Isshin, Two Heavens As One - Eiganjo Uprising v1.0

Commander / EDH Myriad RBW (Mardu) Tokens Tokens

KBK7101

Land (34)

• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Blightstep Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Blood Crypt
• 1x Brightclimb Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Field of Ruin
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 4x Mountain
• 1x Pillarverge Pathway  ^Flip
• 5x Plains
• 1x Reflecting Pool
• 1x Sacred Foundry
• 1x Savai Triome
• 1x Shattered Sanctum
• 1x Silent Clearing
• 1x Slayers' Stronghold
• 1x Spectator Seating
• 1x Sulfurous Springs
• 1x Sunbaked Canyon
• 1x Sundown Pass
• 3x Swamp
• 1x Vault of Champions

Removal (8)

• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Damn
• 1x Fracture
• 1x Winds of Abandon
• 1x Chaos Warp
• 1x Crackling Doom
• 1x Oblation

Ramp (7)

• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Boros Signet
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Orzhov Signet
• 1x Rakdos Signet
• 1x Sword of the Animist

Defense (3)

• 1x Circle of Flame
• 1x Iroas, God of Victory
• 1x Inkshield

Token Buffs (1)

• 1x Neyali, Suns' Vanguard

Attack Triggers (23)

• 1x Signal Pest
• 1x Circle of Flame
• 1x Skyknight Vanguard
• 1x Adeline, Resplendent Cathar
• 1x Hammers of Moradin
• 1x Hanweir Garrison  ^Meld
• 1x Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin
• 1x Mardu Ascendancy
• 1x Skyhunter Strike Force
• 1x Elturel Survivors
• 1x Fervent Charge
• 1x Hero of Bladehold
• 1x Leonin Warleader
• 1x Mishra, Claimed by Gix  ^Meld
• 1x Neyali, Suns' Vanguard
• 1x Ria Ivor, Bane of Bladehold
• 1x Search the Premises
• 1x Winota, Joiner of Forces
• 1x Herald of the Host
• 1x Ronin Cliffrider
• 1x Warchief Giant
• 1x Grave Titan
• 1x Sun Titan

Card Draw (8)

• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Deadly Dispute
• 1x Idol of Oblivion
• 1x Plumb the Forbidden
• 1x Mentor of the Meek
• 1x Tocasia's Welcome
• 1x Welcoming Vampire
• 1x Search the Premises

Protection (7)

• 1x Boros Charm
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Basri Ket
• 1x Guardian of Faith
• 1x Teferi's Protection
• 1x Unbreakable Formation

Board Wipe (3)

• 1x Damn
• 1x Winds of Abandon
• 1x Ronin Cliffrider

Card Advantage (1)

• 1x Neyali, Suns' Vanguard

Commander (1)

Tokens (19)

• 1x Skyknight Vanguard
• 1x Adeline, Resplendent Cathar
• 1x Basri Ket
• 1x Hammers of Moradin
• 1x Hanweir Garrison  ^Meld
• 1x Kaya, Geist Hunter
• 1x Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin
• 1x Mardu Ascendancy
• 1x Elturel Survivors
• 1x Hero of Bladehold
• 1x Leonin Warleader
• 1x Mondrak, Glory Dominus
• 1x Ria Ivor, Bane of Bladehold
• 1x Herald of the Host
• 1x Indulge / Excess
• 1x Inkshield
• 1x Thalisse, Reverent Medium
• 1x Warchief Giant
• 1x Grave Titan

ETB/Attack Damage (7)

• 1x Cavalcade of Calamity
• 1x Impact Tremors
• 1x Raid Bombardment
• 1x Witty Roastmaster
• 1x Hellrider
• 1x Mishra, Claimed by Gix  ^Meld
• 1x Purphoros, God of the Forge

Haste (4)

• 1x Slayers' Stronghold
• 1x Emblem of the Warmind
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots

Recovery (1)

