I've also taken the format and some the the text of this primer from ISBPathfinder's primer
***Note***: This primer is to build a very powerful control/combo based deck. I try to keep an open mind to others opinions so if you feel strongly for or against a card please voice it and we can discuss. Feel free to ask any questions about card choices as I would love to review any past experience I have had with other options.
Deck History
My local meta is loaded with grind-y, combo/control decks. Many games are a drawn out series of board wipes and counter spells until someone pushes a combo, soft-lock, or dominating board position (e.g. Animar, Soul of Elements/Palinchron, Myojin of Night's Reach, or Genesis Wave for 15+). Cards that prevent players from taking any action are frowned upon heavily (e.g. Armageddon and Mindslaver). I began getting bored as these games dragged on and on and frequently made plays I knew would turn the table against me just so the game would continue to move somewhere.
After losing frequently, I began experimenting with new deck ideas to manipulate the meta game. Mana bases are frequently greedy and loaded with non-basics, so I build a Hanna, Ship's Navigator prison/control deck that was asked to never return. Back to Basics + Humility with an easy recursion option was not a board state anyone wanted to see again. Thrun, the Last Troll was another deck I tried, but he only firmly planted the early to mid game bullseye on me. I was continually pummeled until I ran out of cards then awaited my demise at someone else's convenience. I also tried a Phelddagrif group-hug, nearly-no-win-condition deck. The goal was to accelerate the game state into the late game as quickly as possible by giving everyone lands and cards fueled by magic's most broken artifact ramp, but sometimes I want to have a chance to win.
Gaddock Teeg is an extremely powerful, control/disruption commander. His ability locks out most infinite mana win conditions, nearly all board wipe effects, and punishes players who build greedy decks with poor mana curves while not affecting creature spells. In the appropriate meta game he can be dominating, but you must continue to tweak the card choices and play style of the deck as your play group evolves to combat him. Gaddock Teeg can also have a secondary, dangerous voltron strategy with a package of swords and white equipment tutors. However, he has a fragile, protection-less 2/2 body. Several cards in the deck must be devoted to protecting the general from spot removal and caution should be taken when attacking or blocking with him.
You should consider running Gaddock Teeg if you enjoy a low curve control/disruption deck with a voltron or combo finish. He also encourages creature based strategies that aren't frequently played and can shake up your meta game.
Our colors (no spells over 3 CMC) give us the following:
REASONS YOU SHOULD PLAY GADDOCK TEEG:
- You enjoy having a commander who causes problems at every stage of the game. He comes in early and punishes greedy deck building.
- You like combo or volton win conditions
- You love synergy and efficient spells! His ability leaves little room for fat. Your list must be tight and trim.
- You like playing your commander every game, as early as possible.
- You like playing creatures.
REASONS YOU SHOULD NOT RUN GADDOCK TEEG:
- You enjoy a good-stuff deck. His ability stops many of the traditional good-stuff spells
- You enjoy streamlined commanders that build their deck for you. Every decklist you see out there should be different as every meta is different.
- You want to combo out on turn 4. While it is possible for the deck to combo early, the deck is not tuned to combo as quickly as possible. The first priority is establishing a disruptive board position and securing it.
OTHER SELESNYA COMMANDERS
Selesnya is one of the most powerful and diverse groups of two color commanders with 15 commanders to choose from covering toolbox, tokens, disruption, and aggro, but none of them do what Gaddock Teeg does, making him the clear choice to command this deck.
Your primary concern in the early game is getting Gaddock Teeg into play safely as early as possible. Be especially careful when playing against black and white decks as these colors have the most spot removal options available to them. Don't worry if he dies once or twice because his casting cost is low enough you can easily replay him two or three times. Frequently you will want to tutor up something to protect him with as one of your first plays.
Deck's Strategy
The idea behind this deck is to prevent your opponents from advancing their game plan as quickly as you are by restricting their plays with Gaddock Teeg. While your opponents are floundering trying to figure out how their win condition interacts without spells costing four or more, you assemble your combos designed to operate under the restriction and win.
Some of they key elements to this deck:
Spell Converted Mana Cost: There are NO spells in this deck that cannot be played while Gaddock Teeg is in play. Khymera was particularly adamant about this and I think d0su only ran Martial Coup. Either way you don't want dead draws.
Artifacts with Activated Abilities: This particular build of the deck is built to leverage Null Rod to further disrupt you opponents. Following the same principle as above, there are no cards in this deck that are shut down by Null Rod.
