Ok, at first I sort of overlooked the new blue legend as sort of meh but then I started thinking what if I took sort of a draw the whole deck sort of approach that Bobthefunny did in his Tib and Lum deck... It seems like it would be a lot of fun to just run away with the deck dropping 2/2 tokens everywhere I went. This seemed like a really fun deck because generally I dont get to do this sort of heavy spell based and still be agro so I think it has some interesting potential to sort of branch out very differently than most blue decks end up being. Well so here is my first crack at this new commander. I think it will end up being a bit of a commander focused deck so I really need to make sure to have some protection for him when possible.
Sorry to leave the deck sort of incomplete. The list is still over limit and I havent filled in the landbase. I have to run for now though so this is where I will have to leave it at the moment. Well let me know if you have any ideas.
I like the inclusion of Erayo. I should add that to mine. Spellweaver Volute should definitely be in here. It will be disturbingly good with Talrand. You have quite a few spells I will need to steal.
Definitely need that Spellweaver. SO GOOD. If you haven't played with it before like this then you're in for a real treat.
I think some of the sorcery speed cantrips could be the first to go.
I don't get the fascination with Acquire everyone but me seems to have with it. What are you getting consistently? Blightsteels? Sundering Titans? If they aren't as good as that I'd say it's not worth the card.
I love the inclusion of Future Sight and Magus of the Future. Will give you LOTS of gas and it's so much fun to leave a counter on top.
I wonder if Coat of Arms will backfire badly. I still don't know what to think of that. Maybe Favorable Winds is a more modest replacement?
4 Time Warps is a lot but I guess they are really really good with this guy...
Dream Halls I think it is better when you are regularly drawing obscene amounts of cards. I don't know if this deck is really going to be going that route yet. I definitely thought about it but cut it somewhat early in the cuts.
vendilion clique I have found it really hit and miss for multiplayer in general. If you play against a lot of combo players it is a little easier but it is best in my opinion in a regular meta against combo players. In this deck I still get a 2/2 flyer from a regular spell based counterspell so I dont know how useful it will really be. I have always had some issues with timing and player choice but it is a good card. I cant say yes yet though as I have had plenty of issues with it in mp commander in the past.
Phantasmal Image I thought about it but in this particular deck both Phyrexian Metamorph and Rite of Replication felt a bit more deserving. It would likely be the next clone add and in most decks I like it more than Rite of Rep but considering this is a spell based deck I think he makes third add here.
Echo Mage Another creature that I considered earlier. I had him in but cut him due to the sorcery speed mana dumping that he has as the startup investment. I like what he does but the fact that he doesnt do anything for a while actually got me thinking about Sigil Tracer instead but even then there is the problem of relying on the second wizard being in play to use him. My commander is a wizard so I might end up going that route but I had issues with both of them.
Day of the Dragons another card that I considered but the problem is that I am dumping tokens for tokens. If someone shatters the enchantment I loose all my creatures. Normally you would likely get back a bunch of ETB creatures and what not making that not as much of an issue but since it is only a buff in size and still an issue with having summoning sickness again there are problems there. I considered Eldrazi Monument and Akroma's Monument as well due to these issues but in the end I decided to scrap them all for more room.
I like the inclusion of Erayo. I should add that to mine. Spellweaver Volute should definitely be in here. It will be disturbingly good with Talrand. You have quite a few spells I will need to steal.
Spellweaver Volute Was more of an oversight than anything. I added it to the list. I need to do more narrowing down yet though.
Definitely need that Spellweaver. SO GOOD. If you haven't played with it before like this then you're in for a real treat.
I think some of the sorcery speed cantrips could be the first to go.
I don't get the fascination with Acquire everyone but me seems to have with it. What are you getting consistently? Blightsteels? Sundering Titans? If they aren't as good as that I'd say it's not worth the card.
I love the inclusion of Future Sight and Magus of the Future. Will give you LOTS of gas and it's so much fun to leave a counter on top.
I wonder if Coat of Arms will backfire badly. I still don't know what to think of that. Maybe Favorable Winds is a more modest replacement?
4 Time Warps is a lot but I guess they are really really good with this guy...
Sorcery Cantrips - I am working on narrowing them but still have some yet to do. I really like a few of the stronger ones yet but I agree I am trying to narrow how much of this stuff I use.
