Talrand Polymorph Combo v1-3

Commander / EDH* Combo Mono-Blue Tokens

muse99

Instant (34)

• 1x Blue Sun's Zenith
• 1x Brainstorm
• 1x Capsize
• 1x Chain of Vapor
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Delay
• 1x Dig Through Time
• 1x Dispel
• 1x Dramatic Reversal
• 1x Flusterstorm
• 1x Force of Will
• 1x Frantic Search
• 1x High Tide
• 1x Impulse
• 1x Into the Roil
• 1x Long-Term Plans
• 1x Mana Drain
• 1x Mental Misstep
• 1x Mission Briefing
• 1x Muddle the Mixture
• 1x Mystical Tutor
• 1x Narset's Reversal
• 1x Negate
• 1x Opt
• 1x Pact of Negation
• 1x Pongify
• 1x Rapid Hybridization
• 1x Repeal
• 1x Spell Pierce
• 1x Swan Song
• 1x Synthetic Destiny
• 1x Unsubstantiate
• 1x Whir of Invention

Artifact (16)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Chrome Mox
• 1x Everflowing Chalice
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Isochron Scepter
• 1x Jeweled Amulet
• 1x Lotus Petal
• 1x Mana Vault
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Mox Diamond
• 1x Prismatic Lens
• 1x Sapphire Medallion
• 1x Scroll Rack
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Thought Vessel

Land (30)

• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 26x Island
• 1x Mystic Sanctuary
• 1x Scavenger Grounds
• 1x Tolaria West

Enchantment (5)

• 1x Back to Basics
• 1x Copy Artifact
• 1x Mystic Remora
• 1x Rhystic Study
• 1x Trail of Evidence

Commander (1)

Sorcery (12)

• 1x Curse of the Swine
• 1x Gitaxian Probe
• 1x Hidden Strings
• 1x Mass Polymorph
• 1x Merchant Scroll
• 1x Ponder
• 1x Preordain
• 1x See Beyond
• 1x Serum Visions
• 1x Sleight of Hand
• 1x Time Spiral
• 1x Windfall

Creature (2)

• 1x Leveler
• 1x Thassa's Oracle

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TODO: Add cheat sheet, including wincons and tutor targets

Shortlist:

• Echo of Eons (budget timetwister)
• Deja Vu (for budget timetwister loops)

Changelog Show

20200702 Show

• Moved to basics instead of snow basics
• Out: Mouth of Ronom in: Island
• Out: Extraplanar Lens in: Copy Artifact

20190727 Show

• In: Spectral Sailor
• Out: Azure Mage

20190531 Show

• Add: Jeweled Amulet, Narset's Reversal, Lazotep Plating, Jace, Wielder of Mysteries, Rapid Hybridization
• Remove: Mystic Confluence, Reality Shift, Lat-Nam's Legacy, Unwind, Snow-Covered Island

20181222 Show

• Add: Scavenger Grounds, Mission Briefing, Sleight of Hand Mystic Confluence
• Remove: Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir, Tidespout Tyrant, Rapid Hybridization, Lightning Greaves

20180712 Show

• Add: Unwind
• Remove: As Foretold

20180218 Show

• Add: Azure Mage
• Add: Day's Undoing
• Add: Mana Drain
• Remove: Remand
• Remove: Repeal
• Remove: Evacuation

20171125 Show

• Add: Dig Through Time #Draw
• Add: Scroll Rack #Utility
• Add: See Beyond
• Add: Prismatic Lens
• Remove: Bident of Thassa #Draw
• Remove: Cryptic Command
• Remove: Sky Diamond
• Remove: Fact or Fiction

20171125 Show

• Add: Force of Will #Permission
• Add: Evacuation #Removal
• Remove: Sunder #Disruption
• Remove: Wash Out

20171125 Show

• Added: Rapid Hybridization
• Added: Palinchron
• Added: Deadeye Navigator
• Added: Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
• Added: Chain of Vapor
• Added: Lat-Nam's Legacy
• Added: Everflowing Chalice
• Added: Repeal
• Added: Long-Term Plans
• Added: Snow-Covered Island
• Removed: Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
• Removed: Baral, Chief of Compliance
• Removed: Archaeomancer
• Removed: Scourge of Fleets
• Removed: Overburden
• Removed: Torpor Orb
• Removed: Cursed Totem
• Removed: Thran Dynamo
• Removed: Terrain Generator
• Removed: Riptide Laboratory

20171104 Show

• Added: Mystic Remora
• Added: Chart a Course
• Removed: Treasure Cruise
• Removed: Snow-Covered Island

20171024 Show

• Added: Sky Diamond
• Removed: Sword of the Animist #Ramp

20171009 Show

• Added: Overburden
• Removed: Tezzeret the Seeker

20171006 Show

• Added: Opt, Tezzeret the Seeker
• Removed: Desertion, 1x Snow-Covered Island

20171004 Show

• Add: Thought Vessel #Ramp #Utility
• Add: As Foretold #Utility
• Remove: Basalt Monolith #Ramp
• Remove: Swiftfoot Boots #Utility

20170916 Show

• Added: Mox Diamond #Ramp
• Removed: Tangle Wire #Disruption

20170819 Show

• Added: Cursed Totem #Disruption
• Added: Tangle Wire #Disruption
• Removed: Disdainful Stroke #Permission
• Removed: Rapid Hybridization #Removal

Exclusions & possible additions Show

Excluded for cost reasons:

• Mana Crypt
• Grim Monolith
• Timetwister

Consider cutting:

• Long-Term Plans

Consider adding:

Shortlist:

• Tale's End
• Copy Artifact

Longlist:

• Blast Zone
• Personal Tutor
• Quicken #Utility #Cantrip
• Devastation Tide
• Deep Analysis
• Supreme Will
• Disallow
• Temporal Manipulation
• Ancestral Vision

Playtesting notes & possible changes Show

20171130

Won a tight game against 4C Jeskai Ascendancy. Strangely enough, I had an incredible opener but ended up landflooded and no way to shuffle the top. I think this was just bad luck - 30 lands seems right to me and the deck runs enough cantrips/draw/shuffle effects that this shouldn't normally happen. I might be running a bit too much interaction (like 13 permission effects and 11 removal effects), and drawing into a Polymorph target is awkward since the package is so tight. I might just add Jin back in since drawing 7 EOT is great and he will usually be coming down with Teferi protection.

Proposed changes:

• Remove: Repeal, Long-Term Plans, Evacuation
• Add: Azure Mage, Day's Undoing, ...

20170820

• The deck won 2 out of 2 against a sans-black 4-color Splinter Twin/Jeskai Ascendancy brew, although the last game went to the wire and could have gone either way.
• In both games, Back to Basics was an all-star, which is not surprising against a 4c land base. I guess it needs to get countered or removed quickly or the game is over. I'm thinking of a way to tutor for it in mono blue, and the only thing I thought of was adding Drift of Phantasms which could also find key cards such as Extraplanar Lens, Windfall and Blue Sun's Zenith. What I dislike about it is the fact that it messes up the creature count by having a 'dud' in there to Mass Polymorph or Synthetic Destiny into.
• Not much to change I think. The deck's gameplan is straightforward and focused and I think it has roughly the right balance between interaction, support cards and finisher. Further upgrades are mostly a budget issue (FoW, Snapcaster, etc.).

Redesign of my Talrand deck.

This is a midrange deck with some combo or pseudo-combo finishes. It has a flat curve, lots of cantrips/filter effect and wide range of counterspells. Against aggressive decks, you need to play the control game, but against slower, bigger decks, you need to play on tempo over card advantage and seek to close out the game before their engines are online. One of the main ways to win is to create a number of Drakes and then Mass Polymorph or Synthetic Destiny all 3 creatures in to play. Then there is Dramatic Reversal + Isochron Scepter , which generates infinite mana with a few rocks on the table (and infinite drakes if Talrand is out). This turns Blue Sun's Zenith into a kill-card.

Date added	7 years
Last updated	4 years
Key combos	Dramatic Reversal + Isochron Scepter
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	4 - 0 Mythic Rares 26 - 0 Rares 21 - 0 Uncommons 23 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.01
Tokens	Ape 3/3 G, Bird 2/2 U, Boar 2/2 G, Clue, Drake 2/2 U, Frog Lizard 3/3 G