Hi, this is my primer for Teysa, Orzhov Scion. I will start off by saying, if you don't like the following, this deck is not for you
-Fast Combos
-Shuffling at least once a turn
-Controlling the board
This deck is being built to go toe-to-toe with competitive strategies in multiplayer, and even 1-on-1, and it likely won't make you too many friends if your group plays casually. That said...
I have been playing Teysa for a couple of years now, it was my first commander deck. Since apocolypse, I've always enjoyed the color combination due to the fantastic board control that this color combination has always gotten. I don't like blue, and have always strived to build a list that could compete with blue decks, in multiplayer and one on one. So my current list is made up of cards that are good in both. Which means I don't play cards are good in just one format like syphon mind. So I will present the deck in its current state, and go over cards that did not make the cut. But first I'll talk a bit about Teysa.
I started playing her back when shadowmoor was released, and for quite a while, I played B/W control with the deck, and mostly token producers so Teysa could shotgun any creature that came into play. Some problems did arise from this however. The biggest one was that the deck was very slow. It had high mana costs, and not enough utility. It also took quite a while to pull off wins, and inevitably the combo and lock decks would always win. So I slowly starting trying out combos, and sac-and-recur strategies, and the deck started becoming a power house. I found more and more that Teysa's black creature replacement ability was much more relevant than her removal ability. She is a combo general through and though, although not that many people realize this. Her replacement ability also makes it very easy to sacrifice black critters to various outlets, and get a critter replacement to sac again. This deck can also combo extremely fast, given the tutors that it plays. A key thing about the deck is mana costs and tutors. This deck plays alot of tutors of various sorts which makes it consistant for the most part. The deck also tries to keep mana costs as low as possible. That means that its easier to get around counterdecks, gaddock teeg, and to get the deck going very quickly.
There is a certain amount of vorthos in the deck. I don't generally let it get in the way of the competitiveness of the deck, but there is one thing I won't do. And thats play cards with other guild symbols on them. That is why there is no Dimir Machinations in here. This is just a personal quirk, since to me, its an Orzhov deck, but this isn't something I expect of others.
Pretty much all creatures fall into the categories of being a sacrifice friendly critter, or one that recurs other things. The exception is Carrion Feeder, who is a one mana sac outlet, and Necrotic Sliver who is kinda a weird card itself. For a while, I was going to cut Necrotic Sliver, because I thought he was too expense for what he did, but then he kept doing ridiculous things with Sun Titan, reveillark and other recursion. I found that any creature with a power effect, and 2 power is likely easy to abuse the heck out of. Thats why Tidehollow Sculler and Mesmeric Fiend went in. Those guys can tear apart hands with a sac outlet and recursion. On that note, Sadistic Hypnotist went in for the same reasons. He can come down and keep everyones hands very low. Another card I'd like to mention is Stoneforge Mystic. He can find Skullclamp which makes him extremely valuable. He also finds Nim Deathmantle which enables locks.
Spells
I will lump instants and sorceries together here. This is where the tutors are, and kill spells. Alot of people will look here and say, why do you run Wrath of God, Damnation, and Day of Judgment when so many better options are available? Well, my response to this is that those "better" options cost more mana. I want the cheapest cards. Having four 4cc wrath effects in the deck is great (False Prophet) since its like having a playset in a singleton format. I've played against Momir Vig and other blue decks who have no problems countering sweepers, so keeping them low cost is good, so they can come down earlier, or allow me to do something else in the turn should they get countered. Anyhow, a couple of cards that have been great for me are Entomb and Buried Alive. These guys find combo critters or guys who come back easily, so I like seeing them in my opening hand
Enchantments and Artifacts
This is where alot of my sac outlets are. Mind Slash comes to mind immediately, since it functions on a similar level to Sadistic Hypnotist. It keeps hands empty. All of the decks draw and filtering engines are here as well. There aren't many, but you only need to draw one really, since can keep your hand full most of the time. Even Crucible of Worlds can act like a Phyrexian Arena of sorts, by drawing you a land every turn (if you have a fetchland in the graveyard). People might also wonder about Dark Tutelage as well, so I'll talk about that. This decks costs are very low, so it will cost you 0-3 life most of the time. Its pretty nuts with Sensei's Divining Top and Scroll Rack as well. And like all the other draw, its 3 or less mana, so it can be brought back with Sun Titan. Mimic Vat and Nim Deathmantle serve similar purposes, along with Phyrexian Reclamation as they are ways of reusing critters with power effects. Pithing Needle has always been useful as well, sometimes even shutting off powerful generals, such as Azami or Sisay. You will always find something to name when you have this card.
