I’m excited to build a spellslinger deck with Taigam, Ojutai Master (OjuTaigam)! My prior experience with spellslinger is Talrand, Sky Summoner and Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis, but I think this will be different from those with the “cannot be countered” clause and rebounding effects. I play in a very casual meta where no one is trying to blow out the game on an early turn. Generally, we build decks to do some “thing” and like to play them out for that “thing”. Infinite combos are fairly rare and tend to be more intricate putting together. I almost always play multiplayer 3-5 players. I like the randomness of how games play out and so I do not like to play tutors.
I know this is OjuTaigam, but this is not an infinite turns deck. Getting infinite turns isn’t a fun thing for me, and seems pretty lame for my playgroup, so instead I’m thinking rebound value value value! Getting double the effect for draw and cantrip spells to dig deep to the bigger spells that create tons of tokens – then rebound those too! Alrighty, here is the first draft cut down to 99:
I’m trying to get OjuTaigam out, make him unblockable or indestructible, then cast draw spells with rebound for value, or cast token generating spells with rebound to flood the board with little dudes that may or may not be buffed. Attacking with those tokens, then, is the main win condition, but there’s some alternate ones too.
There are several win cons mixing both spell and token themes.
1. Approach of the Second Sun
OjuTaigam makes this un-counterable and there’s plenty of draw to dig for it after the first casting. Basically, the resolution of AotSS places it back in my library seventh from the top instead of into exile (so can’t gain rebound), but then I’d use other draw spells that DO rebound to dig for it. So, a good portion of the draw spells are meant to be efficient for how far they “dig”. Dig Through Time is the most straightforward way to get AotSS back, and by then there should be plenty spells in the yard to exile, essentially paying UU at instant speed to grab AotSS and recast it from there. Most other things are digging 4-5 cards deep (8+ deep if they’re rebounded), such as Anticipate, Fact or Fiction, Glimmer of Genius, Impulse, Peer Through Depths, Supreme Will, Advice from the Fae, Fathom Trawl, Pieces of the Puzzle, and Serum Visions. Failure // Comply is a combo that brings AotSS right back to my hand if I have enough mana. I should be trying to stick OjuTaigam before casting AotSS so it cannot be countered, but I’m including Call to Mind for bringing back other spells for value and AotSS if needed.
2. Attack with OjuTaigam, hopefully he lives, then cast spells generating lots of tokens, and have them rebound for more tokens! Conqueror’s Pledge, Sram's Expertise, Righteous Confluence, Increasing Devotion, Migratory Route, and Spectral Procession.
Cast that big token spell annnnnnnd:
-Double ‘em up with Anointed Procession
-Give them vigilance and evasion with Aven Wind Guide
-Pump them with Collective Effort / Cathars’ Crusade / Intangible Virtue
-Swing in!
There can be tremendous value when casting these token spells when they gain rebound, and even more deadly with Anointed Procession. Conqueror’s Pledge, for example, has the potential to make twelve 1/1’s for five mana (if not kicked), or twenty-four with Anointed Procession out. I feel like this also allows for great recovery from board wipes too by recasting OjuTaigam and attacking for another rebounded token spell, or just casting the token spells themselves to make lots of bodies.
3. Docent of Perfection / Monastery Mentor / Talrand, Sky Summoner
Create some tokens (2/2 fliers with Talrand and 3/2 fliers with a flipped Docent!) with all those initial and rebound cast triggers. Even without OjuTaigam out, these can create deadly armies with all the instants and sorceries.
4. Some form of a Dovescape lock Dovescape is great with OjuTaigam since he negates Dovescape from countering my own spells (while Dovescape still normally should be countering my opponents’ spells), so I end up with four, five, or six 1/1 flying doves and whatever effect from my spell (likely more tokens or more cards).
Ideally, I would want to grab Anointed Procession and/or Cathars’ Crusade before Dovescape to double and/or pump my tokens. All three out would be giving me a small handful of beefy fliers each cast trigger.
5. Commander damage possibility
With all the unblockable effects and OjuTaigam’s 3/4 body, the damage could add up, but this can surely be aided with all the tokens too – with cards like Collective Effort (flavor win for tapping a handful of tokens that OjuTaigam’s rebound generated to pump him with +1 counters) and Cathars’ Crusade (OjuTaigam gets a +1 counter for each token entering the field and that becomes deadly quickly when 5+ are ETB and even more from rebound).
OTHER CHOICE CARDS
Phyrexian Rebirth gives me a single giant beater to get through some pillow fort effects, made even more deadly if I cast this destroying my own big token army and then using one of the unblockable spells or effects to hit with some hard single-creature damage.
Guile, as the traditional other half of a Dovescape combo seems a bit hefty mana-wise when I get the same effect from my command zone, and it’s not worth running it for the anti-mill ability IMO.
Nomads’ Assembly, although it has rebound already so no OjuTaigam needed, I’m hung up on the “for each creature you control” cause. I definitely wouldn’t want this as my first big token spell as I only get literally a couple tokens for six mana, and for the same reason isn’t reliable to recover me from board wipes either. I’d rather make definite token numbers, or have the net cast wider like in Deploy to the Front.
Gitaxian Probe, Ponder, Brainstorm, etc. These staple blue cantrips become even greater value with rebound, but Probe, while allowing me to see one or two opponents’ hands can be invaluable information, just doesn’t dig deep enough if I’m trying to get to that Approach of the Second Sun ASAP. I imagine that once I cast AotSS and my opponents know I have draw spells to get back to it, they’ll try to take me out quickly and I’d rather have something that digs for at least three at that point, so a possible six if rebounded. I kept Brainstorm over Ponder because the former is at instant-speed.
Pull from the Deep exiles itself on resolution and so doesn’t net any additional value from rebound. I may consider this in the future if I find that I’m really wanting to get beck some of my spells.
Slip Through Space replaces itself, but is at sorcery speed, so unlikely to take advantage of rebound for additional strikes for OjuTaigam. I felt Artful Dodge and Distortion Strike were better at 1CMC sorcery since they can be reused.
Encircling Fissure seemed great initially at 3CMC to keep OjuTaigam alive for rebound triggers or to save me from an alpha strike for a turn (or two if rebounded!), but I liked Brave the Elements even more for what the deck is trying to do – protect OjuTaigam or make a giant token army unblockable. The only downside to Elements is that it protects only from one color, so if there’s other colored creatures controlled by the defending player it doesn’t work as well, although this can be mitigated by choosing to attack the player with creatures of one common color.
Storm Herd seems realllllly fun if rebounded, but this isn’t a life gain or pillowfort deck and at 10CMC I feel I would never cast it.
Cyclonic Rift, yes, is an awesomely powerful card and can (and does) often win games, but I’m personally burnt out from including it into every single deck with blue. Everyone expects it’s inclusion if you’re playing blue and I’ve recently created other blue decks without it that still make great fun and still have big potential to pull out wins. I feel like seeing this card is like Craterhoof Behemoth in every green token deck. I can’t really withstand being Craterhoof’ed more than once in a night and I feel others feel the same about Rift – just too overplayed for variety’s sake.
Counterspell and all other counter variants are not included because I’ve been having recent fun excluding these from some other blue decks too. People in my playgroup may catch on, but initially it’s fun to see them hesitate when I have mana open thinking I must be holding a counterspell and the bluff helps out if even slightly while I get to have other cards in hand to play. Supreme Will is included for the second mode. I was considering Mystic Confluence since it is also modal value, but I don’t own one and it’s a bit pricey for me.
Elspeth, Sun’s Champion and other synergistic Planeswalkers are great for a deck like this, but I haven’t been playing MtG that long and so don’t have many PWs available to me. Maybe a future upgrade.