• 1x Sun Titan

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Maybeboard

Other (20)

• 1x Vault of the Archangel
• 1x Paladin Class
• 1x Reconnaissance
• 1x Brave the Sands
• 1x Despark
• 1x Dolmen Gate
• 1x Transmogrant's Crown
• 1x Vanishing Verse
• 1x Anguished Unmaking
• 1x Devilish Valet
• 1x Fervor
• 1x Flawless Maneuver
• 1x Linden, the Steadfast Queen
• 1x Soltari Champion
• 1x Wear / Tear
• 1x Brazen Cannonade
• 1x Dihada, Binder of Wills
• 1x Ogre Battledriver
• 1x Eldrazi Monument
• 1x Rabble Rousing

Candidates for next update (4)

• 1x Circle of Flame
• 1x Shared Animosity
• 1x Battle Angels of Tyr
• 1x Brutal Hordechief

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Updated - 3/17/23

Hello and welcome to my Isshin, Two Heavens as One deck! After an admittedly long period of half completion, this deck and primer has finally been completed to my liking and has become one of my favorite decks to play! This deck is all about three things - tokens, burn damage and attacking! Very fast and very aggro, this deck doesn't pull it's punches and tries to go to war as soon as possible!

Please do not recommend any Universes Beyond cards. They will not be considered for the deck.

I'd love any and all feedback. Thanks!

{W}{B}{R}{W}{B}{R}{W}{B}{R}{W}{B}{R}{W}{B}{R}{W}{B}{R}{W}{B}{R}{W}{B}{R}{W}{B}{R}{W}{B}{R}

LORE

Due to the massive influx of new commanders these past few years, many of them don't get much more than a blurb on Magic's official website. Isshin is one of those characters. Not quoted or referred to on any card other than his own, the following paragraph, copied straight from the official MTG article about Neon Dynasty commanders, is the extent of the backstory that we have.

• Isshin began his career as the bodyguard for an Imperial statesman in rural Kamigawa. He loved his work and found his employer to be an honorable man, but then the emperor disappeared, splintering the central government. Being so far from Eiganjo, Isshin thought they would be safe, but the chaos left his lord destitute, and Isshin was dismissed. He was wandering the countryside doing odd jobs when he was hired by a blacksmith in Sokenzanshi. There, he learned of the Asari Uprisers, a group dedicated to overthrowing the Imperials and putting the government into the hands of the people. Now, he fights alongside them hoping to bring freedom to the land.

Curious about other commanders from Neon Dynasty? The original article is linked below! (I know. I really should have hyperlinks enabled by now. I'm sorry!)

https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/feature/legends-kamigawa-neon-dynasty-2022-02-11

COMMANDER/GAMEPLAN

Isshin, Two Heavens as One is probably one of the simplest commanders ever printed.

He essentially reads:

• If something you control has an attack trigger, it triggers twice.

That's it. Very straightforward.

Because of this, Isshin decks tend to be super aggro decks that lean extremely heavily on attacking. There are still a few different ways to build Isshin, though. Cards like Blood Reckoning and Circle of Flame could lean you more towards a political deck where you try and dissuade opponents from attacking you while making them attack each other. Decks that utilize the Exalted ability also have some potential as well. This deck, however, is focused on making lots and lots of tokens. Cards like Adeline, Resplendent Cathar, Leonin Warleader, Hero of Bladehold, Grave Titan and Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin are some of the strongest cards this deck has to offer. When attacking with any of these while Isshin is on the board, your board state can get out of control very quickly. If all those tokens weren't enough... Kaya, Geist Hunter and Thallise, Reverent Medium can essentially double them! Add in cards like Impact Tremors, Purphoros, God of the Forge, Witty Roastmaster, Hellrider, Raid Bombardment and Cavalcade of Calamity and you might even close out the game before blockers are even declared!

So, put simply, our gameplan:

• Build up decent boardstate of one or two token generators

• Cast Isshin

• Attack!!

