Talrand, Lord of Drakes

Commander / EDH

borichu

Creature (3)

• 1x Laboratory Maniac
• 1x Talrand, Sky Summoner
• 1x Windreader Sphinx

Land (35)

• 1x Cavern of Souls
• 1x Halimar Depths
• 1x Inkmoth Nexus
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Riptide Laboratory
• 29x Snow-Covered Island
• 1x Tolaria West

Enchantment (5)

• 1x Coastal Piracy
• 1x Dissipation Field
• 1x Favorable Winds
• 1x Propaganda
• 1x Rhystic Study

Artifact (11)

• 1x Bident of Thassa
• 1x Caged Sun
• 1x Champion's Helm
• 1x Coat of Arms
• 1x Darksteel Plate
• 1x Extraplanar Lens
• 1x Isochron Scepter
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Runechanter's Pike
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots

Instant (33)

• 1x Abjure
• 1x Blustersquall
• 1x Brainstorm
• 1x Capsize
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Desertion
• 1x Fact or Fiction
• 1x High Tide
• 1x Hinder
• 1x Impulse
• 1x Into the Roil
• 1x Long-Term Plans
• 1x Memory Lapse
• 1x Muddle the Mixture
• 1x Mystical Tutor
• 1x Negate
• 1x Opt
• 1x Pact of Negation
• 1x Peek
• 1x Peer Through Depths
• 1x Pongify
• 1x Quicken
• 1x Rapid Hybridization
• 1x Redirect
• 1x Remand
• 1x Snap
• 1x Spelljack
• 1x Swan Song
• 1x Truth or Tale
• 1x Vapor Snag
• 1x Whispers of the Muse
• 1x Words of Wisdom

Sorcery (13)

• 1x Ancestral Vision
• 1x Call to Mind
• 1x Curse of the Swine
• 1x Distant Melody
• 1x Enter the Infinite
• 1x Extract
• 1x Fabricate
• 1x Gitaxian Probe
• 1x Merchant Scroll
• 1x Ponder
• 1x Preordain
• 1x Serum Visions
• 1x Wash Out

Commander (1)

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A tweaked version of my Talrand deck to make it more drake-heavy and also a little more "75%" (though I don't know how well I've achieved that). To maximise drake output the average CMC is pushed super low - one way I've done this is to remove almost all CMC 3 counterspells, which also means the deck has very few hard counters. The ones that it does also primarily hit instants and sorceries, which cover the most threatening spells to this deck: boardwipes.

I've included a number of ways to protect Talrand (Boots, Greaves, Plate, Helm), as you can't make drakes without Talrand on the field, and he quickly gets too expensive to cast if he keeps dying. Muddle the Mixture and Fabricate let you tutor for these important cards quite cheaply. In a pinch, you can bounce Talrand instead, using Riptide Laboratory or one of the instant-speed unsummons.

When you're dumping a lot of cheap cards, it can be difficult to retain card advantage. Cards like Bident of Thassa, Coastal Piracy, Rhystic Study and Windreader Sphinx help to mitigate this, as well as a few straight-up draw spells. When all your creatures are pretty tiny, it's also good if you can find non-creature deterrents for swinging into you: enter Propaganda and Dissipation Field.

One of the trickiest things with Talrand can be closing out the game, as even 10 2/2s is really not all that threatening. Coat of Arms (tutorable with Fabricate!) changes that in a heartbeat, and Favorable Winds also gives your drakes a bit of extra oomph for very little mana investment. Alternatively, late in the game the graveyard should have lots of instants and sorceries - equipping Runechanter's Pike for +10/+0 and first strike makes that 2/2 a hell of a lot more scary. Sometimes you just can't avoid the boardwipes, however, in which case you can always equip the Pike to Inkmoth Nexus instead. I mostly only go for this strategy when the game's just been dragging out forever and I want it to end. One final alternative (and very silly) win condition is Laboratory Maniac and Enter the Infinite.

Date added	10 years
Last updated	10 years
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	2 - 0 Mythic Rares 27 - 0 Rares 20 - 0 Uncommons 23 - 0 Commons
Cards	101
Avg. CMC	2.54
Tokens	Ape 3/3 G, Bird 2/2 U, Boar 2/2 G, Drake 2/2 U, Frog Lizard 3/3 G
Based on	Talrand, Fun Police borichu EDH