Win Conditions
Earthcraft + Squirrel Nest - Make infinite 1/1 squirrels and attack. Note:Earthcraft allows creatures with summoning sickness to be tapped for its effect.
Heartbeat of Spring/Rites of Flourishing + Gaddock Teeg - Since the entire deck is built to play under the commander's condition, you should be able to leverage the two cards more than your opponents. Beware of keeping either of these enchantments in play while your commander is not!
Genesis in your graveyard + Eternal Witness + a sacrifice effect - Get back any card from your graveyard for 3GGG once per turn.
Life from the Loam + Secluded Steppe/Tranquil Thicket - This engine will keep you making land drops and drawing cards to your heart's content. If you have both cycling lands, you can draw as many times as you want for 1WGG: As an additional cost put the top three cards of your library into your graveyard. Draw a card.
If your games are anything like mine, there's always an artifact you want gone. This deck may also want to destroy its own Rites of Flourishing and Heartbeat of Spring.
Oblivion Ring - Sun Titan can recur it. Beast Within Oblation - Tucks commanders. Can also be used in a pinch to turn one of your permanents and itself into two new cards.
Alternative/additional options worth considering: Mangara of Corondor - Unfortunately has summoning sickness.
Graveyard Hate
Never leave home without it. Keep in mind this deck does abuse the graveyard, so surgical options may be the best.
Stonecloaker - Instant speed, surgical, and can bounce himself. Scavenging Ooze - Surgical removal that can become a beater quickly.
Alternative/additional options worth considering: Mistveil Plains - A great way to put cards back into your library. Counts as a plains and is easily tutored. Maze of Ith - Removes a creature from combat, but doesn't produce mana. Mystifying Maze - Removes a creature from combat for a hefty price and gives your opponents additional comes into play triggers. Miren, the Moaning Well - A great sacrifice outlet, but has a high cost. Diamond Valley - Another great sacrifice outlet. I'd play it if I owned it. Selesnya Sanctuary - I don't care for bounce lands or see an advantage of having one in this deck.
Alternative/additional options worth considering: Blazing Archon - Helps you survive longer, but is very highly costed. Willow Satyr - Great anti-commander tech. I don't own one. Grand Abolisher - More disruption, but only active on your turn. Great in blue heavy meta games.
Other People's Card Choices
Equipment
While I choose not to run any equipment and use Null Rod, Gaddock Teeg can have an effective voltron side strategy. Here are the equipment I would turn to first.
There are several other cards I've seen in lists that may or may not be of value to the deck. Frankly I don't understand why they were chosen, maybe someone can offer a reason.
You are running far to many overcosted cards. You preach about a low curve, but have far too many 7+ drops. If you want to mitigate that, consider Oath of druids. Bazaar of Baghdad is a great way to to net value from drawing too many of your big dudes. With a more efficient curve you can cut the mana ramp package as well. Heartbeat of Spring is atrocious. You want to hinder their development and this card is completely counter to that strategy.
You are far too concerned with protecting Teeg. He costs 2 mana, if an opponent wastes a removal spell on him you can untapped and recast him. Glacial Chasm is an auto-include and Serra's Sanctum should be strongly considered. Stony Silence adds redundancy and is harder to kill than Null Rod. Maze of Ith is a glorious card on its own and can combo with Argothian Elder/Magus of the Candelabra which you can sink into Helix Pinnacle and is great with Winding Canyons. Mistveil Plains can help with consistency, can be fetched, and can be sacrificed to KotR.
Consider more sweepers that get under Teeg. My favorites are False Propohet and Retribution of the Meek. You NEED sacrifice outlets in this deck. They allow you to Reveillark combo significantly more easily. To ignore all cards that do not get under Teeg is foolish. There are many that win the game on the spot. With the myriad of sac outlets this deck SHOULD be running, casting them should never be an issue. Tooth and Nail is one and Austere Command is a card you will never mind waiting to casting or needing to sac Teeg.
You are running far to many overcosted cards. You preach about a low curve, but have far too many 7+ drops.
Two is too many? I hadn't quite finished the primer when you posted, but Reya Dawnbringer is on my watch list. I prefer Blazing Archon over Peacekeeper though. I also didn't own a Peacekeeper until a few days ago.
Heartbeat of Spring is atrocious. You want to hinder their development and this card is completely counter to that strategy.
More mana does not change whether or not the spells in their hand can be cast or not while Gaddock Teeg is in play. I'd argue Rites of Flourishing is the more dangerous card to play.
If you follow the 7x9 deck building theory (I try to remember about it...), I'm not really that concerned about it. I haven't even devoted a whole slot to just protecting Gaddock Teeg. I understand he's cheap, but he can become prohibitively expensive just like any other commander.
