I've been wanting to make a Talrand deck for a while now but it's been on the back burner because I already had a mono blue deck. But I guess I felt I could move on from my Azami deck and use U in a new way, though Azami still has a place in the deck to oversee the new management.
This is a pretty straight forward, somewhat casual deck, but there are definitely many ways you can take it. Because there are so few creatures in the deck, cards like Polymorph and Proteus Staff become more powerful. Also because there are so many instants, cards like Veilstone Amulet and Mirari can be used well. There are a few combos in here but otherwise this deck wins by keeping down opponents' tempo, stealing their goodtuffs, and swinging with drakes. I know this deck can be better and I have some cards I want to try, so comments and suggestions are encouraged!
Assuming you're running Mnemonic Nexus as graveyard hate, I'd just stick to Relic of Progenitus since it costs 2 fewer mana and draws you a card.
I'm not sure what budget or power level restrictions you have, but if you're running a Polymorph package I'd probably just cut Etherium Sculptor and Azami, Lady of Scrolls in favor of some Eldrazi.
Regarding other cuts I'd consider, Mirari seems pretty mana intensive to me. So does Polymorphous Rush. I understand the appeal, but 2/2 Drakes are pretty decent on their own, and tapping out for a huge Rush is pretty risky.
Do you have a decklist? Could you share? I built a first draft, but I have so many cards to cut. I'm especially interested in how many cantrips you run.
Unfortunately I don't, I'm mostly basing my experience on my friend's Talrand deck, which I think is very good although there are definitely a lot of changes I'd make. For example, I don't like the clones since most of the time an Eldrazi would just be better, and I'd stay away from sorcery speed card draw in favor of instant speed as much as possible. ALSO I forgot about Isochron Scepter. That card is pretty mean if you're running enough 2-mana counters.
Don't you find that Beacon of Tomorrows has a too high mana cost?
How often do you have 10 extra mana laying around? With all these small spells what about Isochron Scepter?
My friend runs Talrand, Bident of Thassa, Every one mana cantrip in existence. About 5 counterspells The cipher cantrip spell, coat of arms, caged sun and I believe borrowing 100,000 arrows. That's it. It works great in 3 and 4 man pods.
An alternative to boots is Diplomatic Immunity, since it has shroud itself, you can just set it and forget it. You can also tutor for it with Muddle the Mixture.
Also, do you think that any kind of boots are good in this deck, or just counterspells is enough to protect the commander?
Lightning Greaves are decent, probably good if you're running big scary Eldrazi. I wouldn't (also) run Swiftfoot Boots though since counterspells are more versatile and drawing two pairs of boots hurts a lot.
Is there something I'm not seeing on Azami? Isn't Arcanis going to be quite a bit better almost all of the time?
Mystic Speculation is one of my favorite cards in Talrand.
True, Azami, Lady of Scrolls is broken as hell, and commander's type is Wizard I run it in my build.
She absolutely is a fantastic card, but in a deck where she's the second of only two wizards you're looking at best case 5 mana for a 0/2 that lets you tap two creatures to draw 2 cards, vs. Arcanis who costs 6 but lets you always tap for three even if Talrand is otherwise engaged, is a 3/4, and can be saved via bounce. I guess Azami lets you tap herself and Talrand the turn they come into play instead of waiting, and that's not nothing. Still, at least in this particular build I'm not sure I'd run her over him.
Again, I don't disagree that Azami is strong in all kinds of configurations. But I assumed we were talking about this particular configuration, and in this configuration I personally don't see it.
Hey sorry i have been MIA for about a month. Thank yo all for your conversation!
As far as why i chose Azami over Arcanis, She combos with Mind Over Matter to draw your deck hit Beacon of Tomorrows and win the turn she is cast plus being able to synergize with all the wizards in the deck it works pretty well for me. She was also my mono blue commander before talrand and i may be biased on her, but none the less i prefer her over Arcanis.
Also guys I have recently retired this deck to build a deck with Kruphix as the commander, will upload soon. I am going to keep this decklist up for reference and further conversation as the deck worked well for me. The last deck this beat was a Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund deck, despite his fliers being bigger and badder, Talrand's little drakes came out on top.
This is a pretty straight forward, somewhat casual deck, but there are definitely many ways you can take it. Because there are so few creatures in the deck, cards like Polymorph and Proteus Staff become more powerful. Also because there are so many instants, cards like Veilstone Amulet and Mirari can be used well. There are a few combos in here but otherwise this deck wins by keeping down opponents' tempo, stealing their goodtuffs, and swinging with drakes. I know this deck can be better and I have some cards I want to try, so comments and suggestions are encouraged!
