[Broken] Riku of Two Reflections

[Kuma]

Land: (35)

Hinterland Harbor
Sulfur Falls
Rootbound Crag
Alchemist's Refuge
Command Tower
Volcanic Island
Tropical Island
Taiga
Stomping Ground
Steam Vents
Breeding Pool
Flooded Grove
Cascade Bluffs
Fire-Lit Thicket
Wooded Foothills
Windswept Heath
Verdant Catacombs
Misty Rainforest
Scalding Tarn
Bloodstained Mire
Arid Mesa
Flooded Strand
Polluted Delta
Reflecting Pool
City of Brass
Exotic Orchard
Gaea's Cradle
Desolate Lighthouse
2 Forest
4 Island
Mountain

Acceleration: (10)

Mana Crypt
Sol Ring
Joraga Treespeaker
Birds of Paradise
Nature's Lore
Bloom Tender
Trinket Mage
Kodama's Reach
Somberwald Sage
Primeval Titan

Card Draw: (3)

Fact or Fiction
Recurring Insight
Consecrated Sphinx

Tutors: (10)

Gamble
Worldly Tutor
Mystical Tutor
Muddle the Mixture
Survival of the Fittest
Fauna Shaman
Imperial Recruiter
Guided Passage
Birthing Pod
Bribery

Removal/Bounce: (11)

Nature's Claim
Pongify
Ancient Grudge
Mogg Salvage
Viashino Heretic
Creeping Corrosion
Decimate
Inferno Titan
Beast Within
Chaos Warp
Tradewind Rider

Countermagic: (6)

Mana Drain
Counterspell
Hinder
Mystic Snake
Glen Elendra Archmage
Force of Will

Graveyard Hate: (5)

Tormod's Crypt
Scrabbling Claws
Phyrexian Furnace
Relic of Progenitus
Scavenging Ooze

Graveyard Recursion: (4)

Regrowth
Snapcaster Mage
Eternal Witness
Body Double

Copy/Steal: (7)

Phantasmal Image
Phyrexian Metamorph
Splinter Twin
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
Gilded Drake
Sower of Temptation
Treachery

Combo Pieces/Misc: (8)

Pithing Needle
Phyrexian Revoker
Null Rod
Pestermite
Deceiver Exarch
Leyline of Anticipation
Palinchron
Seedborn Muse

The three most powerful strategies in EDH are mana ramp, card draw, and graveyard recursion. Riku of Two Reflections doesn't ramp as well as Azusa, Lost but Seeking, doesn't draw cards as well as Azami, Lady of Scrolls, and doesn't use the graveyard as well as Sharuum the Hegemon, but unlike these decks it has the ability to do all three well. The decklist reads like a "best of" for EDH cards, giving you numerous paths to victory including several combo finishes. If you're looking for a well-rounded, powerful deck that's easy to pick up but difficult to master, you may want to try this list.

Why run Riku of Two Reflections as the general? Can't you accomplish much the same thing with any UGx legend?

Riku of Two Reflections doesn't have the reputation of a lot of the other UGx generals like Momir Vig, Simic Visionary and Animar, Soul of Elements, making it more likely your opponents will initially underestimate you. Some of your combos also use Riku of Two Reflections as a piece, making them easier to assemble. Having access to red also lets you run Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker. For some of you that's all I need to say, but for the uninitiated, Kiki-Jiki is a ridiculous game-breaking card that combos with just about everything to provide advantage at worst and immediate victory at best. I hear there are some other good red cards too.

You know what's better than one of a broken card in a highlander format? Two. Riku of Two Reflections' copy ability provides great late-game advantage, essentially doubling the power of most of your draws.

