The new cards are pretty sweet. I've seen a few interesting ones.
As for Elesh Norn, I seem to play this more like a stax deck than midrange. I usually stick grave pact or Martyrs Bond early and just keep everyone locked out creature wise. That or you can sac/exile in response to it etb and take care of it that way. This deck pretty much laughs at creature decks, I honestly feel like I'm the table judge sometimes. Someone wants to ramp, into a turn 3 Eldrazi, everyone else is freaking out, and I'm just like... Exile it?
Just to share with you guys , I did a sensational move yesterday with Teysa EDH. I was facing an Sliver Queen EHD. I had a Sengir Aristocrat in hand , an altar of Ashnod a Blood Artist and three tokens Spirit . He had four Slivers, all with 6 attack with Trample and the Queen on the table . The Queen made all indestructible and I had only one life point . Spirits sacrificed the Altar to generate enough mana and cast the Aristocrat and Teysa . Sacrificed Tokens of Aristocrat and other creatures to the Altar , then exiled Queen , used a Retribution of the Meek to kill all the other creatures of it and used the 1000 colorless mana to do a massive Immortal Servitude to bring more than 10 creatures to battlefield. Once again sacrificed all , generating life and tokens and made a Faith 's Reward for return everything again. Finally , the opponent give up ! = D
The only auto include I saw from it is Hallowed Spiritkeeper which looks pretty crazy. Pity it has 3 instead of 2 power but it still is an easy card to include.
The other one which caught my eye was Fell the Mighty which given my entire deck doesn't have creatures with more than 2 power (except for the new guy above) might be a decent wrath, but 5 is a lot for just a creature wrath.
Just to share with you guys , I did a sensational move yesterday with Teysa EDH. I was facing an Sliver Queen EHD. I had a Sengir Aristocrat in hand , an altar of Ashnod a Blood Artist and three tokens Spirit . He had four Slivers, all with 6 attack with Trample and the Queen on the table . The Queen made all indestructible and I had only one life point . Spirits sacrificed the Altar to generate enough mana and cast the Aristocrat and Teysa . Sacrificed Tokens of Aristocrat and other creatures to the Altar , then exiled Queen , used a Retribution of the Meek to kill all the other creatures of it and used the 1000 colorless mana to do a massive Immortal Servitude to bring more than 10 creatures to battlefield. Once again sacrificed all , generating life and tokens and made a Faith 's Reward for return everything again. Finally , the opponent give up ! = D
Thats Awesome! the deck at its prime. its beautiful.
So, now that the list has been spoiled for all five colors anyone else seeing any cool additions for Teysa?
I kinda like the new ob card, 5/5 demon token is lrgi
nothing really immediately jumped out but i have concerns for containment priest. that thing is ridic. if ti can be protected it shuts down a lot of this deck. seems like way too much power for a 2 cost creature.
The only auto include I saw from it is Hallowed Spiritkeeper which looks pretty crazy. Pity it has 3 instead of 2 power but it still is an easy card to include.
The other one which caught my eye was Fell the Mighty which given my entire deck doesn't have creatures with more than 2 power (except for the new guy above) might be a decent wrath, but 5 is a lot for just a creature wrath.
yeah i dont think more conditional wraths are necessary but he spiritkeeper on the other hand is probably something worth trying out. looks to have good synergy with Faith's reward and such.
just found this thread. I'm hoping to start playing a little Commander again and have an old Vish Kal shell. Surprisingly, it's very similar to this deck's goals. My old Vish Kal strat was ETB and tokens and sac for value instead of the normal "sac a fattie to Vish" voltron. I do have some fatties, like Deathpact Angel, Bloodgift Demon, and Rune-scarred Demon though.
After reading through this, maybe Teysa makes more sense for my general. I'll certainly pick up a copy and run her either as commander or an alternate commander.
Great to see an active primer with so much discussion.
just found this thread. I'm hoping to start playing a little Commander again and have an old Vish Kal shell. Surprisingly, it's very similar to this deck's goals. My old Vish Kal strat was ETB and tokens and sac for value instead of the normal "sac a fattie to Vish" voltron. I do have some fatties, like Deathpact Angel, Bloodgift Demon, and Rune-scarred Demon though.
