I built this deck a while back to have a mono blue deck when I wanted a deck of each color. I have since abandoned that plan since I didn't like the mono-green and mono-white decks, but this one stuck around. I usually don't play this deck unless someone is playing something that really needs to be answered. One of the players at one shop runs Sasaya, Orochi Ascendant. The deck itself is kind of slow as it takes quite a bit of buildup, but once Sasaya flips, it becomes a race to find an answer. Thassa gives me a lot of answers to Sasaya. It also gives me an answer to The Great Aurora besides just countering it. That is the entire reason Plagiarize is in this deck, though I have not had a chance to cast it in response to The Great Aurora. I normally don't cast it at all, but a couple of times I have cast it in response to my own Timetwister to prevent someone from drawing cards. This is usually because they are about to combo out.
For the most part, this is a traditional Mono-U control deck. However, because Thassa is the general I have a couple inclusions that might not make it in every deck.
The swords package is there give Thassa some more power and allow her to kill a player sooner. As Thassa is technically my main win condition I want to make her attacks count. Invoke Prejudice is in the deck solely because it turns on Thassa on Turn 4. The effect is very good against my opponents when they are not playing blue (and if they are playing blue, Llawan has that covered) but the UUUU is the reason I included it. Long-Term Plans is included to help get to Invoke Prejudice faster but it also allows me to get any card I might need in a given situation. Sensei's Divining Top gets it to the top for me.
I have a small Clone sub theme which helps give the deck some versatility. I like Dance of Many as it gets around an opposing Llawan and I will be including the new Flash Clone in the deck somewhere.
My favorite part of the deck is the Gauntlet of Power/Caged Sun interaction. Those cards are why I play Copy Artifact, Phyrexian Metamorph, Sculpting Steel, Clever Impersonator, and Candelabra of Tawnos. I would play some of them anyway, but the mana increases make these cards much better and Candelabra is huge when all my islands tap for 7 mana. In some cases, I will just copy a Candelabra instead of Caged Sun just to get more mana.
On a side note: my actual deck plays Library of Alexandria. One of the shops I play at has unbanned it so I take that opportunity to play it. I didn't include it in my list above since it is generally banned everywhere else, but it takes the spot of one of my islands. I stopped playing at this shop for a variety of reasons so Library is no longer part of the deck.
I have been finding that I am getting really low on life while trying to get everything set up. For example, Mana Crypt dealt around 15-18 points of damage to me last night. While I think I have only lost once to being at too low a life from losing it to Mana Crypt or other small life losses from others, I feel that it may make sense to add something for life gain.
Since life gain itself isn't usually that good unless it is a massive amount at one time, I decided to add Jitte due to its versatility. This also solves another problem with Thassa where I almost always had to swing 3 times at someone. I very often can swing for 9 and then 11 but that is only 20. With Jitte, I can swing for 9 and then next turn swing for 13. Jitte ia also removal when I need it so I think this addition will work out pretty well. And, since the counters are on Jitte, I can attack with smaller creatures early and then once Thassa is online, I can potentially one-shot someone if I need to.
Summary Dismissal is being added to handle uncounterable spells and Eldrazi and their triggers. This is just too good not to include for this deck.
I am taking out Kederekt Leviathan because I almost never wanted to cast it. It is an exceptionally good card but by the time I have 8 mana to cast it, I am usually further ahead than my opponents and Kederekt wrecks my board more than theirs. It is also harder to get down at instant speed so I can't usually cast it at the end of someone's turn if I want.
Plagiarize is cut because it is really only here for one interaction (The Great Aurora) but it comes up so infrequently and I have other ways to deal with it (including the newly add Summary Dismissal) that I don't think this corner case interaction is worth keeping this card in the deck when I really want other spells in 99% of situations.
The release of Conspiracy brought one card I want to add to Thassa: Stunt Double. The Flash makes it super relevant so I can save legendary creatures in response to removal and re-use EtB effects of creatures when I need them.
Since I don't really want to run a bunch of clone effects in this build, the cut that makes the most sense is another clone. The only two that I am willing to cut are Sakashima the Imposter and Vesuvan Shapeshifter. Sakashima is nice because I can bounce it to get another EtB effect, but not until end of turn and not without a significant mana investment. Shapeshifter is one more mana, but can clone something at instant speed. It can't get the EtB effects this way, but getting attacked with an Iona, Shield of Emeria (or some other big creature) and being able to clone it and block is nice. So, I think the cut that makes sense is Sakashima.
I like your list. Thassa, God of the Sea is quite underrated and people for whatever reason forget that she can quite easily become an indestructible 5/5.
How is Stunt Double performing? I've been meaning to test that card out. Do you find yourself drawing a lot of cards from Bident of Thassa?
I like your list. Thassa, God of the Sea is quite underrated and people for whatever reason forget that she can quite easily become an indestructible 5/5.
How is Stunt Double performing? I've been meaning to test that card out. Do you find yourself drawing a lot of cards from Bident of Thassa?
Correction: an Indestructible 5/5 that is also unblockable (with only a 2 mana investment each turn)
I have never really considered Bident of Thassa on its own, but now that you asked about it, I realize that it may not be pulling its weight. Regarding card draw alone, is on the fence. Thassa can make creatures unblockable so it is easier to get them to connect. However, I don't generally attack with that many creatures. Normally, I am only attacking with Thassa so I just draw one card.
That being said, it gives me a way to help turn on Devotion for Thassa. Tezzeret can search it out (after ticking up once to make sure he sticks around too) and Transmute Artifact can get it if I need a quick 2 Devotion.
I will have to pay more attention to what happens in my next games to see if I might be better served with a different card. I do know that I have never activated its ability, so it is just an artifact version of Coastal Piracy. I suppose if you wouldn't include Piracy, I don't think you would want Bident of Thassa (unless being an artifact makes a big enough difference).
Regarding Stunt Double: I haven't actually played it yet. I updated the deck on Saturday when I got my new Conspiracy cards, but I usually only play on Wednesday's. However, I won't be playing until next week, so I won't know until then. I will provide an update once I actually play with the card.
I still haven't had a chance to really test out Stunt Double since I don't pull this deck out that often. Not many players like playing against Mono-U already and this build can be unforgiving. I think I got Stunt Double down once since adding it and I copied Venser, Shaper Savant to bounce something. I have seen another player play it and so far I am impressed with it so I am happy with its inclusion.
That isn't to say I am not trying to keep it up to date though and I am looking at Saheeli's Artistry as the next update to the deck. Its modes are really good and it lets me break through the limit of "only" being able to produce 8 mana for each island (with Gauntlet of Power, Caged Sun, and clones). It eventually goes infinite with Archaeomancer to give me a ton of mana. There are other good targets besides those as well, so I can see it being a relevant play at different stages of the game.
To reiterate from my previous post, I don't want to make this deck loaded with clones. However, there aren't any of my existing clones I am comfortable cutting, so instead, I wlll be cutting Bident of Thassa. I like Bident as it gives me 2 devotion to U and it can be fetched off Tezzeret and Transmute Artifact but it is rare that I really need the card draw. And, I have never activated its ability. I think with the way this deck is going, this makes the most sense to cut for Artistry.
The nice thing about thassa is not only her 5/5 indestructible unblockable body for a mere 3 mana that scrys every turn, but she is also very low threat and good at politics. nobody cares about her when she isn't online, and when she is, they are too busy trying to get rid of the threat that turned her on in the first place! so much value for 3 mana, made me (traditionally a red player) switch over to blue (just for edu tho
I try to make it as flavorful as possible, adding everything with thassa in the title. Thassa's Ire isn't actually all that bad. Contributes to devotion, and taps a threat.
I cut Archaeomancer because I never really cast it. There are a lot of targets for it, but I usually just wanted to operate at Instant speed and this didn't really fit with that.