Combos:

Riku of Two Reflections + Palinchron

You need at least nine mana for this combo to work, at least seven of which must come from lands. UUUG will be necessary, the rest of the mana can be whatever. Cast Palinchron and when it enters the battlefield, copy it with Riku of Two Reflections. This will get you fourteen land untaps for nine mana. Float seven mana between the first and second untap trigger, leaving you with fourteen available mana. Use 2UU to return Palinchron to your hand, 5UU to cast it again, and UG to copy Palinchron again. You should net one mana and one Palinchron token every time you do this. Too bad the tokens don't have haste...

Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker/Splinter Twin + Pestermite/Deceiver Exarch

Use Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker/Splinter Twin to make a copy of Pestermite/Deceiver Exarch untapping Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker/The creature enchanted by Splinter Twin. Repeat until you have an arbitrarily large number of Pestermites/Deceiver Exarchs. Too bad for your opponents these tokens have haste.

But wait, there's more!

Step 1: Cast an ETB creature.
Step 2: Copy it with Riku of Two Reflection.
Step 3: Profit.

WARNING: Side effects include loss of self-esteem (in your opponents). If you have a winning streak that lasts longer than four hours, seek immediate medical attention. Do not play if you like to talk shit, as this may cause an unsafe drop in friendships.

[Philipp2293]

Uhm, is there any good reason why Tooth and Nail isn't an autoinclude?

Regards,
Philipp

[Aggro_zombies]

Actually, I would argue that an active Riku is in many ways more dangerous than an active Animar or Momir, but that's just me. My build is deliberately far less powerful than yours, and still wins the majority of the games it's in.

I will second the call for Tooth and Nail and also suggest Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir.

[Kuma]

Actually, I would argue that an active Riku is in many ways more dangerous than an active Animar or Momir, but that's just me.

Oh, I agree completely. My point was that people tend to freak out more when they see someone sit down with Animar, Soul of Elements, or Momir Vig, Simic Visionary than they do for Riku of Two Reflections, whether or not they should be more afraid of the aforementioned generals.

My build is deliberately far less powerful than yours, and still wins the majority of the games it's in.

I like your list. It looks a lot like my friend's really good Animar list. Spellskite, Birthing Pod, Cloudstone Curio, and Animar, Soul of Elements deserve a look at a minimum.

How has Survival of the Fittest been working for you? I used to run it, but it kind of felt unnecessary. I've been thinking of trying it again.

I will second the call for Tooth and Nail and also suggest Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir.

I know it's easier to find Teferi, but Vedalken Orrey and Leyline of Anticipation seem better for abusing Seedborn Muse. I guess since you're so creature heavy, Teferi could be better. I ended up cutting Muse, Orrey, and Leyline because I could never seem to assemble the combo to any great benefit, and they were pretty weak on their own. I do like Teferi's ability to protect creatures, though.

Uhm, is there any good reason why Tooth and Nail isn't an autoinclude

I suppose there isn't a compelling reason not to run Tooth and Nail since it's a one-card instant win, even at 9 mana. I'm wondering if I shouldn't go all in and run Splinter Twin and Deceiver Exarch.

[Aggro_zombies]

How has Survival of the Fittest been working for you? I used to run it, but it kind of felt unnecessary. I've been thinking of trying it again.

I don't think you have enough creatures to make Survival really shine, and you also have better draw/tutoring. I like it in my build because it lets me turn crappy utility dorks into actual bruisers (or turn expensive bruisers into useful utility dorks), but it probably isn't necessary in your build.

I know it's easier to find Teferi, but Vedalken Orrey and Leyline of Anticipation seem better for abusing Seedborn Muse. I guess since you're so creature heavy, Teferi could be better. I ended up cutting Muse, Orrey, and Leyline because I could never seem to assemble the combo to any great benefit, and they were pretty weak on their own. I do like Teferi's ability to protect creatures, though.

More than anything I like Teferi's quasi-Silence ability. The flash is icing on the cake but being able to do whatever you want on your turn and knowing it will all resolve is very sweet.

[Kuma]

I don't think you have enough creatures to make Survival really shine, and you also have better draw/tutoring. I like it in my build because it lets me turn crappy utility dorks into actual bruisers (or turn expensive bruisers into useful utility dorks), but it probably isn't necessary in your build.

