RULE ZERO. read this first.

Bracket 3 readout.

Table disclosures

Read this before sitting down. The pregame above is the script Colton reads when the pod asks what the deck does. The compliance block is the fifteen-second summary. The Q&A handles the specific questions players will run at him across pods.

What the deck does

Three axes that share parts but each stand on their own. Silverquill is the engine that ties them together.

Casualty 1 on every spell

Silverquill is a 4-mana Elder Dragon ({2}{W}{B}, 4/4 flying vigilance). His static ability gives every instant and sorcery Colton casts Casualty 1: as the spell is cast, Colton may sacrifice a creature with power 1 or greater. If he does, a casualty trigger goes on the stack, and the trigger creates a copy of the spell. New targets for the copy are chosen when the trigger resolves.

Concrete examples:

• Single-target removal sacrificed-and-copied hits two creatures.
• A pump spell sacrificed-and-copied buffs two creatures.
• A reanimation spell sacrificed-and-copied returns two creatures.
• A token-maker sacrificed-and-copied creates the token effect twice.

The trick worth volunteering at the table: the copy is not cast. It’s placed on the stack as a copy. Magecraft, prowess, and storm-style “whenever you cast” triggers fire once, off the original. Lifegain, damage, and reanimation effects that trigger on resolution do happen twice, because the copy still resolves as a spell.

Stack-order point: the copy is placed on top of the original on the stack, so the copy resolves first (last-in-first-out). If a target becomes illegal between the copy resolving and the original resolving, the original may fizzle while the copy still finishes. Half a spell is most of the time the half that matters.

Token producers fuel the sac engine

The deck plays token-makers (Eager Glyphmage, Rufus Shinra, The Final Days, Hidden Stockpile) and small bodies (Honorbound Page, Owlin Historian, Stirring Hopesinger, Imperious Inkmage) so casualty fuel is always on the table. The sac cost is not free; the deck is built so it’s almost always cheap.

Equipment voltron closes the game

Silverquill at 4/4 flying vigilance is the kill clock. Pre-War Formalwear pushes him to 6/6 (its ETB also reanimates a MV3-or-less creature and attaches itself to that target first). Dark Knight’s Greatsword adds +3/+0 for a 9/6 flier. Three swings is 27 commander damage, well past 21. The backup line is Colossus Hammer on a non-Silverquill ground body (Honormancer, Imperious Inkmage) for a 14-power one-shot.

If they ask

Casual pod etiquette

Practical notes for Colton at the pod:

• Don’t pile on one opponent. If three turns running the only legal target for removal is the same player’s board, that’s functionally targeting that player. Hold a spell, hit a different opponent’s smaller threat, or skip the sac-and-copy on a turn to keep the table balanced.
• Announce the casualty trigger every cast. “Casualty, sac the Inkling, copy targets X.” Every time. The table needs to track the sac, the trigger, and both spell targets, so slow down. Burying the trigger in fast talk is how arguments start.
• Mulligan toward token-makers when the pod is fragile. A hand that is five removal spells against a precon pod is the play that gets you scooped on. A hand with a token producer, an equipment piece, and one or two removal spells is the hand that wins the long game without making the pod miserable.
• Volunteer that you’re not the runaway. Silverquill commander damage closes on one player at a time, not all three at once. Make it visible: state which player the swing is going at, give the rest of the table a turn or two to set up their plays, and don’t tax with double-removal turns back to back.

One more for the pod