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Zen and the Arts | Sisay Legendary Tribal

Commander / EDH Enchantment Legendary Matters Multiplayer Primer Tap/Untap Theme/Gimmick

crazyloudaudio

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Land (36)

Creature (29)

Planeswalker (5)

Sorcery (5)

Commander (1)

Commander: foil Sisay, Weatherlight Captain

Enchantment (10)

Artifact (9)

Instant (5)

"Logic presumes a separation of subject from object; therefore logic is not final wisdom. This is Zen. This is my (Commander) maintenance. "

-Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values and crazyloudaudio

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Hello Again, TappedOut! - August 2023 Update

It's been a while! But not just since I've browsed through and viewed the decks and ideas on here, but a while since I had played Magic altogether, and even longer since I've worked on this deck. Firstly, I'd like to say thank you, including you reading this right now, for helping make the previous version of this deck the #1 Commander/EDH Primer on the whole site a few years back! It truly warms my cold heart to see so many of you interested in Sisay, Weatherlight Captain like I am, and even more so that so many of you think that what I put together was not only viable, but worth your time. The first iteration of this deck was based around a legendary creature and Planeswalker Superfriends hybrid and, to be honest, it performed exactly how I expected it to. A few things it did really well, while others were either okay or never really saw use at any point. But the deck worked for me due to the state of the format 4 years ago, as well as the type of pod that I play in. But, that was years ago now, and for the vast majority of that time, I really haven't been playing magic.

Before we delve into the new shape of this deck, allow me to direct your attention to the tab at the bottom of this description. I know a lot of people still liked what this deck was originally doing, and some of you may not be too excited about how many Planeswalkers had to come out and how many legendary creatures needed to be swapped for version 2.0. If you're still interested in the first decklist and primer for this deck, it's all down there in the original accordion as well as a screenshot of that decklist since I don't really care for TappedOut's revision system.

Sisay, Weatherlight Captain 2.0: The Shrine Update

The methodology for this version of the deck was simple: Keep what works, cut what doesn't. In a way, I've trimmed the fat off this deck, taking out cards that seemed to me to be more flavor than performance. In these empty spaces, a brand new permanent type has been added: Shrines! There were a few shrines floating around when I first built this deck, but I wasn't too impressed with any of them nor did I think that there was enough to warrant placing them in the deck over a creature or Planeswalker, especially since they seem to get better the more of them that there are. However, this greatly changed with the release of Kamigawa a while back and cards like Go-Shintai of Life's Origin. Some of these shrines are insanely effective at creating passive effects that we'll get into later with the next new part of this deck: a brand new Primer! I tossed around the idea of just editing the old one and making it apply to this new list, but the themes and ideas in the deck simply don't line up in a way to make that possible, at least not to me. This time around, we shall achieve victory through peace and tranquility, delving into Zen and the Art of Sisay, Weatherlight Captain.

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I'm sure I don't need to delve too deep into what happened in early 2020, but suffice to say that it was no longer a good idea to meet face-to-face at an LGS and play Magic. So we all went home to our computers and to Discord. Where did this leave my Magic collection? In a corner collecting dust. While the original version of this deck hasn't seen a tremendous amount of play, the format and Wizards themselves has moved on without the need for me to keep playing. A ton of really good sets have come out since I stopped playing Magic and, frankly, pretending they didn't exist while playing the original version of this deck was practically impossible. So, we have finally arrived at version 2.0 of my Sisay, Weatherlight Captain deck. And things have drastically changed, but I feel that it's for the better!

The legendary creatures and Planeswalkers still in this deck are the ones that I truly felt a deck commanded by Sisay, Weatherlight Captain couldn't do without, at least not one being piloted by myself. Legendaries like Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain and Esika, God of the Tree   are the backbone of any deck based around legendary cards and Planeswalkers like Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God will always be good in a deck that can fit him in, especially with Planeswalkers on field next to him. The new and exciting part, to me, is the introduction of Go-Shintai, Honden, and Sanctum Shrines. I have included all shrines except Go-Shintai of Lost Wisdom because milling won't do much for us and Sanctum of Shattered Heights because I don't feel it's very good in most situations, so 15 out of 17 will do. The more the merrier for Shrines, similar to Elf and Sliver Tribals, so I didn't want to exclude any more than that as the rest feel like they function great together.