You're probably right. I run 23 creatures to your 37-ish. When I ran it, it was mostly an expensive tutor for Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker and/or Pestermite that made everyone target me while I set it up.

I think I'm going to try:

+ Birthing Pod
+ Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
+ Tooth and Nail

- Snapcaster Mage
- Spitebellows
- Coiling Oracle

[Philipp2293]

Glad to see you picking up TaN. I have Riku assembled to play vs my dad, but I'm afraid he'd stop playing me if I ran your build. :)

Hope you keep your opening post up to date ;)

[Kuma]

Glad to see you picking up TaN. I have Riku assembled to play vs my dad, but I'm afraid he'd stop playing me if I ran your build. :)

Hope you keep your opening post up to date ;)

Don't worry. I'll keep the opening post updated.

I tried out Birthing Pod and Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir this week. Birthing Pod was absolutely amazing and will definitely remain in the deck. I only drew Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir once, and I didn't want to cast him because it would have interfered with the other players ability to stop the guy who was going crazy. I can see how Teferi can be useful, but there will be times where I don't want him either. More testing is necessary.

Snapcaster Mage was really good for me, allowing me to flashback a Bribery. If I could have had Riku of Two Reflections out, copying the Bribery would have won me the game. I think Snapcaster Mage serves an important role by flashing back instants and sorceries cast in the early game when they can be copied by Riku. He's staying in; I need another cut.

I didn't test Tooth and Nail, because I know what that card does for me. I still plan on running it, but I need to find a spot for it.

Can anyone suggest 2-3 cuts for Birthing Pod, Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir, and Tooth and Nail?

[Aggro_zombies]

Phantasmal Image doesn't seem that good. I mean, yes, it's a Clone, but it seems exceptionally fragile.

Rhystic Study has never been very good for me. Unless you have a concerted mana denial strategy or you're applying a ton of pressure for multiple turns, people tend to just not cast spells for which they can't pay the extra 1 (and if they do, they figure the card they give you won't matter as much as the spell they're casting).

Hull Breach wasn't that hot when I had it in Riku.

[Kuma]

Phantasmal Image doesn't seem that good. I mean, yes, it's a Clone, but it seems exceptionally fragile.

The fragility hasn't been an issue. I just had a game where I cast it as a Bloom Tender and then copied it with Riku of Two Reflections for great profit. An opponent copied my Sower of Temptation to kill one of them, but there the fragility was actually upside since he didn't gain control of my Bloom Tender.

The thing I like best about Phantasmal Image is that since it costs , it's really easy to copy with Riku, negating a lot of its drawback. At worst, the card is : Destroy target general. It can't be regenerated.

Rhystic Study has never been very good for me. Unless you have a concerted mana denial strategy or you're applying a ton of pressure for multiple turns, people tend to just not cast spells for which they can't pay the extra 1 (and if they do, they figure the card they give you won't matter as much as the spell they're casting).

I've found that people tend to love or hate Rhystic Study. This makes me think its value is really playgroup dependent. It's better the more opponents you have, and the faster their decks are. People in my playgroup often cast multiple spells per turn, which tends to draw me cards. However, I play with two, sometimes three other people. Rhystic Study usually draws me 3-4 cards over 2-3 turn cycles, and the occasional card thereafter. I could probably do without it.

There's one slot.

Hull Breach wasn't that hot when I had it in Riku.

Since it's a modal spell, there are some issues when copying it since you have to choose the same modes for the copy. I'm not sure I want to be running less removal --- if anything the deck needs more.

Right now:

- Rhystic Study
- Coiling Oracle

+ Birthing Pod
+ Tooth and Nail

Opening post updated.

