Sift Through Sands - A Jank Retrospective
Sift Through Sands | Art by Anthony S. Waters
... Jankrospective?
Ah yes, the passage of time. With the first year of Sift Through Sands coming to a close alongside an exciting year of Magic, it seems appropriate to do what good deckbuilders do and take a look through our decks. We'll look at the duds, which cards from 2022 found a home, and which older cards have a new home thanks to new cards. Let's start sifting.
Vaevictis & Amareth
The debut article! Vaevictis and Amareth are both so fun and open-ended, I really enjoyed brewing the lists. Making a deck with no instants or sorceries is a fun restriction to work with.
Standout Cards
Hidetsugu is a powerful card and commander, with many applications. In the 99 of a deck like Vaevictus, Hidetsugu provides an alternate strategy that lines up with the deck's mechanics, which is a huge win.
While Weatherlight Compleated wants to hit the ground early as you set up sacrifices, Dragon Appeasement provides similar value later in the game, once your board is set up. It's also gorgeous in foil!
Damia & Queza
Damia, Sage of Stone and Queza are two of my favorite legends, and jumping into brewing Queza as Streets of New Capenna was released was great.
Standout Cards
Raffine is really cool. Connive surprised me in its usefulness, and Raffine is open-ended enough to be a great inclusion in many decks, or as a commander. The game needs more interesting Esper legends, and Raffine is pushing in that direction.
Inner Calm, Outer Strength is an odd one, and the Arcane subtype makes it even stranger, but regardless - it's an instant-speed buff spell that can pack a punch if played well.
Gnostro & Lathiel
This was a fun one. When I first saw Gnostro I thought it was boring, but taking the time to build it was extremely rewarding, and far more interesting than I expected. Lathiel is one of my favorite decks, and I play it often.
Standout Cards
Cryptic Pursuit has so many applications. It may seem like a build-around, but it is generally useful in most spellslinger decks, especially ones that want board presence. Card design like this is what makes Magic fun.
Pristine Talisman, on the other hand, is supremely uninteresting in most decks. However, finding a home for this odd mana rock, and discovering its synergy with Lathiel and Well of Lost Dreams, is an added bonus.
Asmira & Yasova
I loved building these two. Off-color Magic is so much fun, and a great way to explore overlooked parts of the game. I wonder if someone builds like that regularly...
Standout Cards
Industrial Advancement is so good and has such a good price tag, it's insane. A sac outlet that lets you dig for better creatures and potentially swap tokens for bombs is nuts. This card is going to advance into a lot of my decks.
Altar of Bone is extremely cool, from Ice Age, and the closest thing to Diabolic Intent that Selesyna could get. It fit with Asmira perfectly, right down to the gorgeous art.
Sophina/Wernog & Akiri/Reyhan
These two artifact decks were among the best I brewed this year, and both of them are in the works to have in paper!
Standout Cards
A powerful uncommon, Oni-Cult Anvil is easily a problem for our opponents. Turning Treasures and the like into 1/1 Construct tokens can be extremely useful, not to mention keeping the amount of artifacts on our field stable. Having lots of artifacts is surely a powerful strategy, right?
I was really happy to find not one, but two places to include Yawgmoth Demon. Although a victim of power creep, a 6/6 flying first strike is good, and the downside can easily be used to our advantage (see above).
Aminatou & Silas/Kondo
I said before, I'll say it again: Manifest is one of the coolest mechanics in the game. Building two decks around the mechanic was a blast, and every time I win by flipping a face-down Phage the Untouchable, it rules.
Standout Cards
The Shard confluences from Streets of New Capenna Commander are really neat, and Obscura Confluence is no exception. The mana cost is low enough that this card will always have an impact, and comes in handy when needed.
Dust Elemental is awesome, thanks Planar Chaos. Stifling its ETB trigger is fun, but finding a way to use the steep bounce cost to our advantage is really fun. Seeing a copy of this card in more ETB-focused decks would make me very happy.
Ludevic/Kondo & Marisi
SIDAR KONDO! SIDAR KONDO! I like weird forced combat decks, and building ones centered around giving away tokens was so much fun to brew.
Standout Cards
Life of the Party fits the archetype of these decks so well, is really fun, and actually good. New Capenna did a lot for the format.
These decks are chock full of weird jank, but of all the cards included, Kamahl's Summons was one I forgot existed and would never know where to play elsewhere.
Kangee & Ruhan
Recently, my friend began playing Magic, and in our first game I played my Kangee, Aerie Keeper deck. It was a ton of fun. Goofy tribal decks are truly the soul of the game.
Standout Cards
Aerial Extortionist is so good. Although the removal isn't necessarily permanent, it being on an evasive stick is extremely powerful. Opponents won't want to give you a draw more often than not, making this bird brutal.
Ferocity of the Wilds is a unassuming little enchantment, but it truly shines in stompy tribal decks like Giants. I also didn't know it existed until I brewed this list!
Cecily/Othelm and Cromat
Rainbow Magic is near and dear to my heart, and precise brewing makes building around commanders like these so rewarding. Something to be proud of, even.
Standout Cards
Pact Weapon rules, wins games, and is extremely flavorful. That's a perfect rating from me! Attacking with it equipped to Cecily feels great.
One of the first good 60-card decks I played was my friend's five-color Domain deck, and the wincon was Last Stand. Being able to use it in Commander is a real treat.
Deathleaper and Neyam
The Warhammer decks made a lot of ripples in the format, so picking the two jankiest legends from them and not running any of the other new cards in the decks was entertaining.
Standout Cards
First Responder is interesting, and again, a highlight of New Capenna Commander. Using it to retain your Ball Lightning and beef it up with six +1/+1 counters is awesome.
Everyone who's taken a minute to read Immortal Coil is puzzled by it. A build-around commander like Neyam Shai Murad making it useful is simply wonderful.
Isu and Uril
The snow archetype is all about value, and building a straightforward list with Isu and a weirder one with Uril was neat. It's easier to explore snow than ever, maybe one day I'll have enough snow lands to build in paper.
Standout Cards
Falco is intriguing, and a fun combination of two popular archetypes. As a commander, he's a powerhouse, and in the 99, he generates enough value to be useful, but not a major target. Cool card.
Speaking of cool cards (sorry), I finally read Winter's Chill after all these years, and it's... not bad? In a snow deck, it's a strange fog effect that ties up your opponents' mana, which you can use to your advantage. Will anyone run this? Probably not, but I'm glad to find it a home.
Stonebrow and Sygg
The last deck of the year, trample and Merfolk. Leaning hard into combat triggers with these two was fun to build around, and doing so got me thinking about combat in a different way.
Standout Cards
Emerald Dragon needs printed with the old border, because it feels like such a break that it could have been printed in 1997. This card is so useful.
Vodalian War Machine is really goofy, but honestly playable in a tap shenanigans Merfolk deck. It's kind of like a Vehicle? I've passed this card in bulk bins for years, and as soon as I started brewing Sygg I knew I wanted to include it.
A New Start
Thank you all for being here for my first year of Sift Through Sands! There's a lot of stuff in the works, and I'm really excited to see what the next year brings for the game and the series. Have a safe and enjoyable New Year!
