Where the Foe's unsuspecting attention lies, the Clever Little Fox is not.
Other Cr8zy Ivan decks:
Update_2021-07-19
After nearly a 5 month hiatus, here is "Clever Little Fox" updated. There is still a considerable number of meta decks this deck hasn't faced yet. So far however, the updated version has been winning.
The Jank-Player's Guide to Beating the Meta
Zirda, the Dawnwaker
is seriously, unequivocally and without a doubt, the hardest general I have ever played with. It has been a true test in humility, getting my butt whooped over and over again until I came to this deck list.
This new iteration of the deck takes full advantage of the new Hasted Dragons from Adventures in the Forgotten Realms. Sadly though, these Dragons do not capitalize on Zirda's first Ability. The point of the decks I build however, are not to cram each and every Card that shares a mechanic with it's general, but rather, to carefully select the most efficient of these synergistic Cards, combined with other potent Cards to make these Jank decks well oiled smashing machines.
- Side Note: One thing that irks me just a little about this deck is the high rate of Rares and Mythics in this deck. I believe a truly skilled player is capable of assembling Cards that don't seem to go together, using a wide variety of Commons and Uncommons, making them work, and STILL have a high Win rate. In this sense, I prefer my original deck Kick Your Teeth In. But I really love this deck too. Zirda, to me, is to be considered as an out of the box true original. NO ONE plays Zirda.
A shout out to all the originals out there: The meta is for Suckers! I fart in your general direction! (a little Monty Python reference for ya ;)
Strengths of this deck:
- Zirda is a very underplayed general. Most players don't know how she works. Zirda's own Activated Ability is weird and seems unimportant, but is AS important as every other Ability in this deck.
- You get to play Activated Abilities for cheap.
- Land Abilities. They are very often overlooked by other players. Even when playing this deck, I sometimes forget to play them.
Weaknesses of this deck:
- This is a "Math-Heavy" deck. You will be Calculating: how many Lands it takes to pull off a maneuver, or how much Damage will be dealt in considering various different scenarios.
- Going up against "Hard Hitting Army" decks (Mainly decks that play Green).
- Drawing Cards... oh my lord has this been a struggle.
Tips, Tricks and Notes (Overall Notes):
- Zirda's "Creature can't block" Ability.
- Side Note: One REALLY nifty trick is giving Vigilance to Zirda, or Untapping her during Combat (which this current version of the deck does not use). She can then activate her Ability on your "Declare Attackers" Phase WHILE Zirda is attacking.
- Activated Abilities. As you’ve guessed it, the MAIN thing you're looking for in Zirda is to cut cost on Activated Abilities. It doesn't matter if you're using Zirda's Ability to cut a full 2 CMC or only 1 CMC off of your Activated Abilities. It's worth it AS LONG as the Ability you're using is worth it.
- Side Note: What is an Activated Ability? An Activated Ability is any Ability on a card that has a colon (:), Equipping an Equipment, AND Cycling! (which I had no idea it was before building this deck). Equipping
Embercleave
and
Shadowspear
for 1 is very satisfying.
- Side-Side Note: I tried the Cycling mechanic with Zirda and... woof, I won't be doing that again. I'm also not a fan of cramming every card of ONE mechanic in a deck. The reason is: because you're then at the mercy of this ONE mechanic, and at the mercy of the game designers basically. If they designed THESE Cards to work in THIS specific manner, you have to fit into that one groove they built for you. And if the Cards suck, well then... they suck, what can I tell ya. Don't play them I guess. But the POINT is! I hate being told what to do. Create your own original decks Dank Farrik! (a nod to The Mandalorian fans out there).
- Ramping. I'm used to using Mana Acceleration in my decks and it's a hard trick to pull in Red-White. There are 25 Lands + 3 Spell-Lands in this deck. In this new iteration, I pumped up the Land Cards by 1. Having 28 Lands in this Deck, BECAUSE of the Mana you need to Activate your Abilities, is a game changer. In this Deck especially, you can feel it in your bones even if you miss only 1 Land drop. What I consider Ramp Cards:
-
Arcane Signet
.
