So how I came to play Teferi is a bit of a story. Originally I played Emrakul, the Aeons Torn as my commander and I just dropped mana stones till I could lolz roll face. Looking back at that deck though it was fatally flawed by the fact that any sort of artifact wrath totally took me out at the knees. I moved to Teferi after a while because I disliked my lack of control and card drawing. My first list for Teferi was chalked full of 10+ mana fatness. The list was big, it was slow, and it was scarey. I believe it was also like my 4th deck I ever created. The only other decks that I can think of before teferi would be: Captain Sisay, Korlash, and Emrakul. Considering I am still willing to retool and reload Teferi really says a lot about him as a commander. He has many powerful attributes that I have really enjoyed about him over the close to year that I have been playing him.
After a while of running the lolz big fattys.deck in mono blue I realized that I was twidling my thumbs for far too long every game. I was vulnerable to whenever someone felt like swinging my way. I changed the deck by lowering the mana curve a bit but it was still a big old fatty agro deck.
Next I tried adding in a bunch of equipment and utilizing that to make up for other shortcomings that mono blue agro has. Sadly that didnt work either.
Now I have finally broken down and turned teferi into a control deck. Sadly mono blue is meant to be control / combo and there are just so few exceptions to that. While you can try to force it out of this, you are at a serious disadvantage. I have just decided to embrace the fact that mono blue usually needs to embrace combo as a wincon. There are some commanders out there that might not need to do so but as an overall I feel that it is a necessary evil.
Basic Strategy
Ok this deck is mostly a turtle deck. I run a bit of all three strategies. I mainly use creatures at instant speed as my control outlets splashed with a bit of counterspell / control magic. I use a few combos still in here and while I am not trying to say no combo or anything for this deck I did cut back some of them due to their individual cards being worse or being too intricate to reliably win with.
I for one am not opposed to winning through beat down but this deck generally tries to hold the gamestate until it can combo out or allow enough other players to die so that I can scoop up the win at the last moment.
1) Palinchron + Phantasmal Image / Caged Sun / High Tide = Infinite Mana (From here I can win in several ways such as Memnarch to theft all of my opponents permenants, Blue Sun's Zenith myself for my entire deck then when it finishes resolving it shuffles Blue Sun's Zenith to the top of the deck and I can use Future Sight to cast it out and draw / kill all of my opponents, or I can Capsize with buyback all of my opponents permenants).
3) Future Sight / Magus of the Future + Sensei's Divining Top = card draw (NOTE* this is no longer an infinite combo as I removed the artifact cheapener spell. Still it is a way to draw a lot of cards and it involves what I would consider to be good cards outside of this interaction.)
4) Clone effect 1+ Primeval Titan then continously utilize Walk the Aeons for infinite turns. Once you get close to running out of land hopefully you can just draw cards up to 8 in hand and discard an Eldrazi. Generally though if you have 2 primetimes beating arround though you will manage to kill everyone. Sort of an interesting makeshift combo but I like it
***Notice: most of the cards on this list are not in the list because of space issues. If I can manage to free up some space after some testing these are some of the cards I am sort of considering for the list still.***
More Mana Stones... the list is looking a bit low on them...
Muddle the Mixture I really wanted to get this counter in the list but just sort of never got arround to getting it in somewhere. Still on my list of things I would like to include though.
Fabricate I really wanted to add it into the list to tutor for the equip I want... It might have to make its way in later though.
Drift of Phantasms it might work for another sword fetcher / blocker which could be nice... well we will see.
Sword of Light and Shadow I think I have enough creatures that I could use it. Also I love the protections it would give as well as the lifegain.
Time Stretch it might be a bit too much. I love taking 2 turns however I hate the manacost. If I can get the mana stones up higher I might be able to come back to this one.
Notable Exclusions
Knowledge Pool Pool combo is very... picky in my meta. I have had this thing in hand so many games but would simply be giving away the game if I were to use it. My opposition often involves decks like mayel, nin, chainer, scion, and several other commanders that can literally on their own give me issues. Turning 3 commanders on me at once can be a real problem. I could see this a lot more if people were running commanders like Asusa or something where they were just getting utility from them but I dont see much of that in my meta. Due to this I havent found it very useful.
Other combos... I played teferi as a combo deck for a while. I find that I get a lot of complaints when I play combo though and I myself sort of resent decks that utilize combos in part due to feeling a bit dirty being the only one using them and utilizing them to win. If my meta would step up and use them I have no problem doing the same however they seem set on not doing such things so I just follow suite I guess
Sunder I was running it but the other day I was complaining about a deck that kept using Tooth and Nail to hit firebombers + it that betrays and sort of decided that I didn't want to run this in here for the same reason I was mad about the T&N.
Some of the comments might be a bit confusing due to the drastic changes in the build over time. I have been through at least 3 completely different variants of this list now.
EDIT: I took this section out from what it used to be as it completely pertained to a previous agro build. If I ever update this to a primer I will utilize this for extra space.
I would really recommend putting Oblivion Stone back in - I run about the same amount of artifact mana sources as you do, and it's never been a big problem for me. I also like Academy Ruins and Expedition Map, but I'm not sure if you have enough non-basics to fetch to make it worth it.
Vesuvan Shapeshifter is another one of my favourites, you might want to test it.
EDIT: Forgot to mention that Rhystic Study is great and should not be cut, even if you forget to draw half the time, like me.
I would really recommend putting Oblivion Stone back in - I run about the same amount of artifact mana sources as you do, and it's never been a big problem for me. I also like Academy Ruins and Expedition Map, but I'm not sure if you have enough non-basics to fetch to make it worth it.
Vesuvan Shapeshifter is another one of my favourites, you might want to test it.
EDIT: Forgot to mention that Rhystic Study is great and should not be cut, even if you forget to draw half the time, like me.
Thanks for the input. I am trying to make it competitive but stay away from combos. I have a combo deck and its just not fun to play with or against. I don't frown on other people trying to combo but I don't have fun ending a game in that way so I just try to play around other combos and shut them down when I can.
Vesuvan Shapeshifter - I have tried all sorts of clone type creatures. I find that clone is probably just the way to go. I also run Rite of Replication in case there is a really good target on the board. The big thing to say about the clone type creatures is I almost always end up using them to kill off generals. At that not there is no reason to use a creature other than clone as its the cheapest mana cost of them. I had a thought that I might try swapping out my clone for Empress Galina for a while as it is reusable general steal rather than a single kill.
Everflowing Chalice and Dreamstone Hedron - I used the Hedron once. It is too slow in my opinion for much ramping. I also really dispise how it only gives colorless mana at costing 6 to cast. I would use Gilded Lotus over it as it really only ends up costing 2 mana to cast and gives me colored mana back. The Everflowing Chalice is a good call though I think I will add it in in the place of some of my 2 mana artifact mana production as it is versatile in how much it produces.