For those familiar with the 1.0 of this deck, Sisay, Weatherlight Captain is the lady of the hour with the ability to tutor any legendary permanent from library to field for , which is insanely powerful. The only catch is that it is dependent on her Power, but we have a few things in the deck that do a great job of increasing that. Her twin Captain Sisay practically does the same thing, and was the original commander for a Selesnya Deck I used before making this one. Needless to say, it's important to use Sisay, Weatherlight Captain to get the right cards for the job, something that will change from pod to pod and is dependent on the kind of decks you're playing against. Below is an in-order guide to running this deck efficiently so we might achieve Nirvana.

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To understand what we need to do with our deck, it's important we understand our opponents. Be aware of the commanders you'll be going against as well as the players themselves. This deck can become predictable when the vast majority of powerful cards we play come from tutoring, not drawing, so consistent opponents will be able to start playing against you before turn 1 even begins, saving cards and mana for your plays. From here, a starting hand of lands and low-cost legendaries can make this deck get a good running start, something that is going to make a difference by 6+ turns in to a game. Good multi-color lands like City of Brass and Command Tower will be key for setting up our land base, but don't be put off by having Evolving Wilds or Terramorphic Expanse; We can still get the right basics for the other cards in our hand. You won't want to start the game with The World Tree or Hall of Heliod's Generosity as we get very little return until we build a good board state.

Fantastic creatures to have early like Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer, Lavinia, Azorius Renegade, and Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy will not only lay the foundation for good mana and stax, but will place much needed devotion on field for Sisay, Weatherlight Captain to be able to start tutoring powerful cards shortly after she comes into play with less need to use her to fetch low CMC cards. We can also use Shrines like Sanctum of Tranquil Light and Go-Shintai of Boundless Vigor for some early game synergy with cheap legendaries.

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It's not an incredibly difficult task to generate during a turn for Sisay, Weatherlight Captain, but what about twice? 3 times? It can be harder and harder to keep getting more and more power onto the field with good dorks. The absolute powerhouse of our mana generation comes in the form of Esika, God of the Tree  , letting a total of 22 other legendary creatures tap for mana of any color, but some of those options are best left to their default abilities, such as Jegantha, the Wellspring who can help Sisay, Weatherlight Captain tutor all on his own, just like Bloom Tender and Faeburrow Elder with devotion on field. However, legendaries that do not have a mana ability on their own become power tools for mana generation.

Another great source of mana is letting Sanctum of Fruitful Harvest sit on field with another 4 shrines and getting 5 mana of any one color at the beginning of every precombat main phase. If we need this to tutor with Sisay, Weatherlight Captain we can filter our mana with Cascading Cataracts to get . Needless to say, we can get all 5 colors we need with Timeless Lotus, which we can reset with Teferi, Who Slows the Sunset or Brago, King Eternal. We can also use Zimone, Quandrix Prodigy to drop some additional lands or using Rampant Growth or Farseek to get specific lands for potential cards in hand or missing colors for Sisay, Weatherlight Captain tutoring.

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The creature count for this version of the deck is much lower than when this version of the deck was first brainstormed, but the remaining creatures in this deck I feel are necessary for any five-color deck with Sisay, Weatherlight Captain with a Legendary Matters theme. I don't feel it's needed to talk about every single creature, but below are some of the most powerful tools at our disposal and should be used as frequently as possible.

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There's no way to sugarcoat it, Planeswalkers are nowhere near the feature that they used to be in this deck. The main reason for this has to do with the fact that they are slow to get running, especially if the main feature was to have them for their "ultimate" ability. As such, we are down to five, but these Planeswalkers bring a lot to the table.

