Hello folks! Boy do I love me some Talrand. What I love even more than that gruff sea-wizard however, are themed commander decks. Thus, I have combined my two loves into a deck that's done pretty well so far on MAGIC online.
Behold Drake N' Take.
The goals of Drake N' Take, are three fold: Part 1 - Poop out a bunch of 2/2 flyers every turn using cheapo instants and sorceries Part 2 - Steal all of your opponent's stuff, preferably with instants and sorceries in order to increase your drake empire. Part 3 - Limit the counterspells. It's sort of fun to give your opponent that single ray of hope that he can actually cast his spells while facing a mono blue deck. That way, when you control the rest of the game and steal his goodies, you can watch that hope flicker and die.
The deck is designed to win even if Talrand never sees play, due to the sheer number of thefts it is capable of.
Riptide Laboratory is for Talrand protection and Snapcaster Mage recursion. The Reliquary Tower is super great in this match due to all of the card draw you have, and is usually your number one target with Expedition Map. The rest of the land should be common sense.
With cards like these, you have options coming in- not to mention drakes! While most of them are simply cheap ways to activate Talrand while cycling the cards through your library, there are a few notable exceptions and remarks:
- Gigadrowse is fantastic on your opponent's upkeep, tapping down lands. Replicating it sadly only yields the single original drake, but who could say 'no' to a Flying 2/2 in addition to the tapping havoc you unfurl on your opponent's turn.
- A turn one Ancestral Vision plays out perfectly the turn after you theoretically have Talrand out. 3 cards and a dude. Sold!
- Merchant Scroll is your one stop counter shop, for the few this deck likes to play. Barring that, you can always fetch Spin into Myth for any commander combo your sneaky foe is trying to orchestrate.
- Nothin' says lovin' like my patented Quicken into bounce on your opponent's end step. Nothin' says Hatin' like my patented Quicken into Bribery on your opponent's end step. Yes, I would like your Eldrazzi, and yes, I would like to attack you with it immediately.
I must admit that the Bauble could be better. I just haven't really thought of a replacement that fits this deck. I do NOT want to be spending mana on my upkeep to untap some clunky chunk of mana rock, nor do I trust a card like Extraplanar Lens; I am 90% sure it's a murderer and/or serial arsonist. Or just too sketchy in a world of artifact hate... Regardless, I am open to ideas! The rest of the trinkets seem like they fit well.
Only 5... and one of them is only Remand, which people forgive pretty quickly. Honestly, I am not opposed to cutting Counterspell either. I play much more devious cards than these five spell-slammers, but 90% of the snap concedes I get are from this package. People really want to play their spells, even if they are just going to be taken...
A few simple stratagems.
- Snapcaster Mage into Legerdemain and then give your opponent the now useless Snapcaster.
- Bribery is devastating for the enemy, but make sure you take something you can live with getting bounced back into their hand, or save your counters for their answer. More than once I've taken a powerhouse only to have it bounced right back into my opponent's menagerie; essentially turning Bribery into a "Search your opponent's deck for his best creature and put it into his hand." Not good.
- Many opponents don't realize that Gather Specimens works for every creature put out on the turn. Take advantage of this and cast it during a turn in which you are certain your opponent has multiple dudes to chuck out. After a mass bounce is ideal.
Erayo is easy to enable because of all the cheapo cards you have. It's a total cheapo move to do it though, so use it at your discretion. I tend to let her be a dead card in matches where I actually want to talk to the opponent again in the future. Meanwhile, the Magus is stellar in this deck. Being able to play a cheap spell off the top of your deck over and over again is exactly what Talrand likes. In fact, you can't hear it very well, but if you put your ear to the actual Talrand card, you can hear him asking the severed heart in his hand for the Magus' phone number.
Protips:
- Meek Stone and Frozen Aether are an obvious combo that will utterly annihilate some decks. It will only affect you if you have Coat of Arms out, but you can just drop THAT artifact only when you know you have lethal... or just bounce it.
- Isochron Scepter + Telling Time is lovely. Try not pairing it with Counterspell unless you have a fetish for conceding opponents.
- The boots are a Godsend in removal heavy matches. If you have a pair in your opening hand, don't run Talrand out until you can both equip him on your same turn AND your opponent is more or less tapped out.
