Table of Contents
I’ve been working on this deck for a while and I think I finally have a list I’m happy with. Mindsplice Apparatus is a very powerful card if you can use the mana efficiently, and this deck has no issue doing that. What’s even more compelling is that it isn’t leaning too hard on Mindsplice because the rest of the cards are powerful in their own right. Since you have the ability to play a proactive game, there are very few matchups where all hope is lost.
Izzet Turns
by DoggertQBones
Standard
Combo
best of 3
1 mythic
32 rare
2 uncommon
25 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Instants (16)
Artifacts (4)
Enchantments (4)
Lands (27)
60 Cards
$211.5
Sideboard
15 Cards
$27.41
When You Should Play This Deck
Izzet Turns is an archetype that offers a significant amount of power that is difficult for most midrange decks to interact with outside of combat. In a format dominated by midrange archetypes like Mono-White, Grixis, Jund, etc, a deck that goes over the top of them quite easily should be well positioned.
It’s important to note that Abrade is quite good against you, so figuring out how and when to deploy your Apparatus safely is an important part of your gameplan. You should also be willing to call your opponent’s bluff – forcing your opponent to “have it” is an integral part of winning games.
If you are expecting a large amount of midrange decks, and of those decks a significant portion is Mono White, this is the deck for you. Because the interaction in this deck is so limited, I would argue that this deck is better in an open decklist environment like the upcoming Regional Championship in San Diego than ladder runs because you know what kind of interaction to mulligan for.
When You Should Avoid This Deck
If you are expecting a lot of Mono Blue tempo or just don’t want to lose to that archetype, this deck isn’t for you. Efficient countermagic and fast pressure is an easy way to run over decks like this. This isn’t to say the deck is completely lost against Mono Blue tempo and that it can’t improve the matchup with a sideboard constructed for it.
However, if you still want to play this deck in that environment, I would suggest running a few copies of Unlicensed Hearse in the sideboard. With the added benefit of being good against the reanimator shells in the format, an early Unlicensed Hearse is devastating for Mono Blue if they can’t answer it quickly.
Mono Red Aggro and UW Soldiers are also decks that can pressure you, however the post-board games against these decks are incredibly favorable, so I wouldn’t count that against this deck unless you are primarily playing Best of One.
Interaction
This deck is pretty light on interaction, but to be honest, you don’t need too much because of how slow to pressure the format is. Usually resolving one or two pieces of interaction will slow your opponent down enough to give you time to set up your combo.
2 Syncopate – One of the downsides of a card like Syncopate is that it usually doesn’t scale well into the late game, as you’re often spending more mana to counter a spell than your opponent spent to cast it, giving your opponent a significant mana advantage. You don’t really feel the downside in the early game because your opponent will usually be tapping out for spells. That late game downside is nullified by Mindsplice Apparatus, which lets your Syncopate scale really well into the late game.
2 Abrade – Abrade is really good right now. Cheap, versatile interaction is exactly where you want to be in this format. Bloodtithe Harvester and the other various 3/2s for 2 do a pretty good job at pressuring you, so being able to answer those is pretty nice.
2 Rebel Salvo – Having a way to deal 5 damage is required in a format where Sheoldred, the Apocalypse exists. It’s inefficient, but it’s your best option for the slot unless you value the rare 2 damage from Rending Flame in corner case scenarios more than dealing with indestructible creatures. Its nice that it deals with Adeline, Resplendent Cathar in the more aggressive variants of Mono White.
2 Brotherhood’s End – This card is excellent, to put it lightly. It just deals with so much so cleanly, it always feels good to resolve this. This card is especially good against The Wandering Emperor out of the white decks, as their plan is typically to downtick to make tokens to pressure you as much as possible and you can punish them for doing the natural plan. If your opponent is wanting to play around Brotherhood's End, they need to uptick twice before they can downtick and make a token and keep their Emperor around post-wrath, which is usually giving you enough time to do their thing.
If you feel the meta change to be more aggressive, this is the first flex spot you should look at increasing. Again, words cannot describe how good this card has been for me. If your opponent wants to play a longer game against you with multiple Reckoner Bankbuster, this also deals with that plan! Extremely strong card and one of the best reasons to be in Red in standard right now.