Thanks for pointing this card out. I didn't know it had been printed (I don't play any standard or buy packs). It will be included as a replacement or a supplement once I get one.
You NEED sacrifice outlets in this deck. They allow you to Reveillark combo significantly more easily.
Why does Reveillark need a sacrifice outlet? It already comes with one. However, I do understand that several cards in this deck are a lot better with a sacrifice outlet. I don't care for Miren, the Moaning Well and wish I owned a Diamond Valley. Can you suggest any others that cast and function under Null Rod and Gaddock Teeg?
Academy Rector was not included because I didn't feel like I had enough ways to kill it. Again, can you suggest any others that cast and function under Null Rod and Gaddock Teeg?
Lark combo does not require a separate sac outlet, but it allows you to go off with any combination of two pieces (Saffi, Lark, Guide) and provide additional utility to the deck as a whole.
You have devoted slots to protecting Teeg at all. These are largely unnecessary. Blue decks are generally the only ones that will kill Teeg in your normal game (and they have next to no removal that gets through Teeg). Most decks will prefer Teeg on the table when there are degenerate combo deck floating around.
Any properly built deck can take SERIOUS advantage of Heartbeat of Spring. Rites of Flourishing being more dangerous doesn't justify it being included. Neither should be included in anything but Elfball or Group Hug style decks.
My comment about your curve is really to illustrate your curve is too high as a whole. Sun Titan is significantly better than Reya. Aroshi is mediocre at best, you would be better off with more efficient sweepers like False Prophet and Retribution of the Meek. Blazing Archon costs far too much mana for the effect and is too fragile in that it cannot be recurred with Reveillark. Solemn Simulacrum costs an inordinate amount of mana for very little real advantage. Duplicant is the most expensive removal spell you could be playing. You lack any compelling reason for running Primeval Titan, so it is just a 6 mana ramp spell.
You could not be more wrong about Glacial Chasm. It does everything Archon and Peacekeeper do, can be tutored with KotR and Wayfarer and Sylvan Scrying and Crop Rotation, and has phenomenal synergy with Life from the Loam and Crucible of Worlds. Countless games that I had no business winning have been won on the back of Chasm. Even when you have to actually pay the upkeep, you are in a better place than not having it at all (presuming you play it intelligently). Various cards in my deck also allow me to get maximum value from Riftstone Portal, making Glacial Chasm have absolutely 0 drawback.
Get Sigarda, Host of Herons in here. This deck folds to any mode of repeatable Edict effects.
One thing you must keep in mind is how a properly built Teeg deck will absolutely destroy any and all blue based decks. As such, the blue decks will do all the can to build up a board presence under him then strategically remove him for their fundamental turn. You have some cards that help mitigate that situation, but those decks can do quite a bit of damage in that time span. Cards like Grand Abolisher are solid for these purposes, but another way to deal with it is in the one card combos of Defense of the Heart and Tooth and Nail. Resolving these abilities will win the game on the spot and it becomes very easy to regulate when these happen if you include an arsenal of sac outlets. It is easier still if you choose to keep Heartbeat of Spring and/or add Academy Rector. Holding these cards back until it is strategically correct to cast them is a fact of playing them in the first place. They are not "dead," they are in reserve.
PS: My Teeg thread here on Salvation is not even close to up-to-date. Just FYI, in case you go looking for it.
Lark combo does not require a separate sac outlet, but it allows you to go off with any combination of two pieces (Saffi, Lark, Guide) and provide additional utility to the deck as a whole.
You have devoted slots to protecting Teeg at all. These are largely unnecessary. Blue decks are generally the only ones that will kill Teeg in your normal game (and they have next to no removal that gets through Teeg). Most decks will prefer Teeg on the table when there are degenerate combo deck floating around.
Any properly built deck can take SERIOUS advantage of Heartbeat of Spring. Rites of Flourishing being more dangerous doesn't justify it being included. Neither should be included in anything but Elfball or Group Hug style decks.
My comment about your curve is really to illustrate your curve is too high as a whole. Sun Titan is significantly better than Reya. Aroshi is mediocre at best, you would be better off with more efficient sweepers like False Prophet and Retribution of the Meek. Blazing Archon costs far too much mana for the effect and is too fragile in that it cannot be recurred with Reveillark. Solemn Simulacrum costs an inordinate amount of mana for very little real advantage. Duplicant is the most expensive removal spell you could be playing. You lack any compelling reason for running Primeval Titan, so it is just a 6 mana ramp spell.
