Bonesaw Izzet Prowess

Description
Izzet Prowess deck designed to circumvent the priority bug

How to Play
Priority bug? What priority bug? I got BONESAW! Don't play bonesaw unless you really have to, this is your "priority keeper". You have a very nice Esperzoa trick: keep bouncing Bonesaw, then play Bonesaw to pump your prowess dudes. Don't let the lazy Stainless developers get you down! Fight! Win!

Creature(18)
4 x Mage-Ring Bully
2 x Abbot of Keral Keep
3 x Stormchaser Mage
1 x Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
2 x Esperzoa
3 x Jhessian Thief
2 x Jori En, Ruin Diver
1 x Akoum Firebird

Instant(12)
3 x Expedite
4 x Fiery Impulse
3 x Titan's Strength
2 x Disperse

Sorcery(2)
2 x Slip Through Space

Enchantment(2)
2 x Fevered Visions

Artifact(4)
4 x Bone Saw

Land(22)
2 x Wandering Fumarole
7 x Island
7 x Mountain
2 x Sulfur Falls
4 x Highland Lake


Update: added Jace and Slip Through Space
Update: added Fevered Visions

View to this deck go to: http://www.magicduelshelper.com/decklis ... 4e4ffb4463

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I really like the bonesaw/Esperzoa combo. Played against that once -- pretty cool.

Guys, come on, the priority skip is bad, but you don't include 6 cards and keep them in your hand to improve 2 Abbots. I still like the Bonesaw/Esperzoa idea for the repeatable Prowess trigger. Esperzoas can replace Umara and Bonesaw does a similar thing than pumpspells. Easy enough, I'll give it a try.

I have something to share of my own. Izzet Mill with lots of control, draw and brainz. I had this in mono blue, but pure bounce is not enough against aggro - the Izzet version is much more resilient.

Creatures (2)
2x Thing in the Ice

Artifacts (2)
2x Brain in a Jar

Enchantments (5)
3x Sphinx's Tutelage
2x Fevered Visions

Planeswalker (1)
1x Chandra, Flamecaller

Instants & Sorceries (27)
3x Lightning Axe
4x Just the Wind
2x Radiant Flames
1x Kozilek's Return
3x Broken Concentration
4x Artificer's Epiphany
4x Comparative Analysis
2x Countermand
2x Confirm Suspicions
1x Part the Waterveil
1x Rise from the Tides

Land (23)
10x Island
6x Mountain
1x Plains
2x Sulfur Falls
4x Evolving Wilds

It's important to have spells for every converted mana cost, so you don't need to manipulate Brain in a Jar and can use it efficiently at least from 3-5 cmc for counters and draw. Having all purpose counters ready for 1 mana is insane and so is the draw power.

The deck doesn't desperately need Tutelage to win. I won many games on the back of Fevered Visions, with massive card draw for complete control and a persistent 2-4 damage a turn.

Thing in the Ice is really good here, too and can double as a defender, boardwipe and wincon.

Chandra, Flamecaller can be an instant win with Sphinx's Tutelage or a boardwipe if you need that. You rarely use her for damage, but if Fevered Visions did some work that might also be dangerous.

Rise from the Tides can be a 1-shot wincon, if you got 6 counters on your brain and can bring the Zombie Apocalypse on their end step.

Lightning Axe can enable the madness of Just the Wind and Broken Concentration, but it doesn't have to. There's enough draw power to support a regular discard.

The single Plains and Evolving Wilds are obviously there to buff up Radiant Flames if needed. The sweepers are important against the really fast aggro decks that curve out at 2-3 cmc. You can take some early damage and you can slow them down with single target removal, but eventually you'll need one of the sweepers.

First testrun with Bone Saw was pretty good. It makes fast hands even faster, simply because it's a free Prowess trigger. I don't even equip the damn thing and it is still worth the card. I love that it can trigger Jori En, Ruin Diver turn 3. Is it better than Rush of Adrenaline? I don't know yet, I suppose it's the worse topdeck and it doesn't help to push damage past blockers, but it has great potential.

Esperzoa has little synergy with the spells, but I suppose a full playset of Bone Saw justifies at least 2. Not sure about 3, because you really don't want it without the saw.

I've been running a very similar thing, splashing white a bit more for Nahiri, the Harbinger to enable more draw/madness as well as a couple extra white sorceries for removal like Planar Outburst and Declaration in Stone. Those have tremendous value when you are able to brain in a jar them instantly on their turn.

Adding white is definitely worth considering. I'd love to have Planar Outburst available, but it is double white and I already need double blue asap along with a single red. That's a little too specific for my taste.

Even with white added to the mix, I probably wouldn't run Nahiri. Madness is not important for this deck, especially not at sorcery speed. I would also prefer to keep my mana open - it's more of a draw go deck, once you have your enchantments/artifacts in play. Last but not least: TITI is my only blocker, so it might be a challenge to keep her alive.

Yeah, after trying... yours is more consistent. Was too opposed to including radiant flames as you get no value out of brain in a jarring it.

This is actually an Izzet I like.. I'ma try out your mesh of Tutor things Geg..

Trying this deck out, great when it works but there's really nothing going for it if you don't draw your enchantments. I'm at 2-6 with it.

