Kaho Kombo

[kombatkiwi]

I realised I love commanders that can search the library because they reward deckbuilding ability and it result in a lot of complex decision trees during a game, even if sometimes your opponents can't see them ("Oh, your Arcum searched for rings+monolith? Herp derp no skill required.")

In the second game I played with this I decked my opponent in their end step.

1 Kaho, Minamo Historian

1 Hall of the Bandit Lord
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1 Riptide Laboratory
37 Island

1 Candelabra of Tawnos
1 Sol Ring
1 Thousand-Year Elixir
1 Heartstone
1 Mana Crypt
1 Lightning Greaves

1 Training Grounds

1 Deadeye Navigator
1 Mnemonic Wall
1 The Unspeakable
1 Snapcaster Mage

1 Ghostly Flicker
1 Counterspell
1 Forbid
1 Cryptic Command
1 High Tide
1 Reality Spasm
1 Evermind
1 Flash of Insight
1 Think Twice
1 Twincast
1 Chain Stasis
1 Flusterstorm
1 Cackling Counterpart
1 Brain Freeze
1 Reset
1 Opportunity
1 Turnabout
1 Trinket Mage
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Pact of Negation
1 Force of Will
1 Mana Drain
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Foil
1 Cerulean Wisps
1 Blue Sun's Zenith
1 Spell Crumple
1 Hinder
1 Impulse
1 Predict

1 Snap
1 Frantic Search
1 Remand
1 Veil of Secrecy
1 Telling Time
1 Reach Through Mists
1 Peer Through Depths
1 Sift Through Sands
1 Jace's Ingenuity
1 Familiar's Ruse
1 Spell Pierce
1 Dismiss
1 Psychic Puppetry
1 Brainstorm
1 Evacuation
1 Murmurs from Beyond
1 Truth or Tale
1 Mental Misstep

I listed it as a combo deck but that's not really the case, as early in the game there's no way you'll have enough lands in play to kill the opponent with High Tide.

The first search with Kaho is often something like Mana Drain + Cryptic Command + Ghostly Flicker, and you can keep bouncing Kaho and replaying it, gaining incremental value until you have enough resources to combo off and kill everyone.

Heartstone didn't provide enough value for its cost but Training Grounds was quite impressive (it doesn't benefit your opponents either).

The Unspeakable package was cute but not worth it.

I think I have an excess of ways to untap/bounce Kaho and instead just need more draw and counterspells.

Despite these flaws I still think that it was very fun to play in the current setup, but it can be improved upon.

I don't know if I should play fetches, the shuffle can be somewhat useful but playing less islands makes Foil a bit worse and you also open yourself up to Stifle/Land Equilibrium shenanigans


Deadeye Navigator and possibly Mnemonic Wall seemed to be too much mana for what they were doing.

[Hunding Gjornersen]

I don't normally pirate entire deck ideas from the web, but in this case I might make an exception. Very fresh, innovative idea!

For the decklist I have a few suggestions. Merchant Scroll is nearly Demonic Tutor in this deck and that seems good. Wayfarer's Bauble ramps you into your general a turn faster and in just the right way. For bouncing Kaho there's Glen Elendra Pranksters, which has amazing synnergy with Snapcaster Mage. Finally, I know it can be a slippery slope with removing Islands, but switching over to Snow-Covered Islands and adding in Scrying Sheets would help keep the lands flowing.

[Davran]

This deck looks like a lot of fun. Do you ever run into undeserved "hate" simply because you're playing mono-blue? I have a mono-blue Mistform Ultimus deck that tends to get hated on for rocking mono-islands despite having only 3 counters and no infinite combo in the deck.

I realize it's probably a little expensive mana cost wise...but what about Mind's Desire?

I'll second the suggestion of Merchant Scroll.

What about Thousand-Year Elixir and/or Magewright's Stone to get multiple uses out of Kaho?

Also, does Ancestral Vision work with Kaho (X=0)?

[kombatkiwi]

This deck looks like a lot of fun. Do you ever run into undeserved "hate" simply because you're playing mono-blue? I have a mono-blue Mistform Ultimus deck that tends to get hated on for rocking mono-islands despite having only 3 counters and no infinite combo in the deck.

I realize it's probably a little expensive mana cost wise...but what about Mind's Desire?

I'll second the suggestion of Merchant Scroll.

What about Thousand-Year Elixir and/or Magewright's Stone to get multiple uses out of Kaho?

Also, does Ancestral Vision work with Kaho (X=0)?

I searched for legendary creatures that have 'search library' in the text then built this in about 5 minutes and played 3 games on cockatrice with it so I have absolutely no idea how to answer the first question, I guess it would just depend on your playgroup.