You could not be more wrong about Glacial Chasm. It does everything Archon and Peacekeeper do, can be tutored with KotR and Wayfarer and Sylvan Scrying and Crop Rotation, and has phenomenal synergy with Life from the Loam and Crucible of Worlds. Countless games that I had no business winning have been won on the back of Chasm. Even when you have to actually pay the upkeep, you are in a better place than not having it at all (presuming you play it intelligently). Various cards in my deck also allow me to get maximum value from Riftstone Portal, making Glacial Chasm have absolutely 0 drawback.
Get Sigarda, Host of Herons in here. This deck folds to any mode of repeatable Edict effects.
One thing you must keep in mind is how a properly built Teeg deck will absolutely destroy any and all blue based decks. As such, the blue decks will do all the can to build up a board presence under him then strategically remove him for their fundamental turn. You have some cards that help mitigate that situation, but those decks can do quite a bit of damage in that time span. Cards like Grand Abolisher are solid for these purposes, but another way to deal with it is in the one card combos of Defense of the Heart and Tooth and Nail. Resolving these abilities will win the game on the spot and it becomes very easy to regulate when these happen if you include an arsenal of sac outlets. It is easier still if you choose to keep Heartbeat of Spring and/or add Academy Rector. Holding these cards back until it is strategically correct to cast them is a fact of playing them in the first place. They are not "dead," they are in reserve.
PS: My Teeg thread here on Salvation is not even close to up-to-date. Just FYI, in case you go looking for it.
I'm going to look for those enchantments, but I though carefully about Arashi, Primetime, Reya, and Blazing Archon this week and took them all out for Sigarda, Linvala, Peacekeeper, and Eight-and-a-Half-Tails.
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Khymera's list
d0su's list/thread
insignificantwrangler's list/thread
I've also taken the format and some the the text of this primer from ISBPathfinder's primer
***Note***: This primer is to build a very powerful control/combo based deck. I try to keep an open mind to others opinions so if you feel strongly for or against a card please voice it and we can discuss. Feel free to ask any questions about card choices as I would love to review any past experience I have had with other options.
Deck History
My local meta is loaded with grind-y, combo/control decks. Many games are a drawn out series of board wipes and counter spells until someone pushes a combo, soft-lock, or dominating board position (e.g. Animar, Soul of Elements/Palinchron, Myojin of Night's Reach, or Genesis Wave for 15+). Cards that prevent players from taking any action are frowned upon heavily (e.g. Armageddon and Mindslaver). I began getting bored as these games dragged on and on and frequently made plays I knew would turn the table against me just so the game would continue to move somewhere.
After losing frequently, I began experimenting with new deck ideas to manipulate the meta game. Mana bases are frequently greedy and loaded with non-basics, so I build a Hanna, Ship's Navigator prison/control deck that was asked to never return. Back to Basics + Humility with an easy recursion option was not a board state anyone wanted to see again. Thrun, the Last Troll was another deck I tried, but he only firmly planted the early to mid game bullseye on me. I was continually pummeled until I ran out of cards then awaited my demise at someone else's convenience. I also tried a Phelddagrif group-hug, nearly-no-win-condition deck. The goal was to accelerate the game state into the late game as quickly as possible by giving everyone lands and cards fueled by magic's most broken artifact ramp, but sometimes I want to have a chance to win.
Enter Gaddock Teeg.
Why Play Gaddock Teeg?
Gaddock Teeg is an extremely powerful, control/disruption commander. His ability locks out most infinite mana win conditions, nearly all board wipe effects, and punishes players who build greedy decks with poor mana curves while not affecting creature spells. In the appropriate meta game he can be dominating, but you must continue to tweak the card choices and play style of the deck as your play group evolves to combat him. Gaddock Teeg can also have a secondary, dangerous voltron strategy with a package of swords and white equipment tutors. However, he has a fragile, protection-less 2/2 body. Several cards in the deck must be devoted to protecting the general from spot removal and caution should be taken when attacking or blocking with him.
You should consider running Gaddock Teeg if you enjoy a low curve control/disruption deck with a voltron or combo finish. He also encourages creature based strategies that aren't frequently played and can shake up your meta game.
Our colors (no spells over 3 CMC) give us the following:
GREEN: Ramp, Fattys, Recursion, Creature Tutors, Non-Creature Removal
WHITE: Spot Removal, Recursion, Board Control, Artifact and Enchantment Tutors
REASONS YOU SHOULD PLAY GADDOCK TEEG:
- You enjoy having a commander who causes problems at every stage of the game. He comes in early and punishes greedy deck building.