4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker – Wait a minute, this card isn’t interaction! Okay, you’re technically right, but with the game plan of this deck, I would argue that Fable does count as interaction because the card is slowing your opponent down by requiring an answer. Every resource they spend to deal with a resolved Fable gives you a tempo advantage and likely a card advantage.
Forcing your opponents to interact with you or risk losing IS interaction because you are making the game progress the way you want it to, not the other way around. Just like in chess, the player who controls the pace of the game is usually the favorite and playing 4 Fable makes you the storyteller.
Card Advantage and Selection
4 Experimental Augury – Anticipate is not a good card, but its serviceable enough in the early game as it lets you dig for your pieces or interaction as required. The real power of this card comes in the late game. Once your Mindsplice Apparatus has an oil counter on it, Augury becomes a “0 mana” Anticipate, and can even ritual for you depending on how you are able to use your mana during the combo turns. Hullbreaker Horror increases the value of cantrips in you deck, allowing you to interact proactively and reactively.
Keep in mind you can proliferate your Fable to get to the next chapter and proliferate your opponent’s sagas! I’ve proliferated my opponent’s Wedding Announcement to deny them the token/card and I’ve proliferated my opponent’s Fable so I can kill it with a Brotherhood's End!
3 Big Score – I used to be on the full playset, and sometimes I wish I still was, but having enough lands to reliably cast your spells and enough interaction in your deck to not roll over and die to a 3/2 on turn 2 is pretty important to winning games. Oh for Yorion, Sky Nomad to be legal so I don’t have to make deckbuilding decisions!
Anyway, Big Score is a pretty important card for the deck as it gives you another ramp option on 4 mana, so if you suspect your opponent is holding up Abrade for your Apparatus, you can elect to hold it and spend your mana elsewhere. Later in the game, you should consider holding onto a land or some extra card so if you draw Big Score, you can profitably cast it.
Big Score is another card that works well with Galvanic Iteration when you don’t have the opportunity to hold onto it for your combo turns. Discarding a card with flashback is card advantage, and copying Big Score feels pretty nice. When you have a Mindsplice Apparatus on 2 counters, Big Score is mana neutral, and on 3 counters it nets you a mana! I have found spots where the one mana Big Score allows you to get the requisite mana to copy your extra turn spell enough times to put the game away. Oh, and Lier is really fun with this card, especially when it is cost reduced.
2 Silver Scrutiny – This is another card I wish I had more of, but I just can’t justify it. Outside of the obvious synergy with Mindsplice Apparatus and x spells, this is just a good, flexible card. Once you have 7 mana, you get more cards out of Scrutiny by copying it, so consider that option before casting your Scrutiny. My record for cards drawn for UU is 16, I dare you to beat that! Be careful not to deck yourself. 😉
4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker – Fable rummaging is pretty solid in a deck with flashback spells. A mistake I see a lot of players make is discarding nothing with Fable when they should really be discarding the cards. For example, Experimental Augury is a 2 mana cantrip without an Apparatus in play. Some players might be inclined to hold onto the card because they get to see 3 cards instead of just one, but is that really worth the 2 mana you are spending on it when you could cycle it for 0? Try and plan out how you want to spend your mana when discarding to Fable, figure out what you don’t want. Also, discarding Galvanic Iteration to Fable is usually correct because discarding flashback cards is card advantage!
The Combo
If you remember standard fromm 2021 when Izzet Epiphany was the deck to beat, this is the same idea, but with less 1/1 Birds. Your plan is to get a Mindsplice Apparatus to 4 counters, cast and flashback a Galvanic Iteration, then casting a cleaved Alchemist's Gambit to take 3 additional turns in a row for 7 mana.
Depending on the context of your hand, you might want to take just 2 turns, 4 or 5 turns, or even 7 turns! Usually you don’t need 7 turns in a row and your Iteration is better served on a Big Score or a Silver Scrutiny to actually close out the game, but playing more Magic than your opponent is fun!
4 Mindsplice Apparatus – Know when to deploy this card, doing so early could be detrimental. There are times where you want your opponent to Abrade your Apparatus so you can safely deploy a second, there are times where you want to cast Fable of the Mirror-Breaker instead. Work with the context of your hand and the game.
3 Galvanic Iteration – I’m not on the full 4 because you honestly don’t need it. Sometimes this card gets trimmed because it dilutes your relevant cards. Don’t feel compelled to save your Iterations for Gambit, you have several other powerful spells worth copying.