• Either kill everyone with token army or from burn damage from Impact Tremors and Hellrider type effects

PLANESWALKERS

Kaya, Geist Hunter. Her -2 is the big draw here as it's basically a one turn Anointed Procession. Fantastic ability for what this deck wants to do. Her +1 is good for getting her back up to 2 loyalty and I don't think her ultimate is ever going to be relevant because I expect that she'll draw massive hate due to her token doubling effect.

Basri Ket is mainly here for his incredible -2. It's like Launch the Fleet, but without the mana investment and the ability to be doubled by Isshin (Launch the Fleet doesn't because it's not a permanent). The +1 is useful for keeping something alive (Isshin, most likely) and the ultimate is good, but, like Kaya, Basri is here to churn out stupid amounts of tokens for cheap.

CREATURES

Since Isshin cares about the attack triggers of permanents you control, this deck naturally has a lot of creatures. They're basically broken into two categories: attackers and non-attackers.

• Non-attackers

Mentor of the Meek and Welcoming Vampire offer us some pretty steady card draw from all of our token generation

Speaking of tokens, Thalisse, Reverent Medium is fantastic at creating tokens (provided you have another means to make them beforehand). She sort of acts like a budget Anointed Procession and this deck and can set up some seriously explosive turns. Pair with any sort of Impact Tremors effect or Kaya, Geist Hunter and live the dream of needing two playmats for your boardstate! Speaking of token doubling, I got super lucky and pulled a Mondrak, Glory Dominus from my ONE box. This card needs no explanation. Make tokens? Make double tokens! It can also protect itself, which is super nice. Also from ONE, Ria Ivor, Bane of Bladehold lets you essentially pick a creature you're about to attack with and prevent the damage it deals... only to turn that much damage into that many Phyrexian Mite tokens! This effect is best used on something with evasion, like Herald of the Host or Elturel Survivors for maximum effect.

Iroas, God of Victory is an incredible card for aggro decks. Not only does it give your creatures Menace, making it more difficult to block efficiently, but it also prevents all damage that would be dealt to your attacking creatures. No more worries of losing important pieces!

Guardian of Faith is an emergency "get out of jail free" card. It has Flash, so it can be cast out in time to save yourself from a devastating board wipe.

The last three non-attackers are part of this deck's back up plan, ETB burn damage/attack trigger damage. Both Purphoros, God of the Forge and the newer Witty Roastmaster both do damage to each opponent when creatures enter the battlefield under your control. The Brothers' War instant classic Mishra, Claimed by Gix  , on the other hand, doesn't care about ETB triggers but instead cares about large amounts of creatures attacking! A perfect fit for this deck. With all the token generation this deck provides, it's easy to see why actual combat damage might not even matter in some games. (Don't forget that Purphoros offers a board wide damage pump, too!)

• Attackers

Winota, Joiner of Forces is one of the most powerful cards from Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths. Her insane attack trigger led to her being banned in the Pioneer format. Now imagine getting her ban-worthy attack trigger TWICE for each non-human attacker with Isshin! The deck only has nine other humans, but the most important one here is Thalisse, Reverent Medium for the token generating reasons listed above. The new Neyali, Suns' Vanguard from ONE is fantastic with token decks. Offering up double strike for attacking tokens is good but being able to exile the top card of your deck (two with Isshin!) and being able to play them on any turn you attacked with a token is some seriously great card advantage!

Skyhunter Strike Force and Signal Pest both offer damage buffs to attacking creatures. Pretty straightforward.

Ronin Cliffrider is one of this deck's versions of removal/board wipes. With Isshin on the board, an attacking Ronin deals 2 damage to each creature opponents control, wiping the board of any small creatures and helping to clear the way for the majority of your forces to connect with damage.

Hellrider is another card that lets us win the game without combat damage. With Hellrider and Isshin, any creature that attacks will cause Hellrider to do 2 damage straight to the opponent it's attacking. It doesn't matter if they also have a token army ready for blocks, they might be dead before they even declare blockers!