Lands
All I can really say about lands are that this deck is really color-intensive, and there are a great deal of colorless lands I would like to play but can't. I will mention Cabal Coffers since this card is never dead for me. I always have at least 3 swamps out, due to the fetchlands, Land Tax and even Weathered Wayfarer. Fetches proved to be so important that I started playing Terramorphic Expanse and evolving wilds. The reason being is Crucible of Worlds, Emeria Angel and others needed to have the fetchlands to be great.
The Combos
As mentioned earlier, there are a few combos that this deck aims to pull off. These are the main one:
Teysa, Orzhov Scion + Darkest Hour + Blasting Station / Phyrexian Alter / Carrion Feeder. This Combo gives you either infinite damage, infinite mana, or a huge creature. The last option is trickier though, since you have to attack to win with said creature. Blasting Station/Phyrexian Alter is generally the way to go.
-Teysa, Orzhov Scion + Reveillark + Karmic Guide + Tidehollow Sculler. This will remove all hands and creatures if you do this correctly. You sacrifice all three with Teysa on the field. You stack abilites so Scullers ability comes off the stack last, and sac all 3 critters before scullers ability resolves. If your opponents have no creatures, target the spirit token that Sculler leaves behind. You will put a bunch of sculler hand yanking effects on the field and remove everyones hands from the game.
-Yosei, the Morning Star + any recursion effect + any sac outlet. This will lock down a player from untapping. With Nim Deathmantle you can keep multiple players from untapping.
Alot of these combos seems difficult to pull off, considering that they are 3 card combos minimum, but they are surprisingly easy, due to the combos having so many interchangeable pieces and tutors. A single Buried Alive pulls out all pieces of the last 2 combos, leaving you with only needing a recursion card of sorts and Teysa. The beauty of this is that a single Jesters Cap effect cannot stop this deck from comboing. There are also tons of soft locks in this deck, and they mostly involve being able to remove permanents over and over again.
Cards that didn't make that cut
I spend so much time explaining my card choices, that I only feel its fair to explain cards that did not make it.
Imps Mischief-Cute, but hard to use at times. Where is good, its great, but alot of time, its not doing anything, especially if players are using abilities tacked onto critters instead of the actual spell itself.
Sorin Markov-does not further the deck in anyway, since this deck does not care about life totals.
Skeletal Scrying This deck has too many cards that you don't want to remove from your library, thus preventing this card from being that good.
Gilded Lotus Way too slow. I always have better things to do on turn 5 than play this.
Bojuka Bog I've found this card to be way more of a hindrance than help, since its never really around when I want it, and when I draw it, its a bad swamp. I try to keep the tap-lands to a minimum as well.
Orzhov Basillica in general, I've found bouncelands to be very risky, as competitive opponents will target them and losing two land drops is a huge temp loss.
Liliana Vess She generally will get one activation in, then die. She was better is as imperial seal.
I'll bring up more cuts later.
Anyhow, I'll post more information about the deck as I go. I love playing this deck, as I feel like it can stand up to cutthroat decks and hold its own. My playgroup includes Azami, Momir Vig, Glissa the Traitor, Erayo, The Mimeoplasm, Rhys the Redeemed, Savra, Asusa, and more, so this deck will constantly evolve to play those decks. Comments are welcome, although I request that people explain why cards that they suggest should be used. Thank you for now.
Blasting Station enables instant win combos. Bitter Ordeal requires me to already have a sac outlet with infinite recurring going to be any good, and in that case, I've probably already won. THe infinite mana combos do require something else to win, but I usually do have something like skullclamp, Sacred Mesa, reassembling Skeleton or something, that I can make use of. Skullclamp with an infinite mana combo means I can draw my entire deck. Maybe Carrion Feeder should be Alter of Dementia to give me another instant kill combo piece.
The station is a combo piece. Removing it hurts the decks combos, since its the one piece that also takes people out without needing anything else. Ordeal does not do the same things that Blasting station does, therefore its not a good replacement, no offence. I don't worry about exiling effects, just because when blasting station comes out, its when I'm comboing off, so those effects will have be instant speed. Although that brings up another idea, running Grand Abolisher to stop people from messing with my combos.
