Even when I'm a mtg player since 7th Edition (with two major breaks, one in Kamigawa's cycle, and the other from Lorwyn to Scars of Mirrodin), this is my second EDH deck post. The first one was months ago, and was a Vendilion Clique deck, wich I post to get some recomendations prior a tournament I was going to play, and that fourtanetly I won.
I would like to talk a little about Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir and what his got to offer to us (and what not), before presenting my deck.
Why play Teferi?
First of all: Teferi is about control.
The main difference between other mono blue commanders (Vendilion, Talrand, Azami, Venser...) and Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir is that Teferi alone almost shut down those deck enterly. With the presence of Teferi at the table, the capaciades of those decks are diminished greatly. The last ability Teferi not only ensures that you will be almost completely protected during your turn, but it also prevents rain spells from your opponents on their turns. So, keep in mind, Teferi, Mage of Zhalfiris about control.
Second: Flash, for anyone.
With the second ability Teferi, you will never need to use mana on your turn to play some winning condition. Any creature can enter at the end of your opponents turn, and they even will be able to answer that. This, in a sense, gives a pseudo haste to all your creatures.
Third:Combo-Able.
Although this deck is not designed to win through a combo, many of the deck with Teferi as a commander are; mainly based on the interaction of Teferi with cards like Knowledge Pool and Omen Machine. These interactions will be explained later.
So... What is Teferi? A creature that embodies the blue color at his best. He is control and surprise.
Why Not Teferi: Although Teferi offers versatility when creating a deck around it, also offers some obvious limitations, most of the realted to playing mono blue:
Most of the time we will be playing defensively.
We will not play a lot of creatures
And most importantly, probably we are not going to be the most beloved ones in the table.
So? What makes this deck special?:
As I said earlier, this deck is not focused on consistently winning via a combo (which is the main strategy followed by the majority of decks with Teferi). Similarly, it is not focused on a aggro/tribal strategy, as another group (though minor)tend decks built around Teferi.
The idea that I present below seeks to leverage all elements in Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir; and use them to create a deck that contains different ways to win (combo, general damage, big creatures); while offering stable control during all phases of the game.
I take inspiration for this deck mainly on decks of Urza's Saga times, when the blue color was predominant and few but powerful creatures (MorphlingPalinchron), backed up for even more powerfull spells (Time Spiral, Stroke of Genius -both present in this deck-), decided games.
How it all began:
After winning my first EDH tournament deck with a Vendilion Clique deck, I realized that even though this thedeck worked very well on 1 vs 1, on multiplayer games his power was greatly diminished.
Then I started looking for options, until I found Sharuum the Hegemon; the color combination immediately enthrals me, and decided to put together a stax deck around it. This deck, much more capable in multiplayer games, soon ceased to be attractive to me, as my gaming group got tired of effects like winter orb/static orb and cards like armageddon and smokestack.
So I decided a needed a new change; and looking for a new general who offered me both control and versatility I met with Talrand, Sky Summoner. Talrand proposed to me the opportunity to play aggro, without relinquishing control. This deck was explosive and fierce ... Maybe too much. Although allowed me to use many cards that had perhaps never used in any other deck (EDH or otherwise), the way to win was too direct for my taste.
I was back in the beginning. Maybe with more questions than answers. Sharuum had complicated interactions and powerful cards, but left out half the fun of the format; the political game. Talrand meanwhile using less powerful spells, however their strategy, although fun, was very simple.
Then I found a card, that although was present in all my decks (even back in the Vendilion deck), I had never considered as a general. Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir.
The Denial: This is the biggest group in the deck, with 20 cards on it. From very specific counters like Annul, to hard counters as the always famous Counterspell, wich some versatile as Swan Song and Cryptic Command this group has everything. The key here is use every counter in the exact moment, to maximize his impact on the game. Protecting Teferi and stop the greatest threat is the intention of this group.
