Finally made my second mono blue deck. Wanted to try out Talrand since he's a completely easy general. Made the deck to focus on control but make use of the tokens. If you have any suggestions for the deck please comment. I've also included a list of the large amount of cards that could have gone into this deck but eventually got cut.
Hey, I've been looking at your thread for a few hours. I've seen some good things and some rather bleh things, I'll let you know what I see!
A good example is Sleep; it's not really a good card. A better option I would suggest is Turnabout. This one is fantastic because it's so versatile. You can untap your drakes, you can untap your lands, you can tap opponent lands if you plan to go off or you can tap their creatures pre-combat! Even better, it's instant speed so you can do it practically any time. The versatility vastly trumps Sleep's "those creatures don't untap next untap phase" clause, definitely.
Another good card would be Snapcaster Mage. I would suggest it over Archeomancer, though I'm not sure Archeomancer doesn't deserve a slot in the deck, especially yours.
Another thing, some of the creatures you have don't seem to flow. Blightsteel Colossus is a fantastic card, but it has no synergy with the deck. I could say the same for Duplicant (copying creatures is what blue does well). Chancellor of the Spires is another example. The mill isn't relevant with this type of deck, and it's a pretty big waste of mana ultimately. Especially when you could be running Tidespout Tyrant.
I do like Solemn Simulacrum being there. It's a fantastic card! That and Phyrexian Metamorph have a beautiful place in the deck. To a lesser extent, Sakashima the Imposter may be alright for you. It can copy legendary creatures without legend ruling, which is sometimes useful (twice the drakes!)
Hey, I've been looking at your thread for a few hours. I've seen some good things and some rather bleh things, I'll let you know what I see!
A good example is Sleep; it's not really a good card. A better option I would suggest is Turnabout. This one is fantastic because it's so versatile. You can untap your drakes, you can untap your lands, you can tap opponent lands if you plan to go off or you can tap their creatures pre-combat! Even better, it's instant speed so you can do it practically any time. The versatility vastly trumps Sleep's "those creatures don't untap next untap phase" clause, definitely.
Another good card would be Snapcaster Mage. I would suggest it over Archeomancer, though I'm not sure Archeomancer doesn't deserve a slot in the deck, especially yours.
Another thing, some of the creatures you have don't seem to flow. Blightsteel Colossus is a fantastic card, but it has no synergy with the deck. I could say the same for Duplicant (copying creatures is what blue does well). Chancellor of the Spires is another example. The mill isn't relevant with this type of deck, and it's a pretty big waste of mana ultimately. Especially when you could be running Tidespout Tyrant.
I do like Solemn Simulacrum being there. It's a fantastic card! That and Phyrexian Metamorph have a beautiful place in the deck. To a lesser extent, Sakashima the Imposter may be alright for you. It can copy legendary creatures without legend ruling, which is sometimes useful (twice the drakes!)
Thank you for the suggestions. I've actually been thinking about these changes also. I recently found my extra Turnabout so I was probably gonna trade it out. As for archaeomancer, you do have a point. I should run both. Chancellor is in the deck as a "copy" on a body, that's all. I run it in my mono blue Thada deck and love it so I can't deny it. Not really sure what I would take out for Snapcaster if I was to put him in.
As for Duplicant and Blightsteel Colossus, they are probably gonna be nixed next. Duplicant will become a Sower of Temptation or Shapesharer and Colossus will possibly become Platinum Angel. If I had a Sakashima, I would love to put her in in place of the Duplicant. I just happened to have run out of her this time.
You seem to really enjoy taking opponents creatures, a lot! My version of Talrand ends up taking advantage of a ton of big bad blue spells. Timestop, Time Warp, Time Stretch, Time Spiral. . . Well, you get the idea.
Some of the artifacts could be rearranged as well, I'd consider Strata Scythe and Akroma's Memorial for removal. Throw in Gauntlet of Power, btw, it's so good!
You seem to really enjoy taking opponents creatures, a lot! My version of Talrand ends up taking advantage of a ton of big bad blue spells. Timestop, Time Warp, Time Stretch, Time Spiral. . . Well, you get the idea.
Some of the artifacts could be rearranged as well, I'd consider Strata Scythe and Akroma's Memorial for removal. Throw in Gauntlet of Power, btw, it's so good!
I wanted to build this a bit different then usual. I wanted to use lots of smaller stuff but enchance the use of all of my tokens. Thus keeping in Akro-Memo. I do have Time Warp in the deck but didnt think it would be necessary to have everything else. Especially since I only have one Time Spiral in my whole collection, and that's in my Thada deck. Scythe can come out, but it would probably be replaced with a Snapcaster Mage.