After reading through this, maybe Teysa makes more sense for my general. I'll certainly pick up a copy and run her either as commander or an alternate commander.
Great to see an active primer with so much discussion.
Wake the Dead is almost there, but I don't think we're looking for combat tricks.
Flesh Carver looks promising. It's, like, exactly what we're looking for, right? Sac outlet that doesn't need to tap, 3cmc, 2 power, black creature, leaves black tokens. Jackpot?
Ghoulcaller Gisa actually looks a little worse than Flesh Carver. Has to tap, and the X is going to typically be small for us.
Overseer of the Damned is big and bomby, so not quite what this deck is looking to do. However, for a Teysa deck going a little larger it could be good. Both triggered abilities are good, and the second is easily achieved with our multiple Grave Pact effects (plus Overseer's ETB trigger, guaranteeing at least 1 token).
Commander's Sphere looks like one of better 3-drop rocks we can have. No cost other than sac for the draw and etb untapped for both our colors.
Spoils of Blood is interesting, and we can make a large token. It's black, which is good. But it's a one-time effect. Not TOO exciting.
Infernal Offering seems like it might be too swingy. I'd hate to have to choose a big dumb green creature deck as the opponent.
Necromantic Selection would be a perfect sweeper save for the CMC. May still be good. Key is that it's a black creature in addition to other color(s) which is helpful if you cast Teysa after.
Hallowed Spiritkeeper is almost there, I think, but doesn't make the cut. Drawbacks - neither him nor his tokens are black, and while we can have a large number of critters in the yard we don't always.
Masterwork of Ingenuity is pretty awesome. Too bad we only run 2 equipment and it will stink to draw it and not find either Skullclamp or Nim. But great if we already have it. Win-more, probably.
Benevolent Offering. I don't like giving my opponent 3 creatures while I'm playing a smokestack deck. But 3 white tokens matches fairly well with Teysa's first ability.
Fell the Mighty seems like the second coming of Retribution of the Meek. Not too shabby. But not sure how many of these effects to run. Probably an upgrade to retribution except retribution is cmc 3, fell is cmc 5. That's a huge difference.
Deploy to the Front I love soldiers and this can make a LOT of them. But it's SOO expensive and they're white tokens. Really sweet with Teysa's first ability, though.
Nomads' Assembly the rebound almost makes it worth it but the upfront cost and white creatures are what will keep this out of my deck.
On another note, I've read most of the thread but not all pages. One black enchantment that I love but haven't seen discussed is Black Market. What are your thoughts for this deck? Too expensive? No need for the huge mana it can create? Paints too large a target on you? The pro is you can easily put in an Exsanguinate or Debt to the Deathless as an alt wincon and fuel it through Black Market.
what is the most up to date list? primer talks about cards no longer in the list and the update log seem's to be vague and not represent the actual list.
what is the most up to date list? primer talks about cards no longer in the list and the update log seem's to be vague and not represent the actual list.
the deck list is under section 4. primer includes extra cards that can used if you dont want an exact copy. more creative breathing room
Considering building an iteration of this deck, but I'm a combo player at heart. Are there any infinite combos you could easily fit into this shell? I can see something like Mikeaus + Pentavus + Phyrexian Altar (for infinite mana and infinite tokens) or similar effect.
Have you tried Bitter Ordeal? The card sees a lot of play in Sharuum Combo where it can exile entire opponents' libraries, but here I was thinking just Bitter Ordealing for 20 or so and then removing the most potent threats.
do you still run Obzedat's Aid over Marty's Bond? or you scratched it and put it back in your personal list?
i am not running obzedats aid ATM. i usually find yawg will is really all that is needed. ive run into fewer artifact/enchantment hate recently which is weird considering all the gods running around. i guess people are targeting the gods over my own permanents
Considering building an iteration of this deck, but I'm a combo player at heart. Are there any infinite combos you could easily fit into this shell? I can see something like Mikeaus + Pentavus + Phyrexian Altar (for infinite mana and infinite tokens) or similar effect.