Control: In this category falls every spell that can deals directly with permanents on the battlefield. Obviously here it could include many other spells, however the idea of this group is to deal with what has passed the barrier of denial spells of the deck. Two spells: Cyclonic Rift and Sunder are not included here becuase their game changing effects are used more aggressively than reactionary.
Other Spells: Those are spells wich cannot be include direclty on other category or conversely can be include in more than one category. Also this include spells as Jace, The Mind Sculptor and Bribery, wich can be counted as winning conditions by itself. Note that this group contains the most of the sorceries spells in the deck.
Creatures: They are seven creatures in the deck (besides Teferi); 2 of them are utilities: Snapcaster Mage and Phyrexian Metamorph; two of them are beaters: Wurmcoil Engine and Frost Titan; and the other three (Sower of Temptation, Duplicant and Consecrated Sphinx) falls in between. The idea is that every creature in the deck have a considerable impact on the table by itself, enhanced for the Flash granted by Teferi.
As with the Deck Manipulation group, the Artifacts: is group is also divided in two categories: mana generators/ramp (Mana Crypt, Sol Ring, and Sapphire Medallion); and utilities: Pithing Needle, Relic of Progenitus, Sensei's Divining Top, Vedalken Shackles, Sword of Fire and Ice, Sword of Light and Shadow, Knowledge Pool). Most of the artifacts of the deck are stapples for EDH, and maybe only the swords need a further explanation. The Swords are the only equipment not just for the bonus on the attack and the effects, but also for the evasion they give via the color protection. Aslo Knowledge Pool is present as alternative winning condition via combo/hard lock with Teferi. On additional note, no much mana rocks are needed because we are not playing a combo deck that needs a lot of acceleration.
Lands: 24 basic and 11 non basic for a rather small mana base, but with a deck of a cmc media of: 2.4 is more than enough. As with the artifacts, most of the non-basic lands are stapples in the format, and just two are personal preferences, Minamo, School at Water's Edge and Opal Palace. Those can be traded by other non-basic lands or even a couple of islands.
How to play:
If you've ever played a Mono Blue Control deck, this deck should be easy for you to play.
Just try to gain control over the table, with counterspell, choosing what should resolve and what not, even that have a good amount of denials simply will not be able to counter every spell played (much less in multiplayer games); so be smart, look for what can disrupt your strategie, and let the other be, later you can work around that.
As you can see, this deck is designed to play 1 vs 1 with the normal rules of EDH, but also works in multiplayer games; and with a few changes, you could even adapt to the French list.
Well, this is everything for now. I will be updating this with mathups reports; and and with some cards interactions. If you has some questions, please ask me. Thanks.
P.S: English is not my first language, so please forgive any error.
Thanks for taking the time to comment Bigbearlyke; and thanks for the suggestion.
I honestly had not considered the Tidespout Tyrant, and although the cost seems high to me, I will look for a copy to give it a try.
As for doublers/rock mana, as you can see, I have few spells that have a high cmc, so I decided to reduce mana rocks to a minimum, but might try a Gauntlet of Power or Caged Sun.
Finally, the use of swords ir more for evasion than protection; since Teferi it self has no build-in evasion.
P.S: Curiously I was watching your Oloro deck, and I really like what you did there. I might copy that idea =)
Thanks for taking the time to comment Bigbearlyke; and thanks for the suggestion.
I honestly had not considered the Tidespout Tyrant, and although the cost seems high to me, I will look for a copy to give it a try.
As for doublers/rock mana, as you can see, I have few spells that have a high cmc, so I decided to reduce mana rocks to a minimum, but might try a Gauntlet of Power or Caged Sun.
Finally, the use of swords ir more for evasion than protection; since Teferi it self has no build-in evasion.
P.S: Curiously I was watching your Oloro deck, and I really like what you did there. I might copy that idea =)
The main reason I suggest rocks and doublers is because it can help you abuse Capsize and Tidespout. I understand your feelings on the swords but I'm not sure how often I would want to swing with Teferi. Though they would be nice on the Titan or Wurmcoil.