- Tamiyo is my Kamagawen Princess. I love her. She and I are destiny. Also, she is brutal in this deck if you ever get her ultimate off. That emblem is your ticket to infinite drakes.
- I am not altogether pleased with Rhystic Study and Thought Reflection. I am open to ideas.
Not much to say here. All pretty useful. Spin into Myth their Commander. Just do it. If they can't win without it, then they aren't playing a very good deck.
I'll be honest, the Volute is good on paper but in practice it has been amazing only about twice for me. I want it to work because the effect is so amazing, but there's so much Graveyard hate in Commander (online anyway) that it usually only let's me get one or two little cantrips out. Also, Echo Mage your Temporal Mastery for a proper good time.
All in all, when all of the above combine, you get...
I have played this deck a bunch of times online, and have started recording the games on youtube in hopes that I might get some feedback. I'm not so sure posting a link to the games or the similar deck tech I filmed is following the rules of mtgsalvation, so I am going to hold off on that. Though let the record show I do not have one of those "people=profit" youtube accounts. So until I am told otherwise, you'll have to search for Talrand Commander deck tech or matches yourself to find them.
Again, I am open to input and would love to make this good deck great. My only rules are that suggestions must fit the theme of the deck (Drakes and stealing), and that I will not be adding any more counterspells. Mana Drain is amazing, I know... but it's not right for this deck.
(Drake N' Take)
Hello folks! Boy do I love me some Talrand. What I love even more than that gruff sea-wizard however, are themed commander decks. Thus, I have combined my two loves into a deck that's done pretty well so far on MAGIC online.
Behold Drake N' Take.
The goals of Drake N' Take, are three fold:
Part 1 - Poop out a bunch of 2/2 flyers every turn using cheapo instants and sorceries
Part 2 - Steal all of your opponent's stuff, preferably with instants and sorceries in order to increase your drake empire.
Part 3 - Limit the counterspells. It's sort of fun to give your opponent that single ray of hope that he can actually cast his spells while facing a mono blue deck. That way, when you control the rest of the game and steal his goodies, you can watch that hope flicker and die.
The deck is designed to win even if Talrand never sees play, due to the sheer number of thefts it is capable of.
------------------------
The Cards
Land
Riptide Laboratory is for Talrand protection and Snapcaster Mage recursion. The Reliquary Tower is super great in this match due to all of the card draw you have, and is usually your number one target with Expedition Map. The rest of the land should be common sense.
The Drake Makers
With cards like these, you have options coming in- not to mention drakes! While most of them are simply cheap ways to activate Talrand while cycling the cards through your library, there are a few notable exceptions and remarks:
- Gigadrowse is fantastic on your opponent's upkeep, tapping down lands. Replicating it sadly only yields the single original drake, but who could say 'no' to a Flying 2/2 in addition to the tapping havoc you unfurl on your opponent's turn.
- A turn one Ancestral Vision plays out perfectly the turn after you theoretically have Talrand out. 3 cards and a dude. Sold!
- Merchant Scroll is your one stop counter shop, for the few this deck likes to play. Barring that, you can always fetch Spin into Myth for any commander combo your sneaky foe is trying to orchestrate.
- Nothin' says lovin' like my patented Quicken into bounce on your opponent's end step. Nothin' says Hatin' like my patented Quicken into Bribery on your opponent's end step. Yes, I would like your Eldrazzi, and yes, I would like to attack you with it immediately.
Your Standard Mana Mules
I must admit that the Bauble could be better. I just haven't really thought of a replacement that fits this deck. I do NOT want to be spending mana on my upkeep to untap some clunky chunk of mana rock, nor do I trust a card like Extraplanar Lens; I am 90% sure it's a murderer and/or serial arsonist. Or just too sketchy in a world of artifact hate... Regardless, I am open to ideas! The rest of the trinkets seem like they fit well.
Counters aka The Gateway to "Ignore" Lists
Only 5... and one of them is only Remand, which people forgive pretty quickly. Honestly, I am not opposed to cutting Counterspell either. I play much more devious cards than these five spell-slammers, but 90% of the snap concedes I get are from this package. People really want to play their spells, even if they are just going to be taken...
A few simple stratagems.
- Snapcaster Mage into Legerdemain and then give your opponent the now useless Snapcaster.