Mulligan down to 1

You need one of the 7 enchantments/artifacts to have a good game, that's right. I usually have one in my opening hand, though. 7 is a reasonable number to be reliable and I can mulligan multiple times until I either have one of those or some removal to stall aggro for a while. Starting with 5 cards isn't that much of a problem, you have 8 draw spells and clues to recover from that later.

Other topic: I think I prefer the Prowess version with Bone Saw instead of Rush of Adrenaline. It is 1 less damage and doesn't give trample, but it stays around to add additional damage and the utility of a 0 cost Prowess trigger is amazing. It can trigger Jori En, Ruin Diver turn 3 or make for explosive starts like turn 2 Umara Entangler, turn 3 Stormchaser Mage, Titan's Strength, Bone Saw. That's 10 damage right there. The Esperzoa synergy is just icing, I'd even play the Saw without it, but I can't say no to a powerful 3-drop that turns its downside into free prowess triggers. I also like the Saw with Fall of the Titans.

To make room for Esperzoa, I removed Jace, because he's not aggressive enough and hard to protect - I can't remember the last time I was willing to block with this deck. I also removed 1 Fiery Impulse because I had too many games where I needed to cast something and my opponent had no creature.

Creatures (16)
4x Umara Entangler
2x Abbot of Keral Keep
3x Stormchaser Mage
3x Jhessian Thief
2x Jori En, Ruin Diver
2x Esperzoa

Instants & Sorceries (17)
2x Fall of the Titans
3x Fiery Impulse
4x Titan's Strength
4x Slip Through Space
4x Expedite

Enchantments (2)
2x Fevered Visions

Artifacts (4)
4x Bone Saw

Land (21)
10x Mountain
7x Island
2x Sulfur Falls
2x Wandering Fumarole

Brain in a Jar bugged out on me I'm so infuriated.

If you wanna add a counter on it without playing anything, you still have to say yes and then confirm without picking a spell. That confused the hell out of me, because the way it's written, the may clause should only apply to the free spell, not the +1 counter.

Ialt tabbed out and when I tabbed back in it kept on not letting me tap it at all

I like that idea a lot, but I refuse to play with cards like the emasculated Abbot...so it dawned on me that Prowess + Madness = awesome

Playtesting a bit, later I'll post the list, but looks promising

"Have you also heard Thopters might still be a thing?"
"Is it, though?"

... I'm sorry, guys.

SOI Thopters
Creatures (22):
1 x Thraben Gargoyle

3 x Runed Servitor

3 x Esperzoa
3 x Pilgrim's Eye
3 x Chief of the Foundry
3 x Thopter Engineer

3 x Whirler Rogue
1 x Akoum Firebird
2 x Pia and Kiran Nalaar

Non-creature spells (14):
4 x Alchemist's Vial
4 x Twin Bolt

2 x Exquisite Firecraft

2 x Thopter Spy Network
2 x Brutal Expulsion

Lands (24):
7 x Island
7 x Mountain
2 x Wandering Fumarole
2 x Sulfur Falls
3 x Blighted Gorge
3 x Foundry of the Consules


Pretty much Hakeem's list with some tweaks.
The Thraben Gargoyle made it in as a replacement for the fourth Myr (the first three being the Runed Servitors). Further testing will tell whether this was the correct choice (in which case I'd probably cut more Runed Servitors for the Gargoyles) but so far I'm pretty optimistic about him. Being able to drop something turn 1 seems pretty important, and he's far from a dead draw later in the game (he does have some setup cost, but sacing a Foundry for Thopters is even more expensive).

Have been testing this for a couple games and so far, it seems to perform quite well against aggro and control alike.

My first draw on a Prowess/Madness deck, maybe is something there, inspired by joesenshu's bone saw deck

U mad, Pro?

4 x Bone Saw

2 x Insolent Neonate
3 x Slip Through Space
2 x Expedite
3 x Lightning Axe

4 x Mage-Ring Bully
3 x Stormchaser Mage
3 x Ravenous Bloodseeker
4 x Just the Wind
1 x Avacyn's Judgment

2 x Esperzoa
2 x Jori En, Ruin Diver
2 x Fevered Visions
4 x Fiery temper

2 x Wandering Fumarole
7 x Island
8 x Mountain
2 x Sulfur Falls
2 x Highland Lake


8 madness enablers, 3 of them repeteable, and 9 madness cards, so sound reasonable...the real curve, instead of 4-10-15-10-0 which would be too high for a rush deck, is 4-18-10-6-X, much better

Cards that can change are the cantrip suite, cut one wind, even one Zoa or Jori, tho madness enables him a lot...but the core of Bloodseeker/Axe/temper/wind/visions I wouldn't touch too much

Fun deck, potentialy janky, I'm still learning to play it...I dunno if better than standar Prowess but maybe

I can definitely see your idea behind Salvage Drone; but why aren't you just running Insolent Neonate instead? Seems like he's almost strictly better.

Because I can't see sh*t and I rush to post before thinking? I think the answer must be something like that...

Of course, you are totally right, gonna edit that I can't believe I overlooked him haha (damn, the loss of Ingest destroys this deck's foundation...)

This is fantastic. I admit, I saw the Bone Saw gimmick and was dubious, but after only a couple of games, find it's an amazing Prowess tool. Well done. Is the Firebird that effective? I tend to think that 4 mana in this deck could be spent in better ways.