I think I will let the Oblivion Stone stay out of the deck for now. To be honest there are a lot of decks with wrath effects in my meta. On top of it all I like trying to steal anything good that sticks to the board. Also dont overlook the fact that Steel Helkite is often a wrath of sorts as he hits at end of my opponents turns and swings in to destroy things.
I like Academy Ruins, it has been on me maybe list for a while. I might look into it more. My only problem being I don't really like paying mana and redrawing my artifact mana ramp lat in a game. I will proxy it now just to see what I think before I commit to it.
Expidition Map hasn't been overly useful. I used to use it but I just don't have many targets I really want to draw off it.
Rhystic Study is in the I want to add to the deck list. It is a great card and I just haven't gotten around to getting it in.
So.. it came to my attention that Teferi + Knowledge Pool locks everyone out of all spells from their hand. This leaves me able to dominate most of the game only worrying about cards that hit early on and generals coming back out. It is a bit risky as I know a few generals such as Scion of the Ur-Dragon and Mayael the Anima who will still give me a good run for my money.
Knowledge Pool looks like a fun card - I've kind of been wanting to try it out myself. If you think Knowledge Pool will make its way in, then Treasure Mage would certainly be worth testing at least. It can also fetch Duplicant if you need removal.
Knowledge Pool looks like a fun card - I've kind of been wanting to try it out myself. If you think Knowledge Pool will make its way in, then Treasure Mage would certainly be worth testing at least. It can also fetch Duplicant if you need removal.
I really do like Planar Portal as its a fun card that tutors up anything I could possibly want. What I dont like about it is that it is an artifact that costs me 6 that I cant flash in like the artifact creatures that is very wide open and vulnerable the turn I cast it. If I dont want to go after the Knowledge Pool off the Treasure Mage it will probably be because of the current board status. In case of a tough board I will probably instead want to go after Memnarch or Duplicant. I try to maximize keeping my mana open for responses. While I dont like counterspelling everything that is attempted to be played, when it is clearly affecting me loosing the game or smashing my board in I want that counter available.
Finding spells to replace what is coming out isnt the problem. I clearly have more spells I would like to try out in the deck than I have coming out.
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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.
Well I got a lot of cards in that I had ordered and figured I would update this post. I listed under the decklist what all changed.
Also I stumbled across a good gem for this deck Equilibrium. I am going to have to figure out how everything is working that has been added. I am guessing that not all of the cards I added in are going to pan out but I wanted to give them all a shot. If one of them is underperforming I will cut it for Equilibrium and or go to one of the cards I had in the deck prior.
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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.
Well this deck started out as my attempt to shut down combos. I originally had no combos in it myself. I have always been a bit of an agro player so it was a bit tough for me to go strictly blue control. My deck actually sort of runs a combo of agro / control.
Due to teferi as my general I tend to run some larger counterspells. My counterspells are built to give me some advantage as well as stop someone mid combo.
I built a lot of stealing effects into the deck that under normal surcumstances might not be great cards but as teferi can protect and essentially give them haste I am able to run unique creatures like Thalakos Deceiver and Sphinx Ambassador which normally wouldnt be great creatures.
Need to kill someone off? go ahead and drop an eldrazi at the end of your opponents turn. You get to swing in before they can even have a chance to use their removal on them. I have even managed to Time Stretch for 3 attacks before being retaliated on. It can be very amazing.
The LOCKDOWN:
So I dont know if you are aware of the teferi + Knowledge Poolcombo but when you have the 2 cards on the table, your opponents cannot resolve cards cards from their hand. It has to deal with how teferi works and how your opponents cannot play cards while there is something on the stack. Due to this, your opponents will have to finish the game with what is in play, using their generals, cards like flashback, cycle etc. If you are able to follow up with a Blatent Thevery or a Memnarch you have sealed the game for good. It is an amazing combo that your opponents almost cannot do anything about. It is one of the most robust combos in the game as teferi is your general, when you cast him at the end of your opponents turns they have to counterspell him to stop his entry. Once he is in you can cast Knowledge Pool on your turn with no ability for your opponents to react. its amazing. (know that they will all try killing you at this point though. You better have a plan to finish)
I like how this deck does not plan on winning by using infinite mana infinite card draw or bounce. A lot of blue decks will use this combo and I find it to be lame. Yes the Teferi + Knowledge Pool could be considered lame as well but I like how it doesnt seal the deal alone. Lots of generals can still continue operating after this lands. I use cards like Steel Hellkite at instant speed to fly in and remove pesky artifacts and enchantments. It is great also letting people know that if they get on your bad side they wont be resolving things for a bit.
No problem, glad I could help you out. Also check out some of the other Teferi listings on the database as some of them will do the infinite mana schemes that you might be interested in knowing about. I found them all to be boring so I took a different approach
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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.
Yeah most of my playgroup shy away from the oops I win combos as well so I think I'll steer clear of them. Sorry if this is a stupid question but why arcane denial over counterspell? Is it for the potential to use on your own spell or for political reasons?
well I used to run both of them. The big thing being you just cant manage to counter everything. When you do have to counterspell something it is because it would be game breaking for you. Arcane Denial is a bit political as it wont totally piss them off but at the same time it replaces itself. Either one should be fine. I run arcane denial as I like the cantrip on it and dont mind politically making myself better on someone's hate 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.
So.. it came to my attention that Teferi + Knowledge Pool locks everyone out of all spells from their hand.
So casting a combo for you isn't fun, but locking everyone else on the table out of their combos is? I think building up to a lethal combo is in the spirit of the EDH fun factor, whereas locking down the table is just malicious and instantly sucks all the fun out the match.
This reminds me of something Batman once said:
"You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain."
You fine sir have undoubtedly become the villain. My feelings here are an interesting mix of disdain and kudos.
No worries though mate. I think it's a very intriguing build and strategy. I would very much like to play this deck and cast a City of Solitude so as to nullify the advantage gained by Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir.
I also commend your quote signatures. Just make sure you occasionally remember to read them yourself
While I will give you that someone playing Knowledge Pool against you sucks, I have a lot of generals in my meta where this is not an end to the game. Scion of the Ur-Dragon can still kill me in 2 shots, Chainer, Dementia Master gets better and rezes everything into play. Mayael the Anima starts throwing creatures from the top of the deck into play. Both Mayael and Chainer can both easily end my combo as it just requires some creature that comes into play sort of effect or tap to do damage sort of effect to kill off teferi and break out of the combo. I have had Mayael hit Woodfall Primus and other creatures during my pool lockdown. The people it hits the hardest are players whos general dont do much for them like a Azusa, Lost but Seeking deck.