-
Magda, Brazen Outlaw
. Magda's utility in this deck is specifically, and ONLY to give you ONE Treasure, period. If you have
Luminarch Aspirant
and Magda in your opening Hand, you play Magda first, Ramp almost always comes first. Normally, the Aspirant comes first, to maximize the number of +1/+1 Counters she can get during the game.
-
Goldspan Dragon
.
-
Goldvein Pick
. I'm testing the Pick out at the moment. In every deck, 2 CMC Ramping Spells are crucial. The other alternative I've looked at is the
Loyal Warhound
. The problem with the Hound is when you're the Starting Player. I might make a switch later on.
- Mana Tapping. MOST of the time, tap your Mana MANUALLY. The auto-tapper has been screwing me over more and more.
- Land Abilities. Your Colorless Mana Lands' Abilities end up costing you 1 CMC and your Castles, 2 Colored Mana.
-
Bonders' Enclave
. The Enclave is a bit tricky to Activate because of the "Power 4 Creature" condition. You can pump any of your Creatures with an Equipment (Zirda-Spear is a good one) or transform the Crawling Barrens into a Creature (mostly in Late-Game), to Activate your Enclave.
-
Crawling Barrens
. The Barrens can easily sneak up on your Opponent. You can pump that mother into a monster, fast. Essentially, for every 1 Mana you pay, you put a +1/+1 Counter on it, when Zirda's on the table.
- Drawing Cards. Red-White decks are notorious for their lack of "Draw Cards" Cards. My rule of thumb is always to have 10 cards in a deck that fill your hand up. In this deck, I don't have it... and it's painful. I'd say Red-White is mostly supposed to rely on it's rush mechanic, but I hate relying on only ONE way to win. If that ONE WAY doesn't work out, you're screwed. So Screw the Screwed!!! Win!
- Cards that "Fill" your hand up:
-
Robber of the Rich
. The Robber requires you to play his Exiled Cards THIS Turn, the Turn it Attacks. Also, in early game, the Robber has been known to Win a game on his own (the Robber Wins the game, not the player). I wouldn't consider him overpowered per se. In late game, he's not worth much. I wouldn't consider winning with the Robber as skill though, more as pure luck. But that's not why he's in the deck. He's in the deck to have an opportunity to Play more Cards, even if they are absolutely random.
-
Mazemind Tome
. I don't really like the Tome, but with Zirda, Drawing a Card will cost you 1, not 2. At the beginning of a game, I usually Scry for Lands (Land drops are super important in this deck). When the Tome has 2-3 Counters on it, and I don't have Mana left to Draw a Card, I usually let it sit until I can use it to Draw Cards later. Drawing Cards is the second of the two major issues in this deck. The first is Land drops.
-
Tome of Legends
-
Mangara, the Diplomat
-
Mila, Crafty Companion
-
The Deck of Many Things
. I tried
Treasure Chest
for a bit but I hit Die Rolls of 1 twice. Of course the chance of hitting 1 with the Treasure Chest is very minimal, but the Chest is a one time use. The Deck of Many Things is reusable. Just be careful using the Deck when you have a full hand because you just might end up with an empty hand instead.
-
Showdown of the Skalds
. PRAISE Halvar!!! Man oh man, this Card is a Godsend for this deck. A POWERHOUSE of value. This is another Card I thought would be a dud. How wrong I was.
-
Bonders' Enclave
- Kill Cards.
-
Giant Killer
. I had taken the Killer out because I found him restrictive (Creature of Power 4 or greater). The MAIN reason he's back in is because of
Koma, Cosmos Serpent
. In a pinch, if the Killer is in your Hand, and you forgot you had him (I forget all the frickin' time), you can Cast the Killer on YOUR turn, BEFORE Koma gets to pump out his FIRST Serpent. Koma DOESN'T get to be indestructible and he DOESN'T get to tap a Creature. The only thing your Opponent will have is a 3/3 Token Serpent on the board, AFTER Koma has died.
-
Purphoros's Intervention
. Kill... ANYTHING. I don't understand why people don't play this Card more. Also, once in a while in late game, when your Opponent has just wiped the board and you have plenty of Mana to spend? Create a Red Elemental Creature your friends and family will enjoy. He's Hastin', he's Tramplin' and he's Smashin' your Opponents in face for 8/1, 10/1, Heck! 15/1 if you have the Mana for it!
