Deck History. Why Voltron?
There have been a few threads started on this combination of partner commanders, and its no coincidence because both come from the Commander 2016 Breed Lethality deck, with Atraxa, Praetors' Voice normally at the helm. Both of them literally have the words +1/+1 in the card text, and obviously have a synergy.
The Breed Lethality pre-contructed deck is heavily focused +1/+1 counters themed, across a range of different cards. This primer is not an "upgraded" or variation version of that deck. It is basically taking two of the contained commanders and using their powerful abilities to construct a competitive build.
It must be noted that a lot of people playing Atraxa, Praetors' Voice as a commander have become popular for planeswalker (superfriends) and stax decks.
This primer is not much like the Breed Lethality theme, where focus is on building up massive amounts of counters within the 98 cards and going wide/big with lots of creatures. It remains focused on the commanders, with support creatures being mana efficient and having great utility. There is a heavy amount of control with the deck, to protect our creatures and stop any game winning spells by opponents.
I've play tested various builds with these two commanders. I know their strengths and also their weaknesses. So anybody looking to partner these guys up can use this as a potential guide or platform for building their own version of these two. I've gone through about five main iterations with this deck archetype. Learning from what worked and what didn't.
When looking at these two commanders, especially Reyhan, last of the Abzan, our intuition is we want to stack up as many +1/+1 effects as possible. We imagine our game is moving counters around and getting incredible value. My first build was always going to be the dream big version. Basically upgrading the Breed Lethality, packing in all the +1/+1 effects with Reyhan being the central focus of getting value and huge creatures. If you check out @Blueteam5 build here, it was the frame work for my first build.
The reality check is that no matter how amazing your board setup is, a board wipe leaves you stalled, back to square one. That deck archetype in particular is hard to build up again as it's all about incremental +1/+1. Some decks are able to get right back in it with a Living Death for example, but in this deck archetype getting the creatures onto the battlefield and building them up are two separate things.
However, the surprise of the deck is just how much Ishai, Ojutai Dragonspeaker or Reyhan, last of the Abzan become voltron commanders for fast wins. Too be honest, when I was first tackling these commanders, I thought that Ishai would just provide some "good" value via Reyhan. My intention was never to kill players with lethal commander damage, I just assumed she would provide additional +1/+1 counters for the general engine of the deck. What I've found is that an undisrupted and/or protected, Ishai becomes the biggest creature on the table by a lot, fast and early and threatens to kill players in two or even one turn.
In a two or three turn sequence she is often the greatest creature to fly the skies. She can battle with the likes of Emrakul and shake out her feathers for another day.
Ishai, Ojutai Dragonspeaker doesn't seem like an obvious choice for a competitive voltron style deck. She doesn't have in built protection like other popular builds like: Sigarda, Host of Herons or Uril, The Miststalker. However she does have some evasiveness in flying. The reason why she is so good is that you literally don't need to put in any specialized cards to make her big. Opponents do that for you. If you can imagine you replace what normal voltron decks have as "buff" cards, and play with protection and disruption cards instead. This is the other reason why she is so good is that you can play blue for the best disruption in the game..counterspells. This is the "Countermeasures" part of the deck, and there is a lot of it. Most voltron commanders are not in blue.
Obviously you get games where people have an early answer, and that early game line of just killing people before they get setup doesn't always work out. So the deck does have other lines of winning and allows you time to setup the protection side of the board, before giving it another go.
Over the five iterations of builds, to give it more of a competitive edge, I progressively removed the +1/+1 centric cards, to more controlling elements, like counterspells, removal and protection.
Finally it's four-color control deck, with aggressive commanders to finish the games quickly. It gives very little breathing room for opponents to setup. In many ways this is like legacy's Sultai or Esper Delver decks but for the commander format. Get a flying creature that applies pressure, then the rest of the deck is focused on cheap disruption.
Well we asked for it, four-color commanders, and we got it. Rather than just giving us generals that had four-colors in the card, they also introduced the concept of two commanders.
I've already done a post on some of the additional benefits of partners if you want to check it out here.
But this is an interesting way of getting people into four-color strategies, without forcing all the color requirements to get their commanders into play. There are legendary cards like General Tazri, that have the mana symbols in the card text, to allow for casting without much color requirements, but these partners have the special advantage that they are cheaper to cast and provide two cards.
This deck might be for you if...
You want to try out two commanders as a new concept.
You like to apply early pressure with control backup.
You like playing creatures and you like being able to stop mass creature removal.
Playing four colors to give you benefits of each colors strengths. Black tutoring, blue counterspells, green mana fixing and white disruption.
You like the idea that your opponents have a virtual starting life total of 21.
This deck might not be for you if...
You don't like going all in with tapping creatures sideways for wins.
Like combos or really degenerate turns.
If your threats are answered, having "fair" turns setting back up again.
Relatively linear approach to game plan and winning.
Don't like relying on your commanders.
Very money expensive mana base.
One of the major advantages of this deck archetype is that you can take out the most problematic opponents quickly. You can potentially take out a Narset or Stax deck before they can really setup. The other opponents are happy to play out spells and not remove her when you are targeting what the other players consider to be the most problematic mid-late game deck at the table. Combo decks have a real struggle as you can kill them before they really get to setup and normally they don't have much disruption as their shell is more contained in what they want to do (gold-fish-bowl), and not stopping you.
Alternate commander options: Rafiq of the Many - bant colored commander, allows you to play blue for disruption with a hard hitting general
Playing other partners next to Ishai. At this stage I have not explored alternative partners to Reyhan, as the synergy between these two is outstanding. But there are alternatives, especially if you are looking to make a budgeted version for more affordable mana base.
A brief grouping of key cards. I'm not going explain why a Sol Ring is good in the deck, I'll not treat you like an idiot
Signature cards
Counters-matter
This deck does not focus too many cards on +1/+1 counters, outside of our generals, but we have some incredibly mana efficient cards to benefit from counters. Hardened Scales will make Ishai big fast. Retribution of the Ancients is an amazing card in this deck, removing threats and/or locking opponents out of playing creatures into it. Sage of Fables is actually a key card in the deck. Her ability to draw cards for value, plus the fact that she gives Wizards additional counters means that you can keep using Glen Elendra Archmage indefinitely.
Protection
At the heart of this deck is a protection suite that makes spot-removal extremely hard to remove our commanders. Selfless Spirit is a nice addition to respond to a Supreme Verdict, which will get past our countering.
Evasion
Most times Ishai is the biggest thing in the skies, eating Dragons for breakfast, so her ability to apply pressure, even in the face of flying blockers, still makes her great. But these cards are key to insuring the fatal blows when opponents are able to put up flying blockers.
Counterspells
The corner-stone for being such a successful deck over other voltron builds. Stopping key disruption, like mass board removal, or in a pinch to stop spot-removal. Hard for opponents decks to out-right win, with being able to stop their key cards as well.
Disruption
Some nice mana efficient disruption from a range of colors, means that you can potentially not get locked out by any particular color hoser.
Mana fixing
The deck does not aim to go over-the-top with mana ramping, as it plays a fair game by playing out a threat, then protecting it. Often we are playing one card for our turn, then holding up mana for disruption.
Sacrifice outlets
These enable you to sacrifice in response to either removal or attacking or blocking to give the ability to make ANY creature on the board huge. You can sacrifice Ishai or Reyhan at any time to shift the +1/+1 to a creature. Greater Good being the best of the sacrifice outlets. Quite often Ishai is sitting on plus ten counters, so you can sacrifice her, move the counters to another creature, draw ten plus cards, then recast Ishai. Once again you can sacrifice the creature with the counters to move the +1/+1 counters, probably back to put Ishai to get her up to lethal commander damage without having to wait for her to build up again.
Searching library
Using an array of the best searching library cards from colors, makes a four-color deck very powerful when centered around creatures.
Game finishers
Both these cards can virtually finish a game the turn they are cast, Cataclysm being the best.
The deck grouped by converted mana cost
One of the key aspects of the deck is the relatively low casting cost of the deck. It peaks out at 5 mana and the bulk remains within average cmc of 2.37. The reason to keep the curve relatively low, is that we are looking to only play out one or two cards for board presence per-turn, while holding up mana for disruption, especially counterspells. It helps us remain competitive in the face of Stax as well.
The deck grouped by color
A fairly even spread between blue, green and white, with black being the least splashed. The mana base is especially focused around blue mana, as this is the most important to keep multiple sources up for counterspells.
Reyhan, last of the Abzan + Blade of Selves = In a 4 player game, will garner you 18 +1/+1 counters each attack. 3 (+1/+1) x 2 (dead Reyhan) x 3 (number of Reyhans seeing triggers)=18. If you target herself she will be attacking for 21 commander damage first time.
Turn 2 play Blade of Selves, turn 3 play Reyhan, turn 4 equip Reyhan and attack for 21 damage. Sometimes you catch opponents without an early blocker. It happens.
One interesting twist to the voltron mechanic is that both Ishai and Reyhan can provide lethal commander damage (although they are treated as their own separate identities for commander damage if you're wondering). If you have a sacrifice outlet you can attack with both creatures and if you have enough +1/+1 counters on the board that either of them represents lethal damage, you can sacrifice the one that is blocked to move the counters for the killing blow. You can also spread out the damage so that Ishai and Reyhan attack separate players, building up commander damage for different players in the same turn. Certainly a new aspect to the game.
The deck can also go wide and have big non-commander creatures, so its not just stuck with being commander damage only win-cons. If you are allowed to just keep playing out creatures then you will get overwhelming board states.
Reusable cards in the deck for killing creatures are: Retribution of the Ancients and Attrition. A common line, is to sacrifice Reyhan to Attrition to remove a big threat, move the counters to Ishai, then recast Reyhan. Ishai gets +3/+3 and you've removed something that's threatening to take over the game. Also there are a few cheap creatures that can be sacrificed to Attrition in a pinch like Sunscape Familiar, Birds of Paradise, Deathrite Shaman, Noble Hierarch, Eternal Witness, Stoneforge Mystic.
Glen Elendra Archmage is a central focus for controlling the game. Quite often an early choice for the creature tutors in the deck. She combos with Reyhan, in that you can distribute +1/+1 counters to nullify her -1/-1 counter. Meaning that you can keep her around indefinitely given correct setups. Gavony Township and Sage of Fables are other ways to remove the -1/-1 persist counter.
Seedborn Muse and Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir are one of my favorite ways to get pseudo extra turns. With greens ability to tutor up creatures, Fauna Shaman or Survival of the Fittest enables you to set this up early.
Cataclysm and Tragic Arrogance are amazing cards in this voltron style approach. You can put all the counters onto one of your creatures. Realistically killing one opponent and giving the others just a few turns to answer your threat. These are a real advantage over other voltron deck types where usually extra cards are needed to give your commander the buffs. Having to select just one of each can mean that you lose some value. We have none of those problems with this build.
You have to be careful with Kira, Great Glass-Spinner, because its a bit of a nonbo when it comes to distributing +1/+1 counters. However use this card as more of a lock piece when you're already setup with a killing Ishai or Reyhan.
So it might seem that all the deck does is jam it's commanders and hope that you can stop anything untoward for the rest of the game. Well for the most part this is true, but there are some subtleties that can be done through the course of games and sequencing.
Early game:
The deck has a nice low curve and we have 19 cards that we can cast on the first turn. That give us a 83.42%% chance of have a first turn play. We also have 19 cards with cmc of 2, so that give us a 86.92% chance of having a turn 2 play (actually its higher than this, because a lot of the first turn plays are mana accelerants). Of course with Reyhan and Ishai we have a guaranteed 3rd and 4th turn plays. So this deck is almost always going to curve out.
To jam Ishai or not jam Ishai, that is the question?
I've found the best thing to do is just to play her out as early as your mana allows you and force your opponents to have an answer. Its interesting that because she doesn't start off big, people are less likely to counterspell or remove her early. This is a mistake, as it give you time to untap with mana up for protection.
If she is removed early, then by the time you are looking to play her out again, its likely that you have drawn one of your protection cards.
Either your opponents are not casting spells, which means you have tempo to setup on your side, or they are playing out cards and it just takes a few turns before Ishai is large enough to be threatening lethal damage.
Opponents spot removal soon becomes bad for them in this matchup as we do have a lot of ways to protect our commanders.
Mid game:
Quite often you are already threatening to kill one player or have already removed a player. Most of the time I focus on the powerful spell decks, getting them before they can setup. This really is one of the best things about the deck is that you have legitimate ways to kill combo players, without needing to get lucky drawing from your 98.
If we have had the unfortunate experience of our commanders being removed, then by this stage we should have an on-board protection card(s) like Mother of Runes, Spellskite, Asceticism, etc
By this stage we should have a counterspell or two to stop the really bad stuff. This is probably the most important part of playing this deck, in that using your counterspells only for the most game-breaking effects.
Do not stop anything medium your opponents are doing. One thing that's tempting to do is to counter a spell which removes part of your board. Really weigh up the effects and be patient with potentially taking a loss, for the sake of more long term plans. For example if Ishai is targeted for spot-removal and you have Reyhan in play, you're often better off letting it resolve, as the counters can be distributed and you can recast Ishai. Save those counterspells for mass removal and game-winning combos by your opponents.
Also often an opponent will play out a card which is problematic. However weigh up the options, and rather than countering the spell instantly, you can focus your attention on killing that player, so that you remove the problem all together. I've often done this. For example a player might play out something like a Sheoldred the Whispering One and you might only have 3 creatures in play. Your first reaction is to counter it because its just going to eat up all your creatures over 3 turns. However, its likely that you can provide lethal damage to that player over 2 turns. So often its better to save the counterspell for later, taking the losses of some of your creatures, only to remove that player before it gets your Ishai.
Sacrificing a large Ishai to a Greater Good mid game, often means that you can draw so many cards that you will have the complete suite of cards to remove or counterspell anything game-breaking. Do this with Reyhan in play so the counters remain in play. The fast artifact mana and mana creatures will allow you to play out Ishai again, and have mana up for disruption.
Late game:
By this stage most opponents have probably taken enough commander damage that even a medium hit by Ishai will probably do the trick. But going late game is not optimal, you want to have stopped any big setups and engines at this stage, otherwise its possible to just get overwhelmed with things to counter between opponents.
Often if you've got to the late game and opponents are still alive, well at least one or two of them, then Ishai and Reyhan have probably been answered, and you are looking to cast them out probably with quite a high mana tax on them. You're probably really wanting to have existing on-board protection like Asceticism and/or Privileged Position, as you will realistically be tapping out, or very low to get them out under high mana cost.
There are nice late game engines with this deck, getting value from Retribution of the Ancients and Sage of Fables, that allow you to go over-the-top with card draw and creature removal. Essentially locking your opponents out of the game.
Cataclysm and Tragic Arrogance are nice ways to finish the game fairly quickly, if not basically on the spot.
For example there is a combo with Rite of Replication with kicker targeting Reyhan, which garners you 90 +1/+1 counters! However 90 counters is all fine and dandy, very fun, but the reality is that you just don't need that much, and you'll NEVER be tapping 9 mana for a spell.