Acquire - In my mind it is still a lot about the versatility toolbox. If I need Duplicant or Phyrexian Metamorph are all very widely used. Even if it just comes to picking between one of these at need it is useful to have. Grabbing an Oblivion Stone or something can also be useful. I usually dont go for the stupid big end gamers unless this is late in the game. Using them early on usually goes poorly as that is still when everyone has all their resources in hand. Blue doesn't have a ton of toolboxing so I like it for the versatility. I would always like to have another Metamorph when I want it.
Coat of Arms one of the few win pushing cards that I have in the list. Other than that I run heavy extra turns. In this deck it untaps all my lands, gives me more combat steps, generates tokens, and draws me a replacement card. Combat oriented decks love more turns and they are sick.
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I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
I wonder what will be more useful for Talrand, aggro or control. I suppose people will actually need to play with him more first. He's quickly becoming one of my favorite designed legends.
Ok, it took quite some time to pair it down to 100 cards but I finally did it. I had to do quite a bit of cutting but its finally down. Some of the cuts might end up coming back once I can do some testing but it likely wont be until trice gets M12 up that I can get any testing in.
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I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
I am going to be in d0su's shoes for a moment and say the deck needs even more handsculpting U spells. Brainstorm/Opt/Ponder/Preordain/Serum Visions is a good start, but I personally would go all in and run Sleight of Hand and even Portent too. If not, then Impulse and Telling Time.
I like the idea of keeping the hand rotation high and mana costs low when possible so I went ahead and did a few adjustments:
CUTS:
-Blatant Thievery too expensive. I considered cutting Oblivion Stone but I like the amount of tutoring I could potentially go get it with plus I have Academy Ruins where I could recover it with. In the end I axed the thievery due to not working as well against the real oh **** moments. Plus the fact that it is a sorcery helps very little beyond the ability to Mystic Tutor into it however I still have Knowledge Exploitation as a target for that.
-Spin into Myth I like it but the cost is high here. I like the idea of having the re-usability of the buyback lock-down of Mind Games a little more.
-Acquire I like it but I think the re-usability of Mystic Speculation might be better. It gives me something to burn mana with which is nice and more token gen.
ADDS:
+Mystic Speculation reusable card selection / token gen. Being able to generate a 2/2 token for 3 mana repeatedly and manipulate my library at the same time seems nice.
+Telling Time more cheap filter / dig. I like impulse sooooo much more but I guess it works.
+Mind Games some fun little control. It is a nice mana dump into tokens at an EOT or something as well.
I wouldn't mind getting Sleight of Hand back in the deck as well but it isn't a huge concern. The idea of maximizing low cost spells is an option though. I just am not sure how much I want to sacrifice for it.
EDIT: As for Forbid... I just never use the buyback on this card but it could be different in here. I will have to give it some thought yet. Generally I would rather just have a cheaper counterspell but there is a chance I might want to swap this in for say Counterspell.
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I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
How about Rewind, Frantic Search, and Time Spiral? All are excellent cards on their own (especially spiral) but become even better when they become board presence.
How about Rewind, Frantic Search, and Time Spiral? All are excellent cards on their own (especially spiral) but become even better when they become board presence.
Rewind has the problem of how mana intensive it is to get it started. I would probably rather go with a cheaper counterspell or go for Foil which is also a potentially free counter if I dont ahve mana up.
Frantic Search I considered it but it is still card disadvantage and honestly it doesnt dig all that deep. It was something I thought about for a bit but an overall smaller hand isnt quite worth it in my mind.
Time Spiral In general I dont like giving my opponents cards... it is something to consider though but this sort of effect is something I tend to look for more in like a red deck. This deck should have really powerful draw power to the point where I hate giving opponents cards.
Snap I like the cheap and untap portion but I hate how it doesnt actually answer anything. I considered Repulse and or Wipe Away and I sort of feel like both are a little stronger than the untap capability of Snap.
As a side note, I initially cut Long-Term Plans however I have been adding more filter / draw to the list than initially was in the deck. I think I will bring it back in potentially for one of the artifact tutors. So now I am down to possibly cutting either Tezzeret or Fabricate. It is sort of a tough call but my gut instinct here is to cut Tezzeret due to being more expensive in one shot.
As a side note, I initially cut Long-Term Plans however I have been adding more filter / draw to the list than initially was in the deck. I think I will bring it back in potentially for one of the artifact tutors. So now I am down to possibly cutting either Tezzeret or Fabricate. It is sort of a tough call but my gut instinct here is to cut Tezzeret due to being more expensive in one shot.
