<p style="text-align: right;"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Felisa, Fang of Silverquill" href="#" target="_blank">Felisa, Fang of Silverquill</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="http://www.sarabwintersart.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sara Winters</a></span></i></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As I typically enjoy doing when a new set releases, I’m setting out on a quest to cover creature types that gained substantial support. The last couple of weeks, we’ve looked at <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/building-wizard-typal-with-kaza-roil-chaser" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wizards</a> and <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/building-warlock-typal-with-honest-rutstein" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Warlocks</a>, two of the more prominent classifications of students at <a href="https://mtg.wiki/page/Strixhaven" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Strixhaven</a>. Starting this week, we’re going to tour the mascots of the different colleges. Since we’ve already covered Elementals in <a href="https://mtg.wiki/page/Lorwyn-Shadowmoor" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lorwyn</a> and Spirits in <a href="https://mtg.wiki/page/Innistrad_(plane)" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Innistrad</a>, we’ll start with a mascot that was a vague idea before <em>Secrets of Strixhaven</em>.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Have you guessed it? It’s <a href="https://mtg.wiki/page/Inkling" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Inklings</a>!</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I love the name Inkling, as it refers to the beginnings of a thought as well as putting a diminutive suffix on the term ink. The idea that a college known for doing damage with their words literally damages opponents with the means of writing them conjures a hilarious mental image. Add in the pedigree of characters like Naruto’s <a href="https://naruto.fandom.com/wiki/Sai" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sai</a>, and the role-play aspect of bringing one’s art to life seems really cool.</span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Scriv, the Obligator"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Shadrix Silverquill"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Fain, the Broker"></div></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Unlike Pests, which changed their functionality, Inklings only changed their stats between appearances in <em>Strixhaven</em> and <em>Secrets of Strixhaven</em>. They lost a point of power, going from 2/1 to 1/1 fliers, likely due to the need to balance them out with a larger focus. Both have flying, however, which is key to how an Inkling deck would win its games. Until <em>Secrets of Strixhaven</em>, however, building such a deck would have been impossible. As it is, the membership is a bit scarce, so it’ll be interesting to try to build a deck around them.</span></p>
<h2>Inkling History</h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Inklings are anthropomorphic manifestations of the creativity of Silverquill students. They seem birdlike, with their owl-like legendary incarnation resembling the eponymous owls that contributed their name to Strixhaven University. The membership is a bit of a stretch, as there are only a couple of actual Inklings. Most of the Inkings we are going to include are Inkling producers, including creatures that are not Inklings themselves.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The original <em>Strixhaven</em> featured 2/1 flying Inklings, which were fairly powerful evasive creatures. They weren’t used on aggressively-costed cards, however. For the most part, the original Inklings were tacked on to political and tactical cards, including Sheldon Menery’s beloved <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Inkshield" href="#" target="_blank">Inkshield</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The new Inklings are another in a series of 1/1 flying tokens, with little to set them apart in and of themselves. What is interesting about them, however, is that they aren’t all created under the control of the caster. This, along with the previous political and tactical usage, starts to create a through-line.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But how do we differentiate Inklings from other fliers? And how do we use what they do well to win the game?</span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Felisa, Fang of Silverquill"></div></div>
<h2>What Does <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Felisa, Fang of Silverquill" href="#" target="_blank">Felisa, Fang of Silverquill</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> Do?</h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Felisa is a decent midrange commander, as a four-mana 3/2 flying Vampire Wizard. Without help, that’s a seven-turn evasive clock - but we plan on giving it some help. And Felisa helps itself, too, with a mentor trigger on attack. This adds counters to smaller creatures, such as our Inklings.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Felisa also has a death trigger: when a nontoken creature we control dies, if it had counters on it, we create X 2/1 flying Inklings, where X is the number of counters on it. <a href="https://mtg.wiki/page/Mentor" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mentor</a> adds counters, but white is also a color known for putting layers of counters on creatures.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Merging old and new Inklings is a simple task: they’re both small-to-medium evasive creatures. Adding layers of counters makes those creatures bigger and bigger, while also allowing us to turn nontoken creatures that die into Inklings. This gives us a degree of resiliency against removal, which go-wide strategies need.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But what do Inkling producers look like? And do they work with this framework?</span></p>
