Xenan Twist [Masters 12/06/19]

My take on the Katra + Razorquill combo decks. The combo is pretty self-explanatory, so below I will expand on the direction I've chosen to take the deck that differs from the Even-Handed versions.

Tocas, Waystone Harvester

While playing other versions of this deck, I found Stained Honor would often be very bad, mostly due to its as a pure combo piece that does nothing on its own. I thought it could maybe be maximized in another way, which made me try Tocas in the deck. Tocas lets you generate tons of power to play out your combo faster, or simply be able to take multiple powerful actions in a single turn.

This power generation enables another game plan to ramp into Azindel, Revealed, which functions as a powerful threat against decks packed with spot removal that disrupt your combo. Tocas gives you additional speed in getting to Temple and Moonstone Vanguard earlier.

Vara, Vengeance-Seeker, Moonstone Vanguard and Xenan Temple

What I view as the midrange package. Vara and Vanguard can apply real pressure and demand removal spells, drawing them away from your combo pieces. Xenan Temple gives you tons of value, allowing you to dig for your combo and giving more cards in grindy games. Having individually powerful cards also allows this deck to play a more fair game without the combo, making you overall stronger against Royal Decree than the all-in builds.

Shakedown

Gives you information, mostly on which 4-drop to lead on when going for the combo. You usually lead with Katra or Razorquill into Stained Honor + the missing 4-drop, so the knowledge of how to navigate their removal can be very important.

Beyond that, you can cripple some weak hands from the opponent, such as ones leaning on merchants to correct subpar hands. The nightfall trigger digs you deeper too, which is obviously strong in a combo deck.

*UPDATE*
Deck got me to Masters on a pretty nice win streak. Big Vara in the market is a really strong addition that can win games single-handedly, really pleased with it thus far. Really happy with the deck, but it takes some getting used to :)