Teferi's Ancient Knowledge - Remastered

Commander / EDH Combo Control Mono-Blue

Skydra2

Instant (30)

• 1x Arcane Denial
• 1x Blue Sun's Zenith
• 1x Brainstorm
• 1x Capsize
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Cryptic Command
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Delay
• 1x Dig Through Time
• 1x Dispel
• 1x Dramatic Reversal
• 1x Exclude
• 1x Fact or Fiction
• 1x Flusterstorm
• 1x Force of Will
• 1x High Tide
• 1x Long-Term Plans
• 1x Mana Drain
• 1x Mental Misstep
• 1x Mindbreak Trap
• 1x Misdirection
• 1x Mystic Confluence
• 1x Mystical Tutor
• 1x Negate
• 1x Pact of Negation
• 1x Pull from Tomorrow
• 1x Rapid Hybridization
• 1x Remand
• 1x Rewind
• 1x Swan Song

Land (34)

• 1x Academy Ruins
• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Cephalid Coliseum
• 1x Command Beacon
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 21x Island
• 1x Misty Rainforest
• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 1x Mystic Sanctuary
• 1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Riptide Laboratory
• 1x Seat of the Synod
• 1x Strip Mine

Sorcery (9)

• 1x Fabricate
• 1x Merchant Scroll
• 1x Ponder
• 1x Preordain
• 1x Time Spiral
• 1x Transmute Artifact
• 1x Treasure Cruise
• 1x Wash Out
• 1x Windfall

Creature (7)

• 1x Consecrated Sphinx
• 1x Gilded Drake
• 1x Palinchron
• 1x Phantasmal Image
• 1x Phyrexian Metamorph
• 1x Spellseeker
• 1x Treasure Mage

Commander (1)

Artifact (12)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Gauntlet of Power
• 1x Gilded Lotus
• 1x Grim Monolith
• 1x Isochron Scepter
• 1x Knowledge Pool
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Mana Vault
• 1x Sapphire Medallion
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Thran Dynamo

Enchantment (4)

• 1x Back to Basics
• 1x Copy Artifact
• 1x Mystic Remora
• 1x Treachery

Planeswalker (3)

• 1x Jace, Wielder of Mysteries
• 1x Jace, the Mind Sculptor
• 1x Tezzeret the Seeker

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Maybeboard

Instant (8)

• 1x Archmage's Charm
• 1x Chain of Vapor
• 1x Force of Negation
• 1x Pongify
• 1x Spell Pierce
• 1x Stroke of Genius
• 1x Unwind
• 1x Whir of Invention

Creature (3)

• 1x Thassa's Oracle
• 1x Tribute Mage
• 1x Venser, Shaper Savant

Artifact (3)

• 1x Chrome Mox
• 1x Extraplanar Lens
• 1x Mox Opal

Land (1)

• 1x Lonely Sandbar

Planeswalker (3)

• 1x Narset, Parter of Veils
• 1x Teferi, Master of Time
• 1x Teferi, Temporal Archmage

Sorcery (2)

• 1x Recurring Insight
• 1x Reshape

Enchantment (1)

• 1x Mirrormade

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My pet deck for high-power tables, edited over the last few years after being the first commander I ever built. Older version at Teferi's Knowledge Laboratory. Last edited the day of the Hullbreacher ban, 7/12/2021.

Overview

This deck is built to take on high level or competitive decks. The primary strategy of the build is to stall until it hits an infinite mana loop or a lock, at which point the game usually ends if the lock is successful (although you may have to force the issue by using your few creatures once the pieces are assembled). I don't consider the deck to be part of the cEDH metagame, but I do think it can win games at such tables.

As such, I only take out this deck when going all-out, when sometimes it is necessary to be an annoying blue player to survive. Commander is ultimately a social format, where discussing with your group what power level you should build and play at is always a great start. While I did find the deck fun even before some of the more powerful or expensive cards were added, Teferi is himself a mono-blue control type of card, that usually pushes decks in a "degenerate" direction.