- Bribery is devastating for the enemy, but make sure you take something you can live with getting bounced back into their hand, or save your counters for their answer. More than once I've taken a powerhouse only to have it bounced right back into my opponent's menagerie; essentially turning Bribery into a "Search your opponent's deck for his best creature and put it into his hand." Not good.
- Many opponents don't realize that Gather Specimens works for every creature put out on the turn. Take advantage of this and cast it during a turn in which you are certain your opponent has multiple dudes to chuck out. After a mass bounce is ideal.
Creatures - Yes, they do exist
Erayo is easy to enable because of all the cheapo cards you have. It's a total cheapo move to do it though, so use it at your discretion. I tend to let her be a dead card in matches where I actually want to talk to the opponent again in the future. Meanwhile, the Magus is stellar in this deck. Being able to play a cheap spell off the top of your deck over and over again is exactly what Talrand likes. In fact, you can't hear it very well, but if you put your ear to the actual Talrand card, you can hear him asking the severed heart in his hand for the Magus' phone number.
Other permanent fixtures
Protips:
- Meek Stone and Frozen Aether are an obvious combo that will utterly annihilate some decks. It will only affect you if you have Coat of Arms out, but you can just drop THAT artifact only when you know you have lethal... or just bounce it.
- Isochron Scepter + Telling Time is lovely. Try not pairing it with Counterspell unless you have a fetish for conceding opponents.
- The boots are a Godsend in removal heavy matches. If you have a pair in your opening hand, don't run Talrand out until you can both equip him on your same turn AND your opponent is more or less tapped out.
- Tamiyo is my Kamagawen Princess. I love her. She and I are destiny. Also, she is brutal in this deck if you ever get her ultimate off. That emblem is your ticket to infinite drakes.
- I am not altogether pleased with Rhystic Study and Thought Reflection. I am open to ideas.
"Removal"
Not much to say here. All pretty useful. Spin into Myth their Commander. Just do it. If they can't win without it, then they aren't playing a very good deck.
The Rest
I'll be honest, the Volute is good on paper but in practice it has been amazing only about twice for me. I want it to work because the effect is so amazing, but there's so much Graveyard hate in Commander (online anyway) that it usually only let's me get one or two little cantrips out. Also, Echo Mage your Temporal Mastery for a proper good time.
29 Island
1 Halimar Depths
1 Maze of Ith
1 Mystifying Maze
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Riptide Laboratory
1 Strip Mine
Creatures
1 Talrand, Sky Summoner
1 Echo Mage
1 Erayo, Soratami Ascendant
1 Magus of the Future
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
Planeswalker
1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
Artifacts
1 Caged Sun
1 Coat of Arms
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Expedition Map
1 Isochron Scepter
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Mana Crypt
1 Meekstone
1 Sapphire Medallion
1 Sol Ring
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Vedalken Shackles
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Coastal Piracy
1 Frozen Aether
1 Future Sight
1 Opposition
1 Rhystic Study
1 Spellweaver Volute
1 Thought Reflection
Sorceries
1 Acquire
1 Ancestral Vision
1 Blatant Thievery
1 Bribery
1 Deep Analysis
1 Gitaxian Probe
1 Inundate
1 Legerdemain
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Preordain
1 Portent
1 Ponder
1 Rite of Replication
1 Serum Visions
1 Talrand's Invocation
1 Temporal Mastery
1 Wash Out
1 Blue Sun's Zenith
1 Brainstorm
1 Counterspell
1 Cryptic Command
1 Desertion
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Gather Specimens
1 Gigadrowse
1 Hinder
1 Impulse
1 Into the Roil
1 Peek
1 Quicken
1 Remand
1 Repeal
1 Spell Crumple
1 Spin into Myth
1 Stroke of Genius
1 Telling Time
1 Think Twice
I have played this deck a bunch of times online, and have started recording the games on youtube in hopes that I might get some feedback. I'm not so sure posting a link to the games or the similar deck tech I filmed is following the rules of mtgsalvation, so I am going to hold off on that. Though let the record show I do not have one of those "people=profit" youtube accounts. So until I am told otherwise, you'll have to search for Talrand Commander deck tech or matches yourself to find them.
Again, I am open to input and would love to make this good deck great. My only rules are that suggestions must fit the theme of the deck (Drakes and stealing), and that I will not be adding any more counterspells. Mana Drain is amazing, I know... but it's not right for this deck.