I also left out some of the other creatures that grow bigger with opponents casting spells like: Managorger Hydra, Forgotten Ancient, Sunscorch Regent
I had these in previous builds, and they are nice counter generators, but actually casting them in conjunction with Ishai, is mana that I'd prefer to hold up for disruption and protection.
I've also removed some of the benefiting cards from +1/+1 counters, like Fathom Mage, Gyre Sage and Mindless Automation. These were hard cuts, but after testing I found that more often than not the +1/+1 are being protected well enough that shifting to creatures other than Ishai or Reyhan doesn't happen that often.
This is not a variation or upgrade of the Breed Lethality pre-contructed deck. This is primarily focused as lethal commander damage mixed in with the best counters and disruption for mana efficiency.
"Voltron" is usually synonymous with equipment and/or auras to buff up the creatures. This deck has the unusual angle that its not the content of the deck that provides the buffs so much, the commanders themselves do that.
One future thing I will add to this post is giving a guide on how people can build a separate deck from Breed Lethality using Reyhan and Ishai and on a medium budget. For people who want a second deck, but don't want to fork out a lot.
Commander 2016 has given us some characters that have been part of Magic storyline, but now also come to us as legendary creature cards, and even using the new mechanic of "partner" allowing for playing both of these as your commanders. I saw it as a unique opportunity to revisit theses characters, and what roles they played in the Magic Multiverse.
The events are for the most part from the Uncharted Realms series of stories that you can read and enjoy on the Wizards of the Coast website.
These two characters stories are specifically from the Tarkir block. Mainly the story lines from No End and No Beginning, Khanfall and The Great Teacher's Student.
If you have read the series then hopefully you’ll enjoy the following stories as it retells familiar tales, just with the twist that it is specifically through the perspective of Reyhan and Ishai.
If you haven’t read the series then hopefully you’ll enjoy this as well, as it stays true to the story. You will learn about much about Tarkirs fate being reforged.
Last of the Abzan
Daghatar the Adamant had been careful not have any of his great generals present during the first meeting with the great Dragonlord Dromoka. He knew they would struggle being in the presence of a dragon, but especially this dragon. After so many battles had been fought, with so many men and women died not only in the shadow of her brood, but also by her wrath alone.
That fateful day when Dromoka had given audience to the Abzan khan Daghatar. The khan had learned of Dromoka disdain for practices of honoring their dead, and in doing so, instead of committing to a final stand against the tyrants, he smashed their most sacred of artifacts, the Remembrance, to appease the dragon lord.
One of the house guards of the Sandsteppe Citadel reported that a band of Abzan soldiers had arrived, and that one of the visitors, Merel wanted court with the houses leaders. One of these leaders was Reyhan.
Reyhan was joint commander of three houses of Abzan. She was born into one of the great military families and she herself had a special flair for the ways of war. She was still young, but years ahead of most of the other generals when it came to tactics and success on the front against dragons.
Merel was the uncle of Daghatar, and it had been several weeks hence that Reyhan and he had not seen eye to eye. A meeting had been arranged between all the Abzan leaders. It was becoming a grueling war of attrition against the dragons, one that they were losing badly. The khan was looking for answers to sway the tide of defeat. Reyhan offered that they continue the battle with their oppressors, as the Abzan were stronger than was being given credit. Merel thought this was folly.
She was curious as to why he had made his way across the salt road so soon after the gathering?
As Merel gave audience, the blood drained from all their faces, as he told them of the deal Daghatar had struck with the dragons and the decree that all kin-trees were to be destroyed and that rituals to their ancestors prohibited. Reyhan stood aghast, wide-eyed and in shock. She could hardly believe what she was hearing.
It was only when she heard shouting that she snapped out of the astonishment she held by the betrayal by her khan. They were from her cousin Arisztid, firstborn of their family warriors, and warden of their kin-tree. Each Abzan family bears a kin-tree, a sacred fruit baring tree to which the dead members of the family are fed, and where their names are carved. The spirits of the ancestors can be summoned from these kin-trees, and the Abzan carry and consume the resin, sap or amber in order to connect with the spirits.
Being the warden of a kin-tree was the greatest honor among an Abzan families, and not a day would go by when Arisztid did not imagine himself fighting off potential raiders, but not once did he imagine it would be his own people.
The troupe of soldiers that accompanied Merel had entered the courtyard where her house kin-tree stood and tried to forcibly hack it to pieces.
By the time she made it to the courtyard, five soldiers lay on the ground. One of them was Arisztid. He had fought off almost a dozen, slaying four before he fell. A valiant effort, she would carve his name into the tree and he would be remembered as one of her family’s greats. The rest of the men had started hacking away at the trunk, before she cut them down as if they were no more than branches themselves. It had not been much of a fight. Even in the chaos she could see it in their eyes that they were lost. Men without cause, following orders without justification.
She knew what must be done, there was no time to hesitate. She set off like a sand storm across the dessert, rallying up as many of the houses that were outraged enough to disobey their leaders. They would not give up their connections to their ancestors and they would continue to oppose the dragons.
It had not been even half the numbers she expected. Logistics made things even harder. By the time she had reached a dozen fortresses, the rest were cut off by Daghatars orders. She reflected, or was it now Dromokas command? No longer did these warriors look to the skies for enemies. Now they were ordered to take down their own kin, bond and blood alike.
Her whole life had been focused on warfare between dragons and skirmishes with the outside clans. Battlefield tactics were her strengths, not stealth and subterfuge. But her agenda was to get the word to any of those whose hearts belonged to standing up to the dragon tyrants. Much of her time was spent organizing escape parties for the houses or even small bands of rebel soldiers who were disgusted at what was happening to their beloved way of life.
In some of the dessert fortresses there was all out civil war. Fighting went on for days, laying ruin within the walls until finally enough were laid dead so that one side was freed. But there was never a celebration at the end. Only regret.
She couldn’t fathom why any of them would forsake their right to their ancestors? But the years of war, the hopelessness of fighting the dragons had taken their toll. Finally some sort of end was in sight and their khan had done what very few would have even imagined was a path. Many of them would curse out loud the deed that had been done, but in their thoughts they thanked their leader, a severed line to their dead, but possible future for their living.
Daghatar had abdicated the title of khan, part of Dromoka demands that hence forth there was to be no clan Abzan and no khan to rule them. An Abzan khan of past was an appointment by all the houses of the Abzan. This was how it had always been. Of course not always did they agree upon a leader initially, but through election, eventually one would stand out. But this was a clan divided like no other time and the free Abzan needed a khan. This was a time for war not diplomacy and one commander stood out above the rest. None other in the entire clan could claim more success than Reyhan on the battlefield, and without much debate she was elected by the remaining Abzan houses as khan of her people.
She accepted the title and felt justified in it. Did it feel hollow, somehow fake, that there were only a tenth of her people to bestow her this rank? She had never dreamed of power, this was never her motivation. Her quick rise through the ranks of the military was out of necessity. She had an intuition for war, she knew how to organize war parties, and she knew how to win. Her drive was killing dragons. So for her, no, it did not feel hollow, it did not feel fake. The people around her now were the last of the Abzan, and she was now their leader, their khan.
At first the free Abzan were three fortresses held strong against the dragons and their new clan of followers. But after being besieged on all fronts she made the decision to fall back into her family’s Sandsteppe Citadel. There really were not enough left of free Abzan to be divided and spread so thin. It was them against the world it seemed.
Meeting of the Khans
She only had three days to get to the Jeskai Dirgur Stronghold, when she received word of a meeting of the clan khans by the Jeskai leader Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest. She was wary of letting any of her circle know of this, there had been suspicious events during planned attacks and defenses, and felt like any one of her people could be giving information to the enemy. Maybe it was her ego not wanting to believe that she had been out smarted. Calculating losses is something that any great general accounts for, but something seemed off balance. The enemy was on top of every situation.
She always paused for a second when she thought of the word “enemy”. Once most of them were like her brothers and sisters, fighting side by side. But now there was no tolerance between the true Abzan and these Dromoka slaves, as Reyhan like to think of them. The word was that Dromoka would not accept a peace until the holdouts, as they were now the called, had subjugated or were eradicated.
She grabbed a dozen of her closest honor guard and rode with them during the dark of night, without warning, so that she may get some distance before anything untoward could intercept her path. The salt road was no longer an option for traveling, heavily guarded and watched. But she knew these plains well. One must when conceiving every possible advantage in warfare, and do you think dragons cared about converging on a road? No, her battles were fought out in the merciless dessert, where the dragons roam.
They arrived at the lake where the Stronghold of Dirgur sat on an island near the middle. They had been spotted by the Jeskai monks and a war barge sent to carry her soldiers across.
When they arrived, they had gotten little sleep during the travel, and although the thought of food and rest was tempting, she was happy to receive word that Shu Yun wanted to convene in an hour. They were only here for one reason, ending the dragons. She was told to bring a minimal guard. She would have brought all of them, her lack of trust was at an all-time high and the thought of the various other clan members disturbed her. The only interactions with them in the past was that of fighting. But she had a deep respect for how they fought, never did she think them weak. It was the Sultai and their leader Tasigur, the Golden Fang, that she wanted to deal with the least. These creatures were responsible for atrocities against her people. She felt that they were no better than the dragons.
She thought better of bringing her whole contingent and instead brought four of her honor guard who she trusted with her life. They had all been together when they took down a dragon just before the civil war. It’s those type of events that bond soldiers together in a way that sometimes cannot even be found in blood kin relationships. It's an unspoken truth, and there is a literally sense of knowing that in times of peril, they have each others backs.
They entered the council room. Reyhan looked around and noticed that only two of the khans were present. She proceeded near to where Shu Yun of the Jeskai, and Alesha of the Mardu stood and bowed in a way that should befit respect between khans. Alesha, Who Smiles at Death, was the name the Mardu clan had given her. Reyhan wasn’t sure about this moniker looking at this women, who was just a little younger than her. But age and size were not the mark for those of great potential. Reyhan was all too aware that strength can come from within. She noted that Alesha had brought two bodyguards, an Orc and a human women.
Beforehand she had told her honor guard to stand far back, so that they could keep a view on all that were in audience. She had a command ready in case they were going to be in need.
"Welcome," said Shu Yun. "I commend you for coming. You have the least to spare of any of us."
This surprised Reyhan a little, she hadn’t thought of it in this way, this meeting was one of the few options for a real stand against the dragons.
"Perhaps," said Reyhan. "But we also have the most to lose if this effort fails."
A women wrapped in bear furs with a long claw-tipped staff entered the room alone. Reyhan knew who she was from tales told, but had never met her before. It was not often that any disputes of territory or resources were waged with the Temur clan, and this was obviously their khan, Yasova Dragonclaw.
"It's good to see you again, Dragonclaw," said Shu Yun.
"I can't say the same," said Yasova. "No offense, but I'd rather none of us were here."
"None taken," said Shu Yun. "I think all of us would prefer it that way. But this is bigger than any of us."
Finally the last of the five clans arrived. The young slim and pale grey skinned Sultai khan named Tasigur, walked into the room and out of breath. Clearly not used to the hardship of campaigns thought Reyhan.
"I'll be damned," said Tasigur. "We're really all here." The last he looked at was Reyhan. "Well, almost all of us. No offense, of course."
Reyhan knew that she would not command the same respect that a fully elected member of the Abzan would. But this still did not make it any easier to hear from such an insolent figure of a creature. She glared at him through narrow eyes.
"Welcome, all of you," said Shu Yun. "This meeting is unprecedented, and I'm afraid the protocol is rather vague. But I expect all of us to treat one another with the deference due our station."
"Of course," said Tasigur, inclining towards Reyhan, but she could feel that it was more mocking than respect. "Forgive my rudeness, ahhh..."
Saying her own name to him was all that she could bear, but she told him. He seemed ignorant enough to not actually know.
Tasigur continued, "...Reyhan khan. As I said, I meant no offense, but only to acknowledge the dire circumstances in which we all find ourselves."
"Dire circumstances," scoffed Alesha. "And if your own circumstances were better, no doubt you wouldn't be here at all. The way I hear it, these days you're lord of nothing but scrawny servants and thirsty bloodflies. Or have the naga finally returned to hold your hand?"
"Such bravado!" said Tasigur, as he approached Alesha. "You'd think it came from something more than a glorified bandit covered in dust and horsesh—"
"Enough!" Shu Yun cut him off. "That's enough. We are here because all of us, and our clans, are in existential danger. We can no longer afford to fight each other. We can no longer afford even to fight the dragons separately. We must stand together, or our ways of life will vanish from the world."
Out of the corner of her eye, Reyhan could see the Mardu guards shift, ready for something more. She herself was half expectant for the need to bear arms, but felt a bit guilty at being disappointed when Alesha shrugged off Tasigur words.
"Shu Yun is right," said Alesha. "If our circumstances were better, none of us would be here."
"No," said Tasigur, convinced. "We wouldn't."
"Everywhere," said Shu Yun, "dragons are overrunning our homes. No one can deny that the storms strike more often now, and more intensely. There are simply too many dragons. No one seems to know the reason for it, what changed. But everyone knows it is true."
"I know the reason," said Yasova quietly.
The words hung for a moment in Reyhan mind. What did the Temur khan know?
"It was years ago," said Yasova. "I was on...a vision quest, of sorts. I had foreseen that the dragon storms would cease if I..." She grimaced. "I know how it will sound. But I saw that the storms would cease if I helped a malevolent dragon spirit kill the great Ugin."
Ugin was a dragon that Reyhan had heard of, but knew little of. Her domain had become the world of the hard-scaled dragons that were born in the tempest storms in her territory. They presented enough immediate danger that thinking of the other dragons and their capabilities or motives was simply too much to consider.
"You sought...to kill the Spirit Dragon?" said Shu Yun.
"I had to!" said Yasova. "Your people die to the dragons, just as much as mine. If you thought you had the slightest chance to end the tempests, to bring the dragons under control, wouldn't you take it?"
"Ending the storms would do more than bring the dragons under control," said Alesha. "It would eradicate them."
"Killing Ugin would stop the tempests?" said Tasigur. His eyes were greedy. "We could end the dragons once and for all?"
Yasova shook her head.
"I was a fool," she said. "Ugin is power. He is a force of nature. Even with the help of a spirit, how could I have thought it possible to destroy him? How could I have thought it wise?"
The pause was too much for Reyhan and prompted Yasova to carry on. "What happened?"
"I led the spirit to him," said Yasova. "I showed it the way. In the skies above the tundra, the two dragon spirits fought. The world shook."
"I remember tremors," said Shu Yun, "just before the storms intensified."
Reyhan thought back to a time when she was an adolescent, when she and her friends felt the shaking of not only the ground, but seemingly the very air that surrounded them. Time had faded this childhood memory, but she now reflected that it probably coincided with the intensification of the dragon tempests. This was the event which shook Tarkir.
"Everything was coming true. The other spirit cast Ugin down and vanished. Then...then he came. Another spirit. He appeared to me first as a vagrant, then as a great dragon of no breed I have ever seen. He called himself sar-khan, great khan. He told me of a future with no dragons in it, but not the prosperous future I had seen. A future where the khans fell to infighting and Tarkir was a place of ruin and war.