I have not played this deck yet, only built it over the weekend. So everything is still all speculation. But my one worry is Mass Polymorph. Is it even worth it to have in this deck when I run so little a creature count? I'll have to wait and see after I play the deck out.
Time magic is definitely powerful, I should really run more of it in my build. They do everything Talrand wants to do; grab an extra combat phase, untap your things, draw a card, play an extra land... Well, you get the idea. While it usually ends up turning the game into single player until you kill everyone, it's certainly strong. It's one of the things I do with Snapcaster Mage, Snap in Time Stretch for another couple turns, abuse Call to Mind a few times, bounce Snappy back with Riptide Laboratory (which I also recommend putting in) and take even more turns. With Archeomancer, Riptide Laboratory and Time Warp, you can effectively for 12 mana, take infinite turns back to back.
As for the Polymorph, well, it's somewhat tough to judge. I run Proteus Staff for a similar thing. Turning drakes into things like Consecrated Sphinx (another thing that absolutely should be in possibly every, but definitely this, blue deck), Tidespout Tyrant, Snappy, heck, I even run Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre for the graveyard refill effects, among other things.
The trick to polymorph is that you need every creature card to be strong by themselves and strong with your deck. That's why cards like Blightsteel Colossus, though absurdly powerful, don't have a reason for the deck. They do nothing for the deck. Cards like Stormtide Leviathan, however, serve as a moat, allow you to hit hard, give you more blue mana (for your non-basics), and generally allow you to do good stuff. I could even suggest Jin-Gitaxias Core Augur, though I don't personally run 'em. More power stuff, works with you, hurts your opponents obnoxiously... You get the idea.
Time magic is definitely powerful, I should really run more of it in my build. They do everything Talrand wants to do; grab an extra combat phase, untap your things, draw a card, play an extra land... Well, you get the idea. While it usually ends up turning the game into single player until you kill everyone, it's certainly strong. It's one of the things I do with Snapcaster Mage, Snap in Time Stretch for another couple turns, abuse Call to Mind a few times, bounce Snappy back with Riptide Laboratory (which I also recommend putting in) and take even more turns. With Archeomancer, Riptide Laboratory and Time Warp, you can effectively for 12 mana, take infinite turns back to back.
As for the Polymorph, well, it's somewhat tough to judge. I run Proteus Staff for a similar thing. Turning drakes into things like Consecrated Sphinx (another thing that absolutely should be in possibly every, but definitely this, blue deck), Tidespout Tyrant, Snappy, heck, I even run Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre for the graveyard refill effects, among other things.
The trick to polymorph is that you need every creature card to be strong by themselves and strong with your deck. That's why cards like Blightsteel Colossus, though absurdly powerful, don't have a reason for the deck. They do nothing for the deck. Cards like Stormtide Leviathan, however, serve as a moat, allow you to hit hard, give you more blue mana (for your non-basics), and generally allow you to do good stuff. I could even suggest Jin-Gitaxias Core Augur, though I don't personally run 'em. More power stuff, works with you, hurts your opponents obnoxiously... You get the idea.
If you can give me suggestions for cuts for Stormtide, Snap, Call to mind, Time Stretch, Tidespout, Ulamog, and even Jin since I have a nice foily one sitting around. I'm stuck as to what to take out.
Armillary Sphere (it's rare to get land screwed in this deck with 35 lands as your base), Witchbane Orb, Platinum Emperion, Chancellor of the Spires, Barrin, Master Wizard, Gitaxian Probe, Coastal Piracy (tried it, it's not as great as I hoped), Favorable Winds (Gravitational Shift is much, much stronger), Dominate, Vapor Snag, Phantasmal Image, Coat of Arms... Well, those are the major ones.
Armillary Sphere (it's rare to get land screwed in this deck with 35 lands as your base), Witchbane Orb, Platinum Emperion, Chancellor of the Spires, Barrin, Master Wizard, Gitaxian Probe, Coastal Piracy (tried it, it's not as great as I hoped), Favorable Winds (Gravitational Shift is much, much stronger), Dominate, Vapor Snag, Phantasmal Image, Coat of Arms... Well, those are the major ones.
I changed around 6 cards but decided against Jin just because with the others I had put in, those were already extremely high CMC. So I will probably be good for now until i try it out.