[Kuma]

So yeah, after taking the time to type my list, I decided to massively overhaul the deck, changing 25 cards in the process. The opening post is updated, but here's the comprehensive list of changes:

- Stroke of Genius
- Blue Sun's Zenith
- Merchant Scroll
- Personal Tutor
- Blatant Thievery
- Mystic Remora
- Drift of Phantasms
- Tooth and Nail
- Wood Elves
- Life from the Loam
- Sylvan Tutor
- Phyrexian Metamorph
- Burgeoning
- Intuition
- Mana Reflection
- Forest
- Cultivate
- Genesis Wave
- Snapcaster Mage
- Dominus of Fealty
- Erratic Portal
- Recollect
- Brainstorm
- Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger
- Oblivion Stone

+ Tradewind Rider
+ Treachery
+ Rootbound Crag
+ Primal Command
+ Scavenging Ooze
+ Loaming Shaman
+ Inferno Titan
+ Bloom Tender
+ Balefire Dragon
+ Cloudstone Curio
+ Capsize
+ Chaos Warp
+ Three Visits
+ Aftershock
+ Lightning Greaves
+ Tormod's Crypt
+ Birds of Paradise
+ Fauna Shaman
+ Flametongue Kavu
+ Gilded Drake
+ Seedborn Muse
+ Survival of the Fittest
+ Coiling Oracle
+ Counterspell
+ Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir

There were several reasons for the changes. I realized that going all-in on a combo is a bad way to play EDH. Someone will usually be faster than you, or people will come to expect it and hold removal to stop you. A lot of tutors and card draw were cut for this reason. The deck didn't have enough removal either. There was little you could do if your opponent was faster than you or dropped a quick threat or two. Having no graveyard hate was, to put it mildly, folly. So many decks run off their graveyards in whole or part, that you need to run a few answers to compete with them.

Also, Gilded Drake, Treachery, Capsize, Survival of the Fittest and Fauna Shaman are stupid good.

[Atog]

So yeah, after taking the time to type my list, I decided to massively overhaul the deck, changing 25 cards in the process. The opening post is updated, but here's the comprehensive list of changes:

- Tooth and Nail
- Phyrexian Metamorph
- Intuition
- Cultivate
- Genesis Wave
- Snapcaster Mage

I'm not sure why you want to cut these. Really. Copying Genesis Wave or snapcaster mage for double flashback is just good. I haven't played a game with this deck but casting snapcaster mage, and then realizing "hey i can copy this for extra value" is just something i can't pass.

Is [card]Imperial Recruiter[/card] out of budget or is there some other reason why it isn't in list? That would sweet here. You can fetch, when copied couple kiki-jiki-combos.

[Aggro_zombies]

Speaking of inexplicable cuts/additions, why is Decimate not good enough? That card is bonkers and usually far better than Aftershock. Even if you only have one target of a given type, you can still fork the spell and choose that target again, netting (usually) two lands, two creatures, and two artifacts.

[Atog]

Speaking of inexplicable cuts/additions, why is Decimate not good enough? That card is bonkers and usually far better than Aftershock. Even if you only have one target of a given type, you can still fork the spell and choose that target again, netting (usually) two lands, two creatures, and two artifacts.

And enchantment. When i tested that in other deck that was the problem. With aftershock you get specific target away without requiments that decimate has. And you can aftershock too, to get some other permanent away. It costs life but what can you do.

[Kuma]

I'm not sure why you want to cut these. Really. Copying Genesis Wave or snapcaster mage for double flashback is just good. I haven't played a game with this deck but casting snapcaster mage, and then realizing "hey i can copy this for extra value" is just something i can't pass.

Is Imperial Recruiter out of budget or is there some other reason why it isn't in list? That would sweet here. You can fetch, when copied couple kiki-jiki-combos.

Copying Genesis Wave is amazing, but you need a shit-ton of mana to do that. I decided that late-game cards that require tons of mana weren't worth the space in the deck. My playgroup's decks are really fast, and I need to be able to react quickly in order to stay competitive. Same goes for Tooth and Nail. I'd rather run Survival of the Fittest, since it's more flexible and costs way less mana.

