Shortly after seeing TheBoxer's list from the Expedition Fall Championship I had to build it. It's served me well with some minor tweaks for ladder, skyrocketing me to masters the past three months.
I was afraid that some of the new changes in expedition would weaken it, but fortunately I hit an early master's this month so now I can experiment with
Sling of the Chi like everyone else! That being said,
Formbend as my relic-removal of choice (also notably great against Ascending threats like
Alhed Ascending and
Jarrall Ascending) has really fallen by the wayside. So while the deck may be on its last legs, I did fight through diamond with the expedition updates and the Bastion cards in the format. Turn 2
Wump & Mizo too strong.
I loved the idea of a deck where
Learned Imitator could shine, and this is exactly it. You have two main threats,
Wump & Mizo and
Jarrall Ascending, and you can choose whichever one you'd like for the circumstances. Often early it's Wump, and after you've hit or are near 8 influence (or if you've hit 6 against an aggro deck and you need the 2/5 blocker) it's Jarrall.
Very important to note:
Learned Imitator's summon effect is the transformation, so you won't get other summon effects like
Linrei's Stranger trigger or
Maveloft Huntress's plunder or imbue.
The deck never had
Turn to Seed mainboard, which is commendable. You often want to be proactive. In the late game you can reload with
Helio, the Skywinder and machine-gun your opponent down with
Jarrall Ascending. I will maintain that is the most fun thing to do in Eternal.
While you have three main threats (Jarrall, Wump&Mizo,
Linrei's Stranger), this does make you susceptible to TTS, in which case it is often correct to slow-roll a Jarrall until you can hold up
Dazzle. The deck isn't as all-in on spells as other
Jarrall Ascending lists, so attacking at 4 influence is up to your discretion. It's never usually a bad thing, but not a surefire hit.
Linrei Evangel has been really impressive, apart from helping to enable turn 2
Wump & Mizo (which is not an uncommon highroll), it pairs great with the plunder effects on Maveloft Huntress and Dazzle, in addition to being a decent chump blocker (or allowing your Maveloft Huntress to killer attack for 4).
Petition needs no introduction, especially if you're running Cylixes, but giving you the option of
Primal Symbol or
Cobalt Waystone is invaluable.
Let the snowballs fly, party friends!