"Ugin's body struck the earth, and in that moment I knew that the sar-khan was right. Ugin was dying, and a vital force in the world was dying with him. The storms were dying with him. For a moment, everything was still. The sar-khan was wounded. I healed him, thinking to interrogate him, certain I had won, no longer certain I was right to. But he...he used some kind of magic I've never seen before. He encased Ugin in a great stone cocoon inscribed with draconic runes. The stillness ended. The tempests returned fourfold, the sky howling with fury at my presumption. And the sar-khan was gone, vanished back into whatever spirit world he came from.
"I didn't know what to do. Everything was worse than when I started. I tried to contact the other dragon spirit, to tell him that Ugin yet lived, to implore him to finish the job. I tried to breach the stone myself, with every force at my disposal. I even tried to heal Ugin through the stone, to beg him to calm the tempests and at least return things to the way they were. Not a hint. Not a scratch. Not a breath. The cocoon yet stands, and Ugin lies within it. The storms have raged ever since."
Reyhan mind was racing. She thought back to all her dead comrades. All her dead bond-kin. All her dead blood-kin. To the kin-trees that had been lost forever. She thought of her clan divided, friends and families made foe. Even the Remembrance, the artifact that bonded so many of their loved ones over the centuries, had been shattered and lost for eternity. These things were all Abzan and now she thought of how they were all dying. Dying because of the poor judgment of one person?
A fury built up inside of her and Reyhan exhaled “You”. “You let this happen. You made it happen. You've killed thousands of my kinsmen, forced thousands more to bend the knee to a dragon! Do you have any idea what you've done?"
Staring at Yasova with fire in her eyes, Reyhan waited for an answer, but got nothing but a look of guilty resignation.
Reyhan was sure to not let Yasova go without justification and promptly said "Do you have anything to say in your defense? Any reason at all I shouldn't drag you back to the only free Abzan fortress left and hang you from the walls for everyone to see?"
She was not even aware that Shu Yun had moved in between her and Yasova, so fixated on what she had heard and how this person had failed them.
"No," said Yasova finally. "None. I came here alone. I left my clan behind. If you want to kill me for what I've done, kill me. I just wanted to make sure that someone knew the truth."
It dawned on Reyhan that she was more sad than angry. She knew that these events could not be undone by killing Yasova.
"You did what you thought was right," said Alesha. "No one can fault you for that."
It was hard for Reyhan to get past the stupidity of Yasova actions, but accepted that she would have thought was doing the right thing and nodded at them to acknowledge this.
"I have no interest in placing blame," said Shu Yun, "or absolving it. The important thing is that we know more than we did. Perhaps that knowledge will save us."
With no hesitation Reyhan knew what the plan should be. "Our course is clear. We must pool our efforts and open that cocoon."
Tasigur retorted "Strike down Ugin. End the storms."
"The Jeskai will not aid any effort to kill the Spirit Dragon," said Shu Yun. "Ugin has always sought balance. Are your memories so short? He gave us concealment magic, the last time the dragons seemed to be gaining the upper hand. He values the dragons and the clans alike. If he were well, this would not be happening."
Reyhan was wise enough to know that they needed all the khans to be in agreement, so interjected. "Then we open the cocoon and heal him. If he truly values balance, he'll intervene. And if he doesn't, there's always Tasigur's plan."
"He's as likely to punish us as help us," said Alesha. "It's the great dragons we should be worrying about—they're flourishing in his absence. Forget Ugin. We should focus all our efforts on killing the brood-lords."
"There's no need for that," said Shu Yun. "The destruction of the dragons is no better than the destruction of the clans. We must seek balance. We must seek Ugin."
"The time for balance is past," said Tasigur. "We—"
The new Abzan khan would have ordinarily been aware of the sound of the ringing bells immediately, her hearing was excellent and her years of campaigning attuned to the warning signals. But her conscious was still focused on the fate of Tarkir.
It wasn’t until Alesha said "Wait. Do you hear that?" that suddenly Reyhan snapped to attention.
The bells got louder and louder.
"Dragons," said Shu Yun, confirming what Reyhan already knew.
Shu Yun looked out from their vantage and was quick to exclaim that it was indeed the arrival of a flight of dragons and at it's head was the dragonlord Silumgar.
This dragon Reyhan was aware of. Silumgar was the dragonlord of the brood that dominated the swamp lands where the Sultai resided. They were known for the fowl breath that poisoned the air and laid waste to anything that was unfortunate enough to fall within their death cloud.
This arrival was something Reyhan was particular surprised at. The thought of a dragon attack was within the realm of reason and had prepared her soldiers for this possibility before they even arrived at the stronghold. But she had expected that it would be some of Ojutai brood, as this was within that dragon’s domain. Dragons seldom dared to venture so far into another’s territory.
The Abzan commander was quick to summon her guard and she wanted them to be ready for an impending attack.
Then she heard more bells, this time from a different direction.
She joined Shu Yun at the window facing the north and what she saw confirmed her early thoughts that indeed it was too bold move on Silumgar to venture this far into the mountainous snow lands. It was dragonlord Ojutai that was flying in above the lake. Only hints of his body touching the surface water, but when they did it left icy trails. At least two dozen of his brood followed him in full flight.
"Never thought I'd be so relieved to see a dragon," said Reyhan. "They'll fight the others... Won't they?"
As she looked down, the monks of the stronghold were running around. It looked more chaotic than Reyhan imagined the studious monks should be. But the thought flashed in Reyhans mind that no single Tarkir native could have possibly seen this number of dragons all at once?
Out over the water, the two massive flights of dragons raced toward each other, crashed together...and merged, into a single cloud of soaring death that turned and headed straight for Dirgur Stronghold.
"They're coming here," said Shu Yun. "All of them are coming here."
"Dragons don't cooperate," said Yasova. "It's never happened."
"They might," said Shu Yun, "if they thought they could kill the khans themselves."
The idea of an assault from two different dragon clans at once seemed unthinkable and Reyhan said "They don't take human servants either. Times have changed."
But it was clear as the dragon clans carried on their assault in a single formation attack.
"How would they know we're here?" asked Alesha. "We flew no banners, any of us. And I doubt they'd cooperate like this just to attack a stronghold."
This was Reyhan worst fears come to pass. That this meeting was somehow a lie. Just like what had happened to her own clan, the Abzan, and that much of the enemy lied within.
"Someone must have told them about our little summit," said Reyhan.
"Someone did." said Alesha, staring at Shu Yun accusingly.
"I did nothing of the sort," said Shu Yun. Touching his hand to his forehead where the symbol of his clan, an eye, was tattooed and glimmered. "No dragon will suffer me to live. Why would I ally with them?"
"You'd forfeit your own life and all of ours if you thought it would save your clan," said Alesha.
Shu Yun hesitated.
"Yes," he said finally. He shrugged. "Honestly, I don't think it would."
"Where's Tasigur?" asked Yasova.
The question brought Reyhan focus back inside the room. Previously unaware that some of the Sultai and their khan had left.
"I thought you'd never ask," said the head of Tasigur's guard, a scarred man in ornate armor.
Alesha and her Mardu instantly ran to meet the Sultai members in battle. Reyhan also motioned her guard to join the fight, and she too drew sword. Perhaps it was because much of their focus was on the looming dragons, but the Sultai guards put up more of fight than she expected. They had some of her guard backed into a corner and she rushed to intercept a killing blow. The deflection bounced off blade and bit into her shoulder, cutting deep. By the end of the sortie they had killed two of her honor guard before they finally overcame the Sultai deceptors.
She winced at the pain in her shoulder and ripped off a sleeve, wrapping it to stem the bleeding. Yasova noticed her aliment and as a master of shamanic healing started to use binding spells to seal the skin and restore the ripped tissue. Reyhan was grateful, and she thought of all the times her clan had made mockery of the Temur ways. How ironic that she was now the benefactor of what was clearly powerful magic.
The rest of her Abzan guard had ran as fast as they could to the council room, after they heard the bells. They waited expectantly for the next series of orders from their khan.
Come on," said Alesha. She was smiling again—that unnerving, mirthless smile. "The khans, standing together against the dragons. Not quite what you were hoping for, but it'll have to do."
Shu Yun bowed. "I'm afraid I have a different role to play," he said. "Good fortune and good hunting. Do not underestimate Ojutai—he is as cunning as anyone alive. And if you find Tasigur...remind him that he came here under truce."
Shu Yun paused for a moment at the window, then leapt out.
The remaining khans were left to survey the scene. The dragons had reached the stronghold and were unleashing their might. Although there was no doubt that the Jeskai monks were capable fighters, this was simply one of the smaller strongholds and offered little in the way of defense from an assault like this. The khans were without their soldiers. Alone they could not hope to defeat this onslaught.
None of them had ever back away from a battle. Reyhan instinct of battles was unparalleled and she knew that this was not something that they would walk away from victorious. “We must warn the clans what has transpired and regroup with full force,” said Reyhan.
Alesha, was not smiling, but showing the seriousness of her resolve. “I am going to cut off the heads of Ojutai and Silumgar themselves, and nothing is going to stop me”. Her bodyguards clashed their arms to armor to signify their approval.
Yasova face was wary, she too would never back down from the ultimate glory of facing and killing a dragonlord, but she was all too aware of the magnitude of their plight.
“Reyhan is right,” said Yasova. “We must get back to our clans and fight as one.”
Again Reyhan took the initiative, she could see it in Alesha eyes that she was not going to walk away from this fight.
She turned towards the scribe that had been present the whole time. He looked away from the window. The Jeskai as a whole did not show much emotion, but it was clear on his face that something significant had happened in the scene below.
“How can we escape this stronghold?” Reyhan asked the scribe.
The scribes name was Quan. He told them that he would lead them to a boat and maybe they could try to cross without being detected.
The Abzan khan was determined that the Mardu warriors would live another day. “Help us get to boat first and then you can have your dragon heads.” said Reyhan. She hoped that there was an honor system in the Mardu that would poke at their pride to band together for a moment. It was the fight with the Sultai guards that caused a reaction in Alesha. Alesha looked her bodyguards and then exclaimed “We will help you with your little get-away plan. All the more dragons for us!”
Quan lead them down where they could exit the outer wall. The outlook was not much different to the inside of Dimar Stronghold. The sky was filled with the white and red feathers of Ojutais’ brood and also the slimy dark charcoal green scales of Silumgars’ clan dragons.
No sooner had they stepped out, that one of Silumgar dragons spotted them. It flew close and spat acid at them. Most of it missed their cluster of soldiers, but the hiss of burning armor could be heard and soon the gurgling of men in pain. Two of them were gripping at holes in their armor, small, but enough to burn into skin. Yasova quickly focused her magic on the men and although the wounds would not heal until proper treatment, she masked the pain enough so that the soldiers could pick themselves up to carry on the escape.
The dragon circled and this time the party was ready. Somebody was going to have to be bait. Standing your ground had never been a good strategy against dragons. All the dragon clans had fearsome attacks from their mouths and being in the line of fire, sometimes in the literal sense, was probably going to mean a quick death.
The large Orc of the Mardu knew his role. He had fought many battles, but it wasn’t until Alesha had pressed him after a skirmish with dragons that he had finally come to know who he was. Jagun Wingmate.
He had a way of asserting himself in situations where he would help others. His was never the killing blow, but his role would play no less of a part.
He swung his axe around like he was bloodthirsty for battle and the dragon become enraged at the insolence of this Orc figure.
The others had rounded to the sides and Alesha found a way to climb up the outer wall. Reyhan lead her guard behind some rocks so that they could engage once the dragon was grounded. The dragon started breathing out its fumes as it drew nearer, and even the touch of it on skin would be enough to kill a person. Slowly but surely.
At the last moment Jagun Wingmate dived out the way, not really meaning to strike the dragon, but simply to distract the beast. Jalasha, the other Mardu warrior was unleashing her arrows into the dragon’s neck. This caught its attention and it started to lumber towards the archer. Jalasha was balanced next to the outer wall and showed no signs of fleeing.
It was only at the last moment, that the dragon saw a flash of light above his head. He felt the soft fall of an object hit his cranial. But it wasn’t until the source of those reflections of light started slashing into skull that he was aware of his attacker.
Alesha had two enormous swords styled in a fashion that was common amongst her clan, broad flat blades, which were slightly curved in an arc. But it was the size and her abilities with them that were legendary. She had leapt from a rampart and landed directly on the dragons head. She was crossing her swords in slashing motions into the softer tissues of dragons skull and after a flurry leapt again to avoid the inevitable blasts of toxic fumes the dragon would wheeze out during its death coil.
Alesha let out a maniacal laugh. Jagun and Jalasha although immensely proud of what transpired, looked at each slightly embarrassed by their khan’s outburst.
Another dragon perched on a recess of the outer wall. It started barking in the draconic language. Not long after more of them took up the disturbing chatter. Quan had been looking on and ran up to them. He had learned much about the draconic language and although he didn’t speak it, he knew enough to understand what they were saying. “They have recognized you as the khans, they call to their masters.”
Reyhan had rallied around and spoke to Alesha, “I will not say you are foolish to remain here and fight till your death, I have seen for myself how not only do you smile at it, but laugh in its face.”
“But our strengths lie in our clans as a whole, not as single blades” said Reyhan, adamant in her resolve.
Alesha knew she was right. What right did she have not to give the rest of her clan the gift of glory?
A great shadow appeared behind them, blocking out the sun. Reyhan assumed it was from a dragon that stood no more than twenty yards, but as she turned to face it, she realized it was from a dragon still in flight from at least a hundred yards.
“My clan is lost,” shouted Reyhan to Alesha and Yasova. “We are but few in numbers now. It is your duty as khans of your clans to gather forces and fight these dragons in a battle that can be won.”
“Run, run now and we will hold him off for as long as possible.”
In the chaos Alesha, Yasova, Jagun and Jalasha slipped away.
The shadow was that of the unmistakable Silumgar. Much bigger than most of his brood he landed on the ground with a resounding ground tremor, almost knocking everyone in the surrounding area from their feet. It felt very cold now, but this was more to do with who they were in the presence of, rather than the sun being blotted out by his immense size.
The last remaining honor guard flanked Reyhan, and prepared themselves for their final stand. Yasova healing magic was still at work on Reyhan shoulder. The wound had mostly closed, but it still felt like muscle shredded. She gritted her teeth and promised herself that she would show no signs of weakness to this foul beast.
She motioned her soldiers to spread out and they knew weak points would be to hit the ankles and hope to immobilize Silumgar, well at least for a time. As he approached, Reyhan let out a war cry with all her might.
Her guard responded by running at the dragon from different directions, all at haste. Silumgar seemed annoyed that he needed to put in effort with these unappealing snacks, but he turned his body full and let his tail hit all the soldiers on his left side with tremendous force. Armor shattered and so did the bodies within. Those on his right side were now facing him directly and had little time to attack, but still rushed, with swords in full flight. Before they could reach him he exhumed a poisonous breath. It stopped the solders in their tracks, dropping swords to clutch their throats. With bleeding eyes and an unbearable burning on their skin, they could only really ask for the mercy of one of their own blades now.