Snapcaster Mage, Cultivate, and Phyrexian Metamorph will probably find their way back in. If you could suggest cuts for them, that would rock. I'd like to run Intuition, but it might be a little slow for my purposes. Once again, if you can suggest a cut, I'll try to fit it back in. I want to run these cards, but I'm not sure where.

I never thought about Imperial Recruiter. It's not out of my budget and it does fetch just about every creature in my deck. I'll see about working it in.

Speaking of inexplicable cuts/additions, why is Decimate not good enough? That card is bonkers and usually far better than Aftershock. Even if you only have one target of a given type, you can still fork the spell and choose that target again, netting (usually) two lands, two creatures, and two artifacts.

That's weird. Decimate is written down on my master decklist, but it's not in my deck and not in the opener. Ah, I had Decimate over Regrowth in my master list. I think I'll cut Aftershock for Decimate.

- Aftershock

+ Decimate

[Atog]

Copying Genesis Wave is amazing, but you need a shit-ton of mana to do that. I decided that late-game cards that require tons of mana weren't worth the space in the deck. My playgroup's decks are really fast, and I need to be able to react quickly in order to stay competitive. Same goes for Tooth and Nail. I'd rather run Survival of the Fittest, since it's more flexible and costs way less mana.

Snapcaster Mage, Cultivate, and Phyrexian Metamorph will probably find their way back in. If you could suggest cuts for them, that would rock. I'd like to run Intuition, but it might be a little slow for my purposes. Once again, if you can suggest a cut, I'll try to fit it back in. I want to run these cards, but I'm not sure where.

I never thought about Imperial Recruiter. It's not out of my budget and it does fetch just about every creature in my deck. I'll see about working it in.

Good morning. Here's some cuts i would make:

Joraga Treespeaker
Tradewind Rider
Spell Crumple / Hinder (not both, but other)
Inferno Titan (you said you have fast meta, i don't know are these fast enought or doing enought)
Balefire Dragon (same goes here)

And adds:

Snapcaster Mage
Imperial Recruiter
Mulldrifter (this + riku = 2uug = draw4 + 2/2 flying token).
Phyrexian Metamorph
Cultivate
Intuition

What does your meta's decks look like? Are they aggro or combo? If first, then my suggestions maybe be wrong.

[Kuma]

What does your meta's decks look like? Are they aggro or combo? If first, then my suggestions maybe be wrong.

It's pretty combo oriented. The decks I play against are Animar, Soul of Elements, Experiment Kraj, Bosh, Iron Golem, Karador, Ghost Chieftain, and Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker.

Animar and Kraj are exclusively combo. Bosh usually combo kills when it wins. Karador is more aggro, but it makes great use of its graveyard to do all sorts of unfair things. Kiki-Jiki is new; I don't have a feel for it yet.

I'm running graveyard hate because Karador pretty much forces me to. Both Kraj and Bosh like to combo out of their graveyards too.

Good morning. Here's some cuts i would make:

Joraga Treespeaker
Tradewind Rider
Spell Crumple / Hinder (not both, but other)
Inferno Titan (you said you have fast meta, i don't know are these fast enought or doing enought)
Balefire Dragon (same goes here)[/cards]

I definitely agree with Balefire Dragon. I wanted a way to kill lots of creatures and he seemed like the best way to do it without harming my own. He's probably too slow though.

I haven't played with Inferno Titan or Tradewind Rider enough to know if they're good enough. I'll try them out for another week or two and make a call. I like Tradewind Rider in theory because I have a lot of little creatures I run for ETB effects that he can take advantage of. He's also nuts with Seedborn Muse, and can replace Crystal Shard in my infinite turn combo.

I can see the case for cutting Spell Crumple/Hinder, but I think there might be something worse I could cut. Putting Animar, Soul of Elements and Karador, Ghost Chieftain on the bottom is really important.