Mischievous Quanar was in the same boat. It is a great effect, but it needed to sit out on the field waiting for something worth copying. And, it was difficult and mana intensive to cast at instant speed and unmorph it right away. I don't think I every paid the morph cost so it was basically always a 2/2 for 3 and so deserved a cut.
Vesuvan Shapeshifter was similar in that I prefer the deck run at Instant speed and I have slowly been cutting down the clones in the deck. There are a couple that I kept due to their versatility (Phyrexian Metamorph) or because they have Flash (Stunt Double) but "generic" clones like this often found themselves sitting in my hand. Worth noting is that Dance of Many still has a place in the deck for the sole purpose of dealing with opposing Llawan, Cephalid Empress. Since it is not a creature, I can clone their Llawan to bounce their Llawan and prevent them from casting her again (for a while anyway).
Saheeli's Artistry was actually in here to create a loop with Archaeomancer and Caged sun (or Gauntlet) where I would clone both and get the Artistry back over and over again to create a nearly infinite amount of mana. It was a cute interaction but was never one that actually happened. It was a bit "win-more" and, with the cut of Archaeomancer, was not an option. And a 6 mana clone at Sorcery speed was, again, against what the deck wants to do.
With the above cuts, I included the following new cards:
Disallow is just an awesome counter so there isn't much more to say about it.
Vedalken Shackles probably should have been in the deck since the beginning. It gives a little resiliency against "go tall" attacks and with the addition of Whir it is something I can do at instant speed.
Whir of Invention gets so much out of the deck to either get me more mana or get me more damage with Thassa or gain me life or a variety of other things that it felt like a natural inclusion in the deck.
Basilisk Collar was included after I added Jitte as another way of gaining life. I found that Mana Crypt was often really close to killing me (and in some case actively and significantly contributed to my death) so this is a way of gaining a bunch of life back if need. The fact that it can be tutored off Trinket Mage and that Thassa helps guarantee a hit makes this a solid inclusion.
I will probably update this a little after HOU is fully spoiled.
Hey, I'm really liking your card choices here, and definitely loving your choice of commander. Thassa, God of the Sea was my first commander deck I built from scratch (started with a couple precons) and she's so versatile and you can build her many ways. I can tell your power level is a ways above mine though, as I'm using $0.25 equipment (mentioned below) and no $15-20 picks, swords packages, Candelabra(!!!!), etc., but I'll strive for that!
Ironically, I recently cut Stunt Double for Vesuvan Shapeshifter, but that's because I wanted the Vesuvan - Brine Elemental "pickles" lock in the deck. OMG, Clever Impersonator has won we so many games. I run Trophy Mage as my artifact tutor (I don't run as many artifacts, mostly creatures and enchantments for control to more likely ensure devotion for Thassa) to grab up Fireshrieker because sending in an unblockable and indestructible 5/5 doublestriking commander that is hard to remove even after a less-than-full board wipe (because of all the enchants hanging around) ends things quickly. I also use Inquisitor's Flail because Thassa is the perfect creature to run it seeing as she can take the double damage effect and still not die. Fireshrieker + Inquisitor's Flail is 20 commander damage (unblockable with Thassa's ability!) without any other buffs. GG if Caged Sun is out. I've recently been thinking about running Strata Scythe since it should easily give Thassa +6/6 or more since this is mono-U and nearly all the lands on my side would be Island, not to mention if another player is running Islands as well, despite the possibility to be 2-for-1'd on removal. Plus it is also tutorable with the Trophy Mage I already run for the shrieker. While not as versatile as Umezawa's Jitte, do you think Strata Scythe can more consistently pack a bigger punch?
I went a different route than your list with most cards being creatures that do tricks on damage triggers (made easier with Thassa's ability) and pesky blue enchantments that control the board - all of it adding devotion to keep Thassa a creature. Another All-Star from me is Scourge of Fleets - 7-drop, but nicely timed is a one-sided Evacuation that leaves you with a 6/6 beater adding 2 devotion. Even more value if you can find ways to bounce it to recast, or since we're doing blue things, clone it a turn or two later with your Stunt Double to really give some headaches.
And, with all that devotion floating around, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx pulls me through games, especially when the Winter Orb and ilk rear their ugly heads. I use Tolaria West and Expedition Map just to tutor for it because it's that important and blue can struggle to ramp effectively. How has Nykthos been working for you, do you see consistent heavy returns from it?
Wow, Teferi, Kozilek, and Invoke Prejudice?! That sounds like a lot of *fun* for your opponents. Not gonna lie, I'd most likely run Invoke Prejudice too if I could afford it or convince myself to spend that money even if I could afford it. The Candelabra though, I'd keep it safely away.
I'm curious, what kind of decks are you facing in your meta? Lots of blue where Llawan, Cephalid Empress is effective, or is there some other synergy I'm not familiar with her?
I run Trophy Mage as my artifact tutor (I don't run as many artifacts, mostly creatures and enchantments for control to more likely ensure devotion for Thassa) to grab up Fireshrieker because sending in an unblockable and indestructible 5/5 doublestriking commander that is hard to remove even after a less-than-full board wipe (because of all the enchants hanging around) ends things quickly.
I probably should be running Trophy Mage as a way to tutor up my Swords, but I just don't want to. Thassa is meant to be a control deck that eventually wins with Damage. It is actually somewhat rare to win with Commander Damage as I usually end up with a few big creatures on the board. I have chosen to limit the focus on the equipment (at least, the part of tutoring them out) to leave as many control cards in the deck as possible.
I also use Inquisitor's Flail because Thassa is the perfect creature to run it seeing as she can take the double damage effect and still not die. Fireshrieker + Inquisitor's Flail is 20 commander damage (unblockable with Thassa's ability!) without any other buffs. GG if Caged Sun is out. I've recently been thinking about running Strata Scythe since it should easily give Thassa +6/6 or more since this is mono-U and nearly all the lands on my side would be Island, not to mention if another player is running Islands as well, despite the possibility to be 2-for-1'd on removal. Plus it is also tutorable with the Trophy Mage I already run for the shrieker. While not as versatile as Umezawa's Jitte, do you think Strata Scythe can more consistently pack a bigger punch?
I don't like that it exiles a land (I am very attached to my lands in EDH ) but I think if you build the deck to take advantage of the cards above, it is infinitely better than Jitte. In fact, the entire reason Jitte is in the deck is to gain life because I found I was dying (or coming close to dying) from my Mana Crypt way too often. However, I put in Basilisk Collar to help with this which is way easier to get to since I can get it off Trinket Mage. So Jitte is on my short list of cards to cut if I find new cards I want for the deck. So, I don't think Jitte is all the essential to the deck.
Another All-Star from me is Scourge of Fleets - 7-drop, but nicely timed is a one-sided Evacuation that leaves you with a 6/6 beater adding 2 devotion. Even more value if you can find ways to bounce it to recast, or since we're doing blue things, clone it a turn or two later with your Stunt Double to really give some headaches.
Scourge of Fleets seems like an awesome card and one that can help clear the way for your creatures (or prevent being attacked back after your turn). It is actually a very interesting card. The entire issue with it (for me) is the lack of Flash. The deck wants to be doing things on the opponents' turn and, without Teferi, Scourge won't be surprising anyone. That is not to say it is a bad card and if you are having success with it, by all means continue running it. I can see where it would be beneficial. It is just why I don't run it.
And, with all that devotion floating around, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx pulls me through games, especially when the Winter Orb and ilk rear their ugly heads. I use Tolaria West and Expedition Map just to tutor for it because it's that important and blue can struggle to ramp effectively. How has Nykthos been working for you, do you see consistent heavy returns from it?
Nykthos is ridiculous in this deck. Other than basic Islands when I have my 6 Caged Suns in play, Nykthos is the top of my list of lands I want
It is crazy how much mana it gets me due to blue cards have 2, 3, or 4 blue symbols in the mana cost. It gets out of hand pretty quickly. I would never cut it. With that being said, I do not run Tolaria West or Map. I probably should be running Tolaria West, but I tend to shy away from Map. I have never put it into my decks. It is a personal preference, but I prefer that my cards do more than just get me a land to my hand (even if they are powerful) and I like playing where I naturally draw into the lands I want. It seems weird with all the other tutoring I have in the deck, but I just never play Map. It is a great card though so, again, it seems like it would be a good addition to your deck.
