DECK TECH: Talrand, Sky Summoner Commander/EDH

I FINALLY put together a new Commander deck!  My first go-round' with Commander didn't go so well... I put together what I thought was a pretty awesomesauce Sisay deck that won with lifegain and that stupid-fresh goat (Felidar Sovereign).  I loved it... Until my friends in my playgroup rained all over my parade and said that for the goat to win, "you need 80 life, cause that's only fair."

Meh.  What a bunch of salty ball sacs!  I broke apart my deck, sold the cards individually on eBay, then found out 3 months later that the playgroup at my local shop (Anime Imports in Pacifica) would've totally been okay with the 40-life limit!  Geez!

So, it's been about 14 months, and I thought and thought and thought about what I like to do when I play a fun game of Magic:  I like to a) play cards and b) draw cards... LOTS OF 'EM!  Playing Talrand in BV has made me develop a soft-spot for creating armies of drakes, so he seemed like the perfect choice.  Check it :)

Talrand, the Sky Summoner
a Commander deck
by
Phil "Fat Ninja" Tacata

Commander

1.    Talrand, Sky Summoner

1cc Instant Cantrips

2.    Brainstorm

3.    Disrupt

4.    Fleeting Distraction

5.    Leap

6.    Mental Note

7.    Obsessive Search

8.    Opt

9.    Peek

10. Quicken                                   

11. Sapphire Charm

12. Shadow Rift

13. Stream of Unconsciousness           

14. Thought Scour

15. Twisted Image                                   

16. Visions of Beyond

17. Whispers of the Muse

1cc Sorcery Cantrips

18. Cloak of Feathers

19. Gitaxian Probe

20. Ponder

21. Preordain                                               

22. Serum Visions                                   

23. Sleight of Hand

24. Sorcerous Sight

Creature

25. Snapcaster Mage

More Draw

26. Ideas Unbound

27. Frantic Search

28. Windfall

29. Three Wishes

30. Time Spiral

Alternate Win Conditions

31. Runechanter's Pike

32. Altar of Dementia

33. Coat of Arms

34. Rite of Replication

35. Omniscience

Protect Talrand

36. Darksteel Plate

37. Swiftfoot Boots

38. Lighting Greaves

Mana Multipliers

39. Gauntlet of Power

40. Caged Sun

41. Extraplanar Lens

42. Doubling Cube

43. High Tide

44. Drain Power

Creature/Permanent Steal

45. Legacy's Allure

46. Control Magic

47. Treachery

48. Gilded Drake           

49. Desertion

50. Bribery

51. Spelljack

52. Volition Reins

53. Dominate

Permanent Bounce

54. Into the Roil

55. Capsize

Mass Effect

56. Propaganda

57. Nevinyrrals Disk

58. Evacuation

59. Wash Out

Counter (their) Commander

60. Hinder           

61. Spell Crumple

Artifact Tutor

62. Fabricate

Lands

Strip Mine

Reliquary Tower

Cephalid Coliseum

       Island (x35) ---------------------------------------------


OBJECTIVE AND PLAY-STYLE
The goal of this deck is to get Talrand into play, play a brazillion spells, then kick back and send your army of a brazillion drakes smashing into the face of your enemies :)

ENGINE
The deck runs 29 cantrips [cards that, when cast, draw (at least) another card], 23 of which are 1cc cost instants or sorceries.  Get a butt-load of mana, get/have Talrand out, and CAST AWAY!!!

CARDS
-Coat of Arms:  Because eighteen 20/20 flying drakes is fuck you.

-Altar of Dementia:  Because sacrificing eighteen 20/20 flying drakes and milling your opponents for 360 cards is fuck you, too.

-Runechanter's Pike:  You thought Delver decks made this sucker big? :p

-Hinder and Spellcrumple:  Because some dudes deserve to have their Commander countered to the bottom of their deck.

-Snapcaster Mage:  Let's be honest... It's still a creature-less deck :p

-35 White-bordered 5th-Edition Islands:  Because, yes... I'm a BOSS.

OTHER NOTES
Don't take the deck too seriously... As in all Commander games, have fun, talk a lot of shit, eat bad food, and laugh at everything .  Oh, and bring at least 50 drake tokens! ;)

(Drake Token by Svetlin Velinov)

DECK TECH: Mono-Green Tree (Get'er Dungrove)

Played the M13 Gameday tourney at Anime Imports yesterday and made Top-8 (5th place with a 3-1 record) with this Mono-Green Dungrove deck (congrats to my Boy, Kevin Gleason, who took the whole thing -and the wicked Champion Playmat- with his awesome B/W Tokens build, which I hope to do a future "Deck Tech" on :) ).

The deck isn't very different from the Get'er Dungrove net-decks, but I felt I should post up my version because it's the most consistent deck I've ever played.  It may not win every match, but it doesn't "scrub-out" too often and does well against Delver decks (I'd say 5-5 to 5.5-4.5 in Dungrove's favor).  It's also a pretty simple deck for sideboard substitutions, something that really helps me out while in a tourney situation.

