I was all set to write about how great Kuon, Ogre Ascendant and Erayo, Soratami Ascendant were for multiplayer, when I realized how boring an article that would be. I mean, even without Arcane Laboratory, Erayo is just plain annoying - and with Arcane Lab, she's more infuriating than Stasis which, as multiplayer decks go, is the cardboard equivalent of kicking everyone at the table repeatedly in the nads. If your idea of cool is playing solitaire with four other people watching you, find a new hobby.
Kuon, on the other hand, does have lots of cool tricks. Unfortunately, he's the flipper who's been talked about the most, and all he really does is supplement a removal-heavy deck with...more removal. As tempting as it is to write about them, I went down I different path in choosing my best three and looked at three different types of multiplayer styles and the cards that most suit them from the new set.
First up is Homura, Human Ascendant. My first thought when looking at him was that he'd be great as a finisher in a weenie rush deck. My second thought was that he'd make a much better finisher than Overrun or Echoing Courage in the token decks that are ubiquitous in casual Magic. Of course, green is great at producing tokens with card like One Dozen Eyes, Beacon of Creation, and Deranged Hermit. Mana acceleration (like Veteran Explorer) can get your army of flyers that much faster, as well as find the red mana to cast Homura. Green also actually has a few cards that could act as sacrifice outlets (I'm looking at you, Greater Good!) in order to flip Homura. Green is definitely a consideration in a deck based around Homura.
Black, though, can also take advantage of Homura by reanimating him into play early and then using Recurring Nightmare or Innocent Blood to flip him. Reanimating a Verdant Force with a flipped Homura would make the little saprolings into as much of a kill condition as the Verdant Force itself! Outside of reanimation, black also has a few in-color token producers of its own, like Sengir Autocrat and Breeding Pit.
However, both of these approaches ignore the fact that Homura's Essence also grants your critters Firebreathing. Since I would like to show off as much of the card as possible, I decided to go mono-red to do just that. After a little tinkering, out came the following deck:
Between explosive Goblins, vomiting Kavus, and Flamebreak, this deck can play creature control pretty well in the early game. Kiki-Jiki can be a big headache for most other decks as the ability to copy Mogg Fanatic or Flametongue Kavu can really mess with combat math. In fact, don't expect Kiki-Jiki to last more than one or two turns on the table (thank God he has haste). Truthfully, if he copies Siege-Gang Commander twice, his job is done since what this deck is really looking to do is get Homura out, then flipped so it can start to beat down with an army of flying, Firebreathing beatsticks. To that end, he is the right toughness to be Flametongue fodder (although flinging him at a troublesome creature or player using Grab the Reins is always fun).
(Actually, if you're playing a slower red deck in multiplayer Grab the Reins should be an auto-include anyway.)
If all else fails, you could always attack with him until someone kills him. Firecat Blitz was always a decent finisher in multiplayer (though nowhere near as effective as Rolling Thunder), but with Homura's Essence out it can become truly frightening.
This is actually is pretty single-minded deck, as the basic strategy is "control creatures, copy creatures, play Homura, flip Homura, beat until dead." The deck can be changed to meet your local multiplayer metagame without changing much up though. For instance, lots of decks like to run Ensnaring Bridge to combat the...err...combat phase. This is the sole purpose for the two Spikeshot Goblins in the deck, as a flipped Homura turns them into a reusable Blaze that can end games in a few turns. If you don't have this problem where you play, you can replace them for Genju of the Spires, which can also end games in a hurry.
Part of the reason I like Homura so much is that he can be used in many different builds, but always with the same purpose. If you like being the beatdown in multiplayer, Homura's your man.
Of course, simple beat down may not be your style. Maybe you like cool utility cards that can do different things at different times. Maybe you like to appear to be helpful and then win out of nowhere. Or, maybe, you like to be crafty for craftiness's sake. If this sort of thing is more your style, you may want to look at Sakashima the Impostor. Sure, on the surface he's just a legendary Clone - but he can copy any creature on the board. That alone should give him a place in the multiplayer blue mage's deck - that, and the fact that he can pop back to hand when something better comes along (and in multiplayer, something better always comes along) or can come out even if there are no other creatures just strengthens his usefulness. Of course, you really do want him to copy something - so why not help your opponents bring cool creatures into play so you can copy them?
This deck plays a full set of eight "I'm your buddy" counters to help your opponents draw into their threats, and then helps them drop said threats into play. In fact, if you play your cards right (literally and figuratively), you'll actually have people asking to have their spells countered. During this buddy-buddy time, make sure to quietly drop Teferi's Veil into play (if anyone notices, they might figure out what you're trying to do or just call you names for playing with phasing). Of course, all of this hides your true plan.
When the time comes, use Sakashima and Clone to copy the best creatures on the board and smile as if you're done. Of course, this isn't the real trick here. The real trick comes next turn when you attack the most defenseless player on the board and have your cloned creatures phase out. After they begin their travel to the future, you then High Tide and then cast Sway of the Stars. When your next turn begins, you'll have at least one beefy attacker who will likely be able to kill any of your opponents in one swing.
(Remember, because they were phased out and not removed from the game, your creatures will remember what they copied and won't have to copy another creature when they phase back in, and they also won't be affected by summoning sickness.)
Long-Term Plans isn't the best tutors in the world, but this deck takes a while to set up its kill anyway, so most of the time you can wait the three draws it will take to get the card you need. Shape Stealer is a great multiplayer card, especially when it comes to deterring attacks. (After all, who wants to lose their best creature to an overcosted 1/1?) Remember that even though your counters are crappy, they still are hard counters so use them if you have to stop an untimely board clearer or mass discard effect that would screw your path to victory over.
Remember that neither Clone nor Sakashima the Impostor target when they do their copying, so you can Xerox untargetable creatures too. If you like playing around your opponents, give Sakashima a try.
Of course, maybe you like being straightforward. If card advantage and board sweepers are more your style then maybe you're more of a Kagemaro type of player. I mean, it rewards you for keeping lots of cards in your hand and can blow up to gain you even more card advantage over opponents who overextend. He's removal and a beatstick in one five-mana package.
He may see Constructed play yet - but hopefully, he won't get the stigma that Tooth and Nail and Kokusho now suffer from at the casual tables. For right now, though, he's one of the best legendary creatures seen print for multiplayer to date.
Sure, Megrim could be a perfect fit into this deck, but I'm sick and tired of seeing Megrim decks at the multiplayer table (as are a lot of the multiplayer public, I suspect). First on the list is Syphon Mind, which was completely insane card draw already in big multiplayer games - but with Kagemaro, it can double as a pump spell. Geth's Grimoire and Anvil of Bogardan also help beef up and search out the legendary Demon Spirit, and the Anvil makes sure there isn't a limit to how big he can get. Ivory Tower is there to offset the lifeloss from the Arena, or any early beats or burn that could otherwise vastly shorten your game.
Your opponents will probably get very mad once you get Words of Waste out alongside the Grimoire, though, as being Mind Twisted while your opponents Stroke of Geniuses himself every turn isn't what most people would call "fun." Although your opponents can take heart that with Kagemaro swinging each turn with Genju backup, the game probably won't last long anyway... especially when you Necromancy whatever creature you made them discard.
At the same time, though, it is one of those decks with lots of cool interaction that is neat to see "go off" every once in a while. Just remember that Kagemaro himself is your only removal spell, so try not to let on that you're trying to control their hand size too early on in the game and definitely bluff removal if people start to point creatures in your direction.
In any event, no matter what multiplayer path you walk, always have fun on the journey. Just stay the hell away from Stasis.
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