Have you tried Bitter Ordeal? The card sees a lot of play in Sharuum Combo where it can exile entire opponents' libraries, but here I was thinking just Bitter Ordealing for 20 or so and then removing the most potent threats.
for BO the deck doesn't really need anymore silver bullet's or alt win cons. its got the karmic guide/rev combo and a couple others. you can easily turn it into a dedicated combo deck if you wish. she has plenty of combos unique to Teysa. also check out the combo/synergy section and Schminstergarm's post ^ \/
For a more combotastic version you just have to put in Darkest Hour. It's my favorite way to end the game, when there's this small window of opportunity in a grindfest against stronger decks, which are going to "out-grind" you.
You need Teysa, sac outlet, a creature and darkest hour:
- if Ashnod's Altar is your sac outlet you get infinite colorless mana and infinte etb and dies-triggers
- if Phyrexian Altar is you outlet you get infinte colored mana
- add skullclamp: draw your deck
- blasting station as sac outlet: infinite damage
- add nim deathmantle to the infinte mana loops: infinite etb-effects
- etc.
What do you think about Tombstone Stairwell? I've had it in the deck since forever. It is cumulative upkeep, but at the start of every upkeep, you get tokens equal to the number of creatures in your graveyard if Teysa is out. Monstrous.
its a pretty good card for slower decks and whatnot. i try not to load up on enchantments and it never seems to work for me. the list is so tight though. if i feel the need for more token sources this would be one to look into
Hallowed Spiritkeeper is amazingly powerful. In the last game I went "infinite" with the Spiritkeeper, Phyrexian Altar, Phyrexian Reclamation and 9 or 10 creatures in the yard and Teysa and Mentor of the Meek in play. I was at 45 lifepoints, everyone was tapped out, fun times.
It also fuels Teysas removal abillity, which saved me multiple times from things like Ashen Rider and other dangerous etb-value-beaters backed up by blink-engines (Venser, the Sojourner/Conjurer's Closet).
upon second look if i ever get a spirit keeper i am going to play test it. you make some interesting points here
Has anyone ever tried Skeletal Vampire for this deck? Sure he is a late game card, but he and Teysa make for an awesome team once they get going. So far I haven't regreted putting him in. Also, BATS!
Diabolic Intent is a second card doing good work for me. It is more or less a second Demonic Tutor that most of the time nets me a spirit token.
Has anyone ever tried Skeletal Vampire for this deck? Sure he is a late game card, but he and Teysa make for an awesome team once they get going. So far I haven't regreted putting him in. Also, BATS!
Diabolic Intent is a second card doing good work for me. It is more or less a second Demonic Tutor that most of the time nets me a spirit token.
I have tried the skeletal vampire. idk it never seems to work out for me. it eats all the mana for my turn and just isnt very powerufl without ashnod's altar or if your topdecking and have no other use for mana. idk maybe hes a changed card and i should give him another chance as i love the card itself but idk. too....painful...to think about.
Diabolic Inent is a great no doubt. I would suggest running it if you have room. i however dont like to load up with tutors so the few i have is good with me and i only have one in another deck.
for me personally, this kind of competitive comboing off is what i'd like to learn more about. i regularly play against a marath and sisay that are absolute 100% decks (the sisay deck is like 5 grand, fully foiled), and i don't have any time to get set up and triggering as teysa. it's usually me plus the weaker player in that particular game going archenemy against the third. if at all possible, would you mind going into a bit more depth about your ins and outs for this style of teysa?
for me personally, this kind of competitive comboing off is what i'd like to learn more about. i regularly play against a marath and sisay that are absolute 100% decks (the sisay deck is like 5 grand, fully foiled), and i don't have any time to get set up and triggering as teysa. it's usually me plus the weaker player in that particular game going archenemy against the third. if at all possible, would you mind going into a bit more depth about your ins and outs for this style of teysa?
Aside from running all the cheap tutors you want to run as much fast mana as you can, preferably with a CMC less than 3. So like Sol Ring, Mana Crypt, Charcoal Diamond et al
Marath is tough to beat since he can just ping most of our creatures off the board. You'll find that Teysa is a tad slower than other combo decks so you really have to pick your moment carefully. I recommend running enough disruption to be able to disrupt someone else's combo and then jam your combo immediately after.