In this moment Reyhan was able to run up to his side unnoticed, she stabbed at the underside of where wing meet body and hoped to distract Silumgar enough that the rest of her Abzan guard could find another opening of attack. Indeed it had got Silumgars attention and he reared up and came crashing down on Reyhan. But Silumgar was careful not to simple crush this being. For he wanted to have a look at what all the fuss was about these khans. Certainly the Sultai one had been a huge disappointment. Maybe the others were more impressive?
She was pinned and finally when Silumgar was satisfied that no one was of real threat, he looked down at her. She thought that he was going to crush her with his mighty jaws, but instead he just lazily let acid drip from his mouth. No more effort than a baby drooling. It sank into stomach and seared flesh from bones before she could scream.
Her shouts soon stopped when her spirit was leaving the body of what she remembered as herself. It was a moment of clarity. In an instant her world changed from mortal combat, to the halls of her for-bearers. They were waiting for her. She could feel them calling her. She felt their strength. She felt their wisdom, all of them combined into oneness. But this wholeness also felt the combined pain at losing so many connections to their families, their loved ones. Severed bonds that had not been that way since before the very first connections made between those that were dead and those that were living. It was just but a continuum, and really they were the same in life and death, Reyhan could feel this now. The immense feeling of oneness and wholeness overwhelmed her sense of bond to the Tarkir of now. But she was not ready to let go. It was her entire will to do something that few had done before. Her will was to help the living now. Her ancestors knew and they understood. They did not try to stop her, for it was their cause as much as hers.
With her last breath she imbued her spirit into any living soul that was willing to receive her. She would forgo her rights to her ancestral past and future, until justice was served.
It was one of her honor guard nearest that was keenly aware of the spirit incarnate. Without resistance he felt Reyhan spirit enter his soul. He felt her presence and he felt her power. There was a recognition in his heart that for as long as somebody was willing to fight for their clan’s justices, that their warrior spirits would remain in this world, to combine strength and give hope. Only when there was an end to dragons will they truly settle into the afterlife.
The Temur and Mardu managed to get away thanks to the efforts and distraction of the Abzan group. They would be honored Alesha swore.
The Great Teacher's Dragonspeaker
Ishai, Dragonspeaker, was the fifteenth generation of dragonspeakers for the great dragonlord Ojutai. Ishai was of the aven race. This was a preferred race for translators by the dragons, as they could fly with their masters rather be carried like the other races would have need of.
She wore robes that all dragonspeakers did, but the marking on hers would distinctly identify her as being Ojutais’.
Ojutai was known as “The Great Teacher”. His cunning and intelligence were regarded to be the greatest among all the dragons.
Ojutai has been on the plane of Tarkir for much longer than fifteenth generations of other mortals would suggests. Ishai suspected Ojutai had little need to convene with the humanoids during the early years, when battles were the language used. But when the clans of the khans had yielded to the dragons, they had in turn became an extension of dragon clans themselves and communicating with them had become more of a common practice.
Being the translator for any dragon was one of the greatest honors among those that were not dragons themselves. Being the orator for Ojutai, the dragonlord of one of the five clans, was something of significance, perhaps the greatest position by a follower of dragons, in all of Tarkir. She certainly felt this way.
Most of the dragons understood the language of the human vernacular, and Ojutai could even speak it if he was inclined. But it was an effort for the dragons to form their throats to the small sounds of the windpipes that these creatures have, and so they prefer to have translators. Some of the dragons have no interest at all, draconic is the only true language in their eyes, to be revered and feared by others.
Ishai practiced the nuance of draconic whenever time allowed. Ojutai was careful to correct her, even certain body movements played a part in the language and Ishai was always aware that her aven body, although closer in shape to a dragon than the other races, still failed to duplicate exactly how her masters communicated.
A young female student had become a favorite of Ojutai in recent years and he had made her a master in the shortest time of any of his disciples. Her name was Narset.
Ishai remembered back to the first time she met Narset and she had become so excited at the prospect of meeting Ojutai that she actually squealed. This made her smile again.
But Narset had a mind quite unlike any other of Ojutai students, and her hunger for knowledge outmatched Ishai's, she could sense it.
In this pursuit for knowledge Narset found hidden archives around old monasteries and strongholds of what she would later learn were the Jeskai’s. Where ancient histories of Tarkir past had been vaulted away.
In these Narset had read about how the world was forged by wars between the dragons and humanoid clans. The dragons rule had not always been absolute.
Ojutai at the time had decreed that the khans and their clans be removed from the writings of history. But the Jeskai of the time had managed to keep much of their written history in various safe holds untouched.
Even though it was against his own decree, Ojutai knew that the past was little threat to him now. Ojutai and the other dragon lord’s rule was complete in the Tarkir of now. The word khan meant nothing to the people, and clans were solidified by the dragons, not the cultures of past. Ojutai was still wary about letting the past becoming common knowledge, but destroying the scrolls was not needed, and he let very few know of their existence.
Ishai, had read all the scrolls hidden in the vault under the Dragon's Eye Sanctuary.
Sometimes Ojutai had want of remembering past events afresh. She wondered how many times he had gotten a dragonspeaker to read them again. A dragon’s lifespan transcended time.
Ishai would send for Taigam, a monk, to collect the necessary parchments. She would then translate them to Ojutai. She had become skilled at putting emphasis on the words as to make them more vivid in translation. Ojutai was both amused and enjoyed this aspect of Ishai, and it would be something he looked for in future dragonspeakers, once Ishai was no more.
Today Ojutai asked for the scroll of khanfall from the Annals of the Sage Eye. Narset had found these scrolls under the Dirgur Stronghold on her quest for knowing.
His young student Narset had read through them and he wanted to remind himself of what transpired on that fateful day. His young student was of great importance to him, he wanted to place himself in her thoughts for a moment, to reflect on revelations that he lived, but she just learned.
When Ojutai had found out about the scrolls existence from Narset, he sent some monks to collect them from Dirgur and restore them as best as possible.
Ishai was particularly excited by this. She knew of the khanfall, in fact she knew most of the past of Tarkir in some respect. But this was something of great importance to the turning of Tarkir history and she was eager to learn new tales of old.
Taigam handed her the scrolls and Ishai waited for Ojutai’s audience before she started translating it. Taking her time, as the parchments were brittle and also so she could soak in all that she was reading.
She read about the meeting of these five clans whose ways are similar but different to the dragon clans of today’s Tarkir.
Finally she got to a part where it was clear that it had been written at a different time to the previous scripture. The hand writing was the same, but before it had been rushed, ink blotted and smeared. The rest of this had obviously been written in reflection, with time to be careful with the strokes of ink.
Shu Yun khan of the Jeskai, leapt from the window of the stronghold tower. After a time of falling he landed on one of Sulimgars’ dragons and used an ancient martial technique, slamming his fist into a particular point on the dragon’s skull.
The dragon fell unconscious and with great agility Shu Yun pushed away and landed in a crouching position, also a practiced maneuver by the monks, to land on the ground without harm.
The dragon itself crashed, the impact killing it.
As the scribe of this annul, Shu Yun was my master and mentor and he told be of his intentions on placing the scrolls in a safe room under the stronghold. This is what he did next.
When Shu Yun remerged into the courtyard from safeguarding the scrolls, the great dragonlord, Ojutai, flew above, then settled gracefully on the ground in front of the Jeskai khan.
Shu Yun spoke, "Ojutai". He spread his arms wide, palms out. "You know who I am. You know what I've done. Once I dreamed of facing you again, of testing my skill against yours. But I come to you now with a different purpose."
Shu Yun dropped to his knees, looking up at Ojutai.
Shu Yun looked past where Ojutai was standing and to where I the scribe was watching this event taking place and he bowed in the Jeskai formal way. I bowed deeply back.
Shu Yun spoke, "Kill me. Kill everyone who bears the mark of a dragon slayer, if you must. I offer you my life. But please, I beg you, as one teacher to another, spare my clan."
After Ojutai spoke in draconic, his dragonspeaker translated "The dragonlord agrees to your terms."
Ojutai jaws opened, and blasted his ice breath at Shu Yun.
The khan of the Jeskai fell.
Ishai could not help but look at Ojutai in her peripheral vision, to see if he had some sort of reaction to these words. But her dragonlord did not move at all. The dragons were not known for much outward expression. Only if you were to feel their anger, did you get their range of emotions. But still from time to time she could sense a change in Ojutai when things were playing on his mind.
Ishai read the rest of the scroll. It told of the battle between the Abzan khan Reyhan and the dragonlord Silumgar and the escape of the other khans.
Ishai had read in other scrolls how the khans had eventually succumbed to the might of the dragons. That their destiny was not to fight them, but appease them.
And so it was today, dragons filled the skies and mortals lived in their shadows as followers. It was now the dragon broods of the five dragonlord clans which fought for dominance. It had been a turbulent thousand years since the khanfall and Ojutai had seen it all.
Ishai was also a scribe for Ojutai, and she spent many hours writing history as it transpired, through the eyes of her master. Knowledge was power and very few mortals had more knowledge than Ishai. She would accompany Ojutai through all the lands of Tarkir and with every passing day wondrous things would be revealed to her. Secrets only few knew. Secrets of magic. Secrets of treachery. Things of the highest degree to the fate of Tarkir. She knew and wrote about them all.
After a time pondering on the day’s events, Ojutai asked Ishai to pick up ink and parchment. Ojutai was wanting to add to his own annuls that dated back not long after the events of khanfall, as Ishai now just noted.
They were called, “Annals of the Dragons of Tarkir”.
I really liked the design of your Voltron deck. I have been trying to find deck ideas around my Breed Lethality commander deck and I have mostly focused on Atraxa (I went as far as removing Ishai from the deck all together!). But I really like the idea of focusing on the Partnet mechanic and building protection around Ishai.
Some comments on the deck:
At first, I did not quite understand why Attrition was in this deck. I was looking everywhere for token generator of some kind, but could not find any, until I figured out that Blade of Selves would create copies of the commander that could be sacrificed... Quite clever...
One of the strong win conditions of this deck seems to be able to get the Blade of Selves on the battlefield. There seems to be enough tutors (I think adding Sunforge Mystic was a good addition), but what if this equipment is destroyed or exiled?
I am not sure I like the inclusion of Greater Good. I'd probably need to play this deck some times before I can figure out if it is worthy. You need to sacrifice a card with power of at least 3 to get some card advantage. Wondering if it would not be better to have a card like Sphinx's Revelation or Perilous Forays instead.
I am not sure there is enough recursion in the deck.
I will definitely test this deck in my local playgroup. Thanks for your efforts publishing the deck and the different improvements you have made these last few weeks.
I really liked the design of your Voltron deck. I have been trying to find deck ideas around my Breed Lethality commander deck and I have mostly focused on Atraxa (I went as far as removing Ishai from the deck all together!). But I really like the idea of focusing on the Partnet mechanic and building protection around Ishai.
Some comments on the deck:
At first, I did not quite understand why Attrition was in this deck. I was looking everywhere for token generator of some kind, but could not find any, until I figured out that Blade of Selves would create copies of the commander that could be sacrificed... Quite clever...
One of the strong win conditions of this deck seems to be able to get the Blade of Selves on the battlefield. There seems to be enough tutors (I think adding Sunforge Mystic was a good addition), but what if this equipment is destroyed or exiled?
I am not sure I like the inclusion of Greater Good. I'd probably need to play this deck some times before I can figure out if it is worthy. You need to sacrifice a card with power of at least 3 to get some card advantage. Wondering if it would not be better to have a card like Sphinx's Revelation or Perilous Forays instead.
I am not sure there is enough recursion in the deck.
I will definitely test this deck in my local playgroup. Thanks for your efforts publishing the deck and the different improvements you have made these last few weeks.
Martin
I haven't quite finished the primer yet. I need to explain the card choices and game play. There are essentially three sacrifice outlets in the deck. Attrition, Viscera Seer, Greater Good. These are actually key cards. They enable you to sacrifice in response to either removal or attacking or blocking to give the ability to make ANY creature on the board huge. You can sacrifice Ishai or Reyhan at any time to shift the +1/+1 to a creature. Greater Good being the best of the sacrifice outlets. Quite often Ishai is sitting on plus ten counters (I've had her up to 38!), so you can sacrifice her, move the counters to another creature (often Reyhan), draw ten plus cards, then recast Ishai. Once again you can sacrifice the creature with the counters to move the +1/+1 counters, probably back to put Ishai to get her back up to lethal commander damage without having to wait for her to build up again.
One interesting twist to the voltron mechanic is that both Ishai and Reyhan can provide lethal commander damage (although they are treated as their own separate identities for commander damage if you're wondering). If you have a sacrifice outlet (Attrition, Viscera Seer, Greater Good) you can attack the same player with both creatures and if you have the > 17 +1/+1 on the board (or just the number you need to provide lethal damage to that player. When you have 20 or so counters that you can shift, often players are already at 20 or less life, so ANY creature unblocked becomes lethal), if one of them is not blocked, you can sacrifice the other to distribute a lethal attack. You can also spread out the damage so that Ishai and Reyhan attack separate players, building up commander damage for different players in the same turn. Certainly a new aspect to the game.
Another common line, is to sacrifice Reyhan to Attrition to remove a big threat, move the counters to Ishai, then recast Reyhan. Ishai gets +3/+3 and you've removed something thats threatening to take over the game. Also there are a few cheap creatures that can be sacrificed to Attrition in a pinch like Sunscape Familiar, Birds of Paradise, Deathrite Shaman, Noble Hierarch, Eternal Witness, Stoneforge Mystic.
There is not enough basic lands for Perilous Forays. But the list I have has a very expensive mana base. I will look to do a more budget version of the deck, and most of that will be around getting basic lands as the central base.
I am not sure there is enough recursion in the deck.
You are probably right. But this deck doesn't aim to be too tricky or get over-the-top engines going. It literally is designed around being efficient and not getting carried away trying anything "special". Get your commanders into play, they are their own powerful engine, then counter or protect anything that's going to stop you from winning.
Thanks for the sharing. I learned some more on this deck strategy reading your reply.
Martin
No problem. I've update the primer so that it has way more information about how to play and synergies. Also I've made some card choice changes as well, which has made the deck stronger.
The lifelink is nice, but I do like the indestructible nature of Thassa, and it can get you deeper into your deck. There is also a little bit of a trade off with number of cards that can tutor for either of them. Eladamri's Call, Fauna Shaman and Captain Sisay allow you to search for Thassa. Where as Stoneforge Mystic is the only other tutor for Loxodon Warhammer or Behemoth Sledge. I feel if your meta is control heavy then Thassa, but if you are used to getting hit by a lot of damage, then the lifelink is justifiable.
Definitely looking forward to the medium budget build of this deck! None of my decks currently have blue or white in them because of my dislike for stalled games, whereas Ishai gives aggression in the colors to protect itself. How has the deck been performing for you? Do you usually fly under the radar or start swinging right away?
consider swapping for bruce and going American control your beat stick is in your command zone and you don't need to cast Bruce till u can kill some one at 11 power
consider swapping for bruce and going American control your beat stick is in your command zone and you don't need to cast Bruce till u can kill some one at 11 power
What you talking about Willis...or is that Bruce Willis?