Thank you for the nice words on my Oloro. I really like the direction I've gone but at times I still miss my durdly pillow fort version. Coincidentally, I came into this thread because I was thinking about adding Knowledge Pool to Oloro and I was curious to see how many Teferi lists actually run the combo.
I try Tidespout, it just doenst works with the fast dinamics of the deck (once you control the table). Im thinking that the swords doesn't work too good as weel.
As the Knowledge Pool combo, as I say it's not my primary target to win, but it's pretty efective (once again, if you already have control over the table). Just remember that only affects cards played from the hand, so they can cast their generals. Omen Machine It's another option to this combo.
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I would like to talk a little about Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir and what his got to offer to us (and what not), before presenting my deck.
First of all: Teferi is about control.
The main difference between other mono blue commanders (Vendilion, Talrand, Azami, Venser...) and Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir is that Teferi alone almost shut down those deck enterly. With the presence of Teferi at the table, the capaciades of those decks are diminished greatly. The last ability Teferi not only ensures that you will be almost completely protected during your turn, but it also prevents rain spells from your opponents on their turns. So, keep in mind, Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir is about control.
Second: Flash, for anyone.
With the second ability Teferi, you will never need to use mana on your turn to play some winning condition. Any creature can enter at the end of your opponents turn, and they even will be able to answer that. This, in a sense, gives a pseudo haste to all your creatures.
Third:Combo-Able.
Although this deck is not designed to win through a combo, many of the deck with Teferi as a commander are; mainly based on the interaction of Teferi with cards like Knowledge Pool and Omen Machine. These interactions will be explained later.
So... What is Teferi? A creature that embodies the blue color at his best. He is control and surprise.
Why Not Teferi: Although Teferi offers versatility when creating a deck around it, also offers some obvious limitations, most of the realted to playing mono blue:
So? What makes this deck special?:
As I said earlier, this deck is not focused on consistently winning via a combo (which is the main strategy followed by the majority of decks with Teferi). Similarly, it is not focused on a aggro/tribal strategy, as another group (though minor)tend decks built around Teferi.
The idea that I present below seeks to leverage all elements in Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir; and use them to create a deck that contains different ways to win (combo, general damage, big creatures); while offering stable control during all phases of the game.
I take inspiration for this deck mainly on decks of Urza's Saga times, when the blue color was predominant and few but powerful creatures (Morphling Palinchron), backed up for even more powerfull spells (Time Spiral, Stroke of Genius -both present in this deck-), decided games.
How it all began:
After winning my first EDH tournament deck with a Vendilion Clique deck, I realized that even though this thedeck worked very well on 1 vs 1, on multiplayer games his power was greatly diminished.
Then I started looking for options, until I found Sharuum the Hegemon; the color combination immediately enthrals me, and decided to put together a stax deck around it. This deck, much more capable in multiplayer games, soon ceased to be attractive to me, as my gaming group got tired of effects like winter orb/static orb and cards like armageddon and smokestack.
So I decided a needed a new change; and looking for a new general who offered me both control and versatility I met with Talrand, Sky Summoner. Talrand proposed to me the opportunity to play aggro, without relinquishing control. This deck was explosive and fierce ... Maybe too much. Although allowed me to use many cards that had perhaps never used in any other deck (EDH or otherwise), the way to win was too direct for my taste.
I was back in the beginning. Maybe with more questions than answers. Sharuum had complicated interactions and powerful cards, but left out half the fun of the format; the political game. Talrand meanwhile using less powerful spells, however their strategy, although fun, was very simple.
Then I found a card, that although was present in all my decks (even back in the Vendilion deck), I had never considered as a general. Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir.
Now, My proposal: Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir Control Style.
