So this is my take on Toshi's Tiny Leaders deck. Since the new EDH format was introduced, I always wanted to try a mono-black deck to make my Cabal Coffers happy. As I search for a mono black legendary creature suited for this format, I stumbled upon Toshi.
Toshiro Umezawa is a black legendary creature from Betrayers of Kamigawa expansion. While he seems to be a puny 2/2, he can actually deal with Thalia or any other pesky 2/2s on a normal combat due to his bushido ability. What makes him unique is his ability that allows you to cast an instant spell from your graveyard whenever an enemy critter dies (not exiled).
What Toshi requires
Lots of instants.
Since black has lots of instant kill/edict spells, triggering Toshi to chain removals will not be that hard. With Toshi on the field, you have some sort of virtual card advantage especially if your bin is filled with instants. In this way, you treat your graveyard as an extension of your hand. Do note that your instant spell doesn't necessary to be a kill spell.
Toshi must've been the inspiration of Tiago himself (and possibly his mentor, except that he is not into swords or jittes, lol). It is important to note that Toshi doesn't really grant flashback to our instant spells in the grave like Tiago does and also, Toshi can't target sorceries. Also, Tiago can only do the trick once (entering the battlefield only), while Toshi can do it as long as you keep killing (sounds fun? no?). Toshi is also seemed to be morbid (no pun intended), that he even inspired the designers of innistrad for that ability. With that, it synergies well with his ability to go for kill after kill.
Keep in mind also that you will still have to pay for the spell's cost whenever your trigger Toshi's ability (it's not free) and you don't have to if you can't. The spell will only get exiled if you are able to cast it off using Toshi's ability.
Toshi's Kill Spells
Diabolic Edict - the classic edict spell and at instant speed. Gets around indestructible, hexproof, shroud critters and also protection. Disfigure - cheap spot removal that kills mainly dorks all day and ignores indestructible as well. Nerfs regeneration too. Dismember - an effective removal that can be played at a cost of 1 albeit paying 4 life. Kills pretty much almost everything in the format and also stops regeneration and ignores indestructible as well. Could potentially kill an active Athreos, God of Passage, Pharika, God of Affliction or Thassa, God of the Sea (be careful though, since they can respond in turning off Athreos' devotion (by e.g. sacrificing a creature they control) and thus wasting your spell). Funeral Charm - a cheap modal spell where you will frequently used the second mode often to deal with early dorks and pesky one or two drops. In this deck you'll find the discard mode less appealing, but the swampwalk mode could work wonders if we have Urborg out. Geth's Verdict - pretty much similar to Diabolic Edict, except that it costs BB, which really doesn't matter much since we are mono-black. It also makes the target opponent lose 1 life even if there are no creatures to sacrifice. Could potentially kill your opponent too. Go for the Throat - kills almost everything that is not an artifact creature or have indestructible. It sadly doesn't stop regeneration though. Smother - kills everything in the format that is not indestructible and protection from black. IMO, the best removal of the deck. Sudden Death - hate counterspells whenever you are killing critters that has toughness 4 and below? He is your answer. Dead is dead and nobody can respond. Interestingly kills an active Athreos, God of Passage surely. Tragic Slip - can be used as an early dork killers and could kill almost everything in the format with its -13/-13, which pretty much messes indestructible and regeneration. Tribute to Hunger - an edict spell that allows you to also gain life. Hero's Downfall - kills creatures or any annoying planeswalker like an opposing Lily or pesky Ajani.
Toshi's other Tech Spells
Dark Ritual - you want to cast Toshi in turn 1? Well there are times you may not want to, such as when you have Master of the Feast in your opening hand. Don't forget that you can always recast it one last time when Toshi is out after a kill. Also, how can you resist a turn 1 Lily? Suffer the Past - graveyard hoser that could potentially kill your opponent and gains you life loss from damage, or spells like Sign in Blood or your Phyrexian Arena. Best used with Cabal Coffers. With this, you can mess up dredges such as Life from the Loam and scavenge abilities. Withering Boon - it's a black counterspell!! It's pretty much a black Essence Scatter, albeit paying 3 life as an additional cost. It is a little less known black spell and all my opponents was always surprised whenever I cast this to counter their commander. They'll almost always look at the card and watch as their foreheads curl. As mentioned, it is best used to counter your opponent's commander and with Toshiro, you could do it again if they cast their commander again.