Isochron Scepter has great infinite combo potential, although not a goal of the deck, it does allow me to reuse the 1 and 2CMC protection and unblockable spells for OjuTaigam to attack safely. I haven’t included it because I feel it would be a big target once out and I don’t feel like being 2-for-1’d to removal.
Whispersilk Cloak is great for repeatable unblockability and protects OjuTaigam, but I feel it would be targeted for removal very quickly, as often happens when I see it played in others’ decks. I like the idea of casting spells to make OjuTaigam unblockable/protected because it’s less likely that an opponent will be able to interact with something like that (counterspells/abilities) than an artifact that can be destroyed (or worse, gained control of).
Throne of the God-Pharaoh is an awesome card in token and “go wide” strategies. I’ve already included it in two other decks I have, so I’m trying to see how this deck plays without it and for my playgroup variety sake. Plus, this too is a removal magnet.
Metallurgic Summonings is great in any spellslinger deck churning out value bodies that would have very strong synergy in a deck like this. Ultimately, I had to limit the token generators and I liked the idea of 2/2 and 3/2 fliers from Talrand, Sky Summoner and a flipped Docent of Perfection, respectively, than non-evasive mid-body beaters. I may reconsider this one after pla testing since an enchantment generator is harder to remove than creature ones.
Swarm Intelligence seems great here too, in the same vein as Mirari, but it’s also 2CMC more than Mirari. I like that it’s harder to remove as an enchantment and there’s no additional cost to copy spells with it, but that 7CMC is getting me. I feel like at 7CMC, I’m going to be wanting to cast a big token spell or multiple draw spells. Another that I may consider adding in the future, after some testing.
Skullclamp is staple draw value in a token deck, but I’ll likely have some sort of +1 counters or static buff going on that would render this pretty ineffective.
CURRENT CONSIDERATIONS
9/19/17: Made some updates to stave off my worries about ramp and mana base. Now I should have 36 mana-producing lands, six mana rocks, and alternate forms of mana/land production in Ashnod's Altar and Sword of the Animist. I'm satisfied with that and I'll see how it goes in play testing.
I’m still unsure about the amount of ways I’m including to give Taigam, Ojutai Master unblockable or protection when attacking. Might be too much (hopefully it is and then I can cut some for other cards?).
What do you think? Too much unblockable/protection pieces? Is there a case for me to include some of the cards I considered but cut such as Metallurgic Summonings and Swarm Intelligence? Does this strategy seem to be effective with OjuTaigam? Are there cards or synergies I’m missing? I’d really enjoy your feedback. Thank you so much!
I think Dovescape is a great idea. I also put together a Taigam, Ojutai Master deck yesterday, and it too runs a tokens theme. Unlike you, I made room for a generous handful of extra turns cards at the expense of the lords and anthems you include in yours, but otherwise, if our lists are any indicator, the core choices for a token strategy speak for themselves. I too, omitted Cyclonic Rift for overuse. I chose my counter magic by looking at Baral, Chief of Compliance on EdhRec, since his decks value value more than efficiency. Have you considered some of the other cost reducer spells at your disposal? GAAIV pulls triple duty in this regard, and Baral gives you value for countering spells.
I think Dovescape is a great idea. I also put together a Taigam, Ojutai Master deck yesterday, and it too runs a tokens theme. Unlike you, I made room for a generous handful of extra turns cards at the expense of the lords and anthems you include in yours, but otherwise, if our lists are any indicator, the core choices for a token strategy speak for themselves. I too, omitted Cyclonic Rift for overuse. I chose my counter magic by looking at Baral, Chief of Compliance on EdhRec, since his decks value value more than efficiency. Have you considered some of the other cost reducer spells at your disposal? GAAIV pulls triple duty in this regard, and Baral gives you value for countering spells.
I very briefly in passing considered Grand Arbiter Augustin IV, but he cost-reducing effect has that stax-y vibe and I thought I'd limit those kinds of cards since they hate the owner off the table fairly quickly. I already know I'll draw some groans from running Aura of Silence. I also very briefly thought about Baral, Chief of Compliance, but since I decided not to run counters in this deck I felt I wouldn't be taking advantage of his full abilities and at that point I should just be running a harder-to-remove 2-drop mana rock like Mind Stone. I do think the deck could use more ways to ramp though.
I totally missed Anticipate when skimming through my old Talrand list, and it's a good one! Digs three deep, so six if rebounded, at instant speed for 2CMC. Definitely what I want to see after I've casted a successful Approach of the Second Sun with OjuTaigam out before he attacks. I removed Deep Analysis because it takes much more work (more mana and life) to eventually dig down and it's sorcery speed. Anticipate helps my mana curve and it more efficient!
I fixed-up my ramp package.
--I switched Worn Powerstone (slow-ring) for Fellwar Stone. I figured Fellwar can come down earlier, doesn't ETB tapped, and gets me colored mana (blue and white are fairly common amongst my play group). This should increase the speed and is also helping my curve.
--I took out Soul Warden because the more I thought about it, the more I figured a single "soul sister" would be unreliable and could sometimes be a dead card, say in those instances where the game develops where I'm not going the Tokens route and I'm just trying to dig out an AotSS. I added Darksteel Ingot in it's place to improve the ramp, as it produces a color and is indestructible.
--Pyramid of the Pantheon (slow-tus) is another leftover from my Talrand deck, and this thing is awesome if I play it early enough. I don't own a Gilded Lotus, so this is one of the alternatives to it for me. Even if I did own a GLotus, I think I'd prefer the Pantheon in some instances. I took out Keeper of Keys to help my curve and because he seems kinda slow having to wait a whole round until my next upkeep to not take combat damage. I felt he would be most effective once it's down to 1v1, but if I'm in a position to make an army of tokens unblockable, I feel I'd be in a fairly goo position at that point and this would likely be win-more.
--Since I added in the more reliable artifact colored ramp, Curious Homunculus wasn't looking as solid. I could see him being bopped to an easy board wipe. Instead, I'm liking Sword of the Animist for thining out my deck with OjuTaigam's attack triggers.
After a few more looks, I thought I might be a little light, so I wanted to add something to deal with any type of permanent: enter Oblation. I cut Mirari because it seemed hefty to get going (eight mana investment for first use) and I'll bet that if I begin to reply on it heavily when OjuTaigam is unavailable, my opponents are going to target it quickly, and I can't just go about recasting it from the command zone, so. . .
That's it for now. My curve looks muuuuuch better (well, at least it looks curve-like anyway).
What are thoughts on these changes? Anyone else have some good insight to Taigam, Ojutai Master or the strategy of this kind of deck? I'd love to hear (read) the feedback! And thanks!
Awesome, I actually have a Taigam Tokens deck too, and I've been really enjoying it. My biggest issue is the deck basically doesn't do anything until turn 4 (when you cast Taigam), so I'm probably going to load up on mana rocks.
I think my deck is more single-mindedly focused specifically on spells that make tokens, though. There are a lot of tokens makers you're not playing that seem really good:
I'm also running a bunch on instant one-mana cantrips, which basically become one-mana divinations. The most important by far is Quicken, allowing me to to cast a sorcery speed token maker or something before the opponent has a chance to block Taigam. Bandage and Fleeting Distraction can be very frustrating to anyone who blocks with a 4-power creature.
I also run a number of cards that I can cast on my opponent's turn to protect Taigam, but also good if I play them on my turn and get a rebound. Valorous Stance is probably the best example. Shelter is also great. Anything that gives protection or indestructible is pretty desirable because both can counter removal and allow Taigam to survive combat.
Brain in a Jar is a card I haven't gotten to play yet, but seems great, since it allows you to cast your sorceries during combat and ensure you get the rebound. Vanish into Memory is another card I try to run in every EDH deck I can.