5 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
Deck Manipulation:
1 Mystical Tutor
3 Long-Term Plans
3 Intuition
0 Ancestral Vision
1 Ponder
1 Preordain
1 Brainstorm
2 Impulse
2 Telling Time
2x Flash of Insight
3x Blue Sun's Zenith
3x Stroke of Genius
4 Fact or Fiction
Denial:
0 Pact of Negation
1 Mental Misstep
1 Flusterstorm
1 Spell Pierce
1 Spell Snare
1 Swan Song
1 Annul
1 Mana Leak
2 Negate
2 Remove Soul
2 Remand
2 Muddle the Mixture
2 Counterspell
2 Mana Drain
3 Spell Crumple
3 Hinder
3 Dissipate
4 Mindbreak Trap
4 Cryptic Command
5 Force of Will
1 Pongify
1 Rapid Hybridization
2 Into the Roil
2 Echoing Truth
3 Rushing River
3 Capsize
5 Evacuation
Other Spells:
1 Stifle
2 Trickbind
2 Cyclonic Rift
4 Jace, The Mind Sculptor
5 Sunder
5 Bribery
6 Time Spiral
Creatures:
2 Snapcaster Mage
4 Phyrexian Metamorph
4 Sower of Temptation
6 Duplicant
6 Wurmcoil Engine
6 Frost Titan
6 Consecrated Sphinx
Artifacts:
0 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
2 Sapphire Medallion
1 Pithing Needle
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Sensei's Divining Top
3 Vedalken Shackles
3 Sword of Fire and Ice
3 Sword of Light and Shadow
6 Knowledge Pool
0 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
0 Halimar Depths
0 Tolaria West
0 Opal Palace
0 Ancient Tomb
0 Strip Mine
0 Wasteland
0 Riptide Laboratory
0 Rishadan Port
0 Vesuva
0 Maze of Ith
Basic Islands (24):
0 Island
With this deck I want to find a middle ground between the aggressive voltron/agro and the passive/reactionary combo.
The tutors are: Mystical Tutor, Long-Term Plans and Intuition. Probably the only card that needs to be explained in this group is Long-Term Plans, many who seems slow, but a card that allow me search for any card in the deck well worth it. Maybe the other explanation needed here is about the lack of other tutors as Mercant Scroll and/or Fabricate; the reason they are not here is simple, avoid playing in our turn whenever we can.
The drawing are: Ancestral Vision, Ponder, Preordain, Brainstorm, Impulse, Telling Time, Flash of Insight, Blue Sun's Zenith, Stroke of Genius and Fact or Fiction. Just 3 cards from this gruop are sorceries, and all cost 1 mana or less, and most of the cards (except for Blue Sun's Zenith, Stroke of Genius and maybe Fact or Fiction) are spells that are more for dig on the deck that for actually gets a card avantage. Will have another way of get that.
The Denial: This is the biggest group in the deck, with 20 cards on it. From very specific counters like Annul, to hard counters as the always famous Counterspell, wich some versatile as Swan Song and Cryptic Command this group has everything. The key here is use every counter in the exact moment, to maximize his impact on the game. Protecting Teferi and stop the greatest threat is the intention of this group.
Control: In this category falls every spell that can deals directly with permanents on the battlefield. Obviously here it could include many other spells, however the idea of this group is to deal with what has passed the barrier of denial spells of the deck. Two spells: Cyclonic Rift and Sunder are not included here becuase their game changing effects are used more aggressively than reactionary.
Other Spells: Those are spells wich cannot be include direclty on other category or conversely can be include in more than one category. Also this include spells as Jace, The Mind Sculptor and Bribery, wich can be counted as winning conditions by itself. Note that this group contains the most of the sorceries spells in the deck.
Creatures: They are seven creatures in the deck (besides Teferi); 2 of them are utilities: Snapcaster Mage and Phyrexian Metamorph; two of them are beaters: Wurmcoil Engine and Frost Titan; and the other three (Sower of Temptation, Duplicant and Consecrated Sphinx) falls in between. The idea is that every creature in the deck have a considerable impact on the table by itself, enhanced for the Flash granted by Teferi.