Toshi's Draw Spells
Night's Whisper - draws 2 cards for 2 mana that also costs 2 life. Sign in Blood - pretty much similar to Night's Whisper, except for the cost of BB and can actually kill an opponent who is at 2 life or less. Phyrexian Arena - the deck's draw engine. It could be risky in the late game where our life is low, so be wise about casting it. Lifelink creatures pretty much gains back the life lost.
What Toshi doesn't require
Lots of sorceries, duh.
Well, you can actually have a few like: Sinkhole - Toshi isn't really on the land destruction plan, but sometimes you need to get rid of some pesky man-land or utility land. It's also cheap and very effective. Toxic Deluge - one of the best black sweeper Toshi has access to. At a cost of some life, you can effective sweep the board clean. No regeneration, no protection and no indestructible - just plain dead to all. But then, running low in life and facing a very aggressive deck is a bad drawback of the card. Having it countered sucks hard too. Black Sun's Zenith - another good sweeper Toshi has in his arsenal. It has the same effects or benefits like Toxic Deluge, except that you pay mana instead of life. Another good thing is that as long as it resolves (not countered), it will shuffle back to our library, ready to be drawn and used again later. One more thing, the -X/-X are counters, which means, they don't go away at end of turn.
Toshi's minions
Well, you can't possibly win with just all those instants alone and Toshi himself isn't enough. For this, Toshi recruits creatures with evasion to do some ninja work (not really ninja creatures).
Toshi's Servants
Gatekeeper of Malakir - Toshi isn't really a fan of Vampires, but as long as they can help in the killing, he doesn't mind enlisting them. This guy technically costs BBB in order to use its edict ability. Master of the Feast - this huge fat demon is recruited by Toshi for some quick beats. It could potentially be cast turn 1 via Dark Ritual and becomes and immediate deadly threat, albeit letting our opponent draw on our draw step too (thus granting possibilities of drawing removal to kill it). It could potentially win games quickly if not answered. Phyrexian Crusader - Toshi's newest recruit and protects itself well against RW removals. This guy can end the game instantly if left unblocked and boosted with Howl from Beyond. Dark Confidant - the newest recruit and one of black's best card advantage generator. Toshi was impressed by Bob's motto and immediately accepted him in his ranks. With the format's cmc ceiling of 3, you don't have to worry flipping high cmc spells. Herald of Torment - probably Master of the Feast's little brother who just got Toshi's attention. He is best bestowed on Phyrexian Crusader for a 2-turn clock or even if you just feel like sending Toshi to the skies.
Liliana of the Veil - so, even this lady was boldly enlisted by Toshi. An edict effect in a permanent is really strong and synergies well with Toshi's ability to keep the killing going.
Toshi's Weapons
Sadly, Toshi can't use his own jitte in this format. But he can arm himself with a hammer or wear some boots. Lightning Greaves - protects Toshi from spot removals and grants him haste. Unlike Swiftfoot Boots that grants hexproof, this one grants shroud, which means even you as the controller could no longer target Toshi. You have to move the greaves to other creatures first if you wish to equip another artifact to Toshi, and then equip the greaves again. Loxodon Warhammer - grants +3 power with lifelink and trample. It's a good way to gain back the life lost because of our draw spells. Toshi can set aside his sword and do the "it's hammer time!" thing. Oblivion Stone - it upsets Toshi not to be able to kill off pesky artifacts or enchantments. Then he discovered this precious stone. With it and if you have some turn to spare before blowing it up, you may choose to put a fate counter on Toshi or any other non-land permanent you don't want to blow up with it.
Toshi's Lands
Toshi doesn't live on swamps alone, but in every other land that produces black mana or black oriented: Swamp - they say islands are broken, but Toshi begs to disagree Cabal Coffers - the king of the swamps Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth - makes your coffers even more broken Bloodstained Mire and Polluted Delta - not for color fixing but for thinning and deck shuffling. Can be replaced with ordinary swamps if desired. Myriad Landscape - fetches two swamps out from deck, doing some sort of ramp. It's almost very good, except that it ETBs tapped. Wasteland - Sinkhole's best friend in the deck, although it can't hit basics. Volrath's Stronghold - although Toshi hired only a few minions, recurring them with this could help out a lot especially that gatekeeper. Cabal Pit - taps for B at a cost of 1 life. But that's not about it. Upon reaching threshold (which is easy to have), it acts as your second Disfigure that gets around protection. Toshi laughs at an opponent who even tries saving their creatures using protection spells. Opal Palace - Toshi's castle (not really). It grants Toshi bonuses every time he is killed off and recast through this. It even gives the bonus even if you cast Toshi with this for the first time.