Wow, Teferi, Kozilek, and Invoke Prejudice?! That sounds like a lot of *fun* for your opponents. Not gonna lie, I'd most likely run Invoke Prejudice too if I could afford it or convince myself to spend that money even if I could afford it. The Candelabra though, I'd keep it safely away.
I do want to comment on these four cards. Teferi is in there for pure value. No combo shenanigans, but he is there to both stop opposing blue players (and anyone else who dares try to interrupt what I am doing ) and for the Flash he grants. There is no pretense there; he is all about the power.
Kozilek is there for the card draw, plain and simple. It is nice to get my graveyard back sometimes (though my Timetwister and similar effects generally handle that) and, if needed, he can be an end game. But, there is a reason I only run Kozilek and not Ulamog and that is because I generally have no intention of actually attacking with him.
Invoke Prejudice is in the deck solely because it is the only 4 drop in all of Magic that turns on Thassa by itself. So, I curve into Thassa turn 3 and drop down Invoke Prejudice turn 4 and start swinging. I won't lie that the ability isn't nice; it is and it is powerful. But the inclusion was made based solely on turning Thassa into a creature. I know it is expensive, but I would recommend it.
Candelabra was included because a) it works well with my Caged Sun effects (I try to get to all 7 each game), b) it is easily tutorable off Tezzeret and Trinket Mage, and c) I have 5 and I never get to play them. I had one in Daretti before I took it apart, but this is really the only deck I have currently that it makes sense in.
I'm curious, what kind of decks are you facing in your meta? Lots of blue where Llawan, Cephalid Empress is effective, or is there some other synergy I'm not familiar with her?
My metas aren't very consistent. I was playing in a different store and now I moved to a different one, but everyone has a variety of decks, so it is hard to predict. I included Llawan as a way to help hose other blue decks. Surpisingly, many decks run blue that she hoses so I don't have to worry about Jhoira going off (thought Teferi shuts her down pretty hard too), or Niv-Mizzet trying to Wheel into a win, or Sen Triplets trying to go after me. Llawan is rarely a dead card.
An interesting tidbit about this deck and Llawan: I may have mentioned it in a previous post, but you may have noticed I run Dance of Many. The entire reason for this card, and why I have kept it over "better" clones, is to shut off opposing Llawans. Since it is not a creature like most clones are, it gets around Llawan's restrictions. And then, when I clone Llawan, it bounces theirs back to their hand and they can't play it again since I have my own. It is somewhat fragile, but it is a neat "gotcha" card.
Anyway (that got pretty long-winded) I am glad you are enjoying the deck. Both my build and your own. Thassa has a lot of ways to build her which I think is what drew me to her in the first place. You can go totally voltron with some control elements or totally control with a late game finisher. I am somewhere in the middle and it sounds like you may be closer to the voltron end of the scale, but she seems more flexible than, say, Venser, Shaper Savant as Venser wants to be built with more bounce effects. Those effects are good in general, but he seems more linear than Thassa. Just my take anyway.
I am somewhere in the middle and it sounds like you may be closer to the voltron end of the scale
Actually, my games usually end up how you describe yours: lots of control early game, then ending with a couple big beaters and Thassa. I actually win slightly more games from lethal regular damage than lethal commander damage. I run 40 blue permanents (creatures and enchantments) with over 70 blue pips among them to literally almost never have Thassa offline. Mostly really janky things to shut out other commanders like Claustrophobia, Imprisoned in the Moon, Lost in Thought, Vanishing (doubles as protection for one of my creatures), and about 26 creatures all doing blue things like copy, steal, bounce, draw, or protect me early-early game before Thassa is online like Fog Bank and Guard Gomazoa.
I'm really interested in Llawan, Cephalid Empress now. I don't think there's a whole lot of mono-U in my meta, though she certainly hoses those decks, especially the creature-filled ones, but she seems pretty good at holding off multi-color creatures and commanders with blue in their color identity too. The ones on the top of my head that I'm seeing recently are Atraxa, Praetors' Voice, Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder, and Bruna, Light of Alabaster. Spicy indeed. I might try to fit her in my Thassa build and see how it goes. I run a lot of looter effects too, so worst case if she's not relevant in the current game she becomes good loot fodder, although I'd have to be careful of GY recursion working against me and having someone else take her and use her on me!
After some more consideration, I have found that Barrin, Master Wizard and Glen Elendra Archmage don't do as much in the deck as I would like. Barrin was more of a "cute" card that would let me turn off Thassa so she wouldn't get bounced/stolen/killed or whatever but I have yet to have a time where I actually wanted to draw it and with the amount of counter magic I can usually just protect Thassa that way.
The Archmage is also in an odd spot. Yes, she gives me the ability to counter two spells for one card (potentially), but she also telegraphs the play more than I want and requires me to pay 4 for no immediate benefit. And, it is then subject to just being killed before I can do anything with it. I know I can flash her in with Teferi or Winding Canyons, but then it is a 5 mana negate. The "noncreature" clause is also a detriment as it often sits there as players cast powerful creatures that she can't help stop.
As of now, I have found a replacement for Barrin in Kefnet the Mindful. Kefnet offers a few things. First, he is cheap for an indestructible creature and one that I can start equipping up if Thassa isn't turned on yet. It is also a mana sink when I have my 7 mana increasers (Caged Sun, Gauntlet of Power, and copies) in play so it should never be too hard to a) let him attack/block and b) keep my hand full with him in play. Since this deck wants to run mostly as an "Instant" deck it lets me hold up my mana and then, if I didn't need to cast anything, I can just dump my mana into drawing a card or two. I don't plan on bouncing a land very often, but it can be useful.
I am hoping to come up with something to replace Glen Elendra Archmage. I am thinking of Pull from Tomorrow but I am not sure yet.
Have you thought about Forbid as a possible repeatable counterspell replacement for Glen Elendra Archmage? It would have the same total mana to counter two spells (6) with the additional buyback cost of discarding two cards to allow that second possible counter. Keeping it in your hand protects it in some ways better than having Glen on the field as a creature. Do you think you'd have enough cards in hand between Azami, Lady of Scrolls, Kefnet the Mindful, and other draw spells to consistently buyback Forbid?
Pull from Tomorrow is a good instant-speed draw option if you're looking to replace Glen Elendra with card draw. If you're playing multiplayer, I would suggest thinking about Manifold Insights as well. A sorcery, but digs ten cards deep for three mana and gets the whole table involved. Could net you 3-4 nonland cards at a full table, and can even be used with some political barter with other players to give you the cards you want - if there's enough nonland cards to even give your opponents enough options.
Have you thought about Forbid as a possible repeatable counterspell replacement for Glen Elendra Archmage? It would have the same total mana to counter two spells (6) with the additional buyback cost of discarding two cards to allow that second possible counter. Keeping it in your hand protects it in some ways better than having Glen on the field as a creature. Do you think you'd have enough cards in hand between Azami, Lady of Scrolls, Kefnet the Mindful, and other draw spells to consistently buyback Forbid?
Pull from Tomorrow is a good instant-speed draw option if you're looking to replace Glen Elendra with card draw. If you're playing multiplayer, I would suggest thinking about Manifold Insights as well. A sorcery, but digs ten cards deep for three mana and gets the whole table involved. Could net you 3-4 nonland cards at a full table, and can even be used with some political barter with other players to give you the cards you want - if there's enough nonland cards to even give your opponents enough options.