  • Dihada, Binder of Wills: Dihada is a new addition that convinced me to keep out Smothering Tithe to better fit the theme. Her +2 offers great protection for any legendary creature we want to swing or are worried about losing on someone else's. The -3 can be a nice way to get some extra cards or generate some treasure tokens, depending on what's more important at the time. -11 is a pipe dream in this deck, but would be a game-ender if anyone let it go off.

  • Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God: Even with only a few Planeswalkers, Nicol Bolas has WAY too much value to be shown the door. Being able to mirror the abilities of the other 4 is insane by itself, but his other 3 abilities are incredibly powerful, with his -8 flat out being a wincon. Need I say more?

  • Teferi, Who Slows the Sunset: His +1 is incredible for untapping permanents for reuse or tapping opponents permanents should you feel it to be needed. -2 is okay for it's cost, but his -7 is a super Seedborn Muse effect that can't be removed.

  • Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler: Tyvar is effectively Fervor while still being a Legendary permanent, which is perfect for this deck. His +1 is fantastic to use on Jegantha, the Wellspring and Captain Sisay and will give each turn much more potential. His -2 isn't the craziest thing ever, but can be nice should we lose Bloom Tender or Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy, for example.

  • Venser, the Sojourner: +2 can be great for more ETB triggers, think Go-Shintai of Life's Origin, and resets like Captain Sisay. -1 lets Najeela, the Blade-Blossom and Brago, King Eternal get through for effects and his -8 emblem makes everything we cast oppressive.

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Shrines work better for every other shrine on field with them. All 15 of the shrines in this deck offer decent effects on their own, but once all 15 are on field, some of these effects simply explode with power, massively shifting the game in our favor just by remaining on field turn after turn. Go-Shintai of Life's Origin is the main feature of this power by being able to return any enchantment from graveyard to field for and being able to create Shrine tokens with any shrine, including himself, ETBing, which goes great with Brago, King Eternal. Below is an idea of what each type of shrine can do if all 15 are on field, not to mention should you have double or more of this in tokens.

Honden

Sanctum

Go-Shintai

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Admittedly, I learned a lot not only from building the first version of this deck but also from building this version, looking through what felt like every single Planeswalker and Legendary Creature released in the last 10 years, if not longer. But to be honest, this deck still suffers from the same thing it's first version did; It's not very fast. Yes, the effects we can do are very strong and will no doubt make us likely to win, but we have to get to that point, something that takes quite a number of turns. If this deck runs in a one-vs-one scenario against a very competitive deck, this deck will not win. This deck is at it's best in a multiplayer scenario where your boardstate and plays aren't constantly under watch by the same opponent. You'll also notice this in the land base which features no fetch lands and all 10 bond lands as I do not French in general and have a pod of 4 to 5 people every time I play Magic.

Simultaneously, this deck has been tweaked to need Sisay, Weatherlight Captain a little less, but she still plays an integral role in this deck by being able to get the cards we need to be effective. Without her, we are more at the mercy of good draws, which this deck can set up, but also takes time. Constant abuse and removal of Sisay will, without question, slow this deck down in at least one way and put you behind. You can potentially make up for this with a good opening hand and lucky draws, but she is our only guarantee since she sits in the Command Zone.

Finally, this deck potentially suffers from my own desire to build unconventionally. Shrines, in general, are not a fast, cEDH, or meta strategy in Commander. The deck is a lot of fun, and has certainly been shining in LGS's if for no other reason than people seem to like the way it looks, but no one is trying to convince you that Shrines are the best MTG strategy; they're not. Additionally, I've cut out more traditionally sought after cards like Smothering Tithe as it's not Legendary, and that no doubt lowers the overall power level of this deck, but sticking to theme was more important to me than non-legendary Commander staples.

“You are never dedicated to something you have complete confidence in... (Commander) maintenance gets frustrating. Angering. Infuriating. That's what makes it interesting.”

-Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values and crazyloudaudio

I'd like to once again thank you for taking a look at my decklist and Primer, newcomers and returners all! I honestly didn't know where this deck was going to go until I sat down and started taking a look at it with a fresh perspective and insight, but I'm really proud with where this deck has gone and, to be honest, excited for the future! Every new set from WotC is an opportunity to look through and find new cards and synergies that I couldn't use before, so as long as Wizards keeps making good legendaries, I have no doubt I'll keep coming back to this deck for upgrades and changes.

Additionally, much like the decklist below, this version is bound to stick around unchanged for years to come. This deck, while my favorite, doesn't strike me as worth changing until enough time has passed to make a new, different strategy appealing. Even if a couple cards come along that would really shine in this deck, I won't be making any updates or changes until it's worth rebuilding from scratch.

If you enjoyed what you saw, an upvote is appreciated, but not expected, and if you are interested or looking for the original version of this deck, it is in the tab below. Happy playing!

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"Until all have found their place, I will keep watch."


"For the life of every plane, I will keep watch."


"For the lost and forgotten, I will keep watch."


I'm not ashamed to admit that Sisay is one of my favorite characters in Magic, so the second I saw this card I knew I had to build a deck around it, and I couldn't think of anything better than something I've never tried before: Superfriends! Although this is more of a Superfriends/Legendaries hybrid, my main pieces for victory lie within the planeswalkers, most of which leave irremovable emblems that tilt the game in my favor. Typically, these permanents can be hard to bring onto the field, but Sisay, Weatherlight Captain is here to make that child's play!

I originally wanted this to be a "legendary tribal", so to speak, but I've already made a legendary tribal built around Captain Sisay and I wanted something new that may offer an experience I hadn't done already, so I settled with Planeswalkers. Sisay, Weatherlight Captain allows us to pay and put anything we want from our library onto the battlefield, making the theoretical size of our hand equal to the number of legendary permanents in the deck. However, Sisay, Weatherlight Captain requires a little bit of help to reach full potential, and we need to address that early into the game.

Sisay, Weatherlight Captain will only be able to give us more access to our library if we give her all five mana colors. I don't have very much red or black devotion cards in this deck, but I still don't see this as a problem if we find the right cards. You'll more than likely already have a legendary permanent on field or in hand by the time you play Sisay, Weatherlight Captain, but if not, here's a handy little guide to build up her power/toughness early in the game:
CMC = 1: Oath of Nissa
CMC = 2: Fblthp, the Lost, Radha, Heir to Keld, Saffi Eriksdotter, Oath of Ajani
CMC = 3: Selvala, Explorer Returned, Journey to Eternity  , Aminatou, the Fateshifter, Dack Fayden, Jiang Yanggu, Wildcrafter, Teferi, Time Raveler
Keep in mind, it's important to get as many different mana colors in each card's devotion as to increase Sisay, Weatherlight Captain as quickly as possible. At max power/toughness, she will be a 7/7 and able to search out every single legendary permanent in the deck.

Now, on to the fun part; Planeswalkers! I tried to pick a nice variety that offers multiple functions that we can pull out in a pinch depending on what our opponents play (or just whatever sounds cool). Some of these Planeswalkers have synergy between each other while others are just powerhouse cards that accomplish what others can't, leaving us with quite the team to choose from.

Team Leaders


A few Planeswalkers in this deck really stand out from the pack, and this certainly includes Teferi, Temporal Archmage, who lets us activate Planeswalker abilities every turn at instant speed and Tamiyo, Field Researcher letting us cast our nonland cards for free! Venser, the Sojourner will allow us to exile a target permanent every time we cast a spell, leaving our opponents with empty boards and Dack Fayden will let us steal the rest. We'll leave some Stax on the field with Dovin Baan's Static Orb emblem and Jace, Unraveler of Secrets will counter every first spell opponents cast. If all of this wasn't enough, Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God has access to every other Planeswalker ability on the field, as well as making players flat out lose the game if they don't control a legendary creature or Planeswalker, both of which he can destroy on his own.