I like the Knowledge Pool combo as it does not end the game in itself. There are a lot of decks out there that it does not stop in its own but it makes it a bit easier to try to control the game with it active.
I will stick by my use of this combo. I could instead go for infinite mana and bounce all your permanents every turn. Does that sound like more fun to you? I would rather have access to my general and all my current resources than stick to play one land, try to do something with one land, then get your one land bounced.
EDIT: I am not trying to say that the Knowledge Pool combo is bad at all in this post. I am trying to explain that it isn't an end all best combo ever sort of thing to be executed at any time. It takes some setting up for and the right timing to drop it in place.
Also I thought I would add to the Arcane Denial question earlier, Dream Fracture can work also in a similar sort of card. It costs one more mana which can sometimes be a pain is the only downside.
Also would mimic vat be better than nim deathmantle? Is there something I'm missing?
They both serve a similar role. One thing I like about deathmantle is that I can use it for several different creatures. Deathmantle for some reason seems far less threatening to opponents as well meaning it seems to get targeted a lot less, probably something about stealing opponents creatures or something.
What I like about the deathmantle is that I almost always have my mana open through all of my opponents turns. This means that if I have deathmantle out I can possibly rez multiple creatures (if I have 8-12 mana open) during a wrath. Teferi is much better as a creature on the board than on a mimic vat (plus dont put your general on a mimic vat, bad idea). They are similar cards but the abiliity to mass rez off a wrath is nice. It also makes people think twice about trying a wrath because I might let it go through just to rez my stuff.
Mimic Vat tends to be better with coming into play / leaving play triggers which I dont run as many of. I have just found the deathmantle to be a solid card in a similar role. You can try using both and see how you feel about it.
Also as a side note, I have used the deathmantle on Teferi as a wincon. He swings 5 with intimidate not ideal but it works.
EDIT: as an update to my decklist I swapped out Dominate for Gilded Drake. I had had a lot of issues in the past where I just couldnt invest the amount of mana into Dominate to make it work out. Plus Gilded Drake is amazing if you manage to get Capsize in hand lol.
Also I thought I would share with anyone who is not used to using counterspells in EDH, sometimes someone will go to drop something like Grave Pact for instance. Just because this might screw up your current board position this does not mean that it is bad to allow something like this to resolve. You can make someone else out to be the big target for a bit as you build up your board position dropping more lands, drawing cards, and accelerating your mana abilities. Sure it makes it hard to stick any creatures but the person who is dominating the board with these effects will be fending off everyone else trying to blow him out of the water to make his annoying deck stop it. Use this to your advantage rather than counterspelling some sort of stasis sort of effect that will slow down the board, use it to your advantage to make someone else catch some hate and build up your hand and board.
Always try to assess if the game can handle a spell coming in before you consider counterspelling everything. A lot of utility spells and creatures you just have to let them be as you arent going to be able to counterspell everything. Counter the Reveillark combo or the Uril, the Miststalker who will jack up your game. My favorite move is to Gather Specimens or Desertion on Uril lol.
Thanks for the advice. I built a similar list and got to play a few duals the other day against a nicol bolas good stuff deck. I didn't lose a single game or even come close. I actually felt bad because it was so good and switched decks.
What do you think of Blightsteel colossus in the deck? It would be funny to rite of replication it(kicked) but the 2 eldrazi were game breaking already eventhough I can't rite them.
Thanks for the advice. I built a similar list and got to play a few duals the other day against a nicol bolas good stuff deck. I didn't lose a single game or even come close. I actually felt bad because it was so good and switched decks.
What do you think of Blightsteel colossus in the deck? It would be funny to rite of replication it(kicked) but the 2 eldrazi were game breaking already eventhough I can't rite them.
The Blightsteel would fill a similar role. It would be cool due to its ability to one shot people. I managed to pull a turn 5 bribery with Arcane Denial backup just yesterday and took a Blightsteel. I ended up killing everyone at the table with it. One guy thought he had a solution, apparently he was 1 mana shy of kicking a right of rep so instead he tried to bant charm it which I shut down
The downside of the blightsteel is that if you dont kill your opponent in one swing it is possible that someone could solve it before you can swing again. In this case you are out of most all of any progress you made. I like the eldrazi boys more as every swing you manage is totaly devistating. In my opinion the better your opponents decks get the less likely the blightsteel will be as good as the eldrazi. I havent personally tested blightsteel but I have seen him run about in a few games.
Make sure that that nasty bolas doesnt stick... its no good. Also good luck with your deck im glad you are enjoying it.
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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.
Ohhhh boy it has been a very long time since I have dusted off my Teferi deck. I think I have played it something like once in the last 4-5 months. I had actually started using some of its cards in other decks because for some reason I just hadnt been using teferi. I decided at last it probably needs some updating for me to use it again.
The first thing I should explain is that my meta has become very fond of a point based attack left system. Due to this a control based deck needs to only defend itself from one player at a time. This makes it much easier to use counterspells and control because I dont have to stop everything on the table only the 1-2 players behind me for the most part. An Ulamog that hits play across the table is often not a problem for me because it will be attacking other players and hopefully solved before it rolls around to me. Due to this attack left style though a lot of cards such as Steel Helkite totaly suckkkkk because I am forced to only attack one player. Due to a lot of these changes things need to change a bit to fit the new attack style.
Here are some changes I was thinking about:
CUTS Steel Hellkite due to the fact that I can only attack one person, this guy has lost a lot of his utility. I also didnt like tapping down a ton of mana during my turn to blow out 1-2 cards with him.
Wurmcoil Engine I guess this guy is a bit on the fence. I had been considering cutting him for a while now. I like how he is a difficult threat to answer but he has no evasion and isnt that spectacular on offense. I guess I could possibly see him coming back in in the future but I just am not that impressed by him right now.
Sphinx Ambassador attack left issues. I also had the problem where he was super expensive to cast out for what he did. I thought he was cute but attacking left means any cool bomb I steal out of my opponents deck will just be lost when they die so it really restricts what is useful to pull with him.
Myojin of Seeing Winds Good huge card draw but I think Jin-Gitaxias just blows this guy out of the water.
Mana Vault I always hate trying to untap this damn thing considering I can only do it during my main phase. I dont think there is much I would use it for really early in the game and I think there are just better options than this for later in the game.
Rite of Replication rarely is it viable for me to try to kick this as it will probably tap me out and someone will just wrath. I think it would be better off as another style of clone which I can cast out at instant speed.
Commandeer ohhhh my god its so expensive to cast normally and I hate giving up a bunch of cards from hand to cast it. I guess I would rather just have a low cost counterspell instead.
Pact of Negation The real problem with it is that I usually have mana open to cast a coutnerspell normally but this drains my next turn mana. I am swapping this for another low cost counterspell. This was my attempt to find a replacement card for Force of Will. Sadly this is no replacement, especially not in this type of deck.