As for the combos themselves, you don't need Teysa to combo off most of the time as there are other effects that fill a similar role. Each set of combos has a key card they revolve around and most of the other pieces are interchangeable
Reveillark + Karmic Guide is probably the strongest and most resilient combo since it works from the GY, this also doesn't require you to generate any mana during the sac loops so you can just use a regular sac engine. Importantly you can also use Teysa, Orzhov Scion in this combo with her ability. You must choose targets before paying costs, so you can target the Reveillark with Teysa's ability, sac Teysa, Reveillark and Karmic Guide to the ability, goes on the stack, Reveillark is gone so it fizzles then bring back Teysa and Karmic Guide with Reveillarks ability and then bring back Reveillark with Karmic Guide, rinse repeat.
Once you get one of these infinite death loops going you need a finisher. The one of choice here is usually Blood Artist since it can get picked up by Reveillark if it goes into the GY. Other good finishers include Altar of Dementia Blasting Station as sac engines that finish Bitter Ordeal
I truly hope that that works out for you, BB is the only card I can't afford.
Private Mod Note
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My modern Decks: GBRJundGBR URWJeskai NahiriURW My Legacy Deck: URBGrixis DelverURB My EDH Decks: GJarad, Golgari Lich LordB GRhys, The RedeemedW RWArchangel AvacynRW UWDragonlord OjutaiUW
I have been looking through this primer for some ideas for my own Teysa deck. However I want to focus even more on a stax version of the deck. I have copied my proposed decklist below as well as some other cards I am considering. Please let me know what you think, and if you think anything should be added or removed. I am also trying to figure out exactly what my win condition would be other than the tokens. I believe I have enough cards to pull off some infinite mana combos, so I was thinking of adding in something like Exsanguinate. Or is there something else I should do?
I am still on the fence about Humility as I think it might harm my game plan as much as my opponents. I am also thinking of adding in Mind Slash to deal with more combo oriented decks.
I think I'm going to try out conspiracy in my list. Works with endrek sahr, xathrid necromancer, rotlung, and Requiem angel. Doesn't combo with teysa so it's not quite as broken as darkest hour. Could be fun.
Has anyone updated this deck with the new FRF and Commander 2014 lists? Here Is what I have been thinking card wise from the new sets:
CMDR 2014:
Hallowed Spiritkeeper - YES! I've played with this guy and he is an amazing sac and reanimate target. Its too bad its printed with 3 power otherwise it would be broken with Revillark Containment Priest - I think its worth a shot, especially if your meta plays reanimator. It has potential to screw us over as well, but we can always sack it when we want to go off and bring reanimate it later. Flesh Carver - Creatures that die and leave a creature on the field are pretty good. This guy is also a sac outlet and an evasive beater? I think he replaces Rotlung Reanimator pretty easily. Arcane Lighthouse - Good utility land and I think deserves a spot in any deck Myriad Landscape - I'm not going to say no to a land that ramps and fixes
Thats all for the commander. I think Gissa is too expensive and the offering cards are a little lackluster for us
Fate Reforged:
Palace Siege - 5 mana is expensive, but getting a creature back from the yard is a damn strong effect for us. I'm on the fence about this one. Merciless Executioner - Fleshbag Marauder is good, two of them could be good. Orc Sureshot - I think this warrants some testing. With the ammount of tokens we make this could easily just snipe creatures off the board. its too bad they only last till end of turn. Qarsi High Priest - Sac's a creature and makes a new 2/2. I'm really not sure how good he is, but I loved playing him in a draft. Archfiend of Depravity - This guy keeps other people from having outrageous board states. Might be too high a casting cost though. Crux of Fate - Don't run many wraths personally but if I did I would consider this one a decent pick after Damnation and Wrath of God Harsh Sustenance - I could see this card getting out of hand pretty damn quickly with how many tokens we can make. Sandsteppe Outcast - This guy is ok, 2 white creatures for 1 spell is pretty decent imo. Valorous Stance - Protects Teysa and Kills big baddies, I like it. Mastery of the Unseen - Not sure how good manifest is in here since the creatures will be colorless, but it makes 2/2's and if you can flip them you will gain a ton of life.
