CUT #11 - CUT Games On Motorcycles

Nashi, Moon Mage's Scion

| Illustrated by Yoshiya

Ninjas, Kami, Dragons, oh my! Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty has been out for a little while, and I have loved every minute of it. I unfortunately started actively playing Magic during Magic Origins so I missed out on a lot of great worlds and sets, Kamigawa being one of them. As I have heard/seen, the actual sets that took place on Kamigawa weren't the best received. The set was full of misses in flavor over function and a not great metagame, but I do see a world rich with storytelling and potential. I haven't yet read the novels, but from what I have heard they were also great overall. The novels were another thing I missed by starting Magic as late as I did. Playing now, I'm glad that I get to see this cyberpunk/futuristic variation on Kamigawa.

Neon Dynasty has offered some great cards to Commander, like Boseiju, Who Endures

If you can't tell already, this round of CUT will be featuring cards and commanders from Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty!

Before we introduce our deckbuilders and their creations, here is the update I promised you about the upgraded holiday decks. The end result was much more in line with how the voting ended up the first time. For this round, you voted that Ben would win, now here's how it went down. First it was the friendly "draw, land, go" old song and dance. My deck ramped a bit, (being Simic, of course it did), and that allowed me to land a turn-three Wilderness Reclamation

After playing with Jadzi, Oracle of Arcavios

Back to the main event!

The challenges our deckbuilders faced were:

- Commander has to be from Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty

- The 99 must be Modern-legal

- 10 Cards must be Vehicles

First up is Merlin; let's see what Merlin has cooked up!

It has become somewhat of a cliché to say restriction breeds creativity in regards to Commander decklists. However, sometimes it's just true. While I'm usually a pretty vanilla deckbuilder and gravitate towards linear strategies, this list emerged very differently.

The restriction of ten Vehicles quickly led me to Mechtitan Core

But something felt off turning a Smuggler's Copter

From there everything fell into place quite quickly.

Step 1: Discard creatures that become Zords

Step 2: Play Dermotaxi

Step 3: Copy Dermotaxi

Step 4: Play the Mechtitan Core

Step 5: Make a MegaZord and punch Rita Repulsa and her minions back to the moon!

With the copy effects, I had to make sure the artifact entered the battlefield so it would have the Imprint trigger. The most notable inclusion here is Mechanized Production

I buried the lede a little bit by leaving til now to talk about the commander. This article was inspired by those cooking websites that have 3,000 words of backstory for a pancake recipe. It's Kyodai, Soul of Kamigawa

First, I thought about making our six heroes all creatures with "Ranger" in the name, but I didn't like the haul that scryfall search produced, so instead I opted for legendary creatures that preferably correspond with their suit color. This worked for everyone but the Yellow and Pink Ranger (again, get on it Verhey!), both which I put in white. As a lot of 5-year-olds in the 90s will tell you: the secret seventh member of the team is Alpha 5, the trusty robot companion to the Rangers. He is played by Myr, which provide the deck with mana and can (even though it's a flavor fail) crew a Vehicle in a pinch. Citanul Flute

The card draw in the deck is based around discarding so I can get the big animals in the bin for the Taxi to pick them up. I obviously included a few more Vehicles (because of the restrictions) and cards that synergise with Vehicles. Muddle the Mixture

The deck has performed surprisingly well in pods that aim for turns eight and longer. To assemble the Megazord, you'll have to have everything fall into place perfectly, but if you can pull it off, you win in my books (even if it immediately gets a Swords to Plowshares

Next we have Robyn! Let's see what Robyn brewed for us!