Impulse great for card qality. I just dont like how I dont get any card advantage out of this. I am bringing in one of the draw X cards for its place.
Fabricate I dont always want to tutor for an artifact. This was another problem where I was getting a decent quality card but no quantity. Sorcery speed and only one card replacement really only makes it good at doing the Knowledge Pool combo which is great and all but its not the only thing I want to do in this deck.
Skullclamp another good artifact part of my Trinket Mage package but I just couldn't find it all that useful very often. Considering it is part of a drawing package that sits on the field it gets blown up a lot on me and it doesn't end up drawing me much.
ADDS Chancellor of the Spires (NPH) Check the spoiler for this guy if you aren't familiar with him. I am super excited for this guy. He is probably the best of the Chancellors for EDH in my opinion. The option of using a wrath, Cultivate, Tooth and Nail, Extra turns soooo many options and he just casts it for free for me. He has a great body size for his cost + flying and can just be so versatile in what he does when he comes into play. He makes an amazing blocker if needed as well due to his 7 defense + flying.
Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur (NPH) considering teferi is my commander he guarentees I get to strip one opponents hand + draw 7 plus has a decent chance of stripping other players hands considering you might have some counters after drawing into 7 cards. I am very excited for him as an addition to the deck.
Phyrexian Metamorph (NPH) Strictly better than clone, I can make him into a mana stone if needed and I can make him come out for cheaper than a clone... He sounds completely amazing to me and is coming in for Rite of Rep as I was having issues ever kicking the Rite anyways.
Time Warp The extra turns are very solid. I have been playing more and more of these effects in other decks of late and I have changed my mind a bit on them. They always give me an extra card and extra attacks so it sounds like it could be fun to use again. With Jin coming in there is a good chance to use them as a turbo draw as well.
Walk the Aeons Another extra turn. Great for a lot of my big bombs, Eldrazi and Jin go crazy on these.
Sage's Dousing replacement coutnerspell. I like this one because I get to draw a card very often off of it. I know some people like Complicate but my meta ramps into very very huge mana and I find the 3 extra harder to pay than 1.
Counterspell basic just say no answer. Easier than Pact as I usually have the mana to pay on the spot and hate tapping down during my turn.
Twincast Ohhhh buddy I love this spell. I will take a copy of that Time Stretch, I will take a copy of that Tooth and Nail, I will take a copy of that turn 2-3 Cultivate. There are so many good implementations for this spell it is soooooo good. (And yes I know used on a Time Stretch it isnt perfect but I do the whole attack left thing so as long as it isn't the guy behind me im still good to go.)
Blue Sun's Zenith BIG card draw. I have had some issues running out of cards in hand so this will give me a good boost to my hand size.
Stroke of Genius Another big card draw that is good when running low. I contemplated some of the draw 3 and draw 4 options at instant speed but for a set size you only really save one mana vs the draw x larger options.
Body Double I love this as it is really a piece of utility otherwise inaccessible to blue. It is really a black rez spell in disguise. It is on a creature as well meaning I can flash him in at end of turn. I love this bugger cus he can be a primeval titan or any number of other amazing creatures that might have died off earlier. Due to Teferi's flash ability I can even use him in response to a shuffle trigger on a big guy.
IN CONSIDERATION Phyrexian Ingester (NPH) essentially an extra Duplicant but for one extra mana. I love my Duplicant to death but I dont know how much I like paying one extra mana for him. Sure it is slightly more powerful than Duplicant usually is but I usually end up hitting commanders with my Duplicant as is. Anyone wana defend him a spot? I just hate the thought of a more expensive Duplicant.
Neurok Stealthsuit I always look at this and say it would be a fun card to run. The problem is I never really give it a chance. The option to shift stealth to any of my creatures really seems solid.
Riptide Shapeshifter Could be fun with the addition of Jin. He was at his best when Emrakul was in the deck though. I don't like how mana intensive it is to try to drop and use him in one turn though which is where the surprise factor really is at. I guess it is no worse cost to do both in one turn than it would be to cast one of my big guys out though. Downside to him though is I don't get the cast bonus off the eldrazi guys. As far as getting Jin into play though he would be great for that.
Equilibrium I love this card but I fear I don't run enough cheap creatures to really make this very valuable. Crystal Shard could also be a good option here. I don't know though.
Palinchron I have been thinking more and more about using this guy of late. The impressive part of him is he can be used to block and bounce himself for little mana. I can always cast him for literally no mana to come in and he bounces for little mana. His only real downside is that a 4/5 is not that impressive.
Aetherplasm paying 4 mana at instant speed to swap in a big old fatty. It sounds like fun but at the same time it limits when I can cheat them into play for only during combat and only if a lowbie non flying creature can block. It sounds like fun but I think it has too many limitations to be that impressive.
Sword of Fire and Ice / Sword of Light and Shadow / Sword of Feast and Famine / Umezawa's Jitte Essentially all of those equipment are decent options for this deck. Once again I hate tapping down mana during my own turn but I could see something like feast and famine being good for letting me drop some mana stones on my turn but I dont see that many creatures hit play at a time. I think the big advantage of using some of these swords would be to turn Teferi into a swinging commander. A 5/6 with 2 protections would be a lot more viable for swinging in for some damage. The downside here is I feel like I would need to use several or none of the swords.
Let me know if you feel there is a card in my consideration or that comes to mind that might be better than what I have currently.
I like the list.While I don't run knowledge pool in my Teferi deck if I did I would also run omen machine . Dream fracture has been good for a relatively low cost counter spell. Also reliquary tower would be very good here. Usually reliquary tower and a huge draw spell is gg.
Hummm I still dont know about Omen Machine. Sure it is a similar style card to Knowledge Pool but the downside is that people can use cards from their hand yet to solve it. I think I will stick to just one of these type of effects and just tutor it up on occasion if I want it.
Dream Fracture I know it is another great counterspell. Out of my current list the only one I could really see cutting for it might be Counterspell due to the fact that for one more mana I could draw a card. However counters for 2 mana have their purpose. I will mull it over next time I have counterspell in my hand what it would be like if it were a Dream Fracture instead.
Reliquary Tower ya I could see that being a good add. I have sort of wanted to get one for a while now I just don't own any
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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.
If you're looking for a 2cmc psychic barrier is slightly better than plain old counterspell.
Are you aware that Psychic Barrier only counters creature spells and that the single life loss is pretty much inconsequential in the grand scheme of things (especially so, given that this is EDH where players start with 40 life)?
Damn! I missed the creature spell part. I was stoked for a second there. Not sure how I missed that.
Edit but it would have been slightly better that a regular counterspell if it could counter any spell. Not by much but I though it was another 2 cmc option.
Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
Deck History
So how I came to play Teferi is a bit of a story. Originally I played Emrakul, the Aeons Torn as my commander and I just dropped mana stones till I could lolz roll face. Looking back at that deck though it was fatally flawed by the fact that any sort of artifact wrath totally took me out at the knees. I moved to Teferi after a while because I disliked my lack of control and card drawing. My first list for Teferi was chalked full of 10+ mana fatness. The list was big, it was slow, and it was scarey. I believe it was also like my 4th deck I ever created. The only other decks that I can think of before teferi would be: Captain Sisay, Korlash, and Emrakul. Considering I am still willing to retool and reload Teferi really says a lot about him as a commander. He has many powerful attributes that I have really enjoyed about him over the close to year that I have been playing him.
After a while of running the lolz big fattys.deck in mono blue I realized that I was twidling my thumbs for far too long every game. I was vulnerable to whenever someone felt like swinging my way. I changed the deck by lowering the mana curve a bit but it was still a big old fatty agro deck.
Next I tried adding in a bunch of equipment and utilizing that to make up for other shortcomings that mono blue agro has. Sadly that didnt work either.
Now I have finally broken down and turned teferi into a control deck. Sadly mono blue is meant to be control / combo and there are just so few exceptions to that. While you can try to force it out of this, you are at a serious disadvantage. I have just decided to embrace the fact that mono blue usually needs to embrace combo as a wincon. There are some commanders out there that might not need to do so but as an overall I feel that it is a necessary evil.
Basic Strategy
Ok this deck is mostly a turtle deck. I run a bit of all three strategies. I mainly use creatures at instant speed as my control outlets splashed with a bit of counterspell / control magic. I use a few combos still in here and while I am not trying to say no combo or anything for this deck I did cut back some of them due to their individual cards being worse or being too intricate to reliably win with.
I for one am not opposed to winning through beat down but this deck generally tries to hold the gamestate until it can combo out or allow enough other players to die so that I can scoop up the win at the last moment.
1) Palinchron + Phantasmal Image / Caged Sun / High Tide = Infinite Mana (From here I can win in several ways such as Memnarch to theft all of my opponents permenants, Blue Sun's Zenith myself for my entire deck then when it finishes resolving it shuffles Blue Sun's Zenith to the top of the deck and I can use Future Sight to cast it out and draw / kill all of my opponents, or I can Capsize with buyback all of my opponents permenants).
2) Azami, Lady of Scrolls / Arcanis the Omnipotent + Mind Over Matter = Draw the Deck (I considered using Temple Bell in this combo but I decided that it was bad outside of this specific combo. Instead I included arcanis in the list whom I felt was superior outside of the combo.)
3) Future Sight / Magus of the Future + Sensei's Divining Top = card draw (NOTE* this is no longer an infinite combo as I removed the artifact cheapener spell. Still it is a way to draw a lot of cards and it involves what I would consider to be good cards outside of this interaction.)
4) Clone effect 1+ Primeval Titan then continously utilize Walk the Aeons for infinite turns. Once you get close to running out of land hopefully you can just draw cards up to 8 in hand and discard an Eldrazi. Generally though if you have 2 primetimes beating arround though you will manage to kill everyone. Sort of an interesting makeshift combo but I like it
1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
CREATURES (27)
1 Gilded Drake
1 Phantasmal Image
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Vedalken Aethermage
1 Voidmage Prodigy
1 Sigil Tracer
1 Tandem Lookout
1 Thada Adel, Acquisitor
1 Trinket Mage
1 Archaeomancer
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Kaho, Minamo Historian
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Sakashima the Impostor
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Azami, Lady of Scrolls
1 Body Double
1 Mnemonic Wall
1 Arcanis the Omnipotent
1 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Deadeye Navigator
1 Draining Whelk
1 Sphinx Ambassador
1 Myojin of Seeing Winds
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Skullclamp
1 Sol Ring
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Mind Stone
1 Nim Deathmantle
1 Crystal Shard
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Vedalken Shackles
1 Worn Powerstone
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Gilded Lotus
ENCHANTMENTS (2)
1 Vanishing
1 Coastal Piracy
INSTANT (14)
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Pongify
1 Arcane Denial
1 Counterspell
1 Mana Drain
1 Twincast
1 Ghostly Flicker
1 Hinder
1 Spell Crumple
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Cryptic Command
1 Desertion
1 Gather Specimens
1 Spelljack
1 Bribery
PLANESWALKERS (1)
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
LAND (40)
1 Academy Ruins
1 Buried Ruin
32 Island
1 Maze of Ith
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1 Mystifying Maze
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Riptide Laboratory
1 Strip Mine
Card Wishlist
***Notice: most of the cards on this list are not in the list because of space issues. If I can manage to free up some space after some testing these are some of the cards I am sort of considering for the list still.***
More Mana Stones... the list is looking a bit low on them...
Muddle the Mixture I really wanted to get this counter in the list but just sort of never got arround to getting it in somewhere. Still on my list of things I would like to include though.
Fabricate I really wanted to add it into the list to tutor for the equip I want... It might have to make its way in later though.
Drift of Phantasms it might work for another sword fetcher / blocker which could be nice... well we will see.
Sword of Light and Shadow I think I have enough creatures that I could use it. Also I love the protections it would give as well as the lifegain.
Time Stretch it might be a bit too much. I love taking 2 turns however I hate the manacost. If I can get the mana stones up higher I might be able to come back to this one.
Notable Exclusions
Knowledge Pool Pool combo is very... picky in my meta. I have had this thing in hand so many games but would simply be giving away the game if I were to use it. My opposition often involves decks like mayel, nin, chainer, scion, and several other commanders that can literally on their own give me issues. Turning 3 commanders on me at once can be a real problem. I could see this a lot more if people were running commanders like Asusa or something where they were just getting utility from them but I dont see much of that in my meta. Due to this I havent found it very useful.
Other combos... I played teferi as a combo deck for a while. I find that I get a lot of complaints when I play combo though and I myself sort of resent decks that utilize combos in part due to feeling a bit dirty being the only one using them and utilizing them to win. If my meta would step up and use them I have no problem doing the same however they seem set on not doing such things so I just follow suite I guess
Sunder I was running it but the other day I was complaining about a deck that kept using Tooth and Nail to hit firebombers + it that betrays and sort of decided that I didn't want to run this in here for the same reason I was mad about the T&N.
Some of the comments might be a bit confusing due to the drastic changes in the build over time. I have been through at least 3 completely different variants of this list now.
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[Modern] Allies
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[Modern] Allies
For ramp, I like Everflowing Chalice. Dreamstone Hedron is not bad either.
I would really recommend putting Oblivion Stone back in - I run about the same amount of artifact mana sources as you do, and it's never been a big problem for me. I also like Academy Ruins and Expedition Map, but I'm not sure if you have enough non-basics to fetch to make it worth it.