Thats all i got for now let me know what you guys think, and what have you added to your decks recently?
As for Elesh Norn, I seem to play this more like a stax deck than midrange. I usually stick grave pact or Martyrs Bond early and just keep everyone locked out creature wise. That or you can sac/exile in response to it etb and take care of it that way. This deck pretty much laughs at creature decks, I honestly feel like I'm the table judge sometimes. Someone wants to ramp, into a turn 3 Eldrazi, everyone else is freaking out, and I'm just like... Exile it?
That and trolling U/control mages is fun.
I kinda like the new ob card, 5/5 demon token is lrgi
The only auto include I saw from it is Hallowed Spiritkeeper which looks pretty crazy. Pity it has 3 instead of 2 power but it still is an easy card to include.
The other one which caught my eye was Fell the Mighty which given my entire deck doesn't have creatures with more than 2 power (except for the new guy above) might be a decent wrath, but 5 is a lot for just a creature wrath.
WB Teysa, Orzhov Scion 1v1 French
UB Dralnu, Lich Lord
R Jaya Ballard, Task Mage
Thats Awesome! the deck at its prime. its beautiful.
nothing really immediately jumped out but i have concerns for containment priest. that thing is ridic. if ti can be protected it shuts down a lot of this deck. seems like way too much power for a 2 cost creature.
yeah i dont think more conditional wraths are necessary but he spiritkeeper on the other hand is probably something worth trying out. looks to have good synergy with Faith's reward and such.
After reading through this, maybe Teysa makes more sense for my general. I'll certainly pick up a copy and run her either as commander or an alternate commander.
Great to see an active primer with so much discussion.
Standard: lol no
Modern: BG/x, UR/x, Burn, Merfolk, Zoo, Storm
Legacy: Shardless BUG, Delver (BUG, RUG, Grixis), Landstill, Depths Combo, Merfolk
Vintage: Dark Times, BUG Fish, Merfolk
EDH: Teysa, Orzhov Scion / Krenko, Mob Boss / Stonebrow, Krosan Hero
Standard: lol no
Modern: BG/x, UR/x, Burn, Merfolk, Zoo, Storm
Legacy: Shardless BUG, Delver (BUG, RUG, Grixis), Landstill, Depths Combo, Merfolk
Vintage: Dark Times, BUG Fish, Merfolk
EDH: Teysa, Orzhov Scion / Krenko, Mob Boss / Stonebrow, Krosan Hero
welcome my friend!
oh my how embarrassing lol. ill fix that right away of course BM>PM
Wake the Dead is almost there, but I don't think we're looking for combat tricks.
Flesh Carver looks promising. It's, like, exactly what we're looking for, right? Sac outlet that doesn't need to tap, 3cmc, 2 power, black creature, leaves black tokens. Jackpot?
Ghoulcaller Gisa actually looks a little worse than Flesh Carver. Has to tap, and the X is going to typically be small for us.
Overseer of the Damned is big and bomby, so not quite what this deck is looking to do. However, for a Teysa deck going a little larger it could be good. Both triggered abilities are good, and the second is easily achieved with our multiple Grave Pact effects (plus Overseer's ETB trigger, guaranteeing at least 1 token).
Commander's Sphere looks like one of better 3-drop rocks we can have. No cost other than sac for the draw and etb untapped for both our colors.
Spoils of Blood is interesting, and we can make a large token. It's black, which is good. But it's a one-time effect. Not TOO exciting.
Infernal Offering seems like it might be too swingy. I'd hate to have to choose a big dumb green creature deck as the opponent.
Necromantic Selection would be a perfect sweeper save for the CMC. May still be good. Key is that it's a black creature in addition to other color(s) which is helpful if you cast Teysa after.