Edit: Once I get another Stormtide I'll probably put it in. But for now, I'll be testing it as is.
1x Talrand, Sky Summoner
Creatures
1x Archaeomancer
1x Snapcaster Mage
1x Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1x Tidespout Tyrant
1x Consecrated Sphinx
1x Phyrexian Metamorph
1x Phantasmal Image
1x Solemn Simulacrum
1x Platinum Angel
1x Sower of Temptation
1x Sakashima the Impostor
Artifacts
1x Akroma's Memorial
1x Caged Sun
1x Coat of Arms
1x Witchbane Orb
1x Sword of Feast and Famine
1x Proteus Staff
1x Isochron Scepter
1x Vedalken Shackles
Instants
1x Fact or Fiction
1x Foil
1x Rewind
1x Cryptic Command
1x Blue Sun's Zenith
1x Hinder
1x Capsize
1x Pulse of the Grid
1x Spell Crumple
1x Delay
1x Counterspell
1x Metamorphose
1x Muddle the Mixture
1x Snap
1x Think Twice
1x Dispel
1x Brainstorm
1x Rethink
1x Peek
1x Mystical Tutor
1x Stifle
1x Visions of Beyond
1x Impulse
1x Into the Roil
1x Rite of Replication
1x Turnabout
1x Deep Analysis
1x Spelltwine
1x Mass Polymorph
1x Cultural Exchange
1x Inundate
1x Time Warp
1x Bribery
1x Wash Out
1x Windfall
1x Gitaxian Probe
1x Ponder
1x Personal Tutor
1x Time Stretch
1x Call to Mind
1x Favorable Winds
1x Coastal Piracy
1x Opposition
1x Back to Basics
Planeswalkers
1x Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
Lands
1x Wasteland
1x Reliquary Tower
1x Tectonic Edge
32x Island
These are organized by CMC for easier searching
1x Expedition Map
1x Energy Tap
1x Careful Study
1x Force Spike
1x Spy Network
1x Trickery Charm
1x Intervene
1x Shared Discovery
1x Outwit
1x Spell Pierce
1x Turn Aside
1x Serum Visions
1x Disrupt
1x Invisible Stalker
1x Willbender
1x Sage Owl
1x Tidal Surge
1x Treasure Hunt
1x See Beyond
1x Vision Skeins
1x Jaded Response
1x Memory Lapse
1x Confound
1x Dispersal Shield
1x Disperse
1x Essence Scatter
1x Flashfreeze
1x Redirect
1x Mana Leak
1x Laquatus's Disdain
1x Sunken City
1x Jace's Erasure
1x Stasis
1x Perilous Research
1x Merchant Scroll
1x Arcane Denial
1x Negate
1x Flash Counter
1x Lat-Nam's Legacy
1x Unified Will
1x Raven Familiar
1x Pilgrim's Eye
1x Sculpting Steel
1x Call to Mind
1x Relearn
1x Theft of Dreams
1x Counsel of the Soratami
1x Divination
1x Flux
1x Trade Secrets
1x Reminisce
1x Sage's Dousing
1x Mana Short
1x Complicate
1x Frightful Delusion
1x Twitch
1x Runeboggle
1x Rushing River
1x Convolute
1x Halt Order
1x Thieves' Fortune
1x Force Void
1x Rhystic Study
1x Propaganda
1x Trinket Mage
1x Circular Logic
1x Frantic Search
1x Arcane Laboratory
1x Repulse
1x Exclude
1x Keep Watch
1x Dissipate
1x Faerie Trickery
1x Thieving Magpie
1x Sage Aven
1x Gulf Squid
1x Helm of Possession
1x Concentrate
1x Sift
1x Into the Void
1x Distant Memories
1x Breaking Wave
1x Discombobulate
1x Lay Bare
1x Ray of Command
1x Inspiration
1x Careful Consideration
1x Phyrexian Metamorph
1x Psychic Possession
1x Stolen Goods
1x Venser, Shaper Savant
1x Wheel and Deal
1x Scrivener
1x Mulldrifter
1x Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
1x Gilded Lotus
1x Eldrazi Monument
1x Gush
1x Desertion
1x Tezzeret the Seeker
1x Mnemonic Wall
1x Sunder
1x Gauntlet of Power
1x Desertion
1x Consecrated Sphinx
1x Sun Quan, Lord of Wu
1x Reality Strobe
1x Tunnel Vision
1x Wurmcoil Engine
1x Commandeer
1x Platinum Angel
1x Temporal Mastery
Change Log
------------------------------
- Blightsteel
- Duplicant
- Sleep
- Strata Scythe
- Armillary Sphere
- Vapor Snag
- Platinum Angel
- Chancellor of the Spires
- Barrin, Master Wizard
- Dominate
+ Consecrated Sphinx
+ Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
+ Tidespout Tyrant
+ Time Stretch
+ Call to Mind
+ Snapcaster Mage
+ Sower of Temptation
+ Turnabout
+ Platinum Angel
+ Sakashima the Imposter
------------------------------