After goldfishing for a bit I realized there’s not a whole lot of token creating spells to get to my hand consistently, so I felt I really wanted to add more, particularly of the low CMC variety to get tokens out there earlier. I did some card searches and came up with Raise the Alarm as a 2CMC instant that gets bodies out there (4 of them if I cast it right after OutTaigam triggers) and Cenn’s Enlistment as a less efficient 4CMC one, but it can be repeated from the yard with the Retrace ability, which should add some resiliency. I played a Naya tokens deck before that had a sub-theme of extra combat steps and Waves of Aggression was amazing with retrace in that deck. To fit these, I ended up removing the aforementioned Oblation since it was arguably the weaker removal (I actually like it as a defensive piece against Song of the Dryads, Imprisoned in the Moon, and Darksteel Mutation, but we’ll see how that goes) and Ashnod’s Altar. I know, I know, the ramp AA can provide is phenomenal in a token deck, but the real value in it has always been the sacrifice outlet. I’m only running 6 creatures so I’m not trying to invest a whole lot into keeping them in the yard if they would otherwise go to exile or something. During goldfishing, I consistently got enough lands and/or ramp that I was always considering mulliganing AA away unless I had a token generating spell in my opening hand with it, so maybe my decision to cut it is skewed due to the lighter token spells count, but I’m willing to part with it for now and see if there’s any situations that I really wish I had it (I don’t expect many/enough).
I finally had time to peer through a chunk of my own cards the other night and found out I own a Righteous Confluence! Six 2/2s for 5CMC (so less than 0.5 mana per power produced seems pretty efficient to me!), plus is modal, so I can exile some stuff if I had to or gain a potential of 30 life off 5 mana – seems good! I decided to cut Devout Invocation for it because, while Invocation does have great potential if I’m already set up with a bunch of tokens, it’s power is conditional that I already have a set up board and I’d like to get away from those kinds of cards for consistency’s sake. Plus it’s 7CMC – seems like it would be a dead card in hand half the time, especially if tokens aren’t working out and I’m in full Approach of the Second Sun mode. Confluence at least does other things at cheaper CMC if making bodies wasn’t high enough impact at any particular moment.
Adding these white cards and seeing my color distribution slightly increase toward that color, I thought about adding a Plains. I looked at my lands and reevaluated Rogue’s Passage. I didn’t feel like essentially 5 mana was that efficient to give OjuTaigam unblockable for his trigger, especially if I wanted to cast other things after, so I cut it for an additional Plains.
Hey, great suggestions! A lot of this is amazing stuff.
Bandage and Fleeting Distraction seem super fun. I really like that they both play at instant-speed AND cantrip. They both provide cheap and easy protection for Taigam early, so that’s really efficient. I don’t think they’ll have as much of an impact late game however as bigger creatures usually come out on those later game turns – at least for a lot of decks in my meta, which are creature heavy.
Valorous Stance and Shelter are also great instant-speed protection for Taigam, but only for him (or one target creature). I like the option of protecting my whole board/token army like Brave the Elements, Make a Stand, and Rootborn Defense – these can protect Taigam directly if needed, or the whole army if one is out. For getting Taigam to live through attack, I prefer repeatable means or low investment stuff. Thassa, God of the Sea, Aqueous Form, Reconnaissance, and Maze of Ith are really low investment AND repeatable. Artful Dodge and Distortion Strike aren’t instant speed, so I’d have to cast them before attack, but they have built-in re-use in the form of Flashback and Rebound, respectively. So low investment with the same repeatable option. Shadow Rift is instant-speed, although it doesn’t cantrip that’s not an issue in this deck with all the other draw spells I ‘d plan to rebound also.
I saw a Vanish into Memory in my own cards the other day too, but passed on it since I could only think of limited applications. My first though was to use it on Taigam after the attack trigger, cast instant-speed stuff to give them rebound, then resolve this to protect Taigam and draw three cards . . . but then I’d have to discard 4 and rebound it at upkeep? As a protection for Taigam, I found it clunky. As a draw spell, I found it inefficient compared to the other spells I’m running to dig deeper for that Approach of the Second Sun. I dunno, do you use it in other ways?
Brain in a Jar seems like it would hurt MY brain trying to manage it in a game where I’m already likely to be doing funky math with token numbers and power/toughness calcs with the pump effects, etc. I don’t know if that’s a good reason to pass on this card in this particular deck, but it’s the truth for me, and I’d like to be able to play more games without getting a headache manipulating the jar to cast something at instant-speed here and there. I’d rather drop a Vedalken Orrery and forget about it.
As far as the token stuff: I’m not hooked on instant-speed stuff since I plan to have Taigam go unblocked, most likely with repeatable stuff so I can safely cast after combat. I’m really more interested in stuff of value and efficiency as in creating lots of bodies/power relative to the mana invested. Sram’s Expertise fits that bill! I can potentially create six 1/1s and cast other 3CMC or less from my hand to also give THAT rebound? That’s value to me! I’m going to cut Deploy to the Front for it. Deploy is another one of those high CMC conditional cards, so cutting it in favor of Sram’s Expertise gets the deck lower to the ground and more reliable on token generation. Sweet suggestion!
I’m not sold on a lot of the other stuff. I’ve seen Eyes in the Skies in other token decks, but nearly all of my tokens are going to be meek 1/1 or 2/2 dudes and even with rebound this gets me 4-6 power for 4CMC – not the greatest. I have the same feeling with Midnight Haunting, which turns out to be a potential 4 (flying) power for 3CMC – not bad, but not the most efficient compared to other cards in the deck around that same CMC, like Spectral Procession (6 flying power for 3 mana investment, albeit at sorcery-speed). And again, same on Fated Infatuation: my tokens will be small, and I have few value creatures of my own to copy that aren’t legendary (Docent of Perfection?).
I don’t feel I have enough alternate sources of lifegain for Feudkiller’s Verdict to be consistent. There are lifegain and lifelink decks in my meta, and so even at gaining 10 life, I don’t feel like it would net me that 5/5 body.
I’m interested in Rise from the Tides, Talrand’s Invoation, and Triplicate Spirits. I actually considered Rise from the Tides and Talrand’s Invocation for this deck since they were both in my previous Talrand build, but I believe I ended up cutting them to make room for good draw spells. Rise from the Tides seems like it could be a late-game finisher – with or without rebound – if I lived to attack with the Zombies. Seems on the slower side, but potential. What could I possibly cut for it? Talrand’s Invocation nets me a possible 8 flying power for 4CMC, which is great – amazing even – but I’m having trouble deciding what I might cut for this too. What would you think? Triplicate Spirits is a border “conditional” card for me since the value is in the convoke, which means I’d need other creatures already on the board to get max efficiency out of it, but a potential 6 flying power for WW is awesome. What could I cut for this?
Thanks for all of the suggestions, this is really helpful!
Yeah, I'm aware my deck plays a few questionable token makers, but there actually just aren't a lot of good UW token spells. I managed to find 15 pretty solid ones. Not all the ones I listed are necessarily worth playing, but Saheeli's Artistry and especially Supplant Form seem great.
As for Vanish into Memory, it's not really meant to be protection for Taigam, since as you say it would be card disadvantage, but it's a great multi-purpose spell. And you can always use it on a token so you'll never have to discard!
My friends got really fed up with Vedalken Orrery/Leyline of Anticipation, so I try to find more creative ways to cast sorceries as instants, but yeah, they're probably overall better than Brain in a Jar.
PS: Cenn's Enlistment does not rebound out of the graveyard, since rebound only triggers if you cast it from your hand! Same goes for Approach if you weren't aware.
As for Vanish into Memory, it's not really meant to be protection for Taigam, since as you say it would be card disadvantage, but it's a great multi-purpose spell. And you can always use it on a token so you'll never have to discard!