Sun Titan is great recovery for Isshin. It can recur a permanent that costs 3MV or less straight to the battlefield when it ETBs and when it attacks. With Isshin, an attacking Sun Titan can get you back two cards, quickly rebuilding your board.

Finally, we have the main course... the token generators! Skyknight Vanguard, Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin, Adeline, Resplendent Cathar, Hanweir Garrison  , Hero of Bladehold, Leonin Warleader and Grave Titan all have attack triggers that create one or multiple tokens. Other than Skyknight Vanguard and Grave Titan, these all sit in the 3-4MV range. With Isshin doubling the attack triggers of any of these cards, it's easy to see why I focused this deck into a token theme. Combine these cards with something like Hellrider or Witty Roastmaster for maximum effect!

Special mentions go out to these last few creatures, and a mechanic that I can't wait to see more of... creatures with Myriad! Hammers of Moradin, Herald of the Host, Elturel Survivors and Warchief Giant all have attack triggers that create copies of themselves attacking each other opponent. Combine this with Isshin... and these cards all create SIX copies of itself in a full four player game! Hammers of Moradin gets an extra special mention as it can tap down opponents creatures to help ensure combat damage gets through, an effect that gets doubled by Isshin! Warchief Giant is also noteworthy as it has Haste, meaning that if Isshin is on the board, Warchief Giant effectively is {3}{R}{R} for seven attacking 5/3s. Insane! I mean, sure, all the myriad tokens get exiled at the end of combat, but that won't matter if our opponents are dead!

ENCHANTMENTS

This deck currently runs a decent amount of enchantments.

Emblem of the Warmind grants haste to all the creatures we have on the board. Great for huge, go-wide token turns!

Impact Tremors, Cavalcade of Calamity and Raid Bombardment are more of our core back-up plan of draining the table if/when combat isn't going our way. Damage when creatures ETB or when they attack. Pretty straightforward. Just the way I like it!

Mardu Ascendancy is another way to generate tokens. Does this deck have too many of those effects? Maybe! Am I worried about it? Nope!

Search the Premises is a bit of a defensive card. It grants us a Clue token (or two with Isshin) whenever something attacks us. This deck does still seem to struggle a bit with card draw and this card can help alleviate that. However, it's never really been all that good in my (admittedly solo) playtesting. May end up cutting it for something else at some point soon. Also on defense, Circle of Flame basically prevents other token armies from attacking us. Two damage to each creature that attacks (with Isshin on board) will kill most small creatures if they dare come at us.

Speaking of card draw, something that does help a lot is Tocasia's Welcome. Sure, the once-per-turn clause is a bit disappointing but it's very reliable and people should hopefully be less inclined to remove something that "only" gets us one card.

Fervent Charge offers a potentially massive buff to our attackers.

INSTANTS AND SORCERIES

This deck runs a pretty decent amount of instants/sorceries.

For removal, there's the tried and true classics, Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile. Alongside that, there are the newer Modern Horizons cards Damn and Winds of Abandon. Both of which have alternate casting modes that could be board wipes instead of targeted removal. Chaos Warp and Oblation are hybrid protection/removal. They don't destroy the target but instead just shuffle away into the deck and give you some sort of benefit back. Can be used just for normal removal, to curry favor with opponents or to use on your own tokens in a pinch. Lastly, there's Crackling Doom and Fracture. Fracture is a newer card from Strixhaven that can hit multiple different card types and Crackling Doom can be a three-for-one piece of removal. I feel like I'm never satisfied with my removal suite in this deck and would love some opinions on tweaking it!

For card draw, it's pretty light. Just Deadly Dispute and Plumb the Forbidden. Both of which are very efficient, though.

Inkshield is a Fog type card that also nets us tokens. Potentially a LOT of tokens!

