Hello!

Do you sometimes see a newly spoiled card and then itch with the many potential synergies that explode in your brain?

I do!

That's why I write these articles. I can just pour everything I have into the article, and then I can head out, having done what I could to assuage my itch.

What cards inspire you? What are the new engines for your deck?

This is mine. This is Simic Ascendancy.

This card has a few awesome dials baked into it. The first is that you can invest some mana and make counters. It's a cool way to make sure you are using extra mana each turn and gives you some extra options. For example, if you swing in combat with this and 6 open mana, then your opponents must block and consider your cards as if you could put two counters on them. If they block in such a way that using the Ascendancy to upgrade my dorks will save them or kill one of my opposing creatures then I will. Otherwise, I can then proceed to my 2nd main phase and use the mana for something else entirely. You will often see the benefit of a card like this without ever activating it to do so.

But you'll want to activate this as much as possible, as well as many other cards out there that play into its theme. As you do, you layer on some growth counters onto this cool card. The more layers the better! Once you have enough then you'll win the game!

Please note that you only get one growth counter for each instance of +1/+1 counters you add, not for each +1/+1 counter. So if you cast an effect that puts four +1/+1 counters on a creature, then you'll only net one growth counter, not four.

Also note that the effect may work in the opposite order to how you think.

You might look at this card and think that it would work whenever "you place" the counters. It's not! And that'll preclude some effect that you have that would put a counter on an opponent's creature, such as the graft ability from earlier Simic builds. Instead it works for +1/+1 counters placed on your creatures. If an opponent places one on your creature, then you'll get a growth counter, although that's unlikely to happen with the Ascendency of the Simic under your control.

Today I want to explore ten ways that I want to exploit the power of this card.

Honorable Mention #1 - Shalai, Voice of Plenty

You can easily splash Shalai into your deck and then activate her for a bunch of counters for your team each time. She is very effective in this sort of deck! She also gives you a useful body and ability to give your stuff some protection from removal while you build up. I only wish she protected enchantments, or she'd make my Top Ten List with a higher level of synergy for Simic Ascendancy.

Honorable Mention #2 - Oran-Rief, the Vastwood

Any deck that's Simic is likely to be running a bunch of Green dorks. Sliding this into the deck is an obvious option to add in some quality value. There are some other useful lands that plant into this space as well if you do some recon.

10. Unity of Purpose

I really enjoy Unity of Purpose with the Ascendancy. It's an instant that can toss two counters on two of your creatures. That enables you to net two growth counters immediately. Then you can untap those two dorks, as well as any others that you tossed counters on already with your Ascendency and other counter-giving effects. This is a great combat trick as it pumps dorks and untaps them to block, and it keeps the growth counters coming at the same time. This is a great card to unfurl in your Simic Ascendancy build!

9. Titania's Boon and Wild Onslaught

Because the Ascendancy of the Simic wants to trigger for each time you place a counter on one of your dorks, these are perfect matches. These effects basically ask a simple question. How many creatures do you control right now? Awesome. Gain that many growth counters! Oh, and also make them bigger. This is like a one-time Gaea's Anthem effect that will also push your counter-loving.

8. Renegade Krasis

Renegade Krasis loves a deck where you already have +1/+1 counters on your dorks. If you do, then you will get a free Titania's Boon for your entire team each time you evolve your Krasis! That's a lot of growth counters for you, my Simic-loving friend! Now it does require a little more set up to really work, so it's down here at #8, but if you can make it work?

Oh, and speaking of needing a little set-up needed to break your deck?

7. Steel Overseer

If you weren't thinking about heading into an artifact creature dimension, well, how about now? This 2-drop is perfect as it comes down early, taps for no mana, and then gives you a bunch of +1/+1 counters for growths very quickly and reliably. You can basically cut and paste the above but substitute "Elf" for "artifact" when considering Immaculate Magistrate. It's a little slower as it costs four mana, but it's also easier to make a deck to use Elves than artifact dorks. Enjoy!