The Deck
Without any further ado, here is the deck:
Graveyard hate. Well sort of. You can still win even if your graveyard is hated out. Toshi's minions can punish those opponent who does this to you anyway. Toshi really plays control style and some sort of midrange beats to back-up his plans. Even without Toshi himself, winning is still a possibility. You can enjoy doing the turn 1 Dark Ritual to Phyrexian Crusader stuff and watch your opponent's shock... or just bring out Toshi if you want.
Toshi's Sideboarding Plans
Coming soon...
Match-ups
WIP...
Playing the deck is actually fun and sometimes no fun for your opponent. I will continue to make updates here since Toshi still seeks improvement as the new EDH variant grows. Until then, have fun playing the deck!
- Deck list updated!
- Updated "What Toshi Requires" section, "Toshi's Minions" section and "Toshi's Weapons" section and "added card details for new cards and removed omitted card details
- Added new section: "Toshi's Lands"
- Added new section (WIP): "Toshi's Sideboarding Plan" and "Toshi's Match-ups"
- Removed Blood Artist, Bloodghast, Dauthi Slayer, Nantuko Shade, Vampire Nighthawk and Strata Scythe
- Added Dark Confidant, Herald of Torment, Sudden Death, Cabal Pit, Wasteland, Myriad Landscape, Opal Palace and Sinkhole
- Added Feldon's Cane, Elixir of Immortality and Deathgrip to Sideboard
- Moved Toxic Deluge, Black Sun's Zenith and Oblivion Stone from sideboard to main
- Moved Arcane Lighthouse to sideboard
- Updated the "What Toshi Requires" section, added card details for newly added cards
- Deck list updated!
- Removed Dash Hopes, Jet Medallion and Sudden Death
- Added Undying Evil, Vile Rebirth and also, Hero's Downfall is back
- Added Bojuka Bog and also Oblivion Stone (sideboard)
- Updated the "What Toshi Requires" section, added sub-sections and card details.
- Updated the "Toshi's Minions" section, added a sub-section and card details.
- Updated the "Toshi's Weapons" section, added card details
- Updated deck list:
Out (Mainboard): Skirsdag High Priest, Nighthowler, Hero's Downfall
Out (Sideboard): Crypt Incursion
Added (Mainboard): Liliana of the Veil, Malicious Affliction, Herald of Torment
Added (Sideboard): Perish
I almost forgot about ole' Toshiro. I love your deck and I plan on making one myself! Great card choices, though I'm not sure about Skirsdag high priest.
I almost forgot about ole' Toshiro. I love your deck and I plan on making one myself! Great card choices, though I'm not sure about Skirsdag high priest.
Thanks!
Well yeah, the priest was actually a flex spot. I occasionally able to crack some 5/5 from him during playtests, but not that frequent. Probably I'll replace him with a sweeper mainboard, perhaps Toxic Deluge or even an Oblivion Stone.
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I feel as though Sword of Feast and Famine and maybe Sword of Fire and Ice should be auto-include. They make you more evasive and also generate card advantage and kill dudes (fire and ice) or whittle your opponent's hand and untap your mana (feast and famine) so you can play more kill spells.
Reanimate should also be considered, as could Entomb. Another option for lands would be Lake of the Dead (sometimes it doesn't do much, other times it acts as a dark ritual and destroys your opponent in a turn or two). I could even see Tainted Strike as a surprise finisher with things like shade/strata.
I feel as though Sword of Feast and Famine and maybe Sword of Fire and Ice should be auto-include. They make you more evasive and also generate card advantage and kill dudes (fire and ice) or whittle your opponent's hand and untap your mana (feast and famine) so you can play more kill spells.
Reanimate should also be considered, as could Entomb. Another option for lands would be Lake of the Dead (sometimes it doesn't do much, other times it acts as a dark ritual and destroys your opponent in a turn or two). I could even see Tainted Strike as a surprise finisher with things like shade/strata.
I'm still testing the swords you've mentioned and most likely, I'll go for Fire and Ice. As for Reanimate, I think Unearth will do just fine plus, you won't lose life and you can cycle it too if you need to draw. Although yes, Reanimate could also target your opponent's yard.
I agree about Lake of the Dead and as for Tainted Strike, I'll be trying that out.