For protection, there's Teferi's Protection, Unbreakable Formation and Boros Charm. All three are great ways to save your token army from a board wipe or something similar.

Finally, one of the deck's massive token generating threats - Indulge / Excess. Unfortunately, Indulge doesn't get it's attacking trigger doubled by Isshin (he specifically cares about abilities that trigger from permanents)... but it does count TOKENS that attack and the Citizen tokens it creates come in tapped and attacking! Build up a big enough board of tokens and this can be used to effectively double it! Excess is great for treasure generation, but Indulge excites me more. lol

ARTIFACTS

Other than the obligatory mana rocks, this deck runs only a handful of artifacts.

Skullclamp probably doesn't need explaining when in a token deck. Card draw galore!

Swiftfoot Boots and Lightning Greaves are for protection and haste giving. Usually to Isshin or some creature with an attack trigger that we need to trigger that turn.

Sword of the Animist is INSANE in Isshin decks. With this and Isshin on the field, you'll think you're playing {GU} with all the ramping you'll be doing!

Finally, Idol of Oblivion isn't the most powerful or splashy card but it is good, reliable card draw for token decks.

LANDS

As usual, I don't really have anything to say about manabases other than "use whichever ones you like!". There are a few standouts, though...

Savai Triome for it's obvious triple basic land types.

Slayers' Stronghold for it's ability to grant a creature haste. A very strong ability on a land.

Basic land art was an obvious choice for me. I adore the full art NEO basics. Going to "upgrade" the normal plains to the full art ones at some point soon.

KEY CARDS

There are no shortage of ways to build Isshin. Voltron, tokens, Exalted, politics, taxes/control... there are, however, a few cards that I think should at least be considered when building your own Isshin deck.

• If token generating is your game, then cards like Leonin Warleader, Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin and Grave Titan are the kinds of cards you should look for!

• Basri Ket and Kaya, Geist Hunter are two cards that I think are underrated in Isshin decks. Toss in something like Mondrak, Glory Dominus and/or Thalisse, Reverent Medium and you might need a second playmat!

• If you're looking to drain your opponent down, cards like Impact Tremors, Mishra, Claimed by Gix  , Raid Bombardment and Witty Roastmaster are perfect!

• Sword of the Animist will make you think you're playing green by netting you two lands per attack!

When it all comes down to it, though, basically anything that has an attack trigger is viable in Isshin decks. Find some hidden gems and go crazy!

GAMES PLAYED

Nothing quite yet! Will update after it sees gameplay!

SUPPLIES

Proxies - 0

Sleeves - Dragon Shield Dual Matte - Crypt

Deck Box - Ultimate Guard Boulder 100+ (Clear)

Playmat - Ultra Pro: Unstable - Plains (John Avon)

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SCORE: 32 | 6 COMMENTS | 1376 VIEWS | IN 15 FOLDERS

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This deck isn't a meme, I swear!

Also kind of debating multiple other Kamigawa commanders, as it's one of my favorite planes. Will they ever actually get built? Who knows!

Top Ranked	Achieved #26 position overall 2 months ago Achieved #20 position in Commander / EDH 2 months ago Achieved #2 position in Commander / EDH RBW (Mardu) 2 months ago Achieved #2 position in Commander / EDH Tokens 2 months ago
Date added	3 months
Last updated	1 week
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	10 - 0 Mythic Rares 46 - 0 Rares 24 - 0 Uncommons 8 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.02
Tokens	Cat 1/1 W w/ Lifelink, Citizen 1/1 GW, Clue, Copy Clone, Eldrazi 10/10 C, Emblem Basri Ket, Goblin 1/1 R, Human 1/1 R, Human 1/1 W, Inkling 2/1 WB, Phyrexian Mite 1/1 C, Soldier 1/1 W, Spirit 1/1 W, Treasure, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders	All Decks, Kamigawa, Plane of Past and Future, Decks Other People Made, Interesting Decks, Isshin, Two Heavens as One, Neat deck, Commander