The station is a combo piece. Removing it hurts the decks combos, since its the one piece that also takes people out without needing anything else. Ordeal does not do the same things that Blasting station does, therefore its not a good replacement, no offence. I don't worry about exiling effects, just because when blasting station comes out, its when I'm comboing off, so those effects will have be instant speed. Although that brings up another idea, running Grand Abolisher to stop people from messing with my combos.
I didn't mean you should remove it, just that it is vulnerable to removal. Sorry my wording wasn't clear.
Like I said in my meta I need a bit more redundancy evidently you don't in yours. You speak of instant exiling, in my meta I see Deglamer, Into the Core, Krosan Grip and Return to dust being played. (Yes I know they don't all exile)
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
All the kids who played the blues
Would learn my licks with a bottle neck slide
Thats ok. Artifact removal will always be there, but if they remove one thing, I'll just work with another. This deck does not really rely one of particular card, its just everything has synergies with the rest of the deck. I fully expect people to keep removal on hand, since most know what this deck does and they play like I have a turn 4 combo on hand all the time.
-Fast Combos
-Shuffling at least once a turn
-Controlling the board
This deck is being built to go toe-to-toe with competitive strategies in multiplayer, and even 1-on-1, and it likely won't make you too many friends if your group plays casually. That said...
I have been playing Teysa for a couple of years now, it was my first commander deck. Since apocolypse, I've always enjoyed the color combination due to the fantastic board control that this color combination has always gotten. I don't like blue, and have always strived to build a list that could compete with blue decks, in multiplayer and one on one. So my current list is made up of cards that are good in both. Which means I don't play cards are good in just one format like syphon mind. So I will present the deck in its current state, and go over cards that did not make the cut. But first I'll talk a bit about Teysa.
I started playing her back when shadowmoor was released, and for quite a while, I played B/W control with the deck, and mostly token producers so Teysa could shotgun any creature that came into play. Some problems did arise from this however. The biggest one was that the deck was very slow. It had high mana costs, and not enough utility. It also took quite a while to pull off wins, and inevitably the combo and lock decks would always win. So I slowly starting trying out combos, and sac-and-recur strategies, and the deck started becoming a power house. I found more and more that Teysa's black creature replacement ability was much more relevant than her removal ability. She is a combo general through and though, although not that many people realize this. Her replacement ability also makes it very easy to sacrifice black critters to various outlets, and get a critter replacement to sac again. This deck can also combo extremely fast, given the tutors that it plays. A key thing about the deck is mana costs and tutors. This deck plays alot of tutors of various sorts which makes it consistant for the most part. The deck also tries to keep mana costs as low as possible. That means that its easier to get around counterdecks, gaddock teeg, and to get the deck going very quickly.
There is a certain amount of vorthos in the deck. I don't generally let it get in the way of the competitiveness of the deck, but there is one thing I won't do. And thats play cards with other guild symbols on them. That is why there is no Dimir Machinations in here. This is just a personal quirk, since to me, its an Orzhov deck, but this isn't something I expect of others.
This is the most current list as of July 15 2011.
1 Sun Titan
1 Bloodghast
1 Reassembling Skeleton
1 Angel of Despair
1 Nether Traitor
1 Necrotic Sliver
1 Archon of Justice
1 Yosei, the Morning Star
1 Knight-Captain of Eos
1 Solemn Simulicrum
1 Weathered Wayfarer
1 Karmic Guide
1 Reveillark
1 Tidehollow Sculler
1 Mesmeric Fiend
1 Sadistic Hypnotist
1 Emeria Angel
1 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Carrion Feeder
1 False Prophet
Instants
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Mortify
1 Path to Exile
1 Entomb
1 Swords to Plowshares
Enchantments
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Attrition
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Bitterblossom
1 Necropotence
1 Sacred Mesa
1 Land Tax
1 Darkest Hour
1 Phyrexian Reclamation
1 Mind Slash
1 Dark Tutelage
1 Day of Judgment
1 Damnation
1 Wrath of God
1 Buried Alive
1 Conquerors Pledge
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Diabolic Intent
1 Grim Tutor
1 Vindicate
1 Victimize
1 Imperial Seal
Artifacts
1 Mimic Vat
1 Blasting Station
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
1 Phyrexian Alter
1 Orzhov Signet
1 Skullclamp
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Pithing Needle
1 Nim Deathmantle
1 Scroll Rack
Planewalkers
1 Elspeth, Knight Errant
Lands
1 Godless Shrine
1 Scrubland
1 Fetid Heath
1 Caves of Koilos
1 Tainted Field
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Windswept Heath
1 Flooded Strand
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Arid Mesa
1 Polluted Delta
1 Marsh Flats
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Windbrisk Heights
1 Kor Haven
1 Temple of the False God
1 Strip Mine
1 Command Tower
1 Phyrexian Tower
1 Cabal Coffers
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Terramorphic Expanse
8 Swamps
6 Plains
Anyhow, I'll break the deck down for everyone
Creatures
Spells
Enchantments and Artifacts
Lands
The Combos
Teysa, Orzhov Scion + Darkest Hour + Blasting Station / Phyrexian Alter / Carrion Feeder. This Combo gives you either infinite damage, infinite mana, or a huge creature. The last option is trickier though, since you have to attack to win with said creature. Blasting Station/Phyrexian Alter is generally the way to go.