Arcane Lighthouse looks like a great colorless nonbasic. Finally a good way to deal with Sigarda, Host of Herons
Hallowed Spiritkeeper is almost there, I think, but doesn't make the cut. Drawbacks - neither him nor his tokens are black, and while we can have a large number of critters in the yard we don't always.
Masterwork of Ingenuity is pretty awesome. Too bad we only run 2 equipment and it will stink to draw it and not find either Skullclamp or Nim. But great if we already have it. Win-more, probably.
Benevolent Offering. I don't like giving my opponent 3 creatures while I'm playing a smokestack deck. But 3 white tokens matches fairly well with Teysa's first ability.
Angelic Field Marshal giving our army vigilance is good with Meekstone, but otherwise not great. And conditional.
Fell the Mighty seems like the second coming of Retribution of the Meek. Not too shabby. But not sure how many of these effects to run. Probably an upgrade to retribution except retribution is cmc 3, fell is cmc 5. That's a huge difference.
Deploy to the Front I love soldiers and this can make a LOT of them. But it's SOO expensive and they're white tokens. Really sweet with Teysa's first ability, though.
Nomads' Assembly the rebound almost makes it worth it but the upfront cost and white creatures are what will keep this out of my deck.
On another note, I've read most of the thread but not all pages. One black enchantment that I love but haven't seen discussed is Black Market. What are your thoughts for this deck? Too expensive? No need for the huge mana it can create? Paints too large a target on you? The pro is you can easily put in an Exsanguinate or Debt to the Deathless as an alt wincon and fuel it through Black Market.
Standard: lol no
Modern: BG/x, UR/x, Burn, Merfolk, Zoo, Storm
Legacy: Shardless BUG, Delver (BUG, RUG, Grixis), Landstill, Depths Combo, Merfolk
Vintage: Dark Times, BUG Fish, Merfolk
EDH: Teysa, Orzhov Scion / Krenko, Mob Boss / Stonebrow, Krosan Hero
what is the most up to date list? primer talks about cards no longer in the list and the update log seem's to be vague and not represent the actual list.
the deck list is under section 4. primer includes extra cards that can used if you dont want an exact copy. more creative breathing room
Have you tried Bitter Ordeal? The card sees a lot of play in Sharuum Combo where it can exile entire opponents' libraries, but here I was thinking just Bitter Ordealing for 20 or so and then removing the most potent threats.
Jarad Graveyard Combo[Primer]!
Sidisi ANT!
Playing Commander to Win - A guide on Competitive, 4-player EDH
LandDestruction.com - An EDH blog
i am not running obzedats aid ATM. i usually find yawg will is really all that is needed. ive run into fewer artifact/enchantment hate recently which is weird considering all the gods running around. i guess people are targeting the gods over my own permanents
for BO the deck doesn't really need anymore silver bullet's or alt win cons. its got the karmic guide/rev combo and a couple others. you can easily turn it into a dedicated combo deck if you wish. she has plenty of combos unique to Teysa. also check out the combo/synergy section and Schminstergarm's post ^ \/
its a pretty good card for slower decks and whatnot. i try not to load up on enchantments and it never seems to work for me. the list is so tight though. if i feel the need for more token sources this would be one to look into
upon second look if i ever get a spirit keeper i am going to play test it. you make some interesting points here
Diabolic Intent is a second card doing good work for me. It is more or less a second Demonic Tutor that most of the time nets me a spirit token.
I have tried the skeletal vampire. idk it never seems to work out for me. it eats all the mana for my turn and just isnt very powerufl without ashnod's altar or if your topdecking and have no other use for mana. idk maybe hes a changed card and i should give him another chance as i love the card itself but idk. too....painful...to think about.
Diabolic Inent is a great no doubt. I would suggest running it if you have room. i however dont like to load up with tutors so the few i have is good with me and i only have one in another deck.
Jarad Graveyard Combo[Primer]!
Sidisi ANT!
