My Duel Deck series returns! This time, it's a fun duel of Kamigawa vs Innistrad! The Hound vs The Demon Duel Decks are two budget decks built to play against each other to create a game of magic that's both fun and challenging! You and a friend will play to determine which faction will win! Who will win the Grudge match between old enemies?
Isamaru Deck http://www.mtgvault.com/ciaranmadgrin/decks/duel-deck-isamaru-vs-kyoki/
Plot:
A chill in the air unnerves the travelling merchant. As he wanders the woods in an attempt to reach Thraben, he finds himself suddenly afraid of his surroundings. With Avacyn's light guiding him, he presses on through the woods, but fails to realize the grave mistake he has made in coming here. Evil is near, a dreadful Spirit from another plane, filled with malice towards a single being. Kyoki stalks the human merchant from the darkness, memories of how it all came to this moment. Back home, in Kamigawa, that accursed Hound of Konda had hunted him down into the woods, and they battled to the death, only for the Hound's human companions to trap Kyoki inside of an amulet. After they trapped him, the amulet was given to a Soratami to be guarded in secrecy. But, little did they realize that the Soratami was a planeswalker, and had recently lost the amulet. That necklace was found by a deranged outcast in the woods, who accidentally released Kyoki as his life's final mistake. Now, Kyoki preyed upon the human merchant, eager to rip his flesh apart in an act of vengeance toward the race that imprisoned him. Yet, he was not alone. Somehow, when Kyoki was released, other Spirits were set free as well. These spirits shared his hatred of humanity, and in these woods had begun a reign of terror. As Kyobi attacks the merchant, he knows he is not alone. Watched by his fellow spirits, Kyobi begins to understand that they view him as a leader. And with this knowledge, Kyobi sees that he has acquired a powerful army of the lost. Something his nemesis cannot ignore for long. All he needs is to keep taking human lives, and eventually, his adversary will come to challenge him again. This time, however, the Hound will face not just Kyoki's wrath, but all of the spirits of Kamigawa......
Kyoki leads an army of vengeful spirits that haunt Innistrad's woods with dark and powerful Arcane magic, and this deck proves it. Kyoki has awaited the time of his revenge for a long time, which comes through the deck in many ways. This deck's best trick is the ability to return from the grave. This comes from not only arcane spells, but the spirits that haunt the deck as well. Soulshift is a unique ability from Kamigawa that allows fallen spirits to return weaker spirits back to your hand! With this ability, you have a powerful army at your command that not even death can stop! Start early off by summoning weaker spirits like the Zuberas and Hana Kami to stall for time as you build mana. The key to defeating Isamaru is patience and the ability to keep his humans at bay so you can gather enough resources to start unleashing bigger spirits and begin your cycle of soulshifting. When you have enough mana, start playing cards like Kami of Empty Graves and Forked-Branch Garami to start beating down Isamaru's forces and bringing back your fallen comrades. Then, when you have outnumbered Isamaru's humans, end their miserable lives with a barrage of endless spiritual wrath.
While you progress throughout the game, you'll find that your spirits might not be enough alone to smother Isamaru's humans. Not to worry, you have another nasty ability to your advantage: Arcane spells. Arcane spells all fuel certain spirits of your deck, as well as Splice. When you have a Splice card, you can pay it's Splice cost when you play another spell to reveal that card and add it's ability to whatever spell your playing. This allows for many fun combined effects that will keep Isamaru guessing. A few fun ideas are Splicing Kodama's Might to Rend Flesh, or Splicing Soulless Revival to Kodama's Reach! If you find yourself outnumbering Isamaru, but just can't get that finishing swing, there's one trump card that works great as a Finisher: Devouring Greed. it's a 4 cmc sorcery that allows you to sacrifice spirits to consuming your opponent's life to refill your own. Use this card when you've got a few spirits on the field and Isamaru on the ropes for a sneak victory! In the end, your spiritual might will crush Isamaru and begin it's reign of terror in Innistrad!!!