However... do you enjoy being the one who can say "no?" The one who can fly under the radar and then end the game in a turn? The one who always has an answer and always has a trick up his sleeve? If so, and you won't get kicked out of your house, apartment, local game store, or office building for generating indeterminately large amounts of blue mana and making it impossible for your opponents to play their hand, Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir is for you!

The Commander

On the face of it, Teferi is there to stop your opponents from messing with your resources outside of your turn, and turn off their responses if you decide to mess with their plays or board. Additionally, our creatures gaining flash allow us to play them whenever we choose, usually on our opponent's end step, leaving no window for the opponent to respond to a setup, if Teferi lives the turn cycle. He himself often flashes in from the command zone the last end step before we untap, leaving the turn unimpeded by spell-based responses unless they have an immediate answer to him on the stack or when he hits the board. At a fairly expensive 5 CMC, he takes a while to come out if you don't hit your fast mana, but the ability to hold up your blue cards and play him when your opponents don't represent the resources to deal with him is valuable. Worst comes to worst, the only card that requires him to function properly is Knowledge Pool , which I will elaborate on.

A few things also work a little... weird with the big triple-blue man out. Since "sorcery" is essentially short for "on your turn when the stack is empty," certain mechanics stop working for players under Teferi's spell. The empty-stack clause affects abilities that tell you to cast a spell, because these abilities are still "on the stack" while resolving. The prime example is the Knowledge Pool lock, which will be featured later, but other examples that can be found in the wild are spells such as Rishkar's Expertise and the rest of its cycle, that tell you to cast a spell while they are mid-resolution, making the casting of the "free" spell impossible. Also, while mechanics such as Suspend and Miracle normally create a window on upkeep or draw steps where an exception allows the casting of a spell outside normal parameters, Teferi says no. There are many other examples that you can consult a judge or online source if you are unsure, such as Cascade.

Key Cards

The hand lock: Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir and Knowledge Pool . Teferi's wording, as explained previously, essentially creates a scenario where only his controller can use the Knowledge Pool ability, and opponents will simply lose their card if they try to do so. This only affects your opponent's hand, as that is the only zone that Knowledge Pool forces you to donate cards from; they are still safe to play their commander or cards they can cast from their graveyard or exile. Even doing so, though, they have to contend with your complete dominance over the cards in the Knowledge Pool, which will likely close out the game.

Several tutors contribute to consistency of dropping the Pool. However, we still have to deal with our opponent's board, commanders, and possible graveyard plays, meaning the Pool won't always be able to end the game.

The more decisive win-con will be an infinite mana loop. Palinchron is an all-star to this effect, generating infinite mana as long as our 7 (or less) lands can generate 12 mana (1 more than is required to play and activate the famous Illusion). High Tide , Extraplanar Lens and Gauntlet of Power may all contribute to a Palinchron loop. Even better, Phantasmal Image can loop itself copying Palinchron for a grand total of 6 mana per round, which will go infinite on a 7 land board.

I also caved in recent years to add Dramatic Reversal and Isochron Scepter , which will go infinite as long as we can generate 3 mana from nonland permanents on our board. A staple of Commander since the Kaladesh expansion, the combo is very mana-efficient, but does depend on being able to resolve and retain a few artifacts beforehand. Each card can be used on its own, so it isn't a huge loss if you are forced to Reversal as a Ritual-type effect, or deviously imprint a Counterspell or similar card onto the Scepter and have a "nay" vote to use every turn.

Once we go infinite, we do need something to do with the mana. We have our classic Blue Sun's Zenith and Pull from Tomorrow to empty our deck and win with card:Jace, Unraveler of Mysteries (a recent replacement to the famous Laboratory Maniac with a bit more utility and no downside assuming we have generated as much mana as we need).

Capsize is also essentially a win-button off infinite mana, leaving your opponents without any board state, at all, ever, if it is looped with Buyback. You do still have to actually win before decking, but you should have enough time to use commander damage or draw into the aforementioned spells to end the game.