Ah, I didn't think to use it on a token to skip the discard. Unfortunately, most all my dudes enter as 1/1s and it's not super reliable to pump them with the small handful of pieces I have to take advantage of Memory like that. I'll consider it more and I'll pay attention in play testing how often my tokens get swoll.
PS: Cenn's Enlistment does not rebound out of the graveyard, since rebound only triggers if you cast it from your hand! Same goes for Approach if you weren't aware.
Yeah, I'm aware. I mean Cenn's Enlistment as value that I always have access to recast it from the yard if I want/need more bodies or if there's nothing good to use my mana to rebound with - just discard a land and pay 4 to get 2 more dudes (hopefully with a pump or Anointed Procession out - Dovescape gives me six bodies on retrace cast). I know it'll only renound from hand.
Same with Approach of the Second Sun - it resolves back into my library before it exiles for rebound, that's why I included so much draw to dig it up again.
As much as I want to try Cenn's Enlistment, I know it's not going to be as good as my Waves of Aggression retrace experience, and I'll find myself disappointed. I cut it and added Talrand's Invocation for the same CMC, but provides more evasive and bigger bodies up front, and it's still in that 0.5 mana/power ratio I like.
With Pouncing Kavu's suggestions I was rethinking my protection/evasion package for Taigam and realized unblockability can be inferior to indestructible, for my targeted spells anyway, and I could always use the later to protect Taigam on opponents' turns if needed an can protect my other creatures that make tokens if needed as well. I reasoned unblockable is nice to live through combat and deal some commander damage, but not to protect from board wipes and other targeted removal, while indestructible does it all (except exiling effects). With that I searched Gatherer and came up with Ephemeral Shields to use at instant-speed, possibly for 0 if I tap two tokens when casting it! Great synergy with what I'm trying to do. Worst case, I pay 2 mana at instant-speed to gain protection for two of my turns, and best case I pay no mana directly to it. I removed Artful Dodge to fit it, which wasn't a wholly easy decision. I like Artful Dodge because it provided more control on when I want to cast it to get Taigam's attack trigger safely with it's flashback ability. If Taigam dies to a wipe or other effect before it comes around back to my turn, then rebounded targeted protection spells don't really help me in that regard, but an Artful Dodge sitting safely in the yard awaiting for me to cast it on command with flashback is more helpful there. Ultimately, Ephemeral Shields can be cast cheaper, and it can help on opponents' turns, so I'll take it instead.
I was looking at the Ixilan set while getting ready for pre-release this weekend and noticed Sheltering Light! It's what I was just looking for! 1CMC instant-speed indestructible protection and then scrys. Sign me up. I removed Distortion Strike.
Speaking of Ixilan cards: Primal Amulet is now making a home in this deck. Same CMC as Jace's Sanctum (but easier to cast with no color requirement) with the front a Jace's Sanctum variant and a Mirari / Swarm Intelligence effect for the back half - yes, yes, and yes. By early-mid game, I should easily make the counter count requirement to flip it and then it becomes a (generally) more protected permanent as a land. So good and I'm using it! I'm removing said Jace's Sanctum for it.
Have you thought about Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite? High end, but works great with Dovescape, killing all their birds and obviously makes all your tokens huge.
Have you thought about Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite? High end, but works great with Dovescape, killing all their birds and obviously makes all your tokens huge.
Hmmmm, I actually had not yet considered Elesh Norn, Grand Centobite, likely because a) she’s got a higher “mean” factor as all the Praetor’s do and b) I don’t have a copy and she’s on the pricey side. However, she would bring some bite (Centobite?) to the deck and she is being reprinted right now from Iconic Masters, so I’m thinking I’ll give her a slot and maybe pick the Iconic Masters print up. I’m thinking about removing Mother of Runes for her. Mother of Runs is nice spot protection for Taigam, and may allow him to attack freely, but so far she’s either been non-impactful or not effective at pulling some weight since she can only activate about once a turn from having to tap and I’m not running any untap shenanigans.
I’m thinking about removing Mother of Runes for her. Mother of Runs is nice spot protection for Taigam, and may allow him to attack freely, but so far she’s either been non-impactful or not effective at pulling some weight since she can only activate about once a turn from having to tap and I’m not running any untap shenanigans.
OK, I can write a whole article on why Mother of Runes does far more for than you think in a game. You can play a Mother of Ruins, and never tap her once in a game. Not doing anything? Actually she is doing everything. What you'll find is that because she can stop spot removal, nobody is going to cast spells to target your creatures. You can have all your opponents with a way to remove her, but none are willing to waste it for the first trigger. Its the unseen work that she does during a game which makes her such a powerful card. Do not remove her from the deck, trust in the never tapping her as the best sign of success.
What to take out then? Too be honest I haven't looked at the deck content much, but I guess for a similar effect Ephemeral Shields is pretty weak for a similar effect as Mother of Runes.
I’m excited to build a spellslinger deck with Taigam, Ojutai Master (OjuTaigam)! My prior experience with spellslinger is Talrand, Sky Summoner and Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis, but I think this will be different from those with the “cannot be countered” clause and rebounding effects. I play in a very casual meta where no one is trying to blow out the game on an early turn. Generally, we build decks to do some “thing” and like to play them out for that “thing”. Infinite combos are fairly rare and tend to be more intricate putting together. I almost always play multiplayer 3-5 players. I like the randomness of how games play out and so I do not like to play tutors.
I know this is OjuTaigam, but this is not an infinite turns deck. Getting infinite turns isn’t a fun thing for me, and seems pretty lame for my playgroup, so instead I’m thinking rebound value value value! Getting double the effect for draw and cantrip spells to dig deep to the bigger spells that create tons of tokens – then rebound those too! Alrighty, here is the first draft cut down to 99:
1 Taigam, Ojutai Master
Creatures
1 Aven Wind Guide
1 Docent of Perfection
1 Monastery Mentor
1 Mother of Runes
1 Talrand, Sky Summoner
1 Thassa, God of the Sea
Sorcery
1 Advice from the Fae
1 Approach of the Second Sun
1 Call to Mind
1 Collective Effort
1 Conqueror's Pledge
1 Failure // Comply
1 Fathom Trawl
1 Fumigate
1 Hour of Reckoning
1 Increasing Devotion
1 Migratory Route
1 Phyrexian Rebirth
1 Pieces of the Puzzle
1 Preordain
1 Righteous Confluence
1 Serum Visions
1 Spectral Procession
1 Sram's Expertise
1 Talrand's Invocation
1 Anticipate
1 Brave the Elements
1 Dig Through Time
1 Ephemeral Shields
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Glimmer of Genius
1 Impulse
1 Make a Stand
1 Path to Exile
1 Peer Through Depths
1 Raise the Alarm
1 Reality Shift
1 Return to Dust
1 Rootborn Defenses
1 Shadow Rift
1 Sheltering Light
1 Supreme Will
Artifact
1 Azorius Signet
1 Commander's Sphere
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Dolmen Gate
1 Fellwar Stone
1 Primal Amulet
1 Pyramid of the Pantheon
1 Sol Ring
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Sword of the Animist
1 Anointed Procession
1 Aqueous Form
1 Aura of Silence
1 Cathars' Crusade
1 Dovescape
1 Intangible Virtue
1 Reconnaissance
1 Steel of the Godhead
Land
1 Adarkar Wastes
1 Azorius Chancery
1 Azorius Guildgate
1 Command Tower
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Glacial Fortress
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Homeward Path
1 Irrigated Farmland
12 Island
1 Maze of Ith
14 Plains
1 Prairie Stream
1 Temple of the False God
1 Terramorphic Expanse
I’m trying to get OjuTaigam out, make him unblockable or indestructible, then cast draw spells with rebound for value, or cast token generating spells with rebound to flood the board with little dudes that may or may not be buffed. Attacking with those tokens, then, is the main win condition, but there’s some alternate ones too.
