Decree Viktor

Fundamentally speaking Imperial Decree functions around about the exact same, if not in some cases better, than its obvious counterpart Grand Stratagem. There are a few specific cases where Grand Strat could be better, notably Cannon Barrage deck lists, however you can subvert that by simply attacking one at a time. Due to the consistent threat level of simple kill spells we are playing, we aren't too concerned about needing to lean on Thousand-Tailed Watcher as other blue decklists. Thanks mostly to Singularity killing most everything sitting at home in the format, and Harnessed Dragon also being able to punch at home, leaving enemy players with no real swing back turns that would require us to take the battlefield back with acceleration. Commander Ledros shows up in this decklist as a sort of upgrade to the traditional 4 mana 6 might guy. Since we aren't needing to swarm the board a massive amount in order to create swings via siphon power or other traditional means of viktor, it feels nice having a big guy to contest some of these kai'sa/annie decklists with some pretty severe cost to remove him thanks to deflect. If the Kai'sa or Annie or Jinx player is good, they should shoot the tiny guys before Ledros can land without massive cost, however most of the playtesting I've done against these players has shown they are not willing to spend cards on things like watchful sentry and bird or tokens, so, usually he's just 2 runes. "Oh but where is hidden blade for token sac card advantage or taking out a key unit" Personally, I despise that card. Sure, in some contexts giving your opponent two cards is indeed worth their Dr. Mundo. However this decklist has a plethora of ways to dealing with my opponent's cards, while also still having a decent amount of card draw. Personally, I've never really understood the allure of Hidden Blade in Viktor decklists when compared to consult the past, as so often we are hiding it to then shoot our own token. So, I am just playing Consult the Past for card draw and a 1 of Garbage Grabber for value generation. In viktor specifically, I am in love with Garbage Grabber. We have such a solid low curve to play into, both in fueling the Grabber but also to utilize card draw effectively. Its not teemo, but its pretty good.