JumpSTARt: Battle Royale — Devlog #21: Yannik

JumpSTARt: Battle Royale is a star-format Jumpstart product for Magic: The Gathering. This blog post is part of a series chronicling its development.

Previous devlogs:
Devlog #00: Kickoff
Devlog #01: Packet Skeleton
Devlog #02: Drafting
Devlog #03: Star-Format-Friendly Mechanics
Devlog #04: “Event” Cards
Devlog #05: Rhoda
Devlog #06: Zndrsplt
Devlog #07: Nikara
Devlog #08: Khorvath
Devlog #09: Pir
Devlog #10: Trynn
Devlog #11: Ukkima
Devlog #12: Laurine
Devlog #13: Gorm
Devlog #14: Sylvia
Devlog #15: Toothy
Devlog #16: Silvar
Devlog #17: Cazur
Devlog #18: Timin
Devlog #19: Kamber
Devlog #20: Okaun

Yannik, fetch!

Here are the card picks for the Yannik packet and below is the reasoning for the choices:

The packet’s primary focus is on creatures that have both enters-the-battlefield and leaves-the-battlefield effects. Those creatures are:

• Aven Riftwatcher
• Circuit Mender
• Thragtusk
• Deadwood Treefolk

Incidentally, these creatures cause life gain to happen often. Yannik also benefits more the higher the power of the creature that’s exiled.

So, to synergize with the secondary theme of gaining life as well as with Yannik’s power check, we have a couple of “gaining life matters” high-power creatures:

• Famished Paladin
• Lurking Roper

Because we’re now committed to enabling gaining life, we have six cards that can gain you life. Besides Aven Riftwatcher, Circuit Mender, and Thragtusk; we have:

• Selvala, Explorer Returned
• Changeling Hero
• Blossoming Sands

Selvala’s our “multiplayer event” card with that parley, so the previous plan to use Woodvine Elemental for this packet has been changed.

Next, the reason why we had a primary focus of creatures that have effects upon entering the battlefield and upon leaving the battlefield is due to Yannik. However, Yannik is just one card in the packet. We need redundancy for the Yannik effect.

So, we have four cards that cause your creatures to leave the battlefield (and probably return). Besides Yannik, we have:

• Rescuer Chwinga
• Icewind Stalwart
• Changeling Titan

These cards can also help out the creatures with vanishing.

Now for the general packet requirements checklist:

• Artifact: Circuit Mender
• 2+ Warriors: Icewind Stalwart, Changeling Hero
• 2+ creature removal: Fortunate Few, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
• Noncreature removal: Boseiju, Who Endures

As for the top-heavy mana curve, instead of an otherwise-recommended 9th land, we’re using Selvala to help you get there in both cards and mana. Hopefully, the large stat sizes of Famished Paladin & Lurking Roper, along with various life gain, can also buy you enough time.

There are 8 lands in this packet, and there are no basic lands. The two lands not pictured here are the 2 Vivid lands (every packet has 1 or 2 Vivid lands, matching the number of colors the packet has).

Here’s why it’s all nonbasic lands: Yannik is unique compared to every other packet in that it’s the only one that can result in a four-color deck. Ukkima & Silvar, when they’re paired together, share black. But Yannik doesn’t share any colors with Ukkima or Silvar. Thus, Yannik is the one packet that needs to do work with its mana base.

Each of the tri-lands ensures you have the ability to provide extra colors while also still supporting green and white. Vivid lands also do this work. There are 7 green sources and 7 white sources in this packet alone. You’re guaranteed a Vivid land when mashing this packet with another one to make a deck, so that makes 8 sources of green and white each. No mana worries! Downside is just having so many enters-the-battlefield-tapped lands! Hah!

Fortunate Few was the board wipe chosen here because so many of your creatures don’t mind as much leaving the battlefield. Yannik leaving might even cause you to be the one left standing with a scary creature. You’re feeling better than the average player in this situation.

Lastly, Yannik is more like a rare rather than a mythic rare. The mythic rare printing being more of a formality for how to decide what the cards in the precon get stamped with.

I mention this because I’ve gotten into the habit of designing packets with 4 rares and 1 mythic rare. Rarely, I’ll do a concession and trade away a mythic rare to get a couple rares. That’s true in this case. There’s no “mythic rare” in this packet, if we count Yannik as “just a rare,” but this packet does have a couple powerful rare lands instead.

Leaving the Battlefield…

…but re-entering next time! See ya next packet.