Playing Commander to Win - A guide on Competitive, 4-player EDH
LandDestruction.com - An EDH blog
quite an easy switch actaully. youll need the following
- More Tutors - Demonic Tutor, Idyllic tutor, enlightened tutor, vampiric tutor. diabolic intent, steelshaper's gift maybe diabolic tutor, Academy Rector,Entomb, Transmutes
- THIS IS A BIG ONE - add Darkest Hour, black Mikeus and Living Death
- more things that abuse the already ridic Nim Deathmantle/Ashnod's Altar combo. e.g. Grave Titan, Wurmcoil Engine , Su-Chi
- and to protect your combo - Things like Orim's chant, Trading post, Yawgmoth's will etc
for me personally, this kind of competitive comboing off is what i'd like to learn more about. i regularly play against a marath and sisay that are absolute 100% decks (the sisay deck is like 5 grand, fully foiled), and i don't have any time to get set up and triggering as teysa. it's usually me plus the weaker player in that particular game going archenemy against the third. if at all possible, would you mind going into a bit more depth about your ins and outs for this style of teysa?
Aside from running all the cheap tutors you want to run as much fast mana as you can, preferably with a CMC less than 3. So like Sol Ring, Mana Crypt, Charcoal Diamond et al
Marath is tough to beat since he can just ping most of our creatures off the board. You'll find that Teysa is a tad slower than other combo decks so you really have to pick your moment carefully. I recommend running enough disruption to be able to disrupt someone else's combo and then jam your combo immediately after.
As for the combos themselves, you don't need Teysa to combo off most of the time as there are other effects that fill a similar role. Each set of combos has a key card they revolve around and most of the other pieces are interchangeable
Darkest Hour + Teysa, Orzhov Scion is the simpler one
Phyrexian Altar is the essential combo piece for the other related combos
Phyrexian Altar + Reassembling Skeleton/Nether Traitor/Tenacious Dead + Teysa, Orzhov Scion/Field of Souls/Ogre Slumlord/Pawn of Ulamog
Carnival of Souls lets you use a regular sac engine without the need for the mana from Phyrexian Altar but you need a life engine like Soul Warden or Suture Priest to not die, Blood Artist also does it with the added bonus of letting you just win
Ashnod's Altar goes with Nim Deathmantle + anything that makes a token like Marsh Flitter. This also works if you have one of the Teysa, Orzhov Scion/Field of Souls/Ogre Slumlord/Pawn of Ulamog effects out
Reveillark + Karmic Guide is probably the strongest and most resilient combo since it works from the GY, this also doesn't require you to generate any mana during the sac loops so you can just use a regular sac engine. Importantly you can also use Teysa, Orzhov Scion in this combo with her ability. You must choose targets before paying costs, so you can target the Reveillark with Teysa's ability, sac Teysa, Reveillark and Karmic Guide to the ability, goes on the stack, Reveillark is gone so it fizzles then bring back Teysa and Karmic Guide with Reveillarks ability and then bring back Reveillark with Karmic Guide, rinse repeat.
Entomb I think is the strongest tutor, it lets you pick up Reassembling Skeleton/Nether Traitor if you are going for Phyrexian Altar or Karmic Guide/Reveillark[card]
[/card]
Once you get one of these infinite death loops going you need a finisher. The one of choice here is usually Blood Artist since it can get picked up by Reveillark if it goes into the GY. Other good finishers include
Altar of Dementia
Blasting Station as sac engines that finish
Bitter Ordeal
WB Teysa, Orzhov Scion 1v1 French
UB Dralnu, Lich Lord
R Jaya Ballard, Task Mage
GBRJundGBR
URWJeskai NahiriURW
My Legacy Deck:
URBGrixis DelverURB
My EDH Decks:
GJarad, Golgari Lich LordB
GRhys, The RedeemedW
RWArchangel AvacynRW
UWDragonlord OjutaiUW
I have been looking through this primer for some ideas for my own Teysa deck. However I want to focus even more on a stax version of the deck. I have copied my proposed decklist below as well as some other cards I am considering. Please let me know what you think, and if you think anything should be added or removed. I am also trying to figure out exactly what my win condition would be other than the tokens. I believe I have enough cards to pull off some infinite mana combos, so I was thinking of adding in something like Exsanguinate. Or is there something else I should do?
Thanks!
