Lumra Scapeshift Guide

By: Meta_Psychosis

Why read this? 

Firstly, it's free, and the only thing to pay for this guide is the time spent reading it. This guide was written to help people improve with Sultai Scapeshift, aka Breakfast Bears.

The only way this deck can improve is through the free flow of information and ideas. The goal is to help people improve with the deck and encourage more people to test it. 

This guide goes over different lines with Scapeshift, Sideboard options, and much more. It is primarily geared towards players who are new to the deck. This guide won't cover every possible situation, but it is meant to be a starting point so others can be more comfortable picking up the deck.

Basic Deck Concept: 

This deck is a dedicated combo deck that has the opportunity to win as early as turn three, but typically wins on turn four. The combo is accomplished by having an untap effect, such as Spelunking or Wandering Minstrel, on the field, Lotus fields, Port of Karfell, and Lumra. The general rundown of the combo is float mana, sacrifice lands to Lotus Field, and use Port of Karfell to reanimate Lumra. After that, Lumra will enter the field, bringing back all those lands, which will be untapped because of the Spelunking or Wandering Minstrel. Tap the lands for mana, use the port to bring back a second Lumra, sacrificing one of them to state-based actions, and repeat until the entire deck is milled.

From that point, there are multiple ways to win the game. The win conditions will be discussed later on, but for now, that's the basics on how the deck works.  

Why play this deck:  

The deck is like a puzzle, with new challenges and situations being presented every game. It can have some very unusual board states that, if the line can be found, will allow a win out of nowhere. It has the potential to be very fast, but can also grind the game out. It's very rewarding to play and hard for the opponent to stop. The deck dodges a lot of combo hate, such as High Noon, and has great answers to other combo hate, such as Rest in Peace.

The deck has a good amount of wiggle room in what can be put into the 75. At the time of writing this, there are many different versions all performing well, but the core remains the same, with roughly eight to ten flex slots. The deck can be tuned to beat metas such as a Thoughtseize-heavy meta or an aggressive meta.

Why not to play this deck: 

It's a complex deck that requires some time commitment to play well. Without any experience with the deck, it's very easy for the deck to lose to itself. Knowing when to mulligan, what order to play the lands, and what spells to lead on all go into how well the deck does. Sometimes, just playing the wrong land on the previous turn can lose the game. The deck and the cards in it don't typically translate to other decks.

It's a very linear deck with one game plan, but numerous ways to get there, and that can be daunting for some people. There isn’t the value of Rakdos Midrange to fall back on, or the cantrips of Izzet Phoenix to smooth out draws. It takes a lot of foresight and recognizing non-intuitive lines to win some games. 

History of the deck 

In MTG, there is the rule of 8. The rule is that if there are eight copies of an effect, a deck can typically be made with that effect.  The deck existed in some form or fashion for a while, though it only had Spelunking at the time. That deck featured items such as Bring to Light and Beseech the Mirror, looping Splendid Reclamation. The deck changed with the release of Final Fantasy in June of 2025. The set had the card Wandering Minstrel, which was the extra four copies of lands entering untapped that the deck needed. Kytk321 would be one of the first people to start putting up results with the deck, only a day after the set was released.

The deck started with a lot of experimental "features"  such as Nature's Rhythm toolboxes, Hour of Promise, and Glimpse the Core. The deck began to appear more frequently. There wasn't a lot of talk about the deck for a while, maybe a few scattered conversations here and there, but nothing centralized. Finally, the Discord was created, and there has been significant progress on the deck with the community. There are still different things being tested by each of us, and no definitive stock list. The deck is still very young but rapidly developing.

The Decklist

As stated earlier, there are many different variants of the deck circulating, but this is a good starting point for the time being. Other options for deck building will be explored later on. For now, the list below will be a good starting point to get a feel for the deck and make decisions for what to cut and what to include after some practice.

This decklist will leave four slots remaining. One slot should be a secondary win condition. Thassa's Oracle is easier to win with for an online setting and has benefits against grindy matchups. Primarily, if unable to combo, but the game goes long enough, the deck will mill itself over time, and Thassa’s Oracle can be cast for a win. Lush Oasis is used as a way to hide the secondary win condition in the mana base, making it easier for the deck to play more lands while also fixing the mana. It does, however, require more clicking when winning in an online setting. More commonly, the extra win condition is a card such as Luis, Pompous Pillager, or Ishkanah, Grafwidow. 

For the remaining three slots, two of them should be lands of some type, such as Botanical Sanctum, Hedge Maze, or Breeding Pool. That will ultimately be determined by what you have crafted. A fourth Starting Town can also be used as one of these lands. A consideration for these last two lands is what cards are in your sideboard. If there are more black cards in your sideboard, then lands that produce black and green may be what is needed. 

The last slot has a lot of flexibility. It could be the 32nd land, Glasspool Mimic, the 4th Aftermath Analyst, there are many choices. This slot is one of the main slots that can be used to experiment and try different things.

Core Cards 

Below are explanations of what the core must-have cards in the deck are. These are the cards that every version of the deck plays. These cards are the basic pieces to the combo, as well as some of the utility lands that assist with the combo. If not playing one of these cards, there needs to be an extremely good reason not to, since these cards are so critical to the deck's operation. In general, these cards need to be in the deck without exception. 

Arboreal Grazer

A very innocuous card that helps in numerous smaller ways. The deck typically struggles against the aggro decks, but what if you had a creature you could put out to block and buy a turn or two, and it ramps you along the way?

What if this creature had the potential to be a green version of Dark Ritual? That's precisely what Arboreal Grazer does. A turn one grazer is one of the ways the deck can turn three combo, but more importantly, it has three defense and reach, making it a good blocker earlier in the game.

The downside with it is that sometimes you draw it later in the game, or your opening hand is Hedge Maze and Ipnu Rivulet. The Arboreal Grazer has the chance not to ramp you at all. In those cases, Grazer isn't completely dead. If you have an untapper out, with a Grazer and a Lotus Field in hand, the Grazer can act as a ritual to ramp into other effects. 

Wandering Minstrel

The card that made the deck tick on release. One way to think of this card is Spelunking 5-8, but there are a few things that stand out about the deck. Firstly, it is one of the few blue cards in the deck, which strains the mana in the early turns.  Typically, the deck can generate the mana required to play it on turn two, but it's not free. The other thing that stands out about this card is the fact that it is a creature.

While this is obvious upon just looking at the card, it carries significant implications. Combining with the card carries more risks than Spelunking does because the opponent can interact with Wandering Minstrel with cards such as Fatal Push. Creature removal needs to be played around when using Wandering Minstrel.

The creature type can also be used to our advantage, though. Port of Karfell can bring back Minstrel after it's been killed and allows for setups that use a double Port turn, bringing back Minstrel as well as a Lumra, Bellow of the Woods.

This card should always be a 4 of since its effect is crucial to the combo. 

Spelunking

Considered to be one of the best cards in the deck, as Spelunking fills a lot of roles at once. It's a green card, meaning our base green deck has an easy time playing it, whereas the deck can have issues casting Minstrel. It's an enchantment, which means there are fewer options for what can remove the card. Additionally, it draws a card and allows us to put a land into play.

The four life gained from putting an Echoing Deeps into play can come up against aggressive decks. It's an excellent card for transitioning into the combo quickly. The card isn't without its own risks, though. More specifically, the card being a non-creature enchantment means it can get hit by both Annul and Dovin's Veto.

These cards won't be as common as something like a Fatal Push. However, they are still common enough that they need to be taken into consideration when casting the card.  

Lumra, Bellow of the Woods

The main combo card of the deck. Most combo lines within the deck revolve around Lumra, or are lines that will transition into a Lumra line. Once Lumra enters the battlefield, it will mill and then bring back all lands from the grave. This isn't just the lands milled with Lumra; that's all the lands in the graveyard. Sacrificed lands to lotus to play the Lumra? Lumra brings them back. Used the Port of Karfell to reanimate Lumra?

The Port will come back with the Lumra trigger. The wording on the card is also important. Once the self-mill effect occurs, the opponent cannot respond by exiling the graveyard. They would have to exile the graveyard before the self-mill happens. And even if they do, there will still be four cards milled, and if any are lands, they get returned to the field.

The card's legendary status is also partly why the combo can exist. When combining, there will often end up with two Lumras on the field. Having two Lumras on the field will cause one of them to be sacrificed due to state-based action. Then Lumra can be brought back with the Port of Karfell and repeat this process.  

Lumra can get big, as in over 20, powerful enough to one-shot the opponent. However, Lumra doesn't have trample, making it a less effective attacker. That's not to say don’t bother attacking if given the opportunity, Lumra does have vigilance, but don't expect it to kill the opponent. Lumra, however, is a great blocker. Lumra can get very large very quickly, and it has reach, so if needed, Lumra can be used to buy some time until the last combo piece is found.  

Formidable Speaker

Formidable Speaker is one of the best cards for this deck. At three mana, it gives a way for the deck to tutor for either an untapped or for the Lumra. It can also give more hits on a Port of Karfell. The normally flavor text untap ability is also relevant since Formidable Speaker can be played one turn, discarding a card to get Lumra, then next turn, if there is a Lotus Field in hand, it can be played, and use Speaker to untap it to go up one mana. If there is an untapped on the field already, the lotus field is worth 5 total mana with this line of play.

Another additional benefit is the ability to chain Speakers together. In a grindy matchup, Formidable Speaker can be cast, discarding a dead card, and getting another Speaker to start flooding the board. This is not a very common line to take, but it is an option if the situation calls for it. 

Scapeshift

On the surface, this card fetches some lotus fields and a port to combo off; however, it has much more utility than that. One of the ways the deck can beat things like Rest in Peace is because of this card. Scapeshift can get Arid Archway and a Boseiju, Who Endures, then pick up the Boseiju with the Arid Archway and destroy the rest in peace. The utility does not stop there, though. Scapeshift can be cast to grab multiple Hedge Mazes to find the next piece needed. Also, Scapeshift can be used as a last resort, getting lands that will mill as many cards as possible to try to go for a win. These are typically used when the opponent has a winning board state and will win next turn, so going for it even if not fully set up has no downsides since the alternative is to just lose.

The card requires a lot of forward thinking to work effectively and achieve the desired position. Questions such as "how many Lotus fields are needed?" or "does the Lumra need to survive after sacrificing lands to scapeshift?" need to be thought about when casting Scapeshift. Some combo lines will be discussed in more detail later, but goldfishing the deck and seeing how far the card can be stretched helps build the understanding of what to get in certain situations. When going for the Scapeshift, keep in mind the mana floating, how many lands Scapeshift can get, the colors needed, and where the board state will be after the fact. There will be some tips later to help make this more straightforward to understand. 

Port of Karfell

This land is a significant part of Lumra loops. It allows the deck to reanimate Lumra and mill the entire deck. It also gives the deck the ability to grind out games. Not many decks would be able to beat a Lumra that comes back every turn. Now, this situation is uncommon, but it's nice to have the option.