No, I had not thought of Forbid as a replacement option but it seems like it could be a good one. My first thoughts are the same as yours. That is, do I have enough card draw to keep my hand full for Forbid and I think the answer right now is an unequivocal "maybe" :). I count 4 spells or permanents that draw me multiple cards: Rush of Knowledge, Kefnet the Mindful, Azami, Lady of Scrolls, and Kozilek, Butcher of Truth. There is also Overwhelming Intellect (but it is conditional) and things like Fact or Fiction that can get me more cards. Along with Twister effects, it might be enough. Also, adding Pull from Tomorrow gives me another source of card draw so that plays well with Forbid (though both are vying for the same slot right now).
As I mentioned earlier, Umezawa's Jitte is on the chopping block as I feel Basilisk Collar better synergizes with the deck and does more of what I want (which is lifegain). But, I keep going back and forth on it due to its versatility. Looking at my list, I might consider cutting Erratic Portal or Crystal Shard (or both) as these are more at home in a Venser, Shaper Savant deck (though Venser is in this deck). I do have a fairly high percentage of creatures that would benefit from being recast, but I don't know that I need both effects due to the relatively low overall number of creatures in the deck.
So, will all that being said, I think if I add Pull from Tomorrow, Forbid can find a place in the deck. At worse, Forbid is a 3 mana counter which isn't all that bad and, as you pointed out, the mana cost is the same (though the card disadvantage is wildly different). Plus, it gives me a reason to pick up the Forbid Invocation
As far as Manifold Insights go, being a Sorcery is a huge strike against it. Fact or Fiction is infinitely better (even though it digs half as much). Letting my opponent's pick exactly which cards I get isn't necessarily terrible, but giving everyone a full turn cycle to answer those cards isn't that great. For the politicking, that is a benefit, but it seems like it would be fairly infrequent where I would need/want to get someone to give me a specific card. There most likely are scenarios where that will come up, but I just don't feel like the majority of cases it will. And, to be honest, if I was to cast it for 3 (or fairly early) I would want lands anyway and I can't get them (not deal breaker, but just an observation). Realistically, if it was an Instant, I would probably play it.
I have been playtesting a little with Kefnet and he is insane in this deck. I found that I often had enough mana to at least activate him once or twice on my opponents turn and I could often activate it more. The biggest problem is that this deck already wants to keep a full hand so when I really have a bunch of mana, I often need to discard a bunch of cards from my hand. With this in mind, I have decided to add Reliquary Tower to give me no max hand size. There are very few cards in blue or colorless that do this and the other good ones are Thought Vessel and Venser's Journal. I don't really want Thought Vessel for ramp and I can't get it off Trinket Mage so it becomes less useful. Journal is just too expensive for the effect.
To help with getting Tower, I also added Tolaria West to help get me to the Tower and Nykthos (based on a suggestion from turtlerock). I am debating on whether to add Map to the deck, but I don't know that I want it yet. I am hoping Tolaria West and Long-Term Plans (as a last resort) can get me to Tower when I need it and Nykthos isn't important enough to warrant adding Map to consistently tutor it out. Or, the extra card draw will just let me draw into it.
I also decided to cut Glen Elendra Archmage as noted above in favor of Forbid. I just did not like the fact that it is sorcery timing and can only counter noncreature spells. I felt that it was either too slow or it telegraphed my plays too much. Using Forbid ends up being a much better option in that I can buy it back as needed which gives me even more things to do with the extra cards in my hand.
Along those lines, I added Pull from Tomorrow and cut Erratic Portal. As mentioned, Jitte is on the chopping block, but I just feel that Erratic Portal is often a dead card (or, at least, a bad top deck) and was not one that I wanted to see often. And, even though I have a few good bounce targets, I don't often want Portal to bounce my stuff and it rarely matters for my opponent's stuff so it felt worthy of a cut. Especially since one of the good bounce targets was Glen Elendra Archmage and I cut her. I still have Crystal Shard in the deck but since I don't feel that Portal is worthwhile, Shard might find its way out as well for a new card down the line.
I think these are looking like really solid adjustments! If you're looking to gain no max hand size, but don't like Thought Vessel because it's harder to tutor and don't like the 5-cmc of Venser's Journal, then maybe consider Library of Leng? 1-cmc allows Trinket Mage to grab it, and I like that if another effect (say another commander's ability of a discard-themed/wheel deck) forces you to discard, it allows you to place those cards on the top of your library instead so you can redraw them if you really wanted to keep them. It doesn't ramp and it doesn't totally negate having to remove cards from your hand as a result of discard, but with consistent draw you can get those cards back easier than finding a way to get them from the grave. Sorry, I can't think of anything to cut for it though! Everything looks so good! What has Rite of Replication been doing for you? Has it been effective?
I think these are looking like really solid adjustments! If you're looking to gain no max hand size, but don't like Thought Vessel because it's harder to tutor and don't like the 5-cmc of Venser's Journal, then maybe consider Library of Leng? 1-cmc allows Trinket Mage to grab it, and I like that if another effect (say another commander's ability of a discard-themed/wheel deck) forces you to discard, it allows you to place those cards on the top of your library instead so you can redraw them if you really wanted to keep them. It doesn't ramp and it doesn't totally negate having to remove cards from your hand as a result of discard, but with consistent draw you can get those cards back easier than finding a way to get them from the grave. Sorry, I can't think of anything to cut for it though! Everything looks so good! What has Rite of Replication been doing for you? Has it been effective?
I had thought about Library of Leng but I just felt like it didn't so enough. Maybe I am wrong, but I am generally not to concerned about discarding cards. Maybe if Arjun, the Shifting Flame or Nekusar, the Mindrazer sees more play it could be a solid inclusion.
It is interesting that you mention Rite of Replication. While I was trying to find room for the cards above, I looked a little closer at a few other cards and Rite of Replication was one such card. It is nice to get use out of it, but it usually targets a Solemn Simulacrum (which is awesome) and I felt that it doesn't do much. At least, I have never had a game breaking play with it. I have seen another player use it to get 5 Grave Titans so that was pretty cool, but it is often an underwhelming card. I am not sure what to replace it with though.
I have been finding myself more and more invested in tweaking this deck. I enjoy mono-blue control and I had shied away from the deck for so long due to how long it makes some games. However, I am playing in a location where I feel the games go longer naturally and so I have been finding myself pull this deck out more often.
As I play it more, I have noticed a few issues. The big one is that I often miss land drops and I miss them early. For example, I played last week and was stuck on 3 lands. I was basically out of that game the entire time as I couldn't do anything. I have had this issue before as well so I felt that increasing my land count was warranted. I had been running 36 lands due to having Sol Ring and Mana Crypt and because I really just wanted 3 lands to get Thassa down so I could then scry for more lands if necessary. But, this just isn't enough so I increased my land count to 38.
To make room, I had to find some cuts and I decided on cutting Rite of Replication due to some of the concerns I have had with the card. I mentioned them in the post above but basically: 1) it doesn't do enough to win or control the game and 2) it is a Sorcery. So, it was cut.
Along the same lines, I figured Dance of Many was not pulling its weight. I have talked a lot about how I like using it as a defense against opposing Llawan's but I never see any and the upkeep cost and Sorcery timing means I basically never use it for anything.
During testing, I found I really liked Pull from Tomorrow and decided I should add another X draw spell. The choices came down to Blue Sun's Zenith and Stroke of Genius. I decided on Blue Sun's Zenith based on the fact that it shuffles back in which means I can use it early for card advantage and then later as a kill condition.
To make room for this, I started looking at Phantasmal Image as it is another Sorcery timing clone and I have been cutting them slowly over the year or two the deck has existed. However, the 2 mana cost let it keep its spot (for now). I then started looking for other effects that either were underwhelming or were cards I never seemed happy to draw. I found that Oblivion Stone fit this criteria. In all the games I have played with it, I have basically never wanted to draw it or play it as it sets me back so far. I have Evacuation, Devastation Tide (which I can use as an Instant with my draw spells or Sensei's Divining Top), and Cyclonic Rift as my board wipes when I need them. I am not sure if the loss of this one card will affect the deck terribly and, if so, I may look more into other Instant timing spells such as Engulf the Shore.
