Spellthief Replication

Spellthief Replication is an incredibly powerful deck, and works well against the current meta and the excessive amount of removal and burn. If you aren\’t struggling to stay on the board with a lightning-fast black or red, your priority will be to get Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief and a Vesuvan Duplimancy out. Any spell you cast will give you another Ivy, and soon you will have an army of Ivys, and if you target one with a spell, they will all receive the benefits. And when every card except Vesuvan is a max of two mana, you will have your board increase in power by exponential rates, and dodge nearly every obstacle thrown at you. 

If you have an Ivy out before you draw Vesuvan, or if you don\’t have enough mana for it yet, then get another creature out. You want to favor ones with draw, but connive isn\’t bad, and I\’ve included one flashback sorcery to help alleviate the discard punishment that sometimes happens. You can toss Homestead Courage into discard, and still cast it for the exact same cost of one white mana.

Sometimes you won\’t have either Ivy or Vesuvan, and if you don\’t, then just focus on drawing fast, and holding out one mana for your protection spells if you have a creature on the board. I can protect a creature nine out of ten games by playing with one mana in reserve, and with the ability to draw so much, I am never starved for mana unless the pull was just terrible. Being one mana behind your opponent will actually give you an advantage if pulled off properly.

Make sure to save your Tamiyo\’s for board wipes. Pick your most powerful, non-Ivy card. It can replicate to every Ivy, and protect against all  board wipes. You will lose your less powerful non-Ivy creatures, but that\’s a pretty fair trade against a Meathook or Burn Down the House if you ask me. Shore up will protect against bounce spells or targeted non-destroy abilities. You are protected against almost any counter an opponent can provide if you will hold out the one mana. Seriously. Don\’t even cast your first creature until turn three if you have a protection spell in hand.

There are quite a few other combos and synergies, but they\’re not as vital, and they\’re fun to discover on your own. Good luck and have fun! Go shake up the meta!