Conditions Allow - Imoen, Mystic Trickster
(Imoen, Mystic Trickster | Art by Alix Branwyn)
So You Want To Be A Wizard
Hello, and welcome back to Conditions Allow. In this article series I take a legendary creature with a drawback and build a deck to turn it into a strength. This week I'm continuing from where I left off with Safana, Calimport Cutthroat and building around Imoen, Mystic Trickster.
The initiative is a powerful value engine, and Imoen, Mystic Trickster supplements that with even more value. Specifically, she lets you draw an additional card in your end step if you have the initiative, and that goes up to two cards if you've completed a dungeon. Just like Safana, Calimport Cutthroat, Imoen, Mystic Trickster is most commonly built as an Azorius blink deck, with Far Traveler as a Background. Per usual, however, I want to do something different. To fit with Imoen's Mystic Trickster title, I want to choose a Background that encourages her to attack, slipping past your opponents' defenses to steal the initiative from under their noses.
A Background in Artistry
The first Background I considered was Sword Coast Sailor. Being unblockable out of the command zone is a powerful ability, but you can always include Sword Coast Sailor in your Imoen, Mystic Trickster deck. The tools provided by an additional color are more valuable, especially since there are so many ways to make your commander hard to block. Agent of the Shadow Thieves was my second pick. Deathtouch and indestructible are basically the same as being unblockable in most cases. Growing Imoen's power with +1/+1 counters also represents a respectable backup win condition with commander damage.
Ultimately, however, I decided to pick Guild Artisan as the Background for this build. Two Treasures a turn helps make sure you can reliably cast the extra spells that Imoen, Mystic Trickster draws while still progressing your gameplan. Adding red also gives you some tricky tools for cloning your creatures that take the initiative. Quickly finishing a dungeon is a primary goal of the deck, and the Undercity itself serves as one of your primary win conditions.
Never Flat-Footed
Before you can steal the initiative, you have to take the initiative. Just like any two-color combination, Izzet has six creatures that enter the battlefield and give you the initiative. Aarakocra Sneak is naturally evasive, while Caves of Chaos Adventurer benefits from the unblockable effects we'll include to help Imoen, Mystic Trickster re-take the initiative. On the other hand, Feywild Caretaker helps you defend the initiative with a steady stream of 1/1 fliers to block with.
Bloodboil Sorcerer doesn't create tokens, but it does let you sacrifice your Guild Artisan Treasures to divert attacks elsewhere. Conversely, Stirring Bard helps your creatures get through in combat. Haste is also valuable, as Imoen, Mystic Trickster is likely to attract removal when she's drawing two extra cards a turn. Tomb of Horrors Adventurer isn't a creature you want to rely on to take the initiative, but it helps you take over the game when you play it. Copying Negate or Pongify once, or even twice, is powerful.
I'm also including Loot Dispute. A potential third Treasure every turn makes it possible to hold up two defensive spells, which is the primary goal of the deck. Additionally, you can move through the Undercity very quickly to start generating 5/5 Dragon tokens.
Moving With Haste
Being in blue, the most straightforward way to move through the Undercity quickly is to blink your initiative creatures. I'm going to focus on the spells that blink two creatures, with the goal of recycling them with Archaeomancer. This combo not only lets you take the initiative many times in a turn, but it also recycles interaction or draw spells, ensuring you always have the tools you need, when you need them.
For a more steady stream of advantage, I'm turning to cloning effects. Flameshadow Conjuring works extremely well alongside the two flicker spells, but also doubles the impact of every initiative creature you play. Splinter Twin looks a little odd without Pestermite to win the game, but a free trip into the Undercity every turn is also pretty good. I'm also very excited for the extra value provided by Jaxis, the Troublemaker.
For when you really want to sprint through dungeons, however, you turn to Rionya, Fire Dancer. The Undercity only has five layers, so Rionya only needs you to cast three spells, minimum, to get you through the whole dungeon in a single turn. If you've hoarded enough Treasure, it's even possible to loop around and complete the Undercity twice in a single combat step. Delina, Wild Mage is much less likely to take you that far, but she could get you through a few rooms at once.
Can't Catch Me
As great as all that sounds, the basic plan is to accrue value with your commander and Background. To make sure you can always trigger Guild Artisan, I'm including a few different ways to make Imoen, Mystic Trickster unblockable. In addition to Sword Coast Sailor, there's plenty of Equipment to lean on as well. Cliffhaven Kitesail is one of my favorite Equipment for cheap evasion, while Whispersilk Cloak and Prowler's Helm are classics. To synergize with all the Archaeomancers, I'm also including Slip Through Space and Shadow Rift. While less permanent than enchantments or Equipment, they are more flexible, and they work better with the large number of tokens and attack triggers in the deck.
Closing the Game
When it comes to actually winning, though, you can't just rely on the Undercity itself. Even with Dungeon Delver to double the effect of each room, it just won't be fast enough. You'll need some big creatures to sneak into play with that final room and really take over the game. My favorite is probably Inferno Titan, but copying Red Dragon a few times with Rionya, Fire Dancer is a much more straightforward path to victory. Scholar of the Ages is much less direct but should still be able to bury your opponents in an avalanche of value.
The rest of the deck is dedicated to a small package of mana rocks, and plenty of draw and removal to make sure you're always a step ahead.
When I first considered building around Imoen, Mystic Trickster, I thought she would be a very straightforward commander who pushed you to build a similar deck no matter what colors you choose, and while I think an "optimal" build looks similar in Dimir, Izzet, or Azorius, there's definitely a lot of fun things you can do with Imoen as well.
For this particular deck, I wanted to balance a flavorful play experience with powerful finishers. Cloning creatures to slip through defenses and overwhelm your opponents feels very appropriate for a rogue-ish Wizard.
How would you build around Imoen, Mystic Trickster? Which Background would you choose, and which archetype would you choose? Let me know in the comments, and thanks for reading!