Seriously I have noooooooooooooo idea what you're referring to?
consider swapping for bruce and going American control your beat stick is in your command zone and you don't need to cast Bruce till u can kill some one at 11 power
What you talking about Willis...or is that Bruce Willis?
Seriously I have noooooooooooooo idea what you're referring to?
Ahh, mustache man. Cutting Green and Black from the deck is quite a different build, but streamlining the mana base to Jeskai colors could have advantages. The green ramp could easily be replaced by mana artifacts and the protection cards in green could be replaced with more blue and white protection spells for sure...hmm interesting
There have been a few threads started on this combination of partner commanders, and its no coincidence because both come from the Commander 2016 Breed Lethality deck, with Atraxa, Praetors' Voice normally at the helm. Both of them literally have the words +1/+1 in the card text, and obviously have a synergy.
It must be noted that a lot of people playing Atraxa, Praetors' Voice as a commander have become popular for planeswalker (superfriends) and stax decks.
This primer is not much like the Breed Lethality theme, where focus is on building up massive amounts of counters within the 98 cards and going wide/big with lots of creatures. It remains focused on the commanders, with support creatures being mana efficient and having great utility. There is a heavy amount of control with the deck, to protect our creatures and stop any game winning spells by opponents.
I've play tested various builds with these two commanders. I know their strengths and also their weaknesses. So anybody looking to partner these guys up can use this as a potential guide or platform for building their own version of these two. I've gone through about five main iterations with this deck archetype. Learning from what worked and what didn't.
When looking at these two commanders, especially Reyhan, last of the Abzan, our intuition is we want to stack up as many +1/+1 effects as possible. We imagine our game is moving counters around and getting incredible value. My first build was always going to be the dream big version. Basically upgrading the Breed Lethality, packing in all the +1/+1 effects with Reyhan being the central focus of getting value and huge creatures. If you check out @Blueteam5 build here, it was the frame work for my first build.
The reality check is that no matter how amazing your board setup is, a board wipe leaves you stalled, back to square one. That deck archetype in particular is hard to build up again as it's all about incremental +1/+1. Some decks are able to get right back in it with a Living Death for example, but in this deck archetype getting the creatures onto the battlefield and building them up are two separate things.
However, the surprise of the deck is just how much Ishai, Ojutai Dragonspeaker or Reyhan, last of the Abzan become voltron commanders for fast wins. Too be honest, when I was first tackling these commanders, I thought that Ishai would just provide some "good" value via Reyhan. My intention was never to kill players with lethal commander damage, I just assumed she would provide additional +1/+1 counters for the general engine of the deck. What I've found is that an undisrupted and/or protected, Ishai becomes the biggest creature on the table by a lot, fast and early and threatens to kill players in two or even one turn.
In a two or three turn sequence she is often the greatest creature to fly the skies. She can battle with the likes of Emrakul and shake out her feathers for another day.
Ishai, Ojutai Dragonspeaker doesn't seem like an obvious choice for a competitive voltron style deck. She doesn't have in built protection like other popular builds like: Sigarda, Host of Herons or Uril, The Miststalker. However she does have some evasiveness in flying. The reason why she is so good is that you literally don't need to put in any specialized cards to make her big. Opponents do that for you. If you can imagine you replace what normal voltron decks have as "buff" cards, and play with protection and disruption cards instead. This is the other reason why she is so good is that you can play blue for the best disruption in the game..counterspells. This is the "Countermeasures" part of the deck, and there is a lot of it. Most voltron commanders are not in blue.
Obviously you get games where people have an early answer, and that early game line of just killing people before they get setup doesn't always work out. So the deck does have other lines of winning and allows you time to setup the protection side of the board, before giving it another go.
Over the five iterations of builds, to give it more of a competitive edge, I progressively removed the +1/+1 centric cards, to more controlling elements, like counterspells, removal and protection.
Finally it's four-color control deck, with aggressive commanders to finish the games quickly. It gives very little breathing room for opponents to setup. In many ways this is like legacy's Sultai or Esper Delver decks but for the commander format. Get a flying creature that applies pressure, then the rest of the deck is focused on cheap disruption.
I've already done a post on some of the additional benefits of partners if you want to check it out here.
But this is an interesting way of getting people into four-color strategies, without forcing all the color requirements to get their commanders into play. There are legendary cards like General Tazri, that have the mana symbols in the card text, to allow for casting without much color requirements, but these partners have the special advantage that they are cheaper to cast and provide two cards.
This deck might be for you if...
Alternate commander options:
Rafiq of the Many - bant colored commander, allows you to play blue for disruption with a hard hitting general
Playing other partners next to Ishai. At this stage I have not explored alternative partners to Reyhan, as the synergy between these two is outstanding. But there are alternatives, especially if you are looking to make a budgeted version for more affordable mana base.
A brief grouping of key cards. I'm not going explain why a Sol Ring is good in the deck, I'll not treat you like an idiot
This deck does not focus too many cards on +1/+1 counters, outside of our generals, but we have some incredibly mana efficient cards to benefit from counters. Hardened Scales will make Ishai big fast. Retribution of the Ancients is an amazing card in this deck, removing threats and/or locking opponents out of playing creatures into it. Sage of Fables is actually a key card in the deck. Her ability to draw cards for value, plus the fact that she gives Wizards additional counters means that you can keep using Glen Elendra Archmage indefinitely.
Protection
At the heart of this deck is a protection suite that makes spot-removal extremely hard to remove our commanders. Selfless Spirit is a nice addition to respond to a Supreme Verdict, which will get past our countering.
Evasion
Most times Ishai is the biggest thing in the skies, eating Dragons for breakfast, so her ability to apply pressure, even in the face of flying blockers, still makes her great. But these cards are key to insuring the fatal blows when opponents are able to put up flying blockers.
Counterspells
The corner-stone for being such a successful deck over other voltron builds. Stopping key disruption, like mass board removal, or in a pinch to stop spot-removal. Hard for opponents decks to out-right win, with being able to stop their key cards as well.
Disruption
Some nice mana efficient disruption from a range of colors, means that you can potentially not get locked out by any particular color hoser.
Mana fixing
The deck does not aim to go over-the-top with mana ramping, as it plays a fair game by playing out a threat, then protecting it. Often we are playing one card for our turn, then holding up mana for disruption.
Sacrifice outlets
These enable you to sacrifice in response to either removal or attacking or blocking to give the ability to make ANY creature on the board huge. You can sacrifice Ishai or Reyhan at any time to shift the +1/+1 to a creature. Greater Good being the best of the sacrifice outlets. Quite often Ishai is sitting on plus ten counters, so you can sacrifice her, move the counters to another creature, draw ten plus cards, then recast Ishai. Once again you can sacrifice the creature with the counters to move the +1/+1 counters, probably back to put Ishai to get her up to lethal commander damage without having to wait for her to build up again.
Searching library
Using an array of the best searching library cards from colors, makes a four-color deck very powerful when centered around creatures.
Game finishers
Both these cards can virtually finish a game the turn they are cast, Cataclysm being the best.
The deck grouped by converted mana cost
One of the key aspects of the deck is the relatively low casting cost of the deck. It peaks out at 5 mana and the bulk remains within average cmc of 2.37. The reason to keep the curve relatively low, is that we are looking to only play out one or two cards for board presence per-turn, while holding up mana for disruption, especially counterspells. It helps us remain competitive in the face of Stax as well.
The deck grouped by color
A fairly even spread between blue, green and white, with black being the least splashed. The mana base is especially focused around blue mana, as this is the most important to keep multiple sources up for counterspells.
Reyhan, last of the Abzan + Blade of Selves = In a 4 player game, will garner you 18 +1/+1 counters each attack. 3 (+1/+1) x 2 (dead Reyhan) x 3 (number of Reyhans seeing triggers)=18. If you target herself she will be attacking for 21 commander damage first time.
One interesting twist to the voltron mechanic is that both Ishai and Reyhan can provide lethal commander damage (although they are treated as their own separate identities for commander damage if you're wondering). If you have a sacrifice outlet you can attack with both creatures and if you have enough +1/+1 counters on the board that either of them represents lethal damage, you can sacrifice the one that is blocked to move the counters for the killing blow. You can also spread out the damage so that Ishai and Reyhan attack separate players, building up commander damage for different players in the same turn. Certainly a new aspect to the game.
The deck can also go wide and have big non-commander creatures, so its not just stuck with being commander damage only win-cons. If you are allowed to just keep playing out creatures then you will get overwhelming board states.
Reusable cards in the deck for killing creatures are: Retribution of the Ancients and Attrition. A common line, is to sacrifice Reyhan to Attrition to remove a big threat, move the counters to Ishai, then recast Reyhan. Ishai gets +3/+3 and you've removed something that's threatening to take over the game. Also there are a few cheap creatures that can be sacrificed to Attrition in a pinch like Sunscape Familiar, Birds of Paradise, Deathrite Shaman, Noble Hierarch, Eternal Witness, Stoneforge Mystic.
Glen Elendra Archmage is a central focus for controlling the game. Quite often an early choice for the creature tutors in the deck. She combos with Reyhan, in that you can distribute +1/+1 counters to nullify her -1/-1 counter. Meaning that you can keep her around indefinitely given correct setups. Gavony Township and Sage of Fables are other ways to remove the -1/-1 persist counter.
Seedborn Muse and Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir are one of my favorite ways to get pseudo extra turns. With greens ability to tutor up creatures, Fauna Shaman or Survival of the Fittest enables you to set this up early.
Cataclysm and Tragic Arrogance are amazing cards in this voltron style approach. You can put all the counters onto one of your creatures. Realistically killing one opponent and giving the others just a few turns to answer your threat. These are a real advantage over other voltron deck types where usually extra cards are needed to give your commander the buffs. Having to select just one of each can mean that you lose some value. We have none of those problems with this build.
Captain Sisay can get it all for this deck. She can get mana fixing with Gaea's Cradle or Selvala, Heart of the Wilds. She can get evasion with Thassa, God of the Sea or Nylea, God of the Hunt. She can get protection with Kira, Great Glass-Spinner. She can get disruption with and combo with Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir. Gaddock Teeg is also a nice piece to get to ensure against most mass removal or powerful spell decks.
You have to be careful with Kira, Great Glass-Spinner, because its a bit of a nonbo when it comes to distributing +1/+1 counters. However use this card as more of a lock piece when you're already setup with a killing Ishai or Reyhan.
So it might seem that all the deck does is jam it's commanders and hope that you can stop anything untoward for the rest of the game. Well for the most part this is true, but there are some subtleties that can be done through the course of games and sequencing.
Early game:
The deck has a nice low curve and we have 19 cards that we can cast on the first turn. That give us a 83.42%% chance of have a first turn play. We also have 19 cards with cmc of 2, so that give us a 86.92% chance of having a turn 2 play (actually its higher than this, because a lot of the first turn plays are mana accelerants). Of course with Reyhan and Ishai we have a guaranteed 3rd and 4th turn plays. So this deck is almost always going to curve out.
To jam Ishai or not jam Ishai, that is the question?
I've found the best thing to do is just to play her out as early as your mana allows you and force your opponents to have an answer. Its interesting that because she doesn't start off big, people are less likely to counterspell or remove her early. This is a mistake, as it give you time to untap with mana up for protection.
If she is removed early, then by the time you are looking to play her out again, its likely that you have drawn one of your protection cards.
Either your opponents are not casting spells, which means you have tempo to setup on your side, or they are playing out cards and it just takes a few turns before Ishai is large enough to be threatening lethal damage.
Opponents spot removal soon becomes bad for them in this matchup as we do have a lot of ways to protect our commanders.
Mid game:
Quite often you are already threatening to kill one player or have already removed a player. Most of the time I focus on the powerful spell decks, getting them before they can setup. This really is one of the best things about the deck is that you have legitimate ways to kill combo players, without needing to get lucky drawing from your 98.
If we have had the unfortunate experience of our commanders being removed, then by this stage we should have an on-board protection card(s) like Mother of Runes, Spellskite, Asceticism, etc
By this stage we should have a counterspell or two to stop the really bad stuff. This is probably the most important part of playing this deck, in that using your counterspells only for the most game-breaking effects.
Do not stop anything medium your opponents are doing. One thing that's tempting to do is to counter a spell which removes part of your board. Really weigh up the effects and be patient with potentially taking a loss, for the sake of more long term plans. For example if Ishai is targeted for spot-removal and you have Reyhan in play, you're often better off letting it resolve, as the counters can be distributed and you can recast Ishai. Save those counterspells for mass removal and game-winning combos by your opponents.
Also often an opponent will play out a card which is problematic. However weigh up the options, and rather than countering the spell instantly, you can focus your attention on killing that player, so that you remove the problem all together. I've often done this. For example a player might play out something like a Sheoldred the Whispering One and you might only have 3 creatures in play. Your first reaction is to counter it because its just going to eat up all your creatures over 3 turns. However, its likely that you can provide lethal damage to that player over 2 turns. So often its better to save the counterspell for later, taking the losses of some of your creatures, only to remove that player before it gets your Ishai.
Sacrificing a large Ishai to a Greater Good mid game, often means that you can draw so many cards that you will have the complete suite of cards to remove or counterspell anything game-breaking. Do this with Reyhan in play so the counters remain in play. The fast artifact mana and mana creatures will allow you to play out Ishai again, and have mana up for disruption.
Late game:
By this stage most opponents have probably taken enough commander damage that even a medium hit by Ishai will probably do the trick. But going late game is not optimal, you want to have stopped any big setups and engines at this stage, otherwise its possible to just get overwhelmed with things to counter between opponents.
Often if you've got to the late game and opponents are still alive, well at least one or two of them, then Ishai and Reyhan have probably been answered, and you are looking to cast them out probably with quite a high mana tax on them. You're probably really wanting to have existing on-board protection like Asceticism and/or Privileged Position, as you will realistically be tapping out, or very low to get them out under high mana cost.
There are nice late game engines with this deck, getting value from Retribution of the Ancients and Sage of Fables, that allow you to go over-the-top with card draw and creature removal. Essentially locking your opponents out of the game.
Cataclysm and Tragic Arrogance are nice ways to finish the game fairly quickly, if not basically on the spot.
