Xenan Good Stuff

Based on an old set 3 midrange list.

Kerendon Cargo is mostly because it's fancy looking seek power in this deck, but the high number of Justice decks means that there are occasions where Azindel draws me enough Justice influence to play contraband.

Trying out replacing the three Teacher of Humility and one Vara's Choice with two Annihilate and two Xenan Initiation The removal suite before felt like it was a little slow, and this speeds things up against a variety of threats.

I've been seeing similar lists on the ladder this week, though they tend to be a lot more ramp heavy. The reason why the only real ramp cards I use in this deck are Auralian Merchant is simply that I find that ramp can lead to being a bit more inconsistent in general.

Going to start going over some of the card choices, this part will be more of a work in progress than the actual list.

Dark Return is here because it's generally good to recur killer or charge versions of the cards in our deck.

Kerendon Cargo could easily be Seek Power or Auralian Cargo. The reason for Kerendon Cargo is MOSTLY flex but also because Azindel has a chance to transform it into contraband by stealing power from a justice deck. Otherwise it functions exactly like Seek Power.

Sabotage is sabotage, can protect some of our cards from things like Torch and Harsh Rule or even take out win conditions like Martyr's Chains before they have a chance to even hit the board. Great used on turn 1 or immediately after the opponent has gone into their market.

Temple Scribe is card draw, some life gain, and a chump blocker. A 1/1 that we don't really mind throwing to the wolves (or Oni Ronin) as it already does what we need it to do as it enters the battlefield.

Vara's Choice can remove blockers for Teacher of Humility, remove threats before they even hit the board, and provide valuable intel on our opponent's hand and gameplan before it generally becomes clear.

Vara's Favor removes a lot of early threats such as Hojan, Crownbreaker efficiently, and helps us reach the magical 5 power where good things happen.

Auralian Merchant excellent blocker, provides ramp, and gives us access to our market.

Banish Removes a lot of early threats such as Vara, Vengeance-Seeker, most merchants, and can also be used to remove relics and relic weapons.

In Cold Blood Perhaps a bit expensive for removal, the ability to completely deny FJS decks of their merchants or Maktos is a pretty solid upside.

Sandstorm Titan it's Sandstorm Titan it does Sandstorm Titan things. Efficient blocker, big body, stops flyers, and applies pressure. Possibly the strongest 4 drop in the game.

Vara, Vengeance-Seeker it's Vara, Vengeance-Seeker she does Vara, Vengeance-Seeker things. Efficient blocker, life gain, stops aegis and may act as a sort of removal. More likely the strongest 4 drop in the game.

Moonstone Vanguard Blocks well and heals when it does. Draws cards. A great target for our killer effects. Immune to permafrost.

Worldbearer Behemoth Once this deck hits 5, the ramp is less important but the large body with overwhelm makes it another great killer target. The major advantage of it's ramp effect is actually improving our draws going forward as we're less likely to hit more power the more it attacks.

Xenan Temple Gives units killer, gives card selection, and has the possibility of spawning a win condition if it somehow survives long enough. Overall a very solid card that generates a lot of advantage.

Azindel, Revealed Spawns 2 additional units that help apply pressure and can also help on defense. The card draw effect should be considered slightly less powerful than drawing the same number of cards from our own deck, but it can be fun to play the opponent's own win conditions against them.


As for the market:

Xenan Banner I'm a huge fan of power in the market, and I generally like it to take the form of a banner over a seat, sigil, token, or crest. This can help us hit our magical 5 power as well as hit our influence requirements. It's generally played undepleted, especially since we drew it via Auralian Merchant.

Twilight Hunt cheap way to give killer on something, allows us to give killer to nearly every unit we want to give killer to if we're at 6 power. The nightfall effect can help by giving additional card draw, and it has some upside if played on Worldbearer Behemoth. Could be replaced by Predator's Instinct or Xenan Initiation.

The Praxis Arcanum can give Moonstone Vanguard and Worldbearer Behemoth charge. It can also act as a fairly powerful ramp with the cost reduction effect.

Cykalis, the Burning Sand is good at applying extra pressure in a lot of situations. It also does a fairly good job with our killer effects, and if brought back via Dark Return it can killer again while still invincible.

Passage of Eons isn't quite a board clear, but it can flip the board in our favor and remove win conditions or just generally disrupt the opponent's gameplan.