4 Talrand, Sky Summoner
Creatures
2 Etherium Sculptor
5 Azami, Lady of Scrolls
8 Stormtide Leviathan
8 Tidespout Tyrant
7 Windreader Sphinx
Enchantments
3 Rhystic Study
4 Opposition
4 Spellweaver Volute
5 Future Sight
5 Gravitational Shift
6 Mind Over Matter
Artifacts
1 Elixir of Immortality
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
2 Sapphire Medallion
3 Proteus Staff
3 Vedalken Shackles
3 Veilstone Amulet
4 Bident of Thassa
4 Vedalken Orrery
5 Gilded Lotus
5 Mirari
6 Caged Sun
Instants
1 Brainstorm
1 High Tide
1 Mizzium Skin
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Opt
1 Peek
1 Pongify
1 Quicken
1 Rapid Hybridization
1 Unsummon
2 Arcane Denial
2 Cyclonic Rift
2 Logic Knot
2 Muddle the Mixture
2 Snap
2 Telling Time
2 Think Twice
2 Twincast
3 Capsize
3 Forbid
3 Hinder
3 Keep Watch
3 Long-Term Plans
3 Polymorphous Rush
4 Ætherize
4 Mnemonic Nexus
4 Rewind
1 Ponder
1 Portent
1 Preordain
2 Curse of the Swine
2 Treasure Hunt
3 Borrowing 100,000 Arrows
3 Fabricate
4 Polymorph
4 Pull From the Deep
4 Rite of Replication
4 Wash Out
5 Acquire
5 Bribery
5 Time Warp
6 Spelltwine
8 Beacon of Tomorrows
Lands
0 Academy Ruins
0 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
0 Ghost Quarter
0 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
0 Reliquary Tower
0 Riptide Laboratory
0 Snow-Covered Island x26
0 Temple of the False God
UG Ezuri... since been corrupted
BRG Prossh, the Sacrifice Engine
GR Bobo, the Mad Land-chucker (retired)
GU Kruphix, Open the Valves (retired)
UU Talrand, Spell Summoner (retired)
GG Ezuri, Ready-Made Leader (retired)
-Seat of the Synod
-Dissipation Field
-Train of Thought
in
+Etherium Sculptor
+Spellweaver Volute
+Borrowing 100,000 Arrows
UG Ezuri... since been corrupted
BRG Prossh, the Sacrifice Engine
GR Bobo, the Mad Land-chucker (retired)
GU Kruphix, Open the Valves (retired)
UU Talrand, Spell Summoner (retired)
GG Ezuri, Ready-Made Leader (retired)
I'm also a fan of Fact or Fiction in blue decks that hold open mana on other people's turns.
Is there any reason you're running Unsummon over Vapor Snag? Logic Knot over Counterspell?
Assuming you're running Mnemonic Nexus as graveyard hate, I'd just stick to Relic of Progenitus since it costs 2 fewer mana and draws you a card.
I'm not sure what budget or power level restrictions you have, but if you're running a Polymorph package I'd probably just cut Etherium Sculptor and Azami, Lady of Scrolls in favor of some Eldrazi.
Regarding other cuts I'd consider, Mirari seems pretty mana intensive to me. So does Polymorphous Rush. I understand the appeal, but 2/2 Drakes are pretty decent on their own, and tapping out for a huge Rush is pretty risky.
Unfortunately I don't, I'm mostly basing my experience on my friend's Talrand deck, which I think is very good although there are definitely a lot of changes I'd make. For example, I don't like the clones since most of the time an Eldrazi would just be better, and I'd stay away from sorcery speed card draw in favor of instant speed as much as possible. ALSO I forgot about Isochron Scepter. That card is pretty mean if you're running enough 2-mana counters.
How often do you have 10 extra mana laying around? With all these small spells what about Isochron Scepter?
Neheb
Marath
Yidris
Sharuum
Yidris
The remaining cards are just Islands.