Mono Konda| Sakashima| Yahenni| Ashling| Selvala|C Karn
Guilds Grand Arbiter| Meren| Gisa & Geralf| Scorpion God| Omnath| Sisay| Karlov| Avacyn| Jhoira v2| Rashmi|
Shards WUB Oloro|GWU Roon|RGW Jurassic Park|UBR Nekusar|BRG Kresh|
Clans RWU Narset|WBR Vampires|BGW Doran|UBG Muldrotha|URG Animar|
4-Colors GWUB Atraxa|BRGWSaskia|RGWU Hydra Hug| UBRGYidris|WUBRBreya|
5-Color WUBRG Super Friends
Extra Decks Titania| Taigam| Locust God| Cats| Tishana| Kumena| Squirrels| Slimefoot} Baron|RGW Samut|UBR Pirates|UBR Mairsil| WUBRG Ramos|
A good example is Sleep; it's not really a good card. A better option I would suggest is Turnabout. This one is fantastic because it's so versatile. You can untap your drakes, you can untap your lands, you can tap opponent lands if you plan to go off or you can tap their creatures pre-combat! Even better, it's instant speed so you can do it practically any time. The versatility vastly trumps Sleep's "those creatures don't untap next untap phase" clause, definitely.
Another good card would be Snapcaster Mage. I would suggest it over Archeomancer, though I'm not sure Archeomancer doesn't deserve a slot in the deck, especially yours.
Another thing, some of the creatures you have don't seem to flow. Blightsteel Colossus is a fantastic card, but it has no synergy with the deck. I could say the same for Duplicant (copying creatures is what blue does well). Chancellor of the Spires is another example. The mill isn't relevant with this type of deck, and it's a pretty big waste of mana ultimately. Especially when you could be running Tidespout Tyrant.
I do like Solemn Simulacrum being there. It's a fantastic card! That and Phyrexian Metamorph have a beautiful place in the deck. To a lesser extent, Sakashima the Imposter may be alright for you. It can copy legendary creatures without legend ruling, which is sometimes useful (twice the drakes!)
Thank you for the suggestions. I've actually been thinking about these changes also. I recently found my extra Turnabout so I was probably gonna trade it out. As for archaeomancer, you do have a point. I should run both. Chancellor is in the deck as a "copy" on a body, that's all. I run it in my mono blue Thada deck and love it so I can't deny it. Not really sure what I would take out for Snapcaster if I was to put him in.
As for Duplicant and Blightsteel Colossus, they are probably gonna be nixed next. Duplicant will become a Sower of Temptation or Shapesharer and Colossus will possibly become Platinum Angel. If I had a Sakashima, I would love to put her in in place of the Duplicant. I just happened to have run out of her this time.
Mono Konda| Sakashima| Yahenni| Ashling| Selvala|C Karn
Guilds Grand Arbiter| Meren| Gisa & Geralf| Scorpion God| Omnath| Sisay| Karlov| Avacyn| Jhoira v2| Rashmi|
Shards WUB Oloro|GWU Roon|RGW Jurassic Park|UBR Nekusar|BRG Kresh|
Clans RWU Narset|WBR Vampires|BGW Doran|UBG Muldrotha|URG Animar|
4-Colors GWUB Atraxa|BRGWSaskia|RGWU Hydra Hug| UBRGYidris|WUBRBreya|
5-Color WUBRG Super Friends
Extra Decks Titania| Taigam| Locust God| Cats| Tishana| Kumena| Squirrels| Slimefoot} Baron|RGW Samut|UBR Pirates|UBR Mairsil| WUBRG Ramos|
Some of the artifacts could be rearranged as well, I'd consider Strata Scythe and Akroma's Memorial for removal. Throw in Gauntlet of Power, btw, it's so good!
I wanted to build this a bit different then usual. I wanted to use lots of smaller stuff but enchance the use of all of my tokens. Thus keeping in Akro-Memo. I do have Time Warp in the deck but didnt think it would be necessary to have everything else. Especially since I only have one Time Spiral in my whole collection, and that's in my Thada deck. Scythe can come out, but it would probably be replaced with a Snapcaster Mage.