Without further adieu,

(Dungrove Elder by Matt Stewart)

TREE!
by
Phil "Fat Ninja" Tacata

2x Ulvenwald Tracker
4x Llanowar Elves
4x Birds of Paradise
4x Strangleroot Geist
4x Dungrove Elder
3x Predator Ooze
1x Viridian Corruptor
1x Phyrexian Metamorph
1x Thragtusk

4x Green Sun's Zenith
4x Rancor
1x Dismember 
3x Revenge of the Hunted

24x Forest :)
---------------------------------------------
Sideboard
3x Surgical Extraction
1x Phyrexian Metamorph
1x Wolfir Silverheart
1x Thragtusk
2x Corrosive Gale
2x Sword of War and Peace
1x Thrun, the Last Troll
1x Dismember
1x Bellowing Tanglewurm
2x Beast Within

OBJECTIVE AND PLAY-STYLE
A ton has already been written about this deck in terms of play-style and objective (see Carrie Oliver's Channel Fireball articles for some great insight on how the deck is played).  Basically, it's a hyper-aggro beatdown deck that looks for a 1st turn mana dork followed by a second turn Tree or Ooze.  From there, it's about finding a Rancor and going to town!

ENGINE
TREE!  gains its consistency from the use of Green Sun's Zenith, the best green tutor in the game. Need a dork?  Get a dork.  Got no lands to make it safe to grab a Tree?  Get an Ooze.  Need life?  Get a Thragtusk... You get the point.

CARDS
-Dungrove Elder:  This guy has to vie for the best creature in Standard.  Yes, you have to play mono-green to use him effectively.  Yes, you probably have to play 23+ lands to make him worth it.  Yes, when he hits the board with 4 Forests and you strap a Rancor on him, you DO win the game.

-Rancor:  Bringing this bad-boy back was a happy day for Green Mages everywhere; thanks Wizards! :p  Rancor is THE card that takes this deck to the next level.  Like Frank's Red Hot Sauce, "You can put that Shit on anything!!!".

-Ulvenwald Tracker:  I love this card in terms of powerlevel, playability, and design!  He is a 1 drop that opponents have to kill (or they'll pay), acts as a repeatable source of creature kill, and has incredible synergies with Strangleroot Geist and Predator Ooze.  Don't be afraid to use him to fight HIMSELF vs. your opponent's mana dorks.  On turn two he's as good as a Doom Blade.

-Viridian Corruptor:  As much as I want Acidic Slime to go in this slot, 6 mana for a GSZ is too much, too late.  The artifact you need to kill -Swords, Trading Post, Metamorph, Birthing Pod- you need to kill them the turn after they get cast.  Turn 5 is often too late, so the Corruptor is the way to go.  Too bad Uktabi Orangutan isn't still around :p

-Revenge of the Hunted:  So good.  And you WILL be able to hard-cast it... Don't worry :)

-1x Phyrexian Metamorph, 1x Wolfir Silverheart, 1x Thragtusk, 1x Dismember:  This is the opening configuration of "tools" spread out for maximum flexibility in game one.  There are mirror copies of each of these guys in the sideboard to maximize effectiveness for game two.

SIDEBOARDING
Rule 1: NEVER CHANGE YOUR FOREST COUNT.
Rule 2: NEVER CHANGE YOUR MANA DORK COUNT.

Now, with that out of the way (haha)...

vs. Delver
-3x Predator Ooze
-1x Wolfir Silverheart
-1x Phyrexian Metamorph
---
+1x Thrun, the Last Troll
+1x Thragtusk
+1x Dismember
+2x Corrosive Gale

vs. Wolf Run
-1x Thragtusk
-1x Viridian Corruptor
-1x Dismember
---
+1x Wolfir Silverheart
+1x Phyrexian Metamorph
+1x Thrun, the Last Troll

vs. Pod
-1x Thragtusk
-2x Predator Ooze
-1x Dismember
---
+1 Wolfir Silverheart
+1 Phyrexian Metamorph (copy their Pod!!!)
+2x Beast Within

vs. Frites
-1x Viridian Corruptor
-1x Dismember
-2x Predator Ooze
---
+3x Surgical Extraction
+1 Phyrexian Metamorph

vs. Tokens
-1x Viridian Corruptor
-1x Wolfir Silverheart
-1x Phyrexian Metamorph
-1x Thragtusk
-1x Predator Ooze
---
+2 Sword of War and Peace
+2 Corrosive Gale
+1 Bellowing Tanglewurm

vs. Zombies
-1x Wolfir Silverheart
-1x Dismember
--
+1x Thragtusk
+1x Phyrexian Metamorph

vs. RDW
-1x Ulvenwald Tracker
-1x Phyrexian Metamorph
-1x Dismember
---
+2x Sword of War and Peace
+1x Thragtusk

OTHER NOTES
The first deck I ever won a tournament with was a Mono-Green Overrun deck with Fyndhorn Elves, Pincher Beetles, and good ol' Stompy himself (Rogue Elephant)... One of the wonderful things I love about Magic is that now matter how many new cards and strategies get pumped out every few months, some things -like attacking your opponent with a 13/13 trampler- NEVER GET OLD. ;)

(Revenge of the Hunted by Christopher Moeller)