- You like combo or volton win conditions
- You love synergy and efficient spells! His ability leaves little room for fat. Your list must be tight and trim.
- You like playing your commander every game, as early as possible.
- You like playing creatures.
REASONS YOU SHOULD NOT RUN GADDOCK TEEG:
- You enjoy a good-stuff deck. His ability stops many of the traditional good-stuff spells
- You enjoy streamlined commanders that build their deck for you. Every decklist you see out there should be different as every meta is different.
- You want to combo out on turn 4. While it is possible for the deck to combo early, the deck is not tuned to combo as quickly as possible. The first priority is establishing a disruptive board position and securing it.
OTHER SELESNYA COMMANDERS
Selesnya is one of the most powerful and diverse groups of two color commanders with 15 commanders to choose from covering toolbox, tokens, disruption, and aggro, but none of them do what Gaddock Teeg does, making him the clear choice to command this deck.
Deck List
1x Gaddock Teeg
CREATURES (31)
1x Acidic Slime
1x Archon of Justice
1x Aven Mindcensor
1x Dauntless Escort
1x Duplicant
1x Eight-and-a-Half-Tails
1x Eternal Witness
1x Fauna Shaman
1x Genesis
1x Harmonic Sliver
1x Hokori, Dust Drinker
1x Karmic Guide
1x Knight of the Reliquary
1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1x Mirror Entity
1x Mother of Runes
1x Peacekeeper
1x Qasali Pridemage
1x Reveillark
1x Saffi Eriksdotter
1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
1x Scavenging Ooze
1x Sigarda, Host of Herons
1x Solemn Simulacrum
1x Stonecloaker
1x Stuffy Doll
1x Sun Titan
1x Weathered Wayfarer
1x Wood Elves
1x Yavimaya Elder
1x Yosei, the Morning Star
1x Crucible of Worlds
1x Null Rod
ENCHANTMENTS (15)
1x Aspect of Mongoose
1x Aura of Silence
1x Aura Shards
1x Earthcraft
1x Guilty Conscience
1x Heartbeat of Spring
1x Land Tax
1x Lignify
1x Mirri's Guile
1x Oblivion Ring
1x Rites of Flourishing
1x Squirrel Nest
1x Sterling Grove
1x Survival of the Fittest
1x Sylvan Library
INSTANT (9)
1x Beast Within
1x Condemn
1x Eladamri's Call
1x Enlightened Tutor
1x Krosan Grip
1x Oblation
1x Path to Exile
1x Swords to Plowshares
1x Worldly Tutor
SORCERY (5)
1x Cultivate
1x Idyllic Tutor
1x Kodama's Reach
1x Life from the Loam
1x Sylvan Tutor
1x Arid Mesa
1x Flagstones of Trokair
1x Flooded Strand
1x Gaea's Cradle
1x High Market
1x Horizon Canopy
1x Kor Haven
1x Krosan Verge
1x Marsh Flats
1x Misty Rainforest
1x Savannah
1x Secluded Steppe
1x Serra's Sanctum
6x Snow-Covered Plains
6x Snow-Covered Forest
1x Strip Mine
1x Sungrass Prairie
1x Sunpetal Grove
1x Temple Garden
1x Tranquil Thicket
1x Verdant Catacombs
1x Wasteland
1x Winding Canyons
1x Windswept Heath
1x Wooded Bastion
1x Wooded Foothills
1x Yavimaya Hollow
Strategy
Using Gaddock Teeg
Your primary concern in the early game is getting Gaddock Teeg into play safely as early as possible. Be especially careful when playing against black and white decks as these colors have the most spot removal options available to them. Don't worry if he dies once or twice because his casting cost is low enough you can easily replay him two or three times. Frequently you will want to tutor up something to protect him with as one of your first plays.
Deck's Strategy
The idea behind this deck is to prevent your opponents from advancing their game plan as quickly as you are by restricting their plays with Gaddock Teeg. While your opponents are floundering trying to figure out how their win condition interacts without spells costing four or more, you assemble your combos designed to operate under the restriction and win.
Some of they key elements to this deck:
Spell Converted Mana Cost: There are NO spells in this deck that cannot be played while Gaddock Teeg is in play. Khymera was particularly adamant about this and I think d0su only ran Martial Coup. Either way you don't want dead draws.
Artifacts with Activated Abilities: This particular build of the deck is built to leverage Null Rod to further disrupt you opponents. Following the same principle as above, there are no cards in this deck that are shut down by Null Rod.