So far, with these changes, the deck has been performing better and I hope to try it tomorrow at EDH to see how much better it plays in a real game.
I have decided to find a spot for Search for Azcanta. This card seems great as the game goes long and helps set up my draws. With Thassa and Top I can potentially use this to get rid of "bad" cards early in the game or dig deeper to find lands or spells as needed. Then, once it transforms, it allows me to pick out specific spells when I need them and can really help in certain situations.
To make room, I have decided to finally cut Llawan, Cephalid Empress. She is great at what she does, but in a game with little to no blue she is a dead card. I would prefer my cards be useful in all games and Llawan just didn't fit the bill.
I played this deck the other night to try out a few different cards I have added lately since I don't play the deck that often. It worked out for the game I was in because I was playing against a Superfriends Ramos deck. The game went really slow (even for this deck). I cast Thassa on turn 3 and then she was immediately exiled by Ramos's Nahiri, the Harbinger. After that, I basically played a land and passed the turn for about 4 turns in a row. I always kept up Voidmage Husher and Squelch to deal with the planeswalker abilities.
I ended up countering a Nahiri ultimate and then something else (I think it was a Vraska, Relic Seeker that was targeting one of my things with her -2 ability). After that, the game was mostly keeping Ramos off the board and then dealing with Derevi as needed.
Derevi had an Angel of Finality, a Cloudstone Curio, and a Karmic Guide at one point. I had Search for Azcanta in my hand. I ended up casting Duplicant to get rid of Angel of Finality. It was probably the wrong play as Karmic Guide was more of a threat, but I really wanted to transform Search.
I cast Search and 2 turns later was able to transform it. I used it a total of 1 time since by this time I had a pretty good handle on the game. All my Islands tapped for 3 mana and I had a Candelabra of Tawnos on the field so mana wasn't an issue. I also had Future Sight and Sensei's Divining Top on the field so for 1 mana, I could draw a card and I could do it a bunch of time. I tried to avoid doing it but I had a Whir of Invention and 2 lands on top. And then, after casting Whir, I ended up with 3 lands on top. I was less than pleased with that outcome, so I needed to get rid of those lands off the top.
Eventually I ended up with about 20 cards in hand with about 9 of them being lands and 2 being Timetwister and Day's Undoing. I had Reliquary Tower to avoid having to discard. I did end up casting Devastation Tide with enough floating mana to recast all my stuff and then I cast Timetwister to shuffle all my opponents' stuff back into their library.
Eventually, I ended up winning by killing two players with general damage and then I forced another player to draw 40 cards off Blue Sun's Zenith when they had less than that in their library. It worked out pretty well and Search did very little but I still enjoyed having the card filtering available. I didn't really need it in this game, so I will continue to watch for it to see if that is consistent or just because of the way this game played.
I have been playing this deck off and on as I can. Most people don't like playing against mono-blue, but I have started playing it more since I like the deck and hadn't played it in a while.
As of now, the deck is performing very well. I am still on the fence about Search for Azcanta due to the draw power of the rest of the deck, but I haven't been in a huge rush to replace it with anything else. Squelch and Trickbind have both been underwhelming lately. I like the options they give me, and I like Trickbind more, but I am often in a situation where they are dead cards. I don't think I want to cut both as I do like the ability to counter activated abilities (mostly planeswalkers). I think though that at some point, I may end up cutting Squelch.
Not a lot has come up in the newest sets that I am interested in. As of now, I think I want to find a place for Spellseeker and Toothy, Imaginary Friend. Both seem like good cards in this deck and I think they both potentially have more impact than the 2 above (Squelch and Search). As I play some more with the deck, I will hopefully pick up a copy of each of these and try them out.
Here is the decklist:
1 Thassa, God of the Sea
Lands
1 Academy Ruins
1 Halimar Depths
28 Island
1 Maze of Ith
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Riptide Laboratory
1 Terrain Generator
1 Tolaria West
1 Winding Canyons
Planeswalkers
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
Enchantments
1 Search for Azcanta
1 Copy Artifact
1 Future Sight
1 Invoke Prejudice
Sorceries
1 Day's Undoing
1 Devastation Tide
1 Rush of Knowledge
1 Time Spiral
1 Timetwister
1 Transmute Artifact
1 Azami, Lady of Scrolls
1 Clever Impersonator
1 Draining Whelk
1 Duplicant
1 Kefnet the Mindful
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1 Magus of the Future
1 Phantasmal Image
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Stunt Double
1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
1 Trinket Mage
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
1 Voidmage Husher
Instants
1 Blue Sun's Zenith
1 Capsize
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Disallow
1 Evacuation
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Forbid
1 Long-Term Plans
1 Mana Drain
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Overwhelming Intellect
1 Pull from Tomorrow
1 Squelch
1 Stifle
1 Summary Dismissal
1 Time Stop
1 Trickbind
1 Whir of Invention
1 Wipe Away
1 Basilisk Collar
1 Caged Sun
1 Candelabra of Tawnos
1 Crystal Shard
1 Gauntlet of Power
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sculpting Steel
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Sword of the Animist
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Vedalken Shackles
For the most part, this is a traditional Mono-U control deck. However, because Thassa is the general I have a couple inclusions that might not make it in every deck.
The swords package is there give Thassa some more power and allow her to kill a player sooner. As Thassa is technically my main win condition I want to make her attacks count. Invoke Prejudice is in the deck solely because it turns on Thassa on Turn 4. The effect is very good against my opponents when they are not playing blue (and if they are playing blue, Llawan has that covered) but the UUUU is the reason I included it. Long-Term Plans is included to help get to Invoke Prejudice faster but it also allows me to get any card I might need in a given situation. Sensei's Divining Top gets it to the top for me.
I have a small Clone sub theme which helps give the deck some versatility. I like Dance of Many as it gets around an opposing Llawan and I will be including the new Flash Clone in the deck somewhere.
My favorite part of the deck is the Gauntlet of Power/Caged Sun interaction. Those cards are why I play Copy Artifact, Phyrexian Metamorph, Sculpting Steel, Clever Impersonator, and Candelabra of Tawnos. I would play some of them anyway, but the mana increases make these cards much better and Candelabra is huge when all my islands tap for 7 mana. In some cases, I will just copy a Candelabra instead of Caged Sun just to get more mana.
I stopped playing at this shop for a variety of reasons so Library is no longer part of the deck.On a side note: my actual deck plays Library of Alexandria. One of the shops I play at has unbanned it so I take that opportunity to play it. I didn't include it in my list above since it is generally banned everywhere else, but it takes the spot of one of my islands.
-Kederekt Leviathan
-Plagiarize
+Summary Dismissal
+Umezawa's Jitte
I have been finding that I am getting really low on life while trying to get everything set up. For example, Mana Crypt dealt around 15-18 points of damage to me last night. While I think I have only lost once to being at too low a life from losing it to Mana Crypt or other small life losses from others, I feel that it may make sense to add something for life gain.
Since life gain itself isn't usually that good unless it is a massive amount at one time, I decided to add Jitte due to its versatility. This also solves another problem with Thassa where I almost always had to swing 3 times at someone. I very often can swing for 9 and then 11 but that is only 20. With Jitte, I can swing for 9 and then next turn swing for 13. Jitte ia also removal when I need it so I think this addition will work out pretty well. And, since the counters are on Jitte, I can attack with smaller creatures early and then once Thassa is online, I can potentially one-shot someone if I need to.
Summary Dismissal is being added to handle uncounterable spells and Eldrazi and their triggers. This is just too good not to include for this deck.
I am taking out Kederekt Leviathan because I almost never wanted to cast it. It is an exceptionally good card but by the time I have 8 mana to cast it, I am usually further ahead than my opponents and Kederekt wrecks my board more than theirs. It is also harder to get down at instant speed so I can't usually cast it at the end of someone's turn if I want.