As with the Deck Manipulation group, the Artifacts: is group is also divided in two categories: mana generators/ramp (Mana Crypt, Sol Ring, and Sapphire Medallion); and utilities: Pithing Needle, Relic of Progenitus, Sensei's Divining Top, Vedalken Shackles, Sword of Fire and Ice, Sword of Light and Shadow, Knowledge Pool). Most of the artifacts of the deck are stapples for EDH, and maybe only the swords need a further explanation. The Swords are the only equipment not just for the bonus on the attack and the effects, but also for the evasion they give via the color protection. Aslo Knowledge Pool is present as alternative winning condition via combo/hard lock with Teferi. On additional note, no much mana rocks are needed because we are not playing a combo deck that needs a lot of acceleration.
Lands: 24 basic and 11 non basic for a rather small mana base, but with a deck of a cmc media of: 2.4 is more than enough. As with the artifacts, most of the non-basic lands are stapples in the format, and just two are personal preferences, Minamo, School at Water's Edge and Opal Palace. Those can be traded by other non-basic lands or even a couple of islands.
How to play:
If you've ever played a Mono Blue Control deck, this deck should be easy for you to play.
Just try to gain control over the table, with counterspell, choosing what should resolve and what not, even that have a good amount of denials simply will not be able to counter every spell played (much less in multiplayer games); so be smart, look for what can disrupt your strategie, and let the other be, later you can work around that.
Then, there is three way to win: You can attack with Teferi, preferably equiped with the Sword of Fire and Ice
or the Sword of Light and Shadow.
As you can see, this deck is designed to play 1 vs 1 with the normal rules of EDH, but also works in multiplayer games; and with a few changes, you could even adapt to the French list.
Well, this is everything for now. I will be updating this with mathups reports; and and with some cards interactions. If you has some questions, please ask me. Thanks.
P.S: English is not my first language, so please forgive any error.
I'm not sure you need the Swords. Teferi is his own protection with so many counter spells. Other then the Swords I can't think of much else to cut.
EDH Decks:
WUBOloro, Combo ControlWUB
UBOona Reanimator ComboUB
BRGProssh, Eater of the Blue MageBRG
UBRGrixis StormUBR
Rebuilding Jenara (stealyourstuff.dec)
Pauper Deck:
UBInspired SirenUB
I honestly had not considered the Tidespout Tyrant, and although the cost seems high to me, I will look for a copy to give it a try.
As for doublers/rock mana, as you can see, I have few spells that have a high cmc, so I decided to reduce mana rocks to a minimum, but might try a Gauntlet of Power or Caged Sun.
Finally, the use of swords ir more for evasion than protection; since Teferi it self has no build-in evasion.
P.S: Curiously I was watching your Oloro deck, and I really like what you did there. I might copy that idea =)
The main reason I suggest rocks and doublers is because it can help you abuse Capsize and Tidespout. I understand your feelings on the swords but I'm not sure how often I would want to swing with Teferi. Though they would be nice on the Titan or Wurmcoil.
Thank you for the nice words on my Oloro. I really like the direction I've gone but at times I still miss my durdly pillow fort version. Coincidentally, I came into this thread because I was thinking about adding Knowledge Pool to Oloro and I was curious to see how many Teferi lists actually run the combo.
EDH Decks:
WUBOloro, Combo ControlWUB
UBOona Reanimator ComboUB
BRGProssh, Eater of the Blue MageBRG
UBRGrixis StormUBR
Rebuilding Jenara (stealyourstuff.dec)
Pauper Deck:
UBInspired SirenUB
As the Knowledge Pool combo, as I say it's not my primary target to win, but it's pretty efective (once again, if you already have control over the table). Just remember that only affects cards played from the hand, so they can cast their generals. Omen Machine It's another option to this combo.