There is no doubt that Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy and Goryo’s Vengeance are the perfect match for each other. You can bring a fallen Jace back from the graveyard
with haste, loot, and have a planeswalker ready to go. Most importantly, it won’t be exiled at the end of the turn!
I tried playing that combo alongside Obzedat, Ghost Council, but the combo rarely came together. LoveConnection trimmed it down to a single copy of Goryo’s
Vengeance and included a mini-Gifts Ungiven engine instead. Remember that you can cast Gifts Ungiven and only search for two cards, forcing your opponent
to put both of them in the graveyard. Because of that, Gifts Ungiven can cleanly set up Unburial Rites plus a fatty of your choice.
Most people assume you want an array of sweepers to go with your Gifts Ungivens, such as Wrath of God, Damnation, Supreme Verdict, and Engineered
Explosives, but I don’t think that’s necessary. Either you use Gifts Ungiven to set up Unburial Rites plus Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, or you can get
something like Lingering Souls, Snapcaster Mage, and two removal spells. There are very few boardstates where neither of those options isn’t at the very
least as effective as getting a sweeper. Cheap one-for-one removal is where it’s at, at least in the maindeck. Sweepers can be a fine draw after sideboard
in certain matchups, but you don’t really want a deck full of them.
Big mana strategies seem difficult, as neither Iona nor Elesh Norn are particularly effective, but that’s what the Realm Razer out of the sideboard is for.
In fact, this sideboard is quite good. You have Stony Silence for Affinity, Leyline of Sanctity and Timely Reinforcements for Burn, and Deathmark for the
various Tarmogoyf decks. Geist of Saint Traft also makes an appearance, which puts even more pressure on your opponents by attacking from another angle.
Creatures (11)
- 1 Vendilion Clique
- 1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
- 1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
- 3 Snapcaster Mage
- 1 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
- 4 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
Lands (23)
Spells (26)
