I've wanted to build a Hand Size Matters deck for a while. There are a lot of cards that interact with that idea, and many of those creatures and spells sit in Sultai. Given that I want lots of cards in hand, and that Blue has a ton of X spells that draw you cards, well,
Zaxara, the Exemplary
quickly became an interesting choice for this deck.
X Spells Show
Zaxara makes your X spells have extra value, so why not partake? Chump blockers for sure, and mid/late game, some big hydras to swing around! In choosing X spells, I went with removal, lands/card draw, and evasion as a primary focus. One particularly good card to have on the field when you cast an X Spell is
Rashmi, Eternities Crafter
. She will see the large converted mana cost of your X Spell, so you should be able to get some free spells without issue.
Removal/Counter:
Black Sun's Zenith
- Board wipe potential with recursion.
Condescend
- Make them spend more mana. Scry.
Distorting Wake
- This has political weight.
Erebos's Intervention
- Targeted removal and some life gain. Or graveyard hate.
Profane Command
- Potentially the best X Spell in the deck. Lots of options and it has opponent killing potential.
Lands/Card Draw
Damnable Pact
- You'll use this mostly on yourself, but it has the potential to knock out an opponent if they are low enough.
Nylea's Intervention
- This lets you find any land, which can be fantastic. This deck has a weakness to flying creatures, so Nylea's Intervention can be used to knock out some fliers in a pinch.
Animist's Awakening
- This is a bit of a gamble, but there's always the possibility of getting a ton of lands into play.
Mana Bloom
- This only gives you one extra mana a turn, but it is recursive, which means you can potentially get a number of hydras off of it! Also, there are a couple synergies elsewhere in the deck with counters on permanents.
Blue Sun's Zenith
- Recursive card draW! This could be a political tool, as well.
Evasion
Open Into Wonder
- This makes your creatures unblockable so you can rush in for a kill. It also gets you more cards!
Primal Might
- I use this with "fight" in mind. It offers you some targeted removal, with the potential for extra damage as well.
Icy Blast
- You will trigger ferocious most of the time, which means this card is extra good. You can use it defensively to slow down the potential for combat or activated ability nonsense, or you can use it to clear a path for your critters.
Card Draw Show
Alhammarret's Archive
- This card maximizes your card draw potential.
Toothy, Imaginary Friend
- Toothy is guaranteed card draw down the line. Get him out early, if possible, and once he's big enough, throw him at every opponent you can. If they remove him, so what? More cards!
Prime Speaker Zegana
- Zegana is great to play in the middle of the game. Hopefully you've created some 4+ size hydras or you have a hand size creature out, so Zegana will hit the field pretty large, which in turn generates you a chunk of new cards.
Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner
- You can generate 4+ hydras very easily, which means card draw.
Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner
+
Zaxara, the Exemplary
is a great combination!
Greater Good
- Use your hydra tokens as card draw chaff! Likely, you'll be drawing new X Spells, which will mean even more hydras.
Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix
- Throughout the game, Kydele will have the opportunity to generate you a ton of mana!
+1/+1 Counters Show
Keep in mind that the hydras generated from Zaxara always have +1/+1 counters.
Power Conduit
- This card does some major work. As you generate hydras, you can shift around the +1/+1 counters to buff Zaxara (because of the death touch) or to save a counter if a hydra is going to die.
Mazemind Tome
+
Power Conduit
can maintain steady card draw from the artifact, while continuously buffing your creatures.
Grakmaw, Skyclave Ravager
- Grakmaw can grow when your hydra tokens die off. Plus, when Grakmaw dies, you're guaranteed a creature on the field after a board wipe.
Hadana's Climb
- This card boosts our creatures, potentially forever, if you want that and have small creatures to always add a counter to. If not, Hadana's Climb flips to
Winged Temple of Orazca
, which gives us flying for defensive purposes or to fly over a line of creatures to smack your opponent.
Soul Diviner
- With the hydra tokens you'll be generating, you always have counters to remove for extra card draw.
So far, in playing this deck, Zaxara has not been Target #1, but, I recommend keeping a counter on hand if you suspect foul play. Another great option is
Undying Evil
for a surprise return of Zaxara.
Nature's Chosen
is in the deck specifically for Zaxara. You can get 4 mana instead of just 2 or you can get your two mana and untap Zaxara to always have deathtouch available. The deck does not need Zaxara to function effectively, but Zaxara does make the deck sing. Extra mana for spells, deathtouch, plus hydras from X Spells. I typically view this deck as fairly aggressive. You have a consistent ability to generate large creatures which can be hard to deal with.
With the varied ways to draw cards, it's pretty easy to keep a full grip, if not even more. This allows
Psychosis Crawler
to play a solid part if it hits the field. It also means your different Hand Size Matters creatures will be big baddies looking for trouble.
Ultimately, the deck has flexibility, which I believe all good decks have. You can respond to most threats, and your board state is typically ready to hammer away at someone else. If their board state gets too developed, there are a few ways to wipe the board or to simply slip around all of their defenses to smash face.
This deck is fairly new, and I haven't played it too much quite yet. Please share any suggestions you might have. I am working to upgrade the land base. I haven't done a second round of research to see if there are other cards that would be better or more beneficial than the ones I have.