Vesuvan Shapeshifter is another one of my favourites, you might want to test it.
EDIT: Forgot to mention that Rhystic Study is great and should not be cut, even if you forget to draw half the time, like me.
Thanks for the input. I am trying to make it competitive but stay away from combos. I have a combo deck and its just not fun to play with or against. I don't frown on other people trying to combo but I don't have fun ending a game in that way so I just try to play around other combos and shut them down when I can.
Vesuvan Shapeshifter - I have tried all sorts of clone type creatures. I find that clone is probably just the way to go. I also run Rite of Replication in case there is a really good target on the board. The big thing to say about the clone type creatures is I almost always end up using them to kill off generals. At that not there is no reason to use a creature other than clone as its the cheapest mana cost of them. I had a thought that I might try swapping out my clone for Empress Galina for a while as it is reusable general steal rather than a single kill.
Everflowing Chalice and Dreamstone Hedron - I used the Hedron once. It is too slow in my opinion for much ramping. I also really dispise how it only gives colorless mana at costing 6 to cast. I would use Gilded Lotus over it as it really only ends up costing 2 mana to cast and gives me colored mana back. The Everflowing Chalice is a good call though I think I will add it in in the place of some of my 2 mana artifact mana production as it is versatile in how much it produces.
I think I will let the Oblivion Stone stay out of the deck for now. To be honest there are a lot of decks with wrath effects in my meta. On top of it all I like trying to steal anything good that sticks to the board. Also dont overlook the fact that Steel Helkite is often a wrath of sorts as he hits at end of my opponents turns and swings in to destroy things.
I like Academy Ruins, it has been on me maybe list for a while. I might look into it more. My only problem being I don't really like paying mana and redrawing my artifact mana ramp lat in a game. I will proxy it now just to see what I think before I commit to it.
Expidition Map hasn't been overly useful. I used to use it but I just don't have many targets I really want to draw off it.
Rhystic Study is in the I want to add to the deck list. It is a great card and I just haven't gotten around to getting it in.
Thanks for the input I think I will add Everflowing Chalice and Gilded Lotus to the deck. Academy Ruins will come in for a test run. And you are right, Rhystic Study needs to make its way in.
So.. it came to my attention that Teferi + Knowledge Pool locks everyone out of all spells from their hand. This leaves me able to dominate most of the game only worrying about cards that hit early on and generals coming back out. It is a bit risky as I know a few generals such as Scion of the Ur-Dragon and Mayael the Anima who will still give me a good run for my money.
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[Modern] Allies
I notice you're having doubts about Distant Memories - how about Planar Portal instead? It's different, and slower, but also fetch-able by Treasure Mage.
I really do like Planar Portal as its a fun card that tutors up anything I could possibly want. What I dont like about it is that it is an artifact that costs me 6 that I cant flash in like the artifact creatures that is very wide open and vulnerable the turn I cast it. If I dont want to go after the Knowledge Pool off the Treasure Mage it will probably be because of the current board status. In case of a tough board I will probably instead want to go after Memnarch or Duplicant. I try to maximize keeping my mana open for responses. While I dont like counterspelling everything that is attempted to be played, when it is clearly affecting me loosing the game or smashing my board in I want that counter available.
Finding spells to replace what is coming out isnt the problem. I clearly have more spells I would like to try out in the deck than I have coming out.
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[Modern] Allies
Also I stumbled across a good gem for this deck Equilibrium. I am going to have to figure out how everything is working that has been added. I am guessing that not all of the cards I added in are going to pan out but I wanted to give them all a shot. If one of them is underperforming I will cut it for Equilibrium and or go to one of the cards I had in the deck prior.
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[Modern] Allies
Due to teferi as my general I tend to run some larger counterspells. My counterspells are built to give me some advantage as well as stop someone mid combo.
I built a lot of stealing effects into the deck that under normal surcumstances might not be great cards but as teferi can protect and essentially give them haste I am able to run unique creatures like Thalakos Deceiver and Sphinx Ambassador which normally wouldnt be great creatures.
Need to kill someone off? go ahead and drop an eldrazi at the end of your opponents turn. You get to swing in before they can even have a chance to use their removal on them. I have even managed to Time Stretch for 3 attacks before being retaliated on. It can be very amazing.
The LOCKDOWN:
So I dont know if you are aware of the teferi + Knowledge Poolcombo but when you have the 2 cards on the table, your opponents cannot resolve cards cards from their hand. It has to deal with how teferi works and how your opponents cannot play cards while there is something on the stack. Due to this, your opponents will have to finish the game with what is in play, using their generals, cards like flashback, cycle etc. If you are able to follow up with a Blatent Thevery or a Memnarch you have sealed the game for good. It is an amazing combo that your opponents almost cannot do anything about. It is one of the most robust combos in the game as teferi is your general, when you cast him at the end of your opponents turns they have to counterspell him to stop his entry. Once he is in you can cast Knowledge Pool on your turn with no ability for your opponents to react. its amazing. (know that they will all try killing you at this point though. You better have a plan to finish)
I like how this deck does not plan on winning by using infinite mana infinite card draw or bounce. A lot of blue decks will use this combo and I find it to be lame. Yes the Teferi + Knowledge Pool could be considered lame as well but I like how it doesnt seal the deal alone. Lots of generals can still continue operating after this lands. I use cards like Steel Hellkite at instant speed to fly in and remove pesky artifacts and enchantments. It is great also letting people know that if they get on your bad side they wont be resolving things for a bit.
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[Modern] Allies
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[Modern] Allies
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[Modern] Allies
So casting a combo for you isn't fun, but locking everyone else on the table out of their combos is? I think building up to a lethal combo is in the spirit of the EDH fun factor, whereas locking down the table is just malicious and instantly sucks all the fun out the match.
This reminds me of something Batman once said:
"You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain."
You fine sir have undoubtedly become the villain. My feelings here are an interesting mix of disdain and kudos.
No worries though mate. I think it's a very intriguing build and strategy. I would very much like to play this deck and cast a City of Solitude so as to nullify the advantage gained by Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir.
I also commend your quote signatures. Just make sure you occasionally remember to read them yourself
Modern
RBig RedR
GMean GreenG
WWW AlliesW
BGScavengeBG
WUVenser SilenceWU
EDH
RWAurelia 1 vs 1RW
GWURoonGWU
GWSaffiGW
I like the Knowledge Pool combo as it does not end the game in itself. There are a lot of decks out there that it does not stop in its own but it makes it a bit easier to try to control the game with it active.
I will stick by my use of this combo. I could instead go for infinite mana and bounce all your permanents every turn. Does that sound like more fun to you? I would rather have access to my general and all my current resources than stick to play one land, try to do something with one land, then get your one land bounced.