Win Conditions
Earthcraft + Squirrel Nest - Make infinite 1/1 squirrels and attack. Note: Earthcraft allows creatures with summoning sickness to be tapped for its effect.
Reveillark + Saffi Eriksdotter + Karmic Guide + Mirror Entity - This well documented combo allows you to move any creature from play to your graveyard and back as many times as you want. The combo can be easily setup with Survival of the Fittest getting Reveillark last. Archon of Justice and Acidic Slime allow you to clear the board of any problem permanents, Yosei, the Morning Star permanently taps your opponents permanents, Sun Titan returns all non-creature permanents in your graveyard to play, and Earthcraft will give you infinite colored mana.
Stuffy Doll + Guilty Conscience - Kill any one player.
Card Advantage Engines and Synergies
Heartbeat of Spring/Rites of Flourishing + Gaddock Teeg - Since the entire deck is built to play under the commander's condition, you should be able to leverage the two cards more than your opponents. Beware of keeping either of these enchantments in play while your commander is not!
Genesis in your graveyard + Eternal Witness + a sacrifice effect - Get back any card from your graveyard for 3GGG once per turn.
Crucible of Worlds + Horizon Canopy - If you need cards more than land drops, you can turn you land drop into 1: Draw a card.
Life from the Loam + Secluded Steppe/Tranquil Thicket - This engine will keep you making land drops and drawing cards to your heart's content. If you have both cycling lands, you can draw as many times as you want for 1WGG: As an additional cost put the top three cards of your library into your graveyard. Draw a card.
Crucible of Worlds/Life from the Loam + any fetch land - This engine will ensure land drops for as long as you want.
Card Choices
Note: Cards discussed in the strategy section are omitted here.
Ramp/Fixing
Green and white have access to the best and most flexible land fixing/searching spells available.
Knight of the Reliquary - This guy can turn any forest or plains into any other land in the deck, he's an all-star.
The rest of these are just great fixing cards.
Sakura-Tribe Elder
Weathered Wayfarer
Yavimaya Elder
Wood Elves
Solemn Simulacrum
Land Tax
Kodama's Reach
Cultivate
Alternative/additional options worth considering:
Crop Rotation - Negative card advantage but gives you immediate access to any land.
Exploration - Leads to explosive starts.
Burgeoning - Leads to explosive starts.
Realms Uncharted - A great way to find any lands you want. Works well with Life from the Loam and Crucible of Worlds.
Sylvan Scrying - Another option to tutor for any land.
Tutors
Pretty straightforward choices here.
Fauna Shaman - A second, less effective Survival of the Fittest
Eladamri's Call
Enlightened Tutor
Worldly Tutor
Idyllic Tutor
Sylvan Tutor
Sterling Grove - Also protects other enchantments.
Alternative/additional options worth considering:
Altar of Bone
Congregation at Dawn
Creature Removal
Lignify - An extremely effective way to shutdown many problem commanders.
Duplicant
Condemn - Tucks commanders.
Swords to Plowshares
Path to Exile
Alternative/additional options worth considering:
False Prophet - Beware, he could exile a win condition.
Journey to Nowhere
Arashi, the Sky Asunder - Very versatile flying creature removal.
Artifact and Enchantment Removal
If your games are anything like mine, there's always an artifact you want gone. This deck may also want to destroy its own Rites of Flourishing and Heartbeat of Spring.
Harmonic Sliver
Qasali Pridemage
Aura Shards
Aura of Silence
Krosan Grip
Alternative/additional options worth considering:
Disenchant
Naturalize
Deglamer - Doesn't target.
Land Removal
Never leave home without it.
Strip Mine
Wasteland
Alternative/additional options worth considering:
Dust Bowl
Ghost Quarter
Tectonic Edge
Other Removal
Very straightforward.
Oblivion Ring - Sun Titan can recur it.
Beast Within
Oblation - Tucks commanders. Can also be used in a pinch to turn one of your permanents and itself into two new cards.
Alternative/additional options worth considering:
Mangara of Corondor - Unfortunately has summoning sickness.
Graveyard Hate
Never leave home without it. Keep in mind this deck does abuse the graveyard, so surgical options may be the best.
Stonecloaker - Instant speed, surgical, and can bounce himself.
Scavenging Ooze - Surgical removal that can become a beater quickly.
Alternative/additional options worth considering:
Jotun Grunt - A neat guy to incrementally nuke graveyards.
Loaming Shaman - Shuffle back a graveyard.
Morningtide - Slow, but effective.