Modern- Protean Hulk combo WBRG -Mill UB
Commander
URJhoira of the Ghitu-WRG Mayael the Anima-WBG Karador, Ghost Chieftain-WBR Kaalia of the Vast-RG Ruric Thar, the Unbowed -UBRNekusar the Mindrazer-W Darien, King of Kjeldor-GFreyalise,Llanowar's Fury-W Nahiri, the Lithomancer-UB Grimgrin, Corpse-Born-UW Brago, King Eternal-WBR Alesha, Who Smiles at Death-UBR Mishra, Artificer Prodigy-BRG Prossh, Skyraider of Kher-WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon-BG Skullbriar, the Walking Grave-WR Tajic, Blade of the Legion-UBG Damia, Sage of Stone-WUB Sharum the Hegemon-RG Wort, the Raidmother-WURZedruu the GreatheartedUGKruphix, God of Horizons-BWG Ghave, Guru of Spores-GUEzuri, Claw of Progress-URMizzix of the Izmagnus-WGSigarda, Host of Herons-BROlivia Valderan-WG Rhys, the Redeemed-UGExperiment KrajRG[mana]OmnatH,LoCUSofRaGE[/aRd]-[mana]BG Nath of the Gilt-Leaf" target="blank">-RG[mana]OmnatH,LoCUSofRaGE[/aRd]-[mana]BG Nath of the Gilt-Leaf-URGMaelstrom Wanderer -
GWUBRDraft my Old Border Nostalgia Cube! and/or The Little Pauper Cube That Could!RBUWG
Modern:WDeath & TaxesW | RUGRUG DelverRUG
---
Current Commanders: Derevi, Empyrial Tactician (coming soon) | [Primer] Sedris, the Traitor King | Maelstrom Wanderer | Najeela, the Blade Blossom | Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow
---
Retired Commanders: [Primer] Jenara, Asura of War | [Primer] Ghave, Guru of Spores | Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury | Saskia the Unyielding | Sydri, Galvanic Genius
Lightning Greaves are decent, probably good if you're running big scary Eldrazi. I wouldn't (also) run Swiftfoot Boots though since counterspells are more versatile and drawing two pairs of boots hurts a lot.
Mystic Speculation is one of my favorite cards in Talrand.
GReki, the History of Kamigawa Legendfall
UGEdric, Spymaster of Trest Drawmaster of Trest | GBGlissa the Traitor A Touch of Death | WBTeysa, Orzhov Scion Spinning in Graves
UWIsperia, Supreme Judge A Riddles of Sphinxes | RG Mena and Denn, Wildborn Beware Falling Rocks | GWSigarda, Host of Hurons The Enchantress
WRGRith the Awakener Superfriendly Tokens
She absolutely is a fantastic card, but in a deck where she's the second of only two wizards you're looking at best case 5 mana for a 0/2 that lets you tap two creatures to draw 2 cards, vs. Arcanis who costs 6 but lets you always tap for three even if Talrand is otherwise engaged, is a 3/4, and can be saved via bounce. I guess Azami lets you tap herself and Talrand the turn they come into play instead of waiting, and that's not nothing. Still, at least in this particular build I'm not sure I'd run her over him.
GReki, the History of Kamigawa Legendfall
UGEdric, Spymaster of Trest Drawmaster of Trest | GBGlissa the Traitor A Touch of Death | WBTeysa, Orzhov Scion Spinning in Graves
UWIsperia, Supreme Judge A Riddles of Sphinxes | RG Mena and Denn, Wildborn Beware Falling Rocks | GWSigarda, Host of Hurons The Enchantress
WRGRith the Awakener Superfriendly Tokens
Again, I don't disagree that Azami is strong in all kinds of configurations. But I assumed we were talking about this particular configuration, and in this configuration I personally don't see it.
GReki, the History of Kamigawa Legendfall
UGEdric, Spymaster of Trest Drawmaster of Trest | GBGlissa the Traitor A Touch of Death | WBTeysa, Orzhov Scion Spinning in Graves
UWIsperia, Supreme Judge A Riddles of Sphinxes | RG Mena and Denn, Wildborn Beware Falling Rocks | GWSigarda, Host of Hurons The Enchantress
WRGRith the Awakener Superfriendly Tokens
As far as why i chose Azami over Arcanis, She combos with Mind Over Matter to draw your deck hit Beacon of Tomorrows and win the turn she is cast plus being able to synergize with all the wizards in the deck it works pretty well for me. She was also my mono blue commander before talrand and i may be biased on her, but none the less i prefer her over Arcanis.
Also guys I have recently retired this deck to build a deck with Kruphix as the commander, will upload soon. I am going to keep this decklist up for reference and further conversation as the deck worked well for me. The last deck this beat was a Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund deck, despite his fliers being bigger and badder, Talrand's little drakes came out on top.
UG Ezuri... since been corrupted
BRG Prossh, the Sacrifice Engine
GR Bobo, the Mad Land-chucker (retired)
GU Kruphix, Open the Valves (retired)
UU Talrand, Spell Summoner (retired)
GG Ezuri, Ready-Made Leader (retired)