Plagiarize is cut because it is really only here for one interaction (The Great Aurora) but it comes up so infrequently and I have other ways to deal with it (including the newly add Summary Dismissal) that I don't think this corner case interaction is worth keeping this card in the deck when I really want other spells in 99% of situations.
Since I don't really want to run a bunch of clone effects in this build, the cut that makes the most sense is another clone. The only two that I am willing to cut are Sakashima the Imposter and Vesuvan Shapeshifter. Sakashima is nice because I can bounce it to get another EtB effect, but not until end of turn and not without a significant mana investment. Shapeshifter is one more mana, but can clone something at instant speed. It can't get the EtB effects this way, but getting attacked with an Iona, Shield of Emeria (or some other big creature) and being able to clone it and block is nice. So, I think the cut that makes sense is Sakashima.
Updates:
-Sakashima the Impostor
+Stunt Double
How is Stunt Double performing? I've been meaning to test that card out. Do you find yourself drawing a lot of cards from Bident of Thassa?
UBRKess, Dissident MageUBR - Controlling Dissidents
GRhonas the IndomitableG - Indomitable Four Drops
WUBOloro, Ageless AsceticWUB - Loot & Renanimate
I have never really considered Bident of Thassa on its own, but now that you asked about it, I realize that it may not be pulling its weight. Regarding card draw alone, is on the fence. Thassa can make creatures unblockable so it is easier to get them to connect. However, I don't generally attack with that many creatures. Normally, I am only attacking with Thassa so I just draw one card.
That being said, it gives me a way to help turn on Devotion for Thassa. Tezzeret can search it out (after ticking up once to make sure he sticks around too) and Transmute Artifact can get it if I need a quick 2 Devotion.
I will have to pay more attention to what happens in my next games to see if I might be better served with a different card. I do know that I have never activated its ability, so it is just an artifact version of Coastal Piracy. I suppose if you wouldn't include Piracy, I don't think you would want Bident of Thassa (unless being an artifact makes a big enough difference).
Regarding Stunt Double: I haven't actually played it yet. I updated the deck on Saturday when I got my new Conspiracy cards, but I usually only play on Wednesday's. However, I won't be playing until next week, so I won't know until then. I will provide an update once I actually play with the card.
That isn't to say I am not trying to keep it up to date though and I am looking at Saheeli's Artistry as the next update to the deck. Its modes are really good and it lets me break through the limit of "only" being able to produce 8 mana for each island (with Gauntlet of Power, Caged Sun, and clones). It eventually goes infinite with Archaeomancer to give me a ton of mana. There are other good targets besides those as well, so I can see it being a relevant play at different stages of the game.
To reiterate from my previous post, I don't want to make this deck loaded with clones. However, there aren't any of my existing clones I am comfortable cutting, so instead, I wlll be cutting Bident of Thassa. I like Bident as it gives me 2 devotion to U and it can be fetched off Tezzeret and Transmute Artifact but it is rare that I really need the card draw. And, I have never activated its ability. I think with the way this deck is going, this makes the most sense to cut for Artistry.
-Bident of Thassa
+Saheeli's Artistry
I have been focusing more on the mono blue beats/devotion path however with things like tidebinder mage, shipbreaker kraken and frost titan to name a few.
The nice thing about thassa is not only her 5/5 indestructible unblockable body for a mere 3 mana that scrys every turn, but she is also very low threat and good at politics. nobody cares about her when she isn't online, and when she is, they are too busy trying to get rid of the threat that turned her on in the first place! so much value for 3 mana, made me (traditionally a red player) switch over to blue (just for edu tho
I try to make it as flavorful as possible, adding everything with thassa in the title. Thassa's Ire isn't actually all that bad. Contributes to devotion, and taps a threat.
-Archaeomancer
-Mischievous Quanar
-Vesuvan Shapeshifter
-Saheeli's Artistry
I cut Archaeomancer because I never really cast it. There are a lot of targets for it, but I usually just wanted to operate at Instant speed and this didn't really fit with that.
Mischievous Quanar was in the same boat. It is a great effect, but it needed to sit out on the field waiting for something worth copying. And, it was difficult and mana intensive to cast at instant speed and unmorph it right away. I don't think I every paid the morph cost so it was basically always a 2/2 for 3 and so deserved a cut.
Vesuvan Shapeshifter was similar in that I prefer the deck run at Instant speed and I have slowly been cutting down the clones in the deck. There are a couple that I kept due to their versatility (Phyrexian Metamorph) or because they have Flash (Stunt Double) but "generic" clones like this often found themselves sitting in my hand. Worth noting is that Dance of Many still has a place in the deck for the sole purpose of dealing with opposing Llawan, Cephalid Empress. Since it is not a creature, I can clone their Llawan to bounce their Llawan and prevent them from casting her again (for a while anyway).
Saheeli's Artistry was actually in here to create a loop with Archaeomancer and Caged sun (or Gauntlet) where I would clone both and get the Artistry back over and over again to create a nearly infinite amount of mana. It was a cute interaction but was never one that actually happened. It was a bit "win-more" and, with the cut of Archaeomancer, was not an option. And a 6 mana clone at Sorcery speed was, again, against what the deck wants to do.
With the above cuts, I included the following new cards:
+Disallow
+Vedalken Shackles
+Whir of Invention
+Basilisk Collar
Disallow is just an awesome counter so there isn't much more to say about it.
Vedalken Shackles probably should have been in the deck since the beginning. It gives a little resiliency against "go tall" attacks and with the addition of Whir it is something I can do at instant speed.
Whir of Invention gets so much out of the deck to either get me more mana or get me more damage with Thassa or gain me life or a variety of other things that it felt like a natural inclusion in the deck.
Basilisk Collar was included after I added Jitte as another way of gaining life. I found that Mana Crypt was often really close to killing me (and in some case actively and significantly contributed to my death) so this is a way of gaining a bunch of life back if need. The fact that it can be tutored off Trinket Mage and that Thassa helps guarantee a hit makes this a solid inclusion.
I will probably update this a little after HOU is fully spoiled.
Ironically, I recently cut Stunt Double for Vesuvan Shapeshifter, but that's because I wanted the Vesuvan - Brine Elemental "pickles" lock in the deck. OMG, Clever Impersonator has won we so many games. I run Trophy Mage as my artifact tutor (I don't run as many artifacts, mostly creatures and enchantments for control to more likely ensure devotion for Thassa) to grab up Fireshrieker because sending in an unblockable and indestructible 5/5 doublestriking commander that is hard to remove even after a less-than-full board wipe (because of all the enchants hanging around) ends things quickly. I also use Inquisitor's Flail because Thassa is the perfect creature to run it seeing as she can take the double damage effect and still not die. Fireshrieker + Inquisitor's Flail is 20 commander damage (unblockable with Thassa's ability!) without any other buffs. GG if Caged Sun is out. I've recently been thinking about running Strata Scythe since it should easily give Thassa +6/6 or more since this is mono-U and nearly all the lands on my side would be Island, not to mention if another player is running Islands as well, despite the possibility to be 2-for-1'd on removal. Plus it is also tutorable with the Trophy Mage I already run for the shrieker. While not as versatile as Umezawa's Jitte, do you think Strata Scythe can more consistently pack a bigger punch?
I went a different route than your list with most cards being creatures that do tricks on damage triggers (made easier with Thassa's ability) and pesky blue enchantments that control the board - all of it adding devotion to keep Thassa a creature. Another All-Star from me is Scourge of Fleets - 7-drop, but nicely timed is a one-sided Evacuation that leaves you with a 6/6 beater adding 2 devotion. Even more value if you can find ways to bounce it to recast, or since we're doing blue things, clone it a turn or two later with your Stunt Double to really give some headaches.
And, with all that devotion floating around, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx pulls me through games, especially when the Winter Orb and ilk rear their ugly heads. I use Tolaria West and Expedition Map just to tutor for it because it's that important and blue can struggle to ramp effectively. How has Nykthos been working for you, do you see consistent heavy returns from it?
