[EDH] Isperia's Blink-Bounce Bonanza

[Stapler]

This is a deck that uses blink and bounce engines to reuse creature ETB abilities to generate card advantage, while also protecting the creatures it plays out.

I chose Isperia the Inscrutable for the general because I love toolboxes and there are a good number of flying creatures that synergize well with the strategy of the deck, and she provides a source of card advantage that can helps set up mini-combos and synergies (and one actual combo). I realize Grand Arbiter Augustin IV is probably better in this deck due to the very large number of gating creatures and bounce engines and such, but he doesn't seem as fun to me nor for my opponents. Plus, Isperia gets value, and value is sweet.

The deck is budget (for the most part) and was constructed for a casual metagame (for the most part). I'm missing a good number of the cards here, so if I can't get a hold of them/they're too expensive, I'll have to go for some other options.

I'll likely be updating the deck as I get all the pieces together, but regrdless, the deck:

Deck

General 1x Isperia the Inscrutable Non-Fliers 1x Leonin Relic-Warder 1x Mistmeadow Witch 1x Azorius Guildmage 1x Vedalken Mastermind 1x Trinket Mage 1x Kor Santifiers 1x Fiend Hunter 1x Azorius Aethermage 1x Venser, Shaper Savant 1x Sakashima the Imposter 1x Magus of the Disk 1x Sun Titan 1x Duplicant 1x Kederekt Leviathan 1x Stormtide Leviathan Fliers 1x Shrieking Drake 1x Gilded Drake 1x Pilgrim's Eye 1x Drift of Phantasms 1x Wispmare 1x Stonecloaker 1x Aven Mindcensor 1x Sanctum Gargoyle 1x Glen Elendra Archmage 1x Sawtooth Loon 1x Dust Elemental 1x Voidstone Gargoyle 1x Riftwing Cloudskate 1x Mulldrifter 1x Reveillark 1x Stormfront Riders 1x Steel Hellkite 1x Sunblast Angel 1x Draining Whelk 1x Chancellor of the Spires Instants 1x Path to Exile 1x Capsize 1x Spell Crumple 1x Muddle the Mixture 1x Momentary Blink Sorceries 1x Hallowed Burial

Planeswalkers 1x Venser, the Sojourner Artifacts 1x Dispeller's Capsule 1x Tormod's Crypt 1x Relic of Progenitus 1x Brittle Effigy 1x Wayfarer's Bauble 1x Sol Ring 1x Expedition Map 1x Azorius Signet 1x Talisman of Progress 1x Prophetic Prism 1x Darksteel Ingot 1x Fieldmist Borderpost 1x Lightning Greaves 1x Fireshrieker 1x Oblivion Stone 1x Crystal Shard 1x Cloudstone Curio 1x Erratic Portal 1x Vedalken Orrery Enchantments (none!) Lands 12x Island 9x Plains 1x Halimar Depths 1x Ancient Den 1x Mistveil Plains 1x Seachrome Coasts 1x Azorius Chancery 1x Sejiri Refuge 1x Command Tower 1x Prahv, Spires of Order 1x Buried Ruin 1x Reliquary Tower 1x Mystifying Maze 1x Tectonic Edge 1x Ghost Quarter 1x Terramorphic Expanse 1x Evolving Wilds 1x Misty Rainforest 1x Calciform Pools

Decklist Organized By Function:

Deck

General 1x Isperia the Inscrutable Blink-Bounce Engines 1x Mistmeadow Witch 1x Vedalken Mastermind 1x Venser, the Sojourner 1x Crystal Shard 1x Cloudstone Curio 1x Erratic Portal 1x Shrieking Drake 1x Stonecloaker 1x Sawtooth Loon 1x Dust Elemental Creature Removal 1x Fiend Hunter 1x Duplicant 1x Path to Exile 1x Brittle Effigy One-Time Blink-Bounce 1x Venser, Shaper Savant 1x Riftwing Cloudskate 1x Capsize 1x Momentary Blink Artifact/Enchantment Removal 1x Leonin Relic-Warder 1x Wispmare 1x Kor Santifiers 1x Dispeller's Capsule Tutors 1x Trinket Mage 1x Drift of Phantasms 1x Muddle the Mixture Synergy/Combo Pieces 1x Azorius Aethermage 1x Stormfront Riders 1x Sakashima the Imposter General Goodstuff/Hate 1x Azorius Guildmage 1x Stormtide Leviathan 1x Aven Mindcensor 1x Mulldrifter 1x Steel Hellkite 1x Chancellor of the Spires 1x Vedalken Orrery 1x Tormod's Crypt 1x Relic of Progenitus 1x Lightning Greaves 1x Fireshrieker Recursion 1x Sun Titan 1x Sanctum Gargoyle 1x Reveillark 1x Buried Ruin

Board Wipes 1x Magus of the Disk 1x Kederekt Leviathan 1x Sunblast Angel 1x Oblivion Stone 1x Hallowed Burial Counter/Control 1x Gilded Drake 1x Glen Elendra Archmage 1x Voidstone Gargoyle 1x Draining Whelk 1x Spell Crumple Mana Help 1x Ancient Den 1x Pilgrim's Eye 1x Wayfarer's Bauble 1x Sol Ring 1x Expedition Map 1x Azorius Signet 1x Talisman of Progress 1x Prophetic Prism 1x Darksteel Ingot 1x Fieldmist Borderpost Lands That Don't Do Stuff 12x Island 9x Plains 1x Seachrome Coasts 1x Sejiri Refuge 1x Azorius Chancery 1x Command Tower 1x Terramorphic Expanse 1x Evolving Wilds 1x Misty Rainforest 1x Calciform Pools Lands That Do Stuff 1x Halimar Depths 1x Mistveil Plains 1x Prahv, Spires of Order 1x Reliquary Tower 1x Mystifying Maze 1x Tectonic Edge 1x Ghost Quarter

