Although Reality Fracture cards have been out for well over a month, players continue to find new ways to maximize them. In fact, today, one player found success running a full playset of Chandra, Chill of Compliance, a three-mana Reality Fracture Planeswalker, in a unique Izzet Murktide build.
By pairing the Planeswalker with a forgotten Guilds of Ravnica uncommon Enchanced Surveillance, this deck can generate incredible value.
An Unexpected Duo
At its core, this Izzet shell is looking to control the game until it can turn the corner with big threats. Galvanic Discharge
Galvanic DischargeChoose target creature or planeswalker. You get {E}{E}{E} (three energy counters), then you may pay any amount of {E}. Galvanic Discharge deals that much damage to that permanent. and Lightning Bolt
Lightning BoltLightning Bolt deals 3 damage to any target. keep your opponent’s early creatures from running you over, while Force of Negation
Force of NegationIf it's not your turn, you may exile a blue card from your hand rather than pay this spell's mana cost.
Counter target noncreature spell. If that spell is countered this way, exile it instead of putting it into its owner's graveyard. and Spell Pierce
Spell PierceCounter target noncreature spell unless its controller pays {2}. handle noncreature spells.
All of this should buy you enough time to get Chandra, Chill of Compliance
Chandra, Chill of Compliance+1: Surveil 1. If you put a noncreature, nonland card into your graveyard this way, put that card into your hand.
+1: Add {U}. Spend this mana only to cast a noncreature spell.
−X: Tap target artifact or creature. Put X stun counters on it.
−6: You get an emblem with "Whenever you cast a spell, draw a card." on board, who can start drawing a flurry of cards each turn. With a whopping 30 noncreature, nonland cards in the deck, you’ve got a solid chance of drawing cards off Chandra’s +1 ability.
Where this deck gets really interesting is with Enhanced Surveillance, which lets you look at three cards with Chandra’s +1. Not only does this make it more likely you’ll hit relevant spells in a timely manner, but you can also put multiple spells into your hand this way!
To sculpt your draws even further, Consider
ConsiderSurveil 1. (Look at the top card of your library. You may put it into your graveyard.)
Draw a card. and Prismari Charm help churn through your library. Add in four copies of Thundering Falls to fetch at will, which also looks at three cards each time you Surveil, and even your Fetch Lands can seriously fix your draws.
As the cards start flowing, you should have no problem finding Murktide Regent to close games, which benefits heavily from all the cards that hit your graveyard via Surveil. This Dragon hits hard, and when backed up by your counterspells, there’s little room for the opponent to mount a comeback.
Notably, Murktide Regent is also best buddies with Chandra, since it grows every time you Surveil and pick up an instant or sorcery. Of course, you can also follow up with additional copies of Murktide Regent and exile more instants and sorceries for a similar effect.
Consistent but Fragile
Ultimately, this Izzet Murktide variant gets its biggest edge from its consistent game plan. The combination of Consider, Charm, and Enhanced Surveillance makes it trivial to dig for Chandra and Murktide, which is enough to beat some decks alone.
Aggro decks like Boros Energy really do not want to see this deck across the table, since it has ample ways to kill early creatures. Prismari Charm being able to hose multiple Ocelot Pride
Ocelot PrideFirst strike, lifelink
Ascend (If you control ten or more permanents, you get the city's blessing for the rest of the game.)
At the beginning of your end step, if you gained life this turn, create a 1/1 white Cat creature token. Then if you have the city's blessing, for each token you control that entered this turn, create a token that's a copy of it.s is particularly painful. Murktide Regent often outsizes Galvanic Discharge and Thraben Charm, too, making the matchup even easier.
If that weren’t enough, your wealth of counterspells gives you a good shot at beating combo decks like Ruby Storm. Force of Negation is a lifesaver since it lets you tap out for Chandra without fear, which then finds more counterspells to put the nail in the coffin.
Unsurprisingly, the Chandra + Enhanced Surveillance synergy also excels in grindy archetypes, like Esper Blink. In this sense, this deck does a decent job covering a lot of its bases.
Still, this strategy has its weaknesses, and a big one is facing down beefy threats that your burn spells can’t kill. Psychic Frog in particular is a beating, since it easily sneaks under Counterspell when you’re on the draw.
With Murktide Regent being your only real pressure, you’re also at risk of getting hit by Emrakul, the Promised End before you close things out. Consign to Memory definitely improves your Eldrazi Ramp matchup post-board, but you still need to find it fast.
On top of all of this, beating Rest in Peace
Rest in PeaceWhen this enchantment enters, exile all graveyards.
If a card or token would be put into a graveyard from anywhere, exile it instead. effects is also very hard if you don’t have a counterspell ready. Both Murktide and Chandra rely on using your graveyard as a resource, so you’ll realistically need to find Prismari Charm to bounce the enchantment if you want to win.
Nonetheless, every deck has its flaws in a format as diverse as Modern, and the synergy between Chandra and Enhanced Surveillance is real. As players continue to explore within this space, we’re curious what other deckbuilding innovations players come up with.
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