Something to note about the card is that the self-mill does not happen until resolution. This means that if Port of Karfell is sacrificed to its ability, and the opponent exiles the graveyard, Port of Karfell will still mill the four cards. If there is a creature among the four milled cards, Port of Karfell will still bring it back. The card doesn't target; it just puts a creature into play.

This is an important distinction because it also means that once activated, if the opponent allows the mill to happen, they can't then respond to it by exiling the creature Port is trying to return, since there is no targeting.

It's also useful for bringing back things outside of Lumra as well. If all that is needed is an untap effect, Port can reanimate a wandering minstrel. If there's an effect that needs to be stifled, a Port can be used to bring back a Tishana's Tidebinder. If all else fails, using Port to bring back Lumra repeatedly can also be an avenue to a win. 

Lotus Field 

Lotus Field is the land that allows us to sacrifice lands to be able to bring them back with Lumra. Without Lotus Field, the deck would have to have some other way to sacrifice lands, and the three mana it gives is also a significant part of the combo. It is mainly used for the black mana for the Port of Karfell. It also allows Arboreal Grazer to act as a ritual in the right situations.

The way this deck uses Lotus Field isn't the same way the Emergent Ultimatum Lotus Combo deck uses it. We aren't looking to get it out and copy it to cast Lumra. We want to have it in the graveyard so that when we cast Lumra, it will return, float mana from it, then sacrifice it and another land.

There are situations where Lotus Field needs to be in play and not in the grave. This primarily happens when a Port of Karfell needs the black mana to activate, and can be a way to start the loop. This does present the issue of not being able to cycle Lotus Field until another one is milled, but the situation of playing out Lotus Field does come up. 

Another benefit to Lotus Field is its interactions with both Arboreal Grazer and Spelunking. With Grazer, Lotus Field will act as a ritual, and can be a way to play a Lumra much quicker. With the Spelunking, Lotus Field can be put into play off the trigger and can allow several lines. For instance, Lotus Field is the exact amount to cast Stockup, so turn three Spelunking can be cast, putting Lotus Field into play, and then cast a Stockup. This interaction is useful to keep in mind since it opens a lot of double spell turns, such as Spelunking and Scapeshift on turn four. 

Echoing Deeps

The utility of Echoing Deeps is its ability to copy lands from the graveyard, and this also includes lands in the opponent's graveyard. One way it can be used is as an extra Lotus. Say, for instance, there is a Lotus Field and Echoing Deeps in the graveyard, and Lumra enters the battlefield. Both lands will enter at the same time, but Echoing Deeps can still copy the Lotus.

This interaction is due to CR614.12a, which says that if a replacement effect modifies how a permanent enters the battlefield requires a choice, that choice is made before the permanent enters the battlefield. What this means is that whenever Echoing Deeps and another land enter the battlefield from the graveyard at the same time, the Echoing Deeps can copy that land.

Another interaction with Echoing Deeps is how it works with Spelunking. If Spelunking is cast, and with the enters the battlefield effect, an Echoing Deeps is put onto the field, that will gain four life since Echoing Deeps is a cave. If Echoing Deeps copies another land, that will still cause four life to be gained, since even if Echoing Deeps copies another land, it is still a cave for Spelunking.

There are a few smaller utility uses for Echoing Deeps as well. For instance, if black mana is needed, Echoing Deeps can be used to just copy a Starting Town or a black mana-producing land from the opponent's graveyard. Another important part of Echoing Deeps is that it doesn’t always enter the field tapped. If it’s played as the land for turn but doesn’t copy a land in the grave, it will enter untapped.

Outside of the utility uses for Echoing Deeps, it helps tremendously with comboing off with online play. Echoing Deeps can enter as a copy of Lush Oasis or Ipnu Rivulet, so that fewer loops will be needed to actually kill the opponent.

Otawara Soaring City 

A general catch-all answer to permanents, Otawara, Soaring City also provides some combo potential. Firstly, it can be used to bounce creatures that are applying too much pressure or to bounce a hate piece. Otawara can also bounce your own permanents. For instance, if you have a Lumra on the field, Otawara can be used to return the Lumra to hand. Lumra can then be replayed to get the effect again.

There are lines with it that will allow you to mill your entire deck, but that will be for a later section.

Otawara can also be used to save your permanents, so if your opponent is trying to remove Spelunking, for instance, Otawara can be used to bounce the Spelunking and then replay it. 

Boseiju, Who Shelters All

While not as generalistic as Otawara, most lists will have two or three copies of Boseiju. The deck is a base green deck, and Boseiju can help with removing hate pieces from the opponent.

Keep in mind that when using it, the opponent will be able to get a land with any basic land type, not just a basic land. So if used to destroy a Rest in Peace from UW Control, they can get a Hallowed Fountain or Meticulous Archive.

Also, the land is legendary, which means you can only have one out at a time, so if you have one in hand and one on the field, and you need another green, make sure to tap the one on the field before playing the second one. 

Arid Archway

The one bounce land we have in Pioneer. We aren't able to leverage the bounce lands the same way modern Amulet Titan can. Arid Archway still has utility in the deck as a singleton copy.

The most common use case is to Scapeshift for Arid Archway and Boseiju, allowing the Boseiju to be bounced to hand and then used later to destroy an opponent's hate piece. Something to note with the card on Arena is that Arena will not yield to the trigger when Arid Archway enters the field. So, if you're going to try to scapeshift for it, you will need to take full control and use Scapeshift to get the lands you want. You can then tap Boseiju for mana before bouncing it with Arid Archway, then going off full control. 

Hedge Maze

Hedge Maze is part of the filtering for the deck. When it enters, the surveil can be used to help dig for either a combo piece or to add more lands to the graveyard for a future Lumra trigger. The land types on it are also relevant. Similar to how if you Boseiju an opponent's permanent and they can get Meticulous Archive, you can get Hedge Maze. It can also be used in some of the Scapeshift piles to help dig an extra card or two when looking for Lumra, more on that later.

Forest 

Not a lot to say here about Forest. The deck's primary color is green, and Field of Ruin exists, so having some number of Forest in the deck will alleviate the pressure from Field of Ruin. It is also an untapped green source for a turn one Arboreal Grazer.

Other Card options

The following section will focus on cards that aren't exactly core to the deck but are still good options, appearing in multiple versions of the deck.   

Aftermath Analyst

The Aftermath Analyst acts as Lumra numbers 5-8, but it isn't a perfect one-to-one. Lumra returns the lands on an enter-the-battlefield trigger. At the same time, the Analyst needs to have an additional four mana to activate. This is relevant when going for Port of Karfell loops, since instead of 6 mana per loop, you would need 10 mana per loop.

The other thing an Analyst does is split the cost of the effect. So on turn two, you can cast Analyst, turn three cast Spelunking, turn 4 activate Analyst to return lands to the field. This exact line is usually not enough on its own. Still, it serves as an example of how you can utilize an Analyst. The card does help against aggro since it gives more blockers earlier in the game. Finally, the card can help to draw out interaction from the opponent.

It's a powerful enough card on its own that the opponent will usually want to remove it, so if you have an Aftermath Analyst and a Wandering Minstrel, playing the Analyst first can clear the way for Minstrel.

Wistfulness

Wistfulness is a utility piece primarily found with Formidable Speaker. It is a Disenchant effect on a creature, while also not being a dead draw with its draw ability. Wistfulness is not usually played as more than a singleton copy. Outside of its two triggers from entering the battlefield, there is not much more to say about it.

It can be useful in grinder matchups to cast it for its five mana cost instead of the evoke cost, getting a 6/5 and drawing cards can be an easy two-for-one, and it has the potential for a three-for-one if there is an artifact or enchantment that needs to be destroyed. 

Glasspool Mimic

The main use cases for Glasspool Mimic are that it can act as the second copy of Lumra when comboing off, as well as copying Summon Leviathan from the sideboard. For the combo lines, the Lumra needs to be on the field. If Glasspool is returned with Port of Karfell, it can copy Lumra and continue the chain. 

As for its use with Summon: Leviathan, in some matchups, Summon: Leviathan can be sided into the deck. The line of play would be to cast Formidable Speaker, fetching Leviathan. Casting Leviathan and returning the Speaker to hand. Then recast the speaker to get Glasspool Mimic, and cast Glasspool Mimic as another copy of Summon: Leviathan. From there, Formidable Speaker can be cast for a third time to get any other creature from the deck. This allows the Lumra deck to bounce the opponent's board for multiple turns, while also developing on the board since the Summon: Leviathan will stay on the field. 

Nissa, Resurgent Animist 

Nissa, Resurgent Animist fills a role that is somewhere between being an additional untap effect and a ramp card. Its landfall ability allows the card to act as an untap by adding mana from the lands entering, though these lines can be a bit harder to set up. Nissa can also get the Lumra or the Aftermath Analyst if you're able to get two lands to enter at the same time.

If going for the second ability on Nissa is part of your game plan, Arboreal Grazer and Spelunking are good ways to trigger it outside of Scapeshift. When playing Nissa, the card is only played as a singleton copy. This is because when the Nissa triggers a second time, it gets an elf or an elemental. If there are multiple Nissa in the deck, the ability can get a second Nissa, which is not typically helpful.

Icetill Explorer

Icetill Explorer is an excellent option for a slower, more midrange style of card. Having the extra land drops and being able to play them from the graveyard means you can get lands out quickly to ramp into other spells, while the mill from Icetill will dig deeper to find the Lumra and Port of Karfell. Another significant advantage of Icetill is the ability to play Lotus Field, float mana from it, then sacrifice the Lotus Field to its own trigger to play it then again. Double playing Lotus Field will give the mana to cast Lumra, allowing Icetill to also act as a pseudo ritual effect. 

Glimpse the Core

Glimpse the Core has fallen off from the deck, but it is still an option worth discussing. Usually, the deck will play either Glimpse or Grazer, since they both fill in the same role as ramp. Glimpse has a bit more utility with being able to return a cave from the graveyard as well. Glimpse the Core will skew the mana base to play more Forest, usually around 4. The card could be used in a more midrange version of the deck, which is more tuned for a Rakdos-heavy meta. 

Stock Up

Stock Up helps to dig for needed pieces, but more importantly, it is a huge part of beating Thoughtseize decks. The deck is very reliant on getting specific pieces to combo off, and Thoughtseize can put a wrench in that plan. Stock Up is a way to get out of that. It also works well with how the deck plays. It's often enough that the deck can have an untap effect out, play a lotus field, and play Stock Up from the lotus field. This can even be done all in the same turn.

The card is slow and can cause issues with the mono-red matchup. Stock Up is excellent in a midrange or control meta, but can be too slow in a more aggressively skewed meta.

Otherworldly Gaze

Otherworldly Gaze is a card that doesn't provide direct card advantage, but allows the deck to dig very deep. The surveil three can be used to help fuel Aftermath and Lumra to return more lands when triggered. Also, the flashback works with the self-mill aspect of the deck, allowing it to be cast from the graveyard. It gives the deck more ability to use all of its mana each turn effectively.