I really want to include minds desire. If I start having a bunch of cool sorceries then I might play quicken.
Merchant Scroll is one of those obvious includes that I just wasn't thinking about at the time.

I included Thousand-Year Elixir but not Magewrights Stone, I think I have enough untap effects already.

Ancestral Vision would work with Kaho except it's a sorcery. Evermind works if you want to cast something off Kaho for zero mana (it's obviously not as good as 3 cards, but still) and it goes with the small Arcane theme that the deck has.

@Hunding Wayfarer's Bauble should be in this but the other suggestions I'm not sure about

Mitotic Manipulation can be another derpy rampant growth I suppose, along with Retraced Image

[Hunding Gjornersen]

You seem dead in the water (no pun intended) if High Tide gets exiled. Maybe you could run one or both of Caged Sun and Gauntlet of Power. In that case I would say upgrade Trinket Mage to Fabricate.

I think you're probably right about Glen Elendra Pranksters. With Snapcaster Mage they're sweet, but without him they do nearly nothing.

Also, with so few creatures, does Cackling Counterpart do enough work?

P.S. Sapphire Medallion

[kombatkiwi]

You seem dead in the water (no pun intended) if High Tide gets exiled. Maybe you could run one or both of Caged Sun and Gauntlet of Power. In that case I would say upgrade Trinket Mage to Fabricate.

I think you're probably right about Glen Elendra Pranksters. With Snapcaster Mage they're sweet, but without him they do nearly nothing.

Also, with so few creatures, does Cackling Counterpart do enough work?

P.S. Sapphire Medallion

You're very quick to pick up on ways to improve this without having played any games with it.

I agree that I need some other way to win a game if something happens to the High Tide but I'm not sure if Gauntlet of Power is the solution. (Even if it's functional I don't want to spoil the flavour Solidarity deck by putting a 5 mana artifact in it)

I don't want to cut Trinket Mage because it has a solid ability and it's the best non-Kaho target when casting Ghostly Flicker.
You correctly identified that Cackling Counterpart is rubbish and I need to cut it.
Sapphire Medallion should probably be included.

I also want more ways to cast multiple High Tides as currently the only way to do that is with Twincast (even if that is easy to set up).

I should probably play something like call to mind even if it means that I can't go off with reset.
If I go further down the sorcery road I can play Time Spiral, Timetwister etc

[Davran]

I searched for legendary creatures that have 'search library' in the text then built this in about 5 minutes and played 3 games on cockatrice with it so I have absolutely no idea how to answer the first question, I guess it would just depend on your playgroup.

I really want to include minds desire. If I start having a bunch of cool sorceries then I might play quicken.
Merchant Scroll is one of those obvious includes that I just wasn't thinking about at the time.

I included Thousand-Year Elixir but not Magewrights Stone, I think I have enough untap effects already.

Ancestral Vision would work with Kaho except it's a sorcery. Evermind works if you want to cast something off Kaho for zero mana (it's obviously not as good as 3 cards, but still) and it goes with the small Arcane theme that the deck has.

@Hunding Wayfarer's Bauble should be in this but the other suggestions I'm not sure about

Mitotic Manipulation can be another derpy rampant growth I suppose, along with Retraced Image

I completely missed the "instant" part of Kaho when I read it this morning. As for a "second" copy of High Tide, you could use something like Echo Mage and/or Sigil Tracer...but those aren't nearly as easy to play/activate as Twincast.

If your goal is simply cost reduction, Arcane Melee, Helm of Awakening, Sapphire Medallion and Stone Calendar can help with that. They obviously range in cost/effect and risk/reward...but they are options.

[Hunding Gjornersen]

You're very quick to pick up on ways to improve this without having played any games with it.


Thanks, I think...

Just a minor thing that popped into my mind is that Savor the Moment is slightly less derpy than Mitotic Manipulation. Not sure if it's sufficiently non-derpy to play, though.

[Offler]

Took me some time to analyze how it works.

Nice one. Deck based on chained interactions can be less obvious as 2 card combo decks and only few players I know take care of abilities.

If Snow-covered Island then Extraplanar Lens.

Also since the deck has a lot of shuffling any Sensei's Divining Top effect may help you to simply draw some cards if you want to have them on hand. Scroll rack can also help with this.

[kombatkiwi]

Thanks, I think...

Just a minor thing that popped into my mind is that Savor the Moment is slightly less derpy than Mitotic Manipulation. Not sure if it's sufficiently non-derpy to play, though.

Yeah I was being sincere haha not trying to be snarky or anything

[Hunding Gjornersen]

How about Talrand, Sky Summoner as a plan B? He doesn't have to be at the helm to be right at home in this deck. For more Solidarity effects, there's Meditate and Three Wishes. Those cards are probably a lot worse in EDH than they are in Legacy, though.