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Thread: Saheeli Value Combo

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    Saheeli Value Combo

    Saheeli Combo has started to gain some traction in Modern. The most notable finish I'm aware of at this time is Anthony Lee's 28th place finish at GP Brisbane. Lee was playing a Jeskai version of the deck. The version I've been brewing with is a 4-color build.

    4-Color Saheeli
    CREATURES
    4 Birds of Paradise
    1 Eternal Witness
    3 Felidar Guardian
    1 Huntmaster of the Fells
    1 Kitchen Finks
    1 Noble Hierarch
    1 Phantasmal Image
    1 Qasali Pridemage
    2 Renegade Rallier
    1 Reveillark
    1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
    1 Selfless Spirit
    1 Sun Titan
    2 Voice of Resurgence
    2 Wall of Omens
    SPELLS
    2 Eldritch Evolution
    1 Nahiri, the Harbinger
    4 Oath of Nissa
    3 Path to Exile
    4 Saheeli Rai
    1 Seal of Fire
    LAND
    1 Arid Mesa
    1 Breeding Pool
    1 Flooded Strand
    3 Forest
    1 Gavony Township
    1 Ghost Quarter
    1 Hallowed Fountain
    1 Horizon Canopy
    1 Misty Rainforest
    1 Plains
    1 Sacred Foundry
    1 Stomping Ground
    2 Temple Garden
    4 Windswept Heath
    1 Wooded Foothills

    The Combos
    Saheeli Rai + Felidar Guardian = infinite, hasty cats. This is the Standard combo.
    Saheeli Rai x2 + Sun Titan = infinite, hasty titans. Use Saheeli to copy Titan, use Titan's ability to return a second Saheeli from your graveyard to play (placing the used Saheeli into the yard), rinse and repeat. As an added, generally unneeded bonus, when you attack with all those Titans, you'll get to return most of your graveyard to the battlefield.

    The real strength of the deck is that the combos are contained within a pretty solid midrange shell. Most of the cards pull their individual weight, but there is an immense amount of synergy webbing throughout the deck. Some examples/hightlights:

    Voice of Resurgence is a solid value card. It plays well with Eldritch Evolution, allowing you to find a Felidar Guardian, can be recurred with both Renegade Rallier and Sun Titan, and it is especially powerful in that the nature of the Saheeli combo forces your opponent to play on your turn, which means you'll likely get some elemental tokens or be winning the game outright when you go for the combo. The elemental having P/T equal to the number of creatures you control allows the Saheeli combo to still generate offensive value even in the face of something like Ghostly Prison.

    Selfless Spirit can protect your Felidar Guardian from removal when you go for the combo, but can also allow you to attack with an indestructible Sun Titan (and company) each turn.

    Phantasmal Image lets you copy things for value. The fact that it dies easily can be a boon for enabling revolt. Copying Kitchen Finks is an old trick, where you can gain some life, then let the Image (as a Finks) die and persist, only to copy a different creature.

    Reveillark is a crazy source of value. Copying it with Saheeli is a great play, but the most powerful line involves returning Felidar Guarding + something of value, using the Guardian to flicker the 'Lark, and return 2 more creatures.

    Seal of Fire is a reasonable removal spell, but it's also a proactive way to enable revolt and can be recurred with Rallier/Titan to stack damage on a single, larger target or take out multiple small creatures.

    As for a sideboard, it keeps changing, but these are some of the cards I've been trying thus far. The choices are largely influenced by the ability for cards to be recurred with Rallier/Titan:

    Aegis of the Gods - Gives you hexproof against Storm, Burn, and other decks that want to target you.
    Auriok Champion - Life gain, protection from Lightning Bolt and Fatal Push, and lets x2 Felidard Guardian gain you infinite life.
    Blessed Alliance - Versatile card that can pad your life total and punishes Infect or other "go tall" strategies.
    Eidolon of Rhetoric - Storm hate
    Elspeth, Sun's Champion - Durable high-end threat for the attrition game against other midrange decks.
    Engineered Explosives - Sort of a catchall but particularly good against token-based strategies, where recurring it to play (X=0) is of actual value. Maybe Ratchet Bomb makes more sense, though slower.
    Kataki, War's Wage - Affinity hate
    Lone Missionary - Life gain vs Burn/Aggro
    Melira, Sylvok Outcast - Infect hate
    Nihil Spellbomb - Graveyard hate that is one-sided. It's possible, with Birds of Paradise, to pay the B to draw are card when used.
    Reclamation Sage- Another disenchant effect that trades the ability to be recurred with Rallier for the ability to be flickered with Felidar Guardian.
    Stony Silence - Hate for Affinity and Tron
    Thragtusk - For grindy matchups. It's ridiculous to copy with Saheeli or flicker with Felidar Guardian.
    Last edited by CaptainTwiddle; 03-30-2017 at 05:27 PM. Reason: updated deck list

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