One downside of the card is that if drawn, and you're looking for a specific card in hand, Otherworldly Gaze is not able to provide this. It can surveil the card you need, but it will keep it on top, meaning you would have to wait until your next turn or cast another draw spell to pick up the card you need to combo off.

Consult the Star Charts

Consult the Star Charts can work well with the deck, but not all the time. In the average scenario, it's very close to Memory Deluge, where you look at the top 4-5 cards and put two into your hand. In other situations, it can be played for just two mana to get only a single card if that's all you need. There are situations where the card is much worse. If you're stuck on three lands, it's a worse impulse. With 6-7 lands on the field, it can be extremely powerful.

While the deck is based on green splashing blue, the double blue on the kicker isn't always going to be easy to play, so planning out your mana and land order is essential.

Cache Grab

Not seen hardly at all, Cache Grab is still an option the deck has. It pushes the deck to being almost entirely mono green, with Minstrel being one of the only blue cards if played. It can dig fairly deep for more lands or other permanents. A significant downside to the card is that Cache Grab is not able to get non-permanent spells. So if a Scapeshift would win you the game, Cache Grab won’t be able to get it.

The best way to explain how the card plays is that it fits in between Otherworldly Gaze and Consult the Star Charts. It helps to fill the grave for Analyst and Lumra like Gaze, but if drawn for the turn, Cache Grab can dig for the cards needed to be able to combo. Cache Grab is excellent at taking some strain off the mana base, allowing more untapped green sources on turn one. 

Winteright Stories

An alternative to Stockup, Winternight Stories won't dig as deep as Stock Up and only gives the same card advantage if you discard a creature; however, the benefit of it is that Winternight has the Harmonize mechanic attached to it. This opens up plays where you can mill yourself, and if one of those cards is a Winternight Stories, you're able to use the harmonize to continue drawing cards.

It synergizes well with the self-mill of the deck and allows dead Arboreal Grazers to be used for card advantage. The ability to discard cards from the hand can also be used, since you can discard lands and then cast Lumra or activate Aftermath Analyst to return those lands. 

Wishclaw Talisman

Wishclaw Talisman was much more common before the printing of Formidable Speaker. It gave the deck a way to invest the two mana in an earlier turn, and then, when ready to combo, activate Wishclaw Talisman to get whatever piece was missing.

An important note about the card is that Wishclaw Talisman can only be activated on your turn; it does not say at sorcery speed. This means if it needs to be activated in combat, it can be done at instant speed. It also opens up a double tutor effect with Formidable Speaker. Activating the Wishclaw Talisman, and in response, you can use Formidable Speaker to untap it, and then reactivating it will allow the Talisman to be able to tutor for two cards. 

Crumbling Vestige

Crumbling Vestige is another card that allows for a turn-three win. Turn two casting Wandering Minstrel and then turn three playing Vestige allows Scapeshift to be cast. With a Lumra in hand, this is a deterministic win. Now, this situation is not the most common, but the possibility is there and does happen. Vestige does put more strain on the mana base since you get the colored mana only when it enters the field. Crumbling Vestige allows for some specific lines where you don't want to sacrifice lands with Lotus Field but need lands that produce multiple mana.

These lines will be discussed later. The more Vestiges that are in the deck, the more it pushes the deck into playing Mirrorpool if looking for the copy effect, since the Crumbling Vestige produces the colorless mana for Mirrorpool's effects. 

Mirrorpool

One of the options when it comes to a land that copies a creature. Mirrorpool allows you to not only copy a creature in play, but it can also be used to copy a spell on the stack. So if you play Scapeshift and your opponent tries to counter, Mirrorpool can copy the Scapeshift to help push it through.

One of the issues with Mirrorpool is that the abilities require colorless mana, which can shift the way the mana base operates slightly, making the deck want more Crumbling Vestige and Starting Town. A significant advantage of Mirrorpool over Littjara Mirrorlake is that the abilities of Mirrorpool can be used at instant speed, which opens up some possibilities.

Littjara Mirrorlake

The second option for a land that copies a creature. While Littjara is sorcery speed only, it does have some advantages over Mirrorpool. One of which is that Littjara can tap for a blue mana, helping the deck with its colored sources. Additionally, the ability for Littjara requires blue and green, making it so the deck has an easier time activating the ability and allowing fewer colorless lands to be played.

Starting Town

Starting Town is a significant part of fixing the colors for the deck. If playing Mirrorpool, it will give the colorless for the abilities. It also fixes all the colors the deck needs, including the black mana for Port of Karfell. The deck can struggle to get the black mana needed for Port naturally, and Town helps with that. It also has some synergy with Wandering Minstrel, giving towns that can be used to pump your creatures. This situation rarely comes up, but it is there as an option.

The downside is the life that needs to be paid to get the colored mana, which is detrimental against the aggro decks. This is offset by the ability to tap for colorless so that it won't be as much life loss as Mana Confluence, but it still needs to be taken into consideration.

Botanical Sanctum: 

A land that enters untapped early in the game and fixes for the primary colors of the deck. There isn't too much to talk about with Botanical Sanctum. It is a painless source, so it is better against the aggro decks; however, it does not fix for black mana for Port of Karfell, and does not give the colorless for Mirrorpool.

Takenuma, Abandoned Mire

Takenuma, Abandoned Mire gives a sort of dig spell in the lands. Milling three cards and then returning a creature can be very effective against midrange decks as a way to buy back a Lumra or Minstrel. Takenuma also opens up more lines for comboing with Lumra. As a black ability, the deck can have issues with playing the ability. The fact that it taps for black, which is only used for Port of Karfell's ability, can also cause some problems with mana colors.

Sunken Citadel

Sunken Citadel can be used to fix mana of any color once it enters. Planning ahead when choosing the color is vital since once it enters, the color cannot be changed unless bounced. The main utility with Citadel is the ability to tap for two mana of the chosen color to pay for land abilities. This allows one land to pay for the ability of Boseiju and to pay for the double black for Port of Karfell, depending on the color chosen when it entered.

Castle Garenbrig

Typically, Castle Garenbrig is played alongside Citadel if used. On its own, Castle essentially taps for two green mana once costs are paid. However, when combined with Sunken Citadel, Castle can be thought of as tapping for three mana. The downside of the Castle is that the mana from the ability can only be used on creatures or the abilities of creatures. This enables it to pay for the Lumra or Analyst, as well as the Analyst's ability. There are lines with Castle and Scapeshift that allow you to play a Lumra with only three lands, though that will be later on in the guide.

Win Conditions

This section is to discuss the win conditions used in the deck. There are likely more that the deck could use, but these are some of the more commonly used ones. 

Ipnu Rivulet

The most commonly used win conditions yet it is typically the backup. Ipnu Rivulet acts as both a setup for the combo and a win condition. Ipnu Rivulet can be used as a way to self-mill in certain Scapeshift piles. When playing online, it is usually the slowest of the win conditions, which is why it is used as the backup. Using Echoing Deeps to make extra copies of Ipnu Rivulet can help to speed up this process.

Thassa's Oracle

Thassa's Oracle is the easiest and quickest way to win in online play. The deck can very quickly mill its own library and get Oracle on the field to win. One of the downsides to the card is that it isn't very good when drawn, since playing it exposes it to being exiled, and keeping it in hand is just a dead card. Its most significant upside is in the slower midrange and control matchups. The deck will naturally mill itself over the course of the game, and if the game goes long enough, Thassa's Oracle can be cast or reanimated with Port to win without going through the whole combo. 

Lush Oasis 

Lush Oasis requires the full combo to be used to win the game and is much slower than Thassa's Oracle in an online setting.

The upside to Oasis is that it fixes mana and is not entirely dead when drawn, since just playing it as a land for the turn is not bad.

The downside to it, aside from the extra online clicking, is not having Thassa's Oracle. What this means is more of the opportunity cost of playing Oasis. If playing Oasis, Thassa's Oracle is not typically played in the deck. If you're not playing Oracle, you are forced into comboing or winning with Lumra beats. So the downside of Oasis is the opportunity cost of not playing Oracle.

Ba Sing Se

A newer addition to the deck, Ba Sing Se gives the deck a way to grind out games while also providing an alternate win condition. For online play, Ba Sing Se is likely the clunkiest to use as a win condition, given that the ability can only be done at sorcery speed. When used as a win condition, Ba Sing Se also typically uses The Wandering Minstrel as a way to pump the creature lands to help make the kill faster. The downside to this, however, is that it pushes the deck to play Starting Town, which may not be desired in an aggro heavy meta. 

Another benefit of Ba Sing Se is how earthbending works. It allows for double activations of cards like Ipnu Rivulet and Port of Karfell. It can also earthbend lands and allow Lotus Field to be played without losing lands, since the earthbended lands will return to the field anyway. 

Ishkanah, Grafwidow/Terror of the Peaks/Morlun, Devourer of Spiders

All three of these win conditions are grouped here since they all operate similarly. They all act as win conditions that are not entirely dead on their own. There are slight differences between these three, however.

For instance, Morlun, Devourer of Spiders is a sorcery speed win condition. This works by reanimating Morlun, and then bouncing it to hand with Otawara, and casting it with a very large X value.

Ishkanah gives an instant speed win condition, but at times may just be a five mana ⅗ with reach. Lastly,

Terror of the Peaks can win without using the full combo, but being a red card can make it difficult to cast. All three of these have been used extensively, and it mainly comes down to meta and personal preference.

Sideboard options

This section discusses some of the sideboard options commonly available. This section is not meant to be a guide on how to sideboard, but more on what the cards do for the deck and what issues they address.

Heritage Reclamation

Heritage Reclamation fills many roles at once. Allowing the deck to destroy an artifact or enchantment at instant speed is good on its own. Still, the additional utility of being targeted graveyard hate pushes it over the line to be a very versatile tool that comes in fairly often. 

Into the Floodmaw

Into the Floodmaw is typically used against the aggro decks as a way to buy another turn. Typically, with aggressive creature decks, it comes down to needing just one extra turn to combo off and win. Into the Floodmaw provides that while also giving a way to answer their hate pieces without needing Heritage Reclamation, since Reclamation is going to be slow against the aggro decks.

Ephara's Dispersal

Ephara’s Dispersal is another option to be used against the aggressive creature decks. It is more specific in what it can target, being only creatures, but it does give some amount of card selection along the way.

Another utility for the card is being able to bounce your own creatures. This allows you to save a Wandering Minstrel from removal, or bounce a Lumra to hand to then recast and combo off. One downside to this option is that, unless the creature is attacking, it will cost three mana to cast. This situation can sometimes put the card in an awkward position.

Tishana's Tidebinder

Tishana's Tidebinder is used against the more controlling decks. Being able to stifle a Kutzil's Flanker from UW control is a significant upside to the card. It is also another threat that the control decks have to deal with at some point. Another good thing about the card is that, with it being a creature, it can be returned with a Port of Karfell, which can allow some protection from the graveyard if it was milled over. 