I think Long-Term Plans is one of the most underrated tutors in EDH. Instant and blue that you don't need to reveal? Why wouldn't you run it (unless you have access to black of course).
I think Long-Term Plans is one of the most underrated tutors in EDH. Instant and blue that you don't need to reveal? Why wouldn't you run it (unless you have access to black of course).
Generally speaking I wouldnt run it because it is still 2 turns away unless I have amazingly slick card draw. This deck is pushing fast filter and draw more and more so I think it is becoming much better for the deck. When I need to tutor for an answer and it is potentially 3 card draws away it really blows. This deck should be able to close that gap very quickly though.
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I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
Generally speaking I wouldnt run it because it is still 2 turns away unless I have amazingly slick card draw. This deck is pushing fast filter and draw more and more so I think it is becoming much better for the deck. When I need to tutor for an answer and it is potentially 3 card draws away it really blows. This deck should be able to close that gap very quickly though.
See, my meta has an incredible amount of discard in it so being able to hide a card close to the top of my deck for several turns is a huge and more importantly unique tactic. Quite honestly I wish blue had more of this type of "planning" effect. It lets you play turns in advance.
Knowledge Pool + General. Doesn't seem like much but it can actually be amazing, every time you cast an instant spell, you get a drake, so if you dump an instant in, and take one out, you get two drakes because that's 2 casts. Phyrexian Metamorph means with two pools you choose which pool all spells go in to and which pool opponents can take spells out of, TOTAL CONTROL.
I also always recommend running a colorless creature toolbox in mono-U with Eye of Ugin, best land ever. Terrain Generator is also amazing in a blue deck that draws a lot.
Oona's Grace is also a decent way of abusing talrand at instant speed.
Knowledge Pool + General. Doesn't seem like much but it can actually be amazing, every time you cast an instant spell, you get a drake, so if you dump an instant in, and take one out, you get two drakes because that's 2 casts. Phyrexian Metamorph means with two pools you choose which pool all spells go in to and which pool opponents can take spells out of, TOTAL CONTROL.
I also always recommend running a colorless creature toolbox in mono-U with Eye of Ugin, best land ever. Terrain Generator is also amazing in a blue deck that draws a lot.
Oona's Grace is also a decent way of abusing talrand at instant speed.
Grand Architect + expensive artifacts - I did actually consider this one myself. If I were to go here it would likely be something like Mindslaver. We have Academy Ruins and what not but my big issue here is that it felt like I would need a fairly sizeable expensive artifact setup for this to work and even then it seemed too off theme. Cool but it takes up too much room and is too hard to get the architect himself to really count on being able to do this.
Knowledge Pool I call shinanigans!!! Interesting but very chaotic. I am not much for chaotic plays and playing Knowledge Pool without Teferi as a commander seems like chaos. Interesting idea but I am trying to keep away from expensive sorcery speed things unless they are really powerful effects like extra turns and what not. I just see too many things that feel like they could go wrong here.
Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir fun but I dont really see much come from him other than trying to screw with the other control decks. If you play against a lot of opposing control then I would say it might be worthwhile but his creature flash in a list like mine with so few creatures is only so so.
Mnemonic Wall + Crystal Shard Believe me I did consider this however most of the effects other than the extra turns arent worth spending the mana to recover one at a time in this deck. Crystal Shard has little it can do for me to generate value on my own and while I like it offensively I like to use it in a deck where it has dual purpose for offense and defense as well as retriggering ETB effects. These cards just werent worth adding for the narrow use of infinites here. I like them but just hitting Sunder with a bunch of guys in play is just as effective for this deck.
Eye of Ugin I have exactly one artifact creature which is metamorph. If I were running a bunch of eldrazi then perhaps. I dont like how I cant use the land for mana though which usually axes it out of like every list I get going.
Terrain Generator it might actually have a shot in here. The deck does a lot of drawing and being able to throw an extra land down at instant speed might be worth it.
Oona's Grace hey thats sort of cool. I hadnt even thought about that card. I might see if I can sneek it into the list.
