This took a different course than I'd originally intended. At first, I was going to check out a few lists online to form a general sense of what Jhoira decks were running and try to reconcile all of them, but I think I could talk about Jhoira and still end up learning something about 75% decks as a whole. The more articles in this series I did, the more rules and principles I had to apply to individual cards and decks. They served as guidelines for the build process and helped flag potential problem cards when looking at a full list. I decided to look at a few lists without our list of principles this week to see if there was something qualitative to determining how a deck will work in a group setting. Is a 75% deck kind of like Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart's definition of pornography? "I can't define it, but I know it when I see it." Let's take a look at some lists and see if we can't figure that out.

The first was a list I found on TappedOut. It was put together by Teemursu. As I'm sure you know, TappedOut is a great resource for Commander decks, and the community there is pretty constructive and positive with its feedback, which is more than I can say for some online communities. If you don't have your decks on there, I would consider it. It's a good way to hear feedback from people or have a list ready to ship someone if he or she wants to see it. That said, I haven't gotten around to putting my own decks up there despite several readers asking, so take my advice with a grain of salt.

Jhoira of the Ghitu ? Commander | Teemursu

• Commander (0)

• Creatures (16)
• 1 Aeon Chronicler
• 1 Consecrated Sphinx
• 1 Deep-Sea Kraken
• 1 It That Betrays
• 1 Magus of the Jar
• 1 Blightsteel Colossus
• 1 Darksteel Colossus
• 1 Inkwell Leviathan
• 1 Jhoira's Timebug
• 1 Arcanis the Omnipotent
• 1 Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
• 1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
• 1 Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius
• 1 Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
• 1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
• 1 Venser, Shaper Savant

• Spells (43)
• 1 Brainstorm
• 1 Clockspinning
• 1 Counterspell
• 1 Cryptic Command
• 1 Dissipate
• 1 Exclude
• 1 Fact or Fiction
• 1 Frantic Search
• 1 Fury Charm
• 1 Hinder
• 1 Impulse
• 1 Mana Drain
• 1 Mystical Tutor
• 1 Negate
• 1 Remand
• 1 Rewind
• 1 Timecrafting
• 1 Ancestral Vision
• 1 Apocalypse
• 1 Capture of Jingzhou
• 1 Compulsive Research
• 1 Decree of Annihilation
• 1 Devastation
• 1 Jokulhaups
• 1 Obliterate
• 1 Preordain
• 1 Temporal Manipulation
• 1 Tidings
• 1 Time Stretch
• 1 Braid of Fire
• 1 Diplomatic Immunity
• 1 Omniscience
• 1 Paradox Haze
• 1 Smoke
• 1 Stasis
• 1 Thought Reflection
• 1 Training Grounds
• 1 Darksteel Ingot
• 1 Mind's Eye
• 1 Quicksilver Amulet
• 1 Sensei's Divining Top
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Thran Turbine

• Lands (36)
• 19 Island
• 8 Mountain
• 1 City of Brass
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Halimar Depths
• 1 Polluted Delta
• 1 Reliquary Tower
• 1 Riptide Laboratory
• 1 Volcanic Island
• 1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
• 1 Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep

Buy This Deck

Looking at this, I see a bit not to like right away. While big, durdly creatures like Blightsteel Colossus bother some people, they don't bother me. While you're drawing a decent number of cards with this deck, you're not going to have Blightsteel Colossus so often that it's your one path to victory. Even if it is, good luck with that. There are a hundred ways to deal with Blightsteel Colossus. 75% doesn't mean you have to hold hands and sing campfire songs, it means you don't kill people with Laboratory Maniac every game. It's not the creatures you're putting into play that raises alarm bells, not even the Sphinx, which many people hate but which is probably fine.

It's the mass land destruction that I don't know how to feel about. Should we let it slide? That is pretty much how you win with Jhoira: Suspend Jokulhaups, suspend Blightsteel Colossus, blow up the universe, and have the only nonenchantment permanent in play be your Beater. Commence wins. It's really effective. Could how antisocial that is be the reason I don't see much Jhoira out there? Could it be better in French than in multiplayer because Jhoira automatically engenders ill will on principle, and in French, ill will doesn't matter because the opponent is already trying his or her hardest to kill you?

Would it be tyrannical and maybe a little lazy to categorically say, "Don't run mass LD in 75% decks?" From the comments I received on the Titania article, it was pretty clear that a lot of you feel the same way: spot LD is a good idea, and mass LD is a feel-bad waiting to happen. Would a Jhoira deck even function without it? Maybe I need to look at another decklist.

The second list was one I found on MTG Salvation by Dukdom. It runs a lot fewer of the "questionable" spells, and I think I like that.