<h2>Key Cards for <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Felisa, Fang of Silverquill" href="#" target="_blank">Felisa, Fang of Silverquill</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Inklings are small-to-medium flying creatures, but they don’t often exist as a typeline on creatures. Instead, they are often tokens produced by creatures, through a variety of means.</span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Blot Out the Sky"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Inkshield"></div></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blot Out the Sky" href="#" target="_blank">Blot Out the Sky</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Inkshield" href="#" target="_blank">Inkshield</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are defensive spells that turn the opponent’s aggression against them. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Inkshield" href="#" target="_blank">Inkshield</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> makes 2/1 fliers equal to the damage prevented when it <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fog" href="#" target="_blank">Fog</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>s an opponent, resembling <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Arachnogenesis" href="#" target="_blank">Arachnogenesis</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, while <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blot Out the Sky" href="#" target="_blank">Blot Out the Sky</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> wipes the board and makes a fleet of Inklings, resembling <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Martial Coup" href="#" target="_blank">Martial Coup</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Both are capable of ending the game in short order after flipping it on its head.</span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Combat Calligrapher"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Shadrix Silverquill"></div></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Combat Calligrapher" href="#" target="_blank">Combat Calligrapher</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Shadrix Silverquill" href="#" target="_blank">Shadrix Silverquill</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are intriguing, as they make Inklings under different players’ control. This enables a range of political plays, giving Inklings a different feel from more straightforward flying tokens, like Birds and Spirits.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But how do we keep control with the Inkling type?</span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Harsh Annotation"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Crib Swap"></div></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Harsh Annotation" href="#" target="_blank">Harsh Annotation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a newer Inkling card, trading a big threat for a little flier. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Crib Swap" href="#" target="_blank">Crib Swap</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> does a similar job, and is indicative of our need to dip into changelings for membership. Thankfully, the job it does fits the roles our deck already plays.</span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Collective Effort"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Unbreakable Formation"></div></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Collective Effort" href="#" target="_blank">Collective Effort</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is an interesting modal spell that scales with the size of our board. We can even use the layer of counters politically if we want, but growing our fliers seems a bit more proactive. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Speaking of being proactive, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Unbreakable Formation" href="#" target="_blank">Unbreakable Formation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> allows us to attack with impunity, but it also gives us another defense against board wipes.</span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Pact of the Serpent"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Decorum Dissertation"></div></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sign in Blood" href="#" target="_blank">Sign in Blood</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is one of my favorite spells of all time, as it is a political draw spell that can be burn in a pinch. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Pact of the Serpent" href="#" target="_blank">Pact of the Serpent</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> takes that to another level, as we can draw a lot of cards or take advantage of an opponent with a wide board for either massive card draw or massive life loss. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Decorum Dissertation" href="#" target="_blank">Decorum Dissertation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a new addition to the repertoire, allowing us to do it every turn!</span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Generous Gift"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bovine Intervention"></div></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Harsh Annotation" href="#" target="_blank">Harsh Annotation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, the rest of our removal suite is political. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Generous Gift" href="#" target="_blank">Generous Gift</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a staple catch-all removal spell, while <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bovine Intervention" href="#" target="_blank">Bovine Intervention</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> turns the biggest threat into a cow. No matter what, we’re in the business of replacing threats with disappointment.