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I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
Eye of Ugin I have exactly one artifact creature which is metamorph. If I were running a bunch of eldrazi then perhaps. I dont like how I cant use the land for mana though which usually axes it out of like every list I get going.
it searches for colorless critters, not artifact critters, I generally use it for when I'm sitting on a ton of mana and lots of instant speed control. If I don't do anything it's nice to EoT tutor for Solemn Simulacrum or Duplicant. It is however, far more potent with the Grand Architect setup because opponents' EoT you can use your lands to search for Blightsteel Colossus, Memnarch or Sundering Titan and then use your drakes to drop it on your turn, with countermagic up.
It sucks that you can't tap it for mana, but if you run enough land search/filter it's rarely an issue. Also if tokens are an issue in your meta it also searches for Steel Hellkite.
Anyway that's why I run it, of course I run the eldrazi in literally every mono color deck I have ever made, so that's me
Also I would consider cutting all but the best/most recursive draw spells, this deck hates having no answers. I don't know about your meta but my meta is loaded with sweepers, which makes talrand sort of pointless if theres no power cards behind it.
36 lands and only 3 mana rocks seems a bit light as well.
Admittedly, I'm running 33; but I have 10 mana rocks (cmc=2 or less) and cost reducers. I think I might still be low. I want to go back up to 35, but am out of things to cut.
I have decided that Tamiyo, destpite her -2 being awesome draw, is simply win-more. I have cut her.
Also, since you have p3k and portal cards anyways...
Seems like you want as much Flashback / Buyback and Retrace as possible. This should be your card advantage engine. Even marginal cards will become great if you put two or more tokens in the mix.
Seems like you want as much Flashback / Buyback and Retrace as possible. This should be your card advantage engine. Even marginal cards will become great if you put two or more tokens in the mix.
Also, Mystic Speculation will be boss for Spellweaver Volute fun. Another that I shoved into my list was Pulse of the grid; while it's not guaranteed to get free buyback, it can be a useful spell. I'm going to try it out.
Also, Mystic Speculation will be boss for Spellweaver Volute fun. Another that I shoved into my list was Pulse of the grid; while it's not guaranteed to get free buyback, it can be a useful spell. I'm going to try it out.
I think color-changing cards like Whim of Volrath are quite narrow. You can't hose creatures which naturally come with protection from blue, for instance.
Anyway, how about considering Isochron Scepter? I feel like including High Tide as well. More mana for casting more spells is always good
I think color-changing cards like Whim of Volrath are quite narrow. You can't hose creatures which naturally come with protection from blue, for instance.
Anyway, how about considering Isochron Scepter? I feel like including High Tide as well. More mana for casting more spells is always good
1 Talrand, Sky Summoner
CREATURES (5)
1 Erayo, Soratami Ascendant
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Vedalken Aethermage
1 Trinket Mage
1 Magus of the Future
ARTIFACT (6)
1 Sol Ring
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Mind Stone
1 Isochron Scepter
1 Torpor Orb
1 Vedalken Shackles
ENCHANTMENT (5)
1 Coastal Piracy
1 Opposition
1 Future Sight
1 Spellweaver Volute
1 Cast Through Time
INSTANT (27)
1 Pact of Negation
1 Brainstorm
1 Mind Games
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Opt
1 Pongify
1 Visions of Beyond
1 Arcane Denial
1 Counterspell
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Daze
1 Impulse
1 Mana Drain
1 Peer Through Depths
1 Telling Time
1 Think Twice
1 Twincast
1 Blue Sun's Zenith
1 Hinder
1 Keep Watch
1 Long-Term Plans
1 Spell Crumple
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Cryptic Command
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Force of Will
1 Misdirection
1 Sunder
1 Mystic Speculation
1 Ponder
1 Preordain
1 Serum Visions
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Fabricate
1 Capture of Jingzhou
1 Temporal Manipulation
1 Time Warp
1 Mind's Desire
1 Recurring Insight
1 Walk the Aeons
1 Temporal Mastery
PLANESWALKER (1)
1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
LAND (36)
1 Academy Ruins
1 High Market
29 Island
1 Mystifying Maze
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Strip Mine
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Tolaria West
Sorry to leave the deck sort of incomplete. The list is still over limit and I havent filled in the landbase. I have to run for now though so this is where I will have to leave it at the moment. Well let me know if you have any ideas.
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StaffWhat is your opinion on Dream Halls?
Phantasmal Image!
Echo Mage is also awesome here.
Day of the Dragons for a one-shot wonder.