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Am I correct in assuming that, in order to use Toshiro's ability at all, the opponent would have to have at least two creatures on the board: one that dies to trigger him and one to recieve the kill spell you flashback (commanders generally don't go to the GY so they only count in the second category). Does this in practice mostly make Toshi a good commander killer, or can you force most decks to play two non-commander threats at once against you for some reason? What about decks with very few creatures in them?
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Am I correct in assuming that, in order to use Toshiro's ability at all, the opponent would have to have at least two creatures on the board: one that dies to trigger him and one to receive the kill spell you flashback (commanders generally don't go to the GY so they only count in the second category).
This is the common line of play. You are correct that Toshi's ability won't trigger when the opposing commander dies since it goes to the command zone. But given this scenario, if opponent has a creature and then his commander in play and you with Toshi, you first kill the other creature and thus triggering Toshi, in which you could "flashback" the same kill spell and then kill their commander. Do note that Toshi's ability doesn't make the instant spell free, meaning you have to have open mana to recast it. Don't forget that you can also cast other instants such as Dark Ritual whenever Toshi triggers and in this way you have another BBB to spend.
Does this in practice mostly make Toshi a good commander killer, or can you force most decks to play two non-commander threats at once against you for some reason? What about decks with very few creatures in them?
I would really say yes for this. Toshi could play around or even deal with protecion, hexproof/shroud or even indestructibility. Also, don't forget that you can counter their commander (critically in turn 2 sometimes) with Withering Boon or even Dash Hopes. With a careful play and good timing, Toshi can even deal with the 3 gods in the format. As for your opponent forcing to play two non-commander threats at once, this is highly likely most especially if Toshi is in play. They tend to keep track of your graveyard for possible recursion and will attempt to kill Toshi before taking an act.
Cute, but I think decks thin on creatures are better handled by:
A) Not going overboard on main deck creature removal. Something like 5-ish spot removal and 5-ish edicts should be more than enough. This means you can board most of it out for discard and more relevant disruption like Needle games 2-3.
B) Having multi-purpose removal such as Hero's Downfall and Funeral Charm also means less pressure to board out irrelevant cards and more chances for having relevant cards game 1.
C) Instants that do more than just kill creatures, such as Dark Ritual and Suffer the Past. With enough of these, you can focus on using your kill spells for the commander of creature-light/less decks and "flashbacking" these spells instead whenever a non-commander creature is killed.
D) Accept that Toshi will sometimes be a Gray Ogre against fringe decks game 1, and just don't bother playing him in favor of more aggressive threats instead.
For my tastes, I'd try to bring out A-C more than Xanthic_Golem's list, probably cutting some of the more dedicated creature removal for more varied threats/equipment and some main deck discard. Some instants I think are worth considering but haven't been mentioned:
Darkness - a black fog False Cure - for the side Tainted Pact - clever land selection makes this better Plunge into Darkness - sac outlets that draw cards are good Altar's Reap - sac outlets that draw cards are good Undying Evil - as cheap as Unearth, timing restriction but beefs up the dude Wail of the Nim - another multi-purpose card that is good to flashback
Also, Dash Hopes is a terrible card and I think it should be cut. I'd definetely put Hero's Downfall back in its stead. For the side, I'd also recommend Ratchet Bomb and Oblivion Stone to handle non-creature permanents.
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I just logged this morning and I made a few changes last night on the deck. I've returned Hero's Downfall and put in the Tainted Pact too by a friend's suggestion. I'll by trying these and I'll try checking out some more good instant spells.
I've recently been playing Toshi in Tiny Leaders and I have a few suggestions.
Cremate and Headstone are normally cantrips, but in this deck they can easily be think twice. Transmute spells such as Dimir Machinations and Shred Memory are pretty good tutors. Isochron Scepter is insane with all the instants the deck can play. You can also usually get away with playing very few creatures, the only one I'm playing aside from Toshi himself is Dark Impostor. The creature count is pretty much personal preference though.
I've recently been playing Toshi in Tiny Leaders and I have a few suggestions.
Cremate and Headstone are normally cantrips, but in this deck they can easily be think twice. Transmute spells such as Dimir Machinations and Shred Memory are pretty good tutors. Isochron Scepter is insane with all the instants the deck can play. You can also usually get away with playing very few creatures, the only one I'm playing aside from Toshi himself is Dark Impostor. The creature count is pretty much personal preference though.
So this is my take on Toshi's Tiny Leaders deck. Since the new EDH format was introduced, I always wanted to try a mono-black deck to make my Cabal Coffers happy. As I search for a mono black legendary creature suited for this format, I stumbled upon Toshi.