3 Alchemist’s Gambit – haha extra turns go brrr
Winning the Game
1 Lier, Disciple of the Drowned – Remember all those spells you cast earlier in the game? Wouldn’t it be fun to cast them again? You don’t usually need more than 1 Lier, this card is more so reserved for after you’ve resolved your extra turn spells so you have something to use all the excess mana you have.
Note: If you discard an Alchemist's Gambit with the intention of flashing it back, you don’t get to Cleave the card, so you will lose the game at the end of that extra turn. I may or may not have learned this the hard way.
1 Hullbreaker Horror – This is your most likely way of winning the game. Cast it once you are far enough ahead so you can protect it, and then bounce your opponent’s blockers and attack them like 3 times. Horror is a strong enough card that you don’t need infinite turns to win the game with it, so if you think you can just win a “fair” game with the card, go for it.
4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker – This is the third time I’m mentioning this card because this card just does everything you could ever ask except maybe file your taxes for you (Editor’s Note: yet). An interaction I’m sure you are familiar with is a Reflections copying another Reflections in your opponent’s end step, which will give you a 2/2 for each mana you spend.
When taking extra turns and this interaction is available to you, make sure you set a stop in your end step or else Arena will pass through the phase. This card is ridiculously powerful, and if you have the ability, you should be running 4 copies, non-negotiable.
Best Of One
Bo1 Izzet Turns
by DoggertQBones
Standard
Combo
best of 1
1 mythic
34 rare
2 uncommon
23 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Instants (13)
Sorceries (10)
Artifacts (4)
Enchantments (4)
Lands (27)
60 Cards
$219
Here’s the Best of One list. Its not too dissimilar from the typical list, but I’m respecting aggro a lot more by doubling the number of wraths and going down on the combo.
Budget
Budget Izzet Turns
by DoggertQBones
Standard
Combo
best of 1
1 mythic
15 rare
8 uncommon
36 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Instants (24)
Sorceries (3)
Artifacts (4)
Lands (27)
60 Cards
$103.94
If you are on a budget for Arena, but you still want to take all the turns, this is how I would build the deck. A nice upside of using budget lands is we get to play Flow of Knowledge instead of Silver Scrutiny. While there isn’t the power of drawing 10 cards for just UU, you get to do mostly that for a single blue mana, which makes it easier to copy with Iteration.
Matchups and Sideboard Guide
Mono White Midrange (Favored)
| IN | OUT |
|---|---|
| +1 Brotherhood's End | -2 Abrade |
| +2 Fading Hope | -2 Rebel Salvo |
| +1 Make Disappear |
Your game plan against mono white is to try and turbo a combo out. Their interaction for your Mindsplice Apparatus is at sorcery speed in Loran of the Third Path and the occasional The Eternal Wanderer uptick. Their main way of pressuring is resolving an early Wedding Announcement and beating down with fodder, otherwise the deck is pretty bad at it. This is probably the best matchup for the deck because it’s incredibly difficult for them to interact with our game plan. Some decks run Cathar Commando which offers a little more reprieve for them, but even so, the matchup is still in your favor.
Single target removal is bad against their deck by design, hence the cuts. Fading Hope is good against their tokens and Sanctuary Warden, and I’ve found that Mono White players want to use cards like Fateful Absence to deal with your Lier, Disciple of the Drowned and Hullbreaker Horror, so having a way to protect them is nice. Sometimes Fading Hope being in your hand allows you to deploy a Lier far earlier than you normally would which is usually enough to close the game out against them.
The Brotherhood's End and Make Disappear come in as hedges against Wedding Announcement and The Wandering Emperor There is the odd game where your opponent is sitting with a Reckoner Bankbuster or two in play and you get to Shatterstorm them, but I don’t know if that card is even supposed to be in their deck post-board because it just seems so slow.
Grixis (Even to Slightly Favored)
There are two key differences between the Mono White Midrange matchup and the Grixis Midrange matchup. Grixis is actually able to pressure you quickly with Bloodtithe Harvester, Corpse Appraiser, Fable of the Mirror-Breaker, and they also play 2-3 Abrade as well as countermagic, so they are able to interact with you. While this makes the matchup more difficult to navigate, I believe you are still slightly ahead.
