Sift Through Sands - Kibo, Uktabi Prince & Vazi, Keen Negotiator

Wes Stuckey • January 5, 2023

Deckbuilding

The Banana - A Treasure Trove of Potassium

Hello, and welcome to Sift Through Sands, an article series focused on looking at the functionality of a similar group of cards in two different commander decks, helping us utilize them to their full potential.

With everyone recovering from New Years Eve festivities and 2022 in general, I've been slowly looking at Jumpstart 2022. And as much as I'd like to build the plethora of interesting commanders that Jumpstart is known for, all I have is bananas on the brain. Kibo, Uktabi Prince

(the spawn of Uktabi Orangutan
, no doubt) is extremely goofy, but it presents a fascinating opportunity for jank building that draws me in like a moth to flame. Let's get to it!

Our Picks

Kibo, Uktabi Prince

and Vazi
 share a strange, similar niche. Both of them give opponents mana advantage with the caveat of beefing up creatures when they're used. There's lots of ways to build around these two, and none of them are simple. A benevolent, grindy stax deck where you give your opponents the resources they need to deal with Winter Orb
? Mycosynth Lattice
 shenanigans? Ape tribal??? The correct answer, of course, is a bit of all of them. These decks work with a subtle granting of bananas and the subtle encouragement to use it. Let's start with the lord of potassium.

Golden Banana

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Commander (1)

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Playing Kibo

Kibo, Uktabi Prince

starts off innocuous. Dropping Tree Monkey
 will hardly make your opponents sweat immediately. Establishing a handful of primates early, like Gorilla Shaman
, Kird Ape
, and Zodiac Monkey
, will help us benefit from our opponents eating their bananas and get us the most value out of playing Kibo. Liquimetal Torque
, Invigorating Hot Spring
, and Kurbis, Harvest Celebrant
 all come as helpful plays at this stage of the game.

Once we get Kibo, Uktabi Prince

going, we have to play a careful game. If Kibo starts to become threatening, he'll be assassinated, but if we're generous with Banana tokens we can play a longer game. Helm of Awakening
, Jolene, the Plunder Queen
, and Ancient Runes
 encourage our opponents to cast spells and use the tokens, while protective cards like Sporeback Troll
 and Saryth, the Viper's Fang
 keep our monarch around. If we aren't that lucky, Descent into Avernus
, Marching Duodrone
, Tempting Contract
, and Curse of Opulence
 all get mana flowing as well.

To close the game out, Arcbound Ravager

, Taurean Mauler
, Sardian Avenger
, and Fractal Harness
 get us damage and even still benefit from our opponents having Bananas. Kogla, the Titan Ape
, Gorilla Berserkers
, and Grunn, the Lonely King
 are threatening enough on their own, and more so when Damping Engine
 gets our opponents sacrificing Bananas with the prince in play.

Kibo, Uktabi Prince

plays a slow, weird, and silly game. Giving our opponents Bananas becomes less of an issue if we're able to restrict the ways in which they can use them, and we can get away with it by playing cautiously and incrementally increasing our primates' might. Vazi
 plays similarly, with a more political bend. Let's check out the list!

Maybe the Real Friendship was Treasure

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Commander (1)

Planeswalker (1)

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Playing Vazi

Vazi

is a friendly lady. As we begin the game, beneficial symmetrical effects, like Well of Knowledge
, Howling Golem
, Temple Bell
, and Master of the Feast
, start filling up hands and garner favor with our opponents. Treasure-creation is a must, with a decent amount of it coming tacked on to draw and removal spells, like Big Score
 and Crack Open
. Some low-mana-value creatures, like Juri, Master of the Revue
, Kalain, Reclusive Painter
, and Moriok Rigger
, will be welcome sights, as they scale as the game progresses.

When Vazi

hits play, we start playing politics. Granting Treasure tokens ad nauseam will make us lose, but providing options for use helps us manipulate the way they're used to ensure we keep the advantage. Elkin Lair
 and our wheels, like Reforge the Soul
, encourages impulsive "use it or lose it" casting, while Saproling Cluster
, Task Mage Assembly
, Wandering Archaic
, and Xantcha, Sleeper Agent
 give our opponents abilities to pay for. This in turn provides us card advantage and more threatening creatures with Vazi
.

Closing out the game will come in a variety of ways, mostly dependent on how opponents treat us. Mer-Ek Nightblade

lets us go wide if we distribute our counters, Kulrath Knight
 shuts down our opponents' threats, and Marionette Master
 lets us ping the table to death with our Treasures. On the other hand, Shard of the Void Dragon
 provides a huge danger for our opponents to deal with. And who knows, maybe Fan Favorite
 will gain us victory!

Inside the Treasure Chest

Creation of Treasure tokens and artifact hate are central to these decks. The following cards appear in both lists:

Kibo/Vazi Package

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The overlap in these decks comes especially from cards like Big Score

. Tacking Treasure-creation on to average draw and removal spells is a reliable way to generate the tokens and much more reliable than hoping that cards like Smothering Tithe
 stick around against a table of kill spells. Treasure-production is seen as a threat for a reason, but using cards to even the playing field (like Jolene, the Plunder Queen
) and reaping the rewards from increased spellcasting (with Taurean Mauler
) can be quite powerful. Descent into Avernus
 makes games go fast, with entertaining results. If you find yourself falling behind because your Treasure-production makes you the table's target, more subtle or equitable cards can help with this.

I hope you found the ape and advisor to be as fun as I did to build. Kibo and Vazi provide a challenge, and I hope to see more builds of both! In the meantime, enjoy the start of 2023 and I will see you soon.

Wes Stuckey

Wes Stuckey

The untenable Wes Stuckey is the jankiest Magic player to roam the streets of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (their first brewed deck was Blind Seer "old cards"). You can find them slinging spells, running campaigns, and listening to music with friends and the cat.