Cartouche-e-nanigans

Modern* Theme/Gimmick UBR (Grixis)

Zerpha

Land (23)

• 1x Blood Crypt
• 2x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Forbidden Orchard
• 4x Island
• 3x Mountain
• 2x Polluted Delta
• 3x Scalding Tarn
• 1x Steam Vents
• 1x Sulfur Falls
• 4x Swamp
• 1x Watery Grave

Enchantment (19)

• 1x Bloodchief Ascension
• 3x Cartouche of Zeal
• 3x Skin Invasion  ^Flip
• 4x Cartouche of Knowledge
• 1x Fractured Loyalty
• 4x Trial of Ambition
• 2x Trial of Zeal
• 1x Trial of Knowledge

Creature (12)

• 4x Hateful Eidolon
• 4x Drake Familiar
• 4x Meletis Astronomer

Instant (5)

• 1x Aura Finesse
• 4x Lightning Bolt

Artifact (1)

• 1x Helm of the Gods

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Maybeboard

Enchantment (47)

• 2x Bloodchief Ascension
• 1x Cartouche of Solidarity
• 1x Gryff's Boon
• 1x Hammerhand
• 2x Legion's Landing  ^Flip
• 1x Molten Vortex
• 1x Myth Realized
• 2x Porphyry Nodes
• 1x Quest for Pure Flame
• 1x Quest for the Gravelord
• 1x Quest for the Holy Relic
• 1x Retribution of the Ancients
• 1x Seal of Fire
• 2x Shapers' Sanctuary
• 2x Sigarda's Aid
• 1x Sinister Concoction
• 1x Training Grounds
• 2x Vampiric Rites
• 1x Vessel of Nascency
• 1x Fate Foretold
• 1x Favorable Winds
• 1x Fists of Ironwood
• 1x Hatching Plans
• 1x Karametra's Favor
• 1x Setessan Training
• 1x Starlit Mantle
• 1x Underworld Breach
• 1x Warbriar Blessing
• 1x Cartouche of Ambition
• 1x Cartouche of Strength
• 1x Galvanic Arc
• 1x Hydra's Growth
• 1x Minion's Return
• 1x Security Blockade
• 1x Shielding Plax
• 1x Squire's Devotion
• 1x The Triumph of Anax
• 1x Trial of Strength
• 1x Weirding Wood
• 1x Enigmatic Incarnation
• 1x The Akroan War

Creature (38)

• 1x Akroan Crusader
• 1x Arboreal Grazer
• 1x Frenzied Goblin
• 1x Monastery Swiftspear
• 1x Pious Wayfarer
• 1x Sage of Mysteries
• 1x Sidisi's Faithful
• 4x Slippery Bogle
• 1x Topplegeist
• 1x Ulvenwald Tracker
• 1x Vortex Elemental
• 1x Aphemia, the Cacophony
• 1x Blood Aspirant
• 1x Champion of the Flame
• 1x Herald of the Pantheon
• 1x Jeskai Elder
• 1x Nessian Wanderer
• 1x Protean Thaumaturge
• 1x Slaughter-Priest of Mogis
• 1x Sram, Senior Edificer
• 1x Starfield Mystic
• 1x Stormchaser Mage
• 1x Student of Elements  ^Flip
• 1x Danitha Capashen, Paragon
• 1x Dryad of the Ilysian Grove
• 2x Eutropia the Twice-Favored
• 1x Favored of Iroas
• 1x Setessan Champion
• 2x Siona, Captain of the Pyleas
• 1x Storm Herald
• 1x Valduk, Keeper of the Flame
• 1x Nightmare Shepherd
• 1x Tiana, Ship's Caretaker

Land (6)

• 2x Khalni Garden
• 1x Smoldering Spires
• 1x Soaring Seacliff
• 1x Teetering Peaks
• 1x Turntimber Grove

Artifact (3)

• 1x Helm of the Gods
• 1x Dowsing Dagger  ^Flip
• 1x Wings of Hubris

Sorcery (2)

• 1x Crack the Earth
• 1x Open the Armory

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This deck originally started as very simple Cartouche budget deck from draft chaff.

But it turned out to work quite well with another combo I tried to pull off for a while involving Aura Finesse + Fractured Loyalty . Which came to be after adding Drake Familiar since the bounce worked quite smoothly with both cartouches and trials.

Stormchaser Mage is just a good card in general, and works really slick with the cartouches, too.

I've always wanted to find a place for Student of Elements, so Cartouche of Knowledge was a fine excuse to include him here. (I just wished so hard he was a one-drop. Dammit Kamigawa, this would have been perfectly fine for limited and constructed. Oh well.)

And now that we got flying creatures abound with the student, Drake Familiar, and Stormchaser Mage, Favoring Winds and Dragon Tempest seems like a solid choice as well.

With that ridiculous amount of enchantments, another kinda-great card that I never found a home for is Meletis Astronomer. A perfect fit dig for the enchantments we want, while using our cartouches on him.

Overall, this it can offer some really unusual and fun combos, especially considering the tiny budget. Plus it fits the enchantment theme of the most recent block, so there might be yet more draft chaff that fits this deck.

(For the budget version, just exchange the obviously non-budget landbase for Swiftwater Cliffs

Combo rundown: - Aura Finesse + Fractured Loyalty - Cartouche of Zeal + Fractured Loyalty - Drake Familiar + Fractured Loyalty - Drake Familiar + Trial of Ambition - Drake Familiar + Trial of Knowledge - Drake Familiar + Trial of Zeal - Hateful Eidolon + Skin Invasion (very satisfying if it works out)

Synergies: - Lightning Bolt + Skin Invasion (removal and Skin Invasion. Trivial, yet worth mentioning) - Skin Invasion + Trial of Knowledge (more soft removal to make it work) - Dowsing Dagger + Skin Invasion (unfortunately the tokens have defender. But they provide a target.) - Cartouche of Knowledge + Dowsing Dagger - Cartouche of Knowledge + Jeskai Elder - Cartouche of Zeal + Jeskai Elder - Cartouche of Knowledge + Meletis Astronomer (topdeck/card advantage) - Cartouche of Zeal + Meletis Astronomer - Aura Finesse + Meletis Astronomer (topdeck/card advantage) - Aura Finesse + Skin Invasion (might as well get that 3/4 Insect when your creature will die anyways) - Aura Finesse + Monastery Swiftspear (more dynamic combat tricks) - Hateful Eidolon + Meletis Astronomer (feels good topdecking an Eidolon, especially since you'll probably have an enchantment on the astronomer at that point)

Maybeboard Combos: - Fractured Loyalty + Retribution of the Ancients (you can choose to remove zero counters).

Date added	4 years
Last updated	4 years
Key combos	Aura Finesse + Fractured Loyalty Fractured Loyalty + Retribution of the Ancients
Legality	This deck is Modern legal.
Rarity (main - side)	14 - 0 Rares 23 - 0 Uncommons 12 - 0 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	1.65
Tokens	Spirit 1/1 C