6 Swamps
1 Flagstones of Trokair
1 Trading Post
1 Isolated Chapel
1 Command Tower
1 Temple of the False God
1 High Market
1 Thespian Sage
1 Windswept Heath
1 Fetid Heath
1 Godless Shrine
1 Orzhov Basilica
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Marsh Flats
1 Scrubland
1 Strip Mine
1 Mistviel Plains
1 Secluded Steppe
1 Barren Moor
1 Kor Haven
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Dust Bowl
1 Rishadan Port
1 Vault of the Archangel
1 Springjack Pasture
1 Maze of Ith
1 Static Orb
1 Winter Orb
1 Smokestack
1 Aura of silence
1 Tanglewire
1 Crackdown
1 Kismet
1 Ghostly Prision
1 Sphere of Safety
1 Martyrs Bond
1 The Abyss
1 Grave Pact
1 Forcefield
1 Meekstone
1 Catastrophy
1 Merciless Eviction
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Land Tax
1 Tith
1 Gift of Estates
1 Sol Ring
1 Orzhov Signet
1 Orzhov Keyrune
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Worn Powerstone
1 Asnhods Alter
1 Phyrexian Alter
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Dark Prophecy
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Skull Clamp
1 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Scroll Rack
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Diabolic Intent
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Luminarch Ascension
1 Mobilization
1 Bitter Blossom
Planes walkers: 4
1 Elspeth Knight Errant
1 Elspeth Suns Champion
1 Sorin Lord of Innistrad
1 Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath
1 Weathered Wayfarer
1 Braids Cabal Minion
1 Thalia Guardian of Thresten
1 World Queller
1 Hokori Dust Drinker
1 Loxodon Gatekeeper
1 Graveborn Muse
1 Sun Titan
1 Containment Priest
1 Elsh Norn Grand Cenobite
1 Academy Rector
1 Mentor of the Meek
1 Bloodghast
1 Nether Traiter
1 Condemn
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Obalation
1 Vindicate
1 Return to Dust
1 Darkest Hour
I am still on the fence about Humility as I think it might harm my game plan as much as my opponents. I am also thinking of adding in Mind Slash to deal with more combo oriented decks.
Cards under consideration:
CMDR 2014:
Hallowed Spiritkeeper - YES! I've played with this guy and he is an amazing sac and reanimate target. Its too bad its printed with 3 power otherwise it would be broken with Revillark
Containment Priest - I think its worth a shot, especially if your meta plays reanimator. It has potential to screw us over as well, but we can always sack it when we want to go off and bring reanimate it later.
Flesh Carver - Creatures that die and leave a creature on the field are pretty good. This guy is also a sac outlet and an evasive beater? I think he replaces Rotlung Reanimator pretty easily.
Arcane Lighthouse - Good utility land and I think deserves a spot in any deck
Myriad Landscape - I'm not going to say no to a land that ramps and fixes
Thats all for the commander. I think Gissa is too expensive and the offering cards are a little lackluster for us
Fate Reforged:
Palace Siege - 5 mana is expensive, but getting a creature back from the yard is a damn strong effect for us. I'm on the fence about this one.
Merciless Executioner - Fleshbag Marauder is good, two of them could be good.
Orc Sureshot - I think this warrants some testing. With the ammount of tokens we make this could easily just snipe creatures off the board. its too bad they only last till end of turn.
Qarsi High Priest - Sac's a creature and makes a new 2/2. I'm really not sure how good he is, but I loved playing him in a draft.
Archfiend of Depravity - This guy keeps other people from having outrageous board states. Might be too high a casting cost though.
Crux of Fate - Don't run many wraths personally but if I did I would consider this one a decent pick after Damnation and Wrath of God
Harsh Sustenance - I could see this card getting out of hand pretty damn quickly with how many tokens we can make.
Sandsteppe Outcast - This guy is ok, 2 white creatures for 1 spell is pretty decent imo.
Valorous Stance - Protects Teysa and Kills big baddies, I like it.
Mastery of the Unseen - Not sure how good manifest is in here since the creatures will be colorless, but it makes 2/2's and if you can flip them you will gain a ton of life.
Thats all i got for now let me know what you guys think, and what have you added to your decks recently?