Jhoira of the Ghitu ? Commander | Dukdom

• Commander (0)

• Creatures (8)
• 1 Gilded Drake
• 1 Snapcaster Mage
• 1 Blightsteel Colossus
• 1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
• 1 Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
• 1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
• 1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
• 1 Venser, Shaper Savant

• Planeswalkers (1)
• 1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

• Spells (51)
• 1 Arcane Denial
• 1 Brainstorm
• 1 Cerebral Vortex
• 1 Condescend
• 1 Counterflux
• 1 Counterspell
• 1 Cryptic Command
• 1 Deprive
• 1 Dissolve
• 1 Echoing Truth
• 1 Fact or Fiction
• 1 Force of Will
• 1 Force Spike
• 1 Fury Charm
• 1 Impulse
• 1 Into the Roil
• 1 Intuition
• 1 Logic Knot
• 1 Mana Leak
• 1 Miscalculation
• 1 Misdirection
• 1 Mystical Tutor
• 1 Negate
• 1 Pact of Negation
• 1 Remand
• 1 Rune Snag
• 1 Spell Pierce
• 1 Telling Time
• 1 Think Twice
• 1 Timecrafting
• 1 Volcanic Fallout
• 1 Ancestral Vision
• 1 Anger of the Gods
• 1 Boom // Bust
• 1 Devastation Tide
• 1 Enter the Infinite
• 1 Jokulhaups
• 1 Merchant Scroll
• 1 Order of Succession
• 1 Personal Tutor
• 1 Ponder
• 1 Preordain
• 1 Pyroclasm
• 1 Serum Visions
• 1 Shattering Spree
• 1 Show and Tell
• 1 Upheaval
• 1 Cyclonic Rift
• 1 Omniscience
• 1 Treachery
• 1 Expedition Map

• Lands (39)
• 14 Island
• 6 Mountain
• 1 Cascade Bluffs
• 1 Cavern of Souls
• 1 City of Brass
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Dust Bowl
• 1 Homeward Path
• 1 Mana Confluence
• 1 Maze of Ith
• 1 Reflecting Pool
• 1 Riptide Laboratory
• 1 Shivan Reef
• 1 Steam Vents
• 1 Sulfur Falls
• 1 Tectonic Edge
• 1 Tolaria West
• 1 Volcanic Island
• 1 Wasteland
• 1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
• 1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds

Buy This Deck

The biggest problem I have is, you know, the banned card. Emrakul, the Aeons Torn would be great in this list. That's kind of the problem!

• Provided you don't do it just to be a pain but actually have a win strategy, this can wrap the game up. Suspending Kozilek, Butcher of Truth and Blightsteel Colossus and having Jokulhaups go off is usually game. This means you can play another game. Since it's tough to set that up without tutors, you won't do this super-often.
• People are going to team up to stop you. Provided they aren't malicious about it, this could make for fun and challenging game scenarios. You may have to be political and use your vast array of instants to help people out and build alliances. This isn't something you can really do with Rafiq of the Many, and I think that's a reason I shy away from linear, hated decks like that. Here, you have a reasonable chance of a fun game despite the commander of choice.
• Opponents have one to four turns to prepare. If they're being ’Haupsed, they can tutor for answers, not play lands, keep Counterspell mana up—something. They can also kill you while the four-turn clock ticks—that is, provided you don't spin the clock down.

I went into this feeling kind of down, like there was never a place for Mass LD in EDH and I think this list of Dukdom's made me realize that there is always a way.

What I Would Keep

I'd keep the instants suite relatively intact, but I'd take out low-impact trash like Force Spike. Counterspells are important, but if you always have one, people will start to want to team up. You'll give them reason enough to do that later.

Finally, the selection and number of wipe spells is probably relatively fine. I like Blasphemous Act a lot. I think Jokulhaups and Devastation Tide are fine choices. I think we may have found a way to run mass LD in a 75% deck after all.

What I Would Lose

I'd cut the tutors. None of them is great, but even if all you are doing with Merchant Scroll is find a Time Warp to take a counter off a suspended card, people will roll their eyes. We're trying to have those games in which we go off spectacularly be rare. Playing Personal Tutor for Jokulhaups doesn't really accomplish that goal.

All in all, I feel that I would build relatively close to Dukdom's deck. This is bound to be somewhat controversial, and I welcome the debate! What do we think? Is running a small number of mass LD spells with no tutors or mass card-draw and using those spells when we're ready to unsuspend creatures and win acceptable for a 75% deck? Will our playgroup not care how rare it is since even one time is too many? Will we be dogpiled as soon as they see our commander and not live long enough for it to matter? Let's have a debate going in the comments. That does it for me this week. Join me next week, when I'll bend some more of my rules. You won't want to miss it!