Leyline of Sanctity

Specifically, Leyline of Sanctity is brought in against any deck with Thoughtseize. One of the quickest ways Breakfast Bears will lose is by getting Thoughtseized out of your combo, and then the opponent having a fast clock. Leyline of sanctity solves this by making any hand disruption the opponent has a dead card.

Leyline of Sanctity does have its downsides, however. It's a dead draw later in the game, and it's not always guaranteed that you will have it in your opening hand. With that said, Thoughtseize is a common card in Pioneer, so the upsides can outweigh the downsides.

Soul-Guide Lantern

Soul-Guide Lantern is not as common as some of the other options, but it is the most common mass graveyard denial seen in the sideboard. Its use is mainly against Izzet Phoenix and Orzhov/Abzan Greasefang, where they are very graveyard-reliant decks. It is a highly meta-dependent card that is specifically targeted at decks reliant on the graveyard.

Aether Gust

Aether Gust is another option against the aggressive creature decks, but it is used more against the mice deck. Another meta-dependent card where if there are more mouse decks, there's more of a reason to play Aether Gust. It does have some utility against other decks, such as a way to delay Bring to Light or Enigmatic Incarnation. However, those two decks aren't prevalent, so that use case will not come up often.

Mistrise Village

Mistrise Village is a way to beat counterspell-based decks. Being able to make a Scapeshift uncounterable can be enough to win the game outright since the loops can typically be done without casting another spell. A significant benefit is that Mistrise answers Dovin's Veto.

Tranquil Frillback

Another catch-all similar to Heritage Reclamation is Tranquil Frillback, but with a little added utility. It's a slower answer to hate pieces but offers a 2-for-1 or more. For instance, against something like Rakdos Midrange, the Tranquil Frillback can gain four life and destroy something like a hate piece, and leave behind a 3/3 body that can buy more time to combo off. 

Negate

Negate is a counterspell that can either protect your combo or counter a hate piece. Sort of another catch-all card that can be used against slower decks that might have removal for your combo pieces or their own counterspells. It forces mana to be held open to use it, so it will slow down your own game plan since you can't tap out on your turn with this card. It does provide a way to counter extraction effects like Unmoored Ego, so it can be worth putting in the sideboard in some metas.

Culling Ritual

Used as an answer for the aggro matchups, Culling Ritual gives the deck a way to wipe the board and gives the mana for an immediate follow-up play. Culling ritual does have some issues against Collected Company decks like Selesnya Company, given that some of their biggest threats are three and four-mana.

Tireless Tracker

An excellent card in the grinder matchups, Tireless Tracker is a way for the deck to outdraw the opponent. An issue it has is that if it is played and killed before making a land drop, no value is gained. A way to work around this would be to wait until Tireless Tracker can be played and a land can be played after to get the clue token, regardless of whether it gets killed. If it is not killed, Tireless Tracker has the potential to take over a game, drawing large quantities of cards and providing a large body.

A notable interaction is with Arid Archway. Since Arid Archway can bounce itself back to hand, Archway can be repeatedly replayed each turn to continuously accrue clue tokens. With an untapped mana, the mana can be floated from Arid Archway before it bounces back to hand, allowing the clue token to be used immediately. 

Abrupt Decay

Abrupt Decay is used as a catch-all type of removal. It is relevant against aggro as a way to remove attackers, and against control, it provides an uncounterable way to remove a hate piece such as Rest in Peace. The mana cost of Abrupt Decay can present some issues with stressing the colors of the mana base, but the effect is good enough that stretching the mana base can be worth it to be able to include Abrupt Decay in the sideboard.

Scapeshift Lines 

This section will discuss some of the lines of play with the deck. It won't be all-inclusive, but it will be helpful as a starting point for other lines within the deck. To help separate and organize these, the lines will be grouped by the number of lands on the field. The first part of each line will list out the requirements for the line, and then will explain how the line works. 

Three Lands

These Lines will all assume that there are three lands in play. There aren't many lines with so few lands, but these lines are typically how the deck would win on turn three. Hence, they are still important to know in the event there is an opening on turn three or it's a low-resource game for some reason. 

This line will be a turn three Lumra line. It is not necessarily a direct win, but it can set up enough to get the win on the following turn.

1. 1. On Field: any two lands and Wandering Minstrel

       

       

   2. In hand: Scapeshift, Crumbling Vestige, Lumra, Bellow of the Woods.

       

      1. Play Crumbling Vestige untapped due to Minstrel, adding a green mana.

          

      2. This results in having a total of 4 mana, with this cast Scapeshift tapping and sacrificing all of your lands.

          

      3. You will need to get two Lotus Fields and a Port of Karfell.

          

      4. Tap the Lotus Fields for green mana, and the Port of Karfell for the Blue.

          

      5. Resolve the Lotus Field sacrifice triggers, sacrificing all of the lands.

          

      6. Cast Lumra, put the Lumra ETB trigger on the stack, but due to state-based actions, it will immediately die since there are no lands on the field.

          

      7. Resolve the Lumra trigger, milling four cards and returning all of the lands to the field. This trigger will bring back six lands plus any additional lands milled by the Lumra trigger.

          

      8. Tap the Lotus fields for black and blue mana, and then tap two other lands for mana.

          

      9. Resolve the Lotus field triggers, sacrificing the Lotus Fields and the other two lands.

          

      10. Activate Port of Karfell, Milling four cards and returning the Lumra to the field.

           

      11. Resolve the Lumra trigger, milling another four cards and returning all the lands in your grave into play.
   3. At this point, a total of 12 cards would have been milled into the graveyard. There is a roughly 60% chance that one of those cards milled was a Lumra, allowing the loop to be deterministic. Aftermath Analyst can also be used to continue the loop, but it may not yet be deterministic.

       

      This line is very similar to the above line. The major change is that one of the initial lands on the field was a Port of Karfell or Ipnu Rivulet. This line will be gone through much quicker since it is incredibly close to the above line.

      1. On Field: Port of Karfell/Ipnu Rivulet, Wandering Minstrel, and any other land.

          

      2. In Hand: Scapeshift, Lumra, Crumbling Vestige.

          

         1. Play Vestige, adding a green, then cast Scapeshift, sacrificing all three lands.

             

         2. Get two Lotus Fields and the Ipnu Rivulet/Port of Karfell, whichever one wasn't sacrificed.

             

         3. Tap the Fields and the third land for mana. Then sacrifice all three to the lotus triggers. This should result in Vestige, Port, Ipnu, 2 Lotus Field, and another land in the graveyard.

             

         4. Cast Lumra, sacrificing it to state-based actions and resolving the trigger. The Lumra trigger will mill four cards and return the lands to the battlefield.

             

         5. With the Vestige, add a blue mana, then tap it for one. Use these two mana to activate Ipnu Rivulet, milling for four cards.

             

         6. Tap the lotus fields and resolve the sacrifice triggers. Then activate the Port milling another 4.

             

         7. Return Lumra, milling four, and returning the lands to the field. 
      3. Sixteen cards will be milled after these steps. Eight with Lumra, four with ipnu, and four with Port of Karfell. Now the Ipnu can be activated again, as well as the Port of Karfell.

         The activations will result in milling a total of 24 cards. This results in a 90% chance of hitting the second Lumra. Again, Aftermath Analyst can be used to continue the loop, but it is not guaranteed to be deterministic. 

This line relies on having either Mirrorpool or Littjara Mirrorlake in the deck. Since Mirrorpool and Littjara Mirrorlake both work, they will be referred to as "copy land". This line is one of the few ways to deterministically combo from a three-land Scapeshift. This line is also a way to combo with only a single Lumra. 

1. 1. On Field: 2 lands and Wandering Minstrel

       

   2. In Hand: Scapeshift, Crumbling Vestige, and Lumra Bellow of the Woods.

       

      1. Play Crumbling Vestige, adding a mana with its ETB.

          

      2. Cast scapeshift, sacrificing all three lands and getting Lotus Field, Crumbling Vestige, and a copy land.

          

      3. Add the mana from the Vestige ETB and float mana from the Lotus field, Vestige, and copy land for six mana total.

          

      4. Resolve the Lotus trigger, sacrificing Lotus and the copy land, leaving Vestige in play.

          

      5. Cast Lumra, resolving the ETB to mill and return the lands.

          

      6. Add mana from the Vestige entering, then tap the Lotus and Vestige for mana.

          

      7. Activate the copy land targeting Lumra.

From this point, the copy land will be used to copy Lumra and mill the entire deck. A good thing about this line is that it will play around Grafdigger's cage since the Lumra is never returned from the grave.

When choosing which Lumra to keep, the actual card will be the safer option. If the copy is kept, the opponent may be able to disrupt the combo with a bounce spell. However, if the original was kept, then if it gets bounced, the Lumra can be recast. 

This line, and all of the ones above it, can also be done with Spelunking. Assume turn one Forest, turn two Arid Archway picking up the forest, turn three replay the forest and cast the Spelunking. From there, on the fourth turn, play any land that produces green and then do the above loop. If there was a land to put into play from Spelunking and a fourth land for the following turn, there would be other five-land lines that could be used instead.

Four Lands

The four land lines will be much more common than the three land lines. This is mainly due to how the three land lines require the Crumbling Vestige, while the four land lines only need the mana to cast Scapeshift. For brevity, Wandering Minstrel and Spelunking will be referred to as an untapper. It doesn't matter which one is out, as long as one of them is in play when an untapper is specified.

This line is going to be one of the most basic four land lines. The focus is on getting out a Lumra and trying to continue the loop from what was milled. It is non-deterministic, but the chances are incredibly high to make it deterministic while performing the combo.

1. 1. On Field: Any four lands that can cast Scapeshift and an untapper.

       

   2. In Hand: Scapeshift and a Lumra.

       

      1. Cast Scapeshift, sacrificing the four lands and getting 2 Lotus Field, Port of Karfell, and Ipnu Rivulet.

          

      2. Tap the Lotus Fields for green and then tap the rest of the lands to float mana.

          

      3. Resolve the lotus sacrifice triggers, sacrificing all four lands.

          

      4. Cast Lumra, putting the trigger on the stack, and sacrificing it to state-based actions.

          

      5. Resolve the trigger, milling four cards and returning all the lands from the graveyard to the field.

          

      6. From here, it is like the three land lines where you activate Ipnu, activate Port, and then bring back the Lumra.

The benefit of this line is that it doesn't require any specific lands so long as you can cast Scapeshift. Otherwise, it is just like the three-land lines. You can activate the Ipnu Rivulet and the Port of Karfell and try to continue with the line from here.

There will be a roughly 92% chance to hit the second Lumra from the milled cards. This chance goes up if any of the lands were a Hedge Maze, and you milled over the cards every time.

The following line is deterministic but requires an Aftermath Analyst to be on hand to accomplish it.

1. 1. On Field: any four lands that cast Scapeshift and an untapper.