I have not played this deck yet, only built it over the weekend. So everything is still all speculation. But my one worry is Mass Polymorph. Is it even worth it to have in this deck when I run so little a creature count? I'll have to wait and see after I play the deck out.
Mono Konda| Sakashima| Yahenni| Ashling| Selvala|C Karn
Guilds Grand Arbiter| Meren| Gisa & Geralf| Scorpion God| Omnath| Sisay| Karlov| Avacyn| Jhoira v2| Rashmi|
Shards WUB Oloro|GWU Roon|RGW Jurassic Park|UBR Nekusar|BRG Kresh|
Clans RWU Narset|WBR Vampires|BGW Doran|UBG Muldrotha|URG Animar|
4-Colors GWUB Atraxa|BRGWSaskia|RGWU Hydra Hug| UBRGYidris|WUBRBreya|
5-Color WUBRG Super Friends
Extra Decks Titania| Taigam| Locust God| Cats| Tishana| Kumena| Squirrels| Slimefoot} Baron|RGW Samut|UBR Pirates|UBR Mairsil| WUBRG Ramos|
As for the Polymorph, well, it's somewhat tough to judge. I run Proteus Staff for a similar thing. Turning drakes into things like Consecrated Sphinx (another thing that absolutely should be in possibly every, but definitely this, blue deck), Tidespout Tyrant, Snappy, heck, I even run Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre for the graveyard refill effects, among other things.
The trick to polymorph is that you need every creature card to be strong by themselves and strong with your deck. That's why cards like Blightsteel Colossus, though absurdly powerful, don't have a reason for the deck. They do nothing for the deck. Cards like Stormtide Leviathan, however, serve as a moat, allow you to hit hard, give you more blue mana (for your non-basics), and generally allow you to do good stuff. I could even suggest Jin-Gitaxias Core Augur, though I don't personally run 'em. More power stuff, works with you, hurts your opponents obnoxiously... You get the idea.
If you can give me suggestions for cuts for Stormtide, Snap, Call to mind, Time Stretch, Tidespout, Ulamog, and even Jin since I have a nice foily one sitting around. I'm stuck as to what to take out.
Mono Konda| Sakashima| Yahenni| Ashling| Selvala|C Karn
Guilds Grand Arbiter| Meren| Gisa & Geralf| Scorpion God| Omnath| Sisay| Karlov| Avacyn| Jhoira v2| Rashmi|
Shards WUB Oloro|GWU Roon|RGW Jurassic Park|UBR Nekusar|BRG Kresh|
Clans RWU Narset|WBR Vampires|BGW Doran|UBG Muldrotha|URG Animar|
4-Colors GWUB Atraxa|BRGWSaskia|RGWU Hydra Hug| UBRGYidris|WUBRBreya|
5-Color WUBRG Super Friends
Extra Decks Titania| Taigam| Locust God| Cats| Tishana| Kumena| Squirrels| Slimefoot} Baron|RGW Samut|UBR Pirates|UBR Mairsil| WUBRG Ramos|
I changed around 6 cards but decided against Jin just because with the others I had put in, those were already extremely high CMC. So I will probably be good for now until i try it out.
Edit: Once I get another Stormtide I'll probably put it in. But for now, I'll be testing it as is.
Mono Konda| Sakashima| Yahenni| Ashling| Selvala|C Karn
Guilds Grand Arbiter| Meren| Gisa & Geralf| Scorpion God| Omnath| Sisay| Karlov| Avacyn| Jhoira v2| Rashmi|
Shards WUB Oloro|GWU Roon|RGW Jurassic Park|UBR Nekusar|BRG Kresh|
Clans RWU Narset|WBR Vampires|BGW Doran|UBG Muldrotha|URG Animar|
4-Colors GWUB Atraxa|BRGWSaskia|RGWU Hydra Hug| UBRGYidris|WUBRBreya|
5-Color WUBRG Super Friends
Extra Decks Titania| Taigam| Locust God| Cats| Tishana| Kumena| Squirrels| Slimefoot} Baron|RGW Samut|UBR Pirates|UBR Mairsil| WUBRG Ramos|
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/trading-post/details/3238-some-new-some-old-pay-u-and-take-a-peek
WB Ayli, Eternal Recursion WB - GUPir and Toothy GU - WBR Mathas, Fiend SeekerWBR