MTG Salvation

i've always wanted a deck that capitalized on dovescape
a deck that utilizes Taigam, Ojutai Master+dovescape
taigam prevents dovescape from countering while you still get the birds

how would you win the game in a deck focusing around this synergy?

one possibility is use of guile. it lets you cast everyone else's cards with rebound for free as well as providing a wincon with a manarock, enchantment, planes walker as you can loop it endlessly for free etc.

Thats actually pretty funny.

You could lock people out of the game with Rule of Law, Hive Mind and a spell with Epic, like Enduring Ideal, will mean your opponents cannot play any spells for the rest of the game. With an enchantment based deck it should be easy to assemble in game and can provide a bit of a pillowfort.

You need a way of getting rid of the birds your opponents will make each turn or stop them attacking you. Winning through combat damage I think will become very difficult very quickly as your opponents will have more than enough chump blockers to keep you out.

the only issue with hive mind is that the copies cant be countered by dovescape because their not spells
and as far as killing birds im not sure the best way to do this Echoing Truth is one way Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite is another less useful one

Quote from un_diplomatic »

Thats actually pretty funny.

You could lock people out of the game with Rule of Lore, Hivemind and a spell with Epic, like Enduring Ideal, will mean your opponents cannot play any spells for the rest of the game. With an enchantment based deck it should be easy to assemble in game and can provide a bit of a pillowfort.

You need a way of getting rid of the birds your opponents will make each turn or stop them attacking you. Winning through combat damage I think will become very difficult very quickly as your opponents will have more than enough chump blockers to keep you out.

Wait how is a permanent effect that also makes all your bird 3/3s less useful than a one time bounce effect?

I have a Dovescape deck in Bant colors (Derevi), and use Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite to nullify any bird tokens that opponents might generate. I also run Torpor Orb, Hushwing Gryff and Tocatli Honor Guard to stop ETB creatures from getting rid of Dovescape, so you get a pretty hard lock.

[EDIT]
Jace, Architect of Thought is another card that can nullify the birds, but obviously will get countered if you try and cast it post Dovescape.

Man times like this you really wish you could play an esper commander but still have access to Taigam. Because the best answer to the birds is silumgar, the drifting death

You can also just make all your creatures unblockable, Sun Quan, Lord of Wu, Thassa, God of the Sea, Venser, the Sojourner(unfortunately gets countered).

And lock people out of combat steps stonehorn dignitary, illusionist's gambit.

Dampening Pulse sounds like a great way to hose your opponents birds.

You should check out this build => http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/commander-edh/multiplayer-commander-decklists/783204-taigam-ojutai-master-ojutaigam-tokens-on-the seems exactly the type of thing you're looking for

Reverence prevents the opponent from attacking you with birds pretty hard.

Dolmen Gate and Reconnaissance will save attackers and help you enable Taigam's rebound granting.

Angel of Invention, Crovax, Ascendant Hero, Elsesh Norn, Grand Cenobyte, Angel of Jubilation, Adaptive Automaton (Bird), Jazal Goldmane, Oathsworn Giant, Soul of Theros, Thistledown Liege and Thunderclap Wyvern are all decently playable creatures that will buff your birds and/or kill your opponent's birds.

Or you know, One-Eyed Scarecrow for the flavor win

Basically you just win with birds beats because your birds are bigger then your opponent's birds. By not running Humility but only torpor orb effects you can actually keep a somewhat decent game going so it's not the fun suck a Humility+Dovescape deck is while mainting a lot of it's power and synergy.

Worth pointing out that whilst you have Taigam out, only enchantments and walkers will generate birds for you because of his ability. Rules make this even better than I thought, thanks Weebo & Gutterstorm

With this in mind, pick a way of killing opponent birds and then you get to play a normal game of magic. You could try Silent Arbiter Archetype of Imagination to stop their birds flying.

Quote from un_diplomatic »

Worth pointing out that whilst you have Taigam out, only enchantments and walkers will generate birds for you because of his ability.

Dovescape creates birds regardless of whether the spell was countered or not. That's why it's particularly good with Taigam.

Specifically; because Dovescape doesn't say "if that spell is countered this way" or some similar clause. Effectively the countering of the spell and the creation of the birds are disassociated even though they are the same trigger. Its the same sort of thing as if you were to use Rapid Hybridization on an indestructible target. The 3/3 is still made but the target will remain. Or the way you can cast Negate on Supreme Verdict and the negate will resolve but Verdict will remain.

Quote from un_diplomatic »

Thats actually pretty funny.

You could lock people out of the game with Rule of Lore, Hivemind and a spell with Epic, like Enduring Ideal, will mean your opponents cannot play any spells for the rest of the game. With an enchantment based deck it should be easy to assemble in game and can provide a bit of a pillowfort.

You need a way of getting rid of the birds your opponents will make each turn or stop them attacking you. Winning through combat damage I think will become very difficult very quickly as your opponents will have more than enough chump blockers to keep you out.

You mean Rule of Law and Hive Mind?

And to answer OP, casting spells with Guile doesn't trigger rebound. (You have to cast them from your hand.)

Quote from mageslay3r »

i've always wanted a deck that capitalized on dovescape
a deck that utilizes Taigam, Ojutai Master+dovescape
taigam prevents dovescape from countering while you still get the birds

how would you win the game in a deck focusing around this synergy?

one possibility is use of guile. it lets you cast everyone else's cards with rebound for free as well as providing a wincon with a manarock, enchantment, planes walker as you can loop it endlessly for free etc.

You would win the game by casting a bunch of spells with dovescape out. I mean sure, your opponents also get birds, but you'll get more because of rebound, because you are building around it, and because your draw spells will actually resolve and net more spells for more birds.

Isochron Scepter + Dramatic reversal + Mana Rock that taps for 2 will go infinite.

Quote from Loki_Lulamen »

Isochron Scepter + Dramatic reversal + Mana Rock that taps for 2 will go infinite.

I am aware of this combo as its is played in competitive versions of the deck i was looking into winning with dovescape rather than other combos

Quote from mageslay3r »

Quote from Loki_Lulamen »

Isochron Scepter + Dramatic reversal + Mana Rock that taps for 2 will go infinite.

I am aware of this combo as its is played in competitive versions of the deck i was looking into winning with dovescape rather than other combos

dovescape protects its self from instant speed responces to your wincon other than things like Venser, Shaper Savant while retaining the ability to cast your commander and various spells rather than protecting with counterspells. in this sense you only have to resolve dovescape to push though your wincon. I might add it in anyway but I would like the primary wincon to include dovescape or at least use dovescape significantly. for instance including Phyrexian Altar means that you could sac all the birds to recoup all the mana lost casting the spell, therefor you would only need enough mana to cast any non creature spells the only downsides are that you have to have phyrexian arena on the field first and only instants and sorceries resolve.