This content was deleted from the Magic website during an update. The original page can be accessed via Wayback Machine here.

---

By Jess Lebow

The Jhoira de Vive story

To live in Shiv means living with the peril of volcanoes and an inhospitable environment. In order for humans to survive there they need some advantage, something that will enable them to cross large torrents of bubbling lava and cool themselves to a livable temperature. The Ghitu chose artifice as their advantage; a way to help sustain and improve their lives. So it is no great surprise that among the Ghitu there are few occupations which command as much respect and praise as that of artificer. Jhoira was hand selected by Urza himself to come and study on Tolaria. She pledged to go and learn the cutting edge of artifice and then return to Shiv to teach the skills she had learned to the rest of her tribe.

Soon after arriving on the island, this tall, slender Ghitu woman proved herself to be more brilliant and mature than any of her classmates. Working on artifact machines used by Urza and Barrin in secret experiments, she ascended to the top student position with ease. But it’s lonely being the best and the brightest (as I’m sure you know), and Jhoira did not make friends easily. That is until Karn was born… er I mean made… I mean plugged in… well, you know what I mean. It was Jhoira who gave the silver golem his name, and they were fast friends: Jhoira a mental giant, and Karn a metal one.

But then…

Urza’s experiments went terribly wrong. There was a huge explosion. Urza escaped with Mage Master Barrin and thirteen other students and scholars. Karn rescued a handful more, but Jhoira was stranded. She was alone on the ruined island that had once been home to the Tolarian academy. Her hair grew wild, her muscles and skin grew taught, and her skin turned an even darker bronze.

After ten years, Urza, Barrin and Karn returned with a new batch of students. But Tolaria wasn’t the same island after the terrible disaster. There were dangers and pitfalls at almost every turn. Jhoira’s extensive knowledge of the hazards, and more importantly the safe passages around and through them, was the only thing that kept the new academy members alive. She was instrumental in rebuilding the academy, and when Urza went to Shiv to use the Mana rig, it was Jhoira who acted as ambassador to the Viashino who lived and worked on the ancient machine.

And when the time comes for the students to take up arms against a Phyrexian infestation, will Jhoira’s artifacts be enough to hold them off?

You can get more of the story behind Jhoira and the disasters on Tolaria in J. Robert King’s Magic novel Time Streams. You can also continue the story in the sequel Bloodlines by Loren Coleman.

---

The Jhoira de Vive – Jhoira’s Workshop deck

Above all else Jhoira is a natural artificer. So her deck is of course, full of artifacts. The key to this deck is Tinker. For 2U you can turn any artifact into a Colossus of Sardia. Put out a cheap artifact as quickly as you can and then watch your opponent squirm on turn three when your Ornathopter becomes a Phyrexian Colossus. Use the Voltaic key to untap your big guy or put out a Lifeline and sacrifice your tapped creature to the Claws of Gix to gain one life and return your humongous friend (assuming there are other creatures on the table) to play untapped at the end of your turn.

The Lifeline trick works with Bottle Gnomes especially well because you can sacrifice it on your turn without a Claws in play and you gain 3 life. To add insult to injury, you can sacrifice your Bottle Gnomes on your opponent’s turn as well, gaining 6 points of life by the time it’s your turn again.

If your opponent gets out something particularly nasty, just bounce it back to his hand with a Capsize. If the game goes long, you should have plenty of mana with all the Urza’s lands to power the buy back, so you can bounce a card or two every turn or even bounce the Lifeline when your opponent throws all of his creatures in front of your Colossus, thinking that it will come back at the end of the turn.

Copper Gnomes and Show and Tell will help you get those big creatures out if you don’t get a Tinker right away, and Recall will get your Lifeline or Tinker back when your opponent frantically targets the bane of his existence.

And what would Jhoira’s deck be without her best friend: Karn. Of course, sentient silver golems are very unique, so there’s only one in the deck.

Jhoira’s Workshop:

Spells:
2-Recall
4-Tinker
2-Show and Tell
4-Capsize

Artifacts:
4-Lifeline
3-Phyrexian Colossus
4-Bottle Gnomes
3-Ornathopter
2-Voltaic Key
2-Copper Gnomes
3-Jhoira’s Toolbox
3-Colossus of Sardia
2-Claws of Gix
1-Karn

Lands:
4-Urza’s Mine
4-Urza’s Tower
4-Urza’s Power Plant
8-Island