2024 is off to a fun start with some new stuff from MKM/MKC. I made a few changes to serve multiple purposes of: adding in some more draw, adding effects that encourage/reward my opponents for attacking each other, and lowering the curve where possible. My meta leans fairly aggro & go-wide, to which Breena, the Demagogue and Karazikar, the Eye Tyrant have each had their own successes. In games where I've played Breena, or played against decks where she was the commander, the table seemed to have fun swinging at each other and drawing cards (until Breena killed them). Given that past experience, I figured I'd lean into that a bit more:

• Purphoros, God of the Forge out / Warleader's Call in - 1 mana lower on the curve & has a static +1/+1 anthem stapled on. Hard not to like.

• Hellrider out/ Nelly Borca, Impulsive Accuser in - Opens up some more options for drawing & sending aggro around the table. Nelly has looked pretty fun & impactful in some of the different games I've seen her in on various YouTube channels.

• Devilish Valet out/ Impact Tremors in - Pumping up Valet with token production to potentially One Shot someone out of a game was silly, but I didn't like its play pattern as much the more I played it. Figured I'd switch back to the old tried and true Impact Tremors, especially as another lower curve damage dealing option now that Purph & Hellrider are out.

• Breeches, Eager Pillager out / Aurelia, the Law Above in - New Breeches was okay each time I played him. Helpful utility, but never really jumped off the page. I'm more interested in Aurelia as a draw option off her first lines of text, and figured the damage dealing would be treated more as a bonus. Given that Aurelia has Haste, she can easily contribute to her own requirements.

• Reprieve out / Esper Sentinel in - Mostly because I feel like I have a decent amount of instant speed interaction as is, Sentinel can help with drawing or at least speed-bumping opponents to prevent me from drawing.

Other stuff on my radar:

• Connecting the Dots - Essentially a Bomat Courier anthem for all creatures. The ceiling seems high with Isshin, to essentially impulse draw 2 cards per creature attacking. Seems like a means to get a decent grip after going in to Top Deck Mode.

• Agrus Kos, Spirit of Justice - Kinda slow removal option.

• Trouble in Pairs - Waiting for the hype on this to die down a bit. Reminds me a bit of Mangara, the Diplomat, which was in an earlier version of this deck. Mangara didn't deter my metas much, mostly on the aggro aspect. After seeing the hype cycle of white value enchantments like Monologue Tax and Smuggler's Share, I want to see how things play out a bit more for Trouble in Pairs.

Making this update feels a bit silly, as Fallout precons are about a month away. Very excited for the Caesar, Legion's Emperor precon, and will likely pick up the deck, especially given the quality of the WH40K & LotR decks. I recently replayed New Vegas to get hype for the deck, and also because I hadn't played it in years. It was a joy to play on my gaming laptop and mod out/patch lots of the old bugs.

Currently partway through the 3rd day of Fallout precon deck reveals. All in all, I'm pretty happy with some of the new cards from the Caesar & Scrappy Survivors precons. As I've had some time to let some of my fanboy excitement simmer down, I've had a chance to be a bit more objective about potential updates to this deck, and what new cards are most to least likely to make it into the deck:

Definite additions

• Kellogg, Dangerous Mind - An upgrade over Captain Lannery Storm. Fallout 3 and 4 were the two I've played the most, so I'm quite happy that Kellogg made it into the precon, and has such a cool card to boot. Happy he has first strike, and an additional use for Treasures.

• Caesar, Legion's Emperor - I was super excited when he was first revealed a few months back. At the time of reveal, I figured he would be a swap in over Firemane Commando, and I think that is still the call to make. Caesar does it all for this deck: pings damage, draws cards, & creates tokens to establish board presence or enable his activation. It's always a plus when the creature doesn't need to be the one to attack. Overall, a great flavorful addition.

Likely additions

• MacCready, Lamplight Mayor - A fairly low to the ground Skulk anthem for creatures with Power 2 or less. Could be a helpful means for helping creature tokens get through for damage in a way that Legion Loyalist kinda misses the mark on. Still figuring out the swap, but might just drop a land, as the deck has operated well enough at 35 lands before.

• Craig Boone, Novac Guard - Super happy that one of my favorite Fallout companions got his own card. Boone's card is so flavorful, & its mechanics flavorfully play into Boone being a sniper. Much like Adeline, Anim Pakal, Caesar, new Aurelia, & Karazikar, I like that Boone doesn't need to attack to trigger (he is a sniper after all). I like that Boone provides some defense against flying, & his damage and lifegain can balloon the longer he sticks around. Admittedly, his addition would be a bit of a pet card inclusion, given how much I liked him as a companion.

• Paladin Elizabeth Taggerdy - An interesting take on the "polymorph" type effect we've seen on Arni Metalbrow, Fireflux Squad, Winota, Joiner of Forces, Ilharg, the Raze-Boar, and Shadowfax, Lord of Horses. I like that they're trying new things with this design space. Although Paladin Taggerdy is tied for the cheapest in terms of mana investment, she does need to attack with at least two other creatures, but also draws a card. I think the Battalion requirements for Paladin Taggerdy & Boone should both be fairly achievable in a deck like this that aims to go wide.

• Grim Reaper's Sprint - Another big flavor win, and a fun representation of the perk from Fallout. I think this should be fairly easy to cast for its Morbid cost, especially as creature tokens get chump-blocked in combat. This is currently one of the least likely additions of the cards in this category, but I could see it potentially swapping with Impact Tremors.

• Sentinel Sarah Lyons - A top end card that might be more at home in the 99 for something like Anim Pakal, Thousandth Moon or General Ferrous Rokiric. As of 2/25/24, my deck has: 10 artifacts, 4 cards that create treasure tokens before combat damage, and 2 cards that create artifact creature tokens. I think Sarah Lyons would be too boom or bust in the current version of my build, but I'll keep her in mind.

Unlikely additions, but still on my radar

• Pip-Boy 3000 - A cool equipment that I think may replace Sword of the Animist in some Isshin lists, mostly for the additional utility offered by the Pip-Boy. The land untapping gives Isshin decks a bootleg Bear Umbra, as well as the additional options of adding counters and looting/rummaging draw. I'm not the biggest fan of looting/rummaging draw for Isshin, especially once the deck is in mid-late game and going into Top Deck Mode. Aside from all that, I'm not the biggest fan of Equipment besides Greaves, Swiftfoot Boots, & Skullclamp in decks that aren't Equipment focused.

• Boomer Scrapper - Okay Boomer. Cool that one of the factions from New Vegas got a nod here. This may give some Isshin decks utilizing Laelia, the Blade Reforged an additional option. The Impulse draw from the Junk token, while helpful, is a bit slow at sorcery speed. The life loss from Boomer, while flavorful, can be risky in mid-late game scenarios where draw is needed, but life might be running low.

• Veronica, Dissident Scribe) - An interesting mix of looting/rummaging and impulse draw. This could be an alternative for decks that are playing Audacious Thief. As mentioned for Pip-Boy and Boomer, I am not the biggest fan of discard based draw for Isshin, & the impulse draw on the Junk token is pretty slow at sorcery speed. Hoping we will get Christine, so the lovers can be reunited in a deck.