The plan against Grixis is to morph more into a control deck and blank their Abrade. Big Score is pretty important here as a way to jump mana. Grixis doesn’t have the luxury of not playing around Mindsplice Apparatus most of the time, so they are fairly incentivized to go up Abrade in the matchup as well as lose mana and tempo to holding it up every turn. If you find your opponent isn’t keeping Abrade in, it might be worth putting 2 or so back in the deck. Keep in mind you’ll still have to play around Negate and Make Disappear from them. Make Disappear is pretty good from them because they can Casualty it to counter 2 spells, which comes up when you copy with Galvanic Iteration. Don’t be afraid to use your Blue Sun's Twilight early on a Fable token, getting that mana advantage is pretty solid.
Soldiers (Even to Slightly Unfavored)
| IN | OUT |
|---|---|
| +2 Fading Hope | -2 Syncopate |
| +1 Strangle | -2 Rebel Salvo |
| +2 Abrade | -2 Mindsplice Apparatus |
| +1 Obliterating Bolt | -1 Big Score |
| +1 | -1 |
| +1 Lier, Disciple of the Drowned | -1 Galvanic Iteration |
| +1 Burn Down the House |
This deck certainly has draws that Soldiers just can’t beat. You are looking for Brotherhood's End and Abrade primarily. Thalia, Guardian of Thraben is pretty good against the deck early, but a Mindsplice Apparatus will negate the tax in the late game. The good news is that you have a lot of options to control the game however you please. It’s near impossible for Soldiers to beat a resolved Lier, Disciple of the Drowned or Hullbreaker Horror, and you can also just take a bunch of turns in a row.
The sideboarding here is pretty simple and I think you are fairly favored post-board. If you find your opponent is playing a lot of Cathar Commando, it is probably worth it to go down on Mindsplice Apparatus fully, but most decks play 2 at most, so I wouldn’t worry about it. Going down Rebel Salvo is mostly because you don’t need too much spot removal and it’s really inefficient against them given their deck tops out at 3 mana.
Jund Midrange (Build Dependent)
| IN | OUT |
|---|---|
| +1 Strangle | -2 Mindsplice Apparatus |
| +2 Abrade | -1 Galvanic Iteration |
| +1 | -1 |
| +1 Lier, Disciple of the Drowned | -1 Big Score |
The Jund lists are so varied I can’t tell you if the matchup is favored or not based merely on the archetype. The good news is that Cankerbloom looks like it has fallen out of favor in both the main and the side. The general rule is the more artifact hate they have, the worse your matchup is. Most lists are playing 3-4 Duress in the sideboard as well, so when keeping hands it’s usually more important that you have the ability to find the cards you want rather than actually have the cards.
Boros Invoke (Favored)
| IN | OUT |
|---|---|
| +2 Fading Hope | -2 Abrade |
| +1 Disdainful Stroke | -2 Rebel Salvo |
| +1 Make Disappear | -2 |
| +1 Negate | |
| +1 |
Invoke is a pretty solid matchup for you despite the 4 Abrade main deck. Abrade is really their only form of interaction against you. If your opponent goes for an early Invoke Justice, pay attention to how much mana they have untapped and see if you can sneak a Mindsplice Apparatus and go off when you untap. Post-board, the matchup is pretty free because you won’t have the amount of dead cards.
This is pretty simple sideboarding. Their gameplan is irrelevant to yours, just bounce their reanimated threat while one of the 5 or so extra turns you’ve set up and attack them.
Esper Midrange (Slightly Favored)
| IN | OUT |
|---|---|
| +1 Obliterating Bolt | -2 Abrade |
| +2 Fading Hope | -1 Mindsplice Apparatus |
| +1 Negate | -1 Galvanic Iteration |
| +1 Make Disappear | -1 Big Score |
Esper has been decreasing in popularity for a while, but it’s still showing up so I figured I should write about it. It’s difficult for Esper to beat a resolved Mindsplice Apparatus, but they have enough counterspells where your concern is resolving it. The pressure they have is significantly worse than Grixis however, with Dennick, Pious Apprentice being the 2 drop of choice from them. On 3 however, Raffine, Scheming Seer is pretty solid. We don’t have a lot of removal that kills it and we have to kill it quickly or it will grow out of range while also digging through their deck for answers.