EDIT: I am not trying to say that the Knowledge Pool combo is bad at all in this post. I am trying to explain that it isn't an end all best combo ever sort of thing to be executed at any time. It takes some setting up for and the right timing to drop it in place.
Also I thought I would add to the Arcane Denial question earlier, Dream Fracture can work also in a similar sort of card. It costs one more mana which can sometimes be a pain is the only downside.
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[Modern] Allies
They both serve a similar role. One thing I like about deathmantle is that I can use it for several different creatures. Deathmantle for some reason seems far less threatening to opponents as well meaning it seems to get targeted a lot less, probably something about stealing opponents creatures or something.
What I like about the deathmantle is that I almost always have my mana open through all of my opponents turns. This means that if I have deathmantle out I can possibly rez multiple creatures (if I have 8-12 mana open) during a wrath. Teferi is much better as a creature on the board than on a mimic vat (plus dont put your general on a mimic vat, bad idea). They are similar cards but the abiliity to mass rez off a wrath is nice. It also makes people think twice about trying a wrath because I might let it go through just to rez my stuff.
Mimic Vat tends to be better with coming into play / leaving play triggers which I dont run as many of. I have just found the deathmantle to be a solid card in a similar role. You can try using both and see how you feel about it.
Also as a side note, I have used the deathmantle on Teferi as a wincon. He swings 5 with intimidate not ideal but it works.
EDIT: as an update to my decklist I swapped out Dominate for Gilded Drake. I had had a lot of issues in the past where I just couldnt invest the amount of mana into Dominate to make it work out. Plus Gilded Drake is amazing if you manage to get Capsize in hand lol.
Also I thought I would share with anyone who is not used to using counterspells in EDH, sometimes someone will go to drop something like Grave Pact for instance. Just because this might screw up your current board position this does not mean that it is bad to allow something like this to resolve. You can make someone else out to be the big target for a bit as you build up your board position dropping more lands, drawing cards, and accelerating your mana abilities. Sure it makes it hard to stick any creatures but the person who is dominating the board with these effects will be fending off everyone else trying to blow him out of the water to make his annoying deck stop it. Use this to your advantage rather than counterspelling some sort of stasis sort of effect that will slow down the board, use it to your advantage to make someone else catch some hate and build up your hand and board.
Always try to assess if the game can handle a spell coming in before you consider counterspelling everything. A lot of utility spells and creatures you just have to let them be as you arent going to be able to counterspell everything. Counter the Reveillark combo or the Uril, the Miststalker who will jack up your game. My favorite move is to Gather Specimens or Desertion on Uril lol.
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[Modern] Allies
What do you think of Blightsteel colossus in the deck? It would be funny to rite of replication it(kicked) but the 2 eldrazi were game breaking already eventhough I can't rite them.
The Blightsteel would fill a similar role. It would be cool due to its ability to one shot people. I managed to pull a turn 5 bribery with Arcane Denial backup just yesterday and took a Blightsteel. I ended up killing everyone at the table with it. One guy thought he had a solution, apparently he was 1 mana shy of kicking a right of rep so instead he tried to bant charm it which I shut down
The downside of the blightsteel is that if you dont kill your opponent in one swing it is possible that someone could solve it before you can swing again. In this case you are out of most all of any progress you made. I like the eldrazi boys more as every swing you manage is totaly devistating. In my opinion the better your opponents decks get the less likely the blightsteel will be as good as the eldrazi. I havent personally tested blightsteel but I have seen him run about in a few games.
Make sure that that nasty bolas doesnt stick... its no good. Also good luck with your deck im glad you are enjoying it.
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[Modern] Allies
The first thing I should explain is that my meta has become very fond of a point based attack left system. Due to this a control based deck needs to only defend itself from one player at a time. This makes it much easier to use counterspells and control because I dont have to stop everything on the table only the 1-2 players behind me for the most part. An Ulamog that hits play across the table is often not a problem for me because it will be attacking other players and hopefully solved before it rolls around to me. Due to this attack left style though a lot of cards such as Steel Helkite totaly suckkkkk because I am forced to only attack one player. Due to a lot of these changes things need to change a bit to fit the new attack style.
Here are some changes I was thinking about:
CUTS
Steel Hellkite due to the fact that I can only attack one person, this guy has lost a lot of his utility. I also didnt like tapping down a ton of mana during my turn to blow out 1-2 cards with him.
Wurmcoil Engine I guess this guy is a bit on the fence. I had been considering cutting him for a while now. I like how he is a difficult threat to answer but he has no evasion and isnt that spectacular on offense. I guess I could possibly see him coming back in in the future but I just am not that impressed by him right now.
Sphinx Ambassador attack left issues. I also had the problem where he was super expensive to cast out for what he did. I thought he was cute but attacking left means any cool bomb I steal out of my opponents deck will just be lost when they die so it really restricts what is useful to pull with him.
Myojin of Seeing Winds Good huge card draw but I think Jin-Gitaxias just blows this guy out of the water.
Mana Vault I always hate trying to untap this damn thing considering I can only do it during my main phase. I dont think there is much I would use it for really early in the game and I think there are just better options than this for later in the game.
Rite of Replication rarely is it viable for me to try to kick this as it will probably tap me out and someone will just wrath. I think it would be better off as another style of clone which I can cast out at instant speed.
Commandeer ohhhh my god its so expensive to cast normally and I hate giving up a bunch of cards from hand to cast it. I guess I would rather just have a low cost counterspell instead.
Pact of Negation The real problem with it is that I usually have mana open to cast a coutnerspell normally but this drains my next turn mana. I am swapping this for another low cost counterspell. This was my attempt to find a replacement card for Force of Will. Sadly this is no replacement, especially not in this type of deck.
Impulse great for card qality. I just dont like how I dont get any card advantage out of this. I am bringing in one of the draw X cards for its place.
Fabricate I dont always want to tutor for an artifact. This was another problem where I was getting a decent quality card but no quantity. Sorcery speed and only one card replacement really only makes it good at doing the Knowledge Pool combo which is great and all but its not the only thing I want to do in this deck.
Skullclamp another good artifact part of my Trinket Mage package but I just couldn't find it all that useful very often. Considering it is part of a drawing package that sits on the field it gets blown up a lot on me and it doesn't end up drawing me much.
ADDS
Chancellor of the Spires (NPH) Check the spoiler for this guy if you aren't familiar with him. I am super excited for this guy. He is probably the best of the Chancellors for EDH in my opinion. The option of using a wrath, Cultivate, Tooth and Nail, Extra turns soooo many options and he just casts it for free for me. He has a great body size for his cost + flying and can just be so versatile in what he does when he comes into play. He makes an amazing blocker if needed as well due to his 7 defense + flying.
Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur (NPH) considering teferi is my commander he guarentees I get to strip one opponents hand + draw 7 plus has a decent chance of stripping other players hands considering you might have some counters after drawing into 7 cards. I am very excited for him as an addition to the deck.
Phyrexian Metamorph (NPH) Strictly better than clone, I can make him into a mana stone if needed and I can make him come out for cheaper than a clone... He sounds completely amazing to me and is coming in for Rite of Rep as I was having issues ever kicking the Rite anyways.
Time Warp The extra turns are very solid. I have been playing more and more of these effects in other decks of late and I have changed my mind a bit on them. They always give me an extra card and extra attacks so it sounds like it could be fun to use again. With Jin coming in there is a good chance to use them as a turbo draw as well.
Walk the Aeons Another extra turn. Great for a lot of my big bombs, Eldrazi and Jin go crazy on these.
Sage's Dousing replacement coutnerspell. I like this one because I get to draw a card very often off of it. I know some people like Complicate but my meta ramps into very very huge mana and I find the 3 extra harder to pay than 1.
Counterspell basic just say no answer. Easier than Pact as I usually have the mana to pay on the spot and hate tapping down during my turn.
Twincast Ohhhh buddy I love this spell. I will take a copy of that Time Stretch, I will take a copy of that Tooth and Nail, I will take a copy of that turn 2-3 Cultivate. There are so many good implementations for this spell it is soooooo good. (And yes I know used on a Time Stretch it isnt perfect but I do the whole attack left thing so as long as it isn't the guy behind me im still good to go.)
Blue Sun's Zenith BIG card draw. I have had some issues running out of cards in hand so this will give me a good boost to my hand size.
Stroke of Genius Another big card draw that is good when running low. I contemplated some of the draw 3 and draw 4 options at instant speed but for a set size you only really save one mana vs the draw x larger options.
Body Double I love this as it is really a piece of utility otherwise inaccessible to blue. It is really a black rez spell in disguise. It is on a creature as well meaning I can flash him in at end of turn. I love this bugger cus he can be a primeval titan or any number of other amazing creatures that might have died off earlier. Due to Teferi's flash ability I can even use him in response to a shuffle trigger on a big guy.
IN CONSIDERATION
Phyrexian Ingester (NPH) essentially an extra Duplicant but for one extra mana. I love my Duplicant to death but I dont know how much I like paying one extra mana for him. Sure it is slightly more powerful than Duplicant usually is but I usually end up hitting commanders with my Duplicant as is. Anyone wana defend him a spot? I just hate the thought of a more expensive Duplicant.
Neurok Stealthsuit I always look at this and say it would be a fun card to run. The problem is I never really give it a chance. The option to shift stealth to any of my creatures really seems solid.
Riptide Shapeshifter Could be fun with the addition of Jin. He was at his best when Emrakul was in the deck though. I don't like how mana intensive it is to try to drop and use him in one turn though which is where the surprise factor really is at. I guess it is no worse cost to do both in one turn than it would be to cast one of my big guys out though. Downside to him though is I don't get the cast bonus off the eldrazi guys. As far as getting Jin into play though he would be great for that.
Equilibrium I love this card but I fear I don't run enough cheap creatures to really make this very valuable. Crystal Shard could also be a good option here. I don't know though.
Palinchron I have been thinking more and more about using this guy of late. The impressive part of him is he can be used to block and bounce himself for little mana. I can always cast him for literally no mana to come in and he bounces for little mana. His only real downside is that a 4/5 is not that impressive.
Aetherplasm paying 4 mana at instant speed to swap in a big old fatty. It sounds like fun but at the same time it limits when I can cheat them into play for only during combat and only if a lowbie non flying creature can block. It sounds like fun but I think it has too many limitations to be that impressive.
Sword of Fire and Ice / Sword of Light and Shadow / Sword of Feast and Famine / Umezawa's Jitte Essentially all of those equipment are decent options for this deck. Once again I hate tapping down mana during my own turn but I could see something like feast and famine being good for letting me drop some mana stones on my turn but I dont see that many creatures hit play at a time. I think the big advantage of using some of these swords would be to turn Teferi into a swinging commander. A 5/6 with 2 protections would be a lot more viable for swinging in for some damage. The downside here is I feel like I would need to use several or none of the swords.
Let me know if you feel there is a card in my consideration or that comes to mind that might be better than what I have currently.
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[Modern] Allies
Thank You Rivenor/Miraculous Recovery Studios!
GGGSKamahl's Band of Monstosities SGGG
RRRSFreaki-Kiki, The Goblin DoucheSRRR
BBGGNath, Raper of Hands and Spewer of Tokens!GGBB
BUGDamia, Sage of AnswersBUG
WIPs
BBBXiahou Dun, the Bitter Stax Enabling BastardBBB
On Break
BBBSKagemaro, First to RetireSBBB
BBBThe Walking DeadBBB
UUUSTeferi Combo PrimerSUUU
Dream Fracture I know it is another great counterspell. Out of my current list the only one I could really see cutting for it might be Counterspell due to the fact that for one more mana I could draw a card. However counters for 2 mana have their purpose. I will mull it over next time I have counterspell in my hand what it would be like if it were a Dream Fracture instead.
Reliquary Tower ya I could see that being a good add. I have sort of wanted to get one for a while now I just don't own any
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[Modern] Allies
Thank You Rivenor/Miraculous Recovery Studios!
GGGSKamahl's Band of Monstosities SGGG
RRRSFreaki-Kiki, The Goblin DoucheSRRR
BBGGNath, Raper of Hands and Spewer of Tokens!GGBB
BUGDamia, Sage of AnswersBUG
WIPs
BBBXiahou Dun, the Bitter Stax Enabling BastardBBB
On Break
BBBSKagemaro, First to RetireSBBB
BBBThe Walking DeadBBB
UUUSTeferi Combo PrimerSUUU
Are you aware that Psychic Barrier only counters creature spells and that the single life loss is pretty much inconsequential in the grand scheme of things (especially so, given that this is EDH where players start with 40 life)?
Edit but it would have been slightly better that a regular counterspell if it could counter any spell. Not by much but I though it was another 2 cmc option.
Nevermind.
Thank You Rivenor/Miraculous Recovery Studios!
GGGSKamahl's Band of Monstosities SGGG
RRRSFreaki-Kiki, The Goblin DoucheSRRR
BBGGNath, Raper of Hands and Spewer of Tokens!GGBB
BUGDamia, Sage of AnswersBUG
WIPs
BBBXiahou Dun, the Bitter Stax Enabling BastardBBB
On Break
BBBSKagemaro, First to RetireSBBB
BBBThe Walking DeadBBB
UUUSTeferi Combo PrimerSUUU