-
Frost Bite
.
-
Dragon's Fire
. I think this new card will works well with the Dragons in the Deck. There aren't THAT many Dragons in this deck, but you have the potential
-
Disenchant
. The reason I choose Disenchant over
Heliod's Intervention
is the Mana Value. The Intervention is way more powerful than Disenchant, But you need to survive to be able to cast it in later turns. Disenchant can only kill one thing, but you can cast it on Turn 2. A slight difference, but a crucial one, especially when you consider this deck has a hard time Ramping.
-
Swift Response
is out for now.
-
Shatterskull Smashing
.
-
Storm's Wrath
is out for now. Previous comments: The Wrath is BACK in this deck BECAUSE of those stinkin' Planeswalkers, and more specifically, because of
Esika, God of the Tree
. I hate Planeswalkers, I really do. If you're Opponent ends up having 2, 3 or 4 different Planeswalkers on the board with less than 4 Loyalty each, spring out the Wrath. It is a cathartic experience, I guarantee it.
-
Rip Apart
.
-
Realm-Cloaked Giant
.
-
Ondu Inversion
.
-
Doomskar
. I was a bit on the fence with Doomskar. But! After listening to the Commander Theory podcast, talking about the new Kaldheim set, one comment made me reconsider. Doomskar for 5? Meh, Ok, it gets the job done. If you Foretell it, you get to Cast it for CMC 3, which leaves you MORE MANA to repopulate your board AFTER, on the same Turn. Plus! This deck has a hard time against big army decks, in particular: Green Decks. You need to reset the board because you're just not capable of going head-to-head with the Ashayas and the Koglas of this world.
- Lose Ability Cards. The "Lose Ability" Mechanic in White usually ONLY removes ACTIVATED Abilities, NOT ALL Abilities (Static and Triggered). It's a good thing to keep in mind when you're casting them, especially if you're used to the Blue "Lose Ability" Spells:
-
Heliod's Punishment
. The ONLY White Enchantment that will remove ALL Abilities... for 4 Turns. I was reluctant to put it in the deck because I don't like temporary solutions. If I kill you, you're dead, that's it. If I disable you, you stay disabled. However, because of the nature of this rotation, you work with what you got. AND! The Punishment prevents the Creature from Attacking AND Blocking too! (which Blue Enchantments DON'T do). To be honest, 4 turns is almost always enough time to find an answer... or to Destroy your Opponent ;)
- Hard Hitters. It's been a long hard road to choosing which Creatures would make the cut. These Cards actively contribute to your Win:
-
Phoenix of Ash
. I wasn't sure about the Phoenix for a while. WELL! I'm sure now. This is your hammer. The tricky thing with the Phoenix is filling up your Graveyard up to Escape him. Sometimes that means Casting useless spells, or Sacrificing useful Creatures, OR leaving Zirda in your Graveyard to add that LAST Card you need to escape the Phoenix. Keep in mind, the Phoenix is fragile. His Toughness 2 makes him real easy to kill. You can toughen him up (Toughness) with
All That Glitters
or any Equipment in the deck or even
Showdown of the Skalds
.
-
Crawling Barrens
. The... (wait for it)... BARRENS!!! Man. The Phoenix and the Barrens are your two main sources of hurt. What's amazing about both of them is: The Phoenix can rise up from the grave, and your Barrens goes back to being a Non-Creature Land at the End of Turn. This effectively Protects him from Creature-Kill Spells and board wipes on your Opponents' Turn.
-
Embercleave
. 'Nuf said.
-
Goldspan Dragon
. Another one of those Cards I don't know why I didn't catch on to earlier. If you compare the Goldspan with the
Shatterskull Charger
, the Goldspan is just better. Rarely have I cast the Shatterskull for CMC 3 (you might as well consider him CMC 5). The Goldspan HAS Haste, like the Charger, but you replace Trample with Flying. Not a bad trade. The Goldspan gives you a Treasure Token, which will count as 2 Mana of any Color. That ONE Treasure, if you're Attacking with enough Creatures, is ALL you need to Cast
Embercleave
. The ONLY down side with the Goldspan (and I mean the ONLY), is his Power compared to the Charger. Power 4 vs Power 5. Do I even care at this point? I think not.