Planeswalker BFFs


One of the best synergies among my Planeswalkers is Ajani, Mentor of Heroes and Sorin, Grim Nemesis who can add 100+ 1/1 black Vampire Knights to the field in the blink of an eye! Ajani, Mentor of Heroes also plays well with Jiang Yanggu, Wildcrafter, letting us turn all creatures in this deck into mana dorks, further feeding Sisay, Weatherlight Captain's tutor ability. To the benefit of their fellow Planeswalkers, Tezzeret the Seeker can go and fetch helpful artifacts like The Chain Veil and Rings of Brighthearth, and Ral Zarek could potentially gives us 5 extra turns, especially if we can activate his -7 ability more than once.

I'd be hard-pressed to forget about the creatures in this deck. Most of them are legendary so that Sisay, Weatherlight Captain can tutor them, but some non-legendary creatures bring so much value to the table that I'd be doing myself a real disservice by not keeping them in the deck. Some of the smaller legendary creatures like Fblthp, the Lost and Radha, Heir to Keld are here with the express purpose to add power and toughness to Sisay, Weatherlight Captain, but others are to the benefit of the deck as an entirety.

Lesser; Not Unequal


Although not Planeswalkers, creatures such as Atraxa, Praetors' Voice and Deepglow Skate are built to serve their noncreature superiors with excellent efficiency. Copilot Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain and Reki, the History of Kamigawa give us insane card draw potential with a total of 36 other cards that will trigger their draw effects when casted. Since this is a somewhat diverse five color deck, Ramos, Dragon Engine can sit around and look pretty while collecting insane amounts of counters by us just playing the deck, especially with Pir, Imaginative Rascal and Karn's Bastion, not to mention Doubling Season. I've also added Shalai, Voice of Plenty to protect myself and my planeswalkers, as well as Captain Sisay for another form of my Commander's ability and Seedborn Muse to let my opponents turns also be my turn for more tutoring potential from Sisay, Weatherlight Captain. We also have an extra Planeswalker in the form of Nicol Bolas, the Ravager   and a Planeswalker fetcher with Arena Rector.

Despite how much fun this deck was to build and strategize, it has also made me painfully aware of it's limitations. Firstly, this deck is not fast. Almost every card in the deck is based around Sisay, Weatherlight Captain and thus, requires her on field and, most importantly, ALIVE. Her removal and subsequent failure to return to the field in time will greatly limit what this deck can accomplish without her. In addition, this deck does not have rocks like Mox Diamond and tutors like Vampiric Tutor to work around Sisay, Weatherlight Captain. This deck could greatly benefit from these cards but I could not think of anything I could bear to take out for them, not to mention their price. In a way, this deck has been built on a budget despite it's nearly $1,000 price tag, a limitation in and of itself.
This deck also doesn't have very many red or black devotion cards in it, meaning that you could run into a situation where you can't get all five colors efficiently, which will absolutely limit the tutor potential of Sisay, Weatherlight Captain, cutting her off to her to 6 CMC cards of Ramos, Dragon Engine, Sorin, Grim Nemesis, and Teferi, Temporal Archmage, all of which greatly improve our chances of winning. This can be remedied by equipping Sisay, Weatherlight Captain with Blackblade Reforged or just using Captain Sisay, but there is still the potential for stalling out, so tutor carefully.


Overall... Show


This deck will be an ongoing project to improve and make more effective at what it does best; putting the most legendary heroes in Magic on to the field all at once. Please feel free to let me know what you like about this deck, and more importantly, what I can do better. I'm always open to suggestions on what I can do better. Thanks for taking a look! Upvotes are appreciated!

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Top Ranked
Date added 5 years
Last updated 8 months
Legality

This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)

18 - 0 Mythic Rares

46 - 0 Rares

21 - 0 Uncommons

5 - 0 Commons
Cards 100
Avg. CMC 3.17
Tokens Emblem Teferi, Who Slows the Sunset, Emblem Venser, the Sojourner, Shrine, Spirit 1/1 C, Treasure, Warrior 1/1 W
Folders Future EDH, Sisay, commander, SuperFriends, Good decks, Potential, decks i like, Edh, Inspiration for Future EDH, Sisay
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