Toshiro Umezawa is a black legendary creature from Betrayers of Kamigawa expansion. While he seems to be a puny 2/2, he can actually deal with Thalia or any other pesky 2/2s on a normal combat due to his bushido ability. What makes him unique is his ability that allows you to cast an instant spell from your graveyard whenever an enemy critter dies (not exiled).
What Toshi requires
Lots of instants.
Since black has lots of instant kill/edict spells, triggering Toshi to chain removals will not be that hard. With Toshi on the field, you have some sort of virtual card advantage especially if your bin is filled with instants. In this way, you treat your graveyard as an extension of your hand. Do note that your instant spell doesn't necessary to be a kill spell.
Toshi must've been the inspiration of Tiago himself (and possibly his mentor, except that he is not into swords or jittes, lol). It is important to note that Toshi doesn't really grant flashback to our instant spells in the grave like Tiago does and also, Toshi can't target sorceries. Also, Tiago can only do the trick once (entering the battlefield only), while Toshi can do it as long as you keep killing (sounds fun? no?). Toshi is also seemed to be morbid (no pun intended), that he even inspired the designers of innistrad for that ability. With that, it synergies well with his ability to go for kill after kill.
Keep in mind also that you will still have to pay for the spell's cost whenever your trigger Toshi's ability (it's not free) and you don't have to if you can't. The spell will only get exiled if you are able to cast it off using Toshi's ability.
Toshi's Kill Spells
Diabolic Edict - the classic edict spell and at instant speed. Gets around indestructible, hexproof, shroud critters and also protection.
Disfigure - cheap spot removal that kills mainly dorks all day and ignores indestructible as well. Nerfs regeneration too.
Dismember - an effective removal that can be played at a cost of 1 albeit paying 4 life. Kills pretty much almost everything in the format and also stops regeneration and ignores indestructible as well. Could potentially kill an active Athreos, God of Passage, Pharika, God of Affliction or Thassa, God of the Sea (be careful though, since they can respond in turning off Athreos' devotion (by e.g. sacrificing a creature they control) and thus wasting your spell).
Funeral Charm - a cheap modal spell where you will frequently used the second mode often to deal with early dorks and pesky one or two drops. In this deck you'll find the discard mode less appealing, but the swampwalk mode could work wonders if we have Urborg out.
Geth's Verdict - pretty much similar to Diabolic Edict, except that it costs BB, which really doesn't matter much since we are mono-black. It also makes the target opponent lose 1 life even if there are no creatures to sacrifice. Could potentially kill your opponent too.
Go for the Throat - kills almost everything that is not an artifact creature or have indestructible. It sadly doesn't stop regeneration though.
Smother - kills everything in the format that is not indestructible and protection from black. IMO, the best removal of the deck.
Sudden Death - hate counterspells whenever you are killing critters that has toughness 4 and below? He is your answer. Dead is dead and nobody can respond. Interestingly kills an active Athreos, God of Passage surely.
Tragic Slip - can be used as an early dork killers and could kill almost everything in the format with its -13/-13, which pretty much messes indestructible and regeneration.
Tribute to Hunger - an edict spell that allows you to also gain life.
Hero's Downfall - kills creatures or any annoying planeswalker like an opposing Lily or pesky Ajani.
Dark Ritual - you want to cast Toshi in turn 1? Well there are times you may not want to, such as when you have Master of the Feast in your opening hand. Don't forget that you can always recast it one last time when Toshi is out after a kill. Also, how can you resist a turn 1 Lily?
Suffer the Past - graveyard hoser that could potentially kill your opponent and gains you life loss from damage, or spells like Sign in Blood or your Phyrexian Arena. Best used with Cabal Coffers. With this, you can mess up dredges such as Life from the Loam and scavenge abilities.
Withering Boon - it's a black counterspell!! It's pretty much a black Essence Scatter, albeit paying 3 life as an additional cost. It is a little less known black spell and all my opponents was always surprised whenever I cast this to counter their commander. They'll almost always look at the card and watch as their foreheads curl. As mentioned, it is best used to counter your opponent's commander and with Toshiro, you could do it again if they cast their commander again.
Night's Whisper - draws 2 cards for 2 mana that also costs 2 life.
Sign in Blood - pretty much similar to Night's Whisper, except for the cost of BB and can actually kill an opponent who is at 2 life or less.
Phyrexian Arena - the deck's draw engine. It could be risky in the late game where our life is low, so be wise about casting it. Lifelink creatures pretty much gains back the life lost.