Synergies/Interactions:
Fiend Hunter/Leonin Relic-Warder + almost any instant speed bounce-blink engine = exile target thing permanently
Evoked Mulldrifter/Wispmare + almost any instant speed bounce-blink engine = cheap reusable card draw/enchantment removal
Azorius Aethermage + a gating creature/a bounce engine/Azorius Chancery = repeatable draw
Stormfront Riders + Shrieking Drake = Repeatable mono-blue token fireball
Isperia the Inscrutable > Drift of Phantasms > Trinket Mage > Expedition Map > Mistveil Plains = A tutor chain that lets you loop any card from the graveyard back into your deck to tutor for that only needs the general to start
Trinket Mage > Dispeller's Capsule/Brittle Effigy/Relic of Progenitus/Tormod's Crypt/Ancient Den/Sol Ring/Wayfarer's Bauble/Expedition Map = A blink/bounceable tutor that can get me creature removal, noncreature removal, grave hate, mana, and lands

Combo:
Stormfront Riders + Sakashima the Imposter (or any other clone effect) copying the Riders + Cloudstone Curio = Infinite 1/1s and infinite "you may return a creature you control to your hand" triggers

Q&A:

Q: What's the first thing you tutor for with Isperia?
A: Assuming my opponents are doing absolutely nothing I care about, and my hit with Isperia didn't reveal anything scary either, I get Sawtooth Loon to start fixing my hand and putting all the lategame cards I don't want right now back into my deck. If I have a bounce/blink engine (that isn't a gating creature), I get Mulldrifter instead if I feel like I can protect my engine. I also like getting Pilgrim's Eye if I need lands and Drift of Phantasms if I really need to find an answer for something Isperia can't find.

Q: How do you kill people?
A: Isperia beats can be pretty realistic, especially with Fireshrieker doing double damage and getting more fliers to protect her, but even just hitting with dorks over the course of a few turns can get there if you can get some value off your engines. The deck doesn't usually attract too much attention (except when you start going crazy with Fiend Hunter and Crystal Shard) so letting other people beat down while holding back some blockers and getting rid of stuff that tries to come at you, and then cleaning people up with random guys has happened before. Gilded Drake can let me steal their wincon, and the Stromfront combo I mentioned above wins if no one has a wrath or a way to stop twenty billion 1/1s from attacking.

Q: Why aren't you playing [BIG RANDOM FLIER XYZ]?
A: Much of this deck's slots are taken up by cards that blink or bounce my permanents, and cards that synergize with blinking and bouncing. Between the deckspace also lost to general necessities (manafixing, counters, removal), it seems like a real waste to put something like Baneslayer, Akroma, or Consecrated Sphinx in when they don't benefit in any real way from all the stuff the rest of the deck is doing (Steel Hellkite is the only exception to this, as he also fits the artifact theme and has an extremely powerful ability). I also made a conscious decision to avoid putting in giant fat with good ETBs but who don't really affect the board outside of their body. Yeah, Sphinx of Uthuun is sweet and fits the flier/ETB theme, but Mulldriftergets me roughly the same amount of cards and is far easier to abuse will all my engines.

Q: What do you do if someone plays Torpor Orb?
A: Cry. Then quit magic. Then hit someone with Isperia, grab Drift of Phantasms, and tutor for Capsize to bounce the Orb so you can counter it/find Dispeller's Capsule with Trinket Mage OR blow up everything with O-Stone because life sucks. Alternatively, expend all resources into killing the person who played it, because you're going to have a hard time winning anyway when half your deck is now vanilla and french vanilla 2/2s, so you might as well do something. Seriously, Torpor Orb kills this deck.

CARDS I'M THINKING ABOUT/REMOVED::

Galepowder Mage: It seems like an auto-include in this deck, but I don't like how inflexible the exile is (only when he attacks) nor do I like that he's forced to exile something, which isn't always good (only other creature on field is E-Wit x_x). I also have a ton of engines already, and he's the worst of all IMO. Still, though, it feels wrong not having him.
Equilibrium: Should probably be in, but I can't find it at my LGS and I'm trying my best not to proxy. It's also another bounce-blink engine, which I don't really need more of (though bouncing enemy guys is nice).
Mnemonic Wall: Used to be in when the deck was more spell-heavy, but I started cutting spells for creatures and artifacts (Return to Dust>Leonin Relic-Warder , Austere Command>Oblivion Stone) and suddenly I only had 6 spells, 2 of which rarely hit the yard. :/
Tradewind Rider: Seems good as a way to reuse 187s/bounce stuff I don't like, and most of my creatures don't have tap abilities. Maybe it encourages overextending too much? I don't know what to cut for it though.
Cloud Cover: It's kind of like giving all my stuff shroud, and I don't mind getting my ETB guys back. I don't have any way to protect it, though, outside of counters/Vedalken Mastermind, and no way to tutor or recur it either.
Aether Adept Man-O-Wars are fine, but bouncing my opponent's stuff is not an effect I need too often.
Glasses of Urza: Fireshrieker is my Glasses. I hit them once, see their hand, and hit them again and know what they have, and if I already know their hand, I get two tutors. Unlike Glasses (that just sit there being very mediocre when I'm not attacking with my general), Fireshrieker can make my other guys hit harder and win in combat. Glasses is a Trinket, but the Shrieker is Transmuteable. gogo double strike

Suggestions for cards that help make the deck better and cards in the deck that can get cut are appreciated!