EDH:
RNorin the WaryR <-Link! (Primer - Mono Red Control)
GUEdric, Spymaster of TrestUG <- Link! (Mini-Primer - Dredge)
Duel Commander:
WUGeist of Saint TraftUW <- Link! (Aggro-Control)
BGSkullbriar, the Walking GraveGB <- Link! (Aggro)
BUGDamia, Sage of StoneGUB <- Link! (Extinction Control)
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StaffRetired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
I think some of the sorcery speed cantrips could be the first to go.
I don't get the fascination with Acquire everyone but me seems to have with it. What are you getting consistently? Blightsteels? Sundering Titans? If they aren't as good as that I'd say it's not worth the card.
I love the inclusion of Future Sight and Magus of the Future. Will give you LOTS of gas and it's so much fun to leave a counter on top.
I wonder if Coat of Arms will backfire badly. I still don't know what to think of that. Maybe Favorable Winds is a more modest replacement?
4 Time Warps is a lot but I guess they are really really good with this guy...
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:symw::symg: Trostani Enchantress (updated 6/5)
:symg::symr::symu: Unexpected Results.dec
Spellweaver Volute oversight. It has been added.
Dream Halls I think it is better when you are regularly drawing obscene amounts of cards. I don't know if this deck is really going to be going that route yet. I definitely thought about it but cut it somewhat early in the cuts.
vendilion clique I have found it really hit and miss for multiplayer in general. If you play against a lot of combo players it is a little easier but it is best in my opinion in a regular meta against combo players. In this deck I still get a 2/2 flyer from a regular spell based counterspell so I dont know how useful it will really be. I have always had some issues with timing and player choice but it is a good card. I cant say yes yet though as I have had plenty of issues with it in mp commander in the past.
Phantasmal Image I thought about it but in this particular deck both Phyrexian Metamorph and Rite of Replication felt a bit more deserving. It would likely be the next clone add and in most decks I like it more than Rite of Rep but considering this is a spell based deck I think he makes third add here.
Echo Mage Another creature that I considered earlier. I had him in but cut him due to the sorcery speed mana dumping that he has as the startup investment. I like what he does but the fact that he doesnt do anything for a while actually got me thinking about Sigil Tracer instead but even then there is the problem of relying on the second wizard being in play to use him. My commander is a wizard so I might end up going that route but I had issues with both of them.
Day of the Dragons another card that I considered but the problem is that I am dumping tokens for tokens. If someone shatters the enchantment I loose all my creatures. Normally you would likely get back a bunch of ETB creatures and what not making that not as much of an issue but since it is only a buff in size and still an issue with having summoning sickness again there are problems there. I considered Eldrazi Monument and Akroma's Monument as well due to these issues but in the end I decided to scrap them all for more room.
Spellweaver Volute Was more of an oversight than anything. I added it to the list. I need to do more narrowing down yet though.
Sorcery Cantrips - I am working on narrowing them but still have some yet to do. I really like a few of the stronger ones yet but I agree I am trying to narrow how much of this stuff I use.
Acquire - In my mind it is still a lot about the versatility toolbox. If I need Duplicant or Phyrexian Metamorph are all very widely used. Even if it just comes to picking between one of these at need it is useful to have. Grabbing an Oblivion Stone or something can also be useful. I usually dont go for the stupid big end gamers unless this is late in the game. Using them early on usually goes poorly as that is still when everyone has all their resources in hand. Blue doesn't have a ton of toolboxing so I like it for the versatility. I would always like to have another Metamorph when I want it.
Coat of Arms one of the few win pushing cards that I have in the list. Other than that I run heavy extra turns. In this deck it untaps all my lands, gives me more combat steps, generates tokens, and draws me a replacement card. Combat oriented decks love more turns and they are sick.
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Also, this deck would love cheap buyback spells like Mystic Speculation and Mind Games. Whispers of the Muse is spendy, but that's always there. And of course, Forbid.
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StaffCUTS:
-Blatant Thievery too expensive. I considered cutting Oblivion Stone but I like the amount of tutoring I could potentially go get it with plus I have Academy Ruins where I could recover it with. In the end I axed the thievery due to not working as well against the real oh **** moments. Plus the fact that it is a sorcery helps very little beyond the ability to Mystic Tutor into it however I still have Knowledge Exploitation as a target for that.