       

   2. In Hand: Scapeshift and Aftermath Analyst.

       

      1. Cast Scapeshift, sacrificing all four lands and getting Port of Karfell and 3 Lotus Fields.

          

      2. Tap the Lotus fields and the Port for Mana and resolve the sacrifice triggers, sacrificing all four lands.

          

      3. Cast the Analyst and resolve the ETB. After milling, the three cards activate the ability on Analyst.

          

      4. Once the lands return to play, you will need a total of ten mana for this to loop. Tap one Lotus Field for blue, one for black, and the third one for green. Then tap at least one other land that isn't Port for a total of ten mana. 

      5. Resolve the Lotus Triggers, sacrificing all three Lotus Fields and three other lands, keeping the Port and one other land.

          

      6. Activate Port, returning the Analyst to the field.

From this point, you are able to activate the Analyst and continuously loop to mill your entire deck. In paper play, it is fine to declare a loop here and shortcut the combo. In online play, however, it will typically be fewer clicks and a bit faster to run through if you transition into a Lumra loop. 

Another line with Aftermath Analyst. The benefit of this line is that it plays around the Grafdigger's Cage.

1. 1. On Field: Untapper and four lands to cast Scapeshift

       

   2. In Hand: Aftermath Analyst and Scapeshift

       

      1. Cast Scapeshift, sacrificing all four lands, and get two Lotus Fields, Arid Archway, and Takenuma.

          

      2. In response to the Arid Archway, tap Takenuma for black and return it to hand. If playing on Arena, the Arena will not auto-yield to the trigger.

         The best way around this is to take full control before casting Scapeshift. Get the four lands and then return the Takenuma to hand. At this point, full control can be turned off, but it will be needed again later.

      3. Tap the rest of the lands for mana, floating green mana. Then resolve the Lotus triggers, sacrificing all three lands.

          

      4. Cast and activate the Aftermath Analyst. This will mill three cards and return the lands from the graveyard to play.

          

      5. With the Arid Archway trigger, return a land to hand that isn't the Lotus Field or Arid Archway.

          

      6. Float mana from the lotus fields, Arid Archway, and one other land. Then resolve the Lotus triggers, sacrificing the four tapped lands.

          

      7. There will be twelve mana. Use four of the mana to channel Takenuma, returning the Analyst to hand and milling three cards. Cast and activate Analyst. If on Arena, take full control before activating Analyst.

          

      8. Once the lands return to the field, tap Takenuma for mana and return it to hand. Then tap the lotus fields, Archway, and another land for mana. This will be a total of twelve mana.

The loop can be repeated by channeling Takenuma, playing and casting Analyst, returning Takenuma, and repeating the loop. This loop doesn't work with a single Lumra since Lumra doesn't automatically die. It can be accomplished with two Lumra if one is in play or in the grave.

This line is a way to play around Grafdigger's Cage and utilizes a single Lumra. Once started, the Otawara can be used to bounce the Cage after a few iterations to allow the Thassa's Oracle to be returned with Port of Karfell, or the line can transition into a Port loop to save time on Arena and MTGO. This is a non-deterministic line that relies on hitting more lands each iteration until it becomes a deterministic line. This would mainly be used while facing lethal damage next turn and needing to play around Grafdigger's Cage. This line should also only be used if not playing one of the copy lands, since there is a line with the copy lands that is deterministic. 

1. 1. On Field: untap effect, four lands in play to cast Scapeshift

       

   2. In Hand: Lumra Bellow of the Woods and Scapeshift

       

      1. Cast Scapeshift, sacrificing all four lands and getting Lotus Field, Otawara Soaring City, Arid Archway, and Crumbling Vestige.

          

      2. Once the lands ETB, in response to the Arid Archway trigger, tap Otawara for blue and then return Otawara to hand. Then tap the other lands for mana and get a mana from the Vestige Trigger. This will float eight mana total.

          

      3. Resolve the Lotus trigger, sacrificing the Lotus and Arid Archway.

          

      4. Cast Lumra, leaving two mana floating.

          

      5. Resolve the Lumra ETB trigger, returning all the lands to play.

          

      6. With the Arid Archway trigger, a land must be returned to hand; choose something like a forest, Boseiju, hedge maze, etc.

          

      7. Tap the lands for mana, floating eleven mana. Then resolve the Lotus trigger, sacrificing Lotus and Arid Archway.

          

      8. Using three mana, use Otawara to return the Lumra to hand, and then using six more mana, cast Lumra again.

          

      9. Once the lands return, tap Otawara for a mana, then return it to hand with Arid Archway. Then the Lotus and Archway can be tapped to float a total of 8 mana.

          

What was milled from Lumra will determine the next steps. If within the eight cards milled, a land is milled and returned, then in the end, you will have at least nine mana instead of the eight. In this case, you can continue the loop, returning Lumra for three and then casting it for 6. The loop can continue as long as nine mana can be made. Assuming there are 21 lands left in the deck after Scapeshift, there is a 99% chance to hit a land within the first eight cards according to a hypergeometric calculator, so the loop should be able to be repeated multiple times.

Last Resort Lines

These lines are for when the opponent is presenting lethal next turn, and there is still a chance of going off. The first question to ask before going to one of these lines is whether or not one of the deterministic lines will work. If one of the deterministic lines works, then go for that. These are for when not all the pieces are there, such as having a scapeshift but no Lumra.

This first line is an extension of the four land lines that Scapeshifts for Port of Karfell and the Lotus Fields to cast and reanimate Lumra. The goal is to mill as many cards as possible to try to hit the Lumra to continue and combo off.

1. 1. On Field: An untapped and five lands that can cast Scapeshift

       

   2. In Hand: Scapeshift

       

      1. Tap all the lands for a total of 5 mana. Cast Scapeshift, sacrificing all five lands.
         

          

      2. With the shift, get Lotus, Lotus, Port, Ipnu, Hedge Maze.
         

          

      3. When they enter, mill the card from Hedge Maze, then tap the Hedge Maze and both Lotus for mana, leaving the Ipnu and Port untapped. There will be eight mana floating after this.
         

          

      4. Activate the Ipnu to mill four cards, then activate the Port to mill another four cards for a total of nine milled cards.

From here, if you hit the Lumra, you can continue to combo, activating the Ipnu again, then Port to dig as deep as possible to find the second Lumra. For this line, assuming it's executed as early as possible on the play, there is a 61 percent chance of hitting the first Lumra. Then, in the following 12 cards (Lumra, Ipnu, Port), there is a 73 percent chance of hitting Lumra number two.

This line is a double scapeshift line. It's similar to the four land port line, with a few extra steps to dig deeper.

1. 1. On Field: Untapped and four lands to cast Scapeshift

       

   2. In Hand: 2 Scapeshift

       

      1. Tap all four lands and cast Scapeshift, sacrificing all four lands.

          

      2. Scapeshift will get 2 Hedgemaze and 2 Crumbling Vestige. This will mill two cards and float six mana total.

          

      3. Cast the second scapeshift, sacrificing all four lands, getting Lotus, Lotus, Ipnu, and Port.

          

      4. With the two mana floating, activate Ipnu milling 4.

          

      5. Resolve one of the Lotus triggers, sacrificing both Lotus leaving Port and one Lotus trigger on the stack.

          

      6. Activate Port, milling another 4 for a total of 10 cards milled.
         

This line will put a 0/0 Lumra in play, assuming it was milled in the top 10, making it so the Lumra will sacrifice itself. After resolving the Lumra trigger, you mill the two cards from the Mazes, activate Ipnu, Activate Port, returning the Lumra, then Lumra will mill another 4. This means that after the initial line, assuming you bring back another Lumra, this results in another 18 cards being milled. From the initial 2 Hedgemazes, there is a 17 percent chance of hitting Lumra. From the Second shift, there is a 61 percent chance of milling the Lumra. If you hit the first Lumra, there is a 93 percent chance of hitting the second Lumra after activating all the lands again to mill the 18 cards.

Another 5-land line that assumes there isn’t a Lumra in hand. This line will have better odds than the Ipnu Rivulet line if there are nine more copies between Lumra, Formidable Speaker, and Analyst. For example, if the list is running 4 Lumra, 4 Speaker, and 3 Analyst, this has better odds. If running 9 copies of the cards, it has the same odds as the Ipnu Rivulet line, and if running fewer than 9 copies, the Ipnu Rivulet line will have better odds. 

1. 1. On Field: An untapped and five lands that can cast Scapeshift

       

   2. In Hand: scapeshift

       

      1. Tap all the lands for a total of 5 mana. Cast scapeshift, sacrificing all five lands.

          

      2. With Shift, get Port, Lotus, Lotus, Lotus, Arid Archway

          

      3. Tap Arid Archway for mana and return Arid Archway with its own ability to hand. Tap Lotus Fields for Black, Green, and Blue mana.

          

      4. Resolve on Lotus Trigger, sacrificing two Lotus Fields.

          

      5. Activate Port of Karfell, floating the three Green mana, the two from Archway, and 1 more mana from casting Scapeshift.

          

      6. Assuming either Lumra or Analyst is hit, continue the combo from there.

          

      7. Assuming Speaker is the hit, with its ETB, discard the Arid Archway to get Lumra, resolve the Lotus Triggers, cast Lumra, and continue to combo from there.

          

With this line, assuming 3 Analysts, 4 Lumra, and 4 Speakers, there is a 70.9% chance for the first hit. As stated earlier, if there is 9 cards between Analyst, Lumra, and Speaker, it will have the same odds as the Ipnu Rivulet line above, and if there are fewer than 9 cards between the three, then the Ipnu line will have better odds of hitting. 

Nissa Lines

All of these Lines Require a Nissa in play. These can be done without the untap effect in play and only rely on the Nissa itself, which is why these lines are separated. Both of the lines are similar, utilizing the channel lands. 

This line works with Otawara and plays around Grafdigger's cage. It is not a deterministic line, though. However, there is a very high chance of being able to continue the combo once started. One thing to keep in mind is that Otawara will cost one less for each Legendary on your side of the field, so with Lumra and Nissa out, Otawara will only be two mana.

1. 1. On Field: 4 Lands to cast Scapeshift and Nissa, Resurgent Animist
      

       

   2. In Hand: Scapeshift, Lumra, Bellow of the Woods, land for turn.
      

       

      1. Play Land for the turn, getting mana from Nissa.
         

          

      2. Tap all five lands for a six mana floating total.
         

          

      3. Cast Scapeshift, sacrificing all five lands, getting 3 Lotus, Arid Archway, and Otawara.
         

          

      4. Add mana from Nissa's Ability. At the end of this, you must have at least two green and one blue. Then resolve the Arid Archway, returning Otawara to hand.
         

          

      5. Resolve the Lotus triggers, sacrificing all your Lands.
         

          

      6. At this point, you should have seven mana total, a Lumra, and either a second Lumra or an Aftermath Analyst in hand, as well as the Otawara. Suppose you have the Analyst in hand, play and activate the Analyst first. If you have two Lumras, play one of them. This will return all of the lands from the grave to the field.
         

          

      7. Resolve the Analyst/Lumra trigger. This will trigger Nissa again to float a total of 10 Mana.
         

          

      8. Resolve Arid Archway, bouncing a land to your hand. It cannot be the Archway or one of the Lotus Fields if there is a Boseiju that is the best thing to pick up.
         