Protection/unblockabiity for Ojutaigam’s rebound trigger (on attack) includes: Mother of Runes, Thassa, God of the Sea, Ephemeral Shields, Sheltering Light, Brave the Elements (also good when I have a bunch of white tokens too), Make a Stand, Rootborn Defenses, Shadow Rift, Dolmen Gate, Reconnaissance, Aqueous Form, Steel of the Godhead, and Maze of Ith.
There are several win cons mixing both spell and token themes.
1. Approach of the Second Sun
OjuTaigam makes this un-counterable and there’s plenty of draw to dig for it after the first casting. Basically, the resolution of AotSS places it back in my library seventh from the top instead of into exile (so can’t gain rebound), but then I’d use other draw spells that DO rebound to dig for it. So, a good portion of the draw spells are meant to be efficient for how far they “dig”. Dig Through Time is the most straightforward way to get AotSS back, and by then there should be plenty spells in the yard to exile, essentially paying UU at instant speed to grab AotSS and recast it from there. Most other things are digging 4-5 cards deep (8+ deep if they’re rebounded), such as Anticipate, Fact or Fiction, Glimmer of Genius, Impulse, Peer Through Depths, Supreme Will, Advice from the Fae, Fathom Trawl, Pieces of the Puzzle, and Serum Visions. Failure // Comply is a combo that brings AotSS right back to my hand if I have enough mana. I should be trying to stick OjuTaigam before casting AotSS so it cannot be countered, but I’m including Call to Mind for bringing back other spells for value and AotSS if needed.
2. Attack with OjuTaigam, hopefully he lives, then cast spells generating lots of tokens, and have them rebound for more tokens! Conqueror’s Pledge, Sram's Expertise, Righteous Confluence, Increasing Devotion, Migratory Route, and Spectral Procession.
Cast that big token spell annnnnnnd:
-Double ‘em up with Anointed Procession
-Give them vigilance and evasion with Aven Wind Guide
-Pump them with Collective Effort / Cathars’ Crusade / Intangible Virtue
-Swing in!
There can be tremendous value when casting these token spells when they gain rebound, and even more deadly with Anointed Procession. Conqueror’s Pledge, for example, has the potential to make twelve 1/1’s for five mana (if not kicked), or twenty-four with Anointed Procession out. I feel like this also allows for great recovery from board wipes too by recasting OjuTaigam and attacking for another rebounded token spell, or just casting the token spells themselves to make lots of bodies.
3. Docent of Perfection / Monastery Mentor / Talrand, Sky Summoner
Create some tokens (2/2 fliers with Talrand and 3/2 fliers with a flipped Docent!) with all those initial and rebound cast triggers. Even without OjuTaigam out, these can create deadly armies with all the instants and sorceries.
4. Some form of a Dovescape lock
Dovescape is great with OjuTaigam since he negates Dovescape from countering my own spells (while Dovescape still normally should be countering my opponents’ spells), so I end up with four, five, or six 1/1 flying doves and whatever effect from my spell (likely more tokens or more cards).
Ideally, I would want to grab Anointed Procession and/or Cathars’ Crusade before Dovescape to double and/or pump my tokens. All three out would be giving me a small handful of beefy fliers each cast trigger.
5. Commander damage possibility
With all the unblockable effects and OjuTaigam’s 3/4 body, the damage could add up, but this can surely be aided with all the tokens too – with cards like Collective Effort (flavor win for tapping a handful of tokens that OjuTaigam’s rebound generated to pump him with +1 counters) and Cathars’ Crusade (OjuTaigam gets a +1 counter for each token entering the field and that becomes deadly quickly when 5+ are ETB and even more from rebound).
Phyrexian Rebirth gives me a single giant beater to get through some pillow fort effects, made even more deadly if I cast this destroying my own big token army and then using one of the unblockable spells or effects to hit with some hard single-creature damage.
Pristine Skywise, Sunscorch Regent, Ojutai, Soul of Winter, Dragonlord Ojutai, and other dragons. I wasn’t feeling the dragon vibe from building this, although some do have a bit of synergy with what I want the deck to do, it doesn’t seem like high impact synergy.
Guile, as the traditional other half of a Dovescape combo seems a bit hefty mana-wise when I get the same effect from my command zone, and it’s not worth running it for the anti-mill ability IMO.
Nomads’ Assembly, although it has rebound already so no OjuTaigam needed, I’m hung up on the “for each creature you control” cause. I definitely wouldn’t want this as my first big token spell as I only get literally a couple tokens for six mana, and for the same reason isn’t reliable to recover me from board wipes either. I’d rather make definite token numbers, or have the net cast wider like in Deploy to the Front.
Gitaxian Probe, Ponder, Brainstorm, etc. These staple blue cantrips become even greater value with rebound, but Probe, while allowing me to see one or two opponents’ hands can be invaluable information, just doesn’t dig deep enough if I’m trying to get to that Approach of the Second Sun ASAP. I imagine that once I cast AotSS and my opponents know I have draw spells to get back to it, they’ll try to take me out quickly and I’d rather have something that digs for at least three at that point, so a possible six if rebounded. I kept Brainstorm over Ponder because the former is at instant-speed.
Pull from the Deep exiles itself on resolution and so doesn’t net any additional value from rebound. I may consider this in the future if I find that I’m really wanting to get beck some of my spells.
Slip Through Space replaces itself, but is at sorcery speed, so unlikely to take advantage of rebound for additional strikes for OjuTaigam. I felt Artful Dodge and Distortion Strike were better at 1CMC sorcery since they can be reused.
Encircling Fissure seemed great initially at 3CMC to keep OjuTaigam alive for rebound triggers or to save me from an alpha strike for a turn (or two if rebounded!), but I liked Brave the Elements even more for what the deck is trying to do – protect OjuTaigam or make a giant token army unblockable. The only downside to Elements is that it protects only from one color, so if there’s other colored creatures controlled by the defending player it doesn’t work as well, although this can be mitigated by choosing to attack the player with creatures of one common color.
Storm Herd seems realllllly fun if rebounded, but this isn’t a life gain or pillowfort deck and at 10CMC I feel I would never cast it.
Cyclonic Rift, yes, is an awesomely powerful card and can (and does) often win games, but I’m personally burnt out from including it into every single deck with blue. Everyone expects it’s inclusion if you’re playing blue and I’ve recently created other blue decks without it that still make great fun and still have big potential to pull out wins. I feel like seeing this card is like Craterhoof Behemoth in every green token deck. I can’t really withstand being Craterhoof’ed more than once in a night and I feel others feel the same about Rift – just too overplayed for variety’s sake.
Counterspell and all other counter variants are not included because I’ve been having recent fun excluding these from some other blue decks too. People in my playgroup may catch on, but initially it’s fun to see them hesitate when I have mana open thinking I must be holding a counterspell and the bluff helps out if even slightly while I get to have other cards in hand to play. Supreme Will is included for the second mode. I was considering Mystic Confluence since it is also modal value, but I don’t own one and it’s a bit pricey for me.
Elspeth, Sun’s Champion and other synergistic Planeswalkers are great for a deck like this, but I haven’t been playing MtG that long and so don’t have many PWs available to me. Maybe a future upgrade.
Isochron Scepter has great infinite combo potential, although not a goal of the deck, it does allow me to reuse the 1 and 2CMC protection and unblockable spells for OjuTaigam to attack safely. I haven’t included it because I feel it would be a big target once out and I don’t feel like being 2-for-1’d to removal.
Whispersilk Cloak is great for repeatable unblockability and protects OjuTaigam, but I feel it would be targeted for removal very quickly, as often happens when I see it played in others’ decks. I like the idea of casting spells to make OjuTaigam unblockable/protected because it’s less likely that an opponent will be able to interact with something like that (counterspells/abilities) than an artifact that can be destroyed (or worse, gained control of).