Relic of Progenitus - Great, but doesn't work under Null Rod
Protecting Gaddock Teeg
While his casting cost is very low, you still need to protect him since he is a key component of the deck's strategy.
Mother of Runes - Give a creature protection from a color.
Dauntless Escort - Make your creatures indestructible for a turn.
Aspect of Mongoose - Great self-recuring aura granting shroud.
Eight-and-a-Half-Tails - Protect your permanents from any targeting effect for 1WW each.
Alternative/additional options worth considering:
Flickering Ward
Card Draw/Filtering
Sylvan Library
Mirri's Guile - Sensei's Divining Top's older brother, works great with fetch lands.
Alternative/additional options worth considering:
Sensei's Divining Top - Doesn't work under Null Rod.
Tech Lands
Kor Haven - Not as good as Maze of Ith, but produces mana.
Gaea's Cradle - Produces tons of mana.
High Market - Great sacrifice outlet.
Yavimaya Hollow - Protects your creatures.
Winding Canyons - Great card to have in any control deck allowing you to sit back and play on your opponent's end steps.
Serra's Sanctum - Can produce tons of mana.
Alternative/additional options worth considering:
Mistveil Plains - A great way to put cards back into your library. Counts as a plains and is easily tutored.
Maze of Ith - Removes a creature from combat, but doesn't produce mana.
Mystifying Maze - Removes a creature from combat for a hefty price and gives your opponents additional comes into play triggers.
Miren, the Moaning Well - A great sacrifice outlet, but has a high cost.
Diamond Valley - Another great sacrifice outlet. I'd play it if I owned it.
Selesnya Sanctuary - I don't care for bounce lands or see an advantage of having one in this deck.
Other
Aven Mindcensor - A great way to put the breaks on combo decks, black decks, and opponents fetch lands.
Hokori, Dust Drinker - A nice way to soft lock your opponents if they all tap out.
Peacekeeper - A cheap alternative to Blazing Archon, but doesn't allow you opponents to beat each other to death.
Linvala, Keeper of Silence - Another great piece of disruption.
Sigarda, Host of Herons - Stop sacrifice effects from affecting you.
Alternative/additional options worth considering:
Blazing Archon - Helps you survive longer, but is very highly costed.
Willow Satyr - Great anti-commander tech. I don't own one.
Grand Abolisher - More disruption, but only active on your turn. Great in blue heavy meta games.
Other People's Card Choices
Equipment
While I choose not to run any equipment and use Null Rod, Gaddock Teeg can have an effective voltron side strategy. Here are the equipment I would turn to first.
Lightning Greaves
Sword of Feast and Famine
Sword of Fire and Ice
Umezawa's Jitte
Skullclamp
Recursion
Reya Dawnbringer
Regrowth
Reclaim
Noxious Revival - Can also be used to give an opponent a dead draw.
Argivian Find - Get back one of the many artifacts and enchantments this deck uses.
Adarkar Valkyrie - Keeps creatures coming back and can protect Gaddock Teeg.
Enchantress
If enchantress effects are your jam, they can easily be slotted into this deck.
Argothian Enchantress
Verduran Enchantress
Mesa Enchantress
Enchantress's Presence
There are several other cards I've seen in lists that may or may not be of value to the deck. Frankly I don't understand why they were chosen, maybe someone can offer a reason.
Platinum Angel
Yavimaya Dryad - Why not Wood Elves?
Silklash Spider - Why not Arashi, the Sky Asunder?
Dryad Arbor
You are far too concerned with protecting Teeg. He costs 2 mana, if an opponent wastes a removal spell on him you can untapped and recast him. Glacial Chasm is an auto-include and Serra's Sanctum should be strongly considered. Stony Silence adds redundancy and is harder to kill than Null Rod. Maze of Ith is a glorious card on its own and can combo with Argothian Elder/Magus of the Candelabra which you can sink into Helix Pinnacle and is great with Winding Canyons. Mistveil Plains can help with consistency, can be fetched, and can be sacrificed to KotR.
Consider more sweepers that get under Teeg. My favorites are False Propohet and Retribution of the Meek. You NEED sacrifice outlets in this deck. They allow you to Reveillark combo significantly more easily. To ignore all cards that do not get under Teeg is foolish. There are many that win the game on the spot. With the myriad of sac outlets this deck SHOULD be running, casting them should never be an issue. Tooth and Nail is one and Austere Command is a card you will never mind waiting to casting or needing to sac Teeg.
Academy Rector has great synergy with the sac outlets, fetches combo pieces, and allows you to play a couple cards that don't get under Teeg such as Mana Reflection and Defense of the Heart. Ensnaring Bridge is essential and Meekstone is worth considering.
