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Kaya, Geist Hunter
Legendary Planeswalker — Kaya
+1: Creatures you control gain deathtouch until end of turn. Put a +1/+1 counter on up to one target creature token you control.
-2: Until end of turn, if one or more tokens would be created under your control, twice that many of of those tokens are created instead.
-6: Exile all cards from all graveyards, then create a 1/1 white Spirit creature token with flying for each card exiled this way.





Crow_Umbra on
Musashi's Mosh Pit [Primer]
5 months ago
Thank you for checking out the deck and offering some suggestions, Craeter, I appreciate it. I'm overdue on doing a year end wrap up of the various changes I've made this year. Definitely overdue for a primer update in general; I've been meaning to expand on a couple of sections and clean up organization in general. In regards to your suggestions:
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I used to play Sword of the Animist in some of the earliest iterations of this deck, from like February 2022 to at most the following year. A core memory was an early game where I pulled all of the basics out of my deck with the Sword, & my play group saw how this would be a problem. Over time, I've moved away from playing equipment much beyond the Lightning Greaves variants and Skullclamp, especially outside of dedicated Equipment strats. They're useful, but I don't like the play pattern of equipment costs, especially when I run lots of cheap instant speed interaction, that I feel those costs can compete with. I think as I optimized my mana base, Land Tax effectively took the slot that Sword used to be in.
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I'll keep that Kaya in mind. I played Kaya, Geist Hunter for a bit for her anthem effect and token doubling. Planeswalkers don't see a whole lot of play in my play groups because of how aggro and go-wide they primarily lean. Walkers tend to get attacked and removed very quickly.
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Nahiri's Resolve is interesting as an anthem & means of re-setting creatures at end of turn. For a Haste anthem, 5 mana feels kind of slow, especially when there are other haste anthems in the 3-4 cmc range that also offer a power buff in addition to haste. I think this could be a stronger piece in a deck with a more dedicated suite of creatures or artifacts with ETB effects.
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Etali, Primal Storm is another card I used to play in Isshin. There were turns where it popped off & got some really cool pulls off its doubled trigger. The majority of the time I played it, Etali tended to eat targeted removal and board wipes, or the attack triggers whiffed. It's a fun card, but very boom or bust. Big Red effects are fun, but after a while I craved more consistency.
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Mangara, the Diplomat was in some of the earliest iterations of this deck (maybe like the first 4 months). I found that my playgroup would play around Mangara in a way that he didn't feel super impactful. Some of the earliest archetype shifts that I made for this deck were cutting the more defensive pillow-fort effects like Mangara and Emberwilde Captain, and leaning much more into being proactive with my own aggro. I've found that Authority of the Consuls and similar effects have been wonderful here because they hamper early aggro, or cheaply come down when the table is in board-wipe recovery mode and helps me get out ahead.
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I played Gloin briefly in my old Prosper, Tome-Bound
deck. Gimli feels like it could be a budget alternative to Professional Face-Breaker, or put in work in a more Legendary focused deck, like you suggested. I toyed around with the idea of a Shanid, Sleepers' Scourge Mardu Legends deck about a year ago, and I think these two Dwarves and Galadriel's Mirror would be more at home there.
Thank you again for the suggestions.
Crow_Umbra on
Isshin, Two Combats as One
1 year ago
Thanks for checking my deck out, I appreciate it! No prob, happy to help.
Some of your swaps look pretty good. I would still recommend to try some lower cmc rocks than Chromatic Orrery. That 7 cmc can be a bit steep for ramp that's supposed to help set up more on earlier turns. Even Cursed Mirror could be a cool option since it can ETB as a copy of any creature and act as ramp.
If you want to round out your go-wide theme a bit more, I'd recommend Commissar Severina Raine as another group slug option that can also act as a draw piece.
Ojer Taq, Deepest Foundation Flip is pretty cool. If you want to lean into the group slug damage stuff, give Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might Flip another look. Most of the ping damage in the group slug stuff is 1-2 damage, so Ojer Axonil would bump that up to 4. Most of the group slug/ping options used by Isshin decks are Red. Speaking of which, Impact Tremors, Witty Roastmaster, and Purphoros, God of the Forge are all great options if you're going to be cranking out creature tokens.
