, a Shock or a draw/discard. Good value for two mana
• Jeskai Charm. Removal, double shock or buff. Also good value
• Lightning Bolt, Shock. Need I say it?
• Practical Research has good card advantage, and good semi-synergy

DISCLAIMER: THIS DECK IS PRONE TO MILL LOSS. THIS IS YOUR WARNING.

Date added	1 year
Last updated	1 year
Exclude colors	BG
Splash colors	WUR
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	15 - 0 Mythic Rares 31 - 0 Rares 18 - 0 Uncommons 11 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.86
Tokens	Elemental 4/4 UR, Emblem Jaya Ballard, Emblem Jaya Negotiator, Emblem Narset of the Ancient Way, Emblem Ral, Izzet Viceroy, Emblem Rowan, Scholar of Sparks, Manifest 2/2 C, Monk 1/1 R, Morph 2/2 C, Soldier 1/1 RW