1 Ishai, Ojutai Dragonspeaker
1 Reyhan, Last of the Abzan
Evasion
1 Thassa, God of the Sea
1 Nylea, God of the Hunt
1 Whispersilk Cloak
Mana ramp
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
1 Chrome Mox
1 Mana Vault
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Deathrite Shaman
1 Noble Hierarch
1 Bloom Tender
1 Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
1 Mirari's Wake
Protection
1 Sylvan Safekeeper
1 Mother of Runes
1 Selfless Spirit
1 Spellskite
1 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Asceticism
1 Privileged Position
1 Lightning Greaves
Disruption (and Protection)
1 Cataclysm
1 Tragic Arrogance
1 Nature's Claim
1 Beast Within
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Swan Song
1 Arcane Denial
1 Counterspell
1 Pact of Negation
1 Stubborn Denial
1 Mana Drain
1 Forbid
1 Negate
1 Disdainful Stroke
1 Muddle the Mixture
1 Force of Will
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Retribution of the Ancients
1 Blade of Selves
1 Hardened Scales
1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
1 Seedborn Muse
Sacrifice outlets
1 Viscera Seer
1 Attrition
1 Greater Good
Tutors
1 Eladamri's Call
1 Fauna Shaman
1 Captain Sisay
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Trinket Mage
1 Survival of the Fittest
1 Stoneforge Mystic
Draw
1 Sage of Fables
1 Rhystic Study
1 Sylvan Library
Graveyard Recursion
1 Eternal Witness
Lands (37)
1 Rogue's Passage
1 Mana Confluence
1 Bayou
1 Flooded Grove
1 Prairie Stream
1 Marsh Flats
1 Flooded Strand
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 Command Tower
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Arid Mesa
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Exotic Orchard
1 Gavony Township
1 Temple Garden
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Mystic Gate
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Polluted Delta
1 Savannah
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Scrubland
1 Sunken Ruins
1 Tropical Island
1 Tundra
1 Underground Sea
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Watery Grave
1 City of Brass
1 Breeding Pool
1 Adarkar Wastes
1 Yavimaya Coast
1 Underground River
1 Snow-Covered Forest
1 Snow-Covered Island
Change History
+ Muddle the Mixture
+ Nature's Claim
+ Beast Within
+ Rhystic Study
+ Sylvan Library
+ Stoneforge Mystic
+ Whispersilk Cloak
+ Sword of Feast and Famine
+ Sword of Light and Shadow
+ Adarkar Wastes
+ Yavimaya Coast
+ Underground River
Removed:
- Master Biomancer
- Daghatar the Adamant
- Corpsejack Menace
- Ghave, Guru of Spores
- Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest
- Rite of Replication
- Aura Shards
- Cauldron of Souls
- Fathom Mage
- Godless Shrine
- Snow-Covered Plains
- Fetid Heath
+ Attrition
+ Sylvan Safekeeper
Removed
- Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter
- Sword of Light and Shadow
+ Rogue's Passage
Removed
- Sword of Feast and Famine
+ Enlightened Tutor
+ Force of Will
+ Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
Removed
- Birthing Pod
- Sunscape Familiar
- Aven Mindcensor
I specifically left out most of the big additional +1/+1 counter cards like: Doubling Season, Deepglow Skate, Vorel of the Hull Clade, Corpsejack Menace, Master Biomancer, Cathars' Crusade. The reason is that spending the mana to get extra +1/+1 counters is low priority for this deck build. Ishai provides all the necessary counters to provide for lethal commander damage.
For example there is a combo with Rite of Replication with kicker targeting Reyhan, which garners you 90 +1/+1 counters! However 90 counters is all fine and dandy, very fun, but the reality is that you just don't need that much, and you'll NEVER be tapping 9 mana for a spell.
I also left out some of the other creatures that grow bigger with opponents casting spells like: Managorger Hydra, Forgotten Ancient, Sunscorch Regent
I had these in previous builds, and they are nice counter generators, but actually casting them in conjunction with Ishai, is mana that I'd prefer to hold up for disruption and protection.
I've also removed some of the benefiting cards from +1/+1 counters, like Fathom Mage, Gyre Sage and Mindless Automation. These were hard cuts, but after testing I found that more often than not the +1/+1 are being protected well enough that shifting to creatures other than Ishai or Reyhan doesn't happen that often.
This is not a variation or upgrade of the Breed Lethality pre-contructed deck. This is primarily focused as lethal commander damage mixed in with the best counters and disruption for mana efficiency.
"Voltron" is usually synonymous with equipment and/or auras to buff up the creatures. This deck has the unusual angle that its not the content of the deck that provides the buffs so much, the commanders themselves do that.
One future thing I will add to this post is giving a guide on how people can build a separate deck from Breed Lethality using Reyhan and Ishai and on a medium budget. For people who want a second deck, but don't want to fork out a lot.
Niv-Mizzet Reborn
Feather, the Redeemed
Estrid, the Masked
Teshar
Tymna/Ravos
Najeela, Blade-Blossom
Firesong & Sunspeaker
Zur the Enchanter
Lazav, the Multifarious
Ishai+Reyhan
Click images for decks->
-Prime Speaker Vannifar
---------------------Will & Rowan Kenrith
Commander 2016 has given us some characters that have been part of Magic storyline, but now also come to us as legendary creature cards, and even using the new mechanic of "partner" allowing for playing both of these as your commanders. I saw it as a unique opportunity to revisit theses characters, and what roles they played in the Magic Multiverse.
The events are for the most part from the Uncharted Realms series of stories that you can read and enjoy on the Wizards of the Coast website.
These two characters stories are specifically from the Tarkir block. Mainly the story lines from No End and No Beginning, Khanfall and The Great Teacher's Student.
No End and No Beginning
http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/no-end-and-no-beginning-2015-02-11
Khanfall
http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/khanfall-2015-02-18
The Great Teacher's Student
http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/great-teachers-student-2015-03-04
If you have read the series then hopefully you’ll enjoy the following stories as it retells familiar tales, just with the twist that it is specifically through the perspective of Reyhan and Ishai.
If you haven’t read the series then hopefully you’ll enjoy this as well, as it stays true to the story. You will learn about much about Tarkirs fate being reforged.
That fateful day when Dromoka had given audience to the Abzan khan Daghatar. The khan had learned of Dromoka disdain for practices of honoring their dead, and in doing so, instead of committing to a final stand against the tyrants, he smashed their most sacred of artifacts, the Remembrance, to appease the dragon lord.
One of the house guards of the Sandsteppe Citadel reported that a band of Abzan soldiers had arrived, and that one of the visitors, Merel wanted court with the houses leaders. One of these leaders was Reyhan.
Reyhan was joint commander of three houses of Abzan. She was born into one of the great military families and she herself had a special flair for the ways of war. She was still young, but years ahead of most of the other generals when it came to tactics and success on the front against dragons.
Merel was the uncle of Daghatar, and it had been several weeks hence that Reyhan and he had not seen eye to eye. A meeting had been arranged between all the Abzan leaders. It was becoming a grueling war of attrition against the dragons, one that they were losing badly. The khan was looking for answers to sway the tide of defeat. Reyhan offered that they continue the battle with their oppressors, as the Abzan were stronger than was being given credit. Merel thought this was folly.
She was curious as to why he had made his way across the salt road so soon after the gathering?
As Merel gave audience, the blood drained from all their faces, as he told them of the deal Daghatar had struck with the dragons and the decree that all kin-trees were to be destroyed and that rituals to their ancestors prohibited. Reyhan stood aghast, wide-eyed and in shock. She could hardly believe what she was hearing.
It was only when she heard shouting that she snapped out of the astonishment she held by the betrayal by her khan. They were from her cousin Arisztid, firstborn of their family warriors, and warden of their kin-tree. Each Abzan family bears a kin-tree, a sacred fruit baring tree to which the dead members of the family are fed, and where their names are carved. The spirits of the ancestors can be summoned from these kin-trees, and the Abzan carry and consume the resin, sap or amber in order to connect with the spirits.
Being the warden of a kin-tree was the greatest honor among an Abzan families, and not a day would go by when Arisztid did not imagine himself fighting off potential raiders, but not once did he imagine it would be his own people.
The troupe of soldiers that accompanied Merel had entered the courtyard where her house kin-tree stood and tried to forcibly hack it to pieces.
By the time she made it to the courtyard, five soldiers lay on the ground. One of them was Arisztid. He had fought off almost a dozen, slaying four before he fell. A valiant effort, she would carve his name into the tree and he would be remembered as one of her family’s greats. The rest of the men had started hacking away at the trunk, before she cut them down as if they were no more than branches themselves. It had not been much of a fight. Even in the chaos she could see it in their eyes that they were lost. Men without cause, following orders without justification.
She knew what must be done, there was no time to hesitate. She set off like a sand storm across the dessert, rallying up as many of the houses that were outraged enough to disobey their leaders. They would not give up their connections to their ancestors and they would continue to oppose the dragons.
It had not been even half the numbers she expected. Logistics made things even harder. By the time she had reached a dozen fortresses, the rest were cut off by Daghatars orders. She reflected, or was it now Dromokas command? No longer did these warriors look to the skies for enemies. Now they were ordered to take down their own kin, bond and blood alike.
Her whole life had been focused on warfare between dragons and skirmishes with the outside clans. Battlefield tactics were her strengths, not stealth and subterfuge. But her agenda was to get the word to any of those whose hearts belonged to standing up to the dragon tyrants. Much of her time was spent organizing escape parties for the houses or even small bands of rebel soldiers who were disgusted at what was happening to their beloved way of life.
In some of the dessert fortresses there was all out civil war. Fighting went on for days, laying ruin within the walls until finally enough were laid dead so that one side was freed. But there was never a celebration at the end. Only regret.
She couldn’t fathom why any of them would forsake their right to their ancestors? But the years of war, the hopelessness of fighting the dragons had taken their toll. Finally some sort of end was in sight and their khan had done what very few would have even imagined was a path. Many of them would curse out loud the deed that had been done, but in their thoughts they thanked their leader, a severed line to their dead, but possible future for their living.
Daghatar had abdicated the title of khan, part of Dromoka demands that hence forth there was to be no clan Abzan and no khan to rule them. An Abzan khan of past was an appointment by all the houses of the Abzan. This was how it had always been. Of course not always did they agree upon a leader initially, but through election, eventually one would stand out. But this was a clan divided like no other time and the free Abzan needed a khan. This was a time for war not diplomacy and one commander stood out above the rest. None other in the entire clan could claim more success than Reyhan on the battlefield, and without much debate she was elected by the remaining Abzan houses as khan of her people.
She accepted the title and felt justified in it. Did it feel hollow, somehow fake, that there were only a tenth of her people to bestow her this rank? She had never dreamed of power, this was never her motivation. Her quick rise through the ranks of the military was out of necessity. She had an intuition for war, she knew how to organize war parties, and she knew how to win. Her drive was killing dragons. So for her, no, it did not feel hollow, it did not feel fake. The people around her now were the last of the Abzan, and she was now their leader, their khan.
At first the free Abzan were three fortresses held strong against the dragons and their new clan of followers. But after being besieged on all fronts she made the decision to fall back into her family’s Sandsteppe Citadel. There really were not enough left of free Abzan to be divided and spread so thin. It was them against the world it seemed.
She always paused for a second when she thought of the word “enemy”. Once most of them were like her brothers and sisters, fighting side by side. But now there was no tolerance between the true Abzan and these Dromoka slaves, as Reyhan like to think of them. The word was that Dromoka would not accept a peace until the holdouts, as they were now the called, had subjugated or were eradicated.
She grabbed a dozen of her closest honor guard and rode with them during the dark of night, without warning, so that she may get some distance before anything untoward could intercept her path. The salt road was no longer an option for traveling, heavily guarded and watched. But she knew these plains well. One must when conceiving every possible advantage in warfare, and do you think dragons cared about converging on a road? No, her battles were fought out in the merciless dessert, where the dragons roam.
They arrived at the lake where the Stronghold of Dirgur sat on an island near the middle. They had been spotted by the Jeskai monks and a war barge sent to carry her soldiers across.
When they arrived, they had gotten little sleep during the travel, and although the thought of food and rest was tempting, she was happy to receive word that Shu Yun wanted to convene in an hour. They were only here for one reason, ending the dragons. She was told to bring a minimal guard. She would have brought all of them, her lack of trust was at an all-time high and the thought of the various other clan members disturbed her. The only interactions with them in the past was that of fighting. But she had a deep respect for how they fought, never did she think them weak. It was the Sultai and their leader Tasigur, the Golden Fang, that she wanted to deal with the least. These creatures were responsible for atrocities against her people. She felt that they were no better than the dragons.
She thought better of bringing her whole contingent and instead brought four of her honor guard who she trusted with her life. They had all been together when they took down a dragon just before the civil war. It’s those type of events that bond soldiers together in a way that sometimes cannot even be found in blood kin relationships. It's an unspoken truth, and there is a literally sense of knowing that in times of peril, they have each others backs.
They entered the council room. Reyhan looked around and noticed that only two of the khans were present. She proceeded near to where Shu Yun of the Jeskai, and Alesha of the Mardu stood and bowed in a way that should befit respect between khans. Alesha, Who Smiles at Death, was the name the Mardu clan had given her. Reyhan wasn’t sure about this moniker looking at this women, who was just a little younger than her. But age and size were not the mark for those of great potential. Reyhan was all too aware that strength can come from within. She noted that Alesha had brought two bodyguards, an Orc and a human women.
Beforehand she had told her honor guard to stand far back, so that they could keep a view on all that were in audience. She had a command ready in case they were going to be in need.
"Welcome," said Shu Yun. "I commend you for coming. You have the least to spare of any of us."
This surprised Reyhan a little, she hadn’t thought of it in this way, this meeting was one of the few options for a real stand against the dragons.
"Perhaps," said Reyhan. "But we also have the most to lose if this effort fails."
A women wrapped in bear furs with a long claw-tipped staff entered the room alone. Reyhan knew who she was from tales told, but had never met her before. It was not often that any disputes of territory or resources were waged with the Temur clan, and this was obviously their khan, Yasova Dragonclaw.
"It's good to see you again, Dragonclaw," said Shu Yun.
"I can't say the same," said Yasova. "No offense, but I'd rather none of us were here."
"None taken," said Shu Yun. "I think all of us would prefer it that way. But this is bigger than any of us."
Finally the last of the five clans arrived. The young slim and pale grey skinned Sultai khan named Tasigur, walked into the room and out of breath. Clearly not used to the hardship of campaigns thought Reyhan.
"I'll be damned," said Tasigur. "We're really all here." The last he looked at was Reyhan. "Well, almost all of us. No offense, of course."
Reyhan knew that she would not command the same respect that a fully elected member of the Abzan would. But this still did not make it any easier to hear from such an insolent figure of a creature. She glared at him through narrow eyes.
"Welcome, all of you," said Shu Yun. "This meeting is unprecedented, and I'm afraid the protocol is rather vague. But I expect all of us to treat one another with the deference due our station."
"Of course," said Tasigur, inclining towards Reyhan, but she could feel that it was more mocking than respect. "Forgive my rudeness, ahhh..."
Saying her own name to him was all that she could bear, but she told him. He seemed ignorant enough to not actually know.
Tasigur continued, "...Reyhan khan. As I said, I meant no offense, but only to acknowledge the dire circumstances in which we all find ourselves."
"Dire circumstances," scoffed Alesha. "And if your own circumstances were better, no doubt you wouldn't be here at all. The way I hear it, these days you're lord of nothing but scrawny servants and thirsty bloodflies. Or have the naga finally returned to hold your hand?"
"Such bravado!" said Tasigur, as he approached Alesha. "You'd think it came from something more than a glorified bandit covered in dust and horsesh—"
"Enough!" Shu Yun cut him off. "That's enough. We are here because all of us, and our clans, are in existential danger. We can no longer afford to fight each other. We can no longer afford even to fight the dragons separately. We must stand together, or our ways of life will vanish from the world."