Lots of sorceries, duh.
Well, you can actually have a few like:
Sinkhole - Toshi isn't really on the land destruction plan, but sometimes you need to get rid of some pesky man-land or utility land. It's also cheap and very effective.
Toxic Deluge - one of the best black sweeper Toshi has access to. At a cost of some life, you can effective sweep the board clean. No regeneration, no protection and no indestructible - just plain dead to all. But then, running low in life and facing a very aggressive deck is a bad drawback of the card. Having it countered sucks hard too.
Black Sun's Zenith - another good sweeper Toshi has in his arsenal. It has the same effects or benefits like Toxic Deluge, except that you pay mana instead of life. Another good thing is that as long as it resolves (not countered), it will shuffle back to our library, ready to be drawn and used again later. One more thing, the -X/-X are counters, which means, they don't go away at end of turn.
Well, you can't possibly win with just all those instants alone and Toshi himself isn't enough. For this, Toshi recruits creatures with evasion to do some ninja work (not really ninja creatures).
Toshi's Servants
Gatekeeper of Malakir - Toshi isn't really a fan of Vampires, but as long as they can help in the killing, he doesn't mind enlisting them. This guy technically costs BBB in order to use its edict ability.
Master of the Feast - this huge fat demon is recruited by Toshi for some quick beats. It could potentially be cast turn 1 via Dark Ritual and becomes and immediate deadly threat, albeit letting our opponent draw on our draw step too (thus granting possibilities of drawing removal to kill it). It could potentially win games quickly if not answered.
Phyrexian Crusader - Toshi's newest recruit and protects itself well against RW removals. This guy can end the game instantly if left unblocked and boosted with Howl from Beyond.
Dark Confidant - the newest recruit and one of black's best card advantage generator. Toshi was impressed by Bob's motto and immediately accepted him in his ranks. With the format's cmc ceiling of 3, you don't have to worry flipping high cmc spells.
Herald of Torment - probably Master of the Feast's little brother who just got Toshi's attention. He is best bestowed on Phyrexian Crusader for a 2-turn clock or even if you just feel like sending Toshi to the skies.
Liliana of the Veil - so, even this lady was boldly enlisted by Toshi. An edict effect in a permanent is really strong and synergies well with Toshi's ability to keep the killing going.
Sadly, Toshi can't use his own jitte in this format. But he can arm himself with a hammer or wear some boots.
Lightning Greaves - protects Toshi from spot removals and grants him haste. Unlike Swiftfoot Boots that grants hexproof, this one grants shroud, which means even you as the controller could no longer target Toshi. You have to move the greaves to other creatures first if you wish to equip another artifact to Toshi, and then equip the greaves again.
Loxodon Warhammer - grants +3 power with lifelink and trample. It's a good way to gain back the life lost because of our draw spells. Toshi can set aside his sword and do the "it's hammer time!" thing.
Oblivion Stone - it upsets Toshi not to be able to kill off pesky artifacts or enchantments. Then he discovered this precious stone. With it and if you have some turn to spare before blowing it up, you may choose to put a fate counter on Toshi or any other non-land permanent you don't want to blow up with it.
Toshi doesn't live on swamps alone, but in every other land that produces black mana or black oriented:
Swamp - they say islands are broken, but Toshi begs to disagree
Cabal Coffers - the king of the swamps
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth - makes your coffers even more broken
Bloodstained Mire and Polluted Delta - not for color fixing but for thinning and deck shuffling. Can be replaced with ordinary swamps if desired.
Myriad Landscape - fetches two swamps out from deck, doing some sort of ramp. It's almost very good, except that it ETBs tapped.
Wasteland - Sinkhole's best friend in the deck, although it can't hit basics.
Volrath's Stronghold - although Toshi hired only a few minions, recurring them with this could help out a lot especially that gatekeeper.
Cabal Pit - taps for B at a cost of 1 life. But that's not about it. Upon reaching threshold (which is easy to have), it acts as your second Disfigure that gets around protection. Toshi laughs at an opponent who even tries saving their creatures using protection spells.
Opal Palace - Toshi's castle (not really). It grants Toshi bonuses every time he is killed off and recast through this. It even gives the bonus even if you cast Toshi with this for the first time.