Wow, Teferi, Kozilek, and Invoke Prejudice?! That sounds like a lot of *fun* for your opponents. Not gonna lie, I'd most likely run Invoke Prejudice too if I could afford it or convince myself to spend that money even if I could afford it. The Candelabra though, I'd keep it safely away.
I'm curious, what kind of decks are you facing in your meta? Lots of blue where Llawan, Cephalid Empress is effective, or is there some other synergy I'm not familiar with her?
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 probably should be running Trophy Mage as a way to tutor up my Swords, but I just don't want to. Thassa is meant to be a control deck that eventually wins with Damage. It is actually somewhat rare to win with Commander Damage as I usually end up with a few big creatures on the board. I have chosen to limit the focus on the equipment (at least, the part of tutoring them out) to leave as many control cards in the deck as possible.
I don't like that it exiles a land (I am very attached to my lands in EDH ) but I think if you build the deck to take advantage of the cards above, it is infinitely better than Jitte. In fact, the entire reason Jitte is in the deck is to gain life because I found I was dying (or coming close to dying) from my Mana Crypt way too often. However, I put in Basilisk Collar to help with this which is way easier to get to since I can get it off Trinket Mage. So Jitte is on my short list of cards to cut if I find new cards I want for the deck. So, I don't think Jitte is all the essential to the deck.
Scourge of Fleets seems like an awesome card and one that can help clear the way for your creatures (or prevent being attacked back after your turn). It is actually a very interesting card. The entire issue with it (for me) is the lack of Flash. The deck wants to be doing things on the opponents' turn and, without Teferi, Scourge won't be surprising anyone. That is not to say it is a bad card and if you are having success with it, by all means continue running it. I can see where it would be beneficial. It is just why I don't run it.
Nykthos is ridiculous in this deck. Other than basic Islands when I have my 6 Caged Suns in play, Nykthos is the top of my list of lands I want
It is crazy how much mana it gets me due to blue cards have 2, 3, or 4 blue symbols in the mana cost. It gets out of hand pretty quickly. I would never cut it. With that being said, I do not run Tolaria West or Map. I probably should be running Tolaria West, but I tend to shy away from Map. I have never put it into my decks. It is a personal preference, but I prefer that my cards do more than just get me a land to my hand (even if they are powerful) and I like playing where I naturally draw into the lands I want. It seems weird with all the other tutoring I have in the deck, but I just never play Map. It is a great card though so, again, it seems like it would be a good addition to your deck.
I do want to comment on these four cards. Teferi is in there for pure value. No combo shenanigans, but he is there to both stop opposing blue players (and anyone else who dares try to interrupt what I am doing ) and for the Flash he grants. There is no pretense there; he is all about the power.
Kozilek is there for the card draw, plain and simple. It is nice to get my graveyard back sometimes (though my Timetwister and similar effects generally handle that) and, if needed, he can be an end game. But, there is a reason I only run Kozilek and not Ulamog and that is because I generally have no intention of actually attacking with him.
Invoke Prejudice is in the deck solely because it is the only 4 drop in all of Magic that turns on Thassa by itself. So, I curve into Thassa turn 3 and drop down Invoke Prejudice turn 4 and start swinging. I won't lie that the ability isn't nice; it is and it is powerful. But the inclusion was made based solely on turning Thassa into a creature. I know it is expensive, but I would recommend it.
Candelabra was included because a) it works well with my Caged Sun effects (I try to get to all 7 each game), b) it is easily tutorable off Tezzeret and Trinket Mage, and c) I have 5 and I never get to play them. I had one in Daretti before I took it apart, but this is really the only deck I have currently that it makes sense in.
My metas aren't very consistent. I was playing in a different store and now I moved to a different one, but everyone has a variety of decks, so it is hard to predict. I included Llawan as a way to help hose other blue decks. Surpisingly, many decks run blue that she hoses so I don't have to worry about Jhoira going off (thought Teferi shuts her down pretty hard too), or Niv-Mizzet trying to Wheel into a win, or Sen Triplets trying to go after me. Llawan is rarely a dead card.
An interesting tidbit about this deck and Llawan: I may have mentioned it in a previous post, but you may have noticed I run Dance of Many. The entire reason for this card, and why I have kept it over "better" clones, is to shut off opposing Llawans. Since it is not a creature like most clones are, it gets around Llawan's restrictions. And then, when I clone Llawan, it bounces theirs back to their hand and they can't play it again since I have my own. It is somewhat fragile, but it is a neat "gotcha" card.
Anyway (that got pretty long-winded) I am glad you are enjoying the deck. Both my build and your own. Thassa has a lot of ways to build her which I think is what drew me to her in the first place. You can go totally voltron with some control elements or totally control with a late game finisher. I am somewhere in the middle and it sounds like you may be closer to the voltron end of the scale, but she seems more flexible than, say, Venser, Shaper Savant as Venser wants to be built with more bounce effects. Those effects are good in general, but he seems more linear than Thassa. Just my take anyway.
Actually, my games usually end up how you describe yours: lots of control early game, then ending with a couple big beaters and Thassa. I actually win slightly more games from lethal regular damage than lethal commander damage. I run 40 blue permanents (creatures and enchantments) with over 70 blue pips among them to literally almost never have Thassa offline. Mostly really janky things to shut out other commanders like Claustrophobia, Imprisoned in the Moon, Lost in Thought, Vanishing (doubles as protection for one of my creatures), and about 26 creatures all doing blue things like copy, steal, bounce, draw, or protect me early-early game before Thassa is online like Fog Bank and Guard Gomazoa.
I'm really interested in Llawan, Cephalid Empress now. I don't think there's a whole lot of mono-U in my meta, though she certainly hoses those decks, especially the creature-filled ones, but she seems pretty good at holding off multi-color creatures and commanders with blue in their color identity too. The ones on the top of my head that I'm seeing recently are Atraxa, Praetors' Voice, Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder, and Bruna, Light of Alabaster. Spicy indeed. I might try to fit her in my Thassa build and see how it goes. I run a lot of looter effects too, so worst case if she's not relevant in the current game she becomes good loot fodder, although I'd have to be careful of GY recursion working against me and having someone else take her and use her on me!
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
The Archmage is also in an odd spot. Yes, she gives me the ability to counter two spells for one card (potentially), but she also telegraphs the play more than I want and requires me to pay 4 for no immediate benefit. And, it is then subject to just being killed before I can do anything with it. I know I can flash her in with Teferi or Winding Canyons, but then it is a 5 mana negate. The "noncreature" clause is also a detriment as it often sits there as players cast powerful creatures that she can't help stop.
As of now, I have found a replacement for Barrin in Kefnet the Mindful. Kefnet offers a few things. First, he is cheap for an indestructible creature and one that I can start equipping up if Thassa isn't turned on yet. It is also a mana sink when I have my 7 mana increasers (Caged Sun, Gauntlet of Power, and copies) in play so it should never be too hard to a) let him attack/block and b) keep my hand full with him in play. Since this deck wants to run mostly as an "Instant" deck it lets me hold up my mana and then, if I didn't need to cast anything, I can just dump my mana into drawing a card or two. I don't plan on bouncing a land very often, but it can be useful.
I am hoping to come up with something to replace Glen Elendra Archmage. I am thinking of Pull from Tomorrow but I am not sure yet.
Updates:
-Barrin, Master Wizard
+Kefnet the Mindful
Pull from Tomorrow is a good instant-speed draw option if you're looking to replace Glen Elendra with card draw. If you're playing multiplayer, I would suggest thinking about Manifold Insights as well. A sorcery, but digs ten cards deep for three mana and gets the whole table involved. Could net you 3-4 nonland cards at a full table, and can even be used with some political barter with other players to give you the cards you want - if there's enough nonland cards to even give your opponents enough options.