Out of the corner of her eye, Reyhan could see the Mardu guards shift, ready for something more. She herself was half expectant for the need to bear arms, but felt a bit guilty at being disappointed when Alesha shrugged off Tasigur words.
"Shu Yun is right," said Alesha. "If our circumstances were better, none of us would be here."
"No," said Tasigur, convinced. "We wouldn't."
"Everywhere," said Shu Yun, "dragons are overrunning our homes. No one can deny that the storms strike more often now, and more intensely. There are simply too many dragons. No one seems to know the reason for it, what changed. But everyone knows it is true."
"I know the reason," said Yasova quietly.
The words hung for a moment in Reyhan mind. What did the Temur khan know?
"It was years ago," said Yasova. "I was on...a vision quest, of sorts. I had foreseen that the dragon storms would cease if I..." She grimaced. "I know how it will sound. But I saw that the storms would cease if I helped a malevolent dragon spirit kill the great Ugin."
Ugin was a dragon that Reyhan had heard of, but knew little of. Her domain had become the world of the hard-scaled dragons that were born in the tempest storms in her territory. They presented enough immediate danger that thinking of the other dragons and their capabilities or motives was simply too much to consider.
"You sought...to kill the Spirit Dragon?" said Shu Yun.
"I had to!" said Yasova. "Your people die to the dragons, just as much as mine. If you thought you had the slightest chance to end the tempests, to bring the dragons under control, wouldn't you take it?"
"Ending the storms would do more than bring the dragons under control," said Alesha. "It would eradicate them."
"Killing Ugin would stop the tempests?" said Tasigur. His eyes were greedy. "We could end the dragons once and for all?"
Yasova shook her head.
"I was a fool," she said. "Ugin is power. He is a force of nature. Even with the help of a spirit, how could I have thought it possible to destroy him? How could I have thought it wise?"
The pause was too much for Reyhan and prompted Yasova to carry on. "What happened?"
"I led the spirit to him," said Yasova. "I showed it the way. In the skies above the tundra, the two dragon spirits fought. The world shook."
"I remember tremors," said Shu Yun, "just before the storms intensified."
Reyhan thought back to a time when she was an adolescent, when she and her friends felt the shaking of not only the ground, but seemingly the very air that surrounded them. Time had faded this childhood memory, but she now reflected that it probably coincided with the intensification of the dragon tempests. This was the event which shook Tarkir.
"Everything was coming true. The other spirit cast Ugin down and vanished. Then...then he came. Another spirit. He appeared to me first as a vagrant, then as a great dragon of no breed I have ever seen. He called himself sar-khan, great khan. He told me of a future with no dragons in it, but not the prosperous future I had seen. A future where the khans fell to infighting and Tarkir was a place of ruin and war.
"Ugin's body struck the earth, and in that moment I knew that the sar-khan was right. Ugin was dying, and a vital force in the world was dying with him. The storms were dying with him. For a moment, everything was still. The sar-khan was wounded. I healed him, thinking to interrogate him, certain I had won, no longer certain I was right to. But he...he used some kind of magic I've never seen before. He encased Ugin in a great stone cocoon inscribed with draconic runes. The stillness ended. The tempests returned fourfold, the sky howling with fury at my presumption. And the sar-khan was gone, vanished back into whatever spirit world he came from.
"I didn't know what to do. Everything was worse than when I started. I tried to contact the other dragon spirit, to tell him that Ugin yet lived, to implore him to finish the job. I tried to breach the stone myself, with every force at my disposal. I even tried to heal Ugin through the stone, to beg him to calm the tempests and at least return things to the way they were. Not a hint. Not a scratch. Not a breath. The cocoon yet stands, and Ugin lies within it. The storms have raged ever since."
Reyhan mind was racing. She thought back to all her dead comrades. All her dead bond-kin. All her dead blood-kin. To the kin-trees that had been lost forever. She thought of her clan divided, friends and families made foe. Even the Remembrance, the artifact that bonded so many of their loved ones over the centuries, had been shattered and lost for eternity. These things were all Abzan and now she thought of how they were all dying. Dying because of the poor judgment of one person?
A fury built up inside of her and Reyhan exhaled “You”. “You let this happen. You made it happen. You've killed thousands of my kinsmen, forced thousands more to bend the knee to a dragon! Do you have any idea what you've done?"
Staring at Yasova with fire in her eyes, Reyhan waited for an answer, but got nothing but a look of guilty resignation.
Reyhan was sure to not let Yasova go without justification and promptly said "Do you have anything to say in your defense? Any reason at all I shouldn't drag you back to the only free Abzan fortress left and hang you from the walls for everyone to see?"
She was not even aware that Shu Yun had moved in between her and Yasova, so fixated on what she had heard and how this person had failed them.
"No," said Yasova finally. "None. I came here alone. I left my clan behind. If you want to kill me for what I've done, kill me. I just wanted to make sure that someone knew the truth."
It dawned on Reyhan that she was more sad than angry. She knew that these events could not be undone by killing Yasova.
"You did what you thought was right," said Alesha. "No one can fault you for that."
It was hard for Reyhan to get past the stupidity of Yasova actions, but accepted that she would have thought was doing the right thing and nodded at them to acknowledge this.
"I have no interest in placing blame," said Shu Yun, "or absolving it. The important thing is that we know more than we did. Perhaps that knowledge will save us."
With no hesitation Reyhan knew what the plan should be. "Our course is clear. We must pool our efforts and open that cocoon."
Tasigur retorted "Strike down Ugin. End the storms."
"The Jeskai will not aid any effort to kill the Spirit Dragon," said Shu Yun. "Ugin has always sought balance. Are your memories so short? He gave us concealment magic, the last time the dragons seemed to be gaining the upper hand. He values the dragons and the clans alike. If he were well, this would not be happening."
Reyhan was wise enough to know that they needed all the khans to be in agreement, so interjected. "Then we open the cocoon and heal him. If he truly values balance, he'll intervene. And if he doesn't, there's always Tasigur's plan."
"He's as likely to punish us as help us," said Alesha. "It's the great dragons we should be worrying about—they're flourishing in his absence. Forget Ugin. We should focus all our efforts on killing the brood-lords."
"There's no need for that," said Shu Yun. "The destruction of the dragons is no better than the destruction of the clans. We must seek balance. We must seek Ugin."
"The time for balance is past," said Tasigur. "We—"
The new Abzan khan would have ordinarily been aware of the sound of the ringing bells immediately, her hearing was excellent and her years of campaigning attuned to the warning signals. But her conscious was still focused on the fate of Tarkir.
It wasn’t until Alesha said "Wait. Do you hear that?" that suddenly Reyhan snapped to attention.
The bells got louder and louder.
"Dragons," said Shu Yun, confirming what Reyhan already knew.
Shu Yun looked out from their vantage and was quick to exclaim that it was indeed the arrival of a flight of dragons and at it's head was the dragonlord Silumgar.
This dragon Reyhan was aware of. Silumgar was the dragonlord of the brood that dominated the swamp lands where the Sultai resided. They were known for the fowl breath that poisoned the air and laid waste to anything that was unfortunate enough to fall within their death cloud.
This arrival was something Reyhan was particular surprised at. The thought of a dragon attack was within the realm of reason and had prepared her soldiers for this possibility before they even arrived at the stronghold. But she had expected that it would be some of Ojutai brood, as this was within that dragon’s domain. Dragons seldom dared to venture so far into another’s territory.
The Abzan commander was quick to summon her guard and she wanted them to be ready for an impending attack.
Then she heard more bells, this time from a different direction.
She joined Shu Yun at the window facing the north and what she saw confirmed her early thoughts that indeed it was too bold move on Silumgar to venture this far into the mountainous snow lands. It was dragonlord Ojutai that was flying in above the lake. Only hints of his body touching the surface water, but when they did it left icy trails. At least two dozen of his brood followed him in full flight.
"Never thought I'd be so relieved to see a dragon," said Reyhan. "They'll fight the others... Won't they?"
As she looked down, the monks of the stronghold were running around. It looked more chaotic than Reyhan imagined the studious monks should be. But the thought flashed in Reyhans mind that no single Tarkir native could have possibly seen this number of dragons all at once?
Out over the water, the two massive flights of dragons raced toward each other, crashed together...and merged, into a single cloud of soaring death that turned and headed straight for Dirgur Stronghold.
"They're coming here," said Shu Yun. "All of them are coming here."
"Dragons don't cooperate," said Yasova. "It's never happened."
"They might," said Shu Yun, "if they thought they could kill the khans themselves."
The idea of an assault from two different dragon clans at once seemed unthinkable and Reyhan said "They don't take human servants either. Times have changed."
But it was clear as the dragon clans carried on their assault in a single formation attack.
"How would they know we're here?" asked Alesha. "We flew no banners, any of us. And I doubt they'd cooperate like this just to attack a stronghold."
This was Reyhan worst fears come to pass. That this meeting was somehow a lie. Just like what had happened to her own clan, the Abzan, and that much of the enemy lied within.
"Someone must have told them about our little summit," said Reyhan.
"Someone did." said Alesha, staring at Shu Yun accusingly.
"I did nothing of the sort," said Shu Yun. Touching his hand to his forehead where the symbol of his clan, an eye, was tattooed and glimmered. "No dragon will suffer me to live. Why would I ally with them?"
"You'd forfeit your own life and all of ours if you thought it would save your clan," said Alesha.
Shu Yun hesitated.
"Yes," he said finally. He shrugged. "Honestly, I don't think it would."
"Where's Tasigur?" asked Yasova.
The question brought Reyhan focus back inside the room. Previously unaware that some of the Sultai and their khan had left.
"I thought you'd never ask," said the head of Tasigur's guard, a scarred man in ornate armor.
Alesha and her Mardu instantly ran to meet the Sultai members in battle. Reyhan also motioned her guard to join the fight, and she too drew sword. Perhaps it was because much of their focus was on the looming dragons, but the Sultai guards put up more of fight than she expected. They had some of her guard backed into a corner and she rushed to intercept a killing blow. The deflection bounced off blade and bit into her shoulder, cutting deep. By the end of the sortie they had killed two of her honor guard before they finally overcame the Sultai deceptors.
She winced at the pain in her shoulder and ripped off a sleeve, wrapping it to stem the bleeding. Yasova noticed her aliment and as a master of shamanic healing started to use binding spells to seal the skin and restore the ripped tissue. Reyhan was grateful, and she thought of all the times her clan had made mockery of the Temur ways. How ironic that she was now the benefactor of what was clearly powerful magic.
The rest of her Abzan guard had ran as fast as they could to the council room, after they heard the bells. They waited expectantly for the next series of orders from their khan.
Come on," said Alesha. She was smiling again—that unnerving, mirthless smile. "The khans, standing together against the dragons. Not quite what you were hoping for, but it'll have to do."
Shu Yun bowed. "I'm afraid I have a different role to play," he said. "Good fortune and good hunting. Do not underestimate Ojutai—he is as cunning as anyone alive. And if you find Tasigur...remind him that he came here under truce."
Shu Yun paused for a moment at the window, then leapt out.
The remaining khans were left to survey the scene. The dragons had reached the stronghold and were unleashing their might. Although there was no doubt that the Jeskai monks were capable fighters, this was simply one of the smaller strongholds and offered little in the way of defense from an assault like this. The khans were without their soldiers. Alone they could not hope to defeat this onslaught.
None of them had ever back away from a battle. Reyhan instinct of battles was unparalleled and she knew that this was not something that they would walk away from victorious. “We must warn the clans what has transpired and regroup with full force,” said Reyhan.
Alesha, was not smiling, but showing the seriousness of her resolve. “I am going to cut off the heads of Ojutai and Silumgar themselves, and nothing is going to stop me”. Her bodyguards clashed their arms to armor to signify their approval.
Yasova face was wary, she too would never back down from the ultimate glory of facing and killing a dragonlord, but she was all too aware of the magnitude of their plight.
“Reyhan is right,” said Yasova. “We must get back to our clans and fight as one.”
Again Reyhan took the initiative, she could see it in Alesha eyes that she was not going to walk away from this fight.
She turned towards the scribe that had been present the whole time. He looked away from the window. The Jeskai as a whole did not show much emotion, but it was clear on his face that something significant had happened in the scene below.
“How can we escape this stronghold?” Reyhan asked the scribe.
The scribes name was Quan. He told them that he would lead them to a boat and maybe they could try to cross without being detected.
The Abzan khan was determined that the Mardu warriors would live another day. “Help us get to boat first and then you can have your dragon heads.” said Reyhan. She hoped that there was an honor system in the Mardu that would poke at their pride to band together for a moment. It was the fight with the Sultai guards that caused a reaction in Alesha. Alesha looked her bodyguards and then exclaimed “We will help you with your little get-away plan. All the more dragons for us!”
Quan lead them down where they could exit the outer wall. The outlook was not much different to the inside of Dimar Stronghold. The sky was filled with the white and red feathers of Ojutais’ brood and also the slimy dark charcoal green scales of Silumgars’ clan dragons.
No sooner had they stepped out, that one of Silumgar dragons spotted them. It flew close and spat acid at them. Most of it missed their cluster of soldiers, but the hiss of burning armor could be heard and soon the gurgling of men in pain. Two of them were gripping at holes in their armor, small, but enough to burn into skin. Yasova quickly focused her magic on the men and although the wounds would not heal until proper treatment, she masked the pain enough so that the soldiers could pick themselves up to carry on the escape.
The dragon circled and this time the party was ready. Somebody was going to have to be bait. Standing your ground had never been a good strategy against dragons. All the dragon clans had fearsome attacks from their mouths and being in the line of fire, sometimes in the literal sense, was probably going to mean a quick death.
The large Orc of the Mardu knew his role. He had fought many battles, but it wasn’t until Alesha had pressed him after a skirmish with dragons that he had finally come to know who he was. Jagun Wingmate.
He had a way of asserting himself in situations where he would help others. His was never the killing blow, but his role would play no less of a part.
He swung his axe around like he was bloodthirsty for battle and the dragon become enraged at the insolence of this Orc figure.
The others had rounded to the sides and Alesha found a way to climb up the outer wall. Reyhan lead her guard behind some rocks so that they could engage once the dragon was grounded. The dragon started breathing out its fumes as it drew nearer, and even the touch of it on skin would be enough to kill a person. Slowly but surely.
At the last moment Jagun Wingmate dived out the way, not really meaning to strike the dragon, but simply to distract the beast. Jalasha, the other Mardu warrior was unleashing her arrows into the dragon’s neck. This caught its attention and it started to lumber towards the archer. Jalasha was balanced next to the outer wall and showed no signs of fleeing.
It was only at the last moment, that the dragon saw a flash of light above his head. He felt the soft fall of an object hit his cranial. But it wasn’t until the source of those reflections of light started slashing into skull that he was aware of his attacker.
Alesha had two enormous swords styled in a fashion that was common amongst her clan, broad flat blades, which were slightly curved in an arc. But it was the size and her abilities with them that were legendary. She had leapt from a rampart and landed directly on the dragons head. She was crossing her swords in slashing motions into the softer tissues of dragons skull and after a flurry leapt again to avoid the inevitable blasts of toxic fumes the dragon would wheeze out during its death coil.