-
Inferno of the Star Mounts
. "This Spell Can't Be Countered.", Flying AND Haste. The Blue decks have a tendency of ripping this deck apart. There needs to be more "Can't Be Countered" Spells in order to go up against them. The Inferno might get Killed on the Battlefield, but it is pure joy Casting him, knowing he will at the very least land on the table.
-
Adult Gold Dragon
. The two reasons he's in the deck is because of Haste and Lifelink. You'll get hit, and sometimes you'll get hit HARD by other decks. It's just the nature of this build. On a good day, the Gold Dragon can give you 4 Life, even if you smash him right into a brick wall (a flying brick wall I guess).
- Hard Hitter Complementaries:
-
Alseid of Life's Bounty
. This dude is REALLY good. Give one of your Hard Hitters Protection from the Color of your choice to make it Unblockable!... Say what?? I SAID!... UUuunn-BLOCKABLE! I JUST might put him back in.
-
Shadowspear
. Trample and Lifelink... AND don't forget it's "Remove Indestructibility and Hexproof" Ability. EVERYBODY forgets it, and I mean EVERYBODY, that's including me AND you. DON'T forget the Spear's second ability.
-
Kazuul's Fury
. Kazuul... THE KAZUUL!!! WHAT a find! Just smash your Opponents in the face with your fully cranked Phoenix, and Escape that bird the very next Turn! Man oh man. I don't know why I didn't put the Fury in this deck sooner.
-
Paladin Class
. This Card was MADE for Zirda. When Zirda's on the board, for 1 White, all Creatures get +1/+1, and for 1 White + 2 Colorless, you're giving Double Strike to one of your Attacking Creatures. This Enchantment Costs ONE WHITE! This one Card is a game changer.
Cards I tried and took out of the deck:
-
Brash Taunter
. He's too expensive and I think he would need Haste. Indestructibility isn't everything. He's vulnerable to Exiling and his Indestructibility can be removed by the
Shadowspear
. He is also NOT immune to the Massacre Wurm. On the flip side, if you can untap him during your turn, you get to Fight twice. One mechanic I discovered is: Fight your OWN Creatures when they're Equipped with the Shadowspear. YOU Gain Life while your OPPONENT feels the pain! Huzzah!
- Side note: Don't... and I mean DON'T cast
Soul Sear
on your Taunter. OR! Cast the Soul Sear only when you're willing to lose your Taunter.
-
Mace of the Valiant
. This thing will crank fast. Especially if you're double casting creatures with the
Lithoform Engine
. The Mace also cranks every time Zirda is cast. For some reason, Opponents don't seem to think the Mace is a threat until it's too late... BUT... to me this is more of a cool move to play VS a winning strategy. (Cool move as in: Attacking with a Vigilanced Zirda then, while still Attacking, Tapping her during your "declare Attackers" step to prevent a Creature from Blocking.)
-
Haktos the Unscarred
. Haktos is super strong, but super random too. It seems to me, when you win with Haktos, it's pure luck, and when you lose, it always feels like you could've replaced him with something less "random". The only "player skill" involved with Haktos is choosing to put him in your deck (but that's just one man's opinion). He's also not immune to Board Wipes, and Massacre Wurm. He's just a bit too random for my tastes.
- On the flip side, I also think
Robber of the Rich
is super Random. The difference with him is: the Robber gives me an extra Card I can play, even though that Card could be anything... ugh... drawing Cards in Red-White... For the LOVE of HELIOD!!! Give me some Draw Cards!!!... just kidding, I hate Heliod... For the LOVE of PURPHOROS!!! Give me some Draw Cards!!!
-
Labyrinth of Skophos
. This little land can be useful. It's expensive to Activate though, and I didn't quite use it all that much. I traded it in for a Basic Land. There are already enough Colorless Mana Lands in this deck.