Throne of the God-Pharaoh is an awesome card in token and “go wide” strategies. I’ve already included it in two other decks I have, so I’m trying to see how this deck plays without it and for my playgroup variety sake. Plus, this too is a removal magnet.
Metallurgic Summonings is great in any spellslinger deck churning out value bodies that would have very strong synergy in a deck like this. Ultimately, I had to limit the token generators and I liked the idea of 2/2 and 3/2 fliers from Talrand, Sky Summoner and a flipped Docent of Perfection, respectively, than non-evasive mid-body beaters. I may reconsider this one after pla testing since an enchantment generator is harder to remove than creature ones.
Swarm Intelligence seems great here too, in the same vein as Mirari, but it’s also 2CMC more than Mirari. I like that it’s harder to remove as an enchantment and there’s no additional cost to copy spells with it, but that 7CMC is getting me. I feel like at 7CMC, I’m going to be wanting to cast a big token spell or multiple draw spells. Another that I may consider adding in the future, after some testing.
Skullclamp is staple draw value in a token deck, but I’ll likely have some sort of +1 counters or static buff going on that would render this pretty ineffective.
9/19/17: Made some updates to stave off my worries about ramp and mana base. Now I should have 36 mana-producing lands, six mana rocks, and alternate forms of mana/land production in Ashnod's Altar and Sword of the Animist. I'm satisfied with that and I'll see how it goes in play testing.
I’m still unsure about the amount of ways I’m including to give Taigam, Ojutai Master unblockable or protection when attacking. Might be too much (hopefully it is and then I can cut some for other cards?).
What do you think? Too much unblockable/protection pieces? Is there a case for me to include some of the cards I considered but cut such as Metallurgic Summonings and Swarm Intelligence? Does this strategy seem to be effective with OjuTaigam? Are there cards or synergies I’m missing? I’d really enjoy your feedback. Thank you so much!
Current EDH
UThassa, God of the Sea devotion control
WRGTana, the Bloodsower & Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa partners weenie tokens
UUnesh, Criosphinx Sovereign Sphinx tribal
WUTaigam, Ojutai Master tokens on the rebound spellslinger
GRhonas the Indomitable green creature beats
UGRashmi, Eternities Crafter ETB tribal
Retired EDH
WURGKynaios and Tiro of Meletis group hug
URThe Locust God draw swarm
UTalrand, Sky Summoner funsies blue spells
WBObzedat, Ghost Council life gain/drain
I very briefly in passing considered Grand Arbiter Augustin IV, but he cost-reducing effect has that stax-y vibe and I thought I'd limit those kinds of cards since they hate the owner off the table fairly quickly. I already know I'll draw some groans from running Aura of Silence. I also very briefly thought about Baral, Chief of Compliance, but since I decided not to run counters in this deck I felt I wouldn't be taking advantage of his full abilities and at that point I should just be running a harder-to-remove 2-drop mana rock like Mind Stone. I do think the deck could use more ways to ramp though.
Imma go check out your deck now!
Current EDH
UThassa, God of the Sea devotion control
WRGTana, the Bloodsower & Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa partners weenie tokens
UUnesh, Criosphinx Sovereign Sphinx tribal
WUTaigam, Ojutai Master tokens on the rebound spellslinger
GRhonas the Indomitable green creature beats
UGRashmi, Eternities Crafter ETB tribal
Retired EDH
WURGKynaios and Tiro of Meletis group hug
URThe Locust God draw swarm
UTalrand, Sky Summoner funsies blue spells
WBObzedat, Ghost Council life gain/drain
IN
+Anticipate
+Fellwar Stone
+Darksteel Ingot
+Pyramid of the Pantheon
+Sword of the Animist
+Oblation
OUT
-Deep Analysis
-Worn Powerstone
-Soul Warden
-Keeper of Keys
-Curious Homunculus
-Mirari
I totally missed Anticipate when skimming through my old Talrand list, and it's a good one! Digs three deep, so six if rebounded, at instant speed for 2CMC. Definitely what I want to see after I've casted a successful Approach of the Second Sun with OjuTaigam out before he attacks. I removed Deep Analysis because it takes much more work (more mana and life) to eventually dig down and it's sorcery speed. Anticipate helps my mana curve and it more efficient!
I fixed-up my ramp package.
--I switched Worn Powerstone (slow-ring) for Fellwar Stone. I figured Fellwar can come down earlier, doesn't ETB tapped, and gets me colored mana (blue and white are fairly common amongst my play group). This should increase the speed and is also helping my curve.
--I took out Soul Warden because the more I thought about it, the more I figured a single "soul sister" would be unreliable and could sometimes be a dead card, say in those instances where the game develops where I'm not going the Tokens route and I'm just trying to dig out an AotSS. I added Darksteel Ingot in it's place to improve the ramp, as it produces a color and is indestructible.
--Pyramid of the Pantheon (slow-tus) is another leftover from my Talrand deck, and this thing is awesome if I play it early enough. I don't own a Gilded Lotus, so this is one of the alternatives to it for me. Even if I did own a GLotus, I think I'd prefer the Pantheon in some instances. I took out Keeper of Keys to help my curve and because he seems kinda slow having to wait a whole round until my next upkeep to not take combat damage. I felt he would be most effective once it's down to 1v1, but if I'm in a position to make an army of tokens unblockable, I feel I'd be in a fairly goo position at that point and this would likely be win-more.
--Since I added in the more reliable artifact colored ramp, Curious Homunculus wasn't looking as solid. I could see him being bopped to an easy board wipe. Instead, I'm liking Sword of the Animist for thining out my deck with OjuTaigam's attack triggers.
After a few more looks, I thought I might be a little light, so I wanted to add something to deal with any type of permanent: enter Oblation. I cut Mirari because it seemed hefty to get going (eight mana investment for first use) and I'll bet that if I begin to reply on it heavily when OjuTaigam is unavailable, my opponents are going to target it quickly, and I can't just go about recasting it from the command zone, so. . .
That's it for now. My curve looks muuuuuch better (well, at least it looks curve-like anyway).
What are thoughts on these changes? Anyone else have some good insight to Taigam, Ojutai Master or the strategy of this kind of deck? I'd love to hear (read) the feedback! And thanks!
Current EDH
UThassa, God of the Sea devotion control
WRGTana, the Bloodsower & Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa partners weenie tokens
UUnesh, Criosphinx Sovereign Sphinx tribal
WUTaigam, Ojutai Master tokens on the rebound spellslinger
GRhonas the Indomitable green creature beats
UGRashmi, Eternities Crafter ETB tribal
Retired EDH
WURGKynaios and Tiro of Meletis group hug
URThe Locust God draw swarm
UTalrand, Sky Summoner funsies blue spells
WBObzedat, Ghost Council life gain/drain
I think my deck is more single-mindedly focused specifically on spells that make tokens, though. There are a lot of tokens makers you're not playing that seem really good:
Sram's Expertise
Eyes in the Skies (not amazing, but it's an instant, and can be devastating if you have a token copy of something)
Midnight Haunting
Supplant Form
Feudkiller's Verdict
Rise from the Tides (Seems amazing with or without rebound!)
Talrand's Invocation
Triplicate Spirits
Saheeli's Artistry
Fated Infatuation
Fractured Identity
Telemin Performance (Sort of like a token maker)
I'm also running a bunch on instant one-mana cantrips, which basically become one-mana divinations. The most important by far is Quicken, allowing me to to cast a sorcery speed token maker or something before the opponent has a chance to block Taigam. Bandage and Fleeting Distraction can be very frustrating to anyone who blocks with a 4-power creature.