Mondrak, Glory Dominus has been really solid for me as a token doubler and solid attacker/defender from the Indestructible counter. Mondrak also has a bit more versatility than Ojer Taq, since it can double all your tokens, although tripling creature tokens is pretty cool.
If you like the deathtouch anthem from Ankle Shanker, def check out Vault of the Archangel and Kaya, Geist Hunter. Kaya is also another token doubler that is a more budget option than both Mondrak and Ojer Taq.
Best of luck with your deck. Keep me posted on how it works out for you
Darb_the_Bard on
Buttercup: Princess Bride
1 year ago
It's probably a meta call. If you find that you don't need as much protection, it makes sense to take out Linvala or Jirina and add something more proactive like Kaya, Geist Hunter. As for the mana rocks, I definitely want Relic of Legends over Chromatic Lantern. I have found in my playtesting that I normally have ways to get all 5 colors, and that will only improve with the two enchant lands we just added, so I don't think the Lantern's effect is necessary. And the Relic can get just silly. If you have at least 4 creatures in play, it will also generate all 5 colors of mana while leaving all your lands available. Plus it taps your legendary creatures (they don't tap themselves) so it gets around summoning sickness. Any creature you cast or tutor for can instantly be tapped for mana that same turn. If you play a 2-drop legendary on turn 2, then this instantly creates two mana on turn 3. On turn 4 we are guaranteed to be able to play Buttercup and get Jegantha into our hand as long as we hit each land drop (or we can even miss a land drop if we play a legendary on turn 2). If you want the Lantern, I would probably cut almost any other ramp source before I cut Relic of Legends.
Remember, if you really need to block you don't need to tap your creatures for mana. And it still taps for one mana of any color in that situation, which puts it on par with the Lantern.
Of course, that's just my opinion. There will inevitably be some games where I wish I had the Chromatic Lantern's effect, but again, if I really wanted to make room for it I would probably cut Utopia Sprawl or Nature's Lore or even Arcane Signet before I cut the Relic because of how crazy the upside is in this deck.
Darb_the_Bard on
Buttercup: Princess Bride
1 year ago
rwn1971 I do like Kaya, Geist Hunter for her synergies with both deathtouch and +1/+1 counters. And I like the additional synergies you pointed out with creatures tokens (pulling that off with Hornet Nest seems awesome). She was originally in the list but I cut her due to concerns of being able to protect her as a planeswalker. Ironically, she is stronger now from the standpoint that fewer of our creatures naturally have deathtouch, thus her ability to grant deathtouch to all our creatures is more helpful. However, she is weaker from the standpoint that we have fewer cheap deathtouch creatures that could come down early and dissuade attackers. I probably need to view her more as a finisher where I play her to immediately grant all creatures deathtouch, hopefully after already having a big board with Westley and a way to give everything trample. But then, what would you cut?
It's definitely getting harder to make cuts. Thanks for all your thoughts.
rwn1971 on
Buttercup: Princess Bride
1 year ago
The more i look at Kaya, Geist Hunter the more i want to put her in. Giving my party deathtouch and if i want i can possibly get more rate tokens from Skittles and Pack Rat and also insect tokens. I did miss a draw combo you got Dynaheir, Invoker Adept + Kenrith, the Returned King = draw 2 cards .
rwn1971 on
Buttercup: Princess Bride
1 year ago
Personally i just do not like having my opponent drawing extra card. You still got 8 deathtouch creatures plus insects from Hornet Nest and you got Spark Double Majestic Myriarch Nashi, Moon's Legacy Odric, Lunarch Marshal Eater of Virtue Agent's Toolkit . And being a Monarch for that extra draw you do not need when you got Damia, Sage of Stone Staff of Compleation Garruk's Uprising Glissa Sunslayer Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain Kenrith, the Returned King Leinore, Autumn Sovereign Reki, the History of Kamigawa and Shanid, Sleepers' Scourge . But you also have Kaya, Geist Hunter in your maybe board if you really want deathtouch .
Lightningbolter on
1 year ago
Thanks for all this, one of the best parts of brewing is talking about the brew and you're helping me a lot with this.
Yes i like Rising of the Day better than Emblem of the Warmind I just found Emblem really, I didn't know a similar effect existed.
