Shiko, Paragon of the Way is one of the legendary creatures introduced in Magic: The Gathering’s Tarkir: Dragonstorm yet. This Spirit Dragon helped the Jeskai (blue/red/white) overthrow their dragonlord to reclaim independence. In the game, Shiko makes for a powerful creature in both combat and with its effect.
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A Shiko deck generally wants to be a blink deck, taking advantage of Shiko’s ability along with other powerful enter-the-battlefield triggers. Luckily, Jeskai is one of the best color combinations for a blink deck, allowing you to take advantage of all the best blink support cards and payoffs for a formidable deck.
Decklist
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Commander: Shiko, Paragon of the Way |
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Teferi, Time Raveler |
Agate Instigator |
Archaeomancer |
Charming Prince |
Displacer Kitten |
Distinguished Conjurer |
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Dour Port-Mage |
Dualcaster Mage |
Eldrazi Displacer |
Felidar Guardian |
Flamehold Grappler |
Guttersnipe |
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Kiora, the Rising Tide |
Kykar, Wind’s Fury |
Kykar, Zephyr Awakener |
Loran of the Third Path |
Preston, the Vanisher |
Priest of Ancient Lore |
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Soulherder |
Soul Warden |
Spirited Companion |
Storm-Kiln Artist |
Suture Priest |
Thassa, Deep-Dwelling |
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Wall of Omens |
Witty Roastmaster |
Another Round |
Blasphemous Act |
Gamble |
Molten Duplication |
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Splash Portal |
Stock Up |
Supreme Verdict |
An Offer You Can’t Refuse |
Arcane Denial |
Chaos Warp |
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Cloudshift |
Counterspell |
Ephemerate |
Essence Flux |
Faithful Mending |
Flicker of Fate |
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Frantic Search |
Generous Gift |
Ghostly Flicker |
Momentary Blink |
Parting Gust |
Path to Exile |
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Pull from Eternity |
Rapid Hybridization |
Snap |
Swords to Plowshares |
Arcane Signet |
Commander’s Sphere |
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Conjurer’s Closet |
Fellwar Stone |
Lotus Petal |
Sol Ring |
Talisman of Conviction |
Talisman of Creativity |
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Talisman of Progress |
Twinning Staff |
Impact Tremors |
Teleportation Circle |
Warleader’s Call |
Adarkar Wastes |
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Battlefield Forge |
Cascade Bluffs |
Cephalid Coliseum |
Clifftop Retreat |
Command Tower |
Deserted Beach |
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Exotic Orchard |
Glacial Fortress |
x5 Island |
x4 Mountain |
Mystic Gate |
Mystic Monastery |
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Mystic Sanctuary |
x6 Plains |
Prairie Stream |
Rugged Prairie |
Shivan Reef |
Stormcarved Coast |
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Sulfur Falls |
Sunbaked Canyon |
Sundown Pass |
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The decklist contains one planeswalker, 25 creatures, seven sorceries, 19 instants, ten artifacts, three enchantments, and 34 lands. Most of the deck is cards that trigger when a noncreature spell is cast, can blink a permanent, or benefit when a creature enters the battlefield.
Key Cards
Shiko, Paragon Of The Way
The commander of the deck, Shiko, Paragon of the Way is one of your primary blink targets. When it enters, you can exile and copy any nonland card and cast it for free, so long as its mana value is three or less. This lets you cast any blink cards, as well as any forms of interaction as needed.
Shiko can exile and copy any nonland spell. If you have a creature that got removed that you need, you can use Shiko’s enter ability to cast it again and get another copy of it.
Your graveyard acts as a toolbox that Shiko has constant access to. Most of your nonland spells cost less than three mana, allowing you to blink Shiko to cast whatever spell you need given the current gamestate.
Twinning Staff
Twinning Staff essentially makes it so the spell you copy with Shiko is copied an extra time, giving you extra spells to work with to either draw cards or get rid of problem permanents. The odds of you using its seven mana ability are low, but it may come up if the game goes on for long enough.