          

      9. Resolve the Lotus triggers, sacrificing the 3 Lotus, Archway, and two other lands. This will leave two lands in play.
         

          

      10. Cast Lumra, then, in response to the ETB trigger channel, Otawara returns Lumra to hand. This leaves two mana floating.
          

           

      11. Return all of the lands into play, causing Nissa to add seven mana for a total of 9.
          

           

      12. Resolve Archway bouncing the Otawara to hand.
          

           

      13. Cast Lumra again, and in response to the ETB channel, Otawara, return the Lumra

Casting Lumra and bouncing with Otawara can be done a total of 3 times. Each loop, you will lose one mana; however, every time you cast Lumra, there is a chance to mill a land. Every land milled is another instance of the loop. If, at any point, you mill a Crumbling Vestige, then the line becomes deterministic.

This is because 3 Lotus, Otawara, Vestige, Archway, and one other land will add a total of 8 mana because of Nissa, which is enough to cast Lumra and pay for Otawara.

In step 6, it is essential to cast the Analyst first because at that point, there are no lands in play. If that is the case, Lumra will die if you cast it, preventing you from bouncing it back to your hand with the Otawara.

This line revolves around Takenuma Abandoned Mire and requires 2 Lumra. The benefit is that Nissa has the chance to get you the second Lumra, and can be done with one Lumra in the graveyard and none in hand. For this, start with the Lumra in the graveyard, but it will still work if the Lumra is in hand. 

1. 1. On field: 4 lands and Nissa, Resurgent Animist

       

   2. In Hand: Land for turn and Scapeshift

       

   3. In Graveyard: Lumra, Bellow of the woods.

       

      1. Play the land for a turn, then tap all lands for six mana total to cast Scapeshift, sacrificing all five lands.

          

      2. Get 2 Lotus, Crumbling Vestige, Archway, and Takenuma from the shift. Archway will return the Takenuma to your hand, and you will have eight mana floating.

          

      3. Resolve the Lotus triggers, sacrificing all four lands.

          

      4. At this point, Nissa will have gotten either Analyst or the second Lumra, and there is eight mana floating. Either way, for the moment, leave the Lumra or Analyst in hand.

          

      5. Channel Takenuma returns the Lumra to hand. This will leave 6 Mana Floating.

          

      6. Cast Lumra as a 0/0. This will cause Lumra to sacrifice itself and return all the land to play.

          

      7. Return the Takenuma to hand with the Arid Archway trigger, and then float a total of 10 mana from the Nissa triggers.

          

      8. Resolve the Lotus triggers, sacrificing the 2 Lotus, Archway, and the Vestige.

          

      9. Channel the Takenuma returning Lumra and then cast Lumra. This leaves two mana floating.

          

      10. Lumra trigger resolves, and from the Nissa, add six mana for a total of 8. Return the Takenuma to hand from Arid Archway and then resolve the Lotus triggers, sacrificing the 2 Lotus, Archway, and Vestige

           

      11. From here, it doesn't matter if you have an Analyst or Lumra in hand from the Nissa trigger. Channel the Takenuma and then cast whichever one you have. If it's an Analyst, activate the ability; if it's Lumra, sacrifice one to the Legend rule.

From this point, similar to the other Nissa loop, you will lose a mana per loop, but each land will be another loop. To make it deterministic, there will need to be either an Echoing Deeps or another Lotus Field, since that will give the seven mana total required to continue the loop. 

Setup/Misc. Lines

For this section, there are a few setup lines that are important to discuss. This section primarily focuses on lines that may not directly lead to a win but can set up opportunities for the following turns. It won't be as much of a breakdown as the previous lines, but rather a discussion.

This is part of the section that discusses possible turn-three wins. The main pieces around it are Crumbling Vestige and Arboreal Grazer. It's not extremely common to get the turn three, but recognizing when it is possible can help with some of the faster non-interactive matchups.

The first way is with a turn two spelunking. This is done by going turn one, casting Arboreal Grazer, and putting another land into play. Then on the second turn, play a third land and cast Spelunking. This will open the way to a turn-three Scapeshift or Lumra. For the Scapeshift, if you had the land to put into play from Spelunking and the land for turn for turn three, you have a five land shift; otherwise, it will be a four land shift. For the Lumra, if you did not put a land into play, a Lotus field on the following turn will be enough to cast it. If you did, then on turn three, a crumbling vestige will be enough to cast Lumra. 

Another possibility is to save the Spelunking for turn three. You would need Arboreal Grazer and either two Lotus Fields or a Lotus Field and an Echoing Deeps. On turn one or turn two, if you cast Arboreal Grazer, you go into turn three with three lands in play already. On turn three, you can cast Spelunking, putting a Lotus field into play. Then, with your land for the turn, you put out a second Lotus Field or Echoing Deeps to copy the first one. This will give you the six mana to cast a turn three Lumra.

The following way is by casting a turn two Wandering Minstrel. Turn one, you play your land for a turn. Then turn two, play your second land, then on turn three, a Crumbling Vestige will give the four mana needed for a three land Scapeshift.

The last way is similar to the other Wandering Minstrel setup, but it includes Arboreal Grazer. The only difference is turn one play land for turn, cast Grazer, then put out a second land. Turn two cast Wandering Minstrel and play your land for the turn. On turn three, you can play your fourth land, and now you have access to a four-land Scapeshift. 

These lines are a few utility lines with Scapeshift. These are typically used to answer a hate piece and also cast a Lumra. All of these will assume that some untap effect is in play. 

This one works if you are playing Castle Garenbrig and Sunken Citadel. Assume you have a four land shift available and a Lumra in hand. You shift away the four lands, getting Castle, Citadel, Boseiju, and Arid Archway. In response to the Archway, tap the Boseiju for green, then return it to your hand. For the Sunklen Citadel, the color chosen will need to be green. From here, the Archway and Citadel will pay the activation cost of the Castle, allowing you to cast the Lumra. Now, in response to the Lumra trigger, you can channel Boseiju to destroy a hate piece such as Leyline of the Void or Rest in Peace. This will allow the Lumra trigger to return any lands milled and get a Lumra on the field. 

This line can work when you're not playing Citadel and Castle. Assume you have a five land shift available and Lumra in hand. You would shift away all five lands, floating a mana. With the shift, go and get 2 Lotus Field, Port of Karfell, Arid Archway, and Boseiju. In response to the Archway, tap the Boseiju for mana and then return it to hand. Then, with the Lotus triggers on the stack, tap the mana floating to channel the Boseiju to destroy the hate piece. Then tap your 2 Lotus, Port, and Archway for mana, then sacrifice all of them to the Lotus triggers. From here, you can cast Lumra, which will die, return to the lands, activate the Port of Karfell to return the Lumra, and then go from there. 

Another way to counter a hate piece is with a four-land variant. This one will just get a Lumra on the field, but doesn't have a combo potential. With a four-land Scapeshift, you can get Arid Archway, Boseiju, and two Crumbling Vestige. Tap the Boseiju for mana before returning it to hand, and add two green to your mana pool from Vestige. From here, you can cast Lumra, and in response to the Lumra trigger, you can channel Boseiju. 

Mulligans

Here are a few principles to follow when mulliganing. Later, there will be a few example hands and a discussion on whether they could be kept or not, and why. These won't be hard and fast rules, but rather guidelines to help determine whether the hands should be kept or not. 

1. To start, does the hand have the mana available to play my cards? It's a fairly straightforward thing, but still worth mentioning. This deck has a lot of utility lands, and they don't always produce the colors you want when you want them. This is particularly apparent when you have a Forest and a Crumbling Vestige out, and then you draw a Wandering Minstrel. In a way, this deck is a two-color deck that "splashes" two other colors (Black and sometimes colorless for Mirrorpool).

    

   Keep this in mind when evaluating your hands. One of the worst feelings is having lands out but no way to cast your spells.

    

2. One thing to consider is whether the hand has a plan or not, and that doesn't mean "cast turn one Grazer" being the entire plan.

    

   Think about what can be done on the following turns. Typically, when looking at a hand, consider what to cast in the next 3-4 turns. This plan will also extend to what might be drawn in those next few turns. Obviously, what is drawn is random, but it can influence what a keepable hand is.

   This also extends to what the opponent may have. For instance, what if you play a turn two Wandering Minstrel but the opponent Fatal Pushes it?

   Does the hand completely crumble, or does it have a way to keep moving forward? 

    

3. Along the same lines as having a plan, consider what your payoff will be. Getting out the untap effect is only step one; there still needs to be something to do with that. It can be a draw spell to get either another draw spell or the payoff; it may be that there is a Scapeshift and Lumra is all that is needed.

    

   The hand needs a way to finish off the game once the pieces are out, or a way to find the payoff.

    

4. Finally, it is the inverse of the previous point. There is a payoff, but how does it get there? There might be a Lumra and Scapeshift in hand, but is there a way to get the untap effect? Is the hand able to ramp into Lumra for a value play?

   It's like working backward; start at the end with the payoff and work backward, considering what needs to happen to reach a specific step.

    

5. Not every hand has to go fast. In some matchups, such as UW control, it's ok to keep a slower hand. If the match is going to go long, some of the hands will need to play into the slower game. The combo in this deck has the benefit of not having to cast a spell, and presenting a Lumra every turn can be enough to win if the opponent can't exile it.

    

   Now, this doesn't apply to every matchup, but sometimes going for a more value-based play over trying to go for a fast turn four that gets blown out by a single piece of interaction is what needs to happen. 

Here are a few example hands and explanations on whether they should be kept or mulliganed and why. It's going to be more general and not matchup-specific. More of a discussion on the strengths and weaknesses of each hand. For this, assume this is the opening seven against a blind opponent.

Hand One

This hand is close to being able to do something good, but it isn't quite there. The best plan at this point is to turn one hedge maze, turn two, Starting Town casting Wandering Minstrel, then turn three, cast Aftermath Analyst. This hand really relies on drawing something off the top and has too many lands. It already feels like a mulligan to five because there are so many lands, so going down to six would likely give a better hand than this. There is consideration that this hand is one Scapeshift away from being a turn-three Analyst activation into port. The issue is that you have one of the Lotus Fields in hand, so the chances of going deterministic with Analyst are low. It will likely need to hit the Lumra at that point to make it work. 

Hand Two

This hand isn't horrible, but it is slow. Likely the plan will be to play Spelunking turn three and then turn four cast Stock Up, hoping to hit something that lets you go off with Aftermath Analyst, which means turns one and two you're doing nothing. Alternatively, cast Analyst on turn two and then Spelunking on turn three. However, the issue here is that the Crumbling Vestige will need to be used, and it will likely not do too much until turn four. If going against a slower opponent, such as Azorius Control, it would be a consideration to keep it more, since Stock Up can help pull ahead in card count. Still, given the assumption of a blind matchup, it could be a mulligan for a more proactive hand. 