-
Flicker of Fate
. I really love the Flicker. But it's akin to the Engine in that: It's a frickin cool Card to play, but it won't give you a Win. Here are the notes I wrote when I was using it:
- Flicker your Opponents' Attacking Creatures to remove them from combat. Flicker an Opponent's Creature to prevent it from Mutating. Flicker your OWN creatures to protect them, whether it be in Combat OR when they become targeted by your Opponents' Spells or Abilities. The ONE thing Flicker doesn't do is protect your Creatures from "Wipe the Board" Cards, i.e.
Shatter the Sky
,
Storm's Wrath
,
Realm-Cloaked Giant
or
Ondu Inversion
. On the flip side, Flicker ALSO works well on your "Exile Target Something" Creatures and Enchantments:
-
Heliod's Punishment
-
Banishing Light
. The Banishing will put what you initially Exiled, back on the board, so you want to make sure the trade you're making is worth it.
-
Skyclave Apparition
. Unless you Exiled your Opponent's general, if you Flicker the Apparition, you will be giving your Opponent a Token of possible Power of 4, as you Exile another Permanent.
-
Elspeth Conquers Death
- You can also Flicker your
Solemn Simulacrum
if you're in need of Lands or you can Flicker your
Ox of Agonas
if you need to Draw Cards. Another neat trick is to Flicker your
Crawling Barrens
(after you've transformed it into a Creature) when you're using
Moraug, Fury of Akoum
and he's on the table. You get an EXTRA Attack Phase! Yipee! I'm still looking forward to pulling that one off. (Keep in mind you'll lose your Barrens' +1 Counters if you Flicker it.)
- And lastly, the "Pièce de Résistance!": Flicker
Heliod's Punishment
, or any other similar aura, onto a Hexproof Kraken. That just makes my day!
-
Angelic Ascension
. Woof... I REALLY don't understand this card. I tried it for a bit and I understand that at Instant speed you can Exile an Opponent's troublesome Creature or replace one of your own weenies for a 4/4 Angel, but I have not "for the life of me" managed to make this card work to my advantage. It has one hell of a curse.
-
Gadrak, the Crown-Scourge
. He's an effective blocker for cheap and can give you Treasure Tokens (extra Mana) if you manage to Kill some Creatures during YOUR turn. The thing is, I ended up not Killing that many Creatures during my Turn.
-
Felidar Retreat
&
Outlaws' Merriment
. These two Token generating Cards are super good. The reason why they're not in this deck is: They're SLOW! It just isn't feasible to have them in the deck when you're up against Uber fast and Uber Competitive decks!
-
Bound in Gold
. This is a better version of
Nahiri's Binding
. 1 White vs 2 White, and Enchant ANY Permanent vs only "Creature or Planeswalker". The ONLY down side of this Aura is that it doesn't prevent Mana Abilities. In hindsight, I've never EVER used Nahiri's Binding to stop a Creature from producing Mana. I HAD put this in the deck for "Big Army" Opponents, but when you're up against Green decks, chances are, they'll have more than one hard hitter. That's why the Bound has been replaced with a board wipe.
-
Yidaro, Wandering Monster
. Yidaro is a hard hitter, and this deck is in serious need of any it can get. To be true, I don't really value his Cycling mechanic. Why is Yidaro out as of now? He is too expensive. Half of the time when I sprung him out, he was effective and finished the game, don't get me wrong. The other half however, I would be up against a hard hitting army and Yidaro didn't even make a difference. I either kept him in my Hand or Cycled him to TRY and get a board wipe. And when he gets Countered... Oof, that is one hard blow. You lose your Turn, and Often, you trade YOUR CMC 7 spell for your Opponent's CMC 2 Counter Spell. Horrible trade.
Cards I still don't own but would like to try out:
-
Basri Ket
-
Fires of Invention
. Fires is another broken card. I think it should also be banned in Brawl.
-
Torbran, Thane of Red Fell
. Another broken brokenness... in Mono-Red decks. He's Color expensive so he might not work so well in THIS deck, BUT! maybe just for pumping Zirda? I don't know.
-
Fiery Emancipation
. Fiery's CMC is super expensive, and there's not that many direct Damage Spells in this deck. I'm not sure about this one.
And as usual, any Comments are Welcome, Cheers!