I don't think I could cut Joraga Treespeaker. She's like green Sol Ring with suspend 1.

I'm thinking Coiling Oracle, could be one of the cuts. After that, it gets trickier. Thanks for the suggestions. I'll give them a shot.

And adds:

Snapcaster Mage
Imperial Recruiter
Mulldrifter (this + riku = 2uug = draw4 + 2/2 flying token).
Phyrexian Metamorph
Cultivate
Intuition

Mulldrifter is another really good idea. The deck definitely needs more card draw.

So many good cards, so hard to fit them all in.

[Atog]

It's pretty combo oriented. The decks I play against are Animar, Soul of Elements, Experiment Kraj, Bosh, Iron Golem, Karador, Ghost Chieftain, and Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker.

Since you are facing Bosh an Kiki-Jiki, have you consired adding Pithing needle for them? It does not only answer their General, they run several other cards what that hits.

I can see the case for cutting Spell Crumple/Hinder, but I think there might be something worse I could cut. Putting Animar, Soul of Elements and Karador, Ghost Chieftain on the bottom is really important.

I didn't mean to cut both of those, just one. I don't know how long that Karador is going to stay bottom of library if there is SotF and other tutors to grab him back. Animar could be another story then.

I don't think I could cut Joraga Treespeaker. She's like green Sol Ring with suspend 1.

There's just that if you play it turn 1, level up it turn 2 and opponent responses by sending your druid to farming or otherwises removes it, is just something i don't like seeing. I think i would play something what is harder to remove, like Exploration or Burgeoning.

So many good cards, so hard to fit them all in.

This i can agree with :)

Edit:

I think your deck could use also Wall of Blossoms. Card what nets you cards and life seems good. I assume most of decks you play against play some utility dudes what Blossoms can block over and over again.

[Kuma]

Played a few more games on Wednesday. I got out Tradewind Rider a lot, and he always did good things for me. The Experiment Kraj player switched his general to Momir Vig, Simic Visionary. I bounced Momir Vig a lot, and was able to save my Treachery for future use when the Momir Vig player Beast Withined his stolen Momir Vig. I never had a problem getting to three creatures.

I never drew Inferno Titan, Balefire Dragon, or any of the other cards in the bubble.

I'm going to try the following changes:

- Balefire Dragon
- Coiling Oracle

+ Cultivate
+ Phyrexian Metamorph

Charmbreaker Devils, Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir, Spell Crumple, Primal Command, and Lightning Greaves might all be coming out soon.

Since you are facing Bosh an Kiki-Jiki, have you consired adding Pithing needle for them? It does not only answer their General, they run several other cards what that hits.

It's not a bad idea, but there are lots of other cards I'd add first. I'd hate to needle Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker since I get a lot of mileage out of her too.

I didn't mean to cut both of those, just one. I don't know how long that Karador is going to stay bottom of library if there is SotF and other tutors to grab him back. Animar could be another story then.

I understood, and the more I think about it, the more I agree with you that I don't need both. Spell Crumple might not be in the deck for long.

There's just that if you play it turn 1, level up it turn 2 and opponent responses by sending your druid to farming or otherwises removes it, is just something i don't like seeing. I think i would play something what is harder to remove, like Exploration or Burgeoning.

I've never had my Joraga Treespeaker killed in response to leveling it up. I like Burgeoning a lot and I've run it before, but I don't think I'd cut Joraga Treespeaker for it.

I think your deck could use also Wall of Blossoms. Card what nets you cards and life seems good. I assume most of decks you play against play some utility dudes what Blossoms can block over and over again.

If I'm cutting Coiling Oracle, I don't think Wall of Blossoms is good enough to run. I'm thinking Skullclamp and Nin, the Pain Artist are the best options for more card draw followed by Mulldrifter.

[Kuma]

Who has two thumbs and a NM English Imperial Recruiter?

This guy.

- Spell Crumple

+ Imperial Recruiter