I also run a number of cards that I can cast on my opponent's turn to protect Taigam, but also good if I play them on my turn and get a rebound. Valorous Stance is probably the best example. Shelter is also great. Anything that gives protection or indestructible is pretty desirable because both can counter removal and allow Taigam to survive combat.
Brain in a Jar is a card I haven't gotten to play yet, but seems great, since it allows you to cast your sorceries during combat and ensure you get the rebound. Vanish into Memory is another card I try to run in every EDH deck I can.
IN
+Raise the Alarm
+Cenn’s Enlistment
+Righteous Confluence
+Plains
OUT
-Ashnod’s Altar
-Oblation
-Devout Invocation
-Rogue’s Passage
After goldfishing for a bit I realized there’s not a whole lot of token creating spells to get to my hand consistently, so I felt I really wanted to add more, particularly of the low CMC variety to get tokens out there earlier. I did some card searches and came up with Raise the Alarm as a 2CMC instant that gets bodies out there (4 of them if I cast it right after OutTaigam triggers) and Cenn’s Enlistment as a less efficient 4CMC one, but it can be repeated from the yard with the Retrace ability, which should add some resiliency. I played a Naya tokens deck before that had a sub-theme of extra combat steps and Waves of Aggression was amazing with retrace in that deck. To fit these, I ended up removing the aforementioned Oblation since it was arguably the weaker removal (I actually like it as a defensive piece against Song of the Dryads, Imprisoned in the Moon, and Darksteel Mutation, but we’ll see how that goes) and Ashnod’s Altar. I know, I know, the ramp AA can provide is phenomenal in a token deck, but the real value in it has always been the sacrifice outlet. I’m only running 6 creatures so I’m not trying to invest a whole lot into keeping them in the yard if they would otherwise go to exile or something. During goldfishing, I consistently got enough lands and/or ramp that I was always considering mulliganing AA away unless I had a token generating spell in my opening hand with it, so maybe my decision to cut it is skewed due to the lighter token spells count, but I’m willing to part with it for now and see if there’s any situations that I really wish I had it (I don’t expect many/enough).
I finally had time to peer through a chunk of my own cards the other night and found out I own a Righteous Confluence! Six 2/2s for 5CMC (so less than 0.5 mana per power produced seems pretty efficient to me!), plus is modal, so I can exile some stuff if I had to or gain a potential of 30 life off 5 mana – seems good! I decided to cut Devout Invocation for it because, while Invocation does have great potential if I’m already set up with a bunch of tokens, it’s power is conditional that I already have a set up board and I’d like to get away from those kinds of cards for consistency’s sake. Plus it’s 7CMC – seems like it would be a dead card in hand half the time, especially if tokens aren’t working out and I’m in full Approach of the Second Sun mode. Confluence at least does other things at cheaper CMC if making bodies wasn’t high enough impact at any particular moment.
Adding these white cards and seeing my color distribution slightly increase toward that color, I thought about adding a Plains. I looked at my lands and reevaluated Rogue’s Passage. I didn’t feel like essentially 5 mana was that efficient to give OjuTaigam unblockable for his trigger, especially if I wanted to cast other things after, so I cut it for an additional Plains.
Current EDH
UThassa, God of the Sea devotion control
WRGTana, the Bloodsower & Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa partners weenie tokens
UUnesh, Criosphinx Sovereign Sphinx tribal
WUTaigam, Ojutai Master tokens on the rebound spellslinger
GRhonas the Indomitable green creature beats
UGRashmi, Eternities Crafter ETB tribal
Retired EDH
WURGKynaios and Tiro of Meletis group hug
URThe Locust God draw swarm
UTalrand, Sky Summoner funsies blue spells
WBObzedat, Ghost Council life gain/drain
Bandage and Fleeting Distraction seem super fun. I really like that they both play at instant-speed AND cantrip. They both provide cheap and easy protection for Taigam early, so that’s really efficient. I don’t think they’ll have as much of an impact late game however as bigger creatures usually come out on those later game turns – at least for a lot of decks in my meta, which are creature heavy.
Valorous Stance and Shelter are also great instant-speed protection for Taigam, but only for him (or one target creature). I like the option of protecting my whole board/token army like Brave the Elements, Make a Stand, and Rootborn Defense – these can protect Taigam directly if needed, or the whole army if one is out. For getting Taigam to live through attack, I prefer repeatable means or low investment stuff. Thassa, God of the Sea, Aqueous Form, Reconnaissance, and Maze of Ith are really low investment AND repeatable. Artful Dodge and Distortion Strike aren’t instant speed, so I’d have to cast them before attack, but they have built-in re-use in the form of Flashback and Rebound, respectively. So low investment with the same repeatable option. Shadow Rift is instant-speed, although it doesn’t cantrip that’s not an issue in this deck with all the other draw spells I ‘d plan to rebound also.
I saw a Vanish into Memory in my own cards the other day too, but passed on it since I could only think of limited applications. My first though was to use it on Taigam after the attack trigger, cast instant-speed stuff to give them rebound, then resolve this to protect Taigam and draw three cards . . . but then I’d have to discard 4 and rebound it at upkeep? As a protection for Taigam, I found it clunky. As a draw spell, I found it inefficient compared to the other spells I’m running to dig deeper for that Approach of the Second Sun. I dunno, do you use it in other ways?
Brain in a Jar seems like it would hurt MY brain trying to manage it in a game where I’m already likely to be doing funky math with token numbers and power/toughness calcs with the pump effects, etc. I don’t know if that’s a good reason to pass on this card in this particular deck, but it’s the truth for me, and I’d like to be able to play more games without getting a headache manipulating the jar to cast something at instant-speed here and there. I’d rather drop a Vedalken Orrery and forget about it.
As far as the token stuff: I’m not hooked on instant-speed stuff since I plan to have Taigam go unblocked, most likely with repeatable stuff so I can safely cast after combat. I’m really more interested in stuff of value and efficiency as in creating lots of bodies/power relative to the mana invested. Sram’s Expertise fits that bill! I can potentially create six 1/1s and cast other 3CMC or less from my hand to also give THAT rebound? That’s value to me! I’m going to cut Deploy to the Front for it. Deploy is another one of those high CMC conditional cards, so cutting it in favor of Sram’s Expertise gets the deck lower to the ground and more reliable on token generation. Sweet suggestion!
I’m not sold on a lot of the other stuff. I’ve seen Eyes in the Skies in other token decks, but nearly all of my tokens are going to be meek 1/1 or 2/2 dudes and even with rebound this gets me 4-6 power for 4CMC – not the greatest. I have the same feeling with Midnight Haunting, which turns out to be a potential 4 (flying) power for 3CMC – not bad, but not the most efficient compared to other cards in the deck around that same CMC, like Spectral Procession (6 flying power for 3 mana investment, albeit at sorcery-speed). And again, same on Fated Infatuation: my tokens will be small, and I have few value creatures of my own to copy that aren’t legendary (Docent of Perfection?).
I don’t feel I have enough alternate sources of lifegain for Feudkiller’s Verdict to be consistent. There are lifegain and lifelink decks in my meta, and so even at gaining 10 life, I don’t feel like it would net me that 5/5 body.
I’m interested in Rise from the Tides, Talrand’s Invoation, and Triplicate Spirits. I actually considered Rise from the Tides and Talrand’s Invocation for this deck since they were both in my previous Talrand build, but I believe I ended up cutting them to make room for good draw spells.
Rise from the Tides seems like it could be a late-game finisher – with or without rebound – if I lived to attack with the Zombies. Seems on the slower side, but potential. What could I possibly cut for it?
Talrand’s Invocation nets me a possible 8 flying power for 4CMC, which is great – amazing even – but I’m having trouble deciding what I might cut for this too. What would you think?