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 I mentioned earlier, Umezawa's Jitte is on the chopping block as I feel Basilisk Collar better synergizes with the deck and does more of what I want (which is lifegain). But, I keep going back and forth on it due to its versatility. Looking at my list, I might consider cutting Erratic Portal or Crystal Shard (or both) as these are more at home in a Venser, Shaper Savant deck (though Venser is in this deck). I do have a fairly high percentage of creatures that would benefit from being recast, but I don't know that I need both effects due to the relatively low overall number of creatures in the deck.
So, will all that being said, I think if I add Pull from Tomorrow, Forbid can find a place in the deck. At worse, Forbid is a 3 mana counter which isn't all that bad and, as you pointed out, the mana cost is the same (though the card disadvantage is wildly different). Plus, it gives me a reason to pick up the Forbid Invocation
As far as Manifold Insights go, being a Sorcery is a huge strike against it. Fact or Fiction is infinitely better (even though it digs half as much). Letting my opponent's pick exactly which cards I get isn't necessarily terrible, but giving everyone a full turn cycle to answer those cards isn't that great. For the politicking, that is a benefit, but it seems like it would be fairly infrequent where I would need/want to get someone to give me a specific card. There most likely are scenarios where that will come up, but I just don't feel like the majority of cases it will. And, to be honest, if I was to cast it for 3 (or fairly early) I would want lands anyway and I can't get them (not deal breaker, but just an observation). Realistically, if it was an Instant, I would probably play it.
To help with getting Tower, I also added Tolaria West to help get me to the Tower and Nykthos (based on a suggestion from turtlerock). I am debating on whether to add Map to the deck, but I don't know that I want it yet. I am hoping Tolaria West and Long-Term Plans (as a last resort) can get me to Tower when I need it and Nykthos isn't important enough to warrant adding Map to consistently tutor it out. Or, the extra card draw will just let me draw into it.
I also decided to cut Glen Elendra Archmage as noted above in favor of Forbid. I just did not like the fact that it is sorcery timing and can only counter noncreature spells. I felt that it was either too slow or it telegraphed my plays too much. Using Forbid ends up being a much better option in that I can buy it back as needed which gives me even more things to do with the extra cards in my hand.
Along those lines, I added Pull from Tomorrow and cut Erratic Portal. As mentioned, Jitte is on the chopping block, but I just feel that Erratic Portal is often a dead card (or, at least, a bad top deck) and was not one that I wanted to see often. And, even though I have a few good bounce targets, I don't often want Portal to bounce my stuff and it rarely matters for my opponent's stuff so it felt worthy of a cut. Especially since one of the good bounce targets was Glen Elendra Archmage and I cut her. I still have Crystal Shard in the deck but since I don't feel that Portal is worthwhile, Shard might find its way out as well for a new card down the line.
So, here are the updates:
-Island
-Island
-Erratic Portal
-Glen Elendra Archmage
+Reliquary Tower
+Tolaria West
+Forbid
+Pull From Tomorrow
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
It is interesting that you mention Rite of Replication. While I was trying to find room for the cards above, I looked a little closer at a few other cards and Rite of Replication was one such card. It is nice to get use out of it, but it usually targets a Solemn Simulacrum (which is awesome) and I felt that it doesn't do much. At least, I have never had a game breaking play with it. I have seen another player use it to get 5 Grave Titans so that was pretty cool, but it is often an underwhelming card. I am not sure what to replace it with though.
As I play it more, I have noticed a few issues. The big one is that I often miss land drops and I miss them early. For example, I played last week and was stuck on 3 lands. I was basically out of that game the entire time as I couldn't do anything. I have had this issue before as well so I felt that increasing my land count was warranted. I had been running 36 lands due to having Sol Ring and Mana Crypt and because I really just wanted 3 lands to get Thassa down so I could then scry for more lands if necessary. But, this just isn't enough so I increased my land count to 38.
To make room, I had to find some cuts and I decided on cutting Rite of Replication due to some of the concerns I have had with the card. I mentioned them in the post above but basically: 1) it doesn't do enough to win or control the game and 2) it is a Sorcery. So, it was cut.
Along the same lines, I figured Dance of Many was not pulling its weight. I have talked a lot about how I like using it as a defense against opposing Llawan's but I never see any and the upkeep cost and Sorcery timing means I basically never use it for anything.
During testing, I found I really liked Pull from Tomorrow and decided I should add another X draw spell. The choices came down to Blue Sun's Zenith and Stroke of Genius. I decided on Blue Sun's Zenith based on the fact that it shuffles back in which means I can use it early for card advantage and then later as a kill condition.
To make room for this, I started looking at Phantasmal Image as it is another Sorcery timing clone and I have been cutting them slowly over the year or two the deck has existed. However, the 2 mana cost let it keep its spot (for now). I then started looking for other effects that either were underwhelming or were cards I never seemed happy to draw. I found that Oblivion Stone fit this criteria. In all the games I have played with it, I have basically never wanted to draw it or play it as it sets me back so far. I have Evacuation, Devastation Tide (which I can use as an Instant with my draw spells or Sensei's Divining Top), and Cyclonic Rift as my board wipes when I need them. I am not sure if the loss of this one card will affect the deck terribly and, if so, I may look more into other Instant timing spells such as Engulf the Shore.
So far, with these changes, the deck has been performing better and I hope to try it tomorrow at EDH to see how much better it plays in a real game.
Updates:
-Oblivion Stone
-Rite of Replication
-Dance of Many
+Island
+Island
+Blue Sun's Zenith
To make room, I have decided to finally cut Llawan, Cephalid Empress. She is great at what she does, but in a game with little to no blue she is a dead card. I would prefer my cards be useful in all games and Llawan just didn't fit the bill.
I ended up countering a Nahiri ultimate and then something else (I think it was a Vraska, Relic Seeker that was targeting one of my things with her -2 ability). After that, the game was mostly keeping Ramos off the board and then dealing with Derevi as needed.
Derevi had an Angel of Finality, a Cloudstone Curio, and a Karmic Guide at one point. I had Search for Azcanta in my hand. I ended up casting Duplicant to get rid of Angel of Finality. It was probably the wrong play as Karmic Guide was more of a threat, but I really wanted to transform Search.
I cast Search and 2 turns later was able to transform it. I used it a total of 1 time since by this time I had a pretty good handle on the game. All my Islands tapped for 3 mana and I had a Candelabra of Tawnos on the field so mana wasn't an issue. I also had Future Sight and Sensei's Divining Top on the field so for 1 mana, I could draw a card and I could do it a bunch of time. I tried to avoid doing it but I had a Whir of Invention and 2 lands on top. And then, after casting Whir, I ended up with 3 lands on top. I was less than pleased with that outcome, so I needed to get rid of those lands off the top.
Eventually I ended up with about 20 cards in hand with about 9 of them being lands and 2 being Timetwister and Day's Undoing. I had Reliquary Tower to avoid having to discard. I did end up casting Devastation Tide with enough floating mana to recast all my stuff and then I cast Timetwister to shuffle all my opponents' stuff back into their library.
Eventually, I ended up winning by killing two players with general damage and then I forced another player to draw 40 cards off Blue Sun's Zenith when they had less than that in their library. It worked out pretty well and Search did very little but I still enjoyed having the card filtering available. I didn't really need it in this game, so I will continue to watch for it to see if that is consistent or just because of the way this game played.
As of now, the deck is performing very well. I am still on the fence about Search for Azcanta due to the draw power of the rest of the deck, but I haven't been in a huge rush to replace it with anything else. Squelch and Trickbind have both been underwhelming lately. I like the options they give me, and I like Trickbind more, but I am often in a situation where they are dead cards. I don't think I want to cut both as I do like the ability to counter activated abilities (mostly planeswalkers). I think though that at some point, I may end up cutting Squelch.
Not a lot has come up in the newest sets that I am interested in. As of now, I think I want to find a place for Spellseeker and Toothy, Imaginary Friend. Both seem like good cards in this deck and I think they both potentially have more impact than the 2 above (Squelch and Search). As I play some more with the deck, I will hopefully pick up a copy of each of these and try them out.