There are plenty of powerful spells to copy, with two copies able to do a lot of heavy lifting in pushing your advantage. You want Twinning Staff on the battlefield as quickly as possible, and before you cast Shiko to get the most out of its abilities.
Dualcaster Mage
Dualcaster Mage might seem unamusing at first, just a way to copy an instant or sorcery spell. However, Dualcaster Mage is a large combo enabler. So long as you have enough mana to cast a blink spell and Dualcaster Mage, you can create infinite loops to win the game off of.
The combo is trivially easy to accomplish, and since you have counterspells to back it up, easy to keep protected. At minimum, you only need four mana to do it, letting you combo off during the early stages of the game if you managed to ramp. Here is how the combo works.
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Prerequisites: Dualcaster Mage and any blink spell in hand (this spell must return the creature to the battlefield immediately and not at the end step). At least one creature on the battlefield. |
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Step 1: Cast your blink spell, targeting any creature you control. |
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Step 2: Hold priority and cast Dualcaster Mage. |
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Step 3: Dualcaster Mage triggers, targeting your blink spell to copy it. |
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Step 4: Blink Dualcaster Mage with the copy, exiling it and returning it to the battlefield. |
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Step 5: Repeat steps 3 and 4. |
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Results: Infinite enter the battlefield triggers, infinite magecraft triggers. If you control Preston, the Vanisher, infinite token copies of Dualcaster Mage (which can be used to blink other creatures as needed). |
Preston, The Vanisher
With how much blinking the deck does, Preston, the Vanisher is the perfect fit. Anytime you blink a creature, you get a 0/1 copy of it. This allows you to double up on your best enablers, or gain extra triggers when your creatures enter the battlefield.
If you blink a legendary creature, Preston will still make a copy, but the legendary rule will kick in and you’ll have to sacrifice one. However, if they have an enter the battlefield trigger, you’ll still get that even if the creature has to be removed.
Preston’s effect also enables an easy infinite combo with Felidar Guardian. Unlike other infinite combos in the deck, this can lead to an entire board wipe and infinite mana. Once you blink Felidar Guardian, you can snowball out of control. Here’s how the combo plays out.
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Prerequisites: Preston, the Vanisher and Felidar Guardian are on the battlefield. A way to blink a creature. |
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Step 1: Blink Felidar Guardian |
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Step 2: Felidar Guardian enters, Preston triggers to create a 0/1 Illusion copy of Felidar Guardian. |
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Step 3: With the copy, blink the non-token copy of Felidar Guardian. With the original, blink any permanent you want (which can include lands). |
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Step 4: Repeat steps 2 and 3. |
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Results: Infinite enter the battlefield triggers, infinite tokens, infinite mana from blinking lands, can exile all nonland permanents with Preston’s effect. |
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How To Play The Deck
A Shiko, Paragon of the Way Commander deck keeps blinking your creatures to generate a ton of advantage and put pressure on your opponents while doing so. Shiko helps you to either play more blink spells, or act as a utility card to re-cast something like a counterspell or a board wipe.
The deck plays a lot of counterspells, but don’t feel the need to save your creatures. Shiko can bring most of your important ones back out, so it’s better to counter spells that will advance your opponents’ board states rather than saving your own.
There are multiple creatures that draw you cards when they enter, and make for great blink targets to get to your key cards quicker. These are boosted up by cards that can gain life when creatures enter, or deal burn damage when they do, which helps dwindle life totals while raising your own.
The primary win condition of the deck is winning through combat or burn damage. With the infinite combos, cards like Warleader’s Call, Witty Roastmaster, and Impact Tremors are all win conditions. Alternatively, you can win the game by attacking with various creatures with flying that are easily made from creatures like the two Kykars or with a large Soulherder.
The biggest weakness of the deck is its reliance on blink. You do need ways to blink your creatures, which sometimes take a while to get access to. Draw spells help, but there’s no guarantee you’ll draw into your blink spells.
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