-Reveillark + Karmic Guide + Blasting Station / Phyrexian Alter / Carrion Feeder. This has the same effect as above, but uses different cards than darkest hour and Teysa.
-Teysa, Orzhov Scion + Phyrexian Alter + Nether Traitor. This gives you infinite mana as well.
-Teysa, Orzhov Scion + Reveillark + Karmic Guide + Tidehollow Sculler. This will remove all hands and creatures if you do this correctly. You sacrifice all three with Teysa on the field. You stack abilites so Scullers ability comes off the stack last, and sac all 3 critters before scullers ability resolves. If your opponents have no creatures, target the spirit token that Sculler leaves behind. You will put a bunch of sculler hand yanking effects on the field and remove everyones hands from the game.
-Yosei, the Morning Star + any recursion effect + any sac outlet. This will lock down a player from untapping. With Nim Deathmantle you can keep multiple players from untapping.
-Teysa, Orzhov Scion + Reveillark + Karmic Guide + Knight-Captain of Eos. This makes infinite tokes.
Alot of these combos seems difficult to pull off, considering that they are 3 card combos minimum, but they are surprisingly easy, due to the combos having so many interchangeable pieces and tutors. A single Buried Alive pulls out all pieces of the last 2 combos, leaving you with only needing a recursion card of sorts and Teysa. The beauty of this is that a single Jesters Cap effect cannot stop this deck from comboing. There are also tons of soft locks in this deck, and they mostly involve being able to remove permanents over and over again.
Cards that didn't make that cut
Imps Mischief-Cute, but hard to use at times. Where is good, its great, but alot of time, its not doing anything, especially if players are using abilities tacked onto critters instead of the actual spell itself.
Sorin Markov-does not further the deck in anyway, since this deck does not care about life totals.
Skeletal Scrying This deck has too many cards that you don't want to remove from your library, thus preventing this card from being that good.
Gilded Lotus Way too slow. I always have better things to do on turn 5 than play this.
Bojuka Bog I've found this card to be way more of a hindrance than help, since its never really around when I want it, and when I draw it, its a bad swamp. I try to keep the tap-lands to a minimum as well.
Orzhov Basillica in general, I've found bouncelands to be very risky, as competitive opponents will target them and losing two land drops is a huge temp loss.
Liliana Vess She generally will get one activation in, then die. She was better is as imperial seal.
I'll bring up more cuts later.
Anyhow, I'll post more information about the deck as I go. I love playing this deck, as I feel like it can stand up to cutthroat decks and hold its own. My playgroup includes Azami, Momir Vig, Glissa the Traitor, Erayo, The Mimeoplasm, Rhys the Redeemed, Savra, Asusa, and more, so this deck will constantly evolve to play those decks. Comments are welcome, although I request that people explain why cards that they suggest should be used. Thank you for now.
Also how are you killing after getting infinite manna?
Would learn my licks with a bottle neck slide
Might I suggest Exsanguinate as a kill condition? I have also had great luck with Order of Leitbur but obviously you can only kill one a turn with it.
And yes Altar of Dementia should be in your deck, if anyone is running the big Eldrazi just keep making them reshuffle till they scoop.
Would learn my licks with a bottle neck slide
I didn't mean you should remove it, just that it is vulnerable to removal. Sorry my wording wasn't clear.
Like I said in my meta I need a bit more redundancy evidently you don't in yours. You speak of instant exiling, in my meta I see Deglamer, Into the Core, Krosan Grip and Return to dust being played. (Yes I know they don't all exile)
Would learn my licks with a bottle neck slide
Tatyova | Anje
Alela | Marchesa
Wanderer