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: Secret! (U/R Talrand/Burning Vengeance)

I've been playing Burning Vengeance (BV) for a few months now and I LOVE IT!  It's totally "my style" in that it's a grindy, weirdo-control deck with lots of little decisions and funky interactions.  M13 just came out and I wanted to try Talrand in BV... It works INCREDIBLY well!  I can't wait to continue testing and tweaking this deck; Talrand/BV seems like my it'll be one of my Standard go-to decks as Scars rotates out in a few months.

(Talrand, Sky Summoner by Svetlin Velinov)

SECRET!
by
Phil "Fat Ninja" Tacata
(You can find the TCG Player link to this deck along with card descriptions and sample hand generator here.)

4x Burning Vengeance
2x Secrets of the Dead

4x Faithless Looting
4x Think Twice
2x Desperate Ravings

4x Geistflame
3x Slagstorm
4x Vapor Snag
2x Mana Leak
1x Ancient Grudge

4x Snapcaster Mage
2x Talrand, Sky Summoner

4x Sulfur Falls
1x Rootbound Crag
1x Hinterland Harbor
1x Desolate Lighthouse
2x Evolving Wilds
1x Forest
7x Island
7x Mountain
---------------------------------------------
OBJECTIVE AND PLAY-STYLE
Secret!, named after my probably-shouldn't-be-in-the-deck secret tech -Secrets of the Dead-, is my ultra-grindy-graveyard-dump-creature-control Burning Vengeance deck.  The object is to get a Burning Vengeance online and cast a butt-load of cards from your graveyard to kill your opponent's creatures and, eventually, your opponent.  M13 brings a card that has great synergy with BV, Talrand, Sky Summoner, who, in a deck filled with instants and sorceries, creates massive armies of 2/2 flying drakes to supplement your attack.

ENGINE
You need access to massive amounts of cards in your hand and in your graveyard both to 1) draw your BV and 2) to power your BV.  Faithless Looting, Think Twice, and Desperate Ravings along with the flashback power of Snapcaster Mage do the job nicely.  Secrets of the Dead is a pretty amazing card drawing engine on its own.  Talrand also provides an alternate-win source of seemingly never-ending drakes... So long as you can keep drawing and burying instants and sorceries. 

CARDS
-Burning Vengeance:  Secrets! doesn't win without it.  Your primary objective is to get one online as early as possible and start controlling the board.

-Faithless Looting, Think Twice:  your two best BV enablers.  4 copies of each is a must.

-Desperate Ravings:  in terms of cantripping, DR does the same job as Think Twice and, if your hand is filled with cards you can afford to lose to your graveyard, is actually better than TT.  So, why am I not playing with a full playset of Ravings?  The answer isn't the Ravings' fault; it's my inability to play it correctly!  It seems every time I have a DR in hand or the graveyard, I also have a card I really want in my hand (like a BV or Slagstorm), so I chicken-out and don't feel comfortable pulling the trigger and "just doing it."  Honestly, I SHOULD have 4x copies of DR, but my playstyle doesn't support it, so I've swapped out 2 copies for the namesake of the deck...
  
-Secrets of the Dead:  this card is probably not as good as DR in terms of immediate value, but if you can get this thing online early, over the course of the game, the card advantage it accrues is unbeatable.  I like it because whenever I draw it, I play it and don't have to think about it anymore.  Secret!

-Geistflame:  BV players are either on one side of the fence or the other when it comes to Geistflame.  I LOVE IT and think it's indispensable.  Kills mana dorks and one drops early, becomes an Incinerate with a BV online... Cheap and good and an auto-4-of in my deck.

-Slagstorm:  I can't decide whether Slagstorm or Bonfire of the Damned is better for this deck, but right now, Slagstorm works better with my playstyle and in my meta, so I'll rock the rockslide so long as it's legal.  However, theoretically, Bonfire works MUCH better with Talrand... We'll see how this goes with more testing :)

-Mana Leak, Vapor Snag, Snapcaster Mage:  it's been the core of the best deck in Standard for over a year and it's just as strong in BV.  Long live Ken Jeong!

-Talrand, Sky Summoner:  a weakness of BV decks is that BV is usually the ONLY way to win.  While this is still pretty much true, the Legendary Merfolk is a step in the right direction as he works incredibly well with your existing (and re-useable) spell-set.  Theoretically, he is now a win condition on his own, but more realistically, he just makes your BV that much stronger.

-Ancient Grudge, Rootbound Crag, Hinterland Harbor, Forest, Evolving Wilds:  a single copy of Grudge can help you deal with pesky Swords, Batterskulls, Metamorphs, and the BV deck killer, Grafdigger's Cage.  M13 brings back Relic of Progenitus, but what 'cha gonna do?  Just sideboard in more Grudges and let it fly :)

OTHER NOTES
Burning Vengeance decks require a specific kind of "sickness" to play; if you like (virtual) creatureless decks that draw and play lots of cards, BV might be for you.  It's a weird deck, but once you get that Vengeance online, you feel pretty damn awesomesauce ;)

As Scars Block rotates out, this deck only loses 3 cards, two of which (Slagstorm & Vapor Snag) have pretty much exact analogs for substitutes (Bonfire of the Damned & Unsummon).  Mana Leak is sorta on the way out anyway (because of Cavern of Souls), and maybe that's the 2-of slot I'll finally fill with the last two Desperate Ravings.

(Secrets of the Dead by Eytan Zana)

**(7/28/12) Played 2 long sets against Red Deck Wins and U/B Zombies today and did well (broke even against RDW and swept Zombies).  I finally overcame my fears and subbed out the 2x Secrets of the Dead for +1x Talrand, Sky Summoner and +1x Desperate Ravings.  The deck is much more streamlined and it's really nice to have the extra copy of the Sky Summoner.  Talrand has turned out to be every bit as good as I thought... He's AMAZING!  Now all I need to do is make Drake (the rapper) and Sir Francis Drake tokens :p