-Spin into Myth I like it but the cost is high here. I like the idea of having the re-usability of the buyback lock-down of Mind Games a little more.
-Acquire I like it but I think the re-usability of Mystic Speculation might be better. It gives me something to burn mana with which is nice and more token gen.
ADDS:
+Mystic Speculation reusable card selection / token gen. Being able to generate a 2/2 token for 3 mana repeatedly and manipulate my library at the same time seems nice.
+Telling Time more cheap filter / dig. I like impulse sooooo much more but I guess it works.
+Mind Games some fun little control. It is a nice mana dump into tokens at an EOT or something as well.
I wouldn't mind getting Sleight of Hand back in the deck as well but it isn't a huge concern. The idea of maximizing low cost spells is an option though. I just am not sure how much I want to sacrifice for it.
EDIT: As for Forbid... I just never use the buyback on this card but it could be different in here. I will have to give it some thought yet. Generally I would rather just have a cheaper counterspell but there is a chance I might want to swap this in for say Counterspell.
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StaffEdit: Add Snap to that list also.
Rewind has the problem of how mana intensive it is to get it started. I would probably rather go with a cheaper counterspell or go for Foil which is also a potentially free counter if I dont ahve mana up.
Frantic Search I considered it but it is still card disadvantage and honestly it doesnt dig all that deep. It was something I thought about for a bit but an overall smaller hand isnt quite worth it in my mind.
Time Spiral In general I dont like giving my opponents cards... it is something to consider though but this sort of effect is something I tend to look for more in like a red deck. This deck should have really powerful draw power to the point where I hate giving opponents cards.
Snap I like the cheap and untap portion but I hate how it doesnt actually answer anything. I considered Repulse and or Wipe Away and I sort of feel like both are a little stronger than the untap capability of Snap.
As a side note, I initially cut Long-Term Plans however I have been adding more filter / draw to the list than initially was in the deck. I think I will bring it back in potentially for one of the artifact tutors. So now I am down to possibly cutting either Tezzeret or Fabricate. It is sort of a tough call but my gut instinct here is to cut Tezzeret due to being more expensive in one shot.
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StaffI think Long-Term Plans is one of the most underrated tutors in EDH. Instant and blue that you don't need to reveal? Why wouldn't you run it (unless you have access to black of course).
Generally speaking I wouldnt run it because it is still 2 turns away unless I have amazingly slick card draw. This deck is pushing fast filter and draw more and more so I think it is becoming much better for the deck. When I need to tutor for an answer and it is potentially 3 card draws away it really blows. This deck should be able to close that gap very quickly though.
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StaffSee, my meta has an incredible amount of discard in it so being able to hide a card close to the top of my deck for several turns is a huge and more importantly unique tactic. Quite honestly I wish blue had more of this type of "planning" effect. It lets you play turns in advance.
Grand Architect + spendy artifacts. Once you get a bunch of drakes, drop architect and tap down your drakes for the likes of Sundering Titan and Blightsteel Colossus, also great with Gauntlet of Power, Caged Sun, Planar Portal and Mindslaver
Knowledge Pool + General. Doesn't seem like much but it can actually be amazing, every time you cast an instant spell, you get a drake, so if you dump an instant in, and take one out, you get two drakes because that's 2 casts. Phyrexian Metamorph means with two pools you choose which pool all spells go in to and which pool opponents can take spells out of, TOTAL CONTROL.
Oh and of course theres also Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir if you're a dick like me
Beyond that, Archaeomancer, the new Mnemonic Wall + Crystal Shard and Time Warp gets you infi turns and infi drakes but thats nothing new.
I also always recommend running a colorless creature toolbox in mono-U with Eye of Ugin, best land ever. Terrain Generator is also amazing in a blue deck that draws a lot.
Oona's Grace is also a decent way of abusing talrand at instant speed.
EDIT: JACKIE! ONE MOOOORE THING! Sakashima, the Impostor on your general is HILARIOUS
EDIT: JACKIE! ONE MOOOOOORE THING! Cavern of Souls and Riptide Laboratory are both great with lots of wizards
EDIT: JACKIE! ONE MOOOOOOOOOOOORE THING! Cunning Wish with a ten card wishboard can help free up space in your deck, my wishboard consists of Stifle, Hydroblast, Disperse, Venser's Diffusion, Wipe Away, Echoing Truth, Sunder, Submerge, Spin into Myth, and Faerie Trickery. Also means you cast two spells and get two drakes.