Hidetsugu, Devouring his Mad Max Minions

Hidetsugu, Devouring Chaos

The Food

The creature suite in this deck aims for both recursion and token generation. Recursive creatures, like Bloodghast

We also have a host of Goblin drivers, like Sling-Gang Lieutenant

Outlets

While our devouring Demon general might like to eat up all these tiny creatures, his sacrifice ability isn't the only one we have access to. Viscera Seer

Payoffs

We have our sacrifice engine established, now what are we getting out of it? Here is where the deck shines and where friendships are lost. Cards like Midnight Reaper

Hidetsugu's Chaotic Car Garage

It wouldn't be Cut without some fun challenges thrown in, but the 10 Vehicles in my showroom today aren't just making up the numbers. From Kaladesh we have a fine selection of motors: the 'too good for Standard' Smuggler's Copter

If you'd prefer a more fantastical mode of transport, why not take a ride on our Enchanted Carriage

Drivers?

I really do want to point out the great interaction between Vehicles and the Inspired mechanic. Not the most popular mechanic ever, but a slam dunk when you need to crew your Vehicles. No need to worry about putting them in danger or waiting for summoning sickness to wear off. Pain Seer

Random Goodies

The Meathook Massacre

I doubt you'll make many friends with it, but this deck is a blast to play. Fitting for a deck led by Hidetsugu, Devouring Chaos

Finally, I would like to introduce Charles!

Gameplan

For this challenge, I chose Kodama of the West Tree

Regarding the restriction that I had to use at least 10 Vehicles, I did not want to be left in the dust and settled on a fairly aggressive deck.

We start with a solid base of around 18 permanents (Rishkar, Peema Renegade

If your army is a bit vanilla, we can suit them up with cheap shoes (Lightning Greaves

When we connect, we get a tapped Forest (mismatched for maximum style) for our trouble, and we can utilize our newly acquired real estate right away with Landfall triggers (Evolution Sage

So an average aggressive strategy with one big ace in the hole: Primal Surge

Primal Surge

It's every child's dream to one day build a Primal Surge

The sky's the limit when your entire 99 is on the battlefield.

Will you:

• Attack for a boatload of nigh unstoppable damage (thanks to Champion of Lambholt
  or Akroma's Memorial
  )?
• Add about +20/+20 power and toughness to your mean green army by stacking all the triggers from Stone-Seeder Hierophant
  and Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
  ?
• Generate infinite mana with Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
  , Temur Sabertooth
  , and Saryth, the Viper's Fang
  ?
• Make an enormous army, only to move all their counters onto your Walking Ballista
  via The Ozolith
  and shoot the smile off that player in their ivory pillowfort?
• Assemble Mechtitan Core
  and show that Voltron player who has the biggest robot of them all?

Although we hamstring ourselves a little by not being able to run instants and sorceries, we gain a much more stylish way to win. Unfortunately, there is only one way in the deck to actually tutor for the hefty sorcery in Ring of Three Wishes

PSA: please for the love of all that is holy, make sure your opponents will be dead at the end of the combat phase because Toski, Bearer of Secrets

The West Won the Cold War

First we get the modifications, then we get the combat damage triggers, then we get the Forest. But what if our opponents start accumulating armies to blockade us into a stalemate?

We can start getting crafty with evasion via the skies (Arcbound Stinger

Or perhaps some pseudo evasion with a little rules interaction involving trample (Kodama of the West Tree

Rebuilding from the Ashes

A mono-green deck without instant-speed protection might sound like it would be miserable to play after an opponent drops the olde board wipe.

The fleet of Vehicles give a way for your summoning sick creatures to contribute to the war effort on the same turn.

Eldrazi Monument

Also in the mix are cards like Hangarback Walker

Frankly, I think we'll be okay. It might even clear up all the pesky blockers that were standing in the way of the forest.

These wonderful deckbuilders have presented you with a look at their shiny, neon-lit decks. Remember to vote for your favorite and we'll see the top 2 duke it out in the finals. As we wade into the depths that is the Streets of New Capenna spoilers, the next article will still be featuring cards from Kamigawa, to savor it before it drifts out of our ever-changing focus. As always, if you or a friend would like to be a part of a future CUT article, feel free to email the.only.travis.stanley@gmail.com or @ me on twitter @chipman007. If you ever have trouble deckbuilding, always remember: if you don't love it, CUT it!

Poll closes: April 14th, 2022