Alesha let out a maniacal laugh. Jagun and Jalasha although immensely proud of what transpired, looked at each slightly embarrassed by their khan’s outburst.
Another dragon perched on a recess of the outer wall. It started barking in the draconic language. Not long after more of them took up the disturbing chatter. Quan had been looking on and ran up to them. He had learned much about the draconic language and although he didn’t speak it, he knew enough to understand what they were saying. “They have recognized you as the khans, they call to their masters.”
Reyhan had rallied around and spoke to Alesha, “I will not say you are foolish to remain here and fight till your death, I have seen for myself how not only do you smile at it, but laugh in its face.”
“But our strengths lie in our clans as a whole, not as single blades” said Reyhan, adamant in her resolve.
Alesha knew she was right. What right did she have not to give the rest of her clan the gift of glory?
A great shadow appeared behind them, blocking out the sun. Reyhan assumed it was from a dragon that stood no more than twenty yards, but as she turned to face it, she realized it was from a dragon still in flight from at least a hundred yards.
“My clan is lost,” shouted Reyhan to Alesha and Yasova. “We are but few in numbers now. It is your duty as khans of your clans to gather forces and fight these dragons in a battle that can be won.”
“Run, run now and we will hold him off for as long as possible.”
In the chaos Alesha, Yasova, Jagun and Jalasha slipped away.
The shadow was that of the unmistakable Silumgar. Much bigger than most of his brood he landed on the ground with a resounding ground tremor, almost knocking everyone in the surrounding area from their feet. It felt very cold now, but this was more to do with who they were in the presence of, rather than the sun being blotted out by his immense size.
The last remaining honor guard flanked Reyhan, and prepared themselves for their final stand. Yasova healing magic was still at work on Reyhan shoulder. The wound had mostly closed, but it still felt like muscle shredded. She gritted her teeth and promised herself that she would show no signs of weakness to this foul beast.
She motioned her soldiers to spread out and they knew weak points would be to hit the ankles and hope to immobilize Silumgar, well at least for a time. As he approached, Reyhan let out a war cry with all her might.
Her guard responded by running at the dragon from different directions, all at haste. Silumgar seemed annoyed that he needed to put in effort with these unappealing snacks, but he turned his body full and let his tail hit all the soldiers on his left side with tremendous force. Armor shattered and so did the bodies within. Those on his right side were now facing him directly and had little time to attack, but still rushed, with swords in full flight. Before they could reach him he exhumed a poisonous breath. It stopped the solders in their tracks, dropping swords to clutch their throats. With bleeding eyes and an unbearable burning on their skin, they could only really ask for the mercy of one of their own blades now.
In this moment Reyhan was able to run up to his side unnoticed, she stabbed at the underside of where wing meet body and hoped to distract Silumgar enough that the rest of her Abzan guard could find another opening of attack. Indeed it had got Silumgars attention and he reared up and came crashing down on Reyhan. But Silumgar was careful not to simple crush this being. For he wanted to have a look at what all the fuss was about these khans. Certainly the Sultai one had been a huge disappointment. Maybe the others were more impressive?
She was pinned and finally when Silumgar was satisfied that no one was of real threat, he looked down at her. She thought that he was going to crush her with his mighty jaws, but instead he just lazily let acid drip from his mouth. No more effort than a baby drooling. It sank into stomach and seared flesh from bones before she could scream.
Her shouts soon stopped when her spirit was leaving the body of what she remembered as herself. It was a moment of clarity. In an instant her world changed from mortal combat, to the halls of her for-bearers. They were waiting for her. She could feel them calling her. She felt their strength. She felt their wisdom, all of them combined into oneness. But this wholeness also felt the combined pain at losing so many connections to their families, their loved ones. Severed bonds that had not been that way since before the very first connections made between those that were dead and those that were living. It was just but a continuum, and really they were the same in life and death, Reyhan could feel this now. The immense feeling of oneness and wholeness overwhelmed her sense of bond to the Tarkir of now. But she was not ready to let go. It was her entire will to do something that few had done before. Her will was to help the living now. Her ancestors knew and they understood. They did not try to stop her, for it was their cause as much as hers.
With her last breath she imbued her spirit into any living soul that was willing to receive her. She would forgo her rights to her ancestral past and future, until justice was served.
It was one of her honor guard nearest that was keenly aware of the spirit incarnate. Without resistance he felt Reyhan spirit enter his soul. He felt her presence and he felt her power. There was a recognition in his heart that for as long as somebody was willing to fight for their clan’s justices, that their warrior spirits would remain in this world, to combine strength and give hope. Only when there was an end to dragons will they truly settle into the afterlife.
The Temur and Mardu managed to get away thanks to the efforts and distraction of the Abzan group. They would be honored Alesha swore.
She wore robes that all dragonspeakers did, but the marking on hers would distinctly identify her as being Ojutais’.
Ojutai was known as “The Great Teacher”. His cunning and intelligence were regarded to be the greatest among all the dragons.
Ojutai has been on the plane of Tarkir for much longer than fifteenth generations of other mortals would suggests. Ishai suspected Ojutai had little need to convene with the humanoids during the early years, when battles were the language used. But when the clans of the khans had yielded to the dragons, they had in turn became an extension of dragon clans themselves and communicating with them had become more of a common practice.
Being the translator for any dragon was one of the greatest honors among those that were not dragons themselves. Being the orator for Ojutai, the dragonlord of one of the five clans, was something of significance, perhaps the greatest position by a follower of dragons, in all of Tarkir. She certainly felt this way.
Most of the dragons understood the language of the human vernacular, and Ojutai could even speak it if he was inclined. But it was an effort for the dragons to form their throats to the small sounds of the windpipes that these creatures have, and so they prefer to have translators. Some of the dragons have no interest at all, draconic is the only true language in their eyes, to be revered and feared by others.
Ishai practiced the nuance of draconic whenever time allowed. Ojutai was careful to correct her, even certain body movements played a part in the language and Ishai was always aware that her aven body, although closer in shape to a dragon than the other races, still failed to duplicate exactly how her masters communicated.
A young female student had become a favorite of Ojutai in recent years and he had made her a master in the shortest time of any of his disciples. Her name was Narset.
Ishai remembered back to the first time she met Narset and she had become so excited at the prospect of meeting Ojutai that she actually squealed. This made her smile again.
But Narset had a mind quite unlike any other of Ojutai students, and her hunger for knowledge outmatched Ishai's, she could sense it.
In this pursuit for knowledge Narset found hidden archives around old monasteries and strongholds of what she would later learn were the Jeskai’s. Where ancient histories of Tarkir past had been vaulted away.
In these Narset had read about how the world was forged by wars between the dragons and humanoid clans. The dragons rule had not always been absolute.
Ojutai at the time had decreed that the khans and their clans be removed from the writings of history. But the Jeskai of the time had managed to keep much of their written history in various safe holds untouched.
Even though it was against his own decree, Ojutai knew that the past was little threat to him now. Ojutai and the other dragon lord’s rule was complete in the Tarkir of now. The word khan meant nothing to the people, and clans were solidified by the dragons, not the cultures of past. Ojutai was still wary about letting the past becoming common knowledge, but destroying the scrolls was not needed, and he let very few know of their existence.
Ishai, had read all the scrolls hidden in the vault under the Dragon's Eye Sanctuary.
Sometimes Ojutai had want of remembering past events afresh. She wondered how many times he had gotten a dragonspeaker to read them again. A dragon’s lifespan transcended time.
Ishai would send for Taigam, a monk, to collect the necessary parchments. She would then translate them to Ojutai. She had become skilled at putting emphasis on the words as to make them more vivid in translation. Ojutai was both amused and enjoyed this aspect of Ishai, and it would be something he looked for in future dragonspeakers, once Ishai was no more.
Today Ojutai asked for the scroll of khanfall from the Annals of the Sage Eye. Narset had found these scrolls under the Dirgur Stronghold on her quest for knowing.
His young student Narset had read through them and he wanted to remind himself of what transpired on that fateful day. His young student was of great importance to him, he wanted to place himself in her thoughts for a moment, to reflect on revelations that he lived, but she just learned.
When Ojutai had found out about the scrolls existence from Narset, he sent some monks to collect them from Dirgur and restore them as best as possible.
Ishai was particularly excited by this. She knew of the khanfall, in fact she knew most of the past of Tarkir in some respect. But this was something of great importance to the turning of Tarkir history and she was eager to learn new tales of old.
Taigam handed her the scrolls and Ishai waited for Ojutai’s audience before she started translating it. Taking her time, as the parchments were brittle and also so she could soak in all that she was reading.
She read about the meeting of these five clans whose ways are similar but different to the dragon clans of today’s Tarkir.
Finally she got to a part where it was clear that it had been written at a different time to the previous scripture. The hand writing was the same, but before it had been rushed, ink blotted and smeared. The rest of this had obviously been written in reflection, with time to be careful with the strokes of ink.
Ishai could not help but look at Ojutai in her peripheral vision, to see if he had some sort of reaction to these words. But her dragonlord did not move at all. The dragons were not known for much outward expression. Only if you were to feel their anger, did you get their range of emotions. But still from time to time she could sense a change in Ojutai when things were playing on his mind.
Ishai read the rest of the scroll. It told of the battle between the Abzan khan Reyhan and the dragonlord Silumgar and the escape of the other khans.
Ishai had read in other scrolls how the khans had eventually succumbed to the might of the dragons. That their destiny was not to fight them, but appease them.
And so it was today, dragons filled the skies and mortals lived in their shadows as followers. It was now the dragon broods of the five dragonlord clans which fought for dominance. It had been a turbulent thousand years since the khanfall and Ojutai had seen it all.
Ishai was also a scribe for Ojutai, and she spent many hours writing history as it transpired, through the eyes of her master. Knowledge was power and very few mortals had more knowledge than Ishai. She would accompany Ojutai through all the lands of Tarkir and with every passing day wondrous things would be revealed to her. Secrets only few knew. Secrets of magic. Secrets of treachery. Things of the highest degree to the fate of Tarkir. She knew and wrote about them all.
After a time pondering on the day’s events, Ojutai asked Ishai to pick up ink and parchment. Ojutai was wanting to add to his own annuls that dated back not long after the events of khanfall, as Ishai now just noted.
They were called, “Annals of the Dragons of Tarkir”.
Niv-Mizzet Reborn
Feather, the Redeemed
Estrid, the Masked
Teshar
Tymna/Ravos
Najeela, Blade-Blossom
Firesong & Sunspeaker
Zur the Enchanter
Lazav, the Multifarious
Ishai+Reyhan
Click images for decks->
-Prime Speaker Vannifar
---------------------Will & Rowan Kenrith
Niv-Mizzet Reborn
Feather, the Redeemed
Estrid, the Masked
Teshar
Tymna/Ravos
Najeela, Blade-Blossom
Firesong & Sunspeaker
Zur the Enchanter
Lazav, the Multifarious
Ishai+Reyhan
Click images for decks->
-Prime Speaker Vannifar
---------------------Will & Rowan Kenrith
I really liked the design of your Voltron deck. I have been trying to find deck ideas around my Breed Lethality commander deck and I have mostly focused on Atraxa (I went as far as removing Ishai from the deck all together!). But I really like the idea of focusing on the Partnet mechanic and building protection around Ishai.
Some comments on the deck:
I will definitely test this deck in my local playgroup. Thanks for your efforts publishing the deck and the different improvements you have made these last few weeks.
Martin
One interesting twist to the voltron mechanic is that both Ishai and Reyhan can provide lethal commander damage (although they are treated as their own separate identities for commander damage if you're wondering). If you have a sacrifice outlet (Attrition, Viscera Seer, Greater Good) you can attack the same player with both creatures and if you have the > 17 +1/+1 on the board (or just the number you need to provide lethal damage to that player. When you have 20 or so counters that you can shift, often players are already at 20 or less life, so ANY creature unblocked becomes lethal), if one of them is not blocked, you can sacrifice the other to distribute a lethal attack. You can also spread out the damage so that Ishai and Reyhan attack separate players, building up commander damage for different players in the same turn. Certainly a new aspect to the game.
Another common line, is to sacrifice Reyhan to Attrition to remove a big threat, move the counters to Ishai, then recast Reyhan. Ishai gets +3/+3 and you've removed something thats threatening to take over the game. Also there are a few cheap creatures that can be sacrificed to Attrition in a pinch like Sunscape Familiar, Birds of Paradise, Deathrite Shaman, Noble Hierarch, Eternal Witness, Stoneforge Mystic.
There is not enough basic lands for Perilous Forays. But the list I have has a very expensive mana base. I will look to do a more budget version of the deck, and most of that will be around getting basic lands as the central base.
You are probably right. But this deck doesn't aim to be too tricky or get over-the-top engines going. It literally is designed around being efficient and not getting carried away trying anything "special". Get your commanders into play, they are their own powerful engine, then counter or protect anything that's going to stop you from winning.
Niv-Mizzet Reborn
Feather, the Redeemed
Estrid, the Masked
Teshar
Tymna/Ravos
Najeela, Blade-Blossom
Firesong & Sunspeaker
Zur the Enchanter
Lazav, the Multifarious
Ishai+Reyhan
Click images for decks->
-Prime Speaker Vannifar
---------------------Will & Rowan Kenrith
Martin
Niv-Mizzet Reborn
Feather, the Redeemed
Estrid, the Masked
Teshar
Tymna/Ravos
Najeela, Blade-Blossom
Firesong & Sunspeaker
Zur the Enchanter
Lazav, the Multifarious
Ishai+Reyhan
Click images for decks->
-Prime Speaker Vannifar
---------------------Will & Rowan Kenrith
WB Ayli, Eternal Recursion WB - GUPir and Toothy GU - WBR Mathas, Fiend SeekerWBR
Niv-Mizzet Reborn
Feather, the Redeemed
Estrid, the Masked
Teshar
Tymna/Ravos
Najeela, Blade-Blossom
Firesong & Sunspeaker
Zur the Enchanter
Lazav, the Multifarious
Ishai+Reyhan
Click images for decks->
-Prime Speaker Vannifar
---------------------Will & Rowan Kenrith
Seriously I have noooooooooooooo idea what you're referring to?
Niv-Mizzet Reborn
Feather, the Redeemed
Estrid, the Masked
Teshar
Tymna/Ravos
Najeela, Blade-Blossom
Firesong & Sunspeaker
Zur the Enchanter
Lazav, the Multifarious
Ishai+Reyhan
Click images for decks->
-Prime Speaker Vannifar
---------------------Will & Rowan Kenrith
sorry my fault for not linking Bruse Tarl, Boorish Herder
Niv-Mizzet Reborn
Feather, the Redeemed
Estrid, the Masked
Teshar
Tymna/Ravos
Najeela, Blade-Blossom
Firesong & Sunspeaker
Zur the Enchanter
Lazav, the Multifarious
Ishai+Reyhan
Click images for decks->
-Prime Speaker Vannifar
---------------------Will & Rowan Kenrith