Hand Three

Another really slow hand that doesn't do anything until later. This hand is worse than the previous one because, as is, once the Spelunking is cast, it is not doing anything else but casting the second Spelunking, hoping to dig for something. Again, if playing against control, this could be a possible keep because there is the redundancy of two Spelunking. Against the blind, this hand would be a mulligan. 

Hand Four

This hand is also very close to being good enough to keep, but it falls short. Without a green source, it's stuck not doing anything. This would be a mulligan since there aren't the colored sources needed to enact your game plan. Now, if one of the Stock Ups or the Spelunking were a green source, this would be a keep because in that case the hand can Grazer turn one, Wandering Minstrel turn two, then turn three, there is six mana available after playing Lotus Field, which would be double Stock Up or Stock Up and a Spelunking. This would give enough gas to find the remaining pieces needed to combo off.

Hand Five

This hand is just good enough to keep, but just barely. It's able to turn one Grazer, turn two Spelunking holding the Lotus field, then turn three, play Lotus Field, and cast a Lumra. This has the chance for a turn three combo if the Lumra mills the final pieces, but otherwise, there is a large vigilance creature that can attack and pressure life totals. Against some decks, this alone can be good enough to win. However, keep in mind that with this hand, if the Lumra is answered, it doesn't have anything else going for it. In the blind, this is a keep, but just barely. 

Hand Six

This hand feels similar to the one above, where it's just good enough to keep, but it's not amazing. It can turn one cast Grazer putting down the Hedge Maze, then turn two, cast Wandering Minstrel. Whether the plan is to play the Crumbling Vestige turn two or not depends on what was drawn for that turn. If a Scapeshift was drawn and not another land, holding the Vestige for a turn three Scapeshift is the plan. If another land was drawn, or the scapeshift just wasn't drawn, play the Vestige and then cast Analyst, going into turn three with Grazer, Minstrel, and Analyst on the field. That can set up for some very explosive turn three plays, but it relies on the top of the deck.

Overall, this hand is a keeper. It's very close to having a turn three combo, and has a few other things it can do if the Scapeshift isn't drawn.

Hand Seven 

With this hand having two Lumra in it, it already feels like a mulligan to six. On top of that, Aftermath Analyst is going to be too slow and inconsistent to ramp into a Lumra quickly enough. This hand doesn’t have anything else going for it, really. There isn’t anything to do turn one or three, and turn four is going to be spent activating the Analyst. This hand should be mulliganed for a better six.

Hand Eight

This is a hand that is very close, but would more often than not be a mulligan. The plan here is to turn one Hedge Maze, then turn two playing Arboreal Grazer, and on turn three, cast the Cache Grab. This means that seven cards will be seen on turn three. That makes it a 70.6 percent chance to see the untapper. On an opening seven, there is a 65 percent chance of having the untapper. On the surface, this hand has a better chance than a mulligan. However, that doesn’t take into account that the mulligan can also get a cache grab to dig deeper. On a seven, this would be a mulligan, but on a six, this is good enough to keep.

This section won't be a direct guide, as lists and sideboards differ, but it will instead discuss a few general ideas to consider when deciding what to remove and what to add. Before that, however, always be careful with overboarding. This deck is a combo deck at the end of the day, and requires specific pieces to be able to combo off. A few of the pieces can be trimmed down slightly in certain match-ups, but cutting too many of them will dilute the combo, making it harder to pull off and much slower. This will also go over what you're looking for in your opening hand. 

Aggro (Mice, Prowess, Boros Convoke)

This match-up is often just a race, coming down to a single turn more often than not. A large number of losses are usually due to needing just one more turn, when the combo could have been pulled off, and the game would have been won. Who is on the play versus who is on the draw is huge in these types of match-ups; the race is that close.

Out: Remove your slower cards, such as Stock Up and Cache Grab. 

These cards are great at finding your pieces to combo off, but in such a fast match-up, you're not going to have time to cast these spells. Cards like Nissa, Resurgent Animist, and Icetill Explorer can also be looked at to be trimmed from the deck. If you still need one more card, an Aftermath Analyst can be considered for removal.

In: You're looking to bring in cards such as Into the Floodmaw, Ephara's Dispersal, and Aether Gust. 

These are used to bounce a creature and can often be enough to get one more turn, which can give just enough time to combo. Heritage reclamation is going to be too slow in this match-up. It's a card that there may not be enough time to cast, and there is the risk of diluting the deck, bringing it in. Additionally, Into the Floodmaw can be used to counter hate pieces.

Opening Hand: Being able to win is going to lean very heavily on your opening hand in this match-up. 

There won't be enough time to cast draw spells, so there won't be a way to dig for pieces. The opening hand should either have all the pieces and be able to race, or have the majority of the pieces and a way to slow down the opponent by an extra turn or two to draw that final piece.

Thoughtseize Based Midrange (Rakdos Midrange, Mono-Black, Golgari Midrange)

These match-ups are a bit tricky. One of the ways the Lumra deck can be beaten is with a bit of disruption and an early clock. In this type of match-up, it's not exactly a race, but also, there isn't all the time in the world. Against Thoughtseize-centric decks, typically the losses occur when the opponent can disrupt a combo piece, and the combo is one piece away from going off. 

Out: You want to look at taking out anything that wouldn't be a good top deck, such as Arboreal Grazer or Glimpse the core. Since these decks can disrupt the combo, you want to have as much density in the combo as possible.

In: You will want to bring in the Heritage Reclamations here.

Typically, the black-based Thoughtseize decks will have something like Leyline of the Void or some other form of graveyard hate. You also want to bring in any value/dig cards.

For instance, if you have Stock Up in the sideboard, bring it in here. If you're on Leyline of Sanctity, this is the exact matchup this is for.

Opening Hand: You're looking for redundancy in this match-up.

It's not uncommon that multiple combo pieces can be answered. An opening hand with multiple untap effects would be something to heavily consider keeping, especially if it's multiple Spelunking, since Thoughtseize decks typically struggle to answer it. You can dig a little so you have some time to cast a draw spell or two, but they will eventually outvalue you and grind you down, so you are under pressure to close the game.

As stated earlier, Spelunking is harder for the Thoughtseize decks to remove, so if the option is to play either Wandering Minstrel or Spelunking, play the Spelunking.

Control (Azorius Control)

With the control match-ups, the biggest thing to keep in mind is to have patience. You're not under any threat, and you can stockpile resources. Wait for an opportunity and be prepared to take advantage of it. One of the largest benefits this deck has is that the combo itself doesn't have to cast any spells once started. Additionally, this deck can present a Lumra multiple times consecutively. The only way they can permanently get rid of it is through exile, which the control deck can do. Lastly, Thassa's Oracle is especially good in this match-up since the deck will mill itself over the course of the game, so you can Port of Karfell it into play and win. 

Out: Because the matchup is going to be slow, you don't want cards that don't add value. 

The biggest example is Arboreal Grazer. You can also afford to cut a land since the game will go long enough that you will be able to draw enough lands. You also have the option to trim a Scapeshift or Wandering Minstrel if you need one or two more slots.

In: This is where value pieces from the sideboard should come in. 

Stock Up and Tireless Tracker are examples of this. Heritage Reclamation is also a card to bring in, since you can expect graveyard hate to come in. Tishana's Tidebinder is also a card to bring in, as it's another threat that they must answer, and it shuts down their planeswalkers. If U/W control is common enough, a Thassa's Oracle is an option to add to the sideboard for this matchup. 

Opening Hand: You have a much wider range of hands you can keep since the game will go long. You're looking for ways to get ahead on card advantage and have answers and threats to overwhelm their counter magic and removal.

Tempo (Spirits, Dimir Ninjas)

This is a very tough matchup. These decks are lower to the ground than Rakdos Midrange but have more answers than Mono-Red Prowess. They are typically able to apply pressure and cause disruption for your combo. 

Out: This is one of the cases where play/draw changes what to keep in and what to take out.

On the play, it is ok to slow down slightly, taking out Arboreal Grazer. They aren't typically fast enough to punish you for not having the Grazer on the play.

On the Draw, keep in the Arboreal Grazers and take out the draw spells. On the draw, the tempo decks are more likely to capitalize on an aggressive start, and Grazers help to slow them down. 

In: Typically, bringing in some number of Heritage Reclamation or Into the Floodmaw is a start. This is mainly to be able to answer their hate pieces, while Into the Floodmaw can be used to slow down their more aggressive starts.

Opening Hand: Again, the play draw matters here. On the draw, you're on the back foot, so be ready with an answer or two for what they have.

On the play, you're able to be more aggressive and dig a bit more for what you need for the combo.

Setup/Misc. Lines

For this section, there are a few setup lines that are important to discuss. This section primarily focuses on lines that may not directly lead to a win but can set up opportunities for the following turns. It won't be as much of a breakdown as the previous lines, but rather a discussion.

Combo ( Lotus Field, Lumra Mirror)

Game one, it's just a race to the combo. There is some interaction, but not typically enough to stop the Lumra deck for long. Games 2 and 3 are where a lot more interaction will be coming in, and both decks usually slow down. In the post sideboard games, having patience is a big thing. You will have answers to your opponent's combo, and they will have answers to yours. The best case here is to push for your combo while still keeping up an answer to your opponents. You can also bait your opponent into going for their combo first, answer their combo, and then combo on your turn.

Out: Arboreal Grazer is a card to consider taking out.

There isn't a lot of value it gives here besides trying to speed up. Also consider removing other value pieces, such as Nissa or Nature's Rhythm. 

In: This will depend on the matchup itself. Some combo decks, Heritage Reclamation can be an answer, while in other cases, Tishana's Tidebinder will be what is needed.

Ultimately, consider what can be done to stop their combo and bring that in. 

Opening Hand: Ideally, you're looking for your combo as well as an answer to the opponent. It doesn't typically have to be the fastest hand since the two decks will be in a standoff situation where the first to flinch loses.

Having an answer to their combo can set up a situation where you bait them into going for their combo, answer it, and then combo yourself. 

Combo/Midrange (Greasefang, Ygra)

These decks are midrange decks with a combo finish. Capable of fast wins while also able to grind the game out. They aren't particularly great at either part of it, but the fact that these decks can be either one presents an interesting match. For this matchup, it's hard to plan on what half of the deck they will draw, so just push for the combo and focus on what you're doing. 

Out: Grazer is a place to start.

These decks aren't aggressive enough to need Grazer, and the extra Land rarely matters unless they happen to get one of their fast combo hands. That doesn't happen every time, and these decks are right between midrange and combo, so over-preparing for one will leave you vulnerable to the other. 

In: Heritage reclamation would be one of the few cards to bring in here. Consider bringing in something like Tishana's Tidebinder, but that may not always be relevant.

The sideboarding for this matchup should be minimal. Trying to answer everything these decks can do will massively dilute the Lumra combo and make the deck dysfunctional.

Opening Hand: Here, your hand should have a solid plan to move forward with your combo. You don't need to be overly fast, but having a good plan with the hand will move you closer to winning.

If your hand is good but doesn't have an answer to the combo, it is still likely a keepable hand. These decks aren't fully committed combo decks, so you can't count on them always having the combo.

