"Narset, Enlightened Master: A True Evil Master"

"Narset, Enlightened Master: A True Evil Master"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr. 

Casting spells for free has always been exciting in Magic. I remember an old Spellweaver Helix Land Destruction deck that I had which let me cast a Land destruction spell and churn out another spell for free(usually another land destruction spell destroying 2 lands per spell),  but this meant casting something and imprinting something first. Then there was Convoke where you could power out big effect spells like Chord of Calling while tapping creatures or Delve which let you use up your graveyard as a resource exiling cards to use up less mana. I love casting things for free or at least on the cheap.Now what if there was a card that could potentially let you cast 4 spells without you casting anything first , tapping creatures or exiling cards? Yup , Khans of Tarkir really gave us a great card. This card is Narset, Enlightened Master. The Khan of the Jeskai Clan.

Looking at this particular card made me salivate at the possibilities. I mean 4 spells for free! The catch is that you need to attack with her first and that these spells are not creatures. Oh and Lands don't count too.With those limitations out of the way I was free to think up all those evil things to do with Narset. I was looking at Narset and her 6 mana cost which seems prohibitive at first could easily be cast in the EDH setting. I was also thinking that she has a small frame for a Legendary creature at 3/2 but then again she has First Strike and Hexproof which makes killing her with direct burn spells or any spot removal out of the question. If she also happens to smash into a weaker creature she could easily dispatch anything with 3 toughness or less because of her First strike. Opponents who do not have big creatures are no threat to Narset but this is not the coolest aspect of her.

The coolest part is her triggered ability. She attacks. You exile the top 4 cards of your library. Until the end of your turn you are allowed to cast all of those cards exiled by Narset. Since the cards are exiled face up your opponents will see all the cards that you are about to unleash on them on your 2nd main phase. Sorceries. Artifacts. Enchantments. Planeswalkers. Oh Instants too but you could cast those any time you want anyway.Even if Narset does get killed the cards that you exiled from your library can still be played until the end of your turn. So you could just recast Narset on your next turn , attach a lightning greaves and attack again.

Think of the possibilities for a moment. Narset is Blue , Red and White. Chandra , Jace , Elspeth , Tezzeret , Sarkhan , Ajani! All plopping down , holding hands on your 2nd main phase and causing all sorts of head scratching and frustrated moans from the opposing side of the EDH table. 4 planeswalker abilities being used in one turn without using Mana! Evil! You could even have a Chain Veil there as well for double the activations!

Oh and then there are the sorceries, Sorceries that clear up the board like Supreme Verdict or Wrath of God(Best to have a Darksteel Plate on Narset just in case you choose to cast these spells). Spells that let you take extra turns(Time Warp) or extra attack phases(Relentless Assault). Imagine stocking all that up , attacking with Narset and seeing the next batch of goodies that you are allowed to cast on that 2nd attack phase or extra turn.

Imagine casting a Mindslaver for Free and activating it on your 2nd main phase , controlling the other players turn and then saying done. And then it is your turn again , attacking with Narset and coming up with even more nefarious schemes. Imagine destroying something with a Spine of Ish Sah for free! Imagine plopping down a Perilous Vault or Nev's disk for free!
All those rocks and mana accelerators come in for zilch and they all add to you ability to keep your mana open to counter any thing that could rain on your parade.

Imagine casting an Enchanted Evening and then casting a Paraselene.Everything in play are Enchantments and everything is destroyed by a Paraselene. Talk about resetting the game in a major way! Again just make sure that Narset has a Darksteel plate and all will be well on your side of the board. Yeah everything gets blown up to pieces and everyone in your play group would be plotting your demise by the end of the night but at least you win the game right?

I have no doubt in my mind that Narset is really enlightened but I would prefer to really call her for what she really is which is an Evil Master. Once she attacks there will always be a probability that those high cost spells that you packed in your EDH will be cast. Nothing good comes out of her attacks. Well at least for your opponents.