Triplicate Spirits is a border “conditional” card for me since the value is in the convoke, which means I’d need other creatures already on the board to get max efficiency out of it, but a potential 6 flying power for WW is awesome. What could I cut for this?
Thanks for all of the suggestions, this is really helpful!
Current EDH
UThassa, God of the Sea devotion control
WRGTana, the Bloodsower & Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa partners weenie tokens
UUnesh, Criosphinx Sovereign Sphinx tribal
WUTaigam, Ojutai Master tokens on the rebound spellslinger
GRhonas the Indomitable green creature beats
UGRashmi, Eternities Crafter ETB tribal
Retired EDH
WURGKynaios and Tiro of Meletis group hug
URThe Locust God draw swarm
UTalrand, Sky Summoner funsies blue spells
WBObzedat, Ghost Council life gain/drain
As for Vanish into Memory, it's not really meant to be protection for Taigam, since as you say it would be card disadvantage, but it's a great multi-purpose spell. And you can always use it on a token so you'll never have to discard!
My friends got really fed up with Vedalken Orrery/Leyline of Anticipation, so I try to find more creative ways to cast sorceries as instants, but yeah, they're probably overall better than Brain in a Jar.
PS: Cenn's Enlistment does not rebound out of the graveyard, since rebound only triggers if you cast it from your hand! Same goes for Approach if you weren't aware.
Ah, I didn't think to use it on a token to skip the discard. Unfortunately, most all my dudes enter as 1/1s and it's not super reliable to pump them with the small handful of pieces I have to take advantage of Memory like that. I'll consider it more and I'll pay attention in play testing how often my tokens get swoll.
Yeah, I'm aware. I mean Cenn's Enlistment as value that I always have access to recast it from the yard if I want/need more bodies or if there's nothing good to use my mana to rebound with - just discard a land and pay 4 to get 2 more dudes (hopefully with a pump or Anointed Procession out - Dovescape gives me six bodies on retrace cast). I know it'll only renound from hand.
Same with Approach of the Second Sun - it resolves back into my library before it exiles for rebound, that's why I included so much draw to dig it up again.
Current EDH
UThassa, God of the Sea devotion control
WRGTana, the Bloodsower & Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa partners weenie tokens
UUnesh, Criosphinx Sovereign Sphinx tribal
WUTaigam, Ojutai Master tokens on the rebound spellslinger
GRhonas the Indomitable green creature beats
UGRashmi, Eternities Crafter ETB tribal
Retired EDH
WURGKynaios and Tiro of Meletis group hug
URThe Locust God draw swarm
UTalrand, Sky Summoner funsies blue spells
WBObzedat, Ghost Council life gain/drain
IN
+Sram's Expertise
+Talrand's Invocation
+Ephemeral Shields
+Sheltering Light
+Primal Amulet
OUT
-Deploy to the Front
-Cenn's Enlistment
-Artful Dodge
-Distortion Strike
-Jace's Sanctum
As mentioned before, made room for Sram's Expertise by cutting Deploy to the Front.
As much as I want to try Cenn's Enlistment, I know it's not going to be as good as my Waves of Aggression retrace experience, and I'll find myself disappointed. I cut it and added Talrand's Invocation for the same CMC, but provides more evasive and bigger bodies up front, and it's still in that 0.5 mana/power ratio I like.
With Pouncing Kavu's suggestions I was rethinking my protection/evasion package for Taigam and realized unblockability can be inferior to indestructible, for my targeted spells anyway, and I could always use the later to protect Taigam on opponents' turns if needed an can protect my other creatures that make tokens if needed as well. I reasoned unblockable is nice to live through combat and deal some commander damage, but not to protect from board wipes and other targeted removal, while indestructible does it all (except exiling effects). With that I searched Gatherer and came up with Ephemeral Shields to use at instant-speed, possibly for 0 if I tap two tokens when casting it! Great synergy with what I'm trying to do. Worst case, I pay 2 mana at instant-speed to gain protection for two of my turns, and best case I pay no mana directly to it. I removed Artful Dodge to fit it, which wasn't a wholly easy decision. I like Artful Dodge because it provided more control on when I want to cast it to get Taigam's attack trigger safely with it's flashback ability. If Taigam dies to a wipe or other effect before it comes around back to my turn, then rebounded targeted protection spells don't really help me in that regard, but an Artful Dodge sitting safely in the yard awaiting for me to cast it on command with flashback is more helpful there. Ultimately, Ephemeral Shields can be cast cheaper, and it can help on opponents' turns, so I'll take it instead.
I was looking at the Ixilan set while getting ready for pre-release this weekend and noticed Sheltering Light! It's what I was just looking for! 1CMC instant-speed indestructible protection and then scrys. Sign me up. I removed Distortion Strike.
Speaking of Ixilan cards: Primal Amulet is now making a home in this deck. Same CMC as Jace's Sanctum (but easier to cast with no color requirement) with the front a Jace's Sanctum variant and a Mirari / Swarm Intelligence effect for the back half - yes, yes, and yes. By early-mid game, I should easily make the counter count requirement to flip it and then it becomes a (generally) more protected permanent as a land. So good and I'm using it! I'm removing said Jace's Sanctum for it.
Current EDH
UThassa, God of the Sea devotion control
WRGTana, the Bloodsower & Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa partners weenie tokens
UUnesh, Criosphinx Sovereign Sphinx tribal
WUTaigam, Ojutai Master tokens on the rebound spellslinger
GRhonas the Indomitable green creature beats
UGRashmi, Eternities Crafter ETB tribal
Retired EDH
WURGKynaios and Tiro of Meletis group hug
URThe Locust God draw swarm
UTalrand, Sky Summoner funsies blue spells
WBObzedat, Ghost Council life gain/drain
Niv-Mizzet Reborn
Feather, the Redeemed
Estrid, the Masked
Teshar
Tymna/Ravos
Najeela, Blade-Blossom
Firesong & Sunspeaker
Zur the Enchanter
Lazav, the Multifarious
Ishai+Reyhan
Click images for decks->
-Prime Speaker Vannifar
---------------------Will & Rowan Kenrith
Hmmmm, I actually had not yet considered Elesh Norn, Grand Centobite, likely because a) she’s got a higher “mean” factor as all the Praetor’s do and b) I don’t have a copy and she’s on the pricey side. However, she would bring some bite (Centobite?) to the deck and she is being reprinted right now from Iconic Masters, so I’m thinking I’ll give her a slot and maybe pick the Iconic Masters print up. I’m thinking about removing Mother of Runes for her. Mother of Runs is nice spot protection for Taigam, and may allow him to attack freely, but so far she’s either been non-impactful or not effective at pulling some weight since she can only activate about once a turn from having to tap and I’m not running any untap shenanigans.
Thanks for the suggestion!
Current EDH
UThassa, God of the Sea devotion control
WRGTana, the Bloodsower & Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa partners weenie tokens
UUnesh, Criosphinx Sovereign Sphinx tribal
WUTaigam, Ojutai Master tokens on the rebound spellslinger
GRhonas the Indomitable green creature beats
UGRashmi, Eternities Crafter ETB tribal
Retired EDH
WURGKynaios and Tiro of Meletis group hug
URThe Locust God draw swarm
UTalrand, Sky Summoner funsies blue spells
WBObzedat, Ghost Council life gain/drain
What to take out then? Too be honest I haven't looked at the deck content much, but I guess for a similar effect Ephemeral Shields is pretty weak for a similar effect as Mother of Runes.
Niv-Mizzet Reborn
Feather, the Redeemed
Estrid, the Masked
Teshar
Tymna/Ravos
Najeela, Blade-Blossom
Firesong & Sunspeaker
Zur the Enchanter
Lazav, the Multifarious
Ishai+Reyhan
Click images for decks->
-Prime Speaker Vannifar
---------------------Will & Rowan Kenrith