Grand Architect + expensive artifacts - I did actually consider this one myself. If I were to go here it would likely be something like Mindslaver. We have Academy Ruins and what not but my big issue here is that it felt like I would need a fairly sizeable expensive artifact setup for this to work and even then it seemed too off theme. Cool but it takes up too much room and is too hard to get the architect himself to really count on being able to do this.
Knowledge Pool I call shinanigans!!! Interesting but very chaotic. I am not much for chaotic plays and playing Knowledge Pool without Teferi as a commander seems like chaos. Interesting idea but I am trying to keep away from expensive sorcery speed things unless they are really powerful effects like extra turns and what not. I just see too many things that feel like they could go wrong here.
Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir fun but I dont really see much come from him other than trying to screw with the other control decks. If you play against a lot of opposing control then I would say it might be worthwhile but his creature flash in a list like mine with so few creatures is only so so.
Mnemonic Wall + Crystal Shard Believe me I did consider this however most of the effects other than the extra turns arent worth spending the mana to recover one at a time in this deck. Crystal Shard has little it can do for me to generate value on my own and while I like it offensively I like to use it in a deck where it has dual purpose for offense and defense as well as retriggering ETB effects. These cards just werent worth adding for the narrow use of infinites here. I like them but just hitting Sunder with a bunch of guys in play is just as effective for this deck.
Eye of Ugin I have exactly one artifact creature which is metamorph. If I were running a bunch of eldrazi then perhaps. I dont like how I cant use the land for mana though which usually axes it out of like every list I get going.
Terrain Generator it might actually have a shot in here. The deck does a lot of drawing and being able to throw an extra land down at instant speed might be worth it.
Oona's Grace hey thats sort of cool. I hadnt even thought about that card. I might see if I can sneek it into the list.
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[Modern] Allies
it searches for colorless critters, not artifact critters, I generally use it for when I'm sitting on a ton of mana and lots of instant speed control. If I don't do anything it's nice to EoT tutor for Solemn Simulacrum or Duplicant. It is however, far more potent with the Grand Architect setup because opponents' EoT you can use your lands to search for Blightsteel Colossus, Memnarch or Sundering Titan and then use your drakes to drop it on your turn, with countermagic up.
It sucks that you can't tap it for mana, but if you run enough land search/filter it's rarely an issue. Also if tokens are an issue in your meta it also searches for Steel Hellkite.
Anyway that's why I run it, of course I run the eldrazi in literally every mono color deck I have ever made, so that's me
Also I would consider cutting all but the best/most recursive draw spells, this deck hates having no answers. I don't know about your meta but my meta is loaded with sweepers, which makes talrand sort of pointless if theres no power cards behind it.
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StaffDeep analysis and Trade Secrets should be considered for yours.
Hightide and Extraplanar Lens for the manas.
36 lands and only 3 mana rocks seems a bit light as well.
Admittedly, I'm running 33; but I have 10 mana rocks (cmc=2 or less) and cost reducers. I think I might still be low. I want to go back up to 35, but am out of things to cut.
I have decided that Tamiyo, destpite her -2 being awesome draw, is simply win-more. I have cut her.
Also, since you have p3k and portal cards anyways...
Borrowing 100,000 Arrows
Theft of Dreams
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
A few solid options.
Capsize
Mind Games
Deep Analysis
Dematerialize
Flash of Insight
Quiet Speculation
Silent Departure
Think twice
Oona's Grace
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StaffYou missed Whim of Volrath.
It has the added benefit of giving you a RAINBOW DRAKE ARMY!!
It also helps to block against people with Sword of Fire and Ice. Just sayin'.
Also, Mystic Speculation will be boss for Spellweaver Volute fun. Another that I shoved into my list was Pulse of the grid; while it's not guaranteed to get free buyback, it can be a useful spell. I'm going to try it out.
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
I think color-changing cards like Whim of Volrath are quite narrow. You can't hose creatures which naturally come with protection from blue, for instance.
Anyway, how about considering Isochron Scepter? I feel like including High Tide as well. More mana for casting more spells is always good
Also, would you consider more manipulation like Eyes of the Watcher?
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StaffChange Talrand.
Make 50 red drakes.
Block the pro-blue creature.
????
PROFIT!
(Also, what played creature naturally has pro-blue? Scragnoth?)
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek