The Friendmaker | Talrand, Sky Summoner [PRIMER]

Commander / EDH Budget Control Counterspell Mono-Blue Multiplayer Primer Spellslinger Tokens

Icaruskid

Instant (35)

• 1x AEtherize
• 1x Abjure
• 1x Aetherspouts
• 1x An Offer You Can't Refuse
• 1x Anticipate
• 1x Arcane Denial
• 1x Blue Sun's Zenith
• 1x Brainstorm
• 1x Brainsurge
• 1x Consider
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Cryptic Command
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Dispel
• 1x Impulse
• 1x Keep Safe
• 1x Lofty Denial
• 1x Mana Drain
• 1x Mana Leak
• 1x March of Swirling Mist
• 1x Miscast
• 1x Narset's Reversal
• 1x Negate
• 1x Opt
• 1x Polymorphist's Jest
• 1x Rapid Hybridization
• 1x Redirect
• 1x Reweave
• 1x Silundi Vision  ^Flip
• 1x Sink into Stupor  ^Flip
• 1x Snap
• 1x Swan Song
• 1x Three Steps Ahead
• 1x Unwind
• 1x Wizard's Retort

Artifact (12)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Bident of Thassa
• 1x Everflowing Chalice
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Isochron Scepter
• 1x Midnight Clock
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Sapphire Medallion
• 1x Sky Diamond
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Sphinx-Bone Wand
• 1x Thought Vessel

Land (38)

• 1x Castle Vantress
• 31x Island
• 1x Lonely Sandbar
• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 1x Mystic Sanctuary
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Riptide Laboratory
• 1x War Room

Enchantment (2)

• 1x Coastal Piracy
• 1x Reconnaissance Mission

Creature (1)

• 1x Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur

Commander (1)

Sorcery (11)

• 1x Dream Cache
• 1x Gitaxian Probe
• 1x Gust of Wind
• 1x Polymorph
• 1x Ponder
• 1x Portent
• 1x Preordain
• 1x See Beyond
• 1x Serum Visions
• 1x Sleight of Hand
• 1x Winged Words

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Maybeboard

Artifact (1)

• 1x Runechanter's Pike

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"You were built to prey upon those weaker than you. It is a simple life, and one that you were very good at. Unfortunately, I was built to perform more complex activities. Learning. Analysis. Understanding. And once I understand how something works—a spell, a system, a culture, the world—I must make it work better. How can I not? Yes, sometimes I wish I were just a predator." - Talrand

Intro

This budget spellslinger deck wants to use control and flying damage as a fair version of Talrand, Sky Summoner. Featuring:

• 1 creature in the 99.
• No tutors.
• No combos or infinites.

Polymorph spells speed up the game while you're making friends.

Budget: $200

How to Play

1. Ramp.
2. Play Talrand, Sky Summoner as soon as you have a Counterspell and mana to protect him.
3. Start playing instants and sorceries to create drakes.
4. Keep mana up for Counterspells to protect your board state while the drakes take down opponent life totals.

Pro Tip: Play politics. Counter a spell from the opponent who is the greatest threat at the table. Offer to help another player with a timely AEtherize in exchange for something.

How to Win

1. Combat damage from flying 2/2 drakes.
2. Direct damage from Sphinx-Bone Wand.

Why casual formats need control

Counterspells are powerful and it can be unfun to have your signature spells canceled. But each color has ways to protect from counterspells.

By discouraging this style instead of including solutions, players are signing up for haymaker spells and battlecruiser games which is totally fine. But some players enjoy the interactivity of magic and want the challenge of having to outmaneuver their opponents.

All this said, counterspells + stax + infinite combos is extreme. So to balance the power level and keep winning chances fair, no infinite combos or stax pieces are included.

Why play this deck

• You're looking for a budget control deck that is effective but not oppressive.
• You want to play blue in it's purest form.
• You like the challenge of having to protect your board and yourself only with instants and sorceries.
• You enjoy playing your commander in every game.
• You just want to pull off Polymorph into Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur.

Why not play this deck

• Your playgroup leans more towards battlecruiser than interactive.
• You prefer to play aggressively and with permanents rather than a control spellslinger style.

Strengths

• Highly interactive.
• Resilient strategy built-in to the command zone.
• Surprise value can steal games.

Weaknesses

• 95% of games depend on commander's presence on the battlefield to win. You can add Shark Typhoon or Metallurgic Summonings if this is a deal breaker.
• No permanent protection of commander and 100% reliance on spells create some variable gameplay. Add Lightning Greaves, Swiftfoot Boots, and Alexi's Cloak if you want a different approach.
• You cannot counter a spell from each opponent each turn, forever.

Notable Interactions

• There is only one creature in the deck so Polymorph puts Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur into play for {3}{U}.
• Mystic Sanctuary can return Cryptic Command *list* from the graveyard to your hand. Then you can play Cryptic Command *list* and return Mystic Sanctuary to your hand. Repeat every turn to always have a counterspell.

Card Choices

Lands and Ramp

This deck is mana hungry. 39 lands and 11 ramp spells support the 9+ turn games we are signing up for in a control deck.

Polymorph

1. Play Polymorph or Reweave and target a drake.
2. There is only one creature in the deck, Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur, so put it onto the battlefield.

For {3}{U} your hand is full and opponent hands are empty which often makes it easier to defend the board and run away with the game quickly.

This is not a Polymorph deck. But in a spellslinger deck with only one creature in the 99, Polymorph is a perfect way for a some of our games to have a major advantage from an early Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur. Just as with playing Talrand, play Polymorph only if you have "shields up" with at least mana and a Counterspell to protect it.

Top Ranked	Achieved #1 position overall 7 months ago
Date added	7 months
Last updated	1 week
Exclude colors	WBRG
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	2 - 0 Mythic Rares 23 - 0 Rares 20 - 0 Uncommons 24 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.42
Tokens	Bird 2/2 U, Copy Clone, Drake 2/2 U, Frog Lizard 3/3 G, Treasure
Folders	Decks, Chaos, Build, maybe, aaThislookslikefun, Beginner Decks, my mander decks