The Deck
Without any further ado, here is the deck:
1x Toshiro Umezawa
Creatures (5)
1x Dark Confidant
1x Gatekeeper of Malakir
1x Herald of Torment
1x Master of the Feast
1x Phyrexian Crusader
Planeswalkers (1)
1x Liliana of the Veil
Instants (16)
1x Cremate
1x Dark Ritual
1x Diabolic Edict
1x Disfigure
1x Dismember
1x Funeral Charm
1x Geth's Verdict
1x Go for the Throat
1x Hero's Downfall
1x Howl from Beyond
1x Smother
1x Sudden Death
1x Suffer the Past
1x Tragic Slip
1x Tribute to Hunger
1x Withering Boon
1x Night's Whisper
1x Sign in Blood
1x Black Sun's Zenith
1x Toxic Deluge
1x Sinkhole
Artifacts (4)
1x Expedition Map
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Loxodon Warhammer
1x Oblivion Stone
Enchantments (1)
1x Phyrexian Arena
Lands (17)
1x Cabal Pit
1x Bloodstained Mire
1x Bojuka Bog
1x Cabal Coffers
1x Polluted Delta
7x Swamp
1x Opal Palace
1x Myriad Landscape
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Volrath's Stronghold
1x Wasteland
1x Arcane Lighthouse
1x Virtue's Ruin
1x Perish
1x Engineered Plague
1x Gloom
1x Inquisition of Kozilek
1x Elixir of Immortality
1x Feldon's Cane
1x Deathgrip
1x Thoughtseize
What ruins Toshi's day
Graveyard hate. Well sort of. You can still win even if your graveyard is hated out. Toshi's minions can punish those opponent who does this to you anyway. Toshi really plays control style and some sort of midrange beats to back-up his plans. Even without Toshi himself, winning is still a possibility. You can enjoy doing the turn 1 Dark Ritual to Phyrexian Crusader stuff and watch your opponent's shock... or just bring out Toshi if you want.
Toshi's Sideboarding Plans
Coming soon...
WIP...
- Deck list updated!
- Updated "What Toshi Requires" section, "Toshi's Minions" section and "Toshi's Weapons" section and "added card details for new cards and removed omitted card details
- Added new section: "Toshi's Lands"
- Added new section (WIP): "Toshi's Sideboarding Plan" and "Toshi's Match-ups"
- Removed Blood Artist, Bloodghast, Dauthi Slayer, Nantuko Shade, Vampire Nighthawk and Strata Scythe
- Added Dark Confidant, Herald of Torment, Sudden Death, Cabal Pit, Wasteland, Myriad Landscape, Opal Palace and Sinkhole
- Added Feldon's Cane, Elixir of Immortality and Deathgrip to Sideboard
- Moved Toxic Deluge, Black Sun's Zenith and Oblivion Stone from sideboard to main
- Moved Arcane Lighthouse to sideboard
- Updated the "What Toshi Requires" section, added card details for newly added cards
- Deck list updated!
- Removed Herald of Torment, Undying Evil and Vile Rebirth
- Added Phyrexian Crusader, Cremate and Howl from Beyond
- Updated the "What Toshi Requires" section, added card details for newly added cards
- Deck list updated!
- Removed Dash Hopes, Jet Medallion and Sudden Death
- Added Undying Evil, Vile Rebirth and also, Hero's Downfall is back
- Added Bojuka Bog and also Oblivion Stone (sideboard)
- Updated the "What Toshi Requires" section, added sub-sections and card details.
- Updated the "Toshi's Minions" section, added a sub-section and card details.
- Updated the "Toshi's Weapons" section, added card details
- Updated deck list:
Out (Mainboard): Skirsdag High Priest, Nighthowler, Hero's Downfall
Out (Sideboard): Crypt Incursion
Added (Mainboard): Liliana of the Veil, Malicious Affliction, Herald of Torment
Added (Sideboard): Perish
Thanks!
Well yeah, the priest was actually a flex spot. I occasionally able to crack some 5/5 from him during playtests, but not that frequent. Probably I'll replace him with a sweeper mainboard, perhaps Toxic Deluge or even an Oblivion Stone.
Reanimate should also be considered, as could Entomb. Another option for lands would be Lake of the Dead (sometimes it doesn't do much, other times it acts as a dark ritual and destroys your opponent in a turn or two). I could even see Tainted Strike as a surprise finisher with things like shade/strata.
I'm still testing the swords you've mentioned and most likely, I'll go for Fire and Ice. As for Reanimate, I think Unearth will do just fine plus, you won't lose life and you can cycle it too if you need to draw. Although yes, Reanimate could also target your opponent's yard.