The plan with this boarding is to avoid bad exchanges on their 2 drops and stall to a point where we can slip a Mindsplice Apparatus through the cracks. Hullbreaker Horror is very strong in this matchup, so do what you can to protect it.
Mono Red (Even to Favored)
| IN | OUT |
|---|---|
| +2 Fading Hope | -2 Syncopate |
| +1 Strangle | -2 Rebel Salvo |
| +2 Abrade | -2 Mindsplice Apparatus |
| +1 Obliterating Bolt | -1 Big Score |
| +1 | -1 |
| +1 Lier, Disciple of the Drowned |
While Mono Red has more reach than Soldiers, they are unable to interact with you in a meaningful way, so as long as you resolve a Brotherhood's End at a reasonable life total you should win the game. This is a matchup where you should be looking at Fable of the Mirror-Breaker as interaction because blocking is removal.
Mono Blue (Very Unfavored)
| IN | OUT |
|---|---|
| +1 Lier, Disciple of the Drowned | -2 Abrade |
| +1 Obliterating Bolt | -2 |
| +2 Fading Hope | -2 Mindsplice Apparatus |
| +2 Reckoner Bankbuster | -3 |
| +1 Negate | |
| +1 | |
| +1 Burn Down the House |
This is without a doubt your worst matchup. There is some reprieve, however. The newer versions of Mono Blue are playing Flow of Knowledge, and while that is an extremely powerful card advantage spell, it will tap them out more often than not, giving you time to resolve a Mindsplice Apparatus or a Big Score.
It’s very unlikely to combo in this matchup given the amount of cheap interaction. Your best bet is to stick an early Reckoner Bankbuster, start drawing cards, and create a clock for them to deal with. Fable of the Mirror-Breaker is pretty important in the matchup as well, allowing you to discard your bad cards and dig for the relevant spells while also putting pressure on your opponent, which might incentivize them to make a mistake and deploy a threat earlier than they should.
Mirror
| IN | OUT |
|---|---|
| +2 Reckoner Bankbuster | -2 Rebel Salvo |
| +1 Disdainful Stroke | -2 |
| +2 Negate | -2 |
| +1 Abrade | -1 Experimental Augury |
This matchup is pretty reliant on who can resolve and untap with a Hullbreaker Horror or a Mindsplice Apparatus first. That being the case, Big Score is an incredibly important card for the matchup, letting you jump from 4 to 7 mana in a turn, threatening a Hullbreaker Horror.
Mulligan Strategy
You are looking for hands that do something by turn three. Keeping a hand with Mindsplice Apparatus, Galvanic Iteration, Alchemist's Gambit, and 4 lands is a great way to fall over and die.
Post-board, be aware of your relevant cards and your plan in the matchup. If the hand you’re looking at doesn’t fit that plan, consider mulliganing.
Tips and Tricks
- Use Fable of the Mirror-Breaker: Please I beg you, discard cards to Fable. The only time you shouldn’t discard cards is if your hand is actually perfect, which isn’t going to happen.
- Save Experimental Augury: If you don’t need to dig for lands or Apparatus or interaction, you don’t need to cast Augury. Once you have your Apparatus in play, Augury becomes a much more powerful tool to reduce the cost of your other spells. Maybe you want to hold onto it to protect your Hullbreaker Horror.
- Use Experimental Augury: I know I just told you to save the card, but if you need to find lands or interaction or Apparatus, cast the card!
- Proliferate: Sometimes it’s correct to proliferate your opponent’s cards! Proliferate your opponent’s Fable so it dies to the Brotherhood's End you’re about to cast! Proliferate your opponent’s Wedding Announcement to deny them a token or a card! Obviously it’s not always correct to do this, but you should analyze the game state and see what you prefer.
- Hullbreaker Horror is cracked: Hullbreaker Horror can bounce your own cards! You can bounce and recast Fable to get another token and a rummage on the following chapter. You can cast Galvanic Iteration for just Hullbreaker value and be happy!
- Go for it: You have to call your opponent’s bluff sometimes. They can’t always “have it.” I want to emphasize that this isn’t a rule, but something to consider. Sometimes waiting makes it more likely for your opponent to draw their answer.
- Don’t try to cleave Alchemist's Gambit with flashback: It doesn’t work that way unfortunately as it’s two alternative casting costs.
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