6. Vigor

Hello folks! Are you sad when your creatures die? When they are defeated in combat? When they are burned down? It's so sad! Well I have the answer for you. It's called Vigor, and never will you have to worry about your creatures dying to damage-based removal again! I know! But wait, there's more! Your creatures are going to grow bigger when they would have taken damage! And guess what! With your Simic Ascendancy out, that means you'll be getting closer and closer to winning the game via growth counters! And all of that can be yours for the low, low price of six mana!

5. Pir and Toothy

Of course there's the Battlebond duo Toothy and Pir! Because you are running these colors already, you can cast one to fetch the other, which makes them each pretty cool. Pir will increase your +1/+1 counter and growth counters. That's fun. But Toothy is where it's at, as it gives you a strong card-drawing growth-countering engine that's easy to abuse. Because they are fragile 1/1 creatures, they don't chart higher, as they are easier to answer, but they obviously work very well together!

4. Mikaeus, the Lunarch

If you are going to splash White, forget Shalai! This where it's at. It's (potentially) cheaper to drop and can be used multiple times even when there is nothing else out just by tapping and self-countering. It doesn't require any investment of mana after you cast it. Light Mike for the win!

3. Avenger of Zendikar

This is an amazing card with the Ascendancy and it's a one card kill combo with it. How many lands will you control when it arrives to the party? Let's just say you have six lands, plus artifact, creatures or lands that tap for more than one mana when this enters the battlefield. That's six 0/1s you control. Now drop that land in your hand. You just dropped a +1/+1 counter for six growth counters in one fell swoop. It won't take long to win the game with lands and Plants.

2.Doubling Season

I know. It's the obvious card for this list. It's also correct! Not only does Doubling Season work because it will increase the effectiveness of your token distribution, it also works because you get more growth counters as well when they are added to the Ascendancy! That makes this even more impactful, as you'll only need to layer counters 10 times to win the game, which is essentially half of the speed to win the game. You might even think this card should be #1. You are wrong. Did you forget about...

1. Cathars' Crusade

Cathars' Crusade? Because it seems to me like you might have! This is the obvious, overpowered engine for game smashing fun. Here's let look:

Turn X. You Control two creatures, this and the Ascendency. You cast a creature from your hand. It arrives, and triggers, and you get three growth counters.

Turn X+1. You cast another dork. Get four growth counters.

Turn X+2. You cast another dork. Make five more growth counters.

Turn X+3. Six more. You now have 18 counters. Assuming you got at least two from other sources, or the Ascendancy itself, you just won the game four turns later. And that assumes that you controlled just two dorks ahead of time.

What if you had more?

What if you were making multiple dorks with a creature that brings token creatures to the party?

You will dominate the growth counters with a win incredibly fast. A simple Beetleback Chief will collect nine growth counters when twinned with a Crusade, and that's without having anything else under your control on its arrival.

Avenger of Zendikar, clocking in at #3 above, can win the game on its own just by arriving to the battlefield. In order to make 20 growth counters, you'd need 5 creatures enters the battlefield at the same time. I'm sure you have at leave 4 lands when your Avenger gets there, right? Master of Waves only needs to see four Blue mana to make four creatures. The Ascendancy is one. The Master is another, so you only need two more to slap at least 25 growth counters on it. It's not in your colors so the chroma vs devotion is harder to pull off, but Springjack Shepherd has the potential to win right there.

Similarly, Deranged Hermit wins the game immediately on your next turn with 25 growth counters. See also Hornet Queen and MyrBattlesphere. Any sorcery or instant that makes a bunch of dorks counts as well. There are just so many ways to break Cathar's Crusade when twinned with the Ascendency. It must be the top card!

And there we are! Thanks so much for reading. Any ideas I missed or thoughts you had about other synergies? Anything in here you disagree with? Just let me know in the comments below!

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