I agree about Lake of the Dead and as for Tainted Strike, I'll be trying that out.
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This is the common line of play. You are correct that Toshi's ability won't trigger when the opposing commander dies since it goes to the command zone. But given this scenario, if opponent has a creature and then his commander in play and you with Toshi, you first kill the other creature and thus triggering Toshi, in which you could "flashback" the same kill spell and then kill their commander. Do note that Toshi's ability doesn't make the instant spell free, meaning you have to have open mana to recast it. Don't forget that you can also cast other instants such as Dark Ritual whenever Toshi triggers and in this way you have another BBB to spend.
I would really say yes for this. Toshi could play around or even deal with protecion, hexproof/shroud or even indestructibility. Also, don't forget that you can counter their commander (critically in turn 2 sometimes) with Withering Boon or even Dash Hopes. With a careful play and good timing, Toshi can even deal with the 3 gods in the format. As for your opponent forcing to play two non-commander threats at once, this is highly likely most especially if Toshi is in play. They tend to keep track of your graveyard for possible recursion and will attempt to kill Toshi before taking an act.
As for decks with fewer creatures, the deck can still push a win. We have other threats such as a deadly turn 1 Dark Ritual to either Herald of Torment or Master of the Feast. A Cabal Coffers pumped Nantuko Shade is no joke for your opponent most especially with Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth and then gained swampwalk via Funeral Charm. A Strata Scythe equipped Dauthi Slayer could potentially end the game and also, Suffer the Past steals games unexpectedly out of nowhere too.
Not sure about it, but a test won't hurt.
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Azusa - Derevi - Glissa - Mizzix - Sharuum - Wanderer - Wort
Cute, but I think decks thin on creatures are better handled by:
A) Not going overboard on main deck creature removal. Something like 5-ish spot removal and 5-ish edicts should be more than enough. This means you can board most of it out for discard and more relevant disruption like Needle games 2-3.
B) Having multi-purpose removal such as Hero's Downfall and Funeral Charm also means less pressure to board out irrelevant cards and more chances for having relevant cards game 1.
C) Instants that do more than just kill creatures, such as Dark Ritual and Suffer the Past. With enough of these, you can focus on using your kill spells for the commander of creature-light/less decks and "flashbacking" these spells instead whenever a non-commander creature is killed.
D) Accept that Toshi will sometimes be a Gray Ogre against fringe decks game 1, and just don't bother playing him in favor of more aggressive threats instead.
For my tastes, I'd try to bring out A-C more than Xanthic_Golem's list, probably cutting some of the more dedicated creature removal for more varied threats/equipment and some main deck discard. Some instants I think are worth considering but haven't been mentioned:
Darkness - a black fog
False Cure - for the side
Tainted Pact - clever land selection makes this better
Plunge into Darkness - sac outlets that draw cards are good
Altar's Reap - sac outlets that draw cards are good
Undying Evil - as cheap as Unearth, timing restriction but beefs up the dude
Wail of the Nim - another multi-purpose card that is good to flashback
Also, Dash Hopes is a terrible card and I think it should be cut. I'd definetely put Hero's Downfall back in its stead. For the side, I'd also recommend Ratchet Bomb and Oblivion Stone to handle non-creature permanents.
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"At least for those who can play cards, their present incarnation is not quite wasted."
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Thanks for all of these inputs!
I just logged this morning and I made a few changes last night on the deck. I've returned Hero's Downfall and put in the Tainted Pact too by a friend's suggestion. I'll by trying these and I'll try checking out some more good instant spells.
Highly agree on Ratchet Bomb and Oblivion Stone.
Word of Command
Vile Rebirth
and also, Forced March
Cremate and Headstone are normally cantrips, but in this deck they can easily be think twice. Transmute spells such as Dimir Machinations and Shred Memory are pretty good tutors. Isochron Scepter is insane with all the instants the deck can play. You can also usually get away with playing very few creatures, the only one I'm playing aside from Toshi himself is Dark Impostor. The creature count is pretty much personal preference though.
I'll probably try Cremate and Headstone.
I agree with you saying that these two can act just like Think Twice when Toshi is in play.
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
I've considered it, but I can't afford too much life loss since our meta comprises of mostly aggro.
It might be something to run alongside Disfigure then. Disfigure/Ulcerate/Vendetta/Dismember would be a pretty strong suite of one cmc kill for the deck.
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
Thanks for the suggestion!
However, I rarely attack with Toshi so I might just pass this up. If this is a regular EDH format, I might include it to build up commander damage.