One of the most fulfilling feelings in Magic is when a brew you’ve been working on comes to fruition and actually puts up good results. It’s easy to build something unique, utilizing cards that other players have underrated. What’s hard is taking that strategy and using it to beat up on tier one archetypes.
Yet, earlier this week, one player managed to go undefeated in a five round Magic Online Standard league with one of the wildest archetypes we’ve seen in a while. By maximizing a mythic rare enchantment that has seen virtually no Constructed play to this point, this deck is capable of drawing a ton of cards and flooding the board with tokens out of nowhere.
To understand exactly what this deck is trying to accomplish, we need to look at the role this specific enchantment plays.
Digging for Vesuvan Duplimancy
- Mana Value: 3U
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Card Type: Enchantment
- MTG Sets: Dominaria United
- Card Text: Whenever you cast a spell that targets only a single artifact or creature you control, create a token that’s a copy of that artifact or creature, except it’s not legendary.
The enchantment in question is none other than Vesuvan Duplimancy. This unusual design has almost exclusively been a feature of Commander but has some insanely high upside. All you need to do is have ways to target your threats with enters-the-battlefield triggers, and you can start generating a huge amount of value over time. That is exactly what this Standard deck is built to do.
Given how much this deck relies on the premier enchantment, you need a plethora of ways to dig for it. At the top of the list, we have our first value-oriented creature: Thundertrap Trainer. By itself, Thundertrap Trainer lets you dig four cards deep for Vesuvan Duplimancy. Of course, once you have Vesuvan Duplimancy in play, Thundertrap Trainer becomes a premium creature to target and make copies of.
Also in the two-drop slot, Pond Prophet is a nice source of card advantage all the same. You don’t get as much card selection here, but Pond Prophet is still a worthy inclusion. From there, cantrips such as Sleight of Hand and Opt give you more consistency when it comes to finding your combo engine.
Going Nuts with Outcaster Trailblazer
- Mana Value: 2G
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 4/2
- Card Type: Creature- Human Druid
- MTG Sets: Outlaws of Thunder Junction
- Card Text: When Outcaster Trailblazer enters the battlefield, add one mana of any color. Whenever another creature with power 4 or greater enters the battlefield under your control, draw a card. Plot 2G (You may pay 2G and exile this card from your hand. Cast it as a sorcery on a later turn without paying its mana cost. Plot only as a sorcery.)
Speaking of combos, where things get really interesting is when you are able to pair Outcaster Trailblazer with Vesuvan Duplimancy. In the right circumstance, you may be able to draw close to your whole deck and attack the opponent for an enormous pile of damage all in one turn.
Right off the bat, when Outcaster Trailblazer enters the battlefield, you’re spotted a mana for your trouble. This mana can then be used to cast a one-mana spell to target Outcaster Trailblazer. With Vesuvan Duplimancy in play, you’ll get to copy Outcaster Trailblazer. Except this time, you’ll get to draw a card in addition to adding a mana to your mana pool.
Well, what if you use that mana to copy Outcaster Traiblazer again? Now, when the second token enters, you’ll get to float one mana and draw TWO cards. As long as you can continue to chain together one-mana spells that target a single creature, you’ll churn through your library in no time.
One important thing to keep in mind with Outcaster Trailblazer is that its Plot ability comes in handy quite a bit. It’s common to Plot Outcaster Trailblazer on turn three, then jam Vesuvan Duplimancy on turn four.
If your opponent is tapped out or you suspect they can’t remove your Outcaster Trailblazer when you play it, you can follow up by casting Outcaster Traiblazer from exile for free. With a couple single target spells in hand, you’ll be able to build out a huge board of 4/2s to overwhelm the opponent in one go.
Importantly, you will find one copy of Imodane’s Recruiter in the deck. On turns where you’re able to fully combo out with Outcaster Trailblazer, you can finish the chain by casting Imodane’s Recruiter and attacking for lethal damage. Imodane’s Recruiter is a necessary tool to ensure you can beat Sunfall decks.
Single-Target Spells
- Mana Value: U
- Rarity: Uncommon
- Card Type: Sorcery
- MTG Sets: Bloomburrow
- Card Text: Exile target creature you control, then return it to the battlefield under its owner’s control. If that creature is a Bird, Frog, Otter, or Rat, draw a card.
Of course, in order to make these combo lines work, we need a high density of one-mana spells that target your creatures. Fortunately, this deck delivers.
Splash Portal in particular is absolutely amazing here. Before you find Vesuvan Duplimancy, blinking a Pond Prophet and drawing two cards for one mana is a great exchange. Thundertrap Trainer is an Otter, so it works perfectly with Splash Portal, too.
Simultaneously, Splash Portal is excellent on your combo turn. By targeting your non-token Outcaster Trailblazer, not only will you trigger Vesuvan Duplimancy and make another token, but you’ll also blink out the original. When it reenters, you’ll draw even more cards and net an additional mana. This extra mana can be essential in letting you cast Imodane’s Recruiter on the same turn.
Outside of Splash Portal, Timely Interference is another cheap cantrip that targets your creatures. Unsummon and Unable to Scream double as interactive elements and ways to trigger Vesuvan Duplimancy. This comes in handy against red aggro decks that put a ton of pressure on you early.
An Obscure Option
- Mana Value: 1G
- Rarity: Uncommon
- Card Type: Instant
- MTG Sets: Bloomburrow
- Card Text: Choose one- Destroy target creature with flying, destroy target enchantment, or draw a card and create a Food token. (It’s an artifact with “2, Tap, Sacrifice this artifact: Yiu gain 3 life.”)
Even if this Vesuvan Duplimancy shell isn’t amongst the best things to be doing in Standard, it does at least have some competitive viability. Dimir tempo is unbelievably popular right now, and this deck has so much card flow built in to give you a great shot in the matchup. Plus, Dimir has limited ways to get Vesuvan Duplimancy off the board once you stick it.
The problem comes against decks that can easily remove the enchantment. Gruul Prowess applies tons of early pressure and then gets access to Pawpatch Formation out of the sideboard. The matchup is quite tough as a result.
This deck is surprisingly powerful and resilient when Vesuvan Duplimancy goes unbothered, especially when you factor in the playset of Dive Down for games two and three. Still, sticking a four-mana enchantment isn’t always easy in this fast-paced Standard environment. This is an awesome combo deck to break out on the Arena ladder or at your next FNM, just be prepared for some limitations.