Myriad is quite nice with isshin I haven't looked at all the options with it tho, I do like Elturel Survivors quite a bit better.
Ankle Shanker was one of my first pics for this deck actually, deathtouch and first strike is one of the most lethal combinations of keywords I can think of lol, Pyreheart Wolf was just a put it in to fill the slot so to speak, I like Kaya, Geist Hunter will slot in perfectly for a few reasons, Vault of the Archangel is a rather useful utility land definitely in consideration.
Lightning Runner will definitely have a bullseye on his back as soon as he hits the board, so if the deck doesn't get to pricy with it Aurelia, the Warleader I'll definitely add her.
Dolmen Gate and Clever Concealment are definitely something needed and will be on the list of things to add.
I love Firemane Commando she's definitely going in the list, she draws and potentially keeps heat off of me while she lasts, Chivalric Alliance and Minas Tirith are good cards I may add them later, as of now I like my instant/sorcery draw cards as they don't require anything to draw and they're a good bit cheaper (money wise) than the ones you recommend, but they are nice.
I was thinking Signets would be better than more land as you can only play a land a turn but Artifacts can be played more than once adding to isshin getting the ball rolling faster, how many lands would you have?
Didn't even think of effects like Impact Tremors with the tokens, I wasn't quite sure how they'd work with Adeline, Resplendent Cathar and Myrel, Shield of Argive but absolutely adding those type of effects now lol.
Which instants/Sorceries would you cut? Because I was going to do the same but I can't decide on a proper ratio of target removal, draw etc.
And yes all this info is a great help to me, keep it coming if you want I'm loving this, amd thanks again.
Crow_Umbra on
1 year ago
No prob, I'm happy to help. Isshin is my favorite commander of the past year, and one I've had a lot of fun playing. Happy to chat about Isshin theory.
I think he has some awesome options that should fit well within your budget. In looking at your list a bit more, and considering what you have in mind, here are some more thoughts I have:
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You are correct about Shakedown Heavy. I'd say give it a try and see how you like its play pattern irl.
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I'd recommend swapping Emblem of the Warmind with Rising of the Day. Emblem is cheaper, but is more vulnerable to incidental removal as an Aura. Rising of the Day also has a helpful little buff for your Legends.
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I think Myriad in general is great with Isshin, and would recommend checking out Elturel Survivors as a potential swap with Coastline Marauders.
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Ankle Shanker could be a potential swap with Pyreheart Wolf in terms of its keyword anthems. Similarly, Vault of the Archangel and Kaya, Geist Hunter are additional death touch anthems. Kaya can also be a budget token doubler.
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You can potentially replace Lightning Runner with Aurelia, the Warleader. I think she should be under $10 now due to some of her recent reprintings. On the note of getting multiple attack steps, I think 2-3 effects are plenty, since they act more as finishers.
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Although they're a bit over your budget, I'd recommend Dolmen Gate and Clever Concealment as board protection options. Isshin thrives on maintaining a strong board presence, so anything that can proactively do that, or do so at instant speed can do a lot to keep your momentum going.
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If you want to expand your draw options, Chivalric Alliance, Firemane Commando, and Minas Tirith are all newer options that could be worth looking at.
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33 lands is a liiiitle low, I think you can cut a couple of the Signets for a couple more lands.
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Since you already have a few effects that make creature tokens, I think that group-slug effects like Impact Tremors, Hellrider, and Commissar Severina Raine to name a few can help you really punch damage around the table. While the power/toughness anthems are helpful more so for helping your board survive attacks, they aren't as helpful if your board doesn't have Menace, Trample, or some other evasive anthem to punch through. The group slug effects help soften up your opponents to help make combat damage more effective, and vice versa. Impact Tremors and similar effects can be pretty nasty with those additional Myriad tokens, and any other attack trigger tokens that Isshin doubles up.
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I think your last 11 cuts can come more from your Instants and sorceries and sculpting those to what your meta is like.
I hope these additional suggestions are helpful. I'm not one to plug my own decks, but I think some of the following Isshin primers are detailed and well-written:
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Isshin for a Fight - This one doesn't have an extensive primer, but if you read through the comment archive, the author and I have had pretty extensive discussion regarding build ideas.
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