My Blog About It
Two is too many? I hadn't quite finished the primer when you posted, but Reya Dawnbringer is on my watch list. I prefer Blazing Archon over Peacekeeper though. I also didn't own a Peacekeeper until a few days ago.
More mana does not change whether or not the spells in their hand can be cast or not while Gaddock Teeg is in play. I'd argue Rites of Flourishing is the more dangerous card to play.
If you follow the 7x9 deck building theory (I try to remember about it...), I'm not really that concerned about it. I haven't even devoted a whole slot to just protecting Gaddock Teeg. I understand he's cheap, but he can become prohibitively expensive just like any other commander.
Thanks for pointing this card out. I didn't know it had been printed (I don't play any standard or buy packs). It will be included as a replacement or a supplement once I get one.
Why does Reveillark need a sacrifice outlet? It already comes with one. However, I do understand that several cards in this deck are a lot better with a sacrifice outlet. I don't care for Miren, the Moaning Well and wish I owned a Diamond Valley. Can you suggest any others that cast and function under Null Rod and Gaddock Teeg?
I agree to disagree. I frequently cut cards from my decks that I find to be very situationally good.
Academy Rector was not included because I didn't feel like I had enough ways to kill it. Again, can you suggest any others that cast and function under Null Rod and Gaddock Teeg?
I'm not really sure how I feel about them. I'll consider it. I also don't really care for or own Glacial Chasm.
Thanks for your input.
I agree and it is. I should probably organize the list of cards by CMC or something.
1 Fanatical Devotion
If you are feeling adventurous:
1 Ashnod's Altar
1 Blasting Station
1 Greater Good
Lark combo does not require a separate sac outlet, but it allows you to go off with any combination of two pieces (Saffi, Lark, Guide) and provide additional utility to the deck as a whole.
You have devoted slots to protecting Teeg at all. These are largely unnecessary. Blue decks are generally the only ones that will kill Teeg in your normal game (and they have next to no removal that gets through Teeg). Most decks will prefer Teeg on the table when there are degenerate combo deck floating around.
Any properly built deck can take SERIOUS advantage of Heartbeat of Spring. Rites of Flourishing being more dangerous doesn't justify it being included. Neither should be included in anything but Elfball or Group Hug style decks.
My comment about your curve is really to illustrate your curve is too high as a whole. Sun Titan is significantly better than Reya. Aroshi is mediocre at best, you would be better off with more efficient sweepers like False Prophet and Retribution of the Meek. Blazing Archon costs far too much mana for the effect and is too fragile in that it cannot be recurred with Reveillark. Solemn Simulacrum costs an inordinate amount of mana for very little real advantage. Duplicant is the most expensive removal spell you could be playing. You lack any compelling reason for running Primeval Titan, so it is just a 6 mana ramp spell.
You could not be more wrong about Glacial Chasm. It does everything Archon and Peacekeeper do, can be tutored with KotR and Wayfarer and Sylvan Scrying and Crop Rotation, and has phenomenal synergy with Life from the Loam and Crucible of Worlds. Countless games that I had no business winning have been won on the back of Chasm. Even when you have to actually pay the upkeep, you are in a better place than not having it at all (presuming you play it intelligently). Various cards in my deck also allow me to get maximum value from Riftstone Portal, making Glacial Chasm have absolutely 0 drawback.
Get Sigarda, Host of Herons in here. This deck folds to any mode of repeatable Edict effects.
One thing you must keep in mind is how a properly built Teeg deck will absolutely destroy any and all blue based decks. As such, the blue decks will do all the can to build up a board presence under him then strategically remove him for their fundamental turn. You have some cards that help mitigate that situation, but those decks can do quite a bit of damage in that time span. Cards like Grand Abolisher are solid for these purposes, but another way to deal with it is in the one card combos of Defense of the Heart and Tooth and Nail. Resolving these abilities will win the game on the spot and it becomes very easy to regulate when these happen if you include an arsenal of sac outlets. It is easier still if you choose to keep Heartbeat of Spring and/or add Academy Rector. Holding these cards back until it is strategically correct to cast them is a fact of playing them in the first place. They are not "dead," they are in reserve.
PS: My Teeg thread here on Salvation is not even close to up-to-date. Just FYI, in case you go looking for it.
My Blog About It
I'm going to look for those enchantments, but I though carefully about Arashi, Primetime, Reya, and Blazing Archon this week and took them all out for Sigarda, Linvala, Peacekeeper, and Eight-and-a-Half-Tails.