Izzet Phoenix

Phoenix should be separated from other decks due to it not falling cleanly into any macro archetype. It has time where it can "combo" and bring out multiple Phoenix and then cast Temporal Trespass or buff one with Proft's Eidetic Memory. It's a deck that can pivot from one plan to another and does so quickly.

For this matchup, typically focus on pushing the combo and forcing them to have the interaction. If they do, it slows down their plan, and if they don't, then we can win.

This works because a significant portion of their interaction involves creature removal and a few bounce spells. This allows us to play an untap effect, and if they bounce it, we replay it. 

Out: Here, take out the Arboreal Grazers. It helps to blank their Lava Axe, but it doesn't provide a lot of value here in general.

In: Heritage reclamation is the only thing to bring in. It exiles their Phoenix from the grave, answers Cori-Steel cutter, and can be used to destroy any hate pieces they have.

Opening Hand: You're looking for just a generically good hand. They will have some interaction, but not a lot. The phoenix decks will need to spend some time casting cantrips, and if they are forced to answer what you're doing, this can slow them down significantly.

Common Hate Pieces

This section won't be all-inclusive, and some pieces not listed here may come up. This section is meant to go over a few of the sideboard cards that an opponent can bring in against the Lumra. There will be some information about playing around the hate pieces and how to deal with them. In some cases, the hate pieces are irrelevant and can be ignored, while others will stonewall the deck. The ones that have little effect on the deck will still be included here as a way to inform why they have little to no effect, so that time and energy are not wasted on trying to remove or play around those cards.

Leyline of the Void

Seen in black-based decks typically, Leyline of the Void is a hate piece that can come in before the game even starts. This card presents the problem of not wanting to self-mill, since any cards milled will be exiled immediately. It's not too difficult to deal with on its own.

The issue comes from the Thoughtseize these decks play alongside the Leyline of the Void. This is where the draw spells really start to shine. Stock up has a massive advantage over other draw spells in these situations since it's both card advantage, helping to counteract the Thoughtseize, and the cards never touch the graveyard.

Cache Grab is also useful in these situations, but it carries a much higher risk. It's card neutral since Cache Grab only gets one card. Additionally, the cards not chosen will still get exiled. Regardless, Cache Grab will still get a permanent card, even though there is a Leyline of the Void in play. 

This interaction is due to rule 701.13c, which states "An effect that refers to a milled card can find that card in the zone it moved to from the library, as long as that zone is a public zone." 

What this means is that even though the cards do get exiled, since they were milled and the exile zone is a public zone, they can still be found. Against Leyline of the Void, the best way to play around it depends on what answer is in hand. If it's Heritage Reclamation, using it early will help play around a potential Thoughtseize.

If it's something like Into the Floodmaw, holding it until ready to combo will likely be the best play, since if the Leyline is bounced too early, the opponent can replay it.

If it's Boseiju, holding it until ready to combo is also likely the best way to go about it, since ramping the opponent can give them resources to kill quicker.

These aren't hard-and-fast rules; they are very contextual. Each situation will be slightly different and call for a different approach. For instance, if the opponent already has six or seven lands, the extra land from Boseiju likely won't matter much. Also, if the opponent is stuck on two lands, bouncing the Leyline before being ready to combo could help set up for a combo in the following turn or two. 

Rest in Peace

Rest in Peace is primarily found in the Azorius Control matchup but may also appear in fringe white decks such as angels. A lot of the play patterns against Rest in Peace are similar to Leyline of the Void. Don't be afraid to cast Scapeshift into Rest in Peace since you can include Arid Archway and Boseiju in the pile to destroy the Rest in Peace before going for the loop. If you're on a Cache grab, casting it still gives you a card per rule 701.13c. 

Grafdigger's Cage

Grafdigger's Cage isn't seen very often, and when it is, it's a minor inconvenience at best. It does stop the Port of Karfell loop; however, you can still cast Lumra and return lands from the ETB. If you're on Mirrorpool or Littjara Mirrorlake, you can execute the combo and completely ignore the Cage. Otawara loops also ignore Cage, allowing for the combo to start, and Grafdigger's Cage can be bounced at a later stage of the combo. 

Unlicensed Hearse

Unlicensed Hearse takes some playing around. It doesn't outright stop the combo, but it can disrupt it. Destroying it with the Arid Archway and Boseiju line still applies here. Another way to play around it is to hold open Port of Karfell and, when something is targeted, use Port to return a Lumra or Analyst, then return the lands, keeping them from getting exiled. If a creature such as Lumra is targeted, then returning it with Port would be an ideal way to prevent it from being exiled.

Tishana's Tidebinder is also a way to stop Hearse. Sometimes, however, the Hearse can just be ignored when comboing. This can primarily be done by either having enough copies of what is needed to combo that it doesn't matter what is exiled, or comboing on top of the Hearse activation. 

Soul-Guide Lantern

Soul-Guide Lantern can be played around with the Boseiju and Arid Archway pile. It can also be played around by going for the combo and having the mana to use Port of Karfell in response to continue to combo over the activation.

An important note is that if a Lumra is being cast, the opponent either uses Lantern before the ability resolves, or you will get the lands back. If Lumra mills the 4 cards, then it will return the lands; there isn't any window in the middle of the ETB to exile what was milled by Lumra. Port of Karfell is similar in that if the cards are milled, Port will return a creature if one is available. 

Tishana's Tidebinder

Tishana's Tidebinder isn't seen very often, but Azorius Control can play it, and in the mirror match, some Lumra pilots will play it in their sideboard. It is one of the hardest pieces to play around with.

If Lumra is cast and a Tidebinder counters the ETB, it also causes Lumra to lose all abilities, making it a 0/0 and causing Lumra to die. The best way to work around it is to go for the combo twice or have your own Tidebinder. It can be difficult to play around with due to its instant speed, but it can be done. 

Kutzil's Flanker

Kutzil's Flanker is another instant speed card that can disrupt the combo. It can be played around similarly to Tidebinder. Kutzil's Flanker can be worse for the combo since it is instant speed exile, and has the potential to exile win conditions. The good part of Flanker is that it is usually seen in Azorius Control, and since it is a slower deck, it allows the Lumra deck more time to build resources and go over the top of the Flanker. 

Ashiok, Dream Render

Ashiok, Dream Render is not a very common card, but when it shows up, it shuts down Scapeshift lines completely. The inability to search the library means Formidable Speaker can't search for a combo piece, and Scapeshift doesn't work. The mill ability on Ashiok can be problematic since key cards have a chance of getting exiled.

The main ways to play around Ashiok are to build the resources to combo without Scapeshift, or remove it with either Into the Floodmaw, Abrupt Decay, or Otawara. Ashiok can also be attacked, but that is unreliable since the decks that typically play Ashiok will usually have a lot of removal or ways to protect Ashiok. 

Go Blank

Go Blank is another discard spell that black-based decks can bring in. There isn't really a good way to play around it besides trying to draw extra cards to have more options when discarding, and being aware of what is in the graveyard and trying not to put anything important into the graveyard until needed.

Go Blank does typically cause these decks to either tap out completely or at least tap very low, giving a window to either combo or set up a large board state. Leyline of Sanctity is a good option to beat the Go Blank, since typically the decks playing Go Blank also play Thoughtseize and Duress. 

Removal

There are a few different types of removal worth talking about here, and knowing the opponent's deck and what removal it can have is key to playing around what removal they can have.

For instance, a Black and White-based deck, such as Orzhov Greasefang, will have access to Fatal Push, Bitter Triumph, and Vanishing Verse. Vanishing Verse is the main way it can remove a Spelunking, and there will be the least number of copies of it in the deck, so playing other mono colored cards to bait them into using Vanishing Verse will open a window to cast Spelunking.

Against something like Selesnya Company, they will have Skyclave Apparition, which can exile any target 3-mana or less. Still, they don't typically play a lot of removal and may bring in either Seam Rip or Brutal Cathar, neither of which can deal with the Spelunking. Another removal spell to keep in mind is artifact or enchantment-based removal, such as Seam Rip or Temporary Lockdown.

With these permanent-based removal spells, they are easily played around since a Boseiju can be used to get the card that was exiled back and combo anyway.

Necromentia/The Stone Brain

Necromentia effects are not very commonly played in general. These types of effects can make it so the deck is unable to combo at all, however. Naming Lotus Field removes any possibility of comboing, forcing the Lumra deck to take a more midrange beatdown type of plan. Leyline of Sanctity will prevent Necromentia from targeting. As stated in the Go Blank section, decks that play Necromentia typically play Thoughtseize and Duress anyway, so that Leyline will help with that. 

The Stone Brain is similar, but its being a colorless artifact makes it so any deck can play it. Leyline of Sanctity is not as good against Stone Brain decks, since those decks are not typically Thoughtseize decks. Mono-Green Devotion is an example of a deck that plays The Stone Brain, but where Leyling of Sanctity is not generally good.

The best option is to either destroy Stone Brain before it is activated or hold up Tishana's Tidebinder to counter the ability. Stone Brain is not a very commonly played card, so it's recommended not to try to play around it against most decks and focus more on other forms of hate pieces first, such as bringing in Heritage Reclamation to destroy Leyline of the Void. 

Thalia, Heretic Cathar

Thalia, Heretic Cathar is usually only seen in the Selesnya Company decks. It can be a minor inconvenience to have lands entered tapped, however, due to Comp Rule 616.1, lands will still enter untapped if there is a Spelunking or Wandering Minstrel out, so playing around it is not very difficult and can often be ignored. 

High Noon

High Noon is a card that has been brought in against Lumra as a way to slow it down, but it does nothing to stop the combo itself. One of the main strengths of the combo is that it does not need to cast spells to actually execute. Even if multiple cards need to be cast, Scapeshift can be played to get Boseiju and Arid Archway to destroy the High Noon and then cast other spells from there to combo. Most of the time, High Noon can just be ignored.

Relevant Comprehensive Rules

614.12a If a replacement effect that modifies how a permanent enters the battlefield requires a choice, that choice is made before the permanent enters the battlefield.

616.1. If two or more replacement and/or prevention effects are attempting to modify the way an event affects an object or player, the affected object’s controller (or its owner if it has no controller) or the affected player chooses one to apply, following the steps listed below. If two or more players have to make these choices at the same time, choices are made in APNAP order (see rule 101.4).

701.13c An effect that refers to a milled card can find that card in the zone it moved to from the library, as long as that zone is a public zone.

  704.5j If two or more legendary permanents with the same name are controlled by the same player, that player chooses one of them, and the rest are put into their owners’ graveyards. This is called the “legend rule.”

Legend Rule: A state-based action that causes a player who controls two or more legendary permanents with the same name to put all but one into their owners’ graveyards. See rule 704.5j.

704.1. State-based actions are game actions that happen automatically whenever certain conditions are met. State-based actions don’t use the stack.

Other Resources:

1. Hyper Geometric Calculator
1. https://aetherhub.com/Apps/HyperGeometric
2. Comprehensive Rules
1. https://magic.wizards.com/en/rules