</span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Vault of the Archangel"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Abandoned Air Temple"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vault of the Archangel" href="#" target="_blank">Vault of the Archangel</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a solid card for Orzhov decks that are racing, giving our creatures deathtouch and lifelink. This can help us swing without fear of a crackback attack or block and trade with opposing threats.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Abandoned Air Temple" href="#" target="_blank">Abandoned Air Temple</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> saw some play at the recent <a href="https://mtg.wiki/page/Pro_Tour" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pro Tour</a>, adding layers of counters to creatures and giving decks something to do with excess mana while they're trying to draw into game-ending cards.</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But what are we buying time for?</span></p>
<h2>How Does This <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Felisa, Fang of Silverquill" href="#" target="_blank">Felisa, Fang of Silverquill</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> Commander Deck Win?</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Practiced Offense"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Tempt with Glory"></div></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Our primary means of winning the game is to attack with fliers. We can hasten this by adding layers of counters to our tokens, as well as by growing our nontoken creatures to explode into a spray of ink that would make a Cephalid jealous. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tempt with Glory" href="#" target="_blank">Tempt with Glory</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> adds multiple layers of counters, and can win the game on the spot if opponents are greedy and we have a removal spell or two. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Practiced Offense" href="#" target="_blank">Practiced Offense</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can give a couple of layers of counters, as well a lifelink for winning a race or double strike for closing a game out.</span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Dramatic Finale"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mirror Entity"></div></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dramatic Finale" href="#" target="_blank">Dramatic Finale</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> gives our tokens a permanent buff, and replaces our nontoken creatures with an Inkling. This can get particularly nasty with our commander around, as both death effects will trigger, and we’ll get even more Inklings. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mirror Entity" href="#" target="_blank">Mirror Entity</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> happens to be an Inkling (and everything else), and is a time-honored finisher, making our entire board huge for whatever mana we spend. Plus, it modifies base stats, so the counters still grow our creatures!</span></p>
<h2>Felisa, Fang of Silverquill Commander Deck List</h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Felisa, Fang of Silverquill Commander Deck Tech" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="&nbsp;
[Commander]
*1 Felisa, Fang of Silverquill
[/Commander]
&nbsp;
[Creatures]
*1 Avian Changeling
*1 Changeling Outcast
*1 Combat Calligrapher
*1 Eager Glyphmage
*1 Emeritus of Truce // Swords to Plowshares
*1 Eternal Student
*1 Fain, the Broker
*1 Flock Impostor
*1 Graveshifter
*1 Informed Inkwright
*1 Inkling Mascot
*1 Mirror Entity
*1 Scriv, the Obligator
*1 Shadrix Silverquill
*1 Universal Automaton
*1 Venomous Changeling
[/Creatures]
&nbsp;
[Instants]
*1 Blood Pact
*1 Bovine Intervention
*1 Contraband Livestock
*1 Contractual Safeguard
*1 Crib Swap
*1 Duty Beyond Death
*1 Emergency Eject
*1 Excise the Imperfect
*1 Fateful Absence
*1 Generous Gift
*1 Get Lost
*1 Harsh Annotation
*1 Inkshield
*1 Nameless Inversion
*1 Path to Exile
*1 Personify
*1 Stroke of Midnight
*1 Swords to Plowshares
*1 Umbral Juke
*1 Unbreakable Formation
*1 Wretched Confluence
[/Instants]
&nbsp;
[Enchantments]
*1 Black Market Connections
*1 Dramatic Finale
*1 Forum Filibuster
*1 Intermediate Chirography
[/Enchantments]
&nbsp;
[Sorceries]
*1 Blot Out the Sky
*1 Collective Effort
*1 Cost of Brilliance
*1 Damnable Pact
*1 Decorum Dissertation
*1 Foreboding Fruit
*1 Inkling Summoning
*1 Insatiable Avarice
*1 Pact of the Serpent
*1 Practiced Offense
*1 Promise of Loyalty
*1 Requisition Raid
*1 Shredder&#039;s Revenge
*1 Sign in Blood
*1 Silverflame Ritual
*1 Tempt with Glory
[/Sorceries]
&nbsp;
[Artifacts]
*1 Birthing Boughs
[/Artifacts]
&nbsp;
[Planeswalkers]
*1 Elspeth, Storm Slayer
[/Planeswalkers]
&nbsp;
[Lands]
*1 Abandoned Air Temple
*1 Command Tower
*1 Drannith Ruins
*1 High Market
*1 Idyllic Grange
*1 Karn&#039;s Bastion
*1 Nesting Grounds
*15 Plains
*1 Spymaster&#039;s Vault
*15 Swamp
*1 Tyrite Sanctum
*1 Vault of the Archangel
[/Lands]
&nbsp;"></span></div></span></p>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Inklings are a relatively new creature type, but represent the Silverquill college well. They’re fun and play in interesting ways, including having a few different options at commander.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But how would you build Inklings? And which commander would you choose?</span></p>


strixhaven commander

Building Inkling Typal With Felisa, Fang of Silverquill

Which Strixhaven College Got the Best New Cards in Secrets of Strixhaven?