Other Card Choices

Delay : While you may win before the Delayed card ever comes off Suspend, Teferi stops it dead in its tracks. If Teferi is out when any suspend card triggers its casting ability, it stays in exile unless someone can interact with it.

Gilded Drake : While the card is pricey, a Mind Control for 2 mana is priceless, and at instant speed if your commander is out.

Time Spiral : While I wouldn't mind owning a Timetwister for the deck someday, I would actually run Time Spiral first. Then untap clause puts you very much ahead if you can resolve the spell, and it might put you at more mana than before, if some land-doubling effects are involved.

Exclude and Remand : Card-neutral disruption? At a low CMC, sign me up. I

Budget Replacements

Commander can be expensive these days. Some cards I bought when they were much cheaper four to five years ago, others I've been lucky enough to afford in recent times. Whatever you budget, I don't think anyone should be priced out being a relevant threat in a game of Commander, so if you have varying funds to spare with your playgroup, suggest a budget limit or gasp allowing proxying cards. Then, turn to this section for some help.

Mana Drain , Force of Will , Cryptic Command , Pact of Negation : Power (and availability) begets price, but Dissolve , Unwind and Dismiss are also effective countermagic with either value or a refund attatched. Muddle the Mixture may also be a consideration that either deals with a pesky instant or sorcery, or Transmutes to tutor a piece of the Dramatic Scepter combo.

Transmute Artifact , Mystical Tutor : Reshape and Whir of Invention are strong spells on their own that might make their way into my mainboard at some point, and perhaps Tribute Mage can be of some use finding Isochron Scepter .

Gilded Drake , Treachery : Such value is impossible to truly replace, but many control magic spells are available if you need them. I'm partial to Sower of Temptation , since Teferi gives her Flash in the same way it does the Drake. Control Magic is also still strong, and comes out earlier than Treachery. However, I run Treachery due to the "untappy" nature of the card being very strong in any deck running several doublers, so perhaps pack some more spot removal with a cheaper card such as Reality Shift .

Palinchron : Deadeye Navigator can do the work of going infinite with Peregrine Drake . You can drop Phantasmal Image if you wish as your second cut to allow in the Deadeye combo, as it loses a lot of luster without the Palinchron to pair with it.

Mana Crypt , Mana Vault : Efficient fast mana always comes at a premium, so I would instead recommend running more disruption cards to ensure the game continues after your opponents attempt to ramp.

Powerful lands such as Academy Ruins , Ancient Tomb , Command Beacon , Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx , Strip Mine : I'd often rather just draw an Island anyways. Lonely Sandbar offers some nice versatility as well. I personally run fetchlands that can get untapped Islands such as Flooded Strand , but they are also not necessary, though their power with Brainstorm and Top, and ability to fetch Mystic Sanctuary means they are worth it if you have them.

Copy Artifact : Mirrormade for one more mana has the upside of being able to copy an enchantment as well, and is a strong card that I would consider for my own mainboard myself.

Extraplanar Lens , Gauntlet of Power : Caged Sun , while expensive to cast, is not so expensive to buy and has a stronger effect. Nyx Lotus is powerful when you are planning to play your blue permanents, or are likely to be able to contribute to devotion with a triple-blue commander.

Sensei's Divining Top : A strong but unnecessary card. Just add your own spice to the deck if you'd rather not play, or can't afford, the famous Top.

Closing Statement

I truly love this deck, as Teferi was my first choice to build a commander when I returned to Magic in my adult life after collecting a modest collection and playing some games in my childhood. As I learned about the format, I slowly built the control deck of my dreams, and while it does take some modulating to ensure that the play environment is safe to bring it out, I enjoy playing it as well. I also think Wizards of the Coast has done a great job reintroducing Teferi's character to recent Magic sets, where his name brings local players the same dread that he sometimes does to my friends. Its a good time to be a Teferi fan, and if you enjoy playing this deck, maybe you are one too!

Date added	4 years
Last updated	3 years
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	14 - 0 Mythic Rares 31 - 0 Rares 18 - 0 Uncommons 16 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.94
Tokens	Bird 2/2 U, Frog Lizard 3/3 G